“So… we work for her now?”
“Yes, yes we do.”
“And you’re all just… accepting that?”
Relkir nodded, somewhat blankly, as he kept an eye on Teekay. Teekay was strapped to the table, for reasons he wasn’t completely sure about. He’d originally thought it was because, due to some rather weird events, he had somehow vomited up a Life Goddess. After all, such a thing would be rather traumatising at the best of times. But now, Teekay wasn’t so sure.
“Why? Why just accept it?”
The Rethan Guardian grunted. Relkir was tapping his claws on his armour plating, almost as if he was nervous.
“Do you believe that we are just absent-mindedly accepting this?” Relkir finally answered. “Do you really think I would rather serve Viia than serve… serve…” Relkir paused, trailing off. It took a little too long for him to come back to what he was saying. “Why can I not say her name?”
“You mean Kinisis?”
“Yes. Her.”
Teekay eyed Relkir. As best he could, since he was lying down, strapped to a table, and Relkir was sitting by the door, staring at him.
“So why am I strapped down? Am I not under her mind control enough or something?”
“I assume so…” Relkir sighed, still tapping. It was somewhat annoying to Teekay, more of a distraction to the problem at hand. “Viia also mentioned something about a potential afterbirth issue.”
“A what now?”
“That is what she said, I do not know any more…”
Relkir fell silent, no longer staring at Teekay, instead turning to the door. He seemed more embarrassed than anything else, and Teekay knew exactly why. As soon as the Life Goddess had broken in, Relkir immediately fell to her power and her mind control. Now Relkir was clearly torn between his failure to protect the other Guardians and his previous Life Goddess, and blindly serving his new boss.
“It’s not your fault, you know.”
“How is it anything but my fault for not acting sooner?” Relkir nearly growled. “I am not… mentally strong enough…”
“It’s extraordinary circumstances. How were you to know that me hearing a loud, shrieking noise would lead to Kinisis locking herself in her vault and us being under new ownership?”
Relkir didn’t respond to Teekay’s reassurance. He continued to stare at the door.
“Relkir, what is going on?”
“I… I do not know. Viia just has us all waiting around. As if she is using us as bait.”
Teekay shrugged, not really sure what to say, so he decided to… alter the subject a little. “Do you… like Viia?”
“Our boss?”
“Yes. Do you like her? More than Kinisis?”
Something slammed against the ground, making Teekay jump. Relkir had thrown a small metal dish in anger. “WHY CAN I NOT THINK STRAIGHT? Why does you saying that damn name… make my head hurt? Please, please, do NOT say that!”
“Oh… sorry…” Teekay muttered. “I… didn’t realise that she had the rest of you so tightly wrapped up in her fingers…”
“I hate it!” Relkir sneered, picking the dish up off the floor. “We are damn slaves to these divine beings. Playthings to be bargained with…”
“Seems like it…” Teekay tried to shift to one side, so he could better see Relkir. “Tell me, Relkir, why are you in here with me? Are you keeping an eye on me? Or are we keeping an eye on each other?”
Relkir stood up, turned to the door and tugged on the door handle. Teekay realised the door was locked, probably from the outside.
“You are not the only one here having trouble accepting Viia’s control…” Relkir sighed as he sat back down. “But she promises to fix that soon…”