“Hello! I hate to say it, but you somehow look glum, despite being a Voidborn! Would you like your normal order?”
Theocydes sighed as he entered the Shield and Stave, a Decay Lord pub that allowed Adogtic Voidborns to stop by and have a drink. The place was run by a former Ventra Decay Lord by the name Vick, and he would cheerfully greet pretty much everyone, while drinking on the job.
“Yes, please.”
Vick ducked under the bar and pulled out a cold, fruity energy drink of some sort, which he slid across the bar to Theocydes. Being a Voidborn, Theocydes didn’t actually have a sense of taste, nor did he need to drink, but it was polite to do so.
“Thank you.”
“No worries. Vekeus and… the big guy, I admittedly can’t remember his name, are waiting for you.”
Right at the back at the bar, Theocydes could see his two fellow cult-less friends. He had known Vekeus for a long, long time, Vekeus had no idea where he came from, but he was a former Golden Protector and now specialized in Corruption Purging. Kesistatir on the hand was a unicorn. He was a Stolen Prince, a former leader of the Golden Protectors, who had been bound to a universe for so long that he quit his cultish ways. Not that Kesistatir had much choice. His universe and his Life Goddess owner had both been recently destroyed by Corruption, and now Kesistatir had joined Theocydes and Vekeus in Corruption Purging as a small way of getting revenge.
Theocydes sat down next to Vekeus, since Kesistatir was taking up way too much space. Really, none of them looked like normal Voidborns. Theocydes had gotten rid of all his gold when he left the Goldblessed, Kesistatir looked utterly ancient and old-fashioned, all black with just some golden antlers, a golden mask and soft, blue eyes, and Vekeus had never really looked like a Voidborn, what with him being too short, with a tail, an animalistic, snouted head and no antlers at all.
“Vick’s right…” Vekeus muttered. “You actually look rather glum. How was your trip?”
“Where did you go?” Kesistatir asked. “You missed out on a lot of purging.”
Vekeus leaned back and snorted. “Friend, you really seemed to enjoy your new job.”
“It is not so much enjoyment but the realization I can do some good and also avenge my dead past is somewhat satisfying. But yes, Theocydes, you travelled out of the Ventra Expanse and… have a… scent on you.”
Theocydes sighed some more. “A lot has happened while you were bound, Kesistatir. Most of the local cults are, well, dead. The Golden Protectors, the Golden Defenders, the Goldblessed, the Crystal Doom, the Athanathean League, all gone. And most of them were killed by a single individual. I know where that being is located, he is a former Decay Lord now trapped inside a universe, and I try to check in on him on a regular basis.”
“Uh, why?” Vekeus was confused. “It’s a bound deity. Why is it a threat?”
Theocydes eyed Vekeus. “Arkay killed Ahkron. And did so with ease. I originally thought he was some sort of Life Goddess hybrid but he is something far more dangerous.”
“Wait…” Kesistatir interrupted. “The Athanathean League… They were around before I was stolen. Fifty younglings bound to a young Life Goddess.”
“Well, there were thirty of them left before Arkay killed and ate them all.”
“Hang on… “ate”? This Decay Lord bloody ATE them? I thought you said he just killed them! and you.. you go and visit this monster on the regular?”
Theocydes tutted. “He may be a bound deity, but Arkay is a threat. I used to visit the edge of his universe regularly to check on him and his mental health, with the belief that, if Arkay is kept happy, he doesn’t start consider murdering literally everything in his path. However, when I saw him today, he had no memory of who I was and threatened me despite my being outside his universe.”
“Hm, you clearly feel pity for this creature, why?” Kesistatir asked.
“We are all former Bound Voidborns. Vekeus doesn’t remember his time as a bound deity and you were bound to a Mother and thus somewhat well treated. I was routinely tortured by the Life Goddess who enslaved me. Granted, I acted like a monster and was no better after I killed her and left, but Arkay is being tortured by the Life Goddesses who enslaved him, and I pity him because of that.”
“But… he… ate… an entire cult…”
Theocydes shrugged. “I assume it was in self-defence or something. They had a habit of threatening and trying to disembowel Life Goddesses that weren’t Athanatea, and considering I originally thought Arkay was a Life Goddess, I can see others making the same mistake. Still, I am of the belief that if this insanely powerful and dangerous entity is looked after, he could become a massive benefit to everyone. After all, considering what he has done to the local Voidborn population, imagine what Arkay could do to the local Corruption population! That and he is an interesting little creature. Quite friendly, willing to listen to reason and definitely well-meaning.”
Vekeus crossed his arms. “I sense a ‘but’ coming…”
“Well, yes. Arkay is currently being held hostage and, worse, he is being poorly treated and has been mentally manipulated. As I left the Kinigian Wilderness, I left signs for other Voidborns to avoid that universe, but still, I-”
Theocydes’s ramble was abruptly interrupted by Kesistatir slamming his colossal hand against the table. Vekeus and Theocydes both thought he had done so in anger or irritation or to get Theocydes to shut up, but as Kesistatir slowly lifted his hand up again, they all noticed a dark, black and gold glimmer underneath.
“Hello, little brother. You pulled yourself back out from the Eternal Darkness already?”
A mote of golden light flickered oddly, before floating around the table. However, it disappeared beneath Kesistatir’s hand again as someone approached.
“I, uh, hate to be rude…” Vick hesitantly asked. “But, uh, what is going on here? You all seem… angrier than normal, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t scare the other customers. I know the only other people here are those two Kronothrax soldiers in the opposite corner, but still.”
Kesistatir smiled. “I apologise, Decay Lord Vick. A lot has gone on, lately. Not much good, admittedly. But we do have one nice little thing that has happened. Could we have some privacy please?”
Vick eyed Kesistatir. “You’re not planning on forming a cult, are you? Because I’m going to start kicking you out if I get to many Voidborns in here, cult-less or otherwise. Don’t want people getting ideas.”
“Understandable. We are not planning any such thing. I am happy to remain Adogtic, as are Vekeus and Theocydes.”
“Alright, fine…” Vick backed away again. “Just try to keep it down. Kronothrax are jumpy bastards.”
Kesistatir smiled beneath his mask, then waited until Vick was out of earshot. The mote of light reappeared and sat calmly in Kesistatir’s hand.
“Alright, where did this newly spawned Voidborn come from?” Vekeus lowered his voice.
“It must have hitch-hiked and followed me on my way back from the Kinigian Wilderness…”
“Indeed. My little brother’s essence has managed to reform. Kenostaton is technically gone, but we have a chance to help this Newling grow into someone honourable, from the start.”
For the second time today, someone was eyeing Kesistatir. Vekeus was clearly very unsure about all of this. “Are you going to be a parent for this baby Voidborn that followed Theocydes here? The one that is technically your brother?”
Kesistatir nodded.
Vekeus sighed, then sunk in his seat. “That… that is weird. And mortal-like.”
“Perhaps, but surely my teaching a Newling how to be kind is better than binding it to a universe, yes?”
Vekeus glanced at Theocydes, who just shrugged. After a moment of thought, Vekeus relented.
“You’re right. Change starts with us, after all…”