Miss: Omg

Miss: Omg. Dx I'm a horrible person!! Not updating for over a year… xD Gah. Stupid writer's block… I swear it's never ending. T-T

Mais: Excuses, excuses.

Miss: Realllly…. D: Now… Please do the disclaimer? So I can write?

Mais: -sigh- Fine. Miss doesn't own Tales Of Symphonia.

Warning!

There might be some OOCness… Maybe spoilers… so be careful. :3

Falling Over The Edge

Chapter One: Strange Clothing and a New Beginning

The seraphim could still feel the maiden in his arms, but her body seemed to have gone limp. His own mind was fighting to stay awake. 'What's… happening…?' Slowly his eyes closed, and all thoughts came to a stop…

"Look at that guy over there!" The loud whisper traveled over the soft wind, carrying from a teenage girl's lips as she pointed a slim finger towards the grassy park area. A second girl followed her finger's direction, "Oh! He's kind of cute," squealed the second girl, "too bad he's wearing that strange… purple… spandex outfit." The first female nodded, a sad sigh escaping her lips as the pair continued their walk.

The purple clad man grunted slightly, the sound of voices carrying on the breeze had awakened him. Slowly his dark brown eyes opened, and consciousness began to flow through him once again. He stayed quite still for a moment, his back against a tree trunk as he sat quietly in the soft, green grass. What had happened?

He thought for a moment. What had happened… 'I had been… on my way to Iselia. Yes. To… to visit Raine, and Lloyd, and the others.' He nodded, reassuring himself that that was true. His gaze slowly turned upwards, enough that he could see the bright blue sky above him.

'Then it stormed…' Slowly he brushed the auburn bangs out of his face, to no avail. They simply slid right back to where they had be-… "Raine!"

Quickly the seraphim jumped to his feet, hand falling swiftly to his sword's hilt. His eyes flashed in every direction, and eventually landed on the healer, lying silently on the grass not too far away from where he himself had been. Without hesitation Kratos made his way towards his companion, eyes gazing over her form for any injuries.

He knelt down beside her, knees crushing the wavering blades of grass. She looked troubled. A frown cracked his impassive face as he looked down at the maiden's face. Her features wore a worried, troubled look upon them. Her eyes shut tightly and suddenly flew open, a gasp escaping Raine as she jumped into a seated position, breathing deeply as she looked into Kratos' eyes.

"Raine. Are you okay?" The swordsman asked stoically, although he was truly worried. He just couldn't show it, he couldn't appear weak.

Raine blinked, memories of what had happened returning to her as she breathed quickly. "Y- Yes." She stuttered, quickly getting to her feet to look around. "Where are we?" Her voice couldn't hold very strong, it was breaking, but she wouldn't show weakness.

Using his knee to push himself up, Kratos gazed around as well, ignoring the worried feeling that held in his stomach. "I'm not entirely sure," he admitted finally, after analyzing the surrounding area.

It was strange looking place. The pair stood quietly in what appeared to be a grassy field with trees, and flowers, like you would see outside of the villages. But the grass ended. In every which way, it ended. The grass would simply stop as it seemed, to be replaced with what seemed to be a long, grey, slab of rock, perfectly flat. And it seemed never ending… it followed the edge of the grass, much like a river would.

But that wasn't the strangest part! Just beyond the never ending rock was a dark… ground, for lack of a word. They weren't entirely sure what it was. It was black, and had a yellow stripe down the center. And every once in a while, a big, noisy, shinny monster would go roaring down the dark flat surface.

After looking around for a second time, the seraphim sighed, "No. I have no idea Raine." He turned to look at the professor and seeing that memorable look in her eyes he froze, slight fright entering his mind. 'Uh oh… Here we go. She's going to go into-'

"Perhaps this is an ancient land! This could be a huge discovery Kratos!" Raine's aqua eyes lit up, and a smile crossed her face. "I must look at it more closely!" She began to make her way quickly towards the dark, flat area and fell upon her knees when she reached it. Gently she passed her hand across it, feeling a great heat emitting from the smooth surface. "How very interesting… I've never seen anything like this in my entire life!"

"Raine! Watch out!" The angel ran in front of the kneeling maiden, holding his sword tightly in his hands. A loud noise filled the air as the big monster ran towards them, but just before reaching them it swerved dangerously to the left and went around them. Over the noise the pair could hear another voice yelling, "Watch where you're going!"

"It seems… as though they do not wish to harm us."

