"What the fuck do you mean, 'stay here?'" Katsuki bellowed.

The elf calmly brushed spitle from her cheek and stood her ground. "I meant exactly what I said. We need to stay here and wait for the others to catch up."

Standing on the outskirts of Silgholme the town felt quiet, still, like calm waters. It didn't matter that there were children at play, mothers tending gardens, and fathers handling the previous day's kills, it did not raise much noise or commotion. These hunters were a tightly knit community with very little care whether outsiders came, went, or hunted alongside them as long as their peaceable life was not interrupted and Katsuki found he didn't like it. Perhaps it would not have been unnerving if it did not incur thoughts of home and the devastation it had already suffered - that this peace was being deprived from Dawnfell at this very moment. It was unfair that these people know such harmony simply because of where they were located on the map of Gaetha.

No, he had no inclination to stay here any longer than necessary, whatever the elf's reasons.

"I have to agree with the Captain, it is foolish to stay in one place so long when we are being pursued," Commander Tenya said. Katsuki was sure if the Commander stiffened himself any taller he'd snap backwards like a toothpick.

Mina rolled her eyes, as if the two men who were the most experienced in warfare, combat and survival among them had taken a potion of stupidity that morning. Things had really only regressed for Katsuki over the last week since the elf had stopped being afraid of him. He preferred cowardice to being so confidently incorrect.

He was prepared to tell her as much, but the soft voice that was now their ultimate voice of authority chimed up at the Commander's side. "Why do you think it's such a bad idea to flee?" The queen asked.

The fresh, cold air of the morning, a full belly and new set of warm clothes had done wonders for the Queen's state of mind. She seemed finally present and alert, although it did not diminish the sadness behind her eyes. Katsuki respected the strength it took to stand on her own two feet so quickly after such a loss, especially from a noble. For a soldier a swift recovery was expected, but for a royal like her he imagined that their tears were like gold to other nobles and they lavished in their misery for the fun of it. But Queen Momo had taken the things Katsuki had told her this morning in stride, listening to the horror that was approaching her home and their less than traditional plan of defeating it, with a thoughtful calm. She had some grit about her and he liked that, but he was less than thrilled about it when she decided to use her strength to make them hear out the idiotic ramblings of a Moondancer.

"We're stronger together than apart," Mina shrugged, "And if they didn't find us here last night, they won't backtrack to find us later, they'll think we forged on."

"But we don't know if they have already passed us," Commander Tenya argued.

Mina smirked. "They did." She turned out and tilted her head at the road beside them, tucking her coat closer against the brisk wind.

"Humans stomp around like beasts of burden," she explained, gliding her hand over the ground, "Military boots are imprinted and military men take every step like they are trying to crush a man's head. Oh, and their poor horses, laden with their weight and armor. How do you even carry yourselves?"

"Do you have a fucking point?"

"Certainly do. The Tarls that were following us made it here last night. A small, but formidable squad. They stopped right here at the town's entrance."

Mina mirrored the steps she spoke of them taking, pointing out where the scout had dismounted and stepped a few paces into the mud that served as a road to a small town like Silgholme. She stopped about four paces in and tapped her lip.

"He didn't go any further than this. From here he turned back, mounted his horse and they rode on. They must have taken one look at this little town and thought it was too foolish a place for experienced military men, like yourselves, to make their defense. Or they didn't want to wake up a town full of bow wielding hunters before dawn. Smart move."

"Incredible," Queen Momo whispered.

"Thank you, I'm very good, I know."

"Still," Commander Tenya sounded as though his pride had taken a small hit, "I see no benefit to staying here."

"How's having three more Mages and some extra skilled fighter for being worth the wait?" Mina crossed her arms at him.

"I have not been impressed with what I've seen so far of your Mages."

"He saved your life didn't he? Figured you'd think that was worth something." Katsuki said. It was a knee jerk reaction, not entirely a conscious statement. The last thing in the whole damn world he wanted to do was defend Shoto, but the kid had gotten them out of Tarlson of his own volition and the Queen owed him her life at the least.

The Commander looked away and the Queen held herself closer at Katsuki's accusation, head dipping in a touch of shame. But Mina... The fucking look on her face ingnited Katsuki's killer instincts.

"Well, well, go ahead and bury me, I must be dead, did you just say something nice about Shoto without a knife to your throat?"

"Don't make me regret not killing you, elf," Katsuki boiled.

She continued to smirk to herself, but said nothing further.

"So the Blood Mage was of use, it does not mean that I or the Queen are keen on involving ourselves further in this madness," the Commander said.

"I am."

All eyes were on the Queen.

"Your highness?" Commander Tenya gasped.

There was resigned determination in her eyes, but there was a tremor in her legs that she was trying hard to disguise. "What you told me this morning… I can't consider myself a proper Queen if I ignore the greater threat to my kingdom."

"And I retain that we will be better equipped to assist in ending the Summoning from a place of power, from the Capitol," Tenya reiterated his argument from that morning.

"The Capitol will be its own warzone in a manner of days," Queen Momo swallowed hard, "Even if I somehow make it home without being first taken by the Tarls, I will be trapped there and there will be no way for me to provide reinforcements or support to Captain Katsuki. I, of course, fear for my home, but Togata is on his way back and my mother will have no difficulty taking charge. They will hold the castle with or without me there."

