~In the Royal Capital~
"Water Recovery Magic:Qualle Operation."
Vanessa, Grey, and Finral were all sitting in a room as they saw Owen, a recovery mage who serves directly under Julius, treating Asta and Gauche.
With his grimoire opened, Owen creates a swarm of jellyfish made of water. Their tentacles wrap around the wounds of Owen's patients as he analyzed them.
"Asta's life is no longer in danger, however.......his right arm is an unknown factor. There's nothing I can do for it. But you, Gauche, were you really run through with giant sword. I heard that Grey's magic is what saved you but that's beyond simple recovery. Even the very tissue in your body has reassembled."
The group was silent after what happened, their captain was taken away from them by the Dark Triad and they couldn't do anything to stop it. But soon Finral looked towards Owen as he had a question.
"Owen....how are the others I brought to you doing?"
"The woman known as Ultear and the man known as Mukuro have recovered but they seem to be in a coma. The magic knight Juvia is awake, but her wounds haven't completely healed. As for your companion Kyoya, he's already awake and his wounds have been healed. He just needs to rest."
As Owen said this, the Black Bulls nod their heads as they were waiting on Kyoya. They were glad he was okay but they were still worried about him. Ever since their involvement with fighting the devils and the Spade Kingdom, he hasn't really been himself.
~With Juvia~
As Juvia was resting, she heard a knock on her door. When she gave the visitor permission to come in, she had a small smile on her face when she saw Kyoya entering the room.
"Oh Kyoya, you seemed to have made a speedy recovery."
"Yeah.....Juvia. Sorry, for not getting to you all sooner."
As Juvia looked at Kyoya, she saw bags under his eyes which showed that he wasn't sleeping. Not only that, he was clenching his fists rather tightly. Soon Juvia spoke to the ice mage.
"It's fine Kyoya. It was my own weakness that caused this. I just need to get stronger. But Kyoya.......i've been thinking about something lately."
"What is it?"
"Are you really going to be okay? You seem less like yourself?"
Kyoya wanted to answer her question, but he couldn't find the words to say to her. What could he say that could make her worry disappear? Soon Kyoya puts a smile on his face as he looked at Juvia.
"Don't worry Juvia, I promise, i'm doing just fine. I'm just glad you and the others are okay."
"I see. Well then Kyoya, I won't hold you up to long. All I can tell you is this.....you're more important to people than you think."
After hearing this, Kyoya didn't know why, but he felt a genuine smile appearing on his face. He didn't know why he felt a bit of joy from hearing this, but he said one thing to Juvia before leaving.
"Thank you, Juvia."
Soon Kyoya left Juvia's room as he met up with the rest of the Black Bulls that were with Asta. When he arrived, they told him everything that happened. What happened during the fight and even about Captain Yami being captured.
He didn't say anything. As Finral opened a spatial magic portal, everyone went through it as they arrived into the Black Bulls hideout.
~Black Bulls Hideout~
It was so quiet. To be honest, the silence was suffocating. As Kyoya was in his room, he couldn't just rest after knowing what happened to his captain.
Soon Kyoya stood up as he walked out of his room. When he did, he saw no one else was roaming the hideout and was sure they were resting in their rooms. As Kyoya was leaving the hideout, he heard someone calling out to him.
"Just what the hell are you doing, Ice Stripper?"
When Kyoya turned around, he saw Gauche, Grey, Vanessa, and Finral standing out the hideout. As he looked at them, he said one thing to all of them.
"I'm going to save Captain Yami."
"What can you possibly do in your state? You need to rest just like the rest of us. I understand how you feel about-"
"No you don't."
Before anyone could process what Kyoya said, the ice mage got in front of Gauche and punched his squad mate into the wall of the hideout. As everyone present saw this, they looked towards Kyoya who had an angry expression on his face.
"No one, not a single one of you could possible even imagine how i'm feeling. Saying you understand my feelings when you know jack shit about me....it's the height of hubris. None of you could EVER understand what I feel and what I went through!!!!! This isn't just about me wanting my captain back. It's much more personal than you could imagine."
As Kyoya said this, he began to run off. Seeing this, Vanessa began to use her thread magic to restrain the boy. She could tell that something was wrong with the boy, yet she couldn't understand what it was.
"We may not be able to understand, but you need to put forth the effort to helping us understand. Kyoya, do you not trust us enough to tell us what happened?"
