After Monster Slaying, during which Smithy seemed very troubled and Ivo was nowhere to be seen, the Guild mates all made their way toward the library.

 "I'm not sure I should be here." Jin said hesitantly as they passed shelf after shelf of more books than any of them could count.

Asta gave him a look then. "Why not? The library is for everyone."

 Grinning, Jeremiah nudged Jin with his elbow and said, "Jin was asked not to come back to the library."

 "What for?"

 "He kept sneezing on the librarian."

 "It was not on purpose!" Jin replied defensively, "She wore so much perfume..."

 In spite of himself, Asta laughed, and soon the others were laughing as well— Jin the hardest of all.

It was pleasant, really, to have  bit of laughter after one has recently found out that one is a Monster Lord and such a thing could very well be life-endangering. And though the act of laughing with one's friends was nice enough on its own, now, it almost made the entire situation more bearable.

Almost.

Trailing behind the others, Asta followed his Guild mates as the five of them climbed up into a cozy tree, while Adar stayed on the ground eyeing a piano that sat in the corner of the library. 

Upon noting this, Asta asked if he could play something for them while Nico nodded eagerly in agreement.

Thus, they all watched with interest as Adar made his way over to the instrument, running his long, delicate fingers over the black and white keys. Sitting down, the prince made a show of loosening up his wrists and hands.

Finally, Jin shouted at him to, "Get on with it." And Adar began to play.

 The notes were soft, lilting, and brought to mind the picture of a moonlit forest full of magic and mystery. Adar's hands flew over the keys, and even from this distance, Asta saw that he was smiling passionately. 

Glancing at Nico, Asta noted that she too was enraptured in the music and was looking at Adar with an expression he had never seen on her before... one that made his insides prickle with jealousy. She watched the prince with tender eyes, her lips parted in a silent gasp, and for a brief moment, Asta wondered if she would ever look at HIM like that.

Shaking his head to clear it of these thoughts, he pulled out the book that Mr.Potter had given him, still letting the notes of the song wash over him. Already, his other Guild mates were pulling out books or study work from other classes; Jeremiah was writing in his notebook, Jin was lost in a chemistry book, Blue was sketching, and Nico... Nico was still watching Adar.

For a moment, Asta wondered WHY girls seemed to like Adar so much. Was it because he was confident? Handsome? A total pain to live with? 

Leaning over to Jin, he asked the boy this question, hoping he might have the answer seeing as he had lived with Adar longer.

Jin seemed to think for a moment, before answering with, "I think he only acts like a twit around us. I hear that all his dates to the Masked Ball always say that's he's an absolute gentleman to them." Jin shrugged, "I think they like him because he treats them well... not like how he treats us, mind you."

Asta frowned; he couldn't imagine Adar ever being polite or nice, but it made him wonder whether that politeness was an act... or the cocky sarcasm was. Looking down again at the prince who looked so innocent, so HAPPY playing the piano, he wondered if Adar's arrogance was genuine.

Perhaps he should ask.

He snorted; he doubted that would go over well with the prince. Asta would be lucky to get out of that conversation with little more than a scratch.

 Shaking his head, he turned back to his book and flipped open the cracking, leather tome with the words, 'The Unabridged History Of The Monster Lords ' enscribed on the front in smooth, gold lettering.

Inside, upon the milky pages that brushed roughly against his finger tips, a hundred words lay before him, written in swirls of ink as black as a drop of night sky. 

It was beautiful, to say the least.

Yet no matter how beautiful the words were, there appeared to be an excess to them and it was not long before Asta realized that there was quite a lot of useless information in the book. Thus, he skimmed through most of it, sweeping his gaze over the paper until his eyes caught upon the bit about Monster Lord powers. 

THIS was what he wished to know. For if he was going to be in danger for having odd powers, they may as well be interesting powers, after all.

Thus, holding his breath as though something might leap from the pages at him-- which, in Adalain, one never really could be too certain-- Asta leaned in and began to read.

'Monster Lords have a special connection with Ancient Magic; a powerful force as old as Tirus itself. Ancient Magic is thought to bring a delicate balance to the land and cannot be accessed by anyone except the Monsters and Monster Lords.'

Asta rolled his eyes. This didn't explain anything! What in Tirus was Ancient Magic good for? And, more importantly, could using it get him a passing grade in Magic class? These were the questions that would keep him up at night, for the gods' sakes!

Sighing, he continued reading:

'Besides having a connection with Monsters, the Monster Lords are also thought to have magical healing properties in their blood, capable of instantely healing any wound.'

