My dear readers, I have returned to tell the story I started almost six months ago. I am so sorry for the delays and the sudden discontinuation of the original work. However when I set to do something, especially something I've grown to be very passionate about, I tend put my all into it.

The original version was pulled due to both a lack of experience and rather large lacking in self-confidence, and while I still believe myself to be a shit writer not worthy of your time. I have, however gained so much more experience writing and felt like this was the correct course of action.

All your reviews, especially the last ones I got from the original; who commented on how many of you felt heartbroken when I discontinued the original. Genuinely hurt me to read, but it honestly only made me more determined than ever to get back to you guys and kick off the redo of the story.

So to everyone who is here to restart this journey with me once again.
From the very bottom of my heart.

Thank you, for all of your support.

And a very special thanks to my Beta reader / Editor. A. Mitsuni for putting up with all of my antics and silliness, you my dear are a saint.

NOW WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY!

LET'S BEGIN.

- X

The following story is partly inspired by one of my personal favorite video games.

Etrian Odyssey Untold 2: The Fafnir Knight owned by ATLUS.

The following works of fan fiction that also inspired me goes as follows.

Viridescent by Darkfire1220(Available to read on FF, AO3 and Wattpad)

Deku The Telekinetic Hero by Sremiehzla(Available to read on FF)

Torchbearer by btn29(Available to read on FF)

Phoenix (Original) by Dewyn(Available to read on FF, AO3)

The Power of Five by Tacmaster8(Available to read on FF)

Semper Fast by AboveTail(Available to read on FF and AO3)

Every single story above is an amazing alternate universe story set using My Hero Academia and each has something very special that makes them unique in their own way and I heavily recommend you give these all of read as well.

Warning: This story will contain heavy spoilers past season four; anime only watchers you have been warned.

Some characters will have some adjustments in background, personalty and even quirks to reflect some the changes made to the timeline of events.

And finally, please I cannot stress this enough. Please review and let me know what you think especially if you are a returning reader from the original version.

Author's notes and commentaries will also be very important and recommend you that read them often.

Any Original Characters unless specified is owned by yours truly. However I could care less about them and allow anyone to use them in their own fan fiction projects if they so wish. A.K.A (OC's be damned)

My Hero Academia is owned by Kohei Horikoshi and Shueisha. Published and licensed by Shonen Jump, Viz Media, and Funimation.
Please support the official release of this amazing series.

My Hero Academia Untold: The Fafnir Knight

Saga I: Dusk

Arc I: Origins

Chapter I: Shadows of the Lowlands

"The boundaries which divide Life from Death are, at best, shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?"

– Edgar Allan Poe

"Izuku!"

A sound.

The boy had heard it, and he had found it odd after being suspended in nothingness where darkness and silence reigned. How long had the boy been there? He had not known.

A minute?

An hour?

A year?

An eternity?

He had been in the void with no thoughts, no light, or sound, but only the knowledge that he was both somewhere and nowhere. That is why the sudden noise that pierced through the darkness had both terrified and excited him. Then it happened, he heard again followed by new sounds.

No, not just sounds.

Voices.

"Izuku!"

"Papa!"

"Izu!"

"Midori!"

"Midoriya!"

"Beat him!"

"Fight on!"

"Please come back home... Please back to us... Please, come back to me."

Now he could feel something on his shoulder...since when did he have a shoulder?

Then a new sound, no.

A new voice.

"Hey...are you okay?" He heard the voice say.

It was deep, strong voice, and yet had an air of friendliness to it. As he heard the voice, a new sensation could be felt; solid ground. The boy stirred, and he slowly managed to open his eyes.

For a mere moment, he thought he was blind when he saw nothing but pure, white nothingness. As he blinked his eyes however, he began to see blots of color and rough shapes appear before his vision as if he were waking from a deep slumber. Slowly, but surely, he began to see outlines and more refined details come into view.

He felt so heavy, yet somehow found strength in his newly rediscovered limbs.

Had they always been there?

