Kairos fiddled with the mask he was wearing, then at the ‘gloves’ he had somehow stretched over his wings as he approached the chained up Panelix. Epani had been hissing and growling ever since Kairos had stepped foot into the formerly grand hall, but now she could see him, she instantly seemed to calm down. According to Arkay, things were so bad that Kairos had to wear protective gear just to see and talk to her, and as soon as Kairos spotted the horrible energy surrounding Epani, he realized just how serious things were.
“We need to kill our younger siblings, rule this universe with an iron fist, you and I.”
“Wow, you really are corrupted…” Kairos took a second to take in what Epani had just said. Pure lunacy. Surely she knew that they needed all four pillars to keep the universe stable? “I guess Arkay was definitely right about all this protective stuff.”
“Liar, deceiver, little monster. Break his joy, break his spirit. Chain him up and rule like we used to.”
Kairos shook his head. He could feel Epani trying to worm her way in. But, being the Dragon God of Time, that was a dangerous thing for Epani to do, as she was unable to comprehend the vast machinations of a Forward Flow-attuned mind. Epani spat and recoiled, then briefly glanced back at Kairos.
“I am ill?”
“Yes. Arkay says you got corrupted. Which is why you are thinking and saying these horrible things. Sini has set up a special temporary base where we can help you remove the Corruption, but we need you to accept our help, and help us to help you.”
Epani hesitated, looking anywhere but at Kairos, trying to move her arms before giving up. Her head was spinning. She wanted to hurt Kairos, she wanted to hurt everyone. But did she, really? Or was that the corruption? Kairos did just say she was ill and, unlike Sini and Arkay, he hadn’t tried to mess with her, he hadn’t chained her up and stopped her from…
Now that Epani thought about it, she could see why her own sister and her little pet had restrained her. She did just tell Kairos that they should kill them. And, in all honesty, the idea of skewering the youngest deity made Epani a little too giddy.
“Fine. I will allow you to fix me. I cannot think straight.”
Kairos grunted, then slowly approached Epani, but not before summoning a portal beneath her. He then waved his wings, instantly destroying the chains keeping Epani aloft. The Panelix didn’t expect this and instantly fell through the portal, which snapped shut behind her.
Epani snarled, twisting around to inspect her new surroundings. She was in some sort of plastic box, with a loudspeaker next to her. On the other side of the plastic was a familiar but unwanted face.
“I will kill you and everyone you love, little Arkay!” Epani immediately hissed, before stopping and blinking. She wondered why she had said that. Killing Arkay was one thing, but innocent beings that just happened to care for the fake persona the Thantophor had created? That was going a little too far. And at the same time, didn’t Arkay love his big sister?
“Hi Epani!” Arkay smiled weakly, his voice poking through the speaker. “Sorry to say this, but you got corrupted, and bad. Really bad. Sini wanted to prepare you for incineration and reincarnation but I convinced her that we should try and follow protocol. You know, like you didn’t want to do when I got ill.”
The Panelix growled, lunged forward at the plastic wall and bounced harmlessly off it.
“And to think that you wanted to incinerate me when my only symptom was coughing…” Arkay tutted, then wandered over to a nearby table. On it were several large syringes filled with a pink liquid. Epani noticed that literally everything around was made of a translucent plastic. “Although, since this Corruption is making you violent and releasing pent up desires and secrets you’ve tried to bury, perhaps, while Sini and I prepare you for the removal procedure, you can tell me why you want to hurt me so much. I’ve only ever done good by you, Epani.”
“You would not understand!” Epani hissed. “The fourth pillar should not be as… gentle as you!”
“My dear sister!” a new voice interrupted the conversation. Sini appeared from a nearby room, dragging with her a vast vat of shimmering black liquid, similar to what was in the syringes, but speckled with points of light. “You and I designed Arkay to be how he is, you can’t just go back on that now!”
“Yes we can. We made this universe. We can remake it. I can remake it. On your corpse, if I have to.”
“Babe, that’s the Corruption talking. You don’t want to do that, not really…” Sini tutted, then turned to Arkay. “Can you please sedate Epani?”
