After they had talked about the different events of the past two days, the party was exhausted and they made camp in a hollow that they tried to shield from any more attacks with camouflage spells. It seemed to work, nothing attacked them. But Shoto couldn't sleep much, he kept waking up to rehash what happened in his mind. He was still reeling from the fact that no one had been angry with him over what he did. Even been more understanding than he could have imagined, and risked their lives for him. Was this what it was like to have friends? These reflections finally brought tears to his eyes, though he tried to smother them as much as he could... but he realized he wasn't the only one awake. Momo was stirring, trying to shift her weight around her ankle. She wasn't complaining, but that must have hurt a lot, he still felt guilty about it... and concerned about what would happen if that monster ever found them again. "Are you all right?" he asked finally, in a hushed voice. "Hmm?" Momo was startled. "Oh...uh, yes..." "Did I wake you?" he asked. "I was already awake..." she replied. "Um, I didn't realize anyone else was though." "You're not a very good liar." Shoto shook his head. Silence. "It's all right to be a little upset after all that," Momo gave up trying to hide that she'd heard him crying. "Nothing to be ashamed of... I was going to pretend I didn't notice." "That's okay, you don't have to pretend that," Shoto sighed.                                                                                                                        "I just... keep thinking, no one's ever actually talked about the situation to me, so I didn't want to talk about it, but then I had to, and everyone was so...calm. Or angry on my behalf. Perhaps, I just felt weak." "But it's not weak," Momo insisted, propping herself up. "Kinship is not weak at all. Why do you keep saying things like that? Did your father tell you?" "My father would never bother to say anything about it," Shoto said bitterly. "One just learns never to show weakness at that house. I hate feeling like a liability, I know I said Bakugo was, but, honestly, I think my being hunted down is probably a far greater risk than a little reckless anger." If he'd known Bakugo was listening to this, he might not have said that so bluntly, but Bakugo was completely still. "It may be a risk," Momo was too honest to deny it. "But, we all pose our own threat, don't we? That man earlier didn't like warriors of Creati, they envy us, I think... and people are always after sprites, dragons, and bandits too. And then Deku isn't magical. Between all of us, I think we all risk a lot working together, but maybe that also makes it less risky. We can all have each other's backs. If that helps." It actually did, a little. "I'm sorry for bothering you again," Shoto said. "You don't need to listen to my concerns." "No, it's not a bother," Momo said sincerely. "Actually, it takes my mind off my own concerns. Besides, it's not as if all this isn't important. It's better to discuss it openly and have a plan--or at least an idea of where things are... Why do you keep telling me about it if you dislike it so much though? If I've pried at all, I apologize." "No, you're fine," Shoto said. "I... I don't know. It's just easier to talk to you maybe. I don't know why." Momo hid a smile. "I'm honored to hear that." Silence. "Do you need more ice?" Shoto finally asked. "I don't want to trouble you--" Momo began to protest, but he was already making it.

After that incident, the party quickened their pace. They now felt all the urgency of their position, if they stayed in the Dark Lands much longer. The only way to speed up was to ride. Shoto rode the horse that they still had, and Ei went for long stints as a dragon so he could carry everyone, except Mina, who just flew. Going farther and farther North, it began to get colder. They went through more towns, some of them were now ghost towns, but beat sleeping out in the open where monsters could attack. They began posting watches so that when monsters attacked, they could run instead of fight, conserving their energy. In this way, they made far better time, and got more rest. By the time a week had gone by, they were coming to the end of this section of the Dark Lands. According to Deku's map, there was more forest that was not Shadowed yet, then there was a channel of water that cut through the corner of the continent, and after that, more Dark Lands where the North had been occupied, this for much longer than where they'd been through already, which Kyoka said meant it would have even worse monsters. After that, at the very edge of the land, there was a peninsula, and the map said that was where they would find the 8th.

Even without any delays like monsters, the journey would easily take two more weeks, and that was with good weather and if Eijiro's strength didn't give out. He was taking rests, but they worried he was still pushing himself too hard. The horse too, would be exhausted. But getting other Dark Lands for now sounded very much worth it, so they didn't slow down. However, Momo advocated for taking a few days to regain their strength once they found a nicer town. Kyoka was against staying at a village, but the other humans voted her down and the mystic creatures didn't care.

