Greetings my readers, for it is I, your author is here with another update to the fanfiction that you are reading. In case you are wondering, this is the Marris and Izuku chapter you guys have been waiting for, and with it we come to the end of the story...Just Kidding. There's still more to explore in this fic, but this is the end of the Stain arc and we move to a brief respite before we move onto the new arc. Spoilers, I named it the Paladin Arc, and I look forwards to your theories on what it in entails. Anyways, with that out of the way, I hope you guys enjoy this week's chapter.

Izuku waved goodbye to Hagakure after dropping her off at her home from their first "date". His smile was wide and he was absolutely giddy with happiness from the afternoon that the two shared together. But that smile soon faded a mere moments after the door to her apartment closed. He lingered there outside her home for a minute before letting out an exhausted grumble.

He had a lot of work to do, and he was not looking forward to it. On the advice of Hagakure, Izuku needed to address his next actions carefully, if he wanted to be recruited. His actions at Hosu had done a lot to damage the reputation of the already disliked vigilante he masqueraded as. Then, there was Hosu itself and the scars that he left on its population. He needed to atone for what he had done during that week of chaos and war. However, he just needed to figure out what could be done without causing even more harm.

Next, was Mar…

How was he going to deal with the fallout he had with Marris? Could he even face the old mermaid without his own emotions getting out of control. Could she? Unlike the fight with Tooru, his fight with her had venom on both sides. Should they even see each other again? And if they did, what would the relationship be? Things couldn't go how they were before, but he didn't how things would go in the future. Maybe those hateful words they said to each other were truthful?

Izuku let out a sigh as he turned and began to mechanically walk away from Tooru's house. All the while he mind debated his next course of action. For just a moment, he became tempted to just leave the matter as is. He would bury the last remnant of his past that still clung to the quirkless kid. Ghost certainly would've loved to abandon the controlling lamprey that falsely guided him. But Izuku couldn't stop remembering what Tooru said earlier, and the promise he made to her.

Stop lingering in the past, and make peace with it.

Izuku stopped walking and let out a defeated sigh as he digested the information that Hagakure had shared with him earlier. Marris was lonely, that much was obvious by the unique situation she was in and by the clear length of time that she had been alive. What didn't make sense was the way that she tried to manipulate him off of paths that she herself set him on. Hagakure had said it was Marris wanting to keep herself happy by ensuring he stays safe. But why was him staying safe, important enough for the mermaid to pull strings behind his back? It's not like any of his predecessors had been given this special treatment. In fact, a pact with Marris seems to be a form of immortality for the human, given that their consciousness becomes a part of the essence of the mermaid.

If anything, death was only a temporary setback for Marris when it came to her charges. She should've been indifferent to it at worst, but she was almost as frantic about him getting hurt as much as his own mother was. None of this made any sense! Not unless he went to the hiding mermaid and forced her to give out a long overdue explanation. The bicolored teen prepped Crab to warp him away and begin his search for the lamprey mermaid. For better or for worse, he and Marris were going to put an end to this once and for all. Water swallowed up Izuku before he got any second thoughts, and he disappeared to confront his patron.

The woods around Musustafu hardly changed in the years since Izuku was last in them. They were still the same poorly kept and lazy group of trees in all of Japan. Which made it easier for him to navigate through it without getting lost. But trying to find a location in the woods using only recollections seen through tear clouded eyes made the job as challenging as is. He was more or less navigating through the woods using only his gut instincts and educated guessing.

"Why couldn't she live in a giant tower with a letter 'M' for a sign.", Izuku grumbled to himself.

The teenager had been walking the woods of the Musustafu for about an hour now and had found nothing yet. He had searched everywhere that Marris could be hiding, and had found nothing yet. But then again, there is a lot that Izuku doesn't know about Marris, and for all he knows she could be hiding in the depths of the ocean. However, Izuku wasn't the type to give up so easily.

