Painted Prison Chronicles

by Sparity Ikari

When Kamijou Touma and Gokusai sisters reunite after a long while, things certainly go crazy for all of them when they found themselves living together through random twists of fate. In their daily life, Touma, Amazora, Kaibi, and Rikuri will learn about each other, with their light, darkness, and pasts revealed. Among the misfortune, comedy, and romance, their bonds blossom anew!

44. Chapter 44

PAINTED PRISON CHRONICLES

CHAPTER 44

FAREWELL TO REALITY, PROMISE FROM THE PAST

Hello everyone. I made very optimistic claims about getting next (this) chapter soon. Well, it turned out that having chapter outline and putting it down into words are two different things for such a complex part of the story. Nevertheless, it is here. And it is packed with so many things. It's the anteroom of one of the hardest challenges this story has seen. This time, Touma's own insecurities about the future, as well as case about Imagine Breaker's destruction made by Takitsubo, can set up a stage for something very important for achieving the future everyone dreams about.

This story slowly draws near to 1 million words, in fact, it will breach this mark when chapter 45 comes out. I honestly didn't expect this project to be so memorable and lasting. I may be repeating it over and over, but I will say it 100 times more: thank you, dear readers, because you also contribute significantly to this story's evolution and experience, both here and on platforms such as Reddit and Youtube. I have such immense gratitude for that.

As this is a long chapter (some day I will be able to split it more rationally, I promise myself) I will answer some questions and then talk to you in a more ample manner in the ending remarks, there is much more to talk about after the events of this chapter, so be sure to stick around, if you are so kind.

Q&A session:

Average Stuffy: I limit my usage of Future Phase on the insistence that switching between time periods is kind of disorienting, but Touma's children will have few important moments before story ends. As I said above, the discussion about Imagine Breaker's destruction is vital to what's going to happen next.

Dredgon: Well, she mostly needed Takitsubo and Hasako. But you will find out right now.

FingFangFoom100: Shimitsu was the child of Touma who had her backstory and power developed very early, and she has a lot of complex dynamics with both her siblings and parents, so I am happy that you like her. Her ability was thought to be upgraded version of Mugino, and also because I was very surprised that no one in AC of present day seems to have the ability that is connected with radiation. Or at least, not directly. I also think that mothers' trusting their daughters to Touma is excellent way to have them be enchanted by him, but not in a sexual way, instead trying to get him into their families. That way, we can acknowledge Touma's charm working on the mothers without having a massive homewrecking epidemic. Helcalia will be a lot more prominent in the following events. I intent to cure perception of her as one volume character that didn't have much depth. She is older, and in direction I see her, she is a mixture of shyness and sass, with her experiences from Los Angeles and fear from Touma's safety being driving force for her (not necessarily positively, but let's not got ahead of ourselves). But yes, the language barrier breaching is intentionally adorable.

Muramasa: Wow, this did not land with you, as I see. I can totally get why. I think I can try to explain some of the choices here, and in fact, I implemented some suggestions that may make it better for you. But I hope you do give the events that will unfold some chance, and hear my explanation at the end.

KHVSFF: Touma getting shot got so common that it is now 'okay' in the scale of his misfortune, which really says something. Well, as I also love complexity of Mugino, she is of course prominent. I won't be able to give her focus all the time, but I hope you'll still enjoy it. And as for now, no, I did not get around to read ITEM novels, only saw the illustrations and random panels from the manga. As the plotline for close future is set, it will not change for now, but I don't discard the possibility in the future, when I finally read it.

5had0wHand: I am deeply passionate about language learning, so I love to utilize the foreign language interjections that convey meanings impossible to achieve in English to enrich the personalities of character. Also, very astute observation about Alya. This chapter will have some moments like this and even one direct reference.

Mr.X: Oh god, no! I wouldn't suggest putting Melzabeth in Touma's harem as his wife. It's enough that we have Bologna and Misaki in such a set-up (in this story lore). Helcalia is possibly Touma's last wife, and Melzabeth is just close and teasy with Touma, just like Misaka Misuzu.

Without further delay, let's begin!

"Can someone explain to me what's happening?" Takitsubo whispered, still a little bit woozy after being woken up from the effects of the sleeping gas.

"What are you going to do with us?" Hasako also asked. The suddenness with which the shadowy figure of a witch shattered her glass necklace, that made possible for her ability to activate, let her a bit shaken.

In the main room of the secret facility called BIND, Vasilisa the Beautiful clapped her hands beckoning the attention of four girls present: Misaka Mikoto, Shokuhou Misaki, Takitsubo Rikou, and finally, Kankyougami Hasako.

"мои дорогие, I am sure you are all agitated, and for good reason too. This is why before we begin, I shall explain myself to you. What I am doing isn't fair nor pleasant, and I am not making any compromises, but if I come so far and involve so many to gain justice on my part, it's only natural that you deserve to hear what is going on"

"That certainly would be in order" Misaki said, standing up shakily" At least have some decency ability to give us a reason for your action"

"Hah! Likely story" Mikoto assumed the most hostile approach towards the orthodox nun" She is lying, she won't tell us. She seems smart and the villain going on about their plans always leads to their ruin. Watch any well written movie or a book, and you will see that. That's villainy 101"

A signature gentle smile appeared on Vasilisa's face, as she put a hand on her chest.

"You flatter me, принцесса молний. But there are two things that are wrong with what you said. Firstly, I think that with every human passion and actions to achieve our goal, someone is deemed a villain. There are just too many human desires for everyone to be happy. Of course, some are better at not crossing the others' principles and others have to do drastic things to achieve what they want. And that's what I am doing. I am willing to go far... very far... to accomplish what I need. And not for myself alone. What do I want, you ask? I want your help"

"You have a really warped way of going about it" Mikoto said coldly.

