“So, uh, how are we going to do this?” Arkay asked as he and his trio sat in their office, having been recently teleported to Deathven’s private sanctum and teleported home again with a new mission. “Because I don’t know these guys that well.”
“I do not know…” Retvik grunted. “We cannot be too obvious. I do not know if the Great Blades themselves know that they are currently under some of Deathven’s suspicions. We may need to be stealthy about this.”
“Surely they have some idea though? They speak to this Kengana guy, they must know something is up?” Arkay was unsure about Retvik’s thoughts. And he didn’t really want to do stealth stuff.
“I could just call Psehon?” Litvir suggested.
“Hm, perhaps we should speak to Kengana first and get some information…” Retvik continued. “If this is to be done in a stealthy manner, we need as much information as possible.”
“I am just going to call Psehon.”
“But does Kengana know that Deathven has concerns about the Great Blades?” Arkay kept on asking. “Are we going about this the wrong way? Does it have to be done with stealth?”
“I assume he does. Otherwise how would Deathven know there were problems?”
“I am calling Psehon.”
A ring tone distracted both Arkay and Retvik. Retvik suddenly realised that Litvir was just doing whatever he wanted and was ignoring Retvik and his plans.
“Hm. Turns out that Psehon is busy…” Litvir tutted. “I think I will call Phos instead.”
Retvik eyed Litvir. Litvir eyed Retvik back.
“Are you going to be that obvious?”
Litvir nodded. “Of course! We are the Phantai’s closest allies. And the Phantai owe us. I am just going to call them and speak to them and ask if we can visit.”
“That is far too obvious.”
“It is not!” Litvir tutted some more. “I want to take Arkay to that nice mall in the Goldtorn Remains again. We are passing through the area, I thought we could pop by and see our fellow Named Trio! Lying is very easy when there is a hint of truth to it! And the best way to work out what is wrong with our allies is to simply speak to them in a normal, friendly manner!”
Retvik continued to eye Litvir. Litvir decided to ignore Retvik and turn to Arkay. “Do I have a point?”
Arkay just shrugged. “Yeah. And, in all honesty? I haven’t got any better ideas. We need to speak to them anyway, might as well be nice about it. Worst case scenario, while Retvik reintroduces me to them, you can do some telepathic sleuthing.”
Retvik stopped eyeing Litvir and eyed Arkay. “You are on Litvir’s side?”
“He’s right. We can’t be spying on allies. At least, not right off the bat.”
Retvik went back to eyeing Litvir. Litvir ignored Retvik completely and picked up his communicator again, calling someone else. This time, someone picked up.
“Hello, Lightblade speaking.”
“Hello, Phos!” Litvir smiled. “How are you?”
“Oh, hello, Souldrainer! We are… well, I think. Do you need something?”
Litvir quickly noticed that hesitation, but over the phone, he couldn’t quite work out how good or bad the hesitation was. He needed more information first.
“Not at all! I was just wondering, are you three busy?”
“Why… why are you asking?”
More uncertainty. That was a little concerning.
“Well, Retvik, Arkay and I are heading to that nice mall in the Goldtorn Remains to buy a few bits and pieces-”
“Is there not already a mall in the Kinigian Wilderness?”
Litvir grunted. “That mall has a habit of not letting Arkay in because he is a Synaisthyn. The mall in your territories is much friendlier and, frankly, has far more in it. Including a nice restaurant which I want to take my partners to. That is beside the point though. I was wondering, since we are passing through, it would be nice to meet up with you three?”
“Huh. That would be nice. But why?”
“We are friends, are we not? Plus, it has been a while since we last saw you, and Arkay wishes to get to know you a bit better. After all, he has not even met Telin yet, outside of a brief thing during that silly Justarian party.”
Lightblade seemed to trail off briefly. Litvir was picking up uncertainty but also curiosity and a desire for a bit of change.
“Hm. That is a good point. And it has been a while since I have seen you fine specimens. Do you wish to stop by before or after your mall trip?”
“Probably before, since we pass by you first.”
Lightblade’s tone swiftly perked up. “Wonderful! I will let Voidblade and Soulblade know, and have the Loopblades send you our roaming ship coordinates for the next thirty hours, you can pop by whenever you please! Who am I sending coordinates to?”
Litvir glanced at Retvik and Arkay, then answered. “You can send them to me or Retvik directly.”
“Good, good. It is always good to see you little heroes. I shall see you soon, then?”
“Within thirty hours!”
“Great! Speak soon!”
Lightblade rather abruptly ended the call. Litvir hesitated for a moment, then thought to himself.
“So… initial thoughts?” Arkay asked.
“Initial thoughts, Phos is a little unhappy, a little worried and somewhat horny. But I do not think the problem with the Great Blades comes from him, I think it concerns the others. We will find out when we get there though. The Great Blades have always been blunt and honest with us, and I think Phos or Psehon will quickly let us know what their issues are.”
Satisfied with Litvir’s answer, Arkay clapped his hands together. “Alright. We’ve got a plan then. Shall we get going?”
Retvik grunted. “Fine, fine. I do not like this obvious plan though.”
“It’s way better than whatever stealth nonsense you were thinking of.”
Retvik grunted some more, then relented. “A fair point. Let me go and get one of my nice armour sets. Maybe afterwards we can go to that mall anyway and go to one of the fancy restaurants. For real.”
“Good idea!” Arkay beamed as he grabbed Retvik’s hand and dragged him off. “Let’s pick something nice to wear! We’re going to have FUN on a silly mission for once!”