When Izuku finally woke up, it was to the gentle up and down motion of horseback: there were snorts from the animals and murmurs from a crowd, tongue clicks from master's controlling their mounts. His hand immediately darted to his left arm as he shot upwards in alarm.
To his relief, his arm was in fact there. He had only lost the arm of his Vessel, not his true arm. Izuku relaxed and took in his situation. There was an armored arm wrapped around his waist, keeping him in place while he had been sleeping.
"Calm down there bud, its it's alright." Izuku looked upwards and behind himself, looking to the face that owned the arm around his waist. It was a man in his early twenties, with kind blue eyes and messy blonde hair that seemed to stand straight up. He was smiling down at Izuku. "We got everyone checked up and treated before we moved out. A lot of you had pretty major injuries, but you got out perhaps the easiest. Well, aside from that Vessel of yours."
Izuku swallowed hard. "Did you save it?"
"Oh yeah. Except for the arm, which was turned into scrap by that beast, we got it in one piece. I'm sure the mechanics and engineers of the Capitol can fix it up." The man jabbed a thumb over his shoulder.
Izuku slowly leaned over his arm. The horse they were riding was toting behind it a small wagon: inside was a pile of scavenged belongings and medical equipment, laying on top of which was the battered and dented form of Izuku's beloved Vessel.
At least it was mostly in one piece.
He slumped in relief. As he looked around, he spotted many other horses and wagons carrying the rescued captives: Shoto was riding with Momo, slumped down and laying with his back against her as he seemed to sleep; Dabi was sitting on the floor of a wagon, surrounded by the kids; Shinso was in front of a knight on another horse; and guiding a horse carrying another wagon of kids, waving enthusiastically at Izuku, was none other than Ostrich himself, Tokoyami sitting behind him.
Izuku couldn't help but begin to cry.
The man hushed Izuku and nudged him back to face forward. "Hey hey, it's alright. Everything's fine now, you all-"
"We're alive." It was barely a whisper through his tears, but it silenced the man. "We're actually alive!"
"... yes. Yes you are." He tightened his grip on Izuku affectionately. "We got here in time."
Izuku was trying to choke down his sobs, but to no avail. "I'd actually lost hope... I actually believed I would die in that place..."
The man didn't say anything to that. They were silent for a while as he let Izuku compose himself and halt his tears. The horses trotted on: the knights shared quick words: the captives slept and let themselves be treated. Izuku soaked it all in, letting reality sink in.
He was free.
They were all free. All but four of them had made it out alive.
It was hard to belive.
Izuku settled himself fully in the horse saddle and effectively in the man's lap. He chuckled. "Forgot to introduce myself. I'm Mirio Togata."
Izuku's eyes went wide. "Shoto told me about you! He says you're the greatest knight in the kingdom!"
Mirio laughed and turned his head to look at the "sleeping" Shoto. "You boasting about me Sho-sho?"
Shoto visibly smirked, bobbing his head slightly. Momo was trying (and failing) to keep the mirth out of her own voice. "Leave him alone. He's sleeping." She winked. Shoto's eyebrows bounced up and down as he smirked harder, shifting down into a more comfortable position.
Mirio laughed, but Izuku was aghast. "Sho, you are a prince!" He whisper screamed.
"I am a traumatized young man," Shoto whispered, inaudible, but he knew Izuku could lip read.
"What's going on up there?" Enji, the knight previously covered in flames, spoke over the assembly of horses and wagons.
Shoto closed his eye, which had cracked open, and went very still. Momo replied over her shoulder "Nothing Sire! Mirio and Izuku simply did not see that Shoto had fallen asleep."
"He's been sleeping for hours," Enji muttered, but dropped the subject.
Shoto whispered so only Momo could hear. "Thank you."
Izuku gave a shaky laugh and turned back around to face forward. He then tipped his head way back to look Mirio in the face. "Glad to meet you, Mirio Ninth Star. I am Izuku Midoriya Chisaki, adopted son of Lord Kai Chisaki, Third Lord of the Kingdom."
Mirio raised an eyebrow. "Never took the Lord for the adoption type. What do you think of him as a Father?"
Izuku smiled, wide and shining, and Mirio couldn't help smiling back. "I think he's amazing."
It took the group about a week to travel through the Forest. There were two meals each day and every night there would be four shifts of adults watching their camp. Surprisingly, there were very few beast attacks: Izuku wondered how powerful Shinso's playing had been. It was amazing what a Charmer could do with proper incentive and a true spirit.
Speaking of Charmers, Akaguro was kept in the back fo the group in a tall and enchanted wooden box that remained locked and chained at all times. Izuku had wondered why the man was so quiet; that is, until Shoto informed him of the methods taken to keep Akaguro speechless. His tongue had been cut out.
