Ha ha. Oh well, here we go. I have nothing to distract me, the things I have been reading have run dry, and my projects are complete, and anything else I have to do can't be done, as I'm on vacation..and while that would normally slow down my writing, I'm not going to let it do so. Ha...it looks so odd, to have this story with exactly a thousand more hits than the other version..Oh, I got back the number of favorites I used to again...maybe the other person came back? Or maybe I have a new one? I think I know what happened, but with so many names listed...it's hard to keep track.

Oh come on...I've got a headache now, and that Tylenol ain't helping any...true they tell you take two pills and I took one...but there was only one in the bottle, what was I supposed to do?! I'll write the migraine away! Oh, Last chapter, I realize I rushed the battle scenes, and I let it go too quickly in fear of not being able to at all, so it's full of typos...darnit! Also, for the month of March...I was just 60 hits away from hitting three thousand form the United States alone. My good lord. How did you all do that? The most hits I ever had for a month in total was around two thousand, that month, it was over the half way mark of five thousand....

Anywho..Galerians…you have no idea how much grief that chant gave me. The Latin translator died on me for loss of words, meaning that from the first paragraph, I had to rely on my own wits, substituting words I wanted for ones that meant the same thing, and my own brain's knowledge in Latin...as for light touching Eva's heart...perhaps you shouldn't give up hope...or maybe you should abandon that hope and fall into the hands of darkness, giving it the chance to consume those two whole...

...and Holy Smokes! My computer just turned into a beast. Or at least it seems to run like one to me. Until today, I was running Windows XP on 256 MB of ram. I got tired of waiting for my family to figure out what ram was and went out and bought two 512's to stick in here, giving it a gig total ...I.E came up in three seconds, WordPad in two...! It usually takes about a minute and a half...

I don't own Negima.

Chapter Thirty Four: Seeds

Negi gave a half hearted smirk as Anya charged at him and nearly tripped over her own two feet. She recovered enough to send her fist crashing into his Deflexio however, it's blaze being neatly canceled out by it. She found herself struggling against an invisible shield.

"Uggggnnnh...come on, break!"

He shook his head at her efforts and instructed her to go back where she started from and run at him again, without tripping this time. She had lost too much momentum there. Obediently, she went back and charged him again, but once more, her fist ablaze did nothing against his Deflexio, and she nearly broke her nose against his shield when she couldn't stop her charge.

"Ahh!...Owww..."

Nevertheless, she had learned a lot in her time under him. Besides the combination fire and lightning arrow and her fire enhanced fists, she had continued to strengthen her own Deflexio spell and fire arrows, and she had also nearly mastered the spell Negi had dubbed "Nova Shield", which he had used himself during the festival, creating a barrier of fire around himself to send exploding out. She also nearly mastered another one of Negi's spells, Burning Circumference, better known by its Latin name, "Igneus Ambitus."

Anya, Anya...take things slower, will you? You've got potential, and I'm teaching you, but...

She still couldn't get "Cage" though, the spell Eva had once mistaken for "Fire trap." It also discouraged her that she simply could not shatter Negi's simple Deflexio... She charged at him again, only to simply bounce off the barrier and land on her rump, eliciting a cry that made the boy cancel his spell and come to her with some measure of concern, but Yue, who had been standing by, got there first, whipping a band aid from one her pockets.

Contrary to popular belief, that does not equal incredible, quick success, not always.

Like Nodoka, she was prone to accidents in the library when heavy books were at stake, so you could expect her to carry such things with her, key difference was that Yue was less clumsy, so she carried less preparation. Negi waved away her band aid irritably, but his voice undermined his facial expression. He looked her over once before proclaiming her whole and helping the girl up.

"Come on, nothing's broken...."

Anya and Yue had bonded somewhat in their combined efforts during the festival, even if they had been caught rather quickly. (In essence, neither of them really had much of a clue what they had been doing, making Yue's artifact, a book and broom, practically useless, save embarrassing her with the suit up it gave.) That didn't stop Yue from practicing however, and it didn't stop Anya from wanting to improve. She wanted to be useful next time...so Negi wouldn't look at her like some extra baggage...

