Whispers of Enchantment: The Graveyard of Secrets [SLOW]

Chapter 10

Touya left the cave more determined than ever.

"Alright, new plan. The King and Queen of Yokohama and the King of Hiroshima are in there, but Tomura isn't well." he said to the group, "Hikiishi and Atsuhiro, I need you to take them back to Kyoto."

"...But, Touya-"
"I know, three is a lot. If you can't make it work, you can take my horse."
"Touya-"
"If you leave now without stopping, you should be able to make it back by dawn."
"Touya!"

Touya turned around to face them, surprised to be meet with such concerned faces.

"You. What about you?" Atsuhiro mumbled, "The two of us leaving, taking your horse-what are you saying? Who's supposed to protect you and Natsuo?"

"They need you more than we do. I can hold my own and Natsuo's too stubborn to die."

Don't forget your plot armour.

"Shut up, you're embarrassing me."

What else am I here for?

"Worst case scenario, we get ambushed. I can protect Natsuo myself, but they don't have that luxury." Touya mentioned.

Hikiishi and Atsuhiro looked at each other before nodding and bowing.
At the end of the day, he was their king.

They both jumped off their horses and rushed towards Touya to hug him.

"Your heart is so big that it's grown into your head and smothered the part that's supposed to keep you from being so reckless." Hikiishi whispered, making Touya laugh.

"First it was Hisoka, then it was Keigo, and now it's the royals. You'll never stop, will you?"
"....Who told you about Hisoka and Keigo?"

I did. For plot reasons.

"You can hear her too?"
"Yeah and she's annoying as fuck."

Hehehe.

"Wait!" Kaminari exclaimed. He quickly searched through his horse's satchel and pulled out a thin, creamed coloured envelope before running over to Hikiishi and Atsuhiro.

"Please; bring this to my wife." he said as he handed the letter to Hikiishi. The woman took it and nodded, understanding the urgency.

"Of course. I'll deliver it personally."

•••

After saying their final goodbyes, Hikiishi and Atsuhiro were off, taking the three royals with them.

"Alright gang, we're getting closer and closer by the minute so now is the time to be attentive-eyes and ears open at all times." Touya stated as the group began moving forward.

Ears went up immediately, though the atmosphere had shifted.
The air was tense and thick with silence. Exhaustion had begun to settle in and a wave of doubt slowing inched further and further the deeper they went into the forest.

And finally, breaking the silence-

"I miss my wife." Kaminari mumbled, head hung low, "I mean, I really miss Mina."

"I miss Kinzoku. He was a pain in the ass, but he was my pain in the ass." Tetsutetsu added. Itsuka grabbed his hand, squeezing some support into it.

"I miss those stupid etiquette classes."
"I miss Hikiishi."
"He just left, dude."
"I miss Monama."
"That's a first."
"I miss Sato's cooking."
"...I miss my mom."

The others turned to Midoriya, who's eyes stared straight ahead into the forest. They were dull and carried noticeable bags.

Bakugou could only put an arm around his waist and kiss the top of his forehead.

"If it helps, I miss my mom too." Touya stated before turning around, "I've been gone all these years, and now she's the one that's gone."

"Maybe it's wrong of me, but...I feel happy that she's gone-for her." Fuyumi said, "All these years stuck under Enji's thumb. It was a tragic way to die, but he can't hurt her anymore."

"And that's what it's all about. Making sure he can't hurt anyone else." Natsuo finished. Fuyumi and the others nodded along before the ride became silent again.

The trees eventually became thinner and thinner before they could see the sky above them.
Birds soared through the air, oblivious to the cares of human life below them.

The team found themselves riding alongside a beautiful river.

"Here, my friends, is Emerald Cove. It runs from the River of Hope and through the Toyko-Yokohama border." Touya explained.

The group marvelled at the glistening waters. Beams of sunlight that peeked through the trees casted a magical glow upon the waters.

"Up ahead is a big space of flat ground and a waterfall. From there, we will be walking-"

"Wait, what?" Iguchi exclaimed, forcing his horse to a halt.

"...Were you expecting your horse to swim?"
"We have to swim too?!"

"Just across. And the water's like, hip deep." Touya replied as he hopped off of his horse. The others were also staring at him in disbelief, "What?"

"Do we have to climb up the waterfall?" Bubaigawara asked nervously.

"Of course not, genius-we have to go through it. It's called a cove for a reason." Touya explained.

Awase and Kamakiri, being from the edge district of Osaka that owned the coastlines, simultaneously blinked in confusion.
"...That's not what a cove is, dude."
"Have you never been to the beach before?"

"Okay well, I didn't name it." he replied before looking up at me, "Now did I?"

...What?

"You're literally from an island, how are you writing this and you don't know what a cove is?"

I know what a cove is, genius. I just thought the name was pretty.

"Whatever-anyways, we leave the horses here and go through the waterfall. It'll bring us out into the mountains were The Graveyard can be found." Touya finished, holding Magma by the reins.

The concerned silence lingered in the air for a moment before Natsuo sighed and began to get off his own horse.

"Don't, you'll encourage him."
Following Fuyumi's instructions, Natsuo sat back on his horse.

"Do you know how much water pressure a waterfall can have? We could get crushed under there." Sero stated. The others all agreed.

"I'm not going under there."
"Yeah, I'll stay with the horses."
"This might be the most ridiculous thing we've done throughout this journey."
"Is there really no ot-"

"No, there is no other way!" Touya yelled, spinning around to face them all.
The group quickly got silent. They had never heard Touya yell like that.
Kaminari was so scared that he thought he pissed himself.

"Yes, this is ridiculous-if you haven't realized by now, everything about this journey is ridiculous! We are travelling long distances through dangerous terrains, mind altering forests, and bodies of waters that can make you fall in love with people and for what?" Touya asked loudly as he began to walk around the group, "To battle a dead man and a Princess who has been long gone for centuries!"

"There's only one way to defeat Enji and Azula-"
"Touya."
"-and unfortunately it's through this waterfall-"
"Touya."
"-with a very misleading name!"
"Babe, you're burning."

Touya, oblivious to the blue flames that sat on his shoulders, slowly turned around to face the bottom of the waterfall.

Flowing in the wind was a head of blonde hair, crowned with a matching set of ears that wore two red earrings, and a long red cloak lined with white fur.

"...Keigo?"