Chapter Text
Finral opens his eyes to see he is surrounded by nature.
“Where am I??” he thinks.
“There isn’t a single thing you can beat me at, brother!!”. Finral looks to see someone who looks like an older version of Langris wearing a robe he can’t make out.
“Oh. It’s this dream again. I hate this dream”. Finral looks on the older Langris’ face to see anger and hatred. But in his eyes show sadness, loneliness, and betrayal. Finral feels guilt spread throughout his body. He doesn’t know why, but he feels like what Langris is feeling in the dream is all his fault. Then Langris’ spatial orbs appear all around him. Then Finral feels it, a dark ominous aura coming off Langris. It makes Finral want to run over to his brother, enclosing him in a hug and yelling at he doesn’t know what to give him his brother back. But isn’t that his brother?? Finral doesn’t get it; he feels overwhelmed by all these emotions: guilt, anger, self-hatred, powerlessness, and fear. He knows this is all a nightmare and it’s not real, but he can’t help but feel like it is. He feels it every time he has this dream. Finral gets pulled out of his thoughts by Langris’ voice.
“It’s over brother”. Finral still doesn’t understand why but with all the negative emotions he is feeling he also feels; determined and confident.
“Langris. This immense magic power I know I don’t stand a chance. But this is…The nauseating magic like this…Who are you??”.
“My little brother’s magic doesn’t feel like this. And it’s my fault”. Finral faintly hears someone yell then another, but ignores them.
“No. He’s Langris. He’s my little brother. You may not like it but we are similar. Our mother’s are different, but in the end…I never did anything that made me seem like a big brother. I left our family and tried to forget everything. But I couldn’t. Langris no matter what you think. You’re my little brother. Langris stop it!! If you keep this up, I have a feeling you won’t be you anymore”.
“What could you possibly know about me brother?? You left everything behind!!”. Finral can hear the loneliness in Langris’ voice, he feels his entire body ache knowing it's his fault. “You’re a coward who can’t even hurt people”. Finral feels this isn’t true since he has hurt his little brother so much. “Don’t you dare try to act like my big brother now!!”.
“I’ll stop you”. Then he sees green and purple orbs start flying at each other, a bright flash then the searing pain hits as though had skewered him. Finally he wakes up, just like every other time he has had that dream. Finral looks to his side to see Langris at the age he remembers him being before he went to sleep. Finral turns and pulls his brother in closer to him, holding him tightly.
“I don’t know why I keep getting that dream. But maybe it’s the universe telling me I wasn’t being a good enough big brother or maybe I need to do better at protecting Langris. Whatever it means, I won’t fail my little brother. I will protect him and give him a happy life cause that's what a big brother does. Plus Langris is a good kid who deserves to be happy and feel safe. I know he comes off mean because of the amount of pressure father and Lady Vaude put on him. Don’t worry Langris I won’t let father and Lady Vaude take your childhood from you.”. Finral then kisses the top of Langris’ “ I love you Langris” Finral then squeezes Langris into a tighter hug, which seems to wake him.
“Too tight. Let go” Langris says.
“Oh sorry. Heh, heh” Finral replies, letting go of Langris. Finral then looks at the window, noticing how bright it is and sits up. “Sorry I woke you Langris. But you have to go back to your room to get ready for breakfast”.
“I know, but…”. Langris shyly pulls on Finral’s sleeve. Finral sighs and pats the boy on the head to reassure him.
“Don’t worry Langris. I’ll be fine. Plus you may want to hurry before Lady Vaude gets to your room first and tries to pick out your outfit for the day again”. Langris scrunches his face in response.
“You are right I do not like that. Promise you will be fine, I know how weak you are”.
“Definitely need to work on how he says things to people”.
“Yes I will be fine, I promise”.
“Ok. I guess I will go”. Langris gets up off the bed and heads to the door but before he leaves, he stops and looks at Finral again. “Also…um…I know you and mother don’t get along, but maybe…maybe one day you can see her as a mother too??” Langris asks, very embarrassed. Finral just gives him a smile in return.
