Asta awoke that morning to a horrified scream by his one true love, Sister Lily. He jumped out of bed and ran to her aid. When he arrived he saw Sister Lily pointing up at the roof of the church where Megicula was resting. She stretched her arms out with a yawn, her large wings creating a large shadow that was draped over the children of the church.
The sister opened her grimoire, firing a powerful spell at the devil. "Holy Aqua Waterfall!" she shouted, a lake's worth of water dousing the demonic creature. Megicula squirmed in pain. Megicula, in retaliation, fired off a few curses at the nun.
"Begone, human," she hissed, swooping down to pick up Asta. It was then that Sister Lily noticed the ornate flower that was inked on his arm.
"A-a-asta, what's that on your arm?" she asked as Yuno came out to see his best friend in the arms of a devil.
"Proof of my pact with the boy," Megicula replied, her wings wrapping around the grey-haired boy into a black cocoon.
Sister Lily clawed at the cocoon as the father threw a bucket of holy water onto the veil, however it did nothing. "Asta come back!" Yuno shouted, tears running down his cheeks.
"You're safe with me, Asta," Megicula said with a soothing voice, combing through his hair.
"I want to go back!" Asta demanded, a bit of magic collecting around his fingers.
"You can't," Megicula replied, the look of a concerned mother on her face, though she didn't know it.
"Why?!" Asta shouted.
"Because I fear they'll kill you," Megicula lied. In truth the reason was because she wanted him to be hers and no one else's, but he couldn't know that, not yet anyways.
"Really?" he asked, tearing up.
"Yes, now let's go," She said, violently spreading out her wings, blowing all of the residents of Hage Village away. Yuno reached up although his body was now gravely injured.
"I'll find you someday, Asta," he whispered to himself.
Megicula flew up just under the clouds, the devil looked for a secluded spot to touch down. Asta meanwhile, was in a frantic panic as he was lifted hundreds of feet into the air. He began to cry as fear overcame him. Megiucla held him closer to her, providing some warmth to her adoptive child. She held his head in her warm bosom.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Don't hurt me!" Asta cried as his tears soaked into her flesh.
"Asta," Megiucula said in a soft, motherly voice. "I'm going to protect you," she said, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek.
"You… will?" he asked looking up at her."
"Yes," she said. "I'm just looking for a safe place for us to stay," she explained.
"Does that mean we can go back?" Asta asked.
"I'm afraid not. They'd kill you and I on the spot," Megicula lied"I'm sorry Asta, but it won't be safe for you to go back to that church, you might be hurt," she thought.
"Oh, ok," Asta was visibly saddened. He snuggled up to his adoptive mother as she scanned the forest. She saw a small patch of the forest that had thicker foliage. She set down and found a particularly large tree that was hollowed out.
"This is about as big as one of those human domiciles," she thought as she used magic to hollow out the tree. She placed Asta in it and placed a spell on the entrance to make it appear as if the tree was still whole.
"Stay here, Asta, I'm going to collect some sustenance for you," Megicula said before she flew off.
"But Megicula…" Asta said, reaching out his hand, seeing her flying out of the trees. He looked up at her shrinking visage, his eyes welling up in tears. He began to cry, he didn't care how loud it was he just wanted to cry. It only took a few minutes for his eyes to become dry. He heard something in the distance, something like metal clinking together. It reminded him of when he would visit the blacksmith. The metallic sound became louder and louder until it was only about three feet away.
"Come out! I know you're here somewhere!" a man shouted. "You won't come out? Fine, I'll smoke you out then!" Asta felt a weird sensation, like goosebumps or his hair standing on end. Second after this sensation hit him, it began to get hotter and hotter. The tree caught fire as flames lapped at the young boy's skin.
"Mom!" he cried, only for an armored hand to grab him and drag him out of the tree. Asta looked at his attacker as the forest burned around them. He wore a full set of metal armor with iron thorns wrapped around the set of armor. His helmet had three horns pointing up.
"Ah, it's just a kid," the man said, a bit disappointed. He handed Asta an apple, sheathing his sword. "So tell me, why exactly were you hiding in a tree?" the man asked.
"Waiting for my mom…" the young boy said sheepishly.
"Ok, then I'll look after you until she comes back. Does that work for you?" he asked.
"Yes, but I want to see your face first," Asta said as he took a bite out of the apple.
"Fine," the man said, taking off his helmet. Asta recoiled in fear as he looked upon the devilish visage of the man. He had a large diagonal scar that covered his face. His eyes were dark green and were worn in a judgeful stare.
"Your mother isn't a very good one if she's leaving you alone," he said.
"What's your name, mister?" Asta asked.
"Ephraius Cobalt, your's?" Ephraius asked.
"Asta," he said with a smile.
"Well Asta, would you mind if I tag along when your mother returns?" he asked.
"Sure!" Asta replied. "Maybe you could be my father!"
Ephraius gave an amused shake of the head. "I'll tag along, but I'm not going to play dad to some kid in a tree," he chuckled.
"That would be interesting," Megiucla said as she hovered over lone knight.