We only have two more chapters to go, so perhaps I can finish this before the summer end. The outline is pretty much done for the next two chapters.

Anyways, Thank you all for reading! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The To Aru Series is owned by Kazuma Kamachi.

The mind is its own place, and it itself can make a heaven out of hell, a hell out of heaven."

- John Milton (Paradise Lost)

"Tch. What a fucking mess."

Qliphah being flung straight into him had nearly knocked them both off the train and even though that possibility hadn't occurred, the event had nevertheless resulted in a resounding defeat on Accelerator's part. With pain faring throughout his body, the esper was struggling to stabilize and get back on his feet.

His traveling companion, however, had fared worse. Qliphah was still out cold, and moreover, somehow became corporeal as a result of Nephthys' tears. This forced Accelerator to clutch the artificial demon in his arms, which only added to his difficulties.

Thankfully, Nephthys hadn't gone for the kill with the knowledge of the esper's current state. Instead, the magic god had only issued an odd challenge to him before disappearing.

Still, now that Nephthys was gone, he needed to return to safety inside the carriage.

But just as the esper started to get a small foothold, the battery on his choker suddenly died, once again almost throwing him overboard.

Accelerator silently swore at himself. Another one of the countless mistakes the esper had made today. Had there been any point in his life in which he made so many errors in such a short amount of time?

At least he still had his crutch. Using the stick as a makeshift catapult, the esper launched himself through the still-open emergency exit on the rooftop, landing on the carriage ground with a painful thud.

Thankfully, he had cushioned Qliphah in a way that the artificial demon wasn't further injured in the process.

With Qliphah in his lap, Accelerator propped himself against the nearest wall to catch his breath.

Now what? Nephthys was gone, in which case, which meant that nothing really stood in his way to kill the Hamazura…

Except at this point, the blonde level 0 was already long gone.

Accelerator once again cursed at himself. Had the esper ever been this badly defeated before? Against Touma, Gabriel, and Coronzon, Accelerator had always managed to at least put up a fight despite seemingly being outmatched.

But here, against Nephthys? Was it that easy for her to defeat him?

She was a magic god - the pinnacle of magic. Yet, the esper wouldn't have even been here if he hadn't overcome equally impossible odds before.

Who was to say the strongest esper didn't have at least the potential to achieve victory against her?

Accelerator slammed his fist against the wall in frustration.

Was the gap between the two just too massive?

Accelerator recalled the only time he had been so thoroughly crushed. It was against Aiwass when the esper was still a big fish in a small pond - a novice to the greater magical world.

Like his battle against Nephthys just beforehand, he had also acted recklessly against Aiwass, charging at the angel repeatedly without thought, only to almost bleed out in his attempts.

Was Aiwass' strength the only reason why he had lost so quickly?

Only partially. It didn't explain why Accelerator had acted so rashly in the first place.

"Because you were afraid of losing Last Order." His mind instantly told him.

"!"

Right. In the esper's deranged state of mind, he had forgone everything that made his namesake. The ability to deconstruct and understand the unknown had been replaced by feral anger in an attempt to lash out at his troubles.

Now, the same mistake had just happened against Nephthys.

"…but perhaps this situation was a bit unfair; after all, you certainly weren't expecting me."

"Or perhaps you weren't in a good state of mind."

The Egyptian Magic God's words were entirely correct. His defeat had barely anything to do with his opponent. Had it been anyone else to come to Hamazura's aid - Touma or Aleister, it was likely that he would have been defeated just as quickly.

Even so, why in this situation? No one that he cared about was in any immediate danger whatsoever. What was the point of his anger?

As such, only one question remained unanswered.

What had caused him to act like this?

"…"

Accelerator suddenly heard the rhythmic tapping of footsteps. At this moment, the esper realized that he and Qliphah weren't the only ones in the room. Someone was approaching them.

As if on cue, a figure instantaneously materialized into thin air, startling Accelerator. It was the stature of a long blonde-haired woman wearing a beige robe whilst holding onto a thin white umbrella.

