Chapter 8: A Farewell

Now everyone who came for the funeral had gathered around the casket. A lot of the townsfolk had said their goodbyes to Sister Lily, as well as Father Orsi and the younger kids. Asta and Yuno's younger siblings had all been crying a lot and eventually tired themselves out. They fell asleep and were next to, or on Noelle and Mimosa's laps.

It was just time for Asta and Yuno to say their farewells to Sister Lily before they buried her underneath the back of the church.

The sun shone down on the casket. It illuminated Sister Lily's face and she looked beautiful. The rays of sunshine were glistening off her skin like a mirror, and she looked like an angel. It reflected her very personality.

Yuno walked forward and started "thank you for all you have done for me and this family. I'll never forget how much you played with me, how you taught me to read and write, fed me, laughed with me…"

He began to fully cry. Asta, along with Mimosa and the rest of the Golden Dawn looked on. They had never seen him like this, except for Asta when he was younger.

"… I'll keep my promise to you and the rest of the family, as well as the townsfolk. I'll become the Wizard King…" he cried again, but now he was done. He retreated from the casket and joined up with the Father, hugging him.

It was finally Asta's turn, but he didn't move from his spot. He was frozen.

Everyone looked at him perplexed and tried to urge him forward.

Memories, once again, filled Asta's head with all the positive and happy times he had with Sister Lily. He then snapped out of it, looked around and then proceeded to move ahead.

"I… I will never forget you, Sister Lily. You were so important to me. I remember when I said I wanted to marry you. I knew I was joking to myself, but it was just part of our humour. You would scold me, laugh with me. You taught me to read and write. You taught me how to be good. You also used to hit me with your Water Magic…" he chuckled slightly, remembering the times she would hit him with her Holy Fist of Love. "Wow, seems so long ago now…"

Everyone's attention was on Asta. He was clenching his fists and was bawling. Noelle wanted to comfort him but didn't move. He had to say goodbye on his own.

Nozel was visibly saddened too. He clenched his fists and looked away. The way Asta was here, it reminded him of himself and brought back memories of his mother. A tear left his eye as others still focused on Asta. Noelle saw this, however, and felt herself tearing up too.

"I-I'll be come the Wizard King. I will keep my promise to myself and my family. I'll make this Kingdom equal for other people like us… Goodbye, Sister Lily" he tried to carry on, when he heard a familiar voice.

"I'll help you out, kid" Asta snapped out of his tears, he recognised the familiarity of this distorted voice, although it was becoming clearer to him.

"I wish I could've prevented this…" the voice was very clear in his head now; he was so sure he knew this voice.

The other squads looked at each other, they saw Asta not moving from the casket. They all began to feel worried.

"Kid don't… calm d-…" the voice was gone from his head, but Asta stayed in his place.

The weather started to shift. Grey clouds covered the sky and the sun was no longer shining down. There was an eerie breeze sweeping through the place.

Looking at each other, Noelle and Yuno moved forward to help Asta move from the casket. They thought he just felt overwhelmed by the situation and tried to help.

When they both reached for his shoulder, they instantly felt a burn on their hands, and pulled their hands away. It was slight but still powerful. They had felt this before, but never this powerful. It was Asta's Anti-Magic.

"B-but how?" the two thought in unison. "He hasn't brought out his grimoire!"

They looked at Asta's face and saw something terrifying. Both of Asta's eyes were red like in his Black Form and his face had been covered with his Anti-Magic. It was weird though; his wings and horns hadn't sprouted. All of the Anti-Magic was concentrated near his brain area. It was like he was too focused on something. It was like he was talking to someone in his head.

Suddenly he snapped back, and his partial Black Form left his body. He looked at the two who reached out for him and then he ran away from the casket, crying.

Yuno chased after him, along with Father Orsi. He had just run inside the church and they tried to console him.

The other Magic Knights and Captains looked on, as well as the Wizard King, but they didn't see the Black Form, it was just Noelle and Yuno who noticed the change in Asta.

Suddenly, much to everyone's surprise, the Silver Eagles captain walked forward towards the casket. He looked at the Sister and teared up.

"Brother N-Nozel…" Noelle looked on.

"I don't know you and have never met with you. However, I hope you Rest in Peace" Nozel looked on, focused.

Noelle went to her brother and held his hand; she had never done this before. Surprisingly Nozel held her hand back, her brother's moment of vulnerability had shown, and Noelle had to do something.

