Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Symphonia or any characters, items, or events that take place within it.

Prologue: Mind over Matter

Mind and Matter.

The two driving forces of our universe.

They represent balance, never one outweighing the other.

When one would become too immersed in his thoughts, the Earth's matter would keep him grounded in reality.

When one would suffer from the harsh reality, he would find refuge in his dreams.

Dreams.

Dreams are fantasies that one uses to escape from harsh realities. One may find inner peace and true happiness in his dreams. He may shed his mortal coils and enter nirvana.

He may wish that he could live his magical dreams.

He may wish that his fantasy would become reality.

He may wish that his mind would take matter.

A ridiculous notion.

If his mind took matter, his dreams would come true.

But so would his nightmares.

The darkness of his mind would engulf his light.

This is why the balance of mind and matter must never tip.

The results could be positively cataclysmic.

But what if the scales DID tip?

What if mind truly DID overwhelm matter?

Let us journey to the world of Sylvarant.

It is a dangerous world, ridden with disaster and wrought with peril. It has been ravaged by countless creatures of nightmare.

Yet in all of the shadow, there is a sliver of light.

The light of hope.

The light of Colette Brunel, Chosen of Salvation.

She is a beacon of light in the deep fog of chaos.

As all do, she has magical dreams. She dreams of light and joy, of redemption and salvation.

But as all do, she has her nightmares. She dreams of horrid monsters, twisted creatures of death and destruction. She dreams of her family being taken from her, her beloved town being destroyed, her friends dying one by one… she hears their screams of agony, their cries of anguish… she is helpless to stop their deaths, she can only look on in horror…

Let the scales of that world begin to tip.

Let her mind take matter!

Will her light remain shining bright?

Or will the darkness engulf the flame of her soul for all eternity?