Soon enough they were back at their dorm, nighttime came around and Ciana was laying on her bed looking up the so-called hero Edgeshot her friends recommended on her phone, staring at his picture while her feet were waving in the air. "Huh… this guy really does look like a ninja, though his hairstyle looks kinda weird for a ninja…" she chuckled to herself.
"He looks pretty serious too, so… he seems to be a good fit to help me out. I wonder why he wanted to work with me though?" Her head tilted in thought of this, Ciana didn't think she was very ninja material… he actually would be a good fit for Yuuki. Though Ciana began to frown and sigh while placing her phone down. "Will be a long week… it's going to be harder without Izuku with me…" glancing at her rabbit plush on her bed, Ciana took hold of it and kept it close to her chest.
Now laying on her back as she stared up at the ceiling. "The idea already is so nerve wracking… I know he will be fine without me but it just feels like I'll be all alone without him…" she says sadly, holding her rabbit closer. "But I know I can't always rely on him… even if it pains me to try and let go for the time being…"
Despite being wracked with uncertainty, a text message came through... from Yuuki? Curious, Ciana sat up to view the message.
[Yuuki] I heard Edgeshot has scouted you, is this true?
Ciana was surprised by the text from the very girl that crossed her mind. "I guess she got the offer too, maybe… makes sense." She chuckled to herself, then sent out her reply towards the cat girl.
[Ciana] Yeah seems like I have, I'm guessing he scouted you too?
[Yuuki] This is true. It appears we will be working together
[Yuuki] Kendo says I should, 'put my best foot forward'
[Yuuki] She is now telling me I was not meant to text that
Ciana chuckled more reading what she wrote, smiling more seeing that they are still pretty close.
[Ciana] Wow what a coincidence! I actually had a feeling he would find you very suiting, not sure why he wanted me since I'm not very ninja material… I'm sure you'll do just as great than me.
[Yuuki] I am unsure myself. Although, he has consistently scouted random students from across Japan. It is not out of the question for him to think of taking on students that have no real stealth qualities. I've simply been taught to use my smaller frame and light footing to my advantage.
[Yuuki] When we arrive next Monday, we shall see why.
[Ciana] Sounds like quite an honor though, I'll be looking forward to working with you until then. It will be more exciting doing this together.
Ciana types out, smiling at the news she will be working with Yuuki. "I'm glad Yuuki's starting to open up more, she reminds me a little of Todoroki." Her hand goes to her chin as she smiles at the thought, thinking those two could click as friends since they kinda relate.
Now her thoughts go back to the internship, frowning a little again. "I feel bad that I ended up scaring Izuku today about almost going back home… I hope I don't cause him to worry more at the possibility of me leaving… he really looked shaken up." Not like she wanted to leave, but just wanted to keep him and this world safe. "I really hope I don't screw up… but if I want to prevent this then I have to learn to defend myself more." Now sitting up, she gazed down to her hands.
"This power I was given has become something villains want to use for bad purposes… if All For One finds out about it then what could he use me for? Would it be to try and destroy All Might…?" That thought scared her, the ideas of Izuku being in danger as well as Mr Yagi really had her concerned about this, Cianas expression turned serious now as her fists clenched together. "I need to prepare myself more and think how I can avoid this… maybe I should do what Bakugo does and try and express my own quirk to get stronger."
Glancing to her balcony, Ciana gets up from her bed as she goes to open the door. Stepping outside, Ciana began to power her quirk up again into a bright light. But this time it wasn't to get to Izuku's balcony… it's to jump to the ground, taking a big leap, the girl lightly touches the ground with her feet. Now standing up straight but doesn't power down yet. "Alright… so far I still have my mobility intact." Ciana takes a glance up to the balconies. "Maybe I should head into the woods to avoid making any noises… hopefully Izuku is asleep by now."
