Finally, I get some time to work on this story!
Countdown: seven!
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
…
What have I done? If only you were still here, Yaksha…
Shuri let out a shaky breath and turned her back on the bloodbath. Those who recognized her decision followed, but a great many remained behind. She should have taken a clue from the beginning, when the second in command of the Yaksha Clan turned her back on her, when, one by one, Nastikas started walking out.
She was a bad king and Yaksha never would have let this happen.
How in the world was she ever going to face Garuda now?
…
Chapter Twenty-Three: Quagmire
N0 - approx. 350 years
…
"Mom! Mom!"
Garuda eyed the small tyke carefully. Although he openly showed his hostility, Maruna hadn't thrown a fit again after that day. Now well into his second stage, he was beginning to understand more about the nature of Suras. They had a mutual, unspoken agreement of pretending the other didn't exist. Their relationship was no less strained than it had been since his birth but because Maruna now had a sense of independence, Vinata no longer thought it necessary to hold his hand through everything he did. And for now, that was enough.
The young Rakshasa shot past Garuda and came to a sharp halt in front of his wife.
"Mom, what does it mean to throw someone into a mountain?" he asked innocently.
He felt a smidgen of betraying amusement.
"What?" exclaimed Vinata. "Where in Visnu's universe did you hear that?!"
At least he had enough decency to shift his weight uncomfortably. "Well, nowhere in particular. It's just that… some of the Rakshasas were saying that it's a popular euphemism for an abusive relationship and when I asked them where it came from, they told me to ask you..."
He could feel the simmering heat emitting from her body. Garuda sneaked a glance over to find his wife looking directly at him—to be specific, glaring at him as if he were the reason for all her life's suffering, which, to be honest, he might have a little hand in.
Just a little.
And that was precisely why he smiled ever so faintly while raising a questioning eyebrow in response.
Vinata shot him her feisty I'm going to pluck your feathers bald look before dismissing Maruna's question. "Forget they ever said anything. What kind of person would throw someone into a mountain anyway?" she added after a pause.
"Indeed," Garuda just had to add in.
Maruna looked nonplussed, or maybe he was only realizing for the first time that his father was actually capable of smiling. Either way, he dismissed it and quickly left the scene lest he ended up victimized and thrown into a mountain.
"Ah, that joke never gets old, although I suppose I should have been more mindful of my behavior back then." She scratched her head sheepishly. "It's probably a given that Nastikas are going to look up to the first and second of the clan. In some ways, I'm glad to have Avifauna steal the spotlight from me…" Vinata trailed off morosely. "Ah, did I say Avifauna? I meant Robin. That's right… Avifauna is no longer here."
Garuda's lips tightened as confirmation.
"Robin is the second in command now, isn't she?" Vinata grabbed her chin absentmindedly. Soon, she was kneading her cheeks, no longer so much thoughtful as perturbed. "Garuda… I never really gave it much thought, but how many Nastikas do we have left?"
It was one of those uncomfortable moments he'd never admit to anyone save for the most intimate of friends, rare instances where even his own stomach lurched with nausea. Garuda wanted to turn away, but Vinata knew him for too long and could read his body language too well. Dread crawling up his spine, he opened his mouth to answer.
"On second thought," she interjected, quickly turning away. "I'll just ask Vegavis the next time I see him."
He clenched his fists tightly.
This time, he was on his own. Shuri was off coordinating her god hunt. Gandharva now had a wife and Garuda, all too aware of the fleeting happiness of love, had not the heart to ask him for aid. Visnu, the very friend he needed the most, had been uncharacteristically absent for many years.
Garuda wanted to believe his word. He knew Visnu meant everything he said about protecting the clans his friends held so dearly to their hearts. But this time, Visnu had disappeared without a word. Shuri probably blamed herself for his disappearance. Gandharva was too blissfully ignorant to notice. And that brought Garuda right back to square one.
Alone.
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N0 – approx. 340 years
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Vegavis flinched at the ever sharp smell of blood—whose, he couldn't tell. If his father were alive, he would have been shamed by this newfound cowardice. Ever since Avifauna died, however, Vegavis became queasy at the sight of violence and gore.
Of course, it didn't help that he was in the Sura Realm, with the most beautiful Nastika in the world who just happened to be caked in the very blood that drove him crazy.
"I'm here to offer you a trade," Shuri sighed. She usually looked so lively. This was the very first time Vegavis saw her eyelids droop. "I know your niche within the clan, and that's why I came to you for an exchange of information."
Vegavis resisted the urge to clamp a hand over his nose. How did these Yaksha Suras ever get by with such sensitive noses? "But if it's information you need, it'd make more sense to go directly to Garuda." He winced at the somewhat raspy voice that came out. "What could you possibly want from a Rakshasa like me?"
Shuri, fortunately, noticed his discomfort and quickly changed her appearance. "You misunderstand. I do not wish to interrogate you in any way. I merely want you to deliver a message to Garuda. From me."
"Why?" He was all kinds of crazy to question the intentions of a Nastika who could blow him into smithereens at any given second. But Shuri had always handled things with consideration, and Vegavis didn't want to be blown apart by Garuda either. The entire clan could see how stressed their king had become. Even Vinata could not relax him on his best days. Vegavis couldn't risk death now, not before he found the cause of his father's death.
"I will not be seeing Garuda for a while," Shuri uttered softly. "He will be mad at me for driving him into a corner."
"Ah, it's bad news, isn't it? So I'm to deliver the message and bear the brunt of my king's anger."
