Chapter Text
The sound of multiple feet that stepped into the snow made a certain someone gritted his teeth. His stare is unpleasant, to those who cannot walk silently. interrupting his thoughts.
"Eeekk! S-sorry boss! We didn't mean to interrupt you!" A tall, shivering man with a black hair and red eyes apologizes to a shorter figure in front of him.
"Tsk."
The clicking sound of his tongue only inflicted more fear on the ones behind that short figure. That person was wearing a big hat with a dark veil, making prying into his face more difficult.
“If you do know that your stupid noises interrupt me, shouldn't you have the common sense to shut the fuck up?” The figure with the large hat hissed.Turning his head slightly to stare at his subordinates, as his dark indigo hair moved along with his head.
“...”
The group continued to look for something on that mountain. Now, silently, as if they had no source of noise to begin with. In total, five people including that man with dark indigo hair, who is also known as “wanderer”. Or that's what the underworld calls him.
‘I wonder what's on my boss' mind lately… why are we suddenly climbing Mount Everest.???’ The man with red eyes, or Aiden, thought. ‘I know that boss kinda collects weird things out of nowhere.. but, why mount Everest…?’
Aiden continued on moving the suspicious rocks on the top of that mountain. Still trying to not make any sound. Trying to focus on his boss's order. “find the abyss portal here”. And “abyss” is something only the “guild” knows.
He had long worked for “wanderer”. even his father once worked for him. The four of them here were the offspring of his previous subordinates. Aiden didn't know why, and maybe, it's because his boss trusted only the people he knew, and refused to recruit more strangers to the “guild”? Ah, if the boss knows he's thinking this useless stuff, Aiden will probably get sent to another solo mission.
CRACK-
A sound of his comrades quirk from 30 meters away.
“Boss! We found one!”
‘Finally, someone found an abyss portal, thank you, Matthew. You helped everyone here from staying in this cold place longerrr!’
“Move! You guys wait here. Do it as usual.”
The short man commanded them.
“Yes boss!”
They responded to the order in unison.
A void of sound, after “wanderer” entered the portal, the men sighed in relief.
“...”
“YOMA MY MAN!! PLEASE CREATE A FIRE FOR US!!"
The freezing man with blond hair, Matthew shouted in a trembling voice. While the blue haired shorter man creates a crimson fire.
“Youre not the only one freezing man. Stop whining."
Aiden scoffed, while he is the one having his eyelashes frozen.
“Hah! You're one to talk!” The one with white hair sits closer to the crimson fire, that would be Shinji.
“...”
______________________________
“Finally… after all these years!”
Wanderer runs deeper to the abyss. Dashing desperately to find someone who survived the fall of the old world.
‘Ba-thump’-
“This heartbeat- Durin..!”
He screamed
“Where are you?! Answer me..!”
_
Wanderer reached the core of the portal. Finding a teenager with lilac hair and dragon features laying unconsciousness.
He kneels to Durin. As he put his ear to his chest. Checking if he's alive, or that heartbeat is just his desperate imagination.
‘Hes alive.. thank archons...!’
‘I’m gald…I found you..’’
He scooped the dragon onto himself. Leaning the unconscious one to his body. As he laughed softly at the dragon's horn that poked his cheeks.
______________________________
The men on the ice mountain stood up from the snow surface as they saw their boss return from the “abyss”. With a strange boy in his arms.
‘Is it a human..?’ The red eyed thought. His boss usually took out an object from the previous portals. Now.. It's a human..?
“Shinji. Open a door back to the base.”
“Wanderer” ordered. As the white haired man opens a door from nowhere. His steps were different from the usual ones…hurrying to the spatial door shinji created.
The base was a brutalist structure hidden beneath the cityscape of Musutafu, a fortress of cold steel and flickering monitors that felt more like a tomb than a home. As the spatial door closed behind them, the temperature spiked from the freezing heights of the mountain to the hum of industrial air conditioning.
Wanderer didn’t wait for his subordinates. He moved with a predatory grace, bypassing the main hall and heading straight for the medical wing, a private sector where only he was allowed.
“Shinji, Aiden– stay in the hall. If I hear so much as a breath near this door, I’ll personally ensure my fist are the last things you ever feel,”
Wanderer threw over his shoulder.
