“I wish you wouldn’t do that.”
Arkadin had planned on going to the shops down the road to get some drinks for himself and his mortal friend Kohra. He’d stepped out of the front door though and been instantly transported into a dark, shadowy realm. This particular realm was familiar though, it was the home of his father, Kenon.
“I need to talk to you, son.”
With a sneer, Arkadin turned around and looked for an exit. Of course there wasn’t one. He could have just teleported back home, but he knew that Kenon would just drag him back. It was better to get this awkwardness out of the way now rather than have Kenon drag it all out.
“About what?”
“About protection”.
“What sort of protection?”
Arkadin blinked. Kenon was looming in the shadows and being short and mysterious as always. What Arkadin couldn’t understand was why he, the God of Entropy and the Lord of Death, needed protection all of a sudden. He already had a hundred different courses of action in case someone tried to destroy him or take control of him, why would Arkadin need more?
“From yourself. And others. But mostly yourself.”
The Death God sighed. “Kenon, please, do me a favour and stop talking in riddles. Tell me what you want so I can do the thing you want and we can all get back to doing our own things.”
The Lord of the Void also sighed.
“Let me guess…” Arkadin tutted. “You’re going to tell me that I don’t understand and that it’s for the best that you do to me whatever it is you’re going to do to me. You’ll say it’s for my own protection and peace of mind when in fact it’s all so you feel better.”
“It is though!” Kenon snapped, lunging forward and grabbing Arkadin by the neck. The Thantophor knew better than to fight back, doing so against the Void Lord was impossible due to Kenon simply not being there. Phasing in and out of existence at will was an insanely useful ability.
“Is it you I need protection from?” Arkadin asked. Maybe it was unwise to push further, but Arkadin was genuinely annoyed. Out of all his family, he thought he could trust and relate to Kenon. Clearly that wasn’t the case.
Kenon didn’t answer. Instead, he extended the claws on his free hand, the tips of the claws opening up to reveal a horrid, black ink. With a low snarl, he scratched across Arkadin’s face, tearing at his eyes. The Thantophor immediately kicked and clawed out of Kenon’s grasp, pushing the Void Lord out of the way and trying to rub the liquid off his face.
Arkadin quickly realised that the Void Lord had robbed him of his eyesight.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” he screamed, blindly clawing away at where he thought Kenon was. But as he did so, Arkadin began to notice that everything felt and sounded quieter. “Why are you taking my senses away from me?”
“Because you do not need them…”
Kenon wasn’t talking out loud now. Instead he was beaming messages directly into Arkadin’s head. As the Thantophor’s senses all faded, he became more and more disorientated, forced to awkwardly remain where he was. Kenon picked Arkadin up, but gently this time. He twisted and flicked his fingers, wrapping the Death God’s limbs in ribbon and chains.
“Kenon, please…” Arkadin whispered. He desperately wanted to fight back, but if he did, he risked killing the Void Lord and doing irreparable damage to the universe around them. His dulled senses meant Arkadin had no way of telling what he was doing.
“Do not ask anything of me, child. You are in danger. You will become a threat to existence if you are left unchecked and unattended. So you must be dealt with.”
“Dealt with? What the fuck are you on about?” Arkadin started shouting again, only for ribbons to wrap around his mouth. So instead he started shouting in his head. “You want me to protect myself, I will! You don’t need to chain me up and subdue me! Tell me what you need done and I’ll do it, this is all insanity!”
“Insanity is a Death Lord having and relying on mortal friends!” Kenon hissed. “Your siblings have weakened you. Cracked you open and peered inside. Now they will fight for control over you. Should any other Deity have control over the forces you embody, they could cast this universe into eternal shadow. For both your safety and my own, it is better to confine you, whittle you down to your most basic of duties, rather than allow you to be manipulated.”
“Like… what you are doing right now?”
“This is different.”
“How so?”
“I will not use you.”
Arkadin sighed. “And what about those who care about me?”
Walls, bars and chains grew through the black void mist and closed in around the Death Lord, trapping him in darkness. But his blind, senseless self couldn’t tell anyway. The God of the Void smiled as he secured the Thantophor’s cage and faded away.
“Don’t be silly, child. No mortal truly cares about you…”