Chapter 13: Face your (Fear)(Weakness)
Hahaha... So... crazy how it's only been two weeks since I last posted right? In all seriousness I'm sorry this took absolutely forever. There was a lot of stuff going on in my personal life that just took priority and really knocked the wind out of my sails for a good while. I don't have any backlog so chapters are gonna be irregularly posted from now on just as I finish them. To those of you who stuck with this massive absence, I love you.
I'm hoping I'm back on my feet now, I've got chapter titles worked out and a general idea of how the next few are going to go so that'll be exciting, I've got something I'm working towards and I can't wait for everyone to see it!
Some of the italics here are flashbacks. One of the people I read this to as I was editing said it was a little unclear when they happened so hopefully that will help sort things out maybe? Let me know if that didn't work as intended.
"Nathan Relnor is a tough one…" Nezu said leafing through his files, "I hesitate to even test his practical skill. From the footage of USJ, his performance at the sports festival, and his evaluation from Mirko… Well…"
"His combat experience and decision making under stress are not in question at this stage which brings up the problem. What are we going to test him on?" Cementoss asked the gathered teachers.
A silence gripped the room.
They could not pair him off with another student in two on one battles they were preparing for. It was difficult to say who would benefit from having him as a partner. Sure he would provide an excellent example of what to do in a combat situation to whoever he was with, but it was very likely that his decision making would overpower his partner's.
Simply put, he would sweep them up into his movements which would no doubt place all of the burden on himself in an effort to save the other. The only one likely to put up any fight at all was Bakugo and he was better served being Midoriya's partner.
"His entire class has seen the disconnect between themselves and Nathan. At this point we may need to start looking into identifying some of his bad habits in others and correcting them..." Snipe said casually.
The Sports Festival set him as a benchmark for others to overcome. He was a wall the more driven among them would smash into over and over again until they got past it. In that process how many of them would try to imitate him to do it? It was clear to his teachers that he escaped the normal consequences of his recklessness with an extreme amount of skill, but what if someone tried to do what he did without that skill?
"Not to mention if we made this a straight fight there are not many of us who could defeat him," Powerloader added in, "He's already in our league, even without restraints a one on one fight against him would be tough. I have no idea how I'd beat him, even stacking the deck ridiculously in my favor."
Any close range fight would quickly devolve into getting electrocuted into submission. Not even Aizawa was sure he could properly shut off his quirk to equalize things.
He had a powerful quirk and he somehow had the experience and skill to reach absurd heights.
That Nomu had been built to fight All Might at full power and Nathan fought it to a draw for a few minutes.
And there was a slim chance he'd been holding something back during that fight.
"I was going to say that perhaps he needed to learn to restrain his quirk a bit but after seeing the incident report from his internship he must just have an innate sense of who can and cannot survive his railgun," Cementoss commented.
Yes. At USJ one of the more alarming things he'd done was immediately fire a railgun blast through the Nomu.
But he had no trouble using non lethal force on every other villain present.
Aizawa at least had debated bringing it up before but now that they had a second data point they could see that his usage of such a devastating ability was appropriate.
Perhaps that was just another part of his absolutely absurd analysis capabilities.
"We're going about this wrong," Aizawa muttered. He recalled one of the points Mirko brought up in her letter. "If he doesn't like fighting and he's already skilled enough that we're struggling to think of ways to test him… Why not have him take a different type of test entirely?"
"True. He seemed interested in rescue work," Midnight added in, "It would still be a practical test of course. A real rescue challenge!"
It was a sound point. There was more to being a hero than just fighting, so if testing his combat sensibility wasn't necessary then they should test something else.
"Very well then! I'll make some calls!" Nezu said happily.
Nathan found himself in the passenger seat of a fire engine.
"Your testing grounds are going to be a little different than the others. It's a building we use to train new firefighters to help them learn what they're looking for in a burning building."
"Oh. A burning building huh…" Nathan said flatly, eyes straight ahead.
"Is something the matter?" Backdraft asked.
"No. It's something I should start working on honestly. Not too big on being in confined spaces with lots of fire… Well. I'm sure that's something everyone can agree on but…"
Running into the command room and seeing everything ablaze. Trying desperately to find anyone still alive.
Mashu trapped under debris with no way to save her…
"I've got some bad memories I guess," Nathan finished quietly.
Backdraft simply nodded. He had as much information as UA did so he too had no idea what exactly dwelled within Nathan's memories.
The fact that he had lost an arm and a leg spoke to how traumatic those experiences must have been. That he had lingering fears was something everyone expected but so far no one had seen any from him.
"This will be a controlled environment no matter how chaotic it gets. We're not here to throw children into a blaze this bad. Plus if it gets too heavy for you we can suspend the test…"
It wasn't something Backdraft had encountered naturally in his line of work. Someone taking this test would have already come to grips with any fear of burning buildings they had, if they had any at all to begin with.
Sure he'd seen a wealth of people gain trauma from them on the job but someone coming in fresh with it was a little unusual.
But accommodations had been made for the fact that he was a student.
"I'll be fine," Nathan said simply, "Even if the only way forward is through my worst nightmares then that's just the path I'll have to take."
Ah.
No wonder they needed to test him on something else.
Backdraft had to put a conscious effort into not being drawn into that boy's pace.
Thankfully a distraction arrived just in time.
"Here we are."
They pulled up in front of a mock building that already had another fire truck parked in front of it.
"Ok young man, here's the gist of the operation. We have two civilian dummies stuck on the third and fourth floors and once we get the fires going it will be your job to rescue them while we attempt to battle the blaze." Backdraft explained after they exited the vehicle.
Nathan simply nodded along, it seemed fairly simple but there was one small hangup.
"You're going to be battling the fire while I'm inside?"
"That's correct."
"Oh. I guess that makes sense…" Nathan trailed off, looking at his scale arm before turning his attention back to the building. "Yeah. You'd have to do that wouldn't you? I'll just figure something out."
