The kingdom was in shambles. Everything, everyone, and everywhere had been touched by recent events. Trauma lived on the faces of all. And in this trauma, Yami Sukehiro was appointed as the new Wizard King. Documents from Julius himself, a sort of last will and testament, had named him as the successor, and Yami hated every minute of it. He didn't blame Julius, however. His mentor knew he would do the best he could if only to prove everyone who thought he couldn't do it wrong.

But Yami suspected Julius had also assumed Yami would be as unfettered and unattached as he had been. And when Julius' nomination had come to light, Yami's reputation as a loner, a foreigner with no family who had given everything to the kingdom had convinced the people of the wisdom of his appointment. He had no other commitments, no other ties but to the kingdom.

Or so everyone thought.

Yami may have been as a free-roaming spirit when he arrived in the clover kingdom so many years ago, but Julius had given him a place, a purpose, and the start of a family. Since then, his family had grown from the misfits, vagabonds, and outcasts he had gathered around him. And now, his family was going to grow so more.

If he had any say in the matter...

Yami gritted his teeth as he listened to the King prattle on about the traitors who had destroyed his palace, as if the palace was the end all, be all of the kingdom as if it were the center of the universe. He bit his lip as the king made a mockery of the laws governing how such traitors were to be dealt with.

"We really should just be able to execute them all." The King chuckled as he gestured through the air with one hand. "Most of them were lower nobility and some peasants. They don't really need a trial, do they?"

Yami squeezed his hand around the hilt of his sword tightly enough to turn his knuckles white. Marx reminded the King of the statement in the constitution regarding a fair trial for all.

"Besides, Your Grace, if you begin executing people haphazardly, you will have a difficult time maintaining the respect of the people," Marx said in an effort to mollify the petty ruler as he had seen Julius do so many times before.

A difficult time is putting it mildly, Yami thought. If you think you have a problem with traitors now, you would have a problem ten-fold in scale if you indiscriminately kill citizens.

Nothing had been decided-again-as he walked out of the audience chamber feeling as if the weight of the entire world rested upon him. The weight of the office constrained him, making it hard to breathe on a daily basis, but on some days he felt as if it was going to kill him.

He sighed as he tried to figure out what to say to the others regarding the lack of indecision on the matter, but his anger at the self-centered nature of the King kept bubbling up to the surface.

Yami walked into the meeting with the few remaining captains of the Magic Knight squads. He looked at his comrades, at the men who, upon hearing Julius' recommendation and request in his Last Will and Testament, had decided to go along with the insanity and place the mantle of authority upon him.

Traitors, every last one of them.

Though traitors only to him, he knew, not to the kingdom they all served and protected. Not traitors to the people who were all hurting so much.

He slammed his fists down on the table as he looked at them. Three pairs of eyes looked back at him but none recoiled from the action. They had all been at this point before.

"I can't fucking work with that man." Yami's voice held a dangerous edge, as sharp as his darkness covered blade.

"The King is the King," Fuegoleon retorted. "There's nothing to be done about it."

"Is there?" Yami looked at the hard-nosed, redhead before sighing and collapsing into the chair at the head of the table. "You know what he wants to do, right?"

"I don't think we can do anything to stop him. He has the authority." Nozel looked from Fuegoleon to Yami and back. Jack chuckled at the far end of the table.

"Of course he wants to see justice served. That possession spell certainly worked a number on the entire kingdom. A lot of people are angry; a lot of people are dead. But leave it to the king to focus on something as petty as his palace." Jack's words only served to stir the ire in Yami once more.

"The Blue Rose Knights and the Golden Dawn are all but wiped out. And all of the remaining squads have been fractured, and have had members arrested. Distrust is running rampant. The people don't know if a Magic Knight will turn on them again or not. They don't know who to trust. We have to tread carefully, as the king isn't the only one looking for justice." Fuegoleon added, but Yami could hear the fire in his voice. Reports said he had been forced to kill his own Vice-Captain to save his brother when everything went to shit.

"To complicate things, only some of those possessed even remember what happened. Many don't even know what they did. But the effect of their actions will reverberate for a long time and might take years to undo. Generations, perhaps." Nozel's voice was as calm as ever.

