A/N: 1. Thank you again for all the support.
2. I forgot to mention that I made a couple of edits to chapter 9. If the author's notes refer to the wrong chapters of Unequally Rational and Emotional, you haven't seen the last version. No major changes though.
3. OverMaster has said that the chapter of Unequally Rational and Emotional that crosses over with this story is going up today, so I decided that I better get another chapter out so that you guys aren't too far behind.
"Well, I guess that everything worked out all right in the end." said Konoka as they walked back to Anya and Chisame's room.
"It's still a worrying situation." said Yue.
"Oh lighten up!" dismissed Haruna, "Our first magical battle was a success! We achieved everything that we needed to. We should all go out and celebrate!" They opened the door to reveal Satomi who looked like she was in the middle of changing. She stared at them.
"Did you say something about wanting to go out and celebrate?" she asked.
"Um…" Anya smiled nervously as she began to sweat, "Well, did you hear anything else?"
"Not really." answered Satomi shrugging, "It's a little muffly through the door."
"Well, yes." sighed Anya in relief, "Haruna was suggesting celebrating our latest achievement for The Library Exploration Club." Satomi's face lit up.
"Then you should come to the best place to celebrate on campus! The Chao Bao Zi's delightful atmosphere and delicious food along with specials which are affordable for even the most desperate student are perfect for any celebration! Come to Chao Boa Zi for the greatest nikuman in Japan!"
"Why does she sound like an advertisement?" asked Anya.
"Hakase works there part time." replied Chisame, "You've never noticed because she usually leaves from her lab."
"Yes, but I ran out of clean uniforms at the laboratory." explained Satomi with a hand behind her head, "So I had to get a spare from the room."
"Couldn't you just wash them?" asked Chisame.
"Anyway," continued Satomi, "I'm on my way to work now. Why don't you come with me?"
"The Chao Bao Zi is a good restaurant." said Konoka as she touched her cheek and raised her eyes in thought.
"Are you recommending it?" asked Anya.
"Remember how Hakase sometimes brings food back from the lab?" asked Chisame, "That's always from the Chao Bao Zi. As are the nikuman that Chao-san and Satsuki-san sell in class." Anya remembered. Those were delicious. She also remembered that the Narutaki twins had claimed that the Chao Bao Zi was the best restaurant on campus when she had her tour with them.
"Then let's do it!" she said throwing an arm into the air. It wasn't everyday that you defeated a robot in combat and that food was delicious.
"You should come too, Chisame-chan." said Haruna as she leaned forward, "After all, you helped."
"All right." Chisame sighed. She was only doing this for the food!
/
They gave Satomi their orders on arrival but hadn't seen her since. In fact, a different familiar face served them their food. "I can't believe that we forgot that she works here!" said Chisame with a horrified face that matched everyone else's.
"I haven't poisoned the food." said Chachamaru, "Yotsuba-san and Chao would not be happy if I had and I shouldn't make one of the people who helped build me angry."
"Of course," thought Anya, "not even Satomi is good enough to build a robot as advanced as Chachamaru. It makes sense that Lingshen also worked on her."
"You're right!" said Konoka, "Itadakimasu!" She then dug in. Feeling a bit more relieved the others joined in.
"So, why would Chachamaru mention Satsuki and Lingshen specifically?" asked Anya.
"Yotsuba-san is the chef and Chao-san is the owner." explained Yue.
"Lingshen owns a restaurant?" asked Anya, "Isn't she a bit young for that?"
"Look who's talking." mumbled Chisame.
"Well, she is a genius." shrugged Haruna.
"She also employs Ku Fei-san." continued Yue.
"L-look, there's Yotsuba-san now." indicated Nodoka.
I hope that you're all enjoying your meal. said Satsuki as she walked over.
"Yes, thank you. It's great." said Anya and everyone else agreed.
Is this for a special occasion? asked Satsuki, I've never seen you here before, Anya-sensei.
"I…had to deal with some discipline issues with Eva and Chachamaru." explained Anya.
