Disclaimer: I don't own Negima! Magister Negi Magi or Ranma ½
Rise of Prodigies
Chapter Sixty: Preparing for the Final Battle III: Shifting Alliances and Final Preparations
Beta:
Shiori, Ministra to Fate Averruncus of Cosmo Entelecheia, had been held prisoner by the children of Ala Alba for weeks now ever since her attempt to replace Princess Asuna Vesperina Theotanasia Entheofushia, the last Princess of fallen Ostian Kingdom, and infiltrate their group had been foiled by Ranma-sama. In hindsight, that was probably an expected outcome. Considering what Ranma-sama was, there was no chance that even the power of her Artifact, Signum Biolegens, to copy the mind and body of others would trick the goddess. Outsiders were insane like that.
And Fate and the other higher ups in Cosmo Entelecheia must've known that. Shiori thought, repeating a realization that she had come to during her confinement. And they didn't mention it even when Shirabe presented our plan to replace the Princess. Why?
That was a question that had been plaguing her during her time as a prisoner and one she was currently struggling with as she paced the spartan, but otherwise livable cabin aboard Ala Alba's airfish that served as her cell. She wasn't foolish, she could see multiple possible reasons why the leaders of Cosmo Entelecheia had sent her on a mission that was doomed to fail. Ranging from the worst case scenario of them wanting to get rid of her to them more charitably simply wanting to use her as a distraction to buy them a bit more time to whisk the Princess away. As ridiculous as it sounded, the latter made sense. Whilst Ranma-sama would see through her ruse easily enough, even a cursory understanding of her personality would let one imagine that she would spend time punishing Shiori for what she would see as an insult against her and that was time the elf's allies could use to rush the Princess to the safety of the Gravekeeper's Palace and the Mage of the Beginning's protection.
I can understand it, but…
To think she'd essentially been used as a disposable pawn hurt. Not because the Mage and the leaders of Cosmo Entelecheia saw her as such. They always had. But because that they'd gone through with it meant Fate and her fellows among his Ministras had too, if only tacitly by not doing anything to stop the plan or trying to rescue her after it'd run its course.
Or they might think I'm dead…
It was the best possible interpretation Shiori could make of her comrades' lack of action in light of her imprisonment, but even she knew it was an unlikely one. They'd all studied the characters of Ala Alba intensely before they'd begun hostilities with them and they knew that the schoolchildren wouldn't kill her. Ranma-sama might if given the chance, she had genocided an entire people in her anger once, but her sister and the friends that she surrounded herself with would restrain her. As such, Shiori could only draw one conclusion from the lack of a rescue attempt…
I've been abandoned.
It was hard to believe that Fate, who had saved her from death as a child and then took her in as his Ministra, would so heartlessly cast her aside. That her comrades among his Ministra, with whom she'd endured such hardships as they'd trained to be useful to their shared Magister would likewise just leave her to rot like this. But reality was a cruel mistress and-
N-No, his hand must have been forced. Surely.
She tried to deny it. To rationalize it away. Desperately. Yet, in the end… despite promises and assurances… She was left alone in the hold of their enemies.
"Shiori-san, might I come in?" The sound of her captors' leader shouted from the door of her makeshift prison cell, drawing her from her spiraling dark thoughts.
Asking for permission? Did he forget that I am his prisoner? Shiori thought with fond disbelief at the antics of Negi Springfield. She knew the Son of the Thousand Master understood their situation, but in an act of stubbornness had nevertheless insisted on treating Shiori with respect unbefitting a prisoner. Insisting instead that she be regarded as a guest, albeit one that was confined to her cell and was watched over by a constant guard.
He is so childish. Shiori thought, even as she couldn't help but smile. But at the same time, it's so… Gentlemanly.
"Come in," she shouted through her door, humoring her captor.
Her cell door opened and Springfield stepped through. For a moment, Shiori thought, almost hoped, that she would see his eyes blazing with anger at him coming face to face with one of the persons responsible for his last royal relative being whisked away. But alas, his face was just one of gentle kindness.
It is so hard to see this boy as an enemy.
"Good afternoon, Shiori-san." The boy mage said in greeting, using the Japanese suffix despite his Welsh heritage and him currently speaking English. Most residents of Mundus Magicus did, it being even more of a lingua franca here than even back in the Old World. Someone had been quite thoroughly assimilated into Japanese culture it seemed.
"Good afternoon, Mister Springfield." She returned the greeting politely as she took a seat on her cot, gesturing for the boy to take a seat in her cell's lone chair. She waited till he was seated before continuing in a teasing tone. "Where were you yesterday? You've been visiting me every day since you captured me, so I was expecting you but you never came."
He had too. Religiously so. Shiori had initially thought it was part of some charm offensive to win her over, because he was only ever kind to her during his visits, but since he showed such genuine concern for her whenever he visited and never really asked her any questions - that honor went to Ala Alba's terrifying healer, Konoka Konoe -, she'd actually come to believe he genuinely did so of out of goodwill.
If it was a charm offensive, then it worked. I am charmed by this boy. Shiori was honest enough to admit to herself.
"Sorry about that," Springfield said, looking genuinely apologetic. "I was planning on visiting you last evening but I was too tired after my spar with Ranma-san. It's embarrassing but I just kinda passed out after dinner."
"You fought Ranma-sama!?" Shiori shouted, standing up in horrified shock as she did. The very idea of facing an Outsider in a fight terrifying her.
But I didn't fight her. Why am I reacting this strongly to someone else, an enemy no less, fighting her? Shiori thought, confused by her own reaction.
"It was for training purposes, I assure you." The redhead said, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish expression. "Besides, whatever she's become, Ranma-san is a good person at heart. She wouldn't hurt me. At least not beyond the realm of reason and her ability to heal me. We were sparring after all, injuries happen sometimes."
