Arkay wasn’t feeling right. He was tired and angry and hungry. Mostly the latter two. Arkay’s problems were made worse by the fact that, over the previous week, he and his fellow Decay Lords had run into all sorts of problematic little things. Ship parts randomly breaking down, communications failing randomly, the food and drink supply randomly not working. It had not been fun, and Arkay still was unable to make his favourite comfort food.
What was bothering Arkay the most though was how everyone else seemed to be coping fine. They’d happily sorted through all the random problems and were now patiently waiting for Arkay to give them an answer. An answer to the several job offers they had been sent.
Arkay had blown them off for a couple of days though. He needed to think about those job offers. Really, he should have just said no to both of them. Conflicts of interest everywhere. The first was a job offer from Kinisis, the Life Goddess that had, essentially, created Arkay. It wasn’t anything special. She just wanted a handful of Decay Lords to act as bouncers for her new project. She was clearly bored of universes and instead was building a Life Oasis, until she got new… inspiration.
However, Arkay despised Kinisis. As far as Arkay was concerned, she was the reason why Arkay was a small, repressed, permanently angry little monster. That was why he didn’t want to accept that offer.
The other offer was from a Life Goddess called Athanatea, who wanted some body guards while she worked on the seeds for a new universe. Except the problem was, Athanatea was Kinisis’s sibling, and they knew each other well. Most likely, any issues they’d have with Kinisis would be as bad as, or potentially worse with Athanatea.
“Have you made a decision yet?” Retvik asked as he peered into Arkay’s room. Arkay had forgotten that he’d left the door open.
“About the offers?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to do either of them.”
Retvik seemed somewhat displeased by Arkay’s answer. “Oh, I see.”
“What, you wanted me to accept one of them?” Arkay grunted, rocking in his chair. “It’s a major conflict of interest. Kinisis is my step-mother, Athanatea is my step-mother’s sister. I don’t want anything to do with them.”
“But…” Retvik frowned, then stopped, changing his mind. “I will go and inform the others. But we are a democracy in here. And Galyn may-”
“I don’t care what Galyn thinks!” Arkay snapped. “I’m not accepting either of those offers! I can’t! If anything, it’s morally wrong to do so!”
“Do you still hold that much anger towards Kinisis?”
Arkay hesitated, quietening down a little. “Uh… No, I don’t want… I’m not angry. I just want to stay away from her. For both our sakes.”
Retvik shrugged. “You do not know Athanatea though.”
“Might be better. Might be worse. Still potentially a conflict of interest.”
“Is it a conflict of interest when this Life Goddess probably does not even know who you are or that you even exist?”
Arkay gave Retvik a funny look. “Are you trying to talk me into taking one of these jobs?”
“Somewhat,” Retvik admitted. “We need something to do. Kuta needs work experience. We need to get off this ship for a bit. I am itching to stretch my legs, even if it is basic guard duty. I completely understand not wanting to work for Kinisis, but I do feel you are pre-judging this other Life Goddess that we do not even know. You did not recall that she was related to Kinisis until Galyn pointed it out anyway.”
“True…” Arkay sighed. “Maybe… maybe it won’t be as bad as I expect…”
Retvik stepped into the room and gently patted Arkay on the back. “I am sure it will be fine. It is just guard duty after all. And you could do with a break from this little bedroom as well.”
“Yeah, I guess… It’ll probably be fine…”