One Sword To Rule Them All

Arthas felt soft cloth beneath him. He smelled the scent of herbs and food. He heard the sounds of a party, people laughing and cheering. He opened his eyes. He was in a room, the room was lit up with candles. It was night time.

He slowly got up, his body felt sore all over. He took a deep breath and calmed down. Frostmourne lay there by his side. He didn't feel Darkness or coldness in his heart so he was relieved about that.

He stood up and took up Frostmourne, walking towards the sounds.

Someone had stripped him of his armor and had put clean and comfortable elven clothes on his body. All the blood was also washed off so he was in a relatively good state, even his hair.

When he reached there, he stood dumbstruck. A massive bonfire was lit in the middle of a clearing, Elves, Men, and Dwarfs were chatting happily and partying. A lot of food was placed on the tables. Everyone laughed and seemed happy.

He smiled, 'I can rest now! I did it. Most of these people in front of me would have died if I was not there. I can stand proud!'. Someone from the crowd noticed him and stopped what he was doing. He quickly pointed at Arthas and whispered to his friend by his side.

Seeing the two suddenly turn silent, the others around turned to look over. Gradually, everyone became silent. "Hahaha, Arthas! You woke up I see."

Gandalf appeared with a grin on his old face, he reached Arthas and hit him in the shoulder. "Old man, why did you hit me? I still feel sore there!"

Gandalf wanted to retort but the deafening cheering of the crowd cut him off. A bunch of Dwarfs came and swiped a speechless Arthas off his feet and threw him in the air. Elves and men joined the Dwarfs and soon a whole bunch of people were shouting happily and throwing him in the air.

"Caladcyll!" shouted the elves. "King!" shouted the men. "Hero!" shouted the dwarfs.

Gandalf used magic to amplify his voice, "Stop! He is still tired!". The crowd gave up and let poor Arthas touch the ground. One could see tears were forming in his eyes, whether from the pain of his sore muscles or Joy remains unknown.

Gandalf dragged him away from the cheery crowd and the party to a more private place. "Thorin and Thranduil wish to meet you, do you want to humor them?"

He shook his head, "No, I want to go into Erebor and see it for myself. I always wondered how it would look like... Right! What happened after I fell asleep?". Gandalf smiled, "We won splendidly, very few casualties. Almost no innocents were harmed. After the battle, everyone retreated to rest and recuperate. Some began partying, some mourning the fallen ones. In any case, tomorrow morning is the day that Thorin is going to confront Thranduil and you to give you your share of the gold in the mountain.".

Arthas asked with confusion, "Why me? Shouldn't he confront Bard?!". Gandalf looked at him as if he were looking at an idiot, "You heard what they called you back then, no? You are the king of these people now. Deal with it!". Arthas looked exasperated and changed the subject, "What's with the attitude?".

Gandalf hit him in the shoulder again, making him wince, "None of your business.". Arthas smiled mockingly, "You chirpier than usual... Did you finally find a girl? Thousand-year-old v.i.r.g.i.n!".

Gandalf used his staff to hit Arthas in the head, "Funny! Be serious. What do you plan to do from now on? The quest is over.".

Arthas contemplated for a moment and glanced at the stars of the night sky. "Have you heard of this saying, With great power comes great responsibility?"

Gandalf looked thoughtful, "It is wise as it is flawed...". Arthas seemed surprised, "How is it flawed?".

Gandalf sighed as he began explaining. "What is power? Power is the ability to control or exert authority over something, be it the authority to exert enough physical strength to lift your sword or cast magic. Those with great power have a lot of this Authority, and naturally with such authority comes consequences."

"These consequences wary... An example might be the simple breathing required to have the authority or power of living. The greater the power, the greater the consequences. If you have the power of a god then all the consequences of your power and actions affect the entire world, tell me is it your responsibility? no!"

"You can do several things with that power, face the consequences, and fix the bad ones which means you have taken the consequences as your responsibility. The consequences don't endanger you so you could leave them to exist and remain indifferent. Affect the consequences to achieve some sort of aim, for example, worsening it. Or you could fix all the consequences you come across even those of other people."

"Besides, some phenomena have always existed and we are merely blind to them. When one gets power, they also get the qualifications to observe and interact with more of these existing phenomena that they were blind to before. That is why kings and peasants, Mortal and immortals, live in different worlds."

"The term 'With great power comes great responsibility' is thus merely stating the obvious in a wise manner whilst leaving the other ways one can deal with the consequences of power, only mentioning one. For all those who have great power, live in a world of their own, fixing problems of their own level. An example is a king, he doesn't farm or labor for he must deal with greater problems like ruling his kingdom. Do you understand?"

Arthas smiled after remaining silent for 1 minute to comprehend his words, "I had never thought of it that way... Interesting. Anyway, I was thinking of what to do with my power...".

Gandalf mentioned him to continue and Arthas awkwardly scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile, "I have not yet decided. I can go and enjoy the riches of the world. I can go and help those in need. I can build a kingdom... I still don't know what's good for me. I need to think tonight and decide.".

Gandalf nodded, "That's wise. Do you need anything from me?". Arthas nodded, "Actually, I told you. I want to see Erebor and tour inside it.".

Gandalf sighed, "Fine, come. We have to meet Thorin first then we can go. He wanted to urgently meet with you!".

They left towards the lonely mountain... (Arthas was recuperating in the ruins of Dale.)