The sound of bones being reshaped and reformed echoed across the forest. Teka gritted her teeth as she snapped her arm back to the ‘regular’ form and let her flames do the rest. She’d done this hundreds of times so the pain had numbed. How many deaths is this?... I’ve lost count. With a sigh, she leaned against the tree while trying to push down the memories of her sister ignoring her pleads for help.
Suddenly, her ears flickered as they picked up on someone approaching. She tensed up from the rustling of trees and silently lept up into the branches. A silver-headed kid came into view. Teka relaxed a bit once she realized it was Kori, her close and only friend after her sister began ignoring her. She came down from the tree, startling him.
Kori wrapped his little arms around Teka. Sniffles filled her ears and she felt Kori’s shaking body. “You don’t have to cry. I’m alright Kori,” She flexed her newly healed arm that tingled a bit and pulled away, giving him a smile while wiping away at his tears. “See? Good as new!”
He sniffled again. “Why do you keep on saving me?” For as long as he could remember, he’d been the one that Teka had to protect. He always hated being a coward, but he couldn’t help himself. Using his ice to hurt another person never sat right with him. So, he became an easy target as a result.
“Well, I just don’t want to see you get hurt again,” She thought back to when she accidentally cracked her grandmother’s core. Even though it was an accident and was healed by absorbing some of the Aether’s mana, using that level of power had become a big no for her. “Grandma always said it was better to inflict pain on yourself instead of others. Guess the others didn’t listen when she said that.”
Kori read her expression and quickly decided to change the flow of the conversation. Deciding without much thought, he pulled out a small book from his void, a small pocket world where their core laid, and handed it to her. “Would you like to hear about humans again? I can read it this time.”
The memories burned into nothingness as Teka took the book and ran her fingers over the cover. The Forgotten War. It was a thin book with just a few pages. But those few pages were all they needed. Giving the book back to Kori, she rested next to a tree and took in his cold aura. “Read it for me then. As a thank you.”
Kori sat next to her and "But this is just a fairytale. No one will tell us what really happened Teka."
"But I still want you to read it! Nana said she'll tell me soon!"
Kori sighed and began reading the book for the umpteenth time. “Centuries ago, the beasts used to roam the earth. A small part of Earth. We lived peacefully with them and were praised as gods. Eventually, we grew fond of them too. Bowing our heads to them, we gave them our power. Bonding to them as a sign of everlasting peace and respect. It made life easier and more joyful for both of us.”
The air became colder, but he still continued. “Then, humans with their massive metal ships and strange weapons approached. Somehow, they’d taken notice of us; of the powers, we’d given. They demanded we bond with them and only them, threatening to wipe us out if we denied.”
Kori's blue eyes dulled a bit.
"We didn’t believe them, and we suffered the consequences. ‘The Forgotten War’ is what the beasts call it. After countless years of war, we were on the losing end and decided to leave this world. Using the blood of the fallen, both humans and beasts, we created the Aether. Our home for the centuries now.”
Kori eyed her sullen expression and shut the book. “It’s alright. We’ve both seen how they’ve changed!”
“…Yea,” She got up and spread her massive wings. Instead of regular wings, her wings were very different. Three massive thrusters, similar to rocket thrusters, were in place on each wing. Black scales with a light tint of grey on the tips. The wind ran through her hair as blue energy began leaking out of them. “You want to go back, right?”
Kori answered her by switching to his beast form. White scales replaced his skin and the sounds of bones breaking and reforming echoed across the cliff. When he was finished, a drake double Teka's height was standing next to her. “I’m stopping at Grandma’s for a second. Meet me there.” A low growl escaped his lips as they lept off the cliff. But what the duo failed to notice were the two sets of crimson and golden eyes watching from behind.
That would be the last time they’d ever jumped off that cliff.
*
Sounds of murmurs and looks of disgust filled the Aether. Hundreds of thousands of different beasts gathered at a long-forgotten part of the Aether where a portal to the human world lied. Ribbons and ice lied across the broken landscape. Kori’s unmoving body laid under the Queen’s and Sora’s feet.
