Hey everyone. Quick note, life hasn't been kind to me lately and so if this chapter somehow seems... lower quality than usual in terms of editing, that's why.
I'm getting through it though, so no worries, but just a quick pre-apology.
Anyways, onward with some FUN!
"Woah."
When Fumikage had told them all that he wanted to perform another experiment on Izuku to further determine exactly what Izuku was possessed with, Izuku had been a little weary, to say the least. But his friend had assured them all that it would be safe, that his home was 'secure'.
Izuku had wondered if Fumikage was rich and lived in some distant country mansion, or maybe had some high-tech lab to do experiments in.
He certainly wasn't expecting this.
Hitoshi's statement quite elegantly summed up the collective reaction from the four at the sight which greeted them.
It was a temple. Surrounding it was a tall, cream painted stone wall, elegantly topped with traditional sloping red-brick tiles, and before them rose an ancient, red-painted gateway with a pair of stone komainu guarding either side.
Through the open gate, Izuku could spy the temple proper, as well as a pathway running off to one side and hints of a Zen garden.
Carved into wood and hung on the right side of the temple gateway was a signpost reading, 'Temple of The Yatagarasu' and, almost comically considering the name, leaning against the wall under that sign was Fumikage.
While the others were dressed in their usual casualwear, Fumikage was, well, dressed in black.
Black pants and a black top with grey, long-sleeved arms which he had rolled up to his elbows, with one wrist adorned with a studded black leather bracelet. Around his neck he wore a necklace with an ankh symbol which came down to his chest, though by far the most attention-grabbing item were his boots.
They went up to his knees, were all black with several descending metal buckles and over the toes where two large metal pieces made like a pair of hooves.
Hitoshi, in particular, seemed utterly in awe of them.
"Hey! Fumikage! Hey!" Izuku quickly called out and waved over to him, causing the teenager to look up suddenly from his phone and blink his crimson eyes over to the group.
For a moment he seemed shocked they were even there at all, before visibly relaxing and raising a hand. "Greetings."
"Dude!" Hitoshi gushed in his typical low-energy manner as they collectively approached their friend, "Those boots are amazing."
"Thank you?" Fumikage answered in a slightly confused tone, clearly unused to being complimented.
"Fumikage, I thought you said we were meeting at your house?" Ochaco quickly cut in, "What are we doing at this temple?"
"This is my house, I live here," Fumikage's reply made it seem like the most obvious thing in the world.
"Wait, you live here?" Izuku's jaw almost dropped to the floor. He looked back to the temple and his eyes seemed to bug from his head, "This is- this is-"
The Seventh Son lives here?" Nemesis hissed softly, like a knife on a whetstone through the grey matter of his brain, "How very predictable."
Izuku gritted his teeth and fought his inner demon down. This was no time for it to get dramatic on him. It wasn't like he'd ever been to temples before, of course he had, and Nemesis had never complained about any of them.
It was clearly just because it was Fumikage's home and anything to do with the raven-headed teen Nemesis seemed set squarely against. Or maybe because he wasn't drowning in brain-numbing medication. Or maybe both.
Suddenly, from behind Fumikage, Dark Shadow grew, formed into their usual jackdaw-like shade, and settled upon their master's head, folding their arms and grinning down at the others. They only formed to the size of a cat, and if they had any weight it didn't seem to bother Fumikage at all.
"Welcome to our home, mortals!" Dark Shadow joyfully cackled to the others before their tarnish-gold gaze turned to Izuku, their expression turning sour and their voice dry, "… oh, and you're here, Nemesis. Great."
Immediately Izuku felt fire flow along his scars as his own monster growled back, "We're burning this place to the ground. With them inside. It's the obvious course of action."
Izuku was about to grumble something back before he decided to simply take a moment, breathe and clench his black-nailed fist tightly. Today was not going to be another repeat of the USJ or… well, almost any other time he'd allowed Nemesis to have its way. Today was about finally, finally getting some damn answers as to who and what he was.
Answers he probably wasn't going to like, but answers he needed.
"We're glad to be here, demon." Hitoshi answered back with a slight smirk.
The first time the others had seen Dark Shadow after the revelations that both Fumikage and Izuku had insisted were true had been… an interesting experience for Izuku to witness. The knowledge that Dark Shadow was a demon, a true, actual demon was something they had only seemed to accept in theory until seeing the shadowed bird-monster once again.
They had at first looked to them with newly fearful eyes. However, with time, and with Fumikage's instance, they had slowly come to believe that Dark Shadow posed no immediate threat to them. If anything, within the grounds of U.A., Dark Shadow often seemed mischievous and impish, sometimes even playful.