Wait, long blonde hair...beige robe...umbrella...Coronzon?

Coronzon!

"YOU!" The esper shouted as he pointed at the figure accusingly.

The figure holding the great demon's appearance simply stopped 'walking' before looking at Accelerator curiously. It made no attempt to speak.

The silence only served to make the esper madder. It seemed as if Accelerator had found his answer.

The esper had placed his trust in her, determined to keep his promise despite her refusal to tell him her plan.

And for what? Just for her to recruit Hamazura for seemingly no reason? Was there supposed to be something the blonde level 0 could do that he couldn't?

He wanted to shout at her, to give the great demon and anyone who could be bothered to listen to him a piece of his mind.

Accelerator wasn't expecting a reward for traveling the right road, but he shouldn't be more punished than when he went down the wrong one.

Determined, the esper opened his mouth, but just as quickly, he forced it back shut, grinding his teeth to prevent it from opening again.

The esper had stopped himself before the first word.

"What good is this?" Accelerator thought to himself as he remembered what he had been thinking about before Coronzon had shown up.

The esper could have started his words with how he approached most things. He could have gotten angry at the figure; make it a fight of sorts.

As if that worked the last time.

Accelerator also recalled the arguments they had alone in Academy City. What had become of those? Shouting matches? Jumbled feelings? In the end, the both of them left worse off compared to when they had first started.

Every time he lost; it was always because he had first lost himself in his anger.

As such, Accelerator slowly put down his hand before once again slumping against the wall.

What the esper had to say was personal. No shouting or anger was needed. No one else except Coronzon needed to hear what he had to say.

The figure holding Coronzon's image continued to patiently wait for Accelerator, but it would take a few moments before the esper could really answer.

"Think before you do something, idiot." Accelerator mentally chided himself.

"Are you only working for my master because you are in love with her?"

That was one of Qliphah's questions during the stakeout. He had facepalmed at it, but was it really that stupid?

No. Qliphah had been essentially correct. It wasn't the only reason, but it was a big one.

Everything became clear now, from his gut feeling during his confrontation with Hamazura to his moronic method of attack against Nephthys; it all stemmed from that feeling.

And that was why it hurt when the great demon didn't tell him the plan as she had promised. When she entrusted Hamazura with something that he apparently couldn't be.

It wasn't about being in danger like with Last Order, but it was the similar feeling of losing her.

And it hurt him because he was in love with her. There was nothing to deny.

"Just be honest." A faint voice in his head that was not his murmured in him.

"... I'm hurt," Accelerator began to mumble, just loud enough to make sure the figure could hear. "Maybe you had your reasons for not telling me about this. Perhaps you thought I would disapprove…after how I acted and what just occurred, you were probably right."

"But, after everything that happened in the past week, I thought maybe we didn't need to keep any more secrets between us. I... I'm just hurt that wasn't the case." The esper finally ended off his train of thought.

Did Coronzon hear him? The esper was never one with words, but in his heart, Accelerator hoped that the great demon at least understood where he was coming from.

"I'm sorry."

The esper immediately straightened his back in shock. The figure spoke; he was sure of it.

Did that mean that Coronzon was here?

"Yes, but not really. This is only a projection." The figure explained as if it could read his mind. "You probably don't need any more explanation aside from that, right?"

No, not really. It was just nice to hear Coronzon's own voice.

"I don't understand this," Accelerator murmured softly. "Am I not enough to finish our promise? Why Hamazura… why anyone else?"

"Maybe I'm not as selfless as I thought I was." The esper chuckled a bit at his own statement. "Guess I was bullshitting all this time."

Coronzon's mirage dismissed Accelerator's notion. "Perhaps your words aren't always true, but your actions are."

"Despite my falsehood, you still felt the duty to complete this contract." The figure let out a small breath. "As an apology, I will tell you whatever you want to know."

The esper went wide-eyed. "No…more secrets."

