XVIII. Wind From The East

The moment his fingers touched the handle, the air quivered and rippled, the golden sheen disappearing into nothingness. All that was left was the cool touch of a solid broadsword, a dulled grey in the crystal-lit cave.

"What… what's going?"

"You should move your fucking ass and stop wasting time, that's what's going on!" Bakugou barked, one hand already secured around Izuku's collar once more.

"W-wait, I can walk myself!" He argued back, hoping the pressure of his shirt cutting into his neck would loosen up. It did, albeit only reluctantly. He could sense the dragoon's patience growing thinner and thinner by the second, traces of… worry sneaking into his deep-set scowl.

Bakugou was worried about Momo. Worried about his friend. For once, he and the blonde could see eye-to-eye on something. With all his determination burning anew, Izuku gripped the handle of the sword with both hands, pulling it out of the ground with more ease than expected. The moment he removed it completely, he found himself stumped by long and heavy it actually was – too long and too heavy to use within the confines of this cave.

He stared at it for a second, trying to describe the feeling building up within him. It was almost like… betrayal. After taking all his hope, all he was left with was an unwieldable sword.

"What the hell are you waiting for? Channel your magic into it so that we can get moving!" Bakugou urged, eyes flitting between the sword and the path leading back to the others impatiently.

"But… I can't use magic." Izuku whispered, tears already building up in his eyes, ready to break free any moment now. "How am I supposed to…"

"Shit, I forgot. Okay, plan B. Make a sacrifice and start praying."

"What?! Hey, stop th-" Before he could finish protesting, Bakugou had already forcefully taken one his hands and brought it up to the blade.

"Stop moving, you fucking idiot! You just need to ask the sword for its guidance!" The blade cut into his flesh, a streak of red running down the dull metal. "Dammit!"

Bakugou cursed, inspecting his finger which had been nicked as well in the commotion. "Okay, since you're such a useless idiot, do exactly as I say, got it?! "

Izuku nodded mutely. Bakugou seemed to have a plan. A plan was good right now.

"Hold the sword correctly first, then start praying. Let it know exactly what you need from it, and if it accepts your sacrifice it will listen to you." His voice was tense, rushed, and both of them knew they were running out of time.

With trembling hands, Izuku complied without wasting a thought for why it worked this way. He could feel the warm liquid running down his skin, only adding to the clammy feeling of his sweaty hands. Pray. For what he wanted.

He closed his eyes.

He wanted… he wanted… he wanted to protect his friends!

King Enji clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Toshinori glanced at him hesitantly. They had been waiting in this spot near the borders for roughly two hours now.

"So, who are we waiting for?" He finally dared to ask.

"Who do you think?" The king grumbled. "I can't go into another kingdom on my own, it goes against the treaty."

Toshinori's mind caught on just as four figures began to approach them from between the trees. "You don't mean…"

"Greetings, King of the South." One of the figures spoke up. "We apologize for our tardiness, there were a few complications along the way."

King Enji kept his expression to a subdued scowl. "Knights of the Shiketsu Order, I presume."

"That is correct, if I may introduce ourselves. My name is Moura, and these are Sir Yoarashi, Lady Utsushimi and Sir Shishikura. It is our honour to accompany you from here on."

"…likewise. I trust you to follow us without any further… complications." The King gestured towards their group. "I do not turn back for stragglers."

"Worry not about us, Your Highness." Sir Nagamasa bowed respectfully, before signalling the one holding their horses to come forward. "We have been given orders to cooperate, so please do not hesitate to ask us for assistance."

"I appreciate the Eastern King's gesture, but we will see if I have need for it."

Toshinori observed the group of four as they started moving again. Four members of the vanguard unit, even. What was this turning into? A crusade?

"Ugh, why is this thing so heavy? I swear, my arms are going to fall off any moment now." Mina slumped against a tree, shooting the mysterious monster they had been lugging around a contemptuous look.

