Title: The Last Dance of the Phoenix

Disclaimer: I don't own Mahou Sensei Negima. All credit goes to Akamatsu Ken.

Chapter: Mysteries

Setsuna Sakurazaki was having the most tension filled day of her life. Three obviously powerful beings are her teachers. Beatrix could vaporize arrows without chanting or setting her whole hand on fire? She could localize heat in her palm and not cause a fire to erupt? "Not even the greatest fire mages could do that." She thought. "I need to find out more." And a perfect moment presented itself.

"Bye Phoenix sensei!" Some of the girls walked out of the door. He smiled warmly at them. Setsuna could not suppress a blush. He was very handsome and charming.

"So where are you going now Phoenix?" Light questioned. Phoenix turned to Light in a confused manner, as he was never concerned about him. Light lowered his voice. "Beatrix and I know that you're chasing Sophie down. Or what she left behind. We just need to be…careful." Phoenix was taken aback. Light cared about him? Then a memory erupted in his mind. A time when Light was depressed and how he picked himself up by joking about everything.

"I'm going to… her grave." Light nodded.

"Meet us near the stairs at 5:00." Beatrix ordered him. Phoenix nodded his head before exiting the room. Little did he know, Setsuna was right behind him.

XXXXX

Phoenix arrived at a marble gravestone, slightly larger than the rest. Engraved on it was an inscription:

Here lies Sophia Avis Lunate

Born: 1678 May 19, Died: 1705 March 10,

"Non una vita ultium semper."

"Not one life lasts forever."

One tear slowly trickled down his face. Those words once escaped Sophie's lush lips, and this was so true, that Phoenix could not do more than nod his head at the time. He knelt before the gravestone and he brushed a hand over the inscription. He tried for a smile.

"It has been a long time Sophie." He whispered through three more tears. Just seeing the grave hurt him deeply. "I've been busy with, well, business, I guess you could call it. You wouldn't believe how much the world has changed over these past 4 centuries. But I'm here still chasing your secrets. You were a very secretive woman." A true smile flashed on his face. "If I didn't know any better I would've thought that you were cheating on me."

"Wait, what?" Setsuna whispered to herself. "Why is he crying over that grave? It has been there longer than my great grandfather." A giggle made her jump. She cocked her head around to find Konoka behind her. "Wha- Why are you here ojo-sama?"

"Well I wanted to find out more about Phoenix sensei." She giggled again. "He was kind of cute during class." Then she found the sight of her mournful sensei. "What? Why is he-?" Setsuna grabbed her and pulled her down. She would apologize later for the rough act. But Phoenix suddenly looked over at where they stood. He shook his head and turned back to the grave.

"I'll be going now Sophie." He set a bunch of red roses at her grave and walked off. Inside he felt relief, as he was finally to set those feelings of remorse that built up during those four long centuries. He spared one more look at the grave then a glint caught his eye. He moved closer and found a shiny black corner poking up out of the worn ground. He slowly dug around it, curiosity had seized him. He uncovered a black box. It was shiny and made of marble like the grave. He turned it to the front. A yellow bird was engraved on it. He opened the box and a small piece of paper was lying there. He set the box down and unfolded the letter.

Dear Phoenix,

If you are reading this then I've succeeded in my plans. I write this now on March the seventh 1705. I am currently possessed by a high class demon. This demon can control my body at times, and I fear that I will be forced to kill someone soon. Unfortunately, this person will be you. The Divine Phoenix has come back. He captured me a fortnight ago and implanted this monster within me. His new name: Rex Aureas. Be wary Phoenix. This letter might not even reach you until sometime later in your many lives. But I am sure you will find this. The Divine Phoenix, or Rex, has ordered me to slaughter innocents tonight. Next I will confront you three nights later. You will have a choice; let me slaughter millions more while you try to find a cure, or kill me yourself. I will convince you to kill me, this is the only path. I haven't informed you of this but at my time in Kyoto, I have born you a daughter. I hid her away, as I wanted it to be a surprise. Now that I am surely doomed, I can't tell you. But I hope you will try to find any clues she left behind, as she is as clever as I. I have many more secrets to tell you, but I am running out of time. I love you Phoenix.

Farewell,

Sophia Avis Lunate Oculus

Pheonix's body went rigid. His mind ceased to function. "A child?" He croaked. "That means…" He thought. "I left an innocent, orphaned child to fend for herself." He buried his head in his hands. But for some reason, joy sung in his heart. He wiped away the tears and picked the letter, box, and himself up off the ground. He smiled at the grave again.

"You were always one to surprise, Sophie."

XXXXX

He met back up with Beatrix and Light at the stairs and they started to hike to the dean's office. They entered, and were met with the sight of the dean and an older, white haired man. One that Phoenix recognized immediately. "Long time no see, Takamichi." Phoenix grinned at the older man. "Still as strong as before?" Takamichi grinned back.

