Chapter 11_Nightmare
Chapter summary: After Mr. Aizawa announced that he would be leaving them, Izuku has a nightmare about the past.
WARNING: While all the horrors are done in dream form this chapter features people dying in not very nice ways. Not very graphic, but PROCEED WITH CAUTION.
Atop the stairs, in the children's bedroom, all the dwarfs and dwarfelles lied in their beds, tucked in as the lamplight peered through the windows. Shouta had hoped that they would be able to sleep peacefully after a long day.
Sadly, this wasn't the case at all. At least not for young Izuku.
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In the depths of his mind, Izuku was taken to a forgotten room as it was so long ago. Izuku was much younger than he was and much smaller. He almost resembled a ball with a head and four limbs sticking out. His dream avatar wore a costume of red, white, and blue with a yellow hood that had a long yellow antenna on top that almost resembled bunny ears. It was made to look just like the outfit All Might wore in the book illustrations of his story.
In the dream, a voice echoed out.
"Help! Save me!" Izuku turned and saw a yellow blanket. His dream avatar moved on its own, following the motions as he watched. A white curtain billowed between them, but the dream Izuku was undeterred. Instead, he smiled brightly as he gripped the edges. With a triumphant cry, he yanked them back.
"Never fear! For I, the great hero, All Might, am here!" he called. He held aloft his toy sword before charging in. Imaginary monsters that Izuku would draw once in a while took shape and let out pitiful, fake roars as dream Izuku fought them off with a smile. They fell backward in defeat as he swung the wooden stick about. When all the imaginary foes were defeated, Izuku pulled on the yellow blanket. Beneath, was Izuku's mother.
"My hero!" she cheered. A large smile was on her face as she laughed. The emerald eyes Izuku inherited twinkled as the two embraced.
Izuku remembered this, for it was a common memory. Back then, Izuku wanted to be a hero like the ones in the All Might tales his mom would read him every night. Because of this, the two would commonly play together when his mom wasn't working.
Izuku had been so happy back then. He didn't remember much about those days, but he remembered that he loved his mom and she loved him. Izuku wished he could remember more, yet at the same time, he wished he could forget it all. He wished he could forget his mother's laughter, her soft embrace, her sweet words. He wished he could forget the fun they had. The feeling of happiness Izuku felt after he defeated the imaginary foes. How his mother pulled him into a hug with a soft kiss to his temple as she proclaimed, "My hero!" He wished he could forget it all because it only made what happen hurt all the more.
The dream suddenly became dark.
All that could be seen were the green outlines of Izuku and his mother.
An ear-shattering BOOM thundered around them, causing everything around them to quaked and trembled. Red cracks started to appear in the black as scarlet liquid suddenly began to seep into the room.
"What's happening?! AHHH!" His mother screamed as stones started to rain around them. She ran, clutching a terrified Izuku to her chest. The ground seemed to splinter apart with every step she took as long, spidery claws grabbed at them and snagged the dwarfelle's dress. She stumbled a bit, but fortunately, her dress tore so she could continue to flee.
Both Izuku and his dream self let out a sudden whimper. A strange sound filled the nightmare. It was like a low hiss or hum, but Izuku never was able to identify it. Whatever the sound was, it hurt his ears so much he thought they would bleed. His dream self buried his face into the dwarfelle's shoulder to try and stop the pain. He scrunched his eyes shut as he tried to block out the sound. Other noises soon joined in. Even now, Izuku could hear the confused and scared screams of other dwarfs as they tried to figure out what was going on. It scared Izuku how instantly some of these screams came to a stop. Not that he had time to dwell.
A hole smashed and crunched through the blackness of the dream. In it was a tunnel of teeth. They rotated like wheels and turned at an intense speed even Tenya wouldn't be able to match. Izuku could only yell as they raced towards the dwarfs. Izuku's mother let out a choked scream before making a sharp turn to run. In his ear, he heard her frantic breaths and felt her heartbeat fast and hard in her chest, like a hammer against a stone. Her terror fueled his own.
What was happening?
Why was it happening?
Would they be okay?
Would they make it out?
No. Izuku knew the answer to that.
Red rocks fell and splattered like paint when they hit the ground until the path was covered in red.
A shriek echoed out as suddenly, from one of the cracks, a monster oozed out. With a growl, it leaped at Izuku's mom.
