Mage Wars

Chapter 2: Where Do We Begin?


Keitaro listened to Negi's breathing as he was prone on a futon. The samurai was tired, forcing himself to stay awake ever since they had exited the wormhole. The two people that had taken them in were kind enough, but Keitaro took no chances. He remembered the time when he was naïve. It cost him his friends, and his wife. And even if they were good souls, he had to stay awake in case that damnable Sailor Pluto and the Senshi would follow them.

They had long left their arrival area. Taken in by the two people that had found them, they were in a small carriage, pulled by a rather sturdy looking horse. The transport was comfortable enough, but it only had one room to rest with. The rest of the carriage was littered with cooking pans, stoves, and a whole lot of pots sealed.

The young girl said that she and her father were Ramen Cooks, and they were on the way to Fire Country's ninja village to start over. Ninja village, Keitaro got. What Fire Country was, though, he had no idea. Suffice to say, that, and with the whole forest was enough to convince him that they hadn't exactly arrived at Negi's planned destination.

There was a knock on the door.

"Excuse me," the girl, Ayame, called. "Um… are you awake?"

Keitaro briefly wondered how to answer that. He settled on being honest. "Yes."

"I have some ramen… and broth for your friend, if he's awake," she replied.

Keitaro smiled a bit. This Ayame girl's kindness reminded him of Shinobu.

"He isn't awake, but please, come in."

The door slid open, revealing the girl, serving rather two big bowls in one small tray in her hand. The most impressive bit was how she remained steady, not spilling a drop even in the moving carriage, which wasn't exactly passing a smooth road.

Ayame gave Keitaro a bowl of ramen, and put the other bowl half-filled with broth on the floor beside Negi's prone form. She looked at the younger man with sadness, her frown prominent.

"What's wrong with him?" she whispered.

"Exhaustion," Keitaro replied truthfully. "He had a very… arduous day."

Ayame giggled. "You have a funny way of speaking."

Keitaro smiled a bit, dunking a finger to the broth, and taking a small taste. He had formed that habit as a means of checking for poisons. "I got it from my wife. Sorry."

"Aren't you kinda young to have a wife?"

"Aren't you a bit young to gossip?" Keitaro replied well naturedly as he took a bit of the noodles and meat. It was clean. He dug in.

Ayame pouted cutely, glaring a bit towards Keitaro, who just smiled as he slurped his noodles. His first nourishment ever since they had arrived, and it was filling. Very filling.

"This is quite good," the spectacled man declared seriously, smiling warmly. She definitely reminded her of Shinobu. "You'll be a very accomplished chef."

Ayame blushed, and said nothing, opting to watch the sleeping Negi while Keitaro finished his meal. Silence reigned for a few minutes, a calming one, Keitaro would notice as he began to relax as well. He decided that these people weren't his enemies, though he still was wary of a Senshi attack.

"Are you… good friends?" Ayame asked suddenly, taking the spectacled man back a bit. She suddenly looked apologetic. "I don't want to pry… its just…"

She remained silent, sadness now apparent. Her shift in her aura, her ki, which Keitaro read easily enough, was enough to convince the spectacled man not to force the issue. Instead, he just nodded.

"He is my only surviving friend."

"Oh…" Ayame looked a bit distraught. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to-"

"Its fine," Keitaro chuckled. "We've been great friends… for years in fact. Not under the best circumstances, but where we came from, we did what we could. I have been very lucky to be his most trusted friend."

"When did you guys meet?" Ayame asked, now a bit chirpy knowing Keitaro hadn't taken offence on her own curiosity.

Keitaro smiled a bit as the memory resurfaced. It wasn't exactly a time where he had put on his best impression.


"AAAAGGGHHHH!!!"

The ten year old Negi Springfield blinked as he heard a shout. Was someone playing golf somewhere? He shook his head, trying to concentrate back on finding Mahora Academy, where he would now continue his training as a Magister Magi as a High School Teacher.

