A little more than half an hour had passed and it was becoming increasingly obvious that Alfred had no idea where he was going and was, in fact, completely lost. This was not a discouragement, however. For every time he tripped or heard a strange noise or realised he was going in circles, Alfred could only laugh and carry on with a smile. The amazement of finding himself in a video game had not yet worn off, if it ever would. Besides that, Alfred had always been a fan of the outdoors and the green forest was pretty beautiful.

"Um, Alfred-san?"

"Yeah? What's up?" Alfred slowed to a stop and looked up, though he wasn't sure if that would make any difference to how well he could hear his friend or his position on Kiku's end.

Kiku's tone was still a little shaken. He was having a much harder time seeing the brighter side of the whole situation. The fact he had attempted calling the police about this 'problem' and they had only yelled at him for apparently wasting police time probably didn't help the matter. He had been very silent since then.

"I tried looking up your location. I'd say it's safe to assume you're in the first, er, 'dungeon', so I think I've found a map."

"Really? Awesome!" Alfred grinned. The forest was cool, but the sooner he got out, the sooner he could explore the rest of this world! And maybe get some shoes, since his feet were starting to hurt a little from stepping on so many stones and twigs. Oh, and find Matthew. "So, where do I go?"

"It's a little hard to tell... There should be a village somewhere in this forest, and a path with it leading out. I think it's supposed to be the first place the main character goes... This is just a guess, but try heading right."

Alfred followed this idea without any complaints, his smile only widening. If he did somehow manage to find the village it would be a great chance to get some information on this new world. In all honesty, he didn't know that much about the game, just the basic storyline. The main character wakes up in the middle of a forest with no idea who he is or how he got there. He's soon given the quest to free the magical goddess of the land and save the world, both done by defeating the evil sorcerer who imprisoned her in the first place, while the hero also tries to figure out who he is. Though slightly cliché at first, the story was supposed to have some awesome twists and turns that had earned it its fan base and Alfred had been excited to finally play it. Playing through it with a first-hand perspective only made it even better, in his opinion.

He continued to hurry through bushes and duck under branches as he went, his eyes lit up like a child with a new toy; there was something, however, that made even him slow down. The trees had only grown closer and closer together as he found himself deeper in the forest. Now, barely any light managed to make it through the canopy and Alfred frowned for the first time in what felt like forever.

"Hey, Kiku?" Alfred's voice wavered with uncharacteristic caution. Suddenly that rustling in the leaves didn't sound so fun. "Are you sure this is the right way?"

"It should be..." Kiku seemed a little confused. "I might have made a mistake, but I really thought—"

Alfred didn't wait to hear the rest, simply jumping through the space between two trees. He had seen something, light filtering down just a little bit ahead, and he went for it without a second thought. Standing there in the darkness had begun making him what he hoped was unnecessarily paranoid.

He burst out into the brightness, rapidly blinking as he tried to glance around his actually visible surroundings. It took a few seconds for Alfred to really understand what he was seeing.

He froze.

It was like some kind of clearing, but the space was much too wide to have been made naturally. Grass did not reach this place—only a dry, barren earth lay underfoot. The trees that made up the circling wall were bent back oddly; it was as if the wildlife wanted to be as far away from the dead space as possible. There was simply nothing. Even the birds couldn't be heard anymore.

Alfred stepped forward, slowly at first but then moving to the centre of the lifeless circle at a more determined pace. Sounding concerned, Kiku spoke up,

"Alfred-san, are you sure this is safe? I know I can't see it the way you do right now, but something about it doesn't seem right… I don't remember the guide saying anything about this area."

Alfred didn't have time to answer with anything beyond a shrug. His foot had stepped on seemingly ordinary land; a flash lit up the empty space briefly and Alfred fell back, shaking his head, stunned. When the spots cleared from his vision, a small ball of light floated where there had previously been nothing.

"Um..." Alfred said.

The ball was moving, spreading, stretching to the size of one of the many large trees. Alfred's mouth fell open. He was still trying to decide what action would be best against whatever strange monster this was—fleeing or fighting?—when someone stepped out of the light.

It was a woman, long flowing hair framing her face along with a pair of green eyes, a white dress reaching down below her ankles. She went forward, looking as if she was almost glowing, and smiled once she saw the very stunned Alfred.

