“Do you ever wish the skies were less empty?”
Letharus glanced at Vick as they leaned on the small balcony round the back of the little pub. Things had been rather busy during opening hours, more so than usual, and Vick was glad he could finally lock up for the day. But Vick couldn’t have dealt with all those customers had Letharus not been present to help out. It turned out, telekinesis was a pretty useful skill to have. Now that all the work was done, Vick could relax a bit and just stare out into the darkness, with his new girlfriend by his side.
“What do you mean?” Letharus asked. “We live in a vast void between universes.”
“Yeah I know. But sometimes it feels so bleak. Especially here in the Ventra Expanse. Aren’t even that many universes around here.”
Letharus shrugged. “I suppose. I am much more used to the darkness though.”
“Really? With that pretty bright white and purple plating?”
“No, I more mean, the universe I… I… lived in… It was all very dark anyway. Us Astravok were the only real source of light, battling against the darkness and the monstrous Skotavok that ruled whatever territories we did not rule ourselves. Well… up until… uh…”
Letharus suddenly seemed to lose all confidence in himself. Vick immediately noticed this and put an arm around him.
“It’s fine. Most people who visit are in the same boat as you. We’re all unhomed out here.”
“Most people are not responsi-”
Vick knew what Letharus was about to say and put a finger to his lips.
“It’s not your fault.”
“You do not know what I am going to say.”
“I can guess though. You feel that you’re to blame in some way. You got caught up in a dark web and you were manipulated by the deities that should have protected you. Dear, I am certain you are not to blame. Not completely. Especially since you were mortal once.”
Letharus sighed. “I suppose you are correct.”
“I am correct!” Vick smirked. “Not about everything, but definitely about this.”
“What happened to your universe then?”
That smirk quickly faded. “I… actually don’t know.”
“You do not?”
Vick shrugged. “All I remember is this tall, blue being, like me but not. He was a shapeshifter. Shoved me into some cold pod thing and… I guess he shot me out of my universe? There’s a massive gap, but, at some point, the Ventra found me and trained me to be a Decay Lord. But I was just a lowly member who did the tidying and cleaning and stuff.”
“Did you do a Decay Lord Trial?” Letharus asked.
Vick nodded. “Yeah. Wasn’t too hard though, there were ten of us and we just destroyed a lot of Corruption.”
Letharus sighed again. “I was pitted against a Voidborn, on my own. I… admittedly lost my mind and tore the Voidborn apart.”
“Because you were enslaved by one, I assume.”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Vick frowned briefly. “I’m sorry about letting Theocydes being a regular. I had no idea.”
Letharus tutted. “It is not your fault in the slightest. The last time I saw Theocydes, he congratulated me for becoming a Decay Lord, gave me a massive golden sword and apologized. I just cannot accept that apology though.”
“And that is absolutely fine.”
Letharus paused, then turned to face Vick properly. “What do you mean?”
“You shouldn’t have to accept an apology. Some things can’t be forgiven, and what that bastard did you is one of those unforgivable things that an apology will never change or fix.”
After a long, drawn out breath, Letharus smiled a little. “I… I appreciate your words. After you sent Theocydes away, I wondered if I was being overdramatic, if I was somehow in the wrong. But I understand better now. You are right, I should never accept his apologies.”
Vick went back to smiling, and put a hand on Letharus’s back. Letharus smiled a little as well, but he was suddenly drawn to a new conversation. Well, it wasn’t a new conversation, Letharus just realized how insanely derailed their conversation had gone.
“Vick?”
“Yes?”
“You said earlier that you wished that the skies were less empty. What do you mean by that?”
“Well…” Vick thought for a moment. “I don’t remember much at all from when I was mortal. Pretty much nothing. But I do remember that the skies were filled with twinkling stars at night. And I am vaguely reminded that I spent time with… five other people, I think. We were lost, we were cold, but we had lit a campfire and were just staring at the stars together. This reminds me of that stray memory. Spending time, gazing into the darkness, just happy to be alive.”
“Sounds charming.”
“I think it was. I kinda wish I remembered who they were. I think three of them died not long after, and, the other two, I think one of them was the same blue shapeshifter who threw me into a pod and shot me out of my universe.”
Letharus tutted. “Pretty much no one escaped my universe either. Just those that Theocydes enslaved.”
“Yeah, I don’t think many folks survived my universe either. If they did, they would probably be inside capsules like I was. Or maybe the shapeshifter guy was a deity or something… I don’t know… Does make me curious though. Maybe long lost friends or something.”
“Hmph. I did not have friends.”
“You do now though!” Vick was smiling again. “You have me! And we make each other so damn happy.”
“We do, yes!” Letharus found that Vick’s smile was infectious. “You are an amazing person, Vick.”
“So are you, Letharus! Don’t sell yourself short!”
Letharus smiled some more, then hugged Vick tightly. “I love you, Vick. I love you so much.”
“Aw, you are such a little sweetie!” Vick hugged Letharus back. “I love you too. Everything has been amazing since you arrived.”
“It sure has,” Letharus grinned. “It sure has…”