"A... definition of a hero is someone who is concerned about other people's well-being, and will go out of his or her way to help them—even if there is no chance of a reward. That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero." ― Stan Lee
Prologue
January 30th, 2022
Shido Takamiya stood beside the door and listened with growing anger at what was being said on the other side.
"The boy is out of the question. I've already begun the process of transferring my crest. But you may have the girl, she's guaranteed to produce more than capable offspring."
"I would rather have had the boy since I already have a daughter…"
"One who is utterly useless. If you were certain she could at least produce a capable heir, would we be having this conversation?"
"What can I do with another girl? Breeding her in such a way that the progeny could inherit my crest would be difficult, I can't simply marry her off to another branch of my family, it would create complications, and raise questions."
"The difficulties might be great, but I am certain you can't afford the alternative, and I can promise you that this opportunity won't come again."
"It's a risk, waiting until she's old enough to conceive, and then hoping the product is suitable. But you're correct, I can't turn down this chance to avert calamity. Very well then. I'll have what you want brought here, and then we can make the exchange."
"Excellent. I'm pleased we could come to an arrangement."
"Will she make a problem?"
"How do you mean?"
"Being separated from her family and home at that age could be traumatic."
"Does that bother you?"
"No. But I would like this to go smoothly, if possible."
"She's untrained, and completely ignorant of her heritage. However, she's overly attached to her brother. That will be a problem for her."
"She'll have a sister to get attached to. It should help ease her transition. Failing that, I'm confident I can handle it myself."
Shido had finally heard enough, he grit his teeth and stepped away from the door before he started running to another part of the house.
It was a bitter cold winter night. Icy rain was pouring down as Shido pulled his younger sister by the arm. The two ran as quickly as their little legs could carry them. Panting heavily, sweat, tears, and rain indistinguishable as they ran across a busy street causing drivers to brake and swerve into each other as they made their way through traffic to the other side.
Shido kept his eyes set firmly on what was ahead of him, his sister with her eyes set only on him. Behind them an older man yelled for them to stop and come back, but neither would listen.
"Nii-sama?"
"Just keep running! Don't stop for anything!"
A few minutes later the two had hidden behind a dumpster next to a restaurant. The smell of rotting food was provoking their gag reflexes but both remained as still and quiet as they could until they heard the sound of running footsteps and the accompanying splashing pass them by. But it was still too soon to come out of hiding. They would have to wait a little longer before it was safe to emerge and flee in another direction.
The siblings later took refuge from the rain under a bridge, their heavy and exhausted breaths frosty in the cold winter air. Huddled close together for warmth. Shido rubbed his hands together for a long moment before activating his magic circuits, with his eyes tightly closed he worked his limited magecraft which caused the water on his sister's soaking clothes and hair to drain away from her.
Mana's eyes widened in amazement. "Amazing! How are you doing this?"
"It should get a little warmer now that you're dry…"
"It is… Thank you, Nii-sama."
Shido nodded and then repeated the process for himself.
"That's so incredible! You can do magic? Like real magic?"
"No. Not magic. Magecraft… There's so much you don't know about who and what we are. But I guess now's as good a time as any to start explaining."
Mana nodded her head and gave her undivided attention.
"The truth is, we come from a family of mages. Sort of like in those stories you like about witchcraft and wizardry and whatnot. Except we're the real thing from the myths those stories are based on. The reason you don't know any of this is because of the rules. Mage families don't normally have more than one child because they can only train one to inherit this thing called a magic crest created by the mages who have come before us to advance a family's arts. I only have a part of it though, and I can't show it to you right now because it's on my back. Just take my word for it."
"That's so cool!"
"I guess it kinda is. But it's also the reason our father wants to send you away. He's trading you for something to some other family who, for whatever reason, don't have a child who can use magecraft. They want you so that one day they can make you have a baby who can. That's all they want from you. They don't even want to train you to use magecraft yourself. They won't even really care about you. That's why we're running away. I'm not going to let that happen to you!"
"I trust you. So what are we going to do now?"
"I guess I didn't really plan that far ahead… I suppose we should wait here for now. I tried to steal as much money as I could, but it wasn't much. We'll be able to eat for a couple days... longer if we're very careful with it."
"But where are we going to go?" she asked softly while shivering beside him.
Shido held her tighter, "I don't know. But we have to keep moving. Once they tell father they couldn't catch us, he'll send his familiars to search for us. So we need to keep moving if we're going to get out of his reach."
"What are familiars?" asked the little girl.
Shido sighed, "It's not important right now. What is important is keeping you safe. I won't let you be taken away by strangers. We'll figure this out, and we'll find a safe place where we can be together. You're my precious little sister, and I love you more than anything. I promise, I'll always protect you."
Mana leaned over and cuddled up to her big brother. "Thank you, Nii-sama."
Chapter Two
April 20th, 2027
Shido awoke and immediately noticed his arm was completely numb, and there was a pressure on his side which told him only one thing.
"Mana…"
The only response was a groggy incoherent mumbling.
"Hey, Mana! Wake up!" he said loudly.
"Uuuugh. What time is it?"
"It's time to get up off my arm before necrosis sets in!"
"Wha… Oh. Sorry," she murmured lazily while sitting up and freeing his arm.
Shido sat up and started moving his arm around in a circle to restore circulation while he looked over at the other bed in the room. He sighed as he took note of the fact that it hadn't even been slept in.
"Mana… We've talked about this. You need to sleep in your own bed. You can't be sleeping with me like this."
"I feel safer next to you…" she said while stretching. "What's the big-" she then yawned loudly. "What's the big deal?"
"Yeah. Why would I expect you to see what the problem could possibly be…" he muttered to himself.
"What did you say? You're mumbling."
"I said I'm going to take a shower."
"Why? You showered last night and you didn't sweat."
"But now I smell like your perfume, and there's no satisfactory explanation I could give anyone for that which wouldn't fuel their imaginations in the worst possible way. We're the only boy and girl in the school who live together, off campus even, and that's rumor fodder enough."
"You worry too much about what other people think. It's going to drive you insane," said Mana with indifference.
"I wish I had your level of apathy, but unfortunately, there are only so many perverted anime jokes I can take from those damn weebs before I snap."
Shido returned from his shower to find his sister was already dressed and ready for school. She was sitting at her desk in the living room of their one bedroom apartment, listening to music while working on something. When he got to the bedroom he was also pleased to note that she had saved him the trouble of making up his bed. He then went over to his closet on his side of the room and got out his school uniform to dress in.
After getting dressed, he walked over to Mana's desk and looked over her shoulder at what she was doing. He couldn't help but smile when he saw that she was practicing her magecraft with a glass of water, but struggling to get it to do anything beyond swirl in the glass.
He gently tapped her shoulder and then she reached up to pull out her earbuds. "Nii-sama? Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah. But before we do," he said before he stepped over to his own desk to pull up his chair. "You're practicing the wrong thing, that's why it's so hard for you to advance beyond fundamentals."
"What should I be doing then?"
Shido pulled the glass of water over towards himself. "Think about it a little. What else can water do besides move around in its vessel?"
"Lots of things. Boil. Freeze. Erode… Ummm. I can probably list off a lot more if it wasn't still so early."
Shido smiled and nodded, "You hit the important one I was looking for. Freezing. It's a very simple process, but it takes focus. How do you freeze water? And try to be more specific than 'by making it cold' for example."
"Umm… That's really the only explanation I have. When water goes down to a certain temperature, it turns into ice."
Shido reached out and flicked his sister between her eyes.
"Ow…" she said while rubbing the sore spot.
"Someone needs to pay a lot more attention in science classes. Try to focus on the 'why' of it. Why does water become ice? Is it just the heat being taken away? Or is there more to it than that?"
"When the temperature changes, the molecular structure changes, when it's cold it crystallizes. See. I do pay attention!"
"Clever. So. To make ice, we have to alter the molecular structure. How do you think that would work?"
"Umm… Ummm… Uhh..." Mana stamered, "I got nothing."
Shido nodded and held his hand close to the glass of water. In his mind he imagined a sledge hammer which slammed into an ice sculpture and shattered it, to activate his magic circuits.
"Making ice isn't very efficient, but it is very useful. There are two ways to do it, the first is to compress it down into ice. Under immense pressure, water becomes crystalline, but that's a bit beyond your ability for the moment. What you need to learn to do first is split the water you have into two parts, the first part will freeze, while the second part will boil and vaporize. That's how you move the heat away. Make sense?"
"But how do I actually do any of that?"
"Pay close attention to the steam coming out of the glass. That's how you move the heat away. Then all you're left with, is a glass half full of ice. Our father was able to do this with only a minimal loss of water. So this isn't very impressive."
"It is to me. Even after all this time, magecraft never ceases to amaze me…" she said while picking up and examining the glass. "But how is this even possible?"
Shido smiled, "That's what our entire art is based on. Conversion, conservation and transference of energy. Even what you were doing before, swirling the water, that's just potential energy being converted into kinetic energy. There's potential energy in everything, all you have to do is convert that energy to make things happen."
"That makes sense, I guess."
