“Hey, Litvir, how are you? We haven’t spoken much lately.”
The metal hatch at the top of the universe was mostly there to get rid of things, mostly bits of dead Voidborn and occasionally live Voidborns as well. But the void had been very quiet lately. No break-ins, no Voidborns, no bits of Corruption, nothing.
Since nothing was going on, Litvir was taking a quick rest, sitting on the hatch and gazing out into the vast darkness. Occasionally, Litvir would see little glimmers in the distance, but they didn’t know what they were, and they didn’t know who to ask, especially since Litvir was the only person who could really see them.
However, that voice had distracted Litvir, and they turned to see who was talking to them.
“Oh. Hello, Aster.” Litvir wasn’t sure whether they wanted to talk or not.
“May I join you?”
“Sure.”
Aster didn’t say anything at first. He gazed off at the darkness too. But Litvir could tell, Aster was also occasionally glancing at them.
“Why are you here?” Litvir asked.
“I could say the same to you. You’ve been here for a bit. Is something wrong?”
Litvir hesitated, then nodded. “There are a few things. But the first is… particularly stupid.”
“I won’t judge.”
“Really?”
Aster smiled. “Of course. We’re all in this together.”
“I guess. But…” Litvir took a moment to think about what to say. “I feel two things. The first is that I feel like… like an action hero in a Spast comic. Or player one in a game. I feel like the main character. I do not like it.”
“I mean, we’re all main characters in our heads!” Aster shrugged. “We’re the centre of the universe.”
“Yes but all this stuff keeps on happening to me. I fix a thing and then another thing happens. And another and another! I do not like it!”
“Again, that’s kinda what I mean about being a main character. Things happen to everyone, all the time. Good and bad. Mostly good. I mean, look at you, Litvir! You finished school and did really well, and now you have your own house too.”
Litvir sighed. “Yes but… bad things continue to happen. I am… worried that bad things happen because of my presence. And that fear goes completely against my… other feelings.”
“Unless you’re actively doing something bad, bad things don’t happen because you exist. Bad things and good things are all random. Mostly. If anything, good things happen because you step in and fix the bad things.”
“I… I guess you are right…”
Aster put a hand on Litvir’s shoulder. “Is something in particular bothering you? Has something happened to make you feel this way?”
Litvir nodded. “My dada had a heart attack and nearly died. I saved them by taking them to a hospital very fast. But it was a bad heart attack and dada is both still ill and still at risk.”
Aster paused for a second. “You have parents now?”
“Adopted parents.”
Again, Aster paused, thinking for a moment. “Hang on, that absolutely massive Rethan General that had a health scare… is that your adopted father?”
“Yes.”
“Oh…” Aster’s smile faded. He pulled Litvir closer, giving them a hug. “I’m sorry. I had something similar happen to my dad. He made it, but at the time, it was absolutely terrifying, because us Perpetual Abyssians didn’t have enough nurses or doctors. Your dad will be fine, they are in good hands. I know because you put them into good hands.”
Litvir snorted. They didn’t feel any better. Not at all. “I asked Kyr Elkay some things. I saved one person. But at the same time? Lots of other people also had heart problems. And some of them died. I could do nothing to help them and protect them and keep them alive.”
“Sadly, we can’t protect everyone. Heart attacks have many, many causes.”
“I want to protect everyone though! That is my job! But I cannot! All I do is catch things trying to sneak in and hurt overs. I cannot do enough to make sure that vok who were in the same position as dada was were all protected and saved! What is the point of me being the deity of light and protection if I cannot protect everyone? What is the point of all twelve of us?”
Aster understood where Litvir was going. “I get what you mean. We’re deities, but rather weak ones. We are ceremonial gods and goddesses to keep the universe calm and stable. The universe is a very large place, there is so much happening at the same time that it’s nearly impossible to fix everything. We’re limited in power but our presence does actually help. We bring the universe closer together, as Dalosisaar says.”
“I do not like this…” Litvir sighed. “I want to do more. I need to do more. We all do. Everyone does. Including the two actual gods.”
“Can’t do everything, friend. We’re not perfect. We just do what we can. But right now, I think you’re very stressed and not thinking straight. And it’s fine to be stressed, scary things happened.”
Litvir’s shoulders dropped, and they stopped looking at Aster, instead gazing off into the distance. Their eyes were focused on a very faint violet dot, which remained still but flickered occasionally. Aster though, he was lost in his own thoughts. Something about what Litvir had said was now bothering him.
“Kyr Aster?” Litvir suddenly asked, snapping Aster back to reality.
“Yes?”
“Can you see the violet dot?” Litvir pointed somewhat above and ahead of them.
“Violet?”
“Yes.”
Aster blinked his eyes, then looked harder. “Oh. You’re right, there is a violet star or something there.”
“Not a star.”
Aster glanced towards Litvir. “How do you know?”
“I am the deity of light, I know things. Stars have a spectrum of colours they can be. The colour violet is not on that spectrum, starting from white to yellow and orange to dark red and then black.”
“Huh…” Aster hesitated a little. “Do you think that violet light is something bad?”
“No. Just different.”
“I see…” Aster shrugged somewhat. The violet dot was an interesting observation, but Aster had other things on his mind. “I’m going to leave you to it, you need some space. But when you are done with your patrols and all that, let Elkay know about the violet dot. He’ll confirm whether it’s a bad thing or not.”
“Yes, Aster, I will do that…” Litvir sighed. “Back to patrols now.”
Both Aster and Litvir headed back inside. Litvir flew off into the distance, but Aster remained where he was for a moment. After some thought, he decided to go and see Dalosisaar. He had some questions for the leader of the Twelve Spirits…