Queen Momo paused and looked over each face. She blushed and then cleared her throat to continue. She acted as though she wasn't sure what to do with listening ears, as if she was more used to being ignored.

"My thought is this," she chewed her cheek as she eyed Katsuki directly, "I can be of more use to you at your side than I can locked away in the Capitol."

"How so?" Katsuki was intrigued by her.

"Blood Mages or not, what I've heard of the fronts tells me that there will be more than just an Archdemon awaiting for us and in that case we need a strong army. I can get us that. Between Dalem and Dawnfell there are seven Lordships, I can enlist their full strength to your cause, not just the meager reinforcements I know you've been sent."

"You could convince seven Lords to commit to the mission of Fallen Mages?" Katsuki lifted his chin.

"I'd like very much to avoid mentioning that to them or anyone," Queen Momo frowned, "But I am, by all rights, Queen and they are duty bound to adhere to that. So long as we are able to enlist their aid before word of Lord Enji's Contest of Inheritance reaches them…"

"What's that?" Mina raised an eyebrow.

The Commander took this one. "A Contest of Inheritance is when a Lord claims that an heir is not suitable or is wrongfully in place to inherit the throne. Even with the Contest in effect Momo is Queen until determined otherwise, but that simple question has been known to shake the loyalty of many Lords or dredge up those seeking a change in power. It is an ugly political business and is no doubt the course Lord Enji plans to take. He made his feelings towards Momo's rule very clear."

Katsuki eyed the Queen and the way she watched the ground with nervous focus. He hoped that Enji's feelings towards her were not correct. He had his own doubts when he saw her start to space out like that. But she shook clear of it after only a moment and her head sat tall again once she had composed herself.

"So that is it, then," Momo nodded, "Under your protection I will travel to Dawnfell with you, gathering an army as we go and when this nasty business is over with you will escort me back to the Capitol to reclaim my throne. I feel that marching home with the Dawnfelden Army at my back may change a few minds about what I am capable of."

"If we survive and if there's an army left I'm sure Lord Sorahiko could be easily persuaded to provide that," Katsuki grinned, getting back the good feeling he had about the young Queen, "Cintra and Minstrel will be hit just as badly if we fail so you'll have no difficulty getting them on your side either."

"We just have to make sure your Mages actually succeed," Momo nodded.

"They will," Mina smiled, eyes casting out towards Silgholme, clueing the others in to the two men approaching from the town.

Shoto had changed into something less conspicuous than Synod robes, layered hunter's garb, but he still looked as Synod as ever, somewhere between how a noble and soldier carried themselves. His face told nothing as usual, but the kid with him was all expression. Eijiro was stretching his bare arms in the cold wind and skipping along with enjoyment.

"You two finished?" Katsuki asked.

Shoto nodded, "He seems to be almost entirely healed, we're ready for whatever is next."

"That's wonderful news," Queen Momo brightened.

"How are you feeling, miss highness?" Eijiro watched the Queen and after a small shake of Shoto's head the Dragon corrected himself, "I mean, your highness."

She smiled softly, obviously endeared by the creature and his estrangedness to courtly addresses. "I'm managing, thanks to you. I should have said so before, but you were incredibly brave yesterday, Eijiro. I can never repay you what you've done for me."

Eijiro shrugged. "Well I wouldn't have thought to help if Shoto hadn't told me to. You really should thank him instead."

Shoto scowled at the Dragon and Katsuki huffed, less inclined to show him any due respect now that Shoto was standing in front of him. But the Queen did not eagerly rush to thank the Mage either, instead she gave Shoto a wary look and offered only a small nod, a far less enthusiastic reaction than the one she had given the beast that could have incinerated her in a single huff.

"Are we leaving soon?" Shoto changed the subject quickly.

"No," Katsuki grumbled at the return of that smug look from Mina, "We're waiting for Nana and the others. Apparently we're safe here for a while."

The Mage barely hid the spark of excitement in his eyes - or maybe it was just relief. But still he just nodded acknowledgement.

"As long as we're staying, then can we at least go back indoors?" Mina sighed, "Winters aren't quite like this where I'm from."

The Queen gave the elf a sidelong look. "This is autumn, Mina, not winter."

Horror drug over Mina's face and she shuddered. Katuski wanted to make fun of her for it, but he too was feeling the sting of the Northern bite so far from Dawnfell and he liked the idea of this merely being autumn as much as the elf did.

"I'm going in too," Katsuki said, "I need to take stock of our rations and find us a better room for tonight."

"Warmbloods," Shoto said, hardly louder than a whisper, and turned his face purposefully towards that chill of the breeze.

Northerners and Mages, there was nothing stranger.

Before they rushed back to shelter Mina snagged the young Dragon by the arm and tugged him along with her.

"Come along you, you're unreasonably warm and I want the company. How are you not cold without sleeves?"

"I may look human, but I'm still a Dragon," Eijiro didn't resist being dragged along.

"Hmmm, must be nice," Mina sighed as they went.

