Healing Love

I step into the school, excited to try and perfect the spell. I’ve been trying to get the healing spell right for so long. I’ve tried it so many times and always failed . It got so bad that after the smell started filling the lair, I had to have my station moved to a portal to vent out the stench. I walked up the mossy cobble stairs and up to the thirteenth floor. I stop at the entrance to my classroom and take a deep breath and look around. The air smelled of hazelnut and a strong scent of squid ink. One of the most important ingredients for this brew. I look around the familiar class as I saunter to the teaching area. The cobble brick walls looked as if they had been cleaned recently. I liked it when they were darker and dirtier. They could be distracting sometimes when I’m trying to make my brew. That’s probably the reason that I’ve failed it so many times. The bricks have always been cleaned before this lesson is taught. Every week has a different lesson taught, however, this is the last potion that I have to master.

I don’t know why it’s so hard for me to get this, it's one of the easiest ones. Four or five ingredients, tops, and a simple spell to be spoken and it’s done. All the other spells I’ve done have more than ten ingredients that need to be added in a specific order, and have a longer spell to speak. This should be easy for me, and this time, I know I’m going to perfect it. I’ve learned it multiple times and now I know that I’ve got this. I’ve practiced reciting the spell to myself at home, keeping my voice steady and keeping calm. Let’s just hope that I don’t choke when it comes time to actually perform. If only James was here to help relax me. I heard footsteps echoing through the dark hallway outside the mini-lair. I was the only student that was at this spell yet as everyone else was having trouble with some of the other potions and brews. I took a deep breath, knowing the time is about to show where I can finally make the other witches proud of me. I’ve got to do this. For my guild. For me.

“Back again?” the teacher asked curiously. “You sure you don’t want to take a break?” I have never taken a break from learning a spell, and I sure won’t take one with this one.

“Nope. No break! I’ve been practicing the spell and I’m ready to show you how well I’ve done!” 

“So eager.” He smiled a little. “Just like your mother when she went here.” 

I take a deep breath, remembering how I could have saved my mother, if only I knew this spell. She ended up getting a plorble cold, and no one knew how to deal with it. Since witches and wizards aren’t known to the non-wizards (plorbles as we call them) I had suggested that someone try the healing spell, but they didn’t think it would work. I wipe away a tear as I feel it starts to fall. “I’m ready. Show me once more please.”  I say, trying to get the lesson going. I need to master this incase I need to save someone. In case I need to save James.

I watch as the teacher shows the spell once more. The bright magenta mushroom cloud exploded above the cauldron. The cloud then closed down on itself, collapsing into the pot once more. I’ve been shown this so many times, but somehow always mess it up whenever I try it. “Alright, so once it collapses on itself, you stop stirring, correct?” I ask, eager to get to my kettle and do the spell for myself. 

“That’s correct, but make sure you’re stirring slowly and soft. If you stir too fast it won’t work, and too hard, it will blow up in your face.” he told me.

I nod and thank my teacher before heading to my canteen. I went up the mossy cobble stairs where my own cauldron sat as my teacher followed, the portal to the beyond world behind it. Through the portal is where the plorbles live. The table with the ingredients sat next to my station. I took a deep breath as I tried to relax before beginning the spell. The portal whirred as I tried focusing. It’s dark purple watery glass material flowed from top to bottom, but not flowing everywhere else. The delicate lines that crawled around the portal caught my attention. The lines flowed like waves in an ocean, but sounded like the ambience from a fan. The dark purple of the portal looked like the bright magenta from the spell compared to the frame to the portal. The purplish black stone lined it, making it seem like a framed photo. It was quite the sight to see, but it was also very distracting from the job at hand. I shook my head, snapping myself from the daydream I was in. I grabbed the admix rod and placed it in my cauldron. I reached over to the table and spoke to myself as I added the ingredients. 

“Rabbit's foot, dragon's breath, essence of toad, and a small splash of quid ink from the Mariana Trench.” I keep stirring, feeling sweat drip down my forehead, down my cheek and plummet off my chin. I see the bright pink liquid begin bubbling and shakily speak the spell.

“Healing thoughts set in flight

Bring the brightest of blessings this very night.

Send this healing pink light from above, 

Surround my friend now in healing love.” 

