Drageria
Ch.9: Two Sides of the Same God
Izuku couldn't sleep, simple as that. Who knew after sleeping for a straight day would wreck one's natural sleep cycle? Not Izuku. After a lot of tossing and turning and staring at the ceiling for hours on end, he finally decided to do something about it.
He got out of bed, put on some slippers, and walked out of his room in search of a servant to hopefully find a remedy. After a bit of searching Izuku noticed a few things; first was this place was ultra-creepy at night! The second is that he couldn't find a single servant in this huge place! And just earlier he saw tons of them! Maybe they were asleep? And three he is now completely lost in this place.
Sometimes Izuku wished he could use his brainpower for things other than hero analytics. He could've brought the map of the castle provided for him, but no. He just had to wonder like an idiot…..speaking of which, where was he? He looked around and saw that it wasn't like another hallway in the castle. Izuku's half-dead brain wasn't able to take in the specifics, but it was different.
Then he hears voices coming from down this T bracket hallway. Despite his better judgment, he follows them to a large oak door with gold embroidery. Behind it are the sounds of talking and yelling. The door had been left open just a crack and Izuku decides to peek in.
Inside he sees Arete, Cherry, Tachibana, and three people who are on their knees with their hands bound. Two of them were male, with one looking much older than the other, and a mature woman. The three people bound didn't look happy as they yelled and scowled at the other three. Cherry looked the same as he always does, Arete held a frown, and Tachibana looked livid! Though he was keeping it under control.
After the three bound people stopped screaming and glaring at them, Arete finally asked, "Now, are you three done?"
"Done!? That's all you have to say, tits!?", The older man yelled at her.
This only got him a face full of Arete's heel as she angrily yells, "How dare you to refer to me in such a manner you traitor!"
Tachibana placed a hand on her shoulder and told her, "Now now Arete. This isn't a beat down, this is an interrogation."
Arete glared hatefully at the smirking man as she placed her hell back on the ground.
The younger man gave a sparse laugh while saying to God, "Well jokes on you Lord Cock-ibana. We ain't squealing about anything!"
Arete snarled at the younger man and tender her legs, ready to strike him!
Then it was the woman's turn to speak, who spoke to Tachibana in a condescending yet intelligent tone. A small smile graced her messed up hair as she said with an assured and snarky tone, "And you can't prove anything either. You have no evidence. You're working off rumors and accusations. If anything, you just kidnapped three of your residents for no reason. If you're the great and morally upstanding god you portray yourself as, are you willing to kill us? So what are you gonna do now?"
Now it was Cherries turn to glare at the woman with his closed eyes.
The older man, who spat out a tooth that Arete broke, finally spoke up again and stated gruffly, "You're no God. Your just some nobody with a bunch of smoke and mirrors, and a bunch of idiots who are dumb enough to believe it!"
This was enough to make the other two captives laugh heartily in the face of the Dark God.
Arete, already red as the hair on Cherry, shouted with a dominant and assertive stamp of her foot, "How dare you speak to Lord Tachibana in such a manner!", She then reached to her hip and drew a rapier sword, ready to strike them!
However, Tachibana caught the tip before she could plunge it through the older man's chest, and told her in a calm tone, "Hold on Arete."
Arete looked at the Dark God, who gave him an assured expression with a dark glint in his eye, alongside a cast smile. Arete released the tension in her arm, knowing what her Lord meant by this, and resheath her sword. She stepped aside and allowed the Dark God to close in on the older man. His shoes clocking against the floor as he approached.
"So…..you believe I'm no God?", Tachibana asked the man while nodding his head smugly. "You truly believe that?", Tachibana asked again, stopping at where the man kneeled, only to get a nod without the smugness. "All of it?", He asked again, this time leaning eye level with the man, getting a less assertive nod in return and a nervous expression. "With every single shred of your weak, limp, mortal being?", Tachibana asked in a cold tone, his eyes glowing, his aura spilling out, and his form demanding! Getting no nod from the man apart from a pale expression coupled with wide eyes, sweat, and an open mouth of fear.
