Ashes of Love and War - TodoMomo

||Chapter 36 ~ Part 1||

Momo lost her footing as shockwaves rippled across the ground. And an arctic squall slammed into her so powerful it was as though the god Boreas had conjured the northern wind himself.

Was this Shigaraki's doing? Momo knew it wasn't.

Stumbling on verglas, she righted herself. The air felt brittle and burned her throat as she inhaled. Frost coated her hair.

Momo blinked the ice from her eyelashes then looked up and gasped in astonishment. A hauntingly beautiful scene stretched before her. Crystalline glaciers rolled like waves over the once muddy ground. Frost coated the pines, transforming the trees into icicles. And within the frozen landscape, Shigaraki and the magi stood like sculptures.

Momo tried to ignore the pounding of her heart as her gaze drifted over the waves towards Todoroki, the only other person not imprisoned within the glaciers.

Todoroki knelt on the ground, his back bent and skin tinted blue.

"Todoroki!" Momo leapt over the frozen waves and dropped down by Todoroki's side. Black spots danced before her eyes that Momo ignored as she looked him over.

Silver frost coated Todoroki's face. He shivered, and his eyes were glassy as he tilted his head towards her. "Yaoyorozu, are you okay?" His voice sounded rough and raspy, throat likely frozen.

"I'd ask you the same thing." Momo pressed her forehead to Todoroki's before pulling back with a hiss. "You're freezing. Let me get you a blanket." She sat back on her heels. Closing her eyes, Momo concentrated.

What would a warm blanket feel like?

What would it smell of?

How would it make her feel?

A tickling sensation spread over her arm, like tiny ants marching across her skin. Momo opened her eyes and looked down, keeping the idea firmly in her mind. Her arm sparkled. Stardust jumped from her skin, and then the tassels of a quilt emerged.

"What's this?" Todoroki asked. Some of the glassy sheen disappeared from his gaze as he stared at her in amazement.

Momo wet her dry lips. "I used the wish from Kaminari to create anything I want."

"Oh! I see," Todoroki mumbled. The shimmer of surprise dimmed from his gaze. His voice tapered off. "I knew you were good."

Momo glanced up at his face and frowned as Todoroki fought to keep his eyes open. He was losing strength. The battle and lack of sleep were taking a toll on him. She needed to hurry and get him to a safe location where he could rest and she could treat their wounds.

Momo wrapped her fingers around the ends of the quilt and tugged experimentally. A pinching sting spread across her arm. It was as though the ants marching across her skin decided to bite.

Setting her jaw, Momo pushed past the discomfort and pulled the rest of the quilt out. The fabric didn't appear extraordinary. There were no decorative depictions of gods or heroes, no beautiful patterns, but it was thick and the blanket felt like it was made of fine wool.

She shook the fabric out, and then leaned forward to slide the quilt around Todoroki's back. The movement strained her wounded shoulder. Stabbing pain radiated from where the empusa's fangs had torn into her. Momo flinched and let out a sharp hiss.

Todoroki looked up. His eyes refocused as his expression pinched with concern. "You're hurt."

Momo shook her head. She swallowed back the sting. "Don't worry about it. I already wrapped it."

Careful of her shoulder, Momo leaned forward. She wrapped the quilt around Todoroki, pulled away, and looked him up and down. Fresh blood stained the side of his chiton. An injury to his intestine: painful, but not lethal.

She let out a breath of relief and met his gaze. "Can you stand?"

Todoroki paused. He inhaled deeply, and then began to push himself up. His legs were unsteady. "Yeah-"

A sharp cracking sound rumbled behind her.

Momo swiveled around and stilled. Black magic oozed through the crevices in the glaciers that encased Tomura Shigaraki's hands. It slid over the god's fingers, until his hands were fully dyed black, like gloves of tar. There was another loud crack. The ice fissured and disintegrated: Shigaraki's hands were free.

"Shit," Todoroki hissed.

Momo couldn't say anything. She stared in horror as the god reached up and touched the ice covering his face. The glacier sizzled and then shrieked, breaking apart into a rain of ice shards. Pale golden eyes met Momo's gaze.

"Cheaters." The god's raspy voice carried over the hiss of disintegrating ice. "You interfered with all the fun."

Momo scrambled to her feet. She felt unsteady. Her heart pounded so hard in her chest that she could hear it in her ears. What were they to do? Momo's mind whirled.

The logical answer was run. They weren't prepared for a head-on confrontation. Both she and Todoroki were injured and exhausted. They would need a strategy to fight against a god, and Momo was afraid they had run out of all their luck.

From the corner of her eye, Momo glanced behind her. Todoroki had pushed himself up onto shaky legs. The blanket had fallen from his shoulders, and she could make out the frost that still coated his extremities. He looked as though he'd fall over any moment. Even if they ran, he was too worn out to make it far.

"We should split up," Todoroki said, in a low voice only for her to hear. "Take him from both sides before he gets free."

A shriek of ice fissuring pulled Momo's attention back to the god. Mist rose from the glacier wrapped around Shigaraki's torso. The god looked up and his golden eyes glittered in victory. He knew they were out of options. He'd be free in a matter of moments. All that was left was the ice that coated his feet.

Momo swallowed hard. What to do? Todoroki's strategy wouldn't work. The risk of that operation was too high. All it would take was for the god to sidestep one attack, block a strike, touch even a sliver of —

Momo's breath caught.

Touch!

The fact that Shigaraki couldn't melt all the ice at once meant that only what he touched could be destroyed by his power. If they could stop his hands...

"I have an idea," Momo said.