Chapter 20: It Begins
Name: Luna
Quirk: Bast – She can assume the abilities of any cat, from regular housecats and lions to hybrids such as ligers and tigons. Her quirk is named after Bast, the Egyptian goddess of cats.
Appearance: Though usually taking on appearances of the cats' abilities, her usual look has been compared as eerily similar to a character of the anime RWBY known as Blake, however she has a tail, and they are complete opposites in terms of personality and choice of dress. She's 14.
Warning: Language and Adult Themes
Specific Warnings: Language, Mental Health Issues, Death, Gore
The primordial stood in an alleyway, knowing that the human would come through soon. Though, if anyone saw her, they would not be able to identify her. She was incredibly careful, hiding her presence from the last two deities that were still running around here somewhere. While the changes were on a mental level, the changes also applied to her physical appearance.
In place of a towering woman stood a six-year-old child with golden hair and kind, brown eyes. Though she did risk the chance of an elder mortal taking an inappropriate liking to her, she was willing to take their life if she had to. She didn't think Osiris would exactly be mad about it.
And then, she heard the footsteps of an approaching person. She cloaked herself, manipulating the weaves around her to conceal her presence. She waited a few moments after the woman passed her before stepping out of her hiding place and speaking.
"E-Excuse me, but … are you Egypt-Chan?" the primordial spoke, using a cute little girl's voice. The figure stiffened before turning around and relaxing when she saw a hesitant child looking at her with a mixture of apprehension and amazement.
Yua Nakata, known by her popular alias of Egypt-Chan, smiled and approached the little girl, who looked about ready to explode from happiness.
"Yes, I am. How can I help you, tiny one?" Nakata asked, squatting down to remain on eye level with her.
"Oh, um! C-Could you sign an autograph? I'm a huge fan!" the primordial found it incredible demeaning to have to resort to this, but it was necessary.
"Of course. Do you have -" the woman paused when the girl almost instantly produced a piece of paper. She laughed quietly while she signed it, adding a little heart.
"U-Um, c-could I ask one more favor?" the blond girl asked, shyly shuffling her feet.
"Of course you can. But only one more, okay? I need to go home."
"C-Could you shake my hand?"
Nakata tilted her head before nodding and offering her right hand. The little girl jumped up and down, clapping her hands in excitement before quickly grasping her hand. Nakata paused, however, when she felt her skin crawl at the contact. When she tried to extricate her hand, she found the little girl's hand to have a grip of iron.
"I apologize for having deceived you, mortal, but this was necessary. I apologize." Nakata paled when she heard the little girl's voice warp and distort. She opened her mouth to scream, but her voice was silent.
A few moments later, Nakata, now not truly Nakata, shuddered slightly before fully relaxing. When she opened her eyes, they were not their usual color, but constantly changing, lingering the longest on silver, before they faded back to their usual black.
She then decided to send a message to her hidden child to not strike until she told him to. She received her reply and smirked, before quietly making her way to the residence of her unwilling host.
0-0-0-0-0-0
"Aizawa-chan, we just need to check one more thing regarding your Quirk, and you'll be discharged." The nurse said, holding a clipboard. "You have the ability to transform into your distant ancestor, yes? We just need to check that you can."
Luna licked her lips, nodding. The truth was that she hadn't sensed Bast since her fight with her father and Set. Whatever the deity did, it must have caused herself to fall into a temporary slumber, but she hoped that she would be wake.
Bast?
No response was given, and Luna furrowed her brows, now worried. She reached out within her mind, searching for the deity, but came across nothing that would hint that there was supposed to be another presence there.
"Aizawa-chan?" the nurse asked.
"Give me a moment, please." Luna murmured, not opening her eyes.
Bast! Where are you?!
Again, nothing. And then, she felt something. Another presence, completely unfamiliar to her, suddenly filled the space where the deity was supposed to be.
Who is this?
Ah, so you're able to identify us, are you? An unfamiliar voice spoke. Luna stiffened instantly, and Ichika shifted, sensing something was wrong.
What did you do to Bast?
What did I do? I didn't do anything. In fact, it was Bast that called me forth. Otherwise, I still would be asleep, somewhere in the darkest corners of your mind.
Where is she?
The poor cat's asleep, drained entirely. Oh, she'll be back, sure, but until then, I can keep you company. Why don't you try transforming? I promise I won't bite …
Luna's head began to ring with alarm bells instantly.
You're Apophis, aren't you?
My, my, aren't you clever? Yes, I am.
Then you surely understand why I won't. Because if I do, you could just go on a rampage.
Normally, you would be right. But I've received orders not to do so until I am told to.
From who?
You'll find out soon enough.
