"Izuku!" A cry for help reverberates in his head as Izuku wakes up in a cold sweat. His heart pounds and his ears ring as his dream slips through the vestiges of his memories, making him feel as if he were missing something important, something vital. It makes him feel the sort of anxiousness that one cannot easily get rid of. The one that makes your hair stand on end and your ribs itch, making you want to rake your nails against your skin or do something to alleviate the symptoms.

For now, however, Izuku can do nothing but sit upright and lean sideways on the wall. Bo makes a worried bleat while Peep headbutts him in question. Izuku smiles. "I'm fine guys," Chrys side glances at him from his desk where he weaves a crown of poppy flowers. The poppies centers were dark and their petals radiant. Izuku smiles again, this time meaning it, "Really. It was just a bad dream."

"If you say so, Izzie," Wisteria says, flying up close to his face. "But if you start to have a bad feeling about your dreams, you tell us, okay?"

Izuku nods. Satisfied, Wisteria goes back to picking the crystal flowers from Ollie and bundling them up in bouquets with red braided threads. They stay inside his room for safekeeping, which all his Neighbors understand, but they can make do with one each day if they so pleased. Usually, Sara, Bo, and Peep ate theirs while his Ariel Neighbors absorbed its magic. They've kept the first one they've been given from this whole ordeal, safekeeping it in his room in separate glass jars with strips of colored clothes tied neatly on each jar. It's cute, in a sentimental sort of way.

Izuku yawns, stretching his arms wide over his head before slowly bringing them back to rest on his lap. Iris throws him his towel and looks at him pointedly, hands-on-hips and all that jazz. Izuku slumps his shoulders before getting up to do his morning routine. He opens his window to let Bo and Peep zoom about, and positions Sara in the streaming sunlight, before grabbing a clean change of clothes and heading for the bathroom. He showers and does all he needs to do before he truly feels awake. Perhaps it was the shower, or maybe perhaps it was a gust of wind Iris conjured to dry his hair, but by the end of it, he's awake and ready to go about his day. The itch of forgetfulness from his dream is dulled for the time being.

He notices how long his hair is becoming as he brushes it, having not trimmed it in months, and how now it reaches a bit past his shoulders. He looks at it, truly stares, and notices the difference. Its weighed down now, appearing more and more like his mom's straight hair than his uncontrollable mane that he's always been accustomed to. Which is weird.

Izuku calls for Wisteria and asks, politely, if she'd like to do anything to his hair. He'll never forget her enthusiastic nod, nor how she called for backup in the forms of Chrys and Iris. They end up doing a half braided updo before settling the poppy flower crown on his head. Izuku can't lie, he likes how he looks in the mirror. He thanks his Neighbors profusely before they all head downstairs for breakfast, the smell of eggs and sausages guiding him to the kitchen

His mom gushes over his hair for a good minute or two, complementing his Neighbors aloud into the air so that they may hear it despite her not being able to see them. Izuku quickly repeats their thanks and explains, slyly, how they're glad to have her approval and praise. His mom's eyes light up, and she tears up not long after.

"You guys are precious," she says, wiping away her tears. "I wish I could see you so that I could thank you all properly." If his Neighbors countenances are anything to go by, they wish that as well. His mother has always left a good impression on his Neighbors in general, having only ever wanted the best for him and always trying her best to support him. Even despite her misgivings with his dream of becoming a hero, with him being quirkless and all.

Chrys picks a stray poppy from the crown, and his mom watches as the flower floats between them to rest behind her ear. "Midori-chan, tell her we're grateful for giving magic a chance."

Izuku repeats what Chrys said.

His mom smiles brightly. "Of course, honey, why wouldn't I? It runs in the family, after all."

In tandem, Izuku and his Ariel Neighbors tilt their heads in confusion. "Huh?"

His mom, in turn, beckons Izuku to follow her to the greenhouse to tend to the flowers while they talk. There, she tells him about her granny Amaya's stories and how she believed that her granny had the Sight, just like him. She sombrely tells him how she started to believe all those tales to be just fantastical stories her granny told to pass time as his mom grew older, instead of known facts.

"You didn't believe her," Izuku can't help but point out. "You enjoyed her stories, but you didn't believe her." He doesn't know how to feel about that.

"Yeah," she sighs sadly while watering the dahlias. She hikes the watering can against her hip. "It's hard to learn to believe in the incredible and illogical, Izuku. But you? You're different. Even without magic, without being a Sleigh Beggy, I have no doubt in my mind you would've believed granny Amaya's stories and taken them to heart."

"Perhaps," he says, red in the face.

"You would have," Iris says, "you would have definitely taken them to heart, Izzie."

"That's what makes you incredible, Izuku," she states with conviction. "Now, come here. We're going to repot the chamomile."

