What is your FATE?

Disclaimer: I do not own Dell or FATE or Yazh'rod the Emperor Abomination, just the characters I made up.

"Dantenar, we're going to be late!" Zarathel glared at me. She'd always hated that name, and I didn't blame her. I mean, Zarathel? It's worse than Dantenar. Our hippie wannabe parents had died a long time ago, when we were six, and we'd been stuck in a foster home. "Dantenar, it's our seventeenth birthday today. Do you really want to miss it?"

"Sorry, Zara." I really was sorry. "I have to find Fiddlestix." Honestly, that dog was always getting into trouble. I should've named her Trouble instead. "If you help me, it'll go faster..." I tried my puppy dog eyes on her. Zara relented. Finally, after ten minutes of searching, Fiddlestix jumped onto my back, her little tail wagging so hard her whole body shook.

"Finally. Now let's go, we're already late to our own party." We practically ran to the home. But when we walked in, there was no one there. I turned on the light, and nearly jumped out of my skin as everyone popped out of hiding places and yelled "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" at the exact same time. Zara fell over, but then started laughing. Her dog, who was named Trouble, which was why I hadn't named my dog Trouble, jumped on her, licking her face with his tongue. Trouble and Fiddlestix were from the same litter, their breed Jack Russel Terrier.

"Dantenar, Zarathel, you two have been such good friends to the other children in the home for so long, I thought we'd throw you a surprise birthday party!" The headmistress, Amy Sharitin, said. The other kids, who were all younger than us, gave out hugs. "I think you'll like your gifts. They were donated by people who care about orphans like you and the others. But please, be kind and share with the kiddies," Ms. Sharitin said, giving the fourteen children fond looks.

Zara walked into our room, but I had to get something to drink first. I was heading towards the kitchen to get one when I heard her scream. I ran upstairs as fast as I could.

Zarathel was pointing at two nice laptops that hadn't been there earlier. This was our room, I should know. "Wow, Zara, where'd those come from?" I traced the Dell sign on the back of the laptop closest to me. "They're really nice."

Zarathel picked up a computer game in a red box near her computer. "FATE? What game is that?"

Ms. Sharitin walked in. "These are your gifts. Dell donated them because...well, I don't know exactly why. But they were donated nonetheless. Do you like them?" Her voice was anxious. Ms. Sharitin was like the mom we'd never known, as our mother had died having us. Dad, who had always been sort of a hippie, had named us and taken care of us until he'd died in a car accident. "And I agree with Zara, I've never heard of FATE either. That wasn't there earlier, I assure you."

I had heard of the game in question. "It's like Fable, but E10 instead of M. We must have gotten it for our birthdays, I guess." I picked up the one by laptop. "Well, I'm going to try it out." I opened my laptop and logged onto my account, which was somehow already on. "Welcome, Dantenar," a light musical voice said. I jumped back. "Zarathel, my computer just talked to me."

Zara was already logged on. "Yes, I know, don't worry. That's what this type of computer does, I guess. I wonder where they came from, anyway?"

I put the disc into the disc drive and clicked install. A few minutes later, I was looking at the welcome screen, listening to the music coming out of speakers I hadn't even noticed or turned on. "This is getting bizarre."

Zara looked up from her position on the floor. "Tell me about it. Look at this," she said, beckoning me over. I knelt next to her. A message was going up the screen. "I haven't started the game yet, this just popped up when I put the disc in," Zara whispered.

You are about to embark on a mystical journey, filled with danger and excitement. Do you dare to tempt Fate and fulfill your destiny?

I looked at Zara, who was looking at me. I raised my eyebrow, but sat down to watch the message on mine. It was just getting past that part.

Tales tell of a great Emperor Abomination whose name is spoken in whispers – Yazh'rod…For centuries it has waited on the 53rd level of the Dungeon, its evil seeping up toward the town…You must destroy it, once and for all, and rid the world of its evil influence. It is your Fate, adventurer! Will you meet it?

"Weird." I pushed the 'start' button on the menu that popped up. I named my character Dantenar, who was a girl wearing leather shorts, and chose her features and hair. Then I chose a dog, which looked like a Jack Russel Terrier, and named her Fiddlestix. A weird message starting rolling up the screen, and a creepy guy's voice started reading it. I pressed continue as fast as I could. Another message read,

Destiny awaits you on level fifty-three, where Yazh'rod the Emperor Abomination lurks. Save the Town of Grove from this evil scourge and you will find your FATE.

I clicked continue again. There was a weird rushing sensation, and then I was standing on a path near a fountain. There was odd music playing, and I had an axe in one hand. A dog was standing next to me. "Zara?" I yelled. She didn't answer. "Okay, what kind of freaky trip am I on?" I whispered to myself. The I looked down. I was wearing the exact same clothes as my character. I polished the head of my axe on my leather shorts and looked at my face. My features were the same, too! This was really starting to creep me out.

"Ah!" A fat, bald guy said. "You must be Dantenar the Unknown. I'm Bartleby. Welcome to the Town of Grove!"