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Chapter Text

There was a time during the Dwapar Yug, when only happiness and contentment reigned in the heart of the Aryan Kingdom, ruled by King Shantanu's descendants. Half the kingdom served the King of Hastinapur, King Duryodhan, and the other half, his cousin King Yudhishthir. 

Duryodhan was the eldest amongst his hundred brothers, but Yudhishthir, among their six, was not. His elder brother had been born to their mother Kunti before her marriage, hence he was 'technically' not part of King Shantanu's bloodline. One could argue that none of the six brothers were 'technically' part of the bloodline, since they were all demigods--the oldest was from the Sun God; Yudhishthir came next, from the Dharma God, the third was from the Wind God, the fourth from the very King of Gods. Last came the twins, born to the Asvins.

Suryadev's son, Karna, had never wanted to be King. Some people whispered he could not be King since he was a 'royal bastard', but no one ever dared whisper that in front of the King and his brothers. There was a story dating back ten years, when Bheem and Arjun, the third and fourth of the brothers, were but seventeen and sixteen respectively.

They had gone out for a walk around the city gates and stopped at a flower fair on a whim of Nakul's. Right from his childhood, Nakul had had a passionate admiration for beauty and the flower display with rows upon rows splashed with colours was truly a sight to behold.

While Nakul wanted to buy a pot of hydrangea, Sahadev coveted a cactus.

"How much are these for?" asked Yudhishthir.

One of the florists in charge smiled. "They are not for sale, Prince, but our royal family can certainly have them, free of cost."

As Yudhishthir opened his mouth to insist they pay at least, Karna asked the twins, "Do you want anything else? What about this?" He picked up a vase with a most interesting-looking plant.

"Uh," said another florist. "Only our true royalty can have them, not royal bastards."

Karna looked up.

A moment later, the florist found two arrows sticking out on the wall on either side of his head and a mace poised an inch from his head.

"You have ten seconds to take it back," snarled Bheem.

"S-s-sorry," stuttered the florist even as Karna and Yudhishthir pulled back Arjun and Bheem respectively.

"Behave yourselves, Bheem, Arjun," Karna told them sternly. "Is this the kind of example you want to set as the royal family?"

"Did you hear what he said, jyesht?" demanded Arjun.

"Indeed I did," said Karna. "But what people with narrow minds say is of no importance to me. It should not be to anyone, including you two."

The florist spread the story far and wide, and nobody dared speak a word against Suryadev's son, lest Bheem or Arjun--or worse still, both--happened to overhear.

******************

While Hastinapur was sometimes considered to be the 'greater' kingdom amongst the two, possibly since King Shantanu's son Devavrat Bhisma resided there--and King Yudhishthir revered Bhisma as the greatest of his guides--the superior army was Indraprastha's by far. In number and ordinary skill, they might be comparable; in royal strength too, they were comparable, but for two archers in their ranks, they were untouchable.

All the royal princes had been taught at the same gurukul, but it was Karna and Arjun who had made the most of their guru's skill in archery. It was, to both of them, a gift from god. Arjun was Dronacharya's personal favourite, but that had a lot to do with the lessons Arjun had received from his older brother when Karna used to come home during holidays, and Arjun was too young to attend training.

Their mother, Kunti, thought it irresponsible of his oldest son.

"What at all is the need to teach a seven-year-old archery, Karna?"

"Look at him, Maa," Karna used to defend. "Look at how he wields the bow. Does he look like a seven-year-old to you? Half the students cannot be so precise even at the time of graduation."

Arjun beamed up at his brother.

Later, Kunti used to take Karna aside and say, "Someday your doting will get to his head, Karna. It already has; he would not listen to a single rebuke without calling upon you."

Even if he had tried, Karna could not have hidden how pleased he was at that very fact.

What were younger brothers for, if not to dote upon?

*****************

Karna set Arjun his first moving target when he was eight. It took him days to build it in the woods near their home; a wooden pendulum sensitive to wind and light rays, hanging from the distant branch of a tall tree, constantly in motion in all three directions.

All his brothers kept him company while it was being constructed. Bheem and Nakul devoured berries by the dozen while Sahadev, all of seven years, solemnly gave advice regarding where the strings should be attached. Yudhishthir did most of the running with messages to and from their mother. Arjun stuck to Karna's side like a faithful shadow, climbing trees when he did and chopping wood when he did.

When it was finally ready, Karna handed Arjun his bow and knelt down to position his arms.

"Can you see it?"

"Yes."

"Follow its motion. Do not shoot hastily. Shoot only when you have understood its motion completely."

Arjun nodded. He shot after a full minute.

It missed.

It was the first target he had ever missed due to a reason other than haste or tiredness. 

"It's all right," said Karna. "It is far too difficult to begin with, even for moving targets.

Arjun tilted his head and studied the target. "I will not sleep till I hit it."

"If you wish." 

Karna settled down on a bough as Arjun shot arrow after arrow after arrow. Dusk fell. Night arrived. All the others left around dinnertime. Yudhishthir came back to call them home; when they refused, Kunti came out herself.

"Not now," Arjun told her without taking his eyes off the target.

"Oh yes, young man, you will come right now," said Kunti, making to grab his elbow.

"Maa!" protested Arjun. "Jyesht, she is breaking my concentration!"

"Leave him, Maa," said Karna. "Don't worry, I will stay with him," he told aside to her.

"And will you encourage him to stay the whole night if he so wishes?"

"He is set on the target," said Karna, frowning. "You should be proud of his dedication, Maa."

Kunti shook her head and left.

Arjun finally managed to hit the moving pendulum at the break of dawn and was ecstatic. But Karna's sense of achievement much exceeded his brother's. He clapped him on the shoulder and began to drag him homeward at last. 

"That is over twice as fast as I managed that, Arjun."

"If I learn at twice your rate," said Arjun thoughtfully, "one day soon I will be better than you, jyesht."

Karna smiled and tousled Arjun's hair. "It would be the proudest day of my life."

Chapter Text

There was a forest, the forest of Khandava, a large stretch of underutilized land on the borders of Indraprastha.

One day, a Brahmin approached Karna, Arjun and Draupadi while they were returning from a round of the city on horseback.

"I require an aid, respected ones," he said. "I require the Khandava forest to be burned as an offering to Lord Agni."

"Burn the whole forest as an offering?" asked Arjun.

"The God of Fire craves to satiate his hunger. It has become a matter of some urgency. He requires the food he will derive from the smoke and ashes."

"Lord Agni requires us to burn the forest?" asked Arjun, amazed. "Can he not burn it himself?"

"No. The Khandava forest, you see, is under the protection of the King of Gods, Lord Indra himself," said the Brahmin, bowing his head down. "He keeps sending terrible rains every time the forest is attempted to be burnt. In order to accomplish that, one has to fight Indradev."

Karna nodded at Arjun. "That explains the mysterious storms over the past months."

"We cannot do it, my Lord," Draupadi told the Brahmin. "My husband is Lord Indra's son. He cannot fight his father and win."

"I can fight my father and win," said Arjun swiftly.

Karna hid a smile.

"Since a revered Brahmin has specifically asked for our help, we must honour his wish, Panchali," he said. "You go and inform the others; Arjun and I will soon be back."

Draupadi frowned and hesitated. Arjun had already alighted from his horse and was telling the Brahmin they would require some time because he needed a better bow to fight Lord Indra; the Brahmin had most miraculously produced from thin air a spectacular bow.

"No one can hurt either of us while we are together. We will not get separated," Karna promised Draupadi.

"I do not have a good feeling about this, jyesht. That Brahmin does not seem like a Brahmin to me."

"Nor to me. He appears to me a bit like Lord Agni himself."

Karna grinned as comical realization dawned on his sister-in-law's face.

"Lord Agni himself," repeated Draupadi in consternation.

"Yes," said Karna, "so we cannot refuse. You go on ahead. We will be back before you know."

**************

Fighting the King of Gods was not easy to begin with in the first place, but when he realized that the ones fighting with him was not Agni or any other God, but mere mortals, his fury propelled his power to incomparable limits.

The Naga community of snake-men living in the Khandava forest joined in to combat Karna and Arjun. The latter destroyed them by thousands with the bow Agnidev had lent him. Karna lost quite a few precious minutes of attacking as he admired the bow and its wielder.

Rain poured down in torrents. The fire spread from tree to tree. They were drenched from head to toe, chilled to the bone one minute and almost scorched from heat the next minute.

Then Indra realized one of them was his son.

"ARJUN?" he thundered. "YOU DARE CHALLENGE ME?"

"Would you prefer I feared you, father?" asked Arjun.

The sky roared and lightning tore it apart into two.

"There's a time and place for getting a smart mouth, child--" Karna began.

But he was cut off by a fresh clap of tremendous thunder, then a burst of wind shooting at Arjun.

The Vajra weapon! Karna realized a panic-stricken second too late.

Arjun collapsed from the blow. His left arm was singed black. In his attempt at clutching the injured arm with his bow still clasped in his right hand, he only ended up adding a fresh wound.

At the glisten of red drops on the burnt skin, Karna paused in the action of kneeling down to hold his brother and stood up straight again.

Finally, his rage matched the King of God's.

*****************

Karna's arrows destroyed a thousand Nagas a minute, anyone who dared step close to Arjun, at the same time as holding Indra at bay. He attacked repeatedly, refusing to be deterred at the way Indra countered each of his blows with stronger ones of his own.

Grappling with the dizziness caused by the Vajra, Arjun heard him yelling occasionally, "How dare you touch my brother? How dare you shoot him with a celestial weapon? Have you got no shame, King of Gods?"

"Do not compel me to kill you, Suryaputra," said Indra calmly.

Arju's dizziness vanished. Within a second, he had stood up and joined his brother in shooting at the sky, standing shoulder to shoulder.

If his father thought he or anyone could kill his elder brother in his presence, he could think again.

**************

No one can hurt either of us while we are together, Karna had told Draupadi.

The King of Gods found out that day that not only could no one hurt the two when together, no one could keep them from victory, either.

In the end, he admitted defeat and acknowledged he had cherished a real fight with mortals after ages. Lord Agni appeared when Lord Indra disappeared.

"Well done, children," he said, looking with greedy satisfaction at the flames crackling up to the sky. "I am much indebted to you."

"Thank you for lending me this, Lord Agni." Arjun held out the bow. Karna caught the way he looked at it--full of longing and wistfulness.

Lord Agni must have caught it, too, because he smiled. "Keep it, child. The Gandiva has chosen you."

**************

The King of the Nagas, Takshak, attempted at least two dozen times to escape the hold of the tentacles of flame, but fire, when sparked, was unforgiving.

Eventually, like everything else in the forest, he began to be devoured.

"You shameless humans," hissed Takshak, writhing with pain. "You dare desecrate our home, granted protection by Lord Indradev himself!"

"Go away, Takshak, that is enough of your big words," said Karna. "Come on, Arjun."

As the brothers turned to leave, Takshak's voice tore free in a high pitch as he faded.

"I curse you! I curse you both with hell!"

Arjun looked around at Karna sharply.

"He is not powerful enough to curse us with hell," consoled Karna.

"BUT I CAN CURSE YOU WITH A GLIMPSE OF HELL!" Takshak had almost faded into nothingness.

"And a glimpse will not hurt us," added Karna in a whisper.

"A GLIMPSE THAT WILL MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE LIVING IN HELL! YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO ESCAPE IT. YOU WILL FOREVER LIVE IN HELL!"

A silvery-white mass of light poured out from the body of the King of Serpents and spread out all around and started to swirl. Soon they were blinded with the impact.

"Jyesht?" asked Arjun uncertainly. "What do you suppose--?"

The light enveloped everything around and closed around them. Karna just got time to grab Arjun's arm when they felt a jerk and the light vanished.

When they opened their eyes, blinking against the sudden dark, they found themselves facing an arena with two armoured warriors with bows facing each other at near-sundown.

Chapter Text

Rows of spectators were assembled around the arena as the two archers faced up to each other. There was an intense undercurrent of murmuring all around, like something unexpected had been witnessed.

No one seemed to have noticed Karna and Arjun dropping in their midst, however.

"What is this, jyesht? An illusion?" Arjun barraged his brother with everything that came to his mind. "Are we illusions here? It looks like our graduation arena, doesn't it? How can Takshak simulate something so realistic? He seemed a bit--"

"He is not as idiotic as he looks," said Karna. 

"But why did he send us to an arena? Is this his idea of hell?"

"Arjun," said Karna with forced patience. "Do be quiet just for a bit, I do not have any idea either."

Though Arjun did not mind being asked to be quiet, Karna felt bad instantly. He glanced at his younger brother's bleeding, burnt arm. Anger at Lord Indra clenched inside him.

"Prepare yourselves, warriors," a magnified voice drew their attention to the podium, where a familiar voice had spoken--it was their Uncle Vidur.

"Jyesht, look!" Arjun cried. "There are Brother Yudhishthir, Bheem, Nakul and Sahadev--and there are Duryodhan and his brothers--are the warriors you and me? But we did not graduate on the same day--"

"Are you ready, Son of Pandu, Arjun, and the King of Anga, Karna?"

"King of Anga?" demanded Arjun.

The armoured warriors at the centre shot. Karna propelled Arjun around the ring to get a better view and realized it indeed was the two of them.

And moreover, the two of them in the illusion was fighting with a sort of vengeance that they never possibly could. Their arrows seemed aimed to injure, not disarm--

The crowd shrieked as their arrows met in mid-air, showering sparks and bursts of light. So far, they had not managed to breach each other's defense.

Of course they did not mean to breach each other's defense, Karna reasoned with himself. Surely he was reading too much into it.

Then he caught the look on his illusion's face as he pulled his bowstring back. 

His blood ran cold.

Karna looked down at the bleeding wound on the arm of his brother standing beside him, and felt his heart contract with anger at its inflictor, and then he looked up again and saw himself looking at his brother standing in the arena with such hatred that it was as if...as if he wanted to inflict...worse wounds...on his brother.

Arjun seemed to have noticed the same, because he shifted his bow to his injured hand in favour of grasping Karna's hand for frightened assurance.

In their life, if Karna had looked at Arjun like that, Arjun would have dropped his weapons and cried. But here, his expression was just as fierce.

In the arena, they appeared to fight not to disarm, not to wound, but to kill.

****************

The combat was brought to an abrupt, undecided end by the sun setting.

"Why should the sun protect your disciple, Dronacharya?" shouted Karna in the illusion. "Is it not enough that he has been protected by you and every senior in this arena?"

Vidur stood and spoke firmly. "It is not acceptable to fight after sunset, King of Anga."

"Which you would know if you actually were a Ksatriya," called Bheem with a derisive laugh.

Arjun in the illusion touched his bow to his forehead and walked off after giving Karna a look of the deepest contempt. Karna returned it in kind.

"You wait, Arjun," he shouted. "One day on the battlefield I will get you. And no blood status is going to save you from facing death at my hands. Your grandfather, your guru and none of your blood-obsessed protectors will be there between you and me!"

