Here is the fortieth chapter in this story released in accordance with the release schedule. Alas, I do not expect to release another chapter until the end of January at the earliest, more likely early February though, as I am very busy for most of the month and won't be able to work on my stories so that is when to expect the next chapter in any of my active stories be they the Black Trio or not. Anyway, the night of the full moon is nearing and Noelle still hasn't managed to control her magic. Even with Asta and a new friend called Kahono's help she's still not there yet and time is now of the essence as there is but one night left. However, she's not alone, it's time for the whole Squad to show Noelle their support and love for Noelle to see if that pushes her over the edge as the deadline nears. That is all that I have for the administrative stuff I have for y'all and there are no guest reviews that need a response, though I thank you for your support of my work, or questions to answer so I will end this here. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate. That is it for this pre-chapter note so it is time to sit back and enjoy the fortieth chapter in Akame ga Clover.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.

Chapter 40: Cradle

After the slightly chaotic first day and the varied first night that the Black Bulls had had upon arriving in Raquey, the Squad settled into a comfortable rhythm as the days went on. Noelle was of course constantly training with Asta always present to help her as he could stop any problem Noelle's magic might cause if she lost control of it though Noelle always trained in a secluded part of the beach and away from the Squad. That added more protection though it was also in part because of how private Noelle was with her training.

They gave Noelle the space that she needed as they all understood that her control was a sensitive issue for her and would only help if it was really needed. As such they were doing their own thing and trusting that Noelle would reach out if she needed them. Thankfully, Noelle and Asta had made a new friend who also helped them especially as she had Recovery Magic that healed Noelle up as she trained though that wasn't known to the rest of the Squad.

As for the rest of the Squad, well they were up to their own things in Raquey that were rather predictable. Finral was hitting on any pretty girl he met and getting rejected by all of them, Gauche was being his usual creepy by making bigger and bigger sand sculptures of Marie though the location provided some cover as it was mistaken for being for a contest, Grey just floated in the sea, Vanessa was constantly drinking on the beach in a lounge chair in the shade, Luck and Magna caused a ruckus, and Yami just watched over the whole thing.

Meanwhile, Akame and Tatsumi were really enjoying the beach together. After their private moment where their relationship had gone to the next level they were closer than ever and most of the time they were either training, relaxing on the beach, or swimming and hunting in the ocean near that pool Akame had found while they waited on Noelle to get her magic under control so that they could go to the Undersea Temple when the night came.

It had been a good, fun, week and the couple actually felt like a normal couple during it, or as normal as they could, so they'd made the most of the time they had. The one thing that they didn't do again, though, was that they'd not snuck off to have that kind of fun again as there was still business to do as they prepared for the upcoming mission. As such they stuck to the other activities that they were getting up to.

Naturally, this led to plenty of fresh fish that they caught which was subsequently fried up by Charmy and served to the whole Squad to enjoy, which was an added bonus for everyone, even Asta and Noelle when they were around. Charmy was especially enjoying it as Akame's hunting skills and willingness to actually dive for the fish meant that she brought back choice fish that not even the restaurants in Raquey could get without magic and those were always the most expensive fish-based dishes on the menus.

Of course that didn't stop Charmy from going to those restaurants in her down time so the diminutive Cotton Mage was basically spending the week eating her way through Raquey's various seafood delicacies or trying what Akame and Tatsumi brought to her. Just like the rest of the Squad, minus Noelle, Charmy was also enjoying her time in the resort town.

It had led to a few small issues of Charmy, and in one case Akame who'd joined her while Tatsumi joined the guys in some macho competition on the beach to try and help Finral impress some ladies, getting banned from restaurants for eating out restaurants out of food but that wasn't actually new for the gluttons in the Squad so they all ignored it. So long as it didn't impact the mission or cause problems they just let it slide and added the restaurants to Charmy and Akame's banned from entering lists.

