Alone

[swellter]

Who: Shouto and Allen + Dabi
What: June Event Prompt One. A few hours after THIS. 
When: June 8th.
Where: The Farther Shores a mile away from the cherry blossom tree.

“Alone”

BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

From childhood’s hour I have not been

As others were—I have not seen

As others saw—I could not bring

My passions from a common spring—

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow—I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone—

And all I lov’d—I lov’d alone—

Then—in my childhood—in the dawn

Of a most stormy life—was drawn

From ev’ry depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still—

From the torrent, or the fountain—

From the red cliff of the mountain—

From the sun that ’round me roll’d

In its autumn tint of gold—

From the lightning in the sky

As it pass’d me flying by—

From the thunder, and the storm—

And the cloud that took the form

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view—
 

The nightmares started in April with the death of a friend.

Lying in a pool of Paleblood, clinging to the dying, the first seeds of corruption sank their teeth into his heart spreading doubt and fear. His brother's warm presence that first night kept him from spiraling to that end that forms every Beast in Trench. The next day, it was Amaterasu's guardian sapling that kept his nightmares at bay. He slept under the tranquil aura of the cherry blossom while he waited for his friend's return. For a week, it's calming influence kept his corruption levels low. Afterwards, it was Allen's kind and radiant presence in his home that maintained the sapling's work. It was only after Allen moved into Sancturary and Shouto returned to active duty with the Hunters that his levels started to rise. His omen kept strict watch on his levels waging war every time corruption started to spread, sending him back to the guardian sapling when his levels rose.

It usually happened late at night when his dreams turned against him, and he woke up in a frozen room with his heart beating frantically in his chest. He clung to Kizu those nights, burying his face into the snow leopards winter coat, finding solace in the cold. Ice crept past his sheets those mornings, covering both Sleeper and omen in a layer of frost. Yet, he managed to keep himself together. Foregoing sleep for more shifts with the Hunters until exhaustion forced him into a dreamless sleep after a few days. 

Keeping his corruption to manageble levels was easier in the presence of his friends. His deep connection with them, kept the dark thoughts from finding purchase in his mind. Maybe that's why he spent so much time with them that second month after Allen's death. Accepting their invitations more readily, joining them for dinner, walking them home, going to parties. Their presence gave him a safe heaven, a place where dark thoughts didn't press on his mind, a respite from the nightmares. So, he slept, taking naps at every turn. Somehow, he managed to keep his corruption levels from spiraling out of control up until June when the demon arrived. 

Prime for a takevoer, the demon found him in the midst of another nightmare and latched onto him the first day with Kizu nonethe wiser. It fed on him, plagued his every dream until his body couldn't keep up anymore and he stopped patrolling altogether on day five too tired to complete his rounds. Scrapes and bruises started appearing on his skin on day seven, and on day eight it sent him into a nightmare so frantic he lost control of his quirk, burning his surroundings. Terror set in then, afraid of himself unaware of his rising corruption levels. With the demon clinging to his back, his thoughts turned dark too quickly. Afraid, Shouto sought out his friends and found Allen's network post from a few weeks ago and he replied in search of a familiar face.

A hero agency.

The concept reminded him so much of home it eased some of the terror from his heart. Already feeling a little better, Shouto couldn't help but respond to ask him about his plans, offer his help. It'd give him an excuse to see him in person instead of conversing through the omini as they usually did these days, but the conversation turned sour when the Hunters were mentioned.

Dark thoughts crept into his mind so quickly, spreading like a disease. The demon was fully grown and it's influence more acute. Well fed, it was bigger than him now. The demon dug its claws into him, influencing his thoughts, turning them against him when the omen interfered but it was too late. It had grown too strong, held far too much influence and plunges him into a nightmare long before he reaches the guardian sapling.

When Allen arrives at the cherry blossom tree on the Farther shores, he'll find it empty. If he looks around, he might find a strange sight about a mile away. Upon inspection, he'll come across a glacier jutting out of the black sands, three stories high, and at it's center - at the level of the sand -  lies an unmoving figure distorted by ice. 

Shouto lies sleeping on the black sands, covered in frost, within an open space at the center of the glacier, cut off from the world. The demon clings to him, feeding readily while the carbon dioxide levels slowly increase.

Comments

they're oversized so that means they're more likely to fit *you*!

[likethelight]

[ Worry about yourself a little too, that's what he'll huff when he realizes it better. But for now, he a little too distracted. ]

Wah-- [ Surprised at being yanked out, but he collects himself quickly and scrambles to help push himself clear as well. Okay, okay, he's moving! He was feeling himself start to become numb from being buried in the snow, though the chill air might actually be worse, so it's probably a good idea anyway but don't you dare pull his coat off to check. The fact he has it and it's enchanted with coldblood magic is the only thing keeping him from getting frostbite...

He's wobbly too from the ordeal, though seems a bit better off maybe, and weaves unsteadily on his feet when he gets up. ]

You didn't answer me. [ There's a small huff, breath fogging in the air as the cold numbs his nose, but his tone and expression is more concerned as he turns to face Shouto.

His left hand though-- his darkblood glove covers up the hand itself, but the band of 'skin' between it and sleeve shows signs of a similar kind of cellular... breakdown? Patches of it up and down his arm, and if his glove were removed -- the crystal in the back of it looks corrupted somehow, and darkened. And it trembles lightly as he seems to be favoring it. ]

So, what you're saying is, he pulls off clown shoes better than you.

[swellter]

[ I'm not the one who went out of control. He'll tell him without an ounce of regret for his actions. He knows how the cold affects the human body more intimately than most. It starts with motor functions, then shifts to tissue damage prompting cellular death. His saving grace is their short stint in the snow. He stopped feeling what his fingers were touching when he started digging him out, but he can still feel pain and move them. So, he prioritizes Allen's condition.

Out he goes, dragged out with all the dignity of a flopping clown fish. When he lets go, Shouto opens and closes his fingers before curling them into a fist to hide them from the cold, then rubs his thumb over the joints to generate heat from the friction. ]

I'm cold. [ His eyes are focused on that sliver of skin. ] I assume it's the same with fire. I'll need to get out of the cold soon.

[ He tells him while analyzing the pattern noting the difference between it and the one on his neck. ]

You're trembling.

[ His headlong run to the tree, the climb, and subsequent excavation of one Allen Walker kept him on the move. Now that he's stopped, the cold starts to seep into his muscles. He has no doubt he'll be shivering worse than Allen in a few minutes, but while he's still functional, he digs deeper into this odd situation, noting the absence of his cloak. Did he dismiss it? Or did it stop functioning? Those hexagonal patterns cause him the most pause. They move under his skin like something alive. The pattern on his arm looks worse than the one on his neck, so he reaches for his hand to remove the glove and inspect it. ]

won't know 'til we put you in them and try </3

[likethelight]

[ The way he rubs at his hand catches Allen's attention and his gaze snags there, momentarily a little distracted even before Shouto says he's cold. Cold? But he never was, but if he can't use his powers then...

Realization dawns with a bit of horror, realizing their predicament, and his demeanor gentles as he sobers as he reaches out to touch Shouto's arm. He is cold. ]

So are you. [ We need to find someplace that's warmer, or at least inside. That's what they need to do, and he's about to suggest it when the other boy reaches for his left hand? His glove? Shit. ]

Ah—! [ Too quick for him to protest, though honestly he wouldn't have made a move to stop him either. He just looks a bit nervous when Shouto removes his glove and his sleeve shifts from the movement, revealing that his hand (and arm) looks like it's fracturing apart -- not actively, but it looks damaged but not in the way a body part should be. No blood, no revealed tissue or even bone. It acts almost more like stone, but organic; the edges of each fractured patch shifting like it's trying to reknit itself, but can't quite.

Allen fidgets, but doesn't try to pull his hand back. It shakes in Shouto's grip. ]

I-it's okay... really. [ I know it's not, is what his tone and expression say, but he remains resolute anyway. ] We should get inside somewhere before we both freeze.

Like Cinderalla? You're on.

