Disclaimer: Black Clover is owned by Yūki Tabata, Studio Pierrot, and Shonen Jump.

Saga 5: Take Me Home, Country Roads

Quatre Refugee-State, Noble Realm, Clover Kingdom, Morning

Day after days of ceaseless fights for survival tends to make people forget that they once had lives outside of fighting. The gradual reconstruction of the capital refugee-state allowed the people slowly go back to their old lives, albeit fractured and missing a few members. Still, it was no great loss as long as there were some survivors to share their pain with.

Yet to those lucky few who have suffered no casualties, they took this chance to clear up any issues that may have persisted in the past. Gordon himself was now confronting his family, the Agrippa clan, over their neglectful upbringing during his childhood.

The truth turned out to be a tad more complicated than Gordon had expected.

"... So, let me get this straight," Gordon remarked as he sat before his whole family around the table, "... my friendless, withdrawn childhood, was because of you and our whole family being extremely socially awkward... is because it pretty much ran in our family for generations?"

"We're sorry if we weren't the most... attentive of parents," apologized Jonna, Gordon's mother, "we... literally didn't know how to interact with you or your sister beyond the fundamentals of cooking and cleaning."

"And the whole... assassination gig..." the scion of the Agrippa clan spoke, trying not to get an aneurysm, "... dad dropped it to open up our house into a nonprofit clinic?"

"We only got into the assassination business for the Kingdom because we were exploited for our expertise and lack of social graces," pointed out Nathan, the Agrippa clan's patriarch, "... come to think of it, my own father got press-ganged into it by the other nobles and I was expected to do the same lest we were exposed and persecuted for our... practices."

"Oh dear..." mumbled Nilenia, Gordon's grandmother, who absentmindedly readied her [Fire Magic], "... another body to dispose, Kristoph?"

"Grandmother, he's dead," Roxanne pointed out, Gordon's younger sister being the voice of reason to a woman past her prime, "there's no bodies to dispose."

Gordon nests his face in both of his hands in half-disappointment and cringe. "... Why didn't you all tell me sooner?" he pointed out, embarrassed that his whole troubled past was built on nothing but miscommunication (and might have to apologize to Jericho later).

"You didn't ask," Nathan replied, causing his son to sob in cringe even more, "... look, Gordon. Our family is... atypical to say the least," he pointed out, "your great-grandparents originally hailed from the Spade Kingdom and moved here because the weather was more agreeable and stable than the Northwest's brutal winters or the local wildlife being not as predatory. But upon being found out by the people here before them, they realized that their sense of 'normal' was considered 'abnormal' here, so our home was moved to the fringes of the Clover Kingdom. Ever since, we had... a lot of time in our hands until we were pushed for covert services... and after the war between here and the Diamond Kingdom had ended... I knew that we had to rebrand ourselves into something more... mutually productive."

"... Yeah," Gordon sighed out as he removed his hands from his face, "... that makes sense. Killing isn't pleasant, regardless of whoever is doing or deserves it."

"As long as you understand," Jonna nodded, "... we are proud of you Gordon, for finding your own path as a Magic Knight, and becoming a better role model to Roxanne than we ever could."

"... I wrote letters," Roxanne sheepishly pointed out, "... but I didn't know what words to write to let you know how cool you are."

Gordon gets up and rubs his younger sister's head affectionally. "Your support is all a big brother like me can ask for," he smiled, "I'll try not to let you or the whole family down. Promise."

"... Ah... Kristoph..." Nilenia reached out towards her grandson, seeing a resemblance to her beloved, "... is that you? ... Where were you this whole time?"

"Grandmother," Roxanne placed her hand on her grandmother's shoulders, "... it's just your grandson."

"... Oh," she slumped back down to her seat, "... guess he's coming home late as usual..."

"... I get the feeling that you'll be busy for a while," Nathan remarked, "... is there anything you'd like to know from us before we meet after a presumably prolonged period of absence?"

"Uh... yeah," Gordon remarked, "... how the hell did you and mom get together if you two couldn't even look at me or each other in the eye?"

"... Honestly, we have no idea," Jonna pointed out, "it just happened."

"I think drugs were involved," Nathan remarked, "... from both of us-"

"And I'm going to stop the conversation right there," Gordon facepalmed, "... weird family history aside, I think I got to know guys a lot better," he remarked with a cathartic sigh, "... after 26 years not knowing jack."

"As long as you understand," Nathan agreed before he placed a sheathed dagger with a silver-forged snakehead-like pommel and a winged cross-guard on his chest, "... a gift from me from my forefathers and mothers. Your great-grandfather Heinrich's Relic made by your great-grandmother Cornelia when they first met."

Gordon then partially unsheathes the shiv and sees a crisscross pattern running across the flat, the crisscross itself being a pair of red winged serpents running across the translucent topaz-colored blade.

"This is..." Gordon remarked as he felt a gentle yet fierce aura emitting from it, "... a Relic?!"

"[Caduceus, the Scalpel]," Nathan explained, "a blade that can either purify or muddle any sources of mana that it comes contact with. Our family's generational study of curses and heretical magic allowed us to understand magic beyond its fundamentals, using it to both heal and hurt others," the patriarch pointed out, "son, there will be a time where the latter must be done in order to properly do the former. Do you understand?"

