The next day, William awoke in control of his body again. The human Mage yawned, stretching. He was planning to as if Patry was awake yet, but he thought better of it. After everything his Elven brother had been through, he more than deserved to get as much sleep as William could give him. And he wasn't having any nightmares either, which everyone was thankful for. After having a shower and getting dressed, William went downstairs for breakfast. He found Julius just finishing putting their food on the table as normal. When the Teenager entered the room, he looked up and smiled at him, "morning William, morning Patry. Did you have a good night's sleep?" the Time Mage asked. "Yes, it was much better than we thought it would be, especially after everything Patry and I went through recently. I guess we were both to exhausted to have any nightmares last night." William replied with a small smile, sitting down at his seat at the table. Julius finished making their breakfast and brought it over, "does Patry want any breakfast this morning?" he asked kindly.

"I actually haven't checked if he's awake yet. I think he's still asleep, and I wasn't planning on waking him up today if at all possible. He's been through so much over the last few weeks, that he deserves to get as much rest as he possibly can" William explained. Julius smiled proudly, "well, that's very kind and thoughtful of you William. You're right of course. So many things have happened in such a small amount of time, Patry must be utterly exhausted. I hope he can get enough rest" he replied kindly. William blushed slightly, even though they'd been living with their Dad for several years now, being praised, especially by Julius still made him feel both happy and embarrassed at the same time. "So, let's eat now, shall we?" the Time Mage asked. The World Tree Mage smiled and nodded, "mhm!" he agreed. As the two ate their food, Julius watched his unofficial human Son with a content smile on his face, "so William. I know you haven't exactly gotten a break like I originally wanted, but do you think you'd be willing to return to the Squad soon? I have to get back to my own work as Captain as well" he asked casually.

The 16-year-old looked down in shame, "I'm sorry. Because of us, you haven't been able to run the Grey Deer. It may only be one Squad, but it still reduces our Kingdom's fighting power and defences. Our job is the most important in the whole Kingdom, without the Magic Knight's, the people would have no protection against our more powerful enemies. Although, I think they could at least train with their own abilities so that they can defend themselves and their families until the Magic Knights arrive. After all, almost everyone in the Kingdom has Magic of their own. So they could at least learn to do that much" William replied, though he was slightly annoyed with the way the civilians never even tried to defend themselves. Julius laughed sheepishly, before smiling, "well, that is true, but most of the people of the Kingdom never train their Magic to the point that they could use it to defend themselves in a crisis, not to mention the fact that, even if they did train themselves, most official Mages are chosen because they tend to be stronger than the average Civilian. So while the people could very well train themselves to be able to use their own Magic to protect themselves, against an powerful, battle-trained enemy, the people of the Kingdom would still be pretty much powerless" he replied.

William shrugged, "I mean, it's not like I have anything against the regular Civilian's of the Kingdom, or look down on them because they don't have as much Magic as we do like most other members of Royal society do, and I do understand what you're saying. It's just a bit annoying when I see people who I know could at the very least shoot off a Spell or two in order to provide a distraction to try and escape, or otherwise stall the enemy long enough for us to arrive. Even if it wouldn't really help that much, it would at least be better that standing their and screaming while the enemy attacks you. Although, I don't suppose I have much room to criticise anyone else about that. After all, whenever my Stepmother used to beat me, or even when Liam was attacking me, all I did was curl into a ball and beg her to stop, or just hope that he'd leave me alone eventually. I've been pretty useless for a Magic Knight" he said, only to self-deprecate himself afterwards. Julius's gaze turned cold and deadly, body tense in his chair "what? You never told me that your family used to beat you William. Why didn't you ever tell anyone? Why did you never tell me?" he asked, barely managing to control his anger.

When he realised what he had just revealed, something that he had never told the Magic Knight after he brought him into his home, the boy froze, "I- uh. I meant- I mean. O-of course no one beat me. Liam was the only one who did" he back-peddled, lying unconvincingly, eyes darting quickly backwards and forwards nervously. "William," the Time Mage began, voice holding a demand for truth, causing the Teenager to flinch slightly, "no more covering for them, they don't deserve that kindness. I want the whole truth, now thank you" he ordered. William glanced up at his unofficial Father, to find him staring him down with a no-nonsense expression on his face. The scarred Mage immediately looked down again, clenched his fists around the knife and fork, "m-my Stepmother, whenever I m-made her angry, or sometimes just to vent her f-frustrations, w-would start b-beating me. The first t-time Patry and I switched control o-of my body, was a-after I had been knocked out f-following one of her beatings. Then, w-we met you and, you made her l-leave. We were, s-so grateful to you for that. No one had e-ever stood up for m-me before, and told my S-Stepmother to s-stop bef-fore that" William explained, the stutter in his voice at first due to how scared the memories still made him.

