The trip up the so-called 'River Acheron' soon proved to be substantially less exciting than Izuku had expected, thank whatever passed for divinity at this point. After the initial excitement of their launch, the boat's speed had mercifully slowed to that of a normal rowboat. Cerberus took over rowing duties and several minutes passed with naught but the splashing of the boat on the… liquid of indeterminable composition, while Cerberus hummed 'row, row, row your boat'. An activity Hagakure soon joined in on. The whole affair betrayed the gradual calming of the group's mood. With every moment that passed without them being set upon by some hidden foe, Izuku could feel both himself and the others slowly calm, the tension from their confrontation gradually fading away. Until eventually…
"I think we're clear…" Justice let out a sigh of relief, an action quickly echoed by everyone else.
"So…" Izuku swallowed nervously, "There's no secret test to cross this stream? No… Confronting the souls of those we cared about, or anything?" Justice shook her head with an amused smile, "We're not going to suddenly be ambushed by… I-I don't know, River Guardians? Watchers of the Gate?"
"The souls of the damned?" Todoroki asked.
"The League of Villains?" Hagakure checked with a nervous smile.
"The minions of…" Cerberus paused, unable to come up with anything, "Damn, I wanted to say one…" another finished while the third pouted.
"Nah…" Justice slumped in relief, "We should be good for the rest of the ferry ride." she snapped her fingers as eyes lit up in realisation, "Oh, but no one touch the soul aquifer."
"… Ok." Todoroki answered while his mortal companions merely blinked, "I'm guessing that's the ominous glowing white liquid we're sailing through which seems to have its own intense gravitational field?"
"Ey, you catch on quick." she nodded in his direction, "I could go on a whole spiel about the true essence of humanity or whatever but basically don't touch the white goop unless you want to go insane."
"… Noted." Todoroki nodded.
"R-right…" Izuku answered in turn, glancing out at the strange ethereal stream which they were riding to their destination. Upon further inspection, he found that it seemed resemble a thick fog, with incalculable lights dancing and flitting downwards towards Hell, a mad dance to their inevitable destination. He subsequently decided that he actually would like to retain his sanity and slunk down, keeping his broken hands and feet inside the infernal ferry at all times.
"Argh-!…" Only for a sharp twinge of pain to shoot up three of his limbs at the motion.
"You ok?" Izuku couldn't help the deadpan face that he made at Justice's question. He sincerely appreciated the concern, but 'ok' wasn't a term commonly associated with 'a pair of shattered legs, a mangled arm, and a broken finger'. "Sorry, I mean… Yeah, no, I got nothin' – that was a dumb question."
"No, I…" he sighed in response, "Yeah, it hurts like hell, but honestly… I think it hurts… Less?" Maybe it was his new soul-bound body adjusting to his power better? Perhaps Hell simply had some kind of dampening effect on non-native pain, or maybe this corridor of souls was a place with muted senses-
"Yeah, Modeus may be a pain but she's also damn good at fixing it." or perhaps it was something completely different.
"That's just the start-" once again, Cerberus proceeded to hold back Modeus back by the collar.
"Actually…" Justice glanced from the captive demon back to Izuku, taking a moment to look over his injuries, grimacing in response "That's probably… not…" she grit out, "…a terrible idea."
"Really?!" Modeus' whole face lit up.
"Yeah," she looked back towards Izuku, "The trip should only take a few hours. Doubt that's long enough for your soul to settle back into an undamaged form with that kind of recoil, and those injuries are beyond me."
"R-right… But what does that have to do with Miss Modeus-"
"You'll, uh…" Justice cleared her throat, looking away with a cringe "Probably want to take a breath…"
"What do you-" Izuku was interrupted by the sudden feeling of warmth flooding him. Blinking quickly in confusion, he tried to re-focus on what was in front of him.
He found Modeus' face almost completely filling his vision.
She was extremely close, eyes closed as she was leaning towards him and his lips felt warm and wait WHAT W H A T-
"Wha-" Hagakure spluttered, "That's not- She can't-"
"Just watch." Justice said. If Izuku had been able to pay attention, he may have seen her gesture to his now-healing limbs.
Instead, his mind was desperately scrambling to catch up with the reality before him. Modeus was close enough that he could feel the breath coming from her nose – which was the only way he could breathe in turn as his mouth was currently unavailable and filled with the taste of sugary cherries and it felt unbelievably warm but in a good way and that warmth was spreading throughout his entire body and oh god it kind of feels nice what do I do-
His crashing train of thought was soon completely flung off the rails. Modeus leaned further into him, the world around him simply fading away as all he felt was the sizzling warmth of her touch.
Even that sensation disintegrated as her tongue slithered past his lips.
Brain broke.
Izuku .exe is no longer responding.
"Uhhh…" the invisible girl cleared her throat, "H-How long until…?"
