Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I decided to start this work because there's not enough Luck x OC content and I'm craving for more so I wrote one myself!

English isn't my first language, so if you spot mistakes here and there, feel free to tell me. I'd really appreciate it!

Welp, hope you enjoy!

Story Info

Pairing: Luck Voltia x OC

Timeline: Before Black Clover begins - The night before Magna became a Magic Knight

Chapter 1: Where it all started

That night, under the moonlight, stood a young girl covered in blood. She huffed as her grimoire flew back to its pouch, looking down at the bodies scattered around her, then to piles of burnt wood on her left. The place she once called home along with the person who took care of her has been taken away, thus she took their lives as compensation. It wasn’t enough, she thought, but even she herself didn’t know what would be enough.

She was sad. She was angry. Even so, tears wouldn’t fall down as she buried her guardian’s cold body that was covered with wounds and blood. She was exhausted, sitting alone in front of the grave she had made, with a wooden plank as a substitute for a gravestone.

The girl sat there with a blank face in silence, doesn’t even bothered to wipe away the blood and cinder on her face. She heard a tree not far behind her rustled, followed by heavy footsteps.

“What are you gonna do now, kid?” a gruff voice asked in a calm tone. The owner of the voice was a tall and buff man who were smoking cigarette. Didn’t receive an answer, he let out a puff of smoke then said, “Join my squad.”

“Why?” the girl finally answered, not turning around, still in the same position and with the same expression.

The man grinned. “Because you’re interesting. Take this.” He threw a bundle of fabric to the girl. It was a black hooded robe with gold trimming and a black bull insignia on the left-hand side.

The girl held it tightly. Her hands were shaking as well as her voice when she said, “I—how could you recruit someone like me into your squad? I mean, didn’t you see what I’ve done? I killed them! Those men!” Tears started come out, falling down her cheeks to the ground beneath her.

The man shrugged. “Listen, kid. I’ve said my reason. Now, it’s up to you whether you wanna throw it away, keep it, or keep it and follow me.” He then turned around, starting to walk slowly to the way he came from.

Before the man disappeared into the dark forest, the girl quickly picked herself back up, rushing towards the man. She held the robe close to her chest as they walked through the forest in silence.

“Thank you,” the girl mumbled after a while.

That person came at the right time, offering her a hand when she had lost everything, even the will to live. His attitude wasn’t the best, but she managed to find comfort in him. He was the father figure she had secretly wished for the longest time.

“Captain Yami, you’re back!” a young man exclaimed. He immediately froze upon seeing the man he referred to as captain were standing in the doorway, holding a teenage girl by the back of her shirt. “C-captain, why are you holding her like that?”

“Huh? She was gonna run away after following me all the way here.” Yami, as the young man called, blew out another puff of smoke as he put the girl down. “She’s a new recruit. Show her around. I need to take a shit.”

There was a long awkward silence once Yami left them in the common room. The girl, still covered in blood and cinder, stood there with her mouth shut, observing the young man in front of her.

The male has a more saturated shade of brown than hers, quite long and messy. He was wearing a green tunic with long sleeves under the same robe with the one in the girl’s hand. His eyes were droopy, making him look more nervous than he actually was.

The girl knew, her appearance was very concerning, definitely horrible for a first impression. Still holding the robe Yami gave her, she wiped away the stain on her face with her other hand only to smeared them all over.

“Excuse my shabby appearance,” said the girl while turning away, “this is why I tried to run away. I’m sorry for making you feel uncomfortable….”

“W-what? It’s alright, you must’ve had it rough.” He held out his hand to her. “My name’s Finral. What’s yours, cutie?”

“Ari.” The girl looked down at Finral’s hand, then back to his face that was showing a flirty smile. “I don’t understand how come you find someone who is covered in blood and cinder attractive.”

Finral immediately turned stiff. He pulled his hand to the back of his head as he awkwardly laugh it off. “Why don’t I show you the girls bathroom so you can clean yourself before we continue with the tour?”

A loud grumble could be heard from Ari’s stomach before she even said a thing. The girl looked down in embarrassment.

“La?!” A petite girl who were enjoying her food on the couch suddenly turned to the source of a grumbling sound. Grabbing a piece of cupcake from her food stack, she rushed over to Ari. “Eat this, la! La?” said the girl, shoving a cupcake to Ari’s mouth.

“H-hank who…?” Ari replied with her mouth full, trying her best to chew and swallow the cupcake.

“Oh, let me introduce you. This is Charmy,”—Finral turned to the petite girl—“and Charmy, this is Ari. Our newest recruit.”

“La!” Charmy ignored the formality, opening her grimoire to summon cotton sheep. “Creation Magic: Sheep Cook!”

Ari swallowed her food, looking nervous at what Charmy’s sheep were doing. “What the hell….”

“Ah, Charmy. I think Ari would like to take a bath first—”

Too late. Charmy already served a full course meal right in front of them with the help of her sheep. “Eat,” she said menacingly.

It was a long night, but as always, she couldn’t bring herself to sleep. In her quarters, she was lying down on her new bed. It was dusty, but better than the ground.

Everything went by too fast. She had lost everything, then was given a new place to stay, just in the span of one night.

The Black Bulls, that’s what they called themselves. They had accepted her and treated her kindly in their own ways. Yami by recruiting her into his squad, Finral by showing her around the base, and Charmy by feeding her when she’d noticed that Ari was starving, even willing to lend her clothes. Even though Ari haven’t met the other members, who Finral said were still on missions, she believed that they’re all as kind as the ones she’d met.

Everything was fine at that time. Still, Ari can’t help but to feel uneasy. There was something bothering her.

Ari reached out for a doll of her brother on the nightstand, still lying down. She held it up in front of her face. There were no trace of his mana. Ari was certain, if one’s mana in the doll disappeared, it could only mean one thing, and that is no other than death itself.

