Inheritance of Giants

When the Levee Breaks

A boy who couldn't die — and a mother who wouldn't leave him behind.

"...That's why she took you in," Izuku said, almost to himself.

Ace nodded once, the motion stiff. "She said she couldn't explain it, but when she saw me, she knew I wasn't supposed to be there. Knew that someone had put me there. Like a... seed."

He paused.

Then, softly:

"Or a warning."

The silence that followed was filled only by the faint whir of the house's cooling system, the hum of an old data terminal still connected to a dead net.

Izuku reached into his pocket and pulled out the cracked music player.

He turned it over in his hand.

"Did she ever tell you where she got this?" he asked.

Ace blinked. "What?"

"This," Izuku said again, holding it up. "The music player. It's old tech. No serial. No connection ID. Just... preloaded songs. Weird ones. All from the past."

Ace shook his head slowly. "No. I thought you got it from your dad."

"Dad? I don't... have a dad."

"I-" Ace grabbed the side of his head as one of his eyes bled, falling down in the process. "Gah!"

"Ace!"

"I- okay, that really hurt," Ace muttered, standing up again. "What were we talking about? Oh, right, you got that music player from Ide, right?"

"I- no, you said from my dad. Did you know my dad?"

"What?" Ace asked in confusion. "I know you had a sperm donor, but a dad? No, no clue who you're talking about."

Izuku froze.

The music player hung in his hand like a loaded weapon.

He took a step back, studying Ace's face — the blood already crusting under one eye, the confused squint, the way his body seemed to twitch slightly, like it was lagging behind itself.

"You just said he gave this to me," Izuku said slowly. "You said 'I thought you got it from your dad.' Not a 'sperm donor.' Not 'maybe.' You knew."

Ace looked pale now — not from blood loss, but from discrepancy.

"...I did?" he muttered.

"You did," Izuku said, voice shaking. "And now it's gone. Something took it from you."

"Izuku—"

"No! Don't do that. Don't act like I'm imagining this. You knew. You remembered something—then you bled."

Ace opened his mouth.

But no answer came. Nothing about Izuku's possible blood relations. It- why was there nothing?

He clutched his head again, more gently this time.

"Okay," he said slowly. "Okay. Let's assume for a second you're right. Something about that name... 'dad'... unlocked something in me. That means this isn't just about you anymore."

Izuku's hand tightened around the player.

"It never was," he said. "But now I think I know why you were in Chicago. And maybe that's why I got this."

When Izuku pressed play this time, there was no song that came through this time, he was immediately dunked into a vision.

Three heads of gold were what greeted him, grins splitting their faces. They all had long necks that connected to a single torso with a single pair of giant wings, sturdy legs, and two tails.

They didn't see him though, only what stood behind him. "A Go here? I thought I'd never see the day."

"Please, make me forget," the Go begged, head bowed in shame. "Why do I regret? I am a weapon, something to be aimed and used!"

"Yes, that is how you were raised."

"Then why?! Why do I regret? This was my purpose! This was my life! This is what I am!"

"Humanity," the three-headed golden dragon answered simply. "Humanity has such an... odd sense of being. To greet death with a smile, yet cling to life like no other. There is no creature quite like them."

"You aren't answering me, Ghidorah!" The being yelled, making Ghidorah chuckle.

"My name... I haven't heard that in a long time," the dragon sighed. "You will know the answer, knave. You lie to yourself now, but the Giants of Light will help you see the truth.

"Just don't keep them waiting, Go. You still have a chance to fix yourself."

Then, the world shifted, the being of clay and flame standing alone as a cracking sound rung behind their feet. Looking down, they saw a music player.

The same one Izuku now held.

"What is... this MP3 player lives...

"Then let it hold the truth."

~

To be Continued...