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A long time ago, in a land far, far away, there lived a swift and strong knight called Sir Izuku. He was known and celebrated throughout the land, as he rode across it on his trusty steed, fighting villains and helping people. Every evildoer feared his blade, drenched as it was in the blood of his enemies. The citizens, however, loved him, as he was kind and noble to everyone he met.
One day, Sir Izuku was riding along a well-trodden old dirt path through the rolling fields of the country, when all of a sudden, a hole opened up in the ground in front of him, and he didn’t have a chance to brace himself before he fell off his horse, and plummeted straight into it. He fell for hours and hours, then landed with a soft thud at the bottom. His only light came from the pinprick of a hole far above him. In the darkness around him lurked a thousand faceless villains, each one bearing a wicked sword that gleamed viciously at him.
“Heh,” one villain said, “not so tough now, are you?”
Sir Izuku laughed, brandishing his sword at them, “I’m still strong enough to fight you!”
A shout arose from the massed villains, and they charged as one, but they were no match for Sir Izuku’s deft bladework. His sword danced around him, steel slicing clean through flesh, a bloody mist hanging in the air.
And yet, despite his skill, every fallen enemy made way for two more, a hydra of an army. Sir Izuku was just one man, and not even he could fight every one of them alone. Slowly, but surely, they backed him up against the wall.
“Any last words?” A villain sneered.
Before he could respond, a shadow passed over the group, and the gleam of twin knives were the last thing a dozen villains saw before they, too, were slain. Every eye in the cavern turned to face the newcomer, a lady knight by the name of Lady Himiko. She grinned at Sir Izuku, teeth bared, “You look like you need some help.”
He grinned back, “Thanks!”
Together, they made their counter-attack, blades whirling in unison, felling villains where they stood. Blood sprayed and gushed, soaking the ground-
“I think you should stop, Mai-nee.”
Mai blinked, interrupted by her little sister, “Ehh? C’mon, Ai-chan, I was just getting to the good bit!”
Aiko stared at her, Keito held in her arms, “It’s ina… inap… inappro’pate. Daddy said Kei-kun ‘n Sacchan’re too young to hear ‘bout blood…”
“I heard about blood when I was their age.” Mai pouted.
“We don’t wanna upset mommy and daddy.” Hana shrugged, nibbling on her biscuit.
Sakura cocked her head to the side, calmly and placidly watching her sisters bicker.
“Okaaaaaaaaay,” Mai groaned, flopping on her back with a huff, “but it was a reaaaaalllyyyyyy good story!”
Aiko said nothing, eyes drifting down to their little brother. Mai huffed and turned towards Hana, “You liked it at least, didn’t you?”
“It sounds like you made it.” Her voice was diplomatic, and entirely unhelpful.
Mai whined, turning to their youngest sister, “Sacchan?” She asked hopefully.
Sakura blinked, before standing up and waddling over to her, and gently placed a hand on her forehead, “Bah.” She said wisely.
Mai groaned, sitting back up and pulling Sakura down to sit in her lap, “Fine,” she pouted, “but I’d like to see any of you tell a better story!”
Adjusting Keito in her arms, Aiko shifted around slightly, “Um, I… could try?”
All her siblings’ eyes swivelled towards her, and her body locked up at the attention. However, she took a deep breath, like her daddy taught her, and she began her tale.
In a quiet little cottage, in a placid wood far from the capital city, there lived a man by the name of Izuku. A kind man, he was, young and strong, with a sharp mind and gentle hands. He worked the land by day, growing everything he needed to live, and at night, he would read to himself, poring over thick tomes sent by his mother.
It was a quiet life. A peaceful life.
And a lonely one.
Sighing, he put his book down, his gaze drifting out the window, and up to the sky. Stars twinkled and danced in a vibrant array, and the moon was full, hung high and shining in its firmament.
It was a night for magic.
The tiniest tap-tap-tap at his door drew his attention and he stood and shuffled over to it. How strange. He almost never got visitors out here; even the animals rarely strayed his way. And yet, a second tap-tap-tap confirmed the first, and, gently, he swung open the door…
…and came face to face with the smallest person he had ever seen.
This was no mere short person, or even a person with dwarfism. No, the person Izuku now locked eyes with could have easily fit in the palm of his hand. That, coupled with the wildly flapping dragonfly wings that held them aloft, revealed to him their true nature.
Izuku opened the door, and found a fairy behind it.
“Hello?” He asked, because he was always taught to be polite to fairies.
“Hello!” They squeaked, “Are you Mister Midoriya?”
He nodded slowly, “That’s me…”
The fairy beamed, clapping their little hands, a shining dust falling to the ground in their wake, “Wonderful! Oh, how marvellous!”
He smiled, bemused, “Um, can I ask what this is about?”
“Oh! Yes, of course! Good sir, you have been summoned!”
“Summoned?” He blinked, “Summoned by who?”
“By the fairy queen, of course!” They chirped, “Come, come along, please! There is so much to do and so little time in which to do it!”