“Please say yes. I…If we share a mom then we can be full brothers…not just half brothers, like mother keeps reminding me” Langris thinks as he patiently waits for Finral’s response.
“Ya maybe someday”. Langris innocently smiles widely at Finral’s response before leaving. Once gone a deep sigh escapes his lips and begins to get ready.
“I don’t like lying to my little brother, but it would have hurt him if I said no. I know why he wants me to do that. Cause if I do then it will be as though we have the same mother. And if we have the same mother then it’s as though we are full brothers instead of just half-brothers. I have noticed how much it has bothered him recently when people call me his half brother instead of just brother. It’s really so cute!! It makes me happy that Langris wants to be closer to me, but…”.
“Finral.” a female voice says.
“Speak of the devil”.
“Hello Lady Vaude, is there something I can help you with this morning??”.
“I was informed my little Langris had stayed in this filthy room last night, is this true??”.
“Langris had trouble sleeping last night, so he came to my room to sleep”.
SLAP
“I thought I told you if my little Langris comes to your room at night, you are to push away and tell him to go back to his room”. Finral does not respond, so she grabs his face. “Answer me boy”.
“Yes you did ma’am”.
“Then why was I told that Langris stayed in your room last night??”.
“Because he was upset, so I let him stay”.
SLAP
The force of the second slap caused Finral to hit the floor.
“Get up parasite”. Finral begins to get up.
“Here we go again”.
“Since you don’t want to listen to the house rules, you will be punished”. Lady Vaude pulls out a belt. “Take your shirt off and face the wall now”. Finral does so without uttering a single sound. “It seems the bruises from your punishment yesterday won’t get a chance to heal, since he decided to disobey me again”. Lady Vaude then whips Finral on the back with the belt.
“1”. She counts as she continues to hit him with Finral uttering a word. “2”.
“It hurts so much. But I have to keep quiet. I don’t want Langris hearing something and coming back here and seeing this. It would break his heart not to mention scare seeing his mother this way”.
“10”.
“But I don’t regret what I did.”
“14”.
“If my little brother is upset I am going to comfort him…”
“16”
“. ..because that’s what a big brother does”.
“20”.
“I’ll always protect him.”
“23”.
“If these beating are a small price to pay for my brother’s happiness…”
“27”.
“...then I’ll gladly take them”.
“30”.
“But since Lady Vaude is here…
“32”.
“...that means she won’t be picking out Langris’ clothes.”
“37”.
“And he won’t be all pouty at breakfast, so that another win for…”.
“40”.
“That last one…it really hurt” . Finral feels tears welling up in his eyes, but doesn’t dare let them fall.
“Eh, look what you did, you got blood on my belt and the floor”.
“ Oh, that's why that one hurt more”.
“I want this floor cleaned up before my little Langris comes in and sees this. You have already corrupted him enough with your filth. I want you downstairs in time for breakfast and you better be presentable”. Lady Vaude puts the belt away and begins to head to the door, but stops when her hand reaches the door handle. “I do hope you have learned your lesson from this. You have made me do this to you now for over a week, let's not make this more of a routine than it already is”. Then she leaves. Finral collapsed on to the ground, breathing heavily.
“I’m sorry Langris. I don’t think...I can grant your wish”. Finral says to no one with tears stinging his eyes. Then touches him to see the blood. “Damn it. I need to stop the bleeding”.
Finral enters the dining hall where his father, stepmother, and Langris are seated and have started eating breakfast.
“Finral you’re late”.
“Sorry father” Finral says as he takes his seat next to Langris.
“Useless” his father says under his breath. Langris is about to say something to defend his brother, but Finral grabs his hand.
“Father, is the tutor coming today or do Langris and I have independent study today??”.
“The tutor will be coming today for Langris . You have independent study, so don’t get in their way Finral”.