I wanna be strong enough so he'll recognize me...He saved me, but what if he gets in trouble...?

It was Monday, during the after school hours, which Negi was all but happy to notice. Truth be told, work was about the only thing that allowed him to go through life without having to really think, not about anything to serious anyway. Teaching English, or the occasional substitute gig in which he delved into other areas of his expertise, was easy to do, it required near zero effort on the boy's part.

It's times like these that I'm not sure if I love being alive, if I hate having life, or if I can simply take one day at a time...

Self analyzing however, was something he felt would one day kill him. Negi shook his head as Anya condensed fire into her fists again, making the girl stop as he watched Setsuna run quickly up to Asuna, bringing out her pactio item to slam against Asuna, who was holding Yuunagi for this battle.

"Your stance is awkward Asuna-san, move your feet so, get a better grip on the blade with your arm like that..."

"Asuna-san, to the left, she's going to come at you from the left!"

Setsuna sent the red head skidding back, but when she charged in again, Asuna shot off to the side per Nodoka's advice, bringing Negi's attention to the dark haired girl, that same hair was being wafted around in the soft wind form her own pactio item. She didn't notice Negi watching her however, for she was to busy trying to prevent Asuna from being turned into a bunch of sushi rolls... the boy shook his head as he turned around and saw that Anya had tried to rush him again while he wasn't paying attention...

Nghh...She's strong! But I won't lose to you like this, not in a sparring battle! Come on Setsuna, show me what you've got!

...and STILL couldn't get through his Deflexio.

Maybe I can break it now! ....No?! Why?!?

Eva herself had even decided to grace them all with her presence, reminding Negi of last night's events..he still couldn't believe it...how he had quite simply won against her....again.

The power condensed around Eva, and then, quite simply, was shut off, as if a giant valve clamped shut, a huge dry sponge sucking up all the residual water as if it were nothing. The magic, let loose from it's bonds, spread away from Eva violently, and the vampire fell. Negi grabbed her in the air and managed to turn her around.

Bad choice on his part, for it meant he landed first, with her on top of him. He found himself dangerously close to her face. Dangerously. Negi swallowed and slowly blinked. It seemed funny that Eva did the exact same thing, and the exact same time.

The spell of binding one's power, used against her by a switch of the words. It was incredible how one word can change a spell from practically harmless to a deadly weapon.

He looked so much like his father lying under her like that....just young, far to young, an innocent face he didn't deserve, or want.

"I suppose now I've reached my limit. You satisfied?"

"...No...you... don't want to know what it would take from you to satisfy me."

"That sounds sooooo wrong....you know that right?"

"Does it look like I care?"

"...Loli."

"I believe you said the term was Geronto?"

"Why yes....yes it was."

Eva finally removed herself from on top of him, feeling oddly empty. There had been more talk, some boastful, some daunting, but in the end, Negi had extended his hands to her, claiming he would remove the thirty day binding on her power if she played nice. She had shaken her head, claiming that as long as she stayed in Mahora, it didn't matter anyway, but the boy had smiled.

"You forget...I promised to free you."

"You did. You broke my curse."

"No, no, no, you misunderstand. I didn't say I would just break your curse. I said I would free you. Break the chains, rip the bonds, sunder the connections. I never said I'd just break a curse."

"...I don't understand what you are getting at boy...I'm tired, and thirsty as hell for blood, which is a good feeling mind you, but not for you...you smell far to delectable for my liking."

He shook his head, a placating gesture. His small smirk kept Eva still, for it spoke of him knowing something she didn't know...not something she liked to feel.

"...That's my point. When I cast the spell to break your curse...mentally, un incanted, I spoke the words to break the spell that binds your powers while here...I remember when it stopped you that day...that lightning that struck you...it wasn't lightning. It was streams of text, Greek text, the spell that holds your powers...I removed it, the cities power is down, so...it barely took anything from me.

Red eyes, shining with life, saw green ones light upon him, understanding, elation, doe sparks grew from them so quickly, he thought he might drown in the sea, yet he continued.

