“Welcome, Missing! Welcome to my home, the Temple of the Eternal Healing Flame! And Letalis, thank you for bringing the Missing here.”
Letalis muttered to himself as he led Arkay, Litvir and Retvik up the large number of stairs to the entrance. Litvir and Retvik also muttered to themselves.
“Why are there so many damn steps?” Litvir hissed under his breath.
“Because all these fuckers can fly…” Arkay tutted back.
“Ugh.”
Litvir and Retvik both grunted some more. On the way to Ralian’s temple, they had made themselves look more like Teliavok, by giving themselves, non-functional elemental wings. Admittedly, Retvik’s flame wings had come out really good, but Litvir hadn’t been able to keep focus, and the telepathic blades he was holding in a vague wing shape kept on flickering.
They had also spent some time helping Letalis, and Litvir had been concerned that maybe the other members of his Trio were neglecting him, but as Letalis reached the top of the stairs, Ralian looked Letalis up and down, then gave him a hug.
“You seem happier today, Letalis.”
“I… I am… I am also glad you sent everyone away, but you know I am still concerned… about… well, you know…”
“I know, my dear. I am working on it… In the mean time, we will have some fun, yes?”
“We will…” Ralian let go of Letalis, then welcomed the Missing again. “Hello! You have made yourselves look more like us. I am not sure why, but I do like that. Anyway, please, come with me, and we shall have a feast! The leftovers from the animal sacrifices from yesterday have been prepared, all we need to do is cook. Come along, now!”
Ralian beckoned the Missing, then span around and, oddly, walked into the temple rather than flying. His two pairs of flaming wings were particularly gold and shiny today, but Litvir seemed to notice that Ralian was unintentionally trying to show off. He felt big and important currently. And very proud.
Letalis and Veeyel waited for the Missing, and the five of them headed in together.
“So… Ralian lives here?” Retvik asked.
“Normally we live at the Hidden Hospital, but yeah, we all have our own places!” Veeyel explained. “The Teliavok of this stupid planet do worship Ralian as a God of Stability and Promise, they built this place for him and offered it to him when we became a Hidden Trio. Ralian awkwardly accepted it, not realising he was now part of their weird religious stuff. But he secretly likes the worship, he feels like it’s what he deserved as a mortal, so he plays into the more positive sides and tries to make some changes from within.”
“Has he made any?”
Veeyel glanced at Letalis, then nodded. “Yeah, definitely. Anyway, we should get going. Ralian’s put a lot of work into this feast.”
“How comes?” Retvik asked. “I know we are guests, but we are not special.”
Letalis looked forward, seeming to inspect Ralian as he led them through golden hallways with white marble pillars, all lit up with flaming torches.
“He wants exotic vagina. Or maybe exotic penis. He is desperately trying to shield his true desires from me.”
“Uh…” Retvik hesitated. “Are you sure? Because, the last time we met, Ralian seemed to think I was hideous.”
Letalis shrugged. “I do not know for sure but he wants something new. Anyway, we should get going.”
The hallways split and opened up into a rather large feasting room with a firepit in the middle. Cooking over the fire pit was an entire animal, at the back of the room was a food preparation area. One corner was set up with luxurious cushions to lay on, while the other had a sauna set up. Between them was an ice box with glass bottles, all various unopened drinks.
Ralian had already started sorting himself out. He was drinking mead, cutting things and wrapping other things up in foil in the kitchen area.
“Well, this is nice!” Retvik beamed. “Ralian, do you need some help with cooking?”
Ralian inspected Retvik as he wandered over. “Oh, you are more homely than you seem! You may assist, if you wish. Veeyel, Letalis, my dears, please, keep Arkay and Litvir occupied.”
Retvik glanced back at Litvir, then wandered over to see what Ralian was up to. “What are you doing?”
“Right now, I am cutting the fat off this meat before I wrap it up and put it on the fire.”
Retvik thought for a moment. “How comes? You should leave the fat on, it adds flavour to the meat. If you do not want anything too fatty, you can just cut off the fat when it is cooked. Also, maybe add some salt while it cooks.”
Ralian blinked, then did as suggested. He then turned back to Retvik. “Do you have any recommendations for all this… corn stuff then? I was left an entire bag of it and have no idea how to cook it.”
“Why do you have it?”
“Someone left it as an offering…” Ralian grunted as he grabbed one of the items. “I assume it’s edible. Temple staff said it was. I just do not know how to cook it.”
“Oh…” Retvik thought some more. “In all honesty? I would just smother it in butter and sweet red spices, wrap it in foil and throw it on the fire for twenty minutes.”
“Hm. I guess that works!” Ralian smiled, then smiled even more as he started doing exactly as Retvik suggested. “In the mean time, do you want something to drink? I have some lovely golden brews that were donated to me yesterday, I would love to share them.”
Retvik again glanced at Litvir and Arkay. Arkay silently said he didn’t mind being designated flyer. Litvir though was typing on his communicator, and had been as soon as they’d all entered the room. Litvir then suddenly stopped, looked up and started chatting with Letalis and Veeyel as if nothing had happened. At the same time, Retvik’s communicator beeped.
“Retvik?”
“Oh, sorry. I ought to check that message.”
“How comes?”
“It is a message from my sect and may be important.”
“Ah, fair.”
Retvik opened up his communicator and went to the Thantir message server, only to find that he had been sent a message in the hidden Thantir leadership channel.
Souldrainer: Just messaged our new Rethan friend Teekay. Based on his information, I can safely inform you that this is not a “Phos’s Bitch” situation. It is potentially the exact opposite.
Retvik found himself snorting. He looked back up at Ralian, then smiled. “Sorry, that was Litvir and Arkay just informing me that I am free to drink alcohol, if I please. Arkay has offered himself as Designated Flyer, as he does not drink anyway.”
“Ah, wonderful!” Ralian smiled. He swiftly grabbed two bottles of drink and opened them, handing one to Retvik. “Here is to a lovely evening.”
“Indeed…”