The house was grand. Honestly, that was pretty much the only word Percy could find to describe it.
The realtor's eyes had literally bugged out when Percy offered three times the asking price for immediate transferral of ownership, which left both Percy and Izuku wondering whether it was his quirk or just reality finally breaking down.
Percy had cleaned Izuku of all the dirt and healed his burns when he had warped him, so the young boy hopefully didn't feel out of place standing behind the young god and not speaking. After all, he was still very nauseous from the warping. Instead of speaking to the realtors, Izuku quietly stared down the list of houses, muttering to himself as he privately marveled at their designs. It hadn't taken the pair long for them to decide; near enough to the centre of Musutafu and in a good neighbourhood.
Percy pushed through the cast-iron gate; a bit squeaky, nothing that he couldn't fix with some hard work! After all, maybe he could try out life as a mortal again. It had been a century.
Izuku followed after him, his head swivelling on a pivot as he tried to pick out every detail of the house. Finally alone again, having kicked out the realtor, he began mumbling aloud. Percy was just glad the boy felt comfortable around him already - after all, he'd seen the way he was treated for simply mumbling in his memories.
"Gothic architecture? I think? It's certainly unique, the rest of the houses in the neighbourhood were modern, but the spires are reminiscent of other architectural styles too. Maybe an amalgamation, it's recently built, probably this century. What are your thoughts, Percy?" He turned to the god, not noticing the pain concealed in his gaze as he gave Izuku a weak smile. "It's… it's just a nice house, kiddo. Architecture isn't my strong point."
"Oh! I know a lot, I can teach you some if you want!" Izuku was just glad to be able to give something back to Percy, but the slight furrowing of his brows showed him that he probably didn't want to talk about architecture, for some reason. "Ah, it's fine, kiddo." Percy kept his eyes firmly away from the tall spires and unique designs adorning the building, forcing himself to think of other topics.
They walked through the massive double doors together, into a strangely massive but cosy hall, already furnished with comfortable couches, bean-bags, and whatever else Percy's overactive imagination deemed fit to throw in there. Izuku's eyes widened at the massive high-definition television, the fully stocked kitchen, the grand, spiralling staircase leading to their bedrooms, the large balconies, but what he marvelled at the most during their exploration of the house, was the training room.
Percy had eyed the large room with a critical gaze and deemed it fit for use, an assortment of weapon racks suddenly appearing in a corner. Percy told him that soon, this was where Izuku would learn to fight and prepare to become a Hero. Izuku wanted nothing more, although some of the doubt was returning to him in moments like this. Once they had crawled through the entire house, with some rooms having seemingly no purpose, and a random workshop that Percy had said Izuku would probably like, they stopped to rest in the kitchen, where Percy asked whether Izuku was hungry. Lunchtime had passed a few hours ago and he didn't get to eat Auntie's katsudon, so Izuku nodded. Nodding back, Percy stood to rummage through the cupboards.
Removing a variety of disparate ingredients and setting them on the counter, Percy stood in the middle of the wooden floor with his arms crossed, staring at them. He stood there for a few moments, wracking his brain, before Izuku spoke up, "Do you… know how to cook?"
Percy's shoulders slumped, and he turned to Izuku slowly. "Maybe you want to try out a recipe you know?" He diverted, eyes pleading.
Izuku stifled a laugh behind his palm, which made Percy grin cheekily. "Come on, kiddo! Can you really blame me? I haven't had to cook anything in decades!"
"Blaming you just a bit," Izuku said, his words stifled by the hand clapped over his mouth. "How about I teach you how to make katsudon? It's one of my favourites." Percy nodded immediately, seemingly committing the information to memory, to Izuku's on-going surprise.
Izuku stood and walked over to examine the assortment of ingredients placed haphazardly on the counter. With just a glance, he could tell that Percy didn't have a clue what he was doing. Chuckling softly, he pushed away the unnecessary items and laid out what was needed for katsudon on the counter. Thankfully the kitchen already had everything he needed, so he explained the process to Percy, who was listening closely.
"Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, would you?" Izuku began preparing the tonkatsu, pulling a frying pan out of a dish rack. Placing it on the stove, he poured a thin pool of oil into it, and added in the panko, gently swirling it above the flames. "I'll cut the vegetables, could you prepare the cutlets?" Percy nodded, smiling at him softly.
As Percy sliced, seasoned, and floured the cutlets, Izuku kept an eye on the panko while he sliced some onions. This was a recipe he knew by heart, after all. After a few seconds of listening to the fire crackle, Percy spoke up.
"I came to you in Dagobah because I felt your dream of being a hero sputtering out." He kept his eyes on the meat as he spoke, but Izuku had no doubt he was wearing his 'stern' face. "Tell me why."
Izuku gulped, focusing on the onions and his watering eyes. "Um… Well, D-dad kicked me out and he said that I – I couldn't do it, I sho-should stop dreaming." Percy gripped the knife in his hand a little tighter as he made cuts in the meat. "And, well – I've always wanted to prove everyone wrong, but I – I can't see how I can become a hero, anymore, even - even with you helping me! I – it just doesn't feel possible anymore." Izuku confided, the knife in his hand pounding on the board as he chopped the onions, some of his anger and despair pouring into his slices.
