Everything had been utterly quiet at Savepoint. Not a single person had come by, looking for assistance, for the last 80 hours. Which, considering the duties of the Thantir, was a damn good thing. It meant everyone could just chill out, and the only people really working were Kal, who had offered to be on guard in case anyone turned up, and the Decaylings, who were all busy studying. However, after a while, they all went on break too, and decided to just wander around. They often had questions to ask of the older members of the Thantir, and Retvik wasn’t too surprised when someone wandered up to him. He was a little surprised as to who it was.
“Hello, Kyr Retvik.”
“Uh, hello, Ret, is something wrong?”
Because of what most believed to be Time Drake shenanigans (mostly just the same Time Drake being reused for multiple universes), there were two members of the Thantir with the exact same name. And four members of the Thantir with similar names. What Retvik wondered though was if this younger, fitter Retvik was essentially the same person as he was. At first, Retvik wasn’t sure, however, since younger Retvik seemed fine with shortening his name to Ret to avoid confusion, something Retvik would have never even considered in the past.
“Nothing is wrong, Kyr Retvik, I was just wondering, in about six hours, it will be the new year within our old universe, and I wanted to know if it is possible to make some fireworks. Kayel tried but he set his hoodie on fire. Again.”
“You want fireworks?”
“Yes. To usher in the new year and to… say goodbye to the insanity of this year. Because… this year has been utterly insane.”
“Oh? How comes?”
Ret shrugged. “Off the top of my head… I was rendered immortal, we befriended Arkay, we killed some sort of corrupted deity, the Bloodline Traditions were ended and I was repatriated after spending over thirty years in exile, I got a cute poten-partner, became one of the best gladiators ever and then somewhat became a god myself briefly after saving a lot of lives, then got… kicked out of the universe, I guess.”
“That… is quite a chaotic year… wait, you ENDED the Bloodlines?” Retvik blinked.
“Well, I did not do anything, I found out later. But Rethais hated having to be the bearer and Relkir wanted kids, so they spoke to the other Bloodline Tradition folks and set up a new law freeing us from that stupid nonsense. Meant I was finally allowed to be repatriated and, well, have sex.”
Retvik blinked some more. “I understand not being allowed to have kids, My older brother Rethais was the bearer, but I was still allowed to get married.”
Ret frowned. “I guess, in your universe, the traditions were far less strict? Admittedly we had problems because we were triplets, and, fifty years ago, the old High General was fixated on the Bloodline Traditions. Which… meant that they were willing to kill anyone who broke the two-kids-per-generation rule.”
“That… is horrible… And let me guess, they were planning on killing the youngest of you three?”
“Yes. Relkir would have been killed, but I offered myself in their place, and because of my bravery and the fact that I was supposed to be the Bearer, I was exiled instead.”
“YOU are the oldest?”
“By about five minutes, yes. Apparently I hatched first.”
Retvik grunted. “That is… awful.”
“It was, yes, but I survived and made a life for myself. I was successful, in spite of it all. Really, we all were. Rethais became High General, Relkir is probably one of the smartest Rethans alive and is in a happy relationship with General Gath. Well, I assume they still are, I have no idea if everything is still alive back inside my universe.”
Ret expected an immediate response from Retvik, but noticed that the elder Rethan had somewhat drifted off.
“Kyr Retvik, is something wrong?”
Retvik sighed. “No, no. Just some grief that I have not quite digested after all these years.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your universe was made from my universe. Everyone inside my old universe was rewritten. Back when I was mortal, I was married to someone called Gath, for fifty years. While I have mostly moved on and accepted that my dear Gath is gone, the fact that he was turned into a completely different person and… is essentially dead… It catches me off guard some times.”
Ret paused. “You… were married to someone called Gath for fifty years? Nearly as long as I have been alive?”
“Yes.”
“Wow…” Ret trailed off. “I… I hope I can last that long with Kuta. We have only been together for six months. Then again, I have only been allowed to have relationships for just over six months…”
Retvik thought for a moment then shrugged. “Considering what Kuta has said about you, I think you will be together for a long time. You are a very cute couple. I do have a… somewhat related question though.”
“What is it?”
“Who were your parents?”
Ret snarled. “Parents? More like genetic donors. Why are you asking?”
“I wanted to know whether we are the same person or not.”
“My egg-layer was an asshole by the name of Revan, who did not step in when Relkir was on the chopping block, and cursed me out when I sacrificed myself. I have not spoken to Revan directly in 34 years, and the last time they were in my presence, they hid in a dark corner while I publicly called them out.”
“Oh. I am sorry.”
Ret immediately perked up. “Oh, do not be sorry. Despite everything, I succeeded in life, in spite of that bastard. Revan only succeeded in life because they lived off the Rethianos name and could swim rather well, but they grew old, had a loveless marriage and were hated by not just their own kids but their partner and their sibling too. Not too long before… everything went down, Rethais told me and Relkir that they had arranged a restraining order against Revan, and that Trimes was filing for divorce.”
“Is Trimes your father?”
“Sperm donor, but yes.”
“Hm…” Retvik grunted some more. “My parents were Revalos and Jelik and they were… relatively normal, I guess. I also guess that, since we had different parents, we are not the same person at all.”
Ret glanced up at Retvik. “We do not actually look that similar, outside of the red plating, red eyes and gold trims. And some of your trims are dull silver and some of my plating is a slightly darker red in some places too. Also, you are literally on fire.”
Retvik sighed, then snapped his fingers, extinguishing his cosmetic flames and revealing the missing, broken plating on his arms. “I am also a lot more battle-scarred than you are, sadly. But I am nearing 90 years old.”
“Hah…” Ret smirked. “You are old.”
“Kuta is older than me.”
“Oh I joke that Kuta is old too, but we have had a LOT of vok saying Kuta looks younger than me!” Ret smiled some more. “I had no idea that Kyr Elkay was in his eighties as well, he looks very young. And, as Kuta and I have both admitted to each other, pretty cute too.”
The elder Rethan growled, ever so slightly. “Please do not call my half-brother cute.”
“Fair. That sort of thing can be weird. Tenuk did not like it when Kayel called Kohra adorable…” Ret paused again. “I got completely sidetracked. I just came here to ask if anyone around here could make fireworks. Nyssi is already working with Kyr Phovos to make wood to turn into paper that we can make tubes, we just need a working fuel.”
Retvik smiled. “I know how to make fireworks. Get the tubes sorted, then come back here in an hour. I shall show Kayel how to make pretty explosions too.”
Ret smiled back. “I appreciate that, Kyr Retvik. And this conversation has been pretty enlightening.”
“Wonderful!” Retvik patted Ret on the shoulder. “Go and help your friends. I shall see you later.”
“Thank you, Kyr Retvik. Happy new year! Or… whatever time it is right now…” Ret beamed as he raced off. “See you later!”
Retvik smiled some more. “He is sweet…” he mused to himself as he went back to what he was doing.