Chapter Text
"Izuku?"
Sharp searing pain, no not real…. just…it really just hurts but he can’t actually feel the physical pain.
"You……. qu…...nerd!"
Darkness, red, round glasses with a frowny face. Images keep flashing, some too fast to be clear, the swirls morphing and changing making everything so dizzy.
"Sorry……...Iz…. sor…."
A shape, someone in the dark and a light, dimmed and it's sad, heartbreaking. It's cold and it hurts, and there’s a jab in his chest screaming with…... Disappointment?
The image ripples away as quickly as it comes.
"Izuku, wake up!"
Why does it hurt, archons why does it hurts so much? Grey, loud blaring, yelling? He doesn’t know, he can’t tell for sure.
"You...…...traitor…..."
"Izuku!"
Blinking his eyes open, Izuku hisses lightly at the sudden light. The world around that was once so dark and oppressing fading into gentle hues of green and blue, a worried face looking at him, her fingers just barely grazing his cheeks.
Barbara looks worried, "B-Barbara? W-what happened…?" his voice raspy, Izuku blinks, something sliding down from his cheeks, dropping down to the skin of his collarbone.
The boy sits up from where he had been laying, he must have fallen asleep in the garden after clearing out the fallen leaves, it's odd because he doesn’t think he was tired.
All the time he’s been living in Mondstadt had him learning a sort of serenity that comes with life here.
One where you can fall asleep in a garden and not…. worry about anything.
The whispering afternoon breeze caresses his face, "You were crying in your sleep…..." the deaconess explains, though she exhales with relief seeing how he seems fine.
Izuku touches his wet cheeks lightly, "Oh…." somehow, he doesn't…. remember much.
It was dark and painful there, it’s not like that over here.
It doesn't take long for Izuku to fall into a more or less stable routine of his new life, adjusting is easier than he anticipated, what more with everyone being so welcoming.
A month in and he’s running around the place like its his birth hometown.
When he isn’t out gravitating the streets to carry out errands, one can find the greenette tuck in a corner of the Favonius Library, his own little corner propped up with book piles and notebooks strewn around in his own orderly way.
The boy always cleans up after himself so Lisa never bothered to chastise him for it. It's a rare sight to see a teen like him to be so grossly dedicated to learning, she wouldn't want to discourage that.
The boy surprised them when he walked up to Jean and Barbara one day conversing in Mondt and slipped right into the conversation, now partially fluent in said language.
For an oddball that’s unexplainable at times, Izuku is a joy to have around. Because for all his weariness, trust issues and bundle of trauma reactions, there’s also sincerity, kindness and willingness to do his best and help.
There’s just something about him that draws people in, likely his adorable teen charm. One just can't help but dote on the boy.
“Studying again Izuku? That’s quite the material choice you’re choosing.” She greets him, hand softly ruffling through the fluffy green mess. He’s a lot more accepting of physical affection these days after easing into it courtesy of Razor.
Izuku no longer flinches away at sudden touches, even now the boy only leans more into her hand, chuckling slightly with the book in his hand placed down, hands already moving to clean up the table that’s in a disarray of papers, books and pens.
“Oh, Miss Lisa I thought I might…brush up on general knowledge I might have forgotten.” He replies, pointing down at the articulated notes he personally made on wild plants, flowers and other flora growing on Mondstadt soil.
There’s also a few peculiar titles and notebook labels lying around, ‘Teyvat’s Dummy Guide to Regional Wildlife’, ‘Advanced Alchemy Theory Vol. 23’, ‘Leylines, Runes and Magical Properties’, ‘The Fall of Decarabian’ and ‘Liyue: From Rocky Plains to Prosperity’.
And a particular notebook ‘Notes for The Past’ caught her eyes, where a paper is peeking out with details of different magical illnesses known and recorded. It saddens her whenever she remembers his situation. He's doing better with coping now but he shouldn’t have to bear such burdens.
“It’s also interesting…...the histories recorded, the traditions and different cultures, even the magic aspects that scatter over the open land…...I can’t help but want to know it all.” The boy rambles on, voice twinkling with excitement.
Lisa chuckles and takes a seat next to him, “Magic hmm?”
