Take My Hand || Black Clover

chapter one

The moon was beautiful that night.

Pale light from the moon that carves a path for you, the cool wind that felt soothing to your burning skin, and the stilling silence that surrounds the town you once knew. All of your childhood memories came and grew from this town. Where you and your mom buy fruits from, the kids from the orphanage you managed to befriend, and the kind lady that gives you free bread when your mom couldn’t afford to feed you dinner. Your whole life was in here and yet it is the place you’re desperately trying to run away from. It was a shame that the night you’re supposed to be killed, the beautiful moon makes its appearance.

Such irony.

Such beauty in a gruesome scene.

You ran, squeezed past bodies of people, and pushed your aching feet to pass their limit. This was unlike the tags you play with your friends, the bottom of your feet was red and swollen due to the lack of shoes and the rocks you’d stepped on. You were shaking, like a leaf in the middle of the windy field, just hanging by a thread. That any moment, you can be swept away into the unknown, but you can’t afford that. With your mom’s bloody smile seared in your five-year-old mind, you continued to run despite the trembling of your lips and the urge to cry yourself to sleep.

The town was like a maze. Countless houses and streets in between them along with the sea of people that should be a familiar scene to you as a kid. Shouts were heard behind you and without further delay, you make way into the continuous maze without a solid destination in mind.

The farthest place you’ve been was the old library by the corner of your home. By now, you were much farther than you normally go, you dismissed the feeling of dread of being lost once you realized that it was your mother that told you to run far away and hide.

Your eyes became blurry as you continue to run, the shakiness in your legs and harsh breathes that leaves your mouth like it would be the last trace of breathable air that you’ll have. Different thoughts and questions occupied your head; why was I running? Am I being chased? Why did mama didn’t come with me? Why there were people at our house? Where am I going?

With these thoughts and a not-so crystal clear vision, you managed to bump into someone, causing you to let out a choked sob. Maybe it was the pain that took over your limbs, the heaviness in your chest, or the uncontrollable cries that left your mouth that became the reason you remained unmoving in your position on the ground. Curled up, sobbing and in pain, a state where no children your age should experience.

You couldn’t help but cry harder when a hand placed itself in your head, too immerse in wiping the tears that fell down your face to notice the warmth that the hand was emitting. Then a strong and gentle voice called out that immediately silenced your cries, whether it was because of dullness you’ll feel once the men caught you after a wild goose chase or the fear of angering and disappointing the person who managed to calm you down, you didn’t know.

All you know is that their presence was warm.

“What happened, brat?”

-

“You’ll receive your grimoire tomorrow, right?”

“What about it?” you spoke out loud, focusing on watering the flowers Ms. Sho planted earlier and trying to remain disinterested even when Freya managed to send you a feign eye-roll to show her disappointment. The day you received your grimoire is the same day as every day, the only difference is that you’ll be able to learn a couple of spells. But for someone like you that is not interested in such things, you don’t see the reason why most people your age is excited about it. “You just received a book and that’s it.”