The next morning William was sound asleep in his bed (a real, comfortable bed!), Patry also sleeping. Suddenly the bedroom door opened and the sound of someone entering the room could be heard. The 8-year-old human grumbled, wanting to continue sleeping for as long as he could. He wanted to stay in the wonderful dream he had been having for as long as he could. "William, time to wake up" a voice said. It must be one of the servants coming to wake him up. It was strange though, what he was sleeping on felt a lot nicer than his usual bed of, hopefully clean, hay. And he couldn't smell or hear the barn animals either. But he told himself that he was only dreaming and curled up tighter. "William, you have to get up, we have a big day ahead of us. Breakfast is almost ready and I managed to find some old clothes of mine that you can wear. So hurry up and get in the shower" the voice ordered gently. "Don' wanna get up. 'm still tired" he slurred. Suddenly his blanket, or whatever had been covering him was yanked away, "come on, up you get young man" the voice ordered more firmly.

William sighed and sat up with his eyes still closed, "I'm up" he replied, already sagging as he fell back asleep. "Morning William, what's wrong?" Patry asked as he woke up. 'The servants want me to wake up, but I'm still so tired. I just wanna sleep more, but Father will be angry if I do' the boy replied, mind still half clouded by sleep. "Um, William, you do remember what happened yesterday, right?" the Elf asked. "Yesterday-" the boy mumbled, before he gasped and his eyes shot open as the memories came back to him. Yesterday Julius had offered to take him in after his Father had disowned him. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, William stared around the room he was in. It was a fairly large bedroom with a Queen-sized bed, two bedside tables, a set of draws for his clothes and a large window that looked out over the large green hills that lay outside the house. It lay just outside town and led onto a wide-open area. William smiled as he finally woke up fully, "I remember now!" he exclaimed, jumping out of bed and picking up the clothes Julius had given him to wear until they could go shopping for proper ones. At some point while he had still been half asleep, the adult had left the room, presumably to finish making their breakfast.

"*sigh* You people with bodies take eating for granted. I miss food" Patry grumbled as William made his way to the bathroom wash up. "Maybe I can figure out a way to share more of my senses with you than just hearing. If I meditate some more, we might make some progress" the boy muttered in reply. "Don't talk out loud. Just because we're living with Julius now, that doesn't mean that he won't think you're crazy if he finds you talking to yourself" the Elf admonished. 'Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot. You know, we will have to tell Julius about us at some point, we just need to come up with a way that won't freak him out' William thought. "True, but we have only been around him for a little while, not even a full week technically. Maybe we should wait until we all know each other a little better before we try to explain that we're sharing a body, and that I'm an Elf. And about the probably 20 other things we haven't told him about ourselves" Patry replied. 'I suppose that makes more sense than telling someone we haven't know that long our greatest secret' William agreed.

As he washed himself in the bath, the young boy couldn't help but smile slightly at how his life had changed since he'd met Patry. Soon he was clean, dry and dressed. William then followed his nose to the kitchen, where the most delicious smell he'd ever known was coming from. The white-haired boy entered the room just as Julius finished placing their freshly cooked meals on the table. He looked up just as his Ward entered the room and smiled, "good morning. You look nice and refreshed this morning. Did you have a nice bath?" the blond man asked. But William couldn't answer over the sound of his growling stomach. "Well, you sound hungry, let's eat first, and then we'll talk" the Time Mage replied. The white-haired boy nodded rapidly, making his new carer laugh as they both sat at the table. William ate quietly and slowly, despite how obviously ravenous he was, and Julius frowned in confusion, "it's okay, if you're starving you don't have to use table manners around me. If you were still this hungry, why didn't you ask for more last night? We had plenty of leftovers" the man asked.

The boy swallowed, "if I ate too fast back home, on the few occasions where I got to eat with Mother and Father, Mother would yell at me for not behaving properly," he looked down, "but I was just so hungry, I couldn't help it" he muttered. The blond man clenched his fist under the table, yet more abuse to add to the list that his birth Father and Stepmother had committed against this innocent young boy. Why had no one seen the signs? Why had no one interfered? Because the abusers were Nobility? Any kind of abuse should be punished. It wasn't right! "Well you don't have to worry about that William. It's just us here, so if you're hungry, never mind about being proper, okay?" Julius assured the boy. "A-are you sure that you won't get mad?" he asked timidly. "Not at all. Of course, I would prefer you try your best to keep up table manners, but in situations like this, where you've barely had a proper meal in your life, you're allowed to eat like a starving child because that's what you are- for now at least. I'll make sure that get's fixed as soon as possible, okay?" Julius asked with a reassuring smile.

