Disclaimer: I do not own Negima in any form or any character or borrowed from an outside source. Any such idea will be marked and accredited to its rightful source at the chapter's end notes.
Chapter 6: Attempted understanding/Attempted rescue part 2
8:30 Arena
Asuna and Setsuna wait with Craig in the hall from the arena that Sword and Shield where having their match. They made sure to keep out of view of exit to the battle area, just in case Shield was not alone when she came out to make matters worse because of the crowd Asuna had to use the age-deceiving candy, if it came to a fight using her sword would be out of the question. She braced herself as by the sound of the crowd there was no time for second guessing now as soon they would see just who this Shield was.
"Good job out there." Sword told his apprentice as they exited the arena, Shield clearly in a rush to leave. "Hold up if you too early then they will just kill you then continue with the operation!" Shield stopped and clenched her fist at the idea of waiting.
Asuna was curious about what could be so pressing, but more importantly she listened intently for any details on this operation, and these two's plan. "Good! Now remember as soon as you get target, head towards the northern market drop her off, then floor it towards the river. Your enemy will be distracted, divided, and clueless to the entire nature of your abilities, hell even your identity should be relatively safe for the most part. Meanwhile there're a few things I deal with to make sure that boy doesn't shot himself in the foot so to speak, but beyond that he is your problem." With those words he turned towards the opposite hall form Asunsa's group and left, but strangely Shied just stood there.
"You can come out now, Sensei is gone!" She called calmly, almost sounding glad, and stunning the group in wait.
Asuna could not believe it, she knew they were there! Did that mean that Sword knew when he left, and what boy did sword mean to help? There were just too many questions for her handle. While she tried to think Setsuna grabbed hold of her pacto card, but the treasure hunter just stepped into view.
"Mikomi?" He asked uneasily but with a strange amount of certainty in his voice. He got no response, but it seemed that the fighter did recognize him. "It's me, Craig Cladwell, don't you remember me? I've been looking for you ever since your parents sent you…" He pressed on moving closer almost in a daze.
When he was a little more than an arm's reach, Shield gave the sign for him to stop and slowly began to sake her. "Sorry…I am so sorry for the pain this must be causing you, but I am not her."
Craig was dumbfounded with disappointment, after all that it wasn't her. All the hope that had been building up for all those years of searching dashed in an instant, as if it was nothing! The very idea of it infuriated him no end, before knew what he was doing his fist was headed straight the side of Shield's hood. Asuna and Setsuna were alarmed by the treasure hunter's actions, and were about to move when a barrier appeared between them and the pair. "What!" Asuna shouted in shock, not only had the barrier appeared out of nowhere to cut them off, but she couldn't even see or hear what was going on the other side of the thing. "Dam it! It was a trick. I knew we shouldn't have trusted them!"
Setsuna immediately tried to dispel the barrier, but found it nothing like she had ever seen. Even if there were some barriers that could block sight and sound they required some sort of medium and could not be set up nearly as fast, and there was still the most unsettling factor that every other one lacked, the feeling it gave off was frighteningly similar to a ghost or even a demon. "Just what kind of power does this Shield use?" Then both of them felt a vibration travel through the barrier. "What was that!" she her heard her friend say, and could only think how much she would have liked to know the answer.
Shield did not use any such barrier to stop Craig's punch, and sent crashing to the floor hood once again coming off as Shield collided with her own barrier.
Craig was horrified by what he had just done, but was also stunned by the fact that Shield had not only allowed the hit, but also insured it. "Why didn't you stop it?" He thought aloud without meaning to.
"Because, I really am sorry, Craig-san…for everything." Shield replied tears in her eyes and a look of deep sense of sorrow on her face. "I'm sorry; I never meant to hurt any of you. You were all so good to me, and I mad think I was…"
She didn't finish, the tears turned to sobs, and the look on the treasure hunter's again turned to shock as it dawned on him who the girl really was. "Jou-chan!? What happened to you? Why…?"
