Kairos could count on one foot the number of times he’d had to physically get between Epani and Sini to stop an argument, but today, that number had increased by one and now he needed both feet. Normally, the two Life Goddesses would argue like civilized beings, but Epani had outright lashed out at Sini, and Sini had violently defended herself. The problem was, Kairos didn’t really know why, he’d been busy over the last week or so, going over a handful of potential future time paradoxes, but clearly something had happened for his fellow deities to be at each others’ throats.
Although, if Kairos had to guess, it was probably because their youngest sibling, Arkay, had done something to anger Epani. These days, even Arkay just breathing funny seemed to be enough to annoy her.
“Alright, you two, what in the name of us is wrong with you both?”
“ARKAY HAS NOT GONE COLD, AND SINI IS HELPING HIM BREAK RULES, PUTTING THE UNIVERSE AT RISK!”
“EPANI MADE SHIT UP TO FORCE ARKAY TO GO COLD, AND HIS GOING COLD IS PUTTING THE UNIVERSE AT RISK ANYWAY!”
Epani clawed at Sini again, and Sini responded by spitting at Epani. A globule of sedating slime hit Epani right in the eye, which did make her calm down somewhat. Now that Sini no longer felt like she was physically in danger, she calmed down too.
“I… I don’t know what’s into you both, but let’s take things slow and go one at a time. Like adults. Epani, what is your problem with Sini?”
Epani snarled, then crossed her arms, swinging her glowing lure over her shoulder. “We told Arkay that he needs to go cold for a decade. Sini has been intentionally interfering with Arkay, letting him do what he wants, suggesting that he disregard our demands to go cold and putting us all at risk. I caught Arkay the other day directly messing around with mortals, even though he had taken a new form and in spite of the fact that he was supposed to have stopped all communication with mortals in general. He also interrupted some of my personal work.”
Kairos put a claw to his chin. “Hm, that is troubling. Sini, Epani’s accusations are pretty bad. Why have you been helping Arkay stay warm?”
“Because Epani force-fed nightmares to Arkay, to force him to think he needs to go cold!” Sini hissed. “The LAST time one of us had future flashes, you, me and Arkay all came together to compare and decide what to do. This time, Arkay had a few potential future flashes, you just assumed they were real without double-checking with me and without getting any future flashes yourself, and forced Arkay to go cold, when he didn’t have to!”
Epani stared at Sini. “It bothers me that you have access to the Forward Flow.”
“I’m attuned to it ONLY because our utter cunt of a mother made YOU into a true Life Goddess and forced ME to be a fucking Time Drake for your pocket universe! Thanks to you and Kinisis, I’m a fucking hybrid, the same way Arkay is a fucking… thing… Either way, Epani, your actions are putting us at more of a risk, because you’re making Arkay unhappy! And an unhappy death god is a dangerous death god!”
“Arkay NEEDS to be kept away from mortals, otherwise he puts us all at risk! Him having a partner of all things allows him to be threatened, blackmailed and potentially made to turn on us, which I perfectly showed with those dreams I gave him!”
Kairos blinked, then turned back to Epani. “You… faked those future flashes?”
“I did, yes. Arkay had to be taught a lesson, for getting too personal.”
“For… having friends?”
Epani nodded. “Yes.”
“Why?”
That voice didn’t come from Sini or Kairos. Standing behind the three older deities was Arkay, currently in the form of a large, black cat. However, as Arkay approached, his body twisted and churned, changing form. Not into the normal, Skyavok-like form Arkay normally used, not even his uncommon Rethavok-like form. His normally yellow plating turned gold, black flames rippled up his arms and legs, tattered, draconic wings erupted from his back and his heavy head plate obscured his face completely, only showing a pair of awful fangs.
With a low, hideous growl, Arkay wrapped his claws around Epani’s neck and lifted her into the air.
“Why do you insist on hurting me?”
“Because you will destroy us if we do not keep you down.”
“And you don’t understand that hurting me will make me want to hurt you in return?”
Epani smiled cruelly. “You are a monster. You know that. You need to be chained up, trained and locked away. That is why your stupid little friends abandoned you in the first place. I am doing you a favour by keeping mortals away from you, so you don’t hurt them like the animal you are.”
“OH, SO YOU CAN HURT THEM INSTEAD?” Arkay roared as he threw Epani into the nearest wall. “I know what I did that day. I know I messed up. I understand that I have emotional issues. But while Sini tries to help me to help myself, you provoke me! You poke the sleeping Thantoepheron!”
“Uh…” Sini stuttered. “We killed Arkidetelos. You can’t turn into that Kinisis-made fail-safe any more.”
Arkay paused slightly, then stomped over to where he had chucked Epani and lifted her up again. “Oh… Either way, my point still stands! I sacrificed myself for you, Epani! I did the dirty work so you, so you could make your perfect universe, and this is how you treat me? Like a mistreated pet?”
Epani began to struggle somewhat as Arkay tightened his grip on her. “That is what you are. A servant to be used, as Kinisis willed it, as I willed it. Life Goddesses are above all else.”
“AND YOU DON’T THINK THAT’S WRONG? SINI IS A LIFE GODDESS, I AM A LIFE GODDESS, BUT YOU THINK YOU ARE ABOVE US? YOU THINK YOU ARE ABOVE KAIROS AS WELL? YOU TH-”
Arkay suddenly fell silent. He released his grip on Epani, then glanced down at the shimmering silver spear that had been rammed through his stomach. The spear sparkled briefly, then disintegrated into nothingness, taking Arkay’s consciousness with it. Now that he was no longer awake, he turned back into his more normal Skyavok-like form.
“What the fuck?” Sini screeched at Kairos. “You fucking idiot! Now Arkay is going to be fucking furious at you too!”
“He was going to hurt Epani!”
“She fucking deserves it!” Sini continued to screech as she scooped Arkay up into her arms, checking that he was alright. “Everything Arkay just said was 100% right! How can you stand there and defend Epani and her actions, which have brought us closer to destruction?”
Kairos hesitated. He wasn’t even sure why he had interfered the way he had. He knew Arkay wouldn’t have killed Epani. Or even hurt her that much.
“Sini, I-”
“No, shut the fuck up, Epani. Both of you, get the fuck out of here and work out how you’re going to apologise to Arkay for fucking him around!”
Epani frowned, then vanished in a puff of red smoke. Kairos hesitated some more, not sure what to do.
“I’m sorry, Sini.”
“It’s not me you need to apologise to.”
Kairos sighed, then disappeared as well. Once the coast was clear, Sini created a portal to her cosy lab, then carried Arkay through it, gently placing him on a nearby bed. While Arkay’s wounds had already healed up, Sini knew that he’d be unconscious for a while.
Not really sure what to do, Sini gently stroked Arkay’s cheek, humming gently to herself. She hoped that, maybe, Arkay would forgive her for not stepping in sooner. Either way, Sini was sick of the constant unequal treatment between the four deities. Something had to change, but she needed a plan first.