"I also wish it wouldn't be so hard on my back, but we need to warn the others that things like these exist." Kaminari pointed out with a frown. "Besides, the information will be extremely valuable so see it as a way of procuring funds."

"That will have to be our silver lining in all this." Kyouka rubbed her sore back. "Even if looking at this freaky thing really gives me the creeps."

"I know, right? There's no way this thing could have been… you know…" Mina crossed her arms uncomfortably. ":..born naturally."

"I agree." With a sigh, Kyouka sat down next to her. "But the question is, do we really want to know what it is?"

"You don't? I know I would definitely want to know what the hell that thing is."

Kyouka jumped to her feet, pulling her blade at the sound of the unknown voice, eyes alert and her body prepared for battle. "Who's there?! Show yourself!"

"Up here."

She angled her head upwards, meeting the innocent grin of a black-haired man. Mina and Kaminari were next to her, following her line of sight.

The man waved, the friendly smile never dying down. "Hi there."

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Kaminari inquired immediately. "Are you a spy for one of the kingdoms?"

"No, no, nothing of the sort. I just started feeling really bad for the three of you." The man sounded pretty earnest, but it could also all be an act.

"Started feeling bad…? Wait, have you been following us?!" Mina waved a dagger towards the man. "Explain yourself!"

He dropped down from the tree, landing in a silent crouch. "Hey, I'm just offering you a hand here. Call me Sero."

"We have no reason to trust a stalker." Kaminari's rapier drew in closer to this 'Sero' guy. "I'll ask you one more time… which kingdom sent you?"

"None of them." The stranger didn't seem fazed in the slightest, pushing aside the rapier's blade with his index finger. "I could have just lied and said I was from the Southern Kingdom, but I didn't. I am very concerned about that thing, though." His outstretched finger tilted, pointing towards the mystery beast.

"How long have you been following us?" Kyouka couldn't sense any lies from this man, and quite frankly, it was unnerving.

"Just a bit, don't worry about it. I'll help you get this thing to the closest research institute."

Kyouka exchanged a quick glance with her two companions. They… they had been accepted into a group of travellers despite being shady themselves.

Was this their destined moment to repay the kindness they had thrown away?

Tenya's legs stopped moving as the familiar tree formations came into view. All his regrets and worries came back, weighing down his will to move like iron shackles.

"Is something the matter?" Tokoyami looked back at him. "Are you perhaps exhausted? We have almost reached our place of destination, so just hold on a bit longer."

"I'm fine." Tenya took a deep breath, straightening his posture once more. He had to stand tall, like a paladin. He was Tenya Iida, after all.

And so he dragged the iron shackles across the floor, one foot in front of the other, to face his past mistakes.

"Where do we go? I don't remember where we came from, not with the blinding light and then we were being attacked and oh god what if we never find our way out of here I can't d-"

"Will you shut the fuck up?" Katsuki spun on his heel, barking at his unpleasant companion. He still couldn't believe that this sad excuse of a human being was chosen for this. Even more disturbingly, the sword had accepted his sacrifice and yielded to his wishes. "We're not going to get lost, so just shut up and let me find the others."

"...okay."

This was unbearable. He didn't have to time with this wimp's antics, not when Momo was still… whatever she was. Blocking off all outside noises, Katsuki took a deep breath, picking up all scents in the cave.

Once he found the right one, he started sprinting along the pathways, not even caring if the twerp was keeping up. The sword had chosen him, so surely he would be able to, if he was really worthy.

"Mina sure is taking long." Jirou sighed out loud, resting her chin on her hands. She had taken refuge in the shade of the tree Denki was currently perched on, from where he was keeping an eye out.

"You think something happened to her?" Sero asked. He seemed so laid-back, as if nothing could affect his carefree nature. They were still wary of him, but he wasn't going to reject a helping hand now. However...

"..." Denki had a bad feeling about this. Ashido was quick and light on her feet, so evading most trouble should have been fairly easy for her. "We should go look for her."