The door hissed shut.
Hours passed. The hum of the base was the only companion to the Wanderer’s silent vigil.
….!
The man with hat tensed when he heard footsteps approaching
“Aiden, I already told you not to come near-”
“Its me”
A familiar voice was heard
“Ah, It's you.”
There stands a young man with medium blond hair, braided on the side, and teal eyes with a star-shaped pupil.
“Youve found him on Dragonspine..? It seems that that piece of memory was real..”
A scoff escaped hat guys mouth
“Mount Everest. Albedo. And what's with you forgetting literally EVERYTHING except alchemy???”
“Dont blame me, you said yourself that the abyss had corrupted my memory didn't you..?”
Right. When the fall of the old world happened, Albedo got corrupted by the abyss. And the difference is, while wanderer got stuck at the place Columbina was thrown back then. Albedo was stuck at the different abyss. Good thing he's a homunculus. Otherwise, he will turn into.. something.. for staying in that place for three fucking millenium.
While wanderer escaped that place 100 years ago, finding himself before the dawn of quirks. He just found Albedo 30 years after he first escaped that hell of void. And it took him 70 years to gain his small piece of memory back about how to detect Durin.
“Ha… If only you remember where Durin went sooner..”
“Hm…?”
“Nevermind! Just- just go back to your workshop, we still have stuff to sell, don't we..?!”
Right, this amnesiac man was the backbone of the guild right now. Well, 70% of their income came from the drugs Albedo made. While the others came from assassination or information selling. The guild relies on his good stuff.
“Later… I want to.. see Durin.”
Albedo answers after a sudden silence.
“You..!- Okay, Fine.” It's not like wanderer dislikes it, he's just– a bit startled that the amnesiac man actually cares about his brother that he didn't actually remember.
“Yay..?”
__
The heavy clinical scent of the medical wing was a sharp contrast to the biting ozone of the mountain air.
Wanderer sat on a rigid metal chair,Next to him, Albedo stood as still as a statue, his teal eyes fixed on the lilac-haired boy submerged in a stabilization tank.
A rhythmic clink-clink echoed. Durin’s fingers brushed against the reinforced glass. His eyes, heavy and clouded with the haze of a three-millennium slumber, slowly blinked open.
"Hat.. guy…?" Durin’s voice was a raspy ghost of a sound. He squinted, looking past the indigo-haired man to the blond figure behind him. "... Albedo?"
"I am here, Durin," Albedo said, his voice soft, though his expression remained a mask of scholarly calm. "You've been... asleep. For a very long time.”
______________________________
The hum of the life-support systems was the only sound in the room as Durin’s red eyes struggled to focus. He looked at the two of them—one a cynical puppet who had pulled him from the dark, and the other a brother who looked exactly the same, yet felt like a stranger with a hollowed-out mind.
"Albedo... you look... different," Durin whispered, his voice catching on the dry air.
Albedo reached out to the tank.
"I am told I have forgotten much. The Abyss is a hungry thing, Durin.” The blond paused. “It ate the world, and then it tried to eat me. But I am here. We are both here."
“....” Durin's eyes got wet as he heard the voice he longed while he's trapped in that abyss.
“H-hey..! Dont cry..!” Hat guys tried to stop him from crying.
He lets out a small sniff as he tries to stop his cries. And weakly asked.
“How long… has it been..?”
“...” the indigo haired man hesitated.
“Aproximately three thousand years after what happened that day… where everything was destroyed”
Silence
“Can you.. explain what has changed..?”
The little dragon asked
“Its going to be long.”
"The world you knew is a corpse.” Wanderer began, his voice dropping into a low, gravelly tone.
"Teyvat... the Seven... the Celestia you feared... it's all gone. Buried under layers of time and dust."
He paced the small medical bay, his indigo hair catching the harsh light.
"We are in a place called Earth now. Specifically, a city named Musutafu. The people here aren't like the ones back then. They don't have visions. Instead, they have 'Quirks'—biological mutations that give them powers. Some can fly, some can shoot fire, and some are just... uselessly deformed. They call themselves 'Heroes' and 'Villains' like it's some grand stage play."
Durin tilted his head, his lilac hair drifting in the fluid. "No... Archons?"
