This chapter does have a fair amount of angst and a bittersweet ending. Also a dash of yuri. Her name also has like 3 different spellings so I went with Richita. Trust me, asdf0789 and Myself went back and forth on this
Her heart weighed heavily in her breast. Each step was more challenging to take than the last. The baby cooed in her arms as she gently rocked it to sleep.
Richita looked down at her baby boy's face with a smile, who was not even a week old yet.
He had completely stolen her face. He had her ash-white hair color. Her emerald, green eyes. Her nose, her skin tone, her everything. The only feature he had taken from his father was his gender.
She tickled his stomach and watched in joy as he laughed.
Richita then pulled up her shirt and unclasped her bra. She needs to feed him now. Him crying was the last thing she wanted. Better to get him full and asleep now.
He greedily latched onto her nipple and began to feed.
It was a miracle she even had a child in the first place. Richita had been researching curses for years in hopes that one day she could live among everyone else instead at the edge of the village. She thought back to how it began.
—X—
By fate, she had come across a peddler who did nothing but mumble every word he had sold her a potion that could temporarily alleviate her curse of draining the life force of anyone in the vicinity.
She thought him a quack, but she took the potion anyway. She waited until nightfall and chugged it. She tentatively moved toward a stray cat as a test and seeing it wasn't affected, she rejoiced. Richita wasn't some shy wallflower hideaway kinda girl. She was going to have some fun!
She did her hair in a ponytail to hide her identity, then immediately went to the bar and ran up a tab, uncaring about paying for it since she'd be back in the woods by tomorrow.
And drink she did. One benefit of her constitution is that it took her longer to get drunk than others. In quick fashion, she had drunk most(all) of the regulars under the table, even a couple of magic knights and she was only buzzed!
Her most recent victim was a 14-year-old girl with a wild mane of vermillion hair who had dragged along her reluctant younger brother and another child with silver hair done in a braid. They were obviously royal brats playing hooky.
"You don't…. Look like you would be so tough if he had an ... ..actual fight!' The girl yelled, gagging in between breaths, struggling to keep the liquid down.
"...Big sister, I don't think you're in any shape to stand much less fight…"
The silver-haired boy nodded in agreement. "I agree. Besides, it's beneath us to fight with the commoners, Mereoleona." Richtia found it cute that he was trying to act so mature despite his voice cracking.
"Shut up, Fuegoleon, Nozel," the girl roared at the two boys, making them take a step back. "I've got to catch up to Aunt Acier. I have to get stronger. I can't be weak. I have to win if I'm challenged!"
Richita watched in amazement as the girl's mana burst forth around her in flames that licked her skin. Small clouds of vapor were being expelled from her body under the intense heat. She was quite literally sobering herself up.
Giving them a confident smile, Richita addressed the three of them. "I like what you're made of girl. Fine, I'll take you on." She said, much to the amazement of all three. "However, on one condition: I take on all three of you brats!"
"What?!" Mereoleona rebuked immediately. "This is a fight between you and me! No need to get my younger brother and my cousin involved."
"Take it or leave it kid," Richtia says, waving her hand. She then leaned forward and inspected each of the three kids. "That's the best you're going to get, considering none of you are fifteen yet."
"Wh-what makes you say that?" Nozel said, slightly trying to hide behind the other two.
"Easy. Not one of you three has a grimoire yet." Richita pulled the book out of his holster and tapped a finger on it in smug superiority. "It wouldn't be fair otherwise." She got no small amount of glee as she watched the girl literally prove she was a hothead as a miniature ball of fire rose from her hair.
"That's it! Come on you two, we're taking her down if it's the last thing we do!"
Richtia laughed as she walked out of the bar, the three kids following her like little ducklings. The cold winter air brought the touch of sobriety she needed to focus.
Out on the street, they quickly separated to their respective sides. Mereoleona was absolutely fuming. Fuegoleon had his fist raised unsurely in front of his face. Nozel eyes swam around as if he could be caught for wrongdoing at any second.
