Chapter 1: Judgment Day
AN: This takes place around manga chapter 218 (the Magic Parliament arc). This AU deviates from cannon from there. The Black Bulls couldn't crash the trial, and Asta was found guilty. I should be writing my other WIP's but…ah the plot bunnies cannot be ignored!
Possible Trigger Warning: Mentions of torture
Also! I have no Beta. Let me know if you would be interested!
Summary: AU- The Black Bulls don't make it to Asta's Magic Parliament trial in time, and he is found guilty for being the devil who caused all the destruction across the Clover Kingdom. Before the Black Bulls can save Asta from his public execution, a group of mages from the Spade Kingdom crash the execution and take Asta away. The Black Bulls uncover dark secrets and ban together with members of the Golden Dawn in order to bring Asta home. But does Asta really need rescuing?
"You are evil. Therefore, you are found guilty of treason." The Chairman of the Magic Parliament, Damnatio Kira, announces. A hush falls among the members of Parliament. Marie gasps in horror in Asta's arms, her eyes brimming with tears. Asta stiffens, glowering at the crowd. "Now, as for the horned girl." Damnatio starts, only for the ash blonde boy to cut him off.
"Wait! Just stop! Leave her out of it. I won't struggle or try to escape. Just let her go." Asta pleads, dropping his Black form, and lowers his sword. Damnatio eyes him before glancing at his scales again.
"Very well. She is insignificant." The Chairman agrees.
"Asta, no! You can't!" Nero shouts, straining against her handcuffs. Asta smiles at her weakly, handing his grimoire over to one of the nearby guards.
"It's alright, Nero. This way, the Magic Knights' reputation is clear." Asta states, wincing as another guard snaps a pair of handcuffs on him roughly.
"You saved everyone!" Marie shouts, trying to escape from the guard that had started to drag her away. "This isn't fair! Asta! No!" She screams, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"I'll be fine, Marie. Don't worry! I'm not giving up yet! I'll think of something!" Asta calls out to her as the guards drag him towards the dungeons. A guard approaches Nero unlocks her handcuffs and drags her out of the hall. She glares up at the man, snatching her arm away from him, and storms out of the building. She would find a way to save the blond idiot if it was the last thing she did.
Asta grumbles as the guard shoves him into the cell before slamming the heavy metal door shut behind him. The ash blond sighs, looking around the small, dirty cell. He was sure his friends would find a way to bust him out. Before he could walk further into the room, the door swings open again. His eyes widen, seeing a familiar woman with black hair and red eyes grinning at him wickedly.
"C-Creepy Lady?" Asta asks, taking a step away from her. "I thought they still had you on clean-up duty?" Sally just grins, taking another step towards the boy.
"The Magic Parliament people said I could have fun with you! I can't wait to run all of my experiments!" She giggles as two guards step into the room and grab the teen.
"W-Wait! Why would they let you do whatever you want?" Sally shrugs as the two guards start to drag the struggling blond out of the room.
"I think they want to know what makes you tick, just like me! It's all for science, you see!" She cackles, following them down the hall.
Several hours later, the guards haul an unconscious Asta back into the cell. They toss him back inside unceremoniously, before slamming the door shut once again. Asta stirs, having landed on his stomach, and winces as he tries to roll onto his side. He cries out in agony, falling back down. The teen glances over at his wrist and frowns, seeing an unfamiliar black seal branded into his wrists. Asta vaguely remembers them mentioning something about forbidden magic. The ash blond sighs, letting his eyes close. He would try to move again later. He just needed to rest his eyes for a moment.
Damnatio glances up at the members of Magic Parliament, lowering his scale. "The boy has been judged to be evil. In order to ensure the safety of this kingdom, he should be executed. If we delay the proceedings, the Black Bulls will surely interfere." The Chairman finishes. The Parliament members mutter among themselves briefly, before confirming their agreement. "Very well. We will not release the details on the boy's sentence to the public. The execution will be expedited to tomorrow. We will inform the citizens that tomorrow there will be a public announcement, and have messengers run interference with the Black Bulls." The members agree again, with less deliberation this time. Damnatio nods to the council, adjourning the meeting. He had much work to do in very little time. He had to ensure the Wizard King didn't interfere either. The man seemed to have a soft spot for the devil.
That night, Nero bursts through the front door of the Black Bulls hideout, looking around frantically for Captain Yami. It took her longer than she anticipated to get back to the hideout. Noelle frowns, hopping up from the sofa in the common area to approach her.
