Disclaimer: Black Clover is owned by Yūki Tabata, Studio Pierrot, and Shonen Jump.

Saga 55: Same Sky Part 1

Agartha, Mimo Amazon, Clover/Heart Kingdom Borders, Dawn

"And remember," Mammon remarked to Valtos as the two walked around the ruined Agartha, clearing out rubble with heir [Spatial Magic] transporting the rubble elsewhere, and Rades's undead providing the muscle given by Mammon's [Result Magic], allowing their rotten bodies to lift weights greater than theirs, similar to an ant's physiology, "your [Spatial Magic] is the backbone of your group's mobility. Don't linger in one place for too long, and when getting out, you pray that they don't see you halfway out, or the metaphorical door will be slammed into you."

"I don't need you telling me that," Valtos grumbled out, "for I already know."

"Indeed," Mammon remarked, "but also, I can also see that there's something else troubling you," the raccoon Demon pointed out, recalling the various techniques that his host had used back during his Project H.O.L.O.N. days, where he observed the subject's heart rates and reports of their daily habits to hypothesize which were on the verge of losing it and which were relatively calm, "... I'd like to help, if you consent."

"What do you know about me then?" asked Valtos as he opened another portal leading god-knows-where to let the empowered undead to dump the rubble into it, "with your nonexistent eyes and your black heart that blots out all human compassion, what can you, a Demon, know about a human?"

"More than you'd realize," Mammon replied frankly, much to Valtos's surprise, "humans, like all living beings, are creatures driven by appetite," he explained, "judging by your tone and habits of sort of secluding yourself to the others in the group, there's something that you know that's missing in a group," the Demon pointed out Valtos's mental holes, "as a result, I hypothesize that you're the kind of person who seeks a worthy cause to fight for, a man on a mission to search for a mission beyond simply 'getting back'."

Valtos then sits down as he kept the portal for the undead to dump the rubble open.

"... I really can't hide anything from you, can I?" Valtos snarked out.

"I have to be," Mammon replied honestly, "my host was born blind, and I was merely a bottom-feeder in Hell, so being a step ahead of everyone else is simply part of our collective survival mechanism."

"... Fine. I'll tell you," Valtos relented, giving his consent to a Demon to talk, "I saw the kingdom that I used to live in as corrupt. The Nobles preying upon the commoners, and the commoners being apathetic to the plight of their fellow man," he explained, "I tried everything, from proposing laws that enforced the right to the sanctity of human life to all classes, invest in public programs and even a village watch, and what happened?" he bemoaned as he clutched his head, seeing his own manor and village set ablaze by Purple Orca Magic Knights disguised as bandit mages, "... I was blamed for the whole incident, and despite the evidence I brought to court, I was labeled as a fraud, and the people that I protected turned against me!"

"Ah, so you're the one motivated by justice," Mammon interjected, "it is reasonable to fight for a better world where treachery is punished and accountability for a public good is the new status quo, but then again, I suppose that is appetite," the Demon admitted, "humanity as a whole gave birth to us Demons for a reason; no one is truly satisfied, regardless of satisfaction."

"So you're saying that my righteousness is nothing more than a farce?" Valtos remarked.

"In the grand scheme of things, everything is subjectively worthless," Mammon pointed out, "it's just that we can only give them worth as we put them," remarked the Demon of [Selfishness], "what I'm saying is, your 'justice' is worthless, but it's your own being that gives it worth. I mean, just because Morris was born blind didn't make him worth any less than his peers, let alone me. I'm only selfish just to find myself my own worth in this dumbass rotting corpse of god that is this world."

"What are you implying?" asked Valtos before his chest was poked by the Demon's index finger.

"You don't need to fight for something in order to realize your 'justice'," Mammon explained, "you already have that in there, your very soul, don't you? I mean, take it from me, if a human were to live a single minute of my own life of eating Hell's refuses, he would off himself for how humiliating it would've been for him," the Demon pointed out, "my sin is [Selfishness], because I find purpose in things that the others deem ridiculous. A Demon can only mull on his own past for so long before he inevitably moves forward, whether Hell is anarchist's paradise or a totalitarian dictatorship, I can dig a hole for myself and lie in it before digging another," he remarked, "because no matter where I am, whether I'm the god among my peers of shit-eaters or the lowest of dirt-munchers, I'll always be under the same sky."

"... Heh," Valtos scoffed as he got up, "never thought I would end up agreeing with a Demon of all people."

"You benefit, I benefit in return," Mammon pointed out before the two went back to work cleaning out the collapsed Agartha.

"Helena," Aleister remarked to the ex-archeologist, both of them sitting atop the pile of rubble leading up to the Mimo Amazon exposed above, "... do you consider us running into a Demon of all things at this sort of timing a result of my negative Karma Debt coming all down towards me?"

"No," Helena remarked as she sipped onto her cup of coffee, the beans being stolen from a local supply near Heart Kingdom's borders, "... I expected worse."

An annoying buzzing sound was than heard from the two, with Aleister swatting at his own head, and revealing a squashed fly on his palm.

"Geh, there's been more these buggers buzzing about," Aleister grumbled out before he flicked the dead fly aside, "Imma go elsewhere, away from the outside. You coming?"

"Cover my eyes," Helena remarked, "I cannot bear to see my life's work in ruins, again."

As the two went back into the ruins, the squashed fly was then devoured by a tree frog before it skipped back up to the surface.

However, the frog than suddenly began convulsing like a balloon with too much air, bouncing around uncontrollably before the creature itself exploded into a cloud of splattered gore and digestive juices.

And from the mutilated amphibian emerged the fly, completely unharmed.

"Truukavmebuddyyourluckiukabouavavogeavworuke," jittered the fly as it buzzed away elsewhere.

Quatre Refugee-State, Noble Realm, Clover Kingdom, Morning

"We're home," Yami greeted as he entered into the command tent, where all the currently-present Magic Knight Captains and the Wizard King were in attendance.

"You're in time," Nozel remarked, "how unexpected of you."

"Save your disdain after we're done fixing this kingdom," Charlotte pointed out as she entered into the tent, next one in being Rill.

