A couple of days later…

Asta had woken up early and went out of the hideout on his own. Most of the Bulls had taken it upon themselves to go out in teams of two on missions, while others had decided to pursue ‘personal‘ endeavors.

“Planning on sneaking away?”

Asta turned his head, to see Yami leaning against a tree.

“If that’s what you wanna call it, captain,” Asta shrugged his shoulders, “I just don’t want to be here on my downtime. Sitting around here, doing nothing while no one is here… too quiet.”

“Where ya gonna go, kid?” Yami pushed off of the tree and walked over. “In case we need to get in touch with ya, ya know…”

“Hmmmmm….” Asta thought, “No idea… “ He started to walk on. “That’s why I’m sneaking off though, so no one would know. If you need to reach me, ask Noelle or contact Twilight Sparkle of the Blue Rose Knights.”

“Alright then,” Yami smirked, “Seriously though, take it easy.”

Asta smirked as he drew his Slayer. ”Planned on it,” he said as he took to the skies.

Later on, during the late morning hours, Asta landed just outside the gates of the lower city of the royal capital that leads to Nairn.

He returned his sword to his black grimoire and then walked into town.

“I would prefer to stay at Rebecca’s place, instead of paying for a room at an inn, but…” He thought back to his conversation with all the girls about who he and Twilight were. “She’s probably still more than a bit touchy about me…. Especially about me being around her brothers and sisters….”

He let out a heavy sigh, “I highly doubt I can stay with Twi at the Blue Rose Mansion, let alone walk outside its gate without someone attacking me, least of all Sol.”

“I really want to see the Scarlet siblings though…” he whined as he looked to the sky, “It’s Wednesday and past ten, so Rebecca should be at the restaurant by now. I know they won’t keep their mouths shut about my visit, but I really wanna check on them…”

Not even giving the thought any more time he went over to the Scarlet house. He activated his dark magic arm and knocked on the door and waited for a response. About five minutes went by, but no one came to the door.

“They may be in class right now,” Asta scratched the back of his head, “I could leave a note…”

“Asta?” he heard off to his right.

He turned to see Luca, the second oldest of the Scarlets, with her younger siblings.

“It's been a while?” he nervously waved.

“What happened to you?” Marco asked, “We’ve missed you, man.”

“Yeah, where have you been?” Luca’s gaze narrowed, “More importantly, what happened between you and Rebecca? She’s been very… distant about anything to do with you. She’s even thought about taking up more shifts at the restaurant and sending all the money you send us back?”

“Oh….” Asta looked down, “She… hasn’t, ah… She’s…”

“What did you do to our sister?!” Luca demanded to know.

Asta looked around and saw that everyone was starting to stare.

“I’ll tell you, but not here, indie. Please…..” he motioned to the house, “I don’t want this to be heard by others and cause any more trouble for Rebecca than I already have.”

“Fine, but you stay in the kitchen with me,” Luca crossed her arms, “Marco, you take the others out back and finish your chores.”

Marco looked at the angry face of his older sister and then at the sorrow-filled face of the man he came to look up to as an older brother slash father figure.

“Okay,” Marco sighed, as he took his baby brother from Luca and led the others outback, while Luca led Asta into the kitchen, where they both sat across from each other at the table.

“We really missed having you around here, ya know?” Luca’s face softened a little with a sigh, “But that doesn’t change the fact that you hurt Rebecca! Now, spill! What happened between the two of you? Even Twilight hardly comes around to check on us anymore! I can only guess it also involves Big Sis Noelle and that cousin of hers, too. Now, talk!”

Asta took in a deep breath and let out a long sigh, as he looked up to the ceiling and then out the window to see the smaller kids outside.

“I’ll tell you what I can, but I can’t tell you everything that I told them,” Asta turned back to Luca with a serious face, “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you guys what I’ve told your older sister, but… I don’t think she'd want you guys to know what she does, especially seeing as how she’s kept me as a topic mostly away from your house.”

“Alright then… Please, tell me what you can, then?” Luca asked, both concerned and worried.

“First off,” Asta looked at the girl, “I’m not exactly a small-time nobody where I’m from, and neither is Twilight. We’re very important figures in my country and Twilight’s native country.”

“So, big sis Twi isn’t the same race as you?” Luca asked, “A political marriage?”

“Nice guess, but no,” Asta shook his head, “I can’t explain too deeply, but just know that Twilight and I were already dating before she even gained the status she has back home. The same goes for the girls before her as well. I didn’t even want the position I currently hold and still don’t but I got it because of my own actions.”

“Okay, so that explains a little of… well, why you can do what you can do… I guess….” Luca gave a confused shrug, “Or it at least explains why Rebecca was upset when she came back.”

“Yes,” Asta sighed, “Twilight and I can’t just up and leave the stations we have back home. We have a lot of, not just responsibilities, but also duties to oversee and fulfill.”

“So, you have to leave this country and return to your homeland one day,” Luca realized with Asta nodding only once. “Then, you’d have to leave all of us behind…” She looked at the table.

“No, I would never deny any of you,” Asta stood up. “I love Rebecca, yes, and if she wants to bring all of you with her, then I’m more than willing to let you all come. I once said I consider all of you as my own flesh and blood, and I meant that… even now!” he sat back down. “The thing is… I told her our time is coming to an end very soon. I told the others, too, and Noelle has decided to stay here, because she feels she has responsibilities she has to oversee, same reason I think Mimosa will choose to stay.”

“How soon?” Luca looked at home with hope in her eyes.

Asta rubbed the back of his head with his dark magic hand again as he looked out the window at the younger kids again, and then, back at Luca, before letting out a very hefty sigh, “At most… another year…”

Luca looked as if she’d been struck by lightning. No wonder her sister had been a bit off. But, there was still more to it, and she could tell it had to do with Asta’s origins.

“I’ll believe you,” Luca’s gaze narrowed again, “But I’m not going to pressure Rebecca into making a decision. You’re telling the truth, or at least the part you think I should hear. What are you going to do? With those injuries, I imagine you’re on bed rest?”

“Yeah,” Asta nodded once, “I came here to speak with you specifically today, but I also came to town to rest and to see your sister, at least at a distance. I do miss you guys, a whole lot. I don’t know how long I’m going to stay in town, but I do plan to try and speak with your sister before I leave.”

“As long as you don’t force her,” Luca looked at him, pleading.

