Mythology and folklore had existed for as long as man has roamed the globe. For countless millennia, people had believed that they were nothing more than cautionary tales, stories used to explain the unexplainable.
During those millennia, they had been right.
Legends surrounded every corner of the sphere, telling tales that were similar, yet distinct enough that different mythologies and religions had begun to arise.
What people forgot to remember, was that everything written and said during those tales was passed on for a reason, that it had once been real.
With science taking over the world, it hadn't been a surprise to anybody that such stories would be forgotten, that nobody would truly believe them and listen to the warnings etched into stone and book.
Artorias didn't blame those people for believing what they did. If he had been raised in such a society, he would have very likely trusted more in science and logic more than some old dusty tome lying around and talking about the end of the world.
But, the gods, the Dievas, they existed.
Unfortunatly for humanity, so too did the monsters that plagued those stories.
That was what the Fallen Spawn were after all. They were the yokai and oni of Shinto mythology. The monsters of Greek and Roman mythology. The legends of Abrahamic and Jewish mythology.
With their existence being real, so too was the place in which they resided in.
Tartarus.
That too had many names for itself through various different mythology, but for the Ascended community, it was the name used to categorize the home of the Fallen Spawn and what brought them through to the real world.
A Tartarus Gate.
Each gate had a category attached to their appearance, starting with Category 1, at the lowest and rising to Category 5, as the highest.
What the categories dictated was the gates internal power. The higher the category the more danger it poised to humanity.
Category 1 gates were usually small, requiring only a single team of well-trained Grade 3 Ascended. They only released lower Ranked Fallen Spawn from within and could be closed through the death of the Fallen Spawn which had initially created the breach.
These Fallen Spawn would usually be of the Rank of Terror.
Two entire Ranks above that of a Deviant.
Category 2 gates were more often than not the same. With the difference being that they were capable of releasing more Fallen Spawn out of them at higher Ranks and it required the slaying of four Fallen Spawn at the Rank of Terror to close it.
Category 3 gates were vastly different.
With them inherently being larger in size, they could release vastly more abominations into the world, with the Fallen Spawn at the Rank of Terror now being part of the gate as only foot soldiers.
The thing that made them so heinous was their ability to grow. The longer they stayed open, the stronger and larger they became, swallowing entire cities within days as their power increased.
Turning those cities into Death Zones.
These gates were usually opened by Fallen Spawn at the Rank of Fiend.
Intelligent, powerful and versatile, with their powerful bodies, enhanced minds and various abilities, it usually took the combined might of various Grade 7 Ascended to kill and close these gates.
Japan, with no prior warning, had fallen victim to the sudden emergence of a Category 3 gate opening.
You could hazard a guess at how much damage it had already caused in the past three months of staying open.
"You…know where it is?"
Seirios looked at him with wide eyes, his previous suspicion all but forgotten.
Artorias only nodded, mentally cursing at his moral compass. Why did he have to be such a noble fool?
"Wh-Why did you hesitate to say it?"
Artorias sighed.
"You have a brain, don't you? Why do you think? If anybody found out I'd all but be dragged back into this mess of ruined buildings and festering abominations," he explained with a scowl.
The other teen ignored his biting tone. "Why'd you tell me then?"
Why exactly had he told him?
He could have taken it with him to the grave. He didn't owe anybody an explanation, especially when it was his own life on the line.
But…there was a reason.
A painful reason.
He was one of the hundreds of Ascended which had and would be sent to this dying city. He had lost somebody special to him…why would he make anybody else suffer the same heartache that he did, when he could prevent it.
"Because if I die on the way back to the Eastern Garrison, then at least somebody else will be able to get back to pass on the message."
Seirios looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"And if you do make it back alive?"
Artorias couldn't help but let a humorless smirk grow on his face.
"Then I'm bringing you with me. I'm not about to let myself be brought back to this place with the boring company of some stone-faced elites."
Seirios jumped to his feet, an indignant expression on his face as he pointed a finger at him. "Wha-You're using me as some future entertainment!?"
"You're very expressive. It's amusing." Artorias couldn't help but feel some amusement at the expense of the other teen.
"You're a bastard! I knew I should have let those abominations eat you alive!"
Artorias shrugged, "I'll have you know my parents were married when they had me."
"That's what you're focusing on!?"
"You're very loud, do you want to attract the attention of a Fallen Spawn?"
Seirios growled, throwing his hands up into the air before slapping them onto his face, somewhat muffling his scream of frustration.
Artorias couldn't help but laugh at him. Who would have thought riling somebody up would be so much fun?
After the moment had passed, and they had both calmed down, Artorias spoke again.
"Either way, I was being serious- "
Seirios snorted.
Artorias blinked.
"Did I say something funny?" he asked in confusion.
"Sorry, sorry. I've always done that," Seirios began to explain, waving his hand. "My name is spelt in the ancient Greek way, you know, after the constellation 'Sirius', but people usually say it as the word 'serious' when they call for me."
He had known that name sounded familiar, he just hadn't been able to place it.
'Canis Major, huh?'
He could have let the opportunity pass. But, the other teen had just called him a bastard, not two minutes ago.
"Call for you?" Artorias raised a brow, a smirk growing on his face.
"Please don't say it," Seirios groaned.
"-What like a dog?"
"Ugh," Seirios pushed his face into his hands, "I'm starting to hate you, gold brow."
Ignoring the nickname, Artorias continued; "Before I was interrupted, what I was trying to say was, that I was serious- "he ignored the other teens snort with a roll of his eyes, "-about this information needing to get back. The more people that know the better, so…is your Fireteam still alive?"
The question seemed to startle him out of his previous joking mood. A dark look flashing through his eyes.
The reason Artorias asked was two-fold.
To gain an insight into Seirios' character and for the added hope that there were others still alive somewhere out there.
He could have, after all, simply abandoned his Fireteam and tried to make his way back to the garrison before either getting lost or finding Artorias.
Seirios' answer would dictate how their partnership would progress from here.
"No…they all got picked off one by one until I was the last one standing."
'Shit.'
"Let me guess," Artorias sighed, memories he had recently relived flashing through his mind. "A Fallen Spawn shaped like a bat with too many arms, too many eyes and too much murderous glee to contain."
Seirios didn't look surprised that he knew about it. If anything, he looked pleased. Not at the death of his team, no, Artorias had already seen enough of his character to know it wouldn't be something as vile as that.
It was more like the satisfaction of solving a puzzle. Of finding an answer to a tricky exam or remembering a song you had spent an entire day humming to yourself in a desperate attempt to remember it.
"It got you too huh?"
Artorias nodded, already knowing they were thinking alike.
It had been something that had been bugging him for a while now, but it was his conversation with Seirios that had finally helped him with putting the puzzle pieces into place.
How only some of the Ascended had made it back to the garrison. How he had struggled with finding any other human besides Seirios. Who himself had admitted to finding him through chance luck.
Their eyes met, sapphire against gold, as they reached the same conclusion.
"Either that's the Fiend who created the gate…"
"…or the gates grown big enough to let something worse through."