"Let me in immediately!"
"Your highness, you know we can't-"
Momo got as close to the guard's face as she could, finger stabbing sharply into his chest. His eyes were wide and uncertain on her, glancing every few seconds to the guard at his right for some sort of backup that he was also too afraid to offer.
The night had been long, restless, and terrible leading up to this and Momo had done nothing but make her mother miserable every second of it. Her father refused to speak with her as he called together his forces and dispatched men to send word to Togata. That left her mother to try and demand what they called reason from the young princess. Her arm had been in pain, her head was spinning, and all around her those who supposedly knew better spat vile accusations at people who did not deserve it.
She got away from her mother as soon as she could and made for the wing that she once knew to be Togata's. The guards outside were being uncooperative in letting her through, though.
"Listen to me carefully," Momo's eyes looked crazed with her lack of sleep and relentless tears shed through the night, "If you don't let me through this door immediately the next thing the queen will hear is that the both of you took advantage of me and you can be certain she'll believe her own daughter over a couple palace guards!"
Momo had no intention of doing such a thing. It was such a low trick she knew many noble women to play when they wanted their way and good men were often executed under such false pretences and these men didn't deserve that. But she would say whatever she needed to to get through that door right now and she had the resolve to make it convincing.
Apparently the guards also were aware of how easily their lives could be compromised on a word from the princess and they shifted uneasily before relenting.
"Fine, I'll give you ten minutes, but you will say absolutely nothing of this to the queen," the guard insisted, pleaded really.
Momo gave him some space and nodded gratitude and agreement. They let her through with that and she swiftly found Togata's old chambers, rushing in to find Fuyumi seated on a bench near an open window, holding herself close, gray eyes frozen on the horizon. She was startled by the door opening violently, though and shot to her feet at the sight of Momo coming into the room.
It was so strange to see Fuyumi here. She didn't quite belong. This had been her cousin's home for ten years, this was wear they played games as children and chatted away the night with darkly layered humor and dreams of the future. Now it was a prison for his new bride.
Fuyumi watched Momo cautiously, seeming to choke and tremble, like she was waiting for Momo to do something horrible, but the princess rushed to her and shocked the girl by taking her hand and capturing her gaze.
"Fuyumi tell me me you knew nothing of this assassination attempt. I swear I'll believe you if I just hear you say it."
Gray irises glinted with fresh tears, but she resolutely held the princess's gaze. "Momo I knew nothing about this! I swear on everything! On my mother, my future children! I would rather cut open my own arm then see you hurt like this. You're the first person I've even felt the possibility of growing close to since I was a child. I want us to be kin, not enemies, please believe me!"
Momo didn't need to be a spymaster or some steely eyed interrogator to know Fuyumi wasn't lying. Every word rang with heart and truth and the hurt of a girl who had just seen the possibility of normalcy and happiness ripped away from her. She gripped the princess's hand tightly and even laid her teary face to it, wetting her skin.
"I believe you," Momo choked, lifting Fuyumi's head, "But I'm scared for you. I've never seen my father like this. He doesn't blame you, but...I fear for what this will mean. He's gathering his men to ride to Tarlson today, to face your father for what he believes he's done. If this turns into another war…"
Fuyumi bit her lips and shook her head. "I won't be safe or welcomed here… And...oh my god, Tenya! They'll kill him! Momo, please if you cannot help me, then find a way to help him! I still have a chance of coming out of this unscathed, but he…"
Momo's stomach dropped, remembering her father's words and her own deep fear for the Commander. He didn't deserve to die for this and if a war was to come, she could hardly imagine a different outcome for him.
"I don't know what I can do," Momo bemoaned, "My father and mother won't listen to me. All they hear when I talk is the ramblings of a spiteful child."
"But we have to do something," Fuyumi stepped away, fingers gripping into her long hair, "I don't believe my father would even do this! I've never heard him talk about usurpation or this sort of skeevy action. He's a man that acts on force not underhandedness. He would never use an assassin. If he truly wanted to usurp the throne he would have marched to your front door and demanded it with a fight. And of all things Tenya would have known about it! That assassin called him soft hearted and he is in many ways, but my father trusts the Iidas completely. He would have no reason to hide it from him. Tenya would have known!"
Momo held herself close while Fuyumi paced and spoke quickly.
"Perhaps when the king reaches Tarlson, your father could explain…"
Fuyumi turned a look on Momo that made her fall silent and drove home how foolish it was to even consider.
"My father will take the very act of marching onto his Lordship unannounced as an act of aggression and there will be no talking," Fuyumi said, "The moment he sees the king's army he will send his own to meet it."
"What if he was warned and given the opportunity to defend himself to the king?" Momo suggested, "What if someone rode ahead of the armies and let Lord Enji know about the misunderstanding before an army marches into Tarlson? Arrange for them to meet on mutual grounds and talk it over instead."
Fuyumi considered it and then shook her head again. "He's so mistrustful, I don't think a messenger would be enough."
The princess prepared to speak and stopped herself multiple times as a rather terrible idea started forming. She didn't want to be shot down, but she didn't see another option to stop the bloodshed before it started.
"He would listen to his own Commander," Momo caught Fuyumi amidst her pacing, "What if I was able to get Commander Tenya free and sent him to Tarlson to intercept?"
There was a second round of consideration playing over Fuyumi's features, before she responded.
"Perhaps...but it may not be enough to stop a fight," Fuyumi chewed her lip, "And he may not agree to leave me here."
"If I could assure him of your safety," Momo pushed, feeling that they were close to their answer, "Guarantee him that no harm would come to you then I'm sure I could convince him to go. And Togata has been called home as well. He wouldn't let anything happen to you, I promise that. Especially if I tell him you're innocent."
There was a slow nod, white hair dipping with red flecks sparkling against the early morning sunlight.
"That may work," she agreed, "From the little I know of his character he doesn't seem quick to judge or convict and even Tenya may be easily convinced that Togata would protect me over allowing harm to come. But still...will it be enough?"
"We have to try," Momo swallowed hard, taking Fuyumi's hand again, "I won't sit idly by while my father starts a war over me...we already have haunting one our borders. I want you to be part of my family and I don't want my family to be responsible for more deaths in yours. I'll go there myself if I have to."
Fuyumi's head fell against Momo's shoulder and the younger girl was pulled into her arms. The pale fingers gripped Momo tightly and showed every ounce of desperation in her heart.
