At first, the sound of rocks hitting your window doesn’t actually register. Who would be throwing rocks at 1:30 AM anyway? Jayce always just invited himself in, and the only person who ever bothered to warn you before appearing in the dead of night—oh for goodness’s sake, is that Simon out there?

You groan quietly, pausing the video you’re watching and rolling off your bed sluggishly, already tired you are from being at school earlier in the day. Quiet footsteps carry you toward the window and you push open the curtains a bit, looking across at Jayce’s closed window, registering that he must have snuck out again. Slightly below that, perched on a tree branch, is Simon, who is lazily tossing a rock back and forth in his palms with his quirk.

Simon’s face brightens when you peer out, but he still looks borderline terrified, so you make quick work of opening the window and allowing him to crawl in despite your confusion.

“Sorry, I know it’s late, I just—I had this like—vision? And I went to go tell Jayce but he’s not home like always so I figured you’d be here and I have no idea who else to talk about it to.” He rambles as soon as you’re close enough to hear him while sliding the window shut behind him. Frown lines furrow your brow as you try to register what the hell he’s talking about.

“Hold on, start from the beginning? What happened??” You question, trying to get the full story.

“Okay, bear with me here, but I think someone is calling me from beyond the grave to go on some adventure to break our family curse. You know, the one that kills off the eldest son once his firstborn turns 7? That one. Because I heard these voices speaking to me and calling my name, giving me instructions I barely understand while I was dreaming.”

“Then I woke up, which is weird because you know I sleep like a rock, and I was sweating, and the urge to leave everything behind and search for the source was very overwhelming.” He explains, looking rather frantic as he paces back and forth.

You sit there in stunned silence for a moment before a thousand questions fight for the forefront of your mind, driven by the absurdity of the situation. Simon has never been able to speak to ghosts like his brother and youngest sister could, so it made no sense for him to start now. Sitting him down on your bed beside you, you make him recall in detail what was said and dial Jayce and Hitoshi’s numbers.

A week later, on the last three day weekend of your second year at UA, the four of you temporarily run away from home. Simon and Jayce seem to know somewhat where they’re going; both of them have been near constantly hearing voices since last Friday.

Meanwhile, you and Hitoshi are left practically in the dark as you follow the brothers onto a plane, then through a forest you’ve definitely never heard of being explored by anyone more qualified than a bunch of teenagers like yourselves, only to end up at the base of a mountain a day into the trip.

It hasn’t been easy, mostly because it seems like the world is trying to prevent you from getting there in any way possible; the tent blowing away when you try to set up camp for the night, no signal since you left your hometown, the fact that your feet feel like they’re on fire with every step you take as you try to keep pushing forward. You’d think with all your hero training you’d be better equipped to handle this, but at this point you’re just grateful to be alive.

Once you reach the mouth of the cave, you can finally understand why they keep calling it magic. It’s illuminated with bright cyan crystals that glow with every step and noise you four make as you walk deeper inside trepidatiously, which at least brings the comfort you won’t die somewhere decrepit.

Jayce takes the lead, claiming that he can see the lines in the ground as if following traces of whatever has brought you here. It’s terrifyingly alive in this cave, and you worry that you might not be alone, but Simon takes your hand when the other two aren’t looking, trying to reassure you a little.

“We’re getting closer,” he murmurs.