Well, please don't confront Karakuri-san here. said Satsuki, The other customers came here knowing that there would be a peaceful atmosphere as we forbid any forms of violence here and I would not like to disappoint them. My dream is to have my own restaurant…so I can bring happiness to people with my food…I can assure you that neither Karakuri-san nor McDowell-san will disturb the peace here.
"…Oh, that's all right." said Anya flapping a hand dismissively, "…It's pretty much sorted out now. That's why we're here to celebrate."
Well, I hope that you enjoy yourselves and that I'll see you more often. smiled Satsuki, Though I hope that no student has to get into trouble for that to happen.
She left them to attend to some other customers. "She said that Eva wouldn't disturb the peace here." said Anya, "Is that true?"
"Well, there's a rumor that Yotsuba-san is the only one that Eva-san admires." said Haruna.
"That's rather impressive." commented Anya.
/
"So, they're celebrating, ne?" asked Chao.
"Affirmative." confirmed Satomi.
"So, they defeated Chachamaru, ne?" Chao pressed.
"The data supports that hypothesis." replied Satomi.
"Hmmm…" pondered Chao as she rubbed her chin, "It's good that they are getting stronger, but to defeat Chachamaru so easily is a problem. We may have to upgrade her. We'll need to wait until after my ancestor's arrival though. We don't want McDowell-san to have too large an advantage against him, nor do we want her to discover my identity."
/
"Faster, Negi!" ordered Nekane.
"Ras tel mas…" began Negi.
"NO!" interrupted Nekane, "Your activation key is for power! Speed is usually more important when it comes to defence. If you can't put up a barrier before I hit you, then it's meaningless!" She sighed, "Maybe, we should take a break and then go back to target practice. Flinging rocks at you all day isn't as productive as I hoped. By the way, did you get a response from Anya about Chamo?"
"No," panted Negi, "the last letter I received from her was the one in response to me letting her know that I had arrived back."
"That is a little suspicious," considered Nekane as she touched her chin, "but maybe the post is unusually slow at the moment. Let's not worry about it for now."
/
A few days later, Anya noticed that Eva and Chachamaru were absent again. Chamo had not been happy about letting Chachamaru go and she could see his point, but Chachamaru did not seem like a killer. Still, she supposed that she should listen to him and make sure that they were not skipping class for nefarious purposes. She received their address from Ako and headed off with her partners. Chisame was grumbling about having been dragged into things again. "Why doesn't Eva live in the dorms?" asked Anya.
"The most popular rumour is that she can't spend large amounts of time surrounded by bricks or her fingernails will fall out." replied Haruna.
"Yes, I'm sure that's the reason." said Chisame sarcastically.
"You can all wait outside." said Anya, "I'll call or summon if I need you, but it'll be considered an act of war to walk onto enemy property with an army."
"So apparently, we're child soldiers now." commented Chisame.
/
"Anya-sensei…" said Chachamaru as Anya walked in, "Good day. Do you have some business with the master?" She was wearing a maid outfit and carrying a tray of tea.
"Oh…" said Anya, "Er…Sorry about the fight."
"As am I…" said Chachamaru as she bowed, her tray lowering below Anya's head.
"Where is Eva?" asked Anya.
"Master is ill." replied Chachamaru as she turned away.
"How could a vampire be ill?" asked Anya.
"You've got guts, coming here all by yourself." smiled Eva despite her flushed face from the railing where she was sitting in her nightclothes, "My magic is weak, but don't you realise I could just strangle a little brat like you to death?"
"Master, you shouldn't leave your bed…" complained Chachamaru.
"Eva, why weren't you in class this morning!-?" asked Anya, "I know enough about vampires to know that the flu won't affect them! One as old and powerful as you is even immune to most of the weaknesses of your kind!"
"Oh!" said Eva as she stood up on the railing, "You're pretty smart aren't…"
"Splat!" went Eva's face as it met the floor. Anya walked over cautiously and touched Eva's head.
