The full moon was already high up the starless night sky when the last of the five
stepped through the portal. As the portal closed behind it, the hooded figure dressed
in dark blue robes wondered what would the world it left behind look like upon its
return, if it ever will return from this meeting, that is.
As it finally reached the other side of the portal, the hooded figure found itself in a
huge stone chamber, presumably a part of an ancient temple, judging by many pictures
and words carved in the stone walls, where four other hooded figures awaited it. There
was a huge stone table in the middle of the room and as the hooded figure approached
it so did others as well.
As they came close to one another, each of them could see that the other was wearing
a mask under the hood. A tall figure dressed in royal red robes wore a white porcelain mask
with a golden sun on its forehead. The mask stood for power. Another person, dressed in
light blue robes, wore a white porcelain mask with one eye closed shut and a tear coming
out of the other. The mask stood for justice. A figure in brown robes wore a white porcelain
mask with several runes inscribed on both cheeks. The mask stood for wisdom. The last two
wore white porcelain masks with a hourglass on one which stood for time and with a black
and white halves which stood for balance.
''My brothers,'' began Power, ''The hour grows late. The moment of decision is upon us. I
hope that you had made the right choice.''
''He speaks true.'' said Justice, ''I am terribly sorry for keeping you waiting, but as the last one
to leave our world behind us, I have seen the fires far and felt the chocking stench of death
in the air. Doom is looming over us all. Relentless, merciless and all consuming. We must act now.''
They all fell silent for a moment. Justice was right, there was no doubting that. The five of them
dabbled with powers beyond their control and now others were paying the price for it.
''The Gods fell silent many decades ago.'' spoke Wisdom, ''I can no longer hear the sound of the
mighty hammer slamming against the Allforge nor the sound of the endless whip snatching the
escaped souls and dragging them back to the underworld.''
Power turned towards the images on the wall behind them. They told a story of a group of
brave heroes that fought against the armies of darkness for many years and emerged victorious.
They spoke about fallen gods, dragons, demons, devils, birth of new gods, destructions and
creations, the whole history of the world told in several pictures. Ancient history.
''Then we all agree?'' asked Power.
The rest remained silent.
''How ironic.'' Power sighted, ''Look at our history. Mortal heroes rose again and again to confront
the darkness, generation after generation, each more successful than the previous one. We were
once like that. We have saved this world countless times only to see it nearly fall by the hands of
the next big threat. We are tired. I am tired.''
''It is time to call for vote.'' Time finally spoke, ''Those in favor of leaving the world to its fate versus
those in favor of aiding it once more.''
''Leaving.'' said Power.
''Saving.'' said Wisdom.
''Saving.'' said Justice.
''Leaving.'' said Time.
All eyes turned towards Balance.
''I abstain.''
The whole room shook as power slammed his hand against the stone table, breaking it in half, and reached for
the hilt of his sword. He did not pull it out, however, but slowly turned his head towards Balance.
''We have been through this countless times.'' he began, ''Every time we save lives, we reset the cycle. If we
save lives again we will only postpone the demise until the next big bad appears. It is an endless cycle of struggle
which we can stop if we act now and you refuse to do so. Explain yourself!''
''I am balance.'' Balance said, ''I will not act to tip the scales in favor of one side. I can't act to preserve life nor
to exterminate it. It is simply not in my nature. I am sorry, but I will have no part in this.'' and with those words,
Balance suddenly began to fade.
''You blind fool!'' Shouted Power as he lunged across the broken table, drawing his blade made out of dragon bone,
and aimed for Balance. ''You have dragged this out for far too long!'' and with those words, Power took a swing at
Balance.
But Wisdom was faster.
Streams of blue energy flew from her fingers, caught Power and slammed him against the wall. Time was second to act
by freezing Balance in time thus not allowing it to leave. Justice only stood by and watched as Wisdom repeatedly slammed
Power against the wall.
''Do you have a death wish!?'' she shouted, ''Because I will gladly oblige.''
''I would love to see you try, you bitch!'' Power replied.
''ENOUGH!!!''
All eyes turned towards Justice.
''We came here to decide not just our fate but the fate of our world.'' he began, ''But we are acting like animals instead. I do
not wish to continue this endless cycle any more than you do, but whatever choice we make here today, we will make it out
of reason, not passion. We should focus on the problem at hand. We can't agree not spare this world nor can we agree to
let it die.''
''Then what do you propose we do?'' asked Power.
''I have no idea.'' replied Justice and as he said that, a slow clap filled the room. The temperature rose and the smell of sulfur filled
the air. Suddenly all eyes turned towards a figure in red coming out a dark corner on the other side of the room.
''But I do.''
