The Shadow Kingdom
Chapter 12: Light gives birth to Dark
Tokoyami screamed as his blade cut through another predator. He could hear the shouts of his men and sobered how soon before the comforts of death welcomed them. They couldn't hold this formation much longer and soon the beasts would overrun them and demolish the town.
"My Queen…" he bowed his head, his sword planting into the ground as another predator charged him and readied to eat him whole. He gasped as fire shot from behind him incinerating the beast. "What?"
"Sorry we're late!" Shoto strut across the dark and barren field, the clouds of dust behind him offsetting revealing the massive Army at his back. Shoto raised his blade, fire emitting from the tip and he shouted."Charge!"
Archers launched arrows in a long line, picking off flying creatures left and right. Behind the soldiers were large catapults, flinging boulders to crush the opposing threat.
"It's time to DIE!" Bakugo laughed as he leapt from the mass of warriors and landed atop a large predator. His hands spark and he shoved them over the eyes, his magic exploding and blinding the massive beast.
"Hey save some for us, Bakugo!" Kirishima shouted and charged a plethora of enemies knocking them down like a bull through a fence. "RAAAUUGH!"
Tokoyami watched his new allies take down the first wave of predators with ease, his breath releasing out slow to calm himself.
"You have my gratitude, Prince Shoto." Tokoyami struggled to stand, using his sword to brace himself up. "They've been coming at us nonstop for days. I didn't think you'd make it in time."
"It's alright… take this time to call back your troops for some well needed rest, and let us take this wave." Shoto pat his shoulder companionably.
"Appreciate it…" He raised his sword. "Shadowguard! Fall back!" He started to pass by but then paused and glanced at Shoto. "Where's Midoriya?"
"At the castle… she went into labor the moment we got here." He said sending a worried glance back at the mountainous black castle.
"She still hasn't given birth?" Tokoyami's face turned concerned.
"No… and if Izumi's deductions are correct." Shoto turned his attention back to the ominous mountain that rumbled with dark energy. "We'll know the moment she does."
~With Izumi~
As the next contraction hit, Izumi squeezed Shinso and Iida's hand, the two of them turning blue as their knuckles cracked and threaten to break under the pressure.
"This is going too fast. She's at eight centimeters, and her contractions are pretty much constant at this point," Uraraka said with concern as she prepped for the birthing. "If this keeps up she'll give birth within an hour."
"Or sooner," Iida pulled his hand back rubbing the cramps and aches from it, thankful he'd been wise to avoid using his sword hand.
"Is the baby at least turned properly? There's not going to be any complications because of the fast delivery is there?" Inko fretted biting into her handkerchief as Toshinori pet her shoulders comfortingly.
"There, there, Inko-san." He hushed her comfortingly.
"Izumi is strong and healthy." Torino assured sitting on a chair near the window and keeping an eye o the battle. "Her magic will protect her and the baby."
"You keep saying that, but all this magic has done is put my daughter in a situation that she has no business being in." Inko whirled on both of them, tears filling her eyes.
"I'm sorry," Toshinori lifted his hands up defensively, eyes cast down with guilt. "It's just, I have my reasons for choosing Little Midori. It had to be her."
Izumi glanced up at that, her eyes widened a little at this news.
"Sir Might?"
"Why? Why did you have to choose my daughter?" Inko wiped at her tears looking furious. "Why couldn't you choose someone else? She could be living a normal life if it weren't for you."
"Your daughter is one of the most kind and heroic people I know. She's got such strength and determination in her, and a need to help others. That's why."
"My daughter is kind… so kind that she accepted this gift without any thought of the consequences.
"That's not true, Mama!" Izumi panted and sat up some so Shinso could adjust the pillows at her back. "I may not have known the full stakes, but Sir Might said-"
"I don't want to hear your excuses, Izumi! If it wasn't for him-"
"I'd be safe? I'd be happy? Mama..." Izumi gave her mother pleading eyes. " I love you, but I don't think you truly understand me or what I wanted in life."
"Izumi…" Inko turned sad eyes onto her daughter but Izumi shook her head.
"No, don't look at me like that. " She shifted and winced as another contraction hit and she tried to breathe through it. "I know the kind of life everyone's expected me to live, but I didn't want that. I wanted a life where I could be independent. I didn't want or need a man or marriage to make me feel accomplished and satisfied." She stare out the window tears filling her eyes as the sounds of battle came through. "I found contentment helping you at the farm,studying dad's journals, helping people the only way I knew how through potions and healing… but it wasn't enough. I wanted to see the world, I wanted to see all the places dad wrote about in his journals, I wanted to do something truly meaningful with my life."
Shinso smiled and stroked her hair. He'd known Izumi since they were kids, knew all these secret ambitions and dreams she'd harbored, and was happy she was finally expressing them to the people around her.
"This magic power that was given to me is frightening… but I've never felt so strong and capable in my entire life. I found true purpose… a purpose to help those who can't help themselves, a purpose to fight for what I believe in, and protect those I care about most."