[swellter]

His grip is gentle as his thumb runs over the damage caused by the corruptive blood. The deep chasms running down the carapace are wholly different from any reaction he's seen to the substance. None of the Hunters have ever mentioned something like this. Is it because he's an Exorcist? He feels like he's working in the dark. Allen's powers are still a mystery to him. He has a basic knowledge of what he can do not how he's able to do it. Quirks are based on genetics but from what Allen's told him, Exorcists find their power later in life. Except for him. He said he was born with this arm.

His mouth pulls down the more he realizes how little he can do to help. Unable to even surmise if it's serious or a passing reaction. Should he be worried? He turns over the armored hand and the tips of his cold fingers move over the broken skin. It feels like Kirishima's quirk. Even the breaks look similar. Like breaking rock.

The trembling coming from Allen curbs his inspection to no more than a few seconds, enough to realize he doesn't know enough to assess the damage. Are you cold or in pain? He wants to ask, but another critical question needs an answer before he's willing to move on.

His eyes shift up to meet his. ] Is the damage permanent?

oh my fucking god-- yes. with ice-glass clown shoes

[likethelight]

[ He bites his lip lightly at the gentle scrutiny, not saying a word as he runs his fingers over the damage or trying to pull back. Doesn't flinch either as that doesn't hurt, though his hand certainly does in general. But he does look uneasy, almost a little guilty. But he shakes his head in quick response to the question, expression smoothing. ]

No. It can't be broken anymore. [ He doesn't know entirely what is happening, but... his faith in Crown Clown overrides that. Even with misgivings he might have about some things, that is certain.

It'll hold. It has to. ]

I think... maybe it just needs to rest for a while. [ Does he sound certain? No. But what other choice do they have? He was able to rebuild it in an instant before with his convictions, in battle, but this is a different thing and they aren't in battle with his blood running hot. ]

If someone catches them trying on ice clown shoes, they're gonna have questions.

[swellter]

[ He latches onto that line, a dozen questions springing to the tip of his tongue. Anymore? Was it broken before? How was it broken? Is that where your scar came from? Will this scar too? Was it the blood? What about the blood? Why did it stop? Are you in pain? Can you-- ]

It's broken then.

[ He voices none of them and gently slips back his darkblood glove, delicate in his handling of the damaged limb. ]

How much time do you need to recover?

[ When he's done, he doesn't let go, gripping gently, he heads for the castle. ]

when wouldn't people have Questions about just about anything they do...

[likethelight]

[ Allen hesitates for a moment when Shouto is silent for a beat longer than he would have expected, like he was processing that. Just... in a way that makes Allen pause and think he's missing something, even before he says that.

Contradicting him? No, acknowledging that it had been broken before. But the way he said it... ]

I don't know. [ There's a slight blink that he helps put his glove back on, a little surprised by that, and his expression softens. Eyes hooding, and he gives Shouto's arm a small squeeze with his other gloved hand; he can't manage the manual dexterity with his left, nor is he sure he should risk it. ]

Nothing like this has ever really happened before.

[ Well...he can't return the grip, but he does press one finger lightly in response. It's okay, you aren't saying anything but he can sense the anxiety. Maybe because he's just anxious too and it's an anxious situation. But he follows, and grimaces when a cold gust of wind hits them, leaning into it and pressing closer shoulder to shoulder for what little windbreak and shared warmth there is. Ugh...

It's a place like this and Shouto can't use his abilities? That has to mean something. ]

I'll figure it out. Let's just get inside.

Touche. Let the fitting begin! /bends over to put them on Allen's feet/

[swellter]

[ Not contradicting; misreading. >_>

Carefully, he slips the glove back on to protect him from the low temperatures. Unlike Allen, he's used to the cold. Endeavor would constantly test his output when he was younger, demanding he increase it despite his body's inability to withstand the temperatures he could produce. ]

Trench has a way of exposing us to new experiences. Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're not. Sometimes you learn something about yourself you wouldn't otherwise.

[ He leads them to the castle set atop a stone pedestal. They shelter against each other on their way to the entrance with Shouto shivering by the time they reach the front gates. Half the gate is covered in snow and the other half in fire. A stark line exists within each half. The snow-covered side boasts freezing temperatures and the fire side can melt steel. There is no middle ground. No balanced temperature. Only ice and fire. Separate in every way that matters.

Stone steps bathed in moonlight lead up to the castle, half-buried in ice and half in fire, they keep to the ice. The steps are ten feet wide and a mile long making it a harrowing journey. By the time they reach the castle entrance Shouto has stopped trembling from the cold his body giving up on trying to warm him up. ]

The doors...

[ The words barely form, lips blue from the cold. They cross the final distance and Shouto pushes open the door to a flower garden in full bloom. The room is dark except for the center which boasts a skylight where moonlight streams in keeping the garden alive. White and red amaryllis flowers cover a ten by ten feet area bathed in moonlight with some blue and white flowers peppered in to break up the monotony. It's the only safe area within the room but they'll have to cross at least five feet of darkness to reach it. ]

that moment where he sweats and wonders how his life led to this moment.... shouto pls-

[likethelight]

[ w o O P s ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sometimes you learn something about yourself you wouldn't otherwise... what do you think it wants you to learn from this place having an appearance like this then? His gaze dips back to Shouto in concern when he says that, wondering that so very strongly he almost says it out loud, but doesn't for now. Just watches his profile in quiet worry.

Shouto might have been exposed to inhuman temperatures shifts with his abilities, but Allen also grew up an otherwise normal human living mostly outside and in drafty tents in cold northern climates, sleeping on the ground without a blanket for years and never having a proper coat or warm clothes. Anytime it wasn't summer he was always cold, and he was six years old before he realized the marvel that living things are warm and could keep you warm. Those were the bitterest years, but he's used to being cold and is fine just pushing through it. This is far more bitter cold than he is normally used to though, far more acutely dangerous, yes, but he doesn't complain and keeps up. It's maybe one of the longest and slowest miles he's hiked in a very long time, but he pulls the hood of his coat up and tries to keep his face buried into the high lapels forming a collar to protect his face, trying to grip Shouto's hand better with his left even if it hurts and doesn't want to move right. It's warm after all, his left arm. Impervious to the cold, even in its state, so at least that's part of him he doesn't have to worry about, even if his face feels like it's burning. The coldblood enchantment on the rest of his uniform too is worth everything he had to suffer for it, but it also makes him glance over at the other boy occasionally with a concerned pang.

The sight of the garden room, however, draws a surprised puff of air from Allen when they push open the doors. Flowers? ]

It-- [ kh, his teeth want to chatter if he opens his mouth ] It's a garden...?

[ It still feels cold though. And while things don't have to make sense in someone's spiritual world... maybe that means it's warmer where they are? Maybe it's even the key to -- everything. This place. The darkness.

He looks skeptically over at Shouto. The otherwise pitch black room... his blue face. Shit. ]

We'll need-- to m-move quickly. To the light. [ To cross that. He moves to take his hand again, though with his right this time and more certainty. Needs to keep his left free in case they're attacked, even if Crown Clown is in an unknown state right now. ]

We should stay together. So we don't get separated by whatever could come from there.

Wonder no more, he'll make every dreaded moment come true~

[swellter]

[ A quick intake of breath follows the opening of the door as Shouto lays eyes on the flowers blooming in the moonlight. ]

Those are...

[ The flowers always sitting in his mother's room. Freshly cut and brimming with a delicate grace, he always associated with her. Shouto is left standing at the door, stunned. Allen's words barely register with the sight set before him, but the cold isn't so easily ignored. It dulls his senses and numbs him to the bone. ]

Okay. [ He draws close to Allen, scanning the darkness for any movement. Finding none, he presses forward. ] Stay-- close.

[ He steps forward, and the demon swallows him whole, dragging him into the abyss. It wrenches Allen off him, carapace armor versus carapace armor, discarding him into the void as it drags HIS Sleeper into the deep.

The front door closes behind them, and the garden loses its luster in the wake of the screams that follow. A losing battle ensues, and the demon takes its prize, plunging them deeper into the nightmare world where no moonlight filters through.

