A/N: So on Saturday me and my friends all dared ourselves to write a complete first draft of an entirely new novel by the end of the month. It'll be very hard, but I believe we can do it!

This is my novel. I'm posting it on here so I have motivation to actually complete this thing. It's an OC, an urban fantasy. And actually, the idea for this was inspired off a Kingdom Hearts FanFic. About the title... I think I'll change it later on since it's the name of one of the Final Fantasy XIII scores, but that's what I have for now until I come up with a better one.

Enjoy! Oh, and if you don't get the prologue- don't worry. You're not supposed to, lol.

 

~Fighting Fate~

By Shion

 

Prologue

Erin Mercer was about to die.

 

The sixteen year old turned the grimy pistol over in her hands. Everything was set- her note, the bullet and pistol, all of her valuable belongings in the hands of people she trusted.

 

She was alone- it was now or never.

 

Her throat constricted, her fingers uneasily flexing around the gun. Was she so sure that she wanted to go through with this? She had done her research- this was a permanent solution. Her family would be devastated.

 

But yet again, she had always devoted herself to the happiness of others. Now it was her turn to be happy.

 

Erin drew in a deep breath and pressed the barrel of the gun to her head, the cool metal sending icy waves on her skin. She tightened her grip once she felt herself relaxing her hold.

 

“Sorry guys,” she murmured, her voice almost a whisper.

 

Erin willed her finger to pull the trigger before she could stop herself.

 

~ ~ ~

 

Celia Vandergrift felt a sudden, splintering pain shoot through her head. The sensation disoriented her senses- it made her vision go topsy-turvy and sent a pulsing ring through her hearing.

 

She would have collapsed if she hadn't already been sitting down in an armchair. She brought her knees to her chest, forcing her teeth together. Don't cry out, don't cry out, she told herself. You're strong, you can live through this-

 

Apparently Celia wasn't doing a good job of hiding her pain, because she faintly heard footsteps pound over to her.

 

“Celia! Are you all right?” It was so painful that Celia couldn't recognize who the voice belonged to. All she could tell was the voice sounding feminine.

 

Celia wanted to answer her, but it throbbed so much that she couldn't move...

 

Just as she mentally screamed for the pain to go away for the thousandth time, it did. Not all at once, but gradually, slowly trickling out of her mind. She felt a wave of ease brush over her once it finally stopped, but as a result, she felt as if it took twice as much effort to move, walk, just to do anything-

 

Celia stopped breathing once she realized what had happened.

 

She helped herself up into a sitting position, blankly staring into the fire she herself had lit. The fire was supposed to be warm and reassuring from the way the heat lightly dabbled on her skin, but it wasn't tonight.

 

The girl who had rushed to help Celia, who she now recognized as Melody, knelt by the chair and studied Celia. “What's wrong?” Melody asked softly, in her voice as smooth as silk.

 

Immediately Celia felt an urge to pour out all of her secrets to Melody, but quickly realized that it was just the effect her voice had. Melody was the Pearl Mediator, after all. Her pearl gave her the ability to convince anyone and anything with her melodic voice.

 

Of course Celia wouldn't tell every little thing to Melody, but she did have to tell her what she just realized...

 

“My Counterpart is dead,” she muttered.

 

Melody furrowed her eyebrows. “What's that?” she asked, leaning in closer.

 

Celia gulped. “My Counterpart is dead,” she repeated, voice louder this time.

 

Melody's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. “Oh no... this isn't good.” Even her amazing voice was filled with worry.

 

Celia closed her eyes, trying not to cry. “One Counterpart cannot exist without the other. Within seven days, I’ll die. There was still so much that I had to do...”

 

“What's going on?”

 

A new voice startled both Celia and Melody. A muscular, stiff-necked boy strode into the room, curious. “You both look like the world's going to end or something.”

 

Melody stood. “Actually, Barrett...” she hesitated for a brief moment, twirling her platinum hair uneasily. “For Celia, it will. Her Counterpart has died.”

 

Barrett's face paled. “Oh man, that's horrible!” His green eyes flickered around the room, as if he was hoping the walls would yield a solution. He then shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind. “Look, I’m sure we'll be able to find a new Ruby Bearer, one who will be just as capable as you-”

 

The very idea of having a new person assuming her position ignited a spark of anger in her stomach. Celia shot up and whirled around to face Barrett, staring at him as if she wanted to kill him in one look.

 

“No,” she snapped. “I can do this. I’ll find a way for me to live!” She pounded her chest with her fist pointedly.

 

“C-Celia... I’m sorry, but no one has been able to survive without a Counterpart for any longer than a week.” Melody's voice was fragile and threatened to break apart at any second, but still persuasive as ever. “You may as well-”

 

Then, just like that, a plan pieced itself together in Celia's brain.

 

“Of course...” Celia said. “No one has been able to survive without a Counterpart.”

 

With that, Celia dashed to the fireplace- or rather, the shelf that hung above it. She yanked a book off of the shelf and flipped through it excitedly.

