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A Resplendent Emerald

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The world’s population is said to be over 7 billion people and that 80% of that population possesses a quirk, however that percentage is inaccurate. This information was created under the assumption that everyone in this world is from same species, Homo sapiens aka human. Contrary to disregardful beliefs the supernatural world and its inhabitants are very much real. Before quirks came to be, the supernatural society always hid and kept to the shadows. Humanity in that point in time feared and crucified anything unnatural, with hangings and burnings a top sport and hunters a top occupation. With the sudden appearance of quirks and humanity’s hypocritical acceptance of them, the Supernaturals jumped at the opportunity of living out of the shadows. Their appearances and abilities could be hidden under the pretense of it being their quirks and/or mutations. When humanity was split in half in a Civil war like movement, the Supernaturals teamed up with the pro-quirk enthusiasts in order to finally create an ideal world where they could finally roam free. As society changed and adapted, the Supernaturals slowly and cleverly ingrained themselves in this new world and molded it behind the scenes. While the Supernatural world did not expose nor reveal themselves, they could finally live life comfortably, freely and unafraid.  With the quirks now being the new status quo it came with the creation of new laws, to authorize the safe usage of quirks, and the new occupation of heroes to morally and uphold those laws. Of course humanity weren’t the only ones with new rule sets or jobs, the Supernatural community still had important problems to resolve. While abilities and appearances were looked past, their feeding habits, mating habits, and general culture differences could still be viewed as taboo in the human eye. As a solution and consensus they ingrained themselves even more in human society, and took up jobs in hospitals, police stations, food establishments, schools, businesses, morgues and even went as far as the government. As technology slowly advanced they taught themselves how to hack, to create and erase any compromising information of their world in the cyberspace. Every new company, organization, construction, establishment had a secret backdoor, literally and figuratively, for them. They taught themselves and others codes, glances or phrases to further confirm their species when asking or going into a certain situations. With this they fully settled in and found their place in the human world, no one could tell the difference between a human or supernatural unless otherwise proven by the latter.  The world’s population is said to be over 7 billion people and that 80% of that population possesses a quirk, however that percentage is inaccurate. Taking into account the numerous amount of supernatural beings and their deception as humans with quirks that percentage is lower. The percentage 80% is technically correct for the human population but the same could not be said when adding the Supernaturals into the equation.It’s a different world and everyone is looking for a way to live happily and peacefully, human or not.Inko Midoriya was in the middle of preparing Izuku’s birthday breakfast and breakfast for herself when she felt it. She looked down at her arm and saw the familiar goosebumps, her hairs standing on end, and felt the familiar warmth coursing through her body as well as the ache in her chest. It was a customary feeling her being felt every time a particular person was within close proximity, Hisashi. Turning off the stove, she turned towards the direction of the entrance doorway, hesitant in moving towards it. Eyebrows furrowed and chest tight she wondered why Hisashi was here after 4 years, no less conspicuously on Izuku’s fourth birthday. Their separating wasn’t an easy nor a clean one; she still remembers the screaming and the tears.Steadying and gathering her wits she moved towards the doorway and after a deep inhale opened the door. She exhaled in relief, and in slight disappointment, when she saw no one at the doorway. As she moved to peer outside her foot hit something hard, looking down she saw a small brown package. On top of the packaged appeared to be two small white envelopes, one labeled Ino and the other Izuku written in impeccable calligraphy. With a deep sigh she leaned down to pick up the package and headed back inside knowing, and feeling, that Hisashi was long gone after her opening the door. Setting the package down on the dinner table and she grabbed the letter addressed to her, Ino, Hisashi’s nickname for her, opened it and began to read Hisashi’s beautiful handwriting.
Ino,

I hope you and Izuku have been doing well. I still have regrets on how things ended between us. However we both knew it would’ve have eventually come to it, I just wished it didn’t have to be as painful as it was for you. I am glad to see that you’ve been accepting the weekly checks I’ve been sending for you and Izuku; it brings great solace to me to know I can provide for you at least in this manner. But knowing how stubborn you are, I know it has been done begrudgingly. I wish I can say this letter comes with the best of intentions, and in a way it does, but there’s a higher purpose to this sudden contact.