After Sora explained to Mother what Teka and Kori were planning, and she took this chance to make an example out of the Ace. Ever since Ryuku and another Jack left a few years ago, she ordered that a long-secluded part of the Aether be abandoned and hid the portal again.
Kori’s ice began healing his wounds and his eyes opened to a terrible sight. The Queen, Sora, and hundreds of different beasts eyeing him. “…I,” A slap rang out across the landscape as he flew back from the force. Kori’s body smashed into a pool of glass, digging deep into his skin and causing him to cry out in pain.
“I’ve never really was fond of you,” Blood dripped and colored the grass a deep red as the queen slowly approached. Her harsh gray eyes made Kori shiver. “Since you’ve also been around that godforsaken child that I have to call my daughter and for the fact that you’re an orphan, whose parents were shattered."
Ice grew around his neck as he spoke again. “How… How could you say that about your own daughter?” Grunting through the pain he stood up, only to be brought back down to the ground by a wave of glassy chains. Sora smirked from behind while Kori looked up with fear in her eyes.
Her eyes lit up and a purple bow, brighter than anything he’d ever laid eyes on, formed in her hands. “I think it’s time I make an example out of you…”
The bowstring was dragged back and the massive amount of mana leaking off the queen began to compress, twisting and cracking into a beautiful arrow. In a panic, Kori tried to get away, but ribbons held him in place.
“You’re really going to shatter a beast or something like this?” He spat out, trying to hide fear. The Queen was silent as she aimed the arrow right above his chest. A blue comet could be seen in the distance approaching at a rapid speed.
“Trash shouldn’t be talking.” She let go of the bowstring and the arrow flew across the destroyed landscape. Using his ice, he caused a miniature blizzard and launched himself into the air. He transformed into his beast form and fired a wave of ice at the queen. She didn’t even bother to dodge before suddenly disappearing and reappearing above him.
Her hands dug into his back, snapping his spine and smashing him into the ground. This time, she made sure Kori couldn’t get away. Purple vines sprouted from the ground and tightened themselves around the stunned Kori. “Disgusting bug.”
Once again, the arrow flew like a bullet towards Kori. But it never touched him. A figure in sky-blue flames crashed down in front of him... and took the hit. The arrow drilled into her, decimating and ravaging her core. She didn’t scream though, holding it in and gritting her teeth.
Blood shot out of her chest, spilling over Kori as she crumpled next to him. Teka croaked, her arms falling to her sides. A pained smile was stretched on her face. She gave a hazy smile, her vision already fading. “See? I told you that I’d always protect…” She blacked out as every beast silently processed what had just taken place.
Nobody dared to say a word, to even make a noise as her bow dissipated into nothingness. What would the Queen say? What would she do? She cracked the child she hated most. “Stupid children. Leave this realm and never come back since you love those bastard humans so much.”
The vines retracted back into the ground and the queen, along with every other beast there, left. Leaving the two beasts who never wanted to fight. Kori’s body trembled as he grabbed onto Teka’s lifeless body. “Hey…” The flames that usually would’ve appeared by never rose up. “Hey!” He rocked her again as tears streamed down his face. Cracks like a spider web spread out across Teka's body.
If a core is cracked, it can be healed. But it’ll deteriorate if nothing is done, leading to a slow and painful death.
His screams rang out across the Aether. Ice blanketed the ground and engulfed the two of them. For what seemed to be hours on end, he screamed with emotions he didn’t think he had… and someone took notice.
*
It was supposed to be a normal night…
Firefighters rushed out and loaded onto the fire trucks. Getting a call in the middle of the night was common. It's a firefighter's duty to put out fires no matter the time after all. But what wasn’t common were the flames that they were called to deal with. Even in a world full of quirks. Glowing blue flames and harsh ice decimated everything around Mount Fuji. The new trainee inhaled sharply once she got a good look at them.
What the hell…
It looked like a blizzard hell on earth just from a glance. The ice crackled and ate at anything they touched, while the flames seemed to grow fire trees out of nothing. Water-based heroes rushed to the scene, yelling and ordering the firemen to blast water into the air. With each hit on the fire, the more it hissed. Like it was alive. Like it was fighting to live.