"Whatever you can do, please," she begged, "If they fight and Tarlson can't hold...Momo, I can't lose another brother…"
The arm that wasn't still pulsing with the ache of fresh stitches reached around to complete the girl's embrace. Her mind went right to Togata, to the fears that had been so strong with her over the last few days. The fear of losing him. She could see those sorts of feelings in Fuyumi, the heart breaking fear of losing family, the helplessness of being unable to change their fate.
But that wasn't true anymore. Momo could do something. The actions she took now could save Fuyumi's family and restore her own if she had the courage to act.
"You won't," Momo finally replied, leaning their heads together, words strong on her lips, "I promise, Fuyumi, I won't let anyone else be hurt."
"Wow it's so soft! How's that possible? You could sleep on them, but they're still so solid and sturdy and-ah!"
Izuku jerked his hand away shaking the pink skin of his fingertips into the air. An eye as big as his hand turned to settle beside his body, curiously eyeing the tender fingers with the large red slit of his pupil.
"It's a little toasty there, you may want to be careful," Ochako chuckled, coming a little too late with her advice.
Izuku ducked and continued to shake his hand as he stepped out from the underside of the dragon and snatched up the book Tsu had given him, popping one of the fingers in his mouth while he looked for the page that said a dragon's armpit was hot enough to burn skin. Eijiro's head was beside him while he dropped his knees in the grass, the huff of his massive nostrils turning pages.
"Watch it!" Izuku forced the pages down and then glanced over at him sheepishly.
Eijiro had been extremely accommodating to his curiosity about dragons and had even flown he and Ochako out to a spot far enough from the swamp that the ground was dry, solid and clear for him to comb through his book and compare the text and anatomy portraits to the real thing. But Izuku wasn't exactly sure how patient dragons were and didn't want to push his luck. Even if he made for a very nice human boy, Eijiro was a vastly intimidating dragon.
"Are you having fun yet, apprentice?" Ochako dropped her chin in the hand she had propped up on her knee, becoming gradually more disinterested the longer they were out here. She wasn't new to the ins and outs of the flying reptiles
But Izuku was completely enchanted. She may have gotten to spend every day with a real life dragon, but this was entirely new to him and he was going to absorb as much information as possible while his wounds were finishing healing. As soon as Tsu gave him a bill of good health he would have to return to Gaetha, the Center Magesterium and his fun would be over.
"Yes," Izuku threw up a pure smile, "Is the belly a weaker spot because of the softer scales or are they just as strong as the top ones?"
"Doesn't your book say?" Ochako ripped up grass to pass the time.
"It's Tsuyu's book," Izuku corrected, "And it's not completely clear. It talks about the scales being strong but it doesn't say if they're just as strong or if it's technically a vulnerable spot."
Eijiro lightly tapped his snout against Izuku which was enough to knock him over completely, before his long neck craned and his frills ruffled.
"He has no vulnerable spots," Ochako rolled her eyes, "Or so he likes to think. You're reckless, Red."
A low growl preceded a spark hitting the ground by Ochako's feet. She didn't flinch or do anything but stare unblinking up at him, like she was waiting for the real challenge.
"Oh that's my next question actually," Izuku tapped Eijiro's red scales uncertainly, "Should I...well, should I just ask Ochako or…?"
"I think he's gotten a good enough look Red, come down so I don't have to keep explaining for you," Ochako requested, reaching for the basket that they'd brought with them, "We can eat if you-"
She barely finished her sentence before what was once a magnificent behemoth of a reptile had devolved into the form of a starkly naked human boy, sitting at Izuku's side and thrusting out an arm at Ochako excitedly.
"Yes, let's eat!" he shouted as soon as he had a voice to do it with.
The young mage startled at how suddenly it happened and leaned away, trying to keep his eyes on the book and not Eijiro's completely unashamed nudity. Again Ochako didn't seem to be bothered by it, just opened the basket and pulled out a few pastries that Tsuyu had baked earlier, setting one out for each of them. Thankfully the next thing she pulled out was a light robe, like a very simple version of one a mage would wear, and tossed it at the dragon-boy.
"Dress first, please," she said, throwing an amused look at Izuku's pink cheeked face, "You're making the apprentice uncomfortable."
"Sorry," Eijiro laughed, rubbing his neck bashfully as he slipped on the robe and tied the front to save Izuku from the embarrassment of really getting a good look and having to acknowledge whether the dragon's human form was /completely/ human or not. He wasn't nearly as prudish as some of the mages he grew up with, but he was used to a certain level of modesty and a certain level of self awareness that didn't seem to belong to either the dragon or the mage girl.
"It's fine," Izuku waved it off, able to look him in the face comfortably now, "It would be more ridiculous to think your clothes would change with you when you shift forms. Does doing that hurt at all?"
Eijiro shook his head, snatching the pastry before Ochako could make up another reason to stop him from digging in. He took a big bite and encouraged the other two to do the same.
Izuku settled in with his own treat and smiled comfortably at the two of them, almost disturbed at how easy this felt, how calm and peaceful. And how sweet and delicious the pastry was too. They didn't eat much desert growing up in the Magesterium, another of their disciplines, so it was practically like biting into heaven, even though it likely wouldn't compare to any treat a noble was used to.
"What was your question?" Eijiro asked through a mouthful of food, which got a laugh from Ochako.
"Oh right!" Izuku's back straightened, "Are you able to breathe fire? I haven't seen you do it and I'm wondering if it's just an age thing or if maybe some dragons can't."
Eijiro halted from taking another bite of his food, swallowing it down thoughtfully before answering. "I don't know, actually," he hummed, "It hasn't just come naturally and I really don't think much about it. If Ochako hadn't said something I wouldn't have even considered that I could."
"What about the other dragons, don't they breathe fire?"
"Izuku," Ochako caught his attention fully by actually using his name. It was a very cold tone and when he met her eyes their demand was clear. Don't ask that question.
Eijiro was already giving his response though, shifting uncomfortably. "I never got to meet any other dragons so I don't really know."
With a cautious pause and a lingering stare on Ochako, Izuku voiced his next question tentatively. "How did you get here, then? How did you end up in Gaetha?"
There wasn't much left of the pastry, but Eijiro set it back down on its wrapping, eyes on the grass while his mouth made curious shapes.
"I don't know," he shook his head, glancing up at Ochako, "The earliest thing I remember was…"
"Red, you don't have to talk about that," Ochako's tone became very soft, worried. No longer joking or stern. Izuku watched her eyes turn sadly on him and the boy met her gaze with a quick grin.