Tatsumi did make sure, with some food based bribery to Charmy, that the one restaurant that Akame joined her at wasn't the one that Tatsumi had found that he wanted to take Akame to after the mission when they had a day off. Thankfully said restaurant was far too fancy for Charmy's budget as that was the limiting factor to where Charmy could eat all the food from, though Tatsumi had to promise to bring a doggy bag back of whatever their best dish was, so that helped and Tatsumi was already preparing things for that date when the time came.

However, that would have to wait until their next actual day off as the Squad's main focus was the mission and as the week continued things began to take a downwards, more worried, tone as the tension began to build. There had been no word about Noelle's progress as the brief times she and Asta were with the rest of the Squad neither gave them any updates on the situation.

The Squad hadn't pressed it out of respect but in no time it was the night before the full moon came and there was still no word on it so the whole Squad was officially worried. They had no idea what was going on but by now they knew that they needed to be there for Noelle to support her even if she didn't ask for it because that's what a Squad did for one of their friends.

"We're nearing the full moon." Yami said as he came back into the rented house cigarette in hand to look at the Squad as they all just sat there no knowing what to do. "It's now or never, we won't get another shot at this I feel, not with that light bastard knowing that there's a Magic Stone in the Undersea Temple."

"We need to help Noelle out." Vanessa said with a slur in her voice showing that she was still tipsy, a state she'd been in practically all week, though at least she wasn't full on blitzed like she had been most nights. "But how?"

"I can provide food, that always helps." Charmy said as her grimoire opened and Sheep Cooks formed to start whipping up several meals while Grey let out a groan of smoke that no one could understand. "Can't master control on an empty stomach and Noelle's been working really hard so she needs food to restore her energy."

"My presence and support will aid her." Finral said unhelpfully. "And I'll be there to catch her if she falls."

"Marie always inspires me." Gauche said looking at a picture of his sister as his nose bled. "I can allow for her angelic nature to inspire Noelle this one time."

"Let me fight her, she's got a lot of magic that I really want to spar with." Luck said. "Fighting always strengthens me so it can work for her as well."

"We should just go and cheer her on like Asta does though in our own ways." Magna said. "We should have been there from the start but, well, we all know how prideful Noelle can be. As her superior I should have at least support her and remind her that she's a royal so should be able to do this already."

"She needed some space; these things can be deeply personal for someone of her status who can't control her magic." Tatsumi pointed out. "The nobility and royalty is very prideful and arrogant and Noelle's failures are a major blemish to their over inflated egos and sense of status. I can tell it's been on Noelle's mind as her ki has been all over the place this week and with what she dealt with growing up, I've seen her asshole excuses she calls siblings, this has always been a sensitive issue for her. Add in the time pressure, which she's not used to, and she needed time to adjust. It's no excuse, this is the life of a Magic Knight which she chose, but we all have faced such struggles before now it's her turn. That said, with the timing, Magna's right."

"Noelle is our Squadmate but more than that she's our friend." Akame said. "It's time we reminded her that we're all there for her."

"Good then move out and show Noelle the support she needs." Yami said pleased that his Squad had finally understood what they had to do. "We don't have much time to show this to Noelle. Luck, Akame, Tatsumi, you all can find where Noelle is so lead the way though I don't think it will be hard given how much magic she has."

The whole Squad nodded at that and headed out of the house and towards where they knew Noelle and Asta snuck off to at night to train. It didn't take long for them to all feel the surge of magic in the air, even Akame and Tatsumi who focused on sensing ki rather than magic could sense it without even trying to use mana sense like the others did, that's how strong the magic that they were feeling was.

That meant one thing, Noelle was going all out for some reason as there was no one else around who could generate that much magic power short of another royal or a high ranking member of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. Well that and suddenly a giant water spout shot up from the ocean and tore into the sky in the direction they were facing which meant that it was Water Magic and therefore it absolutely had to be Noelle.

Normally that would be a bad thing but with Asta there that wasn't an issue as he could just leap at it and nullify the magic with one of his swords, providing he could reach it which they might have to help with, so Noelle could go all out if she wanted to. That had been one of the reasons that Asta was with her after all though everyone also knew that Asta was the closest to Noelle and who brought the best out in her, like he did for the others, so he wouldn't leave her alone in this endeavor even if she wanted him to.

