For Myself

Arja had made it just in time. The sound of metal he had heard before wasn’t the fighting caused by these two, but rather because of Kana’s wailing as she continued her struggles. As for what the struggle’s target actually was, no one knew.

But the young prince had an idea.

“Indra’s power is growing, huh?” He asked.

“What’s in it for you to know?” She barked in return, backing away just slightly while still clutching her right arm.

Arja stepped forward. “Kana, listen to me,” he said, raising his hand. “We can talk through this. Come back. I know yer been suffering from it — that wretched curse from our god of thunder. Return to us, and we can…”

“It’s always the same with you, huh?” Kana shouted. “Haven’t you done this enough? Are words the only way you know how to fight, Arja?”

The heat of the moment even made the young prince slip off his usual accent. “Why don’t you get it, Kana? I don’t want to fight you! Or anyone else, for that matter!”

“It’s this weakness that amounted to nothing! Think for a second, Arja, for what have you done since the previous king was no longer with us? Relying on the Stigmata, relying on help from the outside world, made that one your own little cult, and for what? He’s not capable, of course he isn’t! He’s barely able to fight, power or not! If you want to sacrifice him, then just do so! Be more decisive for once!”

Perhaps it was her anger at its boiling point, or perhaps all that talk was just for her to buy enough time to recover her strength, but Kana had already disappeared from the scene after the final words left her mouth. However, she didn’t go in for another attack anymore — the woman really did run from the fight.

“... She can’t be far!” Arja ordered. “After her!”

This time, however, Hava only stood silent, not even going towards the footsoldiers around anymore.

“Hava, did you not hear me?”

“Your Highness… Just let her go already. Any more and you’ll be…”

Hearing the answer caused the young prince’s nerve to finally snap. Grabbing Hava’s armor by its collar, he shouted:

“Are you insane? This is Kana we’re talking about! What happened to the bond we…”

“Enough already!” Hava broke off the grip by grabbing onto Arja’s wrist instead. “Don’t you get it? She doesn’t want our help! She’s been like this since however long we’ve known her — always keeping all her problems to herself and hurting others because of it! And if you go after her now, you’ll risk hurting yourself too!”

“Then what do you expect me to do? Huh?” Arja answered with a punch to his companion’s face, prompting the latter to drop the grip and stagger a few steps backward. “I can’t lead a damn army, I’m only in this damn position in the first place because I had to! And now you’re saying I can’t even help the one girl I care about?”

Hava was silent. There was nothing that he could do, and it pained him so. Kana was right — despite his build, he wasn’t that good a fighter. And Arja was right as well — giving up would just lead to nothing. Kana would continue to be that way, and Arja would resort to even more extreme measures to find her.

“... Fine. Go, but count me in too.” In the end, he had to relent, scratching his head in frustration.

“... Thank you, Hava. I mean it.”

“Don’t thank me. I’m still stopping you the moment things go wrong,” lightly hitting Arja on the head, Hava sighed. “But sure, let’s go get your princess. The things I do for you, man…”

The two warriors then left the premises, searching for every corner they could find. Kana couldn’t have been far — her conditions, even if she had recovered somewhat, wouldn’t allow her to. But without any leads, this was all they could do. Hava flew up in the air, trying to search from above while Arja ran from alleyway to alleyway, desperate to get a sign.

And their effort finally paid off with a loud bash of metal echoing close to a nearby building. As Arja approached the site, his doubts only ever became clearer:

“Get… out! Get out of my head!”

It was definitely Kana’s voice that sounded. However, she seemed to not be alone — not in spirit, at least.

The young prince rushed into the scene:

“Kana! What’s…”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence. The woman in question had already dropped her mask — a rare occurrence for any wielders while transformed. However, it was her eyes that had caught Arja’s attention.

Kana’s eyes, as far as he could remember, had always been a beautiful gold — fiery like the sun shining on their heads. However, her eyes… or rather, one of her eyes had lost that shine. Instead, it was a normal hazelnut brown, yet filled with bloodlust.

Immediately, Kana moved forward. In all of her life, she was left-handed. And yet, in this strike that she was about to attempt on her once friend and childhood sweetheart, her right side was taking the initiative. Lightning crackled from each of her steps as the vajra in her hand shredded through the air. A deafening boom ensued, covering the area in a cloud of electrified dust.

But no one was hurt. Arja was still speechless, while in front of him, Hava had already appeared, trying to block the attack with his arms crossed as a shield. Meanwhile, Kana’s sword was just inches away from actually touching him, as the perpetrator had already stopped her right arm with her left, desperately holding it back the shivering sensation throughout her whole body.

“... Now do you get why I have to do this?” The woman scoffed. “I don’t have time anymore. Indra is advancing, and fast. I need Vritra now.”

“He’s… already headed to Drizzle,” finally, Arja answered.

“... What?” Both Kana and Hava raised their voices at once.

“Kana, do you remember our promises as children?”

“Why now?”

“You’ve always said that you wanted to beat Drizzle and unite the world, while I said that I would be your support to make that dream a reality. That hasn’t changed; not now, not ever. I chose to fight with my words because that’s what I was good at, and now, I chose to fight as a Stigma wielder because it was the power bestowed to me.”

“Arja… you mean…” Hava muttered. Piecing together the events, there could only be one answer.

“Yeah,” nodded Arja. “Duna was a double agent. I sent him to Drizzle to get Ren to Kana more easily.”

“Do you have any idea how much of a risky plan that is?”

“Yes. But it’s all that I ever wanted. And now that Kana’s here…”

“Rejected,” scoffed the woman. “I’m not letting you go to Drizzle with me. This is a problem that I need to handle myself.”

