AN: Hello readers!
I hope you all have had a great week so far:)
This chapter is the last one before we actually get into some of the action of the story involving the first mission with the Black Bulls, so hopefully with that the pace will start going a little faster than it has been.
I know the Rays haven't made an appearance for a couple of chapters, but they will be coming back in the next chapter for sure:)
That's all I have for today so I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Please leave a review on anything you liked, think I should work on, or just any questions in general! I enjoy reading them and I will answer them at the end of the next chapter:D
Just in case you get confused: Magic Location POV/Time Thoughts [Memories/Flashbacks]
Disclaimer: I do not own Black Clover or any of its characters...the only things I own are:
1. My characters and
2. my ideas
Chapter 17: Trust, A Step in the Right Direction
Black Bulls Hideout
Normal POV
Noelle was laying on the ground as the other Black Bull members gathered around her, blocking out their words as she kept her gaze to the ground.
She felt her entire body shaking in fear due to what she had just done…
Just proving to herself and the other people around her that what her siblings said about her were true…
That she was a failure of a royal and a disgrace to the Silva name.
["Why wasn't it you who died instead of our mother? What an abject failure…"]
And not worthy of fighting for herself or protecting the people in her life that she had actually cared about as they try to do so for her when she can only sit on the sidelines and watch them from afar….
["I thought I told y-you….to leave her alone…But it seems that pride of yours is blocking your ears….t-to hear or understand…what I'm saying to you…just like those other siblings of yours that are about as foolish as you are…" Hikairi hissed as she rose back to her feet by using the wall next to her.
"E-Elle isn't a failure…..or as worthless as you say her to be…Her life is precious to this world and to me….and here you are trying to taint…it…b-because of something th-that…isn't her fault….Y-You should be ashamed of yourself…"]
Her gaze continued to fall as she heard someone's footsteps stop in front of her.
"Hey Noelle!" Asta said cheerfully.
Her eyes wavered at hearing her name, feeling tears prickling at the corner of her eyes as she remained in the same position, not wanting to look up at the boy in front of her.
Knowing what was undoubtedly coming for her to hear…
Here it comes… she thought to herself as she closed her eyes to brace herself.
The mocking…
Silence fell for a couple moments, prolonging her internal suffering and increasing the amount of anticipation for whatever Asta was going to say to her.
Only to be blindsided by it entirely…
"You know…" He began before he started to pump his fist into the air. "You've got yourself some crazy magic power! I mean it's freaking amazing! Spectacular even!"
Noelle's eyes flew open from hearing that, pushing herself up onto her hands as she looked up dumbfounded, hearing other steps coming from behind him.
"Like seriously! I'm totally jealous of you!" He continued enthusiastically as her face progressively started to heat up from his praise. "I don't have like any magic power, while you have a crap ton of it! All you need to do is some training to get it under control and you could be strong and unstoppable!"
As she gaped at him for a couple seconds longer and rose up to her feet, she saw Skylar approach Asta from behind with her arms crossed as she wore an an unreadable expression on her face before she let out a sigh.
"Even if he isn't the smartest by constantly failing at using that head of his," Skylar began as Noelle saw her look towards the ground, avoiding any eye contact with her. "I guess that's one thing I can agree on. It may not mean much coming from me but…even a royal pain like you shouldn't get all bent out of shape from not being able to control your magic. There are bigger problems you can worry over than a fixable one as that."
Noelle's eyes shimmered even more after hearing that, gaping and taken aback even further from hearing the words from a girl who she had thought despised her existence, while also hearing words from the boy that she had looked down on the first time she had saw him.
Do they really… Noelle thought to herself as Asta continued to ramble on with his praise in the background as she saw Skylar's cheeks have a light blush upon them either out of embarrassment or nervousness from what she had just said to her.
"Little in-" Noelle began before stopping herself and releasing a relieved sigh. "A-Asta. And Skylar too. Did the both of you really mean that?"
Skylar seemed to stiffen from hearing her ask that with the blush that was present on her face rising up to her ears as she turned further away from her.
She didn't hear her answer though as the boy in front of her continued on with his loud ramblings.
"Mannn, I'm screwed! I'm going to have to work extra hard if I'm ever going to catch up to you and Skylar." He remarked mostly to himself as Magna and the other squad members stopped next to him.
"What? You ran away just because you can't control your magic power?" Magna questioned with surprise in his voice as a smile gradually grew on his face. "You should've just said so, you royal failure. I mean, this is the Black Bulls after all. We're a whole squad of failures!"
