Disclaimer: To Aru Majutsu no Index and all associated characters, settings, and concepts are the intellectual property of Kazuma Kamachi and ASCII Media Works, and I claim no ownership.

_VOLUME 1_

Chapter 9

Recovery

Stoker's_COFFIN.

Part 1

The red-haired high school student known as Arakuyo Kenji stood in what he assumed to be Narake's bedroom, staring at the blonde-haired witch that just the other day had been his enemy. He had his arms raised in a defensive position, and was glaring at Tia Greenhart in alarm and anger.

Greenhart stood across the room, rather calm in contrast to Kenji's intense reaction. She wasn't posed to attack, and in fact appeared to be completely unarmed.

"So, I'm guessing you two aren't actually friends, then."

In the middle was Nakare, who wore a look of mild confusion across her face. It was clear that the facts she had been given were far removed from the reality of the situation. She focused intently on her two guests, likely trying to figure out what the real relationship between the two was.

"I'll ask again," Kenji grit his teeth, "What are you doing here?"

Greenhart looked at Nakare and sighed before turning around towards the door. Not looking back, she addressed Kenji.

"Like I said, we need to talk… in private. I'll be in the hallway just outside the apartment. It's your decision if you want to trust me or not, but right now, I'm the only chance you have at saving that person. Choose wisely. I'll be waiting."

With that, Greenhart left, leaving Kenji alone in the room with Nakare. The raven-haired woman seemed to be intensely mulling over what Greenhart just said, trying to ascertain the situation from the short exchange that just took place.

Kenji himself was similarly trying to piece together what was going on. From what Nakare had told him, she had found him with a friend, and she seemed to have been under the impression that he and Greenhart were friends until Kenji's outburst.

So, if Greenhart was this friend Nakare was talking about…

"Did…. did Greenhart heal me?"

"Nakare-sensei," Kenji spoke, turning to the raven-haired woman, "I need to make one thing clear. That woman, Tia Greenhart…. she was with me when you found me last night, right?"

Nakare nodded, "That's correct. I came looking for you after I noticed something was wrong, but by the time I found you, she was hauling you around on her back. I don't know where she was planning on taking you, but when I suggested bringing you here she seemed fine with it. She seemed worried about you, so in the end I let her stay the night."

Kenji sighed. There was no denying it now. The person who had saved him on the roof was undoubtedly Tia Greenhart.

"But… why?"

Kenji had been searching for an answer to his question when Nakare spoke up abruptly.

"You shouldn't keep her waiting, you know."

"Huh?" Kenji responded, having been caught off-guard by the comment.

Nakare sighed, but then answered, "Greenhart-san. She said she'd be waiting out in the hallway for you."

Kenji sighed, turning his head towards the door with a hesitant look in his eyes.

"Yeah, but…"

Nakare held her hand up and shook her head, "I don't know the relationship between you two, and I don't know exactly what's going on, but she mentioned there was someone you wanted to save. When she said that, you tensed up, so I assume that wasn't a bluff. This person, they're important to you, then?"

"Y-yeah," Kenji replied, a little wary of mentioning anything about Miyako to one of his teachers. Still, Nakare had already caught a glimpse of the world Kenji had fallen into upon meeting the vampire. Answering a vague question like that would be fine.

"Then this is important," Nakare nudged him towards the door gently.

Kenji paused for a moment, wary of the witch who waited just outside Nakare's apartment. Yet Kenji knew there was some merit to Greenhart's words. He didn't have the slightest idea as to where to find O'Reilly and Miyako, and by now they could easily be outside of Academy City. Greenhart was his best chance at tracking O'Reilly down and rescuing Miyako, if she was truly willing to help him.

Ultimately, there were so many unanswered questions at this point that talking to Greenhart would be the only way for him to get a good feel for her motivations.

"Alright," Kenji replied finally, turning towards the door. As he reached for the doorknob, however, something that Nakare said earlier jumped out in his mind.

"W-wait a minute," Kenji turned around to face Nakare, "Earlier you said you came looking for me when you 'noticed something was wrong', but how did you know I had gotten myself into trouble?"

Nakare's eyes widened and she immediately averted her gaze.

"Um… well, about that…." Nakare began, "You see… uh… well… sometimes scientists like to… protect their assets…. and subjects… you know?"

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Kenji asked.

