"What do you have in mind, Lady Nimue?" It's Elias who speaks up, having arrived in a burst of briars. Ruth himself emerges from Chise's shadow, appearing in his Grimm form. He stares at Izuku and Chise's wet forms and looks above as if praying to the high heavens for patience. Izuku would have burst into giggles at his reaction if his sole focus wasn't on the Lady of the Lake. Her face is fiery, and her eyes are sharp as they bear their weight onto Izuku's own.

"Midoriya Izuku," she says lowly, "come forth."

Izuku takes three steps towards Nimue before Chise, wide-eyed and her lips pursed, grabs a hold of his wrist. She tenses when he looks at her in the eye, and slowly with care, he slips from her grasp. He walks towards Nimue, stopping before he takes ahold of her proffered hand, and looks back towards his family and says —

"No matter what happens," he watches as Chise tenses once more and the other two bristle. "I'll come back. That's a promise."

— and grips Nimue's hand tightly. Her eyes glow with ancient power and a large wave of water rises above them. Chise screams and Ruth changes to his human form in a blink of an eye, reaching out desperately with a gruff shout. Elias' eyes glow eerily in the darkness of early dawn as his briars rise, rushing towards Izuku and Nimue.

But it is too late, the wave comes crashing down on both of them, cutting both Ruth and the briars off abruptly. Izuku's vision is obscured by the water, and he holds onto Nimue tightly as the water pulls them both into Lake Avalon. At first, Izuku is petrified, feeling water surrounding his face and giving in to the need to hold his breath. But then Nimue's soft voice tells him to breathe, and he does so. It's a rather weird sensation, one that makes him want to panic all over again, but he refrains from doing so. He doesn't even realize his eyes are shut until Nimue tells him to open them. He counts to three before even daring to do so, and gasps once he does.

The water is crystal clear, and there, on the lake floor, is what appears to be an entrance to another world entirely. It's a golden arch that leads to this effervescent, otherworldly realm, which shines brightly underneath the sun rays that break through the water. Izuku peers at the sun rays with a queer stare, before exchanging a worried look with Nimue.

"I'm afraid we're running out of time," she says and pushes him forward towards the golden arch. "I wish I could do this under better circumstances, but welcome, Midoriya Izuku, to Avalon."

"Avalon," he says in awe, before shaking his head and organizing his thoughts. There's a time and place to bask in the glory of Avalon, he reminds himself, and this is not it.

"Resting King's Castle!" Nimue bellows and the scene in the arch changes from the beautiful grove with lively flora and fauna to the barren, but still breathtaking, cobblestone halls of what Izuku can only assume as Resting King's Castle. "Come, quickly."

Izuku follows after her, waddling awkwardly in the water before he passes the threshold of the golden arch, in which he fumbles as he lands on the cobblestone floors, almost falling on his face were it not for Nimue's steadying hand. He takes a second to gape at the large hall, the Great Hall of the castle, before Nimue pulls him out of the Great Hall and up a staircase and down a hallway with surprising strength, but not all that surprising at the same time seeing as how powerful she is. She pulls and pulls and it takes all Izuku's own strength and stamina to keep up with her. In the end, no matter how much he huffs and puffs, they don't slow down and slowly the adrenaline kicks in and he finds himself pushing himself a little harder. Artemis' life is on the line, after all.

Finally, they approach an unassuming door at the topmost level of the castle, and without an ounce of restraint does Nimue open it with a mighty push of her palm. The first thing that Izuku comes to realize is just how large the room is, with its tall arching ceiling and wide interior, and the second thing he notices is the multiple suits of armor standing erect, stock still in their vigilant postures, guarding large wooden chests by their feet. Nimue first approaches the far left suit of armor and its chest, opening it with barely a blink. Therein lays multiple weapons, the most beautiful and worn, well-loved, being a bow and its arrow quiver.

"I asked permission from Sir Tristan, and he was delighted for it to be put back in good use. Grab it, Izuku, for it is yours now."

The bow and quiver murmur to him its name as he reaches for it. "Fail-Not," he whispers reverently. He grabs a hold of it gently and plucks it from its small stand in the chest, the bow hums a low tune of acceptance before flashing brilliantly. It shrinks, allowing for Izuku to hold it comfortably, and he admires it for another second or two before grabbing the quiver full of arrows. He nods with determination.

He struggles to get the quivers buckled up to his hip, but eventually, with the help of Nimue, he manages. Nimue, after that, hands him a sheathed dagger with a white hilt. It's about the length of his entire forearm and a bit more. She then grabs a hold of a large shield.

