Disclaimer: I don't own Negima. Akamatsu does.
Chapter 3: We forgive you
Negi walked through the village. Every alley and every street was filled with memories. There was the street where Anya had given him her wand and told him to train. There was the inn where one of the old men had let him taste his mead when Nekane was using the bathroom. There was the town square where the statue of the sorceress and the knight stood. He walked through the town as if in trance reliving the memories. Suddenly he collided with another person and sent the other to the ground.
"Hey! Watch where you are going!" It was a young woman, apparently in her late teens.
Negi stared; it was Anya, his oldest friend. He hurriedly offered his hand to her.
"I'm terribly sorry, I was lost in thought."
"About what; how to get out of this dump?" She smiled wryly as she pulled herself up.
"Dump?" Negi raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, dump. You new here?"
"I've lived here in the past." Negi admitted. "I only recently returned."
"Why?" She looked at him as if he was insane. "Everyone wants to get out of here except for the old guys who can't imagine living anywhere else."
"You really think it is so bad? It's calm and peaceful. That kind of stuff can be hard to find. "
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Anya shrugged, "I prefer excitement. As soon as I can I'm outta here, my best friend left a long time ago and I'm not going to sit around here while he's out there."
"Who would that be?" Negi already knew.
"Negi Springfield, he's the son of the Thousand Master. He left this hole seven years ago and
I want to find him. That's the second reason I'm going to leave."
"Sorry to rob you of that reason but you won't find him." Negi smiled.
Anya turned to him.
"What, how do you know that? Do you know where he is?"
Negi had an urge to keep the façade but he just didn't have the heart.
"He is standing in front of you." he said with a grin.
Anya's face was a perfect image of surprise. "N-Negi…" she whispered.
"Yes."
Suddenly Anya tried to slap him as hard as she could but Negi's hand shot up instinctively and blocked it. Anya stood still trembling with fury for a second and then she punched him in the face. "You big jerk!" She yelled. "What was the big idea acting like you didn't know me?!"
"Hey it was you who didn't recognize me." Negi countered,"You say you want to find me but you don't even remember my face."
"But – I – you." She sputtered. Negi raised a hand
"Enough." He said simply, "How about I apologize and we forget the whole thing?"
"Nope, won't do:" Anya said with a smirk, "you'll have to buy me dinner first." she dragged him off to the inn.
"Good afternoon Anya, how are things with you today." The innkeeper shouted when they entered.
"Better than ever," Anya fired of a dazzling smile, "Look who I found," she said as she pushed Negi into the middle of the room. "The lost son is home again."
For a few seconds everything was dead quiet, and then the room exploded with voices.
"Oh my god!", "It's really him," "Welcome home!" Negi was mobbed by the villagers who were ecstatic over his return.
"Open the larders," one of the old men shouted, "This call for a celebration."
"And get Stan and Nekane." Another shouted. "They gotta know."
The room descended into complete chaos as everyone ran back and forth. Within five minutes the main room had been decorated, the tables pushed together and an incredible amount of food placed on them. The entire village had been pulled into the room which was stretched out magically to accommodate them and instruments of every kind taken out.
"To tha' next Thousand Master!" Stan held up his mug proposing a toast. "May life nae get boring with 'im around!" The village roared its approval. The band started playing a wild song and dancing erupted throughout the room. Anya grabbed Negi's arm and pulled him out on the floor. "Dance with me." She ordered.
"As you command." Negi smiled as they whirled around in the dance. Negi noticed quite a few of the other girls looking at him. He smiled inwardly as he realized that he hardly would get away with just one dance. The celebration went on for several hours and Negi hardly got five consecutive minutes of rest before he was pulled out on the floor again. He silently thanked his lucky star for the spell he had developed to enhance his physique. Cantus Bellax, war chant, he called it; if Kotaro would find out that he was using the spell for dancing he would explode. Negi felt his spirit sink as he remembered his dead friend but he pushed away the memories and focused on having a good time. When night had fallen the villagers pushed him up on the bar. "Give us a speech laddie." Stan shouted. Negi cleared his throat.
"Everyone," he shouted, the noise died down everyone focused on him, "Thank you, when I came back to this village after being gone for seven years I asked myself if I would be welcomed with open arms or if you would despise me for running away and worrying you all." Singular cries of "no" were heard amongst the crowd. Negi continued. "If I would tell you everything I've been doing these last years we would be up until dawn and because it's Wednesday and you have jobs to go to tomorrow we simply have to skip that." Scattered laughers were heard.
"And at the same time I have to tell you that I'm not done yet. My travels are not finished; there are things I must deal with before I can come back home. My visit here is only temporary. Sorry but you'll have to wait for me a little more." Suddenly he was hit in the head by a staff. Stan had climbed up on the bar and smacked him.
"Dinnae yeh learned how ta' listen ta' people in yer travels?" He grinned, the mug in his hand obviously having been emptied many times. "Yer tha' next Thousand Master, we could nae keep yeh 'ere if we chained yeh to tha' ground. Yeh were meant ta' travel. Keep on traveling laddie, we dinnae expect anything else." The crowd roared its approval. "Now let's dig in!" He yelled, "Ah'm hungry like a wolf" The old man staggered and fell of the bar but was safely caught by the bartender.
"Perhaps you have had too much to drink sir." The bartender said.
"Nonsense Peter;" Stan got up and hobbled over to the table where the villagers were digging in on the food.
"Hey Negi, let's go outside, Anya said as Negi climbed down from the counter. "It's getting stuffy in here."
When they got out the Welsh evening air washed over them. Anya walked over to one of the benches near the fountain and sat down. Negi sat down beside her. They sat silently for a short while then Anya spoke up. "When are you leaving?"