"Beyond the realm of reason? Beyond her ability to heal you!?" Shiori retorted, her tone dangerously close to hysterical. "She's an Outsider! Reason doesn't apply to them! And they can resurrect the dead! She could've killed you and brought you back, so don't give me that about her ability to heal you being a limit on what she'd do!"
"Wait! Ranma-san can resurrect the dead!? No, wait! I did hear she'd done that to a group of Confederate soldiers she'd killed. I'd thought those were just exaggerated rumors, but…"
Shiori nodded even as she struggled to rein in her strangely out of control emotions. Honestly! Why was she having such a strong reaction to her enemy putting himself in needless danger? Shouldn't she be glad he did?
Pushing that jumbled bunch of thoughts aside to consider later, she focused on the present and the conversation before her. "Yes, she can. From what I know an Outsider can reshape reality around them, especially in realms that they control, in whatever way they want. But Ranma-sama seems slow on the uptake as to what she can do. We-Ahem! I'm not sure why. As far as I can tell, it's because she's limiting herself by viewing her powers through the lens of magic when it's more of an authority."
"Authority?" Springfield asked curiously. Clearly eager to learn something new. In some ways it seemed, this overly mature boy was still truly a ten year old.
That twinkle in his eyes most certainly had to be a charm effect of some kind! Right?
"Yes, authority." Shiori nodded. "I'm no expert but I've heard enough talk about the scope of the Mage's powers to get the gist of it. Basically, Outsiders are high up enough in the cosmic hierarchy that reality must obey their will. If they want something to happen, they just need to will it. That is the basis of much of their power."
"...How am I supposed to give her detention if she causes a ruckus if she has the cosmos at her fingertips?" Springfield hummed, arms crossed as he held his chin in thought.
That's what he's worried about?! Shiroi could only scream in her head, trying her best to keep her disbelief from her face.
But that's what's cute about him. This innocence.
"Thoughts for later. So! You were listing the powers of an Outsider?"
"That would be a limitless list." Shiori said with a shake of her head. "Weren't you listening? They change reality by their will. Whatever effect they want? They only need to will it into existence. The only real limit to that is that imposed on them by other Outsiders and the only beings higher than them on the cosmic hierarchy, the Primals. But even then those limits, as far as I know, amount to them not going around reshaping realities of worlds they don't own willy nilly, caps on the kind of powers they can throw around, and not destroying worlds. That and some very loose rules about how they interact with each other and lesser beings."
"Yes, but you mentioned authorities. Surely one has dominion over some aspect or another? Higher skill in one area compared to another Outsider? I doubt they are all the same after all."
Shiori shrugged. "You're thinking of godly authorities there. Outsiders aren't so limited. If you want to see it in those terms then all Outsiders share the authority of reality. But yes, they do have specializations, though that's mainly to get around the caps on their power. For example, Outsiders could theoretically reproduce by willing more of themselves into existence but the Primals forbid it, so Nurturers like the Mage who seek to propagate their kind have to instead do things the manual way by fostering new Outsiders out of promising individuals on the worlds under their sway."
"I wish I had a notebook. This feels like a notebook topic." The young scholar sighed.
"I can write down what I know for you later," Shiori offered, shocking herself in the process.
Why!? Why am I helping an enemy like this!?
"Truly? Shiroi-san, I'd be most grateful!" He said, flashing her a beaming smile that seemed to melt her insides.
Shiori shrugged, letting none of her confusion as to why she was being so accommodating to her enemy show. "Honestly, I'm surprised you don't know this. Didn't Ranma-sama share this? She should know all this. I know she has a copy of the Nnnr'luhh Ot Mgleth Yaah (Tome of True Names). All this is written in there."
"The Nnnr'luhh Ot Mgleth Yaah?"
"A primer on Outsiders that one of the greatest of their kind apparently gives out to all newborn Outsiders." Shiori explained.
"Ranma-san never mentioned it." Negi said with a frown. "Though she generally tried to downplay what she'd become, so I guess it's not a surprise. But if she knew all this, why is she still limiting her power? I mean, she's always learned things super fast, shouldn't she have mastered her powers by now?"
"I think that's more her humanity trying to rationalize her changes. According to what I hear, many Outsiders do that. They get stuck trying to retain as much of their previous state of being, in this case her humanity, as possible and that limits them. That changes later down the line, I believe, as she comes to fully accept what she is."
Springfield nodded. "That makes sense. By the way, are all members of Cosmo Entelecheia as knowledgeable about Outsiders as you are?"
Shiori shook her head in fond amusement. "Hardly. Most of them are too terrified of the Mage to actually bother learning anything about them for fear of scaring themselves more when they learn the depths of their power. Or just plain don't care. But I was always the inquisitive type, so I investigated. The Mage is surprisingly open about things. I think they think knowing the truth scares their followers into being loyal."
"I can imagine why." Springfield said with a frown. "Anyone would be scared into submission if they knew these things about their superior."
"And yet you fought one such superior being!" Shiori shot back, reminding him of the reason why they'd gone down this tangent in the first place.
"Ranma-san wouldn't cause me permanent harm." The boy insisted.
"Yet she could and you wouldn't even know it if she wished it. She can and has shown to be able to manipulate time."
"I trust her," the Son of the Thousand Master admitted. "She won't purposely hurt me beyond what is necessary for any situation."
"Argh! You stubborn boy!" Shiori shouted at him in an annoyed huff, but strangely unable to suppress the smile she offered him as she did.
"I have been called that on occasion, yes." Negi said with an embarrassed chuckle, though he squashed it quickly enough and turned serious. "But enough tangents. Shiori-san, I need your help."
"With what exactly?" Shiori asked warily, wondering if this was finally when Springfield cashed in all the goodwill he'd been building up with her.
"We need your knowledge about the Gravekeeper's Palace to properly plan our rescue of Asuna-san." He said, looking at her pleadingly. "Even between Kazumi-san extensively using her Visus Procul (Far Sight) spell to spy on it and Chamo-kun using his powers as a fae to sneak in to map out what he could, we don't have anywhere enough details about it that we need."