The package I’ve sent you contains an important book for Izuku, by now you must’ve realized what for. Considering what I am and what Izuku undoubtingly is as well, this book will help guide him through his inevitable changes and eventually his future. This book is his birthright, something passed down in my kind. It is imperative he reads it and learns what he is and how this will impact his everyday life. I have no doubt he will be fine as you are his mother and the best support he could ever receive. Seeing as I cannot be there for Izuku you must find him a mentor/ teacher of his kind, it will make Izuku’s transition back to society all that much easier. I’ve also sent a letter for him giving him a little background information and a somewhat summarized version of the book in my terms as his father. I also wrote something small expressing my remorse of my abandonment and lack of a father figure in his life. I also hope you can properly explain things in your version.

Dragonfly, I do miss you. I really cherish my memories of us together. I hope happiness finds you again as well as a man who is truly worthy of your love.

-Hisashi 
With misty eyes and a shaky sigh she set the letter down, brought a hand to her mouth and started fretting. That’s right, how could she have forgotten? In her haste to move on and forget about Hisashi she’s forgotten that the influence he’s left behind went beyond emotional abandonment. Hisashi is Izuku’s father; Hisashi is someone who shares genetics with Izuku, Hisashi who isn’t even here doing his duty as a father! No, that’s wrong Hisashi’s kind in the first place never really valued ‘trivial things’ such as raising their children. She should’ve been preparing for this! Did her resentment really blind her in preparing her beloved baby for one of the most important moments of his life? And with perfect recall she does remember Hisashi telling her it would occur on Izuku’s fourth birthday coinciding when he should be getting his quirk.Telling herself to take deep breaths, Inko looked back down at the package. Of course, Hisashi would take into consideration her forgetfulness and her unwillingly planted resentment; she scolded herself with furrowed eyebrows. Expecting this he sent a book full of the information Izuku will undoubtingly need. Damn him for still seeing through her even after all these years. This also meant that Inko would also have to tell Izuku the truth of his father, why he’s not here and why they separated. With resignation, Inko also knew it was time for his other teachings, for him to learn of their true heritage and responsibilities that came with it.  The day hasn’t even started fully and yet she already felt weary.Meanwhile in an All Might decorated room, a young Midoriya Izuku started to wake up.Head still lying on his pillow he turned his head to the side and with lidded eyes glanced at his All Might themed clock and shot up quickly once noticing the date. It was his fourth birthday! An especially important age for children his age, the age he should be getting his quirk! With barely concealed excitement, he quickly discarded any remnants of sleep and moved to stand when he stopped short. Something felt off, being the smart and self aware boy he was, he immediately knew something was about to happen.  He didn’t know how he knew this but something deep inside him told him, it felt almost instinctual, whatever that word meant. It told him to get ready, only he didn’t know what to get ready for.Izuku, confused with the sudden thought went to get off the bed only to stop abruptly when he felt a sharp throb stab his head.It’s starting, he thought. Wait what? What’s starting? Before he could continue fighting with his thought process, his world started changing.Wincing, he took notice on how sharper and clearer his vision was starting to become, and as a result everything became so blinding, too blinding in fact. He closed his eyes hoping to get away from the glaring brightness, only for the rest of his senses to start to amplify. His normally soft cotton pajamas felt like sandpaper dragging across his sensitive skin, so he hastily removed his pajama top, curling into himself at the irritable action of it. The throbbing in his head increased in intensity when his hearing was assaulted by a copious amount of noises from outside; the twittering of the birds, the bell of a bike, the rumbles of the cars, the neighbors laughter, the high yips of Misty across the street, everything. It felt as someone turned up the volume and as a result was now all a series of screeches, deafening whistles and pulses. Nauseous at the sensory overload he turned to the side and relieved whatever contents he had in his stomach onto the floor. With tears streaming down his face and his mouth now with the taste of bile, he went into fetal position with his arms around his head and started rocking back and forth whilst his mind went into a panicked state.    
What’s happening to me?

It hurts!

It hurts!

Make it stop!

Too much!

Too loud!

I feel sick!

I want to scream!

I want mama!

MAKE IT STOP!

