Chapter Text
As Izuku enters the library, he nearly has a heart attack; shelf after shelf after shelf is laid out before him, filled to capacity and beyond with more books than he could read in a lifetime. He's almost lightheaded as he approaches the front desk and picks up the thick, heavy dictionary, knowing that this is only one book in comparison to the rest in the area... and all of them are filled to the brim with information about the world.
The greenette takes a deep breath, and trades the history book for the dictionary, leaving the former behind and moving on towards the sitting room. He has a lot to learn, and he'd lost a lot of time while he was sleeping... he has to start immediately. Letter a, letter a... the beginning of the book. No better place to start, right?
The sun sets and rises twice more before Izuku finishes reading the dictionary, with him only having slept once in-between the letters p and q, and the corners of several interesting pages being folded down for future reference. He's also located a bunch of loose paper and empty books for him to write in, and one of the sheets is torn up and marking down the pages where each new letter begins. What he's doing is called organization, beginning with the letter o, and he finds that it makes him... happy? Happy, beginning with the letter h, or perhaps he is satisfied, beginning with the letter s? He doesn't know for certain, but he doesn't mind that.
With all of those books in the library, he will have quite a lot of time to figure out exactly what he's feeling. For now, he can relax, and move on to the history book that had been left beneath the note addressed to him.
Opening the book and turning to the first page, he notes that the title of this chapter is 'The Tale of Dirge and Sonora,' and that it's rather short. Perhaps the history of this Green Valley Kingdom is told in stories? That would be a measure more exciting to read than the dictionary had been, even if he'd enjoyed reading that quite a bit.
"Once upon a time, somewhere far away in the corners of the earth where magic still exists today, there lived a colony of cool Elementals. Water, Ice, Winter, Death... Our tale focuses upon the last of this group; the coldest of the cold, the most unwelcome of guests at a party; an elemental of Death. His body was made of the blackest ice, his hair a light grey- like snow mixed with ashes- and his lips made of the darkest soot, and his burning ember eyes were the only signs of life shown from his dark, dirty grey skin. They called him Dirge, after the sad song that's played at one's funeral, and he never disputed them."
Izuku feels a grin of excitement spread across his face, as he reads the first paragraph that was written in the same handwriting as the note from before, and realizes that this is a story. It's a story being told to him by his mother, and even though he's never met her, he can't help but think that she must be a good person if she can make him this happy without even being present. Is this entire book handwritten by her? He hopes that it is, very much so.
Despite the urge to flip ahead through the pages and check, the green-haired boy exercises restraint (beginning with the letter r), and moves his gaze to the second paragraph on the page to continue reading.
"Dirge grew up alone, his family distant at best, and dropping dead at worst. Such was the way of his element; whenever someone got close to him, they got sick and slowly withered away, eventually separating themselves from him or meeting the ends of their lives. It's a horrible thing, to be born a curse, to be shunned quietly by everyone you grew up with and love. Eventually the young boy couldn't take it anymore, and carefully packed some things and ran away.
As he had been the last death elemental in the colony, his absence was greatly noticed, yet nobody looked for him. The reason why? Nobody wanted to. He was creeping death, sneaking up behind you and slowly taking away the lives of those you loved before your eyes, rendering you yourself incapable of protecting them. So the cool elementals let him leave; "Good riddance," they said.
Dirge wandered farther and farther away. He couldn't stand to be anywhere near the land he had once lived in, and found himself moving to warmer places. Here it was easier to find prey, to hunt and survive, and easier to lose himself. Alone, he lived in the woods for years, unintentionally honing his skills for a fight he didn't know was coming..."
"That's so mean! He can't help it, don't be mean to him just because he was born a certain way!" Izuku sniffed, glancing over the first few paragraphs again, before focusing on the last line. "I wonder what fight is coming?"
"Once upon a time, where creatures of mere myth and legend roamed, there lived a colony of warm elementals. There, a baby girl was born, her cheeks glowing like sunshine and her hair burning like the fire in the eyes of a thousand punk rockers. Her body was made of pure, golden light, and her eyes were unusual to these warm elementals- clear midnight blue, like a freezing river glistening in the light of a starry night. They called her Sonora, for she was a very pleasant child."
"Ooh, is this repetition? Mirroring? It's the same beginning for a similar situation, but with a different person. Are they going to meet?"
