Daniel was roused from sleep by the blaring of his alarm clock. Through the window not far from his bed, he could see the moonless night. Throwing off dingy old sheets and swiftly putting on his boots and pants, he prepared to go out into that night, to do the task that would begin his future. He shook out the aches in his body and the logginess in his head, ready to go.

His parents were fast asleep in their own bed in the other room. His was the pullout sofa in the den. The blue flicker of the TV still played in front of him, like a silent vision from the distant past. Old cowboy films went on over the vacuum tube set while he popped his pills, idly watching.

The city outside was no better than a Favela. The state knew why people lived in this region, but there could be nothing done in the face of such sheer numbers. Every decade they tried to move the people back, but nothing would budge them.

As he stepped out the door and onto the hilly streets, he could see it in the distance. The great white wall that the Americans had constructed after annexation. Beyond it, there was only a wasteland of burnt-out forests and ashes. The dead zone, beyond which lay the lush lands of the Conquistador.

He started off towards the wall, pulling out a cigarette to enjoy while he walked. This part of the night would be no different from any other. Though there were always 'policia' crawling through the city, they could never watch every inch of the uncountable nooks and crannies of the Favela. Alleys and rooftop walkways led nowhere and everywhere, if only you knew how to use them.

Daniel indeed knew the paths, and he used them to easily avoid detection. He stayed off the car accessible roads, where the military-police often went by on their little motorcycles. His way required a careful and steady foot but ensured privacy.

The rooftops were a haphazard stack of wood and metal. Every few houses he would stop to nod at an old man or woman sitting out on their porch for a late-night smoke. They knew what he was up to, but far be it from them to complain over it.

He worked for the Crystal King, and Crystal was the lifeblood of the entire damn city. As long as the Supers' drug flowed north, the mouths of all the Favela stayed fed. To them, he was an angel.

Up ahead, across one last chasm of an alley below, a rooftop stood marked by a small red flag on the clothesline. It happened to be a sock, but it was what he was looking for nonetheless. A signal. This was their meeting place tonight, always different from the last.

He took one last look at the sprawling expanse of the city before he went down. As far as the eye could see, it rolled with the terrain, like it was simply the cancerous texture of the earth's skin. But who cared? By tomorrow, he would have his place with the Powers that owned everything his eyes could see. That was worth working for.

There was a simple wooden hatch that led down into a candlelit room by ladder. He took a deep breath and climbed on, the thrill rising up in his veins as he did.

"Punctual. That will serve you well," a woman spoke before he had even hit the ground. She sat half-concealed in an aged high-back chair, the light of the candle carefully propped to keep her so. "Such stupid expressions will not do you so well, however."

Daniel forced himself to wipe the smile off of his face. He didn't want to seem like he was anything but serious, it was just... He showed her the tattoo on his arm. The six black crowns which formed an interlocking circle, symbolizing the universal dominion. Not just of the living Kings and the many Barons, but of Power itself, forever overcoming all else. Even these theatrics of the woman were all that he had been dreaming of. The actions and rituals of truly dangerous people. The glory and ego of it all was like a high to Daniel.

"Good," the woman said, acknowledging his dedication. "You know your place, then. You've run many shipments for us before, all the way to New York, I understand."

"Yes! I believe in the Crystal." His parents did not care that this was his life. They knew what his disappearances were and detached themselves from constant worry. A place to sleep was the last of the love they had to spare, and he took it, sleeping during the day, never seeing them at night.

She clicked her tongue. "And I understand your preferred payment is Crystal itself? Cheaper than it can be found on the streets, direct from the supplier. A smart idea, if even only to resell. But that is not what you do, is it my Daniel?"

Daniel looked around in the windowless room, briefly glancing back at the exit. He did not think they concerned themselves with how he used the drug. Therefore, her questioning made him anxious. It made him wonder if he had done something wrong, or slighted the King somehow. Still, he would not dare lie to these people. He respected and feared them too much. For him, there was no difference between the two. "No ma'am. I take it for myself. I try to stay on it... all the time, actually."

"How much?" she asked.

"A max dose every day," Daniel said. "I do not use it for mere health, but to really live like you all do."

