The Dragonborn’s Hero Ceremony

It was now 2:00 in the afternoon. Tatsuya was sitting on a bench at the station, waiting for his train to arrive. The princesses, servants, and his friends were also with him. The only person they were waiting on was Mr. Urushihara. Apparently, he is currently on his way and will meet up with them by the time their train arrives.

Two days ago, Tatsuya received a message from his teacher about a trip he was organizing for the Cultural Mythologies and Supernatural Research Club. According to him, everyone was to meet up at the train station in Shibuya and wait for him there. He didn’t say much else about it except that it was the club’s ‘summer trip’.

Tatsuya looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was now 2:08. He wasn’t sure what was going on or why Mr. Urushihara planned this secretive trip, but he could tell that it must be something important since everyone is going. ‘Just what is this trip about?’ he anxiously wondered to himself.

“Ah! Sorry to keep everyone waiting,” called out Mr. Urushihara, appearing before them dressed in a formal red suit and tie. He threw his hand behind his head and laughed to show his embarrassment in being late.

“What are we here for?” asked Tatsuya.

“Something special,” answered the teacher. He took a look at everyone gathered here today and nodded his head contentedly. “Alright, we got three minutes before our train arrives,” said Mr. Urushihara, looking up at the clock on the wall. It was now 2:10.

“Wait, three minutes? The next train comes at 2:30,” corrected Tatsuya.

“Not ours,” said Mr. Urushihara with a wink.

Suddenly, the sound of a train coming from the left tunnel caught their attention. As the clock struck 2:13, the train stopped in front of the platform and opened its doors for everyone to get on. The train itself looked like a normal monorail, except for the obvious Japanese dragon image that stretched across its body from the front all the way to the back.

Tatsuya noticed a few people getting on and off of it, but everyone else in the entire station was oblivious to its presence. “What’s going on?” he wondered aloud.

“This here is a special monorail,” explained Mr. Urushihara.

“Special how? And where are we going anyway?” Tatsuya asked the teacher.

“Today, we’re going to the dragon realm,” answered Mr. Urushihara with a beaming smile.

“The dragon realm?!” exclaimed Tatsuya in surprise.

“The human realm and the dragon realm exist in parallel dimensions. In order to travel from one to the other, one must pass through a special portal that acts as a gateway bridge between the two. There are only three portals in that exists: the first is the Bermuda Triangle in the Atlantic Ocean, the second is the Cave of Zeus in Greece, and the last one is the 2:13 monorail of Shibuya Station,” explained the teacher.

“Why is the last one the only one that sounds out of place in that list?” asked Tatsuya with a skeptical expression.

“These three portals were established by the dragon realm and are the only bridges that connects the two realms,” said Mr. Urushihara, ignoring Tatsuya’s question. “Anyway, we should get going.”

The group stepped onto the train and the doors shut behind them. They procured seats and sat down. The train began to move. As they moved onwards into the black tunnel ahead, Tatsuya watched as the station he knew gradually disappeared behind him. And then, everything went dark. The darkness quickly gave way to a bright tunnel filled with magnificent lights. Tatsuya was amazed at what he was seeing. Through the windows of the train, he could see shifting bright lights that morphed from one color among the color spectrum to another, creating a beautiful rainbow of lights that stretched all around them. He couldn’t help but smile in awe at the beauty he saw before him. It was like he was witnessing a piece of living art!

The lights soon disappeared behind him and the train entered darkness once again. A few seconds later, light poured into the train as it made its stop at the station. Everyone got off and the group walked over to a nearby wall. Mr. Urushihara took a look at his watch and nodded his head. “Yup. We made it on time,” he told them.

Tatsuya spotted a clock on the wall and looked at the time. “It’s still 2:13,” he said with a confused expression. “How is that possible?”

“Time here is different than time in the human realm,” explained Mr. Urushihara. “There’s no concrete rule that governs how time here is different from time over there, however. In fact, both realms exist in what we call alternate parallel time.”

“Alternate parallel time?” asked Tatsuya. “That sounds like something off a physics textbook,” he said with a defeated frown.

