You can be anything, or so everyone says. I can't say I wanted to be an accountant, though. I would've rather have been a logger in the 1800s. The first settler in Minnesota. That would've been amazing. Having a beautiful wife, plenty of kids… The world would be better off in the times of the Church and the Crown, so I say. This was going through my head for the umpteenth time of my life as I was sitting in my parents' house, wearing a gray bathrobe, a blue t-shirt, pajama pants printed with moose, bears, deer and the like, wool socks, and slippers—the complete Arthur Dent by Douglas Adams. I even showered and shaved four hours ago at eight in the morning. I rechecked my phone to see if I had gotten any job offers—not to mention my depressing social media apps—but no. No one wanted somebody with only a two-year degree. The world was evolving into the dirt. I stood up and felt the blood rush to my lower body, blurring my vision and making me stumble.

Somebody caught me. "Hey, are you alright? I hope summoning you didn't hurt at all." When my vision cleared, I found that I was being held up by a red-haired woman. She pushed me back upright and said, "My name is Anna, Great Hero, and our kingdom, Askr, is on the brink of war. We ask of you! Please help us in our time of need!" She had an axe. And a white tunic with gold accents. She didn't have a t-shirt and jeans, she wore armor, leather boots, and leather gloves. Her hair was tied into a ponytail. Her eyes were a shade of red.

I stumbled back, and my hand rested on something. Thinking I could support myself on it, I fell back, missing it altogether. My back hit warm, carved stone. My head would've hit the carved rock if I hadn't slowed myself with whatever I had grabbed onto. It was a gravestone, for lack of a better word, with a hole through the middle and a carving of a tree around the hole.

The redhead was quickly at my side. "Hey! Are you okay?! If you're not, then—" She was cut off by a man shouting something. "Son of a— Look, just sit tight while I take care of this." She ran off to who knows where and left me to pick up the pieces of my shattered mind. I rolled over and pushed myself up. Grassy hills led to trees led to mountain ranges… Clouds hung low in the sky… Lakes and ponds dotted the places where groves of trees would have been otherwise…

The woman came back with smeared blood on the side of her face and more on her clothes. She must have seen how terrified I was because she dropped the axe, knelt down, and grabbed me by the shoulders. "Hey, it's okay! I'm not going to hurt you! Can you tell me your name?"

I could only stammer for a moment before an arrow bounced off the stone ground next to us.

"Sh—" She pushed something into my hands. "Run! Find Alfonse in the World of Mystery!"

She ran off again, but I couldn't move. I looked down at the thing she gave me. It was an ornate gun. I turned it in my hands so that I could hold it properly. I jumped and accidentally pulled the trigger as another arrow bounced off of the stone. There was a blinding light, and I rolled to cower under my bathrobe. There were shouts from two unknown voices, then something from another voice, and more from who I could only assume to be the woman. A bit later, a hand rested on my back.

"You alright?" I turned to see the woman again. I nodded shakily. "Good. Sorry to have to drag you into this mess, but thank you for summoning Virion to help me. Only you could have figured out how to use Breidablik so quickly." She turned to the man next to her and said, "And thank you too, Virion, you saved my life."

"Oh, please," the man said. He had steely blue hair, a cravat, armor over his entire left arm, long leather boots, and held a bow. "I was only doing what any upstanding gentleman would do for a fine lady, such as yourself. Perhaps we could have tea sometime?" His voice reminded me of a vampire.

"Uh, later, I'm afraid. Right now, we need to find Alfonse. Can you stand, Great Hero?" Anna asked me. I nodded quickly and scrambled to my feet. "Alright. Follow me, you two." She started off at a brisk walking pace, none of us talking.

I had my perception of reality broken twice now. Lovecraft would have a word with me if he found out, I'm sure. We had entered what I could only describe as one of many massive stone doorways, the size of which shook me to my core, not to mention the archway of eldritch magnitude sitting in front of it. On the other side was grass of a darker green—you know how it goes—and healthy trees.

"Alfonse!" Anna called out to a young man with blue hair tipped gold. He wore clothing and armor very similar to Anna's, though he had a shield on his left arm.

He turned to us. "Commander! Who are— Are these Heroes…?!"

"Yes," she said, then gestured to the archer. "This is Virion."

"From the World of Awakening?" he gasped out. He bowed. "It's an honor to meet the Archest of Archers."