"Well... I may have implanted a small device that allows me to monitor your AIM field and vitals remotely," Nakare admitted, speaking so fast that Kenji had almost missed it.

Almost.

"YOU WHAT!?"

"You collapsed in the lab! Your AIM field's instability is clearly something to be concerned about!" Nakare replied, trying to defend herself.

"You could've told me about it before I left the hospital!" Kenji retorted. The red-haired Esper let out a deep sigh and turned around back towards the door. "Well, whatever. I guess it's fine. Anyway, I'm going to talk to Greenhart, so I guess I'll see you later."

Kenji made his way out of Nakare's bedroom and squinted his eyes as they adjusted to the brighter light that filled the rest of the apartment. It was considerably bigger than Kenji's dorm and considerably messier too, with notes and bits of electronics scattered about wherever there was a flat surface to place it on. It took Kenji a few moments to realize that the cluttered area to his right was a small, open kitchenette.

After glancing around the messy apartment, Kenji made his way to the front door and took a deep breath before reaching out to open it.

"Um, Kenji-san…"

Kenji turned around to see Nakare standing in the doorway of her bedroom, looking at him with concerned face.

"Yeah?" the red-haired Esper asked, turning around to face her.

"You're still not wearing a shirt…"

Part 2

When Kenji finally emerged from Nakare's apartment, he found Greenhart sitting cross-legged on the floor of the hallway, reading what looked to be a really old book. Even as Kenji slipped out of the apartment behind him and closed the door, the blonde-haired witch continued to gaze down at the tome in her lap.

Kenji was about to announce his presence to Greenhart when she looked up and met his gaze.

"Arakuyo Kenji..."

Greenhart pulled herself off the ground as she spoke, standing up fully and giving Kenji a very complicated expression that he couldn't quite read. As she stood, she reached into her pocket and produced a small vial filled with a pale yellow liquid and held it up for Kenji to see.

"This is a healing potion made from a vampire's blood and refined using a specialized ritual. I don't know if you're already aware of the healing abilities a vampire's blood possesses, but even a few drops of this would be able to heal broken bones or deep gashes. I used this to heal you."

"So… you were the one who healed me, then…" Kenji noted, Greenhart's words only confirming his suspicions. Kenji didn't trust Greenhart, but he didn't have any particular reason to doubt her, either. He knew that his overnight recovery was more than likely the result of magic rather than medicine, and the very fact that she had bothered to show him the potion at all only further validated her claims. Now that Kenji had seen the vial, he could easily ask her to show him the vampire extract at work. If she had been lying, she wouldn't have bothered showing him the vial at all.

Still, there was something even more pressing that Kenji needed to ask. Even accepting that Greenhart had healed him, there was something that didn't add up in the red-haired Esper's mind.

"Why…?" He asked, more to himself than to Greenhart.

The blonde-haired witch arched an eyebrow at Kenji and tilted her head to the side.

"Why?" she echoed quizzically.

"Why did you heal me in the first place? I hate to admit it, but I totally lost. If you hadn't healed me, I would've died, right? I'm the only one who knows about Miyako-san, so with me out of the way there would've been no one stopping you and O'Reilly from leaving Academy City. You would've succeeded in capturing Miyako-san. That's why I don't get it. What reason would you have for betraying your previous goals so suddenly like this?"

The blonde-haired woman sighed and nodded.

"Right… about that... It's not like I had any intentions of hiding it anyway. Although this probably runs counter to my actions so far, the truth is that I'm not actually a member of the Irish Catholic Church."

"Wh-what!? What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly that. I'm not a member of the Irish Catholic Church. I'm actually known as a rogue magician, or a magician that doesn't associate with any magic organizations or sects. It's different to being a mercenary, because I usually don't work with magical organizations at all, even if it were for money."

"Hang on," Kenji interjected, "If that's true, then why are you working with O'Reilly?"

"I was getting to that."

Greenhart held up the yellowed tome she had been reading earlier. Upon closer inspection, the cover of the leather-bound book had some sort of magic array inscribed upon it.

"This might not look like much, but it's an old grimoire that's been passed down through my family since my great-grandmother created it. Not only does it hold sentimental value for me, but it also contains my most powerful spells. A while back, however, the Irish Catholic Church managed to get their hands on it, and they've been using it as leverage to force me into cooperating with them ever since. Actually, it's thanks to your interference that I was able to get it back at all. If you hadn't broken my staff, no… even before that. If you hadn't been persistent enough to attack me in the first place, I don't think O'Reilly would've even given it to me at all."

