The boy without magic

Chapter 17: Revenge

"Some explaining? You have a lot of explaining to do! Do you know how much I waited for you to come by?! It's been six years!" Shouted Yuno. Asta was shocked to hear Yuno of all people yelling. He knew that Yuno might have been angry, but Yuno didn't know anything that happened to him. "Calm down Yuno. You being angry won't help me explain everything." Said Asta. "Then explain." Said Yuno. "First off, I stopped coming to Hage because of how everyone there treated me. I'm sure you know how much they despised me just for being different." Said Asta. Yuno knew very well how Asta was treated at Hage, and he felt guilty in a way even though it wasn't his fault. "But what about meeting up at the demon skull?" Asked Yuno. "That's because..." Asta paused before giving an answer. The reason why was because he had to leave his house, so he never got the chance to fulfill that promise. "Because?" Questioned Yuno. "My mother died." Answered Asta. Yuno was taken aback from that response. He had a feeling that had made an impact on Asta. Every time they had hung out together Asta always boasted of how much he loved his mother. "When my mother died I had to move in with my older sister and her now husband." Asta continued. "Ever since then I never got the chance to come back here because it was too far, and since they just wanted to help me out they thought it would be good if I stayed away from this area so I could grow up like a normal child." Said Asta. "I'm sorry. I didn't know." Said Yuno. "But I couldn't have a normal childhood. Becau-" before Asta could finish Noelle asked "Are you sure about telling him everything?" "He deserves to know." Answered Asta. "I couldn't have a normal childhood because I desired revenge, and not only that but I also have a death curse on me." Said Asta. Yuno was speechless. So much information being revealed, so he couldn't properly comprehend what he was being told. "I still desire revenge, and it won't go away until I kill that fucking devil who took away the most precious person I had." Said Asta while clenching his fist. Noelle could feel great amount of sadness and anger radiating from both Asta and Liebe. Although Liebe was in the grimoire at the moment, his emotions were strong enough to be felt by ki. "A devil killed his mother?" Thought Alexander. "A devil? What?!" Asked Yuno surprised. "Liebe, you can come out now." Said Asta. "Asta what are you doing? I understand if you want to show Yuno, but he's still there." Said Noelle pointing at Alexander. "I already know about the devil that possesses Asta, but I also know that the devil isn't hostile." Said Alexander. "What? You know about Liebe?" Asked Asta. Alexander nodded and said "I apologize, I never thought these things would be important for anyone. You see, I assumed you and your mother moved out so I kinda let my curiosity get the best of me. I read some letters explaining who Liebe was." Said Alexander. Asta sensed Alexanders ki and figured out he was lying, although the whole thing wasn't a lie he still doubted him. "You're lying about something." Said Asta. "And how would you know that?" Asked Alexander. "Your ki. I know when someone's lying or not." Said Asta. "You're full of surprises. Fine, it wasn't some letter. It was your mothers diary." Said Alexander. "You bastard!" Shouted Asta. "Like I said I didn't think anything here was important for you. I shouldn't have snooped around, I'm sorry." Apologized Alexander. Asta felt Alexanders ki and knew he gave a sincere apology. "I forgive you. You didn't know much anyway." Said Asta. As Asta stopped speaking, a black figure formed out of his grimoire. Yuno jumped back seeing the black figure take shape into a dark being of similar height to him. "So you're Yuno." Said Liebe. "What are you?" Asked Yuno unconsciously stepping back. "I'm Liebe. Astas brother." Answered Liebe. "Brother? What?! You two look nothing alike and you're not even human!" Shouted Yuno. "Ow that hurts. Asta do some explaining, I don't feel like talking." Said Liebe. "A while ago me and my mother found him unconscious. My mom adopted him and he became my brother from then on. Although he's a devil, I still consider as my brother." Said Asta. "I see. But how did my teacher know about him?" Asked Liebe. "A couple of months ago when I robbed him, he came out to defend Asta. Let's just ignore the robbing details and the fact