Even from behind the door, Izuku could feel the overwhelming power that Tachibana was putting out. And it was terrifying! He couldn't imagine what it would be like to be right in front of such power! All while Arete and Cherry just stood there seemingly unaffected by such presence and pressure.
Before anything else could happen, Hilton Heim burst through another door in the room, calling out for Tachibana.
"Lord Tachibana! Lord Tachibana!", He shouted as he barely kept his belongings in his many pouches and hat on his head. "Lord Tachibana I've gotten-oh!", He stopped midway through his franticness, seeing the scene before him. "Am I…. interpreting something?", He asked with fearful awkwardness.
Tachibana stood up, turning off his aura, and waving his hand he replied, "No no no, Hilton Heim. Not at all. What have you got?"
Hilton Heim almost froze up as he shuffled through his pouches, looking for something. "Oh! Um! We've intercepted our three traitors' rendezvous with their buyers. Their ships are sunk and no survivors have been found. We've collected everything taken or recorded by them.", He told Tachibana while handing him a folder.
Tachibana took the folder and said to him, "Excellent work Hilton Heim. You may retire for the night."
Hilton Heim bowed and left through the same door he burst through. Once gone, Tachibana opened the folder and quickly perused through its contents. Satisfied with what he found, he closed it and handed it off to Cherry.
He looked back at the three tied-up people and said, "Trying to sell our info to someone across the sea, eh? Our system of money, military formations and techniques, building structuralism, a full topographical map of our country, people in power, and of course systematic weaknesses we have. All in your collective names to assure your payment from your third party dealers.", He looked over them with a demanding presence while asking with only eyes downcast at them. "So what was that you were saying about "lack of evidence", hmmm?", he got no reply and Tachibana shook his head as he said with a disheartened tone. "You know I honestly expected better of my people. So honestly this is just sad."
"Screw you! This is your fault anyway!", The younger man blurted out!
Tachibana snapped his neck towards him, with an expression of held-back fury! With veins popping in his head he asked incredulously, "My fault?"
The younger man piped up in fear, but the older man managed to pick it up and exclaimed, "Y-Yes! Your fault!"
The older man almost went mute as Tachibana snapped his head over to him and demanded in the calmest voice possible, "Well….go on. Don't leave me in suspense. Elaborate."
The older man gulped, breathed, and then forced himself to speak, "Y-You Y-You keep us here! All of us here! Locked up like some kind of human zoo. Away from the outside world! Some of us are completely unaware of it! You make us your prisoner's!"
Tachibana raised an incredulous eyebrow as he asked the nervous man back, "Is that what you think? Truly?!", The man gave a less than assured nod. Tachibana glared at him and continued, "Oh you aren't just sad, your completely stupid as well.", This made the three people reel back and glare at him with dirty looks. "I don't keep anyone here imprisoned or uneducated anymore than I do to the wild animals that roam our forests. Anyone is free to renounce their citizenship and leave just as easily as they are to come. To assume otherwise is simply idiotic.", He stated like a simple fact. "The reason I try my best to keep outside contact to a minimum is for protection alone. We are a small country with very little to handle large-scale catastrophes. Especially other countries who wish to rule over us. And knowing my power, other countries would come to fear and then hate us, and I will not let that happen!", He stated the last part with an assured firmness.
There was silence as the room settled with the info given. Then a curdled sound emerged from the old man's lips. A sound of frustration and disgust. The sound evolved into a growl and he finally blew like a volcano!
"Screw you! And screw your fake power!", The man shouted while trying to get to his feet.
Tachibana glared at the heavily breathing man and without looking to his associate he waved them off saying, "Leave us.", Cherry and Arete seemed to know what this implies and left quickly through the same door that Hilton Heim did. Once gone, Tachibana approached and leaned down towards the older man while asking, "So….you think my quirk is….fake. Just a big hokie lie I came up with to attain power over those with weaker minds?"
