It took two more days before they could go home. With how much everyone was injured, it was impossible to leave. Luck and Magna had been unconscious for a whole day and even then, the healers refused to let them get out of bed.

Of course, both of them had complained about it. Especially Luck. That maniac insisted that he was fine and even challenged the healers to prove it. Which they denied. They told him to be patient. Not something that Luck was very good at.

When it came to fighting, everyone knew that Luck was an unstoppable force that only found it's end when he fell unconscious or died. That didn't happen often either. Most of the time it was Luck who knocked others unconscious, not the other way around.

So, when he woke up, the first thing he wanted to do was fight Vetto again to prove that he could win. Not like that was possible anymore. The man was dead. No one was surprised when the blond maniac pouted at that.

Asta himself was allowed out of bed rather quickly. Beside the fact that his arms were still bandaged and broken, he was fine. A few bruises here and there, but he was fine. The healers only healed the major injuries. They had said that they needed their magic power for the others too.

Asta could understand that. They healed what had been necessary, the rest could heal itself. All the teen wanted was to get out of the temple and to Owen. The only one who could help him with his arms right now.

When they were finally back home, the first thing he did was throw himself onto the couch, groaning in annoyance. Everyone else was fine again, but of course he had to wait until tomorrow. Dad had said that it was to late now, so they would go early in the morning.

"C'mon Kid, it's not that bad" Yami said.

"But I wanna go now" he whined.

Who was he kidding? His arms hurt and the sooner he could go and visit Owen, the sooner they would stop hurting. That's all he really wanted. It had only been two days, but it felt like months.

They were broken so of course every movement would hurt like hell. Asta could imagine that almost every bone in them was broken. Not like Vetto had been gently at all. What he still didn't understand though, was what he had said.

Master Licht has told us not to kill you. But I'm sure that a bit of pain is okay. You can take that, right?

Those were his words. What good could he be to them? Why did that Licht guy decide not to kill him? It didn't make sense at all.

"Just one night Asta. You've taken worse" Vanessa smiled.

Yes, he did. But that didn't mean that he preferred this at any level. His tolerance was high, but pain was pain. No one liked that. At least no one he knew. Well, beside Luck that is.

"Your day isn't over yet by the way. We're both about to get out butts kicked a little more" Yami said, lighting a new cigarette.

"What do you mean Captain?" Finral asked confused. And maybe a bit scared.

"Told Charlotte what happened" the man muttered, already regretting his decision.

"You told Mom?" Asta asked.

Yami only hummed. He told her about an hour ago, so she should be barging through the door any minute now. Maybe he should've waited until his son had visited Owen. When he was okay again. That would make her reaction a bit less drastic.

"You know her. If I wait to long, or someone tells her before me, she's going to throw thorns at me" Yami shrugged.

"How bad can it get?" Yuno asked.

He had insisted on staying just a while longer. Everyone was surprisingly fine with that. He assumed that his own Captain knew about Asta as well. They did say that it was a secret between the magic knight Captains and the wizard king.

But if Yami and Charlotte told his Captain that he knew and was keeping an eye on Asta, he could only guess. Not like that was the only reason why he wanted to stay. He cared, a lot. So, until he was sure that the other teen was completely fine, he would stay.

No matter what anyone else said.

"Oh right. You haven't really seen her angry yet" Asta chuckled.

"That bad?" Yuno raised an eyebrow.

"Worse" the teen whispered.

In that moment, the door burst open, revealing a pissed off Charlotte. She stood in the doorway arms crossed over her armored chest. Fingers tapping against her elbows. Her blue eyes narrowed at the teens father. Oh, she was angry alright.

But before she unleashed her fury, she stomped over to her son. Asta stood up from the couch, taking a few steps towards his mother himself.

Stopping almost directly in front of her boy, Charlotte crossed her arms again. She hummed, examining the wounds he had. The blond woman grumbled something to herself before turning to Yami.

"How many times are you going to allow him to injure himself like this?" she hissed.

"Hey hey, this one is really not my fault" Yami defended himself, raising his hands in surrender.

"Oh? Like last time, right? I really shouldn't leave him alone with you. What was I even thinking? Leaving our boy in your hands when I know how chaotic all of you are" Charlotte said.

"Mom" Asta sighed.

Said woman turned back towards her son. She hated it how every time she saw him, he was injured in some way. And most of the times it was because Yami didn't look after him properly. At least in her eyes.

"This time it's really not Dad's fault" he said, defending his father.

"See?!"

Asta almost groaned. How bad could these two get. Honestly, sometimes he wondered how they could ever have gotten together. They were nothing alike. Had nothing in common. How could two people so different from each other, fall in love?