They wake alone. Separated.

Shouto in the training room of the Todoroki estate, and Allen in his childhood room full of memories best left undisturbed. ]

how prince charming of you :|

[likethelight]

[ He let go again.

Wrenched away this time in his weakened state before he even realized what was happening, that the effect was that immediate, it was just waiting there like a wolf, he should have known, the whole thing had to be a trap, he's so stupid— ]

Shouto—! [ He reaches for him as he plummets in a panicked burst of light, Innocence invoking again on instinct in a wild summons— but there's nothing as his hand swipes through where he was a moment ago. Just darkness. And then he falls, losing consciousness somewhere along the way. ]

...?

[ When he wakes, he's blinking not so much for finding himself in a strange place... but a weirdly familiar one. Tatami mats, shoji screens, even the color of the futon, this is... Shouto's bedroom? No, it isn't quite. It's uncannily similar, but a few things are off.

It's quiet, too. He doesn't like this. It feels like waking to have found all of that a dream, that he'd been here the whole time. But it isn't that, this is... ]

Shou...to? [ Rising to his feet, he's uneasy as he looks around for the other. Touches the bloodstone earcuff on his left ear as if to confirm yes, this is real, everything that happened was real, and hesitates as he notices movement from the futon. A small lump that was easy to disregard as a pillow before. Which is... not something reassuring in the slightest, as he approaches uncertainly with his instincts on high alert. There was a moment like this before, the dread of approaching a bundle in a bed, and pulling off the covers only to— ]

...? [ Find a baby? Ah, but a very recognizable baby. There's no mistaking that dual-tone hair, or the mismatched eyes that stare briefly back at him, and he blinks back for a moment in pure bafflement. At least, before the child begins to cry and he flutters into a mild panic.

??? ] Ah! No, please... it's alright? [ Is it? What the hell?

Instinctively, he reaches for... is it Shouto? It is and it isn't, it can't be (unless, like Touya...?), but before he can touch him there's a gout of bright blue flames. Familiar blue flames, and he instinctively drops low beneath them in a protective crouch as his cloak comes to life again. Barely, just barely, and he can feel the searing heat blasting his face even from the other side of his cloak as it roars across his covered back. The protection's not that great though, it's still ragged and having trouble forming into its right shape. Twisted like broken wings trying to knit themselves back together. Touya?! No, nevermind that, grab the child and go—

Except the moment he does, meaning to scoop him up and flee, the crying Shouto freezes solid. Silent, so unnerving and suddenly silent, and like a block of ice. The flames cut out as well, and while Allen is staring in some confused dread-- one of the doors slides open. His head jerks up in surprise, disbelieving to see Shouto there—but bigger (still small)? A child, maybe five years old, and gesturing for him with a concerned and animated expression. "You need to hurry. Otherwise the Blue Fairy will come back."

Blue fairy...? Allen looks down, still stunned and not quite processing. No baby, but the futon is still cold beneath his hands. Still covered in frost. His fingers clench and dig into the blankets for a moment, before he sees small bare feet next to him and blinks up with some surprise to find a hand stretched out to him. "You gotta hurry." ]

... [ Hesitantly, blinking again, he takes the young boy's hand and gets back up to his feet. No scar... ] Where are we supposed to go?

[ He gets no answer, just a bright sort of look that makes him falter for a moment seeing it coming from Shouto's face, and is tugged along. Into a long hallway that strikes him as familiar from the back corners of his mind as well, and moves uneasily as his instincts are still screaming at him that all of this is wrong. How much of this is... actually Shouto, and how much of this could be another trap of the demon's? The similarity to how Touya's soul is striking, that it was what seems to be the same sort of family home at their core, and that they would take the form of their child selves from an important and definitive moment... who knows about the logic of souls and inner worlds, but it's close enough he can't write it off as fully being a trap. Can't write the child pulling him along as not being Shouto himself, in a sense, or some part of him.

It's unsettling. Very unsettling, and he's at a loss for how to proceed and just lets himself be led along the long hallway. Until they pass rooms where muffled voices come from within, hard to hear much of (there's scuffling that sounds like fighting in some...?), but the occasional raised voice pierces through.

"Stop it, please! He's only five years old..."
"Yes, he's already five! So get out of my way!"

Allen jolts, recognizing neither voice, and stops at that. He's instinctively moving to open the door when the small hand holding his tugs in warning. Halted by his wide open, very serious and urgent expression. "You can't. The Blue Fairy will get you."

He's torn, looking back at the door and hearing the quiet sobs of the woman inside. But... it's a dream. Not actually real. He has to keep telling himself that. Either it's the demon trying to bait him, or... ... or, it's deeply locked memories, and that makes him hesitate, sobered, more than anything. He lets himself get pulled along, gripping that small hand more tightly in return, and gnaws on the inside of his lip. Even if no longer raging out of control, tattered, completely feathered edges of what was once his cloak but looks more like a broken, restless pair of wings now trail just behind them, not quite brushing along the wooden floor, and his left hand feels both numb and itchy -- but he pushes that from his mind for now. There are doors at the end of the hall-- is that where they're going...?

"Don't bully mommy!! Stop it! Don't be mean to her!"

Shouto's voice. The same voice of the child beside him, and he twists and pivots at that. The sound of crying, and a scuffle, a man bellowing, "Damnit, Rei—"

He's let go to wrench the door open, sliding it open with a bang only to find—none of the figures he would have expected? No one fitting those voices at least. Only a single figure that looms despite being the same height as him, its head cocked lazily to the side as it fixes a burning teal eye on him. Familiar. Touya-- Dabi. "I told you—

"Keep ya damn nose outta our family business." fwoosh. ]

!!! [ He throws himself clear as an explosive azure fireball would also mean to knock him off his feet and then burn them to cinders. Wings up and snapping around him on protective instinct, the flame slams into the opposite wall and billows down the hall, ripping across him in a superheated manner worse than the last time he encountered Dabi's flames in a spiritual world. Ch...

The door slams shut and the flames cut off as he reels momentarily, slightly dazed for a moment... before then jolting and confirming his left arm is still intact; his left side had taken the brunt of the heat. Ahhh... if it'd been his right arm, it might be gone... But wait. Shouto—

Alarmed, he looks around for the boy, only to find him once again extending his hand to him with that earnest, concerned expression. "I told you. The Blue Fairy will get you. You have to really hurry now." ]

...aah. You did. [ Con...fused, he takes his hand and gets slowly back up to his feet, looking around as they continue down the hall as if somewhat afraid Dabi would suddenly leap out. He asks the child-Shouto if these are memories then, but gets no answer other than an uneasy look and a tighter grip on his hand. It's more concerning, especially as they continue to pass more doors with more raised voices and more crying, each one tugging on every instinct Allen has to go in and stop it..., but he doesn't. He follows him through to the end of the hall, where the child lets go then and looks up at him. The sounds of fighting, louder and more violent-sounding this time, and Allen glances nervously towards it. "This is where you have to go. You have to trade me. For the other me in there..."

Shocked, he snaps back around to see the child-Shouto looking down at his feet, his voice starting to quaver. Bandages having appeared on his face. The left side. "...I'm scared." Oh.

At a loss, he drops to one knee and just reaches out wordlessly. To pull the small boy into a hug because how can you expect him to do something like that, saying it like he has to sacrifice you? Even if he's not real, not actually Shouto, and just part of some dream or demon's scheme... ]

It's alright. [ it's soft; heavy ] It's okay to be scared.

[ Crying against his shoulder is something he expects and just holds on somberly, his expression becoming gentle when the boy tries to stop and apologizes for being "weak". But eyes fluttering open wide when he continues to speak.

"Why was I born into this family...?" ]

... [ Pulling back to look at him, he's stricken. That doesn't come from some demon's creation meant to toy with his feelings. That locks hard into place with everything Touya had said before, suddenly crystalizing a lot of things and putting them into place. That's... ah, fuck.

He's silent for a long moment, so crestfallen and briefly at a loss, before he speaks quite gently. ]

...because if you weren't, you wouldn't become the same sort of person you are now. A good and gentle person who can understand the suffering of others.

