- Final Fantasy III - Final Fantasy VII - Breath of Fire III - Megaman X - The Little Mermaid -

Author's Notes

Chapter Notes

These are the notes I tagged on to each chapter. Why would you want to read these? I don't know. Ask your psychic friend.

Chapter One	This is my first crossover fic, so I went all out to include all my favorite characters! Yay! Don't feel bad if you don't understand it all at first, I don't expect you to.
Chapter Two	Here we go, into Chapter 2. It gets really confusing from here on out- until the story gets started at least. Enjoy! And hang in there! It will make sense soon!
Chapter Three	I have received very good comments from the Brick Elite Squadron (what the hell??) who I have let read the first two chapters. Thanks to Keffy and Ariel for the encouragement!
Chapter Four	Gee! Writing crossovers are fun! Why haven't you ever told me, Kefka, you loser! Haha, just kidding mah man. This is a very climactic chapter- as it unlocks some secrets to Terra's past, Espers in general, and I kill off the first character.
Chapter Five	This will be, without a doubt, Kefka's favorite chapter. I introduce two new villains... who any of you RPG players will completely hate me for bringing them back. Sorry it's so short. I saved a lot of the good battles for the upcoming chapters!
Chapter Six	This is probably my favorite chapter, since it is where Terra and Setzer realize they have feelings for each other. However- Setzer has just lost his *hem* rather obnoxious fiance (o_O) and Ariel has just opened new wounds in Terra's past concerning Leo. Will these two love-beaten lonely adventurers ever truely find love again? Could I possibly say love any more in a paragraph? Aren't these the longest author notes you have ever read? Don't you just want me to shut up and let you read the story?... Okay, go ahead.
Chapter Seven	I don't know about Kefka, but I'm positive that Ariel will hate this chapter. (Oh, I'm aware that both of those characters are in the story, but I am talking about my excellently good friends and previewers of this fic.) This is where it all, well, blows up. It starts with a big emerald bang, goes through a tearjerking death, and ends with a harsh betrayal. Have a nice day. (BTW- I'm sorry if I make X out to look like Jenny Mels in this fic, but that's how it is. Of course, only mah bruddah Rune knows who Jenny is, so read on without delay.)
Chapter Eight	This is it. The final chapter. I won't give anything away, but I will tell you that most of the epilogues are pretty short (unlike the real FF3). In case you're dense, remember that the only guy left is Nicholi. Rei was killed by Kefka, Emmy was nuked by X, and Vinnie and Keffy were sent back to their own realities via Terra's hunter. And I got all the way through the story without Ariel breaking into song!! WOO HOO!

Roles of the Characters

These are basic sketches of why I chose each character in the story.

