Chapter 20_Revelation
Chapter summary: With some new allies Shouta and the others try to regroup. However some dangerous approaches in the distance.
After their daring escape from Bakugou, Izuku, Momo, and Tenya slid down the snowy summit at great speeds. They screamed as they spun in circle after circle, becoming dizzy and disoriented, but they held tight even under threat of passing out or throwing up (thankfully, neither happened). They didn't even notice the upward curve they were heading towards until it had launched them into the air. They all hollered in the air, then yelped as they landed with a bounce that almost dislodged all of them. Eventually, they crashed into a snow pile, which stopped their glide at last.
They all groaned as they crawled out of the hole they made like blind moles.
"None of this is like All Might's adventures…" Izuku moaned. He shook his head and turned to Tenya. "Are you okay?" he asked as he helped the boy stand. Tenya nodded.
"Y-yeas, I'm fine," even as he said this though, he winced in pain, clutching his arm, which was bleeding slightly. The dwarfs didn't know much about themselves, but they were aware that it took a lot to hurt them, so seeing how deep the wound was made them nervous. At least the cold was helping to stop the bleeding though they wondered if that was a bad thing.
"At least we got away," Momo was panting and looked a little sick but still managed to pull a bandage from her skin. As she wrapped Tenya's arm, Izuku looked around to see where they were, but everything looked the same. Luckily he still had the compass. He pulled it out and checked it.
"I think we should-"
"Who's there?" The three dwarfs jumped in terror as a new voice called out. Afraid it was someone like Bakugou, they all ran to hide. They piled behind the snowbank and tried to make their tiny forms smaller.
The crunch of the snow seemed to echo as the predator came closer. All three held their breaths, afraid to breathe. What if this was it? What if it was another enemy like Bakugou or Endeavor? It was then-
"It's just me," With a start, the dwarfs looked up saw a boy with red and white hair standing atop a snowbank. He wasn't looking at them and was instead talking to the figure who was approaching them.
"Really? I could have sworn-"
"It's just me." The tone left no room for argument.
The other cleared his throat. "R-right then. Sorry."
"Go back to the village. Tell that bastard that this is pointless; he killed them, and he's going to kill more by sending us out to look for ash."
"Y-yes, my lord." They heard the person run off, leaving the imp child and the dwarf children.
When they were alone, the imp turned to focus his intense gaze of teal and dark brimstone upon them.
"So. You're what's got that bastard so worked up?" The dwarfs gulped, not sure how to respond.
"S-sorry?" Izuku said shakily. He wasn't sure if the newcomer was an enemy or not, so he decided to be cautious. He slowly pushed himself up. The others followed in suit. "Um, thank you for helping us?" He hoped the boy helped them anyway.
"I didn't do it for you," the imp snapped. "I only helped you because I knew it would piss off that bastard father of mine. He hates outsiders." Tenya bristled.
"Should-should you really be talking about a parent like that?" he asked, unable to imagine anyone talking about their family like that. He shrank under the cold, icy stare of the narrowed mismatched eyes.
"In that bastard's case, yes," he said. "But even 'bastard' is too good for that pathetic excuse of a father." Momo gulped.
"Who...Who is your father?" she asked. The boy let out a disgruntled huff and folded his arms.
"Endeavor. The leader of the imps." The kids paled.
"Oh…" Shit.
The son of the imp's leader folded his arms and stared the dwarflings down. "No one's come to our land in years except for the odd troll. Then the mountain falls, and you show up."
"That wasn't our fault!" Momo said quickly. "The Queen did that after Fat Gum and Mr. Aizawa defeated her!"
"None of those people mean anything to me." His gaze became analytical as he looked them over.
"So? Who are you?"
Momo cleared her throat, hoping her nervousness didn't show. "Um! I-I'm Momo. This is Izuku and Tenya. And, um, you are…?"
The older boy gave them a look over, his red and white tail swinging behind him. After making a mental decision, he replied, "Shoto."
Momo swallowed at the cold tone. "N-nice to meet you?" Or at least she prayed it was. If he was like the others, then it might not.
