A/N: Well here I am once again with chapter 7 of Papermoon. For reference they are in a fictional city in England that I created. I need to do some research on London (because it's the headquarters of the Spellcaster Council) before the plot can move there. Also for a large part of the chapter Sora will be explaining the history of the spellcaster council and different factions so that segment will be entirely in italics like the dream sequences.
Disclaimer: I do not own Rosario + Vampire.
Chapter 7: Sora's Reveal
Mizore hated the plane ride. It was hot, uncomfortable and there were too many people. Her sour attitude was kept hidden so that Tsukune wouldn't try to talk her out of it. As soon as they had landed Sora had gone ahead to find their hotel leaving only a note with the address of their restaurant meeting place and a prepaid cellphone for Tsukune to hold onto.
Try as she may she just couldn't keep her sourness for very long as the city that they had landed in was quite amazing. The architecture and design of the buildings as well as the medieval feel to some of the areas was amazing.
"Wow, it's almost like going back in time" Yukari said excitedly as they walked through the city. "I can't believe that there's a city like this here."
"I can't believe that we were actually able to come here" Kurumu stated just as excitedly as Yukari.
Mizore couldn't help, but grin at the childlike wonder all of them were experiencing here. Tsukune and Moka kept walking around looking at the different locations until Ruby broke the silence.
"Shouldn't we begin heading to the restaurant Sora-sensei set for us to meet at?" she asked.
"Yeah, we should head there before some lecher decides to try something" Kokoa agreed as she nervously glanced around her.
Grinning Tsukune nodded and took out the address. Changing directions the group began to walk towards the restaurant.
Upon arriving at the restaurant Ruby requested that they just sit around and wait for Sora to show up. With everyone in agreement they found a place on the sidewalk and sat down taking the time to admire their surroundings.
"You know I can actually live in a city like this" Yukari said. "I can still feel nature enough to use my magic and I can stand the business here."
Ruby nodded in agreement with her. Sora appeared soon after that running down the street to meet up with them.
"Sorry I'm late" he quickly said. "The damn hotel manager got caught up in talking about the different ways of signing in he had seen during his travels and wouldn't just let me get on with my business."
"That's alright we were just having a nice conversation about this city" Moka stated with a grin. "It's quite a nice place. How did you find out about it?"
"Actually I live here" Sora replied a grin spreading over his face. "I'm currently renting out my house to a friend so we're using the hotel instead."
"Nii-san, that's amazing!" the once again excited Yukari said. "I can't believe that you are so luck as to live here."
The others were slightly shocked by what he had just told them.
"So is that the reason you told us to meet at a restaurant?" Mizore asked, becoming genuinely curious.
"Yeah, I'm friends with the owner so I thought it would be nice for me to pop in and say hi" Sora answered before turning to the door. "Now let's go get some food."
Inside the restaurant they saw that it was full of knick knacks and odd junk that was being used as decorations.
"Quite an odd taste in decor" Kurumu said as she glanced around the waiting room.
"Well don't let it reflect badly on the owner. He truly is a great guy" Sora said after hearing the succubus' comment.
After being led to a table and presented with their menus everyone, but Sora and Moka seemed to be confused by all the writing.
"Do you think that he could make this any more convoluted?" Tsukune asked as he tried his best to read the menu.
"Well, he does love to mess around with his customers" Sora answered a grin spreading across his face. "To understand this menu you need to realise that it is written upside down and backwards. That's why there are mirrors on each of the tables."
Grabbing the mirror Kurumu instantly tried what Sora suggested.
"Oh that makes sense now" she said as the list of items became clear to read.
Once the waiter came over to take their orders Sora assisted Kurumu, Mizore and Ruby with their English while Moka, Tsukune and Yukari easily were able to give their orders. After around ten minutes of waiting the food was brought and they were finally able to eat.
"Oi, its Sora" a man said in English. "Man, is it ever great to see you kid."
Looking up from their meals the students saw a muscular man come over towards them and grab Sora squeezing him tightly.
"It's great to see you too Aaron" Sora gasped as the man squeezed him tighter.
"So who are you?" Aaron asked in near perfect Japanese.
