There are certain things that one can glean from new found friendships.
Most obvious is the bond and connection that is sowed and fostered. This is generally where most people would end up in; casual greetings and conversations, a quick borrowing here and there. Most surface level of things.
Then there is the next improvement; the gossips and favours. An unspoken proof of trust and reliability even with jokes and pranks notwithstanding.
Nejire is naturally a very kind, talkative and endlessly curious girl who shows great interest in people's unique physical features or prominent distinctions and is easily distracted by them. Due to this, she can be very blunt at times, often asking invasive or off-putting questions much like her canon counterpart. This was most evident when she exchanged contact information with us and immediately making a group chat stating "Letters are too sloooow~" when questioned.
Over the following days, we've come to learn that she is an affectionate person who has a genuine passion for learning new and strange things and isn't afraid to speak her mind or show how she feels, even through text messages. She seems to like knowing more than others, but not in a proud way, as she enjoys explaining things to people and sharing her knowledge.
One of the things she had spoken to me was of a few things privy with regards to history. Even if most of them are false, they still give a point of reference, which is better than none at all. A few certain things that she had found while snooping around restricted areas of the private library in her home manor. Certain things that were usually glossed over for other matters.
She has had informed me of the begining.
The [Age of Strife], or [The Age of Ignorance] as they also called it. A time when no gods existed and all of man fought anything and everything in contests of superiority and survival. A primal period of when mankind was in infancy. This encompasses the largest amount of time in all of history, a large name to blanket over the unknown annals during that period.
Then came [The Age of Nights and Dawns], A time when Legends were made and Gods were born. With strong warriors and charismatic rulers rising from their ranks, It was during this period of time than Humanity has gotten smart enough to think deeper and more complicated thoughts. The Dawn aspect.
With their newfound wits came irrational fears. Fear then lead to the birth of monsters made in the image of mankind along with unspeakable horrors whose forms come from their own nightmares. This lead to them fighting the unknown with other unknowns, the rise of spirituality and religion. When man created what they feared, they too created weapons to fight against them. The Night aspect.
Then came [The Age of Wonders], also known as [The Age of Blessings]. It was during this time that the first magic users were recorded. The most popular theory was it that they were multiple-generations descendent from the first humans that mated with the supernaturals. Their abilities were weaker much like their diluted blood, but it was still taken as proof of their heritage. Due to this belief, the earlier magic users were ostracized and outcasts if they were lucky. Those that weren't are simply put down.
When Humanity stopped fearing those with these gifts and accepted them as one of their own, like-minded people came together to study their mystical prowess, leading to the opening of schools and academies centered around it. It was also during this time period when both Naturals and Supernaturals mostly came together in peace and prosperity. The golden age, so to speak.
Then came [The Age of Steel and Ash]. No one knows for sure when this began. And no one can say for absolute certainty of why and how. Treaties were severed and Geasses were broken, an almost domino-like collapse of the status quo on a global scale. Much was lost to the flame as plenty were driven from the hunts once more. All that was magic was driven away to the farthest and most obscure reaches of the globe in an attempt to erase records of its existence. Yet still, Life persisted and prospered, even when hidden.
A scary fact; this wasn't even the event that was called [The Downfall].
Then came the shortest time in history, [The Age of Insight] was the beginning of what became the modern era. The brightest time, when Humanity no longer needed candles and torch fires to drive away the night. It was a time when most advancements in literally every field were done in great strides. When towering grey spires became the new homes, The illogical and unexplained was taken apart for study and cold rationality replaced the wonder of magic. This is the time when the mundanes reigned supreme.
Then lastly, came the current era, [The Age of Quirks]. In an ironic twist of fate, the rapid advancement of humanity came to screeching halt when an unstable factor came to play, all heralded in the form of a newborn child who glowed in bright golden light. Their knowledge and progress began to stagnate as people were enraptured by their powers in an almost childlike wonder.
And like children presented with new toys, they play.
Pandemonium erupted.
What started as small squabbles and local problems immediately began to grow into something much bigger. The downtrodden rose up and shoved down anyone above them, minorities fought back just as the majority had fought to clung to their positions until they inevitably fall, feeding unto a cruel cycle. Added into the chaos was the supernaturals that thought it to be safe and came out of hiding. They revealed themselves to the temptation of feeding on the fear so heavily instilled during those dark times, and with how odd quirks and physical mutations can be, they blended in with anyone none the wiser.
