Denki only felt pain, sickness, and more pain, but his mind couldn't register what was truly happening to himself or his surroundings. His equilibrium was tarnished, he was incredibly dizzy, and the ache he felt branching out from his back left a droning, high-pitched ring in his ears.
His very being was numb, and all feeling in his body seemed to have been relinquished, that not even pain had made itself known to him at the moment. Questions flew through his brain in an instant, though he was certain the intense lightheadedness he was experiencing wasn't entirely from that alone.
With little strength, Denki attempted to budge his dead fingers. He needed reassurance that he wasn't paralyzed from his fight. Was that what he would call it? It wasn't much of a fight to be quite honest. He was mowed down without much issue, his senses unable to keep up with the irregular movements of his assailant.
Denki focused his mind back on moving his appendages; he needed to move. C'mon fingers, move you stupids. He switched to his toes, but it resulted in the same outcome of nothingness. His head was a no-go obviously, and if he couldn't move something as small as a toe or finger, he wouldn't be able to conjure movement in his limbs.
A bright idea finally struck him: his wings. They were big, but they were never difficult to maneuver or manipulate. They acted as an extra hand for the most part, definitely not as demanding as an entire arm or leg.
He tested his luck, but he once again couldn't move anything. Though it seemed as if there were nothing there to even move. Come to think of it, how come he felt no weight from his back, no blanketing of the leathery additions, as they lay slack?
The dragon's heart began to pump, newfound adrenaline forcing itself through his system like an uncontrollable wildfire. The feeling began to erupt through him again, but oh how he wished it hadn't.
Mobility was once again returning to his body, but the searing pain from his back erupted throughout him. Denki twitched his fingers, his hands, his arms, until finally, he was able to reach behind him and feel for his wings. The wings that were no longer there.
His hand returned to the ground, but he brought it up to his face only to stare in utter trepidation. His blood had stained them as if he were wearing bright velvety gloves.
The dragon moved his head to look to the other side of himself, and there they were. Laying there, limp and flat, were the severed limbs. The bases held gruesome amounts of nerves and vessels that once connected Denki to them.
All he did was look in horror and pain. His stomach heaved and everything he had eaten throughout the day became one with the jarring stone tiles. It soiled the front of his shirt and met his cheek as he lay face down upon the floor. He could only look, even as a voice called and shouted at him to get up and flee; he couldn't. The world around him began to fade and a small, quiet yelp released itself from the back of his throat.
The world of pain began to be too much, and Denki lost himself to a nightmare-ridden sleep, but not before turning his head once more to look upon the commotion before him. The last thing he saw was Eijirou attempting to run to his aid, but he could never make it. The girl he fought threw a flurry of her blades with spontaneity, forcing him to continually withdraw from his friend.
Eijirou looked towards the unconscious familiar in panic; he couldn't get close enough to grab him and pull him to safety. Katsuki was busy fighting the blue-flamed freak, so his attempts to protect the dragons from the assailants failed.
The prince leaped away from yet another gust of heated wind and flame, narrowly evading the attack. His breath was ragged but the man didn't seem to be the least bit winded, his mana supply seemingly endless. Katsuki cursed under his breath, he was stuck. Sure, the prince was powerful, but he knew when he was reaching his dreaded limits.
He had to escape.
His eyes shifted to Eijirou and Denki. His familiar was pinned close to the flamed blockade and Denki remained bleeding out on the ground, motionless.
More blue blazes burst forward at him, pushing him closer to the wall of flames. Katsuki jumped to the ground and rolled closer to Eijirou's fight. He needed to get closer to the dragons and his parents if he wanted to even attempt an escape.
Once again he shifted his eyes from his enemy, looking towards his parents, only to see the masked villain taking them through the portal. His heart lurched out of his chest upon realization.
"Bring them back you bastard," In a fit of rage-filled panic, Katsuki sprinted from the battle and towards his parents. The masked man took a defensive stance as he saw the boy coming, explosive magic crackling in the palms of his hands.
The psychotic girl snapped her head in the direction of her masked comrade, noticing Katsuki's move to intercept. She threw one more flurry of knives at Eijirou, narrowly missing him, and ran to the masked figure's aid.
Blue flames trailed after Katsuki, following at the very tips of his cape. All three villains were after the prince, readying their magic or weapons for a simultaneous attack.
The strike would be deadly and Katsuki knew he wouldn't be able to evade it in time; he assessed how much mana he had left in store for a counter. Not enough.
Blue flames reached him, knife uncomfortably close, and clones coming ever nearer. He cursed again and braced himself for the sharp, heated impact, but he readied what little mana he had left as his defense.
The sparks erupting from his hands sprung forward, only for the man wielding blue flames to lurch to the side as if he's been hit by an invisible force.
