Helkas yawned and stretched out his arms. He felt soft and warm and safe. Not a normal feeling, but a nice, pleasant feeling, one he wasn’t willing to let go of just yet. As he yawned and stretched some more though, he found himself opening his eyes and catching a glimpse of his surroundings.
It occurred to Helkas that he had no idea where he was. Or what had happened. Or who he was. His memories were hazy. He had just been a normal person, right? A guard for his High Lord. But then he was killed? But he wasn’t reborn like everyone else. She… She…
Helkas’s mind went blank briefly. That being. She had torn him apart. Twisted him inside out. She had done so without pain, but she had completely ripped up everything that Helkas was as a mortal, a mortal who guarded other mortals, so he could become Helkas, the guard of the universe Herself.
No, Helkas had been more than that. He had been…
The words wouldn’t form in his mind or his mouth. Something else formed though. Vomit. Inky black vomit. Somehow, Helkas managed to turn to one side, to avoid throwing up on himself, but he very quickly realised that maybe he should have turned in the opposite direction.
“Oh for fuck’s sake…”
Helkas tried to mutter an apology but it came out as a garbled mess. Sitting next to him was a being similarly shaped to himself, but yellow. And bigger and buffer. And also covered in vomit.
“Srry…”
The being stood up and started wiping themselves down. They reached for a nearby towel, then sighed.
“Don’t worry about it. Your name is Helkas, right?”
Helkas inspected the creature. They seemed ever so vaguely familiar. As if Helkas had met them before. But all Helkas could do currently was nod and try to work out what had happened.
“You were made by someone called Syklas, right? A Life Goddess. A Mother. Who lives in an ancient universe.”
Helkas nodded some more. That made sense. But… Mother… She… She… I… I was ill… No…”
The being looked Helkas up and down, then reached for what Helkas assumed was a communicator. They were writing something. A message? While they typed, Helkas tried to look at his surroundings quickly, but all he could tell was that he was inside a very soft, red silk bed thing, which was inside a hard metal thing, which seemed to be inside some sort of space ship?
“Is your mother alive?” the being asked.
“I… Maybe… She… She put me here.”
“In this casket, yes?”
“Yes.” Helkas wasn’t sure how he could understand the creature.
“But was she hurt or dying or something?”
“I… not know…”
Helkas looked down at himself. He remembered being… older. Bigger. More powerful. But he was a child. Wasn’t he a child when he first died? He was a child guard, protecting an ancient lord. What bothered Helkas more was that, while he could remember some things, any thoughts as to who he actually was, his real identity, all that was gone. Nothing but blankness.
Still, Helkas managed to find some thoughts and memories. Ones he ought to share with the yellow-plated being.
“I was dying. Old. Ill. Not Her. All in my home was finite. Including me.”
“So Syklas actually follows the rule about not building infinities inside other infinities…” the being muttered.
“Yes. I was finite. But… Mummy said… She said… maybe I could live. I didn’t have to die. Not in there. I… I am outside the universe.”
“I think Syklas exiled you from your own universe to save you from dying to her finite universe’s laws. She’s done things to you though. She stripped you of who you were, remade you and turned you into both nothing and everything.”
Helkas stared at the being, not at all understanding what he had just been told. After a moment, he looked down at his hands. “I think I was made younger. How I was before I became… became… uh… before… before She…”
“I can somewhat relate. Coming out here, I stopped being Arkadin, the Thantophor, the god of death and decay, and I turned back into Arkay, the person I was when I was mortal. Maybe something is happening to you? But since you weren’t fucked over by a completely evil person, it seems that Syklas let you go calmly and peacefully, and rejuvenated you somewhat, then kicked you out of your universe to stop you from dying.”
“You… you seem to know way too much….” Helkas sighed.
“Unfortunately…”
The being sighed. Helkas sighed as well.
“Anyway, we have a problem now. Your… whole thing of existing… well… Normally, when someone leaves their universe, they become a Decayling. But because you were soul-severed, you were torn apart and put back together in a certain way, you… you’re not just a Decayling, you’re something special. Unfortunately, you’re a Synaisthyn.”
“Like you, yes?” Helkas frowned.
“Yes.”
“Huh. I guess mummy was right. I wasn’t the only special one. There were some before me.”
The being seemed concerned by those words, and also seemed to have a lot of questions. But they were struggling on which question to ask first.
“Some?”
“Three. I think. Only one of those was made by mummy though. Or… um… I don’t know… My memories are weird. And I think mummy made me into a kid again. Or at least… a juvenile. I was old before I came out here.”
“… Fuck…” the being cursed under their breath. “So how old do you think you are?”
Helkas inspected himself again. “I was sixteen when I was killed. I don’t know if I am there again.”
“Well… I had just turned twenty five when I died and got completely and utterly torn apart by Kinisis… You’re going to need some help as you grow and develop. And I think I have to offer you that help. But don’t worry too much. Things won’t be as rough as the last two times a Synaisthyn Decayling was found.”
“You’ll help me?” Helkas exclaimed. “Thank you! Thank you so much! Also, you never told me your name. My name’s Helkas!”
The being smiled a little. “My name’s Arkay. You’re gonna be fine, kid.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’ll make sure of it.”