King And Man

“Ren’s gone?” Arja almost jumped up from his throne as the news reached his chamber the next morning. “Search for him! Search every corner ya needed!”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty!” The soldiers gave a quick bow before rushing off outside. Even from afar, there would still be the clanking sounds of metal out on the streets — they were truly frantic in their search for their missing heroes.

Meanwhile, as soon as the room was vacant once more, Arja dropped himself down like a puppet with its strings cut.

“Why now…” the young prince rubbed his temples in pain, looking worse for wear. Just hearing the news had caused him to age a couple years ahead. He wasn’t even done handling all the issues that occurred after Duna’s turn and assault on the nation, and now this.

With a heavy sigh, Arja muttered. “Whatever it is that the gods above are testing me, it sure is a handful.”

At the same time, there was a knock on the door. Like the night before, Hava was already standing there. Only that there was no mangosteen to be thrown at the tired prince.

“The kid played us good, huh?” The man sighed.

“What makes ya think Ren was responsible when he’s the one missing?” Arja asked in response. However, there was no confrontation in his tone — only silent, but accepting defeat.

Of course, there was no need to answer, but Hava reaffirmed with a nod anyway:

“What else could it be? You know for a fact that no one could get in our walls without notice. Maybe with Mas—I mean, Duna, maybe, but he just attacked us three days ago. Him coming back would….”

“No… I would make sense,” as if realizing a key answer, Arja raised his head towards Hava. “Remember what he said when he left? That he’d be waiting for Ren after three days.”

“Then, you mean…”

“We could be wrong. It’s not a betrayal; it’s a kidnapping! Ren can’t transform now, so he’s an easy prey! Sound the guards, Hava! Get everyone on the highest alert possible! I’ll join the search myself after!”

“Y-Yes, Your Highness!” The warrior delivered a quick bow before disappearing through the door, as fast as the wind itself.

Arja, however, only let out a sigh. Though he said that there was the possibility of kidnapping, he just couldn’t put his heart into it.

It “made sense” for Duna to want to sneak in and take Renji by force, but if the man, traitor as he was, was still the same general that once served under Arja’s father, and Arja himself, then he would at least still keep his words about it.

Duna had said that he would wait, and if it was the case, then there could be only one possibility.

“Ren…” Arja mumbled. He didn’t want to believe it, but in his mind, the possibility was higher than before.

Damn it Arja, get it together! Giving himself a slap in the face to wake up, Arja thought to himself. There’s no one else to take the responsibilities!

Glancing around, the young man made sure that there was no one else around — even sticking his head out the door for a split second. “... Okay, good. The coast is clear.” He raised his hand and uttered:

“Unleashed.”

It was a quick transformation, free of flashy chants and effects. In reality, Arja had always known how to do this — after all, efficiency in battle was never a bad idea. However, he also knew what the armor that he wore represented. It was the hope and reverence of his people, their respect and awe for the power of the gods above. Desecrating it would be tantamount to suicide in his political career.

But this time, there was no time to waste.

Arja had to confirm something. And that something, only he had the knowledge to.

Spreading his wings, the young man jumped from the palace and took off in the air.

The skies of Drought were not pleasant. Sandstorms were a common occurrence, and if there wasn’t any, then the blinding sunlight combined with the insufferable heat would already be enough to deter anyone from even walking outside for too long a time without any protective wear. And it was the same with the guards and soldiers — as he glided over the air, Arja could already see some of the troops already exhausted, sitting on the roads panting in the scorching sun.

“They must have been going at it since sunrise,” the young man mumbled. He was sure that even if the news only came to him recently, there was little chance that his guards would only realize it then.

No matter how large of an army, finding a single man in this sort of large area was akin to looking for a needle in a haystack. And that was assuming Renji hadn’t already left Drought’s territory in the first place.

But there was only one option left for them right now, and it was to hope. The hope that they would find the person they needed.

However, even in the frantic scene, there was one singular person that wasn’t aiming to find the suspicious snake-like individual that went missing. Or rather, he had no intention of searching in the first place.

“I found you.”

Flashing a smile underneath his armor, Arja dived down from the air. As he landed into a small, hidden alleyway, the ground lightly shook, but the individual was nowhere close to being surprised.

For he was wearing a set of the same armor himself. Complete with a blue hue, but more importantly, four arms on his sides.

“Duna.” Arja called out.

“Mearly a clone, but I am present, Your Majesty,” the man bowed. This time, there was no sarcasm to it — only pure, utmost respect.

“Duna, I told ya. I’m not officially King yet,” answered Arja. “Don’t call me that.”

“With all due respect, Your Majesty. It’s high time you accepted your title.”

“Ugh, Hava’s like this, and now ya as well.”

“I only taught him the best, sir.” True enough, Duna was the teacher to all three of them — Arja, Kana, and Hava alike. “But in any case, for what reason do you wish to look for me at this time of day? Aren’t you supposed to be handling the aftermath?”

