“Does he often do this?”
“Who?”
“Arkadin.”
“With the disappearing to do things? Yep.”
Psiksi had never been so close to a normal Kronospast in person before. Kohra had never really gotten that close to a Skyavok before. But somehow, they got along really well.
“Last time, he did come back though. Something about the Whenvern being in trouble. But he came back and we watched movies.”
“What sort of movies?”
“No idea. How did you get involved with all of this?” Kohra seemed much more open and respectful than Psiksi expected. Apart from some exceptions, Psiksi and most of his generation of Skyavok had been taught that Kronospasts were cruel, cold, evil beings.
“Tenuk brought me here when Arkadin decided to give the universe indigestion. He had stomach cramps, I hadn’t eaten all day so I was fine. Honestly I didn’t think I’d ever be here again after Arkadin saved the four of us and let us recuperate here.”
“And you offered to help sort out his depression?”
“Yep. Uh, actually I more persuaded him. But you get what I mean.”
Kohra was also surprised by the kindness and tenacity of this Skyavok. He didn’t really even know what a Skyavok was until recently. He always somewhat assumed that they were related to the Rethavok, until Tenuk explained that they were actually a really old Panvok species.
“You talked him into seeking help then?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool…” Kohra trailed off.
“How about you?” Psiksi asked after a brief but awkward silence. “How did you get here?”
Kohra shook his head. “Long story.”
“Arkadin might be a while.”
“True…” The Kronospast hesitated, blinking his four eyes. “Basically, something happened between my dad and the Whenvern and I was supposed to have been killed, but Arkadin took pity on me and let me go, on the condition that I visit him once a week.”
Psiksi tilted his head to one side. “That’s… unusual. I thought Arkadin normally just made stuff dead?”
“He said it was something about it not being my time, and the Dragon God interrupting when he shouldn’t have.”
“Uh huh…” Psiksi didn’t seem to be accepting Kohra’s explanation. “Are you sure he’s not just using you and making you be his friend because he doesn’t know how to make friends?”
Kohra gasped. “No! That’s…”
“The sort of piss a manipulative deity might do?”
“No…”
“You never know…”
Kohra slammed his hand on the table in front of him, then instantly regretted it. “That… That’s not what he does. I’ve been in the presence of the Whenvern. I’ve heard the whispers of the Panelix. we’re all children of Yisini. Arkadin is NOT like them! He could have had me killed, as the Whenvern desired, but he gave me a second chance!”
“If you say so…”
The Kronospast took a deep breath. “Trust me. I’m here of my own volition. He stipulated that I visit him, but that was it, I could have left twenty minutes ago, but here I am, patiently waiting for his return.”
“That’s a good point!” Psiksi smiled. Kohra though just frowned.
“You were winding me up.”
“Kinda. But also just probing. You’re basically his closest friend. If we’re going to make Arkadin not depressed, we need to know as much as possible. And probably have to work together.”
“You could have been less… pushy with it…” Kohra sighed.
“Yeah, my bad…” Psiksi sighed as well. “Still, you and I, we might be able to fix this stuff. Two little helpers, helping Death get over his problems.”
“Oh, yes, we do have a chance, actually. Just need to be careful… Don’t want to piss off the Death God now, do we?”