"Almost." Justice observed Izuku's previously annihilated limbs, flickers of of Modeus' restorative flames licking away the damage at an incredible rate. She may be a constant nuisance, and largely useless in a halfway-decent fight, but this single utility put her in the 'not a complete waste to bring along' category. Of course, Cerberus had long since passed that to claw into the 'actually glad you got involved' column with everything she'd done to help their trip. At this point, Justice honestly wasn't sure how they'd have made it without her.
So far their mortal tag-alongs were still in the 'dead weight' section.
And then there's you… she glanced back towards the brimstone-red-faced mortal currently receiving a special kind of care, who had proven outside any and all of her expectations. At first Justice had expected this to be a simple and irritating guidance job, get the mortal from A to B without letting his soul be otherwise claimed, shattered, devoured, etc..
And then he'd almost single-handedly blasted Judgement, probably the strongest combatant in all of Hell if you considered pure physical strength and technique, back into Limbo with a single, unarmed, completely absurd blow. Sure, Modeus had given him a boost, and Judgement had been distracted and hadn't quite been put down for the count, while he'd lost ¾ of his limbs, but still. What the actual fuck.
How the Hell does that Quirk of yours work… Most Quirks were simple physical alterations, or maybe gave their owners control over a substance or physical quantity. But this thing boosted his entire damned soul. That shouldn't be possible. Justice could count the number of people she knew had a quirk like that on one finger.
It was him.
Maybe other soul-boosters have managed to get into heaven… she scowled, But still, wouldn't we have heard about something like that? I know we've been too busy clearing the backlog to have much contact with Heaven, but even one with enough power could completely screw the balance of- her eyes widened at the thought.
Wait, is that why-
"Hey." Ice T remarked flatly, "Should he be doing that?" he pointed towards Izuku. Following his finger more closely, it became clear he was pointing towards the visible steam above his head-
"Oh, damn, yeah. Modeus, that's enough." the demon pressed harder into the poor mortal in response, "Ok. Cerbs, could you-" the hellhound was pulling at Modeus before Justice could even finish her request.
"Bah!" Modeus exclaimed as her lips were pulled away from her current obsession, "You'll never stop our-" Cerberus put a hand over her mouth and quickly wrestled her into submission.
… Wow, that was pretty rough, even for her… Clearly Modeus wasn't the only one their endearingly positive mortal was growing on. Their mortal who hadn't moved an inch since the healing onslaught had begun.
… I probably should've given a better warning… but it wasn't like she was expecting to need Modeus' powers at all, let alone so soon! And letting her stew in excitement while Justice explained all the details now would've just been more insufferable.
"Feeling ok?" her question was met without response. Sighing with a slight smile of amusement, she moved to sit next to Izuku and try to rouse him from the shocked state, "Hey." she tapped him on the now-completely-healed arm, "You in there?" his eyes managed to regain a bit of focus, while his mouth slowly opened and closed several times.
"Don't worry." Justice reassured him, "We've got several hours for you to come to, and physically you're back to peak form." the statement prompted him to snap to attention, suddenly examining his now-fixed limbs and running his hand over them, as if they were naught but an illusion.
"O-O-oh!" Izuku nodded rapidly as he finished his check, "S-so I g-guess that was w-why Miss Modeus…" be trailed off into a blushing mess.
"Yep." Justice confirmed, "she can fix up any damage your soul's taken by imparting demonic energy with a good smooch. Can power you up, too."
"R-right…" he nodded more slowly, his face's redness flaring at a certain word, "T-That's actually pretty similar to R-Recovery Girl, I guess… A-although…" he pressed his fingers together in embarrassment, "D-did it have to be…"
"The effect is stronger if it's on the lips." she filled in, "With damage that severe I doubt anywhere else would've worked."
"Well, I can think of a couple-" Modeus' words were cut off by a thankfully back-on-horny-protection-duty Cerebrus.
"… I see…" Izuku became remarkably interested in the boat's floor. Or would it be the hull?
"And the steam?" Ice T checked the original point of his attention.
"Oh, too much of her energy overloads your soul sets you on fire." the three mortals slowly turned their heads towards her with shocked expressions, "Pretty sure it's designed to help her fulfil her function."
"'Function'?" all three parroted.
"Punishing souls in Lust." Justice shrugged, "This way she can…" she paused, not wanting to repeat anything just because her audience was inexperienced, "… entertain souls while also punishing them." the three all slowly blinked in response while looking at her, practically in sync. It was honestly a little creepy.
"… How…" Izuku pinched the bridge of his nose, "How… is that… the most reformative punishment I've seen in Hell…?" he looked up to notice Justice's raised eyebrow and the mortals' incredulous gaping, "I mean, it's still beyond messed up, but I mean… At least it tries to 'correct' a mortal's 'vices'. It's still inhumane Pavlovian conditioning, but at least it's not tacitly reinforcing their sins while punishing them."
"That's…" Justice blinked, "A good point, actually." and one Justice found herself exploring. Cerberus was assigned to Gluttony, tasked with corralling sinners and basically doing whatever she wanted, but thinking about it, wouldn't the pain of her 'playing' with mortal souls make them see through the Circle's illusion, albeit temporarily? Nothing came to mind from Greed or lower, barring Zdrada screwing around in Anger, but considering the top three were the only ones operating under-
"Wait, what else have you seen?" invisi-girl broke Justice out of her thoughts.
