(How's it going everyone the Kyoto arc will be ending soon because right now we're going into the big battle and the stakes; Konoka herself.)
"Rin, Negi-kun, Dustin-kun!" Konoka called over to her friend and teachers. Said trio and Mana turned their attention to them, expecting just to see Setsuna, Konoka, and Zyphon, but were shocked to see Kazumi, Asuna, Haruna, Sayo, Nodoka, and Yue with them as well. A few moments later the whole group continued on their path while Mana carried Dustin and Zyphon carried Negi until they got their strengths back.
"Mana, just why're you here aren't you supposed to be with your group?" Asuna asked.
"Dustin called me and said he and Negi-sensei needed some help in a task they were doing so I rushed right over." Mana explained as Asuna said nothing and went on ahead to talk with the library group.
"Hey Setsuna what's going on? Why did everyone come with you?" Dustin asked as their group fell behind the rest of the group in order to talk.
"Well…We ran over here carrying Ojou-sama, and we got here after a struggle, but…somehow Asakura-san and the others caught up to us here…" Setsuna explained with a sweat drop as she recalled how they suddenly showed up.
"You can't escape this gal that easily," Asakura said with a light chuckle and went on to explain how she had planted a GPS locater in Setsuna's bag, "And that's it."
"Kazumi, don't you know how dangerous the situation is; Negi and Dustin almost died just a little while ago!" Rin lectured her.
"Well Negi seemed better off than me, Kotaro didn't look like the type who'd kill a guy, but Alistair on the other hand is another story." Dustin said as Mana still carried him.
Soon they arrived and the tag along group of the library club rushed forward, much to Rin's and Negi's dismay. Negi and Dustin prepared themselves for some kind of attack, whether it be straight forward or an ambush. They entered to find the other side giving a warm greeting to Konoka, "Welcome back, Konoka-ojou-sama." Said many servants.
"Okay, I'm kinda lost here," Dustin muttered as he eyed his surroundings warily, and when he sensed no hostility he turned to Setsuna, who was being bombarded by questions from Rin, "Would you mind explaining what's going on exactly?" he asked curiously.
"Um...that is to say, this is both the headquarters of the Kansai Magic Association and Konoka-ojou-sama's home," Setsuna explained to them, causing Negi's and Dustin's eyes to widen and their jaws to drop at this piece of information.
The group went inside the building and into a large hall and sat down properly on the floor. A few minutes past before a man came down the stairs in front of them, "Sorry for the wait," he apologized as his face came into view, revealing a middle age man with black hair and glasses, "Welcome Konoka's classmates, and their homeroom teacher and assistant teacher Negi-sensei and Dustin-sensei as well." he said as he looked at each one of them.
"Daddy it's been so long!" Konoka said happily as she jumped into her father's arms and gave him a hug.
"It has been quite a while, hasn't Konoka?" her father said while laughing lightly.
"So Konoka-san's father is the western leader." Negi said, a little shocked by this piece of information.
"It shouldn't have been that hard to realize when Setsuna said it was Konoka's home," Dustin told him as listened in on the girls talking about his looks, then face-faulted when Asuna declared that he was hot.
"U-um Leader-san, this is for you," Negi said as he approached him, bringing everyone's attention to him as he held out the envelope, "From the East's leader, Mahora Academy President, Konoe Konoemon to the Western leader, please accept this letter."
"Certainly, I accept it Negi-kun," the leader said as he took the letter, "It's seems you've had some difficulties getting it here." Eishun noted. He looked over the letter for a few seconds before nodding his head, "Very well, in appreciation of the Eastern Leader's will, we will negotiate to end the discord between the East and the West, please tell him that. Your mission is completed Negi Springfield-kun."
"Yes!" Negi said happily while the girls congratulated him and Dustin pumping a fist up in victory.
Eishun told them they could stay the night and would prepare a banquet for them. A little while later, the banquet started with Dustin stuffing himself, "Wow you certainly know how to treat a guest." Dustin said clearing his plate.
