Spoiler Warning: If you haven't seen the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica, then prepared to be spoiled.

I own neither Puella Magi Madoka Magica nor Black Clover. They belong to their respective owners. For entertainment purposes.

The walls around him were distorted, their appearance resembling black and white clogs turning. The floor's checkered tiles, much like that of a chess board, blurred beneath his feet as he ran. He didn't know how long he was running nor where he was going. All he knew was that he had to keep following the path before him. Not that there was any other way to go as the space he passed disappeared into nothingness.

He had just about run out of energy when he came to a clearing. As he slowed to a stop and caught his breath, he looked around to see if anything about the new area was familiar. With the tiled floor and the steel-threaded beams seemingly stretching on forever, it wasn't like any other place he had been to before. A few staircases framed the circular surroundings, each one leading to a doorway. A green light to his left caught his attention. Exit.

He let out a slight sigh of relief before walking towards it as his footsteps echoed behind him. He climbed the left staircase and came to a door that reminded him of a prison gate. Still, it was better than wherever he was. He tried to push on it and, to his relief, it was unlocked. Albeit, it still weighed a ton and resisted him mightily as he pressed his own weight against it. With a final hefty shove, it opened with a clank.

His eyes widened as he took in the new scene before him. The burnt, gray sky. The floating pieces of debris around him. The colossal, dead, and gnarled tree that he now stood on. Torn buildings surrounded the tree and littered the land. Some floated among chucks of debris, drifting with the clouds in a whirlwind of destruction. His heart thumped painfully in his chest as a shiver of terror ran down his spine when he gazed upon the eye of the storm. There, in the center of all the destruction, floating above the ruined city with storm clouds orbiting its form, stood a deadly leviathan. A demon, something whispered inside him.

It reminded him of Frankenstein's monster. Its stitched skin was as pale as a corpse and wore a ghastly crown of snow-white locks that ran down its spiked spine. It had four arms and two legs, with each palm holding a blood-red cross that lay embedded in the center. A lizard-like tail could be seen behind it, sweeping back and forth. Two dark, bat-like wings, whose edges were ripped and jagged, sprouted out of its large, crimson-stained torso. Dual horns hugged its head, and streams of, what seemed like, blood flowed from its three eyes into a crooked grin that housed large, serrated teeth. Behind its body, a ring of fire burned and casted a hellish halo.

"What the hell?!" left his lips in a startled yelp as he turned back towards the door he had exited from, nearly tripping in his haste. However, when he spun around, the gateway was gone. More alarming was the fact that the tree he had been standing on, just moments before, had been replaced with the cold steel of a now broken bridge. The grim, timber giant faced him in the distance. He whipped his head back towards the ruined city to see if anything else had changed.

Following the flashing red lights of streetlamps, he could just make out the blurry shape of a person's figure atop a skyscraper. The other was facing towards the creature, and, despite being far away, Asta could still somehow picture what the guy looked like. Lean build, amber eyes, messy black hair. He wore a white long-sleeve tunic with dark purple cuffs. Around his torso, he wore a short, dark-purple robe that had an intricate design of four-leaf clovers woven in lighter-purple strands. Black fur lined the border of the hooded-robe and matched a black rope that was wound around the black button securing the cloth to him on his left shoulder. He wore dark pants which stretched all the way down his legs and was only partially covered by his black boots. The boots themselves had a small purple four-leaf clover design, similar to his robe, running up the sides. Completing his outfit, dark-purple straps held a pouch on his right hip. In his right hand, he held a midnight tome with an amber cross that held a golden four-leave clover in the middle and corners of four-pointed stars that reflected back towards its center.

He couldn't tell why he knew what the other boy looked like, nor could he explain what the tugging feeling growing inside himself was. Before he could settle his mind enough to process what was happening, the boy leaped into the sky, racing towards the creature. Asta could only watch as two buildings collided and fell on the other's location. He ran to the railing of the broken bridge, leaning as far out as he could to gain a better vantage point. Something in him was desperate to see that the other boy was okay. The boy reappeared in a flash a purple light a moment later, and something inside of him breathed a brief sigh of relief.

The Demon above jerked to life as it lifted its two main arms, holding its hands together in a cupping motion. Blue light streamed from its palms and shot out towards the other boy. He dodged the first attack, but the second attack met the boy head-on. The glimmering, violet light of a barrier had cracked and fizzled upon contact. Even from his vantage point, Asta could see the other was becoming overwhelmed.

