I have four-ish more chapters now. Just need to tweak them a little. This entire story is like a first draft. I might still go back and change some minor details. Not much though, I hope.

Disclaimer: There are many things in this world that do not belong to me. Kubera is one of them.

S-C-N-D

Courtship of a Phoenix

…

Was it a blessing or a curse that Nastikas could live until the end of the universe? For one to be in existence for so long that his memory became akin to an endless subway line, death was but a trivial matter.

He'd been through everything—anxiety, anger, frustration, happiness, love, hate… There were no more emotions left for him to feel and nothing more this universe could offer. As he walked along this endless road, he barely even noticed the several thousand blood-red eyes staring, waiting on him.

…

Chapter Ten: Indefinitely Gone
N0 - approx. 170000 years

…

"How much longer are you going to wait? It's clear to me that you're completely infatuated with him. Half the time I feel like I'm talking to an empty shell of my best friend."

Vinata was twirling a snow white feather in between his fingers and smiling foolishly while he did. He wouldn't even have heard what Kalavinka said had she not slapped him violently on the back and repeated the question.

"What does Cepphus think?" he asked, frowning, sticking the feather back into his hair.

"I'm sure he's fine with it by now."

"Where is Cepphus?"

Kalavinka shrugged, which was rare for the couple. Usually one always knew where the other was. Vinata once asked them if it was tiring or too intrusive on their individual privacies, but the two birds only gave her blank stares while shaking their heads slowly.

"A few weeks ago, he went out to hunt for some food. He's probably lost in some weird corner of the universe."

"Maybe we should call Visnu to bring him back," Vinata joked. "Or Shiva, or Kali, or Brahma. Maybe Brahma can make him a compass. I heard that her bubblegum can turn into anything, literally."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Kalavinka asked with raised eyebrows. Vinata, as a man, had a knack for pondering the weirdest things. But then again, Kalavinka as a man was rather silent and stony, not at all like how she'd changed after turning female and marrying Cepphus.

Suddenly, both of them felt a disruptive presence, one not of a Garuda Sura's, in their lands. Kalavinka stood up, alert. Vinata squinted his eyes in the direction of the horizon, where the disruption came from. A second later, a pink horse with multiple grey horns on his back galloped from the clouds at a breakneck speed. He didn't pay much heed to the inferior Garuda Suras that were completely confused as to what a member of the Kinnara Clan was doing in their lands. He headed straight for the red and blue Nastika.

"Shess doesn't usually travel at that speed…" Vinata observed, frowning.

Kalavinka tilted her head with a questioning look. "He doesn't usually come here at all. The Kinnara Clan doesn't like to dirty their hooves with our affairs… unless you count that one time he drew you that defective map."

"…I was wrong to ever trust him. Airavata's face wouldn't leave my head for millenniums."

Kalavinka shot him a look. "So that's why you kept snickering incessantly at our last assembly."

Vinata smiled sheepishly.

The ground shook for a brief second as Shess landed. He remained in Sura form until he left the inferior Suras' territories, mostly for convenience. Very few Maras and Upanis knew of reputable Suras in other clans because of their short lifespan and probably would not hesitate to attack his human form. Shess didn't want the hassle. He wasn't there to pick a fight.

Instead, he strode towards Vinata and Kalavinka with half his face shadowed by his hoodie and a very eminent frown. Their joking environment evaporated immediately upon his arrival. As he approached them, he bowed his head further so that his face was completely covered by a mop of pink hair.

"Vinata-nim, Kalavinka-nim, my deepest apologies. A Rakshasa of my clan found a body of a Garuda Nastika in the Chaos Clan's territory."

Only then did Vinata notice the black feather he had been holding the entire time—a disheveled feather, with barely anything but the bloodstained spine intact. Shess dropped it, letting it flutter to the ground. Kalavinka's eyes followed it all the way down.

She was shell shocked. Paralyzed. Her ghastly white face froze in one expression: jaw agape, eyes widened in horror, eyebrows curving in. She fell to her knees, eyes still fixated on the feather. One trembling hand reached out to touch and hold it. She looked up at Shess again, hopeful that he was lying, that somehow he was hiding a sly smile under his hoodie. But all she saw was a mirror of her own face. Regretfully, he closed his eyes and shook his head. It was a lost cause.

"No!" she cried. "No! Where is he?"

Four wings sprung out of her back and she shot up into the air as fast as a raining comet. All was silent in the land as the Suras mourned for the death of a Nastika. A second later, the sun vanished, obstructed by the svelte body of a gigantic blue bird. Vinata watched as Kalavinka flapped her wings once before shooting forward faster than the human eye could follow. Vaguely, he saw her heading northwest, the direction Shess approached them from.

"Is he there?" Vinata asked the pink man.

Shess said nothing but gave a slight nod. It was all the assurance he needed.