Katsuki meandered a few paces behind so he wouldn't have to engage with them, but he was a bit jealous of the Dragon's high internal temperatures too. Had he no pride like the elf he'd have nestled in close to the creature too.

But he forged on and dealt with his discomfort like an adult.

By the morning Izuku had obtained less than a sparing three hours of sleep. If he hadn't seen Kyouka seated at the footboard all night, he might have thought he had the worst of it, but her determination that the Demon wouldn't rear its terrifying head again for a while did not come with enough confidence for her to lie down and get more than a few winks.

But, truly, he couldn't imagine how the others slept at all with the lurking presence of a Demon in their midst along with the pure instability of the Mage it possessed. Nana had aided the Mage to sleep with a quick spell and from the looks of him this might have been his first restful night in a while.

When the first crack of dawn broke through Kyouka's eyes were open and Izuku watched her scramble to her feet and drop on the other side of the bed, whispering something melodic to herself beside the still sleeping body of the Mage. Izuku shot up and looked over to see what she was doing and found her with a gentle hand placed on his arm, singing so quietly it almost sounded like humming. The aura around the Mage that leaked black shadow around him was present and diminishing with Kyouka's every word until all was calm around the Mage and he breathed an easy sigh, eyes still shut to the world

In the light of day Izuku's gut twisted into knots to think that he had been ready to execute him or give him over to his death. He was pitiful, thin, unkempt. He was nothing of what a Synod Mage was supposed to be, even a Fallen one.

"What made you change your mind last night?" Kyouka took him by surprise with how icy her voice had become.

"There's more to him than meets the eye and I have questions," Izuku answered, "Why were you so keen on keeping him alive?"

"As I said, I have my own selfish reasons."

Izuku frowned at her and then looked over the other sleeping figures with a shake of his head.

"I haven't known you as long as the others, Kyouka, but in that short time you have been nothing but vague about yourself. I hate to be the one to say it, but it's becoming tiresome. How could helping this Mage be of any use to you?"

"He's not of use to me," Kyouka said, "But he may be of use to you."

"Again, why not just say what you mean? That answers nothing."

Kyouka was deathly quiet before she stood up and cocked her head slightly at Izuku, assessing him. When her assessment was satisfied she rubbed against the sleep in her eyes and spoke softly.

"I am not in a business that spares much trust, Izuku."

"You're a bard, how is that possible?"

Kyouka chuckled and Izuku felt embarrassed, wondering what he'd said that was so funny.

"Do you remember what Miss Joke said?"

"That the elves say sappy loving things to each other when we aren't looking?"

Kyouka fought a snort of laughter and her demeanor towards Izuku eased.

"No, that 'every good underhanded business has a legitimate one covering for it'," she quoted, "I'm a bard as sure as day, but that's not all I do. I'm in a similar business to Denki and Mina, acquiring things for people, doing things others wouldn't dare as long as I get a handsome bag of coin for the trouble."

Izuku shuddered at the thought of what those things might be.

"There's a reason I don't talk much about my past or my present," she patted Izuku's shoulder, "Soft hearts like yours don't have the stomach for it."

"I don't need to know every detail of your life," Izuku meant it fully, "But this," he gestured to the Mage, "Is a Synod matter. A Mage matter and something bigger than what a bard-spy or whatever you are is equipped to deal with."

"You've seen my powers," Kyouka shook her head, "I'm more equipped than you are."

"To control him, yes, but to dole out judgment on his crimes…?" Izuku pinched his nose, still so ripped apart on what to do about the Mage's fate, "I still don't see why you should even care. Is it some matter of pride that you defeated the Demon when we could not?"

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't tickle me pink that I did what you Synod Mages couldn't," Kyouka grinned and then the grin fell.

"But?"

"But…" Her face fell and softened on the frail thing lying in front of them. "I don't take pride in everything I've done. There are some things… some things will haunt me as long as I live."

The Mage started to stir lightly at their feet and the blanket they'd given him pulled up to his ears as his face contorted.

"I have a lot to make up for," Kyouka looked Izuku in the eye, "People I wish I could repair after what I've done to them."

That was all Kyouka said before she moved back to kneel beside the Mage. Izuku understood, though. She didn't have to spell it out. On the surface she was clear confidence and good humor, beneath that was a person willing to do horrible things for personal gain, and below that deeper still she lived in the turmoil of regret. When the Demon dispersed, something about this boy it had left behind had shone to her as a beacon of salvation, that perhaps an ounce of her soul could be saved if she saved his.

His heart ached for her. It was more than likely that she was too late to save him already. Izuku's mind drifted to the faces of those who had died at the Demon's hands and he again wanted to blame the Mage for them. And then he thought of Shoto and the way he still clung to some fragile hope of saving his brethren's soul… another soul that was likely already lost.

An explanation from the Mage was still needed, but his confusion of Kyouka's motives were gone. He was no less deluded by such heroic ideas than her after all.

This was not sustainable. She'd just proposed remaining side by side with this rag-tag band of powerful people and Momo couldn't look at the most important piece of it - the person she owed her life to - in the face. It was wrong to hold onto such an aversion, but she couldn't help how Mages made her feel since the assassin had come for her.

