𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓨𝓸𝓾'𝓵𝓵 𝓑𝓮 𝓜𝔂 𝓠𝓾𝓮𝓮𝓷 (BNHA/BKDK Fantasy AU) [EDITING]

Chapter Twenty-One: Labyrinth

From a distance, the ocean looked like an infinite field of blue, but when Midoriya looked behind him, he still saw stable ground. Now that he was further out, he couldn't turn around to find land. There was only water.

The swordsman leaned on the railing of the boat, peeking over the water's edge. The blue color reflected the sun's light to each other. Seagulls soared above, cawing loudly to one another. The clouds were dark over the rising sun, and fog still clouded his vision.

Despite that, Midoriya looked forward.

A month had passed since he was attacked by that rouge and taken into Draconia. A month had passed since everything changed. The battle still haunted in his memory, but he only tried to use it as fuel to keep him going. He had to do this. He had to help save Draconia.

But some of the images from that day were still captured in his mind. The images of those attackers, monsters, corpses, and...

He shivered, either from the memory or the cold. Midoriya didn't know.

He knew he shouldn't be thinking of such dark things at a moment like this, not when there was an important mission at hand, but he couldn't help sinking into the dark pit the memories dug for him. An anxiety filled his stomach, making him clutch on the sleeve of his white shirt under his green vest. It was so similar to the feeling of that very same day.

Midoriya only thought of how he could have predicted it, how he could have saved everyone. He could have tried to defeat that rouge instead of simply fend her off and escape. He could have tried to get to the kingdom earlier to warn them. He could have-

"Stop thinking so much, damn nerd."

Midoriya flinched, breaking out of his thoughts, and he turned to Bakugou. While the other was standing a few feet away from him, his eyes were still locked on Midoriya's.

"You need to stop thinking so much. I swear, sometimes I can hear it. It's driving me insane."

The swordsman awkwardly giggled, his thoughts slowly dissolving. "Sorry. I don't mean to."

Bakugou shrugged. "Yeah, whatever."

The swordsman looked ahead again, following Bakugou's advice. He forced himself to concentrate on the sunrise, how the celestial body alone was able to change the colors of the sky around him. The beauty never faulted him.

In a few moments, he felt calm again. Bakugou's words put him at ease.

Uraraka walked across the floorboards of the ship, each one of them creaking under her shoes. She couldn't take her eyes away from the ocean in front of her. The witch heard of it, but she never imagined it being this... immense. She wondered how many creatures were hiding away in the cool waters, living their lives in the ocean. She wanted nothing more than to see them all.

The witch then turned her body to walk up the small set of stairs leading to the steering wheel of the ship. Uraraka stepped up only to see another steering it. She didn't expect the other to be there. "H-Hey, Tsu."