Hello again! we're back! my apologies about how long this took- between work, other projects, and the adoption of two new kittens, things have been somewhat hectic with my writing schedule!
I'll be making an effort to try and do more, with plans for the next chapter to be released sometime before the end of November, it'll be a tad bit shorter, which /should/ help in getting it done faster.
After that? We'll be hittin' UA! or at least its entrance exam! Woo!
personally, i'm excited for that.
Chapter 10
It was with the dawning of the morning sun that Izuku knew his morning training was almost complete. It would be another half hour or so before All Might would arrive, just enough time to haul towards the rented-out dumpster another six or seven trash bags- or attempt the walk-in fridge that he had sitting off to the side. A quick glance at the metal monstrosity had him look away, brief memories of the last time he tried and failed to move that thing still fresh in his mind. He knew eventually that it had to move, but the damned thing was so heavy, even with the minor strength boost he got from exercise and the goddess!
I wouldn't exactly call it a strength boost, it's more akin to your body naturally utilizing your caloric intake to strengthen your muscles and increase their mass. All I do is make sure the process is as efficient as possible!
He knew that, truly he did, but it sounded far less magical than saying that he got a minor strength boost from a goddess.
That's your main concern over it? Well, at this point I really shouldn't be surprised.
Regardless of how it sounded, he knew he wasn't strong enough yet to fully move that thing on his own, but he could still at least try- if only to gauge how much farther he had yet to go before moving it. From that little milestone, he could attempt the much larger things that were somehow haphazardly dumped on the beach. Such as the dump truck that was somehow buried halfway into the sand, how that thing got there he would never know- but it was there! And technically considered a trash item.
He wasn't looking forwards to moving that, but future him could worry about that later. For now, he had trash bags and a fridge to attempt to move.
There are people approaching, only one of which I recognize as your paramour.
It took him a moment to process the goddesses' words, it was followed by another moment to realize just who she meant by paramour before his face erupted into a rather nice shade of crimson. But before he could correct her on his relationship status with a certain orangette, a bundle of green something came barreling down the slope that led to the beach from the street. It tumbled down into the sand, kicking up a miniature dust cloud in its wake before unceremoniously coming to a slow stop in front of him. His eyes narrowed as he stared at a. . . bundle of seaweed? He knelt down on one knee, gently pushing several strands of the seaweed to the side.
He screamed as he came face to face with a face in the seaweed- oh God it's a human head!
He was quick to throw the decapitated head back into the sand while stumbling back, he barely made it two steps before falling onto his rear while he desperately clawed his way backwards. An attempt to make as much room as possible between him and the dead. His mind was barely able to register the cuts on his hands from glass beneath the sand before the goddess healed him. His breath was quick and shallow, his eyes wide and pupils small as they fixated on the bodiless head- which suddenly began floating up? Eyes he believed to be glazed over focused on him, warping from barely contained amusement to ones of concern, of fear for possibly taking something a step too far.
A wave of calm suddenly rushed through his body, the warmth of the goddess wrapping around him as though it was a comforting hug. With this feeling, his mind was calmed enough to register something shifting on his left side, the faintest whiff of coffee grounds assaulting his nose as orange strands of hair became visible from the edge of his vision.
Oh, that wasn't the goddess.
Someone was hugging him.
Itsuka, in his brief moment of panic, had wrapped herself around him from the side. Her arms holding onto his body tightly, while her head rested atop his shoulder- he could even hear her faint soothing whispers now that he wasn't panicking.
"It's okay Izuku, you're safe, nobody's hurt, it's just a stupid prank, everything's alright, you're safe"
A second wave of calmness had his muscles relax while in her embrace, a third had him blushing as he realized her chest was pressed up against his shoulder. A soft whisper of thanks had Itsuka look up at him, and smile at the sight of his relaxed expression.
"Awwww man, I got sand in my ears!"
The sound of a third voice broke Izuku out of the trance before it could begin, silently grateful to the voice for saving him a small amount of embarrassment, he turned his head to see a headless body come barreling down the beach- oh hello panic, welcome back for the second round!