William smiled slightly too, and began eating more heartily, before he choked. The adult was out of his chair in an instant, patting his back and handing him a glass of water, "I said you didn't have to worry about manners at the moment, not that you were allowed to kill yourself!" the man admonished. "S-sorry Sir" he apologised, throat slightly raw from coughing.

Black Clover

After breakfast, Julius helped the boy put on his shoes, "um, can I ask where we're going today?" William asked. "Somewhere you might like. The head of the Vermillion Family, one of the three Royal Families of the Clover Kingdom has invited me over for a meeting today, and I thought you might like to meet and spend some time with his two children, you know, make some friends" the adult explained. "New friends? I guess that might be a good idea, to have some people that you can do more than just talk to. Besides, when Bethany showed us the original future, she said that the Vermillion Family were one of the only Royal Families that weren't full of themselves, so this might actually be fun for you William" Patry replied. 'I don't know, what if they hate me because of my Curse? The mask that Julius gave me is great, but it's too big for me at the moment' William thought back. "Shall we go?" the blond man asked, offering his hand to the boy with a smile. The human child slowly took it, hesitant, as he'd never held anyone's hand before.

His family had never wanted to touch him unless it was for a beating. But he felt safe with Julius, so he gave a small smile in return. The two of them walked quietly through the streets of the Royal City, heading towards the Castle. "Why are we going to the Castle?" William asked hesitantly a few minutes later when his curiosity got the better of him. "That's because the Castle is where the Clover Kingdom's three most powerful Royal families live. The Vermillion family, who we're going to visit today. The Silva family, who are actually related to the Vermillion. And the Kira family, the current Kings family. So, since they all live in the Castle, that's where we have to go" Julius explained. William nodded in understanding. The three of them were then silent until they reached said Castle. The Mages at the gate stopped them, "halt! This is the Castle of the Royal Families. You may not go further unless you have permission" one of the guards explained. "I've been summoned by the Head of House Vermillion for a meeting. This boy is my Ward, I thought it would be easier to bring him with me, as that way I wouldn't have to worry about leaving him alone, and he could become friends with the Heir and her younger brother" Julius replied calmly.

He handed the Guard a letter baring the symbol of a roaring animal on the wax seal, "I have a letter of invitation right here". The man opened the letter and read the contents before nodding, "alright, you may enter" he agreed before he and his fellow Guard opened the gate. "Thank you" the blond man replied. William was in awe of the Castle. It had looked huge from a distance, but from here it was giant. His caretaker led him inside the gate with his hand still firmly held, "the inside is even better" he muttered lowly, so that only the boy(s) could hear him. As the two of them walked through the building, William couldn't help looking around at everything with wide eyes. Soon they reached a large door, which was open. "Excuse us Lord Vermillion, we're here!" Julius called cheerfully. A man with long red hair stood from a chair at a long table, "Ah, Julius, you're finally here!" he exclaimed enthusiastically. "Wow he's loud" Patry muttered very much unenthusiastically.

"It's good to see you again Sir. I hope you don't mind that I've brought my new Ward with me? I didn't have anyone to take care of him while I was away" Julius explained, giving a subtle wink at the white-haired boy who held his hand. "Ah, and this must be him! Tell me boy, what is your name?" the head of House Vermillion asked. "Um, it's William Sir" the boy replied with a bow. "It's nice to meet you. But I hope you don't mind if your Caretaker and I talk alone? We are discussing some very private business. I'm sure my two children will be glad to show you around and play with you though" the red-haired man said, gesturing towards the door they'd just come through with his head. William turned to look behind them and saw two children, both around his age with red hair. The boy had short hair in a bowl cut, with violet eyes and red markings around them. He wore a black and gold robe with a golden sash around his waist to hold it closed and black pants. The girl also had red hair, but hers stuck up wildly, going in every direction. She had blue eyes with red markings around them like her brother and wore an indigo tunic with gold trimmings, a purple sash around her waist and long white pants.