"The only thing keeping your powers bound is that spell I cast for thirty days. You are truly free."

Hard as it may be to believe, she had elected to keep the binding spell of thirty days on her...at least until "Fall Recess" came around in about a week. The boy was planning a trip to London then, and, after some talking with her and Alberio and his mother, it was decided that he was going there for the full recess.

He had decided to take up a search for the sake of his mother. During the festival, it had been revealed, in all of its obviousness, that his father was alive, and that his mother was still pining for the man that had left her all those years ago to set out on a mission. Whatever the hell he was doing now, Negi would find out, and probably kick his ass too when he found him, but that was a different story.

Eva planned on going with him, and Negi knew his mother wasn't going to sit tight and wait around when Nagi was what they were talking about, and Negi was going out to risk his neck. Family was not something that she was going to let slip away again, not after believing her son dead for so many years.

Slowly in his head, a plan was being built for it all. It would be, in essence, a quick in and out procedure. One, Two, Three, he'd be back here in a week tops...with his renegade father in tow.

Oh, don't get him wrong. He forgave his father long ago, but that still didn't mean he wouldn't take pleasure in making the man pay for the wrongs he had done to his family. Arika could love away it all after Negi kicked his ass. That was all. All Negi wanted really. Yet, he had bigger fish to fry at the moment, and that was getting his life in order...making sure he got through this week alive...not an easy task when you're Negi Springfield.

+--1--+

"Oh god...close that damn window will you?! Are you trying to blind me?! Shit...why the hell can't I sleep anymore? Yesterday and today both, yet my body's perfectly fine with trying to fall asleep during the fricken day."

Negi squeezed his eyes shut from the rays of sunlight that shot through the curtains. His hand was over them, trying to provide a second barrier for the stabbing pain the light brought him. Alma rushed to rip the things shut with her hands, and Negi inwardly hissed when he released his hand from his face to find the light had not been covered yet.

That inward hiss almost became outward, but Negi squashed it down, instead replacing it with a simple word of muttered thanks. Negi rolled off the couch, taking a glance at the clock, which read ten in the morning. He had just burnt his first sick day, it was too late to just sidle into school now. He looked unto see the girl had tossed a towel over the window's curtain rod to block out the sun further form the room.

He blinked, realizing that all the lights in the dorm were off, and yet, his eyes were perfectly fine with that. They only wanted to be away from those stabbing rays of sunlight. Bright blood eyes that he should not have been able to discern so easily flashed in his direction.

"The hell is up with me?! I feel like a friggin...vampire...wait..."

Rushing in blindly, he stabbed out, his blade connecting solidly with a body. As the smoke clears, his eyes feast upon the fact had struck true. Right into the heart. Removing his blade quickly, he witnessed the entire being crumbling away into nothingness...

That's when he spun, a sharp pain on his neck.

on his neck...

on his neck....

on my friggin neck!

Yet, that was just a magical emulation of a vampire, not a real one, he could do nothing to Negi, and one simple bite never made any person a vampire, maybe a kind of zombie minion for a small while, but not a vampric transformation.

I can't become a vampire just from a spell "biting" me...

...Can I?

No, he couldn't It wasn't possible. Yet, even as he thought, he had to admit something was happening to him. Alma, quiet for the while, spoke up now, speaking true of her name.

"...Your heart beats weakly... ...your mind spins... Upon your neck the vampire has bitten... ...and magic calls to magic...too much magic can hurt you, master."

Red met red as he stared at her, yet his eyes, with all their burning gravity, has no effect on the placid girl. She simply blinked and repeated the statement, adding afterwards that great power, even when it is false, can be made real.

A regular riddler, that's what he had picked up. Yet, even as he thought, that his mind began to do a jigsaw puzzle, of which the pieces added up to a test-tube under pressure, containing a highly dangerous and famous recipe for disaster, and, as his mind assured him, he had all the ingredients, and they'd been mixing for a while... quite a while.

As far as he saw it, as he picked up his pactio card to indulge himself in a talk with a wry vampire, there were five ingredients...