"Dead. Or forgotten," Wanderer spat. "I've spent a century carving out a place for us in the shadows. We run the 'Guild.' We deal in information, Albedo’s refined 'potions'—and we clean up the messes the 'Heroes' can't handle.”
“W-wait! What about the leylines-?! A-and Elemental Energy?!” the little dragon bursted
“Elemental Energy still exists. And leylines is gone. Since Irminsul was burned to ashes.”
The guy with veiled hat answers.
“What..?” Confused about what happened. The lilac haired boy asked again.
______________________________
“So the fatui is responsible for this. And Dottore mostly..” Durin squeezes the sheets with frustrated noise.
“And we need to somehow gain info about their whereabouts. And what they planned.”
Albedo continued
“...”
“How..?” The little dragon asked.
“The international HPSC might have a hint. But it seems like we need to look for an alternative plan.” The hat guy answered.
“Ah, the Hero comission..?”
“Yes.” The blond continued.
“Would’nt it be easy? All you need to do is become a hero and look up their info” Durin stated
“Haha.. nope, Albedo here is already known as a ‘Villain’ and I can’t be a hero. I have the guild to run! This amnesiac man cant—” wanderer realises
“Wait.”
“Now that we have you here–” he cheered, looking like he'd found a ton of gold to escape misery.
“What about me…?”
“Youre going to be the one playing the hero, Durin.” Albedo cleared
“Huh..?!”
"Ehem!" Wanderer cut in, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.
"We don't have another three thousand years to waste. Durin, listen to me. This world isn't Teyvat. There are no Archons, no visions, and no safety. This society is built on 'Heroes'—government-sanctioned vigilantes who police people with Quirks. And right now, the focus to us isn't a monster from the Abyss. It’s the HPSC—the Hero Public Safety Commission."
"They are collectors, Durin. My research indicates they have been 'confiscating' anomalies for decades. Objects, records... perhaps even people who survived the Fall like us.” wanderer states
“I’ve tried to break into their servers for seventy years. They’re smart. Too smart for a direct hit from the underworld. If a 'Vigilante' like me gets too close, they’ll lock the whole place down and incinerate me."
He paused, letting the weight of his next words sink in.
"That’s why you’re going to UA High School."
Durin’s eyes widened. He pressed his palms against the glass.
"School? You want me to... go to a human school?"
"Not just any school," Wanderer hissed. "The premier training ground for Heroes. You have the perfect cover, Durin. To this world, your dragon features aren't from the ‘Durin of dragonspine.' They’re just a powerful Mutant-type Quirk. We will forge your documents. You are 'Durin' , a scholarship student with a 'Draconic Transformation' Quirk."
"But why me?" Durin’s voice trembled. "I don't know how to be a hero. I was a disaster... I was a shadow..."
"Exactly," Wanderer said, a cruel smirk playing on his lips. "You are the only one they won't suspect. Albedo is a dead man walking with no records, and I am the most wanted ghost in the Musutafu underground. But you? You’re a blank slate. You’re going to get into UA, you’re going to become a 'Hero,' and you’re going to get close enough to the Commission to find out where they’ve hidden the rest of our world."
Durin looked between the two of them. On one side, the brother who had forgotten him but still sought to protect him; on the other, the puppet who had waited three thousand years just to have a companion in his loneliness.
"So I have to play pretend?" Durin asked, a small, sad smile touching his lips.
"I have to be a hero?"
______________________________
Wanderer eventually led him toward the main hall.
"You'll need to know the idiots who work for me," Wanderer muttered. "They’re incompetent, but they’re loyal. Mostly because they’re too scared to be anything else."
As the heavy blast doors hissed open, the four men who had been huddled around the fire on Everest scrambled to their feet. The air in the hall was thick with the scent of ozone and expensive tobacco.
"Boss! You're back!" Aiden shouted, his red eyes widening as they landed on the boy leaning against Wanderer.
Wanderer ignored the enthusiasm.
"Listen up. This is Durin. You will treat him with more respect than you treat your own lives. If a single hair on his head is harmed while I’m away, I’ll let you have a trip inside the Abyss alone."
The four subordinates paled in unison.
A sweat ran down his forehead, as he trembled at the thought.