Just when he thought he couldn’t feel worse he felt his body betrayed him and started to heat up uncomfortably and tremble uncontrollably. He started being attacked with a series of cramps all over and only when he started to feel his bones shift alarmingly did he finally let out a piercing scream.The screaming continued even after the doctor left Izuku’s room. Inko, who had been waiting anxiously outside his room, quickly approached the women.“Doctor! What’s happening? Why is Izuku in so much pain? This is his first metamorphosis right? A metamorphosis shouldn’t be causing him pain! What-“, before Inko could continued, the red-headed women raised her hand up motioning her to stop.With a gentle and patient smile, the women spoke “Ms. Midoriya calm down, calm down and please call Akane. From what I checked and saw, your son Izuku, like you stated, is going through his first metamorphosis. I know it sounds and looks bad but it’s to be expected after all.” At the confused look at the mother’s face, she slowly guided her back to the living room, away from her son’s screams, ignoring her protests and sat her down on the couch.Sitting next to her, Akane further elaborated, “Ms. Midoriya, you and the father are different species right?” Inko nodded, “This type of painful metamorphosis is common with hybrid children, even more so with two Supernatural parents from different species. I’m assuming you’re a Pureblood of your kind and probably haven’t received this type of education involving Supernatural hybrids?”Another nod, she continues. “When comparing the Supernatural gene against the human gene, it will always remain as the dominant trait and the human one as the recessive one. It’s easy to assume that any human/Supernatural hybrid will end up Supernatural. With one being Supernatural and zero being human, one plus zero will always equal one, right? Now with two Supernaturals, meaning two dominant traits, the equation isn’t as easy as adding sometimes its multiplication or division or-” Akane stopped when she noticed the lost look on Inko’s face.Clearing her throat, she continued without the math analogy, “What I’m saying is that currently Izuku’s body has two dominant genes in him and slowly and unfortunately, painfully, are fighting to be the top gene, the first stage out of three. With human babies all that genetic composition is done in the mother’s womb, and as you know there are different maturing stages in a Supernatural’s life which completely sets us apart from humans. From our first metamorphosis/manifestation, followed by growth, to puberty, to our second/teenaged metamorphosis, followed by more growth and eventually reaching adulthood and our final metamorphosis stage. All of this growth and changing is to depict how strong or frail the Supernatural is becoming, for hybrids it’s this and more of constant genetics battle. These stages are especially important in a hybrid’s life cycle because after each stage the dominant genes slowly start becoming one and finally creating a unique genetic composition to said Supernatural. Humans already have his from birth in forms of DNA and fingerprints. It's why we rely on our Supernatural senses more rather than using any human technology, because only we can tell the differences in our kind’s blood and bodily material. This type of science would be baffling to human scientists. It’s why Supernatural doctors and nurses do home visits to other Supernaturals or have opened Supernatural only clinics. With the births or registrations of us ‘humans’ and no unique DNA material to go with it, it makes it hard for us to stay under the radar especially in quantity. In the cases of accidents and a Supernatural ending up in a human hospital, the EMTS in the ambulance always has a Supernatural present to determine future actions and inform the Supernatural staff of what they’re dealing with so they can make the necessary preparations.”Seeing the stunned look on her client’s face, if she could blush or had a working heart, her cheeks would be aflame. “Oh my god, please excuse my rambling and forgive me for even going full on teacher mood with you! I just so used to teaching my sired children about the Supernatural history and whatnot that it has become a bad habit into going into history related tangents and-”.Inko stops her from going into another ramble by softly placing her hand atop of her icy one. With a pleasant smile and a fond look on her face, Inko speaks “You and Izuku would get along so well. When he isn’t busying screaming his lungs out, you should befriend each other.”On cue the screaming stops, with a small sigh of relief she continues “To be honest, I was nervous what type of doctor the nearby Supernatural clinic would send me but meeting you I’m so very relieved. I haven’t consulted a physician here in Japan and having given birth to Izuku in my homeland I had no idea what to expect.” Then with bright eyes she teases the doctor, “I’m actually very thankful Akane-san I actually learned a few new things from you and have managed to answer the questions I had planned to ask you later. Oh and please call me Inko.”Looking at the beautiful green haired women in front of her, Akane further confirms to herself, ‘Oh yeah her kind is definitely my type’ and makes a reminder to call a certain beautiful someone.“You have a beautiful name, Inko.” Looking down at her watch she realizes she has to leave. “As much as I want to torture you with history lessons and the like I have to go back to the clinic and prepare for my next client.”“Oh of course! Please let me walk you to the door.” Leading the doctor to the doorway she stops and turns to the doctor with a nervous smile on her face. “I’m not sure if this is how it’s done but may I have you as Izuku’s personal doctor?” A slight pause, “and may I have your number to call you personally in case I have any questions or need help in anyway?”With a bright fanged smile Akane happily told her, “I already became your personal doctor the moment the clinic sent me here and as for my number,” She reached into her brief case and brought out a singular business card and handed it to Inko, “call me for anything. If Izuku is having trouble or if you yourself feel unwell or even if you need a friend, please don’t hesitate to call.”With final goodbyes the doctor left and Inko hurriedly went to Izuku’s room.Izuku was sleeping restfully on his bed, his blankets and clothing strewn bout. Going to sit next to Izuku, she cupped her hand on his sweaty face and looked him over. His first metamorphosis was not over yet and she knew Izuku must have passed out. When he wakes up she’ll be there every step of the way to help him and nurture him as a parent should. Afterwards she’ll make him his favorite dish and celebrate his birthday with a small cake she’ll make to finish the day off with a bang, the day hasn’t started off ideally but she would make sure it ends fantastically. With that comes introducing Izuku to his true world and his true self, she has no doubts that he’ll take it in stride, and looking at his already small changes he’ll be a natural.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