Inko lowered her handkerchief from her lips to stare in awe of her daughter. A sheen line of sweat formed on her skin and she struggled through the pain to look her dead in the eyes with determination.
"Shoto and Kacchan… they too gave me purpose. I didn't want or need love but I found it anyway. I fell in love with two wonderful men who love me back and are risking their lives to help me fulfill that purpose. I didn't want children but I chose to have this child because those two helped create her. This baby is going to be so loved no matter who the father is and that's because both of these wonderful men have given me the freedom to make my own choices. So please, mama… accept the choice that I've made. Accept me for the woman I've become because I'm not going back to what I was before."
"Izumi…" Inko walked to her daughter and took her hand squeezing it. "Of course I accept you, I'm sorry I made you think I didn't. You're so brave, and smart, and more than your father and I ever hoped you to be. It's just… I'm so scared of losing you the way I lost your father."
"I know, mama… but you won't." She squeezed her mother's hands between hers and though there was pain in her eyes, Izumi looked back at her with determination and confidence. "Believe in me, believe that I'll come through this, that we all will. Hope and love are more powerful than any magic I could possess."
"Okay." Inko nodded and kissed her forehead. "Then I will. I believe in you my girl." She hugged her sniffling into her hair. "I always have."
"Thank you, Mama," Izumi held onto her just a moment to accept the comfort. Around them everyone smiled and morale shot up in spades.
"Little Midori…" Toshinori came around the other side and pat her on the head. "You really do astound me."
"Thanks, Sir Might… I'm glad y-" Izumi gasped and turned back into position screaming as the contractions got worse. Uraraka's smile faded as she lifted the blankets and her eyes went wide.
"The baby is crowning! It's showtime!" Outside there was a thunderous quake as the mountain started to give way. In tandem with rumble Izumi screamed and struggled against the pain and fatigue of natural childbirth.
All around was chaos, with men fighting for their lives, and the people in the birthing room rushing around, prepping for the new baby. Shinso got on the bed with izumi, his arm around her and holding her up.
"Come on, Izumi! Push, you can do it!" He coached her and letting her squeeze his hand til he could hear the bones crunch together. "Don't give up!"
"I'm not… not giving up! AHHHH!" She screamed through another push, the head coming out and Uraraka took hold nodding.
"That's it, Midori! Deep breaths, get ready for the shoulders!"
"You can do it, little Midori!" Toshinori braced her on the other side as Inko helped Uraraka by keeping Izumi's legs open. "PUSH!"
"I AM PUSHING! I AM PUSHING!" Izumi's body began to glow, and her eyes snapped wide open as images flashed through her mind. Images of the battle outside, of Shoto and Bakugo fighting for their lives. "Sho...to…. Ka...chan!"
Out on the front lines both Bakugo and Shoto stopped mid swing. They looked to each other, both sharing a dazed expression before realization struck. Izumi's final cry and push was echoed by another, more animalistic roar, and the wail of a baby.
"Usagi…" Bakugo whispered his eyes taking on a look Shoto had never seen him with. A mix of joy, pride, and sweet relief.
"Izumi…" Shoto smiled back at him. At that moment one of them was a father… and the thrill and sensation of it left them both momentarily stunned.
Izumi collapsed onto the bed panting for breath, her body so hot she felt like her skin was on fire. She could heard the rapid pounding of her own heart, her vision blurred as tears formed.
"My baby… where…" she heard the cries now and her smile came wide at hearing those powerful healthy lungs.
"Here, Izumi…" Inko cried as she cleaned and wrapped the screaming bundle. "She's here. It's a girl! Oh she's so beautiful!"
"A girl…" Izumi managed to sit up and she held out her arms, Inko placing the bundle there. The little face was red and scrunched up as it cried and cried. Tufts of green hair fluffed on the top of her head, and tiny fingers flailed around reaching for something. Izumi lowered her hand, letting the fingers curl around her pinky… and her heart was lost. "There you are… my light…" she lay her lips gently on the baby's crown. "My Hikari."
~On the Battlefield~
"It's done…" Bakugo held his chest wondering why he suddenly wanted to burst into tears. "She's given birth…"
"Yes… which means…" Shoto turned his attention back to the mountain and the massive figure that was emerging from it. "Nomu lives once again."
"Tch, not for long" Bakugo held out his saber smirking. "Time to hold that thing off til Izumi can send it back where it belongs."
"Ah!" Shoto whistled for his horse and the white mare galloped across the black terrain and straight to him. Shoto mounted her and waved his sword up sending a shot of fire across the sky.
"Hold the front!" Touya shouted to his brother his own hands blazing with blue flames and turning the predators at his back to ash. "The Dagohbans and Vanguard will handle the stragglers, Take the troops and keep your focus on the big fish!"
"Don't die!" Shoto ordered and motioned his troops forward. "Move in! ATTACK!"
Nomu shifted rock from around him, its breathing labored and eyes wild as it took in its surroundings. With teeth wide and sharp it braced on all fours and let out an earth shattering roar. The horses stalled and skittered, bucking some of their riders to retreat from the deadly force they sensed.
