Drageria
Ch.8: The Dinner part. 2
Izuku and Eri's ears perked up at the man's vague and mysterious explanation. Eri summed up the situation and their feelings the best by asking excitedly, "Is Tachibana-kun going to tell another story?!"
"Yes Eri. Yes he is.", Arete told her with a smile.
Eri practically bounced in her seat at the prospect and looked at the man with bated breath and glittering eyes. While Izuku just sat there and stared intently at him. Even some of the other occupants lent their eyes and ears in amusement.
Tachibana giggled and said, "Alright alright, settle down! I won't be able to concentrate on my story and pull the past from my brain if I have so much going on at once.", He then cleared his voice, straightened up, and ruffled his wings while saying, "Now let's see here, where should I start? Ah yes! Back a long long time ago. Nearly 300 years to the day, me and my kids exited the Cave of Origins and set out to find a new place to call home.", He began like an old story teller weaving his take, as mostly everyone intently listened.
"Since no place in the world would ever accept a spider and 6 hyper powerful dragons, I had the brilliant idea of simply making our own. Do we track to the middle of the Pacific Ocean where I had my son, Nidhogg, create a small plot of land for us. Unfortunately doing just that tired him out greatly. So instead of working my son to death, I had another brilliant idea. I had my other son, Fafnir, blow his fire into a semi-man made volcano. And surprisingly it worked!", All eyes turned back to the lazily chewing Earth Dragon and the Fire Dragon who gave them a prideful knowing side glance.
"The volcano created three times more than the small plot of land my son had made! So then I had an even more brilliant idea to do it all over again, but this time...bigger! And so I did. Nidhogg made the volcano five times bigger while me and my other kids took shelter on one of Apalala's ice domes. Fafnir ignited it and I might've slightly miscalculated the provocations of such power and ended up nearly burning or melting us alive. But once it all cooled theirs was even more land than before! That same volcano eventually became the castle we now live in.", He told the kids while moving around the room.
Izuku and Eri ogled at the space, story, and provocations at all held. Tachibana could help but smile at their combined child like cuteness and inquiry.
He continues on with his story, saying, "Then I decided to do the whole thing again, but this time from the opposite side and with an even bigger volcano and more of them! This time I took the proper measures to ensure there would be no accidents. The volcanoes were built far bigger than the future castle, they were detonated, and me and my kids spent a long time waiting for them to come out. After it all finally cooled down, the basis for Drageria was finally made, and the mountain range behind the castle was created. At this point however, it was nothing but stone with no life. But that! Is where the Redgiites, Silvarians, and Tealgalians come in."
Izuku gave another glance back at Fafnir and saw the dragon smirking at him for Tachibana praise of his accomplishments. He also looked back at Nidhogg, who was now asleep, much to Izuku unamusement.
Eri raised her hand and before she was called to ask her question, she blurted out excitedly, "What-What-What are tho-those word you-you say?"
Instead of Tachibana answering her question, it was Arete, who answered, "That's what Deskin, Cherry and myself are. The tribes we come from."
"Tribes?", Izuku asked her, fully confused, never knowing such a thing exists in such a modern time.
"Yes Izuku. You see we all come from a group of people who all share the same quirk.", Cherry chimed in.
"No way!", Izuku exclaimed in shock and amazement!
"Yes way. Our tribal names were made by our one distinguishing feature. Our hair color.", Arete briefly explained.
"That explains why I saw so many people with the same hair color. Are….you all related?", Izuku asked the last part carefully.
"In one way or another, yes.", Arete answered with a shrug of her shoulders.
"How can so many people have just one shared quirk?", Izuku prompted them further, his curiosity overweighing his manners.
"Well if you have a large separate group of people with one one person who has a quirk, then eventually that same group will have that one shared quirk.", Deskin stated like it was simple, with a snarky tone.
"If you don't mind, what are your quirks?", Izuku blurted out with excitement.
