This is my first attempt at an actual story since I've joined the site nearly 2-years-ago. This is meant to be a prologue/teaser, since I'm not 100% sure I'm willing to commit to writing an actual fic, yet, but this idea has been boucning around in my head for the past day-or-so. I find the Campioneverse to be so underused (only 165 regular fics, and a little over 60 crossovers). It has so much potential for creativity, world-building, plot divergence - I mean, there's just so many freaking gods, deities, myths, legends... Ugh, I digress...
Let me know what you all think. Reviews would be nice, PM me if you really want and we could even bounce ideas back and forth. I've got a general idea of the character I want Daisuke to be, and the back-story he will have coming into the next chapters, but besides that, I plan on really exploring AU opportunities. I don't really want to follow canon, besides Rama and what Godou requires so he can be incorporated.
Sooooo….Yeah, if there are any errors (be them syntax or typos), any questions/concerns, or even if you just want to say hi, shoot me a PM.
The smell of burning flesh was overwhelming, Daisuke thought, as he and his mother ran from the figure in the distance. The wind whipped around them, forcing him to endure the smells as they pushed their legs faster, faster, faster. They passed burning home after burning home, gorish body after gorish body. Yet, no matter how far, or how fast, they ran, he was always there, right behind them, swinging his scythe and cackling like it was all just a game.
"Run! Run, you worms!" they heard him cackle, slashing the head off another man who rose up to challenge him. "Or don't," he continued, "It'll only make this easier for me."
As he finished his latest mad rant, Daisuke made the mistake of looking back—not because he saw something he shouldn't have, but because he made eye contact with that man. No, God—for he was surely more than any man could ever be. The god noticed him, and that meant he was next. Before Daisuke could even think to veer off course, the god took aim and threw his scythe...and Daisuke stood there, like a deer in headlights, unable to move. Forced to watch.
Before Daisuke could even blink, his mind was clouded with pain...and his vision blocked by mother's face, blood pooling out of her mouth. She had shielded him from the scythe, or attempted to, and it had stabbed through her and into him.
Daisuke knew she was gone the moment it went through her. Her eyes were stuck, wide and glazed over, unable to register the screamed sob that tore itself from his throat. A result of both pain and suffering. Yet, Daisuke also knew that he didn't have long either—the scythe had either tore through his stomach, and he could feel the stomach acid pouring and mixing along with the rest of his dissolving internal organs.
But, Daisuke also knew that he couldn't die without having some form of revenge. So, with his remaining strength, he tore the scythe out of his chest, biting his lip to mask the scream that threatened to escape. As his mother's body collapsed against his, he lowered her down slowly—she deserved that, at least—and gently pulled the scythe out of her back.
It was a beautiful weapon, he recognized idly, as he staggered forward. It had a black pole with golden vines going vertically upwards, curving itself into a pitch black, obsidian blade. As he finished looking over the blade in his hands, he looked up, making eye contact with the god, its face a manic grin as he reached his hand towards the young man. With but a thought, the god willed the weapon back to its master, and, surprisingly, Daisuke, as well.
As Daisuke flew, he knew he only had a split-second to figure something out. But nothing came. Nothing. So, when he was within nearly a foot from his target, desperation took hold. He swung.
And he heard the squelch of the curved blade piercing flesh, moving upwards between ribs, and piercing the god's heart. It was a million-to-one shot. It was timed perfectly, executed perfectly, and it worked.
Daisuke felt his back hit the ground soon after, letting out a pained scream as the adrenaline began to wear off and he once again felt the utter agony that was his insides, but even that didn't last. Its spell broken by the voice of the god whose scythe he had just used to pierce his heart, and all Daisuke could do was listen as his vision slowly grew dark.
"Thank you, young god-slayer, for freeing me from that vile curse of madness. I, Kronos, King of the Titans, will leave you with my greatest weapons, for that you are certainly deserving. You will become my first god-slayer, but be warned, time is both a curse and a blessing..." and with that, the Titan dissolved into motes of golden light, and Daisuke's vision was consumed by black.