With a fluttering of their wings, they sailed away from the cottage and into the depths of the woods. Perhaps it was a bad idea for Izuku to follow, but… well, he wasn’t doing anything else, was he?
With a baffled shrug, he stepped across the threshold, closed his cottage door behind him, and followed the fairy’s glittering trail.
The wood was lovely, dark and deep. Trees brushed against Izuku’s face like old friends reuniting after many years. The normal chill of midnight was absent, the air warm, but not stifling. The soft crunch of the leaves beneath his feet, and the twittering and hooting of night birds in the trees, all provided a comforting soundscape to the forest walk. Overhead, the sky faded from pitch black into a brilliant array of oranges and yellows, deepening into a purple at the horizon. The stars still twinkled in the sky, the moon still shone, and as Izuku crossed the boundary between his world and another, the world settled into an eternal twilight.
“It’s just this way!” The fairy squeaked, not allowing Izuku to get too drawn into the sights around him. Instead, they hurried him up the path, to a door set into the largest tree stump he had ever seen, “Right inside!”
Izuku nodded his thanks and placed his hand on the doorknob. When he twisted it, he found it glided open, smooth and silent. The interior was far larger than the exterior showed, but it was bare and unfurnished, save for an ornately carved wooden bed that dominated the centre of the chamber. Atop it, swaddled in silken sheets and soft blankets, lay the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
Her skin was porcelain, smooth and unblemished, and her long hair was spun gold. Her eyes were closed, her lips pursed, but her face showed no sign of age nor worry.
She was ethereal .
Izuku stepped forwards-
“Booooooooooriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!!!” Mai groaned, cutting Aiko’s story short. Aiko almost jumped at the interruption, and Sakura wiggled disapprovingly in Mai’s lap.
Hana frowned slightly, “Daddy said it’s rude to talk when someone else is talking.” She admonished.
“She did it to me first.” Mai retorted, “‘Sides, that story was boring! There wasn’t any action, or fighting, just… walking!”
Aiko frowned, holding Keito close to her chest, “Mommy and Daddy read me a book called, um, ‘The Hobbit’, and that’s what I was thinking ‘bout. That had lotsa walking too…”
“I liked it.” Hana complimented, and a smile tugged at the corners of Aiko’s lips.
Mai blew a raspberry, “Yeah, cuz you like any stories. I betcha wouldn’t even know what a good one sounds like!”
Hana pursed her lips and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, both gestures she’d learned from their grandmother. When she spoke, her voice was terse, “I might .”
Her eldest sister pounced on the tense note in her voice like a cat, pleased to have struck a nerve in her usually calm sister, “Then tell us!
Hana closed her eyes, nodded, and straightened up, patting down her dress, before beginning to speak.
Hooves thundered through Musutafu forest, heralding a noble steed and its armoured rider. Branches lashed against the green plate, scraping and scratching harmlessly as he rode towards the forest’s centre. When he broke the tree line, he pulled on his reins and let out a sharp, “Woah!”
The horse slowed to a halt just in time to stop them both from tipping over into the chasm before them. It was a deep, grey wound in the earth, but molten lava pooled at the bottom, bubbling, hissing and steaming, promising a swift and painful death to anyone who fell in.
Across the gorge stood a ruin of a castle, ancient and crumbling. One feature remained intact, however; a tall, spindly tower jutting out of the back of the castle.
The rider dismounted his horse, and doffed his helmet, revealing green hair slicked back by sweat.
“The highest room of the tallest tower…” He muttered to himself. His eyes traced along the jagged edge of the ravine, finding no way to cross save for a rickety old rope bridge. He sighed to himself - this was for a good cause.
He tied his horse to a tree, then walked over to the bridge, cautiously testing it with a single foot. The rotting wood creaked and groaned under his weight, but held firm, and he hesitantly started to shuffle across it. It swung and swayed and protested with every movement but, before long, he had made it to the other side. Sighing with relief, he turned his attention towards the ruin. If he remembered correctly, there was a guardian preventing intruders from reaching the princess. He’d have to be careful.
He walked inside, as careful and quiet as he could be while clad in full plate armour. The interior - if you could even call it that, what with the gaping hole in the ceiling - was as dilapidated as the exterior, rubble and torn tapestries strewn about the place. Fortunately, the spiral staircase to the princess’ room was intact, and unblemished, to boot.
Taking a deep breath, he began his ascent.
The tower felt taller than it looked from the outside, but the periodic windows certainly helped him maintain his bearings. Each trudging step brought him closer to his goal, and after minutes had elapsed, he finally stood at the top of the staircase, facing a rather nondescript door. He placed his hand on the handle, and-
“Hey! Mai interrupted, “That’s just Shrek!”
Hana huffed and glanced away, “You told me to tell a good story.” She defended.
Aiko backed her up, glancing up from Keito with a quiet, “You did…”
Mai held Sakura close to her and pouted, “That’s not what I meant ! You’re s’posed to tell something orig’nal !”
“You shoulda said.” Hana shot back.
“Ugh!” Mai groaned, exasperated. As much as she loved them, her siblings could be a nightmare to deal with sometimes. Before she could respond, however, her bedroom door creaked open, and they all turned to find…
“So this is where everyone is!”