I felt a smile creep onto my face as the potion grew into a giant mushroom cloud. I nearly stopped stirring but kept going, not wanting to fail again. The giant cloud abruptly collapsed and the whole brew turned to a sick, swampy green.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” I shout. 

The smell hits me. I can almost taste it. The musty scent of skunk spray mixed with mouldy cheese attacks my nose as I get a strong taste of curdled milk. I start coughing violently and wave my hands in front of my face, backing down the steps and away from my now smoking kettle. The fire in my lungs starts to die down along with my coughing. I feel tears stinging my eyes, threatening to overflow out of my eyes. I allow them to waterfall down my cheeks.

“I’ll never get this stupid spell right! I’m a disgrace to my witch guild!” 

The teacher rubs my back and pulls me into a hug. 

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s a difficult spell and not all witches or even wizards can perform it. Besides, you’re top of the class!” 

I don’t respond and just sob into the teacher's shoulder.

“Come on. Go join the party in room 206, talk to James, he always cheers you up.” 

I wipe my tears and nod, starting to feel better after my cry. I walk to the room next to us where I find James, among many other witches and wizards. The counters were filled up with chips and pop as one of the younger wizards was stirring a pot, singing happily with the rest of the people.

I walk up to James and pull him into a hug. He already knew I failed the spell again, as he could see my station from where he was standing. He pulled me into a tight hug and I took a deep breath. He was wearing my favorite cologne, chocolate covered frogs, and I couldn’t help but smile. I just wish he knew how much I loved him. I felt all the sadness and anger melt away as I stood in James’s arms, listening to the witches and wizards sing. 

“Next time.” I think to myself.  “I’ll get it next time.” I take a deep breath, relaxing fully. Maybe I’ll tell James that I like him too. 

Freedom?

I awoke in the same room as I always did, on the same bed as always. Alone, like always. The same rotting metal bed frame with an old mattress lay under me, the heat register next to it. The window was above the heat register. The light of the moon shone through my window on the lone desk in the corner of the room, highlighting some chipped paint on the walls. I think the desk was there to write letters to your loved ones then the managers would send them off. I never bothered. I’ve been here for 10 years. I’m 17. My parents obviously don’t care that much about me. I’m just glad Lorelei managed to make it in here with me. We’ve been able to grow up together, like she always promised. I don’t know how I got here though. The last thing I remember was I was in my bed after introducing Lorelei to my parents.

FLASHBACK START

I ran to my parents excitedly, Lorelei following close behind me. Just before we got to my parents, Lorelei had stopped me.

“Cera, I don’t think this is the best idea. Wh-what if your parents don’t like me?” I shook my head.

“That’s ridiculous! They’re going to love you! Come on, come on, come on!”

I grabbed her hand and dragged her to where my parents were in the kitchen. It looked like they were looking over some letters from the mail. They glanced up at me with curiosity.

“Mom. Dad. I want you to meet Lorelei! She’s my best friend and I met her in class. Well, not really in class, more like on the playground, but it doesn’t matter!” I turned to Lorelei. “Lorelei, these are my parents!”

I looked to my parents, who looked to each other, then back at me. My mom was the first to speak.

“Darling, you’re a little too old to be having imaginary friends.”

I felt my heart shatter. “Mother! What are you talking about? She’s right here! That’s not very nice.” I had let my head fall, looking to the ground. My father was the one who spoke next.

“Your mother and I are very busy. Go play imaginary upstairs. We don’t have the time right now.” “B-but Da-” I stopped as I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked to see Lorelei was the source. “Let it go. There’s no use in trying..” I sighed, knowing she was right. “Alright. Let’s just go to my room. I can show you some of my favorite toys!” I started heading to the stairs, then noticed Lorelei still standing near my parents. “Are you coming?” I asked, trying not to sound rude. Manners are important as my parents always taught me.

“I’ll catch up with you, I just need to use the bathroom.”

It took her longer than a few minutes before she came back. She didn’t look concerned, but she did ask me a weird question.

“Do you know a place called Scalebor Park? I heard your parents talking about it, but I don’t know what it is.” I had never heard the name before, but it sounds fun. “No, but if there’s a park nearby I wanna go!” I laughed a little.

Lorelei smiled softly at me, as if she knew something. “Go to sleep for now, maybe we’ll go tomorrow, it’s getting late.”

