Retvik smiled weakly to himself as he stood in front of the entirety of the Thantir. Lined up before him were eight new Decaylings, waiting to be given their codenames and inducted into the sect somewhat officially. Gathered to Retvik’s right were the older members of the Thantir: the three Tattered Navigators and all six members of Kal. On Retvik’s left were the younger members: The Thantir Eight, plus Kaytee and Saahro. Sini was watching on from a distance, enjoying a drink on the beach.
By Retvik’s side were, amazingly, both of his partners, Litvir and Arkay. Litvir was standing with his hands held behind his back, Arkay was floating about a meter in the air, so he was at a similar height to Litvir. Really, all three of them were still in shock about being together again.
In all honesty though, Retvik didn’t really know how to do a naming ceremony. He’d only been in two. The first was his own, when he, Litvir and Arkay were very hastily given codenames before a mission, despite having been Thantir Decaylings for a few months. The second had been a naming ceremony for the Thantir Eight when they were Decaylings, except most of the current Thantir hadn’t been present aside from Litvir, and Galyn did the naming. And now, somehow, Retvik had to come up with eight codenames that didn’t sound too awful.
“Is something wrong, dear?” Litvir asked.
“Yeah, you seem frazzled, Retvik.”
Retvik grunted. “I am, admittedly. I do not want to burden our new friends with ill-fitting names.”
“That’s not a problem!” Arkay grinned. “I’ve already thought of names. It was something to do while I was being vivisected.”
“Arkay could do the whole ceremony, if he wishes!” Vikalos almost shouted from the sidelines. “He is the oldest of the three leaders of the Thantir.”
“Oh… It’s weird as fuck suddenly being called a leader of the Thantir…” Arkay calmed down. “Doesn’t feel right.”
Retvik put an arm around Arkay. “You are one of the Missing, and the Missing are the leaders of this sect. Even if you have been absent.”
“So… you don’t mind me doing this?”
“Of course I do not mind.”
Arkay went back to grinning. He briefly hugged Retvik then landed back on the ground and strode over to the Decaylings. They were standing in age order, youngest to oldest, but the height differences were pretty amusing. Arkay approached the youngest of the Decaylings first.
“Heya, Arkay. You look happy!” Kayel chirped.
“I am, actually. Stupidly happy. Can’t stop randomly grinning.”
“You gonna give me a stupid name?”
Arkay shook his head, still smiling. “You already got one.”
Kayel paused and blinked in confusion. Arkay placed his hand on Kayel’s shoulder, then booped Kayel on the snout.
“Kayel Theanon, I, Deathbringer, pronounce you as Shadowstalker, Decayling of the Thantir.”
Kayel suddenly snorted, as did several of the other Decaylings. “Your codename is Deathbringer?”
Arkay giggled. “Yeah. You can blame Vikalos for that one.”
Stifling his laughter, Arkay moved onto the next person. Nyssi was still short enough that Arkay could easily reach her shoulders.
“You’re totally just gonna…”
“I am, yes. No mind reading!” Arkay continued to smile. “Nyssi Tharru, I pronounce you as Spirithuntress, Decayling of the Thantir.”
“The spirit bit makes sense now I have telepathy.”
“It does yes.”
Arkay booped Nyssi on the snout, then realized he needed to float up to reach Retvik. Little Retvik. No one had quite worked out how to verbally differentiate between the two Retviks yet.
“Hello, Arkay.”
“Hiya, Ret. You seem bright and glowing. But also you look a little sea sick.”
Retvik grunted. “I am fine.”
“Let me know if you’re not, alright?” Arkay put his hand on Retvik’s shoulder then, yet again, he booped Retvik on the snout. “Retvik Rethianos, I pronounce you Lightbearer, Decayling of the Thantir. Would be a travesty if I were to give you any other name.”
Tanos was bouncing quite excitedly, even as Arkay approached him. He too was having a bit of a problem with names, but since it turned out the other Tenuk around here was actually called Tahnahos, young Tenuk didn’t have a problem reverting to his old name. However, Arkay had a moment of doubt as he put his hand on Tanos’s shoulder.