“Never,” Asta smiled as she stood up and pulled a slip of paper from his satchel, and handed it to Luca. “If you want to see me or just talk, I’ll be staying at the Wanderer’s Broom Closet,” he said, as he placed a hand on her head.

Luca jumped up and wrapped her arms around him, with a few tears running down her cheeks, “Thanks for coming by, Asta., We really miss you…”

“Me, too,” he patted her back, before pulling away. “I’ve got to go for now. I’ll see you later,” he rubbed her head again and then left.

In Town…

Asta walked through town, taking his time to stop and sample various food items from the stalls that he’d occasionally come upon. He continued this way until a familiar voice called to him.

“Asta?”

Asta turned his head with a lizard on a screw partially sticking out of his mouth. He looked over to see Sister Theresa and Marie standing hand in hand, not that far away.

“HAHA!” Marie rushed over and jumped up. Asta quickly activated his dark magic arms to catch the giggling girl, “I knew it! It is you!”

“I might add you’ve looked better, my dear boy,” Sister Theresa held her chin, with a slightly tilted head as she looked at his arms, “I take it those are the injuries Gauche mentioned in his last transmission to Marie?”

“What exactly did the sis-con say about me this time, Sister?” Asta huffed as he put Marie on his back, while she had her hands around his neck. “Your brother would flip if he saw you right now,” he smirked at her, while she gave a big smile in return.

Theresa let out a rough sigh, “I take enough of his bull as is, Asta. I’d appreciate it if you did not provoke him any more than you already do, just by coming by to see Rebecca and her siblings and letting them play at the church.”

“No guarantees there, Sister,” Asta snickered, “And yes, these are the wounds from my last mission.” He let Marie down.

“Rebecca isn’t going to be happy to see you in that state,” Theresa crossed her arms, “Let alone happy at all to hear you’ve come to town. What happened?”

“Twilight and I told her the truth,” Asta sighed, “That’s all I can say without going into any kind of majorish details that you or anyone else needs to know.”

“I see…” Theresa looked at him. “You best speak with her soon,” she let out another sigh as Marie took Theresa’s hand. “She started working extra shifts at the restaurant again, to keep herself busy. I’ve also heard she’s become a little popular with the male clientele after dark. A nobleman, in particular, has supposedly been pursuing her for a good while, since he saw her since her return from your trip.”

Asta’s eyes went wide with anger for a moment, causing the pressure around him to become heavy for a brief moment, before he quickly reeled himself in, as to not hurt those around him.

Theresa gave a cunning smirk, having confirmed how he truly felt about the redheaded girl, before continuing to speak, “You were a good deterrent when you were around, but since you stopped spending time at her house, that opened up the gates for others so start coming around.”

“Come on, Marie,” Theresa looked at her charge, “It’s getting late.”

She looked back at Asta, who was staring at the ground, “Would you like to stay at the church?”

“No thanks,” Asta gave a twitchy smirk, “I have a room at one of the nearby inns, and didn’t someone just say they don’t want any more grief from a certain mirror mage with a sister complex.”

Marie showed a visible disappointment on her face at Asta’s response.

“Alright then,” Theresa shrugged. “I suggest you make your move soon, lad, lest she move on for the better,” she said before starting to walk on.

That Night…

Asta had kept wandering around town till he found a tavern he felt comfortable in. He took his time to wash up in the forest and attended to his bandages, before heading back into town to a local watering hole.

One of the good things about the Clover Kingdom is that its standard drinking age was fifteen. He was currently sixteen, at last biologically in this world, so he decided to throw a couple back, after confirming his age, rank as a magic knight, and that he had the coin to pay his own way.

He was currently sitting at the bar with some apple brandy in front of him, doing his best to try and not nod off, thanks to the alcohol in his system.

“Drowning your sorrows in booze,” came a voice out of nowhere from the stool right next to the anti-mage. “How very human of you.”

“Shut up!” Asta said. “The last person I want advice from, let alone to see right now, would be you, big brother!” he yelled as he turned his head to see none other than Ed sitting on the stool next to him, with a glass in his hand.

“Apple brandy?” Ed looked at Asta out of the corner of his eye, “Missing a certain apple-themed character, are we?”

“Shut up,” Asta waved off his older brother's comment. “Shy and Twilight are good to talk things through for certain reasons, but you, of all… well… things in your case, should know AJ is the best to go to about advice when you want the hard truth…”

“Yes, but you don’t currently have the luxury of your second wife’s company, so you chose to drown away your frustration in the next best thing to her in this world, apple brandy,” Ed chuckled.

“What the hell am I supposed to do, Ed?!?” Asta shot back. “Rebecca’s not like Noelle or Mimosa… She doesn’t have anything tying her to this place besides her family, and I’d be more than happy to bring them over!”

“Does she know?” Ed bluntly asked. “Did you tell her they could come with her, if she chose to go with you?”

“Ahhhh….” Asta looked at his reflection in his drink and then slammed his head on the bar, “I’m a fucking moron, aren’t I, big brother?”

“Hmmmmm…..” Ed swirled the bourbon in his glass. “Usually… No more than the average anime protag, little brother, but in this case… Yes, you are most definitely and wholeheartedly the moron when it comes to things this time around.”

Ed set his glass down after finishing his drink and stood up. “I suggest you be at that restaurant around closing time tomorrow night. Go early, so you can catch an eyeful of your girl though, but be discreet and stay incognito,” he advised.

“Is this real? Am I just so drunk and somewhat needed to talk to that I conjured you up and this whole talk is in my head?” Asta asked.

Ed reached the door and turned back with a smirk. “Oh..,. It's all really real in your head, little brother,” he said with a wave as he headed out the door.

Asta suddenly jolted up from his spot and looked over to see an empty stool next to him.

He looked at the barkeeper, “Hey, old man, was there someone sitting next to me until just a minute ago?”

The barkeeper looked at the empty stool and then back at the kid, “Son, I think you’ve had enough for one night. No one’s sat there since before you came in all night.”

“Great,” Asta rolled his eyes, “Now, he’s even watching my dreams…” He grumbled as he walked out of the bar and down to the inn where he was staying.

The Next Night…

Asta spent his day in his room, going over how he’d approach Rebecca and what he’d say to her, but ultimately gave up after two hours and decided to do some magic training inside his Black Grimoire.

“It's getting rather late,” Raava said as she appeared not far away.

