Star Fire

DanMachi: The Dragon's Return

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Chapter 14

Star Fire

…

"I don't like the looks of this," Tione frowned. It had been a month since the two groups of women parted ways at the Alv crossroads. Tione, after some debate and council from Riveria before taking her leave, had chosen to take lesser roads of Rakia to Telskyura. The choice was simple: lesser known roads help to avoid notice, and that would help ensure secrecy and some small safety from national enemies one would find on a highway. Tione did give thought to bandits being on the lesser roads but was largely unconcerned considering the gods-given strength of the women. However, Tione also had to remind herself that goddess Hestia was the most vulnerable to bandits, and her loss would be an unthinkable blow.

Still, no matter how much Tione did not want to be noticed, there would come a day when the women needed to get supplies. Today was that day, according to a map that Riveria gave to Tione. However, when the women arrived at the place a town was supposed be snuggly nestled in, all they found was a charred skeleton of the buildings that were once there. The women viewed sight from atop a hill that the road connected to. There were pikes set up around the burned remains of the town, each pike and running through the naked corpses of the townspeople, entrails hanging from cut open bellies. Haruhime trembled in fear at the sight and clung to Mikoto. There were also children the pikes ran through, who were clearly flayed before being skewered. Blood watered the ground and offered up a pungent that churned the stomachs of Hestia and Haruhime.

"I don't think those were bandits," Tiona mumbled to her sister.

"No," Tione agreed. "Bandits would slaughter innocents, but they wouldn't wipe out an entire town just to burn it to the ground. They would have fortified the place."

"And taken the local nobility as hostages," Tiona carried the thought along. "And, of course, monsters wouldn't put people on pikes. Who is Rakia at war with?"

"Who isn't Rakia at war with?" Hestia looked at the Amazonian twins after recomposing herself.

"Fair point," Tione nodded. "But why slaughter an entire town? Even a conqueror would at least spare some and take children for slaves."

"This was meant to be seen. It's a warning," Hestia frowned. "A god is behind this, and not a reasonable god."

"There are 'reasonable' gods?" Mikoto offered a small smile in hopes to comfort the shaken renard.

"Funny," Hestia smiled back at Mikoto before turning her attention back to the Amazons. "We should know who we're dealing with. The quicker we come to a conclusion, the easier we will be able to plan for a potential enemy."

"Rakia has plenty of enemies, but most two most obvious enemies from our location would be the elves and the Empire," Tione said thoughtfully. "Forest elves don't have the power to fight Rakia given the High Elves' distrust of gods."

"I was thinking of the Empire as well," Hestia mumbled. "It is smaller than Rakia in terms of land, but its gains in the sea are unrivaled compared to all but the furthest countries of the East. Even so, the god who rules the Empire, Jupiter, is not malevolent to those he freshly conquered."

"What do you mean, lady Hestia?" Tiona frowned.

"It's as you pointed out earlier," Hestia pushed her horse forward towards the corpse of the town. The others followed her, the two Amazons on either of the goddess. "It makes no sense for a conqueror to massacre an entire town without taking slaves or leaving some alive. Jupiter has always willed that captured territory should be peacefully occupied except in rebellion. Even then, rebellions against the Empire would only see the annihilation of every male of enemy territory." (1)

"Eh?!" Tiona frowned. "Telskyura would call that a waste!"

"I don't think even our perverted people would waste their time on men from an unknown village that don't even have falna," Tione sighed. "And I highly doubt they would declare war on the Empire for such a stupid reason if the Empire did do this."

"What about the slaves Kali keeps?" the younger Amazon twin smiled at her assumed cleverness.

"I really don't want to think about it," Tione shuddered.

"In either case," Hestia rolled her eyes, "if the Empire did do this, it must have changed its policy. But why?"

"Maybe a different god has counseled lord Jupiter?" Haruhime offered, though she kept her eyes away from the charred corpses the women were approaching. Her ears folded slightly as she winced as if she were in pain. Mikoto frowned at the sight of Haruhime's discomfort and placed a hand on her shoulder. The Renard looked to smile at her friend, though Mikoto could tell the smile was forced.

"That seems the most likely," Hestia mumbled. "Where's a Titan to put an end to an unpleasant mystery when you need one?"

"Ah, that reminds me! How do you know lord Michael?" Tiona placed an index finger at her chin.

"Hmm?" Hestia glanced at the younger Amazon twin. "Oh! Before the Lower World was opened to the gods, Michael would sometimes come to my sanctuary to rest. He has wandered the world and the spirit realm for a long time, keeping darker powers in check to protect the spirits of the dead. When he would stay with me, he would tell me stories of the Lower World. I guess you could say his tales are why I fell in love with the Lower World and wanted to come here. But, he would never stay long, and he would come and go as he pleased. Truthfully, I hadn't seen him for almost three thousand years until recently showed up at my door again. During that time, I had made friends with Hephaestus and other gods. Titans are odd, and that is a funny thing for a god to say! They are quick to anger, and quicker to laugh, but they are masters of pity and patience. Still for all they are supposed to do for the world, you look at this horror and wonder 'why.'"

Haruhime listed to Hestia closely. Ever since the incident with the demi-god, she had begun to hear whispers around her, and always were they loudest when she was alone and during her sleep. But in this destroyed town the whispers became louder than she had ever heard before. There were too many voices for her to hear properly, but many of them sounded as children. She heard laughter, crying, shouts of pain and of joy. But, as she ever drew nearer to the town, those gentler voices became screams and cries of mercy. The Renard felt herself pulled away from her companions.

Haruhime then saw soldier setting buildings on fire and plunging swords and spears into civilians. Men were made to watch women be used for the pleasure of the soldiers. Children had their heads bashed against stone walls. Blood watered the ground, and the earth greedily drank the human sacrifices.

