“Damn, this place is fancy.”
Litvir didn’t respond to Arkay’s comment, he was busy trying to park the ship inside a rather tight hangar. There was plenty of space, Litvir was just being overly cautious.
“Feels somewhat Voidborn-like, what with all the gold…” Retvik muttered. “You done, Litvir?”
Litvir still didn’t answer, not until the ship graciously hit the ground and he switched off the engines. “I am, yes. Sorry, I did not want to damage anything.”
“No worries, dear!” Retvik smiled as he undid his seat belt. “We ought to get going. I do not think we are early at all.”
“Actually, most of the ships parked here are the same. I believe they must all be Justarian ships, since we are in their territories. I also did not see that colossal white ship the Travellers have on the way in,” Litvir shrugged as he shut everything down. He then stood up and snapped his fingers, summoning a nice set of armour.
“I am still unsure how you do that!” Retvik’s smile faded briefly. “I wore my nice but not perfectly comfortable gold armour the entire trip.”
Litvir thought for a moment. “I am actually not quite sure how I learned how to do this. I just can.”
“It’s called known-location-orientated object teleportation!” Arkay explained. “You know where an object is relative to yourself, so you teleport it to your current location. The reason why Litvir can do it so well is because he’s got an emotional attachment to his belongings, which allows him to better know where something is and bring it to him. It’s a very common ability out here when you’re, uh, old enough to work it out.”
“Are you suggesting I am not old enough?”
“You’re not even 90 yet. Although, that reminds me, Litvir, what do you want to do for your 101st birthday?”
Litvir shrugged, lacking an answer. He got up, grabbed a few bits and pieces, then hesitated. “It is… a while yet, I guess… Do we bring our gunstaffs or not?”
“I can put them in my hammer space, if you want?” Arkay suggested. “Saves you carrying a satchel. I can hold onto the keys and stuff as well.”
Retvik and Litvir glanced at each other, then shrugged some more. Arkay took that as a yes, grabbed all their weapons from the rack behind them, opened up his hammer space and chucked everything in aside from the keys, which Arkay tucked into a pocket on his stomach wrap.
“Shall we?”
“We shall.”
The happy throuple all stepped out of the ship, Arkay locked it with the keys, and the three of them walked towards what they assumed to be some sort of entrance. Everything was oddly black and gold, but not quite as geometric as the Voidborn structures they had seen before. More mismatched, as if the whole colossal venue, built on a rogue moon, had been taken over and revamped by the Justar.
In fact, as they approached the entrance, the guards, two beings just as mismatched as the environment, but wearing standard silver and red Justarian work armour, present seemed to imply just that.
“Welcome to the Dashed Gold, the Ruins of the Sun Dragons!” one of the guards, a tall, skinny individual that was covered in coarse, pink fur, proudly announced. “I assume you are are one of the Trios invited to the Trinity Party being hosted here?”
“We are, yes,” Retvik nodded. “This is an unusual location.”
“Well, of course, sir! The Sun Dragons used to be a Voidborn cult that the Justar eradicated, and we converted their torture palace into a place of serenity and enjoyment! Please, sir, what are your codenames?”
“Oh dear, is this another place where no one uses their actual name?” Litvir muttered.
“Most sects are like this…” the other guard, who was short, fat and fluffy, with a pair of cat ears sticking out of his helmet, grunted. “From your comment, I take it you are Thantir. You are… not humanoid enough to be Aniko or Nuvox, and the Alsyr seem to be 50-50 when it comes to names.”
Retvik nodded again. “I am Flamebearer, these are my partners, Souldrainer and Deathbringer.”
The two guards immediately straightened themselves out. The taller one tapped some buttons on their wristband, and, after a few seconds, someone new appeared. This being was nearly 4m tall, covered in gold and red armour and Arkay wanted to call it a Banikan, but it wasn’t furry, it was scaly. Underneath its armour, yellow scales and black stripes could be seen. Its horns, which stuck out neatly from the helmet that covered most of its face, were pitch black. The being bowed deeply, then grinned.
“Hello, Missing! I am Phe’Vus, codename Panicattack. I am a Justarian Lord, normally in charge of the Eplithosauric Sub-Sector, but today, I will be by your side, introducing you to Justarian ways! It is a pleasure to meet you all!”
“It is nice to meet you too!” Retvik smiled as he shook Phe’Vus’s hand. “Do we call you Panicattack or can we call you Phe’Vus?”
“For now, either is fine, but during the main party, I would prefer the use of my codename! Come with me, please!”
Phe’Vus turned around and marched off, being careful not to hit anyone with his tail with four black spikes on it. Retvik and Litvir did as they were told, following the colossal, horned, kangaroo lizard god, but Arkay lifted himself up off the ground, waved to the two guards, then floated after them.
The route wasn’t too difficult, just filled with lots of awkward, in-the-way golden pillars, some of which had dead Voidborn shells chained to them. Eventually, everything opened up into a vast, golden banquet hall, with tables covered in food and drinks scattered all around, and the majority of the seating being in one gigantic circle. Both Retvik and Litvir recognized a few of the people wandering around, but Arkay quickly focused on a lanky, scraggly Beh’evok-like being with four red eyes.
Before any of them could make a move, three colossal beings approached. One of them was definitely a Beh’evok, but they stood at nearly five metres tall, and had a pair of wings made out of blades. The others were even stranger. One was a gigantic armoured monster that admittedly would have looked a little bit like a Voidborn if it didn’t have a pair of armoured ears sticking out of its medieval, visored helmet. The other was an eagle. Literally a gigantic, 3.5m tall eagle covered in shimmering chain-link armour. Clearly the armour wasn’t very heavy, because the eagle was hovering with relative ease.
“Ah, Peacebringer here says that you three are the Missing!” the giant bird squawked. “It is an honour. For now at least, until the Doom Drums and the Travellers arrive, then you will most likely be considered just as normal as everyone else around here.”
“I am completely fine with that!” Arkay beamed. “Hiya! I’m Deathbringer. The flaming hunk is Flamebearer and the cute vampire Psion here is Souldrainer. Nice to meet you! I… admittedly have no real idea who you are.”
“Of course not, we have not met before!” the Beh’en lowered their head a little. “I am Peacebringer, this is Lawruler and our silent companion here is Truthtalker. Please forgive Truthtalker, he does not speak out loud.”
“Oh, just like…” Litvir didn’t finish that sentence, suddenly remembering that Truthtalker was the father of Veilbreaker, a Decay Lord he and Retvik had met before. And a quick telepathic glance suggested that the Ventra Gales were indeed present. “Um… Are you a species of beings that cannot speak?”
Truthtalker nodded but remained silent.
“So, Deathbringer, is it true that you are not a standard Decayon?” Lawruler asked.
“Yep. Is it true that you’re literally a giant eagle?” Arkay teased a little. “Or are you kinda like me and can shapeshift?”
“I have different forms I can switch between, but this is my standard body.”
“Well, it’s pretty damn cool!”
Lawruler seemed to smile. “I like you, Deathbringer. Come along now, let us get to know you all before the Travellers arrive and steal the show…”