Side Effects
Hello everyone, Merry Christmas and welcome to the latest chapter of The Fallen! I hope you're all enjoying the holiday season, but if you've got a moment perhaps you'll enjoy this chapter, too. And speaking of holidays and schedules and stuff, why not swing by my Pat reon and see about becoming a patron for news, scene samples, and maybe some Pat reon exclusive content! And one last thing, look forward to my own Christmas gift to you all as I got a surprise chapter posting planned for one of my stories. Now then I believe that's all the announcements so with no guest review questions to answer, on to the story!
Clover Kingdom: Within the Castle Medical Wing
"This is certainly one of the more remarkable cases I've worked on," mused an older man with short grey hair, green eyes and a white doctor's coat over his grey tunic, "beyond the obvious missing arm, he's suffered third degree burns, sustained injuries to his heart and lungs, broken multiple ribs, and also has damage to his sternum, thoracic vertebrae and lumbar vertebrae. Most people would've died from sustaining only half this level of injuries and yet your friend is managing to stay alive somehow."
"He heals really fast," Noelle explained, "we don't know how but I've seen minor cuts and bruises close up and disappear in practically no time."
"But even fast healing won't be enough for this," Yuno pointed out grimly, "you're the only one who can help him now, Dr. Owen."
"I didn't earn my title as the best healer in Clover Kingdom for nothing," the man adjusted his glasses, "Water Creation Magic: Qualle Operation." Water materialized from out of nowhere and formed into a small colony of jellyfish whose tendrils prodded Asta's wounds. Glowing blue light emanated from the tendrils as the other magic knights watched in both fascination and apprehension. After a few minutes passed, the light faded and the jellyfish disappeared shortly after.
"What is this," Noelle asked upon seeing that the burns still remained on Asta's body, "you call that healing, he doesn't look any better than before you started! You should've analyzed everything by now so why aren't you healing him?!"
"Noelle," Mimosa put a hand on her shoulder, "it's not what you think."
"She's right," Owen took off his glasses for a moment and sighed before putting them back on, "healing magic isn't some miracle process that can cure everything with no issue. Like other forms of magic it has certain rules and functions that cannot be so easily ignored. In this case, the core of healing magic is forcing the body to heal faster. In other words, the body is being made to do something unnatural."
"Unnatural how?" The silver-haired girl asked.
"I'm not sure if you've ever let an injury just heal on its own," the doctor continued, "but if you have you'll notice the body takes time to heal. By forcing the process to speed up the body is being made to do something it was not entirely designed to do. This can prove detrimental when it contracts certain illnesses or sustains certain injuries like broken bones, for example, because if you rush those too much you risk damaging the integrity of the bone in the long run. So while more simplistic wounds like cuts and burns can be healed immediately, what we're dealing with now is something that's better left to process and heal slower and more naturally."
"I feared as much," Mimosa had a downcast look on her face, "Asta's injuries are so bad that a rushed treatment will kill him. What sort of treatment would you prescribe, Doctor Owen?"
"Fortunately, I have what I call 'a few-minutes treatment'," he adjusted his glasses, "I work for a few minutes to heal him and then come back again in twenty-minute intervals. At this early stage I can't say how many treatments it will take or how long it will really be before he heals, but if I had to give an estimate, I'd say a few weeks. I'll also need to set up some equipment so that he's hydrated and fed."
"Do you believe you'll be able to do anything about Asta's missing arm?" Yuno already suspected the answer but he asked anyway.
"I may be the best healer in the Clover Kingdom," Owen gave him a serious look, "but even I can't regrow a lost limb. If you can somehow find his missing right arm, I could reattach it, but other than that I'm afraid your friend is out of luck."
"I see," Yuno nodded in understanding, though anyone looking closely would notice him biting his lip slightly, "in that case, all we can do now is leave him in your hands. The rest of us need to report back to our squads." He turned to leave then.
"I hope he gets better soon," Mimosa offered to Noelle before bowing and leaving herself. As for the royal, she stayed for a good bit of time before finally departing, frustrated that there was nothing more she could do.
"Dumbasta," she muttered under her breath as she walked out the door.