"She has a fever!" said Anya, "You were telling the truth!"
Chachamaru helped pick her up and said, "Please let her rest in the bed on the second floor, apart from the flu, Master is also allergic to pollen."
"But she's a shinso, high daylight-walker vampire!" yelled Anya in disbelief, "One whom adults and children alike in both worlds feared!" They placed Eva into bed.
"As I tried to explain before, without her magic, Master's body…" began Chachamaru, "…is no different from that of her original body: That of a ten-year-old girl."
"Really?" asked Anya.
"Anya-sensei…" began Chachamaru, "…I am going to meet a trusted contact at a university hospital in order to obtain some effective medicine. Can you please look after master until I return? I have to feed the cats too…"
"Me?" asked Anya.
"Yes…" replied Chachamaru, "As you are a teacher, I have decided that you are dependable."
"Er…okay." said Anya.
/
Anya contacted her partners to let them know that she was fine and did not need them and looked after Eva while Chachamaru was away.
"S…stop." mumbled Eva in her sleep, "Th…Thousand Master…Wait…S…Stop it…"
"She's dreaming about The Thousand Master." thought Anya, "He's the one who defeated her. He's Negi's father. Negi would do almost anything for information about him. I don't suppose it would hurt if I had a peek."
"Fortis la tius lilith lilioth! Nympha somnii, regina maeve! Portam aperiens ad se nos alliciat!" she chanted.
/
Anya gaped. If this was how The Thousand Master had defeated and sealed Eva, then it was really rather pathetic. Was he really as much of an idiot as he seemed in the dream? Did he really only know six spells off by heart? All hail Nagi Springfield! The Six Master! It just didn't have the same ring to it. For goodness sake, a mage who only knew six spells should be considered an absolute beginner or utterly incompetent! When Eva woke up, she was not happy that Anya looked like she had been spying on her dream and had chased her out. Anya certainly had a lot to think about. At least Eva and Chachamaru were back in class the next day.
/
"…Well?" asked Eva.
"It is as we expected. The Thousand Master's curse is in the form of a barrier upheld by the magic power of another master." explained Chachamaru, "In order to encompass the entire campus, this barrier consumes an enormous amount of electrical energy."
"Hmm…and to think I had no idea for over a decade…" pondered Eva as she touched her chin, "but for a mage to rely on electricity…hmm…he's a pretty high tech person isn't he?"
"I am also a high tech person…" said Chachamaru.
"Well that's that." smiled Eva, "Now we can finally execute our ultimate plan, right?"
"That is correct." replied Chachamaru.
"All right then. It'll all go as planned tonight. Hehehe…When I think about the shocked look on that girl's face…Hehehehe…" Eva laughed, "Hahaha! (It'll be hilarious!)"
"…" said Chachamaru in a Zazie imitation.
"Hm?" asked Eva, "Something worrying you, Chachamaru?"
"N…no…um…that is…" replied Chachamaru, "…I am sorry Master. Anya-sensei has already made provisional contracts with four partners."
"WHAT!-?" yelled Eva, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THIS!-? Who are her partners!-?"
"…The partners are Ayase Yue, Saotome Haruna, Hasegawa Chisame and Miyazaki Nodoka. I…don't know why I didn't report this." explained Chachamaru, "I am sorry."
"Hmph. Well, whatever." dismissed Eva, "We'll just have to bear their interference in mind."
"Master, I will accept any punishment you deem necessary." offered Chachamaru with a sad face.
"That's all right." dismissed Eva with a wave of her hand, "I'll be in trouble without your help tonight."
"Master…" began Chachamaru.
"We have five hours before the plan starts." said Eva, "Let's go, Chachamaru."
"Ah, Master…" Chachamaru said as Eva took off…and landed flat on her face.
"Auuuu!" cried Eva.
