Hello everyone! Anima again here to offer you another chapter in TF! Hope you enjoy it!
'Thoughts'
'emphasis'
DetatchedPuppet: Glade your liking it so much! I hope you continue to enjoy it even more as I keep writing!
Chapter 5
Negi was currently sitting down, his face in his hands as disbelief and panic welled up in his chest, the weight of what he had just heard overwhelming him. Chris, who was sitting across from him and munching on an apple, looked at Negi with a somewhat annoyed expression.
"Ya know Negi, I think you're being a little overdramatic about this."
Negi's head shot up to glare at the offending words of his friend.
"Over dramatic?! You dare to tell me that despite the situation you've thrown us in right now? Our necks could be on the line here and you go around telling the first person you meet all about magic! I'm surprised that I'm not panicking even more then I already am!"
Chris took another bite to his apple, his expression entirely nonplussed.
"You're right about that. I've seen you freak out even more over lesser issues. Gotta admit I'm impressed."
"Not the point of our conversation right now Chris!"
"Alright, chill already. Geez, I don't really see what the big deal is right now Negi. I mean, Asuna-neechan gets to keep her memories, doesn't she?"
As if to emphasize his point, Chris jerked his head in Asuna's general direction, the girl simply watching the two boys verbally discuss the current situation with a bemused expression. Negi shook his head before he turned his attention back to Chris.
"You know why she gets to keep her memories. However, that's beside the point. Asuna should be the only exception to the rule, not the foundation to break it at our leisure! You don't know if Okochi-san will be able to keep it a secret."
At that one, Asuna spoke up to get both boys attention.
"Actually Negi-bozu, I would trust Okochi-san the most in terms of keeping a secret. She's one of the nicest people I know and I don't ever remember her ever having broken her word to anyone. I'll have to agree with Chris on that one. Though I have to admit Chris, I honestly expected you to be the more careful mage."
Chris lightly blushed at Asuna's words.
"Hey, we aren't all perfect you know. If anything, it just puts me and Negi on the same foundation. He got found out, then I got found out."
Negi cocked his eyebrow up at that.
"Say what? If anything, this latest problem shows that your actually worse at keeping magic a secret then I am. That's 2 times you've been discovered so far."
"Woah woah woah! Say what?! When was the first time?"
Negi pointed to Asuna. Chris shook his head viciously.
"Oh no! You're not pinning that on me! Asuna was more your problem, not mine!"
"She found us both out Chris! You can't wiggle your way out of that one!"
Asuna decided to break this up, the words of an argument already starting to form on both boys lips.
"It doesn't matter who got discovered first or how many times you got found out. The point of the matter is that Okochi-san knows about magic and us in general. End of the point. As long as Chris is willing to take responsibility for it, then I don't see any more issue."
Chris smiled at Negi victoriously, however, Asuna looked back over at the dark-haired youth with a cross expression on her face.
"However, we shouldn't be making this a habit alright. It's bad enough I'm stuck knowing about it, Akira finding out about it was just an accident, but that doesn't mean anyone else should know."
Chris grumbled to himself at Asuna's words, the truth of them somewhat surprising him. Negi smiled at Asuna with an approving nod of his head before he turned to look back at the bathroom door where Konoka currently resided.
"Well… as long as we don't tend to have any more issues with this, I think we can go ahead and call this resolved."
Chris let out a small sigh before he also nodded in agreement.
"Got it. However, I hope you don't mind, but if Akira-chan decides to learn about magic, I'm going to bring her to this room to try. Is that okay Asuna-chan?"
Asuna gave Chris a firm look, but she let out a sigh a moment later.
"Fine… just be careful alright? I don't want to explain to Konoka about why there are holes in the wall or burns marks on the furniture."
"Relax, I won't teach her how to do anything super dangerous unless she wants me to. Otherwise, I think this will be an-"
Suddenly, the sound of the door opening up caused everyone to stop talking and look at Konoka as she walked out… in nothing but a towel.
"I can't believe I forgot to grab a new pair of… Oh? What are you talking about? Are you having secret meetings behind my back? That's not fair!"
Negi felt a blush overcome his face as he turned his attention away from Konoka. Asuna could only face palm while Chris grinned to himself.
"Aptly timed fanservice moment by a wonderful female? 9/10."
His words earned him a cleaned clock to the head by Asuna.
Xx A few days later xX
Akira couldn't concentrate at that moment. Despite the fact that she was in the middle of a math lesson, she honestly couldn't write her notes on the subject material. Her lack of concentration one came from the fact that she didn't have any real sleep over the last few nights, but even then, the core root of that problem was the very one as to why she couldn't think right now. She had discovered that Negi-sensei, Asuna, and Chris all could use magic…. Well, two of those three could, but they all knew about magic in the first place. Even more surprising was the fact that magic was in fact a reality, and she had been up almost every night thinking about the possibility of such a wonder. She was, and in fact still was restless about knowing this. Suddenly the world she knew about seemed… smaller, and more false to her now that she knew this, and she had been thinking over and over about things in her life that may or may not have been related to magic. At first, she had been somewhat excited about the concept of magic, but the more she thought about it, the more she had come to realize her deeper thinking of magic was scaring her. So many what if's and maybe's where swirling around in her mind that it was keeping her up and seriously unfocused. So much so that she missed when the teacher, Seruhiko-sensei, called her out.