END OF FLASHBACK

Lorelei never told me the truth about that night. I’ve always been curious. She’s very smart and knows more than I ever did. She’d help me study sometimes. I couldn’t take my curiosity anymore though.

“Lorelei… I know you heard something and didn’t tell me, 10 years ago, the night I introduced you to my parents.”

I watched Lorelei as she walked in from the corner of a room. A small crawl space. I’m pretty sure it’s a trap if anyone tries to escape.

“How long have you known this?” I can’t help but smile. She underestimates me sometimes.

“Well, I could tell something wasn’t right that night. You never get me to go to sleep so quickly, and you were kinda pale faced when you came up from the ‘washroom’. What really happened..? I need to know.”

Lorelei sighed. “I knew this day would come. That night, after you went to sleep, they called this place. This is Scalebor Park. This place takes phone calls and comes into the callers houses to get the patient. This is Scalebor Park Asylum. You’ve been in an asylum for 10 years.”

I stared blankly at Lorelei, not wanting to believe her. “Th-they put me here..?” I manage to choke out.

Lorelei speaks softly, trying to calm me down. “They say you have schizophrenia, your parents. That’s what they told the guards on their phone.”

I shake my head and grip at my hair, trying to get the thought out of my head. “N-No! I’M NOT! I'm NORMAL!”

Lorelei, as always, pulls me into a hug and rocks me slowly, letting me cry on her shoulder. “I-I don’t belong here Lorelei. Y-you know that! R-Right?”

She nods at me sympathetically.

“Of course I do Cercie. But it’s not like you can break out. No one has ever broken out of this place before. It’s nearly impossible. I’m sor-”

“It’s not impossible! Nothing is! Everything has to be possible or else it wouldn’t exist!” I shout at Lorelei. She takes a step back.

“Relax. Breathe. In through the nose, out the mouth. Hum a song.”

The usual tips. I take a deep breath in through the nose and out the mouth, like she told me, and after a few times, I feel relaxed.

“I’m sorry Lorelei.. But you know I don’t belong here.” I pause, thinking of something. “I got it! Once the guards come in to check on us, we ditch this place. We just need to be careful.” I point to the small crawl space. “That's where we go. We crawl through there to the end, then get to the window. Once at the window, we crawl out of it. Careful not to scratch yourself, or bleed. They caught someone two years back by a blood trail. We need to stick to the shadows. If any guards come, hide. Whether it’s under a truck or around a wall. Don’t get caught. Then, once we get to the gate, we need to keep going. We can’t stop. They probably have people patrolling through the closest town. Don’t let me stop. No matter what. I know I’m not in any condition for this, considering they don’t exactly feed us properly, or give us enough liquids. Tonight we get a small bottle of water for the upcoming week. If I can get out of here and tell someone how we’re treated, I should be safe!”

Lorelei looked at me as if I were crazy. She didn’t talk for a while.

“Are you sure? It’s extremely dangerous, you could get hurt.” She mumbles something, but I ignored it, thinking over the consequences of trying to escape.

“If we got caught, would they just bring us back here, or would they kill us?”

Lorelei shook her head.

“Let’s think on the positive side. You’re Cera Flaire! You can do anything!”

I felt my cheeks heat up a bit. “Th-thank you Lorelei. You’re truly amazing.”

I pull Lorelei into a hug, feeling her wrap her arms around me. Maybe when this whole situation is over, she and I can become closer.

“Alright Cera. Try not to be too excited about your plan. If the guards see any change in your attitude, they’ll know something's up.” I nod, knowing she’s right, as usual, and lay down in my bed, waiting for the guards to show up.

After what seemed like days, the guards came in and gave me my small bottle of water, then checked around the room to make sure I hadn’t tried to make an escape. I’m glad they never check under my bed. That’s where Lorelei hides whenever someone comes to check up on me. I’d go crazy if they found her and made her leave. I stared at the guards as they finished their search and left. It’s what I normally do.

I waited for them to be gone for a few minutes before quickly hopping out of my bed and getting Lorelei from under the bed. We smile and nod at each other, understanding the mission and dangers that lay ahead of us.

“It’s now or never,” I say, grabbing my small bag, tossing my water bottle in it. “If we get caught.” I shake my head, not wanting to think about that. I take a deep breath.

