Chapter 263
Everything was blasted away.
Between one second and the next Tartarus was no more, mucus walls shattering like glass, bits of flesh soaring then raining, buckets of blasted blood mixing with the downpour.
The island was turned upside down, rocks protruding like teeth from the jaw of a titanic creature.
The metal building right above the prison was so easily uprooted that, for a moment, it looked as though it were flying, before it shot up to the sky. Metal rods broke apart, bolts and nails torn out of their holes as if unscrewed, vanishing in the sea with plops.
The rain momentarily stopped falling, pushed back towards the clouds they came from.
Soldiers were blasted away, brittle straw blown by the wind, boneless figures that flew through clouds at breakneck speed.
As abruptly as it started, everything stopped.
Rocks and debris fell on the ground. The building – or what was left of it – crashed on the shore with a thundering boom.
For a minute or two, the rain turned red. It showered the island intensely and abruptly, bloody rivulets streaming to the sea. Then came the body parts, hands and arms and legs, plopping down in the water or bouncing on the shattered island.
There was a squeaky metal sound.
A huge metallic rod that had been obstructing Tartarus' entrance was blasted away.
Two figures came out.
Shoto wiped the blood on his cheek.
He tightened his grip on Keigo's collar and kept dragging him despite his sluggish protests.
Keigo's mouth was stuffed to prevent him from biting his tongue to death.
Shoto let him go on a relatively clean spot, the gesture so dismissive it could've passed for a push.
Keigo collapsed on his back, arms spread wide, eyes glassy, rain sliding down his dirty cheeks.
He'd lost what had mostly made him, but he wasn't too far gone to not realize what was going on.
Shoto looked around.
A couple of unlucky soldiers had been impaled on rods here and there, torsos without legs limp on large blocks of cement, blood spurting from everywhere like a sputtering faucet.
"Make it quick"
Enji was standing next to Keigo, arms crossed.
A ray of sunshine pierced through a cloud and shone through him, making it look as though he were made of mist or glass. It subsided.
Keigo blinked slowly.
His eyes widened when he spotted Shoto, his brain taking far too long to comprehend what was going on.
He hadn't even noticed somebody had dragged him out of his cell.
Jaw clenched, Shoto unceremoniously forced Keigo on his knees.
His wings hung like discarded clothes, bent at an unnatural angle, though a couple of feathers had grown back.
"You said you had to atone", Shoto said, dull eyes boring through Keigo's neck. "You said you had to pay the price of your freedom"
He put his shoe on Keigo's back, right between his shoulder blades, and grabbed both wings at the base.
"I'll absolve you"
He ripped off his wings.
Keigo screamed his throat raw.
He fell on the ground, shrinking on himself, the fogginess clouding his mind chased away by the burst of pain.
His shaking fingers groped his back. They stumbled upon raw, broken cartilage, barely an inch long.
He blacked out.
When he came back to his senses the physical pain was gone.
Glowing hands were soothing his back.
It had stopped raining.
"You always saw yourself as this ambivalent entity", Shoto said, green glow reflected on his face. "Your wings made you Hawks, but Keigo was nothing if he wasn't a Hero either"
Keigo's lids cracked open, barely a slit.
His eyes traveled down Shoto's arm to the hand he could see.
It was raw, soaked in blood, the flesh carved.
"I'll free you of both"
Then, gently, carefully, Shoto helped Keigo on his back.
The burst of pain never came.
"I understood when you told me you never wanted to see me again, and I understand the necessity now more than ever not to seek you out"
Shoto put his palm on Keigo's forehead, fingers grazing his curly hair.
Their gazes locked.
Pain and the hurt of betrayal resonated in Keigo's golden eyes.
Something flashed in Shoto's, temporarily alleviating the numbness.
"Goodbye, Keigo", he said softly.
Keigo's eyes rolled to the back of his skull.
It felt as if his head was cracked apart, a hammer breaking his skull in two, a surgeon taking his brain out and deconstructing it.