"Don't ask." Izuku replied with a thin smile and hollow chuckle.
Probably best bring him out of depression town, but how… a thought came to mind with a smirk.
"Hey Cerbs." one of the rowing Cerberi glanced at her, "You know, it'll probably be easier to keep Modeus off him if you take the seat next to-" within moments, the Cerberus keeping hold of the Lust demon dashed over to the mortal's side, and within moments she was not-so-subtly pestering him for pets.
"Oh- that's- um…" a flustered Izuku didn't take long to give in to the request, ensuring Cerberus should be content for the ride up. Justice took his other side to help keep the maniac away.
"This is discriminatory!" the maniac exclaimed.
"Against what?" Ice T asked a very sensible question of a less-than-sensible demon.
"True love!"
Five sets of eyes looked at her apathetically, a happy Cerberus and an incredibly flustered Izuku the only two pairs failing to do so. Eventually, Ice T's turned back to Justice.
"… Is she always this stupid?"
"Hey!"
"Honestly, that'd be overestimating her."
"Hey!"
"U-um-" Izuku cut in nervously, "I- I do appreciate you- u-um… F-fixing my s-soul, Miss Modeus-"
"See! He loves me!"
"That's nothing like what he said." invisi-girl stated incredulously.
"Clearly your soul's hearing still needs some time to adjust." Modeus pouted.
"I'd say the same of your perception of reality." Ice T said in the most deadpan tone possible.
… Ok, if they're gonna sass Modeus maybe they're not complete deadweights.
"But enough 'a that." Justice sadly had to end the ribbing. They may have a good chunk of time, but it was still limited. "We should probably get some sleep."
"Well that came out of nowhere." Todoroki pointed out.
"We haven't even had to sleep in…" Hagakure's eyes widened, "Since we got here, actually. We just kinda… rest, I guess?"
"Souls don't technically need sleep in Hell." Justice filled them in, "It's more mental fatigue. But that's not the case once we leave. As we're still on the path to Hell, it won't be that noticeable, but it's either sleep now or feel dead-tired within about an hour of reaching the mortal realm."
"And as there's a strong chance it'll take longer than an hour…" Izuku nodded, "Better to sleep now."
"No offence, but…" Hagakure tried to raise an objection.
"We don't trust any of you in the slightest." Todoroki made it as bluntly as humanly possible, "… Except Izuku, of course."
"W-Well, I guess I can understand where you're coming from… But-"
"It's cool." Justice interrupted her mortal companion, "I'm not gonna force you or anything. But for the record, it applies to us too." she gestured to her fellow demons, "Both the exhaustion and the trust. So I'm gonna catch some Z's, and if I catch you trying anything while we sleep…" Cerberus mimed slicing their throats and then eating their souls. A little over the top, but it worked, "So just bear that in mind. Oh, also," she turned to Modeus, "Try anything and I'll throw you in the river."
"B-but-!"
"It's only a few hours." she settled in for a nap, "Just try not to be insufferable for that long, ok? You'll be getting your dumb books before long."
"Dumb? DUMB?! I'll have you know that romantic fiction is the absolute peak of the human- nay- of sapient experience! The expanse of emotions which the written word can explore all contained in the confines of a small leather-bound parcel-" the love-freak went off, and Justice took the opportunity to check out of the conversation. If someone laid a finger on her, or the mortal she was slightly leaning on, she'd know. And they would regret it.
At the sight before her, Toru had to rub her eyes, checking she wasn't in some coma-induced hallucination. The fact she could see her hands as she rubbed her eyes only seemed to add to the illusory feeling.
"What on Earth…" she muttered.
"You mean what in Hell." she side-eyed Todoroki correcting her with a slight growl. The fact he could actually see her making the gesture was still difficult to grasp – she'd gotten used to relying on audio cues to get her point across for so long now it was going to take a while to stop.
But wherever they were and whatever form they were taking, the sight of a sleeping Midoriya being leaned on by demons – Justice and a Cerberus on either side, along with Modeus having managed to curl up on the floor around his feet (who was the dog-demon here again?) – was enough to make her question reality. Even more than she had been the past few weeks in literal Hell.
"You two should try and get some sleep too." another Cerberus rowing the boat by Todoroki suggested, apathy dripping from her voice, "It's probably the last chance we'll get in a while."
"Why don't you?" Todoroki asked sharply.
"I am." she nodded towards the 'her' sleeping next to Midoriya. Was that how that worked? Did only one need sleep, or did they rotate?
"We probably should…" Toru had to stifle a yawn – the first time she'd had to since arriving in Limbo. While there'd been exhaustion shortly after arriving, it was more from the sheer insanity of her situation and the need for something familiar than general physical need. It seemed the… least evil demon was telling the truth: The afterlife took away the need for things like sleep, and as they edged closer to life it was coming back.
