Chapter 15: Reflections
Zagan and his men waited for the demon woman to return, finding that hiding from curious onlookers was surprisingly harder than they thought. They had figured that in a world of superpowered humans, they wouldn't stand out much, but they failed to consider that the fashion sense of humans also evolved.
The one who stood out the most was the young Draven. His armor, though appropriated for magical and medieval battles, only served to make him look like a walking mass of twinkling light. Second to the young man, was Morfran, whose monstrous appearance and towering height, made it difficult for him to blend in with society. His robes, which had been tailored around his deformities, only aided in accentuating his disproportions. Even in a world where mutations were prominent, he still wouldn't fit in. Aamon and Zagan fared the best, their preference for military attire only received curious glances and slight comments from passersby, but nothing more.
"We've underestimated the curiosity of these people," Aamon noted aloud as he sat against a wall, "Clothes will be the least of our worries."
Zagan nodded in agreement, "It would seem that way, but that shouldn't deter us."
"It won't," Draven insisted, "but, my lord, we should consider how we will get her ladyship. Is the school guarded?"
Morfran reached into his pocket and pulled out the notes he took on the city and of Midoriya. "Lady Layla said that the school is guarded, but how is the question."
"What do you mean?" Draven asked, pushing himself over Morfran to see the notes.
"Back down, boy!" the deformed man growled.
Draven pulled back, though rather reluctantly.
"Be patient with the lad," Aamon sighed, "Tell us what we need to know."
Morfran let out a softer growl before continuing, "From their brief inspections, they saw little moving machines and a large two-legged dog wandering the premises."
"Interesting," Zagan smiled, "and how did they get this information?"
"Through those nasty eye creatures," Morfran answered plainly, "Lady Guinevere learned how to make them."
"Then we can assume that they are watching us?"
The trio paused. They figured that Guinevere would be keeping tabs on them, but it never fully occurred to them that they should be alarmed by it. The princess couldn't do anything to stop them.
"If she's watching, she knows more than we do," Zagan explained softly, "puts us at a disadvantage, now doesn't it?"
"I suppose it does," Aamon nodded, "but what can we do about it?"
Zagan wandered away from the trio, approaching where the portal once was. His distrustful nature toward the second princess left him with many problems that he had to deal with. Any upper hand that the blonde had over him brought him anxiety. His only goal was to have Eveline as his bride; Guinevere's was to kill her. The fact that she was surely keeping tabs on his future wife meant she was learning Eveline's behavior in this world and was in a better position to have Eveline murdered before he could get her.
That couldn't happen though. He needed Eveline. She was the only good left in the world, his lifeline. Guinevere must not succeed.
"I want one of you to find this school," he ordered in a dark tone, "keep an eye on Eveline as best you can while observing the security of the place. Even a fortress has its weaknesses."
Eveline found herself in front of a series of mirrors, dressed in the most obnoxious colors imaginable. Behind her, the girls of 1-A argued over the various articles of clothing and which were better. For the most part, Eveline hated everything they tossed her way. She disliked bright colors, she hated tight clothing, and she especially hated anything that was designed to be small on her. As innocent and naive as Eveline was, she understood the unfortunate implications of revealing clothing thanks to her father.
Luckily, Tsuyu and Yaoyorozu were able to sneak in a few articles of clothing that were more to the young blonde's tastes. They brought her shirts that were loose and with darker shades. Pants, in this world, didn't fit Eveline all that well so she was forced to rely on yoga pants or skirts though that was less of a problem for her. After all, she was used to wearing dresses.
"We should find her some nice shoes!" Ashido cheered as she skipped off with Hagakure to the shoe section of the store, chattering about what might suit the young woman.
"They're having a lot of fun," Yaoyorozu smiled apologetically at Eveline, offering the half-goddess a long-sleeved dark purple shirt and dark grey leggings. "Try these on."
Eveline took the clothes with a reluctant smile and headed back into the changing room. When the girls approached Eveline earlier in the day, she had been with Midoriya and Kirishima, who was acting as Bakugo's messenger of sorts as the explosive blonde claimed to want nothing to do with Eveline. They were going over what Bakugo had previously shared, trying to fill in what pieces they could without Mael's memories. The girls came just as Kirishima wondered about the nature of Eveline's short-lived friendship with Midoriya and Bakugo. Eveline hadn't wanted to go shopping, but Midoriya had insisted she go. He said it would do her good to experience some alone time with the girls since she's only kept to herself the entire time she had been in this world.
Eveline looked down at the clothes, it felt wrong to let these girls buy her these things when she was only going to wear them until she returned to her world.
Stay with me…
Midoriya's thought echoed in her head. Staying with him felt like such a beautifully selfish idea. They barely knew each other, even considering their forgotten past. She couldn't stay in a world that wasn't hers nor could she impose herself on a boy as reckless as him.
