I wasn't always a big time RPG player. Sure, I used to play the original Zelda on my father's lap when I was in pre-school. But I was still too little to do much besides slash a sword repeatedly or jump on an enemy's head. So when Dad brought home Arcana, all I could do was watch him.
He put the game cartridge in our SNES and started it up. I watched as the first scene unfolded and my father acquired his first ally, Teefa. But for once, he actually picked up the manual and read a little, and immediately exclaimed she was supposed to be an enemy. His wondering what was going on did little to aid his cause, as he managed to stumble into one of the stronger Balnia F1 enemies without adequate armor, magic and items. Teefa was killed without even saving, so Dad had to start a new game all over again.
I really didn't watch him play too much of the game; my parents usually played games when I was sleeping. In fact, the next thing I saw was the fight with Ariel and Darwin joining for the second time, and after that the final wanderings up Stavery Tower in Chapter 5. Plus, I was still too young to fully understand every big word used in the manual so reading it didn't help me with everything. So I had very little information to go on in order to make any real judgments about the game. That's where some of my early misconceptions (some of which were edited to make the Muse Universe while keeping as close to canon as possible) came from.
But I do remember vividly one Tuesday night. I know what day it was because I was getting dressed for Girl Scouts at the time. As I fixed the tie on my uniform, I began making my own predictions about Teefa. I guessed that she was simply under a spell, and that everything happening to her was not her fault.
Did I mention that this is perhaps the first real RPG (besides the original Zelda) that I actually saw anyone play? And that I had no prior experience with cliches and RPG conventions?
Some time later, my parents had finally gotten to the fifth chapter. Seeing as I had perused the book, despite not understanding every little word inside it, I knew there were four dungeon segments so the fifth one shocked me a bit. I began asking questions, and the first thing my father told me was, "It doesn't have your music" (I had a love for the Balnia/Stavery music for some reason). I deduced it was because of Darwin, but for some odd reason he insisted Darwin wasn't around (I think he probably meant the music, but it's not like it was the last time Dad has led me astray with RPG information). Asking about who the heck was in the party, I was greatly surprised to learn that Teefa had joined, and even more surprised when my father confirmed the entire theory I'd come up with.
From that one incident, I began to feel a special connection to Arcana in general and Teefa in particular. I had deciphered something important to the story with the minimal information, when even the book's spoilers didn't fully tell what was going on. There was even a time I joked that I was psychic, at least when it came to video game plots. In the end, my one night of random thinking ballooned into a love of a character that continues till even today, when she has become part of a complex universe acting as my inspiration.