A sound woke him.  Lying on his back, looking up, he saw green and blue.  ‘It’s a beautiful day out,’ thought Izuku dreamily. The sky a clear baby blue, not a cloud in sight, and the small rays of light that shone through bright green leaves felt warm on his skin.  Izuku felt weightless, as if the shackles of gravity were suddenly removed, letting him just float in content ease. With a smile on his face, he closed his eyes once more and just existed. The chirping of the birds were a pleasant sound, with the delicate rustling of the leaves above him and the distant sound of running water, the sounds around him created a harmonious melody. Stagnant, he listened to the gentle lull of nature around him and found a symphony. Each and every sound contributing and fitting together perfectly, they were pieces of a whole. Intangible as sounds could be, he still felt hugged with soft adoration and ardor, this symphony was an aurora borealis of color and the smelt of everlasting splendor.  Inclined to listen forever and be one with the symphony, the spell broke; an outside sound broke through his hypnotic tranquility. Disheartened, he opened his eyes once more only to startle at the sight of a black wet nose and white canine teeth. Hastily, he rolled away from the panting mouth and backed against the nearest tree, heart pounding. After a good amount of distance away from the creature and himself, he looked up to see what it was. With a stunned look on his face, he saw it was a small red and white fox and it seemed to be looking at him in amusement. He never knew foxes could be so expressive, but then again he hasn’t actually met one to properly drawn conclusions from, so maybe it’s normal.  With a small huff, the small creature sat on its hind legs and stared at him with what Izuku noticed to be dazzling silver eyes. Those eyes were captivating, they spoke of untold stories and infinite knowledge, they felt safe and beckoned him closer. Izuku, with his heart of gold and optimism, took a chance and slowly approached the fox, still maintaining eye contact with its mercury colored eyes.   After a good foot away from the fox he stopped, and sat before him, any minute amount of fear had now gone and been replaced with childish curiosity and wonder. With a tilt of his head, he tried to properly observe the fox only to stop short when he saw the animal mirror his movement. With a growing smile, he tilted his head in the opposite direction and let out a small giggle when he saw the fox mimic him. At the sound of his giggle, the fox perked up and beamed a wolfish smile on its face as well.   Izuku, having determined the fox as his friend, carefully lifted a small chubby hand and with his palm faced down, waited for his friend to close the remaining distance between them. His mama having taught him earlier on, that when befriending dogs he should first, let them approach him and sniff his hand. Then, when the dog gives the go ahead, only then, he can pet them to his heart’s content.  The fox having realized Izuku’s intentions, with a wag of its bushy tail, moves forward to softly nuzzle its head under the young boy’s hand, letting out a happy coo.  Ecstatic, Izuku started to pet the beautiful creature, taking notice on how soft it’s fur was and how the animal smelled of berries. His new friend’s coat was shiny and looked well kept, it was made up of two colors; red and white. However he noticed that instead of a rusted red it was more of a bright burgundy red and the white was reminiscent of the snow found on the highest of mountains. It was hard to notice at first, because it was daytime, but the fox seemed to emit a white glow. The more he stared at the fox the more he saw. Other the obvious glow and vibrant coloring, the fox looked like the stereotypical fox found in books and pictures; with its black pointed ears and long canine teeth, red covering most of its body and followed by the white coloring on its underside, the fur white from its nose down to its belly. With awe, Izuku spoke to his new friend, “What’s your name little fella?” It was only after the words left his mouth that he realized how silly he was being. The fox can’t talk! He’s an animal and unless he was a parrot in disguise, the fox can’t possibly answer his question. Suddenly a voice resonated in his head, “I don’t have a name Izuku, would you like to give me one?” The voice had a baritone sound to it, it was low but soothing and sounded as though someone was speaking to him through a cardboard tube. Astonished, Izuku looked around to see if anyone else was with them but it was just the forest, the fox and himself. Looking back at the fox he asked uncertainly, “Was that you Mister fox? Did you just speak?” The same low voice from before responded, “Yes I can speak. Although not vocally,” the fox clarified when he saw the young boy starting intensely at his mouth, “just telepathically with you.” Bringing his eyes back up to the fox’s eyes, Izuku brightened. “Are one of those animals that have quirks? Wow that’s so cool! Aren’t they supposed to be super rare? I can’t believe I’m talking to an anima-!” Then stopped suddenly with gasp, “Oh my god is this my quirk! I can talk to animals! I’m just like that lady from mama’s old movies! I can’t wait to tell mama!”  