Arjun turned back, head tilted in mockery.

"Yes, King of Anga. I shall certainly wait for that day."

******************

"Jyesht, I want to get out of this place," said Arjun in a small voice. 

"Yeah, well, so do I," said Karna. His throat was dry as he squeezed his brother's hand and looked around for a way out of this arena.

There was no need, because the arena dissolved anyway, and they found themselves in Hastinapur's royal court.

Draupadi was standing at its centre. There was a bruise on her forehead. She appeared hysterical.

"She is a slave," said Dussashan. "Let us take her clothes off."

Both Arjun and Karna reeled back.

"A woman who is with five men at the same time!" A dreadfully familiar voice spoke from the left. "You know what such a woman is called? A harlot!"

Karna felt the ground giving way beneath him as himself inside the illusion shouted that word.

"A harlot is what she is called! What difference does it make, if a harlot is wearing clothes or not?"

Both Karna and Arjun now knew Takshak had not been lying: they were cursed with hell.

Dussashan pulled Draupadi's saree, which kept extending to keep her covered. All of Duryodhan's brothers except Vikarna laughed. Karna laughed. None of Yudhishthir, Bheem, Nakul or Sahadev made a move to protect their sister-in-law. Arjun did not make a move to protect his wife.

****************

The final glimpse of hell they were cursed with was on a battlefield where millions of warriors froze to watch Karna and Arjun fighting to death.

Karna's charioteer was Nakul and Sahadev's Uncle. Arjun's charioteer was a stranger with a peacock feather on his head and a demeanour that demanded irresistible respect.

Mute spectators of the terrible battle, Arjun had now dropped his Gandiva to hold his brother's arm in both hands. Both his hands and his brother's were shaking.

Then the wheel of Karna's chariot got stuck in the mud. Still they did not cease to battle.

The look in their eyes were beyond hatred.

***************  

This time when Arjun in the illusion positioned his bow, Karna outside the illusion knew what was about to happen. He frantically reached out to turn Arjun's head away. Arjun pulled away, his eyes wide and wild.

"Don't look, you fool--don't--"

In the illusion, Arjun shot. Karna fell.

Outside the illusion, Arjun fell.

***************

Arjun screamed and screamed and screamed till he lost his voice.

Karna was forced to hold himself together in spite of the violent shudders running through him, but he could not calm Arjun down till he had shouted himself out.

Only then did he let Karna draw him close.

"Jyesth, jyesth, please remove that from my eyes. Please make me forget it," Arjun sobbed in Karna's arms. "Please, please make me forget it, jyesht."

Tears fell down Karna's cheeks. His throat hurt with holding it all back. But he could not fall to pieces--who would take care of Arjun then?

"It was simply an illusion, my dear," he tried to say soothingly, but his voice seized up with sobs, too, and he cracked. "But it was such a horrible illusion," he shouted.

Eventually, both of them were simply sobbing. 

"It was an illusion, wasn't it, jyesht? It could not be a--a--glimpse of the--future--?" Simply saying it made Arjun's body go weak.

"Of course it was an illusion," said Karna. "No one can see and hear us, it was created by that wretched Takshak--"

"But we felt a jerk, we felt like we were being transported through space!"

"Space," said Karna, running his hands through Arjun's hair and soothing the creases on his forehead. "Not time. It cannot possibly be the future. Surely you trust us more than to believe this could be our future, child."

Crying harder, Arjun clung on to his brother.

Chapter Text

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.

There had not been a single instance in the past when Karna had been able to hold his own against Arjun's demands.

So he gave in with a glare. Arjun instantly morphed his expression into injured innocence and assumed a pleading voice.

"Don't you honestly want to know, jyesht?"

"No, I don't. And don't think I don't know you know perfectly well how to work me, Arjun."

Arjun caught Karna's arm in a gesture of peace as he stepped into the world of darkness.

****************

Five hours.

Five hours was all they had.

They were no longer in the battlefield, the last scene they had seen. They were on the streets of Indraprastha. Karna sincerely hoped this was a timeline earlier than the battle, for people might freak out to see a dead man walking the streets.

"Takshak said we do not know we share blood here," said Arjun. "But how is that even possible? How can Maa not know?"

"I have no idea," sighed Karna.

Arjun plunged into detailed investigation of all that they had seen, carefully avoiding the bits were they had fought or hurt each other.

"Bheem said something about you not being a Ksatriya. And you said something about us being blood-obsessed..."

"I did not say anything of that sort," said Karna stiffly.

"Jyesht," protested Arjun. "I didn't mean it like that. How am I supposed to refer to the you in this universe?"

"King of Anga," came a helpful voice behind them.

Hearts pounding, they turned.

Karna instantly recognized the stranger as Arjun's charioteer in the battle they had witnessed. He had the same peacock feather on his head and wore the same serene expression.

"Arjun, taking a walk with the King of Anga?" he said with a grin. "Well, I certainly have not seen many unexpected scenes as this, though I have seen several unexpected things in my lifetime, Parth." He winked in a conspiratory manner at Arjun.

Parth. Karna stowed away the name for the next five hours. It appeared to be one of Arjun's names, possibly given by this stranger himself. And King of Anga was undoubtedly what he was in this world.

"We were just--" Karna stammered, but to his intense surprise, Arjun displayed more presence of mind.

He grinned back at the stranger.

"We simply happened to cross paths," he said in a friendly manner Karna could never assume with anyone he had never known. "I am sure you have seen more shocking things; I know how exceedingly unexpected things you have seen, Madhav."

Karna looked at Arjun sharply. Surprise flashed in the stranger's eyes, though it appeared Arjun had taken the correct name. Even Arjun looked surprised at himself.

How could he possibly guess...?

Madhav's grinned widened. So did Arjun's.

Karna's feeling of foreboding increased.

"All right, Parth, you must drop the King of Anga off where he is going," said Madhav. "I will be waiting in the palace."

Arjun was still grinning when the stranger had walked away. Karna rounded upon him.

"How did you know his name?" he demanded.

"I have no idea," said Arjun. "I just knew."

"You just knew? Does it make sense even to yourself? How can you know someone's name whom you have never met? Who probably does not even exist in our world? I certainly have never seen him, have you?"

"No," said Arjun. "It was strange, I felt drawn to him..."

"Drawn to him?"

"I don't know, jyesht," insisted Arjun. "I just felt I knew him. I felt I had known his name all my life, just never dwelt upon it. Madhav," he repeated in wonder.

"What on earth is wrong with you?"

"We have four and a half hours left, jyesht, can we debate this later?"

****************

Of the strange interactions they had over the five hours, the strangest was with the wife of their grandfather Bhisma's charioteer Adhirath, whom they had know by name to be Radha. 

"Son!" she called when Karna and Arjun passed by a humble hut.

As far as they had known, Adhirath and Radha were childless. But from the way Radha hugged a stunned Karna and they way she addressed him, she appeared to consider herself his mother.

Arjun had backed off, watching in trepidation.

When the five hours were almost up, Karna finally gathered the story. Radha and Adhirath had discovered him as an infant floating in a wicker basket in the river Ganga. His mother, whoever she was, had abandoned him at birth.

So Karna had grown up the son of a charioteer, mocked and laughed at every time he dared pick up a bow. Duryodhan was the only person who had ever stood up for Karna, awarding him a kingdom so he could challenge his cousin Arjun, whom he hated with a vengeance.

In this world, Duryodhan and his brothers hated all the five Pandavas--only five Pandavas, though, there was no sixth--and their success.

Someday, in this world, this hatred and jealousy would lead to war.

****************

By the time they returned to their world, night had already fallen. Winter had not set in properly yet, but everything felt very cold to Karna. The walk back to the palace was one of the coldest ones in his life.

The only bit of warmth in the journey was his brother's hand in his.

When they stepped inside, their mother's voice shrieked, "Where have you two been?"

She was gathered around with their four brothers, awake. So was Draupadi.

Draupadi stood up, looking furious. "Did you not tell me you would be back soon?" she demanded of Karna.

"A battle with Lord Indra takes time, my dear," Arjun told her with a misplaced grin. 

Karna saw the strain behind the grin anyway, but his eyes turned to his mother.

"What is wrong, son?" Kunti asked in concern.

"Maa..."

She came up and enveloped him in her arms, like she knew everything just by looking. Warmth started returning to Karna's body with the burning tears rising to his eyes.

Kunti took him away to her own room, forbidding her sons to ask them any further questions about what had happened.

"Are you all right, my dear? What happened in the forest?"

He could not insult her with the question he wanted to ask: did you ever think of abandoning me when I was born?

Instead, he lay down with his head on her lap. 

"I love you, Maa."

Kunti kept her arms around Karna, but it was impossible for both to stop his tears that night.

Chapter Text

Pov: Arjun from the world of light

Arjun hovered around the palace almost the whole duration of the night as his older brother stayed with their mother. He could not relax without talking to his brother.

He did not think he could ever relax in his life.

After what they had seen. After what they now knew to be happening in some other universe.

In spite of Karna's instructions that they must forget what they saw, it was impossible. It must be as impossible for Karna, too.

When Karna finally came out when dawn was nearing, Arjun besieged him.

"Did you tell Maa?"

"Of course not," said Karna, his voice still thick with all the tears he had shed in his mother's lap. "What we saw what an evil illusion, Arjun. We cannot dwell upon it."

"It was no illusion, jyesht. It was a parallel universe. A solid, existing universe."

"To us, it is simply an illusion," said Karna firmly.

"How can you just blow it away, jyesht?"

"Because what else can we do?"

"We can go and fix things there," said Arjun.

Karna had not given him a more dangerous look since the time Arjun and Bheem had made fun of Duryodhan for shooting a comically awry arrow ("You must never make fun of anyone, you have no idea of the far reaching effects it can have").

Arjun stepped back automatically.

"I know you think I am being ridiculous," he began in a placating tone.

"At least you realise that," said Karna coldly.

"But jyesht, think about it. Think of you and me in that world! Do we deserve it?"

"We cannot say that," Karna shrugged. "We do not know them; they are totally different people."

"They are you and me."

"No, Arjun, they are not you and me. You have got to understand that. You cannot fix everything. And we should not even try to fix something that was completely out of our control."

"Jyesht--" pleaded Arjun. "I am not saying we can fix everything, but this is something we must fix. How can you and I not love each other in any universe? You are the most important person in my existence. You are everything to me."

"Arjun," said Karna, "you are everything to me, too. We would give up our lives for each other in a heartbeat. Nothing can make us stop loving each other..."

Arjun beamed. "Exactly--"

"But," said Karna sternly. "We are speaking of ourselves. We cannot speak of anyone else."

"We are basically the same people there, too."

"Yes?" said Karna. "Me calling Draupadi by a disgusting name like that? And you--"

Karna stopped, but the image of him falling to the ground with Arjun's arrow in his heart flashed blindingly in front of Arjun's eyes anyway.

"Arjun," said Karna gently. "You see, we cannot even stand to imagine--"

"It must have been circumstances. It cannot be who we are in that world."

"Circumstances are the very thing that shape a person's character!"

"But deep inside..."

"All right, what do you even want us to do?" demanded Karna.

Arjun brightened. "I say we go there, live there for a while and fix everything wrong there. By the time we come back, Karna and Arjun in that world will also love each other like we do."

"Go there?" said Karna in a deadly quiet voice. "Go and live there?"

Arjun braced himself, for he knew that tone of his brother a little better than he would have liked to.

This time, the scolding session went on forty-five minutes. It was longer than the average session, but it wasn't so bad because because Karna kept punctuating it with hugs every time his voice choked up or every time Arjun's eyes teared up.

The whole topic was so awful today.

"And we cannot return there anyway," Karna said finally, and commanded, "Go to sleep now, Arjun. Do not fill up your head with airy nonsense."

After hours with his mother and having scolded and hugged his brother to his heart's content, Karna managed to go to sleep.

Arjun did not.

"Airy nonsense, jyesht?" he whispered.

*************

Before the sun could rise, Arjun was back at the Khandava forest. Takshak was not there, though he had been hoping against hope he would be. He had been counting upon the snake-man to help him in his endeavour.

Some part of him knew that since Takshak had wanted them to have a glimpse of that universe, since he had wanted them to go there a second time, doing so could not be good for them. 

An enemy's wishes were certain to be the worst of curses on you.

But the most part of him was possessed of fire. Just thinking of himself and his brother there made him paralyzed with sadness. Sadness for them. They had no idea what they were missing.

You don't miss what you never had, they said.

But this? Arjun spoke to the Arjun of that universe, the one who had killed his older brother unknowingly. You can't miss out on having a brother like my jyesht. I cannot let you.

Arjun squatted down on the forest bed and started the prayers. 

He prayed to his father, and his brothers' fathers. He prayed to Lord Agni, whom they had helped out just yesterday. He prayed to everyone, begging to be let through into that world.

He lost track of time. After a point of time, he even forgot why he wanted what he wanted. He just wanted.

He knew his prayers had been answered when he felt the now-familiar blinding flash of silver against his eyelids. He opened his eyes, heart thundering.

There it was: the portal.

Arjun clutched the Gandiva, sent a thanks to the heavens above, and approached the portal.

I will fix everything, you'll see, jyesht.

As he stepped through, he did not think to look back at his own world a last time. So he did not see Takshak at the threshold of the portal, leering after him, like this was exactly what he had wanted.

Chapter Text

Pov: Karna from the world of light

Karna woke up the next day with a resolve to treat today as a new dawn.

Yesterday's events were past. It would no doubt require continuous determination to wipe it from their mind, but he could certainly do it. He was certain Arjun could, too.

He was not sure how much of his admonitions had got through to Arjun last night. The first step to forgetting would be the desire to forget it, but his brother had seemed quite determined to hold on; that was what had led to his desperate anger to drive it into his head that they could not...

Now guilt set in.

He had yelled at Arjun several times yesterday; in the forest as well as back at their home. Of course, he had needed yelling at, and it was not like he had been very hurt, but Karna felt remorseful anyway.

He leapt out of bed and went out into the hallway. 

"Arjun!"

Yudhishthir came face to face with him. "Good morning, Jyesht--you are here? We thought you and Arjun had gone for practice early..."

"No, I just woke up," said Karna. "Arjun is probably still sleeping--we were up till late last night."

Yudhishthir frowned. "He is not there in his room."

"He will turn up, jyesht," said Nakul. "He has taken his bow; he must have found a new tactic to practice."

Since this was nothing out of the ordinary for Arjun, in the beginning no one but Yudhishthir--because he was overprotective--and Sahadev--because he got hit really bad by omens--worried. When Arjun was not back by midday, Kunti and Draupadi joined in their worry.

Karna, who had condoned and accompanied Arjun in several impromptu trips in their lifetime, consoled them. 

"Don't worry about him, Maa, no one can touch him. He was upset last night; he has probably gone somewhere a bit far away."

When Arjun was not back by sunset, Karna, Bheem and Nakul were forced to worry.