"You have finally arrived," she said, her voice echoing almost as if she were underwater.

Alfred could only nod dumbly. This did not seem to be the reaction the woman expected.

"You are the one I brought here, correct?" she asked, though she didn't wait for an answer. "Yes, you must be. You have the same presence, the same courageous heart as the one I found…"

As Alfred was still having trouble processing what the hell had just happened and what was being said, Kiku spoke up instead.

"You were the one who pulled him inside the game?"

"Game…?" She seemed to frown. "It is true that I am the one who brought him to this world, but it was not for some trivial reason such as a game. This world is in peril." With a slight shake of her head, she turned her attention back to Alfred. "Young hero, I am the goddess of this world. I thank you for agreeing to take up this quest."

Slowly, Alfred blinked. "Um… Huh? Quest?"

Kiku's frown was almost audible. "The quest to prevent the two kingdoms from battling, return the goddess' power and defeat the sorcerer… Then, Alfred-san has to play the role of the main character? Are you really saying—?"

"He has to," the goddess pressed. "Otherwise, this world is doomed. I do not understand why you sound so upset. I asked this hero if he would save us, and he said yes."

It was around this time Alfred finally managed to get to his feet. He looked at the goddess.

"So, um," he started, having slowly regained his composure, "what do I need to do?"

"Alfred-san—"

"Kiku, it's fine," Alfred interrupted. "I mean, if this place is really in trouble I can't exactly say no, right? Besides," he went back to addressing the goddess, "if you're the one who brought me in here, then that means you can send me back home again just as easily, right?"

The goddess blinked, glanced away.

"Ah… Perhaps."

Alfred put his head to one side, feeling a sudden twinge of alarm and possibly worry. "Wait, what?"

"The sorcerer who sealed me away," the goddess said with a sigh, "he took almost all of my power from me. I used the near last of it to bring you here."

"So, you're saying I can't go back?" Now that was a problem. The idea of running around in a video game was fun, sure, but part of that fun came from the thought that there was probably some way to go home if he needed to. The chance that he was actually stuck in that world forever and ever kind of risked ruining the whole experience.

"That is not a certainty." The goddess looked at him sadly. "Please, allow me to explain from the beginning. This land was once at peace, a world of happiness and magic. However, almost two decades ago, a sorcerer discovered a terrible power and grew corrupted. Using this power, he decided that he would take control of this world by force. The only one who could possibly stand in his way was me." A shadow seemed to pass over her face as she said this, but is vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.

"We fought, and though my power was almost equal to his, it was not enough. He had grown too strong. I was cursed to forever remain in this circle of earth, and that was when he took it. My power… At my normal strength, I could have easily broken through the curse, you see. I suppose that is why he did it. Whatever the case, he sealed my powers inside a crystal which he then smashed into eight pieces. These were scattered across the land, and as I am trapped here there is no way for me to retrieve them."

"As one last act of desperation, I attacked him with what little strength I had left. From this, his own powers were significantly weakened. However, this was not a complete success. His powers would slowly return over time. After so much time, it is very possible that his previous strength has almost doubled, and it would only continue to grow. Soon, he will be unstoppable."

"So, um…" Alfred started. "You want me to, um, defeat him?"

The goddess' eyes widened in horror.

"Young hero… Though very occasionally necessary, I do not support the taking of lives. The sorcerer has committed evil, yes, but that is mostly a result of the corruption infecting him. Without that, he would have been an ordinary mage. It is not his fault entirely, so a way to avoid his death would be much more preferable."

"Okaaay, then what am I supposed to do?"

"The pieces of crystal," the goddess said, turning her head as if to stare at something distant, the wind seeming to pick up slightly. "They hold my power. If you find and bring them all to me, I will return to my full strength. After that, I would be able to destroy the curse keeping me here and release the sorcerer from his corruption. Sending you back to your home world would be of almost trivial ease."

"Whoa, really?" Alfred stared at her, grinning again. "So, I pretty much just need to find these crystal things and everything'll be all right? Wow, for a second there I thought this would be hard."

"Alfred-san, she just described the basic plot of Forgotten Shadows." Kiku sighed. "You agreed to help buy the game when you didn't even know this much…?"