Evangeline and his pactio with her. That was the frozen Nitroglycerin. That was a simple thing alone. Yet pretty harmless when frozen the way it was. Yet he had to add the aging process. That was the pseudo Dracula's bite. The chemical would break down in ice form, throwing it into a more unstable concoction, but still pretty calm as an ice.

Yet, one had to add Konoka Konoe, the powerful mage whose magic ran free, and could affect others through contact. He had already attributed one of his problems to her, and even if the accusation had been false then, it should have been a warning flag...that was a vibrator. Once again, harmless on its own. Number four was a long period or rest and recovery, boosting his power and strength, That was a coating of C4... again, pretty useless alone...

Negi himself, with his searing veins, was the final, fatal combination, for he was the fire. Burning, searing fire. That wasn't safe alone, and it wasn't safe now. Nitroglycerin, aged to perfection and further instability to melt and be shaken up with a covering of C4 around it...prepare for a whole lotta land to be wasted...

Negi put a hand to his chest, feeling pain there. It almost instantly dissipated with the pressure applied there, as if he had the bends, but Negi knew he hadn't been diving under any reefs lately. It was just a sharp needle into his heart, nothing to serious to worry about, right? Such things happened, a sudden pain if you got up to fast...

Negi Springfield, who kept himself as flexible and strong as possible, nearly to the point that there was no too sudden movement. The physician in him told him something was up...or was it paranoia? ...All he knew was that he couldn't leave the dorm, not with that assailing sun out there attempting to fry his eyes, he'd have to wait until later. Hell was he going to do until then though? Train Anya?

No. Negi ended up testing Alma's mettle in battle instead, and he found her to be quite a potent drink to sample...

"Move your feet with more accuracy, speed will get you nowhere if it's jerky like a frightened rabbit!" "Yes Master."

It didn't matter how many times he told her not to call him that, she still called him it anyway. Negi felt like he had his own Chachamaru as he rushed Alma. She jumped lightly off to his left and formed a sphere of hell fire in her hands, launching it at him after a small amount of hesitation. Negi dodged it easily, making it splash against the bathhouse tiles.

The place was dark, the lights turned off, the sun shafting through clear windows, yet none to the light reached the two combatants as they fought. Alma kept shooting black/purple fire at him, and he kept dodging, using his own magic little.

He came at her from the side, and she jumped away her hand glowing with fire as she swung for a chop, but missed under Negi's quick reflexes. Pinky first, Alma twirled her hands inwards, and shot out several blasts in close range, forcing the boy to jump away in a series of back flips.

He came at her from another standpoint, boring into a weak spot, but she surprised him by taking flight into the air, floating there, prompting him to shake his head.

"Everyone's a bird these days. Yet they always fail to see how easily I can clip their wings!"

Negi shifted away from his post on the ground, taking to the sky and punching Alma down with Burning Circumference. She landed on the tile hard, but rolled away when he came down where she had been, shooting more of her strange fire at him.

Negi's Deflexio took care of those as he shot at her, eyes bright, but she held her hand in front of her towards him, and the bathhouse disappeared, replaced buy nothing but a black nothingness. Negi skidded to a stop on nothing but thin, black air. Alma had disappeared, replaced by a thousand snakes, that crept from all the edges of his sight, consuming his field of vision, but the boy smiled, lifting his hands, and calling the spell to shatter illusions...

Only to find that it didn't work.

What the hell...?

Eyes widening a trifle, he kicked out, catching one of the snakes in the middle and lifting it from the mass, yet another struck out, wrapping around his leg. Negi burned it and several others with a hail of fire arrows, but they still came.

They seemed to multiply every time he attacked them, so Negi abstained from them, dodging them agilely and striking out at empty air. He felt something chop at his kidney, yet there was nothing there, and no damage he could see.

Yet Negi knew better. He struck out at that position, and began charging at it, shifting around until his elbow connected with something solid, and the blackness faded as Alma reeled from him, bent over double.

Even blind in an illusion, Negi had caught her. He shot in at her, smiling a bit now. That was a trick he wanted to learn sooner or later. Something that could withstand the general all purpose illusion breaker? Or simply a technique to add to the strength of illusions? The girl danced away from him, spinning to send more of her fare at him.