The four men stood in a rigid, petrified line as Wanderer’s threat echoed off the brutalist concrete walls. Durin, still slightly unsteady on his feet and draped in an oversized dark coat Wanderer had tossed over his shoulders, blinked at them. His lilac hair caught the harsh overhead LEDs, and his small, dark horns glinted.
"H-hello," Durin whispered, offering a shy, tentative wave.
The boy was speaking in a German accent. ‘The kid was kidnapped by boss on mount Everest–anyway. It's not my problem’ Aiden thought.
The silence was deafening until Matthew,the blond, couldn't help himself. He leaned in just an inch, his eyes sparkling. "Whoa... Boss, is his Quirk a Mutation-type? Those horns look like real obsidian! And the wings—can he actually fly?"
Wanderer’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "What did I say about breathing near him?"
‘Is this.. Inazuman Language..? What is Inazuma called now, Japan…? if I remember what albedo said correctly..”
"What are they saying, Hat guy..?," Durin said softly, tugging at the indigo sleeve of his savior. He looked at the subordinates with genuine curiosity.
The four men looked at each other, their stare was as if ‘what did he say???’ And oh, he's speaking German. The four men were relieved. Good thing that their boss taught them 13 languages for their additional skills.
They stared at each other and nodded. Agreeing to say something, as Aiden spoke.
“Wir sind die Untergebenen des Chefs.”
Translation
“We are the boss subordinates”
Wanderer interrupted.
“They were the ones with me. On Dragonspine.” He explained to durin
"You were the ones on the mountain? I'm sorry you were so cold because of me." He said in a nervous tone
The four men froze. In the decades they had served the "Wanderer," they had received nothing but sharp tongues, clinical orders from Albedo, and the occasional threat of bodily harm. To have this ethereal, dragon-like boy apologize for their discomfort was like a physical blow of kindness.
"A-apologize?" Aiden stammered, his red eyes widening. "Kid, we’ve slept in dumpsters for missions. A little snow is nothing! I’m Aiden. If you need anything—literally anything—you just tell me."
"I'm Yoma," the blue-haired man added, his usual stoic flame-flicker softening.
“And I would be Shinji!” The white hair man with a scar on his left side of face continued.
“This blond beside me is Matthew—” before he can finish that sentence, a voice interupted
“Hey! I can introduce myself!” The blond man poked Shinji on his hip with his elbow.
“Stop acting stupid–! You better not tell him anything stupid now. Albedo and I will go to get things done. While not on your mission. Take good care of Durin!”
“Yes boss!” They said in unison
‘Wow.. they said it like the knights of Favonius..’ Durin thoughts on how they said yes to hat guy.
Albedo and wanderer left the room, as Albedo smiled softly and waved to Durin as he walks away.
The four men had the same terrified face. As if saying ‘Is that really Albedo-sensei?!’
“Ich habe euch schon einmal Japanisch sprechen hören ... und jetzt sprecht ihr ... Deutsch. Spricht ihr mehrere Sprachen?”
Translation
“I've heard you speak…Japanese before... and now you speak... ‘German’. Do you speak several languages?”
Durin asked them, but his eyes stared at Aiden.
“We speak quite a handful of languages, Durin! Feel free to speak with us in any language!” Aiden explains
“Thanks, but I'd like to speak with ‘German’”
Durin scratches his head as he answered.
They spoke a lot, and surely Aiden asked a bunch of stupid things, but Durin answered him anyways.
Within an hour, the "terrifying" subordinates of the Guild had been completely dismantled by Durin’s innocence. They began bringing him snacks from the surface—sugar-coated crepes and spicy takoyaki—watching with bizarrely paternal pride as the "little dragon" experienced 21st-century junk food for the first time.
______________________________
The sterile, industrial hum of the medical wing was finally fading into the background, replaced by the crackle of a small, controlled fire in the center of the Guild’s main hall. It had been several weeks since the mountain, and the "base"—once a cold, brutalist tomb—was beginning to feel strangely like a home.
Durin sat on a crate, his oversized hoodie sleeves swallowed his hands as he watched Yoma. The blue-haired man was currently using a small, concentrated flame from his index finger to toast a marshmallow for the boy.