"It's fine, Ochako," he chuckled, "He's our friend, I'm not scared to talk about it. If it hadn't happened I'd never have met you, so it wasn't all bad."
Ochako shuffled over and settled down next to the dragon boy, slipping her shoulder under his arm, snuggling in close. He made a sound almost like a pur and Izuku couldn't help how his heart fluttered at the sight. Affection was so often discouraged growing up in the Magesterium, but he was naturally so affectionate that it made it difficult for him to care about his friends properly. It was strange and warming to see people draw physical comfort from one another without fearing the scolding bark of a master. He fought the feeling of how badly he wanted to join in the seated cuddle and contented himself to find joy that he was in a place that it was allowed to happen at all.
"If I tell you, though, you have to tell us about yourself," Eijiro flashed a toothy grin to Izuku, "Deal?"
Izuku nodded and shifted to face them, hands open on his thighs.
Eijiro looked back out into the middle distance, curling his arm tightly around Ochako as he dropped his chin on top of her head, his smile falling to a more somber version of itself.
"The first thing I can remember was being in a cage," the air darkened with the calmly spoken words, "I remember being hungry and in pain. There were creatures with big teeth and claws and they were hungry and in pain too. Humans paid to watch us try to kill each other. It was all we knew and we were so hungry that we ripped each other to pieces for a bite. When we weren't fighting to eat and survive they would antagonize us and hurt us so we would be angrier and fight rougher. I guess they thought I was just another mindless animal… People always assume I'm just a vicious creature. I'm tough, don't get me wrong and I can rip a mage in half as you saw...but I don't want to. I never wanted to. I just wanted to be out a cage and fly and not hurt all the time. I wasn't even angry at them, I was just...scared."
"That's terrible," Izuku said softly, instantly thinking back to Yo and how his amazement with Eijiro had seemed to fit that. His first thought at seeing the beautiful masterpiece of a living, breathing dragon, was to take its head as a prize. It made him absolutely sick to look at the soft, innocent face of the sharp toothed boy and imagine that someone willfully wanted to hurt it, as a dragon or a human.
"It was," Ochako pulled a little closer to Eijiro, "He was just a baby, but he was as big as their full grown wildcats. If they had any idea just how big he would get…" she laughed through her nose, "Back then I could almost hold him in my arms."
Red laughed and it sounded somehow warmer after the tragic things he'd said before.
"You fell over when you tried, it was pretty funny."
"How did Ochako find you?" Izuku asked, shifting a little closer again to where his knees were practically touching Eijiro's.
"The men who ran those fights stopped in Landsleave on their way to Tarlson when I was really young, barely learning my own abilities yet," Ochako explained, "I was only about seven years old and I was tragically curious. They had all of their animals on a wagon outside of our town's pub, where they were getting drunk off their asses, and me and a few other kids decided we wanted to see what goods they'd brought into town. There were wolves, wild cats, griffons, and one little red dragon."
Ochako sat up some and ruffled her fingers in the red hair on his head. "The dogs started barking and the cats and griffons tried to claw us through the cages, but the other kids thought it was funny and kept antagonizing them. I didn't like it and I would have run away, but when that kid tried to rattle Eijiro's cage he just looked scared. The men came out and chased us off a few minutes later, but I couldn't get the little dragon out of my head. As soon as they passed out from their drinking I snuck back and saw him again. I gave him one of my mother's pastries and he was practically putty in my hands."
Eijiro grumbled and laid back onto the grass, snatching what was left of his treat as he did. "Your mom is an amazing cook," he smiled fondly as he filled his mouth with what was left of the pastry.
Ochako tilted her head down at him with an endeared smile. "It was far from the smartest thing I've ever done, but I was seven and prone to act on my spur of the moment feelings and I decided I had to help him. He was skinny and beat up and his wings were tattered, but he was so sweet I couldn't just leave him there to be killed by a bigger animal. I used one of my first learned spells to break the cage open and release him. I thought he'd just run away or fly off and I'd never see him again, but he followed me home and then I had to hide him from the ringleaders and then from my parents until it got to the point that it was pretty obvious that there was a dragon under my bed."
"Dragons grow to fit their environment," Eijiro said defensively, "I wasn't in a cage anymore and you were feeding me pastries every day, what did you think would happen?"
"I was seven, I don't know," Ochako opened her arms when she shrugged.
"Why did you stay with Ochako?" Izuku asked warmly.
Eijiro slipped an arm under his head when he turned his almost human eyes to Izuku. There was such sweetness and joy in his face, but he couldn't hide the hurt deep behind them, the pain he still felt from the way he was treated by the first people he ever knew.
"She saved me," he said simply, "She was nice and she didn't hurt me, so why wouldn't I?"
"You make a fair point," the green eyed boy chuckled at the response, "Are those the only qualities you look for in a person or do you have other standards?"
It was meant to be more of a joke, but Eijiro seemed to think hard about it.
"Snacks are pretty important...but you can be my friend anyway, Izuku."
Ochako poked his side and got a very undragonlike giggle from him before he grabbed her in his arms and pulled her down to his chest, snuggling in close again. Ochako settled in easily like it was nothing for those strong arms to drag her in and hold her.
"You have to tell us about you now," Eijiro tapped his chin on top of Ochako's head a couple times.
"Yes, apprentice, do tell," Ochako huffed, a little amused, a little cautious.
Izuku tensed, now realizing what sort of a corner he'd backed himself into. The reality of who he was, what his assignment had been, what his duty and his allegiance told him was right and wrong...knowing that having a picnic with a Renegade Mage was definitely considered wrong. But they already knew full well that he was a Synod Mage and why he'd come to find them in the first place so that wouldn't exactly be new to them. He just wasn't thrilled about bringing it up again after things had been so pleasant between them.
He'd promise, though.
"I'm a Synod mage so my history starts the same as everyone else's," Izuku shrugged, "I used magic before I had the capability to understand what I was doing and after a Synod Mage confirmed I was cursed with magic my family gave me over to the Magesterium."
"I don't like how you use that word," Ochako frowned.
"What?"
"Cursed," Ochako curled a little closer into Eijrio's side.
"You don't believe magic is a curse?" Izuku asked, genuinely curious rather than accusing.
