Kelton's mind was racing, and he felt an excitement that threatened to overwhelm his senses completely. Pieces were coming together almost as fast as he could process them, and as soon as he got into his room, he locked the door and laid down on the bed, just trying to understand it all. Heroes and villains, just like in the stories. They had to go together, right? Kelton had heard the term thrown around plenty, of course, but he had never really put much stock into the word "villain" before. Hero, though - well, everyone knew what a hero was. Everyone could point to a hero, or tell a story about one. Were the hero and villain really polar opposites, or maybe just two sides of the same coin?

Reflecting on the story that he had heard only minutes ago, Kelton's mind became fixed on the definitions, and on the relationship between a hero and a villain - who was the "bad guy" in the story of the rich man? Did there need to be one? It was easy enough to think of a hero as a person who stopped a wrong, maybe even taking on an unbeatable enemy; legend aside, though, it seemed to be a question of motivation. Almost every story about a hero started with the same thing. The motivation to take on the strong or unjust, and to topple the powerful, to right a wrong - that didn't come from thin air. No, that motivation needed something. A tragic backstory, some defining moment, is what it took to lead ordinary men to become heroes. Nothing more, and nothing less.

What about a villain, then? Is it really a person out to harm, out to kill, or to destroy? Hardly, Kelton thought. It's a person that doesn't care how he gets what he wants - and normally, what he wants is power. Control over his life and his circumstances is really what it all boils down to. Being a villain then, is really little more than having an incredible need for security and a determination to get it, no matter who pays the cost. Kelton thought about his own life, and found that to be a fair description of himself.

A villain...well, so be it. He could accept a label. Kelton knew that he might not be a fairy-tale dark chancellor or child-eating troll, but yes, he had exploited others for his gain, and would do so again. It felt right, like a warm jacket placed around him on a cold day, to have a sense of self that was so black and white. So what if he was a villain? Kelton would never apologize for wanting the best for himself, and to avoid being the victim - and why should he? All men should do the same, he thought, but social pressures and extraordinary individuals with a different all-encompassing determination to enforce a moral code...that's what stops the villain.

So then, it might seem like the enemy of the man seeking power would be the hero, the do-gooder, the selfless sacrifice. But Kelton saw further than that. He realized that while such a person may be the agent of a villain's downfall, the hero was no less a product of his environment and circumstances than the villain. The greatest danger, then, was in the tragic backstory. That's what made heroes, and set them on their course to right wrongs or protect others, rather than themselves. And yet, Kelton thought, there is a certain balance to all things - no matter what a person does to gain power, it must be taken from someone else. That sounded like a recipe for making heroes, who would in turn reclaim that power and take the villain down.

Kelton got out of bed again and began to pace around the small room, rubbing his temples as if he had a migraine. It all seemed so futile, when he put it in those terms. How could Kelton possibly master his destiny, and achieve the power and security that he wanted, all without creating enemies who would destroy him in term? Gaining power at "any cost" would surely harm someone else, and that person would want to see Kelton brought low. Or if not the man wronged, then his family, or friends, or community. It was the entire nature of the law! It wasn't too hard to see that what had broken his comfortable life in Juldania into tiny pieces was the scorn of a woman wronged, avenging her brother who was sacrificed. Jez had become the hero to his villain, in a way, and that was where it all fell apart.

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Right at that moment, Kelton was a nobody - one of the lowest of the lows - but he'd been in that position before, and he knew it wouldn't last too long. He'd come back, and gain his power, but this time he would be smarter. There were ways, he thought, of gaining favor and influence that didn't involve illegal activities; Jeremy downstairs was a great example of that. Kelton would never be Jeremy, but he could learn from him, and use him. Perhaps he could gain his power and security without hurting others, if he made a few small adjustments to his own playbook. It would be slower, for sure, and it became too dependent on the fickle nature and opinions of others, but Kelton was suddenly certain that if he played his cards right and got a little bit lucky, that he had found the true path to limitless power.

Below him, the sounds of raucous laughter and merriment continued long into the night while Kelton thought. With so many new ideas entering his mind, and so many was to harness these truths, he wasn't likely to fall asleep any time soon; he couldn't have stopped himself from beginning to form his plan even if he had wanted to do so. Kelton realized that one of the biggest things he would need to focus on was the amount of effort it would take him to overcome his instinctive behavior to play the puppet master and to exploit natural weaknesses - despite what his mother had taught him, it just wouldn't work in the scale he needed and would end in disaster too quickly to matter. Luckily, Kelton had plenty of willpower. He could (and would) use people to help him, of course, but this time, they had to get something out of doing so. That would change the dynamic. It had to be something real, too, not just something he convinced them that they wanted. To really be his champion - or even his ally - he'd have to give them what it was they really wanted, or even better, needed.

This was a familiar line of thought, but with a twist that made everything clearer. Much like his days plotting to become a baron of industry, Kelton was instantly drawn to the idea of supplying a recurring demand. If he could give people something they were desperate for, and need all the time, then he could have them in his pocket. That was actually going to be the easy part, most likely; the trick would be in finding a way to make them not resent him for it, but to embrace him instead. Tricky indeed, Kelton thought...but it couldn't hurt to start currying favor in other ways, too.

Perhaps, he reasoned, he could figure out a way to get the benefit of the doubt and some more goodwill, distancing himself frorm the perceived "bad" people by finding and outing the morally reprehensible, and then creating conditions that would force them to embarrass themselves and fall flat on their face in a public way. As long as people knew he was involved, he could play on their inherent distrust of immorality, and nobody would look for hidden agendas in Kelton's own behavior. Of course, he was right back to running the danger of creating more enemies if he was successful, which might make the whole idea a non-starter, if he couldn't solve that issue.

Still - it might work. Dealing with people was always tricky; money was far easier, in Kelton's opinion. However, he was starting to feel that the outline was coming together. He needed enough room for improvisation, though; Kelton still didn't know this area of the world, the people in it, or from where his opportunity might come. What he was confident of, though, was that he wouldn't be able to be in the shadows this time, either, trying to run things from behind the scenes. Instead, Kelton would need to become a man of the people. Maybe Jeremy, or someone like him, could be the answer.

Mentally fatigued but content with the progress he'd made for one night, Kelton laid down, closed his eyes, and quickly fell asleep. For once, he had pleasant dreams, where he was beloved and surrounded by people who followed him and looked up to him.