"IT'S NOT THAT SIMPLE VANESSA!!!!!!"
As Kyoya screamed that, he used his ice magic to freeze Vanessa's thread and shatters them. When he looked towards his squad mates, they saw him have tears in his eyes as he had an angered look on his face.
"I've spent so much time with you all. I laughed with you, fought with you, smiled around you for so long. This isn't about trust!!!!!! I already trust all of you with my life!!!!!! If talking about this was so simple, why do you think I never told you why!!!!!!! I can't tell you even if I wanted to!!!!!!"
"How can we help you if you don't even ask for it?!"
As Finral shouted this, everyone looked at him. Soon he walked towards Kyoya as he held the ice mage by his black bulls robe.
"Quit trying to act strong when you're in pain! Neglecting to tell us of your suffering doesn't make you strong. That's nothing but a weakness."
"Heh. Heheheh. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!"
Soon Kyoya began laughing. It wasn't one of joy, sadness, or any type of emotion. This laughter is one of defeat. One when an individual lost all hope. Soon he looked towards his squad mates.
"Haha. So you want me to tell you. You want be to be "strong" and tell you. Fine then, but when I do, you have yourselves to blame for what you see.........Everyone, the reason I hate devils is because i've been cursed by Megicul-"
As soon as Kyoya said this, he felt his heart being caught in a tight grasp. When this happened, he fell onto the ground he began to vomit blood. Seeing this, Finral and Vanessa ran towards him and tried to help him up but he pushed them away.
"I'm cursed by Megicul-!!!!!!!"
Multiple hands from his curse gripped his heart and Kyoya violently coughs up more blood. However, no one else could see the hands so it just seemed like this happened out of no where. Soon Vanessa helped Kyoya up.
"Kyoya, stop this."
"I'm cursed by Megicu-!!!!!!!"
Before he could finish his sentence, he once again felt his chest tightening as he lost more and more blood. He kept repeating this process, trying to tell them his problem just like they wanted. However the more he did it, the more horrified they looked.
"I'm cursed....by Megic-"
"Kyoya, you have to sto-"
"NO!!!!!THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED RIGHT?! YOU WANTED ME TO TELL YOU, SO HERE ARE THE CONSEQUENCES! IF YOU WANT TO HELP ME, THEN KILL ME!!!! THAT'S THE ONLY BLESSING YOU CAN GIVE ME!!!!I CAN DO IT!!! YOU ALL WANT ME TO BE STRONG AND TELL YOU RIGHT!!!!! I CAN DO IT!!!! I CAN TELL YOU ALL!!!! I'VE BEEN WEAK FOR 11 YEARS BY ENDURING THIS PAIN BY MYSELF, RIGHT?!?!?! I CAN DO IT!!!! I CAN'T BE WEAK LIKE YOU SAID!!!!!! I CAN DO IT!!!!! THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED RIGHT?! FOR ME TO BE STRONG!!!! I CAN DO IT!!!!!"
He can do this, he can be strong. He can never show weakness or he'll suffer dearly. That is the result of the trauma he experienced at the Spade Kingdom. Before he could say it again, Kyoya felt himself in someone's embrace. When he looked around, he saw Vanessa, Gauche, Grey, and Finral hugging him. While he was struggling to break free, he heard Finral and Vanessa crying as they said one thing.
"I'm sorry Kyoya..i'm so sorry. Please forgive me. You were right......I didn't know anything. I'm so sorry, you had a thoughtless man like me as your superior."
"I never knew...all this time you held onto to this and dealt with it by yourself. You're right, none of us could ever imagine something like this not even once. How can we....we never been through a hell like yours if it can cause you to be like this."
As the group hugged Kyoya, the ice mage felt tears running down his face. When he looked at them, he asked them one thing that was on his mind. One thing that he always asked himself ever since he we first cursed and experimented on in the Spade Kingdom.
"Is it...is it okay......if i'm weak?"
"Of course it is....showing weakness is a sign of showing humanity."
Soon the group was quiet as the only sound they heard was Kyoya's crying. To hold back all of these emotions for so long.....if anyone deserved to release their emotions now, it was Kyoya. As the group got off of Kyoya, everyone went back into the hideout. When they did, one figure was seen approaching towards the Black Bulls hideout. When he reached it, he said one thing.
"There is no shame in being weak. However, don't stay weak. Cause the moment you choose to do so.....is the moment you've already lost."