Hello everyone! Much has happened and today we deal with the after effects of the previous chapter, with Mana getting her... prize, so to say.
Please read and review.
I do not own Negima nor Ragnarok Online.
Nothing, yes, nothing in italics.
Flashback in bold.
History in the Making
They stared at each other rather aggressively. They both narrowed their eyes in anticipation of the other's first move. Then, Gamiya fished out his invite. The dragon growled, and nodded, seemingly reluctant. It spread its wings and moved to fly off, but the high priest called out to him.
"Hey! Dragon! Due to some freaky accident, I got sent into the future and got into a fight with you. So tell me, can you really talk?" he shouted.
It stared at him once more. It slowly let out a rumble from its throat and suddenly barked out a laugh. It then turned around and flew away. He glared at the retreating, and flying, figure.
"Damn it, I swear he could talk," he grumbled as he continued on his way. Past the doors, he was greeted by a massive structure back dropped with giant trees and a massive water fall. Surprised, he kept walking into the structure and up the stairs. With the loud voices getting louder as he neared, he could guess that everyone who knew about the kid's secret was there.
"I should thank Cat for letting me know about this," he thought rather somberly. He stepped into the light, the artificial rays from the ceiling illuminating his person, clad in jeans and a sleeveless shirt with a black band circling tightly around his right arm.
"Sensei! You're here too!" exclaimed an ecstatic Konoka. As if on cue, many of the other girls greeted him as well. He just waved in reply, instead heading to sit down at the nearest table.
"You…" Evangeline growled, "You can't simply use my resort whenever you please, you stupid priest."
"Oh, shut up," he retorted, "I was going through a situation yesterday. And no, I'm not going to talk about it."
"Ah, there must be some sort of history between you two to have such familiarity," commented Ku: Nel Sanders.
"Stop making stupid assumptions, Albireo," retorted Evangeline.
"Anyway, I would dearly like to learn of your history," continued the robed man, totally ignoring the vampire, "I'm sure it would be very interesting to read."
"Oi Al! Stop it with the weird name obsession already."
"So, if you would tell us your story, Mr Iroi. I would appreciate it much."
"Ku: Nel…"
"Yes, Kitty?" he asked with a great big smile.
"I already told you not to call me that!" she roared as she threw her cup at him. He caught it deftly and set it down on the table.
"Kitty?" asked the high priest, brow raised.
"Her full name is Evangeline Athanasia Kitty McDowell… isn't Kitty an adorable name?" Ku: Nel asked rather lovingly.
"It's Katherine, you stupid old man!" she yelled as she threw her saucer at him.
"Hold on, is that why you had that weird mood swing a few days ago?" asked an enlightened high priest, "And I thought that PMS had only just hit you."
A moment of silence went by, with the subject of the matter glaring and growling unintelligibly at him. The girl's reactions ranged from being rather terrified to various shocked faces. Ku: Nel, or rather Albireo, covered his mouth to muffle the chuckling. Then, a rather confused Negi Springfield asked the question of the day.
"Asuna-san? What's PMS?"
"Ah, you see Negi, it stands for…" started Haruna, the first to recover and the first to get a big piece of cake shoved into her mouth by Asuna.
"Negi. That is something concerning adults and you must never mention it to anyone ever again," she told him, keeping her hand on the mangaka's mouth.
"Argh, I'm just trying to educate him! Educate him!" protested the rather vocal girl after swallowing her gag and shoving the bell girl's hand away.
"He's just ten! Don't fill his head with your adult fantasies," she retorted.
"Everything aside, please tell us your story, Mr Iroi," Albireo spoke nonchalantly, previously having set down the caught saucer.
"Alright! A great chance to get to know the class 'Sleeping Buddha'!" exclaimed Kazumi, breaking the tension among the girls as she suddenly plopped herself opposite the assistant teacher. She was soon followed by the other girls. Gamiya looked them, then at the man, with annoyance.
