The plan had been to head straight to the fancy villa that Kairos and Kenon had set up. But as soon as Epani had heard that Kinisis arrived, she INSISTED on inviting the Allmaker on a tour of her new universe. A cute little floating sleigh had been summoned, with Epani sitting at the front, using her younger sister Yisini as some sort of reindeer tied up and ready to start pulling.
“I didn’t know that the Allbirther was into BDSM…” Tahnahos whispered to Phovos as the two Guardians waited for Kinisis to climb in. Once Kinisis was settled, sitting next to the Whenvern, the Guardians climbed into the back and strapped themselves in.
“Ready, kids?” Epani shouted, only to be met with confused nods. “Alright, let’s go!”
Epani waggled her fin, pretending to shake a whip. Yisini rolled her eyes, then started pulling the sleigh. Progress was slow at first, but Yisini quickly picked up her pace, racing through the darkness. They seemed to travel both quite far and not very far at all. It was hard to tell in the darkness. However Tahnahos and Phovos both noticed something was missing. There were hardly any stars.
Just lightly glowing clouds. Nebulae. The clouds in which stars were born.
“Uh, where are the stars?” Phovos asked, not expecting an answer. To her surprise though, Epani was ready with an answer.
“Most of them went kablooey. Yisini and I saved what we could, but we somewhat focused on, well, living life. Kinda forgot about the planets. We managed to save about twenty stars though, all older ones that had planets in tow, with life on them. Takes time to make more stars!”
“Uh… how long?”
“The fastest I can do is about five thousand years.”
Phovos turned to Tahnahos, somewhat shocked. Tahnahos just shrugged it off. “Stars take a while to build.”
Epani though had gone back to chatting with Kinisis, wowing her with all the improvements she had made. Epani’s new little universe may have been incredibly small, but she’d ramped up the security tenfold. Still, she seemed to want to add more.
“The idea is that there is only one entry point!” Epani explained. “Everything else is completely shielded. One way in, one way out. Emergency exits are for citizens of my Panelixaverse only!”
“Why have an entry point though?” Phovos grunted. “Surely…”
“Well you came in through it. Sometimes we may have outside visitors. A specific port of entry is easier to guard and maintain, rather than having beings bust through as they please.”
“Plus you could make the universe into an amazing tourist hub!” Kinisis added.
Epani shrugged. “I have been… considering it. But we have nothing to attract others.”
“True, true…”
“However…” Epani paused, then turned to Yisini. “Sister, this is supposed to be a tour. You have taken us to the villa Kairos and Kenon provided!”
Yisini hissed, pulling leather strips off herself. “Do your own bloody tour.”
“Are you upset?”
“Yeah!” Yisini snapped. “I got shit to do!” With a tut and a snarl, Yisini tore off the rest of the reigns attaching herself to Epani’s sleigh, then disappeared in a puff of purple and white smoke. Epani however seemed completely unfazed by Yisini’s disappearance, and instead got out of the sleigh, helping Kinisis out afterwards.
“Oh well, not a problem!” Epani smiled. “We can do the rest of the tour at a later date. I assume you will be joining us at Kenon’s Macromera feast, yes?”
“I thought you weren’t going?” Kairos interrupted.
Epani smiled. “Oh, I changed my mind. Since Kinisis is here as well, would be a shame to miss out! Anyway, everything you need is here, Kinisis. Make yourself at home!”
Kinisis glanced around the area. Ahead of them was a cute, white-walled villa with a heated pool and jacuzzi outside. The lights of a Rethan city could be seen, flickering in the distance, as well as a nearby space port.
“This will do nicely!” Kinisis finally smiled, snapping her fingers. “Phovos, Tahnahos, lock down the area. I’m gonna jump into that pool.”
Epani grinned, clapping her fins together. “May I join you?”
“Of course!” Kinsis giggled, before making a massive splash into the little pool.