"This is yesterday all over again!" said Draupadi. "At least you were with him yesterday, jyesht."

Karna looked at her and froze as her words sank in.

Yesterday all over again...

But surely Arjun would not defy his direct commands. Surely Arjun could not have been so stupid. Surely he had the sense to understand how dangerous going and living in a mind-blowing universe could be. Surely he knew that a hundred things could go wrong and that their whole lives could change infinitely for the worse?

But he had a horrible feeling that, whether he had the sense or not, going there was exactly what Arjun done.

******************

It was confirmed when he found the portal in the Forest of Khadava.

Karna certainly had to follow. But he could not tell their family where Arjun had gone. They would freak out. Worse, they would insist upon going into that world, and he could not place them at risk. So he promised them he would bring Arjun back soon and returned to the forest.

He had often thought he would follow his flighty brother, who had tendencies to disappear in stretches, to the end of the world to bring him back to them. 

Today, it appeared to come true in the literal sense.

*****************

Karna ended up in a war camp.

He had no idea if it was before or after his own death in this world, but he had to hope it was before. He also had no idea if Arjun had also ended up in the same timeline, but since they had stepped through the same portal, again, he had to hope.

The camp was bustling with activity. It appeared a hour past sundown. Battle for that day would have ceased. The wounded would be taken care of; the last rites of the dead performed.

The two sides, Karna contemplated from what they knew of this dark world, would be Dhitarashtra's sons and Pandu's sons. He would be on the former. So it would probably be better if he had ended up in the latter's camp--providing he was not already dead in this world, of course, in which case ending up in either would be disastrous.

A gasp of furious surprise made him turn.

"Who exactly gave you leave to enter our camp, King of Anga?" Draupadi hissed venomously.

She looked awful; her hair was messy and stiff with dried blood. It was trickling down her forehead, her cheeks, soaking into her saree.

"Are you hurt?" asked Karna, horrified.

Draupadi's gaze was reminiscent of the fire she had been born from.

Karna recalled the royal court he and Arjun had witnessed yesterday, where he had called Draupadi a harlot. In this world, himself asking Draupadi if she was hurt was probably as disquieting as himself not asking in their world.

He backed off, but a voice stopped him.

"Have you come to beg for mercy after you saw Dussashan's body, Sutaputra?" said Bheem. "Do not worry, Arjun cannot execute messy deaths like me. He will award you a quick death tomorrow."

Yudhishthir gave Bheem a shake of his head.

"Please leave, King of Anga. We do not know why you stepped in here, but you are not welcome."

Nakul and Sahadev flanked Draupadi on either side. Their eyes were narrowed in a gesture very familiar to Karna, though he had never seen it directed at him.

He took another step back, looking around for a way to exit the camp. And then he saw Arjun.

Thank god. He had not expected to find him so quick.

"Arj--"

"Today was the last day the sun or my guru or grandfather or anything else stood between our battle, King of Anga," said Arjun quietly. "Tomorrow, there will be a result."

Solace at glimpsing Arjun's face was doused by disappointment.

Karna told himself these were not his brothers, not his sister-in-law. But they looked so similar. And they spoke so similar.

They were not the same people, and yet they were.

Beyond caring about what he would be doing to the image of himself in this world, he fled.

*****************

Karna found a banyan tree some distance from the camp and collapsed under it.

During the brief half-hour in his family's war camp, every moment had felt like arrowheads twisting into flesh. 

In their world, Karna and Yudhishthir were each other's silent support system, keeping each other on the right track whenever something challenged them. In their world, Bheem had been known to smash his mace in a villager's face when he had spoken a derisive word about Karna's birth. In their world, Nakul and Sahadev looked up at Karna like he had hung the moon. In their world, Draupadi was Karna's most loved sister-in-law and Karna was Draupadi's most loved brother-in-law; in spite of the difference in ages, they thought of each other as best friends.

In this world, Yudhishthir treated Karna like the most dishonourable person he had known; Bheem called him the son of a charioteer in the most derisive possible tone; Nakul and Sahadev could not stand to look at him; and as for Draupadi, she did not appear to loath anyone more.

But the cruelest barb, of course, was Arjun.

In their world, he and Arjun were the most important person in each other's life, because each would kill himself a hundred times over before letting the slightest hurt befall the other. 

In this world, too, he and Arjun were amongst the most important person in each other's life, because to kill the other was their primary goal.

Karna let the night air dry his tears, freezing on his cheeks. He did not have the energy to even lift up his fists and wipe them away.

Why, when they had had a perfectly idyllic world, would they torture themselves in a dark world such as this? He had known something like this would happen, though he had not guessed it would be so bad. And he had tried so hard to make Arjun understand.

But Arjun had not understood. Or maybe he had, but he had gone ahead anyway.

When he found the little idiot, he would give him a earful he would never forget. He would make sure, in the future, Arjun always thought twice before defying a order Karna had issued so seriously.

Along with that resolve came the sickeningly strong need to get his brother within his reach.

But how on earth would he find Arjun?

Not the one back at the camp, the stranger. He wanted his Arjun.

Just thinking of his brother, his heart felt like lead. This time, he wiped his eyes and resolutely picked himself up again.

Chapter Text

Pov: Arjun from the world of light

The first person Arjun came across in the forest after the battle had ceased was Madhav. He was not as recognizable by his physique, which was covered in armour, as the evitable pull Arjun felt towards him. The same pull he had felt yesterday when he and Karna had visited a much older timeline.

"Parth." Madhav embraced him warmly. "I thought you were back there at the camp."

Someone going past bowed to Madhav, addressing him as Lord Krishna. Arjun put the name away in his mind.

"Yes, I was just looking for--er, for the King of Anga," said Arjun.

"You seem to be exhibiting worrisome tendencies regarding the King of Anga, Parth."

Arjun looked at him nervously. From the way Krishna smiled--a small smile of understanding--Arjun felt quite, quite sure that this man somehow knew he had crossed over from another world.

But there was still no certainty, so he chose to remain quiet.

"Do not forget he had a hand in killing your son," said Krishna.

"My--son?" Arjun gasped. "He killed Sru--" 

Then he pursed his mouth shut: he could not go around displaying his ignorance, or he would never accomplish what he had come here for.

"Abhimanyu," said Krishna gently. "Remember Abhimanyu when you pick up arms against the King of Anga tomorrow."

Abhimanyu.

Along with Krishna, so far Abhimanyu was the only one Arjun had discovered to be missing from their world. He wondered how the child looked like, what kind of a warrior he was, who his mother was, and what his older brother in this world had felt while killing him.

Probably nothing.

He, in this world, was also about to kill his older brother without feeling anything.

"He was one of bravest warriors in this battle," Krishna said. "He went down fighting till his last breath. Not that anyone expected anything less from your son and my nephew..."

So that was why there was no Abhimanyu in their world; Arjun guessed he had known his mother only through her brother in this world.

But to him, Abhimanyu did not matter, and his jyesht did. He had to get to the Kaurava camp and talk to Karna no matter what. There was no way he could go, however, without convincing Madhav.

It appeared that in this world, Madhav was Karna's replacement in his life. 'The most important person in my life.'

"I simply wished to have a word with him before tomorrow's battle," he blurted out.

"Regarding what?"

"Regarding the war. Regarding whether he wants to fight it."

"You are having second thoughts again, Parth?" said Krishna. "I understood that you did not want to kill your grandfather and guru--"

Arjun felt a sickening swoop in his stomach.

"But the King of Anga? After he egged on Duryodhan to disrobe Draupadi in the court, called her a harlot because she had to marry the five of you due to inescapable circumstances, you are having second thoughts about fighting him?"

"What did you say about Draupadi?" asked Arjun blankly.

Krishna smiled again. "You seem to have been living in a different world, Parth," he said teasingly.

"S-sorry, I am just tired. I will be right back." Arjun shot to his feet, horrified at his continual slip-ups.

But WHAT did Madhav mean about Draupadi marrying five men? Who were the other four men?

"Halt just a moment, Parth, I must refresh your memory in case you are to set out without me; people would be most shocked if you acted like Draupadi was solely your wife."

Now Arjun was sure this man knew every truth. Who was he? And why was he so drawn by him?

Krishna told him Draupadi's story; in this world, she had been compelled to marry all four of his brothers along with him. The story made Arjun feel like he truly was about to be sick.

He thought of Nakul and Sahadev besieging Draupadi for one of her horror stories, gathered around her knees like younger brothers. He thought of Yudhishthir and Bheem's older brotherly protectiveness for their sister-in-law.

In this world, she had had children with all four of them.

Was jyesht right after all? he began to wonder. Are we here truly different from...us?

A nagging voice reminded him that he had never known jyesht to be wrong. In any judgement.

He resolutely ignored the voice and went in search of the opposite camp. It must be towards east, since Krishna's companions had set off west.

Jyesht would have to be wrong just this once.

*****************

When the Kaurava camp came into view, Arjun paused. He imagined how the warriors here would react if he went in--lead archer of the enemy from what he had gathered--asking unwanted questions.

I would want to injure such an intruder, fearing some conspiracy, if I was in their camp, he decided. So he could not enter the camp. He had to find a way to meet Karna outside camp.

He had to find a way to lure Karna outside the camp.

What were the things Karna always responded to?

His brothers' voices. But not in this world.

The sun's first rays. But he could not wait till sunrise.

A horse in pain. 

Arjun sneaked into the camp boundaries and went in search of the stables. It was teeming with stablemen; it was a long shot, but he had no option but to try. He had to return to his own world as soon as possible; his family might be worrying.

Nakul, who had a particular knack with horses, had taught them several tactics of causing distraction using the animals. Slipping from stable to stable, he tried to imitate the noises Nakul used, agitating the horses. Soon the started neighing and stamping and snorting. More joined in.

Then still more joined in, till there was pandemonium in the stables. The stablemen had started investigating, asking each other in shouts to look for miscreants. Arjun quickly withdrew into the shadows as a coupe of them rushed past.

For a good ten minutes, everyone, horse and human, yelled their heads off.

Then a familiar, commanding voice asked, "Is there a problem?"

Arjun realized too late it was directly behind him.

"Arjun," said Karna icily. "Are you trying to sabotage our horses?"

*****************

Arjun turned to look at his older brother; instead of focusing on the uncharacteristic look of loathing on his face, he chose to see the positive side: he had successfully drawn him out of camp.

"Good evening, jye--King of Anga," he said hastily.

Karna's eyebrows flew up.

"I was not hurting the horses. I wished to speak to you alone."

"Yes?" jeered Karna. "What can you possibly have to speak to me today, of all days? Tomorrow, one of us would be dead by the hands of the other."

Arjun's throat went dry. Had he ended up on the very eve of the day he had witnessed yesterday?

When he set off for this world, he had resolved not to let the mention of any awful incident in this world hurt him. But how had he ever imagined this--the Arjun-Karna singlemindedness to kill each other--would not hurt him?

I am here to stop exactly that, he told himself firmly.

"No," said Arjun. "Neither of us would be dead tomorrow."

"Oh? You are here to forfeit? Otherwise, nothing can keep me from you tomorrow."

"If--if--" Arjun panicked. "If that is what it takes to stop the war, we will forfeit."

"What?" demanded Karna. "Did Yudhishthir send you?"

Arjun panicked even worse.

He had taken on an impossible job and he had not planned anything.

"No, my brother did not send me," he said, trying to sound calm. "I just thought--if there was any way to stop a war, it should be stopped."

"And yet you fought on and killed billions for sixteen days! You killed your grandfather by deception, you killed your guru by deception. Your brother killed ninety-nine of his cousins. And now you say you want to stop the war?" Karna raised his bow and positioned an arrow close to Arjun's face. "You cannot leave till you have told me your real deal, Arjun."

Killed your grandfather by deception. Killed your guru by deception.

What kind of a world was this? 

For the first time, Arjun felt the stirrings of fear.

He attempted to move his head away from the arrowhead, but Karna was too quick. Now it was so close to his nose, it appeared blurred.

"What exactly do you want, Arjun?"

"I do not want to kill you--I cannot kill you," Arjun heard himself say.

Chapter Text

Pov: Karna from the world of darkness

'I cannot kill you.'

Karna thought he was hardly to blame that he was struck dumb for several minutes after that. It was so out of Arjun's character, he could hardly process it.

"So--" he said finally. "So you finally admit I am better than you. At least your death will not be unexpected."

"Of course you are better than me, jyes--K-King of Anga." 

Arjun seemed flustered. As he attempted to turn his face away, the tip of the arrow almost scratched his cheek.

Karna lowered it just a bit and waited.

"You don't need to fight me to death to prove you are better than me," said Arjun, and brightened. "I will tell everyone I am scared to fight you."

"What--what--is--wrong with you?"

"For heaven's sake put this thing away," said Arjun, waving away the arrow. "How do you expect me to talk with this in my face?"

Scowling, Karna complied. He kept his bow and arrow at the ready in case Arjun tried to flee. Of course Arjun would not flee like a coward.

But then, Arjun was not supposed to say he was afraid to fight Karna either.

Was he hallucinating? wondered Karna.

"Speak, then," he said.

"Yes." Arjun cleared his throat. "Look, I would do anything to stop the war."

"Why the hell would you do something like that?"

"I don't know if you know, King of Anga," said Arjun, looking at his feet. "We are brothers."

Karna was struck dumb yet again.

"Yes, I know," he managed at last.

"Do you think brothers should be killing each other?"

"It does not matter either way to me," said Karna, trying to sound indifferent. "We may be related by blood, but we are not brothers. I did not avoid killing the other four because I care for them in any way--"

Arjun looked up. Karna realized he should probably not have mentioned that he had spared Arjun's brothers' lives on the battlefield.

"Why did you avoid killing them, then?" asked Arjun.

"Because Kunti Maa requested me not to," said Karna stiffly.

Arjun's eyes widened.

"Don't run away with the idea she only requested for the four of them." Karna put as much contempt into his tone as he could. "But the part of the request concerning you was impossible to be granted."

"Not even if I make it known I accept you are superior?" There was something like a plea in Arjun's voice.

"Why would you do that?" said Karna, getting angry.

"I don't want to fight my brother."

"Brother?" shouted Karna, the innocence in his arch-rival's tone making him still madder. "How can you possibly feel we are brothers, Arjun? We have detested each other for years! For decades! What difference does this sudden revelation of our mother's make?"

Arjun blinked and dropped his eyes.

"None of you are my brothers. If anyone is, it is Duryodhan and Dussashan. One of whom your brother killed today like a savage set loose."

"I wish--" Arjun drew in a shaky breath. "I wish--I had been there to stop it."

"You were there! You were there on the same battlefield and you knew perfectly well Bheem was about to murder Dussashan!"

"I'm--I'm sorry--"

Karna's head was spinning so fast he felt dizzy.

"Please leave, Arjun," said Karna. "Please leave at once. There is no way the war can be stopped now; you will not go to hell if you kill your blood, Ksatriyas who die in battle are blessed with heaven."

