You are now Brandon Samuels. You sit on you quest bed with four bottles of whiskey, looking at the pros and cons of alcohol poisoning. You are interrupted by a call from Alex.

Skype Call:

BS - What's up Alex?

AR - I need you to help me make a weapon!

BS - Why do you need a new weapon? What happened to the flaming trickster sword?

AR - It's a good weapon, but I want to make a specific weapon.

BS - What weapon?

AR - Because you seem to be good at combining random things to get decent results, I want you to help me make the Monado.

BS - NO!

AR - But why?

BS - I believe that I am not the only one on the team who thinks you shouldn't wield the blade of a god.

AR - But I could use the Monado Arts and see the future!

BS - Would you like to provide any more reasons why we shouldn't give the arsonist the god-sword.

AR - Come on, please!

BS - Hell no, now if you'll excuse me, I need to commit suicide!

AR - Wait, what!?

BS - I need to kill myself in exchange for immortality. It's all part of the game.

AR - Wait, will I have to do this too?

BS - Eventually, or if you'd like I could murder you instead.

AR - That's a tough call, kill myself or have my friend murder me.

BS - You just pick what you think is the lesser of two evils.

AR - I'll have to think on it.

BS - Anyway, back to suicide.

Skype Call End.

You look at the four bottles of whiskey you alchemised from a bottle of whiskey your brother left out. You figure one or two should be enough to kill you, but it's better to be on the safe side. You begin to drink, you don't focus on the taste, you think of what will come. One bottle down. Your vision blurs and your head is filled with a sharp pain. You open another bottle and drink. About half-way down your vision darkens and you fall back.

The darkness stays for a moment, and then it is filled with a scene you have never encountered. A vision? You sit at a table, across from a woman wearing a Sylph of Life outfit. You look to the side to see a small figure in a cloak that covers their face. A child? Behind the child stands a tall man in cloak as well, it is to dark to see their faces under the hoods. Wrapped around the child's shoulders is a snake, scales of crimson and eyes that watch his every move. The child begins to speak.

"Please, sir," He sounds on the verge of tears, "I don't wish for this. I want it to go away!"

Your voice emerges without your command, "Well, young man, I can't change your fate without breaking the Code of the Gods. However, I may have one way for you to seize your fate."

"Please! I'll do anything!"

"You must make a deal with the devil!"

"What's a devil?"

"Something from where we once came from, he served a similar role to what I do now. He struck fear into the hearts of Earth's children and was a vision of what one should not do."

"Then I'll make this deal! What are your terms, devil?"

"I will remove your Shadow's fangs. He will still be there, but he will be unable to kill you. In exchange, you must climb to the highest ranks of the noble classes; you must become the king of this decrepit land, and then...you will unite them, you will unite these people under one flag. I give this world to you in exchange. These are my terms."

"I accept."

"Then I name you the rightful heir to the throne of Dralk!"

With those words, it fades again to black.

You now sit at a table across from someone else. He is a young man, probably somewhere in his mid-twenties. He looks up from his glass and takes a moment to analyze your face.

"Hello" The man says.

You wait a moment for what you are supposed to say, but nothing happens.

"My dear boy, this is not a vision. This is all happening in real time."

"Alright," you say, words finally escaping your mouth, "Hello, I'm Brandon."

"Nice to meet you, I go by Grimm."

"What kind of name is Grimm?"

"It's an alias numbskull."

"Why the alias?"

"I have people looking for me, and I don't feel like being found."

"What kind of people?"

"I have a son, and a daughter."

"Not the best dad are you?"

"I haven't been the greatest dad, but I've tried."

"Why pick Grimm as a fake name?"

"I like the name for when one murderer speaks to another."

"Murderer?"

"Well, the more appropriate term would be mass murderer, not just murderer. For you as well."

"I'm supposed to be a mass murderer?"

"Well, not yet, but that's why I came to warn you. I don't want others to follow in my footsteps. I don't want you to be comparable to Hitler, like me."

"What did you do?"

"Are you aware of a bomb called a Tumor?"

"Yes"

"I took one of these bombs, and placed it in orbit around a star that was orbited by several inhabited planets. Then I set the bomb off."

"So you destroyed an entire planet?"

"Several planets."

"Why? For what reason could you have to destroy several planets?"

"They were planets of corruption and sin, not worthy of surviving!"

"So you thought the obvious course was to destroy them?!"

"I had watched for years as these planets ate away at themselves. I had tried many times to make them see the light, but they chose evil. So I destroyed them."

"You're a psychopath!"

"Call me what you wish, but don't leave yet. I have something else to tell you."

"What?"

"I mentioned my son and daughter. I have told them to come to your game session."

"If your family is anything like you then that's not a good thing!"

"Relax, my daughter is to forgiving to be like me, and my son wants me dead for my crimes."

"He's right on that one."

"He's a little to late."

He looks into your eyes and you see something that you feel stupid for not noticing, his eyes were completely white.

"One more thing," he continues, "You should make your friend the sword he wants."

You sit up quickly, you're awake. You look down to see dark green pajamas on your body with a black skull in the center of the shirt. You pick up your jacket and put it on.

Skype Call:

AR - Hey, what happened to killing yourself?

BS - I already did that.

AR - Oh, then what do you want?

BS - I've changed my mind. I'll help you make a Monado

END OF CHAPTER 18