"Rill," Fuegoleon remarked as he noticed the Aqua Deer Captain missing his index finger and thumb, "your hand..."

"Aw, it's alright," Rill brushed him off, "I can still paint."

"Keh keh keh!" Jack the Ripper cackled out, "exactly how, stubbles?"

"Enough," Kaiser, the new Captain of the Purple Orcas scolded the Green Mantis Captain, "speak naught ill of the disturbed or wounded."

"What does that mean, horn-head?" Jack replied smugly.

"He means 'shut your trap if you have nothing good to say to Rill'," William deadpanned, to which Jack scoffs before complying.

"Glad to see everyone's up and at em today," Julius remarked as Marx and Dragunov entered the tent from behind, both carrying rolls of paper under their arms, "because, I'll cut to the chase, us three managed to concoct a pair of plans that would help us to expedite our efforts to reestablish connections both within our kingdom and the Heart Kingdom."

"Due to the escalation of the current situation resulting in the deaths of countless lives, we need to stabilize our long-distance connections both domestic and foreign," Marx explained the plan as he unrolled the map of the continent, with the Clover Kingdom's map being mostly clear of the red areas compared to the rest of the map, "thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Magic Knights, the Inquisitors, and the Ulsterians, we managed to clear up most of the swords staked around the kingdom, but however, our communications are still unstable," he pointed out, "we're still in void contact with our kingdom's ally nation, the Heart Kingdom, not to mention, we are completely in the dark what's happening at the Spade Kingdom or if their situation may be contributing to ours."

"My order sent an agent to the Heart Kingdom upon hearing rumors of Demon sightings in the Southernmost border coinciding with sudden desertification that is gradually spreading inland," Dragunov remarked as he shared his report with the other Captains, willing to bear the consequences of revealing classified documents from the Order of the Spade Cross later, "High Inquisitor Mosin Ivanov was sent to that region to investigate, and I just received a report from the Patrem Inquisitor himself that my message meant for the order has been intercepted, ergo, I also wish to investigate on my own while aiding you people in the work of wiping the Demonic scourge off of the face of this earth."

"Hence, our two fronts of travel," Julius remarked as he then took a game piece and placed one near the Heart Kingdom borders, "Yami, you'll be leading a team of Magic Knights to survey the situation down South, and get into contact with the Queen herself," he stated before taking out another game piece and placing it on the Western border of the map, "the other team will head West with the Twrch Trwyth Tavern as the main source of transportation," the Wizard King pointed out, "according to Dagda, Ulster itself has no formal government, and Dagda himself can act as a dignitary/bodyguard in case things go slightly awry, if his recounts are to be believed."

"Keh," Jack scoffed out, "I saw that giant bitch uproot those big-ass swords like carrots," he remarked, "you're saying that I need bodyguards to wipe my bottom? Fuck that."

"Boyo, ye got yer arse kicked by Danu," Dagda's voice remarked before the squat half-Demon, half-dwarf came into the tent with his signature shit-eating grin, "a bloody [Garm] would eat ye whole considering how bony-lookin' ye are."

"I'm not saying that I doubt your prowess Jack," Julius pointed out at the ornery Captain, "but we already lost too many."

"Look, I'll be fine, so don't go worrying your little head about me, okay?" Jack protested, "I'm just more mad that some third-party schmuck managed to upstage me with bigger blades. Man's got his own pride, dammit."

"Like the motivation," Julius commented, "any questions?"

"One," Nozel stated as he raised his hand, "you said everything regarding the domestic front are fine, but that's just the issues regarding to communications," he pointed out, "what of the surrounding neutral sovereignties like the Seabed Temple or the Witch's Forest? What of them?"

"Both of them came this morning, at least their envoys," Dragunov answered as he pulled out a pair of rolls of papers before setting them onto the table and unfurling them by severing the bindings with his knife that he'd unsheathed from his bootstraps.

"... I see," Fuegoleon remarked as he read the written statement from the Seabed Temple, "according to them, the swords have managed to breach their barrier, so they're forced to temporarily evacuate until it has been repaired," the Crimson Lion King Captain pointed out as he continued reading the paper, "... it says that they request reinforcements in case of further attacks."

"Thy is best suited for such task," Kaiser stated as he stood up from his seat, "at your command, the Purple Orcas shall be Clover Kingdom's shield, and thy shall see that thou company are steeled for such task."

"Thank you, I'll be ready to call on you whenever you and your squad are ready," Julius stated, "now, regarding who's going where, here's our plan."

Both Dragunov and Marx then roll out another sheet of paper depicting the situations in the two fronts.

"In the Heart Kingdom, our mission will focus on reconnaissance and aid," Julius stated, "Yami, you and your base is suited for fast traveling, and I'm aware that your [Spatial Magic] user is well-traveled himself, correct?"

"In a way, I guess," Yami replied, "provided if he's motivated, which I will make sure that it does."

"That said, I'll need Magic Knights who are open-minded and specializes in prolonged missions," Julius pointed out, "Black Bulls, Green Mantis, and the Crimson Lion Kings will be prioritized to the mission at Heart Kingdom. Any objections?"

"Peh, send a bunch of weaklings to a pansy's job?" Jack deadpanned, still bitter about his prospects, "... fine, but I'm gonna flay their asses to the bone once we get back."

"Heart Kingdom will be standing by the time we return," Fuegoleon declared.

"A milk run?" Yami remarked with his signature snark, "count on us."

"Somehow, I don't find that very reassuring..." Nozel sighed out, "... could be worse."

"Anywho," Julius interjected, "regarding the Spade Kingdom, a more aggressive and flexible approach is required," he pointed out, "Ulster being the closest to us, we'll have to send the Silver Eagles, the Coral Peacocks, and the Golden Dawn to the Spade Kingdom, along with a few, special guests."

"Jerry-boyo and some lass named Corrin Index," Dagda pointed out, "former's got some Ulster blood in him, latter's a mapmaker, so she might come in handy."

"Hmm, an escort mission?" Dorothy remarked, "might as well send in the best of the best for the worst possible outcome."

