Disclaimer: I do not own Negima or any of the contents in this story… I feel déjà vu.

Chapter Five: Dark Forces

'Shadows are a mysterious thing; always lurking in the dark.'

§N§E§F§

The petite, blonde haired girl with eyes as blue as the sea carefully placed the tea cup down on the table. Needless to say, she looked a little annoyed, what with a former teacher of hers coming to see her, and one that she knew when he was a child- or at least a teenager.

"Tsch… Takamichi. Why are you here?"

The older man, with a stubble and very light blonde hair stroked his chin, while placing his cup on the table as well. He smirked, then looked up at Evangeline.

"Nothing really. It's just about Negi-kun." He smirked when he saw the vampiress' face falter for a minute.

"Hmph. The boy? Why?" Evangeline responded, regaining her usual bored-like posture. She knew where this was going, and, if that did happen, he would get holidays- and they wouldn't be good.

"Ah~h? It's just about…" He paused for dramatic effect, and tried to hold back his smirk upon seeing Evangeline's face. Trying to hold back that urge, for he knew it would have consequences, he started speaking again. "…You seem to be spending a lot of time lately with him."

'Oh. He went there.' Evangeline's face was between a smirk and annoyance. She sat up now, with her back straight against the sofa she was sitting on.

"Hmph. Well, the boy has a lot of training to do before he even lasts a minute before me in this form."

A minute of silence followed, as a light blush threatened to make itself known. She thought back to that night… everything was awkward after that, some classmates suspected something… but all that kept replaying in her head was Negi, her incompetent apprentice, saving her from falling into the river, and she was naked as well!

The older man only smiled, knowing he was onto something. Though he would get a punch in the face if he said it outright, and he enjoyed watching her unsure. 'Reminds me of someone else actually…' He thought, then decided to break the silence.

"Ahaha. Well, Chachamaru told me you are… 'friends' with Chao?" He spoke the last few words carefully, for he did not really believe it, and, on the contrary, the chibi vampiress didn't either.

"Mhm~?" Was the only response he got, as Eva elegantly took a sip of her tea. It was then that she smelled something- a familiar scent, one which she had not been able to smell for a while. She assumed it was over Takamichi's way so she asked, "Hey. What type of tea are you drinking?"

Takamichi scratched his stubble, then mused, "Come to think of it, it does have a unique taste." Thinking seriously about this, he picked up the cup carefully and looked at it. His eyes widened.

Evangeline's done the same. Anger was building up inside her. She knew that look, it had happened once before. 'Boy is Chachamaru going to get it.' Subconsciously nibbling her finger, causing it to bleed, she shouted the gynoid over.

No response.

Again she shouted.

No response.

'That's odd…' She thought. 'That gynoid usually comes running to my every command.' Standing up, she took her cup and walked into the kitchen, signalling for the older teacher to come as well.

So, there stood one of the Thousand Master's comrades, and the 'Maga Nosferatu' in the kitchen of her log cabin. A scene one would never even imagine in their wildest dreams.

"S-so that was…?" Takamichi voiced his surprise, then said, "No wonder it had such a unique taste- and tasted a little like metal."

"Fool." The voice of the Maga Nosferatu could be heard, explaining something that she had explained too many times, and it made her thirsty for crying out loud!

"It only tastes a little like metal to humans, and that's because of something like nutrients." She answered the question in his eyes, "No. I am not going to explain it. And wipe that disgusted look off your face. You know I'm a vampire, so deal with it. What do you expect me to do? Drink normal tea?"

As Evangeline stopped talking, Takamichi had walked back through to the living room, leaving the vampiress alone, and puffing her cheeks.

'Honestly… it seems I'm being forced to explain things to brats every day.' Sighing, she walked back through to the living room as well, nearly tripping on one of her dolls.

Takamichi had started laughing, but immediately stopped when he got a death glare from Evangeline.

"A-anyway…" The petite vampiress said, smoothing out her dress as she sat back on the sofa. "Why did you come here? Surely your soul purpose was not to annoy me?"

"Meh." Was the response, when he continued talking. "I'm sure you've noticed the change in atmosphere?"

"Was that a statement or a question? Nonetheless, yes. Though who cares about that? It could be just a storm brewing or something like that."

