The Rise of Thanatos
The Rise of Thanatos
A High School DxD Fic
The following is a fan based short story, High School DxD is property of Ichiei Ishibumi, Miyama-Zero and ATX. Please support the official release.
Warning, this story contains: Violence, gore, foul language, possible blasphemy, gratuitous amounts of nudity and sexual situations. Reader discretion is advised.
In the deepest bowels of the abyss, beyond the reach of any of the underworld's highest ranked devils, lay a land untouched for many thousands of years, the lands of Tartarus. It is home to two children of the Goddess Nyx: the God of Sleep, Hypnos, and his twin brother, Thanatos, the God of Death.
For these thousands of years, Hypnos was charged with keeping Thanatos in a peaceful slumber, within a tomb upon his home of Lemnos, and ensure that his wrath did not reach the surface, for his vengeance against those that have caused him to suffer once shook the foundation of all that lived. At once, their realm remained quiet and undisturbed, until one day…
"Lachesis, hurry!" Cried a woman's voice, as two robed figures traversed the bleak landscape, heading in the direction of what appeared to be a sizable ancient tomb, with several statues lined up outside depicting a winged youth, holding inverted torches that dimly lit the way.
Soon, they stood before the large marble doors of the tomb, each of them carrying a long object wrapped in cloth, the taller one of the pair pulling on the inverted torch on the statue to their left, the doors slowly began to rumble open.
"Hypnos is slacking in his duty." The taller woman smirks, "How shameful."
"All the more advantageous for us." Chuckled the other.
Once the doors had open, the two advanced inside. Statues representing a tall, winged young man with shoulder length hair lined each side of the hall, leading up to the central chamber with a large stone sarcophagus in its center, held aloft only by steel chains and a lone woman standing before it. Passing through the chamber, the statues seemed to illustrate signs of decay, as if a sign that this was the resting place of a terrible being. The two knelt before the woman, smirking as the two began to speak.
"Sister Atropos." They said in unison.
The woman turned toward the others, she was a tall, raven haired woman who wore a skull mask over her right eye, her lips formed a small smile.
"Clotho." He turned to the young red haired woman, then turned to the blonde, "Lachesis." She chuckled, "Too long has it been since we've been together like this.
"Time cannot keep apart the Sisters of Fate." chimed the red haired Clotho.
"You've brought what I asked then?" Atropos' voice turned stern.
"But of course sister." The blonde pulled the cloth from the object she was carrying, revealing a long, slender sword encased in an obsidian scabbard. "The Nail of Nyx, darkest of blades." Smiled Lachesis, presenting it to her sister, "Long has it yearned to return to his hands."
Atropos smirked, turning to the blonde who began to reveal what she carried.
"A Life Extinguished by fraternal treachery…" Came Clotho who revealed a large stone torch, "…to be born again."
"Treachery, which shall soon be repaid…" smirked Atropos, "…he will be grateful to be free once again. Sisters, speak unto him the spell! Let us release him!"
Taking the stone torch and the sword, Atropos smiled as she turned toward the large sarcophagus, in the center of the seal sat an indentation where the stone torch would fit. Not wasting any time, she carefully set the stone torch, it fitting in with a click, then with a gentle turn, she turned the torch upside down, she heard a mechanism unlock, as letters upon the sarcophagus appeared. Atropos stepped back from the foot of the large stone, sarcophagus and like her sisters, fell upon one knee while Cloth and Lachesis began to chant what was an ancient spell behind her.
"Awaken from thy slumber, show these mortals what fear and despair is, may they cower when they speak thy name, and drive them to the abyss, oh master of Tartarus!" Atropos chanted, raising her arms into the air, as the lid upon the sarcophagus lifted, "Now, arise, Thanatos!"
