║honeysuckle hymns to helios
━━━ (CHAPTER TWO)
ANEMONE SWORE THE SUN HATED HER WITH A BURNING PASSION. Burning... passion... get it? Nevermind, forget what she said. As she tended to the swaying daffodils consumed in dulcet laughter, sunshine glowed through the window panes and peppered golden kisses across her skin, the sun itself rising high above Hage village's skyline as it loomed pleasantly, almost giving the feeling of golden fairies prancing over the wooden houses prowling below. As usual, she could hear the cheerful noises of young children playing tag with one another outside and the soft delightful humming coming from her own lips.
"Good morning, dear." She heard her mother greet from behind. Rhea Coralis was Hage village's florist. There was nothing special about her, just charcoal-hued curls gracefully falling to her waist and irises a rich and vivid green colour. She looked nothing like her daughter, who had been described by the other villagers to look like an ethereal goddess descending from the Lost City of Atlantis, blue hair resembling waves with beautiful irises swirled in a mixture of multiple teal hues reflecting the infinite ocean and all.
Her mother once said she takes after her father, although Anemone had never seen her father before. Mother said he died in an accident a long time ago when she was just a year old. Even so, their house had naked walls. There was not a single photo of her father anywhere and her mother hardly talked about him. Every time Anemone would ask about him, her mother either ignored her or insisted she'd talk about her father at a later date. She never specified that later date and Anemone eventually stopped asking altogether when she was nine.
"Morning, Mother. Did you sleep well last night?" Anemone asked, her voice lacing with concern as she spotted the bags under her mother's eyes.
"I tried to." She replied honestly, fetching herself a mug to fill with water. "I think I tossed around too much on my bed last night. A bad dream, maybe. Goodness me, I can hardly remember my dreams as soon as I wake up." Dry chuckles reverberated around the house coming from the back of her sore throat. "I hope your night was better than mine."
"Yeah, I had a good sleep." Anemone admitted, pulling out a chair for her mother first before pulling out a chair for herself. "My dream last night was about... well, I can't remember either," she scratched the top of her head as she tried to think hard enough to recall, "...except when I woke up, my first decipherable thought was 'you can make hot sauce, but I ain't gonna call it sweet'."
That was false. Anemone had no decipherable thought whatsoever as soon as she woke up that day. In actuality, she had a dream about a badger dressed as a musketeer with a swiping fox as its sidekick, both of them going on an adventure to steal a magical spice rack from a zeppelin. She thought her dream was awfully too strange so she wound up saying what she said instead just to make her mother laugh genuinely. And she did.
"I wish I could decipher what the context of your dream was to know why you said that." Rhea said after her laughter died down.
On second thought, maybe she should've gone with the badger musketeer story.
After drinking her first glass of water in the morning, Anemone made her way to her mother and pressed her palm against her forehead, checking the temperature. "You're a little warm... I think you're about to get a fever. Make sure to drink lots of water today, Mother."
"Yes, I know." Rhea smiled at her daughter's concern.
Anemone noticed and reciprocated the smile. But her smile didn't make the undertone of worry in her eyes vanish instantly. "Alright, I'm gonna go visit the church now. Please don't go to the grimoire ceremony if you feel really unwell today, Mother. Okay?"
"Okay."
Her mother replied with her eyes gazing to the outside, haziness fogging them. Anemone failed to notice, however, and proceeded to gather a bouquet of daffodils to gift the church as she left the place she called home.
The first thing she saw as she arrived was the unfortunate scene of Asta being rejected by Sister Lily. Again. It was equally amusing but painful to watch the ash blond repeatedly get rejected and remain clueless about why marrying Sister Lily would be impossible. Time and time people have warned him that his feelings will never reciprocate because, well, she was a woman of the cloth but being the dunce he was, Asta never received the hint and continued to be persistent.
"Water Creation Magic: Holy Fist of Love!"
Out of instinct and overwhelming anxiety, Sister Lily accidentally whipped out one of her special moves on the poor boy, who flew into the air and landed starfish style on the ground. The remaining children who witnessed his failed confession melted into giggles and snickers. Anemone couldn't help but think he deserved it.
"Oh, Asta, you poor midget..." She feigned sympathy as she approached the church with the bouquet of daffodils in her hands, shaking her head with disappointment though the edges of her lips twitched upwards to form a hint of a smile. "How many times do we need to tell you that Sister Lily is a nun? She can't marry you even when you're older and even if you do become the Wizard King."
"That's not true, Nemy!" Asta sharply protested as he shot up, pouting childishly at his childhood friend. "I won't give up! I'll never!"