The sight of a headless body running towards someone at top speed would make anyone frightened, it would make anyone scream like a small child that was being punished, regardless of them being fully grown or no. But that didn't stop Izuku from feeling embarrassed while his arms wrapped around Itsuka as he let out a rather loud shriek at the sight. It kept getting closer and closer, its hand reaching out towards them as though it meant to take them. Without thinking he shifted to be in front of Itsuka, her flushed face pressed against his slightly sweaty chest as he shielded her from supposed danger. It was almost upon them, its fingertips close enough to barely graze his shoulder as it. . . ran past them?
As Izuku's mind tried to process the event that had just transpired, the headless body continued its apparent beeline straight for the bodiless head- which was still floating in the air. Its fingertips were barely able to grasp at the head's nose before it was pulled into a tight embrace against its own(?) chest. It lasted for no more than a moment before the head was placed atop the body's neck- the faintest of snapping sounds barely able to be heard as it presumably realigned with it- with her spine.
With a moment now to calmly think, Izuku was able to notice that the body wasn't, in fact, straight from his nightmares. Instead, it was the body of a girl that appeared to be wearing an overly large shirt- sunflower yellow if he had to guess, that went down just past her knees. A belt was worn around her hips, keeping the shirt just tight enough to hug her body like a dress. From what he could immediately tell without staring for too long, she wore little else save for a pair of flip flops to protect her otherwise bare feet from the sand. He took the chance to glance at her face, and was met with seaweed green eyes and a Cheshire-like grin staring back at him. Why was she staring at him like that? Did he do- did he stare at her for too long?!
"See something you like Greenie?~"
I believe you were caught staring, yes.
His face exploded into a furious hue of crimson, his eyes immediately shot down, to stare at the sand as the greenette's barely controlled laughter sounded around him. A sharp pain to his right briefly had him staring into the annoyed eyes of Itsuka, she was quick to look away- her face a less prominent shade of red than his. It was then that he noticed her body was still pressed against his, her arms clinging to his own- pressing his arm against her rather soft chest.
This was it.
This was how he died, a lack of proper blood circulation from just how much rushed to his face.
It wasn't a bad life, all things considered. Sure, he had a rather unfortunate childhood, constant ridicule and harassment, but at least he had met All Might. At least he had gotten to somewhat know Itsuka in the short few months the two had been friends. Hell, at least he had a friend in the form of her instead of someone like Katsuki.
He couldn't find it in himself to complain as he fell backwards, his conscious mind slipping away from him as the startled voices of the two women were heard in the near distance. But that was fine, he didn't have all that much to complain about anyways. At least not to Itsuka and her friend.
. . . My Dear Vessel, we simply MUST get you accustomed to being around women, or at the very least to not faint from blood loss at touching boob through fabric.
/./././././././././
He wasn't entirely sure how to describe the feeling of waking up, of regaining conscious thought aside from just suddenly being there. But as his eyes fluttered open to the sight of slightly cloudy skies, the sun just a little bit further from where he last saw it, he couldn't help but want to find a way to describe it. Was it akin to some unseen person turning on and off a computer? A flick of a switch like a light? Or was it the slow rebooting of a system after a massive failure?
Or was he just slightly delirious from having fallen unconscious back onto the sand he had worked tirelessly to clean?
Probably that last one to be honest.
Definitely that last one.
Regardless of his confirmed mental state or not, Izuku was quick to sit back up and attempt to take in his surroundings. The green-haired girl was still there, slightly off to the side with her eyes focused solely on him- his cheeks bore a faint red tint at that, but thankfully he managed to wrestle the flushed feeling of an admittedly pretty girl staring at him under control. He wasn't able to see Itsuka anywhere, but it was safe to assume she had gone off to call someone for help- hopefully it wasn't All Might, the man had enough worries as it was without this being addressed.
'Especially with the specifics on how I fainted'
Quite right. Also turn around
A quick glance behind him revealed that, in fact, Itsuka was right behind him, down on her knees in the sand with a phone up to her ear. She was faced away from him, but a quick glance down at her thighs- followed by her head snapping up to look at him, had a relieved smile bloom on her face.
"Yes- ah! He just woke up!. . . Right, I'll stay with him until you get here, thank you Mr. Yagi"
She was quick to end the call, and even quicker to shove the phone back down into an unseen skirt pocket behind her. But neither of those instances came close to how quick she was to pull him into a hug.
"Izuku! You had me worried! I- I didn't know what happened, but I called Mr. Yagi and explained everything. . . He laughed a bit and said he was on his way"
She paused for a brief moment, her arms still wrapped tightly around him. He was able to faintly feel her muscles tense before she continued.