"He's in trouble!" Slipped passed his lips as his grip on the railing increased. His chest tightened as another phrase left his mouth, "I've got to help, somehow!"

"We can't do anything about it," a new voice spoke beside him. He snapped his head to the left to see a small bird perched on the railing beside him. Or at least what he thought was a bird. It had a sleek, blue-black coat with its tailfeathers forming an arrow at the tip. Its black beak stood out among the red coloring of its face. The front of the bird was white with its neck being fluffed out like a collar. Atop its head, a pair of feathers appeared like twin horns and stood out against the sleek appearance of its body. Its slanted eyes gave off the feeling of disinterest, or neutrality, in terms of the current events. Before he could question if the words he heard had indeed come from the bird's, it looked towards him, and the strange voice filled the air once more. "It's surely too much for him, but I'm sure he was prepared," it stated plainly.

Asta's gaze shifted towards the other boy once more. He had been rushing towards the demon, only to take another hit from a flaming orb. The attack sent the boy flying back into the storm of destruction. A few pieces of wreckage collided with him as he fell towards the distant, timber giant before his body was ensnared by the dead tree's branches. The immediate lack of movement gave a bleak clue into the other's current state. If this pattern continued, it was clear the boy would die.

"I can't just stand here and watch!" He declared as he turned towards the bird, "There has to be something I can do!" He looked up once more towards the other, who thankfully was twitching back into consciousness. Though he could almost sense that the boy was trying to tell him something, no sound reached his ears.

"As soon as you give up," the bird said, getting Asta's attention once more, "It's all over." The bird turned its head to clean its wings a bit as it calmly stated the next part, like it was common sense or small talk about the weather, "But you. You can change this destiny." Asta's muscles tightened as he straightened up in surprise, the words hitting his core. When the Demon let out a bloodcurdling war-cry a moment later, he covered his ears and winced. "Grief. Destruction. They are inevitable unless you change it," It continued, unaffected by the sound waves, "You possess the power to do so."

He looked at his hands before balling them up into fists. "Someone like me can change all of this?" He questioned. He whipped his head towards the bird and took a step forward. "What do I have to do?!" He shouted, trying to be heard above the beast.

"If you want to change fate, make a contract with me and become a Magical Knight!"

He blinked at the bird's words in slight surprise before taking a deep breath. Determination filled his veins. He met the bird face-on and opened his mouth to answer. Above him, he could feel something like a voiceless scream.

His eyes snapped open as his body hit the floor with a thump. Sitting up and rubbing his face, he muttered a quick, "Ow." He looked around the room in confusion before realizing he was in his bedroom at home. His eye twitched lightly in irritation as his mind replayed the dream. "The hell was that about?!" He shouted as he flailed his arms, almost as if to curse at fate. The echoed cry was answered by more disgruntled shrieks beyond his door, telling him to quiet down.

Asta rubbed his face as he finished putting on his school uniform. He made sure that the light tan dress shirt could pass as acceptable despite the small wrinkles here and there. Bending down, he tied his brown shoes and brushed off his dark pants as he straightened. Putting on his signature black headband among his messy ash-blond hair, he took care to ensure none of his bangs would bother his face. Green eyes grew wide as he glanced at the clock.

"Crap! I'm going to be late!"

With a panicked yelp, he grabbed his red tie and black blazer and bolted out of the bathroom, down the stairs to the dining room. As he stood in the entrance, he smelt Sister Lily's cooking, potato pancakes to be exact. He saw her head pop out from the kitchen, no doubt having had heard him thunder down the stairs. Her blue hair swayed slightly as her teal eyes looked as exhausted as the rest of her expression, though her smile was fond. "Running late again, Asta?" She asked before tilting her head towards the waiting plate of toast.

Father Ofai was already eating at the dining table, shaking his graying head at Asta. He pinched the bridge of his nose before returning to reading his paper. He was too used to this event to even comment on it. Nash was the only other one at the dining table, scarfing down pancakes. The other children were most likely still getting ready for elementary school. Unlike Sister or Father, the reddish-brown haired child had no trouble telling Asta what he thought.

"When is he not late? We're lucky he makes it to school at all."