The older man ground his teeth, red in the face, and nearly tried to bite Tachibana as he yelled, "Yeah we do! Soul Eater, what a ridiculous thing! As if you could take something as unreal as a soul!"
Tachibana raised his eyebrow again as he rhetorically asked, "So you truly don't think my quirk is what I say it is? That there is no such thing as the idea of souls?", Tachibana's dark aura seeped off him once more, preventing the man from replying or making any gestures.
Seeing this, Tachibana asked again, "Well here's another question for you.", The older man almost looked confused as Tachibana grabbed him around his fat neck and asked with a red color swallowing his eyes. "Do you wanna test that theory?"
A look of fear and panic took over the man's face, but he didn't have enough time to gasp as the silhouette of his body clothed a bright purple, and out from his back emerged a sphere of purple energy that seemed to hold its round form, but also move like fire. With this thing removed from him, the older man dropped to his side unmoving. A round of gasps serged around the room as a feeling of panic and dread flooded every corner! The only one who did react was Izuku, who had covered his mouth in his hands.
Without a moment to spare, Tachibana moved to the other younger man and touched his bare skin too, resulting in the same sphere being produced from his body on the opposite side and his form dropping to the ground! The two orbs floated around the Dark Gods' head as he moved his gaze over to the frozen woman in an intentionally creepy manner. Once the two made eye contact, a lipless smile emerged on Tachibana's face. He stood up and took one step towards the woman. The woman immediately jumped back in a panic and began to scream bloody murder! She managed to scoot back until she hit the wall where she continued to scream as Tachibana slowly made his way to her!
"Help! Someone, please help me! He's gonna kill me! Help! Help!", The woman screamed as she tried to push herself against the wall more.
Tachibana didn't react to her pleas of panic and distraught, he only advanced slowly towards her. Step by step. One-click after the other. No tension or excitement or anger, only calm numbness.
The woman meanwhile was an absolute wreck as she cried hard with her already messy hair even more all over. Her body was tense and tucked into herself. She stared at the approaching man and shivered violently with every step he took. Then Tachibana got within five feet of her and she broke in front of him, looking away with eyes closed tight.
"Lord Tachibana, please! D-Don't kill me! I-I'm sorry! I'm truly sorry, I didn't mean it! They forced me alongside this plan, I didn't want any part of it! I'll never do something like this again! Please believe me! Have mercy!", She wept and begged bitterly while pressing her side into the wall with fresh tears streaming.
Tachibana stopped just inches from her as she sat there and cried her eyes out. Tachibana stood there, looming over her, in silence. Izuku was truly terrified at this point, it was like watching a horror scene in real-time. He almost felt like wetting himself or puking from fear.
Tachibana then stretched one hand towards her, and Izuku covered his mouth to keep from gasping in fright! Then he did something that Izuku didn't expect. He took the woman's messy hair and placed it over her ears, clearing the sight of her face, before gently lifting her head.
"Mercy? Of course, I'll show you mercy.", Tachibana said with a sickly sweet voice.
Izuku almost calmed down at his words….almost. But when he replayed the image in his head, he heard the underlying tone in the Dark God's voice. That sickly sweet tone was just a mask for a much dark emotion laying right beneath the surface! However, this ruse completely fooled the woman as well.
Once she loosened up at his words and tender touch, she lifted her head in relief, only to see something that made her go pale!
Instead of the kind, the bright, merciful face of Tachibana, now stood a black-eyed, black-mouthed creature. Dark goo-like tar dripping from his empty sockets, a black open mouth curved into a cruel smile, the only thing to be seen was small sharp teeth evenly spaced and placed in the black dripping maw! The woman didn't even have time to react as another orb emerged from her back and her lifeless body slumped against the wall and onto the ground! Izuku was horrified!
