NEW CHAPPY!
Though first of all I want to apologize for not commenting on the comments like I usually do. It's been kind of a crazy February and I honestly kept forgetting to get around to it. My deepest apologies to you all, I always appreciate everyone who reads and comments, and I'll try and do better next time.
Now, let's move forward to chapter goodness!
For just a moment, their eyes met, and Morningstar looked directly into the soul of Gang Orca.
It was bright. Brighter than his outside body might suggest. He had the spirit of a hero, but a hero who endured rather than pushed forward. This man was a wall to which others had to overcome, a shield that defended, rather than a sword that attacked.
Good, it would make the plan easier.
The man moved back, the shock running just barely across his face. The advantage of having hyper-sensitive eyes was once again paying off as Izuku also moved back, his great wings splaying out either side of him and his hands already summoning azure flame to his claws.
Nemesis could see the threat before him, and the wolf-dragon within him was more than eager to tear at the throat of this new enemy.
But that wasn't the goal.
And the goal would be a far, far sweeter victory.
"You've come to fight me? Or perhaps save your friends?" Gang Orca was already getting over whatever fear he had for this new opponent. Izuku was impressed, though not surprised. "Either way, your plan is doomed."
"Morningstar," Shoto groaned. He was on the floor, his fingers twitching as he panted heavily. One quick glance and Izuku could see it, that mysterious hairline fracture in Shoto's soul was shining once again, a thin blue shimmer in what should have been a bright, if perhaps cold, light of his soul. "We have a civilian behind us, you need to get them out."
"He's right. I can always just call in more reinforcements. My villains are endless, a tide which no one can overcome." Gang Orca raised a fist. "You've bought time, young hero. Nothing more."
"A hero needs nothing more," Morningstar answered in an echoing tone. "Time is the most valuable resource one can ever have."
And he had endless amounts of it, in the long run. Though right now he needed to decide how best he would use it here. Every second he had bought was precious, which made every movement that much more calculated.
Save to win. Win by saving. It didn't just go for the pretend-injured in the exam, it went for the heroes alongside him. This was a fight where they had to overcome by overwhelming victory. Even a slight hitch, a single life lost, would mean defeat on them all.
Exam or no, he had to prove that the investments placed in him were paying off. For himself, for his family.
Izuku lowered his voice as he began quickly hissing at Shoto, "when we say so, throw out some ice."
"What?"
"Throw out some ice," Izuku hissed again, readying himself for battle. "We're not here to fight."
He could hear the hesitation in Shoto's breath. A tiny hitch that told him he was shocked. Why wouldn't he be? Everyone knew by now that all Morningstar did was charge headlong into the fight, smashing aside all opposition in a whirlwind of destructive fire.
But not this time. This time he was hesitating, preparing, he was acting… smart. Which was something that Shoto simply wasn't used to.
"COWARD!" Inasa shouted from somewhere beside them, his voice fought with struggle, humiliation, and pain. "FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!"
"I will," Orca replied coolly, his eyes moving from Morningstar to the taller teenager for just a moment. "Just as soon as I put a third hero onto the ground."
Izuku saw the movements in slow motion. There was the flash of something in his eyes, something that was activated from within himself.
He turned in one movement and beat his wings, at the same time closing his eyes and summoning fire into his hands.
Dust flew up around him, tasting of asphalt and bitter stone. He felt it all the same. It was as if someone with a flat, metal bat had hit him in every limb all at once. He almost screamed out in pain if he had felt inclined to do so, but instead, he hissed deeply, a resonant and echoing thing that rumbled through the air.
The paralysis didn't take. Either from the dust that threw off Orca's aim or from the very fact that Izuku's body was superhuman in nature, he wasn't sure.
All he knew was that he'd avoided the worst of it, even if he felt his body go sluggish and weak. At the same time, he dropped to his side, throwing out great fistfuls of azure flame that tore through the air around him.
Gang Orca cried out loud, shocked at the sudden fire that bit and clawed at him like a wolf let loose.
"SHOTO! NOW!"
The air grew as cold as a winter night, and there was a hiss and crack as ice raced across the earth.
If Gang Orca had expected Izuku to follow up, he was distinctly mistaken.
