The Man Who Should Not Exist

Before Belboz could respond to Cecilia's statement, a familiar man ran into the cavern and collapsed to his knees. Sweat was rolling down his cheeks, and he gasped for breath. Cecilia gasped, for it was the same person she thought she was until recently. "Wh- What sorcery did you use on me?" Fred asked, then passed out. Cecilia looked shocked at Belboz, who, to her surprise, looked nearly as shocked as she did.

Belboz walked over to Fred's unconscious form and gave him a poke in the back. He frowned, "He's not an illusion . . . This is unexpected. Yes. Very. I thought I had taken the necessary precautions . . ." he muttered off to no one in particular.

"Excuse me?" Cecilia asked after finding her voice again, "Who is that? I thought Lord Fred was one of your inventions to keep me hidden. He can't possibly exist," her voice grew suddenly shaper, "Unless you stole his identity and applied it to me! Did-"

"No, princess. Lord Fred was indeed one of my inventions. I suspect his presence here is due to a side affect of the spell I used to turn you back. You see, I wanted the sudden change back to your true self to be as comfortable as I could make it for you. In order to keep you from missing your *ahem* 'old self', I intended to remove as much of Fred's thoughts and memories from you as I could. That way you wouldn't miss the 'kindness' of Lord Fred's parents, have any 'fond memories' of his childhood, 'remember' any times with his 'friends'. It proved a slow process, I didn't finish until just now, a mere second before Fred's arrival." Belboz grinned, "I think I accomplished that quite nicely."

Cecilia quickly tried to remember one event of Lord Fred's life. She frowned when she couldn't. All she remembered was that she was him, and that was it. "But how is he here?" she asked.

"No need to be impatient, milady. I suspect my removal of Fred from your mind did not work as I had planned. I was aware of the possibility of this happening, but I thought I had adequately prepared for it. He left your mind, and took his own physical form." Belboz sighed, "I pity him, really. I also wiped castle D'Honaire from existence as well. No one except me, you, and Fred will remember it. I would restore the castle for Fred's sake, but I remember little of the details. He is now without a past. The King would banish him for impersonating a knight! The kindest fate to give him now is death," he turned to Fred, still unconscious.

"No!" shouted Cecilia, then paused. A lot was on her mind. Duke Rogell, a man who wanted her dead. Fred, a man who should not exist, laying right before her. Belboz, an old mage she had promised to marry! Then, another thought, left over from what was left in her mind of Fred, struck her. "The dragon. He thinks he is already questing for it, a quest that has been proved futile by many a knight. Let him fight it. If he wins, the dragon is gone, if he loses, he is gone. Both a good thing." She gulped. She didn't intend for the words to sound so cruel.

1. Belboz replied, "What a wonderful idea!"
2. Belboz replied, "The dragon does not exist. It was merely another invention of mine."
3. Belboz replied, "What a sickening idea!"
4. Belboz did not get a chance to reply, for Fred was rousing.

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