"I'll tell you what kiddos," Richtia said, willing her grimoire to float in front of her. She reached into it and pulled out a simple silver epee. "I'll only need this to beat you. I use weapon-summoning magic. Since I doubt you can knock me out. If you can make me draw another weapon other than this one, I'll consider it your win."
"Don't get cocky!"
"It's not cockiness if I can back it up, girlie!" Richita then gestured at them to c'mon on.
The girl charged at her first as expected. Channeling her mana, Richita tapped the epee into the ground, and a chasm opened in the street swallowing the girl leaving only her shoulders and head exposed. The two boys jumped to either side, having had more time to see the attack coming.
Richita couldn't help but laugh while she growled. Nozel clenched his hand, and a thin wispy tendril of silver plucked her out.
"I thought you had weapon magic, not earth magic!" The girl said as soon as her feet touched the ground.
"I do. I used my mana itself to allow my sword to strike harder and farther than normal. It's called Mana-Zone." Richita explained. "Now c'mon and shoot some fire at me, It's pretty cold out here tonight."
"Mana-Zone, Smana Zone. Alright, you asked for it, lady! Let's give her hell, Fuegoleon! Nozel, you back us up."
"Yes!"
"Got it!"
What ensued next could hardly be called a fight. Richita effortlessly cut in half the fireballs Fuegoleon and Mereoleona were trying to throw. Then it was child's play to position herself to where they accidentally attacked each other. Nozel's magic doused Fuegoleon's, then it was a simple matter of tossing one boy into the other by snagging her epee into Fuegoleon's collar. With a quick flick of her sword, they were caught in another crack in the ground, leaving Mereoleona by herself.
Nobody would be able to say she wasn't a nice person. She humored the girl by letting her throw fire-infused pouches to her heart's content. At first, she dodged, but the girl was a capable and trained fighter. Eventually, she adjusted and started reading her dodging patterns. Richita responded by blocking using her sword. An expression of shock appeared on the girl's face.
"Are you surprised your flames didn't melt my sword?" At the girl's silence, she continued. "This is called Mana-Skin. I coat both myself and my weapon in my mana and it protects me from extreme temperatures like yours."
"That's….That's cheating!" Mereoleona said as she jumped back.
"It's not cheating when it's necessary for survival." she flashed the girl a dangerous smirk. "Now then, I've been on the defensive all night. Get ready because here I come!"
Richita then dashed in for the first time in the fight. Mereoleona managed to dodge her sword thrust…for all of five seconds. Richita stamped her foot on Mereoleona's own causing her to cry out and pinning her in place. Ritchita made sure her mana blunted the tip of her sword, thrust, and sent the knockout blow!
The girl went flying and landed next to her companions unmoving. The boys stared at her with wide eyes.
"No way! Big sis….lost!"
"I thought only my mom was capable of doing that…."
Richita smiled as she picked up a nearby bucket of water to be used in case of a fire. It had been so cold it turned to ice, but the lion siblings' attack had thawed it out just fine. She then went over to Meroleona and unhesitatingly threw the water over the unconscious girl Like her namesake she hissed when she came to. Flames poured out of her from sheer surprise, instantly drying her and much to Richita's amusement, making her hair poof out like a lion's mane.
"Now that you're up and it's all nice and toasty. Let's get your brother and cousin out of the hole."
Mereoleona's eyes locked onto her and some sort of understanding flashed behind them. The girl nodded and then grabbed her brother by the armpits and pulled, while Richita only needed one sharp tug to free Nozel.
"I'm not a vegetable you know…." Fuegoleon complained, rubbing his armpits when he was able to stand up.
"Yes, you're not. If you were, I would have crushed you. I hate vegetables!"
"I feel sorry for whoever you marry…" Nozel muttered.
"You wanna say that again?!" Mereoleona roared, getting in the younger boy's face.
"I'm just saying, no one wants a wife who eats and cooks only meat. That's not healthy."
"Plenty of men…" Richita could have sworn the girl looked her up and down with an all too appreciative eye. "And women–would kill to have me!"
"Yeah? Then where are they?" Fuegoleon said, joining in, a smile on his face.
