Tears of the Wind

DanMachi: The Dragon's Return

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Chapter 2

Tears of the Wind

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In ancient days, before Ouranos took pity on the Lower World and repented of the deeds of the gods before the High God, the guardians of the Lower World were the Nephil-seraphim, the Fallen Flames. (1) They were the children of the gods, and descended first into the Lower World, and Elves and mortals called them "spirits," for their true form was magic. And the High God took pity on them, and bound them to the world, and made them the defenders of nature, so they might defend the world even if their hearts were corrupted by the evil gods. To that end, they would defend nature from mortals, Elves, and evil gods alike. Yet, even if their hearts were corrupted, their purposes remained good, and they found kinship amongst the Elves, who loved nature as they did.

Now the Black Dragon, in those days, sought to bring the monsters that escaped Sheol into the surface world together under him, and to lead them North to destroy Asgard and free the dragons of the North. But, under the direction of the spirits, a human hero was sent to challenge the Black Dragon. With him was a member of every other race, and the gods watched with interest when the spirits sent the hero to strike down the Dragon. And though the hero did harm the Dragon, by taking his eye, the hero died of his wounds to drive the Black Dragon off. Though many fell with the hero, some on his companions survived, and they were Celdia, the Elf Queen, and Evelda, the Amazon Empress, for the hero sent them away. Aria, a spirit, who loved him dearly, the hero also tried to send away, but she would not leave him. And the Dragon saw her power, and coveted it, and took her. But the power the Black Dragon took when he took Aria was not complete, for she passed much of her power on to another.

Now Celdia and Evelda, though heartbroken, obeyed the voice of the hero, and went their way together, with a young girl with them. But, as they returned to their home countries, a stranger met them and warned them against going home to take up their authority once more.

"In royalty, ye were born," the stranger said. "But in royalty ye would diminish, and thy lines with ye; for, the Darkness seeks the blood graced by the High God.

Four lines there shall be,

four hopes of light.

Four fires shall set ye free,

one, will evil smite.

When, again, the Dragon comes,

his wings shall be like drums.

Hope, as a bell, must clearly ring

if the Lower World, again, shall sing."

And so the stranger took the girl from Celdia and Evelda, and showed his face. And when the women saw the face of the stranger, they became afraid, and threw their faces upon the ground. But when the stranger saw the women beg for the life of the girl, he smiled.

"It is not the will of the High God for her to die," he said. "Neither is it the will of the High God for her to live… in this time."

And after the words left his mouth, the stranger vanished from the sight of the women. And fear ruled their hearts, and they went their way and disappeared. No histories know of where they went. No stories tell of their passing. Yet, they knew the time of their rule was at an end, as it was the day after they met the stranger that the gods came down from Heaven to help the Lower World against the threat of Sheol.

I wonder, Ais Wallenstein, if you are ready to walk the road that was laid for you since long ago?

...

Freya gazed from her suite in the uppermost level of the Tower of Babel. Her eyes were fixed on the old man that left the mansion of the Hestia Familia. She frowned, the aura that radiated from the old man was much too similar to the aura of Bell Cranel; but Bell's aura was transparent, reflecting all colors of the rainbow as a diamond, whereas the old man's aura was pure light.

"Ottarl?" Freya called softly.

"Yes, my Lady?" Ottarl answered obediently without a moment of silence between them.

"What do you know about the (2) star spirits?" the goddess of love and beauty asked, her voice as gentle as the sound of mountain stream.

"Star spirits?" Ottarl echoed, waiting for his goddess to grace him with her wisdom.

"Yes," she giggled. "Though I suppose you think I am asking about a certain lineage of spirits that dwell in the Lower World."

Ottarl stayed quiet as he watched Freya pick up a glass of red wine beside her. She swirled the wine gently, taking care not to spill it. The sunlight danced upon the glass and the liquid, creating a gleam like a dark ruby.

"The star spirits are not of the Lower World, I fear," Freya smiled mysteriously before taking a sip of her wine. "They are older. I suppose they are to us what the spirits we made are to you. You could call the star spirits 'Titans,' if you wanted, but that wouldn't give them justice."

"My Lady?" Ottarl asked with as gentle tone as he could muster, though his voice was hardly gentle.

"They are the old gods," Freya said plainly. "Or, that is how history would remember them if they were ever to be remembered by mortals. However, the gods remember them, and not kindly."

"Are they enemies?" Ottarl asked, raising an eyebrow. Freya giggled at the protective tone of her Familia captain.

"Enemies?" the goddess smiled. "I guess that depends on whom you're asking. But are they my enemies? No, not yet. I have no intention of causing the wrath of a power I cannot defend myself against. There isn't power enough between Heaven and the Lower World combined to fight the old gods, who exact the judgement of the High God upon the dead. They are the truly the angels of death, and their numbers are ten thousand legions." (3)

"May I ask what these Titans are doing in the Lower World?" Ottarl asked again, waiting patiently for an order from the goddess of beauty.