Arete sat up straight while fixing her silver hair and told him, "The Silvarians, like myself, have a quirk called Mind Buzz. I'll spare you the details but we're all extremely smart and immune to telekinetic attacks. Here in Drageria we make the bulk of the country thinkers, scholars, teachers, and so forth."
Cheery spoke next and explained, "My tribe, Redgiites, have the shared quirk called Red Blood. It basically makes us stronger, faster, and possesses more endurance than any normal human. So we make up the bulk of the workforce in Drageria."
"My tribe, Tealgalians, have a quirk called Undying Fury! When we are angry we enter a berserker-like state that makes us stronger and hard to put down! We even have longer life spans. You could break every bone in our bones and we'd still fight to the end! You have to kill us to get results, and even then that's a stretch! And we have the most important job of making up the main bulk of the royal guard for Drageria.", Deskin boastfully propelled while standing in his seat.
"If you're not getting into fights all the time.", Fay sassed him from the side with a snicker.
"Oh shove it you horny fairy!", Deskin yelled at her while nearly jumping on the table.
"I'd let you do that any day.", she said back with a seductive wink, making Deskin get angry and flustered.
"Alright alright, enough you two!", The general yet again broke up another fight.
After things simmered down, Izuku asked, "What brought you all to Drageria?"
Arete, Deskin, and Cheery all seemed to slump in their seats at this and Izuku looked around in confusion at their discomfort.
However Arete was the one to break the tension by saying, "Well….that's more of a….darker part of Lord Tachibana's tale."
All eyes turned back to the Dark God, and he continued with his story. "After I had made the land, three different ships at three different times had sailed into my waters. They landed on my shores and at first I assumed they were here to kill me and my kids for money or glory or whatever. But after seeing the, um…..'state' they were all in, I knew that wasn't the case. So I approached them and each group at every time they all reacted as well as could be expected when faced with a giant talking spider and his 6 Dragon children tailing him. But after a talk and some begging I allowed them all to stay and help build and grow Drageria into the country it is today. On the one condition they gave me their loyalty ", he spun his tale; making Arete, Deskin, and Cheery smile at it. "They didn't have much to offer since they came with so little, but we made the best of it. So with what little resources they had plus the work of my other children, mostly my children, we made Drageria go from a barren rock in the middle of the sea, to practically a second Edan.", he exclaimed while spreading his wings. Izuku and Ei watch and listen with child-like excitement. "Apalala made fresh water springs and streams. Quetzalcoatlus brought rain and wind with seeds and fertility. Tanit made light so rich and strong it caused plant life to bloom in minutes. And Ladon.", he stopped briefly as all heads turned to the purple Dragon. Who was currently cleaning his 'private' area. Some people laughed at this while Tachibana sighed and followed up saying, "Well…..reinforced the current plant life to become much stronger, and helped make the primordial ooze from which new species of both flora and fauna emerged from."
Izuku's bubbly laughter quickly faded to shock and amazement! He looked back at the goofy dragon, who was licking his eyes and couldn't believe that someone like him could actually create new life from, well…..his mucus. Izuku wondered if there was more to Ladon than being just a Poison Dragon and if what he produced really was poison at all.
"Now the reason they came, well that's a totally different reason I'm sure they would be more comfortable telling you.", Tachibana offered the storytelling spot to his three consorts.
Izuku and Eri looked at the three people, but all of them were silent and looking away or proceeding to occupy themselves with something else. Izuku knew what they were doing. He did it all the time when comforting his mother or when he used to. He could feel their discomfort at the direct offer and Izuku knew he was the only one who could stop this from going down hill more.
"You don't have to...if you're not comfortable. I understand.", Izuku told them.
Arete held up her hand as she said with a shaky voice, "No no no. You should know. If we don't remember and learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat it.", she fanned herself with her hands, as her face grew hot, and she took another shaky breath to calm herself as she told them her story, "The Silvarians we're quartered off by the government to be used as thinkers to better manage their country or even think of new ideas, inventions, ect ect. We were used for our intelligence and never allowed to pursue any other passion. I may not have been around at that time, but the stories my parents told me still frightened me to this day."