Luna huffed, annoyed, before turning to the nurse.
"My ancestor is … unavailable. She's exhausted herself yesterday and needs time to recuperate." Luna finally spoke.
The nurse frowned, then nodded. "That's alright. We'll just need a call to confirm that you're fine within a day or two. Everything else is in order, so you're free to go. Just head on downstairs to be excused, and you're all set."
As the three made their way out of the hospital, they came across Endeavor and Shoto. When the number two pro hero saw them, he walked over.
"So, you're discharged, huh Aizawa-chan? Or should I call you Nadeau-chan, seeing as you're not biologically related to Eraser Head?" Endeavor asked in his usual dismissive, cold tone, but this time it was layered with a hidden edge.
Ichika bristled but calmed a bit when she felt her husband's hand on her back.
"Aizawa-chan is fine, thank you for asking, Endeavor-sama." Luna replied just as coldly, which caused him to raise an eyebrow.
"Indeed? Very well." Without another word, he stalked off, leaving behind several confused people. As Luna walked by Shoto, her tail rested on his shoulder for a moment before continuing.
When they entered the car, Luna finally decided to pop the question.
"What was that about?"
"He's testing you, though I have no clue what for." Aizawa said.
"You don't think it's for …?" Ichika asked.
"For what?" Luna tilted her head in confusion.
"He better not be." Aizawa answered Ichika with a growl but didn't answer Luna.
And so, Luna was left to ponder Ichika's unfinished question over the weekend. She had some theories, sure, but she never truly understood Ichika's question.
0-0-0-0-0-0
When Luna arrived back to her classroom after the weekend, she found half the class stifling laughs at Bakugo, who somehow had his spiky hair tamed, likely involuntarily, as seen by his stiffness and anger. Two individuals, namely Kirishima and Sero, were not, however, subtle at all.
"Seriously? Seriously Bakugo?!" the two boys wheezed in unison, their eyes tearing up from how hard they were laughing. Luna had to admit it was rather funny but decided to pity the boy and try not to make his day even more miserable.
"Stop laughing! My hair's gotten used to it, so it won't go back even after I wash it! Hey, stop laughing! I'll kill you!" shouted Bakugo.
"I'd like to see you try, Side-Part Boy!" chortled Sero.
"What'd you say?!" At that, his hair finally fixed itself, exploding back to its usual spikiness.
"It's back!"
"Wow, you even got to fight villains? I'm so jealous!" complained Ashido.
"I just helped people evacuate and did logistical support, so I didn't do any actual fighting, though." Jiro mused, idly twirling one of her earjacks.
"It's still amazing, though!"
"All I did was train and go on patrols, too. There was just one time when we caught smugglers from a neighboring country." Said Tsu.
"That's crazy!" shouted Mina and breathed Jiro together.
"How about you, Ochaco-chan? How was your week?"
Ochaco, meanwhile, was completely different from her usual cutesy self. This aura of dread and strength hung around her that wasn't there before, so Luna assumed she obtained it from her internship, but it was more than a little jarring.
"It was very worthwhile …" she finished her statement with a flurry of air punches.
"Ochaco-chan's awakened, huh?"
"She went to the battle hero's place, right?" asked Jiro, a bit afraid of what she was seeing.
"That's a huge change for just one week …" said Kaminari.
"Change? That's not it, Kaminari. Women are all demons. They're just hiding their true personalities." Mineta whispered.
"What did you see at Mt. Lady's place?! I was kind of fawned over and had a good time. But the ones who changed the most, or at least went through the most were you three, right?" Kaminari pointed the question to Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki, who were currently near each other. Luna was left out, though she didn't mind. She didn't want to be reminded of Ito's death.
"Oh yeah, the Hero Killer!" Sero said, hanging from Bakugo's left arm.
"I'm glad you guys made it out alive. Seriously." Kirishima said from Bakugo's right.
"I was worried." Yaoyorozu confessed.
"I heard Endeavor saved you, right?" asked Sato as most of the class congregated in front of Luna's desk. She didn't know why they chose hers instead of Shoto's, but she didn't particularly care. What she did care about was the fact that all three of them stiffened, clearly not liking the way the conversation was going.
"That's amazing! As expected from the number two hero!" exclaimed Hagakure.
"Yeah. He saved us." Shoto sighed.
"I saw on the news that the Hero Killer was connected to the League of Villains and the Phantom Cloak. Imagining someone that scary coming to USJ freaks me out." Ojiro scratched his head.
"He is scary, but did you see the video, Ojiro?" asked Kaminari.
"Video? You mean of the Hero Killer?"
"Yeah. Seeing that, you can see he's really single minded, and, like, tenacious. Doesn't it almost make you think he's cool?"
