AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Alright everyone! Chapter 18 out, and with it, I have some news, both good and bad. School's picking up starting tomorrow from this update and as such, I'm going to be prodigiously busy and so updates are likely going to slow back down to a crawl at best. This semester is looking particularly hard for me. The good news, though, is that chapter 19 is almost finished, and so I should have one more update before everything slows down, hopefully won't be too long.
One further note as well. Unfortunately, fanfiction isn't playing nice with a certain type of formatting I wanted to use when it came to this chapter, so I've had to compromise a little. The story is also up on Ao3 if one would like to see the "intended" effect in the text. Just add what's below to the homepage URL for Archive of our Own to get to the chapter, as FF ALSO likes to eat any full links not associated with itself, youtube, or fictionpress. Sorry about the inconvenience. Kudos appreciated there if you do go!
/works/14250684/chapters/47889019
Thanks again everyone for reading and sticking with it through the update schedule, I hope I'll manage to still get some work done despite school. As always, any comments or reviews welcomed.
A dusty haze blanketed the sky, stretching across the red, rocky landscape of the world for as far as the eye could see. Large canyons and mountains dotted the landscape, illuminated by one of the only readily visible objects of the planet's sky, the Sun. The light of stars barely pierced through the veil over the world, many that would normally be visible unable to pass their light into the dusty atmosphere, leaving the fading heart of the Solar System it's near sole occupant. It was an alien world, unlike any location upon Earth
It was the world that used to be Mundus Magicus.
This was all wrong, Negi thought as he turned into lightning, rocketing backwards to avoid a black whip that detonated the ground he had been standing upon. He hadn't been gone for long, the world had been stabilized for the next hundred years while a more permanent solution was worked on. There were plans laid out, an entire planet's resources dedicated toward it, the world's most powerful and intelligent mages helping how they could with his plan. Everything was fine before he and Fate had vanished from the world. There should have been a bustling city to come back to at this very location.
But it had all been meaninglessto the one standing before him. There was no city to be found anymore, no world teeming with life that used to reside atop the planet's surface.
Standing atop a hill opposite from Negi, rested a figure draped in a pure black robe that obscured all their body features. Large stretches of cloth gently swayed under their own power in the windless world, contracting and expanding in size with every motion they made, mere arm lengths from the being one moment, to several times their bodies' height the next. The only distinctive features of the figure among their fabrics folders, were two small gold pins at shoulder level that held in place another section of the cloak, and their face, but it might have been easier for Negi if the same darkness over their body had hidden it as well. Bright auburn hair rested atop it, hiding a darker under layer, very like Negi's own. Piecing, soulless looking eyes starred at the mage with a condescending, subdued grin.
But there was far more to the figure than their visual appearance, it was the least intimidating part of them next to what assaulted Negi's other senses. Every atom of his body screamed to leave, to get as far away from them as possible, nothing mattered about the location, merely that it was anywhere but near this. Immortality mattered not. World class magical abilities mattered not. Any move was death.
"Ａｎｄ ｎｏｗ, ｙｏｕ ｓｅｅ．" The figure spoke with a deep voice, coming both from them and around them, their words hanging in the air like an echo. "Ｕｐｏｎ ｔｈｉｓ ｂｒｏｋｅｎ ｗｏｒｌｄ ｏｆ ｍｙ ｃｒｅａｔｉｏｎ， ｔｈｅ ｓａｍｅ ｔｒｕｔｈ Ｉ ｔｏｌｄ ｙｏｕｒ ｆａｔｈｅｒ． Ｔｈｅｒｅ ｉｓ ｎｏ ｓｏｌｕｔｉｏｎ ｔｏ ｓｏｌｖｅ ｅｖｅｒｙｔｈｉｎｇ． Ｙｏｕ ｍｅｒｅｌｙ ｄｅｌａｙｅｄ ｔｈｅ ｉｎｅｖｉｔａｂｌｅ， ａｂａｎｄｏｎｉｎｇ ｔｈｉｓ ｗｏｒｌｄ ｔｏ ｉｔ'ｓ ｓｌｏｗ ｃｏｌｌａｐｓｅ， ｕｎａｂｌｅ ｔｏ ｓａｖｅ ｗｈａｔ ｙｏｕ ｓｔｒｏｖｅ ｓｏ ｄｅｆｉａｎｔｌｙ ｆｏｒ．"
The being sighed, their grin growing wider and more expressive. "But," The voice had changed, the overt malice gone, replaced instead by arrogant dismissal. It was now his voice. "I was way older than you were when I did it, so I guess expecting an 11-year-old to save the world was a bit much."