"I was not worried about hell," said Arjun.

"I do not care what you are worried about!" said Karna fiercely. "Get out. If you don't get out--" He started to lift his bow into position.

"All right," said Arjun, stepping back. "All right, I didn't mean--"

"GET OUT!"

An unrecognizable look flashed in Arjun's eyes.

Karna exploded.

"YOU AND YOUR BROTHERS DID NOT CARE ABOUT BLOOD WHEN YOU KILLED MY SONS! I DID NOT CARE ABOUT BLOOD WHEN I ATTACKED YOUR SON! DON'T YOU DARE PRETEND BLOOD MAKES A DIFFERENCE!"

His throat hurt. Everything hurt. Arjun had no right to act friendly; Arjun had no right to throw him into turmoil the night before their final fight.

He saw the shine of tears in Arjun's eyes the same moment as he realized his own vision was blurred.

Karna turned and stormed back to their camp. The ground appeared to heave with every step, and the world appeared blurrier.

******************

"Karna!" Aswatthama caught up with him. "What happened?"

"Is Duryodhan all right?" asked Karna.

"Not really. He is still breaking things."

"I--I will kill Arjun so brutally tomorrow--that--"

Aswatthama caught Karna's arm as he stumbled.

"--that Bheem feels at least a little of what he made Duryodhan go through--"

"What happened?" asked Aswatthama again, quietly.

"Arjun dared to come here to mess with my mind," said Karna, furious at the very recollection. "He thinks he is so smart--"

"Arjun was here?" Duryodhan's voice asked.

"Yes," said Karna waspishly. "He was here spouting nonsense about how he--how he wants to forfeit--"

He realized he must be speaking truly hysterically when he noticed the look Aswatthama and Duryodhan exchanged.

"Sit down, my friend." Duryodhan was deadly calm after the fit he had had following performing Dussashan's last rites.

Karna's head spun a little slower after he had sat down. But it was still spinning.

"Arjun came here asking to forfeit?" asked Duryodhan.

"Yes. He said Yudhishthir did not send him--just that he wants to put an end to this war."

"After he killed our grandfather Bhisma, our guru Dronacharya--and my brother?" Duryodhan spoke in a still deadlier voice.

"Can you imagine his audacity?" said Karna.

"No, I actually cannot."

Duryodhan stood up and started to pace agitatedly.

"They are planning something. Something lethal," he mumbled.

"Something bigger than messing around with Karna," said Aswatthama, giving Karna a concerned glance, "though they have done a great job with that, too."

"We need to find out what Arjun was aiming for," said Duryodhan. "Afterwards, I need to teach him a lesson for daring to mess around with my friend's head."

Karna looked up.

Duryodhan's eyes were tinged with red and madness. He patted Karna's shoulder in a deranged sort of way.

"Come on, you two."

"What do we mean to do?" asked Aswatthama, standing up.

"We will force the truth out of him. I have the means." Duryodhan cradled his mace.

"No--" said Karna, alarmed. "There is no need to--"

"You will leave it up to me to decide what there is a need for, my friend. They have killed your father by deception--" Duryodhan nodded at Aswatthama, whose lip curled. "--tore my brother from limb to limb--" He sent a glance heavenward. "--and now they have tried to deceive you." He looked straight at Karna. "The three most important people in my life. The three most--"

Karna and Aswatthama followed as Duryodhan strode forward.

"--important people in my life. They need to pay the price."

Chapter Text

Pov: Arjun from the world of darkness

Where on earth was Madhav?

He seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth altogether since they returned to camp after the day's battle ended. He had not even been there when the King of Anga made his surprising intrusion in their camp. It was a pity, because he was great at reading demeanours, much better than Arjun himself.

Maybe he could have picked on hints about what Karna had planned for tomorrow.

Tomorrow. The big day, finally.

Tomorrow, after he had (hopefully) killed his rival, Bheem would kill Duryodhan, and the war would at last be over.

So where was Madhav? Did he not know Arjun needed his calming companionship tonight?

Unable to sit still, he wandered out. 

Three shadows detached itself from the trees and blocked his path.

****************

"Greetings, cousin," said Duryodhan. "One minute you are there with Vasudev, plotting to kill my friend through deception, the next minute you are here, surrounded by us."

"What?" said Arjun.

"That is what we are asking you. What do you mean by barging into our camp and trying to sabotage your rival?"

Arjun stared at Duryodhan.

"What do you mean by ending the war? You think it is all in your hands? You wish to fight, we fight. You wish to end the war, we end the war?"

"Why would I want to end the war?" asked Arjun blankly.

"Perhaps," whispered Aswatthama. "You simply want Karna to believe you want to end the war so he would let up on his efforts?"

Arjun began to think all three of them had lost their minds. Maybe Dussashan's brutal death had something to do with it.

Thinking of the sight still made his body go cold. Inside, he wished Bheem had not done it so savagely, though Dussashan had been the one who had pulled Draupadi's saree...

How he wished Madhav was here.

Madhav, who could always clear his mind, no matter what. What had Duryodhan said just now?

One minute you are there with Vasudev, plotting to kill my friend through deception.

He wished it had been real. Just not the deception part; Arjun was determined not to kill the King of Anga by deception. He would defeat him by competence, and competence alone.

"You will stay here the whole night if that it what it takes for you to admit you were playing a dirt cheap trick with Karna's mind, Arjun," said Aswatthama.

"What trick did I play?" asked Arjun in exasperation.

"How can you lie point blank like this?" demanded Karna. "Do you have even a sliver of honour, Arjun?"

"I have no idea--"

"Like hell you don't," said Duryodhan.

"Did you not come to our stables, agitating the horses?" asked Karna icily.

"No," said Arjun.

"And you did not say you would do anything to stop the war, even forfeit?"

"No," said Arjun, starting to get angry.

Karna shook his head in a gesture of giving up.

Duryodhan stepped forward till his face was two inches from Arjun's. Arjun glared and shoved him away. 

"You will see on the battlefield whether I mean to forfeit or not, cousin," he said, turning to return to his camp, because honestly, he did not have time for this. He hoped Madhav would be back by now--

"You cannot leave!" said Aswatthama.

"Try to stop me," said Arjun.

A hand on his arm yanked him back. Turning, he found Karna's contemptuous gaze fixed upon him.

"There, I stopped you," he said. "You will tell us what your deal is before you are allowed to leave. One hour ago you were ready to forfeit, ready to tell the world you know I am superior to you--"

Lightheaded with rage, Arjun laughed derisively.

"I was ready to tell the world you are superior to me? Where, King of Anga? In your dreams?"

They glared at each other.

"Are you by any chance confusing me with yourself?" asked Arjun. "It was you who barged into our camp at sunset. To be sure, you fled soon enough."

"You disgusting liar," snarled Karna. "You hypocrite, Arjun, how many people in this world have you fooled like this? Isn't Yudhishthir ashamed of you?"

Arjun found himself shaking.

"We already know about Bhisma and Drona, of course," said Karna. "Have you ever defeated anyone without deception?"

"Yes, I have, you coward!" shouted Arjun, twisting his arm out of Karna's grasp and reaching for his Gandiva.

From Duryodhan's expression, this was the signal he had been waiting for.

***************

"You dare insult my best friend, Arjun?"

He swung his mace with a violent pace. Arjun had not been expecting this at all and did not even get the chance to raise his arms to protect himself.

The mace hit him dead on the forehead.

For a few minutes, everything went black. When he opened his eyes, he found himself crumpled on the ground. His face felt sticky and when he touched it, his fingers came off red.

"Duryodhan, don't--" A distant voice spoke before another blow of the mace hit his chest, leaving him winded.

"LET ME GO, KARNA!"

"Duryodhan--" The King of Anga sounded horrified.

Another tremendous swing caught Arjun's knee, but this time the pain was muted. Perhaps he was starting to pass out--

I won't pass out, Arjun told himself firmly.

"I WANT BHEEM TO FIND HIM HERE! RIGHT HERE--IN THE SAME STATE WE FOUND DUSSASHAN!"

"Do it tomorrow in the battlefield, my friend!" This time it sounded like Aswatthama. "You cannot kill someone at night, it is against the--!"

"AGAINST THE RULES? WHAT RULES, ASWATTHAMA?"

Arjun tried to lift himself up on one elbow, but the moment he tried it, the elbow had been smashed. He swallowed a groan, but he thought it escaped anyway.

"REMEMBER WHAT THEY TOLD YOUR FATHER?" roared Duryodhan, now pounding his mace into Arjun's chest with every word. "ASWATTHAMA IS SLAIN. IS THAT NOT AGAINST THE RULES?"

Aswatthama fell silent; he did not protest anymore as Duryodhan knelt beside Arjun, his face apoplectic with rage.

"My dear cousin Arjun," he said. "While you lie here, dying, do keep in mind how your brother killed my Dussashan."

Arjun could not move any part of himself an inch. His grasp on consciousness faded.

Through half-shut eyes, he sensed Duryodhan swinging up the mace again, right above his head.

Remember how Abhimanyu died, undefeated... thought Arjun. Remember...my son...Abhimanyu...I am dying defeated, but my son...he was never defeated...

 The killing blow did not come.

"My friend, please." Now the King of Anga's voice was soft and pleading. "It does not matter they broke the rules...please do not give them a chance to say you won unfairly. I will kill him tomorrow, I swear. I will kill him before you kill Bheem, so he gets the chance to regret."

Then Arjun's world went so black he could not see anymore.

Chapter Text

Pov: Karna from the world of light

In the gloom, the forest stretched out, unending, in all four directions.

Whichever direction Karna took a step towards, he immediately felt he was going opposite. Even assuming Arjun was in this timeline, which he had to believe in, he could be anywhere.

He had come to 'fix' things. Karna wished he had bothered to ask him yesterday night how he had meant to fix things. It might have given him an idea, at least, about where he would have headed.

Would he venture into the Pandava camp, knowing there was another Arjun there?

Would he venture into the Kaurava camp, knowing everyone hated him there? Would he even be safe there?

Look at the way the Pandava camp had viewed Karna. He would not put it past Bheem to have hit him for intruding into their camp. Would Duryodhan--?

Karna pushed the terrifying thought away and headed for the direction he believed to house the Kaurava camp.

******************

Arjun's charioteer in this world, whom Arjun had called Madhav, appeared beside him out of thin air. Karna supposed he had not truly appeared out of thin air, but that was what his frenzied eyes showed him.

"King of Anga, have you spoken to Arjun?"

The question was more than a little startling from the way Yudhishthir and the others had spoken to him earlier.

"Why would I speak to Arjun?" asked Karna.

"He was going to meet you," said Madhav. "Or at least, he claimed so."

The gloom all around instantly lightened around Karna. 

Madhav's Arjun would never claim he wanted to meet him--only his Arjun would. Which meant he was here, in this timeline--

Trying to fix things by trying to reason with Karna of this universe--which would, of course, be futile--and may end up getting him hurt.

"Shocking," Karna told Madhav. "Where did he head?"

"I am not very sure," said Madhav unhelpfully. "In fact, why he would want to speak to you at all is a mystery. Do you have any possible suggestion?"

"N-none."

"Tomorrow, you will be fighting my friend to kill." Madhav looked into his eyes intently. 

Karna tried to keep his expression neutral.

"And today he wishes to talk to you?"

"I have no explanation to that," said Karna in the cold sort of voice he expected he would use on his arch-rival's charioteer during war. Though he had a feeling that this person was a lot more than just a charioteer. "Why don't you ask him?"

"I would, if I could find him."

"He is competent enough to protect himself." Karna spoke out loud, possibly to convince himself. "He will be all right."

"Tomorrow, too?" Madhav grinned with a hint of amusement.

"I suppose so," said Karna stiffly.

"You accept defeat so easily, King of Anga?" His companion's eyes were thoughtful. "Not like you at all."

"I am not accepting defeat." Karna sent a worried glance at the sky. It told him he had been here two hours already; it was not very long till dawn. Five hours, at best.

They had to get out of this world before tomorrow's battle started. Otherwise, anything could go wrong.

Unbidden thoughts of one of them being pulled into the battlefield chilled him.

"Madhav?" he said hesitantly; Madhav's expression said he was not supposed to address him by this name. "Do you have no idea where Arjun could have--"

Sahadev and Draupadi came up. 

"No, he is not there inside," the former told Madhav. "Have you--?" His eyes fell on Karna.

Karna tried to melt into the shadows. Sahadev and Draupadi looked askance at Madhav, possibly due to his choice of companion.

"Not yet," said Madhav.

"How many times do we have to tell him to stop disappearing without informing anyone?" said Draupadi.

Her exasperation was so exactly the same as in their world when they had discovered Arjun missing that Karna could not help a smile.

Sahadev gave him a mistrustful glance and caught Draupadi's hand to pull her away.

"Since he doesn't listen to Madhav, he wouldn't listen to any of us."

The way they held hands while walking away made Karna's jaw drop. Surely brothers and sisters did not hold their hands in that way.

Wide-eyed, he saw Sahadev put his arm around Arjun's wife before they vanished into the camp.

Horror drenched Karna.

What kind of a world was this? Where brothers killed each other, treated their brother's wife like their own or called her a harlot? Where cousins attempted to disrobe their cousin's wife and her husband or brother-in-laws did not protest? Where cousins fought a war so violent that the very air stank of blood?

Karna would never, never forgive Arjun for dragging them into this. He was worse than Takshak. He was so stupid he deserved to be chained inside the palace and never allowed to--

"Remember your curses, Suryaputra," said Madhav quietly.

"What?"

"Every curse you have received over your lifetime. They might add up someday when you require them not to. They might make my friend's task easier."

Karna recalled the way they had seen his death: the chariot wheel getting stuck in the mud. Could that be a curse?

How did that matter, anyway?

Why would he not be allowed to stop thinking of how tomorrow Arjun and Karna were to fight each other to death? Was that all everyone cared about?

"I will remember," said Karna, turning away.

"If you happen to come across Arjun, do tell him I was looking for him, won't you?"

If I happen to come across Arjun, I will slap him and then I will drag him over to the portal north of the Pandava camp.

****************

A familiar figure was skulking around the Kaurava camp. 

"Karna?"

"Duryodhan," said Karna, with a smile that came naturally.

"You should not have stopped me."

"I--I should not have--?"

"You should have let me kill Arjun," said Duryodhan softly. 

Karna tried to keep his gaze steady, but his hands shook, for he had just realized his fears to have been justified. Duryodhan had needed stopping from killing Arjun...

He had to get to Arjun. He had to get to Arjun now.

"That Vasudev cannot be trusted not to make him win tomorrow by treacherous means. You remember Jayadratha's death? He hid the sun. He hid the sun."

"Of course," said Karna quickly.

"He has already tricked you into squandering Indradev's weapon on Ghatotkach. If Vasudev Krishna resorts to underhand means tomorrow--"

Duryodhan put a fierce hand on Karna's shoulder and his eyes were a bit too bright.