“Sir, what the hell is going on? It’s a clear night and there haven’t been any reported fires in this area for a few years,” The first firefighter said. She held tight to the fire truck, making sure that water was constantly being pumped out. “Do you think someone set the forest around Mount Fuji on fire? I’ve never seen blue flames like this in the wild before.”
“Well…. That seems to be the case. But what doesn’t make sense is the ice. It’s odd,” The senior tightened his mask and moved in.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Planes soared above them, covering the area with water and dousing the flames. The flames roared back in retaliation but grew smaller. The heroes pushed forward, containing and working towards the center of the firestorm. The farther they pushed in, the hotter and wilder the flames became. Just as they enclosed the flames, they abruptly changed to a bright purple. The fire compressed itself, closing back into the center.
“What the hell…” A hero said. She felt herself freeze as two body-like figures stood up from the flames. Without a second thought, the hero doused the figures. Sharp icy eyes looked right into the hero’s and released a roar like nothing the hero had heard before.
*
Years later…
“Shut it, you damn nerd!” Bakugo let off another round of explosions, launching Deku across the empty school field. Traces of smoke rose from his body as his back hit the wall. “You’re nothing! Just disappear into smoke like you always do. Become the dust at my feet!” Bakugo yelled in his face, pissed off even though it was early in the morning. Deku didn’t say a word as he let him continue his tirade.
“Do me a favor and take a swan dive off the roof,” He grabbed his bag and stomped away. satisfied at what he'd done. “You smokey bastard.”
Deku fell to the ground, letting the trails of smoke flow off of him. All of this. Fresh tears gathered in his eyes. Just because all I can do is emit smoke. They came out fast. They fell on the soft grass as he desperately tried to stop the streaming tears. The sound of steps walking over the dead leaves reminded him he was still at school.
“Um… hello.” A soft voice brought him back to reality. His neck snapped up. A short girl with long white hair held out his scorched notebook. Her ebony skin and bright sapphire eyes stunned Deku. After what seemed to be hours, he realized he’d been staring. “How are you feeling?”
He chuckled at that, noticing she was wearing the same uniform as him. He wiped a few tears away before replying. “Like death itself.” He picked himself up, taking the burned notebook and putting it back in his shoulder bag. “Thank you. I… I don’t think I’ve seen you around here.” He started walking off.
The girl followed him. “I’m new here. I just transferred as a second year.” They stopped at a vending machine. Deku punched in a few coins. Two drinks fell. He handed one to her before he continued walking. Sweet tea, not a bad choice. “Who was that guy?”
“That… was just Kacchan, my very own bully,” Deku replied, his voice barely above a whisper. He stopped in front of the classroom door, wiping down the rest of his tears before giving her a weak smile. “You shouldn’t hang around me. It’ll only lead to you getting bullied too.”
“Is it because you’re weak?” She questioned.
He didn’t answer that. Instead, he ducked into class. The teacher turned to face her, ignoring Deku. “Ah, there you are!” The teacher pushed the door open wider before allowing her to enter the classroom. She immediately eyed the boy she had just spoken to. His face was buried in his burnt notebook. “I’ll excuse you for being late since today is your first day. But for now, just introduce yourself.” She thought about what he’d just said before. An idea popped into her head.
She pulled the teacher to the side and told him not to mention she had a quirk. He didn’t have time to react as she'd walked into the class.
The classroom buzzed with chatter. Her long white hair trailed behind her as she walked in. Dozens of pairs of eyes followed her every move as she wrote her name on the board. “Hello everyone,” She spun around and did a quirk bow. “Teka Kai is my name and I’ll be joining this class today, even though summer break starts tomorrow.”
“Thank you for your introduction, Kai.” The teacher pulled out a few worn-out notebooks and handed them to her before turning back to the class. “I forgot to mention this before. She’s lost a majority of her memory from a severe bullying incident from the school beforehand. This is her first time back in school since then so I would like for everyone to treat her well. Take a seat next to Midoriya, he’s sitting right behind the blonde hair kid. I have to drop off some papers so get settled in.”
Giving a nod to the teachers, she took a seat while talking to some of the students that carefully approached her. She tried waving to Midoriya, but he opted to sink further in his chair and take notes.
