Delacroix himself. In the flesh. Or rather in the reconciliation. As the Grandmaster converses away with the Fat Man's doppelganger, I can't help but stare like a crazy stalker. If it was possible, my eyes would have burned holes clean through Delacroix's body by now. The man is a legend in the city and among adventurers. A person with near mythical status who suddenly disappeared without any explanation.

And now he's right here, in front of me. As clear as day.

This reconciliation must be taking place before the Grandmaster's disappearance.

"Shush." I murmur back to the voice of my heart, not in the mood for its mastery of the obvious. I slowly drift toward Delacroix and the Fat Man's doppelganger, hoping to catch their conversation, perhaps even join in if the situation is favorable. Delacroix was a large part of the mystery surrounding the condition of Awakened people such as myself. I wasn't going to miss this chance to grab at least some information.

"... I don't like this."

For a man of Delacroix's reputation, especially the whole thing about him having hundreds of wives and thousands of children, I had honestly expected the Grandmaster to be a turbo ultra chad. That's why Delacroix being so soft spoken in person was such a big surprise to me.

"We're committed now. Your remaining two children will be safe. Probably." the Fat Man's doppelganger nods back, scratching his cheek.

"That's the best we can do, isn't it?" Delacroix rubs his face tiredly, "It doesn't mean that I have to like the situation though."

"There are no guarantees I can give you. We're both in uncharted waters right now." the doppelganger solemnly notes.

Suddenly Delacroix looks up, his eyes narrowed. I barely manage to duck behind a wooden beam just in time to avoid being spotted. Delacroix's senses are sharp, especially if he can filter out my presence from the crowd currently milling about the restaurant. I wrestle with the thought of just confronting Delacroix and asking my questions point blank.

No. Do not do that.

"Yeah. The Grandmaster clearly wants his current conversation to stay private." I reluctantly agree with the voice of my heart, "There's no other reason for the two of them to be lurking in a corner of the bar like this."

You are forgetting the most important point.

"Which is?" I snark back while starting to creep closer to Delacroix once more.

This is not the past. It is a representation of the past created by the Fat Man's soul. Everything here is literally a part of the Fat Man.

"And there's no telling what will happen if we interact with Delacroix." I murmur grimly.

There's also another more troublesome thought that had been nagging at me ever since I saw Delacroix chatting away with the Fat Man's doppelganger. I had previously seen the doppelganger in my visions and assumed that those visions were of another world for the simple reason class skills and super powers did not exist there.

And yet here's the doppelganger, sitting pretty in a representation of the reality I live in. I have no idea what to make of this discovery, but it did give me a fierce sense of uneasiness. There's something larger at work here, something way, way above my paygrade as a third class sorcerer.

You left paygrades behind the moment you became an Awakened.

"I don't think that's something anyone can outgrow." I snort in rejection, "The world keeps turning, whether or not someone's can Awakened."

As I slide about as unobtrusively as possible, Delacroix picks up the conversation with the doppelganger again.

"If I didn't have any faith in the plan, I would not have dealt with the current Aga Khan." Delacroix finally manages to say. In the background, Padu the Beast rants about how he's going to tear anyone who steps into the ring with him a new asshole.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"As long as the Andrew line of succession is unchallenged, the plan will succeed." the doppelganger affirms, "The burned men will not interfere then?"

"No guarantees. You said it yourself." Delacroix graces his conversation partner with a thin smile.

A long silence stretches between the duo, although the ruckus from around the ring thanks to Padu's antics more than makes up for it.

"Bounded in a nutshell, yet thinking myself king of infinite space." Delacroix finally manages to continue, "If not for the bad dreams."

I've no idea what the Grandmaster is talking about, but one part of the allusion is clear. The bad dreams. I suffer from bad dreams to. The dreams of my fated end. I swallow hard. We're finally getting to the good stuff.

"The work has begun. Just a little more." the doppelganger reassures, "And you shall be able to enter paradise."

"And Boggs?" Delacroix shoots back with surprising alacrity.

"Why so concerned about your friend?" the doppelganger raises an eyebrow, "You never showed such care for your wives."

"Just answer the question." Delacroix demands, steel in his voice.

