The Grand Order - Solomon
Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD or Fate.
Note: This is an AU story, so don't expect things to be the same as in the anime or manga.
'Thinking'
"Talking"
"The Time of Crowning has Come; He is the One who Begins All."
…
Chapter 3
- Solomon PoV -
Making it out of the lecture room following the end of the lesson was a difficult experience. The moment the lecturer left, every Magician began moving between the newly awakened Sacred Gear wielders in order to study them, or to ask a multitude of questions.
The two who had awoken the Twice Critical and the Flame Shake were rather excited to be the center of so much attention, but Meredith and I were more than a bit uncomfortable by it all. At least Meredith had Her to help keep the other Magicians back; whereas I had to try and force my way past the group that had gathered around me in order to escape.
Admittedly, there was a brief moment during my shoving past everyone to head for the door when a few of the more attractive female Magicians offered to spend some private time "studying" my new Longinus with me, that had momentarily caught my eye.
As a young, teenage boy in the midst of my puberty - who had never really gotten to do more than kissing, the temptation was always going to be there. And after that night, I was more than willing to just say "fuck it" and accept their offers.
"Focus, Solomon… Do not allow your thoughts to wander." Tiamat's voice gently chided, "There will be time to look back and reexamine the past later. Right now, you must keep your attention fixed on the present if we are to succeed."
Nodding, I continued making my preparations as the sound of voices echoed throughout the hallways outside of my apartment door. It was difficult to make out what was being said, but based off of the last few minutes since I've retreated back into my room, I'd guess that it was more offers to spend time with people and become "friends".
"Funny," I scoffed. "None of them seemed to want to be friends earlier, when I was the 'Failure Magician'. But now that I've got a Sacred Gear, suddenly they all want to be my bestfriend or go on a 'date' with me."
The hypocrisy of it all would have disgusted me, if I wasn't already used to seeing such things happening at the Golden Dawn.
It was almost a daily occurrence to see Magicians gathering together as "friends", when in reality they were only together for as long as it took for each of them to get what they wanted out of the others. At which point their friendship would quickly, and dramatically, come to an end before they'd move on to another "friendship".
It all reminded me of a saying that I had read somewhere: Who needs enemies, with friends like these?
Frowning at the thought as I continued storing the rest of my meager belongings into the small golden ripple of a pocket dimension that I had made weeks ago, I had to ask myself…
Was everyone in this world out for themselves? Was there truly no one out there who cared about others for more than what they could get out of the relationship?
Where was the "love" that the stories of old spoke about? The kindness? The compassion?
The longer I spent gazing out at the world from within the confines of the Golden Dawn, the more I learned of what really went on in the world without the fantasy element inherit to stories coloring my vision… and the less I cared to be a part of it.
Which is what's now led me to this very moment; packing my things in preparation to leave this place once and for all.
Stuffing the last of my spare uniforms - which were really all the clothes I had - into my small newly-created pocket dimension, I double-checked that there was nothing I'd left behind.
'That's all that's left…' I really didn't have much, and what I did have was either battered or well-worn.
With a last fond look at the room that has been my home since leaving the orphanage, I made my way out of the bedroom and back into the living room where all of the furniture had been pushed to the sides, and a massive magic circle was laid out predominantly in the middle of the room; several times bigger than the one I'd used before.
Moving to the center of the massive circle, I took several deep breaths to steady myself as Tiamat's comforting voice whispered in my mind. "Are you sure you're ready for this? There is no shame in admitting you're overwhelmed."
'No. I can do this.' I thought back, hearing a pleased hum come from her at my not backing down. 'I have everything I need, now what's next?'
"Use the Key to tether yourself to the circle… it will act as the cornerstone with which a doorway shall be built." She replied. "For every door, there is a key. And yours shall allow you to open a door into a place that is all your own. Where we will be safe to improve upon your abilities - and the Key itself - until such a time comes when you are ready to rejoin the world."
Following her directions, I held up my hand with my open palm facing away, allowing me to see the golden compass rose of the Key as it lit up at the same time as the magic circle I'd created with her help.