"Is there something wrong?"
"I'm not waterproof, the scales have a small current running through them to keep shape and they don't respond well if they take in too much water," Nathan explained casually.
"Hm. I suppose that will make things a tear more challenging but this is a difficulty you will run into in the field if you pursue this line of work. It's best to see how you fare now in testing conditions rather than out in a real blaze."
"Oh. Yeah! Of course," Nathan responded with a smile, "I wouldn't have it any other way at this point."
"Good! Good! That's the right kind of attitude to have!" Backdraft said with a chuckle as he received the all clear from one of the other firefighters. "Alright, it looks like we're good to go. The rules of this test are simple, you are not allowed to do any further damage to the building that might cause it to collapse. You are however, free to break windows and doors should you deem it necessary. Both dummies have artificial vitals that will determine if they survived the trip. You will be graded on if you complete the test and how quickly you manage to complete it. The safety of the dummies is your top priority. We've given you a radio so you can communicate with our ground team, use it to keep us informed of your status. Now, Get in, find the dummies, and extract them before your time runs out."
It sounded vaguely like he was getting debriefed for a singularity.
For some reason Romani flashed in his mind as he intently listened to Backdraft.
Nathan simply nodded in response, "I understand."
"Excellent. Then let's get started!"
After some final preparations Nathan stood before the burning test site.
An external oxygen supply had been plugged into the back of his helmet with a backup air filtration system online and ready to go. Both the port for the oxygen supply and the air scrubber were installed on Tesla's insistence. Nathan was honestly grateful that such a person was still willing to work with him despite the fact that Chaldea's stated mission ended long ago.
The support department had put up a bit of fuss over the sheer amount of redundancies in his helmet but safety was not something Chaldea was willing to skimp on.
"You will not fall to a human with a knife that gets the drop on you. You will die happy of old age…"
He appreciated the sentiment, but he was genuinely worried they'd take things a little too far.
"You're clear to begin whenever you're ready Relnor-kun!" Backdraft shouted as the ground crews began spraying the test building with water.
Nathan simply gave him a nod before plunging in head first.
The hallway wreathed with fire gave him pause.
"This can't be the worst fire you've faced. You made it through Surtr's flames didn't you?" Ophilia asked from her place leaned against the burning wall.
Nathan squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.
There was no time for distractions.
"Alright, let's move…"
He quickly proceeded up to the third floor, neither the flames nor debris giving him any real pause.
He was agile and he'd had to rush through worse terrain than this…
Entering the third floor he slowed himself and began looking through the rooms for his target.
He found himself back in Shinjuku, watching the fire consume the destroyed remains of Phantom's automatons… Moriarty had pushed the button but he'd only been a second behind him.
One of the dolls was struggling as it's life drained away.
It looked up at him.
He knew he hadn't actually killed it but he had not been able to find another way.
He had still failed them even if Moriarty had taken the burden of actually killing them off his shoulders.
An alert brought him back to the testing site.
He'd been idle for too long, parts of his suit were being heated to dangerous levels.
He looked at the mannequin that was his target.
He could save this one, even if it wasn't alive. He wouldn't let that tragedy repeat itself anymore...
He'd killed so many people because he'd had no choice. He would find a way…
Thankfully his target didn't seem to be pinned down by anything, he quickly approached it and hoisted it onto his back.
It had a metal skeleton of sorts so in theory he could just toss it out the window and let it down gently with his quirk but that method would not be applicable to actual humans.
He needed another way out.
The fire escape… If it wasn't blocked off he could just jump from there and lower the both of them down and then jump back up to the roof and resume his search.
As he made his way back into the main hallway a burst of fire flew past his face.
He found himself in the Orleans Singularity.
Jeanne D'arc firmly held his shoulder as she protected him from the fierce blaze before them. She'd only barely managed to pull him out of the line of fire, leaving his arms singed by that powerful stream of flames.
It was dragons. A swarm of them had been sent out to deal with them before they could fix the Singularity.
The forest around them burned as dragons and beast men alike circled their cornered prey.
"It will be ok Master. I will protect you! I promise!" Mashu called out, her massive shield blocking another dragon's attack.
"I-"
"Turtle up and let the old man take care of it!" Knight of the Round, Gareth shouted as she took point next to Nathan.
"Ka ka ka! Yes. Leave it to me. These fists of mine only know how to kill. Men? Dragons? It makes no difference."
A splash of water brought him back. He managed to step back just enough to avoid the brunt of it.
How many traumatic moments were linked to fire for him? This was already proving to be much more difficult than he'd thought it would be.
Shaking his head he pushed the memories aside and moved. Dodging around flaming debris and streams of water to find the fire escape. He climbed through the broken window and shifted the dummy off of his back. If he was going to let himself down gently with his back scales he had to make sure nobody was in the path of that current.
The dummy situated he jumped, using the metal of the stairwell to let himself down at a gentle rate.
"Excellent work! Bring it to the tent and start your search for the other one!" Backdraft called out.
He barely registered that he was being talked to, blankly staring at Backdraft for a good 20 seconds before he finally came to.
The fire had seeped inside him already. The test couldn't have been going for more than five minutes and yet being in the middle of it…
"Y-Yes sir!" He finally responded, taking the dummy for evaluation before returning to the building.
"Are you ok?" Backdraft asked as Nathan emerged from the tent.
"Yes. I have to be." Nathan said, "There's still someone I have to save."
It was a concerning answer but before Backdraft could voice anything Nathan was already moving.
This time he wouldn't even bother with the lower levels.
With a mighty leap he pulled himself magnetically to the roof. There was a very real chance that parts of the roof wouldn't be able to support his weight so instead of walking to the roof access he simply hovered, supporting himself off the frame of the building.
Unfortunately the door was locked but a magically reinforced kick made short work of that problem. His internal systems alerted him to the dangerous vapors coming from the doorway, switching him over to his onboard oxygen supply as he descended to the fourth floor.