Still in shock, Raine nodded quietly, agreeing with Kratos' statement. "Come on, we should get off this… thing." Kratos gently grabbed the professor's arm and pulled her to her feet, leading her away from where those strange things ran.

"Ex- excuse me…" A small, shy voice called out. Both head's turned towards a small girl with long brown hair held in two pony tails. Her small eyes gazed up at the two as she spoke, "Um… Mommy says that you shouldn't play in the streets. It's dangerous."

"Streets? This is a street? Or a road?" Raine inquired, her eyes once again glowing.

"Yeah. Cars and trucks and vans drive on it. It's not safe to be on it, you could get hit. You're supposed to walk on the sidewalk." The young girl pointed below herself at the grey slab of rock.

"Thank you for your concern, my friend here simply fell onto the road." Kratos quickly interjected to keep the archeologist from opening her mouth.

"Marie! What are you doing? Talking to strangers!" And older woman was quickly walking down the sidewalk, she had the same eyes and hair as the young girl. Clearly, this young child was her daughter. As she reached her daughter, her eyes fell about the sword which hung at Kratos' waist, his hand habitually upon the hilt of his sword.

A scream emitted from the woman and she quickly grabbed hold of her child, "Don't you dare come near my daughter!" She spun on her heel and headed back in the direction she had come from, carrying her daughter. Marie was looking back over her mother's shoulder, waving goodbye.

With a smile, Raine raised her hand and waved back at the small child before turning to Kratos. "We mustn't seem out of place here Rai.." He paused, eyes wide as he stared at the professor.

"What is it?" Curiosity filled her as she wondered what he was looking at, he seemed to be looking at… her hair?

"Your hair… it's… blond."

"What?!" Raine's eyes shot upwards, trying to catch a glimpse of her hair. It was blond. Not as blond as Colette's hair; it was lighter.

"We have to find out where we are." Kratos finally stated. He had begun to walk away, beginning up the sidewalk.

"Wait! You probably shouldn't carry your sword with you… That lady had a strong reaction to it, and as you were saying; we want to try and fit in." With a grunt the seraphim nodded, he knew she was right. But he couldn't just leave it there for someone to take. It was the only weapon they had. His gaze rested on the tree he had woken up near.

Without a sound, he made his way towards it and climbed into its branches. He became completely invisible within the bright green foliage, only the sound of rustling leaves gave him away. After a few moments, he dropped out of the branches, landing gracefully on the ground, with a few leaves falling around him.

"Where are we going to go Kratos?" Raine asked, keeping stride beside him as they walked on the sidewalk. "I'm not sure Raine, but if we follow this 'sidewalk' it should lead us somewhere." He looked around. There seemed to be more people around here, and more… 'cars' as the young girl called them. There was also an excess of buildings. But they were nothing like the buildings of Iselia, simple or made of wood even. Most of them were like mini-Lezerano Company buildings which their Symphonian companion Regal Bryant owned. The buildings lined the streets, and some had two stories, or three even; although most had only one. And the windows! A lot of them had pictures on them, or some had snow white, headless people standing in a strange pose, wearing strange clothes; but as Kratos looked around at the people he realized these clothes on the strangely pale window people were not strange at all… at least, not to the people from this area.

"Perhaps," he began, looking towards Raine as he slowed his pace, "we should get some new clothing." Aqua eyes turned towards the seraphim, and suddenly she could feel it. Eyes, all staring at her and Kratos. "Yes…"

Unsure, the pair turned towards a building and pushed open the door. It was one of the buildings with the headless men and women in the window.

It was… amazing; to walk into the store. There were racks and racks of clothing. It was so unusual. Back in Symphonia most clothing was homemade, but here… everything seemed to be in bulk. Only a few seconds after entering the store an attendant came forward, a bright smile on her face.

"Hello! Can I help you at all?" The young girl offered. Raine couldn't help but smile, she reminded her of Colette in a way… so bright and cheery.

"Yes actually." Kratos responded, realizing that they had no idea what to do.

"Alright." The girl spun on her heel to face the clothing, her curly blond hair bouncing. "Let's start with you." Quickly, she grabbed hold of Raine's hand and began towards a certain side of the store, the angel following them silently. He couldn't help but smile slightly as he watched the pair. Raine followed their helper, her face looking absolutely fascinated yet frightened by some of the clothing.

"Here," the girl took a key off of a hook on the walls, and opened a door which had a mirror on the outside, "You can try these on in here." She placed the clothing she had pulled off the racks earlier, without much input from Raine, onto the hooks lining the back of the small cubicle which the door led to.