Fumikage, however, had explained it was simply because it was in the daylight, when Dark Shadow was at its most co-operative and controllable. At night Dark Shadow became… worse.
He had gone quiet after that. The others had not pressed him for any further information.
"Come, we might as well get our dark mission started," Fumikage announced in a serious tone as he pushed himself from the wall and began walking into the temple grounds.
The others followed him quickly, though the moment he stepped within the temple grounds Izuku had to pause and allow his jaw to fall open.
It was beautiful. A perfectly manicured Zen garden stretched out across the grounds and along the pathways to an old and well-preserved looking home, built in a traditional and ancient manner. To his right was a small pavilion for washing one's hands and face before offering a prayer to the spirit of the shrine. The shrine and temple proper were before him, again built in a beautiful and traditional manner, painted in brilliant reds and whites, though he saw curious splashes of black trims along the edges.
Fumikage, however, did not lead them towards the temple, instead, he turned to the right and moved towards a modest looking home, one that matched the architecture of the temple grounds but seemed somehow more modern than the other buildings.
"… this is impressive." Nemesis hissed softly through Izuku's ears, "We feel its age. It is an old place, of old power."
Any other time Izuku may well have simply brushed Nemesis's words aside, and yet for once, he agreed. Because he could feel it too.
He could tell this place was ancient, and had stood here for hundreds, maybe even a thousand years. And because of that age, it held a power all its own. An intangible, invisible power that hung in the air and swirled around him. The power of constant prayer, hope, belief and focus all in one place, condensed and distilled like fine wine.
It seemed to run its fingers across his skin, a light tingle so like the one he had felt when Fumikage had dropped the holy water onto him, somehow both gentle and prickly, numbing and sensitive, all at once.
"Izuku?"
He blinked back to his senses again and turned suddenly. The others had all gathered on the walkway to Fumikage's home, while Izuku had been… what had he been doing?
"Are you okay?" It was Hitoshi asking, his voice as low as always, but laced with concern.
"Yeah it's just…" Izuku trailed off, finding it impossible to put the feeling into words.
Not until Dark Shadow spoke up anyway.
"You feel it too, hm?" The others all turned to look at the cat-sized, jackdaw demon, "The energy of this place, the faith, it's heavy here."
The faith. If someone had told Izuku at the start of the year that faith was something that could be tangibly felt, he would have looked at them like they had drank a little too much cool-aid.
Now, however? Now he looked slowly to his own hands and wondered if this was just another sign of his otherness. Another sign that he didn't quite belong in this world, that there was something just under his pallid skin, something dark and terrible.
Something more akin to what he should be, rather than what he was.
"Faith," Nemesis wondered through his mind as Izuku moved to catch up to the others, "That is the power we feel. Interesting."
"Can you really feel faith?" Ochaco asked Fumikage suddenly, her eyes wide with wonder. "I mean, really?"
"I cannot, but Dark Shadow can," His crimson eyes glanced to Izuku, "And so can Izuku, evidently. Being here, in this place, helps me when Dark Shadow becomes too much. The energy here helps keep them controlled."
Dark Shadow mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'for now' but was otherwise quickly silenced by a frown from Fumikage.
"I wonder if it'll keep Nemesis controlled too," Izuku asked as walked up the wooden steps to the porch where his friends waited, "I don't know though," He bit his lip nervously and looked around, "Nemesis never behaves. Ever."
"One cannot control shadow and fire." Nemesis reasoned to Izuku, like a snake curling around its prey, "We simply act as we will, as we should do."
"I still have my doubts, of course," Tenya announced with a frown and a nod, mostly to himself, "However, regardless of my beliefs, I would like to visit the shrine here and make a quick prayer before we leave, if simply for politeness' sake."
"Same," Hitoshi agreed with a nod, "I'm not one for praying but, fuck, if demons exist than Gods should do too, right?"
"Good assessment, Mind-Taker," Dark Shadow mused with a cackle, "There are no atheists in foxholes."
Hitoshi frowned at the demon, though he had no time to push the subject before Fumikage turned and opened the door to his home, allowing them all inside.
Once they had taken off their shoes and taken a few steps into the home, it seemed as though Izuku's earlier hunch was correct. The home itself was surprisingly modern for one set on such ancient ground, though it was modern in the sense that it was still traditional in aesthetic but updated. There was a dip in the center of the home, where a kotatsu table stood, the heater and blankets already put away for the summer.
