Litvir tugged at his cape, pulling it up from underneath his rear and his tail, gently resting the edge on his legs. The attractive Rethan felt incredibly overwhelmed right now and was desperately trying not to show it. He didn’t know why he was hiding his emotions, since the other beings in the room could almost certainly tell that he was anxious and fearful, but his emotions were certainly making him feel somewhat ugly. An unusual thought for someone who was always proud of how they looked.
Really, Litvir was struggling to come to terms with what had happened. He was certain he had died. He had been murdered by his own legion of soldiers. Sure, he had been experimenting on his own Rethans, using them as calculators and computers in Litvir’s bid to discover a path to immortality, but they had killed him. When he was pretty close.
But Litvir hadn’t died. Not at all. He found his consciousness trapped inside the massive computer system he had designed. Litvir however was content to remain there. Yes, he would have been trapped forever, but he had all the time in the world to work on his calculations. The calm didn’t last though. In some strange twist of fate, Litvir was ripped from the coldness of the computer and forced into a body by a deity.
That was when things got fuzzy. Litvir didn’t remember much after that. There was fighting. There was a lot of slaughter. Death and destruction everywhere.
And then he was here. Among these Decay Lords. Utterly shadowed by them, yet told he could one day be like them. Godly, immortal, powerful.
Everything Litvir had ever wanted, delivered to him on a golden platter.
So why was Litvir so anxious?
“Is something wrong, Litvir?”
Retvik was one of the beings who had originally murdered Litvir. Yet here he was, calmly talking to Litvir as if they were acquaintances. In fact, Retvik had been incredibly calm and patient with Litvir, all things considered. Litvir had done some… rather cruel things to Retvik in the past.
Now though? It turned out that Retvik had adapted incredibly well to the “Decay Lord lifestyle”, and was willing to share his knowledge. But Retvik wasn’t the being who was currently terrifying Litvir. Not even the large Decay Lords, beings that literally towered over both Litvir and Retvik, really bothered Litvir that much.
No, it was the strange, small being that had just joined them on the ship that was genuinely making Litvir concerned.
“Yes, something is wrong…” Litvir muttered. “Is that… is that the Thantophor?”
Retvik shrugged, then nodded. “Yes, yes it is.”
“What is that being doing here?”
“He is one of us.”
“A… A Decayling?” Litvir hesitated. “The Lord of Decay, the God of Death, the being that we all feared? And it is wandering around here, on the same terms as us?”
Retvik nodded again. “Yes.”
“Is that not… dangerous?”
“No. Not unless you intentionally piss him off.”
Litvir tutted, feeling only slightly better. He still couldn’t place a finger on what was bothering him though. Well, he did know, but he didn’t know whether he could openly admit it to Retvik or not.
“May I clarify something with you, Retvik? Because I do not think I am understanding things properly.”
“Sure.”
“You and I were chosen by these Decay Lords to join them, rather than being sent away to a place where all deities go when a universe dies, yes?”
“Basically, yes.”
“But we are not true deities.”
Retvik frowned. “We were made into deities.”
“But not on the same level as the Thantophor over there. Yet both us and the Thantophor are considered to be on the same level by the Decay Lords? We are, dare I say it, equals?”
“Yes. The three of us are Decaylings.”
Litvir straightened himself out, still feeling confused. “Why did they choose us? Out of all the Decayling specimens I saw, why us? Because I cannot help but feel like they chose us because we look most like them.”
Retvik’s frown turned into a smile. “Not just in looks, Litvir.”
“So we are genuinely special then?”
“Yes.”
Litvir suddenly sighed, now feeling a bit more comfortable. “Ah good. Because I was worried they had just picked me to be their little plaything…” After a moment, Litvir began to smile. “It is rather curious though, how I am now… equal to a death god.”
“Around here,” Retvik shrugged. “We are all death gods…”