Once, there was a boy and a girl destined for greatness. But this is not the story of that boy and girl, though their story plays a part in this one.

Once, there was a man who was torn away from his purpose and everything he had ever loved and thrust into a new world entirely.

Once, there was another man who longed to know his purpose in life and yearned to move beyond wandering the earth.

Once, there was a woman who watched the incarnation of her faith die before her eyes, and wondered if she would ever know purpose again.

This is the story of the two men and the woman who were beaten down by the world itself and yet refused to fall. It is a story of despair and hope, of hatred and love, of the changing times and the desire of those three people to reach beyond the stars to forge their own path.

I look up at the mountain set against the sky of dusk, a man and a woman standing to my left and right sides doing the same.-

A figure with red armor and darker red hair holds out a hand to me. I grab it, and he helps me up. My vision starts to clear, and the person's face is revealed to be a young man's as he asks, "What's your name?"-

A starry sky lies above me. I stare up at the unfamiliar heavens, wondering what secrets they hold.-

I took a cursory glance at the charm, pointing at it as I turned my head to face a young man with blue armor and green hair. "It's a dangerous thing, playing with forces like these."-

I slammed my hand down on a table, shouting at the same young man in the same blue armor. "This is something we have to do! Without that sword we're all fucking dead!"-

"I've been waiting for you-"

I'm standing in a dark cave, two people frozen behind me. In the impenetrable darkness before me, a pair of glowing, pure red eyes snap open, and glare at me. Then another, directly behind them. And a third, below the first two.-

"This is not your end.-"

I slam the white-hot blade into the sword of a hooded figure with purple fire burning around its hands as I snarl, "The future does not belong to you!"-

My awakening was very different from most of those who went through what I did. I didn't wake up lying on a field of grass, with people standing over me, friendly and ready to greet me. I woke up on the cold stone to the sound of rushing water and deadly silence.

Now, I could tell you how I got to this point. I could tell you about the disorientation of suddenly being somewhere I distinctly remembered not being. I could tell you about the confusion of not knowing where I was. I could tell you about the fear of seeing the petrified corpse of a dragon with an ornate sword stuck in its head, or about the surprise when that sword rose out of the dragon's skull and the hilt shattered.

I couldn't tell you about what happened for a while after that. I found myself sitting against a tree, with a hiltless blade wrapped in the hoodie I'd taken off. I stared up at the night sky, unable to pick out so much as a single familiar star or constellation, and I fell asleep weeping. From fear or sorrow, I don't know. Maybe both. All I know is that I passed out, on my first night in another world, crying myself to the realm of dreams.

Welcome to Valentia, the dreams told me.