Ashes of Love and War - TodoMomo

||Chapter 12 ~ Part 3||

Aizawa stiffened. She could see his lips press into a thin line. Then his shoulders slumped, and he let out a low, tired sigh. "Yes."

It felt like she had been slapped. Momo squeezed her eyes shut as a sickening wave of dysphoria churned in her stomach. She should have been prepared; if she had only known, she could have done more. How could any creature deliberately target a child? Then again, the world they lived in had little love for half-blood monsters. Even the gods scorned them. The world was cruel, she should know that. Aizawa's orphanage was an exception, not the rule.

Momo swallowed thickly and opened her eyes to stare at Aizawa. "Why?" Her voice shook on the word.

Aizawa turned his hands over, studying the blood that the towel hadn't absorbed.

The silence stretched. Momo had assumed he wouldn't answer by the time he finally spoke again. "The stymphalian have heard that they can turn back into humans if they eat the blood of a special half-monster child..."

"I want Master Aizawa," Eri had mumbled into her shoulder only a few weeks ago as she woke plagued by terrors.

Momo's stomach plummeted at the memory. All those nightmares about being eaten and torn apart — they weren't just a child's imagination. The fear was real, and Momo had dismissed it.

She brought a hand up to touch her throat. "And they think that child is Eri?" she forced out. It felt like a boulder had pressed down on her chest.

Aizawa nodded faintly and turned to look at her. "It's not true," he said firmly. His eyes flashed. "There is no way for them to return to normal, but someone has tricked them, and they've been attacking us ever since."

"Do you have any ideas why? Who would trick them like that? It's so cruel."

Aizawa shook his head and looked back at Eri. "I have some ideas... but can't prove it. At least not yet."

Momo swallowed and stared at him as silence descended upon them. She didn't know what to think. To learn that they had been attacking the orphanage almost constantly for a month to obtain Eri shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was. And, with the addition of someone else directing the stymphalian, there was too much to think about.

"I can take care of Eri for now. You should go check on everyone else," she finally said.

Aizawa turned to face Momo. She breathed deeply and folded her hands in front of her. "The other children will be worried, and the men are hurt. They need you." She tried to force herself to smile.

Aizawa closed his eyes and sighed heavily, like someone admitting defeat. He ran a hand down his face, then looked at her. "Come to my room with the others when you are done. We can go over the new plan."

Momo nodded. Aizawa stood up and straightened his clothes. Then he gave her a hard look. "And don't work yourself too hard, Yaoyorozu. We can't afford to lose anyone else," Aizawa said, moving past her to the door.

Momo stiffened at his words. It almost sounded like a reproach, as if he didn't trust her. Momo bit her bottom lip and listened to the door open behind her. Aizawa's footsteps were heavy, like the weight of his task was too heavy for him.

She shook her head; she was being ridiculous. He knew what she was capable of — his words had been a general statement, she reminded herself. It wasn't that he blamed her for Eri being hurt or for her earlier slip in composure. He was just as shaken from the night as she was.

Her hands trembled, and she curled them into fists. After a deep breath, she turned back around to grab the jar of honey from the basket. Taking Aizawa's place by Eri's side, she unscrewed the top and scooped a generous portion onto a clean cloth.