italics - thoughts
Bold - Emphasis
Italics Bold - Magic names or titles
"normal" - speech
" underlined bold " - Mental transmissions
Underlined - Flashback
{Bold}- Magic spells or abilities
Disclaimer:I do not own Toaru Majutsu no Index nor its characters. All rights belong to Kazuma Kamachi. Except for my own characters that I create
Chapter 24: World Rejector
"Ha…ha…" Touma panted. "What on earth…"
Touma's Imagine Breaker was a potent and powerful weapon against anything supernatural in nature. This included the two things that had had attacked them.
But with this powerful weapon, came a glaring weakness. One that St. Germain had given him trouble by taking advantage of that: Its effective range was limited to his right hand, which made it, and by extension, him, weak against multiple simultaneous attacks.
Which made it such that he had only managed to escape being surrounded and overwhelmed due to Kamisato's help. Had I been alone… Touma did not want to think of the possible outcomes had he not encountered the brown-haired boy mere seconds before the attack.
What on earth was that? Touma slowly straightened up, wiping the sweat from his brow. He had ran quite a distance away from the area he was in previously. Thank goodness that there was a back alley like this here…ah! Touma clicked his tongue. My shopping bags!
..
Let it be known that once Kamijou Touma's tension became non-existent, and after he had obtained the result he wanted from his first action, his mind would wander and go to the most mundane of things, leaving him open to attacks.
Well, not that anyone would be able to do such a thing, since he was all alone, and no major events were happening in Academy City. Not that he knew of, anyway.
..
"Wait!" Touma realised something. "Where's Kamisato-san?"
"You sure are kind." Othinus sighed. "Did it ever occur to you that he may have set all this up by himself? He seemed to have wanted to test you, after all."
"But he said he didn't?" Touma spoke, but the way he phrased it made it seem like a question. "Plus, I could tell he was not here to fight. Not yet, anyway."
"How?"
"My gut."
"… ..." Othinus stared at her Understander, an unreadable expression on her face. "I don't recall having met the Number 7 before, but I distinctly remember his unique trait is to relate everything and anything to guts. Please do not emulate him, for everyone's sanity."
"I won't, I won't." Touma waved off Othinus's concerns. In his heart, he swore not to become like one Sogitha Gunha, for fear of his misfortune attaining even greater heights.
"…anyway, your guess is correct." Othinus put the issue she was discussing back on track. "I'll admit I don't know whether they were working together or not, but he was definitely enjoying it. He was watching how you reacted with a serious look on his face. He was probably playing around and using a different form of communication for what couldn't be said with words."
As he listened to Othinus, Touma leaned his sweaty body against a nearby building wall to think. "…What even were those red and black attackers?"
"Who knows." The eyepatch wearing girl spoke in a very casual tone. "The red one had the scent of the Dark Continent, but the black one is a complete mystery. It may have been a conflict between magic and science."
"What's the Dark Continent? Some ancient civilization that sank into the ocean?"
"It means Africa. Expand your vocabulary."
Then just say Africa instead! Touma complained in his mind. "Anyway, Othinus. You did some science-related stuff in addition to your Norse magic, right?"
"Yes, but that was mostly Bersi."
"But even you couldn't figure anything out about the black one?"
"I wouldn't say that…"Othinus nodded to herself, frowning. "It's like it's on the tip of my tongue, and that's what makes it so strange. I'm the god that constructed every last part of this 'original world'. Although that was a lot like watching an infinitely-expanding snow crystal growing from a calculated core, so I didn't actually design every little thing…"
If asked whether Kamisato Kakeru or the black and red attackers were more powerful, Kamijou probably would have said Kamisato.
But based on what Othinus had just said, it may not have been that simple.
"You still need to expand your knowledge in Magic." Othinus scoffed into Touma's ear, digging her fist into his earlobe for good measure.
"Wait, you heard me?! Please forgive this Kamijou, but his mind is already trying to comprehend the learning curriculum in Academy City! I can't learn about Magic at the momennntttt!" Touma all but pleaded as he winced in pain.
"Like I care!" Othinus withdrew her fist, causing Touma to sigh in relief. "You NEED to learn more to survive in our world! Put your education on the backburner!"
"…Isn't that counterproductive?"
"You know what I mean!"
"Ah! Stop! It hurts! Not my ear! NOT MY EAAARRR!"
Timeskip...
"Kamisato…isn't here."
"Of course he isn't. You think he would have perished that easily? As a former God of War, I can tell when someone is in over their head. Kamisato was not such an individual."
After some painful attacks on his person, Touma hesitantly retraced his steps, stating to the hidden (Former)Magic God that he would feel bad if he had somehow managed to survive, while Kamisato had been swarmed and was in danger of being devoured.
After some more prodding and curses from the chibi Goddess, Touma was finally allowed to go back on the condition he bought another tub of ice cream for her. He was unsure of where he was, but he remembered the different landmarks more than he had expected. Eventually, he found the familiar location.
