AN: Welcome to my BNHA Fantasy!AU, heavily inspired by the anime's third ending! I don't know if this has been done yet, if so, I hope this won't be all too similar.
This will mainly be a TodoMomo fic (because only 48 english fanfics on this site is kind of depressing), other pairings undecided as of now.
I. Dawn Of Change
Silence. Tranquility.
Nothing but the soft sough of water as waves swept over onto the empty beach. There wasn't another person far and wide.
If he closed his eyes and drowned everything else out, he could almost feel the cold sand between his toes.
He could almost touch the moonlight.
If he concentrated hard enough, he could pretend he was anywhere but here.
Just a moment of nothingness, a moment of peace.
A moment of silence.
A moment broken by an unpleasant voice.
"Shouto!"
"Yes, father?" His spine straightened instinctively at the sound of his father's harsh words, a habit he was not too fond of.
His father looked upset, about what, Shouto didn't know, nor did he particularly care. He just wanted to leave already. The throne room was cold and uncomfortable, his feet itching to find safe ground.
King Enji narrowed his eyes. "Weren't you listening to me? I said that you are going to travel to the neighbouring kingdom with a proposition of an alliance."
Shouto put on a straight face. Maybe he should have listened at least a bit, he would admit that much. But just enough to get the gist of what this conversation was about.
The king clicked his tongue, barely hiding his disapproval. "The rumours about the circumstances in the Western Kingdom have become… concerning. Should they prove to be true, we will need as many allies as possible."
Shouto nodded slowly, piecing the information together in his mind. Rumours about the West? That was the thing about the dragons, right?
Regardless, he didn't have much of a choice. "As you wish, father." He answered diligently, only to allow himself to finally leave that godforsaken room, absentmindedly accepting a scroll from one of the guards on his way out. Once the door fell closed behind him, he let out a long breath.
"Shouto." A softer voice called his name, followed by a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"
His fist clenched around the scroll in his hand tightly, somehow managing to keep his voice steady. "Don't worry about it, Fuyumi, I'll be fine."
She gave him a look that told him she had seen right through his lie but stopped herself from saying anything else. Instead, she bowed elegantly and left with her ladies-in-waiting.
Shouto watched her disappear down the gloomy hallway, only letting out a frustrated sigh once she was out of earshot.
He didn't want her to worry about him needlessly.
He glanced at the scroll in his hand, undoubtedly holding a marriage proposal between him and a daughter of the Eastern King in order to secure an alliance. It had always been a possibility, he knew that, but he still felt robbed of a sliver of freedom.
A servant approached him with a fully-packed travel bag, stating that his horse and entourage had already been prepared for departure.
He suppressed a defeated sigh.
Of course it had been.
A long time ago, somebody told him that royalty was privileged. That they had it all. Shouto wished that was true.
Being royalty was the embodiment of freedom for many, but for him it was like a prison. Even now, surrounded by a circle of knights, he felt like he was being escorted to his sentencing rather than to another kingdom.
Sir Monoma had never really gotten along with him, and Shouto wasn't too sure he knew the other knights' names. He wasn't too keen to go on this trip.
Just as expected, time crawled by agonizingly slow, the sun running it's cycle over them once, twice, thrice as the scenery gradually changed. He thought he'd be okay, but there was something distressing about being constantly surrounded. The odd feeling sat in his stomach, chipping away at his sense of freedom until finally found the word for it.
Anxiety. His anxiety grew stronger with each hour spent travelling, each minute, each second.
It was suffocating him.
He didn't ask for this. He didn't want any of this. Watching his mother cry endlessly. Watching his sister bite down on her tongue in hesitation. Stiffening whenever his father forced his ideas on him.
Looking in the mirror and seeing his father's cyan eye.
The scroll bearing his father's proposition and signature suddenly burned in his satchel.
He didn't want this. He didn't want to do this. He took a shaky breath. Was he really that powerless? No! Maybe… maybe it was just time to take matters into his own hands!
Cold sweat covered his hands, but he patiently waited for the right moment. Waited for his entourage to shift their attention elsewhere.
"Your Highness," one of the knights approached him, "it is time to take a short break."
He nodded stiffly, not daring to open up his mouth in fear of revealing his plan.
He gulped audibly, but the head knight took no notice of it. He nearly laughed at the irony of the situation.
After years of relentless tutoring and honing leadership skills, he was now putting his well-trained intellect to a completely unprecedented use.
What he would pay to see his father's reaction when word of this reached him.
