The tiny shuttle pulled into the main hanger of the Shimmering Blade, the Phantai’s main ship and headquarters, parking somewhat awkwardly as far away from the exit as possible. Shuttles coming in and out were pretty common on the Shimmering Blade, as lower level Phantai would head out to do various missions and patrol the Phantai’s vast territories, but this shuttle in particular lacked the familiar black paint and silver stripes of the local fleet.
Waiting for the shuttle were quite a few beings, some of whom weren’t Phantai. Waiting alongside Voidblade, Soulblade and Lightblade, the Trio that lead the Phantai, were the entirety of the Thantir. The Three Great Blades had recently welcomed the smaller Decay Lord sect that had only just survived an encounter with one of the Phantai’s greatest enemies, and were looking for temporary shelter while they recovered.
The shuttle opened up, and two beings stepped out of it. One of them looked like they would fit right in with the Phantai, mostly because they were a former member of them. Shatterblade was a pretty standard Beh’evok with blue and silver plating. The other being was just as tall and heavily armoured, but they lacked the familiar Phantai crown of horns and heavily spiked tail, instead having four short horns jutting out from their plated skull and, weirdly, wearing a sleeveless jacket and starry scarf. This non-Beh’evok had a fiery motif, matching their codename, Firestorm.
“Welcome to the Shimmering Blade, Thantir!” Voidblade loudly announced as the abandoner and the stranger slowly approached. Voidblade did his best to appear friendly, but since he was both heavily armoured and heavily armed, he was clearly failing.
Shatterblade remained where he was, quite obviously intimidated, but Firestorm was not undeterred at all. They ignored Voidblade and immediately made their way to their fellow Thantir, wrapping their arms around Leafblade, the largest member of the Thantir.
“Galyn, it is so good to see you in person once more! You look utterly awful!”
“It is good to see you too, Vikalos. I am sorr-”
“Do not, dear, do not say it!” Vikalos continued to hug Galyn, before letting go and turning to his companion. “Itaviir, what are you doing, come here and hug your fellow Tattered Navigator!”
Shatterblade was clearly hesitating. He glanced at the Three Great Blades, then to the two slightly smaller Decay Lords, Flamebearer and Souldrainer, the current Thantir leaders, then slowly approached Leafblade. Unlike Firestorm, they simply put an arm on Leafblade’s shoulder, and Leafblade did the same. The Phantai, lower members at least, weren’t so keen on hugs.
“Hello, Galyn.”
“Hello, Itaviir. I missed you. I missed you both.”
“You should have come back with us.”
“I know. But I hope you can let go of the past, and forgive me for what I have done wrong.”
Itaviir hesitated some more, then pressed his head against Galyn’s. Galyn did the same, tightening his grip on Itaviir’s shoulder. Vikalos interrupted this rather intimate (at least by Phantai standards) moment by hugging both of them. Despite being a former member of the Justar, a Decay Lord sect that was even stricter and less friendly than the Phantai, Vikalos seemed a little too friendly. Especially as he let go of the two former Phantai and approached the rest of his sect.
“Retvik, Litvir!” Vikalos beamed, hugging each of the young Thantir leaders. “My oh my, you two have grown! You both look great and you’re both in one piece! Especially you, Retvik, you have grown a lot, you are nearly as tall as I am!”
The two Decay Lords bowed slightly.
“It is good to see you too!” Retvik smiled as he awkwardly wriggled free and instead shook Vikalos’s hand. “You look less stressed.”
Vikalos heavily patted Retvik on the shoulder. “That is because I am! Maybe one day you two should visit Deathven, have yourselves a holiday…” Vikalos then turned to Litvir, eyeing him with a hint of suspicion, before smiling again. “You though, Litvir, I am glad you have somewhat grown out of that edgy, blood-sucking way of yours.”
“I find that somewhat offensive…” Litvir sighed. “I just decided to start wearing more purple and gunmetal and less black.”
“At least you kept the unusual, glowing tattoos. And you kept your flames, dear Retvik!” Vikalos perked up once more. “Not many Decay Lords these days show off their elemental alignments the way you do! Makes a pleasant change! Right, Itaviir?”
Itaviir and Galyn both nodded.
“You both do look well…” Itaviir agreed with Vikalos, but he still looked uneasy, and kept on glancing towards the Three Great Blades. Litvir picked up on Itaviir’s worries and gently took Itaviir’s hand.
“It is fine, you are safe, Itaviir. We have spoken to them, the charges against you for leaving the Phantai have been dropped.”
“How did you convince them to do that?” Itaviir almost whispered.
Both Retvik and Litvir smiled. “We have our ways.”
“Of course they do!” Vikalos butted in, then changed the conversation. “Anyway, I want to meet our new Decaylings! Considering we only got three from our last haul, I am surprised you lot found eight!” The fiery elder Decay Lord eyed each of the Decaylings who were all lined up. “Oh, I feel like I recognize most of this lot, are they Kinisis’s old servants?”
Retvik nodded. “We have freed them from her influence and are training them up.”
Vikalos smiled some more, then very abruptly took Elksia’s hand, shaking it vigorously. “My little Time Drake friend, you decided to join us after all! I am so pleased! And you too, little Tahnahos! You both helped Retvik here blow up an entire Voidborn armada when he was a little Decayling, I’m sure the Phantai must have been pleased about that!”
