~Okay...this is my first serious LoD fic...*Nervous giggle* ...It's about Lloyd, from his POV...and he has just resurrected...*Giggle* Yeah, I know. Like there aren't a million of this type of fic already, but...I just had to write it after I heard a song. I'll put exerpts from it at the end of the fic, 'kay? SilverWinglie, over and out.~
~NO NO NO! Screw that 'over and out' thing, I'm not done with my ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!!! BAH! Anyways, in this story, you'll be introduced to a single new character, my creation, and a new country, as well. This fic may very well be a launch pad for a whole series of Lloyd POV fics for me...so, if it's a bit short, it's only one out of a lot...'kay? Now...over and out!~
***
'This is it...the end...funny, I never expected it would...be...quite like...this...'
Darkness.
***
After a moment, I twitched one of my fingers, a bit confused. The disorienting feeling of floating through space rapidly, spinning in circles, had stopped so suddenly I half expected to go hurtling out into nothingness.
I relaxed my finger again, and it tapped against solid ground. I shut my eyes tighter, my brain swirling with questions.
'What's going on? I expected that the afterlife would be, um...less solid...' I lifted my whole hand and brought it down. The ground was certainly solid, that was for sure. 'Hang on here. Am I even dead?' I hesitated a moment, debating what to do. 'Do dead people know they're dead?'
Finally sighing, I opened my eyes. The glare of bright sunlight nearly blinded me, and I sat up quickly and shielded my eyes with my hand, putting my other hand on the ground, bracing against the sudden, overpowering dizziness.
After my eyes adjusted and I didn't feel like vomiting anymore, I looked around slowly, half expecting angels, ghosts, demons, whatever to come running out of nowhere, but I didn't see anything odd, except...
'Wasn't this where I was when I died?'
Feeling even more confused than ever, I slowly lifted myself to my feet. It was the same place. But I was sure I had died...what was going on?
I squinted my eyes and thought hard, trying to remember. Suddenly, the whole event came flooding back to me in an instant.
'And then...there was a lot of pain, and I felt like I was floating in fast circles... and now I'm here, again. And I feel just fine.' I looked around again, completely dumbstruck. Absently, I reached up and rubbed the pendant I wore on my choker. Solid. So, I was solid, too, and not a ghost.
"This is insanity at its best." I muttered, more to try out my voice than anything else. "And...now what?"
An idea hit me so suddenly and profoundly that I was certain that I had my whole explanation right there. A dream. I had simply dreamed the whole thing, very realistically, too.
For a moment, I brightened at the thought, and figured I'd just move on now. As I went to gather my single belonging, the Dragon Buster, I noticed it didn't seem to be anywhere nearby. I looked around frantically, but it was gone.
'Rose...the Darkness Dragoon. She had it. She had it when I...' I refused to let myself think anymore. It wasn't a dream, after all, and suddenly I felt sick again. After only a moment, I blacked out.
***
I woke up again, who knows how many hours later. It's true. Impossible, but true.
Yawning slightly, I put my arms behind my head and stared up into the sky, trying to figure things out. Obvious questions, like, 'Why me?' 'How?' and, of course, 'Why?' My mind had no solutions to offer me.
It was then that the thought hit me- I was immensily lucky. Most people couldn't even hope to return as even ghosts. I must've been resurrected for some reason. But what?
'First things first,' I reminded myself. 'Find somewhere to go. I can't live here, after all.' I frowned. 'Or just about anywhere. Pretty much everyone in Serdio, Tiberoa, and Mille Sesau know who I am, and they'll know that I'm dead by now.' I chuckled ironically. 'Well, that certainly poses a bit of a problem, doesn't it?'
I climbed to my feet, trying to think of some place that I had heard of a long time ago, but never been. There was another country...where was it? What was it called, anyway? Donaue, that's it. The Flower Country. The Donaue in Tiberoa had been named for it.
'Well, I've had good luck with the Flower City, so why shouldn't I had even better luck with the Flower Country? Besides...I might as well go, right?' I looked around myself, and sighed heavily. 'But where is it?!?'
***
Fighting the urge to just give up and live in the woods for the rest of my life, I trudged down the pathway, my legs about to fall off with each step. I could've flown, but that would attract too much attention as I snuck my way through the back woods of Mille Sesau, hoping I wouldn't run into anyone.