"Hey, you punk! Respect your elders!" Asta halfheartedly responded, though his attention was preoccupied with wrapping his tie around his neck, grabbing the piece of toast, and making sure he didn't leave his blazer behind again. He waved goodbye to his family as he jammed the toast into his mouth, tussled Nash's hair enough to earn him a yelp of dismay, and stumbled out the door to the sound of "Have a good day at school!" Racing down the steps of the church that had been his foster home for as long as he could remember, he made a beeline for the school road along the canal as he tugged his blazer on.

"Dorksta!"

Ahead of him, he could see the slender-form of his friend, Noelle, standing among the tree-rows waiting for him with her foot tapping impatiently. Unlike him, she wore the female uniform. A tan, long-sleeved blouse with a big blue ribbon tied on the collar that was accompanied by a black, plaid skirt, white thigh-stockings, and tan shoes. She wore her silvery hair in pigtails, though her bangs still fell over her forehead. Pink eyes regarded Asta's messy tie with slight disdain, the orderly person in her no doubt wanting to command him to fix it. But, as they had been friends for years now, she, like Asta's family, had learned that they couldn't fix Asta's habits even if they tried.

"If we're late, you better buy me a sweet to make up for it!"

Asta laughed off her complaint and promised he would if they were, as they began to quicken their pace to school. The exercise cleared his mind a little, though he couldn't help but drift back to the dream he had. That nagging feeling had faded somewhat, but there was still something he couldn't place. Noelle, beside him, had begun chatting about her AP classes, upcoming projects, etc. The normal conversations to their daily routine. Even though it was normal for Asta to barely follow her rambling, he would always attempt to listen at least. Today, however, his mind was preoccupied with the morning vision. It was fading, but he could still see a glimpse of amber eyes if he tried.

"-sta."

If he focused hard enough, maybe he would find out what was bothering him.

"-sta!"

Bam! Asta walked face-first into a tree trunk. As he backed up a bit daze, he blinked and looked towards Noelle who appeared like she was having trouble deciding between laughing or face-palming. "Serves you right," she said, though Asta could sense the concern in her tone, "I've been calling you for the past five minutes."

Asta rubbed at the back of his neck as he straightened his clothes. They were near the school now, the glass building glimmering in the horizon. "Sorry," He mumbled, still a little dazed from hitting the tree, "I've just . . .been thinking about a dream I had last night." Upon seeing red spread to Noelle's cheeks as she snapped her head away and raised her hands to her ears, Asta quickly amended, "Not that kind!"

"I-I knew that!" Noelle stammered, "I was just . . . fixing my ponytails, duh." She tightened them as if to make a point, though her cheeks were still warm from embarrassment slightly. Asta rolled his eyes but didn't point out her obvious excuse. As Asta opened his mouth to explain, the two of them heard the toll of the school bell.

"Ahh! I knew we were going to be late!" Noelle shrieked as they began sprinting. They reached the school-yard, the normal point where they would have to go on separate paths for most of the day as Noelle was in one of the advanced classes (something Asta knew she was extremely proud of). "Meet me here after school," she commanded as she pointed her finger at Asta, "You owe me a treat!" Which was her subtle way of telling him she wanted to know what was up with him today. Waving goodbye, she finished by calling over her shoulder, "You better hurry before Mister Yami notices!" Paling at the last comment, Asta doubled his speed to class.

Yami, known officially as "Professor Sukehiro," was the teacher of that was infamously known as the "Black Bulls" of the school. Misfits too rowdy to be called the black sheep, the nickname of bulls stuck with them – more or less because of the teacher. Not that anyone would guess he was one if they looked at him. He was a tall man with black eyes who looked more like a body-builder than a professor. He sported black hair that was combed messily backwards along with the combination of both a stubble mustache and beard. It wasn't uncommon to see the man smoking a cigarette from time to time, but he was either outside or near a window when doing so. He had on his usual tan slacks and an untucked white tunic-shirt, his teacher-blazer slung over his shoulder like a towel. He was famous for his short temper despite being a man of few words. Even so, Asta wouldn't trade him for another professor. Yami didn't care where someone came from, even if they were a "problem child," and always believed that anyone could overcome their limits. That alone was enough for Asta.

Finral Roulacase was Yami's assistant teacher. He was a slender man of average height and build with "droopy" eyes and unruly dirty-blond hair. He wore a light-green dress shirt tucked into black trousers with a neatly-done black tie and black shoes. The polar opposite of Yami, Finral made the class at ease with his smiles. He was an earnest man who probably didn't get paid enough to help, to the best of his abilities, reign in the rowdy Black Bulls and keep them on track. Though if the situation grew too intense for his liking, he would step aside and let Yami handle it his way. The only reason Asta could think of Finral being paired with Yami was the fact Finral was known to be a flirt among most of the female professors and staff.

