A Decision Made

“Are you… certain you want to commit to this?” Itaviir asked as he glanced over the list of names. “You really, really want to bring… that one with us?”

Vikalos nodded proudly. Galyn also nodded, but there was some hesitation present.

“We cannot leave Arkidetelos in the hands of Deathven Proper.”

“Why not?”

Vikalos pulled out a folder from a small void-pocket and presented it to Itaviir. “We have been through this, Itaviir. But since you insist on not-”

“I do not understand why you believe us three Decay Lords can give that… thing a better path to becoming a properly functioning Decay Lord than the massive facility that deals in taking Decaylings on a massive scale and converting them into valid Decay Lords. Why?”

Vikalos continued to nod. His nodding was beginning to annoy Itaviir.

“Because the Deathven system has cracks. Beings of interest slip through those cracks. Then they disappear completely. Or blow up in catastrophic ways.”

“What Vikalos is trying to say,” Galyn interrupted, “is that Arkay has the potential to be just like us, a hugely successful Decay Lord capable of functioning perfectly fine on his own. But if we send him to Deathven, he will end up being taken out of the system and experimented on as an anomaly, and will either be dissected and killed, or cause another Great Splot. At best, Arkay would end up like Threzar did.”

Itaviir sighed, rolling his eyes. “What is Threzar?”

Vikalos also glanced at Galyn, also curious. “You have not told us about this “Threzar” before. Who is Threzar?”

Galyn closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Threzar was a Decayling that was similar in size and shape to Arkay. A first generation mortal-turned-deity decay god for a small, multi-deity universe, destined to become a life goddess-like being. Simply put, they were told they had to master death before they could master life. Corruption took their universe, Threzar was one of the few survivors and nuked his universe from the outside.

“Just like both Arkay and our fellow Seimeni, he had Life Goddess potential and was forcibly sent to Deathven rather than being trained by local Decay Lords. He did not cope well in what was a hugely foreign environment to him, so he lashed out, slipped though the gaps and ended up nuking himself to escape.”

“And you think… Arkidetelos will do the same thing?”

“No, I do not actually…” Galyn frowned. “Arkay respects us, he would never do something to intentionally harm others while killing himself. But he would most likely cause far, far more damage to Deathven than he could ever do to us.”

Itaviir tutted, leaning forward. “You would rather Arkidetelos explode on us than explode in Deathven.”

“He would not explode on us. Because he respects us,” Galyn grunted. “We were making very good progress until the Voidborn issue came up. And even if we do fail, better that we fail than be condemned as the ones who handed over such a dangerous being in the first place…”

Itaviir fell silent, mulling over Galyn’s words.

“There is another reason…” Vikalos tutted, breaking the peace and quiet. “If we give up Arkay, we will most likely lose Seimeni AND Retvik as well. They would both feel betrayed and would wonder if we’d do the same to them.”

“Now that…” Itaviir exclaimed rather loudly. “Is a very, very good point. Saahro would follow us to the abyss and beyond, but Seimeni is too… pleasant to risk losing. You both have be convinced. Now, tell me, where IS Arkidetelos, so we can tell him the good news?”

Vikalos smiled. “I am glad you asked. Time Drake Kairos is currently keeping an eye on him. Do you wish for me to call the Time Drake and arrange a call?”

Itaviir waggled his finger, smiling. “No, no, I think the three of us shall go and visit Arkidetelos ourselves…”