[ He reaches out to place his good hand atop his head, ruffling the hair there so very lightly with a faint smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. Gentle and sober. ]

Even if it's painful. [ And even if it hurts him a lot too.

Child-Shouto pulls himself together though, sniffling stopping as he composes himself for a moment and gives a nod. "Could you please... open the door?"

Allen's hesitant for only a moment longer, before he nods and gets back up to his feet. He only has one good hand for the moment for a task like this, so the little boy grips the feathered edge of his "cloak" instead of his hand as he slides the door open. His breath catches when he does though, because in front of him, in some kind of training room lit up by fire enough to rival a hellscape-- ]

Shouto... [ His Shouto; has to be. And a man. A terrifyingly huge bear of one standing over him, with a silhouette that... it's familiar, even if it's also different... that's... "Look at me, Endeavor.

The beast form that Dabi took. ]

Shouto—! [ Panic rising, he springs forward and bangs into an invisible barrier that's there. He pounds against it for a moment, then slams his broken left hand against it without caring a whit for the pain. No effect. Keeps banging.

In his frenzy he almost doesn't notice when a small hand reaches and takes his again, but it still him immediately. Turning with a wide, stricken sort of expression to look down at child-Shouto who is still there, and who just turns and looks up at him with such a quiet, resigned sort of look with his one good eye. Ah... no...

Don't go...

He doesn't say it though; he knows he can't. It's just in his eye and how he squeezes tighter for a moment before the boy reaches out and begins to step into the room. The reverberating pulse from the trade pushing Allen momentarily back onto his heels and breaking his grip yet again. Shit. Shouto?!

He recovers, looking up to see the boy who had guided him standing in the room, his back to him now. But also— also there was Shouto's hand -- his Shouto's hand -- now reaching out towards him through the barrier.

And this time... he grabs his hand with certainty. ]

Don't worry, you can be his Princess.

[swellter]

Wake up! Shouto!

[ A loud booming voice bellows from above. His eyes snap open, skin prickling with goosebumps, recognizing that voice. ]

Father?!

[ Endeavor, younger than he remembers, looms above him with one hand cocked at his waist while the other holds a sword at his side with the tip on the wooden floor, looking indomitable. ]

You disgrace me, Shouto.

[ Hearing those familiar words, his skin turns cold, mouth sets into a thin line. ] You’re not real.

[ The sword swings up in one easy move and comes down with all the might of a Pro Hero in his prime. His eyes widen, and a wall of ice springs forth, protecting him from the deadly swing. Kizu! What’s going on?! The walls start to crack, and the sword is wrenched free, taking chunks of ice with it.

Protect yourself! Anything here can hurt you! Kizu warns, and Shouto leaps to the side when a second swing comes down on him, hacking the wall in half.

He stands across from his father, knees slightly bent, ready to throw out an attack from either side. ] I don’t want to hurt you.

You won’t. [ Endeavor stalks forward, sword scraping the ground behind him. ] You’re too weak. Always hiding behind your mother’s skirts. [ One strong arm, the bulk of which is larger than his two combined, points the tip of the sword at him, holding it steady. ]

That’s why I had to get rid of her. She weakened you. [ Firelight flickers across his hair. His jaw tightens. It’s the demon. It’s trying to get under your skin. ] Treating you like a child. Like you were Fuyumi or Natsuo. She could keep them. I even gave her Touya. But you. You were mine.

I’m not yours! I never was! [ Fire ripples down his left side, burning hotly. Don’t play into his game! ]

That’s right! [ He throws his head back and laughs wickedly. ] Burn, Shouto! Burn it all to the ground! This place you can’t let go of. It’s holding you back. Burn it! Become who you were always meant to be!

MINE!

I’M NOT YOURS!

[ Anger swells within him, and a fireball shoots across the training room, heading straight for Endeavor. His great Hellflame comes to life, absorbing the weak attack, while he laughs at him amid the blazing flame, dropping the sword to the ground. The tip cuts through the wooden floor, standing upright. He heads for Shouto, who hits him with another attack that quickly gets swept aside by his stronger flames.

The door to the training room slides open, but neither of them notices it. ]

I created you. Paid for you. Raised you. [ Every word cuts through to his core, fueling the fire while robbing him of breath. ] I’m a part of you.

[ He sets his hand on his shoulder, and Shouto slaps it away. His fire grows to match his father’s intensity, but he doesn’t throw out another attack. He stares up at him, eyes ablaze with their intensity barely kept in check. ]

I know.

Do you?

I know. [ He doubles down. ] You’re a part of me. [ He steps forward, facing down his father. ] But, I’m not you!

Then who are you?

[ He falters, staring wide-eyed at the simple question that clashes with so many parts of him right now it smothers his fire until it dies, and he’s enveloped in Endeavor’s red Helflame. ]

You don’t know, do you? [ He crosses his arms over his great chest. ] You wanted to be your mother’s son, but you were too weak to protect her, so I took her. Same with your brothers and sisters. Your little rebellion was child’s play. You were always too weak on your own, so you learned to rely on others. How do you expect to become a hero when you can’t stand up on your own two feet?

[ The attack comes in the form of a flame-powered punch to the sternum sending him flying across the room. ]

Take responsibility, Shouto!

[ Propelled forward by his flames, Endeavor’s at his side in moments and kicks him with enough force to slam him against the wall. ] You’re a disgrace. [ Shouto rolls onto his hands and knees, dry heaving from the pain, while he tries to get his breath back.] You couldn’t even stand up to Dabi?

[ Endeavor plucks him off the ground like he weighs nothing and slams him against the wall, holding him there. Dauntless in his lesson. ] How are you supposed to save him?! [ He can’t see. Can’t breathe. Kizu is frantic in his mind, but he can’t tap into his fire, not even his ice! ]

You can’t even take care of your demon. [ Endeavor punches him with his free hand, flames scouring his skin. ] You’re so weak you had to drag someone else into it. [ Another punch. ] How many times are you going to get him killed? [ Another still. ] How can you even call yourself a hero?!

[ The unflinching accusations continue to hook themselves inside his subconscious, eroding his resolve. ] What are you afraid of?! Tell me!

[ He grows dizzy from the hot flames, and blood drips on the ground. He doesn’t notice the figures at the door and the exchange that happens. He feels himself sliding into unconsciousness just as a hand closes over his, towing him out, and he lands on top of Allen, a bloody mess and shaking from the cold. ]

Guess the puppets back. [ Dabi drawls from behind. Blocking the corridor where Allen came from. ] I should do ya a favor and kill you here. Would ‘ya like that Shouto?

[ Endeavor appears at the doorway, no longer blocked by the invisible barrier. ] That’s my masterpiece.

Stand down, Dabi!

[ A psychotic grin spreads across Dabi’s mouth. He splays out his arms and cobalt blue flames rush down the corridor setting it ablaze. ] What don't remember my name? Think it might taint your precious reputation Hero. [ Screams burst out of the rooms. His mother. His sister. His brother. ]

Stop it! [ Shouto yells, pulling out of Allen’s grasp as Endeavor steps into the hallway burning with red flames that envelope the rest of the house. ]

[ Dabi steps forward, head dipped down in mock submission. ] Ya finally decided to face me! This is wonderful! We can all die together! [ Blue flames heighten in intensity, burning up Touya's skin, but he looks ecstatic. Overjoyed. Happy even. ] But first. [ He swings his focus to Shouto. ] The puppet!

[ Touya attacks his replacement, Endeavor defends his legacy, and Shouto yells, telling them to stop. Red and blue clash with Shouto and Allen caught in the crossfire. ]

Stop it!

[ But there’s no stopping it. His family burns. The foundation of his world starts to melt, and he, still unstable, can't even active his quirk to stop it.

Sorry.

Kizu bursts from his chest to do what he cannot.

A great DONG resonates through the castle, echoing the beginning of the end but not before Kizu saves what’s most dear to her Sleeper. The moment her paws hit the floor, a great storm of ice envelopes the castle, preserving it in crystalline blue. The screams stop, and father and son stand frozen in place, their immense firepower rendered useless in a single attack. Kizu turns around to face him, watching her Sleeper swing from heartache to something less somber.

