“We need to call home.”
Aster rarely argued with his superiors. In fact, he was normally one of the calmer and more law-abiding Crown Guides of the Perpetual Abyss. The Lanexian outcasts, who fervently worshipped the Panelix above all else, were well organized and well armed, and they kept to themselves, hoping to one day receive more direct orders from their blessed Allmaker. The higher ups believed that, eventually, the Allmaker would instruct them to form their own true union, to prove their superiority, and then forcibly make others follow them.
However, ever since the rest of the Lanex shunned the Allmaker completely, the lower members of the Perpetual Abyss were starting to lose faith as well. The Whenvern (often called the Allriver by the Perpetual Abyss) had accepted the rest of the Lanex as one of his races, and he’d helped them actually start to flourish, by providing them with some monetary bonuses that allowed them to bolster public services. The Allmaker had never really done this. She had always forced the Lanex to fend from themselves, to not accept handouts. But the rest of the Lanex were learning that they didn’t need to struggle on their own, they could ask for help occasionally. And the Perpetual Abyss were struggling solo yet again.
“We are not calling home, Aster! Silence yourself!”
Rhidax was the Imperator of the Perpetual Abyss, but he had only recently taken power. The previous Imperator, Takuis, had abandoned the Perpetual Abyss, after the death of his daughter. She had died to birth complications, something that the handful of doctors among the Perpetual Abyss couldn’t really treat, and, worse, her unborn son had died with her. This had sent ripples among the rest of the Perpetual Abyss, and was a large source of discontent among the lower members.
“I will NOT silence myself!” Aster pushed back. “We have found something strange and confusing, something that could affect all of us. We NEED to call home!”
Ignik, a fellow Crown Guard, seemed to agree. But Ignik had nearly been caught up in some political messes and had just escaped imprisonment from the Frozen Scythes, the tribe that ran the Lanex’s main justice system.
“This is dangerous and we don’t know what it is. We don’t want the other tribes breathing down our backs again, thinking we’re to blame.”
“We are AGAINST the rest of Lanex society!” Rhidax hissed. “They are against us. They do not follow the path of the True Allmaker. They do not deserve any protection or any warming from us. They hate us, we hate them.”
Most of the other Crown Guards all agreed with Rhidax. And both Aster and Ignik knew why. They were older Lanex. All of them above the age of two hundred. Even if Lanex of the Perpetual Abyss didn’t live as long as the rest of their kind (the reasons why were obvious, they were mostly nomadic without the protections of both other Lanex and other races overall), the average lifespan of a Lanex was about 300 years. They had only grown more distrustful of their kin over the decades.
“Well, to be fair, they hate us because we hate them…” Aster sighed. “Every time they reach out, we refuse. And we have never extended an olive branch to them. But this… darkness we are seeing, this is beyond what we understand.”
“What even IS this darkness?” Sahlek, a very old Lanex, growled. “You picked up data but have not turned it into information.”
“We are Explorers, not Archivists. The Archivists collect the data and spin it into information, but we don’t have enough data to do anything meaningful! And the data we do have makes absolutely no sense!” Aster countered. “This is why I think we need to call home. Maybe the Flooded Lakes have data we don’t have. Maybe… I don’t know, I really don’t. But none of you know either.”
“We are not giving the non-believers ammo to use against us!” Rhidax snapped his fingers in annoyance. “We are not talking to anyone. We are the Perpetual Abyss, we stick to our eternities, our forevers. And we do so alone.”
“Even if it hurts us?” Ignik asked.
“Yes. We are above all.”
Aster crossed his arms and tutted. “Takuis let it hurt him. He let our forever and our isolation kill his daughter and his grandson. He fled, taking what little he had left.”
“Takuis was weak. He couldn’t-”
“Actually…” Nika, a normally somewhat wise Lanex, who wasn’t quite as old as everyone else, interrupted. “Put yourself in Takuis’s armour. All Lanex, not just us, we struggle to have children. I’ve had miscarriages, I’ve lost a lot. I remained in place. But Takuis lost pretty much everything and it tore him apart. Our isolation and belief are our strength but they can also be our weakness. And, this time? I think Aster has a point.”
“Thing is, it’s not just us!” Aster exclaimed. “It’s not just us keeping information from everyone else. We have no idea what this darkness is. It could be dangerous. It could kill us. Worse, it could kill more than us. We desire to bring the Lanex back in line with the Allmaker’s desires, yes? Well what’s the point if there’s no Lanex left?”
“The Lanex in general might be in danger?” Rhidax asked.
“Maybe. I don’t know. We have no idea what this darkness is, and our best guesses make no sense. Whatever it is, the Lanex homeworlds are in its path should it break in.”
“What do you think it is?” Rhidax pushed further.
“Best guess,” Ignik, who had been helping Aster’s team with the data gathering, did his best to explain. “We think it might be related to what happened on Portalia, in the Great Arenas. The gods were slow to act, and the Allbirther and the Allender only just managed to contain the situation, alongside the Guardian, the Archivist, the Huntress and the Trickster.”
“The gods dealt with that though!” Sahlek snapped, not persuaded at all.
“That situation caused our blessed Allmaker to get hurt!” Aster was getting frustrated. “This might be bigger than that. This might be far worse. We won’t know. We have data that we cannot turn into information, but other Lanex can. Or maybe the Tricksters can. Or the Archivists. Heck, even the Builders might be able to help. But if it turns out to be something awful and we don’t act now, if we continue being isolationist, we will go down in history as the evil monsters who let EVERYONE down because of our selfishness. Our actions could cause us to suffer, and they could hurt our beloved deity as well.”
Rhidax fell silent. He put his hands together and closed his eyes, thinking to himself. The Perpetual Abyss were isolationists. But the more he considered Aster’s words, the more he realised his youngest Crown Guard was right.
“Alright, fine. Aster, I want you to forward your data to both the Flooded Lakes and the Vast Sands. But not to the other tribes. They don’t trust us at all. But at the very least, the Vast Sands are accepting of everyone and will consider words from a lower Crown Guard, and the Flooded Lakes like new information.”
Aster bowed his head. “Thank you, Imperator. I shall do as you demand.”
“One more thing though…” Rhidax sighed. “I need you to also send this information, anonymously, to the Endless Stars as well, via another race. Preferably the Tricksters or the Guardians, as they are now the closest allies to the rest of our kind. At the same time, Ignik, I need you to take all the information Aster has and send it to ALL the deity tracking groups across the universe. Nika, you are to assist Ignik’s and Aster’s underlings in their tasks as well.”
“Even the Builders?” Nika blinked in surprise, checking the advanced hearing apparatus in her mask.
“Even the Builders…” Rhidax sighed. “They think little of the Lanex overall, but they have numbers, machinery and space to work. If this is as serious as Aster thinks it is, then we need all the help we can get.”
“Have I… actually convinced you?” Aster stuttered.
“You have, yes. After all, we are nothing without the Allmaker, and a threat to her is a threat to us…” Rhidax tutted. “Brothers and sisters, my Crown Guards, is there anything else we need to discuss?”
Everyone glanced around, then shook their heads.
“Alright. You are all dismissed. Stay safe, children of the Perpetual Abyss.”