Daddy stood in the doorway, with Mommy behind him, and the two beamed down at their children with matching expressions of the purest love.
“Daddy! Mommy!” Mai squealed, shooting to her feet with Sakura in her arms and rushing over to their parents. Aiko followed her with Keito in tow, and Hana trailed at the back of the pack, calmer, but no less happy to see their parents.
Smiling, Daddy dropped to one knee and opened his arms wide, inviting his children in for a warm embrace. After Mommy had plucked Keito from Aiko’s arms, the girls eagerly submitted themselves to his affection.
He chuckled, “What’ve you all been up to here, then?”
Mai huffed, gently placing Sakura down so she could put her hands on her hips, “I was telling a good story, and Ai-chan and Hana-chan and Sacchan and Kei-chan didn’t like it, even though it was really good and it was about you ‘n Mommy beating up bad guys!”
“Ahh,” he grinned, and gently tousled her hair, “that does sound like a good story! But I don’t think it’s anything your siblings would like.”
She grumbled, but relented, “Fine… guess that makes sense…”
He gave her a small pat on the head, before turning to her siblings, “How about you, Aiko, Hana? Did you two tell any stories?”
Aiko nodded shyly, “Was about fairies ‘n you helping Mommy… Mai-nee didn’t like it…”
Daddy pulled her in for a hug, “Well, you and Mai just like different things, just like Hana does, right?”
The girl in question nodded serenely, “Told her a good story, ‘n she didn’t like it.”
He hummed, pulling all three of them in for another hug, “Well, that happens sometimes. Not everyone will like every story, and that’s okay, as long as you each respect each other’s stories, okay?”
“Okay!” They chorused in unison.
Satisfied, Daddy beamed at them again, and moved to stand. Before he could, though, Mai hurried forth and latched onto his leg, “Do you have a story to tell us, Daddy?”
He blinked, “Me? I don’t think any of my stories are that interesting, haha!”
Aiko shook her head, “You’re a hero…”
Mai nodded, “Yeah! You gotta have some cool stories to tell!”
As Daddy hemmed and hawed, Mommy laughed to herself and stepped forwards, passing Keito onto him, “ I have a story I can tell! A super cute one, with blood, and magic, and romance!”
The girls perked up at that, all three of them scrambling to sit on the floor in front of her, Mai once again pulling Sakura into her lap. Daddy sent Mommy a bemused glance, but adjusted Keito in his arms and stepped aside, allowing her to walk into the room. With a grin, she sat down, and began her own tale.
“Once upon a time, there lived a noble, wise, and very, very handsome knight called Midoriya Izuku.” She smirked.
Behind her, Daddy choked on the air, flushing bright red, “H-Himiko!”
She continued, ignoring her husband’s protest, “This knight was the greatest hero in the land, and he saved everyone no matter who they were. Also, he was super, duper, plus ultra cute!”
Daddy palmed his face, but couldn’t hide the smile creeping across his face.
“And Izuku, super cute as he was, would fight lots and lots of villains! And some of these villains banded together, and called themselves the League! And one of those villains, her name was… Toga Himiko.”
The children sat silently, enraptured by the story, and didn’t notice her slight hesitation.
“Now, Izuku and all his knight friends fought the League tons of times, and every time, Himiko fell in love with him a little more. She didn’t want to be a villain, really, she just wanted a world where she could live and love the way she wanted! But people wouldn’t let her! So that’s why she became a villain. But Izuku, he said that he’d help her to not be a villain! He understood her, and promised that he wouldn’t try to make her like everyone else! So Himiko loved him more and more.
“And then, one day, the big battle between the knights and the League came, and Izuku’s job was to fight the League’s big boss! But instead, Himiko got to him first, and she asked him, ‘will you be my boyfriend?’ And you know what he said?”
“What?” The girls chorused.
Mommy smiled, “He said yes! He said, ‘I’ll do anything to help you, Himiko.’ So when the battle ended, he did help her! He helped her to get lots of blood that she needed to drink, and helped her find her own place, where she didn’t have to fit in if she didn’t want to, and then he married her, and they had lots of the absolute cutest children, and they all lived happily ever after.”
She beamed at them, “The end!”
The girls clapped, and Mai shot up, “That was cool , thank you Mommy!”
Beside her, Aiko and Hana nodded, and even Sakura seemed pleased.
Daddy chuckled, “It really was, wasn’t it?”
Mommy smirked, a hint of a fang poking through, “It was the truth, my knight .” She finished with a subtle, teasing purr, turning her husband’s face a vibrant shade of red. Snickering to herself, she turned back to her children, “Anyways! Who wants snacks?”
That set the girls off again, and they trailed after their mother as she led them to the kitchen, leaving Izuku and his only son alone. He chuckled to himself, and gently rocked the baby in his arms, “Well, Keito, I think we’ve got our work cut out for us, hmm?”
The green-haired baby looked up at him with gleaming yellow eyes, and burbled happily. Izuku chuckled, gently tickled him under his chin, and then followed after his wife and daughters.