Chapter 14: A Moment


All Might stared at the two teenagers who sat before him in the room. Midoriya appeared to be uncomfortable, which came as a surprise at this point, and yet that unmistakable twinkle of determination remained in his eyes. Eveline, on the other hand, looked like she would rather be anywhere but here. She observed the room as if she were waiting for it to suddenly collapse and trap them. She twiddled her fingers to a rhythmic pattern of beats against the palm of her hands, as though she were playing a tune to herself. Besides her fingers and eyes, no other part of her body moved. Her shoulders were stiff, her posture almost unnaturally straight, and beyond the slightest furrowing of her brows, her expressions were neutral.

"So," the older man asked, breaking the unbearable silence that followed the teens. "What is it you want to talk about?"

Midoriya opened his mouth but promptly shut it. He turned his head toward the blonde, asking for her approval to continue. When she gave him an encouraging, though strained smile, he started again.

"We need your help," he said in a tone that lacked his typical hopeful attitude. He sounded almost somber. "I don't know how to tell you this though. Um, Eveline?"

All Might turn his attention to the young blonde who seemed to have calmed her down nervousness as she took in a breath. "I suppose I should explain, but...I'm at a loss too."

All Might nodded, he wasn't surprised that they were unable to share whatever it was they had to say. After all, he could guess that what made it so difficult to talk about was that he might not wholly understand. However, it was clearly important, and he wasn't about to let them walk away without getting this ordeal off their chest.

"Well, you have something to tell me," he said with an encouraging smile, "so why not just be out with it and we can work from there?"

Midoriya and Eveline shared a look before agreeing to All Might's idea.

"Eveline and I," Midoriya paused, trying to find the right word before continuing, "we have a bond that was partially destroyed, and we need to fix it."

All Might blinked, then blinked a few more times before collecting himself. "I see," he said under his breath, "and how do you fix it?"

Eveline held out her hand. Cradled within her palm was the memory bottle. All Might stared at the item, unwilling to touch it out of fear of breaking it.

"With this," Evelien said in a soft tone, "it's a memory bottle. Inside of it is the memories of Mael, one of the Archangels."

All Might nodded despite barely grasping what she was talking about. "And what does it do?"

"Whoever drinks it," she paused, chewing on her lip, "sees his memories. Mael gave it to Izuku because-"

"Because we knew each other as kids," Midoriya interrupted, "and that apparently did something."

"Did something?" He asked, "Like what?"

"We don't know," Eveline admitted, "but Mael might. Which is why one of us needs to drink it."

"It'll affect both of us," Midoriya added, "but a side effect is that we'll be unconscious afterward."

"Unconscious?"

Both of them nodded, and now he understood why the two of them came to him with an air of uncertainty around them.

"We don't know how long that might be," Midoriya stated, "but we need to do this."

Eveline agreed with him, "There was a reason my parents tried to sever the link between us, but I have a feeling it was for selfish reasons."

All Might stared at the pair, unsure of how he should handle this. On one hand, there was a part of him that considered taking that bottle and destroying it. However, he could see that doing so would hurt both of them and he never wanted to hurt Midoriya in any way. But how could he help them with this?

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

The teens exchanged looks, lowering their heads when it seemed that they had a shared idea. Unfortunately, it also seemed that the idea they had wasn't one he was going to like.

"We have to drink it," Midoriya mumbled under his breath, just loud enough for All Might to hear him. "But the fact that we'll be unconscious for however long, well, I know you and Mr. Aizawa would be against us doing this."

All Might nodded, "You're right."

"We need to do it, though," Midoriya lifted his head, his green eyes darkened with determination and silent pleas. "Please, let us do this so we can figure what's going on."

All Might took in the plea with his usual somber expression. As a teacher, he wanted to say no, but at the same time, he forced himself to look at it from their perspective. Though the memories were not their own, it would shed some light on their current situation as well as provide some explanation as to what happened all those years ago. Midoriya and Eveline were not the only people to benefit from that. Bakugo also needed closure.