…

…

…

After another two hours of continuous searching, Izuku managed to find the last location. It was the same as he remembered it. The water of the pond was entombed in a ground of ashy stone as if it were a foriegn blotch on the natural forest. It was easy to know that this was the right spot with the sunlight bathing on the pond also produced a grand beacon of radiance in the dreary forest.

Izuku stood at the edge of the pond ignoring all the awe inspiring sights. He looked down into the depths, and despite its clarity the water looked deeper than it appeared to be. He remembered that Marris came out of the water when he was crying. However, he doubts that such a thing will work again. The blue haired teen muttered to himself as he brainstormed ideas until one idea popped in his head.

If Marris had been so concerned with his well being, then she would most likely come out if he endangered himself. Izuku let out a shaky breath of air and looked for the largest rock around the pond and carried it towards the water's edge. The blue haired teen spent a minute taking deep breaths and rocking back and forth trying to psyche himself up for what he was about to do. He was going to hate this. With a loud yell, Izuku leapt straight into the water while carrying the rock. An icy cold chill enveloped Izuku as he plunged straight down at great speed towards the bottom.

Deeper and deeper, Izuku sank further and further into the watery depths of the pond. His lungs burned as a pressure built up in his head. His instincts to survive begged him to let go of the rock, but it was too late by this point from how deep he appeared to be. Izuku limply let go of the rock as the edges of his vision darkened and his lungs burned. He frantically kicked his legs and clawed with his hands towards what he thought was the surface. But the dwindling air in his lungs made his limbs sluggish and heavy. Soon his panicked attempt to surface took its toll and the will to fight left the teen. He stopped all resistance and merely let his body sink as his eyes darkened into oblivion.

It was dark and unshapely with no discernable features beyond a great expanse of nothingness. The world was blanketed by a heavy black fog that diluted his vision with its inky particles. Izuku felt cold. Colder than anything he ever felt in his life, but at the same time he felt like he was nothing. Empty and devoid of any matter or senses, it was like he was in a...Void.

"But, father said he didn't want me to call you that while he was around."

"Well, your father isn't here now. So call me what I want to be called."

A voice? No, it was two voices. One was familiar to him, but so different at the same time. The other was the muffled sound of a child. He wasn't familiar with that one.

"B-But..."

"Ma'ken Ris, I really don't like being called that and you know I'd prefer it if you called me Mar'Ris."

"Okay, Mar'Ris!"

Izuku's eye jolted open in surprise as he turned over to his side and began wretching out water from his esophagus. Once most of the foriegn liquid was expelled from his lungs Izuku began to hungrily take in as much as air as he vision was foggy and obscured by the lack of oxygen and the water in face. Initially, Izuku was shaking like a leaf while his mind was overwhelmed with the shock of his near death experience. His terror ended when he began a bout of crazed laughter as a sort of twisted form of coping.

"I hope I never have to do that again. Tooru would kill me if she found out I drowned myself.", He thought to himself.

Thankfully, the burning in his lungs had more or less stopped, and the tightness of his chest had subsided. And more importantly his vision had begun to clear and become more focal. Now if he was correct then Marris should be...

"Hello, Izuku Midoriya.", Marris said evenly as she gazed down on him, "I pray you have a good reason for trying to drown yourself in my pond?"

The young teen shot his head in the direction of her voice, and merely stared at the titanic figure before him. Her presence was so alien and massive that one could easily be intimidated by her appearance alone. Yet, the warmth and kindness that he usually associated with Marris was gone. In its place was an emotionless tone and aura emitted by the mermaid. She seemed almost indifferent to him, if it weren't for the tiniest of cracks in her voice and demeanor that betrayed her attempts to remove them.

"It was the only way to get you to come out of hiding.,'' he said in a raspy voice.

"And if I had chosen to ignore it?", she countered.

"It was a risk I was willing to take,'' he replied, "But I knew you wouldn't let me drown."