The lights begin to flicker and the world turns black. The only light coming from Kizu who glows in the darkness like a beacon of hope. ]

Shouto. Remember who you want to become.

[ To Allen: ] Keep him safe.

[ A great slash suddenly appears across her winter coat, sending blood rippling in the air. It hits Shouto across his cheek, and he screams her name. Starts running to her side as the demon guts her in front of him, smearing its mouth with her blood, tossing her aside like a rag doll. In the fading light the thing that was once a Paleblood turns around and spreads its blackened arms, slick with blood, welcoming him home. ]

Mine.

how dare you point out his true nature as a shoujo protagonist

[likethelight]

[ What kind of situation is he in the middle of.

He'd be baffled just from if he wasn't more fearful for what it means. If he wasn't so desperately trying to hold onto Shouto, who he's unsure if he has his abilities back yet, as they're the only two he knows are real here. Them, and the demon. So even if Shouto tries to break free, goddamnit, he reaches out to grab him again as his cloak snaps up around them both. Even if it's no longer a cloak at all, just a massive set of restless wings that quickly fill the space and wind around them both protectively. Insulating from the heat, as Allen grits his teeth against the rising temperature. He's experienced both those flames before after all, and if Shouto's quirk isn't working to the extent where heat effects him like the cold before...

He blinks when it becomes that again though: cold. Head jerking up in some surprise as the feathers of his Innocence part and Kizu is standing there, painted against the frozen backdrop. His eyes widen for a moment is realization, gradual horror as the lights begin to flicker and dim. At that request of him. ]

Kizu... [ His left eye flares to life. Fuck.

Allen's stumbling back up to his feet as well as the demon appears, because maybe if he moved quick enough... But he isn't. She's carved up in front of him too, and he stares for a moment in rare stunned horror. At the demon now with a more humanoid form, and the limp remains of Kizu. An omen, who shouldn't even be able to be killed... was?

A manifestation of Shouto's soul?

Shouto screams and Allen snaps out of it, and this time he will bodily grab him if he must as he tries to rush forward, both arms winding around the other boy's middle. You might outweigh him by a good amount but he's a lot stronger than both he looks or a human should be, especially with his Innocence invoked, wild and unable to take its normal shape, and he braces himself to hold fast. ]

You can't! [ It's wrenched from Allen, his voice twisted up in emotion and the horror of what he's just witnessed too. Kizu asked this of him, don't throw that away immediately. ]

Not here! That's what it wants!

If the ice clown shoe fits... I guess we found our winner. Always knew you were the best Clown!

[swellter]

[ Allen’s cloak spreads from his back like rippling wings deflecting the fire that scorches every inch of his exposed skin. They sweep around him, parting the blaze while ribbons of light spin around his every limb, protecting him while holding him back. The firestorm batters against them, and Shouto holds onto Allen, insulated from the heat but not the screams that pour out of every closed door.

The screams spur him into action, and he struggles against the gentle hold of those wings, needing to stop them before they burn down everything. Every childhood memory embedded in this place created the foundation of his soul. His fear crystallizes in his omen, who personifies the very ice he always leaned on and halts the destruction while protecting his father and brother, immortalizing them in ice.

Eyes wide, fearful. Shouto hears Kizu’s words recognizing them for what they are - a goodbye. Before he can act, her blood sprays in the air, destroying a part of him so vital it's impossible not to go to her even if he knows the demon is waiting there for him. ]

Kizu!

[ Allen grabs him, and he struggles against him, failing to break free. Uncoordinated, struggling to breathe, his tears blur his vision. He can't even see her light as it dims, feeling like he’s losing a part of himself.

You can’t! Allen’s voice.

You can’t even take care of your demon. How can you even call yourself a hero?!... Take responsibility, Shouto!]

What are you afraid of?!

[ His father's disembodied voice is given life by his subconscious, echoing through the dark corridor, halting his struggles. It draws his mind away from the grief threatening to break him down and despite the growing pool of blood, he knows this is important. What was he... He looks at Kizu's dimming light. ]

... Losing anyone else.

Ya finally decided to face me! [ Touya's voice this time, and Shouto looks around, holding onto Allen, no longer struggling against him but taking comfort in his presence. ]

I don't-- I don't want to lose anyone else!

[ He pleads, voice hoarse as he admits what he's been holding back ever since finding Touya in that field of blue and held onto Allen's dying form. He tuns his head to look at him, fingers squeezing his hand. ]

I don't want to lose you.

[ A rushing sound, like a blizzard raging in the mountain. A wave of power, like an erupting volcano spewing its contents into the world. Fire and ice sill from his form. Scorching his left side, freezing his right. Skin unburnt by frost or flame contains the inferno of his quirk, and a wall of ice and fire blasts forward, driving the demon back. It shrieks with hate hitting the back wall of the corridor held there by raw power.

Shouto blasts himself to Kizu's side, dropping down to his knees to pick up her great form. Blood streams down his arm, but she's still with him. Still holding on and that alone drives him forward. A door slams open and a younger version of him steps through the door. ]

Through here!

[ He insists, calling them over, his mismatched eyes quickly looking where his older self trapped the demon with his ice and fire. Shouto doesn't question himself and carries Kizu inside even as he hears the ice crack and the demon let out a bellow of hate. ]

Close the door!

[ He tells Allen as he sets Kizu on the ground to help him keep the demon at bay. He uses his ice again, reinforcing the door as something powerful slams against it rattling the hinges. ]

We need to hide her!

[ He tells his younger self who quickly nods and tries to pull the large snow leopard into the room. The moment he touches her, her form grows smaller, and the light concentrates, growing brighter. His younger self lets go long enough to see her stop transforming before grabbing her bulk - still too much for him - as the door gets blown off its hinges, and the demon is there at the door, its beady red eyes staring straight through the ice at its prize. ]

Help him!

[ He tells Allen, as he slams his hands on the ice, now the only thing blocking entrance into the room, and shoots off another wave of ice that the demon physically breaks through with raw power, but so long as Shouto keeps generating the ice it can't move forward, only keep its placement. ]

This way! [ His younger self grabs Allen’s hand to help him move the juvenile snow leopard. ] She’ll be safe here. [ He points to the futon, where a moving form moves under a blanket. ]

It's scared of me like this because I can't control my power.

[ He pulls the blanket, revealing the baby from before. It stares at them bluntly with a little pout on his mouth, his tiny feet kicking out once or twice, disturbed by the loud noise.

Outside, another loud hit of the gong reverberates through the castle, and the demon crushes the ice faster than Shouto can generate it. It gains on him, breaking through even as Shouto grows numb from the ice. It reaches for him, the ice no longer stopping him. His palpable fear as it grabs his collar and drags him forward spurs the baby into tears, and he wails his little lungs out. Tiny fists hit the futon, rocking the foundation of the castle. Cracks form in the bedrock, spreading with every fist that hits the soft futon, carried to every corner of the house by little cries of power. Moonlight streams in from every crack, driving the demon back when a soft moonbeam hits its arm, burning it to ash.

Shouto scrambles back as the world goes silent. Moonlight streams through the room, bathing the baby in light, calming him down. He fusses, reaches for Kizu, and when its tiny hand touches Kizu, she transforms a second time into a small cub no more than two feet long. Immediately the baby latches onto her, holding on tightly while her wounds heal in the moonlight. Swallowing his fear, Shouto adds another layer of ice to the door before joining them, watching Kizu held tightly within her sleeping protector's small arms. The baby makes little noises, pleased by the new addition. ]

She'll be safe here. [ His five-year-old self tells them. ] I'll watch over them.

[ Shouto watches the scene, a great sense of relief filling his limbs. Kizu's light is bright now, no longer bleeding. He can feel her still. No longer a fluttering echo, but steady. ]

You take care of her. [ He tells his younger self, who nods quietly. His small arms settle between his legs as he looks at the two older ones. ]

How do we get out of here?

Find the blue flower. It's the only way out.

