Joseph wasn't sure when exactly he had fallen asleep. One moment, he was shivering on the cold ground, his cape barely shielding him from the night air, and the next—
He was standing in a vast, endless void.
The sky was a shimmering swirl of blues, purples, and silvers, like someone had taken a cosmic paintbrush and smeared the universe across it. There was no ground beneath him, yet he wasn't falling. He simply existed.
And before him stood her.
The woman—or perhaps goddess—was impossibly beautiful. Not just in the conventional way, but in a way that made it painfully clear she wasn't human.
Her hair, a cascading river of silver and gold, seemed to shimmer like liquid light. Her eyes were an ethereal blue, deep as the ocean and just as endless. She wore flowing robes of celestial silk, shifting and glittering as if woven from the very stars themselves.
She gazed at him with an expression that was neither warm nor cold—just… knowing. As if she could see everything about him in a single glance.
Joseph swallowed hard.
"Uh… hi?" he managed, unsure if talking to a possibly divine entity was a terrible idea or an even worse idea.
The goddess tilted her head slightly, as if amused by his reaction.
"You have arrived, at last," she said, her voice echoing through the void like a melody that was both familiar and completely alien.
Joseph blinked. "I mean… yeah, I guess? Kind of got hit by a truck, so I didn't have much say in the matter."
She chuckled softly—a sound like chimes in the wind. "Indeed. You were brought to this world by fate."
"Fate, huh?" Joseph scratched his head. "That's one way to put it. Another way to put it is 'bad luck and no health insurance.'"
The goddess simply smiled.
Joseph sighed, deciding to just roll with it. Weird things were happening, and he was too tired to question them anymore.
"So," he said, crossing his arms, "I'm guessing you're some all-powerful deity of this world, and you've summoned me here for a grand purpose, right? Maybe a prophecy? A legendary destiny? Something dramatic?"
The goddess's smile didn't waver.
"…No."
Joseph blinked. "Wait, what?"
"You have no great destiny," she continued, her voice calm yet firm. "No prophecy foretells your rise. No divine plan has marked you as its champion."
Joseph processed this for a second.
"…So you're telling me I ended up here for no reason?"
The goddess nodded.
Joseph threw his hands in the air. "Unbelievable."
After a long, frustrated sigh, he refocused on the goddess, who was still watching him with that strange, knowing gaze.
"Alright, fine," he grumbled. "So if there's no prophecy, why are you here? Just to flex on me with your godly presence?"
The goddess's expression softened slightly.
"I have come to offer a warning."
Joseph tensed. "Oh. Great. Of course. Hit me with it."
She raised a hand, and the void around them shifted. In the swirling expanse, he saw visions—
A city in flames. A monstrous shadow looming over screaming people. A figure standing alone against an overwhelming darkness.
Joseph's stomach twisted. It felt… real. Too real.
"The world you now reside in is dangerous," the goddess said, her voice steady. "And you, though insignificant now, will find yourself standing at the crossroads of events that will shake its very foundation."
Joseph's mouth went dry.
"…That sounds a lot like a prophecy."
She merely smiled again. "It is not written. But paths are walked, and choices are made. Fate is not given—it is shaped."
Joseph frowned, rubbing his temples. He was too broke for this level of existential responsibility.
"So, in summary," he said, pointing a finger at her, "I'm not 'chosen,' but I'm still somehow going to end up in serious trouble?"
"Yes."
"…Awesome. Love that for me."
The goddess took a step forward, reaching out her hand. For a brief moment, a warm light enveloped Joseph, sinking into his very being.
His whole body tingled. It wasn't painful, but it felt… strange. Like something inside him had shifted.
"Hey, hey—what was that?" he asked, waving his arms to check if anything had changed.
The goddess withdrew her hand. "A blessing. Of sorts."
Joseph's eyes lit up. Finally! A power-up!
"So, what did I get? Super strength? Magic? Immortality? Something OP?"
The goddess gave him an extremely unhelpful smile.
"…You will know in time."
Joseph groaned. "Oh, come on! That's such a 'mysterious NPC' answer!"
The void around him began to shimmer and distort.
"It is time for you to wake," the goddess said.
"Wait, wait, hold on—what's your name?" Joseph asked quickly. "At least give me that much!"
The goddess's voice echoed as her form began to fade.
"Alexandra."
Joseph jolted awake.
He was still under his tree outside the city, the morning sun rising over the horizon. The air was crisp, birds chirped in the distance, and his back hurt like hell from sleeping on the ground.
For a moment, he sat there, staring at his hands, half-expecting them to glow with some newfound power.
Nothing.
"…Figures," he muttered, rubbing his face.
Still, the dream had felt too vivid to be just a dream. And the goddess—Alexandra—her words still echoed in his mind.
Something big was coming.
And somehow, he was going to end up right in the middle of it.
Joseph exhaled and got to his feet, stretching out the soreness.
"Well. First things first." He dusted off his tattered cape.
He needed to find some party members.