It was another one of those days where Yami decided that he had taught enough for the day and unceremoniously dumped the rest of the lesson to Finral to handle. Finral was struggling to get the class to listen as Yami leaned back in his desk chair, no doubt to take a nap, when a knocking from the door resounded throughout the room. Finral sighed and opened the door. Vanessa Enoteca, the Black Bulls' student adviser, stood waiting at the door. She was a tall, voluptuous woman with long, wavy pink hair. She wore a black cardigan with a red-violet dress that probably just met the dress code. Her outfit finished off with dark purple stockings and thigh-high red-violet boots. From the way Finral, Vanessa, and Yami acted around each other, anyone could tell the three had known each other for a long time.

"Another day in paradise?" Vanessa snickered as she stepped into the classroom.

"You know it," Finral answered tiredly as he tried to address the Black Bulls. It was a sign of his mental exhaustion that he didn't attempt to flirt with her. He nearly jumped a foot in the air when Yami pounded his fist against the whiteboard.

"Listen up, you brats, or I'll kill ya."

Whether Yami was joking or not, no student dared to ask, even some of the most rambunctious ones like Magna Swing or Luck Voltia. The class settled down quickly, and when their focus was on the front, Yami jerked his chin in a nod towards Vanessa. Vanessa thanked him while Finral muttered something under his breath that was no doubt pertaining to wondering why Yami couldn't have done that sooner. Vanessa cleared her throat.

"You'll be having a new student in class for today," she said cheerfully, "He's actually in Professor Vangeance's class, but the school needs just one more day to make room." Eyeing the class carefully, she continued, "That being said, I'm sure everyone will be sure to make him feel welcome regardless." As excited murmurs began to overcome the students, Vanessa finished with, "I'll go get him." As soon as she exited the room, the classroom fell into chaos once more, much to Finral's chagrin whose attempts at getting them to settle were in vain.

Asta could hear someone say out loud, "I wonder if they'll be a good fighter?" Luck, most likely, judging by the groans of other classmates that followed that statement. It wasn't that Asta didn't share the excitement for a new classmate, even a temporary one. Truth be told, he was nearly bouncing in anticipation, but that nagging feeling came back with vengeance. He closed his eyes in thought, trying to will it away. It wasn't until the class became quieter that Asta looked towards the door again.

Vanessa had returned and stood beside the entrance. Quiet footsteps followed momentarily, and in came a hauntingly familiar boy with amber eyes. "He's really pretty," a voice in the back of the class said in awe that spurred a couple whispers of agreement. If the boy heard them, he didn't react and just kept walking. When he reached the middle of the room, he turned to face them. Asta squinted at him slightly, despite being seated in the front row due to his height (he wouldn't be able to see over most of his classmates otherwise). The feeling in his chest intensified.

Suddenly his eyes widened as his brain paired the boy before him with the one from his dream. Albeit, he was wearing the same uniform as Asta with a red tie, rather than whatever Asta had imagined him in. Still, there were too many similarities for his liking. Had it not been for the fact that when Asta put two and two together, he had sucked in a breath of air so quick that he choked slightly before going into a coughing fit (which gained him a few eyebrow-raises in his direction and a kind thump on the back in an attempt to help him), Asta probably would have let out an accidental shout that broadcasted his thoughts. But even still…Something felt off with this introduction. Buzzing static filled Asta's mind.

A lean boy with amber eyes and messy black hair was fiddling with his backpack strap. His light-tan dress shirt was wrinkled slightly at the cuffs as he picked at it. The black blazer was unaffected and looked neatly pressed. He wore the same black pants and brown shoes as the rest of the students. His tie was crimson in color and neatly done. A couple of times, the boy had reached a hand up and readjusted his black-rimmed glasses. Overall, he seemed nothing like the type of students that usually came to the Black Bulls class. Asta watched as the other boy got more and more anxious through his introduction.

Vanessa motioned to the boy to introduce himself. He stood straight, looking out at both the class and nothing in particular. "My name is Yuno Akemi," he said in a neutral tone. There was a pause before he continued as if it was an afterthought, "It's nice to meet all of you." Vanessa spelled his name on the white board as, "Juno Akemi," which caused Yuno to turn around and correct it to "Yuno" without so much as batting an eye. He gave a proper bow to the class.

