Arslan Senki: Legend of the Twins

38. A Flicker of Hope

As soon as the outcome of the duel was announced, Gadhevi started a riot between his faction and Rajendra's, for he refused to accept his defeat. As result, the Parsians were dragged into it and had to fight for their lives even though they no longer had any connection to the occurring event.

Asa glanced around her restlessly, only to find chaos. Many soldiers in white were clashing with soldiers in red, as well as her allies while she herself only stood there doing nothing but clenching her fists. If only she had her bow and arrows at times like this...

A sound of scraping metal in front of her caught her attention. She was surprised to see Arslan was standing firm there, wielding his sword. Before she could say anything, he exclaimed first, "Stay behind me! I will definitely protect you this time!"

As soon as Asa comprehended his words, her twin was replaced by a certain woman in her vision. She felt a sudden sharp pain struck her heart and squeezed her eyes shut as she collapsed to the floor and tightly clutched her aching chest.

"Asa?! What's wrong?!" despite the chaos around her Arslan's panicked shout was the only thing she could hear at that moment. That painful memory she unintentionally recalled felt like it was pricking her heart with needles. Nevertheless, she didn't want him to worry, so she forced her eyes open to look at him and smile. "I am... o..."

But instead of Arslan's concerned look, a man wielding sword was the first thing that came into her sight. Immediately her smile dropped, and at the same time the color red filled her vision. Unlike that time, she didn't feel nauseous nor pain; in fact, she forgot she was actually in pain. A burning sensation crept onto her eyes and as if they were really on fire, her eye color turned blazing red. Her pupils also turned into slits like feline's. This change was noticed by Arslan and caused his eyes to widen in shock.

Time seemed to be stopped for him until Arslan realized those eyes weren't looking at him. He followed after them over his shoulder and was shocked to find a man who looked ready to swing his sword behind him. Arslan promptly held up his own sword in defense but that man still didn't move a muscle. His expression looked utterly stricken by fear. His sword slowly slid from his grip and fell to the floor, followed by his body.

Arslan was just too confused to move his stance. That man, too, didn't move. Was he... dead? If so, why so sudden? What caused it? Nothing pierced nor cut his limbs. If not, why didn't he move again?

Only when he heard a thud behind him did Arslan move. "Asa!" He called, sheathing his sword to put the girl in his arms, "Pull yourself together, Asa!"

"What happened?" Gieve knelt next to him, then focused his attention on Asa. The girl breathed slowly with eyes closed, seeming to have lost her consciousness. '...tsk, we're short on people right now... I can't fight while carrying her.'

He turned to Arslan. "I apologize, Denka, but I will need you to carry Hime-sama while I--"

"That will not be needed," Asa's voice cut in. The two then watched as she slowly rose from Arslan's arms and wobbly stood up. "As you can see... I am fine."

"...alright, let's hurry out, then," Gieve nodded, then looking at Arslan, "Denka?"

"Yes." Arslan nodded back without taking his gaze off of Asa. He felt a bit calmer now after seeing her normal blue eyes. Even so, the confusion still piled up and lingered in his mind. He decided to put the matter aside for now, somehow believing he would find the answer soon.

Just then they heard slashes and screams approaching them, then not so long after that Jaswant emerged from the other side of the corridor. When his gaze met with Arslan's, he spoke up, "Please follow me, quickly."