Instead, Izuku grabbed his friend by the collarbone and hauled him across his shoulders. Next was the shocked cry of an old woman, and then the heaviest of all. A loud grunt from the fallen Shiketsu student.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" How he managed to continue being so obnoxiously loud even now he had no idea. "STOP! FIGHT!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Izuku cried again as he readied his legs and jumped.
It was almost enough.
Almost.
He managed to leap several feet through the air, with Shoto across his shoulders his wings couldn't move as freely as they needed to for true flight.
But then he felt it.
The bats hit him once again, and this time they hit harder than before. The weakness was crippling, causing him to yell in sudden pain as his limbs seized up around him. His fingers loosened on Inasa and the woman, there was the tearing of clothes, and both Shoto and the civilian simply fell from his unresponsive fingers.
Then he caught the smell of lightning in the air, and he smiled.
Hitoshi burst forward, snatching Shoto out the air, and just behind him came Tenya, using his mighty speed to leap into catch the civilian in his arms.
Izuku saw the ground rushing up towards him, but there was a loud blomp and instead, he landed on a mattress of soft, flexible foam. He still landed hard, and he still rolled with Inasa on his shoulders, but at least he didn't break his legs.
He glanced up just in time to see Momo's flawless skin meld back into shape on her stomach, like liquid clay running through the fingers of a potter. Fire ran through his blood at the sight of her, and it wasn't entirely surprising to him.
There was more shouting, more yelling as others held off. The thunderclap of Hitoshi's gifted power would have been deafening if he hadn't been so used to it, as was the whoosh of Tenya tearing past him at full speed.
"Are you alright? What's wrong?"
Nemesis was clawing through his limbs, but not out of some sense of misplaced rage or even at the lack of control, even though it clearly wasn't happy with it. It was trying to funnel the black energy that it drew from into Izuku's body, trying to heal this sudden paralysis as quickly as possible.
That was what he did, after all. He was relentless, able to get back into the heat of the battle in almost no time at all.
Already he felt his limbs beginning to grow warm with feeling once again, and he started to prop himself up.
"That quirk of his hits like a truck," Izuku breathed out. "Tell the others to-"
"STOP."
The command echoed across the stadium and Izuku was pretty sure he'd never heard a more welcome word in his entire life. Well, maybe not, but it was in the top five at the very least.
"All civilians have been evacuated, the exercise has been completed. All students are to come to the evac area to be given first aid if needed. Well done all of you." There was a loud yawning noise as Izuku retracted his wings, feeling ever more life come back into his body. "Your scores are now being calculated, please be patient."
"Do you think we passed?" Momo asked him as the sound of distant cheering filled the air, as well as clapping, well-wishing, and other noises of joy. Izuku looked across the field at nothing in particular, simply taking a second to enjoy the sound.
"I don't know." The echo was gone from his tone. With no immediate danger, Nemesis was retreating back into his soul. It seemed even his own celestial-self was taking five minutes to relax after such intensity.
That was something he had noticed about himself. Even if physically he didn't seem to get tired, he sure as hell felt it mentally. He wondered if the other celestials in his family felt the same. Did Himiko?
He pushed the thought off. He couldn't worry about that right now. He'd heard no sirens going off, so he assumed that Himiko had escaped the exam and she had done so without harming anyone.
Or maybe they just hadn't found the bodies yet.
Momo asked him something and it flew right by him, forcing him to say, "sorry?"
"I said let me help you up." She offered a hand. Izuku didn't really need it, but he took it anyway.
Soon the class had gathered again, and this time the meeting was much more comfortable. They all seemed tired but in the way that suggested it was from good, honest work rather than simple exhaustion.
They had changed out of their scuffed and worn uniforms and back into their school attire, though they had been told they didn't have time to really clean themselves off and as such, simply walked out of the locker rooms stinking of sweat and feeling dirty.
But it was a good sweat. A good dirty.
It was the lingering evidence of a fight well fought.
They had done it.
And even if one or two of them, or all of them, failed to pass, they knew they had given it their all and done their very best to earn the spot they were given.
Come hell or high water, class one-A had done themselves proud.
"I can't believe you did that. Idiot." Hitoshi shook his head at Izuku. "You know you could have waited, like, five minutes for me to go with you, right?"