Izuku spoke up beside her, "I don't suppose you've seen anyone else like us or a human, or a big black bird, have you? Um, the human looks like a vampire if that helps…" Shoto blinked at him as if he was saying nonsense. Izuku didn't blame him. Tenya decided to step forward and add his piece.
"We're trying to get to the elfs," Tenya explained. "Can you help us?"
Shoto looked surprised at Tenya's words, though the only way they could tell was because his eyes widened slightly. The rest of him was as impassive as an ice sculpture.
"The elfs?"
"Y-yes?" It was only then that Izuku remembered the violent reaction Endeavor had at the mentions of the Elfin people and he worried that Shoto would have the same reaction.
He didn't. Instead, he gave them another a look over, thinking. After a minute, he stated, "You won't make it."
Izuku blinked, feeling slightly insulted for some reason. "Why not?"
"Because that bastard father of mine cast a magical barrier that separated the Imp lands from the Elfin lands. No one has ever gotten past it in nearly a hundred years." Izuku felt his heart drop. Not only was this going to hurt Mr. Aizawa, but that meant they came all this way for nothing! No, they wouldn't give up! They'd find a way!
"There must be some way around it," he said.
A mixture of emotions flashed across the imp's face; apathy, sadness, defeat and resignation, anger, and helplessness. All the emotions conflicted in him before contorting his face into a look of helplessness. "There isn't," he admitted through grounded teeth. His fists tightened at his side. "For years we've looked for a way to get past it to get to the elfs and—there's no way through. There just isn't."
Izuku gulped. This was really bad for them if that was true. Even so…
"E-even if that's true, we still have to head that way," he said. "Our friends will be going that way because we all know that's our goal. Even if we can't get past the barrier, we have to get there." He thought for a long moment then asked, "Will you help us?"
Shoto seemed surprised and a little taken aback at the plea. "Why should I?"
"Because…" Izuku gulped. He didn't know. Logically, there was no reason for the imp to help them, especially if his father was hunting them. Shoto wouldn't gain anything and owed nothing to them. Even so… "Because we need help…" It wasn't a grand or convincing reason, or even one that allowed the dwarfs to keep a lot of pride, but it was the only one he had.
It might have been the way Izuku's voice cracked at the end, but something tugged at the ice prince's heart. He frowned, having an inner battle with himself, but eventually a noble nature that rarely had a chance to act won over. He sighed.
"Fine." The dwarfs were actually shocked by the agreement. Eyes widen, jaws dropped while hearts jumped.
"Really?!" They all exclaimed. Seeing the glimmer of relief and joy in the expressions, Shoto looked away, running a hand through his hair as he tried to hide a slight flush of pink.
"Yeah. If nothing else, it'll tick off that bastard," he mumbled. He quickly turned and started walking.
"Come on, then. We're going to want to hurry if we don't want to get caught."
The dwarfs smiled, hoping that their luck had changed at last.
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Ochaco shivered after Mina finished her explanation of things. "That's scary…"
"So wait, all of this is demon snow?" Denki wasn't comfortable sitting in the snow before, but now he was even less so.
Mina had the look of someone who never thought of that particular point before. "Well, now that you mention it…" She had the same expression as Denki, and both moved uncomfortably.
There was a long awkward silence between the children with only the crackling of flames to fill it.
After a moment, Ochaco cautiously cracked it. "So there's nothing you can do?"
Mina shook her head. "Nuh-huh. We can't break the demon spell, only elfs can. But we're not allowed to ask them for help because Endeavor hates them."
"Why?" Mina shrugged her shoulders, hidden under her small but bushy fur scarf.
"Natsu says that it's because All Might used to work with them."
Ochaco frowned, then tilted her head to the side slightly. "So? Why would that matter?" Mina looked surprised that Ochaco or anyone would ask such a question.
Tsuyu, who knew the All Might stories almost as well as Izuku, knew the answer, but it took a moment for her to remember. "If he's the imp from the stories, then Endeavor used to fight All Might all the time, right?" Mina nodded.
