Hi folks how's it going?! It's me, a full-ass adult with a a JRPG self-insert because I don't take myself seriously. I started this a few years ago out of sheer boredom and I've been plucking away at it ever since. I'm fully aware of the #discourse on self-inserts/OC-inserts but I also just think they're a lot of fun. And anyway, this is less "I got sucked into a video game, look at all my fave characters!" and more "I got whisked away to a different dimension, where the hell am I?" so that's totally less lame, right?

Now that I'm done justifying the genre, I hope you enjoy! Beginnings are always kind of rough, but I think I might have done okay. There are a few OCs in this chapter, but we have a main character coming next chapter, so don't worry :)

2016 Edit**: I rewrote a bunch of these first few chapters so if you're reading this for the first time then this doesn't apply to you but! It happened. I changed this beginning the most. Aged the character up and stuff. Okay bye have fun.

I flopped down onto my bed face-first, letting my purse drop to the floor with a dull thud. My summer job was pretty chill as far as summer jobs go - a tiny family-owned convenience store in a sleepy retirement town. However, it got surprisingly busy, and I currently couldn't even remember the last time I'd had a day off. The days were starting to blur together.

I gazed at the calendar hanging on my wall. It was still set to April, even though it was the middle of May. I'd been finished school for a little over a month, and I still had to struggle through the months until September before I could leave this town for the last time and get back for my final year of university. Back to my friends, back to a city I actually loved.

I lay in complete silence for several moments before I heard the loud clicking of my dog's nails against the hardwood. She paused at my bed, being the skittish little thing she was, and jerked forwards and backwards several times before actually making the jump. She immediately came around to lay directly by my face, silently demanding me to scratch her ears.

"You want an ear scratch, huh Nina?" I sighed deeply, and did just that. The house was strangely quiet. It was one of those rare weekends when I had the house completely to myself. My mom was out of town for the weekend. My four-year-old niece was visiting her grandparents, meaning my sister was probably taking the opportunity to party all weekend. Thankfully, I would not be seeing her.

I started doing my nightly ritual of checking through all of my social media apps, even though there wasn't really anything new to see - my job was laid back enough that I could usually check my phone between customers.

As I was closing my apps, I decided to check Pokemon Go, just for the hell of it. Nothing good ever really spawned near my house, especially at night, but the big church and graveyard down the street was a surprising hot spot for them, with two gyms and four stops.

I was greeted by the big black silhouette of what looked like either a Ponyta or a Rapidash. Either way, I practically jumped out of my bed, only pausing when I realized that it was pitch black outside. Was I really going to wander around my neighbourhood at 10:30 at night looking for a bunch of pixels?

I answered my own question by pulling on a hoodie and my boots. It wasn't like I lived in the bad part of town anyway. At the very least, I knew practically everyone on my street. I'd be fine. It wasn't the kind of outing I'd attempt if my mom was home. Even though I was 21 and lived on my own for the majority of the year, she still had a tendency to treat me like I was 12 sometimes. Being the youngest of three girls has that downfall, I guess.

I shivered a bit as the night air hit me. I live in Canada, so even though it was May, the nights still got pretty cold. I was just thankful the snow had finally melted.

I kept a watchful eye on my phone screen as I headed towards the graveyard. I'd brought my purse with me as a sort of "just in case", but I already regretted it. All it was really doing was weighing me down.

I half-expected there to be people hanging around, fellow Pokemon players training at the gyms or hitting the stops, but the rows of tombstones were completely deserted. I was a bit relieved, honestly. This made it easier to quickly finish what I came to do.

I'd made it halfway across the graveyard when two things happened. My phone had just given a short vibration (which turned out to just be a stupid Rattata) when a low "boof!" caught my attention. An old golden retriever had run up to me, wagging its tail.

"Hi puppy!" I said happily. Seeing a dog was enough to make me forget all about the purple rat on my phone screen (not that it would have taken much). My obsession with dogs was probably bordering on unhealthy, but I couldn't think of anything on this earth that I loved more, so I shoved my phone in my sweater pocket and crouched down in front of him.