Terra Branford	I couldn't imagine a fic set in the FF3 world without Terra. She is the heart of the story. I decided to add more depth to the role the Espers play in everyday life and add more danger and form to Goloros' threats. Terra also acts as a reality check, she takes the role of the practical one in many of the encounters during the story.
Locke Cole	While a more or less minor character, I needed to add Locke. Not only does his role as a warrior shine in the battles with the Emerald WEAPON, but his presence simply reenforces the setting of the FF3 contiuum.
Celes Chere	Truth be told, I had not originally planned to include Celes in this fic. However, the inevitable addition of Locke, who is Celes' "signifigant other" forces Celes into her role as a doubtful yet caring Magitek Knight. After I decided to drop Edgar from the story, the thought occured to me to place Celes in the Emerald WEAPON fiasco, thus strengthening her role. I scrapped this idea to take the strain off of a romantic development between her and Locke that could have only served to add more confusion to the storyline.
Strago Magus	Since the story deals highly with magic and Espers, I decided that Strago would be a worthwhile addition. It also occured to me that someone would do well to play the role as Nicholi's former friend. Besides, I couldn't very well have put Relm in the story without her dear old granddad, now could I?
Relm Arrowny	Relm is my favorite character from FF3, so it was only natural that I include her. I began to regret it, however, soon into the story, when I realized that Relm as a wise- cracking obnoxious 23 year old woman just wasn't as cute as when she was younger. Plus, it is very difficult to write her infamous "Sketch" ability into the storyline, which was how I originally planned to fell Emmy. Bad discision on my part, I guess.
Setzer Gabbianni	Setzer is another of my favorite characters out of the FF3 storyline, but the main reason I added him was because of his background. True to the fact that in FF3 he has none, allowing me to write in whatever I chose. Therefore I could base his and Terra's relationship on kind of a "brothers of a tortured soul" type thing. Besides, who else in FF3 could you see with a brand-spankin' new airship?
Candi Elfin	Candi more or less represents what any die-hard gambler's girlfriend might resemble: a ditzy, slutty blonde. Not that Setzer is a pervert, it is simply that he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life alone. It was fun killing Candi off- neither of my "previewers" liked her, and neither did I.
Vincent Valentine	I changed Vincent's character quite a bit. While FF7 gives insight into Vincent's past (not a whole freakin' lot, mind you) it never gives any real reason why he and Cloud are buddy-buddy. The only reason I saw in the game was Vinnie's hunt for Hojo. After destroying Sephiroth, Vincent felt as though he had commited a great injustice against the love of his life, Lucrecia. In the story, Vincent is portrayed as almost a doormat, allowing himself to be manipulated by his superiors. His goal, according to the story, is to gain the power offered to him by Goloros and clear his sins... and the strain is so great he doesn't care who he has to kill to achieve it.
Rei	I battled myself for a while on whether or not to add Rei. Originally, the idea was to add Dekar, who would fill the role of the dimwitted warmhearted do-gooder of the story. But since I've been on this BoF3 kick recently, I chose Rei to fill this void. However, when I asked myself if he would honestly follow Terra "out of the goodness of his heart" I came up with the answer "no." The Rei I know would have followed Goloros simply because that was the only real way home. Rei epitomizes what BoF3 makes him out to be- confused and searching for answers that simply aren't there.
Ariel	I thought, at first, of adding Mulan to this role, so as to have another active character in the swordplay of Chapter 8. Mulan simply wasn't innocent and naive enough to play the part I was looking for. Ariel, however, worked perfectly. Besides, it serves to feed my immense Arieholism. o_O
Megaman X	Okay. I had all of my bases covered for supplement characters- another FF character, another RPG character, and (sigh) Ariel. All I needed now was someone from a platform game. Bang. X. It seems to me that he is the favorite 90's side scrolling champion. Plus he and his skills fit perfectly into the Emmy sidequest. He is one of the story's finest characters.
Kefka	After I realized that Goloros and Nicholi would need a serious edge, I drew up plans to add Keffy to the story. He didn't add as much as I would have liked, but... it was still fun, wasn't it?
Emerald WEAPON	Talk about a snap decision. I wanted to split the party in half for a few chapters, and pit some of them against an impossible enemy. Originally, Relm was supposed to kill Emmy with her Sketch ability, but that would have been the epitome of cheese. Not that X's absorbation wasn't, I just liked it better. =)
Nicholi	I wanted to have Terra's opposite, so to speak, in the story. Another half-Esper with different ideals. Nicholi is a splendid character and a picture-perfect villain.
Goloros	Likewise, I needed a villain whose own power would destroy him in the end. Nothing but the power of Nothingness came to mind, so I chose Goloros, a stray Esper with the power of Mu.
The Council of Esperkind	I added the Council of Esperkind to go more in-depth to Terra's quest, and chose the Espers I did because they were my favorites. After doing this, I felt it necessary to bring into play each character's views on relationships of humans within themselves and with other races.
Triton, Nina, Zero, Sigma, Ryu, Eric	These people are very minor characters I added just for the sake of this being a crossover fic. For those of you who don't know- Ryu is the hero from Breath of Fire 3, and Rei's best friend and adoptive brother. Nina is Ryu's girlfriend and the princess of a kingdom called Wyndia. Triton is Ariel's father, king of the merfolk. Eric is a young prince and Ariel's husband. Zero is X's underling and best friend. Sigma is X and Zero's arch nemesis. None of them are developed in the story, aye?
Characters that didn't make it	There were a lot of characters I thought about adding but decided not to. The two most noticable ones, who almost had Vincent's part were Ramza and Faris (FFT and FFV. Where is FFU?). I didn't add either one, since I haven't beaten either of these signifigantly awesome games. Another candidate for Rei's job was Dekar (Lufia 2)... who I didn't add since I was on this BoF3 kick recently. Mulan didn't make it because she lacks Ariel's girlish charm (for obvious reasons). Other characters, who I scrapped entirely, were Oddyseus (from the Oddessey, which I didn't spell right), who I didn't add because his character wouldn't fit in... and the Terminator (who would've just made the story way too overly weird). Finally, I gave it my best shot to keep Sephie out of the story, thank God. I'm not a total idiot.