Ochako shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, dragons are all inherently in touch with magic, but we don't call them cursed…"
"Well…" Izuku hesitated, glancing at Eijiro who was blinking up at him waiting for his response. "Well it's actually pretty commonly thought that dragons are inherently evil even if we don't call them cursed. I don't think that's true, especially not after meeting you two, but at the end of the day it's hard to believe anything spawned from the ether can be anything but inherently evil. Maybe not the wielder, but the power."
There was a thoughtful hum from the mage girl. "It's an interesting thought, but I don't know if I'm convinced."
A tap came to Izuku's leg the next second as Eijiro cleared his throat. "Ahem...uh, you were saying?"
"Oh!" Izuku rubbed his neck, realizing they'd gotten off track, "Right. Well I grew up in the Magesterium, so again, I had a pretty standard childhood to most mages. We were taught control and development of our abilities and studied about the world and magic and our roles in it. We live lives of discipline and we attempt to live piously. They always made sure to put our greatest importance on self reformation, to betterment and salvation. We can't change that we're cursed, but we can live in service to try to make up for it."
"That sounds tough," Eijiro frowned, "Did you always have to stay there?"
"It's not an easy life, but it's a worthwhile one," Izuku assured him, noticing his hand was still on his leg when he glanced down, but deciding not to think about it and let himself enjoy the small contact. "And we weren't always in the same place. Every few years we would be switched to different Magesteriums so that we wouldn't grow overly attached to anything and to get well rounded educations. The Masters are pretty strict for the first years, but once you're a teenager they usually allow you to start integrating with the nearby towns a little. It wouldn't make sense for us to be entirely socially inept."
"You seem pretty normal to me," Ochako observed, "Like I said before, you don't really seem like a Synod mage at all. You smile way too much."
Izuku laughed and it made the other two chuckle in response.
"Thank you I suppose," he let that hang, "But all of that changed recently. I'm not a student anymore, none of us are. Last month me and the other mages at our level were evaluated and given our assignments, which pulled all fifty of us from the Magesterium for good."
"Where did you go?" Eijiro asked.
"The Center Magesterium," Izuku couldn't hide the pride in his voice, "It's not like the regular Magesteriums. It's not for raising young mages or training basic spells. It's where the High Circle gathers and where the Magestrate resides. It's where those who will become the greatest mages learn advanced magic and where the entire Synod is governed from. And that's just scratching the surface of what goes on there!"
Ochako was chewing her cheek, despite Eijiro's wide eyed smile at Izuku's enthusiasm. It didn't get past his emerald gaze and he knew that talking positively about the Synod in any sense wasn't going to go over well with the Renegade Mage.
"What kind of stuff did you learn there?" Eijiro kept the conversation going with interest despite Ochako's discomfort.
"Well recently Master Shota taught me a power spell," Izuku lifted his hands and conjured the glyphs as he explained, "It's not the normal sort of long ranged magic we usually do, but it empowers my body to move faster and strike harder than I'd ever be able to at my pique fitness."
Eijiro sat up and got in his space, looking very closely as green darted over his arms in sparking electricity. Even Ochako dropped her scowl to peer over Eijiro's shoulder and get a better look at the magic.
"That's the spell you used when we were fighting back in Landsleave," Ochako observed.
Before Izuku could confirm it he felt his hands being taken into large palms and pulled outward. It was surprising, but not unwelcome. Eijiro was leaning so close to his hands, watching the crackling magic so intently, touching the very magic wrapping around him. It did unstabilize the spell, though, now that Izuku's focus was diverted and it fluttered over his and Eijiro's hands before dying out.
Even Izuku winced at the spark of it falling out of his grip and snapping away without a deliberate end to the spell, but Eijiro didn't flinch despite having been in contact with the light aftershock.
"That's so amazing Izuku!" Eijiro marveled, "I've never seen a spell like that!"
Izuku pulled his hands free from Eijiro and shifted back, suddenly taking full stock of how close they were both hovering to him. He didn't mean it to look so startled, especially as Eijiro flexed his hands in front of his face with a low voiced comment on the strength of his magic.
He noticed Izuku's bashful expression a moment later and tilted his head at it. "Are you alright, Izuku?"
"Yes," he shouted louder than he wanted, "Sorry, I'm just… I'm not used to this sort of thing…"
Ochako twisted her mouth as she dropped onto her haunches at Eijiro's side. "To what? Talking? Does the Synod not allow that either?"
"Talking is fine, it's…"
Closeness. Affection. Real friendships. Openness. Everything Eijiro and Ochako seemed to have between each other. Hand touches, crowding space for no apparent reason. Comfortable proximity. Freedom to embrace attachment.
For some reason, despite knowing the pain it could cause him, it didn't feel wrong to want to be close to them, to want to open his heart and get attached. That was always his problem with every friendship, so quick to attach, so quick to be put in his place or have it taken away.
But they weren't like the Synod mages. They didn't have the precepts of a lifestyle hanging around them. Magically capable as they were, they welcomed their attachments without fear and it was so alluring to Izuku. So alluring that it scared him how easily he wanted to let these attachments happen so his shock made him pull away, like Hitoshi had pulled away from him. Like Shoto had. Like everyone who was serious about the Synod life did.
"Apprentice?" Ochako tilted her head at his silence.
The distant contemplation slipped from Izuku's face as he turned his mouth back into a smile, ready to move away from the subject he didn't want to actually talk about. "Maybe we should get back to Blackmoss before the sun goes down. I'd like Tsu to take another look at my injuries before it gets dark."
"Are they getting worse?" Eijiro's eyes widened.
"No, actually, I think they're about as well as they can be," Izuku assured with a sigh, "If she agrees that I'm as well as I think I am then I can head back tomorrow."
"Oh…" The disappointment on Eijiro's face was poignant and Izuku didn't anticipate how much it would sting.
The young apprentice's face fell too. "I don't think I'll ever be able to repay you for saving my life like this and being here has been amazing...but I have to report back to Master Shota...I have to tell them about Yo and about that Demon. They need to know there are Major Demons beyond Dawnfell, that the summoning isn't being contained. And I'm going to have to explain myself on top of it all."
The grass rustled with how briskly Ochako swept back to her feet and the air chilled against her tight lipped expression while packing the remnants of their snack back into her satchel. Both boys watched her with saddened eyes.
"I understand," Eijiro frowned, "I'm just sad you'll be leaving so soon. I really liked having a new friend."
"Me too," Izuku said softly, almost choking on the words he didn't realize would stick so tightly to his throat.