"No more secrets."

He had countless questions to ask, but once again, the esper held his tongue.

"This isn't a fight." He reminded himself.

"I want to make this work," Accelerator finally spoke. "So, I will trust you to tell me whatever you think is right."

It was the mirage's eyes that widened this time. "Was the esper placing his trust in her again?"

He always had. It may have wavered down the line, but it never broke, even after that argument and the end of their contract.

Because whatever Accelerator felt for Coronzon was more than just a contract or a promise.

"I supposed the big uncertainty I should clear up first is the involvement of Hamazura Shiage." The figure stated. "I made a deal involving the boy. He hopes I can use my magic to help him revert a specific tarot card. In return, he would gather two artifacts that I needed to commence a ritual to destroy the Sephiroth."

The esper raised his eyebrows at his part of the bargain.

Coronzon's mirage continued. "As you have caught on, that is not my plan. At least not anymore. The true goal was to draw Nephthys out to face you."

"Wait a minute, does that mean you foresaw my defeat?!" Accelerator asked incredulously.

The figure shook her head. "Not exactly. To tell you another secret I have been hiding, I cannot say my current plan has been thought up entirely by myself. Sometime after our battle, I feel as if something is drawing me towards certain decisions."

"Not to excuse my lie, but it was why I didn't tell during the night you set off."

That revelation threw the esper off-balance. "Like a voice in your head?"

Coronzon's mirage scrunched its face. "In a way, yes...wait a moment, have you experienced this anomaly as well?"

"Not currently," Accelerator answered. "The voice appeared when you first arrived at the city but vanished just before our battle."

"I had originally thought it was something you had planted to screw with me."

The figure seemed to be in deep thought at the new pieces of information. For once, something other than her creator was so utterly mysterious to her.

However, Coronzon's mirage started to flicker, which earned a frown on the figure's face. "I cannot dwell on this matter much. Either way, I wasn't forced to listen to the voice, but I felt a need to as if it was guiding me forward to the right road."

Right road.

Accelerator raised his eyebrows. Were their voices the same? The esper wanted to ask further, but he didn't want to press on the topic. Coronzon's mirage was continuing to lose its connection as they spoke.

The figure returned back to her original topic, "The main point you should know is that Aleister Crowley's affair in the United Kingdom has been bogged down significantly due to your lack of presence by his side. They are still trekking slowly to Edinburgh castle with the intact Golden Dawn Tarot cards chasing them down."

Coronzon's mirage phase out of existence for almost a solid second before returning back. Nevertheless, she continued with her advice.

"Nephthys issued you a challenge, yes? You should accept it. The Queen Britannia is moving across the Irish Sea, either you or she will wait for the other there.

The figure paused. "But be prepared. Next time, the magic god will surely try to kill you."

Coronzon's mirage gave an uneasy smile at Accelerator. " The train will be stopping soon; you should rest before challenging her. Nephthys is strong, so you will have to think about how to defeat her before rushing in."

"This you must find on your own for now. Some things are better experienced than told, but I trust you fully on this matter. After all, you managed to achieve the same against me."

As the flickering became more intense, the esper felt something stir in his lap. It seemed that Qliphah would also wake up soon.

Wait, Qliphah?! Shit! he had almost forgotten about something involving the artificial demon.

He had one last chance to ask the great demon a very personal question.

"One last thing, Qliphah was created solely by you, but I can also see my own parental image with her. Is she really…" The esper trailed on his words, but Coronzon seemed to understand what he was implying.

Looking at the artificial demon in Accelerator's lap, Coronzon's mirage became thunderstruck as she, too, noticed not only the impossibility displayed before them but something else entirely as well.

"Did I not notice this before..." The figure straightened herself as she realized she was wasting precious seconds.

"I can see the connection between you two. I have theories about why, but I cannot say more. Not because I can't but because it would be irresponsible of me to do so. For this matter involving Qliphah, you must find out yourself."

