Chapter Text
Once upon a time, or maybe twice, there was an unearthly paradise called Yuuei. Surrounded by the tall, murky trees of the forest near the center of Alwaysland, it lay… or lie; I’m not too sure.
The Mighty Kingdom of Yuuei (which was its full name) consisted of a small city inhabited by a commune, where they could live, shop, party, or fulfill any of the other quotidian antics they felt so inclined to do; and in the middle of town, an enormous telluric hill or plateau overlooked the village, with a pompous castle standing at the top. That is where the triumvirate which ruled over Yuuei lived. This nook of idyll was a constant whirligig of joy and merriment, all thanks to the bonhomous townspeople that called this place home.
Yuuei had existed for many, many years, having survived through many, many conflicts, whether man-made, or cruel tests of courage served by Mother Nature. Now, it would seem logical to assume that a place with such a lengthy history of hardships and adversities would have experienced change in some form or another to its modus vivendi. But, in fact, one of the great, piquant mysteries of Yuuei was its perennial state.
Actually, let me rephrase that. You see, dear reader, calling it a “mystery” would be a disservice to those responsible for achieving such an impossible task. The kingdom’s ethos told that many, many years ago, around the time when the many, many conflicts Yuuei would be involved with hadn’t yet happened but were poised enough to be noticeable, the then King, worried about the well-being of his people, contacted an enigmatic and eccentric sextet of witches known as The Wanei Girls. The King explained his case and pleaded for his kingdom’s protection and prosperity. In exchange, he offered the girls his family’s herd of negligibly senescent horses, who had accompanied the royal linage throughout many, many generations. The deal was deemed acceptable, and the witches helped the King.
The Witch of Knowledge, otherwise known as Creati, shared her wisdom with the monarch, so that he could govern sagely, fight strategically, trade efficiently, ruminate constantly, travel safely, dream greatly, venture freely, love deeply, and be remembered fondly.
The Witch of Apparency, who proudly wore the epithet of Invisible Girl, forged an almost unnoticeable barrier which served as a carapace for the land. To fully honor her moniker, she placed an additional low-level perception filter that made the realm look untouchable to any rabble-rouser who dared pick a fight with the kingdom.
The Witch of Sound, who responded when the soubriquet ‘Earphone Jack’ was sung, blessed the royal land with music, so that they could break out into song in moments of beatitude, or to let out all their anguish in a holler after bereavement.
The Witch of Festivities, whose most popular name was Pinky, filled in the blanks that music was unable to reach. She taught the kingdom how to jump and spin and tap along to the beat of the drums, how to aptly decorate the room for a party, how to differentiate a celebration from a commemoration, how to be hosts and guests at the same time.
The Witch of Biota, otherwise known as Froppy, gave life to hundreds of species —big and small, alive and inert, plant and animal, insect and bug— that would populate the areas humans couldn’t, and encouraged camaraderie between both kinds so as to achieve a thriving and peaceful community.
And finally, the Witch of Space, who bore the title of Uravity, promised to keep a watchful eye over that particular spot of land for however long those who would hold the crown in the future seemed fit.
To ensure this, she settled down on the outskirts of Yuuei, where she could be at the reach of any concerned villagers in need of assistance. From the outside, her abode looked like an ordinary, small, wooden cottage. On the inside, however…
Knock knock.
An adolescent boy stands in front of the cabin’s door, his clutched hand hovering in the air as if he was still grasping the door knocker. His face carries the most common expression any living creature with facial features can show: that of extreme worry, but concealed —or at least an attempt to— so as to not make the anguish contagious. Hung behind him, like a backpack, is a basket half-filled with a mélange of recently-bought goods from the market.
As he fidgets with his free hand, wondering if coming here was the right choice, the door opens slightly, apparently on its own, allowing the boy to catch a glimpse of the interior.
“Sorry! Sorry! One of my books grew legs and I had to catch’em”. A voice coming from the inside can be heard, along with hurried approaching footsteps.
The door opens up fully. In the center of the frame stands a brown-haired woman wearing a pinkish white robe and a magenta-colored pointed hat. She wore red wine boots and light black stockings. The outfit’s plain colors were embellished with some brown details, like her wristband, belt, and placket. For a last touch of quirkiness, she wore a plum leather glove only on her right hand.
“… and so I had to use the tactheen ofuda for it to finally climb back to the shelf. Anyways, what can I help you with?”
If the only audible part of the ramble being its conclusion wasn’t proof enough of the boy not paying any attention to the lady, his trembling lips and saucer-wide eyes that seemed to stare right through her, were.
She didn’t share his astonishment, though. Her bubbly countenance belatedly changed from a welcoming one to a questioning one, following his gaze in order to try and find the subject of his awe. After a few glances back and forth, it finally clicked for her.
