Chapter 18!

Long over due for an update on this fic but I finally got things sorted out in a way I was pleased with. This was updated alongside a number of other fics so give those a check too and thanks for your patience.

User/Reviewer EndlessChains: The dream sequence, which continues on here, is something I've looked forward to for a long time and it actually stems from the beta idea of this Izumi's quirk while also maintaining its status as a reference. Having the four who have some form of connection with Izumi come together and dive in to face her monsters has brought up a lot of interesting things for me to explore going forward too.

User/Reviewer MosesArk Reborn2000: I love doing the dream sequence here since I can go more fantastical with it especially since it's like an exploration into Izumi's mind which is a very creative place. It's no wonder she'd get wrapped up in it and not question things too with her adoration of such things. Our impromptu exploration team is going to be in for things as they continue diving into the unknown especially as they run into more different monsters.

User/Reviewer JoannaQuire: I'm really glad to hear its resonated with all sorts of people and though I've personally never been diagnosed myself I have pulled from a number of my own past feelings and experiences when writing this Izumi. I know my style has slowly changed over time but I do still want to hit those emotions and growths for the characters I'm focused on and explore their feelings genuinely.

To everyone who faved, followed, or reviewed thank you so much!

Disclaimer: I don't own BNHA or the referenced monsters

Enjoy, more notes at the end!


Chapter 18: Summit Above the Stars

*Izumi POV*

Silent but serene.

Crystal flakes of snow soundlessly fell and all Izumi could hear was the slight crunching of the thick snow beneath her feet as she shifted in place. Strangely tall trees grew into the skies, the leaves and branches laden with clumps of snow, while ruined ancient arches stood firmly through the frozen grounds. All there was to observe were blankets of white snow, time worn and broken monuments, and trees as far as the eye could see. The new area was peaceful, vast, yet empty.

The cold bit at Izumi so she rolled her sleeves down and closed her coat before she started trudging through the heavy snowfall as the once more set paths were followed. Soundless but lifeless was this new forest and Izumi brushed a hand against one of the frost covered arches. The cold stung her fingertips but Izumi pressed her palm against it until it felt numb and what looked like marks or words were etched into the stone beneath the thin layer of ice. The greenette couldn't make them out so she pressed on through the frozen forest.

Every so often Izumi thought that she had heard something moving that wasn't her but each time all there was was snow slipping off of the trees. The forest twisted and turned, leading forward and back, and was filled with quiet dead ends but eventually the summoning girl reached an expanse of frozen water. The 'room' was comprised of frozen water ways while small patches of snow, trees, or stone structures, stood throughout the area and Izumi also found large blocks of frozen ice.

Trudging up to one of the blocks, Izumi kicked at it and felt it slide a little along the frozen water that it was on. Realizing the gimmick, the greenette turned her shoulder to the block and slammed into it causing it to slide all the way across the ice until it was stopped against one of the stone structures. There didn't seem to be any damage to the block or the ice it slid across so Izumi wasn't worried about either breaking and with that in mind the greenette gave a short dash onto the ice and slid straight towards the block. It seemed that she could only move in a straight line and had to slide along the frozen water until she had a straight shot to the way forward but it wasn't quite so easy since she had to move the blocks too to create said path.

Soon enough, the cold had stopped affecting Izumi at all and she solely focused on solving the frozen water puzzle. Even as she spent longer in the quiet chill of these grounds, the greenette couldn't even be bothered to feel numb anymore. She had more to do beyond this place and with a push of one final ice block, the way forward had become clear.

The summoning girl had glided across the long frozen path and finally tumbled onto the snow once more, a tad drained from the experience. The greenette rested on the pillow of snow, her face half buried in it, and this time she clearly heard something approaching her. Looking up, Izumi had been faced with a pack of wolves. All of them were monsters that she could summon and the two types, one with mostly black pelts but lighting blue fur around its neck and red eyes and the other smaller breed with a coat of white and then black fur around the face and tail.

The creatures stalked around her, their bloody red eyes locked on the girl as they circled, but Izumi stood up readily and walked without returning the attention. The beasts tried to get as close as possible to her, some brushing against her arms or hands but Izumi's eyes were focused forward on a darkened staircase in the distance. The stone steps were the way forward and the greenette walked across the snowfield as the wolves pranced all around her, still trying to draw her gaze.