“Basically, our time moves parallel with yours, but there is no actual quantitative ratio between them,” explained Mr. Urushihara like the teacher he is. “For example, time in the dragon realm moves forward along with time in the human realm. However, a certain amount of time here in the dragon realm, say a month, is not directly equivalent to a month in the human realm. Instead, it could be days, months, years, or centuries! Alternatively, it could’ve been a few hours or minutes, or maybe time didn’t even pass at all! A month here could very well be the same exact moment that you left! The same is also true for time in the human realm. For example, if we stayed over there for a year or so and we choose to return back here, we could arrive right back at the exact moment we left the dragon realm.”

“How does that even work?” wondered Tatsuya, his head hurting from all of the sci-fi-like explanations.

“Time magic is a real mystery,” answered Mr. Urushihara with a shrug. “From what I hear, the portal transports us to the moment in time that we should arrive at as per what’s written in our destiny.”

“Well I don’t believe in fate or destiny, so I couldn’t care less,” commented Tatsuya. “One thing though, why 2:13?” he wondered.

“Actually, the train comes every hour at the thirteen minute mark,” clarified Mr. Urushihara. “Except for holidays, of course. The thirteen minutes is symbolic of the Thirteen Elemental Dragons—our ancestors if you will. The number thirteen is very sacred to us and we consider it a very lucky and auspicious number.”

“I guess that makes sense,” said Tatsuya with a nod. He glanced over at the princesses and saw their servants giving them something to put in their mouths. He wasn’t sure what it was and wanted to ask but was interrupted by Mr. Urushihara.

“Now then, we should get going,” Mr. Urushihara told them. The group exited the station and stood outside. Mr. Urushihara glanced over at Tatsuya with a smile and grandly said, “Welcome, to the dragon realm!”

Tatsuya couldn’t believe his eyes and ears. He soaked in the sights and the people and etched the very images and sounds deep inside his brain. ‘So this is the dragon realm,’ he mused with a smile. All around him, there were various collections of small shops that looked like small cottages, offset only by the occasional giant buildings that looked like a cross between Victorian-style architecture and postmodernism. The roads were made up of red and grey bricks and flanked by fluffy trees every few meters. To summarize it in one statement, the city looked like the bastard child of medieval Europe and industrial America. Yet, everything about it looked very exotic and worked very well for the setting.

Though the city was a very new and awesome sight to see, it was like entering a weird post-industrialized Renaissance fair of sorts, Tatsuya’s focus was concentrated mainly on the people of the city. They looked very much like normal human people for the most part. There were only a few glaring differences: colored scales around their foreheads, horns protruding from their foreheads, slit pupils, and serpentine tails protruding from their backsides. They all reminded Tatsuya of his own transformations. And then there were beings who were obviously not human-like at all: giant green-skinned lizard people walking on two legs with long tails, sharp claws, and tubercular scales running down their backs; light-skinned and tall elves with pointy ears, long and delicate limbs, and flowing golden blonde hair; real-life centaurs with the upper body of humans and the lower body of robust and tough horses; and short, rotund dwarves with long dirty beards, fat button noses, and clad in metallic armor. Somewhere along the way, Tatsuya had entered a fantasy RPG game.

“Hahaha, I can see that you’re amazed,” said Mr. Urushihara with a beaming smile.

“I can kinda tell which ones are dragons, but are those centaurs and elves and dwarves also real?” asked Tatsuya in amazement.

“Yup,” answered the teacher. “You see, the dragons weren’t the only ones who left the human realm. These other creatures live in the dragon realm with us.”

“Why?” wondered Tatsuya.

“The dragon realm is the only realm that is run on mana,” explained Mr. Urushihara. “Mana is the universal energy that allows for the use of magic. It is a primordial energy that has existed for millennia and was the source of life for many beings before the rise of humans. In the beginning, the Earth was a world filled with mana and that allowed for the creatures who depend on it for sustenance to survive. However, when we dragons had to leave the human realm and create our own world, most of the mana also came with us. Now, there are only small traces of mana left in the human realm, which has allowed for some magical creatures to still remain there, albeit in small numbers. But many of them came here to take residence for their own survival. Another reason is that these creatures are servants of the Thirteen Elemental Dragons. Each creature and their race revere and identify with a certain elemental dragon, which also extends to the element itself, and were said to have been created by them.”