Just as he stood with the new orb floating around him, a new person walked in. It was a man dressed in a full-body cloak that seemed to be made of scales. Gloves adorned his hands, goggles shielded his eyes, boots tapped under the material that covered his body, and the distinct smell of brimstone waft off of him.
"My Lord? Is it done?", The man asked.
"Yes Keeper, it's done.", Tachibana said with a relieved sigh while straightening his posture and cracking his neck.
"What shall be done to the bodies?", Keeper asked.
So they were dead! Tachibana did kill them! Those orbs were their souls! At first hearing his quirk, at least the way he described it, it sounded so cool. But now seeing it first hand was horrifying! And the way he took pleasure in toying with them?! It was like a different person had possessed the kind God of Darkness.
Tachibana hummed as he thought, then decided with a snap of his fingers, "Feed them to my children. It's been a while since they last dined on human flesh, and I think they deserve a treat."
"On your command my Lord.", The Keeper bowed while slinging the three bodies over his shoulder and carrying them out.
Once gone, Tachibana held out his hand and the three souls gathered together. He looked at the souls like a starving animal looking at food. His eyes glazed over, his mouth dropped, his body loses with anticipation. He licked his lips while sucking in spit.
"Oooooooohhhhhh! It's been so long since I've had this!", He hummed excitedly.
Tachibana then opened his mouth and it continued to open until it enveloped his whole head! Rows of sharp needle-like teeth, spaced and rowed like a shark liner the inside of his mouth with a long thin tongue! The souls floating into his open maw and once they were far enough in the jaws clamped down with a surprisingly loud clamp! Like a bear trap shutting closed.
There were several loud and sloppy chewing noises from Tachibana before he made a very loud gulp, followed by a sigh of contempt and a loud lick of his lips. Izuku, at this moment, was terrific beyond words! If he could see himself now he would probably be trembling like a leaf, pale as a ghost, and on the verge of fearful tears and vomit! He knew he had to get away now! This wasn't something he was supposed to see!
He tried to back away slowly and quietly, but didn't get so much as a step away before his butt hit a decorative vase, causing it to sway roughly before falling over and breaking with a loud crash! The sound alerted Tachibana and made him look where Izuku was spying! The green teen froze, hoping he would look away or did consider it, but he didn't.
The large-mouthed, sharp-toothed, black goo dripping hollow eyes of Tachibana stared in his direction as he spoke with a distorted voice that didn't sound like his own, more like someone else speaking through his body, asking, "Izuku?"
This finally gave Izuku back control over his body and he took off at a full sprint! He refused to look back, and only continued to look and run forward even as Tachibana called out to him. Izuku didn't care, he didn't listen, he just wanted to get the hell out of there! He had no idea where he came from or even where his room was, but he ran anyway!
He ran and ran until he finally came to what seemed like some random room in the castle. So he immediately threw it open, closed it, and locked it behind him! Once he thought he was safe, even though this wouldn't help, he pressed his back against the door and slumped down, bringing his knees into his chest, resting his head on them, and finally breaking down in tears.
Meanwhile, Tachibana was running down the many hallways of his luxurious and glorious castle, tracking down Izuku from where he ran. Just running, not using super speed or super endurance. Just running like a normal person…..a normal person who hadn't run with aid for the better part of 500 years. So naturally, the Dark God was far from the word winded when he arrived at the door where Izuku hid, ironically bringing his room. Tachibana didn't bother trying to call out to him for the better part of his chase simply because he could make words through his dry wheezing ragged breath!
He finally made it to Izuku's room door, completely pale and on the verge of collapsing when Cherry walked into that very hallway. The long red-haired man saw the Dark God wheezing like a dying fish and clutching the wall with a death grip just to keep himself up! Cherry quickly made his way to him and supported him while he caught his breath.
"My Lord, what is the matter? Please calm yourself.", Cherry begged him with deep concern in his normally neutral tone.
Tachibana attempted to speak but Cherry stop him saying, "Please my Lord don't force yourself. Just breathe."
Tachibana took in several huge breaths of air before he could finally start making coherent words. Once he was calmer his first words were, "God I am getting old!"