Reader Reviews

Only two souls were lucky enough to read each chapter hot off my Notepad- my best buddy Kefka and my oh-so-cute admirer Ariel. They have graciously reviewed my fic to the best of their abilities.

BTW- As far as I know, Kefka is not an Arielholic and Ariel has never played an RPG. Therefore neither of them have as firm a grasp on the story as I do. And if you're one of my posse and feeling left out because I didn't let you in on the story (notably Aurora) don't feel bad. =)

(Ariel's Review, my love from DalNet's infamous #ariel's)
Okay, here's my summary of "World's Away From Reality". Chapter one was the best possible way to have started this story. However, for us non-RPGer's it would have been nice if the characters were explained a little more, thus, eliminating the need for a re-read, (as I had to do.). Chapter two is a great way to begin showing us where this story is going and explains a few questions I had after reading chapter one. Chapter three develops our characters more and was helpful for me. It let me know who was on what side and why. Chapter four gave me insight on Terra's past, (oh-so-touching) and the Candi's death was just plain cool. Chapter five made me shudder. Kefka sounds like one pretty mean guy. I think I'll stay away from him!! Chapter six made me wonder if the "good" side would end up the winning side or not. I figured the Emerald WEAPON would end up killing all our hero's with the violent attack it gave. Chapter seven was my favorite chapter of them all. I like Rei since the start and, although, yes, he did die *sniff* he was given such a heroic death that I smiled. (I think Ariel and Rei would be cute together if he hadn't been killed off!) Chapter eight was the best, and really only good way to end this story. I hated to see it end yet sighed with relief to know our hero's were safe. (Except Candi and Rei, but Candi was a slut and Rei... *sigh* my sweet Rei.)

Anyhow, so here's Ariel's review of "World's Away From Reality". I give it two thumbs and a nose up. I think I'll go rent me a playstation and get the game BoF3.

Rei..... *sssssiiiiiiigggggghhhhhh*
email: alora27@hotmail.com
*Kisses*

(Keffy's review, he's my evil dark side with a jazzy kick.)
Cripes, Brick! Now THIS is a story! Worlds Away from Reality is an epic type story, where fictional characters get drawn from their own realities by Nicholi, a half-esper like Terra and the son of Alexander, who is controlled by the esper Goloros, the Esper of Mu, nothingness. He brings characters from games and movies (which are in books in the FF3 realm), and brings them to a single continium, FF6. Unbeknownst to Goloros, some of the people he summoned do not wish to help him. It is a road that these helpful adventurers will help our favorite FF6 friends beat Goloros.

Brick really wrote a good story here. I wrote several MST's to it. It is a great story, rivaled by some of the best fics on the net, like "Children of Jenova," "Crisis from the Sky," "Tasteless Revenge," and other great fics. It is one of the most original ideas i have seen. And I like how Kefka comes back. *evil grin*

I also enjoyed the character development that went into it. Many of the characters got into new and different feelings. I believe this is a key part of a good fanfic. Brick has also mastered great plot conversions, not having multiple subplots.

email- kefka@banet.net
Keffy's shameless self-plug- DSOTM

Plans For A Sequel?

Kefka and I have thrown around the possibility of a sequel, in which case I will pick another previewer (of course Kefka will be one, he's such a dickens) and start the whole deal over again. No stone-hard ideas yet, but you can rest assured that any sequel will be set in a world OTHER than FF3 and will feature a (mostly) new cast of characters... but maybe the same villain. Yay.

FAQ

Okay, these aren't exactly questions asked about my story, not most of them anyway. I hope it will clear up any murky ideas you may have about the story though.

Q) When does the story take place?
A) It varies. The story takes place 12 years after Kefka is destroyed (meaning Terra is 31), 10 years after Ariel and Eric are wed (meaning Ariel is 26), 9 years after Balio and Sunder beat up Rei, Teepo, and Ryu (that is, 4 years after the defeat of Myria), and 5 years after Cloud and co. defeated Sephie. As for X, well, your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps we'll see after the FINAL Megaman game is released (we'd have a better chance of finding a man with seven nostrils).

