Uhhhhh, hey.

Been a while. I'm not dead afterall.

Let's see, a lot has happened since I last updated. I moved halfway up the US, got a new job, got promoted at said job, and have settled into my new life pretty well. So, you may be thinking (unless you're in the discord, in which case you have a fairly good idea), "Buixy, what the fuck took you so long?" and the answer to that is actually quite simple: it has been so goddamn difficult for me to find the motivation to work on this story except in small, productive spats sprinkled over the seven or eight month hiatus. I think I went without writing a single word throughout June or July and wrote nearly 3000 in November. This chapter has also changed a few times and so have ideas I set up in this chapter that affect the future.

Anyway, I'm like 65% sure the next chapter won't take this long so let's get right into it

Purpose of a Hero

November 11, 2317

Cold. Hollow, unforgiving cold. It started in her chest and worked its way throughout her body, leaving her shivering violently in the relatively cool November morning. If she had opened her eyes, she would have seen the thick, gray fog just beginning to gather around her, lazily floating just above the dew-covered grass. The ambient sounds of the forest started to fade away, and an odd feeling of dizziness washed over her. While the spell only lasted a few seconds, it felt significantly longer to Melody. Her breathing became more erratic as the chill worsened and the edges of her vision became tinted red.

That was when the pain began, just like in every other attempt she had made over the past week. She gasped aloud, and her hand shot up to her temple, pressing hard against it as if it could push away the deep, burning agony. Her grandmother had told her it resulted from her body's rejection of her Quirk's evolution. On the brighter side, Kate had simplified Linda's explanation by likening it to the body fighting a virus. Whatever it was, it not only brought Melody incredible pain during her Life Drain training but also prevented her from using her Quirk at all.

It felt as if she'd lost a part of herself in the weeks following the tournament. With how little she'd advanced since then, the feeling had only grown worse. Even though she'd rarely used her Wraith growing up, her months at U.S.A.E.I. had made it an everyday fixture in her life. Everything from practical exercises to training with Nathan, and even things as simple as walking through her bedroom door after a long day. It was unsettling, almost torture, to be without it.

It took a few moments for the pain to abate, and when it did, Melody let out a sigh of relief and flopped back onto the damp forest floor. 'They're getting worse. There wasn't nearly this much pain when I first started training, and I still can't even properly transform… how much worse is it going to get?' she thought, staring up at the dull gray sky above the foliage. Just as she was beginning to relax and the headache was starting to fade completely, she was harshly reminded that she was not alone.

"Two-point-three seconds. That's how long you lasted before nearly passing out. A point-zero-one increase since the beginning of the week, congratulations," Frank said sardonically, rolling his eyes at the girl as she struggled to steady her breathing. "At this rate, we'll be here until next Christmas by the time you get this down, and that's if you don't wither away and take all of us with you."

"I'm… trying," Melody huffed, though, in retrospect, she realized she should have just kept her mouth shut.

"Oh, you're trying? That's great, good for you. I'll be sure to tell everyone that when you inevitably kill someone. 'No, it wasn't her fault; she was trying.'" Melody scowled up at him and pushed herself into a sitting position. Frank gave her an unimpressed look and folded his arms over his chest. "I'm sure they'll be delighted to hear that. Now, get up and try again. Maybe this time, actually listen to what I've been telling you."

"You haven't been telling me anything! All you ever say is 'feel the forest around you.' How the heck is that supposed to help me? All I feel is dirt and grass and really, really cold!" She bellowed, her voice echoing slightly in the silence. 'And useless, and vulnerable,' her mind added traitorously. Predictably, Frank paid no mind to her outburst, instead fixing her with a glare telling her that he was running out of patience. For the first time in her memory, Melody felt the strong urge to swear at the man, but instead, she fell back into the meditative pose she'd often used while helping Narruk.