"Why don't you tell your classmates about yourself?" Vanessa asked.

"U-um…M-my name is Yuno Akemi. P-pleased to meet you."

Vanessa wrote on the board "Juno Akemi." Asta could see from the corner of his eye that Yuno wanted to say something to her but chose to bite his tongue instead. He returned to fiddling with his backpack strap as his eyes nervously looked back at the ground. "Remember that, even though he's only here for the day," Vanessa said patting Yuno's shoulder slightly, making the poor boy flinch, "That you do your best to make sure he feels welcome~" As she exited the classroom, Vanessa finished with, "I want all of you to help him out, okay?"

"Let's give him a friendly welcome," Vanessa said as she clapped her hands. The rest of the class followed. As they were clapping, Asta could sense Yuno focus on him. Asta blinked, and the moment was gone. Yuno quietly walked to his seat as Vanessa waved goodbye, and Finral picked up the marker to continue teaching to the few who would still listen to him. Yami settled back into his chair for a nap, considering his job done for the day.

The bell rang as a signal for the scheduled break. As expected, a group of students began to crowd Yuno's desk to pester him with questions about his life up until now. One of the students, Magna, slammed his hands on Yuno's desk with a loud bang that failed to startle the boy. Hair-sleeked back into a silver and black mohawk, Magna adjusted his sunglasses and gave off the very aura of being a "punk." All he was missing was his signature baseball bat he stored in his locker.

"Think you're a cool guy, huh?"

Yuno didn't even give a sign he heard Magna as he continued to stare blankly forward. When Magna waved a hand in his face, Yuno blinked and replied with, "Sorry, I must be out of it because of the moving." Though his bland tone suggested anything but an apology, Yuno continued on before anyone could react, "I think I should see the school nurse. Can someone lead me there?"

Magna snorted but leaned back to holler at Asta, "Yo, shrimp-sta! Pretty boy here needs an escort!" Had Asta not been used to Magna's voice and manners, he would have taken "shrimp-sta" as an insult. Instead, he nodded as casually as he could despite the fact his heart was racing. Being alone with Yuno after this morning's vision was not one of the things he wanted to particularly do today, but Asta had never backed down from a challenge or helping someone in need. Instead, he tried to tell himself that seeing Yuno in his dream meant nothing.

Yuno stood to meet him, and together they walked into the hall after snagging the pass from the wall. While Asta was supposed to be the one leading Yuno, it felt like the other way around. Yuno moved slightly ahead of him as they passed by the other classrooms, making turns without hesitation. "Hey, Yuno! Wait up!" Asta yelped from behind as he picked up the pace. Curse Yuno's long legs.

When they reached the walkway that was the connection between the student and faculty buildings, Yuno finally paused. Despite the sunlight filling the hallway from the sky outside, Asta could feel a shiver of apprehension run down his spine as something ominous filled the air. He opened his mouth to say something, anything to break up the tension filling the atmosphere. Yuno beat him to it.

Spinning around, Yuno met Asta's eyes as he asked in a grave tone overflowing in seriousness, "Asta Kaname, do you treasure the life you currently have?" Before Asta could react, Yuno pressed on with, "Do you consider your family and friends precious?"

Taken back for a moment, Asta blinked before shouting back, "Well, duh! Of course, I do! They're all precious to me!" Images of his family at the church, of Noelle, and his classmates flashed in his mind. He couldn't wrap his head around where Yuno was going with this. Yuno twitched slightly at his answer.

"Do you really?" Yuno asked, doubt beginning to color his voice.

Irritated, Asta's eye twitched as he snapped, "Yes! I don't have a reason to lie, do I?!"

Undeterred by Asta's response, Yuno forged on. "I see," he said calmly. Clouds fluttered by in the window, casting shadows on his face. "If that's truly the case, then you won't try to change, right? You're satisfied as you are, right?" He added. Asta's face began to scrunch in confusion, but Yuno didn't let him reply as he continued with, "Because if you do, if you change, you will end up losing everything you hold dear."

Asta couldn't even form a response. He didn't understand what Yuno was saying. Perhaps the other knew this as he sighed and tried to relax the tension shown in his shoulders, maybe to appear friendlier. "You should stay as you are, Asta Kaname," He reiterated, "Stay as you are, and you'll be fine."