He waited for all knights to get off their horses, and as Sir Monoma reluctantly reached out to offer him assistance in getting down, he slammed his heels into the horse, mentally apologizing to it.
It roared into a frenzy, dashing down the forest path in a blur of dust and white, leaving behind all the baffled knights.
It came down to that one moment, but it felt so right.
He let himself laugh loudly as the horse continued rampaging down the path, widening the gap between him and his entourage.
Going against his father's orders was exhilarating, and it felt as if a burden had been lifted from his soul.
It was only once they exited the forest that he calmed down the horse, letting it come to a standstill in front of one of the cliffs.
In the distance he could make out the faint outlines of his father's castle, and a pinch of guilt hit him for leaving his sister behind.
But he shook his head, rebuilding his faith in her. She was strong. She would pull through just fine.
Ochako lazily made her magic wand float in randomized circles, letting out a small sigh in the process.
The sound of bustling fire softly filled the night and their surroundings, trumped only by the continuous mutterings of her travel companions.
"Ah, but you see, we need to consider the possibility of bandits ambushing us here, or here, and we need to stop by a village sooner or later in order to restock food and water. But that brings us to the next point, we don't really have that much money left, so we'll probably have to take up some day jobs on the way…"
"Midoriya, you are so thorough with your planning and considerations, it's very commendable."
Deku let out a soft, embarrassed chuckle, interrupting his never-ending ramblings of paranoia.
Ochako glanced at the adventurer, thinking over the events of the past days once more. There wasn't really any substantial reason for joining the upbeat boy, it had rather just been… an instinctive decision.
He had quite literally fallen into her life, having failed to climb a nearby tree. The memory still made her laugh.
"Did you think of something nice, Uraraka?" Iida inquired.
She smiled, picking her wand out of mid-air. "Oh, just my first encounter with Deku."
"You're still going on about that?" The green-haired boy sighed. "It's embarrassing, please stop."
"Hmmm… nope." She stuck out her tongue cheekily, making Iida shake his head, but she could see the way his mouth curved upwards slightly.
"You two are terrible." Deku said, pointedly looking away.
"But that's just what friends do!" Ochako laughed, hovering her hands over the fire. It was warm and cosy, even if they were in the middle of the woods.
"Back to our previous topic," Iida cut in, "we should decide on a general route to take. If the legendary sword really exists, where would it be?"
"We could throw a dice." She suggested. "It's not as if anybody actually knows where it is."
"In that case, why don't we just cover all kingdoms?" Deku drew a circle over the map with his finger. "And I say we start with…" His finger stopped. "… the Western Kingdom."
"Hmmm, I dunno…" She tilted her head. "I've heard some nasty stuff about dragons there lately…"
"I agree with Uraraka." Iida added. "Even if the rumours are false, the Western Kingdom has seen better days…"
Deku looked slightly nervous, but it might have just been her imagination. "W-Wouldn't that be a reason to check it out? Things like legendary weapons are often guarded by fierce creatures."
"Well, you do have a point…" The paladin hummed. "Additionally, we could see what the situation in the West really is like…"
Ochako gnawed on her bottom lip. She wasn't too keen on going to the West, but… "If it's with you guys, I'm sure we'll be okay!"
"Alright!" Deku declared excitedly. "Tomorrow, we set course for the Western Kingdom!"
"Ehm, excuse me?"
The voice tore him out of his thoughts, making him turn his head towards its source. Three travellers, looking roughly his age, stood there.
He raised an eyebrow at them. "Yes?"
The one in the middle, a rather plain-looking boy with wide eyes, took a step forward. "Can you direct us to the nearest town? We're kind of lost."
The boy awkwardly chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, his two companions completing the picture with their matching looks of dismay.
He frowned, ready to answer the question with the natural ease of a knowledgeable prince, namely that they currently were…
He blinked, finally realizing that the distant castle was his only indicator of where they were, and that he didn't know for sure either. Still…
"Let me lead you there, I just happened to be on my way there as well." He offered, counting on eventually reaching a nearby village no matter what direction they headed in.
A little white lie wouldn't hurt, and he had to keep moving in order to avoid the search parties his father inevitably was going to send after him. As long as they reached a town sooner than later, he'd have re-oriented himself and completed a helpful task at the same time.
"Ah, thank you, sir!" The boy in the middle answered with a broad grin, his two companions sighing in relief.
"It really is embarrassing that we managed to lose sight of the trail." The tallest in the group, a paladin, lamented. "We're sorry for troubling you, sir."
"It's okay." Shouto answered. "You're not inconveniencing me in any way."