"I'm sorry I can't explain now." Nodoka cut him off desperately as she had only a small window of time to sneak into the base and rescue Anya if she wanted to make any real difference in the fight. "Come to front gate tonight. I'll tell you everything, but I have to go now. Please not tell my friends who I am, I don't want them to think...!"
"It's ok, Jou-chan." Craig hastily agreed seeing how upset the girl was becoming. "You can explain everything tonight, let's say 7:00. Just don't go disappearing again before then, or I might just have to say something, ok."
Nodoka could only smile at the kindness behind his words. "Thank you, Craig-san." She hated to just leave it at after all that she had put them through, but she had to get moving, then she remembered something that still might be in time to help. She reached into a pocket in her dress and pulled out the papers on Fate's party, she had been studying them until they were called for the match in preparation for her task, if they got to Negi now it could help keep her friends safe until she got there. "Craig-san could you…" She asked hesitantly, as she pulled the papers out of her pocket, but was cut off before she could finish.
"Sure I'll give those to friends for you." He said solemnly with smile accepting the papers. "After all I need to make up for that hit somehow." He saw the girl about to say something, but cut her off. "Didn't you have somewhere to go? It sure seemed important whatever it was."
Nodoka stopped and nodded, he was right he was right it could wait till after she got Anya. She turned and with one final word of thanks ran off letting down her barrier once she was out of sight, leaving Craig to with a very agitated Asuna with no explanations to offer.
10:30 Northern marketplace.
Fate roamed the streets waiting for his target to come into view. It was vital to his plans to deal with the boy today, but he couldn't help feeling a bit of disappointment at having to let go the chance to fight him again, after all Negi Springfield was the first in years to even lay a hand on him. Still it was necessary complete his masters' plans.
Suddenly he meet with a surprise as someone grabbed his shoulder. To think that someone could do something without his notice excited him. "Hi, might I have a word with you over a cup of coffee?" The holding him asked in a stun manner. Fate turned to see Sword with a smirk on his face. "Come on, you have a little over an half an hour before the boy shows up, and I was hoping to avoid stepping on anybody toes needlessly."
Fate decided to accept the offer if only to find out why the man sounded so certain of the time that the boy would arrive, and after all he'd have to do to keep this man from interfering with his plans was to simply have him agree to, no matter how true Sword intended for the statement to be. "Fine, shall we use the coffee shop up the stairs?" He asked trying to judge Sword's reaction.
"No, let's use the one around the corner, less chance of interruptions, higher quality, and I've reserved a table." Sword answered casually turning his back to the white haired mage as they both proceeding to the coffee shop. They took their table and placed their order, waiting only seconds after the waitress left to get to business. "Well now before we begin let me assure you that I really don't care directly about your group's plan. The world can be blown to kingdom come for all I care, just as long as you don't jeopardize my plains. I swear to not raise a hand against you, your people, or your plans as long as your group doesn't conflict with my own, I'd even consider helping if it advances my own" Sword said mockingly carefree.
Fate could not believe it the idiot, not only walked into the same trap as he had for the boy, but he set off himself all he had to do was accept it. However he was not about to make the same mistake after all, a man who knew so much would be unlikely to leave such an opening. "And what might those plans be?"
Just then an obnoxiously high spirited voice bellowed. "Here you go sirs!" It was waitress with the coffee.
"Ah thank you Miss, that's all we need." Sword told her pleasantly before she could try to add to their order. He waited till the girl was gone before answering Fate's question. "My plan is to simply see how high I can raise my apprentice in terms of strength through any means need be."
"I fail to see how this affects me." Fate said mildly agitated.
"Well, you it is actually who my apprentice is, and what you have done to her in the past mandate this meeting. Does the name Nodoka Miyazaki ring a bell?" Sword said calmly as he stirred sugar into his coffee, not even bothering to look at Fate's unaffected face "No? Ah that's right you never got her proper name. Then how about 'Mind Reader'?"