“I’m not sure if-”
“You want to know how many knives I have hidden in my fluffy tail?” Tanos immediately asked.
“Uh, how many?”
“Four.”
Arkay went back to giggling. He booped Tanos on the nose. “You want me to call you Tenuk or Tanos?”
“Both?”
“Alright. Tanos Tou Ahvran, little Tenuk, I pronounce you Fluffyblade, Decayling of the Thantir.”
Tanos clapped his hands together with glee, and Arkay moved on to the next person, lifting himself up off the ground again.
“Hey, Kuta. You didn’t ever actually get a naming ceremony but you’re already a Decayling so you don’t get a boop. That being said, Kuta Tieridos, Spiritdrainer, welcome back to the Thantir.”
“Thank you…” Kuta bowed.
Arkay bowed back, then approached Talok. She was tiny, a metre tall. And she was more bouncy than Tanos was.
“Mister Sini’s Shadow! Is good! This is all big and new and scary!”
“It is, Talok. But you’re strong and brave. You’ll be fine. Talok, I pronounce you Mindsplayer, Decayling of the Thantir. I expect you to do some scary things yourself!”
Talok bared her tusks and made a cute, purring sound. “Thank you, mister Sini’s Shadow! I will!”
Pleased with Talok’s enthusiasm, Arkay then stood in front of Phovoula, inspecting her somewhat. Phovoula had mostly made herself look like a Ksithan again, but small metallic scales could be seen in the gaps of her fur.
“I’m with the Vohra. This is terrifying…” Phovoula muttered.
“You’ll be fine. You’re the third scariest person here after me and Elkay!” Arkay beamed with optimism as he put his hand on her shoulder. “You’re the Raptor. You’re powerful. You’ll come out of this stronger than ever. Phovoula Tromeros, I pronounce you Voidraptor, Decayling of the Thantir, and our first official Voidborn member.”
Phovoula sighed. Arkay patted her on the shoulder, then, just like everyone else, he booped her on the snout.
Finally, Arkay turned to Thassalin.
“Hello, dearest Thantoepheron.” Weirdly, ever since he’d been set free, Thassalin’s voice had changed. It was now eerily soft, gentle and alluring. Almost as if he was always about to sing.
“Please don’t call me that. But, like, Thassalin, are you sure you want to be here? You’re finally just as free as I am, you could go and do whatever you want.”
Thassalin smiled. “I know. I want to do this. I have been attuned to the Forward Flow my entire existence, through as many universes as you have. This is something new. Something I can spring off of. If I get bored of being a Decay Lord, I can do other things, but I also get to see things from a new angle.”
“So… you’re happy?”
“I am!” Thassalin nodded. “And I am in good company.”
Arkay shrugged, then floated up so he could put his hand on Thassalin’s shoulder. Considering that the Time Drake was a 4m tall bright pink dragon right now, it was kinda weird.
“Thassalin, I pronounce you Aeonsong, Decayling of the Thantir. Welcome!”
Thassalin lowered his head. “Thank you, Arkay.”
Satisfied, Arkay drifted back to Retvik and Litvir’s side.
“Welcome, new Decaylings!” Retvik stood proudly. “We have high hopes for you. Follow our lead, be yourselves and you will all be Decay Lords yourselves in no time.”
“You really have that much faith in us?” Phovoula asked.
“Hah! We have more faith in you than we had in our last set of Decaylings!” Litvir laughed. “I hate to call people out, but if Kaytee managed to become a Decay Lord on his own, under the gaze of the Phantai, then you will all be fine.”
Retvik glanced over to where Kaytee was standing. Kaytee clearly wasn’t too bothered, mostly because Litvir was completely right.
“Either way…” Retvik continued. “We are happy to have you all here. Once you have all settled down, your training will begin. In the mean time, since, well, everything is good right now, I think we should… celebrate a little.” Retvik turned to his two partners. “How does that sound, my dears?”
Arkay grinned some more, not caring that his face was hurting slightly, he was so happy. “That, my dear, sounds wonderful.”