Blood Scrawled Notes:This… This fic is the result of two years of planning. It was going to be my originally intended debut but I realized that I wasn't near ready to release this and I wanted to get this just right. So instead I whipped up the crapfest that was "Bard Moon Rising" (I'd recommend it if it weren't for the fact I dislike it) with one of my second string characters, Peten Falson. Over the years, the original characters within began to flesh themselves out, with the exception of one who was already "fleshed" out to begin with.

I own only my original characters within.

The King of Dust

There is a two-fold Silence -- sea and shore --
Body and soul. One dwells in lonely places,
Newly with grass o'ergrown; some solemn graces,
Some human memories and tearful lore,
Render him terrorless: his name's "No More."

--From Edgar Allen Poe's, "Silence"

Chapter One: Echoes

Negi Springfield is a boy, a wizard-in-training, and 8 years old. He is free from classes today and has decided to go into the woods near his school. The cool, clean air sweeps past, rustling the leaves of the trees and the tall grass beneath them. The dew from the morning is still clinging to the unkempt grass, droplets flying free and landing on his coat as he brushes past. The red haired boy had been told that this section of the woods is close enough to the school to prevent monsters from lurking. He had ditched Anya earlier, just before coming outside. Being friends is all well and good, but sometimes it is good to get time to be yourself.

The moss covered trees look inviting as he walks deeper into the woods. The sound of birdsong is surprisingly quieter than usual. Perhaps today is one of those still days where everything is peaceful and sleepy. The boy climbs on top a large root and sits down for a bit, observes the sunlight streaming down through the leaves with the wonder only a child can muster. He has yet to become a world weary adult. After a few minutes, he stands up again and hops down off the root and continues on his journey. There is a flowering plant on his right as he moves around a large stray rock. Stop and smell the roses, or whatever they say.

"They smell so sweet," he thinks. "Perhaps Anya would like one after our argument yesterday…"

Yesterday, there was a book they both wanted to read about magical creatures and Negi got a hold of it first. He kept it to himself, mostly out of childish playing but she seemed quite upset with that. She should be reading it right now… a book of dragons. Their physiology, their outlook on life, their religions, language… which was harder than it looks with its hard consonants, everything you could ever want to know. But there haven't been any actual True Dragons in the human worlds in a long time. Their exodus is well known and is, in fact, one of the many reasons lots of mages work to make their worlds a better place. It is also why others prefer to cause strife.

It is thought that by becoming a perfect example of a True Dragon, one can achieve some kind of reward from them. Evil people follow the examples of the Chromatic Dragons and the good follow the examples of the Metallic Dragons. Others think this is a load of garbage. Either way, they haven't been seen in many generations.

He stops to take a deep breath of the cool spring air, still carrying a slight hint of winter's chill. His breath is visible yet, but not as much as in a deep winter freeze. The wisp swiftly fades away.

A rustling from his right draws his attention which is soon followed by a gusty breeze. He decides to ignore the sound as a precursor to the breeze, but the wind carries with it the sounds of combat and shifting sand. This isn't normal and it certainly looks like today will not be as peaceful and sleepy as he previously thought. Rushing to the sounds of combat and flowing sand, he runs.

He runs for what he feels like is forever and finally comes upon a girl, no older than 15, with long, sky-blue hair, and clad in armor. The light from the sun is much brighter here as the surrounding trees are withered and dead, their leaves long since turned to dust from rot. The light reflected brightly off the metal, or rather, what is left of it. The child sees that the left side of her armor is shattered and there is a gaping wound underneath. Most of her left side is bloody, and he is certain there is a rib protruding.

Just across from her is a monster.

A monster wearing a black robe so dark it is to be thought of as being made from the night itself. In sharp contrast was that of its snout, very beak-like in its appearance, two scaly protrusions on either side of the chin, pointing down and in. Pale white scales gave it the contrast to the deep black of its cloak. What flesh lies beneath is obviously drawn tight over the beast's skull, with hollow indentions in its nasal area. From its lips spring three teeth on either side, yellowed fangs that look at home where they sit.

Then the poor child makes the mistake of locking eyes with the monster. All at once, his world seems to come to a halt. Where there would be… should have been eyes, there was only a bright red light, the back of its eye sockets visible, flaring white and focusing into mere pinpricks when he looks at the young boy. The sensation he's receiving from the monster is overwhelming. As if time and space are colliding in harmony with hate and violence with an underlying hint of order. Negi wants to run, to fall, to die. Anything to get away from this feeling. Quickly forming in the corners of his eyes, tears begin to fall down Negi's cheeks as his breath falters.