If death really had taken his soul, there was nothing Ari could do to bring him back. The least she could do was to find his body and bury him properly, so the soul could rest in peace.

Ari picked herself back up, looking outside the window. The moon had set up on top of the sky. It was midnight already. She was tempted to sneak outside in order to search for her late brother’s body, but then she realized, leaving the home she had been given to without no one knowing is an impudent act. Maybe she could ask Yami for permission the next day.

Yami told her to do as she pleased, thus Ari went out on her own. It was dreadful enough to force herself to be awake under the sun light, then she realized that she’d been wandering around for hours with zero result. She immediately collapsed on the ground in exhaustion.

Forcing herself to go out under the daylight was a terrible move. With an ounce of energy she had left, she dragged herself to shade, under a big lush tree. Right there, she was save from the sun, and it was a great spot to take a nap.

Ari dozed off  until the sun set on the west, not bothered by her surroundings. At least, until a fire ball hit her head followed by shriek that was not Ari’s. She didn’t even flinch.

“A dead body?!”

Ari turned her body facing the source of racket. She frowned upon seeing the person who dared to disturb her nap time, even went all the way to mistook her as a dead body.

“Oh, it’s not dead.” The person walked closer, a male figure with two different colored hair, grey at the top and black at the sides, also a black mohawk.

“What do you mean ‘it’, you punk?” Ari groaned, as she struggled picking herself back up.

With his face held up, he snapped at her. “Haaa? Who’re you calling punk? Wanna fight?”

Ari’s face turned blank as she flat out answered, “No.” One moment later before walking away, she noticed that the noisy male is also wearing Black Bulls’ robe.

“Huh? Whatcha lookin’ at?”

“We’re in the same squad.”

“Isn’t that obvious, little brat?”

Ignoring his harsh words, Ari walked closer while observing the male with the same expressionless face. “I’m Ari,”—she held out her hand—“Captain Yami recruited me last night.”

Instead of shaking Ari’s hand, the man shouted, “Whaaat?! Recruited by Mister Yami himself?!”

“Huh? What’s wrong with that?” Ari pulled back her hand to cover her ears. “By the way, stop shouting. It’s unnecessary.”

He didn’t listen. Leaning closer to Ari, he exclaimed, “I worked super hard to pass the entrance exam! And you—”

“Not my problem.”

There was a moment of silence before he grabbed Ari by the collar of her robe. “You brat! How about we settle this with a fight, huh?”

“Don’t wanna,” Ari said, followed by a growl from her stomach.

They exchanged gaze after looking down at the source of noise. Ari’s still putting up an expressionless face, while the male’s face twitched in annoyance.

He let go of Ari’s robe as he huffed. “I’m heading back,” he said, walking away.

The sun has set and Ari had taken a long nap, thus her energy rose up as the surroundings got darker and darker. She tailed on the annoying man with light steps. “Hey, what’s your name? I’ve told you mine, so it’s only fair if you tell me yours, no?” she asked in a more lively voice.

“Magna,”—his eyebrows twitched—“Magna Swing.”

“Alright! Nice to meet ya, Magna!” Ari smacked his back a bit too hard, catching him off guard.

Magna yelped, as he fell onto the ground with his face first.

“Ah, sorry,” said Ari with an innocent smile.

“What….” Magna jumped back up, pointing at Ari furiously. “What is it with you! What’s with that change of attitude?!”

Ari tilted her head. “Heee? It’s nighttime now.”

“That doesn’t answer my question!”

“Ah, I’m hungry! I wonder if Senior Charmy is back yet,” Ari said, skipping pass Magna towards the base.

“Oi! Don’t ignore me!”

Back at the base, Charmy was eating from her pile of food as usual, ignoring the underdressed woman lying beside her on the couch. A portal opened behind them and there was Finral walking out of it looking all gloomy. The portal closed right after he stepped out of it.

Finral noticed that another member of the squad had came back from mission. His face lighted up a little. “Vanessa, you’re back—”

“I’m back!” Ari burst through the main door with an angry Magna chasing her.

“Get back here, you brat!”

“Hahaha! No!”

Magna summoned three fireballs, hitting it one by one with his fire bat that was created using magic. “Eat this!”

Ari, on the other side, kept on giggling as she jumped around the common room, avoiding the fireballs. Messing with Magna’s fun, so she kept on mocking him. Her grimoire was on its pouch all the time, meaning that she was jumping around with just pure energy.

Finral’s warning was ignored, so the young man gave up. He used his Spatial Magic to go to his quarters, avoiding fireballs that were thrown around.

“Heeey, what are you guys doing? Ah, my head is killing me,” groaned the woman Finral called Vanessa. She slowly brought herself up to see the two new recruits running around with fireballs thrown everywhere. “Oh my, it sure is lively here.”

Speaking of fireballs, one of them almost struck Yami who just finished his super important business at the toilet. “You two,”—he exhaled smoke before launching a deathly fist to the wall beside him—“quit destroying the place!”

Ari and Magna immediately froze in place, slowly turning to their captain. Fear filled their face, though Ari’s smile was still up. The next moment, they were sitting in front of Yami with bumps on their head. “We’re sorry,” they both whimpered.

Writing this was a challenge, fuh!

Thanks for reading! See you in the next chapter!

Chapter Text

I was so excited to write their meeting, so I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 2: Warmth she found at the entrance exam

The sun had rose, it was time for Ari to sleep. The girl was lying on her comfy bed she’d bought with her first wages, completely knocked out. Unfortunately, the others wouldn’t let her be, at least when it’s breakfast time.

It had become part of the Bulls’ routine to wake her up for breakfast and lunch. That morning was Magna’s turn. The fire mage barged in to Ari’s room, shouting, “Wake up, runt! Breakfast’s ready!”

Ari didn’t budge. Thus Magna walked over and pulled her blanket, making the girl groan. Her short eyebrows were twitching in annoyance. “No. Go away,” she mumbled, as she turned her back against the fire mage, snuggling her pillow.