Glancing to the woods, Ciana ended up going for a short jog to give herself a bit more privacy. She doesn't go too far and still stays close enough to see the dorm. Once she stopped, Ciana took a deep breath and raised her fists determinedly. "Okay! Now that I'm here, I should see if I still got it…" closing her eyes, Ciana started to light back up. Strengthening her stamina, opening her eyes now, Ciana began to do some punches and kicks, thinking this would be a good way to blow some steam.
"My moves are still quick, but am I even strong enough to fight by myself?" She asks herself out loud, swinging her leg around to practice her balance and attack. "I-I only made it this far because I had Izuku and all my friends fighting with me, what if I get cornered when I'm away?" She does a few jabs now, her expression still holding some fierceness even if she's not fighting anyone.
After like 20 minutes, Ciana relaxed her body as her glow began to dim down. Looking down to the ground when she stopped. "I wonder if I'm even making the right choice… it might be cowardly just to run and hide away but I could still doom the world…" Now her expression became worried, taking a seat against a tree as her back slumped to the ground. "All For One and One For All… they are separate and are like Yin and Yang here… but together they become a phrase to work together, that always became my favorite phrase from my mom's song." Her gaze went to her lap in wonder. "She always said it had more meaning to how she sang it… a way to know even if we're surrounded by darkness, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel… Wonder what she meant by it?"
Ciana looked up to the night sky as she now wondered more about her favorite song her mom sang, she didn't understand it fully but it always brought her some comfort… sighing, her eyes closed as she began to sing it again. ~𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧'𝙧𝙚… 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙩… 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙜𝙞𝙛𝙩 𝙞𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚… 𝙄𝙛 𝙬𝙚'𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧! 𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚… 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 one… 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡!~
Her tears began to appear in the corner of her eyes as she paused for a moment. But she didn't stop singing the melody, wanting to know the full meaning of its words…
Izuku liked to believe he had a sharp eye when it mattered. So at nightfall, seeing a soft golden glow emanating from the forest drew his attention quickly. How long it had been there and why remained unknown. But he had an idea as to who caused it. Slipping out unseen by his peers still up and about, they having not noticed the glow from the angle of the windows outside at the ground level. Izuku ran off in the direction of the light, following... motes of light?
He blinked, tapping one with his finger as it dispelled, showering him in yellow specks before disappearing, "That's new..." Following them, he slowed his approach, hearing a familiar, soothing voice reach his ears while he looked through the treeline to an enrapturing sight. "Woah..."
Ciana sat against a tree, eyes closed to the motes of light she generated to float in the air, her aura was condensed again, her forearms... looked like faint golden scales with a white outline, when she opened her mouth to sing, her canines looked longer, her quirk was evolving in synergy with her voice! She looked amazing... She was amazing.
Cianas smile perked up, her head leaning back against the tree now as her eyes opened back up to stare back up at the twinkling night sky.
~𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩… 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙒𝙚'𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪… 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙖 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙮… 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙮, 𝙊𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨… 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩! 𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩, 𝙬𝙚'𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚… 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥! 𝙁𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚! 𝙍𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩… 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙚…~ Her hands came together to her heart, the song had a lot of meaning to her and expressed it as beautifully as her mom did.
~𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙥𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨, 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙮… 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙮, 𝙊𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨… 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩! 𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩… 𝙬𝙚'𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 there, 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥! 𝙁𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚! R𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩… 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙚…~ The song was now done, her eyes closed again as her smile perked up more warmly while more tears streamed down her eyes, Ciana could still remember the way her mom sang it. But now when she repeated her voice it made her feel so warm inside…
When Ciana opened her eyes, they too had changed, the star-like pattern for the irises with a hint of green below, though staring into them felt like staring back at a powerful predator. Her quirk was so similar to Meru Zena's and yet so far apart. Walking forward, Izuku smiled gently. "You never cease to amaze me... if not your fighting or kindness, then your singing ranks high," Moving to kneel before her, the heat she was giving off was new but he didn't feel phased and instead wiped the tears from her face with his hand. "Your quirk too, I've never seen it so amplified before,"
Ciana flinched when she heard and saw Izuku come into view, realizing he heard her sing again caused her to blush incredibly red. Before she could ask, her words didn't come out when he continued to speak, seeing that he was sitting next to her now and wiping her tears away. Ciana perked up a shy but warm smile. "I-I'm starting to feel like you're stalking me at this point…" she jokes with a giggle after that.
