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The Legend of the Five Gods

By: Jae

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The land of Solum is inhabited by several varieties of Humans and Bestia- people with animal-like features. These mortals all had one thing in common; they worshiped Lord Tatsu. Tatsu was an enormous pearl-white dragon with a light gray mane. His kindness could be seen through his pale lavender eyes, and his rage would be seen through his arcane power. Throughout the land, each species lived differently. Tatsu respected their differences and created five Elemental Gods, each in the form of an animal, to rule them.

—

To perfect the land of Solum, Tatsu divided the continent into five regions. Each God ruled their own region and its climate reflected their element. The Mortals would live in divided towns, peacefully worshipping their own God.

To the northwest, the earth was made of flat, red stone. In this territory, the sky was often covered with storm clouds, and the God ruling it was Neko, the God of lightning. Neko, a large white cat, was a fierce God. He strictly ruled over his people, and took everything seriously. If another God were to tell him he was too harsh on his people, he’d reply saying it made them stronger, like him.

The land to the northeast was a scorching desert with a God of fire. This God, Kitsune, appeared in the form of a fox. He and his people enjoyed playing tricks on others. Kitsune found it the most fun to trick the other Gods, preferably Neko. They were never very dangerous tricks... just enough to get a good laugh.

The land to the southeast was a thick forest. The forest was ruled over by a God of nature; Ookami, the black wolf. He would go out of his way to protect a member of his ‘pack,’ but if anyone were to offend him, he wouldn’t hold back his strength.

To the south, the land was covered with water, for the swamps inhabitants were ruled by a God of water. Kuma, the brown bear, ruled his people with kindness and treated them as equals, if not better. If they were in need of anything, he would give them twice that. When he wasn’t helping his own people, he would occasionally go to the rest of the world and give them extra rain.

Taka, the hawk and the God of wind, ruled the land to the southwest. His people lived in snowy mountains that touched the sky. Taka hardly visited his land, he preferred to be alone. His people still worshiped him; they said he gave them freedom.

The center of the world was a giant volcano. The top of what was once a mountain was ripped away millions of years ago, leaving the lava exposed. Floating above is the land that was removed, and built upon this floating piece of earth is a giant white castle, where Lord Tatsu and the five Gods would live.

—

Tatsu, the dragon, would hardly have anything to do with the Animal Gods overseeing the world. He would often disguise himself as a type of Dragon-Bestia so he could go down and see for himself how his world really was.

Once, when Tatsu went to Neko’s land, he saw a human girl. She had long black hair that flowed in the wind. She was short for a human, but Tatsu didn’t mind. When he finally spoke to her he looked into her large brown eyes and asked her name. ‘Elizabeth’ was her reply. She didn’t seem to mind that he wasn’t human; in fact she believed he was a common Bestia like the rest.

Tatsu began to visit her as often as he could. He got to know her well enough that he was able to call her his friend. He learned of her fears and ambitions. She even had dreams of becoming a world leader, which he found quite humorous and ironic. However, he never told her what he really was. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her that he was a God. He didn’t like to lie to her, but his secret would make her uncomfortable to be around him. She seemed happy knowing him the way he was, which in turn made him happy as well. He didn’t want to risk losing that. He wouldn’t even tell the Elemental Gods about his Bestia form for fear of other Dragon-Gods finding out. There were no rules against Dragons and Mortals being close, but it still didn’t seem ‘normal’ to him. But being different seemed to make it much more exciting.

—

Back at the castle, Tatsu sighed as he watched Neko argue with the other Elemental Gods, trying to prove he ruled his territory better than the rest. He taunted them, especially the fox. After an hour or so of their fighting, Tatsu threw them out and secretly went to see his human friend. The town was covered in black clouds and lightning. The people who lived there didn’t seem to notice or care. To them, this was normal. They would walk down the street even in the worst of it.

Elizabeth took Tatsu to the edge of town to watch the clouds. She loved the way it looked when a bolt of lightning hit the ground, as long as it wasn’t too close. But this time they saw something strange. The clouds began to glow red; a spot of fiery red in the pitch black sky. Flames exploded from the clouds and rained over the town. A large fire bolt hurled toward Tatsu and Elizabeth and smashed into the ground in front of them. The sheer force of the impact sent them flying. Tatsu helped Elizabeth up and looked to see what had happened. The Fire God, Kitsune appeared before them, facing the town. Before Tatsu could say anything, Neko appeared in a bolt of lightning and began attacking the fox.

