Return to Order

This story happens very soon after Monsters, where Arbiter is confronted with the death of Inferno, and POSSIBLY the disappearance/death of Amnesty. This plus other events will take their toll on Arbiter's mind as a former Balance-Keeper suddenly arrives and attempts to use this to his advantage... in fact, this will explain why Arbiter is the way he is in Book 3...

Participants

 * Arbiter of Order
 * Morpheus
 * Entropy
 * Red
 * Resistance
 * Rune

This story is open to all heroes who wish to participate- All may join, and if you are interested in attempting a cross-over, just talk to me. If you pick a hero you want to use, list him/her above.

PROLOGUE
Arbiter knelt in the dirt outside of Red's Castle, in a spot before where two stones stood that he had fashioned himself- the first bore the appearance of a regal man with draconic wings, the second was shaped in the image of an elegant and powerful sorceress. He knelt there for what seemed like hours, still and unmoving, yet his mind was tumultuous:

"...Your soul is whole again, Balance-Keeper, but are you better off for it? Perhaps now you can truly see yourself for what you are- a murderer..."

Arbiter tried to shake the voice out of his head, but it was soon replaced by another:

"You simply stood aside while you let your friends die... it was you who left trillions of innocents dead in your wake... how many more are going to perish by your blood-coated hands? 

"That's... not true..." Arbiter muttered, failing to convince himself. A third voice appeared, mocking and scornful:

"All those close to you die... Kagami, Jason, Amber, Baqer, Seren, Inferno, and Amnesty... how long will it be before Red and Sangria perish as well?"

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" Arbiter cried out, clutching his head. But then, another voice rang out, and upon hearing it, Arbiter's stomach lurched in shock. The voice was coming from the statue of Amnesty, which turned it's head toward Arbiter and spoke to him coldly:

"...you let us die... Arbiter... us, whom considered you kin..."

"No! I didn't!" Arbiter began to panic, only to be interrupted by a mirthless laugh from Inferno's statue:

"Don't deny it, brother... you were too weak... why couldn't you have been stronger? You failed... failed us as a brother... failed in your role as Balance-Keeper..."

To Arbiter's horror, Inferno's voice began to split into many more voices, and suddenly, Arbiter found himself surrounded by a number of stone statues, each fashioned in the image of a person once dear to Arbiter...

"Murderer... too weak... failure..." they all seemed to chant. "...all dead... because of you..."

"STOP! STOP, DAMMIT!" Arbiter roars, yet the jeering voices take no heed.

"Ryou... why did you kill me?" asks a new voice, the sound of which sends a deep chill down Arbiter's spine and fills his with dread. The statue of a beautiful young woman stands nearby, looking at him sadly.

"Kagami... no... I didn't kill you..." Arbiter pleads.

"...why did you kill me?"

"...I didn't!"

"...why did you kill me?"

"...NO!"

With a jolt that shot through his entire body, Arbiter found himself on all fours, trembling and shivering on the ground. He slowly lifted his head, and saw the statues of Inferno and Amnesty, unmoving nor having ever moved, looking ahead with their unflinching, immortal stone gazes. He looked around- there were no other statues surrounding him. A gentle breeze blew by like the breath of a whisper, and Arbiter collapsed on the ground in despair.

"...they're right... I'm a failure... they are all dead... and it's my fault... my fault... I'm nothing but a murderer..." he muttered to himself.

A black mist silently rose out of the ground nearby like a malignant plant, twisting into the form of a man who stood about as tall as Arbiter. He looked down upon the cringing Balance-Keeper lying in the dirt with his slanted, cat-like eyes.

"Pathetic..." he finally said. "What happened to the great Balance-Keeper that I once knew?"

"...Morpheus." Arbiter greeted disdainfully, without turning to face him.

"You were once powerful... you could take on gods, Secrets, Abstracts, and others without your will breaking..." Morpheus said, frowning with his unearthly thin lips, "and now here you are, lying in the dirt like a dog, just because a few people died..."

"You wouldn't understand." Arbiter said.

"But I do understand. Truly, I do. It's something you and everyone else around you seem to share. A little something called weakness."

"Those who I love and care for are my greatest strength."

"Exactly! And when they die, you become reduced to this..." Morpheus planted a kick in Arbiter's back to punctuate his last word.

"People like us... we are better off without allies to hold us back, to sap our own strength... Friends can only hurt you in the end... they will only betray you or die... like the way you betrayed Inferno, Amnesty, and everyone else when you failed to save them..."

