Ouch, the back of my head is killing me. Darkness surrounds me, so I have no idea where I am or what I'm doing here. Opening my eyes might be a good idea.

Ouch. Brightness. Bad idea.

I close my eyes, and I hear a collection of voices near me, but I'm in too much pain to hear much of it.

"Sorry…wall."

"…worry…lette"

"He's…us…"

I'm lying on my back, but as I shift onto my side, my arm begins screaming out in pain. Ah, that's right, the wolf. I'm starting to remember now. The strange forest, the wolf chasing me, and that strange Frisbee girl saving me. That still doesn't explain why my head is hurting. Unless I hit my head and that caused me to hallucinate all that. That might make sense. Maybe I can think more after some more sleep.

_

I see myself over a great valley, with clouds all around me. A brisk breeze blows across my face. While I want to hide from the cold, it has an invigorating feel to it. I begin walking through the air, as the wind grows stronger. "Where I am?" I call out in confusion.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single footstep."

"Who said that?"

"I can remember asking those same questions when I first arrived."

"Did you also not get any logical answers?" I ask in frustration.

"As a matter of fact, yes," he said laughing. He began walking along the clouds to meet me. To my surprise, he looked to be no older than me, possibly a few years younger. "My name is Sydney, a guardian of truth."

"A who what of what who now?"

"Yea, they really shouldn't bring people here as they fall unconscious." I'm starting to get tired of this. Can't I get some straight answers? Although at a time like this, I have a feeling things aren't going to be that simple.

"So, what is going on here?"

The stranger, Sydney I believe, held his hands together and looked at me with a very stoic expression on his face. "Think back to when you were young. As long as you've remembered you've dreamed about seeing worlds beyond your own."

"Like my day dreaming about digimon?"

"Exactly, for most people the line between fiction and reality is a definite line, but you see how they aren't as separate as most would think."

He seems to know me better than I know myself. I've always dreamed about these worlds and wondering what would happen if things went differently. But those were just dreams, weren't they?

"Space, time, and thought, these blend together much more than any mortal can conceive. Even we only see a small part of it."

"Who or what are you?"

He lowers his head and I can see him contemplating his answer. This just raises my curiosity more. However, as he opens his mouth to answer, the clouds consume us, blocking out any noise.

_

"Sydney, where are you?" I ask, apparently to no one as I see I'm back in the bed I was in earlier.

"Are you okay?" a silver haired woman said running into the room. She places her hand against the side of my head and the pressure added to my headache.

"I'm okay Raine, just don't do that."

"How do you know my name?" she asked taking a step back. It's not a hard question. She's the healer from the game Tales of Symphonia.

Wait a second.

Raine Sage is standing over me, tending to my wounds. I just saw a blond haired person with purple wings that fights with Frisbees. That sounds like Colette to me. Okay, it seems a hallucination, insanity, or wormhole has taken me into my favorite game. I see logic is still intact.

"How do you know me?" Raine asked again.

She'd think I was crazy if I told her the truth, that or try to dissect me, and no offence to science, but I prefer my internal organs to stay internal. "I heard your name from Colette."

"Oh, I see, and where are you from?" I can detect suspicion in her voice, but that seems normal for her. Well, I guess somewhere far from here would make sense.

"Um, Luin."

"We don't get many travelers from there," she says, "since most people are busy rebuilding it."

Okay, so that means that Luin was destroyed so that means this is after the game. This means I have no idea what is going to happen. Just great… "Yea, I was traveling but then I found myself by the ocean where Colette found me."

"Well, I've been able to heal your arm, but you should rest a few days until your head gets better."

"I don't remember hurting my head during the battle."

Raine chuckles slightly as she looks to the doorway behind her. There is a somewhat circular hole there. "Colette means well, but sometimes she gets too excited. She accidentally swung your head through the wall there." Leave it to Colette to do something like that. Her clumsiness was comical in the game, but not when I'm the victim of it.

"That's fine. She saved my life back there and I really appreciate it." My life was in danger. That's something I've never experienced before. Not knowing if I'd live to see tomorrow really is a strange sensation. Tomorrow has always been a given for me. Normally I wouldn't have a doubt in my mind that 24 hours from now, I'd still be alive, but if it weren't for Colette, I might not be. This is not something a college freshman normally thinks about.

