Continuation of the mass update. xD
Countdown: six!
Oh, yes, for all who have not read Menaka and the Sea Monster, I will be leaving the Kubera Fandom after the completion of CoaP. This story has just sapped too much energy out of me. I don't think I have enough creativity to come up with another multi-chaptered story in this universe. Another oneshot, however, is possible, though very unlikely.
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
…
"You, the Second and I, the Third of the once so noble Garuda Clan… Which one of us is stronger, I wonder?"
Avifauna thought it was a daft question. "I am stronger than you."
Slim, green lips twitched. "So our rankings would dictate." Her hand rested on the hilt of her scimitar, and Avifauna had known Robin too well to forget that she considered the drawing of her blade to be an official declaration of war. "But that is only because of your ability, and one can easily bypass that annoyance if one knows how. Besides, how can you gauge my battle prowess? You haven't seen me fight in billions of years."
"I can say the same for you," he shot back, scowling. "Though the Robin I remembered would never have drawn his sword over such meaningless matters."
She paused, but only long enough for him to finish. Scowling at the clear distinction of genders, she drew her sword, letting the sound of blade against sheath slice the atmosphere.
Robin took a swing, only to be blocked by one of Avifauna's armguards.
"Meaningless matters?"
Clang.
"This world is full of them. We Nastikas are immortal."
Clang.
"Power. Friends. Family. What are they but meaningless concepts meant for idiots and fools?"
At the fourth strike, she held and reinforced her scimitar with her free hand, putting enough pressure to place cracks in Avifauna's armor. "We are clearly superior beings, above all these feelings that change and wane so quickly," Robin recited the philosophy that once united them as the first, strongest and most intimate duo of friends in the Garuda Clan. Her female voice, strange to his ears, rolled off her tongue with such ease, such slickness. "But yet, it is precisely these conditional values that give us what little meaning we have."
Avifauna growled and leaped back, but not before Robin placed a mean gash on his forearm.
"When you raise yourself so high that nothing is worth fighting for," she hissed, "then there is nothing left for you in this universe."
…
Chapter Twenty-Four: Above It All
N0 - approx. 300 years
…
"I'm not daft enough to think for a single moment that you did this while believing you could hide it from me," Vinata spewed hotly. "Don't you touch me."
Garuda let his hand fall.
"You lay one finger on me, and this planet explodes."
Maruna peered out from behind a jagged rock fearfully. A few friends told him his parents were stirring up a huge commotion in his father's nest. He got no less than fifteen piteous looks as he rushed over; it was no secret, after all, that Garuda openly cheated on his mother. At first, Maruna was reluctant to believe the suppressed rumor. He recalled the words Myna told him, about how his father loved his mother more than anyone in the universe.
Besides, what could he do if it was true? He was but a weak, second stage Rakshasa, one that couldn't develop to save his life. How could he possibly protect his mother?
And yet, it was the scariest experience of his life to see her actually defend herself because one, she could blow apart mountains faster than his father could make them and two, she was no longer a she.
The Rakshasas had always openly expressed their excitement over seeing two male Nastika fight for dominance. Maruna hadn't a clue why. It was terrifying.
A row of two Nastikas was one where the ground shook with every articulated word. Heat swirled around the two figures, intense heat that made mountains look like liquid rock. Maruna's face stung with the prickle of a thousand tiny needles, and that was after his mother's sheer power had been mellowed by his fire attribute.
"That is an oddly childish threat for you to make," Garuda sighed. "There's no reason to drag the rest of the clan into this."
Vinata stiffened, and that was when both he and Maruna knew that it had been the wrong thing to say.
"Really?" he barked, red eyes flaring. "That's what you want, isn't it. Keep our problems covered. The less people that know, the better, so eventually you can worm your way out without having anyone notice. You can't cut down trees without removing the stumps and call that a meadow."
"Trust me," Garuda shot back, equally bitterly. "I know exactly where the root of the problem lies."
Vinata involuntarily took a step back. The wave of heat around them began to recede, as if he was sucking up all the energy. Soon, the ground no longer baked and Maruna finally felt like he could breathe again.
Although it was still warm, the Rakshasa got shivers down his neck.