The mermaid crossed her arms while her hair fluttered in clear irritation. Her lamprey tail coiled on itself on the stony ground as if it was her way of sitting down.

"For a human that proclaimed "you never wanted to see me again", you wasted no time in seeking me out again. Do your words have no meaning and are as hollow as bones?", she said dryly.

Izuku was dumbfounded at the mermaid 'sitting' in front of him, she was nothing like the Marris he knew. But then again, he didn't think that she could be so…

"Are you going to speak or are you going to waste your time standing there? I can sit here and wait until this world gets devoured by the sun and not grow a day older. I doubt your pitiful hide would even last that long as dust.", jeered the mermaid.

...Bitchy.

"I heard that, insect!" scoffed the irritated lamprey.

Izuku sighed and pulled himself to his feet. Even with Marris "sitting" she still towered over him, and with her crossed arms and sour mood made him feel smaller than usual.

"I've come to talk to you, Marris. We have unfinished business.", stated Izuku with a stern face.

"I disagree.", returned an icy Marris, "I do not think there is anything left to say with a human that made their hatred of me ever so clear. And make no mistake, Izuku Midoriya, I am not as forgiving as you might expect!"

Izuku hesitated as he was intimidated by the large alien creature sitting before him. She was stronger than him in every way, and she also held the key to his strength as well. There was nothing he could do to stop her from doing whatever she wanted. Any person would've told him he was stepping into the lion's den by doing this. But this is more than something that he needed to do to be able to move on. Hagakure told a bit about how Marris was behaving in the past months since he formed their pact, and he couldn't help but notice how off Marris was. Nor could he ignore that strange vision he had while unconscious. He needed answers...

"If I only ask you one question, and after that I will leave you alone.", Izuku carefully said to the mermaid, "Is that agreeable?"

The mermaid tapped her chin with her clawed hands as if she were thinking about the proposition. "I might as well see what your ape-brain has to say to me, given the trouble you went through to bother me. Fine. Speak!"

Was this what Marris was really like? Was this how she dealt with other humans? This cold and distant indifference was so alien to her warm and friendly persona. Yet, everything about this just seemed wrong. Even her moments of rage were more natural and real than this. It was almost as if she was trying to cover something up with an emotionless facade. No, now's not the time to think about this! He needed to think about what he was going to ask her!

…

….

….

After mulling over his thoughts in what seemed like a century of thinking, Izuku knew what he needed to ask Marris.

Izuku took a deep breath, "On this very spot, nearly ten years ago you crawled out of that pond and followed me home. I never questioned why you would do such a thing, and I also never realized how you treated me throughout the years. In fact, I would have never noticed had not Tooru not pointed it out. So, the question I want to ask you is this: why did you name me Ma'ken Ris?

The featureless face of the mermaid somehow showed visible shock, "W-What did you say?"

"Why did you name me Ma'ken Ris after you gave me those quirks?", Izuku said louder, his voice strained, " Why did you go so far as to give me a name in the language you speak?"

"I-uh-um. I gave that name because I had nothing else to call you.", Marris said, taken aback.

"I don't believe that one bit! Especially since the name my mother gave would have sufficed! Ever since you gave me that name, I couldn't help but finally realize that you started to treat me differently. You became more prominent in my life almost like you were trying to micromanage it. You became less like a friend and more like my overbearing mother!", Izuku continued with a fire inside him.

The lamprey mermaid was visibly distressed and in total shock, "I...I...I...think this conversation is over. Go and leave my presence before I show you what happens to nosey humans!"

Anger flared up inside Izuku, "No! I am not leaving! And I am not letting you run away from this, again! So I will ask once again, Why did you name me Ma'ken Ris?!"

"I SAID I AM DONE TALKING!", Marris roared as anger invaded her system. Her mouth threatened to break apart across her face with a faint movement along her cheeks. The mermaid sat back on her tail, heightening herself to be nearly ten feet tall. Her eyes bore into with a burning glare while her hair flailed about violently. Her long arms were outstretched with her claws ready to swipe.