"Setsuna-kun," Eishun said as he approached Dustin, Negi, and Setsuna while everyone else was enjoying themselves.
"Th-This is, Leader, to speak to someone like me..." Setsuna stumbled with her words as he took a kneeling position before the leader.
Eishun let out a small laugh, "I can see that you haven't changed, but please don't be so formal," he told her, "These past two years, thank you for guarding Konoka. To answer my selfish request, you did well. It must have been difficult."
"N-No, protecting Ojou-sama has always been my desire, but I offer my deepest apologies. Today…" Setsuna tried to explain but Eishun cut her off.
"I've already heard about Konoka using her powers," he said, then turned his attention to Negi and Dustin, "I also heard about how you two protected Konoka at Library Island, and how you Zyphon protected them both at Cinema Village thank you all for that."
"Not a problem at all sir." Negi replied.
"No trouble at all indeed." Dustin agreed.
"Always glad to help a friend." Zyphon added.
"Though it's weird how Konoka was able to awaken her power like that, "Eishun continued, "I wanted Konoka to have a normal life, although I feared this day might have happened anyway. Setsuna-kun, can I ask you to report this to Konoka."
"As you wish sir." Setsuna left.
Later on in the bath of the compound Eishun, Negi, Dustin, Chamo, and Domino were relaxing, "Ah this is the life." Dustin said as he relaxed.
"I'll say." Domino said sitting in the water like a duck.
"I must apologize to you two for the trouble some of our people have given you, they've been quite a nuisance to your journey." Eishun said.
"Don't worry about, we've handled more than what they've thrown at us." Dustin said like it was nothing.
"Even so, there has always been a disagreeable group in the east, thankfully this time it was a small one, so please leave the rest to us," Eishun told them, letting Negi let out a sigh of relief, "Unfortunately, we're shorthanded as of right now, but starting tomorrow afternoon most of my subordinates will be back and we can catch that group."
"So, what was that monkey lady's objective anyway?" Negi asked curiously.
"Monkey lady? Oh, you mean Amagasaki Chigusa…" Eishun told them, finally giving the boys a name for the face.
"So why's she targeting Konoka?" Dustin asked.
"She probably wants a trump card," he told them as they gave curious looks as he explained clearer, "You see, as a member of our high-class bloodline, Konoka has inherited an amazing amount of magical power that lies dormant within her. This power potentially surpasses your father Negi-kun, the Thousand Master, in other words, Konoka is a magic user who possesses an unbelievable power," he paused to let this information sink in before continuing, "So to protect Konoka, I sent her to Mahora and kept her powers a secret from her so that she could live a normal life."
"Eishun-san," Dustin began, "Don't take this the wrong way, I understand that you only wanted to protect her, but you shouldn't have kept her potential or her family history a secret from her. If she had known what she is then she would've known what to do and would've been able to handle the situation a lot better than before...and not to mention, it can be a burden on you when you don't know what or who you really are... After all my dad was at first attempting to keep my spirit warrior lineage a secret from me due to the accident my mother was in. But he knew I would become aware of the power dwelling within me."
Eishun stayed silent for a moment before replying, "I see your point Dustin-kun, thank you for the advice, I won't let it go to waste." he said as he gave the spike head a grateful smile, which Dustin returned.
"Um...by the way," Negi interjected, "What do you know about the Thousand Master?" he asked.
"You mean about your father? Yes, I know him quite well, in fact, I was that baka Nagi Springfield's inseparable friend," Eishun told them with a grin, "I've also been a long friend of your parents as well Dustin-kun."
"Really, dad never said anything about you." Dustin replied seeing there were more secrets his old man withheld from him.
"Well our past experiences are a very long story, and I emphasis on 'long'."
"I understand." Dustin replied.
"So how is your father Dustin-kun?"
"Dad? He's doing ok he visited Mahora about a month ago." Dustin replied.
