Chapter Text
Gilda huffed, running from the demon. She had to go, she had to protect the kids, protect all the younger ones!
Something had happened to Ray, and the demon had found them. Gilda had ran forward to sacrifice herself, something she did without a thought, and she heard Don’s screams of protest behind her.
Run. Jump. Roll. Don’t trip. Watch the root there. The demon’s getting closer.
Run run run run run runrun-
Gilda screamed as she felt the claws dig into her back, but she forced herself to keep running. Their Pursuers would be coming soon, and if they heard that they would know where she was.
There was a sound of ripping from the ground, and Gilda felt the ground bend, but forced herself forward. They’d just escaped that hole.
She managed to leave the compromised part, ending up at the edge. She forced herself into a tree, covering her mouth as she glanced around to make sure there wasn’t blood everywhere.
An ache came from her left ear—or, rather, where it should have been—and she held in a curse.
The demon was killed by the vines, or at least it would eventually be, and she let her breathing slow.
In, 2, 3, 4…
Out, 2, 3, 4…
In, 2, 3, 4…
Out, 2, 3, 4…
She took a deep breath, about to climb down when she heard something.
The rustling of fabric. The Pursuers, or her siblings? She wasn’t sure. Better safe than sorry. She stilled all movement.
The Pursuers passed under her, examining the rip in the ground hopefully until they saw the demon in there, moving on shortly after.
Gilda took the moment to examine her wound. It wasn’t terribly deep, but it was deep enough it hurt to move too much. The blood seeped into her off-white sweater, and she winced as she tore the sleeve of her shirt to make bandages.
She yawned, and glanced to the side. The sun was getting somewhat close to the horizon, and the rest of the kids would probably be finding a place to rest. It wouldn’t be too bad to rest, right?
She tied her scarf to the trunk of the tree and around her, making sure she didn’t fall in her sleep, and let her exhaustion take over her as her wounds slowly healed.
She awoke to a bird cawing, and stretched. Careful not to aggravate her wounds, she slowly let herself down. A hooded figure, riding horseback, snatched her up and she was too weak to fight back. She was brought to an underground area, and saw her siblings.
“Gilda!!” Emma shouted, and Gilda turned with a relieved smile. “Thanks, Musica, for saving her.”
The nodded figure nodded before leaving. “Who was that?”
“Oh, that’s Musica! She saved us from the Pursuers and a demon,” Emma smiled, and Gilda couldn’t help but let it spread to her face.
“Oh, alright. Er, where’s Rayna?” Gilda asked. Rayna, a girl with black hair and side-swept bangs, was the main informant for them. She was a quick thinker, and had also tried to kill herself to give them a window of escape on her birthday.
Emma, however, had managed to stop him in time. Thanks to Norman’s advice, they’d been prepared. Nat had cut her hair for the scent of her burning, as well as a decent chunk of Reyna’s, and they burned some pork for the flesh, as well as Ray’s ear for Mama’s tracker.
It was well thought out, which was a sore spot for the girl with her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. Gilda was glad she was alive.
She took a sip of the soup Musica had made for them, Emma chattering excitedly about how they’d been learning to navigate the tunnels, and how she’d be learning to use a bow as well as hunt. She offered to help Gilda if she wanted to, since her trainer had said she could bring along one other person, and she took the offer.
If it came to how much food she could gather, she wanted to be able to survive.
Emma handed the bow to her, and they set off.
Izumi awoke and lurched forward, hand coming to her chest.
It’d been years since they’d escaped. All agreeing it was safer to go their separate ways, as any pursuers would not get them all. They’d never told each other their locations, in case they got collected.
Some still choose to remain together. Don and Nat, for example. Emma and Norman, despite how much older he now looked, had also decided to stay together. Those two found a land where it was peaceful, and Emma expressed her love for sports.
Rayna had gone off, and so did she.
She’d found a world where everyone had powers, except for her.
Izumi sighed as Inko came in.
“Are you alright, sweetie? Need any tea?”
“No thanks, Inko. Just some things in my dream, a nightmare I guess.” The dark-haired woman nodded and exited the room, and Izumi stared out the window.
Inko was extremely kind, and had decided to take her in. She’d changed her name and introduced her to her long time friend, Bakugou Mitsuki, and Bakugou Katsuki.
He hadn’t taken kindly to her ‘Quirklessness,’ at least until she flipped him and held him down.
Then she seemed to gain some of his respect. They’d hung out occasionally, Katsuki’s brash words hilarious to her, because as to restraint as he thought he was, he wasn’t scarier than a demon.
Gilda sighed, grabbing her glasses (still the same ones, Emma. Thank you for fixing them while we were running!) and slid them over her nose. She pulled some of her hair up into a messy bun, and pushed her bangs to the side, compared to her straight bangs as a child.
(She’d lost the ability to be called a child when Emma told her the truth. She lost all innocence, lost any semblance of childishness.
She needed to escape, to save her family.)
As she buttoned up her uniform for Aldera Junior High and readied for the relentless bullying, she knew she would be fine in the end.
She could survive demons as a normal human. What were some kids who couldn’t survive what she had been through with the powers they had?
A lot, apparently. Katsuki deeming her worthy had lessened the bullying to an extent, but it was still there. Her homework never being in her bag. People accidently bumping into her and dropping her lunch.
Izumi knew it wasn’t just because of them not seeing her, or her forgetfulness.
No, she knew it was their own bigotry. She hated that everyone hadn’t cared about her strengths, how she had survived against all odds, where so many others hadn’t.
She hated it. She hated that she had to go through it. She hated that those children never knew true fear, never knew what it was like to see your death in front of you and not be paralyzed.
She wanted there to be less of that for kids. She knew it was impossible for it all to be gone, but maybe she could help a kid.
Maybe, she could save someone.
Izumi wanted to be a hero to help. Izumi hadn’t been strong enough to save her family then, to protect them all.
Now she could protect other kids, and she would take that without hesitation.