"It's getting late. Go and rest, Akira. We can discuss the finer details tomorrow," Napat spoke to Akira.
Hotrā nodded in agreement. "It will be a tedious journey. You will need your energy."
His aides took the hint and retired to their quarters.
She bowed and went back to her room. She wanted some time for herself.
Akira's head was spinning with information overload. A lot of the things that were discussed went over her head. But she understood one thing: a human's idea of God was quite different from the playful and humorous Being she saw. She thought back to the temple carvings of the fierce creatures with fiery hair, bulging eyes, big fangs, and a huge sword and sheath. If the gods here saw that image, she wondered how they'd react. She giggled to herself. They would be easily terrified of the extent of damage a human's imagination could do to them.
Her thoughts went back to her companions. They would probably be dead. Would they have told the next generation about her? Or would she be forgotten? She wondered.
Hotrā and Napat sat next to each other. As spirits, they were different, complementing each other and in fine balance.
"Shouldn't we tell her the whole truth, Napat?"
Hotrā asked Napat quietly.
Napat shook his head. "She will not understand what she cannot perceive."
Hotrā was quiet. "Humans are complex."
Napat smiled, his eyes filled with sorrow. "The most complex beings created."
"They were favored the most, yet they use their intelligence to destroy themselves."
Napat smiled. "The harmony that we built in this mana haven, a Shambala King could do, with his heart and no magic. No other race can be friends with other species and treat them as equals. That is what separates them from the rest."
Hotrā sighed. "If only they could treat their own as equals."
Napat shrugged. "If they were perfect, what role would we have?"
Hotrā nodded in agreement. "Indeed."
He was quiet for some time. Then he asked again. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Napat looked at him and said, "It is my fault that he turned out this way. To fight him as his equal is the only way I can free him from his miserable karmic cycle."
Hotrā nodded. He knew too well the connection between Napat and the Asura.
It was a bond not known to anyone but him.
He knew too that Napat would be broken by the outcome of the war, but there was no other way. Things had gotten out of hand.
"Why did you show her the vision you created of the Asura?" Hotrā asked, though he already knew the answer.
Napat replied, "That was the human he would have been if I hadn't crossed paths with him."
Hotrā sighed. "Stop blaming yourself. You had nothing to do with his choices."
Napat shook his head. "I am solely responsible for the burden that weighs on his shoulders, the scar he yields in his heart. No human should have gone through that."
Napat might be a god, but gods were not immune to emotions. In fact, it was worse for him. It magnified to an extent that could turn him mad. Apā had broken himself because of that madness. The madness that went by the name of compassion.
Hotrā did not want to see Napat go through that. He thought he had done what was best to protect him.
Napat understood but could not forgive himself.