"Thanks again!" The third member added, a cheerful girl with a large staff. A mage? Probably.
"Oh, I nearly forgot." The green-haired one suddenly spoke up. "My name is Izuku Midoriya. These two are Ochako Uraraka and Tenya Iida."
The two others gave a small bow. He nodded in response.
They seemed like honest people, but right now he would have to sacrifice some of his honour in favour of leaving his past behind. He'd wipe his slate clean. He'd start anew, as just…
"Shouto." He introduced himself simply.
"Ah, a good name for a good man." The paladin, Iida, commented earnestly.
"It's nice to meet you, Shouto." The mage complied, her brown locks swinging in sync with her energetic movements.
"So, what brings you three to these forests?" He inquired, making idle small-talk as they continued their journey.
"We were searching for something. Apparently there are these really special herbs around here, and you get quite a hefty reward for bringing them back to village." Midoriya began explaining.
"Since we kind of need more money, we hoped it'd be a sure-fire way of making a quick buck." The mage, Uraraka, continued with a dismayed sigh.
"Unfortunately, despite our valiant efforts, we have neither found the plants nor any village nearby." Iida finished in dejection.
Shouto glanced at them out of the corner of his eye. He knew which herbs they were talking about, but he highly doubted they'd find any in this area. As far as he knew, they only grew on the other side of the valley.
He frowned. "What do you guys need money for so quickly?"
Midoriya gave him a confident smirk as an answer. "We are going on an adventure, a legendary quest!" He pumped up his fist into the air, eliciting equally excited exclaims from his two companions.
"An adventure?" Shouto asked, confusion evident in his voice.
Midoriya nodded eagerly. "We are searching for the ultimate treasure, the sacred sword, One For All!"
And then everything fell into place. Shouto nearly felt sorry for them, actually.
They wanted to play hero.
Everybody knew about the legend of the One For All, and the riches it allegedly came with. More importantly, he knew how much his father despised that particular legend, as it depicted a fictional sword even more powerful than his Endeavour Of Hell.
But nobody had ever succeeded in finding it. Of course, there had been rumours, but no one had definite proof.
It would probably just be a waste of time, to be honest.
"I see. In that case, I wish you the best of luck." Despite initially wanting to discourage them from their quest, he chose to forgo his negativity and try encouraging them instead.
The bright smiles he got in return were more than enough.
And what is a good man such as yourself doing here in these woods, Shouto?" The paladin asked, unknowingly bringing up a topic Shouto had attempted to avoid.
Well, perhaps it was unavoidable.
"I…" he hesitated, trying to find a suitable reason from the top of his head. "I have left my home town in search of the purpose of life." He ended up reasoning.
This seemed to appease Iida, so he guessed it was kind of a victory.
The rest of the day was rather quiet, the occasional small talk coming from Uraraka or Midoriya, but all in all uneventful.
They decided to settle down for the night, tired from their journey.
"Hmmm, somehow I cannot get this to work." Iida grumbled as he watched the spark caused by his flint and stone die down again.
Midoriya and Uraraka had left to gather some edible herbs, fruits and perhaps a small animal or two while Shouto and Iida were to prepare the fire.
Shouto watched as the Paladin moved around at astounding speed, gathering only the driest of dry wood, not minding to get his hands dirty and inspecting every single branch with a victorious smirk.
He took note of his obvious wind magic, so watching the teenager struggling with flint and stone was honestly just too painful to watch.
"Here, let me do it." He interjected. Then he put his palm on the dry wood, only removing once the flames had begun to grow decently.
"Ahh, how fortunate to have a fire user!" Iida said appreciatively. "That must be pretty handy."
Shouto looked at his left hand. "Yeah, …right."
Iida left once more in search of more fire wood to keep the fire going through the night, leaving Shouto alone with his thoughts, staring into the vibrant, dancing reds and oranges and yellows he had come to hate so much over time.
He reached into his satchel, taking out the paper scroll his father had given him, gave it one last look and tossed it into the flames, watching the edges grow black and the fragile paper finally crumble into grey ashes.
Then he let out a sigh which seemingly removed half the weight on his shoulders.
It wasn't long before Uraraka and Midoriya returned to the small clearing with triumphant smiles, holding up some rabbits and fruits.
It would definitely be enough to last until they reached the village the next day.
At least, Shouto thought to have recognized one of the stone formations they passed on their way. The good news was, he had a semblance of an idea where they currently were, the bad news was that they were still too close to the capitol for his liking.
