Izuku POV:

Something was wrong with the Prince.

He was sweating and breathing heavily. His brow was furrowed and he was shifting every now and then. I sit down on the bed next to him.

Ochako, Tenya, and Tsu had gone home a few hours ago.

So it was just me. And a missing Prince.

"Prince Shoto?" I asked, grabbing onto his shoulder. He flinched so hard he almost tumbled out the bed. I pulled back, shocked. I frowned in concern and watched Prince Shoto tremble slightly.

A nightmare. I realize. I reach out to him again and pull him into a hug.

The Prince froze as he woke up. "Huh?" He kind of mumble-gasp.

"Are you alright?" I ask, starting to pull away. But the Prince clings onto my arms desperately. I stop pulling away and just stay still. "It's okay, it wasn't really." I try to soothe him.

Prince Shoto whimpers quietly. "Not real." He repeats, barely above a whisper. "Not real."

I nod slightly. "Yup, you're safe here." I say. The Prince's frozen posture slowly sinks away and he breathes out a sigh of relief. I smile slightly. "You're alright."

There was a moment of silence. "Sorry." Prince Shoto mumbles. "That's embarrassing. It hasn't been that bad in a while."

"There's nothing to be sorry for, you can't control if you have nightmares or not." I say. "Your Highness, do you often have these?" He visibly cringes when I call him his title.

He sighs. "Please call me Shoto." He says. After another moment; "I have these every night. I usually don't wake up in such a state of terror though."

I hum thoughtfully. "Do you need anything?" I ask. "You seem less tired, Yo- Shoto."

He pulls away slowly, but I still see him shaking slightly.

"I'm fine." He says, and that makes me frown. He was obviously not fine, not in the slightest bit.

I look at his eyes and realize that they were back to normal blue and grey. "You were having headaches earlier, are those gone as well?" I ask.

"No." He says.

I tilt my head. "Do you want to take some medicine for it?" I ask. "My mother gave me some earlier. It's supposed to make your headaches go away." Shoto thinks for a moment. He opens his mouth but then I could see another flash of pain on his face. He winced and nodded. "Alright, I'll go get it." I stand up.

As I walk out the door, I wonder more about the words he said in the dark room. Were they a prophecy like Ochako suggested?

I came back with a pill and a glass of water. I sat back down next to Shoto, who was sitting up and resting against the wall. "Here, this is the pill." I say as I hand it to him. "My mother said that there were a few side effects, like a little wooziness or such, but it's better than your headaches." Shoto takes the glass of water and takes the pill. He drinks a bit of water and I take the cup from him.

"Who were your friends earlier?" He says. "They were here as well."

I smile. "That was Ochako, Tsu, and Tenya." I say. "Ochako is the brown haired one, Tsu is the green haired one, and Tenya is the blue haired one."

Shoto nodded. He puts his fingers together and starts fiddling with them.

"I feel like I've slept for a month." He says. "I have a vague memory of you bringing me out of that room but.. what happened?" He turns to me. I sigh.

"We're not completely sure about it to be honest." I say. "You kinda started spouting a bit of nonsense. And then Ochako suggested that you said a prophecy-" The moment I said 'prophecy' Shoto grabbed his head in both of his hands and whimpered again. He shut his eyes. "What- Are you okay?"

His face scrunched up in pain. "Shoto?" I say. "Shoto, can you hear me?"

He whimpered again and my heart squeezed. Why did the word prophecy trigger his headache? Was that really a prophecy that he spoke? I think. I try and remember what it was.

Apparently I didn't have to.

Because Shoto's eyes shot back open, except this time, they were the glowing white again.

I pulled back again, as his eyes were staring right through me.

"It shall be then..
when legends become reality,
a child of ice and a child of forest green,
a child of scales and a child of loyalty,
shall bring the fall of fire royalty."

Just like before, his face gets all twitchy and then he collapses.

I hold him up with a shocked look on his face. I gently push him back into lying position on the bed and stand up.

What the fuck was that??

I quickly walk downstairs, but not before locking the door so my mother won't see the missing prince.

Opening the door, I run into town and into Ochako's parents'cafe.

Thankfully, Ochako was there. One shared glance and she immediately dropped the menus she was holding. She walks quickly over to me.

"That maybe prophecy?" I say. "He just said it again."

Ochako's eyebrows shot up. "Okay, let's go." She says.

...

Shoto was still asleep when we entered my room again. I sat down next to the dual haired boy again and looked up at Ochako.

"So do you remember what it said?" She asks. I nod. She walks over to my desk and brings out a pad and pencil. She tosses it at me. I write down the 'prophecy' and hand it to her, glancing down at Shoto again, though he was still fast asleep. I watch Ochako's face while she reads it, confusion, shock, more confusion, and a grim look.

"Shall bring the fall of royalty?" She questions. "Sure sounds like something."

I nod. "What legends will become reality? Every single one? A few?" She questions. "And who are all these three children? 'A child of scales' What does that mean? A baby dragon?"

"This prophecy, if that's what we're calling it, is the reason why Shoto is having so many migraines." I say. "When I said the word prophecy was when another one came and he said it again."

Ochako glanced down at Shoto and frowned. "You know those rumors of how the Queen is like ice?" She says. "What if that's what the prophecy is referring to? Then the Prince would be 'of ice'."

"Maybe." I say. "And the fire royalty is obviously referring to King Enji. Everyone knows the way he's called the fire King." Ochako nods along.

Then I feel a tug on my sleeve and look down to see Shoto had grabbed onto it in his sleep. I smile a little and then hear a excited gasp come from Ochako.

I look up at her and see her smiling. "What?"

She looks away. "Nothing~" She says. "Just didn't know you had a crush."

My face turns as red as a tomato. "What?!" I exclaim. "No! No, I don't like him!"

Ochako gives me a smug grin. "Sure." She says. Her face turns more serious. "We should talk to Tenya and Tsu. And maybe we're going on another exploration."

"We need to go soon then." I say. "The longer the Prince is missing the more guards are being sent out."

Ochako nods. The tug on my sleeve makes me smile.

<^> To Be Continued

(1.2k words)

T o d o d e k u