that I was about to kill them, but I figured out they had no ill intentions so it was fine." Said Alexander. "You were gonna kill them?" Asked Yuno. "I was, but I realized they were good so I didn't." Answered Alexander. "My uncle Yami had to step in so you wouldn't kill us!" Shouted Liebe. "You're quite the talker aren't you." Said Alexander. Yuno processed all the information he heard and finally spoke up. "So let me get this straight. You had to leave this place because your mother passed, you have a devil as a brother, you have a grimoire, you're cursed, and my teacher nearly killed you." Said Yuno. "Pretty much, although a lot more happened but thats the main details." Said Asta. Yuno swallowed a large amount of saliva and said "That's just.." "Crazy? Insane?" Interrupted Asta. "Y-yeah. But I don't understand, why do you want revenge?" Asked Yuno. "I thought I already told you. A devil killed my mother, he took over Liebes body and used his hand to kill her." Said Asta while gritting his teeth. "Alexander, are you listening to this?" Asked Astaroth in Alexanders mind. "I am. I didn't know a devil could posses another devil." Said Alexander. "Devils can't do that except for one. This kid is wanting to kill someone not even I could face." Said Astaroth. "What are you talking about? Aren't you one of the three rulers of the underworld?" Asked Alexander. "I'm much weaker than one of them. The demon king, Lucifero." Said Astaroth. "The demon king? Lucifero? I remember you told me about him one time. Isn't he Dantes devil?" Asked Alexander. "Yes. Gravity magic, although since the contract is limited the full power of gravity magic is only a fraction of what it's truly capable of. It can make my magic useless." Said Astaroth. "Looks like this kid won't be able to get his revenge. There's no way in hell I'll allow someone like him to touch this worlds surface." Said Alexander. "You know they're trying to find out a way to release devils, right?" Asked Astaroth. "I'm pretty sure that's not possible. I'm sure no ruler of the underworld would be desperate enough for a slave contract, and I just don't see any other way for a devil to touch this realm." Said Alexander. "There is one way. The Tree of Qliphoth. There's a ritual that depends on a dark magic user and a mage with world tree magic, it's called the Qliphoth advent ritual. If they figure out about this, trouble will surely follow." Said Astaroth. "Then I'll prevent it from happening." Said Alexander. "You can't face any of the Zograti siblings at the moment, and you know that. That battle nearly killed you, if it wasn't for that man and me you would be dead." Said Astaroth. "That battle was ten years ago. Also, back then I didn't have your power. I had to use my curse of a power given to me by that scum of a man." Said Alexander. "My point still stands. If you face those three again, I don't see you coming out alive. Not only will you die, but my cover will be blown as well." Said Astaroth. "The safety of this world is more important than my life and you know that. I have no one to come back to anymore, so I'd rather die while doing something brave." Said Alexander. "You need to think and not act for once. It's these kinds of actions that could lead to even worse problems. You of all people should know this. You lived through such a mistake already." Said Astaroth. "Don't you dare bring them into this." Said Alexander getting angry. "I didn't even mention them. I'm just saying, you should use what you have learned. Wait until you recover, and then you can fight again. You have your true identity hidden for a reason, now this is your only chance. If you end up making hasty decisions, everything could go horribly wrong." Said Astaroth. Alexander thought about what his devil said and admitted Astaroth was right. The damage done was potentially irreversible, Astaroths magic was the only thing letting him heal. Even if the recovery was slow, it was better than nothing. "You're right. Besides, we might have found someone that could be the ultimate weapon." Said Alexander. "That devil possessed boy? We're not even completely sure what that power is." Said Astaroth. "His power negates magic. When I caught his blade, his sword drained not only my magic, but yours as well." Said Alexander. "It was at a slow pace. I can see it having great potential, however." Commented Astaroth. "Well, I think that's enough talking for now. It seems