"And what do we do about this?" Sero pointed a thumb at the gigantic black thing, "Take it with us?"

"We don't really have much of a choice. And Mina is more important that this thing anyway." Jirou decided for them. "I'm willing to risk running into travellers if something has really happened to her."

"Alright." He leapt down from the branch, landing on the grass in a crouch. "Let's not waste any more time, then."

It didn't take long for them to find out what had happened. And maybe just a group of random travellers or bandits would have been more preferential.

It was a full knight entourage, and at the head of the group was...

"...Your Majesty?" Denki gasped, the bafflement freezing his movements momentarily. "King Enji…?"

"Hn, you're that man… Kaminari, right?" The king's voice was cold and even. "What on earth are you doing here? I hope you have good news."

"Well, I-"

Did he… have good news? Did the king have something to do with him being out here? After all, the leader of their country had no business on this side of the border… unless… wait, no…

That deep crimson hair colour, hadn't he seen it somewhere else recently…

Rain… A challenging opponent…

No… no way...

"Your majesty! A monster!" The other knights noticed the large silhouette behind them. "Quickly, protect the King!"

"Leave it to me!~" A female voice cut in, and shortly after a flowy form descended from who knows where, followed by a mass of golden hair. "I'll take care of this~ Step aside, boy."

The woman couldn't have been much older than him, yet she held an air of assurance.

"Camie, don't waste your magic here. That thing... is already dead." Another strange man interrupted. Who were these two? Denki had never seen them in the Capitol before…

"Erm, I would have told you that if you hadn't…"

"Kaminari, Kyouka! Help a girl out here!" Denki looked for the location of Mina's sudden cry for assistance, spotting her pink locks amidst some knights, hopping up and down to make up for her short stature.

"Mina!" Kyouka didn't hesitate to break from his side, weaving through the entourage towards their friend. "Mina, are you okay?!"

He could hear their voices, but his feet were cemented on the spot. The king's gaze rested upon him, followed by an impatient, "Well? Report your findings."

Red. Rain. Thunder. Son.

He straightened his back, sorting his memories into their places. "Your majesty, will you hear me out? I can explain everything."

"I see, good work." The king's words were cold and concise, the stern frown on his face never faltering. "We'll go retrieve my son after we deal with this… thing."

Kyouka couldn't explain it, but she felt so... small in the man's presence. She didn't know much about any of the royal families, and while she and Mina had always joked about them, she couldn't even get a single word out under his impertinous stare.

"You two, I will accept your efforts towards my kingdom as partial repentance. I will make no promises, however, and you are responsible for your own futures." He basically glossed over her and Mina, waving at his men to let them both go.

After her attempts to free Mina, she had been restrained as well, the knights twisting her arms behind her back in a way that left her wrists sore. They had dragged her and Mina to the King afterwards, meaning they hadn't had the chance to hear the full conversation between Kaminari and the king, but whatever he said seemed to have convinced him enough.

Rubbing her joints, Kyouka bowed awkwardly, Mina following shortly after.

They were not used to this.

"Erm, thank you, your majesty."

They didn't even get an answer as the man clearly had more important things to do. Kaminari was standing a few metres away, a myriad of emotions on his face.

"Where's Sero?" Mina inquired, looking around.

"He, uh, disappeared. Maybe something to do with the royal convoy here." Kyouka answered awkwardly. Their time together had been brief, and she still didn't trust the mysterious guy. Not that him vanishing helped with their impression of him.

"I have something I need to tell you two." Kaminari finally spoke up. He seemed conflicted about something, that was for sure.

"Hey, hey, you didn't tell the king anything weird about us, did you?"

"No, that's not it. It has nothing to do with you two. It's about… Shouto."

Kyouka had no idea what had suddenly brought on this topic. They generally didn't speak about what had happened in the dragoon village, so why…?