The floors were hard wood and clean, the shelves well organized, and a large screen television was mounted to the far wall across from a comfortable looking cream upholstered couch.
There was plenty of light streaming from open windows and sliding doors, as well as little trinkets and pictures on the walls. Everything seemed wide set and spacious, though Izuku supposed it would do. He had lived in his small apartment with his mother all his life and knew nothing else as far as homes went.
All was simple and almost minimalistic in nature, though to Izuku it also seemed well lived in and homely.
There was no second floor and Izuku assumed somewhere down one of the corridors was Fumikage's room, and for a second, he wondered if it was just as dark and as gloomy as his own.
Then, from a side room, which Izuku took to be a kitchen, a voice suddenly called out, "Fumikage? Is that you?"
The voice was old, sounding almost as old as the temple itself, yet was somehow backed by a youthful and vibrant vigor.
Fumikage seemed to stiffen for a moment and, just for a moment, Izuku wondered if it was fear. It took his other reaction, one of sudden and quick hurrying of the others through the corridor, for Izuku to figure out what his actual reaction was.
Though Ochaco seemed to have figured it out first.
"Is that your grandfather?" She grinned suddenly, "Are we gonna see baby pictures of little Fumikage?!"
"Who's that?" The voice called again, coming closer now even as Fumikage desperately tried to hurry them along.
"No one, Grandfather!" Fumikage called out, but it was already too late.
"We're his friends! From school!" Hitoshi called out, dodging Fumikage's attempt to literally push him further into the house, "And he's trying to stop us from saying hi!"
"Fumikage!" The voice barked as it rounded the corner to the kitchen, "Do not be so rude!"
A figure appeared and Fumikage finally gave up his efforts to hurry the group along, much to Dark Shadow's low cackling.
It was an old man. His back was hunched, his hands were withered and boney and shook with age. His head was not human, instead, it was that of a magpie, though the no doubt once brilliant shining blue that had streaked from his eyes was faded, and many of his feathers were no longer tipped with white but an aged grey.
He wore a long, baggy white robe with a black billowing pants, like that of a traditional Shinto priest, which drowned his form and made him seem bulkier than he clearly was.
In one hand he held a gnarled yet solid wooden walking stick and as he moved his joints seemed to creak with rheumatism. He only came up to Ochaco's shoulders, and she was the shortest of them all.
And yet despite all of this, there was an old strength to him which was undeniable, though clearly not a physical one. It was in the way held himself, in the proudness of his fading plumage. He was a man of a strong, unbreakable spirit and to look upon him was to know this, instantly.
The moment his eyes landed on Fumikage, they brightened, or at least one did. One was the same deeply crimson color of Fumikage's own, the other eye was darkened and grey with blindness.
"Fumikage! Since when did you become so rude?" The old man frowned at his grandson before smiling to the others, "And since when did you gather so many friends around you? Welcome, all of you, to The Temple of The Yatagarasu, my name is Kodai Tokoyami, I am the head priest," His good eye flicked to Fumikage in a frown, "And apparently not important enough to introduce!"
"Grandfather I-"
"We're honored to be here." Ochaco quickly announced and gave a low, respectful bow, "Thank you for welcoming us to your home, I'm Ochaco Uraraka."
The others quickly followed suit, giving bows and greetings.
However, once Izuku bowed and greeted Kodai, as he did so last of all, the old man paused. "Midoriya?" He nodded to himself thoughtfully. "So, you're the one who saved my Fumikage's life?"
Izuku paused at this, unsure on how to take the statement. "I… suppose?" He looked to his friends for support, but Fumikage seemed to be very interested in his boots for the moment, and the others only smiled encouragingly at him. When he turned back to the old man, he found himself stammering out, "I-I-" He paused and looked down, "I did more harm than good."
"Nonsense." Kodai hobbled forward until he was within arm's reach of Izuku.
The air seemed… charged around him, and Izuku could feel Nemesis suddenly arching up within his blood, like a nervous animal approached by a fellow predator, unsure on how to react.
"He is… strong." Nemesis whispered almost nervously through his mind as it slithered heat across his scars, "We have never seen a creature like him. His soul is… bright. Like the soul of the Fading King, though it is purer somehow."
Again, Izuku could feel the strange static-like charge move across his skin, giving him gooseflesh and setting his teeth on edge. The old man seemed to radiate it, though Izuku had no question as to why. He was the head priest, so no doubt he was steeped in the faith of this place. And yet even though his energy, his faith, seemed to make Izuku want to bite the inside of his cheeks, he didn't feel any malice from him. If anything, the static seemed to ask him to relax, to breath easier, to know he was safe.