The number of calculations necessary to make it work hurt my brain just to even think about, but that was the advantage of having a primordial being on your side that had been alive since the beginning of time.
In the few spare moments between making my preparations, I'd gotten to know a bit more about the horned lady trapped within my soul.
Turns out, Tiamat was actually the first dragon ever; and the progenitor of the Dragon race itself.
It was from her ability - known as the Sea of Life - that every prominent dragon to ever walk the Earth had sprung forth. From the Dragon Gods, to the Heavenly Dragon Emperors, and all the way down to the last generation she'd created before being sealed away - the Dragon Kings.
As a being born during the first age of the world, she had a vast knowledge that spanned nearly every subject there ever was. She had even been around when humans first learned how to wield magic for themselves, and had used that very same knowledge today in order to create the magic circle I was now activating.
"Remember… manipulating the amount of power necessary to create the doorway is beyond your current capabilities. You must connect it to the circle below you with the Key, where it will then begin to gather the abundant magical energy permeating throughout the institute. At which point the other Magicians will no doubt take notice of, and attempt to stop you." She warned with urgency, using her limited connection to me through Telos Karma to improve the possibility of the magic circle working.
As she did, the rings on my fingers glowed with a warm light as her power intertwined with my own, the two energies working so smoothly together that it almost seemed like they were one and the same.
"The moment it begins, there will be no turning back. The doorway will open, and you must either walk through it towards freedom…or stay behind, and allow yourself to become another pawn like all other Sacred Gear wielders eventually become."
With that rather dooming fate looming over my head, I buckled down and began the process.
It started simple enough, I just had to manipulate my rather meager magic reserves to connect the small golden pocket dimension that I'd created earlier, with the magic circle on the ground. Since trying to create a whole new pocket dimension would have taken too much time, it was decided that we'd just expand the one I'd already made.
Once that was finished it didn't take long for the massive magic circle to begin drawing in vast amounts of magical energy from my surroundings.
Way more than I'd anticipated.
And suddenly, I began to hear the voices that were outside of my door earlier return with a vengeance.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"SOLOMON! OPEN UP!"
"…prepare yourself." Tiamat's voice reminded, speaking over the sounds of someone's frantic yelling. "The doorway is about to open."
Keeping my eyes from straying away from the Key and towards my front door, I held my hand steady as the small golden ripple began to expand.
… …
- Earlier -
- LeFay PoV -
Having finally gotten herself and Meredith through the crowd of people trying to get their attention, the young genius felt like she was going to faint with every step she took down the Golden Dawn's hallways after everything that had happened in the last few hours.
It had been a struggle for the her to realize that she had betrayed Solomon and their blossoming relationship that she had come to depend on all because of a Sacred Gear, and even more so when it wasn't even a Longinus - which were known to compel even the strongest.
She wasn't sure if Daniel had known ahead of time what he had lying dormant within him when he had asked for her help with studying, but she knew that following that thought process would just be her trying to pass the blame of what happened off of herself and onto someone else.
'I have to speak with Soly… I need to apologize to him and make things right.'
Part of her knew that what they had was gone and could never go back to what it was before. But in the last two weeks following that night, she had come to realize just how dull her life felt without Solomon's presence around.
It was like trying to read a story, but every other character's dialogue was removed; leaving the main character talking alone to her herself.
…well, not entirely alone. At least she had Mery with her.
"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Meredith asked, her eyes still slightly clouded over with thoughts of her new Sacred Gear. "You could just be making it worse for him."
Pausing mid-step, LeFay grimaced at the truth in her friend's words.
Would she just be reopening wounds by trying to force a conversation with him so soon? Would he even want to talk with her after finding out the truth?
'No. I need to see him.' She shook her head. If there was to be any hope of salvaging some kind of relationship between her and Solomon, it would take them having to actually speak with one another and work everything out first.
And wouldn't that be difficult?
With how everything probably looked to Solomon and any outside observer, she probably seemed like the bad guy! The one in the stories she'd read as a kid where the villain continued on all alone while the heroine got to have dozens of friends gathered around her.