The sun glowed golden on Shoto's skin as he unraveled Keigo's mind thread by thread, carefully unknitting the tight knots, erasing everything that had made him Keigo.
Shoto felt their shared memories slipping between his fingers like water, fading in the breeze as if they'd never been there in the first place.
He'd be the only one who'd remember there had been a they at some point.
"Am I doing the right thing ?"
"Yes"
Keigo contortioned. He gasped gasp, saliva spit out on his cheek, and Shoto gently cleaned it.
The more he erased the more he shrank on himself, another kind of pain lighting up his chest.
"Why does it feel like he'd dying even though he's not ?"
Why does it feel like I'm losing him even though I'm setting him free ?
"Keigo's dying", said his father. "The one that'll come after him won't be the one we knew"
Enji's face contorted, brows furrows and mouth thinned, as though it were thinking hard about something, before its whole face smoothed.
"You're doing the right thing, son"
Enji pressed Shoto's shoulder, and even though the tone wasn't quite right and the fingers were as light as the breeze, Shoto basked in it for a moment, drawing comfort from it.
"I think an island would be nice for him", said Shoto. "Somewhere where there are not a lot of people, where he can get to know everyone"
Where he could be whoever he was at his core, Keigo and Hawks or maybe not quite both of them.
The procedure done Shoto let go off Keigo and watched him quietly.
There were stress lines at the corners of his mouth and his skin was thinner than he remembered but he looked peaceful, chest rising and falling softly.
"Shoto, we need to leave"
"One moment"
Enji's head snapped to the left, surveying the sky.
"Shoto-"
This whole imprisoning scam had been done so he'd get as much time with Keigo as he could before he came.
They should've already left but Shoto couldn't muster the strength to.
He needed one second more to carve Keigo's face in his head, just one moment more in a world where they'd known each other, another stolen instant when he could pretend nothing had gone wrong.
"He's here"
Shoto tore his gaze from Keigo and stood up, facing the new arrival right as he landed a couple of meters farther.
"I'm warning you", said Katsuki. "This won't be like last a time"
Between one second and the next Tartarus was no more, mucus walls shattering like glass, bits of flesh soaring then raining, buckets of blasted blood mixing with the downpour.
The island was turned upside down, rocks protruding like teeth from the jaw of a titanic creature.
The metal building right above the prison was so easily uprooted that, for a moment, it looked as though it were flying, before it shot up to the sky. Metal rods broke apart, bolts and nails torn out of their holes as if unscrewed, vanishing in the sea with plops.
The rain momentarily stopped falling, pushed back towards the clouds they came from.
Soldiers were blasted away, brittle straw blown by the wind, boneless figures that flew through clouds at breakneck speed.
As abruptly as it started, everything stopped.
Rocks and debris fell on the ground. The building – or what was left of it – crashed on the shore with a thundering boom.
For a minute or two, the rain turned red. It showered the island intensely and abruptly, bloody rivulets streaming to the sea. Then came the body parts, hands and arms and legs, plopping down in the water or bouncing on the shattered island.
There was a squeaky metal sound.
A huge metallic rod that had been obstructing Tartarus' entrance was blasted away.
Two figures came out.
Shoto wiped the blood on his cheek.
He tightened his grip on Keigo's collar and kept dragging him despite his sluggish protests.
Keigo's mouth was stuffed to prevent him from biting his tongue to death.
Shoto let him go on a relatively clean spot, the gesture so dismissive it could've passed for a push.
Keigo collapsed on his back, arms spread wide, eyes glassy, rain sliding down his dirty cheeks.
He'd lost what had mostly made him, but he wasn't too far gone to not realize what was going on.
Shoto looked around.
A couple of unlucky soldiers had been impaled on rods here and there, torsos without legs limp on large blocks of cement, blood spurting from everywhere like a sputtering faucet.
"Make it quick"
Enji was standing next to Keigo, arms crossed.
A ray of sunshine pierced through a cloud and shone through him, making it look as though he were made of mist or glass. It subsided.
Keigo blinked slowly.
