Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

After my meeting with Lacey, I took whatever money I had on my person and bought a feather, transporting myself back to Kadia. There, I found that my personal fortune was still stashed away in a basement beneath one of the houses, despite having been placed there numerous games ago. I took the money and invested in an enormous quantity of healing herbs, buying out the entire stock in both Oruk and Kadia. I bought myself a wooden staff and let my hair grow out, so that I now looked like a white monk from the game.

To my surprise, after I did so, almost all monsters stayed away from me on general principle. Not even the stubborn weasley wimps tried to hassle me whenever I walked the plains of Arukas, where the game began. I did what Lacey had told me to do. I helped the downtrodden, I assisted in rebuilding the cities that were attacked by Terarin’s monstrous forces, and I protected the good merchants and travellers from the forces evils as they journeyed from one end of the world to the next.

I often encountered the hero on his journeys. Like I used to do when I first arrived in this land, I would often engage him in conversation and, finding out at what point he was on his journey, I’d tell him what his next step should be. And then, as a show of good faith, I would give him some healing herbs until he was at full strength. He often tried to give me money or fangs for my troubles, but I simply smiled and told him that “we white monks” shouldn’t accept monetary rewards.

As the months passed, I ran into the hero time and time again, this time with his companions. I performed the same ritual each time I saw them, for which they were profoundly grateful. I don’t know how, though, but whenever I saw them and Medi was already on their team, she would give me a wink and a kiss on the cheek. Whether or not she did this with all monks or not, I can only speculate.

I strove to make my interactions with the townspeople more meaningful, getting involved in their lives and not just talking to them purely for business reasons. They all enjoyed my company and I soon became known as the “funny talking white monk.” I liked that nickname; it reminded me of the good days when I did nothing but good in the land. I made large donations to the elders of each town, even helping to pull the town of Doris out of bankrupty, which the residents were grateful for.

One day, I had just visited the down of Garia on spiritual business and had left town heading north toward the Arasia Castle, where the game began. As I did so, I saw an attractive woman, about twenty-five or so, running away from a pair of thieves. I hastened my pace to catch up to her. She shrieked in fear.

“Fear not, young maiden. Stay behind me. I’ll protect you.” I said gallantly.

The woman nodded and ran behind me.

“Old man!” yelled one of the thieves beligergently. “Thou hast nothing to do with us. Be gone!”

“Scoundrels!” I yelled. “How dare you fall upon this beautiful girl here. Leave her alone or so help me.”

One of the thieves, the one who hadn’t said anything, flung his morning star in my direction. With a twist and turn of my staff, I deflected the flow until the chain of his weapon had wrapped around mine own. Giving the wooden staff a powerful yank, I disarmed the thief, leaving him in a surprised awe. I then extended my arm and yelled out some words in another language.

There was bright flash of white light. The two thieves shielded their eyes, but it was too late. They staggered forward a few steps, and then fell to their knees. In a couple of moments, they were sleeping on the ground like little children.

I turned to the frightened girl. “I’m sorry if I scared you. Something had to be done about these thugs.”

The young lady looked at me curiously. “That's funny. You’re the first person I’ve met here that doesn’t talk like they do in the Bible or in a Shakespeare play.”

My heart leapt inside my chest. Shakespeare? Bible? It could only mean one thing: I had found a companion at long last!

Hiding my ecstasy at meeting someone from my own world, I said, “Quite observant of you. Let me give you a little hint: I’m not from around here.”

“You mean—wait a minute are you Jackson?” the girl asked, her face becoming red.

I stared at her for several seconds, not believing what I was hearing. “Lacey?” I asked, reaching out the feel the young girl’s face.

“No. I’m Shaina. But I did know Lacey. She was the owner of the Miracle Warriors fan site. She had the place dedicated to your memory. She always said that she created the community so that you might have company. None of us ever really understood why, although now I do. “ Shaina’s rambling was more beautiful to me than the most eloquent speech given by the most powerful orator.

“I’m not quite sure I follow you, but I’m overjoyed nonetheless.” Overjoyed was something of an understatement. I was fighting back the tears so much that I couldn’t think straight anymore. “You mean there was a community for fans of the game?”

“When was it that you died?”

“1991.”

“Okay, so quite a few things have happened since then. But yeah, there was a small online community devoted to our favorite game. We weren’t many, but we were tight knit and close. I assume you want to know more about all of this?” There was a twinkle in her eyes as she said that.

I grinned. “Sure. Come, my dear. Let’s head to Garia. It’s dangerous for a white monk and a beautiful damsel like yourself to be hanging around out here alone.”

I cautiously wrapped my arm around her and guided her in the direction of Garia. To my surprise, she let me do so. She smiled affectionately at me and followed my lead.

“So, you want to know what you missed, huh? I hope you have time to listen.”

I chuckled at that. “My dear Shaina, you and I have all the time in the world.”