It's Tuesday which means time for a new chapter.
Rill rubbed his eyes, trying to stay awake. It was 3am by now. They had finally reached the royal capital, immediately calling for a meeting with the wizard king. Julius Novachrono, the current wizard king, finally entered the room.
The young man felt like he had been waiting for hours. The ticking of the clock on the wall didn't help much. It seemed to want to lull him to sleep even more. How hard could it be to get someone in the middle of the night. It wasn't like the man didn't sleep. Sure, he used time magic, but Rill was sure that he still slept during the night.
But when the large double doors opened and Julius walked in, Marx trailing along behind him, the need to sleep quickly vanished from his mind.
"Forgive me, I'm pretty late or early?" the wizard king laughed, clearly nervous. He knew very well that it had to be urgent if they were having a meeting in the middle of the night.
"There was a hold up with the king" he mumbled. When he said 'hold up' he probably meant that he was on his way to the meeting and the king, Augustus Kira Clover XIII made a scene about how he was more important than anything else in the kingdom.
Which meant Julius had to convince him that he was right, and it was just something he had to do, because he was the wizard king. Stupid, if you asked any of the Captains.
The blond man took a closer look at the baby in Charlotte's arms. The boy had taken a liking into the woman it seemed. Well, beside Dorothy, she was the only woman around. Maybe it soothed him. Rill didn't know much about babies. What he did know though, was, that they liked the sound of a heartbeat. Apparently, it calmed them. Especially the sound of their mother's heart.
Charlotte seemed to be the closest person to a mother. She had almost the same hair color as the baby's real mother. Maybe this was the main reason she was holding him now. Even though she had refused to take him at first, claiming that she could never be a mother figure to anyone, her face had softened when the boy began crying.
Since then, he had been sleeping in the Captains arms. No wonder. It was the middle of the night and babies needed sleep, right?
Though Charlotte felt weird holding a baby, being a mother figure. How was she supposed to explain it to the girls? Well, not like she had to hold him forever. And not like this was her own baby.
She had just agreed to hold him so he would be quiet. No, she didn't like those emerald green eyes or his laugh when she began to hold him. And she certainly hated that the brat had to choose her out of all people to travel with. Not at all.
"So, this is the boy you've mentioned" Julius observed.
"Indeed, though we have no idea why the being wished to find him" Nozel confirmed.
Julius hummed. He carefully took the baby from Charlotte's arms. He didn't want to wake him but needed to get a better look at him. It didn't help though, as he slowly opened his emerald eyes.
They were shining with curiosity, but tiredness altogether. He began squirming, trying to get back to Charlotte. Julius smiled at the small boy, handing him back to the blond woman.
Even though she never held a baby before, she supposed that it was instinct, she knew how to hold him.
"Cute" the wizard king commented.
"Now I need you to tell me exactly what happened. Marx briefly mentioned a dark being"
"Yes. It demanded for the baby, after killing his mother. The baby-" Charlotte was cut off.
"Asta" Rill interjected. Everyone looked at him, which made the young Captain slump down in his seat slightly in embarrassment.
"She said his name was Asta. The baby, I mean" he explained.
"Asta" Charlotte corrected herself "was upstairs at the time. We don't know what the being was nor what he wants from Asta."
Julius hummed in thought, before placing a book onto the table. It was black with strange symbols on top. Ones that none of the Captains could read. Julius opened a certain page in it.
"Yes! That was it" Fuegoleon said, nodding to himself.
"If this is what you saw, then you saw a demon" Julius explained.
"Demons don't exist" Nozel scoffed.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Where I come from, tales of demons aren't rare. I have never seen one myself, but these things were what you told children about when they didn't behave" Yami interjected.
The other Captains looked at him. Sometimes they tended to forget that Yami didn't come from Clover kingdom. Not originally. One day he just appeared out of nowhere it seemed. He had never really told anyone where he came from, just that it was different there.
"Let's say that you're right. Why did he want the brat?" Jack asked, leaning back in his chair, one hand thrown over the edge.
"Demons are mysterious beings. None of us really know what their intentions are. If we want to know, we'd have to ask him, which I wouldn't recommend. They are not known for being friendly" Julius clasped his hands together, smiling awkwardly.
Charlotte adjusted her hold on the baby. He had gone back to sleep as soon as she took him again, his head laying on her chest and tiny hands curled into fists. What could be different about him? He seemed like a normal baby. Sure, right now she couldn't sense magic from him, but for babies, it was normal.
Normally you could sense the magic from a person when they were about three years old. And two to three years later, their magic would manifest. When you were a late bloomer it would be when reaching eight or nine.