Anemone merely gave a disbelieving raise of a brow and said nothing else. However, with a subtle flick of her wrist, a waterfall crashed on top of Asta and the poor boy suddenly laid like a motionless starfish on the ground again, hair soused from the attack.
"As merciless as always," Nash whistled, impressed by her magic.
"Nash..." Sister Lily began in a warning tone mixed with soothing concern. After all, her unleashing her magic on Asta was a complete accident and she certainly didn't expect Anemone to attack him as well. She was rather unpredictable at times. "Is he okay?"
"Yeah, a little water never hurt anyone." Anemone shrugged, her unconcerned comment causing Sister Lily to chuckle weakly.
A second later, she felt a pair of small arms wrap around her leg and looked down to see Hollo. "Nemy, I missed you." His innocent eyes pierced through her midnight blues and heart gradually melted.
"Awe, I missed you too, Hollo." She smiled and ruffled his mushroom hair. Joyful, he was unable to hide the titter leaving his vocal cords and he bashfully hid his face in her skin.
"Nemy!" A tug on her pleated skirt made her switch her glance to the left where she spotted Aruru beaming up at her. "Welcome back! What flowers did you get for us this time?"
"Daffodils." She replied. "Lovely, aren't they?" As she handed it over to the bob-haired girl, Hollo let go of her leg and hurried to his sister to get a closer look. The two children simultaneously snuggled their faces into the flower to breathe in its saccharine scent, admiring the flowers.
"Yo, Nemy." Nash waved to greet as his freckles glint like faint stars underneath the rays of sunlight.
"Awe... no I missed you, Nemy! or welcome back, big sis?" She mocked him with a playful smile tugging at the edge of her lips.
Hearing her attempt to sound like him made Nash cringe. "Whatever, just go away."
"Ugh- rude." She mumbled under her breath after watching the boy walk away to do something else.
"Eh—?"
Anemone's ears perked with interest and her eyes caught Asta snatching the bouquet of daffodils out of Aruru's hands, most likely planning to propose to Sister Lily again and thought flowers ought to be the secret ingredient, which he really did think because now he was on one knee again, flowers outstretched to the nun as he cleared his throat politely (although he still appeared wet from Anemone's attack just now, the water droplets drenching his hair and clothes seemed to be the least thing that bothered him).
Before she could stop him, a strong gust of wind blew Asta away, knocking him to the ground again and drying him too in the process. Anemone suddenly grew worried for the daffodils, expecting for them to break and tumble with the powerful breeze but thankfully, they simply floated in the wind with grace and dance into the hands of a familiar person.
"Ah, Yuno!" Anemone grinned to reveal her one dimple, running to him as she shamelessly stepped on Asta's back in the process to approach her other childhood friend. "Thanks for saving the daffodils! I thought that they would be perfect to brighten the church because they're beautiful and—"
"—They represent new beginnings." Yuno finished off for her, admiring the butterscotch-yellow flowers.
Anemone blinked in surprise before chuckling. "You remember?"
"Why wouldn't I?" He muttered, raising a slight eyebrow at her. He was hit with a wave of acute nostalgia and his childhood memories flowed into his mind like a stream, where whenever he and Asta would occasionally visit the small garden nearby the floral shop, Anemone would teach them the languages of flowers; their colours, their names, and their symbolism, to which Yuno made the effort to actually memorise some of them while Asta would blatantly declare that remembering the names of flowers were useless, and that particular moment caused a young Anemone to cry as a flood wiped them out of the garden. Ah, the sweet old days.
"Well..." She cleared her throat and brought him out of his nostalgia, averting her gaze whilst tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Since we're going to get our grimoires soon, I thought it would be fitting. And getting our grimoires soon means that you and Asta will be one step closer to—"
"YUNO, YOU HANDSOME JERK!" Asta roared out of the blue, leaping to his feet as he bolted to Yuno. "Why are you getting in my way, too?!"
Yuno released a barely audible sigh, pretending to massage his chin with his thumb. "Why? Because you're short, loud, obnoxious, and immature. Basically, you're not appealing to women in any way."
Each insult was like sharp thunder stabbing his heart and poor Asta was already being made fun of by the other children at church. Even Anemone herself couldn't stifle her laughter as she clasped her hands together, closing her eyes. "Yuno's right, you desperate dwarf!"
Again, a devastating thunderbolt plunged into his heart. 'De... Desperate dwarf?!'
"But..." Then, she casually wrapped an arm around his shoulders, bringing him closer to her, "...you do have some appealing qualities."
After walking past them, about to ignore Asta again, hearing Anemone speak to support him caused Yuno's ears to perk and he halted to glance at them over his shoulders. "Like?"
