Year: 5478

Present Day Los Angeles

At five o'clock in the evening, I was officially in the finals to fight Brock at seven. I had battled four times since my first fight and I was feeling pretty good. I sat reclined in the stands, watching the current fights. The intensity of the battles had become steadily more vicious as the day waged on. The passion of the observing crowd had grown as well. The music was louder and the crowd was growing steadily more intoxicated.

What had not died down was the mass of individuals surrounding the woman from earlier. How long could piggish men stare at a woman before they got bored? Curious to figure out exactly what it was she did, I walked over to the end of the line. I was surprised to see women in line as well. Spying a woman joining the end of the line, I quickly sped up my pace so that we were in line next to each other.

"Umm I'm new here, what's going on?"

"Oh goodness! Welcome to The Metropolis. I hope you enjoy it. Oh wait, I saw you fighting earlier. Very good fighter, you are. You actually beat my husband's friend's brother's neighbor" the women said enthusiastically, her smile never wavering.

"Uhh I'm sorry?" not quite sure what to say.

"Don't be! Don't be! It's all in good fun! You're a great fighter" she said nodding, until something dawned her, "oh my goodness! My name! My name is Pik Monolau" she said, now concerned that she had neglected to tell me that.

"I'm Constance" I said, completely caught off guard by this strange individual.

"I know, my name is odd. Well I'm odd really. But it's because I'm Hawaiian. Or was. A long time ago. My full name is Pikala, but that just sounds strange, so Pik it is. Constance, a beautiful name. Oh! This, this line is for The Truth" she said, confusing me even further.

"We're in line to get the truth?" I asked.

"No... well yes. And no. We're in line the get the truth from The Truth" Pik responded, making sure to exaggerate the second "the truth", leading me to believe that like everything else in this place, something or someone was named quite bluntly.

"What is The Truth?"

"Not what, who. The Truth is the lady, woman, in the chair. She knows things. Things about the past, present, and future. She usually stays in her home and charges outrageously amounts of money to do a reading, but on the first Games of the year, she does readings for something crazy easy to give up. Last year you had to give her your hair. I don't know what the payment is this year. I should find that out. I'm sorry, I talk quickly" Pik rambled on, standing on her tiptoes to look through the crowd. On the right side of her tan neck, Pik had a small 2 right behind her ear. No wonder she was so twitchy, she was on her last lives. Poor thing.

"It's ok Pik" I said with a smile.

"You're nice too. Most people can't stand me. Or they can but you can see on their face it takes a lot of patience. I hope you get to challenge The Boss. That would be fun. Do you see my husband? Doh, of course not, you don't know what he looks like! I'm sure he's around" she rambled, turning in circles.

"Pik" a deep voice rumbled from my left. A man who could easily be mistaken for a mountain walked up to us. He was easily seven foot with a wiry, bushy beard and mocha colored skin. His muscles and tan lines led to the assumption that he did work outside that involved heavy lifting.

"Gunther! There you are, do you know what The Truth is charging for a reading this year? I haven't heard" Pik fired off, reaching her hand out to her husband. He took her hand, engulfing it in his massive one. Pik had to be five foot five maximum, meaning her husband had a foot plus on her.

"Hello. I'm Gunther" Pik's husband rumbled.

"Oh, yes! I'm sorry, Gunther this is Constance, you know, the one who beat Darret? She's a great swords woman" Pik whispered the last part.

"I noticed" he answered with a hearty laugh. Gunther seemed fairly normal, meaning he had the patience of a saint, bless his heart.

"So, the price?" Pik pushed

"I've heard it's a kiss on her palm" he answered.

"See? Not bad at all" Pik said with a smile. It seemed as if she was calming down at an exponential rate now that her husband was here.

We stood in line for twenty minutes, Pik chatting constantly except for the occasionally comment from Gunther or I. I learned to smile and nod every now and then to keep Pik happy, but I was deep in the recesses of my kind, thinking.

Call me a skeptic, but people like this, psychics and what not, are fakes. They don't know anything special, they're just good at reading a persons actions. It's psychology, not mystical powers.

As we approached the chair, Pik grew steadily more excited. When it came to her turn, she walked up to The Truth. The pale woman held her hand to Pik, palm up. Pik kissed it, then leaned forward. The Truth whispered a few words in to her ear, then Pik exited to the left. Gunther did the same, and soon I was walking up to the chair. Up this close, I now noticed that The Truth's eyes were white, as if she was blind, but I knew she was not for she followed my every move intensely.

"Hallo" The Truth said, looking me over from her chair.

"Hi" I mumbled.

The Truth gently held her palm out to me, on which three eyes were tattooed, crossing each other like some sort of trinity knot. I grabbed her hand, which was cool to the touch, and brought my lips to the image. Immediately, The Truth's eyes rolled back into her head and she gasped. I sat back quickly and took a step back, afraid I had done something wrong. The Truth sat rigid in her chair, head thrown back for a few seconds, until she suddenly sucked in a deep breathe and slowly brought her head back down. Staring at me intently, The Truth slowly uncrossed her legs and stood, stepping down the small steps toward me. I noticed that the entire stadium had grown quiet.

The Truth walked up to me, her gait slow and sensual, like everything else she did. When she was right in front of me, I realized how tall she was, considerably over six feet and taller than me. She took one long finger, nail long and filed to a point, and placed it on the center of my chest. A strange feeling rushed through my body, and I knew that I should be cautious and alert, but my body was completely relaxed. Walking in a slow circle around me, The Truth trailed her sharp nail across my chest, shoulder, and back until she was standing behind me. I felt my body sway forward then backward slowly in response. Placing both palms flat against my shoulder blades, The Truth ran her hands over my shoulders and down to my collar bone. Planting her claws on the flesh there, she slowly dragged the nails upward to my neck, never breaking the skin, but applying pressure. When she had both hands wrapped around my neck, she leaned in close to my left ear.

"I know who you are" she whispered in a raspy voice, "But do you? There are lies that must be made truths. You may not see the things I do, but I see the future for both of you" she slowly turned my head to the right, forcing me to look directly at Brock, who was watching with the utmost intensity and fervor. "He wants what you cannot give, a life that you refuse to live. But can't you see the hurt in his heart, something that was yours from the start. You may be wounded but he is broken, and a man like him can be reawoken. He mates for life and loves forever, never to cease his relentless fervor. Tell him who you are, Katherine the Beloved, so he can become your Brittock the Coveted"

It felt like an instantaneous reaction, the moment The Truth ceased contact with my skin and my clarity returned, however I know that to be false as The Truth was back sitting in her chair and I was being escorted to the side by Pik and Gunther.

"Are you ok?! I've never seen The Truth do that before! How was it?! Did it feel odd?!" Pik asked rapidly.

"Lets get her over here" Gunther said, practically picking me up and carrying me to a private corner in an abandoned part of the bleachers. As soon as he sat me down on my feet, I fell to my knees and threw up the contents of my stomach, what little of that there was.

"Oh, you poor dear-" Pik fretted.

How? How did she know my name? How did she know I called him Brittock all those years ago? How-

"Are you alright?" Gerry asked, quickly making his way to my side.

"I'm fine" I said, wiping my mouth, trying to get my stomach and heart rate in order.

"Are you sure?" he persisted.

"Yes" I insisted, standing up.

"Ok... well even if you're good to stand you probably shouldn't continue fighting..." Gerry trailed off.

"No, where am I? Do I need to fight again?"

Gerry looked concerned but said, "No... Well yes, the final fight. You're battling The Boss"