Finally, about the 15th day of their journey, they made it to the edge of the Dark Lands, they pushed themselves the extra mile to make sure they got out of it, even crossing the line of stained soil to more green and soft turf made everyone feel better. Mina let out a long sigh and plopped onto the grass. '"I feel lighter already." "Lighter, I get it," Denki said. The others rolled their eyes, by now they were used to his sense of humor. They all sat down and breathed in the less dry air for a while. Deku consulted his map. "I can't get over how Crackers is your key word," Mina commented. "So how far are we?" Ei asked. Deku pointed. "We made good time today. If we can get through this stretch in two days, we'll be at the channel. Then we'll be more than halfway there." The horse neighed and started rolling in the grass. They laughed. "Guess Soba is ready to rest too," Momo said. "I still can't believe you named the horse Soba," Denki complained. Shoto frowned "Is something wrong with that?" "No," Denki looked away. "You know," Momo examined the map. "It looks like there's a nice bathing pool not far from here, I'm sure the village there would be lovely, why don't we take our rest in that spot?" "But, we could really travel faster now," Deku said. "We won't need to worry about monsters as much." "Better to rest while we don't have to worry about that, don't you think?" Momo countered. "If we push ourselves too hard, our strength will fail at the crucial moment." "I want to hurry this up though," Kyoka said. "I kind of agree with Deku." "We already decided to rest, ye," Camie said, sounding annoyed at the prospect of the plan being altered. "I know, but it could just be one night," Deku said. "How about we get there first, see if they have room, and then decide," Shoto said. Everyone stopped arguing, in the last week, he'd become one of the deciding voices in any debate. This decided, they all retired for the day.

       Another day's journey brought them to the Village of Fairy Tears. Mina heard on the street that the name came from the very clear bathing pools that brought in the most visitors. The legend had it that a fairy had once sat on a tree and cried until a pool formed, and the purity of the tears kept it clear. Mina said that story wasn't very clear on whether they were tears of happiness or sadness. "People believe different things, some say if you visit the pool you come back happier, others sadder." "Wouldn't that depend more on the individual's state of mind than anything in the pool?" Shoto said skeptically. "It doesn't make any sense."

Mina frowned. "You know, Prince Shoto, sometimes things are a little harder to explain than you think. Even a sprite doesn't know everything about magic, maybe the pool is made of fairy tears." "I feel weird visiting it now," Ei said. "Sounds cool to me," Denki said. "I'm going anyway," Momo said. "I'm tired of being dusty." In the end everyone decided to go. Even Bakugo because Camie said something to him that made him give in, no one else heard it.

The pool was much wider than anyone expected, easily the size of a sailing ship. Sectioned off into a male and female area. The team split. They weren't the only ones there, plenty of people were visiting, the time of the year was prime for this sort of activity. The weather was warm and sunny. The party didn't think much of this, mostly, but Shoto couldn't help looking around suspiciously for anyone who might be working for his father--then again, he reasoned, this was not the sort of place he'd ever come to of his own volition so it was doubtful they'd look here. Denki and Ei and Deku acted like kids, they weren't the only ones, but Bakugo just looked sulky about it. He probably would have blown something up if he could have. Not everyone was in the water though, some people just sat at the edge, dipping their toes in, or mediating.

Shoto noticed one man who seemed to just be asleep in the shade the whole time, but every time someone would almost splash him, he'd move like he could just feel it coming. Shoto started to feel uneasy, why was he just lying there? Finally, he asked someone about it. "Oh him?" the person replied good naturedly. "That fellow works for the village. He's there to make sure no one drowns. Like a guard you could say. Most people can't swim, you know, and they go in too deep, so he gets them out. It wouldn't be good for business if people died on the premises would it?" "I guess not," Shoto said, "but why does he look half asleep?" "They say he is a man of great mystery and sorrow," the stranger said dramatically. "Hizashi's the name, I'm his best friend, I think, sometimes he acknowledges I'm there, most of the time, he says nothing if you're not in trouble. I don't know his story, you could ask him, but he might just drown you." Shoto had no wish to ask for trouble. "Otherwise you could ask the lady guard, maybe she'd know." The man said as an afterthought, "Might want to be careful doing that though... say, are you nervous or something? Lad? He won't bite you--I don't think." Shoto moved away.

(Image by Ralpho Draws on tumblr)

The girls had an equally odd time, Kyoka was shy of swimming around so many strangers. Ochako had no trouble making friends with the other guests, some very nice people. Momo was just minding her own business, while Mina drew a lot of stares, and one little girl asked if she was a fairy. Then her mother told her not to talk to strange creatures. Mina was a little put out. "That was just getting fun." "Do you notice people keep getting hit with beans?" Momo asked. "I hadn't noticed, what are you talking about?" Mina asked. "I've been watching, and people keep acting like something's hitting them in the face, then I saw these floating around," Momo held up some ordinary looking wet beans. "I don't know where they came from, but that sounds hilarious," Mina said. "I want to see someone get hit now."

