Tales Phantasia Dungeon X

The story begins when what appears to be a shooting star lands in the mountains. The narrator describes the player (referred to in second person) finding a pair of twin babies in the light and becoming their adoptive parent. By default, the boy is named Dio , and the girl is named Mel. The story skips ahead thirteen years to 4408 by the Aselia Calendar. (The narration notes that Dio is energetic, Mel is level-headed, and both of them are mysteriously powerful.) Dio enters with a strange creature that followed him home from the mountains. He and Mel decide to keep it as a pet and name it Kruelle based on the sound it makes. Kruelle begins as a green bipedal creature who is roughly waist-high, but it is actually a shape-shifter whose forms change based on its power and mood. Mel and Dio start to go about their day as normal when they are suddenly visited by a winged woman who introduces herself as Norn and says that the two of them have a doomed destiny. With little else in the way of explanation, she sends them to meet Arche, the only surviving time warrior made famous by the events in Tales Phantasia Dungeon X. Arche, whose age of 223 years is possible only because she is a half-Elf, now lives in a pink heart-adorned tower which Mel and Dio must climb. When they arrive at the top, Norn startles Arche by appearing and requests Arche's assistance in preparing a trial that will test the strength of Mel and Dio's hearts and bodies. After proving themselves in combat against Narikiri, Mel and Dio return to their house, where Norn enchants a painting of the sun to work as a time portal to the year 4203. Mel and Dio are sent to Euclid to speak with Claus so that he will tell them about the war with Dhaos that happened in Tales Phantasia Dungeon X. He gives the popular version of the story, reminds them that history is biased, and then tells them what really happened: Dhaos waged war against users of magitechnology because they were foolishly depleting the world's Mana supply. Mel and Dio also gain words of wisdom from the spirits Sylph, Undine, Efreet, and Gnome after defeating them in combat.