Chapter Text
When Izuku woke up, he had a feeling that his head was about to explode. He had never experienced such a headache. But what was some headache to the shock that came right after he looked around him? This wasn’t his room… Hell, that wasn’t even his house. How did he get here?
The walls around him were made of bare stones, grey everywhere he looked. There was no window in the ‘room’, only a massive wooden door with a lock. Did someone kidnap him? This surely looked like it could be someone’s basement. This couldn’t be happening to him. Why would anyone want to kidnap him anyway? Izuku wasn’t anything special, nor was he a threat.
He was just a little alchemist living in the middle of the forest. He hadn’t done anything to anyone! Izuku ran his hand through his curls as he always did when he was frustrated, but that only initiated another shock.
His hand wasn’t that big before, and surely it didn’t have claws. And oh gods, are those scales? Only now did Izuku look at himself as best as he could. Yep, that simply wasn’t his body. When he stood up from the ground, he could have been well over two metres, plus all the muscles... Nothing like Izuku’s normal small form. Then he noticed the tail nervously shifting from side to side behind him. To confirm, once again, Izuku took his hand to his head. There, he felt it. One horn and one stump were hidden under the hair, probably what was left from the second horn.
Could that be…?
Izuku liked to think that he was smart. He was booksmart, for sure. He had a lot of books. About herbs, animals, potions, magical creatures, legends. Just about anything. That meant he knew a lot, and not many things could surprise him. So, of course, he immediately realised what was going on. Even if it was kinda hard to believe.
Soulmates swapping their minds wasn’t that common. Most of them found each other on their own without the help of fate. But it looked like that Izuku wasn’t the case, and it was clear why. Since his soulmate seemed to be locked up somewhere, he wouldn’t be able to meet Izuku. And so they swapped…
But what was Izuku supposed to do?! If his soulmate with such a strong body couldn’t get out, there was no way Izuku could. Stupid fate. Making his life harder. But he couldn’t stay here. He had to somehow get out. Izuku was ready to get lost in brainstorming when he heard a noise outside the door.
Heavy steps were getting closer, and Izuku held his breath. As soon as the steps stopped, he heard a key in the lock. Then the door opened.
The man standing there looked anything but friendly. His frame was even bigger than Izuku’s current body, his hair was in desperate need of washing, and one of his eyes was replaced by a solid black ball. Izuku gulped. The man looked scary. Not like ‘I’m gonna avoid you If I meet you at the market’ scary but ‘You’ll kill me just for fun’ scary.
“Come and don’t think about doing anything funny.” The man said, pointing a dagger at Izuku. It didn’t really help that the dagger was already dirty with blood. The man had just used it… on someone. Yeah, there was no way Izuku would do anything. He wasn’t sure where he was supposed to go, but the man made it easier when he grabbed Izuku’s arms with a bruising grip and dragged him through the dark hall.
The dungeon looked like a damn labyrinth. They went left, then right, two times straight, and then it seemed as if they went in a circle. After so many turns, Izuku had no idea where they were. It seemed as if they were going forever before they got to some stairs. The stairs went in a spiral up, one floor, second floor, third… Just how deep underground they were? Then, after what felt like an eternity, Izuku saw a light. A daylight. They were out.
Please, just don’t tell him that this day was his soulmate’s execution day. That wouldn’t be funny.
Izuku was led to a small courtyard, one half of it filled with long tables full of food. It didn’t look really appetising. What seemed like a loaf of too-old bread, pieces of what looked like rat or squirrel meat, and some apples with mould already growing on them.
Normally, Izuku would never even touch such spoiled food, but by looking at it he suddenly felt how hungry he was. As if he didn’t get anything to eat for the past few days. And maybe that was true for his soulmates. Izuku already had the idea that they weren’t treated well here. Wherever this was.
“Eat! Your turn is in the afternoon, and King doesn’t want to see another sloppy fight.” The man said and left to sit at a table in the corner of the courtyard. One that had an actual edible food on it. Izuku only nodded, not wanting to give the man an excuse to harm him, and went to sit down.
Several other people were sitting there. They all looked in just as bad shape as Izuku was and no one was talking. When he carefully looked around, Izuku realised that it was an interesting collection of people. He could see two humans, one elf, three of what seemed a pack of fox hybrids, and what couldn’t be an adult orc. Whoever kept them here was sick enough to imprison a child.
As Izuku tried to eat and not throw up, he was thinking of what he knew. First, he wasn’t in his home Kingdom. It had been several years since King Todoroki banned these kinds of fights, saying that they weren’t barbars to have such primitive entertainment. Second, he was going to be forced to fight in just a few hours. That wasn’t good.
Izuku wasn’t a fighter, had never been. Fuck, it was hard for him to just kill a hare for a dinner. Most of the time, he bought meat when he occasionally went to the nearby town. Other times, he preferred whatever fruits, nuts or roots the forest could give him.
There was no way Izuku could stay here. He couldn’t get out using force. The body of his soulmate wasn’t strong enough to fight who knew how many guards. Izuku had to use his head. That was something he was good at. It had got him out of many troubles before. But none of them was as big as this one.
For now, he could only wait for an opportunity to do something, anything…
It took him a trip back to his cell to finally get an idea for the escape. He was already desperate, tears filling his eyes, when he noticed something on the wall. It was right in the corner, the colour almost the same as the nasty wall. It was easy to miss. A mould.
For anyone other, it would be just mould. An evidence of how wet and cold the cell was. But Izuku wasn’t anyone. He was one of the best damn alchemists in his kingdom. He would be seriously disappointed in himself if he didn’t recognise it. After seeing so many people being poisoned by it.
This thing could kill in minutes after ingestion. The death was painful, the body twisted in convulsions. But the right amount could make a person only look like they were dead. Slowing beating of the heart, making breathing so shallow it was unnoticeable.
Izuku heard of people trying it but never actually met someone who did it and survived. It was dangerous, hella dangerous, but that could be his ticket to escape. If they thought he was dead, his body would be useless for them, and they would probably get rid of it.
When he was outside, Izuku noticed smoke coming from over the high wall and the smell. Burning bodies. It made sense. They were burning them. But that might not have been a problem. Izuku’s soulmate was a dragon hybrid. He was sure of it. And dragon hybrids were fire-resistant. That meant that they would have to get rid of him in another way. Hopefully, some that he wouldn’t kill him for good.
It was his only chance. The imaginary clock was ticking in his head as his time was running out. Izuku didn’t know when they were coming for him, but it surely was soon. He had to act.
Izuku knew cerca what amount was lethal according to the size of the body. Now, the only thing that could ruin it was if dragon hybrids didn’t react to it the same way as humans. Well, now it was too late to wonder about it. He could do some research if he survived.
With a deep breath, Izuku shoved a full palm of the mould into his mouth. It tasted as awful as he would imagine, but he forced himself to chew a few times before swallowing.
It all went quickly. At first, it started to be hard to breathe, his chest hurting. Then, the pain spread everywhere. Izuku collapsed on the floor, groaning. And then there was nothing. Izuku fell unconscious, not hearing the lock and door opening.
When Izuku opened his eyes again, he thought that it was all just a dream. He was in a forest, lying on the ground, leaves and fallen branches under his back. Only when he tried to sit up, the pain reminded him that it was very much real. Not to mention the tail that was also uncomfortably under him.
Izuku looked around, making sure that he was alone. They most likely took him outside of the fortress, or whatever the place was, so the wild animals would take care of him. Thank god, he woke up before something got a chance to devour him.
A wide smile appeared on his face. Izuku was free! His soulmate was free…