The Shadow Kingdom

Chapter 10: Spells and Incantations

"You know…" for the first time in weeks Shoto had time to visit. He'd only meant to stop and say hello to Inko and discuss some important matters with Sir Might and Master Torino before going to the Dagohban tribe. However, he'd spotted Iida outside Izumi's workshop and found the pregnant woman standing at her work table, sweaty and in full concentration mode. "...I was wondering what those rumbling sounds echoing in the distance were as I rode up. Now I'm sure it's probably Bakugo letting off steam. Did the two of your get into an argument?"

"Hah?" Izumi turned grumpy sleep deprived eyes onto the King and the tension of the room increased tenfold. "You haven't seen me in weeks and that's the first thing you're going to say to me, Shoto?"

He blinked in surprise by her rare show of irritation and temper.

"What should I have said to you, My Lady?"

"Don't "My Lady" me." She dropped what was in her hands on the work table and put her hands on her hips, accentuating the full growth of her belly. "I've got a bone to pick with you, Shoto Todoroki… oh forgive me… Your Highness." She did a mock curtsey.

He sighed heavily and looked back at Iida and Ochaco who stood by the door.

"Leave us, this may get ugly."

"Yes, Your highness." Iida saluted and grabbed up Uraraka before closing the door. Shoto turned his attention back to Izumi.

"Alright, let's have it, Izumi. What did I do to piss you off?"

Izumi's mad face melted into a teary one and she hurried to him beating on his chest as tears sprung.

"Meanie! You said you'd visit! I haven't seen you in weeks and you didn't miss me at all did you?"

"Eh?!" The sudden mood change threw him for a loop. "Izumi… of course I missed you, but I'm King now." He reached out petting her hair trying to calm her. "I have responsibilities that take priority. You knew this."

"Responsibilities my ass! Kaminari told me every time he goes to the palace you're sitting on the throne staring out into space!"

"It's called setting up an audience. I'm always aware when Kaminari comes into court, so I always set up a meeting to discuss your well being and progress." His smile came slow and he pulled her in for a hug stroking her hair. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you and the baby… Kaminari said Bakugo had been treating you well and everyone was pampering you and taking care of you."

"Treating me well, like hell." She sniffled and lay her head on his chest. "Sure he's been nicer than usual, and bringing me flowers, and catching my meals so I can eat well… but he's still a jerk."

"What'd he do?" Feeling like the worst of the storm was over he guided her to a chair so she could rest her aching feet. He rubbed her back feeling the tension there. He started to rub in slow circles and lay a testing hand over the swell of her mound. When she showed no objection to it he gently rubbed there as well. He'd been inquiring the ladies of the court as well as a few servants who had children about the effects of pregnancy and what to do in certain cases, and was grateful for the knowledge.

"He's hovering… everyone is." She let out a sigh of relief as some of the aches melted away. "I've barely made a dent in my research and it's hard enough trying to concentrate on my work without people fluttering around, asking me questions, and annoying me."

"I'm sorry…" he apologized and stopped stroking to take her hands and kneel in front of her. "That's probably my fault. I knew I wasn't going to be able to take care of you and the baby because of my hectic schedule so I asked Iida and Uraraka to help you with whatever you needed, and implored Kaminari to field things between the castle and Dagobah. Both Bakugo and I are new at this and we don't know what you need, or how to make you comfortable and provide you with the best care, so it's a bit frustrating." He gave her a charming smile. "Will you forgive us for being so overprotective?"

Izumi's heart warmed and her teary eyes went full on affectionate before averting his gaze.

"I suppose I could… I don't mind Iida playing guard dog, it helps keep unncessary distractions away, and Uraraka has been of some help, and Kacchan really has been surprisngly supportive and romantic so I guess I could forgive you guys for being a bit annoying since you all mean well."

"Thank you." He kissed her knuckles. "We appreciate your mercy, Mama Izumi."

"Oh now you're just being condescending." She fluttered her hands away and crossed her arms.

"Am not…" he stood and removed his coat. "I cleared the day so I could help you with whatever you needed. So why don't you take a break and just direct me."

"You sure you're not too busy?" She looked up at him hopeful.

"I'm sure… things are progressing well at the castle." He approached the work desk and browsed through the books she had lined out there. "Touya is a very instructive teacher, and has a way of getting the men in line. The rest of the Vangard have been helping out as well, though that Toga girl puts everyone a little on edge."

"I know the feeling." Her face went a little blue. "When I first met her she kept staring at me… it was super creepy."

