Arkay for a change was happy. He was busy sorting out piles of registration forms, to be delivered to the Rethan Registration Offices in Hertany. Since they’d started a while back, he, Kass and the members of the League of Brightly Coloured Rethans had managed to get three hundred Rethans to officially register. All that was going through Arkay’s mind right now was just how pleased Elkay would be.
“Brother, can we talk please?”
Arkay looked up. It was obviously Psiksi interrupting him. After all, the only vok who called Arkay ‘brother’ around there was Psiksi. They were technically half brothers, but that didn’t get in the way of their relationship. Psiksi was, like, the nicest Rethan ever. But the look on his face right now suggested something was wrong.
“Sure, what’s the problem?” Arkay panicked for a moment. Had he done something wrong? The other day he’d snapped at Kass and thrown him across the room because Kass was making advances he didn’t like. That had put Psiksi on alert – they both knew that if Arkay went insane, Psiksi would have to take him out and get him to a secure facility. These days, Arkay was missing more and more screws.
“What is a Time Drake?”
An odd question.
“Uh,” Arkay hesitated. “Well, there’s a cult of Thraki who call themselves the Time Drakes and want to try and manipulate time. The only other definition is… a child of Kairos, the Whenvern.”
“Like Arksi is?”
Arkay shrugged. “I don’t know if that’s literal or not.”
“I think it is. After all… Well…” Psiksi’s voice turned into a whisper. “If Veekay is half-Deitic, and you’re a Theokton, and Arksi is a Kronaron… What does that make Eksi, Thitaksi and myself?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on!” Psiksi growled. “We hatched from the same eggs. Our eggs were connected together and separated after being laid. That’s what almost killed our mother. I know we’re not identical when it comes to colour, but we’re structurally identical. Our armour is the same. Our arms and legs and everything is the same! If Arksi is a literal child of the Whenvern, is there a reason to believe that I could also be one as well?”
Arkay sighed. “Yeah. You’re most likely one as well. Assuming that the definition of a child is taken literally…”
“I think it is…” Psiksi seemed deflated. He sat down next to Arkay, leaning on him. There was clearly something wrong with the normally very cheerful Rethan. “It has to be. It’s the only thing that explains… the voice…”
“You heard voices?” Arkay was shocked. Was Psiksi going insane? The change in mood, the hearing of voices, both were the first signs of insanity in Ksa. Something all Ksa were told to watch out for.
“I heard a voice. Instructing me to do something. Something about spreading a religion. You know that bastard Deitic Stasis who fucked you up and threatened Arksi? He was mentioned. Described as a plague. Like a false god. I don’t know if I heard it or imagined it or what it was. But the whole thing… Arkay, it terrified me.”
Arkay wasn’t sure how to answer at first. After a moment of thought, he put his arms around Psiksi and hugged him tightly.
“Whatever it was, it was probably temporary. If you want, we could call Arksi, ask if he heard it. Maybe you… oh… Hello…”
Standing in the doorway was Kass, in his pretty purple armour.
“Am I interrupting anything?”
“No, we were ju-”
“I heard voices, Kass…” Psiksi suddenly blurted. “Scary voices. I don’t know if they were voices in my head or…”
Kass glanced at Arkay, then back at Psiksi. Unlike the two Ksa, Kass didn’t seem concerned at all. “This place, heck, this whole stupid planet, is a bit of a telepathic hotspot. Got Vohra all over the place, Thraki, Banikans, us Threan-types as well… A super-powered Rethan like you, I’m surprised you don’t hear more voices!”
Kass’s statement seemed to make Psiksi feel much more optimistic. “You think?”
“Heck, I’ve heard stuff occasionally,” Kass shrugged.
“Like religious voices?”
“Eh, once or twice. Thraki are totally weird things…”
Psiksi looked at Arkay and smiled. “It was probably that then. Don’t you think?”
“Probably,” Arkay sighed. “But you should probably call Arksi. Ask him, make sure everything is alright.”
“I will!” Psiksi grinned as he let go, leaped up, gave Kass a quick hug then disappeared off somewhere. Arkay shifted in his chair, going back to work and sorting out the piles of paperwork he’d collected. Kass just stood in place, unsure what to think.
Eventually, Arkay got up to leave. Kass though stopped him.
“Anything I should know about you two?” he asked.
“Of course not. We’re siblings, you fucking idiot,” Arkay growled as he pushed past Kass and walked out of the room.