Okay, some things to start off with about this fanfic (just skip this if you don't care).

Another couple is Klarth and Milard (I didn't have room to put them in the description). Also, I changed the summary from ArcheChesterOC to ArcheChester because I think that was confusing people. So instead I put the main couple out there... but I must warn you about some Chester/OC stuff in the future.

Second of all, sorry for the Tales of Symphonia characters not being as strong as normal... this is a Tales of Phantasia fanfic. The Tales of Symphonia characters were added when I started typing this up, so they're not as powerful as they should be. Again, sorry (just be glad they're in here if you like Tales of Symphonia). Tales of Symphonia couples that will appear are Lloyd and Colette, Zelos and Sheena, and Genis and Presea.

Also, on that note, there will be major spoilers to Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Symphonia.

The titles of the chapters are character title names for the narrator that I've made up. So, as you'll see at the end of this small chapter (other chapters will be longer) that characters gain titles at the end of each chapter. The narrator will always gain a title (so I have a chapter name), and sometimes other characters will gain titles or even skills. Yay for game references!

Another important thing to note, I play the Gameboy Advanced version, so I'm used to the Gameboy Advanced names for all the people and places... I've changed all of the names of the main people to the more common version (Klarth for Claus, Cless Alvein for Cress Albane), but the town names and such I don't know... so please let me know if there's a more common name for a town or minor character (or something else) that you'd rather me use!

Also, on a random note, it's kinda weird having a guy narrator since I'm a girl... so I hope I do well at it... Heh...

And with that, please enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Phantasia or Tales of Symphonia. They are owned by Namco.

--Nameless Man--

Where am I? Everything's so dark... and my body feels so heavy... I can barely move... Ouch, it even hurts to try... Something feels wet... and what's that rotten smell? There's something on me...

I push the thing up, but my strength seems to be shot. Somehow I manage to push it over enough to get most of it off of me, but the light from the sun is blinding. I cover my eyes with a bloody hand, waiting for my vision to adjust to the bright sky. Well, at least I'm alive... but then why do I feel so dead? Ah, my vision's returned to normal... I move my hand to push myself up into a sitting position. As I do, my body aches... every muscle strains with this small effort. Finally up, I take a look around at my surroundings. There are bodies littered all around me... bodies and blood. They look to be about my age, about seventeen or eighteen... The sight makes my stomach reel. I don't think I can describe it without throwing up... It's too sad and ghastly. I can't even tell what color my outfit is... it looks black and red. All I can tell is that I'm wearing pants with a long sleeved shirt.

I try to stand up, but I find it rather difficult. My body wobbles on my weak legs... I have to get out of here, though. I don't know what's going on, or why I'm here, but I have to get out of here... before I die as well. My stomach hurts... I think that's where the blood is coming from. Throwing my right arm over it, I slowly stumble out of the heap of bodies and towards a bunch of buildings... a city? Maybe I'll find safety there...

It's hard for me to walk. I glance around, looking for stick that can support me. I'm next to an ocean, on a beach. No branches. I slowly trudge out of the sandy area and up towards the plains, where there are trees scattered about. Ah, good, there's a nice stick... I slowly make my way over to it, but even that seems to take forever. With the stick in hand, I use it to brace myself as I walk towards the city. With every step, my head spins more... but I won't give up. I refuse to give up.

A few more steps and the world turns blurry. I stop and put my whole weight on the stick, unable to do anything else. I feel so weak... I hate this.

"...Hey! Kid!" a voice calls out, but only faintly. I can't even tell if it's real or not. My knees give in and I collapse into darkness.

--

"It was horrible... so many people..."

"Should we try identifying them?"

"We'd need the king's help for that, and I'm not about to work with that geezer."

Who are these people? I don't know these voices... Maybe I should let them know I'm awake... but this bed feels so comfortable...

"Maybe someone else around here knows them... Morrison-san, you said they looked to be in college, right? Maybe we should ask the people there about them."

"That's out of the question! The teachers are researchers for the king. Asking anyone at the college would alert the teachers, who would report to the king."

Feeling a little cold, I pull the covers up around me some more.

"Ah, look, he's waking up... maybe he'll know what's going on."

I finally open my eyes. There are many faces in front of me... do I know them? I don't recognize them at all... but that doesn't say much. They look blurry, but my vision is slowly clearing. We seem to be in a large white house.