"Careful now, friend. You look like you have been through a lot." He heard the voice say again. The boy tried to sit up, only to lay back down burdened by his own weight. Then, he felt a strong, yet gentle, arm wrap around his back to help him sit up slowly.

"It is a strange place to take a nap, my friend."

The boy blinked once again. He was met with the sight of another boy around his age, perhaps a bit older with soft sandy hair that bordered on being snow white, he had golden eyes and tanned skin. The stranger wore a white flowing robe without a right sleeve, although his strangest feature was his right arm. It was black and green, almost twisted and clawed with what appeared to be a hooked blade upon his forearm.

The boy lifted his own right hand to try and rub the grime of slumber from his eyes, as he did however a bulky foreign weight made it difficult to move.

"Careful now, or you might hurt yourself."

The boy seemed puzzled by the stranger's remark, but he still hadn't found his voice to speak up. What is when he saw his own hands and, to his shock; inhaled his first real breath since his awakening.

He took a good look at himself and noticed his left arm was fairly normal, save for a few scars that lined up and down his forearm. His right arm and hand, however, was clawed with dark emerald scales that shined like polished steel with the exception for a few deep cracks within the pattern of his arm. He should've been terrified at the sight, and yet he somehow felt that it was nothing to be worried about.

The boy finally took the chance to take a good look around himself and see where he was. He was in the lowlands of a valley, with nothing but white grass upon a white sky; no visible sun could be seen. Only the black rocky outlines and shadows of the mountains on the horizon was where the boy could see breaks in the white heavens above.

"Are you a Fafnir Knight as well?"

The boy turned to look at the stranger that had asked him the question. After taking in another breath of air, he finally found his voice all whilst struggling to speak.

"I'm… not sure…" He finally croaked out, followed by a small fit of coughing; "but it does sound familiar."

"It would explain why you are here," The stranger retorted as he patted the boy's back. "Were you on your way to Yggdrasil as well?"

Yggdrasil.

The boy thought for a moment as he pondered that name. It sounded familiar to him as well, but where had he heard that name before?

"Where is that?"

And yet even as he asked that question, he somehow felt as if he should already know the answer.

The stranger gave him a puzzled look, as though he was told a nonsensical joke. Instead of answering the question, he simply pointed his clawed hand forward. The boy looked to where the stranger was pointing towards and was instantly stunned by the sight.

There ahead was a giant, amber tree that stood proud and tall, so tall that its crown was hidden beyond the clouds in the sky. Its shadow had spread in the lowlands so far out that it nearly covered the whole valley, the beams of light that rained down from the branches and clouds above. Both boys were only yards away from the border of said shadow, as the boy stared at it all for a moment. He could have sworn that that very tree wasn't there moments earlier.

After all, how could he had missed such a large and obtrusive thing right in front of him?

The stranger stood up, helping the boy up onto his feet. "There we are, take it easy and move slowly to regain your balance."

The boy stumbled for a moment before finding his balance and feeling the sensation of his legs once again.

"Ah, in my surprise," The stranger spoke again, making a face as though he had just remembered something, "I have seemed to have forgotten my manners. My apologies, my name is Jin.* What is yours?"

The boy pondered his words in silence for a moment.

Name.

He shook his head, in the hopes to possibly rattle his brain for an answer. He could scarcely remember anything.

What was his name?

And then, as if in response, he heard that voice again. It sounded so soft with a touch of sweetness, like a piece of chocolate candy when it reached his ears.

Izuku!

He turned around to find the source of that voice. The stranger, now known as Jin, continued to gaze at the boy with a kind and patient face, knowing well that his new friend needed some time.

Was that his name? Izuku?

Unsure of the answer, but believing in what he heard in his mind, the boy finally answered.

"Izuku…" He said quietly. "My name is Izuku."

Jin gave Izuku a gentle smile along with a small pat on his shoulder.

"Well then, Izuku… It is nice to meet you."

Izuku smiled with a nod, "and you as well, Jin."

"What will you do next, my friend? The lands here are strange, but I know of a town at the base of Yggdrasil nestled among the roots of the great tree."

