“Oh, I am so, SO glad to have help these days!” Vekeus exclaimed loudly as he waltzed into the one actually nice pub in the Ventra Expanse that also served Adogtic Voidborns. Behind him were two other Voidborns, the old-fashioned Kesistatir and the almost-normal-looking Theocydes, who would have been fine if he wasn’t completely silver and didn’t randomly change the colour of his eyes. Following them was a small, black and gold sprite that floated around Kesistatir.
“Good day, eh?” Vick, a Decay Lord and the owner and main bartender of the Shield and Stave, waved as he watched the three and a half Voidborns enter. Normally they took one of the corners to themselves, but Vekeus was clearly in a good mood, and the odd, short, red, gold and silver Voidborn practically threw himself onto one of the stools at the bar.
“An AMAZING day!” Vekeus’s smile couldn’t really be seen underneath his heavy metal plating, but he was clearly happy. “Thanks to my new help, I managed to clear an entire pain in the ass asteroid field in twenty hours, a QUARTER of the time it normally takes to clear such an area!”
Theocydes and Kesistatir both nodded in agreement as they sat down too. Vick smiled then fetched them their normal order, two artificially flavoured fizzy fruit drinks for Vekeus and Theocydes, and a glass of red wine for Kesistatir. Vick originally thought that Voidborns lacked a sense of taste and had an awful sense of smell, but no, apparently, because Kesistatir was a formerly Bound Voidborn and had spent a long time inside a universe, he had given himself extra senses to better understand other beings.
“Where abouts were you working?” Vick asked.
Vekeus snapped open his drink and took a glug, utterly oblivious to the taste, before answering the question. “You know where the wreck of the Storm Gale is? That whole sub-section was completely flooded with the Common Strain, and we managed to burn it all back. It’s all clear now, and, fingers crossed, it’ll stay like that for a bit since Kesistatir’s presence alone seems to scare off the Common Strain!”
“I broke off some chunks of my plating and left them at the perimeter of the work site…” Kesistatir explained further. “While I assume most other Corruption strains will probably slowly come back, beating the Pantolou Strain is always good, even if it is short term.”
The gold sprite landed on the edge of Kesistatir’s glass, but Theocydes shooed it off.
“Hey, could we get a small glass of water for Staton, please?” Vekeus asked. “He’s feeling left out.”
Vick glanced at the sprite, then glanced at Vekeus. “Uh, sure?”
He placed the glass next to Kesistatir’s glass of wine, and the sprite happily landed on it. Kesistatir seemed to smile (again, it was impossible to tell) and very gently patted the top of the sprite, which caused it to sparkle.
“Alright, I have to ask, what IS that?” Vick was clearly confused. “Is it, like, a baby Voidborn?”
“It is a Newling, yes!” Kesistatir smiled some more. “My brother, Vekeus’s father, Kenostaton was killed a while ago, but he returned to the Eternal Darkness and has reformed as a Newling, beginning a new life. We have named him Staton, and we are teaching him to be a good little Adogtic Voidborn.”
“Kenostaton was NOT my father!” Vekeus suddenly snapped. “I told you, I am NOT a Geneson Voidborn! I came from the Eternal Darkness, just like you all did! And Staton here isn’t aware of his life both as a Golden Protector and his time bound to the Final Mother, so he can’t tell us if he even managed to have kids or not!”
“If you say so…” Kesistatir shrugged. “What do you think, Theocydes?”
Theocydes hadn’t been paying attention and was busy swapping between looking at his text-based communication device and keeping an eye on Staton, who had decided to dunk himself into the glass.
“What do I think about what?”
“About Vekeus’s heritage.”
Theocydes glanced at Vekeus, then at Staton. before turning back to Kesistatir. “I will be honest, Vekeus does have traces of being Geneson, but he is also a former Bound Voidborn and it’s very, very likely that the Life Goddess that held him screwed with Vekeus in various ways. I mean, I’m also rather odd, I don’t have a tail or a snout, but I lack antlers or a mask, because the monster that held me prisoner stole them. And since Staton here isn’t really the same as Kenostaton, he has no real memories of Kenostaton’s past, there’s no way of knowing.”
Vekeus glared at Theocydes.
“What?”
“Way to not have my back.”