"Hey there, are you okay?" one of the people asks. The boy looks to be about fifteen or sixteen, a little younger than me. He has spiky brown hair with a very small ponytail, and his curious eyes are just as brown as his hair. The shirt he's wearing is red with long sleeves and matching red gloves. There are many white buttons on his shirt, and a white ribbon around the collar that falls down behind him on both sides. He has blue overalls with brown straps and two swords strapped to each side of him. To complete his odd look, his blue pants were stuffed into red boots.

I nod to his question. "Who are you?" I ask so weakly that I can't tell if he heard or not. He smiles reassuringly to tell me that he heard.

"My name's Lloyd. Lloyd Aurion. This is my dad, Kratos Aurion," he said pointing to the person behind him. The resemblance is easy to see. While Kratos' hair is lighter, it's just as spiky and even more wild. He has the same brown eyes as Lloyd, except his are much more serious. His outfit is pure blue, and his shirt is dark blue with a light blue cross pattern on it. He has a white turtle neck collar, but over it and his shoulders is what looks to be a minor dark blue cloak; it comes down to almost his wrists in a point on either side, but in the back it goes all the way down to his ankles. He wears sleeves, but they're not connected to his shirt—his shoulder would be bear if not for the cloak. The sleeves are deep indigo with a dense white part at either edge. Connected to the sleeves are cobalt gloves that do not cover his fingers. He has two very large cobalt belts, the lower of which seems to hold his long sword. His pants are navy blue, and down where his boots come up are what look to be four more cobalt belts, two above each boot. He has blue shoes with a white cloth coming up from under them to wrap around his ankle and vanish under the boot belts.

All of these people seem to be wearing odd clothes...

"This is Colette Brunel," Lloyd continued, now indicating to the girl next to him. Colette has long blonde hair and eager blue eyes. She has a kind, yet worried face. She wears a white dress, and over it is a cloak even odder than the one Kratos wears. There are four parts of it that I can see since I can't see her back right now. The front two parts are identical and go above the front of her plain white dress, leaving the center of the dress open to see; they each have a golden button with a blue line coming from three directions. The lines that go up stop barely past the button, but going down they each form what looks to be the design of a spear. The last two lines go inside and look like they would connected if the two parts came together there. Instead, the connection of the front two parts is only a little below the line. The other two parts of the cloak that I see cover her shoulders and go down in points about to her elbows. She wears a long, gold necklace that tucks in under the top of her dress. Her sleeves are pure white with a button at the end, and her dark blue stockings go into her white boots, which match her gloves perfectly.

"And this is—"

"Lloyd, you're bombarding him with too much at once. Give him some room," an older man says. This man has a turban over his head with bright red hair peeking out from under it. He has one large cape covering the upper part of his outfit and that comes down around his legs in the back. While I can't see much of his outfit, his arms are bare except for his brown gloves and four bracelets on his right arm. Most of his outfit seems to be either dark brown or tan. He has a red guard coming down from his belt between his legs. His pants are tan and seem to merge into his shoes. On his right hip he wears a bag. The strap goes up under his cloak. "All of you should get back to what you were doing earlier. It'll be easier on the boy if there's only one person here."

With some grumbles from the youngest of the group, most of the people left, including Lloyd, Kratos, and Colette. The last man to speak was the only one to remain. He takes a seat in the chair that Lloyd previously occupied.

"Let's try this again... my name is Michael N. Morrison."

I nod to show him I understand.

"What's your name?"

I pause, thinking. That's a good question... what is my name? I... I don't remember. I don't remember anything before waking up in the pile of bodies. "I don't know."

Morrison seems to think about this answer before asking his next question: "Do you know anything about the bodies on the beach?"

I shake my head. "No. I only remember waking up in them... beyond that, I don't know anything."

Morrison ponders more. He then says, "You're lucky to still be alive. Those wounds were no laughing matter... you're still covered in red. If it wasn't for Raine's healing powers, you probably wouldn't have woken up."

"Raine?"

"She's another person that was in the room... you'll have time to thank her later. Right now, you need to get washed up. You're a mess. Can you stand?"

I pull my arms back and slowly push myself up to sit on the bed. I throw the covers off of myself and put one foot on the floor, then the other. I try to push my body up above my legs, but I still feel very weak.

"Do you need some help?"

"No... I'm fine." Maybe it's a lie, but I have to show him that I'm strong enough to do this. I try again, putting more effort in it this time. I manage to stand, though I feel very wobbly. Morrison nods. "There's a bathroom just out of this room, the first door on the right. Take your time. I'll leave some clothes in there for you."

?? has gained the title of Nameless Man. It is a title given to one who can't even remember his own name.