And I'm back! And with a special, super awesome commission from the wonderful, talented Rinaklz😘 ( twitter TPlease1717 / status / 1726309390242980140/photo/1)
As always, please give a big thank you to my beta who has stuck by me through these four years of writing FlourChildWrites.
Chapter 36 - We Can (Not) Protect
Momo lost her footing as shockwaves rippled across the ground. And an arctic squall slammed into her so powerful it was as though the god Boreas had conjured the northern wind himself.
Was this Shigaraki's doing? Momo knew it wasn't.
Stumbling on verglas, she righted herself. The air felt brittle and burned her throat as she inhaled. Frost coated her hair.
Momo blinked the ice from her eyelashes then looked up and gasped in astonishment. A hauntingly beautiful scene stretched before her. Crystalline glaciers rolled like waves over the once muddy ground. Frost coated the pines, transforming the trees into icicles. And within the frozen landscape, Shigaraki and the magi stood like sculptures.
Momo tried to ignore the pounding of her heart as her gaze drifted over the waves towards Todoroki, the only other person not imprisoned within the glaciers.
Todoroki knelt on the ground, his back bent and skin tinted blue.
"Todoroki!" Momo leapt over the frozen waves and dropped down by Todoroki's side. Black spots danced before her eyes that Momo ignored as she looked him over.
Silver frost coated Todoroki's face. He shivered, and his eyes were glassy as he tilted his head towards her. "Yaoyorozu, are you okay?" His voice sounded rough and raspy, throat likely frozen.
"I'd ask you the same thing." Momo pressed her forehead to Todoroki's before pulling back with a hiss. "You're freezing. Let me get you a blanket." She sat back on her heels. Closing her eyes, Momo concentrated.
What would a warm blanket feel like?
What would it smell of?
How would it make her feel?
A tickling sensation spread over her arm, like tiny ants marching across her skin. Momo opened her eyes and looked down, keeping the idea firmly in her mind. Her arm sparkled. Stardust jumped from her skin, and then the tassels of a quilt emerged.
"What's this?" Todoroki asked. Some of the glassy sheen disappeared from his gaze as he stared at her in amazement.
Momo wet her dry lips. "I used the wish from Kaminari to create anything I want."
"Oh! I see," Todoroki mumbled. The shimmer of surprise dimmed from his gaze. His voice tapered off. "I knew you were good."
Momo glanced up at his face and frowned as Todoroki fought to keep his eyes open. He was losing strength. The battle and lack of sleep were taking a toll on him. She needed to hurry and get him to a safe location where he could rest and she could treat their wounds.
Momo wrapped her fingers around the ends of the quilt and tugged experimentally. A pinching sting spread across her arm. It was as though the ants marching across her skin decided to bite.
Setting her jaw, Momo pushed past the discomfort and pulled the rest of the quilt out. The fabric didn't appear extraordinary. There were no decorative depictions of gods or heroes, no beautiful patterns, but it was thick and the blanket felt like it was made of fine wool.
She shook the fabric out, and then leaned forward to slide the quilt around Todoroki's back. The movement strained her wounded shoulder. Stabbing pain radiated from where the empusa's fangs had torn into her. Momo flinched and let out a sharp hiss.
Todoroki looked up. His eyes refocused as his expression pinched with concern. "You're hurt."
Momo shook her head. She swallowed back the sting. "Don't worry about it. I already wrapped it."
Careful of her shoulder, Momo leaned forward. She wrapped the quilt around Todoroki, pulled away, and looked him up and down. Fresh blood stained the side of his chiton. An injury to his intestine: painful, but not lethal.
She let out a breath of relief and met his gaze. "Can you stand?"
Todoroki paused. He inhaled deeply, and then began to push himself up. His legs were unsteady. "Yeah-"
A sharp cracking sound rumbled behind her.
Momo swiveled around and stilled. Black magic oozed through the crevices in the glaciers that encased Tomura Shigaraki's hands. It slid over the god's fingers, until his hands were fully dyed black, like gloves of tar. There was another loud crack. The ice fissured and disintegrated: Shigaraki's hands were free.
"Shit," Todoroki hissed.
Momo couldn't say anything. She stared in horror as the god reached up and touched the ice covering his face. The glacier sizzled and then shrieked, breaking apart into a rain of ice shards. Pale golden eyes met Momo's gaze.
"Cheaters." The god's raspy voice carried over the hiss of disintegrating ice. "You interfered with all the fun."
Momo scrambled to her feet. She felt unsteady. Her heart pounded so hard in her chest that she could hear it in her ears. What were they to do? Momo's mind whirled.
The logical answer was run. They weren't prepared for a head-on confrontation. Both she and Todoroki were injured and exhausted. They would need a strategy to fight against a god, and Momo was afraid they had run out of all their luck.
From the corner of her eye, Momo glanced behind her. Todoroki had pushed himself up onto shaky legs. The blanket had fallen from his shoulders, and she could make out the frost that still coated his extremities. He looked as though he'd fall over any moment. Even if they ran, he was too worn out to make it far.
