It's been awhile since I've done a one shot, but since I've finished my Fable II story and working on my other two, I thought I should do another. I have one for the Hero's dog, but it's not done yet. That will have to be my next one. No, this one is dedicated to a tyrant of a man. A man that had thought to fight evil with evil. A man that wore a heavy crown. A man that we would call brother…

The Decision

Time is so short now. It is hard to say what day will the last. I have seen the darkness… it will come… there is no stopping it… it will consume all that it touches. It will surround the shores of Albion. It will glide over the lands. It will sweep over walls and fortresses as if there was nothing. The darkness shall enter this place and go through all the rooms until it has found me…

When I faced it the first time, I was arrogant and foolish. I thought nothing could stand in my way. Power had come so easily to me… my mother handed to me… on… her death bed. I took it and never looked back. I thought being the son of a Hero would make me strong… untouchable. I went across my kingdom and rid it of the most monstrous creatures. I went into places that no mortal would. Where others would never leave, I came out triumphed. Nothing stood in my way. I saw everything that my kingdom had to offer. I saw what had to be seen. There was no corner that I hadn't been to. I believed that I held Albion in my hand. There was nothing more to it… but then a sign from another shore came…

It pointed a land that had yet been discovered… or one that had been long forgotten. It didn't matter. It was a new place to explore and conquer. I would be the person to come and see what this new world had to offer. Getting there would not be easy… for the son of a normal. No… I was the son of a Hero. It would come to me like everything else. This new land would lay before me and quiver at my approach. It would feel my every step and know that I was a king.

A king… that has very little meaning to me these days. It is a title only. A word to put in front of my name… it mocks me every time it is said.

How much I wish I could scream to the heavens for people to stop calling me that. How I wish that I could remain… just Logan… this crown… it was so light when Walter placed it upon my brow… now… it sinks into my skull… pulling and pushing at my skin and hair. If only this terrible weight would crush my head… then I might have some peace. It is both a sign of power and a sign of worry… a simple golden circlet with the symbol of my mother adorns my head… I could take it off any time I want, but it would still stay.

I must keep it on. It is my birthright. It is what unites the people… it is what tears them from me. They don't understand what I know… what I keep under this crown of precious metal. If only they knew what I saw in the dark places of a land across the sea… Aurora…

You nearly took me. I thought you were a land to tame and understand. Instead you turned my world upside and tore it to shreds. All the power I thought I had… the strength… the will… the life… it was all taken from me. The darkness drug me from my high place and threw me into an abyss that no light penetrates… it showed me how weak… how easily I can and will be broken. It pierced me through and through… my soul shatter… my body broken… my mind… where has it gone? I still don't know how I managed to emerge into the sunlight. When it first touched me skin, I fell to me knees and cried… the light was so beautiful… still… I turned from it. I now knew what I was facing. I stared at it and it stared back…

I came with light to defeat it. I left with darkness. Light alone cannot banish it. The brighter the light… the deeper the darkness. No amount of light will ever be able to destroy it. I knew that. I knew that no matter what I did when went back to Albion, it would come for me… it would come for everyone. The seer said there was no stopping… it would come. I promised I would do everything in my power to see to the safety of Albion… to my people… to my… brother… they should never have to know what I face. They should never have to know the evil that lies in wait… I tried the ways that my mother instilled… but they were not enough…

The people suffer... they toil away for something bigger than what they know. They build up their kingdom for a battle that has yet to happen. They bring about an army to defend them from the true terror… they think me a tyrant… they know not the meaning… they know not how I suffer with them… each decree… each law… each painful speech… each sentence carried out… I die… I die… I die thousands a day… each of their cries of pain and hunger pierces me like a sword.

Only if they were swords… I could rest… I'm so weary…

Sleep is not sweet. I only see darkness. I only hear the dying screams of my men as they were swallowed up by unseen shadows. They clawed and scratched as creatures of stone and darkness pulled them into an abyss. They didn't die soon enough. Their cries echoed off the walls and into my ears. Nothing could stop the endless screams… maddening…

I am mad… the world makes no sense… it doesn't have to anymore… there is only one thing left for me to do…

Ensure that my brother has a kingdom left to rule… after the darkness has passed. He must pick up the pieces that I leave behind. He has already taken the first steps in becoming the man I know he will become. Still… I wonder… can he… be… a…

"My lord," one of his elite soldiers entered with a bow, "There is news of your brother, Prince Alistair."

"What is it?" he hissed as he clinched the rim of the map table.

"Prince Alistair is raising an army against you…," the soldier reported, "He has joined forces with the Bowerstone Resistance. What should we do if we come across him?"

Logan sighed and drew in a deep breath, "Kill him."

"Yes your Majesty," the soldier bowed as he left the room.

He waited until he heard the click of the door. Looking down to the map of his kingdom, he let a single tear fall.

"I am so sorry little brother… I am so sorry for what I've had to do," he fell to his knees, "I am not strong enough to do what the seer ask. I have seen the darkness and have witnessed its power. It has seen straight in to my heart… my soul… it is embedded deep… it is within me. I know that you are truly mother's son. You are the true Hero that the people have been waiting for," he tried to stand up, but his legs would not move, "Deliver them from my injustices. Deliver Albion from the encroaching darkness," he looked up, "Deliver me from myself!"

He fell to the floor in a heap.