The dark monster steps slowly towards him while sniffing the air, it nostrils flaring to let in more air. The child remembers that certain creatures, like dogs for example, have a better sense of smell than a human. Stopping suddenly, its mouth opens up and it lets out a quiet snarl that promises only death. Black fumes puff forth from the decayed mouth, wholly unlike the white exhalation that came from the boy earlier.

Sunlight glinting off of it through the dead trees, the monster raises its right hand, which is clad in a clawed gauntlet. Hooks along the back of the finger joints and nine scalpel-like blades along the back of the hand make it look ready for battle. Reaching out, the monster's hand is suddenly knocked away by a bright blast of light. The blast seems to have blown the monster's hand clear off. The claw lay motionless on the ground.

The injured girl is up against a tree with her palm aimed forward. "Do not dare touch that child, you bastard! Your hand shall not claim another victim, especially one so young."

Breaking the lock, the monster turns to its previous victim. Negi snaps out of his trance and falls back, landing in a sitting position and using his legs to slide away. He is too scared to try and flee for that may bring the attention of that nightmare upon him once again. He shivers in fear, worrying about his possible end and too scared to wet himself.

"Of course, how could I have been so ignorant?" asks the monster, tilting his head ever so slightly to the right. His cold calculating voice scares the hell out of the boy. It sounds like many voices and yet one voice, intelligent, deep, cold, mysterious, persuasive, and dark. Briefly, Negi imagines this must be what a part of hell feels like. The monster picks the claw up with his left hand and slides it back into the sleeve of the black cloak. It emerges a moment later like it hadn't been blown off.

The black cloaked beast walks forward, kneels down, and places his gauntlet wearing right hand on her chest, grabbing her exposed right breast. Mocking a frown, he says, "So soft, aww," but quickly smiles again. Black energy shoots across her surface causing her to arch back and shout in pain. "Simply die and then you will not care what happens. It is as simple as that. It benefits us both. You will no longer be in pain and I will get quite a bit of fuel for my spells and I shall take my right place."

Back at the school, Anya Cocolova hears a scream, ever so faintly come in from the forest. Making the wrong choice, she heads out into the woods alone rather than alerting someone.

Back in the forest, the girl with the sky-blue hair strikes the monster's hand away and aims her open palm at him, causing him to hop back. "I shall not go as you like, for I protect these people as is my duty and my honor, set upon me by my father. I send thee hence beast. I may be too weak to deal with you now, but I will find you. I will destroy you! The pain and suffering you cause will end!" she commands. A strange energy flows from her open palm and coalesces into an orb. "Then I shall go and fix everything you have broken, all the lies, all the darkness you have wrought. Everything you've done will be for naught!" With an electrical screech, the orb flies off.

While she speaks, the night robed monster hold his hand up, forming a swarm of sand above his open palm, swirling and shifting into a long javelin shape. With a small utterance, blue fire ripples up the surface of the sand, leaving glass in its wake. Three more glass javelins form from the monster's sand and fire. He throws them at the same time she fires off her orb. With the sound of sick impact, they pin her to a nearby tree.

The girl's orb impacts with the monster and enwraps him, making him strain against some unknown force. Suddenly his form melts into that of a cloud of what the boy assumes is sand. Several tendrils of sand shoot forth, solidify long enough to pierce the girl's chest in several places making blood issue forth. Negi watches as the metal gauntlet the beast has rises up from the surface of the sand and seemingly absorbs the blood of the girl. After it mops up all it can, the tendrils take the claw back and the beast reforms back into its former self. "Think about your actions… all those people alive? The world is already overpopulated. I am doing the world a ser…"

With a puff of nothingness, the beast disappears.

Shortly after watching the monster fade away, Negi snaps out of it and runs to the mostly armor clad girl. "Miss? Miss? Are you okay?" Negi asks in a state of panic. "I should go get some help!"

Straining against them, the girl removes the glass javelins one–by–one, gritting her teeth with each one she removes, blood issuing forth with each javelin. She slides down the tree, scraping off some moss and leaving a trail of red as she slides. Dripping blood from her wounds and covered in sweat, she asks the boy in front of her, "What's more important is… are you okay?"

"You're the one who has been injured!" exclaims the boy.