"Kaminari!" hissed Luna.
"Huh? Oh, Iida – I'm sorry!"
"No, it's fine. It's true that he was tenacious. I understand how people could think he's cool. But he chose purging as a result of his beliefs. No matter what he thinks, that part is definitely wrong. In order to keep anyone else from turning out like me, I will once again walk on the path to becoming a hero!" Iida shouted out the last part.
"Oh, Luna-chan, I nearly forgot; you had to fight a Nomu all by yourself, and the leader of the Phantom Cloak too, huh? Your father?" asked Tsu, and Luna winced, hoping it would be forgotten. But of course it wasn't.
Instantly, everyone's attention refocused onto Luna, who shrunk in her seat.
"Yeah, and apparently you almost beat him too, huh? You're so strong!" breathed Hagakure.
"Didn't he kill a guy though?" Kaminari asked
This time, Kaminari felt something small and hard smack his forehead. When he looked at the floor, he saw it was a piece of ice.
"Hey, what …" Kaminari trailed off when he saw the glare that Todoroki aimed his way, which was so cold it made him shiver.
"It was my boss. He died because I couldn't protect him." Whispered Luna, and instantly Kaminari felt bad for bringing it up.
"Nice going, genius." Jiro said sarcastically.
"Hey, Luna-chan, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was like that." Kaminari apologized.
"It's okay." Luna forced a smile, which everyone noticed, but didn't comment on. Iida decided enough was enough.
"Now, it's time to commence class! Everyone, take your seats!" Iida shouted.
"He's so loud." Muttered Tokoyami, who caused Luna's mood to lighten a little.
"It's 'cause you talked about all that stupid stuff, Kaminari!" hissed Jiro.
"Sorry about that." Kaminari whimpered.
The rest of the day passed normally enough. In English, they went over the proper use of correct conjunctions, which for Luna was pretty easy. Already, she had Tokoyami ask for a bit of help when doing the assignment, which everyone noticed when Luna's turned out right. Mathematics with Ectoplasm turned out alright, with them merely being given the class period to do a review and ask last minute questions before the test the next day. And finally, Cementoss's class period was spent going over a section of No Longer Human by Dazai Osamu. The novel itself is about a man named Ōba Yōzō and the mask he wore in the figurative sense, as he wasn't able to manage to show his problems or troubles to others. Currently, they were on the second section, called the Second Memorandum, where things were beginning to spiral out of control, with him beginning to neglect his university work and descend into a spiral of smoking, drinking, and prostitution. The story was pretty depressing, but Luna liked the way it was written.
And finally, lunch rolled around. At this point in time, Tsu had joined Luna, Todoroki, and Tokoyami as part of their lunch group, and they spent most of the time talking about their internships. Todoroki was in the middle of his account when Bakugo stalked over, hands shoved deep in his pockets. When everyone noticed, they waited for whatever they wanted to say.
"Luna. Can we talk?" asked Bakugo tersely.
"Of course." Luna waited, but he merely scowled.
"Alone." She felt Todoroki stiffen slightly beside her, so she quickly tapped Todoroki with her tail to let him know it was fine before addressing her lunch mates.
"Don't wait up for me. I don't know how long this'll take."
Luna followed Bakugo as he powerwalked outside of the cafeteria. When they stood in the empty hallway, he turned to her, hands still in his pockets, looking extremely troubled.
"I just wanted to say … Fuck this is hard." Bakugo muttered before taking a deep breath and looking directly into Luna's eyes.
"Take your time, Bakugo-kun. There's no rush." Luna said gently.
"About the first day of class with All Might. I never … apologized." Luna waited patiently, realizing he wanted to say more. "I know that I hurt you a lot, and … I wanted to … I just wanted to say … sorry."
Luna smiled slightly. "Bakugo, you were forgiven long before today. I understand that on that day, you were angry and confused, because Midoriya-kun suddenly had a Quirk. You thought he was hiding it, and thought he was looking down on you. While I didn't approve, and still don't, of what you did, I can understand why. But … that day … when you looked at the camera and attacked regardless … it hurt. A lot."
Bakugo stiffened, thinking Luna wasn't going to accept his apology, but she continued.
"And after a bit, I realized that … my expectations for you were unrealistic. I wasn't taking your feelings and thoughts into consideration. So, I should be the one apologizing, not you. Please, forgive me."
Bakugo scoffed, flicking Luna's forehead gently. Luna grumbled, rubbing the spot that stung slightly, much to Bakugo's amusement.
"I'm the one that was supposed to be apologizing, stupid. You're fine. Besides, the hag was nagging me the whole time, so I did it so she got off my back, got it? Not because I feel bad or anything."
"Of course not."
