Drageria
Ch.3: The Dark God
Izuku's breath hitched in his throat at the sight. The creature that stood, or rather floated, before him was….not as horrific as he thought at second glance. Sure it was big and gave a sense of dread that permeated the area. But it was mostly just a pile of wings with many eyes. There seemed to be six in total. Two were covering it's upper torso and face, folded twice around like they had many segments or no bones at all. The next two covered the lower torso and legs, again wrapped twice around. Then the last two stay unfurled behind its back where they were used to keep its body aloft the ground. It's eyes were many and dotted all the wings inside and outside. They were all the size of regular human eyes, but each one was colored every conceivable color imaginable. The eyes weren't looking in one particular direction and seemed to be looking all around. At the crowd of people, at Izuku, and Eri. If anything the creature looked more weird than terrifying.
"What seems to be the problem?", The creature asked again, it's ancient voice shaking the ground whatever you vowel it pronounced and all of its eyes seemingly trailed onto Izuku for an answer.
Izuku managed to catch his voice again and stammered out, "E-Eri. I-she…...please help.", He begged.
Suddenly the creature's wings began to twitch and unraveled from around itself. After unwrapping it's wings twice, the form underneath is what reignited the fear Izuku had felt so strongly before! Izuku had always heard of 'biblically accurate angels', but he never thought he'd actually see what that meant!
The creature was huge for one! It had a human-like silhouette with skin black as night and dotted with white sparks that looked like stars. It had no mouth, ears or nose, but had two large white orbs for eyes. It had two large horns that sprouted from both sides of it's temples and followed the path of it's head where they sloped outwards like the front of a crown. It also had several smaller horns really giving off the 'empirical crown' vibe.
It had eyes all over its body, just like the wings, except they weren't randomly placed. Instead they were in three sets of large circles. One ring of eyes going around the front of it's head with the two white ones making it up. And another two that interlock with the first on both sides of its body. Giving it the appearance of having three faces.
Speaking of its body; not only did it have a human-like appearance, it also had three long arms with 6 clawed fingers, two legs that shimmered out into smoke at the knee, and totally nude with no visible genitals.
The creature looked down at Eri and reached out one of it's 6 arms. Just when it was about to touch her, Eri must've noticed even though her eyes were shut, and backed away while screaming, "NO!"
A look of concern, compassion, and pity rose on the beings eyes as it looked down on the frightened girl. He carefully coursed the young girl into some trust with his words and voice. Telling her in a sweet voice for such an ancient sounding being, "Be not afraid little one. You have nothing to fear. For yourself or others. There is no possible way for you to harm me. In fact, I will help you. Will you not trust me to help you?"
Eri stood still, laying on the ground trying to cover her horn and exposed skin, but eventually she stopped struggling and inching away and allowed the huge being to get close to her. The being carefully picked her up with two of his arms, and then immersed her in the other four. It seems to be hugging Eri, prevalent by how its eyes closed and its head leaned on top of hers, but soon that was discovered to not be the case. A strange white light emerged from the beings body, a light that almost seemed to be eating at the red light being emitted from Eri. Eventually both lights mixed in such a way that it caused a blinding effect! Everyone looked away until the light show died down. When it did, Eri was still being carefully held in the beings six arms, only the red energy around her was gone and her horn was no bigger than a bump on her head. The purple were amazed and ecstatic at this! Many of which were whispering, quite loudly, about this show of power from the being!
"There now. All better.", said the being as it opened all its eyes. "You have nothing to be afraid of, little one.", it told her as it stroked her hair with one of its arms, but Eri still refused to open her eyes.
"Now then.", the being said in a much more serious tone, making everyone go silent. "What happened to cause such a conundrum to summon me?"
Deciding to take the preverbal fall, Izuku spoke up through his fear and elation, as he replied, "Um, Eri got scared by a man she thought was someone else. And her quirk activated on its own. I don't think she can control it."
The creature looked down at Izuku, making him shiver under its gaze, as it asked, "And what exactly spooked her so much?"
Izuku swallowed hard and answered, "Um…..there was a man in the crowd who she thought was the bad man with the bird mask."
"Was it?"
"N-No. Just some guy with a beak for a mouth."
The being then placed a different hand on the softly sobbing child's head and its eyes, along with Eri's, began to glow a bright white. After a second the light died down after a second and a look of compassion strung across the featureless face of the creature as it said to Eri, "My dear child, you have nothing to fear. The man you saw is not the one you think. He and the rest of his associates are not in this country. That much I can promise. Not everyone that looks like a bird is not related to that man, and you shouldnt be so quick to judge. They have no control over the way they look."
