The Meeting Of Two Souls
Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of The Fallen! We've actually got something of a matchup happening this chapter so look forward to that. Also, I'll be dropping another scene sample or two from my upcoming book, so hop on over to my Pat reon and see about becoming patron to view that and other exciting news! Now that's all the announcements I have for the moment, so with no guest review questions to answer this week, on to the story!
Daytime: Hage Village
Asta was now thirteen years old and with it had come some drastic changes over the last three years. He'd improved his training regimen, finding a better balance between it and his personal life. His control of anti-magic had improved greatly from what it was along with his physical abilities, and he'd even discovered an odd sensing ability that better helped him feel the flow of his anti-magic and was even capable of sensing attacks! The changes that everyone else noticed were the changes in his personality.
First, his ability to focus had increased drastically. He was now able to pay closer attention during lessons in the church and had learned a lot more in these last few years than he'd been able to take in the ten years before. While Asta still played, he was less loud and excitable about everything and even yelled less about becoming the Wizard King. Naturally it was still his goal, but he figured he didn't need to scream about it at the top of his lungs anymore since basically the whole village knew by this point.
None of these changes were necessarily odd on their own, many could actually be attributed to Asta finally growing up a bit. What really caught everyone by surprise was when they noticed he'd stopped proposing to Sister Lily. At first they thought he'd finally been rejected too many times and got depressed, but that wasn't the case. "I just realized that what I felt for Sister Lily wasn't the same as being in love with someone," he'd explained, "what I felt was more like what a child feels for their mother."
This level of maturity also weirded everyone out. Asta didn't mind, though, he just figured it would take his friends some time to get used to the new Asta. After all, not everything had changed. Yuno was still strong as ever and his magic control was getting stronger every day. This meant the ashen-haired boy still had to put up with the occasional comparisons as Yuno's goal was the same as his.
'But my control of magic, or whatever this is will keep getting better,' he declared to himself with a clenched fist, 'one day, when I'm ready, I'll challenge Yuno to a duel and we'll see who the more capable magic knight is.' Of course, such a day was still far off, so for now Asta would continue his training and work hard to become a magic knight. At least that had been his plan. Fate, or whatever one would like to call it, had other ideas.
It was when he and Yuno were chopping firewood one day. Naturally it was taking Asta a little longer since he was using his enhanced physical abilities while his friend was utilizing his wind magic to cut up several logs at once. "I don't know where you learned to chop wood one handed Asta but keep it up," Father Orsi requested, "you'll have more physical strength than anyone in the kingdom!"
"Just the result of hard work," the boy smiled. It was about this same time that Yuno finished up the logs he'd been working on and set them aside with his wind magic.
"And as expected, splendid work, Yuno," the priest praised, "if I haven't said it before I'll say it again, there is hope even in this orphanage for someone like you. I've no doubt you'll be a proper magic knight in no time!" Oddly, instead of thanking Father Orsi for his praises, Yuno just frowned. He looked at his friend who was finishing up his last log before turning to head off.
"Asta," the dark-haired boy spoke up suddenly, "you don't have to pretend you're not bothered by that."
"Bothered by what?" He tilted his head in confusion.
"All of it," Yuno answered, "everyone looking at you with pity. You don't have to pretend it doesn't bother you."
"It's annoying sometimes, yeah, but I know at the end of the day they still care about me," Asta responded with a shrug, "it's understandable that Father Orsi and the others wouldn't have that much faith in me."
"What's with that attitude?!" His friend exclaimed with clenched fists, "you've told everyone every day for years that you were going to be the Wizard King, that you'd prove to them that you could be a magic knight even without magic. You can't become that if no one has any faith in you!"
"So you think I should do something different," Asta turned back to his friend in slight confusion.
"You need to show people they can rely on you, that you've got the strength to protect them," the boy held up his fist, "so fight me. Right here, right now, I challenge you to a duel!"
"What would me dueling you right now prove," the ashen-haired youth gave his friend a skeptical look, "everyone knows you're stronger than me."
"Do they?" Yuno raised an eyebrow, "I know you've been training in secret and it's not just to boost your physical strength. Recently you've been able to sense magic, haven't you? You don't need to hide your abilities from everyone."
"I'm not really hiding much of anything," Asta shrugged once again, "sure I discovered a new trick or two but it's not really all that mind-blowing."