It was getting harder and harder to focus on his surroundings but he had a mission. He would save everyone he could.
With a shove he pushed his way through a barred door into the fourth floor proper.
He stood in a burning forest. Insects and fae fleeing for their lives all around him.
None of them made it out alive.
"We must defeat Bhargest here!" A man clad in royal garb and sporting beautiful butterfly wings called out. "I am the fairy king of Whales! Oberon! I will not let this pass!"
The tall knight wreathed in flame before them let out a terrifying roar.
She was not human.
But at this moment she seemed to be beyond even her fellow Fae.
She was on the feather edge of becoming a calamity that would bring fire and death to everything around her.
"YOU BASTARDS!" Arturia shouted, magic flying around her wildly as she took point. She responded to Barghest's roar with a terrifying shriek of her own.
Nathan shook his head, ripping himself out of his memories.
The hall before him was shrouded in fire, but water was coming in quickly to fight it back. If his steps were not careful his leg would start to take on water and become unusable.
Time was of the essence now more than ever.
He darted from room to room, looking for his second target.
And then he found her.
Chaldeas was red and the explosion had absolutely wrecked that pristeen room.
And before him.
Crushed under a slab of ceiling he knew he could not move was a lone girl, bleeding out in the heart of a fire.
He ran towards her and attempted to lift the large piece of rubble.
"I'm going to get you out of here!" He shouted as he strained himself.
"It's ok… You can stop… Please… Just hold my hand..." She muttered.
The room shook.
The room shook and he opened his eyes.
The burning beam that had trapped the second dummy had easily been lifted and tossed aside.
"Damnit-" He muttered.
Everything felt hazy. He was running out of time.
But there was nothing physically wrong with him.
"Come on, I'm going to save everyone-"
A stream of water came in through a nearby open window and completely soaked his right side. Several loud popping noises sounded as his scales began discharging at random, painful shocks jumping from his arm to the rest of his body. He had no choice but to release all the energy inside the limb and cut off the production of more.
The limb lost its form but it stopped shocking him every other second.
He knew he didn't have much time before his leg would also start becoming a problem he couldn't ignore.
Thankfully the water had done its job, the fire was out in the immediate area.
He hoisted the dummy up over his shoulder and looked out the window. The hoses were moving down and to the other side of the building so if he timed it right he could land without getting disrupted too badly.
"Don't act on your own," Peperoncino said from his place on the bed, "It's ok to lean on us. As your senior it is the job of Team A to guide you, remember?"
With a blink Pepe was gone.
"This is Nathan Relnor calling in, I'm descending from the south side of the building, please divert water from that area until I've safely made it to the ground." Nathan called out over the radio he'd been given.
"Copy that. Give us a moment and you will be safe to descend." Backdraft's voice came out of the small device.
Sure enough the hoses stopped spraying his side of the building entirely, allowing him to safely glide down to the ground magnetically.
"Nicely done for your first run. Please bring that dummy to the tent so we can extract data on its vitals." Backdraft greeted him as he approached the operation site.
Nathan barely registered his presence, almost walking into him before snapping out of it.
"Relnor? Are you ok?"
"Affirmative. I encountered water from an open window and had to shut down my right arm to make sure it didn't suffer too many structural failures."
There was something about the stark contrast in the boy before him and the boy he'd met merely an hour ago that gave Backdraft pause. There was something mechanical about his movements, as if he was running on an autopilot that was dragging him from point A to B no matter the cost.
"Hey. Why don't I take care of the dummy and you come with me and lay down for a little bit."
Nathan regarded him as though he'd grown seven additional heads.
"Acknowledged…"
"Come on, give me your hand."
Nathan nodded mutely and allowed himself to be guided by the seasoned pro hero.
"Well. You were a little slow moving through the building and after watching you for a little bit I'm recommending you seek some form of care if you intend to deal with fire based emergencies."
"Slow?" Nathan asked as Backdraft looked over the data from his test.
"Yes. You came to a full stop for a few minutes multiple times throughout the test. It skirted close to putting the second dummy in serious danger from smoke inhalation."
Ah. Those flashbacks hadn't seemed long to him but they must have thrown him off more than he thought. He definitely still didn't feel great but his headache was subsiding now that he was away from the burning building.
"You should have also been communicating with the ground team during your runs. We're not an additional obstacle, we're here to help save lives."
Nathan nodded mutely. The thought hadn't really even occurred to him until Pepe brought it up… Or rather until his subconscious taking Pepe's form brought it up.
"But beyond that I'd say you passed. Neither of the dummies reported any shocks to their system so you clearly acted fast upon getting soaked. Not to mention when you were moving you were moving very quickly and efficiently. You should be proud of yourself! When you said you had trauma related to burning buildings I was worried we'd have to go in there and rescue you but you managed to power through, even if you do look a little worse for it. Ah, also, do keep in mind that I am not the final say in your score so take that with a grain of salt."
"Yeah. I… You're right. I should try to talk to someone about it. I guess I didn't realize how bad it was before…"
"Most people don't. Now then. Let's get you back to the UA testing site proper."
With that they loaded back up into the fire truck and began their trip back.
The ride was oddly quiet. From what little he knew of the boy it seemed like the test had taken quite the toll.
The soft clink of something metal caught Backdraft's attention.
Nathan had an odd blackened key in his left hand and was aimlessly fidgeting with it as he looked out the window.
"Good luck charm?"
"Hm?"
"The key?"
Nathan looked at his hand.
Backdraft watched as several emotions bubbled up and died in the span of an instant before Nathan quickly pocketed it.
"Yeah kind of." He said, looking at his now empty left hand.
When exactly had that thing showed up? He couldn't remember. It had to have been while he was decompressing before transport…
The Silver Key had a strange way of making it to his hands in times of stress, ever since the one incident he'd had with it...