“I didn’t know that the dragon realm was like this,” commented Tatsuya.

Mr. Urushihara checked his watch again. “Oh, we better get going,” he told them. “I can answer any more questions you have on the way, Tatsuya.”

The group walked into the city together. Tatsuya stole glances here and there of everyone that they passed by. He couldn’t help but be amazed by the surreal images he was seeing. ‘Is this real?’ he thought to himself. Along the way, Mr. Urushihara told Tatsuya about dragons and their forms. A dragon has two forms, as he was told: their true form, which is their beastly dragon form that humans are familiar with; and their mortal form, which is the form they take whenever they are not in their true form—kind of like a default mode for when they just want to ‘take break from being big and mighty’ according to the teacher. A dragon’s mortal form is like a hybrid between a human form and their dragon-self. However, dragons are also capable of going “full human”, like the princesses and other dragons in the human realm. Tatsuya’s mind was blown upon learning this fact.

Mr. Urushihara led them to a small cottage-like shop and went in, telling the group to wait for him outside. As they did, Tatsuya glanced over at the princesses and remembered something that he had wanted to ask them. “Say, what were you guys putting in your mouths when we got to the strain station?” he asked them.

“It’s a special pill to disguise their scents,” explained Ingrid. “It is placed under their tongue and as long as it remains in their mouths, their scent is disguised.” Aika opened her mouth and lifted her tongue to reveal a small round ball-like blue pill. “You already know by now that we dragons possess a very powerful sense of smell. We identify others through their scents, may they be dragons, humans, or any other living creature. Each tribe possesses a unique scent, but each individual also possess certain minute but glaringly obvious personal details in their own scent that allows for personal identification. However, there are only two types of dragons whose scent is noticeably different and more powerful than the common populace: Celestial Dragons and royalty. Dragons of royal lineage possesses a very unique scent all their own that signifies their identity as descendants of the 13 Elemental Dragons. If the princesses did not disguise their scent upon coming here, everyone within a five mile radius would catch on to their royal scent and know who they are. We would have a mob around us.”

“I-I see,” said Tatsuya.

“As you know, we dragons cannot hide our scents like Celestial Dragons. We can only disguise them. This means that we change our scent through various means in order to hide our identity, though the effects are only temporary, depending on the method. This pill is a specially created pill by the Bakunawa tribe and is used mainly by royalty. It diminishes the significance of their scents to make it easier for them to blend in with the common people.”

Mr. Urushihara exited the shop and rejoined the group. “Sorry about that, I had to get something for Tatsuya,” he told the group.

“Something for me?” asked Tatsuya.

“Yup,” replied the teacher with a nod. He handed Tatsuya a small package with a familiar small round ball-like blue pill. “Take it,” urged Mr. Urushihara, “You need to disguise your scent so that you don’t draw any unnecessary attention.”

“But I thought that I didn’t carry a scent,” said Tatsuya.

“Exactly!” was Mr. Urushihara’s response.

Tatsuya took the package and tore it open to grab the pill inside. He placed the pill inside his mouth and under his tongue. After taking the pill, he didn’t feel any different. That’s when a realization struck him. “Wait a minute, you said that this pill diminishes scents,” he said to Ingrid. “If I don’t even have a scent, how does this pill even work for me?”

“It’s a pill used to disguise a scent,” clarified Ingrid. “It affects individuals differently. For royalty, it diminishes their supreme scent to make it easier for them to blend in. For you, Owatatsumi-sama, it simply gives you the scent of a lowborn farmer from the boonies.”

“Are you serious?” he asked quickly in a worried tone.

The rest of the group simply answered with a nod of their heads. “This scent truly befits a malapert mooncalf such as you,” said Sunaji with a smug smile.

‘How is this possible?’ thought Tatsuya, lamenting the fact that he now smelled like some country bumpkin from the sticks. ‘What does this even mean? Is my natural scent just a farmer kid from the sticks? Do I really smell that poor and uncultured? Is this really my scent if I wasn’t the Dragonborn?’