Vanessa chuckled at that, looking over at Skylar and seeing steam nearly coming off of her face as she tried to hide her blush, forcefully turning her around as she grunted in annoyance. She used her magic to levitate Noelle's squad robe over to her, seeing her look up at it in shock as she felt Skylar trying to get out of her hold.
"Tch, Vanessa please let go of me." Skylar said annoyed, contrasting the amount of heat she was feeling on her face that refused to diminish.
Vanessa seemed to ignore her request as she chuckled under her breath, prompting her to concede in defeat and stopped trying to struggle out of her hold.
It's no use. This woman always seems to do the opposite of whatever I want her to do, she thought with a sigh.
She was broken out of her thoughts as she felt a slight nudge on her shoulder, looking over at Magna as he kept his gaze on Noelle in front of him.
"So what if you and this other insubordinate girl have a weakness or three." Magna stated as he pointed towards Skylar. "It doesn't matter to us, you big dummies, alright? All you've got to do is do the best you can whenever possible."
They both looked over at him in surprise before looking at each other, both breaking the eye contact simultaneously after holding it for a couple of moments.
Skylar instinctively began to leave the group, blocking out whatever they were saying to the water mage in front of them before feeling someone grab her wrist.
She released a sigh at that, as she turned around and said, "Jeez Vanessa, I can go wherever I-"
She immediately stopped whatever she was going to say when she looked down at the short girl below her, seeing a large smile on her face.
If I remember correctly, I think her name's Charmy, right? she thought to herself before blinking in confusion a couple of times when she held up a cookie up for her to see.
"Is that for me?" She asked in surprise as she pointed towards herself, seeing the girl below her nod her head happily.
"Yeah, I meant to give it to you last night. But you disappeared off somewhere and I couldn't find you." Charmy explained as she put it into Skylar's hand. "I'm glad having you on this squad! I can't wait to get you to try other delicious sweets with me!"
Before she even had a chance to say anything in response to that, Charmy walked back to the group as she stood there by herself in shock, looking down at what was given to her.
Why did she feel inclined to give me this? she thought after a while, feeling something expanding in her chest from the nice gesture.
Sister Lilly and Recca used to make me these at times…usually as a last resort whenever I was upset or was just having a bad day in general when I was younger.
Especially during those two years after my…mother died.
It's so sappy of me to even reminisce about that fact…considering I haven't spent enough time here to consider even trusting any of the lunatics of this squad.
But…Why is it that…
This group is….i-is…s-so
She felt her body trembling slightly as she tried to keep some of her composure, biting down on the side of her cheek as her eyes became glassy from remembering some of the moments in the short time she had been here on this squad.
["Allow me to assist you, my violet flower…." He said with a closed eyed smile before hearing the girl let out a small sigh and decided to get up herself.]
Finral…
["Yes I sure did!" Luck stated as he pumped his fist in the air. "Your mana feels pretty strong which is surprising from where you say you come from! Do you want to fight?"]
Luck…
["It's okay," Vanessa said with a smile as she laid a comforting hand on Skylar's shoulder. "I won't hold it against you. I heard you had a tough day yesterday, and considering I probably gave you a mild concussion last night, you were most likely not in a great head space to begin with."]
Vanessa…
["By the way, you know you can actually come to me if you have any issues." Magna stated with a grin. "Sure you may not seem to think so highly about playing by the rules, but just know I'm not holding it against you in terms of trust."]
Magna…
["Yeah, I meant to give it to you last night. But you disappeared off somewhere and I couldn't find you." Charmy explained as she put it into Skylar's hand. "I'm glad having you on this squad! I can't wait to get you to try other delicious sweets with me!"]
A-And now Charmy…
Why is it that they're so…
Welcoming?
Even though from the time I've been here, all I've been trying to do time and time again is give them the cold shoulder or keep them at arms reach since I can't bring myself to fully want to trust them so easily…
It's so…
It's…..s-so
Tch…
Her face became shadowed as she lowered her head. Her eyes widened in shock after a few moments when she felt something wet roll down the side of her face, instinctively scrunching her eyes closed in what she thought to be frustration or annoyance.
"D-Damn it, this is so stupid. I c-can't believe I'm standing here doing this right now." she said under her breath, wiping and hiding her face with her arm as she also thought back to what Yami had said to her last night.
["I know it's hard for you to fully trust people…It's something I'd say your mother had somewhere in her for a time, feeling like she was helpless when you had to go through such an ordeal at the hands of those you and her called your family…." Yami said as he took his cigarette out of his mouth.
