Rejected Stones

Götterdämmerung

Beta'd and edited by kylekatarn77 and Poliamida

62. Götterdämmerung

The evil that men do lives after them;

The good is oft interred with their bones;

So let it be with Caesar.

-Marc Antony, Julius Caesar

At 10:42am JST on December 25th, Toshinori Yagi, better known to the world as All Might, passed away quietly. Doctors attributed the death to complications resulting from his battle with All For One, with the final cause of death being a pulmonary embolism. All Might's right lung had been destroyed after the battle, and his battered left lung had finally given out.

His close friend and former sidekick, Sir Nighteye, had been with him. He had been sitting with All Might since the night before according to the hospital staff, talking quietly to his old mentor about the good old days. All Might had drifted off to sleep at about 9:30am that morning, which wasn't unusual. At 10:42 on the dot, Sir Nighteye had stood as alarms had gone off to notify hospital staff that All Might's heartbeat had ceased. He had quietly told the staff there was no point in attempting to resuscitate the old hero: he had foreseen this death. It had been time.

All Might had been on death's doorstep for months, having been near constantly hospitalized since his final battle that summer. The public had been aware of All Might's failing health, and All Might had prepared a final address to the nation that was broadcast that Christmas evening. It was the most viewed broadcast in Japanese history, and quickly became one of the most viewed public addresses world wide. The entire speech was necessarily short due to All Might's rapidly deteriorating condition, but the old Hero had smiled into the camera, one last time.

"Fear not, my friends. Though now, I am with you no longer. My time has ended, and I go now to another place. I hope that we meet again one day, on a distant bright shore where the sun never sets, with smiles upon our faces."

"But I don't leave you alone. For years, I was the Symbol of Peace. Upon my shoulders, I took the responsibility for the safety of the nation, and carried forth justice upon the wicked. I did so not for fame and glory, but out of love for you, my nation, and for justice herself. But now, a new group of young heroes has arisen. The Pillars of Peace."

"They are my legacy: the young people who will take up my burden and carry it forward. They are the ones who defeated my greatest foe: All For One. Now, they stand together, young heroes, united as one for all. They are the hope for a brighter tomorrow. Though I am gone, they are here. Fear not. The world spins on."

A more personal, intimate message was given to each of the members of Class 1A, along with Togata in the form of letters, written by All Might in his last days. Izuku was given his letter in a sealed envelope, addressed to him in All Might's own hand.

Dear Young Midoriya,

If you are reading this, then I am no longer here. Perhaps that is a relief to you, though I hope that you no longer see me as the cruel man who once foolishly denied a young man's dream.

Out of all the young heroes of this generation, you are the one who most defied everyone's expectations. I know what it is to be born quirkless. I was born, much as you were, to an ordinary family. Neither of my parents had quirks, which was not as unusual in those days. I have no great tragic backstory, I was merely a young man who saw the chaos around him, and wished to bring peace. Unlike my peers and like you, I had no great inborn power. Only a dream, and the drive to succeed.