“Yeah, like that gem on your neck.” he points at her vision, Lisa hums in acknowledgement. Izuku never questioned them, so they had assumed he knew what it was, but apparently they’re amiss with that part.
“Oh, you mean my vision? I admit I do use it with my magic, though it's more of a means of infusing the elemental energy it holds into the mana I conjure than being the source of magic itself.” she begins to explain briefly,
The boy's eyes widened, “Wait….so you don’t need it to use magic?” body already half on his feet with interest.
“Not…...quite, it's a bit more complicated than that. But to simply explain, allogenes do gain more affinity with mana than regular folk, so it's easier for us to work with magic.” she continues to say with a chuckle.
It's not impossible to train oneself to use mana, it's just without natural born affinity with it, it's difficult to master.
Some races such as elves and Khaenri'ahns were simply born with mana affinity, and being granted a vision too boosts one's ability to harness mana.
Even then, to be a mage would require them to be skillful enough to channel the energy correctly without causing any harm to themselves or others, typical visionless human mages are rare but they exist nonetheless.
“Allogenes?” Izuku perks up at the term, already settling back to his seat, pen in his hand ready to jot down any interesting detail with ears listening to her with full attention.
Lisa nods, “Vision wielders, I thought so that you might be unfamiliar with the term. Allow me to explain.”
Thus, she begins from the very start, explaining what visions are and how one receives such a gift from the divine. Visions or an eye of the gods are blessings given to mortals by the divine, a tool to harness elementary energy depending on which element the wielder receives.
A vision could mean anything to its allogene from ambition, salvation or even a cursed reminder.
While each element has a frequency to what sort of character the wielder is like, it's never ever predictable who and how one could be blessed with a vision.
Anemo allogenes who are bounded, wishing to be free, or simply stop being lost and be founded.
Geo allogenes who are passionate in what they love, who would pour their heart and soul into their craft.
Electro allogenes who are odd in their own way, the world calls them outcasts for being uniquely themselves.
Dendro allogenes who are insightful, seeing what others don't, looking at the world through their own unique lenses.
Pyro allogenes who burn bright with their genuinity, of dreamers who are the truest to their hearts and those around them.
Hydro allogenes who loyally abide by their set of rules, stubborn minds who don't deviate from their principles.
Cryo allogenes who are failures or abandoned, fierce hearts hardened by fate.
“I see, that’s incredible! To be blessed by the gods themselves, are the allogenes connected to the god that granted them the vision? What if say a Mondstadter gets an Electro vision like you, does this mean you have to be loyal to both the Anemo and Electro archon? How far can an allogenes' abilities go?! Are there limits or you guys can just grow stronger and stronger or—wait, are they backlashes? Like from extensive use or a price for the power? But you did say it's first and foremost a god's blessing which means it's a gift and surely they don't ask for anything in exchange for a gift…"
The boy keeps rambling on and on, the pen in his hand scribbling down thoughts down on the paper with commendable speed. His voice lowering down to incomprehensible muttering yet still very much noting down everything he could think.
Lisa frankly is caught off guard by his genuine queries, all very reasonable and insightful and even she has to admit, there are some answers to those questions even she herself has no answer to.
Perhaps Venti would be a more suitable figure to entertain the boy in this area but given how Izuku is dead set on avoiding the bard like a plague much to the archon's dismay.
“You know, Razor is going to come by for his reading lessons, and we'll be doing more reading on visions, want to join us?” she offers, watching with amusement when the pen screeches to a halt, Izuku covering his lips with his hand with embarrassment, realizing the storm he mumbled.
But the question soon registered and the boy was back to beaming with interest, “Oh…me? S-sure if you’ll have me.” so eager to know and a curious mind that's rare to see, it's no wonder Albedo is so fond of him.
“It's really no need Izuku. I have it all under control.” Noelle says to him but Izuku isn't having it, he had lived here long enough to know the young lady overwork herself far too much.
The two of them had bonded over chores and soon enough became close friends, and if Izuku needed to drag the maid out of the cathedral to prove his point and get her to chill, he would.
(How strange is that he is able to grow so comfortable with her so quickly.)
Izuku stands with his arms crossed, blocking the door to the kitchen where dishes are waiting to be washed, “I want to help, you can even finish your chores faster, you’re always working Miss Noelle....you need breaks too!" He insisted, urging her to take a shirt break after just finishing polishing the corridor windows.