"Scrying spells like that wouldn't be useful. The Palace is warded against such observations. Wards that were augmented by the Mage themselves. Any such attempts would be misdirected or just get scrambled information." Shiori said as she picked apart Ala Alba's information gathering methods. "And I'm amazed your familiar got in at all. In fact, that he could is honestly highly suspicious. They are probably allowing him in to feed you false information."
"We are aware of that." Springfield admitted with an earnest expression. "That is why we need your help."
Shiori bit her lip in response to the earnest request. She wanted to agree. Ala Alba, and Springfield in particular, had been nothing but kind to her. Even the terrifying Konoe had not been overly cruel during her interrogations. They hadn't even gotten violent with her, resorting to cajoling and the occasional magical means to attempt to force information out of her. Frankly, in many ways, they treated her better than Cosmo Entelecheia ever had. But helping them would mean betraying Fate… Betraying the boy which had saved her life and gave it meaning all those years ago…
But didn't he already abandon me?
"Please, Shiori-san! We really need your help!" Springfield pleaded. "We have to save Asuna-san and we need your help to do it!"
Shiori felt her hesitation start to melt away in the face of his sincere desire to save his aunt. Springfield was truly such a kind soul. Just look at how he'd saved her, his enemy, from Ranma-sama's, his ally, wrath. Or how well he'd treated her since despite her being a mere prisoner.
It was just like how Fate had saved her from Secundus all those years ago. That had earned the clone her loyalty then, and now Negi's kindness was shaking it.
Is it really? Are you truly going to remain loyal to someone who has abandoned you?
"I beg you, Shiori-san! We can't proceed with the rescue without your help!" Springfield pleaded once more as he slid off the chair he was seated on and he fell to his knees.
Shiori's hands automatically began to move to hug Negi and pull him to his feet but she stopped herself mid-motion and turned around, hugging herself to still her treacherous arms.
"You're powerful, Springfield, but I don't think you'd even be able to defeat Fate. Much less his Master, the Mage. Only that monstrous girl, Ranma-sama, can." Shiori said, grasping at straws to try to dissuade the boy from his foolish plan.
Or are you trying to convince yourself not to help by painting his plan as impossible?
"I know that." The redhead said with blunt honesty that surprised Shiori. "But we can't let Ranma-san fight alone. As her friends, we need to support her. Besides, Cosmo Entelecheia is the enemy of all of us. Fighting them is something all of us should do."
Shiori shook her head. "That's naive."
But that naivety is one of Springfield's most endearing traits, isn't it?
Dismissing that stray thought, Shiori tried a different tact. "Say that you do defeat the Mage, Fate and the rest of Cosmo Entelecheia. What then? Mundus Magicus is doomed, you know? The magic sustaining it is starting to fail.It is this knowledge that has allowed the Mage to amass the followers that they has. Most of them hope that by serving them, that they'll reward them by using their omnipotence to save it in some form."
"I know." Springfield said, sounding unsurprised. So he did know the truth of Mundus Magicus then. Shiori wasn't sure that he did. "Ranma-san told me, though she did tell me to keep quiet about it to avoid panic. But I've been working on a way to save it ever since I learned about it and I have a plan. One that doesn't involve killing all the non-humans of Mundus Magicus and sealing the humans in an illusion like the Mage came up with."
"That was Fate's plan. He just borrowed the Mage's power for it and convinced them that going through with it would allow them to recruit followers more easily." Shiori said with a scoff. "Saving Mundus Magicus was never the Mage's goal."
"I imagined that was the case." Springfield agreed. "But it is the goal of most of those working with Cosmo Entelecheia. All I need to do is convince them that I have an alternative plan and they'll switch sides."
"It won't be that easy," Shiori said skeptically. "But even if you manage that, then that still leaves the Mage. How do you intend to contend with them?"
"I'll leave them to Ranma-san." Springfield said with a shrug. "I am honest enough with myself to know that the Mage is out of my league."
Shirori could only look at him searchingly. He has to be lying. Th-There's no way that is his plan. It's insane! And it all hinges on him having come up with a plan to save Mundus Magicus where everyone else has failed! That bit must be a lie! It has to be!
But what if it isn't? A traitorous, hopeful part of her mind asked.
It has to be! It has to!
Again, what if it isn't? Shouldn't you at least give it the benefit of the doubt? Shouldn't you verify it? It's not like you can't do that after all…
Balling her hands into fists at the hem of her skirt, cheeks warming, she gave in to the unrealistic hope that Springfield's words had engendered in her and she spoke up. "D-Do I have permission to read your mind and verify this?"
What are you doing?! He's ten years old! This is not something to do lightly!
"Of course. I want everything to be transparent." Springfield replied and Shiroi's mind… went places at that. Yet, shaking her head furiously, she lurched forward and captured his lips.
Strictly speaking, her special ability to read minds could be activated by any form of physical touch with another being. However, if she wanted anything beyond incomprehensible nonsense she had to kiss her target. The Mage had explained that it was because of the symbolic importance of a kiss and didn't elaborate beyond that. Shiori herself had been too embarrassed by the implications to explore it any further.
She regretted that decision now. If she had, maybe she'd learned to work around the need to kiss Springfield to read his mind. Then maybe she wouldn't have realized how incredibly soft the boy's lips were. It was softer than any of the many lips she'd kissed.
It was so soft that heat suffused her body in a way that Shiori only ever previously felt when Fate praised her or shot her one of his rare affectionate looks, but those bouts of heat paled in comparison to what she felt as she kissed Springfield. It even surpassed the heat she felt when she gave into the urges of being a young woman and relieved her body's needs by paddling the pink canoe.
Maybe that was because of the magic of her special ability somehow reacting to Springfield in an unexpected way. Or maybe it was her elf physiology doing so? She dimly recalled her elder sister telling her how elves like them, unlike humans, imprinted on people sometimes. Though she simply couldn't recall why they did so. Nor did she honestly care. Not when the kiss was the best thing to have ever happened in her life! Ever!