Having said his piece, Yuno turned around and continued down the walkway, leaving a dumbfounded Asta behind. It was only when his figure disappeared with the click of a door, did the trance Asta was in break. "Wh-What the hell?!" Asta repeated once more, feeling he had said the phrase today more than at any other time in life. Just what was that conversation?!

Noelle swirled her straw into her smoothie as she listened to the last of Asta's tale. They were the food-court at the mall afterschool since Asta seemed almost too eager to put some distance between himself and the building. Or a certain confusing someone. "So," she said slowly as she digested the information, "You first saw him in a dream this morning, then he transferred to your class for the day, and now he left you in the walkway after a vague conversation." She took a swig of her smoothie. "Did I get it all?" she asked evenly.

Asta, for his part, thought a moment as he inhaled his French fries. After their "conversation," Asta had spent the rest of the day trying to avoid interacting with the strange boy. But keeping his attention off of Yuno was more challenging then it seemed. The other was great at everything: math, gym, etc. That wasn't the worst part.

The worst part was that Asta knew Yuno was watching him. For every time Asta looked towards Yuno, their eyes would meet and Yuno would jolt his attention somewhere else. But maybe that could be chalked up to Asta's paranoia. "No, that's basically everything," He answered through a mouthful of fries. Then frowned and grumbled something along the lines of "Stupid, handsome jerk" as he shoveled more fries into his mouth.

"Maybe," She said after a brief pause, "It's déjà vu." A smirk graced her face. "Or you two knew each other in a past life like soulmates," She teased as Asta choked on a fry. He shot her a dirty look as he pounded on his chest to stop himself from suffocating. "Come on, Asta," Noelle soothed as she handed him a napkin as his fit was dying down. "In fact," Noelle said as Asta reached to eat another fry, "You could say I may be a bit jealous. After all, it's not every day that you get to meet your dream guy~" Cough! Down went another fry wrong. If Asta hadn't been trying to revive his lung at that moment, he would have given his childhood friend a glare. Noelle snickered before getting up to go find him some water. "Don't die before I get back, Dorksta," she laughed as she left.

"Help…"

Asta blinked and looked around, wondering if he had imagined the words. The food court was mildly crowded today, but there was no one close enough to him to make their voice that clear. As if it was spoken in his ear.

"Please…Help…"

Standing up, Asta pushed his seat back as he began to look around. No one appeared to be distressed.

"Help me. . ."

Leaving the table, Asta wandered towards the stairwell. While he could pretend the voice was just his mind playing tricks, the pit in his gut told him otherwise. The strangeness of his dream and Yuno's appearance made anything seem possible. Besides, if it was just in his mind, he could lie to Noelle and say he was looking for the bathroom. No harm in just checking.

His feet brought him to the construction zone. Despite numerous signs warning him not to, he opened the door and peaked into the dark room. Suddenly, something from the vent fell and hit the floor. Rushing into the room, Asta bent down to examine it. A chill ran up his spine as he confirmed with grave familiarity that it was the same bird from his dream, kind of. This bird was more beat up and covered in fresh wounds that appeared throughout its body. Without hesitation, Asta picked up the small creature as carefully as he could and stood up.

A couple pipes falling down caught his attention, and he turned towards the darkness of the area beyond him to see a figure approaching. On instinct, Asta backed up a couple paces before the figure's image cleared into Yuno. Except, the other wasn't wearing his school uniform anymore. If anything, it was an exact replica of the one Asta had seen in his vision, right down to the tome in his hand. His face was becoming what was, at least to Asta, his signature stoic gaze.

"You shouldn't be here," Yuno stated. He held out his hand and gestured towards the bird with his eyes. Asta couldn't help but note that his hand held a purple stone in the middle with the same emblem as his book on it.

Asta clutched the bird closer in response, careful to not agitate its wounds. "Did you do this?" he demanded. Yuno didn't react in the least, hand still outstretched. His tome began to glow ominously despite its golden hue.

"That doesn't concern you," Yuno pressed, "Don't make this more difficult than it needs to be."

Asta angled his body away from Yuno, keeping an eye on him while trying to remember where the exit was. Before the two boys could make a move, Yuno was blindsided by a spray from a fire extinguisher. Asta stood frozen in surprise for a moment.

"Don't just stand there admiring, Dorksta! Run!"

Hearing Noelle's voice, he turned towards it and saw her emptying the entire canister on the other boy. Rushing past her, he saw her chuck the now empty fire extinguisher at Yuno. He heard the resounding thud and a small hiss of pain behind him. Noelle raced up to join him.

