Grown to hate

Chapter 16: Game

Noelle dragged herself through the forest. She kept her eyes on the dirt that paved the way back to her base. The rays from the sun had dried the tears on her face, but sweat had dripped down from her forehead. She kept her pace and found the grass she had become familiar with. She looked ahead and saw her base. The girl felt relief rush through her body, but her aching feet quickly diminished the feeling. She continued forward and pushed the door open. There she saw her captain sitting on his chair.
The man looked at the girl and blew out smoke. "Where's the brat?" He asked.
Noelle bit her lip. "He's still at the capital." She answered quietly.
Yami kept his gaze on the girl and noticed the lack of jewelry on her ears. "Were you robbed? Where'd your earrings go?"
Noelle touched her ears and felt her throat tighten. She let out a quiet sob and ran upstairs to her bedroom. Yami let the girl be and only shook his head. He sighed and put his paper down.
"Stupid royals and their perfectionism."

Noelle locked herself inside her room and punched her bed. She struggled to let out any more tears, so she turned her sadness into rage. Her mind had flashed images of her childhood and she grabbed her head and screamed her lungs out. Her breath had picked up its pace and her chest gained a crushing feeling. Her door was broken down and Yami had approached the girl. He sat beside the girl and gently pat her back. The girl broke down once again.
"Why me?" She sobbed.
"I ask myself the same question." Yami said.
Noelle pulled on her hair to ignore her thoughts, but Yami had stopped her from harming herself.
"There's no point in beating yourself up. What happened is done, just make the best of what you got now." He said.
Noelle grit her teeth and turned to the man. "You know nothing!" She shouted.
"You're right, but the way you're dealing with whatever shit you're going through ain't helping." He said.
The girl stayed silent and looked down once more. "I never should have been a magic knight." She said.
Yami scowled and smacked the girl on the back of her head. "Stop lying to yourself!"
The girl rubbed her head and stared at her captain.
"If you keep moping and crying to yourself you'll only think the worst. Did you already forget how you saved a ton lives in Sosshi? You did well in the dungeon and made it out alive in one piece," Yami scoffed and pulled out a cigarette. "Never should have been a magic knight my ass. You're a black bull, we're the worst of the worst. Our best quality is to keep ignoring everything and just keep pushing forward. I took you in because you embodied that." He handed Noelle a cigarette and the girl grabbed it.
Noelle looked at the cigarette and glanced back at her captain. "Thank you, but why give me this?" She asked.
"Just put it in your mouth." Yami said.
"But I don't smoke." She said.
"Well, now you do. Learn to loosen up a bit."
Noelle put the cigarette in her mouth and saw Yami light up a match. He put the flame near the front tip and watched it burn.
"Suck it." He said.
The girl sucked on the cigarette and felt her throat burn. She removed the product from her lips and coughed out smoke. Yami laughed and took out a cigarette for himself.
"I remember my first cigarette. It hurt, but you get used to it. Take a good hit of it and see what happens." Yami said.
Noelle puffed on the cigarette another time, but this time she tried not to cough. She blew out the smoke and felt a rush. She became light-headed for a moment and a smile made its way to her face.
"This feels nice." She said.
"It helps take your mind off things. You should probably open your window if you don't want the smell to stay in here." Yami said.
Noelle took a long drag and blew out a large amount of smoke. "I kind of like the smell if I'm being honest." She said.
Yami chuckled and puffed on his cigarette. "That's what I'm talking about. Spoken like a true black bull."

"I managed to capture one of them. It seems their leader had light magic." Julius said.
Asta looked at the man in the sphere. "Only one?" He asked.
"Truth is, it seems like light magic is faster than my magic. I would have come back with all of them, but the leader put up a good fight." Julius responded.
Chatter was heard through the crowd of knights and Julius calmed them down. He looked at Asta and noticed his lack of a partner.
"Where did the Silva girl go?" Julius asked.
Asta grunted. "She went back to the base. She left as soon everything was fine." He said.
"If you can please excuse me." Nozel turned away and left the group.
Julius looked at Nozel and dismissed the man. He looked back at the rest.
"As magic knights, there's only one thing that we seek. And that is peace in the kingdom. The only way to achieve that is if we keep fighting for it." He said.
The captain of the blue roses nodded her head. "He's right. We need to increase our strength." She said.
Asta kept his eyes on the silver-haired man and sighed. The bursting of a door had caught his attention and he saw the crimson-haired boy come out of the door.
"The one who's gonna get stronger is me," He said and he placed his thumb on his forehead. He burned the skin and revealed a fresh mark placed on it. "Asta, I will reach your level and become stronger than you! That makes you my rival!"
"I don't even know who you are, but if it helps you sleep at night, then sure. Good luck with that," Asta summoned his larger sword and stepped on it. "If you'll excuse me, I'll go back to my base to recover."
Julius turned to the boy. "And miss your promotion?" He asked.
Asta turned to look at the man. "I also have something important to do at the base." He said.
"Well if it's that important, then I'll speak with you later. Rest well," Julius waved and watched the boy fly away. He looked back at the knights and gave them a smile. "I suppose all of you can leave as well. Make sure to sharpen your senses and be prepared for anything."
The knights gave the man a salute. Yuno looked to where Asta had went. His free hand was clenched and Nozel's words kept repeating in his mind.
     I wasn't lying when I said he was at the level of a vice captain. He might be even stronger than I thought. Yuno bit his lip and noticed the others leaving. He followed his squad mates and a small fairy had floated near him.
"What more can you do?" Yuno asked the fairy.
"You mean what more can we do?" She said while orbiting the boy's head.
"Yeah sure whatever. I need to become stronger." Yuno said.
The fairy place her small finger on her chin and giggled. "Well I guess we have to train to find out." She said.