“Hello, Kyr Rethais…”
The High General was busy looking out of the gigantic window of the Grand Hall, overlooking their almost perfect city. Rethais didn’t have any work to do, but they did have one last meeting, a social one, before they planned to head home. The voice behind them was expected but oddly timid.
“Hello, Litvir, how are you?” Rethais kindly asked. Rethais was well aware that they were a very imposing Rethan. They were powerful and muscular, even if they were of average height, and something about their voice made other Rethans do as Rethais said. This weird voice thing seemed to work on every Rethan apart from three beings – Rethais’s two siblings and the Deity of Light and Protection, who happened to be standing there.
That being said, while Litvir was immune to Rethais’s voice and ways, they seemed to fear the High General. It was probably more of an age thing though. Litvir wasn’t even a year old.
“I am doing alright, thank you. I know you are busy but I… uh… I wanted to give you something before I go to dada’s place and give dada their birthday present!”
Litvir hesitated, then stepped forward and handed Rethais a badly wrapped gift with a card on top. Rethais took the card first then inspected it. The card had been made by hand, with a drawing of some sort of family on top. It took Rethais a moment to notice, but the family was clearly clearly Rethais’s own family, with Rethais themselves in the middle. By their side was Lysar, and Litvir had also drawn Relkir, General Gath and themselves. But Litvir had also drawn Retvik, Rethais’s dead and ever-so-slightly-older sibling. The person that should have been the Bearer all along.
Rethais was pretty sure that the last Rethan on the card was Kuta. That made sense. Kuta was Retvik’s poten-partner. And the current theory was that Litvir was related to Kuta in some way.
“This is very nice.”
“Thank you. I drew it myself.”
“I see. You draw very well.”
Litvir smiled a little. Rethais opened the card and read what was written inside. Oddly, Litvir’s handwriting wasn’t as good as their drawing skills.
Dear Thie Rethais,
I hope you have a very happy birthday. Thank you for being kind to me and being kind to dada Relkir too.
A lot of love,
Litvir
Rethais glanced at Litvir and smiled. “I guess, technically, I am your aunt now.”
“Technically, yes!” Litvir smiled back.
“You have been officially adopted, yes?”
Litvir nodded. “We did it quietly. I love my new mama and dada very much. But you have been good to me as well. You helped put me in school and in a Legion and you do not look at me like I am a freak.”
“Well, one of my biggest goals and desires has been to make sure that everyone is treated equally. And you are not as freakish as you believe. Yes, the fangs are weird, but purple is a rare but natural and potential eye colour, the same way the blue eyes Relkir has are rare and natural. You are just a little skinny because you are young…” Rethais inspected Litvir some more. “But you do seem to have grown a little bit and you are more muscular now. Perhaps one day you will be as tall as General Gath.”
Litvir shrugged. “Maybe. I think I am also less like General Kuta than everyone thinks.”
“Perhaps. No one knows why Kuta was as they were. But you, we know that the higher deities made you with lots of different parts… Still, I appreciate you being here, Litvir. You are still growing and learning, but I believe you are a true Rethan as much as I am.”
“I… I like that!” Litvir beamed. “Oh. I have a present for you too.”
Litvir handed Rethais the badly wrapped gift and smiled some more. Rethais accepted it and delicately opened it up. Inside was another box, which clicked open, revealing a pen that seemed to be made out of stone.
“I made you a space rock pen!” Litvir grinned. “I found a very shiny pretty rock when I was doing my patrols, Mama Elkay said the rock was safe, so I asked Kyr Aesop to help me make it into a cool pen! Because pens are bigger and stronger than swords! Or something like…”
Litvir paused. They glanced out of the window, then suddenly pushed Rethais off their feet and onto the floor. Just as they did so, the glass pane before them shattered, and something tore through Litvir’s body, sending them sprawling to the ground as well. In the distance, some sort of tiny ship flew off and quickly vanished.
“Litvir, are you alright?” Rethais immediately picked themselves up and rushed to Litvir’s side. There was blood everywhere, and 47th Legion security all charged in to see what was going on and make sure that the High General was safe.
“Huh. This actually hurts a little bit…” Litvir sat up, then glanced down at their chest. “I also thought armour was supposed to protect you from bullets. That was a very big bullet though.”
Rethais blankly stared at the wound in the middle of Litvir’s chest. “Litvir, you… you took a bullet for me.”
“That is my job, to protect people!” Litvir smiled weakly. “I mean, I was once bitten by big mean Kairos. I think someone tried to kill you though.”
Somewhere behind Rethais and Litvir, several Below Twenty soldiers were busy trying to pry a bullet from the wall. The 47th Legion medic was trying to get Rethais out of the way so some 500th Legion doctors could tend to Litvir. But Rethais wanted to remain by Litvir’s side, to try and keep them calm and comfortable.
“Yes, it seems like they were trying to kill me. Again. Thank you though. You saved my life.”
“No need to thank me! Just doing my job!” Litvir almost giggled, weirdly being in high spirits despite the blood pouring everywhere. “Can we go to a hospital now, please?”
“Of course, my little nibling. You will be back on your feet in no time.”