Elkau-En hadn’t been paying attention. The large ship had landed, there was a bit of a rush as they unpacked everything and sorted out all their shopping and suddenly Elkay-En had been spotted by the being that terrified him the most.
The Ancient Feeder had been one of Epanophovon’s most powerful servants. Resilient. Strong. Almost as unending as the Unending Ancient One Himself. If Epanophovon needed something silenced, He would send the Ancient Feeder. But the Ancient Feeder had been killed here at Savepoint. And the being who killed it was making their way over to where Elkay-En was sitting. There wasn’t really any way that Elkay-En could politely excuse himself. He had to face this being.
But at first glance, the being wasn’t that special. It looked like a Standard-Type Retha with a pair of wings. Technically, once the scientific census was complete, winged Rethans that were the same size as Standard-Types were to be called Rahten-Types, but none of that ever came to fruition. What bothered Elkay-En more though was that this being had the same colour plating he did. Dark green with bits of grey. And stunning red eyes. Really, this person looked just like Elkay-En if they were a Standard-Type, not a Threan-Type.
“Hello.”
Elkay-En lowered his gaze, not wanting to make eye contact. He was shivering slightly. He was scared. Sure, Elkay-En had managed to uncorrupt himself, he was technically a Life Goddess now, but he was a former servant of Epanophovon, he was once part of the Unending Ancient One. And the Righteous Unender, possibly the most terrifying strain of Corruption Elkay-En had ever heard of, was now standing in front of him.
“Uh… Hello…”
“Are you alright?” the Righteous Unender asked. “You look rather uneasy. I admittedly did not get a chance to speak to you before my trip.”
“I… uh… um… No, I’m not alright…” Elkay-En eventually stuttered. “You killed the Ancient Feeder. You’re the Righteous Unender.”
The being shrugged. “I did, yes. But you do not need to call me… that name. You can just call me Elkay.”
“Wait… your… your name is Elkay?”
The being bowed. “Indeed. My name is Elkay Theanon-Rethianos, codename Unender. The whole… Righteous Unender thing… I do not know where that came from.”
“That is the name that the children of the Unending Ancient One gave to the strain that killed the Ancient Feeder. Between the Righteous Unender and the Started End, not to mention the death of the Unending Ancient one and the fighting back of the Undead Kiniseon and the Hungering Indifference in this pentacluster, local strains of Corruption have been genuinely scared as of late.”
Elkay clearly didn’t seem to understand. “But… my… that thing was a one-off thing for me. It happened once, to kill something that attacked us, and never again.”
“I… I used to unwillingly be part of those networks. I was an unwilling servant and experimental child of Epanophovon. We kept abreast of these things. Any new strain is always interesting. But suddenly two strains popped up in the last year-string or so that could consume older strains, and both strains disappeared as soon as they had arrived… That being said, I heard that the Started End had been seen elsewhere. It talked the Unending Devourer into leaving a Decay Lord-run facility peacefully.”
Elkay glanced around, clearly looking for someone. He found that someone leaving the main guard tower. Arkay had just finished his last shift as the resident Time Drake and was due to have a nice, long break. Elkay knew that Arkay hated working as a Time Drake, and now that Elksia was back on her feet, Arkay could go back to less tedious duties like doing basic guard jobs.
“Apparently that was Arkay, yes.”
“The Started End is fire-proof, resistant to acid and capable of consuming the Unending Ancient strain with ease. Apparently the Righteous Unender is even more powerful.”
“We… have not actually tested that yet. We probably will not ever actually test it, mostly because I refuse to let anyone actually take a sample of my personal strain. Plus, it is horrible turning into Corruption. Like drowning in treacle… Actually, you probably have a good idea what that is like. But either way, you do not need to fear either me or Arkay.”
“I do. I was a servant of the Unending Ancient One.”
“You were. You are a free being now. I do believe Phovos has already explained this to you. But I have no reason to fear or harm you, and you have no reason to fear or harm me. Heck, you have not even properly introduced yourself yet.”
“I… I haven’t?”
Elkay smiled a little. “No, you have not. But I have been told that we have very similar names.”
“Well… that’s definitely true… My name is Elkay-En Theanon-Photeianos, eldest son of Kayel Theanon-Aspidon and, weirdly, eldest daughter of Life Goddess Kinisis… Hang on, you said your surname was Theanon-Rethianos… Are you a part of the Bloodlines?”
Elkay’s smile faltered slightly, but only for a moment. “Officially? No. My father was a Rethianos, not my mother. I was a mistake and was abandoned because of it. I still worked my way to the top nonetheless, and, since my universe is gone and Retvik is my half-brother, I decided to take the Rethianos surname for myself. Where does the Photeianos come from in your surname?”
“I was originally meant to be an N-Class Ksa serving former High General Photeianos Photeianou, and tradition is that you take the name of your guard target in some way. I chose the Theanon surname on my own, and my mother took my surname as his surname as a way to distance himself from his abusive parents.”
“Huh… I am sorry to hear that…”
“It’s fine. It’s all in the past. I was better than everyone, really. Worked my way to the top, survived multiple assassination attempts, was elected High General… I think I did alright as a mortal. And I guess, now, the multiverse is my oyster. If I can work out how do to Life Goddess stuff.”
Elkay went back to smiling. “I get that. I also struggle with Life Goddess stuff. If you want, we can learn together?”
Elkay-En also smiled. “You know what? I’d like that. You’re not as terrifying as I thought.”
“Hah! And you seem perfectly fine yourself. Both of us are fine.”
“We are, yes…”