Izuku thought again for a moment or two. He didn't have anywhere else to go, no one to see, and no memory to speak of. Yet one thing that was certain was Yggdrasil did sound familiar, much like his name or the title: Fafnir Knight.

"Honestly, I haven't a clue," Izuku broke the silence, "but if I am just like you, maybe I was supposed to go to Yggdrasil as well?"

Jin took a few steps forward and with a relaxed sigh, began stretching his limbs. That was when Izuku asked a question to his new friend.

"Jin, tell me. Why are you going to Yggdrasil?"

Jin stopped stretching, still facing away from Izuku. He turned with a slightly more somber tone in his voice.

"My task as a Fafnir Knight has ended. And all I know is that when that happens, we go to this valley and to this Yggdrasil Tree."

"And what was your task?" Izuku felt a small feeling of dread form in his chest as he waited for the answer.

"To rid evil from the land I was sent to, and to break the curse that was upon it." He answered simply before raising his clawed hand; "ironically, with the same power from that very curse itself."

Izuku looked at his own clawed hand with concern especially after seeing that the tips of clawed fingers that was razor sharp.

"Is this a curse?" He asked with some worry.

"You can look at it like that," Jin answered simply; "however, it gave me the strength I needed to save those I loved and cared for. Some would call it a curse, but I found it to be a blessing in disguise, given to me by..." He turned to hide a light blush that was beginning to form upon his tanned face. "By the one I whom loved the most. It is my armor, my proof as a Knight."

"Armor..." Izuku said looking at his clawed arm once again, his scales had shone enough to see a slight reflection of himself, but for only a small moment. In that moment, he saw someone else. It was brief, but familiar face, one he had seen before in what little memories he had of himself.

"Well my friend, shall we head out?" Izuku looked up seeing Jin facing him once again.

"To Yggdrasil?" Izuku asked to be sure.

"To Yggdrasil." Jin affirmed. -

Izuku looked around one more time, before taking a deep breath. If he wasn't going to find his answers staying here, then perhaps he will find them there. He gave a firm nod and and Jin gave him another smile. Izuku began to take careful easy steps before realizing his body was no longer as heavy, and that his balance was much easier to maintain than before.

And so, the two newly-formed friends crossed the border and into the shadow of the lowlands, straight into the valley of Yggdrasil. They both traveled in mutual silence, now on a journey to seek answers to see what awaited a Fafnir Knight when their task was completed. As they walked, there were times when Izuku swore he would see and hear strange things; often just out of the corner of his eyes and just out of his field of vision. Jin, however, either did not see or hear such things, or simply had ignored them.

The laughter of children, and even their small shadows could be spotted from a distance. Izuku kept silent as they walked, but soon enough these sounds and shadows continued to reappear.

Shadow Children.

The shadow children played about, their outlines came in all shapes and sizes with only one thing that Izuku could not help but notice. It was something that stood to him even from this distance.

Their eyes.

All of the shadows had either Ruby-red or golden-yellow colored eyes, that and nothing more; still Izuku kept moving on. Somehow, he knew not to disturb them. He felt as though he needed to let them play in fields in peace. When they arrived at the small town nestled in the bosom of the tree's roots, Izuku and Jin could not a find another soul. Only more shadows lingering that only Izuku seemed to see.

"It is a strange place," Jin said ever so softly, yet his words seemed to echo through the hollow town like if he had yelled it out. "A city carved into stone and root with not a soul to be found, and yet it is still so clean..." He finished having his clawed hand touch the various surfaces for dust or dirt, but nothing was left on his clawed finger.

Izuku, on the other hand, saw more shadows who were now adult in size. And again, like the children came in all shapes and sizes.

"Let's go to the base of the tree," Jin suggested.

"What do you think we will find?"

"I'm not sure," Jin said with a hint of sheepishness in his voice. "Like just how I came here. I simply know that is where I need to go."

They continued in the white stone town, passing by bare stalls and shops. To Jin, the whole area appeared empty. But to Izuku, the path before them was buzzing with activity with these shadow people.