Arbiter finally sprung to his feet in rage, summoning his greatsword to his hand and slicing it through Morpheus. "SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" he roared. Morpheus, however, was unharmed as Arbiter's blade passed through him; his form rippled like a kind of mist.

Morpheus sighed. He extended his arm and it formed into a shadowy blade, which suddenly stretched out, skewering Arbiter through his gut and slamming him against the wall of Red's Castle. Blood spattered on the surface and Morpheus held him there with his blade.

"I know plenty..." Morpheus said. "More than you would probably like me to know... But perhaps, I can explain myself with a better method than words..." Morpheus whipped his blade-arm around, hurling Arbirter once more into the dirt in front of the statues. The blade retracted, becoming a hand shrouded in black mist. Arbiter, to his own horror, found his eyelids growing heavy as the darkness of sleep began to overtake him. His eyes shut and he spiraled through the darkness, toward anxious and unsettling nightmares...

"...Sleep well, Balance-Keeper. Or not." Morpheus said, turning around and fading into the shadows, leaving Arbiter alone and bleeding one the ground, confronted only with despairing visions...

CHAPTER I
Several hours later...

Red walks along a path in the Royal Gardens alongside a visiting Prince from a neighboring land and several guards - she doesn't seem very pleased about it either as the Prince continually tries to court her in the most awkward of ways : "..the best way to deal with tragedy is to move on, your Highness.. besides, your daughter will require a father figure.. am I not right? I could provide you both with treasures beyond your wildest dreams..".

Red frowns "..no.. I'm not interested.. I've told you this several times..".

The Prince waves a hand as he continues, "..be reasonable, Red.. think about your Kingdom.. the people deserve a decent King after all they've been through..".

A short distance away, rounding a corner and approaching slowly is Arbiter. His head is bowed, and he staggers slowly toward the castle, with one hand clutching his forehead and the other trying to take hold of anything it can for support. He seemed to pay no heed to the large, open wound that split open his stomach as he put one shaky foot in front of the other, before he collapsed in the middle of the path.

"What's... happening... to me?" Arbiter thinks to himself.

The Prince at once hides behind several guards as Red moves over to Arbiter, "..Arbiter? what happened? who did this? speak to me.." she says.

"..careful! it could be some kind of wild beast!" the Prince blabbers, cowering behind the guards - who look as annoyed as Red at having to put up with this pathetic excuse for a man.

"SILENCE!" Red growls, returning her gaze to Arbiter "..you've dealt with worse wounds than this before.. why are you so pained now? .. is it poison?" - she wrinkles her nose slightly, as if in thought "..no.. I know what this is.. I can smell it.. your mind.. it's breaking..".

The gaze in Arbiter's eyes suddenly became distant, as if he were staring into some far-off place. "It's my fault... that everyone's dead... I was too weak... I let them all die..." His voice suddenly became more frantic and hushed, and he spoke as if speaking to an invisible spectre- "No... I didn't want you to die... I didn't want any of you to die... I didn't kill you... please, listen to me..."

"A moment of silence passes, and Arbiter seems to slowly slip back into reality. He blinks.

"...Red... the poison is in my mind... I think I'm losing it..."

Red growls and turns to her guards, "..well? what are you waiting for? take Arbiter to a chamber and prepare a scout to Avalon at once for a healer - as for you.." she looks to the still cowering Prince "..I don't have time to waste on your blabbering - remove his "majesty" from the city and ensure he gets safe voyage back to whatever hellhole he crawled out of.." she snaps.

Two guards quickly move over to Arbiter and attempt to lead him into the castle while the others take great joy in moving the Prince out of the castle grounds, "..this is absurd! Red! listen to me!" the Prince protests.

Arbiter makes no motion to resist as he is lifted onto his feet by the guards and supported as they help walk him to the castle.

Meanwhile, a short distace away, Red can see a shadowy figure standing in the gardens, watching the proceedings, before it suddenly vanishes as if it was merely an illusion.

Red shrugs it off as she turns towards the castle and follows the guards inside, frowning to herself as a familar presence filled the air around her.. "..I've been here before.. a thousand times it seems.. how much more must I endure before there is nothing left for them to take?" she thinks to herself.

CHAPTER II
Arbiter had not said a word as the guards assisted him to a chamber. His mind was fraught with worry and his gaze never left the ground. Whichever direction he turned, he felt as if he could see their faces, all looking at him... mockingly... disappointedly... turning his head away did little to help, as he could still hear them, their voices echoing in his mind. Never in his life had he felt so helpless... so weak.