". . . I'm sorry if it was Setsuna's prank, she's. . A bit of a handful, I didn't realize she was going to do that- but as soon as we got close to the beach, she already detached her head and rushed off!"
A glare was sent towards the greenette- now named Setsuna, that was sulking off to the side. Izuku couldn't stop himself from the small amount of laughter that managed to escape at seeing the strange girl pout like a toddler, was it strange? Probably, but seeing the girl that had nearly caused him a heart attack pout like that? Who wouldn't laugh?
Probably a sane person, but sane left the train station around the same time the goddess appeared in his life.
Setsuna made to stand, paused before she was even halfway up, and then proceeded to detach the entirety of her upper body and float over to the duo. A grin had somehow made its way onto her face as she dramatically bowed midair before him and Itsuka, but as she stood- er, floated back up, he couldn't help but notice her eyes staring at anywhere but the two of them.
"Heya there Greenie! Sorry about not introducing myself earlier, kinda hard to do that when someone faints... a-anyways! Names Setsuna Tokage! Resident lizard lover and former best friend of lil' miss Carrot top behind ya"
His eyebrow rose a little at her last comment before wandering down to look at Itsuka, who could only roll her eyes at the greenettes' introduction. He glanced back up at Setsuna, unable to stop himself from questioning.
"F-former?"
"Well obviously! How else would you explain why she'd keep such a great piece of eye candy like you to herself?"
Did the temperature outside suddenly get warmer? Ah- no, wait, that was just his cheeks exploding into fire again.
He looked away as she began to giggle, no doubt as his expense for believing her words to be true- quick yet sharp pain at his side interrupted those thoughts before they could properly begin. He looked down to his left, to see Itsuka still pressing herself tightly against his body in a hug. When did she hug him again? Did she even let go the first time?
"Izuku, are you alright? You... had a strange look in your eyes"
"Huh? O-oh don't worry! I'm fine! I'm used to people pretending to compliment me..."
Memories from the first week of Aldera flashed through his mind, of when Bakugo encouraged the spread of his quirkless status- of his uselessness amongst the student body. It didn't take long for the rumors to spread, for those that welcomed him to quickly abandon him, for guys and girls alike to avoid being near him- let alone talking to him. Those that had been bold enough to strike up conversation did so with poisoned words and false smiles, or at the very least those were the ones that didn't degrade and belittle him with every other word.
A gentle nudge to his side broke him out of his thoughts, a quick glance to his side had him staring into the concerned eyes of both Itsuka and Setsuna. The two of them were quick to glance at one another before turning to face him once more. Did he have something on his face? Did he say-
Crap, he mumbled his thoughts again, didn't he?
"Yes, you did mumble"
"Greenie, i just met you and even i know that we really gotta work on your confidence. And beat the shit out of this Bakugo dude"
"The young lady is quite right Young Midoriya! Except for the beating someone up part, that I don't think would be a good idea"
The trio of students were quick to spot Toshinori Yagi as he stood on the very edge of the road just above them, his arms were crossed in front of his chest while his Piercing blue eyes stared down at them rather intensely. He was quick to descend onto the beach's sandy shores via the nearby stairs, only coming to a stop some two or three steps away from the small group. With a sheepish laugh from Setsuna as his eyes roamed over them, his fellow greenette floated back to her legs- reattaching them with ease before rejoining him and Itsuka.
The trio sat silently in front of the disguised hero for some time as his hardened gaze bore down on all of them- or was it just himself? He wasn't exactly sure for how long they sat there, but the goddesses guess of two-ish minutes within his mind somewhat helped.
After another minute seemingly passed, the hero let out a sigh of relief, his shoulders visibly relaxing.
"You look to be fine Young Midoriya, but just to be on the safe side, we'll stop by my personal doctor on the way home to have a look at you"
A little bit overly cautious, but smart I suppose. Especially since standing around and staring at you doesn't exactly seem like the best of medical practices.
He silently agreed with the goddess as he stood, dusting off sand that stuck to his clothing and skin before making his way over to All Might. He paused just as he was about to pass him and turned back to look at Itsuka and Setsuna, a warm smile present on his face.
"Thanks for looking after me, I'll text you later, alright Itsuka?"
