“Fuck no, no way, no fucking way, no no no!”
Tenuk had wished he’d not checked his messages before the flight. The flight had been delayed by half an hour, so everyone was kinda stuck on board, waiting for, well, something. Things weren’t too bad, since Tenuk and his three friends were in their own private area, thanks to a special deal made in advance by their boss, the Raptor, but now that the ship was about to take off, Tenuk had no way of dealing or even replying to the messages he had been sent.
Of course, Retvik and Kayel immediately picked up on Tenuk’s unease. Nyssi hadn’t moved much, but that was because she had a bit of a hangover.
“Is something wrong, Tenuk?” Retvik asked as he shifted in his seat. Really, Retvik was the main reason why they were in a private area, because Retvik’s large, Rethan body didn’t really fit in normal seats. It was cheaper to book out the upper class private section of a normal flight than it was to have Retvik travel separately on a large-species-only airline. The four of them were sat facing each other, with a window on each side, the aisle between them and two small tables bolted to the walls beneath the windows. They all had two seats each, and Retvik was definitely making the most out of both his extra space and the aisle.
“No! I mean yes! Something is very wrong! I don’t know how… He worked it out!”
Tenuk suddenly fell silent as a flight attendant drifted by, checking that everyone had their seatbelts on and that all wireless communications were shut off. This meant that Tenuk needed to turn off his mobile data and set his phone to flight mode. He waited until the four of them were alone once more, before explaining his awkwardness.
“I checked my messages and there was one from Phovos saying I had some requests for fan visits…”
“Ugh, I hate those!” Kayel tutted, not really caring that he was interrupting. “I always say no. Thank fuck all those requests have to go through the House Fighters Fan Club so I don’t have to do that crap.”
“So why did you agree to be a gladiator then?” Nyssi blinked, only half awake.
“So I could hit things and use my Phantasma abilities without being considered an unholy monster. I have no desire to be famous…” Kayel noticed that Tenuk was eyeing him. “Sorry, mate. Continue.”
Tenuk tutted, then sighed, sinking in his seat. “Yeah, normally, I just reject most of them as well, especially Spast requests. But it seems that some people have been pestering Phovos herself to get her to let them meet me, and she’s been… putting it off for a while because she knows who they are and who I really am… and now she’s telling me about it and I… I don’t know what to do!” With another awkward sigh, Tenuk turned to Retvik. “You’ve been a gladiator for ages, you’re basically old, what do you normally do with this sort of thing?”
“Please do not call me old…” Retvik whispered. “You are older than I am… But in all honesty, it really does depend on who wants to see you. Because you have not told us who wants to see you in person.”
The little Spast paused, then fell silent. The ship was starting to move, and Tenuk wanted to wait until they were in flight before he spoke further.
“Do you even get many fans, Retvik?” Kayel asked. “Like, I get a few, mostly other Skyans, definitely quite a few who want to sleep with me…”
“I do not get that much, certainly not so much any more, but you three are much more of a curiosity than I am. When I did start off though and people were less aware that I was an exile, yes, there were some… thirsty vok…”
Nyssi seemed not at all bothered. “I’ll be honest, if my place wasn’t an hour’s drive away from the arenas, I’d totally meet up with the many guys who want to fuck me! Then again, that is pretty standard for us Temthans.”
Kayel shrugged. “I mean, us Skyavok can be pretty damn horny as well, but most of the Skyan gladiators are Ξ-Class, it’s almost expected for them to sleep around. Sure, I’m L-Class now, another very liberal Class, but I grew up as K-Class and that’s the second most closed off Class after D-Class.”
Outside, everything went dark as they exited the atmosphere and drifted off into space. Once everyone had settled down and the seat belt sign had turned off, Tenuk felt more comfortable talking again.
“So… yeah… the people who want to see me… I think Levik worked out who I really am.”
“Who is Levik?” Nyssi asked.
“My brother. The crazy one.”
“How many brothers do you have?”
Tenuk frowned. “Two. I’m the oldest, and I was the Heir to the Throne before I, uh, died. Levik is mentally ill and doesn’t believe he’s a Spast. Kohra is now the Heir because he’s not a lunatic but he’s 18 years old, he’s a child. And he… kinda killed our mum. She died giving birth to Kohra, and because of that, Kohra is the complete opposite of Levik and hates shapeshifting, even though Spasts dying in childbirth is stupidly common…” Tenuk’s mood immediately dropped. He put his head in his hands. “All the forced studying and lack of freedom I had, being trained to be the Lord King when my father dies… it’s all going to happen to Kohra now...”