"Do you want to try talking about anything you experienced today?" Backdraft asked in an attempt to get him to open up a little.
"I really can't talk about much. I've just been in a lot of situations where fire was a problem…" Nathan said, his gaze having moved back to the window.
"Why's that?"
"You know Chaldea right?"
"Ah yes. We've worked with a few of their heroes."
"Mh. I was with them for the last five or six years of my life so I can't really talk about that time without hitting confidential information…"
Chaldea was a secretive bunch. But to block him from getting help just because it might compromise mission data from half a decade ago was a bit much… He'd have to put in word about this to UA.
"It's not their fault though. It's just how it is. We have an on site counselor that I see."
Oh. That was better than nothing. But still…
"I'm sure your teachers would be happy to help you with anything you can tell them about. They're here to help you grow after all."
"Mh…" Nathan stared out the window, feeling his eyes grow heavy as he sat in silence.
Nathan opened his eyes and found himself staring at a great white void.
He felt warm and he didn't want to move but he needed to check a few things before he could give into that feeling.
He pulled his body up and saw a large field of flowers extending in every direction.
It was a familiar setting. It hadn't even been a full year at Chaldea before he found himself here. A place spoken of in hushed tones by mages far and wide. A place that had many carving paths of blood and bodies just to reach. A place he had taken a nap and wound up in by pure accident.
"Ah. I'm back here again huh?"
"Welcome back my weary traveler," A soft voice called to him, causing him to regard the only other figure in this ephemeral garden.
"Hey 「 」, sorry I keep intruding…" Nathan said as he stood, brushing the illusory flowers off of his body.
He flinched as sensory data flooded in from his right hand. Looking at it, he couldn't entirely make out its shape but it certainly wasn't the scale limb he'd become so used to.
"Do you like it?" The woman with long brown hair and piercing blue eyes asked with a smile.
"You did this?"
"This is a dream for you isn't it? It shouldn't be too surprising that something like this can happen in this boundless place."
"I suppose…" Nathan said quietly before his mind began to wonder, "So. Did you pull me here or did I wander in?"
"Your visits are frequent enough that I haven't been able to tell the difference for a long time. It's getting a little worrying. The fact that you can drift into and out of this place so easily does not speak well of the condition of your soul." She said as she took a seat at a table for two that hadn't been there a moment before.
Nathan nodded mutely before taking the other chair. This was at least the third time he'd found himself here since he started attending UA. He knew his mind was prone to drifting in his dreams but this was getting absurd.
"So. How has school been going?" She asked with a smile on her face.
"It's been going I guess. We're having our end of term finals today… That's honestly probably why I'm here, it was… Exhausting."
"I see. But that's fine. The things you've repressed are starting to bubble back up to the surface. You'll need to learn to deal with them as they come."
Nathan felt a shiver travel down his spine. That wasn't something he was looking forward to but he supposed he couldn't put it off much longer… Or maybe he could, he was sure he'd find out one way or the other.
"You're having some very unkind thoughts about yourself again. That's not going to help anyone Nathan. Here. Have some tea," She pulled a teacup out of nowhere and placed it on the plate in front of him.
"I know… I just don't… It's a lot."
She just nodded along as he struggled to articulate his thoughts.
"Sometimes I'm scared that if I start trying to unpack it one thing at a time, everything will collapse on top of me."
"Well. I don't see what the big deal with that is either. Sure it will be bad for a little bit but you're going to have to start somewhere big or small."
There was sense in her words. But…
He just shook his head, "I'll try."
"For your sake I hope you do. Now. I'm sure you've been making new friends, why don't you tell me about them?"
"Ah… Well… They're all very nice. I like spending time with them but… It's kind of rough sometimes."
"Because you can't be honest with them."
"Yeah."
"I'm sure you can start letting your guard down a little around them…"
"Yeah but I can't imagine Clocktower would be thrilled about people potentially learning about my exploits with Chaldea."
"Mh… Here's a thought. What could they do to stop you?"
"「 」"
"I know, I know. It was a joke. Do you want to see how they're doing on their exams?"
"Hm?"
"You won't make it back in time so you might as well watch from here while you're asleep."
"Ah. I suppose that's fine. If you don't mind watching with me."
"Of course I don't mind Nathan."
The space beside them twisted and split open, revealing several different views of his classmates. The two watched together as they faced off against the various teachers of UA.
Nathan spoke of his classmates, telling 「 」 a little about them as they struggled against their experienced opponents.
He spoke of Kirishima and Sato, two people he hadn't interacted with much as they fought a one sided endurance match against Cementoss.
He spoke of Sero, Kaminari, and Mina as Sero literally carried Kaminari to the evacuation point, only barely clearing the obstacles principle Nezu put in their path.
He spoke of Jiro and Koda as they overcame Present Mic with an army of insects.
"Fufufu. You have quite the collection of friends now don't you?"
"I like to think so but… Well you know why it's harder for me."
"Mh. They're all doing fairly well aren't they? As expected from the company you keep."
"They'll all be fine heroes one day," Nathan said with a nod, "They've all got so much fire in them… I find myself lacking sometimes…"
「 」 simply looked at him with a smile on her face. "It is not that you are lacking in any way, your fire is simply different than theirs. It only burns bright when everything is on the line… Although perhaps that's not exactly a quality you want it to have."
"Maybe so," Nathan said, flexing his right hand somewhat before returning his attention to the displays beside them.
He continued, speaking of his classmates, echoing previous sentiments of wishing he knew them better until he reached Yaoyorozu and Todoroki's exam.
"She seems conflicted," 「 」 muttered with her head tilted to the side.
Nathan nodded to himself as he watched on.
Yaoyorozu Momo stood at the starting area next to Todoroki.
Her opponent was her homeroom teacher…
It gave her a solid advantage in that she had the chance to observe him quite closely. She'd even gotten to see him fight against villains for a little bit back during the USJ incident.