"I see." Eishun smiled.
"So Leader-san do you happen to know where the Thousand Master is?" Negi asked curiously.
"Well I'm afraid not. After all most people say he's dead, but you don't believe that do you?"
"No, because I got my staff from him years ago, and that's proof enough." Negi replied confidently.
"Proof enough for me too, after all Nagi doesn't go down that easily. He's too stubborn to die." The three laughed.
Meanwhile watching from outside at a far enough distance was Chigusa and the white haired boy Fate, "Drat now that the letter's been delivered it's a matter of time before more reinforcements come after us!" Chigusa growled.
"Not to worry, I'll take care of everything." Fate assured her.
Back in the compound Negi, Dustin, Zyphon, and the familiars walked through the hall, "Well Negi I guess we've seen the worse haven't we?"
"I hope so after all that's happened maybe we can be at peace now that the letter's been delivered." Negi agreed thankfully.
"KYAAAAA!" came an ear-splitting scream that came from behind them, or more accurately from the girls' room, the boys instantly whirled around and ran in its direction. They soon came to the door, Dustin flung it open while readying a spirit gun, and Negi gripping his staff ready to attack any danger. However, what they found wasn't any enemy, it was the frozen forms of Haruna, Nodoka, Sayo, and Asuna.
"What's happened to them?" Dustin asked while Negi tried and failed to wake the frozen statues.
"It's a high-class spell, 'Petrification'," Chamo explained while Negi shook the frozen Nodoka, desperately trying to get a response from her, "Calm down Aniki!"
"B-But everyone is…" Negi started, but was cut off by the ermine.
"Calm down," Chamo told him, "They're only petrified, so the chief should be able to cure them, but more importantly, we need to be on guard against them!"
"But we are in the headquarters, we should be safe here!" Negi nearly cried in a panic.
"Somehow they figured out a way to get in here, or else this wouldn't be happening now," Zyphon stated as he carefully observed their surroundings, looking for any sort of clue or sign that could lead them to their students' attacker, "But right now, our first priority should be to find the others before we do anything." They headed off to find whoever was not petrified.
"That's right, we still have to find Rin, Mana, Kazumi, and the others," Negi said, then searched the surrounding area until he remembered his pactio card and used it to communicate with Rin telepathically, after a few moments Negi released the card from his forehead and turned to the blonde, "Rin and Konoka-san are still safe, we agreed to meet in the bath from earlier." he informed Dustin.
Dustin checked his pactio with Mana, "And Mana's on her way too. But Kazumi's not responding."
"Let's hurry!" Zyphon exclaimed, as the group headed over.
"Aniki, if they're specifically using that petrification spell, then that means they aren't looking to inflict harm to innocent bystanders!" Chamo informed them.
"It doesn't matter at this point, they're still targeting Konoka, we've got to hurry and regroup with them." Dustin told him, Negi and Zyphon nodded in agreement. Dustin sensed another presence as they neared the next corner and powered up a spirit gun. Then the person struck, Dustin quickly ducked under the blow while Negi blocked it with his staff and placed his spirit gun at her neck. That was when the two teachers noticed the person attacking them was actually Setsuna.
"Setsuna, what are you doing here, I thought you were in the bath?" Negi questioned his student.
"I suddenly felt a bad presence and rushed back here, is Ojou-sama okay?" she replied.
"Right now she's with Rin, we were on our way to regroup with them." Dustin told her.
"Negi-kun, Dustin-kun, Setsuna-kun," came a grunting voice, the group turned to look behind Setsuna and saw it was the leader as he slowly came closer.
"Leader-san!" Negi called out to him, but stopped when he and the others let out a gasp as they realized that most of Eishun's body from the waist down had been turned to stone, as well as hear the sickening cracks that came from it for each step he took.
"I am very sorry, you three. It seems I may have overestimated the temple's protective barrier a little bit," he said with difficulty, "Is it because of the extended peaceful times I wonder, maybe they took advantage of it and it led to this situation…for a former companion of the Thousand Master, I'm ashamed of myself."