The girl sighs, smiling, she nods wordlessly and turns away but pauses when Barbara walks up to them, “Izuku! Could you make a delivery to Astrologist Mona for me?” she says, handing a packaging of what looks to be a serving of mint radish stew.
The greenette huffs, sending Noelle a look that says 'You better not do them before I get back' to which she only offers back a shrug, the boy shakes his head as he is fully aware the maid will sprint right into the kitchen as soon as he leaves.
“Coming! I’ll be right back.”
Well, he'll just have to make this delivery quickly, Mona doesn't like company unless she's in the mood for it anyway. He's met the estranged astrologist a couple times, quite the character that one but not one that is unwelcomed.
Running out and jumping off the higher ground ledges, silver gilder wings pop off from his back and hold him up airborne as he leans towards the city central below. Izuku grins as the wind and Anemo energy around Mondstadt surrounds him.
The new glider was a gift from Kaeya when he managed to flip the man over once in their spar, claiming it's an achievement worth noting since not many could do that even when he holds back.
Izuku lands near Cat's Tail where Diona is frantically waving at him, “Izuku! The berries you got for me were very nice, I made a special drink for you!” she cheers, holding out a cup of purple liquid, Izuku gratefully takes the drink.
“Hi Diona, aw thanks, Razor taught me a few tricks. We can go get them again some time?” he had accompanied her once, or perhaps it was the other way around since he had needed to go to Springvale and she was simply heading home and knew the woods better.
Learning of her predicament with wine made him feel sorry for the girl, he himself could not remember about a father but somehow found himself knowing how she feels to have her own dad be absent in her life due to alcohol.
(Cryo users truly are…...something. Kaeya doesn't say anything but there's always a cloudy gloom to his demeanor when he thinks no one is paying attention.)
As a young child who loved her father, of course she doesn't blame him but instead shifts the fault on the object of her father's fixation. Though her own drive to destroy the wine industry is ..... ambitiously admirable, it's actually quite cute.
Izuku does manage to somewhat get her to consider taking a different approach rather than trying to make bad drinks since she is never ever going to be capable of it.
Said approach is making other drinks more favorable than alcohol, she thinks it's ineffective but she's not tossing slugs or other odd contraptions into her cup of drink anymore so that's a win in his book.
“Of course! Good berries are always the most disgusting bugs on them, hehe perfect for new drinks.”
Izuku sweat drops, at least she's true to herself as a child should.
“Hello there Izuku,” a calm voice calls him, soft with a touch of elegance, Izuku turns to face the newcomer.
“Oh Captain Eula! Master Jean told me to inform you if I see you that the meeting would be slightly delayed.” He informs her, it's a bit of a rare sight to see her in the city as she’s always stationed out near Starsnatch cliff or Dadaupa gorge.
The woman nods, her warm eyes a contrast to the coldness and piercing elegance she radiates, “Duly noted, and please just call me Eula you silly boy. Or Vengeance shall be mine!” she chides lightly, poking his cheeks with her gloved finger.
Izuku shrugs and laughs sheepishly before dashing off to Mona's place. Rosaria, who had been watching the whole scenario unfold, motions for the cavalry captain to take a seat next to her, tossing a cocktail drink at Eula.
“The day he stops calling you or Kaeya captains is the day I actually pray to Bartobas.”
“I gotta say, were you trained in martial arts? Your form is better than most I've seen and those are some battle instincts you got there.” Kaeya comments during one of their sparring sessions, the man couldn't say he isn’t impressed, Izuku fought like a seasoned fighter.
He’s good at reading and predicting his opponents’ movements, is able to subconsciously enclose a fight to a limited area and Kaeya actually has to exert effort in hand-to-hand combat in their spars, all the while working solely from muscle memory and gut feeling.
Izuku is definitely far too trained in combat to simply be a random traveler, but then again, that pretty much sums up Aether.
Could they know each other?
Izuku wipes the sweat dripping from his face, muscles a little sore from training but it’s energizing in a way to move and train his body, it feels normal and familiar in a sense, “I…I guess? It’s odd, I don't remember……gaining this sort of muscle memory ....”
Izuku looked down at his hands, he had taken to covering the scars with bandages, looking at them made him bitter yet content. “I wonder if I got these from training in my past…...” he wonders out loud to no one in particular.