“Shiny is right, dipstick,” Liebe added, as he flipped through channels on a TV set he’d conjured up while sipping on a soda.

“Your points being?” Asta said as he dueled a clone of himself, wielding his light magic katana while he used his dark magic katana.

“Don’t you think you should listen to big brother?” Liebe balanced his straw on his upper lip.

“Ed’s interventions don't need to be taken with seriousness,” Asta replied as he blocked a downward slash and countered with a kick to the gut of the clone.

“Yes, but he also wouldn’t go as far as to personally tell you to do something while you were trying to drown your sorrows with alcohol if it wasn’t absolutely necessary either,” Raava pointed out.

“Urrrrr…. Alright…” Asta groaned, “If I go and check on her through a door or back through the kitchen, will you be satisfied?”

“No,” the spirit and demon said in unison, something that had been happening quite frequently and thoroughly ticked their contactor off to no end.

“I really hate it when you two are on the same page,” Asta glared, while one simply flipped through channels on a TV, and the other hid her face behind a fan, “Alright, I’ll go check on her, then…”

Back in the real world, Asta opened his eyes, jumped to his feet from his bed and walked to the window and opened it. He pulled his Slayer from his Black Grimoire and threw it out, before summoning it back and jumping on it, to head over to Rebecca’s workplace.

“I guess I better alter my appearance a little with some light magic,” Asta said as he did just that.

He now looked older, around his actual age but with slicked-back blue shoulder-length hair and yellow eyes. He wore a yellow sleeveless shirt and a pair of dark grey pants and boots. His arms remained bandaged, however, as he couldn’t alter them beyond looking older. He decided to use his water bending to form false arms instead of using his dark magic.

Luckily, this transformation was just a few seconds to put together, because he was at the restaurant in less than five minutes.

Walking in, he saw a number of familiar faces, as the Hostess came up to him. “One, please,” he held up an ice hand with one finger. He had planned to use water but decided ice would be a lot less messy.

“Bad fight?” the hostess asked as she referenced Asta’s arms.

“Something like that,” Asta said as he looked around and instantly spotted Rebecca, who looked like she'd seen better days.

She was a little thinner than the last time he saw her, not to mention she looked like she hadn’t slept well at all for at least three weeks. Other than the fatigue, she was more closed off and only brought food to the tables and thanked people for coming and to come again.

“Excuse me, sir?” the hostess pulled Asta’s attention back to her, “Your drink?”

“Tea please, and hold the ice,” Asta said, “And bring me the spicy Get the Hell Out, please.”

The hostess just stared at him, with the menu in her hand, “Sir… only a few people can handle that, and seeing you’re an ice magic user, I don’t recommend you have it…”

“Sorry, but I didn’t ask,” Asta said, “I want that to eat, so consider me warned.”

Asta could handle the dish fine. It was his usual, after all.

“Uh… fine, whatever…” the hostess waved him off. “Al, we got another confident one over here!” she called out as she left.

It wasn’t long before he had his food in front of him and savagely scarfed it down. The act horrified the whole restaurant; not just the meal, but the way it was eaten.

“Got a problem?” Asta glared at everyone with a mouth full of food, the red sauce running down his face from the corners of his mouth, doing a full on imitation of blood.

Chills quickly ran down the spines of nearly everyone in the establishment, before they all decided it was best to ignore the beast in the back, while it ate its fill.

“Don’t mind them,” Asta heard a familiar voice. He looked over to see Rebecca giving him her soft smile. It was the one she gave to every customer, but it still made his heart skip a beat to see it, as his face turned beet red. “Oh my, you’re turning red in the face. Is the spice getting to you?”

“Ah, what…?” Asta said with a gulp, “Ah, no. Sorry. I was just, ah… Surprised to see such a pretty lady come up to me while I… Ah… was stuffing my face… ehehehe!”

“I have several brothers and sister and… a certain someone who eats just like that sometimes, when he’s really hungry. Hahaha,” she smiled as she remembered the first meal Asta had with her and her family extremely well. He was really stiff at first, but as soon as they showed him what it was they were going to eat, he didn’t hold back.

“He… ah…” he thought that but just spoke the first thing that came to hte forefront of his mind, “It sounds and looks like you really love him….”

“I did, or do…” Rebecca sighed. “It’s hard to describe what I’m feeling for him right now. I do want to be with him, but recently…” she thought back.

After Twilight and Asta told them all the truth, he demanded to be taken home immediately, to which the others agreed and did as they asked.

“I was hit with some pretty heavy truths,” Rebecca said, “And I… do want to see and speak with him, but I don’t know how I could or what to even say….”

“I… um….” Asta fumbled his words as he tried to think, but really couldn’t put any form of a plan together.

“Rebecca!” the cook called out, “Quit chattin’ and get to servin’!”

“Right, sorry!” Rebecca called back, “Sorry for… ah… telling you all that personal junk. Pay me no mind. I'm just a server girl in a town you'll probably forget about tomorrow. Have a nice night, and enjoy your meal!” She bowed slightly and then ran off.

“But,you're not…” Asta said to himself, as the world turned grey around him.

“That went well,” he heard an all too familiar voice. He turned to see none other than Ed, sitting in an empty seat next to him. “Step one was just to be in the same room, but here, you went straight to step two, and actually had some dialogue with the girl. Bravo, little brother. Bravo,” Ed clapped.

“Quit being an ass,” Asta growled, “You didn’t need to stop time to speak with me either.”

“I.D. fields make everything more convenient when having a conversation in public,” Ed waved off Asta’s glare.

“Why are you here now, Ed?” Asta gritted his teeth, “I came here, like you said to, and nothing is going on, like I knew it would! Did you get a kick out of watching me struggle in my relationships?!”

“No,” Ed said with genuine anger this time. “I sent you here because you needed to confront her. I know how love works and have done this song and dance in my own life too many damn times in my world and lost many a lover that I couldn’t get back, just because we didn’t even see each other. You love this girl and have been with her the longest in this world and have many things in common, NOT TO MENTION HAVE GONE OUT OF YOUR WAY TO MAKE HER HAPPY!” he fumed, “Being with Noelle and talking things out was solely because you two see each other on a near daily basis. You can’t just not do this, Asta. If you do, you’ll never get her to love you fully again, let alone even trust you!”