"Nero? What's going on? Where's Asta?" Nero looks up at Noelle, clearly distressed.
"They took him. Magic Parliament is using Asta as a scapegoat for the elves!" Noelle gasps, taking a step back.
"What? But he saved everyone!"
"I know. Where's Yami?" Nero asks, looking around the seemingly empty room again. Yami suddenly walks into the room, rubbing the back of his head.
"It's the middle of the damn night. What's with all the damn noise?" The captain growls, glaring at the two females.
"Magic Parliament arrested Asta! They're blaming him for everything!" Noelle shouts anxiously. Yami frowns, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
"Those bastards move quick. Looks like Julius was right." Yami grumbles, crossing his arms. "Alright, assholes!" The captain shouts. "Everyone down here now, or you're dead! We have a dumbass to save!"
The next morning, the Black Bulls growl in frustration, having literally crashed into yet another empty cell. They spent all night breaking into the Magic Parliament building, then fighting their way down to the dungeons, only to find all of them empty. Yami punches the nearest wall in frustration. The bastards must have moved Asta, knowing that the Black Bulls would come for him.
"Those bastards!" Magna hisses, balling a fist. "The kid saved everyone and they're punishing him for it! It doesn't make any sense!"
"They needed someone to blame, and they don't understand his power." Nero states, glaring around the empty cell. "People fear what they don't understand." They pause, suddenly hearing a commotion outside. The Black Bulls run to the source, and freeze, seeing a large crowd gathered in the city square. Up on the stage, there was Damnatio Kira along with a few other members of the Magic Parliament. They try to get closer but are too far away to see the stage properly. There were too many people for them to get any closer.
"Citizens of the Clover Kingdom." Damnatio announces, using magic to amplify his voice. "We have gathered you here today in order to enact justice. We have identified the individual responsible for the recent attack on the kingdom. He is a devil. An evil creature whose only goal is to cause despair and destruction." The crowd gasps in shock as Damnatio gestures to one of the guards. The man hauls a boy with ash blond hair and tattered clothes up onto the stage. His hands and feet were magically bound. The boy lets out a pained grunt as the guard tosses him onto the stage by Damnatio's feet. "Asta is found guilty of treason and hereby sentenced to death." The chairman states, hauling Asta up to his knees by his shirt. Asta cries out in pain, trying to flinch away only to be held still by the magic restraints. "Do you have any last words, traitor?" Asta peels his eyes open and glances out to the crowd. He frowns, seeing what appears to be a mass of black robes near the very back of the crowd. The teen keeps eye contact with the tallest shadow of the group, assuming it was Yami.
"I'm sorry." The teen whispers before his eyes flutter closed in exhaustion. Damnatio raises his scale, ready to enact his form of justice. Suddenly, explosions shudder through the area, coming from all different directions. Several were coming from the back of the crowd, where the Black Bulls were now attacking guards that were trying to hold them back. There were also suddenly 3 cloaked figures on the stage. One figure blasts Damnatio and the other members of Magic Parliament back, and another breaks Asta's magic restraints, then levitates him with pink magic. The third holds off the guards that were trying to attack the intruders with a barrier. The first figure steps forward, casting a quick spell to amplify their voice.
"People of the Cover Kingdom. You should be ashamed." The male voice seethes. "This is how you treat your savior? This boy saved your entire kingdom, and you repay him with death?" There are a few gasps from the crowd as a few Magic Knights start to approach the stage.
"This boy is the cause of all of the destruction!" Damnatio growls, getting to his feet.
"What proof do you have?" The cloaked figure asks, gesturing widely. "Your scale? Did you actually see this boy destroy your cities?" They ask, turning their head towards the chairman.
"No, but the scale-"
"How can you cast blame with no witness testimony? Is that what this kingdom has come to? Royalty biasedly blaming peasants for their problems?" The members of the crowd pause, looking between Damnatio and the figure. "We believe in fair trials in the Spade Kingdom." They cast mutter a spell, waving a hand at Asta. The memories of the fight with the devil appear above him, playing out on multiple projections like a movie. The crowd gasps in shock, watching Asta deal the finishing blow on the devil. "The Spade Kingdom Royal Task Force will claim your champion, since you only aim to kill him." A tornado of wind hurdles towards the stage, but the three disappear with Asta in an explosion of smoke before it hits. Yuno disperses the attack before it crashes into the stage and lands where the cloaked figures just were.
"Asta!"