"She grew up cherished and admired by those around her, though admiration quickly turned into jealousy as she grew into womanhood. She was beauty and light personified, bringing health and life into the living beings around her. Sick people were healed, plants flourished under her care, but for all these good things she had done, they only made people hate her more. The girl was tormented by the dark sides of those warm elementals, burned by their harsh words and fiery fists, the brightest green flames of jealousy burning in the eyes of those around her.
By the time Sonora was almost an adult, she had retreated comfortably into a shell of her own making; no longer performing miracles as she had when younger, instead preferring to lock herself in her room and lose herself in the worlds hidden in the pages of ancient books. Reality was a curse set upon her, one she sought to escape from, content to do so after school each day. Yet the people weren't satisfied with this, even this. One day while she was at school, two kids chosen for their criminal tendencies and lack of morals broke into her house and burned everything she owned, everything that she cared about, and stole the valuables to pawn off for cash.
When she arrived home to ashes, she collapsed, fell into a haze she couldn't find her way out of until much later. When she came to herself, she was miles away from any place she recognized, in a cold, unfamiliar land. Here she settled, life living amongst death, and closed her eyes to sleep..."
"She was doing good things? Why did they hate her for doing good things? I don't understand."
"Once upon a time, where dragons ruled the mountains and pixies played mischievous tricks, there were two elementals separated from all that was familiar to them. They lived in the woods, unsuspecting of each other's presence until an accidental sighting by the river as the boy cleaned off his knife from a recent catch. Rustling in the bushes and a soft gasp alerted him to the presence of another person, and his head whipped around to meet the eyes of a cold elemental... in the body of a warm elemental. Dirge stared at Sonora, and Sonora at Dirge, until a loud splash across the river startled them both into scattering.
After that, they paid more attention to their surroundings, seeing where the other had almost run into them by mere hours missed. Occasionally one would catch sight of the other, and watch until they felt that they'd approach the other, at which point they'd turn and start off again. It was like a game; dancing with some bushes out of sight here, climbing massive trees to avoid being caught there, until they finally met up in an unfortunate situation.
You see, while the two had been gone, the warm and cold colonies had been suffering. Cold grew warmer, Warm grew colder, until it was a strange equilibrium that neither could survive in. They needed their lost elementals, and had tracked them to the little neck of the woods they danced in. The warm and cold elementals found Dirge and Sonora about to do their dance again, locked eyes across a river, about to circle around again, and interrupted. The water of the river surged as the cold elementals sought to snare Dirge, and the trees and plants waved and rustled as the warm elementals sought to entangle Sonora."
Izuku stares at the pages like they personally offended him. "You pushed them away, but want them back now that you need them? Why did you push them away in the first place?" He understands their need to survive, but he doesn't understand why they caused their own troubles, or why they didn't treat the other elementals nicely in the first place. Fear and jealousy, it said, but those were emotions that he hasn't felt yet.
"The two broke eye contact and ran, unconsciously, toward the other to escape their tormentors. In the middle they met, where there was neither warmth nor cold, on a rocky surface beneath a shining sun. Then into refuge, into a cave with only moss as a sign of possible elemental manipulation; water and plant merged. Finally, after running in silence with only heavy breathing and occasional words of panic, the two found a place to settle.
Deep within the bowels of the cave, Dirge and Sonora were alone. Listening, in case anyone approached, they began to speak. While doing their dance they had exchanged playful words, but now that their pasts were quite literally catching up to them, they needed to be serious. Each of their stories unfolded before the other, until finally they lapsed into silence and just looked at each other.
The two shared a bond, one that had existed since that first accidental sighting, one that had deepened with the telling of their respective tales. And as they gazed at each other, they found themselves holding the other in signs of comfort. They fell asleep like that, just looking at each other in soothing proximity, unaware of the moss being used to spy on them.
Once upon a time, in a place cold and humid, in a land surrounded by lush life and barren boulders, two elementals faced the unjust fury of their peoples for running away. They were taken as they slept, bound and shackled and brought far away from the other, unable to defend themselves. But their bond hadn't been broken. Even with such a brief encounter, they knew the other was still there, still open to them, a comforting presence in the backs of their minds and spirits as they were each imprisoned where they couldn't leave their colonies. The girl of pure life, the boy of undiluted death. They were separated, but linked together inexorably for the rest of time."