Izuku quickly grabbed his things as Eijiro tossed his robe back to Ochako and started to morph back into his true form. The girl didn't say anything to either of them as she and Izuku climbed up onto Eijrio's back and took firm hold of his spine ridges. Izuku sat up close behind her, not so confident in this whole flying thing to rely on his ability to hold fast to the dragon on his own. Like everything else with these two it felt strangely right to slip his arms around Ochako's waist and hold tightly. To bury his eyes in her shoulder in the terror that came from being so far from the ground as Eijiro leapt, wings wide, into the air. How comforting the closeness felt in the midst of what couple easily have been panic made every instant of thinking about tomorrow, of things going back to the way they were, sickening and unbearable.
They brought him back to Tsu's house and then went to their own temporary residence in Blackmoss. Izuku thanked Eijiro again for letting him study him and gave them both a pleasant goodnight before they went on their way.
The apothecary girl examined him closely that night, taking full stock of his current health and listening to his need to return with understanding. She asked him to allow one more treatment, for her to feel comfortable that his wounds wouldn't reopen and he agreed to her terms easily.
When she had finished he felt rejuvenated and confident that the wounds would not cause any further problems. The scars were not likely to fade much, but they showed his survival, that he'd faced a Tempest Demon and lived and he couldn't possibly be upset about that.
They had dinner together as usual and when Izuku went to give her back the book on dragons he'd borrowed, she held up her hands.
"Keep it, Izuku," she said, "I haven't seen anyone as eager to learn as you. You'll put it to better use than I will."
It took everything in him not to crush her in a tear filled hug, but he opted instead to give her a grateful bow with a thousand verbalizations of his thanks on top of it. For the book, the healing, the meals… everything. She had no reason to treat him like this, especially as a Synod Mage. Bog mages weren't necessarily enemies of the Synod, but any mage that didn't follow their code was at least deemed outcast or heathen. It didn't serve her to heal him, to let a Synod mage leave her home knowing as much as he did about their defensibility and powers. The Bog Mages weren't currently concerning to the Synod, but Tsu couldn't have known that when she healed him. And it didn't mean it would always be that way. The Synod's reach was always stretching and there was no guarantee anyone would remain out of it forever. Izuku had no plans to reveal them, but the trust that Tsu expressed in allowing him to leave touched him in a way he was not prepared for.
And right when he thought the young Bog Mage had reached the full potential of her charity, Tsu pulled out two more books from her shelves and placed them in his hands once she got him to stop tearfully sputtering. One was on shapeshifting magic and the other was labeled simply, Forbidden Art of the Fallen. When asked why she would give him these she repeated what she had said before. That he would make better use of them than she would.
As night fell and Izuku took his newly patched Synod robes in hand, it really stuck that his time here was over, that he was moving on so quickly. That everything would be back to the way it was in less than a day. One of the neighbors had given him a pack and Tsu helped him fill it with crucial supplies that he now placed three books on top of.
The robes fell on his shoulders with a weight he had forgotten after so many days in the light material of Bog Mage clothing. But the heavy feelings originated deeper inside of him. Pushing his chest to his stomach.
A knock came before the door creaked open and an unmistakable head of bright red hair peaked inside. Izuku naturally smiled, surprised since he expected that Eijrio had gone to bed already.
"Hey, Izuku," Eijiro hung in the doorway, "Me and Ochako are going to fly you back to Landsleave."
A butterfly fluttered in Izuku's heart. "Really?"
Eijiro opened the door the rest of the way and nodded. "We need to go home anyway. Her parents are probably worried sick and we're concerned about the Demon too. It would be a hard thing to have missed and I'm sure Tarlson sent people to contain the damage, but it's still scary for an unprotected village, especially when they usually have a dragon nearby to help out." He rubbed his neck with grit teeth on the last part.
"I hadn't thought about that," Izuku frowned at himself, "I took you two away from your home all this time…"
"Tarlson is right there," Eijiro laughed, "They're almost as strong as Dawnfell when it comes to dealing with Demons. I'm sure they're fine. There's no need to worry."
"I hope you're right," Izuku said somberly as he buttoned the pack up and took his staff in hand.
"Me too," Eijiro responded in a similar tone, "But we're going to leave at the crack of dawn. We don't want to wake up Tsu to come get you so...would you be okay with staying with me and Ochako tonight?"
Izuku's cheeks flushed and he was suddenly unable to look at the boy. He had no idea why. It hadn't been an inherently inappropriate suggestion or anything.
"Well…"
"You don't have to if you don't want to!" Eijiro said hurriedly, "I mean we kind of thought...well Ochako says that...things will be different after tomorrow. That you'll have to go back to being a Synod Mage and we'll be your enemies again and…"
The air got heavy as the weight in Izuku's chest seemed to reach the environment. He couldn't look the young dragon in the face, human eyes or not.
"I'm sorry, Eijiro, I wish it didn't have to be that way, but…"
"You don't have to apologize!" Eijiro laughed to break the tension, "I understand...I think. But we really just thought that this might be the last few hours we can still be friends so, why not at least spend them together?"
Izuku smiled warmly to himself, his insides melting as he finally met the almost nervous stance of the boy in his doorway.
"I'd like that."
Eijiro's eyes shot up, wide open with a grin to end all smiles. "Really?"
Izuku swept the pack onto his back and took a strong hold of the staff, bright eyes on Eijiro.
"Why not stave off reality for a bit longer?"
Katsuki didn't want to go inside with Shoto, but he didn't want to be out on the street either. No matter what he felt about being stuck surrounded by mages and magic, he wanted to be seen and recognized by the people of Dawnsend even less.
Usually he'd thrive in it, soak up the praise and let the townspeople fawn over him. He liked the attention. He liked the starstruck eyes of the young girls. He liked the respectful bows he got from men older and more experienced than him. But even if the nature of their mission was not so precarious, he wouldn't have wanted that attention this time anyway. The last time he'd returned from war, the victory had been resounding, the Lord Commander led the march back to the Keep all the while singing his praises and clapping a fresh promotion on him. They'd brought their soldiers home. They'd left survivors behind. Quelled the southern uprising and brought their lands under Danwfell control.
Bloody as that war had been it was nothing compared to the battle at the encampment. This return was no victory. He no longer had the brow of a hero to boast of. Just the weight of heavy casualties and shame of retreat.
Against his preferences, he allowed Shoto to lead the way once they entered the two towering oak doors into the magnificent structure of Dawnfell's Synod Seat. This was Shoto's world and he would hopefully know what he was doing behind these walls better than Katsuki, not that he had all that much faith that the young mage wouldn't just piss himself and run when faced with the first obstacle, though. His hands were practically shaking on his tightly held staff to the point where Katsuki had to fight down the need to scream at him for behaving so suspiciously.
