The imbecile, also called Alex if in friendly terms, finally noticed the cold and lifeless body just a few inches from him. And, even before reasoning a bit, he jumped back screaming like the worst possible prima donna, even risking to get a sprained wrist because of the shameful way he ended up hitting his ass on the ground. Not that it was all that new to him anyway.

"Oh, I may not be a supermodel, but aren't you being a little excessive now? It's been ten years already, don't you think you should grow up a little?" The man he had just bumped into started taunting him again, not making the slightest move despite the fact that the body lying on the ground was his own. Not that there was much he could do about it, considering that the five or six bullet holes that had opened up his chest and abdomen had already become wounds that had slipped through the sands of time.

"Look at you..." Instead, on the opposite side, another shady individual made his appearance on the scene. He, unlike the probable ghost, looked decidedly older, perhaps even close to sixty, but his tired face still maintained several similarities to that of Alex. Before he could even add anything else, however, he received a warm greeting along the lines of: "Oh? Graziano! Look at you. Long fucking time no see! We've gotten old, huh?"

In practice, wanting to be completely transparent, the ghost had actually added a couple of animal-like verses and two insults to the Virgin Mary made out of pure sportsmanship, but let's leave that out. Graziano Baggio first avoided to take any notice of it, even though he did not particularly appreciate it. Nevertheless, he remained in a healthy mood in front of that bizarre demonstration of affection, giving a brief and unconvinced look to his son Alex only after having calmly observed his long lost friend.

"You were never a lion growing up, but to see you even now acting like this makes me feel even more worried. I let you go to live alone because I hoped it would make you grow up at least a little bit, but I see that you haven't changed at all," he later resumed with a distressed expression on his face, struggling hard to try to hide it. However, having the chance to talk to an old friend again, he did his best to greet him with nice words and a warm smile. Saying to the possible ghost: "It sure is strange to be the only one who has aged, but it is still a pleasure to meet you. You know, Rosario, an awful lot has happened since you left. Your wife, however, is still the same demon despite all these years having passed, so you don't have to worry about a thing. She's done just fine on her own. In fact, maybe without your big mouth she's done even better," concluding with a joke and a light laugh, a bit like they used to do in the old days.

"Ah, well. I had no doubts about that," immediately jumped into the conversation Rosario Mattina, Camilla's father. The man didn't feel the slightest offense about that last comment, immediately throwing it into laughter and adding to the mix by saying, "I have to remind you who among the two of us has been married to her for... God I don't want to think about it, it really seems like an eternity. Rather, I really hope my daughter hasn't picked up the same crazy habits as her mother, given my absence. Otherwise, poor Alex is going to have a hard life like mine... I still remember how many I got those times I went out to get cigarettes and got stuck on the road because of an accident and how many fucking flowers I had to buy to make her understand that I hadn't cheated on her..."

Unfortunately for him though, those traumatic experiences of his quickly erased the playfulness he had started with to the point of darkening his poor face. The fact that he was dead was not all that great a tragedy, while some dark memories buried in the dark may very well still be getting the better of him. Graziano, however, did not see any regret on his friend's face. On the contrary, behind that thin mask of suffering, he could clearly see that slight mocking smile that Rosario had on his face every time he talked about his wife, and this happened since the times when the two were only arrears.

Because of this, he returned to the subject without allowing the other to further simulate his own downfall, saying, "Call me crazy, but if my son really ended up getting together with little Camilla and she had the same innate nastiness as your wife, I would be secretly happy. I've only had to see how she's set you straight in the past with death threats to know that it's a method that pays off. Or do I need to remind you what a vandal you were when we were in our twenties? Do I need to bring up a certain teacher's car that somehow ended up catching fire? Or a certain school gate that was broken by hammering, coincidentally the day after you were suspended?"

Rosario cursed him briefly, threatening him in return to spill the beans about a famous incident from their teenage years in which a girl who was famous because she was part of a nice family was forced to move away from her parents after being sick one morning in their classroom. No one ever knew what kind of illness she might have had, or at least that was the official version. The more mischievous, and those like Rosario who had confirmed information from the inside, had more than half an idea about it.

"Ah... I'm already dead, though, so I can't say anything more to anyone. Shit. Not being able to seriously retort to your slanders, unsupported by any evidence by the way, is bothering me more than I could have imagined," he came to say in the middle of his meeting hook though, cursing for the first time the fact that he had indeed left the world of the living forever.