"Even if you are my son."
Negi's hands tightened. They were toying with him, using his father's voice to further taunt him, but it didn't hurt any less. Even if they had rushed back, it just wasn't enough, costing the world and any chance at saving his father from The Lifemaker. But, even with how hopeless things looked, running was no option, even if he had wanted to.
"Enough of that though." The Lifemaker stated, pulling out one hand from beneath their robe, wrapped in the same deep black as the rest of their body. "Ｙｏｕ ａｒｅ ｎｏ ｅｘｃｅｐｔｉｏｎ ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｉｎｅｖｉｔａｂｌｅ．"
The next movement was near impossibly fast. Negi threw himself aside fast enough to go around the world in a blink, but even as fast as he was and the distance, the god's fist struck mere feet from where he had been. The impact shook the entire horizon like an earthquake, stone was vaporized and tossed aside like it were paper, the ground breaking apart in a violent explosion more terrifying than a meteor, its shockwave blowing Negi back through the air.
Less reacting to seeing an attack coming and more anticipating the follow up, Negi raised his hand, blocking another strike, the sheer force reverberating through his whole body and once more sending them flying.
Spinning to align himself upright, Negi planted his feet firmly in the ground, a magic circle appearing beneath him to further absorb the momentum, bringing him to a halt near instantly.
"Come on! You can do better than that!" Nagi's voice taunted while another punch flew at Negi.
Ready this time, Negi swerved to the right, pressing his right palm against The Lifemaker's forearm, barely deflecting it off course from his head, while striking with his left in the same moment at their torso. But his enemy was quicker, blocking the attack with their other limb.
Stepping back, Negi avoided an arm of cloth whipping him from the side, slicing through the ground beneath him as if it weren't there. The weapon, trying to correct it's miss, darted after him with another horizontal swipe that ruptured the land it passed over, but once more stuck only air from him dashing upwards.
"Ras Tel Ma Scir Magister!" Negi started chanting, rising skyward his swirling with magical energy that transformed itself into crackling lightning. He was utterly eclipsed in strength and only barely able to keep up in speed, yet he likewise had no hope of staying competitive purely in magic at range, embers beside an inferno. His best bet would be to stay closer then, but a pure fist fight would've been suicide.
"Veniant spiritus aerialis fulgurationi-" More swaths of The Lifemaker's robe cut through the air around Negi like blades, attacking from numerous directions at once and giving virtually no breathing room between dodges, every swing missing by narrower and narrower margins.
"-, cum fulgurationi... flet tempest austrina..." Negi continued, struggling between the onslaught, the energy called forth starting to coalescing into a vortex like pattern around his fist, growing denser with each passing moment, wind kicking up dust in the landscape around him.
Another spear of shadows dove toward the mage at lightning speed, several others wearing around the sides to block off any routes to dodge. With how thin the spaces between them were, it would've been impossible for a normal person to slip past the small cracks available.
But Negi had a trick up his sleeve.
Turning his body into a thin lightning bolt, Negi weaved between the little room available and slammed into the ground directly before The Lifemaker, striking at them with his fist near the torso, the energy from earlier dissipating from the incomplete chant, turning the blow into a regular jab that was expectantly blocked with ease by their palm.