"You see, Asta never gives up, he's cute, and his body is a bonus~" She sang the final word as her eyes shot open, revealing that mischievous hue of ocean blue, resting a hand beside her mouth to whisper. "If I'm being honest, his muscular physique will have women swooning all over him."
Yuno maintained a clever poker face, albeit tried his best not to frown. 'What?' On the other hand, Asta beamed, seeming thankful and proud as he stood by his friend's statement. "You hear that, Yuno?! Even Nemy's on my side!"
"But of course, those decent qualities of yours will never weigh equal to your flaws." Anemone shrugged, releasing her hold on the ash blond. "For instance, as Yuno said earlier, you're obnoxious, loud, and you can't even tell the difference between weed and a vegetable plant."
For the third time of the day, another thunderbolt struck his heart raw and a choked gasp of offence to her words was heard. "THAT LAST ONE WAS YEARS AGO!"
"Doesn't change the fact that you're an idiot." She hummed under her breath, resting her palm on her right cheek.
"Nemy! you're so mean!" Asta cried out as he fell on his knees. "Yuno—!"
"Sister Lily, may I help you with the laundry?"
"DON'T IGNORE ME!"
Unfortunately for Asta, Yuno's back was facing him and, once again, he had completely brushed off the short boy's presence. Anemone heaved a sigh and ran her hand through her hair. She remembered it so clearly that the two of them used to be the best of friends if excluding her, but one day, Yuno decided to act relatively colder than usual and completely dismissed Asta as if he wasn't worthy of his time. She always wondered if they could go back to the beginning again, but as time flows, they grow and it will only be a matter of time before one of them will become the Wizard King.
"Damn it..." Asta's clenched fists were shaking and trembling with rage, peridot shades glimmering with undying conviction. "Yuno! I challenge you to a fight!"
"And I decline." He pivoted on his heel to face his childhood friend, expression unreadable and blank.
"Why the hell not?!" Asta raged, fuming with anger. Before Yuno could part his lips to calmly explain, a waterfall abruptly crashed on the ash blonde again, thus drenching his clothes further and dousing his hair with the cool liquid. Water droplets clung to the fabric as Asta laid face flat on the ground, Anemone whistling nonchalantly behind him with her hand twisted in an odd position before her.
"1 more strike and you're out!" Recca exclaimed with amusement, the younger children cheering with glee behind her. On the other hand, Nash snickered rudely.
"NEMY!!" whined Asta, lifting his head from the muddy puddle on the ground, a result from all the water being spilled on the sandy surface. "Why did you have to interrupt me as well?! I can totally take Yuno on! Just watch me!"
"That's not possible, Asta." She sighed, calmly watching as the ash blond let out a furiously dramatic yell. "That's because..."
As soon as he struck his arm forward, revealing his palm, he expected something to happen by a miracle, but nothing did.
"...you don't have magic."
Asta allowed his hand to fall to his sides with a scoff and threw another ridiculous temper. Aruru appeared to have found him hilarious and Anemone could only watch with a sharp exhale, already accustomed to his antics. It didn't even take a full minute for Asta and Nash to begin arguing — the latter always made blunt, harsh comments about the former and the former was always determined to prove how amazing he was just by being a kid without magic. Such as the current moment where he rapidly started performing sit-ups at an inhuman speed, even Anemone had to give him credit for doing something she never thought a normal human could do as sadly pathetic as it seemed.
"Woah, Yuno!" Aruru gasped with amazement. Anemone averted her gaze from the ash blond and caught Yuno helping with the laundry, a large tinted green sphere wrapping the bundle of clothes in a strong breeze of warm air, hence drying it completely.
All the children hurried to where Yuno stood and admired his magic instead of watching Asta do his sit-ups, explaining why the latter suddenly appeared appalled.
"Nemy!" He demanded, leaping to his feet again.
"Yes, Asta?"
"Fight me!"
"I'm hard passing that offer." Anemone smiled sweetly in spite of her blunt words slipping from her lips like butter, holding up the palm of her hand as an indication for her refusal to fight him.
Asta exclaimed, disappointed with the girl's decision. "Fine!" He huffed, pelting around the corner of the church in a hurry to do something. "Then leave the wood-chopping to me—!!"
The harsh blow of the breeze lifted a few strands of her ocean hair as Anemone patted down the sides of her pleated skirt, watching a blur of ash grey and black pass the corner of her eyes. Before she knew it, Yuno had chopped the wood for Asta, the poor non-magic boy growing hyped for nothing as he growled through gritted teeth like an animal gone feral.
"Woah... Yuno is really amazing!" Aruru giggled, Anemone sparing her a glance and patting her ebony hair.
