“Theocydes, Kesistatir, I need advice.”
Normally, the three Adogtic Voidborns met at the Shield and Stave pub, but today, Vekeus had requested they go a bit further south, to the Chrysanthum Baths, a small Life Goddess resting area, not quite a Life Oasis, but still technically a spa and oasis of some sort. As a bonus, Voidborns were allowed to visit the bar and one of the smaller spas, but most of the place was still off-limits.
“Clearly, because you have brought us here, kid!” Kesistatir grunted, not enjoying the Life Goddesses that were stealing looks of him. They were well aware he was a Stolen Prince, and they were goading each other into who would ask Kesistatir out first, even though he was no longer interested in that sort of thing. Thankfully, they had locked Staton inside Theocydes’s ship and left him to play with some educational toys, because none of them knew how the Life Goddesses would have treated the tiny Newling.
“Yeah, I know. But the thing I need help with is tiered, and I really don’t want Vick hearing, because… well…” Vekeus hesitated. “It’s complicated. I want to… find people from my universe and talk to them. I know there are people out there. Vick is one of them, and I met another, my old friend Teekay, when I went to the Thantir to get myself fixed up. But at the same time… according to you, Theocydes, my Voidborn-murdering half-brother Arkay is back, alive and well and… I’m kinda scared of him.”
“Oh…” Theocydes paused. “You just openly showed fear. You are genuinely scared of him. Can’t say I blame you though.”
Kesistatir eyed both Vekeus and Theocydes. “You are BOTH scared of this one single Decayon.”
“Of course I am!” Theocydes tutted as he sipped his drink, oblivious to its flavour. This bar didn’t serve the sugary, fruit-flavoured energy drinks that the Decay Lord pubs all had, so the three of them had just opted to drink whatever Kesistatir was having. And since Vekeus had rediscovered his old, mortal form (and was currently using said form as a disguise while at the spa), Vekeus had also rediscovered his sense of taste. It turned out, he didn’t like wine. At all.
“Why?”
“We’ve told you why. Arkay killed the Golden Protectors, the Golden Defenders AND the Athanathean League!”
“Arkay started killing Voidborns at the age of 12…” Vekeus frowned. “Admittedly, they were mostly Voidborn hybrids like me, but our universe had a massive problem with them…”
Kesistatir leaned forward and stared at Vekeus. “What do you mean by that?”
“Uh…”
“Are you suggesting that my brother… slept around?”
“Uh, yes. I mean, he literally raped my mother and produced me. As far as I’m aware, Kenostaton was constantly trying to find a way to usurp the Lady of the Cycle and the Dragon God of Time, and producing hybrids and handing his power to specially chosen mortals was the Golden God of Stasis’s main way of doing that.”
Kesistatir continued to stare threateningly at Vekeus. This started to annoy Vekeus, so he turned himself back into his Voidborn form and snarled back.
“I’m not lying. You Stolen Princes always acted high and mighty, but you are all just as monstrous as the Grand Golden Lord himself, subjugating all those beneath you and crushing the weak under your gold-plated boots. I was a Golden Protector myself, AND I lived under Kenostaton’s gaze. I know what you all can really be like.”
Sensing that things were getting a little too heated, Theocydes tutted and altered the conversation.
“So you want to find folks who were from your universe, and meet them?”
Vekeus immediately calmed down. “Basically, yes. I mean, two of the four of the Dessaron… they renamed themselves that after two of the Exaron died when we were all mortal… the Sniper and the General are both alive, maybe the Warrior and the Mage are too. And… maybe… maybe my other brothers are alive too…”
“How many brothers do you have?” Theocydes asked. “And are they vaguely trustworthy like you or are they murderous, overly manipulated psychopaths like Arkay?”
Vekeus thought for a moment. “I… I don’t know about my oldest brother, but I was technically one of quintuplets. But those four were… They were Time Drake hybrids. So if they managed to escape the universe before it was consumed, like me, they probably would have survived no problem, and gone off to do Time Drake things.”
