“It took too long to get to this…”
Yisini flapped her pointless little wings as she signed her name on the four-page contract, then moved to one side so her little brother could do the same. The six deities had been arguing for far, far too long over this stupid universe, and Yisini was finally glad that it was all settled. Mostly. Somewhat. Kinda.
“It did…” Arkadin agreed as he signed his own name, then pushed the sheets of paper back across the table. “And this is what we’re doing now. It’s not even that complicated. We were all far too…. I don’t know… angry about all of this.”
The Allbirther nodded vaguely, glancing up at the rest of the family. Both Kenon and Kinisis seemed upset, Kairos seemed satisfied and Epani seemed incredibly pleased with herself. The six of them had finally come to a proper, finalized decision over what to do with the slither of universe that Kinisis had created and Epani was now protecting.
“I think we should all take ten minutes, to give ourselves some space…” Kenon grumbled, making his way towards the door. Kinisis swiftly followed, leaving the four siblings on their own. Epani took this opportunity to congratulate the others and announce her happiness.
With a flick of her fin, four glasses of milk and four plates of cookies appeared. Epani handed one to each of her siblings, then cleared her throat, ready to speak.
“We are finally getting what we wanted, my dears…” Epani smiled, wide-eyed with joy. “Yisini and I get a universe to ourselves, and Kairos and Arkadin are free to explore the Multiverse as Decay Lords. Kinisis and Kenon will be out of our hair for the time being. Kinisis has promised us the autonomy we wanted, and Kenon is going to be doing purely mortal things from now on. My siblings, we are free.”
“Are we though?” Yisini tutted. “Kairos and Arky are going off with the Decay Lords but they’re still kinda stuck with them, while we’re stuck running this universe and paying off metaphorical debts to the survivors of Kinisis’s old mess. This isn’t what we all really wanted. I wanted to become a Life Goddess myself and make my own universe.”
“It’s a stepping stone, Yisini…” Kairos grunted, looking Yisini up and down. All four of them had changed over the last few months. Epani had turned into a nurturing mother. Arkadin had shrunk down, due to his diminished power. Yisini was more draconic now, taking the responsibility of being a time drake. And Kairos? Well, Kairos was feeling stronger, even if he felt less certain about the future. “We can’t just leap to whatever we want. We have our own… politics to deal with. We have our own responsibilities we need to deal with.”
“Yeah but it’s a start, right?” Arkadin seemed somewhat optimistic. “Epani and Yisini get to start on the universe project they always wanted to make, and we get to go exploring and living our own lives. My concern is just… what if it doesn’t work out?”
Epani beamed with pride. “If it doesn’t work out for some of us, we’ll come together and help each other! After all, we’re sisters and brothers. And sisters and brothers always help each other.”
“Well…” Arkadin hesitated.
Epani understood Arkadin’s concern, but continued to smile. “The past is behind us. I want us to all be happy and help each other and build our futures together. We can all do that, yes?”
Kairos and Yisini both nodded. Arkadin hesitated, sighing.
“It’s going to be hard.”
“Yes, it will be. But we are strong and we have a plan. We can do this.”
“I guess…”
Epani continued to smile, raising her glass of milk. “Here’s to us!”
“To us…” everyone else smiled, raising their glasses, then gently sipping their drinks. “To us and our future…”