Grinning tauntingly, his foe countered with their own flawlessly executed punch, the sides of their knuckles grazing Negi's cheek and opening a deep cut across it, the injury closing nearly the instant it appeared. The blow barely missed, sending a destructive wave in its wake. This had been the counter Negi was hoping for.
"Jovis Tempestas Fulguriens!" Attacking with his other limb, Negi finished the spell chant and fired it out of his fist at near point blank, causing a tremendous storm of lightning and wind to explode out of his hand before making contact, enveloping The Lifemaker's entire body with a direct hit, blowing away the ground beneath them, continuing onward, and drilling through the walls of the crater formed by their initial punch like they were paper. Yet, he wasn't done, far more would be needed to even scratch this enemy. Following through on the swing, the skin of the mage's arm turned a dark black, glowing purple rune marks appearing across it as magic from Magia Erebea empowered the arm, amplifying the weight behind it tremendously. Punching through the destructive storm ravaging the landscape, Negi struck with all the force he could summon in his fist, feeling it satisfying collide with the deity's chest.
And it unsatisfying barely budge.
"That wasn't too bad. You've come pretty far and I felt that one a little." Nagi's cocky voice commented, accompanied by a whip of The Lifemaker's cloak that forced Negi back and dispersed the already vanishing remnants of his spell. The only indication Negi's combination had any effect, being two paces backwards from his foe's initial stance and slightly scuffed up mark upon the cloak where his fist had connected, with even that vanishing just as Negi's own wound had. "But, how about your old man shows you how it's done."
The Lifemaker's hand sparked with the same energy his had earlier and every alarm in Negi's body screamed at once to move.
Cutting through a stream of cloth, Negi rocketed kilometers to the right a fraction of a second before the largest usage of Thunderous Gale he'd even seen erupted from the most powerful mage's fingertips. It was enormous, eclipsing his version like a tornado dwarfed a gentle breeze. The ground shook, rocks disappeared, mountains gave way, all that it touched simply ceased to be on contact with the terrifying storm, if it even survived long enough to touch the ferocious wind and lightning.
When its horrific form started to fade, the devastation left behind it was clear to see. The spell had carved an entire valley across the surface of the world, wide as a mountain was tall, deep as a monument was high, stretching far beyond the horizon in length, clouds of dust that had thickly blanketed that area of the landscape now blown away into nothingness, revealing a clear sky of stars in the hole left by it.
This was ridiculous, absurd. That one unchanted spell was more than a match, for even his strongest moves, moves that took time, yet it'd been thrown out at a moment's notice with bottomless power. This was far more than a simple uphill battle, defying the hammer of God was attempting to scale a jagged, sheer cliff barehanded. But, something else about this didn't feel quite right, though it was hard to give it any thought with the current threat.
Another flash of danger refocused Negi back toward The Lifemaker, already in melee range once again. The god threw a lightning quick jab, missing Negi by a hair and having their limb pushed outward by Negi's forearm.
The child continued with a palm strike using his other hand, but it was likewise batted away. Shifting his grip on the arm, Negi grabbed the wrist of it and pulled forward, transitioning the arm he blocked with into an elbow strike, yet it only collided with The Lifemaker's own palm, their strength too great for Negi to overcome and pull back into the attack.
But, his strength was far from insurmountable to the enemy. The Lifemaker raised a knee, holding onto Negi's arms with unreal force and leaving the child only their own legs to block, a defense that did little to soften the impact against his stomach.
Not allowing Negi a single moment to breath, The Lifemaker quickly shifted stances, sending a jab at the same spot he'd stuck a moment ago, preventing Negi from rolling with the blow by pulling the child into it, bones breaking and regenerating in the same breath from the attacks, yet there was no mercy to be found against the unstoppable onslaught.
Still gripping their forearm, Negi's foe spun around and viciously threw the child downward with staggering strength and speed, a complex mandala patterned circle appearing to their side and calling forth a wave of overwhelming, pure black energy from it to strike Negi and magnify the eventual impact to the ground with yet another devastating attack.