"Excuse me, if I could join this conversation…?" It was an older, sickly man with wispy blond hair that joined in. "I overheard part of the report you gave the king earlier. The young man that traveled with you… was his name Midoriya?"

Shouto thought he saw his childhood days again for a second there.

A black-haired girl with everything he had ever wished for, with a smile so bright she put the sun to shame. A girl he both envied and admired so much.

And then that black hair grew longer and the smile disappeared, morphing into a feral scowl, shattering the illusion as he felt his time run out. The tip of her blade drew closer and closer, and there was nothing he could do. No movement, no spell, no words.

All that was left was the regret. The endless regrets of things he never accomplished. But maybe that was the predestined end of his story.

A fool who tried to be a hero, but failed so pathetically.

Heh, how ironic.

A hero.

He couldn't even be a hero for the person he regretted being unable to save the most.

Momo didn't even see him, her enemy was elsewhere. Her blank eyes were looking somewhere far in the distance, through the rock wall pressing up against his back. He was nothing more than a roadblock in the way of her objective.

It didn't take long for the sensation of something warm dripping down along his skin to tingle his senses. The pain was sure to follow any second now.

Any second…

…

…

…

...

"...ove."

Huh?

Shouto had lowered his head in resignation, but Momo's faint whisper was enough to pull him back to reality.

"Move." She repeated, more firmly, meeting his eyes head-on.

It took him a second to realise that he was, in fact, not dead. And the warm liquid was, in fact, not his blood.

Momo's dagger was plunged firmly into her other hand, pinning it into the clay wall next to him. Her facial features distorted in pain and anguish, breaths coming out like low growls, but he understood.

She wasn't gone just yet. Momo was fighting multiple battles on her own, and all of them in the cave were nothing but hindrances in the worst way possible.

He crushed all hesitation in his heart and moved his body.

It always ended up like this. Why? Why was she always the one who saved him? Why could he never repay her?

"Restrain her!"

He had never thought he'd be so happy to hear Bakugou's crude voice. And if Bakugou was here, then he could help…!

His limbs were weak and in the process of stumbling away from Momo he could see her arms shaking as her body fought against her mind. One hand was still firmly pushing against the dagger, causing it to dig deeper into her flesh as streams of red flowed down her arm and began pooling on the floor.

"Hurry!" She gritted out between clenched teeth. A brief second of eye contact. And two more words, so breathless that he could only make out the movement of her lips. "Help me."

"Shouto, can you still use magic?!" Uraraka suddenly appeared next to him, supporting his weight before he collapsed. "I don't have a lot of power left either, but we should be able to restrain her together!"

"..." He needed a few seconds to catch his breath, precious seconds he knew he was wasting. With a weak nod, he lifted his sword one more time. "Let's do this."

Her call for help… This time, he would be there to answer it.

"I'll levitate the rocks, you freeze them." The mage next to him announced before delving into her chant. He didn't dawdle much either.

Like a cold breath, the magic cursed through his body, channeling into the sword. His fingers began to go numb at the sudden temperature drop, a comforting, familiar sensation, and within a blink, just as Momo pulled the dagger out of the wall again, everything froze.

"Not the whole cave, you fucking idiot!" Bakugou began scolding him, but his energy was exhausted, his ears drowning out the rest of what he was saying. Even with Uraraka's support, he couldn't stand anymore, slipping to his knees.

"Shouto!"

It was Midoriya. The urgent shout had come from Midoriya. What was he-

Warm. There was something warm and comforting that completely contrasted his frigid magic.

"There's no need to worry, I'm here now!" Midoriya sounded so scared and meek… or wait, did he? Shouto felt like his ears might have been playing tricks on him. Yes, definitely, because he was picking up the sound of a loud shatter, like glass breaking.

Maybe not glass, more like… ice.

"Do it now, idiot!"

"I… I'll save you!"

"Grrrr…"

"Shouto, can you hear me?! Stay with us!"

"Shou-"

So many voices. So noisy. So dizzy. How much blood had he lost already?