Their dances and howls fell on deaf ears as Izumi drew closer to the staircase. One of the larger wolves even snarled and lunged for her, its sharp teeth clamping onto her right arm and trying multiple times to crunch into her but eventually the other wolves latched onto the one that had attacked her and it was forced to release the green haired girl who marched along as if she was possessed.

Izumi's foot hit the first step and a gust of freezing wind blew down the staircase, the greenette being forced to shield her eyes, as a chill managed to creep back into her bones.

She continued on.

-break-

*Shouto POV*

They had no time to breath as the newly revealed monster ambushed them right after the dragon beast was defeated.

In a panic from the sudden attack, the four where forced to scatter about and a thick cold mist blanketed the area and cut their vision from one another. As they seemed to get further from each other, the sounds died around Shouto and he was left alone in the silent and oppressive chill. The dual quirked boy tried to get his bearings but he could barely see his own hands in front of him and there wasn't a sound to be heard. The group had successfully been separated by the unknown monster and Shouto took cautious and light steps as he tried to find some kind of marker to follow.

The white and red haired boy understood that their enemy had the advantage over them but he couldn't exactly do nothing. Was the creature following him or one of the others? Could it see them while they couldn't see it? The questions only further agitated his restless mind so he at least ignited his hand in flames while the cool mist served to balance out his temperature. He wasn't sure how long he'd been wandering in the mist but Shouto was beginning to lose his sense of time and space. He didn't think that he'd veered from walking in a straight line so he should have at least hit a wall by now. The white and red haired boy tried wading through the mist again but a faint noise suddenly hit his ear as he continued. It grew and grew, almost as if it was getting closer to him rather than louder and it tickled at the back of his mind as he tried to place what was familiar about it. It was almost like a hum, or maybe a whistle, but it sent an unconscious tingle up the boy's spine and Shouto froze when he realized what the sound was.

It was a boiling kettle.

The boy found himself locked in place, not daring to move or even breath, and he couldn't even turn around as two large hands reached from behind him. The skin was a sort of pale lavender and white kimono sleeves with red threads dragged against the the ground and Shouto's shoulders. The whistling lowered but still remained and particles of ice began to condense in front of the unmoving boy. The forming cold slowly took shape and created a mirror of ice which gave away the monster's form.

It was another humanoid creature, a beautiful woman with straight black hair and pale lavender skin, and it gave Shouto an elegant yet demure smile. It had a sort of crown accessory on its forehead that rose in five points while a red jewel sat in the center and its kimono was undone while trails of gold and red mist loosely covered its exposed body. What appeared to be a shelled dome, not unlike a clam's, loomed behind it as an ocean floor seascape of rock and crimson coral surrounded it and the woman peered down on him from behind. Shouto might have reacted more to the creature appearing to him but what he was transfixed on was his own appearance in the mirror.

His hair and eyes were no longer two colored, only crimson and turquoise, and his face lacked a burn scar and the boy could only breathlessly stare at his appearance. His right hand trembled as he raised it and the boy tried to activate his ice only to find flames licking at his hand instead. Looking back into the mirror, so rattled that he was actually calm, Shouto watched as the monstrous woman examined him in an almost quiet approval, as if it thought this was how he should be, and the boy's mind raced as fire crawled along both his hands. As sudden as things had been, the environment swiftly swirled and he was back in the underground cavern in which they'd defeated the previous monster. The mist had faded and the monster was nowhere to be seen and Shouto's head swung about as he found the other three students.

Each of them was a ways off from one another but the looks on the girls' faces told him that they'd experienced something similar to what he had. Kendo was a mix of bitter and angry, Yaoyorozu appeared nauseous and scared, but Tokage looked the worst out of them. The green haired girl almost seemed shell shocked and it took a moment for her to snap out of it and regain a sense for her surroundings. The four of them quietly and unsteadily reconvened but Kendo managed to speak up.

"We can assume that all of us went through some kind of mirage or hallucination," the orange haired girl laid out and each of them nodded but didn't elaborate.

"We're lucky we didn't have to fight then," Yaoyorozu acknowledged quietly. "It had us at its mercy," the black haired girl admitted much to everyone's chagrin.

