I

felt a little ill. Okay, so I faked it, but I hated those stupid gatherings my parents throw, you know how it is being Prince and all. I wandered into the garden, it's a pretty garden by day and my mom prides herself on her gardening (even though Jim our gardener does most of the work), but by night it was just another collection of plant life in the world. I sat near the rear of the garden on my favorite bench, the Dragon bench, which had beautiful engravings of the mighty dragons that once graced our lovely land and sky. Did I mention that I hate this world? Our hunters and scientists killed off the Dragons and Unicorns and Elves and everything else by the time I was five… Oh, did I mention my Dad? I hate my Dad. He is the one who decided to kill the animals. He hated Dragons, and because of that, I hate him.

My Dad used to explain to me why he killed the Dragons. He always spoke of the greater good, and the needs of the Fearful outweighing the needs of good Barbecue or something crazy like that. I miss the Dragons. My Mom still tells me stories of Vritnal, my best friend, one of the Royal Elite. He is dead now, just like the rest of them.

Anyway, so there I was, sitting on a bench in the middle of the night. A man slowly walked up to me. It wasn't the walk of a crippled man, but of one admiring the roses that were invisible in the dark.

"Good afternoon," he said pleasantly.

I looked at him, "Sir, it's the middle of the night."

"Oh… Really… Why, so it is."

He seemed very odd, and I was extremely curious, "What brings you here?"

He looked around, "Here? What brings anyone here? Beauty? Passion? Certainly not hunger because I don't see any food."

I smiled. I couldn't help it, the guy was interesting, "So, who are you?"

He shrugged, "I am me, of course. But then again, maybe I am not? Who are you?"

I glanced at my feet, the Royal Dance slippers on my feet, "I am just someone lost in his own world."

The man smiled, "Well good, you are better off than I am because I also get lost in others' worlds."

I frowned, "You are not from around here are you?"

He shrugged, "Well, my ship is around the larger here, but no, I am not originally from around here, or at least, I don't think I am. The here that I am from is much different, or at least, it was. To tell you the truth, I don't remember where I am from."

"So, then why are you here?"

My Mom screamed from a bit away, "Mr. Hatfield!" in that way that only Queens seem to manage. I hope that when I marry my wife doesn't take on that shriek. I then saw her covering the distance in front of me in record time, "Oh, son, I see you have already met Mr. Hatfield, he is here from the Wizard's Council. Isn't that lovely? He has come here just to see our Ball!"

I mentally went over a thousand ways to escape before saying, "That's great Mom, but, I have to go… get a snack."

I spent a few more hours scouring the castle trying to find a good Barbecue sandwhich. Of course, I would have had to eaten an Oven-Cooked Barbecue sandwhich, which will never be as good as a Dragon-Cooked Barbecue sandwhich.

I eventually tired of the search and headed to my room. When I arrived Mr. Hatfield was looking out my window.

"Your Mom, she is very lost in a world of her own making… She is much worse off than both of us are. If I hear another story about Joe Joesephson and his Bread I will…." he left the last part of his sentence unsaid, for I understood completely.

"So, you are a wizard?"

He glanced at me, and then at the pointed hat on the table, "No, of course not… The hat is not even mine, and neither is the name. I just needed to talk with you. My name is Zhevoon, but you can call me Joe."

"Okay Joe… so, why are you here?"

Joe pulled out a small slip of paper and handed it to me, "I work for Kayos."

"Chaos? How can you work for Chaos?"

He mulled it over; "Lets just say that Kayos (spelled KAYOS) is the legitimate face of an empire."

"You didn't answer my question tho, why are you here?"

He turned back to the window; "There are two sides to every argument. I am here because I want to help my side of the largest argument in history to win."

I frowned, "What argument?"

"For years sentient beings have argued over whether the Universe is ruled by Order, or drowned in Chaos. I am one of those who feel that we are destined to have destiny defined by random events, free will, and luck."

I smiled, "Have you ever thought that maybe you were making your own personal Order or Chaos? Or even that Order and Chaos are balanced equally?"

"Why?"

I shrugged, "Never mind."

He turned back towards me, "Have any strange events happen in your lifetime? As in something almost premeditated by someone other than the perpetrator?"

"Like my Dad killing all of the 'non-normal' life forms on the planet?"

He smiled, "Really? Any strange visitors at the time?"

I shrugged, "I don't know, I was…"

He eyes turned a fiery red, literally, "Too Young! Aargh! They got here before we expected them too. It's not fair. They break the Rules and I am the one who has to do things the right way."

He suddenly calmed himself, "Oh well, I'll get the Lawyer working on it when I get back to HQ."

He turned himself towards the door and was about to walk out when I interrupted him, "That's it! How are you going to fix things?"

He turned around and smiled at me, "I don't have to… You do."

"I do?"

He handed me a small globe filled with a couple of stone dragons and snow, "This a DragonSphere, keep it with you, and never forget the Dragons. Oh, and one more thing, don't go into Science. Politics maybe, or the Culinary Arts would be good for you."

I gaped and he grasped my hand containing the DragonSphere. He shook it and it started to snow.

After he left I glanced at the bottom of the globe and it said, "Manufactured by the Betelgeuse Gift Company, For all your gift needs!"