"Yeah, he's really strong." She admitted with a voice as soft as a murmur, an absent smile present on her face. Unbeknownst to her, Yuno caught her words and though he remained expressionless, he could feel his pride welling up inside of him.
"Man, it's hard to believe that they're the same age." Nash commented, resting his hands behind his head and kicking the grainy sand back and forth.
Asta, incandescent, tightened his sheer grip on the axe and stomped toward his childhood friend. However, before he could yell anything, the church doors burst open to reveal the melodramatic sobbing figure of Father Orsi. "Yuno is the only hope of this church!!" He cried out, tears falling like waterfalls.
Anemone guffawed, partially covering her mouth to hide her amusement. "Every time you think Asta as chopped liver is a year added to my lifespan."
Yuno lightly chuckled and hovered his hand over his mouth to hide it, Nash snorted at her joke, Recca laughed, and the younger ones gave her a glance of puzzled innocence. Even so, they cheered and praised the taller teenager for his abundant source of power and gathered around him like a field of daises surrounding a rose. Anemone could feel her lips curving upward to form another smile at the kids, although it faltered when she saw Asta crouching and sulking to himself quite a distance away from them.
"I'll talk to him." She reassured Sister Lily, the nun offering her a grateful smile. "Hey, Shrimpsta, the Awarding Ceremony is coming up soon. I'm sure that once you receive your grimoire, you'll get some sort of badass magic that will blow people away."
"Nemy...!" Asta sobbed dramatically, teary-eyed as he sniffled.
"Woah now, don't change your obsession of Sister Lily towards me." Anemone joked in a lighthearted tone, "You know I'll always support you. No matter what."
"Yeah, I know." Asta grinned. He wiped off the theatrical tears streaming down his face and leaped to his feet again, eyes lingering on the colossal ancient skull of the demon in the distance and the stone statue of the first Wizard King standing upon it. "Once I get my grimoire, finally... finally! I'll obtain a grimoire that's greater than anyone else's, get into the Magic Knights, follow in your footsteps, and become the Wizard King! And I'll fix up this shabby, ugly church!"
Clearly irked, Father Orsi was insulted. "Well, excuse my shabby, ugly church!" Sister Lily and Anemone share weak chuckles, though they also exchanged small smiles once Asta regained a newfound determination to strive towards his childhood dream — to become the Wizard King no matter what.
"Hey, Nemy, are you going to try to become the Wizard Queen?" Recca curiously piped in from behind her. "Ooh, ooh! If you do, I believe you can do it!"
Recca's words brought back plentiful memories for Anemone. How she made the promise as a child to protect Asta and Yuno from harm's way no matter what, the promise to become the unbeatable sword able to cut away any obstacle obscuring the path for them to become Wizard King. She would be lying if she said that the thought of striving to a grander goal and aiming to become the Wizard Queen never crossed her mind once, but she made up her decision already. And it was going to stay firm and unchanging.
Therefore, she allowed a smile full of candor to curl upward on her lips and shook her head. "I suppose not. If I had to be someone great, making my way up to become a Magic Knight Captain is good enough for me."
"Is that so...?" Nash muttered, almost disappointingly as he wrinkled his nose. "At least you have a higher chance of achieving your goal than dumb brain over there."
"HEY!" Asta huffed. "I'll definitely climb to the top and prove to everyone just what I can do!" He clenched his fist out of determination, before holding it out in Yuno's direction. Speaking of, the raven haired teen briefly glanced at him and looked away in a split second, almost as if he was disinterested in his childhood friend. "Right, Yuno?"
The fist was left hanging.
"Right?"
Unfortunately, without a word being uttered, Yuno walked away. Anemone's eyes involuntarily widened with surprise before they reverted to their usual size, almost having expected the outcome either way. As he entered the church, the indelible memory of that day flowered in her mind. Where Asta returned to the church injured, Yuno beside him, and Anemone herself supporting them both as they carried the wounded ash blond back home. That was the day when Yuno had stopped being a crybaby, when everything between their unbreakable friendship shifted ever so slightly. She had to admit that recently, she was missing the old Yuno who cried almost every often and clung to her side whenever he got a little shy. Just remembering made her chuckle.
"Just you wait..." Asta's low murmur brought her back to reality and an unreadable shadow was cast over his face. Without another second ticking away, he stormed off. "JUST YOU WAIT, DAMN IT!"
"Asta...!" Sister Lily cried out, reaching out her hand in vain as the boy grew further and further away from her sight. Soon, she felt a comforting hand rest on her shoulder.