The lid on the sarcophagus swung open, as it did, a black fog spilled out from its foot, slowly flooding the tomb, from within, a gaunt, almost skeletal hand grasped the edge, then a second hand on the opposite side, slowly pulling itself from within its prison. Soon, a figure wrapped in a fog-like shroud emerged from within the sarcophagus, its face was concealed beneath a tattered hood formed from the fog that covered the rest of it but one could clearly see clearly the jawbone of a skull. It let out a terrifying roar which echoed throughout Tartarus and the upper parts of the Underworld, as it fully emerged, it snatched the sword from Atropos' hands and glided out of the tomb. Lachesis and Clotho cowered behind a smirking Atropos, who watched with glee as the creature exited the tomb and vanished from sight.
"Listen to him, even sleeping for thousands of years, his rage remains unquelled." She cackled, "Exact your vengeance upon those that caused your imprisonment!"
Furious, blood-curdling roars could be heard all throughout the underworld, which caught the attention of many of the noble devil families, causing them to emerge from their homes and cast their eyes to the horizon, noting how dark it had suddenly become, how, unsettlingly dark.
Within the ruins of the underworld stray devils, who had escaped from their masters gathered in preparation to make their jump to the human world. In the distance they heard the shriek of the rapidly approaching Thanatos. To their horror, he came upon the group swiftly, slicing one through with the swipe of his hand, blood splattering upon the ground.
The group of them looked on in horror, after their eyes met the skeletal, piercing gaze of the angry deity, who looked upon them snidely and began to speak.
"Worthless creatures…" his voice rumbled low, sending chills through each of them who struggled to move, "…you shall know suffering without end!"
Desperate, Thanatos was being assaulted by all manner of magic, weapons and claws, all of which seemed not to affect him in the slightest. Drawing his blade, he sliced through the lot in one fell swoop, blood, severed limbs and entrails splattering the ground, then, the from this gory scene rose a black miasma as the flesh rotted away in a grotesque display of hyper-decay, before turning to dust. The souls of those devils rose from the ashes and were quickly absorbed into the long, thin blade wielded by the death god. His rampage, however would not end there, as he turned his eyes toward the city on the horizon and with a savage roar, he strode head-on, his thirst not yet satiated by the souls of lesser beings.
This slaughter was caught by one particular crimson haired devil who immediately turned to his family in a panic.
"Everyone seek shelter! This is not something we can fight!" he would shout before ushering them into his manor.
Enraged roars echoed throughout the city as well as the sounds of blades whirring through the air, all manner of spells being flung, what was once peaceful seemed to transform into a battlefield.
"Sirzechs!" shouted a woman behind him, he turned to find, Grayfia, his wife, a tall, silver haired woman whose hair was made up with several braids with a panicked expression on her face, she approached him.
"Grayfia, where's Millicas?" Sirzechs would ask, grabbing her by the shoulders and directing her back toward the door.
"Asleep, wh-"
"Wake him and hide somewhere, and quickly!" Sirzechs' expression turned stern as he opened the door to his room, "He has awakened, I must hurry to Lemnos!"
Grayfia's eyes widened as she grasped her husband's clothing.
"You don't mean…?"
"Yes… Thanatos…"
The light left Grayfia's eyes as she looked at him, leaning up to softly kiss him on the lips, knowing full well what he meant to do in that instant.
"Get word to Azazel as well… if I can't retrieve who I seek, we will need him, hopefully he'll know what to do."
Without another word, Grayfia retreated from the chamber to find their son, as well as call forth her familiar to deliver the message as instructed. Sirzechs, in the meanwhile gathered up his retainers as he prepared to make a journey to a place he thought was myth, the lands of Tartarus, hoping to find the one who could help them return the rampaging deity to his slumber.
Meanwhile, back on Lemnos, a young man with long, white hair with black streaks, draped in a white toga, was returning from what appeared to be gathering, as he carried a wicker basket with a bouquet of red flowers. As he approached the mausoleum, his eyes widened, it was never lit so brightly before, in a panic he sprinted forth stopping short at the open stone doors.
"No..." he shuddered before advancing into the mausoleum itself, stopping at the open sarcophagus and falling on both knees, dropping the basket of poppies beside him, "Nonono..."