Luna walked back into the cafeteria, where her friends were waiting.
"What was that about, Luna-chan?" Tsu asked.
"Oh, nothing much. We just made up, you could say." Luna answered. "Anyways, what happened afterwards, Shoto?"
Finally, after lunch, everyone suited up for Hero Basic Training, and met All Might in front of a mock city.
"Okay, I am here. Anyways, we'll start now. Right. It's Hero Basic Training! Long time no see, boys and girls! How've you been?" asked All Might, thankfully not as loudly as Present Mic, which Luna was eternally grateful for. "For this time's Hero Basic Training – Since you've all just gotten back from your internships, we'll have some fun with a rescue training race! "
And, like always, Iida interrupted. "If we're doing rescue training, then shouldn't we do it as USJ?"
"That place is for training for disasters. Do you remember what I said? That's right! I said 'race'! This is Field Gamma! A dense area filled with factories laid out like an intricate labyrinth. You'll break into three five person and one six person groups and go through the training one group at a time. When I send out the distress signal from somewhere inside, you'll all start at once from the outskirts of the city! It's a race to see who will rescue me first! Of course, you have to keep damage to buildings to a minimum."
"Don't point at me." Grumbled Bakugo, who was currently being pointed at by All Might because of what he did in the very first class.
Once the first group got into position, All Might gave them the go-ahead. The first group consisted of Sero, Midoriya, Ojiro, Iida, and Mina. Though they all were some of the fastest in the class, Luna assumed it would be an easy victory for Sero, unless one of the others managed to come up with a new way of quickly traversing such terrain.
"Iida hasn't completely recovered yet, right? He should just watch."
"This group has almost everyone with good mobility."
"Hmm, perhaps Midoriya is at a slight disadvantage." Mused Yaoyorozu.
"That's true. Honestly, I'm still not sure how good he is." Agreed Jiro.
"And whenever he does something, he always gets badly injured …"
"Who do you think'll win? I think Sero'll be first." Stated Kirishima.
Kaminari hemmed and hawed before answering. "But Ojiro's there, too."
"I think it'll be Ashido. She's really athletic!" said Mineta.
"Deku will be last!" shouted Bakugo, much to everyone's amusement.
"Even if he's injured, I still think it'll be Iida-kun." Said Ochaca, rocking slightly.
"Ribbit." Tsu said simply, agreeing.
"Who do you think will win, Luna-chan?" asked Kirishima.
Luna pondered it for a bit before answering. "I think it'll be Sero-kun. Sure, Iida's pretty fast, but it'll be much easier reaching the center from above the buildings than from the streets."
"Well, if Luna agrees with me, then I'm correct!" Luna smiled a bit at that.
"Okay, here we go! Start!" stated All Might from one of the screens, and, with the foghorn blaring (much to Luna's chagrin), everyone booked it to the center of Field Gamma.
Sero, predictably, used his Quirk to his fullest advantage, swinging around like a weird Spiderman. Ojiro used his tail to bounce himself from building to building, while Mina used her acid to make the pipes one large slide. Iida, meanwhile, was the only person on the ground, streaking along the tight streets. However, the person who was currently in first place was Sero.
"See, look! In a place all jumbled up like this, it's standard practice to go up! Luna-chan's never wrong!" Kirishima exclaimed.
"Which means, Sero-kun's got an advantage since he's good in the air, huh?" mused Shoji.
However, everyone was rendered dumbstruck when a certain green figure blitzed ahead of him. Even Luna nearly had her jaw part slightly in amazement, watching as Midoriya jumped from pipe to pipe, his body crackling with green lightning.
"Wow, Midoriya?!" Kirishima, Kaminari, and Mineta marveled.
"What's up with those moves?!" asked Kaminari.
"Wow! He's hopping … like …" Ochaca trailed off, idly pumping her fists in encouragement.
She didn't need to finish the sentence to realize that Midoriya was moving very similarly to how Bakugo would. When she cast a glance back at the boy, he was staring at the screen both in anger and in shock. Well, that was an improvement from before. Maybe his internship did mellow him out slightly.
Everything was going fine, until it wasn't. Right at the end, when Midoriya leaped and tried to land on a skinny pipe, he ended up slipping, causing him to fall and faceplant, losing his first place. Sero ended up winning that round. He was promptly given a small banner to wear, which read 'Thank you for saving me!'.
After the first group cleared out, the second five-person group went up, which consisted of Shoji, Tsu, Kirishima, Koda, and Mineta. Unsurprisingly, Tsu ended up first, and got her own first place banner.
The third group, however, was where Luna had to compete. The third group consisted of herself, Ochaca, Jiro, Tokoyami, and Kaminari.
