Forever Bonded

Prologue

The kids ran from their families. They ran away from the reality of the broken world, they ran from their broken hearts. But they could never escape the pain in their souls. The kids had run until they couldn't no more. They panted and sat around a tree. They were all quiet. None of them dared to say a word. Not even Alice. Suddenly, Eri choked out a sob. Tears filled and escaped her eyes.

"I-I could have helped her!! I-I could have used my quirk faster!!!" Eri cried.

"Eri-"

"I didn't want to lose Miss Ryoko too!!! I wanted her to stay forever!!! I want to go back to the treehouse!!!" Eri sobbed. The boys held their own tears as they all hugged Eri. Alice whimpered and nuzzled Eri to try to make her feel better.

"Hey, hey, Eri." Cody said, holding Eri's little hand. The red eyed girl looked at Cody with broken eyes. Cody took a breath before speaking.

"Breathe ok? There was nothing you could do to help her at that moment." Cody softly said. Eri tried to regulate her breathing, but her sobs were so strong she felt like she was suffocating.

"Breathe with me Eri." Cody said. He slowly inhaled and exhaled. Eri followed his instruction, she slowly but surely started to feel a little more calmer. Once she was ok, Cody wiped her tears away.

"Feeling better?" Eri softly nodded before standing up. She sniffled and looked around.

"H-Hey, I think Miss Ryoko's world fused with ours as well..." Eri suddenly said.

"What makes you say that?" Brad asked as he looked around. The other kids looked around too. All around them were the spirits of the creatures from Ryoko's world. They stood and watched the children. Suddenly, one stepped forward, a tall man with purple hair and a long blue staff. Cody placed himself in front of the other kids protectively.

"Wh-who are you?" He demanded bravely. The man simply watched the children. He remembered them as the children that Ryoko cared for back when their home was still in one piece. Mokuba then pushed by Cody.

"It's the Dark Magician! We don't need to be afraid!" Mokuba said as he turned to face the magician.

"You saved Miss Ryoko right?! Do you think you can bring her back?" Dark Magician stared at the child before shaking his head. Mokuba sighed.

"Well. it was worth a try." The other kids slowly spread out and sat in the grass around the tree. The Dark Magician stayed close by while some of the other spirits lingered. The sun was now setting, and it was getting dark.

"We need a place to stay." Brad muttered.

"Yeah, we can't just stay out here where we could be attacked." Mokuba said as he stood with a sleepy Alice in his arms. Cody hummed.

"I'll go look. You guys stay here with the dark magician."

"Are you sure?" Eri asked. Cody nodded before walking away into the thicket.

**********

As Cody wandered the forest, he saw and recognized a lot of sights from the In Between. Seeing them made his heart ache. He wished Ryoko was still here. Then he wouldn't have to feel this pain in his soul and heart. While being lost in his head, Cody suddenly tripped over something.

"Oof!" Cody landed on his stomach painfully.

"Ow..." He groaned as he stood up. When he looked down to see what he tripped over, in it's place was a strange little creature. It looked like it was some kind of living fungus.

"What is this thing?" Cody muttered as he poked the little creature. It made a funny little sound as Cody poked it. Cody lets out a chuckle.

"Sorry little fella. I didn't mean to trip over you." He said as he stood. As the sun began to lower behind the horizon, Cody noticed more of the glowing mushroom creatures.