"I doubt it. Really, something must be up. I spotted some stuff in the chemistry lab- 3A's to be exact."

Evangeline raised an eyebrow before saying, "And what of it? Unless it's some chemical from the World Tree or something, I don't wanna hear it." Oh, and how wrong it was to say that.

The older English teacher smirked, and said, "You're right on the mark." This earned a look of disbelief from the infamous vampiress, but he continued no less. "It was the- err… well, just leafs from the World Tree, except condensed and made into some sort of liquid."

"Oh really?"

§N§E§F§

"How humble it is for you to come, my son." Came the voice of the dean. It was quite powerful, but had an air of humour to it.

Eishun, a tall man with black short hair, wielding a sword stood straight. "Please, no need for formalities."

"Hu hu hu." The older man laughed, stroking his lengthy beard. It was soft, and white. He always had a huge, huge head that stuck out at the back. Quite abnormal.

"Well, I'm sure you know as to why I called you here?"

"Yes." The younger man, Eishun out of Ala Rubra, answered, then continued speaking, "There has been a change in atmosphere… and there is trouble brewing…"

"Indeed. Trouble is arising… and it may be… the remnants of them." The school Dean mused, and continued stroking his beard.

"T-them? T-that can't be true! It simply cannot!"

"Precisely. That is why I say that it is other forces… dark forces that have been lurking here for some time."

"Wouldn't Eva have been able to sense? Setsuna, Asuna, and Negi-kun?"

Silence followed for a few minutes. Deep thought. Not a sound in the room, and an unusual breeze caused the Headmaster to shiver a little. Yet enough, it was night time, so it wouldn't be abnormal to feel a little cold.

"Eishun!" The older man had stood up, looking out the window behind his chair. "I want you to call in Konoka!"

"K-Konoka? What about Setsuna, Negi -kun and Asuna?"

There was silence, as both stared into each other's eyes- no, not in a lovingly way.

"Hmph… very well… we shall talk to Negi-kun and co." With that being the final thing said, off Eishun went, leaving the Headmaster to look out the windows.

§N§E§F§

"Hah! I win again!" Evangeline declared, looking at the board. She was a master of 'Go!'. It was a little like chess, but different.

Takamichi sunk into the chair he was sitting on, losing for the five time in a row. "Come on Eva, let's do something different." He said, and oh how those words did not form properly. How he regretted he had said that, because…

"Oh? You wanna play something? Well here's a little game…" The petite, harmful vampiress smirked evilly.

§N§E§F§

"Ow… ow…" The older teacher didn't have a stubble anymore, and had excess bruises, cuts and bandages. He stifled a laugh, mentally take a note not to do that ever again.

'What Negi-kun has to go through…'

Evangeline laughed, simply and evilly. She picked up a cup of tea, and sipped it. "Ah… well, now where we? I presume… if what you're really saying is correct, then… the three could of gotten into more trouble."

"S-seriously?" Came the troubled, deep voice of Takamichi. "T-that's-"

"Impossible? No." Eva interrupted. "Trouble seems to be drawn to them… and I daresay I felt something earlier, it might have been the boy."

"T-that's not… I-it can't be… Negi-kun… Asuna-kun!"

"You're forgetting the half breed."

"Thanks- hey, wait! She's not a-"

"She is."

The argument stopped when Eva, once again, sent her former English teacher- one of many, a glare. She stood up and walked into the kitchen, quite slowly to get a cup of tea- or blood.

Takamichi shuddered at the thought of earlier. He drunk blood. Blood for crying out loud! His shivers continued when he realized how much dolls Eva really had.

'She's centuries old, but I guess there's still that child part…' Allowing himself to smile, he looked around the room.

Until there was a knock on the door, loud may I add. The knock continued- well, it was actually pounding the door with the sheer force of it all.

"Eh?" Takamichi turned around, and waited a few minutes before he heard a familiar voice. He always wondered why Eva kept the door locked…

"Let me in, darmn it!" Came the voice of Konoka's father, Eishun. One both recognised very well, but Evangeline couldn't hear it over preparing the tea. Apparently, Chachamaru had left some tea bags behind- English ones, like herbal green tea, apple tea and such.