"Okochi-san? Okochi-san, are you okay?"
Akira jumped and quickly spun her head around to see that Seruhiko-sensei was looking at her in a worried manner. Akira noticed that she not only had the teacher's attention, but the attention of her classmates as well. She wasn't the smartest girl in the class, not by far, but she had been known to be very diligent in paying attention when the teacher was talking. The fact that she had to be called out made everyone curious. The swimmer felt her face flush horridly and she tried to act as normal as possible.
"What? Yes, I'm sorry! Yes, I'm fine sensei! I… dozed off for a moment was all."
Seruhiko gave her something of a puzzled look before he gave her a small nod.
"Alright then… but if you have a problem, make sure to let someone know alright? You and everyone else need to focus for the exams coming up next week after all."
Okochi nodded in understanding once before she went back to her books, her embarrassment still evident on her face. She hadn't been planning on it, but she was going to go and talk with Chris later this afternoon. She was feeling too much anxiety over this, and maybe he could shed some light on it all. At around lunch break, Akira sent Chris a message asking him if later this afternoon would be a good time for him to answer some questions she happened to have. The reply came very quickly, with Chris saying that he was totally okay with the idea and that he would try to get Negi in on it as well seeing as it wouldn't hurt for her to get to know people with magical capability. Akira felt that he may have replied a little too quickly, but she wasn't going to complain about it.
Xx later that Afternoon xX
"So, I know what you're thinking Akira-chan… 'where are the other tenants of this room?' To be entirely honest with you, I have no earthly idea."
Akira, who was currently seated at the coffee table in the middle of the room, had been about to ask that very question, but opted to change the question when Chris answered it.
"So… do you know where they happen to be at the moment?"
Chris, who was seated across from her, shrugged his shoulders indifferently.
"No idea, I just remember that Asuna grabbed Negi and shouted something at me as she left, saying that they would be back by tomorrow at the latest. Konoka went with them of course, which in turn left me by myself in this room. I can't say them all leaving was a good idea though, since Negi knows I'm prone to booby trap anything I can get my hands on while Konoka and Asuna don't know that."
"… did you plan on pulling pranks?"
"I already had them in place before you even got here. Let's just say Asuna isn't going to like it when she opens her clothes drawer."
Akira couldn't help but nervously laugh at that, the fact that she heard it but wasn't going to do anything about it leaving her feeling maybe a little guilty. However, Chris's next words put it out of her mind, and she payed attention when he started talking.
"Enough about that. You had some questions concerning magic didn't you? Lay them on me, I can answer anything you might want to know."
Akira chuckled under her breath at Chris's eager attitude to tell her, but she could only scratch the back of her head sheepishly.
"Well… I don't really have a lot in the way of grand questions or anything of the sort. I just wanted to know some things in regards to magic was all. Just general things like… is magic a pure force of energy or is it more of a living thing? Can everyone use it or is it just limited to those who have particular talent? Can it be as dangerous as I've seen in anime and Manga or it is more limited than that? Things like that."
Chris nodded his head in understanding before he tapped his chin in some thought.
"I see I see… well, I can go ahead and answer those last two for you starting with the second one. In terms of if everyone can use magic, it all depends on the system your using. In terms of the new magic, not everyone can use it or use it effectively. In terms of mages, you can have someone be born between two mages, but not have enough skill to cast a basic spell. However, this is pretty uncommon to happen, so in general it would be safer to say that a good majority of people can actually use new magic. However, in the case of old magic, absolutely anybody can use it, even those who don't have a magical spark in their bodies. In answer to the last question, magic is as dangerous as anybody who uses a gun, it all depends on the person. However, many would disagree with me by saying that magic involving necromancy, the dark arts, demonic pacts and all that are treated as evil. My personal view is that it's only as evil as your willing to be. However, new magic is more treated as 'good' magic while old magic is treated as evil. A notion I highly disagree with."
Akira titled her head in some thought and contemplated that answer for a moment. She then looked back to Chris with another question on her lips.
"You've said that a few times now when I think about it. New magic and old magic. I'm a little confused by that, why do you call them that? And what makes them old magic and new magic?"
Chris didn't answer immediately and instead put his hand to his chin and began to stroke it in thought.
"Hum… to understand this one, it would be best if I started off with answering that first question you asked. The one about whether magic is simply a pure force of energy or a sentient living thing. That's a question that has had people debating for a good many years and I'm afraid any answer I give would be clouded with my own version of it."
"Why is that?"
"Because this goes back to the topic of old magic and new magic. Depending on your view point, you can say either choice is right, but I personally believe it to be the latter option. Magic is a sentient and living thing, it has a mind of its own no matter how alien it might be. In the view of New Magic though, it is simply an energy source of the universe that is inexhaustible. In terms of new magic, one bends the magic to his own will and molds it with incantations to create a desired effect. The problem I have with this is that, more often than naught, you bend the will of the spirits to do your bidding. Old magic takes your own magic and gives it to the spirit in exchange for the spirit to grant your wish, or your desire."
Akira looked on at Chris seriously, one option sounding a little better than the other in her opinion.