"I know I am being naïve, being inconsistent, and getting my priorities backwards, but I would not have been able to sleep tonight if I didn't check." Touma poked the Goddess discretely with a finger, disguising the action as him scratching his ear. "At the very least, it doesn't look like he was eaten as a human sacrifice."
Hearing a rustling sound, Touma looked down at the floor of the dimly lit road. "Ah, my supermarket bags!" And my salvation from Index's bites!
"Don't tell me you're retrieving them. The ice cream that was in there would have already melted, no matter how cold it is."
"Othinus, the fact that they're on the road isn't what matters." Touma bent down to grab the bag. "It's whether they have germs on them or-… ..."
He trailed off because the heavy bags moved unnaturally.
Then a large cat hopped out.
"Human, the ingredients list has grown while we were gone." Despite the inability to look at the Goddess in question, Touma could tell that she was smirking evilly. After all, in the jaws of the feline, was the unmistakable colour and smell of fish. Fresh fish that Othinus had chosen for their hotpot.
"Enough with the black jokes, Miss God. I know how you feel about seeing your special ingredient in the jaws of another, but that does not mean we should eat pets as compensation for that!" Touma chastised the Goddess, before turning his attention back to the thief, who was trying to slink away. "And stop right there, stray cat! That's our precious dinn-…"
He was cut off by the sound of further movement. Then, he heard some mewing from a nearby alleyway and a few kittens approached the large cat. Based on their fur colour, they were a family. The cat's family.
This truly cornered the individual known as Kamijou Touma.
"No fair! No fair! This is like seeing a puppy being swept away in the river or a cat separated from its owner by war! I can't do anything about it now! All I can do is cry!"
"It's grabbing the bags and calmly leaving." Othinus noted. If Touma could see her, he would have seen something akin to a deadpan expression on her face. "It probably does this all the time. The damn creature really knows how to live in the city."
"I know that! But knowing better doesn't help when it comes to emotion!" Touma groaned in frustration.
On one hand, he had many more bags to choose from. And from the looks of it, the cat had only taken the bag which had the least amount of items in it. He could not recall exactly what was in it, but he could tell that with a few improvisations on his part, the hot pot would be able to proceed as planned. Plus, he could empathise with these animals on having to do anything they had to survive staring to death. Especially if they were a family, with a few kids in the mix.
On the other hand, the cat was stealing part of his precious ingredients. Ingredients that he would have to pay an arm and a leg for to get. Actually, scratch that. He would have to pay three limbs for some of the ingredients he had obtained, and he had a sinking feeling some of them were inside the bag the cat had grabbed.
Touma was too helpless against this sort of situation. In fact, he was so overwhelmed that he had stood stock still for a while.
"Oi." Othinus kicked him in the neck lightly. "Human, are you done gaping at those cats? We need to be going back, otherwise that gluttonous nun would have cleaned up the stock you made."
"Geh!" Touma was brought to his senses when he heard Othinus speak. Almost immediately, his mind wandered to the scene of carnage should he come back with all the ingredients, ready to be prepped and eaten, but his stock and other uncooked items all gone because Index could not control the bottomless pit that was her hunger.
Still… As Touma bent down to pick up the bags, he looked around him. Kamisato did this?
Since the bags he had dropped where here, this meant that this was where those red and black creatures and interfered. And, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see the carnage that had occurred.
The red creature, when it had first appeared, had seemed to spread out like an infinite sea, now resembled a rotten red carpet. From what he could see, it had been cruelly torn apart, chunks of it's red flesh stuck to the asphalt and concrete walls. Even now, it was still wriggling in such a way that as mildly disturbing, showing that it was still alive.
"Ugh…" Touma could not help but shied away from the wriggling mass of flesh.
"That cat is lucky it didn't try to take this with it too." Othinus commented, watching said creature slowly make it's way to its family, the plastic bag held firmly within its jaws.
World Rejector...it is like my Imagine Breaker. Touma mused. It is a very effective tool with restrictions. But in the right environment, like this one, it is incredibly destructive.
Kamisato had claimed that 'escae was to be come first', but if he was alone, he might have been able to slaughter these two creatures. Touma clenched his teeth in frustration. He had been playing around, while I had to give it my all to escape them…I'm too weak. I need to become stronger.
…Wait. Touma blinked in surprise. Why am I thinking that I need to be stronger? I am just a high school boy, dammit!
As Touma tried to find a reason for his odd line of thinking, eyes wandering all over the place, he caught sight of something-
"Wait a second…"
-He had spotted something else amid the remains of the rotten red carpet.
At first, it only looked like a dense object, but as he looked closer, it revealed that a relatively larger piece of the rotten carpet was covering something. Touma began to flip it over, but it reacted to his right hand and vanished, revealing what lay below.
"This is-"
Touma found an unconscious girl of about twelve.
"-this is what that red thing was?"
The girl had white skin and blonde, shoulder-length hair. She was dressed in a white blouse and skirt, with a blue gem set over her chest and black leggings covering her slim legs. All in all, she gave off the look of a chic and luxurious grand piano.
She seemed ill-protected against the December chill, so the rotten carpet like thing may have covered her and provided some form of warmth, but that was not the point.