Too much? Probably.

He wondered… did he… was he able to… help her, at least this time around?

Izuku faced Momo, the sword trembling in his hands. He had the power now. The power to protect his friends. And yet…

Shouto was out cold, at least he assumed as much from the way Uraraka was shaking him. The mage wasn't looking any better either, bruises and deep cuts revealing the hardships they had while he was wasting time with his own weak mind.

Tsuyu was there too, and everybody looked exhausted. they had been fighting… to protect him.

Why couldn't he even do this much? Why was he so powerless? Why…

"Use the goddamn sword!" Bakugou screamed at him, moving across the area to counter Momo.

Momo… she couldn't even stand up straight anymore after breaking out of her imprisonment. But she was still moving, rigidly, like a disoriented doll.

Her left hand bore a large, red blotch that had already started oxidising, the smudged tendrils of red along her arm marking her pale skin.

"Sword… please… give me the power... TO SAVE HER!" He lifted the blade, and just in that moment Bakugou managed to tackle Momo from behind, restricting her movements.

"DO IT!"

The golden sheen from the blade seemed promising, lulling him into safety. And with the One For All, Izuku swung his sword at the girl.

Toshinori felt it. He couldn't pull out the crystal to check, but a part of him just knew it. Midoriya had found the One For All.

"Sir Yagi? Is everything alright?" It was the boy, Kaminari.

"Yes, sorry, my thoughts were elsewhere. Back to your story, you were telling me about your journey…"

"Well, there's not much more to it than I already told you." He looked away, a sense of shame in his words. He had worded some parts a bit strangely, but Toshinori could put together the real picture. The two girls' reactions confirmed many of his hunches.

There had been a falling out, and Kaminari had failed in two objectives. Prince Shouto had been going around while hiding his identity. All of their paths had converged around Midoriya and his quest. But just as everything met at one point, their paths diverged again.

"I'm sorry, Sir Yagi. You put so much trust in Midoriya, yet I couldn't…" His words held a lot of regret.

"Sometimes in life, things happen for a reason." Toshinori sighed, putting a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "You're still young, despite having so much responsibility. I'm sure that you met Midoriya for a reason, young Kaminari."

"You think so?"

He nodded, lifting a hand to point towards the monster they had brought in. "I don't think we would have found out about that if things hadn't happened the way they did."

Fate could be cruel, he knew that more anyone. But there was nothing more to do than to accept that fate.

At least his words seemed to cheer up Kaminari a bit.

"Hey, you over there, come here. King's orders." One of the knights called out to them, gesturing towards the crowd that had formed around the thing.

With a gentle touch, he pushed the backs of the three youths forward. "Let's go, before the king gets impatient."

There was so much light, it hurt to look. There was a pained scream, so loud it hurt to listen to. There was so much pressure in the air, it hurt to stand.

But Izuku couldn't close his eyes. He couldn't hold his ears. He couldn't give in to his weak legs.

He couldn't, not when somebody else's life was on the line. He had never used magic before, but the feeling was… so warm. It was comforting. Like everything was going to be okay. And yet, at the same time, it was scratching at his soul. Ripping him apart from the inside.

It was burning, scorching, freezing all at the same time.

A small sacrifice for the greater good.

...right?

"So, what do you make of it?" King Enji asked gruffly, a deep scowl set on his face. "How much of a threat does it pose to the Kingdoms?"

Shishikura looked up from the creature hesitantly. "I'm not sure how to put this into words, but… it's a combination of magic. Specifically, I'm sure it was created by combining alchemy and necromancy."

"Is such a thing even possible?" The purple-haired girl muttered, echoing the thoughts of all people present. "I mean, combining elemental magic is one thing, but combining advanced magic? That's just crazy!"

"I know." Shishikura responded solemnly. "But I have no doubt in my findings. I'm sure…" He stood up, creating distance between himself and the creature with slow, wobbly steps. "I'm sure this thing is a cursed existence."