Beyond the Crystal's Call (FFXIV Fanfic)

Chapter 0 - Prologue - Awakening at sea

Slowly I was awakening. The sound of water was soothing and the sound of the seagulls high in the sky made for a nice start of the morning. I could even swear that I smelled the salty aroma of the ocean water in the air. Nice though it may have felt, I was still a night owl and mornings were always hard on me. As I lay in bed facing the wall to the left, and still half asleep, I noticed a light swaying of the bed. It almost felt like I was on a boat gently drifting over the calm seas. I quickly shook the thought as I knew full well that my life did not include boat rides. I started to move my body, slowly and with lots of willpower, twisted it to my right side. As I did so I noticed my bed being a lot harder than I remember. The pillow felt weird as well and I felt a weird sensation where my ears should be. Something was feeling off.

As I turned, my body felt lighter, my legs moved quicker, and my arms felt more nibble. When my body turned I felt something on my chest and my eyes opened up as the weird sensations and sounds started to get me questioning what was going on.

My breath stopped for a few seconds when I saw that I was not in my room and instead looked into the room with wooden walls on all sides. Multiple beds were spread throughout the room, with some still inhibited.

I gripped the side of the bed and pulled myself upright when I suddenly felt motion where there should be none. When I looked down I stepped back tripping against the bed in shock and landed on my butt. Now sitting there looking down I finally realize that everything around is foreign, not just my body or the room.

As I inspected myself I found that I was wearing something that felt oddly familiar. I couldn’t put my finger on it but I had seen it before. But as much as my mind was putting the puzzle pieces together, best it could, I also had to deal with sensations I never felt before.

Just moments ago before I woke up here, wherever this is, I was a 25 year old guy that finished his favorite video game's final quest mission. Now, well, I was a girl apparently. While inspecting myself I found I had long silver hair that reached between the shoulderblades. My legs were much smaller and thinner just like my arms and everything else.

I held my hands in front of me, looking at how much smaller they are then what I was used to.

What happened to me, where am I, what is going on? My mind racing. The feeling of a draft suddenly made itself known to me, making me shiver as I noticed my legs were bare almost all the way up to my hips. The clothes I was wearing were slightly revealing and the more I looked the closer I got to knowing why this looked familiar.

My mind couldn’t find a moment's rest. I grabbed my chest to see if I was dreaming but the sensation immediately confirmed my suspicions. I immediately released my hands again

Shit, these are real. That felt weird. I need to find out what happened to me. As I was trying to put all the pieces in their place, I tried to calm myself.

“Ok, I switched gender, that much I can con….” I stopped talking and grabbed my throat.

My eyes puzzled, my mind racing even more, and my hands noticing the small neck I now have.

That was me right? That nice voice just came from me, right? I looked around to see if there were other women around me but there were none. Just 3 guys sleeping on the other side of the room

“aaaaaaaaa”, ”Hello, test test” I looked around in embarrassment, hoping nobody heard it.

Is this my voice now? How am I going to deal with this? Who am I?

More and more questions started popping into my head and it started to give me a headache.

With a loud squeak the door to the room opened and a man entered that was almost twice my size. My head was about as high as his belt. His arms were massive just like his legs and torso. This man was huge but for some reason the familiar feeling popped into my head. It felt like I knew what this guy was but couldn’t quite figure it out.

As the man started walking towards me he smiled and made a friendly waving gesture.

“Hey, I see you're awake. Wanted to tell you we almost reached Limsa. Thought you might want to get ready to disembark.” His voice was a lot higher than I imagined it would be, though still deep. The slight smile at the thought rose the corners of my mouth up slightly to give my face a soft smile.

The man looked a little confused for a second but I quickly gave it a full smile and nodded.

The man turned around and started for the door. When he reached it I felt bad for not answering the guy and with a somewhat cheery act thanked him.

“Thank you for letting me know sir.”

Damn I really have to get used to this voice. Though it sounds nice, it's weird coming from my mouth.

A sudden jolt of pain in my head crippled me just when I wanted to stand up and follow the man. The pain felt unbearable at first but then it eased somewhat and images flashed in front of my eyes. Images of a ship where people were frantically trying to help someone in the water. The ship had stopped and they pulled a….

Wait, is that an Au Ra girl? She also has the same clothes as I’m wearing. Is that me?

The girl was pulled onto the deck and a normal looking man was trying to see if she was still breathing.