"It's fine for you," Yami shot back, his voice filled with anger he couldn't focus, or rather, he shouldn't point at the object of it. "You royals didn't have to worry about being affected. You didn't have to see loved ones turn into something they weren't." Nozel and Fuegoleon exchanged looks.

"No, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but we all had to watch friends and family die, Yami. We all have had to face that." Jack said from across the table, defending the royals from Yami's unfocused rage.

"He wants to execute them all," Yami said quietly.

"We know." Nozel's normally calm and cold voice was equally as soft and filled with compassion.

"Is that justice? With very few exceptions, none of them had any control over what they did while they were under the spell's effects." The argument was the same as it had been every day for the last week. Yami stood and paced the room, hoping the movement would help to ease some of the energy he had bubbling inside him. Over the last few days, he had seen so many who suffered waiting for the king's justice, waiting to know exactly what they had done wrong and what was going to happen to them. The adults were bad enough, sitting in solitude in dank cells. Men and women, knights, nobles, and peasants all stood accused. He had watched as Finral and his brother reconciled through the bars which separated, as Luck and Magna final admitted to each other just what they meant to the other, and as Gauche raged at being separated from his sister, for whom he was filled with worry. He had held Charlotte as she tried to cry, and couldn't when what she had done finally struck her.

All four of them had all see the same thing, had watched the same or similar events play out since the arrests were made.

But the children... seeing the children broke Yami's heart. There were only a few, including Gauche's little sister, but all of them were confused and scared. They all asked him when they would be able to see their families again and Yami had no answer to give them.

"Someone must be held accountable," Fuegoleon said solemnly. A hush fell over the room as the four men remembered those who had entered the darkness, never to return.

"And someone already has been," Yami added after consideration. "Only that, that..."

"Idiot?" Nozel supplied, shooting a warning look at the hot-headed wizard king.

"That idiot," Yami slurred the word, elongating it as if the stress of the sound could make it have more impact, or transform it into the one word he wanted to say. He paced the room near the head of the table. "That idiot doesn't see it that way." He slammed his fist against the table again. The heavy wooden piece shuddered under the force. Yami continued his pacing. He ticked off those who had fallen in his mind: Rill, Dorthy, William. And there were so many others he did not know, so many who had not had the benefit of Asta and his anti-magic sword, so many who had fallen at the hands of Magic Knights desperate to survive or the darkness which had erupted and in the end only stopped by the sacrifice of the rest of the elven spirits. The details were still sketchy as to exactly what happened. The only two who had come out of the fight had been Asta and Yuno, and neither of them had given satisfactory reports on the matter.

But the events were still raw for everyone and processing it all will take time. Yami rubbed his hand over his face and growled in frustration. The level of agitation he felt had been wearing on him since he was forced into the job. He wanted to go home, to take a nap, to have a good shit, but everything was so screwed up right now, he wasn't able to even find solace in his "golden time". He walked over to the wall and punched it hard. His fist went through the wooden surface and he tore a small section of it out as he pulled back.

"This is about Charlotte, isn't it." Nozel's voice was gentle but firm. Yami froze and glared at Nozel with narrowed eyes. He should have expected the sneaky bastard had figured something out. Of course, he expected everyone to know now. Not like he hid it from anyone anymore. Not with his daily trips to see her. Half the time he wasn't allowed into her cell and they were forced to talk through the barred door where he could only see her eyes and couldn't even touch her hand. He needed her to be with him, to hold him, to soothe his anger. She had a much cooler head than he did. But the look in her eyes had grown more and more haunted. She did not want to talk about why, but on a couple of times he had been allowed into the cell with her, she had collapsed into his arms and wept, keening in a way he never wanted to hear her grieve again. As much as he needed her to comfort and soothe him, he held her tightly and stroked her hair, whispering nonsense to her, hoping everything he said would be true.

It had to be true.

Yami, in his frustration, lunged at the silver-haired royal when Jack's blade shimmered into existence and cut through the air between them.