Eri sniffled back a few times before weakly saying, "Im-Im s-s-sorry."
A small yet light chuckle came from the being as it said, "It's quite alright my dear. We all make mistakes, and there's no shame in that. Fear is a very terrible thing if it's all we know, but you can't let it control you. You must be able to use it to help you thrive and not merely survive. Do you understand?"
"I-I guess.", Eri replied, she then opened her eyes and looked up from the beings shoulder and took in the sight of his inhuman appearance!
She was scared stiff for the entire time she looked at him, but the being caressed her hair and said, "Be not afraid little one, for I am a friend to all."
"Are you friends with Izuku?", Eri finally spoke up after several more seconds of intense staring.
The being gave a jovial laugh and replied, "I did say 'Friend to All' did I not? So yes, I am a friend of Izuku.", the being then looked back at Izuku and asked, "Is that not your name?", Izuku just wordlessly nodded.
Seeing his and Eri's continued reaction, it sighs and says, "Perhaps this form is too much for you to handle or we'll never understand some key things."
With that the being began to transform before their eyes. First it got smaller, much smaller. Then its extra limbs began to recede into its body, and from there its legs became corporal, and its many horns vanished until there were only the main two. The many eyes on its wings and body closed and vanished as its skin went from midnight black to a more natural fair skin color. More human-like features appeared on its face like shape, nose, ears, mouth, hair and so forth. Then clothing appeared on its quickly developing body. A long black imperial suit with long fan-like tail coat, black boots and pants appeared with accents of gold and a red sash that wrapped around its neck and splayed across it's hips. The only thing that stayed from its previous form was the many white star-like spots on its exposed skin, giving it the appearance of many freckles.
In the end what stood before them was not an eldritch being of untold power; but instead a man in his mid 20s with short black hair, a pale complexion, six wings, two horns, and eyes that seemed to hold every color of the rainbow with an innumerable amount of freckles covered every part of his exposed skin. The only part of him that remained inhuman were his hands; they were not only large, but pitch black and still had claws while still having five fingers. Even Izuku had to admit that this man before him was extremely beautiful.
"Their. Is that better?", the man asked with the softest and warmest smile, looking at the girl with is multi colored eyes.
After a moment of staring, Eri held the man's face in her small hands and stated, "You're not so scary."
The man gave a jovial chuckle and replied, "No, I guess I'm not."
Izuku couldn't even begin to know what to say, especially after everything that just happened, so he asked one of the easiest questions on the planet. "Who…..are you?"
Suddenly a man with blue hair and an imperial outfit, like something of a fantasy politician, emerged from behind the winged man and immediately began to angrily tell Izuku off. "Who is he?! How dare you ask such a demeaning question before him, you ignorant fool! This is the great and powerful Dark God of this land! Lord Ta-.", before he could continue with his rant, the winged man grabbed the blue haired man's lips between his fingers.
The winged man sighed exasperated and said to the shorter blued haired man, "He is new here, Deskin. Of course he doesn't know who I am. Not everyone who comes here knows me and my hundred or so titles that you don't need to list off. And there is no need for you to explode on him or anyone else who asks such a question.", the blue haired man defeated in defeat and the winged man snaked his lips like a cartoon. He looked back to Izuku after rolling his eyes and said to him, "Sorry about Deskin, he tends to get quite defensive about my….self proclaimed honor. My name is Tachibana. The head of power and king of this country. Pleasure to meet you young one.", Tachibana introduced himself.
Realizing the utter importance of the man, Izuku went into a bow and greeted him back, "OH! Um! Nice meeting you too sir, er, your lordship!"
"Now onto business. Izuku.", Tachibana said to him with a more serious tone, making Izuku stand up with butt cheeks clenched in stress. "What exactly is your sister's quirk?"
Izuku shuffled uncomfortably in his spot as he admitted, "Well…..she's not really my…..sister."
Tachibana blinked a few times, making it seem like this bit of info was unimportant and said back a bit more forcefully, "Well address that later. What is her quirk?"
Izuku gulped and collected his scattered thoughts while replying, "She…..said it was called Rewind. But I'm not sure what it does."
"Do you have any ideas or clues?", Tachibana promoted him further.
Izuku just pointed to a pile of logs and explained, "When she hit that wooden chair it just…..turned into logs."
"Logs?", Tachibana repeats the word. "Arete. Examine it please.", he said aloud as a tall older woman with silver hair steps from behind him.
She too is wearing an imperial fantasy outfit that makes her look like a fantasy secretary, with heels, a pencil skirt, and a cape with a brooch on her breast. Only she has a fair bit of her bountiful cleavage on display. Izuku did his best not to stare as the women bent down and examined the logs while putting some glasses on.
