Matthew's eyes opened. What a strange dream. He tried to remember what it was -- what had made it strange -- but all he could remember was a white glow.
Then he remembered that it was his birthday! At last, he was a legal adult! Well, legal for most things. With a rush of excitement, he threw off the covers, sat up, stretched... and noticed the room around him.
"Wha- what!?"
It was most definitely not his bedroom. It was much smaller, for one thing. The walls were white, and the only furniture besides the narrow bed he sat on was a wardrobe and chest of drawers. A single latticed window with lace curtains let in the morning light.
Welling panic was derailed, however, when he caught sight of a familiar symbol on his right hand. As if drawn in black ink, the sign of a sword imposed on a harp surmounted by a crown met his astonished eyes. He hadn't seen that symbol since his pre-teens.
"Whoa..." He ran his left hand over it. Can it really be...? Briefly he considered the possibility that his annoying little sister had drawn it on him. But it was far too perfect for that. Besides... this room... he definitely wasn't at home any more.
Lifting his hands to his ears confirmed it. The tops tapered up and back to a slight point. He had to be the Hero of The Legend of Hylore.
He stood up. In doing so he realised that he was neither wearing his pajamas, but only a cloth tucked around his groin, and that he felt -- and looked -- much more powerful. Toned, slightly muscular, and with so much energy!
"This is amazing," he breathed. He walked over to the wardrobe, and opened it to find a short white cape; brown tunic and trousers; and a suit of spaulders, cuirass and tasset inside next to leather boots and gloves. "Where are --?" looking around, he saw the Hero's sheathed sword and shield resting next to the bed. The breastplate was embossed with a crown, the shield marked with crossed swords; emblems of the Royal Knights, of whom the Hero was supposed to be the last.
Then he noticed a long-bladed spear propped in a corner, which he did not remember from the game.
That gave him pause. Is this just a dream, or... or not? It felt very real. And if it was real... a chill settled over him. Despite his much more athletic body and a whisper in his mind that he knew magic, Matthew suddenly did not feel up to the task of cutting through legions of monsters, solving ancient puzzles, and battling a sorceress to rescue some nameless prince.
He walked over to the window and unlatched it, letting the morning breeze blow in. Below him was a city square, complete with fountains, trees, and a few stalls where travelling merchants were setting up shop for the day. He recognised Valora from one of the game's brief cutscenes, and all the races he remembered were represented. Among the people milling around, a buxom foxgirl happened to look up, and winked at him. Remembering that he was practically naked, he blushed and stepped away from the window.
If I am the Hero, and this is real... there has to be some horrible evil threatening this world, he reasoned. And I was called here because I can defeat it.
Feeling a bit better, he went about getting dressed. After he finished buckling on the armour, he checked the bags on top of the chest of drawers. As he touched them, his brain tingled and he knew what they contained. Large saddlebags with spare clothes, a sleeping bag, tent, and rations. A much smaller belt pouch held his money, in silver and a few gold coins; and a second had various personal oddments. It was a bit strange to have these new memories, but also reassuring that he wouldn't have to figure out how to live in a medieval fantasy world from scratch.
He opened the second pouch and got out a comb and steel mirror. The mirror showed that his black hair had grown down to his shoulders and seemed a bit glossier and healthier. His face -- like the rest of him -- had taken on a golden tan, and seemed a bit more refined, though still recognizable as Matthew Arbuckle. His eyes were the same grey as before. He seemed to still be his old height of 5'11" -- a bit taller than he recalled the manual specifying for the Hero.
Well, fine by me. He combed his hair, packed his things away again, then gathered up weapons and belongings and headed out of the room.