Magna huffed. “The hard way it is.” Without further ado, he grabbed the back of Ari’s shirt, dragging her down to the thin cushion she’d prepared beside her bed as he shouted, “Wake the hell up!”

The floor trembled when the girl’s body fell down. Still closing her eyes, Ari launched a sweep kick, hitting Magna’s shinbone. The poor fire mage screeched in pain, while Ari got herself up, looking around with tired eyes. “Time for breakfast already?”

“Do you really need to kick me every time I wake you up?!”

“Yes.”

“Why?!”

“Dunno, because I want to?”

One year had passed since the two first met, and their friendship haven’t gotten any better. You could say they’re like a short-tempered cat and an annoying mouse. There were not a single day passed without Magna running around throwing fireballs at Ari. That day, things would only get worse for the poor fire mage.

“Entrance exam?” Ari stopped shoving food to her mouth for a second. Her round eyes were focused to their captain, Yami, who was also having breakfast with the squad like usual.

“Yeah,”—Yami swallowed his food—“you and Finral are coming with me after breakfast.”

“Aye-aye, sir!” Ari mocked a salute.

Finral was about to complain, but he swallowed it up, turning to his junior. “Ari! Seems like you’re in a good mood. How about we go out on a date afterwards?”

Ari’s smile dropped as she turned to one of her senior. “Don’t wanna.”

An imaginary arrow instantly pierced through his heart. “O-okay,” he said, as he continued to chew on his food, with tears flooding his face.

“Oh, Finral, you poor guy,” said Vanessa who sat across the table, giggling after she finished her meal. “Should’ve ask the girl at night. She’d totally say yes.” The witch winked.

“A-a-at night?!” Finral stuttered. The Spatial Magic user then shrieked when a fork landed right beside his hand, stuck on the table’s surface.

“You were thinking about something weird aren’t you, Senior Finral?” said Ari with a deathly glance.

“No, no, no! You misunderstood, Ari!” Finral shook his head, trembling as he held his hands up in front of his face. “I was thinking that it would be romantic—” Another fork flew across him, barely scratched his cheek.

“Damn, that brat sure is scary sometimes,” Magna mumbled.

After breakfast, Yami got to go to the toilet before heading out. Ari fell asleep on the couch in the common room while waiting. Finral was sitting beside her, and on the couch across them, sat an extremely large man named Grey and Gauche who was bleeding from his nose while looking at a picture in his hand. “Oh, Marie! Isn’t she an angel?!”

“Uh, yeah….” Finral nodded awkwardly.

A weird fuzzy feeling forced Ari to open her eye, making the male beside her flinched. Her gaze fell to the man with a sister-complex syndrome across her. She have had enough, thus she stormed outside the base. “I need some fresh air,” she said before closing the door behind her.

It had been a whole year since she joined the Black Bulls and live there with her squadmates. Still, she couldn’t help but to feel jealous when Gauche expressed his love towards his sister, Marie. She couldn’t stand being near him for long.

Ari missed those times where she would cling to her brother almost all the time. Ari missed eating fish he would grill for her. Ari missed him. The fact that she couldn’t find his body until the day she was standing there made her heart throb.

“No. Stop it, Ari,” she mumbled, as she wiped away tears that slipped out from the corner of her eyes. She couldn’t afford to be emotional at the time. She got things to do.

The door behind her swung open. Yami walked out then grabbed the girl’s head and lifted her up. “Whatcha doin’ out here, kiddo? You got some nerve for making me wait,” he said, when he was the one who made Ari and Finral wait for nearly an hour. Though, Ari and Finral valued their precious lives, so they just went along with it.

Ari had heard about the Magic Knight Entrance Exam numerous times, but that was the first time she attended to one. Not as an entrant, she was there as the captain of the Black Bulls’ companion along with Finral. Both of them stood behind Yami’s chair.

Whispers about Ari’s appearance could be heard from her left. Two male Magic Knights from the Coral Peacock. They kept on talking about how Ari was looking a bit strange, about her puffy long hair, round face and eyes.

“I remember now. She was the foreigner who was stranded at the shore around two years ago.”

“Geez… how come you still remember such unimportant thing?”

“How could I forget…! The other foreigner who was with her attacked me when I tried to approach them.”

“Woah… that’s messed up. No wonder she ended up in the Black Bulls.”

Finral overheard what they were saying. He put his hand on Ari’s shoulder in attempt to calm her down, since he’d noticed that Ari was holding up a sour face since they got there. “Don’t listen to them,” he whispered. “How about we switch places? It might help a bit.”

“No. I’m fine, senior. Thanks though.” Ari brushed off his hand gently. Her grimoire flew out of its pouch, opened in midair beside her, as she cupped her hands. “Creation Magic: Puppet of Anger.” Mana started swirling on top of her palms, forming small plushie of herself with an angry face.

Nobody could see it, but the plushie instantly absorbed Ari’s anger. It started to move, flapping its arm and stomping. Ari placed it on her shoulder, now that she can watch the exam in peace.

Finral leaned closer to observe the plushie. He had a bright smile on his face when he said, “How cute. Hi, Arichi, it’s been awhile since I last see you.”

“It can’t talk,” said Ari without any expression.

“I know, but it can hear me, right,” said Finral, pulling himself back. Ari gave a slight nod as a response.

Meanwhile, the two Magic Knights from the Coral Peacock were startled by Ari sudden use of magic, leading them to get their grimoires ready. They thought Ari was about to attack them, since she was a member of the Black Bulls who had a bad reputation, but that was not the case.

“I think you just got yourself on her bad side,” the one with red hair said.

“Both of you, actually,” Ari corrected without batting an eye.

The other Magic Knight with dark blue hair chuckled nervously, turning away from Ari to his friend. “Doesn’t matter. With that pitiful magic, I bet she’s at the same level of those peasants down there.”

