The bottom of the Pleasure Mall was supposed to be out of bounds, not because there was storage there or anything like that, but because it was nothing but rock. The mall had originally been built on a large asteroid, and it had been refurbished repeatedly. However, the asteroid had been slowly crumbling away for a while, and after the last refurbishment, the entire mall was lifted up and built onto a proper concrete foundation and the asteroid was left to its own devices, mostly just sitting there.
Arkay had sensed the tremor before anything else, but as he made his way down to the rocky outer levels, the thing that he had picked up the most was the scent. A scent that was overly mixed up. Like the early stages of death and decay, churning away to itself. No, not decay. Change. Ever-shifting change. Really, the scent reminded Arkay of himself.
Eventually, Arkay tracked down the source of the brief tremor. Something metallic but wrapped in darkness had collided with the asteroid and burrowed quite far down. Not intentionally though. Whatever this object was, it had no direction and, by sheer luck alone, had managed to crash into something.
Arkay wondered for a moment if the object had been tracking Arkay’s location, but as he inspected the metal lump, he quickly noticed there was no technology or anything connected to the object. It was just a solid lead box with a hollow middle. And while the lead metal was stopping Arkay from instantly telepathically seeing what was inside, Arkay could definitely sense… something.
With a grunt, Arkay managed to make his way to the lump and get real close to it. On closer inspection, it was more like a casket than anything else. Written on the side though was a message that Arkay couldn’t instantly read. It looked like Xa Thimiouyalagi, the language of Life Goddesses, but… not corrupted, but abbreviated. Shortened. The same way Arkay had made Shadowtongue for the Skyavok out of the Theoglossa that he shared with his fellow deities. On second inspection, it actually looked more like Theoglossa but lengthened, which made no sense.
It occurred to Arkay that maybe Theoglossa wasn’t unique to him, Kairos, Sini and Epani, but it was in fact unique to the Mothers, the Life Goddesses that used to dominate the Patagenic Pentacluster. That was why he could read it.
The message on the side was also a bit odd. It read something about exile saving one from death, that one would be found, awakened and reborn once more.
“Apo Thanaton Apofevges, Se Nea Zoi Xanagenesai.”
Arkay reread that last sentence, but accidentally did so out loud. As he did so, the metal casket shuddered ever so slightly. A thin line of light ran across the edge of the casket then quickly faded away. This was followed by a hiss and a strange squeaky sound.
All of a sudden, the very top of the casket faded. It became translucent, like glass, and a clear line separated the top of the casket from the bottom, meaning that it could theoretically be opened.
Inside, Arkay spotted movement. There was definitely something alive inside the casket. And, worse, Arkay could smell it properly now. It smelled just like Arkay. And as it moved around, Arkay realised it looked a bit like him as well.
In fact, as Arkay spotted a face, he realised it looked way, way too familiar. It was unlocking awkward memories.
Arkay found himself staring at the being inside the casket for far too long, lost in thought. It wasn’t until he heard shouting that Arkay snapped back to reality.
“Oi! What ya doing up there?”
Arkay looked up. A guard for the mall had spotted him.
“Uh… sorry, I lost my pet rock!” Arkay shouted back. “It has a mind of its own and tends to try and escape my ship.”
The guard, clearly some sort of grumpy old Beh’en, glared at Arkay. “You fooking serious?”
“Unfortunately…” Arkay sighed. “This is the Space Between Universes though, weird shit happens all the time. I’ve found my pet rock though and I’m coming back down!”
“Fine. Get ya arse moving!”
Arkay did as he was told. He wrapped the metal casket up in a black, shadowy veil that he handily summoned, then awkwardly telekinetically carried it towards where the guard was standing.
“Sorry about that,” Arkay apologised. “One of my travel companions left my ship unlocked when they went to fetch their wallet. I just want to take this back to my ship.”
The guard quickly relented and let Arkay pass. Arkay moved as fast as he could, and as soon as he was out of sight of the guard, he pulled both himself and the darkness-cloaked metal casket through a convenient shadow.
Within moments, Arkay was back on the Souldrainer’s Plight. And with him was the casket. Now that Arkay was in a safer spot, it seemed that the casket was more transparent. And it was seemingly willing to open up.
The glass top disappeared completely and Arkay found he could reach into the casket. He quickly noticed that the fabrics wrapped around the being inside were like silk. And, more worryingly, the being was beginning to stir. They opened their eyes, blinked at Arkay a few times, smiled, yawned, then fell back to sleep.
Arkay stared at the being inside the canister, then sighed and pulled out his communicator. He didn’t call the Teekays though, he didn’t want to bother them. Instead, he quickly messaged Retvik and Litvir.
Deathbringer: Hey guys…
Deathbringer: Got a small problem.
Souldrainer: What is it, dear?
Deathbringer: I think I have found them.
Flamebearer: Found who?
Deathbringer: Red. I think I’ve found Red.
Deathbringer: Worse, I think I know who this guy is…
Souldrainer: Do you need us to come and get you?
Deathbringer: No, stay put. I’ll be with you soon…
Arkay sighed some more, then decided to sit tight and keep an eye on the container. Just in case…