"But know that you can trust me and the people who are around you in this squad…they may be a group of maniacs, but as Finral said before, they are all good people in some form or fashion, each with their own weird quirks to their own personalities... and light and darkness within their own lives from whatever they had to go through…."
She felt his hand raise up from her head, feeling a Black Bull's robe fall onto her shoulders as she looked down at the same thing that she had seen her mother wear many times before.
"You don't have to do it now….you could even take as much time as you want, but you need to push pass those limits in order to open yourself back up to the people around you. You need to give people a chance before you attack them with that mouth of yours or close yourself off due to how people perceive you or the other people close to you as. You need to be prepared that people will find out that you are a child from two fallen royal houses and don't lash out because of that fact…" Yami continued as he began to walk away.]
A part of her knew that he was right…
That she could trust them without any hesitation, even if she hadn't known them for that long.
That they were different from most of the people that she had known when she was younger…
But…
The other part of her was trying so…so hard to prevent her from doing so.
Causing her to continuously think against it with the voices of distrust rising to the surface, saying that she would regret it entirely and that she could never fit in with these people…
They would never had accepted her if they had known the complete story of her origins….know that she was 'cursed' and her presence alone lead to the deaths of those who tried to get close to her.
Her existence had led to the death of both of her parents after all…with her birth most likely also leading to the doomed fates of both of the royal houses she came from, leaving her completely alone in this world.
Right…I can't do that to these people. I can't have anyone… she thought to herself as the area seemed to fade around her, not noticing something bringing rise to these feelings to the surface.
They'll die…or abandon me, if I try to get too close.
I'll end up losing them just like how I end up losing everyone in my life.
I need to be alone…to save them from a fate that they don't deserve.
This voice was continuously pressing her and edged on her thoughts to the point that she had almost forgot about one of the only things that had proved time and time again that wasn't true.
As she nearly conceded to wanting to completely close herself off from the people around her, she felt herself being yanked back as someone guided her off somewhere, derailing whatever was happening entirely.
When she turned, her eyes widened from seeing that it was Asta, remaining speechless as he guided her over to Noelle and held onto her hand in a tight, protective grip.
What is he?...
"Hey Skylar!" Asta said as he looked over his shoulder, wearing his signature smile on his face as they stopped right in front of Noelle. "Do you remember the promise you, me, and Yuno made together?"
Skylar looked at him in surprise from hearing him ask her that as the scene vividly played back in her mind as if it had happened yesterday.
["I-I….promise…that I'll protect and hold both of your dreams close to my heart…and I'll be there every step of the way to make sure you two aren't slacking off…." Skylar said tearfully, causing both of them to laugh at the last part.
"We promise to always stand by your side." Yuno said with a smile.
"And that we'll never leave you alone and always have your back whenever you need us to!" Asta continued pumping his fist in the air.]
Her mouth ran a thin line when thinking about it, feeling her hand trembling in his hold as she bowed her head.
Idiot... He always selects when or when not to use that brain of his at the worst times, she thought to herself as she felt another tear trail down the side of her face, not even attempting to wipe it away.
But, surprisingly…
That was something I actually needed to hear.
"Of course, I do Asta…." She said after a while of being silent, trying her best to prevent her voice from shaking as she tightened her hold on his hand and raised her head to look at him with genuine smile on her face. "With how loud and annoyingly persistent the both of you were and still are, how could I ever forget that?"
"Well it doesn't hurt to check." He remarked as he turned his attention at Noelle and held out his other hand towards her, seeing her lip quivering as tears were prickling the corners of her eyes.
"Now come on! We're all newbies on this squad, so let's try to do our best together." He said enthusiastically.
Slowly but surely, Noelle reached up to take his hand as she rose up into a kneeling position on the ground.
"I'm looking forward to working with the both of you." She replied warmly, looking up and seeing the big smile on Asta's face as Skylar sent her a small smile of her own.
A little while later…
Noelle was walking down a path somewhere within the forest near the hideout, nervously looking at the back of the violet haired girl in front of her, who hadn't said a single word to her since they had been out here.
She was somewhat confused on why they were doing this in the first place, thinking back to what happened for this unlikely event occur.
[Noelle was walking back into the hideout with the other Black Bull members until she felt a quick but gentle hand land on her shoulder, turning back as her eyes met with piercing silver before they looked towards the ground.
'What does she want with me?' Noelle thought to herself, feeling the hand on her shoulder shaking slightly as Skylar looked away from her.
"Hey, um Si-…I mean Noelle," Skylar struggled to say as she let out a sigh to calm her nerves, tightening her hold on Noelle's shoulder slightly to find some resolve. "Can you come somewhere with me for a second? It won't be long."