Izuku wasn't fazed by the mermaid's intimation, "I wondered why you did everything you did? The way you tried to keep me happy, even when it contradicted all the actions you did in the name of me. All the ways you held me, talked to me, all that warmth you showed to a stray child! I thought it was because I was nothing more than a pet to you! But only now did I realize the truth…"

Marris snarled at Izuku causing his body to jump by instinct. Her form began to morph into that of a horrid abomination. Her arms ripped apart into an extra set of two clawed limbs, while her mouth split into a feral maw that stretched from ear to ear. Her chest ripped open to reveal a toothy second mouth full of needle-like teeth. Barbed tentacles exploded from her back and began to whip the stony ground beneath them. An aura of fear greater than anything Izuku had ever experienced radiated from Marris like the winds of a hurricane.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING! LEAVE! BEFORE I DEVOUR YOU!", She roared, her voice a cacophony of voices.

She was terrifying. She was emitting a gut-retching aura of primal fear, and her appearance made Izuku's head ache in a stinging pain and his stomach to boil. But, it had no bite because it was nothing more than a bark. For if she really wanted to hurt him, then she wouldn't waste time with such a flashy display. Marris was trying to get him to leave, to get away from her. Yet, he mentally betrayed no thoughts or feelings of fear, instead all he had was sadness.

"I wasn't the first one to be called Ma'ken Ris, wasn't I?", Izuku said with a sad frown.

Marris froze like a deer in headlights. All of her postering and threatening displays went slack.

"That's why you became so controlling. That's why you gave me that name. Ma'ken Ris was your child, wasn't he? Not an adopted one, but your full blooded child. You lost him, didn't you? And I reminded you of him, didn't I?"

He was expecting Marris to react in a variety of ways. She maybe was going to be stubborn and deny the accusation. He thought she might run away and hide from him, or maybe attack him if her reaction to his prodding were any indication. What he wasn't expecting was for the monstrous mermaid to start crying. Not like muted crying sounds on her blank face, but full on crying. Her black eyes streamed a creak of tears while her mouth folded into a hyperventilating frown. The skin of her face wrinkled and moved as the sound of choked sobbing came from her throat. Marris made an expression for the first time, and it was one of sadness.

Whatever self restraint she had was now gone, and with it the false image of the Marris he knew. Like a pebble being dropped in still water, a disturbing rippling changed the form of Marris. Gone was her monstrous appearance and in its place came what Izuku thought was her true appearance.

She was still massive, maintaining her All Might sized venere, while her skin maintained his amphibian-like qualities. Her body was much more defined than the vague form he was used to with her feminine qualities appearing to be bigger and more pronounced, with a larger chest and large child-bearing hips. However, a previously unseen white scar in the shape of a diamond marred the flesh on her lower belly. Her arms were still lean and long, but ended with webbed hands that contained five clawed digits instead of four.

Gone was her lamprey tail and in its place were a pair of shapely feminine thighs that connected to a pair of dinosaur-like legs at the knees. Her back held both the lower and upper dorsal fins of a lamprey while her thighs and forearms contained fins that resembled a lamprey's caudal fins. Her body maintained its usual dark blue pigment with a white belly, but splotches of grey and black spots and stripes dotted her darker skin.

Marris' head was no longer the same as he long knew it to be. Gone were her jumble of tendril-like hair. In its place were eight tentacles that were a combination of different cephalopods. Specifically two tentacles that belonged to a cuttlefish, two tentacular limbs of a squid, and four tentacles of an octopus. Her face was no longer as blank and devoid of features as her fake one. Her eyes were much smaller than before, only slightly bigger than human's. But they were spaced farther apart and had what appeared to be eyelids in the same place as a human's, but only much less pronounced. She was still noseless, but had small slits where her nose would end if she had one. The fish woman had a mouth that wasn't hidden, but it was more akin to a human's in size and shape. However it was without lips and ended with lines that ran across the cheeks of Marris.