When she'd first agreed to help him control his 'furry little problem' – as Lyle liked to put it – she would have never imagined having to use all those exercises and techniques she researched on herself. Now, she was desperately clawing at each and every memory she could find to try and remember some of the more obscure techniques she'd read about. The process was made even more difficult by her teacher. Frank had taken to pacing back and forth between her tries, along with more than a bit of complaining about her apparent incompetence.

After a moment of indecision, she sighed and closed her eyes once more. She attempted to calm her breathing, but that turned out to be futile. Almost as soon she started, the chill began to creep in again. She felt it slowly flowing throughout her nervous system before seeming to pool in her chest, right above her heart. She began bracing herself for the pain she knew would follow, yet it still caught her off guard.

"Fucking hell," Frank swore, throwing his arms into the air. As exhausted as she was, Melody could only shoot him a dirty look as his rant was sure to begin anew. She'd quickly learned that the best thing to do when he got like this was to try and not further provoke him, though he seemed to have a way of bringing out the worst in her (most likely a result of his 'Hate Reaction'), and she often found it challenging to follow that philosophy.

"Don't say it," she said through gritted teeth. The moment she'd spoken, Melody had, strategically, turned her attention towards the gray sky overhead. She could feel his eyes boring into her as the sound of his pacing stopped. There was a slow intake and then exhaling of breath before she sensed someone beside her. She opened one eye to a slit and saw Frank kneeling beside her.

"Give me your hand, brat," Frank demanded. When Melody was hesitant to respond, he growled and grabbed her arm, shoving it against the damp grass. "What I've been telling you is the only simple way to explain it, but I guess you're too stupid to understand, so shut up and listen." Melody grimaced at the pressure of his grip on her wrist but complied. "The reason I'm teaching you out here isn't just for the safety of my family. A forest like this is one of the most diverse and expansive ecosystems you can find. From the smallest microorganisms to each individual blade of grass and the thousands of animals that call this place home. To control life, you need to be able to understand and become in tune with it."

"Grass is alive?" Melody interjected, a bit of sarcasm leaking into her voice. Frank sneered at her, and the grip on her wrist tightened ever so slightly.

"Sentience, or lack thereof, does not equal life. Nor does sentience equate to intelligence," he replied pointedly. Melody bristled at the thinly-veiled insult but stayed silent. Despite her remark, her grandfather's explanation had only served to worsen the pit in her stomach. Frank sneered at her and pressed her hand more forcefully into the ground. "Concentrate, stop fighting me every step of the way, and feel it."

The teen bit down on the inside of her lip and tried to force down her growing anger. 'Calm down. This is just his Quirk, and he's getting more and more frustrated, so it's having a greater effect on you. Breathe.' She did try to listen, to feel some sort of life emanating from the dirt between her fingers, but the longer she sat there in silence, the angrier Frank became and, as a result, the harder it got to concentrate. 'I'm starting to get why mom and him always fought. He's insufferable. I am not fighting him; he just sucks as a teacher. He didn't even want to teach me! If it were up to him, he'd probably send me off to the Citadel or someplace secluded to self implode in peace,' she thought, grinding her teeth as blood roared in her ears.

A small part of her knew she was being irrational, that all of these thoughts were simply brought on by a week of no progress and frustration, then amplified by Frank's own anger. However, the more rational side of her was quickly drowned out when her grandfather let go of her arm and got quickly to his feet. "For fuck's sake!"

"Well, what the heck do you expect?" Melody snapped, any thought of mollifying the situation having been thrown out the window. Before she could continue, Frank whirled on her with fire in his eyes.

"What do I expect? I expect you to want to have your powers under control. I expect you'd rather not kill everyone you love because you won't listen to even the most straightforward instruction. I expect you to realize just how dangerous this Quirk actually is and how easy it is to take a life when you can't fucking control it!" The old man roared, his voice echoing around the clearing. Instantly, the temperature dropped even lower as gray mist began to radiate off of his exposed skin, collecting into a dust cloud around his feet. When he spoke again, his voice was much quieter. "I expect you to be better than her."