'Do not disturb them,' Izuku thought once again.

The shadow people, however, seemed to take notice to the two companions making their way to the great tree. The closer they walked on by, the shadow people began to gain more detailed forms.

Visions of a spiky haired barbarian with a grand fur cloak draped across his broad muscular shoulders, with four other companions sitting together eating and drinking merrily passed on by. Two had ruby red eyes and two had golden yellow eyes. Only the tall lanky one had dark eyes. They were being served by two others, both wearing masks. One of a frog-like person, the other more akin to a bird.

Why did they all seem familiar to Izuku?

Other shadows had strange features, including one that shined above the rest. Izuku could not comprehend how a shadow could ever shine above the others, but this one did. So many shadows all seemed familiar to Izuku.

"Izuku!"

He heard that delicate voice again as voice, as sweet as honey. Izuku turned around, and suddenly he was alone with Jin once again. All the shadows were gone as though they were never there, even the shadow of the great tree was gone.

"Please don't go!"

He stood there wondering what to do. What was this sweet voice trying to tell him?

"Izuku?"

The poor boy jumped with a yelp when Jin tapped him on the shoulder. His attention had been so focused, he had nearly forgotten about his companion. Jin took a step back to give his friend some space.

"My apologies, my friend I did not mean to startle you," He said, "I found something interesting up a head, but I noticed you stopped following me. Did you find something as well?"

Izuku shook his head, "No, but I just thought… I heard something... or someone."

Jin looked at the boy again with a more somber look.

"You may want to see this, then." He pointed his clawed thumb behind him, then turned around and went up the street that was close of the great roots. Izuku followed behind the short walk until he saw it.

There was an archway that lead directly into the tree itself, and nearby was a statue of a person clad in fierce looking armor with an inscription by the statue's base. Jin pointed at it, in which Izuku began to read it to himself.

Oh Knights of Fafnir, armed by the Fell Dragon of the North; terror of the World. Those who use the fallen one's power to rid evil upon cursed lands are welcomed here upon their journey's end. Paradise awaits above to the Knights and their Markers to join one's brothers and sisters in arms.

Roar proudly, oh Knights of the fallen Dragon.

And always remember these words for they are your proofs.

On the night when evil falls.

They will be clad in the armor of the fallen Dragon.

Armor blessed by the gods.

They will stand before the mighty, before the giants, before the dragons, and before the people.

Their roars mark them as the vanquishers of evil.

A roar that call to all that one is a Fafnir Knight.

The two young boys looked at each other for a moment before looking back at the archway that led up to trunk of the great tree of life. There before them was some sort of barrier that shimmered in the light. As Jin and Izuku drew closer, both began to feel a strange familiar warmth spread across their bodies and for a moment they both shined and radiated with a bright glow.

Jin shifted and his sandy hair now transformed to a snow white, and his golden-amber eyes turned into ruby-red in pools of midnight. A bright blue light appeared like a hot flame surrounding his body, which darkened his skin to a blackish-blue and ashy color.

Izuku himself shifted as well, his remaining skin changed into emerald green scales. His once bright green eyes were now gold-yellow orbs in a sea of darkness, and his whole body glistened in a rainbow of light. Upon their transformation, both instantly gained a flood of knowledge as they bore their armor together. In unison, both raised their right arms and slashed across the barrier as if they swung a sword, a battle cry emitting from their mouths.

The barrier cracked and shattered, a voice then called out to the two young men.

"Welcome Knights of Fafnir, climb up upon Yggdrasil and join us in the paradise above. We await you at the crown. Beware, however, as there are those who would see to it that you fall along the way."

It was calm gentle voice, welcoming and kind. Yet, both Izuku and Jin felt a new sense of dread rest deep within their core for what was in store for their journey from here on out.

"Somehow, I knew I have been waiting for this... And yet now that I am here... I cannot help but feel an uncertain fear..." Jin said. "I finished my task..."