“I do have your back. You don’t have your own back, since you don’t remember anything from before you escaped your universe. There’s a chance that you are actually Geneson, but I don’t think you are.”
“How comes?” Kesistatir asked.
“Not enough charisma and that standard unfamiliarity of other living beings.”
Vekeus glared at Theocydes some more, then sighed. “I was having a good day.”
“I don’t know what any of that means…” Vick muttered. “Like, I’m trying to learn Voidborn stuff, but you lot are weird…” Vick trailed off, realizing he was supposed to be working. “Anyway, I’ll leave you all to it. Let me know if you want another drink.”
The three and a half Voidborns all watched as Vick disappeared into the back to load a dish washer. Staton shimmered briefly, before diving to the bottom of his glass of water and staying there.
“Anyway, Theocydes, you seem distracted!” Kesistatir changed the topic. “Is something wrong?”
Theocydes remained silent for a moment, trying to decide whether his thoughts were worth discussing. With a shrug, he decided to reveal them. “No, nothing is wrong. One of my non-Voidborn contacts is messaging me again. Inviting me to a wedding.”
“A… wedding?” Vekeus asked.
“Yes. Decay Lord Litvir, one of the leaders of the Thantir, has invited me to a wedding ceremony between two of the younger members of the Thantir. This is the second time he has asked.”
“Oh!” Kesistatir beamed. “That sounds fun! The Thantir are a fine group of Decay Lords!”
“Uh… they are Decay Lords. A terrifying sect…” Vekeus stuttered. “And you are… considering this invite, Theocydes?”
Theocydes shrugged. “I am, actually. Like Kesistatir said, it sounds fun. I have not been to a wedding since my forced marriage to the bitch Life Goddess I was chained to, would be nice to watch two people who genuinely love each other make it official.”
“Theocydes! They’re the Thantir! The sect that destroyed the Crystal Doom and the Golden Defenders! They’re monsters!”
“They are fine beings!” Kesistatir countered. “They saved me from being Corrupted and pointed me in your direction, without asking anything in return! Sure, they are a little weird, but the Life Goddess that works with them saved my life. Theocydes, which of them are getting married?”
“Um, I do not know them well enough.”
“Is it the Life Goddess?”
“No. Their names are Elkay and Teekay.”
“Ah! The strange, green, winged one! The one that is all Three Main Types!”
Theocydes nodded.
Kesistatir smiled some more. “We should go. It will be fun. I wish to take gifts, to thank the Thantir anyway, for giving me a second chance.”
“They are Decay Lords though!” Vekeus hissed.
“We are literally in a Decay Lord pub right now…” Theocydes hinted that Vekeus quieten down. “This whole pentacluster is Decay Lord territory. And, unlike the Phantai or the Justar, the Thantir are purifiers, they do work FOR Voidborns and occasionally Life Goddesses and Time Drakes too.”
“It would also be a good chance to introduce Staton to a Life Goddess and a Time Drake in a safe manner!” Kesistatir added.
“These Thantir have a permanent Life Goddess and Time Drake with them?”
“Indeed. Their Life Goddess, Phovos, is a strict but good being. More akin to the Mother I was tied to than the monsters that held you both prisoner.”
“Actually…” Theocydes butted in. “It… might be a bad idea to bring Staton along. After all, he was the Voidborn of most of the Thantir’s old universe.”
“Staton doesn’t remember and is essentially a new, different person, and what the Thantir do not know cannot hurt them. They do not need to know that Staton was, at one point, Kenostaton. And Staton is so young that he doesn’t even have a proper physical form yet.”
Vekeus grunted. “I’m going to be blunt, I don’t want to go. I know you two trust these Decay Lords, but I don’t. And I can’t leave my territories, lest some less kindly Voidborn sees it as free real estate. I can give you a gift or something to take with you, but it’s better that someone stays here.”
Kesistatir patted Vekeus on the shoulder. “That is quite understandable. Theocydes, please ask Decay Lord Litvir if I and Staton may tag along-”
“Already have. He says yes, as long as we all behave.”
“Wonderful, wonderful!” Kesistatir smiled yet again, then fished Staton out from the glass of water. “Now, little one, we need to get a physical form for you. Cannot be going to a wedding naked now, can we?”
Staton shimmered somewhat, then rested in Kesistatir’s hand, not really sure what was going on, just happy to be involved.