Q) X is a Reploid? Where did he get the powers to 'scan' and 'absorb' stuff? That gem on his forehead is what stores his weaponry?
A) X is a Reploid. That goes without saying. His absorbation powers are derived right from the series. After getting roughed up by a boss, X can use their abilities. His scanning power is just that- by using infrared sensors and other handy high-tech stuff he can see if there are any humans in the vicinity (since he is programmed to protect them). And whenever X beats a boss, his little shiny helmet flashes, so I assumed that is where he stores his new weapons.

Q) Why didn't you use any classic abilities from the games?
A) I did. However, I did it differently than many fics. Rather than coming right out and saying, "So and so casted such and such a spell" I described them. Some examples- in "Rei's New Boss" that neat thing that Kefka does to inflict so much pain upon his little gimp is none other than Fallen One, that bitch of a spell from FF3. The "colored magic stones" Vincent is referred to as having are materia. And both Vincent and Rei use their transformations in the story (Galian Beast and Weretiger). If I were to have just used names it would have been "Kefka used Fallen One against Rei and Rei's HP dropped to 1." GAY!

Q) Why did you change Ariel's character so much?
A) I didn't. I tried my hardest to picture Ariel as a 26 year old woman rather than a 16 year old mermaid brat. I thought I accomplished the job nicely.

Q) Is Rei in love with Ariel?
A) (laughs) No. He fears her. In BoF3 Nina treats Rei like a real idiot. Therefore, he fears royalty. He doesn't see Ariel for a girl who needs protection, rather a princess who demands his respect (although Ariel demands nothing from Rei at all). The fact is, Rei just isn't smart enough to know the difference.

Q) Where did you swipe the line "Doesn't this just beat all?"
A) Rei says that line in practically every scene in BoF3.

Q) Explain "Mu."
A) Nothingness, a void. Mu does not exist, kind of like a black hole. Therefore anyone who relies on that power (that is, Goloros and Nicholi) must use the illusion that they have power to win any battles.

Q) I thought the Espers had died during FF3.
A) Well, they didn't. They simply "migrated" to a new world, allowing the humans believe they had died to save themselves any future grief. Goloros is the last remaining one on the human side.

Q) Terra's green hair is a derivitave of her Esperian heritage? And why did you change it to blonde?
A) It sure is. Had FF3 been like its predecessors (FF5 and 2, to be exact) where characters had blue, green, pink, and purple hair at every turn, but they don't. It's more realistic... except for Terra, leading me to believe it is because she is part Esper. As for her blonde hair in the last line of the story, I chose that color because it is light- and Terra needs to have light or pale hair doesn't she?

Q) Can I have a cookie?
A) No. They're mine.

Q) Setzer and Terra! Are you nuts!
A) Like I said, that "brothers of a tortured soul" routine makes for nice storyline. Besides, I picked up on a few hints during FF3... they're probably meaningless but you can't disagree. First off, Setzer drops the whole "Celes/Maria" stuff after Terra is found and rejoins the group. Second, Setzer is the one who holds onto Terra as Kefka attacks their airship at the end of the World of Balance. Lastly, Setzie and Terra are the last characters to exchange words in FF3:

Terra: Thank you Setzer!
Setzer: Didn't I tell you? This is the world's fastest airship!

Pretty insignifigant, but it's just my personal opinion.

The Official Disclaimer

Rather than add another disclaimer onto every chapter (like some people I know) I'll just run it all down here.

I am not under the employ of Square, Disney, or Capcom in any way, shape, or form. This story does NOT serve to endorse their products (they're only three of the biggest companies in the entertainment market), advertise their characters, or fortell any big mergers in the future (not that another Square/Capcom RPG wouldn't kick ass... I'm thinking Megaman RPG!). This story was written for entertainment purposes only, and cannot (and SHOULD not) be sold for any kind of profit or published for the sake of those damn copyright laws. It is also not for distribution on sites beyond my knowledge; that is, if ya wanna use it e-mail me first at rscibbe@citicom.com and ask for it by name. And the gun I held to Keffy and Ariel's head to make 'em read it wasn't THAT big...

Brick's Final Word

Worlds Away From Reality was written entirely by me, Brickroad, inspirational sources from all over the known world. Show love to the Kefmeister and my sad-eyed angel Ariel for reading all this crap for me, writing the reviews, and helping me polish it all off. SPECIAL thanks to Keffy (again) and Aurora for kicking me in the ass to get this thing written. NO thanks to Cyris, Mog, and some other nameless punks who don't care what I write. Any sequels, supplements, and parodies of this story (if you feel like writing them) can be sent to rscibbe@citicom.com .