" Well then, let's talk about something else, let's talk about something else..." He then retreated from the confrontation with a nice loud cough, causing a laugh out of Graziano and a spontaneous response similar to: "Sure, officer. Sure, sure..." A backhanded blow where he knew it would hurt the most caused an immediate attack from dear Rosario, resulting in a rant said to the tune of: "Son of a... At least remember me as a customs and border protection officer!" or: " I was supposed to have a fucking career there!" or: "Only because I listened to the advice of that asshole... Otherwise I would have stayed with you to enjoy the benefits of that uniform, instead of being forced to go around at night and in the cold because some imbecile messed up at a bar!"

They both found themselves staring at each other after those idiotic outbursts, immediately bursting into a festival of amused laughter and a great desire to have one last drink together. Obviously, the pub and the restaurant were both places that were closed to them, although fortunately not for some stupid fascist-like pass; the time for both of them was frozen well before it could be even invented.

Rosario was then the first to bring the conversation back on a track more worthy of their age, shifting his gaze in the direction of that little Alex stuck in his dramas and confusion. "You shouldn't be so hard on your son," he then said addressing Graziano with much more seriousness than the other was used to seeing, continuing by adding, "A man is made of much more than his cowardice and the fact that he is still dating my daughter after all this time gives me hope. Also because, my friend, if that were the only quality to put on the table...then how should I consider myself? Maybe you've already forgotten, but most of this whole mess has always been my fault," he finished his speech, taking a long look at his own corpse.

"Indeed," Graziano said with a sad look on his face. "Those guys really did a number on you. A robbery gone bad my ass. I'm still pissed off that none of those fuckers ever paid a sufficient sentence. What a world," he went on talking, also shifting his gaze in the same direction as his friend.

"Eh, no kidding. You can say that again," the other replied with more irony than annoyance, however, adding to the dose with a ridiculous, "Look how they reduced the fine physique of a member of law enforcement with a few too many bribes. I didn't even get fat with all that money. What a waste," then throwing his hands up in the air and shaking his head, actually ashamed, however, of the huge bullshit he had decided to do. Muttering through clenched teeth at the end of his ramblings a phrase that was hard to hear well, but he probably did, "If Camilla hadn't been involved, I wouldn't have had anything to say about it..."

When it came to crime, and in particular the Mafia, trying to keep one foot in two shoes easily brought many problems. Some small while others more...well, permanent. Unfortunately, though, money was a bit of a catch for everyone and the idea of putting something aside for the family for bad times always remained in the back of the mind. In fact, that and the possibility of taking his wife and daughter on that damn vacation that he had always hoped would help their relationship.

Not that any of it made the slightest bit of sense now. The hands of the clock never turned backwards once they were set in motion.

Even Alex would have agreed with that way of thinking; as he had always done for better or worse, sweeping the dust under the carpet. Maybe that's why, in fact, the boy exploded before the two of them could get on with their reunion, shouting out, "Will you two stop it!" while holding his hands in front of his eyes to try and hide the fact that he was tearing up.

However, and he only realized this after hearing his own words, the tone of voice that had come out of his mouth had been far too high pitched. Now that, theoretically, a certain amount of testosterone had changed his body during his teenage years, he shouldn't be able to make little voices like that anymore. Opening his eyes again and looking at his hands, he couldn't believe what he was looking at.

His body had suddenly shrunk, taking him back to the time when he was still a child. Even the clothes he found himself wearing from that instant on turned into the ones he put on during those years. "But... what... what's going on? Why? Why do you have to do this to me?" He whined again, clutching his shoulders with his small hands in a sort of forced hug from his growing agitation.

"It depends on what you mean," was the answer with which his father greeted him, speaking with a certain calmness, later amplified by Rosario who unceremoniously stated, "If all three of us are here, it is only because this is the moment in your life that you have chosen to remember. There is not much we can do about it, except remain here together with you as mere mirages."

Alex didn't want to hear any more. He didn't even care anymore about what might have happened to him. The only thing he wanted was to wake up and get back to Camilla's side, even if in front of the Boss it wouldn't be of any help. Still, that prospect seemed much better to him than staying there.

Unfortunately for him though, even though he was covering his eyes, the world around him continued to become more and more concrete and detailed. What had previously appeared to be an ordinary stretch of asphalt was increasingly becoming a city street. Buildings old and new began to rise above the sidewalk, encircling the entire area in an instant. It even seemed that a certain amount of passersby were beginning to appear from the various alleys and lanes. Some of them were walking in confusion, others were running out of breath, and still others were quickly and frantically getting out of their cars, shouting in different intonations words that were mixed together in a bedlam of pure confusion.