She chewed her cheek as she watched Shoto's distant expression, the way he soaked in the cold air in such a content way, but held such tension throughout his body that he looked ready to unravel. Momo was easily distracted by his hair, though, the terribly unnatural split of colors; it almost reminded her of Fuyumi and the chaotic speckles of red across her beautiful white tresses. But that seemed to be where the similarities ended.

Commander Tenya was haggling over something just ahead of them while they meandered awkwardly in the town center. Silgholme was not terribly loud in and of itself, but the wind was strong enough to carry people's voices away from them. The only person who could hear what you were saying was the one right next to you. If she was going to send an olive branch to Shoto, now was the time.

"Mage…" she started and then got a little sick to the stomach as her mind filled in, Blood Mage.

Shoto pulled his eyes off of the horizon down to her with a raised eyebrow. Momo changed her approach.

"Umm, Shoto," she tested the name warily, "I wanted to apologize and… and thank you."

Confusion was his response.

"Eijiro was right, I owe you my life and truly I'm grateful," she explained, "Blood Mage or not it does not change that I would be in Todoroki hands had you not brought Eijiro to the rescue."

There was the smallest, almost unnoticeable flinch from Shoto, but he remained silent.

"And I owe you an apology for not acknowledging you for it sooner. I have been unfairly cold to you."

Shoto shook his head. "Your caution is valid. If I were you I wouldn't even be speaking to me."

What was she supposed to say to that? She was trying to open up a line of communication with him and he was opting to warn her against it? She felt oddly challenged.

"Well, I am speaking to you," she said, "Like it or not we have joined forces against a common evil and I would prefer it if I did not- if-"

Momo bit her lip and Shoto angled a look down at her. "If what?"

The queen hung her head and then avoided looking at him altogether. "I would prefer if I did not feel that I should fear you."

That seemed to strike Shoto. Despite his warning tone not moments ago and his subtle cautions about her even speaking to him, he seemed suddenly nervously defensive.

"I would never hurt you," he shook his head at her, "I know yesterday I lost my cool with Katsuki, but I wouldn't have harmed him either. He just…" Shoto sighed in exasperation, the most emotion she had seen on him since they thought the Dragon might die. "He just knows how to get under my skin. I know it's no excuse, but I promise it won't happen again. I was… not myself."

She almost told him that it wasn't his outburst yesterday that made her fear him, but now that he mentioned it, she was thinking about the Blood Magic that had rushed so easily into his hands and that he had struggled to put out before it harmed anyone. It was uncouth, but she actually created some distance between them to keep a little further away from him.

He noticed and was quiet again, his terse expression turning back to cold and distant.

Well this is going fantastically. So much for an olive branch.

She was ready to walk away, catch up to Tenya and resign herself to staying at odds with every Mage she met until the day she died. But then Shoto's voice returned soft, yet full of physical effort.

"The Synod does not raise us to look on the royal houses as an authority."

Momo was taken aback. "Why?" And better yet, why mention it now?

"We coexist with you, we are not ruled by you," Shoto folded his hands, "We look on you like the innkeepers of the country. We have a place to live and do our work and in return you get protection from the ether, our servitude, and power. But your innkeeper does not own you."

Innkeepers? It disgusted her how much that actually summed up the ruling powers' coexistence with the Synod. Momo crossed her arms, already disliking where he might be going with this.

"Are you trying to tell me that you don't respect me or my rule?"

His mismatched eyes blinked a few times and he turned to her with barely notable surprise. "What? No. I meant the very opposite. It was my intention to pay you a compliment. You're very strong to risk so much for our cause and I wanted to commend you. I had hoped to maybe place us Mages on a better footing with you since we will be working together for the foreseeable future." His words started to sound more like nervous prattling, but Momo was too surprised to stop him. "I wanted to preface that it is not common for Mages to respect your authority, but that you have my respect and I hope to gain your trust. Not just for myself. Nana is the one teaching me to use Blood Magic and I want you to respect each other as well. And Izuku is not like us, he would never touch Fallen Magic, but he is risking much to help us. It's important that we all work together and I do not want the rift of respect and authority to compromise that."

"Shoto," Momo stopped him, saying his name more sharply than she anticipated, "I'm sure I will like your friends well enough. Even still…" Shoto watched her and she ground her teeth. "It is not the politics of the matter that leaves me anxious in the presence of Mages. It is not even this grasp you have on Fallen Magic. I know enough about Magic to know its evil capabilities, but not enough to damn you outright for using it against a greater evil. It scares me, have no doubt, but even a Healer Mage would make me uneasy after what I have been through. So, please, do not concern yourself with trying to make me feel comfortable. There is nothing you can do to help the matter."

"Oh," Shoto sounded disappointed. It made Momo feel terrible, like she'd crushed his spirits.

"For what it's worth you have my respect as well," she tried to ease the moment, "And my appreciation. The fact that you are willing to give up so much for the sake of Gaetha is no small thing."

Oddly enough she meant it. Shoto took it with an accepting nod and seemed to be forcing his shoulders to lighten their tension, unsuccessfully. She appreciated his trying, though.

"And thank you for your respect," she managed a smile.

