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Screams of agony rang through the emptiness, an evil spirit crying tears of blood.
All his life he had gone along with his fate, making his peace with it. All his life he had fought the demons hiding within his heart. All his life he had held himself back from turning into a monster, a coward —a villain.
And the moment he found someone to live for…
… they betrayed him…
… they killed his wife…
… they killed their unborn daughter…
Madness from the pits of hell oozed, becoming a cocoon around him.
He wanted to kill. He wanted to rip their souls apart. He wanted to end the world. He wanted to see everything and all burn—as she had… in front of his eyes.
Then it all began melting away.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
He threw his hands at it, trying to grab the madness. His teeth bit into it. His eyes tried to contain the rage within.
However, no matter what he did, no matter how much he wanted it, the emotions didn't stop abandoning him as if beckoned by a higher power.
When all but an empty feeling of sadness remained in his heart, Luke found himself holding his face, crying unseen, unfelt tears.
It felt like it had been ages since he had begun screaming, drowning in his emotions.
Yet, he could still see it. Momo's face—inches away from him. Nyx lying dead between them.
[Wake up.]
The words were like a knell in Luke's mind.
The final dregs of the evil lingering within him, clouding his thoughts and turning him insane, vanished.
Slowly, Luke took his hands off his face.
He was seated on a chair at the end of a long table. On the floor, a sea of gray fog was boiling, and all around him, pillars were rising, melting into a great, domed roof.
Opposite him, at the other end of the table, was Him.
Was it even a person, Luke couldn't tell.
He was wearing a black suit and pants with a top hat, and His face was a blur. The same gray fog covered Him, but it also felt different, somehow.
It was as if the gray fog was alive and it was worshiping Him.
Luke didn't know why, but despite the deaths of his loved ones, he felt calm. He wanted to get angry, but couldn't.
So, his scientist's instincts took over, bringing rationale to his mind.
He looked at the person sitting opposite him.
"Am I… dead?" Luke asked, looking around, searching for his wife. If this was the afterlife, she should be here, no? He wanted to get up, but couldn't. So, he looked back at the person.
The man in the suit tapped his finger on the long table as if thinking over something. [… Yes.]
"…" Luke let out a wry smile. So… he was dead after all.
Gone. Everything was gone.
Luke took a deep breath, lifting his head. If he was here, sitting against this… being, then there must be a reason for it. "Where am I? Why am I here?"
There was a brief moment of silence.
The figure with a blurred face slid his hand against the table's edge. [This is the world above the gray fog… a place that exists in a higher dimension. You can call it the Gray Castle.]
Gray Castle… exists in a higher dimension? Luke's brows pressed together. He waited for the existence to finish speaking.
[As to why you are here… I want to know the answer to this question, too.]
Huh?! Luke didn't know what to say. "You—didn't bring me here?" What was going on?
[Hmm. I allowed you to come, but—] The existence told Luke. [—you were sent here.]
Luke just stared ahead, dumbfounded. Someone sent him here… to a higher dimension… "Did my wife…"
The figure shook his head.
Sigh! Luke let out a breath. "Can you please explain more? What exactly happened?"
Luke didn't know who this existence was, what it wanted, and why it had allowed him to come here.
What he did know was that this existence was insanely powerful than he was. And, it was willing to clear his doubts.
[I believe in the principle of equivalent exchange.] The existence said. [Before I answer your question, are you willing to share details about your world?]
Principle of equivalent exchange? Luke ruminated. Is it a whim or an imposed rule…
Still, Luke didn't mind sharing anything. What did it matter, anyway? He was already dead…
So, starting from the history of Quirks, Luke began telling everything.
Quirks, Quirk Factors, Society, Wars, Education System, Science, etc.
With Luke's hoard of knowledge, the only thing he couldn't tell was minute interpersonal details, like friendship, enmity—common experiences of life that he had remained a stranger to.
[I see… In the grand scheme of things, your theory of Quirk Conformity and Quirk Singularity does make sense. On all the planets that I know, at least those that have extraordinary powers, you can always find a similar background.] The existence told Luke, tapping the table. [What I want to know is how did you come up with the name — Conformity.]
Luke was still hung up on the sentence — On all the planets that I know… — when the figure asked the most simple question to him. "I…"
Luke felt like someone slapped him across the face.
His face contorted as he tried to remember, but failed utterly.
It was his theory! It was he who had spent years researching it!
Yet, he didn't remember how he decided to call it Quirk Conformity?! What ridiculous notion was that?!!
[Let it be…] The existence said as if it had asked the question just to confirm something. [Before I answer your question, would you like to know how I see you?]
Luke was still grappling with the absurdity of lost memories when he heard the question. He looked down at himself.
He was wearing the same clothes as he had been wearing before dying.
A simple white t-shirt over black pajamas.
Still, now he had confirmed that this man—could very well be a god-like existence.
Every word that this existence said could have a hidden motive and far-reaching implications behind it.
Luke nodded.
With a jerk, Luke felt like his eyes left his skull.
The vision turned around, shifting from the fog-shrouded existence to himself.
What Luke saw shocked him beyond measure.
Luke saw himself, transparent, but hundreds of blackish threads oozing out of him, disappearing into the vast gray fog beyond.
He could still make out his blond hair and blue eyes, but that wasn't all. There were minute, golden dots scattered inside his body.
His hands, instead of dots, held blobs of golden light, their brilliance overshadowing everything in his vision.
An even more striking detail was that there was another blob of golden light near his heart—like a distant island.
[This is Spirit Vision. Simply, it lets one see the Spirit Body, or Soul, of someone. In your case, as you are dead, it is the projection of your Spirit Body just before your death that I allowed to come here…]
Luke's vision returned to him.
