Author's Notes:
Sorry it took so long. I've been having some academic trouble lately, been thinking of an internal transfer from engineering recently. Also, friday i'll be going to yorke peninsula for a short three day trip. Its like this country side trip. I'll be bringing my laptop and the motel should have wifi so i might release another chapter soon.
It was the apex hour of the demon, one that those who had bore witness to the massacre that a single person was capable of would wake even during comfortable nights to the unpleasant thoughts of reliving the nightmare wrought by the last Demon of Kyrat.
From the entrance to the inner compound of the Headquarters villa, the entire Royal Fortress was trailed with incomplete bodies. No matter how much he kept his emotions in check, there was always some instance where someone would push it to the very limits and crack his control. Sabal was the first. Willis Huntley. Then Jason Brody. And now it was the Canton Lord Guang Min and Solomon Khoo.
Those not dead yet couldn't leave, for their feet were shaking non-stop. Out of all the Lords that had given up and accepted judgement. There were two that refused. One was Guang Min of the Min Family. And the other was the newly made Canton Lord Solomon Khoo, after killing Lord Richard Khoo.
Ajay was just about to get the approval of a conditioned surrender of the rebellion. But cornered rats still had teeth. Those cornered rats were Guang Min and Solomon, after the entire cohort of Cantons surrendered on conditions Ajay had given. They were the only ones who stood to gain nothing, in fact they would have everything taken from them. Including their lives.
He tried to be diplomatic with thieves and gangsters, but the result was always the same. "Humans are nothing but animals." It was as if the witch had invaded and planned this thought in his mind, but in a way, he too believed it. At their most dire time, people would always show their ugly side.
They pushed him to his limit of tolerance, when Solomon held Saras at gunpoint and Guang Min held a trigger device that would set off the fuses to a rocket battery zeroed on the Royal Palace. Worse of all, behind Ajay was Bipin. Pointing a rifle not at the Cantons but him.
"Don't do this, Ajay." He pleaded with Ajay who was dead focus in his aim of the pistols at Solomon and Guang Min. Solomon held one to Saras and a machine pistol at Ajay. Guang Min held the trigger to threaten Ajay and a pistol to Bipin who pointed at him as well as Ajay. It was a Mexican standoff.
"You crack me up, Kadayat. For a tactical genius like you, to not see he's already had the resolve since I made this scenario to shoot." Solomon laughed despite his fate.
Solomon stared deep into those blazing eyes that would deliver him to hell. But there was satisfaction to his actions. He was an engine of chaos, that burned the earth to cinders allowing new life to sprout and a new fresh beginning to Kyrat. This was his twisted ideology, those that maintained this sick and dying world were the true evil. And the rage of the demon was his perfect tool to achieve it.
Solomon had not been playing about for the last months of his release from prison. He studied the Duke of Lakshman's history thoroughly. Even more so than anyone had before, he came to a single conclusion from his research.
The Demon Duke Badala was none other than Ajay Ghale.
Everyone assumed Badala was some sort of love child of Pagan, or that he'd been specially bred to maintain his kingdom and the Min Dynasty after he perished. No one would have suspected he would adore the son of his hated enemy. But no one knew Pagan personally enough to know of his affair with Ghale's wife whom was at the time a hostage. Except a then-young child named Solomon who looked up to Pagan as his idol in life.
There was absolutely no reason for Ajay to join Pagan of all people. But here he was. Solomon had solved something that only the hostage he held and himself had discovered on their own. Not even Willis nor the CIA knew of it.
Apart from the further silence between the parties was Sun Kwan's wails for the dying son in his arms. Crying over the foolishness of both their actions.
"So now, what will it be, Ajay? Loving affection or Duty. I'll leave that decision to you. Show me what the Demon of Kyrat is capable of!" His madness grew beyond even Guang Min's reckoning.
As Solomon stated, he was given the choice to make. One that would affect how his life in different ways.
...
Kill Guang Min, Save Pagan - or - Kill Solomon, Save Saraswati
...
His primodial eyes locked dead set on his choice to kill as he squeezed the trigger to fire the shot.
(Bang)
One Hour Ago -
When the airwaves cleared of the disruption, chaos ensued among the garrisons that had been made ignorant were informed of the Cantons' betrayal and Rebellion ongoing. Sides were no longer undefined in the North. Word of Badala storming the Royal Fortress sent shivers through the spines of the Theater of War. The Veterans knew that there was no hope of beating the 1st Lord of the Army, the Airforce had just displayed protecting the Palace and killing the attacking regiment.