"I do mean it," Shoto said seriously, "I have no experience of family or fathers, but I can imagine the loss of one is momentous. You are very strong to take up our cause in the wake of the King's death."

Nothing about her felt strong, not an inch of skin or bone in her body, but her heart bolstered ever so lightly to hear it from another. But still it cut to be reminded of her loss and the decision to take on the Archdemon felt as much an act of desperation as anything; going South meant she was spared another day facing the hell that awaited her at the Capitol. Besides that there could be no home left for her to fight over if the Archdemon succeeded. The Todorokis could have Gaetha if that happened, what use would she have for charred earth and rubble?

But her young heart was still breaking and the last thing she wanted was to revisit her still fresh wounds. She opted to change the conversation instead.

"There is no one in your life you ever considered a father? Not even one of your mentors or friends?"

They had been walking at a very slow pace through the town center as evening was fast approaching and Shoto came to a sudden stop. The way he looked at her went from uncertainty to suspicion.

"No… Why do you ask?"

Momo scowled. "I'm curious is all. The whole lifestyle of a mage is so terribly foreign to me. And I thought, since we are attempting to be civil you could enlighten me. You know what has become of my father, I merely wanted to know what happened to yours."

Suspicion fell away to a far off look of horror and then a shake of the Mage's head before his deep cold returned to wash out his emotions. "I was perfectly capable of remaining detached from my Masters and caretakers as a child. I was happy on my own; my goals were loftier than comradery. Most other kids found solidarity in each other and in the Masters they empathized with, but I had no use for it. So no, there is no one who is a father or brother in my life."

"What about mother?" Momo shrugged, knowing the question had likely the same answer.

"No mother-figure either… except…" Shoto teetered his head back and forth, "No, that does not count. She is not even Synod."

"What about the Mages who travel with you? Are they any sort of family to you?"

"Nana, Izuku, and Ochako?"

"I suppose, if those are their names."

"Ochako and Nana are Renegades, at best we are tenuous friends as the situation demands. Izuku is, I suppose, closer to me than any other has managed. Not for lack of trying, though. He is persistent and you will not be able to stop him from being friends with you."

"Duly noted."

"But the fact remains, I have no family and no need for a family, so I'm afraid I cannot empathize with your loss. I did not mean to start this line of questioning with my comment. I merely wanted to express my condolences and admiration."

Shoto was cold as stone, but there was a crack in the ice that said he was annoyed at the topic. Momo hadn't intended to pry, but the dynamics of Mages was so strange and unnatural to her she couldn't help asking once the opportunity was presented. Ripped from birth family, raised by the cold natured Synod, stripped of surname, title, and identity. It was a wonder she and them grew up speaking the same language.

This was about all the of one-on-one she could handle with a Mage, though, and she picked up the pace a little to catch up with Tenya. "It's fine I won't ask anything further."

If Shoto was relieved he kept it to himself. "Thank you."

Tenya spotted them as they approached and waved them over. Momo acknowledged him with a nod.

"Come along, Shoto the Commander is-"

Her thought hung unfinished as she faltered. The Commander was not moving; his arm was still extended into the air midway through waving them down and his feet were still half turned out, but his movements didn't conclude. He was frozen in place.

Momo shook her head and her mouth gaped to ask Shoto if he was seeing the same thing and then she felt the hushed mutter of the villagers and the instinctual need to back away from something looming. The townspeople did exactly that, mothers grabbing their children close and the rest eyeing the very air with caution as an electric shudder pulsed through the town center. Shoto bristled beside her and his hand moved as if grabbing for his staff, but it was not with him.

"What is happening?" Momo trembled.

The stiff air hung thicker and her heart tried to rip itself clean from her chest when the bright purple glow of magic trailed after the confident footsteps of a darkly clad figure. He stepped into the open just behind Commander Tenya, hood over his head, slotted mask covering his nose and mouth. He placed a delicate hand on the Commanders shoulder and Momo could suddenly see the terror in Tenya's eyes, which were fully animated even though the rest of him was trapped where it stood.

"Never send the brabble to do a Mage's job." Her assassin sounded practically bored and Momo's legs almost collapsed beneath her just to see his face again.

An arm jutted out in front of Momo and she blinked through a haze of crippling fear. Shoto's hands lit in orange Magic. "Stand back, your highness!"

Hitoshi actually stopped dead and there was the slightest tilt of his head at the new opponent who had dared stand between him and the queen. And to Momo's ultimate horror, those cold dead, violet eyes of his blinked in recognition as he said, "Shoto?

"Let's start with a name."

The Mage had inhaled the food they gave him like it was the first he'd ever eaten. They hadn't let him leave the room or be left without Kyouka so Izuku, Nana, Ochako, and Denki had brought them breakfast. The cramped room was made a thousand times more uncomfortable as the four of them stood around and waited for the Mage -a man they were loath to be this close to in any circumstance - to be ready to talk. The Demon was still within him after all and it wasn't a fact any of them could easily forget.

Looking up from his now empty bowl, the Mage searched the faces around him nervously. There was Nana's good natured smile, Denki's curious wide eyes, and Ochako's generally warm looks, but from Izuku he still only got cold suspicion. It was not Izuku's intention, but he had been raised with a wariness to Fallen Mages and with a hatred towards Dark Mages especially. Most of those learned prejudices had been easily put aside once faced with the real world, but he had yet to hear a real reason to trust this Mage yet.