“Don’t worry, Darling! I will always love you, lowborn scent and all!” said Aika, bringing Tatsuya into a hug.

“Too…much…love,” groaned Tatsuya painfully.

“Alright, enough chatter! We must be on our way,” Mr. Urushihara told them.

The group forged onwards on their club trip. All the while, Tatsuya couldn’t help but feel people staring at him with weird and disgruntled looks. ‘This is supposed to help me not draw attention, but I’m definitely drawing attention!’ he exclaimed. He sighed to himself as he walked closely with the group and prayed to the heavens above to save him from this misery.

The streets were filled with people (dragons, elves, dwarves, lizard people, etc.). Workers from various shops gathered on the edges of the streets to solicit customers; uniformed people (who could only be assumed to be the authorities) patrolled the streets in pairs; wooden and metal carriages drawn by mythical beasts such as unicorns and griffins escorted people here and there, with the more fancily designed and decorated carriages drawn by the more delicate and beautiful creatures carrying high-profile figures. The city was bustling with life! Even though he was in an entirely new world, Tatsuya felt like he was still walking down the busy streets of Tokyo.

As they were walking, Tatsuya found himself drawn to the voices of the people and had almost lost himself to their solicitations more than once.

“Hey, young man, come try our new fruits we just got from the Vita Kingdom!” called a grocer.

“Hey, little boy, why not come give our girl’s a try?” solicited a hostess.

“Welcome home, master! Why not come try our new dish?” urged a maid café worker.

“Read all about it! Read all about it! How about a paper, good sir?” offered a newsboy.

Tatsuya felt a little overwhelmed by all of the attention he was getting, but at the same time he didn’t necessary felt out of place because of how familiar it felt to home. He was about to take the paper the newsboy was handing him when Mr. Urushihara quickly snatched it away from his hands. “Let’s go,” the teacher said with a smile on his face.

“Why did you that?” asked Tatsuya with a frown.

“No reason,” answered the teacher with a sheepish smile. “Anyway, let’s go. We’re going to be late!” he said, quickly changing the subject.

The group continued forward. Suddenly, a rather familiar voice caught Tatsuya’s attention and he turned towards the source.

“Say, old man, does this really work?” asked a girl from across the street. With just one look, Tatsuya knew exactly who the girl was. There was no doubt about it—the girl he was looking at with his very own eyes was none other than his very own little sister. There was no one else in the world that Tatsuya knew who wore their hair in a side ponytail tied with a ribbon.

“It’s the latest thing made by only the best alchemist of our century, Akali!” said the shop owner. “We only have five in stock! You know how exclusive her potions are! She only ever releases limited quantities of her stock, but they are extremely effective! I’m sure you’ve heard of her and is familiar with her work!”

“Yeah, I’m familiar with her,” said Mika. “Alright then, I guess I’ll take it.” She paid the shop owner and tucked the potion into her pocket.

“M-M-Mika!” exclaimed Tatsuya a little too loudly.

Mike heard his voice and turned to him. “Oniichan!” she happily yelped. She rushed over to his side and threw herself onto him.

“What are you doing here?” he asked her, pushing her off of him.

‘Oh, crap!’ thought Mika to herself with widened eyes. She let go of him and let out an awkward chuckle. “I guess you found out,” she said, hitting the side of her head like she just made an innocent mistake.

“Are you by any chance a dragon?” Tatsuya asked her.

“Yup,” answered Mika.

This reveal brought about another million other questions that Tatsuya wanted to ask her, but he was interrupted before he had a chance to by the voice of someone else approaching them.

“Micchan!” called out a young man.

“Yucchin!” called out Mika.

The young man joined the group and said, “I went to the apothecary and I didn’t see you. The shop owner told me that you ran off.”

“I was just across the street,” said Mika.

“I can see that now,” said the young man with an awkward chuckle.

“Oh, Yucchin, you should meet my brother!” said Mika. “This here is my Oniichan!” she introduced to her friend.

“Ah, so you must be the big brother Micchan is so attached to,” said the young man with a light chuckle.

“Geez, Yucchin, you didn’t have to be so straightforward,” chided Mika playfully. She then turned to Tatsuya to introduce her friend. “This here is my best friend, Yucchin.”