"Mmm… is this the base of the purification spell?" He tapped the page she'd opened to in the book.

"Hmm?" she stroked her belly as the baby kicked and moved around in her womb. "Oh, yes, but it's not quite strong enough." She held out her hand for the book and he gave it to her. "There's a wide variety of purification techniques I've been playing with, but none of them really seem to have a powerful effect."

"What kinds are there?"

"A basic exorcism requires only a few ingredients… blessed water, garlic flower, and runes. They're mainly used for possession and simple curses so it's not quite on the level we're talking. Then there's a purfiication circle which protects against evil spirits, but doesn't provide any kind of attack. " She flipped a page. "Finally there's eradication… which sounds powerful and on the right track, but it requires knowledge of holy magic and some kind of a magical item."

"Magical item?" Shoto raised a brow.

"Yeah, like Excalibur!" Izumi's face suddenly lit up at the thought of the ole folk tale. "It was a sword said to be wielded by the gods and could cut down 100 demons in a single swing. The First King of Tattooin was said to have been just a mere peasant but when he pulled the sword from God's hand it gave him incredible magic and physical strength."

"Ah, I get it… but that's just a myth, isn't it?"

"Myths are based off real life. Nomu was believed to be a myth as well but he's real enough." She stood up, keeping the book in one hand and rubbing her lower back with the other. "I thought if I could somehow infused my light magic, and purification into a weapon I could use it against Nomu. It's the closest I've gotten to a real answer but I don't even know where to start."

"Start with choosing your weapon I suppose." He looked around and spotted the scabbard on the top of the shelf. "There's one." He reached up and took it out, and made a face at the rusted metal. "Yeesh, this is old. Where did you get this, Izumi?"

"Eh?" She looked up from her book and gasped setting it down and hurrying over to it. "Oh! It's just for sentiment, it's not really a weapon I use anymore." She took it and stroked the scabbard affectionately. "It was my dad's."

"Your father? Was he a good fighter?" Shoto asked curiously.

"Not at all, I'm afraid." She laughed and set the sword down on the work table. "My dad valued knowledge over strength. I don't even recall him owning a weapon, but this was given to us with the rest of his belongings when we'd heard of his death. Mom thought he might have picked it up for protection, and considering it was in such bad shape it may have been the only weapon my father could afford."

She smiled warmly when she felt Shoto's comforting hand on her shoulder and she lifted her hand up to string fingers through his.

"I suppose I could clean it up a little now that I have some knowledge of weaponry, thanks to you." She glanced back smiling. "Will you help me?"

"Sure." He took the sword out of the scabbard for her and admired the blade. He failed to notice the parchment that slipped out with it, but Izumi spotted it right away.

"What's this?" She held onto the edge of the table and crouched down to pick it up. She winced a little as she righted herself an unfolded the parchment, her eyes going wide at the contents. "Nomu!"

"Eh?" Shoto's eyes turned away from examining the sword and looked down at the unfolded parchment. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the depiction of the black bird, and a siingle figure raising a glowing sword to face it down. "What in the-"

"This is Kanji… it's just like the script i saw in the dragon cave." She stroked fingers over the wording. "This paper… could it be." She whirled away from the work table and scrounged around her father's journals until she found the right one and lay it out. She flipped it to the last page eying the ripped and match the corners of it to the ones on the parchment. "It matches… these are dad's notes from his last journey before he died."

"You told me once your dad was a researcher, what was he researching that would lead him to Nomu?"

"The First Wielder…" Izumi murmured her eyes lighting with excitement. "He was studying Sir Might's family. I became obsessed with knights and heroes because I remembered dad telling me the stores of Sir Might and his adventures, and he would constantly mention him in his journals while travelling."

She looked to the blade and lifted it up. She felt along the corroded blade and felt the etching.

"There's something etched into the blade. Shoto… help me, grab that blue vial from the top shelf!" She pulled out a pot and filled it with water setting it to boil. She added ingredients and mixtures, and took the blue vial Shoto handed her, squeezing a few drops into the pot.

The contents of the pot boiled and turned a rich violet color. Izumi took up the blade and dipped it in, the rust and dirt melted away, the liquid now turning to a rust red color. When Izumi lifted the blade out again it shined silver and the etching became clear as day.

"Hikari… it's Kanji for "light," why would your father have this blade? Where did he find it?"

"I don't know…" she stroked a hand and tears stung her eyes as the sentiment of it rang in her heart. "I do know who it belonged to before that." She turned her eyes to Shoto her face positively brilliant. "This is the blade of the First Wielder."