[ Shouto leans down and hugs his younger self, who immediately melts into the hug, his small hands gripping his vest. ] Please make them stop.

[ Whether he's talking about the demon, his father, or Touya is anyone's guess, but Shouto nods nonetheless. ] I will. I promise.

[ He turns to the sleeping baby, who now has a frozen snot bubble coming out of the right side of his nose. The scene somehow breaks the tension in the room, rekindling the hope he'd lost. It burns softly in his heart where Kizu used to be, and he leans down to kiss the top of their heads. Their noses wrinkle in unison, and a little pout pulls at the baby's mouth as it grabs onto the little snow leopard a little more tightly. ]

It’s my turn to protect you. You rest here as long as you need.

[ He tells the sleeping cub that glows intensely in the moonlight. He grabs Allen's hand then and pulls him to the door leaving his omen in the care of his younger self. ]

Sorry for dragging you into this.

[ He says as he starts melting a hole in the ice to let them pass. He'll refreeze it when they're through and push through the corridor now gleaming with beams of moonlight from the cracks in the castle. ]

</3 </3 </3 all his debts are now yours, congratulations

[likethelight]

[ Even if you struggle against him and even if he understands exactly how painful that is as this is some horrific twist of a role-reversal from the time Lenalee held him back from a doomed attempt to save someone... he's not letting go. In large part because it doesn't occur to him that destruction to the world and representations of others would cause any lasting damage beyond the horror of witnessing it. To him it's a dream construct, like how Road would try to use dreams to break someone's mind, or just a mirror of some deeper part of oneself. They don't have lasting impact beyond what the experience itself imparts, that's how he's understood dream worlds from his own life.

A foolish misunderstanding maybe, but.

He stills a little when he hears that booming voice echo again, what are you afraid of, and notices how Shouto still too. Grip loosening a little as he realizes that's something important and there's a shift in his demeanor. Because, "losing anyone..."

If there's anything Shouto could have said for Allen to get it and not want to stand in his way, it's that. He's a little stunned by it, even if none of that is exactly surprising, and his expression delicate. Even moreso when he continues on and reaffirms it a different way, saying "I don't want to lose you."

He stares, legitimately surprised that time, and briefly forgetting the situation until realizing Shouto is squeezing his hand and he clutches his own in return with a crystalline, delicate but somewhat distraught expression. Something important just happened, he recognizes that even before sensing the power building up in the other. He blinks. The heart. Power is recognized and shaped by the heart, by its decisions--

He lets go and steps back as Shouto's powers roar back to life. No, more than that, as he hasn't seen him use both fire and ice at the same time before and it has him briefly throw his hands up in front of his face as a shield. Blinking at its effect; the demon, a beast, thrown back that easily...

Shouto goes to Kizu and while Allen braces to go after the demon, his younger self also appears again, prompting a surprised look from him. Both of them in existence at the same time? He doesn't question it though, hearing the demon bellow, and holds the door open for him as he carries Kizu through. ] Hurry!

[ He does as he's directed as the conflict wears on, slamming the door shut behind them until he needs to help carry Kizu to the futon (she's still alive? she is an omen, but--). The same futon, where he's shocked again to be confronted by yet another Shouto, the baby he first discovered. Three... there are three Shoutos?

It's a little surreal for him. He can't even begin to process it or anything else that's going on, what any of it means, and won't until much later. He feels naked without his left arm being able to properly form too, even if he's stood and is ready to fight when it seems to be breaking through, and when it does and grabs Shouto by the collar he doesn't really care and lunges forward too with an angry cry, a kamikaze whirl of molted shards of light-- ]

...! [ The baby Shouto, thumping its fists like a gong of its own that cracks the very world around them apart-- even Allen stumbles, losing his footing for a moment as moonlight pierces through and washes the room in a bright silvery glow. The demon (the beast), it hurts it as well--

He stares, first at Shouto who seems fine if rattled now and where the demon had been, to the child and now-baby leopard cuddling in the futon, and then down to his own hands. His left-- it's knitting back into a more proper shape in the moonlight. The black and white it should be in this state, and the restless and ragged wings wrapping down form his shoulders start to coalesce back into Crown Clown's normal shape and his cloak. It always repairs itself on its own, his Innocence, but this doesn't feel like that. More like the moonlight and the child too...

He looks back up as Shouto leans over and kisses the two sleeping infants, one human and one animal, blinking for a moment and staring outright. Such a tender scene, but... so very strange too as it's also himself. He blinks, caught, attempting to process that for a moment before realizing no, it's not something he can process right now, and Shouto moves to take his hand. He squeezes it in return, but it's distracted. His response to that apology, however, is not. ]

I want to be here. [ So don't you dare try to brush him aside or say this is all on you. He knows what that's like. And... he feels like this is also partially his fault.

He says it so very gently though, soft and like his thoughts are elsewhere. Paying attention still though; he doesn't think the demon was vanquished that easily as they're still here, and he's listening with his eye for anything that might signal its reappearance.

He's not letting go, lacing his once again Innocence-gloved fingers with Shouto's and helping pull him along too as much as he is also pulled as they run down the hall. Squeezing tighter for a moment, demeanor somber but gentle. ]

Why is the flower so important...? [ You'd reacted before too, when you first saw it. ]

Debts are easier to handle than family issues. He'll just turn to modeling~

[swellter]

[ Despite what his father told him in that room, he’s never considered his reliance on his friends a weakness. They’re important to him. Watching them fight through the obstacles unique to them gives him courage to face his own demons. They’ve always been there when he needed them. If not by his side, then in spirit. Their support has always meant the world to him. Pushing him beyond his limit with encouragement. So, even if he apologizes for getting Allen into this, he won’t tell him to go away. Won’t brush him off or hide him away from danger. That’s not how Hero’s operate. That’s not how he operates. They made a promise, one he won't soon forget.

Shouto apologizes to him while he leads them through the corridors, but Allen's quick response without an ounce of hesitation derails his thoughts, and he slows down, stopping under a moonbeam. It warms him to have someone on his side who can face the mess his family has made of itself and still want to help him. He brings Allen into the light where they're safe, so he can give an honest answer without feeling rushed. ]

I want you here too.

I don’t think I could have brought anyone else.

[ Not without having to explain so much about his past. As for the flower, Shouto thinks he deserves an answer, even if he doesn’t fully understand it himself. ]

It’s my mother’s favorite flower, Rindou. I read about them to try and get to know her better and I think the meaning stuck with me.

I love you who are sad.
Grieving your love.
Lonely affection.

The meaning comes from how it grows alone, separate from other flowers.

[ Just like him, growing up away from his siblings. Loving them, yet being sad because he couldn't be with them, separated from them, growing up alone. ]

There are other meanings too. Justice, sincerity, intrinsic worth. Valuing someone for their own sake not for their objective worth.

[ All of which describe him fairly accurately. Then there's the fact that he dislikes being noted for his quirk, lineage, or worth as a hero instead of simply Shouto. There’s a reason why he chose his hero name as Shouto instead of a flashy name that described his abilities. He doesn’t want to be known for his quirk anymore than he wants to be known as Endeavor’s son. He wants to be seen for himself. To be valued for himself. ]

That’s all I know.

[ He tells him, taking a moment to take a quick assessment of his state. He turns his hand over in his and brings his Innocence-gloved hand up to the light, examining it. ]

Did it heal?

modeling... /stares at stripper Allen, which is in fact omake canon re: his debts

[likethelight]

[ Allen's a touch uneasy at first when Shouto stops and pulls him to the side, uncertain even in the moonlight and even with his left eye if they may be ambushed again. He stops and looks at him in quiet surprise when he speaks though, forgetting his uneasiness for the moment. I don't think I could have brought anyone else.

He blinks, posturing loosening and not so wary, and glances down at their hands for a moment before stepping closer and squeezing a little tighter as he talks about the flower. That... it sounds like you. But while that meaning is poetic, yes... but he thinks, didn't you maybe gloss by the more important part? They were your mother's favorite. She protected you and you wanted to protect her. He can barely take in everything properly and will have to think about it later as it comes, having realized that this nightmare was your childhood and not just some fabricated horror, but that much was so obvious. She had to have been the female voice he heard. So if it was her flower and she was so important to you, like Mana had been to Allen...

