Ten beings stood around a cramped table, all of them feeling rather uncertain.
“We came back as soon as we realised what happened…” Retvik cautiously explained. “We had no idea that Epani was sending us away as a distraction so she could kill Kinisis. And we certainly had no idea that Arkadin was involved in any way. I take it, what has happened to this universe is irreversible, and we are stuck outside of it.”
Galyn nodded. “Mostly, yes. Epani very cleverly sneaked Arkadin back into the universe to assist her in killing Kinisis, so she could remodel the universe without the Allmaker’s interference. As far as I can tell though, before she perished, Kinisis activated some sort of fail-safe mechanism that forced the whole thing to collapse, reset then fast-forward into a new timeline, something the other deities failed to stop.”
“So is Kinisis dead?” Eksi, the smallest of the group, asked. “Because if so, we’re kinda out of a job.”
“Deader than a doorknob!” Seimeni interjected. “Arkay killed her good. But you four are welcome to stay with us, of course!”
“Yeah but… how?”
Galyn and Seimeni glanced at each other and shrugged. “I will be honest, I do not know. But Arkadin has always been… an issue, one I believe we had dealt with. What did Epani have to offer him to make him give up his new life?”
Everyone fell silent. But Relkir had a few words to offer.
“A chance to kill someone who had tormented him for most of his existence?”
Galyn shook his head in disapproval. “His issues with Kinisis were-”
“All Kinisis did was cause problems for Arkadin!” Tenuk interrupted. “We spent time with Arkay when we were all mortal and part of the same universe. The number of times Kinisis either manipulated and hurt Arkadin or allowed someone else to hurt him were too damn high. And that was just while we were alive!”
“He never brought that up while he was with us.”
“Most likely, Arkadin was told that Kinisis was doing the same or planning to do the same to his siblings…” Relkir muttered. “I think all of us here understand the desire to protect our loved ones.”
The elder Decay Lord relented. “Well, when you put it like that… Either way, we have a problem on our hands. Our base of operations has been destroyed, again, and all the local friendly Life Goddesses have fled. The sector will quickly be declared as dangerous, since a prominent Life Goddess was killed, and it is unlikely we will be welcome within this universe…”
“I think we should just leave this place alone,” Seimeni let out a little smile. “Let Epani and her siblings work on it together. They can do so in peace, and we can go back to exploring and stuff like that. You know, like we used to, Galyn!”
“Yes, but… he killed her.”
“She kinda deserved it…”
“Still…”
“Eh, Life Goddesses seem to be ten a penny…” Tenuk shrugged. “You’ll find another Life Goddess. You know, one that constantly messes with your feelings and uses you as an emotional plaything.”
“Well… I guess you are right… Let us leave and go somewhere… new.”
“Are we all in agreement?” Seimeni asked.
A nod rippled across the ten beings.
“Alright. Retvik, Tenuk, dock your ship with ours. Then join us here, and we shall go on an adventure.”