Recovering abnormally fast with his regeneration, Negi raised his arms, weaving his magic into layer upon layer of barriers, as numerous and durable as he could manage in the brief instant between being thrown and impact. But, even with all the power he could summon, the impact of the single attack shook his shields violently, the weight of it pushing the child downward and increasing their already rapid descent, even with his defenses absorbing much of the initial impact. Black wisps splintered off to the side as the main body grinded against the obstacle before it. One, two, three layers ceased to be on impact, further layers quickly being whittled away by the staggering force within the blast, shards chipping away like broken glass.
And this wasn't even the main attack.
The blast was slowly starting to recede in size, most of Negi's barriers having broken in trying to stop it, and that was the worrying part. The Lifemaker was surely going to use this as cover to get closer and he had not any time to waste. Dodging wouldn't have done him any good, nor did he have the time to prepare another spell normally, not that it would've had much effect. But, already in his lightning form, there was one option that maybe he could use to turn this to his advantage, one he had been practicing, even if it was incredibly risky. There was no choice left for the child though, as all his other moves were as trying to smash steel with glass.
Any moment now and his chance would come up, barely an instant of a window of opportunity.
Just as expected, The Lifemaker's cloaked form appeared behind the blast as it faded, their body simply barreling through the already weakened barriers without so much as a proper attack, fist already pulled back to resume their barrage, but the child was prepared.
Hands turning black once more from the magic empowering them, Negi reached out with his left hand to intercept his opponent's, grabbing and just barely holding it back with monumental effort. While readying his other to counter, both fighters slamming into the ground from The Lifemaker's force pushing Negi downward, crashing into it with world shaking force, dust and rock throw about in a manner like from a meteor impact, cracks stretching and splitting open to explode apart the next second.
But the plan was for naught against unfathomable power.
"．．． Ａ ｖａｌｉａｎｔ ｅｆｆｏｒｔ， ｙｅｔ ｌａｃｋｉｎｇ ｔｈｅ ｃｏｎｖｉｃｔｉｏｎ ｔｏ ａｃｃｏｍｐｌｉｓｈ ｉｔ．" The Lifemaker's hollow, menacing voice taunted Negi, their fist centimeters from his face and barely restrained, the child's hand desperately shaking in the effort it took to hold it back. But, while Negi's fist held their's back, The Lifemaker's second limb likewise gripped something, a colossal spear of lightning, longer than a bus, half of its shaft, almost too big to properly grip, extending several meters past them. The other half embedded within the ground beneath them, Negi's own hand gripping it in turn. And just to further restrict Negi's options, their left leg remained firmly planted into his chest.
Damn it, his plan hadn't worked… The spear he used was formed from the most powerful lightning spell in existence, the same thing he used twice to transform into his lightning form, which in lied his secret to throwing it out so quickly. The spell had already been cast twice with him in said form. Magia Erebea made spells far more fluid than normal, letting even spells fundamentally incompatible on a conceptual level be blended together. With it, he could take the spell that had already been used for a purpose, its energy still active, and reconstruct it back into the explosive form normal castings of it took, then given the form of a spear via merger with another spell, Jaculatio Fulgoris, to focus all the destructive power into one singular point for unrivaled piercing force. Its power was over ten times that of the first spell Negi had struck The Lifemaker with, leaving it one of the only tools he had which could have even begun to oppose his enemy's casual magic, perhaps even have done damage. Negi could've even had the element of surprise, as given the way he used it, there wouldn't have been any spike in magic to detect its usage, given the spell was already cast.
And he had still missed. Why? Was it that odd feeling from earlier that grew? Did his enemy simply react too fast? No, that wasn't it, those were factors, but the answer was something far simpler that he already knew.