But how could she overcome him?
His Quirk worked by looking at targets so stun grenades immediately came to mind but she felt like she'd been relying on them heavily enough that Aizawa would be prepared for that.
USJ taught her that against multiple skilled opponents Aizawa would struggle as his quirk was single target. Not to mention that his style was best suited for quick takedowns and ambushes so prolonged fights left him at a disadvantage.
But the exam was not long enough for them to meet that condition.
And there were only two of them.
And neither of them were Nathan Relnor…
'Find your flaws and move forward, as long as you can compensate for your weaknesses you should be fine.'
She certainly had no end to the amount of flaws she found.
Her work study had not helped in the slightest. She had a good feeling that if she'd just applied to Chaldea like she was thinking about doing she would have gained as much as everyone else seemed to have.
Her one victory she could claim as her own was still heavily influenced by that chaotic boy. He'd taught her the basics and used only the most base level techniques in the indoor training exercise so that anyone who saw them would be able to replicate them.
'You could have won with anyone on your team, I was just lucky enough to be the guy that got carried.'
What a thing to say…
After everything she'd seen him do it was abundantly clear that he was struggling to simply bring himself down to their level.
That's why he always left everyone behind when he moved…
She had to catch up.
"Yaoyorozu-san," Todoroki spoke up, "Once we get started keep producing something small with your quirk. I'll keep mine active too, that way we can tell when Aizawa is on top of us. After that I'll take him on and you can run to the exit."
No.
No no no no…
That wasn't-
That wasn't catching up!
Yaoyorozu bit her tongue.
It was true Todoroki had a much stronger quirk than hers.
It was true that Todoroki had faced down multiple actual villains.
But-
"Wait…"
"Hm?"
"That won't… That won't work. We'll already be in Aizawa's ambush by the time we detect him! He's a pro hero. We have to be one step ahead-"
Todoroki's eyes widened as Yaoyorozu forced herself to speak.
"Do you have a plan?" He asked.
"I- I do!"
"She's taking steps towards you it seems." 「 」 said with a smile.
"But is that for the best? I don't want people to go through what I've been through…"
"Nobody is ever going to go through what you've been through Nathan. You sacrificed everything to make sure of that. You shouldn't worry as much about what path is best, merely that they are walking forward."
Nathan mulled over her words as he watched Yaoyorozu and Todorki execute on her plan to lure Aizawa out. They wore thick cloaks to prevent his quirk working on them, forcing him to make the first move, and were prepared to counter the moment he did.
Yaoyorozu was often quick to doubt her own abilities but she was just as observant and analytical as he was. He was starting to worry that she'd been leaning on his words a bit too much during the sports festival but it seemed like she was going to be just fine.
A few missteps here and there weren't going to be the end of the world.
"Even during that time, your missteps weren't anything we couldn't compensate for. You're going to have to learn how to lean on them and let them lean on you for support. I know you love us but Chaldea is…"
"I know." Nathan cut her off, "It's just hard."
"Try talking to Midoriya about it at least. You can only give so much before you have to take something."
Nathan just nodded as a screen next to him began displaying Midoriya and Bakugo's test.
Those two had quite a lot to work through before they could form an effective team but...
It was hard to imagine Bakugo being able to open up enough to resolve all their lingering issues.
"You can't throw away kindness and expect that to give you strength," 「 」 Said sharply, "He'll hit a wall eventually."
"Here's hoping it won't take something important from him when he does…" Nathan muttered.
He could be better about reaching out to his fellow classmates, but the divide between them was vast. If they were about to self-destruct he was sure the words would instantly come to him, but for people like Bakugo?
"Servants are so much easier to deal with," Nathan said absentmindedly.
"I'm sure every single one of yours would find that sentiment incredibly disturbing."
"Maybe so. But it's easier to look back on your life and come to terms with things when you're not actively living it. At least that's how it seems to me…"
"But that's not the full of it is it?" 「 」 asked.
Nathan's eye narrowed before he turned to watch the displays again, leaving that question hanging.
And so they watched quietly as the trial began.
Midoriya chased after Bakugo.
Despite his repeated insistence that he stop following him.
"Beating him down is the best option! If we can wear him down then we can take him out at the last minute!" Bakugo roared as he stormed ahead.
Midoriya just quietly shook his head. He knew All Might had a ticking clock on how long he could fight.
But he was still All Might.
Midoriya simply could not conceive of a way to defeat All Might in combat without calling for help from one specific classmate…
But Nathan was not here.
So he had to do his best to reach out to the person that was.
His connection with Bakguo was so frayed at this point that he doubted that he would listen to anything he said.
But he still had to try.
He'd seen Nathan reach out to actual villains so reaching out to Bakugo now was nothing in comparison.
But- there was one thing he'd learned from watching Nathan that day.
"Even with the handicap there's no way either of us could stand up to him in a direct confrontation-"
The next thing he knew Bakugo's grenade gauntlet was flying towards the side of his head.
Midoriya was already moving by the time he registered that he was under attack, ducking under it and using Bakugo's own momentum to fling him over his shoulder.
Even when he was reaching out. Even when he was at school talking with his friends. Nathan Relnor always had his guard up. He lived a life where he gave of himself freely but was always prepared to be stabbed in the back by anyone he met at a moment's notice.
So Midoriya would do the same.
"This isn't putting us any closer to defeating All Might!" Deku shouted, "We have to have something better than hope he doesn't crush in a single hit! Or is that the best you can do?"
Bakugo was up on his feet in an instant.
Midoriya had let his imitation of Nathan go a bit too far and now that boy was seething.
"Don't fucking talk like that piece of shit!" Bakugo hissed between clenched teeth, "I don't need his help and I don't need yours! You think you're hot shit? Well I'm better than you and him and I'll prove it-"
"Bakugo we're going to lose if we can't-"
A tremendous shockwave tore through the area.
