The haze of fourty four minutes.
[ASG: As the Earth Fades Away]
As the car ascended, Joule's thoughts went back to the last tower she had travelled to.
Over three months had passed since she and GV arrived in Academy City. These three months had been the best of her entire life.
Fear burned in her chest but she wouldn't let it show. She needed to be strong for Arisa's sake.
It mirrored her own story in a way. Someone with powerful abilities and a wish to sing was captured by an organisation that wanted to use them for their power and who brought them up a space elevator. Sure, there were many differences between the situation but the similarities burned brighter.
That wasn't to say that Joule wanted to stop it just because of her own bad memories. She was Arisa's friend after all. A friend in need was a good enough reason to jump into action. That was the reason everyone else was here then.
Her mind wondered back to her own capture. She had been kidnapped right out of Gunvolt's apartment by those giant hands, carried to the base of babel and locked in that case that had suppressed her power. Without the ability to move or to send Lumen to go to GV she had felt terrified as the lift took her up the tower.
Nova had taken her and put her in that device meant to draw out her power. He had forced Lumen to shield him. Only GV's skill had allowed him to free her. Nova's last ditch attack had sent them both here of course.
A far better fate than being used as a tool to control the world.
Briefly, Joule wondered what sort of ritual Endymion was meant to cast. Was it some sort of mind control? Nova's plan had been something like that hadn't they? It was worth stopping regardless. The mages had noted just what a ritual of this size could do after all.
...The mages. Joule didn't know what to feel about them. She understood their reasoning but they had still acted needlessly antagonistic. Sure, they had been worried that she was a willing helper to Orbit Portal but that was no reason to attack all of them!
"Joule, are you okay?" Uiharu asked quietly. The other looked over as well.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just, you know..."
They nodded but kept looking. A feeling welled up within Joule then. Something she had to say.
"When we're back down with Arisa, I want to tell all of you my past."
"You don't have to." Misaka assured her quickly "If you don't want to talk about it you don't have to."
"No." Joule shook her head "It's time. I want you all to know it."
Kuroko nodded "If that's what you want, we'd be happy to listen."
Misaka hesitated before speaking herself "I could try and tell some of my own things too, if you'd like?"
Joule smiled. They were truely some of the best friends she had ever had.
The timer still read over twenty five minutes until they reached the top of the space elevator.
Joule pictured it in her head. She'd seen pictures of it. It truely looked like it was something out of both fantasy and science fiction.
"You're doing fine." Lumen sent her the mental message as they rode yet higher.
In the other car, Saten felt a bit out of place.
She was sitting next to the mage Kanzaki who had somehow brought a sword past three metal detectors. She was sitting with that sword on her lap.
Saten felt that if she only moved her hand a little bit, she could cut herself on the sword.
Across from her were Index and Touma. The two people who bridged the gap between science and magic.
Misaka had mentioned how he had helped her in the past and Index had helped them during the golem incident.
Finally, she drew up the courage to break the silence and ask a question that she had been thinking about for a while.
"If I may ask, can anyone learn magic?"
Touma chuckled slightly "As far as I'm aware it's everyone except Espers."
Saten's face fell "Now that is really unfair."
Index shook her head "It's not like that Touma." She then turned to Saten "In theory anyone can use magic, including Espers. The issue is one of preparation and nature. The first is that any magic requires preparation. Magic isn't spontaneous like Esper abilities. You need to plan in advance what spells you will need."
Saten frowned "I thought you said you couldn't use magic? If there is not some sort of thing preventing you then why can't you use it?"
Index paused for a moment and for the first time in a while, Kanzaki spoke "Index's inability to use magic is a safety messure. Due to her memorisation, she has the knowledge required to cast a large number of spells. Therefore her ability to use magic was greatly restricted."
Nodding, Index gave a small smile "That sums it up quite well. I would be terrifyingly dangerous should I go all out so the group I work for placed limits on me that prevent me from using magic myself."
Saten frowned "That sounds cruel."
Kanzaki shook her head "It's a kindness in a way. The alternative would be to lock her up like a treasure to be hoarded. Index wanted to see the world, not be kept in a vault for her entire life."
Touma was looking between the two of them with light surprise.
"Have you two...?" It wasn't clear what he was going to say before he went silent.
Index shook her head "Back on topic, it is possible for anyone to learn magic. Using it is the problem. Mana, the power source of magic, reacts poorly with AIM fields."
Saten's mouth went dry.
"Oh."
She cursed herself for a moment. If she hadn't trained to increase her level-
Touma held up a hand "Pause there. I can't tell what you're thinking but if you are thinking something about how you shouldn't have tried to increase your level, don't. Even Level 0s produce enough AIM to mess with mana."
Saten tilted her head "There sounds like there's a story there?"
Touma coughed "Just something I got involved in once with a... something choir. I don't remember the name."
Saten checked the clock and saw that there were only ten minutes left until the reached the top of the elevator. She could feel the deceleration as the elevator was already getting ready to stop.
"Miss Kanzaki. Could I ask again why you were chosen for this? I'm sorry if I'm being too pushy but..." Saten trailed off. Kanzaki didn't say anything so Touma stepped in.
"I can tell you, but-" He looked at Kanzaki. When she didn't react he went on "Okay then. Remember that she's here to help look for things that would be used to control Arisa's saintly powers?"
"Yeah." Saten nodded. Then the truth struck her and she looked at Kanzaki as Touma continued, confirming her thoughts.
"She's a saint too."
The elevators drew to a stop one after another. The passengers helped each other climb out. They felt no gravity up here though they knew the earth was still pulling on them. Even the girl with the wounded legs could move around easily until she reached the "Wheelchair" that had been prepared for her.
They left the disembarking area and made their way to the main entrance hall. They made a few last preparations and split up into teams to begin their mission.
End of chapter.
And here we go.
This was mostly a placeholder chapter as I wasn't ready to write the actual top of the tower.