Coming for the Crown

Twelve

We're really going through there, huh?"

Mina puffed out her cheeks, glaring out over the wasteland in front of them. The group had managed to cross the LOV border without incident, but it quickly became apparent that there was a reason for that. Clearly, the LOV Empire was confident in the ability of their acid swamp to keep unwanted people away. 

"Well, anyone got any ideas?"

Bakugo turned to glare at a smiling Uraraka, who had turned to look back at the group. Todoroki was staring out over the land in front of them, his brows furrowed in thought. Then, the prince raised his hand, pointing out over the wasteland in front of them. 

"I may know a way we can get across. But it'll take some doing."

Bakugo scoffed, but the others nodded, turning their full attention to Todoroki. The prince crouched on the ground, picking up a stick and drawing in the dirt at their feet. The others kneeled on the ground around him, and after frowning slightly, Bakugo did the same.

"We need to cross the wasteland as quickly as possible. We don't know what Izuku could be going through right now, so we need to reach him soon." Todoroki looked up, glancing at each of the Takami kingdom members in turn. "You all have done a lot for us already. If you would like, you could go home."

"Are you kidding? Quitting now would be so unmanly!"

"Ya!" Mina clapped her hands together, looking confident. "We can't give up on Zuku, not when we could be helpful! Speaking of helpful, I may be able to add something to your plan." Mina raised one of her hands, carefully raising it over a small pool of acid near them. The acid flowed upwards out of the pool in the ground, swirling around the pink haired girls hand. 

Bakugo looked at Mina's face, shocked. The girl's eyes had gone black, the only color being her yellow pupils. Todoroki, Uraraka, and Iida all looked as confused as Bakugo felt, but Kaminari snapped his fingers, smiling.

"That's right! I forgot about who your mom was, Mina!"

Mina smiled, releasing her hold on the acid. It fell with a plop back into the puddle, sloshing slightly. "That's right. My mother was a water nymph, and I got a little bit of her power. Though mine works better with acid than with water."

Todoroki's shocked expression changed into a smile. "Well, that's good to know. You can help immensely." Then the prince turned his gaze to Uraraka, watching her as she bounced in place. "Ochako, I think you can be helpful in my plan too. You're getting really good with your floating magic, right?" 

Uraraka nodded energetically, squeezing the gnarled staff in her hands. "Oh, yay, I'm part of the plan!" Then the brunette's expression turned confused. "Wait, what is the plan?"

Todoroki smiled before turning back to face his dirt map. The prince had sketched out a map of the swamp in front of them, and he had carved a path through all of the land that they could see. 

"We want to be as careful as possible, so we have to take as many of the land paths as possible. When we need to cross through the swamp, I'm gonna need the two of you to push all of the acid out of the groups way. Do you think you can do that?"

Mina smiled, nodding. Uraraka clapped her hands together, bouncing up and down. "Of course!"

Todoroki nodded, smiling. "Alright. Then let's go." 

It took a day to get across the swamp, and the whole group was exhausted by the end of the journey. They flopped down onto the dead grass on the other side of the wasteland, yawning and breathing heavily. 

"Well, that was fun," Uraraka said, her voice coming out in a tight, high pitched voice. "Let's never do that again. Now if you'll excuse me." The brunette stood up, quickly walking over to a dead bush before throwing up into it. 

"I agree with Ura," Jirou said, sighing and leaning against a tree. "That sucked, and I didn't even have to do any heavy lifting. We could probably rest for a bit before-" Jirou froze, tilting her head sideways.

"What-" Kaminari started, but Jirou clapped a hand over his mouth, screwing her eyes up in concentration. 

"Do you hear that?"

Kirishima stood up slowly, glancing around nervously. "Where is it coming from?"

Jirou raised a hand, her eyes still shut tight. Slowly, she pointed towards a bush near Bakugo. As the blonde turned, he noticed that the dead leaves on the bush were shaking. 

"What the-"

Something leapt from the bush, landing on Bakugo's chest and knocking him backwards. As the others scrambled to their feet, yelling, Bakugo stared up at the yellow eyes blinking down at him.

"Really, Eij?"

Bakugo sat up, scowling as he pulled the small red dragon off of him. The others calmed down, settling back onto the ground. Kirishima reached out, petting the little dragon on the head.

"Aww, did mini Eij follow us all the way from home?"

"Ya, well they weren't supposed to." Bakugo scowled at Mina, who seemed to have found interest in her shoes. "Because they were supposed to be locked up in your shop."

"Well, I felt bad about putting him in a cage, soooo..." Mina glanced up, looking at Bakugo with pleading eyes. The blonde scoffed, turning away and plopping Eij on the ground. 

"Well, they're here now. And maybe they can be helpful to us later," Todoroki said, smiling as he watched the little dragon roll in the dead grass, chirping happily. 

"Ya, sure," Bakugo scoffed, leaning his back against a rock. "You all should get some sleep. Tomorrow might be hard. I'll take first watch." 

The others nodded, slowly drifting off as Bakugo stared into the dark forest around them.

We're getting closer.

Hold on a little longer, Izuku.

....................................................................................................................

(A/N) I've been re watching Demon Slayer and I forgot how much I love  the art style. Just everything about it is so great. And Inosuke is my baby.