Currently, most folks were busy trying to talk to either the Travellers or the Doom Drums, so the three members of the Missing were finally free to do their own things. Litvir was busy flirting with Thyel, one of the Ventra Gales, while Retvik was keeping Galyn and Itaviir company as Vikalos kept on being dragged off to chat with various Justarian Lords, all of whom wanted to know what Vikalos had been up to since he’d left. This meant Arkay was free to wander on his own, and because he was so short compared to most of the beings around, he was also somewhat hard to spot.
That was until Arkay ran into a tall, lanky, four-eyed Beh’evok.
“Hey, kiddo! It’s… so good and… weird to see you again! In person as well!”
Tenuk glanced around briefly, before shapeshifting back into his ancient, Ethran-type Retha form. Arkay found himself doing the same and turning back into his old, Threan-typen Retha mortal self.
“This is so weird…” Arkay muttered. “Good, but weird. Like you said.”
“Mhm. You’re all grown up now.”
“Hah, grown up? Mentally, I’m in my forties at best. At worst, I’m billions of years old and still an idiot.”
“Still grown up!” Tenuk beamed. “And you look pretty healthy, all things considered. Satisfied. Happy almost.”
“I’m trying. Retvik and Litvir look after me, and I finally have a duty that doesn’t drain me. You seem pretty damn well yourself though!”
Tenuk grabbed some sort of beverage off a nearby table, then put a kindly hand on Arkay’s shoulder. “Mate, now I have my own sect and we just go around murdering whatever we’re told to murder, things have been amazing. I basically went from my old days of murdering half-Voidborns to my new days murdering full Voidborns, when I’m not busy incinerating Corruption with my team of maniacs. Not that there’s been many Voidborns around. Used to tussle with the Goldblessed all the time and then one day, poof, they nuked themselves. There’s a handful left, but they seem… de-brainwashed.”
Arkay snickered somewhat. “Yeah, those guys were bastards. I know one of them. He’s actually an alright guy now he’s not tied to a stupid cult. That being said, I… I haven’t seen your friends yet.”
“Huh… Good point. I don’t actually know where they are. There’s other Zarians here, so Ignasi’s probably trying to chat someone up and fail miserably. Yatre probably went to find a bathroom though. Great guy, but constantly needs to visit every bathroom he comes across, to mark it as his own, for some reason. No fucking idea why.”
“I don’t know why, but the name Yatre sounds familiar…”
“Probably because you worked alongside a Veth with a similar name. Kinisis used to let me visit Kinigi a lot, I ended up knowing a few of the more important Veth by name. I don’t actually know why Yatre is called that though, because it’s not his real name. Apparently, when he was mortal, he was a spy and never let anyone know.”
“Do you know?” Arkay asked.
“Yeah, but if I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
“Good luck with that…” Arkay tutted. “I’m a former death god but I can’t seem to kill myself. No matter how fucking hard I’ve tried in the past. Kenon couldn’t do it, Kinisis couldn’t, Ahkron failed, Epanophovon tried and I ended up ripping the Corruption’s version of his bollocks off. I think there’s only two people who have a chance, and one of them is permanently trapped in a coma and buried inside a dead planet somewhere on the other side of the periuniversal void.”
Tenuk blinked at Arkay. “That… is quite specific.”
“Specific and true. But I won’t push about Yatre’s name.”
“I appreciate it. And I think he does too. He’s probably listening in. He’s the best shapeshifter out of the three of us!” Tenuk went back to being joyful. “Honestly, I’m pretty bad at it. My Beh’en look is awful. Just enough to fool normal Beh’ens, but that Soulstorm guy instantly called me out. Although, speaking of which, where the fuck did you find Litvir?”
Arkay snickered again. “Honestly? Retvik found him. I was busy all the time when I was a god and they were both mortals, and I lost track of Retvik for a while. He did something stupid, disappeared for a few months and came back with fire powers, having killed Litvir. Litvir got, as far as I can tell, resurrected or body-swapped or something by Kenon of all people, and when Kinisis turned me into a nuke, they both got picked up by the Thantir and were… kinda forced to be friends.”
“Forced?”
“Retvik got lonely and had been separated from Gath for a while. Litvir, despite being an asshole, is attractive and charming and learned how to not be an asshole somewhere down the line, and they ended up being too friendly.”
Tenuk fell silent for a moment. “That… kinda sounds like how you lot found me. I was an asshole deitic cuntbag and you five taught me how to not be an asshole.”
Arkay shrugged. “I guess. Litvir got as close to death as possible and did actually learn from it. Also, took me fucking ages to work out that Litvir has always found me attractive.”
Again, Tenuk paused. “I’m sorry. I forget you’re an adult now. I still see you as this scared little kid sometimes. And Litvir is nothing like what I expected him to look like.”
“You thought he’d be like Gath, right?”
“Yep.”
“Didn’t think you were into purple-plated vampires.”
“You do remember who I was trying to date before I, uh, died, right?”
Tenuk paused yet again. “Oh. Well, you got me there. Didn’t think your Retvik would be into vampires too, but I guess, since he doesn’t have a Gath… Hang on, you mentioned another Retvik that isn’t on fire and is now one of the Thantir’s new Decaylings. Does HE have a Gath?”
“No. He’s dating Litvir’s twin sibling Kuta.”
“Huh…”
Tenuk shrugged. Arkay giggled a little, then sipped his drink, which was intentionally non-alcoholic. Tenuk proceeded to down his own drink, glanced around a bit looking for Ignasi and/or Yatre, then very suddenly froze. Arkay noticed this, and prodded Tenuk in the side.
“Tenuk, you, uh, there?”
Tenuk didn’t answer. Instead, he grabbed Arkay by the shoulder and twisted him around in the direction he was looking at.
“What is it?”
“Kid, look.”
“Mate, I can’t see anything. I’m one of the shortest people here.”
“I… uh…”
Tenuk continued to stutter and not really say anything. Arkay tutted, finished off his drink then put the glass down on a nearby table. He considered shapeshifting into something taller, but instead decided to just float up so he was on the same level that Tenuk was.
“What are you looking at… oh… Oh…”
“You see what I mean?”
“It… well… uh…” Arkay found himself stuttering as well. “I mean, I KNOW there are… other folks… There’s five Teekays among the Phantai and one joined the Thantir… Plus that Telecharm Teekay who lives in a Deathven sector… But…”
“Ugh. We’re going to just have to ask…”
Tenuk took Arkay by the hand, then led him through the crowd, towards a Justar Decay Lord. While it was obvious what their status was, as they were wearing gold and red Justarian Lord armour, this one was shorter than most, not much taller than Arkay. At a glance, they looked like a green-plated, very short Beh’evok, with similar arm blades, but lacked a crown of horns. Arkay thought they looked more like a Rethavok than a Beh’evok. But while Arkay didn’t want to be direct, Tenuk definitely did, and immediately rushed over and tapped the Decay Lord on the shoulder.
“Oh, hello, who are you?” the being asked. “Oh, you must be Deathbringer, the older member of the Missing!”
Arkay nodded. “I am, yes. This is my friend Tenuk, codename Mimicblade, he’s one of the Exalted Shifters. What’s your name?”
The being looked both Arkay and Tenuk up and down somewhat. “I am Silverspear, also known as Elksonios Ksiophontou. But you can call me Elksia, I guess. Do I know you from somewhere?”
“Oh fuck…” Tenuk muttered. “Welp, I’ve got some explaining to do…”