"Shoto and Inasa were in trouble," Izuku shrugged. "I didn't even realize they had the civilian there. Gang Orca even said if he touched her, they'd both immediately fail. Kinda got there just in time, to be honest."
"And you retreated! I admit I was surprised by that one." Tenya gave Izuku a well-worn, but well-meaning smile. "It's not usually your tactic."
"I had three people down behind me and a villain who had a paralysis quirk," Izuku said. "I wasn't going to test my luck against him. Better to try and get them all out, especially when I knew the cavalry was coming."
"Thanks for catching me, by the way," Shoto mumbled as he looked to Hitoshi. "I'm sorry I had to be rescued."
Hitoshi brushed it off, though he did so in the way that suggested he didn't really brush it off but actually wore it on his chest like a big badge of pride. "You would have done the same for me."
"Oh, Hitoshi!" Denki called out suddenly, putting a hand to his forehead and falling onto Ejirio like a fainting debutant. "It looks like I've fallen for you!"
Eijiro easily caught Denki as the others laughed and Hitoshi went an odd shade of pink. "No worries, bro! I'll always catch you!"
"Oh, I know you will." Denki grinned viciously at Hitoshi. "You can catch me aaaany time."
That got a few laughs, and even Izuku smiled. Shoto however looked utterly confused. "That's not what I said."
Before anyone could go into any explanation, and perhaps before Hitoshi melted into a puddle of embarrassment, there was a sudden shout that distracted them all.
"Hey guys!" Reiko shouted suddenly from a few steps away. He grinned and pointed up at a screen that had been placed nearby. "They're putting the scores out!"
The word spread like wildfire across the students, and soon everyone was gathering around, their eyes glued to the screen before them.
The screen had previously been off but had suddenly lit up with another live stream of Mara, who was now slumped over a desk. He looked as though he'd nod off any moment, and was only holding it together for this one, last push of effort.
"Alright everyone, this is it. Once we announce the scores you can all head back to your homes, and I can go to bed." His head bobbed down, his eyes closed slowly, then his head jerked back up again and he drearily refocused on the camera.
"Keep in mind we took points from you on a number of things in accordance with the Hero Public Safety Commission guidelines, along with the advice and input of the H.U.C. members you helped rescue. Our main objective was to see how you reacted to a crisis, and secondly, to see how you would cooperate as heroes, even with heroes from other schools."
The screen flickered from him, but his voice continued.
"Anyway, keep that in mind as you see the results. For those who didn't pass, remember what we looked for, and improve on that in the future."
Izuku felt his stomach twist. He had strength, speed, and power that could put most pro-heroes to shame, and yet no amount of power could ever prepare him for moments like these. Indeed, it wasn't just him, the entire class, nay, every student in the hall suddenly seem to hold their breaths.
Then, just like that, the screen filled with names. They might have been almost unreadable if the screen itself wasn't absolutely massive.
And the students began to read.
Izuku's eyes scanned, looking everywhere for his name. Almost immediately he saw it was in alphabetical order, so he quickly directed his eyes to the lower-mid range of names, where the M's began.
And there it was.
As cheering began around him, Izuku felt for a moment as if everything had paused, even his breathing.
"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!"
He wasn't sure if it was just internal, of if Nemesis's tone had roared out of their mouth as he cheered, his eyes lined with tears and his entire body lighting with the fire of his joy.
'Izuku Midoriya'. As plain as day. He had done it. He'd passed.
There were more cheers around him as the class erupted into celebrations. One after another they began to spot their names on the board, and it quickly began to dawn on them all that they'd all done it.
They'd all passed.
Even Shoto, whose eyes widened in shock. "I- I thought for sure- with being paralyzed-"
"Don't question it," Ochaco said as she threw an arm around Shoto's shoulder and shook him slightly. "If you do, they might hear you and take you off!"
Shoto's eyes went even wider. "Do you really think so?"
"WHO CARES!" Toru was there, cheering loudly and almost throwing herself into Shoto. Ochaco laughed in joy and grabbed her into a sudden hug, both of them jumping up and down in unison. "WE DID IT! WE ALL DID IT!"
Izuku smiled at the scene, and as he looked across his classmates. There was a deep warmth in his heart that was well earned.