A soft crackle filled her ears. Looking up, red eyes met her sapphire eyes. They glared at her as if challenging her. She glared back. “Can I help you?” Her voice came out sharp, enough to agitate him a bit.
“You’re quirk… you didn’t say anything about your quirk,” His voice was equally as sharp.
She tilted her head a bit. “So you’re just going to ignore what the teacher said about bullying?”
“Don’t play games.” He raised his voice. “It doesn’t have to be bullying if you just say it.”
“I mean if you think about quirks too much you end up labeling them based on something that doesn’t matter too much-” His hand crashed down on the table, letting off an explosion that forced everyone to scramble. Teka didn’t flinch. She only stared at him through the dissipating smoke.
“I won’t ask again. Your quirk. What is it?”
“…And what if I said I was quirkless,” She snapped back with venom in her voice. “Would that satisfy your answer?”
A vein popped out of his head as he raised his hand over her. The explosions in his hand snapped over her. Suddenly, she raised her hands and fired off a round of explosions that mimicked his. A slap rang out across the classroom as her hand connected with his cheek, shocking the entire class.
Blue flames gathered in a single point in her mouth and erupted at full force. The room shook a bit as Bakugo flew back into a wall and crumpled to the ground. Teka wiped her mouth as bits of blue leaked out with a smirk on her face. “That should answer your question.”
*
The final bell of the day echoed throughout the school. Teka shut the door to the teacher’s office. She’d been scolded, but ultimately had been let off the hook since Bakugo was a known tyrant.
This feels all too familiar…
She was snapped out of her thoughts once she reached the classroom. The popping sound that she’d heard so much of filled her ears. She peeked into the classroom. “…remember that you’re nothing. Even if you got someone like that shitty girl with you.”
Three students were surrounding another hunched over in a corner. Midoriya? Besides him, the only one who stood out being Bakugo, his hands brimming with explosions. Midoriya flinched a bit as if it was just instinct while holding his face. “Like I said this morning, you will always be nothing.”
Bastard. Teka moved fast, picking up a nearby bag and smashing it over Bakugo’s head. She grabbed Midoriya and forcibly pulled him out of class, leaving the others dumbfounded. By the time they were at the entrance of the school, explosions could be heard. Along with a lot of name-callings.
The sound of stomps followed them for a few blocks before they rounded a corner and pushed both of them into a narrow alleyway. A few seconds later and sounds of stomping and yelling passed by them. They stood in the alleyway for a bit, letting the bully and his minions pass. The smell of smoke filled her lungs as they waited in case they came back.
The two collapsed on a nearby bench after waiting for a few minutes. They were drenched in sweat as if they’d just run a marathon. She smiled a bit. Then chucked and eventually broke into laughter. Deku stared at her as if she was a maniac.
“No, sorry about that!” She covered her smile with her hands, still trying to calm herself. “I just thought that was fun! We should definitely do that again!”
He chuckled a bit. “Yeah sure. Running away from my bullies always seems like fun.” Teka finally got a good look at him. His clothes were ruffled, and a bit burned in some spots. But his face was what made her smile disappear. A deep gash ran down his right cheek with a black eye that seemed to swell a bit bigger with each passing second.
“…Your face,” She moved closer, ignoring the stares from the people around them. Her hand lightly touched the gash. He flinched a bit, but eventually let her run her hands over it. “Follow me for a bit. I’ll patch it up for you. It’s my fault you got this anyway.”
The walk to Teka’s home was mostly silent. She had tried to make small talk along the route, but he didn’t really respond much as he hid his face from the gazes of the people around him.
A nicely kept house that was well over three stories tall and sat right next to the beach. Or rather, what was left of it. Piles and piles of trash covered the entire thing, giving the look of a dump rather than a beach. It had gotten better over the years, but it still seemed rundown. Still, Teka didn’t hesitate to pull him inside.
The air became colder once the door opened. Waiting for them was Kori, who was surrounded by multiple holograms. His icy blue eyes didn’t look up from what seemed to be stocks and other things like that. “You’re late.”
“And you’re cold,” She moved past him, pulling Midoriya along. Although, he didn’t get very far before Kori’s hand landed on his shoulder. A wave of cold air flooded over him, and his penetrating blue eyes seemed to glow a bit. “Seriously Kori? He’s my friend. You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
“I just want to make sure he's, not a bully.” Kori smiled a bit as Teka searched around in the cabinets for the first aid kid. When that didn’t work, she searched the drawers then the cupboards.