"Careful, kid. It’s hot," Yoma grunted, handing over the gooey treat.
"Thank you, Yoma," Durin chirped, his lilac wings giving a small, happy flutter behind his back.
Aiden leaned against a nearby pillar, his red eyes soft as he watched the scene. He’d spent the last hour trying to explain the concept of "Internet Memes" to the kid. It wasn't going well, but Durin listened with a focused intensity that made Aiden feel like the most important teacher in the world.
"So... people just look at pictures of cats? And that makes them happy?" Durin asked, tilting his head so his black horns caught the firelight.
"Pretty much," Aiden laughed. "Better than looking at the Abyss, right?"
The four subordinates—Aiden, Matthew, Yoma, and Shinji—had spent years fearing the "Wanderer." They were used to the sharp tongue of the hat-wearing boss and the distant, scholarly coldness of Albedo. But Durin was different.
Matthew was currently sitting on the floor, surrounded by scraps of reinforced fabric and a sewing kit.
"Okay, Durin, turn around," Matthew commanded. "I’m almost done with the 'stealth' hoodie. I’ve added hidden zippers so your wings can pop out without ruining the fabric. Wanderer would kill me if I kept charging the Guild’s card for new clothes."
"Does it have the extra pocket for the snacks?" Durin asked seriously.
"Of course! One pocket for a phone, one for the emergency communicator, and a giant one for Pocky," Matthew winked.
The warmth of the hall was suddenly cut by a sharp, rhythmic click-click-click.
The subordinates snapped into a rigid, military-straight line. The fire in the center of the room seemed to dim as the Wanderer stepped out from the shadows of the corridor, his large hat tilted low. Behind him, Albedo followed, looking at a tablet with his usual detached curiosity.
"Boss!" the four men shouted in unison.
Wanderer’s gaze swept over the scene—the marshmallows, the sewing kit, the soft smile on Durin’s face. He let out a sharp, irritated
"Tsk."
"I leave for three hours to negotiate a shipment of Albedo's 'supplements,' and I come back to find my elite guard acting like a group of preschool nannies," Wanderer hissed.
"We were just... uh... tactical bonding, Boss!" Matthew squeaked, hiding the sewing kit behind his back.
‘They're speaking ‘japanese’ again..’ Durin thought.
Wanderer walked up to Durin, looming over the seated boy. The subordinates held their breath, fearing a lecture or worse. Instead, Wanderer reached out and flicked a stray marshmallow crumb off Durin’s cheek.
"Six months," Wanderer said, his voice dropping into a low, serious tone. "That is how long we have until the UA entrance exam. If you spend all that time eating sugar with these idiots, you’ll be too soft to handle the 'Heroes' on the surface."
„Ich übe meine Mimik, Hat Guy!“
Translation
"I'm practicing my expressions, Hat Guy!" Durin defended himself, offering a wide, slightly practiced-looking grin.
Wanderer stared at the smile for a long beat before turning away, his dark indigo hair swaying. "Disgusting. Albedo, give him the study materials."
What a Tsundere.
Albedo stepped forward, handing Durin a thick stack of digital tablets. "These contain the history of the Pre-Quirk era, the rise of the HPSC, and basic mathematics. I’ve also included a section on 'Quirk Theory' so you can lie convincingly about your own powers."
Durin took the tablets, his expression turning somber. The cozy atmosphere of the fire was replaced by the weight of their reality.
"You are our only way into the light, Durin," Albedo said softly, his teal eyes meeting the boy's.
Durin looked at the tablets, then back at the four subordinates who were still standing at attention, looking at him with genuine hope. He realized then that he wasn't just doing this for the "Guild" or for information.
"I'll do it," Durin said, his voice gaining a strength that echoed off the steel walls. "I'll get into UA. I'll find out what the Commission is hiding."
Wanderer smirked—a sharp, predatory expression. "Good. Now, you idiots—get back to work. If I see one more marshmallow, I’m throwing the whole bag into the trash bin."
The subordinates scrambled to clean up, but as Wanderer turned his back to head to his office, he paused.
"Aiden," Wanderer muttered, loud enough only for the red-eyed man to hear.
"Yes, Boss?"
"Take him out for a walk tonight. Use the north exit. Let him see the city he's going to have to save."