"I can't believe I am going to be the voice of reason here... But, Nozel is right, isn't he? This is about more than you're letting on." He looked at Yami. "We've all lost friends, family in this catastrophe, either in the initial attack or now to the roundup of those affected. We've all lost squad members too. Now is not the time for division. Now, more than ever, we need each other. Like it or not, it's only us four until all of this gets sorted."

Fuegoleon nodded in agreement.

"Five. My sister is still on board to help."

"Five then. And I know it doesn't help much, but despite our differences, we all want what is best for the kingdom and its people."

Yami took a deep breath and collapsed into the seat at the head of the table once more. He nodded.

"We will find a way to save her, to save them all," Nozel vowed, his voice confident. "They are all citizens of the Kingdom too."

But Yami still could not think of a way through the gridlock.

A couple of days later, Yami stood in a courtroom along with the other captains and vice-captains still serving at the liberty of the King. While the Royal Knights had been disbanded, Mereoleona stood with them. She shifted uncomfortably in the line next to him.

"You hate this as much as I do." He whispered to her. She smirked and chuckled mirthlessly.

"It's a waste of time, a waste of energy. There are bigger fish to fry."

The King ascended to the high seat reserved for the judge presiding over the events.

"I will be making all rulings in the matter of treason for the accused, as is my right by virtue of my sublime royal mana." The King said. His voice was a mix between a whimper and a whine as he looked down on everyone from his place on high.

Yami felt his lips press into a tight line and his hands ball into fists despite telling himself to stay calm. He could feel the shift in the ki of the other captains as well, at the proclamation. They had all assumed the King would consider the proceedings too mundane and beneath him to get involved directly.

"Well, I guess what they say about assumptions is true..." Jack murmured on Yami's other side.

Yami forced himself to release a slow angry breath and relax his fists.

"Bring in the prisoners." The King's waspish voice echoed through the room with magical amplification. Guards parted the doors on the other side of the large room and a stream of people filed in. Each had manacles binding their wrists and a scared look in their eyes. Yami noted they were all missing their grimoires and any indication of individuality had been stripped from them. They were all dressed in rough-spun clothing, with not an indication of rank among them. All signs of belonging to anything except the group of traitors, the group who turned, was evident. No robes to indicate squad membership, no insignia of any of the noble houses. Just a mass of unwashed, unkempt brown and beige dotted with various colors of hair.

Charlotte shone like a light, drawing his attention, despite the stringiness of her pale blonde hair which hung loosely over her shoulders. In any other situation, he would have been running his fingers through her hair and kissing the skin exposed by the loose-fitting tunic. She glanced up at him, her face shrunken and sallow. She had lost weight, and even he knew the situation was not healthy for the child her body was trying to support. But more than that, her eyes seemed hollow, distant, haunted. They had lost the hopefulness he had seen in them a mere day ago.

Quickly her attention turned from him to another as one of the royal guards pushed her further into the chambers. Yami tensed, readying himself to attack anyone who hurt her. He knew she was strong enough to take care of herself, but his concern was for more than just her. No guard knew of her pregnancy. She had not broadcast it to many, and she had asked him to keep it quiet as well. He had agreed reluctantly, on the condition he could tell others about their blossoming relationship.

As he watched, Owen jumped to her aid. He guided her gently further into the crowd, his hand lightly on her back and his eyes fixed on the guard who had been so rough with her. Mereoleona's hand on his arm forced Yami to stillness. He released a long shaky, angry breath. Had he been a fire mage, he was certain flames would have puffed out of his nostrils.

"Attacking now would only make matters worse."

Yami grunted. He knew she was right. He had to keep a clear head, a calm head like Julius had taught him. Doing so had always been a struggle but now he felt the urge to act anytime he saw Charlotte get hurt.

Another bit of defiant commotion on the other side of the mass of people caught the attention of the gathered captains.

The young children who had been ensnared in all of this mess had entered the room and Gauche, having seen his sister Marie, tried to cut through the crowd toward her. A guard shoved him back into the group and from the look Yami saw on the young man's face, the guard would have been dead had the room not been cloaked in a magic suppression field.

Once the flow of people stopped and all those who stood accused were crammed into the chamber, the King stood to address the mass.

"You all are accused of acts of treason against the Crown and the Kingdom. You have all met with an investigator who has worked to determine your history, your connection to the terrorist group, and your cognizance of your actions while under their influence."

