As promised, a second chapter! And longer than the last. Not much else to say...
Disclaimer: I do not own To Aru Majutsu no Index/A Certain Magical Index, it is property of Kamachi Kazuma, ASCII Media Works, Dengeki Bunko, Seven Seas Entertainment, J.C. Staff, and Funimation Entertainment.
Revelation
Chapter 4
Academy City's School District 10 was infamous for having the most poor public order and security.
As a result, prices for land were the cheapest in the city and urban decay was prevalent throughout the neighborhoods.
District 10 had the fewest facilities, all of which had a certain characteristic about them.
For instance, you'd mostly find nuclear laboratories or disposal areas. It was also infamous for such places as a research facility that experimented in applying more than one power to an esper or the only graveyard in Academy City.
Most striking of all was the Reformatory, the only juvenile detention center in the entire city.
It was not the only prison either.
The one in question is one for that of adults rather than minors or power users. The convicts detained here were women only, which all the guards were as well. The men's section was in the building right next door.
One of the prisoners was Stephanie Gorgeouspalace, a woman whose appearance did not suggest she belonged in such an institution.
With her long blonde hair and white skin, her figure slender and standing taller than even some men, her overall appearance is more that of an actress or model.
Instead, she was a mercenary.
Stephanie Gorgeouspalace lived in Academy City at one point in time, where she underwent Anti-Skill training. Living in a peaceful country such as Japan, Stephanie grew to feel guilty over living tranquilly while others lived in fear of the hostile environments they lived in. Unable to ignore those who were suffering, she journeyed out to fight in wars as a mercenary. It was in her first mission that she met Sunazara Chimitsu, who saved her life on the battlefield. Following that, the two never parted and Sunazara instructed Stephanie in the skills to survive on the various war zones. After he was nearly killed on October 9, Stephanie declared her revenge on all of Academy City and attempted to kill Kinuhata Saiai on October 17 out of retribution for putting him in his state of near-death. She ended up here after failing in her quest and being apprehended.
Currently in her cell, she was lying on her designated bottom bunk, wearing the same thing as every other person imprisoned here.
Her cellmate had claimed the top bunk as her own. The two had determined who would get it in unarmed combat the day Stephanie was assigned to that cell. Regardless of her prowess as a hitman, she lost.
As it turned out, her cellmate was also former Anti-Skill.
Her name was Teshio Megumi, she was an ex-member of BLOCK, another group of the dark side that originally was tasked with the purpose of gauging the level of cooperation between Academy City and its allied corporations. After an incident on September 30, where the city itself was almost annihilated, they plotted to kill Aleister and defect from Academy City and its dark side on October 9. BLOCK was subdued by GROUP, including Teshio, who was brought in afterwards.
At first, the two women did not get along even slightly. But as they spent more time together, they began to befriend one another due to their mutual hatred of Academy City and Anti-Skill background. Another prisoner with the name "Telestina" or something like that even teased the two "lesbians" over their closeness.
"Oi, Gorgeouspalace, get up. You have a visitor," chimed in one of the female guards.
Visitor? Who could possibly come to see me?
That is what Stephanie thought to herself. Doing as she was told, she stands up from her bunk and approaches the steel bars as they were unlocked.
"I'll be back, Teshio-san," she said with a smiling glance at the top mattress.
"See you then," the other replied.
Where Stephanie was escorted to wasn't the visiting room where she would sit across from whoever showed up with reinforced glass between them.
Instead it was a room you would expected to be questioned by one of the guards or the warden; perhaps where you'd speak with your counsel.
Not just that, but the small light on the security camera that indicated it was operating was off, and there were no sentinels present either.
Something was very amiss here.
The sound of the door opening ceased her mulling over her suspicions as only who she could assume was her "visitor" entered and took a seat on the opposite end of the table she sat at while handcuffed.
She was a young girl with beautiful features and wore a fancy red dress.
Stephanie Gorgeouspalace knew this girl. After her failed assassination attempt on Kinuhata Saiai on October 17, this was the person who apprehended her.
This was the last individual Stephanie expected to drop by to see her.
"What do you want with me?"
She didn't waste any time.
"How impolite. Especially when I have a proposition that may be within your interest," the girl in the dress said calmly with a smile.
"What are you talking about?" Stephanie asked.