Izuku was in awe of this form of Marris. This form held none of the mystery or vagueness of her old one. It spoke of someone who was ancient but was still full of youth. It spoke of someone who of regal blood, but was born in the humblest of beginnings. It spoke of someone who was powerful but restrained themselves from using it. She was beautiful, but monstrous at the same time. This was the true form of the enigma that contradicted itself. She was the goddess that the ancient humans worshipped.

But unlike her mermaid form, this one did not radiate warmth, anger, or even power. Instead it radiated an aura of grief. In an instant, Izuku was knocked out of his stupor the moment Marris fell to her knees and began to curl in on herself. The sound of her sobbing once again rang out in his ears as his eyes caught sight of the tear drops falling onto the stone below. Her sobbing became muffled as she buried her face in her webbed hands. Her claws dug painfully into her own face, causing black liquid to drip down her skin and mix with her tears.

"Tell me.", Izuku said firmly,"Tell me everything that you can. I want to understand."

The Marris he knew might have outright refused to spill anything about her past to the bicolored teen, but this Marris didn't even hesitate. She spoke vaguely at first, indicating that the memories were too painful to go into much detail, but eventually spoke in greater and greater detail as she seemed to steel her will against the ghosts of the past.

There were stars, but they were growing faint with every passing second. Her body felt like it was being crushed into a little ball by some great force. Suddenly she was awashed with a burning sensation, like she was slowly being burned by a star, her vision began to fade as it was enveloped in a bright light. The pain of such an experience was sheer indescribable agony. Marris was surprised she was still alive or even conscious to begin with, as it felt like every cell was being crushed or incinerated. The unending pain ended when she hit something with such a great impact that every bone and organ felt like they had been completely dislodged from their normal place. Hissing and bubbling echoed as something cold envelops her, fortunately her vision gradually returned. Only for her to see a sky filled with twinkling stars that were obscured by the black waters of a great ocean as she sank deeper into the darkness.

Marris held the large bulge in her belly with her claws as she stood overlooking the harsh lands of the Steppes. The unending fields of grass were a boring sight to the natives of this world and the slaves they possessed. But to the visitor from the stars, they were beautiful despite their rather simplistic nature. Just many things in this world, it captivated her with its foriegn concepts and feelings. She didn't know what it was called, but that warm rosey feeling in her chest whenever she could feel the thing inside her would kick or when she looked at the male responsible for putting it there. However, she could ponder those thoughts later, for now she and her mate will travel to a place called the Kuril. She was due any day now, and they wanted to make sure that the birth went smooth.

She was broken. Her son. Her baby boy. He was gone. Dead.

Everything was a haze, black and white, and dark. She felt empty, like something had been ripped away from her. Her limbs shook as the void within her vanished and an inferno took its place. A scream tore her mouth into a gaping maw, exposing her sharp teeth while her hair flailed in a frenzy. The battlefield she was in began to be torn to shreds as her mind went haywire. Soldiers, both foe and friend were ripped apart. Trees and rocks were splittered and crushed like twigs and glass. The soil itself cracked like an egg causing those unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire to fall into a never ending abyss. She was going to make them pay! She'll kill all of them!

Never once did she ever look at herself and think anything of it. But now, she felt a deep disgust whenever she caught sight of herself in the reflections of water. She didn't see herself, all she saw was the creature that couldn't do anything to protect her child. A creature caught up in that ugly expression! An expression that hadn't left her face since that awful day!

Pathetic. Weak. Helpless. Miserable.

Those words echoed in her head over and over, reminding herself of her worst day on this small rock. Marris hated being Marris. She wanted to be someone different, someone who didn't let her weakness define her. Marris wanted to become a pillar of stone, unmoving and strong without the weaknesses of her old self. Without even thinking, she began to trace her clawed hands over her face. Before she knew it, she was mercily mauling her own face and reshaping it into something pain was astronomical, but she bore all of its self-inflicted agony as she forcibly remolded her body. For it was her punishment for allowing things to happen as they did. Marris was born with a face covered in the inky black blood of a grieving mother.