The group gave him their names before Aaron began to speak again.
"So, how do you know the sprout over there" he asked them a gigantic smile appearing on his face.
"He's our English teacher and my older brother" Yukari answered.
"Oh, so you're the one who he used to dote on day and night. I remember hearing all sorts of stories about you" Aaron said.
Sora just sat in his seat a scowl replacing his usual smile.
"Aaron we do not need to recollect my past now, do we?" he asked.
"Oh so sorry Sora, I forgot that you don't want to discuss that with your sister" was the response given by Aaron.
Sora's scowl didn't leave his face as Aaron continued to speak completely ignoring the dark looks he was getting.
"Sora quite commonly would end up deeply in trouble due to his attitude with the other city folk. I had to keep quite a leash on him to make sure that he didn't do anything really stupid." Aaron said.
"So, how long have you known nii-san?" Yukari questioned the man.
"I've known him for around 12 years. I was the one that took him in after he had to be abandoned by his family" Aaron answered his expression slightly darkening at the last part.
"What do you mean that Sora was abandoned?" Ruby asked Aaron. This was news to her, she had only known that he was an outcast from the spellcaster community.
"He means that I was a failure as a spellcaster as such upon Yukari's first birthday I was to be banished due to my lack of skill."
Everyone's attention was turned to Sora who had answered Ruby's question.
"It's quite common for different youkai cultures to have different rules and regulations. I understand the reasoning behind my banishment, but it doesn't help my resentment against the spellcaster council at all" Sora continued, sighing slightly before resuming. "I believe that now would be the best time to explain this. Normally a spellcaster doesn't learn this till their coming of age ceremony, but now I truly need to make an exception."
"You can use your old room Sora" Aaron said as he indicated the stairs heading up.
"Thanks, Aaron. Come on everyone bring your food if need be" Sora said as he started the climb up the stairs.
After reaching the top of the stairs the entire group followed Sora into a fairly large room. In this room was a collection of random junk and papers that cluttered the floor.
"Is this Aaron's stuff?" Moka asked slightly unnerved by the mess.
"Sorry, but no. This is actually my crap from before I moved to the academy. I had to leave important documents here or else things would have gone up in flames at the school" Sora answered as he quickly tried to make the room even slightly presentable.
"What was so important that you had to tell us in secret?" Kurumu questioned, her eyes alight with curiosity.
"Well, there are numerous different groups of spellcasters. Almost all of them must answer to the spellcaster council. Now the spellcaster council is made up of a single representative from every branch group. The main family or witches and wizards have the largest stake in the council as they are claimed to be the original spellcasters. However this wasn't always the way things were as a sorcerer managed to bring in a new order before being cut down in battle" Sora said beginning his tale.
Witches, Wizards, Sorcerers and Sorceresses believe that they are the original and most important clan of spellcasters. Other clans of spellcasters included the Armourers, the Summoners, the Alchemists, they synergists and then the Sealed Ones.
Now the Armourers are spellcasters who can form a powerful suit of armour that gives them the physical strength to match or even outclass the vampires. A severe problem that Armourers encounter is the lust for blood that spawns from this power. The Summoners are much different from most other spellcaster types as they can call upon spirits of creatures from other worlds with unimaginable powers. However the flaw here is that they slowly destroy their psyche by using these powers. The Alchemists don't really have much power aside from being able to form or create new objects through the means of scientific magic. They can't really defend themselves with these powers and are usually kept under close watch by the council. Next the synergists are spellcasters used to support other casters. They exist to build up the strength of whomever they are assigned to and are rarely ever visible on a battlefield. Finally there are the sealed ones. These spellcasters are kept under very close scrutiny and are watched from birth due to their unimaginable powers. Not many exist, but those that do are kept in the dark about their powers until their coming of age ceremony.
Back in the early 11th century a sealed one by the name of Endymion came into existence. Bearing powers above and beyond those of any of the spellcasters in power at the time. Not even the wizard Merlin could stand against this young man when his powers were invoked. At this time in history while the crusades were raging in Israel back in Europe the spellcasters planned their usurpation of the continent. The military force was formed and all who were there were willing to sacrifice their lives for control. Other youkai races ignored this silent uprising that had been started and soon came to regret it.