“SO, THEN WHAT DO I DO, CRIMSON SAGE?! OH, SO WISE AND WELL-KNOWN LOVER OF MANY WOMEN?!?!” Asta slammed his ice fist on the table, shattering it. “What… can I do…?”

Ed flicked his little brother’s forehead, causing him to wince in pain, “Stop whining about bullshit, push past your limits and talk with the girl! Make an effort to see her and be there for her, and not just her, but her family, too. Just like you did before, you idiot little brother….” Ed smirked as he faded away, and the world’s color returned.

Asta took a look around and let out a sigh, “Asshole, and he’s right….. As usual…”

Asta looked at his reflection in his tea. “Well, I at least spoke with her a little, though she didn’t know it was me,” he downed the rest of his drink and slammed the glass on the table, and that’s when a conversation at the table next to him caught his attention.

“So, that’s the redhead the client wants,” one whispered.

“Looks like it,” another said, “All the others are apparently her kids or something…”

“As much as I feel bad, a job’s a job,” another added.

“These nobles are sick,” another growled, “But they’ve already paid half what was promised…”

“We’ll grab her and bring her to him after they close,” the first tapped the table, “There are plenty of allies to nab her in…”

Asta was now more than seething with anger. He decided to leave when his new ‘friends’ did, which wasn’t long after the conversation. They all left and waited in the dark, in an alley across from the restaurant.

Asta silently followed them from a distance away, until he got outside the restaurant, where he took off to the rooftops in silence. He took the long way around and came upon his party of new ‘friends’ and activated his dark magic.

“Dark Magic,” he muttered in silent anger. “Dark World, True Nightmares,” he said as his dark magic spread from his body and spread to those in the alley, who were immediately grabbed by all sorts of nightmarish hands and pulled into the darkness, with only the sound of muffled screams to come out of the alley.

“Try to kidnap my girl,” Asta growled as he pulled his Slayer out and took off into the night.

The night went on, and the restaurant started to close. Rebecca readied herself to go home.

“You need to take it easy for a few days, Bec,” the cook told her as she headed out the back door, “I know you've been working hard these last few weeks, but even that would make ya look as bad as ya do now. Take about a week off and spend it with those kids.”

“Do I really look that bad?” Rebecca looked at another waitress, who only gave a solemn nod.

“Worse than you think, my girl,” the cook wiped down a glass with his rag, “It has to do with that fella of yours.”

“How’d…”

“Becca, you worked harder than anyone in here, until that fella came in the picture, and then, you go on a lovers’ getaway and come back not halfway through it and looking all the worse for wear,” the waitress said, “All lovers have their hard times, dear. He’s been giving you your space. But, at the same time, I saw him at the bar I frequent, and he wasn’t looking all that well. Drinking and injuries aside, he looked pretty torn up.”

“He’s in town?” Rebecca looked at her, “Then, why didn’t he come and see me, or at least see my little brothers and sisters?”

“He’s probably having a hard time trying to come up with some way to see ya,” the cook put his hands on the counter, “We guys tend to blow things out of proportion. He wants to see ya, but just doesn’t know how.”

“I bet he did go by your house yesterday,” the waitress winked. “No way he wouldn’t at last try and see the kids. He loves them just as much as you do, after all.”

“You two and the staff think you can contact me via Owl or something if he stops in?” Rebecca asked, a little more than hopeful.

“We’ll do just that, my girl, but for now, go home and get some rest. If we don’t see him, he’s bound to come to you,” the waitress shooed her out the door, “Some way or other. Now, get!”

And like that, she was booted out the door.

“Hmhm…” she giggled a little, “I really didn’t give him a chance to explain anything last time. I’d be lying if I denied wanting to see him…”

“Excuse me,” a male called her from her thoughts, and she turned to see a tall man with blonde hair tied up in a ponytail, with amber eyes.

He wore a hoodie that was red on top just at the bottom of the chest line, with the bottom being black. His underclothes consisted of a black muscle shirt and black slacks. The more outstanding pieces of clothes were his red-soled shoes and the single white glove on his right hand.

“Umm...” Rebecca hesitantly moved back.

“Sorry about that,” he held up his hands, “Name’s Edward Elric, but you can call me Ed. I just wanted to make sure you got home, after what I heard from a table in there,” he thumbed back at the restaurant.

“What?” Rebecca started to shake.

“Overheard a few fellas targeting ya,” Ed said, “Something about a noble wanting a pretty redhead, and you’re the only one in town that really fits that bill, outside of your siblings.”

“Y-y-you stay away from my family!” Rebecca pulled the knife Asta made for her out and pointed at him.

“No need to worry,” Ed threw up a hand with a shaking of his head, “I’d never lay a hand on my family. Asta would never forgive me. In fact, he’ll probably be super pissed I’m talking to you like this.”

“Asta? Family?” Rebecca eyed him, “You’re… like Asta, aren’t you? Not from this world? How are you related to my boyfriend?”

“Ah,” Ed smiled widely, “That’s the word I wanted to hear…”

“What? Boyfriend?” Rebecca looked at him puzzled and a little disgusted, “Sorry, buddy, but you're definitely not my type.”

“That's a relief,” Ed laughed, “No, I’m happily married to my wives and love taking care of my children. I’m far too busy, and you’re far too young for me anyway.”

“What the hell are you going on about?!” Rebecca stomped her foot.

“Sorry, sorry,” Ed held up his hands, “To answer your main question, I’m Asta's oldest brother, by blood.”

“You… I was right,” she squinted, “Why are you here?”

“To make sure my little sister got home safe,” Ed motioned to the side, and Rebecca looked out of the corner of her eye, and she was standing out front of her house.

“You’re… a lot stronger than Asta, aren’t you?” Rebecca put her knife away, “And I mean as in his original world strength.”

“So, he did tell you all of his truths,” Ed snickered.

“Yes… he did…” Rebecca looked down, “And I’m seriously regretting the fact I didn’t give him a chance to go into any further detail.”

“All I ask is you give him a chance to speak,” Ed gave a humble bow, “I know you’ll make the right choice. I’ve seen how much you really love him, after all. Your little sister has the name of the inn where he’s staying. If you don’t want to see him there, then wait till just before noon and go to the fountain and wait for him to walk down the street.”

“Just how do you know all this?” Rebecca asked.

“It’s like you said,” Ed said with a sly smirk. “I’m just that strong,” he said, as he blew away on the wind.

“Asta has got a lot more explaining to do…” Rebecca said with a slight recoil, before going inside to rest for the night.

