Chapter Text
"My king" the captain of the guards said to Nebuchadnezzar "everything is ready"
"Good, now leave" Jose did as he was told, not wanting to anger the king
"Your majesty! Your mother-" Joker tried to warn him but it was too late
"Hesperus!"
"Mother, I-"
She slapped him, he didn't respond
"That's it! I'm done with your shenanigans! Your not only damaging this crumbling kingdom but yourself too!"
"Mother... I'm afraid I already gave you my answer in regards to that thing, they will die today"
"I see... Then you choose that path... You are not my son anymore Nebuchadnezzar"
It hurted him, he always sought for his mother's approval, to be her pride, but those words were so painful for him that tear were threatening to escape
Yet he remained quiet, not letting anything out, it has been that way for ten years, The Walking Sun would devote himself to his kingdom, and to it only...
No more mixing his work with his emotions
"So that's how it's going to be... Goodbye Shuadamqa. Joker, escort her!"
"Immediately you majesty"
After they were gone, the tears finally got out
"Citizens of Babel" spoke encroached "we gathered here today because of these mages were found guilty of treason against our king, our god, the Lord of the light and this city: the Walking Sun"
"We haven't done anything!" Shouted the accused
"While the act of freezing soldiers and freeing the prisoners might have been done by two or three of you, since none of you..." And Joker continued with his speech
Nebuchadnezzar was in a throne, looking down at the people, we saw his dear mother from afar, looking at him with disgust in her face
He sighed, caressing his hawk's head, he got him two years ago, he was unsure how to name him until a seer told him that the bird was, in fact, a male
"Therefore, the punishment chosen is death"
The mages cried for mercy, yet Nebuchadnezzar couldn't careless, but the man that stood behind him did
"Your majesty, they might be telling the truth"
"What makes you say that, Alva?"
"The magic of the statues could not belong to a normal mage... I dare to say that is the magic of a follower of the God of the winds, a close one in fact"
"And how could you be so sure? Right, you were once his second in command... Then you left... You lost most of his blessings"
"That's right, I can now only resist the cold temperatures... Tho, I heard a rumour..."
"Speak"
"They say, there's a new God of the Winds... Trained by the God of Decadence and the Goddess of the Stars"
"Hmmm..." He couldn't careless for the moment
That was until the soldiers that were supposed to kill the mages had their feet froze
Tracy was shivering, why did she had to die, she never once practice magic, why her!?
But seeing the ice in the soldiers legs filled her with two things
Hope and horror
"Pardon the intrusion!" Everyone, including the prisoners, look at the direction of the voice: in the top of a building
There it was, a thing with long ears, and a cape similar to that of bat wings, it had long legs and wore stilts
His thin arm went up, extending his slender fingers with claws and waved it around
"You got the wrong person to trial!" It said before jumping down to were she was, the air now felt truly cold along side the chains "if you want the true culprit, here you have it! Tho, you should also change that buffoon you have for your personal messenger... But I must say, it does fit you, a buffoon messenger for a buffoon king"
"That insolent-! Get him!"
"Immediately your majesty, men open fire!"
All of the soldiers took out their bows and shooted at them, no one noticed Alva going down the tower as fast as he could
Ithaqua snapped his fingers, an ice barrier formed around them, he used those second to free the mages
"Can you fight?"
"We can, but they will out number us in no time!"
"Even if it for a minute, do so. I cover your backs!"
The god designated the barrier and began with his attack, no soldier could harmed him, as he moved like some sort of animal or like the winds, along side that, the mages began to attack them, Nebuchadnezzar order that the royal mages in this instance to attack, but upon seeing that Alva was gone, he got worried
Until the stranger was sent flying back to the the mages
Alva was the one that did this
"So you're the grand mage? Follower of my predecessor..."
"Ex follower"
They began to fight, unlike before, the mage knew how to counter attack all of Ithaqua's attacks
But now it was a game of waiting
The strong winds alerted Fafnir of what was going down in the heart of the city
"The young master is in danger!"