Just two cocky nobles, Ari thought, assuring herself that they’re not worth picking a fight with. The girl focused back on the entrants down on the ground. A few of them were still struggling to maintain balance on their broom, while the others were flying high in the air, some mocking the other entrants.

There was nothing interesting to see and Ari was getting sleepy. Few seconds later, she dozed off in place, still standing straight like the captain of the Coral Peacock. Finral only gave her a slight smile while shaking his head. For him, Ari sleeping while standing was just the usual Ari.

Test after test passed, finally it was time for the one on one fight test. Ari was still sleeping, she didn’t even wobble, until a thunderbolt struck her face.

Other Magic Knights—including Finral—who were accompanying their captain respectively were taken aback. Most of the captain only glared or even completely ignore it like Yami did.

The girl whose face just got struck by lightning while sleeping opened her eyes and yawned as if nothing happened. “What the hell was that…?” She took a look to her sides in confusion, then she flat out said, “What are you all looking at?”

Finral let out an awkward chuckle. “Ari, your face just got struck by an attack from one of the entrants. You sure you’re okay?”

There were crackles of lightning around her face when she said, “Feels tingly. Whose doing was that?” Ari stood on her toes, trying to get a better view of the ones fighting down there.

Another thunderbolt struck her face. This time, Ari fell on her butt because she lost balance, while Arichi (the plushie) flew to Finral’s hand.

“You okay there, kiddo?” Yami finally turned to check on one of his companion. His face didn’t show any concern. When he saw Ari shook her head, he turned back facing front.

Ari really was fine, it didn’t hurt at all thanks to her high pain tolerance. Wasn’t  afraid of getting struck for the third time, she picked herself back up, getting more and more curious. “Just who the hell—” One more thunderbolt struck her, making Yami snort.

“I’ve had enough.”

“A-ari!” Finral pulled the girl’s robe, making her choke. “No, no, no. Bad idea! Just let Arichi absorb you anger, okay?”

She glared to her senior. “I’m not angry, senior, just irritated.”

“Hold it, kiddo.” Yami held up his hand, catching his companions’ attention. His eyes were fixed at a certain blond boy who were fighting, or more like beating up a noble in the one on one fight. With his usual gruff voice, Yami said, “Wouldn’t want to end up like that dude, would ya?”

“Y-yeah, come here, Ari,” Finral said, pulling the girl to behind Yami’s chair so she wouldn’t get hit with another attack. He then placed Arichi who was acting rowdy back on Ari’s shoulder. “Calm down, okay?”

Ari still held onto the frown on her face, taking a peek on what the blond boy was doing, careful not to get struck by a wild thunderbolt for the fourth time. That boy had his grimoire out, his hands and feet were wrapped up with his Lightning Magic, forming claws and boots that he used to attack also boost his speed.

Manic grin never seemed to leave his face, even when he was beating the crap out of his opponent who just fell on his back. The poor noble had already ran out of mana and energy, his grimoire stopped shining then fell to the ground as the owner starting to lose consciousness. But even so, the blond boy kept on pounding on him until one of the captains had to stepped in.

“Damn... that boy was a total lunatic. Don’t you think so?” Finral said, turning to Ari who got her gaze locked on the fiend.

She didn’t reply, the blond boy fully caught her attention. She went silent for the rest of the exam, eventually took a nap while standing.

Nothing really stood out in the one on one exam except for that one fight the blond boy were in. He beat his opponent to bloody pulp, grinning like crazy while doing so, earning him the nickname Luck the Cheery Berserker.

It was time the moment of truth. The entrants were called were called one by one according to the number they got when they registered. Most were turned down, almost half when there was a total of three hundred entrants that year. Some were lucky, they got more than one captain to raise their hand for them. While the remaining, they were chosen by only one captain.

Luck, the blond boy who went berserk in the one on one fight, was chosen by Yami. Finral’s soul nearly left his body. Ari on the other hand, she had a slight grin across her face.

Before another entrant stepped up, Ari exchanged gaze with the boy. There was a weird tingly feeling she felt, similar to when she got struck by his thunderbolts earlier, just… a bit more gentle. After the boy backed away, she resumed her nap until it was time for them to go back to the base with their new recruit.

“Ladies first.” Finral gestured Ari to go ahead through the portal. Without hesitation she went in while yawning.

She got in front of the base in an instant, just when the sun was setting down. She was busy collecting herself when Luck jumped out of the portal. The blond boy ended up clinging to Ari’s back like a baby koala with a bright smile across his face. Arichi fell to the ground, then it started stomping while flapping its hands.

Luck totally ignored the plushie, tightened his grip to Ari so he wouldn’t fall back. “Hey, hey, wanna fight? You got lots of mana, so you must be strong. Fight me!” exclaimed the boy who was basically strangling Ari.

The girl didn’t do anything, she was on a daze, staring to the base with blank eyes. She didn’t even respond to Finral panicking behind them.

“Aight, quit clinging to her, ya lunatic,” said Yami, grabbing the boy by his head.

Still with a smile on his face, Luck asked, “Oh, how about you, captain? Let’s fight!”

“No,” Yami answered, “ya definitely got something wrong in there.” He squished the boy’s head even harder. Luck just laughed merrily, letting himself being carried like that.

Meanwhile, Ari was frozen in place. Arichi climbed back to her shoulder not long ago. Finral walked up beside her. While waving his hand in front of her face, he asked, “Hello? You okay there, Ari?”

They stood there for a while until it got dark. Finral was getting more and more concerned, also nervous. “Umn… Ari, let’s get going inside, shall we? The others must be—”

“That boy. He’s warm,” Ari cut off his sentence.

“What?” Finral was taken aback by her words. “W-what do you mean, ‘he’s warm’? Also, you got some bloodstains on you robe.”

Ari suddenly turned around, her face beamed as she shouted, “I think I like him! He made me feel all warm and fuzzy!”

