“So you disguised as… the one Rethan who helped me kill you, so I would not kill you?”
Retvik was still very confused. Arkay was waggling his little clawed fingers in front of Retvik’s face, helping him get rid of the Life Goddess’s influence. Most of the fog had cleared from Retvik’s mind, but the fact that he’d just seen Litvir suddenly reappear and that he’d been so expertly tricked were genuinely bothering him.
“You were trying to kill me!” Litvir exclaimed, looking up from the small panel he and Arkay had connected to Retvik. “I had to disguise as someone who I knew you would both not want to kill and could theoretically believe could be present in that damned castle.”
“But you… offered to help me… look for you…”
“Well, yes, since that was what you were already doing.”
Retvik frowned, peeling off one of the little sticky pads that was attached to his cheek, only for Litvir to reapply it. “I guess I am just gullible then.”
Litvir tutted in his reply. “No, you are not gullible, just addled by invasive mind-control practices. As someone who literally specializes in this sort of thing, I am telling you, mind-control messes with the mind. That being said, I have questions of my own.”
Retvik glanced over to Arkay, knowing what Litvir was referring to. Arkay rolled his eyes, knowing what sort of questions they were both about to ask.
“If you are so powerful, why not just use all your Life Goddess powers all the time?”
“Your Life Goddess form is very attractive, why do you not use it more often?”
The entire room fell silent. Both Retvik and Arkay’s eyes fell on Litvir and his rather… awkward question.
“You think… I looked attractive?” Arkay stuttered, fumbling around with the scanner in hopes for some kind of distraction.
“Uh, yes…” Litvir admitted. “Very… shapely. It suited you. You have always been a delicate, soft being, not a sharp, angular warrior like myself and Retvik.”
“Are you… coming on to Arkay?” Retvik interrupted.
“No, no… just… making a statement…” Litvir’s blushing couldn’t be seen on his dark skin, but they could tell he was genuinely very embarrassed. He turned back to the console, an attempt to drop the subject. Arkay decided to help by answering Retvik’s question instead.
“If I use my, uh, Life Goddess powers, as you called them, then I kinda risk becoming as mad as they all are. Not like I’m that sane myself.”
“But you knew exactly what to do to get us out of that mess!” Retvik protested, immediately forgetting the silliness that had just transpired, and seeming quite annoyed now at Arkay.
“You think I was going to go in there as a Decay Lord?” Arkay sighed. “She would have ripped me to shreds! Litvir said she mind-controlled you and was beating up Galyn, so I had to be stealthy instead!”
The conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Oh, Galyn, you are awake!” Litvir politely smiled.
Galyn stumbled into the doorway, rubbing his head. “I am. Could one of you three please explain how we are back on the ship? I also need one of you to help me with ship checks before we leave this damn place.”
Arkay nodded over to Litvir. “Can you sort him out? I’ll finish up with Retvik here.”
Pleased to have a reason to leave, Litvir did as he was told, following Galyn back out of the room. “Yes, boss, I shall explain on the way…”
Once Litvir and Galyn’s footsteps faded away, Arkay sighed loudly, then went back to scanning Retvik. He as pretty sure Calohxaa’s influence was gone, but he wanted to triple check.
“One last thing…” Retvik muttered, breaking the silence.
“Yeah?”
“Did you really give Calohxaa your number?”
“Oh, fuck no.”
“Whose number did you give her then?”
Arkay snickered slightly. “You know that annoying Voidborn we keep on running into? I found his contact details. Thought they’d make a good couple.”
“What, like you and Litvir?”
Arkay’s smile immediately faded. “That’s not funny.”
“If you say so…” Retvik tutted. “If you say so…”