He'd done it. He'd crawled his way to this point, overcome so much, and he knew he still had a long way to go before he got to where he knew he wanted to be.
But he'd made it here. To this defining checkpoint.
Soon enough the exam assistants were hanging out personalized sheets, showing exactly how the scoring was done. It looked as though they had started everyone at a hundred and slowly chipped the points down, which made Izuku frown. If that was the case, why hadn't they taken off people who went under fifty?
The reason was quickly given, causing many of those who hadn't passed and were in states of crying or disbelief to pause.
They wanted to see if any of those who had failed still had a chance at redemption, a chance to improve and try again.
Those that they believed could, and that apparently was the vast majority of those who hadn't passed, would be given remedial classes and another shot at the exam, albeit in a different form.
Izuku spotted Inasa. The giant of a teenager hadn't appeared on the board, and it was safe to assume he hadn't passed. And yet at the words, he seemed to brighten up.
He even made his way over to Shoto and apologized to him by smashing his head into the ground, to which Shoto had gingerly accepted.
Shoto had only barely passed, literally by three points. Izuku was positive now that if he hadn't rescued him, even without the civilian there to automatically fail him, he wouldn't have passed. That just seemed to be the harshness of their testing.
Eventually, the classes began to round themselves up as they were each handed back their bags and uniforms, and soon they were being shuffled towards the exits in a mostly orderly fashion. Outside the sky was starting to become tinged with orange as the sun made its slow way down the sky and to the horizon. Izuku felt himself breathing easier. The night's gloom was a welcome, comforting blanket to him, and the inside of the exam hall now seemed like a world away from the cooling late afternoon air.
The lack of any alarm being sounded at this point only further assured Izuku that Himiko had left the exam without incident, which was something he was quietly glad about.
He hoped she wouldn't take up killing again. He hoped the new soul she had been forged wouldn't be once again drenched in blood.
He hoped she would find time to calm herself, to find her center, to begin the internal, spiritual healing she deeply needed.
He hoped he would find her again soon.
"Hey."
Izuku turned as Hitoshi came to stand next to him. The others were piling onto the bus one at a time, with Tenya waving his arms stiffly and trying to bring some measure of order to his tired and giddy classmates.
"You know, I'm still a little pissed at you."
Izuku shrugged and looked away. "Yeah, I figured."
"We're gonna talk about it, you know." Hitoshi turned his gaze on Izuku, and Izuku could almost feel it staring right through him. Right into his soul. "But for now, fuck it. I'm too tired."
"Yeah." Izuku of course felt fine, at least physically. Mentally he fancied a nice big mug of fenrisian mjod.
"Hey, how about you send a picture of your license to your mum?" Hitoshi suggested with a wry smile. "I'm sure she's gonna love it. I'd send her one of mine, you know, to show her that her favourite passed, but I'll be nice and let you go first."
Izuku let out a quiet snicker at Hitoshi's dumb joke before getting out his phone. He hadn't even checked it since getting it back, being so caught up in the events of everything else going on and being so mentally checked out.
His smile dropped.
There were several missed calls, a few from a number he didn't recognize and three from one he knew.
Hawks.
He clicked his phone open, and he felt his heart pick up as he read the messages.
'Call me.'
'Now.'
'Your mum's in the hospital.'
It'd been easy to escape. People did what she wanted now, and all she had to do was ask. Sure, she had to ask nicely, but that hardly mattered. She'd ditched Izuku in the lake, knowing that he'd not be able to follow her otherwise.
Then she'd simply walked to the nearest exit and had asked to leave, turning on the charm. The security guard had all but bowed to let her go, and with that, she'd walked away.
Part of her felt disgusted at using the power, as she knew that it was the exact same thing that Satani had used on, well, everyone. It was that quiet, smiling, dangerous ability to seduce, to allure, to convince, and to charm everyone into doing exactly what you wanted them to do. To make them believe you were the best thing to happen to them.
To make them want you.
She had been on the receiving end of it for so long, longer than she even believed. Part of her knew it couldn't have been any longer than a few weeks at best, and yet with that power time seemed… wobbly. It felt as though she had spent a lifetime in their cruel, golden grasp.
