I wake up to my face in the dirt, I groan and get up, seeing a seemingly endless grassy field, with a tree on a hill being the only landmark. I walked towards the tree, and saw the girl from the tube standing there, facing away from me. As I approached, I heard the sound of a loud bell ringing, slowly. The girl said "It's such a mournful sound." I stood there, confused, before she continued "The bell, it hasn't stopped, in all these years." I decided to ignore the bell and asked "Where are we?" I would have thought I was back on earth again, but the bell and the girl served as evidence that this wasn't earth. "Elysium, the birthplace, where this world came into existence."

I was shocked, just touching that sword had brought me here. She turns around to look at me, the first thing I notice is the glowing green crystal on her. I ask "Why do you have a crystal on you, it's just like the one on the sword." She responds "Your not from around here, are you." "From Elysium? No I've never even heard of this place before." "Not Elysium, Alrest, the world resting atop the cloud sea." I thought about it for a second, she already knew, from what I could tell so there was no harm in telling her. "No I'm not, I don't know what any of this is, all I know is that I fell from the sky, touched a glowing sword, and now i'm here." I knew I was taking a risk by trusting her, but I don't know what's going on and she may be the only one who can help me. "Wait a second, I died, didn't I? Is this the afterlife?" I started to panic, I don't want to die. "Yes, you did die, but this isn't the afterlife, this is just a memory, a memory of what once was." "Agh, that guy, the masked guy, Jin, he stabbed me, dang it! If I wasn't dead, I'd kick his, wait, I'd just die again."

I sat down, depressed "Why couldn't I have just ran, instead of following them, wait a minute, you were there, in the tube, why were you... How are you..?" "My name, is Pyra, I brought you here, you touched my sword." My mind was spinning, "That was your sword? Why did you bring me here?" "I brought you here because I don't think you should have died. When you touched my sword, we were bonded." "Bonded? What do you mean?" "The bond between the Blade, and the Driver. I know you've gone through a lot, but, I have a request, could you, take me to Elysium. The real Elysium." I almost nodded, but I stopped myself "I can't, I'm sorry, but I'm dead" I put my hand on heart and made an X with my fingers for emphasis. "No pulse, no breath, nothing." Pyra gazes directly at me "I will give you half of my life force, so you can be revived." I stare in shock, realizing that this is a second chance. "You will be revived as my driver, the driver of the Aegis" I nod my head "Then put your hand on my core crystal." I hesitate for just a second, before touching the glowing crystal, green once again engulfes my vision. But this time, i'm ready.

I appear in a green void, and a voice appears in my head "Well well well, looks like you, my friend have bonded with the Aegis. I knew this would happen, my foresight toold me that much, but I have turned it off for the rest of your journey. This is the last time we will be meeting for the near future. I stripped you of your old name, so you could choose a new one for this new world. So choose, what will your new name be?" For a long time I thought about it, it was an important decision after all, and than I decided. If I was going to live in this world, I would reach the top, no matter what, "My name, is Ryse."