Asta, on the other hand, didn’t stop to rest at all that night, however, as he was far too busy taking down every scum sucker with ties to the guys he’d captured and ‘received’ information from. Not even the nobles involved were safe from his wrath. Though no one died this time around, many people were very unrecognizable from the swollen faces, lumps, and bruises they received from an unknown magic vigilante.

Asta was now wandering through the streets, trying his best to get back to his inn. First, he wanted to go by and make sure Rebecca was okay, as he was so pissed he forgot to watch her go home. Though, he knew she was okay, from the fact he sensed a familiar presence escorting her last night, though it wasn’t for more than a second.

Currently, he just wanted to sleep, but his drive to at least make sure Rebecca was alright was far stronger.

“Asta!” he heard. He looked up and saw Rebecca staring at him with very wide eyes, “You look horrible! What the hell have you been doing!?! You look like you’ve been fighting all night!”

“Oh, hey, Rebecca,” Asta meekly smiled. “I was just ah… yeah, let’s go with what you said…” he started to wobble a bit, “I needed to see you, and now that I have… I’m gonna go sleep…”

Asta started to fall forward, and Rebecca quickly rushed over, allowing the mage to fall into her embrace, with him face-planting into her chest.

“Geez,” Rebecca said as he started to snore. “You're a mess…” she smiled softly.

“Need a hand with him?” she heard and turned to see Theresa.

“If you wouldn’t mind, Sister,” Rebecca lightly chuckled, “Do you think we can get him to my house?”

“No issue,” Theresa chuckled as she looked at the snoring anti-mage. “My Linx can carry him,” she said as she conjured her large fire cat, and the women hoisted the snore boy onto it, before they got him to Rebecca’s house and into her bed.

Two Days Later…

There came a knock at Rebecca’s door.

“Who could that be?” Luca asked. As she finished washing dishes, another knock came from the other side of the door. “Give me a sec!” she answered as she dried her hands.

Luca briskly walked over and slightly opened the door with a turn of the knob, to look out at who was there, and then, threw it open with a big smile on her face, as she jumped out into the arms of the person on the other side.

“BIG SIS TWI! BIG SIS NOELLE!” Luca laughed with tears, as she buried her face in Twilight's ample chest.

“Don’t suffocate her, Twilight,” Noelle crossed her arms, with a slightly twitching eyebrow and a hint of jealousy in her voice.

“Right…hehe,” Twilight said, silently cursing her divinity, while Midnight was shooting snide remarks about her just wishing her rack was as big as heirs. “Anyway,” she looked back at Luca and dried her tears with a lavender handkerchief, “Where are they?”

“Rebecca’s been watching him in her room for the last couple of days,” Luca pointed up the stairs.

“He better not be trying to get handsy,” Noelle raised a fist and pounded it into her opposite palm.

“I’m pretty worried about Asta,” Luca looked at the window of Rebecca’s room, “He’s been asleep for two whole days now.”

“That idiot went and pushed himself again,” the girls said in unison with a set of harsh sighs.

“He'll be fine, Luca,” Twilight smiled as she placed a hand on the younger girl's head.

“It’s just a case of mild fatigue,” Noelle winked, “He just went overboard in whatever he did, something that he really shouldn’t even have tried to do in the first place, with those injuries.”

“He should wake up pretty soon,” Twilight rubbed the bridge of her nose, “If I would’ve known he was here in town, I could’ve come by to treat him sooner.”

“He didn’t tell you?” Luca at Twilight.

“Nope,” Twilight shook her head.

Luca looked at Noelle next, who only gave the same response.

“Alright. Let's go treat the idiot, so we can tear his ass a new one,” Noelle walked into the house.

“Not too badly, but yes,” Twilight nodded with an eye roll.

Luca led the girls up to Rebecca’s room and knocked, before opening the door, “Sis, I brought some much-needed help for Asta,” she opened the room to reveal Rebecca sitting on her bed, next to a silent Asta, who was sleeping with very little movement.

Rebecca looked up to Twilight and Noelle with a worried smile at them, “Thanks for coming, girls. From the looks, neither of you knew he’d come to town either?”

“No, he didn’t tell me a thing,” Noelle threw up her hands, “He was just gone from the base.”

“Somewhat the same, but I’ve been busy with missions lately, so we really haven’t spoken, let alone written to each other for a while,” Twilight nodded as she looked at Asta, “Pull the blanket back, please. I need to thoroughly examine his arms.”

Rebecca nodded and did as Twilight asked, allowing the lavender mage to look over the patient's injuries. Twilight moved his arm up and activated her healing magic, as she moved her palm down her lover’s arms one at a time, to get a feel of his symptoms.

“What’s your diagnosis?” Noelle asked, with a weird lump in her throat.

“Not good,” Twilight heaved a heavy sigh, “Very… not good. He’s far worse than we thought. He’s pushed himself well beyond what he should have been able to. That fatigue has taken a heavy toll on his already injured body, and with the curse on his arms, he’s not able to recover like he should. He could be asleep for another week, at this rate.”

“Can’t you heal him?” Rebecca asked.

Twilight just shook her head.

“I do have a few different healing spells, but you have to remember: mine are just copies of the original spells, so they’re not as strong as the originals,” she explained, “So, I make up for it by combining them, to make my own new spells, but in this case, even the original spells couldn’t help.”

“Even the doctor at the palace said something similar to that, and he’s the best in this kingdom,” Noelle added as scratched the back of her head, “Something about the curse being unnaturally rooted in Asta's flesh, blood, and even bones.”

“We’d need a magic user with not only an extremely high output of mana, but also one with an affinity for body magic, at the very least,” Twilight added. “Something like the guy in the black robe, who attacked the capital way back with the Eye of the Midnight Sun. He called it Cursed Blood Magic. If I had a spell in that affinity, I could at least regulate some the curse’s effect, enough to allow Asta to recover from overworking himself like this. Do you know why he’s like this?” she added as she looked at Rebecca.

“I think I do,” Noelle sighed, “It's the main reason I came to town, expecting to find our darling idiot here. Several people in the slave trade community that are all a part of a single organization and tied to a particular local noble were taken down in the span of a single night. Every one was beaten beyond senseless and kept calling and screaming when they were left in a dark room, alone or otherwise.”

“It explains the state I found him in that morning and why he’s so fatigued,” Rebecca said. “But why would Asta take on an entire organization on his own, let alone a noble?”

