CHAPTER 2: RESET

I woke up on my side, not too far from a lake…shiver...I think I'm going to look away from that for a bit. Okay...trees, clearing, it's mid-fall, and real sunlight is touching my face. I'm also sore all over from laying in the position I was in: "Argh, why did I have to wake up on my right side?" I rub the back of my neck and as I brush my hand over my ear...I notice that my ear is pointed...one sec. My vision is also a bit weird...clear without my glasses weird. I begin to panic, my thoughts a blur. I died. I jumped in the water and it rushed in my lungs after I got pulled under…

My family mourned...my parents...my sister...everyone...I didn't get to say goodbye. Tears fill my vision as I grasp at the grass at my knees… "I'll never get to *sob* see them again."

_R_E_S_E_T_

After hours of crying myself to sleep, I wake up and see it's midday. I begin to realize that I have no idea where I am.

I look around, I'm in a clearing: there are clumps of pulled grass where I was having my breakdown, a lake that brings memories of my death, and a forest of pine and birch trees around me...am I in Europe somewhere? The sky is a bit dreary but relatively clear and the sun is at its peak, so it shouldn't rain soon…

"Why didn't I check myself after my surroundings?" My voice is familiar but not my original voice...where did I hear it? Hesitantly, I move close enough to the lake to see my reflection...is that...Robin from Fire Emblem? "Ok...I'm an anime protagonist now….wait." No. Those eyes are different, my hair is darker, and my ears are pointed… "Am I...Grima?" Ok, time to panic now. "What. The. Flying. Eldritch. Heck." Why am I Grima!? Why am I younger!? "WHAT THE FRICKIN HELL IS GOING ON!?" And the animals are leaving now.

"Don't go…" My voice cracks as I desperately call out to them. "I don't want to be alone…" As I calm down I begin to ask myself why am I panicking so much? Because I died? No excuse to lose my cool...ok. In unfamiliar scenarios my Dad always told me to check my surroundings, check my physical state, inventory, then find safety... civilization comes last on the much larger list...

I start rummaging through the many, many pockets on my person, doing inventory. "Okay, my 3ds with charger and Pokemon Ultra Sun? Check...oh neat it's dry! Hmm...my wallet? Useless but I'll keep it. Swiss army knife? Valuable, keep. Electrical tape? I thought I took that out of my pocket? Keep.

My phone, charger and headphones? Surprise, surprise still there. Mark of the Defile on my right hand? Good to know... let's put the gloves back on. Magic tome with Grimleal symbol? Let's keep. Glowey pendant with a dragon engraved on it and a purple gemstone that I made? My friends helped make it and it's pretty good. Let's keep." I then notice something I don't recognize.

"And what's this?" It's an odd token, a key-sized thing with a rounded body and two bladelike pieces wrapping around the sides, similar to the blades on Halo energy swords, very sharp...and the pictures: one side depicts a... mansion? No a school. It is surrounded by trees and there are teens running around, some normal looking others not, and is that me? I'm sitting on a bench laughing alongside what is clearly Nightcrawler and two girls... I'll think on that later….the other side gives an image of a floating island, waterfalls flowing off its edges and various other points, towers jutting from different places, towering above the mountain tops...these entrancing designs were moving...wait. "Is that braille marked on the side?" On the first side I see in braille: 6, 1, and 6…. I'm in Marvel comics...of course I am. But where in the timeline… "Oh well. Let's find civilization me." I get up and pack everything back in the pockets, pouches, and satchel that the Tome was in. Then I walked.

_R_E_S_E_T_

I wander through the woods, skirting a safe distance from the lake and eventually spy a town. "High ho! High ho! It's off to work we go!" Ooh! I got the uncannily perfect singing voice that Manakete seem to have! Cool! Hmmm…. "You are the Ocean's gray waves~ Destined to seek life beyond the shore just out of reach~" I'm not feeling any pain this should work. Test two:"Sing with me a Song~ Of Silence and Blood, the rain falls but can't wash away the mud~" As I sing lyrics to Lost in Thoughts All Alone, I walk closer to the town in the distance... depending on when I am is how badly my appearance will be received...better hope I meet someone with empathy cause otherwise I'm getting killed right after rebirth. "In Endless Dreams, countless realms collide~ Hope falls only to rise, like a changing tide...but all dreams come to end~ Sing with me One Last Time, for Light's sacrifice. Endless Dawn came but not without a Price!" And I kept walking…

_R_E_S_E_T_

I realize that the distance is much farther than I expected and I am very thirsty now…"Water…" Wish I knew magic, could have water by now…