Origins

DanMachi: The Dragon's Return

Hey, everyone! First off, I hope you all are doing well. With the epidemic going around, I can only hope and pray that each of you are as healthy as you can be. And if you have happened to catch corona, I can only hope and pray that you make a speedy and full recovery. Please, if you are able, stay home and watch TV, read, and do whatever you do at home to your hearts' content!

Second, for those who have observed this story's attributing to the style of Tolkien's mythology, I appreciate your keen eyes! Yes, there is a lot of Tolkien's influence here, as that was the writing style I first fell in love with while trying to make my own style. That being said, despite how easy it is Tolkien-ize DanMachi, and it's almost painfully easy given how the author's mythology is set up, that is not my intention. My intention is to attempt to build upon world mythologies that DanMachi's author has used as well as could be done up until this point. Tolkien is just a beautiful bonus! I will admit that Michael is as close to Gandalf as I am willing to allow to simply amuse myself, but that is done more in the sense that Gandalf is a character that represents figures in many mythologies, solely as a lone wanderer that acts as a messenger of hope in the darkest of times.

In either case, on to the story! I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 15

Origins

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"What's wrong?" Tiona heard a familiar masculine voice over her. She slowly opened her eyes and blinked away the weariness she had been feeling. Her vision came into focus and she herself laying her head on a lap clothed with dark pants. She lifted her head and to find crimson eyes staring at her paired with a kind smile.

"Bell," the Amazon breathed, her own smile painting her face. She leaned up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, clutching him tightly. This was only a vision of him, a dream, but the spirit readings that connected them felt too real for her to think of it as such.

"What's wrong?" the white-haired boy asked again, returning the embrace. His voice was muffled in her shoulder and his breath tickled her skin. Tiona felt shivers run up and down her body.

"I'm not sure yet," Tiona shut her eyes and tightened her grip. "But I know I'm afraid. Haruhime is in a danger I don't know, and I'm afraid that I can't protect her from that danger. I'm afraid I can't protect anyone."

Bell held the Amazon quietly. He gently slid his fingers up and down her back, causing Tiona to whimper softly under his touch. Tears filled her eyes and stained her cheeks. They had barely been apart for two months and the young Amazon was starting to doubt whether or not she would see the people she cared for again.

"I'm afraid, too," Bell said softly. "I have been brought somewhere far away, and every step I take hides the road before me. I feel lost."

The Amazon opened her eyes once again and pulled back to look at his face. He had a far off look about him that reminded her of herself when she was a young child. He had the look of loneliness and despair around him. The Amazon frowned worriedly and closed the distance between them, pressing her lips gently to his.

"You have to stay strong," Tiona whispered. "We both do. Being a hero means being afraid and conquering that fear."

"They never really conquer it," Bell smiled sadly, thinking of their mutual love for hero stories. "Heroes simply remember what is more important. They sacrifice themselves to their fear, and that fear is either blown away or becomes a devourer. Being a hero means putting your fear and your life aside for the greater good."

"You won't die!" Tiona kissed him again and took his hand to place upon her belly. "You're not allowed to die. Besides, Ais and I trained you ourselves. No one with our training can go down easy!"

Bell's eyes wandered down to where Tiona had placed his hand. A small blush accompanied her smile and tears. Gently, he grazed his thumb over her smooth skin. Tears formed in his own eyes as Tiona watched the aura of loneliness and despair dissipate from him.

"Tiona?" Bell whispered. The Amazon could only smile in response.

"Now you have another reason why you're not allowed to die," she said softly, resting her forehead against his. "We have a reason why none of us are allowed to die."

The boy closed his eyes, brushing his nose gently to hers. They stayed quiet in each other arms, and Tiona was unsure how long. Some of her connections with Bell felt for only a few minutes what was actually hours. Some connections felt as if hours had passed, but the reality was maybe a few minutes. But this time her time felt shorter than usual.

"You have to go?" Tiona asked, expecting him give her the answer she hated.

"Yes," Bell whispered. "Where I am is dangerous. I can't afford to rest long here."

"Don't loose sight of the road you tread," the Amazon warned. "It's easy to give up when you don't know where you're going."

Bell kissed her a final time before he disappeared from her arms. The memory of his warmth tingled upon Tiona's skin, but the cold quickly began to envelope her. When the young Amazon opened her eyes at last to the starry night above her. When she turned on her side, she found Haruhime opposite of her, sitting in front of the fire. The Renard smiled shyly at the Amazon.

"Your watch doesn't start for another hour," Haruhime said softly.

"No," the Amazon muttered tiredly, "but I guess I just wanted to wake up. Want to sleep now?"

"I'm fine to keep you company for another hour," the Renard turned her eyes to the fire. "I'm not exactly eager to see whatever dreams will fill my head."

Tiona frowned. It had been a week since the group's incident with the destroyed town and Haruhime's vision. A couple days after the incident, they women found themselves in town that, thankfully, wasn't destroyed. While they were there, the women were able to resupply and gather information. Hestia's suspicions were confirmed on the Empire making a move of conquest. Banners bearing the symbol of an eagle over a golden sun upon a crimson field in the town confirmed Hestia's suspicion, but the rumors of the townsfolk only worked make the goddess consider the women's next move more carefully.

