On the one hand, given how creatively Tan Jianci often dresses, this seems like an odd choice for a brand partnership. On the other hand, this campaign contains several charmingly smug smiles we don't see enough of from JC-T. 🤷
For a while I've been wanting to get some of my memories out in some form. Instead of trying to write them as if they were stories, being told in the moment, I've decided that I should just write them as if they were journals. Which, essentially they are. So here we are.
Journal (tagged posts)
I do have a few caveats:
Terms: I use the terms Mazoku, Dark Lords, Shinzoku, and Dragon Gods, and others interchangeably. This is for convenience as these terms are as close to accurate as possible.
Time and calendar: Some of these entries will have a year on them. The calendar system that most of the population on Ruby used was reset at the end of the war when Aqua was destroyed. I've based the events on that calendar system.
That said, all dates are approximate. There are some difficulties in matching Ruby's yearly cycle with this planet's: Ruby was further away from the sun and had a longer year. Dates are provided only to give a sense of how much time has passed between events.
Some the entries will be a third person narrative. These are usually events that I wish to provide more detail than I would normally include in a first person narrative or events of which I do not have first hand knowledge.
The events are only as accurate as my memory. That and hindsight.
There may be some omissions; even a Dark Lord forgets some things.
Chaos Dragon Gaav recounts the story of his and the other Dark Lords' creation by Ruby Eyes Shabranigdu.
The very earliest memories I have are of Lord Ruby Eyes at the moment of my creation. It was like rousing from a dead sleep into a waking nightmare of chaos and destruction. The land around us was rent and torn; billowing smoke hid the sky; lightning crashed through the vault of heavens; the earth heaved as it vomited liquid fire into the waters that boiled away into great spouts of superheated steam.
The battleground of two Gods locked in mortal combat, each unwilling to surrender to the other.
There are glimpses of things that occurred before this moment, as we had all existed as part of His being prior to our creation, and we shared His memories:
The long battle with Flare Dragon. Pain, Despair that we would never achieve our goals.
There was also rage. And hate. Everything that makes a Mazoku a Mazoku.
Even grief at the knowledge that We would not survive much longer.
---
The battle with Ceiphied had brought the two of them to the little planet that we would later call Ruby (in honor of our Lord). As they struggled, these two titanic Beings crashed into the land mass. The impact shattered the surface, devastating the land and leaving only a ring of archipelagos and island continents of inhabitable land.
Gravely wounded, both Flare Dragon and Ruby Eyes retreated a distance from each other. Ceiphied, knowing he was nearly spent used a portion of his power to create his Dragon Gods: Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. They would serve as guardians after he had passed out of this material plane. With them, Ceiphied retreated for a time to gather his strength.
Also severely weakened by their battle, Lord Ruby Eyes observed Ceiphied as he created his Generals. He could not let Ceiphied and his underlings gain control and so Ruby Eyes decided to create His own Generals to counter the others.
First born was Hellmaster Phibrizzo; to him Ruby Eyes did grant a greater portion of His power as well as dominion over Death. The King of Death was to be one who would lead His children in the war that would come.
Greater Beast Zelas Metallium and Deep Sea Dolphin were next and given dominion over the beasts of Earth and Water, both monstrous and eldritch. Air and the realm of Shadow and Void was Dynast Grausherra’s gift from our Father.
Having brought forth these four, Ruby Eyes paused to consider the beings that Ceiphied had made for himself. The Flarelord had given his children forms akin to his own, great Dragons to guard the planet. To mock His Brother’s creations, Ruby Eyes formed me as a Dragon, but a dark reflection of these others. Larger, the color of blood and fire and darkness. He gave my form three heads as a further corruption of them, but also as a way to watch from from all angles. He also instilled in me a great love of War, and the power of Fire to fill my belly and spew forth upon those who sought to oppose us.
And he named me Chaos Dragon Gaav.
---
My first sight was of His eyes: Boiling blood, bright lava as it burst forth from the belly of the world; the light of a red star, swollen and hungry in death. All the knowledge of the Universe held within those eyes and that mind. I could feel His mind upon me, shaping me to a purpose, to do His bidding, to carry out our goal of returning this hated universe back to LON.
Overcome with the pain of becoming, I fell to my knees before him, naked and covered with blood and fire. I had been part of Him; He had been part of me. The pain was nearly unbearable; I had been ripped from His very soul, His very being. The experience was traumatic beyond any mortal’s ability to comprehend. I had been part of Him and the others, and now I was separate. That alone was fueled a deep rage within me: At Him for removing me from His being; at Ceiphied and his Dragons for forcing Ruby Eyes into commiting this act of self-mutilation.
He regarded the five of us, arrayed on our knees before Him. And we worshipped Him.
He passed along our line, touching each of us on the shoulder, and together we rose and took up positions behind Him. Flare Dragon approached with his new generals in tow. As they drew near, Shabranigdu attacked Ceiphied, and set us upon the Dragon Gods.
We fought. For a day, a week, month, year. A centuries or many, perhaps. Time had a different meaning to us then. It did not matter how long we fought; we were doing what He had created us to do.
---
Eventually, however, Ruby Eyes stumbled, mortally wounded. Before we could reach him, Ceiphied had fallen upon Him and with his jaws tore our Father’s body and soul apart. Into seven pieces, and with the last of his fading power Ceiphied flung them into the waters and scattered the fragments of His soul into the souls of the beings that lived on this tiny planet. They called themselves Human, and by sealing away His soul Ceiphied hoped to eventually diminish Ruby Eyes’ power until it vanished altogether.
Screaming with rage and grief and hate we fell upon the Flare Dragon. He had been weakened and did not, could not fight back. Though the Dragon Gods tried to stop us, we managed to rend his body so that he was forced to subside out of this material plane and back into the Sea of Chaos.
We fell back, as did the Dragon Gods, and we regarded each other warily. The battle was over, but the war had just begun. We were without our Lord, but we had a purpose: To try and end this universe. And we would spend the next several eons battling the Dragon Gods in our attempts to do just that.
