Yisini squirmed and wriggled as she was dragged along the ground alongside her two other siblings. Ahead of them, Kinisis strolled through long grass, flicking her hands around playfully as butterflies and moths danced around her.
“What are we doing here?” Kenon asked as the deities came to a halt. “Why are we in this wretched, dead place?”
In the distance, a small cottage was nestled in the foliage, completely overgrown and filled with weeds. The windows were smashed and broken and a wooden canopy had twisted and snapped due to high winds. An empty swimming pool could be seen, with something laying inside it.
Kinisis smiled, before turning to the three lesser deities behind her. One by one, she lifted them to their feet, tutting disapprovingly at them. Kairos, Epani and Yisini all stared awkwardly at the ground.
“You all know what you’ve done…” Kinisis’s smile quickly faded. “You all know I have to punish you. I genuinely thought you were all capable of dealing with things yourselves, but I was wrong. You made a massive mess and nearly broke the universe. Again.”
Kenon tried to back away, but Kinisis grabbed him and stood him next to Kenon.
“Don’t you pretend to be innocent, dear. You’re all at fault.”
“Am I though?” Kairos interrupted. “I didn’t do anything! I was minding my own business until Yisini tried to mind-control me into doing horrible things to Arkadin!”
“And I tried to save Arkadin!” Epani also butted in. “Why am I being punished?”
Kinisis peered over her shoulder, back at the derelict cottage. “Yes, you did a really good job of saving him. He only got insanely angry and tried to consume the universe. Good work, daughter. And Kairos, you proclaim your innocence when you acted far, far too late. You both knew what Yisini was doing and said nothing.”
“I was… scared she’d mind-control me… which she did…” Kairos admitted.
“You control time.”
“Still…”
The Allmaker rolled her eyes. “Let’s put it this way. I am very, very annoyed at all of you. Especially you, Yisini. I will have to punish all of you.”
Kinisis turned to Kenon first. “You could have handled Arkadin better. I thought you’d trained for that and he still beat you senseless. You’re on anti-corruption duty. And when you’re not on duty, I want you locked within your quarters.”
Kenon nodded in understanding. Kinisis snapped her fingers and Kenon disappeared in a flash of sparkles.
“You two…” Kinisis waggled a finger at Epani and Kairos. “No more accepting gifts from mortals. No taking mortal form. In fact, no form-changing at all. I am taking your lower legs and you are to go back to being the time and space serpents you were born as.”
Again, Kinisis snapped her fingers. Epani’s lower limbs and Kairos’s limbs disappeared, forcing them to both crawl on long, serpentine tails. Once their transformation was finished, they too disappeared in a flash of sparkles.
Next, Kinisis turned to Yisini. Yisini shuddered in fear, not sure what to say or expect.
“I’m sorry…”
“You’re sorry?” Kinisis shouted. “You played with Corruption and nearly got the universe killed! You know exactly how volatile Arkadin is and you still went ahead! I’ve had enough, Yisini.”
“So what are you going to do?” Yisini sighed. “I was close, you know. So close.”
“If you were close, we wouldn’t be having this discussion!” Kinisis took a deep breath. “Your labs will all be destroyed. You are forbidden from any and all experimentation for the next million years. No laboratories, no flesh fortresses, no nothing. On top of that, you are forbidden from interfering with mortals in any way. Your duty is to plant seeds and to leave. Last but not least…”
Suddenly, Kinisis drew a blade. In a single movement, she cut a slit up Yisini’s body and pulled out a myriad of bloody organs.
“No more pleasure for the next millennium. No sex, no nothing.”
Kinisis snapped her fingers again and Yisini disappeared. Where her blood had touched the ground, small pink flowers had blossomed.
With a sigh, Kinisis turned back to the cottage and slowly walked over. It was time to deal with her youngest son…