All Might was upon them.
"If you simply think of this as a test there will be no path to victory. Right now I am a villain, so give me your best shot,"
The presence alone reminded him of the Hero Killer.
There was no way they could win in a head on fight like this.
But he could not let his fear consume him.
He had to hold it in his hand and push forward.
So when Bakugo rushed in Midoriya shadowed him.
All Might was his hero.
All Might had given him the chance to fulfill his dreams.
But he could not think of that.
In order to fulfill his promise to All Might…
He had to defeat him right now.
And he needed to save Bakugo before he could do that.
"She's not the only one taking after you it seems," 「 」 said with a wide smile.
Nathan's mouth was agape.
He had expected Bakugo to react violently, but he hadn't expected Midoriya to be ready for it. Nor had he ever dreamed that Midoriya would be so ready to fight All Might.
He was influencing the people he was interacting with… But was the reverse true?
He couldn't tell for now.
They watched as Midoriya retreated with Bakugo to hatch a plan of attack.
If Midoriya could bridge the gap there was little All Might could do to stop them.
Their attention shifted to Aoyama and Uraraka's battle with Thirteen. Something that seemed to be a fairly quick affair once Uraraka entered melee range.
"Her instincts are sharp. I saw the sports festival. You'd be best not to underestimate her Nathan," 「 」 chuckled.
"Agreed…"
Tokoyami and Tsuyu faced off against Ectoplasm, the two bouncing off of each other with a surprising fluidity until finally bringing the powerful hero into custody.
"Tokoyami is very strong, I couldn't have asked for better support during that internship fiasco of ours." Nathan muttered.
"Mh."
The screens started to disappear as the exams drew to a close leaving almost everyone victorious.
"I think your dream is coming to an end. You'd best check on your friends. There's no doubt Midoriya and Bakugo are receiving medical treatment."
All Might had fought with everything he was, meeting Midoriya and Bakugo's fierce determination with his own.
"I suppose so. Thanks for keeping me company." Nathan said, standing and bowing to the ephemeral Servant.
"It was a pleasure as always. Tell me. Are you feeling better now?"
Nathan took a moment to pause and truly consider himself. The deep unease the fire had caused him had faded slightly over their conversation. He felt like the hand that had been squeezing his heart had loosened up somewhat.
"Yes. Yes I am. Thank you so much 「 」,"
"Think nothing of it, weary wanderer. You will always have a place here in my garden,"
"I'll see you later."
"Travel safe." She said with a small wave as the world began to fall away.
A Bleary eye blinked open, Nathan pulling himself upright and glancing out the window of the fire truck.
"Ah, welcome back. I was worried I'd have to wake you myself soon. We're almost there now," Backdraft said amicably.
"Thank you," Nathan replied groggily, rubbing his eye with the back of his gloved hand, "Sorry about that, it was quite rude of-"
"Nonsense. After how hard that trial was for you you need all the rest you can get. In fact I'm recommending you stop by the operations room to get a once over from Recovery Girl."
Nathan gave him a sideways glance before nodding. He wasn't physically damaged or anything, he just needed another two or three naps and he'd be good to go, especially if the galaxy kittens were involved… Regardless, he still felt rather muted so perhaps that was what was throwing the pro hero off.
"Aaaand here we are. Have a good one Relnor. And feel free to put in an application for an internship with us whenever the opportunity becomes available, we'd be happy to have you."
"Thank you so much sir," Nathan gave him that strange overwhelming smile before exiting the fire truck and meandering over to the operations tent.
He entered the small room to find Midoriya propped up on a bed, Bakugo unconscious, and All Might being yelled at by Recovery Girl.
Easily not the strangest thing he'd entered a room to see but it was certainly a lot to take in in the state he was in.
"Hello?" He said with a wave of his left hand.
"Backdraft brought you here?" Recovery Girl said, composing herself first.
"Affirmative, he wanted me to see you. I am unsure as to why. I haven't taken any physical damage to my container."
All three of the awake occupants of the room looked at the state of his right arm.
Recovery Girl's eyes narrowed while All Might coughed awkwardly in the background.
"Your- You mean your body?" Midoriya asked.
"Did I say something different?"
"Sit. Just. Sit. All Might, why don't you start taking those two back to campus!"
"Ah! Um! If it's alright can I stay here and watch the rest of the tests?" Midoriya asked.
"Are they not already over?" Nathan spoke up, eye drifting over to the monitors as he took his place on the third bed in that tent.
"Not yet young Relnor. Only about a third of the class has finished the assessment," All Might supplied as he picked up Bakugo.
"Oh. I suppose 「 」 and I got ahead of ourselves…"
All eyes immediately turned to Nathan.
Even the unconscious Bakugo stirred slightly in All Might's arms.
"What… What was that sound you just made?"
No.
No it wasn't even a sound.
It was an absence.
A void.
"Huh?"
For his part Nathan couldn't tell exactly what part of that simple sentence had drawn everyone's attention.
"Are you ok?" Midoriya asked, "You seem kind of… Out of it."
"Mh. I had a hard time with my test. I don't think I'm cut out for fire rescue work yet. Not while those flames are still burning inside me…"
"W-well then! I'm off! Make sure you don't push yourselves too hard now!" All Might said with an awkward cough.
"Out!" Recovery girl said, hitting his leg with her cane before turning her attention fully to Nathan.
He was rolling a small blackened key around in his left hand as he absentmindedly watched the monitoring station.
"Relnor, why don't you try to relax while I look at your arm."
"Acknowledged."
Midoriya cast a worried look to Recovery Girl as she began to examine his friend.
"Well… Nothing seems physically wrong with you, But your arm is-"
"I've stopped the production of electricity while it fully dries off. If I were to activate it while it still contained sufficient levels of moisture it would start to short out."
"I see…"
Nathan simply nodded, returning his eye to the monitors.