Of course, looking for that specific train station that would bring him there took less precedence when a young spectacled man fell from the sky, right in front of him, smashing the concrete ground, rolling painfully into an incoming car, which launched him towards an abandoned store.

"Oh my goodness!" Negi declared as he immediately as he ran towards the unfortunate man, half-wondering whether it was too late to save him. He was surprised, however, when the man stood up and coughed, wiping out the dust from his torn clothing.

"Damn it… where the heck did I land now?" the man asked rather sorrowfully.

"Are you okay?" Negi asked, looking pretty worried enough. The man should be on a hospital… or a morgue!

"Yeah, yeah… I'm fine," the man declared, coughing slightly again. "Um… where am I? Am I still at Kanagawa Prefecture?"

The young mage blinked. Kanagawa Prefecture? That was pretty far from here, if he remembered his map and geography location correctly.

"No… um…" Negi paused, looking at the man, wondering if he really was 'unharmed'. "It's a bit far from here."

The man just sighed. "Naru really punted me far away…"

"Naru?" Negi asked.

"Haha… it was a misunderstanding!" the man scratched the back part of his head nervously. "I swear!"

Negi knew he wasn't going anywhere. The poor man must have suffered quite a blow to his head if he was acting this skittish. So, he tried the more friendly route. "Um… If you're sure… by the way, I'm Negi Springfield. What's your name?"

The man paused, and looked at the boy. He gave a friendly smile. "I'm Keitaro Urashima."

"Pleasure to meet you, Urashima-san…"

"No, don't call me that," Keitaro shook his head. "Keitaro's fine."

"Negi then," the boy stated.

They would soon walk towards the train station, talking a bit about their lives. Negi stuck with his cover, a prodigy child that graduated the University of Wales, and was recruited as a teacher for Japan to teach English. Keitaro, more truthful than the boy, told him his dream of finally entering Tokyo University.

It was significantly nothing. Two strangers have met, one Japanese, one foreign, though quite adept in the language. Yet Negi could feel something with their conversations, while Keitaro felt some sort of kinship for the boy.

They wouldn't have known at the time, but it was a destined meeting.


"You fell from the sky?" Ayame raised an eyebrow, completely doubtful.

"After I was punched from an irate girl who thought I had been peeping on her in the hot springs," Keitaro replies easily.

"Were you?"

"Of course not," the spectacled man replied. "I was mopping the floor when my foot had slipped on the wet patch, and I careened through the dressing room towards the springs, tripped on an exposed water pipe, and crashed into her as she was about to get off the water."

"Now that's unbelievable," the young girl declared, looking a bit angry, thinking Keitaro was pulling her leg.

"Heh… it's funny in a way," the spectacled man chuckled, "I too can't believe how clumsy I was before. That wasn't an isolated incident. It had happened to me more than once, with more than one girl. It usually ended the same… they'd launch me in the air with a punch or kick."

Ayame shook her head. She had the expression that she didn't believe a word of what Keitaro had just said, but enjoying the story for itself.

"Of course, it was partly my fault. I had to be more careful since I was the only male living in that all-girl's dormitory."

"Wait… what?" the girl looked at the spectacled man, eyes wide with sudden suspicion. "You were living in an all girl's dorm? Why?"

"I inherited it being its manager," Keitaro shrugged, grinning seeing Ayame's face. "Funnily enough, Negi had that same expression as you when we met again."


"Hold up, sugar," Kitsune, one of the residents of Hinata-sou, the dormitory where Keitaro had been managing, called as she spotted the spectacled young man as he began to limp out of the door.

Keitaro had a cast on his leg, having being crushed by a sculpture piece when he was about to enter Tokyo University, having passed finally after failing three times, only for his dreams of entering the prestigious halls to be shattered by a freak accident.

He could fly and land on concrete and walls, and hit cars without so much of a scratch, but seemingly Fate wouldn't allow him to enter Tokyo University, his apparent immortality disappearing, leaving him with a cast and broken bones.