The Next Day: Kikka City
"Finally back," the captain of the Coral Peacocks sighed, "I'm glad multi-day missions don't happen often but when they do it's enough to make a girl sleepy." Speaking of sleep, Dorothy realized she needed to pick up something before returning to the squad's headquarters. So with a small skip in her step, the usually sleeping magic knight made her way through the streets until she came to an area with slightly more rundown buildings. One particular building had signs of decay with significantly chipped brown paint revealing the white and light gray bricks underneath.
This was Dorothy's destination which she entered through a pair of dark wooden panels. Once inside it became obvious to the casual observer that this building was in fact a shop with a counter decorated by a blue sign with the prices of each item sold there. In another couple of minutes a man appeared. He was slightly below average in size for one of his age but his red and white robes that denoted his status as a potions vendor made him appear larger.
"Oh, Captain Dorothy, welcome back," the vendor greeted, "what can I interest you in today?"
"Hello Conway," she greeted with a smile, "I'm afraid I've run out of the stabilizer again, I'm going to need more along with the other usual potions."
"I can provide you with all the other usuals today," Conway nodded, "but unfortunately I won't be able to give you the stabilizer right now."
"Why's that?" Dorothy leaned on the counter.
"I'm afraid it's out of stock right now," the vendor informed.
"Out of stock," the captain repeated before suddenly seizing his collar and yanking him closer to her face with surprising strength that belied her four foot eight stature, "Are you mocking me?! I pay you more than enough to buy all of the ingredients for my custom potion and you're telling me it's out of stock?!" The animalistic growl in her voice was so out of place coming from her that one might assume she'd been possessed by something.
"I ordered everything like usual," the now very nervous shop owner explained, "but there was a problem with the delivery of the ingredients this time. They'll still be here but there's been a delay of a few days. I promise you when they get here I'll reduce the price on the next batch of ingredients, I'll even throw in a free one. But there's nothing I can do to speed up the current delivery, I swear it's out of my control!"
"Alright then," Dorothy let out a sigh before releasing him, "if it really is out of your control then there's no helping it. I'll wait as long as I can but I expect you to follow through with that promise on the next batch."
"Of course, I wouldn't want one of the magic knight captains hindered in performing their duties," the man nodded vigorously.
"I'll be back in a few days then," the purple-haired woman waved nonchalantly as she turned and exited the shop. 'Damn it,' she grit her teeth slightly, 'I'm going to have to lay a bit low for the next few days.' But a creeping feeling told her she might not even have that long.
A Short While Later: Coral Peacocks Headquarters
The mansion-like base of the Coral Peacocks wasn't as grand as the Golden Dawn's headquarters or as extravagant as the Silver Eagle's barracks, but it was among the more charming places a magic knight could wind up. The walls were decorated with various, dream-like landscapes along with statues of various birds and collections of findings from the sea. There were also little plates of macarons resting in seemingly random locations all over the base. It was to be expected from a captain who had a taste for the delicacy along with a love of colorful things.
Her office was the most colorful location in the entire base and many of the uninitiated had been taken by surprise upon first viewing the room. Naturally it was also where Dorothy did her paperwork, or rather received her paperwork to give to her assistant on most occasions since she was usually three quarters asleep. Today, however, she was wide awake and needed a distraction. 'Hard to believe I've been doing this for two hours,' the Coral Peacock captain mused after glancing at the carved peacock clock on her desk.
She didn't know it at first, but that two hours was the limit as Dorothy began hearing a small buzzing in her ear. It was faint, at first, a quite sound that didn't disrupt her work or her ability to hear someone talking to her. But as time went on it became more and more draining to hear until finally Dorothy realized she was more tired than usual. Not just mentally tired and wanting to close her eyes but also physically tired.
"Good day captain," a tall woman walked in with grey hair that was done up in a stylized braid, "have we received any mission requests so far today?"
"Not so far, Rayla," Dorothy rubbed her head, "but that might be a good thing right now."
"Are you feeling alright, captain," she asked, "your usual sleeping state aside you look tired."
"I'm having something of a headache right now," Dorothy sighed, "inform the other knights that I'm going to rest for a bit. I won't be long but just in case, wake me up after thirty minutes."
"Of course," Rayla bowed, "I'll go inform the rest of the squad right away."
"Thank you Rayla," she nodded before getting up and heading to her chambers which, unsurprisingly, had a very large, pink bed on the other side. Dorothy laid down and closed her eyes, trying to ignore the buzzing sound. But the faint humming just kept getting louder and louder as it resonated inside of her head. But even with this she finally managed to fall asleep.