“Ready Lorelei?”

She nods. “I’m ready, Cera. Let’s just go before I change my mind.”

“You know just as much as I know that I don’t belong here. They think I’m crazy, but I’m not. I need to get out.” I quickly speak, not wanting to have to stay here anymore. The people who brought me here were called because they think I’m schizophrenic, but I know I’m not, and neither is Lorelei. She’s really sweet. Her long, curly dirty-blonde hair flows down onto her shoulders and frames her pale face perfectly. Her bright blue eyes help light up her face, next to her perfect smile.

“Cera?” Lorelei shook my shoulder, calling my name. I must have fallen into a daydream. I’m usually able to multi-task easily, but I guess not this time.

“Yeah, sorry,” I say, starting to head to the crawl space. “I got…” I’m not sure what to say. “Distracted.” I managed to say.

We head down the small crawl space, pack on my back and dirt and rocks digging their way into our hands and knees. I wish we could make the space larger so we didn’t have to crawl. We eventually got out of the canal and onto the streets. This is it. We’re going to break free. No one has ever fully broken out of this place before, from what I’ve heard. We go to take a step out from the corner when I see a guard doing his patrol. Shit! I quickly pull Lorelei down to the ground and put a hand over her mouth so she doesn’t scream. “Quiet.” I whisper as I remove my hand. “Why?” “Guard.” I barely let her finish her question.

The guard walked past us, not seeing us on the ground. I wait a moment before getting up and running around the corner, Lorelei following close behind. We run a couple blocks before I see another guard. I stop dead in my tracks, Lorelei presumably doing the same. I pull her to the ground and see a truck next to us. I roll under it, motioning for Lorelei to follow. Just like before, the guard walks by us, his heavy army-like boots stomp past our heads. Once I felt it was safe, I motioned Lorelei out from the truck and soon followed. We started jogging again. I won't lie, I was exhausted/ I hadn’t done this much running since gym class in elementary school. Before I was, you know. I was broken from my thoughts as an alarm went off. We must have set off a trap!

I turn to Lorelei and we both yell in unison. “RUN!”

We both start running for dear life, not wanting to be caught, or find out what happens when we get caught. The gates got closer into view and I could taste freedom. As we reached the gates, I saw my problem. They were closed.

I turn to Lorelei, then turn fully around. The guards were running towards us. As they got closer, everything started to fade to white. I blink my eyes rapidly, trying to clear my view. Everything just got more and more white. I close my eyes fully, not sure what else to do. As I slowly open them again, I’m in a room. All four walls are white. I'm even dressed in all white! There’s a white jacket on me though?

After a near panic attack, I calm myself down and look around.

Someone came into my room.

“Ahh, the medication kicked in.”  

The L.O.V Attack

It all starts where I am now. At home, just trying to talk to some friends on my computer, as most of my friends are long distance. I have a few friends who I’ve been speaking to a lot recently, one whom I do have a crush on. His name is Liam. I have a friend, Cherry, who I usually talk to about him all the time. From what I can remember, I was getting ready to message her when there was a loud commotion outside of my room. Before I got a chance to even get up to look, there was someone smashing through the back wall of my room.  In a panic, I fall out of my chair and onto the floor. With the way my room is set up, I’m against a wall, little to no room to back up if need be. At this point, I’m panicking, and screaming, hoping my parents upstairs will hear and come down, if they hadn’t already heard all the commotion, and the sound of my wall being smashed in. Next thing I know, Rappa is breaking through my wall, and coming at me. I’d be lying if I said I remembered what he said to me, cause I really don’t, not like it’s really easy to understand what he says. It was low, raspy and muffled voice that came from his mask. All I remember is fear coursing through my veins as he approaches me. I quickly turn my chair, so the back is closest to me, almost using it as a shield.  At this point, I’m screaming at the top of my lungs, screaming bloody murder. He walks closer to me, towering over top of me, and my chair, easily 6ft 7, barely fitting in my room in the first place. A muffled voice comes from him, saying something incomprehensible. Fear striking me, my voice cuts, also dry and hurting from the screaming I’m doing. Next thing I see is a saw cutting right through my chair, coming dangerously close to me. I start screaming again, somehow finding my voice. 

