Benjamin

I found him in the Mess Hall and decided to go talk with him.

"Hey," I said. "So you're him, huh? Malkator?"

"Yes," he said. "And no. Whatever stories you've heard of me are likely false."

"Well, yeah," I said. "The fact you're alive and well tipped me off."

We sat in silence for a couple seconds.

"So, what's the deal with those stories, anyway?" I asked.

"Another version of me from another universe," he said. "His story seeped into our world."

I see. More of that multiverse crap.

"But I'm not him," he continued. "He's some self-proclaimed 'eccentric chess player' whose willing to sacrifice his stronger pieces for his pawns."

"And that's why he sacrificed himself, right?" I asked. "To save humans?"

Malkator nodded.

"I can't do that," he said. "Unlike him, I have something to live for. I have a family. I have to survive. For her."

We sat in silence for another minute. After a while he sighed, and let his hood down. He had stringy, light brown hair that fell down to his shoulders. This was my first time seeing it.

"Not much point in hiding now that William's exposed me," he said. He then reached up and removed the collar he had been wearing He coughed a couple time, and then said, in a much different voice, "Much better..."

I stared blankly at him for a moment before speaking.

"Holy crap," I said. "You're British?"

"The collar applies pressure to the vocal cords," he explained. "Alters the volume and pitch of the wearer's voice."

I raised an eyebrow.

"That doesn't sound like enough to hide a British accent," I pointed out.

"Nope," he said. "That was mostly just willpower. The collar still makes it easier."

"Huh," I said. "So why doesn't your sister have an accent?"

"Stop asking questions," he told me.

He stood up and turned his back to me.

"I like to think of us as friends, Justin," he said. "But I'm going to win this tournament. For my sister. No matter who my opponent is, I will fight, and I will defeat them."

He began walking away, but I had one last thing to say to him.

"Did you know that when you get a pawn to the opposing edge of the board, you can swap it out for a piece you've already lost?" I asked.

He paused.

"What the hell are you getting at?"

"That's why that other Malkator was willing to sacrifice himself for humans," I said. "Because he could see their potential. You claim to have good eyesight, but you must be pretty fucking blind compared to him."

He glared over his shoulder at me.

"Sod off," he said.

Then he kept walking.