“Hate to drag you away from your quiet time, Elkay, but someone’s got to keep an eye on your husband and his gaggle of fuckwits and eventually fly them home…” Arkay tutted as a rather fancy ship landed next to his own ship. Well, technically, Souldrainer’s Plight was Litvir’s ship, but Litvir said Arkay could use it whenever. The fancy ship though was the Deathly Soulflame, the Missing’s personal Deathven-gifted vessel.
Elkay waved his hand dismissively as he, Litvir and Retvik all exited the Deathly Soulflame. “It really is not a problem. I had my fun and my quiet time, I am quite happy to make sure that my darling Teekay can safely get home after his own fun time. And I get to fly Litvir’s ship.”
“If any of them throw up, you are cleaning the mess, by the way!” Litvir tutted. “Anyway, Arkay, dear, care to show us the, uh, goods?”
Arkay nodded, then led his partners and the only other Synaisthyn Decay Lord deeper into Souldrainer’s Plight. They didn’t need to go far though. Lying on the bed in the very first bedroom (which was normally Arkay’s room) was a small, red-plated being with a very, very long tail. They looked exactly like Arkay and Elkay, except they currently lacked any wings and were rather skinny.
“Oh.”
“You caught that scent straight away, right?” Arkay nudged Elkay.
“Yes. Have you already told the poor thing the bad news?”
“What bad news?” the creature asked.
“That you are not a normal Decayon, you are a Synaisthyn.”
The creature nodded and smiled. “Arkay told me, yes! My name is Helkas! What are your names, big, tall, scary guys? Also, big, tall, scary green guy, you smell a bit like Arkay here. Are you a… uh…”
“A Synaisthyn…” Arkay muttered.
“Are you one of those thingies too?”
Elkay nodded. “I am. My name is Elkay. These two are Litvir and Retvik, they are Arkay’s partners, and they will be assisting in taking you back to Savepoint, so you can be checked over and kept safe.”
“Ah… wait, what do you mean by that?”
Retvik glanced at Litvir, silently asking if he should be blunt. Litvir eventually shrugged and nodded. “The… kid ought to know.”
“Very well. Unfortunately, Synaisthyns are incredibly rare creatures, to the point that, up until two year-strings ago, Arkay was believed to be the only one in existence. And part of the reason for that is because beings accused of being Synaisthyns were apparently killed before they could… mature. Arkay, Elkay, Litvir and I are here to make sure you are kept safe and are allowed to grow freely.”
Helkas suddenly jumped up out of bed and floated up in front of Retvik. “What do you mean, killed? I don’t want to die! I’m just a kid!”
“That’s why we are here!” Arkay butted in. “We managed to protect Elkay and he is now a mostly normal, mostly stable person. And now we’re here to do the same thing for you.”
“But… who would want to kill me?”
“You would be surprised…” Retvik grunted. “Decayons are often subject to… bad things, just because we exist. The more powerful you are, the more at risk you are. Mostly because Voidborns and Life Goddesses have their own idea of balance that beings like you tend to break. But as Arkay said, we will make sure you are safe and happy.”
“How though?” Helkas seemed nervous all of a sudden.
“We’re gonna take you back to Savepoint. We have a Life Goddess and a couple of Time Drakes who will check you over and make sure you are healthy, then we’ll start training you on how to use your vast amount of powers and teach you how to look after yourself.”
“Huh…” Helkas thought for a moment. “What is Savepoint?”
“It’s out headquarters!” Arkay smiled as he explained. “You’ll like it there. We have a nice garden and a lake you can swim in. And you’ll get your own stuff and your own private room and all that. Once you’re trained up, you’ll be free to do, well, whatever.”
“Whatever I want?”
“Yeah.”
“Like… I could… I could fly through space and make pretty sparkly lights?”
“Yep.”
“Or I could find an asteroid and cover it in flowers, like mummy used to?”
“Yep. We’ll teach you how to do that.”
Helkas bounced excitedly. “I want to learn how to do that! Can you show me, please, mister Arkay?”
“Of course. Come with me and my buddies, and we’ll go to Savepoint right now.”
Arkay held out his hand, and Helkas instantly took it and allowed Arkay to lead him to the other ship.
Once the coast was clear, Retvik turned back with Elkay.
“Will you be alright, staying here to cover Helkas’s scent?”
Elkay nodded. “I will be fine. I can look after myself. Worst case scenario, I have a many of Teekays willing to assist me, but I do not think there will be any trouble. After all, Helkas was in a metal pod, floating through space all this time, and nothing happened to him, even though we think other people are searching for him.”
“Very well. But if the Teekays get too rowdy or something happens, you call us straight away, alright? You call us, and we send the heavy hitters directly to you.” Litvir warned. “We will not allow you or anyone else to get hurt because of, well, this mess.”
“I am a heavy hitter though.”
“You are, yes, but we still do not want you to get hurt…” Retvik sighed. “And, fingers crossed, Deathven allows us to look after Helkas…”
Litvir glanced up at Retvik and accidentally picked up a stray thought. However, he dismissed it and got back to work.
“Either way, call us if you need us, alright?” Litvir tutted as he handed a set of keys to Elkay.
Elkay bowed. “I will be fine. Have a save trip back. I will be here, wandering around the mall and relaxing in the mean time, to cover up any traces of Helkas’s and Arkay’s scent.”
“Good. See you soon, Elkay.”
“You too!” Elkay smiled. “We will be fine.”
“I hope so…” Retvik grunted as he and Litvir headed off. “I really hope so…”