"Nice job, referring to an entire species who were wiped out as a 'terrorist group.'" Jack muttered. Each of the captains knew the story was far more complex than the king made it out to be, and that it was more nuanced than he was willing to accept.

"As such," the king droned on. Yami bit his lip to keep from speaking out and in hopes that the pain would dull the pain of the assault on his ears. "I have come to a conclusion regarding at least some of your fates. Based on the advice from the investigators and the Captains of the Magic Knight Squads, all those who have not yet received their grimoire will be pardoned of any crime, but all of them will spend the next year in Church custody for reeducation and evaluation of them for any lingering effects."

The captains let out a collective sigh of relief. The fight with the king over the guilt of the possessed children had been hard fought. He had been dead set on trying everyone as a criminal, regardless of what their actual role had been in the attack. And since Yami had not had the best track record of dealing with the king, Fuegoleon eventually stepped in and helped to move him toward compassion.

"After the year sentence, each will be reevaluated and based on that evaluation may be returned to their families."

Yami could feel a ripple of shock move through the collective ki of the room. With so many people, he could not discern a source. He felt Fuegeleon stiffen in frustration.

The adults were separated once again, divided along the lines set by the investigators. None in the new group who moved to the front of the mass of people were magic knights, and most of them were peasants or commoners. The group was a small knot of people among the mass of more powerful mages.

"Hopefully he pardons the commoners. They will be needed for the harvest soon." Nozel said as he watched the group huddle together in fear.

"Or what's left of it," Jack added. As Yami had made his primary concern the people imprisoned, Jack had spent his time evaluating the physical damage caused to the land, towns, and homes by the fighting. His reports were unsettling and bleak.

"Whatever is left, we need to have properly stored and quickly brought in. Too many people will go hungry this winter if not." Yami noted, wondering if the king actually cared about those pesky details.

"The investigators found you were not aware of nor in control of your actions during the attack. Nor did you have a hand in the assault on the capital."

"No one else had control of their actions either," Yami muttered under his breath.

"In addition, because you all are laborers, you will be sent to a work camp where you will undergo reeducation as you work throughout the coming harvest. Depending on your behavior you may be released to return to your families before the planting season begins." The king waved his hand and guards shuffled the group out of the room. Another group of guards wove a path through the remaining mass of people, isolating certain individuals and grouping them together before the bench where the king sat.

Yami watched the group who had just been dismissed as they were pushed through the doors. The faces were a flurry of emotions, but none seemed happy about the decision. Some seemed absolutely terrified, and at least one or two struggled against the guards to see one of their loved ones or a friend to say goodbye.

"I'll be right back," Yami said to no one in particular as he slipped out from where he and the captains were viewing the proceedings. The hallway ran around the side of the main room and was far emptier than he had expected.

"I guess everyone crowded in to watch." He sighed as he hurried along the hallway to where the prisoners were being loaded onto a wagon to be taken away where they would serve their sentence. People were crying, shouting, sobbing, trying to get one final plea in though no one who could do anything about it could hear. Even if they could, Yami doubted they would do anything about it. A man spotted his approach as the guards pushed him onto the wagon.

"Wizard King!" His eyes were hopeful as he met Yami's.

Yami had to repress a shudder at the title. The only Wizard King in his mind was Julius.

"Wizard King, please. Help us."

Shouts and please asking him for help grew deafening, even drowning out his revulsion at the title with which they addressed him. Yami tried to look at them with something like compassion or sympathy, but he knew they had gotten off far easier than the king's original plan. Was it fair? Of course not. But was it fairer than the executioner's block? By far.

"I will do what I can." He told the prisoners. "I will see if I can get the king to change his mind on the sentence. And in the meantime, I will work to ensure you are treated fairly."

Yami turned away, feeling sick to his stomach at his inability to do anything more to help them. He couldn't explain it to others who didn't already see it, but he knew these people were being punished for nothing. He walked through the corridor which encircled the main room and nearly tripped. He turned, his hands reaching for his sword, prepared to remove whatever it was which had tripped him.

