Disclaimer- I don't own the Final Fantasy characters in this story. I only own Trevor…so far.

Author's notes- I've been planning this for a while and since Brothers of Terra is done, I can devote more attention to it. Also, there are some sword terms I'll use that I suspect many people won't know. So, I'll try to describe them as best I can. If it isn't clear enough, please let me know.

Krimson- Yay! Another story!

Rashnefein- It's funny that you would start a new story now. Brothers of Terra is still listed as incomplete.

Krimson- Heheh. I know.

Damien- You're just going to make them wait for it?

Krimson- Yup!

Damien- You're as evil as I am.

Krimson- A side note. I'm doing this instead of continuing a Naruto story I was writing, so you readers should really appreciate what I'm doing for you by thinking of you all first. Please reward with reviews.

Rashnefein- I'm gonna go steal Damien's coffee again.

Damien- DAMN YOU!!!

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It was another cloudy day on campus. I stared up at the sky as I walked back to my dorm. It looked like it was about to rain, as usual. I don't think I had seen a blue sky in months; it was always some ugly shade of gray. It felt somewhat fitting at the time though. My father really let me have it earlier. My grades were horrible.

FLASHBACK

"Three C's and a D?" my father yelled at me. It made sense for him to be pissed off. College was expensive.

"I have an A in Tai Chi." I said, trying my best to calm him down. Of course, the only thing we got graded on in that class was a two page paper on the history of Tai Chi. Even so, I had been doing it for a year and was pretty good at it if I do say so myself.

"That's not an academic!" he bellowed. "Trevor, I want you to go study from now until you go to bed!"

I couldn't fight him on this. If I argued too much he might threaten to cut off my tuition. "Yeah, alright." I sighed. "Dad, I'm gonna go get something to eat." I said, trying to sound more upbeat.

"Okay. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

END FLASHBACK

My father wasn't a bad person, he could just be a little harsh at times. He meant well, but I wasn't really in the mood to do anything. Especially not study.

If that wasn't enough, it was November, the month that my mother's brother and sister died. It was a tough month for everyone. I met my uncle only a few times. He was nice. He even bought me a mini synthesizer when I was four. He died a few months later. I never had the opportunity to meet my aunt.

The wind blew my hair in my face from behind me. I hated when it did that. If I had shorter hair it might not have been so problematic, but my hair grew below my shoulder blades. I hated having short hair. I couldn't keep it short because whenever I did, it would curl up on me. I hated having curly hair. I preferred my wavy hair.

I walked past the field where Sword Club met. I wished it was Friday so that I could vent some of this frustration in combat. Sword club was a group my friends and I started out of our love of swords and medieval combat. We only met on Tuesdays and Fridays. And here I was, stuck in Wednesday.

Also, if it was Friday, the next day would be Saturday and that meant pancakes for breakfast. Pancakes always were and always will be my anti-drug. Mostly because they were more like a drug for me in the first place. My roommate suggested that I check myself into rehab after I managed to load twenty-five pancakes onto my plate on one occasion, which I promptly ate.

I looked back up to the sky just as a raindrop fell in my eye. Great, it was raining. And here I am, five minutes from my dorm. If it weren't for the classes, the stress, the bad food, and the endless supply of drunken morons, college might have been fun. I just sighed as I headed for the campus pizzeria.

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I walked into my room, finishing my slice of what could pass for pizza. It was really just crust with cheese on it. And the sauce is the best part of a pizza. Oh well. As long as it didn't kill me.

"Hey." my roommate said. He was busy watching anime on his computer. I didn't bother asking which one. "Oi." I responded blandly. He paused his show and looked up.

"Rough day?" he asked.

"Mmmf." I ate the last bit of crust from my pizza and sat on the edge of my bed. "My father saw my grades." I explained.

"Ooh, ouch."

He knew about my grades since I always complained about them. I guess I really was at fault for not studying enough, but dammit! Studying was hard. I got distracted too easily. Bloody ADD.

I laid down on my bed and tried to relax. It was hard to do considering the guilt trip my father put me through. I hated days like this. Normally, I was the laidback, somewhat goofy, quiet guy of the group. But now…eh, oh well. I closed my eyes and settled in for a quick nap. Before too long, I was asleep.

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I had an odd dream.

I was floating above a ship. Or at least, it looked like a ship. It had propellers on top and was way too flashy for a normal ship. It was docked in…wait, that can't be right.

It was sitting in a small pool of water. It had no access to the sea. Why would someone build a ship in a place like this? I had weird dreams.

