A Chthonic Hero
Description: Hunted and tired, Zeus could only trust in one -His older brother. A mortal promise and an immortal debt, together, give rise to one who rules over the realm of the dead, or as Bell liked to call them: Friends.
Setting & Categories: Alternate Timeline / Mature, Adventure, Drama, Romance, Hurt&Comfort.
Character & Pairings: Small harem. Bell Cranel x Ardee Varma x (not mentioning as of now)
DISCLAIMER: Danmachi belongs to its respective owners. This story is a fan-made depiction of a fan what-if route of the original work and the characters in it abide by the fictional laws in the setting.
Story Commissioned by a patr'on.
Prologue [Ch 1]: And Death Said: Live
Part 1
One by one, they were extinguished.
Flames which scorched the earth, melting armor, weapon, skin, and meat alike, leaving behind no remains to those waiting for them.
Brave men and women, they were. Heroes, down to the very last one.
Renown across the land by feats achieved through their combined might and wisdom, a heroic life achieved through hours, months, years, and generations of dangerous yet exciting work.
Flags emblazoned with their emblem saw them leave the gates of Orario; the oh-so-hailed heroes marched for one last quest —The last quest that would cement their place in mortal history as the mightiest Familias of all.
...but it was not to be.
Might was crushed under absolute brutality.
Wisdom was curbed by the defiance of logic.
The heroes…
They all returned to the Earth that gave them birth.
That which carried the end of civilization on its back was not kind –An emotionless husk of destruction given form by the land itself, an absolute being perfected to cull "that" which mortals deemed future…
A dragon —The One-Eyed Black Dragon had not met its foe.
Not in the past.
And as the ashes of Zeus and Hera's children spread across the scorched land.
Not in the present, either.
But they remained Heroes, all their children would forever remain Heroes down to the very last one of them because even when destruction given physical form had battled its wings and sought the skies to start another calamity, the Heroes stopped it once more.
By paying the ultimate price.
A sacrifice of the flesh to create a cage that reached the heavens and a sacrifice of the very soul to create chains that robbed the One-Eyed Black Dragon of all freedom.
Sealed, the Black Dragon could do no more than bide its time until it was freed or challenged again.
And Zeus and Hera could do no more but return home with empty hands and mourning hearts, to inform those who hailed them as heroes of their failure… And to be exiled from the city for it.
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Hera was the first to leave Orario, having taken no part in the exchange of words after losing almost her entire Familia to the legendary Black Dragon. Her remaining children departed the city with her, their Falnas deactivated but their love for their Goddess kept them by her side and would protect her with their lives, blessing or not.
For Hera, there remained nothing tying her down to Orario any longer.
Not her service to the city or Ouranos.
Nor the life of her favorite child who had passed away during childbirth not a day after Hera and Zeus returned from their failed quest. Meteria was the sole reason Hera had remained in the city for that full week, mourning alongside Alfia –Meteria's sister– until both women had no more tears to shed.
Not all was lost to them, Meteria sacrificed her all to deliver her precious child to the mortal world and accomplished her task, final as it was. His initial cries were so much louder than those around Meteria's deathbed but nonetheless filled with indescribable emotions.
Sadly, neither Hera nor Alfia could take care of Meteria's child.
A Goddess without her divinity, without a Familia at her beck and call, and without a proper home would not be able to raise the baby of her favorite Child despite wanting to. The baby's life would be miserable if Hera were to take him with them and the baby's future would be forfeit for being associated in any way with her.
And a dying woman with her final days counting down couldn't take him either; her sickness would eat her away before she could provide everything that her sister's baby needed. Alfia couldn't remain in the city of Orario, her association with her Goddess Hera did not allow her to do so, and without being able to access her bank after all their Familia's assets were frozen, there was nothing she could do for her sister's child.
As if to spite their already crushed feelings in the wake of the next day, the baby no longer wailed for his deceased mother.
He couldn't.
Not when every time his mouth opened, a coughing fit of blood followed.
Meteria's baby would soon follow his mother to her grave.
Neither Hera nor Alfia could take it any longer, bearing with yet another loss in the near future after having so much taken away from them —So, they left him behind, in the hands of an old man who swore to see the baby until it took its last breath.
That old man was none other than Zeus himself, deciding to stay in Orario for longer despite the coup that swept them off from power and rank as the number one Familia in the city.
Zeus remained behind with no one but the dying child of his Wife's favorite child, his last order to everyone who hadn't participated in the failed quest was to go with Hera, to protect the Goddess and those whom they had fought together for so long until they found somewhere to live the rest of their lives.