"They all ran away as soon as they saw her face." Nozel teased, earning Mereoleona's ire. She reached out and started squishing and pulling his cheeks.
Richita chose then to intervene, picking both up by the scruff of their necks. "Hey now, break it up," she said firmly, causing the two to go still. Satisfied she set them both on the ground. The girl had a blush on her face. Yep, she was definitely checking her out earlier. Good to know she qualified as the stuff of teenager's dreams.
"It's getting late, it's about time for you guys to go home don't you think?"
"I guess so…" Mereoleona said bashfully, surprising the two boys. Fuegoleon blinked and Richita saw the exact moment he put two and two together. He recoiled like he bit a lemon and frantically looked between his sister and her, cosmic horror written on his face. Nozel couldn't have been more obviously confused even if a question mark floated over his head. Richita guessed he was still too young for that sort of thing.
Mereoleona stared at her, the fire of an unsaid question burning in her eyes. Mentally, Richita wondered if she should bolt in case it was some kind of love confession.
"Before we go….How did you get so strong, lady? I've never seen techniques like that. Why would you even need Mana-Skin?"
Richita sighed, she didn't want to think about that topic. She was here to have fun, damnit!
"Um…Normally, I'm not allowed inside towns. This is a rare special occasion. Any other day, I'd be out in the wilderness doing my best to survive. " She gave the trio a melancholy smile. "The best meat comes from the beasts that reside in the Grand Magic Zones. However, you have to be pretty tough to even survive in a GMZ, much less hunt there. Almost nobody goes there."
"Why is that?" Fuegoleon asked curiously.
"The magic is so dense it affects the weather making the conditions the most extreme on the continent. If you don't know Mana-Skin, you can't last even an hour. But the meat is so good it's worth it. The magic seeps into the fat and muscle of the beasts making them extra succulent! It's to die for!"
Mereoleona had sparkles in her eyes and her mouth was watering unchecked onto the ground below.
"It also works both ways, the longer you spend there the stronger you get. Either by fighting the various monsters or just getting acclimated to the magic."
"I–I wanna go! Take me with you!" Mereoleona said without pause after Richita finished explaining.
"No." Richita instantly rejected. "Firstly, you don't even have a grimoire. Second, it's not good to be around me on days outside of today."
"Why?" This time it was Nozel who asked.
She gave them a small sad smile. "This body of mine is cursed. Anyone who stays near me for too long will have their mana and life force drained."
The kids had mixed reactions ranging from horror to sadness to pity.
"Is there any way to get around it?" Mereoleona asked with a touch of hope in her voice.
Richita frowned and scratched the back of her head, "Unless you were an absolute mana machine, I don't see anyone lasting too long around me."
"Then, I'll do it!" Mereoleona said with a certainty that surprised even Richita. "I'll get my grimoire and then I'll become so strong that no matter how much mana you take from me, I'll still keep standing. And then…..And then if I can't do that, I'll find a cure!"
Richita couldn't stop the blush on her face. "I'm flattered….I'm flattered you do that for someone you don't even know the name of."
"Then tell me so I know who to look for when I search for you, 'cause I damn sure won't forget your face!"
Against her better judgment, she spoke. "It's Richita…."
Mereoleona gave a triumphant smile showing her elongated canines. Maybe she had won after all. "One day, Imma come for you and find you, so just wait!"
Richita was feeling nice, or the alcohol was finally talking. Either way, she decided to really turn the kid's night upside down. It wasn't like she would ever have the opportunity to do this again after tonight.
She leaned over and planted a kiss right on her lips!
Just to hammer her point home she lingered for a couple of seconds and lightly sucked on her lips and slid her tongue in her mouth for a fraction of a second before she pulled away, leaving the stunned teen in her wake, a dreamy expression on her face. The two boys were equally speechless at what they had just witnessed.
"Maybe you have the men…Oh excuse me, women and men, lined up for you after all. Consider that a reward my prince." Richita didn't give her a chance to respond as she turned away to head back to the bar, making sure to put a little extra swish in her hips. She won't deny she got some enjoyment out of the squeak of excitement that came from her.