She stared more intently, sure enough, someone flinched pretty soon. Mina snickered. "Who's shooting those?" "It seems to come from different directions, but they seem harmless..." Momo said. Kyoka came paddling up to them suddenly. "Someone's throwing stuff," she held up a bean. "This hit me in the nose." "That's funny," Mina said. "No it isn't," Kyoka looked embarrassed. "It's stupid... are the boys spying on us?" "Kyoka, they wouldn't do that," Momo was shocked. One person looked over at them. "Oh, you noticed our little calling card from the guardian of the pool." "Who's doing this?"Momo asked. The girl rubbed her head. "You'll see her soon enough, she keeps us from drowning and stuff--but then, she also pushes people into the water, and then saves them...so I don't know how effective she really is as a security, but she's not a bad person, you know? They say she's a woman of great mirth and laughter." "Sounds dreadful," Kyoka said.

Camie joined them. "Ye, someone's beaning people with literal beans, and I totally want to catch them... wait, a woman of mirth and laughter? Now that's my kind of guard, I want to meet this lady now." "Well, she usually comes out eventually to laugh at us," the girl answered. "I come here all the time, after a while, you get so you don't notice the interruptions anymore." "That seems odd..." Momo said. "Does someone do this to the boys too?" Ochaco asked. The girl shook her head. "My brother says their guardian just sleeps the whole time unless someone starts drowning. Must be very dull." "Sounds perfect to me," Kyoka muttered. A while later, the girl's prediction came true, a woman with bright green hair did come springing out of nowhere, and laughing at them. A lot of people laughed along, she was contagious. Mina's eyes sparkled. "She's part sprite I bet! Or maybe a mage. Look at her hair! That explains it, we're always playing jokes on people." "Ugh, no..." Kyoka tried to hide under the water. Mina went right up to the lady and stuck out her hand. "Hi, I'm Mina." "Hello," The lady smiled. "I'm Emi... wow, you're a sprite? You know my grandfather was a sprite. You know what they say about sprites?" "What do they say?" Mina asked. "I don't know, sprites never listen long enough to hear it," Emi replied. Mina started laughing. "Oh my word, that is so true!" Emi started laughing too. "See, sprites can take a joke. Nice to meet you, Mina...hmm, you must be a full sprite, where are you from?" "Forest of Ashido, and you?" Mina said. "Oh, around here, but my relatives live near there," Emi replied amiably. "We're practically neighbors already. Who are all your lovely friends? A little squeamish aren't they?" Mina motioned the others over, they came reluctantly and were introduced. Momo bowed politely, Kyoka just stared at Emi like she was a monkey that might bite or steal her keys. Mina and Emi began talking rapidly, only interrupted by Emi having to rescue a hapless wader, then they went back to talking, and the end result was Emi insisted they all come back to the Inn that guests stayed at and have supper with her. The girls didn't get a chance to protest before Mina agreed, and Camie seconded.

When they met back up with the boys, and recounted their experience, Mina said "Well, I feel happier, so, it must have been happy tears." "See, I kind of feel sadder," Denki said. "Why is that?" Momo asked. "Swimming reminded me of giving Tibult a bath, and I remembered he's not here," Denki sniffled. "I can't say I feel any happier, after that guard just slept creepily the whole time," Shoto shivered. "I felt like he was watching me whenever my back was turned." "I didn't even notice," Ei shrugged. "I do miss my mother," Deku said. "I hope she's not too worried about me." "Doesn't it just sound like Shota did a number on all of you," Emi said, with a warm smile. "I always tell him not to scare young people like you, but do you think he listens? Ah, well, don't fret, I'll cheer you all up." "You'll what?" Shoto said, suspicious. "Are you the woman guard?" "I prefer the Guardian of Mirth." Emi said. "But yes, ah, you must be Prince Shoto." Shoto froze. "What--How did you know that?" "You aren't even going to try to deny it?" A different voice said, they all turned, a chill went down their spines, the Man Guard was standing behind them looking foreboding. His voice cut deep too. "How are you even still alive? You must be unusually foolish for a runaway." "Or he just trusts me" Emi smiled, but then dropped it "Though, in faith, boy, you really shouldn't just admit that upfront. Someone might hear you."

"How did you know though?" Camie said. "Can you smell it like Mina can?" "I don't smell it, I sense it!" Mina protested. "Don't make it sound weird!" "It is kind of weird anyway," Denki said. "Sure, I can sense it," Emi said. "But, the hair is also a bit of a dead giveaway... believe it or not, I've done some traveling in my day..." she tapped her chin. "I saw your mother a few times, really kind looking lady... you look just like her too." Shoto flushed a little. "She must be really pretty," Camie noted. Emi nodded. "You were foolish to come to a public place like this," the male guardian said grimly. "You should leave." "Oh some on Shota, let them have a little fun," Emi said. "I'll protect them. They are on an important quest you know." "How did you know that?" Deku said. "I'm sure the whole magical world must know that by now," Emi shocked them by saying. "With all the disturbances you've been causing, one thing leads to another." "Don't talk about that out here," Shota said, frowning. "I'll restrain every last one of you before you endanger this whole village, the very trees have ears." "Are there dryads around here?" Mina asked. "Who knows, Shota is just skittish, but we can do somewhere more private if it'll set your mind at ease." Emi said. "Follow me."

