Title: The Last Dance of the Phoenix
Disclaimer: I don't own Mahou Sensei Negima. All credit goes to Akamatsu Ken.
Author's note: All right, time to break out an idea that has been sitting in my mind forever. I talked about this idea with Ryvius and got some great feedback. So let's do this thing!
Chapter 1: Past and Present
"Haha, come on birdbrain!" A tall, slender woman of 20 taunted a smiling teenage. "Is that all you got?"
"You haven't seen half of it!" The tan 18 year old rushed the woman with a glowing fist pulled back. He set this loose a small explosion ripped through the air. When the dust settled the man grinned at the brown haired lady who now was holding her side.
"Damn that hurt." She muttered. Then she smirked at the dark haired man, looking straight into his yellow eyes. "Don't have any mercy for women, Phoenix?" The unusual individual laughed.
"If only you were a normal woman, Sophie." He stared lovingly back into her chocolate orbs. "Tired?"
"You wish." Sophie launched herself at Phoenix, laughing as she went. They exchanged blows in the dead cold of midnight, laughing while at it. Soon the two ceased their inhuman sparing and sat down together at the top of a hill, gazing down as the moon reflected of the surface of a lake.
She sighed and snuggled closer to the warm body sitting next to her. He put a hand around her shoulder and held her close. "You know, even though I am committed to you, doesn't mean that I will tell all of my secrets Phoenix." The man chuckled softly at her side.
"And neither will I." She smiled at the moon in the heavens.
"You will be my sun and I will be your moon." She punched her lover gently in the gut. "So don't forget it."
"Hm, I get a fighter and a poet as my wife? How lucky am I?" She punched him again, this time harder. He let a small hiss escape his lips.
"Don't ruin the mood birdbrain." She then stroked his cheek. Their faces came together and in the background the moon framed their moment.
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Phoenix's eyes softly fluttered open and he glanced around his room. Nothing had changed, well except for the fact that all of his belongings were packed and stood by the door to his bedroom. He hadn't noticed the red haired girl of 15 silently standing in the corner until she stepped forward. It took but one glance of his windswept face to tell her what had happened.
"Did you get another memory back?" She asked, her voice almost sounding melodic. The 16 year old stretched his body before frowning.
"Yes." She knew where this was headed.
"Was it about-" He had cut her off.
"About Sophie? Yeah it was. I don't want to talk about it, Beatrix." His face displayed his sorrow. She punched his arm gently.
"Come on, Light's waiting." He nodded his head before changing in to the suit he laid out last night. As he pulled on a yellow tie, Beatrix smiled and complemented him. He smiled back, knowing this was her true nature, but knowing full well it wouldn't last long.
They walked out of the room and entered the dining area. Beatrix's orange eyes flashed around before finding what they were looking for. They proceeded to the table that seated a slender and groomed white haired man of 18. He had the same tan skin Phoenix and Beatrix shared, but nothing else. His blue eyes seemed to be moving rapidly down a manga he held in his hand. One glance at the cover told Phoenix worlds. He was reading his ero-mangas. "Again." He groaned inwardly at the fit Nekane would throw if she found him doing this again. He waved his hand towards the offending book and a wind snatched it out of the man's long fingers. It hit the opposite wall and Beatrix snapped her fingers, setting the book aflame. The man did not seem at all troubled at the destruction of his property. He smiled at them with his polished white teeth.
"Well aren't you lively today Phoenix?" Phoenix groaned audibly this time.
"I don't have the patience today, Light. So cut the crap so we can board the flight in time." He sat at the table and picked up his utensils and started to wolf down his food.
"My, my the English Gentleman seems very touchy today." But his offensive demeanor lessened with his glance at Beatrix, who had mouthed one word. 'Sophie' was that word. He understood the pain behind the simple yet beautiful name, even though that person had died 4 centuries ago. He shut his mouth and breakfast turned out to be a quick and pleasurable affair.
The trio then marched to their rooms and came out to find Nekane standing at the door of their small cottage, drying her eyes with a small handkerchief. Phoenix dreaded this departure. Nekane had taken care of the three when the Thousand Master, their father, had left the three in her care. But even the Thousand Master did not expect what sort of children he had.
"Mak-Make sure to write and call whenever you need help and-" Phoenix Stepped forward and hugged the trembling woman. She sobbed into his shoulder. "I know you three are all grown up but I can't get over the fact that you're all leaving!"
"Shh, I know, it's going to be all right." Phoenix supported the mourning woman. She dabbed at her eyes again. Beatrix then smiled at her.
"Don't worry Nekane, I'll kick Light's ass if he becomes too much of a pervert. And I'll make sure the womanizer over there doesn't get too carried away." She smirked at Phoenix as she said this.
