Litvir did their best to stay upright as they nearly skidded into the entrance into the Grand Hall, but after straightening themselves out, Litvir realized that there were only 47th Legion soldiers present. And the High General was sitting in their throne, chatting with the High Advisor.
“I am so, so late! I missed the meeting! I am so sorry!”
“You are not late?” the High Advisor blinked in confusion. “Our Below Twenty meeting does not start for… another hour.”
“Oh…” Litvir calmed down, then sighed. “I apologize for being early then. Time zones are difficult.”
Rethais shrugged, then beckoned Litvir over. “It is fine. We still occasionally mess up with time zones too, as is often the case in a universe with different planets. Would you like to sit and wait with us for a bit?”
You… you are not busy?” Litvir asked.
“Not at all!” Rethais smiled, ignoring Relkir’s silent plea saying that they did have a little work to do. “Come and join us.”
“But…” Litvir was clearly frozen with indecision. They did want to be here, but they had clearly and badly messed up their scheduling, meaning that they would be late for their meeting with the rest of the Twelve Anew. It was bad enough that Litvir kept on having to cut things short to deal with both school and their protection duties, but being late to a third meeting with their fellow deities was bad.
“Is something wrong, Litvir?” Rethais queried. “You look stressed.”
“I admittedly am…” Litvir sighed. “Being alive is a lot harder than it seems. Kyr Relkir is right to think that perhaps literally anyone else would have been a better representative of the Rethavok than me… Oh… I did the mind thing again… sorry…”
Relkir raised their finger. “That was not completely what I was thinking though. I was thinking that you are simply too young for all the responsibility that has been dumped on you. You just need more time.”
“I… I…” Litvir rubbed their eyes. “I… I do not have time though. Work work work. Is all I do. I do not even have time to eat or sleep! I am not even a month old and I am already disillusioned with reality!”
While they tried to hide their tears, Litvir found themselves now crying. Relkir, feeling bad, left the High General’s side, hesitated a little, then hugged Litvir tightly.
“I am sorry for upsetting you.”
“Not your fault. You say the truth. I am a stupid baby.”
“You are a baby but you are not stupid. A huge amount of pressure has been dumped on you. Somewhat unfairly. I am familiar with quite a few of the other Twelve, but, well, they are at mentally adults. But please, do not cry.”
“May I ask, Litvir, when did you learn how to speak?” Rethais asked. “Because, despite being, as you said, less than a month old, you speak very well!”
“I do?”
Relkir let go of Litvir and patted them on the shoulder, then glanced down at Litvir’s 900th Legion belt. “And you are the top of your class as well? You should be proud, Litvir, all things considered.”
“Still feel stupid. And busy. I do not stop.”
“Well, you are stopping now!” Relkir exclaimed. They led Litvir to a chair and sat them down, then told one of the nearby 47th Legion soldiers to go and fetch some food. “Do the other deities take breaks?”
“Yes but-”
“But what?”
“They do not have school. Or sudden emergencies. I had to excuse myself from art class, the one class I really like, because there was a nasty Voidborn at the top of the universe and I had to tell it to go away and then stab it when it did not leave. Akousasiiri did offer to do some painting with me but I do not have time to sit aside to join them… her…”
The 47th Legion soldier returned with three cans of diet cola and a plate of sandwiches. Relkir forced a can into Litvir’s hand, but Litvir eyed the can somewhat suspiciously.
“What?”
“I cannot have fizzy drinks. Are bad. Am baby. Babies drink water.”
“You are not physically a baby though? You are physically a teenager…” Relkir frowned. “You can have diet cola. As a treat. You can have a sandwich as well.”
“I… have not had a sandwich before.”
Rethais and Relkir both glanced at each other. Relkir handed Litvir a sandwich as well, and Rethais pulled Relkir to one side, away from Litvir, who was now busy pulling the sandwich apart and inspecting it quite closely.