Kaeya shakes his head, while he understands Izuku is searching for answers to his past, but Kaeya still wonders if there’s a way he could tell the boy to leave it there in the past where it should be.
He knows what it's like to reopen old wounds, he doesn't want Izuku to ever experience that if he could help it.
Sometimes, the past stays in the past for a reason, and forgetting it is a blessing in disguise.
“Don’t fret about it, although……” he marches his way over to a weapon rack, grabs a dull blade that the new knights would use to train their swordsmanship and tosses it at the boy. Izuku catches the blade with a yelp, the weapon feels out of place in his hand.
“It’ll be better if you use a weapon instead of your fists. We gotta start making sure you won't get yourself killed if you travel to Springvale alone.”
And without much warning, charges at the boy with his own sword. Izuku leaps out of the way, swinging the weapon awkwardly which misses Kaeya by a mile.
“Uh…I…I don’t think I—Captain Kaeya!” he couldn’t get another word in when another slash is coming for his side. Izuku in his 3 second reaction time holds the sword steady to block the attack, one hand on the handle, the other on the flat side of the blade to hold his ground.
The two blades meeting with clash, Kaeya hums in acknowledgment, calculating blue eyes scanning Izuku’s odd sword handling. “Captain! I’m not familiar with any weapons! Please don’t keep attacking me like that!” Izuku screeches, dropping the sword and his knees to the ground.
Kaeya laughs, “Hahaha! As expected, near perfect reflexes although it's obvious you’ve never held a sword.” he gets a halfhearted glare from the younger boy for that remark.
“And I told you, just call me Kaeya kiddo. And we’re obviously doing this wrong, I do wonder…….” he returns to Izuku’s side with a different weapon, a dark silver polearm and drops it by the panting boy’s feet.
“Maybe this would work...”
Izuku picks up the polearm, the lighter weapon feels different in his grip.
The boy, now determined for payback, gets ready, falling into a stance he feels most comfortable with now that he has an extra weight in his hands.
Kaeya nods approvingly, seeing how Izuku holds that polearm, he knows this is going to be like taking a duck to water.
Minutes later Izuku doesn’t beat him, but that’s one nasty blow to his abdomen that’s going to bruise lightly but Kaeya is proud of him anyway.
“Klee, is something wrong?”
Spending time with the Spark Knight one definitely one of the many things he looks forward to in his day, and today they spend the early evening tucked in Klee’s room with various crayon drawings covering every inch of the small round table.
Usually, they’ll have one or two of the gang from Benny’s adventure team to play with them but all three of them were called in for a Hillichurl camp clearing commission today and won’t be back till nightfall from the looks of it.
The girl rolls over, her small frame sprawled on the floor like a starfish, “Brother Albedo is busy again, Klee is so bored. Let's go fish blasting Izu!” she suggests, throwing in a pout to be convincing.
It is not as effective as it had been two weeks ago, “Uh, wouldn’t you get punished in solitary confinement for that?” he reminds her, shuddering at the last time he followed her along for fish blasting.
Izuku had the idea of maybe throwing small harmless firecrackers at the fishes in the water but Klee is way too capable to simply just do that, she’ll risk damming the entire river ecosystem as well.
But a bored Klee might get ideas even worse than possible destruction of riverbanks and streams so Izuku has to think fast.
“But Klee wants to play with you!!” The girl whines, arms crossed and lips narrowed. Her eyes staring up the ceiling intensely deep in thought. The lab is out of commission from the last time they experimented, so not that either.
“Hey, how about this, I’ll get the fishing poles and we can go fishing by the dock.” Izuku finally suggests before Klee could have ideas that she would persuade Izuku into tagging along with.
Yet the Spark Knight groans, “But fishing is boring! Fish blasting is more fun!”
“You can even cook fisherman toast for Mr. Albedo later?” He bargains, even throwing in his own pleading eyes to convince her.
The girl is really sweet, she’s pure and very passionate about her craft but honestly, she can be quite the force to be reckoned with.
Still Izuku welcomes it, explosive tendencies and crazy ideas aside, Klee feels like a lost treasure that he found once more. And every time she calls him her best friend, it’s like a spark of its own goes off inside him.