Zeus's intentions were simple, try and bargain for an extended stay in the city of Orario solely so he could take care of Meteria's child until he joined his mother in heaven, but he was not allowed to do so.
Not because the Familias that exiled them forbid him from doing so; in fact, they were more than happy to accept Zeus's last wish before he left the city for good.
But because Zeus was hunted.
Evilus, they had taken to calling themselves as such. All crazy lunatics who believed that Gods should no longer walk among men and allow for chaos to be the ruler of mortal's future. Without his Familia to protect him, Zeus could do nothing but run, run away from the city wherein he would be sent back to the Heavens if Evilus found him.
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Zeus ran, panting and using the darkness of the night as his shroud and sole defense against those lunatics chasing after him. Adventurers had tried to help him escape the city and it was their lives that had allowed the God to get so far from his pursuers.
If the coup hadn't gone off without a hitch, perhaps Zeus wouldn't have needed to run at all, but that was not the future that Fate had dictated for him. The moment Zeus had left the city, he was on his own… no, not on his own.
There was someone with him, someone who couldn't speak or wail even.
He carried Meteria's baby in his strong arms —He had made a promise and he would carry it out, even if it meant putting his escape -their mortal lives in danger.
A selfish, perverted God he was, but also a man who did not go back on his word.
But even he knew that there could only be so much that he could do before his pursuers caught up to him if he continued protecting the baby and himself, so… Zeus stopped running upon reaching a small glade a few miles off Orario.
Eerie night sounds were disrupted by his boots as the God cleared dead branches and leaves to create a small portion of dirt where he carefully set down the baby wrapped in its mother's hand-knit blanket. The child slept soundly, and it was such a visage that renewed Zeus's ideals.
The old, graying, yet well-built man kneeled next to the bundle and drew symbols on the ground, "All right, I know you can hear me." Zeus panted out, having not recovered his breath yet.
Life quieted around the god; an unnatural breeze swept through the glade, swishing trees and leaves alike as if responding to Zeus's words.
"I need your help."
An owl hooted as if laughing at Zeus's sudden request, making the God frown and grind his teeth.
"I'm calling in the favor you owe me!" Zeus roared to the full moon above him.
The glade became quiet again as Zeus waited for several minutes in the company of the sleeping baby, without another response, and in the unearthly silence that followed, Zeus easily heard the crunching of boots' weights closing in on his position.
His pursuers had finally caught up.
From the darkness of the glade, men and women dressed in black robes appeared. Clothes that covered everything but their gloved hands and the lower parts of their faces, none of which seemed happy to see him after all the hassle they had to go through to get to him.
They weren't that many, barely ten of the initial thirty that had chased Zeus out of the city, but the small numbers still meant danger for the God and the child sleeping behind him.
They spoke no words as they surrounded Zeus, only the crunching of dead branches and leaves echoed in the silence as they formed a circle around the elder God who seemed not too troubled to have been found for the moon's light was already shining upon the child behind him.
A dry breeze fleeted through the glade, circling around his would-be captors, and fluttering the leaves at their feet before slowly blowing towards the sleeping child and circling around the bundle, almost as if the dry wind was caressing the baby's face.
"Tired of running, Zeus?" One man finally spoke, probably the leader of the small group, as he approached forward while taking off his hood. "Ready to start imploring for your life?"
Zeus didn't respond; a chill like an ice cube running across his back grasped him at the shoulders with a hateful whisper only the elder God heard.
"Won't implore? Guess you've still got your pride, oh well." The leader, bald with a tattoo over his scalp, sneered. "Suit yourself."
The leader searched within his robes, pulling out a tool of murder still wet with its last victim's blood that he pointed at Zeus. To them, to Evilus, it mattered not that what they were doing was a taboo —It wouldn't matter if their lives were tormented in the afterlife for their actions, so long as their mortal life was theirs to control.
Zeus could understand their human desire to be the controllers of their life –what he failed to understand was how such a cult didn't realize that the Gods were not above them nor were they trying to control them, at least most tried not to.
He couldn't speak for some that still behaved as if they were on heavens but most gods, for the most part, had learned to live as any other human among them.
Regardless of Zeus's own thoughts on the matter, Evilus would still exist and while his Familia had tried and almost successfully kept such a crazy cult from perverting the minds of other regular mortals, now that his Familia was disbanded, there would be nobody to put a stop to them.
At least not with the same zeal as his and Hera's Familia tried.
"Tell me, Zeus." The leader walked forward until he was but two arms distance away from the elder God, "Do you not speak because you're… afraid?"
Another freezing chill grasped at Zeus's shoulders; except this time, it was to pull the god back where he wouldn't be another casualty.
At that, Zeus ruefully grinned, "Afraid not."
