Becoming Lost means giving in to your emotions. Whether it be malice, hatred, grief, or sadness, becoming Lost is the lowest point a beast could ever be. Of course, there are ways to stop them. Whether it be by killing them, shattering their Lost forms, letting their bonds stop them, or by letting them kill or finish whatever made them become lost.
One of the royals was about to experience this.
Just a few hours after the Press Conference, there was an anomaly detected in North Japan. Two unknown energy sources exploded against one another. It was a clash.
One of midnight Umbra and another of Penumbra.
Akako Kage. The Second Princess. The Queen of Shadows.
Hato Sora. The Third Prince. The Holy Beast.
“…” Black as far as you could see. Umbra poured out of her, eating away at the landscape and turning it into nothing but a wasteland. They streamed down her body as her shadows watched on. Nervous and worried. She didn’t say a word though. At least until her dear brother appeared.
“What do you think you’re doing Akako? Don’t tell me you’re starting to feel guilty after all these years.” He descended on a platform of glass ribbons while looking over her shadows. His guard was higher up in the sky, this time with Axel.
“…Hato. Stop. I’m in an awfully foul mood right now. Leave.” Her voice was low and straight to the point. Void of all emotions.
He ignored it and pushed on. “Last time I checked, you pushed her away because of how annoyed you felt around her. About the attention, she got from Nana.”
“Shut up Hato. You don't know anything.”
“Oh but I do. We, and every beast, know that she’s the reason why we no longer have a King. And a corrupt, lazy mother.”
The umbra around her began to kick up. Her shadows began to stir and the smoke began to increase. Flashes of purple could be seen flashing across her shadow’s empty eyes. “Hato. Quit it. No more… of your visions.”
“Ah, and let’s not forget how she cracked the cores of so many children that day,” He moved until they were just inches away from each other. “About how we both watched… even though you weren’t there physically at least. You’re just as guilty as me. And now you must learn to live with it.”
“…” The umbra circled her hands. The black sea became a purple sea of pure destruction. She’d gone over the edge. And she’d become Lost.
*
In the weeks after the press conference, the world had become even more focused on Japan than ever. The press conference left far more questions than the one Teka answered. The portals that were spotted around the world, the beasts that lived among humans, and the powers they held. The world wanted to know but there wasn’t anyone to give them the answers.
The core that hovered silently above Minato had been moved to Mount Fuji. Dozens of blue streams of lava flowed upwards from the extractors. Lightning crackled and roamed the skies as the core absorbed everything around it. It was a good start. Some of the cracks had even begun to disappear.
Too bad not everything goes as planned.
Something went wrong. A sudden influx of Ether overloaded the systems. Her brain activity suddenly spiked and the circuit pattern on her skin became red, a major sign of distress.
The core became a deep purple and the flowers that had implanted themselves in the mountain began to rise.
[I’ve run the simulations with the metal obtained from Aiko. Chance of success is 94.4%!]
5.6%.
They’d completely forgotten about it.
Just before they could shut the nanites down, everything stabilized. The storms became calm and the lava too, still flowing into her core. The same couldn’t be said for Teka though.
She’d become lost. And it was far different from the last time it happened. Three horns, two of her right side and one and her left, sprouted from her head. The gauntlets exploded into hundreds of pieces and wrapped themselves tightly around the horns.
It hurt.
No, hurt is too soft of a word. It felt like she was suffocating in her own flames as the gauntlets desperately tried to shatter her horns. Even though she’d died more times she could count and could deal with pain better than anyone, this was on a different level.
Before anyone could approach her, she exploded into a cloud full of embers.
A part of Luna’s central database, the part that was solely dedicated to Teka, had completely gone dark. It was like her energy had taken control over them. To make matters worse though, they couldn’t detect her. Or rather, she wasn’t in range of the sensors scattered across Japan.
Of course, questions from the government and world leaders propped up about why her core had suddenly become purple. They’d seen a glimpse from when her eyes flashed purple, but that’s it. Neither Teka, Ryuku, or Aiko had explained what it was.
What happened?
Where did she go?
Is Japan even safe right now?
These were questions that needed to be answered.
Answers that couldn't be answered.
A few weeks later, Kori and Mei surrendered themselves to the Japanese government. If you could even call it that. They were treated like average citizens, maybe even better than average.
