Rule number three of being an Arbiter: Arbiters cannot feel emotion, for they are dummies.
Kiko has heard this several times, and she planned on following the rule, but she cannot help what she does. Kiko is the youngest Arbiter to ever work, after...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Chapter 3: Pain
Not knowing what to do, Kiko stands at her bar. After a while, she comes a call on her old fashioned telephone. She answers the phone to see that it was Oculus. "Kiko! Go to the QuinDecim now. I want you to meet Decim." He orders before hanging up.
Kiko sighs and steps around her bar. She walks across her bridge and presses the button to the elevator.
A smiling face appears in the doorway. "Hello! You're a new face. My name is Clavis, and I work the elevator." He introduces. "What floor would you like to go to, ma'am?" He asks with a bow.
Kiko furrows her brows and steps inside. "Whichever floor the QuinDecim is on." She says, not bothering to introduce herself. He probably already knows who I am. Nona has a big mouth sometimes. Who knows who she'd tell about me?
Clavis presses the button to level 15, and the old elevator starts to go down. "May you be the one and only Kiko?" He asks with a charming smile.
Kiko nods, crossing her arms. "I am. Why do you want to know?" She asks, giving him a weary look. Nona and her big mouth... She thinks, impassively.
Clavis laughs and shakes his head. "No reason. I've just been wanting to get to know you for a while now. I may stop in for a drink some day. I can ask Nona for when you have days off. Being a real Arbiter must be hard, so you have to have days off, right?" He says, surprisingly cheerful for an Arbiter.
The white-haired girl shrugs. "It's alright. Being an Arbiter does require some difficulty, but it's fine." Right as the door opens to the QuinDecim, she adds, "Also, you don't have to ask Nona. Just come and find out for yourself."
When she walks in, she walks across a bridge, and the whole place looks much like her bar. The darkness of the room helps the glass tanks glow more, and a piano stands away from most of the action. There were dummies everywhere, and Kiko has heard that Decim enjoys collecting dummies.
Kiko walks towards the bar to see a white-haired man with blue eyes. He was tall, and he had a serious expression on his face. Nona has said I was based off another Arbiter. Maybe it was Decim? She thinks, rather saddened by the serious bartender.
Decim bows. "Hello, welcome to the QuinDecin. My name is Decim, and I will be your bartender tonight." He says, stepping to the side. "Please take a seat."
Kiko gives him a weird look before realizing she is glamoured. Glamour is a new tool that top Arbiters use to make themselves and others look like another. She frowns and looks down. Nona must've done this as test. I've heard that Decim is struggling with his judgements. I haven't heard much more than that. She thinks, taking a seat. Just play along, I guess. "Okay..." She says quietly, trying to act nervous. Really, Nona? I have only had one actual judgement, and you're already throwing this on me.