"It's really stupid when you think about it. Everything I learned before we ran away amounts to the same magnitude of power as a decent refrigerator."
Mana couldn't help but snicker.
"It's alright to laugh, it really is funny," said Shido with a snicker of his own. "But it's also completely logical, and easy to understand when you put it in a technological context. Right?"
"Yes. It really is. But what about when you dry our laundry? How does that work?"
"It's the thaumaturgical equivalent of wringing a mop, or using a washer dryer combo."
Mana started snickering again. "Is it really that simple?"
"When you understand why it works, yes. How it works is a lot more complicated. We can go into that a little bit more when you've learned how to do this," he said while melting the ice. "Now you try."
Chelsea, Central London
After leaving their apartment building, Shido and Mana started walking towards their school, which was just across the street and around the corner from them. It wasn't long after they entered the school grounds before they heard shouting coming from somewhere ahead of them. A lot of foul language and a group of students gathered in a pile.
"Looks like another fight…" muttered Mana.
"Looks like it," replied Shido.
Mana widened her eyes, "Seriously?! Look at that! Are they really that spineless?"
"Any idea who that might be?"
"Never seen anyone in a wheelchair before. I think I'd notice that. They must be new."
"Alright. I'll put a stop to it. Just stay back in case it escalates to involve the staff. Then I'll need you to run interference while I make my escape."
"Got it. But make it quick or else I'll jump in and back you up."
"Challenge accepted! I'll finish this in ten seconds from first contact. You can time me if you want."
"I will. But as soon as it hits eleven, I'm going in."
Shido nodded and briskly walked up to the scene of the action, "Hey! Assholes! What do you think you're doing?!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Oh! Look who it is!" yelled another boy as he stood up and started walking towards him. "It's the big hero on campus! Come on hero! Show me some of your Kung fu shit!"
As soon as he was close enough, the boy threw a punch at Shido who then caught the fist and grabbed him by the shirt and jacket, he then leaned and used the boy's own strength to throw him face first into the pavement. "Up yours, grasshopper," he said while walking towards the other students, not caring if the boy was even still awake to hear it.
Before anyone had realized what was happening, Shido had grabbed another boy and threw him into the wall.
7…
A girl tried to kick him, but he blocked it with his forearm and leaned down to look up her skirt, causing her to turn red and scream before he pushed her leg away and stepped in to sweep his foot under her other leg and trip her up.
4…
A third boy attempted to sucker punch him in the face, but Shido caught his fist and twisted it until he had his arm locked behind his back, using him to block a kick from the last boy.
2…
Shido pushed the boy he had used as a human shield into the last boy before running into him where he proceeded to punch his lights out.
Zero…
"Exactly ten seconds. Well done, Nii-sama!" said Mana.
Shido sighed at how vicious she sounded while complimenting him, and how cute she sounded when she called him that.
"I'd ask what kind of people pick on the defenseless, but, I guess that's just the nature of bullies…" he muttered while walking over to the last person still conscious where he knelt down beside them on the cement floor. She was a teenager with long ginger colored hair and an unhealthy pale complexion. "Are you alright?"
"I'll live. If you can call this living," said the girl with an Irish accent.
"Would you like a hand?" he asked her.
"If you don't mind. I can't seem to find my wheelchair," she replied.
"You must have gotten hit in the head. It's right in front of you."
"Is it?" she asked while feeling around in front of her.
Shido's eyes widened, "You can't walk, and you're blind? Wasn't there anyone who was supposed to be helping you get around?!"
Meanwhile Mana quickly stepped over to the wheelchair where she set it up right and waited patiently with it.
"There was someone, another student who was meant to be taking me to see someone named Ellen, but then this happened and I don't know where she went."
"Any idea what she looked like?" asked Mana, "There's a girl among the defeated here."
"I'm afraid not, I never saw her face," she answered with a giggle.
Mana bonked herself on the head, "Oh right. I already forgot. I'm so sorry!"
"It's quite alright. Everyone has so far. But you are the first to actually care, so thank you."
"Do you mind if I help you back up into your chair?" asked Shido.
"If it's not a bother. I still haven't decided which is more undignified, being carried, or dragging myself aimlessly in the void."
Shido had no idea of how to respond to that, so he just focused on the matter at hand. "I'm kneeling down here beside you. I'm going to put your arm around my shoulders and hold you up by the waist while my sister brings your chair close to you so I can sit you down. Is that alright?"
"It is. Thank you…" she answered, suddenly sounding shameful as opposed to her more snarky self from before.
Shido nodded, but then remembered that it was a pointless gesture. "Alright. Here we go," he said before gently guiding her arm to his shoulders.
The girl wrapped her arms around him while he slowly stood up, he then quickly put his other arm around her waist and held her steady while Mana brought the chair closer, he then gently set her down into it.
"There you go."
"Thank you so much," she answered back.
"I'm Shido Takamiya, and standing behind you is my little sister, Mana," he said while setting up the foot rests and gently placing her feet on them.
"Hi, nice to meet you," said Mana in a cheerful voice.
"Nice to meet you both, I'm Cecile O'Brien."
"That's a pretty name!" exclaimed Mana.
"Thank you, so is yours!"
Mana smiled happily at the compliment. "So you needed to go see Ellen?"
"Indeed."
"We can take you there if you like?"
"I don't want to impose, but it's not as if I could find it on my own."
"It's no imposition. It's been a while since we've seen her, and I'm sure she'll be thrilled to see us," said Shido as he walked beside the wheelchair which was now being pushed by Mana.
"So you're a magus?" asked Cecile.
"Yeah. Totally. I do a magic show every day on Oxford street for extra cash," replied Shido in a deadpan.
"Cute. I sensed the mana flow while you were fighting."
Mana stopped in her tracks looking utterly stunned at the girl she was pushing.
Shido looked at the Irish girl with wide eyes, "Are you serious? You're a mage too?"
"Yes, I am," she answered back with a cheerful smile.
"Sorry. I'm not sure how to react. We've just never had a positive interaction with another mage before..." he said before looking at her more closely. She had long gingerish hair and pale skin, the sickly kind of pale skin that comes from being out of the sun for an inhumanely long period of time. Her eyes were a light blue, but lifeless. In spite of it all though, she was beautiful. Very beautiful.
"I didn't mean to put you on the spot. I was just curious about you both."
"You had no way of knowing my sister was also a magus…" said Shido in a low voice.
"Yes, I did. I could sense her out as well. She was ready to support you in a split second."
"How could you sense any of that? I hardly used much mana at all. I mean, I can barely tell when my sister is practicing and we're in the same room!"
"They say when you go blind, your other senses get dialed up to eleven. I'm afraid it's true. But don't go blinding yourselves, it's not worth it."
"Mind if I ask what happened to put you in the chair?" asked Mana.
"Not at all. It was a spatial quake, and we didn't have any shelters set up in my town. Now there's no more town, and only a small handful of people survived. I just went through rehab and training sponsored by D.E.M. in Ireland and then I was brought here to London."
"That's terrible…" said Shido. "I wouldn't wish this school on my worst enemies."
"Well, that just goes to show you that whoever said you have to die to go to hell had no idea what he was talking about," said a smiling Cecile.
"I can't imagine how much it must suck to be in your situation, but we're gonna be great friends from now on and life's gonna get better. I promise!" said Shido in a firm tone.
Cecile giggled in amusement, "That's quite audacious of you. But I suppose it couldn't get any worse for me, I can't even get to the toilet on my own, much less defend myself."
"You've got us here for you now. We'll help you with everything you need. Right, Nii-sama?"
"Exactly."
Shido opened the door to Ellen's office. It was a modern space, gray carpeting, plain black office furniture. The back was a large window with a view to the courtyard, then in front of that was a large desk, and in front of the desk were two chairs. Just ahead of the door where the teenagers entered was a coffee table surrounded by a sofa and two arm chairs.
"Hey, Ellen! You wanted to see this girl?" said Shido gruffly as he stepped into the woman's office, Mana pushing Cecile in just behind him.
"For once, I'm actually glad you two are here. I was going to send for you…" she calmly replied.
"So what's up? Oh! That's a nice suit you're wearing. If you're not careful, an impressionable young man such as myself might develop a fetish for women in skirt suits," remarked Shido with a toothy grin.
"Of all the things I've yet to teach you, it seems I'll need to move the lesson on how to flirt with women further up the list… That was pathetic, even for you," replied Ellen with a deadpan tone.
Shido kept his eye on Ellen as she approached the coffee table and took a seat in one of the armchairs. Despite his attempts to annoy her, and the fact that he really wasn't into older women, he had to admit that she actually was beautiful. With light blonde hair, amethyst eyes, and a great body.
"So what did you want to see us about?"
"And…" started Mana. "Do you actually want us here right now? Or should we wait outside while you talk to Cecile?"
"I appreciate your consideration, Mana, but it doesn't make a difference," replied Ellen.
"Very well," replied Mana while pushing Cecile up to the coffee table where she set the brakes on the wheelchair. She then went to take a seat on the couch closest to Cecile.
"So what do you want with us?" asked Shido.