The drones had been placed under the Air Force’s 'authority.' But the air force still couldn’t touch them or so much as approach them without Mei’s approval. A majority of them had been sent out across and around Japan to look for her.
Bakugo had also woken up around this time. Just like Mei, he’d also gone through a change. Electricity crackled off his skin and his eyes became a deep blue whenever he fired off explosions. His body had mostly remained the same if you ignored the fact that he could regenerate at speeds faster than he could understand.
The first thing he asked was where the hell Teka was. Completely ignoring the fact that he’d been on the edge of life and death for the last six months. Doctors had to get Mitsuki to restrain him.
Kori said he’d answer any of his questions at a later date. But the explosive child wasn't having any of that.
“Don’t give me that shit!” The room shook a bit as Kori went flying into the wall. Bakugo was angry and confused about the power he just outputted. It was far more powerful than his usual explosions. “What the hell did I see? What the hell am I? What the fuck did Teka do?!”
Kori raised a hand to stop Mitsuki, Izuku, and the security team. Ice began to form on his palms as he spoke. “You know what you saw. A mix of some of her memories. Izuku and Mei have experienced the same thing. The only difference is that Izuku became Kage’s bond when they were children so there was nothing to see.”
“…How many times?” His eyes flashed between red and blue and his voice was low. He seemed scared. Scared to know the hell that Teka had gone through.
“You don’t need to know that.”
“Damnit! How times did she die?!” He yelled.
“…” In one solid and quick movement, Kori grabbed his hand, kicked the back of his leg, and pinned him to the ground. Ice wrapped around his limbs so he couldn’t move. “I said you don’t need to know that! Because the more you know about it, the more you would wish you didn’t.”
Bakugo was stunned at what he said.
An icy flower formed in his hand. “I’m not sure which ones you saw. But judging from your reaction, you saw some of the worst. She tried to make sure you would only experience the easiest ones but not everyone gets what they want in the end,” His eyes matched his glowing ones as Bakugo broke out of his trap. Kori dodged his attacks until his back was to the door.
Ice erupted from Kori's mouth and caked the entire room, trapping Bakugo again. Kori grabbed his collar of his shirt and spoke in a low and harsh voice. His eyes glowed just like Teka’s. “When I said, ‘She lost her memories to beasts like you, I wasn’t joking. Beasts can only bond with one person in their entire lifetime. She chose you because she promised Mitsuki that you would come back safe and sound! If you want to see her again, then you will help us find her.”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
*
“Hmm… what should I do now?” Curious said, spinning in her chair. Behind her was an entire platoon of writers and editors currently working on a variety of newspapers and articles. Most of which were about the beasts.
When it came out that she was the one who abused her power to get Sora to spread his message, she was immediately placed under arrest and fired. Held in custody for a few months and charged with a slew of crimes. She thought she’d never see the light of day after that.
Luckily though, someone stepped in. A man who ran a certain support company. Most of the charges were dropped due to his influence and she was forced to spend a lot of time doing community service.
The phone buzzed, bringing Curious out of her daydream. She picked it up without a hint of hesitation once she saw who’s name it was. “Ah, Yotsubashi! It’s nice to speak to you again.
“It’s good to speak to you too Curious. And please, just call me Re Destro. Or Destro! So tell me. How are you fitting in in Shoowaysha Publishing? I was about to sell the company but I figured you could somehow turn it around.”
She leaned back in her chair, checking off and reading the articles she was given at a blinding pace. Curious stopped on a certain one. “…Then I have a question I want to ask. I know you didn’t save me from the slammer for no reason. So what is it that made you come for me?”
It was silent on the other end for a few seconds. “Your past articles. They talked about how you believe that meta abilities… or rather, shards, should be a basic human right. And with the beasts suddenly appearing and using their cores however they please, I believe times are changing again.”
“And you want me to report on it?” A smile crept onto Curious’s face and excitement that she hadn’t felt since Flaming Christmas began to sprout up. “I like the way you think Destro.”
“I’m glad we’re on the same page. Oh! But before I go, have you checked out that book I left on your desk?” Her eyes looked over to the corner. Meta Liberation War… “You’ve referenced it a few times but this is one of the first editions of it. Please do read it. It’s been changed a lot and I think you should get the real truth out of it.”
