Litvir slammed the door to his personal quarters, then double-checked to make sure it was locked, before making his way to his desk, where his tablet was lying. As he opened the tablet up, a wave of dread washed over Litvir, wondering what horrible messages he’d find. However, as his eyes scanned the screen and he opened up the Wyvern app, a messaging and server app mostly used by Decay Lords for communication, he was happy to see that the messages he did have… weren’t too bad. Concerned messages, but mostly positive ones.
Sitting down on his bed, Litvir quickly scanned through the channels he was in, marking them all as read, then turned his attention to direct, private messages. He’d only had DMs from one person, but there were a lot of them.
Deathbringer: Hey, Litvir, how you doing?
Deathbringer: Hey, you there?
Deathbringer: Litvir?
Deathbringer: I guess you’re busy.
Deathbringer: Hey, uh, you haven’t been online in a few days.
Deathbringer: Litvir, are you alright?
Deathbringer: Is Soulsoother your friend Eksi? I accepted his friend request but he hasn’t been online either.
Deathbringer: Uh so I got to taste absolute power. This Voidborn tried to get around our No Voidborns rule by kicking the others out of the universe but I killed the bastard. Kinda stressed about it. You around to talk?
Deathbringer: Litvir?
Deathbringer: I saw Theocydes. Didn’t recognize him. Looked ill. And scared.
Deathbringer: You haven’t been online for a week, is everything alright?
Deathbringer: Litvir, are you ok? I’m concerned.
Deathbringer: Hey, you there?
Deathbringer: Litvir?
Deathbringer: I messaged Retvik, he’s not been online either.
Deathbringer: I think I found Kal, their codename is Spiritpurger, right? I added them as a friend but they haven’t accepted my friend request. Do they have separate accounts? I’d assume so but I don’t know what their individual codenames are.
Deathbringer: Is Nuh Gravitybash?
Deathbringer: Hey, you haven’t been online since the 4th. It’s now the 17th. Are you even alive? Please tell me you’re not dead.
Deathbringer: Litvir please.
Deathbringer: Neither you nor Retvik have been online, nor has Eksi, and although I’m pretty sure Spiritpurger is Kal and they did accept my friend request, they haven’t answered my messages either and I’m scared about you all.
Deathbringer: Please message me when you can.
Deathbringer: I hope you’re alright, Litvir.
Litvir sighed, then immediately typed an apology.
Souldrainer: I am so sorry, Arkay, we have been… well, things are messy right now.
Immediately, a new message popped up.
Deathbringer: Thank fuck you’re alive! What the fuck happened?
Souldrainer: We were attacked by a Voidborn. They attacked Kal, we went to help them, then the Voidborn came back and attacked us. Both our ships were badly damaged and needed long repairs. We had to go into hiding in a low communication area and… I admit I got caught up with things…
Deathbringer: You’re alive and safe though, right?
Souldrainer: Yes. Mostly.
With another sigh, Litvir decided to give a better explanation.
Souldrainer: The being who attacked us was a Voidborn named Ahkron. They were just blatantly killing universes and anything that just happened to be close by, including Kal, who are all pretty much harmless. Galyn has been stuck in one of his healing cocoons since Ahkron attacked us, and I’ve been leading the Thantir in the mean time. Ahkron did vast amounts of damage, leaving Kenic Spores everywhere, that we have been working overtime assisting Kal in their purification work.
Deathbringer: Wow, that cunt attacked you? And Kal? They’re so cute and adorable though. I KNEW I should have tortured him more before I killed him!
Litvir blinked, re-reading Arkay’s reply. He was both shocked and not shocked at the same time. While Theocydes, the Voidborn that had warned the Thantir about Ahkron and had also informed them of the bastard’s demise, he hadn’t mentioned who had managed to kill him. But Arkay was… somewhat well-known for being a god-killer out in the Periuniversal Void, even if most didn’t know him by name.
Souldrainer: So it was you who killed Akhron.
Deathbringer: Yeah. Wasn’t even that hard to be honest because he broke our No Voidborn rule, which essentially gave me free reign to make him mortal and kill him. Is everyone alright though? Is Retvik alright? Kinda surprised that you’re in charge to be honest.
Souldrainer: Why? Galyn is out, Retvik received another concussion, Seimeni is a useless leader and Tah and Koh do not really know how to deal with our Decaylings. Retvik is better now, but Phovos ended her relationship with him and I am patiently waiting for Phovos and Eksi to get together because I believe Eksi will better look after our budding Life Goddess.
Arkay’s next reply wasn’t as snappy as the previous ones.