It was very strange watching from such a limited point of view after seeing the events unfold basically in person from the Swirl of the Root. Then again, that was supposed to be the source and destination of all information wasn't it? Mages worked tirelessly to find a way to the Root. It was basically their ultimate goal in life. Nathan wasn't directly going there per say, 「 」's garden was an extension of it but also not. The specifics of it had been explained to him but he had been 11 at the time so none of it stuck.
They watched the class complete their exams one by one, each playing out exactly as he'd seen during his time in the garden.
It really was difficult for him to focus, seeing events out of order like this gave him a strong out of place feeling in his own skin. It was as if he was watching a low quality recording of the event later but it was happening supposedly in real time. Things like this were what made it so difficult for him to piece together exactly how long he'd actually been at Chaldea.
Sure most people told him it had been five years but he had reason to believe it had been significantly longer than that.
How was he supposed to assess the flow of time accurately from within the Sea of Imaginary Numbers or when his dreams made events happening to him feel like reruns?
And so they watched as the exams proceeded, Midoriya providing commentary with Recovery Girl as Nathan struggled to hold onto his sense of self.
He clutched the ornate key in his hand so hard it threatened to tear through his glove into his skin.
"Relnor."
"Nathan!?"
He blinked away the haze as he found himself at the center of attention again.
"You're grinding your teeth loud enough that I can hear them," Midoriya said, concern written on his face.
"Ah. Sorry. I am fine, truly." Nathan said with a nod before spotting the silver key once again in his hand and freezing.
The other two gave each other a worried glance.
"I'll get someone to walk you two to the front gate. With the end of the exams class has concluded for the day. Please sit and wait here for a moment," Recovery girl said before hopping from her chair and producing a phone from her jacket.
"I- I know you have your secrets… But… Again… If you need to talk to someone. I'm free to visit Chaldea whenever you want me to!"
Nathan simply looked at him before returning the key to his pocket.
"The necessary data has been… It's… I would not be able to explain it. I just need to rest."
"I- Alright then. I trust you Nathan," Midoriya said with a smile as Aizawa arrived to supervise their return to UA proper.
A few hours later they were dismissed with their actual test results pending review.
Nathan made his way to the gate.
"Hey! Relnor-san! You ok? You seem kind of out of it!"
He turned to see Jiro Kyoka and Koda Koji approaching him.
"I'm recovering. The solo exam was quite difficult."
Koda gave him an affirming nod, signing about his own exhaustion.
"Well. I suppose they wouldn't be very good exams if they weren't pushing us to our limits… Even if mine are a lot closer than I thought they were…" Nathan said with a sigh.
"Hey, there's no way you of all people didn't pass, if you can't cut it as a pro hero I don't know what the rest of us can manage." Jiro gave him a light pat on the back as he spoke, causing him to flinch slightly, "Er- You ok? You're not hurt right?"
"I- no- I'm just kind of jumpy after… I'm not really one for… Being touched you know!"
That didn't entirely square with Jiro's memories of some of his interactions but she was too tired to question it.
"Naaaathan! Your ride is waiting very patiently for you, you know! It's not nice to ignore someone when they've come aaaaall this way just to ferry you from one point to the other!"
"W- Oberon!?"
Nathan whirled around with a speed that startled his classmates and beheld the fairy king sitting atop a large winged insect.
"Who else would it be? Yes! It is I! Fairy King Oberon! At your service!"
He gave an elegant bow after hopping off the back of their actual ride.
Koda for some reason was frozen solid at the sight of it.
"So you've got some kind of insect based quirk?" Jiro asked, pointing from the bug to Oberon.
"I guess you could say that, although it's not nice to pry is it? I don't even know your name after all! Don't they teach you kids manners here?" Oberon said with a cheerful laugh that made Nathan flinch.
"Ah. Sorry, Jiro Kyoka! I'm a classmate of Nathan's."
"Hmhm I see! How wonderful! It really is a pleasure to meet the humans that were such a hassle to save!"
"Oberon." Nathan said sharply
"Oops! I'm sorry! Did I step over a line?" Oberon said before completely disappearing from sight. He quickly reappeared perched on Nathan's head in a miniature form.
"Woah! He's tiny!"
"And tired! I'm going to take a nap. You can handle flying back all on your own right?" Oberon said as he made a nest of Nathan's fluffy hair.
Koda let out a small eep as Nathan shifted his stance to account for the extra weight on his head. Oberon's size might have changed but his mass did not and he did not seem to be bothering with any kind of magic or ability that would alleviate the stress he was putting on Nathan.
"Ugh. Yeah I think so. Unless you made it unnecessarily hostile and wild."
"Whyever would I do something like that?"
"Koda-san, I have a favor to ask. Your quirk lets you talk to bugs right? Can you ask how it's day is going or something? I want to know what I'm working on before I actually get on its back."
Koda seemed to freeze at the question but with an encouraging smile from Jiro he confidently strode up to the giant insect and began whispering.
"I'm surprised you're taking such precautions, aren't you both Chaldeans?"
"That might be true but some of Chaldea's residents are a little on the mischievous side. Oberon here is prime suspect number one when things go pear shaped most of the time."
"I've never done anything wrong in my entire life and I resent the implications that I relish in chaos!" Oberon called out in a singsong tone.
"I-I see. Must be like living with siblings…"
"In a way I suppose."
Koda approached the two of them, signing that the insect seemed relatively mild mannered when speaking to him.
"Alright. Thanks man. Travel safe you two." Nathan said, giving a stiff bow before mounting the insect and taking off.
"How you manage to stomach being around those vermin is beyond me," Oberon said offhandedly.
"Those are my friends Oberon."
"Ah yes. Because they know so much about you," He said with a roll of his eyes.
"..."
"Listen if it's upsetting you you should do something about it shouldn't you? You're never going to get closer to them if you keep everything away from them. But personally watching you wallow in that prison of your own making is a lot funnier."