"Tachibana, what happened?", Cherry nervously and impatiently asked him.
"Izuku-me-prisoners-souls-eat.", Tachibana managed to force out in one phrase.
"So young master Izuku saw you feeding?", Cherry asked while biting his nail, Tachibana nodded. Cherry's head falls as he says with a lace of fear and stress, "How awful. He wasn't prepared for seeing something like that at all. Or even that side of you."
Tachibana nods in agreement push off of him and supports himself against the wall. He breaths a few more times and finally catches his breath back.
He blew out a deep breath and proclaimed, "Phew! Maybe Arete was right. Maybe I finally am an old windbag. GAH! When did I lose it?"
Cherry interrupts his midlife crisis and says, "Tachibana…..what are you planning to do?"
Tachibana stood up, chin in hand as he replied truthfully, "Honestly….I didn't think that far ahead. I just wanted Izuku to stop running from me. I didn't know what if do then?...mind wiping maybe?"
A silence fell over them as Cherry stood there unmoving as he stared blankly at Tachibana, who was starting to get nervous in the current atmosphere.
"If I may give my own opinion?", Cherry finally spoke, getting a nod of approval from Tachibana. "That is a terrible idea and you should be ashamed of it."
"Yeah you're right.", Tachibana admitted with a weak tone, a drop of his head, and a lowering of his pointer ears.
"Now if I may give my suggestion?", Cherry added in again, getting a 'go on' gesture from Tachibana. "This was bound to happen eventually. I'm sure we both can agree that he wasn't supposed to be exposed to you like that at such a time or place.", Tachibana nods in agreement while looking at the door sadly. "And I don't think you should talk to him as of now. He's probably too scared to consider it a conversation.", Tachibana once again agrees with him in laminating shame. "Perhaps someone else could talk to him.", Cherry offered.
Tachibana's ears perked up as he looked at him hopefully and asked, "Would you?"
Cherry bowed and said, "For you, anything."
Tachibana sighed with relief as he told him, "Oh Cherry, you are my saint."
Cherry gave him one last smile before walking to the door and giving it three gentle knocks. From behind it, the crying Izuku was stored from his fear! Letting out a surprisingly loud gasp of shock, but immediately clambering up.
"Young Master Izuku? Are you there.", The kind and gently neutral voice of Cherry came from the other side.
"Ch-Cherry-san?", Izuku hesitantly spoke up while wiping his eyes.
"Yes, it is I. May I come in?", The man asks.
Izuku opens his mouth and almost answers with a yes, but stops himself. Instead, he buried his head in his knees and promptly exclaimed, "N-No!"
"Alright. Then is it okay to speak from the door?", Cherry asked carefully.
Izuku sniffed and after several seconds he replied, "Y-Yes."
After another few seconds of calming silence, Cheery started their conversation by saying, "I know what's happened, so I won't pretend I don't know and force you to say it."
Izuku silently thanked him for that but felt like he was still in trouble, so he apologized. "I-I-I I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I-I know I shouldn't have been speaking or watching or….I'm sorry."
"No-no-no. You have no reason to apologize.", Cherry assured him. "What you did, admittedly, was wrong, but what you say you shouldn't apologize for. If anything it should be us. We should've been more careful. You weren't prepared to handle Lord Tachibana's….other side.", Cherry told him in an encouraging and apologetic tone.
Izuku said nothing in return, instead opting to wipe his face and to hold in his tears.
Getting no reply, Cherry offered, "Young Master? If it'll make you feel better, you can talk about what happened. If you'd like."
Izuku sniffed back tears and snot and taking another breath he was finally able to speak fully and properly. "It…..it was just so-so…. terrifying. It-its was like Tachibana wasn't even himself. He was like a-a….a different person. The way he walked, carried himself, spoke, the aura he was eminent, all of it! It just wasn't like him! And the woman….the way he played with all three of them, but especially the woman. He reveled in putting her in a sense of false closure before he….b-before he….", Izuku drifted off in his tirade of panic.