"Sure thing Izuku! See you later!"
With a quick wave goodbye, he turned back around and started for the stairs, completely missing how the moment his back was turned Setsuna pounced on Itsuka, furiously whispering something into the orangette's ear that caused her face to rapidly turn crimson.
Izuku didn't see it
Toshinori didn't see it
The Goddess certainly saw it, and happily approved.
It would only be later, in the middle of a checkup with Recovery Girl that he realized /after he stopped fanboying over the Recovery Girl that was/ in his moments of fear and confusion from earlier, he completely forgot to ask Setsuna about her quirk.
/./././././././
Hm? You wish to learn more about the gods?
"Yes, I. . . "
For a time, he sat alone on his bed. The now three-month-old mattress and sheets being the only real place to sit in his slightly cramped new room; Most of the space was filled by two freshly bought dressers meant for clothing, and an old garbage can nestled neatly into a small corner on the left, that was pretty much it. The rest of the apartment was no better regarding room spacing- with Toshinori's room somehow having less space than his. When asked, the symbol of peace claimed to like living moderately- even with the millions he had tucked away in the bank.
It was only after the goddess appeared in front of him, beginning to peruse the various channels at their disposal, that Izuku worked up the courage to ask her about the gods.
"I know I should've brought it up sooner. . . But with All Might's technical adoption of me, mom's. . . Mom's funeral, it's. . . I've been busy, distracted. But I know. . . I can't keep being distracted forever. I know that while I've been putting off gathering information, that other god has been strategizing and gathering their resources just like they did before. I- "
His voice suddenly cut out without warning, faintly his eyebrows furrowed as his mind attempted to process why his mouth was moving, but his voice wasn't audible. It took him less than a moment to look up at the goddess, and even less time to spot the hand held up in his direction. Taking the hint for what it was, he stopped trying to speak until she was ready.
Thirty seconds turned into a minute.
A minute turned into two.
Two into five.
It was only after seven minutes of channel surfing /he swears two of those were her going back and forth between two channels/ that the goddess finally settled on some sort of cooking show with a man wreathed in flames.
And, after what felt like an eternity, the goddess' hand finally lowered.
Relax, my dear Vessel. You do not need to provide reasoning, I am a God, not an annoyed instructor. . . Well, technically I am an instructor given that I partially know how your abilities function, but I'm not annoyed! At least not currently!
Silence briefly filled the air between them, before a soft, uncontrollable amount of laughter escaped past his lips as the goddess turned her attention towards him, quite literally as her head snapped backwards in a way that would otherwise kill a normal person. Her body was quick to spin around to match her head, while her tongue was similarly quick to stick out at him for daring to laugh at her. Somehow, she was unamused by the way she had appeared.
It was with his laughter dying down that he realized the goddess held an object in her hands- a greenish blue hexagon- wait, was that right?
His eyes narrowed as he attempted to count the number of sides on the object, but as he grew closer to the thirteenth number the object became. . . Fuzzy, for a lack of a better term.
Deciding to simply chalk it up as godly magic, Izuku turned his attention towards the maniacal look within the goddess' excited eyes. Was it a good thing? It probably was, right?
Right, so if we're going to talk about the divine, we might as well start with something I know- the Pantheon that I belong to!
Her fingers brushed over the surface of the golf-ball sized mystery object, its surface seemingly twitching at her touch- and suddenly, the room exploded into a vibrant assault of colors. He tried to shut his eyes, he tried to save his retinas from burning as colors as bright and powerful as the sun overwhelmed his senses, but whatever the goddess was doing was far too strong and far too bright for his eyelids to be effective.
He screamed, for all the good that was able to do as he attempted to shield his face with his arms. They burned- that was the only way he could describe the sensation aside from a thousand scorpion stings simultaneously across his arms.
Idly, he could note in the back of his mind the panicked feeling the goddess gave off in waves as he seemingly burnt alive.
Sorry! Give me a moment- I forgot that mortals don't work the way they used to-
What did she mean by that?