Gordon nods firmly, now his heart burning with hope that his family now supports him.

"Good," Nathan remarked with smile creased below his mustache, "... you're your own man now, Gordon. Live strong."

Gordon then leaves his family behind, now walking with a newfound confidence in his lot in life.

"Duh nuh nuh nuh," Saiga snapped twice, "duh nuh nuh nuh," he snapped twice again, "duh nuh nuh nuh, duh nuh nuh nuh, duh nuh nuh nuh."

"What the hell was that for?" asked Gordon while the towering old High Inquisitor leaned against the wall next to him.

"Oh just jesting," he remarked in a coy tone, "... call it a... feeling, of sorts."

The Agrippa scion rolled his eyes as he walked away. "Weirdo."

At another part of the rebuilding capital, Grey was minding about her own business, walking down the street trying to develop her confidence by walking by herself in a middle of a semi-crowded street.

... Not one of her best ideas, but she had to start somewhere kicking her bad habit.

"Hwawawa..." Grey shuddered as she continued walking down the sprawling street, "... come on Grey... you can do this..! You can't stay nervous forever-"

As she weren't looking ahead while walking, Grey bumps her head into someone and both fall onto the floor upon collision.

"OMIGOD I'M SO SORRY!" Grey's confidence collapsed back to her default state of nigh-neurosis.

"Ugh, it's alright," the other person spoke, "... not the worst thing that has happened to me-"

Suddenly, the voice stopped. Grey wondered why, until she saw who she'd bumped into.

... Mainly, one of her bitchy twin stepsisters, Anastasia.

"... Grey?" the stepsister spoke, "... I take back what I said, this is easily the worst thing that has happened to me."

"A-A-Anastasia?!" gawked out Grey as she reflectively looked around her surroundings to see if her other members of her devilish family were around, only to find the one laying before her, "... did you... cut your hair?" she meekly remarked, trying to diffuse the tension between the two.

Anastasia sighs, shaking her head. "You put on some muscle weight," the stepsister sighed out melancholically as she got up and extended her hand towards Grey, "come on, there are better places to sit down and talk."

"... Uh, okay," Grey took her sister's hand, feeling calluses around her once-smooth, dainty hands that she'd seen that was like her own's.

The two foster sisters then found themselves sitting next to each other at a stairwell before a former jewelry store-turned-warehouse.

"... So... where were you?" Grey asked nervously.

"Alone," answered Anastasia, "... in the woods... for weeks until I found myself here," she explained, "had to eat bugs and drink river water to not die. ... I just got here yesterday."

"... And... how did it come to that?" asked Grey, slowly losing her fright in favor of curiosity.

"... I'm the only one left..." she jittered in fear, "... mom... my twin sister... their bloods all over me as the whole house came crashing down above our heads that night... so much red... so much red... so many swords... everywhere... can't even eat strawberries anymore..."

Anastasia then screams and recoils in fear upon seeing someone dressed in a red, the person in question dismissing Grey's traumatized sister as a weirdo without saying a word.

"... Go ahead," Anastasia growled in both fear and pathetic resentment, "... laugh. I deserve it."

Grey would've. But after facing Astarte and her horrors on that fateful night, someone losing most of their mind from the Rain of Steel? Not even Grey would wish for this on her worst of enemies. Sure, personally, Grey's home life was marginally worse than the Demons that she and the others had to face, but it still didn't change the fact that if she laughed at her stepsister's plight right now, Grey will be no better than her tormentors.

"... No," Grey replied, "... I won't."

Anastasia's eyes widened in surprise. "... But why?" she asked, "after all this time?"

"... I'm not going to be like you three," Grey spoke, tired of the past hatred and resentment coming back to haunt her, "you're broken, and I don't need to dance on what's left of you or your dignity to make myself feel better or for you think is doing that'll atone for your sins."

"Grey..." Anastasia muttered, "... you're not glad that that my sister and mother are dead? Who I've bullied and sullied you ever since your father remarried?"

"Look, too many people died already," Grey pointed out, "... I'll never celebrate death nor reject it. I got used to something that was darker than my own time with you three, but... yeah, I think for the rest of my life, I never want to see your face again, but if it means that I can stop both fearing and hating you and your side of the family..." she shut her eyes in frustration, "... then we both can be better than what we are today."

"... Wow," Anastasia blinked, "... you actually grew a spine. Kudos."

"Likewise, Ana," Grey smirked slightly, "may we never meet each other again. Nor we let our pasts bind us from becoming better people."

The two ex-sisters then walk away from each other proudly, no longer bound by hatred, but freed by something called "respect". Saiga watched the two walk away from each, smiling and nodding in approval.

"... An old man thou art to have some hobbies, no?" he remarked with a flashy grin gleaming in the shade over his hat and roofs above. He then reached into his sleeve for a bottle of vodka that he'd been saving for himself, only to find it missing. "Hm," he grunted, "no quick nip, thy thought."

Seabed Temple, No Man's Waters, Afternoon

The Seabed Temple, an independent nation-state that exists autonomously from Clover Kingdom's jurisdiction. A flourishing bed of its own unique culture, unspoiled and untouched ever since the Golden Age of Magic, its people live in harmony with nature, in both fear of its might and reverence of its status as the origin of all life on the known world.