The girl smiles and slumps over, the metal of her armor remnants rattling when she hits the ground. "Just… let me rest a moment. I'll be…" she closes her eyes. Slowly, a pool of blood forms beneath her.

Negi doesn't know what to do. If he leaves, she'll likely die and end up as food for the forest animals. If he stays, she will die. He can think of no way to solve this. He realizes she's going to die and there's no way he can help. If he were a greater mage then maybe he could help. He begins to cry as he realizes the futility of the situation. "I'm sorry… I… I… can't help."

After walking quite a distance through the forest, Anya Cocolova finds Negi sniffling over the body of a half naked girl… a half naked girl with blood on her. "What are you doing?"

Looking up at his friend, tears streaking down his face, "Quickly, go get some help! She's going to die!" he commands.

"What?"

"She's going to die if we don't get any help and I can't just let her stay here. Now go!"

Unable to fully grasp what's going on Anya heads back at full speed.

An hour later the blue haired girl is in a bed, bandaged up and still asleep in a quiet room with dim lighting. Two people, a doctor and a nurse, are speaking outside of the room.

"I'm amazed she's still alive."

"'Er heart was just as strong as could be. An 'er wounds practically healed themselves."

"Really?"

"It's like she's nae even human," his voice carried with it a grim portent. "She cannae be, nae with those regenerative capabilities."

"Did you run a blood sample?"

"Nae yet. But we hope tae find out what allows this soon. Whether it be magic or something else. And I happened to take 'er ribbon tae run a hair sample as well."

While she is taken to a hospital, Negi is taken to be questioned about why he was found over the bloody body of a girl in the woods. They ask him what happened, what was said, the kinds of things you'd get from a police investigation. They offer the shaken boy a glass of water, which he gladly accepts.

"Can you at least describe the attacker to us?" asks the highest ranking mage of the school.

"He was horror, and nightmares, and… and evil. Pure evil…" Negi says.

"We need a physical description," says the wizened mage gently. "Can you do that?"

Negi sniffs a bit. "O- okay… He was clad all in black. A white pointy mouth was one of his striking features. And his eyes, red glowing light. I think he may have had a tail covered in white scales too. He wore a clawed gauntlet on his right hand and his left hand was ungloved. His claws were a slight yellow color with a greenish tinge towards the finger." A mage behind him uses magic to draw what Negi describes. "When I met his eyes I found I couldn't move. I wanted to run but I fell back and couldn't do it."

The mage finishes up and hold up the picture to the boy. It is a drawing of a black clad thing with a white beak-like protrusion from its facial area. "That's him! That was what killed that forest girl." Nightmares and death given form and motivation.

The elder mage takes the image and looks on in frustration. "This thing doesn't even look human. Maybe some kind of rogue element from the magic world," thinks the Magus. He says to the boy, "Perhaps you were being fooled and you only think this is the one you saw?"

Negi defies the old man and protests, "No! He's the one who killed her! I saw him do it!"

The child would have no reason to lie. Though the fear of the situation may have warped his perception… "Listen," he tells another mage near him, "put out an all points bulletin on this monster. We may have an escapee from Magic Mundus."

"That girl… she sent him away. I don't know what she did but she fired a white orb at him, after that he attacked her by turning into a bunch of sand. She had said something about time," Negi explains, "before she died from her wounds."

The doctor who attended the girl comes in and whispers into the ear of the elder mage. The elder mage's face lightens up at the news.

He leans down to deliver the good news to the boy. "The girl you found is perfectly fine. So whoever it was can't be all bad as they couldn't even kill a knight."

This visibly cheers the boy up. "Where is she?" The doctor tells him and he bolts from the room.

Looking down and away from the sketch, the elder comments to himself, "A nightmare spoken of only in hushed tones, even amongst the greatest mages. Killed a thousand times never to die. Each passing era, every death, makes him stronger."

"Sir?" asks the sketch artist.

"I am just thinking of that time a few years ago, with that murdered student and an old tale my grandfather told me about my great grandfather and a monster he talked about that looked kind of like this. We mostly thought he was just going senile and worried about death, but this has made me wonder… still, no point in that. If it couldn't kill a knight then what hope does it stand against us?"

"That's kind of disregarding her abilities, sir. How did she send him away then?"

"Perhaps she has some magical abilities of her own. One cannot be certain for sure until she awakens. Listen doctor," says the Magus, "do your blood work and see what turns up."