And that, if nothing else, was something LeFay refused to let stand.
She wasn't the villain; she was supposed to be the heroine.
"I'm sure."
At her side, Meredith sighed in defeat at the determined look in her eyes, biting back a retort as the two continued making their way towards Solomon's apartment door. The closer they got to his place, the more people they noticed were gathered around what was normally a fairly empty hallway.
Whispers and muffled conversations could be heard from every group that they passed, some of whom either eyed the two girls as they went by, or continued pointing and gesturing in the direction of Solomon's door as they tried to make plans to get into his good graces.
The sight of all these people's obvious greed for Solomon's power made LeFay scowl heavily.
How could these people be so obvious in their evil intentions towards her… friend? Ex-Boyfriend? Former friend?... She'd figure that out later… But how could they try to use Solomon for their own purposes? Did they know he was such a sweet guy? He didn't deserve to be taken advantage of by them.
'Isn't that what you did?' A small, traitorous voice in the back of her mind whispered. 'You gave everything to a boy you hardly even knew after a few hours of being around him, but you gave practically nothing to Solomon - even after a year and a half of being in a relationship together.'
Trying not to let the voice get to her, LeFay sped up her walking as she tried to refute its claims. 'That's not true! W-We did a lot together, and I told him things about me that I've never shared with anyone; not even Mery!'
'A small comfort that must be to him.' That same voice teased. 'He knows what you liked to do when you were young, but has never gotten to so much as feel the warmth of your skin against his. Let alone the joys of coming together as lovers.'
The mocking way in which it said "lovers" made her subconsciously clench her fists in anger. 'And now all he'll ever see when he looks at you, is walking in on the sight of you in the arms of another man, sharing with a stranger what you refused to share with him…a boy you claimed to love.'
But that wasn't her fault! She hadn't been ready to take their relationship to the next level, figuring that they would have all the time in the world to do that once they'd grown a bit older. She hadn't intended to sleep with anyone at 16, let alone after only a year with the first boyfriend she'd ever had!
Feeling righteous indignation set it, she prepared to vehemently refute the voice's words - especially the part about her not loving Solomon - before coming to a sudden halt alongside Meredith.
At the same time they froze, every other magician around them did the same as a massive wave of magical energy suddenly got sucked from their surroundings and drawn towards a specific location. As the magic was drawn away, the spells and enchantments keeping each apartment locked disappeared, causing the doors to open as multiple wide-eyed faces peaked out of now-open doorways.
"W-What's happening?" She asked aloud.
No one answered. Everyone was too shocked by what had happened to do anything more than glance around each other worriedly, fearing that it might be an attack on the institute.
Reaching out with her senses, LeFay felt out with her own prodigious magical powers for the where the abundant magical energy surrounding the institute was being drawn too.
'There!'
Eventually getting a feel of the last few streams of magic being taken, she followed its path back to the source as best she could while trying to keep her magic from being swept up as well.
Whatever it was that was currently taking away the Golden Dawns magic, it was powerful!
And hungry for magic.
Were they being attacked? The defenses, wards, and protective spells surrounding the institute were dying out one by one due to a lack of magical power, so it stood to reason that someone may be attempting to break in.
But the direction the magical energy was flowing wasn't leading away from the Golden Dawn, it was being drawn to somewhere within.
A potential spy, maybe? Someone who had been planted within the Golden Dawn as a member in order to sabotage their defenses?
'Wait a minute…that magic is coming from Solomon's room!' LeFay suddenly had a horrible gut feeling that her boyfriend - because she wasn't about to give up on their relationship just yet - was about to do something foolish in his emotional state. 'Don't do it, Soly! I'm coming!'
Grasping Meredith's hand, she began pulling her auburn-haired friend as she raced to Solomon's room, ignoring the small yelp Meredith gave as she tried to call for LeFay to slow down.
'Wait for me, Soly…please!'
Reaching his door in moments, LeFay tried to open the door only to be met with resistance as the spells preventing un-registered intrusion kept her out. The magical protections around the single apartment were the only ones left working as the magical power from everywhere else was drawn in first, leaving the small amount near the epicenter for last.