"C'mon on, Romeo," Fuegoleon said behind her, followed by the sounds of him dragging his older sister away.
"Would she really be Romeo, because they're both girls." Nozel mused as he followed them. "Or would they be two Juliets? Two Romeos?"
"We'll be grounded if we don't get home soon. Now help me drag my sister home."
The sound of Fuegoleon and Nozel bickering eventually went out of earshot.
When she got back to the front of the bar, she saw she had company.
"That was a nice thing you did for them," a smooth deep voice said.
A man was sitting on a stool just outside the door. Despite it being freezing he wore only a cloth shirt, doing little to hide his thick muscles. Muscles so thick Richita thought she could grind meat on his abs. On his head, he wore a warrior's headband. A huge zanbato lay strapped to his back.
The single problem she saw with his looks is that he was on the short side, but when you spent years on end in the wilderness, short and tall lost meaning. All human contact was welcomed.
"I was watching the whole thing, to make sure either party didn't take it too far." he said, getting up and approaching her. "Can't have the royals bring the hammer down on us because a couple of their tykes got roughed up."
Ritchita let out a light laugh. "That wasn't even roughing them up. I just gave them a couple of love taps."
This time the man laughed. "Love taps indeed! The girl is going to have to change her panties every night for the next month."
Ritchita put a finger to her ponytail and twirled the hair around her finger. "It's my only night out on the town, I thought I'd humor her after crushing her like that."
"Only night, eh? How about we get a couple more drinks to celebrate? My treat."
Ritchita's face lit up in a smile. "That sounds nice, but I warn you, I can drink."
"Good thing I have plenty of coin to spend."
—X—
Ten months later, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She named him Asta because he was her lucky star. A birth that theoretically shouldn't have happened. He came to her despite impossible odds.
It also helped that he was a shining star every time he smiled. He never failed to make her smile in return. He was a happy healthy baby.
However, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Fear and depression took hold of her. She was afraid her curse would take his life away just like everything else. He was a baby, his mana hadn't even developed yet, and he was totally defenseless. She had tried to find the guy who sold her the potion the moment she realized she was pregnant, but it was like the man had disappeared off the face of the earth.
Left with no other option, Ritchita made a choice no mother should have to make. She decided to give him up to a church. So having barely recovered from giving birth she journeyed to the outskirts of the Clover Kingdom.
The huge skull of a demon loomed over Hage village. Richita gulped as she stepped inside the village's domain. Asta peacefully slept in the basket under her arm.
She had made sure to feed him until his little belly was full of milk. Hopefully, he would stay sleeping until she dropped him off, she didn't want to draw attention. He was a very excitable baby. Another trait he got from her.
She picked her way through the small village under the cover of the early morning, the fall mist helping to disguise her and her baby.
Eventually, she reached the doorstep of the church. The moment she set Asta down, she was overcome with emotion. She put her hand over her mouth to stifle an oncoming sob.
Hot tears fell onto the blanket in his basket.
She had convinced herself that doing this was for the best. She wanted Asta to have a future, yet like any mother, she wanted to keep her baby with her. An agonizing choice. A choice where she chose her baby over herself. Even if he somehow turned out immune to her curse, he deserved to live among other people and not an outcast like her.
She picked up the still-sleeping Asta from his basket and began to pepper his chubby face with kisses. Eventually, she set him back down in the basket before she could run off with him.
Richita looked down at his adorable, peaceful face as she tucked him into the blanket.
"Remember, Mommy will always love you. Even if…..Even if she can't be with you. You'll always be….my little boy."
She managed a watery smile as her tears flowed freely.
Richita finally managed to stand up and reached her hand out to knock on the heavy wooden door. Right before she could, however, she heard a baby cry out. She looked down and saw Asta was still peacefully sleeping, so where did the cry come from?
She heard the cry again and this time it sounded closer—way closer.
Richita walked towards the source of the sound and found herself at the nearby river.
