Chapter 2 ( Part 9 )

The artkeepers called him the Twice Eclipsed Sun. He fooled her twice, but eclipsed himself in hiding from her.

But what does it have to do with them? They only cared about the future of their son. If the world goes to hell, they don't care at all. But their son must be the Hell King.

Perhaps because their world views are different, perhaps because of generational differences, Nate and the artkeepers eventually cooled off their relationship. They were like three snakes that attached themselves to each other's tails. They behaved like they were one being. As artists, this is certainly not what they are. They are very individualistic. But with Nate, even in bed, they acted like they were one person. And that person is Aniket's Maa.

It was like a performance. Nate was often confused and irritated. It reminded him of the time the time servant of Anita fooled him. Nate knew from the beginning who she was, but she could still fool him in small moments. Eventually, he fell for her too. But he was a remorseless bastard in romance. Since she took Anita's place, he thought Anita could take her place too. He could still design the pod the way he wanted. There is no need for a double.

That was a mistake. Nate knew that now. The artkeepers were older and in a different world. They were mysterious and they confused him. They were playful and careless. Their affections were always conditional. Their hearts were always shrouded in mist and clouds. Nate could never bring himself to tell Anita. Even after ten years, Nate could not go beyond those misty clouds and reach their heart. So what is he in the end? Just a guy that served them in bed when they needed 'inspiration'? And what is Aniket? Their muse, their model?

Eventually, Nate broke it off with them. Not all at once like in the beginning. He broke off one by one over the course of a year.

He broke it with Kaya. Kaya died after one month. He broke it with Talanni. Talanni died after one month. He broke it with Mariaka. Mariaka died after one month.

Nate no longer thought it was coincidence.

Nate thinks he killed them.

He thinks that's what he meant to them. A guy in bed that they will die for.

Anita was cooing softly in Aniket's ear for half an hour. He turned his back to her and closed his eyes, ignoring her. He lost three mothers in a year. The fourth one wants to be mauled to death by a wild animal at night. He was not in a mood to listen to her.

He didn't care about her capabilities or her history of bravery. He was not a nice mouthed person to begin with. He rised and shouted,

'Even a whore in the back alley is brave! Do you think you are special because you're a woman? The reason you're special is because of my existence. Because you're special to me.

You're just a whore without me!'

With those absurd and meaningless words, he walked off into the silence of the forest.

Anita turned to Nate for help, but Nate's mind was some place else.

He never forgave Aniket when he misbehaved. This time was the same. He refused to go after him.

However, he did say to Anita, lest she takes the dirty insult seriously, 'He means the death of a man and the death of a woman in the battlefied affects the families differently.'

'How so?'

Nate looked seriously at Anita. 'The heart of a woman is stronger Niti. A man can bravely go to his death in war because he knew the woman can still manage the house as she grieves. But a home will just shatter, the pod will break into pieces if the man does the grieving. A woman underestimates the destruction she leaves behind when she goes…'

He turned and looked away. It was as if he was talking of something else entirely.

After a whole night of hard search through the woods, her men ignored her. Anita was tired. She occupied Aniket's camp blanket and fell asleep.

After a while, she felt a big, strong hand falling on her. She turned to the side and embraced the strong scent that enveloped her. She didn't wake up, but nuzzled and complained in her sleep.

Aniket who wore Nate's shirt and his cologne he stole from home, nuzzled right back and felt her up with a gleeful and triumphant look on his face.

Nate who saw this from the woods, closed his eyes and leaned on a tree. He sighed.

Remorseless punk. It would be a different matter if this rascal follows things to the end. He clearly knows it's his dad's woman. He never assumes his right as podhusband because of it.

But he just has to be a rogue. He has to be a devil!

Nate took away the rogue at dawn. He didn't say anything, just let him sit in the middle of his legs and massaged his head. Aniket's withdrawal symptoms sometimes trigger headaches. In his worse days, Nata and Anita didn't care about it. They developed into terrible migraines. They would cause him to retch all day long and flop on bed like a dead crane. But the dead crane is remorseless. It would do drugs again in barely a month.

Eventually, Nate simply relented. He took care of the headaches first. If medicines didn't work, he gave Aniket massages. If that didn't work, he tried alternate medicine. If nothing worked, he would just hang him upside down on a beam. Cause the brat to complain all day about it. Eventually, they were somehow able to stop the migraines.

This episode was also the ice breaker after Aniket got caught using drugs. He would talk about his symptoms and what is happening in his body. He learned to depend on Anita and Nate again, after being rude and rebellious for months.

It is the most heartbreaking thing in any family to have an addict who is destroying himself. Nate wanted to train a subordinate who would always be loyal to him and protect Anita. What he got was a son instead. Perhaps an older man would've been steady. But Nate was shaken by the incident with the drugs. The subsequent rebellion of Aniket made him feel scared.

It is nothing new for a couple of friends or brothers to turn their backs on each other. Like two knives in the same pod, it is normal for them to repel each other.

Just throw him out…

Nate often heard these words within himself. And that's what scared him.

A strong and extremely violent impulse. Let go. Forget. Let him destroy himself.

Deserves it. After all you did to raise him. Deserves it.

He felt sorry because he didn't feel any resistance to this violent impulse. It felt like the natural thing to do and the thing he will eventually do.

Perhaps he would've done it too. Only, Aniket had very strong mothers who saw everything even if they didn't live with their son anymore. They didn't let Nate do that. Nate, after all, was very young. They taught him slowly how to be a parent.

Parenting is never about yourself, my Sun. It is always about the child. Without the principal, who and what will you parent? You can push him away, but the one you will lose is yourself.