Relkir would have been surprised that two black-armoured 10th Legion soldiers had approached them the second they had stepped into the arrivals section of the Phos Main Hub space port, but they expected this to happen.
“Please, come with us, General.”
The two soldiers swiftly led Relkir, who was still carrying their luggage, to a back office. However, as they entered the dingy room, they were somewhat surprised to see that General Ritlir was there, waiting for them. They didn’t think that their upcoming in-person debriefing would be done by the General of Hidden Internal Affairs directly.
“Good day, Relkir!” Ritlir grunted as the soldiers nudged Relkir into the office then left, closing the door behind them. The fact that Ritlir wasn’t smiling was bad news. Ritlir was normally an overly friendly Rethan.
“Good day, General Ritlir…” Relkir muttered as they sat down. “You brought me in very quickly.”
“I did, yes. Because I have unanswered questions. But first off, how is the kid? You did send me photos, I appreciate that. Are they healthy?”
“Healthy and happy. And growing bigger already.”
Relkir remained calm. They knew they were in a small amount of danger, that the wrong words could cause Ritlir to panic and have Relkir arrested, most likely under the Potentially Dangerous Hidden Abilities Law. But at the same time, Relkir was getting far better at disguising their anomalous time powers, to the point that they could completely hide that silly blue and red glow now.
“I see. Alright. Pleasantries are out of the way. Do you know why you are here?”
Relkir thought for a second, then sighed. “I am going to assume that my debrief over the phone was not satisfactory and you want to discuss things further, because you think I am a threat in some way.”
Ritlir grunted. They were definitely in a bad mood. “That is exactly the case, yes. How did you know?”
“There are not many other reasons why you would immediately pick me up as soon as I was in Rethan territories rather than waiting until I was back from official leave. And I am certain you did not pick me up just to ask about baby Retvik.”
“Well, you are definitely correct. I have problems. Because you are the only Rethan who was actually present aside from Litvir, and I cannot get in touch with the handful of other normal vok who were there. One of them is a Ksithan lawyer who will not speak for obvious reasons, one was a Lanex who was unconscious for most of the event and the others are all Skyavok who value former All-Ksa’s loyalty over releasing the truth. We are not being told something and I want to know what that something is.”
Relkir sighed. “I will be blunt, you are not alone in that feeling.”
That statement caught Ritlir off guard. “What do you mean by that?”
“You are interrogating me to get more information on what actually happened at the Great Library. Because the whole universe shifted. The Whenvern was corrupted and killed and replaced with the former Lady of Life, who is now our Lady of Time, and there are reports of strange beings being seen. As someone who was there to spend time with Kyr Elkay because I am a big fan of knowledge, I would ALSO love to know what happened.”
Ritlir was unamused. “So you are claiming amnesia.”
“That is all I can claim. The last thing I remember is seeing Litvir get hurt. After that, there is nothing but blank darkness, up until I regained consciousness and found myself strapped to a hospital bed…” Relkir hesitated for a moment. “And… in all honesty? I do not think I can give you a real answer anyway.”
“How comes?”
“You think the gods would just let me walk out of that mess with my mind intact? Even if I had not gone Defensive Stance?”
Ritlir leaned forward. “What are you implying?”
“I am pretty certain that the Lady of All erased some of my memories. She intentionally made sure that I and everyone else who was present could not actually talk about what happened. Hence why you could not get any information from the Skyans or that lawyer. And why would She let us talk about it? The same thing happened with the event at the Great Arenas. Every time we see the Greater Deities in peril, time and memories are scrubbed so we cannot learn what truly happened.”
That answer didn’t satisfy Ritlir. “Hmph. It is a shame you spend your time being an advisor because you would be an excellent lawyer. You have covered your butt rather well.”
“You say that as if I am intentionally trying to cover my butt. I stand by my words. I do not remember what happened, because I underwent a parental bond-induced Defensive Stance.”
“But Litvir-”
“You do not think that the Lady of All also did something to the younger deities?” Relkir was a bit sharp. “Litvir has not been right since what happened that day, and I occasionally find them muttering to themselves and talking nonsense. I am certain that if you spoke to most of the Twelve Anew, they would eventually admit to gaps in their memory as well.”
Ritlir seemed to give in, but only briefly. “You are probably correct there. But I have secondary suspicions that something is wrong with you.”
“Like… like what?” Relkir was suddenly concerned now. And Ritlir picked up on that.
“You are not yourself. You left a twig and came back a trunk. Something happened to you and now you are physically different.”
“I… I…” Relkir stuttered, then glanced down at themselves. While they managed to hide their peering-forward eye glows, they knew straight away that they had reacted too slowly to avoid suspicions from Ritlir. A compromise was in order, if Relkir was to cover themselves. “I have not noticed anything different about myself. But… if it makes you more comfortable, I can submit myself to a medical examination.”
“You will do a medical examination, including a full anomaly research examination, and you will do so willingly?”
“Yes.”
Ritlir thought for a second, then grunted as they wrote something down. “Very well. I will come back to you with a date. You are free to leave.”
Relkir got up and bowed. “Thank you, General. Have a nice day.”
“You too, Relkir. Stay safe.”