Touma was shocked that he recognised the person who had been underneath the mass of flesh.
As Othinus placed a hand on her forehead and sighed, he muttered the girl's name.
"Bird…way?"
*Kring kring*
The shrill sound of his phone ringing did not bring Touma out of his daze, but he still had the presence of mind to drop some of his bags onto the floor to answer the call. "…hello?"
"Hiya Kamijou-san!" A familiar voice rang through. One that he had not heard for a week. "How you doing?"
"Percival?" Touma was a little confused. "Why are you calling me?"
"Well, I needed to meet my favourite misfortunatestudent soon to discuss some things!" Percival's voice dropped its happy tone. "Well, enough of that. I do need to talk to you about some things. So, could you prepare more food for three people?"
"How did you know we are having dinner- wait, Informant-san told you, didn't he?" Touma asked, but he quickly thought of the answer. He became seirous pretty quickly.
"I have no comment for that deduction, Kamijou-san!" Annnnddd, he is back. "Sorry for imposing on you like that, but this is pretty urgent stuff."
"…fine." Touma sighed. "I was making food for 6 other people anyway. A few more would not affect the menu I was thinking of."
"Great!" Touma swore that Percival chirped back his reply. "See you at your apartment!"
*Click*
"…" Touma looked at his phone, before he looked at the unconscious form of one Leivinia Birdway. His body was already aching in anticipation of the heavy burden he would force it under in carrying one unconscious girl and numerous bags of ingredients."…Such Misfortune…"
Timeskip, In another location…
Kamisato, although not facing the same predicament as his enemy/current person of interest, was confused.
He had not gotten too far away from where he had fought the two creatures, and was currently in one of the numerous alleyways that dotted the streets and roads of Academy City.
In all honesty, despite the ease in which he had managed to fend of his two attackers the moment Kamijou Touma ran off with surprising speed, he was quite tired. He had not slept too well, having had to sneak into Academy City in the middle of the night. Sighing, he tried to crack his neck in the darkness, but it did not work. Frowning, he tried it a few more times, but gave up soon enough because he felt like he was going to hurt the joint.
Kamisato instead chose to rub the back of his neck, speaking into the cell phone pressed against his ear. "I can't believe this happened."
"You getting caught in the middle of someone else's problems is hardly new." The voice on the other end of the phone had a certain elegance to it, although Kamisato had no idea if she was using a proper Kyoto dialect or not. "This is sure to be related to a cute girl as always. I bet a naked girl is going to appear from the monster's belly. I'd bet my virginity on it."
"Don't bet that." Kamisato wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose when he heard the bet. "You girls should not be so willing to bet your precious body...Anyway, how long will your analysis take?"
"That depends on how accurate you want it." Kamisato could hear a hint of seriousness in the girl's tone. "It would be between an hour, or couple of them."
"That seems quite fast."
Kamisato's tone was rather carefree. However, in contrast to said tone, he was surrounded by what could only be described as a scene that came out of a horror slasher film. And not the good ones.
The floor and the walls were covered in black, gory bits of the other attacker. The one which was more of an octopus compared to its counterpart, the rotten red carpet. To make things worse, the gory bits actually looked like black clumps of fat or a loose rubber film being melted from the inside instead of chunks of flesh. The faint of heart would have already become queasy if they had met such a scene.
But Kamisato, a seemingly regular schoolboy, did not so much as flinch when he observed one of said chunks slide off the wall with a soft squelching sound.
Not but a few seconds after the caller fell silent, he heard what sounded like a table-top fan. A small motor, huh.
Not too surprised, Kamisato looked up and saw what appeared to be a toy in the night sky. The device in question looked akin to a crane that was made over a summer break. In place of it's stomach was a transparent case. As he watched, the crane lowered itself towards the gore covered floor, before a small cylinder popped out from beside the case, scooping out some of the black substance into it.
Thus, the crane-like drone now obtained a sample of the black creature, or the substance that made up said creature.
"Taking a peek at Academy City's junk street proved useful." A female voice came out from the admittedly smaller-than-normal beak of the crane drone. As it spoke, it tilted its head to the side, allowing the camera to get a better view of the boy standing before it. "My container lab is doing better than it ever has. It's pretty cool that the kind of electron microscopes we use 'outside' is small enough to fit in your palm here. It was as much of a shock as seeing my first mirrorless camera. Just leave this to your tracer and the earliest results will be in within the hour."
"I see." In his mind's eye, Kamisato pictured the a short girl with glossy black hair that reached the ground, clad in a baggy lab coat which dragged behind her, laughing while covering her mouth with the longer than needed sleeve.
"But Academy City isn't as different from the 'outside' as I'd heard," said the girl. "I thought we would be stuck acting like the old lady who can't figure out how to use the ticket machine."
"Yeah. At first, I thought there were going to be cars driving through tubes, but it doesn't seem that different. They even use the normal Japanese yen…or at least something that looks just like it."
As he watched the handmade drone fly off into the distance, he could not help but think of the girl who made it.
..
Arimura Ellen.