Tatsu ordered them to stop, but neither of them recognized him in his Bestia form, and ignored him completely. He sighed as he looked to Elizabeth. He still hadn’t told her who he really was, and he hadn’t planned to tell her any time soon. As they fought, Neko and Kitsune smashed into buildings, killing many citizens, and neither of them even realized what they were doing. Though they were once friends, they were blinded with rage. If they continued, there would be nothing left. Tatsu had no choice. He snarled as a faint white aura appeared around him.

Elizabeth stood in shock as she witnessed Tatsu transform into a large white dragon, with purple eyes, and a light gray mane; the creator of her world, and ruler of the Elemental Gods. Lord Tatsu. Once again, he ordered them to stop and this time they did immediately. The dragon let out a loud roar and it began to rain, extinguishing the fires. He then told the two to report to his castle and await his return.

—

Tatsu turned to face the girl he befriended. She stood trembling, staring at the giant beast before her. He lowered his head to her level and apologized for lying about who he was. The girl just smiled and began petting his scaly snout. Tatsu slowly turned away and said he had to leave, but the girl grabbed him and begged not to be left behind.

No human had ever been to Lord Tatsu’s castle. It was created in the sky intentionally so they could not enter. The Animal Gods could cast a spell to teleport there, but never any mortals. The dragon was about to turn her down... but when he looked her in the eyes, he decided she couldn’t possibly do any harm. Elizabeth climbed onto Tatsu’s back and he flapped his wings, slowly lifting them off the ground, and flying toward his home in the sky.

Elizabeth stood next to Lord Tatsu’s throne and watched as he scolded Neko and Kitsune. He finally dismissed them to their wings of the castle and began to speak with his guest. She mentioned the God’s fight that Tatsu had interrupted. If they had continued, who would win? If all five had been there, who would be the strongest? Tatsu often wondered this to himself, but never felt the need to test it. The girl laughed and suggested a tournament. Tatsu looked at her and laughed, but then said ‘why not,’ thinking it might be fun.

—

The next day it was announced to the world; a tournament to find the strongest of the Gods. The winner would be the new God for ‘Princess’ Elizabeth to worship, and get ‘ultimate bragging rights,’ in the words of the Princess. This caught the interest of Neko and Kitsune especially. The mortals began to make bets on which God would be the winner. Some would get into fights over which God was best. The world erupted in a five-way ultra-fanatic war. However, it wasn’t their fight that mattered, but the fight of the Five Gods.

The Animal Gods didn’t want to fight. They had been friends since the beginning of their everlasting existence. But they were nothing but servants to their Lord Tatsu, and what he ordered is what would be so. They spent their last few days together, knowing it would be over the moment the battle began.

Tatsu returned to his castle the night before the battle. He had left Elizabeth at her house to see her family. When he flew up to the gates, Neko was waiting for him. He thanked him for the opportunity to show his strength, but also asked him why? The two looked down to the world of the mortals. They were fighting each other, trying to prove their God was the best. A meaningless fight, when the Gods were created equal. Why would Tatsu start that?

He didn’t know. He had no idea. He just... wanted to make her happy. Before Neko could say any more, Tatsu began to walk away. He said he felt weak, and wanted to lie down. The creator of the universe and all that is good. The dragon of limitless arcane power, feeling weak; this, above all things, caught Neko’s attention.

—

The day of the tournament, Elizabeth met with Tatsu to give him a gift. Tatsu had never received a gift before; he was surprised when she mentioned it. She said she made it from magic he taught her, with some techniques of her own. Tatsu was shocked. Mortals can’t naturally use magic; it was impossible for her to have her own ‘technique’; though he had taught her a few ‘fun spells’ for her own entertainment. He stuttered to ask what she meant- what it was. She showed him a box; just a plain, ordinary, box. The dragon opened the lid and inside was a silver, spiked collar...just his size.

Just looking at it, Tatsu could sense the arcane power emanating from the collar. He asked the girl what it was for, and she assured him it was just supposed to look nice. As he looked in her eyes, his head started pounding. He whimpered in pain as she put the collar around his neck.

Elizabeth grinned wickedly as Tatsu’s eyes faded to a dark gray color. She thanked him for the spells he taught her and informed him of what she truly was; a human born with vampiric powers, power to absorb pure magical essence from others. The more time she spends with the Gods, the stronger she gets.

Lord Tatsu froze; he’d heard from other Dragons that when a God becomes careless, mortals can be born with mutations. Tatsu tried to attack the Demon he thought he befriended, but couldn’t. He was no longer in control of his own body. It moved as she commanded. She walked toward the castle, and his body followed while his mind hopelessly thought about all he had done wrong.

—

Meanwhile, the Animal Gods were preparing to fight. The arena was the land surrounding Lord Tatsu’s volcano, in the neutral territory of the world. Finally, Tatsu flew down with the Princess on his back. The crowd cheered. People had come from all around the world to see the battle. Humans and Bestia alike, each hoping their God would come out on top. At the sound of Tatsu’s mighty roar the fight began.