This sleep, however, was not a sleep filled with dreams. Instead of her usual funny dreamscape that Dorothy would conjure with her Dream Magic, it was pitch black. Not only that, the awful buzzing had continued even into her sleep. 'Please, be quiet, be quiet,' she put her hands to her head while floating in the darkness.
The magic knight captain heard something then, a soft voice. She realized it was the voice of Rayla, muffled by the door of her bedroom. Thirty minutes must've passed and that meant it was time for her to get up again. Coming back to reality pulled her out of the dark place as she opened her eyes against her mind's protests.
It took a moment for her vision to adjust as she realized the sunlight spilling into her room was almost magenta in color. It saturated her entire bedroom with an unearthly pink aura. Still slightly disoriented she tried to get up until she realized something was on the sheet covering her stomach. It was a white rabbit tinged hot pink by the strange sunlight.
For whatever reason seeing that color was starting to make Dorothy feel sick. 'Here we go again,' she thought with a sigh, ignoring the rabbit as she moved to pick up a framed photo off her nightstand. Currently it looked entirely different from what she remembered. The door opened suddenly then as Rayla entered. "My apologies for barging in, captain," she bowed, "when you didn't respond I started to worry."
"Nothing to apologize for," Dorothy assured without looking away from the picture, "I'm out of it today."
"Admiring the painting again," Rayla noted, "I always liked how the pink and silver contrasted against each other."
"They do contrast quite well, don't they," the purple-haired magic knight hummed. Dorothy didn't mention the odd color in the room or the rabbit, nor was she surprised when her fellow knight didn't notice them. She also offered no further comment on the painting she was holding as it looked completely different to her. All of these were things only she could see.
Dorothy finally looked up after a moment. Rayla, even with her tall stature, was considered quite a beautiful woman by most and even she herself had complimented the knight on her looks. What she saw now, however, was not her knight's beautiful face but a disfigured mockery. Her right cheek was absent as if it had simply evaporated, making her teeth visible on the side of her face. Several muscles were pulled down above them, creating the image of a freshly mauled corpse.
The Coral Peacocks Captain did not, however, react to the sight, instead looking on unmoved as Rayla informed her that she had a meeting she needed to attend. 'It's just a few days,' she reminded herself as the duo exited their headquarters and began making their way towards the Clover Kingdom Castle, 'you just have to hold out for a few days.' Thankfully nothing else unseemly appeared to be happening so far as Dorothy noted the residents of the town all looked quite normal.
"Captain Dorothy! Captain Dorothy!" A child yelled suddenly and came running in their direction.
"Yes, can I he-," she stopped upon seeing that what approached them didn't look like a child but rather a monster whose face was nothing but a huge maw with long, crooked black teeth sticking out every which way. The creature was also colorless everywhere except its mouth. Behind these impossibly long teeth was a faint glow of red light. Dorothy's hair stood on end and she reacted instinctively, raising a magic infused hand.
"Captain!" Rayla caught her hand, causing the spell to go wide and land next to the monster. Dorothy blinked then as reality came back into focus. She saw then that the monster she'd been aiming at was the one who'd been calling out to her a moment before. In front of said child was a small crater in the ground that was still smoking.
Thankfully no injury appeared to be on the child who was now down on the ground, staring at the crater in disbelief. The fear in his eyes was evident and many people had turned to see what the commotion was as they started to whisper among themselves. A flash of memory came then, of a forest, blood, and crows, along with the image of an older woman in a grandiose green dress and a witch's hat. Looking down then, Dorothy saw that her hands were shaking.
"I'm," she stammered while backing up, "I'm sorry, I have to go!" The magic knight turned and ran at full speed then, fear overwhelming her being. 'No, I nearly harmed a child,' Dorothy tried to hold back her tears, 'I don't want to become like the witch queen, I don't!' The townspeople she passed began to flicker like candles in the wind, disappearing and reappearing in seconds, sometimes in the same place and sometimes in another place.
After the long run finally exhausted her she found herself in the depths of the forest where she sat down on a rock, breathing heavily. 'I need to stay here, away from other people,' she told herself, 'it's only for a few days, just a few days.' This course of action seemed wiser by the minute as the buzzing in her ears became a loud bass and she began hearing voices in her head despite no one being there. "Just be quiet!" She slammed her head down on the scale with incredible force.