"My name…" he faltered for a moment, eyeing Izuku, "Is Fumikage… Fumikage Tokoyami."

The Mage winced just as Izuku recoiled.

"Tokoyami?" he had to confirm that he'd heard him right as anger boiled up into his chest, "As in, Master Siphen Tokoyami?"

The very name jabbed Izuku's mind and heart like a knife. Jano. The names burned his chest.

The Mage, Fumikage, was quiet and his eyes fell into his lap while those around them passed confused looks.

"Who's that?" Denki asked.

"He was a Synod Master, infamous for corrupting his students and escaping the death sentence that was given to him for the crime of Dark Magic" Izuku said.

Still silent, Fumikage did not rush to speak up for himself.

"He was an educator at Bluecrest Magesterium who tried to teach Dark Arts to his students and was vying for it to become a commonplace teaching in the Synod," Izuku explained angrily, "And you?"

Fumikage slowly lifted his head. "Yes… I was one of his students."

Izuku felt sick and couldn't believe that those around him weren't as horrified as he was. Amidst what could have been an explosive moment, Kyouka held up her hands towards Izuku and cocked her head. "You agreed we would hear a full explanation."

He had, but now this new information did not bode well for his impression of Fumikage. How could he even have stood in the presence of that monster?

Kyouka lightly touched the Mage's shoulder. "You said you would explain yourself, so why don't you do that before our friend here loses that famous Synod calm of his."

Fumikage played with the sleeves of his tattered robes, loose on his body, dirtied and ripped, likely from his previous night as a host to a monster that was out of control. Even still the Demon seemed only just below the surface, tiny wisps of shadow flickering from around him at random… no, not at random. They had been gone while he ate and been content and were returning now that a harsh question had been asked of him.

"My Master was not like the other teachers," Fumikage's deep voice sounded weak, shaken, "He cared about us. He recognized there was something wrong with me when other teachers wouldn't and he told me the truth when they placated me."

"What was the truth?" Ochako watched cautiously.

"That my curse was too strong to be controlled," Fumikage opened his hands, "That my powers are not in my control like the rest of them. It comes too easily and I was not meant to be handled as the others were. I needed different guidance and he offered it. More than guidance I needed a guardian. So much so that I am now sorely afraid of what I may do without him here."

Kyouka was quick to cut off Izuku's angry retorts. "Where is he now?"

Fumikage's pale face grew paler and he shuddered.

"He thought he could control the Demon… He was so powerful I believed it. But it- it destroyed him. Just like it did to all those people, like it would have done to all of you had Kyouka not saved me."

"Why did you conjure the Demon, Fumikage?" Nana asked with a tight expression.

"I never intended to," there were tears running down his cheeks, "I- I couldn't stop it. I made no act to initiate it! The barrier between our world and the ether seemed to rip open inside of me of its own accord and I felt the Demon grip me and… I saw Master Siphen and begged him to help me and he said he would leash it, that it would be his to command, but the Demon laughed at him and- and ripped him apart, fiber by fiber. It is a being of pure spite."

The blackness around his shoulders surged, but it was still nothing close to the full form of the Demon they had seen before. Their hands were near their weapons, but everyone tried to remain calm. Fumikage did not seem to see them and his head twitched this way and that like there was something prodding his brain.

"Spite," he repeated the word, "It is all I could feel until there was only the Demon's searing pain, its rage as you shredded apart its form and reduced it to a quivering shell of what it was."

Izuku felt Nana's eyes on him, cautious, but also with something uncertain behind them. He couldn't tell if they were having the same thought, but he felt they were at least on the same page.

Sitting down easily beside Fumikage on the edge of the bed, Kyouka started to hum softly and the tune made the darkness shirk away from her and suddenly retreat back into the shelter of Fumikage's body.

"Fumikage," Nana stepped closer to him, "How could you have summoned the Demon without knowing?"

The possessed Mage wiped his sleeve over his face as the Demon lessened. "I told you, I do not control my own powers."

"You said that you couldn't stop it," Nana said, "Does that mean you were aware it was happening and had no ability to end it before the spell completed?"

Fumikage nodded, intense dark eyes, reddened and rimmed in purple, burning into Nana's.

"I'm afraid that is quite impossible," Nana said, "Magic is not an unwilling act. Even a small child accidentally casting an inferno at her mother's curtains is not an unwilling participant in her Magic."

"That is the nature of this curse," he practically shouted, near hysterics, "For years I have not been a willing participant in my powers! You're just like the other Masters, they all told me as much, but I would not lie about something so horrible… Why would I wish such a thing as this on myself?"

Nana looked to Izuku, getting a second opinion. His head was a tumult, but he nodded. He had studied Magic his entire life and Nana was correct. Magic did not act of its own accord.

"Child I have known many a Mage - Renegade, Synod, Fallen…" Nana shook her head, "I know a Mage who is as much ether as human, who has used even Blood Magic without truly thinking of what he has done, and yet even he is not controlled by his powers. What you are telling me is impossible and I don't believe it."