Endymion was taken in by Merlin as his student soon before the uprising began. Following his master's teachings Endymion avoided all contact with the other spellcasters during the beginning moments of the war. After nearly two years of conflict had occurred Endymion became curious and ventured out into the real world to see what had happened. Upon entering the war torn world he discovered that the spellcasters had won the war and taken complete control over the entire planet. This bothered the young sorcerer and so he began a secret quest to reverse what had happened.
His travels took him all around the world where he witnessed nothing, but destruction and fear. This feeling angered him and he decided to fight back against the spellcasters. There was only one flaw with his plan and that was the seal that bound his powers inside him. Unable to fight at his full power he became a symbol to be mocked and ridiculed.
This did not deter his determination as he travelled back to Merlin to have his master remove his seal. Once he arrived he found his master had left and only a small vial containing a crimson and silver sludge remained. Out of pure anger and a feeling of betrayal Endymion downed the sludge without any thought as to what may happen to him by drinking it. Much to his surprise Merlin had known what his student was returning for and had prepared the release to his seal. Without his seal Endymion could feel massive amounts of power flowing through him and returned to his quest of building up an army to defeat the spellcasters.
After a decade of travelling and fighting the sorcerer had finally gathered an army of like minded souls willing to sacrifice their lives to defeat the menace of the world.
A massive battle erupted between the spellcasters and the rebel movement in Britain. Led by Endymion the rebels managed to take the advantage quickly downing thousands of warriors fighting for the spellcasters. Upon reaching the main citadel Endymion entered alone to eliminate the council that had taken its place there. After fighting his way to the room being occupied by the council he discovered something about himself that could save the entire world.
This sorcerer had the ability to eliminate a flaw in time. Anything could be fixed by this power and he could reverse what had occurred and prevent the spellcasters from attempting this takeover. Taking the time to prepare himself Endymion confronted the council members and activated his power reverting everything that had occurred to a sick nightmare.
After everything was set back to the way it was meant to be Endymion created a new council that was made with the purpose of preventing another issue such as that. Endymion died 150 years later becoming a legend for many reasons. This council has been around in the same style since that time and has prevented any uprisings from occurring. There are many rumours about Endymion's descendants, but alas all are just rumours.
With that last line Sora finished his story about Endymion.
"Anyone have any questions?" he asked while Aaron walked into the room with a few cans of drink.
"Nii-san, does this mean that you are one of the Sealed Ones?" Yukari questioned him, her eyes burning with curiosity.
"Sadly, I am not." Sora answered quickly before awaiting other questions.
"Why would this story exist if the world had been changed so that none of it occurred?" Kurumu asked.
"A very good question indeed Miss Kurono" Aaron replied. "The answer to that would be the fact that this story was told by Endymion himself. This man and a few others were the only ones to remember what had occurred and that they had returned the world to a state of peace."
Sora nodded in agreement before speaking up.
"This story has been labelled as a silly myth by many of the spellcaster community as a way to avoid the sins of their past and to keep moving forward. However there are those that believe that they have found one of Endymion's descendants and are determined to gain control of everything that their ancestors lost. That is the real reason that I came to Youkai Academy as a teacher was to find and protect the descendant of Endymion."
Tsukune, Ruby, and Yukari were ready for this information. Kokoa, Moka and Kurumu were greatly shocked and Mizore had her suspicions cleared.
"So sensei, you're teaching licence is fake?" Kokoa asked innocently, hiding the devilish smile that tried to creep up and out of her.
"Actually, that is a real teaching licence that I had earned after completing college" Sora replied as a huge grin spread across his face as he turned to the red haired vampire. "However I'm actually part of an organization working to unite the youkai and human worlds known as Looking Glass."
"Does the headmaster know about your reason for being at the school?" Kurumu asked Sora.
"Yes, he is the one that requested my being there in the first place" he sighed. "I wasn't going to tell all of you originally, but after what happened with Miss Shirayuki, I believed that it was time to reveal this information to all of you."
All of them just sat there for a few moments before Sora decided to speak again.
