The Cursed Flame and the Son of the Fallen
Before Kurukshetra could roar with war cries, Aryan traveled east—through quiet groves and abandoned ashrams—to a forest where pain sat cross-legged beneath a tree.
There sat Ashwatthama.
Clad in dark cloth, fingers wrapped around his father's sacred rosary, the jewel on his forehead shimmered faintly with unstable energy—the spark of Shiva's fury gifted to a child of a war-priest.
He did not rise as Aryan approached.
> "I know why you've come," Ashwatthama muttered, voice like broken flint. "To stop me. To cage me. Like the rest of fate."
Aryan stood a few feet away, silent for a long moment.
> "No," he said. "I came… to understand you."
Ashwatthama's eye twitched. He laughed, bitter and hollow.
> "Understand what? That I was born a weapon? That I'm a son of a man used by kings and tossed aside when convenience demanded it?"
Aryan's system pulsed quietly, scanning him:
---
System Scan: Ashwatthama
Status: Unstable Karma Core
Blessing: Shiva's Gem of Wrath (Non-removable)
Fate Trajectory: Slays sleeping warriors. Releases Brahmastra. Cursed by Krishna with immortality.
Threat Level: Cataclysmic (Unbound Rage Event)
---
Aryan sat before him—not like a judge, but like a mirror.
> "Your pain is valid," Aryan said. "Your fury is cosmic. But you are not your pain. You are not the fire. You are the one holding it."
Ashwatthama looked at him, suspicious. "So what? You came to give me a moral speech?"
Aryan smiled faintly. "No. I came to give you a choice."
He reached into his system and pulled forth a crystal—etched in cosmic sigils.
---
System Item Unlocked: "Karmic Equilibrium Seed"
> [Effect: Absorbs destructive karma and stabilizes divine rage.]
[Can be offered to Shiva's avatars for cleansing rituals.]
[Use: Grant user control over their divine curse.]
[Bond Type: Willing Activation Only]
---
Aryan placed it on the ground between them.
> "If you choose this path—if you allow your rage to become protection instead of destruction—you will still fight. But you will choose who dies, and who is saved."
Ashwatthama stared.
> "And what if I want revenge? What if I still burn?"
Aryan's third eye opened—showing him visions:
The sleeping sons of the Pandavas murdered in the night.
The Brahmastra, a divine bomb, unleashed upon an unborn child—Parikshit.
Krishna's curse: immortality, loneliness, and madness.
Wandering across yugas, unnamed, unwanted, forgotten.
Ashwatthama screamed—not in rage, but agony.
> "That's my end?!"
Aryan's voice was steady. "Unless you choose otherwise. Use your strength to protect Dharma—not avenge ego."
Ashwatthama knelt… trembling. Then slowly, he reached forward, touching the crystal.
---
System Prompt: Bond Accepted
> [Ashwatthama's Karma Stabilized]
[Wrath Core Contained: Shiva's Gem Harmonized]
[Future Alteration: Brahmastra Use Prevented]
[Curse Status: Removed]
[Timeline Cleanliness: +22%]
---
Ashwatthama looked up, tears in his warrior eyes.
> "Why… why would you save me?"
Aryan rose. "Because you matter. Even those meant to destroy the world… can save it."
---
As Aryan turned to leave, Ashwatthama spoke one last time.
> "If war still comes… call for me. I will stand for dharma, not vengeance."