He breathes out, watching as Shouto turns his fully-gloved hand over to inspect it before Allen lifts his left up to glance at it again, in its activated claw form and no longer looking shattered and fragmenting apart or wild and feathered. He flexes the long claws for a moment. ]

It did when the moonlight came back. [ When it came back feeling stronger than before, more pure. His whole cloak glows more blindingly silver-y white under it too, seeming to absorb and reflect the moonlight back. But his attention to himself is fleeting and cursory, eyes sliding back to Shouto and how his attention is on his hand -- and he lifts it up slightly. His right hand, tugging gently free to rest his palm against the other's cheek lightly. Cool-warm from the divine energy woven into light that's taken tangible form.]

Before... I'm sorry too. I left you alone without realizing you were going through this.

[ He hesitates, fingers brushing lightly against his temple along the outline of his scar. ]

If I'd known... I wouldn't have. [ But he should have known, and then maybe things would have been different.

He hesitates for a long moment, expression so very soft and somber yet hard to read; shoulders back, posture held in a delicate elegance and curved like his claws before he speaks again. ]

...What room here would be your mother's? [ Because, if there's anywhere that would be the destination, a safe harbor... ]

For that flower.

Modeling like commercials! Not stripping! Allen! Your debts aren't that bad!!

[swellter]

[ The wings take the form of a cloak this time, glowing brighter than the moonlight. Exorcists... wasn't that some kind of divine power? He doesn't believe in gods and goddesses, but he believes in Allen. In his fortitude and will. The touch at his cheek feels like a part of him he's only felt in battle, curbed here, meant to calm not strike. It feels warm and cool with a hint of snowfall, he leans into it, and the divine energy runs along his cheekbones and into his hair. His skin prickles from the electric touch, finding peace in the dark. ]

You didn't leave me. [ He meets his eyes, temple furrowing when his fingers pass over it, disliking that implication. ] We kept in contact.

What happened wasn't your fault, and it wasn't mine. Just because someone's vulnerable doesn't give anyone the right to attack them.

I'm not infallible, Allen. [ Dual-toned eyes shine with confidence as he tightens his hold on his left hand, the unbreakable one. ] And neither are you.

I'll be there when you break. [ Waiting beneath the cherry blossoms, if need be. ] Like you're here for me now. That's what it means to cherish someone.

[ Said firmly, without question. A given, simply put. He may not know the indelicacies of conversation. May falter finding the right words to describe what he feels, but he finds them now, and they ring true even when plucked from the air without the grace of tact.

Allen hesitates, and Shouto waits for him to find the words he's searching for when he brings up his mother's room. He blinks, caught off guard by the shift in conversation. His thoughts shift abruptly too. Years of training make the transition seamless. Already praising Allen's simple yet elegant logic. I should have thought of that. No matter. It's the best bet they have. ]

This way.

[ They leave the light and head down the corridor with a monster in hot pursuit. Not the demon but one of its nightmares. It clings to the walls, running after them. Its tongue snatches his foot, and he burns it off before he's dropped to the ground. ]

Go ahead of me, I need to use my fire!

[ He warns Allen as he swings an arm back and sends a fireball that leaves the hallway ablaze with shrieks of pain. At least he can see them now, a curse more than a blessing. They run past several doors where his childhood memories are safely stored until Shouto spots a familiar set of shoji doors and points them out to Allen. 'There!' He lets Allen open them and runs inside after him, thrusting out another fireball before switching to ice to block the entrance. The nightmares strike the glacier but don't stop there. The ceiling starts to shake, and a slick tongue grabs him by the arm dragging him up. He instantly freezes it in place without holding back and breaks off his hand from its tongue, dropping back down onto the tatami mats. The creature shatters instantly, shards of frozen flesh dropping to the ground. ]

Check if it's here.

[ He tells Allen as he slams his foot down and starts generating ice at a rapid pace to force the nightmares back. More keep hitting the ice, vanishing in the dark to attack from another angle. Soon, more follow the first creature's example and invade the ceiling. He freezes it in place, keeping them out, but soon they'll start coming from the floorboards, but he can't destroy the contents of the room without finding the flower first. ]

Found anything?

[ On the windowsill lies a simple vase with two blue rindou (aka autumn bellflowers) quietly displayed; one for each of them. ]

1/2 :) :) :) not that bad, you say...

[likethelight]

[ It isn't quite that simple; if he'd seen him in person sooner, he would have noticed the thing on his back that surely had to have been there for more than just a day for things to get this bad. It feeds like a tick, that much is obvious. That's part of his curse; the responsibility that comes with a power like that and feeling like you need to be everywhere at once. Why it takes him up in the middle of the night. That's why Allen's expression flickers a little guiltily as Shouto talks. Because he does get that, but...

That's what it means to cherish someone. He blinks, so utterly flummoxed for a moment that even the guilt drops straight off him and just leaves him looking caught. Can't even find the words for an answer, only his breath that comes out as a stunned little puff. You... just going ahead and saying something like that--

...Honestly. He just laughs a little sheepishly; helplessly. Fondly. Some weird mix of relief and happiness that bubbles up because really, you just hauled off and said something like that here (is this what his own medicine tastes like?) with the first actual smile he's had since this whole ordeal started. But I want to have this conversation later, not here, and it's why he asks about his mother. He just gives a nod then, still with a faint ghost of a smile, before following Shouto when he says 'this way.' ]

Mn. [ It's certain; refreshed. ]

I want to go home together.

2/2

[likethelight]

[ In their flight down the hall, he's quick to reach out and grab Shouto's arm the moment the creatures start to appear from the darkness. If the reason isn't obvious from the dread serious expression Allen now has or that his left eye has once again transformed to black and red, it would be from the simple and blunt warning, 'behind.'

Going ahead goes against every instinct he has which says to stand and fight, but he himself said it before that it would be bad to do that here where it seems like they can just spawn infinitely from the darkness. He's the one better equipped to fight creatures of darkness after all, but this hallway isn't ideal for him to do much more than make a last stand in so he grimaces hard and obliges. Doesn't like it though, and he's ready to leap back into the teeth of those creatures in a second if there's the slightest falter.

It's in the contested way he meets his eye briefly when they're trying to hold the door, before relenting and breaking away to look for the flowers. Damnit... where would they--?

--a vase on a windowsill is very obvious even to Allen, so it doesn't take long. Especially as the window is the only source of the moon outside coming in. He whips around when he spots them, shouting over his shoulder. ]

Two of them, here! In the window! [ He doesn't want to risk grabbing them in case something happens that separates them though, best that they each do so at the same time, but...

Looking back, he can also see what look like oily shadows dripping up through the floorboards beneath Shouto's feet. Coalescing back into their original shapes, and he jerks forward. ]

Shouto! [ Panicked. Not a lot he can do since they can't have a protracted fight and they don't look solid enough to hit, but... they hate light?

First strike. He slashes down through the air with a single claw. Second strike-- he draws a line across it and completes a glowing cross in the air, shimmering bright, brighter, brightest in the room with a bluish-white moonlight quality as it forms an ethereal shield in the air. It throws the room into momentary brilliance that banishes the shadows with... not a pained hiss, actually, but a gentle death rattle sigh. Buying a few seconds. ]

The flower!

[swellter]

[ The floorboards start to shake, and he grits his teeth, wavering between slamming down a bed of ice versus precise strikes. Without knowing where the flowers are, he can't risk destroying the room, not that the nightmares will give him much of a choice once they get through. But he wavers for too long, indecision costing him precious seconds.

Allen is there, striking down the creatures below with his clawed hand. Shouto swings away from the spot giving him room to maneuver while he spots the flowers on the windowsill, just as Allen said. He makes a run for them, trusting Allen to hold his own, and reaches the vase in time to catch the second attack, completely different than anything he's seen from him before.

