The Soul of a Hero
Chapter 2
Now we're getting a bit more built up with these characters. Especially a new one I've added and who their partner will be. And what will happen with their rest? Let's just say I'm not opposed to doing things the manga and anime's way. With a group of student/meisters being introduced who are important for the first few stories. And this will be the second one. So on with the show.
(No POV)
After finding the strange girl in front of the main research lab, the Shields quickly had her brought to the hospital on I Island. The doctors checked the girl over but found little in terms of any details she could give them.
"We did discover something though. We're assuming that the girl is quirkless. She has the two joints in her pinkie toe, so we were going off of that." A doctor explains while the father daughter duo were visiting the patient.
David Shield nodded while subtly looking back at his daughter. The man was a bit surprised to find someone else with the same disability that his daughter had. 'I wonder if that was the reason we found her. Perhaps someone had run her off because they didn't want her. How awful.'
When they visited the girl, she was still sleeping, though peacefully. There was an IV in her arm because she seemed a bit malnourished. She barely responded as the doctors checked her over and tried to find what they could on who she was.
"Any improvements?" David asked when they arrived at the girl's room. "No sir. Barely even a reaction. And we're not sure why." The doctor said as Melissa stepped in an stood next to the girl. She had barely opened her eyes when Melissa found her and checked her over. And seeing her like this made the blue eyed girl hope that she'd wake up soon.
And apparently that hope was answered. Melissa had taken the girl's hand as if to say that she was there for her. But this caused a new reaction that no one had expected. The girl had started to stir and tightened her grip on Melissa's hand.
She woke up slow, her eyes fluttering slightly as she awoke. Surprising everyone in the room. The girl grunted slightly while trying to sit up. "Whoa take it easy. Here." Melissa said before gently raising the girl's bed.
The girl gazed around at everyone present. Finding the unusual souls she could see disturbing or unsettling. Except for the one next to her. Melissa to her golden serpentine eyes looked normal. Human. Not whatever most of the rest of them were.
"Hello there. I'm David Shield and this is my daughter Melissa. Could you tell us your name young lady?" David said as he came over to talk with the girl. She looked between Melissa and David a few times. Puzzled by how they could be father and daughter.
The girl lifted up her left hand and started to sign with it. Though it was making the IV move around funny in her arm. "Please wait! We'll give you a tablet to speak for now. At least until we're sure you have enough nutrients in your body." The lizard like doctor said with a bit of panic.
She recoiled slightly at the doctor's appearance and tried to back away a bit as he came forward. Dave noticed this and asked the man to stop. "We'll follow up on what you said doctor. But maybe we need to give her some space." With the exception of Melissa who she was gripping tighter.
The doctor noticed that the golden eyed girl seemed uneasy or afraid of him. And agreed with some sad trepidation. "Don't take it personally. Someone who had a mutant type quirk might have been behind why she was in the state we found her in."
"I suppose I see your point Dr. Shield. And if that is the case, I don't really blame her. But it does still hurt." A few more human looking doctors came in later. One carrying a tablet that let the girl talk to everyone.
She stilled eyed everyone with suspicion but was willing to trust for now. "My name is Eldora Kaida Vivar. Can you tell me where I am?" The doctors quickly took down the girl's name before Melissa and David started asking her more questions.
But many of the ones she answered and then asked, they couldn't understand or reason with. Especially when she asked about a place called Death Weapon Meister Academy or the DWMA. "There's no hero school with that name. Besides, who'd want to go to one with a name like that?"
El, as Melissa had come to calling her, just looked at him funny. Questioning what he meant by a hero school. "That's the only hero school I know of. It's where everyone trains who wants to learn how to handle their powers or become the guardians of peace and order in the world."
Everyone again looked at El like she was crazy, but Melissa could tell that the girl was telling the truth. She hummed about it on the way home after talking to El and trying to get more answers from the girl.
"Very little of what's she's said makes sense. I've never heard of any of the things she's mentioned. And quite a few things she's talked about sound crazy. Saying I look like twisted or bent? What's that all about? Let alone some of the other comments about the other doctors." Dave talked out while walking home.
Melissa herself seems conflicted and confused as well. But she starts putting some of the pieces together on the walk home. Eventually coming to her conclusion. "Your quirk! I wonder if she saw your quirk somehow!"
