"Please."
"I must."
"Not again…"
"Then how, Fujin?"
Raindrops clouded his vision as the wind deity stared at his brother less than ten steps across the courtyard, his face wrenched with distress. The storm pummeled down relentlessly on the temple, leaving the duo drenched but unfettered, ignoring the tempest's onslaught.
Even through the veil of rain he could see Raiden's broken expression clearly, the vitality sapped from orange eyes, the lines creasing his sallow face, the sickly hand that gripped the medallion loosely between unkempt nails.
"You don't even know if it will work," Fujin threw out pathetically. A weak excuse, he knew, but one of the few he had.
"Shinnok knew, Fujin," his brother called out feebly, his brow furrowed weakly in an attempt to keep the rain out of his dulled eyes. "How else would he have done it?"
A piercing shriek interrupted their exchange from a distance. All Fujin had to do was look over the precipice of the courtyard, but it made no difference. There was no question oni were making their way up the mountainside, no doubt an army, ordered there by their new masters.
"And then what, Raiden?" Fujin called back, more emphatically, attempting to quell his rising anger through clenched fists. "You'll find a new path to the end? Only a fool repeats his actions expecting a different result."
He received no answer. In an instant the deity could feel his anger turn to hopelessness, to remorse for losing his temper with his cornered brother, who still gave no response. He watched Raiden's eyes flicker down to the amulet in his hand, his expression somber.
"Then your brother is a fool."
Despite his best efforts, the wind deity could feel the lump forming in his throat. He clenched and unclenched his fists in an attempt to regain control, squeezing his eyes shut as he waited for his guilt to dissipate long enough for him to speak.
"Raiden," he finally muttered, unsure if the thunder god heard him over the rain. "How many more risks are you willing to take? How can you be so sure that there is a way to turn the tides of fate? All rivers run back to the same ocean eventually."
Raiden finally returned his gaze.
"Have you navigated every river?"
"I've seen enough!" Fujin yelled, his resolve faltering. "How many more times can you do this to yourself, brother? How many more deaths in vain? Ten? A hundred?"
Even through the rain, an exasperated Fujin watched the other deity's expression harden.
"If it means an inch of progress, I would die ten thousand deaths without question."
It was enough. The wind god dropped his head in defeat, the lump resurfacing as he dipped over at the waist in an attempt to control his grief. More cries from approaching oni resounded, closer, masking the sound of footsteps through the flooded courtyard towards him.
Fujin opened his eyes, staring at the familiar boots in front of his own. He looked up, straightening slowly to look his brother in the eye.
"This is not your battle to wage, Fujin," he said, compassion barely overcoming the weariness in his tone.
"It does not have to be yours," the younger brother responded. "Please, Raiden, I will help you any way I can. Just don't…"
"Do not weary your shoulders with my burden," Raiden interrupted.
At a loss for words, Fujin finally sealed his lips, glancing down and seeing the green jewel of the medallion, its brilliance dulled since the destruction of its owner.
Petrified, he watched his brother lay his other hand over its surface. Fujin looked up to see Raiden's eyes sliding shut, his lips beginning to form the words of the incantation.
The thunder god had only barely begun to focus when he felt something make contact. Opening his eyes, he saw the rain-drenched hand of his brother over his own, or rather, over the amulet. He looked up, his heart falling as he watched Fujin's anguished expression looking back at him.
Taking it off of the amulet, Raiden placed his hand on his brother's shoulder, in an attempt to assure him of what, he didn't know. He also didn't know whether or not his and his brother's kind were capable of expressing grief the way mortals did, but it was very obvious the younger of the two was coming very close. He watched Fujin raise a trembling arm, possibly to reciprocate, but it never made contact, instead hovering shakily before he ultimately retracted it.
"Fujin," Raiden spoke sternly, unable to recapture the younger god's attention as he stared at the ground.
"In every timeline, we are brothers. I will see you again."
They were still for a moment. A brilliant bolt of lightning illuminated the sky, immediately accompanied by a deafening clap of thunder, both to which the duo paid no mind. Instead, Raiden watched his friend slink away from his hand, brushing shoulders as he sidestepped by defeatedly, walking to a spot behind the elder of the two. Raiden turned and watched Fujin approach the idol next to the temple doors, kneeling down with his back to Raiden and without another word.
The lines around Raiden's mouth deepened, his brow wrinkling with sympathy. But he knew better than to go back and console his brother now. Now was all he had to rectify his mistakes.
Turning back around, he clasped the medallion between his palms, extending both pairs of index and middle fingers in a gesture of prayer as he began the incantation once more. Alien syllables crescendoed as the collective shrieks of the demons below fought for dominance in the battle of sound. At least this instance time was on Raiden's side; every picture, every voice, every word would be just right this round, with no room for misinterpretation.
A massive hand clawed over the edge of the courtyard, bringing with it a hulking oni that lugged itself over the edge, standing up to its full height as it viewed the comparatively puny deity standing before it, paying it no mind.
A monstrous roar echoed throughout the mountainside as the creature established its presence, its companions visibly not far behind. It stood still long enough to watch its prey open his eyes, an expression of fatigued but unwavering determination marking his gaze.
Enraged at the display of defiance, the demon lunged forward with its arm overhead, but not before the deity dropped the medallion to his feet.
It was done.
All Fujin could do was wince in silent mourning as the sickening sound of his brother's cracked skull rang throughout the courtyard.
Just like always, if only he had been right before it was too late.