That’s when Twilight spoke up.

“That has to do with an incident back in our world,” Twilight said as she made sure to cast a silencing spell she’d picked up. “Asta wanted to help free slaves in our world, so he went on a mission, and I went with him, along with his first and second wives, his student and a special relative of his. He was just dating the first at the time, but they were very serious. He was devoted to her.”

“What happened?” Noelle asked.

“Asta was summoned away by his nature to another world, and while he was gone, we were all ambushed by a group of slave hunters that we hadn’t realized had been watching our group from outside our range of detection,” Twilight looked down, “We fought back, but were ultimately captured and taken to… be sold…”

Rebecca and Noelle’e eyes went wide as they looked over at Asta.

“Yeah, you can only imagine how he took it…” Twilight rubbed Asta’s cheek with her finger, “You’ve seen how he gets when he gets mad, Noelle,” she looked over at the water mage.

“That look he gets…” Noelle held herself, “He was so cold that time…”

“Asta doesn’t rampage, like a lot of people would,” Twilight explained to Rebecca, “No, if anything he gets a singular focus, to beat or kill the thing that made him angry, or that hurt those precious to him. Safe to say…” Twilight looked at both of them, “Those that took us didn’t even live to see the next morning, after Asta found out. He stormed a castle to get his first wife, Fluttershy, back from the king and son who planned to use her as a sex toy, and that's putting what they did very lightly…”

“It was that incident that led Asta to free the city’s slaves and burn down the city after that,” Twilight huffed. “After that, he started to accept more of the way the others felt for him, and he became, well, more of a leader. I’m guessing the incident with the slave traders involved you somehow, Rebecca,” purple eyes were now on the redhead, “And that brought up some very strong feelings and harsh memories in our boy. Not wanting to relive it, he acted on those emotions. We’re lucky he only traumatized them though.”

“To think he’s…” Rebecca walked over and sat on the bed.

“He’s only ever killed in order to protect what he holds dear,” Noelle said, “He’s told me that many times, and I can tell he’s always told the truth.”

“That’s right,” Twilight nodded, “We’ve done what we can, for now. All we can do is be here for him.”

Noelle was thinking about the conversation, “I need to get going. There’s a certain person I need to find, who might be able to help him. Twilight, are you going to stay here to help look after him?”

“If it's okay with Rebecca,” Twilight looked at the third girl who nodded, “It’s settled then. Be careful, Noelle, and I’ll let you know when the idiot wakes up.”

“Yeah, and slap him pretty hard upside the head, while you’re at it,” Noelle smirked. “See ya,” she waved as she left.

“Alright. Let’s get him cleaned up,” Rebecca said. “I’d rather my room not smell like sweat. I’ll leave his underwear changing to you, Twilight, seeing as you... Well…” she turned beet red and looked away.

“Seen him nude several times,” Twilight gave a confident you-know-it look.

Asta’s Dreams…

Asta steadily strolled through the streets of neither the streets of the Clover Kingdom nor those of the former Caribou capitol. In fact, it was more of a combination of the two of them. As he walked, he had his Demon Slayer in one hand and his Demon Dweller in the other, with steady streams of anti-magic wafting off the tip of the blades of the weapons.

He walked and walked. All along the way, he cut down any figure that opposed him. Most of what attacked him were humanoid-shaped blobs of darkness with red eyes. Even if they did turn out to be humans, Asta had no problem cutting them down, and they still had the same reactions as humans, down to even how they died. Any that got scared and ran were burnt to nothing with black flames.

He slowly made his way through the streets, to the castle.

Once he was at the door of the castle, he reeled back and stepped forward with his right foot, and a huge surge of angled earth spikes shot forward and threw the massive doors from their hinges. There was so much dust, only the silhouette of a short figure dual-wielding swords could be seen walking into the building, his red eyes glowing with rage as he emerged from the dust.

More dark shadows rushed in, only to meet the same fate as the rest, in many more gruesome and horrifying ways. Some were cut to pieces, others suffocated by having their air pulled from their very lungs, and others were frozen from having the water in their bodies rapidly lowered using blood-bending. The most gruesome, however, were the ones that popped from using the blood-bending technique to force the water and blood in the bodies to rapidly expand, to the point the flesh couldn’t contain it.

Three very large guard shadows rushed in. Two charged forward, while another flanked and went behind Asta.

“Hmmm…” Asta growled.

The front two jumped up and slammed shadow blades down, meeting Asta's Demon Slayer with a loud thrum.

“Annoying pests,” Asta said as he effortlessly pushed them back with the blade and then threw both swords straight through the shadows’ chests and pinned them to the ceiling.

The last shadow had suddenly stopped, as Asta turned to look at him. The shadow started to shake with utter terror, before bolting for the wide-open doors. It slammed right into a wall of solid light.

The shadow looked back and saw Asta with his second Grimoire active, and his outstretched was covered in light magic.

“Light Creation Magic, Solid Light Wall,” Asta said. “Did you really think I’ll let a single one of you evil bastards live to see the next morning?” he said as the grimoire flipped to a new page.

Suddenly, swords with bright glowing golden hilts and solid black blades appeared over Asta’s head.

“Dark/Light Magic, Swords of Damnation,” Asta said as he flicked a finger, and the swords buried themselves in the remaining shadow. “Send as many at me as you wish,” he turned and looked, and behind a screen somewhere in the castle, a shadow cowered. “It won’t matter,” he raised his hands, and his demon sword returned to his grasp, “Cause they’re all going to die, and I’ll get her back, then show you true horror….”

Asta continued on his path of mayhem and murder.

“You will not keep Rebecca from me…” he seethed as he continued this way and kept killing anything that came at him, for what felt like hours.

He kept descending further and further into the bowels of this hell hole of a castle, until he came to a door, a single wooden door. Asta returned his swords to his black grimoire and readied a sword of his Swords of Damnation.

Asta raised a shaking hand and forced the door open. What he saw caused his rage to reach its breaking point.

“REBECCA!”

Waking World…

Asta shot up yelling, reaching out his broken and cursed arm on instinct, “REBECCA!!!”

Quickly, the woman he called out for rushed over and pulled him into her chest. “Shhhhh….” she calmed him, “It’s alright, Asta… I’m fine… I’m right here….”

Asta then felt an unbearable amount of pain surge through his arm he’d reached out with. “YRAAAAAAAAA!” he cried out as he fell back.

