It had been a long time since Arkadin stepped foot in this strange place. The centre of the universe, the home of Kinisis, the Allmaker Herself. Normally, Arkadin wouldn’t have dared set foot here, not wanting to disturb the Creator and her work, but today, Arkadin felt he had to. Something was wrong, he hadn’t been thinking or feeling right, and he needed answers only a mother could give. Assuming she would be willing to give them to him.
Kinisis swiftly answered that question as she leaped out of the gloom, skipping through grass and flowers, before jump at Arkadin and embracing him tightly, kissing him on the cheeks.
“My little Arky! My little Telin! You came! I am so happy to see you right now!”
“You are?” The Thantophor gasped. “I thought you hated me…”
“Why would I hate you?” Kinisis let go of Arkadin and led him through the mist to a small, rocky outcrop. A picnic had been laid out with three types of cake, several large jugs of fruit drinks and a large bowl of crisps. “Come! Sit down and talk to me, let me know what’s bothering you?”
Arkadin did as he was told. Kinisis sat right next to him. She began to run her hand up Arkadin’s arm.
“You’ve been hurting yourself.”
“Yeah…” Arkadin muttered. “I didn’t even realise I was doing it. It scared me. And you know me, when I’m scared, I get hungry. I ate two moons on the way here.”
Kinisis nodded in understanding, rubbing Arkadin’s arm some more as she tried to heal up the scars. But Arkadin quickly pulled his arm away, squirming nervously.
“Please. Don’t do that.”
“Why?”
“My scars are there so I don’t forget how fragile, how mortal we all truly are…”
The Allmaker smiled, pulling Arkadin close again and giving him another hug. “You really can be quite sincere and serious at times.”
“I am serious right now, mum, because this problem is serious! I’m… I’m not right! I’m not normal! There’s something wrong and I don’t know what it is!”
Kinisis smiled, then frowned, then smiled again as she pulled a notepad out of thin air. She paused to swallow a slice of cake whole, then started writing things down. After only a couple of seconds, Kinisis stopped again, then grinned.
“You’re just going through puberty.”
Arkadin’s face dropped. “What?”
“You’re going through puberty. You’re nearly 14 billion years old, but you’ve only been properly sapient for about two billion years, where your siblings have been sapient for much longer. Because you’re destructive rather than creative and you didn’t NEED to be smart, you’ve developed later.”
“But why are my siblings acting all weird then!” Arkadin exclaimed. “Why are they all being weird and aggressive and all that towards me?”
“Because you’re kinda acting weird. When they were in their adolescent stage, they all did dumb things. Meddled in each others’ domains. They worry you’ll do the same.”
Arkadin slumped. With a small sigh, he helped himself to some cake.
“You have a lot on your mind, Arkadin. It will pass, and you’ll feel better.”
“Really?”
“Of course. And if you ever want to talk…” Kinisis hesitated. She turned her head, looking past Arkadin and off into the black mist. “Kenon? What are you doing here?”
The Void Lord stepped forward, his clawed feet cracking the ground beneath him.
“What am I doing here? What is HE doing here?”
Kinisis glanced at Arkadin. “He’s my son. He’s allowed here.”
“He is not allowed here.”
Arkadin got ready to leave, but Kinisis stopped him.
“Of course Arkadin is allowed here. All my children are.”
“He is too dangerous to be here. You are lucky I arrived here on time, heavens knows what could have happened to you.”
“I’m not a threat to Kinisis!” Arkadin snapped. “Stop treating me like a damn monster!”
“You ARE a monster!” Kenon roared, charging forward. Arkadin and Kinisis both elegantly leaped out of the way. “You are an uncontrollable threat!”
Kinisis quickly became tired of this situation. She raised her hand, silencing her son and her partner.
“I thought we were past this.”
“We will never be past this. The Thantophor will always be a threat to you, my dearest Kinisis!” Kenon tried to soften his tone, but all that seemed to do was annoy Kinisis.
“Did I not already talk to you about this, Kenon?”
“You did. I chose not to listen. We all have our own agendas. Arkadin’s involves destroying this universe.”
“Only in a trillion years time when Kinisis is ready to move on!” Arkadin shouted. “Wait, you already discussed this?”
Kinisis nodded. “We did. I asked him to leave my children alone. You all make mistakes, but we learn from mistakes. Kenon though has decided to be disrespectful to me and to you. And I think Kenon should be… punished for that.”
“PUNISH ME? FOR PROTECTING YOU?” the Void Lord bellowed.
“No, for treating both Arkadin and myself as little babies!” Kinisis beamed. She didn’t sound angry, but everyone knew she was hiding her seething anger. Kenon lowered himself and backed away, not sure what was coming next. “I know Arkadin will one day destroy this universe. But for now, he is a mostly harmless little thing. And I think us keeping him at arms’ length has hurt him a bit, so Arkadin and I are going to have some mummy son time. As for you…”
Kinisis summoned a long, pointy stick, then pointed it at the Void Lord.
“Kenon, you are hereby exiled from my domain. Return to the Void where you belong, and await my signal for when you may return.”
Before Kenon could do anything, he disappeared in a puff of sparkles and glitter.
Kinisis hummed to herself, then sat back down on her picnic blanket, helping herself to a drink and some more cake. Arkadin stared at where Kenon once stood, unable to truly comprehend what happened.
“Come and have some cake, dear.”
Arkadin didn’t respond at first.
“Arkadin?”
“Sorry mum…” Arkadin sighed as he joined Kinisis and her picnic. “It just feels like… like this is all the start of something awful…”
The Allmaker hugged Arkadin tight. “Don’t you worry! If anything happens, I’m perfectly protected. After all, I have the universe’s most dangerous being sitting right next to me!”