Only to see Asta sitting on the floor. His knees were tucked into his chest and he stared out into nothingness.

"Kid, what are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay home and rest?" Yami relaxed his stance ever so slightly. The edge he had been walking still threatened him, but when Asta looked up at him in confusion, he felt himself slip.

"Why is the king doing this? Those people did nothing to hurt anyone. Not even when they were possessed."

Yami wanted to answer his question, but nothing which came to mind felt sufficient. Neither did he wish to ignore the question, as it was one he had replayed in his mind since the start of the proceedings.

"You didn't answer my questions." Yami decided to sidestep. His voice must have been more intimidating than he had planned as Asta scrambled to his feet.

"Finral said I could come. Noelle is here too. He... he thought we might be useful as witnesses since she's a royal and all and since my sword could... undo the possession."

Yami crossed his arms over his chest. He had asked, or more like ordered, Finral to keep the rest of the Bulls away from the proceedings. The entire fiasco was enough of a circus without them coming in and disrupting things. Actually, Nozel had convinced him to keep them away for those reasons. Yami had agreed because he wasn't exactly sure he could keep the squad from killing people should the sentencing of Luck and Gauche not go the way they wanted. He wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't let loose himself should members of his family be put to death, but he was confident on the ability of the other captains-he still thought of them as his equals or betters, no matter what title Julius had bestowed upon him-to restrain him. He wasn't sure if they could restrain him and the rest of the family.

When he had commanded Finral to keep them away, the protection of the squad was at the forefront of his mind. But Finral had protested, complained how none of them would listen to him, even if he were their senior and now the de facto captain, a title he wanted just as much as Yami wanted to be Wizard King.

Yami sighed and made a mental note to talk to someone about abdication as soon as this farce of a trial was over. He couldn't do this, no matter what Julius thought.

He had half a mind to order Asta to leave, to go back to the base. The kid had worked himself to exhaustion once again and needed the rest to get back to peak condition. But he also knew the kid was stubborn to a fault; it was both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. He didn't know when to let go, and he didn't know when to care for himself.

Yami lit a cigarette. The king had ordered him to not smoke in his presence and with everything going on, he could use a little bit of relaxation.

"Did you mean what you told them?" Asta looked up at him hopefully. Yami wondered how much he saw of himself in those people who had been carted away to their new lives of servitude. But for a stroke of luck in his birth, he was not one who turned. "Did you really mean to help them however you could?"

"Yeah. I meant it." Yami took a long drag on his cigarette before dropping it, half used, to the ground and snuffing it out with the toe of his boot. He had lingered too long already and his absence from the proceedings was sure to be missed by now. "Come on. We should get back."

"I don't know if I can watch. Luck, Gauche." Asta took a deep breath. "Yuno. They don't deserve this."

"No, they don't." Yami started walking down the hallway, expecting Asta to follow him. Hearing the sounds of footsteps behind him, Yami continued. "Too often things happen that people don't deserve. And those who do, well, they rarely get what they deserve. But, what they all need right now is our support. Even knowing that you are there with them, watching, can give them strength."

When they reached the door to the chamber where most of the audience had been ushered, Yami watched as Asta took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. Yami could practically read what the young man was thinking in the way he carried himself through the door. The trial was like a battle. They would need all of their strength to fight through to the end, and they would all come out with scars. Some might not make it through to the other side of the fight.

The doors slammed shut and Yami steeled himself as he walked to the next entry where he and the captains had been placed.

The mass of people had thinned considerably by the time Yami had taken his seat. A single mage stood before the dais now facing the king. Yami did not need to sense the man's ki to see he was scared. The man looked familiar and despite his fear, carried himself as a Magic Knight.

"The King has decided to address each of the accused Magic Knights personally," Fuegoleon whispered to him as Yami took his seat.

"Are they given a chance for defense?"

"They can make a few statements, but not enough that I would really call it a defense. More like they can state their case and try to sway the king."

"How many have I missed?"

"A couple, no more. One from Silver Eagles and one from Coral Peacocks."

"And this one is mine," Jack added as he looked on with more interest than Yami had thought possible. Regardless of how they might act to each other or how they might seem on the outside, Yami guessed all the captains cared for their squad members. In a way, they were all like families.