"You just had to ask… damn, fine," he grumbled, "It would eventually come out anyway. Let's see, where do I start…"
With some minor reluctance, he told of a shortened version of his life growing up. Bits and pieces that some of the other girls heard were repeated, like his fondness for family camping and his swordsman training. His complications when he changed over to become an acolyte and his training to be a priest. Then, he started taking on a sullen look as he started talking about his travels to find the gemstone. Looking extra gloomy as he talked about the search party he was in, which included Curina, much to the delight of a few girls. The many cities they visited; Al de Baran, Juno, Morroc, Prontera and Geffen. Badi's wedding which somehow turned into his exile thanks to Archbishop Balthazar ("Bloody stupid idiot of a leader he is. I certainly didn't vote for him.").The multiple conflicts involving one Kyoji Zeta Kazuit, and those parts pretty much interested Kotarou the most.
"What was Kazuit's motivation? I don't really understand," asked Yue, "Was his pursuit of power just for the sake of it?"
"I don't really know," he admitted, "Even after hearing the full story, I still can't truly understand. All I can fathom is that he just wanted his father's acknowledgement, since it was his father who constantly pushed him to be the best. The pressure probably got to him, so much until he gave in to that cursed sword and massacred his whole family."
"Wow, this is starting to sound like a shonen manga," quipped Haruna as she scribbled more notes in her pad.
"I rather you didn't belittle the troubles of others," muttered the high priest while glaring annoyedly at her.
"Ah, maybe we can continue? After finishing your preparations, then what?" asked Kazumi eagerly, unwittingly averting the slight tension that built up.
"Well, I returned to the old guild base to reunite with Curina," he continued, the sullen look returning, "And she told me about a plan one of her assassins made up. Good trap he thought up, placing assassins at strategic locations for maximum damage on the other side. With me and Curina being the bait, I was quite confident after my preparations."
His face took a rather serious and with underlying anger, he went on to say, "Then, Kyoji showed up and from what I heard later, he had just overtaken Payon. He greeted us rather… I would say jovial. It was odd since he was always the cold and calculating person. He tossed a box at us, supposing he was giving a present. Curina opened the box and started freaking out. I rather not talk about it and…"
"Why not?" asked Asuna curiously.
"Because…"
"Kya!" shrieked Nodoka, dropping a book.
Puzzled, he stood up and reached over to take it. "Diarium Ejus?" he muttered curiously as he flipped it open. He narrowed his eyes when he saw image that appeared. An open box with Lenneth's head inside with a speech bubble pointed at the mouth, telling whose head is in the box. He snapped the book shut and glared at the frightened girl.
"This is why I rather not tell it to anyone here," he said as he scowled at her. He slid the book back to her and warned, "If that book does what I think it does, please do not use it on me ever again."
Giving a frantic nod, she quickly grabbed the book and tucked it under the table. The high priest sighed and said, "I think that's enough for now. I rather not continue right now."
"Aww, really?" asked the reporter dejectedly.
"Oh, I quite agree. I have something else in store for you, sensei," said a rather upbeat voice. Everyone turned to look at the owner.
"Wow, even Mana is here-aru," exclaimed Ku Fei, "This is like the Kyoto trip all over again-aru!"
"Mana-dono?" questioned Kaede, "What did you mean by that-degozaru?"
"Yes, what Do you mean by that, Mana?" asked a rather suspicious high priest.
"Gelidus Capulus," chanted Evangeline suddenly.
Caught off guard, Gamiya got encased in the ice spell that the vampire had been preparing quietly to herself. She let out an evil laugh and said, "Be thankful. Lucky that Chachamaru told me about your little plan this morning, Mana."
Smiling, the gunslinger pointed to Chamo and ordered, "You. Make a pactio circle for me. I intend to get paid today."
Scared out of his wits, the ermine quickly did as he was told. All the other girls, Kotarou and Negi looked on in surprise, some with mouths agape. Mana kept her smirk on her face as she stepped into the circle and nodded to Evangeline. Sharing her smirk, the vampire cancelled the spell and Chachamaru pushed the still shocked priest into Mana's arms and lips.
"PACTIO!"
He wanted to pull away the moment he stepped in the circle but she grabbed his head and locked lips with him. He wanted to squirm away, but the way her tongue snaked into his mouth somehow turned him on and slowly, he kissed back and even started hugging her. She tasted like spiced chocolate.
"Ok, done!"
As quickly as she locked him in, she pushed him away and got out of his embrace. His chest heaved as he took in a fresh breath of air. Shaking his head, he then glared at her. "Hey, what's the big idea?" he asked heatedly, although he admitted that it felt good.