Turning the page, Izuku sees two beautiful little drawings of who could only be Dirge and Sonora; hand-drawn just as the words had been hand-written. The girl and boy are cuddled together in a cave in one drawing, and in the other, they're being carried away by other elementals with similar body types as theirs. These sketches keep Izuku's attention on them for several minutes as he takes in all the details, before turning the page again.
"Once upon a time, in a place cold and humid, in a land surrounded by lush life and barren boulders, two elementals faced the unjust fury of their peoples for running away. They were taken as they slept, bound and shackled and brought far away from the other, unable to defend themselves. But their bond hadn't been broken. Even with such a brief encounter, they knew the other was still there, still open to them, a comforting presence in the backs of their minds and spirits as they were each imprisoned where they couldn't leave their colonies. The girl of pure life, the boy of undiluted death. They were separated, but linked together inexorably for the rest of time."
The greenette perks up, now knowing that the story wasn't over, and pays closer attention to this part.
"They felt each other's presence in every waking moment, and walked together in their dreams. Their respective colonies began to heal; Warm elementals able to live comfortably in the warm colony, Cold elementals back to normal in the cold colony. Everyone was happy that the crisis had been diverted... yet furious that the two elementals they held apart were the cause of it. Dirge and Sonora would never leave again, each colony separately declared; would never even get the chance to.
Dirge was caged up high in the tree in the middle of the cool colony, no hope of climbing down without breaking the brittle branches and becoming injured. Sonora was chained deep underground, in the midst of hard, lifeless stone, no hope of breaking free without bringing down the colony on her very head. Caged, chained, the girl of life and the boy of death couldn't escape without the other.
Life grew harder for them and easier for the others, but at least they had their dreams. There, they could hold each other's hand and show each other their memories. Yet the good things had to pass, and soon they moved on to sharing the bad memories. Ending with the worst- their separation and the places they were being kept.
Dirge looked at the stone prison Sonora was being kept in and smashed the wall in anger. Sonora gazed upon the brittle tree Dirge was in and wept in sorrow. How could the other be kept in such a place? It wasn't right, it wasn't right. It wasn't right.
When the two were separated by the moment of waking, their prisons had changed. A hole had been blown in the wall of the stone keeping Sonora prisoner, the brittle tree holding Dirge given vibrant new life. This was undoubtedly the first use of such magicks over a distance, but the two spent no time wasted on thought. They ran about in the dim dawn lighting, ran through the sleeping colonies and through the woods between the two, being guided by their awareness of the other.
Sonora and Dirge, they met in the middle; they met in the center of the lake where they had been found and chased. Laughing, crying with joy, they embraced the other tightly to them. And then, a miracle brought by their magical love began.
The unnatural darkness around Dirge was washed away as he held Sonora. Her fresh, lively warmth cleansed away the soot and ash from him, leaving his body as clear as a river sparkling under a starry sky, leaving his hair as pure and white as snow.
The hideous burns covering Sonora were smoothed away in Dirge's arms. His beautiful, soothing coolness relieved the pain in her, leaving her body glowing softly like candlelight, leaving her hair burning like the embers of a fire that refused to die.
They were together, complete, one in each other's arms. 'She is worth melting for,' Dirge thought as the still ice of his skin began to drip away. 'He is worth freezing for,' Sonora thought as the dancing sunshine of her skin began to harden up...
Once upon a time, in a land of perfect balance and ethereal harmony, in the heart of where magic existed, there were the first humans to live in this universe. Sonora and Dirge, the last borne of the elementals, the pleasant sounding funeral song of their species, the beginning of a new way of life. The new beginning of Humanity, brought forth from a lovely, sad ending..."
Izuku stares at the last paragraph for a few moments, before turning the page to make sure that the story was truly over, and sees the title of the next chapter waiting for him. 'Humanity and Magic; Discovery and Innovation.'
It seems that this will be where his learning on "magic" begins, and if things continue as they have previously, Izuku is likely to find a note somewhere in this chapter directing him to the next books he should read. If he doesn't though, it's not that big of a deal, as the library's books are organized both by subject and in alphabetical order. There are shelves for magic things that he can search through if he has more questions than answers by the end of this upcoming chapter, so knowing this, he focuses back on the history book in his hands and continues to read.
By the end of the day, Izuku is in one of the empty rooms his mother had mentioned, setting things up for experimentation with magic. With nobody to stop him, he continues forth at a breakneck pace, devouring every scrap of knowledge that he can reach.