“Ah, I see….” Finral put up an awkward smile. He noticed that his junior had entered her night mode when she’ll act all bubbly and full of smile. “I thought you were holding grudge against him. You know, ‘cause he launched three thunderbolts at you earlier.”

“Oh, that’s fine! I was just annoyed ‘cause it kept on striking my face. It didn’t hurt at all.” She laughed it off, waving her hand in front of her face.

Finral huffed as he walked towards the base with Ari tailing on him. “Really, Ari. Do you ever feel pain?”

“Humn? Yeah, when I was a kid,” she answered in a cheerful tone, still holding that bright smile of hers.

“What about when you went on missions?”

“It hurts a bit when I broke something like my ribs… or arm, or leg, or anything worse.”

“You really are something, huh?” He sighed. “Having high pain tolerance is great and all, but… don’t be too reckless, ‘kay?”

“Okay!”

Thanks for reading and see ya!

Chapter Text

I hope Luck isn't too OOC here :' I enjoyed writing his interactions with Ari, building up their relationship~

And I can't wait for them both to interact with Magna! He was away on a mission in this chapter, he'll show up in the next one. It's gonna be hilarious XD at least for me :b

Aight, enough of me rambling. Enjoy!

Chapter 3: The thunder they feared

“C’mon, try this! You must be hungry, la, la?”

Ari and Finral walked in to Charmy constantly shoving food to their new recruit’s mouth. It brought back memories of when Ari joined the Bulls. She couldn’t help but to bounce over to them. “Senior Charmy, I want some too! The pie looks delicious.”

“Of course, la!” Charmy exclaimed proudly crossing arms in front of her chest, while one of her sheep came with a slice of pie for Ari. “Eat up, eat up. I grew the ingredients myself at my garden behind the base!”

“This pie taste like heaven,” she said after taking a bite.

Luck beside them had his eyes locked at Ari while munching on his food the sheep kept offering. Once he was stuffed, a wide grin grazed his face. He then poked Ari’s shoulder, trying to grab her attention. “Hey.”

The girl turned to him with her mouth full, she said, “Hng… hat ish it?” She didn’t bother to swallow the food in her mouth first.

Her eyes were pretty, big and round, colored in hazel with blue flecks. They were captivating for a moment, Luck had to shake his head to snap out of it, then he reached out his right hand. “My name’s Luck, Luck Voltia. What’s yours?”

Ari was dumbfounded, looking at his face descending to his hand, then back to his face. “I didn’t take you as someone who would introduce themselves properly,” she said followed by a small giggle as she reached out to shake his hand.

When their hands came in contact, she felt it once again, the weird tingly feeling. It made her heart flutter. Her face beamed as she shook the boy’s hand, she said, “I’m Ari! Just Ari. I hope we can get along as comrades.”

It was Luck’s turn to be dumbfounded. The person in front of him didn’t scream or jump back even though she was being electrocuted with his magic. She didn’t even realize the crackles of lightning around her or the fact that her hair was getting frizzy.

Yami who was going to exit the common room stopped by, chuckling as he watched the two. “No use, kid. She got crazy high pain tolerance,” he said with a grin.

“Heee?” Luck’s smile grew wider. At that very moment, his whole body started to itch and shaking with excitement. Punching empty air, he exclaimed, “Fighting you sounds like fun! Let’s fight now, Ari!”

”Fight? Right now?” She zoned out for a second before something clicked in her head. “Hell yeah! Bring it on!” she shouted with a matching grin with Luck, bringing her fist up.

They were one second away from blowing up into a fight before Yami grabbed them by the back of their shirt. “Not here, damn lunatics,” Yami said as he proceeded to throw the two outside the base.

“Mister Yami?!” Finral jumped off the couch right when Yami slammed the door closer. He just warned the girl to not be reckless a few minutes ago, then their captain threw her outside with the lunatic to fight. He trembled in panic as he shouted, “What did you just do?!”

Yami turned to him giving off the usual menacing aura. “Huh? Who do you think you’re questioning?”

Finral shrieked in fear as he hopped back to the couch. Yami took a drag of his cigarette then blew out a puff of smoke. “Go watch over them if you’re so worried. They might need someone to safe their sorry butts, who knows,” he said, walking pass the couch.

“Creation Magic: Grizzly Claw!” Ari shouted as the pages of her grimoire began to turn on its own to a certain page. Both of her hands were engulfed with fabric material from the tips of her finger up to her elbow, forming a puppet version of said grizzly claw.

Luck started laughing merrily. “Funny magic!” His grimoire was open and he got his lightning boots on already. Taking a battle stance, his grin grew wider and scarier. “Let’s see what you can do with that lame magic,” he said right before charging to the girl.

Ari swiftly push herself up in the air, dodging Luck’s attack. She took the chance to pound on his back, slamming him to the ground as she bounce away. Landing in front of the main entrance of their base, she burst into laughter and shouted, “You’re not the only one who’s fast!”

Picking himself back up, Luck chuckled. He turned to Ari with deranged expression, still holding up his grin. “I’m just getting started,” he mumbled, as he charged back at the girl.

She smiled gleefully licking her upper lips. Her arms were crossed in front of her face, ready to take on his attack, wondering if it would hurt or not.

Behind her, Finral opened the door slowly. Bad timing, really. At that very moment, Luck charged to his opponent who was eager to take on his attack. It all happened in a blink of an eye. The next thing Finral knew was that the three of them flung inside the base, crashed onto one of the wall in the common room. The wall crumbled as they dropped to the floor, buried by the chunks of it.

Through the large hole in the wall could be seen four toilet stalls. One of them was occupied, emanating murderous aura. “Didn’t I told you runts to fight outside, huh? I’ll kill you,” the person inside who’s no other than Yami said.

Those words sent chill down their spines. Ari and Luck dashed away, sending chunks of the wall up in the air. Finral quickly escaped doom using his Spatial Magic to who knows where.