Plus the few more observant Black Bulls were well aware of what Noelle was in denial of and that alone would be enough for Noelle to have Asta with her even if she couldn't admit that that was the reason. He was her support, the rock from whom she drew strength, and she wouldn't have gotten this far without him. It would likely be Asta's presence and spirit that pushed Noelle over the edge when the time came but before then Noelle needed everyone else as well to show that it wasn't just Asta, they were all here for her.

Now it was time for the whole Squad to show Noelle that same support as they hurried to the magic and burst onto the secluded beach away from the main one where Noelle was practicing to gape at the sight before them. Noelle was in a big sphere of water with large spouts of water shooting off it in several directions just like she had been back on her first day when she'd lost control. The sheer magic power present was immense and whipped up an unnatural wind around the Black Bulls causing their clothes to flutter and the girls with long, loose, hair to whip around it but they pushed through it to look at Noelle.

As they did they could see that there were a few differences to the last time that this had happened. For one Noelle was actually trying within the water rather than just limply there and resigning herself to her fate as her mana ran wild. For another she wasn't moving around causing mass destruction both of which were improvements. It still begged the question as to why Noelle was like this rather than working on control though as it looked like she'd lost control in the moment.

The reason for this was of course Asta. He'd been with Noelle all week and supported her with encouragement as she trained while thinking about how he could help help her as she fought with her magic to control it with all her strength but no matter what she did she couldn't manage it and exhausted herself. Thankfully whenever that happened Noelle was healed by their new friend Kahono, who was charging Noelle for it but that was just who Kahono was and given all the help Noelle was more than happy to pay Kahono back for her Recovery Magic, so that Noelle could try again.

However, after a week with no progress to speak of, and a lot of thought on Asta's part, he'd come up with a new idea for Noelle to try; let her magic run wild and not fight to control it. This idea came from thinking back on the first time that Noelle's magic had gone out of control back on her first day with the Squad. She'd created a larger ball of water and that looked like it could work if she could learn to control it but so far standard attempts at control weren't working so it was time to change things up.

Asta's idea was simple, Kahono had told Noelle that she was trying too hard to hold the mana back and that she needed to focus on a happy memory of her family as Noelle's issues were likely mental. The happy memory of family wasn't there, even Asta knew that, but the idea of not holding back her mana stuck with Asta so he'd suggested that Noelle shouldn't try to do that anymore. She should just relax and let the mana do its thing and see if that could work rather than just constantly fighting with her mana.

Of course Noelle was really worried about this as she recalled what happened the last time her magic went out of control but Asta pointed out that he'd just cut it with his sword so she had nothing to worry about on that front. That was what was needed to convince Noelle and she'd unleashed her magic and the same thing that had happened the last time happened again. As such Noelle noted that it wasn't working as she tried hard to control it and have a serene mind with a happy memory but it seemed that she couldn't manage it especially because she had no happy memories of her family.

"Come on Noelle, you can do it!" Asta called out to Noelle in her water sphere just as the rest of the Black Bulls arrived and began their own work to help Noelle causing him to turn to the familiar ki in surprise. "What the…"

Even with three ki readers and one highly skilled mana senser none of them noticed the additional person present with Asta on the rocky outcrop that he was standing on as their entire focus was on setting up and supporting Noelle as she struggled in the water above them. They'd arrived just in time to lend their aid to Asta's and show Noelle what she meant to them.

It was as they were finishing setting up that Noelle seemed to finally give up in the water, her body going limp as she resigned herself to being the failure she'd always been told she was. After all, how could she focus on a fond memory when she didn't have any growing up. She couldn't do it so she should…

"Noelle!"

The cry reached her even in the bubble of water and despite the lack of oxygen Noelle looked up and in the direction that the cry came from, which wasn't in unison, to see that standing on the beach in a line was the rest of the Squad minus Yami and Gordon. All were in their usual clothes without their robes other than Vanessa who was in her swimsuit and Grey who was imitating Magna so that the two Magna's flanked it with Charmy holding a large plate of food above her head right in the middle as Tatsumi and Akame stood on either side of her. They'd all come out to show support and were smiling and shouting up at her.