"Well, let's just say my colleague is interested in your… field of expertise," she answered frankly.
"Another job, huh?" she groaned. Her mercenary work was the last thing she wanted to think of. "You're with the darkness of this city, aren't you? I see no reason to come to me when I tried to kill that girl you were working with."
"I wasn't working with that person willingly. My former superior has returned and now we can continue with our own plans."
"And who would that be?"
"The Number Two Level 5," the girl responded bluntly. "With his influence, releasing you from here wouldn't be any issue. He wanted to come but he had to be somewhere else."
"Forget it," Stephanie refused. "The Level 5s are a part of Academy City, as is the denizens of its dark side such as yourself. All of Academy City is my enemy."
The girl in the dress's determination did not wane.
"That's right, you've sworn vengeance on the whole city for what happened to your friend. Sunazara Chimitsu?"
A murderous glare unbefitting of the idol-like face of Stephanie Gorgeouspalace formed. That was the look of a mercenary.
Another had already attempted to use Sunazara as a means to earn her cooperation. Thomas Platinumburg of the Board of Directors implanted a transmitter in his body that sent out signal to cease the functioning of four of his organs to guarantee Stephanie would be cooperative with assassinating Accelerator for him.
"Don't look at me like that," the girl requested, pretending to be intimidated. "Sunazara was working with my team when he was wounded, did you know that?"
"…That makes you just as responsible," declared Stephanie. "If you didn't hire him, he wouldn't have been caught up in the battleground that put him in that life support bed in the first place."
"Sunazara knew the risks when he accepted the job. You might as well blame him as well for his own fate."
Stephanie frowned at the younger girl.
"Then why don't I phrase it this way?"
There was a change within Stephanie Gorgeouspalace. Suddenly, the way she looked at the girl in the dress was different now. She cared for her now deep inside, almost as if she was Sunazara Chimitsu… Her brain knew this girl wasn't Sunazara, but she still could not view her as an "enemy."
"You bitch… What have you done to me?"
"I've only made you more… agreeable. I need you to at least hear me out before you give your final answer."
Try as she might, the inmate could not deny her this.
"Listen, Stephanie Gorgeouspalace. All of Academy City is your enemy, yes? You struggled to defeat Kinuhata Saiai, a single Level 4 esper whose powers you were already familiar with. Do you really think that you alone could not only succeed where you failed with her before, but also do the same for thousands more Level 4s? And then there are the seven Level 5s, who are in a league of their own. That is also not taking into consideration Academy City's military, which is unquestionably the best in the world. There is not a single person on this Earth who could do that all on their own. That is why you must consider aligning yourself with us. With our resources as a part of the dark side, your revenge just might be within reach. The Number Two, Kakine Teitoku… with him, anything is possible. He is on the path to reaching Level 6, I'm sure you know what that means."
"…"
"Our attachment to this city is not thick, while our objective is located here, we care not for this city's safety. What 'he' plans to do in itself just may tear apart this place in the process. Just consider it, that's all I ask."
Finishing her proposal, the "hold" that was on Stephanie was lifted.
The handcuffed woman's head drooped down so the girl across the table couldn't see her face.
She stayed like that for some time.
"…Very well."
"?"
"I'll agree to your conditions," Stephanie announced, looking back up.
Before the girl from SCHOOL could say anything, she amended one last bit.
"But after Kinuhata Saiai-san is dead and Academy City is up in flames… I'm going to kill the rest of you next."
The girl in the dress responded with a smile that was without ill intention.
"Excellent."
Tsuchimikado Motoharu called Kamijou Touma over the phone and promised to rendezvous with him at the Seventh Mist.
It didn't take him long to find him in the clothing department and the group relocated to a corner away from the bench Kamijou and Ollerus were sitting on before.
"What's going on, Tsuchimikado? Is it more Necessarius work…?" Kamijou asked. The last few times Tsuchimikado contacted him, it resulted in him getting caught up in some convoluted conspiracy of the Magic Side.
"Nothing like that, Kami-yan," Tsuchimikado insisted. "This is unofficial business."
"Tsuchimikado, listen… this really isn't a good-"
"GREMLIN."
That one word was enough to silence Kamijou instantly.
