Folly, Hubris, And Another Of Her Own Kind

"Light."

A ball of lightning flickered into existence, illuminating the intensely white hospital room for a moment.

Kaina smiled at the light she had brought forth, yet she could never beam as brightly as it shone.

The Hadal Abyss cannot be unseen.

A world that drowned its inhabitants in an endless storm.

Pyr's domain.

The home of a god was his personification, and was a trait that was seen to be far more true for the eldritch and the abominable.

And while Pyr was the prior, he was no less terrifying than the latter. 

"Light"

In the dying of the light, it was her words that once again illuminated the room. Yet no matter how many times she said it, one corner of the room refused to illuminate. Blackened scales and molten veins seemed to have conquered that corner, refusing to relinquish the fiery glow emanating from its sole inhabitant.

Even the shadow of the titan of the sea remained unbreakable to the likes of her. 

"Light"

The room brightened again, and a moment's tension faded away. Focus on the light, that was all she could do.

Even if her voice went hoarse, it would only take a sip of wat-

Kaina shuddered as the faces of the drowned entered her mind.

The light dimmed dangerously low in a moment of folly, while her dread of the dark brought her back to reality.

"Light"

Yet even in fear, she could only muster a whisper of her former strength. Just enough to illuminate her smile.

…

"Pyr, come for a moment brother, there is something in this dragon's mouth!"

The light grey scales of Pyrs body denoted his youth, an age of when his hubris had yet to be curbed.

"What is it Kraken?"

The slick, leathery red skin of the tentacled man before him seemed to shudder in surprise as he peered at the beheaded corpse of a chinese dragon. The blued skin beneath its white scales was ragged and stretched, revealing that its head had been torn from its body, not cut. Its grand horns had been pulled from its corpse, having been taken by a foe unseen. Its white mane was dirtied and sullen with mud and its own bluish blood. This dragon had suffered a great deal before it died.

"Kraken?"

The tentacles Kraken used as legs seemed to move independently, allowing him to clamber over devastated earth and trees. Mighty claws and flaming breath had rent the earth and scorched the vegetation to cinders. Yet none of it had been enough for this poor soul to survive.

"a… c….l..d"

"Kraken is everything alright?"

"IT'S A SURVIVOR! A CHILD!"

Pyrs eyes widened at this, for everywhere the scourge had tread unimpeded, life disappeared. Never before had a survivor been found.

'Does fate yet live? Or is this yet another false hope.'

Pyr clambered over on all sixes, his body shaking the earth as he moved. 

"Help me pry her mouth open! The dragon's jaws are clamped shut!"

*CRAK!*

Three tentacles and two arms pulled the dead dragon's mouth with a sickening snap. Though he had a rule of not desecrating the bodies of the fallen, this was too important to ignore.

"What upon the shores of Athens are you two doing?"

A sharp voice pierced the skies. The two froze, as though they were caught red handed. 

"Mother-"

"Don't "MOTHER" me Pyr! Desecration, even by our standards, is a sin. There will be judgement for that if you do not explain in the next ten seconds!"

The Titan and his brother from the depths slowly turned around to face the one rebuking them.

A titanic woman in revealing white robes descended from the sky, her eyes covered by a white cloth. On her gold belt was a sword, while in her other hand she held a scale.

Themis, the titan of judgement.

"What would your father do if he saw you doing this foolery! Have you no pride? Or does the blood of Typhon cloud your eyes with hubris?"

Pyr's gills hissed with hot air as she berated him. Even if he was fond of his mother, the scoldings still hurt.

"Well miss, I think Poseidon would-"

"Don't answer that Kraken, and now that I think about it, you as his older brother shouldn't be leading him astray!"

"I'm adopted thoug-"

"It does not matter! You may not be brothers by blood but you are brothers by tooth and claw!"

"Mother, please, let us explain ourselves."

Themis's brown hair fluttered in the wind as she pursed her pinkish red lips. 

"Fine Pyroseimith, enlighten me to what excuse you could come up with before both of you suffer."

Pyr pointed at the dragon's tongue, directing her attention to what said tongue was curled around.

"A child."

Instantly Themis appeared in front of the child, in a new human sized form.  Even in death, the dragon's tongue seemed to hold onto its child with Themis having to peel the kid from its cold wet grip.

Themis eyed the baby, holding it carefully. Its chest raised up and down, while its ghostly white horns still retained the vibrance of life. Her dark skin and human-like form made her hybrid lineage clear.

"A little girl… you're both forgiven, and I apologise for misunderstanding your intentions, both of you."