"Rest assured, I will see the mission through," William declared, "you have my word."

"The Aqua Deer and the Blue Rose Knights will remain here to defend the homestead while they recuperate," Julius ordered, "any objections?"

"None whatsoever," said Rill.

"Rest or not, I will not remain idle," Charlotte declared, "the Blue Rose Knights will be ready, either half-broken or fully recovered."

"Any other questions?" Julius asked, which none raise their hands, "meeting's adjourned."

The Captains and the others in the tent all disperse in various directions.

"... So," Yami remarked as he rested his left hand on his sheathed katana as he walked back towards his base, "ya think your boys can handle what's coming next?"

"Better be," Jack snapped, "I didn't become a Magic Knight Captain to have a bunch of sissies on my end."

"Have faith in your men," Fuegoleon stated stoically, "use your strength to inspire your men, not make them cower."

"Just don't trash my ride, ya hear?" Yami pointed out as the three stopped before the Black Bulls base standing in the middle of a ruined square of the Capital, "it technically doesn't belong to me, and we only have one of the kind."

"This hunk of junk?" Jack remarked, pointing at the base before him, "... actually, it doesn't look that bad. And it's portable too? Fuck!"

"And prey tell, why didn't you tell us all sooner that you had a portable base?" Fuegoleon asked.

"Because unlike you idiots, I actually know how to keep certain things secret," Yami boasted, "alright, just a sec," he remarked before he yelled towards the building itself, "Henry! How long do you need to recharge your mana?!"

"Aaaaabbbooouuutttt aaaa wwweeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkk," the building's walls moaned out.

"Keh keh keh!" Jack cackled out as he brandished his [Death Scythes] onto his forearms, "now that hunk of junks looks worth cutting up-"

The Green Mantis Captain suddenly found himself facing against the tip of Yami's katana.

"I said, 'don't trash my ride'," Yami threatened Jack, "you even think about tryin' doing it, string bean? Try me."

"Both of you, that's enough!" Fuegoleon barked out as his [Leo Palma]s lifted the two of them aloft like kittens before turning towards the building, "Sir Henry!" he cried out, "is there any way for any of us to assist in you?!"

"Iiiii aaabbbssoooorrrrbbb sssuurrrroooouuunnnndddiiinnnnggg mmmaaaaannnnnaaa," Henry moaned out, "uuuuuusssssuuuuaaaalllllyyyy ffffrrrooommmm ooottthhheeeerrrr pppeeeoooooppppllleee, bbbbbbiiiiitttt bbbbyyyyy bbbbbbiiiiiiittttt."

"Then please!" Fuegoleon requested, "take mine if you must!"

He then extends his hand towards the building, donating some of his own mana towards it.

"... Well, is it enough?" asked Fuegoleon.

"Nnnnoooottt eeeennnnnoooouuuugggghhhh," Henry moaned out through the walls, "ttthhhhaaannnnkkkkk ffffooooorrrr ttthhhheeeee tttthhhhhoooouuugggghhhhttt, ttthhhooouuggghh," he thanked the captain, "eeeevvvvveeeerrrrryyyyy bbbiiiitttt hhheeellllppppsss."

"Please, I insist," Fuegoleon remarked, "take more if you must-"

"What's going on here?" Brigid remarked as she floated in onto the scene, seeing a pair of flaming lion paws hold up two Captains like kittens, causing her to stifle her laughter at the ridiculous sight.

"Well, the truth is," Yami pointed, "got assigned to a mission, need to the Heart Kingdom, but my ride needs to recharge on mana to get it moving again."

"Hm, I guess I owe you a favor for lending me your ear last night," Brigid teased as she floated by Fuegoleon as she then entered into the Black Bulls base, "mind leading me where you are, mister Henry?"

"Tttthhhiiissss wwwwaaaaayyyy," the lethargic voice moaned through the walls as the doors behind Brigid slammed shut on its own.

"... Is she gonna be alright?" Jack remarked.

"Jack, you're acting weird," Yami pointed out, "when was the last time you've empathy to anyone else?"

Suddenly, all of the base's windows began spewing out beams of light, followed up by the sounds of electricity crackling and Brigid's screams of agony. After a few seconds of the Black Bull's base turning itself into a horror house, the lights flicker out and the crackling stops, as if the building itself wasn't haunted just a few seconds prior.

"... What just happened?" Fuegoleon asked before the front doors burst open with a ragged young man dressed in white plainclothes ran out laughing gleefully, his fluffy snow-white hair flowing behind him as he continued in his merriment.

"Henry?!" Yami remarked in surprise at the sight of the normally-bedridden young man hopping out and about, "you're... you're out of your bed and... running!"

"I know!" Henry remarked in normal speech as he continued running about in joy, "I never felt this alive in my whole life!"

"... Well, not me," grunted out Brigid's voice, who herself stumbled out of the doorway completely drained, sporting bags under her eyes and the right corner of her lip now drooling, "... sunnuvabitch took more than I thought."

"I feel like I can run around forever!" Henry cheered as he began doing backflips and cartwheels with his reinvigorated body, "thank you Miss Brigid!" thanked the Ulsterian sorceress, "thank you for letting me be normal for a first time in a long time!"

"... Good for ye," Brigid grumbled out before she passes out as her whole body collapses onto the ground.

"Before you guys say anything," Yami pointed out before the conversation got super-awkward, "long story short, she's literally made of 100% mana," he explained, "she's literally an artificial Magical Spirit created by four uber-powerful mages some few hundred years back."

"Ah," Fuegoleon remarked in slight disbelief, the [Leo Palma] spell dispersing behind him, releasing the two from his grasp, "... I see."

"That's why she felt so weird and I felt like she herself was honestly about to commit suicide," Jack remarked as he dusted off his clothes, "she literally had the life sucked out of her."

"I'll take her back to Dagda's place to get her looked at," Yami remarked as he took up Brigid over his shoulder and went where the giant pig was buried at.

"So, Sir Henry," Fuegoleon asked the jubilant young man, "are you well enough to travel to the Heart Kingdom?"