"Ah! I see my reputation has spread quickly! Your commander has explained the matter that plagues your kingdom. My bow is yours to wield as you see fit."

"Thank you. I'm afraid that's all I can give you for your support." Alfonse turned to me. "And who might you be? I've never seen your face in the books in the library, I'm afraid."

Anna gestured to me. "This is— Oh, sorry, but I never got your name before."

My lips parted slightly. "Max… is…," I mumbled.

"Maxis?" Anna smiled. "That's a good name." She turned to Alfonse again. "This is Maxis, the Great Hero."

"The Great Hero…?! From the prophecy?!"

"The same. I raised Breidablik up, and he appeared before my very eyes."

Alfonse got on one knee, bowing. "I thank you for providing your aid. If you need anything from us, please, do not hesitate to ask."

"I loathe to interrupt our conversation," Virion said. "But it seems that fiends quickly approach." We all turned to where he was pointing. Across three separate bridges were three distinct enemies, each wearing armor similar in form, but different in color armor to Alfonse and Anna—black with a duller gold accent. From left to right, it was a man with a lance, a man with a sword, and a man with a bow. "If the weapon triangle is to be followed, Anna, you should engage the lancer, Alfonse, the axeman, and I shall take on the swordsman."

Anna nodded. "Good idea."

Alfonse looked at me. "Can you aid us in this battle, Great Hero?"

I stammered a bit before shaking my head.

"I see… Alright, we shall do our best regardless." The three ran off into combat, leaving me alone to watch. I stared wide-eyed at how easily they were killing the people in black. Anna had received a light stab wound to her thigh before her axe bit into the other man's side, then split his head open. Alfonse had gotten cut on his shoulder but was quickly able to stab his opponent through his armor and into his stomach. He then stabbed him in the heart as the man lay on the ground. Virion was able to put an arrow into the axe man's shoulder blade, then his throat. I stood there frozen as they all returned, wiping blood off their weapons and bodies.

"Good work, everyone," Anna spoke. "Alfonse, I'd like to find your sister, then head back to the castle and share all our reports."

"Of course," he replied. Alfonse turned to me as we walked. "Those gateways lead to different worlds. The one we're currently headed for leads to the World of Mystery. My younger sister, Sharena, is currently there, scouting how far the Emblian Empire has gone into the world and what Heroes they have put under contract. I can tell you more about the worlds back at the castle."

I just nodded in response.

"Sharena," Anna called out. "What's the situation here?"

"I'm sorry, Commander— Wait, who are— Did you bring new Heroes with?" the girl gasped. She was blonde with pink tips at the end of her hair, had green eyes, and armor identical to Alfonse's. She had a braid wrapping around the top of her head like a tiara, and her hair cascaded down her back until it… didn't? Maybe she had it tied at the bottom or something for some reason? Anyways, she had a lance in her right hand and a small shield on her left arm, just like her brother.

"I'm afraid they'll have to wait on introductions."

"Sorry… But simply put? Dreadful… I wasn't able to do anything about it, but the Empire has put Palla, Catria, and Minerva under contract. Her little sister, too!" Also, her voice was high. Very high. If you could take nails on a chalkboard and drown it in sugar, sunshine, and other girly stuff, you'd probably have Sharena's voice.

"Gods, that is not good…" The redhead put a finger to her chin in thought. "I'm afraid we can't do anything about it. Not yet."

"What?! But—! We have to do something!"

"I know, Sharena, but we need help if we're going to take them on."

"If I may," Virion interrupted. "I have a bow, and if my memory serves correctly, they were all flying fighters, no?"

"You're right…! Maybe we can do it! Virion, do you have a plan?"

"I do. I will try to pick them off, but I will need you three to protect me in the process." Virion looked down. "Though I am loath to kill such lovely beauties…"

"No need to worry about that. The Empire's contracts stop them from being killed until the contract is broken, and all we need to do to break the contract is, well, kill them, to put it simply."

"Ah, I see! Then I'm sure everything will be back to normal afterwards, no?"

"That's correct."

"Splendid!"