As Luna stood on her podium, she transformed into her clouded leopard form and stretched her back, popping some of her back muscles. She didn't think this race was going to be too hard. The only person who would give her trouble was Tokoyami, but Luna was certain she would be able to beat him.
As soon as the buzzer blared, she took off like a small, furry rocket, quickly traversing the metallic jungle gym that was Ground Beta. Certain areas allowed Luna to transform into her nightstalker form, but for the most part, she was limited to her clouded leopard form. The race was progressing relatively well, with Luna firmly in the lead, when she felt something slam into her within her head, nearly causing herself to fall. She wasn't able to ascertain what it was exactly, only that her head felt way too crowded, and it felt like two cats were fighting within her head.
What the hell is going on?! Luna demanded, all while trying to win the race. It certainly wasn't easy, as her head began to pound in an unfortunately familiar way, but Luna managed to snag the first place, a lot closer than she was comfortable with.
"Well done, Young Luna! You saved me!" All Might gave her the banner, and leaned in to whisper something to her. "Are you alright? You abruptly slowed down in the middle."
"Migraine incoming." Luna mumbled, clutching her forehead with one hand. "I think Bast woke up and doesn't like the fact that Apophis is in my head as well."
The staff of U.A. was notified of Luna's new resident within her head so All Might nodded in understanding. She had yet to ask him how he knew so much about her Quirk, but she never managed to get around to it.
"Very well. Do you think you'll manage to wait it out until the end of this class, or is it too much?"
"M'fine. I'll survive."
With that, Luna cleared out of Field Gamma to watch everyone else race. This time, the six-person group went, which consisted of Bakugo, Aoyama, Yaoyorozu, Hagakure, and Todoroki. It was a close match between Bakugo, Todoroki, and, surprisingly, Aoyama for the beginning, though Bakugo ended up winning, as he just blasted himself over everything and touched down in the middle, followed by Todoroki a few seconds later. Todoroki seemed a bit upset at losing, so Luna just consoled him with a few tail taps on his shoulder. She didn't understand why she was doing this all of a sudden, or why it felt so right, but she wasn't going to question it, especially when it indeed seemed to help him.
Regardless, Luna found herself in the locker room, idly listening to her classmates, and even some of the conversation of the boys (though it was relatively muffled), when she overheard Mineta and stiffened.
"Hey, Midoriya! I discovered something crazy! Come here!" Mineta's muffled voice sounded. "Look at this hole, Shawshank! It is probably thanks to the efforts of those who came before us! Next door is, you know – the girls' locker room!"
"Jiro-chan!" Luna hissed urgently.
"Yes, Luna-chan? What is it?" Jiro asked, perplexed.
"There's a peephole somewhere in this room! I heard Mineta-san find it! Can you block it up?"
All the girls stiffened instantly, and Jiro plugged her earjacks into the wall, before turning to face the a random part of the wall abruptly.
"Found it. Let's have a bit of fun, shall we?" Jiro asked. She peeled what appeared to be a fake, one-sided viewing patch, and suddenly, the boys' locker room was a lot louder.
"Yaoyorozu's ample yaoyoro-boobs! Ashido's slender waist! Hagakure's floating underwear! Uraraka's fine uraraka-body! Luna's nice catgirl figure! Asui's unexpected boobie-"
As every girl was mentioned, their faces lit up in a bright red color, and Luna was no different. Thankfully, Jiro shut him up pretty handily by poking him not-so-gently in the eye with her earjack, which elicited a scream that many found musical.
"Jiro-chan's earphone jack!" Luna heard Midoriya exclaim. "With its brutal combination of precision and surprise attack abilities, it's super strong!"
"Thanks, Kyoka-chan!" said Ochaca.
"How despicable." Yaoyorozu remarked. "Let us close this up right away!"
Jiro, however, didn't say anything. Somehow, during Luna's trainings with Takahashi, she managed to learn how to pick on emotions, or rather, smell them. Takahashi explained that people regularly gave off specific scents when feeling particular emotions, and even if Luna was hardly proficient at it, she did sense a bit of disappointment coming from Jiro. As to how Takahashi managed to obtain samples for her training, Luna had no clue.
"Jiro-chan, if you're upset that Mineta didn't mention you, I think that means he's too afraid of you. Besides, I think you got the best compliment from Midoriya-kun." Luna remarked, slipping on her shirt, and buttoning it up.
Suddenly, the girls heard an ominous rumbling from the boy's locker room, with Mineta's terrified screams and Bakugo's shouts of anger, as well as someone else's growls, though Luna wasn't sure who it belonged to. When she exited the locker room, she saw a rather beat up Mineta laying against a wall, with an angry Bakugo and disgruntled Todoroki, Tokoyami, and Midoriya standing nearby.
