“So, let me get this straight…”
Nyssi was somewhat struggling with what Arkay and Elkay were telling her. Kayel clearly wasn’t sure either and he didn’t even know what to ask.
“You want to put yourself into a coma so you can speak to some sort of eldritch deity who is apparently a Synaisthingy, then cure him of Corruption and some other nasty stuff?”
Arkay nodded enthusiastically. Elkay not so much.
“Okay, sure, but… why are you asking me, and why are you asking in general?”
Arkay’s nod turned into a tut. “You seem a tad annoyed.”
“I’m kinda annoyed and curious!” Nyssi exclaimed. “Us four, you said we’re not Synaisthyns!”
“You’re not, but you’ve clearly got something in you that makes you all special. Admittedly, that’s completely my fault, but I want to make use of all our strangeness to try and do something amazingly good.”
Kayel had questions too. “Who is this Panthon guy anyway? And why is he important?”
“Technically? Panthon is one of Deathven’s ancient boyfriends, and he was believed to be dead, having been killed not long after Decayons started working together. The original story was that he was killed by a Synaisthyn…” Arkay started to explain. “When Elkay here did his Decay Lord trial and they tried to seal him away, Litvir discovered that Panthon didn’t die because of a Synaisthyn, the truth was that he WAS a Synaisthyn. And when Retvik went to save Phovoula and you four, he let slip that I had discovered that Panthon was technically still alive.”
“But… isn’t that the same thingy that told you to turn into your own strain of Corruption so you wouldn’t turn into that bastard dark cunt’s strain of Corruption?” Kayel asked.
Arkay closed his eyes briefly and sighed. “Yes, it’s the same person. While I was in a coma, I saw Panthon and he was awake. At the time, I was in absolute agony and hours away from being corrupted, and Panthon suggested I become my own strain so that I wouldn’t be corrupted by Epanophovon. Turned out, rather than getting immediately consumed, I started immediately consuming the bastard back.”
“And you… want to save him?”
“Yeah, basically.”
“And you need me to put you into a coma or something?” Nyssi asked, seeming rather shocked. “I don’t know how to do that shit!”
Elkay shook his head. “Nyssi, dear, you do not need to know. Your duty will be to remove Voidborn influence, which you already do. The actual getting-into-a-coma stage will most likely be done by Litvir, who has safely done this sort of thing before.”
“I… I need to be up close, within touching range, to do that though…”
Kayel didn’t seem too concerned. “If we’re going to purify him from Corruption, then we’ll need to physically be there, in touching range, anyway.”
Arkay nodded in agreement. “This won’t be something we can just do straight away or anything. It’ll require several trips, because we need to work out where Panthon has been imprisoned. We can’t do anything until we find his physical form, and that might take a long time, depending on where he’s hidden.”
“We… have to physically find him?” Nyssi gasped. “What the fuck? That’s insane!”
“Well, I did say that this is an insane idea. But at the same time, you four have done some insane stuff as well. Like stealing a ship from Deathven proper rather than finding the teleporter bays that everyone else uses in Deathven.”
Nyssi raised her finger to counter Arkay’s point, but she quickly lowered it. “Oof. You do… have a point there. Still, this plan of yours is really weird.”
“It is weird, it is very weird, yes,” Elkay agreed with Nyssi. “But Arkay and I both believe that fixing Panthon up would be a genuinely good thing to do. There are so few Synaisthyns as it is, we ought to help and protect those we know about.”
“Are fucked up folks like you two, and, technically, us four, really that insanely rare?” Kayel asked.
“As far as we can tell? Yep. Mostly because people keep on killing Synaisthyns before they become powerful enough and stable enough to become somewhat unkillable the way we are.”
“We still do not know about Vryda though…” Elkay muttered. “Everyone claims this Vryda individual was a Synaisthyn like us, but there is hardly any evidence that he or she was. Just the report that they attacked Deathven, caused a ton of damage then slipped off into the darkness. I am thankful Arkay and I both had alibis because we would have been in trouble otherwise.”
“Out of curiosity, what were your alibis?” Kayel asked. “I don’t know if it’s just me, but I like to have alibis for everything.”
Elkay grunted. “I was working for Kinisis at the time.”
“I don’t actually remember, but apparently I was in a mental therapy session with Vikalos and some other Decay Lords.”
Nyssi and Kayel both glanced at Arkay.
“You were in therapy?”
“Kinda. There’s gaps in my memory. I remember being a Decayling myself, and getting tied up with Retvik and Litvir, but at one point… I was… sent away to a Deathven sector, for a couple of year-strings. I remember almost nothing from that time, but apparently Vikalos looked after me. Back then though, everyone thought I was a Life Goddess-Decayon hybrid, and apparently I changed how I looked and briefly became completely female…” Arkay decided to change the subject. “So, uh, are you two in on our plan?”
Kayel shrugged. “I mean, I guess, as long as I get to burn something.”
Nyssi thought for a moment, then relented. “Sure. Maybe this Panthon guy has more information on us freaks of nature too. And I bet Retty will say yes and Tenuk will be unsure.”
“Probably!” Kayel shrugged again. “Surprised you’re not asking us while we’re all together.”
Arkay glanced around. “Well, to be fair, you two are here. Tanos is busy playing with Akah, Tahvra and Talok, and I think Ret is doing some light-summoning stuff with Psiksi right now.”
“Fair enough!” Kayel smiled properly. “Either way, this whole idea sounds insane and I want in.”
Both Arkay and Elkay smiled too.
“Wonderful! I’ll start scheming, and I’ll get back to you.”