"You know abo-"
"Yes, I know about them. I am a spy from the Anglican Church after all," Tsuchimikado said with a sly smile, taking pride in being a deceiver.
"Then I take it you know they're in this city, or else there would be no other reason for you to be here."
It was not Kamijou, but Ollerus who addressed this.
The man who should have been Majin, huh? You always make the most unusual friends, Kami-yan…
"That is correct," he confirmed.
"So I take it you're here to assist us," Kamijou guessed.
Tsuchimikado nodded. "I believe that I can find GREMLIN the quickest and most efficient way possible nya."
"!?"
"Kami-yan, is it true that the magician Cendrillon returned to Academy City with you?"
Kamijou was stooped by such an out of nowhere question. "Uh… yes, but what does this have to do with finding GREMLIN?"
"Where is she at this very moment?" Tsuchimikado continued, ignoring his friend's confusion.
"She should be finishing sewing a new dress by now, maybe putting it on," Kamijou said, giving up.
"It is very likely that Marian Slingeneyer is one of the GREMLIN members that have infiltrated Academy City. She was the most active one in Baggage City according to my sources, and she was the only one to make it out alongside One-Eyed Othinus. It's doubtful the Majin would take center stage so early in the game so that only leaves Marian and her weapon, Mjölnir. If that is so… I can precisely locate her."
"What are you talking about, Tsuchimikado?" demanded Kamijou, exasperated by his classmate's indirectness.
"Did you already forget the Daihaseisai, Kami-yan? Remember how we searched for Oriana Thomson?"
Kamijou couldn't forget even if he tried. When the courier Oriana Thomson transported the Apostle's Cross to Academy City during the Daihaseisai sports festival for Lidvia Lorenzetti of the Roman Catholic Church to subject the Science Side to her church's rule, Tsuchimikado had used a magic array that ended up injuring both himself and another Necessarius magician.
"You mean you're going to use that All-Around Reality Array again? I won't allow it! What if Marian retaliates like Oriana did back then?! Someone will be wounded!" Kamijou protested.
Tsuchimikado shook his head. "Aiya, it's not possible for Marian to do the same as Oriana did that time. Oriana had already analyzed Stiyl's magic and life force and had the 'shorthand original' prepared for a counterattack before we used the All-Around Reality Array. I've never met Marian Slingeneyer so it's impossible for her to have memorized my life force even if she has taken similar precautions."
"But… don't you need a memento from the magician you're looking for with that spell like Oriana's flashcard?"
"You're right, the magic array requires a trace of the target's magic to accurately pinpoint their location. Luckily for us, we have such a thing," said Tsuchimikado with a grin.
"We do?" asked Kamijou ignorantly.
"Yes, we do," Ollerus affirmed, understanding where Tsuchimikado was heading with this.
"Marian Slingeneyer was kind enough to leave us behind a remnant of her magic at Baggage City with Cendrillon, the girl she turned into a table nya," Tsuchimikado explained.
"We returned her to normal though," Kamijou reminded.
"Yes, but there should still be a thin layer of her magical signature remaining on her body from when Marian magically altered it with her tools nya. That is enough to get a signal on her, no matter how small."
"If that's the case… we can find Marian and GREMLIN immediately!" Kamijou exclaimed.
"Don't get too excited, Kami-yan. Remember, it requires 15 minutes to use the All-Around Reality Array and it only has a reach of 3 kilometers. Of course, since the Windowless Building is in District 7, that should be far enough nya," Tsuchimikado concluded.
Turning around, he started walking in the direction of the changing rooms.
"Hey… Tsuchimikado, where do you think you're going?"
"We need to get Cendrillon and prepare the boundary as soon as possible so I'm going to find her," he said simply.
Warning alarms went off in both Kamijou Touma and Ollerus' heads when Tsuchimikado stated his intent.
Reacting instantaneously, the pair leaped on the boy in sunglasses and knocked him on the ground, restraining him through his efforts to escape.
"Nyahh!? What are you guys doing?!"
"What are you doing, Tsuchimikado?" shouted the spiky-haired boy.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed!? Are you trying to get US killed!?" joined in Ollerus.
Making a scene, concerned shoppers gathered and some even called the mall security.
As the three men wrestled on the floor of the clothing store, a new figure arrived before the scene.
"…What are you idiots doing?" asked the unmistakable female voice.