"We should split up," Todoroki said, in a low voice only for her to hear. "Take him from both sides before he gets free."
A shriek of ice fissuring pulled Momo's attention back to the god. Mist rose from the glacier wrapped around Shigaraki's torso. The god looked up and his golden eyes glittered in victory. He knew they were out of options. He'd be free in a matter of moments. All that was left was the ice that coated his feet.
Momo swallowed hard. What to do? Todoroki's strategy wouldn't work. The risk of that operation was too high. All it would take was for the god to sidestep one attack, block a strike, touch even a sliver of —
Momo's breath caught.
Touch!
The fact that Shigaraki couldn't melt all the ice at once meant that only what he touched could be destroyed by his power. If they could stop his hands…
"I have an idea," Momo said. The skin along her right arm pinched as it did earlier when she created the blanket. An image formed in her mind. "Do you have any fire magic left?"
Todoroki shifted. He drew in a deep breath. His lips pressed into a firm line as though he were pulling on his last reserves. He probably was. "I don't know. Maybe an attack. Not much. Not enough to defeat him."
Momo nodded. "That will have to be enough." Her arm glittered, and a sealed spherical clay pot pushed through her skin. "I'm going to throw this. Then I need you to release all the magic you have left when I tell you," Momo instructed, already positioning herself.
Todoroki gave her an incredulous look but didn't comment as the ice around the god's feet shattered. Shigaraki was free.
Momo launched the sealed pot towards the god.
"Do you think this will stop me?" The god scoffed. He reached out towards the sealed pot. Black magic erupted along his fingertips.
"Todoroki!"
She heard Todoroki hiss, then scalding heat burst from behind her. Blood red and yellow flames of magic whooshed past her side and towards the god.
"How foolish." Shigaraki sneered. He realigned his focus from the pot towards the flames. Black magic seeped from his fingertips.
It was impossible, but for a moment, it felt as though time slowed when Todoroki's magic slammed into him. Momo watched, heart in her throat, as the sealed pot above Shigaraki's head shattered. A white powder rained down onto the god. Then Kronos' time resumed.
Shigaraki screamed.
His body lit up like a torch in Hephaestus' forge. Embers of amber, cobalt, and rust greedily consumed the powder coating the god's arms and traveled up towards his face, engulfing him. Transforming him.
Shigaraki stumbled backwards. Black magic shot out of his hands, disintegrating everything it touched as the god writhed around blindly, but the flames wouldn't let up. The embers burned brighter and brighter. Suddenly, the god's screams died. His thrashing slowed. And Momo watched, almost too afraid to breathe, as Shigaraki dropped to the floor.
The black magic froze its destructive thrashing and retracted. It slid over the god's body like sludge, cocooning around the god's burnt corpse and sucking up the flames until all that was left was an orb of darkness and a disturbing stillness.
Momo's heart pounded in her ears as she waited. The dark magic didn't move. Was it over?
The smell of burnt flesh stung Momo's nose as she strained to listen for any indication of movement. There was a muffled sound in the distance, but it was too far away to discern clearly. If Momo were to guess, she'd say it sounded like someone running at an incredible speed, but she didn't have the energy or strength to speculate. All Momo knew was that it wasn't related to Shigaraki.
The god was defeated. The battle was finally over.
Momo let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and pressed a hand to the middle of her chest. Her body shook with relief and intense exhaustion.
Todoroki sank to the ground next to her, panting.
"Flour?" he asked after a moment. His voice was weak.
Momo inhaled slowly and nodded. "Yes. If we'd only relied on your magic, Shigaraki could have absorbed the flames or dodged them. We needed a way to ensure your magic reached him. Fire is naturally attracted to alcohol and flour. It was the best idea I could come up with."
Todoroki nodded. "It was a good plan."
Despite her exhaustion, Momo couldn't help the swell of pride that expanded in her chest. She looked down at Todoroki. He knelt on the ground, spent. His hand trembled as he held onto his sword for support. The blood on his chiton had darkened.
Momo frowned. "Let me take a look at your wound."
She sank down onto her knees in front of Todoroki. Her skin sparkled. A wave of lightheadedness passed over her that Momo ignored.
Withdrawing cloth from her skin, she pressed the fabric against Todoroki's side. "I'll do a temporary patch for now. We'll need to clean and dress it once we've found shelter." Momo looked up. "Fuyumi should be able to enter now, I'd imagine -"
"Do you think that would defeat a god?"
Dread slid down Momo's spine at the sound of the raspy voice. She jumped to her feet and stepped in front of Todoroki, hardly believing her eyes as the black sphere of magic collapsed and Shigaraki appeared.
The god's body was badly burnt and scarred. Red welts blistered along his face and neck. His once white hair was singed. Skin hung from his body like loose cloth.
Momo felt as though she had forgotten how to breathe as she stared at the god. She knew Todoroki wasn't at his full strength, but Shigaraki had been hit directly by the fire, how was he still moving? What had they done wrong?
