Epilogue

Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh! I can't believe this! So THIS is what that scene was foreshadowing all along!?

A-and then there's the soul put into each and every line! It's so sugomazingly well-drawn it almost looks like the panels are sparkling!

Crap, I'm dead. I'm literally dead. I'm not worthy to behold such kamilike majesty.

No, wait! I can't afford to die now! I still have time to make my winter deadline!

I need to channel these impulses into something tangible before I explode! Okay, first I'll do a rough draft, then...

Hooray, my gift opened! And it turned out to be even better than I'd hoped!

Maybe it's because I had to wait so long to open it, but it almost looks like it's sparkling!

I'm so sorry about what I said before. You're not a meanie at all.

Thank you, Santa!

...

(Crunch, munch) Oh boy, these carrots are so good I can't put them down! Me, Lu Bu! (Munch, munch)

Ugh, nothing but happy faces everywhere you turn. It's enough to turn my stomach.

Don't you agree?

No, I don't. Besides, it has nothing to do with me.

Is that right? Hehehe, if you say so.

Say, while you're here, can I ask you something else?

...As long as it's something I can answer.

I can see Pārvatī figuring out Vritra's deal early on, since she's Pārvatī and all...

But how did you figure it out before everyone else?

I think you caught on about when I showed up, so I was wondering if I maybe slipped up.

...It's because Karna said you were your usual self.

?

He's never been one to fall for lies or treachery. Even as a human, he always had a sharp eye for the truth.

So when he said that about you...

...I was sure that you were there entirely of your own volition.

Well, yeah. I even said as much.

It was the perfect opportunity to piss you Indra types off, after all.

However, you also said there were some parts of what you were doing that you didn't like.

I did?

You did. So the question was, what was it you hated to do?

I knew it couldn't be opposing us and Master.

You're generally far too cynical to care about that sort of thing.

I suppose you could have simply been sarcastic about it, but that didn't seem to be the case, either.

So I thought about what you would hate to do some more, and then I realized what the answer was:

Loving people.

...

We all know how much you hate your job as the god of love, so if you hated part of what you were doing with Vritra, it had to mean that love was somehow involved.

That was when I began to doubt whether Vritra's actions were truly evil.

If you, of all people, were helping her willingly...

...then your doing so must have been in some way involved love.

...Well, I'm sure you've heard of tough love before, right? Sometimes, the best way to love someone is to give them a challenge they can only overcome by learning and growing.

That was a necessary evil as far as I was concerned.

Well, I was only hypothesizing at the time. I had no actual proof.

So I decided the best thing I could do was entrust my alter to handle it in my stead, since, as a child of the gods, he could determine good from evil from a truly impartial perspective.

...That's all I have to say about that. Was there anything else you wanted to know?

Are you sure that's all there was to it?

Hm?

Hey, I am the god of love. I'm sensitive to this sort of thing. That's why I have to ask.

Are you sure there wasn't something you were trying to give your alter by having him take over for you?

I mean, he's entirely forgotten about his human life, right?

So maybe you, for instance, wanted to jog his memory by having him spend time with your half brother, especially now that he's been acting more like his younger self?

That WOULD be a lovely Christmas present to give your alter, wouldn't it?

Whoa, watch where you're pointing that thing! I'm a god, remember!?

I sense great evil within you. If you're actually a demon that means Master harm, there is no reason not to erase you from existence here and now.

Yeah, no, I could give you a few. Besides, the worst I get up to these days is a bit of mischief.

I swear, this is the whole problem with humans who're too close to Shiva. They think they can just torch whatever they don't like.

Well don't worry, I can tell when I'm not wanted. Just don't shoot me in the back or anything, okay?

(Hmm. I'm pretty sure my theory was dead-on, but I still don't know why he trusted Karna to give his other self that gift.)

(Unless...he actually has more faith in Karna's abilities than anyone else?)

...Weirdo.

Hm? Who left this here? And when were they in my room?

...