"I'll pass." Todoroki answered with a grunt. The slightest movement of his head and shift of focus towards the dog-demon next to him told why he felt hesitant to let his guard down.
That she answered his gaze with a sinister smile full of canines did little to calm the atmosphere.
"Uh, hey…" Toru started nervously, earning the idle attention of the demon. The moment she spoke, the phrase 'fools rush in' was echoing in her mind. But it didn't change the fact that they needed to know if they were a thoughtless bite away from a more permanent end, if they were to have any hope of avoiding that end. "Back in the diner, when Todoroki was… y'know…" she tried to shake off the image of her friend's life being naught but a helpless little ball, "Were you really going to… y'know…" the demon's confused blink implied that she did not know, "… eat him…" Toru finished quietly.
"Ye." Cerberus shrugged nonchalantly.
"But…" Toru had to try and keep the anger out of her voice, both from fear of waking up their friend & demon 'guides', and the fear she'd earn the hound's ire, "Why?"
"His soul was tasty." she smirked at the scarred teen with a fang bared before turning back to Toru more neutrally, "Plus it's rare to get a bare soul like that."
"What do you mean?" Todoroki immediately asked.
"Cutting through a projection to extract the naked soul isn't easy. Trust me…" Cerberus pouted, and Toru couldn't help but wonder how many people's souls were saved on account of this fact. "Justice is one of the few demons I know who can do it so cleanly…"
"… But…" Toru tried to recover, "Doesn't it… Doesn't it bother you that you're eating people?" she'd expected the question to come out bitter, but it came out more confused than anything.
"No." she replied blithely, "Why would it?"
"Because-"
"Because we're people." Todoroki cut her off bitterly, "We're not just objects made to do or be whatever you want. We have our own goals. Our own desires, our own methods. What gives you the right to take that away?" his voice was edging a tad too loud towards the end.
Cerberus' disinterested face gave way to an irritated scowl, "Are you a vegetarian?"
"Wha- That's not the same!" Todoroki seethed, and Toru had to nudge him to keep his voice down.
Don't wake up the reasonable demon unless in danger, don't get on the reasonable demon's bad side unless absolutely necessary… she was their only lifeline beyond Midoriya, and sitting in this small boat in this impossible tunnel, she doubted in his ability to punch his way out of a fight.
"Why not?"
"We're- Well, we're sapient-"
"And that makes you special… How?" Cerberus asked mockingly, "What does that give you that puts you above other animals? You live in social groups? So can monkeys. You can count? So can birds. You have language? So do insects. Even some 'vegetarians' eat them." she glanced away, point apparently made and irritation settling back into boredom, though now mixed with some satisfaction. "Humans are just another link in the food chain, and I don't know anything tastier than raw soul…" Toru noticed the smallest amount of drool coming out.
On one hand: Oh for the love of God change the conversation talk about anything else. On the other…
"Well, this food won't go down easy." she stated, "And if you try and make a meal out of Midoriya, we'll find a way to stop you." Even if they were at the overwhelming disadvantage, this time they'd stick together. This time, she'd make sure everyone came back in one piece.
"… Huh?" Cerberus blinked in confusion, attention shifting back to Toru, "Why would I eat Izuku?"
"Maybe because you just compared humans to insects and stated you find them delicious?" Todoroki growled.
"Well, humans, sure. But not Izuku."
"What makes him special?" Todoroki's innocent question – the one delivered with the least bitterness out of their entire conversation – was what earned an angry growl and a pair of eyes flashing red. He immediately backed away towards Toru, owing in equal parts to intimidation and surprise at the sudden mood shift. A moment later she flicked her head away in frustration, muttering something under her breath, Toru only being able to pick out the word 'never'.
"Just get some sleep." she eventually ordered, "Justice and Izuku would both be angry if you were gone once they woke up, so relax."
That statement did not make Toru relax. However, recognising the need for sleep, she tried to get some anyway. The swaying of the boat was surprisingly comforting in that regard, but part of her was still uneasy from the chilling conversation they'd just had. To try and settle her nerves, she decided to lean lightly on Todoroki. That way, if Cerberus tried anything, it would wake her up.
That was the only reason she did so. Anyone who claimed otherwise was a liar.
Sleeping in this (un?)dead body that he now resided in was a strange experience, Izuku decided. After shutting his eyes, he'd found himself in a less-than-conscious state practically the moment he willingly wanted to rest without hesitation. There was no twisting or turning, no issues of discomfort despite being in a small boat of wood with pretty poor seating, he just wanted to sleep and poof! He was there.
Except it wasn't quite sleep as he knew it. While he was less-than-conscious, he wasn't entirely unconscious either. Rather, it was as if his body had been plunged into a huge lake of comfortably warm water, the rest of the world just passing him by atop the surface. He could still hear the sound of familiar voices when they spoke, but he had no idea what they were saying, still feel the warmth of others touching his sleeping form, but only a vague notion that someone was there and that he trusted them, rather than where or who they specifically were.
