Hello, and welcome to my new work of fiction. I hope it will be to your liking - please keep in mind that I am writing this on a whim, it does not yet have a solid plot. Nevertheless, please enjoy the first instalment of Chandelier. - TheOtaku2

Prologue

Quindecim seemed more empty without her.

The atmosphere was...lacking.

Decim had recently been criticised for not being as welcoming towards his guests as he usually was. But there had been a change in his existence that he simply could not compute.

Decim felt. Not only that, he felt lonely.

Even the company of other guests or Arbiters could not quell his longing for companionship.

Decim shouldn't have been able to retain any memories of Chiyuki after she had been reincarnated, but due to his newfound emotions, he was capable of remembering the majority of the guests he judged, as well as recalling memories of her. The doll of her still sat in the corner of the bar. Decim always made sure that it never collected dust.

He felt his face relax from its typically rigid structure. A small smile creased his mouth.

Chiyuki's smile haunted him. He missed her.

Pale blue eyes enforced with cog-like pupils glanced towards the telephone near the bar. Perhaps he could-

"Decim." Nona's voice resonated down the hall as she strode toward him. "Have you finished your duties for today?"

He gave a firm nod. "Yes, Ma'am. Can I help you?" She hesitated, arms loosely folded. "...We need to talk."

"What is it?" A new emotion blossomed within Decim. It swirled and spiralled - he had witnessed it in his guests many times. Curiosity. Nona stepped closer. "Oculus, um...he knows that you...that you are different from other Arbiters. As in, your emotions." She sighed. "He doesn't like it, Decim."

Decim's expression remained neutral. "Then what is to be done?" A pause. "I am to reverse the process. You will no longer have these conflicting emotions."

Now, something different was felt by the white-haired Arbiter. This emotion writhed and snarled and boiled in his chest. Anger.

"No."

Nona was taken aback. "W-what?"

Decim averted his eyes. "I apologise, that was rude of me. However I do not wish to reverse the process."

"Decim, I must do it-"

"Please," Thin strands of pale hair hid his glistening eyes from Nona. "Please let me be." Nona wanted to. She really did. But her job and her existence were on the line. She had pushed her luck enough - the last thing she wanted was for a fellow Arbiter to suffer because of her mistakes.

But Decim didn't see it as a mistake. He liked this evolution, despite the pain and sadness it had brought. During Chiyuki's judgement she had cried in his arms and he in hers; he remembered his temporary transition to humanity, and the suffering had been unbearable.

That was what had made it beautiful. That was what had made the experience fulfilling.

"I'm sorry, Decim," Nona apologised once more, "the reversal will begin tomorrow. Good night."

He was compelled to reply politely, "Very well. Good night, Miss Nona." After all, it wasn't her fault entirely. Decim knew he had been the subject of Nona's experiment, but due to its eye-opening revelations he held no resentment for her.

Once Nona left, he made himself a drink.

A Memento Mori.

If he was going to lose everything he'd gained by tomorrow, he may as well mourn his mimicry of life.

Yes. After tomorrow he would be just another Arbiter again. Judging people without qualms or interferences.

"How can you call this judgement? This isn't judgement!" Chiyuki's angered voice rang in his ears. How was this judgement? He found himself wondering as he sipped at the fragile glass. All he did was observe and conclude based on a short time interval spent with a guest, and their scattered memories. He judged people based upon morals and rules created by humans. It was like using someone else's set of instructions to build a machine of whose purpose he had no clue. Was that not hypocritical of Arbiters?

What gave lifeless, emotionless beings a right to judge the dearly departed?

He needed to find out more. Arbiters were not able to get drunk but he felt the alcohol numbing his thoughts.

Decim wanted to keep his emotions.

He wanted to live.

And he wanted to see Chiyuki, his only friend, again. Even if she no longer knew him.

It had been at least twenty years since he had last seen her.

Setting the glass down, Decim looked down the corridor at the twin elevators. Anxiety jumped about his body as he walked across the immaculate carpet. The little blue spotlights twinkled.

This could be a very stupid decision.

Perspiration beaded on Decim's forehead as he pressed a button to open an elevator. He folded his hand towel neatly and set it on the floor. The doors opened.

Behind him, another elevator opened a distance away.

"Hey, Decim! I - huh? Where are you?" Clavis moved around the corner, his mouth falling open when he saw Decim. "What are you doing?"

"Good evening, Clavis. I hope you are well," Decim replied without facing him.

He stepped into the elevator, the white mask above it signalling his choice.

Clavis rushed after him, hand reaching for the doors. "Decim, no! You could be erased!" Decim turned around, hands by his sides. He offered Clavis a gentle smile as the doors closed.

"Arbiters aren't meant to do this!" Yelled the green-haired Arbiter.

"My regards to Miss Nona. Farewell, Clavis."

The doors closed.