It was weird, sharing a bed with someone.
Originally, when Arkay accidentally found himself sharing an apartment with Kayel, a cute yellow-plated Skyan he’d somehow made immortal, Arkay had slept on the sofa. He didn’t really sleep much, only for a couple of hours a day. He did his best to not get in the way of the normal, mortal lives of his friends. They had jobs, he had duties.
But the previous night, as he’d returned from some basic tidying up on the eastern edge of the universe, Arkay had stumbled across Kayel sitting in bed, upset from a nightmare and unable to get back to sleep. Kayel asked if Arkay could join him in bed because he felt unsafe, so that was what Arkay did. The Thantophor’s presence and snuggles helped Kayel eventually get back to sleep, and they’d stayed like that until morning.
Unfortunately though, Arkay needed to get up. He had work to do. He didn’t want to disturb Kayel though, it was Sunday, he liked his weekend lie-ins. As Arkay removed his arm from Kayel’s side though, Kayel rolled over and turned to Arkay.
“You leaving?”
“Yeah. Epani’s calling me. Something about a thing at the top of the universe.”
Kayel frowned. “Aw. I was sleeping so well as well. This was nice.”
“It was.”
“We should do this more often.”
Arkay hesitated, then nodded as he sat up. “Yeah. I’m sorry though, I do need to get up and go.”
Kayel continued to frown, but he soon relented as Arkay gave him a hug. “Well, alright then. I’m probably just gonna sleep for a bit longer, if that’s alright.”
“No worries. I’ll try and be quick. Hopefully it’s not another damn Corruption again…”
“Fingers crossed…” Kayel hugged Arkay back, then let Arkay get up. Arkay climbed out of bed (playfully climbing over Kayel as he did so), headed out of the room to grab the gun-staff he kept behind the sofa, then snapped his fingers, summoning a set of dark, spiky armour. He peered into the bedroom, waved goodbye to Kayel, then walked though a nearby shadow.
Arkay stepped out into open space. There was a particular shadow Arkay had set up just below the Northern Hatch for speedy access. It meant that Arkay could almost instantly get here from pretty much any other shadow. Before he did anything else though, Arkay checked his communicator, to see if Epani had specified whatever was troubling her. It turned out, she hadn’t, she just said that something had tripped the external universal sensors. Which meant nothing had broken in. Yet.
With a frown, Arkay cautiously opened up the hatch and stepped out into the Periuniversal Void, making sure his feet remained planted firmly on the metal panel. He also extended his tail, slipping it back through the hatch and wrapping it around a nearby hook. There was definitely something out here, a Voidborn, but, oddly, it was one Arkay recognized. And it seemed to be erecting some sort of strange, floating sign in red and yellow.
“Uh, hello?” Arkay asked. “What are you doing?”
The Voidborn immediately looked up. This Voidborn was rather strange, it was pure silver and lacked the familiar mask and antlers most Voidborns had. “Oh, hello.”
Arkay paused for a moment. “Your name is Theocydes, right?”
“It is, yes.”
“You… you came to check on me. A while back.”
“I did, yes.”
“And, because I was busy being a mind-controlled slave to Epani, I told you to leave and not come back?”
“You did, yes.”
“So, uh, why did you come back?”
Theocydes sighed, then continued working on the sign. “Folks are not getting the message that this universe and this sector in general are dangerous. So I am putting up glowing signs stating that anyone who comes near this universe risks being killed.”
Arkay tilted his head to one side, looking rather confused. “Is this because of all those annoying swirly, platinum-plated Voidborns that I keep on killing? I’m… not killing your friends or minions, am I?”
The Voidborn suddenly laughed. “HAH! The Children of the Collector’s Grasp? Being friends with a former Goldblessed, now Adogtic Voidborn like me? That is hilarious! Well, the initial idea was, yes, to ward off other Voidborns from the sector entirely, I also hoped it would give the four remaining universes in this sector some sort of protection too.”
Arkay thought for a moment. “There are only four universes left in this sector?”
Theocydes nodded. “Mhm. The Golden Protectors absolutely ravaged this area when they discovered that a couple of their Stolen Princes were kept in universes here, then a Life Goddess called Kinisis caused some sort of catastrophe that destroyed the Golden Protectors, so the Golden Defenders popped by from the Goldtorn Remains to finish what they started, only for them to… oh… that was you too.”
“Please don’t tell me I’m-”
“You’re not to blame. The local Voidborn cults ignored rules and tradition and directly attacked universes with the intent of tearing them apart. Your actions were justified, and the local Voidborn cults deserved to be destroyed for essentially killing not just this sector, but the Goldtorn Remains and the Ventra Expanse too…” Theocydes trailed off. “You seem different again, Arkay. Happier and healthier.”
Arkay frowned a little. “Did I really look that bad last time you saw me?”
“Indeed. You were… skinny and bruised and your yellow, uh, armour? Whatever you call it, it was very rough and tattered. You look closer to how I first met you, a strange, young, armoured, healthy Life Goddess.”