"Well that seems cruel. Why would you try to bend a spirits will? It just seems as if one option just makes you a bully."
Chris smiled at her warmly before he put his elbows on the table and held his hands out.
"I'm happy you think that way. However, as much as I am loath to admit it… well, let me just show you instead. You know what a salamander is?"
Akira thought about it for a moment, her focus going to the ceiling as she tapped her chin with her pointer finger.
"If we are talking magic… then it's the fire spirit, right?"
Chris nodded his head.
"Good answer, 100 points for my pupil. Let me show you what I'm talking about with a salamander."
Chris closed his eyes and gently clasped his hands together. For a moment, Akira was curious as to what he was doing, but when Chris's hands suddenly caught fire, she fell backward in shock only to quickly scrabble to her feet and start to panic. However, a gentle look from Chris told her that he wasn't in any kind of pain, and when she looked more closely at the fire in his hands, it didn't seem to be spreading anymore over his body then over his wrists. Cautious, Akira continued to look on before Chris sucked in deeply and began to pull his hands apart. Akira's eyes widened in shock and wonder as the fire just seemed to stay connected as his hands separated. Even more surprising was that there seemed to be something forming in the middle of the flame as he continued to pull his hands apart.
At first, it looked like some kind of small black coal that looked plenty charred. However, as the flame continued to expand, the small black 'coal' started to… burn in reverse was the only thing that came to mind when Akira watched it. It started to burn around the edges with a low dull burn, but then it spread to the rest of it and began to turn a very clean bright red color before it began to take shape. Akira watched in wonder as the thing sprouted lizard like legs, a tail, and eventually a cute lizard head with wide a mouth filled with small sharp teeth. Eventually the fire began to dissipate, but oddly enough, when it did vanish, a dorsal fin of fire could be seen on the salamanders back. The spirit then opened it's eyes and Akira saw the magma colored orbs look up at her with a strange sense of intelligence. However, Chris was the thing that caught its attention when he spoke up.
"Of all the spirits I have a contract with, Salamander is the most recent of them. This will allow me to show you perfectly why old magic is dangerous in its own way."
Akira watched as Chris reached into his cloak and seemed to pull out a candlestick and candlestick holder. Both Akira and the Salamander watched him as he set it up in the middle of the table, though one was out of curiosity while the other was a steady look of indifference. After setting it up, Chris turned his attention to salamander and gave the creature a knowing nod.
"Light the candle for me if you would please."
The creature looked to Chris, and then back to the candle on the table. Akira watched the exchange between the two of them for a few more seconds before the entire candle, stand and all, erupted into white hot flames. For the second time in 20 minutes, Akira fell back in shock and quickly got back on her feet. However, Chris wasn't bothered by this at all and nodded once again at the flaming lizard.
"Alright, go ahead and consume the flames please."
Akira watched as the lizard seemed to give its own nod and simply opened its mouth as if to make some kind of noise. However, all she could hear was an inhaling of breath, and the swimmer watched dumbfoundedly as the flames currently scorching the whole of the candle began to fall away and fly into the elementals mouth. Eventually the fire was consumed and all that was left to indicate the fire was the molten mess of metal that was on the table. Chris held his hand out and Akira watched as the salamander crawled its way onto his arm and latch itself on the upper arm. Chris reached over and gently pet the elemental on the nose, the salamander making a clicking noise that sounded suspiciously content. Chris did that for a moment longer before he turned his attention back to Akira.
"So, tell me, what exactly did I just try to show you Akira-chan?"
Akira wasn't sure how best to answer the question, her thought process still trying to figure out how best to piece the question and the situation together.
"Um… that a Salamander is very powerful?"
Chris looked at her for a moment with an unreadable expression before he let out a small sigh.
"Well… you're not wrong. But that wasn't the answer I was looking for. I'll give you another chance along with a hint. What exactly did I ask Salamander to do, and what happened?"
Akira went back to a few moments ago and thought it out meticulously before she gave her answer, as unsteady as she was with it.
"You asked it to light the candle?"
"Correct, but what normally comes to mind when you think about lighting the candle."
Suddenly, it hit her. Akira looked to the charred remains of the candle and then back to the Salamander wrapped around Chris's upper arm realization coming to her eyes.
"I see it now… It understood what you wanted of it, but it didn't understand in the way that a human would think of it."
"DING DING DING! Correcto! As you have just witnessed, you can ask a spirit for a wish or to fulfill a certain task, but unless it's explained in a way the spirit can understand, the spirit or elemental can only fulfill the wish in the way it best knows how. Many many new practitioners, and even some veterans have lost their lives failing to understand this one basic concept. And this is just in the realms of elementals. Ask a wish of a fey, and they'll grant it in a way you'll least expect, and many times not in a way you wanted it to be done. Demons are the worst of the lot though seeing as they'll twist your words for their own to make things work out for them in the end. Even asking gods for favors can have some serious repercussions or they can ask ridiculous prices for their favors. Add on top of the fact that if you don't have enough magical energy to fulfill the contracts exchange and the creature in question has by right to take from you the equivalent of the asking price. This normally means your life force or in some instances, your soul. In other words, to be a user of ancient magic means you have to have an affinity with words and word play and to know the limits of what you can obtain by your own power. You know that old saying, 'he who chases two rabbits catches neither.' "
Akira nodded her head in understanding.