"Nice illusion work, but against an opponent who isn't intimidated, or smart, it's useless. I know you can do better than this girl!"

Her hand shot out and Negi's vision was consumed by that of a huge, encompassing blood red eye. He jumped up and struck it right in the middle of the pupil, and dropped to the floor having hit nothing, but he kicked out, catching Alma in the gut and sending her flying backwards.

"As you wish."

Both her hands came out, and between them bloomed a Sakura, which she sent flying forwards with a simple blow. It's petals scattered far and wide, all between them as she took to the sky again to float there, hair flying back.

A pale hand shot forwards, a single blast of hell pyre moving so quickly, Negi almost didn't see it. He lunged to the side to avoid it, and found the ground no longer existed. He smiled. Another illusion huh? He jumped up and struck where Alma was, bringing the bathhouse back into focus, where the girl lay on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Nice try, I think it might be interesting to see where your powers go..."

He walked to her and bent down to help her up, but she grabbed his hand, its heat burning him. He recoiled quickly out of pure reflex as her whole body crumbled apart, revealing sakura blossoms that floated away in a slight breeze.

They caught fire as they floated around, petals ablaze that slowly floated towards Negi. He sent an arrow of darkness lazily at one, but it passed right through it, the petal still coming. Hundreds of petals, all of them ablaze and slowly, ever so slowly, cornering him and coming in at him. He shot through them, feeling them burn his skin and catch his clothes alight.

The fire spread quickly, consuming his very body in nearly no time at all. The pain was incredible, but he still struck out in the air, and the pain dissipated to reveal the bathhouse again, and Alma, whose own clothes seemed to have been set ablaze, eating it away.

"Why does everyone around me have to relieve themselves of their clothing?!"

It suddenly struck him as odd that she was just standing there...and sure enough, as he looked closely, she seemed to melt away into the air. He sighed. Another layer to an illusion. She could do better than this he knew, but she was testing him. To show him what she could achieve...something like this, a multi layered illusion, required quite a bit of skill. His shoulders slumped.

"You can cut it out now."

That seemed to be the key, for the whole place melted into darkness again before revealing the bathhouse once more, as if one was opening their eyes. Alma bowed to Negi lightly. He realized he was soaking wet.

"You struggled far less than others. You have a strong sense of reality...master."

"I already told you to stop calling me your friggin master...and don't tell me I fell into the pool..."

"I thought you knew that. You surrounded yourself with fire and blasted it away, and jumped back out..."

To get away from your damn snakes, no to prevent myself from drowning....to think your illusion was strong enough to prevent me from realizing I was about to die...that is something worth respect, Alma Yoshi.

"Next time, I want you to use all your skill then. Don't even spare me an ounce, otherwise, I won't learn anything."

+--2--+

A clash of blades, the gust of wind making branches sway. Jasnin dodged off to the side, only just managing to avoid her brother's huge blade. The wind from it whipped the tree's branches again. He spun it upwards and slashed it flat side out, so it blew her back with a gust. She landed next to a few trees.

She ducked under a powerful slash, and one could almost see her nerves as his blade sliced clean through the trunks, making the beeches act like dominos and topple from their stumps. If Issac were an anime character, you would probably see a huge sweat drop at the back of his head as he witness what he did.

He laughed nervously, lifting his left hand, holding his blade by only his thumb, to the back of his head so he could scratch it by force of habit. Oops. That's what he muttered under his breath nonchalantly. Oops for Christ's-sake.

He's not going to go easy on me today.

Jasnin, having shot away after ducking, mirrored his embarrassment, only it was for him, not for her own situation. Her lips were in a thin line as the boy lifted an eyebrow.

"L-let's...just forget that happened...shall we?"

"S-sure...."

He charged her again, swinging out for her knees, yet she jumped above the slash, planning on stabbing right at him once back on the ground, but her feet landed on his blade instead, and she was flung away by the sheer force the young man swung his weapon with. Another swing from her and he forced her away easily. She was to light against his heavy weapon, but his blade was slower..