The strain across Fumikage's expression was poignant, resistant, frustrated. "You don't understand."

"Something as in-depth as Conjuring cannot be done unwillfully, as Nana said, but…" Izuku paused to take a long breath, "I don't think you are the one who summoned the Demon."

"What?" Ochako said.

Izuku stepped towards Fumikage. "Give me your hands."

He hesitated at the demand, but then slowly held them out at a nod from Kyouka, his guardian among judgmental faces. Izuuku grasped one hand in a gentle way - incapable of anything else, no matter his feelings towards the Mage - and lifted them into the light. At the very tips of his fingers a darkness was beginning to form, like a smokey gray growing gradually towards black; the first signs of the Fallen Stain.

"What are you proving with this?" Kyouka tilted her head.

"Fallen Magic has a cost," Izuku held up the hand, "Nana can tell you, it doesn't take much to see the corruption on your skin and if used enough it will leave a permanent stain. But Dark Magic is equivalent to Summoning, you are an open door for the ether and the act of it alone pulls so heavily on corrupted Magic that it will always mar the user. There is a Demon living inside his very body and all that is showing of it is the tiniest hint of corruption which I can only guess is from prolonged exposure to the Demon itself."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kyouka stood, taking the Mage's hand from him.

"I can't be sure, but my guess is that Fumikage didn't summon the Demon. His master did," Izuku couldn't help feeling a bit pleased with himself as things started to piece together. Fumikage though, was not so pleased.

"That is slander upon my Master!" he shouted, "You dishonor him in death!"

"He did nothing but dishonored himself in life, this will certainly not add to it."

"Apprentice!" Ochako scowled, "A little tact… a man died."

Izuku pinched his eyes at her admonishment, ordering himself to calm down and ignore the pangs of anger he felt just thinking of Master Siphen.

"Why do you feel such hatred for this man?" Nana touched Izuku's shoulder, prompting him to step away from Fumikage.

Izuku tensed to his toes and willed himself to say what he was going to say calmly and without the flood of emotion that sought to overwhelm him. "I lost my brother because of him."

"Wait, I thought Mages don't have families," Denki interjected.

"They have chosen families," Ochako explained, sympathy replacing her almost motherly disappointment, "Do you mean the boy you told me about before, Jano?"

Izuku nodded, choked and then forged on, unable to look at Fumikage. "I never saw him again after we were sent to different Magesteriums, but I heard… we all heard. He was one of those Mages so influenced by Siphen's teachings that he committed unforgivable acts and the Synod had no choice but to- to execute him. And Siphen was supposed to be executed alongside him, but instead he vanished…"

The weight of the room had increased tenfold and Fumikage pulled back further towards Kyouka. Izuku's anger was as much sadness now and his chest burned to even recall the horror of reading that letter from Myra. Ochako seemed especially taken aback.

"You never said…" she didn't finish her thought, but Izuku knew she was talking about that time he told her and Eijiro about his little family and that he had not hinted at such a tragic ending to their happy little story. How could he have said it to them after all when he had been so preoccupied with understanding for the first that he'd known a mother's love? Lost in the wonderful diversion of the fantasy they had allowed him to live for a few days.

"Everyone at Gracestone remembers it all too vividly," Fumikage spoke softly, jarring Izuku from his remorse. Izuku's eyes lifted onto the teary, distant gaze of Fumikage. "Jano's death was quick… but it was a public execution, we all had to watch. I had never been so afraid of my own power in my entire life then to see the fate it led to. I have never feared an end so intensely as I still fear that end." Fumikage let tears drip down his pale face, seeming as much a child as a Mage in that moment. "I do not wish to be dragged before the masses and killed as an example to others, without even the comfort of my dignity. Such a death holds only scorn and humiliation for us."

Izuku fought and lost against his own tears. He had never wanted to think of Jano's death as a humiliation and an ignoble end, but now all he could picture was his brother, not yet sixteen being screamed at and jeered at by his peers unto an untimely execution. Myra had been kind in sparing the details in her letter, in not telling him the things that Fumikage had just inadvertently told him.

Ochako had a hand over her mouth as Nana and Kyouka met equally concerned looks and Denki shifted uncomfortably nearby, seemingly inching farther away with every passing moment.

"And yet you willingly followed the man who sent him to that death," Izuku's breath was hot and his fists were clenched.

"I would have shared Jano's fate if it had not been for Master Siphen," Fumikage argued back, "He took me from the Magesterium to protect me. For every moment my grip on my powers was loosed, I could trust that he was there to set the damage right, to bend it back to control."

Izuku thought of the weeks preceding his brother's death, the words of his sister in her monthly letter, saying how she worried over him as of late. How Jano had changed and the more time he spent with their new teacher, the more his ideas seemed to be developing away from sense, the more his approach to Magic darkened and his philosophies morphed. How it all boiled down to a single word that stung Izuku sharply right now, manipulation.

And the dam of his rage and hatred gave way in an instant to pure and repentant pity. The man before him was not the monster he wanted him to be and he could say so with certainty now. Fumikage was just a boy taught for years this one lesson and one lesson alone by the man who sent young Mages to their deaths: fear.

