He didn't think that this was where he would find himself. When they noticed that Vanessa had left, no one knew why. She was just gone in the morning.
Her room empty and even the wine was left untouched. Apparently, she had even taken some of her stuff with her. The broom that usually stood in the corner of her room, ride beside her closet, was one too.
Though, Asta found a note on her nightstand. Reading it, Asta felt more guilty than he had ever felt in his entire life. Not even when he thought that Mom left because of him had he felt so bad.
Vanessa had left because of him. She had left to go to her mother's place. The forest of witched. According to the letter, Vanessa hoped that the witch queen would know a way to help him. To heal him.
Asta knew that Vanessa wasn't very fond of her mother. Why, he didn't know. He had never asked her. But when he once asked about her past, it was very obvious how much she tried to leave the women out of her story.
Whatever had happened between them, must have been very bad, if she didn't even want to mention her. She was one of the people Dad had brought back after one of his trips.
Vanessa had always been a funny person, even if she was drunk most of the time. Which he actually didn't mind that much. It surprised him too. But she wasn't drunk because she was addicted, he realized one day, but because she wanted to distract herself.
Maybe from the memories of her mother and the pain that came along with it. And maybe because it could make her forget for one moment what her life had been like until she joined Dad's squad.
When he told the others about his discovery, they all agreed to follow. Well, not all of them. Asta himself went, of course. Following him were: Yuno, Noelle and Finral.
Dad didn't think it was necessary for him to go to. They were old enough to handle themselves. Finral was more of less forced to tag along because Dad forced him to.
The spatial mage could get them there much faster after all and get them out of any dangerous situation if needed. Asta was sure that nothing bad would happen there. They'd search for Vanessa and go back home. End of the story.
And maybe, if the witch queen really was able to help him, then he'd take the opportunity. Who was he to refuse his only chance of getting one of the most important part of his life back?
Without the ability to move his arms, he wouldn't be able to do anything at all. His job as a magic knight would be over. The teen would sit on the couch of their hideout for the rest of his life, relying on others to help him with everything.
It just wasn't the life he wanted. No one would want that life.
What he didn't expect though, was when they entered the castle of the queen, Vanessa was standing there and yelling at her mother. The witch yelled at her with every curse she knew it seemed. Some of those words Asta had never heard of. And he was sure Mom would kill him if he ever dared to say such a thing. Dad wouldn't care at all though.
She had yet to notice them, while the queen had an amused smile on her face. She had seen them already. But she still seemed to listen to her daughter intensely. Even if she may not care at all, she decided to listen.
"Are you done" the queen said with boredom in her voice. Yet Asta could tell that she didn't mean it. She cared.
"Yes!" Vanessa panted, trying to catch her breath. She had been rambling, cursing and yelling for some time before finally coming to a stop. A point where she was satisfied.
"Very well, then I will be taking care of your friend now" she smiled mysteriously.
"Huh?" the pink-haired witch turned around, surprised to find her friends standing in the doorway.
Asta would've waved at her, but there were issues about that. Instead he laughed awkwardly. He didn't mean to step into the castle to listen to the witch talking like this. It was more of a personal moment that he didn't intend to be apart of.
"What are you guys doing here?" she asked.
"Well, you disappeared, we found your note and followed you" Finral said shrugged.
"My note also stated not to follow me" she put a hand on her waist.
"You know us better Vanessa. We don't follow orders" Asta grinned.
"Okay but what about him?" she gestured to Yuno.
Asta looked up at his boyfriend. She was kind of right. Since the event in the dungeon, Yuno seemed to follow him wherever he went. On every mission and every trip to town. Sometimes he even spent the night with him. It surprised him how neither of them were getting into trouble for this.
"I insisted on coming" the raven-haired teen replied.
Vanessa raised an eyebrow. Things were getting suspicious. She got that both of them were in love, but things were just too obvious. Sometimes she had the feeling that the wind mage knew something that no one else knew. She had to ask him sometime.
Suddenly, the queen cleared her throat and stepped closer towards the group.
"May I?" she asked, gesturing towards Asta's arms.
"Uh… sure" the teen lifted his arms, allowing her a better view.
The queen hummed in thought as her gaze was focused on the bandaged arms. Carefully, she removed the white bandages, seeing the damage the curse had done. They were still bruised, and she could tell that moving them would hurt.
"Vanessa has told me about what happened" she said, taking a step backwards.
She placed an index finger painted with dark red polish on her upper lip, tapping it in a steady beat. She was in thought, Asta concluded. Something every dork could figure out. She was thinking if her magic could actually help him.
"I am not the nicest person, you must know. Normally I don't do things for free. But I believe that I owe my daughter as much" the queen sighed.