After a few minutes of examination the woman, Arete, looked to Tachibana and reported her findings, "It seems that the chair wasn't just turned back into logs, but the nails remained unchanged. There are still signs or deformation due to improper building and rust due to water. I believe her quirk affects only living material. Turning back to its original state or reducing back to an older form.", she explained while holding up a bent and rusting nail in comparison to a log that looked freshly cut.
"That would explain why you were so intent on not letting anyone touch you.", Tachibana said to Eri, who tried to hide her face on his shoulder.
"But….you didn't get hurt by my curse.", Eri stated in a small voice.
"Curse?", Tachibana questioned her.
"I believe that's what she's been told her quirk is.", Arete explained from the side.
Tachibana looked at her with concerned compassion as he said, "My dear, your 'curse' is no curse at all. What you've been told is a lie. A quirk is no more dangerous than a knife or gun. Only threatening in the hands of those who intend to do harm. And I can see you have no intentions of harm."
Eri looked up sadly and fearfully from his shoulder, and without looking him in the eyes she replied, "But-But...I always hurt people."
Tachibana waved his hand at the assumption and stated, "You simply lack control. Controlling a quirk is no different than learning how to walk or climb a tree. With practice you'll master it."
"How come you didn't disappear when my curse-.", Eri began to ask until Tachibana corrected her.
"Quirk."
"Turned on?", Eri finished her thought without correcting herself.
Deskin came from the side again and said to the girl in a demeaning way, "Well that is a simple question for a small brained child. The Great and Powerful Lord Tachibana, creator of-.", but he was cut short as Tachibana snagged his lips between his fingers.
"I'm an immortal sweetheart. I'm a constant, which means I can never change unless I do so myself. Like when you saw me shaft between my forms.", Tachibana explained briefly. "So you have nothing to fear if you do lose control again.", Eri smiled with watery eyes up at the man, who then addressed Izuku saying, "Now onto the second point of business. You said this girl is not related to you. Care to elaborate?"
"I-I-I didn't steal her or anything! I mean...I kinda did. But it was for a good reason! I swear!", Izuku fumbled over his words trying to spit out an explanation while panicking!
"Go on.", Tachibana prompted him further.
Izuku calmed down a bit, collected his thoughts, and explained, "When I heard your offer I found her while trying to find a detour. She said she needed help from the 'Bad man with the Bird mask'. And I couldn't just leave her or take her to the authorities since I would've missed my chance to leave or the authorities would be under this person's thumb. So I took her with me. I'm sorry….", he said while looking at the ground.
Tachibana gave a slight chuckle and stated, "You have nothing to apologize for, boy. We all make mistakes, especially in a desperate hour. Though what you did might not have been the best option, considering it was a form of kidnapping, it was valiant. And to be honest it seemed like the best option."
"Does that mean you'll kick me out?", Izuku looked down at the ground, knowing fully well how to read between the lines when someone was going to say something else.
Tachibana looked down at the disheartened boy with confusion as he replied, "Whatever for?', this made Izuku raise his head in surprise! "In foresight you may have not done everything correctly or justly, but in foresight you did save this young girl's life. You should feel proud of that at least.", he told him while placing Eri into his arms.
Izuku looked between Eri and Tachibana before saying with a choked up voice, "I…..thank you."
Tachibana waved his hand and replied, "No need for it. All are welcome here no matter who you are."
"Lord Tachibana, you are still holding Deskin's mouth.", Arete told him.
Tachibana looked to his side and saw the blue haired man still standing there patiently with his lips sealed between his fingers he immediately let go while saying, "Whoops! Sorry.", Deskin simply bowed in reply, almost seeming happy about it.
"Now that that's settled, I'll have to take you both with me.", Tachibana stated matter of factly.
"What?", almost everyone shouted aloud.
Arete cleared her throat and told him, "Lord Tachibana. Perhaps you should explain further. You sound like you're going to abduct them."
"Oh! Hehehehehe! My mistake.", Tachibana sweat dropped at the realization and awkwardly laughed as he said, "What I meant was I'll have to take the both of you to live in my home."
"What?!", everyone practically shouted again!
"Lord Tachibana! You can't be serious! They are peasants! You can't dirty your estate and image by taking in-.", Deskin tried to persuade him until his lips were grabbed once more.