A short time later, they were sitting in an upper floor room of the Inn, that seemed to be reserved for storing dried food, the smell made all of them hungry, but no one else was up there. Emi got some dried fruit out of a barrel and passed it around. "It's fine, perks of the job," she explained. They were too hungry to pass it up. They ended up telling Emi and Shoto most of their story, always omitting Deku's real mission since only he knew it. Emi was very nice about the whole thing, but Shota reprimanded their carelessness at every chance he got, it being to grind on Shoto and Bakugo's nerves. "Who the he--- do you think you are to tell a King what to do?!" Bakugo said.                                                                                                                                                                                          "A king?" Shota regarded him. "All I see before me is a petulant child who can't even rule his own passions, let alone his people. Reduced to going on a quest with those who aren't even your subjects, speaks volumes about the state of your empire." Bakugo frowned. "I'll kill you for that!" He sparked his hands--Shota's eyes glowed red and Bakugo suddenly seemed unable to use his magic. "The he-- did you do to me!" He cried. "It's temporary, but I suggest you don't tempt me further to take advantage of the fact that you can't hit me," Shoto fingered a binding cord he had with him. Bakugo sulkily sat down. "Anti-magic?" Camie said, awed. "I've hard of that, but I've never seen it." "It's a very rare ability, they sway only one individual in every generation has it," Shota said carelessly. "For a few minutes I can render any magic around me useless, but it has its limits, if I can't see the person, I can't use it. If I blink, the spell is broken. However, I assure you, " with a threatening smile, "I usually only need a minute." "Oooh, scary," Emi killed the dramatic effect by saying quite casually. "You really do want to make someone cry, don't you?"

"What can you do, Emi?" Mina asked. Emi snapped her fingers, Mina started laughing, Emi snapped again, she stopped. "It's a bit like a bard, I can give people the gift of laughter and mirth, at the cost of their drive to fight me. Comes in handy around here, we can't come to blows with every rude customer can we? Doesn't work well on people with high charisma though." "Use it on Bakugo!" Denki cried. Bakugo gave him a look. "I just said it doesn't work on people with high charisma," Emi said.

Kyoka snorted. "In what world does King Bakugo have charisma?" "He has all you following him doesn't he?" Emi pointed out. "We're not following him, he's following us," Shoto said. "You let him, though," Emi said. "Not all charisma means people like you, you know. It's magnetism, in one way or another. Evil charisma is very dangerous. You all should be wary, the closer you get to your goal, the more the Dark Lord will see you as a problem. He may sense more tricky foes to stop you. You must guard against any temptation you might have to pride or cowardice." "I don't approve of a bunch of young warriors taking on such a task," Shota frowned. "A more seasoned warrior ought to be on the trail...but," he sighed. "If the 8th has sent you the map, it's no use now, only you can use it properly. Trying to interfere in quests is usually a fool's errand, or worse."                                                                                                                                                                                              "I..." Deku looked down. "I understand why you're not sure, but...we have to see this through, so, thank you for not trying to stop us." "Don't thank me, you may wish I had before long," Shota said ominously. They shivered.                                                                                                                                                      "Dude, you are like the most chilling person ever," Denki said. "Do you ever lighten up?" Shota frowned at him. He edged away. "Ah, Shota and I are like Light and Dark," Emi said. "Night and Day, opposites of each other. That's why we work together. The village needs both." She smiled. "You need to be able to laugh and cry in life, to be strong. If you're going to reach the 8th, you'll have to be able to accept both the good and bad parts of your life." She seemed to look right at Shoto here, then at the others also. "Everyone has both. If you can't be honest about that, you can't be strong." She leaned back. "What I'm trying to say is, you should listen to Shota's words too, they may not be easy to swallow, but if you discard them, you'll be sorry down the line. But listen to mine too." She seemed to glow a little with a magic aura. "We're guardians for a reason." Shota looked a little surprised as she backed him up. "I didn't expect a sensible statement from you, Sprite." "Was that actually a compliment?" Emi batted her eyes at him. "Why, Shota, you're warming up to me." "And it's over," Shota looked annoyed. "Soon as it began. You're impossible." "So are you...not to love!" Emi started laughing. Shota looked like he wanted to die. "Ohhh," Camie and Mina got hearts in their eyes. "Spicy," Camie hissed. "Definitely," Mina agreed.