"... And now..." Kaiser sighed out as he and his squad of Purple Orcas were dealing with waterlogged boots that reached all the way up to their shins, "... here we are. The Seabed Temple, now on the verge of being lost forever unless a miracle happens."

"Agreed," Gio nodded as he and his other acolytes continued plugging the barrier breached by one of the giant swords that came from the sky during the Rain of Steel, its metallic point being buried into the protective barrier keeping the water out of the residential (read: the entire nation itself) area all the way up to its hilt, "no one saw this coming. Not even our oracles predicted such a catastrophe from ever occurring in the first place?"

"So how did it all go wrong?" asked Digit Taliss, the new Vice-Captain of the Purple Orcas (replacing Xerx Lugner accused with various counts of severe misconduct being unearthed along with said person going MIA), "I mean, your [Water Magic] specialty here should've been enough to at least fix the barrier."

"... That's the thing," Gio pointed out, "at first, everything was proceeding smoothly. Sure, we weren't able to remove the sword and repair the barrier at the same time, given that we're at least a mile or two deep under water, the pressure alone would've... eh, killed us all before we could do anything from the flood, oxygen running out and our lungs being crushed under the pressure all at once," he explained, "some of us were actually considering leaving like this, given our initial catch-22 situation. Then... like presumably the rest of the continent, we lost all of our spells overnight right before our very eyes, and our efforts of repairing and maintaining our barrier quite semi-literally, went down the toilet, or so you land-dwellers say."

"... How did your ancestors even built this place to begin with?" Adrian pointed out while he helped out maintaining the barrier, "I mean, surely, you guys have some spell that allowed the barrier to be erected in the first place!"

"Sephira," Gio answered, "quite literally, the Mother of all Magic and Mana literally parted the sea by summoning the Sea God with her own control over mana itself and we were allowed to build a civilization to escape the catastrophic ushering of the Golden Age where she and the Four Archangels literally rebelled against all of heaven to allow us mortals to prosper, or so the legend goes," he pointed out, "sadly, that once-in-a-lifetime miracle is what it sounds like: a once-in-a-lifetime-miracle. Doubt we'll ever repeat it even if my hypothetical great-grandchildren are to be around."

"That dire?" Kaiser raised his eyebrow.

"Afraid so," Gio nodded with a forlorn expression, "... have to be realistic, the Seabed Temple is finished in my lifetime. The least me and the rest of the old generation can do is buy enough time to let the others think it over. Or pray to the Sea God for salvation..."

"Speaking of the titular 'Sea God'," Gaston asked, "... can it be possible that this 'Sea God' might be some spell of sorts?"

"Now's not the time to discuss theology," Gio pointed out, "ask realistic questions, please!"

The Purple Orcas were now caught in a tight spot. They were obliged to help their allies, but at the same time, the option of simply evicting the people from their homes would cause friction despite being a necessity while at the same time, they were on limited time, which wasn't enough time to simply mull it over and come up with a solution.

"Captain?" Winston asked, "what do we do?"

Kaiser now had to make his choice. And he only saw one way forward. "Support the acolytes keeping the barrier intact," he ordered, "for those of you without [Water Magic], share your mana to those working on the bubble! I will speak to the rest of the Priests myself!"

"You heard him! Move!" barked Adrian as his whole squad stepped up and began buying time for negotiations, trusting their Captain to finally settle the argument once and for all.

"H-Hey!" one of the acolytes guarding the main temple exclaimed, "state your business!"

"I am Captain Kaiser Granvorka, representing the Clover Kingdom of the Three Leaves Allied United Front!" he declared, "I must speak with the Priests and settle this dilemma once and for all lest we all drown!"

Before the acolyte can confront the Captain, the other acolyte stops him before shaking his head. "Let it go man," he remarked, "this is way over our heads at this point."

Kaiser enters, walking into a room gathered with nine other Priests wearing masks of various marine creatures, consisting of an orca, a marlin, a dolphin, a moray eel, a seahorse, an octopus, a pufferfish, a cowfish and an anglerfish.

"How rude," spoke the octopus, "do you land-dwellers know no manners?"

"This is an emergency, and I'd prefer if we didn't stand around and argue," Kaiser replied cooly, trying not to explode under pressure, "Gio has pointed out some of you are choosing to stay behind with the temple even as it drowns in the name of tradition. I must ask, why?"

The orca lets out a sigh. "The truth is, it's not only tradition," he spoke as he took off his mask, revealing an elderly man with a long flowing white beard and hair like a silver stream of water, "if anything, Gio is the real fool for thinking of staying behind with the Temple."

"There is a reason why some of us stay underwater for the rest our lives," the cowfish spoke, "the outside air... it's poison to some of us."

"Too thick," spoke the anglerfish, "generations after generations, we've lived in thin oxygen and adjusted accordingly to it. Too much oxygen taken in at once for old farts like us from the last two generations..." he took of his mask to reveal a bald old man with wrinkled face, "... we won't make it past a single day up there."

"The new generation has developed an adaptation to breathe outside oxygen through infant exposure," spoke the marlin as it took of its facade to reveal a young man with short navy-blue hair with a gold band tied into a tail on his right side, "... but at the same time, seeing our own families die before us all at once... we may live, but our hearts won't."