As Themis turned her attention to the newborn, the two young masters of the deep discussed the meaning of her survival.

"Perhaps she is a herald of a fated victory?"

"Or perhaps a ploy to infiltrate our ranks?"

Themis whipped around, looking at the two young leviathans of the sea, her hair floating threateningly. The pessimistic words that were spoken had not gone unheard, and were most certainly unappreciated by someone like Themis. Yet while the two were behind her back, it was Krakens gurgly voice that betrayed him.

Judgement after all, cannot be denied its victim.

…

Pyr looked at the child he had been granted custody of, pondering the cruelty of her fate. All those years ago he would have never imagined Themis would leave her in his care. 

Destined to have her mother slaughtered and reaped to increase the strength of the scourge. Her father, who would deny fate just to absolve himself of responsibility. And a half baked experiment like him, left to scour the earth of all remaining evils, was their only available replacement.

'If only the others were not so busy rebuilding Olympus…'

A sigh scorched the air as his gills stilled, distinguishing his exhaustion from indignation.

The sombre air surrounding Kaina was a jarring shift from the normal energetic teenager she normally was. Watching her turn over in her hospital bed, he couldn't even bother to open his mouth to sigh. Plumes of orange flames vented through his gills in light spurts as he wondered what to do.

Pyr was many things.

A hunter, a soldier, the scouring flame. 

But a parent?

He was not known for… tender care. 

Silence permeated the warm room as Pyr sat in contemplation. His blackened scales seemed to suck in light, dimming his surroundings and casting a dark shadow upon all beneath them.

"What will the consequences of my actions be?"

Pyr's tongue scraped across his ashen teeth as he tasted something in the air. An unease had slowly cast itself over the room, settling in and weighing down upon him like thick pacific snow. Yet he couldn't be fazed. He could smell it in the air.

His worth would be tested here and now.

"There will be none. The lack of understanding from the local official was… let's say alleviated by my wisdom."

"You threatened them?"

"I threatened them. However the difference between you and I was that they were seeking to take my independence, not punish you. You were simply the lucky collateral of MY mistake. Had I been more thorough with my oversight this would have been a fleeting issue."

Kaina didn't respond, though she seemed to shrink with guilt underneath the sheets.

"Don't feel responsible. They did the same with Carna-girl, with the very same outcome. The only way they ever learn is through violent demonstrations of power. Besides, I remain unburdened by their policies and bureaucracy."

"In all honesty, I should've been much better prepared for such a chance outcome. I had thought that I might have had more time to prepare for your transcendence but such things can rarely be planned. In the end, your affinity for your predecessor's ego was quite high and my confidence was misplaced. 

This is not your fault.

The failure this time belongs to me alone.

I am not a teacher. I am not a god, nor am I a hero. I am a hunter. The infernal king, the burning hand, the son of the seas… the scourer of the south. These are the titles I bear. I a-"

"Stop. Please… just stop."

A sobbing plea pierced his tongue, pinning it inside his mouth. 

"You say all that, you blame yourself, but it was me who failed… It wasn't you who threatened those girls and it wasn't you who started a fight that nearly destroyed the school.

It was me."

"Where did you get that idea from?"

"Huh?"

A rumbling sigh shook the room as Pyrs gills now belched steam. A green flame welled up in his mouth as all five of his eyes opened. His presence seemed to expand as the seams of magma that lined his body slowly shifted in colour to match the glow emanating from his mouth.

*FUUUUSSSSSHHHHHHH!!!*

A single breath dyed the room in a bright green, blinding the girl as she put up her hands in protest.

Her misty eyes slowly cleared as she rubbed away tears of guilt and the prideful light her teachers fire.

It took her a minute to regain her vision, yet when she did she was greeted by two unfamiliar faces. One was a towering man with white hair and a bushy beard, his head accented by a gilded wreath. His body was rippling with muscle, though the majority was covered by a clean white toga. However what truly attracted her attention was the golden bolt of lightning in his hand. It was the same as the one that resided upon her spear.

"He is your father, Zeus. A god of thunder, and the once vaunted leader of the Greek pantheon."

The deep rumbling voice of Pyr brought her out of her stupor. The green hue that surrounded him now was slowly being tainted with orange flames. His eyes had become a swirling mixture of green and orange duelling for prominence.

"His lust for power and women was only second to one. Yet we still don't know how he managed to find affinity with your mother."

The other being was a coiling serpent. Its body was covered in white scales while its back was lined by a lush white mane. The skin of its underbelly was a sky blue while its horns were a bleached ivory. Yet its honey gold eyes were burning with a possessive passion that heavily contradicted the serene sleek body they belonged to.