None of them were bothered by the sheer magic power whipping around them or the water spouts shooting past that could easily blast them away if they made contact. They were here for Noelle and by simply standing there in the danger zone of her out of control magic they showed just how much they all trusted her not to harm them as they shouted their support for her one by one.

"What the hell are you doing up there Lil' Miss Royal?" Magna asked being the first to voice his support. "Is that really the best that a Black Bull can do? You're a royal and us commoners can do better than that!"

"You're wasting all your super strong magic power that you have." Luck said in his usual cheery tone. "We can't spar until you control it and I really want to spar against someone as strong as you, Noelle, so the sooner the better!"

"It's not like you'll die if you mess up, you've got your big strong man to save you if it gets worse." Vanessa added with a slight slur, she'd brought a bottle of wine with her and was drinking again. "So just relax and next time have a little drink to settle your nerves, it works wonders."

"I don't advise the drinking, you're a bit young for it, but Vanessa's right just relax we're all here for you!" Akame shouted. "We won't let anyone or anything harm our friend, you know that I will, and have, killed to save you that's how I can best protect my friends. We trust you Noelle! Trust us as well!"

"Plus you've got to be hungry after all the work you've done this week so hurry up and finish before I eat all this myself." Charmy yelled as two Sheep Cooks that had been following them finally appeared behind Charmy with two more platters of food over their heads. "You need to regain your strength so master this and then eat with us! There's nothing better than sharing your food with your friends!"

"Don't worry Noelle, if you fall I'll be waiting with open arms to catch you." Finral said. "So you are in safe hands!"

"Fall and I'll kick you back up." Gauche said bluntly though it was his way of showing his support. "Make it work and then I can tell Marie all about the powerful member of my Squad who can show her the ocean when I take her to the beach."

"Just give it your all Noelle!" Grey yelled though she was transformed into Magna so using his voice to do so. "You can do it!"

"This is it, use that strength of yours for good!" Tatsumi shouted. "You have seen the worst this kingdom has to offer and know that you have the power to prevent it. This is your moment, Noelle, show us what a true royal is like and remind us why you are the only member of the Silva family worthy of that title! Show what the best of the Clover Kingdom's royalty has to offer!"

"See Noelle, we all believe in you!" Asta said speaking last which was the right place for him to speak as he'd been helping all week but with the others he could now truly lend his support to theirs. "You can do it; I know you can!"

From there the rest of the Squad devolved into cheers and chants of support for their friend and squadmate, smiling up at her as she just gaped in the water above them amazed at what she was seeing below her. The support she was receiving was beyond any she'd gotten in her life and seeing her squadmates there she realized that she was wrong, she did have fond memories like what Kahono was getting at, she'd just been looking in the wrong place for them.

As she looked at her squadmates Noelle's mind went back to where they all started, back when Captain Yami came to her after she'd been allowed to join the Squad. Yami revealed that her brother had told him that she was a failure who couldn't control her magic so she wouldn't pass the entrance exam even if she tried and Yami noted that he'd never seen a royal failure before. That had almost caused Noelle to walk out but Yami had stopped her by adding that if she wanted to fight she could join the Black Bulls, the worst of the worst, the Squad were all the best failures hung out so she'd fit right in with them.

Between that and how Asta had saved her the last time Noelle was in a water sphere like this she'd stuck it out and that had been the best decision of her life. She'd spend so many years with her family but she didn't have any good memories from it but in only a few months with the Black Bulls she had so many memories, many good or very good ones with people who actually treated her like one of their own and not some pathetic failure who couldn't control her magic.

Even the ones that still haunted her, the sights she saw at the Venalia Mansion when ordered to accompany Akame and Tatsumi on a special mission and she'd seen the true evil in the nobility still held something good because it had led to her understanding things better and growing closer with Akame for it. She recalled how Akame had rubbed her back after she'd been sick at the sight of death and torture Venalia had inflicted on commoners for no reason and the support the older girl had given her then.