In the living room, however, Takamichi got up, straightening out his back and slowly opened the door. Eishun was not expecting this, so he nearly fell back.

"Next time tell me when you're going to open it!"

The younger man sighed, and cracked a smile. "Who's cranky? Yeah. What's up?" Casually leaning against something- he realized there was nothing there, causing him to fall in mid air, but he caught himself.

Evangeline, who was actually listening to some soothing native music, didn't hear any of this. She was nearly finished making the tea, both apple flavoured.

"N-Negi-kun and the others have gone missing!" Eishun finally shouted out, causing an ear piercing, "EEEEHHH?" From Takamichi.

The petite, blond vampiress had finally switched off the music when she heard muffled talking. "Hey, what's going on in there, Takamichi?" She asked, then decided to switch to another subject, finally opening the door. "Hey Takamichi, want some tea?"

She was welcomed by a gust of air, signalling the former member, Takamichi running away.

"A simple no would have been just fine, you know." She told no-one in particular, sitting down the tea on the table.

However, this was short lasted, as she got dragged by her dress by a hand, which had a little hair on it.

"O-oi! What are you-ehhh?"

There was silence, as she was being dragged out her own log cabin, and decided to make a witty comment.

"Hey, if you're gonna drag me out my own house, at least carry me."

Silence.

"Don't igno-mgh?" A hand was put on her mouth to prevent her from talking. "M fonna bet chu!"

Even more silence.

'Hmph. Ignore me if you will, I'll just bite you.' And so she did, biting the hand, until someone elicited a gasp.

"Darmn it! Eva, don't bite!" Came a familiar voice, as Evangeline's eyes opened wide when the hand took itself off her face.

"K-Konoe Eishun! What are you doing here?"

"What I'm doing here is freaking trying to find Negi-kun and the others!" Came the response from an annoyed- or worried Eishun, she couldn't tell.

"What the-" She started speaking, but Takamichi answered her.

"Eishun was in the cabin earlier when you were in the kitchen, and that's why I darted out on you. But I had to go back and get you, to tell you this. And the reason you had to be silent is because it might have attracted something." Taking a breath, he looked at both of them. Surprised and, well, confused.

"Err… so… you want me to do what?" Evangeline asked after a very awkward silence.

Eishun, who promptly had been given something by the dean, displayed a diagram.

"Observe. We need three people who are strong, and can manage on your own. Since you are really the strongest one, we want you to help too."

Takamichi then looked at the diagram. It was simple, and quite poorly drawn. Though, one could understand the drawings because of the explanations beside them.

The Maga Nosferatu turned away, allowing a smirk to grace her face. "And what makes you think I'll do it?"

Eishun now smirked, holding out a photo. "Because of this."

Silence.

Silence again.

… And silence until…

"You fool! Where the heck did you get that?" Evangeline shouted, jumping on Eishun's back and noogi-ing him. "That photo isn't true, and how the heck? That was in the resort!"

Eishun laughed at this, then simply responded, "So how did it go? You look so cute when you're blushing, Eva!"

Takamichi spared this opportunity to look at the photo. He blushed as well, seeing her sitting on top of Negi and leaning down.

"Ohoho! So you do you like him, Eva-kun?"

Oh how those words were so wrong… they should be lucky they were still alive, but both of them were covered in bruises and bandages. Nonetheless, this didn't stop Eishun from teasing the little vampiress.

"You know, just because Nagi didn't work out doesn't mean you have to go for Negi."

'Punch! Kick! Ow~w! Hey, Eva! Eva-kun, what'd I do? Punch kick! Dark arrows! Aikido!'

§N§E§F§

"So as you can see," Eishun said, a large bulge in his head, and a black eye, "Takamichi is searching outside the middle school building, Eva you're searching this forest, and I'm investigating the World Tree area."

Takamichi had to hold back a laugh, knowing that would increase to his injuries. However, he just nodded, unable to say anything in fear of laughing.

Evangeline, however subtle it was, laughed. "Well, blackmail isn't really my thing, and the boy's so dense that it'd do good to publish that photo." Pausing, she smirked, "And… my price? Simple."

"Err…" Eishun begun to say. "Clothes…?"

"I'm a vampire, idiot."

Takamichi took a guess. "Money…?"