"Complaining is unbecoming of you," Shuri told him, looping her sleeves around opposite arms. She straightened her back, ears and tail so that in an instant, the tiredness dissipated and Vegavis almost felt compelled to bow. "I know what I am asking of you and I know that you have no obligation to another king, allies or not. I would, however, like you to hear out my offer entirely before jumping to conclusions."
Vegavis nodded and apologized.
"The Yaksha Clan is known for being notorious gossipers. Considering that we have the second biggest population of the eight clans, my network is very wide. I know more remote corners of the universe than any Nastika would ever bother to explore. I am almost always the first one to hear of news from faraway. If you deliver my message to Garuda, I will tell you what happened to your father, why he died, and who really killed him."
Vegavis stared at her long and hard. Shuri's dull eyes filtered out all emotion. While she stood strong, he slowly reached the brink of wavering. Do not be deceived, he told himself. This is a Nastika who accompanies a Primeval God.
"Do you not think me to be a fool for wanting to know what became of him?" He had often been called a fool even when Avifauna was still alive. "Despite that he hated me, I admire him much more than I should."
"Do you believe your situation is very far-fetched?" She shook her head and smiled. "My child, I've been told way too many eccentric tales for yours to faze me."
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N0 – approx. 330 years
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Whatever reason Visnu disappeared for, Garuda had an inkling that it might have something to do with Kali. Garuda had only seen Kali two times before in his life and both times were unfortunate. It is never a good thing when Kali takes an interest in you because it is precisely then that you find yourself wrapped up in a suffocating bondage cloak with a conniving woman smirking in your face.
He folded his wings right before she could shred them into pieces.
"Maybe you'd rather talk?" Kali asked, almost gloating in her power. She waved the binds off his mouth and they slithered back to her like slimy snakes.
"…"
"Or not, evidently. Visnu says you're very proud. Do you know how much it annoys me that you don't even consider me worthy of speaking to?" Her cyan eyes glowed in the dim light. "You may think I'm the enemy, Garuda, but you're wrong. I'm on your side." Kali leaned in, ever so pleased at his discomfort. "I'm the only one on your side. There is no one left."
She whipped around, skipping over rocks as her cloak dragged Garuda's figure close behind her. "Visnu and Shuri, they both let you go. Do you really think that Visnu never saw this coming? He saw the bloodbath long ago. He knew from the beginning that every single Nastika who left on Shuri's campaign would inevitably be massacred or defect to the Asura Clan. And yet, he did nothing to stop it," Kali whipped back, shrugging, "like the wonderful friend that he is. And the funny thing is that this isn't the first time, but it's probably not much of a surprise to you, who've known him for so long.
"Although…" her eyes narrowed critically, "there is a very easy solution to offset the imbalance of power. A pity it's the one path you'll never choose."
"Why do you want this from me?" he demanded. "I am strong, but there are other entities who clearly surpass me in terms of power. You could have chosen Ananta or Vritra instead."
"The conditions are right for you, Garuda. Only you can give me what I want."
"You are afraid of their power," he accused rather vehemently. "You fear that they will refuse and obliterate you. You are selfish enough to destroy the life of a noble king rather than wait for another universe to come."
Kali snapped her fingers and her cloak bound tighter, cutting into his skin. "Destroy your life?" The goddess's voice was ice cold. "I am going out of my way to offer you the generosity of saving your clan. How long do you think you can tread under this sheet of thin ice before it breaks? Your wife is already the second strongest Nastika in your clan, in her female form. Sometimes I wonder why you're willing to go so far for her when she is about to leave in the blink of an eye. How much time do you think she has left?"
"..." Visnu's prophecy escaped his mind because he had always steered Vinata out of harm's way. Garuda was confident that his friend would either heed him of the tragedy before it came or make accommodations for him to adjust.
Kali was a liar. He would not believe her words.
"What a shameful king you are. If only your clan knew what you've sacrificed so easily. All this… just to keep one Nastika female." Kali kissed her teeth distastefully. "And if she ever finds out," she jeered, running a sharp fingernail down Garuda's cheek, "do you honestly think that she'll stay female for you?"
The goddess flicked her finger, leaving behind a sharp gash on his face.
"What valuable, wasted efforts to keep both your clan and relationship afloat. Not even kings are infallible. You forgot somewhere along the way that there are no feelings in this universe, nor the one before, nor the one before that, nor the one after this. And for you two, without even a stable friendship to hinge your marriage on, it stands truer than ever."
One by one, the ropes slipped off his figure. Kali, cross-armed, stared expectantly at him. "I won't make this offer again, Garuda, so prioritize carefully. Do you or do you not accept?"
If only he were made of marble… Garuda lifted his head and tried to emulate stone as well as he could. "I do."
"Good choice." Kali's smirk reemerged, quickly followed by the sly curving of her lower eyelids. "You have not proven to be a fool. For you, I will restore the glory of the Garuda Clan."
S-C-N-D
I hope it made it apparent that Kali's seduction isn't sexual. In fact, she quite dislikes him. She has a busy agenda of her own and Garuda is getting in her way. Can he not see that she is the most beautiful and powerful goddess in this universe? Why can he not just accept her offer gratefully? I tried not to degrade her to a conniving man thief but they do have a rather bad relationship if Ch97 is anything to go by.
I've been quite mean to Gandharva lately, demoting him to a very minor role... In fact, I don't think he's going to return. But keep an eye out for his wife.
And the running gag with the mountain? No, that's not the last time you're going to see it. My humor is of the redundant kind. Deepest apologies.
Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!
-SCND