A girl who called herself a tracer. Her main specialty: using the same forensic and crime scene investigation skills as the police to pursue and track down a specific individual from the microscopic trail they left. And the title was not wasted on her.
In other words, this girl could track someone down even if they were put into the witness protection program or treated as dead in official records, given cosmetic surgery, had their fingerprint changed, and even had all of their blood swapped out. It was much like hunting down a target in the jungle using the footprints and broken branches on the ground.
With the grim reaper that was known as data at her fingertips, she could easily become so much more frightening than someone using simple violence to fight. Even criminal organizations used people like that. People known as Tracers.
In the past, tracking down a target or traitor in the organisation meant gathering witness information or using an information network(mostly made from loan shark client lists). Now though, they hired hackers to target the Juki Net and online shopping records, analysed the many photographs and images on the internet in search of the face they wanted, or analysed samples on the molecular level. These were of course all techniques invented by the police, but technology was just as effective no matter who was using it. Even if they were on the wrong side of the law.
Basically, no one was safe once they were in the crosshairs of the one known as Arimura Ellen.
As a side note, she was also the type of girl that almost never went outside for any reason, had a bad habit of ordering everything over the internet and picking up said things with her handmade drone. This borderline NEET(*1*) was an indoor girl that was also the incarnation of the magic that kept certain girls from gaining weight(or looking flabby in certain parts of their body) even though they mostly ate pizza and never went outside to do any physical activity.
..
Kamisato watched as the drone flew away.
"Could you do a more precise analysis of the sample please?"
"Sure thing Kamisato!" The girl chirped, this time back on the phone. "Is there a reason you asked how long it would take?"
"Oh, since you had the drone out, I wanted you to do a reconnaissance scan around me to see if I am being followed. I'm trying to figure out what I want to do now. I could return back to the container house, or I could use a different safe house in case I'm being followed. I was hoping for some extra information to make up my mind."
"Ah ha ha! Come on, this is Academy City. " The girl giggled. "Their technology goes two or three steps further than anything we can even imagine. They say truth is stranger than fiction, but this goes beyond even that. They're probably tracking you in some really nasty way, so completely losing them would be impossible. Besides, they're scanning the entire city by satellite."
"Perhaps." Kamisato inclined his head slightly.
"I'm sure even this phone call is being intercepted. Of course, you knew that but you're confident you can shake them from your tail by force and escape."
"…" Kamisato said nothing in response to that. Both of them knew how true that statement was.
Currently, Kamisato Kakeru - Or rather, the Kamisato Faction - was opposing the existence known as Magic Gods. The Science side, or Academy City, had no reason to oppose that desire of the Kamisato Faction.
But Kamisato, the head of his Faction, had a power that was on par, perhaps even above that, of Imagine Breaker.
He had entered Academy City without permission, and had an unknown power that was at the level of harming a Magic God with ease. Because of this, the city's ruler might not choose to ignore him, either because he would be profitable subject for research or because he was a frightening threat.
…But so what?
Kamisato Kakeru had World Rejector. World Rejector had the ability to harm, to kill, Magic that sort of trump card against beings who could destroy the world several times over, Kamisato was confident he would be able to deflect that sort of conclusion in the end.
"…then, I will go to the spare safe house and see how things go."
"That sounds like a good idea. The other girls are going nuts after hearing you contacted the Imagine Breaker without bringing a bodyguard. Especially when you were attacked by some red and black things afterwards. That should scare you a lot more than Academy City or Kamijou Touma. You need to cool your head and think of a good way to placate some girls. Nya ha ha!"
"My head hurts… Anyway, the safe house is at-…"
"Is that really something to say on a call that's being intercepted? Don't worry. I'm a tracer, remember? I'll track you down even if you don't tell me a thing. Bye bye "
*Beep*
Really… Kamusato stared at his screen, where the words 'Call Ended' could be clearly seen. For just a moment, an exhausted look on his face, before he placed his cell phone back into his pocket.
Then, he looked at the rather gruesome scene once more.
The disturbing black substance was splattered everywhere, but one piece of what looked like bubbling fat was being pushed up by something below. He had no idea what kind of toxins it contained and, in the worst case, it could suddenly attack and began devouring him with its giant maw, but he did not hesitate to approach the creepily pulsating blackness.
Whispering something under his breath, Kamisato waved his hand over the black mass of something. With hardly a sound, the entire clump of black vanished, revealing what it was that slept below.
'It' had appeared to be between ten to twelve years old. And judging by the attire and the small mounds beneath the clothes 'it' wore, the 'it' was a girl.
Said girl had short blonde hair that was pushed up with a hairband, leaving her forehead exposed. She wore a down jacket and jogging wear that was as skin-tight as a wetsuit. There was a slit below the arms, so it likely had temperature regulation for use in any season. The cordless headphones around her neck were most likely linked to the wearable smartwatch on her wrist.
