Disclaimer- I don't own Negima.

Hello! I have the whole fanfiction done now, so i'm just uploading chapters when I fell like it. XP Seeing as I have it done, I won't be able to take requests, but I will take commissions! :) Altohugh not about al and history...I've written too many of those.

Enjoy! :

"Hey, we haven't heard chibi-master's name in a while! Where's Zecht been all this time?" demanded Asuna.

"...All this time? Do you mean in history?"

"Yeah, that. What's he been up to?"

Chisame and Konoka leaning in, dying to know. Al smirked. "I met him plenty of times over the centuries, but those talks wouldn't interest you..."

"Yes, they would!" chorused the girls.

"That's nice, did you practice that?" asked Al.

"Only a little," grinned Konoka. "It was pretty good, huh?"

"Yes, I'd say so. Hmm...most of the time Filius and I sparred and talked, and those talks were private, but there has to be something...ah, I have it."

The girls leaned forward in eagerness.

"It was sometime in the eighth century, when I was exploring the recesses of the magic world for the first time. It was all rather exciting, especially when I unexpectedly stumbled across Filius Zecht in a remote outpost..."

Albireo flipped the page of his book nonchalantly, his eyes trained on the pages as he navigated his way through the tiny village of Elfanbaft, enjoying the flowiness of his new robes, which he'd had specially made to be comfortable instead of rough. He'd made a mint off a fortune telling business he'd had in the Old World recently and was enjoying the benefits. He was trying to collect money in every currency so he'd be financially safe no matter what. It was useless, really, as he'd outlive every currency, but it gave him something to whittle away the time doing.

He was deep in his book when he bumped right into someone small. Assuming it was a child, he looked down, smiling, then realized it was Filius.

It had been over two hundred years since the first time they'd met, when Filius had straightened Albireo out and taught him how to live, not just exist. They'd met several times since then, usually briefly, although once in a while they would spend months, even years, in each others' company. Although a bit startling, it was no huge surprise to run into him, even in these backwaters.

"Albireo Imma," greeted Filius tonelessly, using his full name as always. "I did not know you considered yourself one of us."

Albireo hummed in response. "I'm not sure what you mean, Filius."

"Don't you know?" asked Filius, the slightest hint of surprise in his voice.

"Know what?" Albireo hated feeling ignorant, and he pocketed his book to talk to Filius.

"There's a meeting of demons tonight. I have been asked to attend as one of the highest rank."

Al smirked. "You're being modest, aren't you? You're probably hosting it, aren't you?"

"Something like that," replied Filius, no humor in his voice. If Filius thought something was funny you had to look in his eyes to tell. "What a coincidence to see you of all people here."

"I felt strangely drawn here," admitted Al. "And I've lived long enough to know that I should obey my instincts."

Filius raised an eyebrow ever-so-slightly. "An immortal human is somewhat of a demon, am I correct? I do not think you would be so out of place. If your spirit was drawn here then you must be one of us. It is not up to me or any other to question the hearts of others."

"Is that an invitation, Filius?"

"You may consider it that."

"What happens at these demon meetings?"

Filius got a faraway look in his eyes, which were dark and deep and full of shadows and broken promises. "It is not describable. All demons, regardless of their past or personal feelings, join together for one night of revelry, accepting everything about themselves and each other."

"Sounds like an orgy."

Filius granted him a very rare smile. "That's later in the night."

Albireo thought about it briefly. "I'll be there."

It was early in the night. The sun had just set, and the woods were bathed in an eerie glow. Humans would be home in their huts, fearfully falling asleep, knowing that demons relished in nights like this.

He found Filius on the edge of the woods, completely naked. This did not unduly bother Al, although he found it unusual. He had never seen Filius naked before, and it interested him to see that Filius's privates were completely smooth, as though when he'd been created his creator had not cared to construct those parts of him.

"Demons do not conform to human standards, not on this night." said Filius, answering Al's unsaid question.