“Tch, I’m checking upstairs. Midoriya, chat with Kori for a bit.” She didn’t give him a chance to reply and bolted up the stairs, leaving the two of them sitting at a nearby table.
Multiple stalagmites formed around the two and Kori’s demeanor shifted. “Let’s have a little chat Midoriya…” His intent was to intimidate him, but it had the opposite effect. The green-headed kid instantly pulled out a notebook and flooded him with questions. The sparkling of his smile made him forget his original goal.
“Your quirk is Cyrokinesis? That’s amazing!”
“What about your limits? How far is the distance and how long can you control it for?”
“What about much you can make?”
“Oh, and are you trying to become a hero?”
Kori originally forgot what his intent was once he took notice of the multiple holograms around him. “Oh, this? I trade stocks and make parts out of the junk on the parts. I also…” This went on for a bit before Kori remembered his true purpose. “Wait! That’s enough Midoriya.”
“Ah, did I go on a ramble?” His cheerful expression died down as he sunk back into his seat. The happy kid that was there just a second ago converted back to the one from earlier this morning. “Sorry… I just get excited when I get to talk about quirks so…”
A pang of guilt ran through him as he shook his head. “You’re fine. And I can tell by the bruise on your face that you’re not a bully.”
He looked up and seemed to read what was on Kori’s face. “Is the reason she transferred here because…”
Nodding, he pulled up some medical documents on a hologram. “At her previous school, she was bullied a lot. So much in fact, that she lost almost all of her memories from a serious incident in which she was almost killed. She had to be hospitalized for a year and this is her first time coming back to school, despite my attempts to do online schooling instead.”
“I… I see.”
Kori moved his black hair out of his face and looked Midoriya in the eyes. Giving him a smile, he continued. “I was trying to intimidate you, but that clearly didn’t work. But for now, at least I know you’re not like the person who gave you that nasty black eye.”
Later that day, Teka and Midoriya went out on the beach. It had been long abandoned, full of trash and other garbage. On a long-abandoned fridge sat Teka and Midoriya. After he was dressed up a bit, he became more interested in Kori and Teka’s quirks.
“So, your quirk is Pyrokinesis? That’s an amazing quirk!” Midoriya filled his notebook with loads of notes about her. He tried his best not to miss a single fact. Teka eyed his melting ice cream as she swallowed the last of her own. “Controlling the temperature to the point where someone can hold it without being burned is amazing! It’s almost like the Phoenix vigilante that’s been appearing around Japan recently."
Her ears twitched a bit when she heard that. “Oh really?”
“Yea!” He pulled out his phone and pulled out a certain article about them. They suddenly appeared one day and healed a child from a surgery that had gone wrong. “Apparently, their flames can heal people. Just recently, a child was saved from a surgery that went wrong. After the staff’s healing quirks failed, Phoenix suddenly appeared in a burst of blue flames!”
Teka grinned while thinking about Kori. “I also heard that a certain Ice wolf sometimes accompanies them.”
“Ah, I don’t know much about him since the media doesn’t really cover it…” He flipped a few pages of his notebook before landing on a drawing of the Phoenix and ice wolf. “But I do know that they sometimes drop off packages for people. What’s in them is something I wish I knew.”
“Hey, Midoriya.”
“Hm?”
“…Why do you want to become a hero?”
The world around them seemed to dim as Teka gazed into his one eye that wasn’t covered up. He didn’t reply instantly. Instead, he thought about it and replied after a few minutes of silence.
He gripped the ends of his notebook tightly. “I want a world where we can continue to live relatively easy lives. I want to save people,” Green eyes met sapphire eyes. “I guess you could say I want to be like All Might. A hero that can calm people just by being around them.”
The waves crashed along the sand as the sun reflected off the rough surface. Teka smiled and jumped up onto another piece of trash. “All right then!” A bright trail of flames let her palms and proceeded to reach across the trash on the beach. “From this point on, we’ll clear this entire beach before the U.A entrance exam!”