“The aftermath that ya caused.”

“I don’t deny it.”

“Enough. Let’s get to the main business,” Arja clutched his fists. “Where’s Ren?”

“On his way to Drizzle as we speak. I reckon he should be there already, as a matter of fact.”

“Why?”

“Why else? After my persuasion, he has betrayed you, Your Majesty.”

Arja was ready to fume. But, unbeknownst to everyone in the nation, he didn’t blow up. Instead, in a shocking turn of events, a burst of flame erupted from beneath the young prince, and he emerged without his armor… all while flashing a grin.

“Perfect. Everything is going according to plan.”

“Indeed, Your Majesty,” nodded Duna. “Your predictions have been stellar so far. But may I ask one more thing?”

“Go on.”

“Didn’t you just find him? And you were on about how he’d save the world, even.”

“Duna… Ya should learn by now to not believe everything I say at face value.”

“Then should I take this order as-is?”

With a sigh, Arja continued.

“How about now? What do you think?”

From his childhood, Arja was always known to have an accent. No one doubted it — not his friends, his family, even his lover. Only one knew the secrets to his pretense — Duna, who suggested it to him in the first place. “Act with weakness in front of others. It can be used to your advantage in many a case.” Those were his words to the young prince on their first meeting, and the latter had followed to a tee ever since.

Only when the two were together, and only when he was to ask Duna for orders only the latter could do, would Arja return to his original voice.

“... Understood, Your Majesty.” The old man kneeled, his hand placed on his chest as a sign of respect. He knew that his master had decided, and it was only his duty to follow. “Though, if I were to inquire about the reason…”

“Either case, Drought is the one that wins this,” answered Arja. “If Ren was still a hero at heart and stayed to fight for us, then he can win against Indra and be the one god that rules over the world with us. On the other hand, should Indra win, then the prophecy will be fulfilled…”

“Sir,” before Arja could finish, Duna had already raised his hand to interrupt. “I asked for your real reason.”

“What do you mean? All that I’ve planned was for the sake of our…”

“With all due respect, I’m not like Hava,” Duna chuckled underneath the armor. “I’ve been with you for too long to not notice when you were lying. Now, my King, my student, what is your reason for sacrificing the Great Serpent?”

Arja was planning to argue more, but Duna’s last words had completely defeated him. The man was right — as his former teacher, Duna knew Arja too well, and at a level that was different from his friend.

And so, with a defeated sigh, Arja asked:

“How has Kana been doing?”

“Ah, you mean the traitorous wench?”

“Duna.”

“... My apologies, sir. My feelings got the better of me.”

“I’ll pretend I haven’t heard that, but I trust you still remembered the second order I gave you?”

“Why, yes… even if I don’t particularly like it,” this time, it was Duna who sighed. “ As I scout the border, I should use that chance to defect to Kana’s side and learn what has caused her to act rashly like this. Don’t let her suspect me. Think of whatever reason I can… say that I want her body or something. Word by word.”

“Good. Then, your answer?”

“She… has gotten worse.”

Arja’s heart sank as the words were uttered. “I… see. Do you know what the cause is?”

“I’m not sure myself. But I think your prediction from before was correct: Indra’s Stigma… it’s doing something to her.”

“Do you think that she can return to normal by killing Ren?”

“There is a possibility. No sure proof yet, but that’s the best we could find.”

“... Then proceed with the plan.”

“One last question, Your Majesty,” Duna asked. “Why take this approach? What about your people?”

The young man let out a bitter smile — for a while, he finally let out his true emotions.

“I never wished to be a politician, Duna. I only learned to be king for Kana’s sake.”

“And you’d sacrifice your people for her?”

“Willing, yes. But everyone? I’ll only sacrifice the least I could. As much as I hate to admit it, being king is still in my blood. With this, we’ll shift our battlefield away from Drought, so while the casualty at first might look severe, this is the best way for us to save the most we can.”

It was Arja’s master plan of getting back everything. A gamble in essence, but his one shot that was the closest to success. Duna had played the role of a villain perfectly, and his second champion was served to his first on a silver platter.

And it was on the verge of success. But little did he know, there was a major flaw that neither him nor his former master could have seen.

The sound of steel clashing echoed through the walls of the alley, shocking both individuals present. From afar, vague sounds of many people could be heard, but there was one distinctive female voice among the bunch that was the clearest:

“Where is he? Bring him to me right now!”

“Kana?” Arja was shocked. “But why here? I thought…”

“I… don’t know myself. I made sure to tell her that I would be the one to bring the kid to her…”

“I’ll head there right now! Try not to let anyone else see you! Unleashed”

With a snap order, Arja immediately transformed and rushed out of the alleyway as fast as his legs could take him. Duna, seeing his student and future ruler run off outside, could only let out a sigh.

“You still need to learn a lot, my King…”