Trials of Demigods

“There you go again…trying to be more than you are.”

“And do more than you can.”

“It’s like you refuse to learn anything.”

“Even after everything you’ve been through.”

Kayin slowly awakens, and senses great pain all around his body; a testament to the afflictions he suffered from the previous night. A new white cloth is wrapped around his eyes, and multiple layers of bandages are now wrapped around his body; especially in the chest, and vital parts of his limbs that had been severed open.

“Don’t move!”

Kayin recognizes Kimiko’s stern voice, and freezes in place.

“You’ve done enough. So just rest for now.”

Kayin remains silent for a moment, as Kimiko returns to his side and continues tending to his wounds.

“Is that really you…Kimiko?”

“Who else would it be? If I were any other avatar wielder, your life would already be forfeit.”

“...what happened…to the girl from your kingdom?”

Kimiko remains silent, prompting a moment of awkward silence between the two.

“Where’s Narada?” Kayin asks softly.

“To your left.”

Kayin slowly moves his left arm, and immediately finds Narada lying down beside him, sleeping soundly.

…thank you, Narada.

Kimiko, who is situated in between the two of them, glances over towards Kayin’s hand as it clasps tightly onto Narada’s.

To think he only joined us a short while ago…

And he already seems to understand Kayin better than I do.

Kimiko thinks back to Narada’s clutch play to move Kayin behind Heitsi, ultimately leading to their victory over the shape-shifting freak.

Kimiko softly smiles.

I really am happy I didn’t kill him back then.

Narada rolls over in his sleep, and unknowingly slaps Kimiko across her face while positioning himself to his right side.

Kimiko grits her teeth, and tries desperately to hold herself back.

Maybe I should do it today instead!

“The people…”

Kimiko turns her attention back to Kayin.

“What happened to the people in the strange city?”

Kimiko stares towards the opening of the tent she had constructed, and sees the desert wind blowing rapidly outside of it.

“They all left that place behind. And brought the half-dead corpses of the children along with them.”

“I assume that some mean to find a place to bury them. Others may be trying to find a way to still save them.”

“It seems that because of your speech, they realized they have to find a way to atone for their overly passive naivety.”

Kayin takes hold of the cup of medicine that Kimiko gives him, and sips it slowly.

He feels like barfing because of the taste, but tries his best to remain stonefaced.

“Why do you always seem so desperate to take accountability for everything, Kayin?”

Immediately, the words from earlier flashes into Kayin’s mind.

“There you go again…trying to be more than you are.”

“And do more than you can.”

Kayin immediately sits upright.

“...who said that?!”

“Me, you fool! And how many times do I have to tell you not to move?!!!”

Kayin glances directly towards Kimiko, but remains silent, which leaves Kimiko confused.

That voice…

Kimiko slams Kayin down to the blanket floor, and holds his two hands down to make sure he doesn’t fight back.

“In this place, I am the queen here! Understand?!”

“Your life is in my hands! So when your queen tells you not to move, you better not move!!”

Kayin nods in agreement.

Kimiko returns to her original position, and kisses her teeth as she grinds more medicine in a flask, “All I did was ask a simple question. Sheesh.”

“...I’m sorry.”

Another awkward silence ensues, with only the friction from the grinding making noise.

“To answer your question,”

Kimiko stops grinding.

“...I guess I just have a lot of faith in myself.”

“Huh?!”

“No, seriously. No matter how hard the situation gets, I always believe that I’ll make it out on top.”

“Perhaps it's because I was born as the prince of the Eydo Empire. Or perhaps it’s because of the faith my father and grandmother always poured into me from a young age.”

Kayin gestures to Kimiko, “Do you remember? The day we met in the dungeon,”

“Wasn’t that long ago, so it’s hard to suddenly forget,”

“I kept begging you to kill me. And I meant it. It felt like the only way to truly atone for the sins of my people was to offer up my head, so I made a great show of it.”

“But strangely enough, I also genuinely believed I would survive somehow. Like, there is nothing that I can’t do. Even escape from the jaws of death when I need to.”

“I’ve carried that faith from the moment I was put in that cell. I believed that even with no way to escape, someone like me would still be able to do so.”

“And low and behold…you happened to arrive just in time.”

Kimiko scoffs and looks the other way; but in her mind, she finds his reasoning pleasing to hear.

“Although, you still got your ass whooped by Belogun,”

A large and sharp vein pops out from Kimiko’s temple.