Ellen looked around the room for a long moment, "You know, there are other, bigger offices I could have if I just say the word. I even have a top floor office at corporate headquarters that I never use simply because I like this office the best. Would you like to know why?"
Shido rolled his eyes, "Yes, Ellen. Please. I've lost a lot of sleep because I couldn't figure out why you'd want this particular office space..." he said sarcastically while leaning back in his armchair and then put his feet up on the coffee table. "So go ahead. Enlighten us. Why this office?"
"The view. I can see everything that happens on these grounds from here. Who's coming, who's going, who's sneaking around…" she narrowed her eyes on Shido, "I even get treated to the occasional bare knuckle boxing or MMA match in the courtyard…"
"In my defense, this time, they really actually had it coming to them."
"That's the only reason I'm still allowing you to make yourself at home in my office, Shido. But you still need to answer for what happened to your guardian. Did he really deserve that thrashing?"
"Yes. He did."
"And may I ask why?"
"Didn't he already tell you?"
"I'd like to hear your side of it."
"He insinuated things about my relationship with my sister."
"Oh…" said Ellen while rubbing her eyebrow. "You two are going to be the death of me. That's the third guardian you've gone through in the last year. What am I going to do with you?"
"You could do the job yourself," said Mana with a stern glare on the woman. "Of all the adults in our lives, you're the only one we trust."
She turned her head to look at Shido who only gave her a nod in response to her unasked question.
Ellen nodded back at the boy in response. "I'll think about it. For the moment though, we've given poor Cecile a big ear full of things she probably doesn't care about."
"It's fine, ma'am. It's not a bother at all."
"Call me Ellen. I only accept being called 'ma'am' or 'miss' by the people who pack my groceries or bring me coffee, and even that's only because I don't have the patience to correct them all."
"Very well, Ellen."
Ellen nodded, and then suddenly shook her head. "Excellent," she said, trying to maintain a friendly tone and not telegraph her blunder to the blind girl. "So, how are you recovering from your operations?"
"It's been painful. Mercifully I'm on the good stuff. Pity that one can only legally take such wonderful drugs when they're otherwise in agony."
"Your sense of humor is returning. That's a good sign. But recreational opioids aren't as much fun as they might seem to you right now. We can explore some alternatives when you're further in your recovery. Other than the pain, how's your Magic Crest settling in?"
Shido instantly sat up straight with his feet on the floor and leaned forward along with Mana to gaze in shock at what Ellen had just said.
"It's... different. I'm not sure how to explain it," answered Cecile.
"It takes time for the body to adjust. I'm sure you know that's the reason it was previously being done in small increments, but we had to put the whole thing in at once because we just don't have the resources for long term preservation which the Clock Tower has, and it's not like we can just ask them for help."
"I understand, and I'm very grateful to you. You saved the work of one of the world's oldest mage families… I can't ever fully repay that debt."
"Think nothing of it."
"Uhh? Can we just take a moment to address the elephant in the room?" remarked a stupefied Shido.
"Yes, Shido. I'm a mage. You're a mage. Cecile is a mage. Mana, I guess we can call her one too. That's why I wanted you to come and meet her. But it seems fate took care of that for me."
"How long have you known?" asked Mana.
"From the day we first met. Your family name and place of origin makes it clear to anyone in the know exactly who and what you are."
"Her family is one of the most famous mage families there is," explained Cecile. "How could you not have known about her before now?"
"Because I'm not a fully educated mage. Why didn't you say anything to us before now, Ellen?" asked Shido.
"Because it was clear to me that you ran away to escape that life, and I didn't want to drag you back in. Believe me when I say, I know what it's like to want out and be unable to stay out. In this instance though, I thought that it might help Cecile to integrate better if she had friends who understood her. I'm not without empathy."
Shido nodded and sat back again, "I see..."
"And, I'd like to offer Cecile a place on the team. In fact, she's the reason I never filled the vacancy. She was my first choice, so I waited for her to recover enough to be brought here."
Shido closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I get why you'd want to be careful with the selection. I mean, it's not like anyone could ever replace Minerva, she was… unique."
"Do we have any idea what happened to her?" asked Mana.
"The search continues…" muttered Ellen.
Shido then continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "And… With all due respect to Cecile, how, exactly, could she..."
"With a wiring suit and some creative use of magecraft, I'm able to regain sufficient mobility, and I'm able to see through the realizer's systems," said Cecile. "I was trained up during my rehabilitation. I'm ready for this. Once my magic crest is fully set in, I'll be more than ready for anything."
"How is that possible?" asked Mana. "How can a wiring suit help you be mobile?"
"Runic magecraft and some creative use of my territory. I can manipulate my legs like a puppet.
"So, it's like a thaumaturgical robotic exoskeleton?" asked Shido.
Cecile held up her finger. "Exactly. It's not the most elegant solution, but it works."
"So I take it this means you're in?" asked Ellen to Cecile.
"Yes, Ellen. I want in. I want to find the one responsible for what happened. I want to return the favor ten fold!"
"Any objections?" asked Ellen while looking at Shido and Mana.
"None," said Mana.
"Nope. I like her attitude, it's a big change from how she sounded earlier."
"This leaves one more vacancy on the team though. Please tell me you're not giving it to Jessica." said Mana.
Ellen leveled her gaze on the blue haired girl, "May I ask why you would object?"
"I'll be very blunt, so please pardon my language... It's because she's bat shit crazy."
Shido nodded at his little sister. "Even more than Minerva."
"Well. You'll be relieved to know that she won't be joining. Westcott has given her command of her own troops. Meanwhile, I've already chosen our final team member. However, she's currently involved in another project and she can't get away until it's done. She'll join us as soon as possible, and I'm confident you'll all get along with her, I'm told she's quite a nice young lady."
"Great. I'm still the only guy. Is it too much to ask for a little more testosterone around here? At this point, you may as well put me in drag!"
Ellen dismissively waved her hand at the boy, "Knock it off, Shido. I have a mission for us coming up very soon, so you'll have plenty of chances to explore your masculinity."
Shido raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"What's the mission?" asked Mana.
"We found your old friend, Phantom."
Shido punched his fist into his palm and leaned forward excitedly. "Don't keep me in suspense, Ellen! Where did you find her?"
"Japan."
"Japan?" asked Shido with his jaw dropped.
"Japan."
"Japan?" asked Mana with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, Japan."
"Japan?" asked Cecile.
"Yes, Japan. You know: Sushi, ramen, sake, lost in translation, earthquakes, freaky tentacle porn, Japan!"
"It's been five years… I wonder if I can even still actually speak like a Japanese person..." muttered Shido.
"I know for sure I can't…" said Mana.
Shido shook the thought out of his head, "So what do we know about Phantom? What's she up to?"
"No idea. Her spiritwave pattern was detected in Fuyuki."
"Fuyuki? Where's that?" asked Mana.
Shido thought about it and then shrugged. "I don't actually know…"
"It's in the south. On the island of Kyushu," supplied Cecile.
Shido and Mana both looked at her with wide eyes.
Shido was the first to recover his wits and speak up, "How'd you know that? That's like, such a random thing to know."
"Most mages, particularly those from very old families, know about Fuyuki. It was the site of the Holy Grail Wars," answered Ellen.
"Holy Grail Wars?" asked Shido and Mana.
"Talk to Cecile about that. I'm sure there are many things she can educate you about. Now you'd all better get off to class. I'll be in touch about our travel arrangements and time table. Maybe brush up a little on your native tongues. You wouldn't want to embarrass yourselves. Shido. I might call you out to meet me for something if time permits, so be available."
"Sure, Ellen."
Shido and Mana both stood up. Mana went to get Cecile and Shido started going towards the door to get it open for them but stopped when his sister spoke up.
"Ellen? About the other thing?"
"What other thin- Oh. I said I'd think about it. But why would you even want me anyway?"
Mana shrugged, "It's just exactly what I said before. We trust you. Isn't trust the most important thing?"
Ellen sighed and leaned back in her chair. "I'll think about it."
Mana stared into Ellen's eyes, clearly unsatisfied.
"Alright. I promise to think hard about it. I'll give you my answer before we leave."
Mana nodded and then turned Cecile's wheelchair towards the door and pushed her out. Shido followed and closed the door behind them.
Once the three teenagers were gone, Ellen heaved a heavy sigh. "When did I get soft enough to have kids actually start liking me? Definitely a sign that I've been idle here for too long."
Classes for the morning proceeded normally for Shido and Mana both, after mild scoldings from their teachers for being late to class without notes to excuse them. Either Ellen forgot they would need them, or deliberately didn't remind them, one could never be sure with that woman.
At the lunch break, Shido got up from his desk and walked over to the back of the room where Cecile was parked at one of the desks.
"Hey, Cecile. It's Shido here again. Ready for some lunch?"
"Hey, Shito! What'cha got there? Can't get a real girl so you're picking up the cripples?"
"He's probably in the dog house with his sister. Maybe now she'll sleep with someone else."
Shido tightly balled his fist and grit his teeth.