She was so caught up in this realization that she almost missed it as Sprin- No, as Negi's thoughts began to flow into her mind. So distracted was she that she barely registered the pink iridescent light, the glimmer of a Pactio being sealed, surrounding them.
Yet, even as the Pactio was being made, Shiroi learned what she had wanted. That he had been one hundred percent honest. He was also insane! Brilliant but insane! In an adorable way, but brilliantly insane!
As Negi pulled away from the kiss, he turned to look at his Ermine fairy familiar with exasperation. "Chamo-kun! Honestly!"
"Ehehe~ Sorry Aniki, but it was too good a chance to pass up." The little furball didn't even seem bothered that he was being chastised!
Yet, that didn't bother her. No, what bothered the elf, much to her shock, was the fact Negi did have a plan on how to save Mundus Magicus. One without using the Mage's power. Yes, it still needed the power of an Outsider, but their options weren't limited to the Mage anymore were they? Why hadn't anyone else realized that!? She was so awed by that fact that she actually slumped over a bit.
"Luna?" A voice called out, knocking her from her stupor as the blonde elf looked up in surprise as Negi was reading her Pactio card. An ultra rare prismatic card. One that signified it would grant her an exceptionally rare, and hopefully, powerful Artifact. "Is that your name?"
"Y-Yes." She replied distractedly, her mind still swimming with the insane plan that her new Magister had come up with. "It's my birth name, but I go by Shiroi nowadays."
Negi frowned, it was one of worry. "Which do you prefer?"
The elf blinked at the question. No one had… asked her that before. Everyone had just assumed that once she adopted Shiroi as her moniker, that was what she preferred. Even Fate.
She processed it, thinking hard on which she wanted and nodded once her decision was made. "Luna. I-I would prefer Luna… it's been too long since I used it."
"Alright then." Negi said as he smiled kindly at her and rested a fist over his heart. "I'll be sure to call you that from now onwards."
Luna couldn't stop the bright smile crossing her face as she directed it at him.
With that irrepressible smile on his face, she closed her eyes and sighed fondly. "Very well, Negi, I'll do what I can to help you fight Cosmo Entelecheia."
Whilst Negi-sensei spoke to their elven Cosmo Entelecheia prisoner in a bid to get some useful information about the Gravekeeper's Palace, Chachamaru stood beside Chisame on an uninhabited floating island they and the rest of Ala Alba had chosen to use to hold a training session as part of their preparation for the upcoming final battle. A session that the gynoid and her friend were taking a break from as they stood by the water cooler they'd set up.
Watching the orangette carefully to make sure she drank enough water to stay hydrated, Chachamaru nodded in satisfaction as the technomage emptied her bottle and moved to refill it from the cooler. Though the other girl sported a frown as she did that prompted the gynoid to arch an eyebrow questioningly.
Seeing the look, Chisame began explaining her mood. "I'm just doubting that Negi-sensei will be able to extract anything useful from the prisoner. Konoka-san has been trying for weeks and failed."
"That elf certainly is stubborn." Chachamaru agreed. "But it's wise to at least try. Whilst we do have some information about the Palace thanks to Chamo-san and Asakura-san's efforts, it's hardly enough and the reliability of what they've learned is questionable. Besides, it is entirely in character for Negi-sensei to try something in the hopes of it somehow panning out despite all evidence to the contrary."
Chisame sighed as she finished refilling her bottle, took a sip from it and walked back over. "You're right on both counts, but I still think it's a waste of time."
"Perhaps," Chachamaru replied noncommittally, torn between her own personal agreement with Chisame's assessment and her faith in Negi-sensei. "But at least he's not naively relying on just what he might learn from the prisoner."
"Yeah, that bit really surprised me." Chisame said with a smile. "I didn't think Negi-sensei would actually be pragmatic enough to take steps to independently gather the information we need, though relying on that perverted Ermine for anything doesn't exactly fill me with confidence."
"Chamo-san isn't that bad." Chachamaru insisted in spite of the dubious look that Chisame shot her. "Besides, his fae abilities make him the only one in our group in the position to actually be able to sneak into the Palace."
Chisame just huffed in irritation, clearly accepting the latter part of Chachamaru's statement but unwilling to concede the former.
"Negi-sensei has really grown up since we came to Mundus Magicus, huh?" Chisame said, changing the subject. "I'm not sure that the him from before this trip would have seen the value in organizing this training session, but he actually supported us when we proposed it."
"Negi-sensei has always seen the value in training." Chachamaru countered lightly.
"Yes, for himself and if push comes to shove, his Ministras or allies. But everyone else? He'd rather coddle them and keep them ignorant or as far away from danger as possible." Chisame said with a shake of her head. "It's an admirable standard in its own way, if a naive one, and I'm sure if he could help it he'd still like to uphold it. But-"
"He's grown pragmatic enough to understand that it is an ideal and that ideals are rarely practical."
Chisame nodded and turned towards one of the smaller groups that Ala Alba and its allies had split into for the training session, specifically the group that consisted of Nagase-san and Kū Fei-san assessing Ayase-san, Farandole-san and Monroe-san's skills. Turning towards them as well, Chachamaru couldn't help but frown a little.
"They don't seem to be very good fighters." The gynoid observed. "Not individually at least. Even Ayase-san's individual combat prowess seems to have declined a little, even if she is still more capable than either of her friends."
"That's to be expected. Aridane Knights like they are training to become are trained to fight in formation." Chisame pointed out as they watched the three trainee Aridane Knights continue the sparring with Nagase-san and Kū Fei-san they had been carrying out the whole morning, with the two Ala Alba veterans facing them in a variety of combinations and managing to handily defeat the Knights each time. "Look, they are doing pretty well this time now that they're fighting together."