"So, now that you have it back, they don't have any more leverage to control you? But wait… why would O'Reilly give you the one thing keeping you cooperative?"

"You're right… O'Reilly is a calculated and cunning man. There's no way he'd give me back this grimoire without having some other way of insuring I'd keep working with him regardless."

Greenhart waved her other hand and the grimoire automatically flipped to a specific page on its own. She looked at the page for a moment and frowned before turning the book around to show Kenji. The pages looked normal enough at first glance, but when Kenji looked closer he noticed a row of glowing red runes running up and down the pages right next to the gutter. Many of the characters were standalone, but some of the runes had lines running off of them and dipping down into the center of the gutter and disappearing into the book's spine.

"These runes are a type of remote detonation spell that will destroy the spine of the book on a simple command. My guess is O'Reilly will activate the descruction spell the instant he finds out I betrayed him. However, there are two crucial things I managed to figure out from this spell. The first is that this spell is relatively short range, meaning that the source of the spell couldn't be in a place like Ireland. The second is that these runes come from a completely different branch of magic than what O'Reilly is accustomed to, meaning that there's probably some sort of item acting as the source of the spell, rather than O'Reilly himself."

Kenji nodded his head as soon as he realized where Greenhart was going.

"I see. Defeating O'Reilly would give you the opportunity to find that item would give you the chance to remove the spell from your grimoire, but you can't simply attack O'Reilly yourself because he'd just destroy it the second you turned on him. You want my help because I want to defeat O'Reilly to rescue Miyako-san, so we'd both benefit. That's why you healed me, right?"

Greenhart smiled and nodded.

"Precisely. Moreover, because of O'Reilly's plans, now is the perfect opportunity to strike. I'm pretty sure you realized this already, but it would be hard to smuggle a kidnapped girl from Japan to Ireland. In fact, if Miyako Mizuki was just a normal girl, O'Reilly would have a hard time making it back to Ireland at all. However, O'Reilly possesses a special magic item that would make the task of transporting Miyako back to Ireland effortless. It's a specialized prison for vampires known as 'Stoker's Coffin'. It's a coffin that takes advantage of a vampire's biology and forces them into an artificially 'dead' state. On top of that, it's an easy way to imprison vampires for extended periods of time. Miyako herself could probably be kept in a regular prison, but normal vampires, who don't need to rely on items to channel their magic and have an incredible amount of destructive power, would be difficult to keep captive otherwise."

Kenji nodded.

"So that's how he was planning on transporting Miyako-san… But wait… How does that make this the perfect time to strike O'Reilly?"

"The first Stoker's Coffin was a magically primitive item made with magic over 100 years old. It has no real way of determining whether a vampire is sealed within it or not. Therefore, as a safety precaution, a certain amount of time is needed to unseal the Coffin to prevent someone simply releasing a vampire on a whim. Even though O'Reilly's coffin is a replica, and not the original, it still works off of that same basic principle. The unsealing ritual he has to perform usually requires four magicians and six hours to complete, but because he's working alone, it will take him about a day to complete it. On top of that, while he's performing the ritual, he'll be forced to stay within a certain distance from the Coffin and he'll be pouring much of his magical energy into the ritual. In other words, while he's unsealing Stoker's Coffin, he'll be both restricted in movement and unable to perform his most powerful spells. It will be the ideal time to strike."

"Hold on," Kenji noted, "If it usually takes four magicians to unseal Stoker's Coffin, why aren't you helping him with the ritual? Actually, wouldn't he expect you to be wherever he's hiding right now, instead of helping me?"

Greenhart shook her head, "The magic I use isn't compatible with the Coffin. It uses some kind of prayer-based channeling technique that I don't understand, so I don't have any capacity to unseal the Coffin. Also, since O'Reilly thinks you're dead, he doesn't need me around to act as a bodyguard. After leaving you at Nakare's, I returned to where we've been staying and told him I was going to rent a hotel so I could sleep in a real bed. Then I came back here."

Kenji nodded, "So, right now, O'Reilly is confined to a specific place, and he's currently drained of most of his magical energy?"