"To be honest, I was sent to the academy to safeguard Miss Akashiya from the spellcasters because they seem to believe that she is the descendant of Endymion that they were looking for."
"How can I be the descendant of a spellcaster, I'm a vampire" Moka quickly said.
"It doesn't come from your father's side of the family Miss Akashiya. It comes from your mother's side. It's why your sisters aren't being targeted" Sora stated trying to keep everything under control.
Tsukune took everything in and worked at processing what had just happened. He knew that Sora had come to protect Moka, but he didn't realise that there was something this serious riding on it.
"So you're saying that we need to prevent the spellcasters from getting to Moka and if we can prevent that then there won't be any severe conflict?" Tsukune asked after he finished figuring out what was going on.
"That's not really all there is to it" Sora said. "I'm sorry, but you've all just been pulled into a violent conflict that won't end until Miss Akashiya is either dead or belongs to the spellcasters."
Moka took extreme offense at being referred to as a tool so she shockingly spoke up a lot like her inner self.
"So am I just some tool that both sides want advantage of?" the anger was quite clear in her voice as she asked this.
Sora sighed before looking at her. "No" was his answer. "If anything believe me when I say that I am trying to protect you from becoming a tool. No one knows if you can truly access this power and in my personal opinion I don't really give a damn about whether you can or not."
His harsh response was unexpected by everyone except Aaron.
"Relax Sora, I don't think you need to lose your cool over this" Aaron said. "Come with me and let them think through what you've just told them."
Obediently Sora stood up and left the room. Now alone the group sat there contemplating what to do next.
"I'm going to trust Nii-san" Yukari said, breaking the silence.
"I have to agree with you Yukari. Sora has yet to give me any reason not to trust him" Ruby said as well her cheeks going slightly red as she said it.
As Tsukune watched them he grinned as he spoke up. "Well, Sora did teach me a way to be a better guardian. I'm going to trust him as well."
Moka knew she couldn't keep her distrustful attitude any longer. After the last three had agreed to trust Sora, she was ready to answer as well.
"I know that he is trustworthy. I'll trust Sendo-sensei as well" Moka said. "However, I do believe that I should go apologize to him first."
With a sheepish look on her face the pink haired vampire rushed out of the room to find Sora.
After Moka had left those still in the room began to search around to see if they could find anything interesting about their teacher.
"What's with all the costumes?" Mizore asked as she found a trunk filled to the brim with them.
Inside she found objects such as hats, coats, boots, shoes, masks and cloaks among other things. Beckoning to the others to come over they began to sift through the trunk.
"What's with the top hat?" Kokoa questioned as she pulled out a silver and blue hat from the chest.
"I'd probably say that nii-san has a dress up obsession" Yukari answered.
When they reached the bottom of the trunk they found a set of papers laying there. Picking up the papers they found information on every member of the spellcaster council as well as information on every teacher at Youkai Academy.
"What is he up to?" Ruby silently questioned as she was handed the papers. Quickly sifting through them, she instantly replaced them in the chest and they placed the costumes back in as they heard the sound of climbing footsteps.
"Oh, you're all still here?" Sora said as he came in with Moka. "Just so you all know this place is where we'll be staying for the next month."
The group looked at him incredulously. Tsukune just smiled inwardly as the two had already talked about a lot of what was going to happen once they came to England.
"I lied about there being a hotel. I was late for completely different reasons, so please go and find yourselves each a room" he said sheepishly.
As they exited the room Sora noticed that his chest had been opened. Grinning to himself he let out a slight sigh before thinking about what the next day would bring to these curious kids.
End Chapter 7
A/N: Okay so how did you enjoy this long chapter? From now on most of the chapters will be around this length as there is a lot of story and character development I have planned for the rest of the story. And yes there are going to be quite a few 'Alice in Wonderland' references as Looking Glass is an organization that uses this as their way to identify themselves and it will also come through in some of their personalities. Another thing is that my inspiration for Endymion comes from a 'Yugioh!' card of the same name. From here on out the main cast understands what is going on so there will be more fights. Also expect inner Moka to finally make an appearance in the next couple of chapters. Once again please review and let me know what you think.