"What does that even sound like?" asked the boy. "Onii-chan! Onii-chan! Harder! Harder!"
Shido grabbed the boy by his jacket and held him in striking range but stopped at the last second. "You owe Cecile a big thank you. If I wasn't responsible for getting her to where she needs to be I'd reach up your ass and turn you inside out!" he said before he pressed in with his shoulder and threw him down onto the floor.
The boy landed roughly on his back with a loud groan of pain.
"You assholes can make fun of me all you want, I don't care. You talk about my sister, or Cecile, I'll fuck you until you start calling me 'Onii-sama'!"
Cecile raised her eyebrow, and a thoughtful finger as well, "Umm, Shido. That punch line might need a little work."
"I don't usually do punch lines… Just punches," he said while taking the brakes off her wheelchair. "So now that I've taken out the trash, are you hungry?"
"I can eat," she said with an amused tone of voice.
"Alright then. Would you like to join my sister and I for lunch?"
Cecile giggled playfully, "I would like that very much."
"Then here we go," he said before gently wheeling her around the body of the boy left aching on the floor.
"Hey you, hold the door!"
The boy next to the door quickly opened it and held it for him while speaking with a nervous stutter, "Y… Y…. Yeah! Sh...sh… sure thing man! You got it! Hodor, Hodor… All that shit."
"Are you always so violent?" asked Cecile.
Shido looked down at the back of her head and considered her question. "I hate violence. I hate it so much. But I discovered very quickly that it's the only language these people understand."
"Why is that I wonder? You beat them up, yet they still continue to tease you. If the greeting I received was any indication, it seems to be the norm around here."
Shido sighed, "Yes. I'm sorry to say it is. Everyone here is broken in one way or another. Everyone deals with their trauma in different ways. For some reason, it seems that most of the ones who end up here in this place, are the ones who mask their wounds by acting strong, but they have no idea what real strength is, so they just end up being bullies. It doesn't help that many of the people here were victims of violence, lost their families in violence, or just ran away to escape violence. But they ended up bringing the violence with them."
"Well. My wounds are pretty obvious. Mind if I ask what yours were? Ellen mentioned something about you running away."
"I can't give you the whole story right now, so ask me again later. The short and public version is that our father was mistreating my sister, I took her and we ran away."
"You must love your sister very much to have gone so far for her."
"I love her more than anything. She's all I have in this world."
"I wish I had a big brother to protect me like that."
"I can't be your big brother, I think you might be older than me. We can be friends though? But even if you don't want a friend, I'll still protect you. I can promise you that," he said firmly.
Cecile couldn't help but smile. "How old are you? You sound about the same age as me."
"I'm sixteen."
"You're only a year younger than me."
"So are we gonna be friends?"
Cecile giggled, "Of course we can be friends. Let's see, I enjoy reading, folding paper airplanes, walks in the park, oh and I love pizza!"
"Everybody likes pizza! That's a requisite for being classified as human! Paper planes are totally random though. What's up with that?"
"Haha!" Cecile laughed happily, "I got bored a lot in school, so I'd just fold different types of airplanes and when we had breaks between periods, I'd go up to the windows and test to see how well they'd fly. I can fold fifty seven different kinds with various flight characteristics."
"Are there really that many ways to fold paper planes?"
"You're Japanese, haven't you ever heard of origami? Paper birds, flowers, bugs, and whatever else someone has the patience to make? Same thing."
"Origami… Heh. I once knew a girl with that name," he said wistfully. "She was with us when we first came to London. None of us spoke a word of English back then, so we were all confuzzled together until we settled in."
"Was she pretty?"
"Absolutely. I had a crush on her from the moment we met. Everytime I asked her out though, she flatly refused. But we'd still hang out and be friends."
"What did she look like?"
"Does it matter? She's gone now."
"It's not as if I can just look her up in the yearbook… You've gotta tell me something about what she looked like."
Shido turned the chair to avoid an obstacle while choosing his words. "Albino. White hair, pale skin. She had beautiful eyes, like the sky. Those are what really got to me, I'd look into those eyes and feel like I wanna fly. She also had a constant poker face, she never showed any outward signs of emotion. But there was this sadness to her, you could see it in those eyes, but despite the sadness, she was always optimistic and very hard working. It was an interesting duality. Hope and despair coexisted in those eyes and fought each other every moment of every day."
"You don't half ass anything, do you? You fight with passion, and you love with passion, even when it's unrequited."
"Anything worth doing is worth doing well."
"Where'd she go?"
"Back to Japan. She always had this dream of finding a special friend of hers and regaining some semblance of a normal life. I hope she found whatever she was looking for. As much as it stings that she just turned her back on us without even so much as a goodbye, I really do hope she's happy, because at least once before I die, I want to see her smile."
"How high up is that one on the bucket list?"
"Hah. fourth. Ahead of that is defeating Phantom, and ahead of that one, is confronting my father… Top of the list is to find a way to get Ellen to chill out and experience actual happiness. She's way too uptight for her own good."
Cecilie nodded, "I guess you have your own duality. This place forces you to be someone you're not, but you play the part well without letting it diminish the kindness and warmth within you."
"Thanks, I guess. I'm not really sure what to say."
"This conversation is too heavy anyway. So what's actually good to eat here?"
"Nothing really. I usually make lunches for myself and my sister, but I didn't have a chance to prepare anything because I spent the morning teaching Mana a new 'party trick' and we lost track of time."
"Ahh, yes. Party tricks can be quite time consuming for a novice."
In the cafeteria, Shido set down a tray in front of Cecile. "Mind if I show you what's on your tray?"
"How would you do that?"
"With your hands. I'll just guide them around and tell you what's what."
"Umm, yes. That would be fine."
Shido gently took hold of her hands causing her cheeks to become slightly flushed.
Warm, gentle, and soft… Not the hands of a violent man.
"Alright. Over here, you have a fork and knife. Over here is a medium sized plate with some grilled chicken on this side, on the other side you have some boiled vegetables. And over here on this side of the tray, you have two bread rolls. And finally, over here, I wasn't sure what you'd like to drink, so I got you a coke. I hope that's alright?"
"Heh. It's fine. Thank you. Nobody's ever been so nice to me like this. They usually just serve me food and then leave me to guess what it is."
Mana smiled cheerfully, "My big brother is really kind to people he likes. It's just unfortunate that people he likes are so few and far between," she said happily before her tone suddenly dropped and became stern, "By the way, I heard you beat up on your classmates again."
Cecile's eyebrow shot up upon hearing those last words, "Truly? Word of that made it here ahead of us? Impressive."
"He had it coming. Cecile can testify to that."
"What did he do?" asked Mana.
"He made a joke. It wasn't funny," deadpanned Shido.
Cecile nodded her head while carefully feeling the cutlery to tell which was which. "No. It wasn't funny at all."
"Well, anyway. Nii-sama? Have you thought at all about what Ellen told us? About Phantom being in Japan?"
Shido nodded, "That's all I've been thinking about. But, could we discuss it later? These matters aren't to be discussed in front of muggles."
Mana slowly nodded, "I understand," her eyes then drifted over to the Irish girl "Cecile? Hasn't that chicken suffered enough?"
Shido's eyes turned back to her as well, and then down to her plate. He watched her struggle to keep the meat in place while stabbing it over and over while trying to find where to get a good cut.
"I can't seem to cut proper portions… I don't want to throw out my table manners and start touching it with my fingers. This is humiliating enough."
Shido closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Would you like me to carve that up for you?"
Cecile dropped her knife and fork onto her tray and then took a very deep breath with tears forming on the sides of her eyes.
"Way to go, Shido. You made her cry…" said an icy-cold Mana.
"All I did was offer to help…"
Shit… Mana is PISSED. I haven't heard her actually use my name in a looong time.
"I'm blind... I'm crippled…" she said with a sob.
Shido and Mana both looked at her sympathetically for a long moment before Shido got up and moved to the chair beside Cecile. He reached out and gently took a hold of her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"I spent a year learning to read braille and none of the textbooks I was given are even in braille... This is the first time I face the world on my own in my current state and I'm so helpless that I can't even so much as feed myself…"
Shido took a breath before he addressed her, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just want to help you. I'm sorry I was insensitive, I'm new to this and I guess I got a little overconfident with how well the day's gone so far. I apologize."
Cecile shook her head, "I'm not upset with you…"
"Then what's wrong?"
"I'm just not used to this, to needing help with everything… I used to be so independant and even arrogant in my intelligence and abilities. But now I feel so pathetic."
"You're not pathetic. This world sucks on the best of days, and for you, it sucks that much more. All I want to do is make it suck a little less. For you, and for anyone I can. We all need help to get through life. Me, my sister, everyone. Nobody can get through life alone. You just happen to need a little more help than most, and I'm happy to give you that help, but I'm not going to sit here and feed you. I just want to help you to be able to help yourself. All I need from you, is to not be afraid to communicate your needs. We're your friends now, and we're going to be here for you."
"I haven't earned your friendship… I've been on the receiving end of your kindness the whole day. I hate it!"