"He'll be fine, Sister Lily. He probably went to train even more." Anemone reassured, watching the fluffy clouds drift slowly across the pristine blue sky. "Besides, if I'm being fairly honest, the day I see Asta grow upset is the day I'll slap some sense into him." 'But Yuno on the other hand...'
Meanwhile, the boy with the stoic expression, the one with the dulcet amber golds able to drown oceans and melt frozen icebergs, absently admired the bouquet of daffodils he received from Anemone earlier. Memories that were both nostalgic and bittersweet flooded his head and with a breathy exhale slipping past his lips, Yuno pushed the unfading memories in the back of his mind and prepared himself for the Awarding Ceremony to come.
The day Anemone had been secretly looking forward to the most had arrived. The Awarding Ceremony. A delightful and joyful day where the people of age in Hage Village gathered in the grimoire tower to receive their grimoires; ancient books filled with spells to enhance one's magic. Her imagination ran wild with how her grimoire might look like, but even if it turned out to be a uniquely tattered one, she wouldn't mind. Receiving a grimoire had always been one of her favourite upcoming days because learning and knowing what spells she could use to help people excited her.
"Wow, Mother! Look at all these firefly dandelion fluff!" Anemone admired the floating seeds dancing through the air, like fluffy white fairy dust floating across the skies. She managed to grab one within the tips of her fingers and thought to herself how the fluff reminded her of a honeysuckle gift to the sun. Then she sauntered to Yuno and tickled the side of his neck with the dandelion in an attempt to provoke a reaction from him. Unfortunately, he retained his usual poker face.
"What are you doing, Anna?" He exhaled sharply, blinking upon feeling the weirdly tingling sensation on the side of his neck.
"Awe, guess you are just all stone and ice, Yuno." She pouted, watching as the white parachuted hairs fell off to leave the round seed head bald. "Don't you remember the time when you accidentally stepped on my growing sea lavender and you cried because you felt so bad?"
Yuno recalled the memory distinctly. Anemone wanted to try growing sea lavenders when she was younger because the flowers benefit growing from afternoon shades in hotter climates, tolerating average, well-drained soil and the result would be a beautiful flower possessing myriad shades of indigo and violet. In the midst of her growing her sea lavender, Asta and Yuno were playing tag nearby and the latter accidentally stomped on the growing plant. Of course, Anemone had been upset which caused Yuno to sympathise with her and cry, leaving a clueless Asta who tried his best to comfort his friends but to no avail. The only thing that didn't negate the situation further then was the pouring rain dousing them after Anemone grew miserable. But to make it up to her, after a few days, Yuno obtained a bouquet of flowers assorted with blue irises. Blue irises symbolised hope and it made the young girl especially joyful that day. She could still recall the spark of warmth that blossomed in her chest because of his unexpected gift to make up for him ruining her sea lavender.
"Don't remind me." He said monotonously after removing himself from the memory, tilting his head away from her.
Anemone painted an innocent smile on her face. "Oh dear, you don't need to be embarrassed, Yuno."
"I'm not embarrassed."
As soon as they entered the Grimoire Tower, Anemone found herself gawking at the various grimoires tucked in the shelves and bookcases of the spiraling tower. It was like a grand library with the faintest scent of mana wafting about. It hadn't changed at all since she was younger but still, the sight and smell of such ancient and historical enchantments never failed to amaze her. Asta also had stars shining in his eyes, knees slightly bent as his imagination ran wild. Yuno just ignored everything around him.
Meanwhile, two noble men entered the tower with pride radiating off their bodies, smugness written on their ugly facial features as they darted their eyes from person to person.
"Wow, I'm a full-fledged mage starting today." One boasted, lips twitching up to form a narcissistic smirk.
"Hey, look over there," the other wisenheimer noble gestured to Asta, Yuno and Anemone standing close to each other in the middle of the tower, the dim luminosity of the artificial light above glaring directly downward on their figures. "Pathetic, isn't it? They shouldn't have to give grimoires to rags like that."
"You tell me," the friend snorted in agreement, hiding his conceited grin but hardly making it an effort to do so. "But you have to admit that the girl's got some decent looks about her."
"Yeah, I think she's the daughter of the florist."
"Really? But wait... isn't she the one who, you know, a few years ago?"
"I think so. Can't believe she's still here. Don't tell me that those three are actually planning on taking the Magic Knights' entrance exam, too."
"Only nobles born with immense magical power or ties to the royal family ever get in."
