Momo looked around. Why was he asking her? Why wasn't Mei shooting her? Then she recalled his behavior on the ship. This is some sort of test. She said to herself. And he wants me to pass it for some reason. Perhaps they know I am a paladin. But I don't know that my powers will help with this. He's put the others into some kind of trance, and I've never seen magic like this, I don't think it's human. Speaking seems to be some kind of trigger... hmm. She formed something in her hands, a sign that said "What did you do to them?" "Clever," Hitoshi said. "You realized the trick, didn't you? I can do it without you answering, but I admit, it takes an immense amount of effort, and leaves a nasty headache, I prefer not to have to resort to that. I thought you might decipher it before anyone else. Certainly that foolish Prince. Guy can't survive on his own for five minutes. Some people never get over being pampered and spoiled and dependent on others." Momo bit her lip. "It's a little hard to explain," Hitoshi shrugged. "But, I call it 'Persuasion'. Once they take my bait, I can basically change their mind to do anything I want. But I won't tell you how to undo it. I'm curious as to how long you can keep this up."                                                                  "Shall I set a timer?" Mei held up an hourglass small enough to fit into her pocket. "I don't think that will be necessary," Hitoshi said, "But if it amuses you, go right ahead." Mei started the hourglass. Momo felt angry. This was worse than the sirens... or, no... in a way, it was just like them. She glared at the two bounty hunters. Then she wrote on her sign "SIREN." and pointed at them. "Close," Hitoshi said. "But Sirens are spirits, they don't mate with humans...at least, if they did, it's not something you'd want to see... but there's another magical creature that can persuade people, think Princess, I'm sure a paladin is well studied in the arts." Momo felt he was mocking her, but after giving it some thought, she wrote something else down. "Fay."                      "Not bad," Hitoshi said. "But that knowledge won't help you defeat me, will it? Not many people have fay blood anymore. Me and your pink friend might be the last ones around these parts. She looks more like the pixie side of the family anyway. Mei here, is an elf as you can probably guess. At least on one side. Sadly for you, that doesn't give us any special weaknesses, like you human mages tend to have, like extreme sensitivity to change. It's kind of unfair, I admit..." he rubbed his neck some more. "But that's the way it is. Your goddess can't help you out here? Or is it a god? I've never met a paladin before."                                                                                                                     Momo knew better than to answer him. Her mind was racing. Fay... the most dangerous of all magical creatures that were not directly on the Dark Lord's side. The most unfriendly to humans, usually, except for dragons, perhaps. But even dragons could be enchanted by them... which explained why it worked on Ei. It was said that they liked to pose riddles to humans... and those were the nice ones. There was always some trick to solving them. Something unexpected... "Nothing?" Hitoshi said. "That's a shame. Come Prince." Shoto began to move like one in a dream, slowly, but following Hitoshi. Momo wasn't sure what the point of no return was going to be in this trial, but she figured letting them get away would be past it, so she ran and blocked their path, forming a spear. "Interesting," Hitoshi said. "Just attacking me would seem like the easy solution but that is why Mei is here. You won't get out of it that easily." Momo saw Mei ready to fire off her weapon again. Even if she evaded it, she couldn't do that forever. She stepped back, lowering the spear. Always a trick to it... she thought. "Go on Momo!" Camie called. "You can take 'em!" "Waste those d--- magicians!" Bakugo cried, furiously. Momo appreciated the support, but the yelling wasn't helping her focus. "Girl," Camie said, seeing her obvious hesitation. "I dunno how to break fairy magic, but like, the sirens had a weakness. Think about it, you're the smartest person in this party. You could always try knocking them down if they try to leave." "I'm afraid I won't be letting you restrain them," Hitoshi said. "They have to break free of my will, or they will just go as soon as they get the chance. Restraint is futile. Do you give up yet?" Momo shook her head. "Tick tock, tick tock." Mei said impatiently. Pointing to the hourglass. Momo suddenly looked at her. "I can't believe you would work with someone like this, aren't you afraid he will control you?" "Hey, Hitoshi would never do that unless I deserved it," Mei said, "I'm not afraid of his little trick, besides, it's not like it's that hard to come out of--" Hitoshi covered her mouth. "Nice try," he said, mildly impressed. "But I know Mei too well for that to be a surprise." Mei nodded, not even offended. Momo could have cursed at how close she'd come just then, but no time to feel frustrated.                                                                                                       "Shoto," she risked something else. "Can you hear me?" "Yes," Shoto's voice sounded distant. "They can hear you the way we hear people in a dream," Hitoshi supplied. "But your power of suggestion is nothing to mine right now. Think of it as, you're part of the dream, I'm the dream maker." That's one huge god-complex, Momo thought to herself. But, if it's a dream then the secret is just to wake them up. What's the best way to do that? She came closer to Shoto, Mei was watching her with more focus than she ever gave to what anyone said. But Momo wasn't going for her or Hitoshi, quickly she reached out and slapped Shoto across the face, hard. He recoiled just like anyone would normally and blinked.                                                                                   "Wake up!" Momo said loudly. "This isn't what you want. It's just him trying to put a spell on you, you must be stronger than this, Prince Shoto. All of you," she looked at the others. "Come on!" Shoto frowned. "What... just happened?" "Nice," Hitoshi said, "very nice. Ah, I made it too easy for you there at the end. Of course, I can do better than that. You're mistaken, Princess, if you think this is not what the Prince wants. He wants to return home for his queen as soon as he can, before it is too late. Who says finding the 8th will even work? Perhaps just trying on your own power would be better, surely, one of the Todoroki dynasty is strong enough on their own to defeat some paltry guards... Why even finish this quest? Why should you care about the rest of the land? Did any of them ever care about you? They only fear and hate people like us." Shoto seemed to be glazing over again, Momo grabbed his face.                                                                                          "Don't listen to him. Listen to me. We all know better than that. We know that no one is safe as long as the Dark Lord is undefeated. We've all been in this together from the very start, even before we met, because we all had the same goal. Don't forget that. We all know you care about the world because you are a kind person, this villain doesn't know you at all." She recalled that sometimes fay tempted people by their secret desires or fears, and they often succumbed if no one came to their rescue... but she wondered, if Hitoshi turned his power on her finally, would she also give in? If the others didn't get out of their bindings, no one would be left to stop the two scoundrels then. Should she plug her ears like the sailors had? Would that work with a fairy? She could only pray Shoto could still hear her... and that the others could too. He was looking at her in some confusion, but then he put his hand over hers like he understood. Momo swallowed. "I'm not going with you," Shoto said to Hitoshi, in a much clearer voice. "Don't be absurd." "Wow..." even Mei seemed mildly impressed. "That's a strong bond...almost makes me sentimental, if I cared about it." "Indeed, surprising," Hitoshi said, smiling that strange smile. "But I suppose that's enough," he snapped his fingers. The others all blinked and lurched forward. "What just happened?" Kyoka rubbed her head. Momo turned to stare at Hitoshi. "You just let them go?" "I got what I wanted," Hitoshi said. "I wanted to test your mettle. Not bad. I guess Shoji was right about you." He bowed. "You're quite the paladin, Princess Momo. If I may say, you're wasted in a tribe of warriors, you would be better in politics."                                                             "What??? Don't tell me this was a test?!" Bakugo yelled, still stuck in the net. "Not exactly," Hitoshi said. "I had every intention of taking the prince back to his miserable old castle if I found his resolve weak enough to be persuaded so easily, but it seems he's actually learned something since leaving home. I can admit when I'm beaten. You won." "Darn," Mei said. "That reward money was going to buy me a new welding kit." "We can capture someone else," Hitoshi said comfortingly. "There's lot's of shady crooks in these parts." "You're..." Shoto almost choked. "You're despicable!" "I wouldn't hurl insults, considering we're letting you go," Hitoshi said. "And here's a little warning for the road, Tomura's still looking for you. He retreated to regroup, he's got more crazies now, some almost worse than he is, but that monster will make sure no one crosses its master. They