“I guess… Wait, you think I’m a Life Goddess?”
Theocydes shrugged. “I will be blunt, I don’t know what you are. When we first met, you smelled like a Life Goddess mixed with standard Decayon but with a hint of something else too.”
“What do I smell like now?”
The Voidlord hesitated, but didn’t seem to do anything. He certainly didn’t seem to inhale.
“Like… Huh… There is a bit of Life Goddess there, but a bit of Time Drake too. And the Decayon scent has changed to the standard scent of a bound deity. And…” Theocydes inhaled properly this time. “Is that… a hint of Voidborn?”
“I guess that makes sense. I’m not anything. According to the Decay Lords, I’m either a Hybrid Mimic or an Amalgam Mimic, but I kinda just seem to be my own thing. I’m only aware of two other, uh, thingies like me, and one of them tried to kill that Deathven guy. The other is Retvik’s half-brother Elkay.”
“You are speaking to Litvir and Retvik again?” Theocydes asked. “I thought you had… you called it ‘going cold’, you were not allowed to speak to anyone, let alone your fellow Thantir.”
Arkay sighed, then sat down on the plate. “Long story short, yes, I went cold. Then I tried to sneakily not be cold. Epani hated that and made me go completely cold. I fought back briefly, got knocked into a coma and then I got reset and forgot everything, including you. A bunch of mortals though tried to warm me up and help me remember, Epani hated that again and tried to lobotomize me and one of the mortals took one of my anti-Corruption daggers and stabbed Epani. She backed off and I got… some freedom back.”
“But not your memories.”
“No. I’m mostly going off notes I made back in August. I’ve been reset a few times, I’ve learned to start keeping notes.”
Theocydes smiled a little, but Arkay couldn’t see it beneath his armour plating. “Well, I am glad that you are doing better now.”
Arkay smiled back. “And I appreciate you checking in on me. It’s not… normal, but you’re proof that not all Voidborns are evil.”
“I was originally as cruel and evil as they come, wandering around with an army of slaves, attacking and killing anyone who got in the way of me and my work. And wasn’t your, uh, stepfather a Voidborn? Your father was Kenostaton, yes?”
“Yeah but apparently I killed him because he threatened to kill Epani and Sini. Still, apparently Kenon was bound to Kinisis to learn how to be good, and later tried to bind himself to Epani to get away from Kinisis because Kinisis just ruined everything…” Arkay paused, then smiled again. “Either way, thank you. You’re now Voidborns should be. Even if you were evil.”
“Well… the reason I changed IS because you teleported me into a sun and your telepathic friend messed with my head when I came back looking for revenge.”
“You’re talking to a death god. I’ve killed untold trillions, and silenced entire universes. Trust me, we both have awful pasts but we are trying to be better. That’s got to count for something, right?”
Theocydes sighed. “I guess. Better than nothing. Anyway, I need to get back to work putting up these signs. I promised Kesistatir and Vekeus I wouldn’t be too long.”
“Who are they?” Arkay asked. “You… you have friends? I thought you were a lone wolf Voidborn?”
“I am Adogtic, I don’t belong to a cult, but I do have two and a half fellow Voidborn allies.”
“They’re not related to those swirly, platinum-plated bastards that seem to file in one by one, claim I killed their dad, threaten to kill my entire universe then get killed by me, I assume?”
“Haha!” Theocydes laughed again. “No, no. Those are most likely the Children of the Collector’s Grasp. Ahkron, a Voidborn you killed not long before you were reset, was capable of producing actual children that were genetically descended from him. Both the Ancient Collector and his child-cult believe they are above Voidborn traditions and think they can freely harm universes. So feel free to keep on killing them.”
Arkay frowned, but quickly smiled again. “Well, alright. I guess I’ll let you finish up. Just so you know though, we have a 1km detector around the edge of the universe so, uh… is there a way you can contact me, so I don’t get Epani asking me to kill you every time you pop by?”
“Hm. Do you have Wyvern, the Decay Lord communication application? I do not have an account myself, but I do make temporary 2-hour accounts to message Litvir. I could do the same with you.”
“Sure!” Arkay beamed. “My codename on there is Deathbringer, I should be easy to find.”
“… Of course it is.. pretty fitting too…” Theocydes trailed off, before shrugging. “Alright. I will give you a heads up next time I plan to pass by. It was nice speaking to you again, Arkay.”
Arkay bowed. “Thank you for checking in on me.”
“No worries. Fare well.”
“Bye!”
Arkay continued to smile as he slipped back into the universe and pulled the hatch closed. To his surprise, Epani was standing there waiting for him.
“You were just chatting with a Voidborn!” Epani hissed.
“Yeah, I was. I convinced him to put up warning signs in the Periuniversal Void around here, warning other Voidborns to keep away.”
“What… really?”
Arkay nodded. “Yep. Not all Voidborns are evil.”
Epani snorted. “Fine. Just… be careful.”
“I will.”
The Panelix tutted, then vanished. Arkay waited for a moment, shrugged to himself, then decided to head back home.