“And let me guess, you feel bad about abandoning your brothers, right?” Kayel scooted over to Tenuk and put an arm around him.
“Yeah…”
“I kinda know how that feels. Felt the same way when me and Enkay defected, back when I called myself Elkay. Teekay remained on his own in the K-Class and kinda…. we kinda left him behind and changed our names and everything. But you should tell them. They need closure.“
“I can’t!” Tenuk tried to hide his panic. “If I tell them the truth, dad will find out, I’ll get dragged away and I might end up never seeing you guys again!”
Again, Tenuk fell silent. A flight attendant arrived, asking them if everything was okay. Retvik ordered drinks and snacks for everyone, despite Tenuk trying to say he didn’t want anything and that he was fine. The attendant rushed off and quickly came back, handing a can of cola, a bag of potato crisps and an energy drink to everyone. Tenuk and Nyssi had normal drinks, while Retvik and Kayel both opted for sugar-free versions.
“So…” Tenuk waited for everything to go quiet again. “You… really think I should tell them, Kayel?”
Kayel nodded. “You should at least meet with them. You don’t have to tell them the entire truth, but if you’re genuinely close to them and feel bad, imagine how they feel, thinking their brother is dead but also alive.”
“I guess… Don’t know how Levik figured it out though… And I know it was Levik because he does that bullshit thing you Skyavok and Rethavok and the Vohra do and somehow instantly know that a Spast is shapeshifted.”
“How?”
“I don’t know…” Tenuk trailed off. “I’ll… I’ll have to think about it though. Like, Kohra and Levik, they’re reasonable. They’ll understand. My father though? He… He’ll want me back by his side, like a good little boy. A puppy to be trained. His perfect little Heir. I don’t… I can’t be Lord King.”
Nyssi grunted, twisting in her seat, unable to get comfy. “So? Retvik’s brother is like, High General or something and he’s fine.”
“Sibling…” Retvik corrected Nyssi.
“Same fucking thing.”
“We do not use genders.”
“You do.”
“Other Rethans do not use genders.”
“Or apostrophes…” Kayel added. “But uh, yeah, Retvik ain’t in charge, and…” Kayel paused. “I was going to say that High General Rethais is older than Tenuk but you’re triplets or something, right? You, Rethais and Relkir are all the same age.”
“That’s not the point!” Tenuk hissed. “Like, I could, theoretically, become Lord King right now. But I’d be STUCK doing that forever and ever! Dad’s old! He’s nearly a thousand. When he dies, me or Kohra or Levik, whoever takes his place, we’ll be Lord King for at least 900 years. And… I don’t want to be Lord King forever. I want to live a normal life.”
“We ain’t living a normal life…” Nyssi tutted. “We’re fricking gladiators with super fast healing powers who help kill corrupted monsters. You just don’t want real responsibility.”
“Can you blame me though?” Tenuk sighed. “I… fine… I’ll… I’ll arrange something… I think I need to sleep on this though.”
“Good idea!” Kayel patted Tenuk on the shoulder. “Get some rest, think about it, we’ll work something out. Either way, we’ll protect you and support you and all that. Right, guys?”
Retvik and Nyssi both nodded. Kayel gave Tenuk a quick hug, then returned to his own seat, stretching out and tucking into his bag of crisps. Feeling somewhat better, Tenuk turned himself into a small, fluffy cat, then curled up on his seat and promptly fell asleep.
“Is he well?” Retvik asked. “Tenuk has not been acting right lately.”
“He’s just being a moody teenager!” Kayel shrugged. “I mean, sure, Tenuk is older than us, but he’s a Spast, they age differently. He’s mentally still kinda a bit of a child. I dunno about you, Retvik, but I was a bit of a handful when I was a teenager and I’m sure Nyssi was a right prick.”
Nyssi snickered. “You’re absolutely right. Anyway, I’m gonna take a nap as well. Wake me up if anything happens.”
“Yeah, sure, Nyssi…” Kayel went back to his crisps. “Shouldn’t be too long a flight anyway.”