"Leader!" Setsuna shouted in shock as the spell had made its way to his upper body.
"Listen, Dustin-kun, Negi-kun, Setsuna-kun, be careful of the boy with white hair," he warned them, "He's an enemy not to be taken lightly. If he were a normal mage, then both the temple's barrier and I would not have been so easily defeated," it was here when the spell had spread to his neck, "It might be a bit difficult for just you three…contact the principle…sorry, please take care of Konoka." And with that the spell was complete, and Eishun was nothing but stone.
"Leader!" Setsuna gasped as Dustin frowned.
"Guys let's go!" they hurried.
"I'll call the headmaster." Negi said pulling out his cellphone and called.
"Hello." came the headmaster's voice.
"Hello, Headmaster." Negi greeted him.
"Oh ho, it's Negi-kun, so you delivered the letter?" he asked pleasantly.
"Yes, but that's not important right now!" Negi said impatiently.
"No, no that was a job well done." he said happily.
"Headmaster, we're in serious trouble right now! The western headquarters has been attacked, and the leader's been petrified too!" Negi explained.
"What was that, the western headquarters, and even the leader too! This is serious." the headmaster exclaimed, suddenly sounding very worried.
"Yes, and headmaster...we may need backup, do you have anyone you could send to help us another mage teacher perhaps?" Negi asked him uncertainly, really hoping that the answer would be a yes.
"Well I'm afraid Takamichi's overseas right now, I'm not sure there's anyone who can...Oh! I think I just found the perfect candidate to help you, I'll see what I can do...and Negi-kun, please save my granddaughter." the headmaster said with such barely controlled emotion that Naruto blinked in surprise.
"...I promise, we'll bring her back safe and sound," Negi assured him, then hung up the phone, "The headmaster's going to try and send someone to help us out, but until then we're on our own." he told the others as they continued towards their destination, meanwhile a certain someone was making a call for reinforcements as well, and this group was willing to help.
When the group arrived at the bath, they found Rin sprawled onto the floor, towel covering her body and twitching while muttering something strange about multiple hands.
Setsuna moved first and bent down beside her classmate, "Are you alright, Rin-san! What happened!" she asked worriedly, while Negi joined the two girls and Dustin and Zyphon followed behind him while he quickly checked the area of any enemies.
Rin kept gasping for air as she spoke, "S-Setsuna-san, they..." she couldn't say anymore as she continued gasping.
Setsuna instantly paled, "Don't tell me Rin-san..."
"What! What happened, what did they do to you!" Negi asked.
"I'm sorry guys, they took Konoka, but be careful, that guy is still around." she warned them.
In an instant, the white haired boy appeared behind Setsuna, Negi, and Dustin. With only the swordswoman sensing his approach Setsuna reacted immediately, attacking him with a quick jab, but he parried her strike and sent her flying with a single palm thrust and causing her to bounce off the floor and then off the wall, and then crashing hard against the wall and leaving her coughing violently.
Fate just looked at her without any emotion present on his face as his hand was smoking as he looked noticing Negi and Dustin glaring at him, "So you're them aren't you? Negi Springfield and Dustin Bowers."
"Where did you take Konoka-san," Negi demanded as his grip tightened against his staff, "Turning everyone into statues, hitting Setsuna-san, taking Konoka-san, and even doing who knows what kind of perverted things to Rin-san! As their teacher and as their friend, I can never forgive you!" he stated boldly while Chamo flip the boy the bird from on Negi's shoulder.
"That goes for me too," Dustin added as he stood side by side with his pal.
Zyphon added, "And me." He readied his blasters.
Fate continued looking emotionless and spoke "Then what will you do, Negi Springfield, defeat me? It would be better for you to stop, because it's impossible for you now. And you're still not ready to face me yet." he finished as water rose from a nearby puddle and enveloped him, he was gone in a second.