The trio all stared up at the same place to find the very girl they were fighting over standing before them.
Unlike before, she was now sporting a light blue dress made of countless thin membranes stacked upon each other that left her body lines visible through it. She even had glass-like slippers and a tiara crowned on her head to complete the image of a princess. Dressed like that, she brought even more uninvited attention from the people in the store. Obviously she was already eye-catching before walking around barefoot in nothing but her figure-correcting underwear that bore resemblance to a diver's suit, but this certainly didn't help the current commotion.
Frantically, the three of them each grabbed a limb of Cendrillon's and scurried out of the department like a hurricane.
Tsuchimikado Motoharu could not use magic.
As he underwent the Power Curriculum Program, his body was that of an esper. Those who use magic would have their blood vessels explode from the chain reaction caused by the incompatibility of an esper's AIM Diffusion Field and the mana that acts as the source of magic.
Even so, he drew a perfect black circle with a 50cm diameter on the ground of an alley with the spot Cendrillon stood at as the focal point. He then arranged four pieces of paper around the circle that perfectly divided it into four quadrants at 90 degrees each, colored blue, white, red, and black to represent north, south, east and west respectively.
Kneeling before the circle and Cendrillon, Tsuchimikado claps his hands together and closes his eyes behind his sunglasses as if he were praying.
"Wait, Tsuchimikado!" Kamijou cried out.
"What is it? Don't disrupt my concentration, we need to start All-Around Reality Array as soon as possible."
"Do… Do you have to be the one to activate it? Can't Cendrillon do it?" Kamijou implored.
"Don't be ridiculous, Kami-yan. The 'center' can't be the one to do it, ideally it shouldn't even be person in the first place. It has to be someone else nya," Tsuchimikado clarified coldly.
Panicking, Kamijou turned towards the imperfect Majin.
"Ollerus! Can't you do this instead?! You were going to be the Majin, this should be easy for you!"
The blonde man gave the younger boy a sad look. "I'm sorry, but the theory behind my magic purifies my life force so that it's converted into a special magical power. I can't use normal magical power, so regular magic spells such as this is out of the question for me."
"No…! GODDAMMIT!" he cursed as he slammed his fist into the side of one of the buildings making up the alleyway.
"Kami-yan, it's fine," Tsuchimikado asserted.
"It's not fine!" burst out Kamijou. "If I can avoid having one my comrades get hurt, I will! You don't have to do this, Tsuchimikado!"
"You're right, I don't have to," the blonde boy accepted. "I want to. There's no other way to get to GREMLIN. We have no other leads. I can survive one usage of magic."
"How many times have you used magic now, Tsuchimikado!? There's no guarantee you're going to make it through this time!"
"If it takes one life to save the rest, then I'll gladly be that one life! DO YOU THINK I DON'T HAVE PEOPLE I WANT TO PROTECT AS WELL?!"
That silenced Kamijou Touma.
"...Tsuchimikado, I..."
"It'll be okay, Kami-yan. It takes more than this to kill this Tsuchimikado nya. There's too many girls out there that need me for me to die!"
Giving a smile as if they were discussing something trivial at school, Tsuchimikado returned to his stance.
"―Through the wind, but not through air, but to convey thy will," he chanted.
The four pieces of paper aligned around the circle suddenly lifted to float in the air, drawing a spiral inside the black circle, leaving behind a line in their path that gets closer and closer to the middle and the circle being drawn shrinks in size as it continues.
Something else also occurred. Blood began pouring out of Tsuchimikado's mouth as the papers rotated.
This was his cost of using magic.
Collapsing to the ground, he began breathing irregularly.
"Tsuchimikado!" Kamijou yelled in concern.
He took one step toward his fallen friend before Ollerus rose an arm to block his path.
"You shouldn't get too close to the boundary, your right hand might have an averse affect on it."
"We can't just leave him like that!" Kamijou pleaded.
"There's nothing we can do for him," said Ollerus sullenly.
Kamijou responded not with words, but by gripping the taller man's shirt collar. Ollerus' expression did not change.
The pieces of papers were still spinning in a circular path, approaching Cendrillon's slippers centimeter by centimeter.
"Kami-yan… Don't worry about me," Tsuchimikado reassured through the blood and ragged breaths. "By the time the 15 minutes are up, I should be back in good shape."
