Tina followed Yuno out of the tower. She was furious with him and was yelling at him the moment they stepped out.
"How could you do that to Asta?!" she shouted at him. They made a promise to each other since they were little to each other's rival the day they both wanted to be the Wizard King. And for her to hear Yuno tell him no, it just made her so angry. "You guys have been each other's rivals since we were kids. Just because he doesn't have a grimoire doesn't mean he's going to give up on his dream!"
I bet Asta's shouting how he's not going to give up and get his grimoire no matter how long it takes, she thought.
"Aren't you tired of sticking up for him?" Yuno asked as they continued walking.
Tina grit her teeth together. "No! Asta needs someone by his side because jerks like you think they could talk down on him because he doesn't have magic! It's bad enough people think we're beneath them because we're commoners just add Asta's having no magic to it. He gets bullied more because of it."
Yuno was unfazed. "Then why are you here with me instead of him?"
And Tina paused. Yeah, she should have gone with Asta back to the village and train with him some more, that usually cheers him up, but instead, she ran out with Yuno to what? Yell at him? She knows Yuno doesn't mean it. The trio's friendship goes deeper than that. But when it comes to her and Yuno, Tina didn't want to admit that she's in love with him. Oh, if she only knew he felt the same way about her.
"Because..." she started as she felt her cheeks warm up. "I - I needed to talk some sense into you. Just because you have a four-leaf grimoire doesn't mean you could go around with a huge ego."
Her cheeks got warmer when Yuno gave her a small grin, he noticed her cheeks heating up. "Maybe I should tell you that? You do have a three and a half leaf clover on yours. It might not be four, but it's better than three."
Tina crossed her arms and pouted. "Yeah. Another thing added to my weird list."
"It's not weird." Yuno glanced down at her necklace. He reached for it and twirled the ring in his fingers. "It just makes you unique."
Tina smiled at him as her heart began pounding in her chest. Their small moment ended when the boys who were picking on her and Asta stopped in front of them.
"Aww, did we interrupt your little moment?" the first one asked. He chuckled. "Look at this, the little golden boy and his red-eye freak girlfriend." Tina glared at them while her fist clenched. "Someone give her an eyepatch already."
Yuno glared at the boy. The friend just wanted to go home. "Hey, um...Isn't that going a bit too far?" he asked. He didn't want to cause any trouble.
The jerk turned to the friend. "We were supposed to be the stars of the show today," he argued. "They ruined that! Two low-life commoners. She got a three and a half leaf clover and he got four? I need to make them pay."
"Wait!"
The jerk pulled out his grimoire and opened it. Tina reached to grab hers but Yuno held his arm out to stop her. She looked up at him to see that stare he gives everyone. He was unfazed about the bully and thought he was ruining his day.
"I'll burn those books 'till it's nothing but ash!" the man yelled. The guy sent a wave of fire towards them. Yuno lets go of Tina to wave his hand, creating a tornado barrier around them. Tina's eyes widened as the fire around them started to disappear. The guys gasped when they say the pair unharmed. "He dispelled my flames without even using his grimoire!" He looked at his friend. "Go on, you try!"
The friend looked startled. "But..."
"Do it!"
The friend didn't want to. He didn't want to cause anyone any trouble. He was going to argue with his friend until a few chains with a spear came out of the wall and attacked them. Tina's eyes widened as the chains wrapped around the guys and trapped them to the wall. There were a few coming towards her and Yuno. She brought both her hands up and created a full moon barrier around them. She watched as the chains tried to penetrate them but failed. The chains retreated and she lowered her arms.
"We can't have that getting all burned up, now can we?" the uninvited guest, Revchi, asked. The chains were getting tighter around the boys as they struggled to get free. "Resisting would be a foolish waste of your time. My Magic Binding Iron Chain Formation spell blocks its captives' movement and magic."
"What do you want? Who are you?" Yuno asked as Revchi walked up towards them.
Revchi chuckled as more chains twirled around him. "I suppose two village children wouldn't know but until very recently, I was relatively well known among the Magic Knights squads as Chain Magic Revchi." One of the chains started to glow. "But they expelled me from their illustrious ranks, and now I am naught but a humble thief." Tina and Yuno were so distracted that they didn't see the chains come out from the ground beneath them. The chains shot out and wrapped them where they stood. Their grimoire's floating in midair as two more chains came over and grabbed them. "I'll be taking that."
"Hey, give that back!" Tina yelled as she struggled through the bonds. "If you think you could use it then there's no point! Grimoi -"
"Grimoires must be used by their chosen masters," Revchi finished for her, which made Tina angrier.
"I was going to say that!"
Revchi laughed at her. "Yes, I'm well aware. That said, there are plenty of black-market collectors who would pay a small fortune in exchange for such a unique specimen. Imagine the money I'll be collecting for these two. Your grimoires might have chosen you, but you only received it. Two untrained novices, a mere hatchling." He held their grimoires up high. "This is not your lucky day. Such a pity for you two I happened to be here." Revchi walked closer to Tina and held her face. He grinned as he inspected her eyes. "I wonder what happened to create such wonderful scars." He saw her necklace and grinned. "O-ho. I bet that pendant would fetch a good price. Don't mind if I do."
"If freaking touch my necklace and I'll kill you," Tina sneered.
Revchi laughed as he grabbed the necklace and took it off her. Tina and Yuno were glaring at him as he laughed while holding it up. "It must be my lucky day."
Then there was a familiar yell. "Hold it!"
