There were shards of silver and large drops of blood everywhere. A Voidborn had decided to try and break in right at the bottom of the universe, catching Aster completely off guard. Of course, Aster tried to fight back, but this particular Voidborn was both very large and hit very hard.
After a rather nasty punch to the face, which somewhat dislodged Aster’s mask, Aster was beginning to struggle, and struggled harder as the Voidborn grabbed Aster by the arm and started tearing off parts of his armour. Aster tried to concentrate on using his gravity powers to crush the Voidborn’s body, but somehow, this Voidborn had resisted Aster’s powers. It claimed to be a “Son of Ahkron” and they wanted revenge for something. Aster wasn’t sure. Either way, he was struggling and needed help.
The Voidborn smiled, then drew blood. Aster started flailing as the Voidborn clawed at his arm. But that smile and the Voidborn both suddenly faded. In a blinding flash of light, the Voidborn’s arm was severed from its body, and something pushed Aster back, away from the rest of the Voidborn. The Voidborn struggled to fight back against whatever caused the flash, but all their senses seemed to have been scrambled. Whatever had caused the flash was now scratching at the Voidborn, tearing it apart and ripping it to shreds. Its head was then cut off and smashed apart by some awful clawed hands.
With its head removed, the Voidborn swiftly died. But there was sheer anger still clawing at the Voidborn’s now headless and armless body, anger that wasn’t going away.
Finally able to reorientate himself, Aster fixed his mask then turned to see what was going on. Litvir had teleported in to save Aster and beat back the nasty Voidborn. Normally though, Litvir would just quickly use light lasers to cut all the limbs off an invading Voidborn, but there was a lot of anguish and insanity in Litvir’s attack. In fact, Litvir had torn the entire Voidborn into pieces. Aster tried to approach, but he quickly backed off, realising that Litvir was in some sort of frenzy. Neither Aster nor Litvir seemed to know what was going on, and Aster was genuinely worried that Litvir was going a bit over the top.
Becoming genuinely worried, Aster turned on his telepathic communicator and called his fellow deities. Namely Nanik, who could more easily call others for aid. Nanik’s response was quick, and, after only ten seconds, she had sent Aster’s location to Syksis and Elkay.
Syksis appeared first, mostly because she just happened to be closer. She immediately inspected the situation, then took note of Litvir and their actions, who was only just slowing down.
“Were they like this from the start?” Syksis asked.
“I’m not sure, I couldn’t see anything. Litvir just burst in, looked at me and started ripping and tearing.”
“Did they say anything?”
“No, not a word.”
Syksis frowned, thought for a moment then decided to edge closer to Litvir. “Alright. Aster, stay back, and get Kohra and Nanik on the line. Should be fine, but we may need someone small and cute. I’m going to try and calm Litvir down myself, but if that doesn’t work, Nanik will have to telepathically make Litvir stop.
“Understood.”
With another frown, Syksis slowly got closer, inching her way towards Litvir, while making sure she was definitely within Litvir’s field of view. However, she waited for a moment, until Litvir was done destroying most of the Voidborn. Syksis quickly noticed how hard Litvir was trying to breathe, and that they seemed to be shaking and shivering, but were completely unable to talk.
“Litvir?” Syksis spoke loudly and clearly. “Litvir, are you okay?”
Litvir looked up to see who was speaking to them. But their eyes seemed somewhat glazed over. They were staring at Syksis but not quite understanding who they were.
“Litvir, it’s me, Syksis. We are friends.”
The young Rethan deity was now completely focused on Syksis. Syksis hoped that was a good thing. There was still a chance that Litvir could attack, but from the expression on Litvir’s face, they seemed more confused than anything else.
“Litvir, you did it. You protected Aster and you killed the bad Voidborn. You can come back to us now.”
Litvir didn’t really respond. They looked down at their hands, which were utterly covered in what felt like glue and gold paint. Syksis used this as a chance to get a bit closer.
“Litvir, we are safe. Aster is safe. You are safe. You did your job protecting everyone.”
Syksis kept on repeating Litvir’s name. It seemed to make them react more. At the very least, Litvir would glance up at Syksis.
“Litvir, can I come close to you?”
There was some hesitation there, in the way Litvir was positioned. But they were now looking properly at Syksis. And they weren’t growling or snarling any more. That was a very good sign.
“Litvir, do you want to pet the fluffy person?”
That question made Litvir move. They inched towards Syksis. Syksis stepped closer too, holding her arms open, showing that she wasn’t a threat. It seemed that Litvir knew this, but they couldn’t really talk.
Satisfied that Litvir wouldn’t attack her, Syksis approached Litvir properly, then threw her arms around the dazed Rethan and hugged Litvir tightly. Litvir hesitated, then hugged Syksis back, running their fingers through Syksis’s fur..
“It’s alright, Litvir. You’re a good kid. You did your job. Do you want to go to sleep?”
Litvir nodded but found they couldn’t speak.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take you somewhere where you can sleep. And Aster can come along too. Is that okay?”
Another nod. But Litvir was distracted briefly, as Elkay had arrived.
“Good work, Litvir!” Elkay smiled, well aware that Litvir wouldn’t dare attack the being they often accidentally called “mum”. Elkay glanced around and started gathering up all the bits of Voidborn. “I’ll clean up here, you all get going.”
“Will do!” Syksis remained calm. She let go of Litvir, then held their hand. “Come on, Litvir, let’s get you and Aster to some nice, soft beds. Aster, can you come with me too, please?”
Aster nodded, then took Litvir’s other hand. “Thank you for saving me, Litvir.”
Litvir glanced at Aster and nodded back, a bid to say “thank you”.
“Don’t worry, Litvir. We’ll be fine. You did well today. And you’ll be better soon.”
The young deity smiled, accepting Syksis’s and Aster’s words, then followed them both off to the nearest good place to rest.