Up on the roof of the Black Bulls’ base, sat two of their member, stargazing after a quick spar. Both of them were covered with dust and bruises, though their smiles never seemed to fade.

Luck took the chance to observe the girl’s features he didn’t really paid attention to before. She had her long and puffy hair down to her waist, colored in caramel brown. Her front bangs covered her short eyebrows most of the time, while her side bangs framing her face curved outwards. Oddly charming, he thought. Especially her eyes.

“Say, where do you come from?” he asked with hints of curiosity in his eyes. The girl had tons of mana despite not looking like at least a noble. Her outfit were simple, just a sleeveless shirt under the Black Bulls’ robe tucked in a pants that goes down to the middle of her thighs. She also wore a pair of fingerless gloves that went up close to her elbow and a pair high boots.

Ari turned to him. A sweet smile gradually bloomed on her face as her gaze softened. “Why are you asking that just now?” She giggled, turning to the other side so Luck couldn’t see her face any longer.

That expression just then made Luck’s heart skipped a beat without him knowing why. The only thing he knew was that she looked different. She gave away a different vibe than before. To him, she was acting like three separated individuals that day. She was unfriendly until they went through the portal, but once she went in to the base, she was all bubbly and cheerful. Then at that moment, just for a quick second, she looked somewhat fragile, like she would shatter into pieces if he’d ever tap her shoulder.

“I’m a foreigner,” Ari said, snapping Luck out of his thoughts.

Luck tilted his head with a slight smile across his face. “Does that mean you came from another kingdom or…?”

Ari cracked a laugh as she heard the boy beside her trailed off in confusion. “Oh man, what’s with that face?” Her cheeks turned red while she was laughing. Luck didn’t understand what was funny, so he waited for her to calm down.

“Haaa, no, silly,”—she wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes—“I’m from another land far across the ocean,” Ari said as she stretched her arm to sides. “Land of Chaos, that’s what I call it. If there’s a proper name for that damned place, I can’t recall. Not like that matters.” She waved her hand like she was shooing something.

“Why wouldn’t it matter? It’s your homeland.” Luck’s smile faded. His body began to lean to side following his head.

Ari muttered something to herself, making Luck lean forward. “What? I couldn’t hear you just now.”

“Hey, hey, personal space.” She sighed while pushing his head back. There was a moment of silence before she said, “It’s not a place I’d call home, therefore it’s unimportant. The Black Bulls is my home.”

He needed a few seconds to proceed that information he’d been digging. A smile crossed his face when his head clicked. “So that means the Black Bulls is my home too, right? We’re squadmates after all!”

Ari huffed. A smile grew on her face as well. “Yeah, that’s right.” She stretched her arms upwards while Luck yawned, making her turned to him again. “You should get some sleep. You must be drained after the whole exam stuff and our sparring.”

Luck nodded as he rubbed his eye. “So, where do I sleep… tonight? On the couch…?” His voice quavered. The drowsiness started to get to him.

“What? Of course not! What makes you think of that? You got your own quarters just like everyone else!” Ari picked herself back up, then she extended her hand to the sleepy blond boy. “C’mon, I’ll take you there.”

He yawned as he took her hand, letting her pull him up. The both of them then hopped all the way down from ledge to ledge until they reach the front door they destroyed earlier. Ari brushed it off when Luck asked about it, saying it will fix itself.

They went upstairs, quietly walking down the hallway to the boys quarters. The layout hadn’t changed that day, so she remembered clearly which room is empty. She slowly pushed the creaky door open, not wanting to wake anyone up. The room had a bed along with a nightstand, a dresser, a small desk, and a bookshelf. It was pretty much decent, ignoring the dust and spider webs at some corners.

“Nothing fancy, sorry. After all, we’re the worst squad out there.” She chuckled, pulling herself to the side. “I hope you’re okay with it. Rookies started off with small quarters, I’ve been there,” she said, tapping his shoulder.

Luck yawned before he replied, “I’m fine. Thanks for today, Ari.” For a second his eyes lighted up along with a grin as he booped the girl’s nose, sending a small electric shock. “Good night.” He quickly went in and closed the door, leaving Ari thunderstruck by his action.

That night, Luck dozed off on a dusty bed, too exhausted to be bothered. He fell asleep the second his head hit the pillow. Meanwhile, Ari froze up in place with her hand covering her nose.

Ari couldn’t sleep in the morning. She had been lying on her bed, dazed, staring at the celling. She didn’t even notice the loud thump in the hallway right outside her room.

Her door creaked open. There, Luck peeked in with his typical grin. He had his lightning gauntlet on his right hand. Aiming at the girl he was supposed to wake up, he shot a thunderbolt targeting her head. “Good morning, Ari!” he exclaimed, followed by laughter, then silence.

“Ha?”

“He?”

“Oh… Luck.” Ari rolled off her bed, face planted on the cushion beside it. “Time for breakfast already?”

The door swung all the way to the wall as Luck walked in. His lightning gauntlet had dissolved. “Yeah, they told me to wake you up.” He didn’t gaze around the room. His eyes were locked at the girl before him all the time.

“I didn’t sleep at all. Can I just skip breakfast for once?”

Luck chuckled as he walked over then squatted on her left. He poked her upper arm in attempt to zap her so she would jump up, but that was no use. “C’mon, Ari. Get up and eat breakfast so we could spar after!”

“Ugh… no…! Let me sleep!” she whined, flapping her left arm to shoo the blond boy.

Instead of retreating, Luck grabbed her hand that almost smacked his knee. Ari immediately lifted her head only to see a devilish smile on his face, one second away from realizing that she was doomed. She had no energy to release his firm grip. Glaring at him, she hissed, “Don’t you dare….”

Without hesitation, he tossed Ari up on his shoulder, making the girl yelped. “Woah, you’re surprisingly heavy!” he teased, chuckling.