This led to memories of all the other times she'd gotten support from Akame. Be it in the wake of that mixer where Akame had been looking out for her and helped avoid Asta finding out about Noelle's actions to how she'd defended Noelle's honor in the swimsuit shop when Vanessa's actions had drawn the Golden Dawn and Klaus had almost seen her naked to when Akame and Tatsumi came to her rescue during the attack on the Capital.

However, most of all Noelle recalled the defense that Akame and Tatsumi had shown her in the reception when Tatsumi actually knocked out Nebra and Solid and faced down Nozel just like Asta had on her behalf. From there Noelle recalled all the other good memories, the times the Squad had had fun together, eating with Charmy, Vanessa being like a big sister to her more than Nebra ever was, the fun and comradery that Noelle had been a part of, it all came to her as she looked at the Squad gathered on the beach below her as they all shouted support to her.

Of course, of all her memories the ones with Asta were the strongest, her most precious even if she didn't know why, and the last ones to flash through her mind as she replayed all her good memories with Asta and she fully understood things. No matter what the memories were, there was good in all of them because the Black Bulls accepted Noelle for who she was, failures and all, and they relied on her despite that.

Now it was time for her to do something for them, to repay the Black Bulls for taking her in and being there for her even when she was an arrogant brat and didn't realize that she needed them. It was time to show them that they meant as much to her as she did to them. With that Noelle spread her arms in her water sphere and her body glowed, as did her grimoire which then flipped to a new, blank, set of pages and a new spell appeared on them, one that Noelle instinctively knew and activated.

"Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Cradle!"

With that the spell was cast and the water shooting off the sphere suddenly moved up and surrounded it in another layer of water as a gust blew around the area before it seemed to blow off. This revealed the results to everyone present while Noelle was finally able to breath where she was.

The Squad and Kahono could only stare in stunned amazement as before them was a giant sphere made of water however rather than the uncontrolled mass that it had been before this one was just a strong but now it was a hollow, sphere with Noelle floating inside it and balls of water orbiting it in a ring. The water of the sphere itself also swirled around at high speed as it glowed brightly above them.

"It…it worked." Noelle said a little amazed herself at what she'd done as she looked around while floating in the sphere. "I, I did it."

The Black Bulls all let out a cheer at that and praised her from below their voices mixing together to form a cacophonous mess that wasn't understandable as Noelle smiled down on them knowing that it had been their support that had tipped her over the edge and allowed her to learn this new spell. Sea Dragon's Cradle, it was a spell that was perfect for what they needed and Noelle now had control over it.

That said there was one slight issue right now, after all her training that day, all week for that matter, and learning a new spell meant that Noelle was at the end of her physical limits and with the post success rush leaving her she couldn't keep the spell up any longer. Still, as the spell broke and water rained down on the Squad, Noelle knew that she'd done it and pushed past her limits as she began to limply fall to the ground.

"Hey, why'd you stop?" Magna said complaining at getting wet. "It was going so well so surely Noelle can control how to end it."

"She's past her limits and then some so she's out of magic." Tatsumi said unfazed by the water. "The important thing is that she learned her a new spell and so long as she's fully recovered tomorrow we'll be good."

"Don't worry I'll keep the food dry." Charmy said using a cotton cloud that she was now standing on to protect the food she'd brought from water while getting wet herself.

"I'll help, it looks too good to waste." Akame said as thick, broad, blades appearing in the air around the cotton cloud to add to the coverage of the food. "Noelle's more than earned this feast."

"This water feels great when your cheeks are all flushed, adds to the experience." Vanessa said with a laugh as Grey groaned and changed back into the form the squad knew her as while Noelle let out a yell as she fell back first to the ground. "And now it's time for her big, strong, man to do his thing."

"Yes, that's my cue." Finral said smiling at his moment to catch the royal cutie in the squad like a princess, which given that she was royalty she practically was. "I'm coming for you Noe…"

Before Finral could finning, or anyone could stop him, the person who should catch her, and who Vanessa was referring to, was already running along the small rocky outcrop, and leapt off it to catch Noelle in his arms with a yell. He was also closer so it made more sense and there was no way that Noelle wouldn't like this.