"If it was anyone but you…" the king continued.
"Is that supposed to make me feel special?" snapped Vinata. "That you would have killed me had you not fallen in love with me?"
No! Maruna's eyes widened to the size of saucers.
Vinata straightened and swallowed, regaining his composure. "Well, you've clearly got everything planned out. You can probably tell me every dirty detail, every excuse as to why you had a child with that woman. But I don't want to hear it and you have no obligation to tell me anything. You're well within your right to do whatever you want to save this clan. You can play king by yourself for as long as you'd like, Garuda. I'm not going to help you anymore. I tried once, and surprise, surprise, this is how things turn to be."
"And Maruna?"
Maruna jolted.
"You're just going to leave him?"
"Well, he has two parents, doesn't he?" Vinata gritted through his teeth. "Although I'm sure he would say otherwise. If you haven't been playing your paternal part, you have no right to hold this responsibility over me."
From behind the rock, the small child gasped softly. He wished he was still first stage so he could run up to Vinata and demand him to return to being his mom, to never leave his side. But as it was, that would just make the situation worse for everyone. He didn't wish to become a burden to Vinata again, especially now of all times when the Nastika must have been hurting so much on the inside.
Hot tears gathered on his lower eyelid. "Don't go," he whispered, much too softly for anyone to hear but himself.
"I don't know if you remember, Garuda, but once, I had two very dear friends. One of them was killed by her creations. Out of every single possible thing wrong with this scenario, nothing aggravates me more than the fact that you would still do this knowing perfectly well how much it kills me. Have you always had such little disrespect for Cepphus? And Kalavinka, whom by now you've probably forgotten? Why should I accept you as king if this is all that's going to happen over and over?"
"I remember," he mumbled.
Shaking his head, Vinata took flight. "I am so, so disappointed in you," he said in a barely audible whisper.
"Stay safe," Garuda muttered in a weak monotone. He held out his hand as red feathers started falling from a sky. One of them landed barely within the breadth of his fingers, but quickly slipped away and floated down into the abyss.
Maruna rushed out from his hiding spot. "Stop him!" he shouted, grabbing at Garuda's cloak. "Go and bring him back! Hurry up and do it, dammit!"
Garuda kept staring into the orange sky.
S-C-N-D
N0 - approx. 300 years
S-C-N-D
"I came and I brought wine." Gandharva held his canteen high into the air. "Lots and lots of wine!"
Since Garuda didn't respond, he seated himself around the semi-comatose bird, set a cup in front of him and poured an abundance of clear liquid into it. He then poured a goblet for himself, tapped it against Garuda's and brought it to his lips.
"So let me guess what you're thinking: 'why did I do this? What could I have possibly thinking? Why didn't I first consult Gandharva and his unprecedented wisdom before sleeping with that wench?' Am I right?"
"Not really."
Two green eyebrows flew well into his hairline.
"I don't regret what I did," Garuda elaborated. "I made the right choice for my clan. It is just unfortunate that the results weren't as I intended."
"You mean Vinata is not right for once?"
The corner of Garuda's mouth twitched ever so slightly. "Yes, that would be one way to put it."
Gandharva's expression suddenly turned cold. "Listen," he advised, setting a hand on his best friend's shoulder, "no matter what, you are the king, whether he accepts it or not. I know this has been an issue for Visnu knows how long, but maybe it's not something that can be changed in the end. It doesn't make you more or less of a king and trust me, there have been worse."
Garuda shrugged off his hand. "I'm not concerned about that. I care less and less of what Vinata thinks of me every day."
"And maybe that's your problem there, buddy," Gandharva said, reaching over for Garuda's drink. "Why couldn't you have gotten a nice, peace-loving wife like mine?" He chugged down the drink in one go. "But really, Kali? I always thought you were the most levelheaded of us four. What did she offer in order to convince you to agree to this?"
Garuda finally touched his cup after Gandharva poured some more wine for them both. "Nothing I haven't already known," admitted the former. "It was quite disappointing for the infamous liar of the Primeval Gods." His eyes drifted downcast. "She told me that Vinata would die, so I thought about it. The more I thought, the more I realized I don't even have a semblance of a plan for what'll happen after that." He downed the burning liquid. "I don't want to be that Nastika that loses faith in the world after his wife leaves him."