This gets Dave to stop and ask what his daughter meant. "Think about it papa! Your quirk is squirmy or bendy fingers, right? Maybe what she's seeing or rationalizing through her sight is what your quirk is!"
Dave's eyes were wide as he moved his finger back and forth a bit before twisting them together. A seeing that his daughter was right! "That's incredible! Maybe she could identify quirks that no one else can make sense of with her own?" Melissa agreed but said they might want to wait until she was out of the hospital.
The next day they bring forth the theory to the doctors and El when they visit. El herself is confused but goes along to prove her point. And she accurately predicts and analyzes the likely quirks of all of the people present. Even those who had very subtle quirks; like a woman who had a quirk that increased the collagen in her skin. Making her look far younger than anyone believed. And after she had just been passing it off as a secret skin routine.
Though it still confused the doctors as they confirmed she wasn't using a quirk of any kind and they could detect nothing to indicate something similar. A little over a week after she had awakened, there was bad news for young miss Vivar.
"El? We've tried contacting the addresses you gave us, but we've had no luck contacting where you said your family was." Dave said sadly after one day when El was doing some physical therapy. She looked at him with shock and confusion before grabbing his shirt and looking like she wants to scream out at him.
But she couldn't and the most she could do was cry quietly. Dave pulled her into a slight hug before asking if she wanted to stay with him and Melissa. El looked up with a bit of shock at Dave before looking to Melissa as well.
She just smiled before holding her hand out to the girl. El's soul surged a bit and gladly took the extended hand. And she was released into the custody of David Shield.
Melissa happily took El around after she was released to get the girl some new clothes. Given they'd found her in basically rags. The first shopping trip, the first thing she picked out was a golden yellow shirt where the sleeves weren't on her shoulders (think similar to Nessa from Twilight Wings, but gold). With a tan corset over that. Which better accentuated her bust that rivaled Melissa's own.
For he legs, she had long tight denim jeans and wore slightly heeled sandals on her feet. And she got a few piercings for her ears. The main one being a pair or dragon shaped ones. El made quite the scene when she first got fully dressed drawing the eyes of everyone around. Especially given her nice tan, reflective of her Spanish ancestry, and stunning eyes.
Melissa felt slightly self-conscious in comparison to her new adopted sister. But El had a mischievous smile before dragging Melissa in and trying on a few outfits herself. Some to play off her slightly geeky nature. And others that accentuated her beauty without her glasses. Like a tight blue sweater and tan jeans combination. Topped off with a tan jacket if one were inclined to wear it.
This brought even more attention to the pair when they were at school or even just in the town. El looking akin to a stereotypical gal or gyaru from Japan with leg warmers on her ankles in her uniform. With the fan club that was originally dedicated to Melissa growing to being the Mel and El fan club. (I'll be totally honest; I did not plan that it just worked too well.)
El was a little less focused on her studies, but she was by no means stupid. Keeping well in the top ten of the class she was enrolled in. People were even growing accustomed to the fact she was a mute and would use sign language to talk most of the time.
During one of the breaks after class, El overheard something odd that one of her classmates was watching. "What's up?" she signed after getting their attention. A few had been watching a video about a sidekick from Japan who had apparently gone crazy after meeting the Hero Killer: Stain.
"Dude was saying some kid with a scarf came out of nowhere when he was paralyzed by Stain. Said he had a gun and a sword to fight with and when the fight was done they turned into girls." One of the boys said before asking if the guy was high or just wishing he'd been saved by some angels.
El hummed in her mind before asking if he had described the weapons that killed the man. And when the forms were similar or recognizable to her, El knew that the others were in this world just like her.
'But why did we all end up in a lot of different places? And what about Mr. Star?' El thought before one of her classmates brought her out of those. "Everything cool?" El just waved it off as it being something crazy and out of their league. Getting chuckles from the rest.
On the way home though, Melissa questioned why it was that El had asked that. The girl initially tried to pass it off as just curiosity. But her sister isn't buying it. "What's the real reason?" Melissa pressed with a gleam from her glasses.
But before El could try to explain or avoid the question, a crash is heard up the street. A large villain appeared to have mutated again and was rampaging about the streets. This stops Melissa's questioning as she turns to run from the person.
El though isn't moving. No matter how Melissa pulls on her. El focuses her eyes and sees what is going on inside that person. She can see that whoever it was had been changed by choice. Using drugs and had more than one soul swarming around inside of them. And they had happily killed more than once.