“What the heck, Luck! Put me down! Oi!” shouted Ari as she struggled, pounding on Luck’s back while her legs swinging wild kicking empty air.

“Here we go!” Lightning engulfed his legs, forming a pair of boots he used to boost himself as he dashed downstairs, leaving trails of lightning crackles. He laughed merrily along side Ari’s hysterical scream.

Thanks for reading and see ya!

Chapter Text

Heya, long time no see! Where have I been? Ehe~

Writing this when English is not my native language is hard, okay? I need twice the time to write :(

I said I'd include Magna here, but guess that will have to wait. Though, I hope you'd still enjoy this chapter ^^

Happy reading!

Chapter 4: Chaotic duo

Luck wouldn’t let Ari get back up to her room to catch some sleep on her comfy bed. He would drag her back to the common room every single time she snuck away to the point she gave up and sleep on the couch instead. At least the couch was comfy enough for Vanessa to passed out drunk on.

Ari lied down on the couch across the one Vanessa was on. Her eyebrows were twitching constantly and she had a semi-permanent frown printed on her face. While on the other hand, Luck kept striking her face with thunderbolts, giggling as he jumped around the common room. The nineteenth thunderbolt was her last straw.

She grabbed Arichi who was going wild on the armrest, squished it until it burst to flame, black flame that engulfed her fist, forming a beast claw. There were a pair of flaming cat-like ears on top of her head. “Stage I: Berserk,” she mumbled.

Luck noticed that her grimoire wasn’t emanating white aura like last night, but pitch black like her flames. “You got two magic attributes? Cool! Let’s fight!” His face beamed in excitement.

“Oh, you wanna fight me so bad, huh?” A wide grin similar to Luck’s crossed her face as she positioned herself on a stance. The fire also engulfed her feet, forming beast paws. “You asked for it.”

That being said, she launched herself towards the blond boy. Her opponent, being the as swift as he always was, dodged her fist effortlessly while chuckling. Instead, the fist landed on the wall of their base. Chunks of the wall crumbled; black sparks danced in the air around Ari’s fist. Her grin grew wider as she glanced upon the lightning mage.

No words were spoken. They simply exchanged gaze as they strike at each other. Black fire and lightning sparks filled the air in the common room. Vanessa who was completely knocked out on the couch wasn’t bothered at all, not until Ari smashed against the back of said couch. The witch fell down to the floor with a bottle of booze in her hand. That was when she started to gain consciousness.

“Gosh, what’s with all the ruckus … huh?” Rubbing her head, Vanessa spread her gaze around the common room that was in complete disaster. Above her, Ari and Luck were still launching attack at each other. “Oh my.” Seemed like the kids wouldn’t stop either until the base is completely destroyed or when their captain showed up. Unfortunately, Yami was out on an important business that was not taking a dump. While Vanessa there, she wasn’t sober enough to stop the two of them.

A portal formed near Vanessa. The mage who came out of it was no other than Finral. His delighted smile dropped once he closed the portal and took a look around. “WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?” he screamed on top of his lungs but the troublemakers didn’t seem to be bothered.

“Looks like your little sister went berserk because of our new recruit,” said Vanessa while she moved her booze around in a sloppy manner. The next thing she did was to hold her head while whining about how bad it hurts.

“C’mon you two, stop it! Yami’s going to kill us all once he get back!” he yelled. But of course, his voice didn’t reach the little devils.

In an attempt to stop his juniors, Finral focused on their moves, how fast they were and which direction would they head to. Both of them were fast, but Luck were faster as he’s a lightning mage after all. Thus, Ari got to be his target.

Once Finral found a crack, he opened up a portal in the direction Ari were heading. The girl didn’t notice that until it was too late. His plan was a success, leaving him one problem.

Luck was still there, dumbstruck seeing his opponent were sent to a place he didn’t know where. Clinging onto the hedge, he threw a look upon the spatial mage, though the boy wasn’t upset. His eyes were gleaming as he asked, “You wanna fight me? Hey, hey, let’s fight!”

Finral held up his hand, obnoxiously sweating. “No thanks, I’ll pass. See ‘ya!” He then opened up another portal and immediately stepped through in rush.

Still the same blank smile of his, Luck jumped down. He noticed that he and Ari had made quite a mess if he could say so. They would be in trouble once the captain get back. But hey, Ari unintentionally escaped. Who said he couldn’t escape intentionally? Even though they’d still be doomed when the time comes.

“Okay, Ari, calm down now. Take a deep breath,” said Finral from a safe distance from the girl.

Ari was gaining her sanity back, still in her berserk form with the cat-like ears on top of her head, beast claws also paws formed by her magic. Her grimoire was still open, emanating pitch black aura that gradually became lighter. When it finally turned into a soft light, she turned back into her normal self. That was the usual, nothing new aside from the fact that she fainted afterwards.

“Ari!” Finral rushed to her in a panic. She wasn’t supposed to faint after coming back from her berserk mode. “Ari! What’s wrong?!”

Being held in his arm, Ari looked him with glazed eyes. She blinked a few times before saying, “I’m … I’m sooooo sleepy, Senior … Finral ….” Thus she fell into a deep sleep.

The moment was so dramatic only to end like that. Finral should’ve expected that. His juniors were all goofballs. He then decided to move his junior to a shade, under a single tree that grew on top of a small hill. Finral spontaneously sent Ari to a place he’d found that was perfect for a date. Earlier, he asked a girl out and planned to take her there. But, with Ari dozed off under the spot, guess he had to take his date elsewhere later on.

Moving Ari wasn’t a tough job, but he still needed to take a breather. Finral had both hands on his hips while looking around, enjoying the scenery. It looked so peaceful there, that’s what he thought before the bushes downhill started moving.

“Hmn? An animal or…?” Doubtful, Finral took a stance. He was going to open a portal to the capital, but he can’t leave his sleeping junior alone with a possible danger lurking nearby, even though his legs were shaking.