Kamisato sighed, placing a hand on his hip. "Well now." Looks like Arimura was right. There WAS a girl underneath that black sludge. At least she was not naked, like she had thought. Thank goodness the world can be kind. With this, Kamisato thought that was no longer a need for him to worry about the virginity that the girl on the phone had bet. Well…based on her face and the brands of her clothing and accessories, she does not seem to be Japanese. Then again, she could be one of those who look foreign, but was actually a Japanese super into outside brands.
Hopefully, she wakes up soon. It would be best that she can help explain the situation as well. The girls would probably claim my own testimony lacked objectivity and refuse to listen. Plus...
Kamisato wanted to know more about her. Not for any reason like in those cliches, where he was enamoured by her beauty, or out of a sense of duty. It was just so that he could get his tory straight.
Nothing more, and nothing less.
Crouching down, Kamisato decided to check her pockets for any sort of identification on her. But instead of a wallet, he pulled out-
-A card case
"A girl of around ten has multiple credit cards? And they're all black cards?" Kamisato was puzzled. If he was an ordinary schoolboy, he would have most likely either tsukkomied about a rich foreign girl playing princess, or say that she was some sort of important personal. After all, this line-up looks exactly like something a casino magnate from Macau would have. Well, Kamisato Kakeru, despite his looks, was anything BUT an ordinary schoolboy.
As he looked through the numerous cards, Kamisato could not help but think that this mysterious girl might have been the type who had never seen an actual coin in her life. All of the card companies were from outside Academy City and each card had the same name printed on it.
"Pa…Patri…"
Ashe traced his fingers across one of the cards, Kamisato tried to say the name aloud, stuttering a few times, before he manged to say the full name without a problem.
Pa…Patri…Patricia… …Patricia Birdway? Is that it?"
Half an hour later, in a certain student's dorm room...
"Wow~ I am stuffed."
"I wanna take a nap now…"
"So this is what Onee-sama wanted us to eat…it's passable…"
"Shirai-san~ that's not believable coming from you. After all, you were moaning in satisfaction every time you finished your foo– ah, itsh hutsh Shidai-san~"
"Now now girls." Informant said in an amused tone. "Stop praising Kamijou-san so much. That would give Misaka-san an excuse to increase his punishment."
""Okay~""
Right now, everyone had just finished their food. Well, almost everyone. The middle-school students had finished up. The others, that being the Informant, Touma and Index(being the glutton she was), were still eating. As they ate, this sort of conversation was going on.
As for the man himself-
"Mikoto-san, I am sorry for my action-ow!"
-he was currently being punished by his girlfriend. By sitting in seiza position, with a large cinder block look-a-like on his lap. It also doubled as a small table where he could eat from, thankfully. She had just shocked him with a tiny zap, something Touma was unable to bock due to his occupied hand.
"Hmph." Mikoto pouted. "You don't have to be sorry for being you. What I am angry about is the fact that although this was supposed to be a party to celebrate you being released from the hospital, as well as a way for the others to like you more(read, only Shirai Kuroko), you somehow managed to bring back another girl. Even though you have a girlfriend."
"I am very sorry, but things were out of my control." Touma complained half-heartedly. Even to him, he knew there was no excusing what he had done. well, at least Birdway-san is fine for now. "Even Othinus can attest to that, and she likes to see me suffer."
"Human, don't make me out to be a sadist."
""But you enjoy watching me/him suffer, right?"" Two voices overlapped.
"…" The blonde (former) goddess of war huffed, keeping quiet at that statement.
"Erm…what about me?"
"You?" Mikoto whirled around to give Percival, who was going through the same treatment as her boyfriend, the stink eye. "You, I am doing this because I fell like it…plus, because you brought in two Magic Gods into Touma's home, both of whom are girls and could possibly fall for him. I don't want someone to invite more contenders for Touma's heart. My sisters, Shokuhou-san, and those girls you told her about are more than enough."
Percival stiffened. "…you know about that?"
Mikoto scoffed. "No thanks to you. Shokuhou-san told me that plan of yours."
"…damn it." Percival sighed.
"Hey, be thankful this place is not a shuraba(*1*)" Informant called out to the sulking boy. "With Misaka-san's personality, you would have already been fried by now."
"H-how did you-" Mikoto stuttered.
"What, did you think this partial muscle-brain would have been able to think up a plan as delicate as this?" Informant yawned.
""""… … …"""" Everyone stared at Informant, who was slurping up some of the soup in his bowl.
"Informant..." Percival sighed. "Did you have to say that?"
"What?" Informant did not seem to mind the stares(especially Kuroko's bloodthirsty one, Touma noticed.) "We had to come clean at some point. Might as well start now. Besides, it is rather important."
"Important how?" Ruiko asked Informant from beside him. She leaned closer, her eyes narrowing. "Are you keeping something from us, Informant-san?"
"Ah!?" Informant blushed, looking away from the black-haired girl that was nudging ever so slightly towards him. "W-well, I wouldn't say that we weren't keeping information from you guys, b-but it's more of the information not being important at this time." Hmm? What's with Informant's reaction?
"Do tell, when would your judgement ability have told you when to divulge this information, hmm?" Misaki too narrowed her eyes, gazing down at Informant. Touma got shivers when he saw that look, even though it was not directed at him. S-scary!