Chachamaru nodded in agreement as the trio of armored, broom mounted girls were indeed performing better than they had all morning as they fought Nagase-san and Kū Fei-san in their latest spar. Flying together in a tight, disciplined formation, they laid down withering suppressive fire on the ninja and martial artist seemingly keeping them pinned and unable to counterattack.
"Yes, but that is a problem in itself, is it not?" The gynoid observed.
Chisame winced. "Yeah, it means we can't separate them. Ugh! Working them into our battle plans will be such a pain!"
"It isn't just them either. That applies to them as well, doesn't it?" Chachamaru added as she pointed to another small group of their Ala Alba compatriots, causing Chisame to just slump as her annoyance transformed into resignation.
"Don't remind me," Chisame whined as they both turned their attention to watching as Inugami-san, Sakurazaki-san, Konoe-san, Akashi-san and Sasaki-san worked with Murakami-san, Okouchi-san and Izumi-san in mastering their new Pactio Artifacts.
Akira had never worn armor in her entire life. Not even for a play or some costumed shenanigans that her classmates might have dreamed up. Yet, wearing the armor granted to her by her Pactio felt completely natural. It somehow felt no different than wearing a swimsuit and as a competitive school swimmer, she was intimately familiar with that.
Even if they look nothing alike…
That was an understatement. Her armor was nothing like a swimsuit in terms of appearance, instead looking knightly. The only similarity, and she was being charitable to describe it as such, was that they were both aquatic themed, as her armor's chainlinks were dyed a deep aqua blue that seemed to shimmer in the sun, like fish scales. It made her look like a mermaid marching to war. All she was missing was a tail.
Magic was most certainly strange.
Again that was a major understatement, because if her armor was strange then her Artifact was even stranger. Her Amnis Obex (Stream Barrier) was an odd surfboard/kite shield hybrid. And as if its strange appearance wasn't enough, it also somehow had the power to conjure water but which she then couldn't control.
How the hell am I supposed to use the ability then!? Akira lamented not for the first time since she'd discovered the power and limitations of her Artifact.
"Why do you get armor and I'm some Neko Nurse?" Ako-chan pouted at her as she held up the giant syringe that was her Artifact.
Akira honestly didn't know why her friend was complaining. At least her attire looked cute. And unlike her Artifact, Ako-chan's Cultrix Cum Traumate (Worker With Trauma)'s power was straightforward. Apparently, it could conjure potions within itself that when injected into targets could heal; boost their abilities; or even poison enemies.
"Why are you complaining? All I have is an opera mask." Natsumi-san, all dressed up in the theater outfit that her Pactio granted her, said with a sigh as she held her Artifact, Actrix Timida, to her face and turned invisible. How unnerving.
She reappeared in a shimmer a moment later standing a short distance away from where she had been initially whilst holding her opera mask at her side by the handle.
"Set-chan? Kotarō-kun? Yuna-san?" Konoka-san, Ako-chan's Magistra and the person in charge of their little training group, asked.
"No, I didn't sense her this time either." Setsuna-san confirmed with a frown.
"Me neither." Yuna-san echoed. "Though I'm not surprised, not if Setsuna-san couldn't."
"That's the tenth time you've tested it, Konoka-san," Kotarō-san said with a proud grin. "Face it, Natsumi-nee's Artifact hides her from all detection."
"Don't let it get to your head, Kotarō." Natsumi-san as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind her Magister, clearly having used her Artifact to sneak up behind him, and begin to pull on one of his ears. "It's my Artifact. Even if you're my Magister, it's my power, not yours."
"Okay, okay, I get it! I get it! Stop pulling on my ear already!"
Ignoring the couple's typical lovers' quarrel - Or was it flirting? It was hard to tell with those two - like everyone else was doing, Akira turned to the head of their little training group.
"I'm going to try something with my Artifact now, Konoka-san."
Offering her an encouraging smile, the healer nodded. "Go ahead, Akira-san."
Next to her Setsuna-san, Yuna-san and Ako-chan all offered their own encouraging nods or smiles and that buoyed Akira's confidence a little as she lifted the arm that Amnis Obex was strapped to and swung it in an arc out from her. Reacting to the motion and her intent, a spray of salt water erupted from the shield's surface.
Said water quickly transformed into a rushing wave that surged ahead of her a little before freezing in place and began to float in the air, becoming a water wall that looked like a defensive wall from a western castle. A wall that looked sturdy enough to defend against all potential attackers. A wall that she felt some kind of connection to in her mind, through which she could almost feel like it was asking for permission to wash away her troubles. She tried to order it to do exactly that, yet like with her previous attempts to get her conjured walls to respond, nothing happened.
Frowning, Akira concentrated harder and tried to order the wall again. However, even as a bead of sweat rolled down her nose from her effort, the wall remained unchanged.
Giving up, she let go of the wall and it magically evaporated away in seconds. "I think I'm doing something wrong with how I'm using my Artifact. I can just feel like the walls it creates can do something but no matter what I try, I can't seem to get them to do anything."
"Do you know what it does, Akira-san?" Natsumi-san asked curiously.
"I think they can collapse into waves?" Akira answered with an unsure tone. She was working off the feeling she was getting from the waves when she made them and whilst using a Pactio Artifact was very much an instinctual thing, as her difficulties were proving, instinct could only get one so far and for all she knew, she was misinterpreting her instincts entirely.
"Have you tried asking it politely?" Ako-chan asked, getting looks from the other girls. The blue haired girl flustered at the attention even as she hastily explained. "I-I mean! It's a magical item right? Maybe it's alive or something? Like with Chisame-san's electric mice?"
Akira pursed her lips and looked at her surfboard/shield. "Um, Mister or Miss Amnis Obex, are you there?"
She lightly rapped on it and after a few seconds, she hung her head. She felt like an idiot.
A snorting giggle made her whip her head up to see Natsumi-san covering her mouth, looking off to the side.
"Sorry."
"Well, even if you can't figure out what else your water walls can do, your Artifact is still pretty damned powerful." Yuna-san said comfortingly. "They can soak up a crazy amount of damage. We tried blasting them with everything we had when we tested them just now and they withstood it, even if they collapsed afterwards."