"Yes, Kitsune-san?" Keitaro called rather tiredly.

"You going out?" the woman asked.

"Yes," he replied.

The dormitory was… stifling. With his leg, he could only do the most basic chores. He didn't even have a reason to study anymore since he had past the exam, plus after seeing Naru enjoying herself as she left for her classes stung him slightly. He decided he needed some fresh air.

"If you're going for the store, buy me a small bottle of sake, would you, dear?" Kitsune smiled.

Keitaro just nodded. Putting on a shoe, he gave a customary farewell, and hobbled down the rather steep hills towards town, where he began to walk around aimlessly. He stared through the windows he was passing, seeing the displayed the goods they were selling when he accidentally bumped someone. That someone wasn't exactly hardy, quite the opposite in fact. Stumbling a bit backwards, Keitaro looked at the young girl he had bumped fall on her butt.

"Oh gosh! I'm sorry!" Keitaro declared. Normally, he would help her get up, but his two hands were busy holding his crutches. He couldn't put too much pressure on his injured foot as it was still a bit tender.

"Its okay," the girl replied, her long black hair moving with the wind.

"I should have looked where I was going," the spectacled man stated apologetically.

"Its no problem, really," she stated, quite honestly.

Before Keitaro could say anymore, someone called shouted from behind him.

"Konoka!"

Turning around, Keitaro was greeted by a girl with a rather intense expression, not unlike Naru Narusegawa, though her eyes did creep him out somewhat. One was blue, the other was green. She was running towards them, the sound of metal against metal sounded. It was the bells tied on her hair, which was done rather stylishly in two ponytails.

"Asuna-san?" the girl with long black hair called as she stood up.

"What happened?" the girl, Asuna asked. "Me and that brat were looking all over for you."

"Ah, sorry, I guess I wandered a bit," Konoka replied, wiping the dust of her clothes.

"Asuna-san?" another voice called, a male one this time, somewhat high-pitched though. "Have you found Kono… oh…"

Keitaro and Negi's eyes met. The boy blinked a bit, then smiled with pleasant surprise.

"Keitaro-san!" Negi suddenly greeted. "Fancy meeting you here!"

"Negi!" Keitaro laughed a bit. This was a surprise. "How's the teacher business?"

"I'm a permanent teacher now," the boy smiled.

"That's great!"

"How about you, Keitaro-san? Did you finally pass?" Negi asked.

"Of course," Keitaro replied, smiling, then sighing. "But… because of bad luck, I got injured before I could even start my classes. Doctor said I would have to take a rest to recover."

"Ouch, Keitaro-san…"

"Oi, Negi," the girl Asuna suddenly called, making the two males look at her. "Who's your friend?"

Keitaro and Negi looked at her and Konoka, who looked rather curious. Looking at each other, the young mage started speaking first, introducing the crippled man.

"Asuna-san, this is Keitaro Urashima… the first friend I got when I first came to Japan," the boy replied.

"More like acquaintances, really," Keitaro scratched the back part of his head. "We met about a year ago, talked about ourselves while we both walked towards the train station. We exchanged email addresses, and kept some contact with each other…"

"Yup. He helped me a lot when it concerned the Japanese culture…" the red-haired boy stated. "Was it really that long ago? It was like only a few months ago."

"Yeah," the spectacled man chuckled gently. "I guess we both have been pretty busy. Got a cell phone yet? Maybe we can exchange numbers this time instead of e-mails."

"Oh yeah, sure," Negi nodded, and was about to give him his number when he felt Asuna's hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly enough to make him wince. "Ow… Asuna-san…?"

"Excuse me, me and Negi have to talk," Asuna said towards Keitaro.

"Uh… sure…"

Asuna took Negi off towards the side, and began to whisper towards the side, leaving Keitaro confused. Konoka, who finally wanted to satisfy her own curiosity, approached the young man and began to ask a few questions.

"So… tell me," Asuna whispered, "is he a mage or something?"

