I was lying in bed one day when I felt myself sinking through my bed. It was like the possibility that all of my molecules lined up perfectly with the beds molecules, but I went through my bed and into another world. There was a bright flash of golden light and I found myself standing face to face with an axe-wielding, redheaded girl.

"Oooh! You're here? Then the ritual actually worked? Ahem… Oh Great Hero from another world! Thou hast come so far to fulfill your role in our legend! For our kingdom now stands on the very brink of ruin, and thou… And thou… Hold on. Are you really our Great Hero? You don't look like the thee-and-thou type," she said. She looked amazed yet confused, as was I.

"What just happened? Where am I? How did I get here?"

"What's that? You want to know where you are? And how you got here?"

"Metal gear," I said, mocking her with my best Solid Snake impression. "Can I get some answers, please?"

"Fair enough. You're in--"

"FOUND YOU!"

"Drat! How did one of those Emblians get here already? Stand back! I'll take care of him somehow!"

"Well, you've got an axe maybe try swinging it," I muttered as she went to fight. I watched her battle with such ferocity. Seeing the other man's blood spilled on her axe was sickening and frightening, but I just couldn't look away. I looked around trying to figure out where I was. There were hardly any buildings in view and a few scattered trees. I saw that the ground beneath me was stone and carved into an elegant pattern. I also found that my clothes were different, redesigned to be from the dark ages. The most obvious difference was that instead of my bath robe I had on a white cloak with a pattern made seemingly of thin gold. It seemed to match what the redheaded girl's chainmail armor that she wore. There were also golden pockets just like on my robe. "Not too bad," I muttered to myself. "I could wear this for a while. Wait, is this… the dark ages? It can't be!" I turned to see that the redheaded girl was coming back. Her axe had smudged blood on it and her forehead had caught some flecks too.

"Whew! We took care of him! My name's Anna. I'm the commander of the Order of Heroes."

"…Riiight. Well… uh… nice to me you, Anna. My name's… Maxis. Hold on, what's the… Order of Heroes?"

"We believe that Heroes should live free. Our enemies, however, enslave them -- the fiends. This realm has gateways to the worlds where Heroes come from. Have you heard of the World of Awakening? How about the World of Birthright? Or the World of Conquest?"

"I think I may have… but then that would mean… no, nevermind. Please, continue."

"There are so many more! The Emblian Empire invades those worlds and binds their Heroes to service. We fight for their freedom! That soldier was from the Emblian Empire, which will soon invade our neighboring kingdom Askr."

"Askr, huh? But why am I here?"

"I was desperate for help. I performed a summoning ceremony. And you just appeared out of nowhere. Lucky us! But there's no time to rest. We have to act fast if we're going to save our kingdom!"

"Well how can I help?"

"Come on, I'll explain once we get to the outskirts of Askr." She began sprinting past me and motioned for me to follow. We ran for what seemed like ages until we stopped on a hill.

After managing to catch my breath I asked Anna, "Alright, so now what."

"First things first. I summoned you here with the divine Breidablik," she held up an oddly shaped handgun that was colored similarly to our clothing.

"Breidablik?"

"That's the name of this relic I've brought. It fires something out of it, according to legend, but Breildabrik doesn't look like any bow I've ever seen. The legend also calls it "the true key", which if raised high, will summon the Great Hero who can fire it. That's what I did. And now you're here. So it's all yours now.

"Breidablik," I muttered. "Strange name." As soon as this weapon touched my hands it started glowing softly.

"Hopefully you can figure out how to--"

"THERE SHE IS! GET HER," someone cryed.

"Drat. More of those Emblian soldiers. I can't defeat them all by myself, and you're not equipped to help me. You run while I hold them off. Take Breidablik and get out of here, Maxis!"

I knew if I could figure out what Breidablik did then Anna might live. "Well, it's a gun, so point and shoot." I raised the weapon towards the enemy, braced myself for the shot, and pulled the trigger. There was a flash of light.

"What's that?! That bright light, coming from…" Just then a man holding a bow appeared before our very eyes.

"I am Virion, the finest archer of the fairest realms. Delighted to be of service," he said with a bow. He looked older than Anna and I. More royal-esque, too. Though his clothes didn't match ours or even his posture.

"How'd you do that? You summoned a Hero, Maxis! You just picked up Breidablik, and you're already able to use it! But there's no time to chat now! This Virion and I need to get fighting," Anna cried. She grabbed Virion by the wrist and dragged towards the battle to come. Vision's arrows flew with seemingly impossible accuracy. I watched as they appeared in the Emblian's chests, arms, and legs. Anna was fighting with newfound vigour, striking blindingly fast and without mercy. Finally one soldier stood shaking in fear. Arrows sprouted from his knee and shoulder. Anna rushed in and split his head with her axe. His blood spilled on the grass and the battle was over. "We won! And it's all thanks to you, Maxis."

"Well, I didn't really do much," I told her, but she wasn't listening. Anna was too amazed to stop talking.

"Why, none of us in the Order of Heroes can actually summon these Heroes. Ha! I never doubted for a second that you were the Great Hero. You're the one who will save our kingdom. Our order is small, Maxis, but welcome to our ranks." She put out her hand and I gladly shook it.

"Thanks, Anna. So what do you need me to do?"

"Please, help us find more Heroes to assist us. Now that you're here, I just know that we'll win our fight against the empire, Maxis," Anna said with a huge grin.