The Animal Gods looked at one another. They were best friends. Though they each wanted to be called the best, they remembered their friendship. They didn’t want to fight, but they couldn’t go against any of their Lord Tatsu’s orders. They had been friends... but at the sound of the roar... it was over.

—

Ookami let out a howl as he ran up to Taka. He jumped into the air to attack, but was pulled down by Kuma, who tackled him in mid-air. Kuma’s magic power was specialized in strength and healing, while Ookami had defense and healing which gave the bear a slight advantage. But Ookami focused on his physical strength; the strength of a wolf. Taka hovered above as he watched the two animals attack and heal repeatedly, then flapped his wings, conjuring small tornados that ripped into the two beasts.

Ookami smashed his paws into the ground, sending boulders flying into the air and knocking Taka to the ground. The hawk scrambled to stand as Kuma charged into him, knocking him onto his back. Ookami ran toward them and pounced onto Kuma’s back, clawing into his flesh.

—

At the sound of Tatsu’s roar, Neko and Kitsune snuck away from the other three. Finally, a one-on-one fight between them, Kitsune snarled and began to glow red. He, Neko, and Taka all specialized in pure magic strength. Though they could attack physically as well, they couldn’t take the hits, and the fox knew this. Kitsune’s body was engulfed in flames as he charged Neko. The fire multiplied his attacks, and worked as a damage shield against Neko’s physical attacks.

The cat jumped toward the volcano, climbing the rocks to a small cliff. He summoned bolts of lightning down to the fox. The two attacked back and forth. Lightning vs. Fire. They continued until they couldn’t anymore. In the end, they stood face to face, panting; each trying to scratch the other, back and forth.

—

Ookami bit into Kuma’s neck and Taka clawed into Ookami’s back. Kuma summoned an orb of water around Taka, leaving him floating, imprisoned in water. He then stood on his hind legs and smashed his paw into Ookami’s jaw. But the wolf counterattacked by slashing his claws through Kuma’s left eye. Blood dripped down Kuma’s face as he stumbled to a tree, trying to lean against it to hold his balance.

Neko hissed as he chased Kitsune around the volcano. He finally caught up to him and tackled him into a tree... and Kuma. Ookami howled as roots sprouted out of the ground and wrapped around Neko. Roses formed on the roots and entangled the cat even more. Neko pondered the wolf’s attack. It seemed pointless since he could attack from a distance with his lightning magic. Then, the rose vines began to sprout thorns that stabbed into Neko’s flesh. The feline tried to pull himself free but the struggle made his wounds deeper and his snow white fur began to stain blood red.

Kitsune charged Taka, and unintentionally freed him from his watery prison. The hawk flapped his wings and sent Kitsune backwards onto Neko. The fox yelped in pain as he hit the thorns. He summoned fire to burn them, freeing Neko, but also hurting him even more.

—

The crowd cheered as the Gods slaughtered each other. They all believed the Gods were immortal, and they were right... in a way. No mortal can kill a God. But a fight between Gods, though it had never been done before, could kill them. Tatsu knew this, and so did the ‘Princess’. She had planned on it. But the longer the fight lasts, the more time she has near them, meaning more magical essence absorbed. Tatsu could feel his power weakening, and Elizabeth was sure to remind him it was happening, knowing he couldn’t reply. He was dying inside, but his life wouldn’t end. Though the crowd was cheering, inside they were questioning their Dragon-God. Losing all faith in him, this drained his power even more. It went so far that as his powers decreased, his physical form did as well.

Lord Tatsu created the world, and everything in it, including the Five Gods and Elizabeth. He exists by their faith alone. If no one believes in him, he would fade away. And without its creator, the world would not exist. Elizabeth would leave him alive; she had to, but she wanted him to look as weak as he felt. She would leave him alive in the lowest dragon form; a Wyrm, a large snake with wings; a beast hardly able to be defined as a Dragon-God at all.

—

The five animals all panted, exhausted. They each began to glow as they stood in a pentagon shape across the battlefield. In front of each God appeared a ball of energy; pure essence of their element. At the same instant, each God shot a beam of energy forward. The five beams struck each other and exploded with arcane energy, backfiring at all of them. The battlefield was covered with thick smoke and the crowd was silent. When it finally cleared, the world could see the result. Surrounding a crater formed by the impact of their final attacks, were five corpses; all that was left of the Elemental Gods.