The woman immediately sat forward and brandished a knife in her hand. "Is this so? Do you really follow the path of the gods?" Where it danced loosely in her grasp, perched atop her knee, the blade glowed with firelight. She did not have to say what she wanted. The dare was implicit.

Daniel put forward his hand and watched as she plunged the knife downward toward his bare palm. It met the skin and stopped dead there, as if it had found solid iron. With a chuckle, the woman was satisfied. "A miracle indeed. It does not dim or weaken with usage. It does not make one sickly or dependant. It merely gives Power to the Powerless. And thus, the world bends to it, in love or fear."

"I'm ready," Daniel insisted. He could no longer stand this tip-toeing around the subject. Surely, he had passed the test. "Whatever task you have for me, I am ready to prove myself to the Conquistador."

After so much secrecy, the woman stepped forward and up from her chair. He could see her fully now, her long black hair curling down her body and a face more gorgeous than any he'd witnessed in person before. Her outfit was dark as well, with accents of topaz blue flowing through. It resembled a paramilitary uniform, caught in the middle of form and function. It was a sign of her rank.

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Daniel wore nasty street clothes. Oh, how he desired to have a symbol like hers.

The woman showed him to a hole in the ground by kicking aside the very chair she had been lounging in. There, another ladder extended deeply in the earth itself. To the legendary tunnels of the trade route. The ones which penetrated beneath the border wall and through the huge territory of the Baron-King.

He had navigated them before, though no two passages ever looked alike. They went on for miles in every direction, with no markings or light. One wrong move and he one would be lost, waiting for a slow and lonely death in the labyrinth.

Just as he had always followed a piece of paper directions to keep from getting lost, so did this woman. They were not written in Spanish, so he could not read them. Clearly, they did not trust him with these directions. A fact that excited him.

No chit chat went on between the two of them. He was awed of her and she was icy towards him. They stuck plainly to the work at hand, and hours passed wandering by the light of Daniel's phone.

After four hours of walking, he could hardly stand it. He had already gone through his snacks and half of his extended battery. "Surely, we must be close?" he begged. His legs were killing him.

"Look ahead," she told him. "Turn off your phone."

Sure enough, he saw a source of light beaming down. It came from a single cast-iron spiral staircase, surrounded by the most open space he had seen among these claustrophobic tunnels. As they approached it, he put away his phone and looked up.

He could hear music and laughter.

"Are we... It could not be?" in his excitement, he grabbed the woman's shoulder.

She knocked away his hand. "Do not speak in front of the Conquistador," she warned him. "Only unless asked a direct question. Do not do anything stupid, child."

"I shall!" he reassured. Then, feeling stupid, he added, "I mean, I will not... do poorly." He was stupified at the sight of this place. By some amazing Power, one he had only ever heard rumors of, the tunnel managed to transport them hundreds of miles into the hidden Paradise. It had warped space across vast distances.

The woman only turned her head away. "I am sure." She went first up the stairs, and he followed behind her, eyes staring into the blinding light.

The sounds and now smells grew stronger. The scents of wine, sweet foods, and fine aromas filled Daniel's head. When they came to a crest, at last he could see it all.

The innermost sanctum of the Conquistador's palace encircled him. The stairs came up into the center of the vaulted, circular room, with the entirety of the surrounding floor enraptured by party and festivities. Infinite seas of Powered people adorned in the most colorful silk clothes spoke and celebrated themselves.

Among all the Kings, this man was surely most resplendent, Daniel thought. He felt like the luckiest man in the world.

"Follow!" the woman barked. She walked with purpose towards the great balcony at the end of the palace.

Daniel kept close to her. Up through the balcony's terrace, he could see the stars of the sky. Here the sights were not clouded with smog and filth.

Before they could approach, both of them were made to gaze directly into a girl's eyes at the very top of the steps. After she had cleared their intentions, peering through their souls, they were free to go on.

"Alejandro!" the woman called.

The King looked back to her from his seat around the fire pit, by the end of the terrace. He was surrounded by men and women, some beautiful, some obviously there for their Power. He practically glowed with light. Perhaps literally, but Daniel could not tell. There was a dreamlike sheen over his eyes, like the fog of illusion.