Cherry took his own shaky breath while rubbing his hands and told his story, "The Redgiites are similar to the Silvarians. We were essentially kidnapped by the government of the country we previously lived in to be used as cheap labor. They said what we did was good and we were helping expand the country. But the reality of it is we were nothing more than slaves. Also my history is the same as Arete's in terms of experience."
Then all eyes fell on Deskin, who looked the most uncomfortably defensive, with body tense he blew out a stressed raspberry and explained in an uncharacteristically low tone, "My people aren't like either of them. We didn't happen by sheer accident, we happened as a by-product of a government experiment back when quirks were rare. A man with Undying Fury was put into…..well…..a prison with a bunch of quirkless women. He was forced to….. reproduce with all of them. One thing led to another and they all gave birth to children with the same quirk. The government tried to use them as trained super soldiers, but abused them until they realized far too late about just how much stronger they were.", he slumped into his chair, looking like a small ball.
After that, everything had gone quite apart from the sounds of the Dragons eating. But that silence was quickly disturbed as Tachibana added in, "There actually used to be a fourth tribe called the Goldillians. But they never came to Drageria, and by the time I found out of their existence they were all gone. I punished their country by eating all the souls of the inhabitants, leaving the place completely abandoned and desolate."
"Wow.", was all Izuku could say as a heavy silence filled the room.
"That's….sad.", Eri chimed in as well, on the verge of tears.
"That it is, Eri. It is…...sad, but….that's humanity for you. What isn't the same as us we either destroy or seek to control. That is why we must learn from the mistakes of the past and not repeat them.", Tachibana then came over to Eri, got down to her level on the high chair and placed his hands on her shoulders, told her with a serious tone and expression, "Never judge anyone Eri, just because they are different. And never think you're above anyone else. Cause the truth is that's just not true for anyone."
"Except you?", Eri immediately asked back, making Tachibana go stiff.
"Welllllll I, um, errrrrr…", Tachibana faltered with his words as his face went pale and sweat poured out of him. He then looked to his cabinet members, some of whom were on the verge of laughter, and he begged through grit teeth, "Help me out here!"
"Questions later, food now!", Fay shouted out!
Tachibana stood up suddenly from his spot next to Eri and also shouted while taking his seat!, "Yes! Food! Let's eat and not let this wonderful meal go to waste!"
At this the atmosphere seemed to slightly shift at Tachibana's over exaggerated freak out. Everything went back to normal…. somewhat, as they all fell back into silently eating their food or requesting more. The only sounds present were the utensils cutting meat or stringing the plate, chewing, and the Dragons loudly chewing or pulling their food apart. Eventually it came to the point where Izuku felt like he could speak out freely and ask more questions.
He looked down at the table, towards Bultungin and addressed him, "Um, Bultungin.", The hyena-faced man looked up from his plate at the boy as he continued his statement, "I'm sorry if this seems rude, but can I ask you about your quirk? It seems really interesting."
Bultungin swallowed his food while wiping his mouth and replied, "Not at all, young master. In essence my quirk makes me a kind of Lycanthrope.", Izuku tilted his head to the side confused. Bultungin chuckled and explained further, "A werewolf or werehyena in my case."
Izuku glanced back at the secondary hyena head and saw it had moved or done anything the whole time. He looked at the man and asked, "So does your….other head just sit there."
Without warning Bultungin's head did a 180 and the hyena was in the front, where it asked back with a snarling and animalistically deep tone, "What gives you that idea?"
Izuku immediately yelped and jumped back in his seat at the sudden shift! A few people laughed at this, making Izuku blush.
Bultungin's head twisted back to the human one, and he chuckled while saying, "So sorry, young master. I couldn't resist."
"Bultungin! That wasn't funny.", Arete scolded him.
"It was a little funny.", Tachibana chuckled in agreement, making the silver haired woman cross her arms and roll her eyes. Tachibana then turned to the rest of his cabin and proclaimed, "Since we're on the topic, Fay."
