A Father's New Duty

Asura opened his eyes. Naraka, he quickly realized. It wouldn't be the first time he woke up there-listening to the moans of the dead, clutching at one of the many pillars dotting the realm. He tried to recall what last happened to him, something that didn't take too long for him to do. He was fighting Yasha. Just the mere thought of it brought a snarl to his face.

The melancholy man had no qualms against trying to off Asura. He also took away Mithra, Asura's daughter. So why was it that the thought of Yasha trying to kill him so maddening? Why did it feel like such a betrayal?

He was quickly interrupted from his thoughts. "So we meet again," the Golden Spider said, spinning down from its shining thread. "What will you do now?" Its voice was annoying and grating on the ears. "You are a demigod just as they are, you know?"

No, not really. He was too angry to question what he was. People were just in his way, didn't matter if he was a demigod or not. Wyzen wasn't too tough after all. And if he was any indication, Asura shouldn't have any more difficulty handling the rest of them.

"Who do you think you are!?" an armless Asura shouted.

"God," Yasha spoke to the bug at his feet.

With such a dismissive attitude, most would back down from the challenge. But not Asura. Yasha's response only filled him with more wrath!

The Golden Spider brought him back, "If you can accept their actions, perhaps you should let go and become one with Gaia again."

No, Asura couldn't do that. So he began to climb. Asura would rather let the world burn than let Mithra suffer!

"You choose to move forward?" Its irritating voice was condescending. It gave a brief chuckle. "This is exactly why your soul will never belong to the Gohma, nor the Seven Deities."

Asura was trying to drown out its persistent voice.

"There is a great power hidden within you." The Spider swung right into Asura's face. "One that I have been looking a great deal of time for."

Asura didn't even hesitate to move passed this entity.

"So," the golden entity teased out, "Deus is to bring salvation to Gaea." Deus, the leader of the Seven Deities. The prideful asshole who decided to enact the plan in the first place. "But it seems he cannot do it without your daughter's power."

Asura hesitated. He heard it all from the spider, but this got him to finally stop his climbing. "Mithra..." his face softened at the thought of her. But that soon vanished. He couldn't allow any harm to come to her.

"Now remember why you are here in the first place. It will spur you on, my boy!" The Golden Spider's voice was full of command, even in a whisper. "Fuel the fire of your rage!"

He had just finished a training session with his master Augus. His head only just cleared from his wrath. He could faintly hear Augus' boisterous laughter, before his master called out, "Immersing oneself in battle like that-well done, Asura!"

Asura, meanwhile, was recovering his breath-on one knee and his gaze towards the ground. He could see a set of feet walk up to him. "Now that you have something to protect, why are you so full of rage?" The voice was calm, nothing like Augus' bodacious sounds. Yasha held out his hand for Asura to take. "Or perhaps, that is exactly why..."

Asura tore his gaze away. He didn't need Yasha's help.

"Something to protect?" Augus heard what Yasha said. "Nonsense!" He chuckled. "The only reason to fight is the fight itself!"

Yasha scoffed. "That is so like you, Master." He turned his attention back to Asura. "We have cleared this area of the Gohma. Let us return to Shinkoku." While Yasha may not have smiled, he did pat Asura's metal shoulder.

Asura batted away the hand. "Right..."

They walked in silence, the time it took matter not to the demigods as they set a leisurely pace. As the desert wasteland gave way to civilization, they eventually made it to the divine city Shinkoku. It was the pearl of the world. There was no town, city, or kingdom on Gaea that could hold a candle to the magnificence of the divine city of gold and marble. But Asura only cared to find his family.

Inside the building, a woman stood with a baby in her arms. She looked nearly like an effeminate Yasha, with attractive black hair and brown eyes. She looked away from the baby very briefly as the sound of footsteps reached her. "Look, Mithra," she cooed, "your father has returned." Her voice was angelic in a way, smooth and calming to Asura.

The sight of his wife brought a slight grin to Asura's face. His form relaxed from the stiffness it had after fighting. He stepped up to his family and wrapped them into a hug. Yes, this is what he needed to protect. Their safety ment more to him than the entirety of Gaea, for they were his world. And nothing would stand in his way!

His wife Durga just said something, something that Asura completely missed. Luckily, she seemed to find more amusement out of it than anything else. So she repeated herself while giggling, "Wouldn't you like to hold Mithra?"

He didn't respond vocally, but he did hold his hands out to take hold of her. She was so squishy-looking, tiny, and so very fragile. He made sure that he would be very careful while using his metallic hands. But before he could even touch her, Mithra opened her eyes. And she cried.

Asura quickly pulled his hands back. He didn't know what he did wrong! Why was she crying?

Durga giggled once more and gently rocked Mithra. "Even one of the Eight Guardian Generals is no match for his own daughter, is he?" She spoke lightly, with a slight tease edging around her voice.

"She's... so small..." It was the best defense he could think of.

Her giggling brought back Asura's attention. "You you know what I think?" She had a soft smile, so very comforting. "I believe you only wish the best for our daughter..."

