Book Of Days
A Mahou Sensei Negima Fanfiction
Chapter 1: Visio Ex Preteritus
July 23, 1932.
The young, tall man gritted his teeth as he was hit by yet another blast of magical energy. He released another shot from his rifle, along with a powerful wave of magical light, but the demons kept coming forward. He threw his rifle aside, out of ammunition, and drew his swords. He would fight to the last.
70 years later.
"Yue, Nodoka, come over here quick, I've found something!" The tall, bespectacled girl yelled. Her two comrades came running over, one short, with long blue hair and a serious expression, the other slightly taller, with short purple hair pulled back into a ponytail, exposing one of her eyes. They all crowded round Haruna's discovery.
"It looks like the wheel of a motorbike" remarked Nodoka, as Haruna started trying to dig more of the thing out of the ground.
"Haruna, wait, I sense a strong magical energy around here." This was Yue, cautious as ever.
"Yue, this is library island, everything here is slightly magical," Haruna said as she finally managed to uncover the object. True enough, it was a motorbike, but it looked very old. Nodoka ran over to a nearby bookcase and after a quick search, pulled out a book and leafed through it. She wiped clean a small plate on the bike and referred to the book again.
"The chassis number says this is a Norton International Model 30, built in 1931. It seems to have a very strong magical energy around it though."
"Well, it's old, so it's probably worth something, lets have a better look around, we might find something else"
After about ten minutes searching, they had found a traveller's pack, a long greatcoat and a large rifle, which Nodoka identified as a Winchester Model 60 bolt action, also built in Britain in the early 1930s. Yue suddenly beckoned her friends over to see what she had found. It was what looked like a boot, firmly attached to something below the ground. They dug further and uncovered what looked like a pair of legs. Realising something was amiss; they dug frantically, and found themselves looking at what looked like the body of a man, about twenty years old by his general physical appearance. Nodoka immediately fainted, but Yue had the good sense to check his vital signs.
"He's got a pulse, but it is very weak." She called. "Quick, we need to get him to a doctor!"
"Take the bike," Haruna said, "it'll be the fastest way!"
"But I can't ride one of these!"
"Oh, move over, I can! You rouse Nodoka and follow on foot; I'll take our friend here." She bundled the limp figure onto the bike, gunned the engine, and sped off through the winding passages of Library Island and Mahora Academy.
Ten minutes later, she skidded to a halt outside the campus's main infirmary. She ran in with the mysterious man in her arms and frantically told the desk assistant that he needed a doctor, quick. The man was placed on a stretcher and the doctors came running.
The next day.
The man opened his eyes to find himself staring at a white ceiling. There were wires attached to his body and some kind of television showing a graph and making some kind of annoying beeping. He realised that the beeping was in time with his heartbeat and looked around more. He concluded that he was in a hospital, although he had never seen any kind of machines like this before. His other deduction was that there were three extremely pretty girls sitting at his bedside, with another in a nurse's uniform checking something on one of the machines. He managed to croak out something unintelligible and all four heads turned to look at him, relief on their faces. The nurse spoke in Japanese, "Aha, you're awake, excellent. How are you feeling?"
He managed to draw on his knowledge of Japanese and stammer out "awful"
"Well, it could have been worse, you should thank these three, they probably saved your life, and they have been sitting at your bedside since yesterday, when they brought you in here." She indicated the girls at his side, one waved cheerfully, one blushed, and the last smiled slightly.
He brought up one of the many questions buzzing round his aching skull.
"Wha-What happened?"
"Well, you tell us." It was the short girl at his side who spoke, in a slow, flat voice, almost a drawl. "We just found you buried in the dirt down at Library Island"
"Library Island?"
"Yeah, the biggest library in Japan, right here at the Mahora Academy."
"Mahora… a battle."
The girls looked at him, "A battle??"
"Yes, I was sent here to teach, and the school was attacked, I had to fight. I must have fallen and been mistaken for dead. Tell me, what day is it?"
"It's Monday 14th of June."
"Right, hang on; can you just look in my coat? In the top left pocket there should be a small diary?"
Yue searched in the pocket and brought out the book. She did a quick double take and spoke as she handed it to him. "You know, I don't think that's going to be much use, what is it, an heirloom or something?"
He looked surprised, "What??"
"That diary says 1932; you're about seventy years off if you're using that."
"I'm sorry, what did you just say? Is it not 1932?"
"Err, no, this is 2002, I think you must be mistaken."
"2002??" They nodded. "Then how the… It must be the magic of this place"
The three girls turned to each other.
"Maybe we should go fetch Negi-Sensei; he is the only magician here."
"Get the principal too; he will want to know about this"
"Ok, I'll go get them" said Nodoka, and sped off."
Ten minutes later, Negi had arrived and said he thought he had an answer to the conundrum.
"Ok, there is a very rare magical condition called sopor pridem. Basically, when a magister magi is killed by magic in an extremely magical place, the magic can combine and hold him in a state of suspended animation, seeming to be dead. This seems to be what happened to you Mr, ah, what did you say your name was??"
"I didn't, but it's Will, Will Newman."
At this the old principal let out a strangled gasp, "It is you!! I thought I recognised your face! You won't remember me, I was just eight when we met, but you left a lasting impression on me. I was a student here when you came to teach chemistry and magic. That was back when Mahora Academy was a mixed school. You were quite a famous English mage back then; they used to call you 'The Wanderer' for some reason I never quite found out."
Will spoke again. "Well, seeing as I am now stuck in a time that I am unfamiliar with, can I stay somewhere while I try to get used to this new era?"
"Of course, of course, tell you what, how about these three girls show you round and teach you about this time and the things that have happened since you were last here. And, when you feel you're ready, I can always let you have your teaching job back."