“Oh, I didn’t know there was more than one Vrekan around here!” Vick exclaimed as he and Letharus headed to the main offices. They had stuck around a little bit after the wedding, because they had thoughts they wanted to discuss with the Thantir leaders.
“Uh… hi?” Vexer seemed confused. “Do I… I don’t know you. You look like a super short Retvik though.”
Vick smiled. “Technically, I’m the first Retvik, but you can call me Vick. This is my darling Letharus. What you doing here?”
“I, uh, came to see my kid. I’m Reksi’s biological father and I pop by whenever I can to babysit and stuff. But also… Mistress Sini kinda asked me to come here and speak to Vikalos about something.”
“Oh?” Letharus perked up. “We wanted to speak to Vikalos too.”
“What about?” Vexer asked.
“While we do not wish to join the Thantir, we want to set up some sort of official organisation, somewhat like an umbrella under which we both extend the Thantir’s territories and provide services for them but are also given protection and shelter as needed.”
Vexer blinked. “That… was kinda what Sini asked me to discuss.”
“Interesting!” Vick and Letharus continued to the office, dragging Vexer with them. As they got there though, they noticed that Akah and a couple of Matanaiai were present.
Akah smiled and waved at the newcomers. One of the Matanaiai instantly asked who they were.
“Who are these guys, lil bro… hang on, you’re one o’them guys from that Life Oasis!”
“Oh, uh, yeah, you’re right. Hello, Vexer! Hello Letharus and Vick! Guys, these guys are Atuho and Tuhis, Atuho is kinda an adopted big brother because of, uh, same name stuff.”
“Why are you here…” Letharus suddenly trailed off, then rubbed their head. “Hmph. It seems like we are all here for a similar reason…”
“And what reason is that?” That voice came from Vikalos, who had noticed that there was a lot of people standing outside his office and had come out to greet them all. “Ah, hello, welcome back, you all!”
Letharus hesitated. “Uh, firstly, I… I apologise for my accidental mind-reading. When people have similar thoughts, I somewhat pick up on them. But it seems that all of us want to discuss not a desire to join the Thantir, but to associate ourselves with the Thantir. Tuhis here in particular does not want to join the Thantir at all, but an umbrella organisation under the Thantir’s protection would settle his recent problems, and all of us would be able to call upon not just the Thantir in general but each other in times of need.”
Vikalos thought to himself for a moment, just as Galyn appeared behind him in the doorway.
“We have a lot of visitors…” Galyn muttered.
“Visitors that all want the same thing…” Vikalos grunted. “Honestly, we could do something like the Justarian Concord.”
“Vikalos, dear, that is another Justar thing that none of us here are aware of.”
“Oh…” Vikalos trailed off, then smiled. “I mean, it IS basically what Letharus just described, just located in the Justarian Circle. It is a collection of entities, groups, organizations and businesses that are considered neutral but under the protection of the Justar, and the Justar favour their business over those not in the Justarian Concord… Alright, all of you, please come in, and we’ll start discussing this, work out some contracts and stuff.”
Vikalos and Galyn stood to one side, then let everyone pass. Atuho and Akah though remained outside, and Vikalos then closed the door behind him.
“So, uh… did Tuhis not want to join us officially?” Akah asked, once things has settled down.
“Yeah. Bro likes being independent. I kinda get it, we’ve been on our own for a while. And the last time we’re in a sect? Things went preeeetty badly. I kinda dunno what you new Thantir are like, but the ol’Thantir? They clung on by a thread after the Ventra broke up ‘n the Metrum went kaput.”
“Fair enough, I guess…” Akah frowned. “I would have liked you being an official member though. Would give me more excuses to see you.”
“I mean, if all this ‘ere works out? I can come along and visit you. I’ll have an excuse t’do so. And You’ll have an excuse t’visit me occasionally. Pretty sure Tuhis wants some sorta safety net for whenever we get attacked by Voidborns.”
“Yeah…” Akah nodded. “Also, I wonder if those friendly Voidborns would want to be part of this group?”
“Friendly Voidborns?” Atuho grunted. “No such thing.”
“Uh, yeah, there definitely are friendly ones!” Akah pointed outside. “You see that Ksithan in the hoodie out there?”
“I don’t know what a Ksithan is.”
Akah clicked in annoyance, then guided Atuho’s eyes to Phovos and Phovoula, who were standing around outside, wondering why everyone had gone to Vikalos’s office.
“The furry being in the big hoodie? That’s Phovoula. She’s a Voidborn. She can be a bit crazy at times, but she’s a fine person. And we’ve met a few other Voidborns who aren’t evil. There’s this guy called Vekeus, he’s Arkay’s half-brother, and he does nothing but constant Corruption Purges in the Ventra Expanse. He’s also a fine person. At the same time, we’ve also met lots of mean Life Goddesses. Phovos is a good Life Goddess, but her mother, Kinisis, was a horrible monster who routinely tortured people. Not everyone’s good or bad based on whatever… thingy they are.”
“Huh…” Atuho inspected the two Raptors some more. “Can I go over there and speak to that Voidborn? Can you introduce him to me?”
“Uh, Phovoula is female, but sure.”
Akah headed over, taking Atuho with him. As they approached, Phovos waved.
“Hi, Akah! Hi, person who’s kinda like Akah’s brother but is a Matanaiai! What’s up?”
“Hi, guys!” Akah smiled. “Atuho wanted to meet a friendly Voidborn.”
“I’m… friendly?” Phovoula asked.
Phovos rolled her eyes. “What have I told you about putting yourself down? You’re perfectly fine!”
“Hah!” Atuho laughed. “Seems like people judgin’ others based on what type o’periuniversal being they are is common here too.”
“Eh, I guess. But I have… a weird level of self-esteem… Anyway, hi, I guess? I’m Phovoula.”
Atuho held out his hand. “Pleasure to meet ya, Phovoula! My name’s Atuho.”
“You guys here to talk about that weird “union” thingy Vexer was on about?”
“Indeed.”
“Ah…” Phovoula smiled. “Yeah, that’s… all really interesting. I hope it goes well.”
“Me too, gal, me too.”