You're worthless.
Eveline nearly yelped as Guinevere's cold voice filled her timid thoughts. Was she as worthless as Guinevere said? Midoriya said she could do so much in this world, all of which she could do in her world.
It's your fault they're gone. Mother, father, all of the Sins. Who else has to die before you realize the truth?
Eveline cowered. Guinevere liked to say that everyone was dead, despite also saying they were only sealed away. She supposed that being sealed wasn't that different from death, especially if Guinevere wasn't planning on releasing them in the future.
You're a perfect mix of your mother and father!
Everyone liked to say that. It used to make Eveline smile when she was little, but now not so much. Auntie Margaret loved pointing out every similarity between her and her parents, from hair color to her smile; there was a little bit of both in Eveline.
Don't worry Evy, I'll protect you from the monsters.
Was that Lunete's voice? Eveline wasn't sure. It had been so long since she heard her eldest sister's voice. She remembered that Lunete was the one to say that to her. Eveline had always been afraid of the dark and Lunete took it upon herself to lull Eveline back to sleep.
Mommy and daddy will always be here for you, Eveline.
Eveline gritted her teeth; they weren't there for her at all. They let Guinevere take her away. They let her lie to everyone, claiming that Eveline had been taken by Zagan's small kingdom. They let people die just to appease Guinevere.
Tristan is your replacement. So, they don't feel bad about you being gone.
Eveline shook her head. Tristan didn't deserve any of this. Even if Guinevere's vile words were true, he was innocent. If anyone deserved her hatred, it was her own parents and Guinevere. It's their fault, not hers.
But was that enough for her to stay?
Eveline straightened herself back up and let out a shaky sigh. Midoriya was a good person, these people weren't mean to her, and the idea of being useful to the people of this world felt nice. She didn't know if she really had it in her to leave her family, but she liked the idea. Maybe staying wouldn't be so bad after all.
Uraraka stared at the clothes on the racks with mild disinterest. She had seen a few that she really liked, but she couldn't afford them. Tsuyu had offered a few times to buy something for her to which Uraraka promptly declined.
"Do you think she'll like this dress?" Uraraka turned to see Yaoyorozu holding out a cute mint green dress for Jiro and Ashido to see.
Ashido squealed, "It's really cute, I think she will!"
Jiro made a comment that Uraraka didn't hear, she was too fixated on the dress. The dress was rather plain. It had a sort of corset laced front with the back having elastic bands to accommodate different body types. The skirt was ombre with the mint green fading into a deeper green. There was nothing else to the dress that made it worth looking at, so to see the girls fawning over it was a little unusual. In fact, the brunette almost felt like it was a personal jab at her.
What does she have, Uraraka thought to herself, that I don't?
Eveline was, by Uraraka's own admittance, a beautiful girl. Long, flowing blonde hair, vibrant green eyes, Eveline's body type seemed up Midoriya's alley judging from his past interaction with Hatsume. But Uraraka thought Midoriya liked heroic girls over damsels in distress, or maybe that was something she came up with. He really liked Melissa Shields, she was blonde though her eyes were blue. Uraraka saw her as a mix of heroic and otherwise, so maybe that was where her assumptions came from.
Either way, Uraraka knew she was jealous of Eveline, even after promising herself to push away those feelings. She couldn't help it though; before Eveline, Midoriya never expressed interest in the opposite sex beyond companionship. A clueless Midoriya was easier to deal with than whatever he was becoming.
That furious look on his face during class terrified her. He never looked at his friends like that before, only his enemies. Uraraka easily put it together that he was becoming increasingly protective of Eveline, to the point that he could, without thought, lash out at his friends. He hadn't done it yet, but she predicted that it was coming soon.
Uraraka watched as Eveline came out of the changing room, being met with kind words and praises. She shouldn't feel this way toward Eveline. She shouldn't feel threatened nor distrustful of her, unfortunately, she did.
Unlike her feelings for Midoriya, she couldn't push down these feelings and a part of her didn't want to. She wanted to be hostile toward Eveline, she wanted to keep those two apart. It was selfish, ugly; she didn't understand why these feelings were so strong and it didn't matter. Eveline wasn't staying in this world, she had to go back and that was Uraraka's only silver lining.
The darkness in Uraraka's heart pulsed alongside her heartbeat. It would thrive so long as she allowed it to.
A/N: We've made it! It's 2021! Here's to a better year, hopefully. I've been reading a lot of Yandere and Villain Deku fics recently and I really want to write my own. However, I know that Villain Deku's fics vary a lot. I feel like I lean toward the version that wears a suit and is fairly unhinged, but what do you guys think? What works for Villain Deku, in your opinion?