"And lost," she added. "Endeavor was always trying to defeat All Might in one way or another but was never able to. Then one day All Might disappeared, which infuriated Endeavor, who wanted to beat him. He knew that the elfs were hiding him for whatever reason and demanded they reveal him. When they refused, Endeavor created a barrier to trap them. I think someone mentioned that Endeavor was hoping that it would lure All Might out to rescue them, but he never showed up. So, I guess that means he's dead."
The dwarfs felt their shoulders drop at this. To be honest, they had gotten a little excited that All Might was real and maybe they were going to meet him. After all, All Might had been a big part of their lives. It was through his stories that they learned about things and the outside world before Mr. Aizawa came along. Still, the disappointment was short-lived only to be replaced by sadness and sympathy for the poor elfs who had been trapped.
"Is there a way to take the barrier down?" Tsuyu asked. Mina shook her head, her light pink hair bouncing slightly.
"Nuh-uh. Only Endeavor can do that. Otherwise, we would have gone to the elfs for help a long time ago.
"Hold on; if no one can get to the elfs, how is Mr. Aizawa going to get help for his boyfriend?" Denki inquired. "I mean, that's the whole reason we came here, right? If we don't make it, then..."
The dwarfs shared a look, wondering what they should do.
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Shouta flinched as a particularly cold blast of wind hit him in the face. Before him was Ryuko while behind was Rumi. Technically, he was their prisoner, but they had also come to an understanding and a deal. There was little trust between them—with fair reason—but that didn't matter. What mattered is that with or without trust, they all had a common enemy in Shigaraki and Endeavor. More importantly, they had a common goal; to get to the elfs for help.
"Listen up, human," Rumi had said when they were back in the hut. "No one gets to see the elfs. Our oh-so-great leader made sure of that when he somehow got a magical charge and created a barrier to keep anyone from trying to cross. Anyone who's tried has died. Well, actually they were turned to ash, but that's basically the same-"
"That's where you come in," Ryuko interrupted as she had stepped forward. "If your magic can nullify other magic, then perhaps you can get us past the barrier." Shouta shifted in his bonds.
"And if it doesn't work?" he had asked.
"Then we shove you into the barrier and watch you burn," Rumi said a little too gleefully. While this didn't exactly inspire any good faith, it would have been irrational to disagree.
For starters, they would have executed him instantly if he had, second, he needed to get to the location anyway, and having them lead him was better than wandering around blindly, so he could freeze to death. Hopefully, along the way, he'd find all the dwarfin children. While he was deathly worried that Hizashi was running out of time, he wasn't going to abandon the dwarfs. They risked so much for him. He wouldn't leave them behind.
Shouta clutched himself as the cold gave him a particularly bad bite. Despite the furs and clothing the imps gave him, he was still freezing. If it wasn't for the fire rune he wore as a clasp Shouta was sure he would have turned to ice.
"Careful!" Ryuko had warned as she handed it to him. "It's designed not to burn flesh, fur, or clothing but anything else will burst into flames." So it was proficient to a point. At least it kept him warm—for a while.
Time passed and the effects of the rune started to wear, while the effects of the weather grew. The imps didn't seem to be as cold as him, but he noted they were shivering too. This was surprising as Rumi wore fire on her limbs like a coat while Ryuko was dressed like him.
"We'll rest for five minutes, then continue to the next one." the gold-eyed woman said. Shouta wasn't going to argue. Despite the clock ticking in his head and his worry about the dwarfs, he knew it wouldn't do anyone any good if he froze to death. Rumi nodded and touched a tree with her flames which made it jump to life.
They had explained to Shouta that the ember tree burst into flames at the slightest touch of fire without ever turning to ash. The flood had destroyed the originals, but the seedlings eventually grew and became literal lifesavers to the imps. Even if they weren't enough.
Shouta hurried to the tree and got as close as he could without bursting into flame, desperate to warm up. The women followed, though not as urgent as him. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous as Rumi fanned herself.
"Must be nice to be able to create your own warmth," he muttered.
"Yeah, it's great!" Rumi confirmed with a teasing smile. Ryuko sighed.