like the boy has something else to say." Said Alexander. "I'll talk with you later. Try to find every piece of information about his power, you should even consider training him." Said Astaroth before leaving Alexanders mind. "I'll consider it, but it seems like he already has people training him." Alexander said to himself. The conversation between Alexander and his devil only lasted a fraction of a second due to Astaroths time magic. Alexander looked in Astas direction and saw him in the same position as before. "That damn Lucifero. I don't care how long it'll take, but I'll kill him." Said Asta releasing some anti-magic. Liebe also grew angry remembering what had happened, the guilt of being the vessel to kill his adoptive mother always remained. Although Liebes life had improved drastically along with Astas, the hate had remained. The hate was the two brothers main drive to get stronger. "Guys, you should calm down. I understand you're angry, but remember what everyone tells you: you're not alone anymore and we'll be there to help." Said Noelle bringing the two into a hug. Noelles action had helped the two put their anger aside, they both had known they weren't alone. "Even if I'm not completely sure who this Lucifero guy is, what I know was is that he's someone evil. I will also help you Asta, you too Liebe." Said Yuno. Asta smiled hearing that, the support was something that really helped. "I like this guy." Said Liebe. "See. Even he wants to help, you guys need to remember that always." Said Noelle. "We'll remember princess. Thank you Yuno, but just so you know. I'll be the one that will kill him when the time comes." Said Asta. "Nope. It'll be me. I will kill him with the same arm he used to kill our mother." Said Liebe clenching his left fist. "Then we'll both kill him together." Said Asta. "Fine by me." Liebe agreed. "Enough with this killing stuff, I think you two should catch up with everything else now." Said Noelle pointing at Asta and Yuno. "You're right. So, how have you been doing Yuno?" Asked Asta. "Well, I've been training a ton. Ever since that day I've been training my magic. My teacher has also been helping me a lot recently, yesterday he took me out to hunt and I killed a bore by myself." Said Yuno proudly. "That's awesome. I've been training a lot as well. My sisters husband and my uncle Yami have been training me, Liebe, and Noelle." Said Asta. "Who's this uncle Yami guy?" Asked Yuno. "He's my sisters and her husbands friend. He's also a captain of his own squad." Answered Asta. "What! A captain?!" Asked Yuno. "Yeah. He's the captain of the black bulls, Ridder who's my sisters husband also used to be the captain of the silver eagles." Said Asta. "You've been getting trained by captains?!" Asked Yuno. "Yep." Answered Asta nonchalantly. "Do you know how cool that is?" Asked Yuno. "I never really put too much thought into it to he honest with you, but I guess that's pretty awesome." Said Asta. "That's just... amazing! How about we spar?" Asked Yuno. "I can't really today because today's supposed to be my rest day sadly. Actually, you know what. Let's spar." Said Asta. "None of you will spar because it's also Yunos rest day. Besides, Asta has an advantage because he has a grimoire for some odd reason." Said Alexander. "Oh right, I forgot I'm supposed to be resting today." Said Yuno. "That sucks. Maybe next time." Said Asta. "That reminds me. How on earth did you get a grimoire?" Asked Yuno. "I got it when I was defending Noelle from her brother. I just felt something and the grimoire came to me, luckily the grimoire was the one Liebe was sealed in." Answered Asta. "Liebe was sealed in the grimoire?" Questioned Yuno. "Yeah. Before my mother passed, she sealed Liebe into the grimoire so Lucifero couldn't take over his body again." Answered Asta. "Aren't you worried that he can take over his body again? He's not inside the grimoire currently." Said Alexander. "I don't think he can anymore because of the pact me and Liebe have." Said Asta. "Maybe, but do you really want to risk that? Do you even know who he is?" Asked Alexander. "I know very well who he is." Answered Liebe. "And yet you're not afraid he'll take control of your body." Said Alexander. "I have nothing to be afraid of, because I know he won't. And besides, I can enter the grimoire whenever I want." Said Liebe. "Who exactly is Lucifero?" Asked Asta. "He's the king of all devils. The current