It took Melody a moment to realize who he was talking about, but when she did, she immediately leapt to her feet. Despite the dropping temperature and the growing black cloud surrounding her grandfather, she marched forward and attempted to throw a punch at the man, though he easily stepped aside. "Don't you dare talk about mom like that!"

"And what would you know? You have no idea what kind of person your mother was!" Frank spat, causing Melody to shrink slightly. However, she was given no time to dwell on just how much that jab had hurt her before he continued. "She was a selfish, idealistic fool who thought she could solve all the world's problems with kindness, and in the pursuit of her goal, she alienated everyone in her life except for a criminal and a child who was destined to be a monster!"

"You're wrong! Mom was a Hero! She saved dozens of lives, and she was a good person!"

"And how many more lives did she destroy in the process? Does being a 'good person' absolve her of those? That picture you keep looking at in her room? She's the reason only two of those people are alive, and neither is what you could call a good person." There was nothing Melody could say in response to that. Shocked into silence, she became more aware of the space around her; the air in the clearing was distorted. 'It looks like there's... heatwaves? It's still so cold, though.'

Then, her thoughts were cut off by a stabbing pain in her temple.

The cloud surrounding her grandfather had stopped growing and instead had begun to condense, retreating back towards his body and swirling around him like a miniature tornado. "Your mother was a hypocrite. She was so confident in her own abilities that she failed to see how her actions really affected those around her! She ignored the warning signs that her student was unstable! She willingly allowed a murderer into her life because she thought she could fix him! Her blindness directly led to her death, and in the end, she didn't even have the decency to leave behind a body for us to bury!"

With that last proclamation, the mist swirling around Frank's body finally settled, surrounding his body in what could only be described as a cloak of black fog. Black tendrils leaked off of the veil like smoke and drifted lazily into the air. The image of his crude drawings in the dirt from their first day of training flashed through the forefront of Melody's mind before she felt the air catch in her throat. Her brow furrowed after a few seconds passed, and it became clear that this was not due to shock or anger. She truly couldn't breathe.

In an instant, she understood what Frank had meant when he told her how dangerous their Quirk really was. Unlike Lyon's flames or even Andi's radio waves, the effect of the fog was almost undetectable, yet as her lungs burned, she had no doubt this power was just as deadly. 'Stop…. please,' her mind pleaded. Her body unceremoniously fell to the ground as she clawed at her throat. She looked at Frank, but the mist shrouded his face. 'I don't wanna die!' she screamed inwardly.

Then, right as she was slipping into unconsciousness, the empty feeling in her chest – which had been growing exponentially over the past week – was replaced with searing hot pain that raced from her chest all throughout her body, quickly dwarfing anything she'd ever felt before. The fire running through her veins was worse than that she'd felt during the tournament or when Narruk had nearly crushed her throat during their first training exercise. It even eclipsed the anguish she'd felt when she lost her hand as a child. Melody didn't even realize that she could breathe again until a scream wrenched its way out of her throat and, for a moment, the world went dark.

When she came to not long after, the pain had ebbed away to nothing more than a slight headache. Melody arguably felt better there, lying on the forest floor with her eyes closed and her body drenched in sweat, than she had at any point over the last week. Yet, something was off. While her body felt almost entirely back to normal, there was a prickling sensation in the back of her mind.

"The third awakening is supposed to be a deliberate, conscious connection with the life around you." Melody stiffened as Frank's distorted voice rang out over the silence, still as cold and uncaring as it ever was. "But, in my experience, I've discovered that this process can be fast-tracked with the legitimate threat of death. I had hoped you would be able to awaken it yourself, but you proved even more incompetent than I could have imagined. Now, get up. We still have work to do, and now that your Quirk is fully realized, you need to learn how to control it properly, lest you cause even more damage."

"What the heck is wrong with you? You could have killed me!" Melody growled, her voice coming out raspy and uneven. To her irritation, Frank scoffed, and she heard his footsteps crunching towards her.