"I can't get out of the campus grounds, fool."

Both then stood in deep thought for a few minutes before Evangeline hit them again.

"Idiots! Blood! I want blood!"

"Ah~h…"

The vampiress face faulted. "What did you think I was going to say? Fools."

Eishun and Takamichi looked at each other, confused and just decided to walk away.

"We're going!" They said in unison, walking different ways.

"H-hey come ba-…hmph."

§N§E§F§

"So that just leaves me to wonder aimlessly around this forest…" The young-ahem, old vampiress concluded, still standing in the courtyard. 'Hmph… and Chachamaru's not even here… how inconvenient.'

As it was around half ten at night when this happened, it would be natural for Eva's face to shine in the moonlight, would it not? Well, it was a pity. Such a beautiful night and yet she could not use her powers to fly. Ah well, one can't have everything they want, right?

So, off she went into the deep, dark forests with the trees looming over her. Naturally, since she was the 'Gospel of Darkness,' she wasn't scared of it in the least. Though something caught her attention… the forest was quiet. Too quiet. No grasshoppers, no nothing.

"That's odd…" She mused, walking forward. 'Anyway, why the heck do I have to do this? Sure, if it's the boy… then… ah, well he is my disciple… so…' Still walking, the atmosphere changed, and she turned around, jumping up. A rapier appeared in her hands, a majestic one, as in mid air, she done a back flip, slicing whatever it was in half- though it seemed slimy. Landing, holding a battle stance, the vampiress looked to see what it was.

'What the fuu-?' She mouthed.

Though, it wasn't long before she sensed another thing coming her way, and jumped in the air again, leaving a brief moment to think.

'Wait! They regenerated?' Dodging narrowly a slimy, jelly like substance trying to grab her leg, she uttered a short, "Damn!" She landed back on the ground, but not before slicing another thing.

This allowed her a minute to think, 'Wait! What the heck am I fighting for anyway? Ah!'

"Playtime's over." A cold, ominous voice could be heard.

Evangeline looked up, then jumped, attempting to cut whatever that voice came from, but to her surprise, she cut the branch instead, and landed on the ground.

"Tsch…" She muttered, then caught a glimpse of a shadow like figure.

The next few minutes or so, tranquillity- or at least what you would call it- returned to the forest. No sounds once again, except for her own heartbeat- 'Wait! What the heck? My heart?'- and the cold, icy whisper of the wind.

She was alone again, alone in the vast forest, with the trees looming over her.

"Tsch…" The chibi-vampiress repeated, walking through the forest once again. How far had she gotten? Far, she supposed. Walking a little bit further, some trees parted to reveal an overgrown plaza, much like the one near the World Tree.

'What the…?'

Walking further, she was very curious about her surroundings. In the fifteen years she had been here, she had never seen this place before- or she just forgot about it. The latter was probably right.

"Whoa. Nice place." Was all Evangeline said, before spotting something in the corner of her eye. It was a piece of paper, but it wasn't like she cared about the environment. On further inspection though, it seemed the paper was old. Picking it up, she didn't care if her hands got dirty, she opened the map- and it turned out to be the size of her upper body.

Struggling to hold it correctly so she could see it fully, her eyes wandered over a title. It was faded, but you could still see the text.

"Mahora Gakuen chizu…" Evangeline read it out, holding it close to her face to see the faded letters. 'Map of Mahora campus… hm?' Squinting her eyes to see what part of campus it was, she came across what she wanted to know. 'Junior high campus… well, this should be fun.' Looking around, she made sure no-one was looking before folding the map up again and putting it in her-err… nightgown pocket.

Well, what do you expect? It was her free night and it was night time, heck it would be unnatural if she wasn't in some form of pyjamas!

"Well, I'll get Chao to look at this later- and I'll ask her where the heck Chachamaru's went."

§N§E§F§

"Hm… why in the world did they build so many steps?" A deep voice which held an air of superiority said, resting for a moment. He had been assigned to check for three students- err… one teacher and two students, Kagurazaka Asuna, Sakurazaki Setsuna and Negi Springfield.

'I get the feeling there was another… but oh well.'