Slightly unsure, Raine looked towards Kratos who nodded. Slowly she made her way into the changing room and shut the door behind her.

"My name is Leeah by the way. I go to Port Royale Secondary School in town here. What about you guys?" She looked at Kratos.

"My name is Krat-" His eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. "Kratos." He finished. 'This isn't right… I… I look like a child!' Hiding his shock he smiled lightly, pulling his eyes away from his own reflection and to Leeah, "and she is Raine. We just arrived here today."

Suddenly his eyes got pulled towards an opening door and any concerns about what had happened to his age vanished. Raine stood quietly outside the open door, redness was filling her cheeks as she gently tried to pull down the short skirt she was wearing. And with it she wore a green dotted halter top, with her hands held shyly in front of her.

She kept her eyes low, embarrassed. She hadn't worn so little clothing since… since ever! It was horrible; it was totally unlike her, it was…

"Oh my gosh!" Leeah squealed, clasping her hands before her. "It looks so cute on you! And it seems to be a perfect fit as well." She walked up to Raine and smiled, looking her over. "Yes. A definite I would say. Don't you agree?" She smiled and turned her head to Kratos.

His hair hung softly on his face, only the slightest tint of red colored his cheeks as he nodded silently.

"Okay…" Raine spoke softly, barely audible as she turned back into the change room.

She came out, once again wearing her original orange jacket, white shirt, and beige pants. The maiden had draped upon her arm, the clothing Leeah had chosen for her. She gazed around the store for a moment, and quickly spotted Leeah and Kratos on the opposite side of the store.

The two girls chatted animatedly as they went through the men's section. Even Raine began to pick out some clothing for Kratos to try on. Soon there was nearly a mountain of jeans and shirts and sweaters… Okay, so it was more of a medium sized ant hill, but that could still be fairly large! The seraphim simply stared silently at the pile of clothing.

"Okay. Now go!" Leeah lead him to the change rooms and he went in. "I'm not trying on everything." He spoke simply as he began to undress himself behind the locked door.

"Yes, yes." A smile was still holding on the sales girl's face as she looked towards Raine. "So, are you two related?"

'I look so much younger in this mirror.' Raine thought to herself.

"…Are you okay?"

Raine's head quickly jerked towards Leeah, being pulled out of her thoughts. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm fine, and we're not related." She smiled.

"Oh, then are you dating?" Kratos walked out of the change room, and Raine's aqua eyes caught his and a blush crept quickly up her neck and into her cheeks. "N-no… We're just friends. It looks good Kratos."

"Oh. And yes, it does." Kratos nodded and changed back into his original clothing.

"So, how will you be paying for this?" The pile of clothing had been all shoved into bags and the total rung up on the register.

Kratos froze for a moment. "Do you accept gald?" "Gold?" Leeah's eyes widened. "Oh no, we can't take gold. I'm sorry! There's a bank just beside here though, you could get it exchanged for money there. I can hold this stuff here for you until you return."

"Yes, thank you."

After a lengthy talk with a banker, Kratos had his own account and had exchanged only a few pieces of his gald for a rather large sum of money.

"Here." Kratos placed a few hundred dollars in Leeah's hand and received his change. The pair grabbed their bags and left the store, with Leeah calling, "Have a nice day!"

"Raine, it appears we've changed. Physically." Kratos spoke suddenly as they once again reached the park which they had woken up in. "Yes, I realized that as well." The maiden glimpsed quickly at the young Kratos that stood before her.

With a soft crunch, the bags of clothing landed on the grass and Kratos began his ascent of the tree in which he had concealed his sword. Sighing, Raine went to put her hands into her pockets and felt something in the right one.

With curiosity filling her eyes she pulled out what revealed itself to be a folded piece of paper.

"What is that?" Kratos asked, having come back down from his tree with a few green leaves caught in his messy hair. Raine began to unfold the paper, and then read it aloud:

Raine Sage & Kratos Aurion;

1638 Koralie Avenue

Torestill

Check Kratos' left pocket.

Kratos slowly reached his hand into his own pocket, and pulled out a ring with a key on it.

"A key?" Raine questioned aloud. "To unlock a door perhaps."

"Yes, the door to that address I would presume." With a sigh, the angel looked around. He didn't know where they where, neither of them did; so how in the world were they supposed to find this place?

Miss: Well. That's another chapter. Lofl. Wonderful. I don't know if I can still write. XD Hahaha. I'll… keep trying.

Mais: -rolls eyes-

Miss: Whatever…. Review please? Thankks.