James Miller

It was a lavish room. The walls were draped in silk dressings and windows with silk curtains. I was currently restrained in a chair with tight rope. There were three women standing around me, the red haired Kahono, the silver-haired Noelle, and the pink-haired Vanessa. They were currently trying to pry information from me. The only thing was, they weren't believing me.

"So let me get this straight, you're from another world called Earth, from a kingdom-"

"Country," I corrected, Noelle rolled her eyes.

"'Country' called the United States of America, and your world was destroyed so you came here?"

I felt something vile in the back of my throat. 'Oh no, looks like all that drinking finally caught up to me,' I thought as a stream of puke exited my mouth. "Ah, eh yes," I said, trying to recover from the puking.

"Why are you here then?" Noelle asked. "And what are these things?" She picked up my guns with a fair bit of strain.

"Why am I here? If I had to hazard a guess I'd say it was to escape my past? I don't know, as for that," I said, motioning towards my hunting rifle. "It's a Winchester, Model 100, a hunting rifle. It's a weapon."

"And why have you come to this kingdom with a weapon?!" Noelle hissed.

"To get away from my hometown. It's…" my memory flashed back to Gean, and my father's corpse. As much as I wanted not to, I began to cry. "It's a horrible place."

The three females looked at me with a bit of sympathy. Vanessa untied me while Noelle protested. "Vanessa! Why are you doing this?!" Noelle exclaimed angrily as Kahono tried to calm her down.

"Noelle, this man means us no harm. Look at him. He seems to be in a weakened stated. In fact, I have an idea…"

I got up and stretched my legs, grabbed my things, and headed for the door when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked over my shoulder to find the pink-haired woman, Vanessa facing me with a smile. "You know, I wasn't able to detect any magic from you, and you don't seem to have a grimoire either," she said.

"I don't…" I replied. "Where is she going with this?"

"So I know a place that you'd fit right in. You don't have a place to go here, you'll just be wandering around. And this kingdom isn't the kindest to commoners and those with little to no magic power."

"And where is this place?" I asked, turning to face her.

"The Black Bulls Base. Noelle, get our brooms, we're heading home," Vanessa said as she opened a sort of magical mirror-like shape. "Hello Captain Yami!" she said with an excited declaration. A man with asian features and messy black hair with a lit cigarette in his mouth.

"Oi, Vanessa what're you up to? And who's that behind you?" the man asked.

"Well captain, I was enjoying my day at the beach when a large ship crashed onto the beach. I found him on it, I think I just got another member for our squad!"

"Alright, bring them over to the base, I'll evaluate him, by the way, what sort of magic does he use?" Yami asked.

"He… doesn't have any magic," Vanessa said with a nervous laugh.

"Oh! Like Asta, I understand."

"No, he doesn't have a grimoire either. He does have some weapons though."

The man nodded and took a drag on his cigarette before closing the magic phone call. "Well it looks like I have to go, my brother is messing things up again," Kahono said as she walked out of the room. "It was nice seeing you James, maybe we'll meet again sometime?" she asked before she left.

"Yea, as nice as taking me captive can be…" I grumbled as Vanessa and Noelle led me over to their brooms, I took a ride on Vanessa's as Noelle rode alone.

"So where are we going?" I asked, closing my eyes as the cold breeze brushed against my face.

"To the base of the Black Bulls, the magic knights squad that Noelle and I are a part of," Vanessa explained. "By the way, my full name is Vanessa Enoteca, twenty-five years old, what about you?"

"James Miller, twenty-two. Vanessa, I need to ask you something," I said in a stern tone.

Vanessa looked back at me with a quizzical look. "What is it?"

"Why are you helping me? Were you really convinced by what I said?" I asked.

Vanessa gave a heavy sigh as she looked over her shoulder at me, a pair of sympathetic eyes staring back at me. "I know what it's like, to be trapped. And I'm sure you're feeling that way, trapped in foriegn lands… I know this may be very sudden and it might feel like a culture shock, but you can come to me if you want," she spoke to me, like a mother comforting a crying child. While it felt like she was talking down to me, it also felt kinda good. Like someone cared for me in this strange world of magic.

"Thanks, Vanessa," I replied as the broom picked up speed. "So you mentioned that there was someone like me, someone without magic?" I asked.

"Ah, Asta you mean? Yes I think the two of you would get along well. He's currently our vice-captain so he's a bit busy at the moment. There is one person you should try to avoid though," Vanessa said as the two of us flew over an expansive forest.

"Why? Is this person dangerous?" I asked.

"No, but considering how you're probably feeling right now it would be best to avoid him. His name is Nacht Faust. He's just a judgemental asshole. He has long, black hair that he wears in a ponytail," Vanessa explained.

"I see…" "It seems Vanessa doesn't have any ill will towards me, but I should still keep my distance and focus on this evaluation that this Yami fellow will be giving to me. Speaking of him, with the name and his appearance, he appeared to be asain," I thought as we approached a large structure, the broom touching down near the building. There was the man in question, Yami, standing at the door. He held a katana in his hand. Next to him was a young man with wavy light brown hair with green tips.

The broom touched down, Vanessa and I got off of it as I followed suit. "Is this the guy you were talking about, Vanessa?" Yami asked as he looked me over. He seemed unimpressed, his scrutinizing eyes still scanning me.

