Test of Courage

1

Midoriya's POV
"Goodbye, mom!" I called into the house. I heard her reply and I left our small house. My satchel was slung over my shoulder. I weaved my way through the town. The sun shone brightly above me and the sky was bright blue and clear of clouds. A cool spring breeze blew through my curly green hair. I went to the edge of town where the edge of the forest was. Flowers had started growing in the grass fields and on the forest floor. I could see some of my friends were already there, waiting.

A boy with ash blonde hair named Bakugou, stood with his arms crossed. He had red eyes and a scowl on his face. He wore a flowing white long sleeve with a belt around his waist. A sword in it's scabbard was on his belt. He had tan pants that tucked into dark brown boots.

Another boy named Kirishima, was using Bakugou's shoulder as an arm rest. Kirishima had spiky long red hair and his eyes matched in color. He wore a cream colored long sleeve with a dark brown vest over it. The vest was left unbuttoned and long sleeve was tucked into black pants. He had brown lace-up boots on his feet. I waved to them and Kirishima waved back. Bakugou rolled his eyes.

"No one else is here yet?" I asked looking around.

"Nope but they should be here soon," Kirishima said. I nodded.

"This is so stupid," Bakugou grumbled. Kirishima gave him a look.

"Then why did you come?" I asked.

"To make sure you don't accidentally get the prince killed, you damn nerd," Bakugou said. Then he grumbled, "Speak of the devil." I turned to see to more people joining us. One of them was a knight and his name was Iida. He had dark blue hair and wore glasses over navy eyes. Normally he had a full suit of armor but today he wore long sleeved tunic with the kingdom's colors on it, red and gold on his belt was a scabbard and sword. He had dark colored gloves and boots that matched.

Next to him walked the prince, Todoroki. His hair was half white and half red. His eyes were mismatched like his hair. One was stormy gray and the other an ocean blue. A scar covered part of his face. He wore a flowing white shirt under a long blue vest with gold accents. He had brown pants and tall black boots. He had a sword like Iida's on his belt.

"What took you so long, half n half?" Bakugou yelled.

"Bakugou, your not supposed to call the prince that!" Kirishima scolded him. Bakugou simply rolled his eyes.

"I apologize, my sister was being nosy. She kept asking questions and wouldn't let me leave," Todoroki explained.

"That's fine, we weren't waiting long," I say giving him a smile. He gave me a small smile in return.

"Where are we going anyway?" Iida asked, "As you know it is my duty to keep the prince safe."

"I found some cool caves the other day and I though it might be fun for all of us to check it out," I said. Iida deemed my idea safe so the five of us set off into the forest. I lead the way I remembered taking the other day. We walked in the direction of the mountain that was in the middle of the woods. We got to the base of the mountain where the ground started to slope upward and I changed direction. We began to walk around the base until the grassy forest floor changed to rocky. This side of the mountain was a steep cliff. At the bottom of the cliff was a big cave opening. It was almost fifteen feet tall. Around it was smaller openings, some I would have to crawl to get in.

"Wow," Kirishima looked up the cliff face. Todoroki nodded in agreement.

"I thought we could check out the biggest one first," I suggested. The others agreed with me.

"Your highness, I ask that you stay close to me. We do not know what could be in there," Iida said.

"You can call me Todoroki," The prince responded. Iida was very formal and no matter how many times Todoroki told him not too, Iida would call him something formal.

"Apologies, your hi- Todoroki," Iida apologized. I stepped into the biggest cave. Inside was dark and the air was cold. Somewhere in the cave I could hear the drip of water. I took a lantern out of my bag along with a match. I lit the lantern and light filled the cave. Bakugou grabbed the lantern out of my hand.

"You shouldn't be trusted with fire, Deku" Bakugou said. Deku was a nickname Bakugou gave me years ago when we first meet. It was supposed to be an insult. I ended up giving him a nickname in turn, Kacchan. In the light I could see the cave start to slope down as we continued forward. The air became damp and the cave floor became slippery with water.

"Be careful not to slip," Kirishima warned us. Then the cave began to rumble. We used the wall to steady ourselves but when I reached out I found nothing. I fell and found myself sliding into a side tunnel I didn't see before. As I plunged into the darkness I heard Todoroki call my name. I slid down the steep smooth stone until I hit level ground. The rumbling stopped and I stood up and winced. I was definitely going to have some bruises.

I looked around for anything in the darkness. Mushrooms dimly glowed. They were scarce closer to me but they were more frequent the farther away they were. From what I could see, this part of the cave was like a room. At the end farthest from me the ground was completely covered in mushrooms. Among them, a sword was wedged in a crack in the floor of the cave.

There was something about the sword that drew me to it. Almost like it was pulling me forward. I walked up to the sword in awe. As I closer it seemed like it was calling me. Like I was in a trace, I reached out and grabbed the sword. A bright light filled the room, then it vanished. When I looked around I was in a black void. I could see my body clearly but there was nothing else.

"Young Midoriya," A deep voice spoke from behind me. I spun around to see a tall muscular man. He had blond hair and his bangs stood up in the shape of a V. His eyes were a piercing blue. He wore metal armor and a blue, red, and yellow cape.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" I asked as panic set in.

"I don't have much time. You must destroy the sword at any cost. It contains powerful dark magic and it would be disastrous if it ends up in the wrong hands, " He explained urgently," I must warn you, the other soul trapped in the sword will try to-" the man disappeared before he could finish.

"Wait!" I called into the darkness, "What were you going to say?!" Then it felt like everything was spinning. When the feeling stopped the was a different man in front of me. He had snow white hair and a sinister smile. A black crown rested on his head. A dark fur cape was around his shoulders. He wore black and gold robes, similar to what some royals wear.

"I can help you achieve your greatest dreams. You could become the strongest man in the kingdom!" He said. His voice was raspy and sent chills down my back. It echoed around the void, "But first, you must free me."

"Who... are you?" I asked. I took a step back.

"I am All for One. With my magic you can have whatever you truly desire but you must do exactly as I say."

"I-I don't-," My mind was reeling as I tried to grasp what was going on. Who do I trust?

"I'll let you think about it. Until we speak again," All for One said. Then my consciousness faded.

When I opened my eyes again I was laying in luminescent mushrooms. The sword was in one of my hands. I sat up and I noticed the design on the sword. On one side of the blade All for One was etched into the metal. He stood with his hand outstretched as if he was going to grab something in front of him. The details of his face was left out. On the cross guard below him the words "All for One" was engraved. On the other side of the blade, the man in armor I saw stood with his legs in a wide stance. His hands rested on his hips. The details from his face was missing too. "All Might" was on his side of the cross guard. The hilt and pommel was decorated with rubies.

I got up and began looking for a way back to my friends. I could think about the sword later.