Nathan had nothing he could reply with, Oberon was right on the money as always in his own way at least. Having known him for so so long he had a way of tearing right to the heart of any issue plaguing him.
"Also feel free to bring Midoriya back! A few of us are chomping at the bit to meet him properly! I know Douman has been working on a special present for him!" Oberon chuckled.
"Remind me to have Tamacat and Geronimo raid his room then."
"Hahahaha! Good! This will be awful!"
Nathan just shook his head as they arrived at the Shadow Boarder's warehouse.
After dinner, Nathan found himself walking back to his room alone. Turning a corner he saw a familiar face heading back to his own quarters.
"Ah perfect! I wanted to ask you a few things! Have we learned anything new about that device Georgios brought in?" Nathan asked as he approached Zhuge Liang.
"Ah. Well. We haven't been able to figure out much beyond the nature of its workings. The device itself is intricate beyond reason with plate upon plate of material under the surface. Why would that be, I wonder?"
"Well if it's a device that lets non mages summon Servants… I know Chaldea supports my summoning so I don't have to do the ritual properly. Does that mean that that device is doing all of that in a small package?"
"Correct. The many layers house a physical representation of the summoning ritual, allowing anyone to activate it."
"Then the empty vial must be… Whatever the power source is? It doesn't seem like a proper contract is being formed so essentially these devices are just summoning rogue servants aren't they? … I could have just formed a contract with Eric instead of fighting him…"
"Well. There's no way you could have known you weren't under attack from an enemy Master. You made the best choice you could based on the information you had. There's no need to beat yourself up now."
Nathan just shook his head, Zhuge Liang was right. He did what he could to protect the things important to him like he always did.
"A-Anyway. Was there anything left in the vial?"
"No, it seems that all of it was used up. We currently have no idea what substance would contain enough mana to allow someone to freely summon a Servant. Although after we went over the data from you and Georgios' fight it seemed both Servants were fairly degraded. The material is clearly incapable of summoning a full powered Servant by itself."
"Well. That's good. That means we'll have the edge. Have there been any more incidents with Servant involvement?"
"Not yet. We can only make guesses as to why. Are those that hold these devices saving them for confrontation with heroes? Are they explicitly waiting to be used against us? Or is the supply simply too low for widespread incidents to occur?"
Nathan simply nodded. It was odd to be in the position where their best move was to wait and see how things played out and move accordingly. The Singularities and Lostbelts had both been fairly proactive affairs, having to sit in class and wait to react to things was starting to get to him.
"I know how you must feel, but this is part of the reward you earned by fighting valiantly all that time. The world will not fall apart just because you don't jump headlong into danger. You can afford to live a little even when facing a crisis like this. Take heart Master, the whodoneit, howdoneit, and whydoneit will reveal themselves with time."
Nathan was silent for a moment before smiling his overwhelming smile at the man.
"I'll place my faith in those words Zhuge Liang. Thank you!"
"Ah, the pleasure is all mine Master."
It was a truly nondescript warehouse.
A face covered in scar tissue gave an eyeless stare to the monitors in front of him.
He was observing his precious student work through the recruitment of a few irregular units to his organization.
It did not seem to be going well, but that was alright. There were countless paths to the glorious future he'd imagined. Even if Shigaraki Tomura stumbled and fell, he would eventually fall onto one of the paths that lead him to his ultimate destiny.
A powerful vessel must be carefully groomed after all.
"Has his interaction with Chaldea affected your parameters?"
Another figure announced its presence with that question. They stood completely cloaked in darkness, even that faceless man's many quirks could not penetrate the power obscuring him.
But that was simply because that power belonged to a world beyond that of quirks.
"No. But even if it did, it wouldn't much matter. Rather. I should ask you a similar question. Did your devices live up to your expectations?"
"It's not refined enough yet. If it cannot even support a Servant properly it will not serve as proper fuel. I have adjusted the ingredients and am in the midst preparing the next batch."
"Oh? So I can expect to see better results soon?"
"In a sense. Although… You'll be moving soon won't you?"
"It is up to him on how he moves. I will simply provide him the information he needs. What conclusion that reaches will be up to Shigaraki Tomura."
"Well. No matter how it goes I will uphold my end of the bargain. As long as you keep my supply line intact I will continue to lend my aid should Chaldea move against you."
"Of course, I wouldn't dream of letting such a precious tool slip through my or Tomura's fingers… That menace from the other side of the world… To think they would surface just to draw you out."
"It is an extreme measure for sure but one no doubt befitting the information they received."
"No matter. You have chosen your allies well. When the new world dawns and I reach new heights, you will be allowed to do as you see fit. So long as your great work will not impede my own."
"Heavens no. I only seek to know. Such is the call of all mages. Well. All proper mages. That fake Master might have reached the title of FES but he is nothing more than a figurehead at best. With experience from our side he stands above his peers but he is nothing more than a paper tiger, albeit one with a considerable support network. To his credit however, he is adept at mucking up carefully laid plans. I would advise removing him from the board as soon as the opportunity presents itself."
"I will take that under advisement. If I have further need of you I will contact you."
"Fuhuh.. Until next time then my gracious supplier."
Oh boy that was a thing! Hahaha!~ Lostbelt 6 came out between when I last posted a chapter and now and let me tell you I absolutely adore everyone one of those idiots that got introduced during it and had to immediately start using them. I tried to refrain from being too specific about them because I didn't want to spoil it for people who don't read JP FGO like I do but still...
I'm honestly a little unhappy with this chapter, like beyond just being overjoyed that I finished it of course, it feels a little sparse but it's what I had to do to get through it I guess... I can't tell you how many versions of the exam I went through before we got here. Hopefully you all enjoyed it! Hopefully you'll enjoy what's coming next!
I'm thinking about doing a companion to this fic that contains some interactions that would just break what little sense of pacing there and what not and would love to know if that's something anyone would want to see.