Shigaraki's mouth twisted up into a vicious smile. Yellow ashen teeth stuck out of charred black lips. "The play isn't over, heroes."
A feeling of helplessness twisted in Momo's stomach. Her legs trembled. What were they to do? She didn't have a plan.
"Yaoyorozu!" Todoroki tried to push himself up. His knees buckled, and he collapsed back down onto one knee. He was too weak. "Run!"
"Where are you going? You don't want to miss out on the fun," Shigaraki cackled. The god stepped forward and then broke out into a run. His skin flapped behind him like a ghastly cloak. "Act three has just started!"
Momo gasped as the god careened towards them. A noise pounded in her ears. Momo wasn't sure if it was the sound she heard earlier or her own heartbeat.
She needed to stop Shigaraki. Anything to slow him down so she could think. Momo's skin prickled; she pulled a spear from her palm and launched it towards the god.
"Yaoyorozu!"
Shigaraki slammed his hand out, and her spear crumbled into chips of wood. "You showed me this trick before."
10 meters
"Get away from here!" Todoroki hissed. He was on his feet.
The drumming in Momo's ears grew louder.
Momo pulled another spear from her hand. A wave of dizziness passed over her. She gritted her teeth to steady herself and flung the second spear.
5 meters
The spear whistled as it flew towards the god. He reached out again, and the weapon disintegrated into dust when it hit his palm.
She had to do something. She had to think of something.
"Yaoyorozu!" Todoroki screamed.
The stomping of feet sounded closer.
The god lunged forward. Something flickered in the corner of Momo's vision. She didn't have time to process the scene in front of her as a man with green-tinted hair and a red cape barreled into Shigaraki. His foot impacted the god's jaw with a sickening crack.
"Shigaraki! " The green-haired man yelled.
The god flew sideways, slamming into frozen trees that shattered into shards of glass upon impact.
Momo gasped. Her legs buckled, and relief swept over her, leaving her dizzy and weak.
"Deku! Out of the way!" A rough voice growled.
Momo looked up as a blond haired man rushed from the trees. Blood red eyes flashed in fury as he barrelled towards the green-haired man, who stepped out of the way a moment before being trampled. Momo's heart felt as though it leapt into her throat as recognition dawned on her.
The blond man was the first prince of Sparta —
"Midoriya. Bakugou," Todoroki said in a soft voice of astonishment.
Momo's gaze jolted back to the shorter man with green-tinted hair — Prince Midoriya, the second prince of Sparta.
"I won't let you get your way, Shigaraki," Midoriya said loudly.
As if on cue, the god's raspy voice echoed from the downed trees. "So cool, heroes," Shigaraki said in a low, controlled tone, standing up. The skin hanging from his mouth flaked as the god smiled wide, revealing his yellow teeth as though he didn't feel pain. "Coming to save your friends? So cool."
The sound of marching grew louder. From the corner of her eyes, Momo caught flashes of red as men adorned in Spartan cloaks emerged from the trees.
"You're defeated, Shigaraki," Midoriya said. He raised his fists as he shifted into an offensive stance. "I won't let you have your way. We'll stop you."
"I'll kill ya!" Bakugou sneered.
Shigaraki stared at the princes for a moment, then sighed heavily as though exasperated; his body sagged. "The play seems to be over." Shadows as black as a starless night rippled out from under the god's feet. Different from his magic. "I'll see you again, heroes."
Midoriya leapt forward. "Shigaraki!"
"Get your ass back here!" Bakugou shouted.
The god sunk into the darkness as though swallowed by quicksand. Then the smell of burnt flesh disappeared, and the god was gone.
"Fucker got away," Bakugou cursed. "I'll pulverize him the next time we run into him."
The other Spartans were drawing closer, but Momo suddenly couldn't focus. Her body swayed as intense exhaustion rolled over her. It was finally over. Shigaraki wouldn't be back now that the Spartan soldiers and princes were there.
She stumbled forward.
"Yaoyorozu!" A hand circled her arm, pulling Momo into a warm chest that, despite the tang of blood, had the familiar hint of olives with the undertones of marjoram.
Momo sighed and pressed her cheek against Todoroki's chest. Suddenly, she felt exhausted.
"I'm okay," she said, voice husky. Momo fought to stay conscious, but her eyes began to close. "Just a little tired. It must be the after effects of my wish. Kaminari mentioned…" Her words trailed off.
Darkness swept across her vision, and Momo sank into the warmth and security of Todoroki Shouto's arms.
One more chapter left plus the epilogue! I might even hit my 2023 resolution to get this finished :D trying not to get too excited XD
Notes:
Notes:
Flour - Yes, flour is flammable. Fine, powdery flour suspended in the air can actually explode when it comes into contact with fire. And because flour consists of carbohydrates, it burns fast and hot. Although the average kitchen is rarely filled with so much airborne flour as to pose a fire hazard, flour mills must take precautions to guard against serious fire safety issues.
Kronos - the god of time