Izuku went to shout for his mother when he had a sudden revelation, ‘Wait a minute, what was he doing in the middle of forest? How did he get here? Where was his mama?’ With a small frown he thought back, the last thing he remembered was waking up in his room, excited for his birthday, and then everything was too bright, too noisy, too much pain and then lastly darkness. Agitated, his eyes started to water and panic started to set in once realizing he was alone in the middle of some forest without knowing how he got here and his mother nowhere to be found.  However before a full blown panic attack could fully set in, he felt a something wet lapping on his cheek. The fox, sensing the his distress, was whining softly and peppering his freckled face with small kisses, in a small attempt to comfort the small boy.  That’s right he wasn’t completely alone, thought Izuku in relief, he had his new friend. Taking deep breaths he slowly calmed his nerves and focused on the fox once again, a questioning look in his round emerald eyes.  “Mister fox, where am I? How did I get here?” Izuku asked with a small ball of nerves making home in his chest. With one last kiss the fox moved away and sat back down in front of Izuku, “Izuku, the better question should be; what is this place?”  The voice from before, now confirming it to be the fox’s, mused out in his head.  Now even more confused, Izuku waited for the fox to elaborate. “To properly answer your questions, you are still at home, in your bedroom and in your bed.”  Looking around at his surroundings, at the softly glowing fox and the perplexity of the situation, Izuku came to the conclusion that he was sleeping and therefore was dreaming. When telling the fox of his presumptions the creature confirmed it to be such and Izuku relaxed considerably. If he was dreaming, then he wasn’t in any trouble and his mama was somewhere near him outside of his subconscious. However, with that came the dejected realization that his conversation with the woodland creature wasn’t due to any quirk manifestation but simply the childish imaginings of his mind.  ‘Still for a dream everything feels so real and detailed’, pondered Izuku. Something was weird about this whole situation. Izuku’s dreams usually are about him being a hero and fighting alongside All Might, sometimes they were about him playing in the park with other kids his age and other times they’re about him and his mother. Why is he suddenly dreaming about glowing talking foxes and beautiful forests? Not to mention that the only indication that this was a dream was on the word of said fox and some gut feeling.  Before he could fully submerge in his inner ramblings, the fox spoke again, “You’re a smart boy Izuku to have already figured out that this isn’t any ordinary dream.” Taken aback, Izuku went to ask how he knew when the fox quickly interrupted, “Remember I’m in your mind, I have to in order to speak to you.” At the start of a dozen new questions popping out in Izuku mind, the glowing fox finally explained to the young boy the current happenings. “Izuku, welcome to your Happy Place. It’s a place your mind and body forces you to go to when in extreme distress or pain, of course you can come in here willingly too. The expression find your happy place is literal for some Supernaturals, especially your kind. There are only three sure instances that you will find yourself here, and it’s during each of your metamorphoses. Right now your body is undergoing its first metamorphosis, it was that sudden sensory overload and pain your body was going through before you passed out and got forcefully brought here. Your body is undergoing more noticeable changes, meaning more painful, and to avoid anymore stress you’re safely cocooned in here for the time being.”  Getting up from it’s spot, the fox started to walk towards a certain direction, “Come on, follow me. There’s lots to talk about while you’re in here.”  