"Stronger." The dean smiled at the competitive nature surrounding the two. The door opened a second time. In walked a redhead. Following her closely was her. She who had looked just like Sophie. The redhead bowed to Takamichi.

"Hello, Takahata sensei."

"Hello Asuna san." The other girl walked towards the dean.

"Hi grandpa! So what did you need us for?" One cheerful Konoka Konoe arrived at his desk. He smiled at the group.

"Well we're here to discuss the living arrangements for these three…"

XXXXX

Phoenix sunk down next to Beatrix. They were sitting outside and enjoying the air. He sighed next to her and pinched his nose. Beatrix looked at him with a troubled expression.

"What's wrong Phoenix?"

"Nothing, Beatrix." He answered curtly. She folded her arms and looked cross.

"That's not nothing, Phoenix. Just tell me." Pheonix sighed again.

"I don't want to talk about it." Beatrix then knew of only one thing that could trouble him like this.

"Sophie?" She asked.

"Sophie." He answered. She nodded her head. He never wanted to talk about it right away, but he'll come clean later on. She opened her mouth but another voice cut her off.

"Hey! Beatrix, Phoenix, get over here!" Light waved at them. They rose.

"This better be good." Beatrix frowned slightly. "I don't like it when you waste my time." Light then whispered into her ear. Her face changed from anger to confusion to coy. The pair turned to Phoenix. They were smirking.

"What are you guys smiling about?" Phoenix cocked an eyebrow. They drew closer and grabbed his arms. "Wait what are you doing-WAAAHH!" They lifted him of his feet and started to run towards the building. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" He screamed before they ran gleefully into the hall.

He was roughly tossed into a dark room. He landed and instead of feeling the hard floor as he hit the ground he landed on something soft. Then the lights snapped on. He saw his whole class standing there yelling "Surprise!" Then he looked down. To his horror he was pinning one very red Konoka Konoe under him. He turned red.

"Ah I didn't mean to-" The class started to laugh.

"Ecchi, Phoenix sensei!" They chorused. He scrambled to get off Konoka. Her face was red but she was smiling at him all the same. "She looks so much like Sophie…" He thought. Then the party began.

XXXXX

"Hm, so not only were you mobbed by girls, they managed to strip you too?" Takamichi laughed. Phoenix smiled slightly. "Wish I had that problem." They were chatting over the blare of karaoke and girls screaming their delight.

Light was singing now and flirting with all the girls at the same time. Then he finsished and Beatrix stepped up. Phoenix turned in his seat to watch and listen. His sister was a great singer and coupled with the fact she was more modest than Light, Phoenix enjoyed watching her. She was his little sister. She started her favorite song, Happy Crescent by Kanon Nawagawa (Yes World That Only God Knows reference here!). He smiled and started to stretch his legs.

"Hapi, hapi, happi kuresento! Anata ni happi puresento, wakatte hoshii no kono kimochi anta dake yo eien romansu! Hapi hapi happi kuresento! Anata ni zenbu sasageru I love you! Itsuka owaru no? Nee dakishimete hoshii- kataomoi." Beatrix posed and the girls cheered her on with more screams.

Phoenix started to chat with Takamichi until Beatrix finished her song. Then she pulled Light apart from some girls and pointed in Phoenix's direction and muttered something inaudible. Then they both smirked and walked over to Phoenix. He knew this was not going to end well for him.

"Well Phoenix, as we sang in front of our class you should too!" Light smiled mischievously. Beatrix grabbed him and shoved him towards the stage. Phoenix blushed furiously.

"Grr, fine." He snatched the mic when Light threw it at him and Beatrix picked the song. "Cooler than me" from Mike Posner WAS NOT his first choice. "I'm going to kill you guys later." He muttered at them. They just smiled. The girls started to gather around when his voice started to drift about the room.

"If I could write you a song, to make you fall in love- I would already have you up under my arm. I used up all of my tricks I hope that you like this, but you probably won't you think your cooler than me." He matched all the pitches correctly and turned his voice down to almost a whisper. This caused the sea of hormones to scream their delight. He started to have fun with this.

"You got designer shades just to hide your face and- you wear 'em around like your cooler than me. And you never say hey, or remember my name. And it's probably 'cause you think you're cooler than me." He added in dance steps he learned from a few lifetimes ago, this caused a bigger reaction. He smiled in his most charming way.

"You got your high-brow, shoes on your feet, and you wear 'em around like it ain't shit. But you don't know, the way that you look when your steps MAKE THAT MUCH NOISE. Shh. I got you, all figured out, you need everyone's eyes just to feel seen. Behind your makeup, nobody knows you even are, who you think that you are." Phoenix smiled at the crowd. "Well this is going to be a great night. And I'm going to feel horrible in the morning."

XXXXX

Yay, another chapter done. Well I'm going to be uploading another chapter for Viva La Vacation soon so keep your eyes peeled. 'Till next time.