"Excuse me; you are Negi Springfield, correct?"

The red-haired teen turned his head and saw a man shrouded in black. He furrowed his eyes and said responded, "Sorry, my name is Nagi."

"No need for deceit, Mr. Springfield."

The air grew colder, and Negi gripped his staff. 'Is he working for Fate?' Aloud, he denied the man's words. "What do you mean?"

A chuckle came from the mysterious man's hood. "The people around you cannot hear our conversation. I merely wish to speak, and for you to listen."

Memories stirred within Negi, and fear began to rush in. "You… It can't be…"

The man before him was almost identical to the dark man from Rakan's film. The one whose mere presence made even the strongest man tremble. Before Negi stood one who could only be the master of Cosmo Entelecheia, the 'Life Maker'. Drawing his staff, he prepared his spells.

"You know who I am? I sincerely doubt that Mr. Springfield. You see, this is the first time I have ever come to this world, and it shall likely be my last.

"… It's the hood, isn't it? It makes me look evil and malicious, yes? It bestows upon me a certain aura of spitefulness and savagery, does it not? I assure you, I wish only to speak of the past, the present, and the future." Negi opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. "Ah, please be quiet for my soliloquy. I wish to bring many concepts to the forefront, and though I would appreciate your contemplation, your opinion is of no consequence to me."

"Very good then," said the man, his voice dripping with cold self-satisfaction, "Let us begin. First of all, never be so arrogant as to think they target you. They care only for the princess; watch her closely, lest she is attacked by lesbians. Second of all, said princess resembles your blonde cousin, who is close enough to be your sister or mother. Coincidentally, the little kidnapped princess has a blonde older sister who might be your mother. That is obviously a coincidence. And third, the punishment for revealing magic to people is to be transformed into an ermine, quite possibly with speech capabilities. As for future, Chao says hello." With that the man vanished and the world returned to normal.

"Negi-kun? What's wrong?" asked Ako.

"Um, nothing's wrong, I just thought I saw someone." Negi tried to make sense of the words he had heard, but was pulled away from his thoughts by the many problems at hand.

An unimaginable distance away, the man chuckled softly to himself. "The truth is yet to be known, though it is whispered amongst the leaves…" With that his dark shroud faded, revealing nothing but empty air. The 'man' was but a shadow, servant to the will of another. Many things remain covered in darkness, but one thing is certain: This event holds no significance whatsoever.

Or does it?