"I even have the bow she was wearing. I removed it so I can run a hair sample analysis too."

The Magus likes this idea. "Good, get on it."

Negi sits at the girl's bedside and does so for several hours, mostly on an old wooden chair that had been sitting in the corner. It looks like nothing even happened to her. Her wounds are healed, no scars, no blood, nothing. While he sits there patiently waiting, a nasty storm kicks up outside, blocking the light from outside. The rain beats hard against the glass, washing down it and pooling on the sill before draining to the grassy ground below. It even smells strongly of rain in the room.

Lightning flashes every now and again, providing a too brief clear view of the young woman on the bed. Obscuring her face in places, her long sky blue hair looks messy. If he were older he may have found her pretty, but for now he is more in awe of what she did in the woods. Whoever she is, she must be one heck of a mage. Obviously a combat mage with her skills and the armor she was wearing. Now, however, she looks a little less impressive with the hospital gown on. It was now that Negi noticed something.

She isn't hooked to any of the typical machinery.

That's odd. The mysterious girl just keeps having mystery after mystery piled on top of her. Noticing something else strange about her, he stands up from the chair and leans into her. Placing his ear near her nose, he discovers something else. This is bad… she is not breathing! He, after dodging the chair, rushes into the hallway, looking for someone to help the girl who has ceased breathing.

Suddenly, as he stands panicking in the hallway, he can feel a presence behind him, warm and inviting causing his worries to melt away. It seems to be telling him to come and sit back down, relax… everything is all right. Nothing is wrong. Doing as the feeling tells him, he reenters the room and sits down. This is the best he's felt all day since meeting her. Eventually, as he sits there in the room's peaceful atmosphere, he gets comfortable enough to fall asleep.

He awakens several hours later and it has gotten dark out, but the storm has yet to quit, instead changing to a pleasant drizzle. Negi steps to the window and peeks out of it. Streetlights along the street out in front of the hospital here are shining brightly against the darkness. A black clad figure walks down the street from the right. Negi ducks down, leaving just the top of his head visible. Continuing unabated to the left, the figure walks by without a second thought to the boy sticking up from the window or who may be sleeping within.

The young boy sits back down when he is certain the monster will not be returning.

A clock on the wall tells him it is now slightly past 7 p.m. He was asleep for such a long time! Well, he's awake now so there isn't much to do. He leans in and checks her breath which still isn't there. He ponders if she really is okay. Not thinking about being a pervert, he presses his ear against her chest, trying to hear her heartbeat without it looking like he is laying his head against her breast. There is definitely a heartbeat. A heartbeat and no breath for several hours? What is up with her? He lifts his head off her chest.

The door to the room opens several minutes later. Nekane and Anya are on the other side, come to retrieve the boy.

"Come on, Negi. It's time to go home now." Nekane tells him quietly, not wanting to wake the sleeping girl. She has only heard third hand information. Apparently she had been in one hell of a fight.

Negi doesn't want to leave. In the short time he's been in this room the boy has set it upon himself to stay and watch over her. "What if the monster comes back? She'd be defenseless. I can't just leave her here like that."

It's at this point the girl in the bed begins to stir. She slowly opens her eyes. "Huh," she says at seeing the room, "not expecting this."

Negi is quite happy to see her awake for she had given him quite the fright out in the woods. He was certain she was dead for a while, but to find out the girl was okay, and what's more, to see her alive, was spectacular. Nekane and Anya come further in to the room as the girl sits up. The girl has long sky blue hair, some of it covered in blood, which goes under the covers. From what Negi could figure, it must stop around her knees somewhere. It's not currently tied, but Negi also recalls her hair was tied about mid back with a white ribbon. A lot of details escape him as he was more concerned with her safety and his own… even if he did chicken out and find himself totally unable to move.

"You're awake!" blurts Negi.

The girl looks at him confused. "Why wouldn't I be?" She looks at the clock on the wall and says, "7:15 p.m. sounds about right."

"But you were so badly hurt, your chest was… I saw it… you should have been dead!" Negi points out.

The girl smiles, making Negi feel calm again as the same happens to Nekane and Anya. "I was more concerned for you. I tried to make sure there were no humans about where we were going to be. It looks like you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I am sorry. I do appreciate your concern though." With a smile, she puts her hand on top of his head and ruffles his hair. "I suppose I should reward the gallant knight who helped me though." Negi soon finds the girl kissing his forehead sweetly.