“I take it your oldest brother is a Life Goddess then?” Kesistatir grunted. “You are a Voidborn, your brothers are Time Drakes, and, according to Theocydes, this Arkay fellow is an amalgamation of all three types. Would make sense that the last sibling is also something special.”
“Uh… Alright, maybe I don’t want to find my other brothers. But my biggest problem is, how do I meet with them? Because when I met the Thantir, Kaytee said that there were six other copies of him for some reason, and five of those copies are Phantai soldiers!”
Kesistatir lacked an answer, but luckily Theocydes was quite knowledgeable. “It’s very simple. You make yourself an account on Wyvern, the main Decay Lord communication app, work out their code names then invite them all to a group chat. I make temporary accounts to speak to my Decay Lord allies all the time…” Theocydes paused briefly. “That being said, since you are a hybrid, you could potentially sign yourself up as a Decayling officially and have full access to whatever it is Decaylings have access to.”
Vekeus and Kesistatir both stared at Theocydes.
“That is… insane.”
“It’s an option for you. Your non-Voidborn form even matches that of an existing local periuniversal species, that of the Beh’evok, so you could theoretically build yourself a whole new secondary support network, doubly since there are entire sects that do what we do as Corruption Purgers.”
Vekeus stared at Theocydes some more. “I’m not a Beh’evok though. I’ve met them, they’re massive, 4m tall horned monsters. My mortal form is that of a Threan-type Retha.”
“Which looks like a female Beh’evok but with more armour. Only the males are horned and massive. And, admittedly, Rethavok look a lot like the Astravok that inhabited my stupid universe when I was bound.”
Vekeus frowned. “I don’t want to think about that. I just want to find people from the same universe as me.”
“Well, most of them are going to be Decay Lords, most likely. And you need a way to communicate with the one Decay Lord you already know…” Theocydes paused. “Hang on, which of the two orange-plated members of the Thantir is from your universe? The married one or the single one?”
“Kaytee, the single one. His name was Teekay but he changed it to Kaytee, because he had been stuck alongside five other copies of himself and was desperate to be more of an individual.”
Theocydes shrugged. “Fair enough. Either way, I think your first step is text-based communications with Kaytee, and a gradual move towards talking to your brother. And that will mean making a permanent account on Wyvern so you can keep communications consistent. After that, you can slowly consider approaching poor old Vick and informing him that you know him from inside a universe, and via his contacts with the Ventra and Kaytee’s contacts with the Thantir and Phantai, you can start casting a wider net.”
Vekeus tilted his head to one side. “You seem to have all of this planned out.”
“Well, I AM vastly intelligent. I am a former evil genius who used to have an army of slaves bent to my will, who ended up facing death and repercussions for my evil actions and changing his ways for the better.”
“Is that why you get along so well with Decay Lord Litvir?” Kesisatir asked.
“Yes.”
“Huh…” Kesistatir trailed off. “Well, Vekeus, you ought to consider Theocydes’s advice. My universe is gone completely, but if there are survivors from your universe, you ought to at least try and find them. The closure might be helpful. But also, do not tell Staton. I don’t think he is ready to learn that he was a Stolen Prince in his previous life.”
“Fair…” Vekeus turned back to Theocydes. “So, do you know how to sign up as a Decayling?”
“Uh, no, but I can show you how to make a temporary Wyvern account, so you can message someone who does know.”
Vekeus smiled, just a little. “I appreciate that, thank you. Now, can we leave? I don’t like how all those Life Goddesses are looking at us.”
“Sure. Let me just-”
Before Theocydes could continue, Kesistatir slammed down a massive bag of gold coins, then stormed out of the bar, pausing only to grab Vekeus by the arm and drag him out too.
“Huh. Sometimes I’m glad I was always just a lowly Goldblessed…” Theocydes snickered to himself as he tidied himself up, then made his way to the door, ignoring all the shocked Life Goddesses.