“Yes…father”.
“Father why doesn’t Finral come to the tutor with me…his magical skills are…less than adequate he could use the extra assistance??” Langris asks.
“I know he doesn’t mean that in a mean way, but could he not have asked that in a different way” Finral thinks, though still feels a bit of warmth from his brother's attempt, knowing it wasn’t going to work. Finral smiles to himself. “It would be nice though”. Finral didn’t realise he zoned out until his father called him.
“Yes father”.
“You will be attending Langris’ tutoring session…”.
“What??”
“...you can thank your brother for taking pity on your incompetence”.
“Oh…Langris was able to convince him”
“Thank you Langris” Finral says still a bit shocked.
“Yes well your incompetence is annoying to be around, brother”. Finral can tell that even though what his brother said wasn’t nice, he can’t help but feel warmth. Especially when he sees Langris’ warm, innocent triumphant smile that he thinks he is hiding with his low cast head. Finral can’t help but smile, even though he knows Lady Vaude will be more angry with him later.
“Vanessa was telling me she was heading to the Star Festival…maybe I can try to sneak Langris out to have some fun for once. I think he will like it alot”. Lord Vaude continues to look at the paper.
“Hm. How unfortunate” Lord Vaude exclaims.
“What is it husband??”.
“Seems there was an attack at the Faust Estate the night before resulting in a fire and the entire estate collapsing”.
“What??” Finral doesn’t know why but he feels very sad and anxious.
“Did anyone survive??” Lady Vaude asks.
“Uncertain at the moment, it seems the New Wizard King has dispatched his old squad to investigate. If there are not any survivors that would mean the land would be put for sale. The estate has a prime location, I would be interested in buying the land and we can build another summer home there”.
“Another summer home would be nice, I could freely decorate unlike our current one…” Lord Vaude cuts his wife off.
“I don’t see anything wrong with those decorations, Fiona picked them out” Lord Vaude says stern with his grip tightening on the paper. Lady Vaude seems to want to say something, but bites her tongue.
“Yes you are right” she says then gives Finral a nasty look.
“Oh, no she looks mad”.
“Also in a week your mother and I will be gone for 3 days. So I do hope you use the time wisely, Finral".
“I will father, thank you for your concern”. The rest of the breakfast was silent.
“Where am I?? Nacht thinks. Nacht feels himself coming out of a shadow portal, then opens his eyes to the scene in front of him. The devil that his parents tried to force Asta to summon right in front of him, about to attack him. “How did I get here!?! Why did I jump…” Nacht stops thinking when he hears Asta’s voice.
“Vi…Cap…n…Nacht!!”.
“That’s why…I jumped in front to save Asta…I guess I can do something good for once…using my life to save another…” Nacht feels his eyes closing.
“We finally meet again, and you pull this?? Vi…Cap…n…”. Nacht opens his eyes wide to see Yami, but he looks different, older even.
“You’re…I’ll take you on…later” the devil says. The devil’s strength doubles sending Yami flying into him. Though he sees flying into someone also midair behind him.
“Good one, team angry eyes!!”.
“You…need to get out of here!!” he finds himself yelling.
“Huh?? I just saved your butt. What are you talking about??”.
“I…don’t care if I die!!”
“I really don’t care. Life would be better for others if I did”
“So don’t save me!!”.
“You’re gonna keep living…and help enough people for Morgen too”.
“Morgen…he always did like helping others. I remember he did try to get me to join his squad…”
“Anyway it’s not like people need a reason to save their friends, Nacht!!”
“Friends?? He…he hasn’t really talked to me in a while…I haven’t reached out to him either. But he still sees us as friends”.
“You are too old to be talking like a kid Yami” Nacht responds back with a smile
“They tell me he is the King of devils”.
“Let’s go have some fun with him!!” they both say. Then jump in front of 3 people midair.