"I don't know," Negi replied honestly, "I need to do some research at the academy; I don't know how long it will take but when I'm done there I'm off."
"Let me come along." The young girl said suddenly. Negi sighed.
"I'm sorry, but no."
"Negi please," Anya looked at him. "I'll go crazy if I stay here any longer. And you don't have to worry about me being a burden. I've trained, I graduated on top of my class and I know how to keep my cool in battle."
"Anya. I don't doubt you are skilled, you have always been sharp. And I know that you are brave too. But what I'm facing now is too dangerous for you. And I don't say that because I believe that you are weak but because I'm facing something that's so incredibly powerful that it alone could wipe out this village in an instant." Negi looked sternly at her.
"So what makes you think that you can challenge it?!" Anya raised her voice. "Unless you have forgotten I learned how to use magic before you. Have you become so stuck up that you refuse my aid without knowing anything about my talents?!"
"If you are so confident in your talents, let's duel." Negi realized trying to convince her was futile, he would have to duel her and show her. "If you manage to pierce my barrier I'll let you come with me."
"Deal."
They walked to the outskirts of town to the field that was used for duels and walked up to the marked spots where protective magic would ensure that even if the barriers were pierced they would not be hit.
"Classic rules?" Negi asked
"Yeah," Anya said.
"Negi took out a coin from one of his pockets and flipped it into the air. "Heads or tails?"
"Heads."
The coin spun through the air and landed, it was a tails.
Negi raised one arm and began to chant. "Rastel Mascir Magister, sagitta magica, series lucis forty-nine arrows, three volleys:" A swarm of dazzling white arrows spawned around him and rushed towards Anya who strengthened her barrier. They collided with her magic shield in a blinding flash. The barrier held and Anya began to chant but then she saw another wave of missiles approaching her. She dropped the spell and tried to raise the barrier again but the arrows hit her before she could focus. The barrier was nearly destroyed and Anya was thrown to the ground. Then she saw a third wave approaching. She tried to leap away from the missiles but she didn't have the speed to do that and the arrows tore her barrier to shreds.
"I win," Negi said.
Anya got up slowly from the ground, her face an unreadable mask. Negi noticed she was trembling slightly. Suddenly she ran off towards the forest.
"Anya!" Negi ran after her.
Anya ran as fast as she could through the forest but a root caught her leg and she fell. Negi reached her and grabbed her.
"Let me go!" she yelled.
"Damn it Anya stop it." Negi suddenly saw he face, she was crying.
"Don't look at me!" Anya sobbed as she tried to turn away.
Negi leaned down and embraced her. Anya struggled first but after a while she returned the embrace. They stayed in that position for a while. It was Anya who broke silence.
"Take care of yourself okay?"
"I will."
"God I feel like crap," Anya sniffled, "I'm sorry for overreacting like that Negi. It's just that you disappeared so suddenly and there was nothing I could do to help you. I always heard about how your father had left you and you had to live alone in your uncle's guesthouse. I wanted to help you, to see you smile. And then you vanished, I felt like I had failed. And now there is nothing I can do to help you."
"Did I say that?" Negi looked at her with a smile. "No, I didn't, you can't follow me but if you want to help me there are a lot of things you can do. Help me search through the libraries. Stan said you worked there. I was actually going to ask you that." He pulled her up, allowed her to sit down on the root and hunched beside her. "Let me ask properly; will you help me with my research Anya?"
"I will, what do you need?" Anya had regained her composure.
"The writings of Merlin. Specifically his writings on magic oaths and contracts and how to break them."
"That'll be tough." Anya spoke in a businesslike ton. "They are in the restricted part of the library and you'll need special permission to take a look at those. The only one I could imagine would allow you access is the Magus."
"Then it looks like I have to seek him out." Negi rose and offered his hand to Anya. "Want to go back to the party now?"
"Okay." Anya took his hand and they walked together back to the village.
Sun had risen again and Negi awoke as the first rays of light hit the village. He got out of bed and dressed himself. He walked outside into the cool mists that still rolled along the streets. His steps took him into Nekane's garden. It was filled with life of all kinds. Flowers, fruit trees and bushes filled the fenced-in garden. Negi took a deep breath and started moving in elaborate patterns. His body gradually lost its stiffness and he moved on to the next stage, his body sped up and his movements became swifter and more powerful.
As Nekane walked out towards the kitchen she passed the windows, she noticed that there were someone out in the garden. When she looked outside she saw Negi, her first thought was that he was dancing. Then she saw the strikes and kicks he threw against the air. Some kind of shadow boxing perhaps? She stood in the window and saw him moving faster and faster until he was a blur of motion. He suddenly stopped and exhaled. Nekane looked at her cousin with awe, so smooth and graceful! He looked like an acrobat. Negi was startled when he suddenly saw his cousin in the window. He smiled sheepishly as he hurried inside.
"Good morning sis," he said when he entered.
"That was amazing Negi," Nekane looked at him with pride in her eyes. "Where did you learn that?"
"Seven years on the road," He shrugged, "I learned a little bit of everything."
As they ate breakfast Nekane asked Negi the question she had been asking herself.
"You are determined to go through with your plan aren't you?"
Negi stopped eating and looked at her.
"Yes, I'm sorry but I'm not done yet. I have to save that girl. I can't sit here knowing that she will die and suffer in Malfeas' realm unless I do something. I have to do something. Power means responsibility as the saying goes."
Nekane nodded. "That's what I expected; I just wanted to hear your reason." She smiled. "And know this; you will always have a home here."
"Thank you."
