Chapter 16: Who Knows Best?

Bartra watched as the boys played with little Eri. From what he could see, Tristan was a little too much for the timid girl, but Percy got along with her just fine. In fact, Bartra was tempted to say that Percy might be partially infatuated with the girl. Tristan seemed to have also noticed this, though he didn't react as he had toward Midoriya. He was just a bit peeved at the thought of sharing his cousin.

"Boys," Bartra called to the trio, "I think it might be time for lunch."

The three kids happily cheered, hurrying over to the elderly king so that they could go to their designated lunch area. The kids walked in front of him out of the room and down the hall, chattering on about their game. Bartra didn't pay that much attention to their conversation, what bugged him was Zelda. Bryan and Present Mic left the day before while Eveline was out shopping. To his surprise, Bryan left a note for Bartra in his room, telling him to be wary of Zelda and to keep a close eye on Eveline.

Both were things that he had been doing anyway, but for Bryan to emphasize this made the king uncomfortable and defensive. What was Zelda hiding? How did it connect to his granddaughter?

He had questions that needed answers, his problem was that he didn't know who to ask. Eveline wouldn't know anything, Bryan was out, and Zelda wouldn't utter so much as a sound when they've been in the same room together. It was frustrating, just like it was dealing with Elizabeth and Meliodas when all of this started.

"Mr. Liones," Bartra paused and turned to see All Might running up to him. "I'm glad I found you, I need your help."

Bartra nodded and turned to the kids, "Little ones, go on without me."

Tristan tried to argue, but Percy and Eri pulled the small blonde toward the lunchroom. The adults watched as the three disappeared before beginning their conversation.

"It's about young Midoriya and Miss Eveline," All Might explained softly, "they approached me the other day about a memory bottle."

Bartra was visibly stunned, "A memory bottle? From whom?"

"Mael?" All Might said though he didn't sound sure of himself.

"Mael gave it to them," Bartra asked softly, "then it must be about that day."

All Might didn't ask what he meant, he had felt it was better that he not ask until he could Aizawa to agree to help them. "They told me as they could, but I need more if I want to get them help."

Bartra contemplated what he should do. He knew what this was about and remembering that day only reopened old wounds for him. He told them not to do it. He even took Eveline away from them in a fruitless effort to stop them. "Does Eveline want to remember?"

"Both of them do."

Bartra paused again, "...What do you mean both?"

All Might gave the king a confused look, but continued, "Midoriya says his memories were erased when Mael came for Eveline, but it was Eveline who went through most of the ordeal alone."

That was all Bartra needed to hear. He didn't think that Midoriya was the other child that was affected, but it made sense. Both of them were hurt by Elizabeth and Meliodas' decisions and promised Midoriya that he would help him.

"I'm at your service."

The house they had taken over wasn't the best, it certainly didn't match the life of moderate luxury that the four men were used to, but it would do for now.

"Humans in this world," Aamon groaned as he lifted a molding pizza box from the apartment's floor. "Are unbelievably disgusting."

Morfran didn't comment. Out of all of them, he had experienced the worst conditions a person could live in and, to him, this paled in comparison. Besides, these things could be easily cleaned.

"He has all the things we need," Kasdeya grumbled with a pout, "so suck it up."

The three men glared at the demon, infuriated by her nonchalant attitude toward their circumstances. Kasdeya knew the accommodation wasn't great, which was pretty deliberate on her part, but the young man she seduced had everything they needed to operate in this world. He was even out buying clothes for the men since everything he had was too small for them. For that, she felt she deserved a little more praise than what she was getting.

"Never mind the quality of this place," Zagan said after a moment of contemplation. "we can clean it ourselves if it's that much of a problem."

Morfran merely grunted in response, already knowing that the person who would be cleaning would be him. At least he'd have something to do.

"Draven," Zagan called over his shoulder, finding the young man to be fascinated with the multiscreen desktop computer. "Draven, please, let Aamon deal with that thing. I need you to think about what you'll need to survey the school."

Draven paused and softly asked, "I'm surveying the school?"

"Of course," Zagan answered, "you're the only one who wouldn't arouse any suspicion."

Draven kept his face hidden from his lord. The glee that swelled within him was indescribable; he had never been given such an important mission before. Aamon often said that he was too young and inexperienced to be given important tasks, Morfran said it was because he lacked resolve. He tried so hard to prove his worth among Zagan's men, he wouldn't let his lord down.

"Perhaps we should ask our host for a map," Aamon suggested, snapping Draven out of his joy.

Morfran agreed, "The boy will need it, and maybe we should devise some way for communication."

Zagan nodded, "We will, and our host will teach us what we need to know. For now, let's go over what our objectives are so that we are all on the same page."

