The story opens with Ari's mother standing in the kitchen, congratulating herself on all of her qualities.  A moment later his sister, Annie, enters the room and asks about dinner, followed shortly by Ari himself.  At this point, the narrator, the only voice in the game (aside from Stan's, uh, laugh), introduces himself and explains that this is an ordinary conversation in an ordinary family.  Eventually the conversation turns from dinner to the gaudy bottle on the table.  After molesting the bottle and receiving no reaction, Ari is stuck with getting bread, since his sister claims she has a test to study for (of course, she's lying).  The introduction to the story isn't very exciting, though it does show how Ari is pushed around by his eccentric family members and mostly everyone else. 

Ari gets the bread, and no mattter if you spent time talking to everyone in town (the only person it's neccessary to speak with is Ari's bitchy childhood friend Julia, who insinuates that he should ask her to the circus and then smashes his heart by explaining that someone else has already asked her and he should have asked sooner) or just went right to your task, it's automagically dusk when he emerges from the bakery.  He and Annie head home, and the scene changes to the family living room, where Ari's possibly insane father spends hours explaining the nature of the bottle to Ari (while Annie skips out to the circus). 

Of course, by the time Ari's father is done, the circus is over, as Ari finds out when he goes to the grounds.  There he finds Julia with the other guy; the two of them go off to make out or something while Ari is left with the Ringmaster, a plump fellow named Block who tells Ari that he is easily overshadowed.  The insults of Ari's shadow occur several times previous to this point--Annie and several other people mention it.  So I guess you could call it.. foreshadowing.  Anyway, Ari is skulking his way home when he hears a scream.  Annie is lying prostrate on the ground in front of a ghost.  Her boyfriend runs off, but apparently the ghost is afraid of Ari's father as it floats off when he arrives. 

The scene changes again to Annie, being pronounced  a hopeless case by the doctor.  Her problem?  She can only speak in Pig Latin.  The family treats this as a horrible, deadly curse, especially Ari's father, who immediately jumps at the chance to use the bottle to help her.  He has, in fact, already drawn a pentagram on the basement floor.  James emerges after Ari's father does a little dance for the bottle, introducing Stan (who is still in the bottle).  Stan agrees to help Annie if he can possess the shadow of one of the family members and make him/her his slave and follower.  You see, he is the reincarnation of the Great Evil King Gohma, who destroyed half the world (before being destroyed himself by the Hero Hopkins).  However, he has very little power, being that it was all stolen away as he stayed trapped in the bottle for centuries.  The family readily agrees, and a contest of shadows is held.  Naturally, Ari wins (much to his dismay).

Stan emerges from the bottle, possesses Ari's shadow, and pops up as the strange pointy-eared, three fingered demon pictured to the left.  Stan then fixes Annie's curse, but turns her shadow pink in the process (he seems to make a habit of doing this, as will be found out later).  That night Ari has a slightly disturbing nightmare of running vainly from Stan, waking up when he falls out of his bed (fully clothed).  He is lulled into a false sense of security as he makes it outside without a further appearance from Stan; this is quickly killed off when Stan mocks him cruelly and pops up again. 

He orders Ari to Tenel so that he might begin his conquest of the world.  Unfortunately Ari can't enter Tenel until he's shown the loitering citizens his new 'trick.'  Everyone finds Stan most amusing, which infuriates him, being that he expected their reaction would be something along the lines of abject terror.  He is especially annoyed when he fetches an old lady's hat as a 'show of power' and she thanks him, saying that he must have been sent from heaven.

Once admitted into the village, Stan decides to turn into a nightmarish vision of horror, but first he needs information, which he demands that Ari gather.  After further rejection from Julia for his talking shadow, Ari finds out that a ghost is in the church.  The townspeople fear it will steal their treasure.  Stan decides to steal it first.  Ari dispatches of the ghost after it attempts to eat Stan (who thought it was actually pledging loyalty to him..) and gets the 'treasure', which is just a glass tube (part of an important item).  He also restores the water flow to the town.

The villagers are quite pleased about this, and even more pleased when Stan tries to subjugate them.  His efforts are met with laughter and ridicule, which makes him very depressed (aww).  He asks Ari if he's hopeless (generally I say yes, because I'm mean that way, but you can also spare his feelings and say no); whatever response he gets, recedes into Ari's shadow until Ari attempts to leave the village.  He is detained by a villager, who babbles about a Map of Evil Kings being distributed by a guy in the bar.  The guy is Block, the Ringmaster, who is drunk, and so gladly gives you one.  The map, as its name implies, shows the locations of the imposter Evil kings who stole all of Stan's power. 

So, the next day Ari is sent off by his family (and James).  His mother gives him a music box to give to a special someone that he may meet on his trip, his father gives him his totally useless business card, and Annie gives him nothing (unsuprisingly).  Then everyone cheerily calls Good luck, in unison.  Apparently they're all perfectly okay with the fact that the purpose of this quest is to restore Stan so he can take over/destroy the world (and that Ari is only undertaking the journey because he's a doormat).