demon king, and one of the three rulers of the underworld." Answered Alexander. "How do you know that?" Asked Liebe getting suspicious. "I know quite a bit about the underworld. I get my information from a reliable source." Answered Alexander. "That just makes you sound even more suspicious." Said Liebe. "To be fair, if you sense his ki you can tell that he said that with good intentions." Said Noelle. "Noelles right about that. Besides, he didn't try to hurt me despite me trying to kill him a moment ago." Said Asta. "What's ki?" Asked Yuno. "Well. It's a little hard to explain. It's like energy that pretty much everything gives off." Answered Asta. "So it's like mana?" "No no. Mana is basically magic. Ki is in everything, even things that doesn't have mana." "That sounds interesting." Said Yuno. "It's helpful, but hard to master." Said Noelle. "Nah it was pretty easy." Said Asta. "You just picked it up easily." Argued Noelle. "No you're just bad at using ki." Said Asta. "Am not." "Yeah you are." "No I'm not." "Yes you are." "No I am not." As the young couple continued their bickering Liebe approached Yuno and asked him "So. How is it living in a village?" "I mean. It's my home, so I'm happy living here." Answered Yuno. "Sounds nice. We live in the Silva palace, honestly it took time getting used to but now it's home." Said Liebe. "Palace? You guys live in a palace?" Asked Yuno. "Yeah. Princess pigtails over there belongs to a royal family. Her older brother is the one who took me and Asta in." Said Liebe. "I'm sorry but that sounds unreal. There is no way royalty would take in two random kids." Said Yuno. "Well I mean. It happened. Then again, her older brother was good friends with our older sister." Said Liebe. "Man you guys got lucky. But then again, that's good to hear. I'm happy that you guys got something good happening." Said Yuno. "I'm pretty grateful for everything so far, but still some loose ends to fix and then I'll have the perfect life." Boasted Liebe. "Well, I'm still working hard so I can become a magic knight. Once I do that then I'll start my journey to become wizard king." Said Yuno. "Good luck with that. Asta's already trying hard to become wizard king. You got some serious competition ahead of you." Said Liebe. "I guess that does seem to be the case. We'll see who comes out on top when the time comes." Said Yuno. "Have you thought of what squad to join?" Asked Liebe. "I'm gonna be honest. I don't know what squads there are." Answered Yuno. "From what I know, we have a total of eight squads. There's news that a new squad will be revealed with a captain that's only seventeen. The best squad right now is the golden dawn though." Said Liebe. "How do you know that?" Asked Yuno. "Our uncle Julius told us. He pretty much knows everything when it comes to this kind of stuff, he is the wizard king after all." Said Liebe nonchalantly. "Your uncle is the wizard king?!" Asked Yuno is shock. "Yeah. Although he's not Astas biological uncle, his father and him were good friends." Answered Liebe. Yuno started to become a little jealous. "Why him? I mean, then again his life was never great to begin with. Maybe Asta deserves what he has right now." Thought Yuno. Yuno looked over at the couple and saw Noelle pulling on Astas ear. "Now say it." Commanded Noelle. "Fine fine fine. I'll say it!" Yelled Asta in pain. "Then let me hear it." Said Noelle. "Noelle Silva doesn't suck at using ki and is better than me." Said Asta. "Good boy." Noelle said as she stopped pulling on Astas ear. Asta was rubbing his ear trying to get rid of the stinging sensation, as the pain left Asta gave a look at Noelle who had a smug looking smile. "I'll get payback when you least expect it." "No you won't." Said Noelle. "I will." "No you won't." I will." The bickering had begun again and Liebe was getting tired of it. "Can you guys shut up!" Yelled Liebe. The two looked over at Liebe and saw him with Yuno who had no idea what to do. "Man I feel really out of place here." Thought Yuno. "Alright fine. We'll continue this later." Said Noelle. "Anyways. Sorry about that Yuno." Apologized Asta. "It's all good. Well anyway, you guys wanna do something?" Asked Yuno. "Sure we could maybe get a tour of the place." Said Asta. "That sounds nice." Said Noelle. "We could go around Hage and maybe even explore the forest." Said Yuno. Asta had an idea pop up in his mind when he thought of going to Hage, a wicked