Beside the entrance of the Grimoire Tower, Father Orsi, Sister Lily, the orphans and Rhea Coralis stood and stayed to watch their relatives receive their grimoires. The florist, in particular, remembered the first time she received her grimoire and a wistful smile adorned her face upon recalling the indelible memory. But overhearing the nobles look down and gossip about her daughter and her friends made her frown. Fortunately, she had grown titanium skin over the past few years from words bundled together in the form of bullets such as theirs and shook off the nobles' condescending whispers.
Suddenly, the tense silence was broken by the elderly in the front clearing his throat through the mic. His action caught everyone's attention and all fell silent to listen intently to his following announcement.
"Welcome men and women! You all begin a new journey today. I wish you all faith, hope and love. I am the Master of this Grimoire Tower. We've never had a Wizard King from this area, nor anyone who's actually achieved greatness in the Magic Knights. I sincerely hope that one of you will become the Wizard King someday. No, really! SERIOUSLY!"
Anemone snorted but realising she was the only one in the crowd who laughed, she covered it up with a cough and shuffled nearer to Yuno to partially hide behind him.
"Ahem," the Master of the Grimoire Tower cleared his throat again. "Now it's time... for the awarding of the grimoires!"
Grimoires kept dusty and hidden away in the shelves glowed like fireflies and magically removed themselves from their fixed places, floating through the spacious air. A warm, summer light bathed the area and flecked off the floating spell books. Anemone admired how each grimoire appeared unique, like how they glowed an assortment of hues based on the colour of their cover. Patiently, she waited for one of them to fly into her arms but in the meanwhile, she could overhear the crowd (those who've already received their grimoires) gasp and become wonderstruck by their own grimoires.
"We're going to take the Magic Knights' entrance exam and become the best!" Suddenly declared the foul-mouthed noble from before, earning impressed reactions from the crowd.
"You can't become the best if you've got the attitude of an egoistical pig." Anemone muttered, shaking her head. She hid her clenched fist behind her back, sheer incandescence rising within her after having overheard their comments from earlier too. But, after taking a deep breath, she released her fist and mastered a calm look. 'Anyway, when's my grimoire coming? I hope I get one. I mean... is it possible for someone to not get one?'
"Uhm..." Asta's loud voice that would usually be filled with exuberance to the brim voiced out pure, unadulterated confusion. The florist's daughter snuck a glance at him and noticed his ridiculous, dramatic position with one knee bent and the other knee on the ground, both arms outstretched with confident preparedness to receive his grimoire. Anemone recognised his position to be similar to whenever he presented Sister Lily a bouquet of flowers; a position reflecting his excitement to get the one thing that could prove that he was worthy of being someone in a world full of magic.
"My grimoire's not coming."
Puzzlement and bewilderment clouded Drouot's eyes, before he awkwardly cleared his throat and replied with, "Uh... try again next year?"
"WHAT?!"
Uninvited silence slithered in the tower, before the majority of the crowd doubled over in raucous laughter. Their guffaws of amusement reverberated throughout the area, ringing continuously like the annoying tingles of bells. Father Orsi, Sister Lily, and Rhea appeared shocked by the unexpected outcome, sympathising the poor non-magic boy. The orphans murmured to themselves in a dumbstruck state as well, and Anemone was in disbelief. 'It seems I have spoken too soon. But...'
"Man, if we had a competition to see who was the most pathetic, we'd definitely lose to that guy!"
Having had enough of the vain nobles, Anemone extended her arm towards them. However, before she could unleash her miniature waterfall on them, a brilliant soft flaring light radiates from a single grimoire behind her. Craning her neck around to search for the source of light, the blue-haired beauty found herself staring at Yuno. He embraced the luminescent grimoire and stared at it with an impassive, unreadable expression. Not long after, the light dimmed and the crowd exploded with flying whispers.
"Isn't that the same grimoire as the first Wizard King had?"
"The grimoire said to be filled with immense power and good luck?"
"Him? That peasant? Wow."
Then, with a faint lingering warmth of passion hidden behind his mercury golds, Yuno turned to the entire crowd and declared. "I'm going to become the Wizard King."
The sea of people didn't hesitate to burst with cheer and applause, already having high expectations for the lucky teenager standing in the middle of the room under the supernatural light that did nice favours to highlighting his greatest features. The orphans cheered in admiration for their older brother, Father Orsi cried tears of joy (his face in particular screaming 'that's my son!'), Sister Lily and Rhea had proud smiles and Anemone grinned triumphantly for her childhood friend for she always knew that Yuno was strong and had great potential to achieve his dreams. She thought the same to Asta and it was the exact reason why she refused to believe that the boy wouldn't receive a grimoire. Call her crazy if other people must (and it wouldn't be the first time), but Anemone will hunt down and look through every grimoire in the tower and demand for one of them to reveal itself to Asta because it was his lifelong dream to become the Wizard King and she will not tolerate—
Just then, the grimoire that flew the highest out of all the previous grimoires spirals downward to elegantly bring itself to the arms of Anemone, its owner. Now, had the grimoire not been dramatic, she wouldn't have received everyone's attention as she did at that moment. To those who were witnessing, a thin stream of water circled the grimoire like a ribbon and as it gradually landed in the palm of her hands, the water surrounded the girl and briefly blasted her cerulean locks of hair upward, her eyes involuntarily widening at the odd sensation. Then the jet of water disappeared and everybody whispered among themselves again, though it was short-lived.