"I guess," Tokage mumbled, her eyes somewhat defeated, "but I somehow feel worse that we didn't fight it."

Shouto had thought that Midoriya's monster would all be in a state of rampage but what he had overlooked was that even when not controlled they proved to be intelligent and had the ability to adapt. Had they gotten to fight the creature then they could release their feelings or reject it in some sense but now they were all left to process their thoughts alone while still needing to press on.

Midoriya was cruel.

Yet Shouto believed that cruelty extended to the monster summoning girl herself as well.

-break-

*Izumi POV*

Once more the sky stretched below, the blurring clouds surrounding the new area, as Izumi stood at the edge of the rock.

The new area was a series of cliffs atop a monumental mountain that Izumi couldn't even fathom due to the obscuring clouds. Spires of splendid rocks broke through the skies and the light burned against them giving them a beautiful orange color against the worn surfaces, and vast canyons could barely be made out while more tall cliff faces stood alongside the paths that Izumi must have needed to follow. Large fallen stones blocked some of the ways and falls into the unknown littered areas as well but Izumi knew that she needed to, wanted to, press on.

As the monster calling girl walked along she thoughtlessly ran a hand across the smoothed rock walls that had to have been eroded over the ages and she quietly thought of the new environment. The humongous mountain may have even reached higher than the floating sakura forest that the greenette had started in and of course it was far more accessible and vastly expansive than the limited islands in the sky. On another hand, while not as mystical a sight as the seabed, the area felt more open and full of opportunity as the sea had only been able to be traversed with the bubble that surrounded Izumi. Finally, in regards to the snow covered forest of before, the cliffs felt as if they teemed with life as Izumi could make out the distant stomping about while the air carried a sense of adventure across it.

Izumi charted her path, careful to avoid rocks tumbling down from above as well as watching where she stepped, so she wouldn't slip off the side of the cliffs and as she ventured deeper into the heart of the maze like mountains the greenette could feel even rumbles as more monsters surely roamed about. The new dungeon was also segmented like the others in that it had hulking double doorways that led into new 'rooms' so that it remained a mystery of just what Izumi would step into but so far she hadn't quite run into more puzzles yet. Despite that, there was a faint skittering that the greenette could hear every so often as she traced the rock walls and crossed the jagged reach. Sometimes the noises would seem to be somewhere beside her or above her and other times they were below or muffled. Either way, Izumi knew some kind of monsters were playfully studying and shadowing her for their own reasons.

The summoning girl rounded a corner and entered a more open room with smaller pillars of rock strewn about beside holes that either continued down into the clouds below or dark bottoms. There was no overt signs of life in the area and Izumi quickly realized a path forward to the next room. The greenette gave cursory glances as she jogged through but all of a sudden a grinding noise hit her ears and her head jerked to the side as one of the pillars shook with an almost unnoticeable chortle behind it. The green haired girl didn't have time to think on it though with how large the rock figure was and she was blown back from the force of the slam. Izumi brought her arms up to defend from the flying rocks that pelted her as the pillar crashed down.

Her feet made contact with the stone once more and the greenette skidded along the floor before her footing was lost as she slipped back into one of the holes that littered the cliff sides. In that moment of surprise and panic, Izumi shot out her right arm and her fingers scraped against the sharp rock face as she fell but the greenette managed to dig in enough to get a decent grip. However, her clinging arm suddenly exploded with pain and the summoning girl let out a strangled yell as she lost her hold and plummeted down. Even while she was falling, Izumi's eyes darted to her burning arm and and she found the sleeve of her coat saturated with blood and punctured with what looked like bite marks. How long had she been injured, when had she been injured?

There wasn't enough time to think about it before the air was knocked out of her as she slammed against the bottom of the hole. Rolling onto her side, Izumi gasped for air as she clutched her bloodied arm to her stomach in her crumpled state. Leaning her head back, Izumi swallowed as much air as she could while vaguely remembering that someone told her something about this once before. Right after regaining some of her senses, the monster summoning girl tore at her messy sleeve and fastened it around her injuries while thinking of how she could get out of her current mess. She still needed to get through the labyrinth itself but for now it was more important to take things one at a time. The greenette knew she couldn't summon her way out so all that left was finding a secret way through or climbing up.