"So, you can help him, mother?" Vanessa asked, a hopeful glance in her eyes.
The queen nodded. "That I can."
Asta grinned from ear to ear. It wasn't over for him yet. Take that Vetto! Even with all his effort, the man was unable to end his career. His dream. And fate lost once again.
"You all might want to take a step back" the queen warned. And everyone obliged.
Her grimoire appeared in front of her. It glowed in an ominous red color. Asta noticed it was close to his own.
The pages flew open until they stopped at a certain point. The eyes of the queen ran over the page to be certain she had found the right spell, before raising her hand. She cleared her throat.
"Blood healing magic: curse-breaking blood cocoon."
The fact that her spell had to do with blood made him nervous for a second. But the red lightly see-through spell was warm and kind of comforting. It wasn't what he had been expecting.
With the word 'blood' in it, Asta expected it to feel gross and weird. To feel wrong. But instead, it was welcoming. Withing mere seconds it disappeared again.
Asta smiled, flexing his muscles, hands closing and opening again. It felt good, normal. They didn't hurt anymore, and he could move without a problem anymore. This was good.
"Thanks" he smiled.
The queen held up a hand. "Don't thank me. My daughter has asked me for help, and I did. But please leave my forest now. Usually, men are not allowed in my forest" she said.
Vanessa rolled her eyes. Something she had never liked. No men in the forest. If they wanted to have a family, every witch had to leave the forest to do so. They were still allowed to visit, but alone.
They could also live in the forest again, if their child was a girl and the man stayed outside their territory. Something Vanessa had always hated.
But the forest was a place for witches where men had no power over them. Where no one could tell them what to do but themselves. It was a refuge of sorts.
Asta nodded. "Okay. Thanks for the exception."
The teen had yet to understand why Vanessa was mad at her mother. The queen had said that she owed her. That meant that she must've done something that was close to unforgivable, right? Again, Asta had never asked about it, but maybe it was time he did.
Well, when they were home again. Now was not the time with everyone else listening. And maybe she would tell him. If not, he would respect that too. It wasn't his decision to make. And if she said no, he wouldn't ask her mother. That would make things worse.
Someday he would find out, Asta was sure of it. For now, it was best to leave it be.
As they turned to leave, a young witch stormed through the door. She panted, hands resting on her knees as she bent over a little. This wasn't good, right?
The queens gaze turned towards the girl. "Natsuki, I hope you have a very good reason to storm in here like this!"
Asta glanced over at the queen. She was nice, but still had to be strict, he noticed. She had two faces.
The girl straightened her posture and nodded rapidly. Her breath calmed down as the air flowed into her lungs evenly again. She took one last deep breath before speaking.
"Yes, forgive me. But there are intruders!" she almost yelled.
The queen rolled her eyes. "If you are talking about these people then I can assure you, everything is under control."
Natsuki shook her head again. "No, not them. Someone else broke through our defenses. Part of the forest is burning!"
Now she had everyone's attention. Not only the queen knew that none of the young knights would've done such a thing. There was no need for that anyways. Finral had teleported them right in front of the castle.
Something Asta had been confused about. He had once said that he can only produce a portal to places where he had been before. When had he ever entered the witches forest? Asta shook his head. Not important.
"What!?" the queen yelled.
Natsumi shrunk back a little. She seemed to be of the shy kind. Yet she had mustered her courage to storm into the castle like it was nothing.
"Has anyone seen the intruder?" she asked.
Natsumi nodded. "Yes, some of the witches have seen him, as have I."
"Well?" the queen pressed.
"I have never seen anything like it. It doesn't even look human, but it could be their magic too, who knows. All I have seen is that they have set the forest on fire" she rubbed her arm in discomfort.
Yuno was getting a bad feeling about this. Something she had never seen? Even if men weren't usually allowed in the forest, she must know what they look like. She had seen them after all.
If this was what he thought it was, then they had a problem. He somehow had to convince Asta to leave and let the others take care of it. It was the only chance to prevent him from getting any clues.
"That thing had black skin and red eyes that bore into ones very core. It was terrifying" Natsumi shivered.
Yep, that sounded like the right time to leave. Yuno had promised it. He promised that as long as he could, he would prevent that Asta found out the truth about his parents. If this was the demon they had been talking about, and Yuno was very sure it was, then this was a big problem.
"Okay" Asta smiled. "Since you helped me, I'll help you. We're going to fight with you."
Shit
Another weel another chapter. I think you all already know what is coming now. Yeah, the next few chapters will be tense and shit is about to go down!
I hope you enjoed this weeks chapters. Tell me your thoughts and even requests if you want. Thoughts of what you think will happen next in the story, or what you would like to happen. I think it can be fun to bring in some idead from you guys :)
Bye