"What have you got yourself into, Asta?!" She asked breathlessly, "And what's with the bird?"

"Honestly," Asta answered, "I don't know." The two of them continued to run, but it was almost like the world around them was distorting. It looked more like a theater show as props and actors appeared like magic in the distortion's haze. Then like fog clearing, two wool balls with mustaches materialized before them, as weird as it sounds. The two of them stopped in response. Yet the creatures didn't react to the presence.

"It's. . . Kind of cute," Noelle murmured as she reached forward to touch one of them. However, Asta stopped her in time to narrowly save her hand from being bitten off by it. Gasping, she took a step back. They turned to go back in the direction they came. Facing Yuno seemed better than whatever these things were. But more wool balls appeared before them. Surrounding them. "What do we do?" Noelle whispered. Thinking fast, Asta handed Noelle the bird. Out of the two of them, Asta was stronger physically and had a better chance of fighting them off just long enough to give Noelle a chance to escape.

Before either side could make a move, a bright light appeared near them. Stepping through the shining doorway, a petite girl with black shoulder-length hair styled into an upside-down bun with the fringes framing her face and green eyes stepped into the room. She was wearing their school uniform with a yellow bow, though Asta didn't recognize her. Perhaps she was an upperclassman. She made eye-contact with Asta and Noelle and winked, not the least bit frightened of the scene before her. Pulling out a necklace with a yellow stone that held on it a symbol of a fork and knife crisscrossing in front of a three-leafed clover, she grabbed the rock as it began to glow.

Suddenly, the girl was in a different attire. Her hair was the same except for a fork and knife sticking out of her bun, forming an "X," with her necklace's stone in the middle atop her head. She wore a beige skirt with black tips accompanied by a white, long-sleeved puffed shirt. Attaching her shirt and skirt together was a brown corset. Finishing off her outfit, she additionally wore gray and white-striped leggings, and bumblebee colored knee-high boots. In her hand, an amber tome with the same markings as her gem was held.

Opening the book, Noelle and Asta were surprised when she suddenly shouted, "Sheep Strike!" Her grimoire glowed, and a giant ram resembling a stuff-toy appeared before her in a puff of cotton. It proceeded to sucker-punched the row of wool balls, making them vanish. Snapping her fingers together, she repeated her action and summoned two more sheep. The girl then walked over to Asta and Noelle, brimming with the confidence that her sheep could take care of the other creatures.

She was just a bit shorter when compared to the two of them. Still, she looked them both in the eye and struck a pose. "On your knees, bitches!" She declared happily, "Your savior is here." Noelle and Asta stared dumbfounded at the pint-sized girl, unable to think of a response. The girl flicked her gaze to the bird in Noelle's hands and gasped, "Nero!"

The two of them looked at each other as she suddenly rushed over to grab "Nero" from Noelle. They watched as she opened her book and began to focus. The tome glowed alongside the bird, and Asta watched in amazement as the its wounds healed. The bird began to twitch to life, and the strange girl let it go. It flew on top of her head and settled there. She turned her attention to the sheep, who were just wrapping up their battle. Dismissing them, the girl looked towards Noelle and Asta and said, "Are they the ones you were talking about, Nero?"

Before either of the two confused teens could ask, the bird answered without moving its beak. "Yup," It said, for who else's voice could it be, "I was sensing them before I got . . . delayed."

Noelle let out a shocked squeak. "W-Who are you?" she yelped, "How can this bird talk?!" Strangely, Asta wasn't as surprised.

The girl brushed herself off, her outfit transforming back into the school uniform along with the golden pendant around her neck. "Name's Charmy Pappitson," she said cheerfully, "This 'bird' is a creature called 'Nero.'" She smiled and added, "I'm sure he can tell you what he wants."

"Indeed," The bird chirped somehow, "Noelle Silva, Asta Kaname, I want the two of you to make a contract with me and become Magical Knights!" As Noelle and Asta blinked in confusion, Charmy motioned them towards the exit.

"Come to my place," She offered, "We can discuss all your questions over some grub! I have cake and muffins~" Noelle twitched at the sound of sweets, her stomach making the decision for her. Asta nodded, wanting to satisfy his curiosity. Just before they left the construction room, Asta glanced to the side and met amber eyes. But when he blinked, Yuno were gone.