Without many options, Izumi examined the area and quickly came up with nothing which meant that there was only one thing left to do. Since the hole was more squared in shape as opposed to rounded, the greenette began in one of the corners and experimentally put weight on the walls with her feet to test them for grips before she started her climb. It wasn't the most difficult of routes but the rocks still scratched at her hands and her right arm was weakened at the moment so she needed to take her time as she struggled upwards. Izumi grit her teeth as she dragged herself back up, it had to take more than just this to stop her or she wouldn't be able to reach for anything that she wanted. The monster summoner felt her hand reach the top and the greenette dragged her tired body out of the hole and without even a moment of rest she was on her way again.

No stopping, there was no time for her to stop.

Izumi needed to move forward, to keep pressing on without losing her focus or sight on what she was aiming at. Her map was becoming messy since the greenette continued charting with her injured right but she quickly came upon one of the large doors and forced her way through with her shoulder. The ground beneath her had been trembling ever stronger as Izumi had been making the approach to the area she was in now and just as the monster girl was going to take another step, some kind of creature stampeded before her as it passed. The greenette coughed at the dust that was kicked up but clearly it was one of her monsters that was running about. Izumi pressed her body against the wall as she tried to see which creature it was and found that it was actually multiple of the same one.

Abnormally large giraffes rampaged along straight lines until they ran into a wall and then they simply changed to another path before repeating the process. These monster versions of the creatures had a thick, dark brown fur lining the bottom of their limbs, their chests, and around the top of their shoulders and back. The coating also run up the back of their long necks all the way to the top of their heads and then around the bottom of their jaws as their deep red eyes glared on without thought. The two horns a top their heads were hardened and the greenette could see noticeably scrapes in the rock walls that the monster giraffes stopped at.

There were at least 4 of the monsters that Izumi could see as well as what must have been the door forward but the road there required winding along in the path of the giraffe creatures since what could have been a straight shot was separated by a gorge or large faces of stone and pillars. The layout of the room itself was made to have narrow paths that only made it possible to evade the monsters by ducking into small coves that were difficult to reach as the charging creatures trampled anything in the way of their dash. Izumi did note that when the creatures hit a wall that it took a moment for them to turn and then charge off once more so as long as she took that into account then she should be able to make it through. The giraffe monsters blindly charged along their paths so there was no worry unless she was still in line with them when they dashed off.

Without any more wasting of time, Izumi ran right after the giraffe that crossed the initial path once it passed her before diving into one of the safe spots as another one trampled by a few seconds later. The monster girl didn't have much time to think of a safe landing since she was avoiding being crushed and one of her legs was scraped, the pant leg tearing, from the rough tumble onto the rock. Izumi sat up and closed her eyes as she took a moment to rest, the ground still rumbling from the pounding of hooves, and checked her body's condition. Her arm was still the worst of them and she had a few scrapes, bruises, and aches but she should be able to press forward despite them. Izumi still wanted to keep exploring but she was so tired too.

Just how much longer did she need to endure before getting to her goal? What even was her goal here? The green haired girl was honestly just feeling a bit worn out currently but she progressed nonetheless, taking shelter and rest in the natural crevices of the rocks and cliff sides until she managed to reach the area's exit. Exhausted, Izumi spotted stairs of rock in the distance at the edge, and end, of the mountainous region. A single way surrounded only by the clouds spread behind it was presented before her and as Izumi ascended the stairs the noise of the region behind her faded from her ears. Up, up was good.

Further and further up, without ever looking back.

-break-

*Momo POV*

It was far too much.

Momo felt like her heart had been shattered over and over from encountering Midoriya's creatures and learning more about the girl she considered her hero partner. Momo had had enough of this nightmare but she would not leave it without Midoriya. The group's tired trek downwards continued in mutually agreed silence and they picked up the pace as the rumbling high above continued. Another cavern, this one smaller than the last few, opened before them and the four students readied themselves for what they knew had to be coming.