"Whoa! Whoa!" Shoto tried to calm his mare and stroked her mane. "Easy, girl! Stand firm!"
"You need a better war horse, icy hot!" Bakugo teased pulling something from his belt.
"You got a better idea."
"Fuck yeah I do…" Bakugo held out the twisted horn and blew hard, the low bellowing call echoing across the plain. For a moment the grounds were silent but for the bloodied cries of fighters… but then another cry echoed his call… and one familiar to Shoto.
He turned his horse eying the red dragon that came from the dark clouds above and slice through the air with ferocity and fight.
"There he is!" Bakugo used his explosions to launch himself up and straddle the neck of his mighty red dragon.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Kirishima shouted in disbelief. "Is that why you disappeared for those four days? You went all the way back to Dragon Country for that thing?"
"You think I was gonna let this beast get away? HA!" He pat the hide of his dragon. "Fat chance… and at any rate, he didn't come here alone." He jerked a thumb upward and soon an entire flock of dragons burst through the clouds giving out war cries as they attacked the predators. "Now it's a fair fight! Let's kill these fuckers!"
~Back at the Castle~
"Dragons! It's dragons!" Uraraka shouted, her head out the window and mouth a gap.
Izumi looked for the bed, still holding Hikari to her breasts as she caught glimpses of the winged creatures soaring across the sky. She had to laugh.
"Leave it to Kacchan to bring an army of Dragons to the battlefield." She took the offered potion from Iida. "Thanks, I better get ready myself."
"Take your time, Izumi." Inko insisted trying to stop her from getting out of bed. "Your body is torn up from labor."
"I know…" She winced. "I feel it… but I don't have much choice. Even with the help of dragons they're only going to be able to hold off Nomu for so long."
"Nomu's not even doing anything… It's awake but it's just standing there staring at the battle."
"What?" She handed Hikari to her mother. "Iida help me!" She grabbed onto the knight and hobbled to the window looking out. Her eyes stare across the chaos of battle and straight at Nomu. Through miles of distance Izumi could feel its gaze returning, as if honing in on her power and strength.
For the first time since it awoken Nomu took a step forward, it's massive claw like hand raising up and beating down on the ground crunching two dragons and a small battallion of men and even some of its own predators in one swoop. With the hit it released a sinister black aura that knocked many off their feet like a tidal wave.
Hikari wailed and Izumi fell to her knees shaking and going white as a sheet.
"Izumi!"
"Midori!"
"Are you okay!?" People crowded around her but Izumi couldn't hear them, didn't acknowledge them. All she could see was Nomu's ominous shadow… and the voices in her head reciting the prophecy.
Nomu shall rise again!
Awakened from it's sleep by the screams of new life, it shall rage upon the mortal world bringing forth death and destruction as it was created to do.
"Death… it brings death and destruction… it's evil… pure evil…"
The chosen hero shall step forth from the decay, willingly sacrificing it's light to bring about peace and rise the sun in the realm of shadow.
With this sacrifice the world will be saved, but the hero will be changed forever.
"Forever changed…" She looked to the sword she'd refurbished sitting in the corner of the room along with her gear for battle. She recalled the spell to take accept the darkness and purify with light. "I… I have to wield that?"
She stood up on unsteady legs and braced her hands on the window staring out. The sounds of death echoing in her ears as the war turned on its head. Men were dying left and right as Nomu, barely moving from its spot at the base of the mountains, crushed the forces with its destructive force.
"Little Midori? Are you alright?"
"No… no I'm not…" Izumi started to cry. "How could such cruelty exist in this world? It has no emotions, no remorse or animosity… it exists purely to destroy. Why does such magic have to exist?"
The Balance Must Be Maintained.
Balance… a mix of good and evil one neither surpassing the other. She bowed her head, her hands clenching and eyes closing tight. She still had much to learn, still had much she wanted to know… but she had no time left. The warriors outside couldn't hold them off for much longer.
"Iida…" Izumi slowly raised her head, her voice serious and tone grave. "Give me another elixir, and ready my gear."
"Izumi?" Iida pulled out the elixir but hesitated to hand it to her. "Are you sure you you're ready?"
"No…" she snagged the elixir and downed it in large greedy gulps and then tossed the bottle sighing heavily as the healing effects went to work. She stood tall and eyed the beast across the planes. "...but I'm out of time. It's now or never."
She stood up tall and turned to her mom holding her arms out for the baby. She cradled Hikari close and stroked the sweet face. Her eyes widened a little as the baby settled and stare back at her with wide expressive eyes.
Tears filled and fell down her face as she looked into them and saw her heart clear as day reflected in them.
"I've made my choice…" She bowed her head pressing her forehead to Hikari's as the tears slipped down. "...but will he still want me after knowing what I've become?"
~Ask Briry~
Briry: Short chapter, I apologize, I meant for it to go on longer, but felt this was a better cut off point as the other kinda just falls short. There's two chapters left so make sure you get your votes in!
The Title for the third installment has been decided. After this segment is completed look forward to the continuation in...
"The Cursed Kingdom"
Next Chapter: Sacrifice and Balance