Noelle's eyes widened in surprise hearing that, turning all the way around as she released her grip and put her hands in her pockets.
"To where and why?" Noelle asked skeptically.
"It's nothing to be wary of that's for sure so don't worry on that end. We're just going out somewhere in the forest." She explained as she turned around with Noelle already following behind her.
"And for why…well I just…need to talk to you about something in private, and I'll leave it at that." She continued in a low voice, intriguing Noelle just enough to not ask any more questions…"]
And now, here she was still following the girl for what had felt like forever, feeling herself getting more and progressively more nervous for whatever she was wanting to do with her.
What was I thinking for agreeing to go alone with her to who knows where? she thought to herself, feeling sweat starting to roll down her brow from the tension that she could just taste in the air.
She made it pretty clear to me from last night that she completely and utterly hates me and my family to the point my life was in danger not once but twice last night and this morning if it hadn't been for Vanessa being there.
She berated and insulted me for just carrying the Silva name, even though she knows about as much as I know about her.
["At least I wasn't the one, stalking everyone from above…." Skylar said to her as her voice was seething with an unreadable emotion. "I would think a royal from House Silva like yourself, would at least have some decency to greet her new squadmates, but it sounds like I'm underestimating the level of arrogance and self-entitlement within that empty heart of yours."
"You have some nerve talking to me as such, insect." Noelle said as her eyebrows turned down in annoyance. "If you know me to be a part of House Silva, then I would think you would have the decency to address me as such or does a filthy commoner like you not understand such arrangements."]
As she thought about the things that Skylar had said to her, she started to realize that she might've been just in the wrong as well.
Not completely…
But still enough for some retaliation on the lightning mage's part.
I may have said a few choice words myself, which could have escalated our talk just a little bit…but still, it doesn't go without saying that it seems our personalities can clash pretty poorly.
As she thought about that very thing as well, she remembered that even if that was the case, she knew another girl that she would've thought the same from their practically polar opposite personalities with them still becoming very close friends over the years.
["And even though you consider yourself to be more responsible than me, I'm still about 2 years older than you are," Hikairi continued. "…making it my obligation and duty as both your friend and senior to show you the same care and compassion that you have for me. It would be wrong for me to not be nice to you when you wholeheartedly deserve it..."]
No, no, no! That girl is different…It may be annoying at times but that easy goingness of hers is enough for anyone to like her, even someone of my standing as royalty.. Noelle thought as she shook her head quickly, feeling her face heating up from thinking about the girl in question.
As these thoughts continued to run rampant within her head, she didn't notice Skylar send her a small glance over her shoulder as she turned back to look in front of her.
I have no clue what's going through that head of hers, but it sure is making it hard to steady that large amount of mana she has…which is starting to make my head hurt even more than when I'm at the hideout, Skylar thought to herself with a sigh.
She seems more nervous than I am…and that's a pretty high bar to overcome to say the least. Especially with how I'm feeling right now.
She had kept her hands in her pockets this entire time, feeling them constantly shaking as she kept them from gripping her shoulders.
She didn't know why or how it started, but whenever she was either uncomfortable, sad, upset, or anything in between, she had always clung to her shoulders for comfort.
With her now being the most uncomfortable than she had ever been in such a long time as she had to keep the massive amount of anxiety that had come out of nowhere from rising to the surface and forced herself not to fall to a habit that would indicate as such.
She was about to do something that had gone completely against what she thought she stood for…
What she believed wasn't right to do in any capacity for the royal Silva behind her…
But here she was willfully doing it with some backing from the words that Vanessa had said to her before.
["You shouldn't think of your condition as a defect." Vanessa said. "It's unique to you and your mother and from what I know personally, rare in your family line. You shouldn't let that or your past experiences look over someone else that could be going through something as well. You never know that maybe even Noelle has something in her past that you could relate to."]
Even if she didn't want to admit it to herself or to the girl behind her of all people, what she said about being able to relate to Noelle seemed to actually be true to some extent.
A situation that she would have never anticipated to happen in her life…
After dealing with sensing the unstable amount of mana coming from behind her as she heard Noelle say random muttering under her breath for a little while longer, she came to her breaking point and couldn't stand it anymore.
"Hey Noelle," she said without turning towards her, causing Noelle herself to stiffen from her breaking the silence so abruptly. "I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but can you please stop thinking whatever you're thinking. I can tell it's making you nervous from how much your mana is rising and falling nauseatingly. It's giving me even more of a headache than being around everyone else. So me and my sanity would very much appreciate it if you did."