Negi feels like there is some kind of protective force surrounding him now. An unidentifiable feeling that… well he can't really describe it. Sort of like he's been blessed in some manner.

Anya is quite irritated at this but settles for not saying anything. Certainly it didn't mean anything. And didn't she go back and get help? Where was her reward? Not that she wanted a kiss. Absolutely not!

The girl asks, "And what might be the name of the one who stood watch over me while I recovered?"

The 'gallant knight' boldly states, "Negi Springfield."

Apparently thinking it over for a minute, the girl continues to sit in bed. "Okay," she finally says, "you can call me Katsako Tamori."

"That sounds Japanese," observes Nekane. "Are you from there?"

Katsako grins. "Well, I am of what you would consider European descent, but my father spent quite sometime there. So I have spent some time there myself. My mother was also of European lineage so I really don't know what he was thinking because he can be a bit of an oddball sometimes. I, myself, mostly prefer to be called Kat."

"Well, Kat, are you from around here then?" Anya asks.

Katsako shakes her head. "No. I have a home in Japan in this time, but that belongs to my father."

This strikes everyone as odd… very odd. Nekane asks, "So what are you doing out here? At your age, shouldn't you be with your mother and father?"

"No. My mother passed and my father went on a trip with a few close friends. As for what I am doing, I'm traveling as well. What does it look like?" Katsako answers quite plainly. As if it should have been completely obvious to everyone.

Anya again looks perturbed. "You've caused quite a commotion. You show up, die, work Negi up, and then come back to life. And now you say you have a home in Japan, yet you are—!"

"Anya, settle down," suggests Nekane. She turns back to Katsako. "So you are far away from home and somehow you ended up almost dying in the woods?" Katsako can only offer a toothy grin. "Since you are so far from home, would you like to stay with us tonight?"

"I couldn't possibly put you out." Katsako looks embarrassed. "I should be going now. I have to go chase him down again. And I didn't die, I was resting."

"But who knows if you'll make it through the next time?" blurts Negi.

She sighs and agrees. "Okay, little knight. But I will only stay this one night," agrees Katsako. "Once morning comes, I have to chase him down again, okay?"

The young boy mage asks, concerned, "B- b- b- but you couldn't go chasing him down again. Why would you do something like that?"

Katsako has nothing to say. Instead she looks around and asks, "Has anyone seen my armor? Oh, and my ribbon? It is kind of important to me."

No one had seen what they did with the armor or the ribbon. Katsako looks around quickly and finally gets out of bed. Her hair covers the gap in the back of all hospital gowns. Anya covers Negi's eyes in reaction. The boy protests by lifting his friends' hands off his eyes.

"I'm not too concerned about the armor, but the ribbon is very important to me," the girl with the untied blue hair seems intent on finding it. "I don't know what I'd do without it."

Nekane begins to look around subconsciously, "What does it look like?"

The girl with the long blue hair looks under the bed, her hair falling to the cold tiles beneath her. "It's just a plain white ribbon," she claims while looking from left to right.

With a knowing nod, Nekane says, "It must have been from someone very special then."

Countering that, Katsako claims while looking in the closet, "Not at all. It's far more important than that." By this point, the entire room has been looked over.

"Well," asks Anya, "what makes it so special then?"

"It's a key," Katsako explains.

"A key?" Nekane asks.

"Yes… Perhaps one of the doctors has it. I really need it back." Katsako heads to the door but the gentle blonde stops her.

"You're not even dressed. We can go and ask around for it," Nekane offers.

Katsako looks down at what she is wearing and puzzles. "Um, okay. But I can just—?"

"Nonsense. Just wait here. I'll go looking for it. Anya, would be so kind as to go to my place to find something to wear for Miss Katsako?" The 'Miss Katsako' part elicits a sigh from the blue haired girl. Nekane eyes Katsako and says, "She should be about my size."

Anya sighs. "Okay…" The small girl heads out to go find some clothes for Katsako. Nekane follows her out to go look for her important ribbon. Negi stays behind to be the 'gallant knight' he seems to have become.

The doctor studies the blood and hair taken from the girl who was brought in earlier. He runs test after test, experiment after experiment. His findings are odd to say the least, and outstanding to say the most. From what he gathers in his magical tests, her regenerative capabilities are off the chart, to the point of being beyond magical. Then what is she? What could have these capabilities?