Whilst his mind was in a disorganized state, Izuku got up and trailed after the insightful fox and making sure to pay attention to every word the fox spoke about his so called ‘Happy Place’. Their foot and paw prints glowed a bright neon green with each step they took, leaving behind a glowing trail of steps. Staring at the fox, Izuku saw that the animal’s glow started to flicker on and off again, akin that of a flame. After a a few moments, it stopped, and the fox looked to be more incorporeal and glowed brighter than before. The fox steady trot now becoming a smooth silky glide, resembling a reversal moonwalk, and its paw prints no longer visible on the forest floor.  Distracted, Izuku almost missed what the fox said next,“Of course, there’s more to this place than it just being a sweet escape from reality. Observe.” Coming to stop, he pulled his eyes away from the fox and started to pay special attention to his surroundings. The forest, upon further inspection, had a mystic feel to it. They have seemed to walked to a much more denser part of the forest. The trees surrounding Izuku were of monumental proportions, and looking up, the trees seem to carry themselves all the way up to the heavens, with their branches and leaves interlocking together and creating a kaleidoscopic illusion of greens and browns. The light from above shining down on it created a beautiful mosaic like picture on the forest floor, the colorful flowers decorating the forest floor only adding to the already gorgeous picture.  To his already growing delight, Izuku noticed that he knew all of these flowers! These were the same flowers his mother kept around the house, but there seemed to be much more of them here. Remembering the sweet smells some of them emitted he bent down to smell one, his nose accidentally touching the flower petal, when the flower suddenly started to grow larger and began spouting out more buds from its side. Moving away he saw that its growth had a domino effect on the rest of the flowers and soon all of them started grow in size and quantity, each new bud blooming afterwards. This continued across the rest of the forest floor, as far as he could see, and even some flowers grew on the thick tree trunks, twisting and braiding along it. Only when the flowers reached his height did the sudden growth stop, Izuku having never seen a flowers of considerable sizes, stood there in awe.  “Izuku.” Snapping out of his wonderment, he looked back to his friend and saw the fox signaling them to keep moving. Moving away from the child sized flowers he trailed after the fox once more, this time paying more attention to the environment around him rather the fox itself. He noticed that the forest was made up dozens different types of trees, but all had one thing in common; the trees had thin vein like lines running up and around their trunks and spreading along its branches. These lines glowed the same neon green as the footprints he left in the ground, and they seemed to pulse, its light dimming and then brightening, in a rhythm similar that of a heartbeat.  Soon they came upon a river, the river banks decorated in a mix of pastel pebbles and rocks, it stretched far on the sides but was only a couple dozen feet in distance if one were to cross it. The fox kept on moving and eventually started gliding across the river, Izuku upon reaching where the water touched the banks stopped when he noticed the water wasn’t clear. Instead it looked as if someone created a moving acrylic pour painting of blues and greens, the colors solid and not transparent, making it impossible to see how deep the ‘water’ went.  Izuku was hesitant in crossing a river that looked composed of heavy paints and stopped. He wasn’t sure that the river wouldn’t swallow him whole once he stepped foot in it.  The fox noticing Izuku hesitance, stopped midway and titled his head in question. “Is there something wrong Izuku?” Looking at the boy’s unsure expression towards the ‘water’ he then understood. “Ah I see.” Turning his body towards the young boy he instructed the boy to look down at the lightly colored rocks at his his feet. “Throw one in the water and watch what happens.” Following the instruction of the fox, Izuku bent down and picked up a small pink rock and threw it a small distance in front of him, eyes widening when he saw the rock sink and then promptly emerge ten times its size as a decently sized stepping stone. After grabbing a fistful of rocks and pebbles, Izuku slowly approached the stepping stone, and slowly lowered his foot on it testing it to see if it will hold his weight. After seeing no resistance from it, he fully stepped on it and started throwing rocks in front of him watching as new stepping stones were created and moved forward. Reaching the halfway point where the fox was, curiosity got the best of him and slowly bent down reaching for the ‘water’ and grazed the surface of it. Somewhat expecting the texture to be that of paint, he was pleasantly surprised when it felt like touching silk; silk if it was a liquid. It was strange yet fascinating, everything about this place was a beautiful play of contradictions and contrasts. He watched as his fingers made new swirls of colors and felt a sense of satisfaction.  