“Cruelfang? What sort of fucking code name is that? I demand a better one!” Lissandra hissed as she slithered around, knocking things over with her tail. “It doesn’t match me in the fucking slightest!”
“I think it matches you pretty damn well!” Teekay tutted. “I mean, you routinely threaten to bite people, you’re cruel and you have picked up some very annoying emotion manipulation powers. The only reason no one’s hit you yet is because Eksi and Litvir’s telepathic blanket have stopped you from manipulating anyone too much.”
“It’s a stupid name! And I’m stuck with it forever?”
“Up until you become a Decay Lord. Once you’re a Decay Lord, you can change it.”
Lissandra pointed at Elkay and Phovos. While Phovos said she hadn’t really wanted to help, she and Phovoula were present to assist with their upcoming power examination tests, since the Phovoses could give examples of a lot of different abilities.
“Phovos’s code name of Lifetaker is fucking stupid and she ain’t changed hers! And Elkay’s one? Unender? What the fuck is that?”
Phovos shrugged. “I quite like mine. Goes against my Life Goddess routes. Elkay’s a person of interest though so he can’t change his.”
“Unfortunately…” Elkay grunted. “As for the rest of you, are you happy with your code names?”
The other five former Divine Guardians all glanced at each other.
“I am okay with my name?” Kayenus didn’t really have an opinion. “I have two big claws like scythes. Doublescythe makes sense for me.”
Vokulunaax waved a wing around, emitting a handful of purple embers. “Violetflame is perfect for me. I have always produced a purple, poison-laced fire breath, so I am quite happy.”
Atteh’Kus nodded in agreement. “I accept my name. Earthbreaker is a fitting name for a large, ground-moving being. I appreciate not being tied to the traditional Banikan element of fire.”
“You can breathe fire though!” Lissandra snapped.
“Yes, but all Banikans can breathe fire. It was a natural ability for all Banikans in our universe. But I am an earthy orange colour, I am a person of the earth, I prefer the name.”
Fragiir also seemed alright with his name. “I wasn’t too sure about Shatterscales, but I have noticed I can make small things blow up, and I’m sure, in time, I’ll make large things blow up too. And also, like, that gigantic armoured guy can blow shit up, and Akah can make shit shatter, so my name matches that. Where is Akah, by the way?”
“He’s helping Elkay-En do up the oasis,” Vexer shrugged. “He’s kinda good at organising stuff. And his codename is pretty cool too. Not as cool as mine though!” Vexer turned to Elkay. “Thanks for letting me put a Y in my code name, by the way!”
“Darkmyst is fucking stupid and edgy as fuck!” Lissandra was still ranting.
“It’s an homage! To the Myst! To the elite army of Vrekan soldiers I used to work for, in secret service to the Crown!”
“It’s still fucking lame.”
Vexer turned to Lissandra. “Bitch, I was among the best of the best. I was a bloody super soldier, it was my duty to guard King and Crown!”
“Clearly you never saw the Myst in action!” Elkay tutted. “They were genuinely scary beings. Protectors you see in the corner of one’s eye. I was a very close ally to King Ver and he was one of the best guarded beings in the union, second only to the All-Ksa who had Teekay protecting him.”
“Oh, you and your stupid fucking union!” Lissandra snapped. “They did fuck all for anyone!”
“Excuse me?” Elkay was trying very hard to not show his anger. “What in the name of the Light do you mean by that?”
“Your union was stupid.”
“Ver and I literally united a large collection of races and, in many cases, freed them from the tyranny of others! We brought peace and prosperity and modernised a lot of things! In fact, if it wasn’t for us, and specifically Ver’s diplomacy and, more importantly, Phovos’s networks, your kind would have remained either under the tyranny of the Temthan empire or scrounging around for scraps on a handful of backwater Ksithan worlds!”
“YOU TAKE THAT BACK!” Lissandra hissed, raising a hand.
“No, I am just stating facts!” Elkay hissed back. “Why are you like this?”
Lissandra snarled, then crossed her arms. “Because I fucking hate you. I hate you, I hate Teekay and I REALLY hate Phovos.”
“Clearly, but why?”
“Why do I hate you in particular? Because you’re a little bitch! You got to the top on a stupid family tradition!”
Elkay blinked in confusion. “I… I think you have me confused with Retvik. Or, more likely, Rethais. Rethais got into power because of the Rethianos bloodline. I was abandoned and left to die as an egg and clawed my way to the top on my own. I only found out I was related to Retvik and Rethais about twenty years ago. But what in the name of the Light have Teekay or Phovos ever done to you?”
Lissandra snapped her fingers. “Well… Teekay just has massive bitch energy. But Phovos, I fucking hate her because she’s fucking worthless, and unworthy of having Life Goddess powers! She’s just a bitch Ksithan, a particularly ugly one at that, which Kinisis shat out and abandoned! She’s a worthless piece of sh-”
Something hit Lissandra very, very hard. Lissandra was a large being, standing at about 2.6m tall, and her insanely long snake tail made knocking Lissandra over rather tricky, but something had managed to throw Lissandra down with ease. They then continued to beat the shit out of Lissandra, snarling but not saying anything, not for a good few seconds.
Once Phovoula was satisfied, she backed off and dusted herself down.
“Insult my girlfriend again, insult my friends again, and I will hurt you a lot more than I just did. Learn to shut your fucking mouth.”
With a tut, Phovoula took Phovos’s hand and led her away. Lissandra remained on the ground, waiting for someone to help her up, but that help never came.
“I think we’ll do the power test stuff later…” Teekay eventually muttered. “You’re all dismissed.”
Teekay headed off, and all the Decaylings also left, leaving Lissandra where she was. But oddly, Elkay remained. Once the coast was clear, Elkay did actually help Lissandra up.
“Why are you helping me?”
“Because I am a far better person than you are. But you deserved every second of that beating. I hope you can learn from it. Otherwise you will get a repeat of what just happened.”
With that, Elkay wandered off, leaving Lissandra on her own.
“I… I guess…” Lissandra muttered to herself. “Maybe I have been a bitch…”