"Oh really? I didn't notice that." Noelle stated genuinely. "I'm sorr-WAIT!"
"It's your fault that I'm even nervous to begin with!" she exasperated as she pointed towards the girl in front of her.
"How's that even possible? I've been fairly tame this whole time we've been out here." Skylar responded, sweatdropping at the fact that it seemed to rile her up even more.
"EXACTLY! I have literally no clue where you're taking me to since you seem to not want to provide that sort of information to me!"
"I'm just trying to find a spot for us to talk. What did you think I was trying to do: lure you out here by yourself and end up killing you without any witnesses?" Skylar deduced, hearing her answer from how quiet Noelle grew from hearing that. "You must think so highly of me for thinking I would do something like that. I may not like you all that much right now, but that doesn't mean I want to go on and do that because of it."
"That doesn't help me feel better about that at all!" Noelle stated in annoyance. "We've literally been walking for at least half an hour now and you still haven't found us a spot to sit so we can get whatever you're doing with me over with!"
Skylar came to a stop so abruptly that Noelle ran right into her as that realization hadn't come to her until now.
"You're right…We have been going on for a while…haven't we?" Skylar said from what seemed like herself as she looked up at the trees above her. "I guess I let myself get carried away with my thoughts as we were walking here… sorry about that."
Noelle's eyes widened slightly at that admittance of fault and her apology, not thinking she would do something so easily with her.
As she stood in her stupor for a few short moments, she snapped out of it as she saw Skylar walk off to the side and pointed out two, fairly flat boulders for them to finally stop and sit on.
An awkward silence fell between them as Skylar planted her hands by her sides while Noelle crossed her legs, eagerly but also nervously awaiting whatever she was going to say.
She saw the violet haired girl keeping her gaze away from her and on the ground, feeling her annoyance and frustration grow as time went along from her not saying anything.
Why does she keep doing this? She can't even look at me for a couple a seconds before she looks away… Noelle thought to herself as her lips ran a thin line from her observation, feeling a sense of some form of hate or disgust from what she had kept witnessing from her.
After sitting there a while longer in the same silence, she immediately rose up to her feet as her eyebrow twitched in anger.
"This must be some type of joke or prank for me isn't it?" Noelle asked in a low voice with such intensity that it was a surprise that the girl next to her still remained quiet and was relatively unfazed.
"Maybe I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up, but some part of me actually thought you had something important to say. But here you are the one dragging me here without a legitimate explanation and unable to even look at me for just second at a time. If you wanted to do that we could've just stayed-"
"I'm sorry…" Skylar said so low and quiet that Noelle had barely heard her.
"Wait, what was that?" Noelle asked, hearing Skylar let out a sigh as she brought her silver eyes to look directly at her.
"You would make me say it again but…I'm…sorry for my um…behavior and attitude towards you last night. It wasn't fair for me to come at you how I did just because you're a royal from House Silva. I shouldn't have judged you so harshly or…at all for that matter. I let my emotions get the best of me in that situation." Skylar stated as her shoulders sagged, seeing the look of surprise come on Noelle's face.
"Is this why you dragged me out here?" Noelle asked as she sat back down. "Couldn't we have just done it at the hideout?"
"We could have, but…I feel a lot more comfortable doing it out here without all of the rowdiness from practically all of those lunatics, Asta included." Skylar stated as she closed her eyes, missing the blush fall on Noelle's cheeks from hearing the loud boy's name. "My nerves are completely shot as it is with the exams yesterday and what happened earlier this morning when I…lost control of my magic, which is something else I'm apologizing for since from what it sounds like, you were there with Vanessa when it had happened, right?"
"Yes…are you okay by the way?" Noelle asked with some hesitation in her voice, seeing a small shadow come across her face.
"Short answer yes. Long answer is that I'm getting there." Skylar stated as she released a sigh, bringing her feet further up the rock and wrapped her arms around her legs. "That hopefully won't happen at that scale again since I've kind of gotten used to being here even if it has only been a day."
"Does it happen often? Losing control of your magic I mean…" Noelle asked.
"It used to when I was younger. My rare mana condition makes it hard to fully keep tabs on my magic at times from its severity. I've gotten used to it, though, so it isn't as bad. It's still a struggle due to how connected it is with my emotions, though, which is unfortunate since if either get unstable or spikes too much, they tend to both get out of hand…." Skylar explained.
