What if the gods were real?
What if Zeus really is the one behind storms and lightning strikes? What if Poseidon is the one who commands the oceans to drown ships whole? What if we Hades really rules the realm that we go to when we die?
What if beautiful and handsome people are just those favoured by Aphrodite and the love that couples share is just a playful joke by Eros, her child?
What if the gods, on a whim, decide to end all life on Earth?
That's all too horrifying, isn't it?
Now, what if the gods were real and they have to be killed?
That sounds much more exciting to me.
I, Shiraishi Tetsuya, a second year highschool student in Milshyre Academy, had always been fond of Mythology. I love reading books about the endeavours of people who either have a god on their side or have a god to fight against.
Perhaps, you would think it was like that because I look up to those so-called gods, but no. What I always have in mind when I read is that they all have a weakness, a certain point, which if exploited and used against, can bring them down even by the methods of mere mortals.
But, the problem is if they do really exist. Well, if they do, I guess I'd be up to the challenge of bringing one down.
"Well then, I'm off." I bade goodbye to Mika, a classmate of mine since middle school, as I dropped her off by her house's gate.
She waved goodbye and gave me her never wavering gentle smile that she only shows to the people she trusts. She's a very shy person but she tends to talk a lot about things she like with her friends, me included, of course.
We would always talk about Mythology during lunchtime on the school's rooftop and maybe it wouldn't be too far of a stretch if I were to say that I've gotten to like Mika very much.
"Oh, come to think about it. There was this famous senpai at school named Izanagi Takeshi...
He got confessed to by Ikeda when I was walking out of the school gates with Mika." I smiled a bit as a delusion came up in my mind, "What if Mika would do the same to me?"
I chuckled to myself. Now that's something that I would call far-fetched.
"I'm home now." I shook my head, taking off the probability if I was thinking straight as of the moment.
Of course, since I have no one to come home to.
My whole family died in a weird accident four summers ago, getting caught in a tornado that appeared out of nowhere.
How did I know? I was there, taking a picture of them. The tornado just appeared, a few meters away from me, but by the time it disappeared, so did my family.
Why did that happen? What did they do? Did the gods will for it to happen?
Perhaps, I've only been looking for someone to place the blame upon. My mind kept on telling me that they don't deserve it. They didn't deserve to die.
But, at that time, not only they were the ones who died. A lot of people in different places started disappearing or dying in weird ways too.
A lot of articles were made about how the people were killed.
Some were torn apart inside their houses with their organs missing and some caught fire in the middle of the ocean. The fire couldn't be stopped by water. Those people who were unfortunate either just burned or drowned in the sea.
There were also some who just suddenly got crushed by a part of a mountain or got frozen in the heat of the sun.
I'm pretty sure that those who were doing it, they weren't normal humans. They should be beings of a higher order or perhaps humans who have acquired power unbeknownst to the common people.
The news about those incidents spread like wildfire with more than a hundred victims around the world every month, but then, it stopped after that summer.
The weird occurrence that took away my family has already been the tenth time, according to history, an event repeating itself every three years with no fail.
This upcoming summer will be the third one after those incidents stopped. History repeats itself after the span of three years.
Perhaps, it's the doing of the gods to control the population of humans?
I laughed bitterly, knowing that it wouldn't be like that and sat down on my chair, with an already opened book of Greek Mythology already on top of the desktop in front of me.
I read the story of Orpheus and how he came to the underworld with his music to save his beloved, Eurydice and how he failed to do so.
He was a powerful man who was able to bring in the hearts of every living creature, either moving or unmoving.
It was, perhaps, a very melancholic tragedy, but I focused on the fact that he was able to sway the thoughts of Hades with music, one of the most harmless forms of human expression.
I quickly thought, "Why did you even agree to the terms of someone you've already conquered or respect a higher being who has already prostrated himself before you? Isn't that very foolish to do so? Wouldn't you want the power and the glory, as to have an entitled entity surrender its will to you?"
Perhaps, the Greeks would've already long conquered their gods and goddesses if it were not for their respect for them and also for their faith.
Yet, why would one surrender to the whims of a higher being?
Is it only because of the fact that one is better that he would be made superior above all?
"Agh, my head hurts... I'm thinking too much. I can't keep this up right now. I want to think about something else, Mika." I closed the book and massaged the area in between my eyes as I laid myself down my bed.
"There's also a possibility that those accidents weren't willed by the gods." I sighed and looked at my ceiling. "There are other higher beings after all, even though below gods by a few levels, still above humans in anyway possible."
Demons.
I closed my eyes and went to sleep.
Inhuman screams.
I woke up in cold sweat.
It was the middle of the night and my room was dimly lit by the moonlight coming in from the windows... and something else.
I felt weirdly light and energized. The way one would feel after drinking five cups of coffee after just waking up.
There was a yellowish tint that wouldn't fade away from my vision. I stood up in curiosity and made my way towards my mirror.
Then, I saw two golden crests on both of my eyes, glowing brightly.
At first, I thought that I was still dreaming.
I blinked.
I pinched my arm.
I slapped my cheek.
I stepped on my right foot.
Yet, the golden crests didn't go away and a kind female voice suddenly popped up in the back of my head.
"Congratulations! You are now a protector of mankind, chosen by the goddess Setoria as one of the brave warriors who will purge the world of the demons that run rampant during the Walpurgis Night."
"Protector? Setoria? Demons? Walpurgis Night? What?"
"There's no need for confusion. I shall give you a full demonstration of what you'll be encountering and going through for a year."
"Wait, what?-"
Before I can say anything else, my vision dimmed.
A few moments after, I found myself in front of the door of one of the rooms of a well-known apartment in the city.
"Why am I here?"
"This will serve as experience to base on for your further endeavours. Please be careful not to die now. What weapon would you like?"
"A pure black scythe." I immediately sought for something that would look very suitable as a god-slaying weapon, only after did I say what was on my mind did I get to take in everything the voice said, "Wait- what?-"
"Your request has been accepted. Your preferred weapon is now in your hands. Please take care."
The voice then disappeared and the night wind gently blew on my face, as if there was nothing or no one talking to me in the first place. But, there were two things that served as proof that something did happen to me.
The black scythe was still in my hand and the yellow light that was in my vision hasn't faded, not even one bit.
"What do you mean-" I knew it was already useless. There was no weird feeling anymore and atmosphere became deadly still... until I heard a shriek coming from inside the room that I was in front of.
My eyes widened and I quickly went to turn, pull and push on the doorknob, hoping that the door was unlocked, but who am I kidding?
People like to secure themselves with locks and passwords and just as how I predicted, the doorknob didn't turn and the door didn't budge.
"Somebody, please help!!!" A girl's voice cried out and it was only until then when I looked at the name plate of the room did I know who was inside.
"Ikeda Kaoru."