Humans were a pitiful sight. Lesser creatures fighting against creatures of superior power was something that she could never fathom. Even if she wasn't of this world and wasn't privy to its rules. But she could applaud their bravery when the leader of the rebellion stepped before her and asked for aid in their war. Weak and Pathetic. She didn't know what her son saw in these insects to warrant throwing his life away for them. But...she loved her son, and would do anything for him, and if helping these humans would honor his memory, then so be it.

"I have heard your call, human. And I will aid you.", She said simply, "Now take my blood, and let us see if you are worthy of my power."

"Thank you for your gift Marris, Mother of Heroes. We will never forget your aid, my Lady.", replied the bowing human.

At the very least, these humans would at least be instrumental in her revenge against...Mo-

Once upon a time, Marris scoffed at the idea of thinking humans as anything more than slaves. They were pitiful creatures, created from a population of apes by the hands of a Lord, whose sole purpose was to serve as servants and worshipers for the true masters of the earth. Their subsequent domination of the planet after the last of the Lords had been vanquished was a shock to Marris.

Even more so when she discovered that some of their number could see her in the hidden prison that she was cursed with for her betrayal. Sometimes, she would pull them into her prison whilst they slept and feed them her blood. Those that received it usually become great heroes that defined their eras or merely made a difference in this cruel world. If not for them, then she surely would've gone mad from loneliness a long time ago. Not that such a thing matters, after all Marris was only living for the next day after another sleepless night.

Marris didn't know why that little boy was so different from the other ones. He was no different from any other humans that she oversaw from the confines of her prison. But for some reason, he brought out all of the worst traits in herself. All of those emotional outbursts and maternal instincts that she had long buried would just surface. Why was he so different? Why did he make her feel so happy? Was it his quirk? Or maybe it was how adorable he looked?

No, Ma'ken Ris was why. The boy reminded her of the faint memory of her deceased son. Of his gentle and caring demeanor. His willingness to put the wellbeing of others above his most importantly, this boy shared her son's heroic spirit and it practically made them identical. This boy was destined to be a hero like her son was always supposed to be. Just like how she was always supposed to be the mother of that hero.

She needed to leave, she needed to get away from him before the pain would return. But anytime she tried, she would always hesitate and chicken out of it. It was like she subconsciously didn't want to leave and be lonely again, not when she was with a reincarnation of her baby. For the first time in a long time, Marris felt that warm rosey feeling in her chest, a feeling that she nearly forgot.

"T-That's w-why I-I n-named y-you M-Ma'k-ken R-Ris.", Mar'Ris said in between sobs with a stutter, "Y-You r-remind m-me s-so m-much o-of h-him! I-I h-had t-to k-keep y-you s-safe! I HAD TO!"

Mar'Ris let her head hang in shame, and covered her face with her hands to hide herself from Izuku. She did so many things wrong, and for what? A false happiness? She didn't deserve any of it even if it was fake.

"I-I c-couldn't l-let y-you d-die a-again! I-I c-cannot b-bear a-another l-loss!", she croaked in a muffled voice, "I-I a-am s-sorry! I-I a-am s-sorry I-I h-hurt y-you! I-I d-didn't k-know w-what e-else t-to d-do!"

Izuku said nothing while his face was hidden by the shadow of his hair. Without even speaking, he closed the distance between the two and gently cupped her crying face with his hand and moved her head so they were face-to-face. Her flesh felt damp and warm but it trembled with a nervous jitter while a trail of tears ran down his hand. The crying woman visibly flinched at the touch of the smaller human, while her black eyes widened in surprise. She had been expecting the human to reject her, because no matter what the intentions behind her actions, she still greatly wronged the one she dared to call her child.

