“You are worried about what now?”
Ret was very confused. Arkay, Litvir and Retvik had suddenly arrived at the Pink Paradise, which Ret was helping with renovations, and they had pulled Ret and Kuta to one side and were asking questions.
“Should we be blunt?” Litvir asked. “I think we should just be blunt.”
Arkay frowned. “Not yet.”
“Would make this easier, even if it is a little embarrassing.”
“Yeah but we’re supposed to not be too obvious. Deathven doesn’t like it when we’re blunt and obvious!”
Litvir shrugged. “Looking out for other Synaisthyns is something we are supposed to do anyway, and this is a good starting point.”
“I have not gotten Ret egg-ridden!” Kuta suddenly butted in, before quickly falling silent and covering their mouths. “S-sorry.”
Ret blinked. “I thought we were holding off on that anyway.”
“We were, yes. Especially because of your sibling.”
“Oh yes, Gath and Relkir’s egg hatched, yes?” Litvir asked.
Retvik eyed everyone present, then grunted. “I think I am missing some context here.”
“Honestly?” Arkay grunted as well. “Me too. I just knew about Ret’s sibling Relkir accidentally becoming a Time Drake. Didn’t know about them having an egg.”
Ret hesitated, then sighed and started to explain, pulling his communicator out of a pocket in his armour as he did so. “The… the mess you had with all the Elkays and the little baby Litvir and Kairos and all that, Relkir told me that they went defensive stance and also that General Gath had an egg and that it hatched a few days ago. Also, they named it after me. It is a healthy little baby.”
Arkay inspected Ret for a moment, then glanced off seemingly randomly into the distance, before returning to the conversation. “Huh. The older Rethan satellite tech would theoretically reach out here, allowing you to occasionally send and receive messages on General Talks. Can you receive pictures?”
Ret nodded. “I can, yes. Relkir sent me pictures of the baby. Considering they are the father, the baby is very much like Relkir.”
“Can… can we see?” Litvir asked.
“Of course!” Ret smiled, holding out his communicator. “They are very cute. I am happy and honoured that they named it after me.”
“Oh… oh my…”
Arkay, Litvir, Kuta and Retvik were all oddly silent.
“That is an adorable baby…” Retvik eventually muttered. “Shame they named it after Ret. Also, I am surprised they could legally name it Retvik, I am certain the name has always been on the list of held names for Bloodline Traditions.”
“Hmph!” Ret growled slightly. “I am normally someone who lets insults slide, but that was uncalled for! I literally gave my damn life for Relkir, twice, and I was one of General Gath’s favourite captains when I was in their Legion! And also, Relkir and Rethais got rid of ALL the traditions aside from the Ethrianos one, they got rid of the entire bloodline honour-held practice AND it does not matter because the baby is not a Rethianos anyway, it is a Tsoriou, since Gath was the mother, not Relkir! You really need to get off your stupid high horse and stop being a grumpy bastard because you wasted your opportunities to have kids and waited far too long!”
There was another long, awkward silence. But the person who broke it was Kuta, and they did so in a very strange way.
“Ret, my dear, when we have kids, we should call one of them Relkir.”
Ret thought for a moment. “Well… I am not opposed to the idea, but it would somewhat leave Rethais out, and I thought we agreed we were going to wait a bit longer, yes?”
“We did, yes. I am not quite ready yet, emotionally, and you are not ready yet, physically.”
“Alright, good…” Ret turned back to Retvik. “Anyway, you need to stop being a bastard. I do not even know why you are concerned about me being egg-ridden anyway!”
Arkay sighed and gave in. “You know that Deathven bastard? He seems to think there is a new Synaisthyn out here, and literally the only clue that we have is that they’re red. Right now, that just somewhat points at you, or you being egg-ridden.”
“Ret’s sibling’s kid could be a-” Litvir was about to suggest, but abruptly paused. “No. That would not work. Relkir became a Time Drake after the egg was made and laid. Baby Retvik is just a perfectly normal, healthy baby. And we just confirmed that Ret is not egg-ridden and we already know that Ret is not a Synaisthyn, because he cannot access time powers on his own without assistance, the way Arkay and Elkay can. As a complete aside, Ret, darling, please give Relkir and Gath our congratulations.”
“I shall!” Ret perked up. “Also… I have a question. I am not a Synaisthyn but could I turn into one?”
Arkay thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“How comes?” Litvir asked.
“Because my becoming a Synaisthyn was because Kinisis did… a lot to me. The same applies to Elkay. We went through what I call a “soul-severing” ritual, where we were completely broken, melted down and then… sort of… infused with other things, while also being stripped of our identities. You and your team are only halfsies because I deified you, but I specifically never merged you all together or put other things into you or anything. You four are just you, and you all understand who and what you are, which means you can’t be full Synaisthyns.”
“Oh!” Ret breathed a sigh of relief. “And I assume that also means that my future kids will not be Synaisthyns? They will be normal boring Decayons like Kuta, Litvir and old grumpy Retvik here?”
“You are walking on thin ice, kid…” Retvik growled.
“As far as I am concerned, so are you!” Ret growled back, before perking back up. “Anyway, before you called me over, Kuta and I were in the middle of our break and I was chatting with my little sibling. May we go back to that, please?”
Litvir nodded. “Of course.”
Ret and Kuta both bowed, then headed off, back to the edge of the oasis. Once the coast was clear, Litvir immediately turned to Retvik.
“What in the damn Light was that all about?” Litvir hissed.
“Hmph. Nothing…” Retvik grunted back, before marching off himself. “Guess we will have to look for this new Synaisthyn elsewhere…”