“Oh, right. Newcomers”, she reasoned, elongating the first two words.
The boy, still shaking a bit, tried to get a word in too. “It- it’s… b-big-”
“Bigger on the inside, yeah”, said the Witch, nonchalantly.
“How?”, the boy questioned.
“Well, you did come looking for the Witch of Space, didn't-cha?”
Uravity leaned forward, giving a wink and a charming smile, which quickly transformed into a giggle. She backed up and to the side, extending her left arm towards the inside like a ringmaster introducing an act. “Come inside! Got everything you need—satisfaction guaranteed! Although—” she said, slightly more withdrawn near the end, “—As much as I’d like to, I’m not the Witch of Space and Time. So if you could state your request as soon as possible, that’d be much appreciated… Thanks… sorry”.
It took some seconds for the information to reach the recently-arrived customer, but he eventually popped out of the trance the impossibly big shop had induced him in.
“Oh! Right. Uhm. I-I was just wondering if you had any talismans of protection for sale”, the boy asked, his head lowering down to his shrugged shoulders, like how a turtle retracts back into the safety of its shell.
“Ah, yes, yes, of course. Lemme get some from the back”.
Even after turning back and dissapearing into one of the —probably hundreds of— rooms the place had, the Witch’s one-sided conversation still rang through the walls. “You’re in luck, actually. Protection paraphernalia has been selling out faster than phlox herbs on a Gray Wednesday! Funny story: many moons ago I was strolling down Pepperland with my good friend Strax, and —Oh, that guy is a riot!— and, well, obviously since we were already in town, we just had to snoop around the tianguis! And after browsing for a little while we found a full deck of Runes of Protection! At like, 15 bloons! It’s still one of the best market finds I’ve ever, well, found. But it doesn’t end there! Because just a bit after that we went— Aha! Found it!”
Uravity emerged from a different room than the one she had previously entered holding a cloth pouch with the aforementioned talismans. “Usually these go for like, 7 jellybeans. But by the looks of it, you’ve just come from the market, so I’ll trade ‘em for an apple”, Uravity offered with a smile spread across her face.
That proffer briefly got rid of the boy’s anxieties, and gave his eyes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glint which lasted until he checked his basket.
“Oh… I didn’t buy any apples. Would a pear work?”
Uravity’s warmth quickly turned frigid. She grimaced, and whispered a very abhorred: “…I hate pears…”
“C’est la vie”. Uravity sighed and regained her empathetic demeanor. “Don’t worry. Just leave an IOU”.
The boy bowed down, apologized, and left the store with brisk alacrity. Uravity leaned out the door and watched over the boyo’s walk (sprint?) home until he was out of sight. She looked around to see if any other customers were or would approach her, and when she was sure no one was near, she retreated back into her home, an uncharacteristic scowl adorning her face.
She paced around the room for a while, walking in circles, hammering away at the bugbear that just wouldn’t leave her alone. Dispirited, she let out an exasperated exhale and passed through the same door she had passed when getting the vendee’s purchase; except, this time, she certainly didn’t end up in the storage room.
Suddenly, Uravity was no longer in her cabin, nor in one of the quasi-infinite rooms it possessed. For an outsider, identifying exactly where she was would be nearly impossible; her surroundings, in any and every direction, were pitch black. This was The Void, the space between space.
Our wizardly protagonist however, was evidently not an outsider, and headed onwards like she owned the place. And, to be fair, she actually did.
When she reached her destination (which I will call a wall, so our feeble, thick, tiny little mortal minds can understand), she looked for a sign of entrance, finding the entrance besides a sign, which read:
ONLY WGs ALLOWED. EVERYTHING ELSE GO AWAY. SHOO >:(
— MINA ᯓ★♡
Secure, Uravity opened the wall and found herself in a medium-sized dorm room, almost exclusively decorated in a magenta/dark gray color palette. This was Mina’s room.
“OMG! Ochako! Hiiiii!!!”, exclaimed a pink-colored girl with golden eyes, black sclera, and rosy hair with crooked antennas sticking out. This was Mina.
Despite this being Mina and this being Mina’s room, Mina wasn’t alone in her (Mina’s) room. Her squeal jolted the other tenants, who seemed to be equally happy to see the visitor.
“Girl, what were you doing???”, a girl with green/blue/pink/white/whatever/everything hair and eyes questioned. “It’s been a while since you last came”.
“What Tooru said”, said a voice coming from the purple-haired girl slumped down on a bean bag. Though, it must be said that that’s what I think she said, because what she said —some have said— was drowned over by the lyre she had in her hands. There, I said it.
Like on previous occasions, Uravity’s surprise return was starting to cause a racket. Fortunately, someone was always there to stop the hullabaloo.
