I know its been... months? Yeah. Sorry bout that and I know this chapter's far shorter than my usual length but if I had extended the chapter to an extra scene, it'll double its length again.
To those who have come around and stayed for this fic. thank you for your patience. :)
Reina, despite what many believed, was no stranger to kind souls. For every sin and atrocity she bore witness, there was always one among the enemy who are kind and rational. For every noblest of people, therein lies a tyrant who would ride upon their cloaks.
"The world is far simpler than you'd think," Polaris once said. "It is people who are complicated. Jean Valjean stole a loaf of bread to feed his sister's child. Or even a mercy of a man who spared a child's life created a monster by letting the child live. What makes the world so simple is less on the motivation and consequence; but of the act itself. Why do we kill? Why do we save? Why do we fight? That is where the nuance lies. In fear, or anger; vengeance or regret. Actions do not justify any cause. They just become a reflection of one's value of one's self."
Her glimpse of Northerners' morality was often reflected upon her guardian's anecdotes; ever so complicated; ever so contradictingly simple. And it is unsurprising to her now, that despite her earlier resistance, the very hero whom she had tried to run away from sent her to the nurse's office to heal her up. A simple kiss from the perky nurse managed to help heal the dislocated wrist and shoulder without any effort.
"I have seen my fair share of recklessness, but I am equally concerned how you were able to move without a hint of pain," the nurse bemused.
The last thing the agent wanted was to disclose the circumstances of her curse. With neither Cobe nor any of her teammates present, Reina knew the only means to heal her injuries was from these heroes.
"It doesn't hurt," she explained despite herself. "I cannot feel pain."
"Cannot feel pain?" the nurse muttered.
"I..." Reina grasped her bandaged arm, unconsciously squeezing it in her grip. How could she explain to Northerners that a demonic anomaly stole her sense of pain. "I can only feel the barest stings and temperatures. Everything else, I cannot."
She glanced over at the door and pondered over why the black-cladded hero decided to leave so soon in the care of a nurse. Is that not reckless, even for a school that dedicated itself to rearing heroes?
No sooner did the thought cross her mind did the door slide open. A gaunt man who looked no more than skin and bones and a walking-
Mouse? Rat?
She couldn't decide what to make of the humanoid rodent. But nevertheless, she could see he was perceivably an endowed animal with human-like intelligence. A rarity in the Mystic Isles, but an endowed nonetheless.
"Good morning," the endowed mouse(?) greeted politely. "I see that Recovery Girl has healed you up nicely."
Though she was no stranger to people who act so unguarded, she was beginning to think everyone in this school feels far too reckless.
"Is it not by the standard of safety and security protocols to have me cuffed, arrested and interrogated?" Reina had say it, for this level of disarming felt far too unreasonable. "Am I not a stranger who trespassed your campus?"
"You were found unconscious and wounded," the gaunt man answered, the tone of his voice was almost as soothing as her mentor.
"That doesn't excuse this level of recklessness," Reina retorted. "I thought your laws do not spare foreigners from getting fined or imprisoned."
The gaunt man raised his brows just as he remarked; "Now that's a surprise. I had the impression that since one of our students had brought you here against your will, you may or may not be familiar with this world."
But we are from the same world, she thought. The mind games many would play with that fact often lead her to silence in the middle of an interrogation. Normally, as she was trained by her squad leader, she would have remained uncooperative. But, the board changes when the literal emissary of hazardous omens decides to appear before these individuals.
"I have a general idea of your country's protocol," she allowed herself to say. "In the reign of Hero Society, public displays of quirk use without a licence relegates any wayfarer into villains. Or vigilantes, depending on the perspective, let alone the context."
"That is too broad of a definition young miss," the man nodded. "But you are not far off on the matter. However, we did not come here to talk about heroic politics or any of that sort."
"You have questions for me. I don't blame you for that," she stated.
"If you knew, then why did you run?"
"...Under any circumstances, we make ourselves scarce. If we are seen, let alone make our presence known- we turn our tail to run. I wouldn't even be speaking to you so cordially."
"Yet here we are," the gaunt man nodded. "It seems we all started on the wrong foot. My name is Toshinori Yagi, a retired hero under the moniker All Might. This one right here is Principal Nezu of UA. And you are-?"
"-Reina. Reina Orion," she almost stumbled her reply at the drop of his hero name. "I've only heard the news of your retirement- never really assumed the famous Northerner Hero would appear so... gaunt."
"Northerner? Then you hail from somewhere in the south?" All Might asked.
Ah. Bird's beak.
She wasn't supposed to say that.
"More or less," she nodded calmly. "Celebrities aren't really something I take particular interest in."
"Fascinating," the principal bemused. "You know so much that it almost seemed a little unfair that we know so little of your side."
"My side... hm," she pondered. Divesting information was never her strongest suite; not while she'd often find herself debating on which elements on the matter are worth telling. She'd rather keep her silence, but it seemed the Lord of Life had other plans. "What do you wish to know?"
"I'd like to start with the sudden appearance of portals within our campus grounds," the principal nodded. "Some of our students have been abducted or strayed into these portals. Most of which came back unconscious with no memory of the incident, save for three."
The haze of her memories surrounding the night before played in her mind.
Damn you, you parasite. Walking in my skin and claiming my body, stealing my memories like this.
WHAt choiCe iSs theRE If OpportUnity wAsSs a dOOr awAy?
Shut up.
"I say this with all sincerity, but even we do not know," she began. "These portals manifest in unpredictable places. We suspect that either the barrier between our side and yours are slowly deteriorating; or someone has been tearing and folding dimensions to cause this phenomenon. As for your students, I... where do I even start?"
"We can start from the beginning," Mr Yagi, rather, 'All Might' urged gently.
