“Alright! Team meeting!”
Nyssi had dragged everyone into the room that the higher up folks were using as a classroom. Gathered around were all eight Decaylings, some of them more anxious than others.
“What do you need, Nyssi?” Kuta immediately asked, watching as Kayel and Ret pushed tables together, making a vaguely circular shape.
“I want to go through this trial stuff with you all. Just to make sure we’re all on the same level, and to make everyone more comfortable. May you all sit down, pretty please?”
The other Decaylings did as they were told. Tanos briefly teleported off, but came back with drinks for everyone. Once everyone was seated, Nyssi pulled a white board over.
“So, hey guys, I don’t want to sound too leader-y, but I want to make sure everyone’s fine!” Nyssi smiled. “We don’t have THAT much time before we do our trail, and I want to make sure everyone’s doing well. Also, I want to settle any differences we might have. Because, Phovos, Thassalin, you two both seem to dislike having Kuta in charge of your team.”
“And you four don’t?” Phovoula was grumpy, again. “Retvik used to run your team, and now you’re in charge, Nyssi. I… I admittedly still don’t get all of this. And I think my being a Voidborn has made me… a bit weird… Why is Retvik not running your team?”
Ret shrugged. “Nyssi does a better job, and I am genuinely not bothered.”
“You’re not?” Phovoula blinked in confusion. “I thought…”
“If we are in the middle of combat, sure, I can take the reigns if I need to. But Nyssi is smarter than us three and has a lot better general knowledge. Her leading our team is actually preferable because I am normally busy being a tank.”
“Plus, Nyssi maintains our telepathic link, so it makes sense!” Tanos added.
Thassalin and Phovoula both turned to Kuta.
“Can you give us a telepathic link?” Thassalin asked.
Kuta nodded. “I can, yes. Might take me a few hours to concentrate and find the right cantrips, but I admittedly did not want to unless you all approved.”
“Wait, hang on!” Phovoula interrupted again. “What do you mean by “cantrips”? Are you casting spells?”
“Not so much casting spells, more making explicit links to do what I want my powers to do. But me calling my telepathic control instructions “cantrips” is actually rather recent and something Litvir suggested to me. I used to call them “psionic control instructions” and Litvir and I called them “magic spells” when we were kids, but calling my actions “cantrips” is a lot easier.”
Phovoula blinked in confusion again, then turned to Nyssi and Talok.
“Does your telepathic crap work like that?”
Talok shook her head. “No, no. Not as spells. I open many doors! Doors of the mind!”
Nyssi shrugged. “I’ll be honest, I don’t know how mine works, it just does. Anyway, Phovos, Thassalin, Talok, are you fine with Kuta leading your team? I know Arkay said that they arranged to keep us all together in one trial, but we might get split up during the trial, so I want to cover all our bases.”
“I have no problem following Kuta’s lead,” Thassalin replied. “Kuta is the best at directing us, after all, they are a former General, and my not needing to lead means I can focus on trimming branches and searching for better paths.”
Phovoula hesitated, then somewhat sighed. “Yeah, you are absolutely correct. I… I admittedly owe you all an apology. I’ve been an awful person as of late.”
“Well, we all forgive you!” Kuta smiled. “You have had it far worse than the rest of us!” Kuta then glanced at Nyssi. “I assume you want us to all air out our grievances?”
“Yep, pretty much. I want us all to be as close-knit as possible. We’re going to be doing something very dangerous, and we need to all be on the same page. Right, Thassalin?”
Thassalin grinned. “Indeed. The closer we are to each other, the better off we’ll be.”
“Do you know what our Decay Lord Trial will be?” Kayel suddenly asked. “You’re looking into the future, surely you have some idea?”
That grin quickly faded. “Admittedly, no, not really. There’s currently two main branches with different scenarios, because it seems that the beings that set these trials are undecided. And I think that is intentional, in order to muddy the waters and hide the truth, so Time Drakes overall can’t see things straight.”
“What are the two paths?” Kuta queried. “I assume they are quite different?”
“Indeed. They both seem to involve Corruption, as far as I can see, but in vastly different ways. But the main thing both branches point to is that we will be dumped in some location and forced to survive. Like the old Thirteenth Night shows that you used to put on, Phovos, but with us as the hunted.”
“That’s not terrifying in the slightest…” Tanos muttered. However, Kayel put an arm around him.
“Eh, it’s not quite the same! We have awesome powers and weapons and stuff. Life Goddess Phovos also made us all some special armour to wear, something you don’t get in Thirteenth Night! But also, even if we’re dumped naked into this trial, we all kick ass anyway.”
Thassalin glanced at Kayel briefly, then closed his eyes for a moment. After a couple of seconds, he opened them again. “We need to make sure we are all strong and confident, no matter what we face. While yes, Kayel is right, we have our powers, but what is more important is that we stick together, no matter what. Unity is more important than anything else.”
“Well, that’s why I wanted to have this meeting!” Nyssi perked up. “We’re not two teams, we’re one big team. We all need to look out for each other.”
“And we will!” Thassalin went back to smiling. “In fact, this meeting of ours has trimmed off some of the weaker branches.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. I will continue to trim branches, but we seem to be going in the right direction.”
“Is there anything we can do right now to help?” Ret asked. “Perhaps some extra training or a specific type of combat to focus on?”
Thassalin closed his eyes again. “Right now? I’m not certain. But one of the things we do need to do is keep ourselves well-rested and not be stressed.”
“Was that last bit aimed at me?” Phovoula growled.
“Yes.”
“Oh…” Phovoula immediately calmed down. “Well… I’ll do my best…”
“Your best is all we ask for!” Nyssi exclaimed. “Don’t worry too hard though. I think we got this. In the mean time, Thassalin, let me and Kuta know if we need to do anything specific.”
Thassalin nodded. “Of course.”
“Alright, good!” Nyssi remained very chirpy. “We all know what to do. But right now, we should all chill out with some ice cream.”
“Pun intended?” Kayel smirked.
Nyssi grinned. “Pun intended. Come on, everyone, let’s get some ice cream. We got this.”