The saw blade comes through the chair again, getting closer and closer to me. I try kicking the chair away, but it’s not budging. I remember my phone was sitting in the seat of my chair, probably cut in half at this point, so I cant call anyone for help. At this point,I’m getting ready to just accept that I’m gonna end up getting cut by the saw blade that is getting closer and closer to me before I finally hear my parents come crashing down the stairs. “You’re lucky.” He says to me, it only barely being audible, before disappearing into thin air. Was it all an illusion? What could all of this mean. My parents come rushing to me, to make sure I’m okay. Theres drywall all over the floor, my computer chair fully sawed into pieces, and there, on the floor, is my phone, smashed and broken, cut into pieces. I look up to my parents, heaving and panting for breath, my throat extremely dry and hurting. I try to explain to them what happened, but I end up coughing instead. I stand up, and my mother quickly checks me over for any damage. Other than drywall dust and a few scratches, I appeared to be fine. We start removing the damage from my computer room to my main room. We try to figure out how to fix the wall.  My parents decide on going for a half wall, that way there’s nothing to punch if he comes back.

‘Thats such a stupid idea! We want him to have to be able to punch through things! It’s probably the only reason I’m alive right now! I literally almost died! I would have been DEAD if my parents hadn’t come rushing down the stairs when they did.’ I think to myself, not being able to speak from the soreness present in my throat. I decide it would be best to get a bottle of water so I can recover my voice and explain to my parents what I experienced. I get distracted as a knocking comes from my door that leads to outside. I set down my bottle of water, half of it being gone already. I open the door to see Cherry standing there. Not bothering to even question how she got to my house or even to Canada from Australia for that matter, I quickly pull her into a hug. I hold her tight, and start crying hard. “Hey, hey whoa. What’s up Blue?” she asks, using my nickname from online. I start rambling to her, trying desperately to explain. I stop midway and run into my room, grabbing the pieces of my phone I can find to show her, as she doesn’t seem to be believing my story. I finish off my bottle of water before bringing the broken pieces of my phone to her. “Here! This is all that’s left of my phone now!” “Well.. hey.. I have a surprise for you..’ ,she says softly, trying to change the subject, ‘and I think it’s something you could really use right now..” She points to my right, down the street. There, before my eyes is Liam. He’s talking with a girl I don’t quite recognize. She has medium length dirty blonde hair, and joggers with a tank top on.  “Is that...” I say, unable to comprehend whats happening. There’s no way that’s actually Liam.. right? He lives on the other side of the country... how could he be... here? Without being able to think any more, my legs are carrying me over to him, sprinting as fast as I can. I stop as soon as I get within 10 feet of him, not wanting to seem desperate. In my rush to get to him, I had dropped the pieces of my phone at my door, not thinking about it anymore, only Liam. 

