"Hey Perry," Perth said, shuffling awkwardly, despite the cocky grin and perfect clothing.

"Uh. Hi," I said, giving him an equally awkward wave. "I… uh, sorry for taking over your life."

Perth held up his hands, as if to stop me from moving forward with that thought. "Would've blamed you, you know. Had I won. For not simply being the power you were supposed to be. Gotten angry at having to kill you, but made it your fault."

"Are you… still alive? Can I bring you back? Maybe make you a replacement body?" I'd been giving considerable thought to that possibility lately. Of whether it was possible to bring people back. Especially with the number of people who were waking up with pasts from humanity's home system.

"No. I'm… a reflection, distilled from the memories you've incorporated. More than those, but a temporary construct all the same, here for as long as this takes," Perth said, shaking his head before adjusting his robes. Robes I hadn't worn the like of since I left his family's estate.

"First off, can I just say, that's seriously messed up. Giving you consciousness just for the purpose of whatever this is? Not too clear on that either. I'll be honest, I didn't get many instructions before coming in. Probably should've asked for more."

"You need to get over your guilt and accept that it's your body now, not mine," Perth said, gesturing back at me, grin cracking slightly.

Looking down, I realized I didn't look like the person I'd grown used to seeing in the mirror. Instead, I was the weathered, pot-bellied but otherwise incredibly torqued man I'd been before I'd gotten intimate with my radiator courtesy of an oak tree.

I held out my hand, cracking the knuckles. It really did feel like I was back in my old body.

My body.

Wasn't a big stretch to say I'd always felt like a hijacker in his. Looking up, I met Perth's gaze once more, that too pretty face I'd woken up wearing staring back. I reached up to touch my own. Scars check. More masculine, squarer chin. Yep. Courser, less lustrous hair. As expected.

I'd only had it back for a few minutes and already it felt more natural than his ever had.

"So, how do we do this? You beat the crap out of this body until I accept that yours is better?" I asked, squaring up, chin held forward.

Being back in my own body seemed to have brought out old instincts.

"That's one option, though it won't be you that comes out," Perth said, not bothering to adopt a fighting stance of his own. "Are you really willing to let me do that?"

I straighted out, shaking out my shoulders. He was right. Not being me wasn't an option. "What then?"

"You need to defeat me, at everything, over and over," Perth said, gesturing behind him. Even as his hand moved, objects popped into existence in the otherwise dark space. Gym mats, balance beams and lifting benchs were arrayed in front of more natural exercises, such as Tender's forest paths and a massive peak that I was sure came from one of Conflict's trials. As he continued the motion, a garage appeared, filled with several workbenches, one with tools regular tools, another with spell components and a third with enchanting supplies.

"Huh," I said, rolling my shoulders and cracking my neck again. "Well, let's get to it then."

Perth nodded, then led the way over to the first piece of equipment. A treadmill of all things.

I glanced up at the literal forest just beyond us then shrugged and got to jogging.

We ran. I won. Felt weird at first, and I realized it was because my gait wasn't what I'd grown used to in my new body.

Once I figured that out, I adjusted almost immediately, easily winning.

Next he handed me a hula hoop, and once more, it didn't feel right. Once I adjusted for how it would've felt in my new body, I easily defeated Perth.

Next he took me over to the enchanting table, a smile on his face, one that reminded me of the boy who used to go out drinking, flirting with every girl who gave him even a passing glance.

Despite the fact I completely crushed him at the table, the smile remained in place.

He even retrieved a bottle from a nearby fridge, sitting next to one of the trees from Tender's forest. It wasn't quite as jarring as it should've been, the fridge looking older, as if it'd been left there for ages.

As he sat down across from me, I realized we were doing a drinking contest.

"Truth or shot," Perth stated, pouring what I assumed was liquor into each a pair of old cups that looked like they'd come straight from the garage.

"Isn't it supposed to be truth or dare?"

"There aren't any consequences to a dare here. Truth or shot," Perth declared, sliding a shot over. "We ask a question, and if the person doesn't answer, they take a shot. You've got a lot of experience with that, don't you?"

"Yes. Your turn," I said, flashing him a grin.

"Ah, that was rhetorical," Perth said, waving me off. "It's good liquor. One of your old favorites, from what I can tell."

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Guess I'm gonna be rolling out the truths then," I said, crossing my arms and leaning back.

"Fine. First question, are you happier now than you were before you stole my body?"

"Damn. Straight for the gut, huh?" I asked, letting out a sigh. When he gestured towards the cup, I shook my head. "Yes. Even with… even with everything that's happened lately, I'm much happier."

Perth nodded, as if he was expecting my answer.

"So, why'd you do it? Summon me, I mean. The memories around that time have always been a little blurry," I said, hand sliding towards the cup of its own volition. I frowned, putting it into my lap and curling it into a fist. "Was it really just so you could be more powerful? That never seemed important to you before."

"Power was the only thing he cared about," Perth said, staring down at his cup before taking the shot.

"So, how're we doing this, best two out of three or-"

"No more questions," Perth said, pushing to his feet and throwing the glass against the fridge. He heaved a breath out, sighing.

Then it was off to the forest trails. Despite his earlier words, Perth kept asking me all sorts of questions. Mostly about my life after coming to Ro'an.

He never seemed interested in the response, so much as the reaction the questions provoked.

"Why didn't you confront Althon? The old man sent you out to the wilds to die."

"Was there really no better plan for taking over Tetherfall? What were you planning to do? Ask them to surrender nicely?"