She saw a second baby, in a basket just like Asta's caught in the branches of the bank, crying because the sticks and leaves were irritating him.
Mom mode kicked in, and Richita instantly snatched the basket out of the branches and away from the water.
As if fate itself had played a cruel trick on her, she noticed that this baby was almost the exact opposite of Asta. He had dark thick hair and amber eyes. The name Yuno had been inscribed on his onesie in the exact same spot she had inscribed Asta's name on his.
Despite the wetness of the bottom of the basket, Richita rocked him gently and hummed softly until he calmed down and drifted off to sleep. Another difference, once Asta was awake, he was awake. This baby went right back to sleep!
She went back to the church and set the basket down next to Asta's. Both boys were now sleeping without a care in the world.
"You are my little lucky star, Asta.~" she said cooing at him. "Mommy was worried that you'd be alone, and just like that, now you have a brother." She then set her attention on Yuno. "I don't know what happened that led to you floating down a river, and I'm sorry for whatever it was, but you have my thanks for showing up when you did. I hope you and Asta will always look out for one another."
Richita leaned over and kissed Yuno on the forehead, then she did the same for Asta.
Steeling herself, reached out her hand to knock on the door. She hesitated for a second then reaffirmed herself after seeing Asta shift in his sleep.
She channeled some mana in her fist and made three booming knocks. Richita then dashed away, not bothering to look back, she knew if she did, her resolve would break, and she would take the two of them with her.
—X—
Fuegoleon, Meroleona, and Nozel stood on the balcony of the Vermilion estate. They were watching Asta, Yuno, Noelle, and Leopold down below in the yard practice their skills in a four-way duel. The four teens were intent on putting Asta and Yuno's new forms to the test.
"To think he was her son…." Fuegoleon says, finally breaking the silence.
Nozel scoffed. "With full union turning his hair completely black, you'd think otherwise."
It was the aftermath of the Spade Kingdom invasion. In his report, Asta had detailed his unknowingly shared history with Liebe, the demon in his grimoire. He also had written about Richita's untimely and grisly demise at the hands of Lucifero.
"….Fate has a strange way of working. All it takes is one night to change everything." Nozel said next.
"You know it's funny…... About a year and a half later, Lady Theresa finally let me go out alone. I found the Agrippa estate and found a cure, in exchange, I gave one of their brats to Yami. After, I went searching for her…... I never found her. I went through one Grand Magic Zone after the next, getting stronger as I went…." Mereoleona's voice started to break. "If I had known. I could've convinced Lady Theresa to take him in."
Fuegoleon put his hand on his sister's shoulder in comfort. Nozel did the same on her other side.
"There's no way you could have known." Nozel started.
Fuegoleon picked up where he left off. "There's no way, any of us could have known—"
"But I should've! His face looks exactly like hers for goodness' sake. I should've known or at least asked a damn question!"
"If that's the case, then the fault lies with all three of us. Fuegoleon and I saw him first at the Magic Knight tryouts. It is no excuse, but I was preoccupied with Noelle's situation rather than putting my trust in Yami. I have not only failed as a brother but a cousin as well."
Nozel stood in front of Mereoleona and then bowed at his waist. "For that I am sorry."
Fuegoleon followed his example. "I knew how much Richita meant to you. As your brother, that fact was painfully clear. She inspired you to train in the wild, a place we as royals never would have thought of by ourselves. Finding her meant the world to you. I apologize for my blunder, dearest sister."
Fuegoleon and Nozel heard sniffing and when they looked up their jaws loosened in sheer shock of what they saw.
Mereoleona was crying. Her face was clenched in its usual scowl, but tears were coming from her eyes.
Fuegoleon and Nozel were speechless. They couldn't fathom a single thought of what they were supposed to do or say. Mereoleona made nails marvel at her toughness. She had cried a single other time that either man could remember.
The death of Acier Silva.
She cried then at the loss of a mother and mentor.
Now?
She cried at the loss of a love she had but a single taste of. A man in the desert searching for the oasis to find it had dried out years ago.
Mereoleona saw their shocked faces and spoke. "What's wrong? Something on my face?"