Though… catching on about what Izuku said about her quirk had her perked up in confusion. "Wait… what? W-what do you mean my quirk is amplified?" Ciana was aware her eyes glowed when she sang now but wasn't aware what else it did…
Blinking a bit, he motioned to the motes of light in the air beginning to fizzle out. "There's these, and your arms are... huh?" He held up her left forearm as they watched the faint outlines of scales fade away with her golden aura. "So it is temporary, fascinating, I wonder if with higher concentrations the changes would linger longer or even grow?" Then he leaned forward a bit to squint at her mouth, her canines were back to normal.
Ciana was stunned to see the lights they appeared in the air enough for them to widen, but… when she took a quick glance at her arm of the scales that faded away didn't fascinate her… it freaked her out as her expression struck with horror. "Huh?! W-what was happening to me?!" She quickly stood up as she began to panic, looking to her hands as she began to shake up.
"I-I thought I would turn into a beast if I was filled with negative thoughts! B-but I'm starting to turn into one anyways?!" Ciana felt her fear was coming true… even if it looked beautiful to Izuku it's not something she took any pleasure in…
Standing up with her, Izuku kept composed as he held her shoulders to keep her from getting worse. "Remember what we discussed at the beach? I think our theory was right, when you've passed certain thresholds your body undergoes a transformation to accommodate for that overwhelming energy, and look! Now it's completely gone, the reason Zena's is permanent may be due to absorbing negative emotions constantly, while you only ever seen to receive positive and naturally compared to him,"
He smiled, squeezing her shoulders. "You don't have anything to worry about, I promise, with the amount of positive outweighing the negative, your version of his quirk is becoming something powerful but good, unlike his,"
However, she wasn't sure if she completely believed that after what she witnessed. Her eyes became more fearful still as she took a step back, Ciana was filled with shock at her change and wondered how worse it could get. "I-it's true though… t-the more I use my quirk the more I-I'll become a beast… I-it'll probably be more permanent if I continue it now!"
Ciana hugged herself as she continued to shake up, this isn't what she wanted. Ciana couldn't accept looking like a beast no matter how anyone views it as cool, she felt like she was becoming a monster…
There wasn't much Izuku could do here, no matter what he thinks, Ciana won't ever see her quirk as anything more than a curse if she continues to believe she'll become a 'monster', despite how anyone would view it. But they didn't have another world to return to where that would be considered terrifying. He had only one way, and it was a gamble. "Okay..." Sighing, he held out his hand. "Take my hand."
"Huh?" Now Ciana became very confused about what he just instructed her to do, looking at him with her eyes narrowed and her gaze down to his hand. "W-what? Why?" She asks, not understanding what he wanted to do. But she thought it had something to do with her quirk… which made her bring her hands to her chest in a panic. "I-I'm not using my quirk!"
She responded very fearfully, not wanting to take the risk of her form evolving more.
Izuku didn't react, keeping his hand outstretched. "Ciana... please, trust me," He was sure - no, certain he was right about this. If by some chance he wasn't... then he'd accept her hating him for this, but all of this, everything they've done until this point was a risk. And he was going to ensure she left on her internship next week confident, not in Meru Zena's quirk, but her quirk, in Aura.
Ciana was still very hesitant about using her quirk again, staring at his hand fearfully debating on what to do… Ciana glanced up to his eyes and back to his hand, hoping she won't regret this… Very slowly and shakingly as her hand stretches out… Ciana took his hand as instructed, dreading what would happen…
Holding her hand gently, Izuku took a deep breath. "Slowly, build up energy in tandem with One For All," He instructed, "If our quirks resonate, you should be able to continuously produce aura between us, and thereby, enhancing you without needing an abundance of other sources," Sparks of emerald crossed his body as he waited for Ciana.
