Tap tap tap bloody tap. Psiksi was not amused about being woken up. Admittedly, it was his own fault, he was the one who agreed to be frozen in time, to be saved for a later use. Then again, it wasn’t Psiksi’s fault that his father was the Dragon God of Time, and he was the one to make the deal.
“At least our legs still work!” Eksi yawned as he climbed out of the pod next to Psiksi. “I thought being frozen meant everything kinda got old and detached…”
“We were frozen in time,” Thitaksi interrupted. “That’s different from cryogenic freezing…”
Psiksi nodded in agreement, then stretched his arms. “Where’s Arksi?”
As if on cue, Arksi entered the room, wearing a very fancy set of armour. He looked older and more tired than his siblings. Clearly he had been awake for a while.
“On your feet, Ξ-Class. We have work to do.”
The three sleepy siblings all glanced at each other, not sure what to do. They stood up, all wanting to ask questions but unsure where to start.
“Hi…” Psiksi finally muttered. “How are you, Arksi? Is this our thousand year reorientation thingy?”
“Not great…” Arksi tutted. On closer inspection, his armour was covered in various intricate designs involving lots of draconic features. “Universe has gotten pretty shitty since you all last went to sleep. And no, this is an actual mission. Not a fun one either. Get your armour on.”
Arksi tapped his gunstaff on the ground and three panels opened up behind him. Each one revealed an armour set and a collection of weapons, all of which was as draconic in design as Arksi’s own armour.
The three Rethans did as they were told, chattering and asking questions as they did so.
“This is fancy stuff!” Eksi beamed. “I would have loved to design things like this back in the day.”
“Yeah, it’s cool!” Psiksi joined in. “Would have loved to do arena battles in this. What’s the occasion, Arksi?”
Arksi grunted. “You won’t like it.”
“We won’t know until you tell us…” Thitaksi tutted. “Must be bad if you’re waking us up rather than working with your Kronaron buddies.”
“This is a family thing. I need family, not friends.”
“Why?”
Arksi took a deep breath, then started to explain. “Our middle brother died a long time ago. But rather than being reborn like all other mortals, he was made into a Veth and served Death herself. Occasionally, he would take Death’s place while she did other things, and kill in her name.”
“So like, a grim reaper?” Thitaksi asked. “The sort of thing Thanatians believe in?”
“Yes. Which normally was fine. Our sibling was a merciful being. Until recently…”
Psiksi glanced at his brothers, then looked back at Arksi. “You’re saying that Ark-“
“SHUSH!” Arksi snapped. “Don’t say his name. He is called Telos now. And he has been cutting a bloody swathe across the universe, killing millions, if not billions. He has become a monster, and we have to stop him!”
Everyone fell silent. After what felt like an eternity, someone finally spoke.
“So it’s up to us to stop our evil brother?” Psiksi asked.
“Possibly brothers…” Arksi sighed. “Veekay and Elkay, they are aligned with Stasis. I don’t know what their plans are, but Stasis is always planning something evil.”
“Well this sounds… Interesting…” Thitaksi shrugged. “Not like we have any choice here, do we?”
“Honestly…” Arksi admitted after a brief hesitation. “This is one of our last ditch efforts. Everything else has failed so far. You might be our only hope…”
“Enough of that pessimism!” Eksi grinned as he patted Arksi on the shoulder. “We got this!”