"Not too great, sadly. If we don't want to die, then we have to use our abilities to keep warm, and for some of us, it's dangerous!" Ryuko explained. "Poor Mina has to use acid to coat her skin to stay warm but if she uses too much, she'll melt her own skin off."
'Yikes,' That sounded awful. Shouta decided to keep the conversation going. He wasn't one to babble (that was Hizashi's thing), but any information could help them.
"You said that the snow is the result of demon magic, but you're right next to the elfs. Why didn't you ask them for help when it happened?" Shouta asked.
Ryuko looked fore-longing in the distance, arms wrapped around her legs. "We wanted to. After the flood took everything from us and we started to freeze to death, we begged Endeavor to lower the barrier."
Rumi growled through gritted teeth. "But the fucking bastard wouldn't listen. He would let us all die before he allowed us to admit we needed the elf's help."
"Why?" Rumi gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes.
"Because they used to help All Might and Endeavor hated him more than anything. For that reason, he created the barrier to trap them and us."
"But—your people are dying," Shouta said, aghast. The woman snarled, fist clenched.
"I know it!" she snapped. "We've told him that as we watched our children nearly starve to death and while others died in their sleep after freezing! But despite his stupidity, he's still freakin' powerful. And even if we did fight, he's the only one who can stand the cold 24/7. The rest of us freeze after an hour without the trees here. In the end, we can't do shit!" She gritted her teeth so hard Shouta could hear them grind. He understood her feelings, though. It sucked being powerless to do anything against a tyrant.
"Why don't you all just leave?" he asked. The other scoffed, leaning back.
"Well, before there was a mountain that killed any travelers that went over it on one side and a barrier that turned you to ash on the other," Rumi stated. Shouta remembered what Fat Gum told him about Himiko capturing travelers and bleeding them dry. He tried not to think about how many of her pots were imp blood.
Ryuko sighed. "Now that the mountain's gone, we may have to consider it. If this fails and we can't get to the elfs-" As she stopped mid-sentence her eyes widen.
A heat hit the back of Shouta's head and he began to sweat. He turned his head and saw a familiar figure coming towards them.
'Shit!'
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Shoto didn't say a word as he led the dwarfs through the snow. Every once in a while, he would stop at a tree and make it burst into flame to warm the dwarfs. This startled them at first but they distracted themselves from it—and unwanted memories—by asking questions. Shoto would answer, but there were usually as short and to the point as possible. His stoic demeanor and a gaze that always seemed to be glaring at something intimidated the dwarfin children, but Izuku was curious to learn more. So while the other two followed from a cautious distance, Izuku tottered up to the boy. He didn't snap or lash out, so Izuku hoped it was okay.
"Um, th-thanks again for helping us," Izuku said to break the silence.
"I already told you, I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it to tick off my old man." The imp said. His eyes flashed a little. Izuku gulped.
"Um, y-you seem to get really mad when your dad—Endeavor is brought up. Um, why?"
"Because he's a fucking bastard." Shoto cursed. He gritted his teeth and glared at the snow as they walked.
"Isn't that a little harsh?" Izuku asked. "You shouldn't-"
"What do you know?" Shoto interrupted. "Nothing! You know absolutely nothing and less about this, so shut up!" Izuku gulped, then looked away, fighting back his tears.
"I'm sor—sorry." It was his fault. He shouldn't have asked such a sensitive question.
A silence full of guilt fell between the two. Shoto looked away and kicked at the snow while Izuku fiddled with his fingers. Shoto spoke it first.
"My father only had me as a weapon to surpass All Might," the Imp Prince explained, bitter. "Even after he had been gone for years, even when hell literally froze over, THAT was all he cared about. Instead of swallowing his pride, he decided he wanted to start a whole new generation of imps, ones that could stand the everlasting cold." To demonstrate this, he lifted his right hand where small ice cubes formed.
"Now we're all dying because of him. His obsession to be the best led to the death of my eldest brother and chased my mother away. Because of him-I'll never get to know either of them." Near the end, Shoto's voice became less angry and just—sad.
Izuku looked away and thought for a moment.