"Sure thing!" he replied before his stomach growled, "... after I eat."

"Soup kitchen ain't far from here," Jack pointed out before his own stomach growled, "... wonder if they got some bread rolls around."

At the soup kitchen first set up by Charmy before others pitched in as a semi-autonomous functional aid to the people, civilians and Magic Knights were all convening at the shared space.

"Mom, dad, Taro," Jericho remarked as he ate his hardboiled egg, "... I'm glad you're all alive, but please, you don't have to worry about me, I'll be fine at the Spade Kingdom."

"I know," Rhodes sighed out, "but still, after the skies were raining down giant swords that destroyed our home?" she pointed out, "now I don't know what will happen to my own children..."

"Master Ishmael was a wise man, and he was stolen away from this world," Taro remarked solemnly, remembering the look of his master's eyes before he was ordered to run, "for his sake, I'll have to be stronger."

"No need to rush," a deep voice remarked, seemingly coming from a bespectacled short child with dark-blue hair wearing an oversized lab coat over his ensemble of suit and shorts, his boots hanging over the ledge of his seat as the legs swayed back and forth, "as long as we're alive, we can afford to make mistakes."

"Hey," Yuno remarked as she stumbled on his crutch, "just met up with Sister Lily and the others from Hage after well, last week happened," the black haired youth remarked as he looked at the towering woman in white, a youth who looks if he was Yami's ethnicity, and a child playing scientist sitting with Jericho, "that your family?"

"Indeed," Jericho replied, "my mother, Rhodes."

"Pleasure to meet you," Rhodes spoke gently, "and thank you for being my boy's friend."

"My adoptive brother, Taro," the [Platinum Magic] user introduced.

"Dozo yoroshiku, Yuno-san" Taro greeted with a slight bow, "that means 'pleasure to meet you, mister Yuno'."

"And I assume that's the youngest child?" Yuno remarked as he looked at the boy in the lab coat next to Rhodes.

"No, that's actually my father," Jericho pointed out, much to everyone's surprise, with Nozel spitting out his water in surprise.

"Name's Paris," the boy remarked in a very deep voice in dissonance to his youthful, pre-teen appearance, "Paris Platnia."

"... Ah," Nozel remarked in dull surprise after he wiped his mouth with his handkerchief, "now I remember," he recalled, "he was cursed by a witch that he'd initially courted during his youth to remain stuck in his pre-teens until his death."

"Silver lining, I never feel getting sore from age," Paris remarked, "although I may get utterly wasted from just smelling alcohol, everything else is great!"

Paris then lets out a bold laughter despite his utterly bizarre predicament.

"What's going on here?" Dagda remarked after he dropped off the plates to the dishwashing station to find the little man similar to his height, "hey Artio!"

"I go by Rhodes here," the giant woman shushed Dagda.

"... Okay, Rhodes," Dagda corrected himself as the rest of the soup kitchen watched the scene, "who's the boyo next to Jerry-boyo?"

"My husband," the Jotun woman remarked, causing Dagda to look at the two's different statures, "... don't ask how we did it."

"Never did," Yuno pointed out as Titania scuffled his hair like bedsheets.

"Probably broke all of his bones doing it," Dagda remarked, to which Paris nods in agreement, "... bloody hell, ye serious?!"

"Ended up in a full-body cast after the first night," Paris boasted, "we met each other after both of our original partners turned both of us down and got married the day after."

"You sir, are a brave boyo!" Dagda remarked, "only the foolishly brave would shag the 'Beast-Hands' herself!"

"Worth it," boasted Paris as he gave a thumbs up.

"My man," Dagda praised his fellow man who'd stopped aging past childhood followed up with a high-five before giving him a manly hug, "you sir, have good taste. Make Artio the happiest woman in all of the world, ye hear me?"

"That's my life's work," Paris replied, "that and well, finding new stars to name after her and my kids."

"Dad!" both Taro and Jericho called out in embarrassment.

"... I don't know if I should be happy or annoyed by you of all people saying that," Rhodes grumbled to herself as she facepalmed, while Yuno gave her a pat on her back with his hand stretched upwards to avoid touching her bottom.

"Anyway," Dagda remarked, "Jerry-boyo is gonna come with me with the Goldies, the Silvies, and the Pinkies," he pointed out, "Corry-lass has already said goodby to her mum, so you better hurry! We're leaving this afternoon, ye hear?!"

As the others got back to their own businesses after seeing the show of the two men relating each other over knowing a giant woman, Yuno then spots Corrin shuffling herself between the crowds with an adult woman with a similar appearance to her following behind.

"Mom, I don't need you coddling me," Corrin remarked, "also, you still stink of booze."

"Aw what's wrong?" Jules cooed out, still holding a half-finished bottle of wine in her hands, "mama just wants to give you a goodbye kiss-"

"HOW ARE YOU STILL DRINKING AT A TIME LIKE THIS?!" Corrin snapped at her own mother before she noticed Yuno standing next to her, causing her to flee elsewhere.

"... Ma'am," Yuno remarked in a deadpan expression, "not my place to pry, but you do realize that you just made a complete ass of yourself, right?"

"I know," Jules replied as she let out a sigh before taking another bottle to herself, "but everyone's so uptight to keep up appearances, why don't they just live a little?"

"Because we wouldn't have a functional society?" Yuno pointed out, "and that people need to survive first in order to live?"

"... Hmph," she huffed out before finishing off her bottle, "and thus, life and logic eludes me once more..." she muttered to herself after sobering up immediately, "... interesting, I have to know why."

"... What an odd person," Yuno remarked as he saw Corrin's mother walk away elsewhere in a contemplative manner.

There's something wrong with her, Titania remarked, and not in a usual normal way, she pointed out as she looked at the woman's outline of her very soul, spotting something smoldering within, almost like... there's something that's not her's, something disgusting and gross crawling in her soul.

"We'll worry about that later," Yuno remarked as he then tumbled towards Rill, who was drawing a mural of kids running around immaculately with the paintbrush clasped between his teeth, the canvas gripped by both of his hands to the sides, and his head swiveling in all directions like crazy.

