Chapter Text
“Once, there was a city in the sky. It was filled with tall spires where people worked to change the world, away from all the war and chaos below. They knew they could change the world because the people of this city had something the people of the ground did not, magic. Magic capable of making the impossible a reality. They took people in from the ground below, saved them from the wars and strife. All who pushed themselves to be masters of magic had a place in the city.
“Once, in that city, there was a boy. He watched the stars above move and he wanted to understand them. He saw horrible things happen on the ground and he wanted to change them. As he grew he studied the one form of magic none could master, time itself. He worked day and night to find a way to go through time and stop the pains of the world.
“But the gods of the world were angry at the city. They saw the people of the city using their magic to help others without their help as a crime. So the gods banded together and forced the city to crash into the ground below.
“But… the boy’s work was complete. He was able to turn back time, to warn the city that raised him. He protected the city from the gods’ attack. With his work he helped the city stand as a bastion of hope, where all have their place.”
The man now known as Hisashi Midoriya looks down at his son. Young Izuku is curled up in bed, an All Might action figure in his arms. The paint is faded and chipped in places. One of his hair tufts has a chunk missing. The boy’s eyes are heavy as he tries to stay awake.
“Do you think I’d belong there?” Izuku asks. “Even if my quirk isn’t strong?”
Hisashi internally sighs. Izuku’s “quirk” is being able to see in the dark, along with slightly pointed ears. The elf kisses his son on the forehead.
“With a heart as big as yours, you’ll belong anywhere so long as you put your mind to it. Now, you should go to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Hisashi tucks Izuku in and shuts off the light as he leaves the room. He closes the door and turns around to see Inko standing behind him.
“It’s a sweet story,” she whispers. “Do you think he’s going to be okay?”
Hisashi sighs. “I don’t know. I hope he’ll figure out his place in this world. It won’t be as easy as a story makes it seem.”
“Maybe..” Inko takes her husband’s hand. “Maybe you should tell him that it isn’t just a story?”
He shakes his head. “Not until he’s older. He doesn’t need to know about my past failures.”
She reaches up and touches his face. “He doesn’t need to know about Aeor. Just that you’ll understand what it’s like to be different, and maybe tell him that he can learn how to do what you do. It would help if he still wants to be a hero when he gets older.”
A soft smile crosses Hisashi’s face. “I do what to show him magic, when he’s ready to use it. But I’ll have to get things ready.” He leans down and kisses Inko. “Let’s go to bed.”
Months later, Izuku sits on a set of swings at the school playground. In his hand is his All Might action figure. He flies the action figure around, making swooshing noises.
“I am here!” he squeaks.
Izuku leans too far forward and slips off the swing. He hits the ground and coughs. Looking up, he sees his toy sitting in the mud. As he reaches forward a foot stomps on the toy. He looks up and sees Kacchan standing over him.
“Oops,” the boy says sarcastically. He raises his foot, revealing that one of the toy’s arms broke off. “Looks like your old toy broke. You should be more careful.”
“You did that on purpose, Kacchan!”
“Maybe you should stop pretending to be a hero. Or next time it won’t just be your shitty toy.”
Kacchan walks off and Izuku grabs his toy. He walks around the edge of the school building and sits against the wall. Tears run down his face. He holds the pieces of the figures together.
His dad’s quirk lets him change the shape of objects objects. He can fix it. Izuku taps the pieces together. He has his dad’s ears and ability to see in the dark. Maybe his quirk can do the same things?
“Come on, fix.” Nothing changes.
He frowns for a moment before thinking back on his dad’s quirk. He uses little phrases to help him focus on his quirk. He has one specifically for fixing things.
“Nikrent?” That sounds right, but nothing happens. He starts to growl at the figure. “Nikrent!”
A pulse of energy runs through his body. His eyes flash for a moment. He looks at both pieces of the toy before sticking them together one last time.
He takes a deep breath. “ Nikrent !”
