Occasionally, someone would ask for the Holy Four to all meet up in one location, but the choice of location today was rather odd. Sure, all four deities could call each other and arrange a group meeting, but normally the one to make the call would be Sini or Epani, and normally it would be for something vaguely important. For Kairos to suddenly demand a meeting, located in the Gold Suite of the Great Dessaron Battle Arena, something genuinely weird must have been going on.
“Is something wrong?” Arkay immediately asked as he rushed in via a nearby shadow. “I came as soon as I could!”
Epani seemed vaguely concerned, but Kairos seemed rather amused. He was relaxing in one of the four large chairs that overlooked the main arena, watching a Thraki fight a Temthan. It was somewhat one-sided, mostly because the Thraki was a flying, fire-breathing lizard, and the Temthan was just a lizard, but since Thraki were one of Kairos’s chosen races, he didn’t mind at all.
“Nothing is wrong, little one!” Sini smiled, helping herself to a drink from the unmanned bar in the corner. She waltzed over and sat down next to Kairos, then suggested Epani and Arkay do the same. “You seem rushed, dear!”
Arkay hesitated, looking for somewhere to wash his currently rather dirty hands. A small Voidborn entity had tried to enter via a hole where the old universal Earth Bones used to be, and, despite Arkay having asked politely for it to leave, it had decided to attack. They were brutally killed, the same way Arkay brutally killed anything else that threatened his home, but this specimen had bled all over Arkay in horrible, golden blood.
Thankfully, Epani summoned a towel for Arkay, and the two deities finally sat down.
“So… uh… why did you want us here, Kairos?” Epani asked, glancing at the battle below. She didn’t care that much about gladiator battles, mostly because two of the three Epanian races were stupidly powerful and very, very good at gladiator battles. She never had to worry about being badly represented.
Kairos grunted, but it was a rather amused grunt. “Arkay’s little team is fighting Retha Squad One tomorrow. Thought I’d invite the three of you to watch, and perhaps make a few bets on it.”
“What do you mean, my little team?” Arkay tutted. “They have a name, it’s Xeno Dessaron One, but they’re not mine.”
“It’s the four mortals you dragged into the whole Corruption-Wearing-Kinisis’s-Skin mess, dearest!” Sini interrupted. “The same four mortals who helped you destroy my torture labs and, again, the same four mortals Kairos found in your apartment. They are very, very much your little team, Arkay.”
Arkay frowned, sinking in his seat. The seats were all the same size, but since Arkay was physically quite a small deity, he didn’t fit right. “Alright, fine, I accept that, but at the same time, we’re not supposed to bet on things! At least, you’ve always told me off for that sort of thing, and Kairos cheats because he can see into the future.”
“You’re just afraid your little team will lose,” Epani sneered. “We all know the Rethavok are among the superior races.”
Sini seemed to disagree. “Eh, sure, Rethavok are strong and they’re good at what they do, but they’re mentally closed off and emotionally challenged. Also, they have kinda low population rates, they can’t really use their given element and I find them pretty ugly. Actually, Epani, all three of your races are ugly, with the Rethavok somehow being the best among them, despite being horrible, armoured brutes.”
“Now now, sisters!” Kairos clapped his hands together. “We’re not here to argue who has the best races, when the answer is clearly me. We’re here to have a nice discussion on an upcoming arena battle and a small idea of mine that I had.”
All three other deities seemed to very much dislike Kairos’s claim.
“Half of this universe is filled with races that belong to me!” Sini argued. “Can’t get better than that!”
“My races excel in everything they do!” Epani snarled. “The best guardians, the best explorers, the best creators!”
Arkay just shrugged. “I have Banikans.”
Sini glanced at Arkay, then laughed awkwardly. “That is true. He does have Banikans…” With a small smile, Sini changed the subject. “But yeah, what was your idea, Kairos?”
“Well, first off, I want to make bets on this match tomorrow.”
“You can see into the fucking future!” Arkay butted in. “Making bets with you is stupid.”
“I can see, at most, half an hour into the future, and only on specific things, little one!” Kairos clicked in annoyance. “Which is why I want to make these bets in advance.”
Epani crossed her arms. “Retha Squad One will win. They always win. Even against your stupid Fangs of the Whenvern team. I’d bet a whole damn star on it.”
“I kinda want a star…” Arkay muttered. “You know what? Fine. I’ll bet against you, Epani. Pick a nice, isolated star with no planets around it, and if my team wins, I get to blow it up.”
Epani leaned forward, eyeing the younger deity. “If your team loses, which it will, you leave that star alone forever. It becomes a white dwarf and continues existing.”
“Yeah, sure. That’s fine by me!”
Kairos smiled, glad that his fellow gods were playing along. “It is nice to see that you’re joining in, Arkay. Which makes my desire to bet far greater. If Retha Squad One wins, Arkay, I want you to go on a date with me, and then come back to one of my places and spend the night with me.”
“Ugh…” Arkay’s mood immediately soured. “That’s… unfair.”
“You bet against Epani. Surely a star is more of a prize than a single night?”
Arkay tutted, then gave in. “Fine. If they win. If they don’t win, then… Hm…”
“Hm?” Kairos teased slightly. “What sort of absurdity do you ask of me, should the improbable happen?”
“Well, since your whole bet is a blatant attempt to get inside me, I want the opposite. We all know I go both ways…” Arkay smiled, there was a small hint of cruelty in his voice, not something the other gods expected. “If Xeno Dessaron One win, Kairos, you have to be on the receiving end for once. I don’t care whether it’s with me or with Sini or Epani or even with some random mortal, but I want you to experience things from a female’s point of view. You’ll probably enjoy it.”
Kairos didn’t respond immediately, but when he did, he clearly wasn’t bothered. “You’re not going to win, Arkay, but sure, I’ll accept your bet. Sini, got any bets you want to make?”
Sini shrugged, she was mostly just amused that Arkay was willing to agree to these bets. “I can’t really think of anything, to be honest. I do want Arkay’s team to win though. Would be hilarious.”
Arkay was still smiling, despite knowing that the odds were against him. “And there I was, thinking you’d be desperate to abuse my pride with an easy chance to get something out of me.”
“Nah, I’m good!” Sini got up from her seat, giggling slightly. “Anyway, I got work to do. We’ll discuss Kairos’s idea tomorrow, after the match, alright?”
The other gods all nodded in agreement.
“Good luck, my fellow deities!” Kairos grinned as the four of them went their separate ways. “Some of us will need it more than others…”