A/N: This little fic is probably going to disregard the latest arc involving 3-A's trip to the Magic World and the whole bit with Fate Averruncus, assuming that Negi stayed at Mahora after Chao's arc until his class graduated. So far just a one shot, although I do have a few ideas of where I might like to go from here, including a crossover with Atlus's RTS game, GrimGrimoire - which I wholeheartedly recommend for the story, if not the game mechanics.
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Allen yawned. When he'd taken this posting, he'd somehow thought guarding the main branch of the Everlasting Wind would be more exciting, but his function these days seemed to be pretty much that of a gopher. He patted himself down before he remembered that the little book of candidates was in his jacket pocket. He flipped through it briefly. Only four candidates were on the list to come before the council today; another slow day. The kids just weren't as gung-ho about helping the world these days. The position of Magister Magi was still a very respected one, but none of the young'uns were willing to work for it. Everlasting Wind was suffering from a serious lack of new blood. And those that did weren't anything much, anyhow. Nobody since the wars had shone the way the Thousand Master had. Hell, Takamichi was the brightest to come out of the NGO in the last decade, and he was hardly a mage at all!
He stepped through the open doorway and scanned the room. The waiting room was huge, with dozens of comfortable plush chairs and dominated by a pair of fountains and a number of enormous bay windows, allowing the waiting applicants to look out over the surrounding countryside. Yet the place was almost deserted - besides the reception desk that was practically hidden by one of the fountains, there were only three people lounging in the arranged seating: two young boys and an older gentleman with a distinguished-looking goatee were sequestered among the scattered seats.
His eyes went back to his schedule book, alighting on the first name. "Negi Springfield?" he called. A slight boy in a trenchcoat that was curled up in the nearest overstuffed armchair jumped to his feet, setting down his magazine with a eager yet jittery look on his face. Nerves, probably. A quick glance told him it was the back issue of Ars Magica that featured the article on Takamichi T. Takahata.
"Yes!" the boy almost shouted. Definitely nerves. Negi bowed, eastern-style, his floppy hat almost covering his eyes as he did so.
"Follow me," Allen said simply. "It's not much of a walk to the head honchos."
They set off, Negi a step behind. The boy was silent, but trying to look everywhere at once, like an eager puppy.
"So, do you not have a partner?" Allen probed, noting the boy had come alone. He rather doubted it; considering the boy's handsome features, he'd probably have to beat the potential partner candidates off with his mage staff, despite his youth. Fourteen or so, perhaps? Younger than sixteen, for sure. "Ah, well, they wanted to come, but I wasn't sure if it was allowed, so…" the boy flushed. "I kind of snuck away while they were arguing, just me and Kamo."
Allen snickered. "Ah, more than one. You lucky dog." The boy flushed deeper and was about to object – no doubt "It's not like that!" – when a furry head popped out of his trenchcoat. Allen inclined his head towards the ermine. "Kamo, I assume?"
"That's right," the animal said, puffed up with importance. "Kamo, advisor of the soon-to-be-Magister Magi Negi Springfield. Who're you?"
"I'm Allen Callahan." Was that ermine smoking a cigarette? How did nicotine affect animals, anyway?
The magical creature gave him as piercing a look as he'd ever seen from an ermine. "Allen Callahan, the Red Fox?"
"Ah… yeah." Allen found himself flushing at being recognized. He'd never been very good at the whole fame thing. Negi looked at Kamo questioningly, who elaborated, "He's famous, almost as famous as Takamichi. He's like Mana, a partner of a now-deceased Magister Magi," the small animal lectured. "Possibly even more dangerous than the mercenary girl. He got his hands on a particularly powerful magical weapon called Gaebolg, a spear that supposedly when used always scores a fatal blow." The boy's eyes widened in recognition at the name of his weapon. Hmm, a fellow magical-weapon nut, perhaps?
Allen raised an eyebrow. "Are you stalking me, little animal?" That was a lot of information about him to know off-the-cuff.
"What's such a famous guy doing working as a door guard?" Kamo countered.
"It's been awhile since I've had a vacation," Allen lied blithely. "This job qualifies." The path that had led him from world-renowned adventurer to glorified door guard was something he just wasn't touching, especially not on a first meeting.
At the end of the corridor was a transport point used mostly for the occasional tourist, a little room with an oculus in the ceiling open to the sky. They stepped onto a large, hexagon-shaped piece of metal, which rose smoothly into the air without benefit of anything supporting it. Negi's eyes widened comically, but not from fear. From this vantage point they could see for miles – which is why Allen had led them this way. He thought the young Magister candidate might appreciate the scenic route the levitation disks offered. The boy looked around in amazement at the magically-aided, incredibly lush surrounding countryside. The area functioned almost like a feudal system, with Everlasting Wind providing the security for the farmers in the area, bought their food at good prices, and shipped it to various places in need in both worlds. There were many ways to help, and strong magister magi were few and far between, doled out to hot spots around the world. Food was always appreciated, though. Allen nodded to himself at Negi's eagerly-roaming eyes, confirming it.
"Is this your first time in the magic country?" Negi nodded, his eyes still darting around and a wide smile on his face. Something about his boyish enthusiasm made Allen want to look out for him, and he wondered if it was intentional on the boy's part. He suspected not. "We'll arrive at the council hall in a few minutes," he offered. "The full council won't be in session, not for inducting a new magister, but I think there's at least six Magisters on hand to judge you." He paused to see that the boy was listening to him intently, and added, "They're good people for the most part, but a lot of them are caught up in tradition. Stuffy, you know? A show of respect might help you here."