Arkay nodded. He summoned some very large, bright blue rubber gloves that went up to his elbows, then grabbed one of the syringes. Arkay opened the lid of the plastic cage, ignored Epani’s flailing attempt to escape and jabbed the needle straight into Epani’s neck. Almost instantly, Epani felt weak and sleepy, even as she tried to grab Arkay by the arm to bite him. Arkay retaliated by gently patting Epani on the head, before pushing her back inside the cage and sealing it shut.
However, the cage wasn’t sealed for long. Arkay climbed on top of the cage and opened up a small door. He took off one of the gloves, then pulled out a blade and nonchalantly slit his wrist, allowing the blood to trickle down, through the door and all over Epani. After a good minute of blood-letting, Arkay closed the little door then licked his wrist, healing the wound, before putting his glove back on.
“Your turn, Sini.”
The Allbirther smirked. She flicked her wrist and thorny vines exploded from the corners of the plastic cell, wrapping around Epani’s limbs, neck, waist and tail, completely immobilizing her. Sini then waved her hand across her naked body, covering herself from head to toe in surgical gear, complete with a little light attached to the top of her head. The rest of the cell melted away, and Epani found herself suspended in mid air.
“What is the MEANING OF THIS?” Epani roared, only for Sini to wrap a vine around her mouth. Epani though continued to shout using telepathy. “HOW DARE YOU TREAT ME LIKE THIS!”
“You watched with glee when Sini removed my lungs…” Arkay muttered as he handed Sini a surgical knife. “You’re really badly corrupted. If you don’t let us help you, we might have to do to you what we did to Kinisis. Sini and I don’t want to do that, but the universe’s safety is more important than ours.”
Epani immediately fell silent. Arkay gave Epani another shot of sedatives, then moved aside so Sini could work. Sini inspected Epani briefly, before taking her scalpel to Epani’s chest, above a recently healed injury, where Epani had been stabbed. Without hesitation, Sini began cutting away at the new flesh, ignoring Epani’s grunts of discomfort. She wasn’t in pain, but the sensation was not enjoyable in the slightest. As Sini cut further, wisps of purple and green energy began to trickle from the operating area. After a moment, Sini stepped back, then turned to Arkay.
“This is bad. Can you get me the Super Corruption Vacuum Mass Sucker please, little brother?”
Arkay looked very concerned for a moment, then quickly vanished. He reappeared about ten seconds later, holding a heavy, mechanical device with two tanks and two tubes attached to it. Before handing it over to Sini, he also pulled over the large vat of black liquid using it to fill up one of the tanks. Sini patted Arkay on the shoulder, took a blade from Arkay’s belt and smiled at him, before turning back to Epani.
“What is that?” Epani telepathically whispered.
“My blood!” Arkay smiled a very tiny bit. “You know, one of the best things used to kill Corruption.”
“And what about that blade?”
“That’s just my Elkayne Dagger, also one of the best things used to kill Corruption.”
Epani grunted, but then immediately screamed as Sini stabbed the blade into Epani’s chest, through the wispy energy and stopping an inch above her heart. Sini then grabbed the hoses from the machine and turned them both on. One hose started sucking, drawing in all the corrupted energy, while the other spluttered to life, absolutely soaking Epani in Thantophor blood. However, as the blood coated Epani, she felt… numb, but better. The horror seemed to be fading from her mind, she could think clearly, even if her skin was tingling and she had a massive wound in her chest.
Sini finished what she was doing and turned the machine off, before summoning a small vial of purple-tinted goo. She opened up the vial and smeared the goo across Epani’s wound, forcing the tissues to mend themselves making everything heal up.
“Did it work?” Arkay asked.
“I don’t know, did it, Epani?”
Epani blinked several times. She looked at Sini and Arkay, bouncing her gaze between them.
“I feel better now, thank you. But I still have a small desire to kill Arkay.”
“Dear, deep down we all want to kill Arkay, because he reminds us that nothing is infinite. But it’s good to have you back, sister!”
The conversation was interrupted by the appearance of Kairos, sticking his head through a glowing blue portal.
“Is Epani no longer corrupted?”
“We fixed her, Kairos, she’s all good!” Sini beamed.
“Ah. Good…” Kairos frowned. Not the reaction Sini or Arkay expected. “Can you three all come with me please? We need to talk…”