Kindyna tapped her claws together as she sat impatiently in her chair, waiting for the other two guests to arrive. Yes, she was fifteen minutes early, but Kindyna was the current Vassil of the Ksithans, their Queen and Representative, she HAD to be early, she had appearances to keep. More annoyingly though, aside from an endless supply of drinks and an absolutely massive bowl of popcorn chicken, there was nothing in this oddly dark room to keep Kindyna occupied.
Thankfully, after about five minutes of waiting, the door opened, revealing one of the other guests. Elkay Athanasion, the All-Ksa of the Skyavok, was only ten minutes early. Normally he was fifteen minutes early, like Kindyna always was.
“Hello, dear!” Elkay smiled as he sat down next to the lime green, black-furred Ksithan. “How are you? It has been a while!”
“Grmmph. You were not supposed to be here.”
“Well, I was invited, so I came. Who am I to say no to our gracious hosts?”
Like Kindyna, Elkay was green. Well, his plating was green, a dark, forest green. He also had ruby red eyes, the same way Kindyna had. However, unlike Kindyna, Elkay was quite old, closing in on 80, but he was still full of life and, weirdly for a Skyavok, full of mystery. While most Skyavok were known to be bad at keeping secrets and wrote almost everything down, archiving anything they could get their little claws on, Elkay guarded secrets the same way a Rethavok would guard a sleeping child, with his life. Both Kindyna and the third expected guest had entrusted him with secrets and, to his credit, he had kept them.
Speaking of the third guest, the door opened once more, and through it stepped a goliath of a being. So’Matis was a Banikan, a rather young one with pale blue fur, not even 30 years old. Old age and a long-running illness had recently killed the previous Spirit of the Banikans, and unrelated illnesses were currently keeping the current Voice and Mind of the Banikans down, so So’Matis was stepping in. He wasn’t really meant to be the public Banikan representative, but someone had to do it.
“Aie, hello…” So’Matis seemed timid, but only because he was new to all of this. Most Banikans lived basic lives as hunter-gatherers and simple farmers, trading exotic meats for anything they needed, and the fact that his Ksithan hosts had offered him such nice things felt weird. Nonetheless, So’Matis immediately took advantage of the bowl of popcorn chicken, one of the few luxuries So’matis always took advantage of when in Ksithan territories.
“Aie, So’Matis!” Elkay beamed. “Alak etsie?”
“Alak iamie. Siese?” The fact that the weird little Skyavok was trying to speak the Banikan’s language helped make So’Matis feel better. “Aneme aig aen alo ianie. Atamgarp aisuolp at atua iesera’m ned.”
Elkay’s face went blank. “I apologise, I only know a few basic greetings.”
So’Matis shook himself down. “It… is not a problem. Thank you for trying…” So’Matis paused, then turned back to the door. It had clicked shut on its own, despite the Banikan having left it open.
“Two and a half languages isn’t bad, most beings in this universe only speak one language!” a weird voice echoed around the room. A puff of smoke appeared between the three beings, and out of it stepped the Thantophor. “All-Ksa Elkay, So’Matis, Spirit of the Banikans, Vassil Kindyna, it’s a pleasure to meet you all!”
So’Matis immediately lowered himself down, but Elkay and Kindyna remained mostly upright.
“Hello, Lord Arkay. Was it you who arranged this meeting?” Elkay asked.
Arkay nodded. “Yes. Well, kinda. I knew that Kindyna and So’Matis were meeting up and decided to kill three birds with one stone… I… should not use that phrase.”
“And why not?” Kindyna felt scared, so she was covering it up with snark.
“I mean, the most birds I’ve killed with one stone is seventy four, when a rock eroded and collapsed on a flock of wild chickens…” Arkay trailed off. “Sorry, I’m getting distracted. I don’t want to keep you for long, but I wanted to meet with you all, since we’ll be welcoming a new member to our little union soon, and I’m also allowed to do more stuff with mortals. In fact, I’ve wanted to meet up with you three for a while, but I’ve been kinda busy.”
