“You’re still sitting here.”
Moonblade blinked and rubbed his eyes. It turned out, his ship needed more repairs than expected. The Voidborn that Moonblade had accidentally hit had splattered itself all through one of the ship’s engines, and while it was being removed, part of the Voidborn randomly decided to explode. To pass the time while the Thantir mechanics worked, Moonblade had mostly just been sitting on this bench overlooking the lake of Savepoint, taking in the beauty. He’d never experienced first-hand a place maintained by a Life Goddess, and the whole place had him enthralled.
“I am, yes.”
Moonblade didn’t look up at first. He knew exactly who was talking to him. Leafblade was considered to be one of the worst Phantai ever, the person who refused to take the Motherbound oaths, the person who bent and broke Phantai rules and, worst of all, the person who stole a future Black Blade, someone adored by everyone. But Leafblade wasn’t really a bad person, he was just a bad Phantai.
Galyn grunted, glanced around, then sat down on the bench next to Moonblade. Moonblade didn’t know if he wanted the company or not, but he settled down and turned his attention back to the view.
“You’re thinking things.”
“I am, yes.”
“You think you are thinking bad things.”
Moonblade grunted. “I am thinking of leaving the Phantai, having served the Phantai for pretty much my entire life, where I worked up the ranks and became well-respected, so I can be a basic guard here. That’s insane.”
“Is it?” Galyn asked. “There is nothing wrong with being a guard. It is a basic job, yes, but it is also easy on the mind, can be quite relaxing and, in my opinion, it is also very fulfilling, especially when you stop something bad from happening.”
“And how would you know?” Moonblade tutted, but paused briefly, then corrected his tone. “Sorry. That was a little harsh of me. Despite everything you have done, we were all basically taught to hate you. You were a coward and a monster, a bad thing that would happen if you didn’t follow Phantai ways. Sure, you made your own sect, but as far as we were all concerned, Lord Firestorm did all the real stuff and you hid in the shadows of his flames.”
Galyn shrugged. “I’m well aware how much the Great Blades hated me, and projected that hate onto the rest of the Phantai. I’m honestly amazed Voidblade didn’t immediately have me executed when we headed to the Shimmering Blade and Retvik and Litvir begged for shelter.”
“It’s still wrong though… Really, now I think about it, the Phantai used to be absolutely horrible until Deathven came along and messed with every sect in the Pentacluster.”
“That is very true. Felt that first hand. Everything turned out alright in the end, but things were very rough at first.”
Moonblade nodded in agreement, then sighed some more and turned his attention back to the pretty view. After a while though, Moonblade asked Galyn a question.
“Why did you refuse the Motherbound oaths? Life Goddesses make beautiful things.”
Galyn tutted. “Some of them do. A lot of them do not. My mortal family was killed by a Voidborn and a Time Drake. I thought the Life Goddess of my universe approached me to help me ease my pain. She turned me into a god of revenge, of war and misery. I did to others what her companions did to me, on her behalf. So when I got out and was picked up and was aggressively told that I had to bow to Life Goddesses? I was angry. I refused. And after I escaped the Phantai, I realised that more Life Goddesses were like the one that hurt me than the First Mother of legend.”
Moonblade frowned. “You’ve been hurt by them.”
“I have. More than I’ve been hurt by Voidborns. I was stabbed in the chest and nearly killed by Ahkron, but the damage Kinisis did to me still pains me to this day. I don’t like Life Goddesses now, I somewhat fear almost all of them apart from Phovos, because she treats me like an equal, not a servant.”
“That… that is understandable… We were always taught that Life Goddesses are everything, that they create meaning and existence in the eternal void. I guess, that was all morphed into Life Goddesses being holy and perfect, and we never considered otherwise…” Moonblade once again turned his attention back to the view. “It is absolutely beautiful here.”
“We do try to keep it pleasant. It’s nice, not being on a ship. And, ironically, also much cheaper than having a ship as our headquarters…” Galyn trailed off, then shrugged. “I don’t know why most Decay Lords stick themselves in ships. I dislike Life Goddesses but they do have the right idea, building these oases. Savepoint is technically Phovos’s oasis, but we all help to keep it all nice.”
Moonblade sighed, but didn’t say anything. Again, he stared at all the plants and trees, fascinated by their reflections in the lake.
“Is something wrong?” Galyn asked.
“Yes. I’m upset that I will have to leave this wonderful place and go back to the cold, grey walls of the Shimmering Blade. Savepoint somewhat… embodies the beauty and power of Life Goddesses, beings we are trying to bring back to the Goldtorn remains so we can make things pretty and alive again. I feel tempted to apply for the guard job you Thantir posted, just so I can stay here for a bit.”
“Do it then. You don’t have to do the same job forever. I worked that out myself somewhat recently. And guard duty really isn’t that bad a job. I’ve done it myself for a while.”
Moonblade paused, then turned to Galyn. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“Huh…” Moonblade trailed off. “Hm… I’ll think about it… I think… maybe I want a simpler, prettier duty…”
Galyn patted Moonblade on the back. “Take your time. Your ship will need a few more hours anyway. If you decide you want to, come see me in the office, alright?”
Moonblade smiled weakly. “Sure. Thank you.”
Galyn smiled back as he got up. “No worries. I have work to do, so I shall take my leave. I will see you later.”