As Coronzon's mirage entirely disappeared, Qliphah herself started to open her eyes.

The esper thought about Coronzon's late few words regarding the artificial demon. Despite the impossibility, he was connected to Qliphah in some way, but even the great demon couldn't tell him why.

Perhaps, Coronzon was right in this case. Something was better experienced than told.

*Sniff* The esper's thoughts were broken by the sound of a crying girl.

"Sorry, mister! I got you injured with my intervention!" Qliphah continued to cry as she circled around the boy's head, phasing through the walls for half the rotation.

It seemed that now that the artificial demon was conscious again, she returned to being non-corporeal.

Accelerator clicked his tongue. "Tch. Don't worry about it too much. We can't change what happened, so it's best to just think about our next moves."

Qliphah stopped spinning as she heard the esper's words. The artificial demon placed a finger in her mouth and asked: "Well, what should we do then?"

"Nephthys issued another challenge against me, and I know where we should be heading." The esper replied.

At that moment, the train started to slow down as a message was sent through the intercom system.

"Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, we will be arriving in Manchester shortly. All passengers arriving at this destination, please exit orderly and safely."

"Hmm." Accelerator grunted at the announcement. "But we should rest first; draw out what to do so we don't end up in the same situation as last time...you coming, brat?"

"Ai!"

Despite Coronzon's advice, Accelerator didn't get much rest that night.

Sure, they had easily found a place to stay in Britain's second-largest city, but most of the night had been devoted to the esper and Qliphah drawing up methods to fight against Nephthys' magic. Even if the esper wanted to, he doubted he could have slept for any more than two-three hours; he was just too restless.

For the most part, it didn't appear that the lack of sleep was currently affecting Accelerator. As the duo once again took flight, the esper felt as ready as he would ever be.

As land turned to water, Accelerator, and Qliphah pinpointed the Queen Britannia making its way past the Isle of Man.

Something was wrong.

The Queen Britannia wasn't just a regular cruise ship for the Royal Family; its hull contained both magical and scientific defenses meant to fend off unwanted visitors.

So why hadn't any of them been activated? The two had foreseen this problem, but it seemed they were wrong in this regard.

Unless…landing on the front deck of the ship, Accelerator suddenly realized the reason why.

Every guard on the ship was lying on the ground. Unmoving.

"Oh, dear..." Qliphah murmured in slight shock. "Are they..."

Died? Unconscious? The esper hoped for the latter. The other option came with horrifying implications.

Either way, it seemed that Nephthys had arrived beforehand. At the very least, the two could use the trail of bodies as gruesome clues to find where the magic god was residing.

As the esper followed the path of bodies towards the lower floors, he noticed an odd pattern; each guard became more and more drained - mummified - as if the moisture in them had been forcibly removed.

Eventually, Accelerator found Nephthys on the stage of the ship's opera house.

As he drew closer to the magic god, it became clear that something had also changed within Nephthys.

The magic god held the same beautiful figure as before, but not of her color or regal. Nephthys seemed almost as pale as the albino esper.

But most strikingly were the magic god's bloodshot eyes on full display. It almost looked as if they had been dried away from crying too much.

Was that even possible for someone like Nephthys?

"YOU!" The magic god screamed as she finally noticed Accelerator and Qliphah approaching her. Nephthys voice was hoarse as if she had spent the past few hours rambling to herself.

"This wasn't supposed to happen here!" The magic god continued her rant. "Mathers...Mo Athair...Aleister" The esper could only decipher a few keywords, but it was enough to understand what Nephthys was ranting about.

Different roads. In this case, it seemed as if it was one in which Accelerator made a different choice on that fateful day against Aleister.

But how could the magic god had known about this? Had something told her about it? The voice?

Whatever the voice was, it apparently was strong enough to also affect the magic god. However instead of helping Nephthys like with Accelerator or Coronzon, it had driven her into madness.

As the target of Nephthys' anger was now focused on Accelerator, the esper realized that Coronzon was right. The magic god wasn't going to toy with him this time.