Aizawa stared at All Might and Bartra, unsure if he should be annoyed or outrage at their request. How could they tell him to let Midoriya do something that had unpredictable consequences? The kid was predictably unpredictable to be with and his blood pressure rose at just the thought of what could happen.

"So, this thing they want to ingest," Aizawa said as his right eye twitched, "will make them unconscious for who knows how long, and you want us to let them drink it?"

All Might sheepishly look away. "I know it sounds outrageous…"

"Sounds? It is!"

All Might turned to Bartra, his only hope in convincing Aizawa to aid in this madness. Bartra understood Aizawa's hesitance, it mirrored his own from back then. However, the teenagers needed clarity on their own situation before dealing with Zagan and Guinevere. The link, in theory, would be trying to reconnect itself now that they are together again, and this could speed along that process.

"Mr. Aizawa," Bartra started softly, "you have your reservations which I cannot dismiss, but let's think about them for a moment."

Aizawa leaned back in his seat, fingers interlaced as his chin rested on his knuckles. It was clear that his guard was still up, but he was willing to hear them out.

"What happened in the past" Bartra started, "was something neither of them wanted, and it wasn't something that should have been done to children. That young man got the lesser half of pain, but that doesn't mean it's not affecting him now."

"How would it be affecting him?" Aizawa asked.

"He and Eveline have a telepathic link," he said, "it's what remains of their bond."

Aizawa nodded, "Alright, but why did it start now and not sooner?"

"Eri."

Both All Might and Aizawa were surprised by that. Admittedly, everyone suspected that the fight between Midoriya and Overhaul had something to do with it and that Eri's quirk might have had a hand in it. But once they learned that Eveline's powers were magic-based, they wrote off the theory.

"How," All Might asked, "how could Eri have done it?"

"Her quirk reverses living things," Bartra explained, "I understood that much from watching her. She told me all about Young Izuku, how he saved her, and how he thought her quirk was wonderful."

Bartra reached for a sheet of paper and a pencil that were on the table in front of him. He quickly doodled a visual explanation of his theory.

"Magic," he explained, "is a part of the person, so in a sense, it's a living thing as well. Therefore, Eri could reverse spells that have been placed on a person. That battle, she described it to me as lasting hours, but a student, I believe her name is Nejire, said it wasn't that long. Even so, her quirk was working without her input."

"It was." Aizawa nodded.

"I think what happened is that she, without meaning to, reversed the spell. It's likely that reversing this is what revived the link between them."

"But that only explains Midoriya," All Might said, "what about Eveline?"

"That's where things aren't as clear," Bartra admitted, his head lowered as he slipped the paper back onto the table. "when this happened to Eveline, it happened in a blur. I do remember that my daughter ordered the erasure of Eveline's memories and the seal was placed on Eveline. However, from the pain Eveline was in afterward, not to mention she was comatose for nearly a month, I believe they did much more to her."

"I see." All Might mused softly.

"But if Eri only affected Midoriya," Aizawa added, how was Eveline able to hear him?"

"Perhaps they missed something," Bartra suggested, "or maybe, Mael purposefully left it alone. Those answers are likely to be in that bottle."

Aizawa lowered his head, his knuckles rubbed against his temple as he came to terms with this information. He could see the potential problems that could arise from this as well as the gains that would follow, but he couldn't agree with it. Maybe his thoughts on the matter were unnecessary. If it helps these kids, shouldn't he allow it?

"If it helps," Bartra offered, "other than being unconscious, drink from the bottle won't do anything to them."

"Is that so?"

"It's just like dreaming."

Aizawa hummed. He supposed that did make it seem less like a hazardous idea than before. "Alright, but they need to be supervised."

All Might nodded, "We figured as much, the infirmary is open for us to use."

"Then it's settled." Bartra smiled, eager to right the wrongs done by his daughter.

Aizawa, however, wasn't done. "Not quite, I have a few requests."

"Oh," All Might asked softly, "And what's that?"

"I want to know everything once they know it," Aizawa glared at All Might, "I'm tired of these overly heroic antics from Midoriya and I have no doubt that this is going to feed into that."

All Might looked away. As much as he hated to admit it, those antics which made Midoriya into the problem child he was, were the same ones that made him into a hero. It would be hard to reel in the boy's desire to help, but just to get this dealt with, they could try.

A/N: Hello again! I apologize for the short chapter (it didn't look that short on Word), however, I, unfortunately, hurt myself almost a week ago. I, uh, accidentally got splashed with boiling hot water while trying to unclog the kitchen sink... Luckily, it's a small spot but it's really uncomfortable because of two reasons. 1.) The burn is on my stomach so sitting was a pain for a few days. 2.) I used a bandaid. A latex bandaid. I am allergic to latex. I ended up ripping off a layer of skin and making the skin around the burn irritated. This is a long-winded way of saying I couldn't really write because I hurt myself twice.