Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit fictional story, a FanFiction based on Ken Akamatsu's Negima. I do not own Negima, or most of the other characters included in this work, excepting where it is stated in the author's notes. It is not intended or presented for any commercial profit or personal gain; it is simply a story written for personal fulfillment and presented for public enjoyment, and as an honest homage to the fine story conceived and written by Ken Akamatsu, as well as all the other (innumerable) works that find place herein (and their authors).

Prologue

The two halves of the door slid open, and the Prince strolled inside. Corai glanced back over his shoulder, then turned around, put a hand over his heart, and bowed. With a simple nod, the Obsidian Star's ruler moved past him and stared at the bubbling tank and the nearly-naked figure within it. Kain, reduced to his natural age, floated in the amber fluid, eyes closed, apparently bereft of consciousness, but not of motion; every twenty seconds or so he would twitch slightly or even thrash about in a brief but violent fit of some sort.

The Prince's baleful golden eyes carefully looked over the comatose captive. "How is it progressing?" he demanded of his scientist.

"Not very well, actually," Corai replied calmly. "He is perfect…perhaps too perfect. The inclusion of his mother's bloodline, the blood of the creators and rulers of this world, makes him an even better candidate than his father. And, of course, there is the additional alteration in his DNA from the magical power that has infused him. We need do nothing more in that respect; his body is in a state of infinite progression, all on its own. But that may be the problem as well as the benefit. His will is strong, and made all the stronger by that magic in his essence. He will not succumb to any of our manipulations at this point."

"Is that contract with the Celestial part of the reason?"

"No…apparently that contract has already been annulled. Of all things, the boy and the little girl treated it as nothing more than a trump card for that meaningless duel against Aiden Rylack. Of course, with the groundwork of that connection between the two laid, as they are both more than human, it would be easy to restore if they desired to, but right now, it is not interfering with our work. No, it is nothing more than his splendid, supernatural essence that interferes with us."

"And yet you don't seem particularly concerned over this difficulty." The Prince turned his head to fix a calculating stare on his underling.

"It is merely an inconvenience, hardly counting as a setback." Corai smiled slightly. "I still have many different options, many avenues of approach…this challenge, this golden reward, is an opportunity I have long dreamed of, since before my birth. As Horius I went to great lengths to acquire a merely mortal Kain Lockeheart for experimentation and study…this creature is far beyond that. It is difficult, but I have a particular experiment I'd like to try…."

"Stop playing about and tell me already," the Prince snapped.

Corai chuckled and turned away. Moving to a storage locker on the opposite wall, he opened the vessel, causing a cloud of some strange steam to come floating out, and he reached into it and removed…what seemed to be a still-beating heart. "This is an Infernal heart I have kept for some time, still alive and still filled with the monster's dark energy. Transplanting such a heart into any normal human, even a talented mage accustomed to Infernal mana like Lina Inverse, would kill them swiftly…far too much immortal vitality for a mortal form. But Kain Lockeheart is already immortal. He will have the physical might to survive, adapt, and integrate the new heart…but can his will survive the corruption? That…is quite unlikely…."

The Prince stared at it. Then a slow, vicious smile spread across his face. "Well done. I like it." He glanced back at the boy in the tube. "Yes…Kain Lockeheart…very soon you, too, will have the opportunity to serve me…even more than your father before you has…."

F I N

Author's Note: The Curtain Rises

The Final Day in Arcanus Myrror dawns…is that teaser enough…? Well, here we are in the Climax. Things are looking dark for the heroes…and especially for Kain….

I shouldn't say anything more yet. Let's continue onward with the action!