And as they all bid each other good night, his conscious decided to resurface.
Was this… really okay?
To his relief, his memory had not failed him. True enough, roughly an hour away from their camp site, there was a small village.
The looks of relief and happiness on Uraraka's, Midoriya's and Iida's faces were pretty comical, but he managed to suppress his laughter.
After all, according to what they had told him the day before, they had been aimlessly wandering around the forest for an entire week prior to meeting him.
He definitely felt sorry for them.
They checked into an inn so that they could put down their travel bags, paying with a large amount of the little money they had left.
Shouto sighed, realizing that he didn't have too much on hand either. His idea of leaving the knights behind had been so spontaneous that he couldn't have known to prepare for it.
Consequently, he found himself standing in line with the other three as they waited for their turns at the day-job-centre.
Not the proudest moment of his life, he will admit, but luckily this village was small enough that nobody connected his peculiar appearance to that of their 'humble' king.
They probably didn't even know what the king looked like.
He also only remembered the village from passing by a long time ago, the image of wide, full fields and single church tower on the horizon etched into his mind.
It was a trip he had taken with his mother.
He shook the thoughts that were resurfacing away, and they were gone in an instant.
Once it was finally his turn, he was hardly surprised at the slip of paper detailing some labour work he was presented with.
He was no stranger to hard, relentless work under extreme conditions.
One of his earliest memories was his father shouting at him, telling him he was weak and demanding the impossible from him.
Then he was working from daybreak until deep into the nights on fields, construction sites and storage houses.
His father had earned his power and title through hard work, so his son sure as hell had to put in an equal amount of effort, if not more.
So helping an old farmer's wife carry heavy crates from one barn to another actually felt kind of fulfilling.
It was a nice feeling, he decided. It was a nice feeling, being able to make other people smile.
When he met up with the others that evening, he found that he was the only one who seemed to get that feeling of fulfilment.
Even though he had initially planned to leave the village as soon as he had found his orientation again, curiosity led him to stick around the three travellers with the somewhat far-fetched goal.
Said three travellers, who had been grinning at him brightly the day before, were now slumped over the wooden table in exhaustion.
"Ughhh… I can't feel my arms…" Midoriya's muffled voice complained.
"Ngh, and my back aches so much… I'd cast a spell, but moving hurts too much." Uraraka sighed in disdain.
Iida didn't voice any deficits, he merely let out a pained groan that spoke for more than enough.
Shouto sighed at their obvious lack in stamina, signalling to one of the waitresses that he'd like to place his order.
A few seconds later a young woman came by, asking what they'd want.
Shouto absentmindedly took note of her slight lisp, as well as her very large, amphibian eyes.
"I'll take this… and one of these." He pointed to the menu, the waitress nodding in compliance before gesturing to the other occupants.
"And them?"
Shouto grimaced at their collective groans. "They'll… they'll just have the same."
She nodded again, jutting down the details on her notepad and heading back towards the kitchens.
It took a few minutes, but Uraraka eventually managed to lift her head in order to look at him. "Are you not exhausted, Shouto?"
"No, I am not." He answered earnestly, pushing the pots of tea he had ordered in front of each member in practiced motions.
Iida also lifted his head at the scent of fresh tea, speaking up for the first time since entering the inn. "As expected of Shouto, not only has he mastered his work without setback, but he has also continued to support us."
Shouto wearily smiled in response to that. He wasn't sure when, but somehow along the way, Iida had painted a grand picture of him and would only see him as such.
"Here's your food." The waitress had returned in the meanwhile, skilfully balancing multiple plates on her hands and setting them down on the table.
The trio's eyes sparkled at the sight of the simple, yet amazing dish their newest companion had ordered for them.
"CURRY!" They shouted in unison, aching muscles and back pains forgotten as they devoured their food with the mannerisms equal to those of a dog.
"I must say, Shouto, you never cease to amaze me," Iida spoke up, "thank you."
Uraraka nodded heftily in agreement, a wide, happy grin on her face.
"I will take note of this for future reference." Midoriya added determinately.
"Eh… you're welcome?" Shouto offered, slightly confused. Was this how all commoners outside the capitol behaved?
They finished their last drops of tea and decided to call it a night, at least they planned to, but there was one small thing separating them from the comfort of the inn's beds.
Said thing being a bandit who had stormed into the inn, grabbed a waitress and waved around a gun.
"Give me all the money and valuables you have! Now! Or the girl gets it!" He tightened his grip around the waitress' neck and put his ginormous hand over her face, pushing the barrel of the gun against her temple.