The dog let out a tiny whimper, and I noticed that he was only putting pressure on one of his front paws. Something dark was smeared across his fur. Heart thudding in my chest, I retrieved my phone and turned on its flashlight to see that a large gash was spread across its front leg, and it was bleeding freely.

"What happened to you?" I asked, my voice cracking in panic. There was a lot of blood seeping out of that cut. I stood up and glanced around, looking for anyone that could help me. But of course, as I'd noticed before, the graveyard was deserted. He'd probably gotten loose, the poor thing.

The dog started barking, and then suddenly took off with a limping gait towards the church.

"No, come back!" I called after him, tears falling freely at this point. He had to belong to somebody – if the worn, leather collar around his neck was anything to judge by. I couldn't just let him take off by himself. He wouldn't survive! And I would absolutely never forgive myself if that happened and I'd done nothing to stop it.

So I started running after him, cursing my own laziness when the dog was still faster than me with a bleeding leg. He headed towards a thicket of bushes that separated the church parking lot and the nearby elementary school. Even with my flashlight shining into the depths of the leaves, I could barely see anything. The only way I was going to be able to find him was if I headed blindly into the bushes. What if there were wild animals in there, though? Poison ivy?

My inner debate was immediately settled for me when he began yelping loudly.

"Poor, stupid thing probably got stuck on something," I muttered as I began pushing dead branches aside. I raised my voice. "Puppy! Where did you go?"

I heard a rustle to my left. I turned, searching the darkness without much luck. I could barely see anything. How was I supposed to find him in all this darkness?

Another rustle, this time from behind me. I whirled around, and let out a startled yelp. A girl was standing there, one who had definitely not been there a moment ago, her hands clasped behind her back. She was silhouetted against the harsh light of the streetlamp behind her, but I could make out a braided crown of red hair.

"Oh jeez, you scared me," I said, laughing nervously. I ran my hand through my hair and looked around again. "Um, listen, did you see a dog hanging around? He ran into these trees and he looked really hurt. I'm scared for him."

She shook her head, and when she stepped forward, I could make out a small smile on her face. "I have not. Perhaps you imagined him?"

"Uh..." She had an accent, one I couldn't place. Finnish maybe? Swedish?

The girl took another step towards me, allowing her hands to fall to her sides. My stomach clenched and my blood ran cold when I saw what she was holding -

It was a knife.

I took a step back, trying not to let out a fearful whimper, but there was another person standing right behind me, what felt like a tall man, judging by the way I slammed into his chest. His arm wrapped across my shoulders, the other hand clamping across my mouth to kill the scream building in my throat.

The girl came to stand right in front of me, holding the knife up to the light. It was strange, almost mechanical looking, and now that she was directly in front of me, I saw that it was glowing dimly in the darkness.

"This knife is nothing to be afraid of," she said gently. Her big doe eyes glinted at the man behind me. "However, the needle my partner is holding may pose more of a worry to you."

"Whmmfh?" I bit down on the man's hand, just as he used his other hand to stick a syringe into my neck. The panic causing my heart to race slowly stilled, as dull exhaustion seeped into my bones, causing me to slump in the man's arms. I was vaguely reminded of when I got my wisdom teeth out – the world slowly started turning black, and the last vision I had before passing out was the girl's ruby red lips pulling into a serene, almost oblivious smile.

"...ading on...ana."

The world slowly came back to me in hazy fragments. I could hear muffled, unfamiliar voices, and was aware of the feeling of hard, cold steel beneath my heavy body.

Heavy...my body felt so heavy, like my limbs were made of lead. I tried to lift an arm, but I couldn't move it an inch. It almost felt like it was strapped down. Why was I so heavy? Why did everything hurt? What...what had happened? I just wanted to go back to sleep.

"And...urry up. Lor...and is wait...n a report."

I felt something gently touch my forehead. A bright light suddenly erupted in front of my eyes, and I squinted, groaning in protest.

"...would appear she's waking up."

The light had cleared away some of the haze in my mind, and I was beginning to understand that something was very wrong. I struggled to open my heavy eyelids, but forcing them to adjust to the light was a difficult task.

