Author's Note: Hey everyone, FireSlash here and welcome to another chapter of "The Great Old Ones". Thanks to all of you who've shown support for this story, it means a lot. Before we begin, I want to say some things.
1. I edited the first chapter to make it less of an exposition dump. If you want to, feel free to give it a read.
2. This chapter is significantly shorter than others. I was initially going to just add it to the beginning of the third chapter (which is in progress), but I decided to publish it as its own just because I felt it would flow better. Sorry to all those who wanted a longer chapter, but trust me when I say the next chapter will be a big one.
3. Sorry for not updating recently. Was busy with school and with life. I've graduated though so hopefully I'll be able to update my fics more frequently. Life's a bit rocky atm but hopefully it smooths out soon XD.
Anyways, enough of me rambling. Let's get to the story. Review and enjoy :-).
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"Pleasure to me is wonder—the unexplored, the unexpected, the thing that is hidden and the changeless thing that lurks behind superficial mutability," - H.P Lovecraft
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To the world, the chimera known as Nezu was someone to be respected and feared. An amalgamation of creatures, Nezu's one of the few animals in the world known to have a quirk, and his quirk was quite useful indeed. Dubbed 'high-specs', it granted him intelligence which outclassed that of most humans, being able to understand complex concepts and truths with astounding speeds. With it, he's taken up the position of principal at U.A, wishing to use his intellect to nurture the world's next generation of heroes.
Due to his intellect and acute animal senses, hardly anything could take the chimera by surprise. He's practically seen most of what was out there and could predict the future quite well, if he was allowed to brag. All he needed was a quick glance at someone or something and he'd understand their capabilities, their emotions, and their life stories. Yes, it was almost impossible to get the principal of U.A to be surprised by anything, much less make him take an intense interest in something to the point of obsession. For all his life, Nezu begrudgingly believed this, simply using his mind to further the growth of humanity.
Such was what he was doing right now, monitoring the physical portion of the exam and determining which of the collection of hopeful students would be allowed to enter the prestigious U.A High School.
"Well everyone, I believe it's time to begin the exams," Nezu told his fellow faculty members, all of whom were in a room with several monitors. With a press of a button, all the monitors turned on, showing footage of the exam sites. Another press of a button began recording said footage as even with his intellect and heightened senses, he wouldn't be able to catch everything that happened during the first viewing. After all, there were over a thousand hopeful students who he needed to assess.
"We seem to have quite the batch of applicants this year," All Might noted, having a handful of files in his hands, them detailing several applicants. Unknown to the world at the time, the Symbol of Peace was going to start his first semester teaching at U.A, hence why he was present.
Shota Aizawa, U.A teacher and underground hero Eraserhead, scoffed in response. "We'll see how many actually show merit."
"Indeed we shall," Nezu agreed before speaking on an intercom. "Present Mic, you may begin the exam."
"On it boss!" The blonde hero replied.
With that, the exam was in session, all the applicants rushing inside to take on the robots.
Files in hand, Nezu was prepared to get to work, readying himself to analyze each student he could. A small beep signaled that someone was already detected by one of the robots, mildly intriguing the principal. It has only been two seconds and someone was already near a robot, beating All Might's record of reaching a robot in half a minute.
Naturally, Nezu went to look at the screen, only to feel time slow around him, his eyes focusing on the hopeful applicant who had managed to achieve such a feat, one Izuku Midoriya.
'This boy…' Never in his life has Nezu been drawn to such a person or thing. Like everyone else, the first thing he noticed about the boy was his eyes. It was as if he was looking into two black holes, each being home to worlds ravaged by some sort of ancient evil presence waiting to wreak havoc on many more. At the same time though, it felt as if he was looking into two different universes filled with life, each teeming with life that made them shine brighter than the brightest star. Such eyes were the most devoid and full of life Nezu has ever seen, something so contradictory yet something which somehow made perfect sense.
Shuffling through his files, he realized that he didn't have Izuku's on hand. Without turning around, he began to ask his fellow faculty members for said file. "Do any of you happen to have this young man's file?"
"I do," Vlad King replied, handing Nezu the file. "He's an interesting one. Completed the written portion of the exam in thirty minutes. Probably would have finished earlier if he didn't daydream as much."
Someone who finished the exam in half the time it would've taken him to finish it? Consider Nezu's interest piqued. "Is that so? How curious…"
Continuing to monitor the boy, Nezu's curiosity would only grow as he watched the boy move and fight. Watching Izuku destroy robots with his tendrils wasn't what caught the chimera's attention though, him simply passing it off as the boy's quirk. Rather, it was how the boy moved and walked when not in combat. Izuku's moves were unnaturally stiff, as if Nezu was looking at a zombie trying to do its best to impersonate a human. There was no fluidity or flexibility in anything Izuku did. In a way, it felt to Nezu as if Izuku's body wasn't actually his, it was simply a puppet on strings controlled by some outside force, a force he couldn't perceive.
"Sixty five, sixty seven, seventy…" Despite his stiff movement, Izuku was a killing machine, having torn up dozens of robots in only the first three minutes of the exam. Izuku was a machine Nezu couldn't look away from, not having monitored anything else. All his attention was solely on the young boy.
The other proctors began looking at their boss in worry, never having seen Nezu's attention glued on something as intensely as he was focused on Izuku. None of them said a thing though, knowing that Nezu didn't like to be interrupted whenever he was focused on something, and the consequences would be severe if he was, especially in this instance.