Now she was on the other end of it she saw how easy it was. She could bend people to her will, and if she used it hard enough, maybe even break them completely. Had Satani done that to her?
No. If that was the case she wouldn't have betrayed the ritual, betrayed Shigaraki. She would have done everything asked of her and smiled all the while.
Though she knew it would have happened sooner or later. Tomura had clearly been broken. A husk without true emotions after they had been bleached away by Satani's sadistic light.
It was odd that she thought of him, now. She had made it to an alleyway some distance from the exam grounds and had slowly sank to her feet, pulling her knees up to her chest and hating how her dirty clothes smelled.
She had everything that she was going through right now. She had wanted to be free, unrestricted, with unlimited power.
And she had gotten it.
She felt as though she could take on any one of the top ten heroes and win. She felt as though she could fly to the highest mountain, that she could amass wealth and power and live like a princess.
But she only felt like that.
She wasn't actually doing any of that.
Instead, she'd been living hand to mouth, stealing, and running and hiding. She didn't even feel the subtle desire to drink blood anymore, even though the sight of it still sent a loving chill down her spine.
And any time the voice inside her head told her to spill it, she roundly rejected it.
She refused to follow the orders of anyone but herself. That at the very least was something she now had full control over.
Being alone had that benefit at least.
Her eyes shifted, focusing on nothing in particular as she thought of her cousin, Izuku, who had stood before her and offered her his hand. All she had to do was throw her lot in with another celestial.
She frowned deeply, her golden eyes flashing.
No. Never again. She'd never go back to taking orders from another one of their kind. They were cruel and vile and uncaring monsters. They couldn't love because they weren't designed to love.
And yet…
'Sooner or later, the titles you've inherited will come to claim you too.'
She grit her teeth in a snarl.
'We're telling you eventually you will be called by your father's realm! Just as we've been called to ours! You can't escape the blood you've now inherited!'
"NO!"
She shouted suddenly and moved. Before she knew it, she was halfway across the alleyway and burying her fist into the side of a dumpster. The iron bent around it like paper, but it wasn't enough. Her fingers curled into sharp claws as she grabbed a piece and tore it from the iron, throwing it across the alley where it noisily clattered and banged against the asphalt.
Trash spilled from the now gouged dumpster, flowing onto the dirty floor.
She wouldn't go back to him! She wasn't like him! She wasn't anything like that golden monster who had called himself her father and yet had been willing to cast her aside like a toy! She would never convince a young girl to throw away her very humanity and to slowly die from the inside as he lauded another!
She wasn't like her… her father.
Her father who's blood she now shared.
She let out a long, whining note of frustration. Fire danced along her skin, as well as flashing lines of azure blue which heated up within her. She could feel it, bubbling and burning under her flesh, and she had to take a sudden, sharp, deep breath of stinking air to stop it.
She didn't want to set herself on fire, after all.
"So, it worked?"
She hadn't even heard him coming, which was an immediate sign that he wasn't human. She turned, knowing who the voice belonged to yet still utterly shocked to hear it.
"Compress?"
"It's been a while, Princess."
The demon looked just like how she remembered him, though the long white robe was gone. Instead, he seemed to be wearing a dark suit that was mostly hidden by a buttoned-up trenchcoat.
His mask remained though. Swirling and curling in strange, symbolic patterns of occult significance.
And yet she could see the difference. Before she had only seen hints of it. The darkness that surrounded him, the inky blackness of the demon that caged the soul within and controlled the puppet-body with terrible strings.
Now it was as clear as day. Not that it took away from any of the joy she felt at simply seeing him again.
"Compress!" She rushed at him with her arms wide. She had never been more glad to see a friendly face, well, except Izuku's perhaps.
The demon oofed as she collided with him but managed to hold his ground. He was cold, but she didn't mind. She finally had a friend with her. Someone she could trust. Someone on her side.
His arms came around her softly, and joy bubbled in her chest. Though something else moved too. The slow, snaking venom of the thing inside her.
"We shouldn't trust them." The silky soft voice whispered to the meat of her brain. "They are conspiring against us."
She ignored it. Of course, she ignored it. She ignored everything it said because all it wanted to do was trick her, to control her.
Himiko was the one in control, not the monster she'd let be born inside her.
