EMBERS
PROLOGUE:
REMEMBRANCE
Fire Force, My Hero Academia and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice belong to their respective authors, creators and publishers.
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"I keep having the same dream…"
"…"
The rain beat incessantly.
"I don't... I don't know... I don't remember anything, but..."
"That night, yes?"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Izuku?"
"Yes... that night..."
The rain beat incessantly.
The blackest sky one could imagine.
The deafening roar of thunders.
"I want to know…"
"No."
"But I ne-"
"No. Trust me when I tell you you don't."
Two bodies lying on the muddy ground.
"Why not?!"
"It's for your own good."
"How would it do me any good to keep lying to me?!"
""How do you know I'm lying to you?"
"I just know... I'm your nephew after all."
Two bodies lying on the muddy ground.
One of the two, the smaller, got up with extreme difficulty.
He was now soaked to the bones, and covered with grass and mud.
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And blood.
"You don't understand."
"Trust me, I do."
"NO! This… this… whatever it is, it's killing me! It's devouring me from the inside and I…!"
"…"
"I want to kno-No… I NEED to know!"
The small figure finally rose, and slowly approached the other body lying on the ground.
The headless body on the ground.
He looked around with a completely neutral expression, despite the situation he was in.
Then he found it.
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The head.
"Uncle, please…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Tell me everything."
"…?"
"The dream. Tell me everything about it. From the beginning."
Long, straight emerald hair, now dyed with mud and blood, stuck out of the severed head.
She was facing away from him.
He couldn't bear to see her expression right now.
He slowly approached the head and dropped to his knees in front of it.
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"M-Mom…?"
"The dream... or maybe nightmare, I don't know…"
"Yes?"
"It always starts the same way…"
"Go on."
Little hands took the severed head and placed it on his lap.
And he stood still.
"It starts with a journey, to a distant land... Or maybe it was an island…"
"…"
"Once I arrive there, I see…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"What do you see, Izuku?"
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"Corpses."
It took the rumble of thunder to make him realize that he wasn't alone.
Numerous figures were around him, encircling him.
There were about twenty, or perhaps more, he couldn't tell.
He felt dizzy.
The tears didn't stop flowing.
But despite everything, his face remained impassive.
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He didn't notice the lone figure that began to walk towards him.
"I see streets filled with corpses."
"…"
"Unthinkable destruction."
"…"
"I witness an endless slaughter... Brother against brother... Pure hatred…"
"…"
"And then, beyond all of that..."
"Yes…?"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Izuku…?"
He was so dazed and confused that he didn't notice the figure towering in front of him.
The little one couldn't stop the tears.
He barely registered the cold, sharp and hard object stroking his temple, cutting it deeply.
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Finally, after an eternity, he looked up.
Warm blood dripped from the wound to his temple, dripping onto his cheek and finally onto his chin.
Before him stood the embodiment of darkness.
Clothes as black as the darkest night.
Long and curly hair, also an abysmal black.
And then his eyes.
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Eyes of a red so bright they almost seemed to burn like the sun itself.
"I-I... I d-don't... We should stop. It was a m-mistake I shouldn't ha-"
"Izuku."
"…!"
"Izuku."
"…"
"…"
"Y-Yes…?"
"Continue."
"…"
His little emerald eyes looked into his crimson eyes.
Several minutes went by, but the rain showed no sign of stopping.
Until finally, after another eternity, the dark figure gesticulated with one arm and the other figures around them dispersed.
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Crimson eyes looked for the last time at the small figure at his feet holding the severed head.
He turned.
And then he left.
"I s-s-see.."
"…"
"I see…"
"…"
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"Flames."