"--you know what would happen?" asked Duryodhan.

"I know," said Karna.

He did not know who Vasudev Krishna was, but he had a feeling it was none other than Madhav. It appeared common knowledge that he would go to any lengths to protect Arjun.

Karna had never felt warmer towards a stranger. It helped calm his nerves a little.

"And I cannot accept that," said Duryodhan. His eyes had a faraway gaze into the dark horizon. "I cannot accept that."

Chapter Text

Pov: Karna from the world of darkness

Karna could not get rid of the nagging conviction that Duryodhan had injured Arjun too much--and too unfairly at that--for him to fight the next day. Even if he managed to turn up on the battlefield, which he supposed Vasudev would ensure at any cost, he could not possibly give his best. Karna did not want to fight his enemy weakened.

He wanted to defeat him at full strength, when there would be no doubt at all regarding who was superior. In a way, he was almost glad he had had to squander his celestial spear on Bheem's demonic son.

Arjun's twin brothers were decent healers, he had heard.

Probably they could restore him to normalcy. Providing they found him on time, that is.

His stomach squirmed uncomfortably.

When he and Aswatthama had finally managed to wrest the mace out of Duryodhan's arms, a pool of blood around Arjun had already formed. He had appeared senseless. 

Duryodhan's blows had been ruthless.

Of course, Arjun was a warrior and it would take a lot more than rage-induced inaccurate blows to kill him. But if he somehow did die like this--

Karna would never have won.

"Good evening, King of Anga," said Arjun's voice the second time that evening.

Karna jumped out his skin and turned.

In front of him stood Arjun, whole and uninjured, the Gandiva clutched in one hand.

"You--you recovered this fast?" Karna asked without thinking.

Arjun tilted his head.

"Recovered from what?"

"For heaven's sake," said Karna crankily. "Don't start the ignorance routine again. How could you possibly recover from Duryodhan's injuries in less than an hour?"

 "You should know, King of Anga," said Arjun with a smile, "it is only internal wounds that last long."

Karna smiled back before he straightened his face quickly. It was all wrong; everything was wrong, especially how he felt that if not for some circumstances, he and Arjun could have been the best of friends.

He had never hated Arjun. Not really. He had simply hated the idea he represented. The privileged class, the blood-obsessed royalty who thought themselves too good for everyone around.

But Arjun had never backed off from a fight due to Karna's birth status. It was Bhisma and Drona and all the other senior members of royalty. Yet he had fought the war on the same side as people who had never shown him the slightest respect--and his goal in the war was to slay Arjun, who had been one of the few of the privileged class who had never passed a comment on charioteer sons.

It did not make much sense to him anymore.

And then he had discovered the opposition side had been his brothers all along.

When it was far too late.

But there was one thing he could hold on to to keep himself: Arjun had been attempting trickery and lying about it.

"I suppose you will again deny later that you visited our camp," he said viciously. "I am afraid I cannot tolerate this conversation a moment longer."

"Wait!" cried Arjun. "I have come with a proposal this time."

Karna gritted his teeth.

"I heard you can influence Brother Duryodhan, King of Anga," said Arjun solemnly, "and I can influence my older brother. We can persuade them to concede to peace."

"Really?" said Karna sarcastically. "How do you suppose we do that?"

"We can convince them to divide the divide the kingdom into half again," said Arjun. "Neither they nor we would interfere in each other's kingdom again. We can coexist in the same world."

"Divide the kingdom?" said Karna.

Arjun had said it in such an innocent way, like he genuinely thought it was that easy--like he did not know that if it had been possible at all, the war would never have happened in the first place--that a laugh escaped Karna.

"It is not a laughing matter, King of Anga."

"The way you are speaking is."

"It ought not to be." Arjun frowned. "What is so impossible about rebuilding our old kingdoms and restoring peace?"

"I am sure you are aware that Vasudev Krishna visited Prince Duryodhan before the war as a peace mercenary, Arjun? You remember what he had said?"

Arjun hesitated.

"Are you going to lie again and say you have forgotten?" asked Karna in disdain.

"No, I--"

"He asked for five villages, one for the each of you. And even that was declined. Do you think there is any chance Duryodhan will return whole of Indraprastha to them?"

"But you never tried to reason with him," said Arjun earnestly. "Everyone tried, but you didn't. You are the only one who can truly influence him. Can you not try once?"

Karna wondered if he was inside some sort of a complex dream.

Arjun had never seemed the fake sort to him; even in his worst flaws would Karna never count cunningness. If anything, he was too open with his expressions.

So he could not be rambling on for the sake of an elaborate conspiracy. Vasudev carried out plenty of conspiracies of his own, but he had never used Arjun as a pawn. And Arjun could not have come up with all this on his own for the sake of deception.

Yet he could not be speaking from sense, either.

Maybe the prolonged war had affected his head?

"Are you thinking?" asked Arjun.

"There is nothing to think," said Karna mechanically.

"I wish you would genuinely give it a thought, jyesht--" Arjun broke off. "--King of Anga."

"Don't insult Yudhishthir by calling me that, Arjun."

"Sorry."  

But Arjun looked crestfallen. Karna looked away.

"Anyway, what I was saying is--" began Arjun.

"Don't you realize I disarmed Abhimanyu and led to his death, Arjun?" said Karna finally. "Don't you realize that was the point from where we cannot go back? You are insulting your son's memory by even considering peace."

"But so long as the war continues, there will be still more deaths." Instead of flaring up at the mention of his late son, Arjun was as earnest as ever. "Revenge has to draw a line at some point, or there will be nothing left."

"There will be nothing left after this war, so it is said," said Karna.

"It makes little sense to accept that as inevitable," pointed out Arjun, not insensibly.

"And as for the two of us negotiating for peace, that is ridiculous," said Karna. "Whether there was a war or not, whether there comes peace or not, one of us has to kill the other."

Arjun opened his mouth to protest, but Karna did not give him the chance to speak.

"Neither of us can live while the other survives. It is inevitable. It is written in the stars." 

Karna waved at the sky above. Arjun followed his gaze. Three hours were left for sunrise; the stars had hidden themselves from this place of sin, but they would be there, somewhere, and they could not be changed.

Chapter Text

Pov: Arjun from the world of light

Arjun was running out of options now.

He had expended every bit of leverage information he had learnt from Madhav an hour ago. From the way Madhav had told him of the past, Arjun was surer than ever that he knew something unusual was up. All the same, he had not posed any direct questions.

Once or twice, Arjun had caught a deeply contemplative look in his eyes, like he was trying to work something out in his head.

But the information had all come to nothing. Karna would not be persuaded into opening his eyes even a little bit. 

How could he not realize what he was losing out on? Did he not know what brothers were?

Brothers were God's dearest gift to a person, Arjun thought. Brothers would support you through thick and thin, hold your hand and have your back every time you needed. Brothers would lay down their life for each other without blinking. Brothers were your best friend, your most satisfying companion, the one you would always approach in times of joy and sorrow. 

How could a life without brothers appeal to anyone compared to one with them?

So he took another shot.

"I think you don't know what you are missing out on by maintaining enmity with your brothers, King of Anga."

It was the wrong thing to say; Karna's eyes flashed.

"I am maintaining enmity with them? When have they showed me anything but animosity? And scorn for my birth?"

 "I am now," said Arjun.

"You are scheming something, Arjun," said Karna with finality. "I cannot imagine what, and I do not know why; I thought you had that much faith in your skill alone. Whatever I have ever thought you are, I never thought you were a coward."

A line spoken in Madhav's voice, which Arjun had never truly heard, sounded in his ears like he had heard it sometime in the past.

"Sometimes running away from the battlefield yields better results in the long term," he repeated.

Karna scoffed.

"I have never known it to be true."

"You, just like my jyesht, is too bound by your own dharma to accommodate a new viewpoint."

"Only my dharma is solely that of a warrior; your jyesht's dharma pushes him to put his brothers and wife up for gambling."

Arjun had meant his own oldest brother by 'jyesht', but Karna had clearly referred to Yudhishthir. Arjun was about to fly to his defence, but caught his tongue at the last minute. 

My jyesht Yudhishthir would not put us and Draupadi on the stake, he realized. This world's Yudhishthir might be perfectly capable of that--he wouldn't know.

'We do not know them; they are totally different people.'

'No, Arjun, they are not you and me. You have got to understand that.'

He heard his oldest brother's voice so clearly, it was like he was sitting beside him and scolding him in person.

And then he suddenly missed his jyesht so much, his chest hurt. Of course he loved his jyesht in this universe too, but nowhere close to his own.

For the first time, Arjun wondered if he should be thinking of going back. There did not seem much point reasoning with Karna; he was unbending regarding the fight to death tomorrow on the battlefield--or today. 

There would be hardly around two hours to go for sunrise.

He was a different person from his brother. His brother would simply never hold on to the idea of a fight to death with anyone if his rival came and begged. His brother believed in second chances. His brother embodied forgiveness.

And his brother lived for his younger brothers.

Of course, he did not blame the person sitting beside him for being different. He had faced much worse hardships than could be imagined, and was single-minded on the desire for revenge and consumed with hatred owing to his past experiences.

'Circumstances are the very thing that shape a person's character!'

Why could he not have listened to his older brother?

He was always right. About everything. Guilt swooped inside him as he remembered he had disappeared for hours; everyone would be so worried. 

He had been so stupid. So, so stupid.

"I'm sorry, jyesht," he told him in his mind. "I will always listen to you in the future."

"What?"

The King of Anga's voice told him he had spoken out loud.

"Sorry," said Arjun, standing up. "But I had to try. Farewell, King of Anga."

Karna stared after him uncomprehendingly; Arjun did not look back as he strode into the forest.

****************

"There you are."

On his way to the portal east of the Pandava camp, Madhav stopped him.

"Not a good time to disappear, Parth. Everyone back there at camp is fretting."

"I'm sorry--I--"

"An hour and a half to go for the big day." Madhav looked at him intently. "Are you ready?"

Arjun swallowed. "Yes, of course. I will just--"

But Madhav slipped his arm through him in a gesture of friendship and started heading for their camp, talking about tomorrow. Arjun dared not make another excuse. He had already slipped away from Madhav with excuses, twice, that evening. He did not want to lie to him yet again.

"You have evidently not caught a wink of sleep. Thanks to you, nor has anyone else in the camp. The good thing, however, is that the war is certain to get over by tomorrow or the day after."

They entered the camp.

"I am sorry for the in-inconvenience--" Arjun wondered where the Arjun of this universe had disappeared to, today of all days. If this world's Arjun turned up, he could comfortably slip out of camp.

Of course, even if he did not turn up, he would have to give them the slip at some point.

Only an hour would be left for sunrise.

"Sister," Madhav hailed with a smile. "Look, I have found him. Finally."

Subhadra, looking the picture of relief, rushed up to them.

"Where were you so long, dear?"

Arjun felt his face heat up.

"I--I--"

Simply looking at Madhav's sister made Arjun feel uncomfortably that he was being unfaithful to Draupadi.

"Come and eat something, rest for a while. There is not much time left to do anything--"

Arjun nervously stepped out of reach of Subhadra's outstretched hand as he followed her, keeping an eye around. 

Here and there, people would keep hailing him, asking where he had been. He tried to avoid all questions. Instead he focused on staying out of Subhadra's reach and looking a way out of camp.

He would have to leave very, very soon. Once the battle started, he could not stay in this world. 

He could not be witness once again to his brother's death.

Chapter Text

Pov: Karna from the world of light

"I cannot accept anything happening to you, my friend," Duryodhan kept saying over and over. "I have lost enough--after Dussashan, I cannot live on if anything happens to you."

"N-nothing will happen to me," Karna felt compelled to say. He tried to reason with himself that he was not technically lying.

Duryodhan's demeanour was the only thing in this world that had seemed right to Karna so far. Even in their world, he had always been close to Duryodhan. They did have polar opposite views on several things, but Karna enjoyed being with him second only to Arjun.

"You give me your word, don't you?" asked Duryodhan. "You will certainly slay Arjun tomorrow?"

"I--" Karna could not complete that line. He simply could not.

Under dire requirement, he could lie about anything, but not this.

Duryodhan caught his shoulders and gazed at him. There was something unstable in the gaze. Something crazed and rabid.

Karna remembered what he had gathered so far: Dussashan had been dealt a brutal death by Bheem yesterday. It was not Duryodhan's fault if he was unstable tonight. After seeing your brother's savaged body...

He shivered at the idea. Warriors and protectors of kingdoms could not help war, of course; but to encounter a war on this scale would be a misfortune indeed.

"You stopped me from killing him today. He was at our feet--and he deserved it, after making up stories to you about how he wanted to forfeit. He deserved to die at our feet."

That meant Arjun was somewhere, hurt. 

Idiot--thinking he could reason with people who detested the very sight of him.

"You have to kill that Arjun tomorrow," murmured Duryodhan. "Make him beg before killing him. I shall try to direct Bheem towards you just as you kill him. I want to make Bheem see his younger brother begging for death. I need to make Bheem suffer. Only then can I be at peace about my brother's death."

Karna closed his eyes, but could not banish the image painted in front of his eyes.

"Promise me, Karna. Promise me, my friend."

Karna's eyes found the sky; it was less than an hour for sunrise.

"I--I promise I will act for the best," he said. "You get a bit of rest; I will be back soon."

"You cannot leave," said Duryodhan pleadingly.

"I am not leaving, my friend, I will be right here." Karna freed himself gently from his oldest cousin's arms and escaped.

****************

He ran all the way to the vicinity of the Pandava camp, glancing up at the sky every minute.

Fifty minutes to sunrise.

Forty minutes to sunrise...

There was much general bustle in and around the camp; men getting ready, women aiding them, people calling each other in shouts. 

This time, Karna was absolutely determined to keep himself hidden. There was to be no scene as the one when he had first arrived.

Keeping his head down and shoulders hunched, he slunk around the camp perimeter, scrutinizing everyone desperately for some hint--any hint that might guide him to his brother.

He found Arjun with Vasudev Krishna and an unknown woman. She had her arm around Arjun's waist and her head on his shoulder.

Karna looked away queasily.

This world's Arjun could just as well be married to someone other than Draupadi for all he knew. He was no one to pass judgement.

If there was this world's Arjun inside the camp, his Arjun would be outside.

Possibly injured. Though hopefully he had recovered...

Karna sent a despairing look at the sky.

Thirty minutes left to sunrise, at best.

He sprinted away from the camp in a circle, trying to cover as much area as he could in as less time as possible. His eyes scanned every tree for movement.

But the dark crumpled shape he found under a tree nearby was not moving. It was bloodied and broken. The silver Gandiva in its fist was the only part that had not imbibed the blood. But its chest was heaving up and down steadily.

Every fibre in Karna's being came alive. It was so overwhelming that he knew he had been dead inside for a while now. He was not whole without his brother.

Karna also knew then that as long as he lived, he would drop everything and follow Arjun to the end of the world if it was needed.