"I see… I guess old magic is kinda dangerous isn't it…"
Chris gave her a serious look as he nodded his head.
"Yes, not to say that new magic doesn't have its own dangers, but new magic was created to bypass this system. But, as my master has taught me, I shall teach you this phrase. 'Be wary, be respectful, and be kind.' Having used this phrase, I have managed to keep a healthy respect and love of old magic in all its forms, even the unsavory bits."
Akira smiled at Chris and the unrestrained pride in his voice, and couldn't help but feel a small amount of respect for his love of something others shun.
"I see… I honestly don't know if I plan on learning magic or not, but I'll keep it close to my heart nonetheless. Honestly though, wouldn't it just be easier to befriend the spirit or fey? That way they would more then be willing to listen to you?"
Chris crocked his eye open a little in surprise before he gave her a smile like to one who offered a comforting idea.
"That's one good way to do it. In a way, you're talking about making spirits, fey, and demons into familiars. It's a little harder to do since you're basically entering into a type of short or long term pact with the creature in question. However, things tend to go much easier if you have a certain affinity with said creature. That goes for both magic and personality. Not to say you can't align yourself with a fey that's not that interested in you, but it tends to be a little harder to rely on that creature if things should get hairy."
Akira looked at the Salamander on the young mans arm, the creature looking quite content being there.
"Does that mean you have an affinity with salamanders?"
Chris gave the girl a knowing smile before he answered her.
"Magic basics 101. Be careful who you reveal information about yourself to. That kind of information in the hands of an enemy mage or spellcaster can put you at a serious disadvantage. Even masters must be wary of pupils who seek such information. One would be inclined to think that the apprentice would seek to steal the masters secrets."
Chris revealed his eyes, and for a moment, Akira felt a heavy pressure come from them behind the false mirth. A shiver run up her spine, and for a moment, Akira actually felt afraid of the young man before her. A second later though and the look was gone, Chris smiling at her with an apologetic look in his eyes.
"Sorry sorry… Bad habit my own master ingrained in me. I'm not going to do anything to you, and I did swear to reveal anything you might want to know about magic… but if you don't mind, I think I'll keep that bit of info to myself. Not because I'm afraid you'll do anything to me, you actually seem a very sweet kind of girl. Mostly out of a fear that another mage might try to pry it from you. It not uncommon for an enemy mage to try to pry secrets from an apprentice by torturing them… sorry, that's not really making you feel much better is it?"
Akira had felt her blood drain from her face and the pit of her stomach felt like a small blotch of ice.
"Is… is that common?"
"No! well… not anymore anyway. There's so few users of old magic in this day and age that trying to kill each other is considered taboo at this point. We also try to share what we know with each other anymore to try to keep the old traditions alive. Too much has been lost already and we can't afford to lose anymore…"
Akira watched as Chris looked away from her and gaze distantly at the window, a look of deep contemplation and sorrow in his face. She felt her heart go out to him in that moment, wondering what it must be like to slowly lose something one might love. Shaking his head, Chris looked back to her as he reached over to his arm and picked the salamander up by its middle and placed it back on the table, a small sound escaping the creatures sharp maw that sounded suspiciously like it was voicing its displeasure at being removed from its perch.
"Anyway! I think that answers the questions you had already posed to me. Did you have anymore?"
"Well… if you're not planning anything for the rest of the night…"
Chris smiled at her in unadulterated joy, like a child would when presented the chance to show off his favorite toy.
Xx the next day. xX
"Hum… this is not good…"
Chris said to no one in particular as he looked at his rather vacant room. Akira had left late last night, the girl seemingly filled with all kinds of questions about old and new magic until eventually he had to tell her to head to bed so she could at least try to retain some of the information. That had been about ten thirty at night, and Chris had been expecting the other three he shared this room with to be back by then. However, when no one had shown back up even after midnight, he had decided to just go to sleep, expecting them to show up some time early in the morning. Sadly, that had not been the case, and in order to cover for Asuna's part time job, he had to phone in and tell them she had been sick. However, the thing that had worried him the most was when he had gone digging around in Negi's stuff (Mostly out of sheer boredom) and found a whole bunch of notes pertaining to a class study session that Negi had planned today. Problem was, Negi was nowhere to be seen along with 2 of the students. However, as unusual and worrisome as this situation was, Chris could feel that fate was pulling him in an odd direction. That direction being that he needed to go to this study session. What for, he couldn't tell, but he could feel something being worked out here. Sighing to himself, Chris could only scratch the back of his head in annoyance before he gathered up all of Negi's material and made himself look presentable. Even if it was a Saturday, that didn't mean he shouldn't look decent. Thankfully, he had magically attached the room door to one of the less used rooms in the class building that Negi frequented, mostly for ease of access.
After making sure that no one had been watching him walk through, Chris made his way to class 2-A. It was about eight in the morning, so a number of people had already shown up, but Chris could tell by looking through the windows that a number of them where somewhat confused. Chris was also surprised to see that a good number of the girls on the roster where here to study, and he felt that mysterious tug in the back of his mind telling him this was the right thing to do. Checking himself one more time to see if he was presentable, Chris opened the door, upon which every eye in the room turned to him. Many faces didn't recognize him, some seemed to be trying to remember why he looked somewhat familiar, and others recognized his face. For a moment, Chris wasn't sure what exactly to say, however, a familiar face in the crowd allowed him to break his own awkward staring.
