In this world, Magic is Everything. All people, all races, are granted with the power to perform mystical and magical feats via grimories, mystical tomes granted to each and every child on their 15th birthday. Those blessed by the mana can have their names written down in legend.
Shattered Grimoires is the work of the mind(s) of Ardere & Shattered Grimoire's staff. All characters and content are copyright their creators, and may not be replicated without their creators' permission. Black Clover is owned by Yuki Tabata and published by Viz Shonen Jump. All images belong to their original owners. The theme you are currently viewing was made by Eliza of ElizaCodes exclusively for Shattered Grimoires.
Morning service. Recurring Hage townsfolk made for a tight fit, columns walling in the crowd and giving palpability to their reverential silence. The white light of dawn fed through a clerestory window overhanging a shrine at the front of the room: a ceramic bowl like a mortar filled with red-orange sand, geode halves, and smoking incense, altogether framed with leafy plants. Facing the altar, instead of a paneless oculus or an elaborate rose, a broad viewport was cut into the side of the stone building. Moss grew over the edge, spilling into the church with loose petals and fairy lights. Half-claimed by Gnome—the earth and nature—the chapel stood resolute in times of uncertainty. The people of Hage gave quiet thanks to the year's spring and its rejuvenation. Some bowed so that their foreheads kissed the floor. Others prayed simply on their knees, or stood, towards the back of the church, with their hands folded, looking onward. A few younger members of the crowd twiddled their fingers and shot flitting glances across the room.
Herja got up the nerve to push through the doors. Entering on one side, she turned to guide the door back into place. Not even a squeak; the peace was undisturbed. She cautioned a step forward. Her armor scraped miserably against the ground. A tnk-tnk-tnk with each footstep as the gaze of churchgoers slowly turned to regard her, her arms cocked in front of her like a child sneaking guiltily through the kitchen at night.
Herja's face flushed; she froze, considering tugging the sabatons clear off, but resigned to stand against a pillar on the far side of the room. It became startlingly hard to pray to Gnome when she was praying first for the churchgoers to forget she was there.
The praying people of Hage's community returned to their sense of tranquility—mostly, as those younger members stared at the foreign emblem on the magic knight's mantle—the blue trim—and her simple brigandine and empty sheath attached to a belt at her hip. Herja avoided their eyes... She was already intruding, she believed, so she convinced herself to stay the remainder of this silent vigil, then blend in the best she could with the dispersing crowd.
"Gnome protects everyone regardless [break] of status and so will I."
[attr="class","athenabackground"]
[attr="class","athenatempy"]
[attr="class","athenalabel"]WORDCOUNT
[attr="class","athenatag"] 355
[attr="class","athenalabel"] TOTAL WORDCOUNT
[attr="class","athenatag"] 355
[attr="class","athenalabel"]tag
[attr="class","athenatag"] @herja
[break][break]
[attr="class","athenatext"] Days like this were always the busiest. After all, it was a day when most people of Hage came to the church to worship the spirit of Gnome. After all, spring was closely linked to the earth spirit. Which meant those who didn't worship Gnome all year round would show up during the springtime to pay respects to him. This of course meant extra cleaning beforehand. The church was also kept in a clean state of course so the extra cleaning was just to make sure everything was perfect. The hardest part was making sure the younger wards of the church didn't get too busy before the worship actually started. Which Athena was put in charge of it was a pain the first year but this was now her second year doing so and she had learned a lot from the year before. [break][break] It seemed the kids had also grown up a bit which made her job even easier. It didn't take long after the church opened its doors for worship for it to almost completely fill up. Father Gabriel would speak a few words at the start before leaving everyone to pray in their own ways. Athena of course being one who prayed to Gnome every day didn't have her change much. As she had just finished up her own prayer she would hear the sound of what sounded like metal scraping against the floor. She just like many others would look up as it broke the silence of the room. None of the members of the church would walk over and say something to the woman after all it wasn't like she could help it. [break][break] However, Athena couldn't help but feel like she actually knew the other women. It took a few minutes of thinking but eventually, it came to her. The blue rose knight looked like Herja well what she would have looked like after two years. After all, Athena hadn't seen the other women since she joined the church. Once the ceremony came to an end the blue-haired women would walk over to the blue rose knight. Herja is that you?