He didn't, of course, but it certainly seemed that way.
"You saved my grandson's life and you saved the lives of others," His one good eye seemed to bore into Izuku's gaze, relentless and unbreakable, "And for that, young man, I thank you, deeply."
He bowed slowly, though even as he did so Fumikage rushed to aid him, "Grandfather! Your back! Don't-"
At the same time, Izuku quickly began stammering out, "No- no, I didn't- I don't deserve-"
"I'm old, Fumikage! But I'm not old enough to thank those who save the lives of those I love!" Kodai snapped at his grandson as he righted himself once more, leaning heavily now on his walking stick. Again, the old man fixed Izuku with his shockingly study, though half-blind gaze. "As for you, take the thanks! You deserve it, but…" He paused and cocked his head.
Then, like a bolt of lightning, he smacked Izuku on the shin with his walking stick.
Pain, sharp and hot chomped into his leg, along with a curious rush of the numbing-tingling feeling that he'd now come to associate with holy things. Izuku yelped as fire rushed along his scars, and he tried to hop and grab his shin and pull an infuriated Nemesis back all at the same time. As such he suddenly fell hard against the nearest wall before toppling over completely and landing with a heavy smack onto the hardwood floor.
The others quickly jolted in shock, looking in confusion from a wincing, hissing Izuku who was nursing his shin, to the old man, whom Fumikage was standing beside facepalming with both hands.
"Humpf," Kodai seemed to give a rather self-satisfied nod to himself as Izuku and the others looked on, "Just as I thought. Unbalanced."
"WE'LL BURN HIM ALIVE!" Nemesis screamed through Izuku's mind as his friends helped him back up, Hitoshi and Ochaco obviously suppressing grins of amusement, "UNLEASH US!"
Izuku gritted his teeth and forced his demonic beast back down. There would be no setting anything on fire, not today of all days. Besides, in his own self-defeating manner, he was already reasoning that he deserved it.
Dark Shadow erupted into an intense, jackdawish laughter as Kodai shook his head at the floored Izuku. "Find your balance, young man! Or you may never find peace." And with that, he turned and began hobbling back to the kitchen, "I won't intrude on your day, Fumikage, Gods know you need to spend time with more people your own age. Just don't get into too much trouble."
"We won't, Grandfather!" Fumikage called back as Izuku rubbed the last of the ache out of his shin.
Somehow, Izuku didn't quite buy that statement.
Izuku liked the room the moment he walked into it. It was well lit and bright, with sliding panel doors and open top windows. There was a small vase with freshly picked flowers at one wall, as well as a stand where a robe was hung, patterned with surprisingly dark colors and black feathers. The floor was completely clear and hard wood, like the rest of the home.
And yet there were some things that stood out. On small stands around the room were wooden symbols of various religions, and on the far side wall hung a large sword in a sheath wrapped with black cloth.
This was Fumikage's meditation room, so he had told them, and the place where they would be conducting Izuku's newest test.
As the others looked around the room, Izuku found himself being drawn slowly towards the sword, and the closer he got, the more he felt the energy it seemed to radiate.
He felt his skin crawling with gooseflesh, and again he marveled at the new sensation. And yet, somehow, this was not the same as the rest of the energy he had felt in this place, nor was it like the old-yet-comforting static of Kodai's faith. This felt… sharp, biting, like the razor-edge of a lightning bolt, caught and forged into steel.
Nemesis was growling at it from within his brain. It knew it was dangerous, it knew, just as Izuku himself knew. And yet he couldn't stop staring-
"Izuku?" Fumikage asked simply, cutting into Izuku's distracted thoughts.
His eyes snapped from the sword to his raven-feathered friend and he blinked in shock, "O-oh? Sorry, I just-"
"The sword can be distracting," Dark Shadow mused from atop their master's head, "Its singing bothers me, but I've learned to ignore it."
The others exchanged confused glances at this, but otherwise kept their silence. Izuku gave the sword one last look, then turned away, doing his best to tune it out.
"I've been thinking a lot about how you reacted to the holy water, back at the USJ," Fumikage announced calmly as he stood on the far side of the meditation room. He seemed oddly tense, almost nervous, though Izuku wasn't sure why, "And I've been wondering if perhaps what I used was not enough. Perhaps whatever claims your soul is stronger than a few droplets of blessed water."
"What is he talking about?" Nemesis snarled into Izuku's ear, "What new trap is this?"
Fumikage's eyes turned to the others and he suddenly announced, "Can you join me, please? What is about to happen may require all our efforts." His crimson gaze turned back to the green haired boy, "Izuku? Will you walk into the center of the room?"