Vinata extended his wings in pursuit of Kalavinka. Before long, the land was shadowed for a second time by another gigantic bird, slightly bigger than the first one. From space, he could spot Kalavinka's blue figure ahead even though she was almost travelling at the speed of light. Vinata shot forward after his friend. Being stronger and thus faster than Kalavinka in her female form, he caught up in a matter of minutes.

"Kalavinka."

Silence.

"Kalavinka, answer me."

"…"

Vinata growled and nudged the blue bird's body with one of his talons. "I need to know that you're not going to do something stupid."

"I need to see him." The voice was squeaky, small and trembling like she was crying on the inside.

She probably was.

Two billion, nine hundred million years was a long time to live for a Nastika. Perhaps only a handful, such as Vritra and Kinnara, found their life companions near the very beginning of the universe. Others had many lovers or simply did not pursue romance at all. Even Vinata developed an interest in romance only very recently. For Kalavinka, who had been married to Cepphus for two billion years, to hear of her mate's death… Vinata couldn't even begin to comprehend the pain that she was feeling.

"There might not be much of him left…" If the Chaos demons killed and ate him, all he could imagine was a very gruesome scene—a skeleton with few strips of flesh and feathers left dangling from it. Vinata shook his head, knowing that Kalavinka would do something utterly brash and reckless if she saw that.

As soon as he saw her expression, he knew it'd been the wrong thing to say.

"I don't care," she huffed stubbornly. "I just need to see him."

After that, they continued on in silence. Once in a while, he could hear Kalavinka's lamented sobs beside him. Every time, Vinata reached out the tip of a wing to graze her body and let her know he was there if she decided to break down and stop flying all of a sudden. The farther they flew, the more uncoordinated her four wings became. When they finally reached the Chaos territory, Kalavinka was already stumbling in flight.

"Kalavinka…"

She shook her head before making a dangerous, sharp dive. Clenching his beak, Vinata dove after her. He was afraid that she would crash head first into the ground but as the more agile of them two, she swerved up at the last moment whereas he had a clumsier landing.

"Ow…" he muttered as his head bumped against the floor three times.

She hadn't the mood to laugh.

There was no mistake about it now. From where they were, they could clearly see a large, inanimate body just a little further into the dark and desolate lands. One of Cepphus's wings was still intact since there was little to eat underneath the feathers. The rest of him looked like… Well, it looked like the bodies of Ananta Suras after Vinata was done with them.

With a silent cry, Kalavinka sprung forward and wrapped her body around Cepphus's bony ribcage. There, she fell to her knees and sobbed loudly, uncaring that the Chaos demons would hear and laugh at her, uncaring that they might spring out and attack at any given second.

Vinata also flew closer. Unlike Kalavinka, he stopped two wingspans back. There, he morphed into human form and looked up at the horrific sight. Cepphus's death took a while to hit him. At first, he was reluctant to believe that Shess was telling the truth, even if the Kinnara Clan was neutral. But now that the mangled body of Cepphus was right in front of his eyes…

Waves of shivers passed through his body one by one. His gut twisted tightly. In fact, it felt like some invisible force was continuously squeezing and compressing every single one of his organs. The more Vinata looked at Cepphus, the more it made him sick. He ducked his head until his bangs extended well over his eyes. The world was black in their shadow. Black like Cepphus's feathers. Like his eyes. And his hair.

Had Vinata been in female form, he was sure he would have blubbered as badly as Kalavinka had.

S-C-N-D

N0 - approx. 170000 years

S-C-N-D

"Is it true then?"

A hand was moving in soothing circles on Vinata's shoulder. As soon as Garuda heard about Cepphus's death, as soon as he had seen Vinata's hard, stony expression, he felt like he had to do something to comfort him. It would have been easier if Vinata was female. He would have just taken her in his arms. But he did promise to back off until their agreement was fulfilled. So far neither of them even came close, and now, this of all things…

"Cepphus died," stated Vinata candidly. "The Chaos Clan killed him. There's nothing we can do about it."

Garuda retracted his hand and nodded, though Vinata couldn't see it because his back was turned to his king. The Chaos Clan was one that all Nastikas of all clans unanimously hated. Because they had been created by Kali, their power was significantly different than the power of those named by Visnu. And Taraka, while weak, would never stop regenerating or die like the other kings.

"What about Kalavinka?" Garuda asked softly.

Vinata turned, a maelstrom of emotions flashing across his iris. "I don't know," he admitted with tightly clenched fists. "I have no idea what Kalavinka is thinking. She's not talking to me anymore. She's not talking to anyone anymore. I only ever see her sitting on the edge of cliffs and staring nostalgically at places she and Cepphus used to spend their time together. I'm scared that she's going to reach a foolish conclusion—like committing suicide or massacring Chaos Clan for revenge."

