Does It Really Matter?

Alexander lay in bed. Pale. Sweating. Coughing blood into a golden bowl.

His condition worsened every second.

Timer stood at the door. Watched. Didn't move.

The king coughed again. Blood splattered across his lips. His eyes were open but saw nothing.

Done.

The funeral was gold.

A sarcophagus. Gold. Heavy. Too heavy for ten men. They carried it anyway.

Alexander's body inside. Wrapped. Sealed. Ready for the ground.

Timer stood among the crowd. Watched.

He's gone. The great king. Afraid at the end. Dying in a bed, not on a battlefield.

Then the fighting started.

His heirs. His generals. Every man who wanted the throne.

They killed each other in the halls. In the streets. In the temples.

Timer moved through them.

A sword here. A knife there. A body falling. Another. Another.

He killed almost every soldier who stood in his way.

Not for the throne. Not for Alexander.

For the gold.

He reached the treasury. Broke the seal. Pushed the door open.

Gold. Everywhere. Coins. Statues. Jewelry. Piled to the ceiling.

Timer stepped inside. Spun the bracelet.

The gold glowed. Faint at first. Then brighter. Yellow-blue light crawled up his arm. Spread across his chest. His face.

The bracelet hummed. Charged.

Timer closed his eyes.

Enough. For now.

He stepped back. The gold was dull now. Used. Empty.

Timer walked out. Past the bodies. Past the blood. Past the war for a throne that meant nothing.

The bracelet on his wrist hummed. Full.

He disappeared into the night.

The guard stood in the shadows. Waiting.

Timer stopped.

The guard stepped forward. His face was hard. His eyes were tired.

"All of this... just for the sake of your family? Just to recharge your bracelet?"

Timer didn't answer.

The guard looked at the bodies. At the blood. At the empty treasury behind them.

"You killed every one of them."

Timer's voice came flat. "They were going to kill each other anyway."

The guard stared at him. "That doesn't make it right."

Timer turned. Walked away.

The guard didn't follow.