She points at the dagger, "Carnwennan," and then heaves up the shield, "and this is Wynebgwrthucher," Izuku blinks at her, mouthing the name slowly and deliberately with little success, "but you could also call it Pridwen."

"Pridwen works," he says rather dazedly.

Her face softens. "I know this is a lot, but I don't want to take any chances once you find Artemis and save them."

"You sound so sure," his insecurities rise, and a bit (read: a lot) of nerves finally push past the adrenaline. He's about to go find this apprentice and save them, from a group that Artemis had called the League of Villains and face them head-on. "How are you sure I won't fail?" He cringes at the words as he says them.

"Because you're Midoriya Izuku," her eyes shine with untold power, "and everything you do, every action you take, is because you've spat in the face of adversity and come out on top. So, don't allow your insecurities to choke your light."

Still nervous, but filled with an unimaginable amount of courage and daring now, he shifts into a more sure position and allows for Nimue to strap the shield to his forearm.

"Let's do this."

↞ « o » ↠

When the water rises again and crashes on the shore, it reveals the wet form of Midoriya Izuku. His countenance is set, determined to the core, and his figure is sure in his posture as he holds the gifted bow tightly. Chise is the first to run up for him, and with the sun already a ways up in the sky, it's not hard to see the tear-tracks that run down her cheeks.

Izuku gives her a reassuring smile. "I told you that I'd come back."

"You silly boy," she cries out, reaching out to him as if she wanted to hug him. She refrains, however, once she sees the vast amount of weaponry on his figure. Instead, she asks, "What have you gotten us into?"

Izuku gives her a wry look, coupled with a shrug. "Who knows?" He glances at Ruth. "Doesn't this seem familiar to you?"

"You mean how Chise would run off on her own and get into trouble? Then, yes, it does."

Chise shoots Ruth a betrayed look. The Grimm merely shrugs it off, coming closer to smack Izuku upside the head. Izuku winces, rubbing his head with acceptance of the fact that he was, indeed, reckless.

"Don't do that to us," Ruth says tightly.

"Agreed," Elias says. His eyes seem somber, a bit dimmer than what they'd been earlier, and Izuku allows for the situation and his actions to settle a weight on his shoulders. He slumps his shoulders and ducks his head when Elias comes closer. Izuku tenses when a hand settles on his head before it ruffles his damp hair. "However, I am glad that you're safe and sound, and it appears as if you've brought gifts of goodwill back."

Izuku blinks but nods nonetheless. "Yeah, Nimue gifted these to me to help us rescue Artemis."

It's a bit much for him to carry and use, but Izuku comes to a conclusion. "Chise," he starts, "how good are you with a bow and arrow?"

She mimes a so-so move with her hand, a grimace on her face. "I'm… okay, I suppose." Ruth makes a face alongside her.

Izuku hands her the bow. "This is Fail-Not, and it'll always strike true."

Chise's face scrunches up in thought, looking at the bow in question. "Fail-Not? Isn't that—"

"Sir Tristan's bow from the round table," Elias speaks up. "How curious that Lady Nimue would grant you such a thing."

"She's serious about the safety of her apprentice," Izuku defends.

"In that case," Chise says, grabbing the quiver from Izuku and strapping it on, "we must do our best to save Artemis."

Izuku cheers.

"Where to?" Ruth asks. "We'll follow your lead, Izuku."

"Now," Izuku says, grabbing a hold of Chise's arm. "We go to London."

↞ « o » ↠

When they land in London, they land with a burst of flames in an inconspicuous alleyway. Izuku can hear the rush of the early risers and workers, of cars and the low hub-bub of city life. Soon after, Elias' briars arrive and disperse in the blink of an eye, leaving behind the towering mage. Ruth appears from Chise's shadow in his Grimm form. Everyone, including Izuku himself, are tense. They're about to go fight this group of self-proclaimed villains and save Nimue's apprentice, Artemis.

Izuku brings out the compass and flips it open. Ruth peers over his shoulder.

«It's pointing south.»

Chise nods, and then stops Izuku from leaving the alleyway. "Hold on just a second, we need to disguise our weapons first."

Izuku tilts his head in question. "How?"

"Illusions," she says as she disguises her bow into a rather large umbrella and her quiver as a satchel. Izuku's shield is illusioned into a school bag, and his dagger into a small umbrella hanging from his belt.

Izuku jumps, the school bag feels as if it were just that, a school bag, and he carefully runs his fingers on the illusioned dagger-as-an-umbrella, and feels the smoothness of the nylon.