Daisuke awoke to the feeling of his head on something soft, and someone's small hands running through his hair. So, unsurprisingly, he was rather confused to open his eyes and see nothing. Oh, he saw the purple haired girl whose lap his head was on—what confused him was the endless sea of white that surrounded them. So he did the only thing he could do, he focused on the girl—no, god, for she was certainly like him.
"Wh-where am I?" he breathed out, admonishing himself for just how weak he sounded.
"Just listen, my child, you don't have long before you reawaken." The girl cooed, once again running her hands through his hair, "My name is Pandora, and you are in the Netherworld, for you are between life and death." She placed a finger up to stop him from asking the question she knew was on the tip of his tongue. "You have slain a god, today, and not just any god. A god of time." she paused, before mumbling to herself "I've never had a child with authority over time before..." She shook her head to focus herself "Now, I know you're wondering why I'm calling you 'my child'." she giggled at his light nod, his eyes wide, absorbing everything she said. "First, you do realize you died, right?" she dug her fingers a little deeper into his scalp at the expression he made, one of anguish, she surmised easily. "Well, since you killed a god, I'm bringing you back!" she cheered, almost childishly. "Which makes you my newest child."
Daisuke couldn't help but be utterly baffled at the abrupt change in Pandora's emotion—it was like she was trying to act serious for him, but could only do so much. "Uh...how?" he asked, rather overwhelmed.
"Well, I'm bringing you back as a king, a godslayer, a devil king, a Campione." she half-sung, giggling. "Sorry, I just love saying that. But yes, I'm bringing you back as a Campione, a life that will straddle the line between god and man. You will have the powers of the god you killed—Kronos, by the way—and you will only have one obligation: to slay Heretic Gods." at his almost horrified expression, she realized some reassurance was necessary. "But don't worry, Daisuke, for you will have brothers and sisters—fellow godslayers like you—who will help you. Like you, they have usurped the authorities of the gods they've slain, and each strive to protect the lands they call home."
Daisuke soon displayed a rather relieved expression. It was reassuring to know that he wasn't alone in this endeavor—heck, killing one god was tumultuous enough. "So, all I have to do is slay these gods with the powers I've taken from Kronos?"
"Yep!" she cheered, giggling.
"Well...uh...Thanks, uh...Pandor-" he continued, before being interrupted.
"Mother." she interrupted, surprising both of them. "Call me mother, you need it. Trust me, Daisuke."
All he could do was lay there, shocked, as totality of his experience came rushing back to him. He chocked out a sob as he nodded, closing his eyes, while Pandora merely hummed and wiped away the tears that ran down his cheeks. Before Daisuke knew it, he was gone. Yet Pandora just sat there, humming to herself.
"Hmm...Mother...I like it!"
Daisuke awoke in the ashes of his home town. He could feel the himself brimming with power, and he could feel the authorities of Kronos in the back of his mind, waiting to be called to the surface. As he checked himself for injuries, anything to avoid gazing at the fact that the fires burned everything he ever treasured, he realized that the only blemish that remained on his skin was a long scar diagonally across his abdomen—visible through the tatters that was his remaining clothing.
Standing up, Daisuke began to walk, the memories of his talk with Pandora, and his two authorities the only things he still has.
So yeah, I added the scene with Pandora and him walking away from the remains of his old life, and I figured why not write where her fixation on being called mother/mom came from.
From Kronos, Daisuke will receive two authorities:
1. Time (the ability to travel between the past and present at will - the future is not possible as it doesn't exist yet)
2. Kronos' scythe/sickles (Kronos' weapon(s) are sickles/scythes, so Daisuke will be able to wield two sickles, or the scythe described in the above prologue)
I don't have aria/chants for them yet, and I also don't have names for the authorities yet, so if you got an idea for them, send me a PM, I'd like the help. I'm not very good at creating things like that.
Also, the next chapter will likely be an, at least, 100 year timeskip.
