Ret and his team always loved going to the Pink Paradise. They normally visited after doing a Corruption Purge if they were in the area, and it was a chance to de-stress and relax a little before heading back to the vague normality of Savepoint. Sure, Ret wished that Kuta was around to join him in the relaxation, but Kuta understandably didn’t like going on Corruption Purges, what with them not being essentially immune to Corruption the way Ret was. That was fine. Ret didn’t need to be glued to Kuta’s side all the time anyway.
Whenever Xeno Dessaron One (they still called themselves that, but most of the time, they were the Dessaron Kids to everyone else) went to the Pink Paradise, they all did different things. Tanos normally got himself pampered by the overly curious Lissandra, the large serpent being that was infatuated with him. Nyssi always chilled out with Fragiir, and Kayel normally wandered around asking everyone questions. Ret though always sat on the bench on the edge of the oasis, and gazed out into the darkness. While he couldn’t see much, he knew he was looking in the direction of his old universe. And somehow, he was close enough to his old universe that Ret could occasionally pick up messages.
Today was no different. This was admittedly the first time Ret had been to the Pink Paradise since his wedding, so he expected a lot of messages. All from Relkir. Relkir was admittedly the only person who messaged Ret because Relkir was the only person who knew for certain that Ret was alive.
Ret was correct. He had a lot of messages. More than he expected. He read through Relkir’s messages first, and he grinned as he did so. It turned out that Relkir and Gath had tied the knot and were now happily married. And according to Ret’s (probably not accurate) calculations, he and Kuta had gotten married at around the same time Relkr and Gath had gotten married. Relkir had also sent a few photographs of the wedding, and in one of them, Ret spotted two Spasts, one of which was accompanied by a very tall Rethan. He recognised them to be Tanos’s little brothers and his old friend Abius. What Abius was doing at Relkir’s wedding, Ret had no idea, but he was glad to see his one Rethan friend who wasn’t Kuta was also still alive and doing well.
There was a lot more in the messages. Relkir was working on moving into a new home with Gath, one with a roof garden, they were now a General of their own legion, the Legion of Advisors, their adopted kid was now a year old and was doing well and, apparently, Relkir and Gath were trying for a kid of their own. Admittedly, that last bit made Ret feel awkward. He and Kuta currently weren’t seeing eye to eye when it came to kids. And Kuta needed to come to the Pink Paradise at some point to speak to Sini about kid-related things.
Ret pushed that uneasiness to one side and started replying to Relkir’s messages, telling them about his own wedding and things that had happened recently. Ret didn’t really have many pictures, and he wasn’t sure whether to send the picture he had taken with Kuta, Litvir, Retvik, Vick and Letharus. Eventually, he did decide to send it. It was amusing. Relkir would probably find it confusing and weird but funny too.
However, Ret also had more messages. Messages not from Relkir. The messages, a bunch of them, were from Rethais. Ret’s other sibling. Relkir must have told Rethais that Ret was still alive. The messages though had… an unusual tone to them.
Rethais-Rethianos-116901: My dearest sibling, I apologise in advance about what I am about to write. I have a lot on my mind, a lot of weight I have been unable to budge. Relkir has informed me that you are not deceased, that you are now… elsewhere. I do not know if you will receive my messages, but I wish to pass onto you my true feelings.
Rethais-Rethianos-116901: You were always the best of the three of us. Not the smartest, not the strongest, but the kindest and the purest. And the oldest of us three. You should have been the Bearer. I will not deny it, I buried that fact. I lived the life that you should have had. I took what was rightfully yours. And I knew all along that what I was doing, my climb to the top, it was what you should have been doing, with Relkir and myself by your side. But instead I took your place. Undeservedly so. Yet somehow, despite being utterly abandoned, despite being left to die, you remained noble and pure and, more importantly, kind. I could not have survived the way you did.
Rethais-Rethianos-116901: To make matters worse, I did not do enough for you. I waited until halfway through my term to start acting, to work towards bringing you home and freeing us from the traditions. I was too slow. And scared to admit that, deep down I was a fraud, that I had taken your place.
Rethais-Rethianos-116901: You deserved so much better and you never got it. You were taken away from us just as your life was improving. Relkir says that you are still out there. I do not know if you are. I would like to think that you are alive and, for once, happy. I fear that is not true. You disappeared, big sibling. You never got to live. And I can never do anything to bring you back, to make things better.
Rethais-Rethianos-116901: I am deeply, eternally sorry.
Ret read those messages quite a few times. That uneasiness had returned, tenfold. But Ret thought for a moment, then slowly wrote a reply.
Retvik-Rethianos-116902: Please do not be sad. Please do not let the past haunt you any more. You can make things better. You have made things better. Continue to make things better, live your life as best you can, and your unwarranted guilt will fade. It is not your fault. It was never your fault. It was never any of our faults.
Retvik-Rethianos-116902: You are a good person, Rethais.
Retvik-Rethianos-116902: I deeply, eternally forgive you.
Ret sighed to himself, then glanced up, noticing that someone was approaching. It was Kayel, who had noticed that Ret was sad.
“You alright?”
“Yes. I got a message from my sibling Rethais.”
“Did you respond?”
“I did, but it has made me sad.”
Kayel shrugged. “Understandable. Do you want to get some ice cream or something and talk about it?”
Ret thought for a moment, then nodded. “I would like that, yes.”
With a smile, Kayel held out his hand. “Come on then. Let’s get you cheered up.”
“Thank you, my friend!” Ret smiled back, as he let Kayel help him up.
“No worries. It’s what good people do.”