This got Fate's attention. He immediately readied to go on the offensive. Now at least it was clear how the man knew when the boy would show, they were allies, and the fact that he called the mind reader his apprentice also cleared up how the man knew what he did. "I see so you didn't walk into my trap, as can't very while stay out of your way if it means harming the girl you hope to train."
"What trap? I don't see any…" Sword said playing dumb for a moment before taking on a joking manner. "Oh you mean the 'Ennomos Aetosfargis' clasped in your hand there, sorry wouldn't work if you tried it. Beside I see no reason to fight; actually I've come here to give you a hand."
Fate did not know what to make of it, not only had the man known about the artifact, but seemed fairly certain that it wouldn't work. Furthermore he claimed to be the mind reader's teacher, yet was offering to help her enemies. "Forgive me if I am a bit skeptical, but what help would a master give against his own apprentice?"
"Hmm…good question." Sword said playfully, before taking on a tone so serious that his guest expected an attack, but he simply pulled a rather impressive size folder which he handed over to Fate. "How about a cover story for when this plan goes array which could probably get the government to place the Crimson Wings under house arrest for aiding and abetting an unknown power intent on the extinction of mage-kind by accusing apprentice of basically mind controlling the very mage she's attendant to? That file should give you all the info you need."
"And what would you get out of making you apprentice the enemy of the world, wouldn't death hinder her training?" Fate said seriously to judge the man's true intent while signaling the man at the counter silently from under the table.
"Do you know what the difference between a rock and a gemstone is?" Sword asked smugly, wait just a moment to see if Fate would react to the question. "Heat and pressure. Necessity is the move of all invention, and creating more of it will only drive her closer to goal. All I ask is that: 1) You stop taking her out of the battle, after all if there is no video of her fighting how can you balm her for anything. 2) You wait about four to five months to use this information. Which time your agents in the governments can launch an official joint investigation and find some reason behind preventing your own plan. 3) You hand over the 'Ennomos Aetosfargis' to me."
He knew even that! Just how much does he know? I should take care of him now, but to take action now would alert Aliadne and the boy. Fate thought to himself as he considered what the man's statements so far. "Well that does sound interesting, but I am afraid the boy is he a potential threat to our plans that must be dealt with before his allies can aid him. The 'Ennomos Aetosfargis' is most effective way to do so under the current circumstances." Fate said politely getting up with the file.
"Fine how about this, I give those two you sent to stall Rakan a hand, and if the boy accepts the deal I bring the girl to you myself, but do you really think that they'd go for even your plan B? I mean your spells are based in slow moving earth magic, and with the princess a mass attack is really not a serious card" Sword offered quickly in a laid back manner. "If you agree we best get moving you got ten minutes till the boy gets here. If I was you I'd just leave that with that contact of yours at the counter."
Fate thought to himself as he considered what the man's statements so far. "That would solve the biggest problem with your offer, except how do I know I can trust you not to tell what you know to the governments, surly you must work for someone?" He replied silently chanting a spell, after a few second realized he felt nothing. It made no sense how could his magic not be working, then he noticed something else, something that scared even him. The world around him seemed to have come to a stop. Nothing, no one was moving. When? How? What did he do!? This goes against the very laws of magic itself! Fate thought to himself as he slowly turned to look at Sword.
"You see, I do work for someone, but we really don't care about the fate of one planet." Sword responded as he placed some money on the table and stood up, giving a chuckle at the word fate. "See the people I work for wouldn't think twice about destroying entire galaxies in search of the answer they seek, so the outcome of one planet is meaningless to me. Appetence wants to help the boy that is the driving force behind her growth. The harder you can push her then the better it will be for me, and if they fail then…well I'll just have to wait till a more interesting people come along. If you don't believe that then watch the finals, and I'll show you what real power is." With that he walked right up to Fate, and held out his hand, in which Fate placed the Ennomos Aetosfargis. "Good now when apprentice finds you make sure you don't go easy on her, or you will regret it. Six, you better get moving"
Fate just watched the man leave in disbelief, ether this Sword was mad to claim such power, or he was just bold with asserting it. Fate was surprised to find himself hoping it was the former as even a madman would be better then someone who'd use such power indiscriminately. He was about to leave when heard the waitress's voice again "Your bill sir." It was then that Fate realized not only had he just been made a tool for someone else's plan, but he would have to pay twice today because of this Sword.