It suddenly hit Izuku that Akaguro was going to die. He would have nearly fifty children and adults together point their fingers at him and acuse him of awful crimes against them. Whoever sat in the role of judge would condemn him to death for his treatment of the prince alone.
Izuku knew fully how evil the man was, but... he never wanted anyone to die. It just wasn't in his nature. He tried not to think about the subject.
To help pass the time, Izuku and the others made up a game. Someone had to give a one word description of something, and the others had to guess what it was. (I-spy, basically.) The game ended quickly as the only things to see were trees, stumps, dirt, trees, the occasional animal corpse, trees, the wagons and horses, the odd colorful flower, and trees.
A new game was made: story telling: Mirio and Dabi got way too into this, and a rule was made that the short stories had to be at most fifteen minutes long. Neither listened to this rule. They went on and on, spinning wild tales of passionate love, daring deeds, wonderful treasures, and arch nemeses with dastardly plans such as magical rays of death and poisoning the king. Dabi's thrid story won title of most exciting story, and Mirio's fifth most comical.
Deciding a true story was in need, Izuku begged of Ostrich to tell what had taken so long. After all, it had taken them the better part of nine months.
It had taken Ostrich and Iida nearly three months to escape the forest: they had been hunted down by Toga; had been attacked by beasts, in which Iida's arm was injured; accidentally both fallen asleep and were turned around and lost for several days; and had trouble finding necessities such as food and water. When they had finally emerged, it was another month before they had managed to reach the Capitol. By then, both boys were exhausted and sick, and Iida's arm was dangerously infected, resulting in several weeks of healing before they were allowed to see the king. Once their message had been explained and verified (they had given the letter as soon as they were entered into the hospital,) it had taken another month of debating and cross-examining, much to the two boys' distress. After that, the last two-or-so months were filled with planning, preparation, and travelling.
"Honestly, if Shoto hadn't put his personal signature on, and if Iida hadn't been there to throw in his good word, we might not have gotten here at all." Ost had pulled up to Shoto and Izuku. They had been on the trail for five days now. Izuku was sharing a horse with Dabi, and Shoto with two small kids.
Dabi smirked and prodded Izuku's shoulder. He was one of the few people who could easily interact with Izuku in his true form. "Ha. I told you it was Yuuei's finicky legal system."
Izuku rolled his eyes and pressed Ost for more details before Shoto and Dabi could get into another argument over Yuuei's legal system. Considering how well they could work together, it was funny how often they bickered (whether playfully or for real.) "So how is Iida? Is he well?"
Ost shrugged, idly scratching Dark Shadow's head. "He's great, all things considered. Its thanks only to magic and modern medicine that his arm could be saved, and I've been told that his future as a Knight is not in doubt at all. He'll make a full recovery: he was just a bit too weak to join in this fight. But he probably would have had to stay in the back with me anyway if he had come." Ostrich grinned, smiling from ear-to-ear.
At last, on the sixth day, they broke through the trees. From then on it was a one day ride at full speed to the Capitol of Yuuei: the great High City.
It was a magnificent sight to behold. The High City sprawled up a mountain, indomitable and glistening: the peak of the mountain had been blasted off, and in its place was a crystal of indescribable size and grandeur. Its sparkling golden rays shimmered all through the Capitol. The walls of the great city were higher and more formidable than Izuku could have ever thought possible: their stone was a soft red, like the seashells Kai had once given to Eri. Towers jutted from the walls. From those towers leaned out guardsmen who blew their horns and trumpets. Immense wooden and metal gates opened up for the crowd of knights and rescued captives upon the cries of "THE LOST CHILDREN HAVE BEEN FOUND! THE LOST CHILDREN HAVE BEEN FOUND!"
Towns folk poured out into the streets from grand houses. They cheered and sang and cried for the rescue of the lost children. The horses and wagons did not stop, plowing straight on for the mountain.
Izuku and the captives passed great houses, each one more amazing than the last; with gardens in every porch and plants hanging from sloped and curved stone walls painted yellow and pink; with copper plate roofs and large windows. People of every race came out wearing fine clothes, clean and whole. Courtyards were filled with fresh bread and eggs, fine cloth and silk, candles, books, weapons, and anything and everything else. Children ran along side the horses and wagons, calling and waving and laughing, with red faces and innocent eyes.
Izuku loved them all.