"Amazing! How was it!" exclaimed Haruna and Kazumi as they suddenly jumped in front of the miko.
"Hmm, I guess I can say…" she started, and the two girls inched closer and closer to hear what comes next. "…it's for me to know and you to find out," she ended, causing both to fall on their faces due to leaning too far out.
"That's not fair!" they shouted and pointed at her when they got up.
Mana just shrugged and turned her attention to Chamo, who was seen holding up two cards and a booklet. Taking them, she quickly slipped her copy of the card and the book into her folds of her sleeves. She then held out the master copy to the high priest.
"I truly am sorry for taking advantage of you, sensei, but this is just business," she stated.
He narrowed his eyes at her, already guessing as to why she did such a thing. Wordlessly, he took the card and slipped it into his jeans pocket.
"Oh well, even though I didn't get anything from Tatsumiya-san, I got enough to start a new storyline!" Haruna announced eagerly after seating down at the adjoining table to review the notes she took.
"Er, Paru, I don't think you should just announce it in public like that," advised Nodoka.
"I agree, it isn't appropriate, especially the subject of your story is just only a few feet away," supported Yue.
"What are you talking about? My main actor for my script is totally different," retorted the mangaka, "Come on, when do you get to read about a forbidden relationship between a teacher and student? Not to mention a married man?"
"A few love novels have used that before," countered the bibliophile calmly.
They were totally unaware that the implications had struck Gamiya like a brick to the face. He started clenching his fists tightly. Quite a few people present noticed the sudden change, more noticeably Mana and Chachamaru. The two exchanged worried glances as they observed the change coming over him. After a moment, he muttered his goodbye and teleported out, but not before giving the miko a knowing look. The gynoid made as if to go after him, but she shook her head and nodded her head towards Haruna. Negi was pretty worried and wondered as to why the assistant teacher left.
"Maybe you could have kept your discussions for later, Paru," admonished Asuna, "You should have at least waited until the party was over."
"What? It's all just harmless conjecture," protested the mangaka, "Besides, I'm sure sensei has a perfectly good marriage. Sure, she kissed him, but she probably just wants to get some insanely powerful item for her own use."
"Hey, Negi, shouldn't you take control of this?" asked Kotarou, "It's so obvious what she said offended Iroi-san."
"Ah, maybe you're right," admitted the worried child teacher. Turning to Haruna, he suggested, "Ah, Haruna-san, maybe you should go and apologize to Iroi-sensei. You know, just in case you did offend him?"
"Negi-sensei, Iroi-sensei is a big man. I'm sure he knows I'm just saying stuff," assured the mangaka with a grin, "It's all just harmless things! There's nothing to worry about."
"You know, I should probably knock you out so that I don't have to hear your incessant reasoning," said Mana darkly, holding up her newly-minted pactio card.
Everyone fell silent at the threat, but more protesting came out. "Look, I'm sorry about any misunderstanding, but really, all this is just inspiration. Inspiration!" reasoned the former, "Any other characters I create won't have any similarity to either you or sensei."
"Well, I think," started the latter but a firm hand clamped over her shoulder dissuaded her from doing anything.
"Mana-san. They do not know what happened yesterday," said Chachamaru, "Maybe we should tell them."
"I quite agree with the robot," said Chisame. Everyone looked at her in surprise.
"What? You lot started bickering and worrying over a lot of hot air without getting to the root of the problem," she said cynically. "Really, the only reason I'm here is because of her," she continued, pointing at the gynoid, "And I can clearly see there is some sort of underlying matter here, while you lot can't see the wood for the trees."
"Yan…! It's amazing how she could get to the bottom of the matter so fast," exclaimed Konoka after a moment of silence.
"Ah, just like Chiu-san!" followed up Negi as he clapped his hands together.
"What? I'm just calling as I see it," she retorted with a blush. Focusing back to the gynoid, she asked, "So, what happened yesterday that it got Tatsumiya-san and Iroi-sensei all worked up like that?"
With that, Chachamaru proceeded to tell of yesterday's events to those present. When she had finished, everyone had varying reactions. Evangeline and Albireo had looked rather thoughtful. Kazumi looked rather serious as she wrote the story down. Kaede and Ku Fei were no longer smiling. Kotarou looked indifferent. Setsuna, Sayo, and Yue looked sorry for the assistant teacher. Everyone else was crying, including Negi. More importantly, Haruna actually looked a little remorseful.