"I know it's for the best, but..." the dolphin takes off the mask to reveal a young girl with wine-red hair tied in a long thin ponytail, "... without any adults, the whole Seabed Temple population will most likely suffer an orphan crisis!"

"And what of Gio?" Kaiser pointed out, "he seemed alright when he was walking on land."

"It was a special breathing apparatus that can only last for a day that I made last night, you insensitive nitwit," mocked the seahorse, "even without it, Gio can only go for so long with outside air for a year before he bites it, and he's one of the lucky ones who was born with such reliance!" he pointed out as he took off his mask to reveal a middle-aged man with a small orange mohawk, "for fuck's sake, when he and I were kids, I fainted after an hour at the surface! How the fuck are you supposed to raise kids when you're an asthmatic?!"

"We appreciate your concern of evacuating everyone to ensure that no one else dies," spoke the moray eel as he took off his mask to reveal a young man with long black hair with bangs covering his eyes, "... however, I'm the oldest one of the current new generation, but I'm not sure if I can lead the kids after the exodus... it's too cruel to make children watch their own parents die before them. ... I won't be able to live with myself if that happens."

"So making children watch their own parents die slowly before them is the better alternative?!" the cowfish scolded the moray eel as he took off his mask, to reveal a tan-skinned young man with blazing red hair tied in dreadlocks, "we're doing all we can to make sure that the children make their peace, that's why we of the previous generation are buying time!"

"Call it cruel or deceitful," spoke the Octopus as she took off her mask to reveal a tanned-skin woman with ash-blond hair tied in dreadlocks, "but it is especially cruel for us parents to tell our own flesh and blood that we'll be the ones to die, unable to see them grow up into fine adults, leaving that work to the youngsters."

Kaiser stood there, completely baffled. Gio's statements of "realism" wasn't to find a solution that'll work for everyone, but rather, it was a coping mechanism against the cold hard fact that the previous generations and before aren't born to live on land. It was just as painful for them to tell their own children that their deaths were inevitable as much as the fact that their own legacy were destined to be lost to time.

"... Is there anything we can do?" Kaiser begged, trying to avoid a complete tragedy as his obligations to become a Magic Knights, "and if this was the case, why didn't you notify us any sooner?!"

The elderly Priest sighs. "I'm prudent enough to read the room," he spoke, "if we told you that we'll all die either way, then it would imply that our suffering is greater than those who are outside."

"We don't like you land-dwellers that much, but we're not so insular that we automatically assume that we always have it better or worse," spoke the Priest with the seahorse mask.

"Agreed," spoke the Priestess with the Octopus mask, "we need a good place for our children to be raised. The Seabed temple is fucked, but not our history."

"They will carry on our will and words," spoke the Priest with the cowfish mask, "the history and legacy that Gio told you about? It was a ruse for you to know the truth."

"Simply put, it's all formality," said the seahorse mask, "call it a dick move... but really, the whole reason we signed up for the signed up for the mutual defense agreement was to give the kiddos a place to go when this place goes underwater."

Outside, the sound water flowing in could be heard through doors, followed up by the sounds of screaming being slowly drowned out by the water flooding in.

"... Kahano, Kiato, it's time," spoke the elderly Priest as he placed his orca mask back on, "go. Take the kids and the Magic Knights back up to the surface," he then turned towards the young man with the moray eel mask, "Mago, the scripture of the Sea God belongs to you now. Protect it with all your might, but not at the expense of your own or others' life. Understood?"

"... But... Head Priest Gifso!" Mago nervously protested as the sealed scroll was pushed onto him by the Priest in the cowfish mask, "you can't do this! It's too soon-"

"I SAID GO!" spoke the Head Priest as he brings out his grimoire, "[Game Magic: Temple Shuffle - Compulsory Evacuation]!"

The temple itself teleports Kaiser, Mago, Kiato and Kahano outside along with the remaining Purple Orca Magic Knights along with the children of the Seabed Temple all gathered on an ark that looks like a seashell as its cloisters closed shut.

"NO! PLEASE!" begged Kaiser as the barrier that the temple residents had tried their hardest to keep it standing, only to proven in vain in the end, "THERE MUST BE SOMETHING I CAN DO TO HELP!"

The clam shuts completely before it began moving by itself, jerking up before rocketing up towards the surface.

At the flooding Seabed Temple, the remaining Priests, including Gio, all gathered together for their final moments on this world.

"Hey dad," Gio spoke as he took out a bottle of vodka from his sleeve, "I stole this from one of the armored guys from the Spade Kingdom."

"Oh good, the Anglerfish masked Priest remarked as Gio pulled the cork on the bottle open, "perhaps we'll be too drunk to even notice that we're gonna drown."

"Save some for each of us," the seahorse mask remarked.

"Wish I've brought some snacks," the cowfish snarked.

Each Priest passes the bottle around until each of them has their shot until the only a last swig was left in Gifso's hands.

"To the next generation," the old Priest smiled as he raised the bottle up into the air, "may the Sea God and Sephira bless and guide them on their uncharted voyage."

With one last drink, only the sword remained standing underwater, the Seabed Temple no more.