"Hey! I know some of it," Alfred argued. "I just thought it'd more awesome if most of the storyline took me by surprise… Oh." He stopped suddenly. He looked at the goddess. "Hey, um… Do you know where my brother is?"

The goddess frowned. "Your brother?"

"Yeah, you see, he was with me when that light appeared and he's not with Kiku anymore so I thought…" he trailed off. "You don't know?"

"I'm afraid not. I focussed on bringing you to this forest so that we could meet, but only you. An accidental passenger could have ended up anywhere in this world…" She sounded apologetic. "If your brother truly is here, then it appears the crystals are not the only thing you must search for.

"Matthew-san…" Kiku murmured.

"H-hey, it's fine!" Alfred said quickly. "I mean, Mattie's pretty resourceful. I'm sure he can wait a little while for me to find him. Besides, he's probably just in the next town over or whatever, you know? He's fine. A-and anyway, you can just find him immediately or something when I bring your power back, right?" he asked the goddess.

"Yes, that should be simple."

"See? Everything's fine…"

As if ignoring the very slight uncertainty in Alfred's voice, Kiku asked, "How is he supposed to find these crystal pieces, then?"

The goddess nodded at this question and held out her arm. In the palm of her hand lay a ring, the band seeming to be made of iron and a dulled greying jewel held in the clasp. Alfred took it carefully, sending a confused glance from the ring and to the goddess.

"The jewel on the ring will glow when you are close to one of the crystal pieces," she explained. "The closer you are, the brighter the light. It will aide your search. Please do not lose it—it is one of a kind and there is no way to replace it."

"Understood," Alfred said. There were no pockets on his pyjamas so he slipped the ring onto his finger. The metal was cold, almost unnaturally so; he couldn't help but shiver slightly before looking back to the goddess.

"What do I do if I run into this sorcerer guy, then?"

The goddess' expression turned serious. "Be very careful," she said. "His deceptions know no bounds. He would surely try to trick you, lie to you, pretend to be someone he is not. If you think there is even a chance you are in the presence of the sorcerer, do not tell him of your quest. He would do away with you there and then."

"Right… Don't trust the evil sorcerer," Alfred mumbled to himself. "Well, is there anything else? I mean, I guess I should probably be on my way."

"Of course." The goddess smiled. "If possible, young hero, I would implore you to take haste with this quest. If the sorcerer's power grows too strong, there is a chance even I will be unable to stop him."

"So I'm not allowed to dawdle. Got it."

"You must also be cautious," the goddess told him. "My presence once kept them away, but ever since my imprisonment here, the land has been filled with monsters. With the right equipment they will be no problem for a hero such as yourself, but…"

"Oh." Alfred blinked. "Monsters. Right. Yeah, I guess I can't do much to them like this, huh?"

"I wish I could do more, put the seal has made any other forms of help impossible." She was fading, Alfred realised. At first it could have been considered a trick of the light, but now the sky and the swaying trees were visible through her green eyes. She smiled. "The rest is up to you. I believe in you, young hero…"

Then she was gone.

For the next few silence filled seconds, Alfred could only stare. Quite a bombshell had been dropped on him. The fate of this world was pretty much in his hands. He had to find the crystal pieces and his brother, and though a limit hadn't been given there wasn't much time to waste. If he failed, then…

There was a sort of rustling from behind, something moving in the long grass, but Alfred didn't notice this. He only heard the slow yet confident footsteps on the dry earth. He turned, confused, and met a drawn and very very sharp looking sword pointed at his throat.

The one holding the hilt grinned at him, almost head to toe in dark coloured armour, a contrast to his pale skin. With the sword only a slash away from taking his head, Alfred swallowed.

"Well," the man said, his red eyes sparkling under a mess of silver hair, "what have we got here?"

—Chapter end

I finally got round to writing another chapter ^0^ I'm sorry this took so long; as always, life tends to get in the way of these kinds of things ^^'

This is kind of exposition heavy, but hopefully there shouldn't be too many chapters like this ^^' Though I guess a lot needs to get out of the way for the first few chapters…

The identity of the mysterious man is pretty obvious, huh? XD I mean, a pale man with red eyes and silver hair… The identity of the sorcerer, though, maybe not as obvious. It's a canon character, I'll say that much :)

Well, please review and tell me what you think ^_^