“That was a really nice ceremony!” Kohra mused as he sipped a glass of diet cola. He had wanted normal cola, but apparently full sugar cola was rare in Rethan territories. Sitting with him were the handful of other non-Rethans, namely his brother Levik and Elkay, the former All-Ksa, that had been invited to the wedding of the Keeper and the High Advisor, as well as one single Rethan who didn’t seem to fit in.
“It was, actually!” Elkay smiled. “I am glad I looked up wedding traditions though because I was going to get the happy couple a pair of official Phantasma daggers. Except I spoke to Relkir earlier and they were wearing, I kid you not, four different daggers already.”
“What did you get them in the end?” Kohra asked.
“And why did you get them a gift?” That rather deep voice belonged to Abius, the Rethan present, who had accompanied Levik to the wedding. “We only do gifts if we have wronged the couple in some way.”
Elkay hesitated, then shrugged. “Relkir and I had a bit of an argument a while back. We solved it, but I wanted to get them a gift anyway. Got them some ultra soft blankets and a packet of condoms.”
“That… that is a weird gift…” Levik muttered.
“The traditional wedding gift from a Phantasma Skyavok is a dagger and a box of condoms, not that weird from my point of view. Relkir has a very loose tie to the Phantasma anyway, they can uniquely pick out Skyans with shadow powers with ease and I still haven’t worked out why. I also didn’t know that you personally knew Relkir, little Levik!”
“He’s not little!” Kohra snapped. “Levik’s 50!”
Levik nodded. “I am, actually. I’m gonna be 51 in February! But yeah, I met Relkir after the Sudden Darkness, we were in the same hospital and I helped them get out of their angry stance. We chat all the time. They were so excited about this wedding and it all went so well!”
“So… why are you here…” Kohra hesitated. “Your name’s Abius, right? You’re the big Rethan house fighter. The last one.”
“I am here to accompany and protect Levik,” Abius grunted. “I was also one of Retvik’s friends, he introduced me to Relkir and Gath when they visited the Arenas in October last year.”
“You seem like a bit of a loner,” Elkay noted. “You’ve been following Levik around rather than socialising.”
Abius gestured down at themselves. “I am an 800th Legion soldier who dislikes wearing armour and spends their days wrestling beasts. I am not infamous the way Retvik was, but I do have some problems with how other Rethans look at me.”
“What’s the 800th Legion again?” Kohra whispered to Elkay.
“The Legion of the Jobless. I take it, Abius, because you are a House Fighter and are paid by the Great Arenas, you can’t legally work in the 798th Legion and are thus technically unemployed under the Rethan Legion Work System?”
Abius nodded. “You are very smart… Of course you are smart, you are the Deity of Knowledge now.”
Elkay smiled. “I am, yes. I don’t know everything automatically though. That’d make my brain explode. I assume though, since you have matches coming up this week, you’re not staying for long.”
“Indeed. I have a match on the 8th in particular that I am concerned about.”
“I don’t know why you’re worried about the match against Tromos!” Levik exclaimed. “You can just squish him. Like… Kass looked it up, the last three times Tromos fought a Rethan, he got his ass handed to him, and Tromos isn’t training super hard any more now that he’s the new Raptor.”
“Two of those fights were against Retvik though, and this is a water battle, which is why I am concerned!” Abius sighed. “I can swim, but I am heavy and Ksithans are naturally rather good swimmers.”
Elkay tutted, then rolled his eyes. “Do you mind divine assistance?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m really not a fan of Lord Tromos. I can’t actually help you, but I can totally give you some tips and tricks. For swimming better. I can have a chat with Litvir too, Litvir is an insanely good swimmer, they probably have some advice I can pass on.”
“I… I appreciate the kind words, but…”
“No, no!” Elkay smiled oddly. “I want to help.”
“But why?” Abius was clearly confused.
“Because Tromos treated the fourth Triumphant Champion badly and, frankly, did little to help the third Triumphant Champion as well. Phovos was a deranged warlord who was definitely missing a few screws, but she was at least fair. Tromos is slightly racist at the best of times. I called Psiksi after his 300th win and he told me everything and by the Darkness, I was pissed.”
Something briefly flashed next to Elkay. When the light faded, he spotted a note on the table, which Elkay dutifully picked up and read. However the smile on his face turned into a bemused groan.
“What does it say?” Abius asked. “And why are you no longer happy?”
Elkay rolled his eyes. “Firstly, Litvir is being shy, and they would like an autograph or something from you, Abius. Secondly, Litvir has written that I have a crush on Psiksi.”
Levik and Abius both looked confused, but Kohra burst out laughing.
“Uh… do you have a crush on Psiksi?” Levik blinked. “I thought you were, like, over a hundred years old or something.”
“I do not-”
“He does!” Kohra continued laughing. “Gotta be a little crush! But Litvir’s dumb and can’t lie, so it has to be true!”
Elkay glared at Kohra. Kohra stopped laughing, made a small meep sound, then grabbed Levik and teleported off in a puff of electric sparks. Abius remained silent for a moment, then shrugged.
“I can understand other Skyavok liking Psiksi. Psiksi is a very nice person. Kass calls him daily, and we video call Psiksi as a team once a week.”
Elkay grunted some more, then settled down. “He’s a good kid. The envy of many. Anyway, Abius, mind coming with me for a bit? I think Litvir wants to talk to you but they’re a little shy. And I can help you chat with some of the other Rethans here.”
Abius shrugged some more. “Sure, why not? I do not have anything better to do…”