"Let me finish!", Tachibana exclaimed with a dangerously firm tone, making everyone go silent! "I simply can't let Eri live amongst the common folk with no supervision. With the state and threat of her quirk she could create a disaster, and I cant always be there when it does get out of hand. In my home she and others will be kept safe since it is large and primarily made of inorganic material. And she will receive guidance on how to control her ability. Despite its danger, with proper training, she could become a top notch healer with no equal.", he explained.
"Really?", Eri looked up at him hopefully.
Tachibana pulled Deskin's lips back and replied with a warm smile, "Really really."
"And what of the boy my lord?", Arete asked him.
"Well obviously he will be coming too.", Tachibana stated.
Izuku looked at him with an expression of fear and shock as he stated nervously, "Really? I wouldn't want to intrude. I get the fact Eri could have hurt someone, and it does sound like she'll be taken care of and helped with her quirk."
"And you'd just abandon her to someone you respect out of previous fear?", Tachibana obviously jostled him. Making Izuku clam up and tense up! Tachibana laughs and says, "I only jest, young man. But on a serious note, I know you and her, despite your short time together, have formed a strong bond. You wouldn't want to break that? And I see Eri doesn't want to break it either.", he stated as Izuku looked down to see Eri with a death grip on his uniform jacket.
Izuku didn't say anything, so he just hugged Eri into his body while Tachibana exclaimed, "It's settled!", he then looked to Deskin and asked, "What are we looking at for our new population numbers?", He looked over to the huge group of people staring at him and then said, "I never expected to get this many."
"Right now we've already accounted for over 500 with many more still unaccounted for. We could be looking at 1,000 already. That's not even counting the dozen or so new orphans.", Deskin informed him.
Tachibana rubbed his hands anxiously as he stated, "And our orphanage is already under reconstruction to expand, damn! Cherry, how are we looking at new home infrastructure?"
Arete took a clipboard out from a sachtle she was caring for and flipped through several pages before saying, "Although many citizens from the main town have moved to the newly built docks, we still have many homes under renovation and construction from the older models. So we only have enough for a dozen or so available."
He rubbed his chin and asked, "What about sections 2-5? What is the status of their completion?"
Arete flipped through her clipboard again and replied, "Even though the workers are trying tirelessly to complete the new section to expand the town, they are still not suited for human civilization due to the unhealthy and dangerous work areas. We're still looking at a week or more."
Tachibana tightened his hands into fists at this revelation and stated, "Damn. But we'll have to put these people somewhere. What about that field we just opened on the west side of town?"
"It's been marked off for more crop land but nothing has been done yet.", Arete told him.
Tachibana nodded his head and told her, "Stop any and all production to the construction of that plot. Set up tents and provide provisions for the newcomers.", Tachibana then looked at the crowd of people still staring at him, and he opened his six wings as he exclaimed in a loud voice, "People of Japan! My name is Tachibana, Dark God of Drageria! It pains me to say this, but we weren't expecting such a great influx of new people, and we don't have enough housing for all of you. However construction is underway and workers are exceeding production to see this through. I know you all have traveled far from where you were, left much behind, and are tired. But I only ask for your patients and soon you will be properly housed. For now we will have temporary living arrangements and the opportunity for you to take jobs. Again I'm sorry for the inconvenience.", he told them while bowing deeply.
"You have no need to apologize, Lord Tachibana.", a voice from the crowd called out! All heads looked around for the person, but the crowd was too thick to see the origin of the voice. The voice then spoke again saying loudly, "You have already given us more than our previous society was willing to. I used to live in the back alleys for years after losing my job, but now knowing I'll have a roof over my head and steady employment means more than I can put into words. Waiting just that much longer after such a long time of hardship means nothing. If anything, we should thank you.", said the voice as an audible sound of them bowing deeply on the ground.
Before he knew it, nearly everyone in the crowd and back of the tent had taken to bowing deeply before the Dark God and giving their thanks to him. Some even weep before him in their thanks. The whole tent was soon swallowed up by the mumbling thanks and soft sobs of people.
Tachibana couldn't help but smile at this and stated with a serious tone, "If you do wish to thank me, and live here, then there's one thing you must do!", all the people looked up from the ground and stared at the god, waiting for his demands. "Cast aside your previous citizenship, bow to me, and swear your loyalty to Drageria!"
Within minutes, all the people were bowing again and swearing their loyalty in a mass low muttering mumble that echoed through the tenet like a wave.
Tachibana smiled proudly at this and stepped forward while raising his hand into the air, "Then by taking this vow of loyalty, through the power vested in me I now make you all citizens of Drageria!"