He wasn't able to see what she did, but he was quick to mentally thank her as the room became noticeably less bright. Enough so that when he tried to open his eyes again, he wasn't immediately blinded, and instead was able to take in the breathtaking view of the apparent cliffs edge that he stood on. He was quick to stumble away from the edge, towards whatever unknown lay behind him, his eyes wide and frantically looking around for anything familiar that he could immediately identify. In the distance he could see a chain of unfamiliar islands, counting five in total- not including his own that he presumably stood on, with the closest bearing a mountain that reached high above what few clouds he could see. Was he in a different area of Japan? Hawaii? It was plausible, at least until he looked past the edge of the cliff and saw that the water was purple.
Before he could freak out over the unnatural color of the ocean in front of him, he turned around with hopes of seeing something even just vaguely familiar. Behind him was a dense forest thick with a kind of tree he was unfortunately unfamiliar with- the majority of them were taller than that of the Tokyo tower, with the ones that he could see the tops of ending in vaguely pointed shapes. As he drew closer towards the trees, he was able to make out their individual leaves, curling inwards in an almost spiral pattern. While his general knowledge of nature wasn't all that large, he knew at least those kinds of leaves didn't naturally exist outside of quirk usage.
Deliberately he slowly took a deep breath, held it for several seconds, and slowly exhaled. He repeated the process a handful of times- while not enough to fully calm him, it was just enough to get his nerves off the edge of a complete meltdown. With little else to distract him at the moment /and why wasn't the goddess talking anyways?/ he began to think out loud.
"A-alright, let's take a moment to take note of our surroundings. . . the goddess wouldn't drop me off here without a reason after all. . . I think"
He paused, but quickly banished that thought from his head. The goddess had her reasons for the things she did- as strange as they were sometimes.
"So, I'm in an unfamiliar land- an island presumably given that the surrounding land masses are also islands. Uh, the water's purple, deep purple to be specific. I've heard of pink and green water before, but those are usually caused by algae- is there an algae that turns water purple? Maybe, but I doubt it's on the scale of an ocean. Hm, what about fish? I didn't get a good look, but I don't think I saw any?"
A short trip to the cliff's edge had him peering into the ocean below, his eyes squinting as they frantically roamed over its surface for any visible sign of life. He was hardly able to see through the water- its color far too dark for him to see all that clearly, but he was able to take note of how unnaturally still the water seemed to be.
"No visible signs of aquatic life. . . no audible sounds of birds either, am I in an ecological dead zone? No, those tend to only be in movies and games. . . just where did the goddess send me?"
Another thing he could nervously note was the absence of wind- he couldn't feel it, at all. There were no waves pushing up against the cliff, no sounds of rustling leaves or things hiding in the undergrowth. No smells of untouched grass, of hidden flowers scent carried past their hiding place. Were there even flowers? He couldn't see any, did that mean there were none where he was?
"Goddess, why did you bring me here?... goddess?...hello?"
His eyebrows furrowed as she remained unresponsive to his call, was she ignoring him? Was this a test of some kind? Did he somehow offend her by not knowing where he was? She said this was a memory of hers, did that mean he was inside of the goddess- No, he doubts that's how it works. Or did it?
Bah, stuff involving the Gods was confusing, best not to think too much on that.
For now, he should focus on how to get the goddess to respond to him, without her It was as if he was alone again, as if he was useless- quirkless again.
He would rather die than become quirkless again.
"Do you like it Izuku?!"
The sudden excited yell from the goddess appearing behind him caused the young viridianette to scream. He jumped backwards- stumbling slightly as the rock beneath his feet crumbled away, he nearly collapsed back off the cliffs edge before the goddess pushed forwards, her outstretched hand reaching for his. She was swift to take his hand and intertwine their fingers, with ease she was able to pull him back up from the cliff and swing him around to stand on the opposite side of the edge, a somewhat sheepish smile decorated her face as his wide frantic eyes met her own nonchalant ones.
"My apologies for the delay my Vessel, it has been a while since I've taken the mind of a mortal into a vestige of my home."
". . . I nearly died because you got lost?!"
". . . Maybe?"
He stared at her, unamused as she nervously laughed while staring anywhere except for him. But before he could /rightfully/ tell her off, the goddess gently shoved him back towards the forest, the excitement returning in full force in her eyes.
"Anyways, we really should be off now! We have limited time here and I'm not entirely sure we're alone here!"
"W-wait a second! Goddess!"
His heels dug into the ground as he tried to slow her down, only to hiss as he felt… no pain? He could see his heels leaving indents in the dirt, the skin breaking and peeling off his bare feet as the goddess dragged him forwards, yet he could feel no pain.