Maybe Finral had been right. Opposites do attract each other. That was the only explanation he had for this.

To make sure that his mother wouldn't kill his Dad though, Asta explained what had happened. About the spatial mage that locked them in a space they couldn't just leave like that. About Vetto and everything else.

Charlotte listened carefully and relaxed. Seems like her boy was right, Yami really couldn't be blamed for this. But when Asta told her about the weird power-boost he had had for just a moment, she grew concerned.

She feared that it was what they had been trying to avoid all these years.

Charlotte took a deep breath. "Alright" she said. "Yami I still need to speak with you in private" she insisted.

"You're not still mad, right" Asta frowned.

The blond woman smiled at her son. "I'm not" she confirmed. "But there is something else we need to speak about. And since I'm already here, we can do it now."

She dragged Yami away, disappearing into one of the empty rooms of the house.

"Alright" the teen shrugged. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm heading to bed."

A glance at Yuno and the taller teen understood to follow. There was no questioning it anymore. No one doubted anything. All of them knew what both teens felt for each other. None of them had a problem with that either.

"Ah, young love" Vanessa sighed dreamily after the teens disappeared into the hallway.

"Not easy when they're in different squads" Magna crossed his arms.

"They'll manage" Luck grinned.


The next day, Asta shot out of his room before anyone else. While it was hard to open the door by turning the knob with his mouth, it didn't stop him from running into the main hall and waiting for the others.

As excited as he was, the teen knew better than to wake everyone up for this. Especially Dad. And he wanted to give Finral the rest he needed. He had to use a lot of his magic the last few days, and sleep would help him to feel better.

Even without magic, Asta knew this much. He knew that a good sleep would help him to regain his magic faster.

At some point, Finral entered the main hall and Asta grinned from ear to ear. The older boy sighed.

"Give me one second and we'll be on our way" he said.

Asta nodded eagerly, patiently sitting on the couch. Once Finral had stuffed some leftover food from the fridge into his mouth, he motioned for Asta to come.

Without a second though, the teen jumped over to his squad-mate. Finral opened a portal and went through first. Asta followed.

On the other side of the portal, Owen was already waiting for them. Even though it was still early, the older man was smiling like he always was, hands folded behind his back.

"Well then Asta" he began. "Yami has told me what happened. Let's see what I can do, shall we?" Owen gestured inside.

Asta took a deep breath before following. He didn't even know why, but he was nervous. There was nothing that could go wrong now, so why question it. Following Owen inside one of the rooms, Asta sat down on the chair across from the healer.

"Okay, this should only take a few minutes" Owen smiled.

The magic of the healer removed his bandages and for a few seconds, he felt much better. That was until he stopped with a frown. Owen pushed his glasses up, a deep frown on his face. He did not expect this.

When he began explaining, Asta felt his own smile drop into utter shock and maybe even some fear. He was kidding right? There was no way that this was true. There was no way he was…

With a fake smile, the teen stood up, still thanking Owen for trying, and went back outside. Finral was waiting there and he too, was confused when he saw that the teens arms were still bandaged.

Another fake smile and Asta told him, he would tell him along with the others. He really didn't feel like explaining this twice in one day. Asta didn't even know how to explain this one to his father. Or what to do after today.

During dinner when everyone was sitting around the table, Yuno right beside him, Asta explained. The curse that couldn't be cured with the magic any of the healers had.

Not Owen, and no one else in the kingdom. And for the first time since he could remember, Asta had to hold back tears.

There was nothing he could do now. He would have to quit the magic knights before he even did it for one year. He wouldn't be able to do anything on his own from now on. Had to rely on the help of his family.

And while he had no problem to ask for help once in a while, his own pride forbid him from asking for everything. Fate hated him and he hated fate, but like always he would find a way to punch fate right back in the face.

It seemed to love to strike him down. And every time he hit back. For every stupidity and injustice that was thrown at him. And this time was no exception. Asta knew he would find a way out of it, like he always did.

The pitiful glances he would gain from the others was what he hated the most. Even Dad did it. Asta knew that he didn't show a lot of feelings in a day. So when he did, like right now, it meant something. It meant that it was important to him. That it hit his father as much as himself.

Maybe because he knew how much all of this meant to Asta. Protecting people and helping was everything to him. And not even fate would take that away from him. It could only try and fail miserably.

The morning after, everyone had gathered for breakfast, when…

"Hey, has anyone seen Vanessa?"

Huh?


I don't have a lot to say about this chapter. Like I said, the next part will take place in the witch's forest with someone that hasn't been in the story much.

Hope you liked the chapter, even if it wasnt so eventful :)

Bye