*
Kori and Mei were properly pissed off. For the last few days, they had to fend off cyber-attack after cyber-attack. Luna had assisted majorly and had decided to cut off nearly all of the systems she’d implanted herself in. Which led to less information and the reduction of scans across Japan.
“Un-fucking-believable. Countries tried to hack us? Can you fucking believe that?” Mei pinched her nose while ranting to the HPSC president, Akihiro Ami, and a few others. She was repairing her drones at the airbase when everything had been stored and was in the process of moving them under government supervision. She hated when other people tried to steal her work. “Kori put out a public warning, even though he didn’t want to, in order to get them to stop. Fuck it’s going to take a long time to re-do everything… Toss me that toolbox please.”
“Which countries were they? I’ll be sure to forward this to the Prime Minister.” Ami eyed and picked up a toolbox covered in pink ice. “It’s amazing that you’ve built so many machines. And these drones… they’re so complex.”
“The United States and Russia. Guess the U.S is pissed at Teka for what she did. They deserve it after thinking I’ll just hand over my creations like that. And to be honest, these aren’t all completely my ideas.”
Ami leaned against one of the drones as another could be seen approaching in the distance. “What do you mean by that?”
“…When I first met Kori, he was desperate to learn everything about machines. It was by sheer luck that he found me. I taught him a lot of things. He caught on quickly and improved so much. In just a year, he was just as good as I was. Eventually, he found a blueprint for these drones in the dark web. He bought it on a whim and bam! The existence of these drones came to light. I tried to find the listing, but everything about who created them was gone. The final and only blueprints are with me.”
“So you’re saying someone else designed these?”
“Essentially. But I did a lot of the fine-tuning. He said it was impossible to make it work, so I guess I kind of took it as a challenge.”
The hiss of the opening of the drone filled the air. Kori, Hawks, David, and Luis walked out with a lot of takeouts. They’d been working on the cyber issues for a while now. Luis had taken up a temporary residence in Japan after the press conference as to be in better contact with Kori and Mei. Even though Luis was old, he was as energetic as a child talking to Kori and David.
“…No. What you saw at the press conference a few months ago was Teka’s first state. A state is unique to every beast. Ain’t no such thing as a duplicate among the beasts. Teka still hasn’t been spotted. It’s been like three months and all we’re receiving are her vitals. We know she’s alive but have no idea where she is.”
Kori waved to Ami as he jumped up to Mei. “Is this one almost done? I’ll get to work on repairing the others.”
Mei nodded whilst nodding to Ami. “She has some questions for you. Go ahead and answer them. I’m almost done with this one.”
“It’s good to see the HPSC president again. What pleasure do we owe you?”
“It’s good to see you too Kori,” She gave a slight bow even though it wasn’t needed. “But I have a few things I would like to discuss today.”
Kori signaled for her to go ahead. “The first thing I would like to ask is the envelopes that Teka gave to All Might and Gran Torino. We tried to question them about it, but they both didn’t have any answers.”
“Teka’s grandmother’s last words. But she might as well be my grandmother too since she treated me like her own child. I have no idea how to open them if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Is that the person who Teka mentioned when the audio was cut?”
He nodded and swallowed another bite. Mei reached for his hand once she felt a bit of sadness. “Yep. Also, the one who saved her life… no both of us. A hero to the very end.”
Hawks raised an eyebrow at that. “I only heard a part of the name, but I did hear ‘Shimura’. I ran it through the system and found someone named Nana Shimura, a hero who had been killed in a villain attack about twenty years ago. But the way you talk about her, it’s like she was alive and in the Aether.”
“That’s because she was in the Aether. The short story is that the King married her daughter. It’s tradition to get your bond's parent’s blessing. And it just so happened that the King found Nana and saved her on that day of the celebration. He also gave her a core but that’s another story.”
“But on her file, she had no children.”
Kori scratched his head as the file appeared on a hologram in front of him. “Yea, that’s what bothers me too. She actually had two children. But I couldn’t find anything on them. It’s like they’d been completely wiped off the map,” He sunk back into the chair and softly tightened his grip on Mei’s hand. “Maybe she was hiding them from a villain?”
Mei patted his head. “Let’s stop for now. What’s the second thing you wanted to ask?”