'He removed my name…'
She had expected it to happen considering the circumstances, but it still pained her to know that she had hurt him enough to the point that he had stricken her name from his life; as if metaphorically removing her from his life altogether.
With no other options, LeFay began pounding on his door frantically.
"SOLY!" BANG! BANG! BANG! "SOLY!"
At her side, Meredith had also caught on to the fact that whatever was happening involved Solomon, and was now joining her in pounding on his door. "SOLOMON! OPEN UP!"
… …
- Solomon PoV -
As the magical energy drawn from the institute powered the magic circle, the sounds coming from my door were drowned out by the noise of the small golden pocket dimension expanding into a large oval-shaped doorway. Becoming a thick golden puddle that radiated mind-boggling amounts of power.
"…this is it." Tiamat proclaimed. "The doorway is now open."
Moments later, the golden energy became translucent as it showed in its reflection a wide-open green valley, with beautiful blue skies and puffy white clouds. A gentle breeze blew across the pristine green grass, eventually making its way to the portal as it came through and ruffled my clothes.
"You must choose…" She reminded me.
Choose? What choice was there to make? There was nothing left for me here at the Golden Dawn, only pain and suffering.
Frankly, I would prefer being anywhere else at the moment that doesn't involve having to deal with other Magicians or Sacred Gear wielders. I've dealt with them long enough, and now it's time that I tried something new.
'I'm ready, Tiamat.' I replied. 'I'm made my choice.'
Instead of words, she sent back a feeling of pride and happiness at my answer. Obviously having been worried that even after everything we've done to prepare for this moment, I might have chosen not to go through with it.
Taking a deep breath, I called out the words necessary to activate the portal as I stepped up to it, feeling as if I was finally taking my first steps away from the monotony of my old life towards something new. Something better.
And as I spoke, the Key flared brightly with golden light as soon as my foot crossed the threshold of the portal.
"Ars Paulina."
… …
- LeFay PoV -
Feeling the magical energy still surrounding Solomon's apartment finally fade away, she grabbed the doorhandle and swung it open as soon as the protective spells fell.
"SOLOMON!" She cried out, her blue eyes frantically searching the apartment as she took in the furniture pushed against the walls. "SOLOMON!"
Stepping further into the room, she noticed a glaring lack of clothing or personal items that used to be strewn around the room. Even a quick glance into his bedroom revealed that there was nothing left besides a few opened - and empty - drawers where she knew he kept his spare uniforms. 'No…'
As if to confirm her worst fears, Meredith took but a single look at the state of the apartment before she stated, "He's gone."
Shaking her head as if to refute the reality, LeFay made to take another step around the apartment in search of Solomon, only for the sound of crunching glass to draw her attention to where her foot had landed.
As she drew back her foot, she noticed a small, shattered picture frame that had been left behind. And around the broken frame were torn pieces of a picture. With shaking hands, she picked up the largest piece that was left of the photo - no larger than the size of a coin - and stared down at the image within it as tears began to gather in her eyes.
'Soly…' The picture, she realized, was one taken in the first weeks of their relationship. The smiling faces of her and Solomon surrounded from bits of greenery that she knew intimately were from the institute's gardens, seemed to glare at her the longer she stared at the torn picture. '…I'm so, SO sorry.'
Falling to her knees, LeFay barely even registered Meredith's hand as it came to rest comfortingly on her shoulder, too focused on the white-haired boy's face in the photo as she softly wept. 'I'm sorry, Soly…I'm sorry…I'm sorry!'
Without even having to be told, she knew that Solomon was gone forever. His part in her story was done, and she doubted that they'd ever see each other again.
'…I'm sorry…please, come back… I'm sorry…'
This…This wasn't how her story was supposed to go.
- Separate Dimension -
- Solomon PoV -
Stepping out of the portal and onto the soft grass of the new dimension, I glanced back over my shoulder and watched as the portal closed behind me.
The magic circle I'd left back in my former apartment that was necessary to create and/or reopen the portal disappeared the second that I stepped through, ensuring that no one would be able to follow me.