"Ah, Akira-chan."
The sound of her name caused the swimmer to turn around and see the one calling her. Needless to say, she was a little surprised to see Chris here.
"Ah, Chris-kun! What are you doing here?"
At the sudden realization between the two, everybody in the class instantly gravitated their attention onto the two, sudden interest piling high in the face of this new fact and the mysterious reason as to why the both of them knew each other. Chris could see all the curiosity and speculation beginning to form, but he decided to ignore them for now and answer Akira's question.
"Well… I happened to see that Negi had something planned for today with his notes here-"
Chris emphasized his point by showing of the folder in his arm.
"- So I opted to bring them to him. However, he wasn't back at the room, and from the looks of it, he isn't here either. He left with Asuna-chan and Konoka-neesan last night for something, but they didn't tell me what it was."
Chris could tell that many of the girls were disappointed in his answer, though he wasn't sure why until Akira spoke up.
"I see… in truth, none of us know what happened to Sensei either. I know that Makie-chan went along with the rest of the Baka Rangers last night, but they never came back either."
Chris began to stroke his chin in thought, his mind beginning to work a puzzle together.
"Hum… so Negi along with the Baka rangers went somewhere last night and never came back… Think it might be a long study session?"
Akira thought it out for a moment before she gave him a simple look.
"I wouldn't rule it out, but at the same time, there isn't enough information to go off of to know if that's the case or not."
Before either of them could continue the conversation, someone made their presence known. That someone being the class president.
"I'm sorry, what was that about Negi-sensei and the Baka rangers being in an all-night study session? A session I was not invited to for that fact?"
Akira knew that it would be best if she kept quiet, but Chris wasn't quite so inclined to keep his mouth shut.
"I don't know if that's what happened, but I can only assume that's what it was. I don't think you would need it though with the way Negi praises you for your grades."
At the mention of Negi having said something about her, Ayaka's eyes practically lit up.
"Did he?! But of course he would! I'm not the president of class 2-A for nothing after all! It's only natural someone with my charm, smarts, and ability wouldn't be mentioned by the ever sweet, loving and oh so angelic Negi-sensei! Oh ho ho ho."
Chris grinned to himself in a manipulative fashion but stopped himself as he walked over to the desk and put the notes on it.
"Enough about that… so do you guys happen to have some kind of substitute teacher to take Negi's place until he gets back? Actually… if you don't mind my asking, why are you studying on a Saturday of all days?"
One of the girls in the back, he believed her name was Madoka Kugimiya, answered for him.
"Negi-sensei happened to want to do it today because we happen to have finals this Monday."
Chris cocked his head to the side as he pulled up a chair and plopped it in front of the class to listen to what she said before he gave his own thoughts.
"Oh? I see how he might want you guys to try your best. He's always pushing others to give it their all. But aren't you guys an escalator school or something? Your pretty much guaranteed to get into the next level no matter how bad you do."
Chris saw that he got a number of agreements on that one.
"Yeah!"
"We are!"
"I don't see why we need to do this on a Saturday of all days!"
Chris also nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, if I had this kind of choice, I would much rather be spending my weekend lazing about rather than worry about a test that won't mean much."
Where he could see that he had a number of girls agreeing with him, Chris was quick to note that one girl in particular looked troubled over what he was saying. That girl was Sakurako Shiina, and she looked semi-panicked.
"Uh… um… I get what you're saying guys, but I don't think we should be slacking off so much! I mean, there could be some serious issues if we don't actually do this correctly."
Now Chris was curious. The way that some of the other girls where giving Shiina weird looks, he could see that this wasn't something that came out of her mouth often, if at all.
"Why do you say that Shiina-chan? I can get how you might want to improve yourself, but If I was looking at this classes' average correctly, you guys have been dead last for most of middle school… and even before that. Why change now? Just take it easy."
Sakurako wanted to agree, but she found Chris's lack of care somewhat irritating for someone who was friends with one of the affected party.
"Don't you care what happens to your friend?! If we get last place again this year, then negi-sensei will be-"
Suddenly realizing what she was saying and what she had promised Negi, Sakurako tried to shut her mouth, but it was too little to late judging by the knowing grin she was getting from Chris and the surprised look's from the rest of the class.
"Oh? What's going to happen to Negi if 2-A gets last place Shiina-chan? This is the first time I've heard of something like this."
Sakurarko could tell she was stuck, with the class giving her quizzical looks and Chris's ominous smile. She pretty much knew she had blown her secret and thus spilled the beans.
"Geez! Negi-sensei will get fired if 2-A doesn't manage to pull itself out of last place this term!"
There would have been a moment of shocked silence, but Ayake had already done that and was already in the stupefied phase of reaction.
"SAY WHAT!? Sensei will get fired if we don't pull our butt's out of last place!? Why didn't you mention something so important before Sakurako-san!?"
"That's what I just said! And Sensei made me promise not to tell anybody!"
Chris looked on between the two girls, the smile having quickly fallen away from his face and replaced with a serious look of contemplation.