A thousand thoughts and questions began racing through Izuku's mind as the muscles beneath the skin became visible on his feet, did injuries here translate to real life? would he feel a broken leg? An arm? If he cut himself would he bleed? Could he die? did time work here? The goddess said they might not be alone, who else aside from the goddess would be here? Did the other islands he saw have people on them? Just what kind of trees did they see earlier? Did they have anything to do with the afterlife- were they family trees for various people?! Would he be able to see his mother again? Grandparents? A father he never knew?
As the goddess ventured further into the strange forest, guiding him with their hands interlocked with one another, he smacked himself with his free hand. Attempting to focus his mind on the more pressing questions he knew he should be asking.
"If. . . This is your home, why does it look like. . . this? Isn't the afterlife usually depicted to be endless clouds, choir constantly in the background? Or. . . Is it influenced by what religion you believe in? And what do you mean by we might not be alone?"
"The afterlife? What are you talking about?"
The goddess was quick to cast a glance back at him, an eyebrow risen while confusion was clearly written within what he could see of her eyes. It took a moment longer than he expected, likely due to being in her own mind, but that moment was all that she needed if the widening of her eyes was of any indication.
"Oh no No! My dear Vessel, I never said I resided in the afterlife, that's a completely different thing. I am a God, and the only true home of any sort of God is within the realm of the Divine!"
"The realm of the divine?"
"Yup! It's the place most Gods keep their immortal bodies, where Demigods and the gods chosen mortal champions tend to go when they perish. I believe the Norse mythos had something like it, valheika? Valhanna? Eh, something with a Val in it"
"It was called Valhalla, it was a great dining hall that was overseen by Odin- king of the Norse Gods, where the spirits of warriors who died in combat would go until-"
He felt himself tripping over the root of a tree, or at least, he thought he did. He saw the incoming root as they passed a slightly smaller tree, he saw it go over top his foot and he felt the tug against his body as he was dragged forwards. But he didn't actually trip, instead, he stumbled forwards as the root went through his foot and out the other side without damage.
He couldn't help the shiver that ran up his spine at the feeling, or lack thereof, of a root phasing through his ankle.
"A-anyways. . . Even though this place sounds similar to Valhalla, that still doesn't really explain why you brought me here, or what we're even doing"
"Why my dear Vessel, don't you remember? You asked me for more information about the gods, about my kin. A journey through a portion of my memory is not only the best way to learn names and faces, but it's also fun!"
From a certain point of view, he supposed that made sense.
With the information he could gain form her memory, the two of them could piece together which God would have most likely attacked them and plan accordingly for vengeance- or another possible attack in the future. Of course, that would also imply them having some form of clues as to which god might have been responsible for the attack in the first place.
Of which they had none, save for a rough description of quirks the goddess was able to provide.
It didn't take long for the mossy dirt beneath their feet to shift into hardened stone, for the trees to gradually become fewer and farther between, until they suddenly just ended up ahead. The goddess slowed their pace as they neared the tree line, only coming to a full stop once they reached the very last tree. Beyond, he could faintly see the trees beginning again some few hundred meters ahead, a clearing? Is that where she took him? A quick glance to his side had him blinking in confusion, the space the goddess once occupied now devoid of anything save for a branch he swore wasn't there before. Where had she gone? Did she disappear again because she needed to find something? What did she-
Oh, there she was.
Standing out in the middle of the clearing as five other figures started to materialize around her.
He tried to walk out from the cover of the trees, to ask the goddess what was going on, but his feet refused to move. Perplexed, Izuku was quick to look down- only for his eyes to slightly widen at his feet being rooted to the ground, literally as the tree roots twisted in on themselves and impaled themselves through his ankles on either side.
He really hoped injuries here didn't translate to real life, like that one pre-quirk era anime.
My apologies dear Vessel, but my reasoning involves your question from earlier.
He froze momentarily at the goddesses' words before his body was forced to kneel low to the ground, keeping him out of direct sight of the clearing, yet allowing him to partially see five human figures as they gathered around the goddess in a spacious circle.
Not human, but my kin. I altered your sight to see the form of their last human incarnation, otherwise you'd likely go insane.
