Ashes of Love and War - TodoMomo

||Chapter 15 ~ Part 2||

She left Asui to go prepare Eri for the journey down the mountain.

Momo picked up the surgery basket from the infirmary and headed towards the courtyard.

The men she'd caught stealing wine earlier in the day were sleeping, slumped against the wall. Drool hung from the sides of some of their drunken mouths. Their breath reeked of stolen spirits. Momo wrinkled her nose but left them alone as she hurried along, up the stairs and to the children's room.

Eri was still feverish. Momo changed the cloth on her forehead and swaddled her in her blanket. She looked so tiny that Momo wanted to hug her. Instead she sat down on the edge of the bed beside her.

If she left the orphanage, she'd miss the children. And Aizawa and Tokoyami and Asui, probably.

Her chest tightened, and she reached over to brush back Eri's white hair.

She didn't know what she wanted anymore.

Aizawa had become her mentor of sorts, and she loved the children dearly. She had never been close to Asui, but maybe she could be if she stayed? Momo liked the thought of that.

She smiled faintly, then let it fall.

If she stayed here, would she be happy? Could she be happy?

Momo had always assumed that someone else would decide what would happen after the stymphalian were defeated. She had never even considered what she might want.

She liked being with Aizawa, Asui, and the children. She was comfortable here. But there was nothing on the island. Her life would be confined to working with Aizawa, making potions, and domestic chores. She'd have Tokoyami...if he ever forgave her, but there were no other people for her to connect with beside the occasional visits from the pirates.

This would be it.

Was that what she wanted?

Momo got up. She walked over to the window and looked out towards the fire in the distance, then paused. Her stomach twisted viciously. The fog had grown so thick and dark that she couldn't even see over the ridge anymore.

It was like night had fallen.

A guttural scream abruptly cracked through the air. She turned and grabbed the first sharp object she could find — a surgery knife. Then she rushed out the door.

The courtyard was in chaos.

Stymphalian were climbing the walls and mounting the roof. The pirates were fighting as best they could, but they were outnumbered.

Dread filled Momo's heart as she watched a man attempt to attack one of the creatures, but his movements were slow and sluggish.

Like he was drugged.

Momo's eyes widened, and she looked around quickly. Her eyes landed on the men she had passed on her way up the stairs. They were still slumped over in the same position she had seen them earlier. Her heart pounded against her rib cage, and it felt like the floor had dropped from under her as a realization struck her.

The wine.

It had been poisoned.

Guilt slammed into her like a tornado.

Momo stumbled back. She should have known. How could she have forgotten? The missing jar from Aizawa's storage room was belladonna, a highly toxic and untraceable poison. Aizawa had taught her how to extract the poison from the purple berries himself. How could she have forgotten? And she had given some to the men in the infirmary too.

Momo bit down on her lip until she tasted blood. Her fingers shook around the knife clutched in her hand. This was all her fault. If only she had remembered. If only she had-

"Yaoyorozu!"

Asui's sudden scream broke Momo out of her despair. She jerked back sharply just as a feather grazed her cheek.

She hissed between her teeth at the sharp sting. It was a shallow cut; she had been lucky. But she didn't have time to brush the blood off her face as a shadow appeared above her.

Momo spun out of the way as a stymphalian landed, shaking the wooden veranda. She drew in a deep breath, trying to calm her pounding heart, as she straightened and held up her knife.

It was hardly a useful weapon, but it was all she had. The spear that Aizawa had lent her was still in her room behind the creature.

She needed to think of some way to get around it. A winning strategy.

It was just one creature.

The monster lunged. Momo braced herself for the impact, but before the stymphalian's claws were within reach, there was a sharp crack as a green blur slammed into the creature.

Asui stumbled forward as she landed before catching herself. A feather had sliced across her leg, and she was panting heavily.

Momo ran towards her. "Asui!"

"I'm fine, kero." Blood was running down her leg.

Momo reached down to tear her chiton to act as a bandage, but Asui stopped her. The nereid raised her head. Her eyes hardened as they met Momo's. "I'll cover for you. Go! Go get Todoroki. We need him."

Momo's stomach felt like it had a weight in it, and she nodded jerkingly. She stepped back and then turned, bolting down the stairs and through the house out the front door. She felt lightheaded. Her heart was beating so fast she thought she might be sick as she pushed herself forward.

There was a loud, pained shriek behind her, but she didn't stop to see if it was a stymphalian or someone she knew.

When she was out of the orphanage, she paused momentarily to stuff the knife into her chiton. She wouldn't be any help if she fell and impaled herself.

She took a deep breath, staggered forward, and then she was running, over the cliff and down towards the south side of the island.

It was a trap.

It was a trap.

Everything had been a trap. The attack last night, the wine, the fire...it had all been planned.

Momo wanted to scream as she bolted down the path but forced her anger back down. She needed to find Todoroki and then Tokoyami. She had to get them back to the orphanage.

The smell of smoke grew stronger as she raced down the path. Momo thought there was also a faintly sweet smell that swirled through the air too but didn't have time to think about it.

The heat suddenly hit her. Hot and suffocating. Momo coughed and tried to look for movement through the fog and smoke.

"Todoroki!" she screamed.