Helkas had been minding his own business, sitting on the edge of Savepoint, making little shiny pebbles for a small pond he was building, when the dark figure had attacked. Well, “attacked” was the wrong word. The being had drawn a blade and approached Helkas from behind, but before it could even consider being an actual threat, the being was, well, dead. Sliced in half.
Except slicing the being in half hadn’t done much. All that was left were two hollow half-shells. An empty nothing. A Voidborn corpse, its original spirit having abandoned its body and respawned elsewhere.
“Wow… you are fast!” Helkas exclaimed as Arkay looked around, dazed and confused and clearly not quite sure what he had done.
“I… I am…” Arkay blinked, then looked down at his hands. His claws were stupidly long and covered in a viscous black liquid. Eventually, he spotted the Voidborn shell and realised what had happened. “Fuck! You were attacked! Helkas, are you alright?”
Helkas shrugged. “I’m fine. You killed them before they could hurt me. Are you okay?”
“I… I guess… I was acting on instinct and that always messes with my head…” Arkay looked up. He and Helkas were no longer alone.
“Sorry, I was literally on the other side of Savepoint…” Elkay muttered. “And I was in bed.”
“Oh!” Helkas beamed. “You have no clothes on, mister Elkay!”
“Well, I noticed you were in trouble and came as soon as I could. That meant forgoing my wraps and armour!” Elkay tutted. “Not that I need them right now, my skin has gone hard again, and it will take me ages to soften myself…”
“I’m sure Teekay can help you with that…” Arkay whispered.
“Arkay, please do not make sexual jokes.” Elkay tutted.
“Elkay, you know I mean you can just get him to massage your shoulders until you unclench and actually relax!” Arkay tutted back. “Anyway, Helkas, are YOU alright?”
Helkas inspected himself for a moment. He thought he was fine, but Helkas noticed something odd. He had spikes on his back and shoulders. “I mean… physically I am fine… But like… why do I have spikes on my back?”
“Your lower instinctual brain realised you were under attack before your conscious mind did, I guess…” Arkay shrugged. “Because of our ages though, we all have different instinctive speeds.”
Helkas eyed Arkay for a moment. “I am technically only a few months younger than you! And Elkay here is a former mortal who was never a real god!”
“Yeah, that’s true, but when it comes to being outside a universe, Elkay is much older than you! Elkay is also more physically mature than you, since you reverted to being a young teenager, and Elkay here is in his 80s.”
“Oh…” Helkas paused for a second. “How old are you, like, physically, Arkay? Because I dunno if you seem younger than Elkay or what!”
Arkay also paused for a second. “Well… I’m not really sure. I think, when I got out here, I was about equal to an old-universe Skyavok in their mid 20s, but now, I think I’m equal to a new-universe Skyavok in their mid 30s.”
“So you were the same age as Psiksi and now you are the same age as Kayel?” Elkay suggested.
“Uh, yeah…” Arkay frowned. “Well… that does make sense, since I somewhat just build myself based on people around me. I’ve probably matured more now that I’m spending time with Litvir, who is a centennial Rethan, and Retvik, who is turning 90 next year-string…” Arkay trailed off, just as someone else arrived. “Oh, hello, Vikalos!”
Vikalos grunted as he dusted his shoulder, patting down some flames. “Hello, dearies. I just got a report from Elkay-En at his oasis, that they were attacked by an odd Voidborn, and the Dessaron Kids made the Voidborn partially explode. I know you already have this covered, Arkay, but I hazarded a guess that the Voidborn that attacked the Pink Paradise was similar to the one that just attacked little Helkas.”
“Oh… we’d kinda forgotten about that…” Arkay admitted. “We were busy discussing how Helkas is mentally a bit of a kid still.”
“I see. Is that what remains of the Voidborn?” Vikalos asked.
“Yeah. I cut it in half. Standard mindless death god murder procedure.”
“Ah…”
Vikalos didn’t say anything else and instead went back to inspecting the Voidborn. To the surprise of the three Synaisthyns, Vikalos seemed fixated on the Voidborn’s head, and they were even more surprised when Vikalos suddenly ripped a small, gold circle off the top of the Voidborn’s mask. He flicked the circle between his fingers, growled slightly, then waved his free hand over the Voidborn shell. This caused the shell to suddenly be engulfed in flames and start melting down, but after only a few seconds, there was nothing left, not even a puddle of metal.
“Um, mister Vikalos, is everything alright?” Helkas eventually stuttered.
“No. Not at all.”
“What’s wrong?” Arkay asked.
“You seem genuinely, worryingly concerned!” Elkay added. “And the last time you were this concerned was when the Mindeater attacked Litvir.”
Arkay glanced at Elkay, then turned back to Vikalos. “Mate, you need to talk.”
Vikalos sighed. “You’re right, there’s no reason to keep you in the dark… The reason I am concerned is because this Voidborn was not a local Voidborn. It was not from the Golden Doom, but it was disguised to look like one.”
“Was it one of those Plated Voidborns I’ve seen a few times?” Arkay asked.
Vikalos nodded. “It was a Plated Voidborn. But Plated Voidborns are not supposed to be here. The Justar are supposed to keep them out of the eniapent entirely. Of course, some sneak in, but considering our proximity to the Justarian Circle, and having two attacks at once? I… I have concerns. And I think I need to make some phone calls.”
“Do you want any help?” Elkay asked.
“No, no, my dears. I will sort things out, do not fret. I am just not looking forward to speaking to a few people…” Vikalos frowned. “In the mean time, if you see any more Voidborns like these, please let me know.”
With that, Vikalos wandered back to Savepoint proper.
“Should… should we be worried?” Helkas eventually muttered.
“Not majorly worried…” Arkay didn’t seem that bothered. “It’s probably just a lone wolf attack or something. Those Plated Voidborns have a tendency to get around and do whatever the fuck they want.”
“Well!” Helkas perked up. “If you’re not worried, neither am I! Arkay, can you show me how to make crystals?”
“Sure. You want to learn too, Elkay?”
Elkay shrugged. “Eh, why not? Might be fun.”