—Mortals—
Reality broke; Like a rock cast against a mirror, a rift of myriad colors formed in front of Zeus from which the cruel voice came from.
—You've overstepped your boundaries—
The rift cracked reality further, an overbearing weight pressed down on all present as a strophalos slowly spinning in the void came into view.
—For far too long have your actions been forgiven, no more I declare—
From beyond the void, a dog's howl reverberated and echoed in the glade, followed shortly by two howls more as the rift widened expanded to give freedom to the owners of the animalistic sounds.
Decaying bones and tissue crunched under the massive claws that appeared first, followed by the strong muscle under flaming red and blue fur as its three heads snapping at each other came into view, all connected on one body and held back by the chains snared around its torso.
Holding the beast's leash was a Goddess of long red hair, empty blood-red eyes, and feature as cold as death itself, dressed in gray garbs fitting of an apostle or maiden, with a torch in her free hand.
Her presence froze Evilus in place as her eyes roamed over them, binding their souls with the flicker of her torch that illuminated their faces.
She did not frown at them, nor did she sneer; her existence was devoid of such emotions, such emptiness reflected clearly in her crimson gaze –Yet they knew, the Goddess was not pleased with their existence.
She spoke again; purple, and cold lips parting to utter a simple command as the Beast of Hell's leash fell from her hand.
—Cerberus, devour them—
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Zeus fell back on his ass once the clearing became fully silent; he breathed in relief and swept the sweat off his brows as he stared at the psychopomp of a Goddess finish her rituals; an old God he may be but even he was not accustomed to the things that the Goddess did.
The Goddess' garbs were red, much like the unlit fur of the three-headed beast beside her, as she pried apart the last human soul from their body before turning her empty gaze to Zeus; His body, despite tired, shivered under her cold gaze until it moved away from him and towards the bundle silently sleeping as if the world hadn't laid eyes to a massacre of mortal souls.
"Zeus," An empty voice, much like the Goddess herself, "It is to my understanding that you've forth your brother. Was it to save your mortal hide or do you still require his presence?"
Strict and direct, as usual.
Zeus grunted, "The latter." He dragged his body to sit next to the living parcel he was entrusted with. "Did my brother send you first to ask those questions?"
"He did." No pause until the Goddess stared at the baby again in silence; Zeus worried and bundled him tighter in his mother's cloth. "Hm, that… thing… in your arms, is that the reason for your summoning?"
Zeus held the boy tighter, "Yeah." He spared a second to check on the baby, finding it soundly sleeping despite all that had happened since they escaped the city, he would've snorted if he weren't so worried by the Goddess' interest. "Will my brother take long?"
An interest which showed in the way she tilted her head, the chains wrapped around her neck crinkling as the barest hints of emotion showed on her face, "Before I answered your call, He was deciding whether coming here would be worth it or not."
Zeus snorted, "An owed favor is an owed favor." Trust his brother to make things more complicated than needed.
"That it is." The Goddess nodded and righted herself before flickering her torch again; a second rift formed beside her which she lightly pushed the guard of Hell's Gate into before fixing her cold attention. "All debts and favors are binding, you're not above them, Hades."
A gust of decrepit wind replied from the rift before the moonlight fully illuminated the glade as the ground beneath the distortion of reality broke apart under its pressure. The Earth trembled as the myriad of colors shifted into one singular tone that prophets feared.
Brimstone blue.
A pillar of blue light shone upwards into the sky, parting the heavens with its glow.
Zeus smiled at the sight, a reunion that he hadn't expected —confirmed by his sealed Arcanum as Zeus felt the descent of another God from the Heavens, though in His case, it was more of an ascent from the depths of Hell itself.
And where Zeus rejoiced, other Gods became confused and even scared, for He was supposed to never join them on Earth.
"I don't want to hear that from you, Hekate."
Rueful and young, tinged with an otherworldly charm, was the voice that came from the blue beacon before its owner stepped beyond the liminal gate.
Silver dress shoes with thin bones instead of laces, equally silver-toned dress pants, a belt of skeletal fingers woven around the midsection, with a formal violet dress shirt neatly tucked but showing the muscles of the God's well-built chest.
A long-sleeved coat in the shape of a formal vest with the sleeves folded at the wrist, the shoulders severely decorated with different sews and parchments denoting His unearthly origin; and in hand, a silvery-blue bident with twisted prongs and an otherworldly winged decoration.
And unlike Zeus who looked to be in his late fifties despite the strong-looking build of the elder god, Hades' appearance was that of a youthful man in his early twenties albeit the Underworld God's silvery hair revealed his ancient existence.