"It hasn't even been the whole day. Not even half of one. Don't be so hard on yourself, that isn't fair," said Mana. "There's plenty of time to balance the scales. Right now, it's still our turn to be nice and make you feel welcomed. We're also letting you get to know us, and we're getting to know you. Take away all the extra help my idiot brother's been giving you, and we're completely balanced. It's all a matter of perspective, you just need to keep a good perspective."
Shido widened his eyes at his sister, "Yeah. It's exactly what she said."
Ceciile slowly nodded. "You're right… I apologize. I'm just a bit emotionally unbalanced, and people just don't have the patience for that, here you are willing to go the extra mile for me and I'm being completely ungrateful and-"
"Just stop!" exclaimed Mana after coming around to be on the opposite side of Cecile from her brother where she knelt down and took a hold of her other hand.
Just like her brother's hand. Kind, gentle and soft.
"Don't apologize. You have nothing to apologize for! It's not your fault. After what you've been through, you're allowed to be emotionally unbalanced! Don't ever worry about how we'll perceive you. You're our friend now, and we accept you as our friend no matter what!"
"But I haven't earned that kind of-"
"You don't have to earn it! It's ours to give as we see fit!" said Shido in a forceful tone.
"How can anyone accept someone as helpless and-"
"Cecile. Stop tormenting yourself. Even if nobody else accepts you, we'll just accept you even more! Whatever help you need in this world, we will be there to give it to you, because you're one of us now. Mana and I would never turn our backs on you anymore than we would to each other."
"Exactly," added Mana. "It's just what he said."
"Thank you… Thank you both…" said a tearful Cecile.
"Welcome to our apartment. It isn't much, but unlike the dorms we have our own kitchen, and plenty of food, so you'll be having dinner with us."
"That sounds nice, thank you for your hospitality," said Cecile as Mana wheeled her into the room.
"Can I get you anything to drink?"
"Some water would be fine, thank you."
"Tap, mineral, or thaumaturgical?"
"The latter, of course! I'm dying of curiosity now!"
"I'll go get a glass," replied a cheerful Mana.
"Here, Mana," said Shido while holding out a glass to her. "Turn on the TV too, I wanna hear the football news."
"Sure thing!" Mana replied while going up to get the remote to turn on the TV. After that, she held her hand over the glass and activated her circuits to fill it with water.
"...Leader of the Opposition, Josephine Williams, called on other party leaders to unite behind her in opposition to the Prime Minister's proposed legislation, which she claims will lead to tens of thousands of lost jobs and benefit only the wealthiest."
"Stupid politics! Show us the football!" yelled Mana while gently putting the glass of fresh water in Cecile's hands.
"She's quite a character, I love that woman. I hope she'll be Prime Minister, she'd be the first competent leader this country's ever had."
"The Prime Minister has accused you of introducing legislation written by Sir Isaac Westcott and D.E.M. Industries, how can you be against corporate corruption when you're being backed by it?"
"Oh great, they're going after Sir Isaac again," muttered Shido from the kitchen area.
"Sir Isaac and I have the same goals when it comes to how corporations should be run. D.E.M. gives back to the communities in which it operates in tangible, meaningful ways, but just because they do, doesn't mean every corporation does! D.E.M. should be the norm, not the exception! Our legislation takes giant strides towards that goal."
"The more you try to help the world, the more the people in power will reject you," replied Cecile before sipping the water. "Ahh. Pure and perfectly alkaline! Really very excellent, Mana. I'm impressed!"
"My big brother taught me well."
"So you're actually a fan of D.E.M.?"
"If not for them, I'd either be dead, or in much worse shape right now. While I appreciate that D.E.M. is a business, and ultimately its primary function is to make money, they've done so without trampling all over the people of the communities where they work. Because of this program, I got the best medical treatment possible. I'm very thankful, and I would very much like to be able to give back. Once I figure out how to actually do that."
"So you don't plan on doing anything as a mage?"
"A year ago, I wanted nothing more than to study at the Clock Tower. But after what happened, it wasn't my fellow mages who came to my aid, if they had, I might not be in as bad of a state as I am. I don't know, I'm still foggy with anger at everything, so I'm still in the process of carefully re-evaluating everything from top to bottom. They tell me I need time to adjust to my new state of existence, so I'm just going with the flow for now. What about you two? Do you have any plans for the future?"
Shido shrugged his shoulders, "Well, we honestly haven't figured that out yet either. This environment isn't exactly conducive to long term planning. We're also just going with the flow."
"You mentioned to me earlier that you two were runaways. Could you fill in the rest of the story? I'm sorry to pry, but I'm very curious."
Mana nodded, "I see my brother's been blabbing. But, I don't mind sharing with you. When we were little, our parents tried to give me away to another family in exchange for something."
"That's terrible!" yelled Cecile.
Shido nodded, "Yes it was. I overheard my father talking to another man about it. So I rummaged around the house, stole some money, took Mana, and we left. We ran and hid for days. Then we met a lady who was willing to help us escape. We were being hounded by our father's goons and familiars but she managed to get them off our backs."
"Who was she?"
"We never knew her name, so we just started calling her Mio, which was the day we met. She called herself an 'Ally of Justice' and in exchange for helping us get out of Sapporo, she wanted our help dealing with some kind of monster. We tracked the creature all the way to Tenguu City where I helped her fight it. She offered us power, but Mana and I refused her. I didn't want Mana fighting, and I said I'd rely on my Magecraft."
"What happened next?"
Shido gazed thoughtfully over the kitchen counter, "We defeated it. But then after we defeated the monster, Mio went up to the body and pulled something out of it, a red crystal. Then she thanked me, and just left me there. When I looked at the body of the monster we'd been fighting, it wasn't a monster anymore. It was just a human girl."
Cecile raised an eyebrow at that statement.
"So I went after Mio to ask what the hell was going on. But when I found her, she was actually giving the crystal she'd just extracted to another little girl. I tried to intervene, but it was too late. As soon as the girl touched the crystal, there was a column of fire that erupted from her. I had to look away, it was so bright… The next thing I knew the entire city block was on fire and I had to get out of there."
"I don't understand why Mio would do that. Did she not know the crystal would be so deadly?"
"I believe she knew full well what would happen. I went looking for Mio again after I got out of that inferno. But instead, I ran into Ellen, and she was fighting some kind of thing made of… I don't know, noise. She told me to run and I didn't question it… This was all way over my head, so I just ran to go find Mana and get us the hell out of there,
"But, I couldn't get out, the fire was spreading so fast. I was trapped, I thought I was going to die. I yelled for help over and over and eventually, just in time, Ellen showed up, and she got me out of there. She's the one who brought us here."
"No wonder you two seem to like her so much despite her… umm..."
"Her charms?" suggested Mana.
"Let's go with that."
Shido chuckled, "Yeah, Ellen is a… shall we say a 'special' person. Despite her 'charms' and the way I like to mess with her, we really do like her a lot. I think she just has this fear of attachments. All she has in her life is her work."
"She let her biological clock tick out, so we're kinda all she has now," added Mana.
"She's not that old. Is she?"
Shido laughed, "She's a lot older than she looks… And I just realized that description is worthless to you."
Mana stuck out her tongue at her brother before turning to Cecile, "Ellen is gorgeous, she looks a lot younger than she really is, but she's about forty-seven. She devoted her whole life to defeating Mio, or rather, the being we now know as 'Phantom'. She helped invent the combat realizers, and everything that goes with it, and, apparently, she's a Mage."
Shido then resumed explaining, "She trained us to fight. To help stop Phantom's victims from causing more damage while we hunt her down. We don't even know why she does it. The only thing we know is that people who get infected with these things lose themselves and become monsters that have to be put down. They have no sentience left, they just go on autopilot and hurt people. Or worse, disappear and then reappear in space quakes. Our team usually gets called up to deal with the strongest ones, the ones regular military AST's can't handle."
"How strong can they get?"
"Very strong," answered Shido. "Some are just mindless monsters that look like elemental beings. But others, probably luckier ones, turn out looking human, those are the worst. They look human, they seem human, some can even talk, but you can't let them trick you. They're just mindless killers. I can't wait to get my hands on Phantom, I'm going to avenge all her victims with my own hands… I swear it!"
"When was the last time you two were in Japan?" asked Cecile.
"Five years ago," answered Mana.
"How do you feel about going back?"
"Honestly? Worried. I doubt I'll fit in there anymore. I think I'm too British now."
Shido sighed wistfully, "I still speak enough Japanese I think, I mean I can hold a conversation with the few Japanese people I meet here in London. I can also read just fine, but I do go to the dictionary a lot more often than I used to, so maybe I'm starting to slip."
"I'll be relying on you a lot more over there. That's actually really scary now that I think about it. Not only can I not see, and not walk, but I won't be able to understand any of what's said around me…"
"It'll be fine. I promise, we'll never leave your side!" said Mana.
"Damn straight!"
"Just one more question. What did Mio need you for? Was she unable to fight the monsters she created on her own?"
"No. She was plenty powerful on her own. While we were with her, she had a lot of questions about magecraft and mages. Questions I didn't have answers to, but she was always curious about our powers and abilities. She was especially curious while I was teaching Mana, at that time I was training her to activate her magic circuits."