Percy put his knife down on the counter, and turned. "Izuku." His voice was soft, but firm. "Tell me why you want to be a hero." Izuku looked up from the cooking board, already speaking, having answered this question a million times. "I've always wanted to save people with a smile, just like All Might!" The admiration in his voice was evident, but misplaced.
Percy gave him a stern look. "None of those rehearsed answers, Izuku. All Might's legacy may be a goal you wish to attain, but why do you want to be a hero?" The bluntness made Izuku pause in his chopping. "I guess… I just want to save lives. Inspire others to be better. Make people feel safe when I'm around." Izuku looked up to see Percy staring at him thoughtfully.
"Do you need a quirk for that?"
The question came out of left-field, but Izuku knew the answer. "Yeah, you do." He sighed.
"Why?" Percy's eyes were tight, his brows furrowed, and he kept slipping his hands into his pockets, almost as if he was searching for something.
"Why do you need a quirk to save someone?" he repeated, and Izuku turned, sliding the golden-brown panko into a bowl as he thought of an answer. Returning to his chopping board, he spoke.
"Without a quirk, I'd just be a liability on the field. Besides, who'd look up to me?" Percy tilted his head upwards, whispering something to himself that sounded suspiciously like 'therapist'.
"What is a quirk at its most basic form, Izuku?" he asked, after a moment, still staring upwards.
"A biological mutation that grants powers to humans."
"Wrong. It's a tool. And like any tool, there are substitutes."
Izuku almost wanted to laugh. There was a reason Support Heroes didn't last long in the field. Relying on a support item made them 'situational', and the media didn't have a good outlook on them, pushing many out of the spotlight.
"And what about a Hero who relies on their quirk? Would they not also be situational?" Izuku really needed to stop muttering his thoughts. "Yeah, it won't be a good habit for you to have once you're in the field." Percy's eyes were twinkling just a little bit, but his face was still stern.
"Are you going to be a hero for the media?" Izuku opened his mouth to refute him, but Percy kept on speaking, "No, you've already explained why you want to be a hero. So, why not prove them wrong? Where's that bravado you had at Dagobah?" Percy had his hands crossed on his chest as he leaned against the counter, and his sharp eyes pinned Izuku to the floor.
"I - I don't know." It's the truth, and Percy doesn't look too surprised, so he counts it as a win.
Percy took a deep breath before speaking again. "You want to be like All Might?" Izuku nodded. "I'm afraid that you'll never be like All Might, Izuku." The harsh words shocked Izuku, and they hurt more than he thought they would, coming from Percy. "But you can be just as good, no. You can be better." Izuku's mouth dropped open at the pure confidence with which Percy spoke, and while he wanted to refute him, to tell him that 'Deku will never amount to anything', Percy's shimmering irises left no room for argument.
"True heroes, the heroes of ages past, never fought for glory. They didn't fight for others. We fought for ourselves, because we knew we wouldn't be able to sleep at night if we knew that someone was hurt, and we could have stopped it. Sometimes, I feel that our motivations were misguided, but it's too late to change the past. But what I can do is change the future, and I have a child in front me who dreams of nothing but becoming a hero. I guarantee you, Izuku, I will do everything in my power to make sure you achieve your dream. You will be the best hero that this world has ever seen." Percy's words gave him a little insight into the god's past, but all Izuku can focus on is the incredible faith Percy had in him. He turned away, unable to face the young god's conviction.
"I – thank you, Percy, but shouldn't you be getting the cutlets ready?" Percy smiled softly, but he accepted the distraction without another word.
The two moved in tandem, finishing up the katsudon together, although Percy does make a few small mistakes here and there. In the end, it did come out as a bit of a mess, but the taste was no less delectable. The pair are together in companionable silence, and though Izuku could somehow tell Percy wished to speak, he seemed to be saving it for until they were done.
By the time their stomachs were full, it was barely past seven in the evening, so Percy and Izuku settled down in the living room. Izuku sunk facefirst into a bean bag while Percy sprawled across a couch.
"Alright, kiddo." Percy yawned. "We still need to go to the police station just to get you legally adopted, and then we can come back home and you can get some sleep, okay?" Percy's mind was elsewhere, although he did need to get the legalities over with.
"Can we leave in a bit?" Izuku asked, from his position face down in the beans. Percy was happy to accept, glad that the kid was fine enough with his presence that he could ask for things, however small.
"Let's talk a bit more, in that case. I'm sure you've got your fair share of questions about me, so, here's your chance. Go ahead." Izuku rose violently from the bean bag to stare at him, stars twinkling in his eyes.
"What's the extent of your power? Since you're a god, do you need to be worshipped in order to survive? If you are worshipped, what does that feel like? Why are you the god of heroes, and what does that entail?" Izuku was holding a notebook in his hands, seemingly manifested out of thin air. Percy elected to ignore it.