"I forgive you.", Izuku said gently with his own stoic face.

"I-I t-thought y-you h-hated m-me? I-I t-tried t-to c-control y-you, I-I s-shouldn't b-be f-forgiven!", Mar'Ris stuttered out while contorted in an expression of sorrow.

Marris clearly saw things as yet another punishment she was doomed to face. Her life seemed to be nothing but an unending line of misery, and she believed she deserved it for failing the two people she valued above all else. Yet, Izuku saw things much differently. The fight that the two had with each other was something that went beyond the simple Hero or Vigilante future for Izuku. It was the inevitable clash between the two's greatest insecurities. However, behind these two insecurities came a desire to help one another. Yet, the two had stubbornly refused to cry out for help from one another, and it nearly destroyed them. This needed to end before the cracks in their relationship deepened to the point of no return.

"I thought you didn't care about me, and were just pitying me. I thought that the only friend I had was no different than the other people who only saw me as a weakling.", Izuku said with a breaking voice, "I forgive because you showed me that wasn't true."

"B-but, I-I d-don't u-understand?", the fish woman said, confused.

"Marris, I had been lingering in the past ever since the sludge villain. Tooru said that the only way I would be able to have a future was to make peace with it.", said Izuku, "She said I needed to make peace with it to be able to move forward. I don't want to continue doing that if it means I lose her or my dream of becoming a hero. I nearly lost so much by running away to fight Stain, and now I don't want to run the chance of you losing everything as well."

"Izuku.", Mar'Ris whimpered, "I don't think I can do that. I am just too broken to even think about doing that! I...I...haven't even visited him since he died, I don't think I have the courage to even think about the idea. I think it's just a lost cause to help me. Please, just leave me here and don't let me hold you back."

A fire lit up inside Izuku, but not one of rage, but one of compassion. "No, I am not going to leave you behind even if I have to drag you home myself! I know it's not going to be easy, but I will be there to help you through it all. I'll help you if you promise to help me as well."

The fish woman blinked at the bicolored teen. "Y-You r-really m-mean it?"

"I do.", affirmed Izuku, "And, Marris, I am sorry for how I acted towards you and Tooru. Can you forgive me?"

Marris stared blankly at izuku before her lips curved into the smallest of smiles, "B-But only if you forgive me for how I acted towards you and Haga-chan."

"Apology accepted.", Izuku said warmly.

"And I accept yours as well.", She replied in kind.

Izuku let go of his hold on the goddess in order to grab her into a hug. She returned the hug given to her by him and for a moment the duo were lost in their own warmth; taking confort in the rhythmic beating of their own hearts. They lingered in each other's arms for a long time before reluctantly breaking apart. Marris and Izuku stared at each other in silence. It was like the two were really meeting each other for the first time. But not under the veneer of whatever mask they wore to hide their weaknesses and fears. Instead they were meeting themselves as who they really were supposed to be: As Izuku and Marris, client and patron, surrogate son and surrogate mother.

"Come on, let's go home, Marris.", Izuku said as he took her hand in his.

"Yes, let us go home.", She replied as she accepted his hand, "But please call me, Mar'Ris from here on."

Izuku smiled back at Mar'Ris,"Yes, sure thing, Mother."

What do you guys think of Marris' new look? Should I ditch it or keep it? Or maybe he have a different idea? Anyways I will provide a link to the image that inspired this look so you guys can get a visual representation of what I was going for. Also, I want to see you guys vote in the comments or the reviews to see which character will appear in the next chapter. Iida, Nighteye, todoroki and Stain are excluded from this list due to the fact that they are guarenteed to show up. Here they are:

Spinner, Toga, Ingenium, Mirko, and Mirio

The two with the most votes with be featured along side the afformentioned characters in the next chapter. Anyways, thank you for reading and showing support for the story, and I will see you guys in the next chapter.

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