“Well, I’m just glad to see her again”, said Momo, her soothing words sweet as the chamomile tea she was drinking. One could describe her as the mother figure of the Wuanei Girls; the most responsible member and the main —and probably only— reason they hadn’t accidently set the world on fire or created some terrible beast like zebras or some made-up creature like that. “You got here just in time to choose next week’s book!”
Uravity raised an eyebrow. “You started a book club?”
The gals all looked at each other before Mina replied.
“I mean, work stopped coming in like… 3, 4 generations ago? We had to do something to pass the time”.
Crossing her arms, she expressed her unamusement with a disaproving stare. “In any case, you’ve still inhereted a duty to fulfill. Maybe if you paid more attention you’d have noticed the consecuences of your carelessness”.
She redirected her scolding glare towards the Witch of Apparency. “Tooru, would you please fix the cracks on Yuuei’s barriers?”
Tooru went from ashamed to confused — and slightly insulted. “What do you mean? They’re in pristine condition”.
“Huh?”
Then and there, all of Uravity’s commanding aura vanished into thin air. “… Are you sure?”
Now Tooru was the one lecturing her. “Of course I’m sure! I am still one of the most powerful beings in existence, y’know?”
Bowled over, Uravity rested her chin on her gloved hand, which, in turn, rested on her crossed left arm. She muttered under breath something along the lines of: “… then what’s causing the sudden need for protection?”
Before anyone could raise any doubts or concerns, the brunette witch showed a self-assured, closed-eye smile to her fellow enchantresses. “Guess I slogged too much and hallucinated something; sorry about that! Probably should be more careful with my sleep schedule, haha!.. Uhm. Needtogosorrybye!”
A puff of purple smoke engulfed Uravity, who dissappeared along with the dissipating cloud.
“Man”, Mina pouted. “She didn’t even wear the communal hat”.
A few hours later, Uravity had almost ran out of possible fear-mongerers. Before chalking it all up to paranoia or coincidence, she dug up from a cobweb-filled corner of her mind a friend she’d made that could definitely be of help. She hesitated for a bit, though, and tried finding other alternatives. But in the end she relented and went down to visit Yuuei’s tavern.
On the way, Uraraka noticed that the streets were almost, if not entirely empty. The rational part of her brain told her that everyone had gone home for the night or were simply elswhere, Yueei was a fairly big kingdom, after all. But the other half, the one she trusted more often —whether for better or for worse— couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was clearly off.
The saloon didn’t quell that uncertainty either. Aside from the obligatory bartender, only three or so tables had people sitting on them. Even the sommelier looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. Regardless, only death could stop the man she as looking for from coming down for a drink; and maybe not even her would be enough.
There, sitting alone in a corner, glass in hand, stood Sir Izuku Midoriya. Uravity had met him a lustrum ago. He had found himself in the Pointless Forest with no idea where or how to get out. His ship had crashed nearby, and being the sole crew member, as well as a lonely traveler, the odds were not in his favour. Luckily, he managed to send an SOS call in the form of a psychic message, which Uravity was able to detect and answer. Once they were out of the woods, he asked her how to repay her kindness. She initially refused compensation, but he was insistent, so she suggested becoming a knight of Yuuei. And so he did. Ever since, they had remained good friends, aiding each other ocassionally.
When she approached his table, he turned to look at her, his mouth forming a wobbly smile.
“Miss Uravity! It is very pleasant to see you”, he said woozily. “I extend my most sincere gratitude towards you. How may I help you?”
Every time they met, Izuku —or ‘Deku’, as Uravity liked to call him— would always thank her for saving his life, no matter how many amends he had done or how many years had passed by.
Suppressing a giggle caused by the clearly inabriated knight, she answered:
“It is nice to see you too, Deku-kun. Just a silly question, have you seen anything unusual lately?”
He closed his green eyes, maybe in thought, maybe falling asleep. “Unusual? Lots of things are unsual. Whatever do you mean?”
Looking over her shoulder, she replied in a quieter voice. “In two weeks, I’ve had more purchases for protection items than I’ve had in my whole lifetime. They’re completely sold out. I fear there’s a reason.
Izuku immediatly caught on Uravity’s concern. He sat upright and his face shared her seriousness. It was as though every drop of alcohol in his system had dissappeared in urgency.
“You fear correcly, I fear. We’ve been having people calling for us late in the night regarding their cattle, claiming they were attacked by a crawling beast. When we get there, the animals are indeed dead; had all their blood sucked out. The darkness obscures the creature’s appearance and we only show up to see the aftermath, so no one knows what it is”.
Dreading her worries were in fact valid, she stopped to think. “Do you have any theories?”