Nozel then really focused on the sleeping Sister, and suddenly felt sick to his stomach. It was as if he was shot, the way he stumbled. "Th-this familiar feeling!" He looked at Sister Lily. "There's no mistaking it…!" he then turned his focus on the Coral Peacock captain. "Captain Dorothy, please" he gestured for her.

The rest of the Captains looked on at what Nozel was doing. It surprised them; he was very animated which he had never been before. They wondered what was going on.

"Captain Dorothy… you recognise this feeling, don't you?" The Silver-haired Captain spoke up reluctantly.

"I… I do. This is the same as…" Dorothy stopped for a bit, as if she didn't want to talk. After a few seconds she finished what she said.

"Same as Ms Acier… your mother". The Coral Peacock's Captain whispered.

All of a sudden, Noelle's grip tightened on her brothers hand. "My mother?" she thought. She never expected to hear her mother's name today, especially in this situation.

"How? How are they linked? What is this feeling are they on about?" The Silva had so many questions, but realised this place wasn't the place to start a discussion into God knows what.

Then, footsteps were heard from behind. It was the Wizard King, and he was walking towards the casket as well as Nozel and Dorothy.

"This has a terrible air of familiarity, doesn't it?" He was angry, his face and voice showed it clearly.

"To think She would strike here… to the family of those two poor kids…" Dorothy continued.

A little voice rose up "S-same as mother… Wait, don't tell me?" The Silva royal was questioning everything now but began to piece it together.

"Yes, Noelle. Don't speak of it anymore… you know why" Dorothy responded to the youngest Silva sibling.

The other Magic Knight Captains didn't really understand the situation too much. They refrained from asking questions due to Nozel's nature.

After a few, long, confusing minutes Father Orsi returned with both Asta and Yuno. Asta looked to have calmed down, but there was still this eerie aura hanging around him that Yami could sense. Noelle and Yuno were both still thinking about Asta and why he was exerting his Anti-Magic. The image of both his red, slit-like eyes popped into their heads, unwillingly.

"Sorry about that guys… I'm truly thankful for you guys coming here to Hage. It means a lot. Noelle, Mimosa, Captain Yami… everyone here" Asta spoke in a quiet tone and bowed to show his appreciation.

Yuno said the same and bowed to his friends and colleagues too.

Sister Lily, who was the symbol of positivity and bright light in Hage, had finally been laid to rest. Her casket now safely underneath the ground. The favourite flowers were sprouting from the grass. They were simple, white, lilies.

The Captains, including the Black Bulls and Golden Dawn, and Wizard King all said their goodbyes and offered their sympathies to the family. They then left for the Royal Capital, and their respective bases.

Asta and Yuno were finishing off the day by clearing and cleaning the church. They said their farewells to Father Orsi and the children, unsurprisingly they all cried, and the Father also teared up. They hugged and promised that the two Magic Knights will come visit more often from now.

It was now night in the Clover Kingdom. It seemed peaceful, birds were soaring through the dark sky and everyone had gone into their homes to rest. It was just Asta and Yuno outside the church, getting ready to go back to their squads.

"Th-that was hard…" Yuno spoke up.

"I… I never want to go through anything like that… ever again" Asta, with an angry look replied. His fists clenched. Yuno looked at his rival and sensed that eeriness he felt earlier but didn't question it.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now Asta. We'll see each other again soon" the Wind Magic user tried to bring a lighter mood to the conversation.

"S-sure, Yuno" the ashen-haired boy responded. He tried to match the cheerier tone Yuno tried to put on but couldn't manage it.

The two foster brothers said their goodbyes and went on their way. They travelled the same way for a while, not saying anything, until separating for their respective bases.

"Never…again" Asta softly said to himself, thinking about how seeing a family member, who he loved, was gone forever.

"I never want to go through that" Asta flew away in his Black Form towards the Black Bulls base.

NOTES:

Yo, I hope you're liking the way this story is turning out! I know it's quite sad but that's the tragedy genre for you

I had Dorothy play a part here with the link to Megicula's curse on Acier Silva and Sister Lily as in the anime she told Noelle too. Also, I have a feeling that if Nozel sees the same curse that his mother had, he'd recognise it too.

I promise the chapters won't be as sad as these recent ones, but it'll take some time :/