"Ah, I'm sorry?" she said quite sheepishly, "Really, I didn't know."
"He understands," Mana suddenly told her, much to her surprise. The gunslinger had her card against her head. "As long as you were truly sorry, he accepts your apology," she continued, much to the former's relief.
"Something doesn't make sense though," said Asuna, "Why did sensei go crazy like that? I know his wife died and all, but wasn't that a little too much?"
"I can answer that," announced the miko sans card, "I got a little story out of sensei after Chachamaru left. It seems that an enemy placed a curse on his wife…"
"It was… two or three months, I think, after our clash with Kyoji," Gamiya continued after being cut loose, "I went along with Curina to check up on Alberta, the port city; the first place that Kyoji struck after, ahem, 'liberating' Amatsu. When we got there, we found a ghost town. A massacre took place. At first we thought it was Kyoji's doing but both the inhabitants and the stationed army there were wiped out. Then, we found out it was a cult named Sar'Gas. The massacre was their sacrifice for a demon summoning. We both agreed that they had to be stopped and after scouting out the city, we charged straight to their summoning area. We got held back by two of their elites, who had moved to intercept us. We fought. It was then…"
He started clenching his fists when he said this, "It was then… I don't know who, but someone was able to blindside and place a curse on her. I could only watch as the ice slowly coated her whole body."
Then, slamming his right fist to the floor, he said, "She told me to carry on without her. It was in her eyes. She understood what must be done. I… hesitated… and that was enough. I so close, but I failed to stop the summoning. All that was left was Curina, frozen solid in unbreakable, unmelting ice."
With a yell, he started hammering the ground.
"Ouch, that would be hard on him, wouldn't it," commented Asuna, who was already feeling sorry for him.
"Quite. It sounds like she was cryogenically frozen on the spot," agreed Yue.
"What happened next?" asked Kazumi.
"It was tough… I must admit. Seeing her like that drove me mad. It made me question what I was doing… whether it was worth it," started a somewhat calmer high priest, "Then again, Alberta was pretty much the last city on our list to attempt to liberate. I had two questions that needed answering. The first was what I could do to restore Curina to her living self. The second was to find out what exactly happened to the demon that was supposed to be summoned. I could sense no trace of it anywhere. Both questions, I had felt, had answers in Juno."
Sighing, he continued, "So I went. Juno had gotten back on its feet, the heart of Ymir back to stabilizing the floating city. Other problems had cropped up though. I had learnt that since Badi had been recognized as its long lost king, the leader of Einbroch and also the current ruling president of the Scwartzfald Republic had objected to Juno going back to a monarchy. Hence, I arrived in the middle of a civil war that was going on. Long story short, I sided with my friend."
"Not willing to relive those moments just yet?" asked Mana softly.
"I've seen things and did things I'd rather not remember, even if it was to help my friend win," he replied in the same tone, "In the end, they offered a truce, since there was an even worse war brewing down south in Prontera. So I got dragged from one war to another. The 'fire' in this case was that blasted demon that was summoned. From what I learned later, he possessed Kyoji's body. Yes, you heard me right, the demon possessed his body and under his guise, killed the Pronteran king and ruled in his stead. We fought our way down to the capital with a plan in mind; Badi would lead the combined Scwartzfald forces out front while I warp in with a few crack troops into the city, behind enemy lines, to try and take out the demon before it realized what was happening. Besides the fact there were heavy losses in front, that blasted demon actually made use of Kyoji's guise to get a… an acquaintance of mine… and Curina's… to actually work with it. She told me she was sorry. I… had to kill her."
Looking up into Mana's eyes, he told her, "I don't know about you, but it was quite gut-wrenching to kill someone you know, even only briefly. It's a terrible thing I would never wish on anyone."
"What? That's so cruel!" exclaimed Ku Fei.
"Indeed. Sensei had to go through so much to find the answers he sought," agreed Kaede.
"This is starting to feel like a shonen manga. I can definitely feel the vibe," announced Haruna rather eagerly.
"What happened next?" asked Yue, ignoring the mangaka's outburst.
