➨ The rest of the day was spent ignoring everybody. Mainly, you were trying to steer clear of Noelle. Not because you feared facing her after the disagreement, but because you didn't know if your subconscious was ready to see the royal again. Instead, you hid yourself in your room while you went through your mental map of information.

For one, you needed to speak to the Wizard King. The only thing about that is what the hell are you supposed to say to the man if you can even get that arranged? You could start demanding answers but that might make your situation worse. Although there's really no other way you're interested in approaching the issue.

Secondly, you still need to find a way to the Heart Kingdom. If what Asta said is true, you could find a loophole within the six months of training you're expected to go through. But you needed your father's research immediately. Once Spade gets to it, it's a wrap.

The last thing you want to figure out is how you and Zora created a giant combination of all three of your puppets. On top of that, why are you able to hear his heartbeat at certain times?

What the actual fuck is going on?

Out of the blue, something hit your window. You glanced over and didn't see anything, so you assumed you were slowly losing your mind. Except, then it happened again. This time, you saw a pebble collide against the glass.

You stood up, slowly, and had your grimoire at the ready as you crept over to the edge of the window. You peered down and saw someone who you didn't expect. "Yuno?"

Hastily, you lifted the window and stuck your head out. He stood there with a neutral expression and his arms crossed. "Move, I'm coming up."

Before you could say anything, a strong gust of wind nearly took you out as he basically flew up just outside the window. He used his hands to pull it up more so he can slide himself under and into your room.

Bell was just behind him and let out an overdramatic huff as she stomped her foot in the air. "Do you know how hard it was to find this room? Goodness gracious, and why is it so... ugly in here?"

You just stared at both of them in disbelief. Yuno looked around the room with a passive-aggressive tilt of his head. "This is where they have you staying?"

You blinked and rubbed your temples. "Okay... so you know being here is like a direct violation of my punishment, right?"

"No, it's not." He says. "They said you couldn't go to the Golden Dawn base, not that I couldn't come here."

Of course that's how he interpreted that whole thing. Even if it was true, you figured that the Magic Parliament would disagree with his view. However... they weren't here.

"Klaus or Mimosa didn't talk you out of coming over here?"

He scoffed. "You think I told them I was coming?"

"Typical." You raise your hand in the air and he smirks before high-fiving you. "So, do you have an actual reason for barging in, or did you just miss me too much?"

Yuno's expression shifts slightly, which makes you a little worried. Usually, he comes off as nonchalant, and it suddenly seems to just disappear. "I came here to warn you to watch your back. The guy from the Magic Parliament came by to meet with Captain Vangeance."

Bell flew in circles around your head. "Yeah, and Yuno made me spy on them! The scale guy was talking about making a deal with the Captain to keep you off the squad and on the Black Bulls. Something about keeping the Golden Dawn's name clean."

"What was the deal?" You ask her.

She floats right in front of you. "If the Captain handed over your records, he could condemn you for murder, and conspiring against Clover."

Something in your body drops as you listen to her. How the hell would Damnatio be able to condemn you for anything based on records? On top of that, you don't even know what type of records Vangeance has that could give him that incentive.

He should only have a written mission statement from when you first joined, and basic birth information. All it should say was your birthday, full name, and the kingdom you were born in. What was he going to do with either of those?

"Honestly, I've heard the traitor thing a bunch of times, the murder makes sense too, but... why? I'm listening to everything they told me to do, so why would he be trying to do shady shit under the table?"

The fairy floats back over to Yuno and rests on his shoulder. "Well, he seemed pretty calm about it. It was almost like the guy had no doubt he could get what he wanted. But that's normal, I think a guy like that could get what he wants."

Yuno shakes his head. "You need to clear yourself immediately. Vangeance already said no, but that doesn't mean he won't come back to try again. Mainly because he knows Vangeance has something that can convict you."

"He's bluffing. He has to be."

He rolls his eyes. "You haven't even been with the Black Bulls that long, and you're already acting like an idiot. If he was bluffing, he would've never come to the base."

You actually hated that he was making sense and you weren't.

"So what do you expect me to do? I can't go over there and ask Vangeance what the hell he has that literally holds my life in his hands." You explain. "Listen, I'm working on it. I've got some things in motion."

"You don't have the luxury of that time, Y/N. You need to do something now."

You were slightly taken aback. "Why are you so insistent?"

"Because they're trying to put you on death row? Why are you acting like everything is okay? Nothing about this situation is okay and you know it." He takes a step closer to you. "Now that you have that contract above your head, you're playing too many safe games. The old you would've already knocked heads together and done something."