"…I never got to know my mom ether," he said quietly. "She was... buried with a lot of other people. The rest were burned by demons." Now it was Shoto's turn to listen to him. Izuku scrunched at his tunic.
"It's been a really, really long time, and now… I dunno how to feel. It hurts, so I tried not to think about it. Sometimes I try to stop thinking of her, but when I do that I'm afraid I'll forget her. So I can't stop thinking about her," His eyes suddenly welled up with tears. "...But I already did. I forgot almost everything except that she used to play with me and read me bedtime stories about All Might. I-I think she used to cry a lot too. I wonder if that means she was sad a lot…" A shaky breath passed his lips. "I don't even have the book she used to read to me anymore. I mean, I could never read it, but holding it helped me to remember her and all the stories she would tell. I wonder if I'll forget them now without it." He wiped at his eyes with his arm to stop the tears before they fell.
"S-sorry… I didn't mean—what I'm trying to say is that I- we know how you feel," he said. "It hurts to lose people and things. It hurts more to know that you'll never get to know those people. It hurts even worse to know that things you do know… you'll forget," Izuku swallowed to keep his voice from breaking. "S-so I get why you're angry."
Shoto didn't know what to say to this.
"I…" Before he could say anything, the dwarfs all came to a sudden stop. Their already big eyes grew into circles and took on a haunted look as their skins paled as they stared. Shoto turned to see what had paralyzed them.
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After Tsuyu had warmed up enough to think clearly—or at least coherently—she suggested they head towards the border towards the elfs. Everyone was heading there, and even if they weren't they should still get help.
"What if they attack us too?" Denki asked along the way. After the whole thing with the trolls, Bakugou, and Endeavor, he was a bit anxious about meeting people.
"They won't!" Ochaco tried to assure him and herself. "In the stories, they were always the sweetest, kind-hearted beings. They helped All Might, after all!"
"I'd be more worried about the barrier than the elfs," Mina said. "No one's ever made it across before."
Despite whatever worries they had, the trio followed Mina in hopes of meeting their companions. Every once in a while, they would have to stop at a tree to warm up. While Ochaco and Denki felt the chill, they weren't really bothered. For Tsuyu's sake, however, they were really grateful for the trees. As they walked, the dwarfs told Mina more about themselves as she had had never heard of dwarfs before. The conversation made them a little sad as they realized that they didn't know what it meant to be dwarfs themselves. They knew they were miners, but that was it. And now that the mine was gone, what did that mean for them?
Mina eventually recognized their expressions and changed the subject to talking about her people, which entertained the dwarfs very much. It wasn't long though before Mina realized that thanks to Endeavor their culture had become mainly about fighting, and there were only so many times Mina could describe that.
So instead, she started talking about the people she knew, which entertained them as well. Eventually, the conversation came to Bakugou, and she was pleased to find that they weren't his biggest fans either.
"He's such a jerk!" she complained. "He's been like that ever since he discovered he can make explosions. Like, big deal? All you have to do is make a loud noise, and you can cause an avalanche! Okay, so boom-boom powers are cool, which he likes to tell everyone, and yeah, he's super strong, which again he loves to brag out, but his attitude is shit! He's always going on and on about winning—till Shoto kicked his ass when he tried to pick on another kid. But now all he's cares about is beating Shoto so he can be number one again! It's super annoying! He's always stalking the border to kill travelers so he can become stronger, like killing people gives him skill points or something."
"So he's really a killer?" Ochaco asked warily. She had climbed to the top of a rock in hopes of spotting their friends. It shouldn't have been hard to spot them as there was just snow everywhere, but it was also dark. Not nighttime dark, but cloudy dark covered by blue, as Tsuyu had put it.
Mina thought long enough on the question to make the dwarfs nervous. "Um, I don't think so? Not because of his morals, they're shit. But no one's made it over the mountain in a while. So I think he just kills a lotta animals. He claimed he killed a lion bear once, but I think he's lying."
Ochaco was about to make a comment when her stomach growled.
"Mmm! I'm hungry!" she moaned.
"Us too!" Denki called with a groan. Mina let out a long sigh.