"What?" he asks, half in wonder and the other half in genuine curiosity. "How?"

"Illusions are more than just what you see. They deceive a person entirely, down to the five senses." Chise explains patiently. "Kinda like Schrödinger's cat. It is in a paradoxical state of being, dead and alive, but in this case, it is in a state of being both a dagger and an umbrella."

"Amazing," Izuku says. "How do I use this as a dagger when illusioned as an umbrella?"

"It's simple," she says, "just remember this chant: You freely lie, you delusion, but no more, I free you of this illusion."

"Okay," he says as he shoulders his shield-turned-schoolbag. "Alright."

"Let's get to it," Elias says, and Izuku doubles back when he sees that Elias looks human. Elias sees the wide-eyes look Izuku directs at him and smiles with his human face, teeth and all. "People are still uncomfortable with my other form, even in the era of quirks."

"They stray clear of him," Chise says sourly. "Say his mutation suits a villain."

Izuku grimaces at the blatant prejudice and profiling.

"It doesn't matter," Elias says. "We can discuss this another time if need be. Izuku, this quest was handed to you. How should we proceed?"

He thinks for a while, trying his best to remember the scene back when he'd accidentally scried on the bathroom mirror. The sun had been high up in the sky, and where Artemis was kept had been bare. Cement floors and stone walls, with a lone bench for someone to keep station over the poor apprentice chained to the wall. But the one detail that stands out is the fact that that the bench was a church pew, and an old one at that.

"Keep a lookout for an abandoned church." He finally says after coming to a conclusion. "South of where we are there should be one. We just need to keep an eye out for activity."

«A church?» the Grimm questions, interest piqued.

"Yeah," he trails off, once again swallowing down his nerves. The city has a lot of ground to cover, and the sun shines down upon them relentlessly, giving Izuku the impression of someone breathing down his neck to hurry up. Time's ticking down to find Artemis and find them relatively unharmed.

They leave the alleyway as casually as one can, and fit seamlessly into the crowd. Ruth pairs up with Izuku, and Chise and Elias stick together. They part ways at a crossroad, with Chise giving Izuku a parting kiss on the crown of his head before they each head their own ways. "Have fun with Ruth," she says, and Izuku reads that as 'stay safe and out of trouble. He nods and waves at her goodbye, promising to have fun. An elderly couple nearby coo at the cute exchange, and then barely blink when Ruth's form turns to that of a human, and instead comment on the impressive quirk.

Ruth and he scour what feels most of the city by the time noon comes, but what in reality can only be a brief portion of London. Eventually, Izuku's stomach grumbles and Ruth drags him off to a food kiosk, where he buys him something to munch on, and Izuku is eternally grateful, especially as he tentatively sips on the energy drink he'd been given.

"It's not the healthiest," Ruth had said, "but it's something at least."

They continue on, with Izuku keeping an eye out as they walk down the street. He feels a bit overwhelmed, but then the winds softly blow and tussle through his hair, like a guardian looking out for their ward, before words carried by the wind make him turn on impulse.

Izuku's eyes snap to the side, and he grabs ahold of Ruth's fur to stop the Grimm in his tracks. Vibrant green eyes glow as he takes stock of the figure lurking near a corner, leaning hunched on the wall as he takes a long drag of his cigarette. He's bald and sickening pale, with tattoos littering his head and bare arms. He's built like a wall, all muscles and sinews, so much so that people steer clear of him.

"That's him," Izuku whispers to Ruth, "he's the one that I saw in the mirror."

"Izuku," Ruth breathes out, "look at the compass."

Izuku does so, and he can feel warmth gnawing at his throat. Hope within him rises as the compass revolves a few times before pointing directly in front of him, towards the tattooed man. He looks up, towards the boarded up window and, with help of a timely sun, sees the glitter of stained glass.

"Gotcha," Izuku says. "Ruth, could you contact Chise and Elias for me? Tell them we found the League, and to meet us at the abandoned Church of the Last Promise."

"They're on their way," Ruth responds after a few seconds of silence. "Chise says to stay still, and don't go running head first into this."

Izuku gives him a two-fingered salute in acknowledgement and murmurs the chant to free the illusion settled over the weapons Nimue had gifted him. Carnwennan and Pridwen vibrate with energy in his hold, ready for a long awaited battle. Izuku feels a calm wash over him, drowning his worries down, suffocating them until all he feels are the barest of threads of anxiety.