"... I'm so sorry," sobbed Kaiser in the sounds of the children's tears, "I'm so sorry..."

It was truly cruel. The false hope that was told by Gio being nothing more than a facade that they were doomed save for their children.

Witch's Forest, Neutral Territory, Evening

One does simply not enter the Witch's Forest, regardless of how confident of one's own skills they think are.

Security Golems guarding the perimeters 24/7, the Witch Queen's mana alone being counted as the majority of the mana present in this Grand Magic Zone, and the more fanatical (read: not those seeking a human mate) of witches present being part of the domain's ironclad security detail.

Hypothetically, if any of the four kingdoms were to invade the Grand Magic Zone for any reason (the Diamond Kingdom being the most likely until they were considered a non-entity after its "dissolution"), the invasion would only last a day, in the Witch Queen's favor.

So it was strange for even a man like the Wizard King himself, Julius Novachrono, to brazenly walk towards the main palace's front door, behind him being numerous witches and Security Golems all frozen inside bubbles of [Chronostasis].

"Really Agatha," Julius snarked, "I thought we were friends."

"Consider it a formality," the Witch Queen replied, "you were strong enough to get past my security and did not harm a single hair on even one of my subjects while doing so. Ergo, you've earned the right to enter for one day."

"... Negotiations are gonna be a pain in the tocus with you, ain't it?" smirked the Wizard King as he looked back, "is it safe to let them go now or do I have to come inside lest my body gets riddled with more holes than a fishing net?"

The palace doors open before him, to which Julius walks in right before it shut behind him. With the doors shut, Julius snaps his fingers, deactivating his [Chronostasis] spells, which caused all of the members of the security details outside to collide with the palace doors outside, as evident by the numerous thuds drumming through the door behind him.

"They'll be fine," Agatha greeted the Wizard King as she got off her throne before speaking through her crow familiar, "all members of the security detail, pull back. Our guest is in the clear."

Groans of disappointment were heard from the other side of the door.

"Well," Julius remarked, "that was one hell of a workout."

"Oh good," replied Agatha, "then that saves me the trouble of explaining."

The two then walked towards an unoccupied guest room as the servants prepared mint tea for the two leaders of differing nations.

"Do you really doubt my skills?" asked Julius.

"Unlike me, you get old," snarked the Witch Queen, "glad to see that you're still nimble despite your age."

"What's with people calling me old?" Julius muttered, "I'm still young... compared to you."

"Ha ha," Agatha dryly faux-laughed as she drank her tea, "so, you know why I called you here besides making sure that your hips aren't atrophied from years of administrative work?"

"I'm listening," Julius drank his own minty blend, ignoring the last words that she'd said.

The Witch Queen then pulls out a small Projection Orb, which depicted a recording of Julius' fight against Crowley's [Fate Magic], the world around the two shifting back and forth between the primitive past and the insular future.

"You should be grateful that I've managed to contain the time-displaced pathogens and specimens before they've multiplied out of control," Agatha scowled, presenting reinforced jars containing with unseen specimens that fell through the cracks months ago, "never thought in my multiple lifetimes that I've met an equal match to your [Time Magic]."

"Yeah..." Julius nodded nervously, "... to be honest, I'm still a little doubtful on the claims that Crowley's family of all people would be the ones to patent the Golden Dawn Magic Knights."

"Well..." the Witch Queen sipped her brew, "... the truth is more complicated."

"Explain," the Wizard King requested, to which the Witch Queen lifted the left corner of her dress to reveal a "III" tattooed on her upper left thigh.

"Look familiar?" Agatha asked, to which Julius turned around and pulled up his top to reveal a "VI" tattooed on his upper back.

"You know, I always thought this never looked good on me," joked the Wizard King, "made me look like I was some sort of escaped lab experiment."

"I concur," Agatha agreed as she pulled her dress back down, "our ancestors had a sense of humor that is beyond repugnant."

The two leader figures sit across from each other in silence upon revealing their own hidden legacies that connected them to each other.

"... So, what does this have to do with me or Crowley's cockamamy claims?" asked Julius.

"The name 'Golden Dawn' itself was originally used by a religious sect composed of Agarthian descendants before the patent became associated with your Kingdom's strongest Magic Knights," Agatha explained, "so either your William was associated with a cult member through family ties or sheer coincidence, is something that I have yet to confirm, but for your sake, pray that it's the latter," the Witch Queen confirmed, "meanwhile, #4 and #7 were the most recent leaders of the main sect before their... disappearance. I am not sure if the cult is still around or broken off into separate, smaller sects. Either way, I can no longer find them through my familiars without getting them terminated mid-flight," she pointed out, "regardless, what I'm saying is that Crowley's statement months prior isn't a baseless nonsense, if he is indeed one of the twelve numbers of Agartha like us, whether he knows or not."

"What gives one away of the fact that they are indeed, 'Agarthan'?" Julius asked, admittedly really curious about this subject.

"There are two factors," she pointed out as Agatha raised two fingers, "the first is the numbers tattooed on our bodies, either we're born with it or it has been passed down manually from parent to child. I am the last of the original generation, and going from body to body didn't get rid of this embarrassing mark, right down to its original placement."