"And since I can't really control either as well when I'm sleep, I'm more vulnerable for something like that to happen with last night being a perfect example because of a nightmare or memory I was stuck in and couldn't bring myself out of. But it's just something I'm going to have to deal with, since even in the 7 years of when they started, I'm still riddled with them at times, making me lack in the sleep and patience department on occasion because of it."
Even though some part of her wanted to pry more into that, Noelle decided against from seeing how much Skylar's face had fallen from saying that last part.
She was surprised with how forthcoming she had been, seeing a whole another side of her that she would have never imagined even existed.
Hidden behind her sarcasm, confidence to say whatever she wanted to say, and anger that at first confused her when it was projected towards her, was a girl that seemed to resemble some of her own struggle to an extent as it gave some perspective to something Vanessa had told her when they had been together early that morning.
["Alright alright, I know…" Vanessa said as her expression fell slightly. "But I honestly think she didn't mean anything by it. If she had, she would've probably hit us without much trouble by following up with another attack. Sometimes you just have to give people the benefit of the doubt, Noelle."]
I didn't notice it before now surprisingly, but she's a complete nervous wreck from sitting here and saying this to me when she could have just not said anything to begin with, Noelle thought to herself.
From the slight tremble of her hands to the inability to give her any eye contact before, she could see that she was trying her best to be here and be genuine in what she was trying to do.
Which she knew that she should do as well in order to clear some of the tension between them…
So after sitting in silence for a while and releasing a sigh, she rose up and walked to be in front of Skylar, seeing her look up at her with a confused glance as she crossed her arms.
"Even though I was somewhat skeptical of this from the start, I can tell that you're trying your best to look past our differences to be somewhat civil which is something I can say I appreciate to some degree. So thank you and I accept your apology, which is something that someone of royal status as I am don't say to anyone so easily…" Noelle began before hearing a sigh come out of Skylar's mouth.
"As much as it pains me to admit this, I'm also in the same standing as you are from being born from the former head of House Misuteru and House Zeel. So that 'royal status' nonsense isn't really going to do you any favors with me. It's honestly starting to annoy me when you know that being true in the first place." Skylar stated with a deadpan as Noelle nearly exploded into arguing back with her but did find some level of restraint.
"True, that does seem to be the case." Noelle struggled to say as her eyebrow twitched in irritation. "So, I'll try to keep that in mind. But with all that out of the way, I want to actually apologize for my hand escalating our 'discussion' last night as well…"
Skylar's eyes widened in disbelief, hearing her continue forward with what she had wanted to get off of her chest.
"Some of what I said was uncalled for towards the beginning of it, meaning you weren't fully at fault for how it went. And nearly mirroring your situation, I'm sorry that you were actually hit when my magic went out of control. You didn't have to save me, but you did…which was surprising at first, but did show me that there's a chance I can trust you at some capacity."
With some hesitance, Noelle brought up her hand towards the girl as Skylar looked down at it in some confusion as it nearly mirrored what Asta had done for Noelle herself.
"What's this for?" Skylar asked.
"I'm hoping it's a way for us to take a step in the right direction." Noelle said slightly flustered as her face heated up from how much she had admitted to the girl in front of her. "I want to put all of this behind of us, or at least enough for us to be somewhat civil with each other. I know you probably can't bring yourself to fully trust me due to my origins, but I want to maybe be able to change that at some point during our time on this squad of ours. That loud friend of yours seems to trust you enough to know you have his back, so I want to at least try my best to as well. But definitely not all because of him mind you. Just enough to be able to mention…"
"Wait, seriously?" Skylar asked in surprise as she saw Noelle nod her head. "You're not kidding or messing with me at all?" she nodded again. "You genuinely want to do this and no one is forcing you?"
"Yes for the 4th time!" Noelle shouted as her face heated up even more. "This is hard enough for me to do as it is and you're making it worse! Why are you questioning it!?"
Skylar went silent for a couple moments as she looked off to the side, resting her hand upon one of her shoulders as she gave in and tried to calm herself back down to a manageable level.
"It's just…other than a few exceptions, no royal of this kingdom has ever said such words to me, when…they know who I am. Because of my condition and lacking any type of control over it, I wasn't seen highly among most of my family….Leading to constant ridicule and disdain for my existence in general." She explained.
Noelle faltered slightly before letting out a sigh as she let some empathy shine in her eyes.
"I've dealt…or still deal with that, since I can't control my mana as well as I should either. So I can understand your doubt in wanting to trust someone who reminds you of what you just told me. But I promise you that what I'm doing right now is something that I, Noelle Silva, wants to do. I'm not being forced by someone, doing it out of obligation of being on this squad, or for any other reason than finding a middle ground between us. It may end up being trying at times and there's a high chance we'll annoy the heck out of each other but at least it will allow us to gain a better understanding of each other enough as squadmates and not as enemies."