Ah, that made a bit more sense. Mentally, he made a note to never try and attempt to find out the true forms of any sort of gods- or at the very least, those of Primus' pantheon. though that begged the question, if he was her vessel, would he go insane from her true form? It was a question to ask another day, as with an echoing snap of her fingers, the goddess grew loud.
"Dearest Brothers! Sisters! And Luix! I thank you all for heeding my summons-"
"Please, you say that as if we have a choice in the matter, dear sister"
His attention was drawn away from the goddess and towards a man off to her left with blue tipped black hair, he was a hunched over figure that wore a pair of grey jeans and a bright aquamarine blue sweater that hid his hands within the depths of its pockets. His eyes were a mystery, hidden by not only the distance, but the angle the man stood at from his relation to izuku. He was unable to see the man's face, but by the tone of his voice, he knew the man to be scowling.
His name is Luix his mind helpfully whispered in his ear, the god of emotion and mind.
He was also the god of annoying the goddess, if the glare that he could feel on the man was of any indication.
"Shush-"
"Don't shush me!-"
"Moving on! It has been brought to my attention that our dearest sister Hexerai, has finally decided her purpose. Hexie, dear, the floor is yours~"
With an overly dramatic bow, a flash of ruby red and pitch-black energy, and a sound he couldn't identify, a different woman stood in the center of the circle.
She was taller than that of the goddess- much taller as he quickly realized the goddess only stood at about chest height of the woman. Her shoulders from what he could see were broad, though it was hard to tell with the amount of flowing red hair she had- was it moving on its own? Probably a trick of the light, or godly magic. Unlike Luix, who looked like any other guy on the street, she wore a white button up shirt with long sleeves ending in frills at the wrist, frills decorated where he presumed the buttons to be as well. Connecting to her shirt at the hips was a dark grey skirt of some kind, only ending just barely above her bare ankles. It reminded him of clothing from pre-quirk era movies, specifically those revolving around the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Hexerai his mind helpfully whispered, he figured out as much already, if only from the goddess announcing her earlier. Once the goddess of magics, now the goddess of quirks.
Oh, oh, when did the goddess say this meeting took place again?
About two hundred human years ago, why?
It was there that his brain short circuited, his eyes fixated on the goddess responsible for quirks as his mind desperately tried to reboot. Quirks, a genetic anomaly many knew that had little to no signs of appearing prior to two hundred some odd years ago, that mutated the body to incorporate animalistic traits and non-organic material into the human body seamlessly, that allowed some to bend the fabric of time and reality to their very whims without proper control.
He knew that in the beginning, aptly called the dawning of the quirked age, it left hundreds- if not thousands of scientists dumbfounded over their possible origins. Few had claimed it was the pollution in the air altering their DNA, while others had more boldly claimed it as some type of rapidly changing disease. Even now, He knew that extensive research was still being done on the subject, only to yield empty results and unfinished publishings of once brilliant minds.
"With the mortal realm having squandered my previous gift of the magical arts, all but spitting in the face of my generosity. I, in my benevolence, have decided to gift them something more. Something greater. Something. . . They won't easily discard."
Would he be able to write about the meeting between gods, of the origins of quirks, without exposing himself as a vessel? Or at the very least without seeming insane? Probably not if he was to be honest, trying to explain it genetically was one thing, but how would it look if he just claimed 'oh yeah, godly magic was responsible for quirks!'
He'd be locked away faster than Muscular after his murder of the water hose duo.
"With the aid of our dear sister Primus, my gift to the mortal realm will be a permanent fraction of my power. With her permission, it will be housed within the hollow space we utilize for our rare jaunts into the mortal realm-"
"Note, not all mortals will have power, within each generation there will be a certain number of them born with their hollow space unfulfilled."
He felt the other goddesses' eyes on them, specifically on his goddess from where she stood, barely twenty feet away from where he hid, before he saw her head turn. Her piercing violet eyes were fixated on the goddess for several long moments, as if an unspoken message was passing between the two, before her gaze turned away.
"Now, my dearest kin, are there any questions? Concerns? Perhaps any. . . objections?"
The snapping of a twig towards his left drew his attention away from the meeting between gods and onto the small, child-like figure partially hidden behind one of the trees that wasn't there /or he hadn't noticed?/ before. Bright white hair reminiscent of silk, and a singular bright ruby red eye wide in a mixture of emotions stared back at him from behind their partial cover. He tried to lean in, his eyes narrowing as he tried to get a better look at the girl, only for her to retreat further behind the tree. He was quick to realize that wasn't going to work, instead he moved to lift his arms slightly above his head and smile reassuringly at her.