“You’re not in a position to refuse. Look at yourself.”

“I certainly am. Indra’s power lets me do this, and you can’t.”

As the words left her mouth, Kana’s right side waved in the air. From the crackling thunder, a hole tore itself in space, revealing a swirl of ominous energy.

“I hope that the next time I see you two, it will be here in this nation again. And…”

All of them knew what she was going to say, but the words wouldn’t… couldn’t come out. Not when it was already this way between them.

And so, Kana disappeared through the portal. But before it had a chance to close, however…

“If you’re not inviting me, then I’m inviting myself in!”

“Wait!... Argh, you idiot!”

Arja immediately jumped through the portal, prompting Hava to do the same.

The first thing that appeared before the latter as he crossed the portal was the sensation of unending rain, as well as the complete lack of sunlight.

“W-Where are we?” asked Hava.

“My guess… Drizzle,” Arja answered. He had always heard the tales — how the nation was plagued with rain and rocky formations that sealed it off to the outside world. But this was still his first time actually seeing it in person, and it showed.

Arja couldn’t parse any of it. The scenery, the rain, everything in here screamed another world to him, that he would only expect to see in his wildest dreams.

But that wasn’t their most pressing concern. They had followed the portal that Kana made, and now, Kana was gone from their sight.

“Where do you think she is?” asked Arja.

“In this type of weather? I can’t even see properly, let alone tell her apart among all these rocks.”

True to Hava’s words, a normal person in Drizzle would be essentially blind. The constant night, the rainclouds, as well as obsidian rocks weren’t a good combination for a good vision. And all of that was not mentioning Kana’s armor being a darker color — it would blend perfectly within the environment.

“Let’s just walk around for now,” Arja suggested, “maybe we’ll find a landmark or something.”

The two marched forward, navigating their way over the series of rocks that stood before them. Until they finally hit the biggest wall in their sight — the giant mountain range that locked Drizzle from the outside.

“Climb over?” asked Hava.

“Fly over,” answered Arja. “We don’t have the luxury to climb.”

Taking off with their wind and wings, the two warriors made their way over the mountain range. The start was rocky — wind howled and rain poured, hammering down on their flight paths. Just keeping themselves stable throughout the way was already enough of a feat as-is, but they couldn't afford to stop.

However, it was only the first of their problems.

A loud shriek echoed, revealing a couple of pairs of wings in the sky. It was the Garuda — the monster that they had fought before on their soil, but this time, there wasn’t only one.

And from their height, they could see the giant lake that made Drizzle’s entire terrain, as well as the lurking eyes of murky, purplish creatures far down the river.

“Garudas and Kalas at once?” Hava complained. “Did their numbers increase again?”

“We just have to push through at this rate!”

Arja aimed his dragon head at the flying Garuda, ready to fire. A burst of flame roared forth from the mouth, crashing into the flying bird with all its might. However, the damage was negligible — the rain had already doused most of the flame once it had made contact, and the same rain had already healed the creature by quite a significant amount.

“Tch!” Arja clicked his tongue in frustration.

“Leave it to me! Vayu Slicing Gale!”

Hava concentrated his wind towards his chakrams and swung them forward, sending out a pair of wind slashes towards the speeding enemy. The wind sliced through its feathers, clipping the wings in one clean swoop before sending the monster bird tumbling to its doom.

“I’ll handle them! Try to smooth out our landing!” He shouted.

“On it!” Arja switched his target from the Garudas to the lake below them and blasted. But his target wasn’t the creatures along the lake themselves — they were too far away for a good hit. Instead, his fire diverted onto the nearby rock formations, breaking them into bits and sending them down tumbling into the waters.

Disturbed by the fallen debris, the Kalas moved away, while the ground close to them was timely flattened.

“There!” Arja shouted. “Let’s go!”

The pair landed just in time. However, the swarm of crocodile monsters had also recovered from their initial startle, and was crawling onto the shore as soon as the two prepared themselves for battle.

But a battle never ensued.

A flash of lightning broke through, and the monsters retreated as fast as they arrived. The warriors, meanwhile, suffered from a similar fate — their armors were forcefully dispelled, returning them to their mortal flesh.

“... Kana?” Arja muttered. It was the first time he had seen a power that could break their transforms.

“I’m not sure about that,” Hava shook his head in doubt. “This kind of chill is unheard of, even for her.”

True enough, their hands were shaking unconditionally. It was as if a divine being had descended, exuding their presence all around the land.

“The pressure… is coming from over there,” Arja said. Following his directions, Hava could see it — a tall castle, taller than anything else he had seen, standing firm in the distance. And there was only one choice for the pair.

Once they arrived, however, it was a scene that they could never imagine in their entire lives.

A familiar armor, but of a different color. It was once a dark ocean blue, but now it was a sinister violet. The claws were five-fingered and much more defined, while the top had developed into its own helmet — a serpent emblem in the middle, with a spike protruding forward like a horn. Instead of a curved sword, there was a bow worn cross on the individual’s back.

But the most striking feature was their left hand. It was stained with blood, and in their palm, being grabbed by the hair…

Were a pair of familiar heads. One old man, one young woman.

Once he saw the welcoming party, the figure finally spoke.

“Yo, Arja. Here to pick me up? You shouldn’t have.”

“Ren… You bastard…” the young king shook with rage.

“Look on the bright side, man! The war is over, we won!”

“Don’t bullshit me!”

“... Geez, okay,” raising his hands, the armored man chuckled. “I’ll rephrase that. I won. And now, Your Highness, you have two choices.”

“... What?”

“Either prostrate before me and worship me as your new god… Or stand up against me, and show me the infinite potential of humanity.”