“But then came Oshé. And not long after that, the freedom I had believed in became my reality. From there, I couldn't find any reason not to continue to believe in myself as much as I had done before.”

“From the underground arena to the strange city, no matter who or what I face…I always believe I will come out on top in the end. And that’s why I also think that no matter how much I take upon myself, it will all work out in the end.”

“Doesn’t that just mean you believe yourself to be your own god?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not. I know I have no power without Shango. And yet, I believe in my destiny all the same.”

Kayin’s expression becomes solemn.

“Without Shango, I am nothing. But in the same breath, without me…he is also nothing.”

“So then…who do you think is more dependent on the other?”

Kimiko appears taken aback by the sheer confidence that Kayin seems to be speaking with, especially as Kayin has shown his weak and pathetic side multiple times to her.

And yet, in this moment, the pieces all come together through Kayin's revelation.

It’s not that he’s pathetic, in a way of being timid like I first thought him to be.

It’s that even as a human, he looks pathetic by trying to challenge a concept higher than himself.

The same concept…that allows for the gods to be gods.

A chilling thought spreads across Kimiko’s mind.

I wonder…if that applies to his sister as well.

Kimiko sets down the flask, “So what now? Now that your relative is de-”

“Whoa,” Kayin sternly says as he waves his hands, “That old man was most definitely not a relative of mine.”

“But he called you his grandson?”

Kayin sighs, “Long story short, he was once married to my grandmother. My grandfather constantly used him as a piece in his war tactics, and eventually had him killed in order to marry my grandmother. Considering his ability to resurrect from mortal wounds, he must have survived somehow up till this point, claiming some type of connection to the Eydo royal family.”

“...your family sure is messed up.”

“...most royal families are. We’re nothing special.”

“Still, he seemed so powerful. Resurrection, matter transmutation, elemental manipulation…it’s crazy that you managed to defeat him.”

“Yeah…there’s no doubt about it. He was a demigod.”

“A demigod?!!!”

“I didn’t realize it before, but his abilities far surpass that of an avatar wielder. None of us stood a chance.”

“But you defeated him though!”

“Well yeah. Because for that brief time, I also became a demigod.”

Kimiko’s jaw drops to the floor.

“HOW???!!!!”

Kayin remains silent, but after a few seconds, a smug grin appears across his face.

Kimiko hesitates to slap him.

“So can you do everything he can?”

“Of course not! Is every god capable of doing the same thing?! Why would you think differently for demigods?!”

“Well you’re the one talking about creating a safe haven and all that nonsense! Build your own city too, then!”

Kayin pauses.

“What?!” Kimiko asks aggressively.

“About that…I don’t think he was the one that built that altar. Or that city.”

Kimiko freezes.

“The people and the old man kept mentioning something about a true king. One different from the demigod himself.”

“You’re telling me a literal demigod…was acting in service to someone else?! I thought he was the king of that city!”

“Well he wasn’t!...Probably!”

“Then we’re screwed! Just how powerful does somehow have to be to reduce a demigod to a servant?! Even you had to land a surprise attack with a divine weapon just to beat him!”

“It’s fine,” Kayin says with an awkward chuckle, “There are thousands of kings all over the world. What’s one measly king of a small city supposed to do?”

“You’re sweating bullets!”

“Am not!”

Kimiko stands up quickly and kicks Narada’s legs to wake him up.

Narada yelps in pain.

“What are you doing?!” Kayin asks.

Kimiko rips open the entrance to the tent, in order for both Narada and Kayin to take a look at the city they had just been in. From the back of the city, around the same area that Kayin had struck down Heitsi, stands a tall tree with green bark and a large bundle of branches and leaves sprouting from all sides.

Kayin appears taken aback.

The patch of grass became a tree?!

“It’s only been a few days since the city was abandoned by the people, and that tree has been growing nonstop ever since. I had a gut feeling it was acting as a sort of beacon, and after what you just told me, that gut feeling was right!”

Kimiko begins to clamor around to place their belongings into their travel bags, before stepping out of the tent with a very serious expression written all across her face.

“Narada…you’re getting us out of here. Right this instant.”

“...where to?” Narada asks.

Kimiko stares at Kayin.

“To do what we came all this way to do…and visit the king’s old friend,”

***

“Yeah, but where exactly is that?”

“Obviously I don’t know! Ask the king!”

“Puhu! So you’re finally acknowledging me as the king? I’m so touched, Kimiko!”

“SHUT UP!”