"Ah…" said Chachamaru as she knelt down to tend to her mistress, "Master your nose is bleeding…"
"Ugugu! Humans can't even fly! This is so inconvenient" complained Eva, "Grrr…This is all the Springfield family's fault! Just wait! After tonight's plan, I won't have to wait until the full moon to enslave that Anya! Tonight I will feed on her and make her mine! Then, I'll use her to lure the son of The Thousand Master here so I can be free!"
/
"What's going on?" asked Anya as she approached the mass of shopping students.
"Ah…Anya-sensei…" said Haruna as she turned around, "Don't you know Sensei? There's going to be a simultaneous blackout tonight from eight to twelve."
"It's done for maintenance purposes twice every year here in the academy district." explained Yue.
"Of course!" remembered Anya, "I've had other things on my mind."
"It looks like the weather's going to get worse too." commented Madoka as she carried her supplies, "It's a bit scary, isn't it?"
"Really? I think it's exciting!" Sakurako replied, "I'm looking forward to it!"
"I wanna go play at school in the dark!" announced Fuuka as she ran ahead.
"All the elevators and street lights will be off." said Misa, "None of the students are allowed outside."
/
That night, all the lights died. "Uwah! The blackout has started!" said Fuuka.
"Uu…I want to go out and play!" complained Fumika.
"There are ghosts out on nights like this-de gozaru!" warned Kaede.
"Then why are you going out?" asked Fumika.
"There is something that I need to check-de gozaru." replied Kaede, "Get into bed and I'll be back before you know it."
/
"The electricity to the barrier has stopped. Hacking backup system…successfully completed" announced Chachamaru, "Conditions are optimal. Your powers should be returning Master."
"Heh." smiled Eva, now in her adult form, "Go, my servant!"
"Aw, man!" complained Yuuna as she clutched a towel, "They turned the power off!"
"And we're still in the bath!" agreed Ako, "This is all because you wanted to go to the baths no matter what, Makie!"
"What's wrong, Makie?" asked Akira as she touched Makie's shoulder, "Makie, are you all right?" Makie looked over her shoulder towards them and grinned, revealing fangs.
/
Omake:
/
"Okay," said Sereg, "the blackout's started. What do you do?"
"I cast Sagitta Magica at the darkness!" replied Anya.
A/N: 1. I decided to take the opportunity to deal with some stuff that needed to be dealt with eventually.
2. In light of some questions and comments by Andmeuths both in reviews and pms, I'm going to clarify a few things:
I thought that it was obvious, especially from some of Chisame's comments, but I'm following the manga. That won't stop me from using other continuities for certain things, which will become obvious later on, but the manga is what I'll mainly be following. Asuna won't randomly die on her birthday.
Anya does, of course, like other pettankos. You can get a rough idea of how much she likes someone by their breast size. This means that after Chisame, the closest students to her are Yue, then Nodoka, then Makie. She's also pretty close to the rest of the Library Exploration Club and Baka Rangers from spending a lot of time with them.
As I tried to illustrate at the end of chapter 9, the artifact represents less what the ministra is like and more how the magistra sees them. Anya's first impression of Nodoka was that she fell down some stairs and hurt herself, going to class in bandages the next day. She stutters and faints and extremely shy. As such, Anya sees Nodoka as vulnerable, fragile, in need of protection and gentle. This is why Nodoka was given a relatively non-violent artifact made of bandages. Of course, Nodoka is quite different in battle, but Anya doesn't know that.