"So," All Might sighed, "how should we do this?"


In the dead-end of an alleyway, located in the heart of the city, a neon blurb appeared out of thin air, expanding into an oval-shaped window. From one side, the view of Guinevere's lab could be seen, though it was quickly hidden behind the emerging bodies of five individuals.

Kasdeya followed Zagan and three of his most trusted followers, Morfran, Aamon, and Draven as they entered the modern city. The neon glow of the portal slowly faded behind them, leaving just the slightest peripheral distortion in its wake before vanishing entirely.

"The city is strange," Morfran said, partially enthralled by the feeling of this new world. "is this what the world will become?"

"Madness!" Draven cried pathetically. Kasdeya had wondered if this one had a few screws loose, given his penance for muttering consistently to himself, and now she was fairly certain of it.

"Our world," Aamon interrupted with little interest in the matter, "shall never become this. Not under our rule."

It took a great deal of self-control for the demon to not snort at his declaration. Guinevere only had limited use for Zagan and his men, once they exceeded that, they were going to die. This new world they hoped to create was only a frivolous fantasy.

Zagan looked around the alleyway they had been transported to, taking in his limited surroundings before declaring that they were going to have to fit in first. "Even in a world of mutated freaks, we need to keep out of notice for now."

Kasdeya figured as much, though she predicted that she stood out the least compared to the other three. However, clothes were the least of their worries. What they needed was lodgings for the time being.

"Leave the particulars to me," Kasdeya sighed after a moment of private contemplation. "I'll find clothes and lodgings, just stay here until I get back."

The three followers tried to protest, but Zagan allowed Kasdeya to venture off. "Even if you fail, be back here before nightfall."

"Fine by me." Kasdeya grinned as she skipped her way out of the alleyway. All she needed was a vulnerable young man and, from what she could see, there were plenty for her to pick from.


Eveline and Midoriya found themselves back in his dorm, hardly feeling like they had accomplished anything during their lengthy chat with All Might. The teacher promised that he would give them a chance to go through the memories but since they had nothing but speculations for what could happen while the two would be out of it, he needed time to get Aizawa, the principal, and Recovery Girl on their side. Until then, they needed to not act on their own and behave.

"I guess all we can do now is wait…" Midoriya muttered to himself, "but there's so much we could do."

Eveline giggled and gently placed her hand on his shoulder, "Maybe, but let's follow All Might's advice. Having them watch us while we're unconscious is beneficial."

Midoriya nodded along, though his mind was still working on how to proceed. "Still, I mean there's practically a war happening in your world and-"

Eveline quickly put her hands over Midoriya's mouth, shushing him instantly, "Please don't. I know it's true, but…" Eveline's voice faltered, and he saw tears begin to form.

"A-Ah…!" Midoriya gently pulled away from her hands and took them into his own. She pulled away from him though, turning so that he only saw her profile. "I'm sorry, I didn't think about how you'd feel."

Eveline shook her head, trying to wipe away her tears with the palms of her hands. "No, no, I'm sorry for…." She struggled to think of what she was trying to say and the pressure to apologize suddenly caused her to go into a full crying fit.

Midoriya was completely unprepared for this. "E-Eveline?"

"I'm sorry." Was all she could get out and even then, it came out in choked sobs. Each time she tried to say something else, the words ended up stuck in her throat, becoming only the harsh noises of hiccups and sharp intakes of breath.

Midoriya hadn't a clue of what to do. Crying was something he hadn't really experienced during his time as a hero-in-training. Anytime he had been around someone who was crying, it had been a child and, for the most part, he never actually dealt with their tears. He just tried to be comforting and often, he was in the middle of a battle so there wasn't much he could do at the moment. Here, there was a lot he could do, but he didn't know what to do.