“Good one…ra…Ne…”. Nacht takes a quick look at the 2 and sees a small girl in navy blue and a familiar looking redhead.
“Mana Zone at full power!!” Nacht then feels a rush of energy then everything goes black. Nacht opens his eyes and finds himself breathing heavily on the ground, a pool of blood underneath him.
“Am I bleeding??”. Nacht tries to breathe but feels a sharp pain in his lungs as he struggles to breathe.
“I won’t…let you…YOU AREN’T TA…” Nacht hears Yami yell, then feels the wind move as though someone fell right next to him. Nacht can feel the ground shake and faintly hears commotion around him.
“I need to get up!! I need to help!! I can’t see what is happening?!?”. Then the same navy blue girl from his other dream kneels next to him. “Who is she?? Is this girl healing me??”. The girl seems to be worried about him and is trying to heal him. She is talking but Nacht can’t hear her except for 2 words ‘save’ and ‘everyone’. The girl then gets up and the last thing Nacht registers is someone's shadow next to him, one that didn’t belong to him or the girl.
Wizard King’s Palace: Owen’s infirmary
Morgan, Owen and Julius sit in an empty room as Morgen finishes debriefing both on what had happened, but leaves out anything related to Asta and Nacht having devils. Though Owen and Julius look at each other skeptical realizing there seem to be some holes in Morgen’s story.
“Morgen, do you know what your family used to summon these devils??”.
“No sir. I was investigating it but was unable to get to the bottom of it before everything that happened. My current theory is that they were using sacrifices”.
“And that’s what you think they were playing to do with Asta” Owen asks.
“Correct”.
“Morgen, why did you not report this to me??”
“I wanted to make sure it was true before reporting”.
“I understand that Morgen, but you should have at least come to me. I would have allowed you to do a private investigation…”.
“...and you know that. I know you know that”.
“Yes I understand that now sir. I am very sorry”.
“We will talk about your punishment later…”.
“I’m sorry Morgen, I have to ask the question I know you have been avoiding”.
“...so your mother and father were involved in this devil summoning…was your brother too??”
“No. He was not. He is innocent…” a new voice cuts him off though before Morgen could finish.
“Don’t listen to him, he is lying” Nacht exclaims as he enters the room. And stands between Morgen and Julius.
“Nacht, what are you…”.
“I was involved…”.
“Nacht…”.
“...I summon devils”. Julius takes a big sigh.
“That’s what I was afraid of that” Julius thinks.
“Julius he is mistaken…”.
“MORGEN STOP!!” Nacht yells startling everyone in the room. Nacht turns around and places a hand on Morgen’s shoulder. “Please Morgen stop. I…I don’t want you in trouble because you are covering for me. I was the one that fucked up…I was the one summoning devils not you”.
“Mother and Father made you do it, Nacht. You even said they were putting drugs into your food like they did to Asta, to force you into doing it”.
“I’m sorry what!?!” Julius exclaims. “Hold on. Go back. What is this about Asta being drugged??”. The twins look at each other, Nacht confirming his suspension that Morgen left stuff out to protect him. Nacht feels more guilt bubbling in him, but tries to squash it down for now. Nacht turns back to Julius and tells the story again, though leaving out anything to do with Liebe. By the end, Owen and Julius were both in shock though for slightly different reasons.
“So shadow magic can really summon devils??” Julius asks, all excited and now in Nacht’s face.
“...um…ya…”.
“OH, WOW!! That’s truly amazing!! I do wish I could have witnessed you summoning…”.
“Julius please do not finish that sentence” Owen says sternly.
“Oh, ya. I guess I shouldn’t huh. Well anyway thank you for telling me the truth Nacht. But you do realise devil summoning is punishable by death right??”.
“Yes”.
“Nacht. No. You were manipulated by our parents, they even said that. Nacht you’re…”.
“Please Morgen, stop. I'm deciding to do something good for once so please let me do it”.
“But no one would have anyone to compare you to if I didn’t exist”.