Interestingly, this made the noise penetrating every inch of her mind diminish slightly. Whether it was a wise course of action or not, Dorothy raised her head and slammed it down over and over again until finally, and mercifully, the buzzing stopped. Shortly after, however, her vision swam and she soon collapsed, slipping into unconsciousness. It would be a few minutes later that Rayla would show up, having been busy calming the people until now.
'I knew something was off,' Rayla berated herself, 'but I didn't think her condition was this bad. "Captain," she called, "captain are you-?" Her voice trailed off as she came upon the purple-haired woman lying next to a large stone in a pool of her own blood. "CAPTAIN!"
A Short Time Later: Castle Medical Wing
When Dorothy came to, she found herself in a hospital bed in a room by herself. Rayla and the healer were quick to explain everything that had happened since the incident. She'd been brought here and given the room all to herself so that she would have privacy but also, and more importantly, so that she wouldn't be accidentally provoked into attacking again. Despite it still being daytime the position of the room didn't allow for much sunlight and the only other illumination currently present was a few candles on the windowsill.
As for the Coral Peacock's captain, she was staring at a large sliding mirror, her head propped up on multiple pillows as she breathed slowly. Rayla entered the room then and came closer, placing her hand on the bed, a gesture which said plenty without words. Dorothy was grateful she was here, and after several moments of staring at her reflection in the mirror, she spoke. "The child from earlier, are they okay," she inquired.
"He was checked over," Rayla informed, "there weren't any injuries."
"That's good to hear," the magic knight captain hummed, "make a note of his name and where he lives. When I'm feeling up for it I want to apologize to him personally."
"Do you want me to pass along any orders to the squad while you're recovering?" The tall woman asked.
"Yes, I'll need to take some time off," Dorothy sighed while looking at the ceiling, "Kirsch can handle being in charge for a couple of days."
"Should I also tell them about today's incident?" Rayla questioned.
"You can if you wish," the captain glanced at her fellow knight, "what happened is I felt the side effects of my magic. Even after all this time it's next to impossible to fully mitigate those without the aid of an elixir, but it won't be ready for a few days. The fact that I can turn the world ugly makes me want to puke, and it's because of these side effects that I hate Dream Magic."
The Next Day: Elixir Shop
As it would turn out, Dorothy was not the only person ailed by her magic. At the same shop, Charmy Pappitson arrived and greeted the potions vendor. But there was a slight difference in her demeanor at the moment in comparison to how she usually was. The typically peppy Black Bull was biting her nails and was quieter than normal.
"Do you have the elixir today," Charmy asked, "I heard there might've been a problem with delivery this time."
"I'm afraid you heard correctly," the shop owner informed somberly, and a bit nervously, "I'm currently out of your usual stock."
"What," the miniature woman's eyes widened upon hearing the news. Her fists clenched and a growl seemed to escape her throat. The shop owner closed his eyes, expecting to be attacked by the woman given her current nature. But when he opened his eyes, she was nowhere to be found. Instead, the hungry Black Bull found her way to a second-rate restaurant that sold cheap food.
She ate, and ate, and ate until her belly became disproportionately swollen and more than a couple of the restaurant goers became shocked by her ravenous behavior. Even so, Charmy was happy for the time being as she knew she would have some peace, temporary as it was. Which is why she returned to the Black Bull Headquarters as fast as she could afterward and headed to her room to sleep. 'It will get worse with time without the elixir,' she mused, 'so for now, I just need to keep to myself.'
Unfortunately, on that particular day, she had a dream. In the dream she was drowning, unable to breathe within the warm liquid that surrounded her, feeling like a metallic substance that flowed down her body. Charmy detected a scent then, a rancid and sweet smell that nearly made her throw up. She moved her limbs desperately, trying to find a way out of the liquid and to fresh air. What air that was already in her lungs seemed dirty and disgusting, yet a part of her wanted more of it, craved it even.
When she finally was able to breathe again it was irregular and made her cough. Charmy recognized where she was now, having been here before some time ago. The Black Bull member also recognized the feeling of the furry limb that sank sharp claws into her arm. Despite the supposed savagery, the movement felt warm, a feigned gesture of affection.
Charmy stopped dead in her tracks, recognizing the wolf manifested by her Food Magic that was usually suppressed by the elixir. "It's good to see you after so long, Charmy," the creature cooed in her ear. But despite the seeming gentleness of his voice the beast's claws scratched her neck hard enough to draw blood. "You reject me and for what? No matter what you do, I will always exist within you until the day you die."