"No," Negi shook his head. "Not that I know off anyway."

"Oh… so he's a regular guy, eh?"

Negi then remembered Keitaro falling from the sky like a meteorite, and hit by in an oncoming car and coming out without a scratch. How would Negi answer that question truthfully? Of course, he couldn't. Not even he, with all the weirdness in his life, believed it himself.

"Yup. Regular guy," Negi nodded with a hint of nervousness. Asuna blinked, and looked at her boy-teacher curiously, which made the young mage sweat a bit, before she nodded, satisfied.

"Oh wow…" Konoka suddenly exclaimed. "Asuna! Keitaro here says he's the manager of an all girls dormitory here!"

"Oh, that's nic…" Asuna blinked as her brain received the last part. She could only shout a very surprised "EH!?"

"WHA…!?" and it seems Negi himself wasn't any better at receiving that tid-bit.


"I remembered that time…"

Keitaro and Ayame suddenly jumped when they heard a rather weak voice speak. Ayame was giggling as Keitaro began to describe the finer points of Negi's expression when the young mage finally seemed to have woken up.

"Negi!" Keitaro declared as he kneeled down towards his friend, giving him a look-over. "How do you feel?"

"Tired…" Negi sighed. "Hungry too…"

"Oh, please wait…" Ayame kneeled over Negi's other side, with her bowl of soup and a spoon ready. Keitaro lifted the boy up slowly, and Ayame slowly fed the mage with the broth.

"Thank you…" Negi said, looking a bit more energized. "It is very delicious."

Ayame blushed. "Its not too hot, is it?"

Negi shook his head. "It is quite fine… again, thank you, miss…?"

"Ayame. Ayame Ichiraku…" she introduced herself.

"An accomplished cook, made a pretty delicious bowl of ramen," Keitaro smiled. "She found us along with her father, both of them are traveling towards a ninja village in Fire Country."

Negi mouthed 'Fire Country' and 'Ninja village', looking confused, and Keitaro mouthed the silent 'Tell you later' reply. Nodding, the young mage, feeling quite strong enough, sat up on his own.

"Don't exert yourself, Negi," Keitaro stated towards the mage worriedly.

"I'm fine… see?" Negi smiled, and gently taking the bowl of soup and spoon from Ayame's capable hands, and began to feed himself. After two spoonfuls, he looked at the samurai, and said, "Well? Go on. The story isn't finished yet."

"You sure?" Keitaro asked.

"Yes," the mage nodded. "After all… it wasn't until the next time we met did we actually began our friendship."

"Heh… and you said we were already friends that time…" Keitaro smiled, and shook his head. He looked at Ayame, and continued on where he left off.

"It was a fated day, I think, when I met Negi at that point because the very same day, I would meet my future sister-in-law," the samurai continued slowly. "She was going to visit her sister, a swordswoman at the dorm I managed."

"Drop–dead gorgeous, too… or as Keitaro first described her to me," Negi chuckled.

"Negi!" Keitaro had a slight blush on his face, making Ayame giggle a bit. "Oh fine. Yes, she was drop-dead gorgeous. She carried herself like an ideal woman, and she had that aura around her that commanded attention. Saved my life too…"

"Sliced a truck in half," Negi smiled a bit.

"Truck?" Ayame asked, confused. Negi glanced at Keitaro with an inquiring eyebrow.

"Um… think of it as a big carriage, pulled by six horses," Keitaro explained, signaling Negi with his hand that he'd explain later. "It was out of control, and was about to run me over when she just whipped her sword out and cut it in half cleanly."

"Wow…!"

"Yeah… freaked me out too," the samurai admitted readily, laughing a bit. "Turns out she was going to bring her sister home. Motoko, my future wife, didn't want to go yet as her friends were still staying in the dorm, so devised a ploy, and lied to her sister, saying I was her fiancé."

"Ooh…"

"Looking back, I guess it was kinda funny," Keitaro then sighed. "Until her sister found out though. She was mad. She fought Motoko a bit, easily beating her, and cutting her sword in half, telling her she was a disgrace, and would not be allowed to practice the Art again."