"Oh! Hey there!" Rill greeted as he finished his portrait, being a picture-perfect replication of the scene that occurred just five seconds ago, "since my squad is now taking a break, thought I get some practice in!"

Yuno looks at Rill's missing thumb and index on his right, and yet sees that the youthful Aqua Deer Captain being undeterred in his artistic pursuit.

"... Titania," Yuno remarked, "starting from tomorrow, I'm gonna start walking without my crutch."

"You sure?" the Sylph replied, "regardless, I'm with you, 100%!"

The sight of Rill still pursuing his art despite his injured body, and the other two branches of Magic Knights now ready to leave for their locations for their respective missions, has now filled Yuno with determination.

Campus District #4, Libratium, Spade Kingdom, Afternoon

"Sign here, sign here, and sign here," the receptionist spoke as he pointed to each line where Fana, Mariella, and the Whomalt kids were each signing at, "also, the results of your literacy test came in," he remarked as he handed them their results, "with you prior signatures, you have now registered yourselves into Libratium's student registry. Your results are scaled from 1 to 12, which will determine your class-grade placements."

"... Mine says '3'," Fana pointed out, "what does that mean?"

"It means that your literacy level is that of a third-grader's," the receptionist bluntly pointed out, "we don't judge here, we have some other vagabonds who never read a single letter in their life attending similar classes," he remarked as the others received their results, Violet getting a "6", Peony getting a "4", Daisy getting a "2", and Mariella getting a "9", "any other questions that I may answer?"

Mariella raises her hand.

"Is the school's pacing sufficient enough to fit all of us?" she asked, "provided if the classes have already started?"

"No, it won't matter," the receptionist answered, "Libratium's courses are designed to be flexible to ensure that there are no such thing as 'late starts'," he remarked, "our motto is 'Freedom to Learn, Learning about Freedom'. The only way you're late is when you don't show up for class, but in the grand scheme of things, even if you started right now whereas the other students started months prior, you won't have to worry about falling behind if tests and exams are of concern," the young man explained as he adjusted his glasses, "those, you can take whenever you wish to advance a grade. Any other questions?"

No one answers.

"Alright, you're all free to go," the receptionist remarked, "your first classes will be starting next week, so I suggest getting some advice from the others to get started."

As the girls left the room, the Whomalt sisters went with Mariella whereas Fana heads towards the obviously-evil-looking building in the district, decorated with skulls and gargoyle statues all over its edifice, its entrance being that of a literal giant fanged skull, its moats being that of a liquid of purple hue.

Sheesh, Mari wasn't kidding how evil this place looked, Elf!Fana remarked as she read the sign reading "Demonology & Heretical Studies Department: Castle Barrière d'Enfer", I wouldn't be surprised if the skies darkened and lightning started booming followed up by a cackle!

All three of the things that Elf!Fana described happened immediately after, including a maniacal laughter being howled out.

... From the building next to the evil-looking castle, a giant, ramshackle stone watchtower looking less like a single tower and more like several castle complexes stacked atop of each other spewing out storm clouds. The building itself was labeled "Meteorology Department: Tour du Ciel".

... I swear, these people are complete nutjobs, Elf!Fana remarked before Dune came bursting out of the window/left eyehole of the "skull" angrily.

"DAMMIT BLAU!" Dune cried out, "HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO TELL YOU JACKASSES TO KEEP IT DOWN?!"

"Tell that to the Paladin Council after you lot actually receive funding!" an obnoxious voice remarked followed up by another cackle of maniacal laughter before the clouds disappeared around the tower.

"Son of a bitch, why I outta-" Dune grumbled to himself before seeing Fana below, "... oh, sorry you had to see that," he apologized, "squabbles between competing departments and whatnot."

"Um..." Fana stammered out as she looked around for Mari, "... where's Mari?"

From the moat of purple deluge below, the short-haired Chevalier girl then burst out of the colored waters and lands before Fana while completely dry.

"... What just happened?" asked Fana in a confused manner.

"Oh, practicing Ki," Mari replied nonchalantly.

Her clothes aren't even wet... Elf!Fana commented in utter disbelief.

"So," the sailor-suited girl remarked, "you two ready?"

Fana nods, with Elf!Fana scoffing.

"Alright, that's the spirit," Mari replied before turning herself towards the gates before knocking on the gates, "hey! It's me, Mari!" she cried out as she continued knocking on the heavy wooden gates, "I got another case study coming in!"

"Alright," a deep voice coming from the castle itself boomed out, "just stand back and let me open the thing," the castle remarked before letting out a sigh as Mari and Fana took a step back from the gates, "why do we even have a drawbridge when we built a bridge over the moat?! Goddammit!"

The wooden gates then drop down with a loud thud echoing across the air upon landing, introducing a dark and foreboding chamber within.

"Just don't bump into anything," the castle begged as the two girls went into it as the drawbridge pulled itself shut behind them, "a lot of fragile shit we've let to contain are there."

As the two traverse the dimly-lit maze of test tubes filled with fleshy-growth-like-creatures swimming in their containers of varying colors of red, blue, green, yellow, and orange, the borderline-demonic relics and fetishes adorning the place, illuminated by the former's disconcerting lights, Fana was doing her utmost best to not freak out at her surroundings, whereas Elf!Fana herself was on the verge of vomiting at the horrific sight.

How can she even tolerate this place? Elf!Fana remarked while trying not to hurl inside Fana's head, the amount of this disgusting presence is borderline heresy!

Just pretend life can offer much worse and you'll be fine, Mari telepathically commented, your Ki is paper-thin. Train your tolerance first before making assumptions.

The two/three of them then stand before a door decorated with an entire snake's skeleton on its wooden surface. Oddly enough, the door didn't have a doorknob or a handle, looking more like an ornamental shield than an actual door.

"This right here, is the department head's office," Mari remarked, "I can no longer proceed any further since I'm not part of this department, and you are a case study," she remarked, "I will be waiting by the door, so you knock to let the head know that you're here."

Reluctantly, Fana then knocks onto the door, the skeleton serpent then suddenly shot itself off of the door, slithering in the air and getting up and close to Fana's face.