"She wasn't bad to us, she took care of me when I couldn't even walk after the first time I fully activated my circuits. I suspect she used us to learn about potential enemies. In the time since then, we've learned that she's been roaming all over the world, and everywhere she shows up, more of those monsters appear and have to be put down."
Shido nodded while dishing out the food, "One thing we just don't understand is the 'why' of it all. Why go around making monsters? What's the purpose?"
Cecile beamed an encouraging smile, "We'll just have to find out. Won't we?"
"Exactly," replied Shido in a firm tone, "And when we do, I'm going to kill her. I will not allow her to harm more people the way she harmed that little girl!"
"My big brother wants to be a hero," remarked Mana with a deadpan tone. "It's so annoying sometimes."
"I think it's nice, actually. The world needs heroes of justice, now more than ever," replied Cecilie in a sweet and polite tone.
Shido clapped his hands together from the kitchen, "Alright. Let's talk about food now. Unfortunately, Cecile, everything is vegetarian under our roof. So, I've been dying to try making this Lentil Bolognese spaghetti recipe I got online. It sounds delicious. But if you're not up for my experimentation, I have a jar of fresh basil pesto I made which I can use. Either option will be served with some fresh garlic bread."
"Ooh. Those both sound good! What do you think, Cecile?"
"I'm fine with either option. But I'm curious, I'm almost certain you also had the chicken at lunch today. So I'm guessing it's Mana who's vegetarian?"
"Yeah… I'm kinda picky with food..." she answered sheepishly.
"I think that's cute. There's nothing wrong with being picky if you ask me. When you're hungry, why not eat what you want?"
"You're way too nice, Cecile. Thank you."
"Says the one who was ready to tear her own brother to ribbons when she thought he was making me cry," she replied with a bright smile. "You're also exceedingly kind hearted."
Shido couldn't help but catch Cecile's infectious smile, he felt very pleased the two were getting along. "So, Lentil Bolognese it will be," he said before his phone started blaring out rock music. "Ahh crap. It's Ellen. Probably gonna get an ear full about what happened in class…" he said before answering the call. "Hi, Ellen. What can I do for you?"
Cecile tilted her head with her ear towards the source of the music, "Was that Japanese music?"
"Yeah. It's J-Rock. It's how he keeps his connection to Japan. With music," explained Mana.
"What about you? How do you keep connected? If at all?"
"I don't. I think I said this before, but the truth is that at this point I really am more British than Japanese. But I think it would be nice to try and reconnect with it."
"I'm sorry. Ellen needs me for something urgent…" he said while getting out his wallet. "I've got fifty pounds here, order whatever you want."
"I don't need cash, I can just use one of the apps?" replied Mana.
"Well. Whatever you want. Maybe you won't want something from the app, or maybe you want something from the store later? I've no idea what's gonna happen when I get down there or when I'll be back, so just keep the cash. I'll see you later," he said while putting the money into his sister's hand. He then gave her a kiss on the top of the head. "I'll be back as soon as possible."
"Alright, Nii-sama. I love you."
"Love you too. Take care of Cecile."
Shido got off the bus somewhere in central London and looked around until he spotted Ellen waiting for him just a bit up the street.
"Good evening," he said when he finally reached her.
"No wisecracks?" she asked in response.
"An asian boy meeting a stupendously beautiful western woman at night in a touristy part of London makes its own jokes."
"Your wit leaves much to be desired, but I'll take the compliment."
"So what am I actually doing here?"
"Walk with me," she said while linking arms with the boy. She then started guiding him along the street. If any other woman had done this he might have felt nervous, but it was Ellen, and she was the closest thing he had to a mother, so it felt normal, even if in the back of his mind he knew that people would say he looked like her asian boy toy. A young asian boy in a school boy uniform walking arms linked with an older woman in a business suit really did make its own jokes.
"Tell me, how much do you know about the Mage's Association?"
"Mage's Association?"
"Nothing then. I see."
"Sorry. I don't actually have much of an education about these things. I ran away when I was eleven, and my formal training didn't extend much beyond our family research."
"That's normal. Had you stuck around, by now you'd know a lot more about how the Moonlit World and its players operate."
"Moonlit World?"
Ellen smiled and chuckled, "Poor thing. You really don't know much about anything."
"Sorry. I guess I might not be as useful to you as you thought I'd be."
"Shush. I didn't choose you for your wit, or for your abilities as a mage. I don't expect you to know this stuff, that's part of the reason I asked you to meet me."
"Alright, you have my attention."
"Good, do you know what this place is?" she asked while gesturing to a building on their left.
"That's the British Museum, where they keep all the pilfered artefacts. We came here on a school trip last year."
"Yes. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. This is also the headquarters of the Mage's Association, colloquially known as the Clock Tower."
"Seriously?!" he asked in astonishment.
"Yes. The Clock Tower is an underground labyrinth beneath the museum. It's one of the places where some of the most powerful people in the Moonlit World make decisions that affect the lives of everyone in this world. As far I'm concerned, they've let that power go to their heads."
"You won't get an argument from me. But what's this Moonlit World you keep mentioning?"
"The 'Moonlit World' is what we call the world outside of the common knowledge of the human race. It is the world of secrets in which you and I live."
"Not that I'm unappreciative, but you didn't bring me all the way out here to have a conversation we could just as easily have had in your office. What's going on?"
"That's exactly what I asked you here for. Since your sister decided she'd rather have me as your guardian instead of literally anyone else, and you offered no objection, I thought it was best that we spend some time together and get a taste of how that might go. Magecraft being a fundamental part of all our lives, I thought I might get two birds with one stone by explaining this to you."
"I see… Alright then. You have my full attention."
"Now how strong would you say you are with magecraft?"
"I don't really know how to answer that question. I don't have any frame of reference to figure out how I measure up."
"Good. I was worried you might have an inflated sense of yourself as a magus, just like you do as a wizard. It's good to know you have at least some humility."
"Thanks…"
Ellen guided Shido over to a bench where they sat down. "It was almost twenty years ago when we left the Mage's Association. Sir Issac, myself, and some others. We became disillusioned with the way our fellows were conducting themselves."
Shido looked around nervously as she spoke.
"Relax, Shido. Yes they're listening. But I don't honestly care, and you shouldn't either. Just know that they're always listening. Every other cockroach, rat, or pidgeon in this city is someone's familiar."
"Good to know…" he said while looking down. He then stomped on a roach he saw.
Ellen nodded at the boy.
"So, what exactly did you become 'disillusioned' with?" the boy asked.
"Many things. I could never fully tell you all about it even if we sat here all night. But the most important one I would list is-"
In the street ahead of them, a manhole cover flipped over with a loud reverberating clang. From the bowels of the city emerged a little girl with long gray hair. Her eyes instantly met the two sitting on the bench. Eyes which were an almost glowing bright red. She tried to climb up onto the street but then something seemed to try and pull her back down.
"Let go, you bastard!" she screamed while trying to fight them off with her legs.
Shido got up and bolted towards her before she could be pulled back down, he dove into the street and caught her hands, holding her tightly. "I've got you! Ellen! Little help here?"
"You're such an idiot, Shido…" muttered Ellen while kneeling down, she placed her hand into the manhole.
He couldn't see what happened but he heard something shatter, which was then followed by a loud hissing sound, which was then followed by the sound of men screaming in agony.
Whomever was holding onto the little girl released her from their grip and he was able to pull her up towards him. "I've got you!" he said to her while holding her in his arms.
"Let go of me you jerk!" screamed the little girl while hitting him.
"Would you stop that! I'm trying to save you!" he exclaimed.
"Get out of here, Shido. I'll clean this up," said Ellen.
"Those guys are enforcers!" yelled the little girl.
"I don't care," said Ellen with a sharp edge to her tone.
Shido stood up and lifted the little girl into a princess carry before he started running down the street.
"You're just gonna leave your girlfriend behind?!"
"She's not my girlfriend, and if she says she's got this, then she's got this. She's dependable like that."
"Why the hell are you helping me?! You don't know who or what I am!"
"You're running from mages, right?"
"Yes!"
"That's good enough for me. Anyone they're after is someone I need to protect!"
Shido kept running down the street away from the museum with the little girl in his arms. She eventually relented and put her arms around his neck to hold on. A slight blush crept across her cheeks.
Shido emerged onto a street which was full of people where he gently set the little girl down. "We should be safe here for the moment, it's very public."
"Thanks…" she muttered before she started walking away.
Shido reached out and grabbed the little one by her white coat. "Not so fast. Where do you think you're going all by yourself?"
"Somewhere to die!" she exclaimed, drawing some concerned looks from the people passing by.
"Okay. First, will you please calm down? Just take a breath…"
The little girl stared up at him with narrowed angry eyes.
It hit him instantly like a freight train. She wasn't human.
In the bright street lights, he could see it all clearly. She had very light grayish hair with a big white bow tied up in the back of her head. Her eyes were bright red, her pupils were narrow slits like a cat. Her ears stuck out a bit, and were pointy and elf like.