"Well, I don't really have many limits. I suppose there's some things other gods could do that I can't really do; like stop time, make people sleep forever or party forever, et cetera. As for being worshipped – well, I'm not really sure. As long as it's known that I exist, I think I'll be fine, and even then, I probably wouldn't die immediately. The Egyptian gods are still alive, after all. Uh, what was next… right. Being worshipped isn't great; it's not my thing, but I deal with it. As for why I'm the god of heroes, well, I wasn't born a god." Izuku's eyes widened at that. "I was born a son of Poseidon, god of the seas, and son of a wonderful mortal mother. However, when I was made a god, what I wanted most was for the other heroes with me to be safe, so I became their protector, the god of heroes." Izuku's question reminded Percy of that terrible day; why couldn't he have just said no? Why?
"As the god of heroes, living in this second age of heroes, I just help heroes out from time to time. Jumping into a fight myself would still annoy the rest of my family, despite the revisions to the laws, so I assist in small ways, giving a Hero a burst of strength or healing their wounds from afar, stuff like that. Although, in truth, my domain of heroes isn't as much the public face of heroes but the private. I help them through trauma, ease their guilt, and do my best to heal them when they're suffering." Izuku wrote it all down on his little notebook, biting the inside of his cheek as he transcribed it.
After a few moments of speculation, Izuku has another question. "How," Izuku gulps; he hopes that this isn't somehow rude, "How old are you?" Percy blinks; if he's being honest, he doesn't really know. "What year is it?" he asks sheepishly. Izuku looks at him with slight incredulity, before responding, "2366."
It's really been that long?
"It's almost September, right? My birthday just passed - I - I'm three-hundred and seventy-three years old."
Izuku's brows furrowed and he tapped his pencil against his cheek. "Happy belated birthday, but that's sort of young for a god, isn't it? You were born in… 1993? Certainly before the quirk era."
Percy laughed, "Yes, definitely before the quirk era. And yeah, I am the youngest god. I was made a god for 'great acts of courage' during the Second Titanomachy. The 'good old days'." Before everything had gone to shit for him, he meant. Well, he had no one to blame but himself. Maybe he could have had a happy life if he hadn't taken godhood. Too late now.
"What was the 'Second Titanomachy'? And what great acts of courage did you do?" Izuku was sitting rigidly in his chair, listening with rapt attention. His small notebook already had a page full - the hobby interested Percy, though he decided he'd ask about it later.
"Well, it was a war where the Titan of Time, Kronos, rose from the depths of T- of the Underworld. He tried to destroy Olympus, overthrow the gods, and enslave humanity, until a hero managed to stop him." Izuku sat up, his back ramrod straight, pencil blurring across his notebook.
"How could humanity not have noticed some sort of evil overlord trying to enslave us? And, well, you were that hero, weren't you?" Izuku looked up just in time to see a dark look cross Percy's face.
"No, no, I wasn't." He took a deep, suffering breath, leaving Izuku with more questions than answers and continued, "As to why mortals didn't notice, it's because there's a veil between our worlds; the Mist. I've lifted the veil from your eyes, but other mortals won't be able to see or notice some of the things I do, or they'll see something else. So when my friends and I fought back against him, they usually wouldn't have been able to even notice."
Izuku was flabbergasted. "That's awesome, to think something like that exists! I wonder if this Mist can be attributed as the origin of some ghost stories, and stuff! But, wait. If you fought against Kronos alongside other heroes, who were they? Were they humans?" Izuku inquired, curious to the nature of Percy's companions.
"Well, they were like me; demigods. One mortal parent and one godly parent. You father was one too, actually."
Izuku's pencil's tip broke against the page. "I – what?" He looked up, his eyes wide and lips parted.
"Ah, sorry, you didn't know. Your father was a son of the Roman god Vulcan, god of fire and smiths, and he was an engineer, wasn't he? That's why I thought that you would like the workshop; as a legacy of Vulcan, you probably have some tendency towards machinery in your blood." Percy explained, flipping an ancient friend's gold coin across his knuckles haphazardly.
"O- Oh," Izuku managed to say. "So, you're s-saying I'm one-quarter g-god?"
Percy chuckled, "So are most mortals, kiddo. Pretty much everyone's at least one-sixteenth god at this point, especially in Japan. Gods have been having kids with mortals for as long as time itself. Our blood is in most mortals at this point, although very diluted. It's the best theory for the emergence of quirks."
"Oh." Izuku managed to squeak out. "So… do you have any kids?" 'Wait, that was sooo rude!'
Thankfully, Percy just laughed softly and said "Nah, I don't."
For some reason, that made Izuku feel warm inside.
The two of them sat in comfortable silence for another few minutes before Percy spoke again.
"Anyways, we've spent long enough here, kiddo. To the station!" Percy stood, shaking off his jacket.
Izuku pushed himself off of the bean bag, still amazed at the fact that he was going to be adopted by Percy.
"So, car or warp?" Percy's lips twitched and it was obvious he was trying not to laugh. Izuku had spent a fair few minutes trying not to vomit after the warp to the realtor's office.
"Car," Izuku grumbled, heat rising in his cheeks.