Now Izuku was staring to feel nervous. He slowly stepped forwards and his tail began swaying and twitching, betraying his anxiety. Of course, one didn't need to watch his tail for any evidence of that. His stomach flipped and he began toying with his fingers, unsure of what Fumikage was about to do.
Already Nemesis was moving through his scars and flickering ember-flame was dancing across his body, matching his nervousness, ready to jump to a blue-flamed defense if needed.
He could almost feel it trying to pull him back and away, to escape whatever was coming.
The others joined Fumikage's side, each looking confused, though tellingly Hitoshi kept his gaze directly on Izuku.
Once each of them was in place, Fumikage sighed softly and, in a pitying tone, simply said, "I do not know how this will affect you, Izuku, but I know for certain it will not be pleasant. For that, I apologize."
"What are you-"
Izuku never got to finish his sentence. Even as he was speaking Fumikage raised a hand and clicked his fingers.
Hitoshi had been through a lot in the past month. He had seen his best friend turn into a horrific, hell-born monstrosity and tear through another horrific, hell-born monstrosity. He had watched as the Symbol of Peace himself had beat his friend into the ground, and had then spent the next few days being unable to rest because every time he closed his eyes he had seen only blue fire and void shadow tearing through flesh and bone.
He had then learned that Izuku had died, gone to Hell, found himself at peace there, and then had come back to life. Hitoshi had learned that demons were real, Hell was real, and that the world was a lot bigger, and a lot darker, than he had once believed.
And yet he had clung on to what he knew. What he knew was that he had spent almost his entire life alone, isolated and shoved aside. What he knew was that he had been labeled 'villain' the second his quirk had manifested. What he knew was that there were others out there who had suffered like he had suffered, and he was determined to turn that around.
What he knew, now, was that evil was a real, tangible thing, and only through the efforts of those who were good could it ever be stopped from spreading.
He knew no one who encapsulated this concept like Izuku Midoriya. A boy whom he knew was good and yet had a quirk, a power, so terrible that it tore at the souls of those who looked upon it. A power literally drawn from Hell itself.
A boy who had vowed with him, in a memory still so clear and fresh in Hitoshi's mind, that he would prove the world wrong. That people like them were not villains by default, that they could be good, even with the shadows of evil calling to them with open arms.
They could be good.
They could be heroes.
And yet even he, when he saw how Izuku suddenly reacted, found himself questioning whether it was even possible for his best friend to ever escape the curse that called itself his quirk.
The second Fumikage clicked his fingers, a huge, bright light shone from under the floorboards. It was a giant circle, and within it a five-pointed star in which Izuku stood in the middle. However, through each of the outer triangles formed by the lines of the star were set odd, glowing symbols the origin and meaning of which evaded him, though Hitoshi was sure he'd seen at least one of them in an old Quran his Grandmother kept on a shelf in her nursing home.
Other than that, it was simply a somewhat confusing set of symbols set in a large star inside a circle which glowed from under the floorboards.
But to Fumikage, Dark Shadow and, most importantly Izuku, it was clearly something more.
Izuku screamed from within the circle and collapsed instantly to his knees. Fumikage folded his arms slowly, though there was an element of tense apprehension to his action.
Hitoshi went to move forwards, to find out why his friend was crying out in pain, but in a second the shadow-cold form of Dark Shadow swept before him, arms held wide.
"Do not break the circle, Mind-Taker!" For once its voice was sharp, almost hard, "If you do, Nemesis will escape."
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Hitoshi, blocked by the demon, turned his angry gaze to Fumikage, "We can't-"
"Be patient, Hitoshi Shinsou," Fumikage announced in a loud tone, loud enough to go over Izuku's screaming as the boy continued to curl into a ball, "All of you, do not break the circle."
"He's in pain!" Ochaco called out suddenly, her voice broken with sudden panic, "We can't-"
"We must," Fumikage's voice was suddenly as cold as Dark Shadow's touch, and something almost cruel had crept into his crimson gaze. This was a pain he knew all too well, and Hitoshi could see it written all over him. "If Nemesis is truly of Hell, it will not be able to break the circle."
"But Izuku is-"
"We need answers," Fumikage's crimson gaze frowned deeper, "And the only way we will get them is by forcing them out of Nemesis itself. Izuku will endure, just as I have endured in the past."
Hitoshi was caught. On one hand, he wanted to help his friend, but on the other… on the other Fumikage was the only expert they had in this kind of thing, and he spoke with such an anchored authority that he felt helpless.
