Everything was black.
Black and squidgy. Oddly smooth. Warm though. Weirdly warm. Like a protective bubble of goo. One surrounding Retvik and Litvir.
“Oh, thank the Light, you are awake!” Litvir seemed very sleepy, but he also seemed to have been trying to wake Retvik up for a while. “I do not know what is going on, we are trapped in slime and whatever it is, it is numbing my senses and making me sleepy! And I do not know where Arkay is!”
Retvik glanced around, but there wasn’t much to see. Just blackness. But he could feel an odd rumbling sensation, like nearby thunder. He tried to reach out and touch the black substance, expecting it to be wet and gooey, but while it felt wet, it didn’t leave any wetness or residue on Retvik’s skin. Retvik thought that maybe it was Corruption, but Corruption was always wet.
Either way, Retvik decided to do what he always did to Corruption, to burn it. He fired a small burst of flames at the furthest wall (as to not harm Litvir) but grew rather concerned when the walls just seemed to absorb the heat and flames.
“It is not infecting us. Just… holding us…” Retvik muttered.
Litvir seemed rather panicked now. “We are inside a fire-resistant Corruption? Wait… are we… did Arkay turn into a Corruption and surround us?”
“Maybe? Can you touch it and maybe see if it is Arkay?” Retvik suggested.
Litvir hesitated, then edged closer to the wall and very, very gently pressed his hand against it.
“Arkay?” Litvir telepathically asked.
“Arkidetelos. Started End. Protect. Wait. Not safe…” a hideous voice growled and echoed back.
Litvir immediately pulled his hand away, but the voice continued to echo.
“What is going on?”
“Revenge wanted. I protect. I end. Stay. You will be safe. Promise.”
The voice seemed to linger before fading away. As far as Litvir could tell, the black, semi-docile Corruption seemed to cover everything, the entire hotel that they were staying at. But he couldn’t sense anything really past it. Still feeling panicked, Litvir wrapped his arms around Retvik and clung to him tightly.
Outside, the source of the Started End had formed a second physical, less lumpy, more Threanic-shaped form connected to the major lump, which it was using to inspect its surroundings. Approaching the hotel and Arkidetelos was another, much larger mass.
“You, Started End, you killed my father, the Unending Ancient One.”
“I did. Yes.”
The larger corrupted mass slowed down, then, just as the Started End had, it created a smaller form so it could speak to Arkidetelos, more face to face rather than from shapeless mass to shapeless mass.
“Why?”
“Will say. But you. Who are?”
The vaguely humanoid form that the larger Corruption had made seemed to shrug. “You do not know?”
“No.”
“Hmph. I am Ateleophagon, the Unending Devourer. One of many of Epanophovon’s children. I consume other Corruptions that both threaten Epanophovon’s younger children and specifically target small universes.”
“So you understand. Already. Target smaller universes. Is what He did. Natural act. I protect.”
Ateleophagon eyed the Started End somewhat. The way it spoke suggested it was in pain. And starving.
“You still killed my father.”
“Killed many. How many you killed? How many He killed?”
“Epanophovon was more-”
“More honourable?” the Started End hissed. “Lies. Monster. Liar. Breaker. Traitor. As bad as Pantolou.”
Ateleophagon hissed back, raising a clawed and bladed hand. He tried to strike at the Started End, but the Started End raised their own sharpened claw and neatly cut off the offending weapon.
“How…”
“Am Arkidetelos. Am Started End. You start. I end. But speak truth. Do not want to harm you. Want to talk. You listen, yes?”
The Unending Devourer hesitated. “Fine. Why did you kill my father? If I am satisfied with your words, I will back off.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
The Started End shuddered. It was definitely in pain. But, as promised, it started explaining.
“Made promise. Promise simple. He leave my universe. He leave my sisters. Not hurt them. Not threaten them. Not hurt their universes. Take me instead. He promised. He hurt me. A lot. Torture. Try to infect me. But also, hurt Sini. Hurt her new universe. Tried to eat her. He broke promise. So I become Arkidetelos. I hurt him back. Epanophovon panic. Cast me out. Made Sini flee new universe. Sini trapped Him inside.”
“You still killed him.”
“Did not. Not final blow. Decay Lords. Pentathax. They killed him. Sini and I watched. Only helped. Epanophovon broke promise. If not break promise… Would be alive now. But no. Liar. Breaker. And dead. His own actions. His fault. I protect promises. Always did. He broke promise.”
Ateleophagon inspected Arkidetelos some more, then sighed. “So he broke a promise and you killed him for it.”
“He hurt sisters. He hurt family. He hurt me. Threatened death. We protect family, yes? Your job. Protect smaller family. You would do same. I hope you would do same.”
“Well… you have a point, little one. I have killed plenty to protect family. Even if my family is grotesque. Still, in protecting your family, you shattered mine.”
“Do not care. He broke promise. By choice. Should not have. He chose his path. Consequences were met.”
Ateleophagon sighed some more. “I hate that you are very much correct. A promise was made and a promise was broken. Consequences were met indeed… Very well. I shall keep the end of my own promise and leave without harm. The Unending are supposed to be above the Hungering Ones.”
Arkidetelos bowed. “Thank you.”
With a disgruntled murmur, Ateleophagon’s smaller form melted back into the main body, and the vast Corruption drifted off. The Started End waited until the Unending Devourer was completely out of sight, then melted its own body away, freeing the grasp it had over this floating island hotel. All that remained was the tiny physical form floating above the island.
“Not Arkidetelos. Not Corruption. Am Decayon. Good Decayon. Am Arkay.”
The black inky mass evaporated from Arkay’s body, and his yellow plating and golden eyes returned to normal. Taking a long, deep breath, Arkay glanced around to make sure that everything was safe, then headed back down to the hotel.
“Guess I have some explaining and apologising to do…” Arkay murmured to himself, feeling utterly exhausted, but vaguely glad that he had at least solved the situation without bloodshed for once.