"It's just as you said, Dr. Elias," a voice directly above me said in wonder. "There's not an ounce of mana anywhere in her body. She really must not have a mana lobe. That's amazing!"

The light went away. I felt it safe to open my eyes, and the first thing I saw was the face of an unfamiliar man. He loomed over me, giving me a look of wonder from behind a pair of thin glasses.

"Of course she doesn't," a low, lazy voice drawled from somewhere out of sight. "Neither did the last three. Honestly, Boris. Keep up. It's not 'amazing' if she's just going to end up escaping or croaking like the others."

Faster and faster I began realizing the situation. The room I was in had walls of tarnished steel. The man hovering above me was definitely some sort of scientist, and finally, the most horrifying conclusion of all:

My arms weren't heavy. I couldn't move them because I was strapped to a table.

"R-Right," the scientist said hastily. "My apologies."

I heard slow footsteps clunking against metal and a second face entered my vision. It was another man, a sleek, blonde braid slung over one shoulder and a pair of glasses perched on his elegant face. He smiled, but it was far from comforting. It was that kind of smile that a creepy little kid gets right before he kicks the cat into the pool. Devious.

I opened my mouth to scream, but it died in my throat when he placed a long finger against my lips.

"Don't waste your energy, darling. It isn't going to accomplish anything."

"Who the fuck are you?" I demanded, thrashing against the metal restraints that held me in place. "Where am I?"

He ignored my questions in favour of roughly grabbing me by the chin, turning my face from side to side to examine it.

"Hm, you seem to be in better health than our previous subject...then again, perhaps I am only remembering her in her final moments. She'd grown so thin, the poor thing."

"Answer me!" I screamed at him, but fear warped my voice into nothing more than a pathetic whimper.

"My name is Dr. Elias, if you really must know." He retrieved a flashlight from his pocket, like the ones that doctors use to see down your throat. He used two fingers to hold my lids open and shone it directly into my eye for a brief moment. "I must say, you're quite lucky. Out of all the people on your miserable excuse for a planet, you were chosen to be a part of our experiment."

"E-Experiment?" My whole body grew cold at the word. All I could think of was horror stories I'd heard about people being kidnapped by sick psychopaths and getting picked apart like a damn frog in a high school lab. My heartbeat immediately kicked into overdrive. Was that going to happen to me? Was he going to torture and kill me?

"Aw, don't cry." He wiped away tears from my face that I hadn't even known I was crying. "You're going to help a whole world of people with your little mana-less body. I just know you're going to be the one." He'd begun stroking my face, and a serene smile now crossed his lips. "Lord Gilland's gonna be kissing my feet when I'm done with you, little mouse."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said desperately. "Please, just let me go!"

"Boris," he said calmly. "Grab the mana serum, would you?"

The man, Boris, was starting to look a bit nervous at my crying, but he did as he was told regardless. I latched onto that hesitation as soon as he'd returned, carrying a syringe with a long needle and filled with a dull, purple liquid.

"Please help me!" I begged, throwing myself against my restraints once more. "Don't do this!"

"Do you think this serum will work, sir?" He trained his eyes on Elias, completely ignoring my pleas for help.

Elias took the syringe and examined it carefully. "We will find out as we always have, Boris – through practice." Using one hand, he firmly held my head in place, turning it to the side to expose my neck. I barely had time to gather air for a scream before he plunged the needle into my neck.

That was when I screamed. It was unlike anything I'd ever done before, a loud, shrill sound that pierced the air and stung my throat. The pain from the needle was a sharp, intense burst of pain, and as whatever the hell was in that syringe began spreading through my veins, the pain increased, rushing through my veins like...I couldn't even describe it. It felt like fire. This must have been what poison felt like. It stole my breath from me, and yet I continued to waste what little breath I had by screaming...and screaming...and screaming.

Elias let out a laugh, continuing to hold my head in place. I began to feel nauseous, and I had to fight back the urge to vomit as a horrible ache erupted in my skull. With blurry vision, my eyes fell upon a door, moments before it opened and a frantic assistant hurried into the room.