"It's so good to see you!" She began babbling quickly. "I'm so glad you're alive! I was so worried about you all! Is Dabi okay? What about Magne? Fuck it, what about Tomura? Are you all okay?"
"We're fine, Princess," Compress replied with a soft chuckle. "Well, other than living in hovels and condemned buildings, but I've experienced much worse."
She moved back a little, looking over him once again. She could see the details he mentioned. The slight scuff to his clothes, the unwashed state of his jacket. It was evident that he hadn't been anywhere close to a real shower in a while.
But she didn't care. This was her friend, the one who had helped her achieve her goal of demi-godhood.
"I will admit, however, that I am here on his behalf. Tomura, that is."
Himiko felt her mood soften just a little. "… he sent you to kill me, right? Cos he's still mad I stole all his thunder?"
"Ha!" The demon clearly grinned behind their mask. "One might think so, but no! Tomura saw what Lord Satani was going to do, what they truly intended to do. They are, admittedly, still sour that you did what you did, however, they can also see that they were originally nothing more but a pawn in Lord Satani's long game against Lord Lucifer. To put it another way, they see that you were both played by them, and as such, they have sent me to find you. They wish to…" The demon paused here, choosing their words carefully. "Strike a deal, one might say."
"Strike a deal?" Himiko replied, confused. She stepped away from Compress, though not out of concern or fear.
She had little to fear from anyone, anymore.
"What kind of deal?"
"You'd have to ask him. He did not see fit to inform me of his intentions," Compress shrugged in reply. "If you ask for my advice, Princess, I do believe he wishes to form some kind of detente between the two of you. Perhaps even an alliance, a healing of the… events at Kamino."
The events. That was a rather diplomatic way of putting things. Still, Himiko was not entirely opposed to meeting up with the old Heralds again. It wasn't like she had anything to fear from any of them, even Tomura. She was a demi-goddess now, a being of power that could rival All Might if she wished.
Though she had learned that power came at a rather crushing cost. Power demanded control, and she refused to hand over control to the thing inside her.
"He lies! He lies!" The hissing voice of her inner serpent whispered into her brain, like a cold knife pushing its way into her stomach. "They wish to enslave you! To use you! Kill the demon! Kill them all!"
She turned away from Compress, not willing to let him see the pained look on her face. She had thought herself near-invincible now, and yet that voice inside her brain, inside her heart, inside her very soul, caused a terrible migraine-spike of pain whenever it spoke.
She could feel it inside her body, a squirming parasite she couldn't remove without hurting herself. Her fingers itched to become talons and rip into her own flesh to dig it out, as insane as that sounded.
She pushed it off, breathing deep and heavy.
"I… I don't know, Compress. I don't know." She wished so dearly for some companionship, and yet to go back to the Heralds now… Her inner voice may have been monstrous, but she wasn't entirely willing to disregard every word it spoke. It had a point, after all. She'd betrayed them, and from what she knew of Tomura he did not let betrayals go lying down.
"I understand your hesitation, Princess," Compress replied. "I too would be cautious. In fact, I advise it. However, I have been with Tomura for a while now, guiding him. To put it in another set of terms, I believe he had placed me foremost on his court."
She turned back to him, frowning suddenly, feeling some odd hurt spike inside her pride. "Only Celestials have courts."
"Anyone can have a court," Compress said with a chuckle. "It isn't exclusive to any one race of creature. But I say that only to make a point." He took a step towards her, glancing around his surroundings for a moment. "He's still trying. Despite everything that Lord Satani did, despite everything he was put through, he's still alive, and he's still focused on his goal."
"What goal?"
"To open the eyes of the world. To bridge the gap between our world, and the world of the humans. To rise above them all, to become something new."
Himiko had to note that he had not said your world of humans. She was no longer one of them after all. However, the idea of Tomura becoming like her was… worrying to her. Sure, she was hardly the most well-adjusted person in the world. She was a murderess, even if she had felt justified in her actions by the cruel molding of her environment and peers.
But Tomura? Tomura was a monster waiting to hatch. She had seen it within him. Something growing within his human shell. Something that was more than just human. Perhaps he knew it, perhaps not, but she had been certain Satani had seen it. She had been certain that the mysterious All For One had seen it too.