"Still, why him? What is so important to him that he would kill that woman?" Fuegoleon held a hand to his chin in thought.
"What woman?" Julius asked.
"Probably his mother. He wounded her pretty badly before we arrived. There was nothing we could do for her" Charlotte mumbled.
"She was his mother. And just asked to keep her baby safe. Asta" Rill said, leaning forward in his seat. His confidence rose whenever he didn't have to speak. He was just nervous, being so young with older people. He was practically a kid compared to them. Even though their difference wasn't that large. He still felt like they were twenty years older. Maybe because they were all so serious all the time.
"And he promised to come back to find him" Nozel reminded.
"Which means we have to hide him. We have to hide him somewhere where we can hide his magic once it develops. I'm pretty sure the demon will search for him that way" Yami huffs.
"Then it would be the best to hide him with one of us. We are the strongest mages in the kingdom. If he comes back, we can defend him" Jack said.
"I would rather not give a baby into your hands. Jack the Ripper. You know what your name means, right?" Charlotte said, dangerously calm.
"That I like to slice things up?" he shrugged.
"Exactly" Charlotte nodded.
"Not like I would want the brat anyways" Jack huffed. He really didn't want to take care of a baby. Kids were a plaque to him.
"Agreed. I should take him. I have three siblings and helped raise them. I am the most capable out of all of us" Nozel meant.
"Isn't your youngest sister like three weeks old? She has yet to be raised, braids" Yami grinned.
Nozel grumbled in response. Yes, Noelle was still a baby too. But still, he had helps raise his other siblings. More or less. He was young himself at that time.
Charlotte huffed, looking at the bickering men around her. She still hated men as much as she could. But the nervous feeling was rising every time she was close to Yami. The man was big, strong and a buffoon. She didn't know herself why she liked him.
But he had broken her curse and she couldn't feel anything but gratefulness for the man that saved her life. That's what the curse said, wasn't it? Only when she fell in love with a man, she could live a normal life. Well, more or less. Oh, why did it have to be this man? Anyone else would've been fine with her, but not this mountain of muscles with no manners.
Looking down at the baby, she felt protective. It was the instinct of a women to protect children, she knew that. But it wasn't even her baby. This boy, Asta, was separated from his parents. He would never know his true mother and his father, well, they didn't even know where he was.
Or who. Not like they could contact them. If they did, that demon would surely come back to get the child. And this time, he would probably succeed. A mere human wouldn't be able to protect the boy. None of them even knew how powerful that demon was.
The peaceful face of Asta buried in her chest looked more than just a bit cute, she had to admit that to herself. Babies could be a handful but still cute at the same time. Just wait until he gets older and hits puberty. That would be a disaster.
"Well" Julius started. "I would recommend that you, Yami, take care of the boy" he smiled.
"Eeehhh?! What am I supposed to do with the brat?" he complained.
"You have dark magic Yami. It is powerful yet not many know of it. I'm sure you would surprise the demon. Besides a little more responsibility would be good for you" the wizard king laughed.
Yami grumbled in response. "Do I look like some kind of babysitter? I don't know how to take care of a baby. Give the brat to Charlotte. He likes her already"
"Excuse you! Charlotte knows as much about babies as you. Almost none" Nozel cut in.
"I'll help" Charlotte blurted out. She quickly shut her mouth again. What was she thinking? Helping Yami to look after the baby? They weren't together. She constantly acted like she hated him. Like she needed no man. And she didn't. but the thought of helping Yami raise this boy seemed like a dream.
"We'll just take care of him together" she blushed lightly, trying to hide by looking away.
The perfect excuse to be closer to him. But had she been to fast? Yami gave her a weird look.
"You and a baby?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You and a baby?" she asked back.
Yami laughed, voice booming through the room. "Touché prickly queen. I guess it's settled then. We'll take care of the brat" Charlotte rolled her eyes at his behavior.
Asta opened his eyes. The loud noise had woken him up, which he didn't like very much. He was quick to let his displeasure be known as he began crying. Tiny fists clutching the fabric of Charlottes top.
The blond woman looked down at her now adopted son. No, she didn't know this kid very good, but she was still a woman and knew exactly what had upset the newborn. She glared at Yami.
"Now look what you've done. You woke him" she grumbled.
"Not my fault that the kid has such good ears" the large man tried to defend himself.
Charlotte grumbled, rocking the baby up and down, trying to coax him back to sleep. To her luck Asta seemed to be sleepy enough to lean his head back against her chest, falling asleep again. The other Captains watched in silent amusement. They were already acting like a married couple.
Julius chuckled.
"Yes, they will take god care of him."
