Things had been oddly quiet on the Shimmer’s Plight. It seemed as if everyone was somewhat ignoring Arkay’s presence. They weren’t completely ignoring him or anything. Thaed had been happy to see Arkay at first and Ostos seemed somewhat glad to see someone else alive. Apart from the odd nod of acknowledgement from Saahro or the occasional somewhat overly personal question from Seimeni though, everyone had basically left Arkay to his own devices, leaving him to wander around the ship.
All of this was a strange contrast to when Arkay first arrived on this Deathven Vessel. He had been treated with utmost care and caution. The other passengers hadn’t liked him, they’d all seen him as something different, but they actually interacted with him. Back then, he was a small, confused child, a Decayling that needed protection and needed things explained to him. Now that Arkay was a bona fide Decay-Lord, it was as if no one cared.
Well, one person cared. Seimeni cared. But Seimeni just seemed to want to get down Arkay’s armour and the thought of that kinda crept Arkay out.
So now Arkay was just mindlessly wandering around. He didn’t even have a bedroom to go to. The entire time, he had been napping in one of the recreational rooms, which ever one was currently empty. The cabins were all locked and no one had given him a key to a room.
Currently, Arkay was in the left wing observatory, staring out into the endless void. It was mostly just dark out there, save for the occasional flash of light, a new universe blooming into life or fading away into nothingness. It was mostly peaceful, but Arkay didn’t feel peaceful. He felt worried. Like his reappearance was… wrong.
But how could it have been wrong? As far as Arkay was concerned, he’d been told he had to be kept in solitary confinement because he was “part corruption” and an “antifthor” and stuff like that. But at the same time, apparently Arkay had also been sleeping inside a black sack, hibernating as he turned into a Decay-Lord, while trapped underneath several million tons of rubble. And apparently he had been buried for a very long time, to the point that he had basically been forgotten.
In Arkay’s eyes though, he’d only been asleep for what, about 20 of his own universe’s hours? It hadn’t felt like a long time at all.
Suddenly, another ship loomed into view. It was another Deathven Vessel except a lot, lot shorter. It didn’t seem to have all the cabins that the Shimmer’s Plight had. Emblazoned on the side were the words “Electric Shadow”.
Outside the room, muttering could be heard. Everyone was suddenly looking for Arkay, despite having been ignoring him this whole time. Arkay remained where he was, not sure whether this sudden interest was a good thing or a bad thing. The ship outside drifted closer, then hovered round behind the Shimmer’s Plight, until it was just out of sight. Clearly it was anchoring itself near this vessel’s cargo bay.
“He’s in the observatory!” someone, probably Seimeni, shouted. Heavy footsteps clomped by, and the massive figure of Vikalos appeared in the doorway.
“Arkidetelos, you need to come with me.”
“Why?” Arkay immediately asked. “What’s going on?”
“Come now.”
Knowing that Vikalos would not talk, Arkay sighed and decided to follow. He had no clue what was happening, but hopefully it’d be something good for a change…