Dalosisaar had been slacking at his job of being the god of unity lately, so he had been going to each other member of the Twelve Anew and speaking to them, to make sure they were alright and so they could air out any grievances or problems. However, because of a recent… event, Dalosisaar had left Litvir until last. The young Rethan was often busy and their free time was often split between studying part time for higher education online or trying to be a vaguely normal Rethan with parents and trying to make a friend or two.
Occasionally though, Litvir would get overwhelmed at the whole “being alive” thing and would head to the panel at the top of the universe, sit on it and just gaze into the darkness. That was what Litvir was doing today, and they seemed rather upset. They also swiftly noticed Dalosisaar’s presence, and wrapped their arms around themselves as if they were cold.
“Hello, Litvir, how are you doing?”
“I am not doing too well, Kyr Dalosisaar…” Litvir immediately started talking. The good thing about Litvir being so young was that they were mostly honest with their thoughts and emotions. “I am sad. All the good things happened, but all I can think about is when Kyr Kairos hurt me. I even still hurt a little bit.”
“You… are still hurting?” Dalosisaar exclaimed.
“Yes. Around my eye, it is still bruised. I feel like Kyr Kairos’s injuries take longer to heal than they should. I have been punched in the face before, by metal meanies, but that goes away after a few hours. This… is still sore. And I worry maybe it is punishment. To teach me not to interfere.”
“What do you mean?”
“Kairos hurt me. He left the bruises. As a reminder of what happened. To dissuade me from trying to interfere again. It will not work though. I think I was right. I did the right thing. He will not dissuade me. If I saw him hurting you or someone else, I would do it all again. It is not right to hurt others, and Kairos is not right.”
Dalosisaar sighed. “Wow… you are a brave little kid.”
“I am not brave. I just do what is right. If it hurts me, it does not matter because I heal faster than most. I am a god, yes? I need to prove that. And I prove that by doing the right thing. Regardless of what a stupid dragon thinks. Also we do not know where Kairos is still.”
“Indeed. And that is why I am very concerned. I mean…” Dalosisaar trailed off, then sighed again. “We do a lot to keep the universe safe and spinning. But we have none of the power needed to continue it should something happen to Kairos or Epani.”
“You think something is happening to Kairos?” Litvir asked. “Like, maybe he thinks he is Corrupted again? Or maybe he is sick or tired or something?”
“Actually, I’m scared that Kairos is sick of the universe. He doesn’t want to be the god of time any more. And… well… I… I don’t think Kairos understands mortals. He doesn’t care about normal beings. And I am genuinely worried that his… aloofness will make Kairos consider just… abandoning everything. He’ll just leave, and we’ll all be trapped here, frozen in time, forever.”
Litvir looked Dalosisaar up and down. Their eyes widened in confusion. “You speak of a genuine fear of yours. You think it might happen.”
“Yes. And I don’t know if it is something we can stop from happening.”
Litvir turned away, then thought for a moment. “Maybe we should make some plans or something.”
“What plans?” Dalosisaar growled. “If Kairos leaves, then our only option is that I use my very limited knowledge and power to try and keep things going. But that might only give us days at most.”
“I thought we were going to do the meeting with Kyr Kairos and Kyr Epani and talk about all our problems?” Litvir went back to being confused. “Are we not doing that now? And you are certain that Kyr Kairos will just leave?”
“I’m not certain, but I think it’s a genuine possibility that we might not have a god of time at some point.”
Litvir didn’t have a response for that. Not at first. Dalosisaar’s words were creating a level of dread that Litvir didn’t understand, nor could they stand. They sighed loudly, then went back to gazing out into the darkness. Dalosisaar sighed as well, knowing that he had probably given Litvir one too many burdens.
After a long silence, Litvir turned back to Dalosisaar.
“Are there other time gods?”
“Uh, what do you mean?”
“Out there.” Litvir pointed out into the darkness. “There are other things out there, yes? Living things. Not just Voidborns and Corruption. Old mama Elkay knows about them. Maybe there are other time gods?”
“Are you suggesting we… just find another Time Drake to replace Kairos?”
Litvir shrugged. “Maybe we can find one that wants a new home? So Kyr Kairos can do what he wants to do and a new Time Drake can work here until we all learn time power stuff and can run the universe without relying on someone else?”
“That…” Dalosisaar wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “That is an insane idea.”
“There are other time god things though. There have to be, right? Like, you said it yourself, the gigantic snake had some time powers, that was how Kyr Epani and the Dead Gods stopped the Sudden Darkness!”
Dalosisaar frowned. “That… is what happened, yes, but, well, I assume that beings with time powers are rare. And we have no idea how to contact… whatever is out there.”
“We could make a sign? A sign that says we are looking for a Time Drake?” Litvir suggested. “Things travel by. And also there is the purple dot. I occasionally see lights going to and from it. I assume it is a… an outside the universe thing. Where other beings go.”
Dalosisaar grunted, then sighed some more. “I’ll… I’ll suggest the idea to Elkay. Maybe he knows what we can do… In the mean time, I need to go and speak to Aesop. He’s been busy with some political stuff, and I need to check in on him.”
“Alright!” Litvir seemed to perk up. “I need to go back to my patrols anyway. Please say hello to Kyr Aesop for me. Have a good day, Kyr Dalosisaar!”
The mighty Thraki tutted, then climbed back into the universe. “I’ll try. Stay safe, kid.”