Arkadin had been hiding in the shadows for a few hours now. He had initially left the Crystal Palace of the Time Dragon after seeing a strange anomaly, but one anomaly had led to another anomaly and now Arkadin was somewhat stuck in a corner, watching as his father, Kenon, worked in utter silence, while he also had to remain silent.
What Kenon had been working on, Arkadin really wasn’t sure. The Voidborn was holding a large orb in his hands and taking down notes occasionally. The orb contained a variety of things, all holographic models inside with detailed parts and animations. One of the stranger holographic models was one of a rather large brain, occasionally with holographic slices cut out of it, showing the brain’s internal anatomy.
Arkadin had stayed quiet until now, just watching and trying to figure out what Kenon was doing, but when he saw the image of someone he recognised, the Thantophor started to get worried. It wasn’t one of his many mortal friends, or even the form of one of his siblings. It was a living being which Kenon was clearly spying on and somewhat communicating with. But more importantly, this was a being that Arkadin was certain he had killed. That was when Arkadin gave up on his silence and decided to work in a more direct matter.
“Who is that, Kenon?” Arkadin politely asked as he leaped out of his corner, in front of Kenon and his magic sphere.
The Voidborn didn’t answer and silently continued to work.
“Kenon, who is that?” Arkadin repeated. “Or do you want me to answer the question for you?”
Kenon glanced at Arkadin, tutted, then went back to his study. Arkadin sighed, not enjoying being ignored yet again.
“Is that Photeianos Photeianon, former High General of the Rethavok, who was executed for his crimes for murdering or attempted murdering other Rethan Generals and rigging elections in his favour?”
Once more, Kenon glanced at Arkadin. But this time, he simply rolled his eyes, acknowledging Arkadin’s statement.
“Why is he alive when I specifically made him dead?”
“Because I created a corpse for the little Rethavok to execute instead.”
Kenon’s sudden response caught Arkadin by surprise. He had expected Kenon to just remain silent all day.
“Alright… WHY did you do that? Because I’m pretty sure the Rethavok right now would be pissed if the guy they executed was still alive.”
“Maybe you should have made sure he was dead when the Rethavok were your favoured race and not mine.”
“Yeah but-” Arkadin stopped, then gasped. “Wait, are you adopting the Rethavok as your favoured race? I thought they were… loyal to no deity…”
“Kinisis gave me permission to have a favoured race again. After all, you four all have your chosen species that you kindly look over and I wanted one of my own. So I chose the proud, noble Rethavok.”
Arkadin blinked in confusion. “But… you’re using the not at all proud or noble Photeianos to do… things?”
Kenon grunted. “No, you misunderstand. I am using this Rethan to conduct tests, before I move in and offer my hand to the Rethavok. In exchange for Photeianos not being pointlessly executed, he pledged his continued existence to me, allowing me to do as I wish with him…” Kenon grunted again, looking down at Arkadin. “Why is this of any concern to you?”
The Thantophor twiddled his thumbs. “Oh, no real reason, just that, while the Rethavok are anti-religious, I’d worked hard to have them accept me as somewhat equal… and now you’ve claimed them as your favoured race and…”
“You already have a favoured race: the Skyavok.”
“I didn’t really…”
“Everyone was under the impression that they were your favoured race, since you look like one and spend a lot of time alongside one and made deals with them…” Kenon interrupted. “Most of your micromanagement goes into helping Skyavok. If they are not your favoured race, I could always have them be… rejoined by the Rethavok, after all, they deserve a loving deity and they used to worship myself anyway…”
Arkadin sighed. “Where are you going with this?”
Kenon let go of the holographic orb, letting it hover on its own, and leaned down in front of Arkadin.
“Soon, I will be guiding the Rethavok onto a new path, a better path. Please do not get in my way, as it is my right to lead the Rethavok, the same rights you and your siblings have over other races…” Kenon leaned closer, a snarl being heard from underneath his golden mask. “One last thing: do not attempt to spy on me ever again. Understand?”
“Is that a threat?” the Thantophor sneered. “Are you threatening me?”
“Not at all…” Kenon shook his head as he picked up the sphere and disappeared into the perpetual darkness. “But it is a warning…”