“So, you are ditching us?”
Koh stopped what he was doing and rubbed his neck joint, which felt weird ever since he’d had his head welded back on. After a moment, he turned his attention to the being that had spoken to him.
“No, not ditching you. Just finishing off our work before we rejoin you guys in Phantai territories.”
Akah was quite a tall being, heavily armoured but also rather humanoid. He stuck out like a sore thumb on the Thantir Two, but was also somehow the third most familiar thing to Koh, after his own siblings and Tahvra, who looked like Koh except black, neon green and completely organic and fleshy. Had Koh not known better, he would have called Akah an Imperator, a mechanical, elemental guardian from Koh’s old universe, but no, apparently, underneath his plastic-like skin, his bright white mask and the metal armour plating, Akah was not just organic, but also capable of reproduction, something that still baffled the old Cleanser.
“But you’re not taking me or Tahvra with you.”
“No. I wanted to, but I was overruled. Nuh is angry, Pah is tired, Tah is furious to the point that he’s using actual curse words. Leh’s under the impression that you should spend time with your fellow Divine Guardians, even if you’re not Divine Guardians any more.”
Akah crossed his arms. Like Koh, he tended to click in frustration occasionally and he was doing so right now. “You know I have hardly anything in common with anyone on this ship. Mator is the closest, and he no longer seems to even talk. Tenuk is a bloody Kronospast, 60 years ago, the Lanex were slaves to them! Working for you six has been rather enjoyable, if I am brutally honest, I almost feel at home.”
“I know, Akah, and I’m sorry…” Koh sighed. “The others want alone-time, away from your Thantir messes. And we have to put Mator into some sort of cryosleep because he insists that, if he powers down for a bit, he might be able to recharge himself and turn back into an Imperator.”
“But I am as much a Thantir as you are!” Akah protested, uncrossing his arms and waving a finger at Koh. “Literally! You picked up me and Tahvra and we were officially named Thantir Decaylings when Lord Galyn officially named you Thantir Decay Lords! We are part of your crew, Koh, we-”
“The others said no. Sure, I’m second in command, but it’s two votes against four, and even then, Gah kinda only wanted to bring you for protection. Even Tah wants some space, and he’s genuinely angry about what happened…” Koh approached Akah and patted him on the leg, because he couldn’t reach to pat the Lanex on the shoulder. “It’s temporary though. We’ll only be gone about 200 hours. Gotta go back to the Nest to put Mator in cryosleep, finish up our duties in this sector then stop by a Life Oasis tom buy some paint. It’s alright for me and Nuh, white and black paint are readily available and uneven silver looks fine on us, but the others don’t like being mismatched.”
Akah frowned, then relented. However, he backed away slightly as someone else appeared.
“Heya, where do you want this big crystal thing?” Tenuk asked, carrying a glass containment chamber over one shoulder. He was currently not his normal self though, and was shapeshifted into a large, blue, armoured being with blue and red eyes.
“Uh, I think that one’s staying here. We’re leaving you lot with a set of cleansing apparatus, just in case!” Koh clicked. “You can leave it over where Galyn is still welded to the wall.”
“Alrighty!” Tenuk seemed rather perky. He’d been spared from Galyn’s multitude of possessed rampages, but he was also excited to be going into new territories. “When are you lot leaving?”
“In about an hour.”
“Anything you need in the mean time?”
Koh shook his head. “We’re good, thanks.”
Tenuk waved goodbye, placed the containment chamber next to the unconscious elder Decay Lord, then wandered around a bit, not sure what to do with himself. Koh hesitated for a moment, then decided to ask Akah a question.
“Why does Tenuk spend so much time shapeshifted into a creature similar to that of Retvik and Litvir?”
“It’s weird…” Akah explained as best he could. “While I still heavily dislike Kronospasts for what they did to my kind, I can’t help but respect Tenuk. He was literally the heir to the Kronospast throne, but realized he was wrong, betrayed the Kronospasts because they were evil and fought for the side of good during a war back in our own universe. After the war, Tenuk went into exile and lived among the Rethavok and adopted them as his second species. Tenuk, Retvik, Elksia and Phovos all fought together, alongside some dead Skyavok named…” Akah paused, then shouted out to Tenuk. “Hey, Tenuk!”