~Sometime Later~

"You mean to tell me that that stupid piece of metal you'd carried around with you when we were kids is actually some kind of ancient magical weapon?" Bakugo huffed, still irritated that his mate had run off without saying a word to him.

"It's incredible, isn't it Kacchan?" She couldn't stop staring at the blade. Shoto had spent his remaining time helping her finish restoring the blade, and now it gleamed and sung with power in her hand. "With this and the holy blessing spell Ura-chan dug up for me I finally have a plan to defeat Nomu."

"You really think this will work?" He sat down behind her wrapping his arms around so he could cup her belly protectively.

"Mmmm I do…" she leaned back into him, all the animosity she had before gone. "When I researching about Light and Darkness and maintaining balance between them, I found some tales about the beginnings of life."

"Is this gonna be another one of your long and boring lectures?"

"Oh come on Kacchan don't be like that, it's actually really interesting. A lot of researchers believe that in the beginning there were two gods: The God of Creation, and the God of Destruction."

"Every tribe has a legend about that… moving on?" He said grumpily and had her pouting a little.

"Sour puss… anyway the God of Creation brought life to a pure world, filled with light, joy, and peace, and the first humans were created to inhabit it. However the God of Destruction believed that they as gods were the only ones worthy of existing forever, so he tainted the world. The humans became corrupted, experiencing emotions such as hate, and greed, and envy. Thus the god of creation abandoned this world, waiting for it to collapse so he can begin anew."

"But it didn't… did it?"

"No… despite the darkness that spread through the humans that were created, the people thrived and learned to adapt to this new world. New humans were born, cities were made, and the people began to think, and act all on a will of their own." Izumi closed her eyes and stroked her belly. "Upon seeing this, the god of destruction and the god of creation made a pact. They would keep this world in balance and watch over it in unison. They made the humans mortal so as to control their longevity, but also blessed them with magics allowing them to heal, build and create life of their own."

"So the god of creation took charge of the living, giving shape to new creatures to inhabit the world, not just humans… and the god of destruction took charge of the dead, ensuring that life came to an end, and channeling souls to their rightful places. Where the hell have I heard that story before?" Bakugo scratched his cheek with an irritated sneer.

"Your mom told us that story when we were little. Or at least a rendition of it." She smiled and turned to him. "Do you get it though? Our world may not be perfect, but it remains in balance. For all the corrupted and twisted people in the world, there are those filled with kindness and compassion who seek to better life and help others in need."

"Yeah I get the moral here, Usagi." He flicked her forehead. "No need to lecture."

"Ow! Meanie!" She rubbed the sore spot and shoved him away making him laugh. "I'm serious Kacchan… The reason I have hope that this will work is because I believe in the cause. Nomu is the embodiment of Chaos, and he has to be stopped. The god of creation trusted us with this power because he believed in us, he believed that even though we're mortals we can overcome chaos and bring the world back into balance just like before!"

"Yeah sure, it only took several hundred years for this to come true."

"I imagine for a god, several hundred years goes by in a blink of an eye."

~A few days later~

Izumi often had trouble finding sleep after she hit her third trimester… but this time she had trouble waking from sleep as the plague of nightmares crowded her dreams.

~Nightmare~

The air smelled of blood and death. Izumi felt the rapid pacing of her heart as she raced through the battleground, the shining sword cutting down opponent after opponent.

"The darkness is spreading… there's no end to it!" She panted and tripped landing on her hands and knees. She came face to face with a corpse and let out a sickened sound of grief as Shoto's dead eyes stare up at her. "Shoto, no!"

"Come at me, you bastards!" Bakugo shouted at the mob of predators that swallowed him up like a black cloud, his voice changing as he was beaten down and ripped apart.

"KACCHAN!"

This isn't real! She screamed at herself and held her head. None of this is real! Wake up, Izumi! Wake up! You know this is just a dream! You know it! The sounds of a baby crying echoed in her ears and she found herself holding a warm bundle in her arms staring down at the scrunched up red face. The earth cracked around her feet and she stumbled backwards holding the baby protectively to her chest.

From the cracks in the ground rose a large black bird, it's eyes wide and emotionless, teeth sharp as razors. When it opened its mouth it let out a shrill cry that made her ears bleed. Izumi sobbed and rubbed her cheek against the baby's hair, her eyes looking back to the corpses of Shoto and Kacchan, and of her friends that had fallen. She was alone, staring down death. How could she possibly win?

