“Well that was hot.”
“Definitely.”
Kayel yawned and sat up, stretching out his arms. There were still specks of blood on him from his arena battle. He’d played the Big Bad, a vicious monster, his job being to stop a bunch of contestants from escaping a specially set up arena. Had any of the contestants made it, they would have won some impressive prizes, but Kayel, despite being a Skyavok (and one of the first to play as a Big Bad), had cleanly stopped them all from doing so.
In the process, Kayel had used a lot of his shadow powers. Normally, that would strain Kayel and cause him various problems. Kayel’s Phantasma abilities were fuelled by a desire to kill, and if he couldn’t satisfy that bloodlust, he’d slowly lose his mind, become aggressive and be permanently hungry, while dealing with feelings of guilt and hatred. But the theatrics and the extra fake blood had been enough for Kayel to not have a desire to actually murder something right away.
As he’d left the arena though, he could feel that bloodlust slowly rising again, so Kayel decided to try something different. He’d messaged Psiksi, a fellow Skyavok House Fighter, and they’d agreed to meet up. Kayel was only somewhat surprised that Psiksi had a bed in his private training area, and the pair of them had used said bed to make out. Apparently for about an hour, Kayel realized as he glanced at his wristband.
“Didn’t think that you talking to me in Shadowtongue while we fucked would be such a turn on!” Psiksi smirked as he rolled over to inspect Kayel. “Also didn’t think you’d be such a vigorous giver as well as a vigorous receiver.”
Kayel yawned some more. “I think that was the adrenaline and bloodlust, I’m not normally like that. Then again, that was the second time we’ve slept together.”
“Did it help though?”
“Oh, definitely!” Kayel smiled, but that smile didn’t last very long. “I mean, I’m probably still going to have to kill a rodent or something to settle down completely though. You’re lucky, you only have minimal training, I’m a fully bloodied member of the cult.”
Psiksi put a hand on Kayel’s shoulder, forcing him to lie down again. “Yeah but you left the cult, right? And the Phantasma cult technically doesn’t exist any more? The K-Class shut it down after the whole “attempted assassination on the old Vice-Ksa” ordeal.”
“Doesn’t make the desire to kill go away…” Kayel shuddered, immediately pulling away from Psiksi. “That… I don’t want to talk about any of that…”
“Why not?” Psiksi asked. “The three assassins were all killed, and apart from that there were no other injuries or anything, apart from the N-Class bastard.” Psiksi paused, looking Kayel up and down. A lot of Skyavok, Psiksi included, were drawn to the idea of obtaining new information, it was why the Skyavok had been entrusted by the other members of the Twelve to keep the universe’s libraries, archives and data storage, and because of this, Psiksi could tell that Kayel was definitely keeping secrets and not saying something important.
Kayel hesitated. He knew Psiksi wanted to know more. “I was a Phantasma at the time it all happened, of course I don’t want to talk about it. And, like all Phantasma who were active at the time, I’m not allowed to talk about it.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ll be fucking killed. The Phantasma cult was an antithesis to our truth-telling, archiving ways and we were all bound to secrecy when it all ended…” Kayel sighed, then got up, putting his arena armour back on. His normal casual clothes were still in Xeno Dessaron One’s private training area and Kayel didn’t fancy walking back there in the nude while carrying his bulky Big Bad armour. Skyavok didn’t have visible external genitalia or ‘sexy things’ like a lot of other races, but Kayel still found it a little weird.
Psiksi shrugged. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just… curious.”
“Everyone is. But they’re going to have to stay curious.”
“Yeah…” Psiksi tutted. “I am genuinely sorry though. I let my curious, archiving self get ahead of me sometimes. I mean, my parents are both A-Class, I can’t help it.”
“Oh?” Kayel perked up. “How did you end up in Ξ-Class then?”
“Well, I have shadow powers like you. Was raised under K-Class like all shadowjumpers, weighed up my options since I couldn’t really go back to A-Class, and decided that arena stuff was probably better than being a soldier or working D-Class. Except I was kinda too good and the Raptor offered me some damn good money to work as a House Fighter.”