They were quickly losing their foothold over Kyrat. With no supplies or reinforcements coming from the suppressed Arsenal, the isolated stronghold Ratu Gadhi, and the uncaptured Lanka and Lakshman. The Royal Fortress had only its garrison of three thousand troops to protect those ringleaders of the Rebellion. Even the soldiers within the walls were having regrets and second thoughts about whether they should proceed and fight to the death or should they surrender and hope for the best.
The Cantons hated how one man they thought should have been an easy kill with their most well-trained team of professionals, the Royal Academy instructors turned out to be the most detrimental to their plans after failure. They knew they'd lost the chance to take Kyrat now and forever. This was now an Alamo.
Knowing his unrelenting personality, knowing Pagan's temprement, they knew they and their entire families were in danger of a public execution. There would be no trial, no rights to a fair court, nor even a life sentence with no parole. They had tried to kill the head of state, this was treason. All would die, from young to old, no matter how indirectly they were involved. In ancient China, treason against the throne invoked killing off fourth generations of family and sometimes worse. They frantically tried to organise the defences as best they could, while telling the men that if they didn't defend to their dying breath, the crown would execute them and their families.
"Enemy march-(BOOM)" The forward observer was about to announce the arrival of the assault when a rocket annihilated his lookout tower along with his accompanying snipers.
The sirens went off as the men ran frantically around to take their firing positions.
At the foot of the hill was an emerging forest of men running up the steep incline with little fear of exposure to the machine gun fire shot down at them. The Commanders had intended to keep their men from firing till they entered optimal range. Unfortunately, the growing bellowing roar of a battlecry from the attacking loyalist had shaken them. It was now fire at will.
And it was not enough to counter that truck that was headed on course for the gate. If they guessed correctly was a demolition truck filled with explosives. The truck revved towards the gate at full speed, only now did it receive the proper attention from the Rebels on the wall. But by now, it was too late. The truck driver's door opened and a figure tumbled out while the truck headed for its destination and collided with the gate before- (BOOOOOOM)
A combination of concrete and stone was blasted away from point zero. The gate was blown off its hinges and was flung inward several feet and crushing anyone unfortunate to be behind it.
The assaulting battalions numbering three let out a mighty roar of triumph at the sight of entry into the Royal Fortress. Even as the stones were falling due to gravity and the flames had not yet extinguished. Busting out from the smoke was a figure on a motorcycle who had taken advantage of the Rebels under concussion and bypassed a considerable defense line straight for the Bulwark. That person was naturally-.
"It's BADALA!"
(Vrrrrrrr) He revved the bike into full throttle, to make the jump over the bulwark inner gate with a damaged and toppled supply truck that happened to form a perfect incline to boost off. Utilizing the full 170 horsepower at his disposal to launch himself and the bike over the second gate. Those that had recovered were stunned by the daredevil stunt performed by the ever-foolhardy demon. But to used that sort of method to breach pass a whole defensive line and a gate which could withstand a 200kg bomb. They truly didn't see that coming, they expected an easy win when the commanders sighted only three battalion worth of soldiers storming their Fortress which outnumbered them 3:5.
The Ducati landed with a thump onto the dirt ground in the compound of the Royal Fortress parade square. Ajay didn't enter this far just to show off, he turned the throttle that caused a temporary smokescreen and a dirt shower to form from him holding the brakes.
(Boom) The slayer taken out and rested on his shoulder blew the chain holding the heavy doors together on the gate. Once again, granting access for the soldiers outside to storm in and fight the defenders on equal grounds.
The field commanders at the Communications Relay were in complete denial, that in a mere thirty seconds of the attack and Badala's spearhead. The Demon had broken the defense that held the army at bay. No one in two hundred years since the construction of the Royal Fortress had ever breached its defences or won against the defending Kyratis of old. Not the Golden Path, the Nationalists before them, not even the British East India Trading Company who dispatched the British Imperial Army to subjugate Kyrat succeeded. Ajay's move had made a mockery of all the preceeding attackers of the Fortress.
The Cantons were confident of their struggle because of the Royal Fortress which had been unparrallel till Lankas appearance. And like a bubble of reality, it popped as quickly as it was blown from the straw.