"Dr. Elias!"

"What is it, Danielle?" asked Elias, sounding more than annoyed.

"It's...it's him," she said. "He's infiltrated the facility."

"Shit," Elias hissed. His hand left my head, but I refused to move an inch. The urge to vomit was becoming way to strong to fight, and each movement made it that much worse. "I wasn't expecting him so soon."

Because I was so focused on the woman in the doorway, I was able to watch with full clarity as something struck her from behind and she fell to the ground, unconscious. In her place stood a boy a few years older than me, with neat brown hair and a scar cutting up his neck, all the way to his cheek. He wielded an impressive-looking battle axe, and he currently held it stretched towards Elias and Boris.

He opened his mouth and began to speak, but for some reason, I couldn't hear his voice. His mouth formed soundless words, and I soon realized that I couldn't hear him because I was losing consciousness. I welcomed the blackness – anything to relieve me from the horrible nausea and pain.

Blacking out wasn't anything I'd ever done before, and after doing it twice in such a short period of time, I was beginning to realize that it wasn't something I was very fond of.

When I finally came around the second time, I felt like hell. My limbs weren't as heavy as the first time, which I assumed meant I wasn't tied down anymore. However, that was literally the only upside. A splitting headache raged inside my skull, and the nausea I'd been feeling before returned with full force.

"I-I'm gonna puke," I announced to no one in particular. I wasn't even sure if there was anyone around.

"Here." An unseen hand thrust a bucket in my direction, and I proceeded to empty my stomach into it. Each heave didn't really do much for my headache, but there wasn't really much I could do. As much as I hated puking, it was a relief to rid myself of the need to do it.

Once I decided I was finished, I fell back onto the bed, because yes, I was in a bed. It was really soft, warm and comfortable – a welcome change from the cold steel of that awful lab.

"How are you feeling?"

I stared around the room. It was dark, the only light coming from a couple of really weird-looking lamps – they looked like golden, glowing trees. From their light I could tell that it looked like I was in some sort of hotel room. A large bay window lay on the other side of the room, the curtains drawn, and it contained minimal, but fancy-looking furniture, including a dresser, a table and chairs, and another bed beside mine, separated by a wooden nightstand.

The boy who'd asked the question sat on this other bed. It took me a moment to realize, but I soon recognized him as the same boy from that...lab. Whatever it was.

"I've been better," I admitted, or at least, I tried to. My voice was hoarse and raspy, my throat screaming in protest.

"Here, drink this." He handed me a glass of water that had been sitting on the nightstand. I eased myself into a sitting position and happily gulped down its contents.

"Where am I?" I asked once my voice had partially returned.

"We're in Fennmont," he told me. "You've been out for a couple of days now. Carrying you all the way here wasn't an easy task."

"A couple days?!" I exclaimed. I immediately jumped to my feet, but was knocked back down by dizziness and nausea.

"Don't move so suddenly," he said sternly. "You haven't eaten in days, and the serum sapped your strength considerably. You should focus on resting."

"Do you think I care?! I need to get home!" Now that, as far as I knew, my life was out of immediate danger, I felt panic quickly surge up inside of me.

He placed his hands firmly on my shoulders to keep me from jumping up again. "I understand, but that's not exactly possible right now."

"What do you mean?" His gentle words were doing nothing to ease my nerves. "You said I'm in Fennmont, right? Where in Canada is that? What province?" I asked this, of course, assuming I actually was still in Canada. Something deep in my gut, however, told me that things were a little more complicated than that.

"Fennmont is the capital city of Rashugal," he said hesitantly. "Which is one of two major countries in Rieze Maxia, the other being Auj Oule."

I stared at him, trying to digest his words, but failing pretty badly. Rashugal? That name sounded...African, or something, but I'd never heard of it in my life. What was this Rieze Maxia, some kind of...continent? No, that didn't make sense. Unless...

No. I shut that thought down before it could even fully form. That Elias character had said something about my 'planet', and 'a whole world of people', but he was clearly mentally unstable, and so was I if I was actually going to turn to his mindless ramblings as a solution.