[break][break]
[attr="class","athenalabel"] pow
[attr="class","athenalabel"] dur
[attr="class","athenalabel"] sta
[attr="class","athenalabel"] sen
[attr="class","athenalabel"] con
[attr="class","athenalabel"] speed
[attr="class","athenatag"] 00
[attr="class","athenatag"] 153
[attr="class","athenatag"] 95
[attr="class","athenatag"] 00
[attr="class","athenatag"] 95
[attr="class","athenatag"] 15m/s
[break]
[attr="class","athenalabel"]mana skin
[attr="class","athenalabel"]health
[attr="class","athenalabel"]mana regen
[attr="class","athenalabel"]mana pool
[attr="class","athenatag"] Archmage
[attr="class","athenatag"] Grand
[attr="class","athenatag"]55 ic // 55 ooc
[attr="class","athenatag"] 260/260
[break]
[attr="class","athenaextra"]COMBAT SUMMARY
[break]
[attr="class","athenatext2"]You can put spells and whatever here idk [break][break] Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum. [break][break]
People individually rose to their feet and started toward the door--Herja would have leapt to join them, but from the corner of her eye, she realized she had attracted an audience.
Three kids: one in the lead, ostensibly the oldest. A girl came up to his shoulder while a girl who couldn't have been older than a toddler gripping his left hand, the other's thumb in her mouth. There were all dressed in clean, plain attire, while the boy had an emblem evocative of Golem on the front of his white tunic.
"What squad are you?" the boy interrogated as he pointed at the blue mantle pinned at her throat with a pin in the shape of a rose.
Jolted straight up, Herja responded, "Blue Roses, Junior Fifth position." Immediately, she was embarrassed by her formality. "I apologize for the intrusion-" and then disgraced for apologizing to a child.
"Did you need something...?"
The boy narrowed his eyes at her. "The Blue Roses is where the lady-knights go." Herja half-smiled and nodded, yet he maintained a hard look."You're real big for a lady. How old are you? And what does 'Junior Fifth' mean?"
"What's your magic?" the little girl butt in, infatuated. "Can we see your grimoire?"
Herja was still processing the first barrage of questions, never mind how and whether to answer them, having recollected the little pride she had; in the meantime, she forced her bewilderment off of her expression, instead a closed-lip smile spreading from ear to ear as she flitted back, forth, back, forth--color rising in her face.
The boy was judging her (deeply) throughout this. With his brows heavily set, he remarked, "Why'd you have to come to Hage anyway?"
While the girl's imagination started to spiral: "Is your magic special? Are you noble? How many leaves does your grimoire have?"
Over them, Herja heard her name. She took in the big blue ponytails and her reservation melted immediately in a rise of nostalgia."Athena!" She strode past the church kids to fully address her. "Don't tell me this is your church! Wow...!"
Funny: the first time they'd met, the foundation for them knowing one another, it was under a clerestory, in a makeshift schoolroom with stained glass windows. Kiten was their hometown: the church was their education. Though, for Athena, the church was a home she'd indebted herself to.
Herja became self-conscious in that moment. She visibly grimaced. "Wow... it's been... a while, hasn't it?" Her eyes turned sad, maybe sympathetic; not knowing what to do with her hands, she crossed them behind her back. "I'm sorry I haven't really kept in touch. How have you been? Really?"
"Gnome protects everyone regardless [break] of status and so will I."