He'd found himself stirring a number of times, and the moment he did he was fully awake again. The first time was Cerberus stirring to his left and demanding pets, which he'd happily given and soon drifted back off. The next was Modeus sitting around his feet, an action he honestly did not know how to respond to, so he quickly just accepted it and went back to sleep, ignoring the blushing as he drifted off again.
The third, final time, he seemed to awake naturally, like his body and mind (and soul?) were fully charged and ready to go.
"Oh hey, you're up." Justice noticed. Glancing her way, Izuku realised that while asleep, he'd slumped over slightly to start leaning on her-
"S-Sorry-" he tried to back the other way, only to be reminded that he had a Cerberus there.
"No problem, it's pretty cramped here anyway." Justice brushed off the issue, "Sleep well?"
"Um, sure…" he answered uncertainly, "I mean, I guess? It felt kinda weird…"
"Yeah, it can be hard to get used to. Now that you're dead, you don't really sleep so much as… Enter a sort of meditative trance?" she shrugged, "It's a similar deal but you're still vaguely aware of your surroundings. Probably a defence mechanism as you're more exposed without a proper body."
"R-right…" Izuku nodded, that made sense. Sort of…
As much as anything can anymore… Wait, speaking of which…
"Hey," he started, quietly to try and not wake anyone else, "Can I ask something?"
"Yes." Justice nodded, "That is your answer. You may ask no further questions." she smirked at the slight pout he made in response, "I'm just messing, shoot."
"So, about the whole… 'demon duel' thing… Why didn't you tell me about it?"
"Seriously?" she scoffed in response, "If I told you everything there is to know about demons and Hell in general we'd probably be back in my office in Gluttony, and you'd be on your fifth existential crisis by now."
"Ok, yes, true," he accepted there was a lot to learn, "But… Why not tell me about it when we had to fight… Judgement? I could've helped…"
"Honestly? I had no idea you'd be anywhere close to that useful. 'Course, a lot of it was luck and Modeus helping you out with a power boost," she nodded towards the demon sleeping at his feet, "But if I'd realised your quirk can make you so useful in demon combat I would've considered giving you a rundown. But if we get into a fight, you should still run."
"But I can-"
"Crack your soul a new one to obliterate an opponent, yes, I know, but what if you can't control it well enough and the attack rebounds? What if your soul breaks? You'll be erased from existence." she paused to let that thought sink in: That a single mistimed punch could 'end' him permanently, that being slightly offbeat could render their entire journey pointless.
"O-Ok…" he nodded swiftly with a grimace, "That makes sense…"
"Good. I mean, I'm really going out on a limb here. Watching you yeet yourself into oblivion and make that for nothing would really tick me off."
"R-right-"
"I mean, really, I go to all this trouble, and then you go and get yourself permakilled? Not cool."
"S-sorry-"
"Seriously, Izuku, have you ever thought about my feelings when risking your continued existence?"
"…" his pained expression turned far more neutral, "You're messing with me again, aren't you?"
"Whatever gave it away?" she chuckled at his pained moan, "Don't worry, that won't happen so long as you're not absurdly reckless. So considering your personality, I give you a solid six hours to live." he sent a grumble her way, "You know I'm right. But if you're able to contain yourself a bit, live long enough to get some proper training in supernatural combat and get that power of yours under control, you'd be a serious asset." she sighed, "Even a day or two and we could probably get you into a workable condition… Time crunches suck…"
"Well…" Izuku sighed in turn, "I guess we'll never know. Assuming we can find All Might before anything else goes wrong, I probably won't even have this power for another day…"
"What's that saying about assumptions?"
"I know…" he groaned in turn. Surely they could go a day in the mortal world without anything crazy happening.
Surely.
"How close are we, by the way?"
"Not long now." she glanced up-stream, "Maybe ten minutes, half an hour? Then it's just a quick trip through the silent sea and we're home free."
"Cool…" they were almost there. So close… "Um, one other thing?" she gave a quick nod, "About the thing Judgement said?"
"… Which thing?" her eyes narrowed slightly, posture becoming just that little bit more rigid.
"About… How you lost your…?" he immediately regretted asking. However, her demeanour didn't shift into something aggressive nor defensive, instead just deflating into a form that looked… defeated.
"Oh… Long story…" she breathed out deeply, "It was a pretty cool fight. Wish you could've seen it, Hero fanboy like you probably would've flipped. But in the end, I was just being a dumbass that thought she could actually change things…"
Izuku waited for her to go on, but apparently that was all she had to say on the matter. A million questions were running through his head: What happened? Why fight? What was she trying to change? What exactly went wrong? Could it still be fixed? What question was she expecting that was somehow worse than that?
But those questions would have to wait; she'd helped keep him together so many times already, it was his turn to help.
"Well…" he tried to think of what to say, "… I think you're a pretty awesome dumbass." and somehow thought that meant saying that.
Welp, that's what I get for thinking I could help…
"… Eh?" she turned to him in reasonable confusion.
