So... I'm back again! This is the revised, extended edition of A Ripple in the Abyss. And no, I'm not joking when I say 'extended'. Same storyline, except all those little things that kept being mentioned in A Spatial Tear and even in the last couple chapters of A Rippe in the Abyss (like the Grand Chokmah incident, AKA where Jade met Kairi for the first time), as well as a lot of brand-new little mini-arcs that were floating around in my head for a while, have all been added!

And, lucky readers that you are, I'm planning on updating every Wednesday and Saturday until school starts, when my updates will cut back to only Wednesdays... However, if I miss a couple updates early on, I apologize, but it will be through no fault of my own. My father has been battling cancer for more than a year now and he's not going to hold on much longer.

Also, there are a few subtle differences that those of you with really good memory (or the people who go back and read the original version and then this just to compare) might notice. One of them is the names of Kairi's friends on Earth. Since they were modeled after my real life friends, and I was getting sick of trying to remember (or rather, keep straight) the names I was using for them, I asked if I could just use their real names. There's also the addition of a second male to that group, but most of the minor differences are things like that.

Okay, so... I'll just stop rambling now. Go, read! I'll be back with Part 2 on Saturday.

Oh, and I don't own anything other than my OC's. (Really, the only thing I own in this chapter is Kairi.) So go read! (And if you would be so kind as to drop a review on your way out, I would be absolutely delighted.)

Chapter 1.1 – Arrival in Keterburg
Part 1

I huffed in frustration as I sat the empty bottle down, not wanting to get up to get another. Yes, I was motivated. More motivated than I had been for weeks. I really felt sorry for my readers, even though no one had reviewed in a while. So, I was typing. Fifty-eight words per minute was my average, but I think I was doing about sixty-seven, had been all night.

Vampires 2 – Neo Domino City was almost finished. I was so close, already at Chapter 27, with two more chapters to write and the Epilogue down on paper. But, I had gotten stuck, until inspiration came along in the form of my friend Rabecah getting her hands on two Monster energy drinks, one of which she gave to me.

Really, I felt sorry for Sarah. When the two of us are hyper, we can be very (very) dangerous. But therein we find the source of my inspiration. Of course, I was still a little wound up, even at nine o'clock at night, which was why I was typing so fast. That thought prompted me to pause and read over what I had written, resulting in a grin crossing my face. I hadn't been able to write anything good for so long, and this… this was just wonderful, comparatively.

Deciding to take a break, I stood and headed for the small refrigerator in the hallway, hoping that Richard had remembered to bring home a Mountain Dew, although why I was going after a drink with that much sugar and caffeine at nine at night, and on a Wednesday, no less, was beyond my brain's capacity for reason at that point. And so, after finding the object of my search and calling a 'thank you' toward the living room, where I could see the white-haired man responsible for the soda's presence sprawled out on the couch, I returned to my room, slipping my legs under the rickety table that held my laptop carefully.

I know I didn't fall asleep, or at least, I'm almost certain that I didn't. And it certainly didn't happen in a flash of light. Honestly, I'm not sure what happened, because one minute, I'm semi-warm in my room, and the next thing that I consciously register is sitting in a snow drift. Really, the only thing I know for certain is that my first and only thought at that point was this:

'What the hell am I doing in a fucking snow drift?!'

That thought was followed by some loud cursing, which, for the sake of those of you who don't want to read a bunch of profanity, I will not write here.

Mind you, I was wearing a black tank top under a polo made of a rather thin material, black dress slacks, and zip-nada-zilch on my feet. I had every reason to be cursing, seeing as how I was practically turning into a popsicle!

As soon as the shock from my sudden situation wore off, I was pulling myself to my feet, rubbing my arms and walking back and forth on the blessedly not-snow-covered road nearby, doing everything I could have possibly done at that point to keep myself at least partly warm.

In the meantime, I was cursing at every god, goddess, and deity I could think of, including, ironically, Lorelei. Where was the irony in that, you may ask? Well, let's see…

"Oh my! You look like you're half frozen!" a voice cried from behind me. I looked over my shoulder as the woman continued. "Oh, are those clothes warm at all? And where are your shoes?!" The familiar face, honey-blonde hair, and warm, topaz eyes all swam in my vision, but where…?