The Lifemaker's expression spread to a low, condescending smirk. "Ｉ ｃａｎ ｆｅｅｌ ｙｏｕｒ ｔｕｒｍｏｉｌ． Ｎｅｇｉ Ｓｐｒｉｎｇｆｉｅｌｄ． Ｄｅｓｐｉｔｅ ｙｏｕｒ ｆａｔｈｅｒ＇ｓ ｏｗｎ ｉｎｓｉｓｔｅｎｃｅ ｏｆ ａ ｄｅａｔｈ ｗｉｓｈ， ｙｏｕ ｒｅｍａｉｎ ｕｎａｂｌｅ ｔｏ ｒａｉｓｅ ｙｏｕｒ ｈａｎｄ ａｎｄ ｃａｒｒｙ ｉｔ ｏｕｔ．Ｙｏｕｒ ｎａｉｖｅ ｈｏｐｅ ｔｏ ｓａｖｅ ａｌｌ， ｓｉｍｐｌｙ ｃｏｎｄｅｍｎｓ ｔｈｅｍ ｔｏ ａ ｗｏｒｓｅ ｆａｔｅ． Ｔｈｉｓ ｉｓ ａ ｌｅｓｓｏｎ ｍａｎｙ ｂｅｆｏｒｅ ｙｏｕ ｈａｖｅ ｔｒｉｅｄ ｔｏ ｄｅｎｙ， ｙｅｔ ａｒｅ ｄｏｏｍｅｄ ｔｏ ｒｅｌｅａｒｎ ｉｎ ｅｖｅｒｙ ｅｒａ．"
"Even… if..." Negi started, struggling to force out the words between holding The Lifemaker's fist back with his own. "We knew the whole world… Would be destroyed tomorrow…" The force being exerted by The Lifemaker's arm ever so slightly lightened, letting Negi force is back. We wouldn't… Give up!" The child fiercely shot back, refusing to let their words get to him. You couldn't always save everyone, it was true. But, sometimes you could, even if it looked insurmountable, even if the odds seem impossible, and for that reason, it was always worth fighting to find those times where everyone could be saved.
"That's what it means to be human. That's what my father said, after all." Negi shot back, a defiant grin firmly spread across his face, the same fire in Negi's words he had seen his father use against The Lifemaker before.
A silence fell over the battlefield, stillness gripping the destroyed landscape that, less than a second ago, was being violently torn apart with more power than any natural disaster could summon.
Until a subdued smile came over The Lifemaker's face.
"You're a damn stubborn kid… But, you can't do this and hold back when you see me for real next time. You got way too far to go and will really die."
Negi froze. That wasn't The Lifemaker using his parent's voice to taunt them. That was Nagi, his father, speaking. What did he mean by 'for real next time'? The Magical World was gone, everything erased by The Lifemaker and those few that could be 'saved' sent to a 'better' place. So, why did his father say-
No, it wasn't gone. Him and Fate hadn't even returned home yet to see what had happened. This wasn't the surface of the magical world's remains he stood on. This wasn't real. That presence was however, and he knew exactly the person it was. This nightmare needed to end.
His father's suspicious words lingering in his mind, the 'dream' world started to fade.
Gin felt her eyes suddenly open, greeted by darkness once more and forcing her to blink several times. The open and alien like landscape of that strange world was gone now, replaced instead by the familiar dimness of the room Negi was borrowing for staying over. Oddly though, she felt something soft and cloth like beneath her head, acting like a rest for it. She knew she wasn't using anything before performing the magic, so what was-
"Sorry you had to see that, Minowa-san."
Gin bolted upright and back to alertness at hearing Negi's voice come from above her and off to the side. She had been sitting in a chair when using this spell! Had she slumped forward or something in unconsciousness?
No, never mind that. What the hell had she just seen? A landscape and sky that felt like it didn't belong on Earth that overlooked a 'broken' world the person Negi was fighting had created. But most shockingly, that person was his father. Gin could barely even begin trying to make a coherent picture out of what she witnessed, only able to stare at Negi with a concerned frown while trying to form some kind of response. Where did one even start on such a disorienting assault of information?
"What did you see?" Negi asked gently, his lips curved pensively.