Of course, unlike the named parties of attackers. Nobody had seen the internal layout nor studied the gates and defences like Ajay did in the previous timeline after succeeding in capturing the Royal Fortress for the Golden Path. Now, he was on his way to securing the Royal Fortress once more but for the Royal Army instead.
Ajay released the brakes and zipped off upwards to the Headquarters building. Behind him, the soldiers poured in to clean the aftermath and suppress the numerically superior Rebels, but with the guidance of Colonel Raja. Whom made use of the assets he had such as the requisitioned Heron UAV flying over head to provide updates on the enemy locations and the mortar batteries which bombarded the heavily defended concentrations. He had intended to use a smoke barrage to aid in their advance but Ajay frighteningly opened two of the only main gates that defended the Royal Fortress in that mere instance. Raja didn't know what to think of the way he went about breaching the defense, it was clearly unconventional and something no one expected. The Rebel Commanders were feeling the same way but with more jeopardy due to their switch in situation.
"Stop him!" Some squad leaders shouted to their squads that were marching down to apprehend the storming battalions at their open gates. The blanket of fire was unable to reach him as he zipped through their lines making them hesitate to shoot their own and aimed shots were difficult when he moved in a zigzagged fashion at high speed. He used a Vector Kriss to mow down some soldiers in front that got in the way of his traverse upwards.
As he passed the bend to where the Golden Statue of Pagan lay, his sixth sense when off that an imminent danger was ahead. He turned a hard right and skidded to a halt and came into view of the levelled ground and what lay ahead.
What was prepared for him was one of the Patria Tank Destroyers. He ended up staring down the barrel of its 105mm rifled gun.
The cannon thundered on the commands of a watchman whom predicted the time Ajay was to appear over the horizon of the slope.
(BAAMM)
The massive shell loobed towards his intended path but missed his body by a few inches and blasted the ground near him. The dirt was kicked out from the large five-metre-wide crater produced by the High Explosive shot and masked the area around which the shell impacted.
"Did we get him?" The tank commander asked from an open hatch.
"Not even he could- (Boom)" Ajay answered their question with the report of the slayer that took the top half of the tank commander's head off. The soldiers surrounding the armoured fighting vehicle frantically fired their rifles. He responded with his knife that took more lives adding to the fuel of bloodlust in the drenched blade. The Patria's driver hit the reverse to get away from him whilst Ajay ran towards it. The gunner fired the co-axial machine gun while the main gun was being loaded by the autoloader. (BAAMM)
A canister shot fired forward and devastated the surroundings and the people unfortunate to be in its spraying path of humongous pellet shots. Ajay was not one of these people as he used the gun barrel to climb the tank destroyer and rush to the hatch where the dead commander was.
(Ping) The audible sound gave both Ajay and the vehicle crew who could hear it what he intended for them.
A couple of dull thuds rattled into the turret basket of the tank destroyer and the gunner looked down to his horror to see the grenades that had been deposited into the vehicle.
Ajay jumped off in the nick of time as the grenades pummelled the crew and set off the shells in the turret bustle, turning the whole vehicle into a blazing tommy cooker. Ajay looked around him, it seemed he had a moment to breath easy as there was no one in his immediate vicinity now. All were concentrated on the bigger threat in the form of the Battalions of infantry and Engineers pouring in through the open gates and moving in to capture from the Rebels the Armoury that supplied their weapons and ammunition flow, the Communications Block was still under the process of capture. Where he stood next to the Golden Statue for all to see, gave the Rebels a feeling of dread and the Loyalist soldiers confidence of their victory assured.
Ajay felt it truly too easy. Even since he encountered the Golden Path Exalts and bullet impervious Rakshasa he was raring to fight them again. The Rebels were quickly overshadowed in this aspect and sadly so despite the significance of the Rebellion at play and their advantage of holding similar weapon loadouts to the loyalists if not better.
Ajay had a look at the details of the statue. He recalled the last time he destroyed in and now…. He was protecting it.
(Boom) "Urghhhh!" An explosion wrenched him from the impact point directly on the statue base and sent him flying back with a scorched front.
The beating of helicopters grew close. Ajay recovered to his feet unsteadily and puking a bit of blood from the concussion wave of the explosive. He looked back to the blast area to find Pagan's statue blasted to bits much like how he did. Apparently, its destruction was inevitable even during this timeline. He chuckled at what this Pagan would think, but recalled what he would do to the parties responsible. That wasn't the least bit funny.
