Kairos perched at the top of the tower, watching Kinisis work below. She wasn’t doing anything special, she was just pruning some bushes and watering some plants. That was what Kinisis, the Personification of the Entire Universe, spent most of her time doing, tending to the beautiful gardens that made up the centre of the universe. She didn’t need to do much else, since her children took care of the rest of the universe for her.
The Whenvern had been waiting for the right moment to approach. He never liked disturbing Kinisis while she worked. She always got annoyed at him. Kinisis though had suddenly decided to take initiative and ask Kairos why he was there.
“Is something bothering you, dear?”
Kairos opened his wings, stretching them out so he could glide down towards Kinisis. Kinisis clearly didn’t want that to happen, so she teleported in front of Kairos.
“Uh, yes. Something is bothering me.”
“Like what, little one?”
“Well…” Kairos sighed, not sure where to start. He had a lot of things on his mind but they were little, tiny things that weren’t really that important. And some of those things were things that didn’t even really concern him.
“You can speak freely, Kairos. You know I won’t get angry.”
“Yeah… but you might…” Kairos muttered, before finally settling on a subject. “I’ve been… having dreams again. Dreams of the Before. They don’t bother me that much, but they do raise a lot of questions that I can’t answer. Can you answer them?”
Kinisis tilted her head to one side. “I can try and answer some of them. Depending on what they are.”
“Why can’t you answer all of them?”
“Because some answers would… potentially unravel the fabric of existence.”
“Oh.” The Whenvern trailed off, somewhat worried about Kinisis’s first answer. Maybe he shouldn’t ask questions about the Before. Nothing good ever came out of it anyway.
Kinisis gently placed her hand on Kairos’s head, calming him down. “Do not worry. I will tell you if I can or cannot answer though…”
“Oh… okay…” Kairos stuttered. “Honestly though, a lot of it is… it’s based on where I came from. And where Arkadin came from. Because I know… some things but not other things.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Was I always a god?”
The Allmaker didn’t answer at first. “I do not know. I do not think so though. I know I brought you into the Universe Before. I made you inside that universe, specifically as my Time Drake. You did a good job so I brought you into this universe to carry on your work.”
“Why a Time Drake though? Why am I a dragon?”
“Because dragons are good with time.”
“Says who?”
“Says me.”
Kairos grunted. “Then what about Arkadin? Dragons are good at death as well and he’s not a dragon. What even is he? Was he like that in the Before? Was he even alive in the Before?”
Kinisis shrugged. “Arkadin was born a mortal in the Before. But he proved himself to be useful so I kept him. He… wasn’t too happy about that.”
The Whenvern blinked in surprise. “I was under the impression that he was… just pretending to be a mortal or something?”
“No, he was a mortal. I made him into a part of me, which made him immortal. Then I brought him here, the same way I brought you here…” Kinisis smiled. “Why do you ask, Kairos?”
“Because I…” Kairos hesitated again. “I have some… very strange memories of Arkadin and I, back in the Before…”
“What sort of memories?”
The Whenvern hesitated a little more. There was a lump of embarrassment in his throat. “Uh… I remember us fighting at times… but I also remember us being… lovers… albeit briefly…”
Kinisis smirked, patting Kairos gently on the head again. “That is because you were both enemies and friends. Arkadin may have been born a mortal and he may have been an unwilling deity, but you both care about the same thing. Protecting your universe. You just often chose to do that in different ways. Towards the end though, Arkadin, or rather Arkay, realised that you should work together. He came to you in times of need and you helped him out when I couldn’t.”
“Yeah but…” Kairos’s words quivered in the air. “We… I… I remember us… having… you-know-what…”
“Yes, so?”
“He’s my brother.”
“You’re not actually related to each other. Woven from the same cloth, yes, but you are two very distinct beings.”
Kairos sighed, realising that he couldn’t really explain what he wanted to ask. He decided to give up for now and ask again in the future, when his words would be more clear.
“I guess so…” Kairos grunted as he flew off. “Thank you, Kinisis…”