"NO!" Haruhime screamed and fell to the ground from her horse, her mind returning to her friends.

"Haruhime!" Mikoto and Hestia cried, and quickly dismounted to go to her side along with Tiona. The Amazon helped the Renard back to her feet along with Mikoto.

"What happened?" Hestia frowned, checking the Renard for any bone breaks.

"I…," Haruhime trembled, tears forming in her eyes. "I saw this town burning. I saw the soldiers… do terrible things and I heard so many screams. I saw the image of an eagle over the sun."

Hestia stayed in quiet thought while Mikoto and Tiona tried to comfort the poor Renard. Tione also watched quietly, her fingers toying with the blade hilts at her hips. She had already been on edge, but the sincerity in Haruhime's eyes filled her with even more wariness.

"Haruhime, show me your back," Hestia softly demanded after determining that there were no physical injuries from her fall.

"L-lady Hestia?" Mikoto frowned, unsure what Hestia was thinking.

"Just do it, please," the goddess said calmly.

The shaken Renard stared at the goddess for a moment before nodding. Slowly, she shed her robe so her back was visible to the goddess. Hestia eyed the hieroglyphs on Haruhime carefully. Hestia's face betrayed the wheels that were spinning in her mind. After a about a minute, she sighed and pulled the Renard's robe back up her body.

"What's wrong?" Tione asked, arms folded across her chest.

"Haruhime, how long have you been seeing or hearing things?" Hestia gazed in the eyes of the Renard.

"S-since I last left the Dungeon," the Renard squeaked out.

"Michael, what did that Seraph do?" the goddess muttered.

"L-lady Hestia?" Haruhime frowned.

"What happened when you met the Seraph?" Hestia asked.

"Eh?!" the Renard flinched. "W-well, she grabbed my hands and I—"

"She? 'She' touched you?" Hestia frowned.

"Ye-yes, lady Hestia," the Renard whispered

"I think our fox became a little more important," Hestia turned to Tione. "The greater gods know something of the Seraphim, but very few gods have ever claimed to meet one. Michael told me about them once, that the Twelve are the masters of space and time. They are the six lords of space and six ladies of time. Haruhime has been graced with a Seraph's power, though I don't know to what extent of the Seraph's power. However, I think she is able to see and hear time, namely the past. The extent of such power is dependent where the veil between the physical world and spirit world happens to be strong or thin. Furthermore, her own powers have been enhanced."

"Enhanced by how much?" Tiona raised an eyebrow.

"At a rough guess, think of a first level sorcerer with all the magical strength of Riveria," Hestia glanced at the confused Renard as shocked silence fell on the group. "Now double that power every time she may happen to level up. The Seraphim are called the 'burning ones' in the language of the gods, so naturally the ability would be named 'Star Fire."

"I'm guessing there's a 'but,'" Tione frowned.

"She's a mortal with all the power of a god," Hestia nodded. "Star Fire could very easily kill her. Actually, the power alone would vaporize her. Not even ashes would remain."

"So we can't use her magic at all?" Tione felt a shiver of fear run up and down her spine at the thought of them failing in Telskyura.

"No," Hestia shook her head. "Thankfully, she can still get away with using her normal powers, which is still greatly enhanced, but she requires more extensive training so she doesn't wind up using Stare Fire."

"And what about the time magic?" Mikoto asked with concern.

"The time magic isn't Star Fire itself," Hestia sighed with some relief. "Which means we can use it to our advantage. But Haruhime will need to learn to control it. Hearing the voices of the past can be… distracting, I imagine."

"I thought the Seraph was on our side," Tione sighed. "Now Haruhime is cursed!"

"I don't think the Seraph cursed Haruhime," Hestia mumbled. "There… must be a reason for why the Seraph touched her, though I can't think of anything special." The goddess shook her head. "Let's get out of here. The sooner, the better. We'll have to ration our supplies until the next town, but I think we'll be able to manage. Mikoto, keep close to Haruhime."

"Yes, lady Hestia," Mikoto bowed to the goddess.

The women mounted their horses once more and pushed began to push south-east. As the put the town behind them, Hestia looked back for a moment. There were still small billows of smoke that would rise up into the air. The Renard looked back as well, but out of a strange disquiet of her soul. Something was following them, she had thought, but there was nothing to be seen.

"Tione, Tiona," Hestia said quietly to the Amazons. "I have a bad feeling about all of this. If the Seraph empowered Haruhime in the Dungeon, that can only mean that the Dungeon was made aware of it as well. I'm afraid that our enemy will only see Haruhime as an opportunity."

"Are you saying monsters will come after her?" Tione frowned.

"I'm saying Enyo Eris may take an interest in her," the goddess pondered. "The enemy has many gods in her service. If any should take hold of Haruhime…."

"We won't let that happen," Tiona smiled.

"I trust you," Hestia nodded. "But we still need to be careful.

…

Some distance away, a hooded archer was watching the women, clad in a grey cloak and carrying a white-steel bow. The archer smiled before moving forward after the women. The archer fidgeted with bowstring with every step forward, far-seeing eyes looking between Haruhime and Tiona.

"Interesting," the archer muttered. "Very interesting."

…

1. This was true of the Roman Empire's policy known as the "Pax Romana," or "the Roman peace." The policy was extremely simple: "we will let you and your culture live as long as you submit to us." Rome, of course, was very serious on the threat, and acted upon it with terrible retribution. The subjugated people breaking such a policy had all but a tenth of a town's population destroyed, and that tenth left alive was always female youth. This act was also known as gender-genocide, and it was highly effective at making a foreign culture become true Roman as Rome would send its own people as immigrants to help repopulate the settlement. The practice was most commonly used against Gaul, otherwise known as France.

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