You knew he was pushy, but he's never been this dead set on something. He might've been more pissed than you, and you were the one dancing next to a guillotine.

"So you want me to crash out and make the Parliament think I'm just as evil as everyone else says I am?"

"I don't remember you being a dog for the Magic Parliament."

"Who are you calling a dog?"

"If the collar fits." He mutters.

"Oh, you got jokes." You laugh, but there's minimal humor behind it. Maybe he's right though. Or at least, maybe he has a decent point. With the way things were going, and with what Damnatio is trying to do, your time is depleting a little too quickly.

Although, now you have someone who could help you speed up that process. As reluctant as he may be, Zora might be the unwilling key to fixing some of your problems. Or at least help you get to the key to fix some of the problems.

Plus, he's right. You're playing way too safe.

"If Klaus knew you came over here just to make me act up, he'd have a heart attack." You tell him. "But I'll take your perspective into careful consideration."

He sighs and rubs a hand over his face. "I wasn't going to come and say all of that. It just came out." He murmured.

You ruffle his hair. "Well, I'm very happy that my misfortune causes you to come out of your shell more." Then you wrap your arm around his shoulders. "I'm happy you came. It's not the same around here. Everyone is nice to me though. Nice enough at least."

He doesn't try to pull away from your embrace like normal. "Don't get too comfortable with them. You're visiting, remember?"

"Visiting." You hum in agreement. "Hey, I do have a favor to ask. Can you ask Mimosa if she can finesse another boat to the Heart Kingdom? Only needs to be for two people. If I can get over there, I can start knocking heads within a week."

"I guess. What's so important over there anyway?"

After he asks, you go into detail about the conversation you had with your mom and how that ties into what you needed the boat for. As well as bits and pieces about what you've been up to since then. You tried to skip through the most recent fight with the Spade soldier, but he stopped you and immediately pressed for more details about that.

"I guess you have been working." Yuno sounds almost surprised. "But I'm shocked that you're not dead, or more beat up."

"I'm a lot stronger than you give me credit for." You flick his forehead. "Anyway, I would love to let you stay longer, but I have things to do and people to bother. When you get an answer from Mimosa, call me."

He nods and takes a step back. "What're you gonna do if she can't get you a boat?"

You shrug. "Oh, I'll get over no matter what. The boat is just the safer option. Don't worry about my backup plans."

He looks skeptical, but he doesn't voice any more of his concerns. Instead, he calls Bell over and goes back to the window. "I'll get back to you in a day or two."

You wave him off as he jumps from the window and a small tornado catches his fall. With that, he zooms off into the distance and out of your sight. Though being around him is risky, you were truly overjoyed that he decided to see you. He also dropped some good information that will make an appearance on your mental map.

Someone knocks on your door, and you already know who is on the other side before answering. "You ready?"

The door cracks open and Zora stands there looking unamused. "No. But like I said, you owe me. So I'm doing this for my benefit." He crosses his arms. "I've been here for a few minutes but it sounded like you had company."

"Eavesdropping on me?" You say with no actual bite behind it. "Did you hear about Damnatio paying Vangeance a visit?"

He leans against the door frame. "Must've not been listening for that long."

You walk out your door and he starts to follow behind you. "Apparently Vangeance has some incriminating paperwork of mine. Something that can condemn me for murder and treachery. Allegedly without question."

"I feel like your situation gets worse every damn day." He mutters and follows you down the stone corridor. Truthfully, you don't exactly know where the staircase was because you quickly discovered that the building constantly changed. However, he doesn't have to know you're leading him on a wild goose chase for them.

You pass by more rooms and furrow your brows slightly when you walk past Noelle's. The more mature part of you wants to apologize for giving the child a death threat, but the less mature, more childish side says she deserved it. If only your mouth had an off switch, you wouldn't have to think about it.

Thankfully, only three minutes were wasted before you found the stairs to the first floor. "I've been thinking; figuring out how we combined our powers is an easier start before I start trying to cross dimensions."

You both enter the main lobby and surprisingly, nobody is around making noise. "It could've just been luck. Or something acting up in the dungeon. We might be wasting time."

"Okay listen real closely because I'm only saying this one time." You hold your finger up as you head for the front door. "Your pessimism is not going to get us anywhere–"

"And optimism will?"

You push open the door. "I wasn't done talking." You roll your eyes. "This isn't going to work if you don't tighten up. I just need you to work with me on this."