Tina looked up with a small smile as Asta appeared out of the trees yelling. But her smile faltered when he miscalculated his jump and crashed into the brick wall. She winced as she watched him crash face first before he fell on the ground.
Asta jumped up and pointed at the chained bully like the fall didn't hurt him. "What the hell is going on here?" he shouted. "I've come to rescue -" He realized he was pointing at the wrong person. He looked until he spotted Revchi and pointed at him. "Hey, creep, what's your deal?" He noticed the grimoires in his hands. "That's Yuno and Tina's grimoire you've got." He gasped when he saw Tina's necklace. "And that's Tina's necklace! What are you doing with it? You dirty, rotten thief!"
Revchi chuckled. "Why, look, it's the sad little boy who waited so long, but never got a grimoire."
"Oh, you've heard of me? Yeah, you're right. The poor, empty-handed kid. The only place a grimoire belongs is with its true master. Now give it back to them! And you better give Tina her necklace back!"
Revchi was amused by all of it and laughed some more. "You really are a sheltered creature if you believe that kind of reasoning will get you anywhere with the likes of me." He began flipping through his grimoire. "Allow me to disabuse you of that notion."
"Asta, run!" Yuno shouted.
Tina's eyes widened when more speared chains appeared next to Revchi. "Run, Asta!" she yelled.
Asta got into his running position. "From a waste of space like him?" He launched himself and started sprinting towards the ex-Magic Knight. "Not a chance in hell!"
Revchi sent the chains on Asta. Asta was fast enough to dodge some of his attacks. He jumped over the chains and landed behind Revchi. He held up his fist and yelled as he threw it but more chains appeared behind and stopped him.
"I'll get you!" he yelled and took a step forward.
"No, boy. You're finished here," Revchi said as he flipped to another page of his grimoire. One of the chains flew behind Asta and struck him in the back.
"Asta!" Tina screamed.
Revchi grinned. "Dance of the Pitless Viper!"
More chains came around and stabbed Asta through his shoulders. Tina screamed while he coughed up blood. The chains pushed him towards the wall, making this huge smoke cloud.
"I'm going to kill you!" Tina yelled at the Chain Master as he marched up to Asta. "You hear me! I'm going to kill -" Tina stopped when chains began wrapping around her mouth. Tina's eyes widened as the chains started to choke her.
Yuno's eyes widened. "Tina!"
Revchi ignored them and stomped on Asta's shoulder. "You see, boy, it's no use," he said. "Thanks for playing, though!"
"It's not over. I'm not done," Asta said. "I will be the Wizard King."
"The Wizard King? You're joking. The thing is, these chains can measure the magic power of anyone they come in contact with. And you have none, not a single drop." Asta let out a small gasp. "You were probably born that way. I guess this explains why you didn't get a grimoire. To possess not the slightest bit of magic in a world where magic is everything? Why, that makes you a rare and precious bird, indeed!"
Asta's eyes widened as everything Revchi said sank in. If that's true, then...he thought. No matter how hard I push myself, I'll never be able to use magic.
Yuno had a panic look while he watched the air leave Tina. He could hear her choking while Revchi laughed at his best friend. He wanted to use his magic but with the chains blocking them...there wasn't much he can do.
"You know, I really can't think of anything more pitiful," Revchi started. "Forget about becoming the Wizard King, you'll be lucky to just get a job. I bet your friends, the geniuses over there, is having a good laugh at your expense right about now." He looked back and laughed as Tina started to turn blue. "Though, I'm not sure you're going to have that many friends left. This world has no use for someone like you a poor, magic-less fool. You might as well give it all up right now. You were born a loser, you worthless runt."
He is not a loser, Tina thought.
"Hey! Who are you calling a loser?" Yuno shouted. He looked at his friend, who looked like he was about to give up. "Asta. It's true that you aren't going to become the Wizard King. Not ever."
Tina's eyes widened. Yuno.
Revchi laughed again. "You hear that? Even your little friend knows that it's impossible."
Yuno ignored him. "That's because I am going to be the Wizard King."
"What?"
"You're wrong about Asta, Revchi. Very wrong. Asta's no loser. He's my rival!"
Asta's eyes shot up as he felt something inside of him open up.
"Huh?" Revchi asked. "This is who you would claim as your rival? The girl, maybe. But him?! The only person in the world without magic?"
Asta's hand shot up and grabbed Revchi's foot as Tina started seeing black dots in her vision. "You. Get off of me," he sneered. Revchi gasped as he took a few steps back. "Sorry, you had to see me at such a weak moment, Yuno. Just, give me a second." Asta shot up. "That's all. Then I'll destroy this guy."
That's when something stuck. Tina looked up as the clouds got darker. Her vision was getting blurry. She tried not to pass out. She closed her eyes for a second before opening them to see a grimoire appearing in front of Asta.
"Is that...a grimoire?" Asta breathed.
"I knew it," Yuno said. "Like you wouldn't be chosen, Asta? There's no way."
Asta's eyes widened as the grimoire opened by itself and a black sword slowly started coming out of it. It stabbed itself on the ground as Revchi quaked in fear. He didn't understand how a grimoire could appear to someone without any magical power. But the grimoire Asta contained had a five-leaf clover.
Tina watched as Asta picked the sword up before she passed out.
》》》》
A/N: Ok, I changed my mind about adding this chapter to the others so it could be one whole chapter. I figure it would be best doing it this way, so...yeah. The first episode is finally done. And here is Tina's outfit for the book...