That's what she kept telling herself as she ducked and weaved in and out of a hailstorm of stabs and slashes from her brother, his single left hand twirling a six foot long and nearly three foot wide blade as if it were a baton... She crashed into a tree and almost didn't get her thin blade up in time to stop her brother's stab.

Ahh shit!

He released her and let her rush him, coming at him from a side. He shot up his blade as soon as she struck out, steel meeting steel. He tossed her away with his strength, and ran at her, raising his sword high, but she dodged the slash and swung at his feet, only to have him plant his blade in the earth and jump over her. He landed and swung out with the flat of his blade again, catching her in the side and carrying the new burden with his swing.

Don't tell me I'm going to hard on her again? I thought she was better than this...or is she sick again? Oh…great, now she got caught on my darn sword…oh boy.

Again, slamming against a tree was her fate. She was reminded of Negi Springfield's performance. He was worse than her brother. He showed no mercy, he was smaller, faster, and, as she ducked another swing from her brother, and threw up her arm to block the resulting gust, she realized Negi was stronger too.

Is that even humanly possible though?! Stronger than a nearly full grown man?!

Her brother planted his feet on the ground and slammed his blade down into the ground, kicking up a huge mound of dirt, sticking together with its dampness, and slapped it at her like a baseball. This was a trick he had been practicing recently, and he was pulling it off really well...she ducked under the muddy mound and had to drop in a roll to avoid the slash that came.

She struck out blindly with her blade and felt it connect solidly with his. The way he could maneuver that thing was unnatural! It was huge, and by all standards, the circular tipped thing shouldn't even be able to fit in the places her brother maneuvered it.

That was her brother's magic though, it seemed. The only one who had not a lick of power in their entire family, he was looked at as a disgrace. She seemed to have inherited the magic he was supposed to have possessed, making it possible for her to be born with the old genes maybe.

He shifted his feet and slashed at her with his blade, going for a different approach. He blocked a stab from her and let his blade drop from his left hand to his right so he could shaft it forth into her, blasting her back.

Still, put a weapon in his hands, and he works a magic of his own. Thin and by some standards lanky, Issac Akaito was not someone you mistook for being weak. Those arms could lift that blade, which was heavier than her, and maneuver it like another might a fillet knife...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a particularly powerful blow against her blade by her brother, which sent her skidding back so quickly into the forest, she might as well have been flying. She circled in the brush, watching as her brother simply just stood there...waiting...she felt him tense, and paled. He wasn't going to wait...

"Zenpaku, Akiato Hyakuretsu Ōkazan!'

Flashing around in a circle, he let loose a powerful blast of energy, cutting through multiple branches and leaves and revealing her behind a decimated bush. He shot at her and flashed out his blade, hooking her behind it and blasting her forwards, behind him, into the clearing.

That was another thing. As a martial artist, he had been employing ki techniques to substitute his lack of magic...to incredible effect.

She ducked when he shot back at her by jumping off a tree. He flashed his blade out, like a propeller as he landed on the ground, and threw the thing like a boomerang, making her widen her eyes and jump away, and then again when the thing came back.

He smiled. He'd been working on that too, and that was the first time it had been pulled off with such aplomb. He rushed her now, getting in close...to close for her liking. Jasnin jumping away from him, calling for her magic.

"Pro sapia , Fid elitas, Vinculum Sagitta Magica, Trignita Spiritus...gah!"

She ducked under a close on swipe from his blade, and had to kick off the ground to avoid another technique he unleashed. He came at her still however, and when he stabbed out again, he shot his right palm forwards almost to touch her face.

Zankūshō!

The bullet like projectile splashed right against her nose, sending her falling backwards in stinging pain. He swung at her downed form, but she rolled away, and jumped up, running to keep distance.

"Sagitta Magica, Nonagitta Spiritus Terra!"

Powerful arrows, if a bit slow due to their element, shot at the young man and he stood, spinning his blade like a fan, slicing at the dirty fare that was sent his way. Jasnin sent more, but he shot forth again, still spinning his blade.