The door slams behind him and he stands still. His eyes narrow as he considers your words. You've started to learn to read him, and it looked like he was ready to ignore everything you just said and make another snarky comment.

Then something switches, his shoulders slump and he scratches the back of his head. "Okay, what do you want me to do?"

While you continued to walk away from the base, you held your hand out in front of you and summoned your grimoire. "You said you didn't cast a spell last time, right?" When he shakes his head you skim over the pages as they flip. "Ash magic and puppet magic..." You try to think about what type of similarities they share.

Zora's main thing is traps and trickery. That somewhat falls under the category of creating illusions and puppets. Or maybe it was the ash magic reacting to yours. It would make the most sense because you assume that ash is a mixture of the fire and earth magic attributes.

It wasn't the combination spell throwing you off, it's the blatant fact that neither of you intended to combine your in the way that happened. What you had in mind for getting out of the dungeon, was not what was executed.

"What were you thinking about at the time?" You ask him.

His eyes shift, and he's not looking directly at you anymore but slightly to the side. "Don't even remember."

A strong part of you knows he's lying. "How are you supposed to help me if you won't work with me?"

He rolls his eyes as if you just asked him to do something so outlandish. "I was probably thinking that we needed to hurry the hell up and get out of the cave before you bled out. And I'm sure a dead body is heavier than an alive one."

Despite his last sentence, the rest of it probably checks out. Depending on how hard he was thinking about you—or something like that— maybe his magic just did its own thing.

"We're gonna try again." You stopped walking in a clearing. "Maybe if we focus on how it happened the first time, something will happen."

"But we weren't trying the first time."

"No, we were." You reminded him. "I said you were going to amplify my tempest attack. So you should've had the idea in your head. The intent, you know?"

You can't tell if the answer satisfied him, but his grimoire floated up in front of him. Turning, you stood next to him and focused on the patch of grass in front of you. A large combination of Aegis, Sylvania, and Acro, sprinkles in your head. A creature you'd never seen before.

Something that rose out from that realm that your father told you about. Where they live together and are always out and ready to go. Your realm...

Your fingers twitch when the realization hits you. For some type of creature like that to rise, it would have to be cast by you. So if Zora can do it...

You pull yourself back into reality and notice that nothing has happened. For some reason, you're not surprised. When you glance to the side, Zora just stands there with his ever-lasting annoyed expression.

"Getting to Heart is a priority. We need to be there as soon as possible." The comment is mainly to yourself but then you fully face him. "It doesn't seem like a lot to you, and I get that, but there really is something going on here. Between us at least."

He un-enthusiastically sucks his teeth. "You've said that about ten times but you haven't given a straight answer on what is actually going through your head."

You honestly didn't even understand yourself. But it's only right to give him some sort of insight. "I think there's some type of link between us or something. There has to be because whatever we did in the cave shouldn't really be possible. Those puppets are connected to me and me alone."

"A link." He repeats with a monotone. "Right... but if they're connected to you, why did that big freak crawl out of my circle?"

"It could be related to why you created the fusion. I just have zero idea how or why it's possible." With the way he's looking at you, you can tell he thinks you're losing it. And you might just be losing his interest with all the conspiracy theories.

"Fuck I don't know. I know I'm reaching and I know it could just be because I'm the fucked up one with my fucked up family dilemma, but I just feel it. I can feel that something is wrong, and somebody knows what happened. And if my dad wasn't six feet in the goddamn ground maybe I would have somebody else to ask, but I don't—"

"Alright, alright." Zora's voice surprisingly holds no hostility. "I get it. When you lose a parent you start to lose your shit a little bit, and clearly you have some shit bottled up. If you think something is going on, maybe something is. You wanna get to Heart? Fine, we're going, but for the love of everything I don't need to hear the self-pity."

If that was his idea of a pep talk, he might need a speech class.

In a Zora way, however, you can find some light in his words.

"I've been dragging you around for god knows what though." You rub your temples.

He tilts his head down. "If it somehow makes you feel less shitty, I've started to see your point about things connecting. If you really think we have some sort of..." He moves his hands while he thinks. "...bond, then maybe it's in those childhood memories we have no memory of."

With everything else that's been going on, that nearly slipped your mind: the zero recollection of ever meeting Zora before, despite your parents being extremely close. "Speaking of which, my mom did say she had something to give you."

"Exactly. Meaning, you're not at a dead end, so I don't know why you're throwing a temper tantrum."

Zora might actually be worthy of being your sidekick in all this madness. Deep down, beneath his rough and tough persona, he actually has good insight.

Huh, who would've thought?