"My quirk is called Pixie Sprite. It not only makes me look like a fairy, but I have the power to control nature itself.", The fairy woman explained briefly while making a decorative plant on the table grow bigger.
"Hilton Heim.", Tachibana turned to the smaller thin man.
"My quirk is called Pin Point. I can basically map out complex things in my head and draw them out without any flaws. That's how I know where and how the land should be moved in Drageria.", He explained while taking out a Topographical drawing and showing it to the young boy.
"Crinaxx.", Tachibana called the mage.
"Alchemist.", He uttered one single word, leaving Izuku confused.
Deskin let out a loud and aggravated sigh while explaining for him, "He can take literally anything and make it into something else. He even knows what things will make other things without any prior knowledge."
Seeing that the general hadn't gone yet, Izuku, without thinking in his excitement asked him suddenly, "What about you, General?"
"Nothing.", The man replied while cutting his food.
"Nothing? Wait, you're quirkless too?", Izuku asked again without thinking.
"Yes I'm also...too?", The general stopped his eating while looking up at the boy with his own curious confusion.
Izuku immediately recognized what he had said without thinking about it. He felt a pang of fear and anxiety rise through him, making his face go red and hot, causing sweat droplets to form. He was frozen in his own body. His brain refuses to make him move, like an animal caught in the underbrush, trying not to move to avoid detection. He looked around the table with his eyes being the only part that could move. All eyes were on him and all faces had different resting expressions.
He really wanted to go back in time and take it back….but it was too late. The cat had been let out and now everyone was waiting for confirmation. Izuku wouldn't lie about such a thing, he couldn't! Especially with Tachibana sitting right next to him, no doubt reading his current thoughts. There was no way out of it, he made his own bed and now he had to lie in it. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and tried to speak.
"Um…..", Izuku trailed off trying to find his vocabulary as everyone continued to stare at him. He sighs and finally comes clean. "Yeah. I'm…..also quirkless.", He finally forced himself to speak.
Everything was silent as Izuku finished his statement and looked down at his plate…..for about five seconds. When Fay jumped up from her seat, flying above the table and shouting loudly.
"Yeah! One more and we'll have a set!", She proclaimed with glee, sending shock and confusion into Izuku's.
"Fay! That's inappropriate!", Arete immediately scolded her.
Fay tilted her head and coyly said back, "What? It's true. General, when are you gonna get hitched already and have a kid?", This made the older man close his eyes with an angry blush on his face.
"Fay!", Arete shouted at the flying woman.
As Izuku looked around at all the people who didn't have the expressions he was expecting, he asked aloud, "You all really don't mind me being quirkless?"
Arete and Fay stopped fighting as they all looked back to the young teen, and the fairy woman said, "Why would we care about that? No one can control how they are born."
Izuku looked over to Tachibana in disbelief. The Dark God smiled and with a slight chuckle he said, "As I've said, Izuku. Here in Drageria we don't judge by the nature of your quirk, but by the color of your character."
With that, Izuku broke down in front of all of them. He dropped his face onto the table, covered his head with his arms, and began to sob uncontrollably! He felt such relief like never before! Almost like back in the carriage, but on a much different level. These people weren't expected to like him simply because they were in close quarters with their leader, they didn't judge him cause….they just didn't.
It filled Izuku with hope and joy knowing he was finally in a place that truly accepted him and gave him the opportunity to do what he wanted. He sat there for who knows how long and released even more of his pent up emotions. Eventually he felt a hand on his back rubbing him. He knew this was Tachibana's trying to soothe him, and so with this as well he continued his emotional outpouring.
Even almost getting Eri into it, bit luckily Arete was able to keep her from sobbing with him. Even some of the Dragons stopped eating to see what had killed the mood once again. Even the ever goofy and childish Ladon inched forward in worry of the teens' sounds of sadness. Even poking his seat with his horn.
Eventually the mood in the room stopped when the head chef came in to make yet another announcement. "My Lords and Ladies I…..", he trailed off while seeing the sight before him. "Seem to be interrupting something.", He quickly caught himself before trying to leave.
