Negima: A new beginning.
Ch1: The Arrival
Disclaimer: I do not own Negima or any of it's Characters, but I do own my own characters and all the other things I made up.
A cool autumn breeze swept across Mahora Acadamy as a tall, dark clad young man made his way up the path to the Acadamy's entrance. Dressed in a black button-down shirt, dark, baggy jeans and carrying a black duffelbag, he reached the entrance and entered, unnoticed by the few members of the student body who lingered outside after the first bell had rung.
Knocking heavily on the headmaster's door, he was given permission to enter. Doing such, he walked over the the desk and uncerimoniusly dropped his bag beside the lone chair in front of the desk as he sat down. "Erik... it has been a long time..." the headmaster said, leaning forward to better inspect the youth. "I heard about New York... what happened?" The young boy shook his head and responded in a deep voice that belied his age. "I would rather not speak of that at this time, uncle... I need rest... it has been a long journey..." nodding, the headmaster pressed a button on his desk and a woman appeared through the same door he had entered. "Ah, Ms. Shizune, would you kindly show my nephew to his room? He needs to sleep." Nodding, she gestured for him to follow. Sighing, he picked up his bag and obliged.
Reaching his room, Ms. Shizune gave him his key and bowed before leaving. Silently unlocking his door, he entered and closed the door behind him. Dropping his bag next to the door, he layed down on the bottom bunk of his bed and closed his eyes...
Flames gathered around him, the faces of those he loved appeared and melted away, leaving grinning skulls in their places. Demonic laughter echoed around him, taunting him. Gazing to the blood red sky he screamed as the flames engulfed him...
Sitting bolt upright in bed, he panted, sweat making his clothes cling to his body. Holding his head in his hands, he began to cry... cry for those he lost, and for those who had survived who would suffer a fate worse than death. Swinging his feet to the floor, he wiped his tear-stained cheeks and got up. Walking to the window, he looked outside. Night had overtaken the campus, only a few, solitary lights flickered from windows, along with the streetlamps in the distance. "It was only a dream, Erik, calm yourself..." he told himself, though he knew that his dreams were all too real. His family, his friends, they were all gone, killed in the inferno... he had watched them die. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he unpacked his clothes and changed, storing the rest in the drawers underneath his bed.
He heard a low rapping on his door and walked over to it. Looking through the peephole, he saw a small crowd of girls gathered outside. Fixing himself, he opened the door and heard them gasp. "What do you want?" he said in a flat voice, leaning on the doorframe. "W-We heard someone crying, and we wanted to see if everything was alright. And by the way...Who are you?" one small girl with bangs covering her face asked nervously. "Erik, I'm the headmaster's nephew, and you are?" he questioned, looking at the other girls, especially interested in a girl at the back, who carried with her a large No-Dachi at her side. "N-Nodoka Miyazaki." she stuttered, looking at him as though he were a ghost. "Well Ms. Miyazaki, I would like to get back to sleep, so if you dont mind?" he said, closing the door and watching the crowd disperse through the peephole. "I heard this was an All-Girl's school, but I could'nt believe it..." he said softly, still thinking of the swordswoman. Laying back down, he stripped off his shirt and pulled the covers over his head. "God's, I hope they leave me alone from now on..."
The next morning, Erik opened his eyes to the sound of the wakeup bell. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed. Yawning, he stretched before getting up and stripping off his clothes, donning a red t-shirt and jeans, he raised his brow as he noticed a note that had been slipped under his door. Curious, he picked it up and began to read.
Erik,
Here is a copy of your schedule, along with a list of the girls in our class, your first class is Homeroom with Negi-Sensei, and I hope to see you there in the morning.
Setsuna Sakurazaki
He looked at the second page, which listed the girls in his class with their pictures. The swordswoman had left the note. He smiled softly before slipping on his shoes and exiting his room, locking the door behind him. He walked down the hall, drawing stares from some of the girls gathered there, before reaching his class, 3-A. Sliding the door open, he walked inside and the room fell silent. "Goodmorning, you must be my new student." a small boy said, walking up to him and extending his hand. "Negi-Sensei i presume?" Erik responded, shaking his hand. Negi nodded, and pointed to his seat, which was in the back of the class. He thanked Negi and walked to the back, taking his seat and dropping his bag on the floor beside him.
