“I would say that I am surprised to see you here, but I think we all know that this meeting was going to happen…”
Dalosisaar remained strong as he, Elkay and Aster approached the Whenvern, who was perched on his throne, a strange collection of pillows, coins and sparkling gems.
“Indeed. Which is why I want to talk about things sooner, rather than later! We have issues. We need to fix them.”
Kairos snarled, but his snarl wasn’t aimed at Dalosisaar. It was aimed at Elkay.
“There is a simple way to fix things.”
“We need to fix things peacefully and diplomatically!” Aster ordered. He was still slightly injured from the recent nuclear mishap at the bottom of the universe, but Aster wasn’t one to let a little pain get in his way from a chance to talk. “We are not here to harm you. Are we, Elkay?”
Elkay crossed his arms and tutted. “As long as no one harms us.”
Kairos continued to glare at Elkay. Elkay didn’t like that in the slightest.
“Are you threatening me?”
“No. Not at all. I want to make things clear, right now, that my number one priority is the protection and continued existence of the universe. The universe contains a lot of beings. The universe also requires you in order for it to continue existing. The way I see it, you are number three on the list of people I MUST protect at all costs, the first two being Epani and the Twelve Anew. As long as you don’t threaten the universe, Epani or my fellow deities, then you are perfectly safe from me.”
“Hm…” Kairos inspected Elkay some more. “Promise?”
“I can write up a contract, if you really want…” Elkay sighed. “But that there is the problem. We don’t understand why you are so… against me. Yes, I know the Silent Blade made me into his Shadow, that I directly served your End, but Arkay is long gone, he is forever elsewhere, and I have pledged my loyalty to you, Epani and this universe already. I did so before you deified me. So your fear of my presence makes no sense.”
“We want to help you overcome whatever it is that troubles you!” Dalosisaar explained further. “We have not been working together to keep the peace. I want to fix that. WE want to fix that. But we can’t do so unless we understand what the problem is and why it’s suddenly a problem now. After all, Elkay clearly is linked to it somehow, but he is NOT the only Elkay with power who has existed.”
Kairos took a deep breath, then relented. Dalosisaar, his favourite little deity, was right. The stupid little Skyavok wasn’t a threat. Elkay may have been a master assassin, he may have been a dedicated servant of the old Thantophor, but Elkay also heavily followed Arkay’s teachings, namely the teachings of not needlessly taking the lives of others. Elkay was fine, and the other deities would deal with him if he ever did become a threat.
“Very well. I shall explain.”
With a flick of his wing, the entire room went dark, and a strange, silver gem sitting on a pedestal just in front of Kairos’s throne began to light up. A beam of light exploded out of it, revealing… something. A sparkling message appeared in the beam of light, but each letter danced and bounced around.
“The story is a long, twisted one. I do think you have already worked this out, but there were universes before this one. There are many, many universes. Some last longer than others. This one is young. This one is also my fifth universe.”
“F-f-fifth?” Aster muttered.
“Yes, fifth. However, each universe I have served in has gone differently. Very differently.
“The first universe I served, I hardly remember it. It made no sense. It lacked strong rules. Because of this, an event similar to the Sudden Darkness tore it apart. We survived the Sudden Darkness because us deities worked together and had a network of connections, rules and laws that stopped the Corruption from taking hold properly. That first universe had none of that. And because of that, it was torn apart. Not by Corruption, but by… nastier entities, beyond description.
“I was pulled from the ashes of that universe, I was saved from its death by a Life Goddess called Kinisis. In exchange for loyally serving Kinisis, she offered me protection and safety. I accepted, and I served her for three universes, until she became monstrous and corrupted, and I broke away and served Epani and Sini, Kinisis’s daughters, instead.
“However, at first, I was proud to serve Kinisis. Her corruption was gradual, and she was a good person at first. But more importantly, I promised Kinisis my loyalty, because the beings that had destroyed my home had cursed me with a prophecy. A coded message revealing my eventual, utterly doomed fate. This prophecy spells out my death, but also how I can avoid it.”
“Is that what this message says?” Aster asked.
Kairos nodded. “Exactly. It is written in a message I don’t quite understand. Kinisis’s protection guarded me from this prophecy. But since Kinisis is… gone forever now, I have become wary. Epani has also promised me her protection, the same way I have promised Epani my protection. However, Epani cannot translate this prophecy, and Kinisis never managed to translate it properly either. Sini knew nothing, and I never dared asking Arkay, since, for a while, I was certain the prophecy mentioned him, even if that turned out to be wrong.”
“Maybe we could?” Dalosisaar suggested.
The Whenvern paused, then turned to Dalosisaar. “What do you mean?”
“Well…” Dalosisaar hesitated slightly. He glanced at Elkay and Aster, hoping they’d help him. “You… you haven’t asked us.”
“If a Life Goddess cannot translate it, what hope do you have?”
Elkay picked up on Dalosisaar’s thoughts. Or, at least, he had an idea what Dalosisaar was on about. “We aren’t powerful Life Goddesses but we are a new perspective on things. Perhaps we can look at this from a new angle, figure out a new point of attack, do… something, in order to help you translate this message. After all, you said it reveals both your death and how to avoid it, so it’s in our interests as well to work out the latter to avoid the former. I assume you have some information on it already?”
“Yes, that’s what I mean!” Dalosisaar was very thankful Elkay had backed him up. “We must be able to help in SOME way!”
Kairos thought for a moment, then sighed. “I suppose… I have exhausted most other options when it comes to this stupid thing… I will discuss this with Epani and get back to you with what I can and cannot share. But… I appreciate your offer. You have convinced me that you Twelve Anew are worthy beings.”
“We appreciate that!” Dalosisaar bowed slightly. “Is there anything we can do now?”
“No. Not right now. I want you all to heal up properly then go back to work. As Elkay said, the universe is more important.”
All three lesser deities bowed again. As they did so, the lights returned to normal, and Kairos created a large portal behind them.
“Go home. I shall summon you again soon.”
Dalosisaar led Aster and Elkay away, through the portal. The portal quickly sealed itself, leaving Kairos on his own. But for once, his mood was not too sour. There was a hint of hope in his eyes.
“Hm… Maybe this is my chance…”