Arkay stood in the doorway, waiting awkwardly for everyone else to leave. He wanted to speak to Istoria in private, but didn’t want to make that obvious. The more Arkay thought about it though, the more obvious he felt. Either way, he needed to speak to Istoria alone.
Finally, the other Veth all cleared out, and Istoria had the office to herself.
“Close the door behind you.” Her voice was flat. She was grumpy. She’d been dealing with five Vethic morons for the last half an hour. He had only been half-listening to them. His mind was preoccupied on other things. Really, dealing with lower Veth was supposed to be Arkay’s job, but Istoria had been in charge of these things for so long that Death was unwilling to change things up.
Arkay did as he was told and sat down at the desk opposite Istoria. He had a stool, she had a fur-lined leather chair with arm rests and a setting that would cause the chair to vibrate and give her back a massage.
“You seem… miffed…” Arkay wanted to be nice and pleasant. Istoria was the smartest Veth around, and for a long time, she had been the ONLY smart Veth around.
“I am. I suppose you are here to talk about Kinisis?”
“Uh, yeah. She says she wants me to…”
“Be her partner.”
“Yeah.”
Istoria growled, a low, rumbling growl. She leaned back in her seat, tapping her fingers together.
“That’s a shame. You were always one of the better Veth around here…”
“What?”
A smile crept across Istoria’s face. She could sense the hint of panic in Arkay’s voice. But her smile quickly faded as she realised that this was bad news for everyone around.
“Unfortunately, Arkay, you are in a bit of trouble. To be fair, the moment you stepped foot in Kinigi, I knew you’d be utterly ruined within a few months and I was almost surprised that you’ve made it this far.”
“I don’t…” Arkay was confused. But he decided to just let Istoria talk.
“Most Veth Primes violently explode and cease to exist within about three months. You’re still standing. Kinda. The few favourites who get as far as you have? She controls them, she pushes them over the edge then turns them into mindless slaves.”
Arkay sighed. “I’ve already had that happen though. It wasn’t fun.”
“Yep. You were a right fucked up monster. Still are. Syklos was like you. He became a mindless slave. Took him millions of years just to be able to talk again. You though, you’re like the 1%. The other Veth who ended up in your position? All but one no longer exist. And the one that does exist is a fucked up lunatic who protects that stupid Fountain of Youth bait trap.”
“What about the others?”
“You don’t want to know…” Istoria sat forward again, reaching for a piece of paper to write on. She went back to work. She had things to do.
Arkay remained where he was. Istoria would occasionally glance up at him to see if he was still there, but she seemed uninterested in discussing anything else.
“Kid, I have work to do.”
“I want to know.”
“No, you don’t!” Istoria hissed. “You don’t want to know what hideous fate awaits you!”
“I do though,” Arkay sniffed. “It may be horrible. I probably won’t be able to avoid it. But if I know in advance, maybe… I could prepare…”
Istoria threw down her pen. “You are fucked! That is all you need to know!”
“Please…” the Veth Prime sighed. “This will affect all of us. Even if I’m screwed, I can at least make sure you don’t all get screwed too.”
Finally, Istoria relented. She leaned forward, grabbing Arkay by the neck and pulling him close.
“You will become her. A masculine side of her, is how it’s described. You will kill trillions at her pleasure, twisted into a vile, horrific version of your former self. When she has had enough of you, she will eat you, slowly, over centuries, while keeping you fully conscious. Then she will shit your still conscious body out, mash you up into a paste then use you to patch a hole somewhere in this universe, where you will remain until the end of time, forever begging to be relieved from your endless suffering, tormented by all the horrible deeds you committed in her name. And that’s just assuming that she enjoyed having you as her partner.”
Istoria let go of Arkay and stared at him. She had expected him flee in terror, to panic and cry. But instead, he just sat there, a look of defeat in his eyes.
“There’s no way out of this, is there?” the Veth Prime finally asked.
“Not really… If you’re incredibly lucky, she’ll trap you under billions of tons of molten stone and turn you into a planet. That’s what she did to one of them. The other two… well… I’m pretty sure this will be your fate.”
“Could I just… destroy myself now?”
Istoria shook her head, then glanced downwards. “It’s in her nature. She’s the embodiment of an eternal cycle… She might be different now. Maybe you have genuinely changed her… I doubt it though…” She sighed again, then reached under her desk and opened a draw. After a little rummaging around, Istoria pulled out a tattered map and handed it to Arkay.
Arkay took the map and inspected it. The map depicted a hole surrounded by vast deserts.
“Your only other option is to escape this universe…” Istoria explained. “An eternal fall into nothingness. It’s a cold, lonely, way to go. There’s no turning back. Just you and an infinitely large amount of emptiness. But it’s better than what awaits you.”
Arkay smiled weakly as he stood up, taking the map with him. As he reached the door, he turned around, with one last question.
“Istoria?”
“Yes?”
“Am I a bad being?”
“No.”
“Huh…” Arkay trailed off. “I always thought I was… Kinda made sense… Felt like all of this was a punishment for my sins… Oh well, doesn’t matter. At least I’ll finally get some peace and quiet…”
Istoria watched as the Veth Prime walked off, closing the door behind him.
“Kinisis, please be kind to him…” she finally muttered as she went back to work. “Poor kid doesn’t deserve this…”