The green-haired knight sighed in defeat. “No. Like I said, nobody has any idea of what it looks like. It doesn’t have a decipherable pattern either, so even when I’ve stayed up all night trying to catch it, sometimes it never comes. It’s like the Chupacabras all over again; except at least that ended up being Camie’s halloween costume”.
Even if the information wasn’t particularly thorough, leastwise she knew what the problem was. “Well, I’ll take whatever I can get. Thank you, Deku. I’ll try to find and vanquish whatever is causing all this”.
“Whoah, whoah. Wait a minute there, dear”, Izuku interjected. “If you are planning on picking a fight with a bloodsucker you probably want all hands on deck”.
That is precisely why she was initially reluctant to ask for his help. Izuku, the always noble kinght, never refused to be of assistance. If Uravity were to take him as a companion, sooner or later, something would come and hurt him, maybe even worse. His relentless altruism would be the death of him, and she was horrified to give the Reaper a ride.
Still, he was right. Even if she was confident in her abilities, she wasn’t exactly a warrior. Besides, she must admit spending every waking moment inside a house too big for only one person had gotten dull. Loneliness was getting to her.
…
A little company wouldn’t hurt, right?
“Very well then”, Uravity consented. “Maybe this voyage will make you feel like you’ve done enough”.
Izuku smirked. “Come on, love. You know better than to believe that”.
“Onwards, then!”, the knight blatted, unsheathing his steel sword. “Prepare yourself, as will I. Tomorrow morning you’ll hear my ship arrive at your doorstep to signify the start of this journey”.
A lighthearted exhale escaped Uravity. “You’ve a ship now? Blimey. Sure has been a while since we last caught up”.
“The opportuniy has come! And it seems not a moment too soon”.
With his free hand, Izuku shoved his drink into his face and finished it in one big gulp. He tottered towards the door with his soon-to-be shipmate behind, making sure he didn’t fall.
“Oh, well. I suppose Mei won’t mind I borrow her newest baby out for a trip. Look at it as a favour! Saving her the trouble of testing”.
Quickly having to make peace with herself for abetting in a —temporary— robery, Uravity made sure Izuku got to his house, before promptly returning to hers.
When the Sun clocked in for his day shift, Uravity woke up to the sound of wooshing coming from the outside. Too dressed to be stressed in her great big cloak, she went to greet her confidant, finding him proudly posing at the crow’s nest of the sailing ship parked right outside her door, glowing like a second sun.
“So!”, he exclaimed. “What do you think? Pretty cool, eh?”
Failing to hide her smile, she spoke in a chuckle. “Is this real? Are you real?”
“I certainly feel real; real dissappointed!”, Izuku teased. “You are the last person I expected to don’t expect the unexpected! Vivid imagination is the only thing capable of creating this wonderful vessel. It’s all in the mind, y’know?”
Izuku had really commited to the bit; he had swapped off his official knight armor for a green vest, blue pants, a white-collared shirt with puffy sleeves, and bright red sneakers. To top it all off, he donned a classic pirate hat on the top of his fluffly green hair.
“My oh my. I’d better go back and change, then; you make me feel underdressed!”, Uravity bantered at first, before deciding to play along. When she re-emerged, she had changed her hat for a cowl of the same color, with the only difference being the two crooked antennas that stuck out from it. She wielded with both hands a wooden staff that curved inwards at the top, where three colored stones —one could only assume— powered it up.
Fully prepared, she joined Izuku, who was now leaning on the helm.
“No invitation or reservation needed”, he boasted. “Just the adventure of a lifetime”.
“I’ll say, we’ve even got a parrot!”
Izuku still had his smug expression, but his words came out in a very different way. “A what?”
Uravity didn’t seem to notice, though. “Yeah, a parrot. Right over there. That green one”.
They both turned towards her pointing finger to find that, indeed, a green parrot was sitting in the wooden railings that circled around the edges.
“Not to alarm you—”, Izuku whispered, “—but I didn’t bring any parrot on board”.
When he finished his sentence, Uravity very slowly moved her eyes from him to the uninvited visitor. “…Then what’s it doing he—”
Without warning —pressumedly now aware of being spotted—, the parakeet flew over swiftly to the inside of the ship.
“Quick! After him!”, Uravity ordered and the both of them sprinted in hot pursue.
“It’s not here”, Izuku searched turning his head in every direction. “It must have gone to the cargo room!”
They ran with great speed and burst through the door, and when they looked inside they saw… a girl?
She looked as equally shocked to see them as they were to her; eyes wide open, and mouth agape just enough for her long tongue to fall over.
Uravity, puzzled, waited to catch her breath before naming her. “… Tsu?”
A single, sheepish catchword came from Tsuyu’s mouth. “… Kero”.