There also doesn't seem to be any known type to the blood and rudimentary analysis shows her genetic structure is completely nonhuman in origin.

Her hair sample also turns up many unknown phenomenon. It seems to be glammered from what he can tell. An illusion… which means she is hiding her true form. And none of his attempts to drop the glammer have worked so far, which is strange considering that the hair is no longer attached.

He rounds up what he's gathered… She's not human, physical damage doesn't seem to do much thanks to massive regenerative capabilities, and she's hiding her true form. So what is she? There is obviously a lot more here than meets the eye.

He decides to bring this up with the Magus. Now to get to a phone…

Nekane asks a small cluster of nurses if they have seen the white ribbon the patient in room 3 had. They inform her that the doctor overseeing the case is studying it. The gentle blonde informs them that said patient is awake and ready to leave and would like it back.

Bored, one of the nurses directs her, "His room is just down there, room 15."

"Thank you very much." Negi's cousin walks down the empty corridor to the doctor's room.

There's something about a hospital hallway late at night that bugs her. It is probably the cold, empty, quiet feeling of a late night hospital. That and all those horror movies always seem to have a hospital scene in them. She generally doesn't watch them, but she was feeling bold the other day. Now she is wishing she hadn't felt so bold.

Before she can get there, the doctor leaves the room, heading to the nurse's desk further down the hallway. Nekane picks up speed in order to catch up with him. You know, for an older man, he sure moves quickly. Wasting little time he picks up the phone from the desk and dials his number. Footsteps slowing, she makes it there after he starts speaking.

"Hello, sir… Good evening tae you as well… I realize tis late, but I wanted you tae know I finished preliminary work on the girl… No sir, far worse than that. It seems she isn't human… As for what she is, I cannae say. She's using a very powerful glammer on herself… You will sir? Okay. I shall await your arrival." And with that, the doctor hangs up the phone. Quickly turning, he almost runs into Nekane.

"Pardon me miss, is there something I can help you with?" he asks.

Nekane explains, "The girl in room 3 has woken and would like her ribbon back because she would like to leave."

"That girl is nae allowed tae leave." The doc explains, "The Magus is on his way and shall expect tae speak with 'er upon his arrival."

It must be bad for the Magus to arrive. Is a simple girl really worthy of raising such an alarm? "Can I at least get her ribbon back?"

"I dinnae see why nae. Come."

Negi and Katsako sit silently in the room. It's gotten noticeably colder in the room, mostly due to the fact that that the sun has been blocked by the storm for some time now and it was getting later on in the evening. The pitter of the rain hitting the window was really only the only sound.

"I could really use a shower or a bath or something I suppose," Katsako comments. "I hope you or your cousin won't mind me using your washing facilities."

"I won't and I don't think she'll mind either." Something strikes Negi as odd about what she said but he figures he simply forgot about something he heard. "So where are you really from? And are you a powerful mage?"

Katsako smiles and looks away. "As for being a mage… Not a very good one at all, no. Magic does run in my blood, but it is not very strong yet, and it won't get that way for a very long time."

"So where were you born then?" Negi asks with childlike curiosity.

She takes a moment to pause and think about her birthplace before answering. "Where I was born is a place far away from here, a place with a brilliant night sky from which many galaxies can be seen. In the day, the verdant green valleys and fields evoke a feeling of peace and harmony. And in the evening, the brilliant orange sky brings the cool night air and people head in to their homes for togetherness or the local pubs for friendship and the occasional drink.

"The oceans and seas are large and bountiful with fish; the crops are fresh, and the water pure. The silence at night is only ever broken in town. The forests are tall and lush, providing a habitat for many an animal. Truly a place of stunning natural beauty and wonderful people… you'd love it there.

"The various kingdoms all get along and there is no war or strife, which must seem like a farfetched idea or even like a utopia to you, but that, is exactly the reason I do not linger there. There is no need for me to be there. Sure, I won't say I don't go back every now and again to see the place, but I have work here to do here."

"Where is this place? It sounds like heaven." Negi asks.

"It's a bit like that, I suppose."

Finally coming to a solution, he exclaims, "So… You must be an angel then!"

"Well…" Kat looks to be both embarrassed and distressed.

The door to the room opens again and Nekane comes in with the doctor. Nekane has Katsako's ribbon in her free hand.

Standing up out of bed, Kat remarks, "Oh, you've found it… and it's a mess too."

The doctor accosts her while she is taking it. "So what manner of beast be you?"