"If Calbern's so important to you, why isn't he in Aeternia? And why aren't you helping him?"

"Do you really think you're good enough to raise Bevel?"

On and on it went.

Every trial came with a new question, one I'd asked myself a hundred times.

With each, between the constant questions and movement, I adjusted to how the exercise should've felt in my new body, then overcame him.

In my new body.

The words didn't sink in until after nearly three hundred of the tests and just as many questions.

The second they did, Perth stopped right in the middle of us having a tug-of-war, letting me fall backwards.

I caught myself, rolling to the side before standing back up. I'd been winning anyway but that was the first time he'd simply let me.

"Come, you need to see," he said, waving me towards a nearby mirror.

The man who looked back wasn't either of us. It was who I'd become in the months since taking his body. I'd changed it. Made it my own.

It didn't look like the kid who'd had it before me. It was much closer to who I'd been, though it still had traces of his softness. Not much though. My daily exercise hadn't ever stopped. Hadn't picked up the belly I'd had before either. Just the clothes and neatly styled hair. Both of which were for Calbern's sake more than my own.

But that was a part of me too, now.

This time when I reached down, running my hands over the abs that rested there it felt… better. Like it really was supposed to be my stomach, my fingers… my body.

"Now," Perth said, a hint of malice in his voice. "Now is the part where I beat you and take my body back."

The words only barely registered in time, so lost had I become in the relief that had filled me. I rolled to the side, barely dodging the swing he'd made with… yep, that was Fancy Club 3.0.

Unfortunately, after three hundred contests, I knew the rules of this place didn't let me summon equipment of my own. I circled, keeping the balance beam between us as I did.

"You were right, you know. It would've been cruel, creating me just so you could be comfortable taking over my body," Perth said, spinning the oversized sword as if weighed nothing. "Which is why I was given a choice. Once you felt comfortable, I could fade away, let you take everything again…"

Perth struck out, splitting the balance beam down the middle.

He was fast. Strong too.

But it was clear that he hadn't gotten my memories. Not really. He had the power I'd earned baked into his body. Was just as strong as I'd become. But he knew nothing about fighting. Not how to survive.

He huffed as the still teetering half of the balance beam slammed into him, pushed forward with a single quick kick, cutting off whatever he'd been about to say next.

I didn't wait, already sprinting towards the nearby set of weights.

"Front take you, Percival," he cursed, pushing to his feet. "I was going to make it quick. Would've been a relief even, not having to keep pining over a woman who was never worthy of- oof."

Hard to talk after getting clocked by a twenty-five pound weight.

"You know, I did feel bad about taking your body," I said, even as I threw another weight at him, keeping him from gaining his feet. "And your life."

He grunted, barely rolling out of the way of the third weight. Then he sprang to his feet with the sort of speed I'd expect to see out of Vaserra. "You got everything! Father was supposed to finally choose me!"

"Even after all this time, do you still not see you had a father?" I asked, unable to keep from engaging. Talking during a fight was, pretty much universally, a bad idea. But that was in the real world. I wasn't totally certain, but I thought… I might need to finish the talk even more than I needed to win the fight.

Not for whatever reason Tender had sent me in for.

Just for myself.

"Calbern wasn't my father. He was just the man my father hired to watch me," Perth spat, wiping blood from his lip.

I hadn't hit him in the lip with either of the weights, so I imagined there was some sort of soul thing going on there.

Retreating with the last of the free weights in one arm and the bar they'd been on in the other, I said, "He wasn't even there 'cause of your father. He was there 'cause your mom saved him."

Perth had been charging forward, and I wasn't sure he'd heard me at first, but then he screamed.

Despite the force behind his blow, it was painfully easy to knock the Fancy Club 3.0 off-course with the bar, sending the club, bar and angry young man into a bunch of exercise mats. This recreation of Perry wasn't half the swordsman Calbern was.

Backing up, I continued, "Calbern cared for you. You think he followed me out to the Frigid Peaks just 'cause, what, your father asked nicely?"

He didn't reply, attempting to wrench the sword out of the surprisingly durable mats. When that didn't work, he started throwing his whole body behind the motion.

"In fact, his failure to stop you from dying haunts him. And… it might be crazy, but I don't want you to die again," I said, throwing the weight and barbell on the ground, away from the mats and sword. "If there's a way. Well, I want to get you back to him."

Perth stared at me, tears in his eyes.

"So, guess that means I'd rather not leave until we figure out a way we can both live."

He stepped away from the sword, wiping his face, nodding.

For a second, I thought, just maybe, he was a better man than I'd feared. But even as he wiped at his face with one robed arm, he ducked down snatching the bar with the other.

"Kid, you shouldn't have given up on the sword," I said, having darted past him while he was distracted. With a quick kick to the mats, the sword fell free. It didn't feel nearly as light in my hands as it had seemed in his.

Still, it had the weight and reach I needed.

Perth didn't dignify my words with a response, charging me with a wordless scream, the barbell held high.

It only took three strikes to leave him bleeding out on the ground.

"Sorry, Perth. I want to save you, for Calbern. For myself. To give you the chance you wanted. Problem is, getting what I want… that's not how life works. Maybe if we'd done this back when you first summoned me it'd be different."

I took a deep breath.

"Except we did, didn't we? You tried to kill me, and in the end, weren't strong enough. This is my life now. Really hope this is the last time I have to kill you, kid."

Raising the sword over his heart, I drove it down.

For several long seconds, I simply stared at the corpse, blood only leaking from his lips as the light in Perth's eyes went out once more.

Tender had been right.

There'd been no kindness here.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.