He stares in awe, caught by the beauty of the shield, brighter than the moonlight. Pristine in its glory, it's too much for him, and he has to look away or be blinded by divine light. Hearing the command, he grabs the vase and dashes to his side. ]

Take it!

[ Hooking an arm around Allen's stretched-out arm - in case the demon tries to separate them again - Shouto seizes the shorter stem, leaving the one on top for Allen. The moment they touch the blue petals, they're plunged into a sea of tranquility, floating calmly amid gentle waves that lap at them, transporting them to the garden of rindou flowers they first glimpsed when they entered the castle.

When they wake, they lay in a bed of red flowers with a few blue dispersed through the garden. Darkness lies all around them, kept at bay by the moonlight now stretching further into the room from the cracked foundations of the castle. ]

How long are you going to fight this?

[ The demon's voice declares, speaking in an ancient tongue of malice that crawls up his spine, slithering into his ear. His skin breaks out in goosebumps, and he looks out into the void catching movement in the dark. ]

I'm going to erase you.

How? When you're running out of time. Look up, Paleblood.

[ Above them, the moon has started its descent, changing the angle of light that streams in until they're left in darkness. ]

When the light abandons you. Will you come willingly or do you want to watch your evening star go out?

[ Evening star? Confused, he doesn't see the attack until the creature launches itself into the garden, snapping it's teeth at Allen only to be repelled by the light, its skin burning. On instinct, Shouto shoots out a wall of fire that reveals an army of beasts waiting in the dark. Their great tails rattle at the onset of light and they screech in otherworldly tones as the fire dies out, hiding them in the dark. ]

[likethelight]

[ When the demon's voice booms around them, Allen breathes out slowly and stands. Uneasy and wary, the voice doesn't rattle him (this is his life, after all, just within someone else's mind at the moment) but his left eye is reacting and reacting hard to... everything all around them? It's fuzzy and hard to distinguish.

A creature leaps at him from the dark and he startles, recoiling, but also backhands it with a sharp crack of his left hand even as the moonlight begins to burn it. Please, his reflexes are at the level where he can catch a bullet if his guard is up, it's going to need to do a lot better. He twists around as Shouto lights up the distance, as the reason for his left eye feeling overwhelmed suddenly makes sense. There's so many of them the corruption from them bleeds together into one huge presence...

Also reacting on instinct, his claws light up suddenly with a series of small silver crowns that adorn them like rings. Legs braced, twisting about— ]

Please duck. [ To Shouto, calmly. Before the crowns multiply and his foot twists, pivoting and sending hundreds of them streaming out in an explosive barrage all around them. Lightly up the dark briefly in holy radiance and a series of exploding lights and monster screams as they're momentarily driven back.

He gives a small, annoyed huff. ]

Noisy...

[ He turns to Shouto though as he straightens, his expression stern and serious but his tone gentle. ]

It isn't out there, the beast. [ Even amidst all those corrupted entities--the demon is different. It has a soul, even if one so degraded he can't make it out, and his eye would never miss that. ] But I can sense it, close by.

[ Muted, though? ] Almost like it's...

[ He blinks, looking down. His eye is buzzing and screeching in his head even if there isn't a distinct picture. ]

...below us?

[swellter]

[ He doesn't question it. He simply drops to one knee, giving him room to attack. The rings of light are new, but that too, he doesn't linger on, not while they're in the middle of a killing field. He's still on the ground when Allen looks down, and Shouto follows his eyes to the flower bed.

Below us? His head snaps up at him. ]

Are you sure? [ If it's below them, then they can reach it. ] It might be imprisoned there.

[ He looks down at the garden covered in his mother's favorite flowers. Even trapped, it grew strong enough to leak into the world, but if it was here, then... ]

It has nowhere to escape this time. If we can find it, we can destroy it.

[ Creating a shard of ice, Shouto starts digging. Uprooting the flowers feels like destroying a part of himself, but it's different from what he felt when they were in the replica of his childhood home. This felt like razing a field to get rid of an infection. A necessary evil that would heal with time.

Six feet down, they hit a solid object, and a little more digging reveals a white coffin with a viewing window. Shouto stills, disturbed by the sight. He doesn't want to touch it but reaches forward anyway and opens the wooden window. Inside lies a princely version of him, fast asleep with a book on his chest. A thin piece of glass separates the sleeping figure from the outside world. If Allen SEES with his eye, he'll see something dark and twisted wrapped around him lovingly, possessively. Humanoid in shape, it stares back at him with the quiet confidence of a predator who's ensnared its prey.

Blind to the demon twisted around his heart, Shouto tries to peer inside, unaware of the pair of eyes following his every movement. If they try to pry open the casket, they'll find it frozen shut. Wrapped around its prize, the demon ignores them to settle back with its Sleeper. Its dark shapely fingers run through his hair while the incarnation of Shouto's heart slumbers, unaware. The pane of glass filters the moonlight insulating it from its effects. The demon seems unruffled by their presence. The fact that the moonlight has cut across a third of the garden likely has something to do with it. The monsters outside have started to trample the flowers without consequence.

Pleased by their progress, it waits. Now that they've dug it out of its prison, it'll be able to leave once the light is gone. After all, it's easier to leave a heart than enter one. So it waits. ]

[likethelight]

[ If we can find it, we can destroy it. By all means, the turn of events is one that Allen should find relieving, but he can only nod mutely with a worried expression and help him dig. Destroying evil... that's what Exorcists do. Destroy the evil to save the humanity, the soul; the good. This is entirely in his wheelhouse in theory, and yet... something is off. If this was a physical fight... well, a spiritual-turned-physical fight in a dream... yes, it would be that. And yet the entire way this has unfolded, not the tricks and mindgames of the demon, but the way that Shouto's own subconscious seemed to nudge them...

Is it really about just a fight? His instincts are saying no. It's more than that. But he can't quite place his finger on it, either.

Ironically, this isn't his first time digging up a coffin. By the time they're halfway down he's kind of gotten an uneasy sense that's what it might be, and while he isn't as disturbed by it as Shouto he certainly doesn't like it either, lingering restlessly next to him when he moves to open the window. His expression drops, eyes widening. ]

It's... you? [ Another representation of him? No, more than that. He's quick to reach for Shouto's shoulder, to grip it tight but gentle because that has to be unsettling, but he's distracted even as he does so. Peering deeper into the coffin even if he doesn't move physically forward as something seems to click in his head then--

His eye shifts and focuses, bringing the demon into sight in a way that makes him want to gag in disgust for a moment at that mockery of affection. He doesn't though and digs the claws of his left hand into as close a shape to a fist as he can manage, posture so tight he's trembling lightly with the repressed rage of a dog on a leash. His grip on Shouto's shoulder also tightens. ]

It's there. [ His voice is tight, jaw working for a moment as his eyes narrow back at the demon. If he could just use his sword safely--

If it worked as it was supposed to, like he'd thought it would before, and just cut that thing away without harming him--

Just ram it straight through the coffin in one go-- ]

Inside.

[swellter]

[ He's accepted every version of himself they've encountered so far. They're like Kizu, embodying different aspects of him, and he's long accepted himself to feel any sort of turmoil. The one in the coffin is him, just like his child-version who led them to safety and the baby who brought down the castle. It might have been a daunting task if he was still the person he was at the start of UA, but he's grown since then. Learned to accept himself, so Allen doesn't need to worry. He's long past being afraid of himself. It's his path forward that he finds daunting now. ]

Allen? [ He touches his claw, feeling him tremble. ] What's wrong?

[ The hand on his shoulder strengthens its grip, and his eyes snap down to the casket. ]

Inside?!

[ He lets go of him to search through the window, trying to get a glimpse of something out of place, but it's no use. The demon has entwined itself around his heart so tightly, he's blind to it. ]

Love is blind.

[ His mother's voice echoes through the room, and the creatures hiss and snap at each other, sewing chaos. More than a few fights break out. ]

Mom?!

[ He stands, searching around the room for a glimpse of her, stopping short of the darkness. Frantic, he throws out another fireball to glimpse into the dark, which only incites the creature's ire, and a long tail snaps forward, knocking him off his feet. ]

What's the state of this castle Shouto?