A couple of days later, when Patry felt like he'd regained enough strength, Dark Patry decided that it was time to begin their training for the Elf to gain control of his Dark Elf Form. Julius reluctantly flew them towards the forest in front of Licht's remains, "are you sure this is safe? Like, it won't cause permanent damage to your mind or something, will it?" he asked worriedly. "Well, I don't actually know. I'm sure it will be traumatising, but how else am I supposed to control such dark emotions, other than to feel them first?" Patry replied, though fine tremors were going through the young Elf's body. 'Just how painful is this going to be? I have a horrible feeling' he thought. But he felt like if he let on to just how terrified he really was, their Dad would refuse to let him do it, or at least refuse to help. But one of the reason's that they needed the Time Mage with them, as his Dark self had explained was: "because if you go out of control, the human is probably the only one who can stop you right now. He can use his Time Magic to reverse the transformation and return you to normal. If you went berserk without him with us, you'd most likely go on a bloody rampage, unable to stop yourself from attacking and killing indiscriminately. Remember how your Alternate Self acted when he became a Dark Elf for the first time? He even tried to kill Yuno, even though he didn't know that the kid was the Reincarnation of Licht's Son. If you did end up going crazy, rewinding your time to before the transformation occurred is the only option we have for stopping you right now."
So, Julius was coming with them. Of course, the man had been extremely worried, and probably would have come with them even if Patry had said that he couldn't. He and William were unofficially his children after all, and letting one of his Sons basically get tortured without him being there to support him, was not something he was willing to allow. Of course, this whole thing made him extremely uncomfortable and upset. He would refuse to let Patry go through with it, if he didn't know that it was more than just necessary for destroying that Devil. The 17-year-old Elf wanted this, he wanted to be able to control his hatred, so that he wouldn't be a danger to everyone around him if he went crazy again. And so, Julius could do nothing but watch and be ready for if Patry needed him to stop the transformation. Soon the group had made their way to just in front of Licht's skeleton. "Before we start, can I just do something please?" the Light Mage asked his Dark Self. He climbed off of Julius's broom and walked towards the remains of his Leader and friend. Patry stared up at it, tears in his eyes, "Licht," he muttered, before he placed his hands together and bowed his head in prayer, "I'm pretty sure that you were Reincarnated too, so you can't hear me right now, if it even worked like that in the first place.
But I'm here in the future, I made it. And I found Yuno too." The teenage Elf took a deep, wavering breath, fighting back the tears so that he could say what he needed to, "I, know that, I wasn't *gasp* able to protect y-your Son, l-like I p-promised, *sob* but I, w-will do e-everyt-t-th-thing that I can, wh-when the t-time comes, *sob* to, p-p-pr-protect him, and- *gasp* s-save e-e-every-one else. I w-won't give up! I'll keep *sob* t-try-ing, until I- b-bec-come s-strong enough, to, p-protect Y-Yuno this t-*sob*time! I s-swear it! Please, Licht, I beg you, believe in me! I-I will, become s-strong en-ough to *sob* save everyone!" the 17-year-old Elf begged, crying in guilt and shame, trembling as he tried to control his emotions. Patry grit his teeth, reaching to grab at his chest though his shirt, "I swear to you, I will fight with everything I have, just please, don't give up on me yet!" he cried. Then he fell silent, trembling as tears streamed from his eyes, 'because this time, no matter how painful it is, I will not give up on myself! I have too much to fight for to let that happen again' he thought. William stayed silent throughout all of this, even Dark Patry didn't make any snide comments. Julius wanted to comfort the Elf, but he knew that some things had to be faced alone. It was a while later, no-one was really sure of the time, when Patry was finally able to stop crying and dry his tears.
Black Clover
When Patry had gotten into a comfortable sitting position on the ground, he closed his eyes and began a meditation exercise. Unless he was unconscious, this was the only way he could enter his own Soul. He had to turn all his senses inward and focus. Julius found a spot against a tree and he tried to relax as much as he could during the wait. He was still unsure of this. How, exactly, would Patry's dark emotions go about helping him control his hatred? It seemed to be very contradictory in his eyes. But, he knew that he needed to trust his oldest soon-to-be-adopted Son. The boy was 17 years old, and had been through things that had made him much more mature than he would otherwise be. Patry would be fine, and if he needed help, then he would help him. He had to believe in Patry's strength, as his Father.
