The heavens above bestowed upon mankind the gifts of love, faith, freedom, gratefulness, and hope. In celebration of these blessings, humanity has Valentine's Day for love, Christmas for faith, Independence Day for freedom, Thanksgiving for gratefulness, and Easter for hope. These celebrations bring joy to humanity.

On the other hand...

The hell below burdened mankind with the misfortunes of hate, grief, lust, greed, and fear. As a constant reminder of these afflictions, humanity has War for hate, Death for grief, Broken hearts for lust, Lies for greed, and Nightmares for fear. These misfortunes cause suffering among humans.

It has been since the beginning of time that the gods of good and evil have been in constant conflict with each other. Their eternal struggle aims to conquer human emotions—whether to instill fear or to inspire hope. Perhaps, in the limited span of human life, there is a chance that it won't be a constant agony, reaching the end of what they can endure on Earth. It's a delicate balance to lose one life or gain one spirit.

"Goddess of Hope, Dara," a celestial man in a long white robe approached the young woman who was playing with the cherubs in the heavens' playground.

Dara, at the sight of the holy man, kneeled down instantly, ready to obey any orders that might come her way. As the goddess of hope, it is her duty to provide humanity with hope when they are in despair and offer comfort in their times of need. She is tasked with saving them in their moments of desperation.

"Yes, Archangel Jaesuk," Dara answered politely, her head lowered, with her right hand on her knee and the other on the ground.

The cherubs around stopped playing and clumsily copied the goddess.

Archangel Jaesuk smiled fondly at his favorite student. Dara had been the perfect goddess in heaven. Lucky are the beings above to have Dara as one of their most loyal, dutiful, hopeful servants of the gods. She was not only a warrior but a delicate kind soul as well. And fortunate are the humans below bestowed by her gift to give them hope when they thought nothing could save them from despair.

However, as he thought about the reason for approaching the goddess, Archangel Jaesuk's smile dropped. "I'm here with holy orders ordained by our God Almighty and Archangel Joseph," he paused midway.

Dara smiled, feeling the concern in her mentor's voice. "I am honored to be of service to the Almighty and to his loyal messenger Archangel Joseph. How can I be of service?"

"I do not wish to send you," Archangel Jaesuk said regrettably. "But the human beings in Busan need hope right now. They are infested by the demons of anguish after the town faced calamity." He informed a heavy burden in his heart.

Dara didn't falter. "To give hope is the essence of my existence. To give these human beings something to cling to, to hope for, that in a time of need I would be able to bestow." She then looked up and smiled at her mentor. "How can I deny them such duty?"

Archangel Jaesuk, though still worried, blessed his favorite student for her departure, praying that she would be safe from harm's way. He tried to bury the nagging concern that if the goddess encountered any evil and was able to deliver their sin upon her, she would be stripped of her duty and immortality. That would be the end for the kind goddess of hope.

The goddess of hope, in her human form, handed the people of Busan blankets for the cold night. They lined up in the street, having lost their homes. They were freezing, but a kind woman started handing out blankets and warm soup to the hungry.

She smiled gently at them, and the people couldn't help but feel a tinge of hope in her presence.

"Thank you," they said. Some people even cried their thanks.

Dara held them and comforted them. "Don't lose hope. The Almighty is good and watching. Rescue is coming their way," she said gently.

"Ahhhh!"

A piercing scream echoed from a man, followed by the cries of frightened babies. The street was soon filled with the loud cries of women and children, becoming more scared and hopeless in their situation.

Dara walked over to the man, patting his back gently. "It will be alright. Just take a deep breath," she instructed, offering reassurance amid the chaos.

The man held his head, his face filled with anguish. "It's terrible. I had a nightmare. My wife and kids didn't survive. I...I...." He cried in despair.

Dara noticed a dark shadow in one corner just a few feet away from the crying man. The goddess didn't have to guess long about what it could be.

Nightmare.

Dara, though incapable of anger, gritted her teeth as she continued to comfort the man. "It's OK. Your wife and children are okay. You will see them again," she said, hopeful.

The man looked at her for the first time and couldn't help but cling to her words as he continued to cry.

"Appa!!"

A young boy's voice yelled in the far distance.

The man quickly looked up at the source of the voice and immediately stood up. "Wooyoung!" The man called back as he ran towards the young boy.

Dara teared up at the sight of the father and son reunion.

Hope has won again.

The goddess then stood up, happy to give hope, as she headed towards the corner where the dark shadow had disappeared to after being unhappy with the hopeful reunion of the humans.

"Nightmare," Dara called in the dark.

A male figure emerged from the shadows, clad in a dark shirt and long pants that contrasted sharply with his porcelain skin. His raven hair was neatly combed back and oddly sported a cross-shaped earring on his left ear. His cold, dark eyes pierced the brown orbs of the goddess.

"Losing hope—?" Before Dara could complete her sentence, she felt something splash behind her. Before she could register what had happened, she saw another man with red hair holding a red vial. She lost consciousness in Nightmare's arms, but not before hearing him say,

"Sweet dreams."

"GD."

The guy with the red hair, coat, and boots, also known as Lust, called the guy in black, attempting to give him a high five but only met with a glare from Nightmare. He shrugged instead. "We've caught Hope," he said.

GD did not say anything back as he stared at the goddess in his arms, an unreadable expression on his face.

Lust looked at the unconscious brunette with a hungry gaze, his lips. However, upon catching the evil's stare, he bit his tongue, holding back unnecessary comments. He created a portal instead. "Let's go, GD," he then jumped first.

GD carried the goddess in his arms as he jumped next to the portal, leading to... hell.
 

--//tbc//--

siv: what do you think? THANK YOU for reading. Brace yourself for the next chapter or two ^^ this is a short story dedicated to my 13th-year anniversary writing for daragon and for the daragon fans. Love daragon!

PS My blasphemy of a phone ran out of battery so couldn't continue writing/uploading the remaining chapters. Expect it tomorrow ^^ have hope.