"Geez, I'm starting to understand what led to your mother dumping you here all those years ago," his friend scoffed suddenly.
"What was that?" The youth's green eyes narrowed.
"Just think about it," Yuno smirked, "if she has the same attitude as you right now, it's probably because she just got apathetic. Gave up on life, gave up on you. Why should she bother raising a kid now? What would that prove to anyone, they already knew she couldn't make it as a mother."
"Yuno," Asta growled while clenching his fist, "say what you want about me, but you don't know-."
"Neither do you," the black-haired boy snarked, "for all you know I could be hitting the nail on the head right now."
"I don't know why you're so insistent on this," the ashen-haired orphan took a steadying breath, "but fine, if you want a duel that badly then I accept. But now I have a condition. If I win, you apologize, profusely, for everything you just said."
"Fair enough," Yuno nodded as the two went a short distance towards the forest and stopped, "but if I win, you give up your dream of becoming a magic knight. The loser is the first one to get knocked out. Sound like a fair game to you?"
"You're not giving me a lot of other options," Asta took a fighting stance with his fists raised. By this point, the other orphans had gathered to watch. Father Orsi and Sister Lily were there but didn't know whether or not they should intervene. They, like the other orphans, assumed the duel would likely be over in a matter of seconds.
'Sorry Asta,' Yuno thought to himself as he strengthened his body with mana, 'I didn't want to say those things and I'm going to apologize afterwards whether I win or lose. But I know you're hiding something and now's the time to show me and everyone else what you've got!' The boy launched himself forward then, a fist poised to strike his friend. At that same moment, Asta watched the blow coming towards him, quickly calculating its speed, direction and likely point of impact.
The last thing he calculated as the blow struck home, was that there was no need to move. Indeed, as Yuno's fist struck him in the cheek, the wind magic user withdrew his hand, grimacing in pain from the impact. 'It's like striking a tree,' he realized before leaning back just in time to dodge an uppercut from Asta that might've knocked him silly had it connected. The black-haired orphan made use of his wind magic this time as he came up and kicked off of Asta's chest, creating a bit of room between them.
It didn't last long as the gray-haired boy ran to close the gap and threw a few punches of his own. They were undoubtedly strong but amateurish, allowing Yuno to dodge one after the other by using his wind magic to increase his speed and balance. When he struck again, it was with a wind-powered kick to Asta's side which he actually seemed to feel this time. Yuno capitalized on this and swung a wind-assisted punch next.
But instead of striking his friend's face, he only struck air. He had merely a second to look down and register that Asta had dodged by lying flat on the ground. With the barest hint of a smirk, the ashen-haired orphan gestured to the right with the two fingers of his left hand. An invisible force suddenly sent Yuno flying back where he landed on the ground, hard. This dazed the youth for a few precious seconds as he struggled to get up.
As soon as his vision stopped swimming, Yuno's eyes widened to see a large stone that Asta had ripped out of the ground from nearby and sent hurtling towards him. Thinking quickly, he held up his hands and created a small vortex that slowed the stone's speed to practically nothing before he tossed it aside. 'If that had hit me I'd probably be out,' Yuno reasoned as he stood up, 'good to see he's taking this seriously.' The wind user propelled himself forward again, this time maneuvering around to Asta's side while subtly inhaling a large amount of air.
In the next instant, he fired off multiple bursts of wind that scattered in all different directions. Asta noticed the effects of the wind kicking up dust on the ground and instinctively jumped into the air. He bent his body from one side to the other while still in the air, using the denser air pressure created by the attack as an indicator of which direction he should dodge. He was successful in evading all but one of the invisible wind bullets, the last of which struck him in the chest as he fell to the ground, landing on all fours.
The ashen-haired youth got to his feet, noting the spot he'd been hit was bleeding. 'Guess Yuno's serious too,' Asta realized, 'if this had hit a regular person they'd probably have a hole in them right now.' Naturally, this occurrence meant a change in strategy was needed. While he was certain he could take Yuno on in a head-to-head confrontation, his friend's wind-based abilities made it so that he didn't have to get close to take him down.
As he'd just found out, Asta was capable of determining when a wind attack was coming and what direction it was coming from, but it cost precious seconds to do so. Scattering dust to better see the attacks coming was also not an option as Yuno or even a random gust of wind would just blow the dust cloud away. With that in mind, Asta really only had two options at the moment for dealing with such attacks: using his newly discovered method of sensing mana, which was actually quite sporadic, or hightail it! And that's exactly what he did, taking off for the forest.