As they neared the mountain, Izuku and the other new-comers saw that there were few houses on the mountains actual surface. Instead, they were greeted with jaw-droppingly large metal gates that rose up into stone to reveal a hollow mountain haven. The inside of the mountain was large, but few actually lived inside: the inside was mostly reserved for special occasions and celebrations, the knightly program, the royal family (if they chose to live inside, though they were forced to work there,) and few others who perfered the solace and quiet of stone. The mountain cavern had long ago been carved out by dwarves, before that race had mysteriously vanished. Thick and tall pillars reached up to the incredibly high ceiling, each one engraved with history and poetry. The roof was missing from the mountain, as described earlier, leaving only the wonderous crystal to be seen. The light refracted from within its depths fully illuminated the entire cavern in a surreal golden glow.
On the far side straight ahead of the cavern jutted out a grand palace, made of marble that glittered under the crystal glow. It rose several stories tall, with columns detailed in gems and precious metals holding up the upper levels and its grand, sweeping roof. The King's Palace. Shoto's rightful throne.
Izuku believed they were headed there right then, but the caravan turned to the right, heading towards a shorter (though still grand,) building of brick and stone. It was three stories tall, with many open windows. Izuku could smell the cleanliness and cleaning agents despite being slightly less than a mile away. They were headed to a hospital.
Once arrived, the knights, adults, and nurses all quickly bundled the rescued captives inside the hospital, wrapping them up in soft white blankets and setting them down on their own downy beds. Medicine was quick to come; and a letter was quick to be sent to the mage college for help curing the children of the after effects of abusive charming.
A tall lady was trundling Izuku along, pulling him from Mirio's and Dabi's sides. Mirio sent the boy a thumbs up, calling, "I'll get the best mechanic and engineer for your body! You'll be back in it in no time!"
And with that Mirio dissapeared from his view.
"Come along now dearie. You don't have any physical injuries, do you?" The tall lady had a crisp voice and kind wrinkles around her brown eyes.
"No Mam."
Scores of letters were sent out to worried families, sent with the fastest of couriers. One courier, a blond boy with a crooked streak of black in his hair, was the one to reach a mansion in the edge of the Midland Forest. He had not been at all prepared to have a very angry minotaur haul him inside to see the master of the house. "Oi! I'm with Yuuei! I was told to come here!"
The minotaur didn't listen. Instead he opened the door to the master's room with a gentle knock and deposited the boy inside. "Boy, Lord. Says he's from the Capitol."
The lord of the house looked old, though the courier boy doubted he could be older than forty: thirty-five at most. His brown hair was disheveled and his eyes had wrinkles. In a portrait above him was a fine lady, a young girl, a mechanical boy, and the lord himself. He rubbed a temple with a gloved hand, the rest of his face hidden underneath a long bird mask. "For the last time, I have no interest in any of their celebrations. I have informed your masters and the King himself of this."
"With all due respect, my lord, this has nothing to do with a festival."
The man looked up with old and broken eyes. "Then what?"
The boy walked over to his desk, setting down a small letter. "The lost children have been found, Lord. I've been told one of them was your own."
The letter was hastily ripped open and a tiny portrait fell out: a small sliver of time captured in a simple spell. The portrait showed an awake ghost child, smiling widely and waving, over and over again.
"Lord Chisaki, third of the great kingdom of Yuuei.
Your adopted son, Izuku Midoriya Chisaki, has been found. He was taken by a Charmer hired by an unknown force and held hostage for a year. The Charmer had taken nearly fifty others. He is to be beheaded for his crimes against these children and for many murders of knights and high individuals, two of which were your wife and daughter.
I know you despise the city, but it will be many weeks before Izuku is fit for travel; and I personally invite you here for his sake, old friend.
Signed, His Majesty,"
For the first time in decades, Kai Chisaki wept tears of joy, and not of sorrow.
A/N
Told ya it wouldn't be long before I got this out. The next few chapters are going to be very light hearted, and I hope you all will enjoy. Also, this city! It is mega grand! Which is why AFO didn't want to start a straight out war with Yuuei: that crystal alone has amazing magical properties I can't even begin to get into.
We are so close to the best reunion ever! Next chapter!
Now comments!
Mireya Humbolt, once again, super glad you are liking this! And yes, the kids can all finally return to their families.
BP! I didn't want to come right out and say that you were wrong, as that seemed a bit mean and like I was too easily giving info away. (Also cuz it was a bit funny.) Shinso is going to get all of the therapy. And I am overjoyed to know you think I did the fight scene well! Fighting is a total pain in the butt to write, so whoo!
And CADB YOURE ALIVE! YOUVE BEEN OFF THE RADAR FOR MONTHS MAN! And concerning AFO, I never said he wasn't a villain, I just said I wasn't going to majorly use him as a villain. And, again, glad I wrote the fighting well.
Well! That's just about all I've got! Expect some feel good chapters soon! And, some more characters????? Hmmmm????????
So long Lovies!
