Litvir sighed to themselves as they wiped golden blood off their face. They didn’t like killing these Voidborn intruders, but that seemed to be the only way of stopping them from breaking into the universe properly and killing everyone. Litvir had become efficient at killing the intruders, essentially blinding them with bright lights then focusing that light into a laser beam to cut off the Voidborn’s head and limbs, but today’s intruder was rather… wet and explode-y.
At least, today, Litvir hadn’t been forced to miss a class. School had just finished, so all the other students were heading either to the small canteen to get snacks, to the study hall for homework, to the playground and outdoors recreation area or back to their personal quarters. Litvir had managed to slip away unnoticed, but now they needed a shower to clean themselves up, and they didn’t want to have to sneak into the bathing areas in the state they were in. Did Voidborn blood even come off normal clothing? Litvir wasn’t sure.
Thankfully, a friendly face and a potential solution to Litvir’s current problems called out from somewhere behind Litvir.
“Heya, friend, you alright?” Aster asked as he slowly approached.
Litvir immediately smiled. They liked Aster. “Hello! I had to deal with a nasty voidthingy. What are you doing here?”
“I came to relieve you of your duties. You are not on border patrol today.”
“I am not?”
“No, no, change of schedule. Elkay and I had a chat with Dalosisaar, and we all agreed that, since you are juggling school and godhood, you need some more time off.”
“But I have-”
Aster gently raised his hand, signalling for Litvir to calm down.
“Only you and Kohra have educational worries, because you’re both children. We’re giving Kohra time off, since he wants to continue with his university studies and work towards a PhD, and you need to get your education certificate so you can apply for standard Rethan utilities and housing.”
“But what… what about this?” Litvir gestured around. There were some stitches along the side of the universe, where Litvir had kicked out the Voidborn’s remains and sewn up the hole it had made.
“Syksis offered to cover this shift of yours, she said she needs to do more protection duties anyway.”
“Oh… That is… very kind of them… her. Very kind…” Litvir paused, then looked up at Aster. Well, more directly at him. Aster wasn’t a particularly tall Lanex, but Litvir, despite physically being a teenager, was taller than the average Rethan. “Is there… something going on? Normally Kyr Nanik uses her telepathy to tell me things.”
Aster shrugged, then nodded. “You’d be right. I specifically came here to get you because I wanted to invite you to your Trimeni.”
“My… my what?”
“Your Three-Monther.”
Litvir clearly didn’t get what Aster was talking about. Aster quickly realized that, while Litvir was curious, they were also a little… slow, and there was very little chance that they would know of Lanexian traditions.
“Alright, I guess I’ll explain. Litvir, do you understand how Lanex have babies?”
“I barely know how Rethans have babies, outside of the mummy laying an egg and it being looked after in a nursery with other eggs until it hatches…” Litvir stopped, then thought for a moment. “Do Lanex lay eggs?”
“No. Lanex women hold the unborn baby inside their womb until they are ready to be born. But us Lanex evolved weird, and we… uh…” Aster hesitated a little. “Well… it’s hard to explain. The womb is kinda like an egg, but, before the fetus gets too large, the embryonic sac containing the baby is ejected from the body and connected to the womb proper by a very, very long umbilical cord.”
Litvir still didn’t get it. Mostly because Litvir didn’t know what a womb, an embryonic sac or an umbilical cord were.
“Okay, I’ll put it more simply. Lanex babies often die before they are born. Our successful birth rates are atrocious. And even if the Lanex baby survives being born, there’s still a high risk of them dying, until they reach their Three-Monther. If a Lanex baby makes it to three months old, they are very likely to grow up into an adult. And we all have a big celebration, which we call a Trimeni.”
Litvir blinked some more. “What does that have to do with me having some time off?”
“I wanted to celebrate your Trimeni with you. You’re three months old now, we should celebrate!”
Finally, Litvir understood. “You want to celebrate me being three months old. Is that… not a little… odd? I am not a Lanex. I am, apparently, about 15 or 16 years old.”
“Physically, you’re a teenager, but you are literally three months old today. For a Perpetual Abyssian like me, reaching three months old is a MAJOR event!”
“Why?”
Aster sighed. He was beginning to understand why Elkay would occasionally get annoyed at Litvir. “Because, firstly, Perpetual Abyssians have even worse birth rates and even higher child mortality rates than normal Lanex, and normal Lanex aren’t in great shape either. But secondly, I wanted to do something nice for you.”
Litvir tilted their head to one side. “I have already reached my quota of nice things though.”
Aster blinked, completely confused by what Litvir had just said. “There isn’t a quota when it comes to nice things.”
“I had nice things happen. I do not need any more.”
“Alright, you’re being stupid now. You’re a hard-working kid, all you’ve done since you’ve been born is juggle your responsibilities and taking the occasional break.”
“I had a break on the weekend. It was… also technically a punishment because I punched a bully, but still…”
Aster crossed his arms and made an angry clicking sound. “I just wanted to make you happy and you are genuinely talking nonsense. There’s no such thing as a quota for happiness or sadness or anything. You’re a baby, you don’t get things, and I’m giving you a new opportunity to do something fun and be happy, regardless of whether you did fun and happy things recently.”
“Oh…” Litvir fell silent. “I am sorry. I did not get it. I… I am still learning these things.”
“It’s fine, Litvir. Sorry for calling you stupid.”
“Well, it is true. I am stupid. Big stupid baby.”
Aster shook his head. “You’re not stupid. You’re learning. But seriously, come with me. I asked the Allmaker if I could borrow her magical hall of refillable food and drinks, and I got you a Three-Monther cake.”
“A cake?”
“Yep.”
“What… what sort of cake?” Litvir was curious now.
“Chocolate brownie cake with vanilla ice cream.”
Litvir perked up. “I like that.”
Aster took Litvir by the hand, then realized he’d gotten Voidborn blood all over himself.
“Alright, let’s get you cleaned up first, then we go and have some cake. I’ll even ask the others if they want to come.”
“I would like that. Thank you, Aster.”
“No worries, Litvir! Happy Trimeni!”