I felt the wind blow in my hair as I started falling closer and closer to the water. Oh boy. A falling dream. I watched as the water approached me at an alarming rate. I closed my eyes, ready to wake up when I hit-

There was a sudden rush of cold as I fell under the water's surface. My pulse quickened. I looked around and saw the bottom of the ship. I coughed and the rest of my air escaped in little bubbles. I watched as they raced toward the surface.

Alright. This is getting a little too real.

My lungs started to burn. They hurt. Why did they hurt? If this was a dream, why did they hurt?

Dream or not, I swam up, towards air. My arms quickly became heated and tired. The lack of oxygen was already getting to me. Just as I felt myself succumbing to unconsciousness, I broke the surface of the water. My breaths were quick and shallow. I floated on top of the water as I got a feeling for my surroundings.

Okay, I'm floating in a pool next to the weirdest ship I've ever seen after I fell from the sky for no good reason. Peachy.

Wasting my time here was getting me nowhere. I gathered my strength and swam to the ship's side, looking for a way in. After a few seconds I found an open window. I managed to pull myself in, although with some difficulty. Hey, you try climbing in a three foot high window while swimming in a pool.

I fell into what looked like a boiler room. There was huge tank next to me with pipes leading to different parts of the ship. There was also a stairway leading up another floor. All in all, the room was huge.

My clothes were soaked. I tried to wring out my shirt, but there was just so much I could do. I found a wall to lean against and decided to rest. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I figured that if I got some rest I might be able to sort things out later. Maybe I wasn't that far away from campus. Although, whoever did this to me would rue they day they decided to get drunk/stoned/whatever else, and do all this to me.

I didn't get much of a chance to rest because I heard a loud clang after a minute. Followed by another one. Then a third. It didn't sound like something that a boiler should be making. I sat up to check it out, but I backed off when I heard the voices from the second floor.

"Wow, you're really athletic, Princess. I think I'm falling for you!"

"This is nothing. I have been training to escape the castle, after all."

Wait, I know those lines.

"What a waste. If only you weren't a princess..."

"We have no time for idle banter. Come, let us move on!"

Those lines were from Final Fantasy 9. I played that game more times than I can remember. But…there was no way this way real. Someone must've been setting me up.

I was about to follow them when I remembered something. I ran back into the shadows as a Pluto Knight jumped onto the boiler and ran after the people who were just here talking. Better safe then sorry, but if I was right, then that was Blank. I ran up the stairs and pressed myself against the wall next to the doorframe. I heard voices from the next room.

"You can just..." That must have been Zidane.

"...leave the princess..." That one was Cinna.

"...to us!" That was Zidane, Cinna and Blank together.

The sounds of battle echoed through the room. Metal clashed against metal as the members of Tantalus fought to keep the Princess of Alexandria under their protection.

What was I thinking? I was taking everything too seriously. This was just some dumb trick that someone was playing on me. At some point soon, everyone involved was going to jump out and yell "We got you Trevor!" I'd smack them upside the head for throwing me in a pool, then we'd all have a nice laugh and go get takeout or something.

I heard an explosion and what sounded like metal crashing to the ground from the next room, followed by "N-NO!!! I hate oglops!"

I took a chance and looked through the doorway. Cinna, Blank and Steiner were all running around trying to avoid a bunch of giant bugs. I don't believe it! They really look like the game characters. Zidane grabbed a hooded girl's arm and ran out of the room. One of the oglops bounced towards me and I caught it in my hand. I examined it to make sure it was real. It wriggled in my grasp as I tried to accept what I was seeing.

This is impossible. This is biologically impossible. How the hell…? Whoever was setting this up was doing a hell of a good job.

I let the oglop go and turned back to see what was going on in the room. Most of the other oglops were gone, probably crawled into the floorboards. Only Blank was left in the room. He dusted himself off and hung his sword on a wall, possibly so that it wouldn't rattle around later. He ran up a stairway on the left of the room. I walked up to the sword and took it off the wall. It was a two-handed broadsword. Perfect. Just what we train with in Sword Club. Checking the edges, I found the blade to be quite sharp. This sword was battle ready. I took it and looked around for some way up to the stage. The only way I could see looked like the stairs Blank just took.

I crept up the stairway as quietly as I could. Even if this was some very elaborate trick and I was going to have to kick someone's ass later, I decided it was better to go out and look good in a fight.

Ugh. I guess I had too much testosterone in my system.