“TWILIGHT!” Rebecca called out, causing the purple-haired mage to rush over and start using her healing spells to try and calm the pain in Asta’s arm.

“He tore several nerve endings when he suddenly shot up like that,” Twilight said as she bit her lip and did what she could, which was little more than act as a pain suppressor right now.

The kids watched from a crack through the door in the hall.

Asta steadily calmed down.

“R-R-Rebeca,” he winced.

“I’m right here,” she replied as she looked at him with tears in her eyes.

“Nightmare?” Twilight looked at him.

“T-Twilight,” he looked over with a turn of his head. “W-when you’d get here?”

“Earlier today,” Twilight glared at her husband. “After I found out from Noelle you disappeared from the base!” Asta nervously looked away, “Don’t you pretend, mister! She was really worried about you!”

“Where is she…now then?” he asked.

“She had some personal business to look into,” Twilight pulled back and wiped her forehead, “I managed to repair most of the injuries before the curse could affect it too much, but there was still some pretty bad damage done that I couldn’t fix. You can’t just use those arms in the state you’re in Asta.”

“You think I wanted to hurt myself?!” Asta used his dark magic to hoist himself up, “The last thing I wanted to do was that, but that… nightmare…” He grabbed his face with a dark magic hand and steadily lowered it to reveal his shock and horrified look to the girls, “No… it was more like a replay of that night back home, and then, those nobles here…”

“You’ve been asleep for two days,” Rebecca said, “Why would you do something so reckless like that Asta?”

“They wanted to take you away to be a noble's plaything,” he clenched his teeth, “I had to stop them and stop what they were doing…”

Rebecca sighed and sat down next to him. “I never asked you to do that, but thank you. And thanks for making the effort to come and see me at the restaurant,” she kissed his cheek.

“You knew it was me?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Not at first, but after putting a few things together after I saw you again and saw the bandages on your arms, it was easy to piece everything together, especially with your choice of food and eating habits,” Rebecca gave a loving smile. “You’re going to rest in this house here with me for a few days, and that's not an offer,” she scowled.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to,” Asta gave a weak smile, “Better move to the guest room and let you have your bed back.”

“You’re not going anywhere, mister,” Twilight glared, “You need to be watched.”

“I wasn’t going to let him leave this room without me anyway, Twi,” Rebecca added, “I miss him too much right now to let him out of my sight, but that reaction just now… I think it would be much better for him to sleep next to me, to let him know I’m okay, over him screaming at four in the morning.”

“It’s settled then,” Twilight sighed. “I have to report in to my captain, but if you need me, use this,” she said as she pulled a communication sphere from her bag. “It has my frequency, along with Noelle and Mimosa’s, too, should any of the others be unable to respond,” she turned back to Asta, “Behave, and try, please… try and rest… For us, if not yourself.”

“Doc’s orders,” Asta winked at her, causing her to blush a little.

“Ah… Rebecca… No… whatever. You two do what you want. I have work that needs doing,” Twilight cleared her throat and left.

“Can I sleep some more now?” Asta looked at Rebecca pleading.

“After we get some food in you,” Rebecca shook her head, “You haven’t eaten in two days.”

“I won’t deny your cooking,” Asta gave a big smile as she got up and headed for the door, “Hey, after I can move around a little, we need to talk about… things…”

Rebecca stopped at the door. “I know…” she said and looked back with a strong smile, “But first… you need to get back on your feet at least, so just let me and the kids enjoy having you around and be able to take care of you for a little bit, okay?”

“Sure,” Asta gave a nod, and she left.

A couple days later…

Asta sat in a chair behind Rebecca’s house ,while helping Luca keep an eye on the younger kids.

Everyone had been going above and beyond to try and help him, to the point it had thoroughly annoyed him, but he let it slide, cause he just liked having the kids around. They did more good than harm, but still, it was more than annoying when they constantly tried to do things whenever he so much as sneezed.

He would mainly just halfway meditate, while occasionally directing some of the boys in some defensive sword arts, though it was mostly demonstrated via his proxy, Marco.

Marie had come by with some of the other kids from the church, along with Sister Theresa, to watch them. Theresa would occasionally cast one of her healing candle spells next to Asta, to help alleviate some of his pains. He was more than grateful for it, too.

“I never expected something like that to happen,” Theresa said as she sipped on her glass of tea while sitting in a chair parallel to Asta, “You can really be frightening, ya know? The shape your body is in… and yet, you still did a job in one night that would take an entire squad of knights a month to prep for.”

“Past experiences played a major role in it, more than anything else,” Asta said as he leaned back in his chair.

“I’ll say,” Theresa added, “It takes going through some really bad times and seeing some gruesome stuff to cause someone to do what you did though. Not to mention that nightmare…”

Asta’s eye cracked open and looked at the sister.

“Rebecca told me the morning after when I saw her at the market,” Theresa said. “If you want to talk about it, I’ll listen. I know it was about her. She said you yelled her name when you shot up.”

“I’d really rather not speak on, but just know the events of the past and the events of the previous night somewhat overlayed with each other in my nightmare,” Asta sighed with a harsh tone, “At the end of it all, I found her chained to a wall in a noble’s basement, with nothing covering her and covered in her own blood, from deep wounds all over her body.”

“Hmmm…” Theresa raised her glass to her mouth, “The sight of the woman you love in that state would break many men while driving others to kill for revenge, or just outright become a shell.”

“I was able to stop it before any physical harm was done last time,” Asta scowled, “But I have no doubt that’s how I would’ve found her the first time…”

“At times, you speak as if you're a lot older than you are, lad,” Theresa said, “Does this subject have to do with Rebecca and the reason you two weren’t speaking?”

“A little bit,” Asta looked at her in the eyes, “Not the incident for a few nights ago, or the time before it though.. but the way I speak, yes. I can’t tell you more. Not that I don’t trust you, but there are just too many factors around, and I can't allow these secrets to be known by any that could pose a threat to me or the women I love. Rebecca is brave and has a strong and good heart, but she’s not exactly capable of protecting herself from most people with a grimoire and an average mana level.”

“I understand your reasons and agree with them fully,” Theresa sat her glass down, “But I do hope you’ll tell me at some point…”

“Some point…” Asta replied.

“You square things away?” she asked.

“Not exactly,” Asta responded, “She wanted me to rest and recover first. I plan on talking with her tonight though.”