"I mean, um… Y-you're not a d-dumbass, obviously I don't think that I just meant-" he paused and took a breath, "I just meant… Considering that your form of 'rule-breaking' consists of helping me and possibly saving the mortal world, that sending me to Judecca is a punishment you consider worth changing, that you're strong enough to go toe-to-toe with one of the strongest demons in Hell, and that you use that strength to try and help your friends escape… I don't know what it was you were trying to change, and I don't know how much it did, but…" he looked towards her seriously.
"I know that if you thought it was something that needed changing, something that needed changing so badly that you went to such lengths? Then it needed changing. A-and if it's still something that needs changing, I'll help in any way I can! I won't have One for All, but other than that…" he blinked, "Well, other than that, I'm basically useless, but… I can do paperwork? If you teach me, that is… O-or maybe try and organise your office so things are easier? But-" he was getting off track, "- what I'm saying is that… That Judgement was wrong. That being able to stand up and fight for what you think is right, is admirable. That I think it's incredible that you went to such lengths to try and change things. That I, um… I think you're incredible…"
He blushed slightly at that last statement, and found it difficult to meet her eyes. It became even more difficult when she simply stared at him in response for a good few seconds, and he couldn't help but regret at least half of what he'd said immediately. What was he thinking, paperwork?! At least offer to try and gather information as a mortal soul or something is that how Hell works-
"Ehehehe…" she started laughing quietly, and soon found herself unable to stop. It wasn't a chuckle at his expense, nor the laughter she'd exhibited whenever he did something incredibly idiotic or embarrassing, it was just a quiet laugh that she seemed unable to control. He looked at her in confusion.
"S-Sorry…" she wiped a slight tear from her eye, "Just been a while since I heard someone say point-blanc she's wrong. Not a pain, or a stick-in-the-mud, or bad for the High Prosecutor role, but just wrong. And I'll admit, some help with the paperwork is basically what I'm looking for after all this, so I think I'll be taking you up on that offer."
"R-right!" he nodded vigorously. A few moments passed before she spoke again.
"And, Izuku?" he tilted his head in response, as a small smile came to her lips "… Thanks."
"Don't mention it." he smiled in turn, glad that at least parts of his incoherent mess of an explanation had been useful. Another few moments later, her smile turned smug once again.
"Though, I will say you should be more careful with your words. I mean, depending on who you're speaking to, someone could take you calling them 'incredible' like that any number of-" her words drifted off into oblivion.
"… …, … … …?" Izuku tried to ask, only for his words to die on his lips. "…?! … … … …-"
"…, … …." Justice interrupted his silent question with something similarly impossible to hear. She put a finger to her lips to ask him to be quiet, or maybe she was saying he had to be quiet? The two proceeded to slowly wake the others in their boat. Upon waking, it turned out that they, too, were seemingly cursed with silence. The two (four?) other demons seemed to simply nod with understanding, while Todoroki and Hagakure were as confused as Izuku. Justice got their attention and pointed further upstream.
In his distraction he hadn't noticed, but the walls of the circular cave they travelled through were narrowing to a point, and the river of souls seemed to somehow… twist inwards…? The group held on tight to the boat approaching the twist slowly, before eventually ploughing forwards and around as if going down a steep and curving hill. Going through, they travelled inwards to a hollow core of the river, the stream becoming a swirling sea of souls around them. Simple colours seemed imbued with emotions, the smallest of movements held an entire year of experiences-
Izuku's head was pressed down further into the boat by someone – Maybe Justice, maybe Cerberus, it was hard to tell.
Right… Izuku remembered, Don't look into the souls unless you want to go insane. I- I mean, duh, come on, Izuku, get it together…
A few seconds later and the hold on his head was gone. Cautiously raising it back up, he looked upwards to find something unexpected: Nothing. No swirling river, no tunnel wall, just an empty, infinite void. Glancing around, he found that Cerberus was rowing them away from a swirling white whirlpool – most likely the entrance/exit to…
"…, … … … … … … …?" he tried to ask if they'd arrived, but the lack of a voice implied the answer was negative. Looking further, he found they were in a large body of… water? While the whirlpool to Hell was a bright white, glowing with souls being drawn towards it, the further they travelled out, the blacker the liquid became. He noticed Todoroki leaning to look down-
"…!" only for Justice to pull him back. She glanced at the three mortals, sighed, and slowly ripped out a single strand of her hair. After checking the three mortals were all well-seated, she dropped the strand into the water…
"""…!?""" whereupon the water all around it bubbled and boiled furiously, splashing uncontrollably while Cerberus quickly rowed the boat away. Unable to take his eyes off the scene, Izuku soon couldn't find a speck of white hair atop the ocean as the water calmed once again. Looking back to Justice, she pointed towards the water and made a big 'X' with her arms. The gesture was simple, but the message was clear:
Don't go in the water; your screams we will never hear.
Stewing on that terrifying demonstration for a good few minutes, Cerberus continued to diligently row their group over the death sea, apparently silently still humming row-row-row-your-boat to herself with an innocent smile on her face. The sheer insanity of the scene made Izuku wonder if he'd stared for too long at the river with its own gravity made of human souls leading to Hell and connecting to a black death sea.