"And you can make them as quickly as you can swing your arm, so you can create tons of them in a short amount of time. Yuna-san is right, Akira-chan, Amnis Obex is powerful." Konoka-san added.
"Maybe, but I just… The fact that I can't master my Artifact is just…" Akira said, unable to properly put her frustration into words. No, that wasn't true, she could, she just couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. Not to her friends.
I have a Pactio now, a magical power of some kind. I'm not powerless anymore! But why can't I get it to work right!? Am I really that useless!? Why couldn't my Artifact just be more straightforward and give me hydrokinesis!?
That would've made things so much easier. But reality, it seemed, was a cruel mistress.
"Akira-san," A thoughtful looking Setsuna-san said suddenly, pulling Akira out of her dark thoughts. "Have you tried just going with your instincts regarding your water walls?"
"What do you mean? Isn't that what I've been doing?" Akira asked, blinking in confusion.
"Have you? You've been trying to get the walls to do something, right? But have you heeded your instincts on how to do that?" The swordswoman pressed, not accusingly but rather curiously like she was trying to piece things together so she could better help Akira.
If she hadn't had that tone, Akira might have gotten defensive and not actually given her words the thought they deserved. But since the swordswoman had and Akira had, she came to a startling realization.
"I'm an idiot," Akira said as she palmed her helmeted forehead with her left hand even as she swung her right, the action conjuring a fresh wall of water to surge forth from Amnis Obex.
As the water formed into a wall, Akira once more reached out to it through the connection that was formed between them but instead of trying to command it with her mind, she let her instincts guide her. This prompted her to run towards it and sensing her closing presence through their bond, the wall responded by collapsing into a wave. One that Akira proceeded to leap onto as she detached Amnis Obex from her arm and proceeded to use her shield to surf atop of, carrying her a significant distance in a remarkably short period of time.
"I figured it out!" Akira shouted triumphantly as she leapt off the wave as it began to peter out and the water that made it up began to evaporate though not before she literally walked through its two storey remnants, courtesy of her Artifact granting her the ability to breathe underwater, back towards the rest of her group. "Thank you, Setsuna-san!"
Chachamaru watched as her soon-to-be partner, they would be making a Pactio as soon as she got Master's permission, was typing away with an annoyed look on her face. She was taking notes, trying to formulate ideas on how to deal with the newest additions to the Ala Alba roster.
"Okouchi-san's Pactio is so dang problematic." The orange haired girl complained as she rubbed her eyes. "Working it into our current battle formations is a pain in the butt! Not a lot of us have primarily defensive styles. We all mainly focus on being aggressive, fast and with the odd support ability on the side."
"I wouldn't say Okouchi-san's Artifact favors a defensive style. The ability to create tidal waves can be used quite aggressively." Chachamaru countered.
"Maybe, but honestly, our heavy hitters can produce more damage and her surfing isn't as fast as a teleport. Her biggest contribution to us is as a defender, but that's not really our style at all!"
"I'm sure we can work it out, Chisame." Chachamaru assured her as she gleamed over the data herself. "Maybe she can help defend our support types?"
"Hmm… That might work." Chisame conceded as she hummed thoughtfully. "We could pair her with Izumi-san. Konoka-san doesn't really need a dedicated defender, since she can handle herself in a fight better than most of us. Plus she's already got Setsuna-san acting as her shadow."
"Exactly, kill two birds with one stone." Chachamaru said with a nod. "By the way, how would you fit Izumi-san into our dynamic? Like you said, our only other Support Mage, Konoka-san, is as much of a frontline fighter as anyone else. We've never had a dedicated backline Support Mage to worry about before."
"Bah, that's easy." Chisame said, waving away the worries. "We just keep her on the backlines. Her Artifact's ability is pure support anyway and she doesn't have any combat ability beyond it, so it's an easy decision."
That was true.
"Yeah. On top of that, while we don't want to put her in unnecessary risk, if we pair her up with Natsumi-san, we might be able to have her sneak up on enemies and poison them."
"Against normal enemies perhaps." Chachamaru hedged. "I personally think we should have Izumi-san focus on enhancing our allies instead."
"No, I agree. Yet if they can nail one of Cosmo Entelecheia? It could turn the tide. There is one problem though…"
"Oh?"
"We have to make sure Ranma-san never sees her dressed up in her Pactio battle costume."
As a gynoid, Chachamaru should not be able to shudder involuntarily but just envisioning the scenario that her friend painted, she did just that. With Ranma-sama's severe ailurophobia if she ever saw Izumi-san's Neko Nurse battle costume… The consequences were too terrible to even contemplate.
"Still wish the three of them didn't get Pactios in the first place." Chisame said with a tired sigh.
"I don't think the Pactios are a problem in themselves. Rather, it is their insistence that now that they have them that they be allowed to participate in the upcoming battle."
"Yeah. I get that any and all firepower is welcomed, but it's still a pain to work them into our battle plans. Plus their experience is, well…"
"Nonexistent?"
"That." Her soon-to-be partner said as she snapped her fingers and pointed at her.
"We could knock them out and leave them somewhere safe before we attack?" Chachamaru suggested half-heartedly.
"You think Negi-sensei will stand for that?"
Chachamaru shook her head. "No, but it is something to consider, isn't it?"
"Not if it's never going to happen." Chisame retorted.
The sound of a large explosion behind them had both of them turning around in the direction of where Kazumi-san, Sayo-san, Kitty and Sasaki-san were sparring, only to find that the latter had just detonated the explosive ball, Bombus Globus, that was one of the five weapons granted to her by her Pactio Artifact at full power in a bid to force back her opponents.
"Sasaki-san looks like she's in trouble," Chachamaru observed.
Chisame nodded and summoned her Pactio card and the Storage Card that she'd inherited from Rakan-san.
"Looks like she needs some help? Up for it, Chachamaru?"
