Akamatsu Ken and Kodansha own Mahou Sensei Negima!

The Walt Disney Company owns all the Disney stuff.

I make no money from this.

The Keys of the Kingdom.

Prologue.

It was the first time Negi Springfield had that dream. A dream of falling through darkness, with the bandaged wooden staff he had received from his father in his hand. Negi's small, light body felt more like it was slowly floating down than anything else, as an icy chill caressed the skin of his exposed face and hands. The rest of his body was covered by his dark green suit with red tie, the same one he had used through most of his teaching days over the last few months.

He vaguely remembered a few passages from one of the stories his sister Nekane loved to tell him, back in the peaceful hills of Wales.

'Well!' thought Alice to herself, 'after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs! How brave they'll all think me at home! Why, I wouldn't say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house!' (Which was very likely true.)

Negi was not afraid. He was a brave young man, and the events that had transpired around him since his arrival to Mahora had only further steeled his resolve and courage. He also fancied himself a rational mind, for the standards of the magical community at least, so he was fairly sure there was something impossible about the current scenario he was living through. Last thing he remembered before that was going to sleep in the small bedroom he shared with his students and Ministra Magi Hasegawa Chisame and Hakase Satomi, and that did not gel at all with what was happening to him right then. However, for some reason, he was not waking up yet, as was the custom whenever he realized what he was dreaming at the time just couldn't be possible.

Still, he felt no fear, but an acute sense of annoyance.

Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end! "I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time?" she said aloud. "I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the Earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think—" (for, you see, Alice had learnt several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a very good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over) "-yes, that's about the right distance-but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I've got to?" (Alice had no idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.)

Negi realized his eyes had been closed, and he opened them again, hoping that would wake him up, but it made no difference, for everything around him remained darkness, with only a pinpoint of white light faintly glowing as high as his gaze could go. He tried reaching for it with the hand that wasn't holding his staff, but it was as pointless as he had expected it to be, although now his fall seemed to be growing faster, as punctuated by the increased force of the cold air hitting his face and messing his dark red hair up.

"Chisame," he said, calling out with a very weak voice.

Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. "Dinah'll miss me very much to-night, I should think!" (Dinah was the cat.) "I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that's very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?" And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, `Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?' and sometimes, `Do bats eat cats?' for, you see, as she couldn't answer either question, it didn't much matter which way she put it. She felt that she was dozing off, and had just begun to dream that she was walking hand in hand with Dinah, and saying to her very earnestly, `Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?' when suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.

And just like that, barely hurting his behind as he landed on it, Negi reached the bottom of the abyss.

The boy sat up, and now he could see something; he could see thanks to the lights emanating from the floor, which was covered by a variety of stained glass portraits, each one decorated with the face of a different, attractive young woman. Later Negi could not remember the exact details of each girl's face, however, except for the one displayed on the portrait right before his face. It was a gorgeous face that combined the vitality of youth with the stern demeanor of maturity, framed by a long golden mane, and sparkling at its middle with the mismatched bright of a blue eye and a green eye.

Just like Asuna-san's eyes.

"This," a deep, strong male voice told him, "is your heart."

"My heart?" Negi repeated, thinking he had heard that voice before.

"So much to do, and so little time…" the voice mused, seeming to come from everywhere at once. "The times are upon you now, Negi. The times where you will have to fight."

"I have fought already," he said, standing up. "I have even faced and defeated the Queen of the Night, Evangeline."

"Your fights haven't started yet, Negi," the voice said. "Evangeline had mercy on you. Those waiting ahead for you will not. Protect those around you, and allow them to protect you as well. Only that way, you'll prevail where I failed. Don't make the same mistakes I made."

"The mistakes you…?" the young boy gulped, sweating despite how cold he was feeling. "Are you…?"

Negi felt a chill running down his spine, and then several of the glass panels flew in pieces, spraying sharp shards all around him, forcing him to back away on staggering feet, shielding himself with a sleeve and the staff. From the new holes on the floor, several small creatures rose, surrounding him quickly from all directions. Their bodies were dark and almost featureless, armed with long, clawed limbs; and their faces were marked by nothing but red glowing eyes above large, crooked grins full of long fangs.

Now Negi did feel a bit of fear.

But his battle instincts, that had been honed lately, during his training under the Vampire Witch of legend, took over for him almost instantly. "Rastel Maskir Magister!" he chanted. "Veniant Spiritus Aeriales Fulgurantes!" he added, and shot a barrage of lightning bolt discharges from his staff at the beings who were charging towards him.

The dark creatures flew in all directions, away from him, but while a few dissipated into shadows from the impact, the largest of them rose back and ran towards Negi, waving their members threateningly.

"Jovis Tempestas Fulguriens!" Negi growled, with a raw ferocity that bubbled up his chest, taking aim at the group of attackers and hitting them squarely with a wave of blinding light projectiles that skewered the menacing beings, destroying the remainder of them. However, the discharge shook him as well, and sent him down to his knees, forcing him to support himself on the staff, panting for air. "I'm…" he said between pants, "I'm not strong enough, not yet…"

"Live strong, but mostly, live happy, Negi," the friendly, warm voice told him. "And don't ever live alone. Find your mother, and make her happy as well. For she is the Key… one of the Keys…"

"What?" Negi blinked, his lower lip trembling. "My mother? I thought my mother was dead, that's what everyone told me at the village, why are you telling me this…?"

"Now, it is time to wake up," the voice said. "But never let your dream die. And remember; a little courage is the true magic."

"Father!" Negi cried, working back to his feet. "Father, wait! Don't let me-!"

The whole of the floor shattered, and once again, the darkness swallowed Negi, as there was nothing to hold him under his feet anymore.

"You will open the door, my son."

And then he woke up.

To be Continued.