You shake your head, tightening your hold on Shoto's hand. He looks you in the eyes, and it feels like your head is cleared, and you have only one goal set in mind.
Get out alive, with your fiancé by your side.
◆
"Run!" You shout as the blue fire grows, enveloping the castle walls and burning the wallpaper almost immediately. Pictures of King Endeavor fall off of the walls, and lights join them in shattered pieces on the ground.
Glass. Blood. Papers. Torn pieces of clothing and shoes that have been abandoned.
Trinkets litter the floor, screams fill the air, and you feel like you're in Moyasu all over again. You clutch your fiancé's hand, not wanting to remember.
Guards bustle around you, shouting orders and heading deeper into the castle to save more lives. Your heart beats out of your chest. What if they don't make it?
You watch as a group of five guards, in special blue uniforms, use their quirks to extinguish the fire. Water sprays the blue flames, and they're gone in an instant.
You almost want to cry out of relief. Of course the kingdom of flame would have a special unit dedicated to putting out fires. The whole royal family has fire quirks, for goodness sake.
Shoto stops, and people run around him, but you stay.
"I have to help them," he says, watching the blue-uniformed guards put out the fires.
You don't want him to help. You want him to be safe. You want to be selfish for once and not lose anything else in your life.
But he can help. He could save lives with his ice.
It's like someone's stabbed you, but you nod, letting your fiancé and the future king risk his life for others.
"If you don't come back safe I'll kill you," you choke out.
"You won't have to, I promise," he smiles.
Then he runs off with the guards, to save lives and risk his own, the future king and your fiancé.
Heroes. Shoto and Hiro both are.
But you're not that selfless. You can't help in a situation like this.
So you run, holding on to Shoto's promise like it's the last thing you have.
◆
Guards and staff frantically aid the wounded outside of the castle, setting up tents as people go help put out the fire.
Your stomach is churning and your head feels like hell, but according to the nurse you're going to be okay.
Others, unfortunately, weren't so lucky.
There's a girl with a twisted arm that seems unrelated to the fire, but since she had trouble getting out, her lungs were damaged.
Many have burn scars.
No one knows where the fire started, but you know exactly who did it. The scarred man. The same man who burned Moyasu.
You throw up. The nurse feeds you, then you throw that up, too.
You try not to think of who's inside of the castle. Hiro. Takahashi. Shoto. Tons of strangers you don't know.
Shoto could be dead already. Hiro could be dead already.
Takahashi could be dead right now and you wouldn't even know it.
You resist the urge to throw up again, instead turning your attention to the people around you.
You have to help.
You go up to Commander Aizawa, who thankfully made it out safe, who's directing the crowd. Worry lines crease his forehead and his eyes are dark and sullen. He runs a hand through his hair.
"I want to help," you croak, suddenly feeling nervous.
You, a mere princess, trying to help while the most powerful guards and the Commander are trying their best to put out the fire and save everyone.
Commander Aizawa looks up, and to your surprise, he seems relieved to see you.
"Good," he says, "You're safe. Where's the prince?"
You look at the castle, giving him the answer without having to speak. He lifts his eyebrows.
"He's helping put out the fire with his ice," you explain. "I'm sure he'll be fine as long as he's with the others."
"Oh, the brigade, you mean," The Commander says, "thankfully we have them for times like these. A collection of guards with water quirks and anything that could help put out a fire."
You're embarrassed because he felt the need to explain. That means it was clear you didn't know there even was a specialized unit for fires. Hopefully he didn't see you puke earlier, too.
"There's actually something you can do," Aizawa says, diminishing your worries. He turns his head to a secluded place, where a man stands alone. It takes you a second to realize it's the king. "Could you talk to him?"
You nod, heading over to the lone monarch.
His eyes are the same color as always, but they hold a heavy sorrow inside of them, like he's holding the weight of the world and the dead inside of it.
In a way, he kind of is.
You look around at the tents harboring the injured. Maids and guards and cooks are doing headcounts, crying when they realize who's still inside.
You remember Moyasu, before you passed out. The people wandering with no sense of purpose after the fire died.
It's the same here; young maids who don't know how to help. Guards who look burned, sitting on the ground and watching the palace burn.
And then there's you and the king. You can only imagine how he feels. You sit, and he sits with you.
And you watch it burn.
The closest thing you had to home. The place you had your first kiss. The palace you thought you would rule along Shoto's side someday.
You watch it burn, your brother, your bestfriend, your fiancé, and who knows who else inside.
◆
❝ɪɴ ᴏʀᴅᴇʀ ᴛᴏ ʀɪꜱᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴀꜱʜᴇꜱ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴜꜱᴛ ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ʙᴜʀɴ.❞