With a small smile he got back up and continued across the river with the fox at his side. Once reaching the other side, he looked back and saw that his stepping stones stayed in place for a few seconds before slowly sinking back into the ‘water’. Depositing the remaining rocks back on the river bank, Izuku and the fox continued forward. The forest on this side of the river seemed more sparse, the trees slowly decreasing in size and quantity until there were none left leaving the duo in a field of flowers, small hills scattered about. Without the blockage of the trees, Izuku looked up to see the ‘sky’, and saw that it was devoid of clouds. Amazingly though, the sky seemed to glitter, similar to the way the night sky looked like with its stars and constellations. The glitters were constantly changing colors, creating ever changing rainbows. Some rainbows were more apparent and looked like water currents moving throughout the ‘sky’, sometimes meeting with each other and creating slight images.  Halfway through the flowery plain, and up a small hill, Izuku saw something red and black in the distance, a obvious contrast to the colorful greens and springtime colors around it. Walking down the hill, and still moving forward, the red and black turned out to be a door. With them slowly closing the distance, Izuku saw the door getting bigger and bigger in size and the red and black coloring becoming more detailed in the form of lines and shapes. Soon they reached the door, looking at it Izuku saw that it had to be at least five of him in height and three of him in width. Seeing the fox sit down and giving him a look of encouragement, Izuku went on to investigate the seemingly random door in the middle of a field of flowers. He walked to the side of the door and looked behind it, seeing that the door wasn’t connected to any structure, and that the backside looked to be identical to the its frontside, or was it the other way around? He walked around the door in a full circle, hands outstretched in case there was a building and it was only invisible. However, upon feeling nothing, he put his hands back down and went back to look at the door at the front, where his fox friend was still sitting.  The door was rectangular and ended with a curved arch on the top. The outline of the door was decorated with black metal vines, twisting and curving along its sides and around the arch, ending it with its vines deeply rooted on the ground where the door stood. The surface of the door was a blood red with black lace starting from the bottom and ending halfway in the design of flames, followed by a starry background with a black crescent moon in the center of it. What was unusual for a door was the lack of doorknob, or it he have to push on it to open? “Go on Izuku, place your hand on the door and see what happens,” the fox once again instructed him. Taking a step forward Izuku softly placed his hand on the cryptic door, the effect simultaneous; the door seemed to ripple outwards from his hand as if he were touching water. Surprised he pulled his hand back and looked back the fox, his eyes wide in wonder.  The fox gave him its version of a smile and moved towards the door, looking back to make sure the boy was watching and then phased through the door, leaving ripples for a moment before they settled. Soon after, the fox stuck its head out of the door, smile still in place. “Come on, you want to see what’s over here right?” With an enthusiastic nod and an adorable scrunched face Izuku braced himself, and once seeing the fox go back, speed walked through the door.  What met him on the other side beat everything else he saw in his ‘dream world’ and left him in a state of reverence. What first captured his attention was the ‘sky’, it was noticeably nighttime here, and it was littered with thousands and thousands of stars. He could see entire galaxies and nebulas all colored with an assortment of blues, greens, pinks, purples, reds and so on. He could some of them blooming like flowers while others shrunk in size before exploding outward in a new shades of colors, a new artwork created. He could see the pictures of constellations dancing and playing with each other, all outline with a bright white.  The next thing he noticed was the ground, could he call it ground? It looked like he was standing in the clouds. The clouds were all in the size of pillows and colored different types of pastel. Rocking back and forth on his feet, he felt his entire weight bounce and with confidence threw himself forward. He let out a slight giggle when he bounced a couple of times in place before settling down in what felt like laying on cotton balls. Through the peripheral of this vision he saw his friend bounce over to him and then lay next to him on his left.  