Deathbringer: I kinda realized I don’t actually know who is on your ship. I assume it’s all people I know from before I got dragged into this mess. But you’re all alright, right?
Souldrainer: Yes, we are all alive.
Deathbringer: That doesn’t sound too positive.
Litvir closed his eyes. He was still somewhat reeling from recent events. Having to put a beautiful space beast permanently to sleep because it was infested with corruption had hurt Litvir more than he wished to admit.
Souldrainer: Things have been difficult, strange and confusing. Not too long ago, I assisted in killing what Koh called a Ceti Asteri that had been infected by corruption. We were too late to save it. And while both Retvik and Kal have reassured me that these things sometimes happen, they were not the ones who went into its mind and put it to sleep before it was incinerated.
Deathbringer: They’re right, sadly these things do happen.
Souldrainer: You seem completely unbothered.
Deathbringer: Sorry, I’ve been a god of death and decay for multiple universes now, I forget not everyone’s used to it all. But I’m sure you’re doing a good job, Litvir.
A knock on the door distracted Litvir. He tutted to himself, then got up to answer it. His telepathy told him it was just Retvik, no one special.
“Hello, Litvir, are you well?” Retvik asked rather politely. “The others said that you rushed off in a hurry. I assumed you just needed some time, but you are not normally one to rush off.”
Litvir hesitated, then decided to just be honest. “I forgot to message Arkay. Not only did I fail to warn him about the Voidborn Ahkron, but he has been desperately trying to get in touch since… well, for a while. It turns out Ahkron went and visited Arkay’s little universe.”
“Is he alright?” Retvik’s eyes widened with panic. Litvir held Retvik’s hand to calm him down.
“Arkay is fine. He killed Ahkron. Apparently their universe has a No Voidborn rule or something. I am messaging with him now.”
“Oh. That is good, at least. Although it does not surprise me that Arkay killed that bastard. He has a… talent for killing Voidborns…” Retvik grunted, looking away from Litvir, but still allowing him to hold his hand. “Please say hello and sorry to Arkay for me, sorry for everything we… I did… When you are done, I would like to talk privately. About several topics.”
Litvir nodded. “You can come in, if you wish.”
“No, I have things I need to do. It is my turn to check on Galyn, and I also need to speak to Relkir, he is having issues turning off his adaptation abilities.”
“Very well. I shall find you when I am done…” Litvir let go of Retvik, then returned to his room. Retvik let out a rather deflated grunt, then pulled Litvir’s door shut, leaving him to it. With the distraction out of the way, Litvir returned to his tablet.
Deathbringer: Just so you know, I’m pretty much always free to talk if you need it. Being a death god is a lot easier now I no longer have to listen to the screams of the damned.
Souldrainer: What do you mean by that?
Deathbringer: Kinisis did a lot of shit to me to make my existence miserable. Sure, I’m chained to Epani and Sini now, but things are definitely better. Work’s also less stressful, aside form the odd invading Voidborn or Corruption, so I have time to talk to you if you need it. What are you doing right now anyway?
Litvir didn’t really have an answer.
Souldrainer: I am taking a short break, before returning to my duties. Retvik says hello, by the way. He also says sorry.
Deathbringer: You two don’t need to say sorry. Wasn’t you two who sent me away, it was Galyn. Wasn’t you two who pushed me over the edge, it was that stupid Life Goddesses. And it certainly wasn’t you two who made me willingly shed my skin and turn into Arkidetelos. You and Retvik are fine, and even if you both did do something wrong, I forgive you, because that’s what brothers or friends or… whatever we are, that’s what we do.
There was a long pause. Litvir was at a complete loss for words. Thankfully, Arkay changed the subject.
Deathbringer: You seem stressed, Litvir. Take a nap or something. Just because you’re in charge right now, doesn’t mean you need to wear yourself out.
Souldrainer: You are correct, Arkay. I am sorry for not messaging you. I did not mean to scare you.
Deathbringer: It’s fine, I’m just glad you’re safe. I’ll leave you to it, feel free to message me when you feel better, maybe we can even voice chat.
Souldrainer: Will do. Thank you, stay safe.
Deathbringer: You too, Litvir. Love you both.
Souldrainer: Love you too, Arkay.
A smile flickered across Litvir’s face. Arkay wasn’t normally one to use the word ‘love’ so casually, so he clearly meant what he said. Putting the tablet down, Litvir decided to take Arkay’s advice and just lie down for a bit, even just for a few minutes. The rest of the multiverse could wait, Litvir needed some rest.
With a yawn and a sigh, Litvir set a timer for twenty minutes, then climbed into bed and promptly fell asleep.