"Hey! Get back here!" Yuno ordered, running after his friend. Asta was naturally the faster runner meaning even with wind assistance allowing him to fly, Yuno still arrived in the forest a few seconds later, more than enough time for his opponent to disappear on him. The wind user looked around warily, hovering just above the ground, ready to move at a moment's notice. Or at least he thought he was ready until he rounded the trunk of one of the larger trees and was met with the tip of Asta's boot kicking him in the side of the head.
It was only instinct that saved Yuno from hitting the ground as he created a cushion of air that allowed him to backflip and land several feet away, a hand covering the aching spot on his head. 'If I hadn't moved back in the last instant that could've ended the fight right there,' the black-haired boy mused, 'I'll need to try something different.' "Let's see how you do in a cramped space," Asta smiled while flipping back up to stand on the large branch he'd swung off of. Instead of saying anything in response, Yuno answered with his next attack.
He held out his arms and formed several balls of wind surrounding his opponent. Asta didn't know what was happening at first and stretched out his new senses, hoping they'd be accurate this time. The gamble paid off as he sensed the attack coming the moment Yuno launched it. The anti-magic boy leapt off the tree, narrowly avoiding the orbs as they slammed into his previous spot and shattered it into splinters.
Yuno used this chance to start firing projectiles of compressed air at his friend. Asta, observing the change in the black-haired boy's stance, rolled as soon as he hit the ground and started running, going between the trees as the invisible bullets continued to land just behind him. 'I really need to come up with a way to deal with long-range opponents,' Asta thought in annoyance as he continued to evade the assault. As before he tried stretching out his senses to see if he could anticipate Yuno's next move and hopefully find an opening in his attacks.
Instead his opponent came to him. Just as the gray-haired boy was maneuvering around one of the wider trees, his sense alerted him to an attack. It was Yuno, jumping out from the other side of the tree in an attempt to hit him at close range. Ducking at the last second, Asta felt his headband torn from his hair before he slammed a powerful left jab into the wind user's chest.
Yuno cried out in pain as he felt a rib crack from the force of the blow which sent him flying several feet back and out of the forest. He stopped himself from hitting the ground just in time by using his magic to slow his fall and hold him mere inches from the grass. Asta came slowly walking out of the woods then, his body showing minor wounds that he didn't seem fazed by in the slightest. Yuno, on the other hand, was breathing heavily and knew at least one bone, if not more, was broken.
'I could lead him back into the forest again,' Asta contemplated, 'but he'll probably use a different method of attack this time that'll keep him out of reach. And I already know he's going to keep his distance out in the open. About the only thing I can do right now is somehow break through his wind attacks and hit him with another surprise blow. Guess now's as good a time as any to try that new technique I've been working on.'
Asta took a loose fighting stance with his fists up, gathering his anti-magic energy into his right hand. No one had yet been able to sense or see the odd black and red aura, so it was a safe bet Yuno couldn't either. If he did this right, it would be the blow to end the fight. So as his wind wielding friend took his own fighting stance, Asta ran forward, his fist poised to strike through anything thrown at him.
He reared his arm back just as Yuno was summoning up another attack of swirling wind, only for the energy to dissipate as blood came out of his nose and mouth. He was unaware of it at the time, but he'd overtaxed his anti-magic core, causing him to lose his strength in a similar manner to one who overused their mana. And thus, the fight ended as Asta fell over, unconscious. "Asta appears unable to fight," Father Orsi declared with a hand held up, "this match goes to Yuno!"
The other orphans cheered at the outcome of the duel, a couple of whom remarking that it wasn't so surprising, given that Yuno was a genius. Sister Lily was quick to check on both of them, applying her healing magic to soothe their injuries. "Sister Lily," Yuno breathed out as he sat on the ground, finding it hard to stand now that the adrenaline had worn off, "how's Asta?"
"He's fine from what I can tell," the Nun recalled her examination of the surprisingly muscular boy, "he must've fainted from exhaustion and blood loss. All I could find were some minor bruises and cuts. You, on the other hand, it's amazing you're still up. You're mildly concussed and you've got some internal fractures with an especially nasty one in your rib."
"Just goes to show how awesome Yuno is," one of the orphans praised, "you went easy on him and let yourself get that injured and still beat hi-."