Tomura with the powers of the demi-Celestials.
That was a terrifying thought.
"And you're saying?"
"I'm saying that while your paths may lead to different places, for now, they may still continue along one another. I have always been good at seeing where the lives of others may lead. I've spent many a long generation of human lives studying, watching, learning. It's a talent of mine."
"So, you want me to just… come back to work? Just like that?"
"Not just like that. There is another thing that Tomura wished for me to mention to you."
Compress suddenly seem to stiffen with a fear that was deeply ingrained into his body. It even moved into his voice, stealing away from of the comforting, warm laughter that was naturally a part of his overall charm.
"He's made contact with another Fallen."
Himiko felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
"And he wishes your help in destroying them."
A swift breeze danced through the alleyway, kicking up discarded food wrappers and, taking with it the nasty smell of old, rotting things buried under newly rotting things. Himiko briefly wished she'd never punched that stupid dumpster.
"… he wants to do what?"
"To destroy them," Compress said stiffly. "I… I know. When he first told me I was shocked. I didn't actually believe he was being serious, but his conviction has grown. He is… not the same person he was when he was under Lord Satani's spell. It is hard to explain."
"Satani had us all fooled," Himiko replied bitterly. "Me especially."
"It is what they do." Compress shrugged. "It is in their nature to seduce, to control, to abuse. It is who they are."
"And now it is who we are too," the voice deep in Himiko's soul hissed at her. "It is in our blood."
"I'd never…" The words escaped from her mouth through gritted, sharp teeth. Her hands curled into tight fists as she felt that heightened sense of biting hurt and bitter rage spark inside her blood. It took a minute to calm it down, to force it down.
"Let me leave you with this," Compress spoke again, drawing Himiko's attention to him. "Look at your surroundings. Look at where you are. Look at what you have. Princess, power is nothing without people who believe in you. Until you have that, all you have is strength." He reached out and placed a hand onto her shoulder. He had no eyes, Himiko knew that, and yet she felt as though she was fixed under his ancient gaze. "At least come and meet him. Show him that you can use your strength for something more. You are free to make your own choices now, to carve your own path. But you have chosen the same path I saw before the Lord Morningstar. It is one that you will carve so that others will follow behind."
He let her shoulder go and shook his head. "Or, you can stay here. Alone. With no one and nothing holding you to one place. It is a valid choice, but it is a lonely one. You can decide, your Highness. Here," he reached into a coat pocket and took out a small piece of paper, folded in half, "we'll be here for the next week at least. Come to us if you wish, or do not. But you have until then to decide."
And with that, he gave her a small, polite nod, before turning and walking away.
Himiko looked down at the paper in her hands.
Should she give the Heralds another chance? Or should she turn her back on them for good?
She thought about what Izuku had told her. About how she would end up with responsibilities being forced onto her shoulders one way or another. Was this simply another way of her newly stolen crown coming to claim her? Or was this as her inner monster said, just another trap to enslave her?
She turned away from where Compress had vanished and began snaking back into the busy city, back to the abandoned apartment she was currently holed up in. She had a few days to work things out, to figure if she wanted to walk alone or give companionship another chance.
She had to admit though, the idea of destroying one of those bastard celestials was a very tempting offer.
HIMIKOOOOO, wry did she not accept Izuku's offer? She could have been sipping mimosas with Hawks and learning about things. But noooo, she has to do things her own way every time.
... well, I guess it is in her character. Still, she's been offered to return to her old job, should she accept? And this other Fallen, who could that be? It's all heating back up!
Also, EVERYONE PASSED, even Shoto! So no make-up arc for him this time. I did enjoy having Izuku be tactical here and actually rely on his friends, showing a bit of a lesson learned from the early part of the exam. And a bit of humble pie eating from chapters like the forest arc. Don't fight every battle, as it's sometimes not the best way to win.
Oh also, small note but I really liked writing Compress here. His line about power and strength is all OC and I might put it into a permanent notebook cos I love it.
So yes, next chapter we get to find out what happened with Inko! What will come of the post-exam scene that would have happened with Katsuki? Will Himiko meet with the Heralds? It's all to play for and more! Until then, I hope you all stay safe, stay healthy, and thank you all very much for reading! Peace my dudes!