"Yushuilong, your mother. A young dragon who presided over a desert village. She was so possessive that even in death she held onto you with every fibre of her being."

Pyr's eyes widened as he spoke, reminiscence filling them with childlike wonder. Yet his expressions were all blurred to Kaina.

Tears streamed down her face.

"So then…"

"Yes. They number amongst the fallen. You can find them amongst the grave pillars below the school. However their concepts live on in you. "

Pyr watched tiny tears stream down his students face, wondering if her father could truly have produced such a kind heir to his strength.

"Those concepts are also why you went berserk. The burning passion of your mother and the boundless lust of your father remain upon the concepts passed on to you. This is what led to your rampage.

It wasn't your fault."

This time, Kaina couldn't hold herself back. Quiet sobs became undignified weeping as she leapt up and pushed herself against his chest.  Her soft skin scraped against the rough stone like scutes that layered his body, yet despair dulled every discomfort.

Pyr simply responded by wrapping his arms around her. He didn't know what else to do. So he simply responded in kind.

For two hundred years, he had watched over this tiny dormant child, seldom leaving her side until recent times. When she first awoke and began to grow, it was only with the help of Ludovica that he managed to care for her.

Pyr was not a father.

He was many things, but not a father.

…

"So you found me in 2020?"

"Indeed. You were in a sparse plain at the edge of what is now the Dìwáng shān province."

"So the-"

"So then how old am I? We don't know. You were in dormancy when you were recovered from your mother. Assuming you were born sometime during the Asia campaign, your body could be around 220 years old while you only awoke properly some 17 years ago."

"I should probably apologise to Ludovica for calling her a hag."

"A wise decision."

After Kaina had calmed down, Pyr was able to make much more headway in their conversation. Progress was slow, but it was there.

"There are very few who survived the scourge war. Thanatos, Aphrodite, Themis, Gaia, Kronos, and Poseidon are the sole survivors from the old Greek pantheon. We are few in number, yet know we are closer than ever before. Your awakening set in motion the dawn of a new age for our pantheon. You brought hope.

That is why you were placed in my care."

Kaina laid in silence. After her tear ducts had run dry and her legs had run out of strength, Pyr had laid her back down. Slowly she had assimilated with the small hospital bed to the point where one couldn't tell where she began and the sheets ended.

It was the only way she could feel a fraction of his warmth after all.

"It is also why I must reject your advances in any way."

One wouldn't find any warmth in his words though.

They were as cold as his eyes.

Unable to meet his gaze directly, she once again flipped to look at the wall.

"Even if the traits of your parents were the cause of your outburst, the original idea had to come from somewhere."

"We are family. I am the son of your uncle if we put it in human terms. Poseidon is my father while Themis is my mother."

"On top of all of that, I am more Titan than anything else. We are built for war, not romance. I do not hate you, but you are my student, my family, and a child in my eyes."

Pyr shifted from his half-titan form to his "Human" form, his next words abandoning the cold tone for an infernal one.

"Abandon those ideas. Cast them away. Crush them and grind them down if you have to. And when your mind is clear, leave this place and come find me.

Your days in the academy are over.

You are no longer the hero in training, Surge.

You will become the god of tempests, Kaina."

Pyr walked towards the door of the small room, his massive frame filling the space as he stood properly. Yet just as he nearly ducked out the room, he stopped.

"It's time you followed in the steps of the forebearers of our pantheon's torch."

And with those final words, he left as his tails slunk out behind him.

An acrid smell filled the air in his wake, as though it were the source of Pyrs unease rearing its head in his absence.

"It all makes sense now. All of it. You're really going to hate this Master."

Throwing off the covers Kaina stood up, abandoning the bed and following the steps of her master.

And on the wall she had been facing, a word was etched in burning brick and molten white paint.

Residual flickering sparks betrayed the artist's identity.

Written upon the wall was a single simple name.

Pyr.

…

AN: Okay boys it's over. It's done. This world is really big. The lore surrounding it is incredibly deep and thick and could never fit into a single short story. For that, I apologise.

Yet even so I wanted to make this. I know it's a little awkward and some things aren't explained (like the reason for Kaina's obsession and the Scourge war) but I just couldn't find a way to fit both of those in. If you want I can write a chapter about the Scourge war and this worlds creation process. But Kaina will not be explained. I would like that to be explained in a future short story. That one will be Loki's story.

His story is quite the somber one.

Anyways I'm going to get back into writing chapters for both of my series. Whenever I feel like I'm getting stale in those I will stop and post one of these.

Next will be:

A KINGS SHADOW