Yami punches another guard in the face, tying to advance on the stage. His heart drops, seeing Asta disappear. Before he could react, a hand lands on his shoulder. He pauses, sensing the familiar Ki. "Julius. Give me one good reason not to go after those bastards." He growls, looking over at the teenaged Wizard King.
"I will, but not here. Meet me in my office." With that, he disappears into the crowd.
"Cryptic bastard." He grumbles, facing the rest of his squad, who was still pummelling the guards. "Oi! Hold off beating their ass for now. Finral; get everyone back to the hideout. I have to meet with the Wizard King."
"What about Asta?" Noelle asks, sending another guard flying with a blast of water.
"We're going to save his ass, obviously. I just have to Julius first." With that he leaves, seeing Finral activate his spatial magic out of the corner of his eye. Julius better have a good excuse for delaying him. He nearly lost it when he saw how beat up the kid was. Then to hear him apologize on top of everything? Yami wanted to burn the Magic Parliament to the ground.
"What the hell is this asshat doing here?!" Yami rages, glaring at Damnatio, who was already in the Wizard King's office. Julius sighs, standing from his chair, and holds up a placating hand to the Black Bulls Captain.
"He needs to hear this as well. This situation needs to be handled delicately. The Spade Kingdom had every right to take Asta." Julius states, walking around his desk the lean against the front of it.
"The hell are you going on about?" Yami states, walking further into the room, but keeps his distance from the Magic Parliament chairman. He didn't trust himself not to punch the man. Yami takes out a cigarette, lighting it to keep his hands occupied.
"Sixteen years ago, the Clover Kingdom stole something precious to the Spade Kingdom to fulfill a prophecy for our kingdom. The Spade Kingdom was unable to enter the Cover Kingdom due to the barrier around the kingdom that I maintain. The Spade Kingdom Knight Captain, who is their country's equivalent to Wizard King, informed me of this many years ago. I was not willing to lower the barrier, for the protection of our citizens, but I agreed to search for their stolen treasure. I believed that I had located the treasure recently, but I was unable to contact the Spade Kingdom due to the terrorist attacks of the Eye of the Midnight Sun." Julius looks significantly at Damnatio. "They were able to enter the kingdom due to my temporary 'death'. Now, they show up to retrieve their treasure, only for us to nearly destroy it." Yami and Damnatio's eyes widen.
"Asta was their 'treasure'." Yami mutters, taking a drag of his cigarette. "And this asshole may have just started a war." He gestures to the chairman, who pales.
"H-How? He was a peasant! A devil!" Damnatio stutters, taking a step back.
"He is important to the Spade Kingdom. This is why I tried to stop you during the trial that you hid from me." Julius sighs, running a tired hand over his face. "At this point, it would be best to send a small team as emissaries to prevent any conflict. I suggest a few members of the Black Bulls, a member of Magic Parliament to handle the actual negations, and Yuno and his team from the Golden Dawn. Klaus can be team leader."
"Why the Black Bulls?" Damnatio states in disgust. "Those scoundrels will only cause more of an incident."
"Because Asta trusts the Black Bulls. The Clover Kingdom is on thin ice with the Spade Kingdom right now. If there are people that Asta trusts in the envoy, they are more likely to gain an audience with the Spade Kingdom monarchy. I suggested Yuno too because he is Asta's childhood friend. His team will be helpful. That far away from the kingdom, it will be best to have a healer. Klaus has also already proved himself to be an effective leader." Julius shrugs. "Besides, the Black Bulls and Yuno would find a way to go anyway." Yami chuckles.
"Got that right. No way we would abandon a member of our squad."
"Yami, I will leave it up to you on which members will be going. I will send message to the Golden Dawns." Julius glances over at Damnatio. "Pick a member of Magic Parliament that has the most political negotiating experience. I have a feeling that we will need it." The Wizard King walks back behind his desk. "The team will leave first thing tomorrow."
"We can't leave sooner?" Yami asks, already getting a headache from the impending argument from his squad.
"Yes. It will take time to get everything prepared." Julius smiles up at Yami. "Don't worry, Yami. They will not harm Asta. If anything, they will probably heal him." He shoots a dark look over at Damnatio, who looks away. "Go inform your teams." Julius waves them off, starting to write on a piece of parchment. The two men nod, leaving the room.
"I'm still kicking your ass later." Yami growls at Damnatio darkly before storming off. He was not looking forward to the conversation he was going to have with his team. They could be so damn loud.
AN: I was thinking about making this a Gen fic, but I haven't decided. Let me know if you would rather have ships in here!