'But who in there right minds would be here, anyway? It's freezing out, and no one would see me, if I was careful.' That was all the self-encouragement I needed.
I stopped for a moment, and caught my breath. Out of shape, I hadn't seriously flown in awhile. Just short little flights to dodge a sword blade or something.
As ready as I could be, I took off running. There was a tree stump directly in my path, and I leapt up onto it, still keeping my pace, then leapt off it.
I started to fall, but I felt my wings, previously invisible, suddenly catch me a mere foot from the ground. I twisted my head around to see them.
They were relatively short, and looked like twin blue-white flames. They made no flapping motion, like bird's wings, but rather stayed stationary. How they functioned was a mystery, even to us Winglys.
Contented at last that my legs were getting a rest, and I was traveling faster than before, I kept on the path.
***
Regretfully, I came to a landing, and my wings vanished again. I had just passed a sign that read that Danaue was nearby. So, my guess as to its location had been right, after all. Yet another display of incredible luck.
After I had walked for a few miles, I was still walking, but mostly asleep, oddly enough. I woke fully with a start when my foot caught on something and I pitched forward.
I winced as my whole body was jarred by the impact of hitting the hard-packed dirt, and began to climb to my feet. As I did, I heard the sound of someone hissing through their teeth, as if in pain.
Quizzically, I turned around, still sitting in the dirt, and saw a young woman lying on the road, clutching at her ribs. I crawled over to her.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked gently. She rolled onto her side and glared at me.
"I was perfectly fine, until you came around daydreaming and nearly killed me!" She snapped, trying to sit up, but her ribs must have suddenly hurt, because she hissed again and fell back.
I shook my head. Such people were best left on their own. I got to my feet and turned to walk away. After only one step, I hesitated. Resurrection...another chance...a chance to change...
More memories came to me. The man disguised as Emperor Diaz...he had tricked me into commiting unspeakable crimes...I thought he had wanted to create a utopia, but he wanted destruction. Melbu Frahma, he had killed me.
A thought struck me. I couldn't create a utopia by violence, but resurrection gave me a chance to try to create a utopia by...kindness? Was it possible?
Finally deciding it was worth a try, and, besides, I should be a little bit nicer this time around anyway, I turned back around to the woman and approached her again. I bent down and picked her up gently.
She winced, then scowled. "Put me down. I'm just fine." She demanded.
Ignoring her, I headed off for Donaue. "You are from Donaue, right?" I asked.
She looked as if she really didn't want to tell me, but then she finally said, "Yeah, I am."
We walked on in silence for a long time. To break the silence, I asked, "So, what's your name?"
"Samantha." She said quietly. "What's yours?"
"Lloyd." I answered. "Are we anywhere near Donaue, or do I still have a long way to go?"
"Only about a mile."
"Okay. That should be fine."
A moment's more silence, and then, "Lloyd?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Sorry I tripped over you."
"That's fine. Oh, look, we're here!"
I stopped just on the border of Donaue, and looked into the land that stretched before me. Fields of flowers all around, and houses off in the distance. This place would be my new start. My new home.
I heaved a huge sigh of relief, for the first time in my memory, and resumed walking towards my future.
***
~~~
~Heal Me~
-By Melissa Etheridge-
(Just a few exerpts. It's a long song)
Ain't it crazy
For a moment there
This felt just like dying
But now I see that something inside
Is coming alive
Ain't it crazy
No use running from a revolution
I just surrender to this evolution
Ain't it crazy
For a moment there
I just gave up trying
But now I see
You can let the light in
You can begin again
Ain't it crazy
I lay me down in this sweet perfection
I am a witness to my resurrection
Make no mistake
I'm wide-awake
Ain't it crazy
Heal me lift me
Take me to the other side
I'll take what I've earned
These lessons I've learned
I'm ready for the ride
My battered heart will make a new start
Let everyone know
I'll be coming home again.
~~~
***
Well, what'd you think? R&R, please. I'm really happy with this story! :D Believe me, this is just the beginning! However...if it doesn't get reviews, I guess it's the end, ya know? The fate of Lloyd is in YOUR hands. Feel free to post suggestions, if you want a sequel. I need ideas, desperately!!!!! My brain is BLANK!