“But what will we do while waiting for the fish to come?” Klee questions, seemingly more open to the suggestion now, Izuku thinks, “We can um…. I’ll bring one of the spare bows and we can hunt ducks nearby too?”
That might not be a good idea.
“Klee doesn't know how to use a bow….” she reminds him, to which Izuku recklessly answered, “I’ll teach you! Amber showed me how, and it's not too hard.”
That might be a very bad idea.
But it's too late, those crimson orbs lit up like fireworks and are beaming at him like he just offered her gold, “You’ll teach Klee how to use a bow Izu?!” He should really say no, who knows what will happen if Klee somehow mastered the use of a bow.
The amount of destruction to come if she somehow learned to infuse her pyro elemental energy into it too, Izuku doesn’t doubt that she can’t, she’s seen her pick up skills like it's as natural as breathing only from a few observations.
He can’t say yes.
“Sure.”
But he’ll also never be able to live with himself if he sees her heartbroken from getting her hopes up.
Also, Albedo might kill him too.
So, Destruction with a capital D it is.
Izuku is about to leave the cathedral, he had been helping Barbara with some of her Deaconess paperwork but the sight of three late teens entering the church made him pause, “Oh? Hi guys, welcome back, do you need Barbara?” He greets the three members of Benny Adventure team.
Izuku found friendship in the three as well, often training with Razor and Bennett or trading books with Fischl. They did invite him along to join the team at times but, Izuku doesn’t feel quite ready just yet to go out adventuring like they do, he didn’t want to be absent if the knights found anything.
The boy makes a quick scan, searching for anything that needs immediate attention, Fischl is slightly limping in her step despite the girl trying to walk with her usual poised elegance, Razor looks fine and it's no surprise, his upbringing made him the best combatant in the team between them so he generally rarely ever got hurt.
Bennett as always, got the brunt of it with his bangs slightly singed, clutching his side that’s red with bits of blue mush—wolfhook courtesy of the wolf boy Izuku guesses—and still has the audacity to try and hide it thinking that sheepish grin isn’t already giving himself away.
‘For some reason, that feels……. strangely ironic of me…...’ The boy thinks, shaking his head he beckons them over, “Any healer would do my esteemed comrade, tis is only slightly wounded from our venture, the nuisance that is that large camp of brutes!” Fischl remarks, patting away stray strands of her blonde hair.
Izuku hums, he’s never actually seen one of those monsters since he never traveled too out from the city, furthest he’s ever been out would be at one time with the gliding accident and Springvale at most. He has an idea of what they look like from books but it does make him curious what those things actually look like.
Adventurers and patrolling knights sounded like it was a normal occurrence to fight them, along with other creatures like slimes, it sounded like a whole new world outside of Mondstadt’s safe walls, is he really from somewhere out there?
“Alright come on, I’ll help patch you three up.” He leads them into one of the medic rooms, pulls out the materials he needs and gets to work. Barbara was impressed with his medical knowledge, especially during his supposed amnesia, even admitted that he does a neater job at bandaging wounds than she does.
Like a lot of things, there are simply skills that his hands and body could do with ease even if he doesn’t remember how or when he had learned them.
“Treat Benny first.” Razor urges, the boy has been wearing that concerned look the entire time. Looking from Bennett to Izuku back and forth with mild worry.
Said boy is as aloof as ever to his friend’s concerns, being used to getting hurt would do that to someone, it’s not like he could do anything about it. Bennett’s special case of bad luck is worrying as it is interesting, it's surprising to see him still going at it, even when things almost always go wrong.
While he could still see that on some days, he smiles a little less, looks a little more haunted and runs off on his own at times and appears solemn, Bennett would always somehow bounce back to his normal bubbly self right after without fail.
Izuku really admires that about the teen, “Nah I’m fine!” but now he just wants to shove the boy into a chair and let him look at the injury instead of claiming he’ll deal with it himself.
“Benny, your side says otherwise.”
And if he thinks that the wounds sometimes don’t make sense for someone of his caliber with a blade, that he gets hurt too much in ways it would've been easy for him to avoid even with his bad luck, Izuku stomps down the thought.
Izuku really wants to ask, to clarify his suspicions but doesn’t. He should not pry, they are friends, but……not quite there yet.