"Nana…" Izuku swallowed the lump in his throat just to speak, "May we talk a moment."

The older Mage agreed and followed him from the room, sealing the door behind them and lingering in the empty, quiet hallway of the inn.

"Izuku, I am so sorry-"

"He isn't lying," Izuku cut her off. He didn't feel guilty for it, her condolences weren't necessary. "But he isn't cursed in some special way either. He believes exactly what he was told. And he was told that he had no capacity to control his power by a man who manipulates young minds. My brother was not the first nor the last to have Fallen because of his words, he was just the first they discovered and dealt with. But this…" Izuku let out a tight breath just thinking of what sat in their shared room, This is something beyond what I imagined possible. The lengths that Siphen must have gone to entrapping him to his will and for what?"

"I agree, he is not lying, Denki would have picked up on it and said so," Nana folded her arms, "But why are you saying this to me in private?"

Izuku faltered and his gut pinched. "Because I don't think he would believe me, if I said that to him. He is deadly convinced that he is a pawn of the ether with no say in his own life and I am another Synod Mage who is just telling him otherwise. I don't think he can be convinced."

Solemnly, Nana dipped her head. Her usually cheerful expression was lost to thoughtful concern. "So, then, what do you want to do with him?"

The question with the world's most evasive answer. It made Izuku sick the longer it lingered.

"I don't want it to be up to me," Izuku held himself close and felt suddenly so small in the shadow of the question. There was no reason that Izuku should have trusted Nana or have instantly gravitated to her as the authority figure of the group, but that was exactly what she was to him in only two days. She was Fallen, Renegade, Blood Mage, everything he had been taught to hate and yet she cared so deeply for the people in her care that he had not found the time to conjure ill will towards her. Master Shota would be deeply disappointed in him, but he was in so deep, trusting Nana was far from the most damning thing he'd allowed in this past week.

Nana let her eyes remain on the ground. "I never considered myself some sort of revolutionary or activist, but I have, almost unwittingly, made it my mission to help those Mages that feared the Synod and wished to escape it. That wasn't what I set out to do when those I loved were killed by the Synod, I sought vengeance first. But the first time I faced such a dilemma, a man with sins on his skin, but a heart that sought a way out, I said the same thing and I didn't even have the looming shadow of the Synod haunting my every thought."

"Then tell me what I should do," Izuku stated confidently, "I should not be the one in charge of his fate. I pity him, but I can hardly bear to look at him without seeing those that the Demon killed. I want to see what you saw in Shoto and feel that there is some hope for him, and some use for his powers, but he is a danger to all of us."

"He won't be a danger," Nana shook her head, "Kyouka has told me a bit more about her abilities than she has told the rest of you and as magnificent as it may seem, she truly is the one in control. And, this may sound selfish, but I am deeply interested to know in what way she could turn that control to our advantage."

"You want to use him?" Izuku found that uncomfortable to hear from her of all people, maybe he just didn't expect such a callous answer from her.

"It would benefit him too, but yes." Nana sighed, her distress becoming evident, "Izuku, we need all the help we can get. I don't know if I can teach Shoto to handle his powers well enough before we reach Dawnfell and alone I am not capable of destroying the Archdemon. And before we can even fight it we must first destroy the Summoner and possibly the Fallen Mage who works with him and that does not even account for the army that awaits us at the fronts. Our world is in the balance, your Synod brothers are conveniently absent and we are desperate. My willingness to try terrifying tactics has risen greatly since our skirmish two nights ago."

Cold trickled down Izuku's spine. He had preferred to keep the reality of what they faced as distant as possible up until then, knowing how it would scare him to really think about, but when Nana laid it out like that it was hard to ignore.

"Let us leave his fate up to him," Nana said, "Out of Kyouka's hands he is still terribly dangerous, so we cannot simply let him leave. We can offer him help for helping us and if he refuses his alternative is that we condemn him to whatever fate the Synod believes is suitable. I don't think he will find it a difficult choice given his reaction to what happened to your friend."

Synod Mages possessed little beyond their robes and their staffs. If they were lucky they might say they owned a book or a token, but the Synod was a collective and both common and rare resources were all shared as their Masters kept their minds and heart on growing their power and focussing their minds on redemption rather than worldly goods. The only thing that every Synod Mage could say he possessed - and yes, to the annoyance of non-Mages - was their pride and dignity. Even their lives were not as highly valued. So Nana was correct. What Fumikage faced was the ultimate loss of everything to a Mage, the loss of pride, a death of humiliation; it would not be a hard choice.

They explained their plans to Kyouka, Denki, and Ochako. Ochako never pulled her watery brown eyes off of Izuku the entire time and Izuku felt terribly exposed under the stare. Her heart was aching for him after hearing what happened to Jano and he hated for her to feel that way.

Kyouka approved whole heartedly of the plan, even giving an impressed nod to Izuku for not taking matters into his Synod hands and allowing some choice to be left to the Mage in question. Denki had no complaints, but nudged Kyouka in a this is on you sort of way, removing himself from the responsibility of this backfiring royally.

All that was left was to propose their deal to Fumikage Tokoyami.