"Hey!" He shot back at her hotly. "Those girls mobbed me! Not the other way around!" True, he had unknowingly made almost all the girls in this village fall for him. Well with the exception of Anya, but even around her Phoenix didn't feel safe. Not when this girl could pin you to the ground and ra- "No bad thoughts, bad thoughts!" He scolded himself in his head and stopped his train of thought. He turned to see Light start to twirl Nekane in a sort of tango and knew it was time to leave.
XXXXX
As Phoenix already put out three fires that Beatrix caused out of boredom, ripped up 20 ero-mangas that Light tried to sneak aboard, and separated the two eight times before the caused an all-out brawl on the airplane, he was tired. Falling back into his seat between the two he was relieved to find them asleep. He sighed and closed his eyes too. He drifted off to sleep before he knew it.
XXXXX
"So where to begin Phoenix?" He glanced up and saw an old withered man sitting above him on a throne made of marble. He knew who it was and what he was asking. "As seeing that you clearly don't want to start o receive memories of Sophie back, what do you want to know now?"
"Simple. Start this story from the beginning."
"Again?" The man raised an eyebrow.
"Again."
"Very well."
An illusion started to form around Phoenix. He was then whisked off into a realm of darkness. A voice rang out from god knows where.
"So as you know I created land, sea, sun, and animals before your kind." Phoenix nodded his head in agreement. He had to study this carefully. The space then showed his kind in their earliest moment.
"I based your kind off the sun. I made you immortal and gave you minds beyond any primitive animal. You developed faster than I had hoped." The scene then progressed to the time of temples and god idols. Amazingly enough, these people weren't mere pictures, they were real. He could see the people bustle around the ancient city and feel the wind blowing softly through the town.
"Soon you began to question my existence and position. I was foolish then, and made a copy of myself, which I dubbed 'The Divine Phoenix'. This spirit was able to physically manifest on earth, unlike I." The scene shifted to night. A great black and white colored bird streaked across the sky.
"You began to worship the great being of power and let it overshadow your lord. Then all was well. For now." The scene showed people happily going about their jobs. The sky began to darken.
"Your people then challenged the authority of my other reincarnation. This reincarnation was not as forgiving as I had hoped. He made a copy of himself, but unlike me, he split this being into two. Known as The Black Phoenix and The White Phoenix." Two lesser birds than appeared and perched down below the greater one.
"These entities possessed some other phoenixes and began their slaughter of all who opposed the Divine Phoenix's rule." A bloody battlefield then shot into view with two human in the center. One gave off a dark aura, the other a white.
"I then created the The Flame Phoenix to counteract the slaughter and push the other two entities back. After that I had to command the Flame Phoenix to wipe your kind out. I didn't succeed. Some survived." The scene depicted a man and woman running for a mountain cave.
"I started to create a new race. The humans." The scene shifted again. "I did not give them immortality or any powers of your kind." Ancient Egypt shot into focus.
"After some time The Divine Phoenix and his subordinates marched to the spirit realm to try to finish me off. Why? I had replaced them and stripped them of their glory." A clean cut man was leaping at three other birds, an ax in hand. "I sent the Divine Phoenix to Hell, but the other two got away."
"That's where you came in. The Black Phoenix instantly took a liking to your vengeful soul. The White took a liking to your brother's innocence." At this Phoenix snorted and the voice laughed. "Okay, he won't be innocent forever but then he was."
"You were then overshadowed. Then war broke out among your people about who should be worshiped and who should rule. Your sister, Beatrix, was possessed by the Flame Phoenix. You all joined the side of the Divine Phoenix, as the Flame Phoenix could move on its own free will now. You won and came to face me." Then the voice stopped. "Seems like your needed Phoenix." He bowed to the man who appeared before him.
"Then I will be departing, Creator-sama."
"As you please my creation."
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Phoenix's eyes then opened to a scene of Beatrix violently beating a man who slipped and fell on her. He looked right and caught a glimpse of Light and a woman slipping into a bathroom before the door shut and read 'Occupied'. He sighed. Sometimes the old man needed to work on his timing. But as he pulled the two apart combatants apart and bust the door of the bathroom down to retrieve Light his mind thanked the Creator. "You provided me great information on my lord… and enemy."
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There done! So in this fiction Phoenix will be taking Negi's place. Oh and for Phoenix's backstory: I do not mean to offend any religion, beliefs, or groups of people with this idea. I am merely telling a fiction story. More of this mysterious individual(s) (Including Light and Beatrix 'cause this is their people's past! Their people meaning the phoenix race.) later. 'Till next time!