One side lightly curled and framed his cheek while the other side flowed outwards, almost as if levitating due to his presence alone.
"Spare me the sermons, Hekate." Hades lightly scoffed at the Goddess of Crossroads and Boundaries awaiting him.
"Understood." Hekate emptily replied before pointing her torch in Zeus's direction, "Your brother awaits over there."
Hades scoffed again, "Duly noted."
The Lord of the Underworld kept staring at the psychopomp for a moment longer before sighing. For millenniums, they worked together but he still failed to understand what went in Hekate's head most of the time. Today would be no different, it seemed.
"So," Hades joined his brother who fixed the bundle in his arms, "What is it you need?"
Zeus wasted no time and displayed the sleeping being in his arms to Hades.
"Raise him."
Hades raised an eyebrow, "What?"
"Raise him," Zeus repeated.
"You called me from the depths of Hell for this?" Hades was a hard man to surprise, but even he could not avoid showing his incredulousness at Zeus's petition. "Why me? Even Hekate would be a better caretaker."
Zeus stared blankly before tilting slightly to look at the Goddess of Crossroads, as did Hades—
Hekate clawed her cheeks in attempt to clean the blood from her pale face and upon spotting said blood on her digits, licked her fingers and lips clean in ways that made both Gods shudder in disgust.
"Yeah, no. I don't think so"
"Point taken."
Both Gods turned to each other again, one crossed his arms as he thought over the absurdity of the one holding the baby in his arms.
"Hades, you've already seen what it would be like for this child if he were to stay with me." Zeus bargained, "I promised his mother and aunts that I would raise him away from the violence, but I can't do that when it'll chase me to the ends of Earth."
Hades kept silent and used his Godly sight to examine the child, "You are aware that he doesn't have long left, right?"
"That…" Zeus looked away, a sign that he knew of the plague festering in the boy. "I believe that he can defy his grim future… He only needs a proper place to rest and grow to get better, I can't give him that."
Hades' lips thinned.
Was his brother truly not aware of how short such a child actually had left?
Their silence became a battle of wits as Hades contemplated whether to accept his brother's wish since it wouldn't take too long before the child was no longer a problem to him, and Zeus hoped that his brother would be true to his words from the time Hades had asked him a favor.
And while the two Gods meditated in their minds how their next bout of questions and responses would go, Hekate approached them and took the bundle from Zeus's hands with little trouble; the blood clinging to her smeared on the maternally woven clothes as she walked away from the two Gods.
"Hades," Zeus started again, hands coiling into fists now that they were free, "His mother believed he would become a hero and I can feel it in my soul, he's destinated for great things! But he needs to be safe to grow, I can't give him that when I need to run and hide!"
Hades sighed, "Brother…"
"Please!" Zeus bowed.
The most powerful God of the Greek Pantheon bowed to him, and if the trembling of his shoulders was anything to go by, was literally one step away from groveling too.
Hades had never seen his brother so desperate in ages, eons even. Not even when caught by his wife with another woman in bed was Zeus this desperate to plead for something, and for such an unusual request too… It wasn't funny or even close to humorous to see his brother tremble like so as he waited for a response.
His response.
Then Zeus deflated, the strength and wits that always surrounded the God withered away, "Just… just raise him, please. For as long as you can before sending him back to Orario! That's all I ask of you."
Hades sighed again, he would accept but solely because the child would not go back to Orario —The disease plaguing him would not allow him to live that lon—
–Death preludes you–
Both Gods froze at the sudden incantation.
–Death oversaw your birth–
The brothers turned as one to the red-haired Goddess with a now glowing baby in her arms, they moved—
–Death is all that awaits you–
Hekate was so close, but in the time that it took the Greek Gods to take that single step that would've disrupted Hekate's magic, she was finished.
The Goddess of Crossroads and Boundaries glowed bright as her Arcanum shone like a pillar of red light in the night, her power ruptured the ground and threw Hades and Zeus back on their asses.
–It is only fitting that it is Death–
Reality tore for a third time that night as the bundle levitated to Goddess' bosom while Hekate grasped at the fine threads of Fate with her liminality, her fingers bled from the nails as she shredded an aspect of herself in exchange for granting the mortal wish engraved in the child's soul.
–Who allows you to live on–
The Goddess of Crossroads sacrificed her aspect of Boundaries in order to grant the single mortal wish that had resonated with her core aspect; one lost and taken over by newer deities, but not lost to her —The World screeched as the laws dictating the mortal world were overwritten.
All by a simple wish, one from a deceased mother's final wish for her child —her only child and hopes of the future; one for Bell Cranel, wherein—
—Death Said: Live—
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Author's Note: Ehe?
- Jas / Shiiva