A Tale of NeverBeens
Tale One: Separation
Armed with only her staff and the shadows of nothing, Takane crept through the ancient forest as soundless as night, and aided by night's embracing darkness, her feet lead her to a break in the forestry where the brush upon which she softly tread gave way to an expanse of grey. A jagged, definite line separated the wild jungle from the plain of stone which rose up into a towering block, moonlit white upon black. It would have been awe-inspiring and breath-catching had it not been the cause of all the trouble that Takane now found herself in. The thought pushed her on out of the safety of the shadows and into the open air.
Immediately, upon taking the first step into the moonlight, she felt like a deer trapped in the headlights of a speeding car that was about to trample her into the ground. She froze, but nothing rose up from the shadows that now seemed scary instead of reassuring. Jumping at every little sound, she made her way across the barren landscape that was so different from the one behind her, all lush and leafy and right behind her just one glance back. But Takane didn't look back because she knew that her courage would desert her all at once if she so much as turned her head. Instead, her eyes stayed apprehensively riveted upon the destination that brought such dread into her.
She knew that she was doing something horribly wrong, something that no member of the Goodman family would have done in their right mind, even out of necessity. But out of necessity, she was about to break one of the most basic tenets of mage-hood: Never charge in headfirst.
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At that moment in time, Mei had no idea what would be worse, being seen as a human or being treated like an animal. What she did know, at that moment, was which one terrified her more.
As they would have done to a wild pig, her captors had bound her wrists and ankles together so that she lay sprawled on the ground without being able to do more than squirm. Then, they had started tossing all sorts of weird powders including what she thought rather suspiciously smelled like black pepper. Of course, the act of breathing it in had given her such a sneeze that her nose had burned for several minutes after.
After they had seasoned her, they had left her there to age like a keg of wine, except a keg of wine didn't need to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom. Blessed sleep had decided to forsake her so she had done the only thing left that her exhausted body could do: think.
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It was strange, very strange, Takane thought, that there were no guards posted at the base of the tower. The denizens of this place were either very trusting or didn't care if their guests came voluntarily or involuntarily. Capturing Mei and taking her away hadn't helped reinforce the former very much. Thinking about it again brought up the same guilty feeling that had plagued her while she had pressed through the dauntingly large forest. It was her fault that her friend had been captured, a carelessness on her part. If only she had been more attentive to the robed man's questions. If only she hadn't been so prideful in her answers. If only she hadn't been so arrogant when talking to Mei. If only she hadn't spoken in so condescending of a manner. If only, if only, if only… but now was not the time to regret.
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Her prison had no locked gates and no bars, but its boundaries were real. Windowless, grey walls, uniform in their appearance, enclosed three sides of the room, the last side open to a dim, obscuring fog. But though her mind had been clouded when she had been carried to her cell, her hazy memories had noted the spiraling staircase that led up to the highest part of the tower. Thinking about her capture again brought up the same guiltiness that had plagued her through her drugged sleep. If only she had been more careful, less rebellious, more tolerant of Takane's usual eccentricities. If only she had not run away…
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Takane strode through the tower followed by a growing dark mist. She was sure that there was a trap; why else would the great hall that she had walked into be so brightly lit yet completely empty? Her senses strained for every hint of danger whether it came from sight, sound, or smell. When nothing triggered warning signals, Takane was forced to revise her opinion. The feeling that something was wrong hung thickly around her, but though the mage thrust it aside it continued to permeate the air. She hurried on.
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Mei struggled again against her bindings, but they proved far stronger than her frail strength. The rope tight around her wrists and ankles felt cool like manacles yet too rough to be metal. Little grunts escaped from her mouth as she tried to wrench her hands apart as silently as she could. Yet, silence would not help her if she could not be freed. Oh, how she wished she had her wand!
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Darkness was her ally, but now Takane felt betrayed. The black shadows clung to every wall, every surface and corner so that all was the same. There was no telling how far she had gone through the tower's formidable area. All she knew was that she was steadily heading up despite there being no stairs to climb. Then, a sliver of light poked through out of the gloom. Blackness evaporated into a soft blue-white glow that shone from the edges of a large door, as grey and uniform as all the others she had passed.
Hesitantly, fearing the repercussions of any such action, Takane opened it to the sound of music.
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Someone was coming. She could tell from the slight, hesitant footsteps that filled up the void of silence that hung upon her like a coarse, smothering blanket. A low hum that sounded strangely like music began to creep over the accompanying tapping of feet, but it halted so suddenly that Mei felt as if she hadn't heard it at all. Torchlight filled the doorway as something short and hunched entered the room and Mei shivered despite herself. Coal-like, smothering eyes stared at her from beneath the hood that was part of the dark green robe it was wearing. As her dry mouth began to shout, she took a deep breath and choked as something that was not air got into her lungs. Now retching though there was nothing able to come up, Mei felt the tears stream down her face. The last thing her disoriented mind could tell were the glaring eyes leering down at her and her consciousness fading like the end of the tunnel as if she was falling into a dark pit, light above and only emptiness below.
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It was an elevator.
What an elevator was doing in an environment that usually destroyed such technology was beyond her, but Takane had no choice but to let it take her wherever it went. There was no way up from the bottom; this was the only way to reach Mei. Takane could only hope it wasn't too late.
The doors opened and a hand reached out to grab her. Only her quick reflexes saved her as she jerked back out of reach. Acting on the moment, Takane reached into the well of her power and launched a mass of magic through the elevator door. She caught a glimpse of her attacker's panic-filled eyes before a massive shadow gauntlet ripped apart his thin robes and blew him far off down the hall.