Elkay bowed ever so slightly. “I appreciate the consideration, Lord-”
“Please don’t call me ‘lord’.”
“Very well. I appreciate the consideration. You look much better compared to the last time I saw you. Rather… Rethan-like though.”
Arkay glanced down at himself. He’d meant to have changed into a Skyavok before this meeting but he’d forgotten, since a passing Voidborn had distracted him. “Yeah, sorry… There’s a reason though. Epani has relinquished her control over her mortal races, and the Rethavok will be joining the Shadowed Frostflame Union for a bit.”
Kindyna crossed her arms, hissing. “There are more of those armoured brutes than there are Skyavok, Banikans and Ksithans combined! They will take over!”
“Now, now!” Elkay tried to reassure his Ksithan ally. “According to the A-Class, the Ksithan and Rethan populations are pretty close in number. There has been a sharp rise in Ksithan birth rates, and our own Skyavok population has been slowly increasing as well, finally.”
“Wow, did those N-Class bastards really screw you all over that bad?” Kindyna’s attitude abruptly changed. “I know they basically bankrupted you all but-”
“They cut spending to the L-Class, the Class that deals with kids, families, sexual health and youngling education. Of course it screwed us over…” Elkay sighed. “Either way, the K-Class has tightened things up and the L-Class now being second-in-control has helped a lot. I am getting distracted though. Is the inclusion of the Rethavok in our Union the only reason you are here, Arkay?”
“Honestly? Mostly, yes. But what I really wanted to do was reassure the three of you that you’ll all continue to be treated equally, as long as you stick to the anti-aggression war promises that you all made to me when you took power. And because I’m allowed to interact with mortals more now, I can offer more support when you all need it. So if you have a natural disaster or something, I can give you aid directly.”
“I like that…” So’Matis muttered. “Our Soeht coming back? And offering Himself? It is nice.”
Kindyna nodded in agreement. “It’s nice, yes. Some sort of safety net makes a change, similar to what the Sinian and Kaironian races have. The Epanian races never had that. But what has prompted this change? You’ve been… kinda hands off for decades.”
“I know, I know. But I haven’t been allowed to interfere with mortals properly until recently. I wasn’t allowed to have mortal friends again until Genar-Jan, and direct influence on more political things, that right was only given back to me at around the same time.”
The three leaders all glanced at each other.
“You have that little freedom?” Elkay eventually asked.
Arkay nodded. “Had. I’m clawing back my freedoms, but I think you can all understand that the other three deities don’t like the one being that can kill them having too much power. But things are changing for the better for me, and I want to make sure that things continue to get better for the Banikans, Ksithans and Skyavok. And, now, the Rethavok too.”
“This is good!” So’Matis smiled, opening his mouth wide. “Sotanaht iak Iokairofotanaht, Thantophor and His Kin, all getting better! Makes me happy. Makes you happy too, yes, Sotanaht?”
“Yeah, I am definitely happier. Much happier!” Arkay smiled back. “Unfortunately, I can’t stick around, but I’d love to sit down with each of you one day, get to know you all a bit better. If that’s alright with you all.”
“That would be lovely!” Elkay and Kindyna both seemed much more reassured now. “Where do you have to go though?”
Arkay’s smile faded. “Someone’s got to patrol the walls of the universe, so we don’t end up with another situation similar to what happened on Portalia. And right now, that someone is me.”
“It’s not a problem!” Elkay wandered over to the vast supply of drinks and poured four glasses of cola, knowing that So’Matis didn’t drink and the Thantophor probably didn’t drink alcohol either. “We should all raise a toast though. To both our new allies and to the return of our god, yes?”
Everyone took a glass, then clinked them together.
“Cheers, friends!” Arkay smiled once more. “It’s good to be able to help you all once more…”