The crowd changed from cheering to crying. And the one to blame was Lord Tatsu. They began to riot- yelling, crying, some of them even threw stones and other objects. Though he could show no emotion, Tatsu was mourning inside. Not only were the Gods... his friends, dead... but all faith in him seemed to be lost.

Elizabeth looked concerned, but inside she felt happier than she’d ever imagined. Tatsu had almost all his strength drained and the Gods were dead. With the world in this state of sorrow, she could easily take Tatsu’s position as “God”. She decided this wasn’t enough. She was still mortal and would still die. Suddenly, she thought of a plan so wicked, she couldn’t help but grin.

She will use Tatsu’s Dragon-Magic, a magic stronger than the Arcane power she’d absorbed, to reincarnate herself so would never truly die. However, rebirth would not renew her absorbed magic. She would need to get more from another God if she were to rule after each reincarnation. Tatsu needed his body fully drained of magic so he couldn’t oppose her, which left one option: the Five Gods. If she used the Five Animal Gods, they would be too distracted by continuing their fight, carrying out Lord Tatsu’s final order, to stop her. The plan was perfect; except for one major aspect. Though she was human and could easily be reborn again, the Elemental Gods only appeared in an animal form. Their souls needed a body to transform into a solid, living form.

—

Tatsu created animal bodies for the Gods’ spirits to inhabit, but it would take less magic to possess a pre-existing vessel than to create a new one. A human body would be the easiest for them to posses. The Five Gods would be reborn, sharing the bodies of humans. By predestined fate, five humans would be forced to fight one another. They would attempt to resist the tempting lures of the Animal Gods in order to save themselves, but it tragically would be a failed attempt. All the magical knowledge Elizabeth had told her it would be easy, in theory.

But how often could she do this? She looked at Tatsu, his power was drained even more, and she didn’t want to waste her own, she intended on assuming the role of the new Goddess of her world, now that Tatsu had no remaining faith. At the same time, she had to leave him with something, to keep him, and the universe, alive. With her and the Five Gods, he could probably reincarnate them every 200 years. The girl thought about it... 200 years was better than nothing, and the longer she waited the more time she lost. 300. 400. 500 years. She quickly decided to take it. Tatsu began to glow a faint white as the bodies of the Five Gods faded away.

Tatsu could see the souls of his friends... they began to fade away into darkness. They were transported to a world that would preserve them until they could return. Sitting next to him, Elizabeth smirked, and all around him, the mortals sobbed. Tatsu snarled as his collar began to glow white and crack. Princess Elizabeth shrieked as the collar exploded and Tatsu lashed forward, killing her in a single bite. She had been too busy thinking about her next life to focus on saving this one. A single moment of carelessness was enough for him to break the controlling spell of the collar. Tatsu knew she would be back and would attempt to replace him again... but this at least gave him time.

—

Tatsu looked to his people. He didn’t know what to say, they had lost all faith in him. He didn’t even look like himself anymore. With all his power drained, he appeared to them as a Wyrm, just as Elizabeth had hoped. His heavenly white scales had faded to an impure red. His mighty horns were gone completely. He managed to hold his head up by flapping his tiny wings, but couldn’t even lift the rest of his snakelike body. Tatsu called out, begging the mortals to listen to him, that he wasn’t at fault... but they just walked away, sobbing.

All throughout the land the sky was covered with black clouds. Lightning storms, Hurricanes, Firestorms, Tornados, and Earthquakes raged across the land for the following five days, and on the sixth day, Lord Tatsu’s volcano erupted, leaving no evidence of the battleground.

Tatsu watched this from his castle, helpless, the result of the Gods’ final attack. He sighed as he felt the floating piece of land his castle stands upon fall downward, to cover the volcano once again. With no power to prevent it, the impact left his castle in ruins.

No matter how much he may have wanted to, Tatsu couldn’t die. He was still immortal, and so he had to live with the guilt of what he had done. After the storms finally ended, the world was renewed. It was no longer divided into five climates. There were now four seasons throughout a year, and the remaining Humans and Bestia built cities together, rather than divided towns. Tatsu watched as after all his time trying to create the perfect world, it all seemed better without him.

—

For thousands of years the world changed repeatedly, and Tatsu witnessed it all. He saw the Gods come and go, each time trying to prove who was best.

For thousands of years they would possess the bodies of innocent humans and destroy friendships.

For thousands of years they would destroy homes and families, while carrying out the orders of their Lord.

For thousands of years, the one thing to remain the same would be the ruins of Lord Tatsu’s castles... and his haunting memories.

It’s been five thousand years since the epic battle of the Gods, and it hasn’t ended yet. Ashamed of what he let happen, Lord Tatsu stays hidden from the world; praying for a way to end his torment; knowing that it never will.

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The Legend of the Five Gods

END

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