 

Celia still didn't quite know what the book was about. She had never bothered to look into it. The only reason they kept it around was because it wasn't Arcanian- the book had wound up in their world from Geomelis and kept it should they ever need to travel to Geomelis. Only Mediators had the ability to travel between the two dimensions.

 

It was an ability that she could finally put to use.

 

“Celia, what are you doing?!” Barrett nearly yelled. Celia payed no heed to him- she simply ignored him and yanked her ruby pendant off her neck and laid it on the surface of the book.

 

Celia then turned to look at the Citrine Mediator. “Maybe... if there's even the slightest chance of bringing my Counterpart back to life-”

 

Barrett didn't even give her a chance to finish. “Celia, have you gone mad? There's no way to bring back the dead!”

 

“Celia, I hate to admit it, but he's right,” Melody agreed, almost seeming to shrink, as if she thought Celia would yell at her for saying this.”

 

She shook her head briskly. “No, you don't understand,” Celia persisted. “The Onyx Mediator-”

 

“In case you haven't noticed, we're kind of fighting against the Onyx Mediator!”

 

“Yes, the Arcanian Onyx Mediator,” she said. “But what about the Geomolin Onyx Mediator? If I can just travel to Geomelis and find the other Onyx Mediator, I can possibly-”

 

Barrett gripped his blonde hair fiercely. “Celia, this is crazy and you know it.”

 

Celia allowed a small smile. “So crazy that it just might work.”

 

She didn't allow any further conversation. Celia firmly pressed the book against the rotten, wood-planked wall, then jammed the ruby into the cover of the book as well.

 

The Ruby Mediator closed her eyes, mentally stretching out an arm, desperately looking for a road to Geomelis.

 

For the longest few moments, all she could find was a flat-out nothingness. So hollow, so pitch black, that Celia wondered if Barrett was right after all-

 

Then, just like that, a mental, winding road to Geomelis gradually unfolded, laid out perfectly as if Celia was just looking at the palm of her hand.

 

Celia grinned. “Found it,” she said to Melody and Barrett before allowing herself to travel down the road to a whole new world.

 

Perhaps all was not lost after all.

I started crying when the girl killed herself. Then when Celia said she can bring her back to life. I was happy.

Awesome story!

I started crying when the girl killed herself. Then when Celia said she can bring her back to life. I was happy.

Awesome story!

 

Thank you! Next chapter should be out tomorrow.

Chapter 1

 

“Hey, Lance! Over here!”

 

Lance Bingham craned his neck, searching the school's front lawn for the one face out of all the students. Brian had suggested that they eat outside today- Lance had been hesitant, naturally, but in the end didn't see the harm.

 

Lance plopped down on the grass, nodding Brian a brief hello before digging into his lunch. He looked around. His friend had been right- it really was a nice day out, with the sunlight being fresh after three rainy days in a row and the grass a ripe green. Many more students are eating out here than usual, Lance noted.

 

“So, are you excited for track season?” Brian asked. He knew that Lance loved running, no matter how natural he acted or how indifferent he seemed when the subject was brought up. After all, even stone-faced Lance had been smiling when their school had won the state track and field championship the year before.

 

All Lance offered in response was a simple, plain shrug. “I guess so,” he said. He opened the milk carton and began to consume the contents, saying nothing more.

 

“Well, you have a lot of enthusiasm today, don'tcha?” Brian's voice dripped with sarcasm. “You're never excited about anything!”

 

This struck a chord in Lance. He abruptly stopped drinking, set the carton down, and turned to his friend. “Oh, thanks!” He allowed a small grin as he elbowed Brian.

 

Brian laughed back in joy, but soon enough his playful expression vanished. “You know, speaking of exciting... did you hear?”

 

“Hear about what?” he asked.

 

“Well, apparently a girl who attended our school recently committed suicide.”

 

Lance raised his eyebrows, his grin sinking back into it's usual frown. “What? When? Who?” He was so stunned that he could barely get out those three simple words.

 

Brian shrugged. “I don't know. All I know is that she was an older girl in our grade.”

 

“Just a sophomore...” his voice was barely audible.

 

Brian blinked his light green eyes a few times and readjusted his position. “Word's been spreading around fast. They say that she shot herself. Her body was found just last night, when they were calling her down to watch a movie with them.”

 

Lance didn't say anything. He ran a hand through his red hair, his lunch suddenly very interesting. “That sounds a bit like... like when...”

 

He didn't say anything else. He couldn't afford to think about him.

 

Lance mentally cursed Brian when he forced him back into his mind. “Are you thinking about Levi again?”

 

For the longest time, there was only silence between the two. Yes, Lance was thinking about Levi- he thought about Levi every day. Even though he could barely remember what his voice sounded like, and even though the memory of the glimmer of amusement that sparkled in his eyes every time he laughed was fading, Lance was determined to keep him in his memory.

 

And perhaps more than that. Even though his older brother had disappeared five years ago and could very well be dead by now, he was determined to find him.

 

“Yeah, I am,” Lance finally admitted.