With his brilliant mind, it didn't take him even a moment to realize what the existence was talking about. "Those blobs of golden lights in my hands…"
[Here's a theory.] The figure said, tapping his finger on the table. [The Quirk Factors you mentioned are nothing but manifestations of, let's say, Spirit Particles in the outside world.
[This would also explain why no one in your world succeeded in extracting the Quirk Factors alone from a Quirk user…]
Luke looked at the figure with a strange admiration. "This would also explain the presence of Vestiges when Quirks are passed on to someone else, stolen or otherwise."
[Exactly. But here's things get tricky.] The figure slightly shifted on his chair as if he were going to discuss a grave secret. [Even though there are Quirks based on Spirituality, as you said, and even though there are concepts revolving around Spiritual Enlightenment in your world, there isn't much focus on seeing Quirks from a spiritual perspective, despite the rich, scientific history.]
Luke gaped, feeling absolutely puzzled himself.
It was true. Even the greatest scientists never deliberated going beyond Quirk Factors, trying to locate their origin.
Suddenly, like a lightning bolt striking him from the blue sky, Luke remembered the very first conversation he had with Momo.
I am no scientist, but I agree with those who are. Isn't it a little too absurd with the little data we have?
Little data… little date… Luke was thunderstruck. Why wasn't there any data… it was as if…
[It is as if the people of your world are actively avoiding looking deeper into the Quirks' mysteries.] The existence worded Luke's thoughts. [And now I will answer your question.]
Luke had gone extremely quiet.
In only a few sentences, he had realized that there was something deeply disturbing about the things he would learn soon.
[Someone, or something, opened a rift on your end, connecting to this place.] The existence explained. [When this something tried to push you in, I noticed a few things.
[First, there was a great convergence of fate upon you, which was fueling the rift itself. Second, there was a Spirit Body latched onto you that wasn't yours.
[Third—your world didn't have a Spirit World.]
Convergence of fate… Luke repeated, his mind numb. Then he looked at the blob of golden light that was supposed to be in his chest. "Spirit World?"
[All worlds have Planes that exist to either guide or assimilate the souls, or Spirit Bodies, upon death.] The Existence replied. [Such Planes superimpose themselves over reality, both existing together.
[Even though the people of your world have Spirit Bodies, there's no Spirit World.
[Not only that, I tried to look outside the planet, hoping to trace its location from the outside. But something blocked my gaze. There seems to be a boundary around your world that prevents foreign interference.
[That's why I allowed you in.]
What… What did he just say? Luke stupidly looked at the gray figure. A boundary around the planet blocked his gaze? Isn't he—like a god…
Luke gulped. Are there beings on a similar level to this figure in my world?
The thought made him tremble.
But Luke was already having a hard time controlling the words that had been trying to explode out of his mouth.
Since the moment he had learned that this existence had allowed him in, he had been thinking of it.
"Can you—send me back?" Luke asked, balling his fingers into fists.
There was a fierceness in his voice. So what if there was a boundary around his world? So what if there was no Spirit World? So what if there was more to Quirks than they all had thought?
So what if there were Gods and Demons?
He wanted revenge.
He wanted to kill all those who had murdered him and his wife and their unborn daughter, starting with Katsuki Bakugo!
[I have a better proposal than mere revenge.] The existence said. [I cannot send you back to the same time, but—I can graft your memories to you of the past, simulating a resurrection.]
"Go back in the past?" Luke thought aloud, astounded. Yes. If that happens… I can—I can change everything…
[Of course, you would find that changing the events leading to your death will be pointless, especially if there are external factors involved.
[In that case, I am willing to extend a helping hand to you, parasitizing you with a hint of my powers.]
Luke licked his lips, rows of words playing in his mind. I believe in the principle of equivalent exchange…
[A price is exacted for what fate bestows.] The existence said as Luke had predicted. [In return, I would like you to pursue the mystery behind the absence of Spirit World in your world.
[Also, you would have to spread my religion in your world, gathering followers.]
Gathering followers? Luke wasn't sure about that. He had hardly interacted with anyone in his world even when he was a child. How would he ever gather followers of an unknown, shady religion?
"Why?" Luke asked—already making up his mind.
At this moment, he would just do anything to go back. He would do about just anything to prevent what happened to Momo.
[Let's just say that I am interested in the development of a world that functions without a Spirit World.]
For a moment, Luke contemplated the consequences of his decision.
He would be practically agreeing to let this figure invade his world, bypassing the boundary that was supposed to prevent exactly that from happening…
What else could mean by spreading religion and gathering followers?
And yet, Luke nodded.
He needed to go. He wanted to go.
If he wanted to defy the fate leading to his loved ones' deaths, then he must accept.
The existence nodded back, neither calmly nor hurriedly. [Would you like me to separate the second Spirit Body?]
"… no." By now, Luke had already figured out who it was.
All his life, everyone who knew about his Quirk had wondered why he could use Bioalchemy on Nyx when she was a Quirk user herself.
It seemed, she wasn't.
Unknowingly, unconsciously, Luke had been bestowing an Intelligence Quirk Factor on her to have someone to talk to.
Hours after hours. Months after months. Years after years.
By the time he was 9 years old, he had done it so many times, every single day, that the Quirk Factor became permanent, becoming indistinguishable from an original Quirk.
[Her Spirit Body latched onto the returning Quirk Factors which were part of your Spirit Body.] The existence said. [When you return, and if you choose to bestow her the same Quirk, she would also gain all her memories. Do you really want that to happen?]
Nyx… Luke took a deep breath and nodded.
[Very well.]
Luke stood up and hesitatingly asked, "How should I address you?"
[You can call me—] The existence lifted his right hand and snapped his fingers. [—Mr. Fool]
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