The lanky, skeletal being screeched as the rock it was standing on steadily began to collapse. This former death deity was clearly in shock, scratching and crying at any source of life. The screeching only got louder as the Thantir ship approached, a door opening up on its side.
Out of the ship stepped a warm, golden glow, which gave way to a heavily armoured red and gold being, a little bit shorter than the death deity was, but far heavier. At first, they looked somewhat aggressive, but that was replaced by an obvious look of concern. They had just realised how quickly everything was breaking down around the death deity.
“Piase to cheri mou!” the red and gold being shouted, holding out a clawed, black-gloved hand.
“WHAT?”
“Take my hand! Quickly!”
The death deity hesitated as the shimmering being’s words suddenly became recognisable, then did as he was told. He reached out and grabbed the being’s hand. The creature responded by pulling the death deity into the ship, just as the last of the rock crumbled around them. The death deity fell to his bony knees, utterly exhausted.
“Thank you thank you thank you…”
“No worries… what is your name, Decayling?”
The death deity glanced upwards. “My… name?”
“Yes, your name.”
“I am Herhdalivo. I am… I was… the God of Death…”
The golden being bowed slightly. “Hello, Herdalivo, I am Retvik. Could you…” Retvik eyed Herdalivo for a little too long, before sighing. “Could you please follow me? And please do not touch anything.”
They didn’t go very far, only to the next room, which was very clean, white and sterile. There was a bed frame but no actual bed, just a blanket. Retvik hinted that the death deity sit down, then left the room, locking it behind him.
Herdalivo waited patiently, not really sure what was going on. He was still traumatized by the death of his own universe. He knew he would have to kill the Sympanio one day, he just… didn’t think it would need to happen so soon.
Retvik swiftly returned, seemingly wearing more protective gear and carrying a small tray. His large jaw and snout were covered by a mask, and a clear visor covered his eyes.
“Apologies. This is for both of our safety. Foreign beings and all that. I need to do a few checks before we work out what to do with you.”
“What do you mean?” Herdalivo asked. “What is going on? I thought there was nothing after the Sympanio dies!”
“I thought the same when I was younger…” Retvik sighed. “It turns out that a whole separate ecosystem exists outside of our own personal universes. We… need to run some tests on you and see what we need to do. Unfortunately, that means you are going to have to talk about the traumatic experience you just went through.”
Herdalivo shook his head, not at all upset. “It’s all fine! I’d be dead if you hadn’t saved me! The damn Darkness, it took it all! Took my queen, took my children of chaos… just… corrupted it all! So I… I had to kill them. I had to kill everything.”
Retvik noted down Herdalivo’s words. They had security and audio recordings of everything in this room, but Retvik knew that writing things down would make this Decayling more comfortable.
“Did the Darkness attack you?”
“It attacked everyone and everything! I only just escaped!”
“Did it hurt you?”
“A little. But I killed it. The same way I killed everything! But I can still hear its cries. Horrible, horrible cries…”
Retvik continued to write things down, then turned to the tray he had brought in. “Noted, thank you for talking. It is… recommended that we sedate you for this journey. The first few trips through the Periuniversal Void can be very… painful, so it is better to be safe than sorry.”
Herdalivo shrugged, confused but somewhat understanding. He stuck out a bony arm, with barely any actual flesh on it. “Go ahead. I could do with a rest anyway.”
With a grunt, Retvik pulled out an undeniably thin needle and attached it to a rather streamlined syringe. Herdalivo didn’t even feel the needle slide in. After putting the syringe away and throwing everything into a rather yellow bin, Retvik pulled out some blankets and handed them to Herdalivo.
“Please, make yourself comfortable, and sleep well.”
As soon as Retvik left the room, as soon as that door clicked and locked itself, Herdalivo cuddled himself up in the blankets and immediately drifted off to sleep. Within seconds, the death deity was no longer conscious.
Outside the room, Retvik took a long, deep breath, turning to the colossal being who had been watching the entire time. Once Retvik was out of the way, the green, armoured brute pressed a button by the door. In a flash of blinding light, Herdalivo and everything inside the room was vaporized, leaving not even basic atoms.
“That felt… so wrong, Galyn…” Retvik finally muttered as the light faded away. “We did not even try-”
“He was at 49% Corruption Level. Any longer, and the Decayling may have directly turned into Corruption. He would have had to be destroyed, no matter what,” Galyn explained. “You did what was best for the Decayling. You allowed him to die quickly, painlessly and peacefully.”
“It still… was wrong…” Retvik sighed.
“Unfortunately, little one, you cannot save everyone…” Galyn grunted. “Come on, let us return to Thantir One and…”
“No…” Retvik interrupted. “I… I need some time alone.”
“Very well,” Galyn shrugged as he walked off. “Let me know when you wish to talk…”