“Hey Liam.” I say as I approach him, trying to keep my voice steady and control the blush threatening to cover my face. He stops his conversation with the unknown blonde and turns to me. “Hey Cereina. How are you?”  I chuckle slightly, not wanting to really talk about it anymore. More tears started piling in my eyes, daring to start spilling over again. “I uh..’ I swallow hard, knowing I’m gonna start bawling my eyes out again. ‘I just about died... I almost died...” I say, now coming to terms with how close to death I was. Wow, I’m just meeting him for the first time in person, and I’m already crying and making a total fool of myself. Way to go me! He notices the tears starting to fall down my cheeks, and doesn’t bother asking about how and just pulls me into a hug. Knowing it pointless to try hiding the tears, I start full on sobbing, full on ugly crying. I hold onto him tight, or.. as best as I could. He’s a whole 6′2 and I’m barely 5ft. I’m more so just burying my face into his chest, my arms around his waist. His arms around me feel like everything’s going to be okay.  His body is warm, almost like a heated blanket, his arms strong enough to fight off the negativity that’s swarming me. If there was a way to describe it, it would be us alone, floating through space, nothing else to worry about, just the two of us in that moment. I should have probably known the floating feeling wasn’t good though, cause next thing I knew, I was falling over onto the grass beneath me. Thankfully Liam was holding me though, or else I would have hit my head. I open my eyes that seem to have shut on their own. I only see Liam, hovering over me. The look on his face was that of pure concern, worry, and pain almost? Its hard to explain. It was like a scene from an anime. I swear there were roses floating behind him for a moment. Maybe the trauma of everything that happened finally hit me and that’s why I almost passed out.  I find my voice enough to explain what has happened. “Liam.. Rappa attacked... it wasn’t him though.. it was.. an illusion.. Twice must be nearby... I think I know where their base is though... I dont know if it’s safe to go there.. they may be hiding out. It’s also not that far.”  Liam started looking around before motioning for Cherry to come over. Within a few moments, Cherry was also by my side. “I think I can help us, but we need everyone else. We need to get the others.” Cherry took out her phone and started sending out mass texts. The only people I know were available were Iida, Aizawa, Deku, Todoroki, Denki and Bakugo. I’m not sure where everyone else was, but I know that they would have joined if they were able to. Liam helped me stand back up. I held onto him again, hugging him tightly. I didn’t want this moment to pass. He let out a soft chuckle before rubbing my back. “Come one.. lets get you out of those clothes..”   We all started walking back to my house. I needed to get changed from normal street clothes to my ‘hero clothes’. After about half an hour, everyone had showed up at  our usual meeting place. Todoroki was keeping his distance from everyone else, talking to Cherry. I think he’s just trying to get all the information and figure out a plan. Everyone was kinda just hanging out and getting caught up on everything. I was busying myself with Deku and Iida. I was trying to explain the Rappa attack to them and how I think I know where their hideout could be, but needed to make sure we had the right backup. We then start just joking around as old friends. We haven’t seen each other in a while since they joined UA, but we still try to keep in touch. Iida suddenly tapped my shoulder before handing me his official UA hoodie. I just gave him a puzzling look. “What’s this for?” He smirked softly. “I want you to race Midoriya, but I want you to wear this. Maybe it’ll be like I’m one with you, maybe speed you up a bit.” He finished his sentence, winking at me. I swear there were stars in my eyes as I quickly put it on and smiled. I didn’t exactly HAVE a quirk, so I wouldn’t be able to get into UA. I was more of a support system for them, emotionally. I kept them up to date with things I could. Maybe that’s why the League of Villains were after me? They wanted the inside scoop to stop? I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts, and went jogging up to Deku. “Hey! Izuku! Let’s have a friendly race! Like old times?” I said, hopefully. 