Luckily there were very few people inside of the Seat. There was a much older mage just inside the atrium, a scrawny, wrinkly old man who appeared as though he'd already been buried and dug him back up for one more day of work. He was no obstacle to them. He asked for Shoto's name and looked over his fake orders briefly before pointing them in the direction of the Stationmaster upon Shoto's request.
They were just about to move on, Katsuki thanking their good luck that it was just some old crone who's eyes were probably already too gone to see the orders let alone question them, when Shoto turned a crooked look over the open, empty interior of the Seat and then back to the old man.
"Where's the Headmaster?" Shoto asked.
The old guy raised a wildly untamed eyebrow and shrugged dismissively. "Headmaster Mirko left with the Griffin Cohort more than a month ago. We're just a skeleton crew now."
Shoto's already pale skin, paled further as he thanked the old man and moved along through echoing, high ceilinged structure. Katsuki crossed his arms at his back as he stalked after him, hood still over his face. The mage looked confused, his gait quicker than normal and hands still unsteady.
It was about to drive Katsuki up a wall to watch and he forcefully grabbed Shoto's shoulder from behind, digging his fingers in as he pulled him back to a slower pace.
"Calm the fuck down, you're acting suspicious as hell," Katsuki hissed.
Shoto tried to shrug his hand away, but Katsuki gripped tighter.
"A Synod Seat should never be this empty," Shoto whispered, not exactly to Katsuki. "Even with Master Ferris dead there should be someone here to take over for him. Why would the Headmaster and battle mages all have left?"
The Captain planted his feet, forcing Shoto to stop. The old man hadn't been joking about how bare the Seat was right now. He'd seen a total of three mages in the vast building and none looked to be at their pique physical level or younger than seventy.
Even if the remaining staff of the Synod Seat weren't so old that they'd likely all lost half of their hearing anywhere, they weren't within range to know what Katsuki was saying.
"That's the whole reason they sent us your shit cohort," Katsuki bit, "You're precious Magestrate took Headmaster Mirko and all of her battle mages and sent them away to fuck know's were just before the Summoning started with no information on whether they'd ever come back. They sent us that asshole Master Ferris and some half baked battle mages instead, with just enough men to make a passable force at the front. Lord Sorahiko demanded an explanation and the Synod wouldn't give him anything past, 'they're needed elsewhere'. For fuck's sake, don't you have a clue why you even ended up here?"
Shoto stayed staring straight ahead, but his shakiness had stopped.
"I was just given orders and followed them," Shoto whispered curtly, "I…" a long breath left him, laced with disappointment, "I suppose it just shows how right Nana was. For whatever reason the Synod has been faltering in its duty."
"You fucking think?" Katsuki scoffed, feeling like he was probably bruising Shoto's shoulder at this point, but not caring, "We trained with those men! They weren't Synod lackeys like you and Ferris's men. They came from all over, but when we got through with them they were Dawnfelden through and through. Their whole lives were based around fighting and ending Summonings and right when we needed them they fucking left. Dawnfell was stuck unprepared and scrambling with an Archdemon on our horizon and no fucking mages."
"I suppose that explains why you have such a poor opinion of us," Shoto said very blandly, like a vaguely interesting observation.
Katsuki grit his teeth in annoyance and finally let go of Shoto's shoulder to shove him and make him start walking again. But Shoto continued speaking despite Katsuki's heated grumbling.
"I don't blame you," he said softly, startling Katsuki, "I've felt abandoned by the Synod before too. Being sent here to this hell on earth was my abandonment and rejection from the Synod. I know what it's like. If I were you I'd probably mistrust mages too."
He didn't like how almost sympathetic that tone was, even though the mage still hadn't even looked back at him. But on the upside his nervous fidgetiness had subsided a lot as they'd talked and when he approached the Stationmaster office it was with a lot more confidence than Katsuki expected.
The Captain sucked his teeth indignantly as he walked behind him.
"I don't mistrust all mages, just… Just do your fucking job and we won't have a problem."
"We won't," was the short response.
They continued through the door and Shoto approached the one person inside with confidence that he hadn't embodied before. His Synod Master was showing and it was about time.
Katsuki stayed back at the doorway, staying as unnoticeable as he could, but observantly swept his eyes across the filled room, lined with bookcases, stacked with boxes of materials. At the back were rows of mage weapons, mainly staffs. The basic kind. Nothing of interest to the Captain. All he needed was his enchanted shield and his sword.
Shoto presented his orders to the Stationmaster, old like the man at the door, and he assessed them closely while turning up quizzical glances to the other mage.
"They're making them younger and younger," he simply commented offhandedly to himself and handed the page back, "What do you need?"
"A Honing Stone," Shoto's voice was even, emotionless. It was his natural voice after all.
"Tall order," the man raised an eyebrow, "We only ever keep two extra in any Seat...didn't the Synod give you one at the Center Magesterium?"
Katsuki tensed, facing flushing under his cowl, feeling they were about to be called out on their bullshit. But Shoto stayed incredibly calm, not even doing that shaky hand thing from before.
"Our resources are stretched thin just as yours are," he shrugged, "You have two so that means you have more than you need. Don't keep me waiting any longer, old man."
The Captain huffed almost amused surprise. There was that haughty entitled tone he knew so well. Not just from Shoto, but Synod Mages in general. He'd hadn't known the Griffin Cohort to have those attitudes, but they were the exception, not the rule when it came to the Synod.
The man made a displeased sound in his throat, but brushed it off quickly and disappeared behind a sealed door that he had to unlock with a spell all while he muttered to himself about "this generation of mages".
"I didn't take you to disrespect your elders," Katsuki grinned with amusement under his hood once the old man was out of sight.
Shoto turned back a glare to him. "I'm playing the damn part," he hissed in a whisper just before the old mage slipped back in and cast his spell to lock down the room once again.
The Stationmaster tightly held a piece of cloth in his hand and moved to stand in front of Shoto. His hand slowly unfolded and he peeled back the cloth to reveal the polished blue oval of a Honing Stone. Katsuki's head lifted some to get a better look out of curiosity. He'd heard of these engenuinitive little devices before, but he'd never seen one in use.