A sad expression crawls across the girl with the sky blue hair. "So you know I am not human too. And I suppose you've already taken the liberty of phoning the leader of this village."

"Aye, that I have."

Kat sits back on the bed. "Then I shall wait till he arrives," she says as she brings her hair around to tie it. "Wow… that's a mess too. I must have looked horrible. He must have done more damage than I realized."

"Okay! Okay! I have the clothes you wanted," Anya trumpets as she enters the room with her arms full of clothes. She maneuvers around Nekane, the doctor, and Negi and dumps them on the bed.

"Oh… these are far too nice… are you sure you wouldn't mind my sweaty, nasty self in these?" the girl in the gown asks.

"No," the blonde tells her, "not at all. Please be my guest."

Tears form in the eyes of the mysterious Katsako. "Thank you very much."

"Doctor's orders. You're nae allowed to leave this room until the Magus arrives."

Katsako nods, "Of course."

A long period of uncomfortable silence passes. The doctor has stepped out in to the hallway because of the uncomfortable atmosphere of the room. Anya is still in the dark about why all of this is. When she left, everyone seemed happy and chipper but upon her return… things were different.

Whispering, she asks Negi, "What happened?"

"Katsako isn't a human," is his whispered response. "I think she's an angel."

Anya thinks about this for a moment. "Or she could be a demon, you know. Think about that."

Shaking his head in response, Negi answers, "I don't think so. Can't you feel it? The peace and calm coming from her?"

Once again, Anya is silent. "I suppose… but she could be faking it. It's something that older women do, I heard."

Negi still refuses to believe she could be anything bad. She was the one fighting the evil monster in the forest, she was the one who, even when she was must have been in an extreme amount of pain… she kept fighting. No, there is no way she could ever be evil. So could she be from heaven? The emotions he sensed from her… there couldn't have been any other answer.

It isn't long after this when the Magus arrives, ready to find some answers to what happened out in the woods and to what this girl is. He has several back-up mages with him, skilled in quick takedowns because there is no way of telling what she is and if she can be trusted. He tried to get information on the black cloaked thing that seems to have scared Negi but was officially told that all records were sealed and he shall never talk of this again. That speaks of bad portents and dark knowledge because rarely does information get banned. And with the exception of magic and the mundane, it is also rare to have a gag order issued.

The powerful mage does his best to look authoritative and generally succeeds at it. He gives Katsako a stern look which does make her shrink away. "Who are you?"

"My name is Katsako Tamori."

"Where are you from?"

"This time… I am from Japan, I guess."

"This time? This time? Some kind of alias?"

"No, my name really is Katsako Tamori. My home really is in Japan right now."

"What are you though? The tests came back showing that, at the very least, you are not human. Explain yourself!"

"My name is Katsako Tamori and I… would like to speak with you privately, if at all possible. While I don't consider what I am a secret, I do believe it will take some convincing before you believe me. Negi," when hearing his name the boy perks up, "you may stay too, if that is okay."

"Absolutely not," commands the Magus.

Katsako frowns a little. "Okay. You are the ranking human here. Would everyone else please leave? I do not want to go against the wishes of the Magus here."

"But she's a good person, really!" Negi declares. "Can't you feel it?"

The Magus asks, "Feel what?"

"Only those pure of heart can ever feel it. And it seems that only Negi can feel it." Katsako then goes on to ask, "So, shall we speak Magus?"

"Yes… Everyone who has decided to get involved may wait in the waiting room."

More than 15 minutes pass inside the room. Farther away, on the first floor's waiting room, Negi, Nekane, and Anya wait, one of them not so patiently. Anya, who has no clue on the situation, is asleep in her chair. It is the silence and boredom that does it every time, and the air coming in from the vent aimed at her assisted the slumber.

Nekane is as calm as ever, watching as her cousin anxiously awaits the return of the mysterious girl. Back in the room, he had mentioned something about a feeling. While in the presence of Katsako, she felt something too. A strange peace and calm, like knowing without a doubt that everything would be absolutely fine. Almost like the feeling right before a good sleep.

"You certainly have taken a shine to Miss Katsako, haven't you?" Nekane asks out of jest.

Negi seems to turn slightly red. "It's not that. It's that you always say I should always be kind to girls. She was obviously in such pain and I couldn't just let her be out there… Are you okay with her staying?"

Nekane smiles at him. "Would you really want it any other way?"

"Thank you. I just wouldn't have felt right just leaving her there."