"I didn't beat him!" The wind user raised his voice, "I was giving it my all the whole time! It's like I keep trying to tell everyone, Asta isn't weak!"
"Okay, jeez, we'll back off," the orphan apologized, though it was obvious he still didn't believe Yuno was giving it his all.
"We can discuss this later," Sister Lily helped Yuno up and began to lead him back to the Church, "for now, let's get the two of you inside."
Several Minutes Later: The Church
Asta awoke with a groan before quickly sitting up, momentarily confused until he realized he recognized his surroundings. "Hey, glad to see you're up," Yuno called from the bed next to him.
"What happened," the ashen-haired boy asked while examining his condition, noting his cuts and bruises were more or less healed.
"You passed out at the end of the fight," his friend recounted, "Sister Lily already treated your wounds."
"Guess that means I lost," Asta sighed, "I was so close, too."
"You didn't lose," Yuno corrected, "I don't know what you were planning with that last blow but I'm pretty sure it would've finished me if it had hit. If you hadn't suddenly passed out, you'd have been the winner." He bowed his head then, "so I'd like to say, I'm sorry about all of that. I used a low blow to get you to fight me. Even if all I wanted was to prove to everyone else that you weren't wasting your time with your training, it was still uncalled for."
"I passed out because of my own lack of mastery over my abilities," his friend countered, "something like that would've gotten me killed in a real fight."
"Even so, I can't accept winning like that," the black-haired boy shook his head, "I used every trick I could think of and you didn't go down. What happened was a fluke, and I can't rely on those in a real fight either, can I?"
"I guess that wouldn't be the smartest idea," Asta admitted with a nod, "so are we calling it a draw then?"
"No, it's your win this time," Yuno held up his fist, "so don't give up on your dream just yet. Like I said, I'm sorry for the things I said earlier, so, let's duel again at some point in the future, deal?"
"Hmph, deal," the anti-magic wielder raised his fist and carefully leaned over to bump it against his friend's, "next time there won't be any flukes."
"Good, because I'll mop the floor with you next time," his friend gave a small smirk.
"Bring it on," Asta responded with a toothy grin.
Two Months Later: Hage Village Square
'Oh, is it that time of year again already,' Megicula mused while her astral form followed Asta and the other orphans through the village. Unlike most days, everyone was dressed in their best clothes as the time of the annual Fall Festival was upon them once again. The demoness had observed it a few times now through her link with Asta and had a fair idea about the pattern everyone followed for the little event. The first stop was the Fall Mass, where all the villagers gathered to give thanks for the harvest.
Megicula typically skipped this part of the festival as most of the subjects brought up didn't interest her and even if they did, she couldn't really offer any input anyway. The next part of the festival, however, she found rather amusing. The inhabitants of the church would make their way to the village square in front of the residence of a man known as the Count of the Village. It was here the main excitement of the festival happened with numerous stalls set up and selling their various foods and wares along with multiple street performers who were either passing through the village or had been invited to showcase their talents.
This year, jugglers using light and fire magic were the main attraction along with a performer creating ice sculptures and an illusionist telling tall tales from the kingdom. It was honestly a beautiful sight for the demoness. 'After so many years in that prison, I sometimes forget that magic can be entertaining,' she mused, 'these humans can be quite creative when they want to be.' For a split second Megicula noticed something slightly odd about having such a thought.
But before she had much time to ponder it, Asta and the others had wandered away and she needed to move to catch up with them. It was always during the festivals that she had a hard time keeping track of her little tool. Even despite his growing maturity and no longer having the need to yell about something every hour, Asta was still very energetic and excitable when it came to these little celebrations. It wouldn't be until late in the evening when they all returned to the church and sat down for a meal that Megicula wouldn't have to keep as much of an eye on him.
The demoness noted the way he interacted with the other orphans, as had become increasingly common over the years, and how they were able to enjoy each other's company. If Megicula hadn't known any better she might've assumed they had few problems at all the way they laughed and carried on without seeming to spare a thought to their troubles. It was…a serene scene. 'It really is nice, this life they have,' the winged woman admitted.
This admission, however, would make Megicula's eyes widen. Nice, had she really just called this scene nice? These were humans, traitors, beings that she hated! The demoness turned and left the table then, phasing through the wall and exiting to the outside of the church. "What's going on," she put her hands on her head, "why don't I hate these people? Why don't I want them to suffer?!"
