Kallus scrambled his way through the narrow ship, not exactly sure what he was looking for. His master had told him to kill a Life Goddess, so that was what Kallus was going to do, but he was otherwise low on instructions. What did this Life Goddess look like? He didn’t really know. He was however rather thankful that this ship was easy to search. Just one main corridor, a bunch of side rooms and that was about it.
As Kallus opened one door though, he realised he’d stumbled across the kitchen. It smelled way nicer than the other rooms he had rummaged through, but, more interestingly, there was a fresh scent in here. Had Kallus found his prey?
Lifting himself gently off the ground to disguise his footsteps, Kallus entered the kitchen, noticing that a meal had been set up. The lights were dimmed and candles adorned the table, which had been covered in a simple chequered tablecloth. Standing by one of the two chairs was…
“You are a Life Goddess?” Kallus hissed, immediately blowing any chance of getting a sneak attack off. The being he was addressing looked… almost identical to Kallus himself. Small, black-skinned, with yellow plating. But cleaner and tidier. And rather than wearing additional gold armour like Kallus was, this being’s armour was a mixture of black and silver. What stood out most though was how not-Kallus’s eyes glowed much more softly. A rich gold, rather than the strained yellow of Kallus’s own godly eyes.
“The same could be said of yourself!” the being chirped. “I mean, you totally could be one, if you’re anything like me.” Not-Kallus moved to one side, pulling out a chair. “Why don’t you sit down and we can chat?”
Kallis growled hesitantly. “You know I’m here to kill you and deliver your womb to my master, right?”
“Yeah, but I kinda feel like you don’t want to do that. Come on, sit down and we can talk.”
“You… are not going to fight?”
“I’ll defend myself if I have to. Only if you make me.”
Kallus hesitated some more, then decided to sit down. But not before inspecting the seat and checking for trap doors and things like that. Once he was seated, Not-Kallus brought over two plates of food, putting one in front of Kallus before sitting down himself. Kallus poked the food, curious that it was neither something freshly murdered nor rotten.
“What is this, strange creature?”
“Cheese toastie!” Not-Kallus smiled. “You can call me Arkay. I heard them call you Kallus outside, is that your name?”
Kallus sighed. He was probably going to kill this Arkay being, so there was no harm in being honest for once. “I used to call myself Kalis, but everyone started calling me Kallus in mockery and it… stuck.”
“I totally get that. My fellow deities used to call me by my full name for millennia, when I always just wanted to be called Arkay or Arkadin. I take it you were treated like shit by your deities? Bet they tried to kill you repeatedly or try and enslave you.”
“How do you know?”
“I mean…” Arkay shrugged, tucking in to his own food. “We’re, like, weird parallel copies of each other. Whatever awful shit happened to me probably happened to you too. But there must have been some big differences that forced you to become a slave to those utter assholes outside.”
Kallus sighed, poking at his food before taking a tiny bite. Weirdly, it tasted absolutely fine. Cheesy and warm.
“What happened?”
“Why do you care?”
Arkay put his toastie down, what was left of it. “Because, well, I could have easily ended up like you. Nearly did, multiple times. I’ve only been. genuinely free for, well, not very long. Mere days. And if a waste of space like me can do it, I’d want to help someone else do it as well. Beings like us? We’re treated like shit, and we should be fighting back.”
Kallus leaned forward, curious about Arkay’s words. “What do you mean?”
“That Voidborn thinks he owns you, that you’re inferior and worthless because you’re a death god, just doing your duty. You’re not worthless at all. You’re better than them, but they hold you back. Kenon used to torture me and make me suffer in a similar way, but I finally killed him.”
“You killed him?”
“Yeah. It felt amazing. And he was way more resilient than the asshole you’re stuck with. Just need to find his weak spot. I’ve been free to be myself ever since. ”
Kallus closed his eyes, thinking to himself and eating the food in front of him. Although he really should have just murdered this Arkay being already, they raised a good point. Theocydes did own Kallus. But Kallus didn’t have to allow that. He could have been… free. Free from being chained up and fed rotten flesh. Free to… just live.
That… would have been… good. Yes, good. But something felt… off about all of this.
“This has got to be some sort of trick, right?” Kallus grunted.
“No, not really…” Arkay shrugged. “The only thing I have to gain right now is not dying. You want another cheese toastie?”
Kallus looked Arkay up and down, then shrugged himself. “Yeah, sure, alright. Not like I’ve got anything to lose either…”