He just smiled brightly at me. “Ha ha, I thought you’d never ask!” I start jumping up and down, clapping happily. Bakugo came over. “You two are really gonna race? A quirk less wannabe vs the second All Might? Really?” I tried to hide my frown, but then again, Katsuki has always been a downer. “Hey, you wouldn’t say that if your girlfriend was quirkless.” I smile softly. “Oh wait, you don’t have one.” The look on his face was enough for me to know it was time to run. “Deku! Go!” We both take off running, Katsuki screaming in the background about ‘how dare I insult the number 1 hero in training’ or something like that.  I’m pretty sure Deku was taking it easy on me, as I was winning for a little while. It doesn’t last long though, as I see him starting to get caught up. We were running side by side at this point. I was giving it my all, and it looks like he’s not even trying! “I summon the power of Iida!” I shout, giving my final push to run as fast as I can. Midoriya just laughs at me and quickly bolts ahead. At this point, I’m panting and have to stop. Midoriya comes back to me, not a single sweat dripping. I pout as he just laughs at me. “Sh-shut up!” I say through pants. “Come on, let’s get back to the others.” He says before picking me up and running back to the others, almost effortlessly. I cling onto him, not wanting to fall, but also slightly scared. When we return to the others, the atmosphere has changed. I’m looking around and notice Iida and Aizawa are missing. “Where is everyone else?” I ask Bakugo. “Those bastards captured them! Mr. Compress appeared out of nowhere and captured Iida in one of those stupid marbles of his.” Shoto came up to us. “Mr. Aizawa tried to stop them, but he got him as well. There was nothing we could do... they were threatening to kill them if we even made a move towards them.” I looked to Iidas hoodie still on me, and held onto it. “We need to go to their hideout...”   It took a while to convince everyone, but eventually I had everyone ready and prepared to fight if need be. “So, I’ll stay at the front of the line, you all drag back. I’ll see if they’re actually there or not. If you see my hand behind my back flashing a four, that means they’re there. If it’s a three, its dangerous. If for whatever reason they ARE there and they try to attack us, Shoto, you get up and get an ice wall in front of me, and I’ll run back as fast as I can. At that point, Deku, you get behind me. You’re our best defense against Shigaraki’s quirk as you can jump up and land on him, and even attack from the air. Denki, you stay close to Deku. If you need to shoot a bolt at them, do it. Just remember, we are not trying to kill them, so we should try to not seriously harm anyone. Our end goal if they attack is to get back to base. Rose can help us from there.” Everyone nodded, except Bakugo. “Well what the hell am I supposed to do then? Why am I even here?” I waited a moment, trying to think how Bakugo could help without getting himself or the others in trouble. I chuckle softly, knowing he wouldn’t like his role. “I want you to protect me. I am just a civilian after all. Deku is going to be busy, and I mean,’ I pause briefly, knowing if I add a little flirting to it, he’d be sure to think about it more before getting insulted. ‘you ARE the number 1 hero in training, right? So you must be big and strong and able to protect one little civilian, right?”  He scoffs at me, but agrees. “Yeah, sure. Whatever. Just don’t be stupid and we won’t have any problems!” With that, the plan was in action, and we were all ready! I started walking, everyone doing their part. We were all quiet. I kept my hand behind my back, ready to flash any sign of warning. We quickly got to where I knew they were hiding. I stop walking, letting them know we finally got to the place. I slowly creep up, trying to see if they were anywhere nearby, when suddenly I see Shigaraki’s face appear from the corner. I quickly flash a 3 at the others and turn, starting to run back towards them, panic searing through my veins. Everyone realizes what’s happening and spring into action. I see Deku running towards me, getting as close to me as he could, wanting to protect. I see a flash of whitish blue flash past me as Shoto gets his ice wall up. I’m trying to get my feet to move faster, but they’re not wanting to move me any further. I see Denki get behind me, but closer than Deku, as he’s trying to keep an eye to see if they’re coming after us. I try to take a look behind, when I hear Deku scream. “Just run! They have Chisaki!” Shit, we didn’t plan for this... I didn’t think they’d team up with him again! It failed last time!  I feel myself starting to slow down, running out of stamina, since Deku and I had raced before this, I used most of my energy on that. It was really a stupid idea I guess.  This time, and this time alone, I’ll admit it. Bakugo was right. Just as I was thinking that, he grabs me and throws me over his shoulder. “I told you not to be such a moron! Run faster, not slower!” I was panting as he had me over his shoulder, but I knew it was best to just not respond. We all quickly got back to our base and tried running into Rose’s room, but it was locked. I start banging on it desperately. “Rose!! Rose please!! The League of Villains are coming! And they have Chisaki! Please!!” We couldn’t hear anything from the room. It was silent, other than everyone’s heavy panting. “What’s this?” We hear a voice say from behind all of us. We all scream and jump, not knowing if it was friend or foe. I turn around and see Rose looking at all of us, slightly concerned. “They’ve teamed up with him again? Oh dear.. this really IS an issue, isn’t it? Well, we’ll just have to tea-” She got cut off by a loud crash outside the house. We rush to the nearest window and see the ground is all upturned, new holes scattering the backyard. Shigaraki, Toga, Twice, Dabi, Rappa, Mr. Compress, and Chisaki walking towards the house. “Come out, come out little pigs! Or we will be forced to BLOW this place down!” Twice announces. “If that’s okay, of course.” He adds. I’ve never understood him, and I never will. I’ve done so much research on him as a villain, and yet, he still makes no sense to me. With his announcement, Rose clears her throat. “You guys go out, I will contact my crystals and meet you down there. Good luck Heroes.” She says before entering her room, using her gem to unlock it. Another thing I’ll never understand.  Not knowing what else to do, but to trust her, we all head outside. I try to stay within the middle of everyone, hoping for nothing but to stay safe. And with that, I woke up. I never got to know what really happened, but I guess anyone can have their own interpretation as to what could have possibly happened. With the heroes working with crystal gems, would they have won? Who knows. Maybe one day I’ll have a dream continuing this one, but until then, we’re left on a cliff hanger. Thank you for reading this, and I apologize if this isn’t the ending you wanted, but rest assured I’m not happy about it either.