What was worse, the thought of bringing harm to them actually made her feel…regret, sadness? How could this be, only a few years ago she reveled in watching Asta get beaten to a pulp and wouldn't have batted an eye if anyone from the church died. In fact, the idea of them suffering alongside all the other humans for their past betrayal should've filled her with joy. "It couldn't be, our connection," Megicula surmised, "don't tell me that brat has somehow been influencing me without my knowing?!"
It was a possibility she couldn't simply ignore. If it was true and her connection with Asta was having a negative effect on her mental state, then she needed to sever the connection. Such a forceful breaking of the connection would undoubtedly kill the boy but she didn't care. There could be nothing standing in the way of her revenge!
A Short Time Later
Despite the urgency, Megicula held off on breaking the connection until everyone was asleep. While it was unlikely, the possibility existed that Sister Lily could still repair the damage done with her healing magic if she applied it quickly enough. The demoness didn't need anyone running around who knew of her identity and wasn't under her control. So she bid her time until the moment came when her astral self was standing over Asta, ready to do the deed.
She held out her hand, gazing one last time at the peaceful expression he wore while sleeping. "Farewell, Asta," Megicula began, "it wasn't completely unpleasant having you for a tool." The demoness felt the connection then and was about to sever it when she noted something odd. She observed what was going through the shared link towards her. To the winged woman's surprise, she felt no coercion, no malice, no subconscious attempts to fight her off or struggle against her.
In fact, his soul had been nothing but willing with her, giving her care, comfort, things she'd desperately wanted and needed. "It can't be," Megicula's eyes widened, "the reason my memories have felt less haunted lately, the reason I've been able to process them better and feel less pain from them. It was you all along." The realization stunned her for several moments before a toothy smile formed on her face.
A giggle began in her throat which grew and grew until she threw her head back in full-on laughter. It was ironic really, all the time she'd spent in that accursed prison, all the hate she'd built up in her heart for angels, humans, spirits, etc., all the pain and anguish she'd been forced to endure and now it was all being lessened by a little boy whose only purpose had been a back up plan for freeing herself. 'I'll need to study this in more detail,' Megicula thought in amusement before turning away.
What she didn't realize was that happening right this very moment, Asta had been having a dreamless sleep. Instead, he found himself in a world of grey, standing before a blurry, black shape. At first, the presence of what he recognized vaguely as wings and horns made him initially cautious of the unknown figure. But Asta soon realized he knew this figure when he saw the flick of a familiar tail and a slight wisp of white hair.
This was the fragment of Megicula that had been slipped into his soul without him knowing or realizing. Strangely, however, Asta felt no fear or anger once he realized it was the demoness he was seeing again. Likewise, the fragment felt no fear when looking at Asta's soul which was white and much larger than hers, taking the form of many pentagonal pyramids fused together, an icosahedron. Even so, Megicula approached cautiously when Asta's soul spread its arms out wide in a friendly gesture.
No words were exchanged as they embraced, slowly connecting with each other on a far deeper level than before. Megicula's fragment was now becoming a part of Asta's soul, and he was willingly allowing it to happen. The Demoness would later estimate that their bond had grown a hundred percent as a result of this unity. He was now aware of Megicula and her astral form.
It was at this moment, when Megicula was turning away from the sleeping boy that he reached out with his left hand and took hold of her left hand. "Hey," Asta greeted with a sleepy smile, "it's been a bit, hasn't it?" The demoness might've answered but memories suddenly started flowing into her head. The memories of the ashen-haired boy.
His entire life was laid out before her, his hopes, his dreams, his struggles. Likewise, she could feel all of his emotions and quickly realized he could feel hers. Megicula immediately put a stop to the flow of her memories of the demon prison. It wasn't because she wished to keep any secrets this time, but rather to spare Asta the pain those memories would undoubtedly cause him.
Looking down, Megicula also noted the tattoo on the boy's left arm had changed with all of the flowers now in full bloom. "It's been a while for you," the demoness smiled softly, "but I will admit, it's been too long since we talked."
Would you look at that, it appears the dynamic has taken an unexpected shift for our protagonists. What exactly does this new status quo mean for the demon and the anti-magic boy? Feel free to give me your theories in your comments and reviews along with what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters! As mentioned before, check out my Pat reon for news about upcoming projects, scene samples and commissions! Stop in next time as Asta and Megicula learn to navigate this new dynamic! 'Til then.