Tittle : The Redeemed Nastika

Summary: What if Gandharva was a little bit less indecisive and acted one second earlier in order to save Teo Rakan? On which extent this turn of events would affect Kubera's World?

A/N: Just a wish from a fan that would never come true. A dream to achieve through this fiction, I'll make it real as nobody would do it. I really was troubled that the couple I shipped for so long just was... well, you know anyways.

Disclaimer: This fanfiction, as Kubera's World are Currygom's intellectual property solely.

~ Chapter 1: Verity ~

Gandharva Clan, nastika - Gandharva (King)

"The King of the 'Gandharva Clan", one of eight GREAT clan of Sura. According to the list made by the gods, Gandharva ranked 5th among Nastika, behind Ananta, Vritra, Yaksha and Asura. However, now that Ananta and Yaksha have been eliminated, he is third, behind Vritra and Asura.

He is most often sighted in a planet - sized form, but sometimes is reported to be a city - sized or even smaller. His largest recorded appearance was when he apparently shallowed a red giant star. However, the only witness was Agni - and Agni died during the incident so this information cannot be relied upon.

Gandharva's only mate is Menaka (excluding a propagation period at the beginning of the universe when he expended his following). A daughter was born, but she is too weak to have her name remembered..."

The information above is a record of the water god Varuna-nim's words, heard in Mistyshore in D920.

# The Reedemed Nastika #

"You'll be surprised, you know," the bluish pig-tailed woman declared mischievously. "He's actually –"

"Gandharva," affirmed a feminine voice firmly. This statement startled everybody around there, who converged their attention toward the blond soldier in armor.

"King of the Gandharva Clan, once named by the Gods as the fifth strongest Nastika... And third now Ananta and Yaksha are dead. He is currently in a severely wounded state, looking for his lost daughter. Because he cannot manage the search on his own, as he must borrow the strength of others...

... But the process does not sit comfortably with him."

How –

"He has no conviction about the righteousness of his actions, nor any guarantee of finding his daughter, and this is what causes him distress... Am I wrong?" she stated flatly.

Her interlocutor only remained speechless.

"If you have nothing more to say and as I dislike unnecessary conversation, shall we get to the point now?"

'Hoti Kubera' she chanted. Golden rays of light turned around her red gloves, and thus, her whole body tuned with her deadly weapon.

"H... how long have you..." the green-haired cyclops man spoke, astonished. "At the lake of reflection," he was responded. "I saw it... Your Sura form."

Why a Nastika approached me?

Is he really even a Nastika?

If he's trying to kill me, why he's taking too long to do it?

"I then decided I would pretend I had seen nothing until I was sure of the answers," she revealed.

"Th-then, the way you acted towards me... All of it was..."

"No," she just said. "Everything I said to you was the truth. I knew you were a Nastika. I knew you had a daughter, as I suspected you had come to kill me... Yet, none of that mattered for me. Gandharva... I still don't know where your heart really lies. You've been teetering on the fence for far too long. Now, it is time to decide where you stand. But I am no coward, Gandharva. I refuse to be the sole survivor of a city razed to the ground."

And true to her words, she threw herself on her long awaited murderers.

Everything went far too fast for Gandharva.

First, he didn't expect that Sagara and her minions would directly come to kill the priestess, nor the priestess herself would know about his identity, as the fact she would not assault him even though she knew who he really was. And now, the fight that was currently processing before his eyes startled him even more.

What should I do? he head-shook. He contemplated the woman named Teo Rakan fighting his former "associates" heatedly. Even though he knew (as he knew she knew) her fight was a lost cause, he was really impressed how well she managed to stand against one fourth stage Raksasha in human form. Her red lightsaber went back and forth within the gaps of their formation as easily as he saw her cutting with a kitchen knife the turkey she had cooked to him in her house not so long ago...

"Pingara, use your transcendentals. The non-offensive ones are still usable here," the Ananta clan's Queen proclaimed.

The white-haired Raksasha in green robe then released lightings profusely from his cloud-like body, preventing Teo to deliver a critical hit to her.

Yet, Teo seemed unscathed from this elemental assault.

"Is the electricity meant to defend you? Because it doesn't even tickle," she answered, emotionless.

It should be related to her triple Chao-attribute, Gandharva wondered. How much he hoped he would not have to intervene in this conflict...

Pingara, you can't hurt her with your transcendentals. Cloak your presence and get her! he felt to be told through the mental link that united the Sura's minds in this place.

And consequently, the Rakasha's eyes flashed red, before his body faded out, but Teo's keen eyes seemed to pierce through the illusion, and she sliced her hidden enemy's lower part up to the shoulder.

"Cloaking?", the blond warrior said sarcastically. "I saw plenty of that during the cataclysm." The Ananta queen sweated. Transcendentals using items are possible inside the barrier... And she remembers the Cataclysm? She can't be underestimated in terms of experience...'