"Pretty much," Greenhart confirmed the situation.

Kenji crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a moment before turning to Greenhart and nodding.

"Then let's go. Take me to O'Reilly. I'm not going to let him leave with Miyako-san!"

Part 3

"We're almost there."

Greenhart was leading Kenji as the two jumped from rooftop to rooftop, making their way towards O'Reilly's current location. The two had left shortly after finishing the breakfast Nakare had made for them, and had traveled about halfway across District 7.

"We're getting pretty close to where my dorm building is."

Greenhart turned back to look at Kenji and nodded.

"Yeah. We moved around a few times, but once we found out where you were staying, O'Reilly picked a location close by to monitor your actions and choose an ideal time to strike."

Kenji frowned, but said nothing as the two continued to run across the rooftops of District 7. Eventually, they came to a building that was far enough away from the buildings on the other side of the street that it Kenji wouldn't be able to jump across.

Luckily, he didn't need to. Greenhart crouched down and pointed towards a closed-off building across the street.

"We're here. It's that building."

Kenji followed Greenhart's arm until his gaze fell upon an abandoned parking garage across the street. Kenji walked up to where Greenhart was and crouched down next to her to scout out the place.

"So, O'Reilly's there, then?"

The parking garage was a relatively new building that was supposed to utilize a space-efficient lot design, but was never finished and sat awaiting its scheduled date of demolition. Since Kenji lived nearby, he had heard of many rumors regarding the reason it was left unfinished. The rumors ranged from ghost stories to a simple lack of interest for a large parking garage, but the only official documents Kenji could locate simply stated the design of the structure was deemed unsafe due to its lack of internal support pillars.

Regardless of why it was never completed, it was a relatively sturdy, near-finished building that made a perfect location for O'Reilly's plans.

"If I go in before you, O'Reilly will expect me to help him fight you," Greenhart replied, "Also there's a possibility O'Reilly will make the connection between your survival and my absence last night. Instead, I think I'll be better for me to lay low out here."

Kenji nodded, "That's fine. I can take O'Reilly on my own, I just needed you to take me here."

Kenji leaned over the edge of the roof, as though he were planning to leap down. As he leaned forwards, however, he paused and turned back towards Greenhart.

"Wait," he began, "Can you tell me anything about O'Reilly's abilities? I fought him briefly yesterday, but I have no idea what kind of techniques he still has up his sleeve."

Greenhart sighed and shook her head, "Unfortunately, O'Reilly's always send Earthwyrm or myself off to do most of his dirty work. I can't imagine vampire hunter of the Irish Catholic Church wouldn't be accustomed to fighting, but he definitely likes to sit on the sidelines and direct others, when at all possible. Sorry I can't tell you much about his spells."

Kenji's eyes lit up and he grinned, "That's fine, that's all I needed to know, Greenhart!"

Kenji lept off the roof, making sure there was no one around and softening his fall using his Density Shift. As he landed, he immediately began rushing off, but not towards the abandoned parking lot.

"Wait!" Greenhart called from the roof, "Where are you going!?"

Kenji turned back around and smirked, "I never charge into battle without a plan, this time I just need some extra preparation!"

The red-haired Esper turned back around and continued running off, heading in the general direction of Fubushima Academy. As he sprinted, something in his left hand caught the light and glinted brightly as he rushed off to his school.

The object in Kenji's hands was an plastic ID card, but it wasn't his. Instead, the face and name of Nakare Mizuho was printed clearly on the card.

"I'm sorry, Nakare-sensei… but I'm going to need to borrow a few things from or school's lab…!"

As the red-haired Esper thought this, he charged down the streets of the shopping district on his way to the school, a plan formulating in his mind.

"With this, Miyako-san…. I promise I'll save you!"

Part 4

In the abandoned parking garage, at the center of the concrete expanse that made up the top floor, sat a lone figure and a box with a glowing array fanning out from a decorative cross on its center.

The magician of the Irish Catholic Church, Brian O'Reilly, opened his eyes to glance at Stoker's Coffin as he sat before it, maintaining a stiff posture as energy visibly radiated around him. It was a cold, dark red energy not unlike the color of blood, matching the glowing runes spread across the surface of the Coffin.

He studied the Coffin's intricate metal adornments carefully, as though there were something in them that only he could see. After a few moments of this, he closed his eyes once more and the radiating glow intensified around him.