“Hello,” greeted Tatsuya politely.

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” said Yucchin. He was a very handsome young man with wavy blonde hair in a clean mop-top, bright and shiny metallic silver eyes like precious rings, and a gold earring with an emerald jewel dangle on his right ear. His skin was fair like freshly pasteurized milk, and he had a very interesting air about him. It was calm and peaceful and soothing, like a familiar friend, but at the same time, elegant and out of reach, like a very coveted prize. Tatsuya could somehow feel that Yucchin was a very lucky and blessed man. He felt both awed and intimidated by Yucchin at the same time.

“So, you’re Mika’s friend?” asked Tatsuya, trying too hard to start a conversation. “How long have you’ve known each other?”

“A long time,” answered Yucchin with a polite smile.

“Oh? I-I see,” said Tatsuya with a laugh. Being the big brother he is, Tatsuya couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated and spiteful against Yucchin, though he has to admit that he appreciated the friend’s honesty.

“Micchan had told so much about you,” said Yucchin.

“Ah, of course!” said Tatsuya. “Well, thank you very much for being a very good friend to my little sister.”

“My pleasure,” said Yucchin cheerfully.

“Tatsuya, let’s get going!” called Mr. Urushihara. The rest of the group had already reached a street corner.

“I’m coming!” replied Tatsuya. “Well, it was nice meeting you, Mika’s friend,” he said to Yucchin. He then turned around and ran off to join his group.

“So that’s Owatatsumi Tatsuya,” said Yucchin once he and Mika was alone.

“Yep,” said Mika.

“When I heard about him from Amora I was kind of surprised,” said Yucchin. “He doesn’t really look like a hero, but I can sense something powerful within him. He has a lot of untapped potential.”

“You think so?” asked Mika.

“I’ve never been wrong about things like this before,” said Yucchin.

Tatsuya and his group finally arrived at an open arena. They entered it and Mr. Urushihara talked to the workers inside. The group was then led to a stage in center of the arena. They arrived backstage and Mr. Urushihara met with the person waiting for them there. When he finished talking, the teacher told the group to wait here.

Tatsuya didn’t know what was going on at all. He wished he could make some sense out of everything that was happening, but he couldn’t think of any probable explanation to the current situation. He was in the dark and could only play the part given to him by his teacher.

The sound of a thousand footsteps and chaotic chatter from the other side of the stage caught onto Tatsuya’s ears and he quickly felt anxiety building up inside of him. He suddenly felt like a little elementary schooler who was about to go out and give a big speech to a crowd of scary strangers.

“Ah, Tatsuya-kyun!” said an all too familiar voice. Prince Nobi appeared before the group.

“Prince Nobi? What are you doing here?” asked Tatsuya.

The prince rushed up to the Dragonborn and brought him into a massively tight hug. “Oh, my precious Tatsuya-kyun! How have you been?” he asked Tatsuya like an excited puppy meeting its master for the first time in a long time.

“Can’t…breathe…,” struggled Tatsuya.

“Enough already!” shouted Aika, striking her brother from behind with a megaton slap and stripping him off of her Darling.

Prince Nobi fell to the ground and slowly picked himself back up. “Ah, Ashira-tan, fiery as always,” he said with a pained chuckle.

“What are you doing here?” repeated Tatsuya once his breath returned to him.

“Something important,” answered the prince cryptically, brushing himself off. “Anyway, I’m glad to see that the whole group is here!”

One of the arena workers came backstage and said, “Prince Nobi, you’re on in three minutes.”

“Ah, thank you for the reminder!” said the prince with a smile. “Well, then, you heard the man. I have to get going. See you on the stage, Tatsuya-kyun.” He then left the group and walked out onto the stage.

“Oh, right,” said Tatsuya. The realization behind the meaning of the prince’s words suddenly hit him hard like a titanic slap. ”Wait a minute! What do you mean by ‘on the stage’?!” he shouted anxiously. Another one of the arena workers came backstage to escort the princesses and Tatsuya’s friends out onto the stage. Tatsuya now found himself alone backstage and deep in anxiety. ‘What the hell is going on? Why won’t anyone tell me anything?’ he thought stressfully to himself.

