“You don’t normally invite me here…”
Arkadin hovered above the vast vegetation, floating on a pair of black, skeletal wings. He watched as the tail of Yisini curled around the trees, and followed it towards the Allbirther’s true location. She always curled herself around her lands, hiding among the beautiful flora of her hidden paradise.
The Lord of Death hesitated. He didn’t want to stand on any of Yisini’s sacred ground.
“Well, sometimes I should. We are siblings, after all!”
Parts of Yisini’s tail began to uncoil. She was shrinking herself down so she could properly greet her brother. The tail twisted and turned away, slithering off. Arkadin followed it as it led him to a tall, moss-covered tower in the centre of Yisini’s territories. The rest of Yisini sat on top of the tower, her tail curling around it.
“This is just as much your home as my home, Arkadin. You shouldn’t feel as if you’re not welcome here.”
As Arkadin’s feet touched the stone of the tower, he could feel the flora pulling away, the heat fading from the ground.
“Doesn’t feel like it.”
Yisini shrugged. “You can’t blame it all. You are Death, after all. They all know what you are.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Arkadin snarled dismissively. “Why have you dragged me here?”
“Because I want to talk to you.”
“Do you want to talk or do you want to ask something of me again?” Arkadin seemed to be in a bad mood, but Yisini couldn’t quite work out why.
“Er, no. I wanted to talk about that argument you had with Mother Kinisis the other day. Because you were right. You were right about all this messing around. It’s all pointless and it gets in the way of my creative duties. I just want to create new life and Kinisis has us fighting in a pointless competition.”
Arkadin blinked. “So you… agree with me?”
“You may be my opposite, brother, but that doesn’t mean you’re wrong!” Yisini twirled round. “We have the same goals in mind. We both want it so some race is… past you. Beyond life and death.”
“And these pointless things stop that, because Kinisis fears she’ll be found out. If mortals are kept distracted, she can live indefinitely.”
“Exactly!” Yisini grinned. “Which brings us back to why I invited you here. Because we can beat Kinisis at her own game.”
Arkadin hovered in the air, crossing his legs, thinking to himself. “Hm.”
“Hm? I haven’t even told you yet.”
“I’m not sure if I want to… mess with Kinisis. I’m only just respected by Kenon and Kinisis is pissed off at me, I don’t want her to… get aggressive with me. Because she would.”
“This doesn’t get past her that way, silly! The idea is really simple. We just get our two empires to join together and don’t tell Kinisis.” Yisini was still smiling as she ran a clawed finger gently across Arkadin’s cheek. Arkadin instinctively pulled away. “Actually, admittedly, this is something I didn’t have to tell you in person. Could have just told you whenever.”
Arkadin rolled his eyes. “Is that it?”
“I know! I know. I just wanted to see you. Because I care for you. And I know you’re stressed and worried and all that silly stuff. I thought…”
The Lord of Death smiled, just a little. “It could work.”
“You think?”
“As long as we keep quiet.”
“Wonderful!” Yisini curled up, then twisted round and disappeared inside the tower. “I’ll make some arrangements, alright?”
“Sure!” Arkadin nodded. “Do you want me to do anything?”
“Oh no, I got it all worked out!”
“Ah nice…” Arkadin smiled. “Well, I have work to get back to. I’ll see you round, okay?”
“Cool!” Yisini shouted. “See you later!”