"That's a good sign I believe," his older cousin tells him.

The elevator pings and Negi snaps back to focus. Unfortunately it isn't Katsako like he hopes. Instead it is one for the random hospital staff. More time and staff pass by, on their way to other patients. Once again, the elevator pings and this time it is Katsako, and the Magus, behind the doors. They both seem to be in much better spirits with each other then when he last saw them both. The powerful mage has a freshly baked baguette with him for some reason. How did he get that?

"And I'll have to wipe his memory of it. That kind of evil can have negative effects long after the event has transpired," Katsako says offhandedly to the older looking man.

The Magus agrees with her. "That would probably be the best then."

The young girl gets a somber look on her face. "I really never intended to show up near a human territory. It is my entire fault this has happened because I'm still not too sure of these powers, you know?"

"I understand. I suppose that nothing like that was obtained readily without much practice, much like magic abilities. Anyway, have some fun tonight Miss Tamori," the bread holding Magus says as they both leave the elevator. "It sounds like you could use some."

Katsako noticeably winces at the "Miss" part. She smiles back afterwards and replies, "Thanks, I'll try my best to do that." With a small wave, she parts company with the elder mage.

Negi stands up to greet her. "There's no need for that," she says while smiling.

Nekane is the first of the three to speak. "It seems you smoothed everything over with him."

"Yeah. I explained myself to him and made sure I was clear on everything," the long haired girl says, "and the baguette helped immensely in proving things."

"That's good. Should we all go home now?" the blonde girl asks.

Negi agrees.

Nekane wakes the slumbering Anya. The young girl snaps to the waking world. "Huh, wha…" She looks around confused. "Something going on?"

"We're going home now," answers Negi.

Anya stands up and stretches. "So everything is cleared up with what's-her-face?" This elicits a laugh from Katsako. "Oh! You're there. I didn't notice."

"That's fine," says Katsako. "I bet after waiting for me for so long you're all anxious to go home. So do not let me hold you up any longer."

A little while later, the group is at the Springfield residence. Katsako seems to fit right in with the rest of them, laughing and listening to stories the others tell.

"So Katsako, tell us about yourself. You certainly did stir up quite a bit of trouble," Nekane says with a happy tone. "Certainly you can't be such a troublemaker."

Katsako is answering, her voice drowned out by silence, when—

Negi can hear a snarling, carrying a chorus screams with it. With a cold chill, his heart beat quickens and red light fills his mind. No. No, no, no… The red lights… those eyes. The feeling of fear seeps its way into his very soul. He's literally shaking, and for whatever reason no one is helping.

With a cold sweat and a scream, Negi wakes up. Nekane, whose bed he climbed in earlier, also wakes up to the sound of Negi's scream.

"Negi? Negi? What is the matter?" Nekane asks, terrified for her young cousin.

"Death! I was dying! I felt it. My heart kept speeding up, beating faster and faster until it exploded!" Negi cries out.

Nekane hugs her cousin as a means to calm him down. "Is it the monster again?" she asks, knowing full well the situation. It has been almost two years since the incident in the woods.

"Y– Y– Yes," Negi admits through his tears.

"Remember that day though? You found that girl. She was wounded and so you cried for help and Anya found you. Remember?"

In a mass of sniffles, Negi answers. "Yes, Miss Katsako would have died if it weren't for me. But why the monster? Where did it come from? I don't remember it being there."

Nekane maneuvers around and gets out of bed. "Let's get you to calm down, you may have eaten something that is disagreeing with you." She takes the young Negi's hand and leads him to the kitchen for a cold glass of water, blatantly lying to him.

While he is drinking quickly, the elder cousin advises Negi to slow down or he'll choke. He disregards the advice in favor of the water. And true to his wise cousin's words, his sniffling causes a back flood, forcing water up into his nasal cavity. He coughs up, water splattering down his shirt and some on the floor. It is about an hour later before his tears dry up as the nightmare's effects fade, like a black cloud lifting to reveal the sunlight on the other side.

Nekane remembers the day well, but Negi doesn't. It is the monster that was blocked from his memory, though it seems Katsako was right in her declaration that that kind of evil isn't easily forgotten, which is even more true now that more than a year has passed hence.

"Perhaps you are getting nervous over tomorrow? You finally graduate tomorrow and that's a really big step in your life. I am sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this."

She knows it is an echo of evil.

The End of Chapter One…