She timed his arrival and when he finally came close enough, she jumped off to the side and behind him, kicking out to try and get a shot at his kidney, but he blocked it with his blade.

He stopped on a dime and jumped at her. She tried to avoid him, but finally he caught her with another technique.

"Zankōsen!"

He slashed at her, releasing what must have been a strike of ki to blast her into the ground, where he let his blade hover right at her neck. He spoke to her, a bit of concern tingeing his voice.

"Sick again, Jess? Or is there a ghost around here, somewhere, that's been bugging you...?"

No, she hadn't seen any ghosts today. She was prone to see one sooner or later though...she had no excuse for him today.

"No...you're just getting better faster than I am. That such a bad thing?"

He smiled and shook his head, letting his blade drop off to the side so he could help her up. His head shook again when she looked him in the eye. He picked up his blade to jam it behind his back into a loose strap. He'd tie it down later.

"Yep, it is. Means I won't have a partner to spar with anymore, or some quality time with my ever-distant sister."

+--3--+

It was nearly seven o' clock at night, and Negi wiped his brow with a towel. Through the steam coming from a pot, the boy could catch a glimpse of himself reflected back off it. He was pale as hell. His hair sat on top of a ghostly face, one that seemed slightly green.

The needle of pain from his chest had come back now, and was more insistent, it lingered around, tingling along his arms and his upper back. He felt as if he couldn't catch his breath well...but would that stop him? Nah. He never had gotten sick enough for a doctor other then himself.

He finished dinner easily, and decided it was time to take a walk. Eva herself had called him to discuss further his decisions on what he wanted to do about this mess he was in...

It had been decided he would move into the currently empty dorm Satomi and Chao once inhabited to keep distance from the large concentration of magic both Asuna and Konoka seemed to hold. According to Eva, there was nothing he needed worry about. A false vampire bit him, and he was experiencing the false effects, shadow effects. He would feel vampire-ish for awhile. That was it.

Alma's words echoed in his head however. If the false was powerful enough...it could become real.

"...Your heart beats weakly... ...your mind spins... Upon your neck the vampire has bitten... ...and magic calls to magic...too much magic can hurt you...master."

The boy slapped his card to his forehead, telling Eva he was ready for her to call him to where ever she was. He was almost instantly spirited away, and when he touched down his eyes feasted upon the Kyoto skyline from on top of a theater.

He shook his head, looking to the vampire, whose hand lay upon the spire of the building's roof, looking out upon the darkening sky. He managed a smile.

"So, you couldn't help yourself...you had to exercise your freedom."

Eva turned to look at him, her eyes lighting upon his slightly green face and hallowed eyes. He looked deathly like that, but his tongue was still sharp, and she knew those eyes still burned with a hell fire. He must just be a bit sick...

Her looks showed him without words just how strong her desire to be free really was. Freedom really was an amazing thing. Yet it was tempered by sense. She had come out here because she could, not to get all giddy. It had been a while since she had seen the skyline of Kyoto.

Last time, on the trip, she had not had the chance after all. She turned to him halfway, so she only had to glance at him sidelong, and give no commitment to the conversation. She spoke to him simply, getting to the point.

"So, you need me to give your permission to go and sleep over at a friend's house for a few nights? What's the big deal bugging me about this? You're going to move out of your dorm and into a empty one for a bit, whoop-te-do. You and I know both that the real reason you called me here is your...predicament...

"In all honesty though, I prefer you this way. You're ever so much more...vulnerable, so much fun to poke at..."

Negi snapped at her a quick retort, his quiet bark showing just how much of his powerful bite he still retained. Yet he had abandoned his sickly green face for a more ashen one of grey. He was holding back some deep pain.

...Myocar...stabbing or stable pains...chest and upper arms...

"It's a temporary reaction to a stupid false vampire biting you. People don't turn into vampires from one damn bite, you know that. It'll pass. Your magic took it and expounded the effects. Konoe's took it and expounded the effects, hell, mine took it and expounded the effects, but it's only a false tense, it's not real."

"...Even the false, when it has great power...can be made real."

