“So it’s in to the void, my men and my sons, from mother’s hands we fly. We’ll be sailing to the sun, ’til our souls are gone, then we’ll be resting in the void up high.”
Almost the entirety of the Phantai Decay Lord sect was present in this single, colossal room on the lowest deck of the Shimmering Blade, the Phantai’s headquarters. An attack by a particularly dangerous Voidborn entity had caused huge amounts of both physical and mental damage, with the majority of the beings on the Shimmering Blade falling to the Voidborn’s mind control, but the mood was overall weirdly perky.
The Phantai were mostly seated, all facing the stage, where two of their leaders, Lightblade and Soulblade, were, weirdly, singing. Thanks to some clever mental trickery and some help from the Phantai’s new allies, their master Psion had put together a plan to remove the Voidborn’s influence and better protect them from future attacks. This antidote had to be given in two forms, one via drinking a special concoction, and the other in an audio-somatic fashion: a telepathic code emitted via sound. And to do this, Lightblade was, well, singing to the Phantai, to his loyal soldiers, while Soulblade was humming along, adding a telepathic undertone. Many of the Phantai were singing along as well.
“Brothers, up high, up high, we’re going where the winds now roar! Yes, we’re all chained now to the sky and we’ll all be resting in the void up high, up high! Resting in the void up high!”
However, not everyone present was a member of the Phantai. Retvik was one of the two leaders of the Thantir, the Decay Lord sect that had assisted the Phantai in fighting off the menace that was Krohniak. While Retvik had held out as best he could, he’d ended up succumbing to the Voidborn’s mind control as well. In fact, the Voidborn had directly influenced his mind, and Retvik was thankful that the various telepaths on board had gotten to him nice and quick, because Retvik was terrified he would hurt someone. His friends. His partner.
Something heavy sat down next to Retvik, distracting him from his depression. Galyn was an old Decay Lord, and his natural plating showed signs of wear and tear. He was quite a bit taller than Retvik, and had been a member of the Phantai before breaking off and forming the Thantir. He was the sect’s leader, before… well, a lot of things. Mostly him getting possessed by a Corrupted Life Goddess. If anyone understood how Retvik felt currently, it was Galyn.
“There’s a man down low, with a demon in his soul, and a twisted, damned black smile. He can hurt you, he can hold you. He can trick you and control you, steal you from the void up high!”
“How are you feeling, Retvik?”
“Hmph. Not great.”
“Understandable…”
Retvik wasn’t sure whether he wanted to be alone or not. Galyn would have been willing to leave if Retvik asked, but in a room of strangers, having someone familiar nearby was nice.
“I feel like a failure. This is the third time I have had my mind manipulated. And the third time where I’ve been instructed to kill Litvir. That and I essentially let everyone down and failed to protect them.”
Galyn shrugged. “I think you did exceptionally well.”
“Brothers, up high, up high, we’re going where the winds now roar! Yes, we’re all chained now to the sky and we’ll all be resting in the void up high, up high! Resting in the void up high!”
Galyn’s words deeply confused Retvik. He closed his eyes, crossed his arms and let out a snarl that was a little too angry.
“Nearly everyone on this damn ship got possessed or mind-controlled! If it wasn’t for Phovos randomly unlocking a stupidly specific way to twist reality around her, we would all be dead. Or rather, most of my crew would be. You and I would just end up as slaves to a Voidborn cunt.”
“Well, that is true, yes, but none of this is your fault in any way. It is all Voidblade’s fault because he failed to do the one thing you should always do when you get stabbed by a Voidborn and go into a coma.”
Retvik grunted some more. “We did not-”
“Litvir checked over me, with the assistance of Kal!” Galyn interrupted. “What happened to us, to me, was different. And none of us had any idea that a Corrupted Life Goddess, probably the worst combination of things in all of existence, was lurking inside my brain. But Retvik, you should be proud of yourself, you fought off not one but two Void Lords, you protected your crew and no one died.”
“Oh brothers you, so wise and true, when it’s my time to go, won’t you condemn my soul to the eternal whole, where we all will fly once more?”
Retvik sighed. “We might have lost one of Kal. Tah has been somewhat unresponsive, even after they repaired his body. They tried to help, they tried to save Telin, and what did Telin do? He tore Tah in half…”
Galyn patted Retvik on the back. “I just got back from checking on everyone. In fact, Litvir asked me to come and tell you that tiny Tah is awake and everyone is alive and well. Because Litvir knew you would be kicking yourself over all of this. You did everything you could in a stupid situation, there was pretty much nothing else you could have done.”
“Still…”
“Stop beating yourself up. You are being too much like Arkay.”
Galyn’s statement made Retvik freeze. After a few seconds, he rubbed his eyes and sighed some more. “Ugh. Thank you for the kick in the head.”
“No worries. I think it is common among your kind to constantly ask how one can do better. A good quality, but one that can easily be taken too far.”
“Galyn, you know Arkay is not the same species as me and Litvir.”