For Karna, the end of the road would always be Arjun.

*****************

The first thing he did was feel his brother's pulse.

It was all right.

Only then did he let the fury crash over him.

"You idiot," shouted Karna, flinging himself down on the pool of blood. "If you do not have a single bit of common sense in your head, why can you not listen to me?"

Arjun did not answer.

Unaware that he was crying, Karna lifted his limp head into his lap.

"I hope you know you are the reason behind this mess. Behind this entire mess. Do you think we can ever forget what we have seen this night? You deserve to live on in this horrible world for your stupidity--Arjun, you infernal idiot, you deserve to--

"Answer me back, for heaven's sake!" The last part was a scream.

But Arjun stayed as limp as ever.

Karna took Arjun's wrist in one hand again to feel the reassuring pulse and ran the other through Arjun's blood-stained hair.

"It is no good yelling at you when you won't answer back," he breathed. "You just wait till Nakul and Sahadev have fixed you up."

In spite of Arjun's non-cooperation, it was not hard to lift him up. Maybe it had something to do with the number of times Karna had done it before. Arjun had always been perfectly capable of falling asleep in any place under the sun: on a haystack, on horseback, on the branch of a tree. Carrying him back home to bed had always been Karna's duty.

"Jyesht?" mumbled Arjun.

"Yes, I'm here," said Karna. "Do you feel better, child?"

Arjun groaned and reverted back into oblivion.

Karna smiled through his tears and held his brother's body to his heart and hunted for the portal. It would not take long to find Nakul and Sahadev on the other side. Arjun was going to be all right.

In their world, at least, everything was going to be all right.

Chapter Text

Pov: Arjun from the world of darkness

Arjun floated in and out of consciousness.

He could recollect very vaguely someone shouting at him that it was all his fault. Next, he felt himself lifted off the ground by someone who he felt was his older brother; he tried to keep a hold on his bow, but it slipped through his fingers.

"Jyesht--my--my Gandiva--"

"I have it with me." Yudhishthir did not sound very much like himself, but Arjun was too tired to bother about that.

Then there was a long stretch of black, which was broken by blinding light. He associated that kind of brightness with his father Indra's domain in the heavens.

It felt like ages ago, when he had stayed over at his father's domain and gathered celestial weapons from the Gods...

Madhav--where was Madhav?

He thought he might have mumbled his name.

"Madhav is not here, Arjun, we are back. We are safe," Yudhishthir said.

Madhav had not visited him for hours now. Was that his idea of a joke? Why would he ignore him the whole night?

His brother placed him somewhere gently, as if trying not to jar him. His head slumped against a shoulder. His comforting bow was placed in his hands and fingers closed around his fist, as if willing him to stay conscious.

From the motion, they were probably on a cart bumping along the road.

"Bheem! Where are Nakul and Sahadev?"

"What happened to him?" Bheem shouted, horrified.

"Get them first--I will tell--"

Arjun was once again lifted by Yudhishthir and carried in air. A brief bout of unconsciousness followed.

He was roused by two familiar touches--his twin brothers'. Sahadev's on his head, Nakul's on his chest.

"Who was it?" Bheem sounded like he could barely hold himself back.

"Duryodhan, as far as I know..."

"What?" shrieked so many loud voices that Arjun's head hurt.

"Shh!" His brother smoothened his forehead and lifted his head on his lap. "It is exceedingly difficult to explain..."

Nakul and Sahadev's medicinal herbs soothed the aches everywhere on Arjun's body a little. Still flitting in and out of consciousness, he heard snatches of the voice speaking from above his head, while the hand still caressed his head with a fierce sort of gentleness.

"...war going on between cousins, you will not imagine..."

"...Takshak wanted precisely this. He wanted to ruin us with the knowledge."

"...had to go, of course. When has he ever shown the slightest ounce of practical sense? When he comes around, I--" The voice above choked.

As his senses returned bit by bit, Arjun started recalling what had happened earlier. Duryodhan...swinging his mace, crazed...Aswatthama and Karna...trying to stop him, citing dishonour to attack someone at night...

Before that, the three of them insisting he had claimed he would forfeit.

Arjun wondered how long it would be to sunrise. He was to fight the King of Anga today...everyone was counting upon it...

And where was Madhav?

Surely it was not already morning? No...his brothers would not be here, then.

Surely it was not already sundown, and he had missed the whole day of battle?

Panic shot through him. He tried to lift his head, which was still resting on his brother's lap.

"Jyesht--" Arjun's voice came out a croak.

"Yes, dear?" The voice came from near his feet.

Arjun opened his eyes; his vision was blurry, but he could make out Yudhishthir leaning towards him, extending a hand.

He blinked. 

There was Yudhishthir sitting at his feet, his face lined with worry. Bheem standing beside him, flushed with anger. Nakul and Sahadev kneeling on either side of him, still rubbing medicinal herbs on his chest.

If all his four brothers were in front of him--

Arjun sat up so quickly his head spun, and looked around.

"Madhav--?" he began hopefully, before his voice choked.

Horror flooded through him.

It was the King of Anga.

*****************

"You--you--" Arjun gasped. He was so furious he could hardly string together a sentence.

Nakul and Bheem caught his arms to get him to lie down again.

"Jyesht Arjun, keep calm for a while..." Sahadev said anxiously.

"Calm?" Arjun looked around at his brothers. "What is he playing at? Is he determined to get us to forfeit?"

Everyone stared back at him blankly.

They must, also, be horrified at the thought of having to owe the King of Anga something. Even stopping Duryodhan from dealing the killing blow had been unfair. But this--directly carrying him over to his camp--

"I demand death, King of Anga," said Arjun hoarsely.

Karna's eyes widened.

"I would rather die than live on indebted to you," shouted Arjun. "You had no right to save me. No right at all."

Karna's expression changed from shock to horror.

"Oh, God," he muttered, looking up at the sky, which was lightening, ready to welcome sunrise. "Oh, God."

"What?" cried Nakul, sounding terrified. "What is wrong with jyesht Arjun? Is his mind affected?" He turned to Sahadev.

"No, you fools, they are exchanged between the worlds," bellowed Bheem.

Arjun could make neither head nor tail of their words.

Karna shot to his feet. "It is minutes before sunrise! We have to get to the portal--Arjun, can you walk?"

Arjun leapt off the bed and glared. "Yes, I can walk. But it is you who needs to walk out of our camp."

"We are not in your camp," said Karna. 

Arjun looked around and discovered that to be the truth: they were in Indraprastha's palace.

"We are in a different dimension--"

"What?" said Arjun.

"There is no time to waste. We must go at once." 

"I am not going anywhere with you," snarled Arjun, and turned on Yudhishthir. "Jyesht, what the hell is going on?"

"Arjun," said Yudhishthir, not meeting his eyes. "Come on, we must go."

A tiny cart had arrived.

"Nakul, Sahadev, go and inform Maa and the others," Karna said. "Bheem and Yudhishthir--I am going on ahead, you can follow in the next cart, but you will not enter the other dimension."

"Jyesht--" complained Bheem.

Arjun looked at him in bafflement. "Why the hell are you calling him--"

"There is no time, Arjun!" Yudhishthir said. "I order you to--to--listen to whatever the--the--King of Anga says--" He swallowed. "It is very urgent; I will explain later."

The next thing Arjun knew was he and the King of Anga squeezed together in the cart, bumping towards the Khandava forest. 

Karna kept looking at the sky, his face whitening by the second. Arjun, whose head was spinning so much he had chosen to shut it off, tried to put as much distance between the two of them as he could, but the cart was too tiny for that.

Nothing but his jyesht's orders could have made him accept something like this. But Arjun assumed Yudhishthir knew best.

*****************

Alighting at the Forest of Khandava, Karna caught his arm to propel him along. Arjun snatched it away, scowling.

"Will you kindly tell me what we are attempting to do, King of Anga?"

Karna had not stopped rushing deeper into the forest, looking around occasionally to make sure Arjun was following.

"Trying to return you to your world, Arjun," he said wryly.

"What exactly does my world mean?"

"I am taking you to Madhav, all right?"

Arjun fell silent.

"There!" cried the King of Anga.

In front of them was a silvery white mass of blinding light.

Chapter Text

Pov: Arjun from the world of light

Things were starting to get out of hand.

As Day 17 dawned, Arjun found it increasingly difficult to get a moment away from scrutiny that he could escape the camp. Everyone was gearing up for battle; Arjun watched Draupadi fussing over her sons. Of them, Arjun knew only Srutakarma. All the others seemed to him an anomaly: proof that Draupadi was married to all his brothers, too.

But they, particularly Sutsoma, appeared to look up to Arjun so much--he came around to wish him 'best of luck' for today's battle with the 'King of Anga' so many times--that Arjun tried to think of him not as Bheem and Draupadi's son, but as his nephew.

Subhadra would not budge from his side, and he had found no way to shake her off without seeming extremely rude and hurting her. Madhav's steady presence in the background as he got their chariot and horses ready did not help.

Every time he tried to make an excuse to slip off, someone would insist on accompanying him. Now it was Nakul, next it was Shikandi, then it would be someone called Satyaki, who appeared to be a close friend of himself in this world.

Worse, of course, was how everyone kept reminding him that he was to kill Karna today.

Drishtadyumna was particularly charged up at the prospect.

"You get Karna, we are done with the war," he said, beaming and clapping him on the back. "We are sure you will get him."

In their world, Drishtadyumna and Karna had met at Draupadi's swayamvar; they had hit it off the moment Karna got to know the target task had been Drishtadyumna's idea. Your sister's prospective husband should indeed be judged by archery, Arjun had heard them laughing over.

Everywhere he heard the same thing: Arjun will kill Karna today and the war will be over. Arjun will finally show the world who its best archer was.

If today was so important, where the hell had the Arjun of this world disappeared to? Surely something was badly wrong? Surely he ought to tell someone?

But how could he tell someone he suspected something was wrong with their Arjun?

Arjun did not realize he was fully dressed for battle till his mother gave him a hug, her eyes brimming with tears, and whispered, "Go, my son."

It struck Arjun that she knew Karna's identity. She knew she would see one of her sons killings the other today. How could she bear it?

Why did she not put an end to this?

Arjun forced a smile at her and made a dash for one of the camp exits. Only to come face to face with Madhav at the foot of their chariot.

"Are you ready, Parth?"

Arjun found he could not say yes, not even for the sake of the charade.

"You have to slay the King of Anga, today." Madhav looked intently at him. "Are you ready?" he repeated.

"No," blurted out Arjun. "No, I am not."

There was a silence.

After a minute, Krishna spoke quietly. "You are not the same person one I enlightened."

"Enlightened?" said Arjun nervously.

"You truly are from another world. I suspected. I was not sure."

"Yes, I--er, yes."

"Then destiny wants you to play my Arjun's part today."

"No." Arjun prayed for Madhav's Arjun to turn up. This would be the right moment.

He did not turn up.

"I cannot play today's part, Madhav. I cannot do it. Let me go, please."

"I will not stop you," said Madhav. 

Arjun perked up.

"Go, Arjun, I will not stop you."

"Thank you, Madhav. Thank you so much."

The sky said the war would commence almost immediately; Arjun turned to locate east, where the portal was.

"But often, you will see, destiny has its own plan."

Madhav's eyes were very sad as they followed Arjun sprinting east.

*****************

As he ran, painful anticipation gushed through him at the thought of returning to his own world--his brothers, his mother, his wife, but mostly his jyesht. The only one whose affection he had been denied in this world.

"Are you fleeing, Arjun?"

Karna was rising to his feet beside a small lake, lit bright with sunlight. There was an earthen pot in the crook of his arm; presumably, he had been giving an offering to his father.

"Not exactly," said Arjun. "I am in rather a hurry, King of Anga. See you later."

He did not care if Karna followed him; he was in too much of a hurry to get to his real brother.

The portal came into view. But somehow, it was much less blinding and much less overwhelming when he spotted it.

"What is that?" Karna spoke from behind, sounding surprised.

"Nothing of importance. If you could please excuse me for a minute--"

Karna, of course, was not the kind of person to back off when his curiosity had been sparked.

"It is some magic of Vasudev's?"

Arjun walked to it, wondering how he could ensure Karna did not follow him through the portal. 

Even as he hesitated, the light was swallowed up by the forest. He paused and looked around, heart pounding.

"The link is gone," hissed someone.

"T-Takshak?" stammered Arjun.

"You have to stay here forever, Gandivadhari." Takshak had never leered so cheerfully. "Your brother has crossed over with whom he thinks to be you: you are exchanged between the worlds."

Arjun's heart went cold.

"Can the link--not be opened again? I will pray to the Gods and get it opened again," he said defiantly.

"Do you not know, Son of Indra," whispered Takshak, "that to preserve balance, a link cannot be opened from a darker into a lighter world? If it could be done, everyone from the darker world will inevitably cross over into the lighter world, and both will be ruined. A link can only be opened from a lighter to a darker world by someone willing to sacrifice his own world and go into a darker world."

Arjun tried to speak, but he did not find the words, nor would his voice work.

"You will live the destiny of your counterpart. You know what you are meant to do today." Takshak glanced up at the sky where the sun had risen. "You will do that, child. Vasudev Krishna will make sure of that."

Chapter Text

Pov: Arjun from the world of darkness

Just as they were about to step through the silver mass--Arjun undertaking the risk of something he did not understand only in the hope of finding Madhav on the other side--the light disappeared.

Arjun blinked against the sudden darkness before he was deafened by the King of Anga's anguished scream.

"ARJUN! ARJUN!"

Arjun jumped out of his skin and stared at Karna in absolute bafflement as he grappled with thin air where the light had been.

"ARJUN--"

A mocking splitting and hissing echoed around.

"No good, Suryaputra," the voice said laughingly.

"TAKSHAK! OPEN THE LINK AGAIN! OPEN IT FOR JUST AN HOUR!" Karna whirled around. "Let me get to Arjun!"

Takshak, whom Arjun recalled having defeated once long back in the Forest of Khandava appeared.

"I am a little busy in the other world, eldest of the Pandavas." His lips were stretched. "The seventeenth day of battle is about to commence and I am to sit on your arrow, you see."

Karna and Arjun both looked at him, wide-eyed.

"You might be knowing what happens when the King of Serpents blesses an arrow. It devours the opponent with venom and makes them disintegrate."

Arjun turned to look at Karna, whose face had drained of all colour.

"In no universe," he said, shaking, "will I do something as dishonourable as that."

"You can choose what to believe," said Takshak, smiling. "And as for you, Arjun, I believe the eldest of the Pandavas just saved your life."

"Yes, I am aware," said Arjun, glancing at his newly-healed wounds angrily. "I did not ask for it. And forget the fact that it was he and his friends who attacked me at night anyway." He glared up at Takshak's faded spirit. "Why do you keep calling him the eldest of the Pandavas?" he demanded.