His eyes widened when he spotted Shoto, his brain taking far too long to comprehend what was going on.
He hadn't even noticed somebody had dragged him out of his cell.
Jaw clenched, Shoto unceremoniously forced Keigo on his knees.
His wings hung like discarded clothes, bent at an unnatural angle, though a couple of feathers had grown back.
"You said you had to atone", Shoto said, dull eyes boring through Keigo's neck. "You said you had to pay the price of your freedom"
He put his shoe on Keigo's back, right between his shoulder blades, and grabbed both wings at the base.
"I'll absolve you"
He ripped off his wings.
Keigo screamed his throat raw.
He fell on the ground, shrinking on himself, the fogginess clouding his mind chased away by the burst of pain.
His shaking fingers groped his back. They stumbled upon raw, broken cartilage, barely an inch long.
He blacked out.
When he came back to his senses the physical pain was gone.
Glowing hands were soothing his back.
It had stopped raining.
"You always saw yourself as this ambivalent entity", Shoto said, green glow reflected on his face. "Your wings made you Hawks, but Keigo was nothing if he wasn't a Hero either"
Keigo's lids cracked open, barely a slit.
His eyes traveled down Shoto's arm to the hand he could see.
It was raw, soaked in blood, the flesh carved.
"I'll free you of both"
Then, gently, carefully, Shoto helped Keigo on his back.
The burst of pain never came.
"I understood when you told me you never wanted to see me again, and I understand the necessity now more than ever not to seek you out"
Shoto put his palm on Keigo's forehead, fingers grazing his curly hair.
Their gazes locked.
Pain and the hurt of betrayal resonated in Keigo's golden eyes.
Something flashed in Shoto's, temporarily alleviating the numbness.
"Goodbye, Keigo", he said softly.
Keigo's eyes rolled to the back of his skull.
It felt as if his head was cracked apart, a hammer breaking his skull in two, a surgeon taking his brain out and deconstructing it.
The sun glowed golden on Shoto's skin as he unraveled Keigo's mind thread by thread, carefully unknitting the tight knots, erasing everything that had made him Keigo.
Shoto felt their shared memories slipping between his fingers like water, fading in the breeze as if they'd never been there in the first place.
He'd be the only one who'd remember there had been a they at some point.
"Am I doing the right thing ?"
"Yes"
Keigo contortioned. He gasped gasp, saliva spit out on his cheek, and Shoto gently cleaned it.
The more he erased the more he shrank on himself, another kind of pain lighting up his chest.
"Why does it feel like he'd dying even though he's not ?"
Why does it feel like I'm losing him even though I'm setting him free ?
"Keigo's dying", said his father. "The one that'll come after him won't be the one we knew"
Enji's face contorted, brows furrows and mouth thinned, as though it were thinking hard about something, before its whole face smoothed.
"You're doing the right thing, son"
Enji pressed Shoto's shoulder, and even though the tone wasn't quite right and the fingers were as light as the breeze, Shoto basked in it for a moment, drawing comfort from it.
"I think an island would be nice for him", said Shoto. "Somewhere where there are not a lot of people, where he can get to know everyone"
Where he could be whoever he was at his core, Keigo and Hawks or maybe not quite both of them.
The procedure done Shoto let go off Keigo and watched him quietly.
There were stress lines at the corners of his mouth and his skin was thinner than he remembered but he looked peaceful, chest rising and falling softly.
"Shoto, we need to leave"
"One moment"
Enji's head snapped to the left, surveying the sky.
"Shoto-"
This whole imprisoning scam had been done so he'd get as much time with Keigo as he could before he came.
They should've already left but Shoto couldn't muster the strength to.
He needed one second more to carve Keigo's face in his head, just one moment more in a world where they'd known each other, another stolen instant when he could pretend nothing had gone wrong.
"He's here"
Shoto tore his gaze from Keigo and stood up, facing the new arrival right as he landed a couple of meters farther.
"I'm warning you", said Katsuki. "This won't be like last a time"