Izuku screamed again and Hitoshi felt his stomach flipping as he watched the blotches of shadow, what Izuku and Fumikage had called 'unlight', form across patches of his friend's skin, growing and fading in rapid succession. They all jumped, even Fumikage, as suddenly a pair of vast wings sprouted from Izuku's back, tearing through his shirt but only half-forming before fading into a shower of ash.
"SEVENTH SON!" The voice, at once Izuku's and at once a thousand more, seemed to fill every corner of the room with its vile hatred.
Izuku looked up from his position and Hitoshi felt an entire iceberg of fear sail right down his spine. One of his eyes was normal, crying, but normal. The other was blacker than the darkest night. A void-space lit only by the unnatural glowing-green of his iris. Half his face was crying out in fear, the other half was snarling like a starved wolf.
A hand shot out and claws like talons stabbed into Fumikage's floorboard. Where they landed, flames blue and bright and terrible sparked into life. Izuku's scars were flickering as the fire of Hell itself coursed unchecked through his body, no doubt being fueled by the monster inside him.
Though despite all of this it seemed as though the teenager was still fighting back. His other arm reached out and grabbed onto the one now possessed by Nemesis and Hitoshi could see his now long, blackened fingernails digging deep into his skin in some small attempt to stop his demon.
"YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS!"
"I doubt it, little demon," Dark Shadow suddenly cackled back before its master could tell it to be silent, "You'll never escape the cage."
"Nemesis," Fumikage called out in a stern, strong tone, "I demand you-"
Suddenly, on kicking feet with claws ripping through burning socks, Izuku jolted forward and out of the inner hexagon, though he landed with a heavy smack onto the floorboards as only half his body made the attempt. Again, his clawed hand landed into the circle, burning and scraping in any attempt to drag itself toward its most hated target, leaving vast and ugly marks in the wooden floor.
The air filled with the stench of burning wood and corrupt fire, so much so Hitoshi could taste it on the back of his throat.
Fumikage took a step back, his crimson eyes, before so filled with a grim confidence, were now wide and shocked and at the same time Dark Shadow's grin fell.
"YOU CANNOT STOP US!" Nemesis cried out with Izuku's fanged mouth, even as tears still fell from one cheek, almost evaporating as they dripped from his fire-scarred cheek. "YOU CANNOT CAGE US!"
The half-Nemesis, half-Izuku creature dragged itself forward again, past the glowing symbols and edging closer towards the edge of the circle and Hitoshi felt his heart pounding in his chest.
Memories of the USJ were flashing through his mind as clear as day. Memories of the thing Izuku had become, Nemesis unleashed. Already he could see the muscles bulging under his friend's shirt, his tail had lengthened and thickened and was thrashing wildly behind him.
Before Hitoshi had been half-stupid and barely holding onto his senses thanks to concussions and heavy punishment brought by the fists of villains.
Now, however, he had his chance to make right his failure to stop Nemesis before. He had allowed All Might to take the fight to the monster without doing anything of his own to help. Izuku had died, and Hitoshi had practically encouraged it to happen. The guilt had weighed in his heart since, heavy and ugly and acidic.
He would not make another mistake like it, not ever again.
He glanced to the others and saw Ochaco, tears in her eyes and panic clearly gripping her heart. He saw Tenya, frozen to the spot, his eyes wide and horrified at what he was seeing, and Fumikage. Fumikage who had assured them that this wasn't possible, that Nemesis could not escape the circle, was shocked into inaction.
So, it was on him then.
As Izuku again launched himself forward, one claw finally landing outside the circle and burning another scarred scorch mark into the floor Hitoshi leapt into action, "Yo, demon boy, before you go turning Fumikage into fried chicken how about we go a few rounds, huh?"
Izuku's half-formed gaze turned to him, and the freezing-inferno of his shadow-black eye fixed Shinsou to the spot while the other, still human, grew wide and shocked, "WE ARE NOT-"
And then, just like that, it froze.
Everything froze.
There was no more screaming or crying from Izuku or from the creature that lived under his skin. There was, in fact, no movement at all. The thing that was half-Nemesis and half-Izuku went utterly, almost stupidly, still. Its mouth was still half-open from its screaming many-voiced cry but its eyes now only wide and staring and… somehow empty.
"What- what happened?" Tenya asked suddenly, having finally finding his voice amongst the absolute madness he had just experienced.
"Owwww." Hitoshi grumbled out and raised his fingers to his temples, rubbing them in slow circles. He took a long, slow breath through his nose as pain, hot and sharp and stabbing, began radiating through either side of his brain. "Fumikage… shut the fucking circle off I've got this."