In the ruins of Old Ostia same time
Nodoka wondered in the mist that covered the ruined city. She had been wondering now for hours trying to find the building that fate was using for a base, and it was mainly due to the map that Sword had given her. Her new sensei had failed to put any written instructions on how to read the map, just a badly rock mass as a starting point and some building, but she finally found a building like the one on the map. She hurried to the front while trying to be as stealth like as possible. Still the that made her the most nervous was the openness of the place, if not for the fog even from a distance someone could see clear though to the other side, however this also meant that she'd have little chance to hide. She managed to make it to the front pillars she pressed her back against it, and to glance around her for anyone coming. She saw no shapes coming toward her, so she slowly glanced around the side of the pillar into the building. It looked like the place was modeled after a Greek temple which meant rows of pillars to check.
Seeing no one coming she slowly moved to the other side of the pillar then rushed to the next, but then she caught sight of a faint glow coming from just ahead. She didn't know what it was, but somehow knew that she had font her friend. She was so glad that she rushed to the source abandoning the caution she had up till then. Soon she could make out a figure, she was right it was Anya suspended in the air next to a pillar by magic shackles that resembled the barriers Negi used. Now she had to figure how to break them.
"Who are you?" Anya shouted hostilely at the unfamiliar figure. She saw the figure motion for her to shush, but she refused to take that. "Don't shush me, are you people so rude as to not even answer when you're asked a simple question!?"
Nodoka rushed over and covered her friend's mouth. She hated to do it, but she couldn't risk alerting anyone. "Quiet, quiet, I' am here it help you." She hastily told the girl, hoping her voice would go unnoticed. Slowly she removed her hand.
Anya just blinked for a second as she heard the stranger's voice, she knew it. "NODOKA-SAN! Is that you?" Anya shouted in disbelief as her friend removed her hand, just before having the action repeated.
"Quiet, I'm going to get you out of here." Nodoka hushed her again. How to do this Gem-sensei said to think of it like a pencil to a piece of paper, but what does that mean!? Nodoka thought to herself as she looked at Ayna's restraints. She repeated Gem's words over and over in her head trying to find the meaning in them, but she failed to see the point. The only thing that she had ever used paper and pencil for was to write and draw, unless she accidently…tore it. That's it, since magic is energy from things in this world then maybe astral energy cut through it like a pencil point ripping through paper.
She decided to try it. She gathered energy in between her thumb and the finger next to it, thickening it and bring it to a point until it was ready. "Anya-chan, please hold still. I'm going to cut through those restraints." She told the girl, who only gave a nervous nod in reply. As soon as she got the ok from Anya, Nodoka thrust the energy into the restraint holding the girl's right foot trying to get as close to the girl's leg as possible. To both girl's amazement it worked, the astral energy ripped through the restraint, but sill didn't dispel it. Still since she could rip it maybe she could tear it, slowly she pulled her hand back towards her and watched as the restraint imitated paper perfectly until she managed to rip through the side.
Anya was amazed by what she just saw, Nodoka was a good friend, but as a mage she hardly someone she'd give a second thought to. Yet she had just witnessed the girl rip through a decent level binding spell with no trouble, and most troubling was the energy that Nodoka had used it to do it. Anya had only felt one thing like it before, something that she could never forget. Suddenly she was jolted out of her thoughts as she felt her entire body swing and something hit her side. Only seconds later did she realized that it was her arm, she was nearly free. She watched as Nodoka cut through the last restraint, however just as her friend was half way through, Anya spotted something turned all the hope and joy that was building since her friend had shown up into fear and panic. "Nodoka-san!!" She shouted as a stream of flame like darkness was heading straight for them.