I looked out on stage and saw Marcus locking swords with one of the Pluto Knights. Zidane was busy with Steiner. I didn't see the other Pluto Knight anywhere. They probably took care of him already. Vivi and Garnet were standing back. Vivi was shaking. From fear I assumed. Garnet seemed to be yelling at Steiner, but whatever she was saying, I couldn't hear it over the audience. They seemed to enjoy the fight.

Suddenly, Marcus broke through the Pluto Knight's defense and was able to land a serious blow to his gut. He then used the pommel of his sword (AN: the tip of the handle) to hit the knight in the head and knock him on his back. The Pluto Knight struggled to his feet. "M-my wrath ends here." He ran faster than I thought possible in that armor. That was Haagen's line. With him gone, only Steiner was left. Fortunately for me, Zidane backed off and regrouped with Marcus.

My turn.

I rushed out on stage, holding the sword low and at my side. As I passed Zidane and Marcus, I raised the sword above my head and swung it down, hard at my feet. I pole vaulted and kicked Steiner square in the chest. He fell back and almost slid off the stage.

I pried my sword loose and slung it over my shoulder with my right arm while my pocketing my left. I went over a checklist in my head. Blue jeans, dark blue shirt, awesome hair, cool sword, and a great entrance. Yes, I look good. I turned to face Zidane and the others. "Oi" I said in my usual greeting, with a smirk.

"Who the hell are you?" Zidane asked bluntly.

A part of me died right there. I just gave the coolest entrance I could and all I got was a response that was as cold as can be. Bloody hell.

I was about to answer when the ship started to take off. We all tried to get decent footing for the less than graceful take off. Everyone stood low so they could keep their balance better. All except poor Vivi. He was stuck on his stomach, digging his staff into the stage floor to stay in place. Rather than stand around doing nothing, I ran to his side and grabbed the back of his coat and pulled him to his feet.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah. Thanks mister." he said as he looked right at me. Now, let me tell you, Black Mages don't look nearly as weird as you might think. What with his hat and all, it looked more like his face was just covered in shadow.

"Please, call me Trevor." Yay! I introduced myself to someone!

"I'm Vivi."

"Nice to meet you Vivi." I was becoming more convinced that this wasn't a trick. I was still a little skeptical since everything could be explained on one level or another. If something else really bad happened, I might be fully convinced.

As if on cue, Brahne brought out the harpoons and had them fired at the ship. One of them nearly hit Garnet, but Zidane, being the hero that he was, pulled her back in the nick of time.

Steiner stood up over on stage right. Apparently a kick to the chest wasn't enough. With all that armor it shouldn't come as a surprise.

Zidane, Marcus and myself stood between Steiner and the princess. Vivi stood next to Garnet, gripping his staff tightly, although I couldn't tell if he was trying to protect her or get comfort from her. It didn't matter, because at that very moment, Brahne launched a cannon ball towards the ship. It stopped in mid air and caught fire. I swear, the thing laughed before it flew behind Steiner and started growing. I don't know how he couldn't know that it was there.

"Hey, look behind you!" Zidane yelled.

Steiner looked at us all with contempt. "I'll not fall for such an old trick!" He stood in a Zorn-hut stance, with the tip of his sword pointing up and the cross guard next to his ear. With a yell he charged.

"Please, Steiner! Behind you!" Garnet yelled from behind us. I don't think Steiner even heard her.

"Surrender at once!" he demanded. His sword came down and made contact with Marcus' sword. They both held each other in place while Zidane and I ran in to surround Steiner. Zidane ran around to Steiner's right side while I took the left.

"It's a bomb!" Vivi yelled. I turned and saw it. The bomb had grown to the size of a small car. It could explode at any second.

"It's gonna blow!" Marcus warned. The bomb crossed its arms and the flames on the top of its head flew into the sky.

"Get down!" I yelled. Everyone backed away from the bomb and laid down on the floor. Steiner finally realized what was going on and fell backwards when he saw the bomb about to go off in his face.

Have you ever been around something so loud you heard a high pitched ring and started worrying if that meant you were going to go deaf? I mean really worrying? Yeah. That's what I felt.

The smoke cleared and I could see Brahne becoming smaller and smaller in the distance, which, in every conceivable way, is a good thing. I plunged my sword into the stage and rested against it. I still haven't gotten a chance to rest since I go here. If everything followed the game, then we would be crashing into Evil Forest in a few minutes. I should rest up.

I went over everything in my mind. I can feel pain, so this isn't a dream. And someone could've been killed in that fight. It's too risky to set that up, so it might really be real.

Maybe I really was trapped in the game.