But then the boy gave my shoulders a squeeze to grab my attention. "Look, there's a lot I need to explain to you, but it's not exactly believable, so I think I should start by telling you that I am one hundred percent your ally."

"Um, okay..." What was he talking about?

"I mean it," he insisted. He brought one of his hands away to gently trace the scar running up his face. "I got this scar escaping from that bastard who tried to experiment on you. I was his first test subject."

My eyes widened. "Seriously? He did that to you? Who the hell is he, anyway?"

"His name is Elias Vindel," he said, and I could tell how much hatred he held for him by the way his jaw clenched just at spitting out the name. "He's a scientist who works for a group called Exodus, and his pet project is trying to develop mana lobes in people who don't have them." He placed a finger on my forehead. "People like you."

"M-Mana lobes...?" I had no idea what he was talking about, but it definitely sounded very scientific and complicated, so maybe I wasn't supposed to. "And he kidnapped you too?"

"Once. It was years ago, and I got jumped walking home from school by some weirdos who knocked me unconscious. When I awoke, I was strapped to a table with his smug face grinning down at me." He raised an eyebrow. "Sound familiar?"

"That's...exactly what happened!" I said excitedly. I mean, I obviously wasn't happy to be a part of some weird kidnapping scheme, but at least this guy knew what I was going through. Maybe he could even help me get home!

"Good, so we're on the same page." He abruptly stood from the bed and walked over to the table. Sitting on top of it was a weird-looking device that almost looked like some sort of knife – one that I recognized right away as the knife that girl had been carrying. He picked it up, weighing it in his palm, before turning back to me. "I managed to steal this from Elias when I rescued you. It's the spyrix they used to cut through the dimensional barrier and bring you here."

"Wait, what?" I gave my head a quick shake. "Dimensional barrier? What the hell are you talking about?"

He gave me an almost sad look. "This is the part of the story that's going to be hard for you to believe. It's going to sound completely insane, but you have to believe me when I tell you it's real."

I felt uneasy. Something told me this wasn't going to be solved by booking a plane ticket back home and filing a report to the police. Something a lot more complicated was going on than I realized.

"You've been taken to another world," he said. "It's called Rieze Maxia."

I wasn't sure how he'd expected me to react, but he was definitely surprised when I started laughing. I wasn't even sure why I did start laughing, but...that whole sentence was just so completely ridiculous that I didn't even know what to say.

"Another world?" I said. "Am I supposed to believe that? This is a joke, right?"

"I wouldn't lie to you in a situation like this," he snapped, dropping the 'spyrix' onto the table. "I know it sounds completely insane – I didn't believe it at first either. But after spending as much time as I have in this goddamn place, I think I'd know if this place is Earth or not, and it's not."

"I..." My eyes fell upon the glowing trees. He certainly sounded convinced, but how was I actually expected to believe such a story? He easily could have been just as crazy as that Elias guy. "I'm sorry, it's just..."

"I know you're scared." He came back over and sat on the bed again, lowering his voice into a gentler tone. "I've been through it – and I've seen others gone through it. It isn't just you. But if you want any chance of staying free from Exodus, then you need to accept it."

"I can't!" I exclaimed. My voice broke and tears welled up in my eyes. "I just want to go home."

His face softened. "I'm going to try to make that happen. I promise. But until that happens, you need to blend into this world. You need to become a Rieze Maxian, so that they'll never expect you of being anything but that."

I forced myself to look him in the eyes. They were green, a pale mossy colour that reminded me a lot of my dad. My dad who I didn't really talk to that much, who put all of his life onto Facebook, who was the butt of many of my family's jokes –

Who I'd never see again if I didn't listen to this guy.

"Okay," I said quietly. "Tell me everything I need to know."

Rieze Maxia. A world that was composed entirely of things called "spirits". Apparently, there was another world called Elympios that lay separate from Rieze Maxia, separated by something called the "schism". Exodus, the group that Elias was with, came from Elympios 20 years ago and were trapped here. From what Keegan knew (Keegan being the boy who had saved me), their main goal was returning to their home, which was a place that was quickly draining their supply of spirits by using things called "spyrixes". Since they didn't have mana lobes like Rieze Maxians and couldn't channel spirits, they had to kill them by using these spyrix things.