"The Chaos Clan cannot be massacred. They'll always regenerate."

"Exactly," sighed Vinata. "She'll eventually run out of vigor and they'll probably kill her."

"It's tragic, isn't it? When someone you care for so much has such cloudy judgement you're constantly in fear of something bad happening to them," Garuda said through half-lidded eyes, "just like all those years, Vinata. All those years I followed you into Ananta's territory."

"That's different."

Garuda couldn't weigh what he felt for that Half against what Kalavinka felt for Cepphus. It was as astronomically different as the size of a Mara and a Nastika; Vinata's feelings weren't barely a spark in comparison to Kalavinka's raging fire. In the years that passed, his Half had become a mere loving memory. He wasn't sure Cepphus would ever be just a memory for his wife.

But Garuda, who had never had a relationship, simply couldn't understand it, so Vinata chose to divert the topic with an attempted smile.

"I do appreciate the effort though. I admit that it used to be annoying at first, but it became nice to have a hunting companion other than the Upanis and Rakshasas once in a while. Albeit, you didn't really do anything but watch half the time…" He closed his eyes and sighed. "I suppose now that Cepphus is gone, I can finally assume my female form."

Garuda's eyes widened and he took a step forward in excitement. Almost immediately, a wave of guilt crashed over him and he stepped back again. What was he doing, feeling almosthappier now that Cepphus was dead? In the meantime, Kalavinka and Vinata were mourning deeply for the loss of a very important friend.

But be that as it may, he still couldn't deny himself this elation in the end. "So it was all for him…"

Vinata's sharp eyes snapped to his face. "What did you think?"

"I—" he thought that Vinata wouldn't carry through with the promise. He thought Vinata was going to keep him waiting until the end of the universe, or at least until he got tired enough to take the initiative of changing genders.

The stern look softened into a tentative smile. "It's okay. Given our history, I really didn't expect you to have that much faith in me. It's honestly more than enough that you're willing to wait thousands of millenniums for us. I got tired of waiting myself. I was going to ask for his permission but I never got a chance.

"Don't give me that look, Garuda. I often try to convince myself that Cepphus has nothing to do with you and I. But then I remember how loyal he's always been to me, sometimes even more so than Kalavinka. Wouldn't it be unfair for him to trust me for a billion years only to lose me to the very man he hated? Suppose Shuri or Gandharva told you out of the blue that they've been secretly hunting our kin. Wouldn't it be betrayal of the worst kind?"

Garuda found that he had no answer for that. There was no question that Vinata was a deviant and a trickster. Garuda had known it for billions of years and still, not once did he question or try to delve into why Vinata acted the way he did. Indeed, he was constantly faced with dilemmas just like any other Nastika. While Garuda did not fully support his lieutenant's decision to withhold his feelings from Cepphus, what Vinata said had merit. What would Cepphus have done if he found one of his closest friends fraternizing with the enemy?

"Is that why you made those conditions? Because you wanted to give him the illusion that you would become king?"

Vinata looked hurt. "Why didn't you believe me when I said that I no longer had intention of stealing your throne? I may not be the trustworthiest of Suras but I do my best to honour my promises. Just because I'm male doesn't mean that I'm a different person."

Garuda felt heat rush to his face in was a mix embarrassment and shame. He shuffled his feet in discomfort and replied, "I wanted to. I really did, but I just couldn't. What choice did I have but to assume the worst case scenario? Visnu prophesized that there'll come a day when you'll sit on my throne whenever you wish and your actions have been quite supportive of that prophecy."

Vinata furrowed his eyebrows until a knot appeared just above the bridge of his nose. "That?" he half snorted. "That was the most ridiculously ambiguous prophecy I've ever heard in my entire life. Tell me, Garuda, what's stopping me from flying over and sitting there right now?"

"Me?"

"And would you stop me after hearing a prophecy like that?"

Finally realizing the flaw in Visnu's words, Garuda blinked in surprise. "No, I wouldn't." Of course he would let Vinata sit on his throne if Vinata asked. He'd want to fulfill the prophecy so Vinata couldn't do it himself. He just never thought that Vinata would surrender his chance at becoming king to such a peaceful alternative.

A hand settled on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it," Vinata told him with a toothy grin. "I also mulled over it for a good couple hundred thousand years. I didn't figure out what he really meant until everyone in the clan was willing to mate with anyone who had wings. By the way, how's that problem coming along?"

Garuda averted his eyes and coughed.

"Visnu said that I would sit on the throne but he never told me I'd be king. He probably meant that I'd sit and rule alongside you as your queen."

"Oh."

That was really all he could manage. Really. Anything more and he was afraid that sunshine, flowers and rainbows would start spurting from his mouth.