"He won," Mana said softly, "He overcame all odds and won. With the demon's banishment, the magic that held him here exploded and flooded the country, reversing some of the changes and causing changes in others. More importantly, he rushed back all the way to the port city to find out if she was cured. She was."
This brought out cheers from almost all the guests present. However, Evangeline brought the gloom back when she asked, "You know, I'm pretty sure that's not the only thing that happened, right?"
The mercenary gave her a sad smile as she replied, "How right you are. The curse had broken, but she had amnesia." Ignoring the subsequent gasps, she continued, "However, that didn't stop him one bit. To him, it was like courting her all over again, but under normal conditions. Sensei was actually quite the romantic. No, Haruna, I am not going to tell you what he did."
"What? Am I that easy to read?" asked the mangaka with fake innocence.
"Yes/-aru/-degozaru," deadpanned Mana, Ku Fei, Kaede and Setsuna in unison.
While the girl was pouting, Konoka gushed happily, "Wow, so in the end, sensei did have a happy ending."
Mana allowed a smile to grace her face. "Yes, sensei had a whole twenty or so years." Turning to Negi, she then said, "Sensei, I must inform you though, that Iroi-sensei is actually a fully qualified teacher. Although by this world's standards, he would be lacking."
"Eh? Really?" exclaimed the child teacher, "Wow, he must have been a great teacher."
She chuckled and continued, "That would be overestimating it. Although, it wasn't exactly something he asked for. In any case, there were ups and downs too." Then, taking on a serious demeanor, she stated, "One of his students died before his eyes."
"There are too many plot twists in this story," muttered Yue out of surprise, "It sounds like his life was like a roller coaster of sorts."
"Hmm, that would explain his reaction the previous week-degozaru," commented the ninja.
"And the time in Kyoto," added Setsuna.
"And, I think I've said enough," announced the miko as she got up from her seat, "Everyone here more or less knows most of sensei's past. It's up to you how you want to proceed from here."
With that, she left all of them deep in thought as she made her swift exit.
Another info dump, this time for Gamiya's pactio with Evangeline, or as Albireo would say, Kitty. =D
Stats: pretty much the same as in Konoka's one. If for one reason or another you don't remember it, look back to Chap 29. Card description itself is on chapter 32.
Ability Name: Ancipitis Telum (twofold weapon)
Yes, this time it's not an artifact, but an ability. I'm not sure where I read it, but artifacts are supposed to be quite rare, I believe, and only available to ministers/ministra of powerful magisters. Although, with his Shield form gaining some extra internal attachments, I'm also not sure if to class this as ability or artifact. Such as the theoretical result from making a pactio with Eva. XP
With this card, he gets transformation abilities; Shield, Sword and a final transformation which I haven't featured yet called Protect.
Sword - Appearance of a burning man. Think Human Torch (pretty much the most famous full bodied burning man there is IMO). Perma-cast Agi Up and Impositio Manus, in keeping with the fire theme, and the inability to cast spells. Extremely weak against water ad ice themed spells. Instead of his normal melee capability, he takes a more ranged approach in tossing fireballs. One mass ability, Blazing Spark, was the mini sun area attack that he used during the Mars vs Mahora scene.
Shield - Full body metal transformation. Think Hym Pawn from Dragon Quest: Dai no Daiboken (Adventure of Dai). Perma-cast Blessing and (under certain conditions)Agi Up and the inability to cast his priest spells. I say priest spells since he can use Magnum Break in this form, but only MB. Extremely weak against lightning themed spells. Ice spells remove Agi Up, at least until the spell is removed or duration ends. His right hand, the metal one, can launch a hooked harpoon a la Scorpion from MK series games.
Protect - This is where it gets rather sticky. Left half totally on fire, right side fully metal. This is where the wings come into play, both fully usable for flight. Perma-cast Agi Up, Blessing and Impositio Manus and once again, inability to cast spells. I seem to like that don't I? No extreme weakness, though all elemental spells affect him normally, meaning no resistance to them whatsoever. His wings can be used in a special move, where his metal wing break apart and the pieces impale the opponent, immobilizing that person. Then, his fire wing detaches and becomes this huge fireball that he casts towards the impaled person. This move is named Funeral Pyre.