Ruth pulls him further into the alleyway, away from the prying eyes of civilians and the tattooed villain. Izuku settles behind the large trash bin, allowing Carnwennan to whisper to him some helpful tips on how to wield it. He figures out that if he visualizes hard enough then he can shroud himself in shadows. He allows for shadow movements to guide his own, and for Ruth to adjust his grip on the dagger so it's firm, but loose enough to allow for fluid movement.

Pridwen, like Fail-Not had done, had adjusted to his size so it's now only half of his stature instead of being a bit taller than him. Izuku tries to get a rhythm going between Carnwennan and Pridwen, and he's somewhat successful in his attempts. Pridwen, even though surprisingly light, was still heavy enough to make his arm tire after a few minutes of use.

Izuku pants a bit, allowing his arms to hang at his side as the shadows at Carnwennan's command fall back to the floor. Not soon after, Elias and Chise appear, and Chise drops her own illusion over Fail-Not.

"What's the plan, then?" Chise asks.

Izuku remembers his vision, back in the bathroom, rather vaguely under pressure. Out of his peripherals, he can make out fire and smoke.

He looks at Chise and Elias closely, and then to Ruth, and slowly a grin forms on his face.

Fire and smoke. That's it!

"Chise," he starts, and she straightens. "Do you think you could turn into your phoenix form and set the place ablaze? It will serve as both a distraction and as a beacon for the heroes based in London to zero in on this villain base. Elias, I need you to tie up any villains with your briars until they are apprehended by the law enforcement. Once the villains are distracted and captured, Ruth and I will enter and take down any stragglers and make our way inwards to find Artemis."

"I don't like the fact that you're putting yourself in needless danger, especially being in the front lines and all." Chise sighs in a frustrated manner. "But the point still stands that this is your quest, handed to you by Lady Nimue, so while I trust your judgment, you have got to be careful, you got me, Izuku? Come back to us, safe."

"We'll make sure he comes back safe and unscathed!" chirps a voice, and Izuku whips his head up to see his Ariel Neighbors descend towards them rapidly. Iris tackles him in the shoulder while Wisteria and Chrys aim for his forehead. He tries to duck, to little success, and ends up on the ground for his efforts.

"Don't leave us like that!" Chrys reprimands him, flicking his nose.

"I'm so sorry!" Izuku apologizes profusely. Truly, in the heat of the moment, after having just woken up, he'd forgotten to wait for his Neighbors to catch up to him. His only thought had been to save Artemis and get Nimue's help while at it. "I'm glad you guys are here."

"You better be!" Iris exclaims.

"How can we help, Midori-chan?" Wisteria asks, and the other two follow her lead, looking at him expectantly.

"Iris, you'll be with me," he says after a moment of thought. "Chrys, you'll be with Chise causing mayhem. I need you to feed the flames with the winds. Wisteria, you'll be helping Elias with apprehending the villains. Are you guys up to the task?"

Chrys lands on Chise's shoulder and Wisteria hovers near Elias, both looking resolute. In tandem, all three answer, "Yes, Izuku."

He smiles brilliantly, and turns towards Chise with a determined face. He nods, and she takes a deep breath before her body bursts into flames, taking the form of a grand bird. She stretches her neck up high and croons a small tune, one that inspires Izuku to do his best, before shrieking a battle cry and bolting up into the sky. She shrieks again as she reaches an apex of her flight and descends down on the building, allowing her wings to brush near the wooden boards covering the windows, setting it ablaze. There's a gust of wind as Chrys flies close to the scene, feeding and directing the flames.

There are screams of fright as civilians run from the scene, and the distant yelling and cursing of those villains inside.

"Elias," Izuku says, and the mage nods, melting into the shadows. "Wisteria."

"Be safe, Izuku." she says, before flying into the burning building.

"Be safe, everyone," he says, allowing his voice to be carried by the wind.

Ruth and he wait until the cursing and yelling from inside slowly dissipates as Elias and Wisteria take down villains before he grabs a hold of the Grimm and both melt into the shadows, Iris following quickly behind, only to reappear inside the burning building.

"Let's make this quick," he says, ducking down low and bringing Pridwen up to avoid some debris falling on them. "Iris, go ahead and see if you can find Artemis." She nods and zooms off just as Izuku brings up Carnwennan in time to deflect a bladed-arm belonging to a villain.

"A kid?" the she-villain gasps, before narrowing her eyes and bringing her other blade-arm down upon him. Izuku uses Pridwen to deflect her attack and knock her back enough for him to catch his breath, which is getting harder to do due to the smoke.