Skylar contemplated her explanation, wondering if it was a good idea to make amends that far with someone she was supposed to feel nothing for…
Someone who she should despise and push blame to for everything she had gone through in her life…for all the heartache she had suffered…
To not end up blaming herself instead, even though she always had…
But, for some reason she couldn't anymore or at least not for the Silva-born girl in front of her.
Even though she herself was tense, she was somewhat amused to see Noelle holding her hand out for her as she tried her best to not show how flustered it was making her for doing the action itself.
She admitted her wrongs just as much as she did and could tell that even with this they would still clash at points and times.
But didn't care for that fact at all, seeing a small bond of similarities that they shared.
"…A step in the right direction…"
That was all Noelle wanted out of this, which wasn't hard for Skylar to at least attempt to do her part for that to happen.
"You're right I can't fully trust you." Skylar stated as she rose up from wear she was sitting, seeing Noelle's face fall slightly as she began pulling her hand away.
"Oh okay it's-"
Noelle wasn't able to finish her sentence when she felt Skylar grab her hand before it went away, seeing a genuine smile come on her face.
"But that doesn't mean I'm not willing or too stubborn to least try to fix that." Skylar continued as Noelle's eyes widened in surprise. "Trust doesn't come easy to me, so I tend to distrust most without getting to know them first. You and those other bunch of fairly annoying weirdos, however, have started to show me that's maybe not the best to do for everyone. So maybe with this, I can…try to push myself to do something new for a change. So I say that all to say is that I accept this small truce of ours."
She saw Noelle make a large smile of her own, before trying to not show her excitement as they let go of each other's hands.
"Now with all that taken care of, lets go and head back before they send a search party out for us." Noelle suggested as she turned around to walk back to the hideout, prompting Skylar to do the same.
Unlike last time when they were walking back to back, they were now walking side to side without the high amount of tension in the air that was around them before.
Trust….such a simple word that is so complex at the same time. And something I've always struggled with and not easy to bring myself to do as easily as I used to … Skylar thought to herself, sparing a quick glance at the girl next to her and seeing the small blush on her face and a smile trying to come on her lips.
She may have the attitude of a royal, but at the same time…
She isn't fully like the ones I used to live with or were around from what I can tell now, so…
This might actually work…
I might finally be able to change something that I've done these last 7 years for the better.
That night at the hideout…
Skylar was sitting at her desk in her room with a blank piece of paper and a writing utensil next to her, wearing a notable shadow on her face.
The rest of her day hadn't been filled with honestly anything other than her and Noelle being shown around the Hideout by a fairly intoxicated Vanessa and a sugared up Charmy to get a feel for their new home.
Before night had completely fell, Asta had stopped her to see if she had written back to the village, in which she avoided answering entirely out of sheer embarrassment of completely forgetting of doing so later than he had.
So for the last couple of hours, she had been sitting there in her room trying to figure out what to write since these things never seemed to come naturally for her, feeling her irritation grow from hearing Asta and Yuno saying that very thing before they had left in her head over and over again…
"Can she even write a letter?"
"I don't know…I've never seen her write one before…"
"Tch, yes I can and I will! I refuse to let you two idiots prove me otherwise!" Skylar snapped as lightning sparked around her, trying her best to keep her irritation from rising any higher in concern for her room that somehow had returned to the state it had been before she had come back.
It had been completely ransacked when she had lost control with it now almost looking brand new for some reason or another, but she didn't have the patience to wonder why and just took it at face value.
This is so annoying, I've literally been sitting in the same position and staring at this blank piece of paper for hours...just hoping I come up with something to say, Skylar thought to herself in frustration as her eyebrow twitched, taking down her hair from her ponytail as she sat in silence.
After a couple of moments, she felt a spark of something that she could maybe do, bringing her utensil down to begin writing it.
Hmmm this might work…
All I have to do is-
"Whatcchha doin in here? Musst be hard if it looksss like your about to pop sssomme of your blood vesselss from how hard you're thinking about it." she heard someone above her ask, sending a chill down her back and screaming in surprise to only see Vanessa standing behind her with a wine bottle in hand.
"AH! When did you even get in here!?" Skylar asked before she completely lost her train of thought. "DAMNIT! You know there's something called knocking right!?"
"I ddoo, but what'ss the ffun in doing thatt?" Vanessa asked, slurring her speech as she heard Skylar grumbling in frustration.
