“So, you seem pretty pissed off at us.”
The Raptor was a terrifying person. Everyone was well aware how vicious she could be, how she was an unkillable death machine who had torn the Tharr Clan apart and used to rule over a quarter of the planet of Portalia with an iron fist. She had been talked out of being an unkillable warlord by the Tromeros family, which had united the Ksithans under one banner across other planets, but Phovos was still capable of murdering most beings with her teeth and claws alone. These days, the only thing keeping her from doing that was her job running the Great Dessaron Battle Arenas, which not only satisfied her bloodlust and provided entertainment across most of the universe, but was also used to solve disputes between others rather than going to war.
This year had seen record profits as well, mostly thanks to the rise in popularity of three events: the escape-the-monster game shoes which pitted normal folks against gladiators pretending to be psycho killers, a sudden increase in interest in Terror-Beast matches, where gladiators fought exotic creatures from abandon-worlds, and the reappearance of mixed-race Dessaron 4-player teams.
Kayel, Nyssi and Tenuk were three out of four of the members of Xeno Dessaron One, the mixed-race team that fought for the Great Arena itself as house fighters. They were an excellent team, they had a 100% win rate and they’d managed to beat a few fan favourites. However, getting other teams to fight them had become nearly impossible, because people didn’t like fighting and losing against a Phantasma Skyavok and a very, very talented Spast.
“I am. Where is Retvik?”
“Where do you think he is?” Nyssi tutted. “He’s on Threa. In the capital. Looking after his injured brother. You know, the one that was nearly killed when someone tried to assassinate his other brother!”
“When is he coming back?”
Nyssi shrugged. “Probably when… Relkir? I think their name is Relkir… When his little brother is back on his feet. I mean, this is the same little brother Retvik sacrificed himself for over 30 years ago, Retvik’s got a vested interest in making sure Relkir gets better and is safe and all that! When that is, we don’t know for sure, should be about a week, but Retvik’s been doing his best to keep us in the loop.”
Phovos grunted. “A week?”
“Yep!” Nyssi smiled, doing her best to be perky. “I mean, according to the news reports, had Retvik not partially deflected the bullet with his own body, Relkir would be either a cripple or dead now. And, like, the assassin managed to hit the High General in the arm, it was a right mess. But you seem extra pissed off at Retvik and we don’t get why.”
The Raptor sighed, then crossed her arms. “I don’t like it when my house fighters, who are supposed to be a neutral party, get political. And now my best house fighter has been out of action because they were with the leader of the Rethavok and got caught up in a massive political event.”
Tenuk hesitated, then raised his finger. “Uh, firstly, you… kinda hired me, you know, the dead Lord Prince of the Spasts. But also, like, Retvik said that when he applied for a job here, you immediately called him out as the exiled kid of the Family of Dawn.”
“At the time, no one expected that Rethais would one day become the High General. I had no control over that. And no one, especially Retvik, ever thought that he would be repatriated one day, let alone being inducted into a very powerful Legion.”
“Yeah but, like, the 1000th Legion is the Legion of Rethan Heroes!” Nyssi countered. “They’re not political, they’re ceremonial!”
“Retvik is dating a Below Twenty General. It does not get more political than that.”
“But… Kuta works in an apolitical position now?” Nyssi was still trying to counter Phovos’s arguments. “Like, Retvik started dating Kuta AFTER Kuta changed jobs. Are you, like, annoyed that Retvik’s actually using his vacation time or something?”
Phovos nodded. “My best gladiator is being a pain in my ass.”
Kayel immediately frowned and bashed his hand on the desk. “Alright, you’re being very Epani-like right now!”
The Raptor stared at Kayel. Tenuk and Nyssi also glanced at him, neither of them sure what Kayel was on about. Kayel took a deep breath and started to explain.
“Alright, so, right now, our friend Arkay, your Death Wolf, is in my little apartment in Salla, sleeping on my sofa. Epani realized that Arkay was suddenly having an actual life rather than working himself to death, got pissed off at him and tried to take his toys away. He knocked on my door last night, covered in blood from having to cut some sort of tracking device out of his wrists, and I managed to convince him to stick around, somehow. You’re doing the exact same thing with Retvik, you’re pissed off that Retvik, after three decades of loyally working non-stop for you, actually has a life, a family, friends and a caring poten-partner that he absolutely adores, and he doesn’t want to work non-stop any more!”
Phovos stared at Kayel some more, then hissed. “Get out of my office.”
“Not until you admit that what I just said is true!”
“Get. Out.”
Kayel crossed his arms and wrapped his tail around his chair. “No.”
“Get out, before I fire you.”
“So? I’m L-Class, there’s always a job for me. Nyssi’s always got a job at the Torn Islet. Tenuk’s a tad trickier, but he’d probably make a fortune writing a book about being the first Spast gladiator and getting fired because his boss is a bitch who didn’t like it when he stood up for his best friend.”
“On top of that…” Nyssi added. “I’d put money on the high chance that you made Retvik sign an unfair contract when he came here looking for a job. I mean, he’s been working here since like a few months after he got exiled, and, being an exiled Rethan, probably tolerated any and all the crap you threw at him because he knew he was fucked if he lost this job. You probably loosened up on him when he became popular, but those early years were probably rough as fuck for him.”
The Raptor let out a low growl as she stood up and leaned across the table. While Tenuk immediately backed down, well aware that Phovos was a member of a predatory species and Spasts were, at one point, snacks for Ksithans, Nyssi also stood up and growled back.
“Re, iremste, paida!” Kayel suddenly shouted, pulling Nyssi back. In a fight, Nyssi would have had a decent chance against the Ancient Warlord, but Kayel didn’t want any violence to break out. He was well aware that he’d beat both of them if they did. “Calm down, girls! This is a fucking stupid argument. You’re not going to admit that you mistreated one of your best gladiators, who has made you rich beyond belief, but, Phovos, you’d better sit down and think about things!”
“Also, maybe stick to decaf…” Tenuk muttered.
“Either way, I have a beast match I need to prepare for, so we’re leaving!” Kayel announced as he took Nyssi and Tenuk and led them out of the office. “We’ll see you later, when you’re done being Epani-like!”
Phovos sat back down and slowly deflated as the door slammed shut. After a few minutes of awkward silence, waiting for everything outside to calm down, Phovos then reached for a sheet of paper. She had a new contract to write.