Nodoka managed to erect a barrier faster than Anya could have snapped her fingers, not even chanting a spell, activation key, or even turning around, and yet it held. However, the thing that stunned the redhead the most was how the barrier shined so bright that she couldn't see past it. She wondered how her friend could see, was not about to distract her from the task at hand. Finally, the last restraint was broken and Anya dropped to the floor. Her first thought was to escape, but the question was how. Her captors had taken her wand, so she couldn't perform magic, and even if she they were pinned and outmatched. It would now be only a matter of time until Nodoka wore out, then they'd both be captives, or so she thought.
Nodoka may not have gotten to the same point as Anya, but she knew this wasn't working she was spreading herself too thin at this rate either she'd be in no shape to help the others or she'd end up losing Anya to these people again with rescue most likely becoming impossible. As bad as she felt admitting it, there existed an even worse possibility one that came from the very nature of her power, If she let this go on, then she might abandon Anya, and turn her hands on her friends if they tried to stop her from helping Negi. She pushed the thought out of her mind she could not, would not let that happen. She had to find some way to end this quick.
"Anya-chan, I am going to expand the barrier when I do run straight down the middle of the center ilea till you get to the other side of the building and wait facing the outside." Nodoka instructed the younger girl with authority.
"What! No way can't just leave you!"Anya yelled furiously.
"Anya, please! Negi-sensei is in trouble we have to hurry, so please just trust me!" Nodoka replied seemingly unshaken by entire situation. With that, she heard no further complaints from her friend, and readied herself to put her plan into action. Suddenly she felt the attack cease. Immediately she expanded and curved the barrier leaving a small opening for Anya. "Go now!" Nodoka watched out of the corner of her eye as her friend ran through the opening. As soon as the girl was clear, Nodoka sealed the gap in the barrier, and prepared the only course of action that she could think of that kept the mage from going outside; she opened the side facing her enemy.
As the opening formed Nodoka readied her-self to counter the enemy's attack, knowing that facing some one of this level there would be no room for error. The attack came even faster then she expected; a black dagger hurdled towards her at great speed. She managed to avoid it, but quickly realized what the intent of the dagger logged in to the ground only inches from her was really for. She recognized it from the attack at the gate port, and just like the gate port unleashed a sphere of whirling shadows, racking her body with pain, and quickly compressing her into a small ball that simply dropped to the floor.
"How disappointing, for a minute it seemed like a real fight. Now where did our other guest go to?" The mage taunt the sphere that now held the defeated girl, before starting to walk away. The mage made it about ten feet from the sphere be she felt something was wrong. She turned to see the sphere swelling, light soon spilling out of the dark prison, until it burst. A tremendous gust of energy flooded the room tossing the mage into the air. As the mage fell through the air she knew something was wrong, even though the energy toppled the pillars in both directions the roof was unfazed. The mage tried to gather magic to soften the impact, but soon realized the severity of the situation, she could not gather magic!
Anya waited franticly, staring back the way she came wondering if her friend was ok. She hated this waiting, but the fact was with her wand she couldn't do anything beyond the ascent spell, and even if she had her wand it was clear that this mage was out of her league. Still Nodoka had come to save her; she could not just leave her friend to die. With this thought she ran towards where she left Nodoka, but she did not get more than a few feet before the ground began shaking violently almost causing her to louse her balance. "What's going on?" She yelled while struggling to stay on her feet, the sounds and approaching dust cloud soon making sense of Nodoka's instructions to face to outside. Anya whipped herself around and ran outside as fast as her legs would allow her to, ducking for cover ten feet from the building's base, managing to bury her face moments before the surge of dust covered her.