He growled into her ear then, his words like a snake wrapping around her brain. Charmy was unable to completely suppress the shivering of her body while her eyes were glued to the floor. This reaction made the wolf laugh as he dug his claws even deeper into her neck. "It's only a matter of time before you use my power like you used to," he smiled maliciously.
"NO!" Somehow finding her strength, Charmy was able to push the wolf away from her and began running in a random direction. She truthfully didn't care where she was going as long as it was as far away from the beast as possible.
"It doesn't matter where you run," the wolf huffed as he watched her retreating form, "I will always be with you." The black void would disappear then as Charmy awoke with a start. Looking around, the Black Bull member was able to ascertain that it was currently the middle of the night. Time, however, became a secondary concern as her stomach was suddenly filled with a sharp, stabbing pain, making her fall to the floor, clutching it.
She writhed around on the ground in agony, her eyes shut tight as she felt something spreading throughout her body. "You're hungry," the voice of the wolf sounded in her head, "why don't you eat your friends? You have enough of them to keep you full for a while." Charmy didn't answer, instead struggling to her feet and back into her bed.
The next few days would be torturous but Charmy would have to endure, resisting the wolf's temptation.
The Mansion of the Boismortier Family
The Captain of the Aqua Deer, Rill Boismortier, sat locked in his room which resided at the top of one of the mansion's towers. This was a common practice of his even in his younger days, though back then he'd had to learn to understand people in order for them to understand him. However, his family life could be described as dysfunctional at best and while he developed the social skills necessary to become a magic knight and then a magic knight captain, he was not as mentally well as he could've been. One of the few people aware of this mental disease, which was known as Schizophrenia, was Rill's loyal butler, Walter.
The old man had blamed himself all his life for not doing more for the boy, especially when his mental degradation began showing in his teenage years. Today would be one of the days when it somewhat reared its ugly head as Walter entered Rill's room, attempting to be as quiet as possible. But his time in the magic knights had made him more aware of his surroundings and he noticed the old man shortly after he entered. "Walter," Rill greeted happily, "you're just in time, I've completed some new paintings I'd like you to see!"
He showed his first drawing, a sort of story known as Layer of Fear Red Hood that he'd sketched on the back of several pieces of paper. The drawings themselves were well done but organized in a grotesque and macabre way. The next piece Rill showed him was a portrait displaying the progressive decomposition of animals accompanied by painful whining. Then there was a portrait of a terrifying, disfigured, and deformed female face with twisted lips and eyes full of contempt.
The woman possessed a scar which stretched from her eye to her mouth, giving her a grimace of ghastly mockery. The twisted features created an image closer to a monster or demon than a person. Rill showed Walter a few more of his latest works and the butler would react with varying degrees of delight to each one. Internally, however, Walter shuddered at the sight of them.
It was as Walter had feared, without his elixir Rill was not mentally stable and wouldn't be in the best condition to dispense his duties until he received the elixir in a few days. Of course he couldn't just tell Rill to take the elixir as the young man claimed to feel liberated when in his current mental state. Walter typically had to employ various methods of slowly feeding it to him, usually in beverages and food. When he returned to a healthier state of mind a side effect was forgetting all the things he painted while in his deranged mood.
That was no issue, thankfully, as Walter would always take the paintings and drawings to be destroyed later on by Voltaire. 'I am sorry, Master Rill,' the butler would sigh after leaving the boy's room, 'this is the best I can do for you now. I can't change the past but the present can still be good to you.'
Four Days Later: Clover Kingdom Castle: Medical Wing
The good news was that Asta's treatments were going well. He now had enough strength to appear in Megicula's mental space and the demon woman had also recovered from their encounter in the dungeon. The bad news, however, was that Asta was currently being forced to kneel with his head down as she glared at him. To say the winged woman was pissed was an understatement if the menacing look in her eyes was anything to go by.
It was no surprise she'd know what Asta had done, creating a binding vow with an otherworldly creature. "Asta," she began surprisingly calmly, which frightened him even more, "can you recall what I said to you about the Binding Vow?"
"That, after accidentally discovering it, I should never use it under any circumstances," he recited.