Negi shook his head slowly, for he felt a bit dizzy if he tried to shake it faster. The pain was back, and had spread into a powerful pain all along his arms and his upper chest, as well as his upper back, along the spine.

"...Even when false, when it has great power...can be made real enough to give me a damn headache."

This kind of pain sent a warning flag to somewhere deep inside him, but he ignored it, or if he did take notice of it, it was a fleeting one. His body dredged from somewhere deep a warning. Eva continued to talk, and he focuses on that instead of his physical demands. His hands began to tremble slightly, and he grabbed them as he listened.

...Myocardial...

"Yet, I would stress wearing sunglasses and trying to stay out of the damn sun for a bit...and god boy, do try to stop looking so pathetic, it's only a vampirism shadow effect...hmm...holy hell?!"

Negi simply fell on the slanted roof top, rolling down to almost be shot putted off, but the boy managed to stop his fall with his thrashing body. Violently heaving, that deep part of his mind screamed at him now.

Idiot! You're seizing, f#$ken seizing! Myocardial infarction you idiot, a damn heart attack! Shit shit shit! Move, move into public for damn help before it turns into the next damn step!

The only help he had was Eva, and she didn't know what the hell was going on, or what to do. She looked on with a kind of morbid interest. Never one for medical conditions or recent medical science, except when it came to damage, she could only vaguely guess the boy was having a seizure, although why, she could only fathom.

The reality of magic...

Vampires could be born on their own, but it was extremely rare, and incredibly hard to accomplish. The one thing that kept the race alive was death. Killing humans and making them vampires through infusion of blood, creating your line. Not a temporary minion, which required just a bite, not a zombie like slave, which required a full drain...

A real, solid continuous process, bite, retreat, bite, retreat, until you could allow the other to draw from your own collected blood...together, a human becomes a true vampire...abortions came along when contact was repeated, but the offer was not returned by the budding vampire...there are many of these rouge vampires floating around, Eva herself was one...which was why she had no line she belonged to.

These abortions had to start their own line, or enter into another through taking a mate.

Tell tale signs of the heart...never ignore them.

Negi's body believed it was vampric...and belief, when strong enough...can indeed become a reality if the circumstances are right, if the deed fits the bill. The body was taking action now, doing the one thing it believed it needed to truly be what it was being told it was.

They say death is just another journey. I say to hell with them and their journeys.

He needed to die. That's what the magic swirling in him told him, silently, quietly, ever since those teeth latched on his neck. Then the dream would become real...she approached him, calling out to Chachamaru, who had been on another roof, just at ready, scouting. The robot knew better than the vampire at this kind of thing, but Eva had him.

They really think that? Let me get a gun and send them on their merry way.

Up close, the want to simply forgo all sense and bite him was impeccable. The boy held promises she didn't want to think about...yet, even as he writhed, she handed him over to Chachamaru, or tried to.

Maybe they'll come back to thank me one day for the trip.

The boy quite suddenly became still, the heart tensing in mid beat. Quite simply, it relaxed, and let it all go.

What will you do when Death knocks on your door?

A dive. She grabbed him from the robot once more, keen ears and fingers able to tell what had just happened. Oh, keelhaul it all! Down she came and bit him right in the neck. Yet, what could prepare her for the taste of this spring onion?

When one is young blood is pure and silk, when one is powerful, it is rich, sharp... when they are in top health, it is smooth...

Chachamaru pulled Eva's with an incredible force to wrench the vampire from the boy. He fell, limp to lie there. She had nearly just drained him dry...such a loss of control...had never happened to her, not even on her first try.

His head smacked against the roof tiles as he landed, bouncing.

+--E--+

Huh?! What the hay...have I wrought? It's far...less than I thought it would be,. both in length and in stature. I feel as if I'm saving everything for something else. This chapter was...very difficult to write. Incredibly. I also saw a whole bunch more typos than usual, so there are bound to be a few I missed in fixing. Short chapter, but overall, it gives me the base I need to launch the first ship.

Yep...the first ship. I've got plenty of ships that need to be set sailing, and so far, all I've done was built ports and fend off rebels. Now, we can start to get going on the actual trip.