"Sorry guys, but there's no food here."
"What?!"
"Yeah, the snow killed all the plants except the ember trees, and all the animals died or left a long time ago," Mina explained. "Occasionally, one will wander back, but they're stored away. We only get to eat once a month unless we catch our own food somehow." Mina's face showed that she wasn't able to catch her own food often. Denki looked appalled.
"Once a month?! Wait, you mean there's nothing? Not even an apple?!"
Ochaco hopped down from the rock. "So does that mean- Ahh!"
The ground cracked open and Ochaco fell into the earth.
"Ochaco!" The others ran over to where she fell and peeked into the hole. "Are you alright?" Ochaco moaned as she rubbed her head.
"Oww… I'm fine!" She glanced around and saw that she had fallen into some sort of tunnel. She didn't bother to look around too much, though. Past and recent events made Ochaco too scared to be underground anymore, so she was prompted to leave as soon as possible.
As she made to stand, her hand touched something. She couldn't see what it was in the dark, but it didn't feel like a rock. Gripping it, she made herself float up. As soon as she was on the surface, she doubled over to spill her guts.
"I think you're using your quirk too much," Tsuyu muttered. Ochaco agreed though she didn't say it because her mouth felt like cotton.
"Is that a tunnel?" Mina muttered, poking her head in to look.
"Oh definitely," Denki said, going nowhere near it.
"Huh. Wonder where this came from…"
As they poked around the hole, Ochaco looked at her hand and saw that she was holding a strange comb. It was silver with black opal stones.
"Uwah! That's so pretty!" Mina said when she saw it.
"Is it?" Ochaco thought that the jewels back at their old mine were prettier. Even so, Mina's eyes were sparkling, as if she had never seen anything as beautiful as the comb before. Seeing this, Ochaco held it out to her. "Well, you can have it."
"Really?! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Mina eagerly took the comb and placed it in her hair near one of her crooked horns. "How do I-" Then without any warning, the impette fell silent. She then collapsed forward, face expressionless. The dwarfs rushed forward.
"Mina!"
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The snow hissed like snakes with every step the man of flames took towards Shouta and the others.
"So, you found the demon summoner," Endeavor said. "Why is he not dead or bound?"
Rumi and Ryoko jumped to their feet, their faces filled with anger and fear.
"Fuck off, Endeavdork!" Rumi growled.
Ryuko stepped forward, her voice reasonable and also pleading. "Endeavor—Shigaraki's coming. Shigaraki's coming back," she told him.
At the mention of the name, Endeavor's face darkened despite the brightness of his flames. His furious gaze fell on Shouta.
"You're working with Shigaraki?!" he seethed. Shouta jumped back as he advanced.
"No!" he yelled, appalled at the idea. "I want to see him burn as much as you all!" 'Maybe more so." He thought as he remembered Hizashi dangling in the dungeon.
Ryuko moved between the two men. "He wants to defeat Shigaraki! He's not a summoner! And we have a common enemy—one whose power we're still seeing in action to this day."
"What are you saying?" Endeavor growled, a warning in his voice.
"I'm saying that last time he was here, he nearly wiped us out and created this wasteland." Ryuko waved an arm at the snow around them.
"Last time we were unprepared. This time-"
"We're dying out as it is! Our people are starving! And the battlefield is against us! If we try to fight, we'll die!" Ryuko tried to reason. "We need the elfs to purify the demon energy so we can-"
"WE DON'T NEED ANYONE'S HELP!" Endeavor roared. He stamped his foot into the snow, creating a furl of smoke. "Especially not from those pointy-eared weaklings!"
"Come to your senses! This madness isn't getting you anything! It never has!" But no amount of sanity would penetrate the shield of pride.
"Wrong! It has given me power. The strong adapt and thrive, while the weak perish. Our bloodlines will be better for it. And with the trolls and their mountain gone, we can expand our territory and take more!" Flames billowed around him, and as they did, Shouta noticed the stone on Endeavor's chest flash. He frowned at it. The glow reminded Shouta of the gems the dwarfs were mining, but it was hard to see if it was the same from where he stood.