After talking with Tione, the elder Amazon sister and the goddess agreed that while it was unclear whether or not the Empire could be considered a threat to their mission, they ought to be more cautious about coming to future towns. Tione suggested that she and Mikoto be the ones to gather supplies from now on while the rest stay off a mile from the town. Hestia agreed to the conditions and cautioned Tione against making herself known. They were still a little over four months from Telskyura, and Tiona was beginning to vomit every other day. Hestia grew concerned if Tiona's pregnancy would slow them down, but Tione assured the goddess that Amazon stamina lasted longer than any other race. Still, a mid-term pregnant Tiona would be of little to no use against the Kalif sisters. Tione and Mikoto would have to fight them themselves, and that was already a problem with Mikoto's level. Riveria was right, Hestia had guessed, that their power would have to lie in Haruhime.

The problem, however, was that Haruhime was becoming increasingly unfocused in the training of her magic. Whatever visions she had been having or whatever voices she had been hearing disrupted her concentration when suing her magic. Hestia had suggested to the Renard that she ought to try meditation whenever she could, and the best time would have been during her night watches, as her hopefully quieted mind would be easily disturbed by whatever might be sneaking up on the group of women. Tione guessed, however, that Haruhime's mind was not as successfully quieted as the goddess had hoped.

"What have you been seeing?" the young Amazon asked and sat next to the Renard.

"Gods," Haruhime muttered in curiosity and in slight pain, her hands shooting up to her head. "I saw gods. I think they were smithy gods, but I didn't see lady Hephaestus amongst them. They were talking with one of the greater gods. I think his name was Brahma." (1)

"Did you hear what they said?" Tiona watched Haruhime closely. The Renard seemed troubled by the vision, as if some unseen fear was gnawing at her that she was doubting was even something to fear.

"The name, for one," the Renard winced in the pain of her headache. "And something about the order of a Seraph."

"That doesn't sound a like a Seraph I would want to be caught doing business with," the pair heard Hestia's voice to their fight. The goddess sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Ah, l-lady Hestia!" Haruhime folded her ears in distress. "I'm sorry if we woke you!"

"You didn't," the goddess smiled after a yawn. "Though I guess you say the flow of your power did."

"My power?" Haruhime asked with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I told you before that you wield the power of a god," the goddess yawned again before gazing into Haruhime's eyes. "It's hard for a god to not sense the power you have. There are gods who might even covet such power."

"I'm sorry I cause you so much trouble!" the Renard grumbled with embarrassment.

"You're fine!" Hestia giggled softly before her face turned serious. "Now, what did you say about an order from a Seraph?"

Haruhime gulped before relaying her vision to Hestia. The goddess sat quietly and nodded often to encourage the Renard. When Haruhime finished her odd tale, the goddess brought her knees to chest and gazed into the fire. She stayed quiet for a few minutes and her blue eyes almost seemed purple under the reflection of the red flames.

"How big is this web?" the goddess finally muttered, her eyes filled with fear. "Where does it start and where does it end? And for the love of all that is holy and sacred, why are we stuck in the dead center?!"

"Lady Hestia?" Tiona eyed the goddess worriedly under her scared look.

"Huh?" the goddess blinked before her mind came back her. "It's… It's nothing. Just thoughts."

"Considering you said lord Michael is you friend, and how much he knows, I doubt that it's nothing," Tiona folded her arms across her chest.

"I guess he causes quite the loophole for secret worries," the goddess smiled weakly. "Very well. This isn't a story I enjoy thinking about, but I will tell it as best I can."

Hestia sighed and took a large stick to poke at the burning logs of the fire. Embers leapt into the air and danced upon a breeze that caught them. The fire sprang to a ferocious new life that only intensified with the two logs Hestia placed upon the fire. The goddess then lifted her eyes to the stars and took a deep breath along with a slow exhale.

"In the beginning, the High God created thirteen beings that we gods call the Seraphim, the Burning Ones, who are the guardians of the throne of the High God. Like the Titans and the gods, they are offspring of the High God's thought, but they were closest in knowing the mind of the High God, who personally taught them. They were made the lords and ladies of space and time, and there were seven male and six female. The first born of the Seraphim was beautiful beyond description; the first Seraph, whose name is unknown to the gods, and the Titans do not speak of it. He had a share of all the gifts of his brothers and sisters, but he envied the gifts that they had made them separate from him.

After the High God made the Seraphim, the High God made the Titans. The High God made the Seraphim adults in thought, but the Titans were made children for the Seraphim to teach. For a time, the Titans grew under the Seraphim, but the First Seraph only saw the Titans for him to lord over, and grew to anger for the gifts that even the Titans had that he did not possess. Even more so, his anger grew to hatred for his fellow Seraphim, for he desired to rule over them and not with them, and he called himself the strongest of all beings.