The seam where the bits of plastic meet starts to glow. Izuku focuses on the that glow. The plastic starts to meld together. After a minute the glow fades and the toy is whole. Sweat runs down Izuku’s face as he smiles.
“I did it.”
A wave of exhaustion washes over him. He blinks-
And is laying on a bed. He looks around and sees that he’s in the nurse’s office. His mom is talking with the nurse, holding his toy. Her eyes widen as she sees him awake and she rushes to hug him.
“What happened?” Izuku groans.
“That's what I want to know,” Inko replies. “Your teacher found you after recess. Did someone hurt you?
He shakes his head. “No. My toy broke, so I fixed it.”
“You fixed it?”
“Like how Dad does.”
Inko looks down at the little All Might. A teary smile creeps across her face. She kneels beside the bed.
“You have to go back to class, but Dad and I are going to have something for you when you get home.”
Izuku raises his hands. “Yay!”
Later, when the school day ends, Izuku walks back home. He bounces with each step. His quirk lets him fix things! Maybe he can do other things like his dad. He can be a hero some day! Plus his parents have something for him! He laughs as he walks up to his apartment door.
He opens it. “Mom, Dad? I’m home!”
“I’m in the kitchen!” His mom calls. “Wash up. Your dad is preparing your gift.”
Izuku washes his hands and changes out of his uniform before sitting on the couch. He vibrates in his seat. After a minute Inko comes in and sits beside him.
“Are you ready, Izuku?” his dad’s voice calls from the other room.
He nods and bounces. “Yes yes yes!”
His dad emerges from his room, carrying a book and a small bag. Izuku looks at the book inquisitively. It’s thick, like the books his dad reads, with no words on the cover. There seems to be gold markings dug into the cover, though from his angle he can’t tell what they are.
“Is that my present?”
Hisashi ruffles Izuku’s hair before sitting on his other side. “It is. But before we can give it to you, we have to talk about exactly what you did.”
Izuku frowns and looks down. “Oh.”
“Hey, don’t look so sad. I just want to know how you knew how to fix your toy.”
“Well, it broke. I wanted to see if I got your quirk, and I remembered that little word you used to focus. When I said it, I felt.. Tingly. Then tired. But I fixed it!”
Hisashi smiles. “Izuku, I have something to tell you, but it’s a secret. So you have to promise not to talk to anyone who isn’t me or your mother about it.”
“Promise!”
His dad laughs to himself before standing up. He turns to look at Izuku.
“I need to tell you the truth about where I came from. I’m not from Europe. I’m… not from Earth. I am from a city called Aeor.” Hisashi waves his hand, starlight following. The light forms into a city. “We were a city where people used magic, not quirks, to help the world.”
The light of the floating city shines in Izuku’s eyes. He blinks. “You have magic? You have magic! Do I have magic? Wait, why don’t you have a quirk? How did you get here? The floating city! Were you the time traveling boy from my bedtime story?”
“Slow down, son. One question at a time. I came to Earth because of an accident. I was trying to use my time machine when something went wrong. I appeared in Japan, lost and confused.”
“Confused enough to walk in front of a car,” Inko interrupts. Izuku laughs and Hisashi rolls his eyes, still smiling.
“Never gonna live that down. Anyways, I don’t have a quirk because I’m not human. Though, no humans from my world have quirks. I am an elf.”
Izuku perks up at that. “Wait. Is that why I can see in the dark?” He frowns. “Am I quirkless?”
Hisashi gets down on one knee and puts a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “You do not need a quirk to be a great man. In Aeor we learned how to manipulate the flow of magic. I can teach you how to do the same.”
“You can?”
“It will take a lot of time and practice, and you will need this.”
Hisashi holds out the book and Izuku takes it. On the front, in gold, are symbols he doesn’t recognize. He opens the book and sees strange words and pictures.
“That is your spellbook. All the spells you learn will be recorded within. Now, you need one more thing. Hold out your right hand.”