And that's where Keegan and I came in. This Elias asshole apparently had stumbled across the dimensional barrier to our world and realized it was a world without spirits. Since it was filled with humans with no mana lobes, he began developing a serum that would grow mana lobes within the brain so that he could use us to experiment on. That was roughly ten years ago, when Keegan was brought here, and now here we sat.

"What do you think?" he asked when the explanation was finally over.

"I..." Where did I even begin? "It's a lot to swallow."

"I understand. But surely you believe some of it?"

"I mean...I guess I have to," I said. I still felt sick, but at this point I couldn't tell if it was the thought of being away from home or still just side effects from the serum. Speaking of which...

"What about that serum?" I asked suddenly, running my fingers along my neck. They brushed over a patch of dried blood where the syringe had entered. "I'm not gonna grow a...a mana lobe, am I?"

"I'm still not entirely convinced that's even possible," Keegan admitted. "It's been ten years and Elias still hasn't gotten it right." He let out an exasperated sigh, as if he was talking about a little kid. "Anyway, I don't know. I don't think Elias got lucky enough to have his serum work on the first try, but that doesn't mean there won't be side effects."

"S-Side effects?"

"You should be fine," he quickly added, realizing how bad that had sounded. "I just mean the nausea and dizziness you're feeling. Since it was only one dose, I doubt anything serious will happen, but...there's really no way to tell."

I suppose there was no point in sugarcoating things for me. That didn't really seem like Keegan's style. Still, I was really scared. What if I ended up dropping dead tomorrow? What if I ended up with brain damage thanks to that asshole? I was scared, but I was also really pissed off.

"So, what now?" I asked him, fighting to keep my tone even. To my surprise, it was actually pretty easy. I felt a sudden burst of determination swell up inside of me, and even if it was only temporary, I actually felt a little better.

Keegan eyed the spyrix on the table. "Elias is smarter than I thought. He removed the spirit fossil from this thing, so it's useless as it is now."

"So how can we fix that?"

He glanced back at me in surprise. The action made him look a lot younger – or rather, more like his actual age. All of that brooding and contemplating he did made him look so old and tired, when he really couldn't have been more than a couple years older than I was.

"This thing is powerful, so any old spirit fossil won't do," he finally said. "I'd probably need to break into either the lab here in Fennmont, or back in Fort Gandala where I saved you to find one strong enough to power it."

"That sounds like it'd be hard," I commented.

He let out an irritated sigh. "You're right, it would be extremely hard, especially since they'll be on pretty high alert after me breaking in there the first time. They probably aren't just going to leave the thing lying around."

"So why don't we just wait until things have calmed down a bit?" I suggested.

"That's my plan exactly." He abruptly stood and walked over to the table. On one of the chairs sat a leather satchel, like the kind that old school children used. He brought it over and tossed it on the bed beside me.

"What's this?" I asked, but curiosity got the better of me and I started digging through its contents before he could answer.

"Your new identity."

I paused in the middle of pulling what looked like a textbook out of the bag. "Huh?"

"Keep looking," he said. "I'm going to be leaving for Auj Oule to throw Exodus off your track for a while. In the mean time, I've arranged for you to attend Talim Medical School as an exchange student from Sharilton."

"Wait, you're leaving?!" I let the bag drop to the floor. "Keegan, you can't just leave me here by myself. I'm totally defenceless! And you want me to attend a 'medical school'? I barely passed chemistry in high school, Keegan, I–"

"Calm down," he interrupted, impatiently I might add. "You don't have to become a doctor. You don't even have to pass. All you have to do is show up to class and pretend your story is true. It's only going to be until I'm able to find a replacement spirit fossil to send you home."

I bit down another annoyed comment. Instead, I started pulling stuff out of the bag. What I originally thought was a textbook was...well, it was a textbook. The title said "Complete Glossary of Medicinal Herbs in Rieze Maxia". Sounded very interesting. I tossed it on the bed beside me and kept searching.