"Then could you kindly explain to me WHY THE FUCK YOU THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO USE IT?!" Her voice was so loud it made Asta wince as she continued. "All that time, effort, and training could've all gone to waste in that single moment because of what you did! How could you possibly become the wizard king if you forfeit your soul, and how could you possibly think I'd be okay with you expending your life just to save mine?! Do you think I want to see you go out like that?"
"No," Asta turned his head to the side, unable to meet her eye at the moment, "I know what I did was stupid to a ridiculous degree. But I couldn't see any other option to save you in that instant. Even if I had escaped with my life, I never would've been able to move forward. We've been together for a long time now and I can't imagine my life without you anymore, nor do I ever want to live life without you. That's why I took the risk, I had to do everything I could to save you."
Megicula pouted angrily at that before letting out a long sigh and moving to sit on the floor opposite Asta. 'What's that name Noelle calls him, Dumbasta? How fitting,' the demoness thought in annoyance, 'how am I supposed to stay mad at him when he says stuff like that?' Honestly she found such words quite touching and whatever anger she had remaining evaporated upon hearing them.
Instead, she reached out her hand and gently stroked his cheek. They stared at each other for what felt like a long while. The two didn't realize when it happened but they started moving closer to each other. Their lips crashed together then as a cacophony of emotion erupted between them.
The pair made out passionately for several moments before the need for air forced their lips to part. But Megicula had no intention of ending things with merely that and pushed Asta down onto his back. She quickly straddled the anti-magic user and resumed their earlier make-out session. Asta responded by wrapping his arms around her waist as the two continued to kiss intensely and passionately, their tongues performing an intricate dance.
However long it lasted the two didn't know nor cared. But finally when exhaustion took over, Megicula was laying on Asta comfortably, listening to his breathing and steady heartbeat. This would, unfortunately, be the most pleasant thing that happened that day. A more unpleasant matter needed to be dealt with now.
A Short Time Later: Asta's Mental Space
In something of a contrast to when they last met where Asta was in a difficult position, this time it was Liebe who was in distress. Currently his arms were crossed behind his back, held by a long chain connected to the ceiling which was keeping his limbs in that uncomfortable position. His legs were also chained to the floor with the shackles containing spikes pointed inwards. Completing this assortment of restraints was a belt of heavy chains around his torso designed to not only limit his movements but make breathing difficult.
Asta paid no attention to these conditions as he approached Liebe before stopping and creating a comfortable chair for him to sit down in. He and the demon boy stared at each other for several moments as the ashen-haired magic knight analyzed him. Something had been bothering him ever since their last interaction and now that he was able to take a closer look, Asta found something oddly familiar about Liebe. Focusing on that, the boy found his and Liebe's anti-magic signatures were identical.
This was also the first time Liebe had ever taken a serious look at Asta, noting for the first time their startling similarities. "Are we brothers," he asked with some difficulty due to his restraints.
"No," Asta shook his head, "your appearance is due to the dominant presence of the anti-magic attribute. Since it has the same signature as mine, your body apparently succumbed to the pressure of the anti-magic which is why we look alike."
Asta waved his hand then, creating an image of a demon boy who looked quite different to the one currently in front of him. But despite staring at it intently, no recognition showed in his eyes. "I don't know what you're trying to pull," Liebe growled, "but why should I believe that's the real me? I'll admit my memories only go as far as my time in the human world, but if you got this appearance from Megicula then I'd take it with a grain of salt."
"I've got more reason to trust her right now than I do you," Asta pointed out.
"Don't be stupid," the demon boy hissed, "Megicula is a demon, she's only hanging around you so that she can use you. I know you're not a fool, you have to have realized that by now!"
"She may have been using me at one point," the ashen-haired boy's eyes narrowed, "but it's different now. Her being with me now is beyond me simply being used as her weapon. I'd try to explain it to you but that'd be pointless because you'll just ignore it anyway."
"What about our mother," Liebe grit his teeth, "you remember Richita, don't you? The demons took her from us, don't you want to avenge her?!"
"Richita was a mother to you, even if just an adoptive one," Asta revealed coldly, "but that woman did nothing for me except try to take my life. She didn't possess an ounce of maternal instinct for me and threw me into the forest when she got bored with me. It was only by pure luck that Father Orsi Orfai happened to be passing through the forest that day and found me that I survived."
"No, that can't be," Liebe squirmed in indignation, trying to move towards Asta but only succeeding in taking a step before the chains restrained him.