"Mary," Alejandro cooed. "Is this the replacement you have brought me? Such a skinny boy."

The woman, who Daniel now knew as Mary, spoke softer than she had to him; full of warmth. "He is well experienced with the Crystal. I believe his body will suit the job, master."

At once, the darkly skinned and well-groomed man sprang up, throwing some half-naked woman off of his lap. "Well then!" he declared. "There's only one thing to do, no? Bring us the food and we shall put him to the test." He waved to one of his men and they ran to serve the command.

Daniel did not understand. But before he could learn more, a different aid came sprinting up the stairs. He ran straight to Alejandro's side and whispered in his ear, immediately souring the mood of the space. Bad news, it had to be.

"Wonderful," the King said, an edge of sadism. "Let's have the boy watch. He can see them bow and scrape."

It wasn't long before Daniel knew of whom the Conquistador spoke. He saw them grow as a group of white specks in the moonlit sky, like falling stars.

The three of them stepped down from the air and onto the balcony, carrying a large case between them. There was a man and two women, each stern-faced and proud. He recognized them instantly as Heroes.

With a single clap, King Alejandro welcomed them. "How nice of you to be late again, my little friends. Suzy, Collin, and Julia." He nodded to Daniel, pleased with himself. "Those are their names."

The man shot back in broken Spanish. "It's Maximal, Egregore, and Splendor, shitstain." He kicked the huge case where it lay, and it slid across the tile until it came to stop at the King's ring-laden hand.

Alejandro smirked. He checked the contents quickly, giving just a brief glimpse into the pile of money inside. "I mean no disrespect, my friends. Oh, how could I disrespect such admirable... people." He had the crate carried off while he turned to Daniel and used him to further mock the Heroes. "See, boy? These fine puta's and I have an arrangement. They haven't seen a major Kizmet in six months because of me and the influence I possess. No doubt they get the money from business owners, under the table, and keep a cut for themselves. I cannot blame them, of course. It all works out marvelously in the end and for everyone involved."

"That's not true," Egregore countered. "This is Seraph money. You're holding the entire southern coast hostage, you bastard."

"As you say, darling. " He waved dismissively. At the same moment, the first aid finally returned with a pallet of his own. Two Supers carried hundreds of pounds worth of food, mostly corn, stacked up on a pallet. They sat it down before him and bowed as they removed themselves.

Mary leaned in towards Daniel's side. "Behold, the miracle," she said.

With a single sovereign wave of his hand, Alejandro caused the entire mountain of food to transform. Like a wave of ice coming over it, the substance turned crystalline and glassy. Suddenly, it was a solid block of that most legendary drug, a translucent light blue emanating a faint glow. It was worth more money than Daniel could fathom. All with the wave of a hand.

"Oh my God," Daniel gasped, quickly warranting a slap to the back of the head. He remembered to keep quiet then, feeling embarrassed. 

Alejandro had not minded, enjoying the adoration. He stuck a finger at the heroes to make his point. "This shipment is going to the Iron Tyrant," he said. "You can leave knowing that you will not stop me from arming your enemy with the food of the gods. That is my parting gift to you who disrespect me with your tardiness and backtalk. Say no more, or you may incur my ire further."

Bitterly, the Heroes did leave without saying another word. They had struck their deal and taken the shame.

"And you?" The King turned to Daniel. "You will need to be a worthy vessel. To take these shipments to my greatest client, we need one such as yourself... one not known to the American surveillance systems and one whose body, with healing, can bear a greater burden. Seraph is cunning. But you will be unknown to them."

One of the many Supers Alejandro kept on hand was able to condense the massive shipment of crystal down to a single tiny sphere. It was placed into a steel box, and delivered directly into Daniel's hands, along with a warning from Mary. "We trust you with this because... after tonight, you will be bound to us."

"By my Power," Alejandro told him, taking hold of the boy's face and squeezing it. "By it you will join the gods. But without my grace, you will not last long among us. Now come, new courier. Come see my pet and drink with me. Tonight you are immortal."