Ciana stares at his One For All form while still looking conflicted about her power, Ciana stares at Izuku for a few seconds before looking back down to his hand, her brows narrowed. "I-I hope you know what your doing…" Ciana was still scared, but she closed her eyes to activate her aura like Izuku advised her, feeling the warmth building up in her body as she gave off a bright glow.
They remained silent, harmonizing their quirks. Gold and emerald intertwined in streaks of lightning and a veil of gold. Eventually, Izuku couldn't raise his percentage further, fifteen being the absolute limit with Ciana's aid, but standing still no longer strained him. Instead, he held her hand tighter as her power grew, at first, it was distorted and flickered, she couldn't concentrate with her anxious heart.
"I give you my word, nothing about you will change, your body will not be twisted the same way as Zena's; his quirk turned him into a monster because he allowed it, but you're different, Ciana, this power, it is not his, this quirk is yours to control, yours to say what it should alter. It can give you strength when you need it, and disappear when you want it; it won't hurt you," He soothed, and her aura gradually settled, the border around her frame thickening as it pressed down on her skin.
While his words are comforting, which is enough to calm her down slowly, Ciana still had some concerns… opening her eyes back up to see the form around them though was beautiful and amazing… so memorizing during the night like this. "Whoa…" Ciana murmured out as she took in the setting around them, she even noticed the specks of light again that were floating around which were beautiful and stunning.
As her glow grew, they noticed that her forearms were beginning to develop long patches of golden scales, only they were still translucent, as though the membrane couldn't form properly yet. As for the sides of her neck, they too were starting to form scales, even her nails were sharper against Izuku's hand. She instinctively flinched but he held her steady, taking her other hand as his quirk tingled across her hands.
Under the night sky, her motes of light were almost like lanterns, and her aura... it was thinner now, but it retained its saturation, as if the thickness was channelled straight into her mutations. By now, her skin felt like a warm blanket, wrapping around Izuku's arms as he sighed constantly, noticing Ciana's fangs again, the radiance of her eyes. She was utterly beautiful.
"Amazing... now, slowly dispel your quirk, just keep watching me," Izuku assured her.
Ciana was starting to shake up again as she noticed her scales were coming back, she was having a hard time keeping it together, when Ciana saw her nails though… she gasped and quickly let go.
Ciana couldn't even do what Izuku fully instructed as she panics. "N-No! N-not again… n-not again!" She began to hyperventilate in horror of herself, now dropping to her knees as she hugged herself. "M-make it stop… m-make it stop!" This is what Ciana dreaded in the very beginning, mutating into a beast… she couldn't handle the sight, not yet…
"Ciana, Ciana, listen to me...! Breathe, take a deep breath, and let your quirk dissipate!" He yelled a little to get through to her, holding her tightly as she curled her head against his chest. "Slowly... it's okay, I promise," Rubbing her back in slow circles, he watched her aura become rippled and unstable, her frantic emotions causing it to destabilize. "Nothing will change, you just need to control it, you can do that, I know you can."
Ciana began to tear up when she saw the change that was happening, she was still panicking as her head buried in Izuku's chest and took hold of his shoulder while trembling. His warm hold made Ciana feel safe… Ciana tried to take a deep breath a few times to calm herself, it took a bit but her glow was settling down, her eyes though continued to tear up fearfully.
Her breathing was shaky but she managed to at least allow her quirk to fizzle out, once the glow was gone, Izuku pushed back a bit to inspect her arms and neck, to his relief, not a single speck of hardened skin remained. He held onto her hands tightly, his face scrunched up with guilt, "See? You're okay... I'm sorry... I made you sit through that..." There was no other way, she had to see it first hand, that unfortunately meant putting her in this situation. Had she hesitated in a critical moment, he'd never want her to feel guilt over not using her quirk when it was needed.
Ciana knew Izuku didn't mean for it to go this way but it was too much for her… her gaze looking down as her tears streamed. "No… I-I'm not okay… I-I'm slowly becoming a monster…"
She shakingly responds, shaking her head. "I-I can't use it… I-I can't keep using this stupid quirk anymore!" Her hands went to hug herself again. "It's not me… I-it's not who I am… I-I refuse to be like him!" Her head lowered to the ground as the poor girl shook up, her power becoming more unnatural to her.