The commotion brought Takane to the center of attention. Doors all along a dark hallway slammed open and a wave of men surged out like an army of armored ants. A scowl darkened her face as she quickly retreated back into the elevator but a sudden flash of movement stopped her. Only one person was not advancing towards her and that person had a child draped over his back. Mei.
All thoughts of retreat left her mind then and there, chased away by a feral rage that slowly began to consume her. Her magic responded to her anger; the usually calm pool of magic deep within her churned and rose up out of its constraints to permeate the hall with floating motes of dark magic.
Her enemies attacked but their puny weapons, sticks of iron, could do nothing against solidified shadows. With a negligent thought, Takane broke their line and with another, slammed the soldiers to the side so that the sea of bodies was split apart. Mei's captor saw her coming and started to run but Takane started running as well, and she ran much faster.
Those men still conscious leapt into her way but quickly leapt back out again when faced with a wall of magic bullets and shadow gauntlets. Her prey ran through a door at the end of the hall, but the hunter had its target marked; there was no escape.
With such notions dampening her thoughts, Takane raced into the large, circular chamber at full speed, only to meet a wave of arrows. None got through her personal shield but the combined force was enough to lift her off her feet and slam her against a wall where it deemed fit to deposit her.
The mage shook her head but the dizziness from the impact did not go away. Unsteadily, she lurched to her feet and glared at the line of archers surrounding her with bowstrings pulled taught. She faced the wall, a thin line between her and the friend she was sworn to protect.
"I thought we had taken care of you back there in the forest," the robed man said as he laid Mei upon a stone table. "Even mages die when they bleed."
Takane answered with the first words she had spoken in three days: "You almost had me there, but it wasn't quite enough. Mages don't die that easily, especially when they have someone important to them taken away."
"Funny you should mention 'taking away' because this will be the second time in three days," the man laughed in reply and brandished a knife. In that moment, a violent gust of wind blew the hood off of his face revealing the smoldering eyes of a demon's face, a wicked smirk stark against its unearthly pallor. In Takane's eyes the stone table transformed into a stone altar.
"Mei!" Takane exclaimed, triggering her magic. Multiple translucent shadow tendrils that she had snuck through undetected while speaking simultaneous cut through all the bowstrings pointed at her. The result sent arrows clattering everywhere, some finding a target in a neighbor's flesh. Takane took the momentary confusion to her advantage, knocking over the wall of archers with a rippling wave of raw magic. She followed the wave straight at the demon and followed again as the demon too was knocked away by the magic.
As the dark creature stumbled back, Takane formed an image of a sword in her mind and swept her hands downward. Only the demon's reflexive reaction saved it from being cleaved in two. Takane clenched her teeth as she struggled against the dangerous entity, her blade warring against its armored arm.
A laugh of pure glee erupted from the demon's throat when the mage could not finish her decisive blow. With considerable ease, it pushed back at the magic sword as it rose onto its feet and knocked Takane away with its other arm.
This time, Takane didn't need a wall to stop her movement. With a herald of billowing smoke, a faceless puppet reared from the ground and caught Takane in its shadowy embrace. Almost immediately, Takane touched ground and launched herself back at the demon.
As she had regained her footing, the demon had begun a terrible chant that sent shockwaves reverberating through the chamber. Its human henchmen fell back onto their knees, their bows clattering out of their hands. Now, with one last shout of triumph, it pumped a fist into the air. With the same upwards motion, a cage of bone burst out of the stone floor and encircled Takane. She slammed into the pale white bars but was launched back into the center of the prison.
But her puppet, which had followed close behind, found the bone no obstacle at all and flowed around both walls to meet its fellow creature of darkness head on. Its formless body lengthened into a whip with which it struck at its target. Casually, the demon reached out, grabbed the magic shadow, pulled it closer, and ended its existence with a lightning quick punch. Then, it strode nonchalantly up to the bars of its caged prisoner.
Takane launched a barrage of magic missiles against the bone spires barring her way to no avail. Even the strongest blow she could manage with her shadow sword could not even nick the demonic material.
"Well now, what was all that about?" her nemesis crossed its arms. "Weren't you going to rip me apart to save your precious friend?"
"Who said anything about ripping you apart? I was going to eviscerate your corpse after slaying you like a beast!"
"Fat chance now, mage," it laughed with a voice that grew several pitches deeper as it did so. "Now, I've decided that you'd taste much better as a full course meal than that ragtag, skinny little girl would." Takane growled but the demon only smiled. "But don't worry; I'll save her for dessert."
Its triumphant laughter was cut several notches short by a horrid rasping and gargling as it stared down at a sudden addition to its body. The demon toppled forward with the blade of light still in its chest and hit the floor where it exploded into a mass of black dust.
"I didn't like him even when he had his hood on," Mei frowned as she looked down at the remains of her captor.
Takane gasped a sigh of relief and rushed up to her friend as the bone prison joined its creator as nothing more than a pile of dust. Without warning, Mei found herself in a warm embrace. Awkwardly, she put her arms around Takane as the older girl sobbed and apologized over and over again.
As Mei comforted her rescuer with the reassurance that she had already forgiven her and that she was at as much as fault as Takane was, Mei knew that things would be all right again.
After all, they were together once again.
~Fin.
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The rights and properties of Negima and all associated versions of Negima are owned by Ken Akamatsu. All other elements are completely original.
Story written by Eternal Longing.