No!
No!
No!
Izuku wanted it to stop. He wanted to wake up, wanted to do something, wanted to help. But the nightmare wouldn't stop, and he couldn't do a thing.
His mother fell forward and dream Izuku was tossed from her grip.
"Mom!" Both Izuku and his dream counterpart screamed as the monster pulled the dwarf woman towards it. The cavern shook and rumbled around them, loosening the rocks. One of the red boulders became loose and fell the demon. It was crushed beneath it and black spattering about. He notice a little red seeping out as well.
His mother cried out in pain. Izuku saw that her legs were trapped beneath the boulder as red veins climbed up her body. He crawled to her side and shoved at it, trying to free her as she whimpered. This was made difficult as the black ink started to dribble from the ceiling, staining his skin and clothes.
"Izuku!" His mother reached out to pull him back in time to avoid being drowned by a flood of ink. He let out a high-pitched whimper.
"SOMEONE! PLEASE HELP!" Izuku didn't know if it was his mother's cry, his dream self's, or his own.
Whoever made the call, it was answered. From the dark, an old dwarf in bright yellow appeared. Izuku barely remembered him. Because of this, he was made out of yellow sketch lines in the dream. In his arms was a trembling Ochaco, her big brown eyes clutched shut as she buried her face against his shoulder. Not even a moment later, a younger man appeared. He held Tenya and Toru, both looking equally afraid as their gaze shot around, wide and confused. Even though Toru was visible when all this happened, Izuku couldn't even imagine her as anything but invisible, and so she was such in the dream. Izuku couldn't remember the younger man. All he knew was that he was Tenya's older brother, and so he imagined him as a bigger and taller Tenya.
"Shit!" The old dwarf cursed as he set Ochaco down. The other dwarf placed Tenya and Toru down too, and all the children immediately huddled together. The adults both began to push at the rock trapping the terrified dwarf woman. After a minute, Izuku and the others went to help as well. However, no matter how hard they tried, the boulder refused to budge. The black ink substance started to pool at their feet, nearly reaching the dwarf children's waists.
"We have to get out of here, or we'll be buried alive!" Tenya's brother cried.
"You think I don't know that?!" the senior cursed.
Izuku and the other children cried out in fear as the ink splashed onto their heads. They didn't understand what was happening, only that it was bad.
Izuku whimpered as he pressed closer to his mother. She did her best to protect him, but it was impossible from her position. Her face was torn as she looked at her son, her teeth sinking into her botton lip as she thought, the tears in her eyes growing thicker. After a moment, she pulled Izuku closer and gave him a squeeze in her arms. Then she turned a tearful gaze to the other two.
"Please!" she cried. "Save him!" Izuku blinked in wide-eyed confusion.
No.
"Mom?"
No.
Torino gritted his teeth, hesitating, but another quake and rain of rocks made his decision.
"I'm sorry!" Then in one fast move, he swept Ochaco in one arm and Izuku in the other.
No, no, no!
"Mom?!" Izuku barely had time to process that he was being carried away from his mother. When he did, both he and the real Izuku screamed. "MOM!"
A red boulder promptly shut out the sight of his weeping mother as it fell between them, splattering a scarlet mess.
That was the last time he ever saw her.
For any normal person the horror and shock would have awoken them, but Izuku didn't. He wanted to. He wanted it to stop, for the nightmare to end. But the nightmare had its cold claws sunk deep into his brain and forced him to remain, watching the rest of the vision play out.
Despite his cries, Izuku saw his dream self and the other children being carried by the two adults. More red rocks rained, shattering the ground. From the cracks, monsters crawled out, clawing at them to drag them to their graves. Izuku and the others were lucky as the adults who held them were fast and agile enough to avoid the claws. The other dwarfs, however, were not.
"AHH!"
"Help!"
"Look out!"
"Someone save us, please!"
"Run!"
Scream after scream echoed over the chaos only to be silenced, one after the other.
The black ink continued to pool around until Izuku could hear a sickening splash. The ground started to move around them, pushing them up and down, left and right until it crumbled beneath them. Rather than falling, the adults jumped on the walls to run, their speed allowing them to momentarily defy gravity. But even then, the walls were starting to fall apart as well.