Everything seemingly froze within a split second. The two other assailants seized their movement and stared in a surprised stupor. Katsuki watched as the scarred man slowly stood up straight, and it was then that he noticed the smallest bit of blood trickling down from his scalp. The man brought his hand up and touched it, looking at the bit of red liquid that coated his fingers. He turned his head in the direction he'd been hit, a malicious grin appearing on his face once he laid his eyes on the very reason he was bleeding.
Katsuki looked too, eyes widened in slight horror when he saw a trembling, powerless, Izuku Midoriya. He was standing in a position that indicated he threw something at the man's head, presumably a stone from the decimated castle walls. Not only that, but his clothes were tattered and burnt, blistering scorch marks marring his skin as he stood.
The prince's mind went blank and panic began setting in; he had yet another person to somehow save. Denki, Eijirou, his parents, and now Izuku. Katsuki internally cursed himself and the situation he was in.
"Deku, go!" The prince's voice was straining, his energy almost completely depleted. Izuku continued to stand still with fear and shock as if he didn't know what to do with himself. "GO!"
The villains were quick, but Katsuki forced himself to be quicker. He jumped up, slamming his foot into the scarred man's abdomen as he launched towards Izuku, effectively sending him to the floor in pain. The blonde and the masked villains made a b-line for the incapacitated Denki; and Eijirou, who was trying his best to manage three unconscious people.
Katsuki's thoughts were in a thousand places at once. Was he to continue fighting the flame wielding maniac? Fight off the knife chick and masked man? Or was he supposed to attempt to flee with his and his comrade's lives? He didn't know, but he was running out of time to think.
The fire freak was getting up again. Katsuki readied himself for another attack while the assailant proceeded at a snail's pace.
The prince growled when the villain was finally up and stood with a grin and a deep chuckle, "It was fun, but I'm done playing for now. Until next time, Katsuki Bakugo."
Before Katsuki could react, the villain's face began to liquefy, oozing down in brown masses. From what he could see, so did the other two criminals.
"Katsuki!" It was Eijirou's voice calling, his tone taking one of severe panic and mortification. The prince hurriedly turned his attention away from the melting figure and to his familiar.
The look of horror presented itself on his face as he saw that the forms of his parents too turned to the brown masses of liquid. He lurched forwards, sprinting to where Eijirou and his parents were, dropping to his knees to grab at them, only for his hands to go straight through the murky liquid.
They were gone, souls no longer present in their physical forms.
"Damnit! Damnit, damnit, damnit!" Katsuki grasped at the remains of the liquid, unable to grab anything from within it. He yelled and punched the ragged stone floor, rage seeping through every pore in his body.
The stings and aches from the impact resonated through his hand and up to his arm, but he ignored it.
"Fucking how, damnit?! How? When the hell were they switched out? How did no one fucking notice? Huh?!" Katsuki bellowed, turning to the shaken form of Eijirou and a slightly distant Izuku. Denki remained incapacitated, blood running steadily from his back, wings discarded beside him.
Eijirou merely stared, horror and despair imprinted deep within his eyes as he looked upon both the sludged mess of what used to be his King and Queen and his best friend's mangled form. He was at a loss for words.
The prince turned to Izuku, who had crept forward once the villains fled the scene. He held his arms close to himself, scared of what could potentially come to him, as the enraged prince lurched forward.
Izuku was pushed to the ground without remorse; Katsuki wrapped his hands around the boy's neck. Without a means of retaliating, Izuku gripped at the offending hands, nails scraping and clawing in attempts to make Katsuki release.
"It was you, wasn't it? You fucking led them here, you let them fucking know. You sabotaged this kingdom, my home, and for what? With your cryptic fucking messages this morning and your ominous jabs. I should have known." Katsuki's hands tightened even more as he growled out his accusations.
Eijirou had quickly taken action and leaped to grab at the prince's hands, trying to pull him off the blue-faced Izuku. "Katsuki stop it! You're killing him! You don't know if any of this is true, why would Izuku do any of this?! After all this time? Please."
The familiar's pleas weren't enough to sway Katsuki away from choking the other boy to death, his grip remained firm and unwavering.
Izuku's clawing began to weaken, and his vision spotting and fading from consciousness. He gave out wheezes, attempting to fill his lungs with air, but to no avail. "Kacchan-" he was spluttering and desperately gasping for air, "Ple-"
The prince watched as Izuku's life seemingly drained away, eyes beginning to dull, pleas dying, and resistance weakening evermore. That was when he stopped, he couldn't bring himself to finish what he'd started. He couldn't kill him, his sense of humanity wouldn't allow him. His own feelings wouldn't allow him.
He let go, and it was only then that the true realization hit him. What he had done.
Izuku was unconscious, neck bruised a gruesome black and blue. He was breathing, but it was haggard and shallow, nearly nonexistent.
