Disclaimer: I do not own A Certain Magical Index or any of its characters
Later that night Nora found himself on top of a skyscraper for a reason he wasn't too sure himself.
As he felt the cold season breeze touch his skin, memories of his past started to resurface. This always occurred when he was left to his lonesome.
The sound of crackling echoed in his mind.
An inferno.
That was the first thing that appeared in his head. The suffocating smell of sulfur and smoke filled his lungs, the intense heat from the sea of fire scorching the buildings around him. The brutally mangled bodies littered the streets and the towering figure of a man in white stood above him.
A growing pit of anger slowly started to fill his mind.
Suddenly his phone rang out disrupting his flow of thought.
As he checked his screen his brows immediately furrowed.
"What does the old man want?" He answered his phone. "What's up?"
"Is that any way to speak to your elder's brat!" a voice bellowed.
"Yeah, yeah why did you call?"
"I got news on 'him'."
"Go on."
A few minutes later.
Nora hung up. A cold thin smile spread on his face.
Touma couldn't sleep.
He wasn't exactly sure for the reason why. Maybe it was because of the upcoming tournament. Or the Salvation Church going radio silent and the issue with God's Right Seat. These thoughts have been causing to lose sleep.
I'm thirsty…
He stood up to get a glass of water from his kitchen. Suddenly he heard index yell for him. He could hear the panic in her voice.
The boy rushed for the door swinging it open and was immediately blinded by a golden light in the center room.
And in that center, Otohime stood with a golden crown of thorns above her head. Index was on the bed with a look of both surprise and horror.
"Otohime!?"
Hearing her name being called, the girl slowly turned toward the boy. Her once bright green eyes were now a dull shade.
The crown above her head vanished, as Otohime collapsed onto the floor.
"Hey, Otohime! You okay!?"
"…Hnnn, Onii-chan? Index? What happened?"
Touma and Index rushed toward his cousin.
"Do you not remember what happened?" Index asked with a look of
She stared back at him with a puzzled expression.
"A crown of thorns…" the white nun muttered.
"Index? Do you have any idea what happened?"
In an abandoned chapel at the altar stood a man in white robes. He looked to be in his late fifties with thinning grey hair.
The chapel itself was rundown with rubble scattered across the ground a few broken panes of glass and a large hole in the ceiling allowing moonlight to leak through.
In his hand was a withered parchment that looked like it had been used decades old. On it was a complex of magic circles.
"Soon our ideals would be realized." He stared solemnly at the parchment. "Very soon…"
"You look like you're enjoying yourself." A man with short white hair and tan skin wearing a red cloak appeared out of thin air.
"Ah, Archbishop Sloth what brings you here?"
"No need for the long introduction." Sloth sighed. "Anyway, I have some great news I think you'll want to hear."
"Hm? Go on…"
"We've found the 'vessel' and 'Sacrifice' in Academy City."
The atmosphere immediately shifted.
"What!? Are you serious!?"
"Relax old man you might croak if your blood pressure increases any further." Sloth mocked. "We know where they are, so we just need your orders to bring them here."
"Not yet we need one magical artifact to be removed from the playing board in case it could be used against us. I want you and two more Archbishops to destroy it."
"Alright just tell me the details."
The next day after school Motoharu, Nora, and Touma were to meet Leivinia and Stiyl at the Automated Bus Maintenance Terminal. It was 30 meters wide and a hundred meters long. There were metal pillars around.
They had been called her to meet with allies to aid in their battle against the Salvation Church. Leivinia gave Touma a brief explanation over the phone of who they were.
Blue Rose.
A magic cabal with major influence spreading all over the world. This cabal was formed during 0 AD, so to say they've existed for a long time would be an understatement. They had branches across the world and Japan was one of them.
It was located in Kyoto a place known for its rich historical influence.
The Japanese branch had sent two of their magicians to stay in Academy City for the foreseeable future to assist the Dawn-coloured Sunlight and Anglican Church in case of another attack by the Salvation Church.
A woman in a red suit with a black shirt walked over. She had smooth black hair and golden eyes that made her stand out.
"Hello, nice to meet you my name is Risako."
Alongside her was a girl Touma estimated to be around Misaka's age. She had pale skin and long silver hair and oceanic blue eyes. She wore silver-plated armor with a red cape.
"You can call me Leona."
After introductions, they began the discussion for their next move. They placed a bounded field around to stop any workers, civilians, or magicians from listening in on them.
"I'll start by addressing another issue we have." Motoharu began.
"The issue is God's Right Seat right?" Touma added.
"That's right from what I know they're after the Document of Constantine."
Touma gave him a dumbfounded look while everyone else had a look of surprise.
Leivinia decided to explain. "The Document of Constantine is a magical artifact that belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. Its power allows 'whatever the pope says seems to be the absolute truth'. But it's nothing like reality warping, it just convinces people to believe what the pope says no matter how ridiculous it is."
"We also have a feeling the Salvation Church would be involved," Stiyl added
Nora felt his fist tense. "So where is this taking place?"
"Avignon." Leona bluntly stated. "That's where we'll commence this fight."
Three hours later Touma found himself inside of the Supersonic Passenger Plane flying over Avignon, France.
He also found himself wearing a parachute Motoharu told him to wear.
"…Huh? What the-!"
"All right! Now it's time for us to jump Kami-yan."
"What the hell are you saying?"
"The mission starts now! Let's get to that Document before those Gods Right and Salvations bastards."
"Wait seriously-!"
Suddenly a large rush of air filled the area as the plane door opened. A second later Touma felt a hand on his back as he was pushed out the door and sent flying into the air.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
He felt his body flail in the open air with no sense of direction. With a poof, Touma released his parachute but to his dismay, it caught around his neck strangling him in the process.
"Urk…my n-neck.."
Below him looked to be a river as his helpless body dangled into the river nearly hitting the riverbed. He immediately tried to swim out but got tangled in the parachute causing him to breathe in water in a panic.
Suddenly he felt someone grab his hand as he was brought to the surface.
"Cough, cough, pant, pant…"
"Are you okay?"
Touma looked up to see a girl his age with black hair wearing a pink sleeveless tank top.
"Itsuwa?"
To be continued...
