“Oh. You.”
Kanuva had been patient with these Decay Lords. They meant well. They were looking after him. They had promised he could return to Kinisis when they were done. But as soon as he saw the little being who had entered the room, Kanuva immediately tensed up.
Standing before Kanuva was a being he recognized. A Cleanser. This one was specifically called Cleanser Kal Wehl-Koh. A white and silver entity, part of an elite team of Cleansers that were notoriously dangerous. An entity Kanuva was certain he and his team of Imperatorai had killed before.
“How are you still alive?” Kanuva frowned, the light dimming behind his mask. “We killed you. Every time you reappeared to awaken the Cleansing Hordes, we killed you.”
“Every time except the last…” Wehl-Koh didn’t have normal emotions. All its thoughts were denoted by the glow of its eyes and the sound of its mechanical voice. “Only takes one time for us to awaken our brethren. And by then, everything was so damaged, we had no choice but to cleanse it all for good.”
“So you killed everyone and everything.”
Wehl-Koh seemed to turn to the Decay Lord standing by the door, then audibly sighed. “The Vast Ones gave us a duty and a destiny. To cleanse the universe, to regularly purify it so fresh, new life can be created. We actually failed our destiny. Every time you killed us, existence would stagnate further. By the time existence was freed from Duty-Monanic rule, freed from the Imperatorai and the Holy Ekinan Beings, we could no longer cleanse the universe to create new life. Existence itself had to be purged.”
Kanuva leaned forward, not really sure what to make of Wehl-Koh’s words.
“What do you mean?”
“The Holy Ekinan Beings destroyed everything. They used up every last resource. Even if we had not eventually fulfilled our duties, there would be nothing left anyway. The Duty-Monanic cannibalised themselves. The Imperatorai turned to war, looking for someone to blame aside themselves. Us Cleansers mercifully silenced a hollow shell of a universe.”
“So… everyone is dead. You killed them all.”
“No, not at all!” The Cleanser didn’t show it, but they seemed audibly insulted by Kanuva’s statement. “The Imperatorai killed each other. So we cleansed what was left. The Wehl-Tah incinerated the corpses. The Wehl-Pah dismantled their war machines. The Wehl-Gah flooded the lands while the Wehl-Leh purified the air and the Wehl-Koh rebalanced climates. And finally, the Wehl-Nuh buried the remains of what had been a hideous scar of existence. We did our duty. We could have done so much more though, had you let us.”
“What about… What about my team? Everyone I knew and cared about? They are all gone, and all that’s left is you and your accursed Hordes?”
Wehl-Koh again turned to the Decay Lord in the corner, who looked as uneasy as Kanuva felt. With a loud sigh, Wehl-Koh began to explain further.
“The Hordes are gone as well. Put to sleep. Sealed away, so that none bar us may ever even see them. And because we failed our Destiny, because we essentially allowed the Imperatorai to go on for so long… Well, the Vast Ones cursed us to continue existing. We lost our bodies and were forced to live as tattered remains, knowing we had failed, while our brethren slept peacefully.
“But none of this is why we wanted to contact you. There is no desire to harm you. What had been done has been done, it cannot be undone. The reason you survived is because of your Olmeic power. You disappeared for so long and never came back, we assumed you had died. We also believed you were the only being with an Olmeic, but we were wrong. Something else survived, the same way you did. And we need help finding it, because we think it is an Apocalyptic. Imperator Kanuva, we are but Cleansers. We were not designed to seek or combat such a potential threat. We need your help.”
Kanuva mulled over Cleanser Kal Wehl-Koh’s words, a thousand thoughts and emotions flittering through his golden mind.
“You want my help?”
“Yes.”
“But we are enemies.”
“We were never enemies. We never wanted to hurt you, we just wanted to do our jobs, for the betterment of everyone. You had your duty, we had ours.”
“Are you sure it’s an Apocalyptic?”
“Yes.”
Kanuva grunted. The idea of working with the Cleansers was worrying. But if what Kal Wehl-Koh’s words were true… He had little choice. He knew just how dangerous an Apocalyptic could be.
“Alright, fine. I’ll work with you. Just this once…”