It had been a good evening. Rethais has invited both their sibling Relkir and their partner Gath, and Lysar’s sibling Malyr and their partner Jelii to the Grand Mansion, the High General’s home. Ever since Rethais had proposed to Lysar, Lysar now lived with Rethais all the time and had essentially moved in. But since the Grand Mansion was meant for people with both kids and parents, most of the mansion was empty, and Rethais routinely invited what little family they had to fill the space a little.
That evening, they had ordered in some fancy Lanex food and some curious Spast drinks. The drinks were way too sweet, but the seafood noodle dishes had gone down rather well, with Malyr wanting to learn how to cook something similar. Malyr was a 500th Legion captain, a doctor specialising in mental health, but they also loved cooking and always wanted to expand their horizons.
Currently, Lysar, Gath and Jelii were watching arena battles while Malyr made themselves busy in the kitchen, making goodness knows what. Rethais though was on the balcony, overlooking the large garden and high fences that protected them. They were swiftly joined by Relkir, who seemed content at first, but the moment they spoke, Rethais could tell something was wrong.
“This is nice.”
“It is. But you are not doing well.”
“Neither are you. Which is why you are out here and not watching the rerun of you beating Prime Minister Panos!” Relkir tutted. “Honestly, that was a good watch but it must have felt better in person.”
Rethais tutted back. “Admittedly, I was genuinely concerned up until Panos attempted his first strike. Then I realised he was useless and just focused on making sure I punched him in the face and draw blood with my proposal dagger… Admittedly, I ought to watch the fight at some point, it will be interesting to see what everyone else saw…” Rethais sighed, then altered the subject. “Is something bothering you?”
“A little. It is mostly the lack of family… I have done my best to keep in touch with Trimes, but that is all. All I have are you, Gath and their parents, and Lysar and their family. Yes, I have friends, and I get along with my Legion, but when it comes to family, I feel incomplete. There are no kids yet.”
Rethais glanced at Relkir. “Are… are you implying something?”
Relkir frowned. “Gath and I are trying. It… has not gone well so far. And before you joke, yes, we remembered to stop wearing protection.”
“From the tone of your voice, someone has said that joke already.”
“You would be correct.”
Rethais snorted, then shrugged. “How long have you been trying for?”
“A month? About that.”
“It can take more than a month. Especially since Gath is… well, Gath is Gath. Plus, the Rethianos bloodline is not THAT fertile. Apparently Relkalis had problems, even before they got cancer. But you do not need to rush.”
Relkir grunted. “I want a kid. I want to be egg-ridden, before the chance is ripped from me.”
“You will get that chance. You are young and healthy. Gath is relatively healthy, despite what happened last year.”
Relkir did calm down. Rethais was right, after all. “True, true. Are kids in the future for you?”
Rethais didn’t answer at first. They didn’t answer for a long time.
“I… I do not know. Maybe, once I have retired. I do not want kids while I am High General. Maybe when I have settled down and taken a simpler duty…” Rethais trailed off again, then sniffed. “We are talking about our futures, but it pains me that our oldest sibling will never have one.”
Relkir hesitated. Rethais noticed that hesitation.
“Ugh. Please do not tell me that you believe the nonsense that the Allbirther took those who were infected with her…”
“Not those who were infected. Those who were god-touched. Retvik was god-touched. The Allbirther took Retvik with her.”
Rethais rolled their eyes. “There is no evidence that the Allbirther took anyone.”
“There is evidence that Retvik saw something before they disappeared though. You have seen the video, yes? How Retvik was digging someone out of rubble, stops, turned to talk to someone and then disappeared? The Allbirther took him. Litvir told me so…” Relkir paused, then took a deep breath. “Retvik is not dead.”
“Wait, what?” Rethais put their hands on Relkir’s shoulders. “What are you on about? And what does little Litvir know?”
“Litvir has memories from when they were made. They were Sini’s last experiment, brought to life and reality by the now Lady of All. They saw what the Allbirther was doing before she left. Litvir said that she put Retvik inside a… a thing, and took it with her…”
Rethais eyed Relkir. “I feel like you are not telling me the entire story. We do not know if Retvik was alive, but you seem certain.”
“I am certain…” Relkir hesitated some more, then sighed and pulled out their communicator. They opened up General Talks, the main Rethan communication and chat app, scrolled down a bit then showed Rethais a specific conversation.
“How…”
“I do not know Retvik managed to send these messages or where they are. But I am certain the messages are not fake. Because they know stuff that only us three could know.”
Rethais stared at the messages some more, then sighed.
“Can… can I send Retvik messages?”
“Theoretically, yes. But they remain on “sending” for a long time, often weeks at a time. Retvik said they need to be “near our universe” to send and receive messages, and even then, there is a large delay.”
Rethais sighed some more. They felt uneasy. They had a lot they wanted to say. But after some painful silence, Rethais held those words and sighed some more.
“I guess I will send Retvik a message and… see what happens. But… I can see why you have not told anyone. I do not think I can tell anyone either…”
Rethais sniffed, then, rather oddly, they gave Relkir a hug. Relkir hugged Rethais back, then patted them on the shoulder.
“We should go inside and be with our family.”
“We should, yes…” Rethais wiped away a stray tear, then led their little sibling back into the mansion. “Thank you, Relkir. Thank you for being so good to me. Despite everything.”
Relkir smiled. “You do not need to thank me. Come on. I am sure Lysar and Gath are wondering what we are doing.”
“Indeed…” Rethais smiled back, despite not knowing how to feel. “Maybe we can watch my arena match again. That would be fun.”
“Definitely.”