'Negi risks getting fired because a bunch of idiot teens can't scramble together enough brains together to fill a thumb tack!? What the fuck! What is this bullshit!'
"Shiina-chan, are you sure that's true?"
The Cheerleader, who had managed to work her way out of Iincho's grasp, looked on to Chris with a disheartend look.
"Yeah… it was on a letter from the principle… it said something about it being a final challenge in his training or something…"
Chris stopped listening to her at that point, the mention of the headmaster setting Chris's thought aflame.
'Final challenge? So this has something to do with Negi's training? Shit… this is going to be a hard challenge for him to fill…'
Looking out at the girls, Chris could see that many of them where talking amongst themselves, looks of worry on their faces about the way this was turning out. However, a rallying call from the class leader caused them to stop thinking and look to Ayake.
"Alright everyone! This is no time to be slacking off! We need to get ourselves ready for that test Monday! We all need to at least boost our scores by 10 points if we want to keep our precious teacher! I don't want to see anybody slacking off, and I want you people who don't normally study to put your nose's to the grindstone for once!"
Where Chris was expecting some retaliation in the form of words, he was surprised to see that many of the girls may have looked somewhat agitated, but they didn't voice any discontent with the idea at all.
"It can't be helped after all…"
"It would really suck for Negi-sensei to lose his job because we didn't try hard enough."
Chris was thoroughly impressed with Ayake's leading capability and couldn't help but smile at the group as they started to actually treat this seriously.
"Huh… Well, if you guys want to try hard then I guess I can try to help you out as well. I might not look it, but Negi and I did graduate from the same university after all. Though my own degree's tend to fall under Biology, Theology, and mythology. I took a lot of English as well though, so I'm sure I can help you out."
Ayake, along with a good deal of the rest of the class, where quite impressed and relived with the fact that they were going to be receiving help. However, even with all this, everyone knew deep down that there was still one problem, and the class Representative let it be known.
"Sadly, the real issue is Asuna and the rest of the Baka rangers…"
Chris nodded his head in understanding as he folded his arms.
"Yeah, I know where your coming from… but you guys can't possible fail so long as they don't get absolute zero after all."
As if to spit in the face of his words, it was in that moment that fate opted to throw a curveball in the direction of 2-A. In that precise moment after those words left Chris's mouth, Haruna and Nodoka busted through the door, sheer panic on their faces.
"Bad news Guys! Negi-sensei and the Baka ranger have all gone missing!"
The silence was almost palpable, but the words on everyone's minds was given voice by Chris.
"Yeah, it's official now. You guys are screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewed."
Nobody's face said otherwise, however, Ayake tried to quell such inner thoughts and problems by showing a face of confidence.
"D-Don't worry! We just need to study for the time being everyone! I'll see what I can do about Negi-sensei and the Baka rangers! I'll organize the whole Yukihiro Group if that's what it takes to rescue that darling little boy!"
Chris wasn't sure if the girl, despite being rich, could do such a thing, but he had the feeling she probably would if left to her own devices. However, he didn't let it get that far when he spoke up.
"Eh, don't worry about mobilizing a whole group Iincho-chan. I happen to work with the Campus Police force (Tentative), so I'll see what I can do about finding him. Until then, You guys should go ahead and get studying. No point finding him if you're not ready to take on your final exam after all!"
Chris gave the class a wide smile, something the class found rather charming and uplifting in that situation. After that, Chris quickly introduced himself to the girls seeing as he had yet to do so with the rest of the class and got them started on what curriculum that Negi had set up for the day. He was no teacher though, not actually having been taught how to do it, and somewhat had to call on Ayaka's help to help keep the class in order. Eventually, they got to a point where Chris felt comfortable with leaving them alone long enough to go and see the Headmaster. Students were missing after all and Kuzunoha-sensei wasn't in today. Chris eventually made his way to the headmasters office and decided to forego ceremony and just kick the door in to see if the old man was here.
"Knock knock! We got ourselves an emergency… old… man…"
For a moment, Chris was having a hard time processing what exactly it was he was looking at. If he was to put it as basically as he possibly could, then it looked as if Konoe was currently seated at his desk with a scrying mirror in front of him, currently looking at the young nude bodies of some odd three girls bathing in what he saw as some kind of pond. Konoe, who looked as if was about to do something, looked on at Chris in confusion, which quickly turned to surprise, then horror.
"Ah… um… Chris-kun… you really shouldn't be kicking in doors… you should knock you know, it's only proper behavior…"
"And you're the proper example of Model behavior by peeping on young teenage girls bathing amiright?"
"Geh! I assure you that it's not what it looks like!"
"Well you better start explaining what it is then cause if you don't I'm about to report you to the police. That is my job you know."
The next few minutes where spent with Konoe hastily explaining a few things in terms of what was going on, things that quickly answered a few of Chris's own questions in regards to where Negi and the rest of the Baka rangers had managed to get off to. After a few minutes of explaining all of this, Chris nodded his head in some understanding about the situation.
"Alright… I get it now. So in order to monitor how Negi is coming along as both a teacher and a mage, you decided to put him up to this test by spreading a rumor to the baka rangers that the class would be split up. Knowing that Yue would know something about a magic book, you opted to get them down there… I can see the reasoning and planning that went into this."