Climbing up a few hundred stairs was hard work, and he had to actually climb up to the tallest part in Mahora, the World Tree. An enormous, magical tree over two hundred metres. If that wasn't enough, there were many rumours about it- some not so nice to be walking around at night.

Unlike during the day, and the school festival when the World Tree plaza is buzzing with people, it was dead silent right now. You could even hear yourself breathe- or that was just the wind. The leafs on trees were rustling as well, which made it all the more scarier. Though, the fact it was nearly a full moon and it illuminated the area helped it, though it casted shadows and manipulated objects.

"So… Setsuna… she should be able to cut her way out of whatever it is…" He started going over the possibilities, when he ducked for no apparent reason. He could hear something… inhuman, but he couldn't describe the sound. However, he wasted no time and unsheathed his nodachi- he had two, mind you.

Dodging 'the darkness', as it tried to grab his left hand, he done a sideward slice, which made him drop the torch he was carrying. He jumped up to slice another piece, when he noticed the place near the torch didn't have any so called 'darkness' surrounding it. Seeing this as an opening, he landed in a fighting stance, slicing another piece, then picking up the torch.

"Hah!" This allowed him a moment to think, before the melted darkness formed a puddle beneath his feet. 'Oh shi-…'

Doing a backflip to narrowly escape the shadow substance-like things, he landed wobbling on his feet, trying to steady himself. This gave a little leeway to the darkness, and allowed them to throw the torch out of his hand.

"Darmn-" Uttering a swear, he done a side flip and landed, crouching down on a nearby tree branch. Looking around quickly to spot where the centre was, and deciding to get his torch back, he jumped down and sliced right throw the centre of the darkness! That's the world's greatest swordsman for you- or at least Earth's greatest swordsman, not sure about the magic world.

"Whoa!" Shouting out, the Shimeryuu master leaned down, and done a handstand, then kicked some of the darkness away- which was not a very wise move, mind you…

Though, not a minute too soon, he picked up the torch and waved it around, jumping onto a nearby tree branch.

Something wasn't right.

Eishun felt a cold shiver throughout his body, arching his back to try and get rid of it, when he heard an inhuman like voice.

"I see… Shimeryuu sword master, playtime's over."

The darkness disappeared. Just like that, disintegrating into mid-air. The thing he fought quite hard on, just disappeared before his very eyes. Needless to say, Eishun looked a little… annoyed.

"Darmn dark things…" He muttered, then progressed up the stairs. 'Who was that… shadowy figure? I only caught a glimpse-' However, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard something. Something that sounded a lot like some grunting and voices.

It was almost incoherent, but became more and more understandable as he walk forward silently. He didn't want to upset or annoy the enemy- or even make his presence known; he wanted to sneak up on whoever- whatever it was.

Walking silently towards the direction, he done a front flip onto a nearby tree- his speciality. However, he cursed under his breath when he made a light 'tap' noise. Now, this noise couldn't be heard by normal people, but by mages, people with extraordinary hearing, and Shimeryuu swords men, it could trigger their senses. He knew from experience.

A minute passed, and the noise had not been picked up on. Heaving a sigh of relief, he kneeled down- only to hear a 'crack' sound.

'Ah darmn it… I really need to work on my stealth.'

Eishun flinched and stood straight- well actually, kneeled straight when he heard a sharp, cool voice- one of a girl's.

"Who is there?" She looked around. "Show yourselves!"

He then heard a more familiar voice- one of a boy's; a little high pitched. One that would expect to come out of a young boys mouth.

"S-Setsuna-san, calm down please. Whoever it is-" The voice stopped in mid-speech, as he sensed it too. A sword master.

Then came another voice; this one was very, very familiar- well, at least used to be. It was sharp as well, and a little deep- but it shifted to more high pitched, which was contradicting in its own way.

"Eh… what's the matter? An enemy?"

'Ah!' It hit Eishun like a lightning bolt, as he swiftly jumped down from branch to branch to reveal himself, leaving three shocked children- ahem, two shocked teenagers and one shocked child teacher.

"E-Eishun-san!"

"That's me." Came the response in a joking manner, then turned to a more serious tone. "What's more, were there any 'dark blobs' around here?"

The three of them vigorously nodded.