He then abandoned those Titans under his tutelage, desiring to wander the dark places he supposed the High God had not given thought to inside the endless void of the universe. There he tried there to design his own works, but though thoughts came to his mind, he could not give shape to his thoughts, and he began to hate the envy and hate the High God power over him. He made himself alone in the discontent of his heart, and the Titans that were under him were taken in by his brothers and sisters. He was chastised by his fellow Seraphim, and his shame only fueled his hatred for all things. He went again into the void and hid himself there from the eyes of the Seraphim and the Titans. He studied his powers there and tried to grow strong.

Eventually there came a day when, at last, the High God's attention was turned to the void and was filled. The world, too, was made in this manner. And when the First Seraph saw the universe filled and the world made, his desire to create and rule filled his heart all the more. The High God made the gods, who were made of and bound to the universe and made infants that the Titans would teach. The First Seraph saw this as an opportunity, for he conceived in his heart that the gods, being made of the elements of the universe, would rule over the natural design of universe. But the High God then made the mortal races after filling the universe and the world, and the First Seraph, though his heart would have rejoiced over dominating them as subjects, was enraged for the High God made their bodies of the natural world but their spirits were made even more beautiful than the Seraphim. Yet the gods, the Titans, and the Twelve Seraphim rejoiced at their making and worshiped the High God. Many Titans then took on a raiment of the universe and clothed themselves with bodies as the gods and mortals were clothed.

Now there was a certain Titan named Harmonia was well loved by her brothers and sisters for her wisdom in grace. She was given council by the Seraph Sola, who was graced with the element of light as her power over time. From Sola, Harmonia learned wisdom and grace, and she loved best the beauty of all things working together as a whole. She took it upon herself to teach the gods of their gifts and to work together for the sake of the beauty of universe. Such was her love for the friendship between the gods.

But the First Seraph saw his opportunity in Harmonia and wished to rule over the world and all the natures of the universe through her. He clothed himself and when he revealed himself to her, she fell in love with his beauty. But the First Seraph took her and bound her and forced her to watch as he brought countless gods and goddesses before her and slaughtered them before her. He made her drink of their blood and he abused her day and night. Sometimes he would rape her, and other times he would skin her or cut out her organs and feast upon them only to force them to grow back inside her body. He rejoiced in her screams and pleas and mocked her often for her cries to stop his abuse of her.

And when he had finished abusing her body, he turned to break her already fragile mind. So deep and terrible was the affliction he unleashed upon her that, when he unbound her, she took part in the slaughtering gods and goddesses if only to ensure he would not abuse her. But, with the more life she took, she found herself no longer taking life out of fear but rather enjoyment. However, when she was completely broken, the Twelve Seraphim finally found them and slew the mortal raiment of the First Seraph. They then took the spirit of the First Seraph and cast it into prison beyond the confines of the universe, but all too late, for Harmonia was no longer who they knew. She lied to the Seraphim, and falsely repented of the slaying of the gods and goddesses that the First Seraph had her partake in. And when the Seraphim ordered her to return to her fellow Titans, she fled into dark places beyond the sight of the Seraphim. When she returned to the Titans, she was came back changed, and called herself Enyo Eris, and sowed discord amongst the Titans and amongst the gods. She became a liar and a murderer without shame, and from her discord came the tree that led to the curse upon the mortal races. From her came the hate of Sheol and pouring out of monsters. She is the start of the war amongst the gods."

When Hestia finished her tale, she fell back into silence and gazed once more into the fire before her. Haruhime and Tiona merely watched Hestia, stunned by the horrors of a past no had ever talked about to a mortal before. The silence between the three continued for some time until Haruhime broke the silence and Hestia's thoughts.

"What does any of this have to do with my vision?" the Renard asked.

"Everything," Hestia muttered. "Lord Brahma is a greater god who has never stepped foot in the lower world. The smiths who spoke with him are clearly lied to, and it seems your voices have confirmed that. I suspect that who they spoke to was Enyo Eris, and it was only for her to continue what she loves most, death and chaos. She was once good, but her very definitions of harmony and chaos have been switched. If she had been around smithy gods, then she may have created a weapon that lord Brahma never intended to ever be used."

"What weapon?" Tiona frowned.

"A weapon capable of turning everything its power touches into a barren and poisoned wasteland where nothing could ever survive," Hestia's eyes turned towards the Renard and Tiona. "A weapon that would only need a fraction of the world for its fire and ash to cover the whole world. 'The gods' exploding star,' the Brahmastra." (2)

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1. Brahma is the Hindu creation god.

2. In Hindu mythology, the "Brahmastra" is a set of five arrows that, considering the descriptions of the destructive power of the Brahmastra, is closely related to the modern description of the destructive power of a nuclear bomb. The arrows were never intended to be used openly, but rather as a last resort. There are religious texts that make at least a minor reference to nuclear destruction via fires that can end the world, but none of them are quite as descriptive of the concept as Hindu mythology, Norse mythology, and Christian tradition. The only difference is that Norse mythology and Christian tradition describes the usage as an "end times" event, unless one makes reference to Judeo-Christianity's "destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah" event. That, or the events described are meteors that end everything.

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Hey, everyone! Sorry this has taken me so long to write. Focus on work can a real drag, but at least I can say that I am this story burns bright within my heart! In either case, please leave your reviews. Have a great day, all, and please stay safe and keep your health!