… Yeah no I've definitely gone insane.
But the state of his sanity didn't change the fact that he soon saw something in the distance, and from the others' similar reactions, it seemed he wasn't completely delusional. As the group approached, Izuku realised he actually recognised the shape.
Is that… he raised an eyebrow skeptically, A… Tree…?
As they approached, his suspicions were confirmed: Out of the deadly liquid, a bright white tree was growing upwards, spreading in all directions but continually upwards with more branches than Izuku had ever seen. But while the souls had given off light full of life, the tree was the opposite: It was clearly glowing, but the light was completely hollow. Amidst the darkness, it didn't reflect in the liquid, didn't light up their path… It was just there.
Cerberus changed course to approach the spooky glowing tree, because of course that was their destination. Of course it was. As they did, Izuku realised it wasn't alone: Distance was difficult to work out, but a number of trees stretching up into the pitch darkness were coming into view. They were spaced a good distance apart – at least a hundred meters or so, probably more. Looking up at the 'forest' they were headed towards, Izuku noticed something else that seemed important:
He couldn't see the canopy.
They just stretched up into the darkness, branched swords piercing the infinite void. He didn't have time to marvel at the idea before the boat knocked against the side of the tree they'd been heading towards, and the hound demons began working on trying to fix it to the tree's roots.
As she did, Justice managed to get their attention. She pointed to the group, then the tree, then used her hands to mime… walking up a vertical- Izuku's eyes widened.
Oh… he silently gulped, We have to climb the infinite death-tree… don't we?
Unfortunately, his guess turned out to be right. Fortunately, Justice decided to partner each mortal up with a Cerberus. This way, Izuku supposed, if one of them lost their grip, at least everyone else would learn about it in time to watch their indescribably gruesome death.
He was feeling g r e a t about this portion of the trip.
Thankfully, with his friendly dog-demon's help, the tree's countless branches turned out to make it far easier to climb than he'd imagined. It seemed Hagakure was similarly having few problems, while Todoroki was constantly making ice structures to hold himself to the tree. The fact made two facts clear to Izuku: 1) Cerberus was teasing Todoroki, which Izuku was thankfully able to get her to stop doing with a combination of gesturing, pouting, pleading eyes and pets, and 2) He was really glad Hagakure could turn off her invisibility now. If the rest made it out only to later discover she'd fallen halfway up the ghost tree, he honestly didn't know how he'd cope at this point.
Pushing thoughts of the myriad ways this could've gone horrible wrong aside, he continued his climb with the group. After a while, the task became less nerve-wracking and more mind-numbingly repetitive, before becoming even more nerve-wracking when he realised that was probably the point: Give a mundane task that went on for an incredibly long time, make you complacent, and then WHAM, eaten by death-water. Classic afterlife trap.
But despite the fears, after… Some time? Half an hour? An hour? Two? It was impossible to tell. Izuku noticed the branches above him undulating, like they were being blown in the breeze… Only, there was no wind.
As their climb continued, it became apparent that the undulating only affected branches above a certain, very specific point. Climbing up further, he realised the branches weren't moving at all. It was a trick of the light. Specifically, the effect of looking through rough water. Initially unbelieving, more climbing confirmed what he'd began to suspect:
The branches above them were underwater. Above them was the surface of an ocean, and not a 'step-in-me-and-PERISH' ocean, an ocean made of honest-to-god water!
Water which is… Upside-down… Somehow- You know what, this is honestly one of the least ridiculous things I've seen today, so let's just go with it.
As the group approached a final, large branch before the waterline above them, Justice paused to do a brief headcount and make sure everyone was ready. She pointed to the water and mimed swimming, before pointing upwards again. It took a few tries, before he realised that she was telling them to make sure to swim directly upwards. Once they all gave a thumbs-up to show they understood, she demonstrated that they all needed to take a deep breath.
Oh. So we need to breathe again now. Fantastic. But wait, wouldn't that mean we're almost… Justice cupped two hands and lowered them, nodding for Izuku to step forward. Realising the intent, he placed a foot in her hand, took a large, deep breath, and nodded.
Justice threw her arms upwards as he pushed forwards, and he was launched into the ocean. Immediately, he reached upwards and began to swim, unsure of how far he had to travel and quite sure he wouldn't be able to hold his breath for too long. As he swum up, the branches of the tree they'd been climbing quickly began to end, and he realised it was the water itself that acted as the canopy layer. As the branches sunk out of view, the water slowly shifted from an unnerving cold to simply cold. The pure darkness above gave way to a weak, shimmering light, and Izuku even began to spot recognisable fish swimming about. Glancing back, he found the rest hot on his heels, though it seemed Todoroki and Cerberus were helping Hagakure up, while another Cerberus was helping Modeus. Maybe they couldn't swim?