Looking back to the door, he saw that on this side it was the complete opposite of the red and black one he came through. Still rectangular with a topped arch, the red was now a mossy green and the black a pure white. The black metal vines were now white vines with the occasional green leaves. The black lace was now white with the designs of swirls and flowers and instead of the starry sky and its crescent moon; there was now a glittery background with a iridescent sunflower in the center.  Turning back to his friend he asked, “What is this place Mister fox? It feels different from the forest Happy Place.” “You’re right Izuku, this is somewhere else!” Looking up at the ever changing night sky, he motioned to Izuku to look up as well. “Every star you see is a dream.”  “A dream? Like my dream to become a hero, type of dream?” “No, I mean the type you see when you fall asleep,” answered the fox with amusement. “Every star is every past, present, and future dream; of every human, Supernatural, god and living thing alike. It’s the Cosmos of Dreams.” “The Cosmos of Dreams?” echoed Izuku. “Wow! That sounds amazing!”  However with a small frown he thought of something. “Why am I here though? Why am I in such an amazing place? Shouldn’t such an amazing place be only for gods and higher beings? I’m only just a boy.” “Yes this is an amazing place but it’s not limited to Gods only. Any being associated with dreams or spiritual and magical energy can come here. This is just only a different plane of existence.”  Izuku, nodded along to what the fox was saying despite not fully understanding what he was saying.  He then remembered something! He kept calling his new friend the fox or Mister fox but he recalled the fox telling him he could give it a name.  “Mister fox! I still haven’t given you a name!” His friend looked back down at him, and with what seemed to be fond look in his silver eyes, gave a him an encouraging nod. “Yes that’s right. Do you have ideas yet?” Sitting up on his elbows and swinging his legs excitedly, Izuku put on a thoughtful expression on his face. “Hm, how about- Berry!”  “Berry? Why Berry?”  “Because you smell like berries!” Answered Izuku brightly, proud of his simple, yet creative in his mind, name. With a small huff and a wolffish grin the fox agreed, “Berry it is then.” Izuku and the fox now named Berry looked back up at the dazzling display of dreams and sat in silence for a few moments before Izuku thought of an important question. Berry sensing Izuku’s nervous fidgeting and occasional glance towards him, already knew what the young boy was thinking of and answered before the boy could ask his question. “Think of me as your spiritual guide for now. When you wake up back in the real world, you’re gonna learn of many things; things about yourself, your family and your future. You’re gonna have to start working twice as hard than you thought to follow the path of a hero. Your mother and eventually teachers will help you with that. I’m the one who will help you in here, in your mind, body, and soul.”  Seeing the boy open his mouth, once again Berry beat him to it. “Why am I a fox? I’m simply took a form that foreshadows your future in someway, something or someone important will impact you greatly is related to this form somehow- my eye and fur coloring not a coincidence. Keep an eye out, okay Izuku?” With a single nod, Izuku went to hug his friend in appreciation when he felt himself sinking through the clouds. Anxiously, he turned on his back and sat up, his eyes finding Berry’s silver colored ones; questioning. “It seems the most painful parts are over. It’s time to go back Izuku. Don’t worry and just sink back in wakefulness.”  Slightly calmer and now wistful, Izuku asked with a pout, “Will I see you again? You’re my friend and I’ll be sad if I don’t see you again.” “Of course Izuku. I’ll always be in your Happy Place. Now listen up, anytime you want to come here all you have to do to is will it and you’ll arrive in the same spot you woke up in, you can do it before falling asleep or during meditation. Also like I mentioned before, you’ll come here automatically during your metamorphoses and anytime you’re in extreme stress or pain, you can also escape nightmares if stressed enough” With one last fond look, Berry said his farewells, “It’s time to wake up Izuku. Let go and go to your mother, she’s waiting for you.” Laying on his back and relaxing completely, and with one last glance towards Berry, Izuku closed his eyes and let go.

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