"Tsk," he says, flinching as the she-villain sets out to attack again. Ruth snarls and bites the flesh part of her arm, chomping down on it. She screams and Izuku, while remorseful, takes the chance to knock her out by using the butt of his blade to hit her on the side of the head.

She crumples to the floor, and immediately briars form around her, immobilizing her.

Izuku winces. "That's got to hurt."

«Feel bad about your enemies later,» Ruth says, rather blandly.

They face a few more villains as they delve deeper into the church until finally, finally, Iris reappears with a grin on her face. "This way! Come on, follow me!"

Izuku quickly deals with the villain he's facing, using Pridwen to quickly knock him out, before going after Iris, Ruth following not far behind. Iris leads them to a short stairwell, and they rapidly descend it. Izuku stumbles when he hears a familiar scream, and bolts down the remaining steps in time to see the tattoo villain from earlier cover his ears in a grimace and Artemis cough.

The tattoo villain, all too preoccupied with Artemis, doesn't see Izuku at all as he menacingly approaches the apprentice. The knife tattooed on his forearm flickers to life in his hand, glittering threateningly as he grabs Artemis' throat, hovering the knife near their eye.

"Now, listen here, girlie. I don't appreciate the shit you've been pulling lately. The big bossman himself will be here any day now to take your quirk, what do you have to say about that?"

"I told you," they rasp, locking eyes with Izuku for a brief moment before returning their gaze to the tattoo villain. "That I'm quirkless! And you've brought about your doom, the League of Villains." Izuku lurches forward just as Artemis' fist clenches in their shackles and knees the villain where it hurts the most. The villain gives a grunt of pain, and Izuku acts quickly by kicking the fallen knife to Ruth and bringing his shield down on the villain. Unfortunately, the villain rolls away from the attack, but fortunately, somehow and someway, there's a glittering force field surrounding Izuku and Artemis, shielding them from the villain's enraged attacks.

"Iris!" he exclaims, feeling the force field weaken with the ongoing attacks. The Ariel turns to attention. "Free Artemis! And Ruth! Help me."

«I'm not going to hold back,» Ruth warns, snarling.

Izuku merely smirks. "Good thing I'm not going to do so either. Give it your all."

Izuku grabs Pridwen from its erect position on the floor, readying Carnwennan in his grasp.

The villain laughs once the forcefield drops. "A kid and his dog, are you trying to save the girlie over there?"

"I'm not a goddamn girl!" they shriek.

"Don't allow him to rile you up," Izuku says in a low tone of voice, watching as the villain grins and hunches in on himself. Twin blades erupt from his back, and the villain grabs them, steady in his stance. Izuku trembles minutely, before steadying himself.

"Help me, help them." He murmurs, feeling the memories of Carnwennan and Pridwen rise within him. "Help me, help them."

"Come at me," the villain says with a wide smirk. "Come on, little boy, or are you afraid?"

Izuku faces him head on, eyes glowing eerily. He cocks his head to the side, "Afraid? Me? You must be mistaken."

The villain charges and Izuku faces him head on. "Ruth!" he calls out, ducking and bringing Pridwen to block a strike, "reach out to Chise! Tell her to come here!"

Ruth snarls as Izuku dodges another blow aimed at his head, and Izuku can only hope that Ruth has done as he was told. The Grimm enters the fray of the battle, scratching and biting at the exposed areas as Izuku stays on the defensive. Seeing an opening, Izuku charges forward, slashing Carnwennan at the bridge of the villain's nose before ducking and rolling away from the enraged attack that followed soon after. He's lucky to have only been grazed on the shoulder by the sword, instead of being skewered by it.

The villain kicks Izuku in his ribs, sending him sprawling on the floor. Ruth growls menacingly, jumping into action. He keeps the villain at bay as Izuku struggles to stand up, much less join the fight again.

"Duck!"
Ruth immediately melts into the shadows to reappear beside Izuku, and they all watch as an arrow sails across the room to nail the villain on the shoulder, two others follow closely behind, hitting the villain's knees. Izuku looks away as the man wails in pain, grunting as he struggles to stand, before falling back to the floor. That's an awful lot of blood.

"Izuku! Ruth! Are you both alright?"

He nods, and Ruth changes back to human to bring Chise into his arms briefly, looking her over.

"I'm fine." The red-haired woman says, "Ruth, I'm fine."

"We better get out of here," Izuku grunts, forcing himself upright, " the law enforcement and the heroes will be here any moment."

"Izuku," she furrows her brows, "are you speaking English?"