"Using water as a gate for teleportation, he's a pretty high-class mage." Chamo announced to everyone.
The boys quickly checked on the girls' condition, with Negi summoning a spare set of clothes for Rin for her to change into, "Everyone we have to go after him and find Konoka-san."
"Agreed, but you saw that white haired boy he's no walk in the park." Chamo said.
"Yeah even if you two teamed up who knows what other tricks he has up his sleeve." Domino said.
"And we don't even know how to find them." Zyphon added.
"Don't worry," Setsuna clutched her side in pain, "I can trace their Chi."
Dustin moved to help her stand up, "Easy there, to push yourself too much. Negi can you heal her wounds?" he asked.
"I think, let me see it Setsuna-san, I can heal minor wounds at best." he ordered her, to which she complied, Negi placed his hand near the wound and a white glow emanated from it as the injury was healed.
"Thank you, but if we don't then Ojou-sama will..." Setsuna couldn't even finished what she was saying, she couldn't bear the thought of Konoka being taking and force to do who knows what.
"But we can't go rushing in recklessly, remember what the leader said, that kid isn't a normal person. Even with Dustin-nii helping you, you wouldn't stand a chance… Wait that's it, I just had a great idea! This could work!" he announced suddenly.
"What could work?" Zyphon asked.
"Yes Chamo-san, what is it?" Setsuna asked.
The ermine gave a small chuckle, "Setsuna-neesan, you like Aniki don't you," he suddenly asked, causing everyone to giving odd looks while Setsuna flared up and asked what that had to do with anything, "Then you wouldn't mind giving Aniki a kiss?" he asked, with a background of the two said people sharing a romantic kiss suddenly appearing.
"WHA!" Negi and Setsuna both shouted, their jaws dropping in shock while Rin and Dustin face-faulted.
Rin frowned, "Chamo how can you think of a kiss at a time like this?!"
"Hear me out nee-san, I'm meaning the pactio, the pactio!" he quickly explained in fear of being injured, "Setsuna can use Chi, right? So if Aniki adds his magical power on top of that, should be able to give her a super power boost!"
The group started seeing that could be helpful until Dustin spoke, "Hold it! If Setsuna's gonna be making a pactio with anybody, then it's gonna be me." He declared.
"Whoa." Domino, Chamo, and Zyphon gasped as Setsuna was blushing up a storm
"Dustin…" Negi and Rin were shocked.
Dustin turned to Setsuna, "Just as I volunteered to be your assistant and watch your back Negi Setsuna's done the same for Konoka, a fitting pair wouldn't you agree?"
"Well it does make sense." Negi admitted.
Dustin turned to the girl, "How about it Setsuna do you trust me?"
Setsuna looked at Dustin seeing he was serious about wanting to help Konoka and was testing her to see if she was as serious as he was, "I do."
"Then form a pactio with me, my spirit energy will be yours as well," Dustin offered. Setsuna nodding as she approached Dustin, "Domino get to work."
"Right!" Domino drew up the pactio circle that they stood together in.
Setsuna lowered herself down to Dustin's level looking him in the eyes and thought, 'Ojou-sama, Kono-chan, I will save you no matter what.' She planted her lips on Dustin who returned the gesture as the pentagram glowed.
"Pactio!" Domino called as a pactio card of Setsuna materialized for her and the spirit warrior mark appeared under her arm.
When the two parted Setsuna blushed, "Thank you for sharing your power with me Dustin."
"No problem." He smiled as they continued gazing into each others eyes.
"Um master Dustin I hate to break up such a tender moment but shouldn't we get going?" Zyphon asked.
The two snapped out of it and Dustin spoke, "You're right, alright Setsuna lead the way!"
"Got it!" she took the lead as they all hurried off to find Konoka.
(And that's the chapter. Things have definitely taken a bad turn now that Konoka's been captured and their fellow classmates have been turned to stone including Konoka's father. Can the group find Konoka and save her in time? Check in next time.)