Retvik stood to attention as the cell door opened. He was aching all over, but he was about to re-obtain his freedom after far too many days locked inside a cell, so Retvik didn’t care much. To his surprise though, he found himself being pushed back as someone forced their way into Retvik’s arms, gently kissing him, then abruptly letting go.
“What the fuck was that?” Retvik’s jaw was only partially functioning due to shock. “What… what did…”
General Litvir stood in the doorway, blocking the path between Retvik and reasonably sized spaces. He was wearing not his normal general’s armour, but a silk robe, dyed black and decorated with red roses.
“I really must apologise, Retvik. I am so sorry.”
“What…” Retvik repeated the word a few times over, not really understanding what just happened. The last time Retvik had communicated in any way with Litvir, they had both been very aggressive. To put it another way, Livtir had touched him inappropriately and without permission and Retvik had retaliated by nearly incinerating Litvir. “What is wrong with you?”
Litvir nudged Retvik deeper into the tiny room, pulling the door shut behind him.
“Something has happened. Something unexpected. Due to my own powers. You know what I can do, how I feed off emotions, yes?”
Retvik nodded, frowning awkwardly.
“Well… when we fought last… I… I somehow absorbed something I should not have. I absorbed a tiny little part of you, and it…”
Litvir took a deep breath. Something about the general seemed very, very different. As if he was… someone else.
“I absorbed some of your conscience. I saw from your eyes and realised that I am… not a good being and am going the wrong direction when it comes to furthering my goals. I did not notice these changes at first but over the last few days, I have… I have changed.”
“And how am I supposed to believe any of this?” Retvik grumbled. “After all, you always skew your words.”
Livtir grumbled leaning against the wall and still blocking Retvik from leaving the room. “I know, I know. There is no way you can trust me and see that this is genuine. It is a very strange feeling for me as well. Waking up and realising the error of my ways. I am wrong, Retvik. And it took feeding off your emotions and thoughts and seeing through another general’s eyes for me to see that. Most of our kind, we mindlessly follow our leaders. Us higher ups though, we see things clearly. Or at least more clearly than normal.
“But now I see… even more clearly. I see from a different viewpoint. And I see that I am doing everything wrong. Plus… I discovered from… spying on you… that my plans were doomed to fail anyway.”
Retvik tutted. “I had assumed you’d heard about the Thantophor visiting me.”
“I heard everything. That was part of what convinced me to change my mind. I still believe that the Void Lord has the answers we all seek, but I have just had to scrap three years of research and planning thanks to the fact that you are friends with the Lord of Decay. I will be honest, that… that also made me change my mind.”
“How so?”
“Only a fool messes with the Thantophor.”
With a sigh, Retvik made a move to try and get past Litvir, but Litvir remained firm. Not wanting another confrontation, Retvik decided to remain patient.
“So you claim you have changed. What do you plan to do now?”
Litvir leaned forward, his arm outstretched. He was about to put his hand on Retvik’s waist then quickly changed his mind.
“I… I am very conflicted right now.”
“I noticed…” Retvik grunted, feeling more and more uncomfortable. “You are acting as if you have fallen in love.”
“Because I have.”
“Well I do not reciprocate your feelings. I am not interested in you at all and I am not even properly divorced yet. Now can you please let me out of this Light-forsaken room?”
Litvir sighed, then backed out of the room, finally allowing Retvik to stand free.
“Fine. If you attack me again though, I will put you back in here.”
“I will not attack you as long as you do not inappropriately touch me again.”
“Fair enough,” Litvir shrugged. “Go have a shower and get yourself cleaned up, then meet me in the canteen with the other captains in three hours. We need to discuss our plans for the future…”