"Tch of all the times you want to come in here….." Skylar mumbled to herself, looking down and seeing a large ink mark stroked across the page.
Sighing, she crumbled it up into a ball and put it on the floor beside her, getting a new sheet of paper to write on and stare at for who knows how long.
Even in her intoxicated state, Vanessa was able to connect the dots of the young teen's frustration, laughing slightly under her breath.
"Ohhhh, sssso that'sss what you're doiingg." Vanessa slurred in amusement as she leveled her balance on Skylar's chair. "Didn't inherit your mother'sss sskilll for writing?"
"She made it seem so easy whenever she did it and could write for hours on end, while I'm sitting here unable to write down a single word." Skylar said as a small blush fell on her cheeks from that admittance. "I just can't think of what to say. It's so hard and it's starting to destroy my nerves and the last sliver of my patience."
"Hmmmm, thennn maybe you ssshould ssstop thinkkking and jusst go for it. You won't get anything down by continuousssllly second guessing yourself. Whoever it'sss for won't pick and prod your wordsss. They'll just vvalue that you carrred enough to ssend one in the first place." Vanessa suggested as Skylar contemplated that for a few moments before sighing to herself.
"For someone who's as intoxicated as you are most of the time, it's fairly surprising at the valuable advice you can give even at a time like this." Skylar stated as she laid her head on her hand. "But thanks, I'll keep that in mind."
"No problem, nowww for the reassson I'm here." Vanessa stated as she pulled out a small vial that held a grey liquid inside.
"What's that and why are you giving it to me?" Skylar asked as she quirked one of eyebrows as Vanessa laid it into her hand.
"This is what sommeone I know callsss a Tonic. Due to his elixir magic, he can make a multitude of status effectss from the sppells in his grimoire. Thiss one happenss to be a sslightly more potent Sleeping Tonic that I gave you yessterday that forced you tooo take a nap." Vanessa explained. "So hopefully with its increasssed strength, it sshould allow you to sleeppp through the night until we can find some type of sleep charmm for you to help you in a less jarring mannnner as thisss will probably knock you out within seconds of taking it."
"Oh really?" Skylar asked in surprise. "Are you sure you don't need it?"
"No I'm finnne. I can get more of thossse whenever I want to sinnnce I've known both him and hisss captain for years. This is sommmething easy to refill if I run out, so you can use as many of them as you want." Vanessa responded as she began to walk back to the door, stopping just short of it when Skylar began speaking again.
"Hey…Vanessa." Skylar said without facing her as she looked over her shoulder, seeing the young girl's shoulders sag in relief. "Thanks for this…I honestly wasn't going to try and go to sleep tonight, but at least with this I can see if this'll work for me for the time being."
"You'rrree welllcome! Have a niccce night." Vanessa said amusedly as she left.
After sitting there for a couple moments, Skylar turned her attention to her letter, taking in a deep breath and letting it out to calm her nerves.
Just go for it, Skylar…Don't overthink it and just write what comes to you, Skylar thought to herself as she brought her utensil to the paper and began to write.
It didn't take her long to feel like she was finished, reading over what she had written multiple times before folding it up into an envelope and left it on her desk to send to Hage in the morning.
She tiredly walked over to her bed and got in it, laying down as she brought the vial into her view.
She was skeptical that something like this would work, considering it didn't really affect her as long as it should have when it had been used on her last time.
But after a few moments of hesitation, she sat up and unscrewed the top of it off, pouring it all into her mouth and regretting it instantly due to its pretty peculiar and vile taste.
"Dang, that tastes awful." Skylar said aloud as she nearly spit it out. "I don't think I've ever-"
At that moment it felt like a weird sensation flowed into almost the heart of her mana, immediately feeling like her whole body was relaxing without her control as her pupils faded in color and dilated instantly.
Wh-What the hell is… she thought to herself as her vision swam and was overcame by darkness, completely out before her head had hit the pillow as she slumped down onto her bed.
Word Count of Chapter: 8062 |Pages: 15 pages |Reviews: 12 |Follows: 43 |Favorites: 33
Review Replies
savagemaster1999: Thanks!
Yep, especially with their small truce/agreement, Noelle and Skylar will be a little more civil in comparison to when they first met. They will still have their moments, but hopefully without risk of injury due to one or the other losing their temper.
It will be a little later before it happens but the relationships between Nozel, Fuegoleon, Moeru, Dinah, and Mereoleona will be explored at some point:)
Thanks for your review!
-PurpleClover99