"A-ah!" Informant seemed to be freaked out by that stare that Misaki was directing at him. "W-well, you guys need to be focused on one thig at a time. Doing too many things at once would cause a person to wear out! Especially if there is an information overload! Besides, if we tell you everything, you won't trust us!"
"…Hm, makes sense." Mikoto grudgingly admitted.
"I-I'm guessing you trust us less now, huh." Informant looked a little sad as he said that.
"Well, I would say yes, but one of my friends is a spy, so I can't really say that anything would change." Touma knew that what he said was especially true. He trusts people quite easily, and is easily as swayed or manipulated. That was his very nature.
"…I am of the same mind as Touma." Mikoto sighed.
"Same." Misaki nodded her head slightly. "Although, we would be less trusting of you unless you divulge some information about yourselves."
"Really?" Percival gave a deadpan stare towards the girl.
Touma could somewhat agree with Percival's gesture. After all, even an amateur like me could tell that this is her trying to get more information from them.
"Why not?" Informant stood up, stretching. "Besides, I am sure the others in this room would love to know as well." His eyes flickered to Othinus and Index.
"Yeah yeah!" Index pouted, cross her arms over her chest. "I have always been wondering about that weird mana flow of yours! It looks like it keeps circulating in your body!"
"Is that how it looks?" Percival mused. "Well, we do owe you guys an explanation. Informant, I am blaming you for this."
"Sure, sure." Said boy waved it off. "I know it is my fault. But after we divulge that info, could we get back on track?"
"Erm…what track?" Touma asked, a little confused. I don't remember anything urgent.
"You know," Percival drawled out. "the part where you have a mysterious person trying to contact you, some information that we need to tell you, and the fact that TWO Magic gods are in your home for some reason. You know, that track. Oh, and the fact that there a cabal boss is unconscious in your room is another good start, I suppose."
"Ah…" Touam blinked. I forgot about that…
"Don't distract us!" Kuroko narrowed her eyes. "Tell us something that you have not told us, but will tell us!"
"Jeez, don't be so pushy." Percival sighed. "Well, Informant. You want to tell them?"
"Sure..." Informant sighed. "Well, basically…Percival is like those characters that went back in time."
"Huh? Touma blinked in surprise. "Wait, so you guys are time travellers?"
"Something like that, yeah." Percival nodded. "If we are being more technical, it would be…time warped by accident?."
Everyone stared at the duo(sans two magic gods, a calico cat, and a knocked out Cabal Boss)"""""… …what?"""""
"W-wait a second…" Misaka kneaded her head. "So basically, you are saying that you are like in those tropes? Where you got sent back in time?"
"Well technically, when it was an intentional time jump. Just, not so far back, I guess?" Informant shrugged, putting down his bowl. "Like we said when we first met, we are fighting against an enemy of ours. We knew they would be going to the past. But we did not expect it to be this far."
"So, you know what is supposed to happen, when, and at what time?" Touma felt hot white rage erupt in his chest. "Then-"
"No." There was a sort of finality in the way that Informant spoke that made Touma pause.
"…but I didn't say anything?"
"I could tell what you were going to say." Informant sighed, rubbing his eyes. "You were going to ask us why we did not step in to help you, to warn you of what is to come, right? Maybe even stop some deaths from happening? Time travel does not work that way. Some things are set in stone, and information from books can only get you so far."
…What do you mean?
"You still seem lost, huh." Evidently, Touma's face seemed to have shown his displeasure and confusion, so Percival cleared his throat. "Well, I'm going to borrow someone's line for this."
Percival pulled out some items. Then, he started.
"Imagine that the world is this string." Percival unspooled the ball of string, allowing it to be lain out on the tarp he had pulled out. "Your actions cause the world to go through different changes. Like, the stone age." The string was partly covered with black dye, making a striped pattern. "The Bronze age." A part of the string got dyed silver. "The age of Medieval warfare." Another part of the string was dyed, this time a bright red. "The age where the Occult was both at it's peak, and also the most feared." Another part was dyed purple. "Guns were invented." Now, part of the string was coloured a dull red. "Atomic bombs." A grey part. "Nuclear warfare development." Bright yellow now. "And the current era." A blue dye was added to the end of the spool, leaving a small portion of the unpolled string untouched. "This coloured line is our history. Your past and present. My…no, our past." Percival then used the tape to stick it in certain places. "Now, let us talk about the diverging points."
Percival pointed to the first marked place. "The first time Mankind created fire." The next one, nearer to the bright red part. "The development of the repeating crossbow, and medieval armour changes." Now, Percival pointed towards the silver and yellow parts, which had many, many pieces of tape. "Hitler's death. The creation of the nuclear bomb, and subsequently nuclear weapons. The atomic bomb being developed. Modern weaponry development, which made melee weapons near obsolete due to the range of modern weaponry and the ease in which they could deal out death left, right and centre."
Now, he pointed to the blue era, which had a few pieces of tape, to Touma's surprise. "Now, for recent events. The Angel Fall incident. World War 3. British Halloween. The reveal of Gremlin. And most recently, the Kamisato faction."