"I- Right," Fumikage looked up suddenly and announced, "Voice control, Solomon's Cage off."
The circle vanished, and with it, a small portion of the headache Hitoshi felt. Not all of it, of course, but enough to take some of the edge off.
"Are you- did you just brainwash a demon?" Ochaco asked in sudden awe, her voice still shaking, as she moved over to the others, pausing to hesitate awkwardly around the still prone Izuku.
It was like he was caught in time, one leg curled and clawed like a wolf, the other human, though with some black nails poking out through his sock. His scars still flickered with the furnace blue of his hellfire power, and blotches of unlight still speckled his skin. Some long spines had pierced through the back of his shirt and even his tail had been seemingly caught mid-swish.
But he remained utterly motionless.
"I'm… trying…" Hitoshi breathed out heavily. "It's like lassoing a fucking -ghh- tsunami made of -agh- fire or something…"
Whenever he took a mind it felt like a rope that he held within a mental fist. He could feel the pulls and tugs of a will trying to escape, but they were never very strong and certainly nothing he couldn't handle, even as a child.
This, however. This felt like he was digging his heels into the ground and gripping the rope with two hands. He had control, yes, but a moment's distraction could let the thing loose. He wasn't sure what it was, all he knew was that it was terrible and chaotic and… angry. Very, very, angry.
"I don't -ugh- know if this is going to work so -nrr- surround him or something," Hitoshi breathed out as the pain got ever greater, ever more intense. He could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his skull and the coppery taste of blood was on his tongue.
As he watched the others make a semi-formed circle around Izuku and Ochaco's eyes widened at her friend, "Hitoshi, y-your nose-"
"I know," The teenager snapped back. He could feel it. The sickly-thick, wet trace of blood slowly flowing from his nose and onto his lip. He winced as Izuku's mind pulled again at the mental control and he took a sharp breath.
But he would not be beaten. He would not allow the USJ to have a sequel right here in Fumikage's home, where nothing and no-one could help them. He would save all of them, here and now, because he could and should.
"Listen to my words, you- you complete idiot," He spoke through gritted teeth, the last of his own mental strength threatening to melt as he spoke, the rope burning in his quirk's grasp, "You're going sleep for an hour and wake up nice and calm. No freaking out, no getting mad, no fire and shadow. Do it, now."
And just like that Hitoshi felt the rope suddenly stop its struggling. Just like that, Izuku's entire body fell flat onto the floor and, in a shower of dissipating ash that vanished in a wind none of them felt, he formed back into his usual self.
Just like that, Izuku and Nemesis went to sleep.
Izuku woke as he always woke. With a jolt.
He spasmed, his eyes shot wide open, and for a split second, he wondered how many he had killed, how many he had eaten and burned and ruined. How much damage and pain had he caused the world this time?
And then he felt the soft warmth of daylight on his face, the comforting firmness of the mattress under him and, while he felt as though he'd just done All Might's personal training regime, he was thankful he didn't feel the old familiar starch of bandages. He sat up slowly, pulling his head away from the band of sunlight that had shone across him.
Nemesis, however, was not happy. "WHERE IS HE?" The fire roared across Izuku's mind and body, and he curled tightly, hunching over as if someone had punched him in the stomach, "WHERE IS THE CHILD OF PHARAOHS? WE'LL RIP HIM APART FOR HIS TRECHERY!"
"Nnng," The wordless sound of pain escaped Izuku's gritted teeth as he fought to keep the blasphemous, oil-slick power from escaping out of his hands and burning everything around him. He curled it inwards with tremendous effort and felt the burning of his own body from the inside. With a heavy pant, he felt Nemesis fade back into his blood, though its fury was far from cooled.
"All of them. All of them will pay for this. They tricked us. They came to us with open arms and then placed us in that- that cage. And then…" He could almost feel Nemesis curling its talons within his blood. It was a raking, bloodthirsty simmer within his own mind. "And then he dared to take our mind, to command us like a slave. Traitors. All of them, traitors."
Izuku had to admit he did feel… hurt. He had never felt anything like he had felt in that circle-star-whatever it was. It had been like someone had turned the strange numbing-tingling sensation of faith up to eleven and it'd become a lightning storm roaring across his whole body. Nemesis had of course rushed to his defense, or perhaps, had taken advantage of his own shock and sudden weakness to try and finally end Fumikage's life.