I was too busy shivering to focus on that at the very moment, and my teeth were chattering despite all of my efforts as I replied, my voice heavily laced with sarcasm despite the fact that I would probably be suffering from hypothermia and frostbite soon. "Half-frozen, completely lost, and absolutely no idea how I got here? Oh no, this situation looks absolutely wonderful," I grumbled. The woman wrapped an arm around me and began leading me along the road, back the way she had come, and I finally realized not only where I was, but who was now rubbing my arms to keep me a little warmer.

Shit…

"Come with me, I'll get you some warmer clothes," Nephry said, though I wouldn't have argued with her anyway. I sighed, and she seemed to realize that she hadn't told me her name yet. And, while I technically didn't need it, I really, really, did not want to explain to her that I was from a different world. "I'm Nephry Osborne," she stated.

"I'm a Kairi-sicle," I replied, sarcasm still dripping from my words. Nephry giggled a bit.

"That's alright. Let's just get you to my home, and then you can warm up," she said. "It's not far now."

Well, to be truthful, Nephry was right. It wasn't that far out from where we had been at that point, and I was genuinely grateful that the mansion was warm. Unfortunately, as my brain began to thaw out, I was confronted with the problem of what to tell her. I couldn't tell her the truth, she'd throw me back out onto the street without caring if I froze or not. But then, what was I going to say?

"So, what's your name again?" Nephry asked as she returned from wherever she had run off to with a bundle of clothes in her arms. I was wrapped up in a blanket and sitting as close to the fire as I dared.

"Kairi," I replied simply, my mind going into what I liked to call overdrive as it began to concoct a likely story.

"No family name, Kairi?" Nephry inquired. I shook my head.

"No, and no family either. Or at least, none that are alive," I said. That was a part of my lie. Well, really, so was my name, but there was no way in hell I was telling her my real name. I hated that enough already.

Nephry had grown quiet, but when she did speak, her words surprised me. "There's an empty guest room right up the stairs, on the left. You're welcome to stay here for a while, if you have nowhere else to go," she told me. I stared at her, my mouth hanging open slightly in shock, before smiling softly.

"Thank you," I said quietly. Nephry held out the clothes she had been carrying.

"Here. I figured your clothes would be wet by the time you warmed up, so I dug these out for you. I hope they'll fit," she commented. I stood slowly and left the blanket by the fire to let it dry out again.

"I'll go try them on. It'll be nice to get out of these wet clothes," I told her. She smiled and handed over the clothes as I walked past her to head up the stairs. She had said the empty room was on the left, right?

It didn't take me long to find the room in question, and I sat the clothes on the bed before peeling off the well-soaked polo, carefully draping it over the wooden footboard, since I didn't want to drop it on the carpeted floor, nor throw it onto the bed. Then, after doing the same with my pants, I looked through the pile of clothing, grateful that Nephry had included underwear as I changed.

Okay, so the dress didn't fit me perfectly. It was probably meant to hang just above my knees, but it stopped about mid-thigh. It had long sleeves and a turtleneck, and the blue fabric was probably fleece, or something similar, because it felt like one of my favorite turtleneck sweaters.

I took the chance to look in a mirror and raised an eyebrow. Where had my glasses gone?

After taking a moment to make sure that I really wasn't wearing any kind of corrective lenses (which was not fun, seeing as how I refuse contacts simply because I hate poking my fingers in my eyes), I shrugged and let it go. One less thing to hinder me was always a good thing.

Leaving the room with my wet clothes bundled up in my hand, I headed back down the stairs, and Nephry pointed to a wicker basket. "Put those in there with the blanket. I'll have the maids wash them," she prompted. I smiled and nodded, dropping the bundle into the aforementioned basket without complaint before returning to where I had been sitting next to the fire.

"You look nice in that. It fits alright?" Nephry asked as I made myself comfortable. I shrugged.

"It's just a bit small, I think, but it fits well enough," I told her, going over the story I had concocted one last time. I had a feeling she was going to ask, and my feelings generally aren't wrong.

"You wouldn't mind telling me a bit about yourself then, would you?" Nephry wondered. I smiled wryly as the two little voices in my head reacted to the question, one groaning while the other did a victory dance and said 'I told you so'.

"Not much to tell. Mother and I were survivors of Hod, but she refused to settle down, roaming from place to place. Nomads, she called us. The only life I ever knew, really," I said quietly, as if lost in thought (which I kinda was). "No idea how I ended up in Keterburg, though. I don't have any cold-weather clothes, and my last pair of shoes were worn through, so I wasn't planning on coming here any time soon. Honestly, the last place I remember being was… hmm, somewhere in Southern Rugnica."