"Second thing…" he said while struggling to keep his wits about him. "We can't just stay here. We're still close to the museum. We need to keep moving and stay in public places in case they're still after you."
"Oh believe me," she said with huff, "They'll be coming after me. They spent two decades trying to get me. They finally got me through their front door and I still managed to escape. They won't let that go."
"Then we'd better get moving. Come on," he said while taking her by the hand to pull her along.
"Hey! Let go of me!"
"I have a feeling that if those guys couldn't keep you in their hands, you'd have no problem getting out of mine if you really wanted to. So would you stop being all tsundere and just walk with me already?"
"Tsundere? You're Japanese?" asked the little girl with wide eyes.
"Yeah. I'm Shido Takamiya."
The little girl nodded and pulled her hand out of his with all her surprisingly considerable strength. But she didn't try to run away, instead she just started walking side by side with him.
"I'm Len. Just Len. Until very recently, I lived in Misaki."
"I'm from Sapporo, originally. But I've been living here in London for the last five years."
"Well… That's interesting and all. So, you know about mages, but you seem to have no idea what I am. Which means you're fairly clueless."
"Yes, I am."
"Hah. I doubt you would have helped me if you knew what they were after."
Shido shrugged his shoulders. "Anything they're after, I'm happy to keep out of their hands. I don't owe them anything. But for my own curiosity. What are you?"
Len smiled up at the boy, "I'm a demon."
"Seriously?" he asked with a surprised look in his eye while he glanced down at the little girl.
"You already figured out I'm not human. Why is that so hard to believe?"
"It isn't hard to believe, but I just never met a demon before. I never even knew demons were real."
"Well. Now you do. Enjoy the moment. I'm going to die soon. The only thing you saved me from is a painful death."
"What do you mean?" he asked in a worried voice.
"They were going to rip me apart to try and figure out how I do something I do so they could recreate it on their own or something. My master died trying to fight them off, gave me the opening I needed to escape…" she said while wiping tears from her eyes. "That BASTARD!" she suddenly snapped. "He said he'd be right behind me!"
"Sounds like he gave his life to save you… I'm so sorry."
"He's such an idiot! Without him I don't have the mana I need to sustain my existence… So I'm dead anyway!"
"I don't understand, but as long as you're alive, we can try to find a solution. My friend Cecile, I think she's a pretty strong mage, she can probably figure out a way to-"
Shido grabbed onto the little girl and dove down as a gunshot passed just over their heads, causing the people in the street to scream and flee in terror.
"Holy shit!" exclaimed Shido while getting up. In his mind he pictured himself holding a sledgehammer which he used to crush an ice sculpture. His magic circuits came to life as he reinforced his legs to increase his speed while he threw the little girl over his shoulder. He started running away.
The street was being emptied out in a hurry as people fled into the various stores for cover, police sirens began to blare as Shido quickly turned into a side street and started running as fast as he possibly could.
"He's right behind you!" exclaimed Len.
"Good," he said back while holding his hand down at the sidewalk. "How close is he?"
"About five meters!"
"Good enough!" he replied before a small patch of the ground behind them became wet and froze solid.
But the man chasing them simply jumped over it.
"That was pathetic! If only I hadn't used up all my mana to escape! I could freeze the whole freaking street!"
"This isn't the time to brag!" he yelled while pouring some mana into his magic crest, he then held his hand out at a nearby car, a moment later it exploded, causing the man chasing them to have to stop and protect himself.
"Crude. But effective…" said Len with a disinterested tone.
"Whatever…" muttered Shido as he continued running.
Shido groaned loudly as he collapsed into a bench in a large open space in view of an enormous park in central London. Between the street lights and the full moon, everything was very well illuminated, so there was little chance of being taken by surprise. The only thing that made him pause was the lack of people around at this time, but that was fine in its own way. Nobody could sneak up on them. Allowing himself to get comfortable, he started working on getting his breathing back under control.
Len casually took a seat beside him.
"I don't get it. If you're a magus too, why are you helping me?"
"I'm not part of the association. I didn't even know they existed until just before you popped up out of that sewer."
"How can that be? You have a magic crest. Which means you should be a first rate mage. But your spell work was third rate at best."
"That's a long story. To make it short, I ran away from home. Since then, I've had nothing to do with mages or their world."
"Well. I'm guessing you wanna keep it that way. So that's fine. This is as good a place as any, so you can just leave me here and go back to your mundane life."
"Could you be any more ungrateful?"
Len sighed, "I'm plenty grateful. But I'm gonna be dead by sunrise, and I'd like to try and go out with as much dignity as I can."
"Why is that? Why do you keep saying you're going to die?" asked Shido while turning to face her.
"Because…" Len started and then looked down at the ground. "Nanaya died… The idiot is dead, and now… Without him… I can't survive. I'm not like the other one… I can't survive on my own."
Shido had so many questions about that explanation, but decided to hold them back until she finished saying whatever she was going to say.
"I was created to be a Familiar. I need to form a contract with a Master to supply me with the mana I need to live."
"I'm pretty sure I could do that? If you tell me how to actually form a contract. You don't have to die. I'm pretty sure your master sacrificed himself because he wanted you to live. It'd be a waste if you just dropped dead in the middle of Hyde Park."
"You don't even know me… You don't know anything about me!"
"Well. I know what I need to know. You're someone who needs help that I might be able to provide. You have a reason to run away from the mages and stay away from them, just like me. So that makes us natural allies. Doesn't it?"
Len slowly nodded, "I guess it does… But you don't know what it would mean for you. What kind of life you would have as a result of it!"
"What happened to that tsundere girl from earlier?! You can be a little selfish and exploit my good will!"
"You're not hearing me! I was created to be someone's familiar! But I don't wanna be a slave to anyone! I don't wanna be exploited, used, abused, thrown away! I wanna live! I wanna be loved! I wanna be happy! I wanna be free!"
"Well I can help you with all of that! So how about it? Would you want to partner up with me? I don't know squat about the Mage Association, or a whole lot about magecraft beyond my own powers. I don't know anything about the Moonlit world or-"
"So you're telling me you're freaking useless?!" yelled Len.
"Yeah… I guess I kinda am," he said before his phone started ringing.
Len widened her eyes, "Seriously? Is that Spyair?"
"Yes. Yes it is," replied a smiling Shido before answering his phone. "Ellen. Talk to me!"
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah. We're fine. We got away. We're just laying low right now."
"Don't stay in one place too long. They'll be scouting for you soon if they aren't already. Where are you now?"
"Hyde Park, Speaker's Corner."
"Not good. Head to Sloane Square station. I'll meet you there. Just remember, anyone who isn't me, is your enemy right now."
"Got it," he replied before hanging up. "So, you're into J-rock then?"
"Not really… If I have to pick music I like, I'd go for Sweet ARMS."
"Never heard of them."
"They're a cute girl group…"
"To each their own," replied Shido with a small shrug.
"Can you make me a promise?" asked a very quiet Len.
"If I can keep it, I will," he answered firmly.
"Good answer… Can you promise me that you won't ever try to exploit me or my powers for your own purposes? Will you promise to treat me like an equal and not a lowly familiar?"
"Absolutely! I promise you that, and that I'll always do my best to take care of you and protect you from anyone who would try to harm or exploit you. But in return, I'll need your help as well. If we do this, we do this fifty-fifty, as equal partners. Is that acceptable?"
Len gave a slow nod. "Yes. That's acceptable. You don't know anything about anything, so I guess I'll have to be there to keep you from doing anything stupid or trusting the wrong people. Alright then. I'll contract with you."
"How do we do that?"
"There are two ways. One is more reliable, the other is more expedient. I need a little bit of your blood," she explained while reaching out to take a hold of his hand.
"How much blood are we talking about here?" asked a nervous Shido.
"Just a finger prick, don't be a baby!"
"Fine…" he said while she brought his finger up to her mouth and then bit down on it with her fang.
"Ouch! What the hell?!"
"Stop whining! Now activate your magic circuits, I need you to fill me up with your magical energy."
"Can you really get all you need that way? From what little I know, it doesn't seem very efficient."
"It isn't. The reliable way is to have sex, but this is neither the time nor the place, and I don't know if I like you that much yet!"
Shido widened his eyes at what she just said. Such things were beyond wrong when coming out of the mouth of what at first glance would be a little girl no more than twelve. "The blood is fine! Take as much as you need!" he quickly replied while flooding his magic circuits.
Len sucked on his finger for a moment, and then swallowed his blood. She then quickly threw her arms around his shoulders and pressed their lips together for a long, lingering, kiss. All the while, Shido desperately tried to push her off him, but somehow, the little girl, roughly the same size as his sister, was too strong for him.
"The contract is complete," she said to him after pulling back from him.
"A little warning next time!" he yelled.
"It works best when you're taken by surprise. Besides, I like your emotional honesty. You're so awkward. Was that your first kiss?"
"Yes! And you just stole it! You also taste like a garbage dumpster!"
"How would you know that? Do you spend a lot of time making out with garbage dumpsters?"