“Please be a rat, please be a rat, please be a rat, please be a rat—EEK!” he mumbled then screeched when the bushes started to move aggressively.

A small creature jumped out, making the spatial mage shrieked in fear. Turns out, it was just a small confused rabbit. He then let out a sigh. “Fuh … this place is near the border of the Diamond Kingdom so I was a bit worried,” he rambled while opening a portal. Before going in, he threw a look to his junior. “Well, I didn’t sense anything other than her mana. She’d be fine,” he thought  as he stepped into the portal.

It’s true that there was no enemy near by. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing lurking around.

“Fuaah! That was a good sleep—wait.” Ari quickly scanned her surroundings. The sun had set and there was no other light source than the moon above. She doesn’t recognized the place at all.

“WHERE THE HELL AM I?” Her voice boomed out, then slowly getting swallowed by the darkness.

Again, she looked to the left, right, behind, up, and down. But still she couldn’t recognized the area. The only thing she knew was that she was near the border of the Diamond Kingdom.

Ari tried her best to recall what happened before she fell asleep, the realization hits. She put her fist on top of her palm. “That’s it! I was fighting that battle maniac, then Senior Finral sent me away to calm down!”

“Yep, that’s about right,” a gruff voice said.

Ari turned around to see her captain sticking half of his body out of Finral’s portal. “Oh! Hi, Captain!” she exclaimed while waving her hand with a big smile painted on her face.

Yami wasn’t amused, taking a certain blond boy he grabbed by the head out. “Better say hi to your buddy here.”

“Hi!” Luck chuckled before being thrown by Yami. He crashed onto Ari, then the two of them fell to the ground like stacked potato sacks.

“You two got a mission. Don’t come back before finishing it or I’ll kill both of you,” Yami said with a menacing aura.

Quickly Ari shoved Luck to the side, shouting, “But I haven’t ate dinner! Senior Charmy will—”

“One more ‘but’ then I’ll finish you off right now.”

The girl immediately shrunk. “Yes, Sir,” she whimpered.

“Good.” Yami took a drag of his cigarette. “I’ve explained the details to that kid. Bye.” Then he disappeared.

Finral poked his head out saying, “Haha … break a leg,” for a quick second before somebody—that was probably Yami—pulled him back. His portal then vanished.

There was a long silence between the two Bulls, both staring to the spot where Finral’s portal opened minutes ago. Ari then turned around, finally making eye contact with her partner. “Did Captain Yami scolded you for destroying the base?”

Luck brought his hands up behind his head. “Yeah, and he gave us a boring mission. So, wanna do something fun instead?” A devilish grin crossed his face while his eyes were gleaming with mischief.

Ari felt a tickle in her stomach she couldn’t help but smile. “If it’s not a duel, count me in!” she said merrily with a matching grin.

Bubbly Ari and the usual Luck, that’s a perfect recipe for chaos. The two gremlins dashed through the forest. They were giggling under the moonlight, in search of some unfortunate souls to target. Minutes passed, they finally stumbled across someone or more likely a group of people camping.

Ari and Luck stopped on a big tree branch nearby, hiding behind its lush leaves. Firstly, they observed the target. Noticing that they were bandits and there was three of them, both exchanged looks. Their devilish grin grew wider and it stayed there as they started the ambush.

Luck zapped away, taking down two of the three bandits while laughing maniacally. “Humn~ bunch of weaklings, hahaha!”

A man that was spared by the fiend staggered. “Magic knights?! But how—” He was about to run away when Ari plunged right behind him. Snickering she said, “Planning to leave your friends behind? That’s not so cool of you.”

The man then shrieked as he fell on his butt. He tried to drag himself along the ground in an attempt to stand up, but he ended up stumbling when Ari launched an attack with her beast claws. “Hey, let’s play for a bit,” the girl chuckled.

Thus, the night was filled with deranged laughter and hopeless screams. Not for long because the Bulls finished them off in a flash. Luck piled them up as if they were sacks of crops. “It’d be even more fun if someone strong showed up.”

“You’re always itching for crazy fights, eh?” Ari asked while rummaging through the bandits’ tents. “Hmn … food stocks, what—ew, dirty underwear?” She immediately threw it out, landing on one of the men’s face. That made Luck burst into laughter beside them.

“Hey, let’s have another death match!” Luck exclaimed.

“What? No!” Ari jumped out of a tent. Her gaze then fell to the bandits, she said, “Oh, yeah. We need to restrain them.” The girl started walking towards them with her grimoire out. “Fabric Restraining Magic: Binding Present Ribbon.”

Wide white ribbons formed out of thin air, gently wrapping the bandits. It tighten up once they were wrapped nicely as the men squeaked. A proud smile painted on Ari’s face. “Now,” she mumbled, snapping her fingers. Black strips appeared all over the white ribbon. “Try struggling,”—her smile turned into a smirk—“that’d activate my other spell. And when that happens? You all would burn to ashes.” The bandits’ fearful face were truly amusing.

“That’s so cool!” Luck walked up to his partner with sparkling eyes. “Hey, can you use that in a fight?”

Ari gave him a skeptical look. “No…? It’s a restraining magic after all ….” She trailed off, trying to give it another thought. “Now, that gives me an idea. I think I can try developing a new combat spell similar to this.”

“Let’s do it right now!” Luck exclaimed as he jumped with a bright smile.

Letting out a sigh, hands on hips, Ari replied, “No. We gotta turn them in right now before they escape—not that I doubt my binding spell.”

“Riiight—“ Bzztt!

“Hmn? What is it?” Ari asked, seeing her partner froze so suddenly.

Luck snapped out of it a second later, saying, “Oh, nothing. It’s gone now.”

“What’s gone?”

“Yeah! Let’s turn them in!”

Ari just shrugged it off. “Okay then.”

Thanks for reading and see ya!