Apparently it was fairly new to Shoto too, because his hand hovered over it hesitantly, like he was afraid to touch it. Katsuki could see his stupid eyes get wide on it, before he shook himself of his awe and stiffened up, snatching it, clothing covering and all, and placing it in that chest pocket inside of his robes.
While he had the Stationmaster there and willing to provide assistance, he requested a few other items, a map of Gaetha, a pack, and a few enchanted talismans of various functions. With another gruff grunt the old man acquired those things as well and situated them in the requested pack, before snapping at him to be on his way. Despite being a little shit before, Shoto gave the old man a respectful bow before leaving, though the old man didn't seem to care.
The walk back out was so long.
Now that they had the stone the tension in the air was poignant, but they faced no further opposition on their way out. Who was really going to stop them? A few old men with barely enough strength to cast a spell?
Even still, the collective sigh of relief once they were out of those large doors and onto the descending steps was resounding and caused the two to meet sharp glares. It held for an indignant amount of time, but Shoto's eyes shifted away first.
"Why is it like this?"
They were at the base of the Seat's steps and his mismatched gaze turned back up to its quiet entrance.
"Like what? Dismal and pathetic?" Katsuki crossed his arms.
"More or less," Shoto shrugged, "I thought the Griffin Cohort was the pride of the Synod. Dawnfell is the damn watchdog of the kingdom… how is your Synod Seat just a few old men in a dusty old building?"
"I already told you, the Magestrate took them away," Katsuki hissed, "And you already know what happened to their pathetic replacements…"
Shoto's shoulders lowered, while he lightly shook his head, moving to take up their path back to the pub. "You really have no respect for the dead."
"If I didn't respect them in life, why would I respect them in death?" Katsuki growled.
Shoto didn't offer a response to that and they continued in uncomfortable silence through the next stretch of busy street. Once they had turned into the less bustling part of town that silence ended.
"I thought when I came to Dawnfell that it was the Griffin Cohort I was joining," Shoto said, seemingly to Katsuki, but it wasn't pointed enough for him to be sure, "It didn't make me any more happy about this shit assignment, but it would have been less disappointing than to serve under Master Ferris. I never even thought to ask what became of the Cohort, I guess I just assumed they were holding ground here in Dawnsend… But where are they now if not at the forefront of a Summoning? I can't help thinking what might have happened if they'd been here. If Headmaster Mirko had led instead of Ferris. If they had been there instead of us, would-?"
"Stop," Katsuki said sharply, causing Shoto to plant his feet and Katsuki to glower at him.
"Are you going to tell me I'm wrong?" Shoto tightened his lips.
The Captain made a disgusted face at him. "Fuck no! If the people training their entire damn lives to fight this specific threat had been there, then you bet your sorry Synod ass my men might still be alive. I just don't want to listen to your damn pity party. Of course it's your fucking fault that they're all dead. It's the entire fucking Synod's fault!"
Katsuki expected a tight browed, pissy response, but Shoto's eyes simply fell with sparing glances to their surroundings to make sure they weren't overheard.
"It's too damn late," Katsuki growled, agitated, "The Griffin Cohort was gone before that Archdemon set foot in Dawnfell and we stood our ground like we were trained to do and we fell and died like we knew would happen. But with what Nana told us, chances are that this shit all might have happened anyway… If you can't beat the Archdemon you can't beat the damn Summoning. Every fucking way you look at it we were sent out there fucked and a bunch of mages weren't going to change that, Griffin Cohort or not. So stop thinking so fucking highly of yourself. Nothing you damn mages could do was going to change anything!"
A short breath left Shoto's nose and it sounded...amused?
"You have a strange way of making people feel better, Captain," Shoto raised an eyebrow.
Katsuki's cheeks burned and his hands turned to fists. "I wasn't trying to make you feel better, you stupid shit! All I'm trying to say is that wondering what might have been is a waste of time and your self pity makes me want to vomit! There's nothing pitiable about you, you fucking survived, didn't you? Faced that Archdemon and a damn undead army and lived, didn't you? You held your own in a fucking war and your no better or older than an apprentice so I don't want to hear that shit about what would have been different if it had been somebody else. I don't care!"
The corner of Shoto's mouth tugged only slightly. If it was supposed to be a smile it wasn't a good one. He gave Katsuki a nod, something that looked almost grateful and began walking past him, taking back their path to the pub without a response to the very heated rant.
Katsuki was simply boiling with frustration as he stomped after him, fighting himself to not lash out in the middle of the street. Even in this less busy part of town it could draw attention.
"If I had been a part of the Griffin Cohort like I thought I would be," Shoto mused distantly as he walked, ignoring Katsuki's bad attitude, "Would we have been friends?"
Katsuki glared hard at him, making sure he could see it. "Are we friends now?"
Shoto shrugged. "Fair point."
"It's not just that they lived here and fought our wars, mage," Katsuki tightened his hands, thinking about the mages who'd fought by their sides in the past, "They weren't from here, but they were Dawnfelden to the core. They were actually people, unlike the rest of you fuckers. There's a reason no other Cohort ever matched them. No other Cohort was willing to become something less Synod. You'd never have even made it into the Griffin Cohort. For that you'd have to drop your entitled dumbfuck attitude! Do you really think you could have let yourself be fucking human and devoted your life to something bigger than yourself?"
The air around Shoto seemed to chill.
"Is that not what we're all doing now?"
Katsuki almost argued, but then he remembered what Shoto had said the night before. He wasn't rejecting the Synod like Nana had, but by helping this quest he wasn't following their rules either. He was placing himself in a position on severe consequence and had already accepted the reality of life altering punishment. There was no self-serving angle that Katsuki could find to Shoto's involvement and yet he was here. If anything he was damning himself, both in regards to his future and to the beliefs that mages carried with them. The beliefs of their tainted souls and the awaiting damnation for those cursed people who had not thoroughly redeemed themselves in life.
Katsuki let himself chuckle indignantly, rolling his eyes at Shoto. "Fair point."
When they returned to the pub, nightfall was upon them and the pub was more alive than ever. Denki and Mina were right in the middle of it, flaggons raised with the other patrons, warbling sea shanties they barely recalled the words to.
At a table away from the uproar of drunks and goodtimers Nana sat across from Kyouka in hushed, intense conversation that wouldn't have been interrupted for anything besides the sight of Shoto and the Captain. Katsuki was more than happy to break up that conversation anyway, having only just reached the point of trust with Nana and far from liking the idea of Kyouka being of interest to the mage or anyone else. They didn't seem to realize that she wasn't just untrustworthy, but a damn bitch on top of it.