"That was weird."
"Another Water Magic-user, huh? But that's an unusual way of receiving a grimoire."
"I've never seen that before. Strange."
Anemone ignored them all and marvelled at the cover of her grimoire. The usual black three-leaf clover was sewn on the cover except the leaves appeared to have a more defined heart shape. Surrounding the borders of the cover were various seashells of pretty and different sizes intermittently strewn. The only peculiar thing about it was how an ouroboros symbol encircled the three-leaf clover and staring at it any longer gave her an ominous gut feeling. Nevertheless, a joyful expression painted her face.
"Yuno..." Asta then called out, swaying a little as he stood. Anemone had admittedly forgotten the fact that he had yet to receive a grimoire and turned her attention to him. "I'll catch up to you in no time. Because I'm your rival!!"
Again, a round of mocking laughter erupted from the sea of people. Taunts and jibes about the ash blond spread around the inside of the tower like wildfire and Anemone pursed her lips, a dark shadow hanging over her eyes to obscure it dangerously. Unbeknownst to the crowd, a creepy smile slowly rode up the edges of her lips and with a single heavy stomp forward, splashes of water emerged from the ground surrounding her suddenly which saturated people's shoes and the bottom hem of their pants.
Gasps of surprise and confusion replaced the laughter as everyone looked down. No longer did they pay so much attention to the duo in the centre as bewilderment rattled everyone's minds, Anemone the only one remaining dry and looking pleased with herself.
"Nemy..." Asta uttered, eyes widening to the size of saucers as he spared a glance at his best friend. His attention was briefly taken away from his rival as soon as he heard the mocking laughter cease. From observing the wet bottom hem of everyone's pants, he immediately knew she did what she did to shut everyone up for a short moment. He appreciated it.
On the other hand, Yuno didn't react, which was usual of him, except for the fact that his eyes subtly flickered between Anemone and Asta non-stop. His once short-lived shock expression from Asta's determined announcement earlier that left his lips to part closed again to form a thin, straight line, eyes dulling with an unreadable emotion and an underlying shade of something bitter.
"You? My rival?"
Everyone's attention returned to the duo in the centre and as Asta's glowing viridian hues of conviction stare back into Yuno's frame, the latter's messy charcoal strands of hair covered the seemingly expressionless look on his face as he had spoke those words. Then he walked, and brushed his shoulder against Asta's, without turning back.
"Not possible."
To say that Anemone was surprised would be an understatement. She figured Yuno always acknowledged Asta as his rival especially since they were young, so why did he suddenly stop? Why now? Her lips twitched downward to craft a troubled frown and Asta seemed little to no better. He was rooted to his spot, head hanging low with a downcast spirit.
"Alright! Let's go make a feast!" Father Orsi celebrated after the crowd in the tower started to disperse, the orphans following after him. Sister Lily did so too, but only after sending worried glances after the two boys and the Water Magic-user. But Anemone returned it with a reassuring glance and approached her mother first.
"Mother, you can go ahead. I need to do something." She informed, watching as her mother patted her head tenderly.
"Alright, dear. Do whatever you need to do." She encouraged. Anemone chuckled and they part ways.
However, just before Anemone could run after Yuno, she caught the two egocentric nobles muttering callous comments to themselves in seemingly hushed whispers. She paused in her tracks and decided to discreetly listen without giving away anything.
"That bastard!" the blond noble growled, clenching his hands into fists. "We should've been the stars of the show! Not him! How could the four-leaf clover grimoire choose him instead of me?!"
"And that short boy was hilarious," the other one tittered. "Having that lucky kid as his rival? He's the one that has absolutely no magic! What an idiot!"
"Yeah, what the exact epitome of a loser."
"He radiated so much weak, stupid energy that even a grimoire didn't want him. Ha! How pathetic was that?"
"Well, at least he probably learned his lesson when that guy rejected him too."