"Enough is enough!" Rumi growled. "I like a good fight just like any imp, but you want genocide and murder to satisfy your pride! Why?! All because All Might spanked your ass over a HUNDRED years ago-" A ball of flame was tossed at them. Ryuko covered Shouta to protect him.
Seeing this, Endeavor started to mumble to himself, his beard of fire flickering.
"So… I see that the summoner has manipulated your minds and sense of survival," He pulled himself to his full, mighty height. "Fine. Then you can join the others who have tried to challenge me as ash among the snow." He flared up for another attack, but Shouta regained himself enough to use his erasure. The flames vanished. Endeavor stared at his hand in shock and lividity. Rumi took the opportunity to kick him square in the face. A gleeful sneer covered her expression as her foot hit flesh.
"You have no idea how long I've waited to do that!" she taunted.
However, even without his powers, Endeavor was no pushover. He grabbed Rumi's leg and tossed her into a wall of ice which cracked upon impact. Ryuko jumped into the fray, claws bared as she swiped at him. Endeavor blocked the attack with his gauntlet, then used his other hand to punch her in the gut. As she was bent over, he brought his knee into the woman's face then turned in time to duck a kick. He tried to use his flames, but they vanished once again.
"The fuck?!" He glanced to the side and saw the human glaring at him with glowing red eyes. Endeavor growled.
'So! The Demon Summoner has a trick to make my powers useless, hm?!' The two women tried to double team Endeavor, but the man blocked every hit. Powers or not, he was still a powerful fighter.
Shouta, for his part, did his best to keep his eyes open to help, but it was hard, and he would have to blink soon. His power wasn't like a light switch ether; it took concentration that had him gritting his teeth to keep working. Not only that, but when the women were in his sight they would lose their magic too. In the end, even with Shouta's Erasure, they were outmatched, and they knew it.
After jumping back to avoid an attack, Ryuko turned to Shouta, conflict in her eyes.
"...get to the barrier!" she said after a moment.
"What?"
"Get to the barrier! Use your power to get through it, and get to the elfs!" she ordered. Then she turned away. One last plea left her lips as she did so. "Please. Save my people." Then she leaped back into battle, leaving Shouta with his own inner conflict.
He didn't want to run. All he had been doing as of late was run while others fought for him.
'But what else can you do?' the rational part of him argued. He couldn't fight, and he wasn't helping anyone by remaining. If he did so, the women would have to focus on protecting him, and they'd most likely die, then he'd die, and it would all be for nothing. And if he perished, who would save the dwarfs or Hizashi? Who would get to the elfs to end this winter and save a race of people from extinction?
With that in mind, the human stood and, fighting the shame of his weakness, started to run towards the light in the distance.
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"Mina! Mina! Are you okay?!" Ochaco shook her, but Mina didn't respond. "Mina!"
"The comb!" Tsuyu fought through her sleepiness to think. "It must be the comb!" She reached forward and pulled the comb from Mina's pink locks. Mina sat up with a sharp gasp.
"What happened?!" she exclaimed. Ochaco patted the gasping girl on the back.
"I-I dunno! You just passed out!" she said, just as confused.
"No… I was awake… I just couldn't move." She shivered. Tsuyu blinked at the comb in her palm.
"It must have been this," she said. She held the item up. "It cursed you somehow."
"But how?"
"I—" she froze as the words caught in her throat.
"Tsuyu?" The others looked at her and her pale expression. They turned to where she was looking.
Ochaco and Denki felt their hearts stop.
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Shouta ran as fast and as far as he could, but it wasn't long before the chill of the snow sank through skin and muscle to his bones. He fell forward to his knees, embracing himself to try and get warm. He gasped, but all that did was allow the cold air access to his lungs.
'Get up,' he scolded himself. 'Get up! You can't sit here. You'll die. Then everyone else will die, and everything that's happened would have been for nothing! Plus, you have to find the kids before it's too late.' This last thought pushed through and gave him the strength to stand. Many people were hurt and even died on this quest—he wouldn't let the dwarfs be added to that list.
