Travelling Worlds to Save Us (A Karna-Arjun story)

Seeking the truth

POV: Karna from the world of light

There was another jerk and the Khandava forest replaced the battlefield surrounding.

Karna pulled Arjun to his feet, looking around warily. Arjun rubbed his eyes, which were swollen with crying; he did not look around--he seemed too drained to exert his head anymore.

"It looks like we are back," Karna told him with a forced smile. "It was an illusion after all, created by the evil snake."

"Lies."

Arjun automatically raised his Gandiva. They turned and found a faded spirit of Takshak leering at them.

"Begone," said Karna furiously. "We have defeated you in spite of your wrongful protection from Lord Indra and you have created for us an illusion of hell. We are even now."

"It was uncreated by me," Takshak assures. "It was no illusion."

Arjun drew in a shaky breath. Karna was so mad his fingers curled into a fist and drew blood from his palm. He would pay Takshak back for this--Takshak would live to regret the day he deliberately traumatized Arjun.

"I merely showed you something that already exists, Suryaputra," said Takshak.

"No, it does not," snarled Karna. "Maybe kinslaying is a habit among savage serpents. Our kind do not kill their blood."

Takshak's voice went down to a malicious whisper. "Oh, but what if the shared blood was a secret?"

"Jyesht--"

"Arjun. Be quiet." Karna wanted to scream in frustration. "It is not a secret, right?"

"It might be in some universe, Suryaputra." Takshak's soft voice sent chills down Karna's spine. "Do not mistake your present state and your beliefs as the absolute truth."

"Jyesht," persisted Arjun, "it might have been a parallel world--"

"ARJUN, I TOLD YOU TO BE QUIET."

Arjun blinked and fell silent. Resolving to make it up to him later, Karna pushed aside the remorse.

"All right, Takshak, you have had your chance." Karna raised his bow to the sky. "You are not the only one who can give curses, and I am Suryadev's son. I curse you and your race with--"

"Oh, respected Suryaputra," broke in Takshak smoothly. "Do you not think your brother, perhaps, has a point? Would it be morally correct to curse me for simply giving you a vision of something that already exists? If you curse me, my race and I will certainly disappear. But there will remain no one to open up the link again. Do you not, perhaps, want to know the circumstances of that world? Can you live on, not knowing?"

Karna glared. "We were doing perfectly fine not knowing."

"But now?" Takshak grinned.

"I want to know," said Arjun quickly, sending a frightened but pleading glance at Karna. "I--I cannot live on not knowing what went so wrong there, jyesht--please."

"Anytime." Takshak bowed and waved his scaly arm.

A swirling silvery maw of light appeared.

"I bless you with five hours there. You will automatically return afterwards. This time, you will exist in corporeal form in that world, unlike last time when your body remained here and only soul went there."

"We do not require your blessings," said Karna brusquely. "Arjun, come on."

Arjun stood rooted to the spot, with that pig-headed look that meant he intended to fight till the end. When Karna refused to relent, he would finally resort to begging.