Negi smiled a bit nostalgically. "I'm used to unreasonable demands from my master. I don't think they will have anything on her."
"I'm sensing a story there," Allen mused.
"Oh, I have a few good ones, but Evangeline-san said that I should try to keep her name out of things." The boy's handsome face twisted into a frown. "I gather that she is not well-liked in the Magic World, perhaps even feared."
He seemed offended on her behalf, ready to champion her cause like any knight of legend. Allen let it go, obviously having touched a nerve.
They traveled in silence for a few moments before the floating disks docked, allowing them to continue their journey on foot. It was only another minute's walk to the large main hall, a handsome building featuring a variety of murals, mosaics and statuary of famous Magister Magi gone by, topped by a sparkling white dome.
Allen placed his hand upon the door - huge and heavy with scrollwork and fanciful designs - and focused his magic in such a way as to unlock its enchantments. Anyone who attempted to enter by force would have an unpleasant surprise - several, in fact - waiting in store for them. The door opened into a huge, perfectly round room filled to the rafters with seats of all shapes and sizes. Ornate golden thrones stood next to lawn chairs, which shared row space with Lazy-Boy recliners and silk divans.
"Every magister can bring his own chair," he murmured when he saw Negi's staring. "Now, you're on your own. Good luck, boyo." Allen stepped to the side, and slouched against the wall beside the huge double-doors they had entered through.
"Ah, Negi Springfield," an aged voice murmured. Negi's eyes finally came to rest on the five magisters seated near the back of the room in a rough line. Of the five, only one was a woman, an austere young lady with her hair in a bun and a pair of delicate silver-framed glasses perched on her nose. Two were practically carbon copies of the Mahou Academy's principal, right down to their 'crazy old coot' grins. Seated a little ways from the previous three was a serene man with long black hair clad in robes in a sparkling rainbow of colors. And even further than the long-haired man from the main group was a growly black bear of a man, very obviously a mage knight type. He looked like he could break Negi in half without even trying.
"Welcome, magister-candidate," one of the elderly magisters said. "We'll be looking at your record since leaving the Academy of Magic, to see if you have what it takes to become a magister."
"Thank you!" the boy said, smiling cutely and dipping his head in a small bow.
The tranquil man in the kaleidoscopic robe began chuckling as he looked at a paper that must hold Negi's record. "Ah, I thought the name sounded familiar! Did you know they are already calling you the Harem Master, young man?"
Allen jerked a little. "Holy crap, that's you?" He'd heard stories.
The boy frowned. "I wish people wouldn't call me that. It sounds demeaning to the girls."
"How many partners do you have?" Allen sounded fascinated. Negi paused, thinking. "Well, Asuna and Konoka-san and Nodoka-san and Yue-san and Makie and Iincho and Ku-sifu…" he trailed off, counting mentally. "Twenty or so?" he hazarded a guess.
Allen looked like he was about to explode, but the old man who seemed the nominal leader redirected the conversation with, "That is rather impressive. But I admit to being more concerned with some of the other things on your file."
"Rescuing the kidnapped daughter of Japan's Lord of the West, stopping the rising of an ancient demon-god, and playing an instrumental role in preventing a world-wide magic recognition spell that would have exposed the magic world," the huge magister offered gruffly. "And that was just in the first year out of the Academy. This kid sounds like the best candidate to come along since Nagi."
The woman spoke, her voice hard. She recited, "Freeing the Shinso vampire with 6 billion on her head, the Gospel of Darkness, from her seal. What did she offer you in exchange, boy? Magical training? Or something a little more… physical?"
"Evangeline-san isn't like that!" the boy protested firmly. "She's a good person. She has helped me many times."
"She's killed thousands!"
"She must have had a reason," he responded loyally. "You don't know her. She keeps trying to convince me she's evil, but I know better."
The woman protested, "That is ridicul -"
Before she could say another word, Allen made a sound of surprise as the doors at his back banged open, sending him stumbling, and a stream of girls came through with cries of "There he is!" and "Found you!" and "Sensei!", among other things, including at least one call for a party in celebration. He briefly wondered how they'd gotten through the door's enchantments when he really registered what was pouring past him.
Teenaged girls of every shape and size flooded into the room and rolled over the magister candidate in a brightly colored wave. Spear-heading the charge was a blonde and a redhead in shining armor - they'd obviously come in their pactio outfits - and they were all dressed... well, he couldn't speak for the magisters, but he was impressed. Allen picked out at least one traditional chinese outfit among the crowd, a few in mage robes and pointed hats, a maid with a gymnastics ribbon, a ninja, a harlequin in jester motley, more than one in traditional Japanese clothing, kimono and hakama and eboshi and other things he couldn't name and - wow, was that a robot?
Allen thought he heard a surprised "Wah!" before Negi was lost in the tightly-packed throng.
Allen smiled at the flummoxed magister magi. "Perhaps a brief recess?" he suggested impishly. The woman and the man in rainbow robes were looking offended at the indecorous display, but the elders were smiling, and the hulking magister in worn leathers was laughing himself sick.