"The Warden will destroy his body!"
"Dragon Hunter, this is your cue!"
That's what the wind whispered
He sighed, at least they were successful, many joined their cause, those who didn't were left alone, with an invitation to join when they wanted
Turns out, Nebuchadnezzar really screw them over, ironic consider it were people that saw his dearest younger brother grow and took care of him
The hunters were the most pissed
"We'll go back to Borea!" He shouted, putting his hood on "the prisoners will go, everyone else will stay here and be our eyes and ears... For our Lord!"
"For Lord Ithaqua!"
He walked away as everyone returned to the circle that would brought them back to Borea, Ithaqua said that for each person it would had two uses, one to go and one to return
Crimson and white flames consumed him, turning him into a dragon, flying towards the tower
Ithaqua surely underestimated Alva
That's what he thought as the taller man was grabbing him by the throat, making sure no air enters his body, that was above the ground... Or what's left of it...
His legs were gone, only thing left that showed that they were there was the broken stilts, as well as most of his torso and one arm, his remaining arm was trying to free his throat to no avail
His mask was cracked but not broken... Yet
"What a disappointment" Nebuchadnezzar looked around, many of the nobles were calling him that, that he was simply pretending to be one to scare them
He didn't think he was a god but he truly didn't look down on him, after all, he defeated his guard and did harmed Alva, even if it was a scratch
What surprised Alva and the nobles was that Ithaqua laughed as his body was being covered in ice
What happened next was an explosion in the place those two were
The dragon descended to where the mages were, once he turned into a human, being careful to not show his face
A gust of wind and snow appeared behind him, it also took human form
"Ithaqua, I think I told you to not be-"
"Yeah, yeah, focus!"
Everything hurts, yet he chose to continue forward
The tall man appeared out of nowhere, choosing to attack Ithaqua but Fafnir blocked it, showing his daggers
"So, you choose to join him? No wonder considering he gave you what you sought so desperately" the mage threw him to a wall, he was about to throw an electric ball at him but Ithaqua stopped him "protection a pawn in your plan... Or is he something more?"
"We're are not what you think, we are just using each other" Alva kicked him and send him flying back
Ithaqua used and threw a snowball at his face, it distracted Alva just enough for Fafnir to attack but the mage knew this could happen
It was incredible to watch until Alva smacked him in the face, finally destroying the mask
"Ithaqua!" Alva finally managed to hit Fafnir, revealing that he was the dragon of the god
The nobles gasped, but the most shocked was Hesperus
Why? Why!?
Why Fafnir was with that man!?
He was trembling with anger, feeling betrayed even tho he knew Fafnir didn't bow to him, he never swore loyalty unless a contract was involved
His heart ache the moment Fafnir went to protect the supposed God
"Heed my words, Nebuchadnezzar! This is not over!" Said the object of his now very deep hate as he was being helped by Fafnir before disappearing with the mages in a gust of wind and snow
While Nebuchadnezzar was seeing red, Alva smiled
He wonders how this story will end
When she opened her eyes, she was in a palace, in front of her was the man that saved her, whispers surrounded the place as Ithaqua was still covering his face
"My room... Fafnir... Bring me to my room..."
Tracy tried to say anything but Fafnir was faster
"Everyone rest! Our Lord is tried and needs some rest!"
She looked disappointed but a woman in white appeared behind her
"My, my, did someone liked to be saved by my brother?"
