𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 (𝐘𝐚𝐦𝐢 𝐒𝐮𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐨 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)

Chapter 16

Walking through this small village reminded you of Hage. The tiny houses, the close knit families, and the occasional drunkard. It sure felt like home.

Asta quickly found the woman that he met the day before and her siblings. There were a couple of other children that were also around.

Asta immediately started playing with the children. Allowing two to hang on his arms and spinning around with the kids squealing with glee.

You had a group of girls with you and you all gathered flowers from the bushes that were planted around the village. Once you and the girls gathered enough; you braided the flowers into the girls hair. You did simple braids so you could get to everyone.

While you weaved the locks together you explained how to braid hair to the girls that watched with excitement as you worked on one of their friends.

The girls then tried working on your hair. They tried to get the hang of the simple braids whilst adding flowers. (If you have short hair just imagine them trying to keep the flowers in place)

Though it wasn't as elegant as what you did, it didn't look half bad. You appreciated their efforts nevertheless. You gave them words of praise which made their eyes seem to sparkle in happiness.

By this time the sun was setting. You didn't realize how late it was. You got up and walked over to where Asta was. And to your surprise you saw another member of the Black Bulls.

He was tall and had lavender hair that covered one of his eyes. For whatever reason he was pissed off with Asta and was literally trying to murder him. Marie was trying to stop him, saying
"Big brother please stop!"

Her eyes had tears in them and you went over to console her.
"Hey, it's going to be ok. Asta can handle himself." You said gently.

She hugged you and you started running your fingers through her hair, trying to get her to calm down.

You looked over your shoulder and saw a nun walking out of what you could only believe was a church.

"Gauche!" The older woman yelled, catching the attention of the two that were fighting.

"You're not supposed to be here."

Gauche only glared at her. You could tell there was animosity between the two of them. The air was tense and they had a whole glaring session.

"Tch, whatever old hag."

"I can see you still have no respect for people."

Marie had finally let go of you and made her way over to the group of three. With Marie no longer hugging you, you stood up from the kneeling position you were in and dusted the dirt from your knees.

"Asta, we should get going. It's getting late." You called out to the ash blonde.

"You two can stay at my place for the night." Startled, you turned around to see Rebecca with her siblings.

"Jeez you startled me. But we couldn't possibly intrude. It wouldn't be right."

"No, I insist! The kids love Asta anyway."

She gave you a cheery smile. Her siblings were grasping at her dress and hiding behind her.

They must be shy.

Asta was now standing next to you. Evidently, Gauche was going to join the group of you as he also didn't have a place to stay and it was too late now to head back to the base.

Rebecca lead you guys to her house. Once inside, she showed you the room you would be staying in. Her house was cozy. With all the kids and smaller rooms, it reminded you of the church in a way.

Rebecca went downstairs to begin prepping dinner. You decided to go down and help her as a way to thank her for letting the three of you stay at her home. You would feel bad if you didn't help her with something.

Making dinner went smoothly. You were used to cooking and Rebecca appreciated the help. Everyone enjoyed the meal before they went to bed.

You took your robe off and hung it on one of the bed posts. You put your shoes together at the end of the bed and slipped into the sheets. The exhaustion of the day finally got to you and warm blankets lulled you to a much needed rest.

~▪️☘️▪️~

You awoke with a start. There was a big bang and it was extremely cold. Especially for the season.

You got up as quick as you could in your drowsy state and slipped your shoes back on and threw on your Black Bulls robe as it also worked as a source of warmth. You stretched and started to turn the knob to your room and the door flew open.

You let out a surprised scream and got your grimoire at the ready and prepared to release some arrows, when you realized it was just Asta.

"What the fuck Asta! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"

"There's no time to explain Y/n! Come on, we got to go!" He grabbed your arm and pulled you out of the room you were in and lead you out of the house.

"What do you mean no time to explain? What the hell is happening?" You asked as you were trying to keep up with him.

When you finally looked around, you saw the ground was covered in snow and it was extremely cloudy. The nun from earlier and Rebecca were outside and had worried expressions on their faces. Gauche was yelling at the nun and she was yelling back.

What is going on? Why is it snowing?

"This is all your fault you old hag! It's your fault my precious Marie is gone!"

Marie? Gone?

The realization that a child was missing struck you and you immediately had the urge to find who did it and give them a piece of your mind.

Adults then started wondering out of their homes and started calling out names of what you presumed were their kids.

Marie isn't the only one missing.

Word Count: 1020

(A/n)
So uh, how long has it been? I know, too long. But hey, here's another chapter. Sorry it isn't very long. I would've made it longer but I really wanted to release something tonight/this morning so here we are. Sorry if some of the events aren't accurate. I haven't seen this part of the show in months so somethings are a little foggy. Anyway, won't keep you too long. I hope you all have a wonderful day/night and stay safe!
~Ari