“You have returned early. Impossibly early.”
Kuta bowed deeply as they entered the grand hall, pausing to watch as the High General’s small army of advisors marched out. They then made their way further in, standing before the High General themselves, yet again bowing. While Kuta Tieridos may have been one of the senior Generals in the Stratos, the Rethan military, they knew they needed to show the utmost respect to their leader.
“Indeed I am. Unfortunate events caused me to be separated from the ten vok I had with me, and I have already arranged to bring them back.”
The High General wasn’t the one who had spoken though. To their side was the High Advisor, the highest non-military rank one could obtain, equal to Kuta’s own rank. Relkir Rethianos was the sibling to the High General, and had served their sibling for their entire life.
“I think you had better explain yourself, General Kuta!” Relkir hissed, although Kuta did not find them threatening. Really, they had a lot in common, being shorter than average and having unnaturally coloured eyes. However, Relkir barely fit in their governmental red and black armour, while Kuta had always been rather muscular, even while armour-less.
“Well, it is quite simple. Your exiled sibling has a direct line of contact with the Deathbringer. Retvik Rethianos’s companions saw me as a threat, they summoned their godly ally, and I found myself teleported away to, rather unusually, somewhere within Banikan territories, before being teleported back home.”
After a moment of thought, the High General got off their throne and approached Kuta. They stepped around Kuta, inspecting them up and down.
“Kuta, dear, do you know why I sent you personally on this mission?”
Kuta shook their head. “If I am honest, High General, no, I am not sure why. Your sibling has never shown any abnormal talents outside of traits from the Rethianos Tradition.”
“I wanted someone covert to sneak in, get the information I needed, then get out.”
“You asked me to speak directly with Retvik Rethianos. That is not covert in any way.”
“You can walk through shadows.”
Kuta tutted. “Kyr Rethais, I do not think you understand, your sibling has a deity as a phone contact.”
“Hence why we sent you!” Relkir butted in. “We are aware that our exiled sibling has connections. We sent you because you are one of the few individuals who would potentially be able to escape SHOULD the Oath Keeper show up.”
“Well… you could have told me that…” Kuta sighed. “That begs a different question though. Why was this information not privy to me? I am, after all, the General of Hidden Affairs, this should have been available to the Below Twenty Legions, at the very least to us Generals.”
The High General grunted, then patted Kuta on the shoulder, before returning to their throne. “We have been keeping this above top secret. Between my High Advisor and myself. If the common vok were to know that the exiled sibling of the High General themselves was so… close to a deity, it could spell disaster.”
“We admittedly also wished to test whether the Oath Keeper cared about more Rethans than just the Rethianos family. So we sent one of the scariest Rethavok we could find. After all, General Kuta, you are, to put it nicely, rather scary, vrykolakic and unattractive.”
Kuta turned their attention to Relkir, crossing their arms in unamusement. “Firstly, that is rather hypocritical of you, High Advisor, we both have problems with our appearances, which I embrace and you hide behind your armour. Secondly, the Deathbringer said he saw me as somewhat attractive and he has a thing for Rethans with oddly coloured eyes. Thirdly, you have met the Deathbringer in person too, have you not, Relkir?”
“How do you kn-”
“You mentioned the Rethianos family, and not just Retvik. You could have used a variety of words, including “one Rethan”, “our exiled sibling” or even just Retvik’s name. But you specifically mentioned your family, which you would not have done had you not met this deity before. There is also the whole “oddly coloured eyes” thing, which I have just put together now, since you do not have the traditional Rethianos Red.”
Relkir visible shrank, feeling outed and exposed. Kuta simply tutted.
“I acquired the information you requested. I did not do so in a manner in which I would have liked, but I obtained it anyway. Retvik Rethianos is not a threat, nor do they have any unnatural abilities outside of the extended life and healing traits that we all saw the Allbirther gift them. The Thantophor also requested that I tell you that he is still working towards assisting us with our Torr problem, but he cannot do anything until the Lady of Light is fully healed up. Arkay also explained that-”
“Arkay?” the High General interrupted. “You speak of the Deathbringer on a first name basis?”
“Retvik does!” was Kuta’s blunt reply. “Arkay and I spoke for quite a long time on a long list of subjects. Apparently the wave of depression washing over our populace is directly caused by the Lady of Light and Her injures, and the Lanex are having similar difficulties. Luckily, the Thantophor says that the Panelix is healing up nicely, and he… offered me some rather… unusual opinions…” Kuta paused, then smiled. “Arkay believes that the Rethianos Tradition is stupid.”
The High General and the High Advisor both glanced at each other. After all, they were both the current descendants of the Rethianos Tradition, and the idea that a deity disliked that made them both very concerned.
“Could you please… elaborate further, Kuta?” Rethais snarled. There was an ever so slight tremor in the voice of a being that rarely showed anything other than stoicism and occasionally anger.
“He said that, according to the Allbirther, while the Rethianos Tradition is an interesting idea, the genetic traits bred from your bloodline are of no use to the greater proliferation of our species if we do not allow those improved traits to spread. The Allbirther would rather that the Rethianoi produce more kids and dilute the generic purity but allow the traits we have created to flourish, rather than wasting them on exactly two, or in your case, three individuals. Really, you three should be producing as many kids as possible.”
The High General growled, almost leaping out from their seat. However, Relkir awkwardly tapped them on the shoulder, suggesting that they calm down.
“Is there anything else you wish to know?” Kuta asked politely.
“No, that is everything, General Kuta!” Relkir was doing their best to try and keep the situation tame. “Please leave this room and return to your duties.”
“Very well. Thank you for your time, Relkir, Kyr Rethais.”
Kuta bowed, then made their way over to the closest shadow, stepping through it, mostly just to show off. They reappeared in the darkest corner of their office, specifically kept away from light for convenience. However, Kuta instantly noticed that they were not alone.
“Hiya!”
“Uh, hello, Arkay…”
The Thantophor was leaning on Kuta’s desk, smiling eerily. “How was your meeting?”
“Could have gone better. I admit I am not a fan of the current High General. Why are you here?”
“I, uh, wanted to see if you were busy…” Arkay admitted.
Kuta tutted. “I have work, dear Thantophor. I am a busy General after all.”
“When do you finish work?”
“Why do you ask?”
Was that a hint of nervousness Kuta spotted?
“I’d… like to ask you out on a date. One with less randomly teleporting you across the universe because my four only friends messaged me considering you a threat.”
Kuta thought to themselves for a moment. “You really seem to like me, Arkay.”
Arkay nodded awkwardly. “I do. And you also bypass my rules about dating mortals, because, well, you know, you’re accidentally immortal. But also, my job as the God of Death is generally pretty lonely and I’m trying to change that.”
“Well, I would love to help you in making those changes…” Kuta quickly checked the calendar on his desk. “I do not finish until 19:00 though.”
“That’s fine!” Arkay’s awkwardness melted away, replaced with an almost childlike glee. “I’ll come pick you up at 19:15 then?”
“Sure,” Kuta bowed, sitting down at his desk and switching on his computer. “See you then, Arkay. Is there anything else you need?”
“Nah. See you later!”
“See you later…” Kuta looked up, only to realize that the Thantophor was already gone. “… Huh. Curious.”