Retvik felt rather dizzy as he exited the teleporter pod. However, he quickly picked himself, his bag of belongings and his sword and shield up and began to inspect his surroundings.
Everything was cold, grey stone. Ancient. With not much lighting either, mostly just white light strips running down the corners of the room. Wasn’t much around to look at, aside from a lone exit, a large, frigid hallway, and a lot of unused space. To his left and right were two other, empty teleporter pods, signalling that Retvik wasn’t the first to arrive. While everything else was foreign to Retvik, he did thankfully spot a familiar face, the heavy purple and gold plating of Psehon Panton, better know to most as Soulblade, the Control Core of the Phantai, and one of the Three Great Blades.
“Oh, hello, Flamebearer!” Soulblade had quickly noticed Retvik’s presence. They both bowed slightly as Retvik approached. “It is good to see you again! How are you and your little heroes?”
Retvik inspected Soulblade briefly. There were two small scars on his neck, and a scratch mark could be faintly seen underneath the translucent eye protectors Psehon and most Phantai wore. “We are all well. How are you, Psehon? I… heard you had a rough time lately.”
Soulblade hesitated. “Ugh. I… I never thought I’d be attacked by the Mindeater, someone… something who was always a creature of legend. I take it Souldrainer… Litvir is well? He did message me the other day. If what Lord Kengana said is true, it is a miracle he’s still alive.”
“It was a miracle. Elksia, Elkay and Eksi managed to save Litvir and bring him back… You recovered though, yes?”
“More scars to add to my collection… Still, we should discuss other things!” Soulblade changed the subject and started walking down the hallway, with Retvik in tow. “I hope the Justar send Peacebringer. I cannot stand the other two. Truthtalker in particular, he is… not a kind person. People have secrets for a reason.”
“Does this Truthtalker person… just reveal other people’s truths?” Retvik asked. “We met someone like that recently that called themselves a ‘truth talker’, someone called Kahlos, codename Veilbreaker.”
“Veilbreaker is Truthtalker’s son. I don’t blame him for running. So you met the Ventra Gales?”
Retvik realized this corridor was long and boring, despite the fact that he and Soulblade were walking quite quickly. Well, Retvik was. Soulblade was more than half a meter taller than him. “Indeed. Zephyr got hit by some very nasty Corruption, but Kal, Eksi and Elkay fixed her up. Thyel seemed very interested in Litvir.”
“Shame what happened to them. Shame about the Metrum too. I would say it is because they only have one Beh’en among their Sect Trios, not two or three like us, but I often forget you and Litvir are not Beh’ens either, and, the reality is, the Kronothrax are the reason they all gave up…” Soulblade paused and glanced at Retvik. “You could easily be mistaken for an adolescent Be’ehnu though.”
“I guess. And I must apologize, I admittedly do not really know what the Kronothrax are, outside of some sort of Time Drake organization…” Retvik paused. They had come to the end of the hallway. The path had forked, and there was someone standing there, clearly not quite sure where to go. They looked like a large, muscular black Temthan, slightly taller than Retvik was, with gold horns and a pair of draconic wings on their back. They were wearing dyed black armour with gold and silver trimmings.
“Hello.”
“Hello!” Retvik replied in as pleasant a way as he could. “Were you also invited here by the Pentathax?”
The being nodded. “I was, yes. I am Mavriir, Stormshade, one of the Black Storm, leader of the Alsyr Decay Lord sect. You, Soulblade, I somewhat recognize, but you, youngling, I do not know who you are.
Retvik held out his hand. “I am Retvik Rethianos, Flamebearer, leader of the Thantir Decay Lord sect.”
“Are you not of a Trio?” Mavriir asked.
“I am, but it is complicated.”
“Who are your fellow blood-bound.” Stormshade pressed on as he shook Retvik’s hand vigorously. “I thought the Tattered Navigators ran the Thantir before you went extinct?”
Retvik tried not to frown, and glanced up at Soulblade. “Am I going to get this alongside every introduction?”
Soulblade grunted. “Probably.”
“Hmph. The Tattered Navigators are semi-retired now and passed leadership down to me and my partner.”
“That is not a Trio.”
After a quick sigh, Retvik relented. “My Trio’s Deathven-given name is stupid, because only one of us is actually missing.”
Stormshade slowly put together the pieces. “Wait, you are… one of the Missing? I… I can’t help but agree, that is a somewhat silly name. I taken it your lost third is the, uh, mimic.”
This time, Retvik frowned properly. “Yes, Arkay is… out of reach…”
“Anyway!” Soulblade suddenly interrupted. “We should get going. I am sure the Doom Drums will love to meet us, and we ought to hold off until everyone is here, so that our friend Flamebearer doesn’t have to repeat his tragic backstory over and over. Also, we need to go right. That is where I am detecting activity.”
“Wonderful!” Stormshade smiled. “I am very interested to see who else turns up. Admittedly, I am rather excited to meet the Pentathax. After all, the Alsyr have been fighting Corruption for many, many a year-string, and advice either way would be glorious, especially since the Pentathax are the BEST at extinguishing Corruption. Our neighbours, the Ekthris, are apparently sending someone too, and I have never met the leaders of the Justar before. It’s also been a complete surprise meeting one of you Thantir. This is all very, very interesting…”
Stormshade smiled some more, then made his way down the right corridor. Retvik was about to do the same, but he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Is something wrong, Psehon?”
Soulblade nodded. “I noticed that you seem uneasy. A little out of your depth, perhaps.”
Retvik took a deep breath, then nodded. “I am out of my depth, yes. This is all very new to me, but I am taking it as a learning experience. After all, I am one of the leaders of the Thantir, I do need to learn all the ins and outs.”
“Ah, understandable…” Soulblade mused. “Well, as this is is all rather foreign for you, I have two suggestions. Firstly, most folks here will insist on using their codenames. So you ought to use yours too, outside of initial introductions.”
“Hmph. Good thing I came here then. Litvir dislikes his codename, I am fine with mine. Sadly, we have never had the chance to change our codenames since we are part of a Hidden Named Trio now.”
“Unfortunate… Anyway, secondly, if you have any problems or questions, you can come to me, alright? After all you Thantir have done for us recently, it is the least I can do to offer my assistance.”
“I appreciate the offer, thank you,” Retvik smiled weakly. “I suppose I ought to ask, before everyone else arrives, is there is anyone I should avoid or keep an eye on?”
Soulblade thought for a moment, then tutted. “I don’t think so, no. I admittedly don’t really know of the sects outside our pentacluster that well, but most of them already are military sects that either fight Voidborns and Corruption like us Phantai did, or guard universes within their territories and are general peacekeepers like the Justar.”
“I see, I see… Well, we should probably get going now!” Retvik smiled properly this time. “After all, my Thantir and I, being a new, purification sect, have a lot to offer. That ought to make a good impression!”
Soulblade smiled back. “I admire your optimism, Flamebearer. Very well, let’s get going. Curiosities await.”