"Eldora, we need to run!" Melissa says frantically while pulling on El's arm. El just puts her hand on Melissa's and says with her eyes that it would be fine. Right as the villain was on top of them, El's eyes flashed as she took a breath. And unleashed a stream of fire from her mouth.
This injures the villain and shocks Melissa. El then takes Melissa's hand and speaks to her with her soul. "I'll try to explain everything later sis. But for now, I need your help to take this bitch down and save everyone!"
Melissa is shocked to hear what she assumed was El's voice in her head. And right as she was asking what her sister was talking about, El started to glow. She then disappeared and on Melissas right arm was a round, ornate Spanish shield with a fierce golden dragon in the center.
"What the HELL!?" Melissa shouted before El warned her to move to the side. Melissa saw what she meant and rolled to the side before El instructed her on where to dodge a few more times. "Okay, h-h-how can you tell where she's going to attack?!"
"I can see her soul and get an idea on how she's going to attack us. But it works a lot better when I've got someone I can properly resonate with." Before Melissa can question anything El had told her, she saw that the villain's attention had shifted to a few other civilians.
She wants to help them somehow, but she didn't have any of the tools she had built with her. "Sis! I sensed a little bit of what of what you imagined or had in mind. If you can imagine it, then do it! Trust me!" El said from within her soul space.
Melissa wasn't entirely sure, but there were a lot of odd things happening today. So why not? She took a stance with her right arm back, ready to throw El's shield form to intercept the blow of the villain. Not only that but she could imagine the likely path and trajectory that the shield would take after the throw.
And she chucks El with as much strength as she can muster. El decides to take it a bit of a step further and puts a fiery razor edge on her body. Slicing clean through the outstretched hand of the villain.
This shocks Melissa, the villain, and the few she was trying to save. With Melissa now seeing a new trajectory for El to possibly bounce back to her. Given slicing through the arm wasn't what she had in mind. But El can sense Melissa's new path for her and uses it to bounce back.
"Okay what the hell was that?! You just cut off their hand like it was nothing!" Melissa shouts after El had returned and the others had gotten away. El just rolled her eyes from within her soul self before saying, "it's not like she deserves any mercy! Do you know how many people this bitch has killed?!"
Melissa questions how El could know that before the villain is on them again. This time she is solely focused on them. And Melissa has to stand her ground and block the strikes at one point because there were a few kids who had run in to see the villain fight.
Melissa almost feels like her arm was breaking after one hit. "Mel listen! You need to trust me! I need you to concentrate. I know you can kind of see souls, since you're now connected to me. Trust me and take a good look at this woman."
Melissa still is uneasy about what El is talking about, but she trusts the girl. And her eyes gain a golden hue, as she sees all the evil this one woman has done. From extortion and blackmail to murder. With her happiest kill being someone who thought they loved her. Let alone the deaths of villages of innocents and quirkless people. 'Speeding along the process' being her reasoning.
Seeing this infuriates Melissa to tears and even more powerful flames expound from the shield. Melissa's eyes are full of rage as she pushes back the villain's hand while it is burning. "Get out of here!" she shouts to the kids behind her.
Without realizing it, she had fully started to resonate with El. With Melissa taking the enhanced perception that El's soul gave her to see a new set of possibilities and ways to cut this woman down.
"I don't understand any of this El. But are you ready?" El smirks in her souls space before confirming that she was. Melissa took another stance with the shield directly in front of her and charged forward. The villain then used a quirk she got from a doctor that made a few extra arms and punched down towards the girls.
But Melissa anticipated this and used the off center positioning of each strike to deflect them and set her arm more on fire. She then grabbed the arm as the large woman was flailing and climbed up to get closer to the head.
"There's no other way?" "There's nothing else she deserves." Melissa and El say to each other. With Melissa taking a deep breath before chucking the razor edged shield at the villain's neck. But the woman dodge at the last second and El's shield form bounced off.
The large villain snarled at Melissa, before threatening to kill her. But Melissa was still smirking. And it grew bigger as the villain turned to try and grab Melissa. And right into the path that El was bouncing towards. Cleaving the woman's head clean off, before bouncing twice more and back to Melissa's outstretch hand.
She then jumps down from the position on the woman's arm and lands with a slightly stylish flip. With El's shield form impacting on the ground in front of her. The moment is broken though when Melissa screams in pain from the impact and shock to her knees.