won't be as fair as we will." He tilted his head. "Your father will only send more people the longer you're gone. But you should know, he never actually ordered them to use you mother as leverage, that was a lie. He's a mountebank, and probably a traitor, but I do think there are some things he wouldn't stoop to do. He's genuinely afraid you're dead, you could at least send him a note or something." "What concern is it of yours what my family does?" Shoto said coldly. "You should mind your own business." "My family is one half fairy, I have plenty of reasons not to want to associate with them, but we are what we are," Hitoshi said calmly. "I'd feel better about letting my quarry go if you at least sent some sort of acknowledgement, running away like a common criminal is no way for a prince to conduct himself, especially the heir of the empire, the people think you abandoned them, do you plan to rule someday? You might want to earn their trust. Any excuse will do, a sojourn to find inner peace and hone your skills would be a classic one."                                                                                                    "Not to agree with the jerk who just put most of us in a trance," Denki spoke, "but he may have a point there, a good cover story saves a lot of trouble later." "When I want advice, I'll ask for it," Shoto said chillingly, Denki shut up.                                                                                                                     "Uh, hello, can you get us out of these?" Camie asked. "I've been trying to cut this for several minutes but it won't fray." "Ah, that's because it's actually thin metal fibres woven together, not rope," Mei said proudly. "Just as supple, but much, much stronger. 'Course I know a bandit would get out of a regular rope." She giggled a little nuttily. Then she started untying them. Momo realized Shoto hadn't let go of her hand in all this time, and she blushed. Hitoshi eyed her. "I'm surprised... Some say there's paladins in every royal line, but I never knew a warrior tribe like yours had them. What's your goddess?" "Creati, goddess of craftsmen ship," Momo said. "Oh? Mei serves that one, what a coincidence," Hitoshi said. "I'm glad I let you go now, it would be rather bad form to attack a paladin of our patron goddess." "I know fay are tricky," Momo spoke, "but, I have a hard time believing you came all this way just to let us go. Unless you had some other purpose." "The truth is," Hitoshi sighed. "I suspected after the sirens that you would be able to resist my magic, unless I went all out...and I don't like to do that. That's evil fairy territory. Or curses, and I don't curse people who don't deserve it. But, your quest intrigued me, you are not the only ones who'd like to see the Dark Lord's hold over the land broken. Working for the king, you see a lot of stuff, none of it good. That was just after a month. But I knew plenty just by rumor. That's partly why I took the job. Someone who can pass my test might stand a chance against the Dark Lord's forces." He pulled something out of his cloak, it was some kind of medallion. "Take this," he handed it to Momo. "If you truly intend to go into the forbidden forest, that may convince one out of two fairies not to curse you. You'll need all the help you can get." "Oh..." Momo was surprised, "thank you." "You think we'll trust you after that?" Shoto said. "That's probably enchanted." "Oh, have your sensory types check it then," Hitoshi said blandly. "Seems your lady is the wiser one, I'd trust her judgment if I were you, but I suppose my vote of confidence isn't very reassuring. We'll go." Mei pulled the last net off. "It'll take me hours to rewind these," she muttered. "Hey," Deku spoke. "You guys were just trying to help us this whole time?" "Not particularly," Mei said. "But I did get to test out my new babies." "I really wish she'd stop saying that," Denki muttered. "You can call it that, if you like," Hitoshi answered. "You've got a strange method," Ei muttered. "On the other hand," Deku said "you guys seem really prepared for the Dark Lands, it's like you know exactly what to bring... could you tell us more about it maybe?"

Hitoshi glanced at Mei, she shrugged. "I don't mind helping you further, but are you sure your party would take kindly to prolonging our company?" Hitoshi said. Deku looked at the others. "You know where I stand," Shoto said, "But it's your quest, I won't force the issue." "I say it'd be useful," Camie said. "Eh, we know their game now," Bakugo agreed. "Fay do know things..." Mina admitted. "If we are going to talk, we must walk also," Momo said. "It's not safe to linger like this, being loud, it'll be dawn soon anyway." This seemed to settle it. They picked up their packs and started walking northward.