"Well, I fought some on my way up, and it seemed like they're susceptible to fire. My point is-" Stopping mid-way through sentence, he then looked up at the three of them. They were sitting on the floor; Asuna sprawled across the ground, Negi lying upside down, and Setsuna sitting with one leg straight and the other at her side- goodness only knows how much that would hurt.

"W-what are all of you doing here?"

"Err…" The three of them nervously said, getting into upright positions- except the hybrid, since… she couldn't.

Seeing as how no-one was willing to answer, Negi picked up his glasses and started speaking, "Well… we were assigned- at least Eva-san and I to look out for any unusual happenings…" He gestured to the red headed girl with bells in her hair. "… And somehow Asuna got involved, then Tatsumiya-san- speaking of which, where is she? Anyway, we all ran to the World Tree plaza because Asuna said she saw something there, and we met Setsuna-san here. That's when we fought the dark blobs…" Stopping to make sure the man was still listening, he looked up again. "And we kind of… got caught up in it."

There was silence for a minute, as they were unsure of what would happen, until Asuna spoke up.

"Honya-chan was with us as well. Though earlier, she escaped the darkness and ran to get help. Though she hasn't returned, as you can see…"

More silence, until Eishun flexed his temples.

Setsuna, however, had just managed to straighten out her legs and sit properly. She made a grunting sound as she tried to stand up, and started wobbling a little.

"Hm… so what you're telling me is… you three met up here, then got stuck trying to fight… and Miyazaki-san, the librarian girl, is it- she ran off to get help, when she doesn't have any offensive or defensive skills?" The Ala Rubra comrade finally decided to speak.

The three nodded.

Eishun looked around then smirked remembering earlier. "Well, Takami-Takahata is searching outside near the school, so he has probably found her by now…"

§N§E§F§

Moving onto said person, he appeared to be walking cautiously around a water fountain. Apparently, he had been patrolling and found nothing out of the ordinary, so he had decided to take a break and marvel the sight of the night. This lead to one particular thought…

'I really am spending too much time with Eva, aren't I?'

Still walking around, he noticed something- a juice dispenser machine thing. It had all flavours of juice in little cartons, so he figured he should try one. He put some hundred yen in the machine, and ordered a 'kurai' flavoured drink.

'Nice.' He thought as he sipped through the straw. 'I expected it to be 'kurai' as in 'flounder', but I guess it's curry.'

Walking around, he didn't see anything abnormal happening, which made the job all the more easier for him, and because he wasn't really that strong. Heck, if a something came up and attacked him, well… he wouldn't necessarily be down for the count, but he would have trouble fighting back.

So, marvelling the sight of the half moon, he sat down on the fountain side- which… wasn't a very smart move, incase you didn't notice. Though he continued to sit next to it, sipping the juice and thinking of earlier.

'Eva really likes Negi-kun, doesn't she? Ah- fuu-… can she mind read?' This left Takamichi aware of his surroundings, as a strong gust of wind blew him into the fountain.

'Oh great… wait. What the-?' Apparently, he didn't have time to think, as he sat in the water fountain, getting an early shower. Well, at least he didn't have to take one for another few days.

The older teacher looked sideways and his eyes widened. He didn't want to be noticed, no. So he done what anyone-… any insane person would do, and lay down in the water fountain. Hey, what could he say? 'I'm spying on something?' No. That would sound… well, you get the gist. He just hoped that no one would find him.

Looking on from afar, he saw what looked like… a shadow. No- it was something wrapped in a cloak- and it looked like it was wet. The black cloak- like thing wrapped around wherever its legs were, and around some of the floor.

Takamichi nearly took in some of the water when he thought, ' It has no legs!'

He then examined the headpiece- or what looked like one anyway. It had things that looked like arrows coming out of the back of it.

A wave of realization then washed over the old English teacher. 'T-that… n-no…' He started trembling when he saw that… the… the thing was holding it's hand- well, more like claw out to a girl. The girl looked familiar, but he couldn't see from this distance.

'Regardless… that's a student…' Standing up, still trembling, he got out of the water, and boy did he feel heavy. That is, he took his jacket off and threw it some place, before doing an instant movement two times to get behind a nearby bush.

'T-that girl! It's… Nodoka-kun? Yeah… there's no mistaking it… that pale skin and amethyst hair…'

"Human…" It begun to say, as its hand got closer and closer.