While he wanted to go back and help, Izuku was painfully aware of just how empty his lungs were becoming. He shot up as quickly as he could without activating One for All – that was just a disaster waiting to happen – and approached the surface. He reached out his hand, the burning sensation in his lungs dwarfed by the anticipation-
"*GASP*" he breached the water's surface, gasping for- "*splutter*" a wave came over and pushed him back down. He quickly pushed back upwards, "*cough*, *cough*" his eyes widened as a second wave threatened to sink him again, and he struggled to stay above the waterline long enough to take a breath, wave upon wave threatening to spell a watery grave. He ducked down for a moment, only to confirm everyone else was almost to the surface. He raised his head above the water line to look around-
*BOOM* the sound of lightning crashing nearby sent a ripple through his soul. He heard ringing in his ears.
"Are you KIDDING ME?!" he couldn't help but rage at the situation. They'd travelled all this way, pushed through Hell itself, and they'd surfaced in the middle of an ocean. In a thunderstorm.
It was official: Fate played favourites, and Izuku was on its shitlist.
"*cough*, *cough*" a Cerberus surfaced beside him, paddling over to help keep him above the waves.
"T-Thanks, Cerberus… Are the others-" a series of gurgles, loud coughs and splutters betrayed his mortal companions surfacing beside him.
"What…" Hagakure glanced around, another lightning strike punctuating the situation, "Oh, are you SERIOUS?!" Izuku couldn't help but feel just a little bit validated. It was small in comparison to the 'oh for the love of all that is and isn't holy please don't let us die here' feeling, but it was there.
"OK! We're-" Justice's exclamation was cut off by a wave crashing over her. A moment later, she resurfaced, her lips acting as a tap to comically drain the water from her mouth, "Welp, that was anticlimactic…"
"Oh no! I can't swim!" Modeus exclaimed.
"Finally, some good news." Todoroki deadpanned.
Wow, harsh…
But despite his harsh words, he still managed to make an ice floe which the group could hang on to. With something to grab, Cerberus was able to enthusiastically push the group somewhere. Looking around, Izuku noticed two landmasses: An island elevated high above the sea level with some ruined structure atop it, and a city shoreline beyond it. While further, the shoreline was something they could easily get on to, so he pointed her in that direction.
The following half an hour was a desperate struggle to make sure everyone held on, with Todoroki's body temperature plummeting to dangerous levels, but unable to stop reinforcing the ice lest their situation become more dangerous still. When Justice first grabbed onto his shoulder, he was hesitant, but when she was able to alleviate the freezing issues he soon conceded. Meanwhile, Izuku moved along to try and help Hagakure and Modeus from losing their grip or suffering any lack-of-swimming-related issues. The latter tried to say something that would no doubt make Izuku blush – and honestly he'd be thankful for the extra heat at this point – but another wave filled her mouth with seawater. What she spit out included a small fish, and Izuku and Hagakure both couldn't help but laugh at the image.
Just as his muscles began threatening to give out, their floe knocked against the shoreline, and the group desperately swam/crawled onto dry land.
"We finally made it…" Modeus panted, wobbly after the voyage.
"Land…" Hagakure did likewise, practically kissing the cement, "Sweet, sweet land…"
"It was a challenge-" Todoroki was cut off as Cerberus shook herself off. All three of herselves, near Todoroki by different directions. He could practically see steam coming off the boy's angry frame, eye and mouth twitching in frustration.
"Yeah, but," Izuku sat up before taking a deep breath, "Where are we, exactly? Hell's outer rim? The shore of souls? Purgatory? Pandora?"
"Not quite…" Justice stood up with a smile, stretching before her outfit began steaming. Literally. She must've been using her heat to get the water off, "We're- oh damn, now I reek of salt…" she groaned, before shaking off the unfortunate thought, "But I guess I should still do the proper introduction." she coughed to clear her throat, before walking over to the still-sitting Izuku.
"Izuku Midoriya." she stated dramatically, holding out a hand to help him up – one he gladly took, "Welcome… To the mortal realm."
His eyes lit up, "You mean-"
"Earth, the land of the living, the mortal realm, the mortal sphere, the plane of chaos… It has many names, but basically?" she smiled sympathetically.
"Welcome home."
A/N:
And so, on the final single-digit chapter, our boi made it back to Earth. When I first went about writing this I honestly didn't expect it to take this long to get here (both in word-count and the fact it's been like 6 months since the first chapter), and there's already writing decisions made which I regret, but overall I'm pretty happy with the result. And far happier to be getting to the next stage of our journey! Except for Chapter 12, currently writing that and 'happy' feels like the relic of a distant era, like dear lord I think I'll need to write a brief summary in the AN for people that don't want terminal depression. But that's a story for ~6 weeks from now.
I will be returning to bi-weekly (as in, once per 2 week) updates after this for the foreseeable future, I just wanted to put this out as it's a calmer cooldown after the last chapter and way to round off the 'Escape from Hell' arc. Also hope you enjoy the closure from that ending because we're about to hit a series of cliffhangers/cliffhanger-lites. Should be fun.
Comments are welcome as always with thoughts, predictions, constructive criticism, bla bla bla, you know the drill, and also want to thank everyone again for reading this, hope you've enjoyed thus far and continue to do so!