But Tachibana stopped him with his raised hand and quickly said, "No no chef, you're fine. We had just finished with our meal."
Izuku raised his head still dripping with snot and tears as he forced himself to breath and say as clearly as he could muster, "Y-Yeah. Thank you Chef. It was the best thing I've had in a while."
"Yeah! It was super yummy!", Eri chimed in.
The chef smiled and bower deeply with his hand on his chest as he stated gratefully, "I am elated to hear this from you both.", He sat up and told them with an excited smile, "I hope you're both ready for dessert."
"Oh you know it Chef!", Tachibana was the one to respond while promptly sitting down in his seat while making all the used plates and utensils disappear, no doubt into the kitchen.
The head chef clapped his hands and over a dozen different trolleys came out of the kitchen double doors, on each of them one over stocked with a single dessert of a different kind. Everything from cakes, to cookies, to ice cream, and everything else in-between. A cook next to the head chef stretched out her arms and all the desserts floated onto the table one by one. Tachibana looked at the deserts with wide eyes, like a starving animal looking at a fresh corpse. While Izuku and Eri stared with shocked wonder at so many different sweet delicacies laid before them, and seemingly all for them!
"Here it is, desert!", The chef announced boisterously with a bow.
Before he could leave, he was stopped by Cherry with an important question.
"Chef….why is there so much?", The soft voiced man asked with some humph in his tone
The chef turned to the red haired man and answered, "Oh well it was specially requested."
"By who?", Arete chimes in with eyes narrowing.
Just before he answers with all eyes on him, Tach was making silent gestures with his hand for him not to say anything. Though unfortunately the chef did notice this.
And the head chef said with confidence and joy, "Why Lord Tachibana, you of course."
Everything went silent again as all eyes traced back to the Dark God, who had quickly stopped his shushing silent gestures, and tried to play it off cool with a stiff expression. However, his play was fooling no one.
Though the tension finally broke when Fay shouted with glee, "Yay!"
"Lord Tachibana!", Arete yelled at him.
Tachibana stood up on his seat, backing away with hands out in defense as he defended himself back, saying, "I said I was going to introduce Eri to every desert known to man, and I will!"
"She'll get fat!", Arete yelled back while jumping from her seat.
"She's 8! She'll burn it off by breathing!", Tachibana fought back while waving her accusation off.
"She'll get sick!", She yelled while poking him in the chest.
"She's only tasting all of them!", Tachibana yelled back into her face.
"You're gonna waste all this food!?", She yelled while motioning to the absolute smorgasbord of assorted sweets sitting on the table.
"It's for a good cause! And besides me and the kids will clean up the leftovers!", Tach argued back with nose turned up, eyes closed, and chest out.
"Sugar isn't good for them!", Arete argues back.
"Say's who?!"
"Say's me!"
"Desert! Desert! Desert! Desert! Desert! Desert!", Fay and Hilton Heim chant happily while some of the Dragons chant with them.
"Stop acting so childish you two!", Deskin yells at the two of them and the dragons.
"D-Desert.", Eri eventually chimes into the chant, albeit more reserved.
"Great. Now Eri is doing it.", Bultungin sighed while gently face palming himself.
"There goes the peace.", Crinaxx added his two cents quietly.
As much talking, arguing, yelling, and cheering made its way around the table, Izuku couldn't help but smile at all of it. Before, everything in his leg always felt so…. stagnant or forced or even just superficial. Even his domestic life didn't fell…. domestic at all. There was always an air of unease or stagnation when he was there with his mom. Like nothing was as it should be by some unknown force. But here and now, in all this madness….it truly felt like-like-like…..home, family, and something more. Maybe…..belonging? He didn't know, but he did like it a lot!
"Tachibana-san.", He called the man's attention, who put his finger over his secretary's lips to hush her as he gave his attention to him. "Thank you for everything so far.", He said to him with all the gratitude he could muster in his voice.
Tachibana smiled at him, and then roughly ruffled his hair while saying back, "Don't thank me yet. Your new life is just starting."