Okay, enough with the chattering...hope you liked it!!!!!!!!!
~NO NO NO! Screw that 'over and out' thing, I'm not done with my ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!!! BAH! Anyways, in this story, you'll be introduced to a single new character, my creation, and a new country, as well. This fic may very well be a launch pad for a whole series of Lloyd POV fics for me...so, if it's a bit short, it's only one out of a lot...'kay? Now...over and out!~
***
'This is it...the end...funny, I never expected it would...be...quite like...this...'
Darkness.
***
After a moment, I twitched one of my fingers, a bit confused. The disorienting feeling of floating through space rapidly, spinning in circles, had stopped so suddenly I half expected to go hurtling out into nothingness.
I relaxed my finger again, and it tapped against solid ground. I shut my eyes tighter, my brain swirling with questions.
'What's going on? I expected that the afterlife would be, um...less solid...' I lifted my whole hand and brought it down. The ground was certainly solid, that was for sure. 'Hang on here. Am I even dead?' I hesitated a moment, debating what to do. 'Do dead people know they're dead?'
Finally sighing, I opened my eyes. The glare of bright sunlight nearly blinded me, and I sat up quickly and shielded my eyes with my hand, putting my other hand on the ground, bracing against the sudden, overpowering dizziness.
After my eyes adjusted and I didn't feel like vomiting anymore, I looked around slowly, half expecting angels, ghosts, demons, whatever to come running out of nowhere, but I didn't see anything odd, except...
'Wasn't this where I was when I died?'
Feeling even more confused than ever, I slowly lifted myself to my feet. It was the same place. But I was sure I had died...what was going on?
I squinted my eyes and thought hard, trying to remember. Suddenly, the whole event came flooding back to me in an instant.
'And then...there was a lot of pain, and I felt like I was floating in fast circles... and now I'm here, again. And I feel just fine.' I looked around again, completely dumbstruck. Absently, I reached up and rubbed the pendant I wore on my choker. Solid. So, I was solid, too, and not a ghost.
"This is insanity at its best." I muttered, more to try out my voice than anything else. "And...now what?"
An idea hit me so suddenly and profoundly that I was certain that I had my whole explanation right there. A dream. I had simply dreamed the whole thing, very realistically, too.
For a moment, I brightened at the thought, and figured I'd just move on now. As I went to gather my single belonging, the Dragon Buster, I noticed it didn't seem to be anywhere nearby. I looked around frantically, but it was gone.
'Rose...the Darkness Dragoon. She had it. She had it when I...' I refused to let myself think anymore. It wasn't a dream, after all, and suddenly I felt sick again. After only a moment, I blacked out.
***
I woke up again, who knows how many hours later. It's true. Impossible, but true.
Yawning slightly, I put my arms behind my head and stared up into the sky, trying to figure things out. Obvious questions, like, 'Why me?' 'How?' and, of course, 'Why?' My mind had no solutions to offer me.
It was then that the thought hit me- I was immensily lucky. Most people couldn't even hope to return as even ghosts. I must've been resurrected for some reason. But what?
'First things first,' I reminded myself. 'Find somewhere to go. I can't live here, after all.' I frowned. 'Or just about anywhere. Pretty much everyone in Serdio, Tiberoa, and Mille Sesau know who I am, and they'll know that I'm dead by now.' I chuckled ironically. 'Well, that certainly poses a bit of a problem, doesn't it?'
I climbed to my feet, trying to think of some place that I had heard of a long time ago, but never been. There was another country...where was it? What was it called, anyway? Donaue, that's it. The Flower Country. The Donaue in Tiberoa had been named for it.
'Well, I've had good luck with the Flower City, so why shouldn't I had even better luck with the Flower Country? Besides...I might as well go, right?' I looked around myself, and sighed heavily. 'But where is it?!?'
***
Fighting the urge to just give up and live in the woods for the rest of my life, I trudged down the pathway, my legs about to fall off with each step. I could've flown, but that would attract too much attention as I snuck my way through the back woods of Mille Sesau, hoping I wouldn't run into anyone.
