“So much for my book club…”
The Shadow was clearly annoyed. Anyone could tell just by looking, as shadowy tendrils were floating on his back. Elkay was normally a very calm person, so the fact that his elemental affinity was showing meant he was feeling defensive.
“Is that what you were doing here?” Kayel asked as he sipped a milkshake and grabbed a cookie. Most of the library had already been repaired, but no one was allowed back in. It was currently being swept for any traces of Corruption by Murum’Va, but because Kayel was useful for getting rid of Corruption, he had stuck around for a bit to give the Twelve Anew a hand, and also chat with an old mentor.
“Yeah. Kohra convinced me that I’d been overworking on some stupid project for Kairos and said I should invite some friends to a book club thing. I mean, I basically run a library now, it sounded like a fun thing to do.”
“And you… you invited Retvik’s sibling? Who is also your Litvir’s adopted dad?”
“Mate, I’ve known Relkir for years. They helped facilitate proper peace talks between us and the Rethans.”
“Fair enough. I think, considering how I saw that old Ksithan TV lawyer, you invited a bunch of strange folks to your book library… But… you invited Psiksi as well.”
“I did, yes.” Elkay sipped his own drink, something with maybe too much caramel in it.
“How comes?”
“He’s the fourth ever Triumphant Champion, who immediately retired for health reasons so he could rejoin A-Class, like he always wanted. Plus, well, he is hot.”
Kayel giggled slightly. “That’s a weird thing to say when you’re in your 120s.”
“Oh, probably, but being deified rejuvenated my body. Physically, I’m younger now. But also, occasionally, I get thoughts. And, well, Psiksi IS hot.”
“HAH! That’s definitely true!” Kayel laughed properly. “And, speaking of people being hot, holy shit people seem to think Rethan Elkay is hot as fuck.”
Elkay snorted, nearly inhaling his drink. “Even Litvir commented about how your Rethan Elkay is hot. And Litvir’s of the age where they think anything vaguely sexual is “icky”. I’ve… had some awkward conversations about that sort of thing.”
Kayel leaned forward. “What do you mean?”
“Before Relkir adopted Litvir, Litvir thought I was his mum. And, of course, kids go to their mums if they don’t know something. Doubly so when their mum is the God of Knowledge. I know I’ve already given the talk to both my kids, but it was weird giving the talk to a six month old Rethan.”
“So they really are a baby?”
“Yep. They’re a year and seven months old. Artificially aged by Epani and Kairos into a teenager.”
“Huh. That’s fucked up. Poor thing never got to be a baby.”
Elkay nodded solemnly. “It bothers Litvir. We’ve tried to give Litvir experiences, but in all honesty, Relkir helps a lot of that. But also, Relkir accidentally also managed to solve what was potentially my biggest fear – Litvir will always have a family member to look after them.”
Kayel thought for a moment. “Are you… suggesting that Litvir might lose their shit if Relkir had died today?”
“I mean, that’s also true, but it’s more that, the way Epani deifies people, we’re frozen as we are. I’ll always be 121 years old, Kohra will always be 19 years old and Litvir will always be a baby in an adult’s body. Litvir will always need a parent to protect them while Litvir protects everyone else and I can’t be that parent. But now Litvir will always have Relkir, because Relkir accidentally killed a Time Drake then instantly replaced said Time Drake.”
“Fair enough!” Kayel shrugged. “Time Drakes are weird. I’m sure Relkir will fit right in. Assuming Epani doesn’t do to them what Sini did to Thassalin and doesn’t just keep Relkir weakened until she needs him.”
“Considering how Relkir has no real control right now, I’m pretty sure that’s what Epani will do. It’s safer for everyone, really. And, I suppose, since Sini has better connections with… out there, we can get more help if we need it. Although, I don’t think I’ll be seeing any of you exo-universal folks again, any time soon.”
“Ah, about that…” Kayel trailed off, then rummaged through his little satchel. “First off, are there any messages you want me to pass on? I gave Psiksi a quick hug, Kohra asked me to give Tenuk a hug for hm, and I said I’d do the same for Relkir to give to Ret, you want me to do anything?”
“Hmmm…” Elkay thought for a moment. “Could you… could you give Arkay a hug from me? I always felt like he needed a hug.”
“He gets hugs now. But that’s cool, I can give Arkay a hug from you. Not a problem. However…” Kayel finished rummaging in his satchel. He pulled out two strange objects, what looked like very basic communicators. “I messaged Litvir to tell him that everything’s alright and Sini’s staying here and Elkay-En’s taking over her oasis, and I requested a means to maintain communication between you and us. And Litvir said he wants to keep in touch with baby Litvir.”
Elkay picked up one of the communicators, the one clearly designed for smaller, Skyavok-sized hands. It was connected to a network, but not a standard olanet one. Something called “Deathnet”, at a low signal. There were only three apps on it, a contacts book, a messaging app and something called Wyvern.
“What is this?”
“A way for you to communicate with us out there!” Kayel grinned. “Litvir’s a crazy evil genius, and also in charge of a Decay Lord sect. Because you and Litty went outside your universe, even if you came back, you technically count as periuniversal entities now, so Litvir signed you both up as Decaylings and members of the Thantir. Which means you can use this app called Wyvern to chat with us.”
Ekay hesitated, then opened up the app. It was already signed in, with a handful of contacts and one single server.
“This is just like Sky.Net.”
“It really is. I’ve added you to the Thantir’s Wyvern group, and I’ve added a bunch of folks as friends so you can message us directly.”
“Huh… Why is my name Shadowscribe?”
Kayel shrugged. “Everyone gets a unique codename. I think yours fits, right? I wanted to give little Litvir the codename Lightkitty, because I keep on seeing them carrying a cat plushie around, but, while Litvir liked the name, he overruled me and gave little Litvir the codename Brightguard.”
“Hah!” Elkay snickered. “Hilarious. So I can just use this to talk to you whenever?”
“Well, not whenever. The signal inside universes is absolutely ass, so you kinda need to be near the edge of the universe to use it, and Litvir did say to only really use it in emergencies… but…” Kayel smirked. “You know what we say about rules.”
“Definitely… So, you leaving soon?”
“In a couple of hours, yeah.”
Elkay patted Kayel on the shoulder. “Shame. It’s been good seeing you, Future Shadow.”
“It definitely has, Forever Shadow. But in the mean time, let’s eat more cookies. We’re not gonna get a chance to do this for a while.”
“Agreed.”