Phantasy Star: Fringes of Algo

I woke up on the bank of a river next to a small wooden bridge that spanned its width. Startled, I made an effort to get up, and, to my surprise, I had no difficulty at all getting up. I felt strong and vigorous for the first time in months. But the question still stood, where was I?

I noticed a small knapsack, tied to the end of a stick like I used to see in movies and in cartoons, lying in the spot where I had been sleeping. Looking around to see if anyone was watching, I slowly knelt down and opened up the cloth sack and peered into its contents. There were some clothes, a small knife, and another, smaller sack filled with strange coins. Where exactly was I?

I threw the stick over my shoulder and walked across the bridge. I saw a large forest in front of me and what looked like a city wall next to it. Surely I could find out where exactly I was if I went to the city. There was a little voice in my mind that repeated Lacey’s words to me, but I thought it was impossible. As I neared the city wall, I heard a loud dog-like snarl.

To my horror, a large dog-like animal stood on all fours behind me. It certainly looked like a dog, but it wore what looked like a red suit of armor with a huge spike sticking out above its head. It took a few steps closer to me, growling like the most vicious of rotweilers that I had ever seen. I felt like I was an actor in The Pack.

“Ohmigosh, it’s a Sesaig. What is a seisag doing here?”

I didn’t have time to pull my knife out of the knapsack, so I simply set off in a fast sprint toward the city in front of me. The canine monster followed behind me, but thank goodness, I was able to outrun it and soon the creature turned away and headed off in another direction. I said a silent prayer as I reached the city walls.

A kind guard let me through the gate and I found myself in a beautiful town on the bank of another river. I stopped by a house near the entrance to the city and asked the lady there where I was.

With a voice full of compassion, she responded, “Welcome to Oruk, my friend. Please, make yourself at home.”

“Oruk? Sesaig? I can’t believe it! I’m in the Miracle Warriors game! Lacey was right! Lacey was right!”

I thanked the woman and went about exploring the town. As I did so, I ran into a rather large fellow who brandished a sword and wore a knight-like suit of armor, although his thighs were bare and he bore no shield. He stopped me on the road near the armor shop and introduced himself.

“Good stranger. My name is Rad. I have come here on a dangerous quest seeking information. Canst thou help me on my way?”

He was alone, so I knew that this must be the first player, or the main player of the game. I decided to help him. After all, it was his destiny to defeat the evil Lord Terarin and restore peace to the five continents. That’s how it was in the game.

“Young hero,” I replied. “You must first find a companion to assist you on your journey. There is a powerful warrior named Guy who shall assist you. You must acquire 300 fangs and trade them for a powerful axe at the Marula castle, south of here.” I was surprised at how many small details I had remembered.

The young, but brawny warrior nodded. “Then what must I do?” he inquired majestically.

“To the southwest, near the stormy seas, is another town. You shall find Guy waiting for you there.”

The warrior smiled and rested his hand on my shoulder. “Thank you, kind traveller. May the spirit of Iason protect you on your wanderings.”

The man turned and left the town, leaving me standing in awe on the streets of Oruk. I couldn’t believe it. I had just given helpful information to the hero of Miracle Warriors. I was so pleased with myself. If he was to defeat Terarin, I would know that I had taken part in the adventure. Pleased with myself, I went about talking to the inhabitants of the town, hoping to find someone who had originally come from my world. There were none.

“It’s okay. Let’s backtrack and head toward Garia, at the beginning of the game. I should have better luck there.”

I purchased some herbs and left the town, heading north and then east. I often found myself running from thieves and girods, which looked like the Creature from the Black Lagoon, but with more intimidating claws. Once in a while, I had to defend myself against a Weasley Wimp or an Evil Merchant, but soon I became quite expert with the knife and had increased my fortune to about 500 guilders.

Once in the town of Garia, I went about questioning the inhabitants, talking the way I talked in my own world instead of the archaic English the inhabitants used, hoping to fish out someone from my own world. Yet again, there was nobody who had come from my world and thus my desires were frustrated again. I bought myself a feather—which could transport me away in case of an emergency—and left town. I was a traveller, so wandering around was my calling in life.

***

It was several months later that I ran into the hero again. He was travelling near Minos alongside Guy. Guy, a mustached giant wielding a gigantic sword, was an intimidating sight. Both of them were now armed with the weapons of legend, the hero with Iris’ Axe and Guy with Turos’ Sword. The hero stopped me and, like the last time, asked me if I might know anything that would help him on his quest.

I asked him if they had defeated the giant wolf monster, the Senpi. He replied that he had. I then told him to look for a dense forest east of Kadia, where he had found Guy. There, in a narrow isthmus, he would encounter a monster called a Skeleton. Only Guy could defeat the fearsome creature. Doing so, they would be able to build a ship and sail southward.

Guy and the hero looked overjoyed at my advice. Each of them gave me powerful embraces that nearly squeezed the life out of me. The hero then paused and turned to look at me.

“Thou art the same who helped me in Oruk.”

I nodded humbly.

The hero reached into a large pouch that hung from his belt and pulled out a thousand guilders. He handed them to me, which I greedily hid in my knapsack. He then nodded to Guy, who pulled out a fifty fangs from his own pouch, and handed them to me.

“A show of thanks for thy help,” he said simply. “Come Guy, we must find the village of shipbuilders, soon.”

In a few moments, the two heroes were on their way again. I continued my journey to Minos and, after getting something to eat, went about my usual ritual of looking for anyone from my world who might have come here. I had been doing this for months now, talking to merchants, other travelers, white monks, and the inhabitants of three towns, three castles, and two villages, trying to find a fellow fan of the game who had been destined to spend their afterlife here. All of my searches had yet been in vain. I was undeterred, however. After all, Miracle Warriors was blessed with a huge map. There were still a few more towns and villages in this continent and two other continents that I had yet to explore. I must not give up hope now.

However, I did realize that I would soon need to start traveling. So, while in Minos, I signed up to a be a merchant. My boss gave me a large cargo, mainly of swords and shields, but also of feathers and herbs, and I was to set sail from Menos to the southern continent of Eratos in a week. I excitedly got my things ready and made the dangerous trip through the mountains to the port city of Menos.

I didn’t mind the danger; there was something quite exhilarating about running away from the Vome—a monster that looked like a giant sentient kidney—and it’s flame spell. And the roksaigs were quite nice if you brought some meat with you. After all, being a merchant meant that I would soon meet lots of new people. Certainly I would meet somebody from my own world. And it was that thought—the thought of me sitting down at a restaurant and trading life stories with a Miracle Warriors fan from Earth—that sustained me up to this point.