“Who is more powerful, do you think?”
Tenuk yawned as he unlocked the front door. For some reason, his siblings had followed him home and he wasn’t sure why.
“What? And why did you follow me?”
“You said we could stay with you!” Kohra beamed. “While Retvik and his partner were out! You said you needed company anyway!”
Tenuk shook his head. “Did I?”
“How much did you drink?” Levik asked.
“A lot…” Tenuk grunted. The door opened up and he led Levik and Kohra inside, before closing and locking the door. “Sorry, I’m just… well, you know. Distracted.”
Kohra and Levik both shrugged, then made themselves at home, flopping onto the beanbag sofas. Tenuk grunted again, grabbed himself a glass of water then went off to join them.
“So, who do you think would win in a fight?” Kohra repeated his question, now he was more comfortable.
“Who?”
“The divines.”
“All six gods or the four gods who do stuff?”
Kohra blinked. “Well, all of them I guess? But I wasn’t really under the impression that… Kinisis did anything really?”
“I wouldn’t know…” Tenuk admitted. “I know she is there but no one really knows what she does. And I don’t think the gods let you know what she does either.”
“Okay, so what about the four main guys?”
“Clearly Kairos would win…” Levik tutted. “God of Time and all that. Nothing moves forward without his say so.”
“You know what though?” Tenuk shook his head, definitely not agreeing. “When we were younger, I would have definitely agreed. But the more I see things… the more I wonder if that is just an illusion? Sure, Kairos controls time, but I think the deities are capable of holding multiple roles, and those roles don’t always apply straight…”
Kohra blinked. “I don’t follow. You think one of the others is stronger?”
“Having seen them all and having met Arkadin in person?” Tenuk continued shaking his head. “The rules of time somewhat mean nothing when one can just destroy everything at will.”
“How do you mean?” Kohra was still confused. “Can the Thantophor just… outdo time?”
“I think so…”
“I doubt it!” Levik tutted some more. “You can’t act if there’s no time!”
“But decay is just an extension of time, isn’t it?” Kohra asked.
“Is it?”
“I guess…”
Tenuk sighed. “It’s not that. Well, part of it is. But what bothers me more is that… well, the Thantophor spent time with us and is inherently a half-decent being. He’s walked the same path we have, he understands mortality and he’s… he’s a good guy.”
“I can’t argue with that…” Kohra shrugged. “But what does that have to do with who would win in a fight?”
“Arkadin would refuse to fight. Because Arkadin knows that he would win. Arkadin intentionally holds himself back so he doesn’t do any more damage than he needs to.”
“So you are saying…”
Tenuk sighed some more. “All I am saying is, we should be very, very thankful that the Thantophor is a genuinely good being.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t think anything could stop him, if he was evil…”
Kohra stared blankly at Tenuk, then shook his head and blinked. “Hm. Maybe we should talk about something else…”