In all this chaos, Kahono quickly fled before anyone noticed her glad for the distraction as this was for Noelle and her Squad friends, they were the final push she needed to control her vast magic and now it was time for their moment with Noelle. That and it wasn't like Kahono wasn't about to see Noelle again the next day when Noelle paid a visit to her home underwater and then things would get really fun with her grandfather's game that she fully intended to win as victory meant she and her brother could go and pursue their dream. She couldn't wait for that.

Noelle too didn't notice this as Asta caught her in his arms and then landed on the ground while Finral complained that that was supposed to be his job though absolutely no one paid him attention. Asta just held Noelle in his arms bridal style, something he'd done once before to carry her out of a window back when they were with Tatsumi and Akame on that special mission, and Noelle looked up at him as he smiled down at her confused by what was going on and trying to ignore how much she enjoyed this.

"What, what are you doing Dorksta?" Noelle asked as she felt her cheeks flush with heat. "Why are you holding me?"

"I knew you could pull it off Noelle." Asta said in response, which didn't actually answer the questions that Noelle had. "And I said I'd be here to save you and that's just what I did."

That caused Noelle to flush redder as she was held in Asta's arms. It was a sweet and tender moment, one that Akame approved of as she always enjoyed when Tatsumi held her like that, that was suddenly, and expectantly, ruined by Noelle's extreme insecurities and denial of her feelings which caused her to lash out and slap Asta in the face so hard that for a moment Asta saw Gordon's face for some reason.

"Get your filthy hands off me!" Noelle said which caused Asta to drop her on her ass and she regretted it as she had enjoyed being in Asta's arms but her denials were strong.

"Why are there sheep?" Gauche asked looking at the now soaked Sheep Cooks while Charmy and Akame tucked into the food to start the celebration off. "Where'd they come from?"

"Woah, everything turned out perfectly and that calls for another drink." A now drunk Vanessa said as she held two bottles of wine with no one certain where she got the second bottle from. "Or several."

Noelle just smiled at the sight as she got up to join them. To that end, as the Squad devolved into eating, drinking, and celebrating her success Noelle turned and called out for her new friend Kahono to see if she saw what happened. However, she was nowhere to be seen which surprised Noelle and confused her.

She wanted her friend to be part of it as well as Noelle wouldn't have been able to do it without Kahono's support and advice but it seemed like Kahono had other things to do, which she did, and this moment was for the Squad as Magna and Luck let off fire and lightning and the party began. Kahono knew that this was for Noelle and her friends, and besides, she'd see her in the Undersea soon enough.

Off on another rock Yami smiled at the sight of the party and the sun rose as he smoked. He'd told Noelle to push past her limit and she'd done just that and then some just as he'd expected she would. She was doing great and now they could head off, the Undersea Temple was waiting for them. None of the knew what was in store for them there but the Black Bulls were ready and in a few hours they'd head down to retrieve the Magic Stone and face the challenges that awaited them.

I think that's a good place to leave this chapter off at as it officially concludes the stuff in Raquey and sets up for what is about to come. I know it's on the shorter side but I felt that the main focus should be Noelle mastering her new spell and the support from the Squad for it and Noelle's own happy memories of the Black Bulls that push her over the edge and ensures that she learns a new spell that is perfect for what they need rather than anything else. Next up is the trip to the Undersea Temple and all that that arrival entails for the Black Bulls so plenty to look forward to as we officially move into that arc of the story and the Black Bulls face yet another great challenge that they must overcome only this time with the additions of Akame and Tatsumi and the roles which they will play in all that occurs. There really isn't anything else to say about this chapter, however, so I will leave it off here. As always, if you like my story then please follow, favorite, review, PM, etc. it is all appreciated and helps me get better and stay motivated to keep producing more content and any questions asked I will do my best to answer both privately and at the start of the next chapter. Until next time.

Stringdog