Allowing her vibroblades to pop out of their storage compartments built into her forearms, Chachamaru nodded.
"Lead the way, Chisame."
Ranma let out a sigh as she was relaxed on the balcony she had grown out of her Orb ship. She had spent all day preparing for the coming final battle against the Mage of the Beginning and whilst as an Outsider she couldn't actually feel tired anymore, she nevertheless needed a break. Or as much as she felt she could allow herself, as even as her body on Mundus Magicus relaxed, hundreds of instances of herself were speaking with her army of familiars inside her Labyrinth about how they'd be useful in the upcoming battle and organizing them accordingly.
Hours passed as she just sat there on the balcony, idly savoring the beauty of the floating islands of Ostia whilst simultaneously marshaling her familiars back in her Labyrinth into a proper army and it was well past midnight before a distraction presented itself.
"Ranma," Scroll-Eva-chan greeted as she flew onto the balcony.
"Took you long enough, Eva-chan." Ranma said to the projection of her mate in lieu of a greeting. "I expected you ages ago."
"It wasn't easy coming here, Ranma." Scroll-Eva-chan scolded. "I might have independent thought but I'm ultimately still only a projection and am governed by the programming around the scroll that powers said projection. And since that scroll was designed to teach Magia Erebea (Dark Magic)-"
"You were bound to Negi-sensei to make sure he actually learned it properly. I know. But I helped him take the final steps to mastering it days ago. You were free to do as you please since then."
"Setting aside how I am still bound to my scroll regardless, finding you was harder than I thought." The projection admitted. "Especially when I am running out of magic and have to be conservative with what spells I could use to track you down."
"How long do you have left?" Ranma asked, sad but also resigned. She'd known this would be happening soon, the fact that Scroll-Eva-chan's magical reserves were running low was obvious to anyone who bothered to look, and had been mentally preparing herself for some time.
"A couple hours. Maybe three." Scroll-Eva-chan admitted without any of the fear one would expect of someone detailing how long they still had to live. "The last locator spell I used to find you was a lot more draining than I thought. That and it took a while to convince Hasegawa to allow it and to actually fly the airfish so my scroll was in range so that I could be here."
"Sorry for that," Ranma said with a wince. "I would've made things easier for you but if I reduced my scrying countermeasures then the pests from the Confederation and Empire would be able to find me easily too. Making it a little difficult was my way of telling them to leave me alone."
"Hey, it's a good idea. I can't fault you for it." Scroll-Eva-chan told her.
"I'm still sorry."
"Ugh! Stop acting like a broken record!" Scroll-Eva-chan stomped her food in annoyance. "Let's just make do with the time we have left. Live in the moment and all that garbage."
Ranma nodded and opened her arms expectantly.
Taking the cue for what it was, Scroll-Eva quickly slid into Ranma's embrace.
They spent the next couple hours just cuddling with each other and looking off into the distance as the sun began to rise.
"Huh, so the last thing I see is a sunrise? And whilst I'm cuddling with my mate? How romantic."
"Sometimes fate can be kind." Ranma told the projection of her mate with a gentle smile. "But want to make your last moments a little more special?"
"What do you have in mind, love?"
Ranma's answer was to lean over, cup Scroll-Eva-chan's face and pull her into a kiss. It wasn't the most passionate kiss Ranma had shared with her girlfriend even if they did French, but it was sweet and nice which fit the tone nicely.
"Even if I'm just a projection, I still have some feelings. Ugh, the real me is lucky." Scroll-Eva-chan said, her face set in an adorable pout as they pulled away. "If she screws up with you, I'll laugh from the ether."
"I'll find a way to pluck you from there eventually. Integrate you back into the real you." Ranma promised as Scroll-Eva-chan's body began to break up into particles of blue magic.
"Oh? No twin fun for the Outsider goddess?" Scroll-Eva-chan teased with a catty smile.
"Nope."
"Boring~ But, that's not bad." Scroll-Eva-chan said as the crumbling of her body reached her face. "Not bad at all."
With that and a final smile for Ranma, Scroll-Eva-chan ceased to exist.
There were a few complex emotions swelling in her chest at that, but Ranma pushed it away for now. She'd see her Eva-chan when this was all over. She'd make sure of that.
"Thank you for not interrupting, Haruna." Ranma said, turning to her sister who was waiting patiently at the door to the balcony. "I take it that breakfast is ready?"
"Yeah," Haruna confirmed with a nod. "And I know when to not butt in and when you're being all romantic with Eva-san is one of them."
"So you've learned some tact, eh? Will wonders never cease?" Ranma teased as she got up from the bench she was sitting on and walked towards her sister.
"Onee-sama~!"
Ranma just chuckled at her sister's embarrassment at her teasing and led the two of them towards the dining area of the ship. They had a long day of preparation ahead of them and Haruna at least needed a full stomach to power her through that.
But even as they made their way to breakfast, a lingering smile played across Ranma's lips and she thought fondly of her mate.
It'll all be over soon, Eva-chan. I'll be with you soon.
"So let me get this straight," Negi said, shooting disbelieving looks at Godel-san and Theodora-san who sat across from him at the round table that had been set up for their meeting on one of the many uninhabited floating islands that surrounded New Ostia.
"The mortal enemies, the Megalomesembria Confederation," Negi paused, gesturing at Godel-san, the Confederation's Governor of New Ostia, before continuing.
"And the Hellas Empire." Again Negi paused, this time gesturing at Theodora-san, the third princess of the Hellas Empire.
"Are setting aside their differences to work together to fight Cosmo Entelecheia?"
Negi's skepticism was not unfounded. Whilst not exactly unprecedented, the two superpowers of Mundus Magicus having also previously temporarily set aside their differences to fight alongside each other to defeat Cosmo Entelecheia in the last great war, it was still something that was hard to believe. The Confederation and the Empire hated each other! And would dearly love to see the others' destruction. For them to agree to a united front so easily, when Cosmo Entelecheia's activities this time around were so much milder than in the last war was shocking. Unlike their open campaign against the world like the last war, they had so far only attacked the Governor's Ball during the Ostian Festival.