Izuku and the others couldn't imagine things getting worse. The unpleasant noise returned causing all the dwarfs to wince as their ears started to bleed. Izuku glanced over the yellow dwarf's shoulder and screamed. Forming from the darkness, lit by red, the wheel of teeth appeared. Izuku realized it was the cause behind the vibrating noise as it grew louder as it pursued them. The sound almost knocked the adults out, yet they kept on, pressed by pure survival instincts.
They ran, and ran, and ran, but it was as if they were standing in place for all the progress they made. Every time they saw a light of hope, it would be immediately shut out by a wall of darkness. Time and time again, this happened. Izuku remembered that it was hard to breathe as all the colors started to fade to black. Worse than that the teeth were getting closer. Izuku had vaguely wondered if they would be chewed up or torn apart.
As he was starting to give up, a blue light appeared.
"The exit!" the old man called.
"I see it!"
It was their last hope! Their last chance. If they didn't make it then-
But they did make it.
They made it! They were free!
In a merciful world, the terror would have ended there, but alas, that's not what happened.
Where there should have been safety was only more death and destruction.
A blue fire lit up the darkness of the dream. From the blue, shapes and figures danced and giggled in a light pitch of glee while others ran, screaming in pain and horror.
In the tunnels it had been too dark to see the monsters clearly, in the bright light of the flames though, Izuku didn't have that luxury. While he would never be able to describe them, they would haunt Izuku's subconscious for the rest of his life. They twisted and moved in impossible ways and dance with a speed that allowed them to easily snatch up the fleeing dwarfs. Izuku closed his eyes just in time to avoid seeing two dwarfs getting their heads bitten off, but even with the roar of flames and the screams, he could hear the crunch of bones.
Izuku heard a curse in his ear.
"Shit! Demons!"
"But! How-" Tenya's brother was interrupted as a demon leaped at him from the side. It swiped at him and would have sliced into Toru if not for the dwarf's arm. The man pulled back, but embers emitted from his skin and started to spread, little by little as it ate at the skin. Toru screamed while the man gritted his teeth and kicked the monster back. The demon managed to catch his leg though, and a moment later, it caught fire.
"Arghh!"
"Brother!" Tenya cried out in worry. The old man jumped and with a glowing kick, sliced the demon in half. Tenya's brother stumbled back, panting.
"Brother! Are you-?" Tenya couldn't finish the question.
"I'm fine," the other assured him. Izuku was sure he was lying as the skin of his leg changed color and blistered. The old dwarf gritted his teeth and held the kids tighter.
"We have to get out of here!" he called.
The children were too scared to say anything as the adults carried them. Monster after monster appeared from the fire. The village that Izuku grew up in looked like the pictures Ochaco drew. Some demons would pick up a house and tear it in half like paper. Others simply touched them and they lit up like candles, screams echoing as they turned to ash. One demon picked up a house and shook it over its great maw. People cried out in horror as they fell into its mouth, but gnash of teeth quickly silenced them.
"Shit! !" The old dwarf handed off Ochaco and Izuku to Tenya's brother, who shifted Tenya onto his back to hold them.
"I'm going to stay and try to help! Get to ~~~~~ as fast as you can!" The old dwarf said. He had said a name, but Izuku couldn't remember it. "He won't be able to save everybody, but at this rate, no one will survive!" Tenya's brother nodded.
"I understand!" The old dwarf turned and dissolved from the dream as Tenya's brother turned to run once again, three kids in his arms and one on his back.
The demons chased them, their faces contorted into wild smiles, each giggling. They reached out, but fortunately, Tenya's brother was able to outrun them. The area was completely blue. To this day, Izuku could remember how hot it was. Sweat that pooled on his skin and his throat was dry, in both the dream and the dreamer.
The area was getting heavier, making it hard to move. All the noise vanished until all Izuku could hear was the crickling of fire.
Even so, Tenya's brother continued to flee. After some time though, his leg started to catch fire. It burned all the way up to the knee. Every movement seemed to cause Tenya's brother pain, and he almost fell forward a couple of times. Tenya and the others cried out in worry, but every time he forced a smile and tried to assure them that it would be okay.
But Izuku knew it wouldn't.
He knew nothing would be okay ever again.
"Over here! Quick!" a voice suddenly called out.