"What a disgraceful, filthy peasant. I'm ashamed to have witnessed such a human like him living—"
And Fate pitied the noble who instantly received a sharp kick across the cheek, feeling someone's extremely sharp boot heel send him flying across the field. Even before the other noble could whip out his grimoire and react, he was ruthlessly brutalised by the same person and a dangerously sharp boot heel struck him across his face, leaving him to fall in pain beside his friend.
"The only one allowed to tarnish Asta's being and defile him with words..." a familiar feminine voice cut through the air as flawlessly as knife slicing butter, an eerie smile gradually curling upwards as she looked down at them, "...is me."
As the two nobles lifted their heads to find the identity of the young woman, they instantly recognised her as the Water Magic-user from inside the grimoire tower, the one who received her grimoire in an odd fashion, the one who went by Anemone Coralis. The closer she inched towards them, the further they shuffled away from her.
One of the nobles, in particular, whipped out his grimoire and the spell book became engulfed in vermillion flames. "Get away, peasant!"
But as the enormous burst of fire spread towards her rapidly, Anemone's smile never faltered. Instead, a scarlet gleam glinted in her navy blue eyes and with an outstretched hand, a huge wave of water devoured the flames too easily.
The blond noble visibly blanched at her ability. 'What... oh no! I completely forgot that my magic attribute is weak against hers!' "Hey! Back me up—" but his own friend already ran away awhile ago. His face paled even further and with a final panicked expression, he scattered to his feet and bolted.
Anemone watched him run and clicked her tongue, the smile on her face never fading. "Huh, and I had hardly started my fun yet. What was I meant to do again?" After pondering a bit to herself, she snapped her fingers in remembrance and her mood instantly changed, the red glint in her eyes long gone from before. "Oh yeah! Yuno!"
After running around a little more, much to her exhaustion, she finally found the person she was searching for standing in front of one of the cobblestone buildings. "Yuno!" She yelled, catching his attention. "You... You absolute jerk!"
"Anna?" Yuno said, watching as she panted and took several deep breaths. "What did you do, run a marathon?"
"You actually think I'd do that? Oh dear, Yuno, it's like you don't know me after all these years." She feigned sadness, pretending that she didn't hear his sarcasm. Considering the fact that Yuno didn't react and held a contemplative look in his eyes, Anemone spoke again to relieve the sort of 'tension' in the air. "On another note, what the hell was that back there? Did your ego expand again after receiving your grimoire? 'Cause if it did, I will deflate it so you can acknowledge Asta as your rival again! You already know that Asta's worthy to be your rival. He is strong and I believe that he can and will become the Wizard King one day. People already make fun of him—"
"You sound like a hypocrite." Yuno interrupted bluntly.
"Yes, I do tease him often but at least I mean well!" She defended herself quickly, and then muttered, "He's already used to it anyway."
"Then what's the point of you being here to admonish me?" Yuno's tone grew sharp like the edge of a knife. "I simply spoke what I believed."
"But—"
"And if you support him so much, why aren't you with him now to reassure him?" Yuno cut her off, sunset amber eyes gazing icily at dark blue ones. "Instead you're here with me, scolding me like a mother to a child."
Anemone opened her mouth to speak again, but closed it, and then reopened it. "Because I know that he's also strong enough to know that not getting a grimoire isn't enough for him to give up! Asta's not the type to fall into despair over something like this anyways. But you... do you not remember your promise with him?"
Yuno didn't say anything. Perhaps a mere hmph but nothing else, and Anemone was unable read what he meant by that. In fact, she was not able to read much of what he's thinking or feeling nowadays compared to when they were younger. He was easier to laugh with, easier to smile with, and easier to understand with. Occasionally, she still got along with him similar to when they were children but not quite, like there was a small rift between him and her and Asta that couldn't be explained under a few words. Recently, it was nothing much but occasional small talk and cold voices whenever disagreements would rise.
Anemone bit her tongue and took a step back, falling victim to the silence as well. Truthfully, she knew Yuno hadn't completely changed at all. He just decided to grow stronger from the crybaby he was. She bet that deep down, he didn't exactly mean what he said back then during the tower. Maybe because it had taken her by surprise that Anemone decided to confront him and hopefully knock some sense into him. But perhaps she was the one overreacting within the entire situation between them. She just felt like his and Asta's competition to see who can become the Wizard King first recently made their friendship distant and thin, and perhaps they could rekindle it if she could get Yuno to express his thoughts more and if she could understand why he was acting the way he's recently been acting. Before she could speak up again, a wicked voice echoed through the silence.
"Well, if I ain't going to kill two birds in one stone."
A/N: here's a longer chapter than the previous one that I hope you enjoyed, hope you're all doing well! please keep safe and be sure to drink plenty of water <3
- coral