Cult of Distortion

Chapter 1 The Echo in the Shadows

The battle with Muscular was over, but my body felt like it was on the edge of breaking. Every breath came in sharp, ragged gasps. I forced myself to stay upright, even as the pain in my arms and legs screamed for me to stop.
I glanced back at Kota, who was sitting a few steps away, his face pale but relieved. He looked up at me with wide, tear-filled eyes.

"You... you saved me, huh?" I nodded, though my voice cracked as I tried to speak. "Yeah... You're safe now."
But the words didn't sound right. Not when I could feel my body screaming for rest. The adrenaline was wearing off fast, and I needed to get Kota back to camp before something else happened.
"Stay close," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

I helped him to his feet, but the forest was eerily quiet now. It felt like the calm before a storm. Something in the air made me uneasy, though I couldn't pinpoint why. We walked through the woods in silence, but as we reached the clearing, I paused.

"Wait here," I said softly, trying to steady myself. "I'll make sure it's safe first." Kota looked at me but didn't argue. I gave him a quick nod and stepped away, my legs unsteady as I moved deeper into the trees. I needed a moment. The weight of everything—the fight, the fear—was catching up to me.

As I pushed through the underbrush, my foot caught on something, and I stumbled forward, catching myself against a nearby rock. That's when I saw it. Half-buried in the dirt was something strange—something out of place.

A shard, resembling a piece of shattered glass, glinted faintly in the dim light. But it wasn't just any shard; it was a dark, metallic object, twisted and jagged, with strange, swirling veins of light running through it.

I instinctively knelt down, my hands trembling. There was a magnetic pull to it—something about the way it hummed against my fingertips made me feel like it was calling to me. "What is this?" I whispered, brushing the dirt off it.

The moment my fingers touched the shard, a cold shock surged up my arm, as if ice were flowing through my veins. My vision blurred for a second, and the edges of the world warped, making it feel like reality itself was distorting around me. I pulled back, my heart racing. My breathing was uneven, and I couldn't tell if it was due to the fight or something else. A voice—or something that resembled a voice—whispered faintly in my mind, like an echo of something distant, something that didn't belong here.

"Midoriya..."

I couldn't make out the words, but the sensation lingered, pulling at me. I shook my head, trying to clear the feeling, but the pull was stronger now. My hand hovered over the shard, and despite the strange unease creeping through me, I couldn't seem to pull away. I didn't understand why, but there was something... alluring about it.

I stood up, still holding the shard, as if I couldn't bear to let it go. The forest around me felt different now—heavier, darker. But I shrugged it off, tucking the shard into my jacket pocket and making my way back to Kota.
When I returned to him, he was looking up at me with an uncertain expression, but when he saw the shard tucked away in my bag, he frowned.

"Deku... what's that?" I tried to smile, but it didn't reach my eyes. "I found it out there. I thought I'd take it back with us. Maybe the teachers will know what it is." Kota looked uneasy, his gaze flickering to the bag. "It... doesn't feel right."I hesitated for a moment, then nodded, trying to push aside the strange feeling I had. "Yeah, maybe you're right." But I didn't let it out of my sight as we made our way back. Something about it had me... intrigued.

Later that night, I couldn't sleep. The shard kept calling to me, even though it was resting in the bottom of my bag. The whispers returned in my dreams—soft and faint, like the wind through the trees. There was power in it. I could feel it. A power that could break all limits. When I woke, I found myself reaching for the bag, my fingers brushing over the cold metal. The strange warmth flooded through me again, though this time I couldn't shake the growing sense of anticipation. The whisper in my mind promised me strength, more than I'd ever dreamed of.