It was a rather last-minute addition, and one I'd originally thought wasn't necessary considering it took a primordial dragon in order to create it; but there was that nagging thought of what if rattling around in the back of my mind that eventually made me add it in.
"It was a smart decision," Tiamat added her own thoughts. "While the likelihood of anyone recreating the doorway is negligible at best, there have been instances in the past where such impossibilities become realities… One need only look at the power of Telos Karma as proof of such a concept."
There was a hint of pride in her voice at the end, as if pleased with herself that the small bit of her power being used in the past to create massive history-changing events, but not enough to sound like she was truly impressed.
Which, given that she had been around since the beginning and had created the strongest race that ever lived - outstripping all other races by far - must make everything else pale in comparison.
"That is not…entirely inaccurate." She mused. And while I can't exactly see her face, I knew she was probably smirking. "There is sadly little that I have not seen before my awakening… But what you have created here, with the Key, is perhaps the first in a long…long time that I've seen such an opportunity for me to enjoy new experiences."
"This new dimension that you've created with this Gamer Magic of yours…" Tiamat continued on. "Is unlike the ones which the Pantheons of our world live in. Those are but hollow reflections of our world, whereas this seems to be an entirely new world of its own."
As if to prove her point, a small flock of white doves flew overhead, moving through the puffy white clouds in the sky before darting off into the distance. The sound of their chirps intermingled with the rustle of the grass as a small heard of deer calmly walked past me.
"What you've created here is a work of art, Solomon… You should be proud."
Speechless, I continued to stare at the small groups of animals that moved about without a care as they grazed upon the lands or flew high in the sky. Turning my gaze left and right, the land continued on in endless green hills and valleys with several small, azure-blue streams of water breaking up the otherwise sea of emerald green grass.
'It's…beautiful.' Besides the small gathering of my spare clothes and few books lying around at my feet - obviously as a result of having been put in there earlier before I'd expanded the portal - everything seemed so calm and peaceful, that it was hard to imagine it all as being real.
Taking a deep breath of fresh air, and marveling at how clean it felt compared to the air in the other world, I paused as my mind got stuck on a single thought. 'Now what?'
Now that I'd left the Golden Dawn, I technically was on my own - not counting Tiamat. Which meant I no longer had any lessons to attend, or projects to worry about…
"Now…" She spoke. "You do whatever it is that you want… You're free."
I was free?...
…
…I was FREE!
Clenching my fist as the Key glowed proudly, I smirked as a feeling of utter elation flooded my body.
Months if-not years of worry and stress poured off of my shoulders at the realization set in that I was free… free from distractions. Free from other people's judgement and ridicule. Free from the strain of having to compare my every failure to the success of my peers. Free from the shadow of Her genius.
Free to be whoever I wanted to be.
'In that case,' I thought as my still meager magic reserves surged through my body. 'Let's get started!'
… …
The first thing I did after coming to the realization that I was now free, was to see just what this new dimension that I'd created with Tiamat's help had in store. If this place was going to be my new home for the foreseeable future, I needed to make sure that there were a few basic necessities covered before anything else.
Things like food, water, and shelter.
Food was a rather easy resource to come by thanks to all of the animals that lived here. At any given time, I could see at least a dozen members of a single animal species alone without even having to look very far, with everything from deer, to rabbits, to birds, and several dozen schools of fish.
Which is what lead me to the next easy resource, Water.
As far as I could tell, the countless streams of crystal-clear water that moved throughout the dimension were all entirely drinkable. And the supply seemed to be endless based off of a noticeable rain-cycle that happened every few days.
Which meant that I now had an endless supply of food and water whenever I wanted it - so long as I didn't overhunt the animals.
With food and water taken care of, the last thing on the list that I had to worry about was Shelter.
"Focus your power through the Key… let it guide your hand." Tiamat coached me through the first steps in testing out my new abilities. "The power it gives you is yours to do with as you see fit. The only limitation in what you can achieve with it, is the strength of your will."