The old man let out a small relived sigh, that is until Chris spoke up again.
"Sadly I still don't see how peeping on girls bathing helps though."
"Like I said! The golem fell in after them! It fell in the lake where I've kept it docile until I turned it on a little while ago. I had no idea that they were bathing in the pool! it just so happened to fall in! It's purely accidental!"
Chris gave the old man a long stare before he spoke cautiously.
"Your excuse holds… just barely though. I'm willing to let it go since I found what I came here for."
Chris looked back at the Scrying glass and noted that Negi was currently in view, though he seemed to be under the vicious assault of the girls teasing at seeing them naked. Chuckling to himself, Chris nodded his head at the dean.
"Alright then headmaster. I'll go ahead and head on… also, sorry about busting your door in."
Konoe simply nodded as he stroked his long beard, the man looking sage-like despite his accidental peeping.
"Quite alright. It's good to know your concerned for your friends. I only ask you be more careful in the future is all."
"I'll make sure to do that. I do have a question though, how are they gonna get them out from… wherever they are?"
"You just leave that to me. They'll be back by Monday, I assure you."
Not going to question it anymore, Chris let out a satisfied grunt before he turned himself around.
"Alright then, have a good day headmaster, and try not to peek for too much longer eh?"
The old man simply let out an annoyed 'harumph' before Chris left. After that, he opted to go back to the classroom and see what he could do to help out, but by the time he got back, he could see that Ayaka Yukihiro had taken over and that the class seemed to be doing well enough on its own. Looking it over one more time, Chris could see that everyone that had shown up was being serious about this. However, it was the people that weren't here that got him curious. Minus the Baka rangers and Konoka, Chris could see that there were three more students that where not accounted for in that classroom.
"Who where they again…"
Remembering that he happened to have Negi's roster in his hands, Chris looked down and cracked the book open. He quickly found the page he needed and looked the list over one time before he nodded his head in affirmation.
"I see… Sayo Aisaka, Chachamaru Karakuri, and… wait… what?"
Chris looked at the last name of the missing girls and could only blink in surprise and disbelief.
"No way… it can't be the same person… that one's a practical living legend."
Chris simply stared on at the book for a moment longer, the name bouncing off the page like an ominous curse as he rolled the name off his tongue.
"The doll master, The Dark evangel, Undying mage, Magi Nosferatu… Evangeline A.K. Mcdowell…"
Chris drummed his fingers across the back of the book in thought before an idea grasped at him. There was no way that this was some kind of coincidence, and what better way to discover the truth then to look for it? He then started to look through the rest of the book before he found the page with Evangeline's information on it and found that she didn't seem to live in the dorms. Instead, she seemed to be living on campus somewhere in the sakura-gaoka living area. A high class place mostly reserved for high paying people from the looks of it.
"Looks like it's time to pay this girl a visit and see if she is in fact the vampire of legend…"
Xx Sometime later, at Eva's cottage. xX
Of all the things that Evangeline had been expecting, a sudden house visit from someone she hardly even knew was not very high on that list. The blonde vampire, despite knowing about today's study session, had opted to stay put in her homely little cottage where she was free to plan her next move in regards to the Springfield child. Sometime around afternoon though, and that plan was put on hold when someone had knocked on her door. At this time of the day, she honestly couldn't say who it was seeing as all the teachers would be off campus enjoying their free time and she was certain she had no friends at all that would bother to come visit her… assuming she had friends to begin with. It was more out of a sense of curiosity then any kind of courtesy that she answered the door. When she did though, her curiosity only peaked further followed by some surprise. Standing right outside her door was the boy that many of the girls where talking about in equal measure alongside Negi. Chris Abernathy if she recalled correctly. She hadn't paid attention to any of the gossip of course, seeing as her only interest was in Negi Springfield. It was safe to say though that he now had her attention. Despite the initial surprise of finding this kid on her doorstep, she kept a cool face as she looked at him icily.
"What do you want?"
Despite the cold look, Chris was nothing if not brightly smiling. He then spoke up in perfectly legible English.
"Howdy there! Would I be correct in guessing that this is the home of Evangeline A.K. Mcdowell?"
Cocking her eyebrow in both curiosity and annoyance, Evangeline replied.
"You're talking to the person in question, so yeah."
"I see I see…"
For a moment, Evangeline could only watch as the boy in front of her eyeballed her up and down, as if to scrutinize her for some reason. It made her feel as if he was looking for something, and it felt odd to be sure. She was going to say something to him, but he spoke up just as the words where on her lips.
"So, I know this is probably out of left field for you, but you are the Magi Nosferatu correct? The Dark Evangel? Puppet Master? The Evangeline Anastasia Katherine Mcdowell feared far and wide in the magical world since the age of the 100 Year War?"
The boy had been right, that had been so far out of left field it left her blinking in some confusion and with her mouth hanging open stupidly.
"Huh?!"
"Last I remember, 'huh' was not an answer to a question, or so my father taught me."
Evangeline shook her head to clear her mind of her momentary perplexity before she glared at the young man, her hostile intent clearly showing.
"I couldn't care less if your father taught you how to access the Akashic Records! Who the fuck are you?"