'But who in there right minds would be here, anyway? It's freezing out, and no one would see me, if I was careful.' That was all the self-encouragement I needed.
I stopped for a moment, and caught my breath. Out of shape, I hadn't seriously flown in awhile. Just short little flights to dodge a sword blade or something.
As ready as I could be, I took off running. There was a tree stump directly in my path, and I leapt up onto it, still keeping my pace, then leapt off it.
I started to fall, but I felt my wings, previously invisible, suddenly catch me a mere foot from the ground. I twisted my head around to see them.
They were relatively short, and looked like twin blue-white flames. They made no flapping motion, like bird's wings, but rather stayed stationary. How they functioned was a mystery, even to us Winglys.
Contented at last that my legs were getting a rest, and I was traveling faster than before, I kept on the path.
***
Regretfully, I came to a landing, and my wings vanished again. I had just passed a sign that read that Danaue was nearby. So, my guess as to its location had been right, after all. Yet another display of incredible luck.
After I had walked for a few miles, I was still walking, but mostly asleep, oddly enough. I woke fully with a start when my foot caught on something and I pitched forward.
I winced as my whole body was jarred by the impact of hitting the hard-packed dirt, and began to climb to my feet. As I did, I heard the sound of someone hissing through their teeth, as if in pain.
Quizzically, I turned around, still sitting in the dirt, and saw a young woman lying on the road, clutching at her ribs. I crawled over to her.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked gently. She rolled onto her side and glared at me.
"I was perfectly fine, until you came around daydreaming and nearly killed me!" She snapped, trying to sit up, but her ribs must have suddenly hurt, because she hissed again and fell back.
I shook my head. Such people were best left on their own. I got to my feet and turned to walk away. After only one step, I hesitated. Resurrection...another chance...a chance to change...
More memories came to me. The man disguised as Emperor Diaz...he had tricked me into commiting unspeakable crimes...I thought he had wanted to create a utopia, but he wanted destruction. Melbu Frahma, he had killed me.
A thought struck me. I couldn't create a utopia by violence, but resurrection gave me a chance to try to create a utopia by...kindness? Was it possible?
Finally deciding it was worth a try, and, besides, I should be a little bit nicer this time around anyway, I turned back around to the woman and approached her again. I bent down and picked her up gently.
She winced, then scowled. "Put me down. I'm just fine." She demanded.
Ignoring her, I headed off for Donaue. "You are from Donaue, right?" I asked.
She looked as if she really didn't want to tell me, but then she finally said, "Yeah, I am."
We walked on in silence for a long time. To break the silence, I asked, "So, what's your name?"
"Samantha." She said quietly. "What's yours?"
"Lloyd." I answered. "Are we anywhere near Donaue, or do I still have a long way to go?"
"Only about a mile."
"Okay. That should be fine."
A moment's more silence, and then, "Lloyd?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Sorry I tripped over you."
"That's fine. Oh, look, we're here!"
I stopped just on the border of Donaue, and looked into the land that stretched before me. Fields of flowers all around, and houses off in the distance. This place would be my new start. My new home.
I heaved a huge sigh of relief, for the first time in my memory, and resumed walking towards my future.
***
~~~
~Heal Me~
-By Melissa Etheridge-
(Just a few exerpts. It's a long song)
Ain't it crazy
For a moment there
This felt just like dying
But now I see that something inside
Is coming alive
Ain't it crazy
No use running from a revolution
I just surrender to this evolution
Ain't it crazy
For a moment there
I just gave up trying
But now I see
You can let the light in
You can begin again
Ain't it crazy
I lay me down in this sweet perfection
I am a witness to my resurrection
Make no mistake
I'm wide-awake
Ain't it crazy
Heal me lift me
Take me to the other side
I'll take what I've earned
These lessons I've learned
I'm ready for the ride
My battered heart will make a new start
Let everyone know
I'll be coming home again.
~~~
***
Well, what'd you think? R&R, please. I'm really happy with this story! :D Believe me, this is just the beginning! However...if it doesn't get reviews, I guess it's the end, ya know? The fate of Lloyd is in YOUR hands. Feel free to post suggestions, if you want a sequel. I need ideas, desperately!!!!! My brain is BLANK!
Okay, enough with the chattering...hope you liked it!!!!!!!!!