smile grew on his face so he spoke. "I think you can show us around Hage." Yuno looked at Asta and said "Okay, we can go there now." "Perfect." Said Asta. "Let's get going then." Said Yuno. "I've never been to a village before." Commented Noelle. "Same here." Said Liebe. "It may not be what you guys are used to, but I'm sure Asta has told you some stuff about it." Said Yuno. "Not really. As a matter of fact, he only talked about the people there." Answered Liebe. Yuno raised his eyebrow and looked at Asta, concern was evident on Yunos face. "Well, you guys will see how it is soon." Said Yuno. Before the kids left Yuno looked over to where Alexander was and saw that he left. "He left while we were talking." Said Asta. Asta spoke in a monotone voice, that was odd to two people. Noelle and Liebe looked at each other and started to have a bad feeling, Astas ki didn't feel like how it usually did. Noelle came closer to Asta and intertwined her finger with his. "Are you sure about visiting Hage?" Asked Noelle with concern. Asta only nodded and stayed quiet, this didn't relieve Noelle and Liebe at all. Usually, Asta always gave a direct response, but something like this was very odd to them. Yuno began to walk and the three followed, once they left the cabin Yuno sighed. "What's wrong?" Asked Liebe. "Nothing, it's just that I don't know how to explain how I found you guys. I know for a fact father Orsi and sister Lily would question me many things." Answered Yuno. "Just say we're visitors. Also, I'll stay in my small form and people will just think I'm a spirit." Said Liebe. "That could work." Said Noelle. "Alright I'll just say that." Said Yuno. The four began to walk, the walk was quiet and no one really said a word. Asta was currently thinking of the possibilities that could happen in the village. "Would they remember me? Should I get payback? They treated me like garbage, so why shouldn't I treat them the same way? Then again, Ridder wouldn't like that. Noelle is with me too, so I guess I shouldn't. Although, I could prove them wrong." Thought Asta. "What's on your mind?" Asked Noelle with concern. Asta looked over at Noelle who was looking up at him, Asta had grown a bit taller than her these past couple of months. "I'm just thinking about if they'll remember me." Answered Asta. Yuno heard that and genuinely felt bad, he knew Asta wasn't treated very kindly at the village. "They don't remember you. In fact I think that's good, now you can show them who you really are." Said Yuno. Asta turned his gaze towards Yuno. "How are you so sure about that?" Asta asked. "It's been like seven or eight years since you've last came to the village. I doubt they'll remember you, after all they're all stupid anyway." Yuno answered. Upon hearing that Asta chuckled. "Maybe I was just overthinking." He said. "Maybe you were. It's best to stay calm and enjoy the time you can spend with Yuno now." Said Noelle snuggling herself closer to Asta. Yuno stared at the two feeling awkward, he felt a little out of place seeing them be a normal couple. "How do you deal with those two?" Yuno whispered to Liebe. "You get that awkward feeling too? I thought it was just me." Liebe said. "Are they always like this?" Yuno asked. "Yep. It's best to just leave them alone and do your own thing, but since none of us can really do that we just have to deal with it." Liebe answered. "Luckily for us, we're not too far from Hage. As a matter of fact, we're here." Yuno said. "That was quick." Said Liebe. "You should probably hide yourself or something, I don't think others seeing you would go well." Yuno said. Liebe shook his head and shrunk into his smaller form, he then floated on Astas shoulder which gave the couple the cue to stop what they were doing. "We're here?" Noelle asked. "Yep. That's the village I live in. It's not much, but it's home." Yuno answered. Asta looked up and saw the village, many fond and bitter memories invaded his mind. The gray haired boy sighed and shared a glance with Noelle. "You sure about this?" Noelle asked. Asta bit his bottom lip and just stared into Noelles eyes, he could see concern shown on her face and wanted to give an answer. Asta really couldn't give an answer because he was unsure himself. "Let's just go with Yuno." Asta said avoiding to give an answer. The boy walked but felt his hand be grabbed by the girl who was still concerned. "You don't have to worry about anything, I'll