"So, you're the so-called 'case study'," the skeletal snake before it turned its head towards Mari, "are you sure she's the one?"

"Don't play coy with me," Mari deadpanned, "you can already tell, can you?"

"... Bah, you're no fun," the skeletal snake remarked before it stuck itself back onto the door's surface, causing the door to hinge itself open, "only the pink-haired one may enter."

"Off you go," Mari remarked as Fana entered through the door.

As she entered into another chamber, the door itself shut itself behind her with a loud thud. She instinctively tried to open it, only to realize that there wasn't a doorknob on the other side either.

"Don't worry your little head about being trapped here, sweetie," a sultry and seductive voice remarked in the dim room piled high with books and skeletons of various beasts and people, "I won't bite," the voice remarked as a single wisp of red light glowed in the dark, "I'm a decent person after all."

With a snap of her finger, all of the skulls in the room then had their eye sockets lit up in flames, illuminating the room to reveal a raven-haired, pale-skinned female elf with a small black and silver tricorn adorned on top of her head, her right eye was sporting a monocle that seemed suppress an abnormal amount of mana coming from her red eye that glowed compared to her normal left, earl-gray eye, her chest was covered up with a black leather tube top connected to her choker via silver chains that covered her cleavage in a loose netting, her arms were covered in bicep-length black leather gloves with silver-tipped claws, her shapely legs were covered in a pair of tight black pants with cut sleeves at the ends of each leg, exposing her high-heeled black leather boots with silver-tipped heels and toes. Parading around her was a moving skeleton of a beast, adorned with colorful tattoos of hearts and stars on its placid white skull, while above it pair of hollow eye sockets glowing with a pair of red lights, was an out-of-place, three-pointed clown hat, one cone sporting a yellow and white checker patter with a white ball of fluff at its tip, the other one being decorated with vertical stripes of red and green with a brass chime at the end of its tip.

"... Oh," Fana remarked as the showy-looking elven woman who walked towards her seductively, "so you're the head of this department?"

"Why yes," the elven head replied with a sweet smile, "I am the head of the Demonology & Heretical Studies Department, Professor Luciel Rosengarten, but please, call me Professor Lu," she greeted as she reached out for a handshake, "it's a pleasure to meet you-"

Her hand was then slapped away by Elf!Fana taking over Human!Fana's body over forcibly.

"An elf, studying Demonic Magic?!" the elven Fana snarled out in fury before grabbing Luciel by her chains by her choker, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU-"

"[Let go]," Luciel commanded as her red eye flashed, forcing Fana to let go of her.

But then Fana charged towards her, to which Luciel lets out a sigh before letting out a whistle to command her skeleton beast to pin Fana down.

"Please, for the love all that's holy," Luciel sighed out as Fana struggled under the pounce of the skeletal beast, "don't make me use my Familiar, [Cnámh Sith] to hurt you," she begged, "I only wish to help you."

"THEN DIE YOU HERETIC!" Fana screeched out as [Cnámh Sith] kept pinning her down, "YOU ARE LOVED BY MANA, SO WHY DID YOU TURN YOUR BACKS TOWARDS THE DARK SIDE?!"

"Because that was the past," Luciel replied as she sat back down onto her seat, "this is the present, the elves are no longer being hunted down by humans for their magic," she pointed out, "so we can afford branch out a little."

"I AM GOING TO BURN YOU TO ASH-"

"[Stay]."

Before Fana could unleash unholy hell unto the elf Contractor, the following command forced her magic to withdraw itself back to a dormant state.

"[Bring the human out]," she commanded, forcing Elf!Fana to switch places with her human counterpart.

But before Elf!Fana can come back, she issues the following command to stop her from fucking shit up again.

"[Stay]."

Elf!Fana was then pacified, now completely unable to act on her rage.

"... I'm sorry you had to go through all that just now," Luciel apologized as she whistled out another tune to command [Cnámh Sith] to release Fana, "it was a good thing to come and see me for this."

"Sorry," Fana apologized as the skeleton beast brought her a plush chair to sit in, "the other Fana kinda went on a hate-filled rampage half a year back while I was completely against my will," she sheepishly remarked as the other skeletons served her a steaming cup of red tea, "... our relationship is sort of getting toxic and there might be a chance we might not only turn into a Demon, but our relationship maybe the result of a curse... or so I have been told by Mari."

Luciel then looks closer at Fana's soul with her monocle.

"... Yep, definitely a curse," Luciel remarked as she then commands her skeletons to search through the pack-rat study that is her office to retrieve something, "now where the hell is it?" she muttered to herself as she began searching for something that she needs, "I swear, I put my compilation tome of curses around here somewhere..."

"When was the last time you cleaned your study?" asked Fana.

"What's does 'clean' look like?" Luciel replied with genuine confusion, "I mean, I was literally born in the sewers about 120 years ago while the Zogratis Family were running the place, so I've might've not noticed while I was cooped up there. I mean, I visit the publish bathhouse about once a week, so I can't stink."

An elf born in the sewers? Elf!Fana remarked with disdain, no wonder why she's attracted to the dark. She might as been born human.

"I heard that," Luciel remarked as she and her skeletal beast Familiar continued digging through the piles of books stacked to the ceiling, before said pile tumbled onto her and buried her in front of Fana.

"... Are you alright?" asked Fana, only for a gloved hand to burst out of the pile with a thick-paged book labeled "Compilation of Demonic Curses and Heretical Arts".

"Found it!" Luciel remarked as she then set the gigantic book onto her work desk and began flipping through the pages, "tell me," she asked as she kept flipping through the pages, "from your point of view, what do you believe Curses are and how do you think they work?"

"Um, they're a special brand of magic that linger around a person upon being inflicted, and the effects are only removable by dispelling the spell itself altogether?" Fana pointed out.

And the fact that Demons are the ones who've invented this foul branch of magic, Elf!Fana remarked, even an elven child knows that fact.

