“So that is it? You just sent him away?” Kuta was furious, but had no real way of expressing it outside of words. He tapped his fingers impatiently, waiting for more information.
“Yes, I did,” was the Elder Decay Lord’s rather blunt reply.
“So he is gone? Like, forever? Or, like, sent very far away? You just poof him into nothing?”
This time, Galyn gave Kuta a hint of attention. Kuta knew that Galyn had mostly been ignoring him, aside from occasionally telling him to do his studying. After all, he was supposed to be learning about Decay Lord ship basic safety protocols. But Kuta was angry and wanted answers.
“We did not poof him into nothing.”
“So what did you do to Arkay? Where is he?”
Galyn grunted, turning his attention back to flying the ship. Kuta may not have known much about ships (heck, he never even managed to get a Rethan driving license back when he was mortal) but he was pretty certain the ship was on autopilot, and Galyn was just keeping an eye on the navigation panel and staring off into space.
“Why are you being like this, Ser Galyn? Why can’t you just give me some damn answers?”
With another grunt, Galyn flicked a switch, then swivelled his chair to face Kuta. “What answers do you want?”
“I want to know what you did with Arkay!”
“I sent that little bastard to a section of Deathven, so he can get the psychiatric help he bloody needs!” Galyn’s reply seemed almost as angry as Kuta was. “Why do you care so much about someone you just met?”
“Uh…” Kuta was a little surprised by Galyn’s exclamation. “Because… I do not know… I thought he was my friend.”
Galyn frowned, then leaned forward. “Unfortunately, you are young and naive. So you do not know that death gods are not the best of friends. They have the nasty habit of hurting their friends unintentionally. Or, in Arkay’s case, intentionally. Sometimes someone is just not… right in the head, and they need to fix their problems. In Arkay’s case, I did everything I could, but it was not enough. The moment he became a threat to the rest of you… I could not hold back any more.”
The anger from Galyn’s voice was gone. Instead, it had been replaced with an unusually deep sorrow. Kuta was trying his best not to pry, but he could tell that Galyn was genuinely upset, both with Arkay and with himself.
“I did not want to send him away, Kuta. Arkay would have made an amazing leader for the Thantir. He had the knowledge, the power, the charisma. But no, he simply is not right in the head. I sent him away in the hopes that maybe those above me can fix him, where I failed to.”
Kuta lowered his voice a little. “When you say fix…”
“I more mean…” Galyn sighed some more. “He needs to help himself. But we cannot do that for him. Not here. He needs proper care and professional assistance, so he can save himself from circling down the drain.”
“Do you think he can help himself?” Kuta eventually asked.
Galyn paused, then grunted. “Perhaps. It all depends on whether Arkay will allow himself to be helped. But as far as I am concerned, the livelihood and safety of you, Litvir and Retvik are more important than Arkay’s comfort.”
“That…” Kuta trailed off, then got up from his seat. “That… is fair… I think I will go study in the observatory now…”
Galyn patted Kuta kindly on the shoulder. “Good, kid. You keep up your hard work, alright?”
“Yes, ser…”