"Big sister….You're crying."
She wiped her sleeve along her face and to her surprise it came back wet. "I guess I am…How shameful." She finished her voice at a low growl.
"It's not," Nozel said, firm authority in his voice. "To shed tears over a lost loved one is not shameful at all."
"Besides, we all have moments of weakness," Fuegoleon added. "None but us, your family are here to pay witness to it."
Her shoulders relaxed and she deflated. "Weak. That's all there is to it. I wasn't strong enough to help Aunt Acier. I wasn't strong enough to find Richita….And I wasn't strong enough to stand alongside her son."
"Again, none of us were up to par in that fight against Lucifero. Also, even if you did find Richita what was a teenager supposed to do against Lucifero?" Mereoleona's eyes turned harsh, but Nozel continued to press his point. "Her sacrifice brought us time we didn't know we had. That time allowed us the victory we won last month. If you had found her, we would have been grieving your death alongside hers."
Mereoleona grit her teeth as she was confronted by Nozel's cold hard facts. A far cry from his past childhood insults. With age came maturity, and maturity came wisdom. A wisdom that had been strengthened by years of experience as a knight, and primal terror at an ancient evil's hands. Mereoleona realized that Nozel in his own way was showing he cared.
She wiped her eyes on her sleeves until the tears stopped. "There's no shame in being weak. There is shame in staying weak."
The two men locked their gaze onto her, steel in their eyes. "I'm going to get stronger. Strong enough to look over both Noelle and Asta. It's the least I can do to do right by both Acier and Richita."
"Me too." Fuegoleon agreed. "Asta and Noelle have clearly surpassed all three of us and Leo is close behind. I intend to make up the difference somehow, some way."
"What kind of older brother would I be if I didn't set an example for her?" Nozel said, hand on his neck to crack it.
Fuegoleon shot him a smile. "The older generation still has a couple of years left before the younger takes over."
"Says you two old men. Plenty of men and women are lining up for both my power and beauty!"
Fuegoleon and Nozel smiled and returned to their former position on either side of Mereoleona. They watched as Asta cut through a huge sea dragon of water Noelle had summoned. Both combatants had happy smiles on their faces.
"Speaking of…." Fuegoleon said. Nozel noted there was a rare hint of mischief in his eyes. "Are you going to ever tell Asta you made out with his mother?"
Nozel couldn't help but join in. It wasn't that often that Mereoleona happened to be the subject of good-natured ribbing "I would pay an entire fortune to see that reaction. Maybe you should get him to call you mom?"
Fuegoleon nodded in agreement. "If I remember correctly, you confided to me she had stolen your first kiss. The responsible thing to do would be to join families and make him your official son."
"Would that make Mereoleona Juliet and Richita Romeo?"
"Show him what a softie you are under that exterior."
Fuegoleon and Nozel started laughing at how flustered Mereoleona's face got.
"Shaddap!"
Mereoleona hooked her arms around their necks and put both of them in a headlock. They had forgotten, Mereoleona still claimed the crown in physical strength between the three of them.
The silver-haired man looked at the crimson one and they both realized they were in a world of trouble.
"If either of you breathe a word of this to them. I'll end you myself."
"D-Duly noted..." They both choked out in unison. Time will never change the familial love between them.
AN:
I am aware Richita's natural magic is most likely along the lines of Nero. Sealing, containing, and storing. So consider this the first true AU. Kinda like how Hisashi Midoriya is always different in MHA fanfic. Also, it does make sense to me that Richita would venture into the GMZ, being forced to live apart from everyone.
Anyways, this Richita was picked because it's in dedication to my own mother. Her birthday is in September. Unfortunately she's no longer with us so I wanted to put something out as dedication before the month was gone. What better than a chapter about Asta's mom?
Remember to always let your loved ones know you love them while you still can. You never know when it'll be the last time you'll see them.
Last thing of note. As a result I'll be taking October off. No new chapters will be coming out until at least November.
As usual, fave, follow, kudos, comment, and review. I read everything you guys put.