"It is not power that strengthens the hero." A familiar voice echoed in her ear. Gentle hands took the baby from her and she looked over to see her mother smiling warmly.

"Mama?" She stepped toward her but Inko vanished and around her the shadows of the previous wielders surrounded her. "What's happening?"

"The hero will be forever changed." The figure picked up the sword and placed it in her hands. Light erupted inside her and she gasped and stared into Nomu's dead eyes. "The Balance must be maintained."

Izumi felt her body move before she had a chance to think. Rushing forward her hands raised the sword over her head and she screamed as Nomu swallowed her whole.

~End of Dream Sequence~

"AHHHH!" Izumi shot straight up, clutching her belly as the baby stirred from the excitement and fear. Sweat pooled from every pore on her body leaving her cold and shivering. She wiped at her face, trying to control her breathing but couldn't. She hadn't had a dream that intense in months… which could only mean one thing. "It's happening."

"Damn stupid klutz…" Bakugo muttered about his sparring partner as he finished tugging the bandage around his wrist. "Oi Izumi, you have any of that…" He trailed off when he saw her and he dropped the wraps rushing to her and taking her shoulders. "What is it? What's wrong?" He touched her face and cursed. He quickly pulled his cloak around her shoulders "You're shaking like a leaf, Usagi, what the hell happened?"

"I'm out of time…" She looked up at him with frightened eyes. "We're out of time. We need to leave Kacchan… Tokoyami and the others can't hold off the predators much longer which means Nomu is getting ready to break out." She held her stomach. It also meant she would give birth very, very soon.

He saw the movement, understood what she meant and nodded. He got to his feet and shouted for Kirishima.

"Alert my parents and tell all the warriors to gather together. There's going to be a rallying and we need every able bodied fighter present, I don't want any slackers."

"Got it, leave it to me!" Kirishima hurried off.

"Dunce Face!" He called over Kaminari. "Take Tin Can and Round face with you back to Icy Hot's castle and tell them it's time to move out. We're leaving at dawn so be back before then to march with the rest of us."

"Right, count on me." He nodded to Izumi, his eyes worried at how pale and stricken she looked. "Don't worry, Midoriya, we've got this."

"Ah," Izumi managed a smile. "Take care, Kaminari."

Bakugo turned around as Kaminari hurried off shouting for Iida and Uraraka. He went back to Izumi kneeling down and cupping her belly.

"I'll go to your mom's personally and have Shinso prepare a wagon for you. I don't want you walking all that way."

"Mmmm, thank you, Kacchan." She lay her hands over his her eyes tearing up. "Is it bad for me to admit that I'm scared."

"I'd think you were stupid if you weren't at least a little afraid of what's going on." He lifted serious eyes. "I don't want you to worry though. Don't rush into battle right after the delivery. Icy Hot and I will hold off the devil until you're ready."

"Don't die… that's all I ask." She looked at him pleadingly. "If you can do that, then I'll be fine."

"I promise then." He cupped her face and kissed her with such passion and sweetness it brought her to tears. "Now then… I've got to let my parents know what's going on. Get the things you need and rest until morning. It's going to be a long trip."

An hour later Bakugo stood beside his parents as they addressed the warriors of the tribe. He had to admit, the more he thought about what transpired over the last few months, the more he began to believe Izumi had the right of it. It was better to have hope, and give people encouragement and morale, than to go into battle believing failure was inevitable.

She was good for him, and his people. He wanted her to see that. He would show Izumi what his tribe was capable of when they fought for all the right reasons, and under his leadership now that she had changed his perspective.

"This will be the first time we've Dagbahns have taken part in a war with others. We've only ever fought for territory or freedom, but this time our battle is for survival, and it's not just ours on the line. Usa… no… Izumi has opened up a new world for us, one worth exploring and protecting. As Dagobahns it would be an insult to our pride to back down from this challenge!"

The warriors roared with life and Bakugo couldn't help but grin excitedly at the anticipation of battle.

"Alright you side characters!" He stepped forward now and lifted up his saber. "I hope you're all ready for a good time. Let's show these so called knights how real warriors fight in battle!" He pointed his saber towards the rising sun. "TO THE SHADOWLANDS!"

~Ask Briry~

Briry: Yay! Another chapter done! So far in the polls TodoDeku is winning, but not to worry BakuDeku fans there's still a chance for a comeback. Remember you get one vote per chapter, but you can also vote on my facebook page "Bri's Fanfiction."

Next Chapter: Ground Zero