The next monster had descended upon them from above and the four shielded their eyes as the creature loudly announced its arrival. The beast was somewhat chimeric in design in that it resembled multiple different creatures and foremost it appeared to be a blend of a horse and a hawk in centaur like combination. The hindquarters of the monster was like that of a black coated horse but three tails swayed about with a yellowish green fur that ran along the tops and the back of the monster's lower body. The forequarters, despite being horse like in shape, were also covered in the bright fur and the legs instead became purple claws with sharp talons while bright red feathers lined along the sides of the front legs. The upper body of the creature was fully that of a monstrous hawk and its chest was a multi-colored plume of the bright red, yellowish green, and black with a touch of white on the chest. Two wing like arms extended out, showing off the colorful green and red feathers before clawed hands flexed eagerly. Black and red fur lined around the monster's shoulders and around its upper back and a silver beak creaked as its yellow eyes studied the newly arrived team. A much smaller pair of wings seemed to protrude from its head and white feathers covered it while the green fur lined its tops. The monster began to beat its wing like arms and another gust rolled over them as it called to them in challenge. Momo knew that this beast would likely only be more dangerous but she was mesmerized by it. The monster was stunning, a certain majesty being carried by it, and the creation girl couldn't avert her captivated eyes as a single feeling burned its way into her chest.

Deep admiration.

Pride, strength, confidence, they where all things that Momo had felt she'd struggled with since coming to U.A and having her views redefined but the monster before her embodied them all at once. It was like a creature that had achieved what Momo saw as an ideal self and she too wanted to soar to those new heights one day. In her own thoughts, the creation girl had also gained another piece to the puzzle that was Midoriya. As Momo said, this creature was an ideal and the monster summoner subconsciously must have also wanted to reach a place like that in the future. Midoriya wanted to grow but she only had her image of what to become rather than a path and means to it and the creation girl felt a sense of closeness with her.

However, the monster did not suit the current environment. Instead of a dreary underground like this it deserved a vast plain or mountain range to call its own and Momo wondered if that was how Midoriya felt. Having all this potential, all these things to give, but being shut away somewhere dark and lonely. Like being trapped in a cage and accepting your suffocating solitude. There was no more time to marvel at or contemplate about the beast as it screeched and charged at the group, intent on trampling them, and the four students broke into pairs.

Momo was with Tokage as like before while Kendo and Todoroki took the offensive position but instead of being drawn to the attacking students the monster set its eyes on the creator and splitter. The chimeric creature turned on them and Todoroki and Kendo tried to redraw its attention but a swift back kick of its legs sent them on the defensive while its eyes gave a sudden flash towards Momo and her partner. The black haired girl couldn't feel any adverse effect from the gleam in its eye but Momo quickly noted that Tokage lost her balance and her quirk seemed to activate with little control. The splitting girl seemed confused for a moment and a slight panic crossed her face as her legs gave from beneath her. The avian monster used its horse like lower body to leap into the air before diving for the stunned pair but a wall of ice intercepted it as Kendo appeared beside them.

The beast loosed a sharp outcry, its claws cleaving through the ice effortlessly and shards of it rained down on the three girls as the creature beat its wings. Tokage was still unsteady from whatever the monster did to her so Kendo grabbed both Momo and the greenette with her enlarged hands to shield them while Todoroki vaporized the rain of ice with his flames as well as attacked the monster. Having landed after its dive, the winged beast let out a piercing shriek but defended with both of its winged arms and it managed to weather the fiery assault with minimal damage and a fierce look in its eyes. The monster recklessly charged at them, ignoring the flicker flames that still surrounded it, and it nearly trampled them had they not dove for safety. The centaur beast's thundering steps pounded at the ground as it turned and it raised onto its hind legs before slamming down onto the trembling ground and bolts of lightning raced from it as it repeatedly beat against the stone. The bolts rained down around them and the four were boxed together as the the electricity exploded in flashes besides them.

Momo tried to think of a way out but her thoughts were cut short as the ground collapsed from the rampage and the group plummeted into the unknown as the monster roared in triumph.


Notes and Stuff

Continuing with the dream sequence that I swear will eventually make sense as well as pretending I'm more slick than I am.

It's been a while since I updated this but I'm glad to be back to it. I really have to get into the mood to do fics with a focus on more somber tones as well as angst so I find myself stuck more often than not when writing this. I do really enjoy being able to go more out there with the descriptions of Izumi's dream environments as well as monsters though so at the very least I'm always able to do that. Next chapter should bring us a close on Kamino but I think I have something interesting in store for that.

I've updated a number of things alongside this so give those a peek too.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and look forward to more updates from me!