"You remember my children Julius?" their Father asked. "Yes, I do, how are you both? You've gotten so big since I last visited" the Time Mage replied, smiling at the two. "William, this is Mereoleona and Fuegoleon Vermillion. Go ahead and introduce yourself" Julius told him. The scarred boy bowed respectfully, "it's nice to meet you both. My name is William, formerly William Vangence" he said. "Formerly?" Mereoleona asked in confusion. Julius placed a hand on the white-haired boy's shoulder, "William is my Ward, his life before I took him in was not a good one. Please treat him kindly you two" he asked with a smile. Fuegoleon nodded, he saw no reason not to treat the other boy with kindness. He frowned when he saw the look on William's face. He looked like his spirit had been broken. "William," the red-haired boy began, getting the other child's attention. William stared at him with expressive purple eyes, eyes that had seen far too much suffering and pain for such a young child. "Do you want to come play with us?" Fuegoleon asked. The boy looked over at Julius, who nodded with a smile, "go ahead. I'll come get you when it's time to leave" the blond man said.

The white-haired boy turned back to the red-haired boy, "alright" he replied softly, before following the two Vermillion children from the room.

Black Clover

William stood and watched while Mereoleona chased a lion cub around the yard. "Is that a big cat?" he asked in confusion. "No, he's a lion cub! Our family have had pet lions for years! We had this one brought over from another country!" the girl replied, "come here! I wanna show you to the new kid!" she called. "Sister, if you keep chasing him, he'll never come to you" Fuegoleon said. He sighed and turned back to the scarred boy, "I'm sorry about my sister, she's easily excitable" he apologised. "It's okay, I just don't know if that lion will like her chasing him" William replied. "They can be vicious if you annoy them, but our family likes them like that, partly wild and partly tame. He's tame enough to allow you to pick him up and pat him if you're gentle, but he with attack if you annoy him, like my sister likes to do" Fuegoleon explained. He sat down on the grass, "want to sit down?" the red-haired boy asked. William slowly sat next to the other boy. They were silent for a moment, so much so that Patry spoke up, "are you okay?" he asked. "So," the Vermillion boy began, "what books do you like to read?" he asked. The human boy flinched slightly. "I like fantasy novels, the kind about powerful hero's fighting to protect their Kingdom" Fuegoleon continued. "I- I can't read" William replied softly, hesitantly.

The other boy turned to look at him with a frown on his face, "really?" he asked in confusion. The white-haired boy looked down with a slight embarrassed blush on his face, "I was never taught how" he replied shamefully. Before Fuegoleon could say anything in reply, Mereoleona came running back over, "I caught him!" she cried, displaying the lion cub proudly. 'Somehow I get the feeling that that lion is resigned to this' William thought. "Do you wanna hold him?!" the girl asked, holding him out to the white-haired boy, who flinched back slightly, "b-but what if he scratches of bites me?" he asked, worried. "It'll be fine if you hold him properly. Here" Fuegoleon replied, helping him to position his arms when the Cub was placed into them. William looked down at the baby animal, before smiling slightly, "he's actually pretty cute" he said, cuddling the Lion gently. The three children spent the rest of the day playing together.

Black Clover

That night, after dinner, William and Patry went to bed early, due to being too tired to stay up. Unfortunately, events were about to speed up.

(Patry and William's nightmare)

He slowly opened his eyes, only for them to widen in horror when he found himself in a giant cage. He climbed to his feet and hurried towards the bars. He gripped them in shaking hands, it was so cold. "Licht! Fana! Vetto! Raya! Someone!" he called. He looked through the bars of the cage, but there was nothing but darkness. "The others will save me, I know it" he muttered. "Really?" a voice asked from behind him, and for some reason it made his blood freeze in his veins. He jumped and spun around. A black smoky form floated before him. He couldn't see it properly, but whatever it was it filled him with pure terror.

He backed up tighter against the bars "what do you want?!" he demanded. "You will be mine you know. No matter what you try to do or how hard you try to fight, that body will belong to me soon enough" he said. "I'm not scared of you, my friends will save me!" he cried. The black form floated closer, "not scared? Oh please, you're trembling so hard that you might end up shaking your way out of here," he mocked before chuckling, "you really think those so-called friends of yours will save you? Ha! I almost pity you little boy".

(End nightmare)

"Stop it!" Patry screamed, shooting up in bed. He gasped for breath, whole body trembling in terror. "Patry! Are you okay? That nightmare just now, was it- from your past?" William asked shakily. "William!" Julius called worriedly. 'Oh shit!' Patry thought, trying to change back, but he couldn't focus enough- Patry pulled the blanket over himself in an attempt to hide, "what do we do now!?" William asked, panicked. Hurried footsteps sounded before the bedroom door was opened, "William, are you okay?" Julius asked softly in worry, moving closer to the bed. "I think we need to tell him the truth Patry" William replied. The Elf sighed and closed his eyes, before sitting up and removing the blanket. He was met with the human man's shocked gaze, "um, hello again" he said awkwardly.

To Be Continued