The rest of the parking lot looked empty on an initial glance, and it would be hard to blame anyone for thinking it was such. After all, aside from the glowing red light from Stoker's Coffin and the light filtering through the gaps in the walls around the perimeter of the expansive floor.

In such a low light environment, it would be difficult to notice that there was someone else present in the room.

Sitting near the corner of the room, placed against one of the large support pillars that sat in each corner of the structure, was the tied up form of Miyako Mizuki.

The green-haired vampire sat motionless, her eyes closed and her breathing rhythmic as though she were sleeping. In actuality, she was wide awake, but she was bound and gagged and trying to do anything at all would be nearly impossible for her. All struggling would accomplish at this point was letting O'Reilly know that she was awake, which could incite numerous different unsavory reactions from the white-robed man.

In her mind, it was only a matter of time before he finished his ritual and she would find herself inside the coffin.

"Damn… I really thought coming here would've worked…" Miyako thought to herself, referring to her decision to smuggle herself into Academy City in the first place. She had assumed that the Irish Catholic Church would limit their actions within the bounds of the city of science as to avoid upsetting the delicate political balance that the magic side had struck with the science side.

Yet here she was, sitting in the hands of an Irish Catholic magician ready to be hauled off and taken to some cathedral to be studied and treated like an animal, if even that.

Regular vampires were notoriously hard to kill, and while Miyako doubted that she could obtain the same level of regeneration without magic, it meant she could suffer a lot of abuse before she died.

Yet even the idea of that fate was not in the forefront of her mind.

No. Even though she was staring such a cruel fate in the eyes, her mind wandered to thoughts of a certain red-haired Esper.

The last time she saw Kenji, she had just been impaled by O'Reilly. She had no way of knowing he was still alive. In fact, it wasn't unreasonable for her to assume quite the opposite. He had fought O'Reilly, and from her current state she could tell he lost.

She had lost Kenji as well.

At least, that's what she assumed.

With very little warning, a hole about a meter in diameter appeared in the ceiling near the center of the parking garage as concrete dust that once made up the solid roof began floating down and settling on the floor below.

"O'REILLY!"

Even as Miyako lay there, she couldn't help but open her eyes in shock and surprise.

She knew that voice.

Kenji dropped down through the hole in the roof and landed on the ground, immediately moving into a more offensive position. As he held his arms up in loose fists, he cracked his knuckles and glared at O'Reilly with rage burning in his eyes.

O'Reilly lept to his feet and stepped back in alarm, the magic from the unsealing ritual still radiating off his body, rising upwards in slow wisps. The ominous glow made him look intimidating, but when Miyako caught a glimpse of his face, she was surprised by what she saw.

It wasn't like O'Reilly was weak or cowardly in nature. No, any man who could stare down the fearsome creatures known as vampires in battle without running could not be considered a coward.

Even still, the look of pure fear on O'Reilly's face was unmistakable.

"O'Reilly! I've finally found you, you son of a bitch!"

There was something different about Kenji's voice. Something Miyako hadn't detected during his fights with Earthwyrm or Greenhar. It was something almost sinister, like a dark rage that burned beneath Kenji's words as he glared at the white-robed magician.

"You… how did you…!?" O'Reilly spoke, glaring at Kenji dumbfoundedly.

"I'm back from hell, O'Reilly! Here and now, I'll crush you and send you crying back to Ireland empty handed! Miyako Mizuki… I won't give her up to anyone!"

To Be Continued...

AN: Here's the next chapter, right on schedule.

Things are really starting to heat up, and as Volume 1 quickly approaches its climactic finish, I thought I'd let you guys in on how I plan to handle the writing and uploading of Volume 2.

In truth, I've already started Volume 2. In fact, I was more or less finished with Volume 1 before I even started uploading it. Now, things changed a little and I wound up reworking the last couple of chapters, but for the most part I had a near-final draft of the Volume finished before I started uploading. This is to ensure that I have plenty of time to flesh out each chapter in the volume and keep the story consistent. Now, I plan on doing the same thing for Volume 2, so after I finish Volume 1 it may take a short while before I'm back to uploading once a week.

Anyway, thanks for reading! As always, I love hearing responses from you guys, so feel free to leave a review and tell me what you guys think. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and for now at least, I'll be back with another one next week!