hold your hand to help you keep calm." Noelle said giving Asta a smile. The boy smiled back and made their grip firm. Yuno who felt awkward slightly coughed to get the attention of the two, he felt a bit out of place but he couldn't just leave them alone. "So... you guys ready?" Yuno asked. "Yeah we're ready." Replied Asta. Yuno nodded and began to walk to the village. The two who were walking followed Yuno and Noelle was looking around. It was the first time Noelle and Liebe had even been to a village; Liebe never really lived in a village before, even if he did see them he was quickly attacked and had to run away from them. Noelle had lived in a palace her entire life, so she never got to see a village because of being too sheltered. Asta however kept his head down and tried to not get noticed. The last time he visited the village he was beaten and that left him hurt, not just physically but mentally as well. Noelle noticed Asta wasn't doing well and tightened her grip on Astas hand. Asta shared a glance with Noelle who gave him a reassuring look, the boy knew no harm could be done to him now but he still had a lingering feeling making him worry. He didn't know why he was worried, but it made him uncomfortable. "Why don't you get your revenge?" a voice asked inside Astas mind. Asta shook his head and tried to ignore the voice. That voice hadn't made an appearance in a long time, but Asta did not forget what it was. "This damn curse." Thought Asta. "Kill them. You have the power, why won't you?" The voice asked. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up." Thought Asta. "That's no way to treat an old friend. I'm only suggesting what you really want to do." The voice said. "You're not my friend, and I would never want to kill these people." Asta thought. "You're in denial. After what they've done to you, after all those hateful things they've said to you, yet you refuse to follow what your heart truly desires. I know what you want boy, I know you better than anyone." The voice spoke with a hint of playfulness. "You don't know anything about me. You're just an obstacle for me to overcome. A product of my curse." Asta thought. "Do you really think that? You're as idiotic as your mother." When Asta heard that, anger was the only thing present in the boy. "Don't you dare speak ill of my mother! I swear I will find the person who cursed me and I will slowly kill them. I will murder anyone responsible that played a role, I will not hesitate to rip them limb by limb. I WILL FUCKING KILL ANYONE RESPONSIBLE WHO CAUSED MY MISERY!" What Asta didn't know was that he yelled all of that out loud. Yuno, Noelle, and Liebe looked at him with concern. Noelle noticed Astas grip was hurting her hand, but she was too scared to say anything. Asta noticed what he did and released Noelles hand. The girl looked at her hand and noticed it was in pain and had a bruise on her pinky, she felt great pain and she couldn't help but shed a few tears. Liebe punched the back of Astas head and quickly flew to Noelle to check up on her. "Look what you did you idiot!" Liebe yelled. Asta looked at Noelles hand and a huge weight was dropped on his shoulders. "I-i-I'm sorry." Was all Asta could say. The guilt he felt was something he had never felt before. For the first time he had hurt someone he loved, never in his life did he think he could have been capable of hurting Noelle but now because of his anger he managed it. The voice inside Astas mind only laughed. "Even your so called 'loved ones' are afraid of you. They never truly loved you, they only help you to make themselves feel better." Asta hated himself for what he had done, but Noelle quickly wiped away her tears and said "I'm fine Liebe. We should worry about Asta. My hand can heal, and I know Asta wouldn't hurt my intentionally." Noelle looked at Asta still afraid, but she wasn't afraid of him. Noelle was afraid of what caused Astas outburst. "Asta, what's wrong?" Noelle asked. Asta looked to see Noelle holding her injured hand, Liebe glaring at him, and Yuno confused and hesitant. "I'm sorry. I hurt you. I'm so sorry." Cried Asta running away. The three were surprised by Astas actions, it wasn't like him to avoid confrontation. "Asta wait!" Noelle shouted. Asta only ignored her call and ran deeper into the forest. Noelle tried to follow, but Liebe blocked her way. "I think it's best to leave him alone for now. Besides, we need to