The imbecile would have liked to ignore whatever hell was going on around him, but when he felt his hands get wet and sticky he felt a chill run through his body as if he had just been struck by lightning. In fact, that violent reaction may have been born as a result of the strong smell of blood that came all at once up his nostrils, bringing back more memories that he had tried so hard to forget.

"No... No... I don't want to... I don't want to..." Driven by those feelings, Alex opened his eyes again, immediately regretting his choice. Rosario's corpse was no longer just a cold and motionless body; on the contrary, in that instant he must have just been hit, because the streams of blood coming out of his abdomen were still extremely lively and, although he had already lost consciousness, the convulsions still hadn't let go of his grip.

But that was not the worst he had seen that day. No, he only had to lower his eyes to realize it again. In his short baby arms, he was now holding a Camilla of his own age. Her cheeks were pale, but terribly reddened by the blood splattered by her father. The lower part of his abdomen had turned crimson, making the beautiful blue color of the shirt he wore completely disappear.

It had all happened in a split second. Three men had gotten out of a parked car and had opened fire on them, who had gone out to get a very ordinary ice cream. Their target was Rosario, but in the heat of the action a couple of shots had missed or bounced off, reaching the girl before she could even realize it. So, what should have been just another day had turned into a gruesome circus of the absurd, where the various animals had escaped from their cages leaving two poor injured jugglers in the middle of the stage along with a member of the audience.

Alex had been living with that nightmare in his heart ever since that day. He had taken the easy way out, running away to a city in the north of Italy and leaving her alone, only to find her several years later with the same violent and not at all feminine attitude. He had not once asked her why he had never even written her a message, a letter or a stupid phone call. On the contrary, she had approached him again in her usual way, offering him a smile and letting time heal their relationship.

He, however, had never been able to erase the disgust he felt for himself, sealing it in the depths of his soul only after a good handful of months. From there on out, the distance between them went steadily decreasing, until he reached the point where he realized once again that he craved a future with her.

From the side of the crime scene, the still able-bodied Rosario watched that little boy hold little Camilla tightly and somehow let out a smile. Saying shortly after, "Ah... I understand that you are young and certain things leave their mark at your age, but don't you think it's time to let it go? The past is the past. Just as for me it's too late to see my little girl again, for you it's only a matter of taking a step towards her and extending your hand. What happened that day was no one's fault. Or, at the most, it was my fault," as he continued to speak, he moved closer, stroking the little head of both of them.

Even Graziano couldn't help but sigh, lowering his knees so he could look at him more closely. Saying shortly after, once Rosario had finished his speech, "There are events in the world that we can't control and, in particular, there are even more that a little boy can't control. The time for feeling sorry for yourself is long over. Now is the time to overcome your fears head on. If not, who do you think will be by little Camilla's side in the future? Or maybe you want to leave her to someone else? In that case, know that I'll be disappointed," warned him towards the end, using a harsh tone that Alex had heard very few other times.

He shook his head, however. "Fears?" He replied then, clutching the body of the girl he'd almost seen die even tighter and feeling as the seconds passed, the life slowly slipping from her wounds. "You two don't understand shit. Or don't want to understand shit!" He exploded shortly after, raising his voice with enough impetus to make both the bystanders and their noises disappear as if a strong gust of wind had dragged them far away.

"My body was paralyzed that day. After I heard the first shot, the only thing I was able to do was stay still. I didn't even have the strength to throw myself to the ground. Thinking back on it now almost makes me laugh. Was I afraid to die? I was scared to death! That's why I couldn't move a muscle. But you know who stood in front of me without even hesitating? I guess there's not much to guess, is there? I should have ended up dying that day. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me? Do you know how I felt when I got to the hospital? Do you know how much I wished to be me in the operating room instead of Camilla!? I was scared as hell, so what? Seriously...seriously...seriously..."

The boy's pained ballad continued for some time. The voice spitting out of his lungs more often than not slipped, fell and crawled on the ground without being able to get back up in a manner worthy of being seen by a paying audience. The spectacle was heartbreaking for both Graziano and Rosario, but neither had any words of comfort to offer him. The boy's tears were too loud for them to open their mouths.