Either way, it had been like the test with Aizawa-sensei all over again, though this time he had not ended it almost dying in a strange greyscale fog but falling asleep to a command that had been punched into his brain by Hitoshi. It had been the last thing he remembered before waking up, though no doubt the command had worked if the entire house wasn't on fire.
He'd almost lost control again, and had gained no new answers, other than perhaps that at least Hitoshi, with his quick thinking, could command him to sleep if he ever got close to unleashing Nemesis again. That and now his socks and shirt had holes in them. Great. Super. Fucking wonderful.
"Ah, you're awake I see."
Izuku jumped suddenly and turned at the sound of the old, creaking voice. His eyes quickly landed on Kodai, who had been sitting by an opened panel door which let out directly into the Zen garden. He was bathed entirely in the sunlight, while Izuku, sitting upright, was at least half-cast in the shadow of the room. Kodai smiled softly over to the teenager as he sipped at a cup of tea he held in both hands.
"The Priest," Nemesis growled softly, "Is he here to trick us too?"
"I-I'm sorry," Izuku's voice was shaking, weak, though he knew he hadn't hurt himself too badly it still felt as though he had run a marathon. "I… I think I ruined your meditation room."
The old man laughed a soft, genuine laugh, before shaking his feathered head, "I have been raising Fumikage since he was six years old. I am used to my meditation room being a little worse for wear, young man." He smiled and sipped at the tea, "Your friends are eating food with my fool of a Grandson. I wish he had told me his plans for today, I wouldn't have allowed it otherwise."
"It's okay, it's my fault, I should have-"
"You should have done nothing, other than perhaps not go along with it," Kodai cut in suddenly, a frown forming on his old and wizened features. Strange how he could look so sharp and cutting, even with his old age, "He told me everything. Using the Solomon's Cage on you, how you reacted, and how your friend saved you all. He's a good one, that Hitoshi Shinsou. I see greatness in his future, but he is like you. Unbalanced."
"We are perfectly balanced when he isn't hitting us with his cane," Nemesis snarked back. It was still angry, but now more irritated and grumpy than outright wrathful. Izuku could feel it tense with Kodai's presence, as if the very aura of the man's faith was a threat to its existence.
Izuku could feel his tail twitching and then slowly drooping as he looked down. "I thought… I thought maybe I would find some answers, but I just…"
"I believe you are looking for answers in the wrong place, young man." Kodai announced in a strange tone as he turned his head to look back out to the temple grounds. His feathers, grey and ancient, fluttered slightly in the whispering breeze. "I understand you trust your friends, and I can vouch that my Fumikage will do all he can to assist you, as he knows your pain like few others ever will. However, you will not find answers face-down on my meditation room floor."
Izuku blinked at this, "Th-Then how-?"
"Go to the source of your problems," Kodai replied simply. "Go to the beginning. Find your origins and move from there. That is how I helped Fumikage, so that Dark Shadow did not devour his soul. We went to the beginning of it all, and from that point, he found his balance." He sighed heavily before slowly, almost creakingly, getting back onto his feet. Izuku quickly scrambled out of the make-shift bed to help him, but by the time he had made his way over to the old priest, he was already upright. "Now, I'm going to go watch my stories. You should join my Grandson and your friends in the dining room before they finish eating."
With that, the old man hobbled his way out of the room, sliding the door closed behind him and leaving Izuku alone. The young man, unsure of where to go, simply walked out onto the deck of the home. Without any other distractions, he found himself focusing on the strange, distant humming sensation of the temple's ancient spirituality playing over his skin, and as such, as he stared out onto the Zen garden, began softly wringing his hands together.
"The source of our problems? Our origin?" Nemesis whispered through Izuku's mind as he felt the breeze play with his hair and cool the heat on his scars.
Izuku wondered himself just what the old man had meant, but after a few seconds, his stomach growled loudly and he rolled his eyes before turning and heading out the room.
SO BOOM. Some exciting new concepts introduced in this chapter! Also, for those with good memories, you may remember the Soloman's Cage being hinted at in an earlier chapter. Fear the mighty powers of the FORESHADOWING!
So how many frying pans to the head should Fumikage get? I vote several. We'll see what happens with that next chapter when we finally get a real sit down with Fumikage and Dark Shadow and Izuku gets to ask a whole bunch of questions. FINALLY SOME ANSWERS, AMMARITE?
And of course, next chapter starts the Sports Fest Arc... kinda. And if anyone remembers what happened before the Sports Fest arc, you should all be grinning because a character practically EVERYONE has been asking about is finally making her entrance.
Till next time, thank you for reading, stay safe, keep well, and tell your loved ones you love them. It's important. Later my dudes!