On the nature of Nodoka's artefact: Covering the bandages with a substance would not be automatic, but Nodoka is a munchkin and very intelligent. It would be very in character for her to carry around potions to dip her bandages in to make them more effective weapons. (Thanks for the idea) The length of the bandages is effectively infinite, but she has to be able to see them to maintain control. Wrapping behind an object is the most complicated thing she can do without eye-contact. As for the number, no she can't use ten thousand at once, she's limited by the number of bandages in the box. I'm calling it fifteen. The bandages are pre-set at natural linen, but are actually as strong as thick hemp rope. Of course, there are probably spells that could modify this. Could you enchant them to be fire-whips or break through magical barriers? Sure. But deactivating the artifact will cause it to lose any enchantments that you've provided. If the mass of the bandages was somehow increased, then yes, it would take correspondingly greater effort to use them. Nodoka's control over the bandages is a property of the bandages, not her. As such this doesn't suggest an affinity for telekinesis. I've actually already decided Nodoka's magical affinity and you should see it next time she uses magic (though that's not within the next few chapters)
On the limitations of Chisame's power: I'm glad that its potential is being recognized, but it's a tad more limited than you've suggested. Yes, a full suit of Ariadne Valkyrie
Battle Armour is viable, but the sword would not come with it. On the weapons side, she's pretty much limited to things like spiked armour, gauntlets, brass knuckles and rings. Most weapons are loose and therefore not viable. Shields are okay if they are strapped to your arm, but while she could summon a scabbard or quiver, they'd be empty as swords and arrows are not attached to or wrapped around you. All summoned clothes are unenchanted when they first arrive, though they could be enchanted afterwards. Clothes which include advanced technology would require understanding of the technology to produce, so while Chao could theoretically use it to make duplicates of her Cassiopeia battle suit, Chisame couldn't. (Also, the magical parts would have to be added afterwards). Unfortunately, any outfits created by the artefact revert after its deactivation, so Chisame can't store them up. Still, she can make designs and see what works for future reference.
On the possibility of Nodoka using two artefacts at once: I'm interpreting a statement from Ken Akamatsu as meaning that using two pactio-granted artifacts at once cannot be done without special training unless you have youkai blood or similar. I see it as similar to Kanka and as such, Asuna would have the easiest time with such training. Nodoka is capable of learning, but it would take her longer.
On comparisons between Anya's artefacts and Negi's canon artefacts: Yes, Haruna's and Yue's artifacts do have similarities to Kaede's and Nodoka's canon artifacts. These canon artifacts are usually more useful, but Anya's artifacts have slight advantages over them. I have intentionally tried to do that with all the artifacts that I have designed. Make them powerful, usually less useful than one of Negi's canon artifacts, but having advantages over said canon artifacts.
On the possibility of Yue's artefact being modified for other purposes: It's an intriguing idea. It would be difficult, but with Yue's intellect and enough time, it should be possible, especially if she gets hold of the artifacts plans like canon!Yue could get hold of information on artifacts using her own. Whether there's an opportunity for this to come up remains to be seen.
On the limitation's of Haruna's artifact: Avoiding being absorbed by the Patria Pigmenti is equivalent to avoiding having a hula hoop placed over your head. Pretty much dodging, grabbing the edges or taking out the wielder are your only options. If you have Jack Rakan's power could you break out? Yes. Because if you have Jack Rakan's power you can pretty much do whatever you want. It's basically a similar level of difficulty to breaking out of Tamaki's artifact, though of course you can't affect the wielder while you're inside. Can Haruna affect it from the outside? Not mentally, but she can drop things into the painting. The barrier is merely a mild discouragement. If someone wants to get in, they'll do so easily. And yes, charging into the painting whilst it's occupied would free the prisoner. As I said, it's very easy to do. Haruna is capable of entering the artifact, but without outside help, she'd need to dismiss it in order to get out...And now that I think about it, yes, she would definitely do that.
On the paths of light and darkness and the direction of this fic: Yes, Anya's pretty much on the path of light here, as the path of darkness would require her to become far more powerful to become effective. You might actually call her canon self a follower of the path of darkness as she has no partners there. It didn't work out so well for her there. There will be someone who follows both the light and dark paths more closely than they do in canon though, which I guess makes them a follower of the grey path that Eva told Negi he should follow in his recent "dream thing". Note though that Anya isn't planning any of this at all. She's pretty much just winging it and using what she has available out of desperation. She doesn't really want a load of partners at the moment. She's too traditional. Now, I'm going to admit a case of Author Appeal. Teamwork is one of the things that I like about Negima, so I'm deliberately writing in a way to make it more important.