“She is still breathing, she will need some rest but she’s ok.” The man called out with a sigh of relief. The people around him clapped and showed they were also glad they saved the girl.

My vision flashed for a second and when it returned I was on the same deck of the boat that was now crashing across the waves of the sea. I saw that same Au Ra girl there standing next to the giant man that just came in to say that we would arrive soon.

“I’m glad you are ok, miss. Seems we were just on time. You might have died at sea, you know.”

She nodded and looked down at the railing she was leaning on. “Yeah, thank you.” She replied

The giant guy looked at her questioningly. “Can I ask where you are from, miss? How did you end up in the water?”

She shook her head and kept looking down. “I don’t know. When I woke I had no clue where I was and how I got here. I don’t even know my own name.” She sounded completely lost. There was hardly any motivation in her voice and the big guy didn’t really know what to say at first. He looked at the horizon for a minute when he came up with an idea.

“What do you think of getting off at Limsa Lominsa? It is a big city and capital of the La Noscea region. I will introduce you to a friend of mine there and he can help you get settled there. Maybe, at some point you will remember who you are and what you set out to do. But until then you will be safe.”

Though she still had a sad look on her face, she was thankful and forced a smile.

“That sounds like a good plan to start with. Thank you”.

My mind jolted back to reality, or whatever it is where I was, when the giant man turned around and looked at me.

“I see you cheered up a little. Glad to see it. You didn’t by chance remember who you are, did you?”

I shook my head. “No, sorry. But I do feel better though.”

The man left and I was again alone with my thoughts.

After what I just saw and what I am experiencing right now, things were falling in their place. The architecture of the boat looked familiar, the big guy suddenly made sense and what I just experienced felt all too familiar.

Though I could hardly believe it, I could not really deny what I have seen since I woke up on this ship. The flashback I just witnessed was not just a flashback. It reminded me of the “echo” from Final Fantasy 14. A power that can give you a 3rd person view of something that happened in someone's past. In this case that of the big guy.

It felt exactly the same as what my character experienced when I was playing the game. The guy just now was a Roegadyn and the girl that was pulled out of the water was my in-game character.

She looks exactly the same, though this time she was real. I guess.
She had long silver hair, she was large for a Au Ra girl but still short. She had a very nice body and proportions, the horns on her head pointed backwards and the eyes were of a deep azure color. The clothes she was wearing were the default clothes for the Au Ra Race in the game. In my opinion probably also the best looking starter outfit.

I stood up and felt a bit exposed. I normally don’t wear fantasy clothing, let alone female clothing. But pushing through all the new sensations of being smaller, skinnier, having long hair and … well, boobs, I went to the deck.

As I walked out of the room the clothing situation became more apparent. The wind that blew through my hair made me aware of my exposed shoulders. The wind that brushed past my legs made me feel exposed. I was wearing a sort of shirt dress that has, more or less, exposed shoulders where the top edge of the dress had metal shoulder guards that were silver in color. The dress itself was green and with some white parts and a belt around my tiny waist that had some ornaments on like a few feathers. The dress reached about half of my knees and I felt a bit uncomfortable about it. To finish it off my shoes were boots that had open toes and reached up to my knees and I had a vambrace of leather on my left arm that connected to my middle finger and went up to my elbow.

The deck wasn’t far but the walk did lead me past a lot of people that were staying in the hull of the ship. Their stares got me very on edge and at some point almost yelped as I almost fell over and 1 guy tried to help me stay up.

This is going to take some getting used to. I thought as I approached the stairs to the top deck. My mind was racing now. If I see it, I know exactly where I am and I don’t know if I should be happy or concerned about all this.

The moment I reached the top deck the big guy from earlier called out.

“Just in time, miss. Look there, Limsa is just about to come into view”

The ship past the final spire that stood high above the waves when the pearly white walls of Limsa Lominsa came into view. It was amazing to see it in real life. The exotic feel of the city kept me in a sense of awe for a few minutes.

The big guy was standing next to me and looked at the city with a proud smile.

“Our home. No better place for a sea bastard to be.” He laughed aloud and had to laugh at it.

“Haldceig is the name by the way. Should you ever need some help, call for me at the docks. If I’m in, people will know where to find me.” With that he walked off.

Looking back at the city the scene was as if I was arriving at a Caribbean resort.

Well this confirms it without any doubt. This is the opening section of A Realm Reborn and I am apparently arriving in Eorzea for the first time.