Gandharva reeled back in surprise. "That's it?" he gasped disbelievingly. "So this is the end, after almost a million years…"
"Yes, a million years. Amongst relationships of our kind, it's been one of the longest and I feel… regretful that it's come to this—not that Kali destroyed my relationship with her demands, but that she made me realize that we're already well into the beginning of the end."
Garuda stared pensively into his swirling wine. "And I hope when it comes time for Vinata to go, I'll still be able to mourn her death."
S-C-N-D
N0 - approx. 300 years
S-C-N-D
There was little Vinata had in mind after leaving his home. Soon, he slowed to a stop on a red star. He supposed it was time for him to set up a new lifestyle, find a new planet to make a suitable nest in. Anything would be better than simply lounging around. Why couldn't he remember the days when he'd lived as a nomad?
Life seemed so purposeful back then.
Scratching his head, Vinata tried to recall the places he'd gone—different parts of the Sura Realm, the planet where Cepphus's body used to lie, Ananta Clan territory, even several human planets. None of these were places he particularly wanted to revisit. They'd only bring back tragic memories and enrage him enough to do something stupid.
He sighed.
Life is so dreary when you're alone.
Vinata opened a portal to the Sura Realm and stepped in. He quickly scanned the grounds for Robin's nest, to no avail. If she saw him in this form, she'd be sure to throw a fit, but it wasn't as if he had anywhere better to go. Maybe it was just better to risk death by Robin's hand.
As luck would have it, Vinata was quite a distance away from Robin's nest. After flying for five minutes, he realized he wasn't in a place where he could freely search for her. This was Asura's territory, and it spanned as far as the horizon.
Knowing he'd be openly attacked if he appeared to be passing by, Vinata grounded once again. He calmly made his way past Asura's clan of thousands. Ravana and Asura were usually both present and Vinata had no intention of angering neither Nastika. He only knew of one place that received visitors on a frequent basis.
"Wow! Vinata, is that you? I haven't seen you in forever! Restoring your glory as the Nastika who killed four of Ananta's?"
"No longer spouting out babies, I see," he quipped dryly.
From his seat, Ravana stared up at him through thick blue eyelashes. "Speak for yourself. Didn't you also have a child with Garuda?"
He flinched. "That was a thing of the past."
"Oh?" Ravana's smile suddenly enlarged tenfold. "Are you here to join my collection of Garuda Nastikas as well? Doesn't it say so much about a king, if even his wife is willing to leave him? Or maybe you're feeling lonely and unwelcome by his side? No matter. The Asura Clan will always be here to welcome you with open arms."
His focus shifted from Ravana to the four silhouettes behind him, which seemed content with keeping their distance and whispering in the dark. The four pairs of eyes—two blue, one green, one purple—all flashed conspicuous, hostile glances his way. One woman and three men, that was all that was left of the eleven Garuda Nastikas that left with Shuri. Such a massacre was unprecedented.
Ravana followed Vinata's line of sight. Donning a fake smile, he asked if Vinata would like to talk with his clansmen.
"No, that is quite all right. I feel… comfortable right where I am."
Again, he pretended to be surprised, but this time, quickly dropped the act. Ravana spun around on his rock to talk with a few Nastikas from the Gandharva Clan, who looked no happier than their Garuda allies.
Vinata sat right on the spot and listened in on their conversation.
Ravana might be arrogant and vain, but not any more than a typical Nastika at the beginning of the universe. He spoke of glory, destruction, power and everything a defected Nastika could possibly seek. His melodic voice was the kind that became more hypnotizing the longer one listened to it. His words dripped of honey.
And it was all so disgusting.
Vinata remained seated next to the queen bee for weeks on end, not talking when he was not asked to, and only nodding solemnly when Ravana spewed some random fact about his former battle prowess. By the end of two months, he learned how to pretend to listen while plucking out strands of disheveled feathers.
Ravana and ten other Nastikas suddenly rose to their feet.
"We're leaving for battle," he said, turning Vinata's way. "Don't you want to join? I know you miss a good fight from the old times. You look so bored. There are better things to do than poke at the dirt, you know?"