He didn't know how to respond to that, so he just huffed and walked away. His posture was just as stiff as before. She would be fine talking with her brother Yasha.

Walking down the hall allowed Asura time to think. He worried for his family, they couldn't protect themselves without him. He needed to-

There in his path were three of the Guardian Generals-Sergei, Wyzen, and Kalrow. He scowled, not having time for whatever it was they needed. "Move." It was not a request, it was a demand.

Sergei, the ever effeminate man, seemed to find amusement out of it. "Not bad Asura." And he was as condescending as ever. "That uncontrollable rage suits you well." He looked up the bulky form of Wyzen and smiled.

The fat giant Wyzen nodded and stepped out of Asura's way.

Sergei gave a brief bow and presented the cleared way to the wrathful man. He chuckled and looked Asura in the eyes. "See what I mean?"

Asura grimaced and continued forward.

As he passed Wyzen, the giant took it as his que to speak his mind. "Join us, Asura!" he loudly declared. "Should we work together, we could more effectively exterminate the Goh-"

Asura growled. "Don't test me."

Almost out of earshot, the old man Kalrow presented his piece. "You are aware that Mithra is the only suitable vessel to become Priestess, are you not?" He wheeled over to be right next to Asura. "Raise her with care, incompetent as you may be."

He ground his teeth, walking away from Kalrow's wheezing laughter.

Asura cleared his head and continued to climb.

"Well, you certainly are incompetent," the Spider teased. "But I would wager that to be one of your more charming features." When Asura didn't respond, the Spider sighed. "Well, at least now we know the source of the flames that burn your soul."

Asura wasn't paying it any mind now. He became distracted. There was a noise in the back of his head that called out to him. It infuriated him. It sounded so familiar, but it made him more wrathful than anything else.

"In other words-"

"Stop..."

The Spider was genuinely confused when it asked, "What? Stop what?"

"The..." he tried to find the word. The sound became clearer. It was, "crying!" He smashed his fist into the pillar. "Stop it!"

"Crying?" The Spider knew that death could be a traumatic experience, but it hoped that it didn't cause the demigod to lose his mind. "But what do you mean? I'm not crying."

It sounds like Mithra. He yelled with incoherent rage. Mithra should never be crying! She should never suffer! With a grip of steel, he sped up his accent. He moved like a rabid animal, roaring all the way.

"Why?" the Spider wasn't bothered at all by the increase in speed. It ascended alongside the demigod just as quickly. "Why are you so full of rage, Asura? Where does this wrath come from?"

But Asura wasn't listening. He cared not for what the golden entity had to say. He only ascended faster. Up to the top of this nigh infinite pillar. Even when his vision left him, he still climbed.

For a brief moment, Asura felt nothing. There was no gravity, air, or even his body. He couldn't touch anything. There was no pillar under him. The Golden Spider was quiet. And his rage was silenced.

When it all came back, his rage was still silent. He stood in a hall, lined with many metal containers. All was silent, even as Asura stood within the small crater in the oddly shiny floor. But then he heard something. A small banging from within one of the metal boxes. As he came even closer, what he heard boiled his blood. A nearly silent sobbing.

"Please, someone, anyone..." The sobbing never stopped. "Please let me out..." The weak thumping was slowing.

Asura grit his teeth. A girl was suffering in this strange metal box! "Prepare yourself!" he shouted to the girl inside. He couldn't tell if the girl was able to understand him in the state she was in. But the thought quickly left his mind as he raised his hand. With a mighty yell, Asura slammed his hand down and rent the metal into a disfigured mess. With the front now bent and open, he could see her.

She was shaking like a leaf, leaning against the back of the container just a hair's breadth away from where he tore the metal apart. He was nearly bothered by the palpable stench of the filth that covered her. But he noticed something quickly enough to let him forget those tiny details.

This is Mithra.

He tried to reach out and touch her, make sure what he was seeing was real. But as his hand got closer, she she flinched and tried to make herself appear even smaller. He hesitated. She looked so fragile. He almost couldn't bring himself to come any closer. But Durga wasn't there, not anymore. He couldn't rely on her to settle the gentle cares any longer.

He forced himself to calm down. For Mithra... He could be angry later. For now, she needed her father. She needed Asura to care for her. He tried smiling-sure it was a dastardly thing, but it was almost presentable. And this time, he held his hand out, waiting for her to take it herself.

Mithra wasn't shaking as badly anymore. She still seemed to be on the verge of collapsing, but it was better than earlier. Her eyes trailed up his arm to meet his face. The sheer terror in her eyes almost forced him into another berserker rage-Mithra shouldn't suffer!-but he squashed down that feeling. Not when he could so easily harm her. So very slowly, she reached out and put her hand into his.

She's so tiny, he realized as he pulled her out. Even as the filth rubbed into his chest, he cradled her. Protecting her from anything that could possibly harm her. "Sleep now, Mithra," he whispered to her. "Nothing will harm you as long as I am here."

She only answered with more shivers. She looked up to him, fear still within her eyes. But as he continued along, gently holding her to him, that fear gave away. And she finally closed her eyes for sleep.