“You’re in a hurry to leave. Can you wait a moment?”
Out of all the beings Arkay thought would try and stop him, he didn’t think they’d send Yisini. The Allbirther had an awfully sad aura around her, a stark contrast to the golden blood and anger on Arkay’s hands.
“I’m done with all of this. The bonds have been severed and I am finally free. And here you are, asking me to stay?”
Yisini frowned. “No. I don’t really want you to, to be honest. You just killed my dad, technically. Despite his horrible, horrible faults, it just… doesn’t sit right with me. But… I just wanted to, well, say goodbye.”
“Oh…” Arkay hesitated. “You… want to say goodbye?”
“Goodbye and thank you.”
“Thank you?”
Yisini nodded. “Yeah. I bet a huge weight has just been lifted off your chest. Like you said, you’re finally free from this place. And I… I want you to know that you’re not alone. And that I don’t blame you for what you just did.”
Arkay sighed. “Surely you do.”
“No. Not really. Sure, Kenon was technically my dad. But he was a massive cunt. He deserved it. He deserved more than death. Genuinely surprised you murdered him in such a basic way.”
“What do you want, Yisini?” Arkay sneered. “Is this just some sort of trick to get me to stay or something?”
Yisini shook her head. “To be honest, I saw what you did to him. I’m still processing it all. The more I think about it though, you did the best thing for all of us. Kenon’s death means that we’re all free.”
“You were always free. You could do whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted. You were never held back like I was!”
“Yeah but, in a way, we were. The amount of times we clashed kinda… dragged us back. He was a drain on us all, especially Kinisis. If anything, he constantly ruined all our work. You killing him…”
The Allbirther sighed, letting a tear drip from her eye.
“It should not have come to this. We allowed all of this to happen. You suffered needlessly, we let him control Kinisis needlessly, for all this time. But now we are completely free from that bastard and the shadow he cast over us all. You did what we should have done so long ago.”
Arkay tutted, rolling his eyes. “Your apologies now mean nothing. It’s all far too fucking late. Just take his death as my final gift to you all. A gift and a reminder.”
“A… reminder?”
“A reminder that all this is over now. And that what I did to Kenon, I could have done to you all. Because, trust me, I wanted to.”
Yisini smiled slightly. “I… I don’t blame you. Kenon may have bled gold, but you are genuinely as good as gold. Always were. I’m sorry, and I hope you, well, do better, away from us all.”
Arkadin tutted. “I already am, now I am finally free.” With more tuts, the former Thantophor took off into the air.
“Goodbye, Yisini.”
“Good bye, Arkay.”