"Well, it doesn't just linger on people, per say," Luciel remarked as she then showed a picture of a magic circle with Demonic text written on it, "your curse isn't exactly rare, but it's the worst possible outcome that you can get from this particular curse," she remarked, "this curse, ain't exactly affecting just one person, rather, it's effecting the world itself."

... What, Elf!Fana gawked out in utter disbelief, please tell me that you're joking, for no magic alone can't be that powerful enough to affect the whole world!

"True," Luciel remarked, "... if said caster wasn't your ordinary Demon," she remarked, "for reference, you know the rain of giant swords that happened last week, correct?" she asked, "that kind of spell isn't a curse, but sure as hell worked like one, given that the swords themselves are impossible to destroy in conventional means, and it has been reported that there are swords size of towers spotted all over the continent," the head of the D&HSD pointed out, "the only reason why Libratium itself was spared from the carnage was thanks to the AEON system that we initially built to keep out bird shit. Apparently, a spatial displacement barrier is enough to deter the coming fallout, which theoretically gives us an out."

"The curse," Fana asked in increasing desperation, "tell us, what's our curse?!"

The head Demonologist then lets out a heavy sight before showing her the same page on the tome that she was reading.

"The [Curse of Apocrypha]," Luciel answered, "the very imprint of the Demon King himself," she explained, "this curse doesn't just affect countless people; it affects the world itself, dragging the people itself with it upon being triggered."

"What do you mean?" Fana asked.

"Tell me," Luciel asks a question, "if you'd say, saw a vision of the future where you would die, would you do everything in your powers to prevent such fate from happening?"

I would do it, a thousand times over, if it meant saving my friends and family back at the village, Elf!Fana answered, to which she only receives a mirthless laughter from Luciel.

"Bad news, chief," Luciel replied, "that curse from the Demon King ensures that no one defies fate," she remarked, "and once it catches up, game over."

"What do you mean?" Fana asked, "are you saying that I will die soon?"

"Only if you end up in the wrong place at the wrong time," Luciel replied, "tell me, if you were able to time travel any time of your choosing, what would happen if you met yourself in the past or future?"

"... Uh, nothing would happen?" Fana answered reluctant.

"No, the exact opposite would happen," Luciel bluntly replied, "I'll cut to the chase, if you end up seeing your own dead body in the near future, my advice, don't touch it," she ordered, "trust me, I saw one of my own friends 50 years ago find his own skeleton buried in a riverbed, and the next second, he literally disappeared before me, and a wild [Stigyian] took his place and nearly maimed my whole family and friends before we took it down," the Demonologist recalled, almost going into a panic-attack before calming herself down, "however, two souls that were supposed to both die in the foreseeable future inhabiting the same body?" the elven Contractor pointed out, "... we've reached a possible worst-case-scenario. You two won't just die and spawn a Demon upon the curse being triggered, you might end up as a catalyst to summoning one of the Eleven Elusive Evils themselves by your souls merging into a Stigmata!" she answered, her lucidity now going into a territory of doubt, "do you know how rare it is for someone to have two souls that are only meant to die in the foreseeable future and don't get along inhabiting in the same body, along with each other being identical strangers?! You might as well have every single star in the sky pointed towards you upon a natural hermaphrodite's birth as your conjoined twin!"

... That's... an overly narrow superlative if I've ever heard one, Elf!Fana remarked.

"So what do we do?!" asked Fana, now realizing that she could effectively die anytime soon because she didn't earlier.

"For now, we'll have to make do," Luciel remarked as she issued the following command from her Contractor Magic, "[Command Curse Magic: Succubus Eye]; [Order: Do not approach anyone or anything that looks exactly like you]."

Her red right eye then flashes into Fana's own, imprinting a subconscious suggestion into her very soul, which Elf!Fana was literally burned onto forehead where her [Third Eye] was at before it was ripped out.

"Also, my card," Luciel stated as she handed her a small white card with her name and information on it. Below the label was a plain purple circle. "Whenever you have any questions, head to the nearest receptionist and he or she will do the rest for you," the Demonologist explained, "any questions?"

"... I don't know what kind of questions to ask," Fana sobbed out, now in utter despair as her life felt like a one giant lie that was revealed to her, "how am I supposed to live with the fact that I am going to die because I was fated to?"

"... Look, I'm literally the last person to tell you that everything's going to be fine, because it ain't," Luciel pointed out, "but in the grand scheme of things, no one makes it out of life alive," she stated, "don't despair because you'll probably die without being able to say goodbye, instead, find new ways to make new memories while you're alive, at least, that's how I did it," the Demonologist pointed out, "to each their own, I suppose."

She then snaps her fingers and the door out of the office clicks open.

"You can go now," Luciel stated as she let out an exhausted sigh, "just don't rush into things recklessly, but don't take too long to deliberate either."

Fana then walks out of Luciel's study as the snake-door shut behind her upon exiting.

"... Did it help?" Mari asked Fana.

"... I think there are things in life that I was better off not knowing," Fana tearfully remarked before she broke down crying.

"Life is cruel," Mari replied as she stood by the crying girl, "your tears will dry out soon enough. Pray that your heart doesn't."

Throughout the halls inside the Gates of Hell, a lone soul continues to cry at her powerlessness as she and her other self were damned by fate itself.

The human and the elf, sharing the same face and soul, were now finding themselves in a world of silver-tipped thorns as their feet laid bare.

Back in the dimly-lit office, Luciel lets out another labored sigh as she looked at the magic circle depicting the [Curse of Apocrypha]. Thanks to her being a Contractor, she's able to make out some of the Demonic Text of Daemontongue, and due to the two Fanas already being indirectly cursed by the Demon King himself by them simply existing, she knew that she had to break them just so that they don't end up going insane from what they're inevitably going to end up running into.

"... They don't deserve such fate," Luciel sighed out before she turned to her Compilation of Demonic Curses, "Apocrypha, noun; scripture or writing that is not accepted at part of the canonical status quo," she read out, "... so what, does that mean that this world doesn't deserve to exist?"

She then slams the book the shut before sweeping her arm across her desk and letting out a scream of pure rage.

"... I will break this curse," Luciel stated, "everyone, regardless of who they are, has a right to live and die of their own free will."