"There should be an ID card in there," Keegan was saying. "There's also some textbooks you'll need, some cheat sheets on Rieze Maxia common knowledge, and more than enough gald for you to buy anything you'll need."

I lifted my head. "Gald?"

He sighed. "Looks like we'll have to spend a few days teaching you the basics, huh?"

"That would probably be helpful," I agreed. I found the cheat sheet he was talking about. Written neatly on it was basically a definition list – what looked like cities, important people, and just basic knowledge that I would need to know if I wanted to fit in. I silently thanked my lucky stars that I had someone like Keegan to help me through this, however moody he might be.

"Oh right," he said suddenly. "I should probably get you some food, huh? You haven't eaten in days."

At the thought of food, my stomach roared to life like some kind of vengeful monster. It was actually embarrassing how loudly it growled.

Keegan chuckled. "Right. I'll be back in a minute." He walked out the door, leaving me alone in the room.

I sighed and did my best to stand. My legs shook in protest and I was nearly knocked back down again. Never in my life had I felt so...weak. Hungry. I'd always considered myself lucky to be in as good of shape as I was in, despite my completely shit eating habits and lack of exercise, so to actually feel so drained was horrifying. I didn't like not having control of my body. I didn't like it at all.

I forced myself to drag my feet over to the window. Once there, I dropped myself onto the seat and pushed the curtains aside. A shocked gasp escaped my lips as soon as I did, because I really wasn't ready for the scene that lay before me.

Fennmont was...beautiful. Beautiful didn't even begin to describe it. It was a sprawling metropolis filled with light, with gargantuan trees that actually looked to have buildings carved into them. Walkways and bridges crossed over the water that ran through the whole city, and those same golden, glowing trees that lit up the hotel room were scattered across the city, giving off pollen that fell like beautiful, glowing snow.

This city...it was nuts. It looked like something out of a fantasy. The buildings were carved out of trees, and yet it looked so modern. Was this hotel carved out of a tree? How did they manage to carve a whole city out of trees? What kind of place was this?

This is Rieze Maxia, my mind told me, and my inner rant slowed down a bit. I guess all of this was to be expected of a world that was made of spirits and had magic and stuff. Still, I hadn't really begun to believe any of that bullshit, but...wow. Even the sky was incredible – it was tinted a beautiful emerald colour, scattered with stars and clouds and a huge moon that sat low in the sky. It was all too beautiful to be real, and yet...here I was.

"Wow..." I sighed, folding my arms across the windowsill and letting my chin rest against them. If I was going to hide out here for a little while, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. At least the view was nice, anyway. So, yeah. It wasn't all bad.

But even knowing how beautiful it was, I couldn't help but long for the red walls of my room. My hand reached out to pet a dog that wasn't even there, and my fingers closed around air, clenching into a fist.

Could I really do this? Was I really going to be able to just hang around this city while I waited to be rescued? How was I supposed to sit around calmly when my life was in danger? When I might never see my family again? The very thought of it caused my throat to tighten, and my eyes grew hot.

I had to be strong. That was what Keegan would tell me if he saw me cry. But even still, the urge to cry was almost overwhelming, and I squeezed my eyes shut to trap the tears inside. Okay. Deep breaths. I just had to stop thinking about it. I was going to try and lead a normal life – go to school, maybe meet a couple of friends – and everything was going to turn out fine.

That is, if I didn't get captured while Keegan was gone. Man, this sucked.

So there we go!

I haven't seen too many (if any) Xillia self inserts kicking around, so hopefully I don't do too awful. I do have a lot of this planned already, two huge parts in particular, so I don't think I'll get bored of it. I've always wanted to do a self insert, and this is the only one I've really stuck with.

I'm hoping that alternating between this and Oblivious (my Symphonia fic, if anyone is interested!) will keep a bit more of a steady stream of updates than before.

Next up: OC Maggie learns the magic of elevators and possibly gets herself into a sticky situation (already, god dangit)