Intruder?
Mash Kyrielight watched the director of Chaldea with a mix of confusion and fear. Fury shone in Olga's eyes, and her body reflected palpable tension. The revelation that the young man with whom she had established a contract was, in fact, an intruder captured by Chaldea left her unsettled.
"You organized everything, didn't you?! You're responsible for this disaster! You wanted to steal Mash!" Olga exclaimed, while the young man with green hair looked increasingly desperate, unable to defend himself.
However, he remained calm.
Izuku was not naive; he could not blame the woman in front of him, who had suddenly appeared warning about a bomb that threatened to blow up the facility. Anyone would be suspicious in such a situation.
"Are you done?" Izuku asked, watching as the pale woman began to catch her breath after her shouting.
"Ah... Ugh..."
"Good. To clarify, I didn't cause any of this. I didn't plant any bomb, as you caught me while I was unconscious. I have no intention of stealing Mash; that would be wrong. We barely know each other, and I don't understand much of what you're saying," Izuku frowned. "To be honest, I'm still struggling to comprehend the whole contract thing."
The young man looked at the pink-haired girl with a shy smile.
"I'm sorry if I didn't mention it before, but I didn't know how to explain it," Izuku lowered his gaze. "I also want to understand how I ended up here. You're not the only one looking for answers, but shouting won't solve anything."
Olga frowned, feeling tempted to shout again, but the green-haired boy's words made her reflect.
An awkward silence filled the air for a few seconds.
"Why were you in Chaldea...?" Olga asked now, more focused, though still with a tone of anger.
"Well, to start, I wasn't in Chaldea. I was lost in a snowstorm, not knowing where to go. The last thing I saw was your facility, and then I suddenly passed out. When I woke up, I was already inside," Izuku replied.
"Wait... You don't know anything about Chaldea, Senpai?" Mash asked, surprised.
The green-haired boy nodded, causing Mash's eyes to widen as she quickly understood why he seemed so out of place.
"Are you saying we captured a mere vagabond?" Olga exclaimed.
"W-well... yeah, I guess," Izuku replied.
Olga pinched the bridge of her nose, cursing a doctor who had detected heat readings outside.
"Wait! Even if that's the case, what were you doing in Antarctica? And those clothes!" Olga said, pointing at his outfit.
Good question. Izuku quickly thought about what to say, but the option of confessing that he was a...
No, he couldn't reveal even that...
"It must have been an accident. I think I saw a bright light, like a swirling blue light, before I got here," he said, looking around.
"Oh, and before this, where were you?" Olga interrogated.
"In Japan, more specifically in Tokyo," Izuku replied.
"What!? That's not possible! Japan is on the other side of the world!"
"That's why I'm telling you I don't know what happened. I was doing something important..." he said, with a pained expression on his face as he placed a hand on his chest.
Olga fell silent, filled with doubts. Someone who had been in Japan suddenly appearing in Antarctica was hard to believe, but the "light" caught her attention.
A mistake in the Ray Shift?
She remembered that tests had been conducted hours earlier to ensure everything was working correctly.
"Wait, and how did you know about the bomb?" Olga asked.
"Well, my Quirk allows me to sense danger, so that made me realize something was wrong," Izuku replied, feeling that he had no choice but to be honest.
Confusion took over Mash and Olga's faces.
"Your what...?" the director asked.
"My Quirk..." Izuku repeated.
"What is a Quirk?" Mash inquired, visibly confused.
The green-haired boy blinked.
"You don't know what a Quirk is?" Izuku asked, surprised.
"Mm, I had heard that the Japanese magical system is different from that of the Clock Tower," Olga said, frowning.
"Magical system?" Izuku asked, feeling out of place.
"So, your spell...? I mean, does your Quirk allow you to sense danger? That's really useful, Senpai!" Mash exclaimed, excited.
"I... yeah, I guess," Izuku replied, feeling like he was losing ground in the conversation.
Then, a voice echoed in his mind.
"Ninth..." resonated the voice of that inherited gift.
"Huh? First!"
"Don't say anything... Go with the flow..." said Yoichi, the first bearer, seriously.
"But... do you know what they're talking about?" Izuku looked surprised.
"It's complicated, but... I'll explain later..."
Feeling uncomfortable, Izuku decided to take the advice.
"Well, honestly, I don't trust you. But the circumstances force us to cooperate," Olga declared determinedly, clenching her hands. "Don't think you've gotten rid of me. The moment you make a wrong move, I won't hesitate to stop you."
"Yeah, sure..." Izuku replied, feeling the pressure.
Olga looked at Mash.
"Listen, I know you're his Servant, but your loyalty is with Chaldea, right?" Olga said, feeling uneasy.
After all, Mash had suffered a lot due to her father's experiments, and Olga feared the day the young woman decided to take revenge.
"Senpai, you're on our side, right?" Mash asked the green-haired boy.
"Well, before I answer that question..."
"Huh?" The two women looked closely.
