Ashes of Love and War - TodoMomo

||Chapter 17 ~ Part 3||

Momo wrapped her arms around her stomach and -

A sharp pain pulsed across her hand; the world shifted.

The black lake Momo knelt in abruptly vanished, and she found herself laying on a frigid surface.

She gasped, shivering. And for a moment, it was as if all the horrible thoughts of despair and agony brought on by Overhaul's magic dissolved. Momo could breathe again. Then her vision fluctuated. The light around her elongated, and darkness began to spread across her gaze again.

Momo drew in a ragged, desperate breath, fighting to stay conscious. It felt as if she were struggling in an intense rip current. The waves of Overhaul's spell tugged at her, trying to pull her back into the deep depths of despair.

Momo choked back a sob. She couldn't give in. Not now. Not again. Momo didn't know if she'd be able to break the magic a second time.

She tightened her hands around her stomach, and the stinging pain from earlier cut back through the spell.

Momo inhaled a sharp breath as her head cleared. That was it. Whatever it was in her hand was the trigger to defeating the spell.

Gritting her teeth, Momo slowly angled her head. The boat had tipped over, and she was lying on ice. Around her, the ocean had become a frozen tundra, stretching out and disappearing into dense fog that sat low on the horizon. In the back of Momo's mind, she noted the peculiarity of ice in the middle of the ocean but didn't have time to analyze it.

Breathing through clenched teeth, Momo looked down and found that her right hand was bleeding. Red rivulets trailed down her wrist from her palm, staining the ice and her chiton crimson.

In her hand was the medical knife she had taken from Eri's bedside. It had lodged free from her chiton during her dream, and she had grabbed the sharp edge.

It was what had saved her.

'Save you from what? There's no escape.'

Momo's vision began to dim again. A fresh wave of sorrow and despair washed over her. She clenched her jaw as emotions — suffering and sadness — caught at her, trying to drag Momo back into the murky depths of Overhaul's spell.

No!

Momo pushed her hand harder against the edge of the blade. A burning pain scorched her palm. Momo inhaled sharply through her nose.

Think. Think! There had to be a way to break Overhaul's spell without harming herself.

In front of her, there was a flickering of red and white ghosting in and out of the luminescent tundra, and Momo thought she heard the sound of swords clashing. She angled her head and gazed into the mist.

For a moment, she couldn't see anything. Then there was movement through the steam, and Momo could make out a black bird mask before it disappeared back into the fog.

Overhaul.

Momo trembled. He was fighting against someone, but it was too much for her mind to focus on who it was. All she knew was that she was running out of time. If she wanted to break his spell and not be a burden anymore, then defeating Overhaul was the surest way.

'What do you think someone like you can even do?' A voice whispered in her mind. 'A pathetic creature like you can't hope to defeat a god.'

Momo swallowed and clenched her eyes shut. She had to ignore the doubt and trust herself. It was Overhaul's power making her feel weak and pathetic. She was stronger than this.

Slowly, Momo opened her eyes and pulled herself onto her hands and knees, keeping the dagger in hand. Her left shoulder twinged painfully at the movement. She hissed through clenched teeth but forced herself to stand. The motion caused Momo's stomach to roil, and her vision turned splotchy.

'Yaoyorozu, do you really think you'll get away with attacking a god?' Tokoyami's voice warned dangerously low and urgent. 'There are always consequences. You'll be cursed to forever be alone.'

A metallic taste filled her mouth. The voice faded and Momo realized she had bitten the inside of her cheek as her vision came back into focus.

She swallowed slowly. She couldn't lose focus. She couldn't let Overhaul win. There was no point in fearing abandonment if there was no one left.

For a few breaths, Momo focused on steadying herself. When she felt in control, she looked up into the mist. Overhaul danced within the fog; his lithe, shadowed figure blurred in and out of focus as he beat back someone else. At some points, it even appeared they were clashing in the sky.

Momo breathed slowly. The mist didn't appear to be her imagination. Neither figure had acknowledged her, which meant she may be as blurred to them as they were to her.

Her legs shook under her, but she forced herself forward. It was like swimming through mud. Every movement was exhausting. Ghosts and visions of her past flickered before her gaze, grabbing at her, trying to pull her back into darkness. At moments, Momo couldn't distinguish reality from Overhaul's magic. But Momo pushed herself forward regardless, hoping she was discreet enough for the figures fighting in the mist to not notice her.

'If you go that way, you'll be all alone, forever...is that what you want?' the head priestess' voice whispered.

Momo gulped. It felt like a stone had been lodged in her throat. Her hands trembled. Blood dripped down her palms, making the dagger slippery. She tightened her grip around the hilt and focused on the feel of the wood in her hands to tether herself to reality as a wave of suffocating loneliness washed over.

Momo stumbled. She ground her teeth, bracing herself. She had to do this. Even if she lost Tokoyami's friendship or Todoroki's favor, they needed to defeat Overhaul. She couldn't allow herself to be a burden anymore. She had to do whatever it took to win.

She breathed slow, shallow breaths trying to ignore the voices echoing around her as they persuaded her to turn back.

The figures were locked in battle in front of her. Overhaul's back to her.

Momo steadied her hands and pushed herself forward. The world spun, and for a moment, Momo was staring not at Overhaul but at Tokoyami.

His yellow eyes were wide, and his expression was pained. It twisted with a sense of betrayal. 'Yaoyorozu, are you really going to try and kill me?'

Momo's lips thinned into a harsh line as she concentrated, inching closer.

'You'll be all alone, Yaoyorozu. You hate being alone. You won't be able to handle it.'

Momo clenched her hands tighter around the hilt of the knife until her knuckles were white and met Tokoyami's yellow eyes. 'I'll be the one to decide that. Not you.'

Suddenly, the care and worry faded from Tokoyami's face, and his expression twisted in abject fury.

'Curse you, mortal.'

Momo gritted her teeth. "Then so be it. I won't let you decide my fate."

She raised her knife and lunged forward.

XXXXX

Notes:

River Lethe - One of 5 rivers of the Underworld. If the dead drank from it they would forget all about their past lives.

Medusa - snake haired lady who turned people to stone.

The mist Overhaul and Shouto were fighting in - This is actually a real thing that happens in the arctic. It's called an Optical haze or shimmer.

Optical hazes can work like a fog or mist, blurring objects seen at a distance. Optical haze occurs in a layer of air next to the ground where warmer air flows up and colder air descends, creating wind patterns known as convective currents. The difference in how the warm and cold air refract light causes objects seen though the layer to blur. Optical haze occurs quite frequently in the Arctic, often making it difficult to identify details in the landscape.