“Is this real?”
“I assume so, yes.”
Arkay turned over inside his glass cell, where he was currently being quarantined. Thankfully, he was somewhat comfortable. He had a bed, a blanket, a pillow and some water. On the other side of the glass cell was Litvir, who had been watching over Arkay the entire time, waiting for him to properly wake up.
“Huh. Doesn’t feel real. Feels like a dying hallucination. Like it’s all too good to be true.”
“Well, for once, it is true.”
Arkay looked Litvir up and down. Litvir had clearly been holding in a lot of emotions. He was trying to keep his cool, to remain calm and collected. But just below the surface, Litvir was fighting the urge to smash through the glass cage and wrap his arms around Arkay. Physically though? Litvir was almost as Arkay remembered.
“It’s… weird… Also, you look good.”
“I do?” Litvir asked.
“Yeah. You’re slightly taller. And you’ve definitely bulked up. Your glowing tattoos have changed too, they’re rings of light now, not little lines. Kinda reminds me of the glowing lines I had on my skin when I was a Veth serving Kinisis.”
Litvir opened his mouth to speak, to thank Arkay for the nice comment, but he paused and ended up saying something else. “I… thought you forgot all your memories? Or… is my voice doing the thing again?”
“Hahaha, no… it… uh…” Arkay rolled onto his back and stared at the glass ceiling. “The Unending Ancient One did some… horrible things to me. Part of the torture was him literally peeling off parts of me. Physically and mentally. It’s left me with… an awkward side-effect of somewhat… well… If something reminds me of something else, then it can unlock a memory. Your glowing tattoos reminded me of something, I guess.”
“Is that bad?”
“No. Not yet. I suppose it’s better than having all my memories come back at once…” Arkay sighed, then changed the subject. “Are my little buddies alright?”
“They are, yes. Kuta is doing well, Talok has adapted smoothly and Thassalin is absolutely thrilled to be free. Phovoula struggled somewhat as she turned into a Voidborn, but everyone else is fine. Was that the first time you deified someone?”
“Oh… I… I didn’t think Phovoula was an actual Voidborn.”
“Theocydes confirmed it. But after the initial change, she is now fine, she shapeshifted back into a Ksithan and coping nicely. Your four friends all have… a lot of powers.”
Arkay glanced back at Litvir. “What do you mean?”
“You… deified them and do not know what powers you gave them?”
“It was very last minute. I kinda just… made them gods and didn’t have time to consider the consequences. Had to do something to thank them for making me genuinely happy before I was due to spend a million years being tortured and turned into a Corruption.”
Litvir shrugged. “Fair enough. Either way, you have somewhat turned them into half-Synaisthyns. They cannot mimic time powers like you and Elkay can, but all four of them seem to have light Life Goddess powers, on top of the three elemental powers each of them have…” Litvir paused, then smiled. “Tanos has worked out teleportation, Kayel has a very nice dual-elemental fire and ice thing going on, Nyssi has psionic traits similar to what Kuta and I have, and seems to be an Anti-Realist on top of that, and little Retvik has already worked out how to turn himself invisible. I find it hilarious that the team’s obvious heavy hitter can make himself oddly stealthy.”
Arkay smiled, just a little. “Heh. Had no idea if my deification would even work. Didn’t mean to make them into freaks like me.”
“They are not freaks. They are adapting fine. All eight of your friends will become fine Decay Lords. With some training.”
“I’m surprised Thassalin wants to become a Decay Lord.”
“He claims to want to do something new.”
“Huh. Fair…”
Arkay fell silent. He had a lot on his mind. Mostly apologies. And trying to work out what to say to everyone. After all, he’d been gone a while. And he’d turned into a Corruption and back again. That was why Arkay was avoiding food right now, despite being hungry.
“Are you alright, dear?”
“Yeah. I’m alright, Litvir. I… I’m sorry. For everything.”
“Well, I have already said, repeatedly, that I forgive you. For everything. I assume you did not want us to know about your deal with the Unending Ancient One.”
“I probably should have just told you I was dead. Would have been more painful and less of a lie.”
“You did not want to hurt us again. I disagree with your actions but I do understand.”
Arkay sighed some more. Litvir sighed as well, then glanced towards the exit. The door was open, people could theoretically wander in and out as they pleased, but Kal hadn’t allowed anyone apart from Retvik and Litvir to do so. Arkay hadn’t seen Retvik yet though. But then again, he’d only been awake for about ten minutes. Perhaps Retvik had popped by earlier while Arkay was sleeping? He had admittedly slept quite a lot. It turned out exhaustion was a common symptom of all the trauma Arkay had been through.
“Was Elkay as tired as I was when he turned into a Corruption?”
“Yes. He also threw up a lot. You did throw up in your sleep a few times, but Nuh and Leh kept you clean.”
“I appreciate that…”
Arkay went quiet again. He shuddered, feeling cold. However, that coldness was brief, as a familiar sight stood in the doorway. Retvik seemed much bigger and much more on fire than Arkay remembered. Or maybe Arkay had shrunk? He wasn’t sure. He wasn’t sure of a lot of things. Him watching as Litvir got up and quickly hugged Retvik didn’t feel real at all. Clearly, while Arkay had been trapped, the relationship between Retvik and Litvir had flourished. For a moment, Arkay wondered if him coming back would get between them or something.
That feeling, like the cold, was brief though. Retvik patted Litvir on the shoulder, then turned to Arkay and smiled. A proper smile. However, Retvik didn’t say anything at first, not out loud. Instead, he approached the glass cage, which had a console at the end of it. After a few button taps, the sides of the cage hissed, and the walls lifted upwards, freeing Arkay.
“Retvik, I…”
Arkay found he couldn’t speak. It didn’t matter. Retvik immediately wrapped his arms around Arkay, holding him in a brilliant, blissful warmth. Litvir also joined in on the hug, but his arms weren’t as long as Retvik’s, and he struggled to embrace both Retvik and Arkay at the same time.
“Shush, my dear. I know that you want to say sorry, but you do not need to. I forgive you, Arkay. For everything. And I love you, forever. Thank you for holding on, for coming back to us.”
Tears streamed down Arkay’s face. But, for once, they were tears of joy. Both Retvik and Litvir hugged Arkay tighter.
“I missed you guys so much…” Arkay whispered.
“We missed you too, Arkay…” Retvik whispered back. “But you are home now. You are safe. And we are together, at last…”