“You seem a little annoyed right now.”
Psiksi sat down next to his little brother. He and Eksi were the same age, almost exactly, they and their two older brothers, Arksi and Thitaksi, were quadruplets and somehow managed to hatch all at the same time. Arksi was always considered the oldest, but Psiksi and Eksi occasionally swapped the position of who was the youngest.
But back when they were mortal, it was Psiksi who was given the biggest new opportunity. The old Dessaron had been missing a fourth member ever since their yellow-plated Skyavok member died, and Psiksi offered the chance to fill that void.
Eksi had always been envious, but he had admittedly calmed down after accepting a secret job as a guard at a Life Oasis built on the top of the universe. He’d never told anyone, and, after the death of Kinisis, he assumed all his brothers were gone forever.
Psiksi though had survived. Somewhat miraculously. And the only reason the two younger siblings were united was sheer dumb luck. Right now, both of them were sitting at a picnic bench on a floating island in the middle of an eternal void.
“Ugh. I am, actually!” Eksi sighed. “I feel inadequate currently.”
Psiksi glanced around, trying to work out why Eksi was upset. But he couldn’t immediately spot anything. “Uh, why?”
Eksi tutted, then glanced over his shoulder. Behind him, Litvir and Kuta were having a quiet, telepathic conversation while eating some sort of battered and fried chicken. Psiksi also glanced over, but again, he didn’t know what Eksi was annoyed about.
“Still not getting it.”
Eksi tutted. “It sounds really fucking stupid, but I’m pretty certain my position of Master Psion is at risk.”
“Uh…” Psiksi was still confused. “Your telepathy is insanely powerful and, more importantly, fast. With a really good range as well. I don’t think anyone’s looking to steal your position.”
“I feel like they might. It’s no longer just my auras and Litvir’s telepathy any more.”
Psiksi shrugged. “You already have multiple telepaths here. Teekay and I have natural Skyan telepathy, the little robot guys have their own network, pretty sure the old Thantophor also has telepathy, and Elkay has telepathy like ours, but he doesn’t borrow your telepathy.”
“It’s not any of them I’m worried about.”
“Why? Talok’s more about telekinesis than telepathy, and Nyssi is still learning. She’s not stealthy at all, the way you are.”
“They ain’t the problem either.”
Psiksi tutted, then glanced back again. He’d just spotted the two Rethan twins. “You’re… worried about Kuta?”
“Yep.”
“But… why? Kuta didn’t seem any more powerful than Litvir is.”
Eksi tutted, loudly. “Litvir openly admitted that Kuta is more powerful than him. Like, way more powerful. But not very stable. All power, no finesse. But Kuta won’t be like that forever. Slowly, they’ll work out how to better control themselves. And when they do? They’re going to want a piece of the Master Psion pie.”
Psiksi just shrugged. “I really think you’re overthinking things. Kuta isn’t a threat to you.”
“Their telepathy is insanely good. Their telekinesis is also very good. Which is annoying because telekinesis is my one weak point. I think we’re about even on summoning psionic items, but Kuta, without any psionic powers, is way stronger physically than I am.”
“Well, duh, of course, Kuta is a Rethan and we’re Skyans. But I really, really think that all of this is a non-issue.”
Eksi tutted some more. “It might not be an issue now, but once they’re all Decay Lords, we’ll all be on equal terms. And at that point, Kuta will probably have the same level of finesse that Litvir has. When we all did our Decay Lord trials, I think we ALL also gained some extra strength too.”
Psiksi tilted his head to one side, then sipped his drink. “You did?”
“Yeah.”
“I always thought I felt weaker after I did my Decay Lord trial. The Alsyr’s head psions are all very strict, and I found my telepathy was always suppressed. If anything, my telepathy has improved since I left the Alsyr and joined you lot…” Psiksi trailed off briefly. “Or maybe I’m just more settled down or something now, and that’s kinda allowed my telepathy to come back.”
“You know what? Probably!” Eksi exclaimed. “When we were sheltering with the Phantai, they definitely had a telepathic network that weakened lower-ranked Phantai soldiers. Admittedly… I kinda hijacked that network, so the rest of the Thantir could blow up that Voidborn mother ship without the Phantai interfering.”
Psiksi eyed Eksi somewhat. “That’s a douche-bag thing to do.”
“I didn’t cause any damage, and I fixed up the hole where I sneaked in once I was done with everything and everyone else returned. We did the Phantai a massive favour.”
“I guess…” Psiksi relaxed slightly. “But I really think you’re worrying about nothing.”
“Kuta is a threat.”
“Only in your head.”
“They’ll take my position away from me!” Eksi hissed. “Kuta has the means to do so.”
“Yeah, but, like you said, Kuta doesn’t have very good control. They have weaknesses. And, frankly? On the telepathic battle field? You’re stronger. Raw power doesn’t go very far.”
“True…” Eksi trailed off. “Alright, this sounds really stupid. But maybe I should just… challenge Kuta to battle?”
Psiksi went back to staring at Eksi. “That’s stupid.”
“I have to prove a point, to prove that I’m the Master Psion around here!”
“You already ARE the Master Psion here. Everyone accepts that. There’s nothing to prove!”
Eksi frowned. “They accept that for now. It’ll change. Especially after the new Decaylings become Decay Lords like us.”
“Yeah, for now. IF Kuta decides to challenge you, if anyone does, you’ll know all about it. And I’m certain Kuta won’t challenge you. They’re strong, sure, but Kuta has more important things on their mind. And they probably don’t even care. Kuta doesn’t want or need to prove anything.”
Eksi took a deep breath, then settled down. “Ugh… You’re absolutely right. Kuta, Nyssi and Talok have all already accepted that I’m the Master Psion around here.”
“They’re good folks. Everyone here is good. You just worried over nothing!” Psiksi smiled.
“Yeah…”
Eksi was about to reply properly, but he suddenly picked up something odd. Some telepathic thoughts from elsewhere. Eksi glanced behind him and noticed that Litvir had rushed off to the main offices.
“You feel that too?” Psiksi asked.
“Yep. That’s a lot of concern…” Eksi tutted, then got up. “I’m going to go and see if Litvir is alright.”
“Sure thing!” Psiksi patted Eksi on the shoulder. “Come back when you’re done, because it’s nice chatting with you again.”
“I will. Back in a bit…”