Disclaimer: I do not own Black Clover. It belongs to Yuki Tabata.

WARNING: Abusive & Dark Themes Below. You have been warned.

3:00 AM - BLACK BULLS HIDEOUT

'Damnit.. It's almost morning already and I haven't slept one bit.. This isn't good..' Asta thought as he stared tiredly at that wall next to his bed. Feeling extremely tired, but unable to sleep.

As he was currently shaking all over, and breathing heavily. This having been the case for the past three hours now, ever since he got back.

3:30 AM - BLACK BULLS HIDEOUT

Asta now finally falling asleep. Still slightly shaking, but falling asleep nontheless. However, and because he was currently on the verge of sleep, his body numb and his mind lax, he did not know what was about to hit him..

As somewhere near him, was Secre. Seemingly observing him among other things..

7:10 AM - BLACK BULLS HIDEOUT

*FLINCH*

"ehhh.." 'Wait what the hell.. What is th-'

...

"WWHHHATTTT!?" Asta yelled out, as he now noticed Secre lying with him him in bed. In her human form, seemingly hugging him..

Actually not seemingly, she was hugging him, and tightly too. As his butt should have already hit the floor after his freak-out, though that of course wasn't the case..

"Quiet, don't get the others involved. It'll only cause misunderstanding" Secre replied quietly to his yelling.

"B-B-But.. W-What are you doing.." he asked with a now, calmer voice.

"Didn't you hear me? I said it'll cause misunderstanding. Or, in other words, this isn't what your dirty-mind thinks it is, I'm simply hugging you as you were a shaking mess all night long. Besides, you only fell asleep because I did"

"What... No, I don't remember that happening.. I eventually got tired and fell asleep on my own.. What are you talking about..."

"Guess I was just that swift" Secre responded with a very small grin on her face, though her eyes remained half-lidded. Making it hard for Asta to tell..

The Fifth Leaf Of Despair

CHAPTER 15: Reincarnation

"Q-Queen.. What's going on..? What's the meaning of this.." Samantha Kravitz asked her mother, the Witch Queen.

"It's been ten long years and nothing.. So why now..." followed up Elvira Aguirre, Samantha's sister. As she was also one of the Witch Queens' many daughters.

The both of them of course, were currently saying this while looking at a certain purple-haired girl, wide-eyed. Said girl currently slowly opening her eyes, slightly moving, for the first time in these past ten years she's been a thing.

Though of course this girl had no idea what these people were saying. Nor did she know why or what was going on.

"Seems my blood magic experiment paid off. Well done you two." the Witch Queen eased her daughters concerns. Though she for one couldn't blame them. As behind that cold and confident exterior of hers, she was currently going mad on the inside.

'W-What the hell.. How could an artificial body with no soul be moving.. What is going on here..?'

'In all my years of living, there has been nothing I couldn't grasp or understand. So why..?'

The Witch Queen thought, many images of her murdering couples and kidnapping their daughters going through her head. As that was of course the only reason the 'Witches Forest' was a thing to begin with. After all, how else would a forest full of only women exist? Not only that, but their mother is hundreds of years old, and single no less. And so it would only make sense.. 'So why..?'

"Dorothy"

...

"Her name will be Dorothy" the Witch Queen now said, broken out of her thoughts as this 'Dorothy' tugged on her dress. Looking at her confused, right before she was dragged by the arm to her 'mother's castle..

"Freak!"

"Eww, go away!"

"Go die!"

...

"M-Mother.. Why's everyone s-so scared of m-me..?"

"..."

...

'W-Why me? Just because I was born a different way-

"Go kill yourself, you bitch!"

'r-red..?' Dorothy now realized, her tiny-physically-13-year-old-hand brushing some hair off her forehead. Full of blood. A big rock now next to her feet..

...

*Ripple*

*Breeze*

*Thud*

*Crack*

'I-It hurts so much.. This red stuff is all over again too.. Wonder what it is..'

*Smile*

"Ehhh.."

...

"W-Who are y-you?"

"Me? *Smile* My name is Juli-

...

'In the end it's all because of Reve and that devi-

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

...

"Oh.. You actually came!" Dorothy greeted immediately after switching back to her other self. As though she was physically 27, she was mentally 17.

"Y-Yes.." Asta responded awkwardly, scratching the back of his head..

'S-She seems completely different from yesterday' he thought, slowly breaking out of his awkward state.

"Where are you going?" Secre asked in her bird form.

'Shit..'

"A-Ah.. Well.. Dor- I mean the Wizard king wanted to see me today so-

"Huh..? Nero! Why are you tagging along?" he asked flustered, a blush still on his face from earlier.

*Silence*

...

"W-Why though?"

"Hm.. You expect me to leave you be after what you did last night? Yeah no chance"

...

"Yoo-hoo.. You still with me?" she broke his train of thought, waving her hand to catch his attention.

"Hu- Oh yeah, sorry what were you saying again..?"

*Sigh*

"I was asking, What. Is. This?" she said as she pointed her finger at some footage she had up using her dream magic.

'H-Huh..' Secre thought..

'What do I do now..' Asta thought, dying on the inside.

...

"W-What do you mean? What is this?" Asta attempted dodging her question..

"Playing dumb I see?" she responded with a big smile on her face.

"Okay! I'll play along!" - Smile now so big it closed her eyes shut.

"Ehm.." Dorothy tried clearing her throat to tense him up a little, opening her eyes slowly. Though to no avail, as her softer-than-a-feather voice did not allow such a thing.

"What you see here is a mixture of your memories and thoughts. The both of which creating this dream you saw and see before you"

"And, because of my dream magic and mana zone, I'm able to see and record the dreams of any person who happens to be in range of my mana zone, which you recently were"

She finished her explanation, looking at a wide-eyed Asta with narrowed eyes. Slightly noticing a certain-also-shocked bird atop his head.

...

"I-I.." Asta started hesitantly. Still unsure of whether or not to say this. Though for some reason, an unrelated-to-the-topic sudden wave of determination hit him as his mind randomly thought of some water..

"I have a confession to make!" he now said with determination. Startling Dorothy and his bird-friend.

"I-I think that this devil you are pointing at is the same devil that lives inside of my grimoire!"

...

'There's no going back now, I said it, I said it, I said it!' Asta thought with fleeting determination. Thinking that same line over and over again, trying to regain his courage and determination.

Though to no avail, as his brave and determined face started to fade along with his almost-gone-determination. As he was very unsure of the reactions he'll receive in response to this bold statement..

Would his friend and the Wizard King take this the way he'd hoped, positively and support him and what he was about to say next? Or would they take this and what he was about to say negatively, potentially even lashing out at him and his 'stupidity'?

Besides, how will the kingdom take this? Would they consider him a traitor who's fate is naught but execution? Or would Dorothy pull some strings for him and take care of the royals and nobles? Was such a thing even possible?

Did he want to know? Hell no.

Did he need to know? Yes. Yes. And yes.

...

'Damnit.. Say something, anything is better than this heart-wrenching silence..'

"..."

CHAPTER 15: END

A/N: Thanks for reading. Will try my best to update weekly-ish, life has been pretty damn hectic lately.

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