"Dude, I get you're upset but please, we're family. We're all that's left right now." Eijirou had tears in his eyes as he lightly pulled his summoner away from Izuku. The familiar rarely cried, but the situation called for it.
Katsuki fell back and looked down at his trembling hands. His eyes traveled back to the motionless Izuku and then back to his own hands with an expression of disbelief and atrocity.
"Katsuki," Eijirou called in question, earning an empty look from the prince, "we need to get them out of here and regroup. Denki's bleeding out and I don't know how much longer he can stay like this; Izuku too."
The prince was dazed but gave a nod of affirmation anyway before picking himself up from the floor, "Do you have magic left," He asked.
Eijirou could feel close to nothing in his system, the usual tingle that lingered within his body had nearly vanished. He had to fend off two villains at the same time, all the while protecting three unconscious people, it was safe to say he wasn't mindful of how much magic he utilized in the attack.
"Barely anything, I'll most likely revert back to my dragon form if I use anymore. And I don't think that's necessarily good for this situation, we could be seen by more of those assassins." The dragon breathed out a puff of air, his spirits were chipping away every minute.
"There's no other way to get out of here quick enough. It's either that or we go through the village with what little magic we do have, and that's fucking worse," Katsuki turned his attention out to the sounds emanating from the villages within the kingdom. The clanking of metal on metal and the cries of the people plagued him; he didn't want to leave them all, but in reality, what could he do?
That wasn't like him. He'd do anything to protect his people, albeit rather aggressively, even if it meant fighting without magic.
Katsuki gave a sigh before he stood, "Your dragon form will do just fine, it's your primary form, you use less magic like that too. I need you to carry them anyway." The prince's eyes hardened again, calculatingly, as he stared out to the decimated wall. He would need to clear that if he were to make it straight to the village, he couldn't spare any time for detours.
"Why does it sound as if you aren't coming with us Katsuki?" The dragon's tone dampened evermore, understanding Katsuki's new sense of determination. He knew the prince long enough to understand that no matter the situation, he'd get back up and try again, to fight harder than ever before. He would push to exceed the limits of everything he knew to prove he was the most capable in the kingdom.
The prince looked back at Eijirou, "Because I won't, not yet at least, I need you to get me over the wall. I don't have time or magic to spare to clear it myself. I'll meet you back at the ridge where we drop Deku off, stay off the main path and out of sight. If anything goes wrong and you see that I won't make it out, you fly away. You'll only be a bigger target and get yourself killed."
Even with the conviction in his summoner's voice, he knew he wouldn't be able to make such promises. It was his life's duty to serve the royal bloodline, particularly Katsuki.
"Of course," He lied, "But you must know that this is suicide, without your magic at its fullest, you'll be cornered."
"Shift."
"Katsuki, just listen to me for a second—" Eijirou was cut off, unable to finish his pleads.
"I said shift, dragon." Katsuki snarled.
Eijirou wasted no more time, letting himself return to his original form with a pang in his chest. It was always a relieving feeling when he returned to his dragon-self, even now, but he dared not dawdle on said feeling. He lowered his scaled body close to the rigged stone floor, allowing Katsuki to gather their friends onto his back.
The dragon would need to fly as steady as possible if he were to keep them from falling. He never had many issues with that, but any rider he had was conscious and had the ability to hold on. He'd have to try his hardest.
Katsuki too boarded the dragon, sitting closer towards his head, as it would make for an easier drop-off.
Eijirou once again gave Katsuki a questioning look, "Just go, I'll be fucking fine. Remember the damn rendezvous." The dragon complied and spread his large wings as wide as they could go, before propelling himself into the air.
He was quick, but by no means agile. The dragon sped towards the wall, flying overhead and diving closer to the village than what would have been deemed comfortable or safe in normal circumstances.
The two unconscious members of the party remained on board the dragon, his spines and rock-like scales creating a small bit of leverage for their bodies. The strong wind of the dive made even Katsuki shift back to look at them, to ensure they were indeed still there.
Eijirou intentionally searched for a more open patch of destruction, knowing a drop-off in the middle of a battle would be unwise and dangerous, even for the prince. His eyes scanned until he found it, a small surge of magic has cleared out a circular piece into the townscape.
While unfortunate, it was convenient at the moment. The dragon released a deep rumble, alerting the prince of the area, and dove closer to assist his descent.
Katsuki gave the dragon a nod and a light pat before he leaped off his neck, somersaulting to break the fall in a lighter fashion. He looked up to the retreating form of Eijirou and let out a breath, unsure what to feel without his usual accompaniment. No matter the situation, those three were always there but never had they faced anything like this.
Smoke made his eyes water and his nose burn, but he looked on before running into the bleak, decimated village he once called home.