"It's alright. You don't have to say it.", Cherry reassured him.
Izuku breathed again and then continued saying, "A-And his quirk. I thought it sounded cool on paper, but in practice, especially with those people….it felt….evil."
Izuku didn't like using that word to describe any quirk. Any quirk, no matter its use, is never evil. But he couldn't deny that working in person was the epitome of evil. And the very thought made him shudder.
Cherry nods silently as Izuku explains his feeling, and when he's done he puts forth his thought and knowledge.
"I see. But you must know two things about Lord Tachibana to truly understand him. He's overwhelmingly loving to his friends, and completely merciless to his enemies.", Cherry explained most briefly and simply possible.
Izuku sniffed back a few times before meekly asking in fear, "Am-Am I an enemy now?"
Cherry almost felt his heart Juno out of his chest at the question, and the normally composed man dissuaded this notion with a nearly panicked tone, "What! No no no! Just because you say Lord Tachibana does the dirtier side of his job, doesn't mean you are regarded as such. Lord Tachibana loves you very dearly, and he truly feels awful about what has transpired tonight."
It takes Izuku a few minutes to reply, but when he does he asks, "Is-Is he still there?"
Cherry looks to his side, where he sees Tachibana rapidly shaking his head and waving his hands while mouthing 'no', before turning invisible.
Cherry took a moment to compose his thoughts and told him through a half-lie, "No….he's not.", He took another moment to wait for some kind of acknowledgment from Izuku, but got nothing after a few minutes. He then carefully asked him, "Is there anything else you'd like to say, Master Izuku?"
"Just call me, Izuku.", Izuku told him.
"Very well. I take it, you're done?", Cherry asked once more, only getting a slight grunt in reply. He hummed and told Izuku, "Well….. goodnight, Izuku."
Cherry moved off the door and looked around for Tachibana to reappear, but he didn't. So Cherry began to walk away from Izuku's room door, once out of earshot Tachibana appeared once more. Surprising Cherry before being wrapped into a big hug! It certainly wasn't his first surprise hug from the Dark God, but it always made his heart leap every time. It was even harder to keep his composure in this state.
Tachibana pulled away from him, holding his shoulders firmly, and exclaimed to him with extreme graduate, "Oh thank you, Cherry! I don't know what I'd do without you!"
"Make a copy of yourself with a different personality?", Cherry jokingly offered.
"You're really funny, you know that.", Tachibana replied while rolling his eyes and making a show of some fake laughter. He then sighed and blurted out, "Sometimes I really wanna kiss you for all you do for me!"
Cherry immediately felt heat draw into his face at his statement and he stood there frozen, staring at his Lord. Tachibana, now realizing what he said, also froze up with eyes locked into Cherries eyes with a slight color dusting his face. They both stood there, staring at one another, in the tensest silence imaginable! For a moment, Cherry thought he was gonna keep his word….this time.
But instead, Tachibana let go of Cherries shoulders and backers away slightly while saying, "But I should go….do the rest of my paperwork! See you in the morning!", Tachibana then disappeared at his excuse, leaving Cherry in the empty hallway.
Cherry held his shoulders, memorizing the feeling of Tachibana's strong clawed hands. His hot and rapid breath on his face, and of course the expression he held after saying what he did. All of it filled Cherry with a heat he couldn't quite ponder and made him feel good every time it did. He also didn't need a mirror to know his face was the same shade as his hair.
Cherry then heard a slight giggle and a female voice say, "You two are so gay.", Cherry whirled around fast, only to find the smirking face of Fay leaning on a wall and earring at Cherry." I love it.", She giggled again while placing her fingers on the cheek.
Cherry turned away from her and told her I'm a small, yet embarrassed tone, "Please be quiet, Fay."
Cherry then sped walked down the hallway to his bed-chamber while Fay trailed behind him, poking and teasing him while flying through the air.