I swallowed as they all moved away to battle. I looked out at the surrounding area. I would have sworn the mountains in the distance had moved closer to us, if the grass hadn't been a deeper shade of green. The new trees helped clear up the fact that this was another world, too. Anyways, the four warriors gathered in front of a long crumbling wall. The three without bows started to break down the barrier like Pikmin, making surprisingly short work of it. They started forth with their archer in tow. My eyes widened at the creatures in the air—two pegasi and a wyvern beginning a rapid descent toward the four. On their backs were three women, each with one with a different, not usually natural hair color. They each had weapons to match the ones wielded by… the good guys, I guess? I wasn't going to get that information for a long time, probably. Anyways again, the riders came down hard and fast. I don't know what led to the survival of the group, but it did its job. The three melee attackers all received some bad wounds. Still, Virion was able to begin firing at the attackers through his defenders. Not something they usually allowed at the range, but all of the arrows hit the enemies instead, thankfully. Once one of them was wounded enough—plenty of cuts and an arrow in her body—they would retreat back and reappear a moment later, wounds and arrow gone. I looked around for the cause of such a miracle, and found that a young girl was waving a… healing scepter(?) over them.

I pulled that gun out of my bathrobe pocket and looked down at it. I wanted to help, but I didn't want to hurt anyone… I pointed it away from the battle and towards the ground. I was hoping I could make another person appear, but I was still worried that an actual bullet would come out. I braced myself for anything and slowly pulled the trigger. When I felt the trigger hit the back of the trigger well, I realized that nothing had happened. I examined the weapon closer but found nothing. Was I even the one who made Virion appear out of nowhere? Why was I here? Because someone needed their kingdom saved? From what? Was I ever going to get answers? Was any of this even real? These questions and many others appeared in my head and came out of my mouth like so: "Wai— Wha— Bu— Huh?" I shook my head and turned my focus to the battlefield.

My eyes widened, and my mouth fell agape. The healer—a child—caught an arrow in her chest. I stumbled back, taking many shallow breaths. I turned and sprinted back through the portal. I tripped not far from it and curled up into a ball, trying to take refuge in the soft fabric of my robe. There was no escape from this place. This wasn't Hell. It was worse. It was war. Best case scenario, I had gone insane, and this is what my mind showed me. All the things I wanted were being given to me by a withered monkey's paw. Could I even fix it? Any of it? Could I change reality like in a dream? Could I become sane again? Could I find the answers?

I lay there for probably two minutes, now calm. All I needed was a good cry, it seemed. I rolled onto my back, staring up at the low, rolling clouds. I was breathing deeply, feeling my entire body, and trying to focus on one thing at a time. How did I get here? That redheaded woman, Anna, said she summoned me. Why was I here? To save the kingdom. I got distracted by one of the clouds turning into Bart Simpson. I laughed to myself, thinking about Oneyplays. It seemed everything was back to normal for the most part.

The sound of footsteps approached. I turned towards their direction and found the four fighters approaching me. "Maxis! There you are! Where were you; we assumed the worst!" the redhead scolded me.

I quickly stood up and quietly said, "Sorry."

"Doesn't matter. Come on, we need to get back to Askr; the kingdom is being attacked." Without leaving time for questions, she and the rest of the group started away. I hadn't even realized how bad my feet hurt until I began following behind.

Like I said, war was worse than Hell. God could save anyone from Hell, but war didn't care who was caught in its chaos. Bodies of men and some women lay scattered around the streets. I was beginning to panic again.

Virion gathered everyone but me around him, explaining that they were going to reuse that last strategy, but prioritize the enemy… troubadour, I think they called it? A healer on a horse, basically. They went off to battle, and I winced as an arrow hit Sharena's shield. They kept continuing forward and were able to kill the archer. A blond man in dark armor and riding an even darker horse charged forward. I thought he would take the blonde's head clean off with his sword, but she raised her spear, scaring the horse off track. An arrow sprouted from his shoulder, and he retreated back to the healer. A swordsman replaced the rider and engaged the group. However, an arrow in his head stopped the man from doing much damage. The horseman came back, this time with his helper right behind him. Virion shouted a command, and Anna ran past the horse soldier. She swung her axe into the healer's horse, the two falling over. The woman screamed in pain as, I assume, her leg was broken. Anna's axe smashed her skull, ending whatever pain she might have been in. The rider turned his horse and brought his sword across her back. Another arrow sprouted out of the rider's lower back, and he retreated for good this time.

The others checked on the redhead who waved them off. She then picked up the healer's staff and started towards me. She held it out to me and asked, "Do you know how to use a healing staff?"

I shook my head.

She sighed. "Alright. We're going to help pick up whatever pieces we can, then head back to the castle." She started away, and I didn't know what to do with myself.