“Are you thinking what I am thinking?” Rethais asked.
“Probably not. Despite being triplets, we never really ever thought on the same wavelengths. Also, Litvir is probably catching our thoughts.”
“They are distracted by the sandwich.”
“Still, I do not know what you are thinking.”
Rethais grunted. “I think Litvir has… potential. They are clearly kind and thoughtful but rushed off their feet. And they remind me, ever so slightly, of you, when you work your tail off. We ought to look after Litvir a little. Sending them to school would be helping them integrate, but Litvir does not have time to enjoy Junior Stratos like we did when we were their age.”
“Well, YOU enjoyed Junior Stratos. Everyone picked on me the moment you or Retvik were preoccupied elsewhere.”
“Exactly. Which is why I think you in particular would make a great friend for Litvir.”
“I… still do not follow.”
Rethais sighed. “The same traits I see in you, I see in Litvir. The little thing is trying to give their all, but they are struggling, and they could do with learning from you. But at the same time? They are one of us. We need to include them and make them feel welcome, to make them feel like a true Rethavok and to give Litvir someone to lean on when they need it. I think you are the best person to do that.”
“How comes?”
“You said so yourself. Vok used you when we were not here to defend you. At the same time, you now have a chance to… be a big sibling.”
Relkir frowned. “I understand what you are saying, but…” Relkir glanced over their shoulder at Litvir, who had taken their sandwich apart and was now tasting each component individually, starting by tasting the butter on the bread. “Ugh… You are absolutely right. The poor thing needs help. The Lady of Light threw Litvir not just into the deep end, but into the middle of the ocean.”
“I am glad you agree. We do not need to treat them like a child, but, well, Macromera is coming up, I am sure Litvir will appreciate not spending that time alone when every other Rethan will be with family, enjoying gifts and a fancy meal.”
“Fair enough, but we also need to do something now.”
“Like what?”
Relkir shrugged. “Half the Below Twenties are not coming. I say we cancel, invite anyone who was going to turn up for cookies so Litvir can better meet everyone in a less stressful environment and convince them to stick around for a while.”
“Indeed…” Rethais let go of Relkir and turned back to Litvir. Litvir had finally eaten their sandwich. “Little one, do you need to be anywhere?”
Litvir was just about to reach for a second sandwich, but stopped themselves. “Uh, I… I was supposed to have the meeting with you now, and then a meeting with the other Twelve Anew afterwards.”
“Is that an urgent meeting?”
“Not… really? Dalosisaar requests that we meet up every other day to go through… things.”
Rethais glanced at Relkir, then smiled and grabbed their communicator. They quickly made a call, but weren’t certain if the callee would answer. That smile grew as someone picked up.
“Uh, I asked vok to not call me on this line and call Veeyel, the new All-Ksa, instead, but hello, General Rethais, how can I help you today?”
“Hello, Kyr Elkay, are you busy right now?”
“Not really, no. Is something wrong?”
“I wanted to ask, we have a lot of things to go through with Litvir. New security protocols. It will take at least two hours, maybe longer, since we are altering many guidelines, and Litvir needs to be aware. Would it be alright if we kept them here, and if Litvir skipped the meeting you all have?”
The line went quiet briefly. “Eh, sure. Should be fine, General. Good luck keeping Litvir sitting still for that long though.”
“Thank you, Kyr Elkay. Have a good day.”
“Yeah, you too, Rethais.”
The Shadow of the Skyavok quickly ended the call. Litvir though seemed confused.
“Why… did you lie to… m- uh… Kyr Elkay?” Litvir asked. “And why do you want to make me happy?”
“Because you deserve to be happy!” Relkir exclaimed. “Like all Rethans deserve.”
“Oh… Alright…” Litvir trailed off. “Can I have another sandwich please?”
“Of course. Enjoy yourself. And allow yourself to get to know us.”
Litvir bowed. “Thank you, Kyr Relkir, Kyr Rethais…”