Kuta was definitely in a bit of a mess right now. They were currently handcuffed to a table, sat in a brightly lit room, being interrogated by, it seemed, not just the K-Class, the Skyavok military, but the D-Class, their special ops and secret intelligence agencies. In the room with Kuta were two Skyavok, one completely black, with only orange eyes peering out from underneath their black hoodie, the other wearing heavy silver armour, with red natural plating underneath. The armoured Skyavok was the K-Class leader who had initially arrested Kuta, but they did not seem to say much unless they needed to speak.
“Who the fuck are you?” the black Skyavok snarled, slamming the table in an attempt to be intimidating. In all honesty, Kuta wasn’t concerned at all about their own well-being. They were trained against interrogation and torture, especially physical torture, was barely a problem for normal Rethans, let alone a General like Kuta was. Plus, Kuta had done nothing illegal, the Skyavok had no reason to hold them, all Kuta would have to do was wait for 24 hours and they would have to let them go, unless they could figure out a crime to charge them with.
No, what actually concerned Kuta was the fact that the K-Class had confiscated both Kuta’s armour and Kuta’s belongings. Objects which did not all technically belong to Kuta. It was bad enough that Kuta had… borrowed a laptop belonging to a deity, but now it could fall into wrong hands. Well, more wrong hands. That and being essentially naked in front of these Skyavok was a tad weird.
“Will you please answer Itadee’s question, Rethavok?” the K-Class Skyavok asked politely.
“No.”
“Why not?” Itadee was still hissing and being threatening. Part of it was standard D-Class interrogation tactics, but there was definitely a hint of fear in there. Kuta was not a normal Rethavok and, without their armour, they somehow looked even more threatening. Unlike most Rethavok, Kuta’s forearm plating had jagged edges, and their upper-caste shoulder strips were also rather sharp and pointy, which they normally hid under their armour. Also, the large fangs jutting from Kuta’s jaw didn’t help.
“I do not wish to, not until you provide me with legal assistance.”
Itadee glanced at the other Skyavok. “Veekay, we are not giving this mutant a lawyer.”
“We kinda need to..” Veekay frowned. “It’s part of interspecies laws.”
“Either way, we still need to clarify their information for our own archiving records. We NEED this information. At the very least, we need a name, species and date of birth to go on release forms, so we can let this individual go.”
Kuta eyed the D-Class and smiled. As far as Kuta was aware, they didn’t actually need that information. It was just a clever trick to try and get Kuta to talk. But no, Kuta was not going to give them anything.
Veekay noticed how Kuta was acting, or rather, not acting, and sighed. “Itadee, it’s a Rethavok. A terrifying, ugly, short Rethavok, but it’s not going to talk. And from the gear we took from it? It’s a high ranking one as well. There was a General’s Insignia among their personal belongings.”
Itadee blinked. “This Rethavok is a General?”
“Either they are, or they are pretending to be one.”
“Hmph.” Kuta found a lot of what Veekay said to be very insulting, and it was getting difficult to hold their tongue. However, Kuta turned their attention to their handcuffs. While the two Skyavok started laying out what they already knew about Kuta, Kuta began to use their subtle telekinesis to break the locking mechanism in the handcuffs. Something Kuta had specifically trained themselves to do when they were younger.
“And from their armour? The all black stuff? They’re super high ranking. Not governmental, they wear red and black like their High General. This guy’s from one of the unelected positions…” Veekay trailed off, then pulled out their personal device, clearly looking something up.
This made Kuta somewhat nervous, mostly because they could sense Veekay’s thoughts. And, at the same time, the Skyavok had vast, vast archives of information available to them. They would figure out who Kuta was, given enough time.
“So, mister unnamed Rethan General…” Veekay was smiling now. “You’re unwilling to talk. But I know someone who WILL talk. I think General Vaksavar Ethranios, the Master of Generals, would want to know why and what one of their Below Twenty Generals was doing out here on their own.”
“General Vaksavar will not speak to just anyone. I have done nothing to incur the 100th Legion’s wrath.”
Veekay smiled some more. He had brought up a list of Below Twenty Generals, but to his dismay, only two were named, the rest were redacted. And it was quite obvious that Kuta was not the Keeper of the Great Rethan Library, the one Rethavok that most Skyavok actually had respect for.