find someone to heal you hand." Liebe said. "The sister at my orphanage can heal it for you. I'm sorry for bringing you guys here." Yuno said discouraged. "You don't have to apologize for anything. Not even I knew Asta would act up that way." Liebe said. "I don't think Asta acted on his own. There must be something that caused him to act like that." Said Noelle. "We'll figure out sooner or later. Let's go fix your hand and find him after." Said Liebe. Noelle looked at where Asta ran off to and didn't see any sight of him, she grew more worried than before but the pain in her hand begged for help. "Fine let's go heal my hand first." Noelle said with annoyance. In the forest, Asta could be seen running aimlessly with tears flooding his eyes. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Shouted Asta. Suddenly, the boy tripped and crashed into a tree stump. Asta easily ignored the pain, the pain of hurting Noelle felt much worse. "What's wrong with you?" Asked a man approaching Asta. "Shut up. Just shut up." Asta replied. The boy didn't feel like talking at the moment, he just wanted some silence. "I never thought I'd see someone who acts so tough cry like a helpless child." Said the man taking a seat next to Asta. "What do you want?" Asked Asta. "Nothing if I'm being honest. Seeing you cry just caught my attention." The man said. "Then go away. You always leave whenever you want, why aren't you leaving now?" Asked Asta. "Because solitude leads to nothing good. If you're going through something, I could offer some help." Answered the man. "You stole from me, took my cabin, and now you want to help me?" Asked Asta annoyed. "I do want to help you. Trust me, I know how your pain feels." Alexander answered. "What do you know. You've probably never hurt someone you loved, you've probably never even experienced my pain. You have magic and were seen as normal. I never had anything to begin with. I only had my mother and she was taken away from me!" Alexander sighed and put his hand on Astas shoulder, the boy nudged the hand off and scooted farther away. "You say all of this without knowing anything about me. I noticed that you were uneasy whenever Yuno mentioned Hage, why was that?" Asked Alexander. "Because I hate that place. After they found out I didn't have magic, everyone there except for Yuno bullied me. Eventually I had enough of their bullying and when I fought back they beat me. No one ever cared to help me, Yuno wasn't there when I did get beat. They hated me for no good reason and I think that I do want revenge. But I can't have it because I'll kill them, I don't want to kill them. I can't." Asta said. "You're story reminds me of a story I know about." Said Alexander. Asta looked up and Alexander noticed he got some of his attention. "Long ago in a different kingdom there was a boy. The boy didn't have anything when growing up, he only had his mother. Unfortunately, the boys mother wasn't the best person in the world but she did care for him. She did what she could to provide for her son, she let others use her just for money. Everyone in the village knew about the boy and was picked on for being known as a bastard child. He never knew who his father was and his mother was never married. His mother was known as a whore, every night a stranger would do horrible things with his mother and that left the boy scarred. Eventually hate began to bloom inside him, that hate was fueled by many things. Getting picked on, pushed around, beat, and even used like his mother. Unfortunately for the boy, he was kidnapped by horrible people. They experimented on him and gave him magic that the boy now thinks of as a curse, because that magic is what led to his downfall. The boy sought revenge, he was filled with hate, he hated everything. Never in his life had he experienced kindness, the only thing he knew was hate. One night when the boy turned fifteen, he got his grimoire. With a soul so corrupted and tortured his grimoire was as dark as a moonless night." Alexander paused his story and checked to see if Asta was still paying attention, to his luck the boy was immersed. "Do you want to know what the boy did after he got his grimoire?" Alexander asked. "Yes." Was all Asta answered. "He went back to the village he was born in and killed everyone there. The women, the children, and he felt no remorse. He didn't know what or who he was killing because he was blinded by rage. After the