Al accordingly untied the chord on his new robe and dropped it onto the ground without a moment's hesitation. He understood what Filius meant, and knew that he was only a tag-a-long here. He was an extra, unneeded and unmissed, but that would not stop him from enjoying this night. It would help him enjoy it even more.

When they reached the clearing for the demon gathering, Albireo was greeted with the sight of hundreds of demons milling about. There was no violence, and as far as Al could tell, no words being spoken. The only communication was non-verbal, and the air with thick with magic. There were shadows above him that gave him chills, shadows that belonged to demons too ancient and powerful to consider taking an earthly form. Many demons were in their natural state, large and imposing, while the humanoid demons were silent, and there were those among the human ones that scared Albireo the most.

Filius waved his hands to draw the attention of the demons, and started speaking in a low, guttural tongue that Albireo did not understand. He got the impression that no one there understood it, not even Filius himself. It was a language that communicated through its sheer complexity and indecipherability.

A race of demons stepped forward. They were dark-skinned with horns, and all of them had a human woman's form. The danced in unison, the first in a long line of demons to present themselves at this gathering.

The night went by in a whirlwind of activity. Albireo's senses began to overload, the heavy perfume's dark odor combining with the moonless night and chanting and dancing and pure senseless obeying of the body's most primal wants and needs drained him, putting his mind in a deep haze. He knew he would not remember much in the morning and that it would take years to completely decipher what was happening, but he met hundreds of demons, dancing with them as though he were one of them. And he supposed he was, because he was not a human, and if you weren't a human what could you be but a demon?

Albireo still wasn't entirely sure what happened that night. He remembered kissing and chanting and bare feet on soft grass, remembered pressing closer to Filius, binding their very souls together in a way that he could never describe, acts of passion and flashes of emotion that he could never describe properly, and the feeling that he had changed, that a fundamental part of his being had shifted just by being there. That night he changed from being an immortal human on the edge of humanity to a demon with the humanity of a mortal.

Filius Zecht had changed Albireo Imma's life twice. First he taught him how to be human, and then he taught him how to forget humanity.

If Filius found it ironic, he never said anything. But that's how Filius was- a stoic, unfriendly demon who secretly possessed more humanity than anyone.

The end of Al's story was greeted with a round of applause.

"A little short," grumbled Chisame. "We're not getting our money's worth."

"Quality over quality," replied Al pleasantly. "I'm afraid that's my policy."

Konoka bounced up and down. "I didn't know Zecht-dono was so important! Much more important than my father..."

"Yes, pretty much," agreed Asuna. "Did you get high or drunk or something at that party? It sounded like it."

Al laughed sheepishly. "In a way. Although I have the mind of an immortal, my body is human flesh and bone, so it didn't quite hold up the whole time. I spent the three weeks after that bedridden, with an unlucky Filius to take care of me."

"How adorable..." cooed Konoka.

"You may also be interested to know that that was the night that Jack Rakan's great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was conceived," added Al teasingly.

There was a terrified silence.

"You don't mean..." whispered Asuna.

"It can't be..." gasped Konoka.

"No, no, no, no," shouted Chisame. "That's too convenient! This is all too convenient! How could he be related to you like that? The man is as big as an elephant and, no offense, but is so dark he makes you blend in the the wall, Sanders, so don't give me that crap! It's not believable! Any novel or manga worth it's salt knows better than to use a plot twist like that! C'mon, you're better than that!"

Al sighed, still smiling. "Regretfully, it's true. I'm sorry if that upsets you. You always were genre savvy..."

Chisame clenched her fist. "I'd punch you in the face if it's prettiness wasn't soon going to be utilized for cosplay."

"Ah...I'm not entirely sure what that means still?" Al awkwardly cleared his throat.

Konoka and Asuna crept out as Chisame raved and ranted about the pros and cons and rules of cosplay while Al sat there trying to remember how many kids he'd had. She wasn't descended from him, was she? And if she was, who the hell did she get these traits from? Although...it attested to how lonely Al must be to agree to wear pigtails for the cosplay he was apparently doing.

Humans were weird.

Reviews are love! :)