"Oh no," drawled Takshak. "Not the wounds from Duryodhan's mace, child. He saved you from much worse. He saved your soul from--"

"Takshak, please let me get to Arjun," broke in Karna. "Please. We will forever be indebted to you--you ask us for anything, anything, and it will be yours. But you cannot keep Arjun there--you have to let me get to him."

"King of Anga," said Arjun. "Who is this Arjun you keep rambling about?"

"My brother. My younger brother."

Arjun's eyebrows flew up. "What--you have a brother named Arjun? Well, what a coincidence. We did not even know."

Karna looked at Arjun, who was startled to see how awful he looked. Arjun had never seen him so seized with desperation.

"The link is closed," said Arjun. "Now let us get back to the battlefield, King of Anga."

"Arjun," Karna said tiredly. "If we cannot get through, you cannot see Madhav ever again either."

"What does that mean?" asked Arjun fiercely.

"There are two worlds. Parallel universes. Takshak closed the link between them."

"Madhav will come for me if I cannot go to him!" said Arjun.

"Madhav does not exist in this world."

Arjun's world went a pounding black.

*****************

Madhav had almost broken his vow of not wielding a weapon in the war for him. Madhav had hid the sun for him. Madhav had done impossible things over and over for him.

Madhav had given him the name Parth. Friend.

Madhav was omnipresent. Madhav was the Lord of the Universe. The Lord of the Universe who had chosen him for his dearest friend.

Surely, thought Arjun. Surely he would find me?

But if he did not exist in this world? Could Madhav cross worlds?

*****************

Arjun was tuned back into reality at Karna's shout.

"YOU CAN HAVE HALF OF INDRAPRASTHA! YOU CAN HAVE THE WHOLE OF INDRAPRASTHA."

"Wh-what?" Arjun was hardly able to believe his ears. "Indraprastha isn't yours to give away, King of Anga!"

"You are right," said Takshak. "Indraprastha is not yours, Suryaputra. It is Yudhishthir's."

"Yudhishthir would give away the whole kingdom and both his arms if it meant getting his brother back," said Karna angrily. "What is the kingdom compared to Arjun?"

Arjun froze.

Yudhishthir's brother? If this Arjun for whom Karna was screaming was his own brother and Yudhishthir's brother--

Did that mean...? 

Was that why their mother always cried when the topic of the Karna-Arjun fight to death came up?

The realization hit Arjun like a barrage of arrows.

The King of Anga was their older brother.

*****************

Karna fell to his knees and looked up at Takshak.

"Ask for anything, King of Serpents--anything. Isn't there anything you want from the most powerful kingdom in the world?"

"There is something," said Takshak thoughtfully. "Something that belongs not to the kingdom, but to you."

"Name it."

"I already have Lord Indra's protection," the serpent mused. "But as it appeared, it was not enough. If I could have one more item of protection, however, I might be free from all harm inflicted by mortals and immortals."

Karna gritted his teeth from impatience, but held his tongue.

"Gift me your armour and earrings, eldest of the Pandavas."

Arjun drew in a breath; in their world, the King of Anga had gifted them away to his father, Lord Indra, in disguise because he could not say no to a Brahmin. In this world, did he still possess them?

Karna stood up, his face bloodless. "Why ask me of something impossible, Takshak? The armour is not retractable--it is impossible to take it off."

"I think not." Takshak squinted at Arjun. "Tell him if it is impossible, Arjun."

Karna looked at Arjun enquiringly.

"In our world," said Arjun stiffly, "you gave it away."

Karna frowned. "How can I give it away when I cannot take it off?"

Takshak grinned at Arjun.

Arjun remained silent. He could not become the reason of the same sin twice.

"Arjun," said Karna in a pleading tone.

"You--" Arjun exhaled. "You cut it off from your body."

Eyes widening, Karna looked down at himself as his golden armour appeared.

****************

"You can certainly have them, Takshak." Karna produced a dagger from his belt. "In return, do you swear to open the link and keep it accessible till I have my brother back?"

Arjun felt a shiver of foreboding.

"I swear, Suryaputra."

Karna lifted the dagger and drove it towards his chest.

"Don't do it!" shouted Arjun.

It almost made Karna drop the dagger in shock. 

"Don't--don't do it on--on my account, j-jyesht..."

There was an unreadable expression in Karna's eyes. Then he smiled.

"I am not doing it on your account, Arjun."

His dagger broke through the armour and must have eventually broken through his skin and flesh, because a stream of blood gushed out. As he sliced through the armour bit by bit, the outpour of blood became a flood. His face gave no reaction except the sweat breaking over his forehead and his breaths steadily becoming shallower.

Arjun watched in silence. He kept his fists clenched to keep himself from screaming or sobbing, for he wanted to do both. But Karna did not scream, so Arjun did not think he was allowed to.

There was so much blood on the forest bed and yet only half the armour was off.

Finally, Arjun was forced to look away, his eyes tearing. Even the thought of Madhav could not make him feel at peace with what was happening. He could not watch. He wished he could leave. 

Then Karna spoke in a gasp, faint but steady.

"I am not doing it on your account," he said again. 

Arjun looked around, shaking.

"I am doing it for myself," said Karna. "I cannot live without my Arjun."

Chapter Text

Pov: Karna from the world of light

By the time the armour three-fouths off, Karna's thought process had frozen and he was executing the prizing action with the dagger only mechanically. 

Just a little more. Just a little, and I can go to Arjun.

The stranger Arjun stood staring at him quietly. Karna's gaze was too hazy to make out his expression. But his stance, at least, was exactly like his brother's would be. 

"Jyesht?"

Sahadev's aghast voice spiralled Karna's vision to focus as he finally wrenched off the armour and flung it down.

"There--you go--Takshak--" He could not manage to speak as commandingly as he would have liked.

"Jyesht, what on earth are you doing?"

Then his brothers were crowded around him, exclaiming in horror, barraging him with questions. 

Karna drew away, for there was still a part of his deal left. The world swayed with the movement, and one of them, probably Bheem, caught his elbow.

He raised the dagger to his ears and cut off one earring in one motion before his brothers could yell.

"Have you gone crazy, jyesht?"

Karna shoved away their restraining arms and did the same with the other earring.

The prospect of speaking was daunting, but he owed his brothers an explanation. He opened his mouth to try; before he could, Arjun unexpectedly spoke up for him.

"Takshak tricked him," he said.

The four brothers turned to face him.

"He deliberately shut off your brother in my universe so he could have the King of--so that he could have jyesht's armour and earrings to make him immortal in return of invoking the link between the universes again."

Takshak shrieked with laughter in agreement. Bheem looked up at his spirit, his eyes glowing red, and lifted his mace.

"No, Bheem." Karna's voice came out a croak. He cleared his throat. "King of Serpents, I have fulfilled my end of the deal; kindly fulfill yours."

Nakul and Sahadev had produced their magical ointments and attempted to make Karna sit down, which he refused, and apply it on his body, which he allowed.

Blinding silver light swirled around them as the portal came into focus.

"You said sunrise wasn't far away," said Bheem, making for it. "We need to hurry."

"Bheem--!"

The mere idea of his other brothers in that awful universe made Karna's blood freeze. He had had enough of worry; he could not possibly take any more of it today.

"I will go alone."

"What do you mean?" asked Yudhishthir with a pointed glance at his injured body.

"I mean exactly what I say. I will go and bring Arjun back. You four will stay here and not step through the portal."

"You cannot possibly go in this state, jyesht," protested Nakul, his unceasing fingers leaving a soothing effect on the torn, broken skin.

"Do any of you know the layout of the place we will be going to?" 

"No, but--you have to let us come with you!" said Bheem. "At least let us come with you." 

"No," said Karna. "I am your older brother, and you will listen to me. I am having no more defiance from any of you." He looked at Yudhishthir. "Make sure these three don't try to follow us. Come on, Arjun."

To his gratification, Arjun obeyed instantly. He even went as far to offer Karna an arm for support.

Karna would not have needed it (or so he told himself), but he accepted it anyway as they stepped through the portal.

****************

In the other world, the sun was steadily rising. Karna prayed to his father: hold it for half an hour.

This time the portal had ended up somewhere near the Kaurava camp.

"Everyone probably would be assembled on the battlefield by now," said Arjun in a subdued voice.

He sounded so much like his own brother that Karna paused, in spite of his frenzied hurry.

"Do you truly wish to return to this world, Arjun?"

Arjun looked at him incredulously. 

"There is a war going on. You might not live here," said Karna. "All your family and friends might not live till the end of the war."

Arjun gave him an icy look. "Of course I wish to return."

Karna smiled. "All right, it was just my duty to ask."

Arjun looked like he was exerting an effort to keep up the iciness. He had his arm around Karna's waist now, propelling him along towards the battlefield.

Karna was half-faint now with loss of blood, so he trusted Arjun was going in the right direction and concentrated instead on praying to his father.

Just half an hour. Indicate the start of the battle just after half an hour. Once I have my brother with me.

His father seemed to be answering, because the sun had frozen, not fully risen.

"What do we do if we do not get there in time?" Arjun asked at some point as they ran.

"My brother will not fight," gasped Karna, out of breath.

"But everyone will be expecting him to, and Madhav might insist--" Arjun sounded miserable.

His ill omens made Karna's heart contract with dread.

"Did you hear a conch horn?" asked Arjun anxiously.

"No, Arjun," said Karna, exasperated.

But now that Arjun had said it, it felt like they were hearing conch horns every second. Karna kept himself sane by deciding in his mind line by line what he was going to say to his brother when he found him. He would give him a scolding that he never forgot; considering the terror he had put them all through, Karna was almost prepared, at that moment, never to talk to Arjun again.

"How far is Kurukshetra?" he asked Arjun.

"Nearly there..."

Father, please hold the war back ten minutes more. Five minutes more.

But before they reached the battlefield, at the edge of the Pandava camp, they found a chariot drawn by white horses and a flag with Hanuman fluttering in the wind at its apex.

"Before you flee the battlefield, you have to get through to me."

"Under no circumstances will I take part in a war that is not mine!"

Karna's eyes moved from himself of this world, holding his bow aloft, tremendous with rage, to Madhav, at the reins on the chariot, watching with a meditative look, to the most precious sight in his life--his brother.

****************

Arjun from the world of light was as shrunk into himself as Karna from the world of darkness was towering. Karna's Vijaya was drawn; Arjun's Gandiva was at his feet.

The signal was clear.

I refuse to fight you.

*****************

Every last bit of faintness left Karna as he drank the sight of his brother in. 

He was almost scared to take a step forward, lest the scene vanished.

Then his companion withdrew his arm from his waist and rushed for the chariot.

"Madhav!"

Lord Krishna turned in their direction to find a missile flying to hug him.

"Madhav, you have no idea what--"

Krishna did not buckle under the violent embrace, and instead managed to hold them both up.

"Parth," he whispered. "You're here."

But now that the two warriors had also noticed their intrusion, Karna cared neither about Parth and Madhav's reunion, nor about the Karna of this world looking like he would pass out with shock at the doubles. 

He cared only for his brother, who likewise had eyes only for him.

Chapter Text

Pov: Arjun from the world of light

For a few minutes, Arjun could only stare at the blood on his brother's body. It was positively covered in blood; he could not imagine what kind of blow could have inflicted such a strange sort of injury.

Arjun took tentative steps forward when he realized Karna was not about to speak.

"Jyesht? Are you all right? What happened to you?"

"You tell me," snarled Karna.

He had never seen his older brother look so mad. His heart sank.

"Why--why are you bleeding so much?" persisted Arjun, too distraught to dwell on Karna's anger. "Didn't your armour protect you?"

"The armour is exactly the thing for which he is bleeding." A voice that mirrored his own--Arjun from this world--had spoken from the chariot. "Your brother had to exchange his armour for that swine Takshak to open the link between the two worlds to sort out the mess you created."

The way the imposter spoke of his brother instantly made Arjun feel jealous. But even more than that--he felt sick with remorse. And nothing would assuage the remorse till his brother stopped glaring at him. 

Taking a calming breath, he decided that apologizing would be the best way out.

"I am sorry, jyesht, I am horribly sorry--I should have listened to you--"

"You're sorry?"

Karna backed away as Arjun reached to hold him, which was when the latter realized he was truly in for it.

"I'm sorry--please don't be mad," Arjun cried. "Please forgive me, jyesht, I promise I will never--"

His voice cracked. He gave up and waited for the storm to break over his head.

Pov: Karna from the world of light

Just before Karna could start shouting, he found that Arjun's chin was trembling, and then the unspoken rebukes died in his throat.

Then he could only concentrate on pulling his brother into his arms and squeezing him close before his tears could fall.

"Jyesht," sobbed Arjun. 

"Don't worry." But Karna could not claim that his voice was steady either.

It felt like a miracle to finally have Arjun, his Arjun in his arms. He had not realized how much he had feared he might never get the privilege again. 

Karna ran his hands over his brother's hair to make sure he was real, and looked into his eyes to make sure this one truly was his own Arjun, who did not look at him with hate or indifference or confusion. He only looked at him with love. The kind of love only family could have for each other. 

Arjun clung to him.

"If you hadn't opened the link, I would have had to fight--to kill--I could never--" he said convulsively. "And Takshak--your armour--it hurt horribly, didn't it, jyesht? Does it hurt horribly?"

"Not all that much," Karna lied point blank.

Arjun kept apologizing over and over, but his words could hardly be made out for tears. Karna rubbed his back, trying to calm him down, murmuring that it was all right, it was all right, that he forgave him and nobody would say anything about this anymore.

"I will never defy you again, jyesht."

Karna realized he was smiling. "Yes, we'll see about that." 

He is such a infernal idiot. 

But he is my idiot to shield from the world.

Chapter Text

Pov: Karna from the world of darkness

It was time to leave for the battlefield; the conches had not been sounded only because the best archer of each side was yet to arrive, they knew, but neither Karna, nor Arjun, nor Krishna moved as they watched the other Karna and Arjun clinging to each other like they would never let go.

Karna considered everything from insanity to daydreams to being in heaven or hell before he started considering there may be parallel universes. Where he and Arjun may not quite be...enemies.

It made him strangely wistful.

When after an age, the brothers had relinquished their hold on each other, the older one approached the chariot, made a respectful gesture at Krishna and offered Arjun--who thought of him not as a brother, but as an enemy--a smile.

"We're sorry for the inconvenience we caused," he said gravely. His brother was still sniffling beside him. "We shall be leaving, then. Farewell, Madhav."

He avoided looking at Karna, for which he was glad, because it was unnerving enough to watch a spitting image of himself without them addressing you, too. 

The peaceful world's Arjun looked at Karna beside his chariot, though. Karna thought back to him trying to convince him to put an end to this war. Divide the kingdom, tell everyone he knew Karna was the superior archer--he had tried every ridiculous thing.

It must be circumstances that had made him so naive.

Circumstances, part of which he supposed came mostly in the form of a fiercely loving older brother.

He should have known the real Arjun of this world would never say things like this innocent one had. In this world, none of them were innocent. They had all done a lifetime of questionable things, wrong things, and kept justifying them from their own point of view.