Aiden grinned, a sharp flash of teeth. "You got it, Boss."
______________________________
The heavy blast doors of the laundromat facade slid shut with a pneumatic hiss, leaving them in a damp, narrow alleyway. Aiden immediately pulled a cigarette from his pocket but didn't light it, his red eyes darting toward the street mouth.
"Keep the hood pulled low, kid," Aiden muttered, his voice dropping into a low, professional gravel. "In this part of town, people don't ask questions, but 'Mutation-type' quirks like yours still draw eyes if you aren't careful."
Durin adjusted the heavy techwear hoodie Matthew had labored over. He felt the weight of his wings pressed flat against his back and the twitch of his tail tucked into a specialized sheath in his trousers.
"Is the Abyss... up here too, Aiden?" Durin whispered as they stepped onto the main sidewalk.
Aiden paused, his expression darkening. To him and the other three subordinates, the Abyss wasn't a piece of history. it was a nightmare. They didn't know about Teyvat, or Archons, or the fall of an old world. To the Guild members, the Abyss was a terrifying, localized "Void" that their Boss occasionally entered to pull out artifacts, weapons, or—in Durin's case—people.
"The Abyss is everywhere if you look hard enough, kid," Aiden said, finally lighting his cigarette.
"But up here, the 'Heroes' try to pretend it doesn't exist. They call the monsters 'Villains' and the darkness 'Crime.' They think if they put up enough neon lights, the Void will stay away.”
They walked toward a pedestrian overpass that looked out over the sprawling city. To Durin, who had only known the freezing silence of the mountain and the humming steel of the base, the sensory overload was staggering.
"Look at that," Durin breathed, pointing toward a massive holographic screen. It showed a Pro Hero—a woman with giant wooden horns apprehending a thief. "She has horns too. Like me."
"Yeah, but she’s got a license to wear 'em," Aiden grunted. "That’s the difference. You go to UA, you get that piece of plastic, and suddenly you aren't a 'freak' or a 'threat' anymore. You're a 'Symbol.'"
Durin leaned his chin on the cold metal railing of the bridge. Below them, a bullet train shrieked past, a blur of silver and light.
"Hat guy says I have to find information about the 'Commission,'" Durin said, his voice small. "He says they’re hiding things. Dangerous things from the Abyss."
Aiden went silent. He knew the Boss was obsessed with the Abyss. After all, the Wanderer seemed to be the only person alive who could walk into that darkness and come back sane. To Aiden, the HPSC were just the government suits who made life difficult for the Guild.
"If the Boss says they're hiding something, they are," Aiden said,
"We’ve seen what comes out of those portals, Durin. It’s not natural. If the government is hoarding that kind of power, it’s a ticking time bomb. That’s why you’re the most important mission we’ve ever had."
To break the heavy tension, Aiden led Durin toward a small, brightly lit stall nestled under the bridge. The smell of frying dough and sugar cut through the ozone of the city.
"Two crepes," Aiden ordered, sliding a few yen across the counter. "And make the kids have extra strawberries.”
The vendor didn't even look up, just handed over the warm, paper-wrapped cones. Durin took a bite, and his crimson eyes widened so much they seemed to glow.
"It’s... it’s sweet," Durin whispered, a small smile finally breaking through his nervous mask.
"It doesn't taste like the base air at all."
"Tastes like being a normal kid, doesn't it?" Aiden smirked, leaning back against a brick wall.
"Enjoy it, Durin. In six months, you’re going to be surrounded by 'Hero' students who think the world is a fairy tale. You’ll have to act like one of them."
Durin looked at the half-eaten crepe, then back at the towering silhouette of the city. He thought of the three thousand years of silence he had endured, and then he thought of the four "idiots" back at the base who had spent all week sewing his clothes and making him ramen.
"I'll do it," Durin said, his voice firm. "I'll play the hero. For Hat guy, Albedo... and for you guys."
Aiden ruffled the boy's hood, careful not to snag the horns.
"Good kid. Now let's get back before the boss decides to 'interrogate' us for being ‘smell of sweets’”
“Hehe.. yeah..”
They walked together to the base, stopping in every stand of sweets of course. Really, what can Aiden say to this adorable thing..?