"So… did I pass?" I asked, Yami shot me a glare.

"Not yet. Finral, we're going there now," he said the brown haired young man opened a portal.

"Good luck James!" Vanessa waved as Yami pushed me through the portal, Finral and Yami following behind me. The portal closed and Yami drew his sword.

"Now listen here," he said, his tone stern and rough. "Your test starts now. Don't get hit by me for thirty seconds."

"When does it start-" Yami rushed me, the tip of his blade stabbed right at me. "Are you fucking kidding me?! Damnit what should I do? Dodge? Counter attack? Block? I'm going to get skewered if I try to counter or block.

For some reason, my body wouldn't move even as he got closer. My mind raced with the events of the past month, one moment shining out in particular.

Gean and I were driving down the east coast when we stopped at the outskirts of a small town for gas. The gas station was deserted but luckily for us, there was still some gas in the pumps. Once we're done, I noticed a woman running for her life in our direction.

"Please help me!" She screamed at us, panic and terror written in her eyes.

"Get in the car!" Gean yelled as he swung one of the back seat doors open, then running over to the driver seat and starting the car. I hopped in passenger and aimed my rifle in her direction. I looked through the scope to see four men in metal armor running after her. Three held melee weapons, one with a machete, another with a baseball bat, and a third with a lead pipe. The fourth held a pistol. I pointed the crosshairs at the pistol wielding maniac, and fired. It ripped through his skull as he fell to the ground. The remaining three began to run even faster at the woman, the one with the machete grabbed onto his shoulder. Gean aimed his revolver and fired two shots into the machete-wielding maniac. I fired another into baseball bat's gut and a another to lead pipe's throat. The woman reached out car with a relived expression.

"Thank you both so muvh! I don't know what would've happened to me if-" her thanks were cut short as a burst of bullets tore through her body. "Aaaaah!" She screamed in pain. Tears rolling down her face.

"Get in the car! We'll save you! Please get in!" I begged, but she just slumped there, blood spilling out of her wounds.

My mind zipped back to reality where an Asian man's sword was being stabbed into my stomach. I felt the warm feeling of blood seeping out of my wound as it soaked my shirt. Yami's face was horrified for whatever reason. I felt him pick me up as we went back to his squad's base, his katana still inside me. I slowly closed my eyes until I hear the horrified scream of Vanessa as she saw my bodily state.

So she cares for me? That's nice of her…" I thought as I dosed off.

I was awoken into a dream, where there I was standing on a cloud which had an attendant sitting at a desk and a pair of golden gates behind him.

"Name?" The attendant asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Your name, I need your name."

"Uh, it's James."

"I'll need a last name too, James."

"James Miller."

"Sorry. I don't have you on the list."

"What?"

Suddenly I felt a surge of pain course through my body as I shut up from a bed I had been laid in. "James! You're alive!" I heard Vanessa cry out as she gave me a tight hug.

"What happened?" I asked, lying back down.

"The duel with Captain Yami resulted in you getting stabbed. Luckily for you, Mimosa Vermillion was visiting. She's a healing mage and a really good one at that," Noelle explained.

I looked to my side, and there was Yami, giving me a stern gaze. "Why didn't you do anything?" He asked. His expression now turning more to that of concern.

I stopped to think. Was it fear? Was it despair? I couldn't quite tell. Then the dead woman at the gas station came rushing back to my mind. And a small knot began to form in my stomach. "I… don't know. I was thinking of whether to counter, dodge or block, but then I was reminded of a fresh memory."

"What was it?" Vanessa inquired as she mirrored Yami's look of concern.

"Something I would've rather stayed buried," I replied with a grim frown.

"Well now that you're better-"

"He's not better, just recovered," Vanessa corrected him.

"Did I pass?" I asked.

Yami nodded. "You did, but i'm not putting you into any combat roles at the moment. Learn to fight, and I'll move you up to something with more action." He got up from his seat and walked out the room. "Vanessa, you're in charge of looking after him," Yami ordered, waving us goodbye.

"James… How're you feeling right now?"

"I'm fine, aside from a tightness in my chest, where I was stabbed," I replied.

"Would you be comfortable with sharing what it was that kept you still?" She asked, her features softening.

I gave in with a sigh. "Originally it would've been a friend and myself coming here, and on our journey, we encountered a woman. She…" I paused, taking a gasping breath. "... was trying to escape from some horrible people. We were so close to saving her. Just when she was in hand's reach…" "Keep it together, damnit." My hands began to shake as I gasped. Vanessa covered my hands with hers.

"You're fine James, I'm here."

"She was killed right before my eyes," my heart began to race as my breathing picked up pace. "I couldn't do anything. I was… powerless to stop it. Just like I am now." I looked up at Vanessa. She had a sad smile on her face.

"You won't be powerless for much longer, now get some rest." She got up from her chair and blew me a kiss. I forced a smile, as I didn't want to be seen as ungrateful. My half-hearted attempt seemed to satiate the buxom woman as she softly closed the door behind me and I closed my eyes to rest.

So yea that was the second chapter. James is still wrestling with everything that happened to him on Earth. Also to clarify, this takes place after the Spade Arc. As such Vanessa is gonna have some PTSD from Dante and all.