"That will be up to her." the doppelganger merely shrugs indifferently.

"Fine." Delacroix concedes the point, "I don't want to get into an argument now. You know I can't stay in one place for long."

"No need to leave so quickly. It has already begun." the doppelganger says as he passes Delacroix a bottle of beer.

"You lie. All these people ..." the Grandmaster gasps in alarm.

"Will need a hero. So stick around." the doppelganger grunts back, his voice unyielding.

Something big is about to happen.

"No shit." I mutter, hackles raised and fully on edge. I don't like what I've been hearing. Although it is the first solid lead I have about Delacroix. Need to keep the reconciliation as stable as possible so that I can pump out all the useful information.

Delacroix abruptly gets up from his seat, most likely to head for the washroom to take a piss. I quickly grab a newspaper left abandoned on a nearby table and hide my face behind it. And I nearly drop it from the shock of seeing what's written on the front page.

Today's date. As in the today's date in the real world.

"Fuck me." I curse while scanning the headlines. ARMED BURGLAR ASSAULTS INNOCENT MAN. And right there printed on the page is a sketch of me breaking into the Fat Man's apartment.

The Fat Man's more recent memories.

"Left unguarded." I grin and attempt to flip open the paper. But the pages are stuck together. No matter how much I try, I can't turn to the next page. Even worse, the print on the page begins to churn nauseatingly, the words and pictures vanishing into a vortex of black ink.

The Fat Man is fighting back. He knows you're trying to access his memories.

I refuse to give up and pull at the newspaper with all my might. There's an earsplitting rip as the pages tear and peel apart like a rotten banana skin. The crowd in the restaurant immediately becomes silent at the noise and I see the Fat Kid giving me a hateful glare.

"Looks like our host realizes we're here." I quip to no one in particular.

A powerful force seizes my legs and I begin to walk, against my will, towards the ring. The crowd begins to cheer and the restaurant's sound system plays an aggressive guitar riff. I try to stop my feet from marching forward but its no use. Step by step, I'm compelled to keep moving no matter how much I resist.

A rule of this reconciliation compels us!

A commentator's table has been set up close to the ring and I see a pair of men in shabby suits look at me with bewilderment. Their voices should be drowned out by the crowd, yet the rules of this reality allow me to hear the commentators as if I was standing right next to them.

"Who the hell is that guy? He's not the Highwayman!"

"Well, Padu can't keep the crowd entertained for much longer. I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth."

"We don't even know his ring name."

"Then make something up! That guy told the doorman that he's the one we're expecting, so just roll with it."

Oh god. Oh god. I walked right into the trap. The moment I said I was expected at the entrance, the Fat Man bound me to fight as Padu's opponent. Fuck!

The restaurant's sound system booms with the announcer's voice, cutting my cursing short.

THIS TITLE DEFENSE MATCH IS SCHEDULED FOR ONE FALL, MAKING HIS WAY TO THE RING, THE CHALLENGER, A MAN WHO WANDERS THE HIGHWAYS, A MAN WITH NO PAST AND NO NAME, THE DRIFTER!

The crowd boos at me and I shoot them the bird. Guess I know who's the bad guy in this bout.

AND THE CURRENT CHAMPION, THE MAN, THE LEGEND, THE ONE AND ONLY, PADU THE BEAST!

"Yeah, go Padu!" the Fat Kid yells at the top of his voice as the crowd goes wild. A bunch of guys in the crowd waive posters about showing the midget flexing.

My body is puppeted into entering the ring with Padu before the reconciliation finally gives me back control of my limbs. Padu looks mean. But the man's a midget. So all I need to do is -

"Witness the beast!" Padu shouts as the casting focus on his neck blazes like the sun. There's a stretching noise as the midget's body grows and grows and grows -

"PA-DU, PA-DU, PA-DU, PA-DU." the crowd chants while stamping their feet.

"Damn." I mutter as Padu towers over me, an absolute mountain of muscle. Guess now I know where the Fat Man got inspiration for his giant form.

"Time to get wrecked, little man." Padu shit talks me as we circle each other.

"Bring it." I snap back. The bell tolls.

And the true battle begins.