While he was still off in a daze, Vinata reached into the pocket of his maroon skirt and pulled out an orange feather. Since Garuda still had trouble registering anything around him, Vinata took his hand and wrapped his fingers around its stem. Only then did he look down and notice the feather. His eyes widened.

"Not long now," ensured Vinata with soft pats on his arm. "If you let me be until Kalavinka finishes mourning, I promise I'll return as a woman."

He nodded.

S-C-N-D

N0 - approx. 160000 years

S-C-N-D

"Vinata."

For the first time that he approached her in many years, Kalavinka actually swiveled to face him. It was also at this point that Vinata noticed something crucially wrong. Wings. Kalavinka had wings. She also had a sad smile on her face.

He gasped. "No!"

"I'm going to leave," she mumbled, eyes trained on the ground. "I can't take it anymore."

"No!" Vinata cried louder, running towards her.

"I can't," she sobbed with two hands obscuring her face. "I need to be alone. I can't stay and watch so many people of our clan laugh with their families or while knowing I'm the reason why you can't be together happily with Garuda. I'm putting a damper on everyone's mood. You don't know how I feel, Vinata. I'm so bitter every single day that I don't even know myself anymore. If I don't leave, I think I'm going to become crazy and obliterate everything in these lands."

"I'll come with you!" he spurted, taking a step forward so that she was right before him. "I won't leave you alone, Kalavinka, not when you're like this. This isn't the way things are supposed to be."

He embraced her shaking body while she sobbed into her hands. The last time Kalavinka cried like this was after seeing her husband's body. Vinata's jaw stiffened. He didn't know what to do or how to comfort her anymore. It always seemed so easy when Garuda had done it to him.

"There, there," he assured awkwardly, patting her feather coat. When she only sobbed harder, he sighed and looked hopelessly into the skies.

What he saw made his eyes widen. Garuda and Avifauna. On top of the mountain adjacent to theirs. Garuda was staring down at them with mixed feelings. Avifauna was just staring. Vinata suddenly felt like someone punched him hard in the ribs. He looked pleadingly into Garuda's eyes but by then, they both realized the inevitable outcome and that neither of them had the power to change it.

Stay, the grey eyes begged. Don't go, Vinata. Stay with me.

Vinata painfully broke eye contact to glance down at Kalavinka's face. "I won't leave you," he promised her with a conflicted smile.

She nodded tearfully, still rubbing at one eye as she jumped into flight and surged above the atmosphere. Vinata waited until she was well out of sight before he looked back.

Garuda was still staring at him with a pleading expression.

He swallowed a lump in his throat. I'm sorry. You know I love you, but Kalavinka's more important.

With eyes shut painfully, two red wings sprung out of his back before he shot up after Kalavinka. There one moment and gone the next, he was so fast that Garuda would have missed it had he not kept his eyes unblinkingly fixed on Vinata's figure. Even after Vinata departed, he still had trouble getting it into his head that his lieutenant was gone.

Gone. Indefinitely gone.

Garuda looked longingly into the sky where, instead of a man and a woman, there were now two huge birds. Avifauna must have thought that he would also chase after them because there was a firm hand on his shoulder forcing him into the ground.

"You can't go after them," the brown Nastika told him, "not as the king."

"Wouldn't it be beneficial for you if I did?" questioned Garuda. "With the first, second and previously third strongest Garuda Nastika gone from here, you'd have no one thwarting you if you took the throne."

Avifauna narrowed his eyes. "My king, you have it wrong. Everyone would thwart me. Truthfully, I'd rather turn female than become king. It's not a responsibility that I want."

Six white wings materialized before stretching to full size and forcing Avifauna's hand off of Garuda's shoulder. Garuda gripped his sword tightly and bent his knees to jump.

"Garuda!" Avifauna growled warningly.

"Relax," the king assured just before shooting off into space, "I am not foolish enough to pursue those who do not want to be pursued."

There was a scowl on Avifauna's face as the white haired man disappeared beyond the clouds. Then what were you doing, chasing after Vinata for all these years? Just as he was also about to launch into space to bring his king back, a planet suddenly exploded.

There was no sound to be heard. In space, sound didn't travel. But everyone in the Garuda Clan saw it. They broke out into whispers and searched the sky attentively. Suddenly, there was a cry and a point. Before long, everyone was staring at a humongous white bird that skipped from planet to planet so swiftly it looked like all the body masses he touched simply shattered into a million pieces.

I waited so long.

The thought was scathing. He knew he was close to insanity, but a few barren planets could pay the price for the untimely domino of unfortunate events that had to take place just when Vinata finally agreed to be with him. And perhaps when he was done, it would no longer sting so ruthlessly—the fact that Vinata had chosen Kalavinka over him in the end.

S-C-N-D

Well… plot progression, check. Guess which Nastika makes an appearance next chapter. :)

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review!

-SCND