"Alright, that one option mothballed," sighed the Wizard King in hopes of getting a new body without the tattoo (just a thought; he wasn't really meaning it), "the other being?"

"Out abnormal magic attributes," Agatha pointed out, demonstrating it with her [Blood Magic] floating around a few red droplets around her fingers, "unlike the typical elemental quartet of [Fire], [Water], [Wind] and [Earth] with some abnormalities like [Spatial] or [Dice], our magics fundamentally violate the world's natural laws. My [Blood Magic] allows me to create life and adjust the life cycle to my own liking without any strings attached, breaking the 'Law of Life'; 'all creation must be conceived and multiplied as biologically functioned', and yet here I am, creator of a whole race from the ground up as byproducts," she gave an example, "meanwhile, your [Time Magic] effectively wrestling against the world's temporal clock hands, breaking the 'Law of Continuity', 'predetermined directions shall not be deviated', and Crowley's [Fate Magic] being effectively allows one to dictate future events, breaking the 'Law of Causality', 'results will not be tampered with that goes against the world's fundamental logics," she explained, "I was so close to getting that power into my hands... until your foreigner beneficiary broke into my palace 15 years ago and sent many years of hard work up in smoke."

"... Yami's... was bit wild back when he was younger," Julius sighed out, remembering the time when Yami effectively kidnapped Vanessa from her prison allowed her to join the Black Bulls, causing all sorts of diplomatic nightmares back then, "I tried to warn him, but by the time he got back, he was happy that there were, and I quote: 'there being other people strong as the Diamond Kingdom mages," the Wizard King remarked before he realized something else, "... wait, is that reason why you 'tested' me in the first place?!"

"Call it... 'getting back'," smirked Agatha, "I could easily double down on what I've lost, but it's no use crying over spilled milk, no?"

Julius lets out a sigh and nods at her implications. "... Fair enough," he muttered as he drank his tea, "... so tell me, what was the purpose of the Golden Dawn? The cult, not my Magic Knight Squad."

"Simple really," Agatha remarked, "it is to break the [Curse of Apocrypha] from this world."

"... The [Curse of Apocrypha]?" the Wizard King asked, "what does that mean?"

"Tell me, have you ever heard of 'Time Fissures'?" Agatha asked, to which Julius shook his head, "I'll cut to the point, it's the sole reason why our brand of magic is considered 'abnormal'. Time is supposed to move at a consistent face, always moving forwards, never backwards or horizontally," she pointed out, "the deviancies created within the temporal continuity, those inconsistencies are what form the Time Fissures, gaps that can send a person to an unspecified period of time or the other way around. Your reckless usage of [Time Magic] several months prior has created more since then, with history itself being distorted and the collision between the past and the present causing an automatic repair process which involves erasing an entire person's existence, right down to their associated memories."

"... So what you're saying is that this [Curse of Apocrypha] can make me see my own dead body from the future and if I see or touch it, I would literally be forgotten by everyone who knew me?" Julius asked.

"In a word, yes," Agatha answered, "in fact, the predetermined 'destiny' affect peculiar kinds of people, especially to those who escaped their scheduled deaths, either through the continuity being deviated or through artificial means of cheating death the 'normal' way. ... Like me."

"Oh boy," Julius facepalmed, "... I would bemoan of things being harder than it is, but like you said, 'no point crying over spilled milk."

"The whole world has become cursed by the Demon King beneath our notice, time and causality slowly becoming a cosmic farce the more we persist," Agatha remarked, "while the original Golden Dawn cult chooses to power their way through by using our curse to undo it, I approach it from a more... sensible option."

"And what would that be?" asked Julius.

The Witch Queen sets her empty cup down on the saucer. "Meeting hours are over. Get out now before I make you do that 'workout' again."

"Wait wait wait! Hold on!" Julius spoke, "before I go, I have one more question for you."

"Make it quick," glared the Witch Queen.

"... So about that incident where all the spells were lost," Julius mentioned, "how did it affect your people?"

"Irrelevant," Agatha replied, "I lived over 1,000 years. An empty grimoire is primitive to me."

"Right, you being first born during the Golden Age..." Julius rolled his eyes, "... why bother using it in the first place?"

"Formality," she bluntly replied, "I prefer if outsiders and the curious alike didn't start asking questions about my... supposed abnormality."

"Apologizes," bowed the Wizard King as he left, "... I'm going to run now."

"You have 30 seconds before security arrives," Agatha deadpanned as the doors slammed before her, causing her to snort in amusement upon being left alone in the guest room.

The Wizard King was then "escorted" (read: chased) out of the Grand Magic Zone, with neither side suffering any injuries (Julius not fighting back both before and now in order to maintain goodwill). Suddenly, the Witch Queen found her new hobby with the people from the outside world. Now her thoughts divulged into how to make her "game" more "fun" for later rounds.

Quatre Refugee-State, Noble Realm, Clover Kingdom, Evening

"You're getting better at this, Yuno!" praised Deirdre, "just an hour ago right before dinner, you managed to fend off the old fart in record time!"

"Still, I wish that he'd stop jumping at me," sighed Yuno as he sat on the capital's walls, "attacking me without warning... is that normal in Spade Kingdom?"