"What did he do?" Yami asked, leaning back behind Mereoleona's head so he could talk more directly to Jack. The string bean of a face lacked its characteristic mad grin as Jack shook his head. Either he didn't know or he didn't want to say.

"I haven't had much of a chance to talk with them all." Jack turned his attention back to the proceedings where the king was issuing the man's sentence: stripping of his rank and titles, imprisonment for three years followed by conscription into the army.

"Conscription?" Yami couldn't keep the surprise from his voice.

"So far, the sentences have been the same. Stripping of ranks, imprisonment for a variable length of time with conscription to follow." Mereoleona said.

"But why conscription? Why the army? He was a Magic Knight. "

The fiery lioness looked at him with concern in her face. But before he could get an answer, movement on the floor caught his eye. Luck was being ushered forward. Yami rubbed his hand over his face and glanced over into the crowd gathered to watch the proceedings. He could barely see Asta in the crowd, but Noelle's silver hair shone like a beacon. Her face was hard and emotionless, but her posture was tense and ready for a fight.

"Luck Voltia, Magic Knight and Member of the, uh, Black Bulls squad." The king did not bother hiding his distaste. "You stand here accused of harboring a traitorous spirit and afflicting harm upon the kingdom. How do you plead?"

The amused look never wavered from Luck's face. The young man tilted his head as he considered his answer.

"Not guilty, Your Grace." He said with confidence. "True, I was possessed by an elven spirit, but my possession was ended quickly through Asta's anti-magic sword. So I did not harm the kingdom. In fact, upon recovery, I did everything I could to protect the people of the kingdom, as any Magic Knight should."

The king glared at him, but Luck continued to smile. As Yami watched, he noted the crazed look in Luck's eye, as if he were fighting the strongest of opponents.

"That's right, Luck. Just keep fighting." Yami murmured under his breath. The fight was different from what Luck was used to, but it was a fight nonetheless.

"Be that as it may, you still suffered possession and as such were complicit in the attack on the Capital." The king was not moved. "As you are a commoner with no rank to speak of, you will be stripped of your position in the Magic Knights and will undergo reeducation. After a year, you will be interviewed regarding your ability to reenter society and will enter service in the military. Next." The king handed out the sentence quickly and dismissed Luck from his presence. A guard took Luck's arm and led him out of the room.

"Conscription again," Fuegoleon said, and Yami could hear a distinct concern in his voice.

"And 'reeducation', whatever that is," Jack added.

"I don't like this." Yami crossed his arms over his chest. "He's up to something."

The king stood and the seated crowd stood with him.

Yami looked from the king to those still waiting to be sentenced. While the herd of people had thinned considerably, many more people still waited for their fate. The king, apparently though, had other ideas as he descended from the dais and left the room. Even the steward who was managing the proceedings seemed confused by the king's actions.

"Uh..." The steward stepped forward. "We will continue proceedings later?" He announced as he glanced back at the retreating king. The guards began rounding up the remaining prisoners. Yami made a mental note of who was left: Gauche, Kaiser, Owen, and Charlotte, among others."

"I'm surprised he didn't actually go through with execution orders," Nozel said as the remaining accused were ushered out. "I guess we had some effect."

"Yeah." Yami agreed though he was only half paying attention. His eyes and his mind was on Charlotte. "Excuse me." He pushed his way out of the small area into which they had all been seated and made his way to the floor.

"I need to speak to her," Yami told the guard who had his hand on Charlotte's arm and was leading her out of the chamber.

"I'm sorry, Sir. King's orders. No one is to speak to the prisoners. Period."

"I am the Wizard King and I will speak to her." Yami could not release his mana aura because of the suppression field still in effect, but his voice alone made the guard flinch.

"King's orders, Sir. I'm sorry, but they supersede yours."

Yami squeezed his hands into fists and would have punched the guard had Charlotte not looked back at him. Her blue eyes pleaded with him to cool his anger.

And then she was gone, lost in the crowd.

And Yami stared at the spot where she had been for a long moment. His hands would not relax from the fists into which they had balled, despite her silent plea. By the time he looked around, the chamber was empty.