Percival pointed at Touma. "You had a hand in each of these scenarios. Without you, the world would have devolved into chaos several times. Sure, it would have been resolved, but at what cost? World War 3 wold have only ended when either the Magic community was exposed, or the Fiamma of the Right had achieved his goal. The British Halloween incident would have caused numerous casualties, and unnecessary innocent lives being sacrificed. And so on, and so on."
"So, are you saying if my Prince had not participated in these events, we would be in a very different situation?" Misaki slowly spoke. "That is quite the assumption ability, Yurei-san." Touma agreed with her.
"Well, that is why we gave vague instructions and reasons for what was happening." Percival countered. "Who in their right mind would announce the fact that they are time travellers? And before you say anything, please remember that you are currently 30 years ahead of the world in scientific advancements, and you have children with the ability to topple governments if they wished. Number 7 and Number 1 being my cases in point. And all of this was possible because of various tests and experiments, some of which are not even legal, and borderline meant for death penalty convicts."
"…point taken." Misaki pouted when she realised that she had no comeback for that reasoning, dissatisfied as she may be.
Well, that can be considered a grey zone for us, I guess? Touma thought to himself.
"Well, after seeing the things in Academy city, I can understand why you would say that such a thing would be impossible because of quantum physics and power being taken into consideration, but the future has many surprises in store." Percival freely admitted. "Including the collaboration between Magic and Science."
""""Huh?!"""" The magicians in the room exclaimed in surprise at that fact. Touma would have too, had he not had his suspicions of such a thing happening when he saw Percival's and Informant's abilities up close. Especially their weaponry, which despite not reacting to his right hand, could do feats which just screamed magic. Plus, a certain blonde smashing her fist into the table and nearly spilling the pot full of soup made for a great incentive to focus his efforts into trying to escape from it's path.
"Oh look, a Cabal Leader has appeared!" Percival jokingly said. "Whatever shall I-"
"Oh cut it out Percival." Touma said, now that the soup was in no danger of spilling. He was a little fed up with Percival's antics, which were seriously bugging him. And not in a good way, like his friends. "Birdway-san is not someone you want as an enemy."
"You think we don't know that?" Percival raised an eyebrow. "We come from the future, where she is known as the second youngest magician to ever become a Cabal Boss. The only reason she stopped being in the limelight was because her sister knew about the other side after a while, and because she had a kid."
""…WHAT?!"" Touma was sure he was one of the ones who had screamed in shock. Along with Levinia, Index and Mikoto.
"Oi. You gave it away, you idiot." Informant threw an empty bowl at Percival's head. Somehow, he managed to atop it from hitting his head. "No altering of the timeline any more than necessary."
"Aren't you already altering the timeline must by being here?" Ruiko asked curiously.
"Hence the 'necessary' part." Informant grumbled.
"W-who did she marry?" Index asked, stuttering a little, which confused Touma. Why would she be embarrassed?
"Won't say." Percival clammed up. "The big boss says no, so I am keeping quiet."
Touma quickly connected the dots when he saw Percival's eyes glance towards the dirty-haired boy."…Informant is your boss?"
"In regards to information, yes." Informant sighed. "This person can do many things, but when it comes to information about this time, its pretty much zilch. I have to reign him in, otherwise we won't be able to help much outside of fighting our enemy."
"And yet, you still haven't told us who this enemy is." Mikoto noted.
"In due time." Percival said. "Now then, back to the timeline business, shall we? As I was saying, these taped bits can be considered the markers of human history."
Lifting up the string, Percival indicated to the numerous taped parts. "Right now, we are using information based on these markers. If we stray too much from the history we know, we would either cease to exist, or we would be blind because then our enemy would be making moves that we cannot predict and plan for. We already encountered such an event. We managed to salvage it somehow because of another group helping us, but next time, we might not be so lucky."
"… …" Everyone was quiet as they digested this information.
Almost timidly, Kazari raised her hand. When Percival nodded his head i her direction, she spoke. "So…is what happened between Kamisato and Percival a event which they did not plan for?"
"Actually, that was something we did not expect, but planned for." Informant spoke this time. "Percival was not supposed to be meeting the Magic Gods at that time. Just give them some information, enough for them to stay alive. But because Percival was with Two Magic Gods, him meeting the person called Kamisato Kakeru was almost a given. At the moment, the timelines are running parallel."
"So, I would have been heavily injured, or lost a large portion of my power?" Nephthys whispered to herself.
Touma managed to hear her, but he ignored it in favour of asking a question that had just popped into his head. For now. Timelines running parallel?
"What do you mean?"
"Okay, remember how Percival said that the dyed line is the timeline?" Seeing their heads nod, Informant continued. "Okay. Let's say that this dyed line is the Main timeline. The original one which I know. This line is made up of several threads, which represent the actions of important, key figures in our past, and in your past, present and future."