Out on the stage, the dragon princesses sat down in chairs that were set up for them. Their respective servants stood by their side, and Tatsuya’s friends stood to the right of the stage where they were still visible to the audience. The audience themselves stood on their feet and were split up with the high-class people in the front and everyone else behind them.

Prince Nobi approached the microphone that was set up for him on the stage and addressed the crowd. “Good afternoon, esteemed guests!” he greeted them grandly. “As you all may have heard, many days ago, disaster struck the human realm. The dreaded organization Ouroboros had committed many heinous acts to try and assert their unfounded authority unto the human race. They began with using innocent victims injected with Dracolax to act as suicide terrorists to spread fear and disorder among the humans. It all culminated in an infestation of scourges that disrupted the peace and laid waste to the human realm. Led by one of their high-ranked members, whose name we all know too well and is among the most wanted of criminals by the United Front, Aris Dravos the Yellow Terror, this plan by Ouroboros almost succeeded. However, there was a hero who rose up to challenge them. He protected the human realm, but he also saved the lives of countless dragons afflicted by Dracolax. He took on the Yellow Terror single-handedly, allowing the United Front to focus on our duty of protecting our kind, and put a stop to this dreaded plan once and for all. His success in defeating the Yellow Terror, and thereby taking down one of the most high-profile criminal and member of Ouroboros, helped to deal a major blow to this radical organization.”

From behind the stage, Tatsuya listened to the prince’s speech and quickly sank into a deep pit of anxiety when he realized just who the prince was talking about. ‘Wait a minute, is he talking about me? What’s going on today? Why am I the subject of his speech?’ stressed Tatsuya, pacing back and forth anxiously.

“But he wasn’t the only major player in this battle,” said Nobi. “Without the aid of our other guests, things could’ve turned out differently. Please, give a round of applause for Princesses Ashira (Aika), Kinara (Kanjomizu), Arina (Arashi), Sonia (Sunaji), and Shana (Shurai); their servants, and the three heroes beside them.” The crowd immediately exploded into a thunderous applause. Once it died down, the prince continued on with his speech. “But this doesn’t take anything away from today’s hero and his accomplishments. It was by his own hands that he defeated the Yellow Terror. Please, give a round of applause to the Dragonborn!”

Tatsuya immediately froze in place upon hearing the prince calling him out. He didn’t know what to do and refrained from moving an inch. How could he possibly go up there and stand in front of a thousand people and accept their applause? A pit formed in his stomach and a wave of nausea washed over him. Tatsuya felt like lying down on the ground and waiting for this all to end. Suddenly, one of the workers came backstage and whispered for him to go up on stage. Tatsuya didn’t budge an inch, prompting the worker to drag him out by the arm. Once they were behind the curtain, the worker pushed Tatsuya through.

Upon stepping onto the stage, the crowd erupted in thunderous applause and roaring cheers. Tatsuya was a little overwhelmed by the sea of strange and unfamiliar faces before him. Nobi gestured for Tatsuya to come forward and he did as he was told. Tatsuya was now standing next to the Draco prince.

Once the crowd died down, Nobi concluded his speech. “Today, I want to express my thanks and those of the dragon realm to the Dragonborn,” he announced. “As a symbol of our gratitude and reaffirmation of his identity as our hero, I want to present to the Dragonborn a special medal of honor.” He clapped his hands and a worker walked onto the stage and presented the prince with an opened wooden chest. Nobi took the golden medal from the chest and raised up for the crowd to see. It was a very shiny light gold medal with an image of a very detailed Chinese dragon etched on one side and an image of a dragon claw on the other. “This here is one of the highest honors of the dragon realm. It is a medal that is only awarded to well-deserved heroes with righteous hearts who have accomplished good deeds in the name of justice and the dragon realm: Tianlong Jiang.” He then turned to Tatsuya and placed the medal around his neck. “I hereby grant you the greatest honor of the dragon realm, Dragonborn,” said Nobi with a bow of his head.

Tatsuya was speechless. Everyone from the audience to the people on stage suddenly erupted in another, more raucous and celebratory, storm of applause and cheers. “Congratulations!”; “Praise the Dragonborn!”; “Thank you!”; “You deserve it!”; “Hooray!” cheered the voices of the crowd.