Anya could hardly breathe with all the dust in the air, but she need to find her friend. She ran into the dust calling out Nodoka's name, completely ignoring the fact that she could alert the enemy. She slowed her approach as she felt that she was close to where she left her friend. Suddenly she heard the sound of rocks shifting ahead, and rushed to find the source only to have something burst out of the rubble sending rocks flying towards her face. The girl managed to dodge the projectiles; unfortunately this was by toppling backwards. She groaned as she picked herself up and looked to where the stones came from, and saw a black cloaked figure crawl out of the rubble. She hesitated for a moment since Nodoka and the enemy were dressed so similar, but her doubts were dispelled as soon as she heard the figure cough. She rushed over to her friend elated that she was okay, shouting the girl's name as she approached "Nodoka!"
Strangely Nodoka did not react to the redhead's calls; in fact she wasn't reacting to anything, she just sat there head bowed eyes closed. The girl's behavior was about to really scare Anya, after a building falling on her it was just stupid to think she could be hurt, plus after fighting an enemy like that it was a wonder that the girl was still in one piece. Then it became clear that she was still able to do something as Nodoka's body was engulfed in a faint glow.
While Anya was really angry that her friend was completely ignoring her, she couldn't help feeling relieved that her friend seemed ok. After about two minutes of this the relief wore off. "NODOKA!!" Anya shouted in the girl's ear, this time she got a reaction, Nodoka toppled backwards right back into the hole she crawled out of. Anya was horrified at what she just did, she rushed to help her friend back up. "I'm sorry. Why wouldn't just answer me."
Sorry Anya-chan, it's just a temporary side effect of the skill I used." Nodoka replied nervously, hoping that the girl would leave it at that. Nodoka's hopes were soon dashed as this only made the girl press the issue harder.
"I've never heard of any type of magic that made someone go deaf like that?" Anya replied suspiciously.
"It wasn't magic it was mentalism. I'll explain later, right now I need to collect myself a little more before it's safe to go help the others." Nodoka explained regretting her honesty as she knew Anya would not leave it after that.
Anya panicked as she realized that she forgot about Nodoka's earlier comment. " Ha! We are you collecting yourself!? We need to hurry, don't you care at all?" They were words of fear, but as soon as they were Anya realized their impact, an impact that Nodoka's reflected all too well. "Nodoka, I'm sorry."
Nodoka sighed the only way she saw to get passed this quickly was to explain why she had to do this , she really doubted that would help Anya's opinion of the situation. "Anya-chan I have to do this because I care!" Nodoka replied harshly as she continued to collect her energy, not needing to see the other girl's confusion. "The fact is that the energy I use is essentially my will itself shaped by the same energy that mages used to gather the energy from other creatures. One of the basic differences between the two was that instead of drawing in power, Mentalist projected their will to influence the world. Since the energy is part of me, not only can I control every bit of it, but it will also return to me on its own. The one problem with it is that it is a part of me, and as I push more out, my mind can process less and less until only my deepest desire remain to wield the entirety of my power regardless of what gets in my way." Each word brought with it a great amount of unease, unease that quickly turned to fear as she forced the last of it out."
Anya did not know what to make of this. She thought to herself, "Why take such a risk?" However she apparently said it out loud by mistake as Nodoka quickly responded.
"Because it is the only way that I can really help my friends, the only way I can really keep them safe." Nodoka replied sadly as she got to her feet. "My book is powerful, but I received it based my own power. Now let's go put this power to use." With that the same energy from earlier surrounded the two quickly forming a sphere that shot skyward trailed by a young girl's screams.
Author's Notes: I am very sorry it took so long to update projects and papers came up. I was finally ready and tried to update April 1st, but unfortunately I did not get word that there was a darn super bug that would eat my computer like a Great White eating a seal on the attack that day. Well after that summer semester started and time disappeared again, but now I have a replacement computer and time, so I should be able to update pretty regularly. Secondly I hope that this is not getting too Mary Sue, right now Negi's side needs a wall for my story that can beat a few things in, after things go wrong there won't be that much need for him to be the wall.
Next time: While Nodoka and Anya make their way to the front lines the others deal with Fate's attendants. How will the knowledge Sword gave her help, and will the file she gave Craig make it in time? Unfortunately seeing how the fight between Fate and Negi will differ must wait. Chapter 7: Side liners under fire.