Observing Izuku a little more, Nezu found himself drawn back to Izuku's eyes, still curious as to why he was so drawn to the boy. Less than a second later, a thought popped into Nezu's head. His stiff movements, his empty-yet-full eyes, most would think Izuku was daydreaming. Nezu knew this was far from the truth. 'He's not thinking about the exam. He's preoccupied with something else. Something he deems to be greater. What are you thinking about? I want to know…'
Suddenly, Izuku's eyes flickered, looking far more human than ever. Moving in a fluid motion Nezu didn't even think was possible for him, the boy fired a tendril at a robot that was about to sneak up on one of his fellow testees. Seeing that they were fine, Izuku's eyes resumed their murky appearance and he began to trudge along once more.
"So that was enough to sprout you to life," Nezu mumbled. "You have a heroic spirit, but it's not one I've seen before. Who are you? How have you avoided my radar for so long?"
Unknown to the animal, he had started vibrating in place, adrenaline flowing through his body and his mind racing more than it's ever in all his years alive. Izuku was a true anomaly to him, one he wanted to analyze and break down. He wanted, no, he NEEDED to know what made the boy tick, who he was watching, what he WAS.
"Let's see how you respond to this… Present Mic, release the Zero-Pointer. Now."
Present Mic did what he was told wordlessly, an oddity for the normally talkative man. There was no way he was going to risk breaking Nezu's concentration.
Nezu continued eyeing the monitor as if his life depended on it, wondering what Izuku would do when met face-to-face with such a titan. Would he do the sensible thing and run away? Or would he try to fight it? Maybe he had something else planned? Nezu didn't know, and that uncertainty invigorated him.
Nezu soon got his answer when the star-child ran into the machine, his eyes not even registering the killer robot in front of him. "He's bored of the zero-pointer. Even it's not enough to catch his attention. Is what you're focused on that important to you?"
He almost missed the fact a girl was calling for help, only reacting when Izuku did, seeing that the boy was now focusing on the Zero-Pointer.
"̴͔͈̄̃Ḧ̶̡͓a̴̘̓̚ḓ̵̽à̵̘̖ȑ̸̦͇!̵̯̽ ̴̮̪͆̿L̵̖͎̈́͝è̴̜͘ṭ̸̡̈̚ ̸̫̐̃y̷̹̩͋̋ö̶̞̥́͝u̸͍̅r̷̻͋ ̸̣̪̈͒i̸̢̕n̴͇͈̔̌s̸̟͆͠a̶̭̬̍t̷̖͓̓̈́î̷͕͍ǎ̶̱b̷͙͌̍͜ļ̵͘e̶̛̱̤̓ ̴̭̔h̶̲͍̑̅u̸͇͠ǹ̵̖g̴̪͊e̴̡̻̾͝r̸̰̎ ̷̨͉͋c̴̥͚̈́o̵̘̪̿n̴̘͝s̵̱̰̍u̸̖̐m̷̡͐e̵͚̲͂ ̷̘̋̚ā̸̹̗͌l̶͚̖̚l̴͖̃̿ ̸̧̋t̶͔̑̉h̷̬̋̆a̶͇̮͋͐t̷̢̟̉͠ ̴͔̙̀̓n̴̘̙͆̍ě̷̡e̵̤̒͝d̶̲͌s̵̎͐͜ ̶̲̜̈t̵̻͑̅͜o̵̠̳̓̍ ̵̹̟̚ḇ̶̃ê̵̢͎͂ ̶̹̆d̴̹́e̶̱͐̓s̵͙͓͒t̸̳͘r̵̺͍͐ò̴͓͇̈́y̶̦̎̂é̸̞͝d̴̞́́.̴̱̇̏
"What did he say?" Most would've written off Izuku's Deep Speech as incoherent muttering. Not Nezu. Those words he spoke had syllables that could not be mimicked by human speech, and were said with a form of fluidity only found when someone was speaking their mother tongue. Whatever Izuku said, it had meaning, and he wanted to decipher that meaning.
When he saw the circles surrounding Izuku's hands, it only increased his desire to learn the language Izuku spoke. 'Did those words do that?' The desire spiked once more when the sphere of darkness began surrounding the robot, slowly dragging it down. "What's going on?"
Flicking a switch, Nezu had the Zero-Pointer activate its infrared sensors. Much to his shock, nothing was picked up, not even the floor. That space was non-existent as far as infrared was concerned.
When the robot was fully submerged inside the circle, Nezu instinctively covered his ears, being assaulted by sharp words in an unknown language. For some reason, he felt his ears bleeding, as if the words were stabbing at his brain. Despite this, he soon uncovered them, finding himself drawn to the alien sounds. Promises of power, fortune, and knowledge… that was what the chimera felt was being whispered to him. He couldn't understand WHAT was being said, but he was completely sure that this was the contents of the words he was hearing. And it was simply irresistible.
When the Zero-Pointer was completely dragged through the shadowy portal, the video cut off, causing Nezu to realize he was trembling, trembling from both fear and excitement. He was afraid like an animal being hunted by an unseen predator, for he could tell Izuku was immensely gifted and dangerous despite his otherwise plain appearance. Yet, the fact that he was venturing into the unknown excited him. Exploring the unknown was like a puzzle, and Nezu loved puzzles.
Once more his eyes fell on Izuku, the boy freeing a girl from some rubble.
"Izuku Midoriya… who are you? What are you? I need to know. I NEED to know everything there is about you. I want to know all that you know, because you clearly know so much that I don't. This… this is exciting… I can't wait to meet you."
Yes, from observing Izuku, Nezu knew the boy's mind was something great and foreign to him. He NEEDED to study him, to learn from him. While normally the teacher, Nezu was more than content with being the student this time around if it meant uncovering the mystery that was Izuku Midoriya.
If only Nezu knew how little his intellect actually mattered. How insignificant it was in the end. There were beings far greater than him, far smarter than him, and truths he has yet and may never uncover, truths that would have him begging for his quirk to be removed if he ever learnt them. This was what he was wanting to get into, and it was only a small portion of the world Izuku lived in.