Chris blinked once in his own confusion before his eyes suddenly lit up in sudden thought.
"Ah, I had assumed that most people know who I was. The name is Chris Abernathy, a friend of-"
"That was a rhetorical question, I know who you are! Who are you and what do you know about me?!"
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… that's what you meant. Now I get it."
Chris nodded his head in acceptance as he seemed to be acting out the part of a suddenly enlightened scholar, an act that was currently causing the vampire to want to wring his neck.
"Answer the question or I'll show you what a Shinso vampire can do."
"Alright alright… don't get your panties in a wad for crying out loud… But if you're wondering, I was actually just curious about if you were in fact that very vampire. You pretty much answered that for me. This house visit was just to confirm that theory. Does this answer your question?"
For a moment, Evangeline could only blink in some blank confusion before what he said hit her.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… dammit… You're just a particularly smart brat with a knack for wanting to stick your nose in stupid ideas, aren't you?"
"Wow, you got me figured out almost to a T. But now that we got that figured out, might I perhaps impose a few questions upon you in regards to vampires? I assure you I will make it worth your while."
The scowl he got in answer would have curdled wine. Taking that as a hint for him to back off for a moment, Chris laughed nervously to himself.
"Eh he he he… sorry. Maybe I should have started off with something else. Actually, thinking about it, we're you not going to go and study for exams this coming Monday?"
"I have no reason to."
Chris titled his head curiously at her statement.
"Why is that?"
Rather than offer him an answer, Evangeline gave him one last glare before she slammed the door in his face.
"Ah! Hey! Come on!"
Chris knocked on her door a few more times, but all he got was the resounding echo of his frustration. Letting out an annoyed sigh, Chris took a few steps back and put his hand to his chin, stroking it in thought.
"Hum… well, I got the answer I was looking for at least… but that just begs the question… what is she doing here? And why does her magical power feel so weak?"
He had been looking for it since he had approached the Cabin, but in all honesty, her magical power was even lower than that of an average mundane. This told him one of two things. She either was not the vampire of legend as he had initially believed, or she either couldn't or wouldn't access her power. However, he had been letting of some magical waves the whole time, and even the most basic of mages could have felt the bloodlust in his intent, but she hadn't done a thing.
"So her power is sealed is it…"
He had heard that that had been the case, mostly due to the fact that it had been rumored that the Thousand Master had done it, but it was still amazing to see such a powerful creature brought low. Even more so when she was as cute as she looked. Chris chuckled to himself before he simply shrugged his shoulders and turned around to leave.
"Well… I got what I wanted, and I have no more reason to dig deeper into it then what I already have… maybe I can ask Takamichi about it later…"
Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Evangeline peeked a little outside of the window to watch Chris as he left. When he finally was out of site, she let out a relived sigh. It was easy to see that the young man, Chris, had figured out who she was. No, he had obviously come to the conclusion before he had even come here. However, that was confusing in of itself, and for Eva, she hated to be confused about anything. Walking away from the door, she found herself a spot at the table and sat down, her thumbnail finding a place in between her teeth as she started to chew her nail in deep thought.
"He showed up unexpectedly… is he aware of what I've been doing as of late and what my plans are for his friend? I don't think so… he didn't give off the vibe of someone coming for confrontation… but that could mean nothing…he may well be aware of what it is I'm doing and is waiting for… something."
It seemed a very likely option, but the Shinso was not one to put any stock into 'maybes'. Letting out a dissatisfied grunt, she looked to the calendar across the room.
"If he is aware or is suspecting me... it might be best to start speeding up the preparations to capture the Springfield… I had been planning on waiting until summer to make my move… but I can't afford to wait if I'm on the verge of being discovered… After the coming test, I'll devote all of my efforts into harvesting energy from more people…"
Nodding to herself at the plan she had, Evangeline got back up and made her way back to the couch to read, her plans spinning into motion as fate began to make a move.
Xx?xX
Outside of the Campus, something looked on at it with a look of minor annoyance. More specifically, it looked at the barrier as if it unconvinced it greatly. However, the creature was used to such barriers, having spent many many many years learning all that it could of magic in it's own right. Though this barrier was quite powerful and could repel even high ranking aberrations and demons, this one did not consider itself so mundane as to be held back. For a moment, nothing happened, but if anybody looked on at this particular spot of seclusion back behind the mahora campus, they would have seen what looked to be a thing of pure darkness reach up and place it's hands on thin air, as if halted there. More disturbingly, the vile smile that radiated from the inky shadow would have left one with the impression of a psycho just getting ready for the kill. A moment later and the thing slipped past the barrier, making no more a ripple than a fish diving back into water. When it finally did cross over, it seemed to just stand there for a moment. However, the sound of giggling was heard, a faintly cute sound, layered heavily with sweetness to beligh the darkness within.
"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeees… I knew I was not wrong… he is here… I will fiiiiiiiiiiiiind you my sweet sweet one… yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssss… I will find you… he he he he he he he."
With a small laugh sounding appropriate for a murderer, the shadow vanished into the woods, the area feeling just a slight more colder with the appearance of this new entity.
And with this, the last of the pre-created chapters is out, not it's just hard work to make the new chapters! I hope you all will be patient with me!