Tsuchimikado Motoharu's esper power was the Level 0 Auto-Rebirth. It's a recovery method that produces a film over vascular ruptures such as this. It was because of this that he was able to manage as both an esper and magician at the same time.
Even now, he was tapping into that side of his power.
The colored pieces of paper finally reached Cendrillon's feet.
BAM!
The papers start flying in every direction, sketching a map on the ground, starting off blurry and unfocused, but became more detailed over time. It had everything down from the buildings to roads and even windmills; that map drew every crack on the sidewalk.
"Impressive seeking magic," Ollerus commended, his aquamarine shirt still grasped by Kamijou's right hand. The array's display appeared to distract him from his rage at the young man.
"Yeah… since the effective zone is a 3 kilometer radius… it'll take a couple more minutes to finish," Tsuchimikado said, still struggling to speak.
"Can I move now?" asked Cendrillon impatiently.
"If the medium is moved, the process will stop, so you have to stay there nya."
"So I have to remain standing here? How troublesome," sighed the French girl.
Kamijou was dumbstruck by the casual attitude between all these magicians while Tsuchimikado sit there bleeding from the mouth, so much he let go of Ollerus.
He knew how vital this was to the safety of Academy City and their cherished ones, he also knew Tsuchimikado endured more during the Daihaseisai to stop a similar threat, and he was aware taking him to the hospital would be demeaning to his efforts. But this didn't mean Kamijou Touma had to like it.
Dammit…
He clenched his fists silently.
"So this is the place?"
Marian Slingeneyer, Kihara Kagun, and Mjölnir were in front of an average hospital in the Seventh School District. It was almost 2 o'clock, so there was a sizeable amount of people inside the building.
Rechecking the coordinates on her smartphone, Marian confirmed this was indeed the right hospital.
"I was expecting something… grander. Odin better not have got this wrong," she grumbled.
The black cylinder under her shook as if to say 'There's no way they would get it wrong'.
"Fine, fine…" Marian submitted.
The helmeted figure had not moved in the slightest.
"I know Odin probably wants us to keep a low profile… but an abduction is pretty attention-grabbing too. Making a big and flashier entrance could make my day more exciting!"
Mjölnir vibrated even more violently in protest beneath Marian.
"Quit your complaining! I can still rearrange you like the others! Unless you'd prefer to be a nice chair. It's the least you can do for this widow…"
Her creation having ceased its rattling, the Dvergr slid off to land on her feet behind it.
Bluish-white sparks were shot from the front of the drum into the front entrance of the hospital.
The entire wall of the first floor was blown away in an explosion like a bomb went off.
"Alright!" Marian declared in a battle-cry. "GREMLIN is here! Cower in fear before us, denizens of science!"
Between the lines 4
Kakine Teitoku entered a restricted research facility in School District 17.
He was on his way with the girl in the dress to retrieve Stephanie Gorgeouspalace when Kihara Yuiitsu called Kakine over the girl's phone to inform him the preparations were complete and to meet them at this address.
Kicking a pair of double doors with a "Entrance Prohibited" sign open, a laboratory lit only by the lights from the equipment and computer screens revealed itself, leaving the majority of the room in the darkness.
"Ah, Kakine Teitoku-kun. I am delighted to see you could find your way here."
This warm welcome came from a man in a lab coat who stood up from a desk with a computer monitor. He was of a very progressed age, wrinkles and graying hair discernible upon his features. On his feet now, it was evident he had a hunch as he bent forward as he was standing. He was giving a pleasant smile and his eyes were closed. His most dominant characteristic was the birthmark on his temple.
"I am Kihara Gensei. The head of the Kihara family," the elderly researcher introduced himself.
"An old bastard like you will make me reach Level 6?" Kakine taunted.
"Yes, I should be able to help you make the next step up…" said Gensei, the insult having been lost on him. "I have been trying to achieve SYSTEM longer than any researcher in Academy City, and it's all thanks to you that I might succeed, Kakine-kun."
"What makes me so special? Didn't the Tree Diagram determine that Accelerator was the only one capable of becoming a Level 6?"