He stumbled forward, but each step was a fight as his limbs wanted to turn solid. He went up to an ember tree for warmth, but the trees needed a spark of flame before they lit, and Shouta sadly lacked a match.
'Perfect.' Who was responsible for this? Who was making all this so damn difficult? All he wanted was to get help to save his boyfriend from the crazy man. Why was everything making that damn near impossible?
The crunch of snow made the man jump, afraid it was another attacker.
But it wasn't; it was the bird.
The poor thing was shuffling towards him, embers bright and clinging to its wings. The feathers were singed and damaged, and blood drip from open wounds only to freeze right away. The bird used to have four wings, but it looked like one was burned clean off with half of another.
It limped towards Shouta, its scarlet eyes filled with pain, worry, and fear. Shouta couldn't tell if it was scared and wanted comfort from him or to see if he was alright. Either way, Shouta's heart went out to the beast.
He knew it might have been a demon, but—it was hurt and just as scared as he was. Even if his heart was as cold as the winter around them, there was no way Shouta could turn his back on it.
He closed the distance, his hand out to pet it. Shouta cooed at it as it sank its head into the touch.
"It's alright," he said. That was a lie, but what was he supposed to say? "Everything's gone to shit, and they were going to freeze to death in a few minutes?" The beast was both cold and warm to the touch. Shouta traced the feathers and flinched back as the embers burned his fingers like a stove. This gave him an idea;
"Come on," He led the beast to the ember tree. There he yanked one of the singed feathers with ember flames still on it from a wing. The bird let out a high-pitched whine that made Shouta flinch in pain. He apologized and calmed the beast. The last thing he needed was for it to see him as a threat and start attacking him.
He looked at the feather in his hand. The embers were slowly but surely eating the feather bit by bit. He touched the feather to the tree, and as it sprang to life, the bird jumped back. Shouta calmed it best he could, but it still refused to go near the burning tree. Shouta couldn't blame it, however he didn't have the same choice, so he sat by the tree. As he warmed up, he watched the bird.
It was quiet, which was odd as, in the short time he knew it, the bird beast was always making some sort of sound. His feathers were puffed, and its eyes were closed, though Shouta didn't think it was sleeping.
'Is it really a demon?' He couldn't believe it. In all the legends demons were manipulative and cruel. True he saw it rip a monster in half but outside of that, it was like a giant puppy.
'Was Endeavor mistaken?' The imp might have been wrong, and the bird was some other sort of creature.
The bird whined softly in the wind. Shouta wished he could do something for it but couldn't.
He couldn't do anything for anybody.
Before he could dwell too much, the bird lifted its head and stared into the distance. Shouta turned to see what caught its attention.
Despite the fire at his back, Shouta's body went cold, and not because of the winter.
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Without the mountain to impede them, it wasn't long before the demon king, along with his new army, arrived at the border of the Imp Planes.
"The land of ash and fire drowned in snow and ice." The King laughed at the irony. Shigaraki had enjoyed it as well—until he was no more, that is.
"Still, I think the residents would be grateful for—a change in scenery." He nodded to the trees behind him.
Leaves flew from the tips of branches into the air. When they reached a certain height dissolved, turning the sky from blue to red. The trees then moved forward. With one motion, their roots sank through the ice and snow and deep into the ground below. There it released a poison deep with the soil that crawled through like insects. At first, their effects were unseen, but then they began to change until it was as black and gray as ash from a forest fire. In some places, the earth cracked deep to the core, making the area shake and quiver. From some of these cracks, fire shot up.
The demon king watched with a wide grin.
"Ready or not, here I come!"
{To be Continued…}
Imp Notes:
*After the Ashen Plains' cilmate changed all the animals that lived there either died or left, as—unlike the imps—their survival trumped their pride. Some managed to survive, but they were rare as and it wasn't long before most were caught. Because of that food had to be rationed very carefully. Most the food comes from the borders between the mountain and the plains, but sadly not many animals escaped Himiko.
*Water's not much easier. The snow can't be melted—not that would help as the snow is basically poisonous—and other liquid freezes quickly. Thankfully, they don't need to drink as much as other beings.