He turned to the direction of which the rocket, likely a 70mm Hydra unguided rocket from a gunship among the many Blackhawks coming into view. Only the Dragoons had helicopters in that number, so it was fair to say that a battalion of Dragoons cased their lot with the Cantons in this Rebellion and they were dead set on making sure their gamble paid off even if their was a loss of tactical advantage by withdrawing the Battalion to fight at the Royal Fortress instead of with the loyalists elsewhere.
Ajay stood up and licked away the remaining blood on his lips as he stared at the lead helicopter making a landing boldly in front of him, its door gunner firing rather unsteadily towards him.
He unslung the slayer off his back and pointed its dangerous end towards the chopper. A smile appeared on his face as the shot lined up on the unsuspecting pilot.
The slayer, originally the ultimate in elephant guns found in Kyrat. Its former owner had taken it up into the mountains to hunt the deadliest of hunting trophies up for grabs. Did he succeed only to be overwhelmed? Did he succumb to the Elixir instead? Or did he truly underestimate the Yeti itself and become its lunch? No one knew save the Yeti that had its stomach sated. Raw energy of a .700 caliber slug guided by a custom sabot which increased accuracy and velocity of the shot. Causing the projectile to shatter upon impact and also gave a big felt-recoil only manageable by trained strong men. It was used effectively in Yetis, infantry, Exalted fighters as Samar had described. But would it also as he'd mentioned "kill" a helicopter?
-Let's find out.- (Boom) the shot flew true towards the windshield of the cockpit and the heavy slug drilled its way through the thick bulletproof glass and then- (Splat)
From where Ajay could see, the seat which the pilot occupied had its entire windshield section splattered with red. Followed with the helicopter spinning out of control.
(BOOOOM) The helicopter slammed into the ground and exploded killing its passengers as well.
Some soldiers who had made it up to the point where he was stared stunned in Ajay's direction, more specifically the weapon he was holding. A Sergeant Major looked at his weapons with disbelief and couldn't stop his comment from setting free from his mouth.
"Damn- now that's one helluva gun!"
The threatre of war was in a frantic mess, when news that the first and second gate falling came one after another. The ringleaders couldn't believe what they heard. Royal Fortress stood unopposed for two hundred years, all who tried failed. And yet the demon had come with a lesser force driven by pure energy without serious siege equipment or numbers to storm the Royal Fortress. The Field Commanders almost took it for a joke, and how Yuma's left-hand man Colonel Raja was over his head.
(Boom)
The dust from the ceiling was shaken by the distance explosions as were their glasses of water left untouched. The bulk of the officers and major players from the Canton Families and Nobles were approaching Guang Min for counsel and perhaps persuade him to take a conditional surrender while the time was still on their side but limited.
He wasn't the only lord they approached. Both Sun Kwan and Richard Khoo were in a similar fashion. Except that Richard was the first to succumb to the weight of reality and agree that now was not the time to hold onto pride like it was the only thing they had left.
Guang Min had enough of this and was about to reprimand him when- (Bang)
A 9mm hole appeared through the two ends of Richard's head as his corpse collapsed to the floor motionless. The ringleaders dispersed in fright to the culpit who took the life of one of the major leading forces of the Rebellion.
The dandy-dressed Solomon blew the smoke from his unused gun made use once on his Uncle.
"Solomon… you- You bastard!" Sun Kwan was the first to react as he stomped towards the ungrateful little cur that shot his own family member. Solomon stood where he was without indication of resisting as Sun Kwan came to teach him a lesson. But then Guang Min intervened.
"Wait." That simple command sent several officers to stand in Sun Kwan's way.
"Solomon. You will take Dick's place as the head of the Khoo Family."
"Unbelievable!" One of the Khoo family members couldn't believe what he heard as did the rest of his kin.
The only thing that kept them in their place was Guang Min's absolute word. Sun Kwan cooled off and understood what he was doing. In this scenario, only Solomon had the slightest idea about the end result as he'd always reminded them lightly. But he was also known for getting out of slippery situations, this could be the trickiest yet.
"I assume you have a plan to get us out of this mess?"
"Oh don't worry yourself, Kwan. While he seems unstoppable, he has but one weakness."
The doors to the theatre opened and in came Han Feng dragging Saraswati along with some guards doing the same to an old couple none of them recognised.
"Arjun's daughter?"
"And Badala's Lover." Solomon corrected Guang Min. And the whole mass of the Cantons seemed to unanimously agree that not all hope was yet lost.