"No matter what you think of us, Negi-kun, neither we in the Confederation or our 'friends' in the Empire are fools." Godel-san said, smirking in amusement. "We learned our lesson from the last war. Back then it took us almost losing for us to unite against our common foe and even then if not for your mother and Ostia's sacrifice, we would've lost. We're not going to make the same mistake again."
"Yeah, we're not going to let history repeat itself and see you walk in your mother's footsteps, Negi-kun." Theodora-san said with a nod. "Seeing Arika-san di-sacrifice herself… Seeing her destroy her own kingdom to save us all… No one wants to see something like that ever again."
"Yes, seeing a tragedy like that once was more than enough." Godel-san said, looking off into the distance with sadness etched onto his face.
"Ariadne will not stand for that either." The previously silent Ariadne representative, a woman who refused to give her name beyond Knight-Commander, added. "No one in Mundus Magicus would."
Negi nodded, touched by their concern.
"I understand." He said, offering them a smile as if to reassure them that he wouldn't do anything stupid. They all shot him skeptical looks, but he ignored that and pushed ahead. "But even with this alliance, we still can't win. We need-"
At this, Negi turned to the lone empty chair at the table. A chair that had been reserved for Ranma-san.
"-Ranma-san. Only she can face the Mage of the Beginning and it is only by defeating them that we can truly defeat Cosmo Entelecheia once and for all."
"Oh, she'll defeat that psycho alright." Herb-san said suddenly as he teleported into the empty chair.
"Herb-san?" Negi asked in surprise, whilst a hopeful smile spread across his face. "Does that mean-?"
"Sorry to burst your bubble, boy, but Ranma-sama isn't coming and I'm not here to be her representative either. I'm just here to deliver a message." The martial artist said with a smirk, like he was enjoying bursting the bubble of Negi's hopes.
"And what is the message?" Knight-Commander-san asked, glaring at Herb-san through the eye slit of her helm, part of the full suit of enchanted plate armor that she was wearing.
Herb-san's smirk grew wider and he cleared his throat theatrically before replying. "'I have my own plans for the Mage and his merry band of followers. Do whatever you want, but don't get in my way. Or else!'"
"Is tha-"
Not waiting for the Ariadne woman to even finish speaking, Herb-san teleported away.
"This is getting off to a great start." Theodora-san said as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Negi-kun, you know Ranma-sama best. How do we interpret that message?" Godel-san asked, glaring at the chair that Herb-san had just vacated.
"It means exactly what it said," Negi said with a shrug. "Ranma-san isn't prone to hiding subtext in her words. She prefers being straightforward most of the time."
"And what does that mean for our plans?" Knight-Commander-san pressed.
"Go ahead with them as normal," Negi said without hesitation. "Pretend as if Ranma-san doesn't factor into things. She'll intervene when it suits her. Probably either after we've lured the Mage out so she can finish them off or she'll time her own attack with our own."
"If she's going to do either of those things, why not work with us and plan things out!?" Theodora-san hissed in irritation.
"Pride," Knight-Commander-san said simply, shooting glares at both Godel-san and Theodora-san. "Both of your nations, and both of you specifically, have interfered with her in various ways and to various degrees lately. Enough that she is resentful enough to not want to work with anything you are involved in."
"And pride is worth all our lives? I think not." Negi disagreed as the adults in the room shifted a little.
"Then you probably don't know her as well as you think, Negi-kun." Godel-san said with a disappointed shake of his head.
"Yeah," Theodora-san said with a nod. "She's a goddess, Negi-kun, and they're almost universally a prideful bunch and based on even my limited interaction with her, it's obvious to me that Ranma-sama definitely is."
Negi didn't sigh, he truly didn't. He merely took a deep breath. He was sure the adults were wrong here. Ranma-san wasn't like what they said. She wouldn't let her pride put countless lives at risk! She was a good person!
But he also knew arguing with them would get him nowhere, so he just took the high road and changed the topic.
"We'll just have to trust that Ranma-san will do what needs to be done and join us when the time is right to put an end to Cosmo Entelecheia once more and for all." Negi said with conviction. "In the meantime, we have our own contributions to plan. So shall we get to it?"
He was met with nods of agreement and they got down to the difficult task of coordinating their efforts for what would be the fight that would likely decide the fate of the world.
No pressure at all. None.
Done and done! Thanks to Nameless as always!
And as the good lord said in any Shōnen, training, training and more training. The new girls have their cards and are learning just what they can do. It's a lot to process at the cusp of the battle of all battles, but it's Negima. The girls will figure it out somehow! Maybe. Hopefully? It's up in the air for sure.
Nameless: And now all the setup is done. Hopefully it was good. And yes, whether the girls with new Pactios will be able to full their weight or be liabilities is up in the air. Same with a little new romantic relationship for Negi that we set up for. Will it pan out or fizzle away into nothing? Keep reading to find out how it all goes!
In other news about the future of this fic, the next chapter will be the start of the final battle. It's a mega-arc so we'll probably release it in smaller sub-arcs. We haven't made a firm decision on that yet.
E4E: Yes, this fic is entering the end game. Rare as that might be for most Negima fics. Have yet to see one that finishes the Magical World arc. Lol. Also we gave Akira a different Pactio Artifact because her actual one was… useless. Like, it's so niche and situational that it would be no help whatsoever.
Nameless: At least, in our opinion. Even if it wasn't, we felt like giving her a new one and since this is our fic, we thought "might as well". So don't give us grief over it.
On another note, after the special Pokegirl chapter available on AO3 that was released with the last chapter, we have another omake centered around that particular ROP AU in this chapter. So if you're keen on giving it a read, please jump over to AO3 and give it a look.
E4E: This one is a spicy one, so we hope you enjoy it! I know we sure did~
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!