Izuku knew what he meant, his words resonating in him. Somehow, he knew that Fafnir Knights come here when all is said in done and yet... why did he feel like it was all wrong? He belonged here as a Fafnir Knight and yet he felt undone, unaccomplished, like he was here too soon. As if there was an invisible force that took a hold of him, compelling him from moving forward.

"Izuku, I'm not sure about you, but I wish to find the answers that have been haunting for quite sometime," Jin turned to Izuku, "I will be heading out from here."

"Wait, are you sure you need to go?!" Izuku frantically asked, not wanting to be left behind alone.

Jin looked at him for a moment, a solemn look left upon his face once again.

"I am. I know that I will find what I am looking for here. But I can also see the hesitation in your eyes and I do not wish to force you to accompany me, my friend."

Izuku didn't know how to answer him. Was he trying to keep his companion here? To keep him from his goal? Or was he afraid of going himself to find his own answers?

"The voice said there are those who would want to see us fall..." Izuku said with his eyes closed. "But I won't let you face them alone."

Jin looked at his friend's face, his mouth agape.

"Izuku, what do you mean by that?"

"I am afraid... but I also know that I could find the same answers you are looking for, too," He answered opening his eyes with a solid look of determination now on his face, "And, if in the end, I decide not to continue, I can at least help getting you to your goal."

Jin stared, then threw back his head with a jovial laugh.

"You are a strange one, my friend, but selfless nonetheless. Are you sure you wish to join me?"

"No, but I will not keep you from your goal, my friend." Izuku finished, raising his clawed hand toward his friend in camaraderie.

Jin looked upon him for a moment, before taking his hand with his clawed hand and shook. Wordlessly agreeing, they both broke through and crossed the archway, the town behind them being swallowed up by light.

There was no turning back now.

Quite a distance away from the great tree that the two knights had begun to climb, there were five souls wandered into the valley of Yggdrasil on a mission to find two lost ones of their own and to bring them back home.

This party was led by another older Fafnir Knight, one who failed in his charge and was forced to wander endlessly on the face of the Earth. Two others among them were the Markers of the Knights. The two markers were a purple haired princess heiress of a Duchy from the lands she hailed, the other a chocolate haired young heroine-in-training.

Time was short, and there was not a moment to lose.

"Izuku... Wait for me... I'm coming."

Author's Commentary

Jin* - Okay. For those of you unaware in the video game. Etrian Odyssey Untold 2: The Fafnir Knight. The story mode features the titular protagonist as a silent nameless character that you can rename. In this case I decided to name the OG Fafnir Knight based on a frequent review and reader of this story. The user by the handle of Yin Furtive. (Thanks for permission Yin!)
Yin not only is a fan of the story, but is also a fan of Etrian Odyssey and has played the game that inspired this fic, so Yin knows what it is like to be a Fafnir Knight.

Additional notes.

There is so much this new chapter sets up, but it will not make sense until we get much deeper into the story. There are two fics in particular that helped influence this specific chapter and future chapters that will explore this area.
(If I told you what they are, it would spoil like 80% of the whole thing. So I will reveal the two fics when we get to the revelations behind it)

I'm using a mixture of in-game lore, real Norse mythology and the rest of it was made up by yours truly. And I'll go into more detail on why and want in the next chapter.

But one reason I went with this was because of the real legend behind the Nordic myths of the Dragon Fafnir. Which was one hell of greedy evil ass dragon. However I view the idea of changing the myth. Much how stories and legends change over time.

Much like how One for All came from All for One.
I like the idea of the power of the evil Fafnir could be turned to serve for good. That is why, I still kept the title of The Fafnir Knight despite it being radically different from both real world mythology and in-game lore.

This is also one of the main reasons I do not mark this as a crossover, along with few more reasons that will explained later.

For anyone concerned on how odd this chapter is, I recommend reading chapter two before judging. This is basically a prologue to a very long story.

There will be more pairings aside from Izuocha but that will be revealed as the story unfolds.

That is all for now.

Thanks for reading, I will see you all in the next update.

Until then as always with lots of love.

-X