It had been a long day, but Elkay was finally at home, having finally escaped from all his duties as the High General of the Retha. He was a humble yet strong leader, but some times all Elkay wanted to do was stay at home and read a good book, to melt away into an imaginary world. Alone, away from all his guards, preferably.
Elkay’s home was simple compared to that of most former High Generals. He lived in a mansion, yes, but it was only just a mansion, located in the middle of the city of Vretania. Three bedrooms, all with their own bathrooms, a kitchen and dining room, a living room and Elkay’s second office, where he kept all his precious books, music discs and comics. The office was where Elkay was going right now.
As he opened the door though, he quickly jumped out of the way. Someone was inside. Elkay backed off, grabbed his gunstaff and charged back to the office, only to find that he didn’t have to do any of that.
“Oh. It is you.”
The High General grunted, leaving his gunstaff at the entrance and sitting down at his desk. Standing in the middle of the room was the Thantophor, the personification of death, idly flicking through a comic.
“Sorry. I heard that Ver asked you to talk to me. Thought I’d save you some time and help you avoid an awkward call with Retvik…”
The Thantophor put the comic back, then leaned against Elkay’s desk.
“How did you know?” Elkay asked.
“They say that your ears burn and turn red when someone’s talking about you…” Arkadin replied. “But that’s not true. Especially when we don’t have outter ear ear lobes. I tend to pick up on conversations about me, spoken by powerful leaders.”
Elkay glanced at the comic the Thantophor had been reading. An Arachne-Reth comic. A pretty mediocre issue, in Elkay’s opinion.
“Were you…”
“Spying on you? Of course not. I don’t spy on anyone. Don’t need to when I have momentium knowledge on my side.”
“Momentium knowledge?”
“The ability to instantly know only what I need to know in any given moment…” Arkadin explained. “If you asked me how to repair a Rethan space transport right now, I would have no idea. Put me in front of a broken transport though and I get straight to work. Doesn’t work on everything though. Some things rely on future knowledge or are simply unknowable.”
Elkay shrugged. “If that is the case, can you explain your recent activities? Apparently you have been hanging around with Skyavok a lot lately. Unusual behavior for a deity.”
Arkadin smiled. “And what would you know of unusual godly behavior?”
“That most of the time, the Thantophor remains out of reach. Yet here you are, standing before me.”
The Thantophor smiled some more. He liked this one. “Yeah you’re right. The last fifty years, I’ve probably spent more time with mortals than the previous two thousand years.”
“Why?”
“Because I am fucking lonely and don’t see why I can’t do the same things my siblings do!” Arkadin’s tone changed for the worse. “I love mortals! I love what you and Ver have built! So I make some micro-changes, so what? Kairos and Yisini essentially rule over other mortals! I just want to even the playing field!”
“Ver fears…”
Arkadin rubbed his face in anger. “I know. I know what he fears…”
Elkay watched as the Thantophor paced up and down.
“Maybe… Maybe I should just leave you all alone. You don’t need me. You don’t want to become reliant on me…”
“Lord Arkadin…”
“No. Don’t. I’ll minimize my influence. Tell Ver and his people that you don’t need to worry about me any more. Any of my future activities will be done outside of your Union.”
“Arkadin, you do not…”
“I have to, Elkay.”
“Arkadin, your siblings do not play fair. They will continue to not play fair. All we need is the reassurance that you will not force us into the mess that the Kronospasts and the Temthans currently face.”
The Thantophor growled menacingly. “I would never do that! I’d never force anyone to do anything!”
“Of course not…” Elkay sighed. “You seem quite angry now. Would you like a drink?”
Arkadin stopped pacing up and down and turned to Elkay. “You know what? I would fucking love a drink right now!”
“Wonderful,” Elkay smiled as he led Arkadin back into the kitchen. “Maybe you will feel better after a nice hot chocolate or something.”
“Yeah, sure…”