slaughter he finally calmed down and.." Alexander choked up upon remembering what he saw. "I found out that I had killed my own mother. I killed her without even thinking. The woman who gave birth to me and wanted to provide for me. Yes she wasn't the best mother, but she still cared for me. And the only way I repaid my debt to her was by killing her. I was driven by anger, hate, revenge. I was disgusted by myself, I tried to kill myself but my magic didn't allow it. Body magic, the attribute I was born with. At first it only healed minor injuries, but because of the experimentation it was significantly improved. I was able to survive even the most fatal injuries. The point of the story is, that you should never let anger guide you. Revenge should be avoided at all costs because it's a root that extends from the tree of hate." Asta was shocked upon hearing that. He was frightened by the fact that he was sitting next to a person who murdered many people, but he somewhat related to it. "After that day and the failed suicide attempts I came to the conclusion to only kill for good. I know I'm a monster, but what happened cannot be changed. So I want you to avoid making the same mistakes I have made. You have people that love you, making the mistakes I've made will make them disown you. They'll want to lose their connection with you, even if they don't want to. Because your friends, they're good people and good people know the difference between right or wrong. Me and you, we experienced hate early in our lives. That hate corrupted us, but you still have time to avoid making mistakes. You're life is in your own hands, you give the final verdict of what you will do." "But what about my revenge for Lucifero?" Asked Asta. "He killed my mother, so I can't just not kill him." Said Asta. "Don't get revenge because he killed your mother, you should avenge your mother. The difference between 'revenge' and 'avenge' is that avenging someone is having justice being done. When you take revenge on someone, you stray away from justice. Some people may tell you that killing isn't the way justice should be served, but I disagree. Some people can be so evil that death is the only punishment suited for them, yet you shouldn't kill someone over a minuscule crime like robbery." Alexander answered. Asta stayed quiet for a minute. If Alexander had given him this much advice then maybe he could help him a bit more. "You know that I have a curse right?" The boy asked. Alexander nodded and waited for Asta to speak. "Because of the curse I have a voice inside my head telling me that I should seek revenge. I try to ignore it, but-" Alexander cuts Asta off and says "You need to be stronger. Strength doesn't come from power alone, it also comes from a strong mind. Your power is something with the potential to rival the strongest, but with a weak mind it'll be of no use." Alexander said. "Should I tell my friends that I have a voice inside my head?" Asked Asta. "Do you trust them?" Asta nodded. "Then tell them. I'm sure they'll want to help you. Haven't they already helped you before? This time it'll be no different." Said Alexander. "Thank you. I think I needed this." Asta said. "You're welcome. Now go back to your friends, I'm sure they're waiting for you." Said Alexander. Asta nodded and got up, he was feeling more reassured. "Before you leave Hage come meet me over here. I have something to give you." Said Alexander. "Why not give it to me now?" Asked Asta. "Because right now you should be with your friends." Alexander answered. "Fine. Well I'm leaving now. Thanks again!" Shouted Asta running back to the village. "You think it was wise to tell him that?" Asked Astaroth. "I don't want anyone to end up like me. I can't have them end up like me." "I guess it was the most effective way to help him." Said Astaroth answering his own question. "Now we'll see which path he'll choose."
.
.
.
.
.
Authors note: I am back! Life's been busy if I'm being honest, also I have been writing my own book and Alexanders story is a hint of how dark it'll be. Like my original story is fucked up. Takes place in medieval times, the main character gets tortured and lit up in flames as a child but he can't die. Constant suffering, but an entity helps him stay sane. Don't wanna spoil it too much cuz it's still in the works, but I'm actually trying to make it a legit story and actually publish is legitimately. Would be neat imo.