The female Garuda Nastika snickered.
Vinata lifted his head and told them, "I'm good."
Ravana didn't seem too happy at the answer. "Your loss," he grunted, expression dropping. "Just don't regret it when we come back with goblets of god's blood."
"Actually, I think it's time for me to go."
A dozen heads turned.
"What?" demanded Ravana. Of the many Nastika that sought out the Asura Clan, less than a tenth of them ever expressed intent of rejoining their king. Needless to say, he wasn't one to take the news very well and no one wished to anger one of the ten strongest entities in the universe.
Vinata merely rose to his talons with a shrug. "Somehow I find that my interests and yours are no longer the same."
Ravana scoffed. "Hah! Running back to hubby dearest again, like you always do?" For a second, he sounded less like the confident leader and more like the whiny little princess Vinata was used to dealing with.
"Whatever you say."
Searching for Robin was out of question at this point, because Vinata had forgotten how many years had passed since he last slaughtered for glory and not bitter revenge. Now, the Nastikas who talked as if the world hadn't changed since two billion years ago sounded so pointless and ignorant.
And killing for the sake of killing just seemed so… banal.
S-C-N-D
N0 - approx. 280 years
S-C-N-D
"Another one?" Vinata asked as Menaka gestured him to lower his head.
Menaka looked very grave. "Oh, you can never have red and yellow without blue."
"Blue doesn't even look good on me." Nonetheless he lowered his head and she looped a third and hopefully final necklace around his neck for the day. "Are you sure you're even allowed to make this many for me? I mean, I don't even usually see Gandharva walking around with two."
"It's the least I could do for a Nastika who'd rather choose to visit an aimless pacifist than Ravana and Co.," Menaka sighed as she slid her lower body back into the water.
"Oh, that's right! I forgot you didn't like watery planets."
The Gandharva Clan generally did not spend much time in the Sura Realm, with the exception of one or two Nastikas that considered themselves part of Ravana's posse. Other Suras preferred planets that were either frozen over or contained mostly water. Having proclaimed many times that she couldn't possibly live without a beautiful garden, Menaka served as one of the few notable exceptions.
"Well, you're a bit on the boring side of most Nastikas I know, but it's not a bad thing on days where I just want to lie down and sleep. It's a bummer having to leave every time Gandharva shows up though."
"Then don't!" Menaka grasped his hand. "Are you worried that he'll tell Garuda that you're here with me?"
Vinata thought about it for a second. "It's not really that," he finally concluded. "He's not going to chase me down and force me to go back, but… how should I say this? I want to keep him in the dark for a little bit longer."
Menaka quirked her head to the side in puzzlement.
"Don't worry about it." Vinata patted her shoulder. "Here, take these necklaces back. Give them to Gandharva later. I'll be going now."
Visits to Menaka had become a daily basis after Vinata's falling out with Ravana. The Garuda Nastika decided he desperately needed a new approach to life, and who else to provide it but the very person Ravana hated the most? Not only was Menaka twice as beautiful as his female form, but she also defied all the principles he stood for to boot.
To his surprise, Menaka wasn't found on Willarv like Vinata remembered. Instead, he found her on a very small planet, unnamed and barely habitable to humans because of its high population of middle class Suras. Because many of them were Superior Suras, it also served as a great hiding place for a Nastika.
I suppose I should flush out all the bugs and insects while I'm here… he thought.
Uncannily, the number of Ananta Suras on this planet was too low to be considered normal. Vinata knew that there weren't any other Nastikas present—Nastikas were very vocal about their presence, and would have openly staked their claim on the land.
Rakshasa? He thought. For a strong and experienced Rakshasa, it wouldn't be impossible. As long as one remained on a planet no warmongering Nastika cared about, one could easily rise to the top of the food chain.
Of course, whoever it was probably wouldn't be thrilled about Vinata's presence.
He gained some more altitude. It was harder to spot Superior Suras from up high, but not a difficult task for a hunter as experienced as Vinata. At the first flash of blue through the cracks of bright green foliage, he shot down and snatched the young boy by the neck.