"Seriously..." Alex resumed some time later, lowering his brow in exhaustion and gently stroking Camilla's face. "Do you realize how pissed off I got at myself that time? Eh, already when we were little you had always been taller than me, faster than me, stronger than me. And yet, I still wished I could think I could protect you. When I would go to bed at night I would constantly imagine the day when I would finally be able to stand out in front of you. I was going to beat everyone and I was going to be cool. I was finally going to be cool in your eyes. But instead... When it was really time to act, it was you who protected me with your body. You risked a lot, you know that? And what did I do to thank you? I ran away like a coward because I couldn't look you in the face anymore. What a crappy hero I turned out to be, don't you think? Eh, Camilla? Even now I'm as useless as ever. I always, fucking always want to look good with you, yet I always end up being the one who needs saving. You didn't have much luck meeting me, did you Camilla?"

The boy seemed to lose his mind a little, speaking again and again to the increasingly cold body of the little girl in his arms. Not that it was such an atypical scene when a great deal of emotion was involved, but the fact that he was torturing himself for a reason that managed to be almost childish, yet exquisitely shareable, made the two men beside him more relieved than distressed. Of course, neither of them found any pleasure in his pain, but they could appreciate the fact that he had suffered so much because he had failed to protect Camilla a decade earlier.

Men didn't just become men with the passage of time, and every now and then it was necessary for some to undergo more difficult trials than others. For Alex, however, his regret had always been more important than his fear of risking death and, especially for a parent, it had to be at least a small satisfaction. Coward or not, he was still trying to force himself so that another similar situation wouldn't happen a second time.

Because of this, the two of them remained close to him with only a gentle smile drawn on their faces for the entire time he was with them. As far as they were concerned, Alex didn't need their words. He was hurting, of that you could be sure, but growing up meant that too. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day maybe he would be able to be the kind of person he had always wanted to be. He had already taken the first step and the rest of the way was still uphill, but now he was an adult and his legs would certainly be enough.

However, the effect of the Bolzig Puppy's mental attack was approaching its time limit. As proof of this, the world around them slowly regressed, gradually losing more and more of its details. Even Graziano and Rosario began to fade, relatively quickly becoming two-dimensional silhouettes almost completely devoid of recognizable features. The child Camilla was the last to suffer that strange fate, still gathered in the arms of an Alex now back in his twenties.

In the midst of that mess, keeping his sanity could be an arduous task, but his attention at the moment was focused on the girl, so the rest quickly faded into the background. What he didn't have a chance to overlook, however, was the sudden arrival of an additional person in that strange dream; a woman dressed in distinctive dark clothing and thick furs, adorned with a bandana that covered her left eye and split her hair in two.

"So this is the result of this Game?" She said as soon as she came down from the sky walking as if riding the wind, adding briefly, "The accumulation of small changes has finally borne fruit to my liking. During the latest cycles I haven't been very lucky, even looking in all the quadrants, the conditions have always been unfavorable," and then she finally touched the ground and approached Alex with an expression so calm that it cancelled any possible dread he might have had towards her.

"I've always had my eye on you two, but I've been feeling rather disappointed lately," she went on to speak, resting one knee on the ground and brushing the boy's chin with her slender fingers. "The variables have been against me the last few games. Some times you'd get separated into two different Teams. Other times the Bolzig wasn't being drawn as your first opponent. And still other times your relationship had never really recovered before we brought you here. The possibilities are endless, but I don't have that much patience and wish I could witness your little story again."

An invisible hand squeezed Alex as soon as the woman got close enough. It was a force impossible to counteract that prevented him from even being able to open his mouth to let out a moan. Almost as if he had been frozen in place, stopped in that position until further notice.

"Ah, sorry little one," the woman resumed saying as soon as she noticed the boy's state. "Since I hadn't been an active participant for a while, I forgot to remove the Spectator Privileges." After that, with a simple snap of her fingers, she freed Alex from his invisible chains. "The Administrators are a little too fixated on security, which is why I had left them active. You should feel better now, though," she finally concluded with a mischievous smile, meanwhile working her hand her way up to his earlobes, barely tightening her grip in an amiable-looking gesture.

Thanks to that small gesture Alex regained control of his body, but he didn't dare to remove the woman's hand. Both because she was indeed a beautiful woman and, by pure instinct, he accepted without many complaints the harassment he was suffering, but mostly because he understood, always instinctively, to be in front of something different from human beings. It was a feeling that was impossible for him to put in the form of words or logical reasoning, to the point that perhaps it would have been better to call it a warning bell.