“Be sure you do,” Theresa closed her eyes with a satisfied smirk.

Later that night, everyone had eaten and took a nice hot bath, before listening to a bit of the music from Asta, to help put the minds of everyone at ease. Sister Theresa and Marie said their goodbyes and departed with the other children from the church.

Every one of the Scarlet siblings were worn out from the days playing with the church’s kids and quickly found a place to sleep in their rooms. Luca took the youngest of her siblings and headed off to put them down for the night, before going to her own bed. She stopped for a moment and looked at her older sister and the man she came to see as her older brother, as they sat at the table and enjoyed some hot milk tea, before going to bed themselves.

Asta lay down in silence, while Rebecca lay with her head on his chest. Her eyes were covered by her bangs.

“Asta,” she spoke, “About what you told us when we went out and saw that lady you called your mother… I still find it hard to believe you're not from this world…”

“But you’ve come to accept it thanks to certain events?” Asta asked, “I guess I have my older brother to thank for that, more or less.”

“More or less,” Rebecca tightened her grip on a handful of his shirt, “Mostly because of how honest you’ve been with us. I… just don’t understand why you waited to tell us…”

“It’s a bit convoluted and yet necessarily complicated…” Asta sighed, so wanting to place a real hand on her head right now, instead of a magic construct, “I know secrets about this world due to what I am that helped me make certain choices to help change things, for the better in my opinion. However, once she arrived here in this world, Twilight and I knew all too well we’d be going back home at some point, but we didn’t know when or where that would happen.”

“You took advantage of your knowledge to get ahead?” she looked up at him with one green eye.

Asta let out another harsh sigh. “Not exactly,” he looked down at her, “Yes, I used my knowledge to change things, but not to where I would benefit from it. I mainly did it for the people around me, so they could live better lives… I couldn’t do a whole lot of good with the knowledge I had, outside behavioral stuff, mostly things like drive or motivation. Besides, helping out those around me was also limited by my much younger body. The fact I regressed back to seven years old had severe negative effects on my physicality and what I could do. Even now, I am very limited in terms of the powers I have access to.”

“Okay, I get all of that, but what does that have to do with me and the other girls specifically?” she sat up and looked him right in the eyes this time.

“I didn’t want you three to even gain feelings for me in the first place,” Asta said outright. “Because for one thing, it wasn’t my choice, or more or less your choice, to do so, and I didn't know if I would just disappear and leave you all behind, or if I could even bring you with me, or if you would even want to come and still be with me, for that matter…” he said, as he let tears roll down his face, “When we met… that was not how we were supposed to meet for the first time… I wasn’t supposed even to meet you until that mixer…”

Rebecca stared at him.

“I wanted to keep you all away, so I wouldn’t have to… force that choice on you, or even get involved with me more than you should, but then, I saw you in that smith shop and…” Asta looked at her, “I thought… damn, she’s so pretty…”

Rebecca just blinked a couple of times, before she pulled back and placed her hands over her mouth, as her face turned bright red with a squeak.

Asta sat up this time. “You can laugh at me if you want to…” he looked off to the side with a somewhat flushed face, “But I meant it, and I also meant it when I said I have…” he looked down, and his face turned even redder, “...a thing for redheads…”

“You really are something else,” Rebecca huffed as she straightened herself, “Asta, after hearing all this… I’ve made up my mind…”

“And?” he looked at her.

“I… realize that I really do love you… even more, than I originally thought, with the events of the last couple of days…” Rebcca looked him straight in the eyes, “And I do want to be with you, as long as you’re in this world, and as much as I love you… I can’t just leave my little brothers and sisters here alone without me…”

“They’re more than welcome to come,” Asta said, “I don’t want to leave them here either, but I understand if we can’t bring them all. I’ll find a way to bring you all over to my side. I promise.”

Rebecca just stared, and then, tackled him while planting a big kiss on his lips.

“I love you,” she said, breaking the kiss, “But first, we need to get these arms healed, and then, we can talk about going over to your home… and other things….”

Asta’s face turned bright red this time around.

Days ago…

Noelle left Rebecca’s house on her broom and headed straight for the Black Bull’s base. She was both angry and concerned about the passed-out idiot she’d just seen.

“Stupid Asta!” she shouted, “We’ve got to get those arms fixed, or this’ll just keep happening! The thing is, I have no leads… I can barely fly on this broom, let alone heal with waterbending… Everyone else is out searching for leads, and yet I, one of his girlfriends that he works with, have nothing to contribute!”

Her rant caused her concentration to waver ever so slightly, and her broom started to sputter and shake.

“WOAH!” Noelle placed both hands on her broom and leveled it out, but not before her wand almost fell to the trees below from her grimoire satchel. Thankfully, she caught it just in time.

“No, you don’t!” she called out as looked at the wand. “Wait! That’s it!” she smirked, “If anyone could help, she can, or she could come up with a solution!”

“Alright,” she smiled as she sped off, “First, I need to get Finral from the base and then head to meet them. From the last letter, it sounded like they found a good place to stay!”

Same time elsewhere…

“There’s only one person with the ability, let alone know-how and power, to heal Asta,” Vanessa said as she stood in front of a large wooden gate, “I’d never thought I’d come back here of my own free will, but that boy needs help only I can get him…”

She gritted her teeth as she scowled at the gate in front of her, ’If she tries to make me stay, I could always have Asta use his anti-magic on the spell she uses on me once he’s fixed up. I wonder just how powerful Asta really could be…’

Vanessa cleared her throat and looked at the door. “Alright, I know you can hear me!” she yelled out, “I have someone who needs your help, and they’re someone who you could benefit from, if you helped them. Look… they mean a lot to me, and if you help them, then I’ll come back and stay, no arguments! Do we have a deal?!”

The doors flung open with a murder of crow swarming around Vanessa, only for the birds to fly back in, and the doors to slam shut, leaving no one and no traces of anyone where the string-witch once stood, except for a few stray black feathers scattered about on the path.

Woha this one was long but I put in a lot of effort in her guys. I'm glad I broke off the last chapter from this one though as it allowed me to focus on this a whole lot more. Hope you guys enjoy this casue we're getting to just about the three quarter mark with this release, meaning our boy will soon be heading back to his own world and his responbilies there.

Hope you all enjoy this storry as much I do when I write for it.

Ghost Alavsa out!_!