(Meanwhile, inside Patry's Soulscape) Said Elf was standing before the personification of his Dark emotions. Dark Patry was staring at him with a very serious look on his face, making the Light Mage very nervous. But he couldn't back out now, he needed to be able to do this! "in order to channel your hatred and control your Dark Elf form, you need to be able to feel those emotions and not allow yourself to go out of control. In order to do that, you'll have to be subjected to a very painful experience many times over until you can stay in control as a Dark Elf. I assume you know what I'm talking about?" the Dark Elf asked. Patry shuddered, he knew exactly what his other self was implying, and the very thought of having to go though that who knew how many times terrified him. But he also knew that he had no other choice. In order to ensure that his Hatred wouldn't take control of him and cause him to lose control on a potentially deadly situation, he needed to start with the worst. The Light Mage wrapped his arms around himself and shuddered again, "I d-do. I'm absolutely terrified, but if it's the only way-" Patry met his Dark Self's eyes, nerves, fear, and determination waring within them, "then I'll do it" the Elf replied.
William frowned from where he stood within the Soulscape, "Patry, are you sure that you want to do this?" he asked worriedly. He had become very protective of the Elf's Soul over the years, and knowing that he couldn't do anything to help his Brother this time- Patry gave a shaky smile, "yes. I want to be able to control this, instead of allowing it to control me. I need to be able to do that if I want to protect everyone that I love. I know your worried William, I am too, but please, promise me that you won't interfere this time. This is my hatred, and my battle to fight. I need to be able to do this on my own. Promise me William" he begged desperately. As terrified as he was of being forced to watch the massacre of his people and loved ones over and over again, he knew that if he couldn't do this, then he would never be strong enough to save his people in the future. And they only had 10 years until everyone was awakened. "Okay, I promise, but, please just- make it happen! If all of this, torturing yourself over and over again doesn't do anything but break you for good, I- I couldn't take it! I'd never ever forgive myself for listening to you!" William began, before turning to glare as hard as he could at Dark Patry, "and you, if this breaks my Brother and you decide to take advantage of him, despite your agreement, I will find a way to make you regret it!" he growled.
Dark Patry rolled his eyes, "yeah, well, that isn't my intention this time, so if Patry breaks, he'll have no one to blame but himself, won't he?" the Dark Elf replied. Before William could say anything back, the two Elves disappeared. The World Tree Mage placed his hands together in prayer, "please, let this work. And let him come back to us" he begged.
Black Clover
As the world morphed around him, Patry clenched his eyes and fists tightly, "okay Patry, you can do this, just breathe, stay calm, it's not like you haven't watched this happen in the Veiwings of the original future." he breathed deeply, before a scream broke him from his concentration. Patry's eyes snapped open immediately, before they widened in horror at the familiar scene. Elves, some he knew, most he didn't were running around, screaming in terror as arrows of Light Magic shot down from the Spell in the sky, cutting down whoever they hit. The Teenage Elf began gasping for air, trembling as blood began coating the ground in a pool. "C-calm, I can't let myself, l-lose con-trol" he muttered, flinching hard as another terrified scream rang out, another body hitting the ground, joining the many dead Elves around them. Patry began breathing harder, reaching up with both hands, one gripping his chest over his heart, and the other pulling hard at his hair. "I-I-I h-h-have to, keep in c-c-cont-t-t-trol. I can't-" he began, only to be cut off by another scream. Patry trembled, tears welling up in his eyes as he watched the people that he loved be killed.
