“The ball…”
Elkay, Aster and Epani all glanced at Litvir, who seemed way more concerned than normal. Being an overly protective Rethan at the best of times, Litvir was always a little concerned about things, but it was clear as day that this strange white ball was genuinely scaring Litvir.
“It is back.”
“Indeed.”
“The ball is back.”
“You already said that.”
“Hm, by my calculations, the ball is kinda basically the same as the last time we saw it…” Aster decided to try and calm Litvir by informing them that the ball wasn’t dangerous. “It hasn’t changed or anything.”
“BUT IT CAME BACK!”
Aster patted Litvir on the shoulder. “We know.”
“It… it came back…”
Epani inspected Litvir and noticed that there was something else at play. Litvir wasn’t just scared. Litvir was unwittingly repeating themselves. A lot. Sure, Litvir was prone to repeating themselves, but today’s utterances were over the top. She then turned back to the large white ball and inspected that further.
While Epani thought to herself, Litvir continued to mutter to themselves. Aster and Elkay noticed neither of them could really calm Litvir down. It wasn’t until Elkay gave Litvir a hug that Litvir seemed to suddenly snap back to attention.
“The ball is back… And it is doing things to me…”
Elkay and Aster were getting concerned too now.
“Is it speaking to you?” Elkay asked.
“The ball? No. But it… it is wobbly.”
“Do you think it is infecting you in some way, because you’re the one who keeps on finding it and have been in most contact with it?” Aster suggested.
“I… I have not touched it though!” Litvir exclaimed. “It is weird and foreign and I have not touched it. It just… it is a… a time thing. I cannot explain it though.”
“A time thing?”
“The ball is affecting time.”
Elkay turned to Epani, who was still studying the ball. “Is Litvir right?”
“I… I don’t know for certain. But Litvir is correct that there is a time anomaly around the ball which is making Litvir repeat things. That might explain why the ball is also coming back, it is not doing so intentionally, but the time anomaly is making it do so.”
Elkay shrugged. “That just means we need to get Kairos to come down and fix the problem, right? It’s a time thing, Kairos fixes the time thing, problem solved!” Elkay waited for Epani to nod her head and say yes, but after an awkward silence, she didn’t say anything. “Right?”
“In theory, yes.”
“But not in practice?”
Epani tutted. “I can just get Kairos to come down here and fix it, but I’m concerned that the time anomaly is… infectious. You darling children have some resistance to time anomalies, which is why you are capable of alerting Kairos and I to get them fixed, but if this is affecting Litvir the way it is, then I worry it might affect all of us. It might already be doing so.”
“Well, that’s not terrifying in the slightest!” Elkay sarcastically tutted. “Maybe we should just kick the ball out of the fucking universe again… Hang on… We’ve been doing the same thing over and over.”
“Exactly, that’s why I’m concerned. There is some sort of temporal event that is forcing this white ball to enter our universe. Except my concern now is that the temporal event is happening just outside the universe’s boundaries. And that makes things harder to fix.”
“Because you do not want us going outside the universe?” Litvir asked. “Does that means you do not like it when I sit on the plate on the top of the universe and look at things?”
Epani shook her head. “I am fine with you doing that, Litvir. It is a harmless activity you do to de-stress, and you can also spot problems before they come to us. No, my issue is, if the anomaly is outside the universe, the first problem is that it might not properly respond to Kairos’s time manipulations, the second problem is that Kairos might pick something up while he is out there and outside of my protection, and the third problem is, Kairos might get a taste for the outside.”
“Like… like Arkay did?”
Epani paused, then turned to Elkay. “What do you mean?”
“Arkay found out there was stuff out there that isn’t horrible.”
“Hmph. He did, yes. But Arkay was… a complicated person. Kairos already knows there are things out there. He has had connections with things out there. The Corrupted White, as you all call it, the host of the Nekro-Kiniseon Corruption was… an old acquaintance of Kairos, which was why he was briefly taken out during that event. Our biggest problem right now is that Kairos is unhappy with his duties and whatever he finds out there may tempt or trick him into wanting to leave.”
Elkay grunted. “Well, that’s a pain. I guess we just have to risk Dalosisaar fixing the problem instead. Kairos has been teaching him time stuff. With careful guidance, he might be able to do it.”
“That could work. However, Dalosisaar will need help, and may need Kairos to talk him through it. But before we do anything, I want to wall this object off and study it further. I need to work out what it is and how large a threat it is, so we can create concrete plans on how to destroy and/or remove it and do so safely. Because I do not want my child deities getting hurt.”
“You care about us a lot…” Litvir muttered. “More than you cared before.”
“You are correct, littlest one. I made mistakes in the past. I was cold and unfeeling. I had to make… a lot of changes when I changed from Panelix to Allmaker. And one of the bigger changes is more compassion towards other deities. I need to look after you, because I do not want to lose my children the same way I lost my sister…”
Epani trailed off, then sighed. After some more thought, she raised her hands. As she did so, thick pieces of rock and metal appeared out of nothing and began to surround the white ball and, before long it was sealed up inside a heavy, hollow globe.
“Oh… It is quieter now…” Litvir immediately seemed to perk up. “What metal is that? It blocks the… weirdness.”
“Lead is a very good metal. Litvir, do you mind keeping guard down here for a little bit? Just to make sure no other white balls appear, and so that the ball doesn’t move.”
“I do not mind!” Litvir smiled.
“Good, good…” Epani seemed to calm down too. “In the mean time, Elkay, I want you to go and find any additional information, and you are… permitted to use your normally forbidden contacts, as well as access to some of my Life Goddess manuals, since this is an unknown entity. Aster, you are to accompany both myself and Dalosisaar while we speak to Kairos. Understood?”
All three deities nodded. Satisfied, Epani waved her hand, created a portal and headed through it, taking Aster with her.
“Will you be alright on your own, kid?” Elkay asked.
Litvir nodded. “It is less weird now. I will be alright.”
“Alright, I’ll be back soon.”
Elkay frowned briefly, then disappeared as well, not feeling quite right.