Game 1Game 1 Outline| Game 1 |
Game 1 Outline |
You still refuse to accept the idea that you can't control your fate, but it doesn't look like you can escape being female. Despite your refusal to accept destiny something tells you that you'll still have to have a female name. Reluctantly resigning yourself to just that much, you think for a moment before deciding.
"I...you can call me Arya," you say at last. You're not sure where the name came from, but now that you've said it, it feels natural.
*You see? That wasn't so hard, was it?* the voice asks. *Just accept yourself and make it easier on yourself. Resisting is only hurting yourself, dear.*
Shut up! you hiss in your mind. I won't give in, no matter what!
*Whatever. It's just a matter of time. You'll see, you can't escape it.*
You ignore the voice and turn your attention back to Raijin, who seems contemplative. "Arya it is then." He pauses as if in thought, then looks at you. "I think I might be able to help you with your predicament. You can never become male again, as you are the Chosen One and she is female; that much is already decided and inescapable. Yet you resist fate. You fight against the destiny chosen, and that is a battle I can allow you to win."
"You can do that?!" you burst out, while at the same time the wizard shouts "You cannot defy fate like that! She must become mother to the Hero!"
"Silence!" Raijin snarls, electricity crackling across his body. "Fool wizard! You assume to know what Fate is? Prophecies are vague. The Legendary Hero of the myths...is undetermined. She is the Chosen One, with the power to oppose the Dark One. That, and nothing else, is all that is absolute and inevitable." He looks at you, then turns and walks toward a large steel door near the back of the throne room. "Follow me, Arya, if you would."
Excited at the prospect of being able to be rid of femininity even if you can't go back to being male, you quickly follow Raijin. As you follow him through the door, you hear Kohiro tell the wizard: "I tried to tell you."
You follow Raijin down the long hallway, past several forks, before arriving at a large elaborate door, marked with several odd carvings. Raijin opens the door and leads you into a large round chamber. Several odd gems and artifacts are in the room, most set on small platforms. At the back is what looks like a large desk or chest.
Raijin motions for you to stand in the center of the room, and retrieves a scroll and a small diamond from the chest. He tosses you the diamond, telling you not to drop it until the ritual is finished. He then stands about a meter in front of you and opens the scroll. "Before we begin," Raijin says, "confirm that you wish to sever the path that Fate has laid before you. When complete, you will remain as you are, the Chosen One with the power to oppose the Dark One, but you will be freed to make your own path."
"Definitely," you say immediately, "I refuse to be forced. I want to make my own choices."
"Very well," says Raijin, "I'll begin the ritual. Don't move until it is over." He holds up the scroll and reads from it, chanting an incantation in a strange, unidentifiable language. Within a couple minutes, the scroll begins to glow, then the diamond he gave you glows as well, much more brightly. A wind blows around you, ruffling your dress and whipping your hair around. Raijin finishes the incantation, and roars "Winds of Destiny Change! Be freed from the chains of fate!" There is a bright flash of light, and suddenly everything stops.
"It is done," Raijin says calmly, "There is no reversing what has already occurred; you remain the Chosen One; but no more choices can be made for you."
You understand the meaning of his words immediately. Your body is unchanged; you remain the same red-haired warrior woman, and will always remain this way. But...you think for a moment, and confirm that the female voice in your head no longer exists. You're not sure how, but you can somehow feel that Raijin spoke the truth, and that although you're stuck as a girl, the world can no longer control you.
"However," Raijin states, snapping you out of your thoughts, "remember that now, the one who must defeat the Dark One, is either you or no one." He motions for you to follow him, and the two of you head back to the main hall.
As you walk back, you think to yourself. Raijin freed you from fate's hold on you, so you can make your own fate. You're stuck as the warrior girl, Arya, but for some reason being female doesn't bother you as much anymore. You're not thinking of yourself as female, and you remember everything clearly, but without the world trying to force you to think and act like it actually being female is much easier to handle.
You and Raijin have just made it back to the main hall when the sound of a large bell echoes through the hall. You, Kohiro, and the wizard all flinch in surprise and glance at Raijin, who just glares. "The warning bell," he states, "A powerful enemy approaches."
Written by Dragonfang
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