"Everyone welcome our new student, Erik Hussong. He is an exchange student from America. He will be joining us for this year." Negi said, adressing his class. They all turned to him and said their hellos. He nodded in return, taking out a notebook and beginning to doodle. One of the girls, a tall, blonde girl, walked over to him and stood in front of his desk, smiling. "Can I help you?" he asked, not looking at her. "My name is Ayaka Yukihiro, class representitive for 3-A and let me be the first to officially welcome you to our school." she stated, bowing to him. He looked up at her and smiled. "Thanks, Erik's the name." he said in flawless japanese. She bowed again and sat down next to him. "So you're from America, what state?" she asked. "New York, the big apple." he said, still drawing. "Cool, whats it like there?" she continued, even though she knew he was busy. "Big buildings, Bright lights, lotsa people..." he responded, trying to get this conversation over with... "So your family, they let you come here, they must be great people." she pressed, trying to get him to open up. He was getting annoyed with her, she didn't want to stop talking... "Yes, they were..." he said, then realised his mistake. "Were?" she questioned, interested. "Are, is what I meant to say." he finished. "Ah, yeah, so, what made you want to come to japan?" she questioned again, pressing the subject. "Look, im busy, maybe we can talk again later." he snapped, tired of her questions. He came here to escape, not to make friends. He vowed he would never lose another friend, so he figured the best way to do theat was to not make any... "Fine, later then." she huffed, knowing she was just brushed off. She got up and walked back to her group, telling them what he had said.
He heard snippets of 'Weirdo' and 'Stuck up Americans' before he blocked the class out entirely and focused on his drawings. He was drawing a Silver dragon, before looking outside and seeing a small shadow pass over the floor. He smiled before raising his hand. "Negi-Sensei, I dont feel too good, may I go to the nurses office?" he asked, feigning a headache. "Sure, would you like someone to escort you?" he asked, concerned. "No thank you Sensei, i'll be fine..." he finished, before grabbing his bag and walking out of the classroom and back toward his room. Unlocking the door, he opened it and shut it behind him, snapping the lock closed. He walked over to his window and opened it, sticking his head out and whistling. Moments after he had pulled his head in a small silver dragon flew into his room alighting on his shoulder and nuzzling its head against his cheek. "Nice to see you too Mirror, sorry you had to sleep outside last night." he cooed, scratching the dragon under it's chin. He heard its voice in his head, even though it did not move its mouth. 'Do not worry little one, it was fine.' it said, flying to his bed. "I still can't believe that I let this happen..." he said, pulling a small red crystal out of his shirt. "All because of this..."
Flames burned all around him, the ruins of the Empire State Building lay crashed in the streets. He cursed aloud as a group of demons encircled him. He heard their manic laughter before muttering something under his breath. A beam of light shot from his hand, striking three of the beasts as they made their approach. He sidestepped to avoid anothers sword before twisting its arm, making it drop it's blade and ramming his fist into it's face. He ducked to avoid a blow that would have lopped his head off before grabbing the sword from the ground and ramming it into the others gut before following through and slicing the others stomach open. More demons appeared around him, crawling through the rubble to get to him. He was doomed, there were too many of them. The crystal around his neck shone a blood red, and he sliced one of the demons nearest to him, cutting it in half. A roar echoed a few blocks away and he smiled, he only needed to hold them off for another few seconds. A demon charged at him, swinging it's twin blades wildly. Parrying it's blows, he slice its hand off and ran his sword through it's gut, pulling it out and turning to attack another, only to find a demon with it's axe raised above his head, smiling. His mind blanked, he was going to die. The axe came down, stopping a foot over his head as the demon was lifted off the ground ant thrown into a building. He smiled as a deafening roar echoed through the streets as lightning bolts struck the remaining demons, killing them instantly. A large silver dragon landed beside him, bearing it's fangs at those who remained, which scampered back into the ruble. "What took you so long Mirror? A few more seconds and I would be toast." he yelled over the dragons wingbeats as it lifted off, arrows deflecting off it's side as they flew far above the city over the ocean. 'I apologise young one, i was... delayed' Mirror responded, flying lower to the water and letting it's claws gently scrape the surface. He smiled darkly, lookng over his shoulder at the city, which was burning, not a soul left alive... "Take me to Japan, my uncle will take me in." he yelled into the dragon's ear. 'As you wish' Mirror responded, flying up into the clouds...
He slipped the jewel back into his shirt and sighed. The past was the past, he had to focus on now. He stripped off his shirt and sat on his bed, still grimacing."Sleep Mirror, get some rest..." he said before laying down and drawing the covers over his head to block out the sun. He thought of Negi-Sensei, and how he sensed something strange about the boy, despite the fact he looked as if her were 10. He closed his eyes and drifted off into a troubled sleep...