Either way the rest of the brabble had determined that she was welcome so he couldn't stop her from following them upstairs. Nana tried to get Denki and Mina to come as well, but they waved her off, saying she could catch them up later. They were far too plastered to add anything to the conversation anyway so that was no loss.
Back inside one of the rented room they crowded around the only available surface, the bed, and Shoto immediately pulled the Stone from his chest pocket, catching his own breath as he opened his palm and the cloth over the bed and let everyone take in the smooth rock. Katsuki couldn't see anything incredibly remarkable about it. At a glance it didn't look any more special that decoration around a potted plant. But even Katsuki was aware that it was more than what it seemed. Honing Stone came from the Ether, a physical piece of the other side, a place that no living man had seen or touched.
Nana was as intrigued as Shoto was, slowly holding her hand out beneath Shoto's.
"Amazing," she marveled as Shoto let it fall into her hands, "I've never seen one in person. Incredible that something so small can affect so much…"
"It's pulsing so strong with the Ether it's almost making me sick," Shoto commented, shaking his head, "I've never felt something that potent…"
While Kyouka looked over Nana's hand to get a good look, Nana's brow twisted.
"I don't feel anything more than an inkling of power from it," she said.
Shoto just shrugged, seeming distracted as he reached into the pack he'd received from the Stationmaster and started to lay out a map, aligning it's placement with their current facing.
"How exactly does this work?" Kyouka asked, tapping a gentle finger against the stone's surface.
"That doesn't concern you, whore," Katsuki snapped, getting a biting look for his response.
Her face momentarily flushed, probably anger and embarrassment, but she didn't say anything to him, Nana was replying before she got the chance.
"Honing Stones come from the ether," Nana explained, setting it down in the center of the map and chewing her cheek thoughtfully, "Besides the demons, monsters, and horrors that pass through, these are the only physical pieces of the ether ever to touch our world and they hold a unique connection to it."
"They are drawn to the ether," Shoto took over, crouching down beside the bed, "Something in them pulls them to go back. They seek out something to return through like a breach. An opening."
"A Summoner," Katsuki finished.
Shoto nodded. "When a mage opens the rift between our world and the ether, the effects of the ether cling to them and that connection with the ether remains with them for life. That's why a Summoner has to be killed after an Archdemon is banished, because if it happens again the Synod has to be able to track the new Summoner without the confusion of it being drawn to the last."
"It's a messy business fighting a Summoning," Kyouka shook her head as the mages leaned close to the stone.
All three survivors of the encampment exchanged looks, before shaking off the cold fingers crawling up their spines. The youthful bard had no clue how generous that statement was.
"Indeed it is," Nana sighed, "But without an attunement with the ether, the stone is nothing more than a stone. Only mages can use it, which is why it has always fallen to the Synod to hunt the Summoner."
She ran a finger over the stone and tilted her mouth. "I think you should try to connect with it, Shoto."
The younger mage drew back and stared at her narrowly. "Only Masters are ever allowed to use them, I don't think I should. You're older and have more experience, you should."
Nana scoffed and rolled her eyes, "I'm no Synod Master. I could do it, don't get me wrong, but you should. I don't know how this is, but I think you have a deeper connection to the ether than I do, than anyone I've ever met actually. The stone is nothing more than a dull hum of the ether to me, but to you…"
Katsuki turned an eyebrow up amidst his glare to Shoto. The old woman was claiming that Shoto had a stronger tie to the source of their magic than she did and after what he'd seen her do at the encampment he wasn't sure he liked that idea.
"What are you saying?" Shoto looked confused, looking at the other faces for clarification that they couldn't give.
Nana chuckled. "I don't really know, Shoto, I can't explain it either. But I think it will work better if you're the one using it." She nodded down at the stone and opened her hands encouragingly for him to take it.
There was tangible hesitation from Shoto as he psyched himself up to pick it up again and kept assessing the other eyes in the room around him. His other hands spread out onto the map, shakily. He winced a few times and shuddered, but nothing was happening.
"Just fucking do it already," Katsuki said loudly.
Shoto's eyes fell tensely closed. "It's not easy to focus on a spell while the ether is practically shrieking at me, so please shut up."
Katsuki met Nana's gaze and they both held confusion and curiosity. The Captain had never felt whatever the ether was supposed to feel like before and he knew mages could sense it to some degree, but he'd also never heard someone describe its effect as a "shriek". And Shoto hadn't been this agitated by it on their walk back, perhaps it had to do with skin contact. Maybe that's why the old man had it wrapped up.
Everyone stayed quiet while Shoto stood up straight and focused. One hand held the stone in front of his chest while the other hovered above the map as blue glyphs started to form and the air got a bit colder. Katsuki didn't even think that was the stone, just Shoto.
Streams of living light danced out from his fingers and then a burst of blue shot out from between his shut eyelids, knocking a gasp out of the young mage. Katsuki stepped back, hand instinctively going to his sword. The living light crawled over the page below, spreading slowly as Shoto's eyes moved frantically behind his eyelids. It continued for a full ten more seconds and then suddenly the light vanished.
Shoto blinked back to the room and shoved the stone away. Nana took it quickly and assessed him with concern as he breathed heavily and came back to himself.
"What the hell was that?" Kyouka tilted her head at the dazed looking mage.
Shoto swallowed heavily as they all went quiet, waiting on his answer.
"It's...hard to explain," he shook his head, "It was like a vision, but it was fast and it-it felt like it was pulling me and dragging me through paths and roads and I saw...there was a dark rift, a tear in the fabric of the world...but then it was a person and-"
He held his head and groaned on the ache of it. "It showed me the Summoner, but I couldn't see his face, just what the stone sensed of him, that breach between our world and the ether."
"Where is he?" Katsuki asked, now holding his sword in an irrational sense of preparation to fight the man in question.
Shoto's eyes turned down. His finger fell onto the map at the end of a slightly scorched trail that the lights had created.
Katsuki bared his teeth. It was the opposite direction of the frontlines, of the encampment, the barrier. The stone was directing them deeply inland, practically across the kingdom.
"I thought you said the Summoner was with the Archdemon the day you fought it," Katsuki gripped a hand in his hair.
"He was," Nana's eyes just were as wide, "That was only a week ago. It's physically possible to make it all the way there in under that time, but…"
Kyouka's fists leaned into the mattress, brow tight, confusion matching theirs as she voiced what was on every mind.
"But why go to Tarlson?"
