Chapter Text
The cavern was large. Walls of solid stone stretch high, adorned by the occasional crystal casting off a dull green glow. The first thing Midoriya noticed though, was the man sat cross legged, floating a few metres above the ground, in the centre of the room. Immediately he tried to call out, asking what kind of quirk the man that allowed him to fly. Fear overtook him as he realised that he was unable to do so, he then realised that he couldn’t move either. He could only watch as the man continued his deep meditation.
“I’ve come this far, what have I got to lose?” The voice came from him, but was not his own. It belonged to someone older, and distinctly female. Before he could further question it, the man cut him off,
“Focus on the sound of my voice and clear your mind.” A sense of peace began to wash over him, like he too was beginning to float away. As quickly as it came though, it was replaced by fear, a great feeling of breathlessness overtook him, like he was being suffocated. The man’s voice cut through him again though. “Let it play out.” Helpless to the feeling, he could hear the same voice from himself respond.
“I can’t.”
“You can accept what happened to you. Don’t fear what might have been.” Then he was falling, flailing through the air.
“I have no control.”
“Don’t be afraid, hold on.”
~~
And then he woke up, jumping out of bed, deep breaths forcing their way in and out of his chest. It was that dream again. That same familiar sequence that had been haunting him for a while now. He knew that he was no ordinary dream. No dream would allow him to feel the coldness of the cavern, a creeping chill that settled deep in his bones, or hear the steady drips of water, dropping from the calcites hidden deeper in the cavern. And what’s worse, the whole thing gives him a strong sense of Deja Vu, like he had been there before. Which was crazy because he would be pretty sure he would remember being able to meet someone with a flying quirk.
“Sweety, it’s time for you to get ready for school.” Snapping out of those thoughts, he glanced at his alarm clock, the All-Might themed machine displaying that it was indeed time for him to start getting ready for school. He would almost prefer to experience the dream again. Ever since his quirkless diagnosis, things had been rapidly going downhill for him, even his mother had essentially given up on his dreams of being a hero without a Quirk. She had tried to steer him clear of anything hero related, from turning off the Tv during hero fights, to forcibly dragging him away from current incidents happening, he had only been able to watch heroes hidden away in his rooms on his computer, but he wasn’t sure how much longer he could even do that without getting caught.
Even worse though, was school. Kacchan had taken the diagnosis and his desire to be a hero as some kind of personal attack against him. He would spare no effort in reminding him of his quirkless status, even branding him with the nickname of Quirkless Deku, and all of his previous friends, too scared to stand against Kacchan, had taken turns making fun of him. The teachers, blind to this abuse, had also begun treating him differently, like he was some kind of delicate flower that they needed to take extra care with so he wouldn’t break. All in all it was infuriating, he knew that his quirklessness didn’t make him any weaker than the other kids, but it was like the world had suddenly turned against him. Still, for now, he would have to deal with it, but he still knew, deep down, that he would still become a hero.
~~~~
“Step away, Deku. You might just get hurt.” Midoriya could feel the heat starting to gather in Kacchan’s palms. Knowing just how painful those little firecrackers could be, he continued to put himself between Bakugou and the poor kid he was just tormenting.
“S-Stop it Kacchan, can’t you see that you’re hurting him. If you continue I'll have to..”
“Have to what Deku?” Midoriya flinched at his tone.
“I’ll have to stop you. Can’t you see you’re being mean. Just like a villain.” This seemed to spark a new type of rage in the blond hair child.
“Just try and stop me then, Deku.
~~
Midoriya could still hear his ears ringing from the sound of Bakugou’s explosions. The sting of burns littered his body, screaming at him with every little movement he made. He lay, alone, in the forest, being abandoned by the group when they finally had their fun attacking him. Shakily, he got to his feet, wincing as a particularly nasty bruise protested the movement. They had really gone overboard this time.
“That was just sad to watch, kid.”
“Who’s there?” Desperately, he tried to search for the source of that voice. “Where are you?”
“Behind you kid.” Turning around, he saw a woman appear out of the air. She was tall, or at least she towered over his small body, with long hair swaying slightly in the wind. She looked at him with piercing blue eyes.
“You should really try fighting back some time, it might help.” Midoriya felt annoyed at that, he wasn’t as if he wanted to get beaten up. As if sensing his feelings, she gave out a small laugh. “Anyway kid. Let’s get down to business.” She approached him, and crouched down to his level. “Have you ever heard of someone called the Avatar?”
Taking a moment to think of all the heroes he knew, he came up with nothing.
“No, are they a hero?” She gave him another smile.
“Sort of, although not in the same sense you are used to.” She took a deep breath. “Long, long ago, way before the era of quirks, there were once four nations. Each of these nations had an element that they corresponded to. Earth, Fire, Air, and the nation I was a part of, Water.” She gestured to the strange blue clothes that she was currently wearing. “Now people from these nations could develop the ability to manipulate one of the four elements…”
“Like a quirk?” She gave an annoying huff.
“Hey, I’m trying to tell a story here, please don’t interrupt.” Taking a moment to calm herself, she continued. “No, these weren’t quirks, these were something else. Now people could only bend one of the four elements, however, there existed one person who was able to bend all four. They were known as the Avatar. They were tasked with maintaining the balance of the world, and restoring peace should the need arise. When an Avatar died they were reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle, with each Avatar remaining connected to the previous one. I was the last Avatar.” She rose to her full height. “My name is Korra. During my life, I was the Avatar, but my connection to my previous lives was separated during a conflict when I was young.” She gave a slow sigh. “It would remain my biggest regret, so near the end of my life, I sought out a way to restore this connection with my past lives. In doing so, I was tricked, and my spirit was trapped away from my body. Eventually my body passed away, but because my spirit remained trapped, the Avatar cycle was unable to continue.”
She then looked directly into him. Midoriya could feel her gaze going into his very soul.
“That was until recently, when I was finally able to break free. However, it seemed time had passed differently for my spirit during my imprisonment, so when I attempted to return to my body, I died. This caused the Avatar cycle to once again continue. A new Avatar was born.”
“W-why are you telling me this?” She looked at him. Realisation slowly began to overtake him. “Are you telling me that I am the Avatar?”
“Yes. You, Izuku Midoriya are the Avatar, reborn into this modern era. And now, in a world vastly different from mine, you must learn to master each of the four elements, and once again work to restore balance back.” Hope began to blossom in his chest. He knew what this meant, his dreams of becoming a hero would not die.
“I accept this calling.” She gave a hearty laugh.
“Excellent, let’s get started then.”