Nephthys cleared her face, ready to use her tear magic against the Accelerator, but he had been prepared for this moment.

Using his vector manipulation, the esper ripped out the opera house seat next to him before kicking it up like a soccer ball, smashing open the onboard sprinkler system.

Between all of his battles, Accelerator could categorize most of them between two characteristics: opponents who were stronger than him or those who wanted him dead.

Rarely had the esper ever fought against someone that was both.

This was one of those exceptions.

He had successfully disabled the blunt of her tear abilities through his little trick, but that was a small comfort in the face of Nephthys' overwhelming attacks. Especially now that Nephthys could also use the water streaming out to her own advantage. He was working overtime, trying to analyze and deflect each and every magical attack that the magic god threw at him.

Meanwhile, every attack he did seem to have little effect on Nephthys, as the magic god simply regenerated after each successful hit, always bringing him back to square one.

"Mister! Watch out! She is gathering water; you must focus on this one!" Qliphah cried out behind him as she saw a water blade coming down behind the esper.

Taking in the artificial demon's warning, the esper placed himself slightly backward before deflecting the blade towards Nephthys.

Their battle position of Qliphah facing away from Nephthys was so far working. Accelerator was also extremely grateful for Qliphah's knowledge. It seemed that she had an answer for all of Nephthys' spells. When it was time to attack or go on the defensive.

Using her own attack as a distraction, the esper followed along with it, reaching Nephthys before using his vector control to tear the magic god's body apart, leaving only a mesh of blood, flesh, and bandages.

It was still not enough.

"I AM NEPHTHYS! A COLLECTION OF THE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SLAVES AND SERVANTS BURIED ALONG WITH THE PHARAOHS! The magic god roared at Accelerator's successful hit.

"DO YOU THINK THAT IS ENOUGH TO KILL ME?!"

The water in the area soon converged into one great giant water blade. More than a ton of water had been showering the opera house. Now, it was all completely focused on crushing him.

"River of the Nile - Wash away this offender's sins!"

A small sense of déjà vu filled Accelerator, which only made him click his tongue in annoyance.

Wasn't I supposed to be done with this kind of experience after Coronzon?

Still, the esper would have to deflect the magical spell either way. As the blade came crashing down upon him, the esper quickly calculated as many variables as he could, drawing the same lessons that he learned against 'Magick: Flaming_Sword.'

*Whoosh!*

It worked. The esper held a small trickle of blood down his face, but he had managed to deflect Nephthys ace-in-a-hole almost perfectly.

Or so he thought.

The battlefield now was quiet… too quiet. As Accelerator stared up against the magic god, the esper suddenly realized his blunder.

By deflecting the attack over the opera, he was now directly face-to-face with Nephthys.

A single tear was present down her cheek.

"Tears of Transmission…."

That spell again… an incantation that allowed Nephthys to increase the potency of any magic she targeted.

But Qliphah was still back-to-back with Accelerator; she couldn't have seen the tear.

And Accelerator couldn't do magic, so what was the target?

"..."

"Shit!"

Qliphah couldn't have been the target nor Accelerator, but the magic god wasn't casting it on either of them."

"Target: Waters of the Nile – Boost"

Instantly the air around Accelerator became unbearably hot as the water reformed back into a blade. But not just from the sprinkler; the walls of the ship were being pounded by the crushing force of the water from the Atlantic Ocean.

"Oh, no." The Qliphah whispered as she looked up before realized what was about to happen.

This time, the artificial demon had no answers.

In an instant, the opera house's ceiling blew wide open as cubic kilometers of water rushed in.

Accelerator felt the weight of the spell hit him before blacking out.

About 3900 words in total. Anyways, the voice from before played a big role in this chapter despite not really being here. Next chapter you will be able to see who exactly it is, perhaps you already have some clues.

I think I can get it done by next week.

Anyways reviews and criticism is welcomed.