The Ananta Upani yelped and duly went silent, although he continued to struggle as Vinata dangled him by the neck.
"You'd make for a great meal," Vinata taunted, taking great pleasure in seeing his prey's neck hairs stand on end. "Unfortunately, I have no need for food, and it's not me you're concerned about, is it?"
He shook his head fervently.
"Who's the other predator on the planet?"
"I-I don't know. H-he has a unique Transcendental and none of us can see him coming."
"Is he a Garuda Sura?"
"Y-yes. I think," the Upani added as an afterthought.
Vinata grabbed his chin in consideration and began trudging through the deep forest. "Hmm, do you think he'll show his face if I make an offering?"
"Quite possibly." Now too aware that he wasn't going to be let go any time soon, he peeped, "may I ask what exactly you're planning to offer?"
The Nastika glared at him.
"I figured…"
Despite the Upani's struggles, Vinata kept a tight clamp on his neck while looking for a clearing. However, after walking for half an hour, the forest only became thicker. Finally losing his patience, he stopped and burned a large circle of trees to the ground.
"Free food!" Vinata hollered, holding up the Upani. "Come and get it!"
Suras of Garuda and Yaksha heritage flocked from the surrounding land, but as expected, the gathered throng consisted mostly of freeloading inferior Suras. Unimpressed by their laziness, he threw the Ananta Upani into the air and told them they could eat him if they could catch him. At once, the mob descended viciously, but the Ananta Sura quickly used a light-based Transcendental to fend them off. As he almost slipped away, a claw seemingly materialized from the shadow of a tree and latched onto his neck, tearing through his windpipe and killing him for real.
The yellow-green Rakshasa soon shed his camouflage entirely. He tipped his head. "Sorry Vinata-nim. I had to make sure you weren't going to eat him first."
He lifted his head and Vinata squinted to get a better look at his face. "You…are…" He couldn't quite make out the resemblance before, but now he could see that the Rakshasa's nose looked exactly like… "Robin's son. She's still keeping an eye out for you. Well… more like half an eye, but are you sure you can show your face so freely?"
"You don't know?" He was surprised. "My mother—biological father—has been dead for more than a century!"
"What?"
He pushed two fingers under his green bangs. "I thought something like this would happen. Mother doesn't keep anyone by her side so everyone expected her to die alone. Some Suras from other clans think she already died a long time ago. Even I wouldn't have known if I hadn't been keeping constant tabs on her. Then again, living in constant fear is a rather… special condition."
Vinata, too, felt the urge to press his fingers to his forehead. Now things made so much sense. If Robin was dead, then of course Garuda would begin panicking —not that it was any excuse for resorting to Kali of all people. If their clan was really suffering, why wasn't Visnu there to lend a hand?
Unless there's a lot more that Garuda's hiding from me than he's letting on, he thought resentfully. Not that it'd be anything new.
Exasperated, he threw up his arms and exclaimed, "I give up."
Vinata stomped back into the forest, leaving the rest of the Sura befuddled. After a quick moment of deliberation, Robin's son left the Upani carcass and quickly followed after.
"Vinata-nim!" he yelled.
"I'm never going to go back to the mountains," the Nastika gritted through his teeth. He punched a nearby tree, effectively snapping its trunk. "From now on, I'm going to take on the same lifestyle your mother did. No one will ever see me again. See how Garuda likes that!"
Unfortunately for Vinata, the Rakshasa inherited Robin's unparalleled speed. Using another Transcendental, he zoomed pass Vinata and turned. Robin's son managed to walk backward faster than Vinata was walking forward, somehow managing to aggravate him even more. Sensing Vinata's anger, he stepped aside and bowed again.
"I understand. I won't bother you when you're angry. But if you ever feel like leaving the planet, please come visit my wife first. She may offer you some useful insight, and, also, she misses you dearly."
S-C-N-D
I've begun to do sketches of my original characters. I have both Robin and Myna planned out so far. I know how Avifauna's going to look, and I've got half of Vegavis down. :P So it'll just be Robin's son, Professor Rahiro and Rina left!
Oh, and I'm also attaching a half chapter, a oneshot about Maruna and Yuta in this fic.
Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!
-SCND