'Ngh! Wait… what's that she's holding? It can't be… an artifact?'

"You are a fearsome being indeed…"

'Ngh! I have to get out there! Somehow…'

Nodoka, the timid librarian, was trembling. No, she was shaking. Shaking for crying out loud! However, she felt a chill down her spine as a hand rested on her shoulder. She stiffened, not wanting to move, until she heard the voice.

"Nodoka-kun… stay away."

Feeling a wave of relaxation, but anxiousness as well… which was contradicting in its own way, she stayed firmly rooted to the ground- not because she didn't want to move, because she couldn't move.

"Nodoka-kun… you need to stay away," Takamichi repeated, eyes firmly on the- whatever it was, but it certainly wasn't human. "Stay away, I'll take care of this thing."

'N-no… t-this…' Her brain wasn't sending the nerves- or signals to her body. 'W-why…?'

"You…" The English teacher began to say, stroking his stubble. "You… what is your purpose?" In that moment, it seemed like he had just been struck by lightning. "Don't tell me…?"

No response whatsoever from the strange being. All it kept doing was reaching out.

"I have no choice then…" He concluded in his strongest voice, as he put both hands together. "Nodoka-kun… stay away."

A wave of power- well, power was surrounding him, as light glowed in his hands.

"Magic in the right hand… and ki in the left…"

Nodoka watched on in fear, as she saw her former English teacher gather power, but the main focus was his hands. They were glowing. Glowing. And if she didn't get out of the way, she might glow too- for a minute or so, then… she shook her head. 'No! No! Move! Move!' Still, her brain wasn't sending the signals to her body. 'Ah… d-darn… move out the way, Nodoka!'

"Kankahõ!" A massive beam of light was released, and was targeting the thing, but unfortunately, the technique could- at its lowest strength- reach twelve or so feet away… so Nodoka was in the way as well.

'N-no… r-run!' Nodoka inwardly slapped herself, trying to get her body to move. 'R-run! I-I need to ru-…'

"GET OUT OF THE WAY, IDIOT!" A voice interrupted her voice, and she felt herself being pushed- or thrown, far away. She, only glanced to the side, and saw a sword, before everything went blank.

The strange being was engulfed in a beam of light, and everything in the twelve feet radius was engulfed in stunning light and energy.

§N§E§F§

The petite, blonde haired vampiress sat on her sofa, pleasurably sipping her favourite tea, and having her so called 'friend' over to talk to. She had her trademark smirk gracing her face, instead of the bored look always plaguing it.

"So…." She begun to say, unsure of how to start a conversation unrelated to guarding work and magic.

"Ah." The brown haired girl with accessories in her hair that looked like nikuman with frills around them looked up. "How are you tonight, Eva-san?"

"Eh?" Was the response the girl got. "Meh. Today…? It's just another fleeting moment. Who cares about the days anymore?"

"Ah…" Chao sweat dropped, that clearly had not been the right think to say. 'Well then…'

"How is training with Negi-bouzu coming along?" She smirked as she said it, watching the vampiress' expression.

"Hm? Ah… it's going well. He's the complete opposite of his father, though." Evangeline responded, putting her tea on the table.

This made Chao smirk even wider- if such a thing was possible. "Really…?" She mused, "Because I happened to stop by his dorm the other day…" She put the map and pen on the table, "And… you haven't told him your full name?"

This made Evangeline's ears peck up, as she responded with a simple, "No… I haven't. Why do you ask?"

"Oh? It's nothing… it's just…" The genius girl's face was now smirking as evilly as Evangeline's when she was training. "… He had a scroll that had your birthday on it… minus the year, of course. Is that okay… Ecaterina?"

Now this caught Eva's attention even more than it did the previous time. "Mu!" Was all she said, as she was alarmed. 'How the heck did the boya find out my full name?'

"Wha-!"

"Hm… I wouldn't worry, if I were you. It seems as if he holds you with an air of authority- he doesn't see a ten year old boy… he sees-" Chao stopped in mid-sentence, sense hitting her head hard as if knocking to get in again.

'Mu… even though… I'm not that evil…'

"Hm? He sees what? Well, not that I care. Anyway," The vampiress swiftly changed the subject, as the earlier topic was bothering her- and not in a good way.

