Bob was a good boy. That's what the scary man said. Bob had lived in this forest as long as he could remember. One day, he just woke up here. Where was here? Bob wasn't quite sure. He was a simple fellow—maybe a little too simple—but if you asked Bob, he would say, 'Bob was Bob.'
Today, Bob was wandering around the library, or what he called the 'knowing rooms.' Nobody in the knowing rooms really liked Bob, but he always stopped by to check on them. They would shush him, but Bob couldn't help singing as he walked around. The scary man said it was his job to check up on everybody and to sing a happy song. Bob couldn't remember the words to the song, so he made them up: 'Big Bob sings 'bout big Bob thingies, 'cause big Bob don't member what to sing.'
Bob liked the scary man, even if he was really scary. He was one of the only people Bob had met who treated him nicely.
As Bob walked around singing, he saw a person he had never seen before and two people who were always sleeping. Bob was excited to meet new people. The three individuals stared at Bob in both wonder and a little fear. Bob was a two-meter-tall giant wearing pretty worn-down modern military armor. It was also a little futuristic and felt like it had been imagined by a child. Bob also had a big gun strapped to his back. It looked decently futuristic and even had a chainsaw under the barrel.
'Hi ya!' sang Bob.
'Shhhh!' was heard from all the people around him. Bob quickly and loudly apologized, 'Sorry, sorry!' Then he looked back at the new people. 'Hi! My name Bob! Nice to meet ya! Can I help ya?' The new person looked at Bob with kind eyes. 'Yes, can you tell us where we are?' she asked, hope shining in her eyes. Bob looked at her before saying in a jovial manner, 'You in the knowing rooms!' Bob was happy he could help the new people and smiled at the new person with a big grin.
POV switch
Nana was more confused than ever about where she was. First, it was the strange forest on a floating island. Then it was the seemingly random structures, followed by the ghostly figures that wandered among those structures, and finally the children who were sleeping inside them. Now, possibly the most strange yet also normal thing she had found in this bizarre place was the big giant named Bob.
'Uh, miss, are ya okay?' Bob asked with the most confused and innocent expression Nana had ever seen on someone so large.
'Yes, I'm fine. You said we are in the knowing rooms?'
Bob nodded. 'Yep, that's what I calls it, but the scary man calls it a library!'
Nana nodded, but this information wasn't helping them. 'Can you take us to the scary man?' she asked, hoping that this person would be more knowledgeable about the situation than Bob.
Bob gave a happy smile and began to walk toward the library exit. 'Follow me! The scary man doesn't talk to a lot of folks. He says he only talks to me and a few others because we're special.'
Mordred snickered, 'He's definitely special, all right!'
Izuku, the green-haired boy who had just woken up, elbowed her in the ribs and whispered, 'Be nice.' But Bob didn't seem to mind or really understand. 'Thank you, miss! You're the second person who's called me special!'
Before Mordred or anyone could stop him, Bob reached down and gave her a great big hug. Everyone heard Mordred's back pop as the giant enveloped her in a crushing embrace. They continued on, with Bob leading them toward where the scary man lived.
Soon, they arrived at the entrance of the graveyard Nana had seen earlier. The imposing metal gates were shut, covered in etchings and symbols. Nana identified one that looked like a skull and another that resembled a sword.
Bob walked up to the gate, put Mordred down, and began to pound on it with his big, meaty fists. "Hello! Mr. Scary Man, some people want to talk to you!"
The skull on the gate's eye sockets lit up as two pale blue flames appeared, staring down at them. A deep and dark voice then spoke, "Bob, I see you have been doing the job I gave you."
Bob gave a nervous nod. "I been guarding all around the island just like you said. But I kinda lost the words to the song again, so I been making up my own songs though."
The skull seemed to nod, even if it never moved. "That's fine, Bob. In fact, you completed a great mission. Now, why don't you go to the factory and check on everyone over there for me?"
Bob nodded, a big smile spreading across his face. "Thanks, Scary Man! I go do the job now!" Then Bob walked off.
Nana stared at the skull in the gate as it seemed to stare back at her. "You are an interesting anomaly," the skull said. "You're not an Alter nor a Fragment. You're the essence of someone else, not a copy created by the mind."
Izuku seemed to perk up. "Is that why we separated?" he asked, gesturing toward Mordred. "We're not actually separated. We're in a world of our imagination."
Nana nodded, understanding that they were in the mindscape of the person Toshinori had touched. But how did she get here? Did they really have a quirk that copied people? But wait, the skull said she wasn't a copy. Would she be like those wispy beings if she were?
The skull seemed to understand her thoughts. "It appears that you were absorbed by Asterios." Both Izuku and Mordred perked up at the mention of Asterios's quirk, still baffled by how it worked.
"Do you know how his quirk works?" Izuku asked, hoping for an explanation.
The skull stared for a moment before replying, "When Asterios's quirk is active, if someone physically touches him, he takes their Vestige and uses it as a fuel source to empower himself. The vestige is like an altar, a copy of a person embedded in their quirk. By taking this vestige, a person's quirk will weaken. Usually, Asterios only takes half of a person's vestige. When he deactivates his quirk, the vestige returns to its original body. However, whoever touched Asterios while that body was unconscious had more than one vestige. So, more than likely, your vestige was left behind. Now you're a part of this body."
Nana froze, still confused about her situation. Discovering that she was no longer a part of One For All was already mind-shattering enough. She didn't even notice when the green-haired kid named Izuku asked the skull another question.
"Wait, what's the difference between an Alter and a Fragment?"
The skull's eyes stared down again, as if gathering its thoughts.
"For the body, the difference is harder to explain, so I'll skip that. But here, in the mind, it's much easier to understand. An Altar is like the two of you or Bob—individuals that do not look like ghostly spectres. The ghosts are Fragments; they're not fully formed personalities. Some of them may never fully form. They have specific responsibilities—doing dishes, horseback riding, or acting as an imaginary friend. Each of them has the ability or potential to become an Altar, but they just haven't reached that point yet, and most never will."
== authors notes
Hi, I'm back. Sorry I've been gone. It's been a busy week. I usually write these chapters while going on a walk so getting in the right headspace is a lot harder when I'm not doing that. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope you enjoyed my big boy named Bob. Bye.