Phovos was tending to the trees around Savepoint, mostly just pruning dead branches and sweeping up dead leaves, moving them into piles to be made into fertiliser. She was quite happy with her work and duties, which had changed over time, and now Phovos was mostly in charge of making Savepoint look nice.
Normally, Phovos was left alone while she worked, but occasionally someone would wander over to see what she was up to, mostly her beloved Voidborn girlfriend Phovoula. That was who Phovos expected to see as she turned around, but instead, Phovos spotted an old death god.
“Oh, heya, Arkay! You alright?”
Arkay grunted as he approached. “Not really. I have things I need to ask of a Life Goddess, but I don’t want to ask Sini.”
“Fair enough!” Phovos smiled. “No one likes talking to Sini. I mean, the last time one of the newer guys spoke to Sini, Kuta and Ret ended up having an argument. An argument that was fixed and later ended up with lots of sex, because Ret thinks he has catching up to do but…” Phovos paused, then tutted. “Sometimes I get a bit Sini-y myself.”
“It’s more you and Sini both get a bit Kinisis-y. In the most minor ways possible. As much as we try to deny it and don’t like admitting it, we’re all Kinisis’s children.”
Phovos looked Arkay up and down. “You’re not one of her kids though.”
“She made me into one. She literally put part of herself into me and did legitimately consider me to be her child, at least in a way so she could manipulate me. I’m pretty sure that’s partially why I died when Epani and I killed Kinisis the first time, but that’s also why I’m free from her influence now. You though, you’re literally half of her.”
“Ugh…” Phovos pulled a face. “That… I hate that thought. Makes it worse that I don’t know who my real father was. Like, I had parents, adopted ones, who found me and raised me, but… ugh…”
Arkay shrugged. “You’re not alone there. But I don’t want to know who my dad was. Either way, you’re not busy, are you?”
“Not at all!” Phovos perked up. “What do you need?”
Arkay didn’t answer at first. He helped Phovos prune a couple of dead branches and threw them onto the pile Phovos was making.
“You’re not right.”
“I’m not…” Arkay sighed. “Every so often, I get… Life Goddess pangs. Like, my body decides I need to make a universe or something. It’s pretty bad right now, and I feel absolutely awful and don’t know how to deal with it.”
Phovos thought for a moment. “How do you normally deal with it?”
“Same way a singular female sometimes deals with monthly menstruation. Stay in bed, eat ice cream and take pain killers to make the stomach pains go away.”
“Oh… Wait… do you actually bleed? Like I used to?”
“No, I just get stomach cramps.”
“I should know this, I dated one… but do Rethans menstruate?”
Arkay shook his head. “No, they just get grumpy and hormonal when the potential egg is reabsorbed… Wait, used to? You don’t menstruate any more?”
Phovos nodded. “I worked out a way to get everything out in an hour. It’s painful but it works, but also I can control if and when I ovulate now. Although I do find it weird that I still can ovulate. I’m over a thousand years old, most Ksithans are only fertile until the age of 50. But… considering what you’ve said in the past, you don’t have ovaries, do you?”
“I don’t, no. They were cut out. Or maybe they grew back. I don’t know. I need to get an ultrasound done and see what is even in my stomach cavity. But… I get these urges and I hate them and they hit me really hard and I don’t know what to do.”
Phovos went back to thinking, then smiled and shrugged. “You considered just… creating something?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your brain is telling you to create something, so why not just go and create something? That’s why I come out here and tend to the trees and make new plants and create my little pocket dimensions. It positively fills the hole in me that wants me to create. Pretty sure it also stops me from becoming a cancer and a Corruption. I’m also pretty sure that Sini and Epani do similar things, and Elkay-En struggles because he hadn’t found something creative to do with himself up until recently.”
Arkay frowned. “I guess… but what can I create? I’m a death god. I don’t create, I decay.”
“Nah, you can start creating as well! Creating isn’t just making life or whatever. It’s just… making whatever. You don’t need to plant anything, you could just get a bunch of clay and water and make something out of that. Maybe make a cool statue of your boyfriends or something.”
“I guess that works. Or I could make them some cool armour.”
“You could! Do something creative and at the very least it’ll distract you from the stomach ache. And, like, worst case scenario? Get one of your boyfriends to pamper and pleasure you for a bit, because that helps as well, makes you feel less worthless.”
Arkay seemed to perk up a little bit. “That last bit of advice is a bit silly, but I appreciate the help, Phovos. You’re a good person. And a good Life Goddess.”
“I’m also accepting of my being a Life Goddess now. I used to get annoyed when people would point out my heritage. And in all honesty, Arkay? You’re a good Life Goddess too…”
Phovos paused, then inspected Arkay, who briefly swallowed awkwardly.
“Did you just throw up a little?”
Arkay swallowed again, then sighed. “Yeah.”
“Do you do that a lot?”
“Not really.”
“You should probably get that checked out or something, if it keeps happening.”
Arkay tutted. “It’s probably just because of the amount of ice cream I’ve eaten.”
“Ah, fair enough. Maybe get some rest and then do some drawing in bed or something.”
Arkay bowed slightly, then headed off. “Alright. Thanks for the help, Phovos.”
“No worries. Glad I could help!” Phovos smiled back as she went back to work.