“I, uh went back to calling myself Tenuk…” Tenuk couldn’t help but grunt as Vikalos patted him on the head. “And yeah, they were. They seem to like us a lot.”
“Really, we should have punished you for stealing a Thantir craft, but how could we complain?” Itaviir smiled a little, more amused by Vikalos’s reactions.
Vikalos inspected the other Decaylings, then paused as he approached Akah. “Oh my!”
“Please don’t call me a Voidborn…” Akah whispered.
“A Voidborn? Don’t be silly! I’m always happy to see a Melek-Glatoras joining the Decay Lord ranks!”
Akah blinked. “A what now?”
“A Melek-Glatoras! Used to be loads of your kind in my old neighbourhood, Life Goddessed LOVED using them as Divine Guardians since they were far less malicious and far kinder than Voidborns, but few would join us!”
“I’m not a… one of them though…” Akah admitted. “I’m a Lanex.”
Vikalos eyed Akah some more. “Well, you do very much look like a Melek-Glatoras. Either way, glad to have you on board!”
“Uh, thank you…” Akah breathed a small sigh of relief as Vikalos moved on to the next two Decaylings.
“Huh. One of Loopblade joined you-” Itaviir was about to point out, before he was rudely interrupted.
“I am NOT Loopblade!” Teekay couldn’t help but shout. “I KNOW I look like them but I’m just an alternate universe version of them or something, I’m not even the same species! They’re a Threan-type Retha, whatever the fuck that is, I’m a Skyavok! And so is Eksi!”
Itaviir and Vikalos both glanced at Eksi.
“Hm. With all that psionic energy you are emitting, I would have guessed you were related to Litvir…” Itaviir frowned. “Like, a baby sibling or something.”
Litvir raised his hand. “I actually do have a twin sibling, but Kuta is trapped in the same universe our poor Missing Third is trapped in.”
Eksi just smiled, not at all insulted by Itaviir’s comment. “I’m just glad you didn’t call me Arkay, like Galyn did. Like Teekay said, my name’s Eksi, nice to meet you both! Why is your Trio called the Tattered Navigators?”
Vikalos smiled back. “That is the name Overlord Deathven himself gave our Trio, when we completed our own Decay Lord Trials…” Vikalos trailed off as he inspected the very last Decayling. “Oh. My. Flames…”
Tahvra shifted awkwardly, feeling even smaller than usual. Vikalos got down on his knees so he could better inspect the tiny Vohra. Itaviir was also rather curious.
“You, little one, are utterly adorable. What is your name?”
“I’m Tahvra…”
Vikalos smiled some more and very gently patted Tahvra on the head. “You look a lot like-”
Before Vikalos could finish his sentence, a familiar, mechanical face teleported into view.
“Hey guys, can we borrow Tahvra quickly?” Tah, the electric member of the team of Decay Lords commonly known as Kal, exclaimed, before abruptly pausing. “Oh! Itaviir! Vikalos! How…” Tah turned back to Retvik and Litvir. “How in the name of the Nest did you manage to convince these two to come back?”
Litvir shrugged. “I am not the only persuasive Rethan around here.”
“Huh…” Tah accepted the non-answer rather quickly. “But yeah, can we borrow Tahvra? His sedatives are so useful and we’ve got a pretty nasty spore removal that needs doing right now.”
“Are you happy to go, Tahvra?” Litvir asked.
Tahvra nodded, happy to have an excuse to leave. Pleased to have gotten his way without too much trouble, Tah grabbed Tahvra by the hand and the two of them vanished in a shower of sparks. Vikalos grunted, then picked himself up, putting an arm around Itaviir and leading him back to Galyn and the two Thantir leaders.
“Well, this has been lovely!” Vikalos beamed. “Do you mind if we take Galyn to the nearest drinking area and have a nice, long, friendly chat with him? We have a lot of catching up to do.”
“Go ahead!” Retvik bowed his head slightly. “We have work to do anyway, our Decaylings will not train themselves.”
Galyn smiled briefly, then led Vikalos and Itaviir away. As the Tattered Navigators left, the Three Great Blades made their way over to Retvik and Litvir. Voidblade placed a heavy hand on Litvir’s shoulder.
“I forget how… weird Justar Decay Lords are…” Soulblade tutted. “They are either heartless machines or overly friendly and slightly rude.”
“They are just excited!” Voidblade seemed not at all bothered how two of his former soldiers and a complete stranger had just waltzed off as if they owned the place. “It is always nice to see a Trio getting back together.”
“Indeed!” Lightblade agreed. “Now we just need to repair the Missing, and all will be well again.”
Retvik and Litvir both paused, then glanced at Lightblade.
“What do you mean?” Retvik asked.
Voidblade tutted with bemusement. “It is amazing what you have accomplished without even knowing the Deathven-given name of your own Trio. But do not fret. The Three Great Blades will help you reunite with your Lost Third. We have our ways.” Voidblade grabbed both of the young Decay Lords by the shoulder. “Come now, we have things to discuss.”
“But what about our Decaylings?”
“Do not worry about them, dear Souldrainer. I will get Measureblade to look after them for a bit. You two are more important right now.”