Nodding, I held my open right palm out as I gathered as much magic as I could before shaping it with my will. As I did, the Key on the back of my hand grew warm as small streams of golden energy poured from my skin and mixed with the ground.
For a few seconds, nothing happened as my magic continued to seep into the grass…before a small section of the earth rose up and shaped itself into the basic outline of a hill, leaving an opening in the middle that was just big enough for me to walk under.
Success!
Smiling proudly at my accomplishment, I felt Tiamat's subtle pride at my success wash over me as I continued testing out the limits of my Creation Magic.
Solomon
Creation Magic Intermediate - [5%]
I had gotten lucky. Tiamat's help with creating this new dimension had still counted towards my improving upon Creation Magic, and as such, even though I was technically still a complete Beginner at using it, I had already jumped up to the rank of Intermediate.
Continuing to shape the structure until it was large enough for me to fit the sum total of my meager belongings under, I sighed in exhaustion as soon as it was finished.
'It's not much, but it's a start.' I thought, shrugging at its appearance.
It was basically a raised grassy hill that looked to be roughly half carved out by hand; but after spending hours walking around the dimension trying to find any sort of shelter, it was better than nothing at this point. 'At least I won't be sleeping out in the rain.'
I hadn't been in the dimension for longer than a day, but already I could tell by how lush the greenery was and how filled the rivers and stream were, that there was plenty of heavy rain just waiting to fall.
With my magical reserves taxed, I gave practicing my magic a rest as I moved the few sets of clothes and books into the small shelter.
"Well done, Solomon… You have now taken the first steps towards mastering the Key." Her voice praised. "Do not let the simplicity of what you've created get in the way of feeling proud at what you have accomplished today. So long as you continue growing, no matter how slowly it takes, you will eventually achieve anything you desire. And with the Key by your side, all of your desires are possible."
"Not just the Key, Tiamat." I replied out loud.
Since there was no one else in this dimension besides myself and the animals, I felt no need to keep everything I wanted to say to her within my own thoughts. With no one around to think I was going insane; I was free to speak out loud as if she was standing next to me. "I've got you with me, too. And that means a lot, even if it's only because I got lucky with my Sacred Gear."
"…that is so." She replied after a moment, and I had the feeling she appreciated the sentiment even if she didn't say so. "And I will continue to stay by your side until the end of time… The two of us are bound together now, our fates intertwined as one… beyond the circumstances of my imprisonment…"
Remembering the chains that bound her form together, I frowned at the thought of her continuing to live like that while I got to enjoy my newfound freedom. It just didn't seem fair to me, and I wanted to do something to change that.
Feeling resolved, I decided in that moment that there two things which I would focus on trying to achieve with my new life here in this dimension.
The first was obviously be improving my Creation Magic until I reached the last rank; refusing to settle for anything other than complete mastery over my own creation.
The other, was to find a way to set Tiamat free.
"As I said before… your power as it stands now is no match for the binding that keep me imprisoned." Having obviously felt my intentions, Tiamat's voice fondly shut down my thoughts on setting her free; before offering a silver lining as soon as she felt my indignation. "…but if you are set on this path, then the only way forward would be to get strong enough to change that fact."
It wasn't an outright impossibility, is what I took away from that.
It would just take an immense amount of practice and training before I could attempt to free her. And even then, I would have to push myself to the limits of what I, and the Key, could do before trying my hand at unbinding the seals which confined her… so no pressure.
"Just you wait, Tiamat." I proclaimed, stepping out of the shelter as the Key glowed with the power of my now-refreshed magical reserves. "No matter how much blood, sweat, and tears I have to shed…I WILL set you free!"
- END -
Author's Notes:
And that's Chapter 3!
From this point on, LeFay and Meredith are basically no longer in the story besides one or two brief glimpses that will be shown later on. Most of Solomon's time with Golden Dawn was meant as a quick backstory to build his character before diving into this new story idea I've wanted to try out.
And as for the Highschool DxD universe, he will be returning to it several times throughout the story as he grows stronger and finds a way to come and go from his personal dimension whenever he wants.
Hope you all are still liking it so far! Thanks for checking out my story!