Behind her though, the villain's body dissipates and transforms into a small red egg. El transforms back and takes ahold of the items. Quickly signing to Melissa that this was the soul of the woman they just fought. Melissa is of course confused but given everything else that had happened it's somewhat minor in comparison.
"You better explain when we get home." Melissa says before saying they needed to get out of there. With some emergency personnel headed their way. When they get home, Dave is happy to see that both of his girls were okay. "The place that villain attacked was right on your way home. I guess you two got away before whatever hero showed up to deal with them."
Melissa gives an uneasy chuckle before looking to El. Who was still holding the soul of the villain they killed. "Before I do anything, I need to use the bathroom." El signed with her adopted family looking at her like she was nuts.
In the bathroom though, El wasn't actually using the facilities. She fogged up the mirror before trying something she'd only vaguely thought of. '42-42….. what was it? Oh right, 564. Whenever you want to knock on Death's door.'
Nothing happens for a few seconds, but then it eventually connects. "Hello! Hello! Looks like we have another one. How long can you hold this? Oh its getting easier and better. That's good."
Melissa and Dave hear this from the bathroom and are extremely concerned and confused. So, Melissa breaks into the bathroom first and sees that her adopted sister is talking to a strange man with black hair and three white stripes around it. And a pair of cowgirls were standing next to him.
"El? What the hell is going on?" Melissa says with confusion. It is mirrored by Dave when he peeks in and sees the same thing as Melissa. El then quickly signs that the person in the mirror was a person called Lord Death. "Or…. Ya'know. The Grim Reaper." She signs nonchalantly.
Dave needs to sit after hearing that, while Melissa herself asked if that was really who he was. "Indeed young lady. I see you've met young Vivar somehow. Could you please tell me your name?" Lord Death says diplomatically.
Melissa agrees before introducing herself and her father. Though Death seems a bit perturbed by something. "I'm curious, how is it that you young lady have a normal human looking soul. While your father's looks…. Well frankly twisted and warped?"
This gets both of their eyes wide and silently looking between each other. Dave then asks if he knew what quirks were. Lord Death looked at him funny, before one of the cowgirls made a joke at his expense. "Does this guy's crazy OCD count as a quirk? Because that's what it is in our world."
This gets the other girl laughing while Lord Death winces. "Liz! Patty! Not now. Though I won't fully deny that. Anyway that is what we define as quirks. Are they something different in your world?"
While still being shocked, the pair were even more dumbfounded at the idea of another universe. Dave eventually shook off the shock and explained what quirks were in their world. After his explanation, Lord Death hummed a bit. "That might explain what one of ours meant by so many people have warped, broken, twisted and malformed souls. These quirks must be damaging them all at a spiritual and possibly mental level."
Hearing it explained like that made both of the scientists uneasy and a bit sick to their stomach. Dave moreso. Lord Death goes on to explain more about what was involved with El, demon weapons, and the DWMA. Surprising them both again, but less than before. Given El had tried to explain this all to them earlier.
"You said that you found miss Vivar a few weeks ago? Well that is a bit odd. We've had an agent in that world for at least a year now. Though talking with him has been sporadic at best and he was training a new meister in Japan."
"He's the one who took out that Stain guy right?" El quickly signed and Lord Death confirmed that. Saying he had judged the man as one to be killed. While also saying that soul in El's hands would have counted as well. "She was actually on my list but Jon and Izuku were too far away from where she was to intervene. I'm glad you took care of it."
"What gives you the right to judge these things and order deaths!?" Dave shouts with a furious look on his face. Lord Death hums before asking if David believed in God. "Of course, not I'm a scientist. There are no gods."
Lord Death smiled before saying, "you're wrong. Your speaking to a God right now. A god of death, law, order, and peace. Though I am the second. The previous Lord Death was my father. And when I came into my full power… he passed away. Because there can only be one true Grim Reaper at a time."
This shocks Dave and he wanted to deny what the man was saying. Until Lord Death steepled his fingers before closing his eyes. And then described a current crime taking place in a different part of the world. Then at least four more, before asking Dave to double check.
Each of the crimes was in places with security he had specifically made, so the man could check from his tablet or phone. And found that the security had been compromised in each of the locations. With Lord Death giving specific descriptions of each criminal and what their list of crimes were.
