Elkay hesitated as he knocked on the door. The twelve of them had rolled dice to see who would go in and of course Elkay had rolled a one. So there he was, holding a tray of drinks, knocking on the literal door of death.
“Fuck off.”
That wasn’t the response Elkay expected. The reason he was there was simple. The Thantophor had not left his bed in two days. The Death God had hardly moved. And because they had no cameras in the Thantophor’s bedroom, none of them had any idea whether he was still there. Thankfully, the rude shout meant he hadn’t escaped.
“I have energy drinks.”
“No. Fuck off.”
“I have chocolate too.”
A slight pause. Rummaging could be heard. Was the Thantophor… naked in there?
The door suddenly opened and Arkadin appeared, wearing a full set of Rethan armour. For reasons unknown, the Thantophor had been taking the form of a Rethavok and looked quite imposing, even to other Rethavok.
“Give me the chocolate please.”
Elkay did as he was told, handing over several cocoa bars. Rethavok didn’t normally eat chocolate, it was a rare treat that too much of could cause diuretic effects. The Thantophor examined the bars, sighed then started pushing the door closed. Elkay attempted to stop the door, only to end up stubbing his clawed toes.
“Excuse me!” Elkay shouted, knocking on the door again. “We wanted to talk to you.”
The door flew open again. All of Arkadin’s armour was gone and he had reverted into his more normal, Skyavok-like form.
“What the fuck do you want?”
“You have not gotten out of bed in days.”
“So?”
“We are worried about you.”
Arkadin sighed then wandered back into his bedroom. This time though he didn’t close the door. Elkay followed nervously, not sure what to expect. The bedroom was messy, but only because there were blankets and cushions everywhere. Otherwise it looked like a pretty standard Ksithan bedroom.
“Why the fuck are you worried about me?” Arkadin hissed from the bed.
“Because… Well, personally for me, I care about you. I care about this whole predicament…” Elkay explained. “You had a routine and you stopped following it.”
“I WAS STUCK IN A TIME LOOP AND YOU KNEW IT!” Arkadin suddenly shouted, throwing something at Elkay. Elkay didn’t have a chance to move but was thankful that the object was just a pillow. “I was stuck. You all fucking watched. I worked out that the only way out of the time loop was to not do anything! So here I am, not doing anything! Happy?”
“Not… really…” Elkay muttered.
Arkadin turned over, facing away from Elkay. “You’re not my friends any more. You’re my prison guards.”
“Can we not be both?”
“No. You can’t. You have an ulterior motive.”
“You did threaten to kill us all.”
“Yeah. I know…” Arkadin hissed again. “I fucked up there. Kinda happens when you get mind-raped. Never thought I’d experience that personally, but oh well, guess I paid the price for that.”
“You have just been sitting here, feeling sorry for yourself, have you not?” Elkay tutted. “Sitting here whinin-”
“WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?” Arkadin roared, throwing himself out of bed. “Tell me, little Elkay, what would you want me to do? I am trapped in here, cold and alone and in pain. Stuck inside a box, limiting my contact with the rest of the universe outside of the barest necessary functions. Do you know what my other option is?”
Elkay shook his head.
“My other option is to escape. And go into hiding, possibly forever. But that won’t work because she will make you all hunt me down. Either way, I am stuck with very little choice. And I would rather that none of you get involved with any of my choices.”
“Why? Are you… planning on trying to escape?”
“No. Because I know it will end badly.”
Arkadin sighed, then went back to bed. “I know you are concerned, Elkay, I know that you and Kinisis mean well… but I’m not worthy of being your friend and you are all too… tied to your duties to be my friends. You understand, right?”
Elkay nodded. “I do. And I am sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. After all, it’s my fault you’re all stuck here…”
Before Elkay could reply, a wind suddenly picked up. Before he could react, he found himself outside, holding an empty tray.
“Is he still in there?” someone behind Elkay asked.
“Yes, but he is not happy…”