"I... really don't know what Chaldea is..." Izuku confessed, leaving both of them frozen.
"Really? You don't know anything!" Olga growled, feeling a headache coming on.
(...)
It made no sense to stay in the same place, exposing themselves to a greater threat. However, along the way, Mash set out to explain to Izuku what Chaldea was.
"Mm, well... in simple terms, Chaldea is an observatory dedicated to ensuring the survival of humanity, an organization to preserve common sense," Mash said.
"Huh? Really?" Izuku asked, surprised.
"Mm, yes. That's a very condensed way of describing it, although our duties go beyond that," Olga clarified. "I hope you understand why you were attacked."
"I had never heard of that."
"That's because Chaldea is a secret organization, Senpai," Mash explained. "We operate in the shadows to avoid external interference."
"Some exceptions, like the UN, know of our existence," Olga added, while observing a spot beneath the bridge, noticing a ley line that made her smile.
"The... UN?" Izuku murmured.
"It can't be... The UN dissolved decades ago when Quirks began to appear en masse. A conflict over how to handle them led to the dissolution of the treaty."
"Since Chaldea is dedicated to ensuring humanity's survival, it gathers the best magus and scientists, culminating in Chaldea itself... a model of the planet's soul, or rather, a replica of it," Izuku fell silent, trying to process the information.
Magus? The soul of the planet? All those concepts were foreign to him, but he decided to set aside his doubts, not wanting to alarm Mash.
"Considering that the planet has a soul, using Chaldea's model, we can observe the civilizations of Earth shining on it, symbolizing prosperity and, therefore, that humanity still has at least a hundred years left to live..."
— Incredible...
"But... in an instant, Chaldea's lights began to go out, symbolizing the eradication of humanity. After exhaustive research and calculations, it was discovered that humanity's extinction was scheduled for December 2016..."
"Now you understand the magnitude of the problem, right?" Olga said as she cast a spell confirming the location. "This is not a game; the fate of humanity is in our hands..."
Mash nodded, gripping her shield tightly.
— ... —the silence hung in the air while the green-haired boy reflected.
Not only did the terrible information Mash had revealed leave him stunned, but certain details plunged him into even greater confusion. The provided date was the most unsettling: December 2016.
Why did that date affect Izuku so much? Because, first of all, that date should not be possible.
"This can't be... It can't be... If what Mash is saying is true, then... I... shouldn't exist!"
(...)
Mash placed her shield on the ground, as Olga indicated that they would try to communicate with Chaldea.
"We are in a Singularity detected in the year 2004 AD in a small city in Japan, Fuyuki, on land that shouldn't exist until 2016..."
"Where are we now?" Izuku asked.
"Exactly... If we manage to resolve this, everything will return to normal," Olga said. "And we'll avoid extinction. It sounds easier said than done, as you can see."
"By talking like that, you're implying that... you can time travel..." Izuku commented.
"That's called Ray Shift," Mash explained. "It involves sending a human to the past, turning them into spiritual particles, and thus doing what is required."
Izuku looked at his hand.
"... It works well..." he said, forcing a nervous smile.
Suddenly, a small beep interrupted the moment, coming from Olga, who displayed a metallic bracelet.
"About time!" she exclaimed as a holographic image appeared before them.
A man with salmon-colored hair greeted them.
"Finally, we managed to contact you! Can you hear me? Do you hear me?" he asked.
"Romaní?" Olga replied. "What the hell are you doing in charge? Put Lev on!"
"Huh? Director! You're here too?" Romaní said, surprised.
"Ugh! That doesn't matter; I need Lev to know the situation..." Olga replied.
"... I'm sorry, director. Lev seems to have been very close to the explosion and probably..."
She didn't need more information to understand what Romaní was trying to convey. The young woman hunched over, clenching her fists, overwhelmed by helplessness in the situation. Frustration and other negative feelings crossed her mind, but perhaps the sense of duty was stronger.
However, she quickly lifted her gaze.
"Tell me, Romaní, what happened to the rest of the masters?" Olga asked.
"Uh... they are unconscious in their capsules."
"Good! Start the cryogenization protocol! We don't want anyone to die!" Olga ordered.
"Yes! Right, I forgot we had that," Romaní replied.
"Wait, before that, I need you to check how Mash is doing." The young woman stepped forward.
"What? Mash, I see that you were also transported here... What is that outfit, young lady?" Romaní said, suddenly changing her attitude.
"Doctor!"
"I'm sure I raised you for a better education! Do you have that kind of fetish?"
"No! I! Ugh... Check my readings better! That way you'll know."
Certainly, the tension between them dissipated in a curious way.
The green-haired boy remained expectant, reflecting on all this. But the most unsettling thing was...
Why shouldn't he exist?
"If what they say is true and mention December 2016 as a possible future..."
Then...
"What does my existence in this place mean?"
Because, no matter how crazy it sounds, Izuku Midoriya's birth date was July 15, 2266...
To be continued...