"Ouch…" Ayame winced. She couldn't imagine herself quitting making Ramen, so she felt really sorry for Motoko.

"Yeah… but we made an agreement. Motoko and I would team-up and try to beat her in Motoko's hometown. If we won, she'd forgive Motoko and allow her to keep the title as Heir of the school. If she and I lost… she'd have to marry me."

"You guys… lost, right?" Ayame asked.

"Big time. It was pretty close though…" Keitaro remembered how he had used the cursed Urashima Sword, hoping to try and regain the advantage… only to get possessed, effectively distracting Motoko who used a purification attack to save him. She was left open to her sister, who knocked her out cold.

The rest was history.

"She married us there and then, all official documents. It should have been my happiest day on earth… here was a nerd, a spineless wimp, and he was about to marry this beautiful strong woman… but she was out of it," Keitaro frowned. "She had cried in the ceremony… and it wasn't because she was happy. She became quite catatonic in the dormitory as well, as her life was sucked out of her. It was natural, I guess. I wasn't quite the best catch, and she had a bit of a male-hate in her system before… so I called her sister, and begged her to do anything to make Motoko happy again.

"She didn't settle on divorce, though I thought would have been better at the time, but what she did was order Motoko to train me in the Art," Keitaro had a slight smile on his face. "I had no idea how that was supposed to help… but she apparently knew more than I did. Motoko took it hard at first, but when she trained me, she realized she could still be a swordswoman. Training me allowed her to continue her art. Of course… I wasn't happy about it. Her training tended to become… rigorous."

"Back then, Keitaro wasn't much of a fighter," Negi said, putting down his bowl of soup, now more energetic than ever before, his tiredness seemingly abandoning him. "So, he asked his teacher, a person named Seta to train his body. Took Keitaro off to another country for a year, came back with enough strength to continue his training with his wife."

"Would be years before we met again," Keitaro continued, looking towards a wall with that far-away-look in his eyes. "We kept contact through the years, more so than before, but we didn't really meet once more until Motoko's family ordered our presence at their ancestral home…"

Ayame blinked as Keitaro just stopped talking, his eyes darkening with every second. Negi nodded to himself, understanding his thoughts.

"Ah, forgive him," Negi smiled a bit. "It was… it was a bad memory for him. Needless to say, we met each other in his in-law's family grounds. I wasn't having a good day either."


In Kyoto, in the Aoyama Grounds, Keitaro stared at the pond, a bamboo water-fall making sound as its bottom hit the rock in every interval, with the koi fish swimming everywhere. On his face were bruises, fading, but still painful-looking, but his eyes seemed worst off.

It was glazed.

Negi, an older looking one, was behind Keitaro, his face contorted in anger.

"Those fools!" he seethed. "How could they let her get away with this!?"

"It's for the greater good," Keitaro muttered automatically, almost in a robotic mode. "She and her friends are in line with the Aoyama's cause for hunting down youma."

"After what she did to you, she's just going to get a slap in her wrist, and walk away!?" the mage wanted to scream it out loud, but couldn't. He had not much say, as he was only invited as a witness, he had no real authority to speak to the Council. "This isn't right, Keitaro… look at yourself! You were lucky I was there!"

Keitaro's eyes began to form tears, his face contorted with pain as he held his sides, looking on the ground shamefully.

"I have no standing in the family… the only reason I was there is because I had married the former heir," Keitaro mumbled weakly. "Even Moto-chan was chewed out for speaking out. Please… Negi-dono… don't do anything rash. She didn't even get far. I'll recover… and I won't ever have to see her again."

"Damn it, Keitaro-san… damn it all," Negi whispered as he slid down beside the broken man. "You're too good for this world. I mean that."

"Heh…" Keitaro replied softly, his face becoming a bit more animated. He wiped away his tears, and smiled slightly at the mage. "Western Mage eh?"