He smiles and helps where he can, and they putter around in the greenhouse for the entire morning. During that time his mother tells him more about granny Amaya and her stories. Izuku is surprised with how knowledgeable his mom is about magic and its dos and don'ts and many faux passes. She tells him of his father, and how he was knowledgeable on Japanese legends and stories as opposed to his mom's more European inclined folklore.

"Granny Amaya's great-grandfather had the Sight," his mom says, "Or so Granny Amaya always said. She described her great-grandfather, grandfather Fumiki, as special. Apparently, his parents separated when he was just a baby, and he never got to meet his mother because she passed away, and his sister disappeared soon after, so he set out to discover the world and its secrets when he grew up."

"Because of his Sight?"

His mom nods in the affirmative, "Yes, so he became an archeologist to find irrefutable proof that he wasn't going insane with whispers of magic passing by his ear. But then he gave that job up." She sighs. "Quirks started to pop up around the time your great-many-times grandfather was thirty, and he knew that upheaval would soon begin."

"What did he do?"

"He became a quirk activist, and he became a good one at that. He did a lot of stuff, and that included changing his career to be geared more towards law so that he could help quirked people. Later in life, as he grew older, he was written off as insane due to his Sight. He passed on his knowledge that he gained as an archeologist to granny Amaya, who in turn passed it on to whoever would listen to her in our family. She used to have this book, she would read it all the time, and now thinking back on it, it might have been great-many-time grandfather Fumiki's findings of magic in his time as an archeologist."

By noon Chise ("drop the honorific, there's no need for formalities now,") pops her head in and asks him to accompany her to run some errands in the village. After exchanging a glance with his mom, he readily agrees. He helps Chise pack all the packages that ought to be wrapped as well and helps her put them all on the pull-along wagon. They live on the outskirts of Myrge Nyht, the village, and so it takes them a good ten minutes just to walk into the village square.

They mostly run medicinal pouches that contain herbal remedies, and there are many times where the village people stop and greet Chise, speaking eagerly to her and asking about Izuku's wellbeing.

"I do good," he responds in their tongue, with Chise softly correcting his English to: "I'm doing well."

Chise smiles each time and lends a listening ear to their problems — if their faces are anything to go by — when need be. She's patient and caring and every bit of a lady of the village. Chise quietly tells Izuku in their mother tongue how many people believe her and her husband to have a longevity quirk due to how long she and Elias have lived in their cottage and taken care of village needs. They, as in Chise and Elias, are collectively called the Guardians of Myrge Nyht, for they care for the sick and keep an eye out on the general goings of the village. If a problem arises, Elias and Chise are there to lend a helping hand. Both are well respected, and that respect is carried over to Izuku and his mom, who are under their care.

"Ask for anything, and you shall receive, but everything must be in equal exchange—"

"Lest you be deceived." Izuku finishes. A proud gleam passes through Chise's eyes, and she brings him close to her side into a hug.

"You're going to make a mark in history, Izuku." Chise proclaims, and Izuku glances down to see her shadow bounce in agreement. "I just know it."

↞ « o » ↠

When Izuku dreams, it's usually nonsensical things. Bits of images that never stick with him, and those that do cause him déjà vu while awake. He dreams of magic, more often than not, of how he could help others with it, save lives, be a hero, the whole shtick. His dream — the one he's always longed for, unachievable as it may appear to be — will always be in the back of his mind even as he tries to better himself. Because how was he supposed to help others if he himself is withering away? Was withering away, he's getting better and he has no doubt in his mind that his sheer stubbornness will make him stick around for at least a few more years, if only for his mom. Because his mom is a strong woman, going through all that she has because of him. From accepting his magic to trying her best with his malady as a Sleigh Beggy, his mom deserves all that he can give her and more.

But he does not think of his mom now as he walks and walks and walks on still water. He walks for a long while, his footsteps forming ripples in the water; he follows a soft voice and dim light. Slowly, the dim light brightens with every step he takes, growing bigger and nearer and it shapes into the form of a beautiful woman with delicate features. She floats above the water, waiting for Izuku patiently, and her dress floats with her as if she were underwater, as does her long silvery hair. Her skin glows ethereally, reminding Izuku of the porcelain of those delicate dolls.

"Midoriya Izuku," the woman smiles a wan smile, and Izuku immediately does not like it. Her smile should be vibrant and full of life, he just knows it deep within his heart. There is something that whispers in his ear, saying wrong wrong wrong, missing, not here, where are they? as he looks around. The emptiness of darkness, with only water beneath his feet that expands for miles on end, makes him feel awfully small.

Izuku bows, and magic whispers in his ear names of old, and so, he says, "Enchantress Nimue, Lady of the Lake," he straightens up when she whispers a soft 'just Nimue is fine,' "How can I help you?"