 

Brian slitted his lips in a nervous sympathy. “Well, come on. Geography's going to start soon. We really need to work on that project, remember?”

Lance did remember, thanks to Brian. A huge Geography assignment was recently assigned to them, one that would count for a reasonable portion of their grade. It was due in just a week, so they had to get cracking.

 

Lance nodded. “Yeah, we do.”

 

He quickly finished his lunch and began walking down to Mr. Hale's classroom, engrossed in another conversation with Brian. First it was about how Brian was sick of his little brother taking his stuff without telling him, rotated to Lance fondly remembering how Levi and him bought Goldie (his golden retriever) when he was small, and debated about whether or not golden retrievers or yorkies were the better breed of dogs as they crossed into the Geography classroom together.

 

The entirety of sixth hour was spent with Lance flipping through various textbooks and Brian browsing through the internet, both trying to find new information about Italy's farming and agriculture that would be useful for their presentation. By the end of Geography, Brian had come out much more successful than Lance.

 

“Try looking in the school library,” Brian suggested as they were about to part ways for their respective classes. “There's a book there, 1001 Facts About Italy, that my brother used for his report way back. It was incredibly useful for him, so if you can go ahead and find it, that'd be great.”

 

“I'll see if I can.”

 

Brian smiled. “That'd be awesome.” He turned around and waved a hand behind him as he walked away. “Well, see ya!”

 

“Goodbye.”

 

The final hour dragged on by- Lance wasn't exactly fond of Chemistry. The whole time he simply held his head in his hand, his eyes eventually drifting down.

 

When he opened them again, the Chemistry classroom was replaced with a rolling field overlooked by a midnight black sky. Lance could see a very thin outline in the distance- an outline of a human being. He could faintly see a smile on the figure's face, but before he could discern everything, a tolling bell cut through sharply-

 

Lance opened his eyes with a start to see that the final bell had rung, sophomores filing out of the classroom. He avidly shook his head, biting off drowsiness, standing up and slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

 

All right, Brian wanted me to get that book, Lance mentally reviewed. I should probably go ahead and do that now before I forget.

 

Lance shoved his way through the bustling students as he headed on down to the library. Eventually his thoughts turned to that dream he had during

Chemistry- who was that figure? And why had he or she been smiling at him?

 

That doesn't matter, he soon decided. A dream is a dream- nothing more. That's what Levi told me.

 

Lance pushed open the library door and crossed over to the nonfiction section. Geography books were at the very back, right? He wished he knew this stuff- after all, he didn't exactly come to the library unless he had to.

 

Fortunately, it was just as he had guessed- all of the Geography books at the very back. Lance ran his finger across the spines of the books, his finger bumping whenever he came across space between books like a bus jolting over a few rocks.

 

The book Brian had told him to get, 1001 Facts About Italy, was at the very end of a shelf, stopped only by a divider. The book was somewhat worn due to its age, but wasn't damaged enough that it wasn't readable.

 

Lance stood up. Well, he had gotten what he had came for-

 

Wait. What was that?

 

Lance swore he saw something glint out of the corner of his eye, something around where he had found the book. He knelt down and examined the small space-

 

Yup. There was something, all right.

 

He slitted his eyes, any emotion in his dark eyes blocked by concentration. He felt around- there was something behind all of the books.

At last his hand enclosed around the object. It was smooth to the touch, like the feeling of rushing water solidified. He took his time in pulling it out as to be careful not to damage it- whatever it was. He also faintly heard a tinkling of a chain being dragged across a surface.

 

Lance removed his fingers from the object once it had been extracted from its hiding place. It was a smooth, oval-shaped, richly black stone a little smaller than his palm attached to a silver chain. Both the surface of the stone and the chain were frosted in dust- how long had it been there?

An onyx, he suddenly identified as he wiped the dust off. What was an onyx pendant doing behind a bunch of books?

 

Before he could think much more about it, a light slowly began to radiate around the stone- small and incredibly faint at first, gradually thickening and thickening until it was completely surrounded by the glow.

 

Lance stared at the onyx. What the heck was happening?! Did he do something?

 

He frantically tried to cover the glowing onyx in some way, putting the book over it and wrapping it in his red shirt. Whatever this thing was doing, he had to stop it before it did anything bad...

 

His efforts weren't exactly succeeding. The onyx was still attracted to something, pulling in one direction as if a giant magnet was summoning it. And all the while, the light continued to grow stronger.

 

Lance finally gave in and brought the onyx out again- now it looked like a miniature sun instead of an onyx.

 

Then, all at once, the onyx shot a beam of light straight at the bookshelf.

 

Lance's eyes grew in horror. “Dang it, no! What the crap?!” He dropped the pendant in an attempt to extinguish the ray of light, but it was almost as if it made the light stronger...

 

Before he knew it, the light suddenly vaporized, as if there was a secret switch that turned it off. He didn't even have time to register for this when a weight pushed against his body roughly and sent him toppling down on the floor.

 

And that's when it all began.

Bump....

Bump....

 

HIIII

Awesome storyyyy