Chapter Text
The gods are real.
Not fairy tale, not fable, not lore, not myth .
No, the gods exist amongst us.
In the skies, in the seas, the air we breathe, in the plants and animals and earth.
Amongst mortals.
But do not think a god will reveal themself to you so easily, for a god will only appear if you’re worthy .
In the middle of nowhere, there lay the ancient ruins of an abandoned pantheon. Amidst pillars of white brick and concrete are nude statues of primordial deities, an ode of love from the talented sculptors and artists who aimed to capture their unparalleled beauty. Amongst mosaics decorating the dome-ceiling are deserted works of pottery regaling creatures as timeless and legendary as pegasi and others as petrifying as Medusa, the Gorgon priestess.
Should one enter, one would find a pithos as the centerpiece of the pantheon, its bronze color is chipped and its clay arms are cracked.
Chiseled on the jar is a carving of a half-blood in a muddied bright orange tee-shirt and worn-out red sneakers, eyes white and fists clenched with unmatched raw power that could bring thunder itself to its knees.
For long ago, in the faraway land of ancient Greece, there was a golden age of powerful gods and goddesses and extraordinary heroes. And the greatest and strongest of these heroes was not Achilles, not Perseus, not Theseus, and not Hercules, but a boy of green lightning.
But oftentimes we ask ourselves, what is the measure of a true hero?
Their ambition?
Their feats of strength?
Their valor?
No one but the gods know.
“OH MY HADES WOULD YOU LISTEN TO HER,” one of the members of a triad consisting of two women and one man in flowy white garments and thigh-high sandals interrupts in a childish whine.
The dark-skinned woman who interrupted goes by the name Mei Hatsume, the daughter of Hephaestus and a Muse -in-training. Her thick pink dreadlocks are pushed back on her forehead by her signature goggles, forged from Celestial Bronze as a gift from the god of blacksmithing himself. “She’s making the story out to be some Greek tragedy-”
But it is.
“Je suis d’accord,” another Muse -in-training and the son of Aphrodite at that enters the fray, a demigod by the name of Yuuga Aoyama. He has no choice but to agree with Mei and disapprovingly shakes his head at the narrator, his laurel wreath threatening to fall off the crown of his head.
Melissa, the third Muse -in-training and a daughter of the Muses herself, shakes her head resignedly and fondly at her fellow Muses and shoots a kind, apologetic smile at the reader. “We’ll take it from here, Darling.”
And who is the narrator to refuse the Muses ? Take it away, Your Graces.
“We,” Melissa Shields bows and gestures to Mei Hatsume and Yuuga Aoyama to properly introduce the trio, “are the Muses , the godly patrons of the arts and proclaimers of heroes.”
“HEROES LIKE GREEN BEAN,” Mei Hatsume jumps in to join the daughter of the Muses , tripping on her toga in the process.
Yuuga positively twinkles and waves his hand to manifest their story’s hero to appear next to him in a flurry of white sparkles. Poofed into the middle of nowhere, in an abandoned pantheon no less, Izuku scans his surroundings in mild confusion.
“Uh. Hi,” he relaxes from his defensive position once he sees a familiar face, an awkward but adorable smile plastered on his face. “What’s going on, Aoyama?”
Yuuga Aoyama slides over and slots himself to Izuku’s left side. He then places a hand on the hero’s shoulder in a friendly gesture to fit the smaller boy under his one-arm hug. “We’re honoring you, mon ami.”
“Eh?” Izuku squeaked.
In seconds, Mei Hatsume flicks her goggles to fall over her eyes and pulls Izuku close by his flushed cheeks and freckled chin to admire his bod. “ Sugoi ! ‘Em monsters aren’t letting up, huh,” she ignores the demigod’s yelp as she gropes his muscled arms and abdomen. “The gear I gave you is gonna need some serious upgrades and adjustments.”
“T-thank you Hatsume, b-but,” Izuku lets out an indignant squawk at her sudden prodding.
Melissa barrels on past her friends’ shamelessness, pushing her spectacles up her nose,“Our story actually begins many eons ago . . .”
Once, the world was ruled by gigantic brutes called Titans, the children of Gaia, who was once called Mother Earth, and Ouranos, the primordial of the sky. Consumed by their hunger for power, the Titans overthrew Ouranos and betrayed Gaia, proclaiming a Titan named All For One as their undisputed king.
For eons, the Titans tyrannized the planet: nature was left unchecked and made room for sleepless calamities, endless wars reigned and lives were taken, and the world was unbalanced under the rule of corrupted kings until it became smoke and fire. And for eons longer, it seemed all hope was lost.
(“Family feuds,” Mei Hatsume rolls her eyes and sticks out her tongue in disgust, and Yuuga Aoyama agrees. “This is why I stick to my babies .”
“Is anyone going to tell me why I’m still here or…”)
And then along came the next generation. The godhoods. The mighty god of the sky and lightning, a direct descendant of Ouranos, named All Might struck the Titans at the heart of their forces, greatly weakening the Titans. Alongside his godling comrades, All Might successfully put an end to the Titans’ empire and locked All For One and his brethren in the deepest pits of Tartarus.
(“No one’ll miss em,” Hatsume brushes them off.
“Can someone send me back at least?”)
It was then All Might was memorialized as a Symbol of Peace amongst the gods, a severe warning to All For One’s followers and other doers of evil. But the Titans would not be foiled forever.
(“Guys?”)
As All Might and his comrades reigned in the heavens, followers of All For One rose.
One by one, the gods’ numbers dwindled and morale amongst mortals became scarce.
To combat the forces of evil, protect the innocent, and manage their godly duties, All Might and the other gods bent the rules of heaven and disguised themselves as demigods, heroes amongst common folk, to work behind the scenes and stop All For One from returning, recovering his strength and troops and preventing a greater evil from ever rising.
(At Melissa’s retelling, Izuku is left in awe, viridian eyes shimmering.)
But too much time spent in the mortal realm, and-
(The sound of a glowing baby crying plays in the background, and Aoyama sings a holy hymn.
“Oh my Hera , CHILDREN-”)
And the next generation was kickstarted, the generation of demigods and half-gods, the half-bloods.
But demigods have a critical weakness. While their godly parents were mortal and thus cannot die by earthly means, their children were mortal. As such, a target was painted on their backs by monsters as soon as they were born.
To protect their half-blood children from All For One’s clutches, the gods established a safe haven, Camp U.A. There, their children would be free to live in peace and safety in the hands and protection of their most trusted subordinates until their godly parents claimed them.
As powerful as the gods were, the gods are not untouchable. One day, a demigod’s godly parent will need his or her children to put an end to what their ancestors’ started.
(“Hey…That’s where we live!” Hatsume points out.)
“ This is where our story truly begins,” Melissa smiles, clapping her hands together in enthusiastic anticipation.
“And that, ladies and gentlemen and twinkling people of the spectrum,” Aoyama snaps his fingers and sends the reader a sparkly wink, “that’s the gospel truth .”
The triad of Muses disappears in a showy display of sparkles and gray smoke, leaving our main hero alone in the pantheon.
(“Really, Aoyama?”
“I’ve always wanted to say that.”)
Izuku, still lost, sighs resignedly. “Kacchan’s gonna kill me.”