"And they?" Sun Kwan motioned to the old couple whilst staring at his son who seemed in League with Solomon, a bit disappointing in his opinion but still beneficial to the cause.
Solomon only grinned wider as he jumped off his new dais and towards the Malla couple.
"Hello there. Will you mind telling everyone who you are?" He asked with a sincerely smile but was clearly fake.
"Leave them alone! It's me you wanted, right!?" (Paakk) Solomon stuck her with the back of his hand. Giving her a swollen left cheek but she glared at him defiantly.
"No wonder that guy's so fond of you, those eyes alone can awaken a dry libido." He chuckled.
"Hmph! You? A Sissy-dressing impotent drag thinking impure thoughts and getting hard? Keep dreaming, even a pig is more appealing than you." Saras's venomous tongue out did him and made his eyebrow twitch but he maintained control over his behaviour. The same could not be said for some from the crowd gathered. Especially the Khoos' who made their humour known to Solomon by laughing their asses off.
Solomon grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her towards him from her tied up kneeling position.
"I wonder how much you know about me, let alone Ajay." When that name fell out of Solomon's mouth in a whisper to her, she stared at him half-believing he said it.
Solomon let go of her and looked around with a smug look on his face, disdaining all who were still left in the dark about who the Demon really was.
"Did you know that Saraswati Roka was betrothed to someone?"
"What has this got to do-.?"
"Did anyone know?" He said in a louder voice to silence them to answer his question. No answer was given save for a few shakes of the head here and there.
"Well, Marshal Roka certainly did before all of us even left Hong Kong. And guess who he made the agreement with? Mohan."
Some debate went across the talking parties.
"And following along that line of thought, yes! His son was made the betrothal to a cute little girl of Roka. That son was Ajay Ghale."
"And? So what. That little shit hasn't been seen since he got killed in that attempt on Pagan nearly a year ago." When Sun Kwan exhibited no sign of getting it, Solomon laughed his heart out as such a dense flock he was with.
Solomon looked to Saras and asked. "Do you want to say it or shall i?" But it was clear he had to do it himself, she wasn't going to do anything in his benefit.
"Right, boys and girls! Pay attention to the story of the fucking century. The prodigal son returns home to bury his mother's ashes, accompanying him as a guide was a hidden Golden Path elder named Darpan. Their intention was to bring him Ajay back to Banapur and use as a beacon to rally his father's old followers to rejoin the ranks and bring Golden Path back to full strength."
"But then our glorious leader landed his chopper and intervened, bringing a confused son back with him. He explained the affair he had with his mother that sent his father madden with rage that he killed a one-year old Lakshmana. He showed him out stagnant kingdom ridden with poverty and civil war, he showed him what a wreck he was after that excluding the bit about us might I add. And said he would make him a King in his place."
The amount of intel Solomon had dug seem to be something that none of them had even imagined, not even Saras. The Cantons were in unrest when they heard of this plan. To think the successor he planned had been way back, and was this boy, not even his own flesh and blood nor his unborn child or his favorite watchdog outside wrecking their fortress.
"But he refused."
"What?!" Even Guang Min was in disbelief to what Solomon said. Refusing the throne, an instant path to power and riches unparrallel in the Himalayas.
"He would rather mend a broken kingdom by himself than rely on a forced kingship."
"How noble." Sun Kwan obviously said sarcastically.
"Yes, how noble indeed. But nobody was going to support the son of the archenemy. Would you?" He pointed to a few notable people of power who turned away when he pointed.
"So he adopted a alias to run by. And that alias became quickly known to the Golden Path as simply Demon."
"Dear god!" The crowd fell into the epiphany too late and rather slow even for them.
"Yes, my dear friends. Badala, the Demon is in fact the prodigal son Ajay Ghale. (Sigh) Seriously, if anyone had put just a little effort into finding out who he was. This mess couldn't been avoided and you could have spread this to defame him."
"But neither did you!"
"Yes, but to think it would fall to me find this out. Where are all those spy rings and intelligence groups, you nobles and officers keep bragging about?" He challenged them to which no answer meant he was right.
As unsettled about the news as they were, this was the facts. And their complacency had cost them.
"Who're they?" One officer asked.
"Ah! So glad you asked. But I think I'll have them answer my questions this time, hello!" He struck a conversation with the two old people, on their kneels.
