Black Clover || His Third Leaf

one

"Each leaf on the clover is said to represent something; the first is faith, the second is hope and the third is love."

"What about the fourth?" Alice asked her mother while pointing as the fourth leaf on the book cover.

"The fourth my dear, is luck," said the woman. She smiled and got up from the bed to place the book back on the shelf across the room, where it belonged.

Young Alice got up from her bed and stood on it so she was the same height as her mother. "Is that how the wizard king defeated the evil monster? He was Lucky? Does that mean he was weak?"

Her mother laughed softly at young Alice and stood in front of her. She picked her up, receiving a small shriek in the process.

"The Wizard King was anything but weak. He defeated the monster with his own power," she said while walking down the stairs with her daughter on her back.

When they reached the kitchen, her mother put her down on a chair and went to make dinner. A few seconds later, there was a knock and their front door opened.

"I'm home!" shouted a voice from the hallway. Alice got down from her chair and peeked into her hallway. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the man.

"Father!" she ran towards him and hugged his leg. Her father was rarely around, for most of the day he spends time at his smithy and would usually spend a night if an order was to be finished.

He patted her head and went into the kitchen with her still clinging on him, making him walk like a penguin even though she already made it easier by stepping on his feet so that he can lift his leg. Since her mother just started to cook it would take a while for it to be ready. The man reached inside his bag that was hanging loosely around his shoulder and took out a brown parcel. He bent down and waved it in front of Alice.

"I was wondering if you would run an errand for me," he asked Alice. The young girl nodded and snatched the parcel out of her father's hand.

"I would like you to deliver it to the church," he continued. "Will you be okay by yourself?"

Alice hummed and replied "I'll be fine." She ran up to her room and wore her cloak along with a pair of winter shoes. With the parcel in hand ran towards the door. "I'm heading out!"

She opened the door and a rush of cold air hit her. Her house was near the shopping area where the inns and pubs are while the church was a little far away near the farms. She remembered going there a few time with her mother so she knew where it was. She ran across pass the houses, leaving her foot prints in the thick snow. It was getting colder; Alice could see her breath every time she breathed out.

The crunch of snow from beneath along with the roars of men from a nearby pub filled the night but it became silent once more as she got farther away from it. A faint thud caught her attention followed by a stuttered apology.

"I'm... sorry."

Alice turned a corner and saw man standing in front a boy her age. His black hair glowed in the snow but his amber eyes showed fear. Alice quickly hid behind the wall. Even though she knew they couldn't see her but her foot prints would be visible due to the thick snow.

The man punched the boy and yanked the boy's pendant from his neck. The oval, blue pendant was connected to a gold chain and had a white cross followed by four yellow stars. He fell back and clutched the area the man had punched him, his stomach.

"My pendant... that's mine..." He managed to breathe out with the throbbing pain on his stomach. The man merely laughed and held the pendant up by the chains in front of him. "I'm just going to exchange it for some cash."

"Give it back..." the boy tried to stand up and reached for his pendant but he received a kick under his chin in the process making him fly backwards. He winced as his body roughly hit the snow, rolling over a few times.

"You miserable little brat. Where do you get off having something this extravagant?" the man sneered.

"Give... it back" tears fell onto the snow as he slowly got up. With blood staining the edge of his mouth, he managed to stand in front of the man. "Give it back...that's mine," He said almost threateningly as he held out his palm.

Alice's eyes widened as the wind suddenly picked up and formed a small typhoon on top of the boy's hand. She had never witnessed wind magic before since her parents had the same magic type as her.

"What the heck is that?" the man laughed. "What do you expect to do to me with magic like that?"

The man clutched his stomach, laughing. He bent down and now was eye level with the boy. "You want to fight me and die?"

The raven haired looked down as his lips started to quiver and tears started to stream down his cheeks. The young girl who was hiding gripped her cloak and gritted her teeth. She was furious. But before she could emerge from her hiding spot, a loud voice stopped her, "YUNO!"

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The man left eventually left leaving the pendant lying on the thick, slippery snow. The other boy who just came a few moments ago, Asta, now had bruises all over his body. They had a brief conversation as Asta laid down on the snow from exhaustion.

After they both got up and exchanged a few more words, Asta, despite his swollen face and missing tooth looked at Yuno with a mischivious grin.

"Yuno!" he shouted and jumped a few steps back. He raised his hand and pointed a finger at Yuno. "Let's have a race" he said suddenly filled with energy.

"Asta wait you're-," before his brother could finish his reply however, young Asta had already ran off. "- injured"