“And parked! Yay!” Teekay clapped his hands together as he landed the Thantir Two neatly in the tight ship parking lot. “Look at how great a job I did!”
Tahvra shrugged in the co-pilot seat. “Eh, you kinda just parked the ship normally.”
“Mate, it’s my first time main-flying this metal tube, give me a break.”
“Yeah, but still…” Tahvra shrugged some more. “Like, Litvir could have parked the ship this well and he once managed to hit the only solid object in a 1km radius.”
“Dude, I’m not taking sass from a fricking Vohra. One of the really big guys would have scraped something, I parked perfectly, first time, in a ship I hardly know.”
“That’s racist.”
“Are you two done yet?”
Teekay and Tahvra both paused. They’d somewhat forgotten that both Litvir and Galyn were present. Galyn was eyeing them both. Litvir was clearly annoyed but not saying anything.
“Good. Go tell everyone that we have arrived and gather outside. We will lock the ship up.”
The two Decaylings got up, bowed, then raced off as fast as their tiny legs could carry them. Which, in Tahvra’s case, was deceptively fast, but was out-beaten by the fact that Teekay could teleport. Once the coast was clear, Litvir crossed his arms and tutted.
“You tell everyone that damn story.”
“It is an amusing one. You should, as our Decaylings say, lighten up occasionally. Everyone has the odd ding or crash when they are learning to fly. Admittedly, Retvik was pretty bad…” Galyn smiled somewhat. “Arkay though was great. He claimed he had no piloting skills whatsoever but he was a natural.”
Litvir tutted some more. “That there is the problem. You never tell an amusing story about Retvik messing up.”
“Retvik is admittedly less fun to mock than you are, and rolls with the punches better…” Galyn muttered as he started shutting everything down and locking various consoles, both with passwords and physical keys. “I will be honest, if Retvik was a Beh’en, he would be beating them off with a stick. You are very lucky, Litvir.”
“The only reason Retvik is with me, outside of the whole we-accidentally-bound-ourselves-to-a-death-god thing, is because the Rethavok as a species are extinct, and the only other Rethavok alive happens to be Retvik’s annoying politician half-brother. Trust me, when Retvik was young, he WAS beating them off with a stick before he met Gath. There was actually some outrage when they got married, because people could not understand what Retvik saw in someone who most people considered a monster, at least in a physical sense.”
“What was Gath like?”
“Uh… Never actually met him…” Litvir stuttered, then decided to change the subject. “Speaking of which, how are you Beh’ens not extinct? I have not seen a single female Beh’en since we arrived.”
Galyn shrugged. “There are still females hidden around. They tend to stalk then kidnap males they like the look of for breeding purposes, but it is believed there are less than ten of them left.”
Litvir eyed Galyn suspiciously. “Have you ever had standard intercourse with a female Beh’en?”
Galyn eyed Litvir back. “I had a wife and kids when I was mortal. A family who was killed by a Time Drake at the behest of a Voidborn. I was then, uh, gifted to a Life Goddess for a bit, before being handed back to the Time Drake and made into a god of death.”
“Is that common out there?”
“Families being killed by Voidborns? Yes. Mistreatment from Life Goddesses? Not so much.”
Litvir considered making a somewhat mean comment, then changed his mind. “Hm. Maybe that change of perspective is what gave you the mental willpower to leave the Phantai…”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I am literally the second most powerful telepath on the Shimmering Blade, it is clear as day that your telepathic networks are a bit… odd.”
Galyn snarled. “What are you talking about? And who is the first?”
“Eksi is. And should Kuta ever come back to us, he will become the second most powerful because he is all power no finesse and no weird undetectable auras like Eksi has…” Litvir decided to drop the topic completely. “Come along now, we have kept our fellow Thantir waiting way too long.”
Litvir finished up then swooped off, taking his extra billowy purple cape with him. Galyn tutted to himself, then followed. They quickly joined the others outside. Both Galyn and Litvir had keys (and Retvik and Vikalos did too) but Galyn did all the final locks.