"What might your names be?"
"M-Miren, my lord! And my wife Aryaa."
"And what is the name you bear of your forefathers?"
"…Malla."
Many were once again astounded. There was only one Malla recently that everyone knew, she was now the hero of the Tigers, though dead. And apparently Badala/Ajay had shown some sympathy for her and their cause.
"This is it? Just dispose of them. They have even less value than the girl."
"Now hold your horses, gentlemen. Because there is something about them that even Ajay Ghale isn't fully aware of."
"So what would that do if he doesn't even value that which he doesn't know?" Sun Kwan rolled his eyes at the stupidity of what he said.
"My dear Miren and Aryaa. Why did you adopt Kamala?" Miren almost didn't want to answer but was reminded of the physical beating they would dispense on him or his wife.
"… We loved her."
"That's not what I asked for, Miren. You're not very good at following instructions." Solomon said as he waved a soldier with a baton to come forth.
"Please, my lord. Just me."
"No." And at the wave, the soldier raised the baton upon his wife.
"Stop! Stop! I will say!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Hold." The baton wielding soldier stepped back.
"….. She filled the gap of the daughter we lost."
Solomon was pleased once more. The rest were confused, including Saras but she had a very bad feeling about what he would ask next.
"And what might I ask was her name?"
"….."
"Hahahaha… don't tell me, you intentionally hid it from him when you met."
"…" Miren lowered his head in deep sorrow.
"Well? What was her name, Miren? Let everyone lose control of their jaws."
Now an expectant look filled over all gathered in the theater of war. The battle outside seemed less important to what Miren Malla had to say and what all this meant in their alternative backup in evening the odds. Miren was in tears due to the circumstance he'd been placed in despite his earnest way of life, it was too much for him and too much for Aryaa. Why did he have so much in common in regards to them making waves that shook the country?
"…My dearest daughter…. Ishwari."
The battle for Akaash monastery had finally come to a close. Unfortunately, it couldn't be considered a win for the Golden Path despite the aid of these three individuals with Deva-like strength. Who were they? The question that circulated everyone's minds.
The wild and crazed forces of savages had retreated with a bulk of these strange gorilla-like beasts. Rumours travelled around that they were in fact the legendary Yetis. But they seemed domesticated by these savage humans with some very wapred features as they could tell from a few corpses.
But that wasn't the worst of their problems. Much of the munition had been burnt, the supplies were intact though. The real problem lay with the kidnapping of over a thousand men and women, gone with those savages for god knows what. Many had expressed their desires to form a rescue party but Mohan was the one who denied it from them. His reasoning was that whatever turned them into these savages was out there and unknown. With the lack of munitions to support a search expedition, it was not going to happen. They didn't even know where they were headed and a blizzard was coming in of all times.
Everyone was in a horrid mood. They had no choice but to continue on route after the blizzard to support their isolated scouting party that attempted a raid on Lanka.
A particular Havildar was shellshocked. She'd been the one who arranged the entrance for Namdak but instead these savages came in and took advantage of their guard dropped. It was concluded that Commander Namdak and the dear Yinkian Regiment had all lost their minds in this snow and became this cult-like entity. The gods were truly cruel to their hero turned into an aimless lunatic.
Mohan knew the truth about Namdak and the Yinkian Commando Regiment, but kept silent. It did little to help their morale. All he could do was go around helping his people personally by interacting with them to ease their worries even slightly.
Vel remained where she was, standing guard at the entrance to her mistress's quarters. What she was doing there while they were fighting was none of their concern. The three Generals were more than enough to stop the Disciples of yalung from further jeopardizing their plans. The Rakshasa Generals could sense the increase in strength from the Disciples, likely due to the talismans weakening considerably. Someone was killing the Sacred Guardians they couldn't touch but mortals could. The Demon had slayed a few incidentally, but only because he crossed paths with them. Someone else possessed a similar strength capable of besting a Guardian, it did not bode well for their future plans if that person grew. Then there was Darshan, the biggest threat of all as reported by the General of the North.
The witch had been meditating on the matters at hand, small disturbances like the fight outside were not capable of moving her. She felt nostalgic feeling in regards to how she would've reacted to trouble in the past. In a long and distance past, thousands of years ago.
Nothing but a distance memory. Yet the dearest possession she held for all time.