This is all my fault! Midoriya physically jumped as her agonizing cries filled his head. If I weren't born, this wouldn't have happened!

The sentence repeated over and over, sometimes it faded beneath the anguish of other painful belittlements that the blonde felt, but it was the only sentence that stuck out to him. If Eveline had never been born? The thought terrified him.

He had to do something, and it didn't matter what he did as long as he could destroy that awful thought. Without thinking, Midoriya reached out for Eveline pulling her shaking body into a tight embrace. She thrashed against him for a moment, it seemed to be out of reflex as she calmed down after a moment.

"Nothing is your fault," Midoriya said in a gentle tone, hoping to coax her out of this fit. "You're a victim, just like everyone else."

Eveline froze, but only for a brief moment. She shoved Midoriya away from her, he almost ended up on the floor as she cried, "You don't get it! It is my fault!"

"How then," he demanded, "how is this your fault?"

"Because" she sobbed, her hands feverishly wiped her eyes until the skin turned an angry red. "because if I hadn't been born, Guinevere wouldn't have become this way. She would have been just fine, and everyone would be happy. It's my fault because mom and dad loved me more than her!"

Midoriya stared at Eveline, outraged that such a selfish thought existed within Eveline. He knew from his experience with Eri that Guinevere had to have put that thought in Eveline's head, did that also mean Guinevere was doing this out of jealousy? The murder, madness, the destruction of their entire family was out of jealousy? Because Eveline was simply favored? It couldn't be, he hoped it wasn't because if it were, it was the most sickeningly selfish reason to hurt a person.

"Eveline," Midoriya reached out again, only to be met with an unintentional use of her magic. He managed to not be thrown through his patio doors, though falling onto the hard floor was no better. "Eveline, you can't believe that! It's not true."

"Yes, it is," Her hands covered her ears, her head shook as if she were hearing things she didn't want to hear. "I'm worthless…"

Midoriya gritted his teeth, he knew that there was no he could immediately ease her turmoil. He wanted to take those horrible thoughts and throw them away, but that wasn't possible. There had to be something he could say to just get her to calm down for now.

"Stay here."

Eveline sobs lessened, though her body remained stiff with apprehension. "What?"

Midoriya took a deep breath and stood from the floor, "Stay here, in my world."

Eveline's head slowly lifted, her green eyes remained mostly hidden under her long bangs. However, once she fully comprehended what he had said, she turned toward him in a near panic. "I can't, I'm not from this world and I can't do anything here!"

"You can heal people," Midoriya argued, "that kind of quirk is rare! You could save so many people and at a faster rate than Recovery Girl!"

"But-"

Midoriya grabbed Eveline's shoulders, forcing her to give him her undivided attention. "Look, you keep saying that if you weren't born, nothing would have happened. So, what if you just never went back? You could live here, have a great life helping people, you'd never have to deal with Guinevere ever again. Just stay."

Stay with me.

Eveline heard his thoughts, in his desperate plight to calm her he unintentionally shared his true feelings. She could have called him out on it, but there was a part of her that was too surprised by it to say anything.

"Please," he said in a hushed tone, "just think about that instead. Please."

Eveline let her gaze falter, she stared at her hands which were red. Think about staying in this world. Think about what could come from being among heroes as opposed to knights and royalty. It sounded foolish and a little intriguing.

But staying with him? Why did her heart flutter at the thought?

She glanced back up at Midoriya and felt something. She couldn't put a name to the feeling, but it was fuzzy and warm. Though this feeling was completely foreign to her, she enjoyed it.

"Okay," she said in a low voice, "I will."


A/N: I know I said I would post every Saturday, but since it is Christmas Day, I thought we could excuse an early update this time. By the way, I have a Ko-fi account which I use to post silly things relating to my fanfiction and TikTok content. If you want to donate you can, but everything I post of there is public so no pressure. I posted a blog post about this story if you're curious. Merry Christmas!