"I wonder about that myself," Freya muttered thoughtfully before taking another sip of wine. "But what else would a death angel want other than a soul? And what soul would be more alluring for a death angel other than a soul that is fleeing from death?"

"And you have an idea of what soul would try to run and hide from death?" Ottarl fingered the hilt of his sword, ready to take on whomever his goddess ordered him against.

"Oh, you're cruel to think I know everything, Ottarl," Freya said timidly, her fingers on her pouty lips and a teasing blush on her face. "But, yes, I have a suspicion. I believe Enyo has not yet been completely defeated."

"Enyo?" Ottarl muttered. "Wasn't Enyo Dionysus?"

"Yes, in a manner of speaking, and no," Freya frowned, becoming serious again. "Dionysus was Enyo, but Enyo was not Dionysus. There is an old saying from some of the other gods: 'In vino, veritas.' (4) The most dangerous time for a god is going between Heaven and the Lower World. There is a something called the Celestial Road, and it takes the entire focus of a god's Arcanum in order to travel it. At that point, a god's spirit could be attacked. Perhaps not slain but instead captured. If that is the case, Enyo's spirit would have merged with that of Dionysus, and Enyo would make the body of Dionysus drink in order to bring out his personality. However, I think it can be said that Dionysus was seduced by Enyo's whispers, and fell to Enyo's evil. To that end, when it was Dionysus who took his own life, Enyo's spirit escaped from his body and fled deep into the Dungeon."

"The gods can escape being slain and thrown back to Heaven?" Ottarl raised an eyebrow.

"The gods can't, no," Freya said darkly. "It is not within our power to keep our free spirits in the Lower World. But… a Titan could."

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It took me a while to write due to work, but I think it turned out well. Hopefully I will turn out longer chapters in the future. Please leave your reviews. I also hope you enjoy the chapter notes bellow! Have a great day, everyone!

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1. Two words are used here from Judeo-Christian text: "Nephilim" and "Seraphim." Nephilim is a Hebrew word that means "the fallen ones" or "giants." Seraphim means "the burning ones." Appearing in the Book of Genesis, some Christian traditions hold the Nephilim to be children of fallen angels and human women, while other Christian traditions hold the Nephilim to children of good and evil people intermingling. Whatever the case, the Judeo-Christian tradition holds the Nephilim to wholly evil at heart. The tradition also holds that the Nephilim are quite literally a race of superhumans that are comparable to the idea of Atlanteans from Greek mythology. J.R.R. Tolkien and George R.R. Martin made reference to the Nephilim/Atlanteans in their works as the Numenoreans and the Valyrians respectively. The Seraphim, on the other hand, are angels that are surrounded by fire. They are tasked, according to Judeo-Christian text, with guarding the Throne of God. My idea for combining the two names draws inspiration from a Greek myth that paints a man named Prometheus bringing fire from the heavens to Earth in order to give humanity light and warmth. The Greek gods were furious by this act and subjected Prometheus to have his innards ripped out and eaten by a bird every day, only to grow back every night. Another version of that myth is much darker, claims that Prometheus knew a prophecy of the Fates who claimed that Zeus would one day have a son who would be mightier than he, and that the punishment set on Prometheus was an excuse to torture him for the identity of the mother of that son. Some Greek mythology holds that woman would give Zeus such a son was a Titaness by the name of Metis, which means prudence, or wisdom, whom Zeus, in reluctance, turned into a fly before swallowing whole. However, Metis gave birth to twins, one of whom being Athena, and Athena came out of Zeus' forehead as a result.

2. According to Judeo-Christian tradition, angels were also referred to as "stars." However, it is disputed amongst Biblical scholars as to when God made the angels. Some believe that angels were made on the first day of creation, while others claim angels were made on the fourth day. Of course, there are those believe the angels would have been made before the first day of creation, as Job 38:4-7 seems to imply that the angels sang in joy and amazement at the act of creation. J.R.R. Tolkien incorporates this particular belief in "The Silmarillion," writing that the Ainur, angels, sang a great Music that Eru Illuvatar had created for them. The Music itself, according to Tolkien's writings, was the entire history of the world, though the Ainur had no idea what the Music was as they sang it.

3. A "legion" was the name of an army of ancient Rome. The strength of a legion was about one thousand soldiers at its weakest, and ten thousand soldiers at its strongest. During the time of Christ, the number of ten thousand was the largest countable number. At most, Rome could field three legions in a single area, none of them likely at full strength. According to Christian text, Matthew 26:53, God could field at least twelve legions of angels at full strength in a single location, which would have been an unimaginable number in terms of both counting and strength to the ancient world. (The number Freya claims is the total of the Celestial Host is one hundred million.)

4. A Latin (Roman) proverb. In vino, veritas means "the truth is in the wine."