Hypnos stared at the empty sarcophagus, wondering who could have opened it, and more importantly: how. Rising from his knees he quickly fled from within the mausoleum and headed to a cave nearby, within he picked up a medium sized pouch from a small table, cursing under his breath as he scurried about. It was then a young woman emerged from another part of the cave, wearing naught but a sheer white night dress, yawning as she watches the frantic Hypnos.
"Hypnos, darling what's the matter?" She asks, stretching a little, blinking when she took notice of his face, "Darling? You look like you've seen Hades..."
"Not quite Pasithea..." he mused nervously, "We have a big problem, someone awoke Thanatos..."
The woman blinked, immediately running over to him, her generous bosom bouncing as she did so and grabbing him by the shoulders, looking him in the eyes, she asked.
"Has anyone from the upper part of the Underworld found out yet?!" She worried.
Hypnos shut his eyes tightly and through grit teeth said, "If not, they will soon..."
Pasithea eyed her husband worriedly.
"I can feel it, he is furious... and yet, he did not come for me first, despite I was the one who put him to sleep and helped to seal him in that sarcophagus." He cringed, knowing full well that much of the Underworld would know the wrath of Thanatos, "He'll continue his revenge against those that wronged him..."
Pasithea embraced Hypnos tenderly, lightly kissing his cheek, before looking him in the eyes once more.
"There was no way you could have seen this coming..." she softly spoke, as if to reassure him.
"I know." nodded Hypnos, "But I am the only one who can stop him before even Hades finds out. I have to…"
"Hades would revel in the amount of souls Thanatos would bring him." She chuckled, until she saw Hypnos' nervous expression, she then looked at him once again worries, "You're serious aren't you?"
"I've not been to the upper levels, or the surface world for millenia, I can only wonder how much it's changed." He said as he laced the pouch onto his belt, then cupped Pasithea's face, "I need you to prepare for when I bring him back."
"You mean...?"
"Yes, but a far more potent batch this time, we're going to need something stronger than what I've had to use on Zeus."
Pasithea groaned, remembering exactly what he meant, but soon nodded in agreement. Once the plan was set Hypnos turned to exit the cave but not before getting a hug from behind and a kiss on his cheek. As he emerged from the cave, the god was immediately met with the sight of the tips of spears pointed directly at him. Immediately he sighed and raised up his hands, as if to surrender, despite having no real option. The crowd of soldiers immediately began to part, setting their spears into the ground as a tall, well dressed man with, blazing red hair emerged from it, stopping to stand, just feet away from the god.
Hypnos felt hims lips curl into a small smile, wanting to laugh, but finding it would be inappropriate.
"Lord Hypnos." The red haired young man would bow, as would the soldiers in his company.
"Well... you're here far sooner than I expected..." Hypnos mused.
Back in the upper levels of the Underworld, the three sisters, Atropos, Lachesis and Clotho would walk through the devastated, blood soaked streets of one of the last devil cities, some of it set ablaze, no doubt by magic. The tallest of them, merely cackled at the sight, while the other two cringed at the sight of it, sickened at what they had wrought.
"You see my sisters, this is what happens when you keep an animal caged and hungry." Grinned Atropos.
"But will it be enough for him to regain his power?" Asked Clotho, "Fearsome as he may be, he has lost much of his former strength."
Atropos turned to her sister and nodded.
"You of all people know what the Nail of Nyx does to any it cuts, sister Atropos." Chimed Lachesis, who walked by her side, "In due time, he will regain everything he once was in ancient times."
"Correct, my dear sister, but these inferior beings will not sate his great hunger. For that we will require, a stronger source." said Atropos who walked through the city, her sisters following close behind.
The three would continue talking until they came to the central square, finding not a monster at it's heart, but a young man, draped in the same black shroud of clothing draped over his pelvis, resting with head hanging leaned against remnants of a destroyed fountain. As he rest, panting and exhausted, as if overwhelmed, another soul flew into the young man's chest, eliciting a gasp from him before he fell limp. Seeing this, Atropos would grin as she stepped closer, looking down upon him as her sisters joined her at either side. Weakly he would look up at them, his vision blurry as he once again passed out, but not before hearing Atropos speak.
"Brother, dear~"
6
The Rise of Thanatos