He furrows his own brows, "Am I?"

"I think I can explain that," Artemis says, finally freed from their shackles. Their body trembles with exertion and Chise wastes no time in going to their side to support them. "But I would prefer it if we could leave this place first, please?"

"Let's do that," Izuku readily agrees.

Chise takes her flaming phoenix form once more with Artemis in her arms, breaking through the ceiling above them and out of the church. Iris and Izuku tightly grasp at Ruth as they melt into the shadows, missing the heroes that burst onto the scene by the skin of their teeth. Meanwhile, the law enforcement and heroes outside dealing with damage control watch with trepidation as a flaming bird bursts forth from the church with a shriek, flying up high into the sky before disappearing.

"An animal with a quirk?" someone questions with fear.

A foreign, newly debuted, Pro-Hero narrows his eyes in thought, his wings fluttering as if wanting to fly after the flaming bird.

What a turn of events.

↞ « o » ↠

Once they all arrive back home, the first thing they do is bring Artemis into the living room and tend to their wounds, alongside patching Izuku up. The second thing they do, or rather, Izuku does, is bring out a vial filled with clear water and dump it into a large bowl, mixing it with more water to fill the bowl up. Artemis tears up as soon as they figure out what he's doing, and hugs him profusely once he sets the bowl on the floor.

"Thank you, for everything," they sniffle, and Izuku hugs them back fiercely. Another pair of arms wrap around them and Artemis starts to sob as Nimue hugs them, telling them both how brave they were and how proud she is of both of them.

"Thank you, for saving the person that means most to me, Izuku."

He rubs at his eyes and cheeks, smiling hard. Nimue turns to the adults in the room, and bows her head. "And thank you, for going along with this endeavor."

"I must ask," Izuku's mom starts, "why did you reach out to Izuku?"

She shares a smile with Izuku, primarily, before turning that smile towards the rest. "Because he is Midoriya Izuku, and everything he does, every action he takes, is because he's spat in the face of adversity and came out on top. In other words, a beacon."

"He's the beacon," Artemis begins tentatively. "A beacon of hope. A beacon that beckons others to take a stand and do what's right. In other words, a hero."

"He's a hero," his mom says in awe, before standing and embracing her son. "Do you hear that, Izukkun? You're a hero."

Izuku smiles tearfully, melting into his mom's embrace. "That's all I've ever wanted to hear."

"Izuku being a beacon of hope is what drew me to him. Why I asked him to do what he did, because I knew, deep within the magic in me, that he'd come out on top. I'm sorry to have asked your son to do this, Mrs. Midoriya, but he was my only hope." Nimue explains, rather tearfully at that.

His mom squeezes Izuku one more time before letting go of the embrace to properly address the Lady. "While I'm not happy he had to do it, I am happy that everything turned out to be fine and that this gentle person," here, she looks pointedly at Artemis, who blushes at the attention, "was saved."

Izuku raises his hand, and everyone turns to look at him incredulously. He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "Could I get an answer as to why I can now speak English?"

His mom whips around, "You can what now?"

"Speak English, apparently," he says, as mystified as she is.

"That's because you entered Avalon, I'm guessing." Artemis speaks up, encouraged by their mentor's nod. "Avalon is the home of multiple beings and peoples, so there are no linguistic barriers in Avalon. Once you enter Avalon, even if only once, you'll find that any and all linguistic barrier, truly, any language, is now comprehensible to you."

"Really?" he exclaims, enthused.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool." Artemis gushes. "I haven't had a problem in school with French or Spanish for years now, and when I say any language, that includes dead and extinct ones too. Like Latin!"

"No way!" Izuku says, of course, in Latin. He pauses, and Artemis grins. He asks, "was that Latin?" in his mother tongue.

They nod. Izuku and Artemis immediately start babbling in different languages, making everyone's, except Nimue, head spin.

Izuku and Artemis slowly taper off once everyone goes quiet, and his mom laughs. Making everyone else go off and laugh as well. "This will take some getting used to." She says, before exclaiming a soft "Oh!"

"Mom?" Izuku asks.

"I'll be right back!" she says quickly, before leaving the living room with SIlky in tow.

A minute passes by before both she and Silky enter the room. In his mom's hands is a birthday cake, with a candle in the shape of an eleven set ablaze.

"Happy birthday, Izuku." His mom says softly.

There's a beat of silence, before everyone else says in tandem, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IZUKU!"

"Blow the candle, sweetheart. Make a wish."

He smiles, and blows the candle.

I wish to be able to protect those I care about.