With that a strange light emitted from his hands and spread out into multiple beams that cascaded around the whole inside and outside of the tent! Each one of the beams touched a person and their bodies glowed for a short time before dying down and the beams disappearing. The beams of light vanished as quick as they came and returned back to Tachibana. All the people arose with a new sensation in their bodies. Even Izuku could feel it after getting up from his kneeling bow. It was almost like he had a sense of belonging. Like this place, although completely alien and strange, now felt like home. It was….nice.
"Now that that's over with, let's get you two to my home and get you settled in.", Tachibana stated happily while addressing Izuku and Eri. He started to walk off with Arete and Deskin at his sides with several of the guards tailing them. Noticing that he wasn't following, Tachibana turned around and prompted them with a friendly, "Well. Come on."
Izuku hesitantly took a step forward before looking back at his new acquaintances and said, "Goodbye you guys, I really hope we'll see each other again soon."
"Yeah.", Shinso said excitedly while rubbing his head and looking away.
"Me too!", Kirishima exclaimed boldly.
"Take care Midoriya-kun.", Momo gave a slight and polite bow to him.
Izuku was then escorted out of the tent while following Tachibana by his tail. Izuku idly wondered if he did have a tail. Seeming to know what he was thinning, Tachibana looked back at him and placed a clawed finger up to his lips. Once they were in the main part of town, Izuku was forcefully pushed by the guard into Tachibana's wings. When he looked back he was shocked that the guard was trying to hold back a huge hoard of townsfolk who were trying to get close to Tachibana! All shouting his name and praising him! Izuku practically stayed glued to the gods back, clutching his free hand to one of his wings anxiously! Tachibana smiled and waved back at the crowd of screaming people trying to push their way in.
Eventually they were escorted to a horse drawn carriage that wasn't really being pulled by horses. They did look like horses, sorta, but they seemed to be crossed with some kind of scaly reptile with a large set of bat-like wings. Izuku was helped up by one of the guards and the door was closed behind him. Inside there were two rows of seats placed on both halves of the coach, which were red and extremely soft looking. Tachibana was sitting on the front half with Arete and Deskin sitting on both sides of him. Izuku finally sat down and nearly melted into the seat. It was so soft and comfortable that it was like a memory foam mattress. He almost wanted to fall asleep right there, but kept himself awake as the carriage jutted forward and he placed Eri on the spot next to him.
After several minutes of silence Izuku finally broke the silence by asking, "So um, where are we going?"
Tachibana chuckled and answered, "To my home of course, silly boy. You must've been through a lot if you ask so many repeated questions."
"I-I-I'm very sorry. It's been a long two days.", Izuku apologized while bowing in his seat. "Where exactly is your home?", Izuku asked awkwardly.
But instead of Tachibana answering his question, he got Deskin and his angry tone half yelling at him, "Are you daft and stupid?! Can you not see the castle built into the mountain that the village is at the base of?!"
Izuku looked out the window and saw that they were climbing up a gently sloping incline that led up to the huge mountain that upon closer inspection, was made into a castle. His attention was drawn back into the coach as he heard an audible smack! He looked back and saw Arete with her hand across her body and Deskin holding the back of his head.
"Don't be rude to him, Deskin. He's obviously been through much.", Arete scolded him like a child.
Deskin growled and leaned over while yelling in her face, "Don't hit me you silver haired harlot!"
At this point Tachibana was already at his end with the two of them, considering they were yelling at each other by leaning over him. He half yelled with an angry tone, "Both of you be quiet!"
The two of them sat back in their seats with their heads down as they apologized to him quietly, "Yes Lord Tachibana, Sorry Lord Tachibana."
Tachibana and addressing Izuku he said, "As Deskin said, my home is the castle built straight into the race of that mountain we are traveling to."
Izuku looked up at the castle and wondered why someone like him would even want something so big and loud and in your face? He assumed someone like him would live amongst the common folk.
"I bet you're wondering why someone as seemingly humble, honorable, and not totalitarian as myself would have such an outlandish, loud, and extravagant castle especially built into the face of a mountain.", Tachibana addressed him with a smile.
Shock struck across Izuku's face as he saw the man perfectly guess what he was thinking, and tried to ask, "How did you-?"
But Tachibana said, "I have many skills. But to answer your question I am the head of power in this place for one, and it is a testament to that power I possess, but also it's used to house me and my family.", he explained further to him.
"Family?", Izuku repeated the phrase.
He didn't even know there was a queen or goddess in Tachibana. He never even thought of it or the fact he might actually have some kind of linkage under his name. He wondered what they were like, and what quirks they had like their father.
Tachibana nods happily and says back, "Yes, family. More specifically my six children. You'll meet them very soon, I hope you get along as well as I can expect."