"I'm in need of a service," Nimue says slowly as if she were already losing hope.

"Within reason," Izuku says back, remembering to never give himself fully to anything associated with magic, no matter how he may want to help. Lest he is taken advantage of.

"Of course," she nods before extending her hand upwards towards him. Without hesitation Izuku lays his upon hers, gripping it tightly with both his hands. "My apprentice," she starts, pained, and Izuku can feel the sincerity in her emotions, "has been kidnapped, taken away from my protection, for days now. Please, I beg of you, save them." Her voice wavers and her hand clenches around his in a tight grip.

"I will try my best, Lady Nimue." It's as close to a promise as he can get. Her hand stops its relentless squeeze and Izuku can't help but feel sorry for her. Can't fathom having someone close to him be taken away from him as her apprentice was to her. She kneels, and the water beneath them ripple as she shows Izuku what lays within their clasped hands. There, on her hand and cupped protectively with his, lays a silver compass.

"Find them," she whispers, before blowing softly on his face.

Izuku bolts upright awake, breath heavy, and in his hand there lays an ornate compass.

↞ « o » ↠

Izuku waits until breakfast time to tell all of them of his dream and about the silver compass weighing heavily in his pocket. While he waited for breakfast he went downstairs and into the greenhouse to decompress and relax by repotting and watering the plants. It's Silky who finds him sometime later, about thirty minutes before breakfast time, and sends him up to clean up. She sets out a new outfit out for him on his bed. It's a pink dress shirt paired with a grey cashmere sweater and dark jeans. He breathes out and heads downstairs.

He takes out the compass from his dream and sets in on the table, opening it. Everyone stops what they're doing and wait for him patiently to start explaining.

"I got this from a dream last night," he says, fiddling with his fingers a bit, "from a woman named Nimue who needs my help finding someone."

"It's pointing east," Ruth points out, leaning over Izuku to take a good look at it. "Not north, but east, why is that?"

"I've been thinking about it," Izuku turns the compass a bit. "I think this is a compass to find that person that Nimue wants me to find, instead of an ordinary compass. But, for some reason Nimue herself can't do it, so instead, she has me doing it. It's for the same reason Nimue cannot come here to ask us for help and instead reached out to me in my dreams. I think she's stuck in some form or another, to someplace, and cannot leave that place."

"That's not that improbable with magic," Elias says thoughtfully. "You've clearly thought this through."

Izuku flushes, "I've been up for a while."

"He's been up since four in the morning," Wisteria pitches in and Izuku flushes, and then hangs his head when Chise repeats what his Neighbor said to his mom. His mom's brows rise up in surprise, and her concerned gaze turns upon him.

"Izuku?"

"I'm fine," he says quietly. "Just please, help me make sense of this and help me help her."

Silky makes her way around the table and hugs him. Izuku practically melts into her arms, having needed the comfort for some while.

"We could try scrying," says Chise after a while

"Scrying?"

"It's a mean to tell the future by looking into a crystal ball or any reflective surface," Elias explains.

"If we were to focus on not looking too into the future then we could possibly figure out where they're holding this person Nimue is looking for."

"That's brilliant!" Izuku says.

"Finish your breakfast first," his mom says sternly. "You won't be able to help anyone on an empty stomach."

Izuku wisely sat down and ate his breakfast.

Later, Chise brings him to the living room and teaches him the basics of scrying. Izuku is impatient, and glimpses of visions tease him before leaving just as quick. Chise just sighs herself and sets aside her crystal ball after hours on end of attempts of scrying.

"I'm making some passion fruit tea, want some?"

"Yes, please." He says, putting the crystal ball back on its stand. He stands and cracks his back, feelings such as hopelessness and uselessness washing over him as he gazes back into the ball. He sighs and heads out of the living room and up the stairs to his room. He needs to make his bed and air out his room.

But as he's passing the open door of the bathroom, a flash of movement catches his attention, and he turns back around to head there. Izuku squints against the sun and sees that there's nothing, or rather no one, in the bathroom. However, as he is just about to shrug and call it a day, due to his exhaustion, of course, movement in the mirror catches his attention. He stares into it frantically, because was this scrying? Was he finally getting somewhere?

Izuku watches as the movement in the mirror turn to figures surrounding a lone figure chained to the wall. Izuku feels as his breathing evens out and his senses dial down. He feels as if he were there and could hear the harsh breathing of what he can assume is Nimue's apprentice.

"My name is Artemis Nightingale," they rasp, chin tucked to their chest, "I am twenty years old, and I am apprenticed to the Lady of the Lake. My name is Artemis Nightingale, and I've been abducted by the League of Villains. My name is Artemis Nightinga-ack!" Izuku flinches horrible as someone punches Artemis in the stomach.

The perpetrator has the audacity to shake their hand as if they, themselves, had been hurt. "Shut up already, would you?"

