Arkay groaned as he collapsed in the captain’s seat in the cockpit, staring out the window. Outside, one of the other Decay Lord ships was preparing to leave, its engines warming up and its name, Zetana Seven, plastered on the side. Filling the open cargo bay doors on the docked side were two heavily built former deities, both covered in blackened armour, their heads adorned with crowns of horns.
Both of them seemed as tired as Arkay was, shifting boxes and crates back and forth. Arkay couldn’t help but wonder where they were going, what their plans were. And, most likely, they would probably think the same about him, if they could see Arkay through the tinted cockpit’s glass.
A knock on the door behind Arkay snapped him to attention. Almost to his surprise, Galyn was standing there, leaning anxiously on the door frame.
“Hello.”
“Hiya.”
“May I come in?”
Arkay shrugged. “It’s your ship.”
Galyn closed his eyes, agreeing somewhat dismissively, before sitting down next to Arkay.
“Something is bothering you.”
“I have not been a good mentor for you three.” Galyn got straight to the point. Arkay didn’t mind him not faffing around, but he also kinda didn’t think Galyn would be so insanely blunt so quickly.
“I think you’ve been fine, I guess?” Arkay shrugged, not really sure what to say. “Sure, you kinda screwed up on analysing that Voidborn as a threat, but everything else has been kinda out of your control.”
“Has it though?” Galyn frowned.
“Yeah, it has. How the fuck were we supposed to know about a moon hitting us? Fuck, how were you supposed to know that Voidborn had his own super-powered asshole kids? Or that he’d somehow manage to reform himself from a single drop of blood?” Arkay tutted, leaning back in his chair. “You’re being mean to yourself. If we didn’t find your emergency funds, we would have been fucked anyway.”
“That is not the point I am trying to ma-”
“Yeah it is!” Arkay nearly snapped, sitting up straight in his chair and pointing a finger at Galyn. “I do it to myself constantly! Instead of focusing on the good, I focus on my failures and what I could have done better and it has fucking ruined me. And I am heavily aware that, for some stupid reason, my awful personality traits rub off on other vok who spend too much time around me, and I will NOT allow you to ruin yourself the way I ruined me. You DIDN’T fuck up, you are NOT a bad mentor, you got crushed under fucking flaming engine debris! That would have KILLED 99.9% of normal beings!”
Galyn stared at Arkay for a moment. “Are you done?”
“Are you going to accept my advice?”
“Are you?” Galyn tutted. “You are not one to take your own advice.”
Arkay sighed. “You’re right, I’m awful at taking my own advice. But we should both do it.”
Another knock on the door distracted them both. Retvik was finally up and about, but he did have a bandage loosely wrapped around his head. Standing behind him was Litvir, who seemed completely fine and actually rather happy for once.
“Uh, you guys busy?”
Galyn rolled his eyes, then tutted. “No. What do you need, Retvik?”
“I have to get in some way intoxicated to help treat this concussion. Do either of you want to come with Litvir and I to the little shop place to get some drinks? He does not trust me to go on his own.”
Arkay glanced at Galyn. Galyn glanced back, them turned to Retvik.
“How does being intoxicated help with concussions?”
Retvik shrugged. “I still believe I am a Rethan and not some sort of deity. Intoxication helps lessen any potential swelling and calms me down enough so I do not injure myself further.”
“Is this true?”
Litvir nodded. Arkay grunted, then nodded as well.
“I can stay here, if you want. Save locking up,” Arkay suggested. “Not in the mood to go out there.”
Galyn eyed his students cautiously. After a moment though, he seemed satisfied, and got up. “Alright. We can go. But nothing too expensive, alright? I am not made of money…”