"You know," the woman resumed saying. "I had said this at your instance that time as well, and the time before that, but it's moments like these that make me regret not requesting the Administrator position when I had the chance. I would have been forced to follow a ton of directives, and I would have had to perform annoying tasks from over and over again as well, but at least I would have been able to rig the games without anyone being able to say a word. Having to wait for the possibility that all the pieces fall into place before I can act makes me nervous and I can hardly wait. Especially with Bolzig. If it weren't for the secondary effect of his flames I wouldn't have been able to show myself openly to you, since I had to accept an agreement between gentlemen and gentlewomen; God, how I hate those terms, which deny me the possibility of doing what I like before the end of the first Battle. What nonsense, don't you agree?"

Sure enough, for Alex that was too much information to process at once. However, a part of his brain still managed to grasp at the upper limit one of the most important details of that long, one-way speech. "Rigging... Rigging the Games?" He repeated then stuttering a little and swallowing a good amount of saliva, creating in the woman a certain good mood.

"Oh... The same question, the same variables. Darling boy, do you mean to say that this is the lucky one?" She asked in return, brushing the skin of his cheeks with the tips of her well-manicured nails embellished with colorful patterns. "Yeah, either way," she then returned to say, answering Alex's initial question. "In this Game, each of us does right or wrong what we please. There are those who like to gamble, those who want to see a good show and those, poor them, who want to get something out of your adventures. It is because of this last little group that the rest of us have had to swear to let you make your own choices and not intervene before the conclusion of the first Battle. But, as always, you haven't gotten far enough into the Game yet to understand what I'm referring to. Let's just say, though, that the illusions derived from the hidden effect of the Bolzigs are formally a separate space from the rest. So here I had free range to do what I wanted."

As she went on talking, the woman seemed more and more delighted with her work. She looked into Alex's eyes for a long time, then moistened her lips and smiled warmly again. It was quite a comforting sight from the boy's point of view, especially after experiencing the moment of the shooting a second time. But, at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to cuddle with that good feeling.

The beauty in front of him was not of that world, and that was in more ways than one, yet his mind could not get completely enthralled. He was well aware of what was happening in the real world. Camilla could still have been in danger. In fact, she must still have been in danger right now. Although, on any other day, he would certainly have gladly traded the right or left ball for that, presumed from his limited and simple point of view, sexual tension to get to the next step. However, thanks to a wave of renewed willpower, he managed to silence the small brain between his legs and instead give free rein to the one between his temples.

An opportunity, perhaps, wasted given some previous events in other matches but undoubtedly one of which he could have been proud; although love could hardly build an empire, with sex there could be a chance. Then considering how fickle Spectators could be, again if his interpretation of what was happening was correct, maybe he could go home with something far more valuable than advice or some information.

"I... I..." With the course of action decided then, the woman's good looks became much easier to look at closely, allowing Alex to be able to speak to her while looking her in the eye. "Is the Boss still alive? Are they still fighting?" Alex asked then, regaining a less flushed face and once again finding an amused nod on the woman's face.

"Certainly," she informed him, moving closer until her lips brushed his forehead, letting him take an undisturbed look at her visibly firm graces. He thanked her silently, though he remained focused on his primary objective. "How can we kill a Monster like that? What do I have to do so that Camilla doesn't get hurt again?" He asked again with a single breath, assuming without even realizing it the same determined look that had accompanied him briefly the night before.

The woman laughed barely perceptibly, hiding her clear, expectant eyes from the boy. "And why would you be interested in doing such a dangerous thing? Aren't you afraid that you might be injured or even die? Especially you, who of all the Players I've known have almost always chosen to bring others down rather than find yourself risking your own skin? Or are yours just words in the wind?" Going, towards the conclusion of his speech, to whisper the last words directly into his ear.

Again, the graces danced in front of his face, but he found himself too busy to realize it. He didn't know what the woman had seen in the past. He understood, partially, that there must have been other 'Alex Baggio' before him, accepting it as a good son of the parallel universe theory generation might have done. Plus, he knew himself well enough to be able to imagine himself doing such cowardly things. In fact, did he really have to imagine it?

Either way, it didn't matter. As a man he could be a mess and as a person he could be even worse, he was perfectly fine with that. He had already felt enough anger and humiliation because of his behavior. What he was or could be in other circumstances mattered little to him right now, at least as long as he managed to protect his Camilla. If he failed at that as well, then yes it would be a total failure.

Hearing no response from his side, however, the woman brought her mouth even closer to his earlobe, slowly telling him, "Put another way... Do you really want to be seen like this, or are you man enough to show me what I wish to observe a second time?"