She drew in a deep breath, closing her eyes as she considered her answer. "...Your students- no, that's not right- we- I am part of an organisation that has dedicated their mission to rectify circumstances that could threaten the livelihoods of those who live in this world. People of my side of the world, whatever troubles they bring to your side; we root out the cause before it reaches your shores. It just so happens that these abductions are a by-product of an age-old feud our people failed to eliminate.
"On our side of the world, there are people whom we refer to as 'mages'. A fanatic cult from our side who practices magic through the means of using themselves as a conduit to converting life-force into raw power. Magic is outlawed across our lands because of the many who died from such practices. But among the mages themselves lies a faction who uses the blood of others to fuel their magic. Even if it meant drawing it from those who are born with supernatural abilities."
All three Northerner adults fell to an expected, pensive silence. All Might held his chin, his head bent low; the principal held his gaze at her in quiet observation.
"Then," the principal finally said. "These mages are the ones responsible for the 89 incident?"
Reina blinked.
As expected from an endowed.
All Might and the nurse turned to the principal, unable to hide their astonishment. Nezu kept his eye on her, just as she realised she had already given herself away.
"One of our students have disclosed to us some troubling information regarding their experience while they were in other side of the portals," Nezu explained. "They informed us of your world; your organization and shared with us their fight against these mages you speak of. I've come to a conclusion that if these mages kidnapped our students for their blood, then it isn't hard to conclude that they are the culprits of the 89 incident."
"How?" she asked, stifling her nerves with a calm facade. "How did they manage to stumble upon this information? And for you to make that conclusion- I must admit, that is rather impressive."
"Then is that a conformation?" Nezu smiled.
"Y-yes," she nodded, her mind lamenting at the memories her shadow had locked away from her consciousness. "If you have known this much, then I doubt there's anything left to ask of me."
"Not quite," All Might said. "Your confirmation only begs for more questions. Your organization- tell us more about it and what else is there to know about these mages? How do they operate and how does your organization operate in this?"
Every question felt like an intrusion; like every rule of the SGI's code had been breeched and she was the liability in her team. It felt wrong from the tip of her tongue to spill their secrets, share information without authorial permission. She had to fight the urge to play the silent stone against the pressuring waves as she answered;
"We are a clandestine organisation known as the Secret Global Intelligence, SGI for short. We are currently operating under a large-scale project to remove all forms of Mystic Mages from this side of the world before their influence reaches the ire of the public. It just so happens your students have stumbled upon one of our own operations."
"And what do these operations entail?" All Might asked.
"We first locate their storehouses, raid them and free any of their blood sacrifices from their hands. Locate their home bases if we are lucky, but the aim is to remove them from your lands and bring them back into our side of the world," she pondered for a moment before she added, "Part of our preventative measures to ensure none shall know of our presence, we extract the memories of any potential witnesses. The last thing we want is for either side to know of each other's presence."
"Extracting memories? Surely you must realise there must be some kind of-"
"-Rest assured, we make certain neither of these witnesses suffered from any head injuries or anything liken to it."
"Then that would explain the memory loss on most of our returned students," Nezu chimed in.
"Yes," she nodded, realising that despite her being stuck here, her teammates managed to get the job done. "Just as these stray portals continue to open across this side, we also have the means to sealing it shut from our side… I only wish to ask, however, has there been any further reports of missing students?"
"Not since last night," the principal answered.
"I see. That is good," Reina then lowered her gaze to her lap, felt the weight of her guilt lift off her shoulders.
I should be there already. Sitting through the debriefing of the aftermath. I should be there but-
"Any more questions?" she asked.
"What you stated implies that your organisation desires nothing more than to remain hidden from the public. Why is that?" Nezu asked. "Why go through the lengths to go so far as to remove the memories of others?"
Reina lowered her gaze to her lap. Watched how her feet dangle on the edge of the bed as she thought about the question. The anecdotes of her superiors who lived long enough to see the world change at the turn of the metahuman manifestations was all she could think of.
"Fear," she finally answered. "Everyone knows what may follow if the truth comes out. That there are things in this world that are best left forgotten. Our existence may cause a tipping point of breaking the balance in the scales; my superiors know this much. There are those among us who bore witness to it and chose to hide ourselves away. That is why we hide. We chose this because everyone knows that knowledge itself, in the wrong hands can lead to further devastating consequences. You can't stem a tide after the dam breaks just as people cannot unlearn when information is given to them."
"Why? What are you all so afraid of? What is there to hide?" All Might urged.
She raised her gaze to him, eyes meeting.
"Good sir," she said solemnly. "I do not mean any disrespect, but your people have proven to us you are all incapable of handling even one-tenth of the knowledge we carry. What we hide is intrinsic to the core of this world's secrets. Curses; blessings; myths in which all that are perceived as fantasy are our reality. The advent of quirks had already lain waste more than a century of chaos. No Northerner worthy of their salt can grasp the duties we must adhere ourselves to. Those with power are shackled and bound to their responsibilities. You Northerners on the other hand are not tied to the same duties we uphold."
"That's a little too presumptuous, don't you think?"
"Is it?" she narrowed her eyes. "Can you say the same with All for One? The League of Villains? Or even the heroes among your ranks who have made questionable decisions?"
All Might dropped is jaw. "How do you know about All for One?"
"That matters not," she retorted. "Do not misunderstand, I know that there is good to be found among you and yours. And I personally do not find it in me to find fault among you. We just don't believe this side of the world deserves to know after what many among us had witnessed. I know it's hypocritical and contradictory, no matter how much I could try to rationalize the perspective. But what Humanrise and the World Heroes Association had demonstrated only solidified the SGI's resolve to keep ourselves to the shadows. We cannot allow ourselves to make the same mistake."