From his point of view, Arjun had been the worse sinner. From Arjun's, it must be he who had done worse crimes.

But for the other Arjun, neither had done anything wrong. For him, the world was a shiny, happy place where brothers loved each other with everything they had and cousins did not fight wars for kingdoms and people did not have to choose between their friend and brothers and did not kill their own nephews and the end of the world was not inevitable.

Arjun smiled a nervous, sad sort of smile at him. Karna could not keep himself from smiling back, and for the briefest of moments, he felt the hollow ache of loss in his chest. 

In another world, this child could have been his brother.

But then, the other world's Karna and Arjun had left in the direction of the Kaurava camp, the former boxing the latter's ears before slinging an arm around him, and Karna pushed away the longing for their world.

The last thing they heard was the older brother saying, part admonition, but mostly affection, "You just try to disobey my instructions once more, Arjun."

Arjun's reply was lost in the distance.

******************

The daze left behind by the pair was broken by Arjun after a very long time.

"King of Anga?" he said quietly. "Did--did you know we were brothers?"

Karna nodded.

"You did?" Arjun sounded indignant, like he had not expected it.

"Kunti Maa told me just before the war," said Karna soberly.

Arjun glared fiercely.

"Don't look at me like that. I simply knew the hard fact that we are brothers," said Karna. "I did not know we--we--that in some parallel universe, we--" He broke off.

That we, in some parallel universe, are capable of loving each other so much. So much.

To Karna, it had seemed that the other world's Karna had loved Arjun more than Karna loved anyone in this world...not Radha Maa...not Vrushali...not Duryodhan. It had also seemed to Karna that Arjun did not love nor respect Yudhishthir or Bheem the amount that version of himself had loved and respected his oldest brother.

The revelation had come at the wrong time. Karna realized he had still been holding his bow aloft. Now, he lowered it.

Every time he took aim at Arjun now, he would be thinking of spitting images of the two of them holding each other and crying.

The images were symbol to all they could have had, and did not have.

*************

"We must proceed to the battlefield now, Parth, Karna. Day 17 is about to commence."

"I don't want to go, Madhav," said Arjun.

"But you must, Parth. You must."

*************

Arjun looked at Karna in a pleading sort of way.

But what could Karna say between the two friends? He was no one to support Arjun in opposing Krishna.

He could, however, voice his own opinion.

"I do not particularly want to go either," he admitted in a mumble.

Arjun's eyes lit up; Karna suddenly saw a shadow of the innocent, naive Arjun in this one.

"Why can't we scrap the war, Madhav?" he said hopefully.

"Because you two are not fighting a personal war," said Krishna gently. "You are fighting for Yudhisthir and for Draupadi. King of Anga--" He looked at Karna. "--you are fighting for Duryodhan, your best friend. Can either of you abandon your family, wife and friends?"

Karna winced.

Arjun lowered his eyes.

"As most are unable to understand, the same people in separate universes are not truly the same people. Do not torture yourself with what you saw. It was a mere illusion as far as you are concerned.

"Even given identical circumstances as you two, the Arjun and Karna would have acted differently."

Karna slung the Vijaya over his shoulder and reached for the reins of the horses. He was supposed to have met his charioteer, Shalya, almost a half-hour ago.

"See you in the battlefield, King of Anga." Krishna reached for the reins, too.

Arjun had not lifted his Gandiva yet; Karna sensed Arjun's eyes fixed on Karna as their chariots crossed.

Karna thought it would have been easier to go into a life-and-death battle without exchanging a glance with his opponent. But he could not help a brief one.

Arjun inclined his head in a resigned, peaceful gesture. One corner of Karna's mouth lifted up in a small grin.

Maybe we  a ren't meant to be brothers, but we don't hate each other anymore either.

And...

I forgive you, they told each other, lest they were the one who died today at the hands of the other.

Chapter Text

Pov: Arjun from the world of darkness

Arjun spoke without pausing to draw breath as Madhav steered their chariot towards the battlefield, because he had to tell Madhav every bizarre thing that had happened last night. Madhav listened with an indulgent smile playing on his lips, exclaiming at the right moments.

"Also, Madhav--Takshak was saying something about sitting on Karna's arrow."

Krishna's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"You know, Madhav," said Arjun suddenly. "I just realized in both worlds the people, though massively different, are at least both present...Only you were absent from that world."

Krishna smiled. "That is because the world of light does not need a saviour."

*****************

"Madhav, is this war really necessary?"

"You know it is."

"But can't we--?"

"No, Parth. I thought I had managed to impress that upon you before the war began."

Arjun looked away.

"You know," said Krishna with a smile. "I discoursed upon the Gita to you with a great deal of hope. No mortal has ever been enlightened by it, but I thought you both needed it and were worthy of it. Not to mention the enormous amount of energy I spent repeating it to you."

His eyes twinkled. Arjun found himself grinning back.

"You having second thoughts at the end of the war defeats the purpose, really."

"Sorry," said Arjun. "I won't--I don't have second thoughts anymore. I will do what is required."

Madhav reached out to grasp his hand before the conches blew, indicating the start of battle that day.

Arjun was struck by how much he had missed his friend. He recalled the moment he had learnt that he was stuck in a world where Madhav did not exist. He remembered the emptiness he had felt--the black hollowness inside him.

I will not let him down, he resolved.

****************

But when the time finally came, when Karna's curses caught up with him--when the wheel of his chariot was stuck in the mud, indicating that the moment of his death was here--and when after having exchanged a barrage of celestial weapons, Arjun saw the opportunity, he hesitated.

"Parth," said Krishna. "Go for the kill now."

"Madhav--"

"You heard me!"

"Madhav, he is down from his chariot--let us wait for him to take the wheel out--"

"He is not weakened because his wheel is stuck," said Krishna in a commanding voice that told Arjun he meant business. "His wheel is stuck because his time has come. You are simply to carry out that part of destiny."

"I can't, Madhav, please."

"Parth," roared Madhav. "This is not the time to back out from a war you are an integral part of! You cannot win the war till the King of Anga is slain!"

"He's--he's my--"

"It does not matter he is your brother. He was part of your wife Draupadi's persecution. He was part of the unfair attack on your son Abhimanyu. He is your enemy side's most lethal weapon."

"He cut his armour and earrings from his body just to get to--just to get to his brother, Madhav," pleaded Arjun.

"That was not him."

"But it could have been," shouted Arjun desperately. "If Maa had not abandoned him, it could have been him!"

"Why did you return, Parth?" Krishna asked.

"R-return?"

"You could have stayed on in that world. The good world. The paradise. Where there was no war. Where you and your cousins were on good terms, where everyone was alive, Bhisma, Dronacharya...where you had five loving brothers. But you chose to return, Arjun. Why did you choose to return to this hell?"

Arjun fought tears as Madhav's gaze fixed on him, unforgiving, unmerciful.

"Because you know you cannot run from your duty. You do not want to run from your duty. You chose to return for your duty. SHOOT HIM NOW."

"No, Madhav," whispered Arjun. "I did not choose to return for my duty. You, of all people, should know exactly what I returned for." 

A sob escaped him as he raised his bow. 

"I will always prefer a world with you, Madhav. Even if it means war. Even if it means my--my son dying. Even if it means--" He shook with agony. "--even if it means killing my own brother, I will always prefer a world with you than any paradise.

"By returning to this world, if I am required to--if I am required to--"

Arjun's eyes met Karna's across the battlefield.

I am so sorry, he said.

I forgive you, Karna replied.

"--if I am required to do this, I will."

He let loose the anjalika weapon.

***************

Conches blew and triumph raged up and down the Pandava camp, but Arjun's screams were not of triumph, but of anguish tearing him apart.

His army could not tell the difference.

Raw joy and raw sorrow sounded much the same, anyway.

***************

Pov: Lord Krishna

Krishna put his firm arms around Arjun as he screamed.

Their army probably thought it was a hug of congratulations. They would not know their victorious warrior needed comfort.

"Parth," Madhav murmured.

"What did you make me do, Madhav?"

"What you had to. I already told you, did I not, Parth? Humans are the weapons to execute destiny."

"I hate your destiny."

Krishna thought back to all the devastation they had witnessed and all the devastation they were yet to witness. Abhimanyu's death and Arjun's agony stood out the vividest.

"I hate it, too," he said.

Every time Krishna had aided the running of a fearsome story of destiny, he feared Arjun would finally give up his trust in him, because every time destiny had only brought him anguish.

But every time, after destiny had played its cruel part, Madhav was the one Arjun turned to for comfort.

***************

Rubbing Arjun's back and mumbling how it was going to be all right, Krishna realized he had seen the exact same scene playing at dawn earlier today.

Whichever world be it, Arjun felt every emotion too strongly; the heights of joy were highest for him and the depths of sorrow deepest. In every universe, he needed a pair of arms to assuage him and keep him sane.

***************

What Karna was to Arjun in the world of light, Madhav was to Parth in the world of darkness.

Chapter Text

The world of darkness

A year had passed since the War of Kurukshetra, and one day, Arjun and Krishna were to be found climbing trees in the garden of Dwaraka's royal palace. They were on the hunt of a particular fruit that only grew on the topmost branch according to Subhadra. Since she had broken her ankle falling off a horse when Krishna tried to teach her horse riding, she had been milking it for all she was worth. Her husband and brother let her.

"Got it!" yelled Krishna. "Parth, catch--!"

Arjun, who was on a lower branch, lunged for it too late, and missed. The fruit crashed to the muddy ground below.

"What are you doing?" demanded Krishna.

"Sorry," said Arjun glumly.

Krishna alighted nimbly to a branch alongside Arjun's.

"Where are you lost, Parth?"

"Nowhere--only--" Arjun trailed off.

Krishna noted the faraway look in Arjun's eyes, which appeared very often these days, like he was trying to spot something over the horizon.

"You are thinking of the other world again." It was a statement.

"Possibly." Arjun shrugged and pointed at the higher branches. "Go on, get another of those."

"Not going anywhere till you stop giving half-answers, Parth."

Arjun sighed. 

"I am tired of your stubbornness," he said.

"I, on the other hand, love your stubbornness." Krishna grinned. "It makes it fun to worm the truth out of you."

"All right! Yes, I'm thinking of the other world. Happy? Now what are you going to do with that piece of information?"

"Maybe I could try to get you pass through to that world for a glimpse."

"You can't do that," said Arjun. "Not even you can do that. It's nature's rule that a link cannot be opened from a darker to a lighter world."

"Because," added Krishna, "people from the darker world would cross over and stay on in the lighter world. Undoubtedly, most people would. You, however, would not."

Arjun looked up.

"You are one of the few people who have a pull back to the darker universe because I do not exist there." Madhav's eyes twinkled with mischief and affection. "I am sure no one would grudge you a visit."

*****************

The world of light

When Arjun from the world of darkness hunted down his destination, the Pandava brothers were racing on horseback. The four youngest ones, at least. The oldest two were stretched on the grass, sharing a lemonade, laughing as their brothers argued in yells about the finish line.

"What kind of a rule is that? Who made it up?" bellowed Bheem.

"We did," chorused Nakul and Sahadev in united indignition.

"You two," scoffed Bheem. "Stupid children."

"Did you call us stupid?" demanded Sahadev.

"Yes, he did," said Arjun, who would be the winner if Nakul and Sahadev's rule was scrapped, "and I must say I agree with him."

"You do, do you?" Nakul strode up to Karna and Yudhishthir. "Jyesht, you tell us. Who is the stupidest amongst us?"

Yudhishthir, forever the peacemaker, said, "None of you are stupid--"

"I asked you, jyesht," Nakul persisted to Karna. "You know who the stupidest is. You tell us."

Arjun knew the answer beforehand, so even before Karna finished saying his name, he had launched into his protests.

"You always take their side, jyesht--all right, if the twins want to win a race because our brother is biased against me, they can--"

Karna pulled him down on the grass beside him and offered him the remaining lemonade. The combined effect of the lemonade and Karna's arm around him made him cool down and concede defeat to the twins quite gracefully.

Hidden in the shadows, Arjun from the world of darkness found it so painful to watch that he turned away.

He was halfway towards the link to return to his world when he paused. The longing to feel his older brother's arm around him, the way he had just seen around his counterpart, had become too great.

Karna won't know the difference anyway.

*****************

Arjun lurked around Indraprastha's royal palace on high alert for almost the whole day till he found the perfect opportunity. 

Bheem and Arjun from the world of light went out with Sustoma and Srutakarma for a nightly training session, while the others stayed behind. 

I can just go and say I came back for something, thought Arjun, and made a bold move into the palace as soon as the four had disappeared from view.

To his gratification, the first person he came across was Karna.

"What do you want?" Karna asked.

"I--I forgot the flask of water," improvised Arjun on spot.

Karna gave him a funny look and turned to fetch a flask of water.

"Oh--I can--I can go, you don't have to go--" Arjun made for the stairs hastily.

"What?" said Karna, nonplussed, following anyway.

A crestfallen Arjun realized that if he spent even a minute more here, Karna would know the difference perfectly well. He took the flask Karna offered and left for the gates quietly.

"I thought you survived without the basic requirements, child," Karna teased lazily when he returned. "What do they call you again? Conqueror of sleep?"

"Gudakesa," said Arjun, nodding.

Karna nodded back solemnly.

"I am taking it for the kids," said Arjun. "More importantly, for jyesht Bheem."

Karna grinned, and as they crossed over at the threshold of the door, he slung an arm around Arjun from the side and squeezed casually before waving at him. Like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Arjun returned to his world with the flask gripped in his hands, feeling like the richest man on earth.

*****************

Since that day, every time Arjun from the world of darkness missed the idea of his older brother, which was often, he crossed the portal over to the world of light. He would wait for an opportunity for his counterpart of that world to not be within sight and talk to Karna. 

Talk about the most ordinary of things. Mundane royal affairs. The weather. Archery. Sometimes their mother, their kids.

No matter how normal the topic, in each sentence that Karna spoke, in each smile of his, there would always be so much love. Arjun soaked it up thirstily. There was always too little time. The visits were always too short to garner a lifetime of love and approval from his jyesht that he needed so badly and that he had been deprived of.

But something, he felt, was better than nothing.

Even if Karna realized the truth, from the haunted look in his brother's eyes, he pretended he did not know anything was awry. He never held back on the love. Sometimes he even went out of the way to be extra tender, the way he would have been if his brother had been in war and seen and done things he never should have.

Arjun always came back from these visits with his throat hurting from holding back tears. 

Karna would also, always, be consumed with wistful silence afterwards.

Till his own brother would ask, eyes wide with concern, "Did something upset you, jyesht?"

Then relief would wash over him that his brother had not undergone what his counterpart had and still possessed the innocence to ask if something had upset him. After a war, Karna supposed, people would have forsaken the question forever.

Then he would hold out his arms for his younger brother to throw himself into.

And he would mumble under his breath, "Nothing can upset me as long as you are ok, my anuj."