She didn't react, but her expression showed that she did
"Come with me now"
For Fafnir, it was obvious that Helel was not alright, he already froze his back and had to stop to unfreeze it
He apologized, saying he doesn't know what's happening but Fafnir had an idea
He overworked himself and can't control anything at the moment
They finally arrived at the room, were the dragon proceeded to put him in his bed and close the doors
He was right, the moment Ithaqua relaxed and fell asleep, more ice formed around him
He was alarmed by this, trying to unfreeze him but to no avail
"Helel!" Shouting at his ear, waking him up
Only then did Helel knew what he did
"Fafnir, I'm sorry"
"Spare it, you have to stay awake"
Breaking some ice around the bed to free the boy with his hands and tail, even throwing some fire, being careful to not harm him
But Helel did not react beyond having been awoken all of the sudden
His thoughts were on his brother, at how pissed he looked just by revealing Fafnir was working with him, not even him appearing and the mages, innocent people that did support him, turned on him
Probably because he worked more with him
"Fafnir..."
"What is it?"
"... Nothing... Nothing important..."
"Don't lie to me... It was, was it Nebuchadnezzar?"
"You read me like a stone"
"I was surprised too" he explained "but considering my amount of service to the royal family, I can't blame him"
Helel didn't say anything but look at his leg, where a tail was wrapped around it
"Fafnir, your tail"
Immediately, he tried to take it off from where it was wrapped, Helel laughed, petting the dragon in the head
"Shut up!" He was red, why he was red? This is just a business, there should be no feelings attached, Helel even said it: they were using each other
"Fafnir, let's just cuddle... No feelings involved" that made him sad, his tail even freed the leg of the god "Unless you want to have them here"
"I don't want them" but his tail showed he was lying
Helel once again laughed, hugged the dragon and falling asleep
Fafnir wasn't that lucky, he spent some time awake, think and trying to get used to the idea that he was being hugged
Unfortunately, five minutes later, Hekate opened the door abruptly, scaring the two men
"Oh my, I thought this wouldn't have happened at this hour" poor Fafnir was hugging Hell and trying to hide behind him
"Hekate, please, knock the next time"
"You two don't need to be shy" she left some clothes and a new mask in the bed "besides, it would be best for you two to have someone rather than being alone, trust me, your predecessor felt so lonely he did horrible things"
"What's with these clothes?"
"Those are for Helel, I made them so they represent the opposite of the sun, as well as something that will cover him"
Helel smiled, wishing to use them as soon as possible
"Ithaqua... You should call yourself Morningstar" continued the blond girl
"Morningstar?"
"Morning star... Hesperus' name means evening star so the morning also fit with his opposite" said the dragon "well, so does the moon"
"I like it... Morningstar..." He chuckled as his sister began to treat his wound and help regulate his powers
"By the way, Fafnir, go to the temple at twilight"
"... Understood"
Right now, Hesperus was praying, seeking answers from the gods or something to guide him, now he has finally let his tears go out
Being essentially disowned my his mother, having to deal with a rebellion and Fafnir... Well, it's surprising he didn't crumbled on public
But he felt he was not alone
"Who's there?"
Fafnir made his presence know, they were looking at each other
"Fafnir..." Him whispering the dragon hunter's name was almost akin to when someone says a prayer "Fafnir what are you doing here"
"Businesses, they sent me here"
"So you came here to kill me?" He could feel it, feel how it shatters
"No... They didn't didn't gave me instructions" he suspected Hekate wanted him to talk to Nebuchadnezzar
"Fafnir, please... Leave that lying fake god" now he has gained his attention "please, for all the times you helped this kingdom, for all the times I- we helped you"
"I'm afraid I cannot do that"
"Please, I'm sure you can escape that contract with Itaka or whatever he's called! Even if you can't, I'm sure there's something I can-!" He tried to grab Fafnir's hands but he backed away
"Hesperus! There is nothing you can do! I voluntary walked into this situation, I deal with the consequences"
"So you prefer someone that could take your powers just as fast as he gave them to you?" Alva informed him
"... I do... Simply because of our deal... He won't kill you, I can assure you that" he paused, Nebuchadnezzar trembled a little, did Fafnir joined him to protect him? "I only did it because of Shuadamqa... There's nothing to talk, goodbye Hesperus"
He disappeared just as fast as he appeared, going back to the pocket realm