“Would you like to say a few words?” asked Nobi.

Tatsuya was a little too distracted by the applause and cheers that he hadn’t processed the prince’s words until it was too late. “Huh, what?” came Tatsuya.

“Everyone, please settle down!” said the prince. “The Dragonborn would like to say a few words!”

“Wait a min—!” said Tatsuya. Prince Nobi quickly dragged the Dragonborn in front of the microphone and then stepped off to the side. Tatsuya suddenly found himself facing a thousand unfamiliar faces waiting for him to speak. The pressure was real and he felt the pit from before forming in his stomach again. He glanced over at the prince and Nobi simply held up two thumbs up. “U-U-Um, hel—,” attempted Tatsuya into the microphone. The microphone released a loud wave of feedback that made everyone cringe and cover up their ears. Once it dissipated, Tatsuya became silent yet again. The crowd's eyes bore into him like nails, piercing through his paper-thin confidence. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He desperately wanted this to end, but he knew that it couldn’t until he finishes what he has to do. With a gulp, he approached the microphone once again. “Hello,” he said once again into the microphone.

It appeared that his word had caught everyone’s attention because now they were all focused on him with expectant expressions on their faces. “I first want to thank everyone here for your support and gratitude,” he began a little more confidently. “I also want to express my gratitude for this award. I heard that this award is only given to heroes with righteous hearts. I am humbled to be called a hero. To be honest, I never expected for this to happen. Hell, I didn’t even want to be a hero! It may sound absurd, but it just happened. I just stood up for what I believed in and I just wanted to protect those closest to me. But somewhere along the way, I began to become this hero figure and it all culminated in me taking down the worst villain I have ever gone up against. After that battle, I realized that I couldn’t stop becoming a hero and decided then and there to play the role given to me. And that’s also when I realized what I wanted to do as a hero. My reason for being a hero is not about achieving fame or glory or wealth or anything of that sort. I may not be the kind of hero you all would expect, but I can promise you this. I promise to always protect your next sunrise! Thank you!”

Once again, the entire crowd erupted in applause and cheers. Tatsuya was amazed at this feedback. It put a smile on his face and warmed his heart, the pit in his stomach disappearing into the depths of nothingness and replaced with a ball of satisfaction and happiness. ‘Maybe being a hero isn’t so bad after all,’ he thought optimistically to himself.

In the crowd, many different figures watched and listened to the Dragonborn. Three of them, standing near the back on the left side of the crowd, watched the entire thing with interest and amusement.

“So that’s the Dragonborn from the human realm,” said the first guy. He was a very handsome young man with curly golden blonde hair like that of ancient Grecian portraits, bright and twinkling blue eyes like stars, a small heart shaped beauty mark under his right eye, and beautiful pink full lips. His skin tone was of a creamy olive color. He had a rather muscular body, but perfectly proportioned like that of ancient Roman generals: not too buff but not too lean either. His appearance brings to mind that of an ancient Grecian hero.

“He doesn’t look all that interesting to me,” grumbled the second guy. He was an average good-looking young man with long curtained straight black hair, bold and piercing amber red eyes like smoldering coals, a small scar under his left eye, and a cleft chin. He had a tanner skin tone and his body was a little thinner than the first guy. His appearance brings to mind that of a feral dog ready to attack at the slightest provocation.

“That man defeated one of Ouroboros high-ranking members,” said the third guy bluntly. He was a handsome young man with short black hair save for a lock of bangs covering his right eye, burning and intense golden red eyes like the sun, and a cut on his left ear. His skin tone was fair like freshly fallen snow. Around his neck was a silver necklace with a dragon tooth for a pendant. His appearance brings to mind that of a high school bad boy.

“Say, when should we introduce ourselves?” asked the first guy.

“Don’t think I’ve accepted him yet,” said the second guy dismissively.

“He did protect the human realm from being overrun with scourges,” pointed out the first guy.

The third guy simply let out a grunt and said, “Do what you want. I saw everything I needed to see.” He then left the two and walked away.