...Sagara-nim, this human is too strong. We will not be able to defeat her in this fashion. I need to take Sura form or call others for assistance.

"Hmph... I thought it wouldn't be necessary to kill one priestess. If you take sura form now, it will mess up the plan..." squealed the blue-haired bitch.

'Which plan?', quickly assimilated Tao, but before she realized where did come the attack, she was suddenly hit in the chest by a sudden kick from a giant woman. This one had claws instead of hands, and her orange suit enveloped her inhuman white body. And she did not seem friendly at all...

Apologies for my lateness, Sagara-nim. I was talking to Maruna. Cloche told me about the new plan on the way here.

"R...Right. It's fine since you're here now. Kill that bitch before she annoys me any more!", bluntly ordered Sagara.

Still enveloped in her Hoti Kubera, Teo recovered difficultly from the previous act. She was so screwed now, and she knew the arrival of this new opponent reduced dramatically her life span. She was already in the corner, but she did not want to come to such a plea. She stared back at her previous companion in green clothing, the man who brought her into this trap. Her sorrow just submerged her as she saw he was still hesitating. He did not even have the courage to lift his eyes toward hers, as ifhe was ashamed.

'Perhaps... I did a too risky gamble...' she realized sadly.

And thus, she stood up, ready to face off her death.

'And this is the end... The end of our story...' Gandharva contemplated the last moment of this woman. She was fighting admiringly, he admitted reluctantly. Himself, if he had been pushed in such a situation, wondered how he would have managed to cope it. His heart was just ripped apart as he observed her beautiful blue eyes conveyed toward his direction. He had not been able to bear such a view...

In the end, he was still the same coward who could not resolve to take a firm decision. He was just an observer, someone who watched from afar this marvelous picture of courage and beauty stained by blood. He knew her destiny was traced since the arrival of Riagara, the strongest workforce of his Ananta counterpart. Those vicious snakes... Daring to touch her body shamelessly. Surprised to have such thoughts, he reflected to himself:

'Shakuntala, what must I choose?

The reflection in the obscured sky of his daughter seemed to reply:

Dad, I know I'm precious to you... But for everyone else, you are much more important than I am. So, if someone uses me as bait, you can't come to my rescue. You have to abandon me. I'm telling his to you, because I know how much you treasure me, and you just as are for me... So, please, don't make things you'd regret later, I would not forgive you for that.

'I... I... I don't know... I don't know what to do... I can't abandon you Shakatunla. You're not fair... I just... can't... can't... I...'

Sagara from afar was observing the slightness actions of the Leviathan. She could almost fell the turmoil inside him and was ready to intervene at any moment for he would not thwart what she had planed to do to him. Sagara's eyes derived suddenly to the fight. Her henchman had just become sliced again. Damned, this human really became to be irritative, she should finish her off soon...

This one was more tenacious than the previous one, Teo evaluated. This orange-giant was decidedly strong, really strong. Perhaps even stronger than her rival Airi Yui, the 6th magician. And she feared the worst as this was only the human form of this monster. And just when she was going to retaliate, her enemy grabbed her violently as herself was pushed into the soil. The Raksasha hit her head, arms, chest so violently that she could not even breath. Teo's face became bruised. She could fell her bone cracking. Her back was sore, only reclaimed to rest. Trembling, she tried to catch up her sword but her hand was crushed by the ruthless foot of the Raksasha.

Through the torture, Teo realized desperately that she had been really stupid to trust Gandharva. Worst, she had just been a fool to trust a Nastika. After all, weren't they only monsters that sought for their destruction? A Nastika choosing to stand with a human... What an impossible dream... She just let herself get excited over his apparent fleeting sweetness... That was only illusions... Her disillusions... She recollected her past, at a moment she just followed her, doubted him, hopped to dig up his most mysterious secret. She remembered him spotting her as he mischievously remarked with his nonchalant tone:

"Clean is better don't you think? There's no need to be flashy... but being neat ain't so bad."

What hopeless dreams, indeed. Such a foolish woman I am. I... just dreamed, after all...

She closed her eyes, waiting for her sentence.

That yet did not come.

She felt herself being lifted up. A tight embrace that enveloped her warmly, and coldly strangely too. She opened her blue eyes, which revealed just before her, the man for whom she was enamored.

"Why...", she choked, spat blood on his immaculate clothes.

"Ssh..." he hissed. "I realized something; something I had forgotten since a long. Too long for me to remember: That I can't hold onto everything. That's just too much greed." He raised his fist next to his eye patch. "For one thing I take, there is forcibly a counterweight. Trying too much will only make me end up losing it all. That's... my Verity, the verity I just discovered again."

'Isn't it, Shakantala?'

And somewhere, his daughter's specter seemed to smile proudly at him.

Finally, he again became Gandharva, the revered representative of one of the great clans of Sura – a Nastika King.