Tenya's brother carried them to a red river where he saw a dwarf with gills floating in the water. With him, he had Momo, Denki, Tsuyu, and three other children, each looking as terrified as the next. Izuku and the others were placed in the water.
"Follow the stream!" Tenya's brother told the other dwarf. "Get help!" The other nodded, but Tenya screamed.
"No!" he wailed, tears dripping in large round balls. "I'm not leaving you! I'm not—!" His brother forced a smile. He placed a hand on the boy's shoulders.
"You have to. We need to get help, or we'll all die. I'm injured, so I can't go. I'll just slow you down," he motioned to his burning leg. "You have to go and get help. We're all counting on you guys. Understand?"
Tenya tried to argue some more, but fear choked the words in his throat as more demons appeared. Tenya's brother turned with gritted teeth, before shoving Tenya into the water.
"GO!" he cried. Then he turned and vanished into a blue flame.
"Brother!"
The water dwarf pulled the children into the river with him, as far from shore as possible, hoping that would protect them from the fire demons. Izuku didn't know why, but he remembered that the red water had a strange taste in it. He never thought about it too hard, but he would recall the taste in later years when he accidentally got a paper cut on his finger and sucked on it.
"Everyone hold hands and try to keep your heads above water!" the dwarf with gills told them. His voice was distant, but it also echoed in Izuku's ears. "No matter what happens, stay together! Always stay together!"
In the dream, the water became a red spiral against the blue fire. It twisted and turned, even becoming jagged at times. The dwarfs were tossed up and down, spinning about like leaves at one point. Despite this, they held on to each other, knowing their very survival depended on their grip.
Along the way, Manuel managed to grab a piece of bark that the children clung to like a shield. The screams from their village eventually faded away until all they could hear was the rushing water and the grumble of flames. This should have relieved Izuku, but it didn't. Instead, he found himself filled with a different sort of fear, though he didn't understand why.
As unpleasant as the river was, Izuku was hopeful that they would reach their destination safe and sound, then everything would be okay again.
Just as he was starting to hope though, it happened;
A spider-like demon suddenly dropped above them. Rather than having legs like a normal spider, it had a dozen hands and instead of eyes were a hundred tiny faces. Each face made a sound that made the children close their eyes and wince. Because of this, they didn't see the hands reaching towards them.
"Look out!" the dwarf with gills managed to push the children out of the way by shoving the plank of wood as hard as he could. However, this brave action resulted in him getting grabbed instead. The beast pulled him out of the water and into the air. The children screamed out in worry and fear as the currents dragged and pushed them down the rapids.
"Keep going!" he called, not that the dwarf children had a choice. The demon started to tear him into tiny pieces, like paper. Each piece was then placed into one of the hundred small mouths. The dwarf cried out, but even so, all he yelled was, "Don't look back!"
A wave of water burst between them and the dwarf was gone along with the demon.
The frightened children were washed and thrown through the waves, their terror at new heights now that they were alone. What was happening? Why was it happening? Would the others be okay? Would they be okay? Or were they all doomed? Were they going to die? If so, how? Would they be eaten? Torn apart? Buried? Or burned alive?
These thoughts grew more and more, becoming just as chaotic as the stream that pushed them faster and faster! Everything went black until all that was visible was Izuku and the other children. The water started to fall and them with it.
Falling, falling…
Everything was falling.
Falling apart, falling to pieces, ans threatening to bury them.
Everything was disappearing. Everyone was disappearing and they were alone. All alone-
And suddenly… it stopped.
The flow of the water softened and they were washed to a shore. Before them a house formed. Izuku recognized it as the only place of safety they had for years. The cottage, their home! Even though it wasn't their home back then or in the dream Izuku still believed that everything would be okay now. He really believed that.
However…
Everyone then ran towards the cottage as fast as they could, Izuku in the lead. Red drops dripped from their clothing, but Izuku paid it no mind.
Everything would be alright now! Whoever was there could help them! Whoever lived here could save everybody! That's what the adults said, right?
"Help!" he cried. "Please, help us!"
The door was heavy back then, so it took all ten children to open it. When they did the house was empty.
Nobody was there.
"No..." Momo whimpered. Her voice was heavy with despair as tears trickled down her face. "There's no one here..."
The Izuku in the dream couldn't accept this. He couldn't!