"Well, if you need anything, my brother Genis or I will be here. In fact, he's cooking dinner now so if you're hungry you're welcome to join us."

At that, my stomach loudly made its desires known. And if this Symphonia is like the game, Genis is a good cook. Maybe being here could be fun.

I try getting up but once again, the pain in my head stops me. Raine pushes me back into the bed. I guess I got up too fast there. "Just stay here for now. You don't want to push yourself too hard. It will be a while until dinner is ready."

I agree and try to get conferrable so I can get some more rest. The professor leaves the room and I can hear her arguing with her brother as I drift back to sleep.

"No Raine, that is enough red salty."

"But I think this could make it better."

"We don't want to kill him. Trust me, I can handle this."

Stomach, I'm sorry if Raine causes bad things to happen to you. For the sake of all things good and edible, please let Genis be the one to cook.

I stare up at the ceiling and realize that the wood forms an interesting pattern. There are so many circlely circles in there. The circles begin to fade as they spin. The circlely circles spin in a circle. You know, circle is a funny word if you say it enough. Funny circles! Good night circles.

_

I'd recognize that smell anywhere. Fried chicken, but not too fried that it isn't good. I get up from my bed excited to eat my mom's home cooking, but then I remember two important things. One, my mom doesn't cook chicken this good, and two, I'm in Symphonia.

I carefully get up, and the room spins around me. I can do this, small steps and hold on to something. Just follow the smell of the cooking and everything will be all right. My head still feels like it's going to explode, but this time I can walk, slowly, but it's still walking.

As I go into the room where the awesome cook is practicing the sacred arte, my desire to run over there and eat the entire chicken is nearly too much to restrain. "That smells great, Genis."

"Oh, Tiger, when did you get up?"

"When that caught my attention. Screw your sisters healing; just put one of those near the injured and they'll get back on their feet."

Genis chuckles slightly. "It might not be safe for you to have something like this after just recovering from your injuries."

I've survived on college food for the past month, so I think my stomach can handle anything. "Something that good is worth taking chances on." My legs still feel weak so I'm leaning against the wooden wall. My body is telling me to lie back down, but I hate just doing nothing all day. "How long have I been unconscious for?" I ask as the mage sets the fried chicken on the table.

"Well Colette brought you here about 1 AM last night and it's 7:30 PM now."

"Wow, so over 18 hours."

"Yea, take a seat, you look like you're about to collapse."

I feel like it too, so I sit down at the Sage's kitchen table. There house isn't anything vast, but it's a lot more than what is seen in the game. There was the bedroom I was laying in, the kitchen here, I can see a sitting room with a lot of books, and what I think is another bedroom off that. I guess that they didn't have time to program every little detail into a game. How is a game based of a whole other world like this though?

"Raine should be back soon and then we can eat?" Thoughts of food once again push away any thoughts of multiple dimensions. I can think about that when I'm not as hungry.

"I hope she gets back soon." Just remember Tiger, it's rude to eat all of the hosts' food before they get the chance to have a bite.

"Were you traveling alone?" he asks me.

I haven't had time to think about that. I could just tell them where I'm really from, but they probably wouldn't believe me, especially since I don't even know what's going on. For now, I think I'll just go with my Luin story.

"Yea, I was alone."

"Even thought things are starting to change, it's not wise for half-elves to travel alone."

Did he just say what I think he said? "Half-elf?"

"Yea, it's not hard to recognize my own people." Okay, so now, I'm in the world of my favorite game, about to eat dinner with two of them, and apparently, I am no longer human. This makes perfect sense. At this rate, my friends will become normal; I will denounce all technology, and not hurt myself in ways that perplex others.

"Dinner looks good," Raine says as she walks into the house, "I still say you should use more red salty.

"We can try that another time," he nervously replies, "or not at all," I hear him mumble.

With the three of us at the table, it's time to eat. Mouth, meet chicken; chicken meet mouth.

_

A/N: While this isn't my main project, I'm still having a lot of fun writing it. This is one the few stories where I can combine suspense and a good adventure with my trademark sarcasm. I plan to include most of the heroes from the game, but I'm not sure what all their roles will be. Anyway, please review.