"No, I think it's normal in any uncivilized areas," the Sylph snarked, "I've noticed, the way he acts before he attacks, it's more akin to a stalking of a wild animal than a human being."

"... Yeah," Yuno gulped, "but the scarier part? I think he's deliberately holding himself back from leveling the whole place during our 'sparring'. He's only been ambushing me in the streets because there there are more places for him to hide in."

"You mean like how he literally came out of the city's underground sewers with the cover perched on top of his hat?" Deirdre pointed out, "what's next? He's gonna be hiding under one of the barrels spread throughout the city?"

"Don't give him any ideas," Yuno shushed his Sylph companion, "... he might be listening."

"Listening to what, exactly?" another voice called out, causing both Yuno and Sylph to reflexively enter into their "fight mode", with Yuno drawing [Gram] and Deirdre ready to activate [Spirit Dive], only to realize that the who spoke to them out of the blue was the wheelchair-bound Langris, looking at them unamused at their little fright. "... Wow," the crippled ex-Golden Dawn deadpanned, "and people call me bloodthirsty."

"Oh thank god, it's just you," he sighed out as he sheathed his Relic behind his back, "... how did you get up here like that?"

Langris waves his hand across Yuno, immediately transporting him eye-to-eye to the boy.

"Oh right," Yuno nodded, "[Spatial Magic]."

"Good," Langris smirked, "saves me the trouble of explaining."

The two then turn towards the setting sun, the evening slowly giving away to night around them.

"... You know, in hindsight," Langris spoke, "getting mutually castrated and crippled by that midget was a... new experience for me."

"How so?" asked Yuno, "... aside from the obvious, that is."

Langris sighs as he looked glazed towards the setting sun. "It made me think, what was I going to after I prove to the world that I am better than my older half brother?" he stated, "sure, I was stronger than him, I was in a better place of power than him, but the sight of him smiling and being... genuinely happy with a woman that I never had a choice in marrying?" he pointed out, sounding almost resentful to both Finral and himself, "... turns out, I had no idea what to do after I destroyed everything that he knew and what made him special. I won't change even after I ground my stupid older half-brother to dust underneath my heel."

"That's why you quit?" asked Yuno.

"I needed to get away from the things that made me so miserable," Langris answered, "I first denounced my parents and told them to screw themselves if they wanted another heir that they can build up to live vicariously through, and I was going to find my fiancée that I was supposed to marry..." he growled with a tinge of rage and regret, "... that night did for me."

"... I'm sorry," Yuno apologized to a man that once had it all, only for him to be humbled to this point of resigned bitterness.

"Forget it. She's dead and I can't do anything about it," Langris clicked his tongue as he rolled away from him, "you should know better than me, being a four-leaf and all," he pointed out, "that no matter how much power an individual has, it doesn't mean shit if there's no grander purpose spurring it. My family is a rotting garbage pile of antisocial sociopaths who raised me more akin to a human weapon than a living person, and the only one in said refuse that tried to give a damn about me now has all the reasons to cut me off in order to live to his fullest."

"... I don't think that's true," Yuno remarked, "Finral might forgive you. And not just because he is that kind of person, but I think he can grow stronger from this experience, and hopefully, both you and him can become strong enough to... you know," he remarked, remembering Asta and himself back during the good days, "... forgive each other."

Langris stifles a laughter. "Wow, guess him being a senior to you rubbed off, didn't it?" he faux-mocked, trying to hide his vulnerability as self-defense.

"It's not too late to forgive as long as either of you live," Yuno remarked, "just do before either of you die of old age, alright?"

"Hmph, a commoner telling a noble what to do..." Langris scoffed but his smile remaining on his face, "... you're quite cheeky for a disgraced foreign royalty."

"Eh, I try," Yuno shrugged before looking back out towards the horizon, "... wonder how the others are doing out there?"

"For your sake, pray that they're doing fine," Langris remarked, internally taking Yuno's words into account, "... fine enough to be mostly alive."

The sun then sets upon another day of survival.

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: Intermission over. This chapter was chock full of character development that I had to get it out of the way before I forget later down the line. The events here are to show what sort of personal worldbuilding I can do, so this is kinda like a like a mental exercise regarding character writing.

Gordon and Grey's reuniting with their families (or what's left of them) are meant to show differing paths of reconciling while ultimately achieving the same result of character growth: Gordon was able to clear up the misunderstanding with his family and was able to accept them as a part of his life that he never knew while Grey is ultimately acknowledging that her foster family were toxic and she wishes to never be reminded of them again, but doesn't necessarily deny that it didn't happen. Still, both of those events will serve as momentum for the two of them to become more proactive in the story along with Yuno, to show that it's not just him and Deirdre, but there are others who are behind him and can easily run alongside him as equals rather than second bananas.