Well, THAT wasn't helping matters. Controlling Monsters was rather useful, but healing blood? It was a little disappointing, in his opinion. He wanted to stop time, or be able to move things with his mind, or channel a new, powerful element. Not heal people by bleeding on them. That sounded quite unsanitary.

'By being able to channel Ancient Magic, Monster Lords are able to access some of the lost spells, most of which none in Tirus could ever use."

Asta perked up after reading that; here was something interesting that no one in the school could do. And while it was definitely better than healing blood, it seemed to be the extent of Monster Lord powers and the book mentioned nothing else that he might have the ability to do.

Bloody heck.

"What are you reading?" Nico asked suddenly, looking over Asta's shoulder to peer at the book and startling the boy from his thoughts as her shoulder brushed his own.

 Blimey, from this close, Asta could smell Nico's shampoo, noting that she even SMELLED like a girl; a mix of fresh roses and all sorts of girly things.

For a moment, Asta forgot to answer. Then, blushing slightly, he replied, "Just something on Monster Lords."

"Whatever for? "

Asta hesitated, feeling his pulse beginning to race as a nervous sweat broke out on his forhead, dampening his skin. Swallowing, he glanced about at all of them. "See, that's the thing I need to tell you— all of you — about."

 Immediately, the piano music halted from down below and a moment later Adar joined them in the tree hauling himself gracefully up into the branches whilst the other Guild mates looked expectantly at Asta.

Perhaps this would not be as simple as he thought.

Still, as much as Asta would have preferred leaving this entire situation, Jeremiah happened to be blocking the exit and the only way Asta REALLY could have left the tree was if he threw himself over the side of it. 

So, really then, this was his only option.

Taking a deep breath to calm his pounding heart, his mind wirling with the anxiety of having all eyes on him, he began nervously. "The truth is, I'm not who you think I am and that's dangerous. I... I may be a Monster Lord."

                           ................................

The first one to respond was Jin, who started laughing uncontrollably until he realized that no one else was.

 "Oh, so you're not joking?" he asked.

 Asta frowned. "No. I'm not."

 "Right then. Just making sure."

There was a beat of silence in which Asta took the time to view everyone else's reactions, hoping none of them were laced with fear.

None were, thankfully, yet everything else was nearly as bad; Nico was staring at him in disbelief, Jeremiah could only manage a slow blink, and Blue was wildly signing nonsense.

"Does this mean you can control Monsters? " Jeremiah finally asked, eyes wide.

"More or less." Asta replied, "It's how I was able to pass that Initiation test on my first day here."

Jin was frowning, however and it was only a moment later that he spat, "That's not fair! We all had to pass that test with our strengths or wits... or in Adar's case, he cheated—"

"Here now, don't drag me into this!" the prince snarled.

"— the point is is that you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for your powers. You don't belong here."

The words struck Asta like the sting of a whip. And yet.. some part of him wondered if Jin was right; did he only make it into this school because he was a Monster Lord? 

He remembered how he had screamed at the sight of that wolf Monster that had been his first challenge on the extrance exam, and his face burned in shame.

But just as it seemed like Jin was going to continue making Asta feel horrible, Nico spoke up with the wise, insightful question of, "Have you all gone mad?"

They turned to look at her.

"We have the key to our survival for Graduation right here and you lot are complaining like a bunch of mad twits." Nico's face was flushed with passion and she spoke each word forcibly, "It doesn't matter HOW Asta passed Initiation, what matters is that he DID. And, like it or not, he's one of us now."

At that moment, Asta could have kissed her.

Not that he would have, of course; that would have been awkward, but he still entertained the idea before quickly brushing it out of his mind. Instead, he gave her a grateful look and she returned with a bright smile.

Jin, having been thoroughly beaten down, did not apologize, but he did offer to shake hands with Asta, which was SOMETHING at least.

But though Asta wished the conversation had ended there, it was not long until they began thinking up ways they ought to make the best of this situation-- each one agreeing that the Headmaster was likely to go mad if she found out she had a Monster Lord in her midst. Thus, within moments, they had agreed to keep it secret for the time being and do whatever they could to keep Asta safe from anyone who might hurt him.

For the good of the Guild.

 All negative feelings were left behind then, and, despite his previous doubts, Asta felt like even if he did not truly belong, at least these boys cared for him, much like family would.

Yes, he thought, perhaps if he gave it enough time, these boys here would become his new family.

Possibly moreso than they were now.

                                    ...............................