Oh, but does he want to, so bad, it’s almost like suppressing an instinct.
The reason he hasn’t already would be because Razor seems to somewhat caught on as well, the silver haired teen often shares knowing glances with him.
For a guy with a few words and even fewer expressions, that one look conveys more than words he could ever fathom to say.
Bennett lets him wrap a layer of white bandages around his torso, promising to help it heal with his own vision, “You should come with us sometimes!” again, he offers, “You’re always in the city doing chores, we could join an expedition and explore together!”
Fischl and Razor turn to him expectantly, the idea is nice, tempting even but he really doesn’t know.
“Oh I don’t know, I’m still getting my butt kicked by Captain Kaeya, and you know I can’t leave Mondstadt for too long...…” he reasons, getting his butt kicked would be an exaggeration, he holds his own just fine, he’s getting more comfortable with the polearm but he could never beat the captain though.
Technically, he wasn't instructed to remain within the city halls, yet there's always a nagging anxiety that tugs at his throat that's keeping him from going out unprompted. They've already provided him so much and more, he wouldn't want to push his luck.
Fischl frowns, “Still in this lapse of time, no word of your kin?” he shakes his head, letting out a small exhale and bite down on his lips, “It’s been a moon, no?”
“Yes, nothing yet…...but it's fine, I’ll just keep waiting.” he tells her, they each give him pity looks, no one wants to be separated from their family and loved ones.
The knights did everything, but with their own duties and other issues piling up, there’s only so much they can do for him to help him get home.
If anything, Izuku feels as though he won’t be getting home anytime soon…...or ever.
“Yup! That’s the spirit, you’ll definitely get home to your family one day, I’m sure of it!” Bennett cheers for him.
Razor nods along to his remark, “Lupical always be lupical”
The blonde girl pats his shoulder, a soft smile on her face to reassure him, “And while you reside within these mortal domain, fear not for thou shall have thee as company.”
Izuku giggles, heart brimming with warmth. Suddenly the four of them are entangled in an impromptu hug pile and the commotion they made has Rosaria sighing as she chases them out so she could lock up the building.
Izuku greets Albedo who is back from his lab while on his way towards his room, the man pats his head as how he would’ve done to Klee and wishes him goodnight.
Lying in bed, Izuku thought of the now, of his life in Mondstadt where people wave and greet him hello with friendly smiles, how he has friends who wouldn’t mind his occasional rambling, Albedo even welcomes it. Kind and honest people who cared enough to want to extend their help, keep him company, even entertain his curiosity.
Here, people call him Izuku instead of………something else, something…. hurtful.
A name, an insulting one bounces in his head, he doesn’t remember what it is and it hurts to try but….no one calls him that here.
Here, he’s simply Izuku, or Izu as Klee has opted to nickname him.
It often makes him wonder as he drifts to sleep…...does he really want to leave?
Perhaps.... he's already home.......
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“I’m truly sorry Mrs. Midoriya, but—”
She holds up a hand at the officer, another wiping away the tears from her eyelids. Two of the child’s classmates are with him, both faces torn with grief and guilt.
“Please, just leave.”
And the man does, leaving her with the two teens. “Mrs. Midoriya, we’re so—” the girl begins, her voice cracking with each syllable but the woman cuts her off curtly.
“No, you’re not. I…. just leave. I’ve seen and heard enough, don't you think?”
It’s harsh, perhaps too cold as they were children too. But what must be said has to be said.
The two go still silent, the two-toned haired boy nods, “We apologize for the intrusion…. I’m sorry for your loss ma’am.” while the girl sniffs, her brown hair bobs when they both in apology before stepping away.
With that the two take their leave from her doorway, leaving her sight. The woman lets out a shuddering exhale, closing the door before falling on her knees, her hands trembling in fists when the exhaustion finally hits her.
Inko’s uneven breathing smoothed out with time, she lays there, keeled over by her door, too tired to move a muscle.
But her lips slowly curved, a smile blooming on her face, she could feel the last of her energy dissipating, the weight on her back growing lighter and lighter.
Inko chuckles, “May Teyvat welcome you back well young lord…...may you find happiness this world and I failed to provide….”
And the angel of Celestia, now a mortal with the loss of all her powers that went into performing her last duty, falls into a deep long slumber.