Ashes of Love and War - TodoMomo

||Chapter 34 ~ Part 3||

The empusa smiled gleefully. Her golden eyes were bright, manic. "I was on my way to you! But you came to meet me first. Hehe."

Momo lunged forward, but the empusa disappeared back into the shadows.

Fast.

On instinct, Momo brought her spear up. There was a loud clang as the metal connected with talons. Pain reverberated up Momo's arms, she stumbled backwards from the force of the impact. The empusa giggled and dissolved into the shadows before Momo could counter.

She was losing time.

"Please," Momo said, slowly repositioning herself into a defensive stance. "Let us go. I don't have time to fight you."

"No can do," the empusa sang. "I made a promise, and promises are meant to be kept."

Momo gritted her teeth. She couldn't tell where the monster was. "What is it that you want? Why are you helping a magi? A human?"

"Why? Because Mr. Atsuhiro and Jin are my friends. They accept me. Love me. I get to have all the fun I want while they play with Dabi's little brother."

Momo's breath caught in her throat.

"Dabi!" Fuyumi gasped.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. I have a message for you," the empusa said almost conversationally. The shadows shifted, and warm breath brushed against Momo's ear. "Dabi sends his regards."

There was a ripping sound, and Momo stumbled forward with a gasp of pain as blistering heat bloomed along her back.

"Momo!" Fuyumi screamed. A gust of snow and wind shot toward the empusa, but the monster sidestepped and dissolved again.

"I'm okay," Momo gasped through her teeth. It felt as though flames licked against her back.

Momo readjusted her hands and shoved the pain to the back of her mind. She could still move. Momo's eyes darted over the shadows.

The empusa was playing with her. A cat batting at a mouse, before killing it.

She could feel her chiton becoming soaked from her blood. "Can you find her?" she asked Fuyumi in a low voice.

"No. She has the same magic as what is blocking Shouto's presence from me."

Momo bit her lip. What could she do? What would Todoroki do? He'd burn her. Or freeze her. But those weren't options available to Momo. She was defenseless.

'You're a god slayer.'

Momo gritted her teeth, thinking.

"This will be difficult. She's too fast for me to keep up with. I'll need your help." Momo spoke softly so that only Fuyumi could hear.

"Always." Fuyumi's voice came back in a whisper.

"Please follow my lead. I'm going to have to stop her from moving." Momo pressed her lips into a hard line and forced herself to straighten up. Her back screamed in pain, but Momo ignored it.

"Okay," Fuyumi said. "I'll do my best."

Momo swallowed hard. This was a bad plan. A very bad plan in a very bad situation, but they didn't have time to come up with something better. Her stomach tightened, and Momo steeled herself as she spoke to the darkness. "If you are with Dabi, then you planned this."

From the shadows, there came girlish giggles. "Sort of," the empusa drawled. There was a mischievous lilt to her voice. "Dabi told Shigaraki what happened after Troy, but he didn't plan this fun game. That was us. Shigaraki loves plays — especially tragedies."