"You better start moving!" He repeated demandingly.
Shouto grimaced as all the other customers began taking things out of their pockets and another waitress began opening the cashiers with tears flowing down her cheek.
His eyes flitted over the room, taking in the distance between themselves and the bandit, but it was too long and the bandit had the advantage as long as he held that gun.
His right hand twitched in anticipation, and while freezing half the inn would be an option, he really didn't want to have to rely on his magic too much.
Especially his left hand.
Not to mention that he didn't have the kind of money to pay for repairs.
He continued examining the situation, and his eyes briefly met Midoriya's.
The innocent-looking teen had a fiery determination dancing in his eyes.
Shouto looked at the other two, who held similar expressions on their face.
Were they…? Seriously…?
Midoriya made distinctive eye contact with him, telling him he had a plan.
He nodded discreetly and glanced back at the bandit, who had turned to start collecting the goods, his other hand still around the waitress in an iron grip.
With his attention somewhere else, Midoriya signalled them to charge.
Iida surged forward with astounding speed, catching both Shouto and the bandit off-guard. Midoriya was right behind him, moving much faster than he'd ever expect of a boy with his build.
And the soft murmurs of chanting that filled the silence behind him told him that Uraraka was about to cast something.
He cursed under his breath, realizing that he knew nothing about their skill sets.
What was Uraraka going to do? Support or offense? He didn't have time to think about it too much, as Iida had already crossed the room, one fist deeply set into the bandit's stomach. Midoriya came right afterwards, delivering a kick to his arm, hoping to knock the gun out of his hand.
The bandit, hunched over from the sudden attack, still managed to react in time and dodged the kick, releasing the waitress' face in order to take the gun into that hand. With his free hand, he roughly pried Iida away and tossed him across the room.
A triumphant smirk crossed the bandit's face, but it fell as soon as it came.
The air in the room had suddenly grown extremely cold. Why? Did somebody use magic? It took him a few seconds, but then he finally realized it. He was the one who used magic, ice coating the wooden floor now. What was he doing? Why had he done that?
The bandit was frozen in place, confusion written all over his face.
"Wh-" He never got to finish his sentence as his gun suddenly disappeared from his hand, along with his hostage.
"Take this!" Uraraka shouted, spinning her wand one last time and directing her attack at their opponent, successfully taking him out for good.
Everybody in the inn was still frazzled and shocked by the sudden turn of events, so much that Shouto didn't even notice that his own heartbeat was through the roof.
The first sound that broke the silence was a soft squish.
He glanced at the source, somehow not surprised that it was the waitress, elongated tongue still wrapped around the bandit's gun.
He'd almost forgotten that she was of the frog tribe. Regardless, he was impressed. Not everybody would have been ready to use that small window of opportunity, but she had done so with no hesitation and repercussion.
"Shouto, that skill is so awesome!" Uraraka exclaimed from behind him, walking up to his side and admiring the sheet of ice that covered the majority of the floor between them and the knocked-out bandit.
"I should have seen that coming." Iida criticized himself with a shake of his head. "Good thing Shouto was there to help us out."
"Yeah, that was really cool." Midoriya joined in, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "I can't believe I completely missed that kick though."
"Ah, don't worry, it happens to all of us from time to time." Uraraka encouragingly told them. "Next time, just make sure you really sink that sucker! Hah!" She jumped into a fighting pose of her own.
Honestly, this trio never stopped surprising him.
Her two companions merely laughed at her antics, effectively cheering up again, but he couldn't help but wonder exactly how much combat potential this group held.
He gulped. Maybe… maybe the quest for the One For All wasn't as laughable as he initially thought.
They weren't playing heroes... they were being heroes.
"Excuse me?" A female voice asked him.
He turned around, now facing the frog waitress from earlier. "Yes?"
"Do you think you can remove all the ice somehow? I don't know whether the wood can handle that much water…" She gestured towards the trail of ice.
"Ah, yes, I will take care of it right away." He answered quickly. He needed to calm his nerves and get his thoughts straight.
Kneeling down, he placed his left hand on the ice, concentrating the heat into until it all evaporated, raising the room temperature slightly.
Why did he use his magic? He hated it, so why? Why did step in? Why did he reveal his magic affinity? Why had he done it subconsciously?
He could only hope it didn't raise too many questions.
AN: Please leave a review, they always make my day :))
[20.10.18: Rewrote the first few chapters. No major changes to plot elements, just some sentence and dialogue changes, as well as cutting out unnecesary parts.]
~Emi