“Ugh… where am I?”
Litvir sat up straight and tried to move his arm to rub his eyes and neck, only to find that his right arm was stiff and his left was wrapped up in some sort of medical device that was both drip-feeding him medicine and fluids and keeping a constant check on his vitals. For once, Litvir didn’t feel hot and feverish, but his neck was weirdly itchy and covered in both bandages and some sort of plastic visor so he couldn’t touch it.
“You are in the medical bay. Welcome back to consciousness, dear.”
That voice was rather caring, considering who it came from. Litvir glanced to his right, to see Elkay sitting in a chair next to… two Teekays? It took a moment for Litvir to remember that there was an entire team of Phantai Decay Lords who all shared the same name and looked like Elkay’s Skyavok boyfriend. Past them, Retvik was in a similar bed in a similar position, also with bandages and a plastic band around his neck.
“How long have I been out for?” Litvir asked.
“Long enough…” Elkay shrugged. “Kaytee here says he thinks the Higher Decay Lords hate you.”
“Uh… Kaytee?”
The Teekay that wasn’t Elkay’s boyfriend waved. He was slightly more muscular and more heavily armoured than the Thantir Teekay, and carried a silver sword on his back.
“I know my real name is Teekay, but I’ve decided to change my name to Kaytee, and not just because there’s a better Teekay in this room already. I figured out why you were both ill, which is convenient because I wanted to talk to you both about working for you Thantir.”
Litvir took a deep breath, still clearly disorientated, and feeling rather thirsty. Not as thirsty as he had been before he’d fallen asleep, but his mouth was definitely in need of fluids. Thankfully, Elkay picked up on Litvir’s thoughts and fetched him a large, cold glass of water.
“Thank you, dear…” Litvir muttered as he took a sip, then rubbed his eyes again. “I apologise, Kaytee, but I need to clear my head a little before we can talk about employing you. Was I in a coma or something? And how did you figure out how and why Retvik and I were ill?”
Kaytee hesitated. “Souldrainer, sir, your Decayling trackers were never removed after-”
“Kaytee, I have already said you do not need to refer to Litvir or myself by our code names…” Retvik tutted, blatantly interrupting. “You are a Decay Lord yourself, we are equals.”
“We’re really not equals!” Kaytee tried to protest, but gave up and instead returned to what he was originally saying. “When one finishes their Decay Lord trial and doesn’t die, the Overlord is supposed to remove the Decayling tracker embedded in your neck. I kinda pissed the Overlord off by asking him if he was intentionally trying to kill me, and I only found out my tracker was never removed three year-strings later when I suddenly fell ill with fevers similar to what you both suffered. Most of the Phantai here are old enough to have avoided the super strict Level Laws we faced, and implanted trackers are actually pretty recent, they used to use special neck bands in the past.”
“The trackers contain a radioactive material that starts to break down after about three of our years…” Teekay explained further. “Thing is, the amount of radiation is low and the particles emitted are really small, blocked by things as thin as your own skin, so it’s not a hazard to anyone around you, but because the trackers are so close to your brain, heart and lymph nodes, it utterly fucks with your immune system. So you both got ill.”
Litvir glanced at Retvik, who did nothing but roll his eyes.
“So they WERE trying to kill us.”
Retvik grunted. “I have been under the impression that you, Arkay and myself, or perhaps even the Tattered Navigators or just the Thantir in general, somehow did something to piss off some Decay Lord superior as soon as we became Decaylings, and the Higher Decay Lords have been punishing us ever since.”
“I know I was an intolerable prick and am only slightly better now, but what did we do to piss someone off? We were just uplifted mortals, and it seems that MOST of us here were.” Litvir sighed. “Did none of them ever meet Seimeni? I hate to speak ill of the dead, but she was a monster at times.”
“Seimeni was a Life Goddess, I assume she did not count…” Elkay interjected. “Are you sure this was not accidental? And do us Decaylings need to worry about this happening to us?”
Kaytee shook his head. “I’m pretty sure sir Retvik, Litvir and their Lost Third were among the last to have trackers. You all were signed up as Decaylings in year-string 12023, and trackers were phased out in late 12021. And your Time Drake friend, Elksia, it is technically illegal to try and put a tracker on her, goes against Decay Lord, Time Drake Consortium and Kronothrax treaties. As for it being accidental? I… I don’t think so.”
“Why not?” Litvir felt rather concerned now. He glanced around, looking for his communicator and his belongings in general, before realizing that he was naked. Thankfully, Litvir was covered in a thin sheet, but he still felt rather prone. “Are you saying that Retvik and I might face more threats in the future… By the Light, what about Arkay?”
“I already messaged Arkay,” Elkay smiled somewhat. “He said he just messaged you two to tell you about the ‘weird thing Sini found in his neck’ that was giving him a fever. The only other mimic hybrid we all know is fine.”
Kaytee shuddered. “Yeah, but still, I don’t think it was accidental. I spoke to the rest of Loopblade after I fell ill, and they all told me about when they completed their trials. There was a bit of a song and dance about the Overlord offering them a nice meal, then suddenly picking them up, pulling the tracker from their necks and then letting them go and teleporting them home. Only Loopblade-5 though had a tracker like I did, and the Overlord pulled the tracker out with a specially-made tool. Didn’t happen with me.”
Retvik tried to cross his arms but couldn’t, because of the medical band around his left arm. Instead, he went back to tutting. “That did not happen with us either. Admittedly, we did accuse Overlord Deathven of trying to kill us.”
“Because they were!” Litvir hissed. “A momentary spike and I was deemed too dangerous to continue my Decayling training!”
Kaytee and Teekay both stared at Litvir.
“I thought Arkay was the reason you all had to do your test early and all that piss?” Teekay blinked in confusion. “Like, from the way Galyn acts, I was pretty damn certain that Arkay was the one who fucked up!”
Litvir lowered his voice. “Well, Arkay did get very close to getting dragged away several times. After we became Decay Lords proper, I spent a lot of time trying to work out what I did wrong and I could not figure it out. Galyn and Vikalos seemed unsure as well and Itaviir was as clueless as I was. At the time, I believe Arkay was aware of what the trackers were tracking, and despite his identity problems, knew enough to keep himself in check most of the time.”
“Well, as long as you guys never go to Deathven proper, you should be fine!” Kaytee stopped staring, leaned back and smiled. “Also, as long as you guys don’t officially become Phantai soldiers, you should be fine as well. Hence why I want to talk about joining the Thantir, because you lot actually seem to respect me.”
“Well yes, of course!” Litvir nodded in agreement, before abruptly pausing. “Wait, what do you mean about not going to Deathven proper?”
Kaytee shrugged. “I looked up a lot of stuff after I recovered from my illness. Turns out, people who piss the Overlord off have a habit of slipping through the cracks, getting lost in the system and disappear-”
The young Phantai Decay Lord was very suddenly cut off by Retvik throwing something against the wall. He then ripped the medical equipment from his arm, climbed out of bed and stormed off.
Kaytee shrank in his seat, absolutely terrified by what had just happened. Teekay was visibly nervous as well, and both Litvir and Elkay were clearly concerned.
“Is that… what happened to Arkay?” Kaytee eventually asked.
Litvir sighed. “That is exactly what happened to Arkay.”
“Did I just massively ruin my chances of joining you guys?”
“No, no. But Retvik and I will need a little bit of time to recover, if that is alright with you, Kaytee.”
Kaytee frowned, then got up. “I’ve waited this long, I can wait a bit longer. Sorry I made you all angry.”
“It is fine. Thank you for helping us in the first place.”
“I guess…” Kaytee muttered as he teleported off, going back to his normal Phantai duties.