"It's alright-" he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. "I'm not going to hurt you. . . are you another vessel?"
She didn't speak, nor did she give any indication of moving, her eyes were fixated on him as the god's discussion became background noise that he could hardly care about. As the silence between the two stretched on, the girl carefully shuffled out of the way of her cover, enough so to be visible enough when she nodded in confirmation.
That just raised all sorts of questions, which god was she the vessel of? Were they the ones that were after him? What was she doing here too?
"Eri! Where did you go? I could have sworn I froze the function of her legs..."
That was all the warning Izuku had before a man with bright white hair and red eyes eerily similar to the girl appeared behind her. A quick glance at him, a muttered "Another one? What convenient timing!" and suddenly, he was sat back in his bedroom.
The goddess was quick to materialize in front of him, the obvious question on the tip of her tongue before he quickly started to explain, a frown decorated her lips by the time he finished describing the encounter.
"Goddess, do you know who that was?"
Eon, my sibling and God of time. But it's strange. . .
"What's strange?"
Throughout our existence, this is the first time I've seen him interact with the mortal realm directly.
"Is. . . that a good thing?"
I'm. . . not sure. What did you say the girls name was?
"I think I heard him say her name was Eri?"
Hmm, a first name isn't much to go off of, but her description should be unique enough. We can alert All Might to keep an eye out for her in the future then.
"I should go tell him now, he should be back by now right-" a yawn was quick to escape against his will, even faster was the goddess as she pushed him down onto the bed- when did he stand? He didn't know, but as he made to get up, the goddess sat herself down on his chest. His cheeks felt as though they burned with the intensity of Endevour's flames while the goddess crossed her arms above her chest, her eyes staring down directly at him as he felt the way she shifted just a little.
"W-what are you d-doing?!"
You need your rest, going into the vestige of a god is tiring on both the body and the mind. I'm positive that All Might and this Eri person can afford to wait a couple of hours
"B-but-"
No buts, sleep.
The feeling of tiredness- of losing strength in his limbs as his eyelids grew unbearably heavy, crashed into him with the force of a bullet. He had no doubt it was the goddesses' meddling again, but at that moment he couldn't find it in himself to care as his eyes slowly closed.
The goddess was right, All Might and Eri could wait just a little longer.
/././././././././
She could hear the bird men outside her room, she could see the shadows of their feet from the faint light that came from under the metal door. A shiver ran its way through her tiny body before she hid under her bed's dark pink covers, a moment later, the door to her room slowly began to swing open.
"I-I-I don't want to g-go. . ." she whispered; her voice low enough that the bird men wouldn't hear her.
I am sorry my child, it is not our time yet to intervene
"B-but it. . . hurts. . "
And I will be here to sooth your wounds, trust me-
"Eri, come. It's time for more tests."
She whimpered as Kai Chisaki ripped open the covers and reached forwards, gripping her bandaged arm tightly with his gloved hand before yanking her out of bed. He all but dragged her out of her room and towards the light, past the fresh bloodstains of people she didn't know, and tossed her into the chair with light above it in an otherwise dark room. She was buckled into the chair- like the car a man called grandpa took her in once, and forced to look up as Kai took her chin between two fingers and pulled.
"Aw, whatever could be the matter child of Eon? You should rejoice! For it is with your continued sacrifice that we are further towards a future without my sister's blasted curse. You should be thankful that you inherited my weak baby brother and not one of much meaner others."
Eri could only whimper as Kai's eyes, a once bright yellow, turned into a deeper and darker purple as the lady who hurt them took over.
It was with a wave of Kai's hand that Eri's vision grew blurry, before completely going dark just as the hurting lady drew out a green glowing scalpel.
It would hurt, but the voice in her head reassured her that he would help, that she would be saved. All in time.
And that is a wrap my dear friends! some lore dumping, new friends, and some setup for the future, pretty fun eh?
Once more, i'd like to apologize for how long this took, I'll be making a note of it in the future and /try/ not to take so long in updating it again. Personally speaking, i'm hoping to be able to update this at least twice a month, but we shall see how things go!
Until next time!