Ami pulled out a tablet and slid it over to them. “Please don’t freak out, but don’t panic either.” She pushed the power button and the atmosphere in the room went dim. “Teka has been found, but the situation is very bad.”
The tablet showed a completely different Teka. Her beast form was a dragon with pitch-black scales. The thrusters that used to be attached to her body had separated into six individual ones. A circuit pattern with a bright red glow imprinted on her scales. Three purple horns sprouted from her head as multiple ships from the United States surrounded her.
Kori drew a long sigh before speaking. He was pissed but tried his best to hide it. “How old are the videos?’
“Just a few hours. The Prime Minister is in contact with their president to try and get them to withdraw. But nothing had changed so far. We neglected to tell you because we weren’t sure what you would do.”
“It’s like they’re trying to start another war,” Kori mumbled under his breath.
“Another war?” Hawk’s feathers picked up on it and he thought back to when Teka said the energy of the beasts runs through the Earth. “So what Teka said was true. That the energy of beasts runs through the Earth.”
He rubbed the back of his head whilst silently regretting he spoke. “That is also a story for another day. Besides, she told every beast to keep quiet about it. That includes Ryuku and Aiko which I know you’ve been bothering them about. When the time is right, humanity will know. Until then, just ponder about why the third prince has a strong distaste for humans.”
[Almost all drones are ready. Shall I attempt to hack into the United States military system?]
Luna said it nonchalantly that it surprised everyone, including Kori and Mei. “No. No. I rather not get into any more national affairs than I already have to. For now, have you pinpointed where she is?”
Luna nodded, pointing at the tablet which had begun to mimic her movements.
“I don’t think we’ve mentioned her location yet.”
Kori shrugged as Luna spoke.
[Sand Point, Alaska. Precisely on an island not in the U.S territory but close. I accessed their military records of where their ships were stationed. I also used one of the bots that Mei used last year to access a satellite and gain an HD version of the situation at hand.]
“You have access to our satellites?” The eyes of the heroes and officials turned to Mei. “When and how?”
“I… may or may not have deployed some bots that I forgot about. This was before Teka regained her memories. I’ll erase them off your systems.”
Ami groaned at the amount of upcoming paperwork she would have to deal with. “Just one more thing. A few hours after the press conference, our satellites picked up on an anomaly in North Japan. When we investigated, we found a large area covered with Umbra, the liquid that dripped from Kage, and remnants of white swords. Midoriya also hasn’t seen or heard anything from her but warned us that she isn’t feeling the best right now. Care to inform us?”
Kori clicked his tongue, annoyed that she had to be brought up. “Those stupid royals had a little disagreement I guess.”
*
“Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok.” A beast, up in the Aether, slowly repeated that phrase as she peered down into Earth. The area where Sora and Kage had their… ‘little’ fight. It was still a decaying mess where no life could live. The beast laughed and laughed, even rolling over from excitement. “And here I thought dear Teka had somehow lived. But it was just the royals fighting! Oh, what a fun time we could’ve had if she did!”
“Roza. Enough.” Another one said. He leaned against the tree while looking up at the dual suns that hovered overhead. “If that was true, then as the Queen’s guard, we would have to shatter her. It’s only right. Especially after all that, she’s done.”
“Tch. Why not kill her a few times? I’m sure it’ll be fun!”
“We only need to shatter her if she exists. If only we could get clearance from the Queen or the royals to go down and make sure…”
“…Who said we need clearance, Oda? We could just go for a quick reconnaissance. Maybe kill a few humans while we’re at it.”
“You do realize that our Queen is a former human right?”
“Bah. So what?”
The sky suddenly became pitch black as multiple shadow soldiers rose from the ground. “Will you two bastards shut the fuck up!”
A black liquid sprouted up from the ground as the skies darkened. Akako Kage, who wasn’t in the best of spirits, appeared. Her eyes were glowing red and the life around her became nothing. She teetered on the edge of being lost once more. “Say something about that to Mother and I promise I will shatter you bastards faster than you can think!”
The two guard’s stomachs dropped at suddenly being surrounded by her endless shadows. The sheer difference in power was obvious. “Ye… Yea! We got it. Not a word will be said.”
Her eyes narrowed. Tiny black hands rose up from around her and pointed away. “Then get the fuck out of my sight.”