"You were never in any real danger. Unlike you, I have perfect control over my Quirk. All I did was push you to your breaking point," Frank said, chillingly calm. Melody, having had enough, whipped her head up and opened her eyes, ignoring her migraine, to scream at the man. However, once her eyes adjusted to the mid-morning light, any words she would have said died in her throat. The forest clearing had been completely transformed. The grassy floor and wildflowers that had dotted it were now brown, wilted, and unmistakably dead. Around the fringes of the clearing, the trees had thinned, and their bark looked brittle.

"What… what did you do?" She stammered. Though, she knew the truth, even before he said it. The ache in her chest that had plagued her the past week was gone. Now replaced by the rapid hammering of her heart as Frank looked down at her with a neutral expression. She shakily got to her feet and tried to glare at him, though it surely came off as more of a grimace. In that moment, her eye was drawn to something behind the old man — a small, furry lump lying just on the edge of the clearing, unmoving. She felt bile rising in her throat and very nearly fell back to the ground. "That… I-I didn't…"

Frank turned, saw what had grabbed her attention, and scoffed. "You should be thankful it wasn't a person. In that state, you could have reduced a healthy adult to a lifeless corpse before they could lift a finger to stop you."

"T-This isn't real. This wasn't me; my Quirk is supposed to help people, not… not this," Melody sputtered, looking down at her dirt-covered hands. When she glanced back up, her grandfather's eyes were no longer balefully locked on her. Instead, Frank stared off into the forest with an emotionless look on his face.

"Since the first of our ancestors in the Quirk era, Life Drain has been wielded as a weapon for the sole purpose of taking life. It's not the Quirk of a Hero. Girl, you were born from a legacy of murderers and madmen. On both sides of your lineage," Frank said gravely.

"But… Mama was… she was a hero," Melody whispered, the roaring in her ears returning, though this time… it wasn't from anger. She couldn't bear to look Frank in the eyes as he delivered his cold reply.

"And look where it got her."

Purpose of a Hero

November 15, 2317

Taiga Naoto sighed as the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. He wearily got to his feet and collected his belongings, all but ignoring the din of the classroom around him. If any of his classmates noticed his unusual behavior, they didn't mention it. 'Today's gotta be the day. We've already missed out on two days of training! If this keeps up, we're not going to be prepared for our first patrol,' he thought as he exited the science building and began walking back towards the dorm.

Around him, students went about their days as usual, which for the students enrolled at the Forge meant anything from relaxing in the unusually warm November sun to participating in faux-wrestling matches along the shores of the Hudson River. Taiga would be right there with them on most days, but instead, he was on a mission.

'He's always the first out of class when the bell rings. If anyone knows about my partner's situation, it has to be him!' he thought, his eyes narrowing briefly as he dodged a football that had mistakenly been thrown in his direction. He ignored his classmate's called apology – though, coming from Vance, the apology was anything but sincere – and barely acknowledged Shaula waving in his direction. 'Science project can wait. I've already put this off too long.'

Eventually, he arrived at his destination, the boy's dorm. He entered the nearly empty building and made his way towards the common area. Taiga found his target almost instantly, though he'd have to be blind to miss the dozen or so pieces of furniture floating lazily a few feet off the ground. Sprawled out on one of the floating couches, with his limbs at odd angles and snoring loudly, was the head of the boy's dorm.

"Oi, Rune!" Taiga shouted, but the boy showed no sign of waking. 'Been out of class for not even ten minutes, and he's already this far gone. I'll never understand how he can get to sleep that easily.' Taiga pursed his lips before reaching over to a nearby coffee table (thankfully still firmly connected to the floor), grabbed a T.V. remote, and threw it, with near-perfect accuracy, directly at Rune's head, hitting him on the nose. Instantly, the invisible strings holding up the furniture were cut, and it all came crashing back down, as did their puppetmaster.