"Let's say at one point, this thread splits and deviates from the Main timeline. This would become an alternate path. Not an alternate timeline. There is a difference which I will explain later." Informant added when he saw Kuroko and Misaki open their mouths. "Now, his alternate oath would run parallel to the Main timeline, because the events that happen during the course of that time would deviate slightly. Google can be called Gugle. Cats can be called Catty. The current president could be the vice-president. Something like that. Then, this alternate oath would either join back to the Main timeline, or run parallel with it forever."
"Now, what if there are too many threads which split? Then, they would start to head in a different direction to the Main timeline. This is what we call a alternate timeline. In essence, an alternate path is when history does not divulge too much from the Main timeline, sans some name changes or a few views. An alternate timeline however, is something which has too many changes where the Main timeline can be used as a reference of sorts. There are some bits and pieces which are like the Main timeline, but the end direction of the alternate timeline is completely different."
"""…Huh?""" Touma, as well as the two lower levelled espers and Index, were confused. Levinia did not say anything as she was still out of it from knowing that she had a kid and married someone, and as such was having some…delusions…
"So basically," Misaki nodded her head thoughtfully. "In an alternate path of the Main timeline, my Prince could actually be a girl while an alternate timeline would be where my Prince does not meet me?"
That is…easier to understand?
"That…is a possibility." Informant hesitated. "Alternate timelines are very vague. Hard to tell. Kamijou-san being a female instead of a male is a definite alternate path. Kamijou-san not meeting you, the Ranked 5 Level 5, can be a different path or an alternate timeline. Since there were two candidates for a Level 5."
"…I see." Misaki frowned.
"But for a confirmed alternate timeline…Well, I think two good examples would be Kamijou-san failing to persuade Othinus, or Kamijou-san not helping Misaka-san with a certain event involving the 1st Ranked."
Many faces paled at that. Especially three people. "Had Kamijou-san failed to persuade Othinus, it is very likely that none of us would be here. Similarly, had Kamijou-san not helped Misaka-san with that incident, there would be too many changes in history. Misaka-san would be dead. Same with Last Order. Touma would be unable to fight against Othinus. Rather, he might have joined her. And the Ranked One would be akin to a crazed, traumatised person."
Touma shuddered when he heard Informant's rather cold analysis. I know those are hypothetical scenarios, but the way he delivered them…
"By the way, these alternate timelines are confirmed to exist."
Touma felt his hearts stop for a second. Wha- "What?"
"Why do you think there are the concepts of alternate and parallel worlds?" Informant pinched the bridge of his nose in apparent frustration. "Alternate worlds are the alternate timelines. The same for parallel worlds. Why do you think we know so much about time travel and such?"
"…because you visited an alternate timeline where time travel is real." Comprehension dawned on Mikoto's face.
"In our case, it is now an alternate path, since we managed to get the data and theories on how time travel works." Percival picked up where Informant left off. "First, we learned about alternate worlds and such, then time travel. Both of which are only available because of a fusion of Science and Magic."
"…then, what can you tell us about Kamisato Kakeru?" This time, Kuroko was the one that spoke. "He sounds dangerous."
"He is. To his enemies anyway." Informant confirmed. "We won't tell you much. Only what we know from encountering him. The information that I know about Kamisato Kaleru is full of holes, but the events that he was involved in are solid. I won't say much, same with Percival. Think of this as…sealed information above an employees pay grade.
"But-"
"It's okay Mikoto-san." Touma interrupted Mikoto. I know that Mikoto wants to know more about events so that we can plan around them, but that would do more bad than good. We would rely too much on Percival and Informant's info, and when we find ourselves with a surprise event, we would be vulnerable.
"…Good choice." To Touma, it looked as if Informant and Percival were looking at Touma in a new light. Like they could read his mind or something. "Well then, I will start off with-"
(*1*)- (Shuraba- A scene of bloodshed)
AN
Surprise! Percival and Informant are from the future!
*cue party poppers and kazoos*
…yeah, not gonna lie, that was way to obvious for everyone. Although, I am sure how I approached this was unique.
So far, in fanfics, we have seen time travel via reincarnation(inclusive of natural death or/and outside influence), self-inserts, some stupid loop(yeah, this is real. There is a movie on it) and of course, the ever so traditional sent back in time for the heck of it.
This one is actually different. I have stated what time travel is, as well as defined it into two different forms. Alternate Path, and Alternate timeline. Which makes things SO much cleaner. I mean, what do you really call something where a person is sent back in time, but the main events remain the same, with just a few slight changes? It can be considered a alternate timeline/universe, but really…that seems a little much, no?
Also, there for those who read these ANs, if you read through a few chapters carefully, you might pick up what I am trying to hint on… Especially the future ones.
That said, this chapter was both a doozy and fun one to write. This is one of the main objectives, plus also, one part of the puzzle piece that is called Percival, fulfilled. Time travel has been stated, and timeline differentiation has been established. Now, all I need to do is actually plot out the timeline…ah*crumples paper* who cares!
Sorry for the late update, but exams are pretty much at my front porch. Next time I update will be around early March. Earlier, if I can.
Well, as always, please Review, and Anime is Life!