“Alright, fine, who are you?” Veekay gave in, just as there was a knock on the door. Itadee grunted and went to open it, only to blink in confusion and immediately back off.
“All-Ksa… what are you doing here?” Itadee’s voice jumped an octave.
“This is a dangerous situation, All-Ksa Elkay!” Veekay quickly rushed over to the tall, dark green-plated Skyan who had just entered. “You really must leave, I insist!”
The All-Ksa shook his head. As leader of both the K-Class and the Skyavok in general, Elkay Athanasion was a force to be reckoned with, not just a powerful fighter on the battlefield, but also a being with a tongue of silver. More importantly though, the All-Ksa was a keeper of many, many secrets. A rather strange thing among the race of data collectors and archivers.
“Veekay, I can deal with a lone Rethan. Also, you really should have used zipcords rather than handcuffs, our friend here has already freed themselves.”
Kuta lowered their head as they genuinely began to feel nervous. The All-Ksa ushered Veekay and Itadee out of the room, closed the door, then sat down opposite Kuta and sighed.
“It has been a while, my dear…” Elkay’s voice was overly smooth and caring. “Did it happen again, while you were asleep?”
“N-no, Kyr Elkay… I… just forgot to decide where to go…”
“How comes?”
Kuta hesitated, then decided to let their guard down and be honest. Elkay was not a threat. Elkay was a friend, a mentor. More importantly, before Elkay had become All-Ksa, a long time ago, he had helped Kuta learn how to control their own shadow powers.
“Am I in trouble?”
“No, no. We have admittedly just upped our Phantasma checks, ever since the whole incident with the Thantophor and that ship full of tortured Temthans. You know, just in case.”
Kuta breathed a sigh of relief. “Ah, good. I did not mean to come here, but I did not know where I was when I shadowjumped and did not choose a location, as I was running for my life.”
“What attacked you?” Elkay leaned forward, smiling, his ruby red eyes full of curiosity.
“I think it was the Whenvern, but I am not certain… I admit, things have been chaotic as of late. Part of me believes the universe broke somewhat when the Gods were attacked…”
“I think the universe may have broke before that, but yes, you’re right, things are rather up in the air. Are you alright though, dear?”
Kuta hesitated. “I… I do not know. Through sheer luck, I discovered why I have such strange abilities, but the reasons are beyond my understanding. Also, I think the Thantophor has adopted me as a potential love interest…”
Elkay snickered somewhat. “That is… pretty cute. When I met the Thantophor, he did seem rather lonely, antisocial and somewhat Rethan-like in his mannerisms, full of emotions he was struggling to emit. But why would the Dragon God of Time attack you?”
“I… I guess there was a misunderstanding… Arkay took me to this fancy crystal palace for some kind of meet up, he had to leave and the Whenvern appeared before Arkay returned, immediately saw me as a threat and attacked me…” Kuta frowned, then lowered their voice further. “Would you… be able to return my belongings to me?”
“Of course. I’ll make sure you can return home safely as well. But you seem oddly concerned about your stuff.”
“I will be honest…” Kuta hesitated some more. They sighed and leaned back, accidentally throwing their now broken handcuffs to one side, forgetting that they had unlocked them earlier.
“Does that laptop not belong to you? I do find it a bit odd that you have a Skyan laptop on you. Sure, you’ve got Skyan traits but you certainly aren’t one of us.”
“I did not want the Whenvern to incinerate Arkay’s belongings.”
The All-Ksa continued to smile kindly. “That is very considerate of you. Most outside the Voidlands and the Banikan territories see the Thantophor as a monster that deserves any and all suffering. I’m rather surprised that a Rethan like you can see past that.”
“It turns out that we have a history of some sort. A similar, secret past, like you and I have. And, after all, Arkay is the source of our Phantasma abilities.”
Elkay got up and moved around the table, patting Kuta on the shoulder and helping them to their feet. “That’s very true. But don’t worry, dear Kuta. Your secrets are still safe with me, the same way my secrets are still safe with you. Now, let’s get you home. After all, escaping death is somewhat tiring.”
Kuta allowed themselves a small smirk. “Thank you, All-Ksa.”
“You’re welcome, General. Try not to do this again though, there’s only so many times I can bail you out…”