“So, how can we repay you?”
Really, in Telin’s eyes, it was almost insulting having the Tattered Navigators in his grand office, but since Retvik and Litvir had requested their presence, Telin was in no real position to say no. The Great Blades had arranged a meeting with the youngling Thantir leaders, and they seemed to want some sort of backup. Or at least advice.
Litvir snapped his fingers, summoning a sheet of paper which he had scribbled on.
“There are several ways you can repay us.”
“You have been thinking about this, Souldrainer… uh, Litvir?” Phos asked, surprised at how quickly the young Psion had answered. In previous, more casual meetings, both Litvir and Retvik had been much more uncertain.
“I have, yes!” Litvir smiled uneasily. “Admittedly, you have already partially repaid us by allowing us to stay with you, and assisting us with our Decaylings. But their trial is coming soon, and after that, we do want to leave.”
Psehon eyed Litvir with caution. “Where are you going to go? With your help, we could make this sector a sanctuary. Make it into the Golden Paradise it once was. The local pentacluster is empty, and the emptiness from here has spread to other sectors, even more so since the Golden Protectors left and Ahkron passed through.”
“We do not want to do that,” Retvik tutted. “We do not want anything to do with Life Goddesses and their universal work. And we are not getting back into navigational work either.”
“Is that not what you used to do?” Phos paused, then turned to Galyn and Itaviir. “Actually, what DID you two traitors do when you fled?”
Both Retvik and Litvir stared at Phos, and Vikalos gave him a pretty mean glare too. Phos immediately backed down and apologized.
“Sorry, force of habit. Those two were considered traitors for a pretty long time. I admit I was too angry at them to care about what they did when they led the Thantir.”
“It is understandable…” Itaviir frowned.
“I wanted you to be one of my Black Blades!” Telin snarled, then lowered his tone somewhat. “You could have been one of the highest ranked Phantai, and you left because of Leafblade’s toxic whispers.”
“I left on my own accord, because I wanted to!” Itaviir snarled back. “Galyn did not talk me into anything, I chose to leave.”
“You chose to flee.”
“Telin, dear, you are getting angry and distracted!” Psehon butted in, before things got too heated. “They wanted to go off and do navigational stuff and raise Decaylings, so that is what they did. Still, what the trai- what the Tattered Navigators did is not what we are here to discuss. I apologize for interrupting, Litvir.”
Litvir tutted. “It is fine. Anyway, there are only a few things we require. The first is quite simple: we need a new flagship. The Thantir Two is getting a little too small for our needs now that Itaviir and Vikalos have rejoined us, Saahro will be returning and Kaytee will be joining our ranks.”
“Who is Kaytee?” Telin asked.
“Loopblade-6.”
“I thought their name was Six?” Telin was definitely confused. “Or they were all called Teekay or something, since they were the same person? And… Hang on, you are taking one of our Loopblades?”
“Indeed!” Litvir smiled. “Kaytee is dreadfully unhappy with his duties among the Phantai, and he has been learning how to remove Kenic Spores alongside our Decaylings. He is very good at it, and we would like him to join us in our new ventures as purifiers.”
“Plus, we could do with an additional pilot and extra teleporter!” Retvik added.
Telin turned to his two partners. “You are both allowing this?”
Phos nodded. “We have five other Loopblades, all of whom like their jobs. Loopblade-6 is unhappy, so I would rather he leave with a sect that will treat him right, rather than, uh, have another Shatterblade/Leafblade situation…” Phos glanced at the Tattered Navigators. “No offence, but you two fleeing did cause problems around here.”
Itaviir crossed his arms and grunted, but didn’t say anything. Galyn just shrugged.
“Anyway, yes, Kaytee will be joining us, that was one of the things I did want to discuss, glad that you are all accepting of that!” Litvir was definitely perking up now. “But yes, we need a new flagship, and the Thantir One, as far as we are concerned, is gone forever. The Thantir Two is… alright, the Thantir Three only has an occupancy of four and Shield Six is an ancient ship held together with rubber bands and Nuh and Gah’s gravity and magnetism powers.”
“So what is stopping you from purchasing a new ship?” Telin was filled with questions.
“Two things: firstly, Retvik and I know pretty much nothing about ships, while our mentors are old and out of the loop when it comes to up-to-date ships. Secondly, we are poor.”
Telin leaned forward, eyeing Litvir suspiciously. “You are Higher Decay Lords, how are you poor? How much do you two get per ev from Deathven?”
“About D3600 each?” Retvik shrugged. “It has been a while since I checked.”
“And Itaviir and myself both took pay cuts when we returned to Deathven.”
The Three Great Blades all fell silent.
“Wow… The Overlord must really hate you Thantir…” Psehon eventually muttered. “How are you coping?”
“Kal have been very charitable as they are a team of universe-enders with no actual physical needs,” Galyn did his best to explain. “Arkay has also been sending in a trickle of money, but he cannot access the majority of his funds as he is an intra-universal deity now. Also, flagship prices have gone up dramatically as the Overlord has been taking apart sects all over the place.”
“Hm, yes, I can see why the lack of demand would drive up prices…” Telin frowned. “Unfortunately, it seems that Deathven has been… slowly withdrawing for a while. Sure, we just cleared out this pentacluster, but the Voidborn cults elsewhere have only gotten stronger, and the Kronothrax armies have been… encroaching, I guess. One does not mess with the Kronothrax.”
Phos, Psehon and the Tattered Navigators all nodded in agreement.
“Still, we can assist. After all, the Phantai have gotten through plenty of ships over the aeons…” Telin sighed, then frowned again. “Still, Retvik, Litvir, little ones, I thought you two would ask for assistance in saving your Lost Third?”
Retvik and Litvir glanced at each other, then both sighed.
“We appreciate the concern, Telin, but… we…” Retvik hesitated. “We have discussed this with Arkay, and he is too tied up within his universe to be pulled out of it. He carries a fundamental force of existence on his shoulders, and pulling him out could kill billions. And none of us are willing to risk both that and two very angry Life Goddesses.”
“Two Life Goddesses that very much know how to kill us…” Litvir added.
“Very well. In the meantime, we will do some research and help you sort yourselves out…” Telin frowned. “Is there anything else we can assist with in the mean time?”
“If you have any advice for our Decaylings and their Decay Lord Trial, that would be… appreciated, but otherwise, no.”
Telin got up, then bowed. “Alright. If you don’t mind, we have work to do, so we will let you go. Please do not hesitate to come back if you think of anything else you need.”
The five Thantir all got up and bowed back.
“Thank you, Telin. Have a good day!” Litvir beamed, feeling genuinely good for once.