Then, after putting on a frown, I growled, though Nephry either didn't notice, or she ignored it, as she began speaking.

"That explains the way you were dressed. Southern Rugnica would be plenty warm for the clothing you were wearing," she commented. "Though, do I want to know what has you so frustrated all of a sudden?" Ah, so the latter, for a moment there at least.

I sighed. "There was a group of bandits in that area, and they've probably run off with my weapons and bags by now," I told her, having planned that part out rather simply, while I was still pulling on the borrowed clothes. Nephry looked thoughtful.

"I can tell that you obviously have no love of the cold, and you seem to be and honest young woman. I don't want to keep you here in Keterburg for any longer than you want to stay here, so if you need anything, please tell me," Nephry said, surprising me once again as my mouth hung open for the second time that night.

"Oh, I couldn't!" I told her, my true nature kicking in without any prompting. Nephry smiled sadly and giggled.

"It's not a problem at all, if you're wondering. It's just me here in this mansion with the maids, and the massive fortune my husband left behind. I might as well put that money towards something useful, or in this case, give it to someone who needs it more than I," she replied. I sat there, continuing to emulate a fish for some time, before I finally just close my mouth and smiled.

"Thank you, Nephry," I said quietly. Nephry looked up at a clock on the far wall and frowned.

"I'm going to go tell the cook that you'll be eating with me tonight. You're welcome to look around a bit in the meantime," she offered as she stood to leave. I smiled and shrugged.

"I'll probably still be here when you get back," I replied. Nephry just laughed and walked off, while I looked around me from my position on the floor. A bookshelf caught my eye from the far corner, and I stood and wandered over to it, skimming over the titles and attempting to translate them. Sure, I had copied the alphabet down before, and even gone so far as to write a few coded messages to myself in it, but my translating abilities were certainly… dismal.

Nephry came in to find me frowning over a book I was fairly certain had the word 'fonology' in its title.

"That's one of the books my brother left behind on fonic artes. I honestly wouldn't have expected you to pick it up," she confessed. I looked over my shoulder at her and shrugged before turning back to the book. Fonic artes, huh? Might be useful…

"This would certainly be easier to read if I knew my letters a little better," I muttered. Nephry stopped halfway to the chair she had been about to return to and looked at me in shock.

"You mean you can't read?!" she asked, horrified. I made a face.

"Oh, I can read fine, I'm just not used to reading the fonic alphabet. My mother taught me a different alphabet that was passed down through our family, and I can read and write in that perfectly, but she barely had any time to teach me the fonic alphabet before…" I trailed off, gazing off sadly as I suddenly realized that my family would be worried sick about me soon. My dad didn't need that, not with the condition he had been in…

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean…" Nephry started, her sentence left unfinished. "Then, do you know the entire alphabet?" she asked. I frowned.

"Could you write it down for me, in order? I think I know it, but if I need a refresher, it could be useful. For now though, all I really need is practice reading a different alphabet. It's nothing new; Shandon taught me another one some time ago," I told her. Actually, I had taught Shandon, but Nephry didn't need to know that. All she needed to know was that I needed the fonic alphabet written out for me.

Less than half an hour later, I had a piece of paper with three lines of letters on it. The first line, of course, was the fonic alphabet that Nephry had written out for me, and the second, predictably, was the English alphabet. The third?

I smiled and scribbled down the rune for 'z' before looking over my work proudly. Then, I cringed. Maybe keeping this cheat sheet wouldn't be such a good idea…

However, after sighing and deciding that maybe it wasn't worth it, I started to slowly translate the book in my arms, having returned to the floor near the fireplace. The beginning was a basic explanation of how to draw fonons into your body, and really, the words on the page captivated me.

Nephry had to tap me on the shoulder to get my attention so that we could eat dinner, and after tucking the paper into the book for use as an impromptu bookmark, the rest of the night passed quickly as we ate and prepared for bed.

I did, however, ask one question of her.

"Nephry? What's today's date?"

She turned from where she had been neatly stacking up her papers for the next day and looked at me. "Sylphday, Gnome-Redecan 16. Why?" she replied. I frowned.

"2017?" I asked. She nodded, and I whistled quietly. "Wow. Talk about no sense of time, or the date at least."

Nephry smiled. "Let me guess. You haven't seen a calendar in a long time," she said. I nodded.

"Pretty much," I replied with a yawn. "And that's my cue to go to bed. Good night, Nephry, and thank you again."

Nephry giggled. "Good night, Kairi."