The group wandered somewhat loosely together towards the large, lit up entrance. At it were several guards, as predicted, as well as what looked like a metal detector. While carrying weaponry was perfectly fine in most Phantai territories, this space mall was located in a neutral zone outside of Phantai jurisdiction, even if it followed many Phantai traditions. That being said, the Thantir had left all their weapons locked up on their ship, like responsible adults. However, the detectors were actually there to determine what type of deity was approaching.
Expecting some problems, they had put Retvik and Vikalos at the front, followed by the Decaylings, with Litvir and Galyn holding the rear.
“G’day mate!” a guard happily waved. “Mind steppin’ thru dis ‘ere detector quickly?”
“We are not going to have any problems, are we?” Retvik asked. “We were told this mall accepts most normal Decayons, as well as Time Drakes and Life Goddesses.
“Oh, no worries mate, they’re all fine! Just gotta check that ya’ll ain’t Voidborns in disguise, ya know!”
“Very well…”
Retvik stepped to one side and let Vikalos go through first. The detector remained silent and a guard on the other side handed him a standard white paper wristband. Eksi, Teekay, Tahvra, Tenuk and Akah were all given white wristbands too, but the guard did give Akah a funny (but now familiar) look. Elksia was given a blue wristband because she was a Time Drake, and Phovos was handed a pink one. However, as Elkay walked through the detector, the guard gave him an even funnier look.
“Ya are an odd-lookin’ Life Goddess!”
“I… am not a Life Goddess?”
The guard pointed at his scanner. “Doohickey ‘ere says ya are.”
“Is that a problem?”
“Why’d it be a problem? Mall’s got a tona nice offers and discounts for Mothers. And, uh, ya’ll too, I guess.”
Elkay stared at the guard, torn between confusion and feeling insulted. The guard shrugged, handed Elkay a pink band, then nudged him through. The three Decay Lords all passed without incident and were given white bands just like Vikalos and the Decaylings had.
“Alrighty mates, have fun! And if any of ya’ll are proper Deathven upper-ups, ya’ll should hit the info kiosk. Might be able t’pick up some goodies or something.”
“Thank you very much!” Litvir smiled politely as he dragged everyone to the main hallway proper. Have a good one!”
“Ya have a good’un too, ya dashin’ young Beh’en!”
Litvir continued smiling, deciding to accept the compliment. He quickly gathered his crew around him and got ready to give them one last instruction.
“Alright, dears, you all have fun. We will message you all when it is time to leave, understood?”
“Uh, I have a small problem before we all go…” Elkay raised his hand. “I am not a Life Goddess.”
Vikalos patted Elkay on the shoulder. “We know, you definitely are not one. It is most likely these guys just have really old scanners that say that anything that is not a Voidborn, Corruption, Decayon or Time Drake just happens to be a Life Goddess. You should make the most of it.”
Elkay settled down, immediately feeling better. Litvir glanced around once more.
“Are we all good then? Alright, get going.”
Everyone nodded and started wandering off. Despite being the largest of them, Galyn was somehow the first to disappear. The Decaylings all quietly discussed things between themselves before splitting, with Akah heading to a nearby large (and rather obvious) DIY store, Elksia, Tenuk, Phovos and Eksi making their way towards the clothing areas upstairs and Elkay and Teekay doing something on their own.
Vikalos nodded at Litvir and Retvik, who, after a quick telepathic conversation, headed to the information kiosks as suggested. The elder Decay Lord couldn’t help but grin as he caught a glimpse of them twirling their tails together. However, before Vikalos could do anything himself, he felt a very light tap on his leg.
“Oh, hello Tahvra!”
“Hi…”
“Is something wrong?”
Tahvra shrugged. “Can I come with you?”
“Sure, but do you not want to spend time with your fellow Decaylings?”
“I kinda spend all my time with either them or Kal anyway. And, since I’m a Vohra, the whole concept of a mall is still kinda new to me. This is, like, the second one I’ve ever been to and it’s absolutely huge.”
“And you are absolutely tiny.”
“Yeah…”
Vikalos shrugged, then picked Tahvra up and placed him on his shoulder. “Well, now you can get a better view of it all up here.”
Tahvra clicked with excitement. “Heh, thank you, mister Vikalos.”
“No worries, little Tahvra. Come along now, let’s have some fun…”