Izuku does as he is told. Hisashi opens his small pouch and waves a hand. Silver flows from the pouch like water, along with a small emerald. Hisashi chants in a language Izuku doesn’t understand. Two rings of strange symbols appear around Izuku’s wrist and the silver flows between them. The symbols set themselves into the metal, followed by the emerald. Izuku is left with a perfectly formed bracelet.
“This is your arcane focus. It will help you cast spells.” Hisashi reaches into his shirt and pulls out a necklace with a twelve-sided box as a pendant. “Just like me.”
Izuku looks down at the bracelet, then his spellbook.He leans forward and wraps his arms around his dad’s neck. His dad slowly returns the hug.
Learning magic is difficult. Even before casting a single spell, Izuku spends months studying. He has to learn mathematics so far ahead of his class, the aeoran language, and more. He perseveres, though. Anything to be a hero.
Eventually, the two sit in the living room. They are both on the floor, the table and couch pushed away. Between them there is a fireproof tarp with a candle on top.
“Lighting a candle is one of the simplest things you can do as a wizard,” Hisashi says. “All you need is to put a little bit of magic into the wick to ignite it. Watch me closely.”
Hisashi rolls his wrist in a circle before snapping, “ Yol .” The candle ignites. He waves his hand over the flame. “ Evenaar .” The flame goes out. “Now, get ready to cast.”
Izuku raises his arm. His bracelet weighs on him.”
“Good. Now cast the spell.”
Izuku flicks his wrist and snaps, “Yol.” The candle is still unlit. He casts the spell again. “Yol.” Nothing.
“Yol.” Nothing.
“Yol.” Come on, work.
“Yol!”
“Izuku.”
“YOL!”
“Izuku stop!”
Izuku blinks. Tears are running down his face. He drops his arm and looks down.
“Why won’t it work? I did it exactly like you.”
“That’s not entirely..” Hisashi shakes his head. He crawls around until he is right behind Izuku.
Izuku feels his father take him by the shoulders and pulls him onto his lap. He leans his head back as Hisashi hugs him.
“Izuku, what powers arcane magic?”
The boy takes a deep breath. “Ether?”
“Correct.” Hisashi creates an orb in the air. Silver lines spread across the orb. “Ether flows across a plane through leylines like water through a river. Just as we can build machines to alter the flow of water, so can we with ether. But the human body isn’t a machine. So to move the water we have to stick our hands in and get wet. You get what I’m saying?”
Izuku nods for a moment before shaking his head. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry for not understanding.” He grabs his chin. “Perhaps throwing him in a lake would help? No, you’re letting the metaphor get away from you.”
“Dad, you’re mumbling.”
“Oh, so I am. My point is that you need to have the right mindset. Close your eyes.”
“I don’t think this will work. I’m just useless.”
“None of that talk. No one is useless, especially not my little boy. Now trust me and close your eyes.”
Izuku huffs and closes his eyes.
“Good. Now try to ignore everything but my voice. Magic is the strongest force in the world, stronger than any quirk. But it can only do anything with your will guiding it. The spells help you shape it, but you are the connection point for ether to interact with the world. Imagine the ether as a warmth, something burning like the sun.”
Izuku’s breathing slows. He reaches out, trying to feel the warmth. Nothing. He scrunches his face in frustration. He shifts around to get comfortable, pushing against his father…
And feels warmth.
His father is warm, but it’s not just that. The warmth flows through his veins. The electricity he felt when he fixed his toy has returned. It feels like the sun is burning in his chest.
"When you're ready, reach out for the candle and let the warmth flow from you to it."
Izuku turns his wrist and snaps. “Yol .”
He opens his eyes. The candle burns. He throws his hands in the air.
“I did it!”
Hisashi ruffles Izuku’s hair. “Good job! You’re a real wizard now.”
Izuku smiles and leans into his father’s embrace. He has powers. He can be a hero.