Arkadin rubbed his head as consciousness returned to him. That was the first time he had been unconscious since he’d been reset and gone back to his cold, lonely duties, and he was certain he’d been attacked. However, as the world around him began to focus, Arkadin realized something was very, very wrong. He was lying in someone else’s bed, and the owner of said bed was staring at him.
“Hi!”
It took a moment to work out who this being was. They were definitely a mortal. A Skyavok. A yellow-plated one. Arkadin recognized them, they were a gladiator from the Great Arenas. But he couldn’t remember their name.
“Hello.”
“How you feeling?”
Arkadin rubbed his head some more. “Groggy. How did I get here?”
The Skyavok shrugged. “Found you lying in the road outside. You’re pretty lucky that I live on a dead end street and no one else lives here except some kid on the bottom floor because otherwise you’d have been run over. Possibly by me reversing my car over you by accident. Either way, I dragged you upstairs and put you in bed.”
“Why?”
Another shrug. “Well, I wasn’t going to leave some random dude unconscious in the middle of the road, was I? Anyway, do you want anything to drink?”
“Some water would be nice, but I really, really should get back to my duties…” Arkadin tried to climb out of bed, but the Skyavok immediately got up and pushed him back down. Really, this mortal willingly touching Arkadin was… insanely brave and somewhat unnerving.
“Oh no, no fucking way, mate! You were fucking knocked out, you’ve got a bump on your head, you just woke up, it’d be fucking immoral of me to just let you go! At the very least take an hour or something to sort yourself out!”
“I have work.”
“Don’t give a fuck. Your job, your work, the universe, all of that, it was all fine for the three hours you were out cold, it can wait another hour.”
Arkadin took a deep breath, then glanced down at his body. Clearly, he had reverted into a Skyavok-like form when he’d passed out. He just looked like a normal Skyavok. And this other, very familiar Skyavok had clearly mistaken him for another mortal.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think you understand. I’m not-”
“You’re the Silent Blade, aren’t you? You’re Arkay.”
“How… how do you know?” Arkadin stuttered.
“We’ve met before. You accidentally made me and my Dessaron team immortal and we helped you kill some Corruption. Sure, you’re… kinda very mortal-y right now, but there’s… there’s this weird glow to your eyes. That and you’re bright yellow and fit as fuck.” The Skyavok shifted their position, uncrossing then recrossing their legs. Arkadin suddenly noticed that this Skyavok was wearing very little. No gloves or socks, no hood and a stomach wrap and loin cloth that left little to the imagination. Granted, he WAS in this Skyavok’s private home, and they had probably just thrown those clothes on to deal with Arkadin, but… it was very very distracting.
“Still…” Arkadin stuttered some more. “I… I’m a god. I have a universe to protect.”
“Can’t the other gods protect stuff for a bit? Like, apparently the Allbirther and the Whenvern protected the universe on their own while you and that bitch-ass Epani were both out of action. And, like, Arkay, dude, you still had your head bashed in or something. You need to rest!” The Skyan trailed off briefly. “Let me go get you a drink. No shadowjumping while I’m gone.”
The Skyavok got up and left the room, leaving the door open. This gave Arkadin a chance to better inspect his surroundings.
The bedroom was rather basic, apart from a wardrobe and some shelves. Weirdly, there was a suitcase full of what looked like leather and bondage gear. To his left was a massive pile of stuffed animals, but there were a few on the bed as well. On the wall was a frame with a certificate and a teaching license in it. On them were the mystery Skyan’s name.
“Kayel…”
“You called?”
Arkadin looked up. Kayel was back, and he had brought drinks, a bottle of water for Arkadin and a sugar-free energy drink for himself. He handed Arkadin the bottle, then sat back down on the little stool and snapped open the ring pull on his drink.
“Sorry… I… I… I kinda just realized who you are. You’re Kayel Theanon, Shadowstalker, the Skyavok gladiator from Xeno Dessaron One. But… you’re also… a teacher?”
Kayel nodded. “Yep! Well… I was a teacher. Bunch of cunts decided to shoot up the family planning centre where I worked, teaching kids physical and sexual education and I was the only adult who survived. Kinda accidentally gained immortality in the process. But us Skyans are a superstitious lot and no one wants to hire the only guy who survived a massacre, so I kinda got roped into being a gladiator until things blow over.”
“Oh… Sorry…” Arkadin sighed.
“Eh, kinda not your fault, Arkay.”
Arkadin sighed some more, but they abruptly paused. “Why do you keep on calling me Arkay?”
“Because… because it’s your name? You’re Arkay, the Silent Blade. And, like, you asked us to call you Arkay.”
“But my name is Arkadin.”
Kayel shrugged and sipped his drink. “You said you didn’t like that name because it the name the other gods gave to you or something. You were called Arkay when you were mortal or something…” Kayel leaned forward. He was smiling. Arkadin didn’t know if he liked that or not. “So, why are you a really super fucking attractive Skyavok right now?”
“I… I’m not attractive.”
“Dude, look at you! Sure, you’re covered in scars, but, well, I find scars hot, and you’re really, well, nice and muscular and fit. Your armour is a bit sharper than normal but to me, you are definitely attractive.”
“Kayel, you… you are… uh…” Arkadin tutted. “I’m sorry, but it’s… it’s somewhat bothering me that you find me attractive. I’m literally the god of death, I’m the reason everyone and everything dies. No one should like me.”
“Yeah but… you’re not just death, you’re decay and change. The conversion of one form of energy into another… Plus, you’re not ACTUALLY death and all that, you’re just a personification of it, a representative of it. And, well, YOU made yourself look attractive. That’s on you.”
Arkadin paused. “Hm. You… You raise a good point…”
Kayel went back to smiling. “So, you wanna stick around for a bit? You seem like you don’t take many breaks.”
“I don’t. I don’t take any breaks at all.”
“Soooooo, you gonna take a break?”
Arkadin took a long, drawn out breath. “Alright, fine. I’ll stick around for a bit.”
“Wonderful!” Kayel beamed as he leaped out of his chair. “You chill out and stay there! Let me get my communicator and we’ll order take out or something!”