"What happened to him?" Luna asked.
"Nothing!" They all yelled as one, which caused Luna's lips to twitch in amusement before letting it go. Her migraine seemed to have lessened significantly to an uncomfortable headache, but the screeches and hisses were occasionally heard from what Luna assumed was Bast's and Apophis's battle.
When Luna was about to go home, however, All Might stopped her and Aizawa, in his diminished form.
"Aizawa-kun, would you mind if I borrow Young Luna for a few minutes?" All Might asked.
"What for?" asked her homeroom teacher.
"It's a bit about her Quirk, for the most part."
"Okay then. But you better not leave her alone."
"No problem!"
When Luna followed All Might, he led her to an empty teacher's teacher lounge, before gesturing to an empty armchair.
"Young Luna, what I'm about to tell you must only be spoken to those you have extreme confidence in. Is that understood?" All Might asked seriously. When Luna nodded, he continued. "Very well. First of all, you are probably wondering for the longest time how I seemed to know about Bast before you did."
"That is one of the most perplexing things I have pondered several times." Luna agreed.
"Well, the truth is that your Quirk, as I'm sure you know, is ancient, older than almost every other type of Quirk in existence. It's been passed down through your family tree since the fall of Egypt, along with several others. I presume you know about them?"
"Yes. Thoth, Osiris, and … Set."
"Correct. What you do not know is that they might altogether disappear, especially with Thoth out of the picture temporarily. Perhaps even permanently." All Might took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm not sure you know this, but, according to Egyptian mythology, before there was anything, there was a singular ocean, with no land in sight. From that ocean rose a primordial, so ancient that her name has been lost to time. She was the one that made everything, including several of the most ancient gods, before descending into a slumber. It is said when most of the gods have perished, and only a handful are present, she will rise. When she does, she brings the end of our world."
"Supposedly what must happen is that she will erase everything and reset it, this time featuring a new pantheon. And everything starts over, until a similar situation arises again. Now, I did not know of this information, until your mother divulged it to me." Luna sucked in a large breath of air before letting it go slowly. "She was afraid that the primordial would come soon, and told me all about her Quirk, in hopes that of this primordial arose, I would be able to defeat it. Unfortunately, I wouldn't have been able to then, and especially not now."
"Forgive me, All Might-sama, but why are you telling me this?" Luna asked, tilting her head slightly in confusion.
"Because, before she left, she gave me a glass orb, which was supposed to show if she awoke. This one, in fact." All Might pulled out a hollow, glass orb. However, inside was a rolling, red thundercloud. "She told me that it would remain clear until she awoke. As you can see, the orb is no longer clear."
"But that means … she's awake."
"Yes. I must heavily apologize for this, but I am asking you to take the place your mother entrusted to me."
Luna felt like she couldn't breathe. Here she was, a fourteen-year-old girl, being asked to save the world form an unknown threat powerful enough to end the world, by the number one hero in Japan. She felt her throat constrict and her head began to pound even harder, the sounds of battle drawing ever closer.
"I … I can't beat her. My head is currently splitting in two because of Apophis and Bast; how am I supposed to beat a primordial that's stronger than you?"
"The hope is that you can get them to cooperate, more or less, and be able to fight her unified."
"I -"
"Young Luna, I beg you, please accept this request."
Luna didn't know how to react or what to say. A part of her wanted to let Toshinori know that his confidence wasn't misplaced, but at the same time, she knew she wouldn't stand a chance. And then, she would have to face the judgement of everyone. She didn't want to lose her friends because of something like that. She didn't want everyone to look at her and think of her as weak. She didn't want Shoto to look at her and hate her for it.
"I … I don't know, Toshinori-sama. I- I'm just a fourteen-year-old girl. A girl who can barely placate her ancestor and stand no chance of doing the same with Apophis. Hell, he probably would work against me, considering who he is!" Poor Luna was almost sent into hysterics, just thinking about everything that could go wrong.
All Might saw the state of her and decided to pity her a bit.
"Very well. How about … I give you some time. Perhaps this orb is malfunctioning. I … am sorry."
Luna nodded, quickly bowed, and fled to the parking lot, where Aizawa was waiting for her. When he saw the state she was in, his brows furrowed in concern.
"What's wrong?" he asked, hesitantly placing a worried hand on her shoulder.
"I don't … know what to do. I'm afraid that, if I take one action, I can mess everything up … but at the same time, if I don't … then I will mess everything up." Luna confided lowly.
Aizawa tilted his head, thinking. While he was a bit upset that Luna didn't just tell him the situation as it was, he was happy that she was at least giving him something to go off of.