"I saw… you fighting your otou-san in a weird looking place and him talking about it being his world." Gin slowly answered. A few pieces were starting to sort themselves within Gin's frazzled mind. Negi mentioned his father having a very complicated situation he was trying to fix, that it was one of their drives for getting home, but he hadn't elaborated on it at the time. And then, there was the way Negi was asking about this dream.
"… That's what you were talking about when I asked why he just saved your village and left, wasn't it?" Gin asked, a rare depressive look overtaking her face. She didn't even need to hear his answer to know. Friends and family, those two things were Gin's world and what gave it light. And to Negi, the little she had heard him speak on them, they likewise deeply care for and idolized their father. During the brief lapse between when Sumi and Sonoko sustained the massive injuries from the triple attack and Gin had been able to check on their horrible wounds, the thought of losing some of the most precious people in her heart had created one of the only times Gin had genuinely been terrified. And to fight the person you cared most about, your family, with them so clearly trying to kill you? That was something Gin felt her heart grow heavy with sympathy toward Negi for.
Negi solemnly nodded in confirmation. "Yes, that's exactly it. I'm certain he was fighting against the possession he's under now or had a brief lapse of regaining control when saving me years back. He left for my own and everyone else's safety while he still had some control of himself."
Gin frowned sympathetically, but she didn't let the sour mood defeat her. There was no way the situation could've been hopeless, surely. She'd seen many times in stuff she read or watched where someone had their mind controlled and was broken free of it. Sure, that was fiction, but there had to be something. It was never truly finished till it was over, and Gin had been prepared to protect everyone to her dying breath for that exact reason. And from what Negi had said in the dream, he seemed like that kind of person too.
However, Gin didn't make any immediate comments. Considering Negi's adoration of his father and how smart they were with all this magic, surely he must've already been considering ideas or what to do. Negi surely must've had his reasons for not bringing up such a deeply personal issue last time, and so trying to comment much, even if optimistically, without understanding the situation, wouldn't have as much weight. She was the kind of girl to believe in impossible odds anyway, but if she understood some of the situation, Negi willing to share, and still tried to encourage him? That'd likely mean a lot more.
"So..." Gin started with a gentle tone, leaning against her chair and looking into Negi's eyes with sympathy. "What happened with him? How'd he get possessed? Only if you feel like talking about it."
"No, it's fine." Negi shook his head, offering a subdued, heavy smile that looked like it belonged on someone much older than him. "You've seen it and I know you'd just worry about me forever otherwise, so I would like you know."
Negi paused for a second to let the affirmation sink in and Gin to direct her full attention to the oncoming words, before continuing. "Years, ago well before I was born, my father fought with a group against an organization that tried to erase the Magical World. To make it short, they and the forces of Mundus Magicus eventually pushed the organization back to their stronghold as they were preparing the last steps to erase the planet."
Gin listened intently, curious and nodding along with the explanation. In a way, it was interesting to hear about something so large in scale and a wide world of fantastical things, when her's was the small island of Shikoku, but that wasn't important right now.
"With their backs to the wall and mostly defeated, yet so close to winning, their enemy leader appeared, The Lifemaker. My father and his master went to battle her, and after a long, incredible battle, they managed to win." Negi continued the story, his voice with recounting the words, further damped by some of the exhaustion that had set in and lead to him staying the night. "… But destroying her wasn't enough and she possessed my father's master before leaving."
Gin tapped the side of her chair a few times, a sense of confusion settling in. Negi had stopped the story for a moment, and it sounded like whatever reason their father's master got possessed, must've been what happened to him. But, something didn't add up, making the girl raise a curious eyebrow. "Wait, so that's who possessed your father, right?" Gin slipped into using the English word for Negi's parent with his usage of it over the Japanese one. "Then… What did she mean about that place being 'my world'."
Negi's expression raised slightly, not quite a smile, yet neither a full frown. "It's exactly what it sounds like. The Lifemaker apparently got that title in part because of how she created and brought life to an entire world."
