“Hello, little one. I wish to speak to your Time Drake please.”
Litvir didn’t know what to make of the strange black and yellow Rethan-like being standing before them. But it was scary and Litvir didn’t like it, even if it had an aura about it that… that it had once belonged here. It also had the same smell that the nice winged Rethan Elkay person did.
“Uh… do… do you want to hurt her?” Litvir stuttered.
“No. I just want to briefly speak to her. I don’t want to come in or anything.”
“Um… alright… can I… can I go and ask her?”
“Of course, little one.”
Litvir disappeared back inside the universe, only to find that Ksini was already there waiting for them. And so was Epani.
“Um… hello… There is a yellow thing outside.”
Ksini grunted, then patted Litvir on the head. “I know, darling. Don’t worry, they’re not a threat. Do you mind going and patrolling elsewhere while we talk?”
“I… I guess?”
“Go on, be a good kid.”
Litvir did as they were told and drifted off. Once the coast was clear, Ksini silently told Epani to stay put for a moment, then headed outside. She left her tail dangling inside the universe though, so she wouldn’t lose connection to it.
“Arkay, what the fuck are you doing here?”
The old death god sighed. “You left in a hurry. Just abandoned your oasis and jumped back in here. I… I… I wanted to… uh…” Arkay sighed again, then reorganised his words. “I am worried about you. You rushed off. Came back here and… took Kairos’s place. Because… Kairos… Kairos is dead…”
Ksini tutted. “You’re taking it nearly as bad as we are. And all Kairos did was fuck you around.”
“To be fair, all of you just fucked me around. You, Epani, Kairos, Kenon, Kinisis, you made my life a misery.”
“So why are you here?”
Arkay hesitated, then grunted. “Despite making my life a misery, I wanted to come here and make sure you, Epani and this universe were safe, in person. And… I wanted to say goodbye. Properly.”
“You… just wanted to say goodbye?”
“Yeah. Because, sure, you all fucked me up, you hurt me and all that but… well… I’d be lying if I said I wanted things to go this way, that I wanted you to be hurt. I care for you. And I want to part on good terms, with a note saying I will help you out if you need it and I can do anything.”
“But… but why?”
Arkay shrugged. “Because I’m a good person. Or, at least, I try to be as good a person as possible, in the hope that maybe others will be good too. But also because I care about the universe more than anything else.”
“Fair…”
Ksini paused. She felt a tug on her tail. Ksini glanced at Arkay, then quickly headed back into the universe.
“What do you want, Epani?”
“Arkay is not dead, is he?”
“No.”
“Arkay is outside, isn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“May I talk to him?”
“Is that wise?”
“Maybe not. But I need to speak to him.”
“Alright…”
Ksini sighed some more, then moved to one side, allowing Epani to pass. Just like Ksini did, Epani kept her tail anchored inside the universe, while Ksini watched on. But Arkay was clearly a little concerned when he saw her.
“You’re… different…”
Epani nodded. “I am different, yes. I had to change. I had no choice. Along the way, I have made many mistakes. And one of them was you. I…”
“You never needed me.”
The Allmaker blinked. “You… you knew all along?”
Arkay shook his head. “I didn’t know. I just assumed. I’ve always been an easily manipulated idiot. If someone says they need help and are in danger, I throw myself in. But at the same time, you are stupidly powerful. You knew how to kill Kinisis all along. It doesn’t matter though. It’s all over now. I got out and you got your perfect little universe, even if it’s been bumpy.”
“I could not have gotten here without you.”
“Well… true. But, like I said, I’m free now. Been free for a while.”
Epani hesitated as she opened a hammer space and pulled something from it. “You are not… not completely free though. Because Kinisis cursed you to never have peace. You suffered endlessly to allow the rest of us to be better, but we were not better. Which is why I apologise to you, and I offer you one parting gift.”
“Hang on, you just apologised!”
“I did. I am sorry, Arkay. I hurt you. But also… take this.”
Epani handed Arkay a small glass jar.
“Uh, what is this?” Arkay asked.
“It’s the very last piece of Kinisis. The piece of bone I needed to keep the universe stable. The piece of bone that we ripped out of you, when we resurrected you. I worked out how to… not need it a long time ago, but I forgot to destroy it. I instead buried it inside a meteor and then one of my little deities accidentally built a library on top of it. But also, there is the last scale of Kairos in there and a piece of one of Kenon’s antlers in there. The very last traces of, as Elkay-En called them, the Old Gods.”
“But why are you giving this to me?”
“So you can destroy it. Destroy the jar and its contents the same way you destroyed Kinisis, and that will be it. We’ll all be free. Truly.”
Arkay inspected the jar, then, with a grunt, crushed it down into a singularity, using a vast amount of gravitational power. The miniature black hole floated briefly, but as Arkay stripped it of its energy, it evaporated, ceasing to exist completely.
“Enjoy your peace, Arkay!” Epani smiled a little as she returned to her universe. “Ksini and I will certainly enjoy ours. Farewell, little brother.”
“See you, Arkay!” Ksini also waved.
“Farewell, sisters…” Arkay smiled back. “Stay safe.”
“You too, Arkay.”