[attr="class","athenabackground"]
[attr="class","athenatempy"]
[attr="class","athenalabel"]WORDCOUNT
[attr="class","athenatag"] 360
[attr="class","athenalabel"] TOTAL WORDCOUNT
[attr="class","athenatag"] 715
[attr="class","athenalabel"]tag
[attr="class","athenatag"] @herja
[break][break]
[attr="class","athenatext"] As Athena was making her way towards Herja she would let out a small sigh. It seemed three of the kids raised by the church had reached her first. Of course, being kids they had what seemed like a million questions all at once. From what the blue-haired mage could see it looked as if the blue rose mage's face was changing shades. It made her wonder just what kind of questions they were asking her. However soon that didn't matter as her question towards the magic knight that looked like her childhood friend was soon answered. Well in the form of her name getting called back as the taller woman made her way over to Athena. [break][break] As the first question was asked the earth mage couldn't help but smile. No, It's not my church I only help the priest run it as I'm still only a Deacon for now. It seemed the younger kids weren't a fan of being left behind and were going to make their way over to the two old friends. However, another sister of the church would step in and lead them away. Athena would listen as Herja spoke taking note that her eyes seemed sadder. The church member would just place a hand on the other woman's shoulder. It's only been two years but it feels like it's been longer. [break][break] Also, don't worry about not keeping in touch we both had our own goals in life that we wanted. No matter what we losing contact couldn't be helped. Athena would then pause for a moment before giving her normal bright smile. I've been busy these past two years. It's been a lot of work helping to keep this place going but, I've enjoyed it a lot and don't regret my choice. My magic has also grown a lot in the last two years. Maybe I can show you sometime? Athena would wait and let the girl process and asking anything else before she started to speak again. [break][break] How have you been Herja? It's great to see you became a magic knight! I'm sure the others back home are really proud of you.
[break][break]
[attr="class","athenalabel"] pow
[attr="class","athenalabel"] dur
[attr="class","athenalabel"] sta
[attr="class","athenalabel"] sen
[attr="class","athenalabel"] con
[attr="class","athenalabel"] speed
[attr="class","athenatag"] 00
[attr="class","athenatag"] 153
[attr="class","athenatag"] 95
[attr="class","athenatag"] 00
[attr="class","athenatag"] 95
[attr="class","athenatag"] 15m/s
[break]
[attr="class","athenalabel"]mana skin
[attr="class","athenalabel"]health
[attr="class","athenalabel"]mana regen
[attr="class","athenalabel"]mana pool
[attr="class","athenatag"] Archmage
[attr="class","athenatag"] Grand
[attr="class","athenatag"]55 ic // 55 ooc
[attr="class","athenatag"] 260/260
[break]
[attr="class","athenaextra"]COMBAT SUMMARY
[break]
[attr="class","athenatext2"]You can put spells and whatever here idk [break][break] Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum. [break][break]
"I know, I know; I meant as like... your post?" Herja cracked a gawky grin. "I don't really know the word for it..."
She hadn't expected Athena to reach out--she was visibly surprised for a second. Herja had imagined Athena would be awkward, at the least a little suspicious, of an old childhood friend cropping up from the aether after leaving home...
Her reservations stayed with her for a bit. At some point, she responded to Athena's hypothetical offer with a "That'd be nice" and a nod, subconsciously glad her old friend was carrying the conversation.
On becoming a magic knight: "'It's been a long time coming': that's what Father Daniel said about it, but honestly, I'm just blessed to have been chosen. My grimoire isn't the best, but... I've worked hard. I think I've gotten better, or at least I'm getting there."
It was quiet again between them. Herja was shuffling in place, mentally flagellating herself for being so short of things to talk about. Two years! She had been nineteen then; you changed and forgot often when you were younger. There were vague hometown memories drifting: a holiday, a certain pond at the back of the woods, the walls crumbling, the devastation of everything she knew. Herja didn't want to talk about Kiten.
She wrestled around for something desperately and her eyes lit up when she landed on it. "Hey, I would love to see some of your new spells. You've always gotten a hang of magic."
"If you're not busy," she added. "Sorry if it's a little forward...!"
