“It’s just occurred to me, I don’t even know how we get important mail here. We have an address, I assume, but how does stuff get here?”
Arkay and Elkay-En both glanced at Vekeus, unsure how to respond to the sudden question. In Arkay’s arms was a large box, and he was leading Vekeus and Elkay-En to what was normally called the Snuggle Room, where Kayel, Psiksi, Akah, Tanos and the two Vohra were busy moving stuff around.
“I mean, that box did just teleport here. No one dropped it off. We don’t get much post on the regular either, and if we do order something, we tend to have to pick it up from that mall.”
Arkay shrugged. “In all honesty? I’m not sure. But Deathven himself has the power to teleport nearly anything nearly anywhere. He does it to me and my babes on the regular. I’m pretty sure he has a whole army of folks who can do something similar, who can just teleport boxes across the multiverse.”
“I guess? Vekeus shrugged back. “And I assume, based on all the commotion, rather than sending things through the normal post, Deathven decided to send the box containing our Decay Lord trial stuff via the teleporting powers rather than via standard post?”
“Pretty much… You all done yet?”
Tanos and Akah both stood to attention at the entrance to the room.
“Pretty much!” Tanos exclaimed. “Beds are set up, armour and weapon stands have been filled, Psiksi set up the clock and Tahvra and Talok are just finishing up the mini food generator thingy.”
“Ah, good!” Arkay smiled as he led Elkay-En and Vekeus inside. Just as Tanos had said, there were two beds, a couple of comfy chairs, a machine that produced food and an area in the corner which was filled with weapons and armour, some of it definitely taken from their private bedrooms.
“What is all this for?” Elkay-En asked.
Arkay sat Elkay-En and Vekeus on the beds, put the box on the floor between them then started to explain.
“Alright, so, your Decay Lord Trial is pretty much here. As soon as you put these bands on, the trial technically starts. Before the actual trial though, you have to sit through twenty four hours of waiting, while the Trial Bands… gather some sort of data, I guess, and make sure you’re not going to explode. While those twenty four hours go by, we will keep you in this room, and we will also keep you relaxed and have a timer visible at all times. You will sleep and eat as needed, and when there is an hour to go, we’ll wake you up, get you dressed, give you a packed lunch and get you ready to go, and when the twenty four hours are up, you’ll be teleported away, into the trial proper.”
“Oh…” Elkay-En seemed a little uncertain. “That all seems like… like a last meal before execution sort of thing.”
“That… is not intentional. We just want to make sure you’re not stressed or anything!” Arkay explained some more. “Because the more you stress, the harder things seen. Admittedly, the last time we did this, we were sending eight people instead of two, so there was more of a reason to have everyone in one place, but we still want you to feel safe and relaxed.”
“Will you be watching us?” Elkay-En asked.
“Annoyingly, Deathven keeps on changing the rules, and we’re not allowed to watch, but we are in touch with the Healers, who will be observing the trial alongside Deathven’s normal lackeys.”
“Are they a Hidden Trio thingy like you?” Kayel interrupted.
Arkay nodded. “They are, yes. They’re also a trio made up of a flame, a crazy psion and a freak kinda like me. But yeah, I’m getting distracted. Everything is going to be fine. Apart from the nonsense that was mine, Litvir’s and Retvik’s trial, these all tend to go very smoothly. After all, Deathven always wants more Decay Lords, he doesn’t want to kill anyone but me. And he DEFINITELY doesn’t want to kill a Life Goddess.”
“He’s fine with killing Voidborns though…” Vekeus tutted.
“Well… no, he doesn’t want to kill you either. He’s learned his lesson from last time!” Arkay tutted back. “And either way… Ugh… I’m going to say the P-word now but I kinda have to…”
“The P-word?”
Arkay sighed. “Because I was deified based on a broken promise, me making promises does weird stuff… Anyway, no matter what, I promise you’ll get through this Decay Lord Trial, become Decay Lords and make it back safely to Savepoint. I don’t think you’ll need my help, I think you’ll both be fine, but I’ll be the backup you need, if you need it.”
“You really think we’ll be fine?” Elkay-En almost whispered.
Psiksi crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. “Mate, if I could do this piss on my own, if those two Vohra over there could manage it, if Kayel here could manage it, and if Arkay managed to survive that crap, I’m fucking certain you two, a Life Goddess and a Voidborn, who are way more powerful than some stupid Decayons like us, can do this piss too.”
Vekeus nudged Elkay-En. “He’s absolutely right, you know. Also, we’re getting twenty four hours of being pampered before we leave. We’ll be nice and relaxed, we’ll go in and kill some monsters and we’ll be back here before you know it. And after that, you’ll feel way more confident, you’ll have an entire society of Decayons watching your back, you’ll get a ton of money and you’ll unlock some new powers and go and do whatever the fuck you want.”
Elkay-En thought for a moment, then relented. “You’re all absolutely right.”
“Of course we’re right. We’ve done this before!” Arkay exclaimed as he started opening the large box. “Anyway, shall we get started?”
“Yep!” Vekeus smiled. “Let’s get those fucking bands on and get this shit on the road. The faster, the better! I can’t wait to be a Decay Lord!”