"Well, logically speaking, it would make sense to try, no? I mean, it's worth a shot. I don't know what the situation is, but at least you have a shot of succeeding, instead of failing."
"But … I'm scared."
"You think everyone else isn't? Do you think every hero in Japan isn't afraid of not succeeding? You think they're not afraid to be placed in a casket at the end of the day?"
Luna remained quiet, pondering her homeroom teacher's words. Though she had a feeling he wouldn't tell her the same thing if she confessed to him, his words still held true.
"Thank you. I'll be right back." Luna shot off back to the teacher's lounge, where she found All Might leaving. "Toshinori-sama! I'll try my best!"
When he turned around, he saw Luna practically boring holes into him. Toshinori smiled hesitantly.
Tell her … Tell her what she told you …
But he couldn't. He did the same with Midoriya, and it only fueled his hatred of the fact he couldn't. So he nodded and hurried away, his shame hidden from the young girl who he set on a likely path of destruction.
0-0-0-0-0-0
The next week or two were tough on Luna. Her head was constantly in pain because of the conflict the two gods were currently embroiled in, and every attempt to make them stop was completely drowned out entirely. She had tried everything, from taking Advil to even trying out something like meditation or yoga, but nothing worked. And honestly, she was growing sick of it.
Ichika and Aizawa noticed that she was getting little sleep because of it, and tried to assist her, but Luna stubbornly refused their help. No, this was something she needed to do by herself.
So, here she was, lying in bed, with little time before summer vacation. Luna huffed, her temper frayed from the little sleep she got, so she decided to do something different; visit Bast's memory of Egypt. She wasn't sure how to do this because the only times she was there was when Bast pulled her into it, but she was willing to try. Sleep never sounded so good.
Luna closer her eyes and focused on her memory of the place, visualizing the temple, the sand, the sun. She heard the sounds of battle draw closer, but she dared not open her eyes in fear of getting herself stranded somewhere between the real world and Bast's world. Finally, after what felt like forever, she felt the sun beating down on her, and when she opened her eyes, they widened considerable.
The pristine desert was now completely wrecked, looking like a battlefield, though it currently was, considering the fact that two figures were battling each other, with their shouts of exertion and pain echoing through the place. Both Bast and who Luna assumed was Apophis looked entirely worn out, tired from their extended fight, though neither was willing to back down. So, Luna decided to intervene. This was her mind, no? Then, anything she wanted to happen should happen.
Luna pictured the two being separated in two separate invisible containers, and as soon as she thought it, the two entangled figures yelped as they were suddenly trapped. When she made her way over, the two were bickering.
"The fuck did you do, shedskin?!" Bast hissed, hitting the invisible box around her in a futile to escape.
"I didn't do anything, furball!" Apophis hissed back, angrily looking around himself.
"You two are right, because I was the one to separate you." Luna said, and the two deities faced her, both displeased and impressed. And now was the first time that Luna managed to take a good look at Apophis.
Instead of a massive snake, the figure that was Apophis was a lot more humanlike than she anticipated. He stood slightly taller than Bast, dressed in a now torn and ruined business suit. His skin, instead of being regular human skin, was covered by a layer of purple scales, with a purple cobra's hood flaring from his neck. His jaw was snakelike as well, with massive fangs visible even with his mouth closed. His eyes were a shockingly neon yellow, slitted much like a viper's. His hands were clawed instead of having regular fingers, and a purple tail was seen moving idly behind him.
"Luna?! Get me out of here!" Bast demanded.
"Uh, how about no? You should get me out instead." Apophis said.
"Shut up!"
"Okay, you two are going to listen to me now, got it?!" Luna interrupted. "This won't get us anywhere!"
While Bast looked furious, she found that Apophis seemed to be debating it, which rather surprised Luna before she continued.
"The both of you have been giving me a massive, prolonged migraine this entire time. I thought you two would have resolved this by now, but with today being the second week of barely any sleep, I'm putting my foot down. Now, would you two like to explain why you decided my head was a good place to fight?"
"It's surprisingly empty." Smirked Apophis, which earned him a glare from Luna. "Fine. If you want to know, I didn't do anything. She attacked me."
"You didn't do anything?! You were ransacking my temple!" Bast howled.
"I was searching for you, not looting!"
"You call raiding my kitchen looking for me?!"
"I was hungry, okay?! You try not eating for millennia!"
"Okay, I get it!" Luna said, rubbing her temples in exasperation. Despite being as old as the dawn of time, they were bickering like schoolchildren. "Look, I'm not asking you to get along. I just need you two to stop fighting."