But as he spoke, tears began to well in his eyes at the memory of the first time he had ever been shown kindness by another human being. He looked up with a grateful, happy smile, "you saved us back then, and when you took us in. *sniff* I-I'm sorry, for not telling you, a-about how I-I had actually been t-treated. I just- I didn't want to t-think about it, a-anymore. I was just gr-grateful, that you- c-cared enough, to t-take me into your home, *sniff* and, w-wanted, to take care of m-me. No one, aside from P-Patry had ever *sob* been so, k-kind to me, or, treated me, like a human being, before. I was, s-so hap-p-py, when you, said that you, a-actually wanted me, and cared about m-me," William wiped his eyes, "I'd never, been *sniff* told that, before. I wasn't sure how to, r-react before. But I know how I feel now," he paused, smiling through his tears at the man who was more like a Father to him than the man who he had once called by that title. "I am so, very grateful to you. Truly. If it hadn't been for the k-kindness that you offered me back then, Patry and I might not even be alive right now. Thank you for everything you've done for us, Dad" William finished. Julius beamed, his heart swelling with happiness.

"You don't ever need to thank me for that William. You were an innocent child who never should have had to go through any of what you did in the past. And I'm so happy that I've been able to give you a better life. Both you and Patry deserve nothing less" the Time Mage replied. There was a moment of silence, before Julius chuckled slightly, "anyway, we'd better start eating our Breakfast before it get's cold" he said. "Right!" William replied cheerfully, with a bright, happy smile on his face, before he dug into his food. Julius beamed at the boy, 'I hope he and Patry will like my surprise. I've been planning this for a while now, but I don't mind waiting until Patry is awake again' he thought. Then he also went back to eating.

Black Clover

After breakfast was over, William said that he was going to go for a walk. "Okay, stay safe and have a good time" Julius replied easily. The human Teenager put his mask and shoes on, before leaving the house. As he walked through his hometown, the Magic Knight sighed, feeling safe with so many people around him. After all, they'd been kidnapped twice within a very short timeframe. But with so many people around, he felt secure that he would be okay. As he looked around, wondering if he should take a look in some of the shops for anything interesting. "William? It is you! William, hey!" a familiar voice called out from behind him, sounding both happy and relieved. Just as he was turning around, arms wrapped around him from behind, making the 16-year-old freeze in a minor panic attack. Just as soon as he had been grabbed, the arms withdrew as if they had been burned, "oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, are you okay?" the voice asked with a slightly frantic edge to it. Turning around, the World Tree Mage finally managed to relax again once he saw the face of a certain apologetic and concerned young Witch.

"S-Shilo, it's just you," William stuttered, calming himself with a few deep breaths. "Yeah, I'm really sorry William. It's been such a long time since I saw you and I was so relieved and happy that I completely forgot that you don't like to be touched without warning like that. I didn't mean to scare you, I promise" Shilo replied, whole presence giving off a remorseful aura. "No, sorry, I'm okay, really. I've just had a, really stressful few weeks. It wasn't your fault, I should have been paying more attention to my surroundings, especially with everything that happened over the last Month" the Teenager replied, shuddering slightly at the memories of all the trauma he and Patry had gone through in that time. "I'm so sorry to hear that. So your break wasn't very relaxing by the sounds of it?" Shilo asked with a concerned frown. William sighed, closing his eyes, "you don't even know the half of it" he replied with another shudder.

"Do you want to talk about it? I'm a good listener" the Teenage Witch asked gently. The World Tree Mage looked down, "I- I don't want to make you upset or anything. You shouldn't have to deal with my problems as well as any of your own" William replied, unsure. "I don't mind. If you keep everything inside and don't talk to anyone about it, all the bad experiences and trauma you've had in the past will haunt you forever and eventually consume you whole." Shilo's gaze turned sad and fearful, a deep trauma flashing before her eyes. She stared past her Squad mate, and far into the distance, memories making her take deep, shuddering breathes . After a moment she shook herself out of it, and gave him a sad smile, "I won't reject you for anything that happened, I promise. And if you did decide to trust me with your past- then I will trust you with mine." she replied softly, "I swear you can trust me. Please talk to me?" Shilo begged, deep, Soulful eyes showing nothing but honesty. William grimaced, thinking. After a moment of silence, he sighed, "if I can't share and my true self with at least the people that I'm supposed to trust to support me for almost my whole life from this point, then who will I be able to?" William said, clenching his fists and shivering slightly.

He looked up at the red-haired girl, "alright, but let's go somewhere more private, okay?" the masked Magic Knight asked. Shilo nodded in understanding, "of course. Thank you, for trusting me" she replied with a small, nervous smile. Then the two young Mages left the crowded street together.

To Be Continued