8. Unleash Adrenaline

Arganan sat across Zangurak, gazing at the new, metal arm that now replaced Zangurak's lack of a right arm.

"I gave you what you wanted." Arganan spoke crisply, gazing right into the Gurak's eyes. "Now talk. Zesha said you had information about Mitra's Bride, so you can tell me."

Zangurak chuckled slightly at this, seemingly leering right back at him. "You should be more grateful that I am willing to pass this information to you, human." The first King of the Gurak spoke, opening and closing a fist with his new arm. Arganan looked to Zangurak's new arm quietly—he noticed it was made out of metal at least similar to the metal used for his own left arm.

It felt strange, being with him, sitting in the same room as him, sharing the same condition of missing a limb (or two in Arganan's case).

Arganan merely shrugged, doing his best to keep his composure. "I suppose I should," He responded quietly. "What do you have to tell me about Mitra's Bride?"

Zangurak looked to the mark on Arganan's chest, exposed from Arganan's unbuttoned collar. "As you may know already, you are permanently bound to the Sentinel Beast Mitra due to being Mitra's Bride. Even when retaining a physical form, you will feel Mitra's presence within you, including how it may feel emotionally, not just physically. It might even control you at times, but you can resist it by thinking otherwise."

"Control me?" Arganan didn't think of that. "How?"

Zangurak tapped the side of the older man's head with a finger, chuckling slightly. "Mitra would control your mind, Arganan. It has the tendency to do it to its Bride, as far as I remember reading. Though you can assert yourself if you fight back. If you fight against your instincts. Sometimes it'll creep into your mind and make you do things subconsciously. You wouldn't realize it until later."

Arganan looked down to his mark, running a finger over it. "And if I fight enough, Mitra would know when to take charge and when not to?"

"Yes." The other responded, tilting his head slightly like a curious child. "You'll both find a way to cooperate with each other somehow. Or at least I hope so."

Arganan decided that he had something else to ask ."What about Sentinel Beast Atar? Is it possible for it to have a Bride also?"

Zangurak shook his head, running a hand through his red hair. "No." He responded quickly. "It's impossible. Atar is full of rage all the time. It would completely annihilate and eternally torture its Bride if it had one. But Mitra is merely full of loneliness. So having a Bride would obviously work better for Mitra, and not so much for Atar."

"I see..." The older man couldn't help but think about it. From what Zangurak was telling him, it made sense...but...

"I should also tell you," Zangurak responded, "That the power of the Outsider works differently for everyone that uses it. Since you are Mitra's Bride, I have the theory that you might inherit its abilities since you are its 'bride,' but this could also mean you could have its power but use it in a different way."

Arganan winced slightly. "Let's hope it doesn't include having the life sucked out of me again and again."

No matter how at ease he could feel about Mitra, it was near impossible to forget his first encounter with the Sentinel Beast.

Zangurak seemed to chuckle slgihtly. "I'm more than sure that it wouldn't, especially if you get along with it so well now."

Arganan wandered through the Military Wing quietly. He decided that the best way to figure out his abilities as Mitra's Bride would be to experiment a little, so—

"I don't want to get married!"

He turned to see none other than Zesha, almost angrily walking away from some of his fellow Gurak. Arganan guessed that they must be his advisors or something, judging by what they were wearing.

"But sire," One of the Gurak countrymen spoke up, "It would surely boost the morale of our people. Do you not want to see them happy?"

Zesha seemed to freeze slightly, and then glared at him and ther est of the advisors, all of whom went silent at meeting his glare. "Of course I want them happy." He muttered. "But that doesn't mean we need to necessarily resort to marriage as the first choice. There are surely other alternatives."

"But—"

"Leave my brother alone."

Everyone in a heartbeat turned to see Zepha, who was glaring at the advisors.

"What?" the advisor managed weakly.

"Leave him alone." Zepha repeated, slowly taking a few steps towards him. "He's the King. He can think. He knows that there are alternatives to just marriage to keep our people happy. The Continent is now bursting with more life than before, is it not? Are people not being fed, being sheltered?"

"W-well, they are..." Another advisor managed.

"So they should be happy for that alone. That their King is capable of providing for them." Zepha responded. "Such a 'morale boost' is not always needed to keep people happy. You may suggest all you like, but he is the King and therefore he has the final say. Don't you dare think you have any more power than him."

Zesha blinked in surprise, before he looked to the advisors. "Leave us at once." He hissed. "Now."

Immediately all the advisors turned tail and fled, and Zesha looked to Zepha quietly after they left.

"Thank you, brother."

Zepha nodded quietly to acknowledge it. "You are welcome...though I can't be here for you all the time like that."

Zesha nodded, a soft sigh escaping him. "O-of course. They just keep pressuring me, day after day. I almost wanted to take out my East Wing and West Wing and chop their heads off, but that wouldn't show for good self-control."

Zepha chuckled slightly. "At least you didn't do it any earlier, brother." He then looked to Arganan. "Oh? And what are you doing here?"

Arganan nearly jumped in surprise—he didn't think they'd notice him too easily. "I was just taking a look around." He managed. "Zangurak told me what he knew (or most of what he knew if not all of it) about Mitra's Bride, so I thought I would test out my abilities down here."

Zesha's eyes lit up at that. "Oh? Is that so?" He seemed to smile slightly—a sudden change from his previous mood. Perhaps part of the new Gurak King still yearned for the battlefield, the rush of adrenaline flowing in his veins. Arganan knew that he missed that after he lost his left limbs, long ago. "Then..."

Both brothers seemed to read each other's minds, taking out one of their swords.

"Permit us," Zepha started, "To battle you."

Arganan stared. "Wait, what?"

Zesha chuckled, grinning. "You heard us. I assume that for something as great as Mitra's Bride's powers, you would need decent opponents."

So they knew about my abilities as Mitra's Bride too. Zangurak must have told them.

Arganan took a deep breath, before nodded. "Alright."

He felt part of him sigh inside, as if it took a breath of fresh air, blurred memories of battle coming back to his mind after so long.

"Let's see what we can do."