Theocydes teleported into the cargo bay, not knowing what to expect. He had spent a long time setting up a ship in distress for the Thantir Two crew to investigate, but they deceived all of Theocydes’s expectations and… ignored it. Clearly something was going on, and Theocydes wanted to find out.
The small ship however was currently unshielded, and Theocydes had entered with ease. It was moving quite quickly, but appeared to be on autopilot, making its way to the nearest Decay Lord territory. The cargo bay showed no signs of conflict, nor did most of the main corridor. Decay Lord ships were always built in the same way, with a single main hallway and rooms all leading off it.
Heading down said hallway, Theocydes sniffed the recycled atmosphere, then regretted doing so. It stank of sulphur and blood. As he continued walking, he could hear muffled voices, but only two of them. Most of the doors in the hallway were shut, including the room the two muffled voices were coming from. But the cockpit door was open, and Theocydes could see someone sitting in there, so he decided to investigate that first.
A flicker of purple telekinetic energy looked familiar. They recognised Theocydes before he could identify them. Litvir was sitting in the captain’s seat, knees held by his chest, his tail hanging off and dragging on the ground.
“You are too late.” Litvir didn’t even attempt to look in Theocydes’s direction.
“How so?” Theocydes asked, remaining in the doorway. He had little to fear from the Souldrainer, but considering the state of everything else on this ship, Theocydes didn’t want to take any risks.
“You are here to kill Arkay, because he apparently committed the sin of existing. Well, he decided to do the job for you.”
“I actually came here to kill the little hybrid because…” Theocydes paused, taking a moment to actually acknowledge the Decay Lord’s words. “The hybrid killed itself?”
Litvir sighed loudly, looking quite distraught. “He is in the process of doing so. Put himself into some sort of endless loop, trapped inside some sort of jar thing. Thinking about it is somewhat painful and involves paradoxes my still-mortal mind cannot truly understand.”
“Huh…” Theocydes muttered. “Any… reason as to why?”
“Self-hatred. Something about how he was a failure and shouldn’t have existed. Imagined slights that only he could see. I assume something sent him over the edge and he did… that to himself. I suppose, being a Life Goddess, he is not really dead, just… gone. Maybe he will realise he is not so bad after all and may return. For now though, Arkay is gone. It will be… weird not having him around…”
Theocydes grunted. “Well, this is awkward. I need to present his heart, or at least proof of death, to my peers. I cannot do that now.”
Litvir snarled, turning to the Void Lord. “Galyn and Retvik are cleaning up the mess since I cannot stand to look at it all. You could ask them for a blood sample. Or you can do as I say. You will go back to your masters and tell them that you convinced Arkay to kill himself. Then, if they are not satisfied with that, you will kill them and leave, because they are cowardly assholes, just like you.”
Theocydes stepped back, shaking his head. He had not expected Litvir to lash out with a rather subtle attempt at mind control. That being said, the Decay Lord’s words rung true. It was a suggestion rather than outright mental manipulation, but it had worked.
“Very well. I shall do as you suggest. Farewell.”
The Void Lord disappeared, teleporting away. The Souldrainer stared at the spot where Theocydes once stood, then sighed.
“If only I had managed to convince Arkay to save himself…” Litvir muttered, before staring back off into the darkness.