“He isn’t, but he is close enough. And from what we have discovered from Loopblade, if what they say is true and they were born in the same universe Arkay was born in, well, genetically, you are far, far closer than you think…”
“Brothers, up high, up high, we’re going where the winds now roar! Yes, we’re all chained now to the sky and we’ll all be resting in the void up high, up high! Resting in the void up high! Resting in the void up high!”
Galyn patted Retvik on the back again, then hesitated for a moment and put his arm around Retvik, giving him a small hug. Well, in Galyn’s eyes, it was a big hug, Phantai, even former Phantai like Galyn, weren’t really fans of hugs, but they both knew that Galyn was being overly kind and caring.
“Seriously, Retvik, you have done amazingly well. Yes, we happened to be saved by, well, luck, but out here? Where pretty much everyone is a deity or a former deity? Catastrophes and being saved by luck are common things, and you and Litvir have survived everything that the Periuniversal Void has thrown at you. Although, to be fair, this particular catastrophe was mostly survived by you because we stuck Litvir in a cryopod, but you get what I mean.”
“Ugh…” Retvik shuddered. “We would have been in way more trouble had the telepaths all been mind controlled…”
“Have you spoken to Litvir yet?” Galyn asked. “He is concerned about you.”
Retvik didn’t answer, and instead turned his attention to the crowd. The Phantai were now all cheering and clapping, but they all quickly fell silent as Lightblade raised his armoured hand, ready to speak clearly.
“My siblings, my brothers and sisters in arms, thank you for being here, for surviving, for being yourselves. Our most recent conflict nearly tore us apart, but we remained strong. We remain strong and will continue to be strong. But we must also remember to look after ourselves. To keep ourselves fit and healthy, and to better protect ourselves. Because of this, we will be… restructuring things somewhat. Implementing better defences so what happened to us does not happen again. In the mean time though, Soulblade and I will be instating a mandated rest period for us all. Over the next four evs, every member of the Phantai will be put on a rolling schedule, so you will all have at least 2 evs off duty, free to do as you please.
“In the mean time though, I want all of you to remain alert and vigilant. If you have any sort of mental or physical issues, no matter how small, you must report yourselves immediately. Us Great Blades are currently working on a report and debrief for you all. Which means you will all be invited back to this hall sooner rather than later. But for now, please, take a breather, have something to eat and drink and direct any questions to the queries box in the main canteen.
“Remember, my siblings in arms, we are the Phantai, we are the blades that pierce the void, that seek vengeance for the fair, for the kindly Mothers that used to dwell here. Together, we are strong. Take care, brothers and sisters. We shall speak again soon.”
Lightblade dismissed his soldiers, then made his way off the stage, his partner Soulblade in tow. Both Retvik and Galyn realized the two Phantai leaders were heading straight towards them. There was no malice or anger among the two elder Decay Lords though. And as they approached, they both bowed.
“Galyn, my dear!” Lightblade smiled as he lifted both Galyn and Retvik to their feet, then patted Retvik on the shoulder. “You have raised a fine Decay Lord right here. Retvik, my little friend, we owe our lives to you.”
“I apologise, Phos, but you do not owe me anything. You owe yourselves to Elksia, who manipulated time to stop anyone from dying, and to Phovos, who somehow managed to save us all by driving the Voidborn away.”
“Retvik, what did I just say to you?” Galyn tutted. “You outlasted these two, and if it wasn’t for the Thantir, the Phantai would be slaves to a terrifyingly powerful Void Lord.”
Soulblade nodded in agreement. “Leafblade is right, little Flamebearer. Sure, the Time Drake and the budding Life Goddess saved the day, but you kept them safe until they could do so. Although, I must ask, what did Lifetaker actually do to the Void Lord?”
“Ah, uh…” Retvik looked away uneasily. “We… do not actually know. And neither does Phovos.”
“As far as we can tell, Phovos enacted the Theocydes Protocol and teleported Krohniak into a star. Or teleported him somewhere from which he can not easily return!” Galyn took over the conversation, giving Retvik some much needed cover. “That being said, it is definitely possible that the Void Lord will return, as we did originally enact the Theocydes Protocol on Ahkron as well, and he came back and nearly killed us all. So we must prepare for a potential second attack.”
“And we shall do so!” Lightblade proudly announced. “With thanks to Soulblade here and your own Psions, we have already begun to create countermeasures should we be attacked in a similar matter again. In the mean time though, you all should take a moment to rest and recover. You have earned it.”
Lightblade patted Retvik on the shoulder again, then headed off, completely unbothered by recent events. Soulblade hesitated a moment, then sighed.
“Is everything alright, Psehon?” Retvik asked. “You look as troubled as I feel.”
“Telin does not remember what happened. And the fact that we were all saved by a Life Goddess… Well, I am really hoping that Krohniak does not return. I lack Phos’s confidence.”
“You are not alone there.”
“We will survive. We always do. In the mean time, if there is anything any of you need, please, do no hesitate to ask.”
Retvik bowed slightly. “Thank you.”
“No, my dear little child, thank you…”