Drageria
Ch.3: The Dark God
Izuku's breath hitched in his throat at the sight. The creature that stood, or instead 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 covered its upper torso and face, folded twice around like they had many segments or no bones. 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 on the ground. Its 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, its ancient voice shaking the ground whatever 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 twitched and unraveled from around itself. After unwrapping its wings twice, the form underneath reignited the fear Izuku had felt so strongly before! Izuku had always heard of 'biblically accurate angels' but never thought he'd 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 two large white orbs for eyes. It had two large horns that sprouted from both sides of its temples and followed the path of its head, where they sloped outwards like the front of a crown. It also had several smaller horns, 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 its 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, it had a human-like appearance, three long arms with six clawed fingers, two legs that shimmered out into the smoke at the knee, and ible genitals.
The creature looked down at Eri and reached out one of its six 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 in the being's eyes as it looked down on the frightened girl. His words and voice carefully coursed the young girl into some trust. Telling her sweetly about 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. Will you not trust me to help you?"
Eri stood still, lying 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 the top of hers, but soon that was discovered not to be the case. A strange white light emerged from the being's 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 being's six arms; only the red energy around her was gone, and her horn was no bigger than a bump on her head. The purple was amazed and ecstatic at this! Many of them 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 proverbial 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 and 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 shouldn't be so quick to judge. They have no control over the way they look."
Eri sniffled back a few times before weakly saying, "Im-I'm 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 terrible 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 guess.", Eri replied. She then opened her eyes, looked up from the being's shoulder, and saw 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."
After several more seconds of intense staring, Eri finally asked, "Are you friends with Izuku?"
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 started 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, such as shape, nose, ears, mouth, hair, etc. Clothing appeared on its quickly developing body. A long black imperial suit with a long fan-like tailcoat, black boots, and pants appeared with accents of gold and a red sash that wrapped around its neck and splayed across its 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 was 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 his multiple-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 tell what to say, especially after what had just happened, so he asked one of the most straightforward 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 tell Izuku off angrily. "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 continuing 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 but 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 was 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—this country's head of power and king. A 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 uncombable in his spot as he admitted, "Well…..she's not my…..sister."
Tachibana blinked a few times, making it seem like this bit of info was unimportant, and said back a bit more forcefully, "We'll address that later. What is her quirk?"
Izuku gulped and collected these 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 pointed to a log pile and explained, "When she hit that wooden chair, it just…..turned into logs."
"Logs?" Tachibana repeats the word. "Arete. Examine it, please.", he says 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: 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 wearing glasses.
After a few minutes of examination, Arete looked at 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 of 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 compared 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 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 kind of 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 'Badman 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 slightly chuckled and said, "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, fully aware of 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, "There's no need for it. Everyone is 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 patiently, his lips sealed between his fingers. He immediately let go and said, "Whoops! Sorry." Deskin bowed in reply, almost seeming happy about it.
"Now that that's settled, I'll have to take you both with me.", Tachibana said 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 sweatdropped 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.", Deksin tried to persuade him until his lips were grabbed again.
"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 without supervision. With the state and threat of her quirk, she could create a disaster, and I can't always be there when it does get out of hand. She and others will be kept safe in my home 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 warmly, "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 nervously stated, "Really? I wouldn't want to intrude. I understand that Eri could have hurt someone, and it sounds 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 jostled him. Making Izuku clam up and tense up! Tachibana laughs and says, "I only jest, young man. But on a serious note, despite your short time together, I know you and her 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 hugged Eri while Tachibana exclaimed, "It's settled!" He then asked Deskin, "What are we looking at for our new population numbers?" He looked at the huge group of people staring at him and 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 from a sachtle she cared 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?"
Arete told him, "It's been marked off for more cropland, but nothing has been done yet."
Tachibana nodded his head and told her, "Stop any products for 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. He opened his six wings and exclaimed in a loud voice, "People of Japan! My name is Tachibana, the 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 patience; 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, bowing deeply.
"You do not 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 voice's origin. 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 for 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 bowed profoundly before the Dark God and thanked him. Some even weep before him in their thanks. The mumbling thanks and soft sobs of people soon swallowed up the whole tent.
Tachibana couldn't help but smile at this and, with a serious tone, stated, "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, muttering mumble that echoed through the tenet like a wave.
Tachibana smiled proudly and stepped forward, 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 casketed 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 disappeared. The light beams vanished as quickly as they came and returned 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. This place, although wholly 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 walking off with Arete and Deskin at his sides, with several guards tailing them. Noticing that he wasn't following, Tachibana turned around and prompted them with a friendly, "Well. Come on."
Izuku hesitantly stepped forward before looking back at his new acquaintances and saying, "Goodbye, you guys. I 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 him a slight and polite bow.
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 put a clawed finger on his lips. Once they were in the central 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! Izak practically stayed glued to the god's back, anxiously clutching his free hand to one of his wings! Tachibana smiled and waved back at the screaming crowd trying to escape.
Eventually, they were escorted to a horse-drawn carriage that horses weren't pulling. They did look like horses, sort of, 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 were two rows of red and incredibly soft-looking seats placed on both halves of the coach. Tachibana was sitting on the front half with Arete and Deskin sitting on both sides of him. Izuku finally sat down and nearly mettle 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?!"
Izu looked out the window and saw that they were climbing up a gently sloping incline to the huge mountain that, upon closer inspection, had been made into a castle. His attention was drawn back to 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 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 wits' end with the two of them, considering they were yelling at each other by leaning over him. He half-yelled, in an angry tone, "Both of you be quiet!"
The two of them sat back in their seats with their heads down as they quietly apologized to him, "Yes, Lord Tachibana. Sorry, Lord Tachibana."
Tachibana addressed Izuku, saying, "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 want something so big, 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 ideally 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 the fact that he might have some 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."