…
…
"Bhaiya (Brother), I've finally found you. Esteemed mother has called for you for nearly an entire day. Come! Less you shall leave find your stomach aching." A voice like a sweet melody called out to him awakening him from the rather disturbing dream he had. He opened his eyes to see a smiling youthful face looming over him. A face which belonged to a treasured and loved existence to his family, despite being not true family by blood but loved nonetheless.
He rose to his feet and gazed around him. Taking in the ever-majestic sights of the valleys they lived in, at the heart of Akaash City. Abode of the Himalaya Akaashian Rakshasa, what he was. His sister had found him at his favourite escape spot, by the entrance of an old cave of the highest mountain in the valley.
"Come now, Bhaiya! Hah… how do you expect to succeed the family with that kind of attitude, beloved Bhaiya?" The young girl pouted, yet it did little to ruin her beautiful summer complexion that radiated light and hope upon the whole existence of the Rakshasa since her arrival. A beauty that was herald to be unsurpassed throughout the lands, even amongst the humans and naturally perfect Yaksha complexions. She also possessed a beautiful heart to go with it. While barely at the coming of age, their father the Lord Regent had already received several requests from his colleagues and friends in alliance to be engaged to. But he showed no sign of doing so, for he too was reluctant to part with his adoptive daughter.
Though she was not of the Rakshasa kin but a hostage from the long spanning wars for Shangri-La between the four races. Even so, Ishaan's family dotted her as their own precious daughter and so did she in turn treat them as if they were hers.
Although, they were not content with her close interactions with the youngest son who showed no worth in the eyes of the clan.
"What does it matter?" He said lazily, blowing the weed stalk from his mouth.
"I am the tenth son of his Lordship in line to succession. All sons before me are capable warriors, strategists and architects of greatness worthy of his Lordship. I'm just the additional one, so why bother putting any effort."
"At this rate, honourable father will throw you out of the house!" She said in a worried tone.
"All the better, he'll sever his Karma with me on his own voalition. And I will be free to do whatever I want." The irresponsible young master placed his hands behind his head and walked ahead of his beautiful sister.
"But then…. I will not see you again." She said in a heartbreaking tone as she truly believed that if he crossed this path, no matter how he pleaded. He would not be allowed to visit nor even look upon her.
He scratched his head and sighed. Returning to rest his hand upon her head.
"Silly girl. You think something like a mere cutting of ties will prevent me from ensuring your happiness, dear Bahin (Sister)?"
His sister looked up at him with joy in her heart. He couldn't help by leak a smile.
"Right! Its settled then!" He suddenly declared with a bright expression.
"What has been settled, Bhaiya?" She asked confused.
"I'm going to surpass our brothers." The eyes of his sister widened in shock as he continued.
"I'm going to surpass honourable father as well. So that no one can tell me what to do! No one shall be above me save the gods, and none shall suffer under me."
"But how?..." Though she was surprised, it didn't mean she didn't believe that he wasn't capable of doing so. She had grown with him since she was but a mere toddler who came with her mother as hostages. But her birth mother had left her to substitute herself to return back to her homeland, that vanity was part and parcel of her kind. It appalled their father and mother, but they would rather an undeserving mother left her child in better hands that she deserved.
"How will you surpass honourable father who was once General of the East and is now Minister of the Left, a Lord Regent?"
While she astounded by her dearly beloved brother's claim. She had full faith in his ability to stay true to his word. He was highly intelligent as a child, but was quick to notice that the spotlight often made one vulnerable to jealousy and rivalry. He chose to pretend to be a deuce, only because there was nothing like living in freedom from responsibility. Free from studying and training lessons in magic and martial arts. But to her, it was painful to see him humiliated by his peers for their lack of understanding.
He looked to the city they called home, the Valley of Akaash. In this city, there was only one supreme overlord, ordained by heavenly mandate to rule over Akaash and possess reign over the mountain and valleys which in turn gave him the power to rule over Shangri-La. But this sort of position wasn't inherited, it was earned through valour and a certain test of qualities. He smiled ever so brightly it was almost undistinguishable to a grin his younger sister had seem many times when he exhibited that hidden talent of his.
"I shall become King."
….
….
Author's Notes:
Been thinking of a Gate Jietai story recently, because I had initially planned for a Gundam Iron blooded Orphans timejump story like this one. unfortunately and also quite fortunately, someone was ahead of me and doing the story some justice.
The story will be about Hitoshi Furata a.k.a God of Cooking in Alnus. Paired with Tyuule.