On the other side of the crowd, three other people watched the entire thing with looks of amusement and intrigue. They were high class noble, as evident by their dress, and blended in very well with the crowd. The Dragonborn’s speech truly tickled them and showed them exactly what they came to see.

“He didn’t look all that great at first glance,” admitted the first noble, “But that speech was pretty impressive.” He was a short man with fiery red hair like a lion’s mane, dangerous and violent red ruby eyes, and beast-like sharp teeth. His skin was of a golden orange color like that of a yellow star. He was none other than the Red Emperor of Ouroboros.

“Protecting everyone’s next sunrise? Who does he think he is, some comic book superhero? With that being said, he looks like a pretty fun and interesting man,” said the second noble. She was a rather tall and skinny woman with long curly silver hair, opulent emerald green eyes, and a sharp chin. She also had on silver eye shadow and lipstick, and wore a string of diamonds around her neck. Her skin was a light greenish-silver. She was none other than the Green Empress of Ouroboros.

“To make that declaration out loud, he must be a man of faith to fearlessly say those words without thinking of the consequences,” mused the third noble. He was a tall man with broad shoulders, long white hair like soft snow, icy and calculating blue eyes, and a square jaw. His skin was of a milky white color. He was none other than the White Emperor of Ouroboros.

“Watching him receive the award and making that speech really made my blood boil,” said the Red Emperor excitedly. “I can’t wait to fight him. My body is already trembling with excitement at the thought!”

“Patience,” said the White Emperor with a cold smile. “We shouldn’t be too hasty. Besides, we have things to do first. Once we draw him out, then you can fight him.”

“Deal!” said the Red Emperor. “I can’t wait to see how strong of a fighter he is! I can’t wait to beat him and tear away at his flesh, split his skull apart, break every bone in his body, rupture his organs, and listen to his painful cries!” The Red Emperor laughed maniacally to himself at the thought.

And in the very back of the crowd, two people had watched the entire thing with approval and big smiles on their faces. “Hooray! Oniichan, hooray!” cheered Mika with the crowd. She and Yucchin clapped their hands with the thunderous audience. Although Mika wanted to watch the entire thing from the front, Yucchin convinced her otherwise. She would’ve stuck out like a sore thumb if she was to cheer for her brother in the front and unintentionally ruin her brother’s image with the crowd by drawing too much attention to herself, as hypothesized by Yucchin.

“Tatsuya did a real nice job with that speech,” praised Yucchin.

“Right, right, right?” agreed Mika, shaking her head like an excited puppy.

“Say, Micchan, are you going to tell your brother any time soon?” asked Yucchin.

“Tell him what?” asked Mika.

“About who you are.”

“Well, he already knows that I’m a dragon,” said Mika.

“You know what I mean,” said Yucchin.

“Just give it time,” Mika told him with a small smile, “The truth will out eventually.”

Once the ceremony was over, the group exited the arena and walked together to the station. Along the way, everyone praised Tatsuya for his award and speech. This brought about a big smile on the Dragonborn’s face. They stopped by at a street corner to take a short break.

“Well done, Tatsuya!” congratulated Mr. Urushihara.

“Thank you very much,” responded Tatsuya humbly.

“How does it feel to be recognized for your hard work as a hero, Tatsu?” asked Sasuke.

“I gotta admit, it feels pretty awesome,” answered Tatsuya sincerely.

“Three cheers for Tatsu-chin!” announced Manami.

Everyone agreed and shouted together three times, “Hooray for Tatsuya!”

As they did so, Tatsuya couldn’t help but laugh along. Suddenly, a person accidentally bumped into him; Tatsuya was standing at the edge of the group, so it was bound to happen. “Oh, sorry,” he apologized.

“I’m sorry too,” said the person.

The person walked off and Tatsuya saw something that caught his eye. The person’s right hand was glowing brightly. Suddenly, Tatsuya noticed his own right hand glowing too and saw the Mark of Marduk appear in all its glory. ‘What’s going on?’ he wondered. After a few seconds, it stopped and his right hand returned to normal. By then, the person had also disappeared from his line of sight.

“Darling, are you okay?” asked Aika.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm alright,” he told her with a reassuring smile. “Let’s go home.”