It was a swath of blackness, purple-black gusts of wind roaring in the surroundings.
In the blackness, there was a rocky platform, hovering like an asteroid. On this platform, surrounded by dilapidated walls, were high-back chairs.
As Luke, along with Nyx, stepped onto the platform, those empty chairs stared back at him.
"Ms. Shimura," he called out, Nyx's head bobbing in all directions rapidly. "Are you there?"
However, other than silence, no one answered them… for a while.
"You seem… weak?" The voice crawled on Luke's back like a chill.
Luke looked over his shoulder, and his blue eyes widened.
Nana Shimura, who was supposed to be the most solid Vestige, had been greeting Luke during his voyages to this space.
It was less related to Luke's abilities and more to Deku's One For All's progress.
Before he reached around 20% mastery in Full Cowling, the boy wasn't even supposed to have access to these Vestiges.
Yet, the unthinkable had happened during the Final Exam, with Midoriya ending up unlocking the seventh user of One For All, Nana Shimura's Quirk — Float!
Ever since then, Midoriya had failed to access that space or create a link to any Vestige.
That's why Luke and Midoriya had decided to meet at his home and try it out with the traditional method once again, i.e., Luke's Spirit Vision.
Luke would have rejected it, delaying Midoriya's progress in this regard, if he hadn't already made up his mind to let the boy contact Vestiges during the I-Island Incident.
As if that wasn't enough, the recent event that had played out in the USA only solidified his thinking.
Things were becoming too chaotic, too suddenly.
After becoming an Astrologer, Divinations regarding him had become more concealed. However, even his own Divinations were failing too frequently, making things more… unpredictable.
Preparedness only worked if one knew what they were preparing for!
With all this in mind, Luke had no choice but to retrace his initial plan to learn more about Conformity, Singularity, and All For One.
And that plan was to ask the Vestiges, the memories of the past, as per the deal he had struck with them.
So, this time, when Luke arrived in this space, he had been hoping to push Nana Shimura to show him something substantial.
Not even in his wildest imagination had he expected that he would be meeting…
"… Yoichi Shigaraki…" Luke worded, staring at the progenitor of One For All Quirk.
"No. Not weak..." The white-haired Vestige stepped toward Luke, looking up and down. "… Wounded. What happened?"
Luke didn't find it strange that the Vestige could sense his dwindling Spirituality.
Using Bioalchemy, he had bestowed three Quirks upon the little mushroom, letting it become a cyborg. Those Quirks together had amounted to 270 Spirit Points.
When Mushroom-nimi's time had run out, the same number of Spirit Points should have returned to him.
However, not only had the Cyborg come back to life, but the Spirit Points hadn't returned, either.
At that time, Luke only had the time to consider this an anomaly of Bioalchemy, with Mushroom gaining all those Quirks as permanent ones, like Nyx.
If that had been it, then it would have been fine.
Gaining a cyborg, as strong as Mushroom, was a bargain for just 270 Spirit Points. With further Beyonder Potions, he was bound to get even higher boosts.
So, his temporary lack of Spirit Points hadn't bothered Luke much.
But, in the last week, an even baffling phenomenon began happening, making even a Quirk scientist like Luke scratch his head.
Every day, Spirit Points were returning to him, in twos and threes.
And yet, contradicting all Luke's theories, Mushroom-nimi wasn't experiencing any change.
By now, Luke had already gained ten of his missing 270 Spirit Points.
Still, the difference between his original Spirituality and his current one was big enough for it to stand out like a thumb in the Vestige's eyes.
Luke followed Yoichi as the white-haired man sat down in a chair.
"That's why I am here…" he said, looking down into Yoichi's green eyes. "I was promised answers. Yet, till now, I haven't learned anything that proves your promise wasn't a sham."
The Vestige smiled. "… Why do you think I am here?"
Luke stared at the man… and sighed. With his low Spirituality, he didn't have enough time to play these mind games. The Vestiges needed him more than he needed them… at least until Midoriya began arriving here by himself.
Moreover, there was no point in keeping things to himself, which they would learn through Midoriya later anyway.
So, taking a deep breath, Luke briefly mentioned the matter of the three-way battle in the USA, carefully avoiding the matter of how he was related to all this.
As Luke talked, a frown began appearing on Yoichi's face, growing uglier the longer he spoke.
When Luke was finished, Yoichi sighed. "… I see. So… that's why…"
"Oh, hello?!" Nyx couldn't hold it anymore. "Can you not act like you are the main character anymore?!"
Yoichi's mouth twitched. "No need to be mean, little girl," he said. "Shimura's not here because only one of us can be here at a time. Also, something happened a week ago that forced me to consider meeting Luke personally. Now… we know what."
Luke's eyes narrowed as the Vestige looked at him knowingly. "How's what happened in the USA related to you? Neither Midoriya nor All Might were there…"
Yoichi sighed and got up. "It's related…" he said, pointing upward. "It's more related to all of us than you think, Luke."
And, with a humming BOOM, a black hole appeared in the blackness, its periphery radiating an ancient blueness, pulsating rhythmically.
Luke's eyes went wide.
Nyx's feathers rattled.
Miss Justice gasped.
Luke took a step back, all his muscles tightening as he prepared for a grim fight, betrayal flashing across his face, twisting his expression.
"Please, calm down," Yoichi said, sensing something amiss. "It's only an illusion. Listen…"
Then, still keeping his guard up, Luke looked at the blue hole again…
… as an ancient voice washed over the blackness, playing a message.
[Fate is changing…]
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