Silence engulfed the two, longer than either would like to admit.
"...okay," Izuku nodded slowly, "During your internship, you'll have a whole week to learn from one of the best heroes in Japan, stuff that... doesn't require Aura, so that already puts you above what an average person can do," He smiled a bit at the thought. "You'll be like that hero from the comic you gave me, just less super rich technology, and more punching and kicking,"
That's true… the guy was a ninja and Yuuki made it far without using her own quirk. Ciana sat up, trying to calm herself down. "Y-yeah… t-that's what I'll do…" she nodded at what Izuku said.
"I-I won't need to use my power when I can do martial arts instead…" Now Ciana refused to ever use her quirk again, determined to make it without it to avoid becoming a full beast, but she might never sing anymore…
"Then do your best - but it's late, we should head back," Izuku offered his hand as he stood. He didn't like the idea of her completely forgoing her power, not when Zena was vastly stronger than them. He just hoped someday she'd understand, but that wasn't his place to argue. "Maybe getting some weaponry for your costume could help? Though, you'd need weapon training too, so asking Mr Aizawa that for our self-defence lesson would be helpful..."
"G-good idea…" she replied but didn't smile, accepting his hand to stand up. "I'll talk to him tomorrow… he might recommend something useful for me." Pepper spray has always been her main weapon, but is open for other options.
Ciana tried to wipe her tears away, knowing her body is mutating still scared her knowing she's not normal anymore.
Arriving back to the dorms, they opted to take their expressway inside with Izuku turning to Ciana's constant look of fear. "Your scales are gone completely, and your nails and canines too, everything about you is the same again," He assured her. "Will... you be okay?"
Ciana doesn't even look at him when he asks, her gaze going back down to her hands with concerning eyes. "I don't know…" she shook her head in an uncertain manner.
"I'll have to figure out how to get by without using my power anymore… but not like I ever needed it to stand up for myself…" her hands clenched together again. "I'll have to avoid triggering it from my voice too… I can't take the chance of it evolving more."
"Right," It was his fault, if he hadn't pushed her then she'd still use aura at the level it was currently. Now? She wouldn't even sing anymore... Clenching his right fist out of view of her, he forced out his words. "If anything... comes up, you can come to me anytime, okay? I'll... let you go back to your room, s-sorry for eavesdropping on you back there..."
"It's fine…" she replied while still looking conflicted. "Thanks for letting me know what was happening… I appreciate it." She tried to give him a smile but it obviously didn't look cheerful.
"Have a good night…" she replied as she made her way back to her room, Ciana might get nightmares tonight after seeing what happened to herself…
"Yeah, you too..." Even his reply felt half-hearted, moving around for the back entrance to the dorms with a heavy heart. He just made things worse, he shouldn't have said anything. It was a little frustrating too, her quirk clearly didn't leave lasting impacts like Meru Zena and yet she refuses to use it now? He really didn't know what to do... he was useless in changing her mind.
Now in her dorm room as she opened the door and shut it behind her, the terrifying realization she's becoming a lizard freak now… her fists clenched now knowing what she feared was coming true. "T-turns out my quirk does keep evolving the more I use it… I'll look like a beast no matter how I feel…"
Ciana makes way to her bed now, tossing the covers aside as she lies down and pulls it back over her. Her gaze went back to her hands again. "I wonder… did Izuku only fall for me because of how my quirk made me look…?" Ciana noticed he has always memorized how her power looked, when he says she's beautiful it was more directed to her eyes and her glow…
Izuku always had a love for quirks… her teeth gritted together as she pulled the covers over her head more while scrunching into a ball. "I-I hope that's not true…" Ciana didn't feel like she should talk to Izuku about this, tomorrow she might confide in someone else… maybe Todoroki can help her figure out what she's becoming…
Author note:
MHA song | Might*U