"The truth can be bitter and is often spat out when it reaches someone's mouth," the anti-magic boy quoted, "Lies, on the other hand, are like the best wines; sweet and delicious when drunk. You may not like the truth but I don't intend to hold back just because you find a lie more convenient. But you should know, I hold no grudge against your adoptive mother as she conceived me in an unnatural way."
"What are you talking about?" Liebe raised an eyebrow.
"It'll be easier to show you," Asta snapped his fingers, causing the surroundings to change. What it became was what Liebe quickly realized was his host's oldest memory. The two found themselves standing in front of countless tanks. But it was what was inside the tanks that made the scene frightening.
Inside each tank, suspended in liquid, was a child. And there were quite a few tanks. "What you're looking at is an artificial womb," Asta explained, "The liquid they're filled with is a mixture of nutrients and organic catalysts designed to aid in growth." The duo directed their gaze to a figure with a vague silhouette standing a little ways away from the tanks. But their attention was quickly drawn back to the tanks as several of the children in the capsules suddenly came apart, reduced to nothing but blood and shredded organs.
Liebe gasped while both Asta and the figure looked on silently before the latter approached one of the tanks. The demon boy quickly realized this was the tank Asta had been grown in as the figure said something indistinct. The memory ended then as the room returned to its previous state. Liebe said nothing as he digested this new information.
Asta sighed at this and decided now was as good a time as any to end their conversation. So with a quick farewell, he exited his mental space and returned to the real world. "Oh, welcome back," Owen greeted as the magic knight awoke, "you looked like you were having a good rest. Not surprising considering how much healing you've had to do, though I must admit your friends didn't jest when they said you healed exceptionally fast, you've made weeks of progress in only four days."
"It has proven useful in the past," Asta nodded, "I take it that means I'll be out of here soon?"
"Soon enough," the doctor assured, "but I'd still like to make absolutely sure you're healthy. You suffered internal along with external injuries, after all." The anti-magic boy nodded in understanding as Owen activated his magic and began a scan of his body. It took a little bit as the man was thorough but eventually he relented and declared Asta to be completely healthy.
The ashen-haired boy thanked the man for his help as he went on to tend to his other patients. As soon as he was gone, Asta turned his attention to his missing arm. "Megicula," he called, "do you think it's possible to do anything about this? I doubt they'll be able to find my arm back in that dungeon."
"It's possible that if you focus on directing your regenerative factor like you direct your anti-magic, you could affect regeneration in that area," the winged woman surmised, "though it won't be very discrete if you do it now."
"Me suddenly regaining a limb will draw attention one way or the other," Asta pointed out before he sat up and began focusing his regenerative factor towards his missing limb. It took a moment, but soon enough bones and tendons began forming seemingly out of thin air, followed by muscles that stretched over and began pulsing, skillfully wrapping and forming into intricate patterns. Finally, the torn skin began to form and cover everything up. It was shortly before this that Owen took notice and watched in morbid fascination as the missing limb finished forming and started moving again.
Asta moved and flexed the new limb experimentally, finding no issues with the motions it produced. "How," Owen gaped, "how did you do that?"
"Just my regenerative factor," Asta shrugged, "I think it's a side effect of my body possessing anti-magic."
"It certainly does quite a job," the doctor remarked as he checked the magic knight's new arm. He scanned it with his magic and also felt the movements of the muscles underneath. "The good news is there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with this arm, though as a doctor I'd still advise keeping an eye out for anything unusual."
"I'll certainly keep that in mind," Asta nodded, "not to sound impatient, but is there anything else I need to worry about?"
"No," Owen shook his head, "I can't find any other issues wrong with you. So be sure to check in with the nurse on your way out and I'll send a message to your squad that your recovery is complete."
"I appreciate it," the magic knight nodded before getting up and leaving. It had been a nice reprieve, but it was time for him to get back to it and catch up on what he'd been missing.
And so we got more than a couple revelations this chapter as we learn that some magic attributes aren't all they're cracked up to be. For those wondering, the differences in character behavior where at the behest of my commissioner who I believe is going for a bit of a different tone compared to canon. But still let me know what you think about it in your comments and reviews along with what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters! And check in with my Pat reon for news, scene samples, and possibly even a couple Pat reon exclusives! Last thing, stop in next time as our hero is reunited with his squad! 'Til then.