Artemis laughs in the face of death. "What? It's not like I'm hurting anyone," their voice turns dark, "unlike you."

"Your voice grates on my ears, girlie."

"Fuck you, I'm no goddamn girl you absolute dick for heads."

There's a commotion somewhere outside the scene and someone who Izuku can only assume is another villain, runs in. Izuku can vaguely hear screaming and lots and lots of cursing. Out of his peripherals, he can make out fire and smoke. Izuku looks up to see a small window allowing the sun in after the clouds part, and it shines down upon Artemis. It makes their curly hair glow like a halo of an avenging angel, and their skin glows in the same power that Nimue had glowed.

"What do you need?"

"We have intruders, sir. So far it's only one of them, but they're wreaking havoc at the entrance."

"They'll bring the heroes onto us if we don't stop them! Hurry, go and finish them off! GO!"

"My name is Artemis Nightingale," they bellow, their voice low and steady. "I am in London, and you have brought about your doom, the League of Villains."

The mirror cracks with Artemis' roar of anger and shatters with their screams.

"Izuku?"

"IZUKU!"

He faints.

↞ « o » ↠

"Hurry, Izuku!"

Izuku pounds on Chise and Elias' bedroom door, his heart frantic and hands shaking as he does so. He couldn't believe that by scrying he had fainted as he did, nor that he had slept a good portion of the day away due to magical exhaustion. He knows, however, that Artemis needs help and they need it now.

It only takes a few seconds for it to be opened by Ruth, who stares at him blankly in a way only someone has awoken in a rush could do.

"Nimue," is all Izuku can get out. But then it all comes tumbling out. "Nimue, Artemis, the League of Villains — Lake Avalon!"

"Izuku?" From the stairs comes his mom's voice as she ascends them in her robes. "What's going on honey?"

Izuku wants to talk, to answer her question, but he's too out of breath to do so. So, instead, he gasps for air.

"I'd like to know the same," Elias deep baritone breaks the silence.

"Breathe," comes Chise's voice. "Here, follow me. Inhale, 1… 2… 3… exhale, 1… 2… 3… again." They did the breathing exercises a few times before Izuku regained his breath.

Finally, he says, "Nimue resides in Lake Avalon, the one from the legend of King Arthur. We need to go there. Artemis is in grave danger."

Izuku, despite knowing Chise, worries for a second that she'll take his worry for granted and call it a night. Instead, steel appears in her eyes, set determination in other words, and tells him to change and get ready for a long night. His mom worries her lip as he turns to her, and she nods in grim acceptance that her son would be going out to face the world. As she always knew with his want to become a hero that he would eventually have

"Be careful, Izuku," she murmurs. "Promise that you'll be coming back to me."

He hugs her, "I promise," and he then he lets go and changes and grabs the compass Lady Nimue gave him. He practically flew down the stairs in his want to get to their destination as quickly as possible. Chise and Elias wait for him outside on the stone pathway.

"I'm taking you," Chise says, and offers her hand to him.

"I'll be following close behind." Elias intones, his eyes cold and calculating.

Izuku nods to both of them and takes Chise's proffered hand; they leave in a flight of flames.

↞ « o » ↠

"Nimue!" Izuku calls out once they land, running into the lake from his dreams. The Lake Avalon. He ignores the Chise's shriek for him to stop, but Izuku continues until he's knee-deep waddling in the water. He's splashing about the place until he trips and falls into the water. It's cold and Izuku does not feel comfortable one bit. The sun's setting and time is pressing down on them to find Lady Nimue's apprentice, Artemis, who was being held by awful villains for days on end already. But, Izuku had gazed and gazed into the scrying bowl, trying to understand the best way to go about saving them, and had come to the conclusion that since Lady Nimue genuinely cared for her apprentice, then she could at least help Izuku in some form or another.

A warm hand grasps his arm and pulls him out of the water, Chise's frantic green eyes stare into his own frantic ones. She pulls him back towards the shore of the lake.

"Izuku!" he's never heard her raise her voice like this. "You can't just—! I know you're worried but we need to go about this logically!"

"You're right," he hangs his head for a bit, before setting his jaw and staring her straight in the eyes once more. "That was wrong of me. But right now we need help, and I have a feeling Nimue can help."

"You'd be right about that, Izuku."

Lo' and behold, as Chise and he turn, there on the water's surface stands the Lady of the Lake, Nimue. Her hair whips around her face as if she were in the midst of a raging storm, and her dress flaps relentlessly against her. Her eyes, which now hold some modicum of hope, also hold rage and restlessness.

"Nimue," they both bow, and Izuku straightens up, "I believe I know where to start looking for Artemis."

Nimue smiles, baring her teeth a bit. "Good. I have just the thing for you to make those who took Artemis from me pay."