"Come on, we need to go meet up with Ellen… Before this gets any weirder."
"There's nothing weird about it!" said Len while standing up to follow her new Master. "Body fluids contain mana, and the exchange of those fluids is a vital part of forming a magical contract, among many other thaumaturgical applications. But I guess a little professionalism with your bodily fluids is too much to ask from a virgin!"
"Are you testing to see how long it'll be before I regret this?" muttered Shido. "Because I already am."
Len stopped and pointed ahead, "I'm going to make you eat those words…"
"Shit…" muttered Shido.
Ahead of them stood a lone man dressed in a way which could only be described as overly sharp. An expensive looking suit and adorned with flamboyant golden jewelry. Shido knew he just had to be a magus. Or a pimp. But the former was more probable given the sequence of events which lead to this moment.
"You had a good run. But you're in way over your head, kid. Hand her over, and I'll let you go."
Shido shook his head before adjusting his feet into his Aikido opening stance. "That's not happening."
The man held out his hand, a circle of flames appeared before him.
Len stepped up and held out both of her hands, conjuring a blue light ahead of her and then suddenly the man's flames were extinguished as the air around it froze solid which caused the man to widen his eyes and whistle.
"Impressive."
"Don't you dare patronize me!" the little girl yelled as she ran up to the man. "This is for Nanaya! And I'm gonna make it hurt as much as possible!"
"Wait! Len!" cried out Shido.
As soon as the man put up his arms to defend himself, Len stopped and waved her hand out to her side, freezing the air in a sharp blade of ice which she then sent at the man, impaling him through the shoulder. As he cried out in pain, she leapt up at him, kicking him in the face and knocking him down on his back. She then landed just a few steps beyond where his head lay and turned around where she held out both hands at the man and conjured up several icicles which she then dropped to impale him.
"You formed a new… contract…" the man said before blood spurted out of his mouth.
"Yeah! It's not so easy when the little girl can fight back, is it?!" she screamed before she reached down and snapped the man's neck, killing him instantly. "That was a cleaner death than you deserved!"
Shido finally blinked. His eyes wide, and his body trembling in terror.
Len looked up at her new master. "What's wrong with you all of- Oh," she said before gesturing to the body. "First time?"
"Was that necessary?!" he exclaimed.
"Quite a night for you, Takamiya Shido, your first kiss, and your first dead body," she said while speaking Japanese. "Welcome to the Moonlit World. It's kill, or be killed. This is a world of moral depravity. A world without the slightest bit of pity, empathy, or remorse. It's a world where the only thing that matters is power, and your standing is determined by how much of it you have. A world where the size of the target on your back is proportional to how much can be taken from you. I'm sorry to say, I make you a pretty big target now."
"My Japanese is a little rusty… But I understood enough of what you said," he replied while walking up to her. He then took her by the hand and started pulling her along. "Let's just get out of here…"
"Nani?! You just saw what I did to that Enforcer and you have the audacity to manhandle me?! Know your place!"
"Don't do that again, Len. Don't ever do that again. Don't ever kill anyone again."
"You're such an idiot! It doesn't work that way!"
"It's gonna have to!" yelled Shido at the top of his lungs. "We're not gonna do that! We're not gonna be like those people! We have to be better than them! Or else what's the point?! My own father didn't care about my little sister! He was gonna trade her off to some other family to let them use her for breeding! That's why I ran away and took her with me! I wasn't gonna let that happen to her! I don't give a damn about magecraft or power, or anything like that! All I wanna do is protect my sister! Protect anyone who has any reason to fear those people! I won't live in a world where they can just do whatever they want to anyone they want unchallenged!"
"You remind me so much of this other asshole I once knew. He had that same drive to be a hero. But tell me this, how do you plan to achieve any of that without getting blood on your hands? You can't escape this world. You can just live on the edge of it, but it will always be there,
"If that Enforcer had gotten me, he would have taken me back to the Clock Tower where they were going to dissect me alive. I would have died in agony, screaming and pleading for death, surrounded by people completely indifferent to my suffering. That was going to be my fate before you came along and saved me. Why should I spare the life of someone who could do that? But most of all! They killed Shiki! Why should I spare their lives?! He and I had been together for over twenty years! We didn't always get along, but I still loved him! He was the world to me!"
Shido grit his teeth and stared into the little inhuman girl's tearful red eyes.
"You're right," he finally relented, and then leaned down to pull her into a tight hug. "If that had been my sister, I would want to kill them all just as badly… I'm sorry."
For her part, Len held him back just as tightly. Her words wouldn't say it, but her body was demanding the hug she was receiving, so she just silently accepted it.
After a long moment they released each other.
Shido then looked at her while she wiped her eyes with her white sleeves. "Can you at least agree not to take a life unless there's really no other choice? As in, only as a last resort?"
Len sighed and looked down at the ground for a long moment while taking a deep breath. She then finally looked up and met his brown eyes again. "You're going to be a really big pain in my ass… That kindness of yours is a weakness that could get you killed. But yes. Fine. I can work with that," she said before her belly began to rumble.
"Hungry?"
"Yeah…"
"Do you like falafels?"
"What the hell's a falafel?"
"Come on, we're not far from a really great place that sells them."
"Can't we just get a taiyaki or something?" she asked while being pulled along.
"We're in London, not Tokyo. Here you can find Lebanese food around every corner, but for Japanese food, you gotta pay an arm and a leg and I just gave almost all of my money to my sister and our friend to order in while I was out on the town with Ellen. But, I promised I'd take care of you, so I won't let you go hungry."
As they walked, Len found herself squeezing Shido's hand.
"What's up?"
"Can I ask you for one more promise?"
He nodded.
"Promise me you'll always stay true to who you are… No matter what this world throws at you, just be who you are."
Shido smiled and squeezed her hand back. "I'll try my best. Mind if I ask where that came from all of a sudden?"
Len giggled and brightened her smile. "I've decided I like you."
Shido widened his eyes at the implications of that, given some of what she said earlier. But then he quickly shook off the thought. "Can I ask you for something too then?"
Len nodded.
"That thing you did with the ice. Could you teach it to me?"
"Absolutely. You're like a bottomless pit of mana compared to Nanaya. You could absolutely do what I just did, and probably a lot more. It was just simple flow and conversion, not exactly high thaumaturgy."
Shido and Mana's Apartment
Chelsea, London
Shido and Len walked in where they found Cecile and Mana watching the TV.
"Nii-sama! You're finally- What the hell happened?" she got up in a panic when she saw the disheveled state her brother was in.
"Don't ask… We have a new flatmate by the way," said Shido. "Len, this is my little sister, Mana. Mana. This is Len. My… Familiar."
"Familiar? What's going on here?" asked Mana as she approached the little girl. "Holy shit, you stink!" she exclaimed while pinching her nose.
"Nice to meet you too. Now why don't you go crawling through sewers and see if you can come out smelling like honey and roses!" yelled Len.
"Wait… What the hell?!" asked Mana with a fearful look. "Your eyes! Your ears! What the hell?!"
"She's a demon," remarked Shido as he walked past them.
"DEMON?!"
"Yes. I'm a demon. I'm a Succubus if you wanna get specific," remarked Len before she followed Shido. "So this is your apartment? It's freaking tiny!"
"Yeah, but we don't pay rent, so we don't complain," replied Shido.
"On the list of things to be afraid of, Mana, demons should rank among the lowest," remarked Cecile.
"But… But… There are really real demons out there?!"
"Yes. Even inside your apartment it would seem."
"Who's this?" asked Len while looking at Cecile.
"That's Cecile, I told you about her," answered Shido.
"Oh right," said a nodding Len while examining the Irish girl as if appraising her. "Yeah. She really is just as pretty as you said. Don't get any ideas about my Master though. He's mine!"
"Shido thinks I'm pretty?" asked a suddenly very shy and blushing Cecile, ignoring Len's supplementary comments.
"Yeah. I do," answered a shrugging Shido. "However, this one needs to learn when to keep things between herself and her master!" he said with a raised voice before smacking her upside the head.
"Owww! Animal abuse!"
Shido then turned to his sister who was still gawking at Len. "Mana, when you're done being shocked about this one not being human, you think you could lend her some clothes? We need to get everything she's wearing into the laundry in a hurry. Maybe you could also show her the shower and let her get cleaned up?"
Len widened her eyes at her new Master. "Shower?! No! Forget it! Not happening! I agreed to teach you my ice spells as part of our partnership! But showers and baths are not part of the deal!"
"Well I'm altering the deal, pray I don't alter it any further!" he said while pointing to the bathroom. "You're stinking up the whole building!"
"Nii-sama… Aren't you even a little freaked out? I mean an actual DEMON?!"
"No, Mana. I'm not. Once you get to know her a little, you'll see she's just an annoying brat with pointy ears."
"I resent that! I am not a brat!"
"Then take a shower without any fuss and prove me wrong…" he said while staring her down.
"I refuse!" she petulantly replied while folding her arms.
"Then I'll just have to make you," said Mana in a cold tone while staring down the little demon.
Len glared back at her, "Try it!"