And for the Seabed Temple being a bait-and-switch hope spot... I have two reasons. The first is that in hindsight, I didn't know what to do with the majority of Priests save for the one that went/forced along with Kiato and Kahano, and I can't afford to shaft everyone to the side for the sake of an "economy cast" to have a few represent the whole, so I had to justify the "economy cast" being Kiato, Kahano and Mago to represent what was left of the Seabed Temple rather than what the canon did as a one-shot. Second, this is twofold reason. With the Purple Orca being composed of seedy characters before Kaiser came along in the manga canon, I decided to use the Seabed Temple's inevitable destruction as a way to push the Purple Orcas into that from "Token Evil Teammate" to "Failure Hero" trope. Kaiser is a good man, and while he's powerful as a Magic Knight Captain, he's going to have to learn that there are some things out of his hands and that he just can't afford to be the shield for the people all the time. There are things that even he can't protect, and his passivity in his steadfast sense of justice will have to be reexamined both in-universe and through this fic. And regarding why the adults of the Seabed Temple can't permanently leave their domain, I based their hereditary "condition" off of "decompression sickness" which deep divers get, but since they lived 2 miles underwater for generations, even the most recent generation who has been conditioned to live well both on land and underwater are going to have a hard time adjusting in more ways than one. And said dome breaching this chapter may sound like a massive case of "we hardly knew ya" trope, but in all honesty, I found no purpose of dragging it out and instead opted to use Gio's talk of "realism" as a "harsher in hindsight" moment. Better to die with dignity than simply beg for hope.

And regarding the talk between Julius and Agatha the Witch Queen, the [Curse of Apocrypha] is back in prominence after Luciel explained it to Fana, and it's now connected to the 12 Agarthan descendants that are around this world today. And for an added twist, I decided to implement the fact that the 12 descendants' magics are taboo. After all, paraphrasing Lucifer from Book 1, people aren't normally supposed to sling around the power of nature at their fingertips, so people creating lifeforms that are fully sapient and self-aware (the Witch Queen), defy the flow of eventuality (Julius) or rape the idea of causality itself (Aleister), I suddenly thought the three taboos of alchemy from Fullmetal Alchemist (specifically, "do not create gold" and "do not create life") and realized that in a world where "magic is everything" (I will never forgive or forget that line), surely there are some unspoken rules that prevent people from, I don't know, playing god?

Well, in hindsight, this is why Helena's archeology expedition got mothballed. Not because it yielded no results, but Julius caught on that she was about to know too much. Thank the lucky stars that she wasn't found dead in a ditch.

Overall, the theme of this Saga revolve around the ideas of formality and personal history. Everyone, regardless of culture, tends to have their ways of saving face in order to remain functional in a civilized society. This chapter serves as a "decon-recon switch", with the dichotomy between the Seabed Temple and the Witch's Forest. The former, despite being socially progressive, were physically stuck in the past and the majority of the people cannot move out sans for their children, which is a way of the older generation acknowledging that they came up short and unable to utilize their fullest of potentials to make their own bubble a better place, passing the hopes onto their next generation, whereas the Witch's Forest, in-canon, there wasn't anything stopping the witches from taking trips to the outside world (as long as they didn't mate with humans; that line was basically the threshold to which the Witch Queen branded said witch as a "traitor", and Vanessa just happened to be too important that her own threshold was even more draconian), but the figure of authority actively enforced an insular and conservative (bordering semi-xenophobic in my opinion) culture. Either way, I'm not taking sides who is right or wrong, but I'm meant to show that differing circumstances, whether well-intentioned or otherwise, have their own brand of consequences. It may look like I'm playing favorites between cultures, but this is kind of my way of enforcing an "economy cast" trope just to avoid another OC-flooding that was prevalent in my last Book 1.

Okay, rant over. Next is Ulster's ultimate clusterfuck.

References:

- The Saga name is named after Bill Danoff's song with the same name.

- Gordon's OC stand-in grandfather, Kristoph, is named after the villain of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney.

- Gordon's great-grandparents/founders of the Agrippa clan, Heinrich and Cornelia Agrippa, are named after the Agrippa clan's namesake: Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, a German alchemist and occultist.

- The Agrippa clan's Relic, [Caduceus, the Scalpel], is named after Hermes' staff and a common symbol for ambassadors and medical professionals. The "scalpel" part of its title is an allusion to Nathan's switched profession to a doctor from a line of (semi-unwilling) assassins. The design of said Relic is partially based off of Bravely Default's Falcon Knife.

- Yes, Saiga literally did the first beats of the The Addams Family sitcom opening number when he ran into Gordon. I had to do it because A) Saiga's a special kind of cooky, and B) when you anime-watchers or manga-readers first saw Gordon's family, don't tell me that you DIDN'T hear The Addams Family theme, because I sure as hell didn't.

- Grey's surviving sister is named after the lesser of evil stepsister of Cinderella (Disney version), Anastasia.

- Gifso's spell that made his two grandchildren, the young-ish Priest and Kaiser to escape the Seabed Temple is based off the Yu-Gi-Oh Trap Card with the same name, [Compulsory Evacuation Device].

- The line "Meeting hours are over" is from Donbrothers.

- The Witch Queen's parting shot at the end of her and Julius' segment is a reference of Sugou's line from SAO Abridged Episode 12.

- Saiga's stalking habits mentioned by Yuno is a parody to the "Majima Everywhere" system from Yakuza Kiwami.

- Langris' method of vertical transportation is how The Hand from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Diamond is Unbreakable can "erase" distances between itself and its target.

Hypothetical Voices:

- Mago: Taishi Murata (JPN), Michael Sinterniklaas (ENG)

And as usual, please leave a comment or a review, for I'd love to know what my readers think!