This stuns the man and while he wants to claim that Lord Death could be using a clairvoyance quirk, he knew those often came with very specific activation conditions and only operated for a set amount of time or one person.
"So….. God is real?" Dave says with a gulp. Lord Death gives him a slight smile before saying, "more than you may know." With Dave's (and a bit of Melissa's) faith shaken, the Reaper explained more of what was happening.
From a few other weapons being in the same world, to a large number of witches being warped there thanks to Star and Guan intervening in the spell. "And if what you said was true, then we may have weapons and meister warping to the world at different times. Maybe even the witches as well."
When Lord Death mentions that El needs a meister, the girl just grabs Melissa's arm before signing that she already had one. Kid looked Melissa over again and appraised her soul. Seeing the potential she had and El described how Melissa had wielded her during their fight.
"I see. Then perhaps it would be best for this girl to be trained by Star. Though he might have an issue with having a female student." Lord Death says. Liz though speaks up by saying, "hey it might also help him. The guy is a mess and while I understand his issues, he can't keep letting them drag him down."
Dave interrupts this time by asking if the girls could stay on I Island at least for a while. "I'd like to know a bit more about all of these things. And frankly I'd like to see what it is El can do. I'm….. I'm also scared for my girls." Dave says while looking back at El and Melissa.
Lord Death hums before agreeing with the man for the time being. "At least for a little while. The thing is though, both of them might need more specialized training. Especially Melissa. Star himself is one of the most impressive physical meisters from the academy."
"Not to mention being the Successor of the War God of the DWMA. And the most capable of fighting without his weapon." Liz says while Patty happily quips that he's a real monster. Lord Death agrees and thinks that Star could unlock more of Melissa's potential. "But for now, I'll agree to letting Melissa and Eldora stay with you for the time being."
Dave thanks Lord Death before the mirror fades out. He taps the mirror a few times before asking how El made them connect to that side. She smiles before telling him to write 42-42-564 on the mirror.
Dave does this and it statically connects again to the Death Room. When Lord Death asks what is wrong, Dave chuckles before admitting that he needed to make sure he wasn't going crazy or hallucinating. Lord Death and the cowgirls give Dave a flat look before disconnecting again.
Over the next few days, Dave has his girls stay at their home lab while they test what Melissa and El can do. While Melissa isn't physically fit, thanks to the empowerment from El's soul and learning a bit of how to use it to enhance her own body, she can easily best scores of villain bots.
Even showing impressive agility, strength, and a bit of durability when she does get hit. While El benefits from Melissa's analytical mind and calculating experience from designing devices. With Melissa being able to throw El around and bounce her against multiple points before it comes back to her.
Dave shakes his head after seeing the two rip through scores of villain bots easily. Even handling one that was being sent to UA for their zero-point final test. Dave pursed his lips a blew out before saying, "this is insane. If I wasn't seeing it right now, I probably wouldn't believe it."
"I know what you mean papa. It's all kind of crazy to me too. And to think; if we hadn't found El, then we might not have found a greater truth and reality out there." Melissa said after the session was finished. Toweling off while El transformed back.
Dave sighed again before mentioning that he'd called Toshnori or All Might for a favor. "I played it of as an analytical hero looking to get in shape here on the island, but he did send a workout plan to at least help you get started on some fitness training. If you're really sure about this."
Melissa takes the printed out notes and looks over the sheets with some trepidation. "If this is what is coming our way papa, then me and El need to face it. And we need to win." El agrees. Signing, "like Hell I'm going to let those bitches get away with what they did to me and others. And besides plenty of others could use the help and justice of the DWMA."
Dave looks to both girls before agreeing. And telling them both to be careful. When they leave though, he questions how many other weapons and meisters are in their world now. "And how do we know when they'll all show up?"
On the plains of southern Ghana, a young woman was walking with her head covered. It was hot and humid where she was walking, but she was following something important. Her soul perception.
She could vaguely sense the soul of her old friend and partner in the outskirts of Accra. "Whew. I'll find you soon. Kpinga." The grey eyed young woman with her black hair in braids said as she walked towards the city.
If anyone is curious about the name of the weapon girl in this one, I mixed it from a variety of sources. Though the lead inspiration was from Spain and El Cid's shield, I went with an Islamic Japanese name for the middle given how prevalent Islam was to Spain for a major part of their history.