"*gasp* I-I have, t-to-" the poor young Elf cringed as he desperately tried to keep his emotions under control, but the pain was building to unbearable levels far too fast. His heart felt like it was going to crumble apart in his chest, and he sobbed uncontrollably as he watched another of his people die. Patry's Mana began becoming erratic, changing into something more sinister. He fought with what little strength he had left, but the pain, anger, hatred began to overwhelm him. His skin started to change, grey spreading over what used to be pale flesh. The Teenage Elf could feel the transformation starting and he fought against the hatred with everything he had. "MAMA! PAPA!" a familiar voice cried in terror, making Patry's gaze immediately snap up and lock onto the terrified form of the original Yuno, his Baby Brother. "Yuno, Y-Yuno, oh god, please, not again!" he begged, as the image of the terrified boy came into focus, Yuno looking around for his parents with wide, horrified and tear-filled eyes. "MAMA!" Yuno screamed, horrified as Tettia was killed right in front of him and Licht, who had been unable to protect his Wife. Just then, the same Light Spear from before slammed through the 7-year-old's chest and Patry felt his heart shatter inside his chest.
The Half-Elf hit the ground, whispering his last condemnation of his Older Brother, before dying once more. Patry screamed, hatred, rage, pain, guilt, everything, exploding out in an uncontrollable tidal wave, overwhelming everything else.
Black Clover
Meanwhile, back in the real world, Julius had prepared himself, when he saw Patry begin to tremble. The situation escalated quickly from there. Soon tears began to stream down the Elf's face, before it twisted into a look of utter agony and horror. Then Patry's skin began to change, as a dark grey tone began to spread and overwhelm the pale skin tone that the Light Mage had always had. At this point, the Time Mage had stood up quickly and began gathering his Magic in order to capture his Elven Son in his Time Reversal Magic: Chrono Stasis. All of a sudden, Patry screamed in utter agony, black Light Magic, or Demon Light Magic, as the Elf had explained it was, exploded outwards in a massively powerful shockwave, vaporising the ground where it touched. The uncontrolled, corrupted Magic moved so fast, that Julius almost couldn't capture the boy in time. But somehow he managed it, just before the Magic would have hit him. The blond man shuddered harshly, as he saw the expression of complete and utter agonised rage on the 17-year-old's face.
His face that was nothing like the one he had seen for the past 8 years. His skin was dark grey, while his eyes were black and the iris had turned a pale yellow. They were filled with pain and intense hatred, so much-so that Julius would have thought that the person he had just frozen in time was someone completely different, if he hadn't watched Patry transform. And also, tears. Frozen in time, Julius could see each individual tear as they clung to Patry's cheeks. He would have been able to count them if there hadn't been so many. The Magic Knight Captain let out a shaky breath, before composing himself again, and beginning to reverse the flow of time within his Spell's radius. Slowly, Patry changed, skin reverting to it's normal pale tone, eyes once more becoming golden, with white sclera, and the tears that had been frozen on the Elf's face returned to his tear ducts. Once the Spell had done it's job, Julius released it, allowing Patry to instantly collapse forwards, barley catching himself on his trembling arms.
The tears that had been rewound overflowed from his eyes once again, and Patry sobbed uncontrollably, gripping his shirt over his chest. The poor boy sobbed and cried, screaming in agony, before he began beating the ground weakly with his fist, "damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!" he screamed, gasping for air as he wailed, 'why? Why am I so goddamn weak?!' he thought desperately, curling in on himself. "Patry?" Julius asked in Paternal fear, stepping forwards slowly. The Teenage Elf didn't even notice him, as he was busy gasping for air. The blond man knelt down in front of the boy, before wrapping his arms around him in the most secure, warmest and gentle hug that he could. His unofficial Son only continued to cry in emotional agony. 'Oh Patry, if only there's was more that I could do to help you with this. I feel so utterly useless right now.' The man thought. Patry knew that he had to try again, he needed to be able to do this. But the very thought of going through that again made the Light Mage feel like running away and hiding in his bed for the rest of his life. 'I can't do it! I-I'm not strong enough. It hurts, and I'm so scared. That Bastard Devil was right about me all along. I'm too weak! I'll never be strong enough to overcome this and protect the people that I love!' he thought, tears never stopping.
Julius could honestly say that he had never hated anyone more than he hated that Devil right now. With Patry clinging to him like a lifeline and breaking apart in his arms, the Time Mage felt a deep urge to rip the monster who had caused his oldest Son's Pain into pieces, until there was nothing left. But all he could do was hold Patry as he cried and cried, trying to provide some kind of comfort to the broken Elf.
To Be Continued