Negi flustered, looking a bit embarrassed. He had been hiding the fact from Keitaro from their e-mail's and phone messages until today, when Keitaro and Negi met at the Council Chambers, and the mage was introduced as the famous Thousand Master's son.

"I had to keep the Masquerade," Negi replied sheepishly. "Besides… would you have believed me telling you I was a magic user?"

"Probably not… until Moto-chan forced me to read on Aoyama history," Keitaro chuckled. "Heck, I probably don't believe most of it myself. Crash course in magic lore, two factions of magic, Aoyama trainees hired out as mercenaries... and now, you."

"Odd, eh, how we both would meet up like this?" the mage asked, looking at the pond. "And it started almost three years ago, when you fell out from the sky."

"Hit a car too," the training samurai added cheekily.

"Yes, that too," Negi laughed, with Keitaro following suit. For a moment, the past worries stopped affecting them, and they both honestly shared the laughter. The warm feelings died though, when a voice from behind them gave Keitaro a shiver up his spine.

"Hey lover-boy. There you are. I've been looking all over for you!"

Negi immediately stood up, and faced the blonde woman, hiding Keitaro's shaking form behind him.

"I want to finish up our little tête-à-tête," the woman smiled. "Ditch that spoil-sport. Come with me. I'll be more gentle this time. Pro-mise."

"Venus," another woman appeared behind the blonde, one with long brown hair done to a pony-tail. "Stop it. You caused enough trouble already."

"But Jupiter…I didn't even get to test-drive him yet…!"

"Pluto's waiting for us, and she's not going to be happy if you're late," the woman, Jupiter interrupted coldly.

"Phooey," Venus pouted. "Oh well… next time, lover-boy!"

Negi watched the two Senshi leave, with Keitaro shaking somewhat as he stared at the pond.

Not another word was said.


Negi and Keitaro stared into space. Ayame had already left, his father calling her outside, leaving the two men alone. Silence reigned as the carriage slowly traveled on the rough road, sending a bump or two on their way, yet they kept still, letting the world pass them by.

Finally, Negi felt he had been silent long enough. "We're not in the past, are we?"

"Afraid not," Keitaro replied quietly. "What happened? Did you make a mistake? Did I screw something up?"

"No… it was an accident," the mage sighed. "Pluto's attack got through… and it was powerful enough to disrupt my magic, probably blowing a huge hole in Time-Space, landing us to another dimension. That's the only thing I can think of right now. We got lucky."

"Lucky? How is this lucky?" Keitaro asked.

"Well… we're still alive, aren't we?" the mage smiled a bit. "We could have gotten scattered across Time-Space in atomic particles."

"Eh…" Keitaro groaned at Negi's imagery, and agreed silently that he was right. They were lucky to be alive. "So… what now?"

"I'll study my spell and Pluto's attack. If I can simulate another phenomenon in a controlled environment where I can study its effects, I can reverse-engineer the accidental spell effect, and find a way to finally cross more dimensions," Negi declared.

"You lost me…" Keitaro muttered, making the mage chuckle.

"What I meant was I'll modify my Time-Space spell, and see if we can cross Universes to get back home," Negi simplified.

"That's good!" the samurai declared.

"Yeah… but…"

"Oh… damn. I hate this part," Keitaro sighed. "Alright. What is it now?"

"I have no idea how to get ourselves back accurately," Negi whispered. "I may simulate a way to cross dimensions, but the spell was, firstly, created by a freak accident. Even if I can repeat the spell safely, it'll just repeat its effects: crossing dimensions blindly."

Keitaro groaned, putting the palm of his hand to his forehead.

"This sucks, Negi."

"I know, Keitaro… I know."

To Be Continued…

Author's notes:

Exploring the past of Keitaro and Negi. Some differences from canon, and I may have ignored most of Negima!'s timeline. Added more backstory to give more depth of Keitaro's vendetta with the Senshi. :P Enjoy it guys. Later!