"E-Eh?!" Gin blinked, her jaw dropping a small inch. Had she just heard him right? That being, the one who most likely was possessing Negi's father, had created a brought life to a whole planet? Gin herself wasn't knowledge on myths and legends, like Sumi was, but she knew lots of stuff, fiction included, usually had backstories about creating the world. But it was an entirely different matter to actually see the single being responsible for and was the God of an entire world with her own eyes, well, sort of with her own eyes. Maybe that had explained the almost instinctive thought of wanting to be anywhere but around that thing upon seeing them. "But, why were they trying to destroy the world then?" Who would create so much life to simply destroy it later?
"That's another long story." The child appeared to have many of those. "But, to try and make it short for now, they thought it was the only way to save what they could of the world while it was stable."
Gin crossed her arms, trying to make sense of the information Negi had given her. They had loads of 'long stories' she was curious about, but she didn't want to get too side tracked from the current topic. "If they can make a whole planet, can't they just, I dunno, fix whatever is wrong?"
Negi responded with a dismissive shake of his head. "Maybe they could, I'm not sure. But, that wouldn't solve what they viewed as the bigger problem and why they were trying to erase the world. It goes into how they possess people and why they can't be defeated normally. I'll explain in a minute."
Gin tilted her head, the answer doing little but perplexing her, but Negi said they would explain this time, so she remained otherwise silent for the time being.
"Anyway, as you can probably guess, my father had another encounter with The Lifemaker. I don't know all the details of what happened in that fight, but he managed to win again."
Again? "Man… Your father must really be the strongest mage ever to fight something like that and win twice." Gin interjected with a little lightness to her tone, earnest in the comment, but also trying to help raise the mood a little. She could see one reason to idolize him if the man could accomplish cool feats like that. Dream it was and so she couldn't be too sure how accurate it really was, it was sure something to know the man had successfully stood up to, more than once, the being that made Negi look helpless.
"I told you." Negi answered with a small grin, his voice back to their usual lightness, like their troubles were gone for a moment. But, it was only for a moment. His features fell down once again before continuing.
"This time, they were possessed. And that brings me to why they were-" A quick yawn escaped out of Negi's mouth. "-possessed."
Before Negi could answer, Gin felt the infectious gesture get one out of her as well, the brief lapse starting to make the girl keenly aware of her own tiredness.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who needs to rest." Negi commented with an almost teasing tone, yet an undercurrent of weariness seeping in to it, a smile of amusement across his face.
"Hey, hey. I'm not the one who's stayed up for almost a whole month." Gin responded with dry sarcasm. "It's not that late, can't be more than an hour past when I usually sleep." Continuing, the girl reached for her phone to double check and be sure of her assessment.
"It's actually been around three hours since everyone went to bed." Before she could even activate her phone screen, Negi corrected the girl with a blunt smile.
3 hours? Now way it could be that lat-
Gin's free arm went slack upon her terminal displaying the time. It actually was that late.
The girl's attention slowly turned back toward the mage, looking at him dryly, her expression one of exasperated resignation. Maybe her sense of time wasn't doing her many favors with not being late too…
"Alriiiiiiight." Gin admitted with a sigh, a hint of bemusement coming over her face before looking back at Negi. "Wouldn't make much sense if I kept you up super late after coming here to make sure you slept in the first place, and I'd look pretty silly if I stayed up too."
"A little." Negi answered. "I can tell you the full story at a better time, if you want."
"Yeah..." Gin admitted with a sigh. This was gonna bug her for a while and not help sleep herself, but she would manage. Truthfully, there was one more quick question Gin would have liked to ask about this mysterious being known as The Lifemaker, and that was if they were the person who had created Fate. The other mage was ridiculously powerful, just like Negi, along having mentioned being created and also being 'born' with absurd magical power that was top class. And the kind of constructs Fate made which were used for training with the girls, those were way different from him. None of them had a single spark of life. While she obviously didn't know much about Negi's world, if anyone could've made such a human like construct who simply was powerful, she would've bet it was someone that created a whole world and known flat out as 'The Lifemaker'. Sadly, the white-haired boy was always so tight lipped, but that was a pretty personal detail and she respected their right to privacy if not wanting to discuss it, as it seemed like Negi did. So, she could let it lie for now.