Rune, now fully awake, was racked by a severe sneezing fit and let out a string of curses as he attempted to sit up. His body still spasming, he fell sideways off the couch and into the leg of a table. "Jesus Christ, what the hell, Taiga? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Oh good, you're awake," Taiga responded cheekily, earning a glare from his classmate. Rune got to his feet, saw the scattered and, in many cases, broken furniture sprawled about, and let out a heavy sigh. The telekinetic carefully levitated the damaged furniture pieces to the far corner of the room where several more pieces lay, then turned back to his classmate.

"This better be important, we had a practical today in JH-1, and I really need some sleep."

"Actually, it really is. I was hoping you'd tell me a bit more about my partner. I've only ever talked to him in passing, and all his classmates have been giving me the runaround when I try to ask about him the past few days. Since you're the head of the dorm, I figured you'd be the best person to ask," Taiga explained, a frown working its way onto his face. Rune grimaced, though did not look particularly surprised, and lowered himself into one of the remaining armchairs, motioning for Taiga to sit across from him. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and cracked his neck loudly before speaking.

"Narruk is… an interesting case. Long story short, he's got an amazingly powerful Quirk but lacks control in the worst possible way," Rune explained, though he just held up a hand when Taiga opened his mouth to interrupt. "No, it's similar to your past issues, but his Quirk seems to be at least somewhat sentient. I wish his problems were just due to his instincts."

"I remember seeing him during the tournament. That was… not fun to watch," Taiga said, his face falling slightly. Rune sent him a sympathetic look before continuing.

"From what I've been able to gather from him and his classmates, as well as my own talks with him, this was the third time he lost control to some degree. First two weren't as bad, though, according to Abrams. This time he came very close to losing complete control, which would have been horrific. For both him and everyone else in the arena at the time." Taiga frowned and folded his arms over his chest. 'A sentient Quirk, eh? Yeah, that can't be fun to deal with. But… it isn't dissimilar from what I went through. I think I see your game here, Holl.'

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" He prompted. Rune nodded, but his expression became even grimmer.

"On top of everything else, the person who was trying to help him establish better control was taken out of the school by her father. She's been no contact, save for like a two-minute phone call, for nearly three weeks. The real salt in the wound, this month's full moon, is just a few days away," Rune explained. His head flopped back against the top of the couch, and he sighed heavily. "You've got your work cut out for you. Actually, we both do in that regard."

"Why's that?" Rune scowled and closed his eyes.

"I'm partnered with the girl who went missing, who apparently also has a Quirk she can't control. What is it with these freshmen? We definitely weren't this high maintenance, right?" Rune asked sardonically, getting a laugh out of his classmate.

"Dude, you remember our first practical? You nearly collapsed the entire maze on top of you and Dominick. You, of all people, don't get to complain about anyone else's Quirk control." Without opening his eyes, Rune scowled and stuck up his middle finger at Taiga, who grinned.

"At least I didn't tear Amber's skirt and get my lights knocked out."

"Oh, come on, she can lift a damn car over her head! You'd have to be Hercules to not get knocked out cold," he argued. The two were still laughing as the front doors to the dorm opened. The group that entered appeared to be the majority of the first years. To Taiga's surprise, Narruk was among them, though the boy quickly turned off into the hallway leading to the freshmen dorm rooms. While it appeared as if several of the group noticed his departure, none of them seemed very surprised, though a few did look rather worried. 'Alright, Operation: Befriend Narruk is a go!'

Purpose of a Hero

So, up until probably chapter 20ish, I still didn't have a name for Melody's Quirk in its true form. I've always known what it is, but had trouble coming up with a name. In the end I went with Life Drain because it's… well, it's exactly what the Quirk does. This Quirk was what really started this story if I'm being honest. Once I thought of this Quirk in the early days of me watching My Hero, I thought of attaching it to a character who, by their very nature, would struggle with the idea of using it. A Quirk so undeniably evil for a character who wants so desperately to be good.

Next Time on the Purpose of a Hero:

Chapter 55: A Bloodstained Legacy