Me and Kuroko were quite intrigued with what she explained to us, no matter how much details were left out.
The history books on our side barely had any mention during the early days of the quirk era. So hearing that it was essentially a third world war was very shocking. A general gloss over what had happened are valuable considering that not many mentions of what had transpired back then are limited to physical accounts on paper. The digital and electronic data had been erased due to a vengeful early-era technopath villain who went by the alias 'Sign-off'.
Even with a weaker first-generation quirk, the damage done by his own two hands were large scale as his skill with technology was unmatched at the time. With a simple ability to connect multiple devices, he destroyed multiple entire data centers by swarming and drowning them with literally every malware available at the time.
Not to mention the loss of cultural and historical places of significance. A prime example was the statue of liberty, with the original being used to wage anarchy by a group of villains with puppeteering-related quirks, or the world renowned Rice terraces being overwhelmed in a massive mudslide because a Rain-quirk user fought with a someone whose quirk allowed them to overturn the land like a card in an impulsive gang war.
A play by fate and destiny, perhaps? The mundanes tried to bury the history of the supernaturals and ended up having theirs buried in the ashes of their hubris.
I understand that all of that is bad and tragic and all but can I just say that Karmic justice is swift and sweet? Because it is.
We had to admit, the bit and pieces Nejire gleaned over from the pages of off whatever tome or memoir was something that should have been put into a history book --which it technically already in-- for the public benefit but I suppose there's more reason as to why it isn't that way and I sincerely hope that it's not just because it was a mark of shame for the countries or group involved.
Anyway, I understand that it was us that indulged her by asking questions and letting her ramble off various explanations but what Nejire just dumped into the group really did bring a new perspective into things, even if Yotsuya-san didn't understand the actual weight of the information due to being new to the whole supernatural side of things.
Some of these, I could have just asked Reiko-nee or Cen for their experiences but I'm glad that I held against that impulse. Their off-hand accounts were already filled with so much melancholy but reading what the periwinkle girl had wrote painted a much grimer picture of that era.
As much as I am tempted to satisfy my own curiosity, I have been raised --In both lives!-- to have much more tact than that.
Anyway, what worried me to a certain extent is the implication from the [Age of Steel and Ash], of which the upper crust of society having knowledge of the other side and magic. Which, in hindsight, was something that only needed anyone with two brain cells to rub together to figure out. Only someone with enough authority can do something of such and degree and to such an extent.
Even if yes, there are plenty of things left undisclosed and forgotten, there would still be tidbits and little nuggets of information available that was left stored in some dusty private library somewhere. I mean, the only reason why Nejire has this kind of information is precisely because she was exploring the abandoned areas of her family's personal library, isn't it?
Not to mention that Nedzu, that rat-bear-dog-stout-or-whatever, probably already knew or at least has some inkling about what I actually am and still let me be. That guy is probably having a laugh whenever I try to dance around the topic.
Although, maybe him keeping a secret probably has something to do with the fact that he isn't human either and is sympathetic in a way?
.
..
...
Nah, he probably just has a good laugh whenever he thinks about it. As nice as the guy is, he can be annoying.
Then again, I guess I am still thankful that he isn't saying anything and is letting me keep doing my own thing. Probably helps the part of the reason why he turns the other way when it comes to my less than legal activities. And is probably also helping cover up my nonexistent background to the other mundanes that are in the know.
Man, should I send him a gift basket one of these days? Or a cheese basket, perhaps? Magic teas might be good too.
Anyway, moving on.
One of Nejire's offhand comments about the way she uses her float magic got me thinking a bit.
Normally a simple spell like that should only make things well, float. But Nejire, in all her inquisitive mind said 'why?' and proceed to do her own thing.
She turned a float spell in a hover spell and proceeded to turn that into a flight spell.
I thought about the way I used the heal spell and figured 'It is my own energy, why can't I just control it?' and put together a hypothesis.
A regular heal spell would simply use energy to boost the body's natural healing, the same with granny's quirk. This has its own limitations, being that what the body can't heal by itself won't heal with the spell. Things like lost organs, cut-off limbs or even just the nerves.
But since I use my energy, Why don't I just control it and direct it to heal the way I want it to? Granted, it would require very intimate knowledge on biology but the breakthrough it would grant me would be better than simply learning the Restore spell.
I can't wait to put it to the test.