But the real Izuku knew the truth.
He didn't know which of them hurt more.
Tears welled up, thicker than before as the dream Izuku yelled.
"Please! Help! Help us, please! Mom-mom and everyone else! They're hurt! Please! Please-!"
His pleas were cut off as the cottage shook. Glass fell and shattered all around them like bombs. Tenya grabbed him to safety. They all hid beneath a large kitchen table. Not being able to do anything else, the children all huddled together as close as possible. They gripped each other for protection and comfort even though none could give it.
Around them, the world became static and scribbled. In the chaos, Izuku could hear words echo over and over again.
"You failed! You failed! You failed! Youweresupposedtogethelp! You failed! There'snoonethere! There'snoonehere! No one! No one!Justyou!Just us!Soonyou'llfailthemtoandthey'llbegoneyou'llbegone!You failed! You failed! You failed! Youweresupposedtogethelp! You failed! There'snoonethere! There'snoonehere! No one! No one!Justyou!Just us!Soonyou'llfailthemtoandthey'llbegoneyou'llbegone!You failed! You failed! You failed! Youweresupposedtogethelp! You failed! There'snoonethere! There'snoonehere! No one! No one!Justyou!Just us!Soonyou'llfailthemtoandthey'llbegoneyou'llbegone!"
THEY'RE DEAD-!
"Izuku!"
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Izuku woke up from his nightmare-finally-with a start, breathing heavily.
"Izuku? Are you okay?" a concerned hand patted his own, though he didn't see it. It must have been Toru.
He tried to respond, but his voice came out as a hiccup. He realized he was crying as a tear fell down his quivering body. On instinct, Toru reached out and hugged him. Izuku's whimpers stirred the others, who weren't really asleep. Everyone crawled out of their beds and went over to Izuku to help as best they could.
"Bad dream?" Tenya asked as he placed his glasses on. He reached out to offer comfort. "It's understandable. We had a long day and a lot happened."
Izuku shook his head.
"I-I'm fine," he said. It was a lie, but he didn't want to trouble them any more than he already had.
"No, you're not!" Ochaco scolded with a huff, her hand in tight balls under the mittens she slept with. "Stop saying you're okay when you're not."
"'m sorry..."
Ochaco's face fell.
"Don't apologize either..." she mumbled.
"...sorry..."
Everyone shared a look before they tugged Izuku out of his bed. They then crawled into Momo's bed. They did this whenever they felt really lonely or sad, or when they were scared. Momo's bed was the best for this because it was the biggest and allowed all of them to sit comfortably.
Toru snuggled against Momo and broke the long silence that fell.
"Is Mr. Aizawa really going to go away?" she asked, her voice breaking.
"I guess so," Momo muttered.
"It's not like he said he was staying forever or anything..." Denki mumbled, his fists clenched into the sheets.
"Yeah..." Ochaco curled into Izuku. He said nothing but fought his tears as he bit his lip.
"He-hey, now! We should be glad," Tenya said. "Mr. Aizawa came to us to help him. Now... now he's been helped enough that he can go help others! We did good, so we should be proud."None of them felt that way, though.
The dwarfs liked that there was someone here when they got back from the mine, who cared enough to make nice meals and bagged lunches. Sure they had each other but Mr. Aizawa was different somehow, even if they couldn't explain how.
Their gazes drifted to the empty beds in the corner that Shouta had been sleeping in for the past few weeks.
No one said anything for a while until Tsuyu spoke.
"…I don't want to say goodbye," she said, a tiny croak in her voice. Everyone looked over at Tsuyu as tears started to drip from her eyes in thick rolls. "I don't want him to leave. I don't want us to be alone again."
Ochaco reached over to hug her with Izuku as she started to cry. The others joined her as they mourned the fact that the only person to care for them in a very, very long time would soon be gone.
Just like everyone else.
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At the bottom of the stairs, Shouta listened to Cemetoss' graphic story of the dwarfs' final fate. Shouta's skin couldn't be any paler than it naturally was, but now it was drawn with pure horror.
"Did that…" He swallowed, his throat dry. "Did all that really happen?" The golem stared at the fire. The tea in his hands had gone cold, but he paid it no mind, too distracted by his thoughts.