“Heh… that’s pretty funny. Surprised you didn’t get snatched up as a Phantasma.”
“Parents made it clear that they didn’t want that and that I was to make my own decisions. I assume your parents weren’t as caring?”
“I don’t know who my parents are. I’m an orphan, as far as I know.”
“Oh…” Psiksi frowned. “I’m sorry.”
Kayel didn’t seem too bothered. “It’s fine. Never knew them. Us Skyavok look after our unwanted and orphaned kids pretty well.”
“That is true. Still, I guess it sucks not really having had a choice or anything…”
“A little, yeah…”
Both Skyans sighed. Kayel went back to putting on his armour, while Psiksi grabbed one of his familiar green hoodies and loincloths, pausing to make the bed and clean up the mess he and Kayel had made. However, a sudden knock on the door made both of them jump.
“Were you expecting someone?” Kayel asked.
“Uh, no, I have tonight off…” Psiksi made his way towards the door, pausing to make sure that he and Kayel were decent, before opening it.
Standing in the doorway was a black skinned, yellow-plated Skyavok that Psiksi didn’t recognize, that was both somehow beautiful and ugly at the same time. Somewhat tall and muscular, but badly dressed in an oversized black hoodie, with untrimmed claws and a little too much plating. When Psiksi didn’t say anything, Kayel wandered to the door to see what was up.
“Oh, hiya Arkay!” Kayel smiled. “What’s up?”
Psiksi blinked several times, before finally saying something.
“Fuck, you’re paradoxically hot.”
In hindsight, maybe Psiksi should have taken a moment to form a proper first sentence spoken to the God of Death, the Lord of Shadows, the Silent Blade, but the Thantophor clearly didn’t seem to mind.
“Nice to meet you, Psiksi!” Arkay smiled back. “Sorry about popping up uninvited, but Sini wanted me to meet her in the Gold Suite and requested that I bring my little Dessaron team with me for some reason.”
“Why?”
Arkay shrugged. “No idea. But the others didn’t know where you were, Kayel, so I thought I’d spare you from an awkward text message from Tenuk and come and let you know in person.”
Psiksi couldn’t help but continue to stare at Arkay. It took him way too long to speak properly.
“So you kinda just wander around mortals like that?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
Arkay shrugged some more. Psiksi found it weird how relatable the God of Death was. “Why not? Not like I have much to hide. I would invite you to come along to this meeting with Sini but she might, uh, get touchy, and you’re already freaking out from meeting me.”
Psiksi nodded. “I totally am.”
“Well, you’re handling things way better than most people!” Arkay beamed as he patted Psiksi on the shoulder. “Anyway, I’m genuinely sorry for interrupting, but I don’t like to keep the Allbirther waiting. It’s clearly important. Do you mind coming with me, Kayel?”
“Yeah, sure, I guess?” Kayel glanced at Psiksi to make sure he was alright. Psiksi did seem to have sorted himself out. “I’ll see you later, I guess, mate?”
Psiksi sighed. “Yeah. I’ll see you later. Sorry for freaking out and asking weird stuff.”
Arkay patted Psiksi on the shoulder again, then led Kayel away. “Not a problem, keep up the good work!”
Kayel and the Thantophor made their way down the hallway, leaving Psiksi behind. Once he was out of earshot, Arkay turned to Kayel and smiled.
“He’s cute.”
“He is. But don’t you find everyone cute?”
Arkay snickered. “Admittedly, yeah, I do. But life in general is cute. Can’t help but think that way because I can’t create life myself.”
“You can’t?” Kayel blinked.
“Not currently, no. Only Epani and Sini can create life in any way. But yeah, we should pick up the pace.”
“What does Sini want?”
“I really don’t know…” Arkay hesitated, before grabbing Kayel’s hand and pulling him through a nearby shadow. “But we’re about to find out…”