“What?” Tenuk smiled as he stomped over, before shrinking himself down back into his normal Kronospast self. “What’s up, Akah?”
“I don’t want to sound rude but Koh asked why you shapeshift into a Rethavok all the time and I explained how you lived among them after you exiled yourself, but it has raised a new question in my mind. Who was Arkay, the Blade of the Dessaron?”
Tenuk gave Akah a funny look. “You’ve met him multiple times.”
“I know, he freed my mercenary team from slavery then disappeared into the night. But was he…” Akah hesitated. “Was he the Thantophor all along?”
“Yeah. Basically stopped us from dying when we warred against the Whenvern. When we first met Arkay, the first thing he did was introduce himself as a K-Class Skayvok, knock me unsconcious and save Retvik and Elksia from bleeding out. Why do you think Retvik likes Arkay so much? Anyway, do you guys need me for anything? I’m hungry.”
“We won’t require food any more…” Akah tutted. “We haven’t needed food in years.”
“wE hAvEn’T nEeDeD fOoD iN yEaRs!” Tenuk playfully mocked Akah as he shapeshifted into a red and silver version of the Lanex. This bothered Akah more than it should have, but he didn’t have a chance to comment as Tenuk quickly turned into a blue Rethavok and stomped off. “Anyway, I’ma get something to eat, smell ya later, guys!”
The room went silent, but that silence didn’t last for long. Tenuk quickly returned, now his normal Kronospast self.
“What happened to getting food?” Akah asked.
Tenuk grunted. “Litvir wants to talk to us Decaylings. Like, kinda right now.”
“Do you need me, Koh?”
Koh clicked twice. “Nah, we’re good, should be leaving in a bit anyway. Go speak to your boss.”
Akah and Tenuk made their way down the main corridor and into the Common Observatory, where everyone else was waiting. The only Decay Lord present was Litvir, who seemed overly exhausted but oddly not too upset, having healed up from his recent injuries.
“Hello, dears. I have some good news for you all!”
Tenuk muttered something about not liking being called ‘dear’ by someone a tenth of his age, but the other Decaylings all quickly told him to shut up and listen. Litvir gave Tenuk a vaguely annoyed look, before tutting and continuing.
“First off, we do owe you all an apology. Although it is not really anyone’s fault that we have been attacked twice in approximately a month, I am sorry that we have both put you all in danger and fallen behind on your training. And despite what various members of Kal have suggested, no, you are not ready for your Decay Lord Trials yet.”
“So why are we going to the Phantai?” Elksia asked politely.
“Because Retvik and I do not know how to properly prepare you all. It turns out that, immediately after the… three of us became Decay Lords, Overlord Deathven changed the entire system and Galyn never updated the materials we had. Technically, you are over-prepared, but we hope the Phantai will be able to better assist both you and us to make sure we do things right. But, in the mean time, we have decided that you all deserve a nice, long break. It will take about a week to reach our intended destination and, outside of a rotating duty of monitoring the ship’s automatic pilot, navigation and comms, you will all be free to do as you please. Kal will be leaving in an hour, and we will meet back up with them shortly.”
“Do you have a schedule for us for the rotating duty?” Elkay grunted. “Just so we know where we all stand.”
“Of course!” Litvir smiled. “A schedule will be sent to your personal devices. Retvik is taking the first 2.5 hour shift, and Tahvra has very kindly offered to take the shift after that. If there is anything any of you require, please speak to either Retvik or myself, and Elksia will be next in the chain of command should either of us be unavailable.”
There were a few mutters of confusion among the Decaylings.
“Uh, why me?” Elksia blinked.
“Being a Time-Drake, you are technically the next highest ranked member of the Thantir, after any on-board Decay Lords. Any more questions?”
The Decaylings all shook their heads. Litvir smiled again, then clapped his hands.
“Alright. You are all dismissed. Have a nice break!”