“Fine,” Morgen says, biting his lip.
“Thanks” Nacht says as he puts his arms out to be arrested.
“If I didn’t exist none of this would have happened” Morgen thinks as he looks to the ground.
“While I appreciate your enthusiasm and honesty. We have not done a full investigation yet on the matter, so no one will be arrested at the moment. So a full investigation needs to be done and done by someone not involved” Julius says as looks at Morgen. “But since you are a civilian, we need to make sure you don’t leave the Clover Kingdom before the investigation is done, so a tracker will be placed on you. These devil cultists may be a bigger problem than it seems, and since Nacht you are the only person who has any knowledge of this I would like you to cooperate with us”.
“So he is basically saying you cooperating with us in catching these guys is the only way I can promise you won’t die, for now”.
“That’s honestly better than you thought, Mister Nacht”.
“Yay, Mister Nacht isn’t going to die”.
“That’s quite good, since you’re needed to save everyone”.
“Huh?? The hell does that mean??”.
“So do you agree??” Julius asks.
“Ya I agree. It’s definitely better than dying”.
“Good. Now… I would love to see these devils of yours” Julius says all excited, while Owen behind him just sighs.
“...uh…ok…” Nacht says then Gimodelo appears in his tiny form.
“OH, WOW!! They’re so small!!”.
“Hey!! I’m normally bigger!! Mister Nacht made me come in my smaller form”.
“Oh!! You have 2 forms!! Fascinating!! Could I see him in his normal form??”.
“...ok…I gue…”.
“Your Majesty…” A very tired Marx comes barling in with a dark red dirty book in his hands. “...I looked through everything we had and I couldn’t find anything on…What is that??” Marx exclaims pointing to Gimodelo.
“Oh he is a devil that Nacht has. Isn’t it so cool?!?” Julius asks excitedly. Marx looks shocked with his mouth agape.
“...what??”. Marx then becomes annoyed looking like he wants to lecture the King, then just sighs pinching the bridge of his nose. “I don’t even want to know and am choosing to ignore that…”.
“Ya that’s probably for the best” Owen comments.
“So anyway the reason I actually came here was to inform you that I looked everywhere and I couldn't find anything on this book. Nor could I get the dirt off of it to see what it’s called” Marx gives an exhausted sigh.
“Don’t worry Marx. Nacht has agreed to help us with our investigation into the devil cult so no need to worry about the contents of the book”.
“I am not sure whether to be happy or sad by that news”.
“Huh?? What do you mean??”.
“What do I mean?? I spent the last 4 days you all have been asleep looking for anything about this book because it was the only lead we had on what happened to you 4.”.
“I have no idea where that book came from. I know every book in that library we had there and this was not one of the books”.
“Nacht are you sure??” Julius asks.
“100% sure”.
“Hm. Then where did this book come from??”.
“Oh Asta must have dropped it” Gimodelo says.
“Are you saying this book is Asta’s??’.
“Ya it’s his grimoire” Gimodelo adds.
“Wait Asta is too young to have a grimoire” Morgen states. At that Gimodelo freezes, realising he said something he shouldn’t have.
“Ah…”.
“Gimodelo I can tell you are not lying. What do you mean that’s Asta’s grimoire??”.
“Ah…sorry I can’t tell you, Mister Nacht, orders”.
“Orders from who?? I’m that only one you have a deal with”.
“And the only human I have ever made a deal with”. Everyone looks at Gimodelo in confusion. “Um…but anyway if you want more answers you should talk to Asta’s devil. He can speak more freely”. Then Gimodelo disappears.
“Nacht what did he mean by that??” Morgen asks.
“I don’t know. I’ll try to get it out of him…”.
“What did he mean…” Julius begins to speak with a bit of a darker tone, seemingly trying to hide his anger. “...when he said Asta’s devil??”. Nacht then quickly puts his hands up.
“I swear to god I didn’t give him a devil!!” Nacht yells.