"What about that map?"

"Ah…? Oh, right, the map." The brown haired girl looked down at the table where she had placed it, and picked up her pen.

"See here?" She asked, pointing to a lower eastern point of the map. "There is something on here that represents a building- though I'm not too sure."

"And…?" Evangeline prompted her, wanting to find out what she had found- and if there were any secrets she could take advantage of.

"Well, on all the other maps, this lower eastern part- this part right here, doesn't appear on normal maps, or any of the other maps I've looked at- though I don't often do this sort of thing. The library expedition club would- ah, scratch that last sentence." Chao then circled around an area. "This area… you know, is the middle school building. Though if you trace your finger along, then you'll find the World Tree plaza." She looked up to see if her 'friend' was still listening.

"So what does that mean?" Evangeline asked. "The World Tree plaza? There isn't anything special there as far as I'm concerned."

"… Well, there is…" Chao hesitated for a moment, before continuing, " A possibility that there are dark secrets in this school… for example, it says something here- but I can't read it."

"Hm? Well, just read it out."

"Ah… well… it's kind of… ah… well, look here, okay? There is a place here- in the World Tree area. Underneath the world tree- there is some sort of secret room- and we can assume-"

Beep! Beep!

"Huh…?" Chao slowly turned around to see what was making the noise.

Beep! Beep!

"We can assume-beep?" Evangeline rephrased, smirking, which left the genius sweat dropping.

'If she gets pleasure out of doing that… then I feel sorry for Negi.'

Beep! Beep!

'"Mu." Chao said out of surprise, as she realized she got a text message- and an ever bigger surprise was who sent it.

Evangeline, however, decided to just take a sip of her tea, before looking to the other tea cup and to Chao again.

"Hey, do you want some more tea?" She asked, getting up and walking to the kitchen.

A gust of wind answered her.

"What-" The chibi vampiress asked, confused, then took another sip of her tea. "That's the second one today… I don't taste anything wrong with it."

§N§E§F§

"Tell the headmaster that we're okay, and we should be back soon. Also, Honya went off on her own." Chao read out the text message, and looked at the time.

"Half an hour ago…? … Are they back at the dorms yet? Asuna wouldn't send me a text unless it was urgent ne…"

The black hair shone in the moonlight, making it seem like it was shining, and the moon was doing grace for her skin, as it seemed to make it look smooth, and soft.

"Asuna ne? Why would Asuna…?" Chao wondered out loud, running through the bushes and trees, some jagging her and others rustling, but this didn't concern her right now. She was concentrating on getting somewhere. She knew where they would be.

Running for a few more minutes, she finally reached her destination, as she sat down on the edge of the fountain. The cold water was cooling her down, as she caught her breath. Though something caught her attention. Incoherent mumbling or something like that.

Turning around, there wasn't anyone behind her. Chao continued to look around, until she saw something in the distance. It was… inhuman. That was all she could comprehend.

Taking a step forward, she frantically tried to figure out what was happening. Though her eyes widened at the scene.

'Darn-ne… I can't do anything that could help them without magic-yo…' While contemplating, she felt someone tap her back. Ignoring it, she continued examining the situation. The tapping didn't stop.

Though, she then heard a familiar voice, and froze. She turned around ever so slowly, dreading who it was. And why the heck would she be out at this time? It was around half one in the morning, if not two.

§N§E§F§

The tap, tap, tap of footsteps could be heard, getting increasingly louder. One was lighter, and the other one heavier.

"O…ow…" The timid librarian said, holding her head. It hurt like crazy, but she couldn't remember what just happened. She feebly opened her eyes, and tried to sit up. Though she just fell back down. This got a response, which was quite a surprise.

"H-Honya-chan…" A girl wearing bells in her hair said, as she looked around, dusting herself off. "Are you okay?"

"Un." Came the response from a confused amethyst haired girl, as she continued to look around. "Ano… A-Asuna-san, is it…?"

§N§E§F§

Mysteries one by one are appearing! What will happen next? Wait until next time!

§N§E§F§

By the way, uh… exams plus having the flu and writer's block is a very bad combination. I hope you can forgive me for the late upload…?