Kihara Gensei's smile grew wider. "That is indeed correct. The Parameter List provided by the Tree Diagram's computations predict the potential of every esper in the Academy City Bank, which calculated that of all the 1.8 million espers, only Accelerator-kun had the ability to be the first Level 6. However, there are some factors that can't be measured, even by Tree Diagram. Your Dark Matter for instance…"
"What about my power…?" Kakine inquired, his interest finally piqued.
"From the offset, it was a unique ability… It doesn't exist in this universe and breaks the laws of physics, which is the very basis of esper powers. As I'm sure Yuiitsu-kun already told you, it's impossible to differentiate between you and your Dark Matter anymore. In fact, it's on such an extended scope that even the unseen property known as the 'soul' has even been assimilated into your Dark Matter. Yes… you and Accelerator-kun could be said to mirror each other. While he rules over destruction, you and your power embody production on the opposite end of the spectrum. You have a very special power, Kakine-kun."
"You really think I can surpass Accelerator?" Kakine asked without sarcasm.
"I know you can," Gensei assured. "And I will be the one to guide you there."
"So what are you going to do?"
"It is my understanding you are familiar with Body Crystal. That is an invention of mine which came about as a result of my previous work, crystallized esper essence. Both of those were created with the goal of achieving SYSTEM in mind. Unfortunately, as you may have seen with Takitsubo Rikou-kun, Body Crystal has life-endangering side effects. So even if it makes an esper surpass themselves, their body will give out before they can reach make any significant progress. I have found a way around this. Using that doctor Heaven Canceller-kun's Dark Legacy, it can generate high-speed cell division by adjusting the regeneration pace of the human's flesh with an oil-based melted framework. That is the technology that kept you alive all that time as well as revived the Number Four. If that doctor knew his system was being used for this…"
"And you're sure this will make me stronger than Accelerator?" Kakine asked.
"It will definitely help in that endeavor, but I cannot say for sure you would reach your full potential," answered Gensei, his smile fading.
"What the hell are you talking about? Then I'm just wasting my time here?"
"Kakine-kun, do you know the Seventh Level 5?" asked the Kihara head, ignoring the Number Two's hostility.
"What does this have anything to do with this?" he asked impatiently.
"His name is Sogiita Gunha-kun," continued Kihara Gensei as if he didn't hear him. "He is a rare specimen known as a gemstone. They are psychic users created by nature; after all, if something can be produced by humans, then the same phenomena should be possible without the tools we use here at Academy City. Such a thing is so scarce that there are only around 50 in the entire world. Sogiita-kun is the strongest gemstone in the world. But don't you find it odd? Why is the most powerful gemstone only Number Seven? Of course, researchers are unsure that he should even be counted among the Level 5s due to the nature of his powers but according to the Tree Diagram's predictions, he would not be able to defeat Accelerator-kun. Or you, for that matter. Don't you think a naturally-born esper should be superior to those artificially created? So why is the strongest gemstone so weak compared to the strongest esper?"
"Don't ask me," growled Kakine.
"The answer is in understanding," explained Gensei while wagging his index finger. "Sogiita-kun's powers are incomprehensible, not even he knows the true meaning behind them. But if he came to understand them, he would be able to use them to their full extent. It is consistent if you consider one's Personal Reality is the source of their esper powers. That is how to realize your true potential, Kakine-kun: understanding. If you truly understand what your Dark Matter is, your full power will be unleashed."
Kakine Teitoku said nothing. He'd refute or call the old man senile, but keeping his mouth shut would be the quickest way to get through all this.
"It is my belief that by going through with this procedure, it will help you come to a better understanding of your powers. If it is improved, you learn more about its capabilities. Dark Matter is an ability of infinite possibilities, my curiosity as a Kihara is telling me to invest my research into you, Kakine Teitoku-kun."
As he accounted this, his eyes opened for the first time, showing a glimmer of sick excitement.
"Now then… shall we proceed?"
Kakine grinned in twisted satisfaction.
"Let's do this."
A/N: That was a difficult chapter to write. But at least the plot is finally moving. The action should be starting up the chapter after next.
Hope this made up for 3 being so short.
One last time I'd like to say I'm sorry for making you guys wait so long on me. You guys are awesome for putting up with me.
As for next chapter, it should be up sooner this time since I have free time now, so expect it after Christmas.
Happy Holidays everyone, and I'll see you next year (most likely)!