"The dwarfs were a very, very secretive race. That's why there are only mentions of them in stories. They never even wrote anything down, believing that it was better to past secrets and tradition by mouth," he explained. "They thought that secrecy protected them and they relied on it over anything. Because of that, when the demons came they had nothing to defend themselves against them, except their quirks. And as a result, they were…" He didn't finish. He didn't need to. Shouta shifted where he sat, unable to get comfortable.
Shouta's mind couldn't accept it. Killing someone was one thing, a horrible thing, but it's something he could understand. In this case, a whole race of people was not only slaughtered, but in such horrible ways… it sent a chill through his bones.
"You said that the Demon King sent his minions to attack them. Why?" he asked. "For what purpose would he want…?"
Cementoss let out a long breath.
"I don't know. As I said, no one except very few had enough knowledge about the dwarfs to even know they existed," he said. "With what I know of the demon king, however, I don't think he needed a reason. More than likely he was just passing through one day, spotted one, and on a whim decided to kill as many as he could."
Shouta frowned. He heard the tales of The Demon King and his tyranny. He would slaughter villages, kingdoms, races—all because he could. Because he had the power. A part of him didn't want to believe that this could be the only reason, but another part reminded him of Shigaraki, a man who loved to lord his power over everyone when he wasn't being lethargic.
'And he has one of those monsters working for him.' Shouta shivered at the thought.
Maybe it was good he was getting help. If an entire race of people with magic couldn't fight back against demon powers, what were the chances he could?
Cementoss continued to speak.
"All Might and the elfs came after that, but by then it was too late. The dwarfs and their mines were destroyed. The final arc of the war broke out almost immediately after that. All Might and the other heroes managed to win the war, but… Well." There was a lot lost in the process. He didn't need to say it out loud for Shouta to get the message.
"Chiyo said he's alive and with the elfs, but is that really possible?" Shouta asked. The golem tilted his head back.
"I believe so. Chiyo wouldn't be sending you on your quest if not," he said. Shouta wished he had the same amount of faith. Seeing his worry, Cementoss added, "In any case, the elfs have talents that are known to cleanse demon magic. If nothing else, they'll be able to offer some aid. So your journey won't be completely in vain." Well, that was something.
Eventually, the man went upstairs where he found all the dwarfs curled up in Momo's bed. He wasn't sure why this was at first but then realized a lot had happened today. They probably needed the comfort. He pulled the thick comforter up and tucked them in as best he could.
Shouta looked around the room. He couldn't believe it, but it was going to be hard to leave tomorrow. It hadn't been long, but this place felt more like home than the castle ever did. It wasn't much, but it was more than Shouta could ever dream of. He felt bad for leaving, but what choice did he have? He had to save Hizashi. Not only that, but his presence might lure the king there.
Besides, they had done more than enough for Shouta already. It wasn't right that he asked any more of them. Cementoss and Chiyo would take good care of them, better than he ever could. He wasn't a caregiver or the guardian these kids needed. He was a scullery slave, nothing more. This really was for the best.
Despite that though Shouta couldn't help the heavy feeling in his chest.
{To be Continued…}
A/N:
*So, that was "fun." To be fair, you all were warned. What? Did the fluffiness of previous chapters trick you? lol
*This chapter doesn't seem very long, but there's over 5,100 words and 9 pages, so weird.
*This Chapter took FOREVER.
Meta Notes:
*Originally this was going to be a straightforward flashback, but I thought the dream factor worked out better.
*Believe it or not this story was originally supposed to have the feels of Disney's Snow White (obviously) and the Hobbit (book and 1976) with a few elements of Classic Don Bluth. But somehow Watership Down (1978) slipped in here.
Dwarf Notes:
*Culturally, dwarfs were huger-muggers. Secrets meant everything to them and they thought it was the only protection they needed.
**Yes, they had weapons and their quirks, among other ways, but there was an over-dependence on just hiding.
*Revealing a secret was the ultimate form of trust or betrayal and could result in execution depending on what the secret was.
*Dwarfs didn't believe in books or recording anything on paper or the like as they believed it made stealing their secrets easier. This is tragic as with all the dwarfs dead, there's no way for the remaining seven to learn the full story of their heritage.
**Fun Real Life Fact: The Greek Philosopher Socrates also hated the written word as he believed it wasn't an effective way of sharing knowledge.