My eyes are open, but I can't see anything; it's so dark and black that when I blink, I can't see those eyes of mine shutter like a camera. It's horrible.

I don't know where I am. My body feels light – much lighter than a few moments ago when I was safe in the car with my parents. Where are they? What's happened? I'm being carried somewhere, almost as if I'm floating on a stream, except without the cold sensation sliming all over my back. Perhaps this is what space feels like, floating around aimlessly with no gravity – but, no, I'm being taken somewhere. Something's controlling where I go.

I shift my body around like a corkscrew being fitted in, but immediately I feel myself lock; I can't move of my own volition. All I can do now is try to think of how I ended up here and where I'm going.

As I close my eyes once more, I find that I can't open them – it's like they're glued shut. My mind feels threatened, and as monochrome images flash around me like strobe lights, the brightness burning me from the inside, the distorted nature of them reminding me of a strong film grain. It's pixelated; I can't see much of what's going on.

Amidst all the chaos being thrown at me in this place, there's one part of it that makes sense: I'm there, standing triumphantly with six bodies scattered around me, and a giant robot in the background with a malevolent smile.

When I open my eyes, I can finally see light before me, though blinded once more. This time, however, a vague, soft voice calls out to me: "I call upon you, Arvin, mere mortal, the one made not of the blood of Etro but the blood of another – I call upon you, and only you, to sabotage the chosen children of Etro and open Her gate. Become my viper."


A myriad of bright, neon lights shimmered and then dissipated in the energy shield, showering me and the rest of the town in flashes of radiant colours on the outside observing it all. People's smiles widened in excitement and awe, and the bustle of the local community at near-midnight was something more spectacular to me personally.

The seaside resort and town of Bodhum was always well known for its fireworks display around this time of the year. It attracted all sorts of people - one only had to quickly glance around at any given point or time here to see many different kinds of people. You could pick the city-folk out easily from the way they dress and their mannerisms; they reacted wildly differently to the residents of the town, usually lost for words for such a large event at such a small place, whereas whilst the locals had seen it all before again and again, they always had smiles on their faces. Smug grins. Happiness plastered on their faces. Always proud. All the signs of a strong, healthy community were here - and I enjoyed seeing it all. I thought it was such a charming experience to be there. Nice for a change.

This… was different from what I was used to – the trouble was that what I was used to was something much different to this. From the magical things I was seeing, I'd first assumed I'd been hit on the head – most likely by my father who always seemed to carry heavy objects around, or perhaps with his assortment of weapons stashed away in the garage. But as I began to stroll around, take in everything around me, breathe the air, and really revel in what seemed to be something my mind had conjured up, I quickly realised that I wasn't on Earth anymore. This was something different. Something I couldn't possibly begin to comprehend – and as flying bikes out of a science-fiction film whizzed over my head and levitated over the water, I thought to myself how much of a mess I was in.

But back then? I had no idea what awaited me in the future. All I thought about in those first few moments was how lonely I was already, marvelling naively at the look of everything around me as I pondered on the voice that called out to me.


Author's Note: OC insert into the game's events, with added scenes to accommodate my character. Not a self-insert. There will be another AN at the end. I credit Deiru Tamashi's story Destinies Intertwined as being a massive source of inspiration for this project.

PS: If anyone sees grammatical errors, please point them out! I want this story to be completely mistake-free in that regard. Reviews are appreciated, but they will not hinder my update schedule, which is one chapter every Sunday, with maybe a few weekday chapters if I'm feeling generous.