And Fana will be the lynchpin of her great work.

Somewhere in the Neutral Territory, Evening

"I swear, we are heading nowhere," Claudius remarked as he brushed the greenery aside.

"Shut up and keep going," Astaroth replied as he used his remaining [Anti-Magic] sword, [Reject], to chop through the bushes, "the trail... the visions... I see both..."

"We're short one sword, and severely under numbered," Claudius pointed out, "this place better have something worth the effort otherwise it climbing back up from Hell again."

"Just keep going..." Astaroth remarked, "the epicenter... we're almost there-"

Suddenly, Astaroth's left leg than crumbles off of his knee, causing him to fall onto the ground as the broken off leg crumbles to dust and subsequently blown away by a stray breeze.

"Milord!" Claudius "hang on, I'll find another body-"

The bush next to them rustled, causing Claudius to drag the one-legged Astaroth elsewhere to hide. The wingless Fallen Angel then peeked from the side of the tree that he was hiding from, and finds a redheaded girl with fluffy hair coming running out of the bushes, with a fully-manifested [Stygian] wearing human clothes following the girl from behind.

"Come on," the hellish entity remarked, his voice being soft, unlike a Demon's, but that of a human boy's voice and tone, "mom's gonna get mad if she finds you dirty from playing tag for too long," he remarked, his gentle demeanor clashing horribly with his nail-like teeth and eyes like lit coal pits, "sun's already going down."

But what was really odd about the two, aside from the presence of a fully-manifested Stygian in a presence of a human, was that both of them didn't have a lick of mana within them. Just like the Fallen Angels themselves. But whereas the Fallen Angels had their mana stripped after their defeat at the hands of Sephira, those two felt like they were born without mana to begin with.

... True humans, Claudius thought as he saw the two head back through the same bush, they've survived? In this world?

Hope illuminated in Claudius's very soul, for his work hasn't been completely destroyed.

"Milord," Claudius whispered out, "... shall we follow them?"

"... He the one I saw in my vision," Astaroth remarked, "... keep going ahead, but don't get caught."

Claudius then lifts the Prince up into a piggyback before the two then went towards the same direction where the [Stygian] and the little girl headed towards.

The two kept following the footprints left behind by the two, and eventually, both make it out towards the clearing where they find a cabin sitting atop of a hill, with the doorway being opened by the two that they've followed.

"... There it is," Astaroth remarked as he saw the place over Claudius's head, "... the epicenter-"

The two then hear a bucket of water followed up by wet slapping sounds coming from the ground next to them.

The two Fallen Angels then find a woman in a straw hat with a villager's plainclothes of a white top under a beige leather vest and a pair of navy blue pants with sturdy leather worker's boots. In her right hand was a fishing rod that she carried over her shoulder, while in the other, her bare left hand hanging lamely next to her waist, with below her, a dropped bucket with a trail of water laid before its toppled opening, full of fish flopping about on the ground.

"... Asta?"

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: Prepare for a long-ass arc, and hoo-boy, this one's gonna be... emotionally complicated.

Again, I might be overreaching with my creative ambitions again, but really, when has that stopped me? I mean, you miss all the swings that you don't take, so might as well risk getting hit rather than pansy out and miss.

So yeah, [Curse of Apocrypha] is basically a one-giant meta-joke that the world that they're in is indeed a fanfic-version of Black Clover, and the fact that I have to explain this along with making this a plot point just shows how exhausting the whole process has been.

It'll only count as a fuck-up after I end this plot thread poorly, so wish me luck in trying to make sense of the monster I've created.

As for the other plot threads, here's what will be covered throughout in the following Sagas:

1) Illuminati/Neo Eye of the Midnight Sun's reconstruction

2) Clover Kingdom's recovery and scouting operations

3) Fana's [Curse of Apocrypha]

4) Astaroth's revelation

Yeah, I got a lot on my plate, hope that I don't metaphorically vomit.

References:

- Saga title is named after a SiM song, Same Sky (just like another SiM song in one of my second-most-recent multi-parter arc, Devil in Your Heart).

- Jericho's father, Paris Platnia, is named after the Greek character, Paris of Troy, the Greek name meaning "wallet", the city of Paris, France, and his appearance is loosely based off of Hans Andersen Christen from Fate/EXTRA.

- Rill's new method of "mouth-drawing" is a reference of how Otome Saotome from Shimoneta does her art without triggering her PM Devices.

- Yuno's determination is a reference to Undertale's "filled you with Determination" quote.

- The Demonology & Heretical Studies Department (D&HSD) building is based off of Castle Grayskull from He-Man, and the Masters of the Universe, and named after the real-life Paris building pair, Barrière d'Enfer, meaning the "Gates of Hell", the entryways into the Paris Catacombs.

- The Meteorology Department building is based off the Fairy Tail's Tower of Heaven, specially its manga iteration; it's name is also "Tower of Heaven" written in French because I'm lazy to find a related structural name (Eiffel Tower is overrated as fuck in my opinion).

- The Head of the D&HSD is a massive shout-out to a Cardfight! Vanguard unit from the Pale Moon Clan, Silver Thorn Dragon Tamer, Luquier. She's also named after Elsword characters, Lu and Ciel respectively. Her name Luciel means "light of God" in latin, Italian, Spanish, or French, while "Rosengarten" means "garden of roses" in German.

- Luciel's Familiar's name, [Cnámh Sith], roughly means "bone fairy" in Scottish-Gaelic.

- The [Curse of Apocrypha] functions like a worldwide [Gold Experience Requiem]'s effect from JoJo Part 5 with the consequences of [D4C] from JoJo Part 7.

- Luciel's [Command Curse Magic: Succubus Eye], is named after a Dark Guild from Fairy Tail with the same name.

Hypothetical Voices (for funsies):

Paris Platnia: Kenjiro Tsuda (JPN), Tyson Rinehart (ENG)

Luciel Rosengarten: Shizuka Ishigami (JPN), Xanthe Huynh (ENG)

So, what do you guys think of this Saga?

Please leave a comment or a review, for I'd like to know what my audience is thinking!