"Actually, we're fated to always battle, so I think you're going to have to come up with something else." Apophis said, idly playing with a cane with a metal cobra's head. Luna didn't know where he got it from, but as long as he wasn't trying to tear Bast's throat out, he was fine.
"I don't want to agree with him, but it's my job to fight him." Bast growled, glaring daggers at the bored serpent-person.
"No, you had to do that to protect Ra. He's not here anymore, so your obligation to fight is gone." Luna said.
"She has a point." Apophis conceded.
"Shut up, you! I bet you don't even care, a barbarian like you would absolutely love to destroy everything, huh?!" Bast barked. This time, it looked like she hit a sore spot for the old snake.
"Look, just because I tried to eat Ra didn't mean I wanted to." Apophis said.
"Why else would you do it then? You're nothing but an old, evil snake. All you yearn for is destruction and chaos. You're not better than Set."
It was then that Apophis leapt at Bast, slamming into the invisible barrier that Luna had trapped them in.
"Don't you dare compare me to that filth! I didn't slaughter your entire pathetic family! And it wasn't my choice to eat your old bird!"
"Then why did you?" asked Luna, genuinely confused. Bast too now looked at him with skepticism. Realizing he said to much, Apophis merely hissed unhappily and refused to elaborate.
"Look, let's do this. You two obviously need physical space from each other, so …" Luna imagined a small chasm appear, dividing up the area in two. "Until you two can get along, this area will be divided in two. Bast can take her temple along with her half, and you can take the other half. Make a temple, penthouse, or mansion appear out of the sand, I don't care. Just don't antagonize each other, and the hope is that you'll manage to at least look at each other without fighting."
"How come he gets to take my area?!" Bast complained.
"Unless Apophis can make his own area like this, he'll have to stay. Well, can you?"
"As amusing as it would be, I will make my own memoryscape." Apophis declined, and with a pop, he vanished.
"Happy?" Luna asked, releasing Bast from her box.
"No. But I suppose as long as he doesn't come here, we'll be okay." Bast meowed, looking around her memoryscape. With a sigh, Luna imagined it how she first saw it, and everything reverted back to normal, guards and everything. "Oh, and before you go."
"Yes?"
"Whatever you do, don't trust him."
Luna frowned, but she nodded and too left the memoryscape, as Apophis called it. She decided to visit him, and when she did, she found a Victorian-era mansion, complete with the fountain in front and everything. Apophis was currently appraising it, twirling his staff.
"So, you'll hold up the bargain?" Luna asked.
"Yup."
"Hey, Apophis, I just have one request."
"And it is …?"
"Can you tell me if the primordial were to wake up?"
Apophis turned to look at her. Luna had the feeling that if he had eyebrows, he would have raised one at her.
"And you need that info why?"
"Because … Because I don't want her to destroy everything."
"What, your life too precious?"
"Hardly."
Apophis frowned, looking at her more closely. Not that he would admit it, and he doubted the cat did either, but he was able to glance at some of her memories before she composed herself, blocking the flow off. He managed to get the main idea, however.
"Well, I'll do you a favor, free of charge. She's been awake since … the day Thoth died."
"WHAT?!"
"Oh, stop worrying, you. If you're worried about her destroying the world, she'll only do that within a couple thousand years if you mortals survive that long."
"That doesn't make it better!"
"No? You won't have to worry about it."
"So?!"
"Why are you so worked up?"
"Because that's terrible, forcing the future generation to solve the problems you created!"
"What, those Generation Z grandparents still complaining about the insane costs of housing and universities of the early twenty-first century? I know that was because of their own grandparents, but that was one hundred years ago."
Luna didn't answer this time.
"Oh, you don't even though know them, do you? There's a reason she doesn't stay in one place for too long."
Luna looked sharply at him. "You said doesn't."
Apophis peered at her, looking like she was a bit braindead. "Yeeesssss …"
"As in, she's alive."
Apophis nodded. "Yup. Still somewhere on this planet."
"How do you know?"
"Kid, your so called 'Quirk' has been passed down through every female in your ancestry. It would make sense that I was once inside her head too."
"Do you …?"
"Nope."
Luna sighed, before nodding. "Okay. Just … try not to antagonize Bast please."
"Sure thing, kid."
And with that, Luna reappeared in her bed, now very peaceful without the war that was being waged literally minutes ago. With a newfound peace, Luna rolled over, and, for the first time in two weeks, fell into a nice, deep sleep.
Hello everyone, and welcome back! This chapter was kind of a fluff/plot chapter that explained a few things. Kind of like a "Aftermath of …" episode if you will. However, I do have some good news! There will be a bit more of Shoto x Luna next chapter, which I know seems to have trickled off as of late, so have no fear! Anyways, that's about it really. Stay safe out there! – Bananaman out!