"Anyway." Gin changed her tone to a soft, yet determined one, smiling with reassuring eyes at Negi. She had been wanting to hear the full story before saying this, but with them winding down for now, she wasn't going to leave it unsaid. "I don't know everything going on with your father, and I'm sure it's probably really complicated or involves a lot of stuff over my head. So, it's easy for me to say it, but I'm sure things will work out with him someday. It isn't over till it's over and he's still alive, so I bet you'll figure out something to catch up on those years you missed with them."
Leaning forward, Gin put her arm around Negi's shoulder and pulled them half into a hug. A good hug often helped people she saw while feeling down and Gin felt particularly touched by the issue herself, given how important family was to her. "And if I can ever help you with anything about it, you tell me."
"Thank you... Minowa-san, I appreciate wanting to help." Gin saw Negi's expression rise into a more honest, at ease smile, even if much of the weight behind it remained, the boy returning the gesture with an arm around her back, cheek briefly pressing against her's.
Gin froze at the contact, suddenly becoming keenly aware of what she had done, heart skipping a few beats.
In her less than 100% state, also caught up by the moment, and cord Negi's problem struck, Gin had given them a comforting hug, something she did whenever her friends or family looked especially depressed. The problem, was she had a brief lapse in forgetting the position and how close it put her to Negi.
Pulling back from the hug, and trying not to take Negi's arm off with how quick she returned to her sitting position, Gin felt her face burning intenser than ever before. "S-So, um, s-should, gotta, um-" Gin struggled to form words, mind spinning. That had been the closest she'd ever been with Negi, enough to feel his pleasantly soft che-
Wait, no. Dammit.
Now wasn't the time for this! Even if it had felt so nice and war-
Arg, why did she keep doing this!?
"Are you alright, Minowa-san?" A cross between perplexed and concerned, Negi questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"F-Fine, ju-" Deep breaths. She needed even a second to try collecting herself.
Sighing deeply and helping return some coherency to her thoughts, even if still feeling frazzled and cheeks aflame, Gin found her words again. "Just… You gonna be okay to sleep now?" Damn, that had come out shyer than she intended. She would've stayed if required, but given how late it was and the current time, not sleeping herself would've set a bad example.
Negi nodded without hesitation, weariness across his features and buried within their eyes. "I think so, thank you for the discussion, Minowa-san. I think I'll be okay tonight. You should be getting some rest yourself anyway."
Gin hesitated for a moment, before caving in and standing up from her chair, placing it back where she got it before taking a few paces over to the door. "Alright… Good night, Negi-san. No more bad dreams, got it?"
"Right, I promise. Good night, Minowa-san." Negi returned the farewell, waving warmly.
Finally satisfied, Gin quietly exited the room, opening and closing the door to it with equal silence to not disturb the household. Some of the skills she had gained from having two younger brothers proved useful in unexpected ways.
Pacing back to her room, Gin felt hopeful. With all Negi had done for her, she was glad for the chance to give them some help and that they trusted her enough to share personal problems like these. The kid had so much on their shoulders, a burden Gin could understand somewhat with the duty her own team had. It was a ridiculous amount for kids young as them to deal with, but Gin didn't have any regrets about her position and was happy to do it. Difficulties like this were always easier when you had support from people dear to you though, so if Gin could help even a little here, much as she didn't have the full picture, then she was content to do so.
SPELL TRANSLATIONS:
Jovis Tempestas Fulguriens:
Latin: Veniant spiritus aerialis fulgurientes! Cum fulguriationis flet tempestas austrina… Jovis Tempestas Fulguriens!
English: Come wind, thunder spirits. Don lightning and blow, storm of the South Seas. Thunderous Gale!