"The outcome of my actions can be viewed in bad light. But I have no intentions in directly harming anyone"

"But there are common things that are always bad" Hasako said solemnly" If you needed help, you just had to ask"

"She didn't because she wanted to carry it out even if we refused!"

Vasilisa pondered at that.

"I would" she answered honestly" And I was hesitant if you went through with it otherwise. There was a chance you wouldn't trust me. Why would you? I am an outsider to you. Even if you adhere to this boy's philosophies, I couldn't let this fail. I came so far for him..."

"Him?"

Vasilisa ignored Takitsubo's silent question pinpointing little mention in her words and waved her hand.

"If you are going to hate me regardless, so be it. But it is true that I need you for what I desire"

"Why us, specifically?"

"Because you fit the roles needed to played here. And because you and I are in the same position in many ways. Albeit I have some experiences that you may suffer through and it would be wise to spare you."

"How we are in the same position?"

"I was like you, once. When you listen to me, you should understand better"

Mikoto crossed her arms, or at least tried in the reinforced rubber suit she was wearing.

"You know what, screw this. I say we unite forces and bust our way out."

"Misaka-san, I doubt you would just let us. You are insulated, I am exhausted, from what I know Hasako-san can't use her power without this necklace of hers, and Takitsubo-san..."

"But you still want to take this like nothing's happening?"

"Misaka-san, the second reason she is telling us everything... when a person starts to talk like this, they are either foolish..." Misaki shot a glance at relaxed Vasilisa" or powerful enough to take it. I doubt she is going to let us leave like that when she came as far as to brought as here"

Vasilisa nodded.

"I like you a lot, звездная дева. I would really like to have your help voluntarily, but..." she nonchalantly spread out her arms" I am determined to go through with this, and that's why I am going to bring a spare soon. So if you try to break out, be my guests. But until you actually know what is going on, I will oppose you. Do not make me need to do this"

The darkness around her formed into a shape of an old woman, with strings of receding hair arms wrinkled and bent with age, hunching over Vasilisa like a wave of night itself. There was a pair of two gleaming eyes under the shadowy cloak. The girls were almost certain they heard a quiet, high-pitched, wheezing cackle from where the face should be.

"I am not arrogant enough to say that I would win. I am old, compared to you" Vasilisa said jokingly, as the blemished and crooked arms rested on her shoulders." However, I am also old enough to know of my own competence. An outright fight would not bring anyone closer to happy ending. Misaka Mikoto, I heard you are the feisty one, but perhaps this would make you reflect on the difference between you and your enemy"

Misaka scoffed slightly at that, but didn't say a word.

Vasilisa pointed above herself.

"It is in my nature to be grey eminence, to influence things from behind the scenes. From what I heard, it's not unlike you, Shokuhou Misaki. I learned that being a main heroine is not nearly as great as some people tell it to be. And it also goes along with my role in the world of magic. There is a number of powerful entities known as the Secret Chiefs. I was found and tested, a long time ago, by one of them: Baba Yaga, the primordial sage of magic so old, that humanity lost track of it long ago. She is an archetypical force, elemental, as old as collective human psyche. And I only later learned that she chose me as her priestess. A priestess to a Secret Chief... I know for a fact that you had an encounter with someone like me. I am talking, of course, about Anna Sprengel. But... oh, I am sorry, battles against her didn't end well for you"

Both Mikoto and Misaki fell waves of humiliation and embarrassment wash through them at the memory of the failure of fight against Anna Sprengel, where Mikoto was outclassed and the most Misaki could do to incapacitate Anna was get her to laugh herself into stopping with how uncoordinated Misaki was.

Although Mikoto was still inwardly boiling with anger, that reminder and apparent sign that Vasilisa compared herself to the same level of power, with a calm nonchalance that suggested that she was merely stating a fact, and not bragging, did wonders in calming her enough to settle down and listen on.

"You are welcome to come at me" Vasilisa repeated, before switching her tone into a pleading one" But that would be waste of everyone's time. Just listen to me. Wherever we go from here, depends on you, but I believe that you should judge for yourself after I tell you what I want."

Four girls looked at one another.

They wanted to get out, but Vasilisa didn't radiate malice nor acted like she was hostile intent. If anything, she seemed... tired. And there was aura of desperate sadness around her, even if she had though, cold eyes not matching her warm, soft smile.

For now, they could as well learn what was going on and what was the story behind Vasilisa's actions. Maybe they could figure something out in the meantime or some outside factor would sway the situation in their favour.

"Fine. What do you want to tell us?" Mikoto relented.

"I am so glad you asked." Vasilisa smiled, a flash of gratitude flaring up in her eyes for a second" You see, I am Vasilisa The Beautiful, maiden of russian legends. My long life was marked with many journeys, but there is something that resurfaced through them, time and time ago. Something that links my life with Kamijou Touma"

"What do you mean by 'links'? And what is it?" Misaka questioned. Sparks attempted to leave her body, but her skin only tingled as they were contained within the body by the rubber.

"You are... interested in Touma?" Hasako said, a little cautiously.

Vasilisa brought a hand to her lips as she began to laugh. She had a warm chuckle of a laughter, that was however very much contained, only indicated by subtle shaking and quiet sound. She shook her head with small sparks of amusement present in her eyes.

"Боже, нет. No! He is very charming young man, quite charismatic, but far too young for me. Or rather, I am too old... I heard somewhere that this wouldn't be a problem for him... but no. My love is directed elsewhere. As a matter of fact, it is bound to a real object of my interest. I am interested in something within Kamijou Touma"

The girls exchanged looks.

"That sounds..." Misaki began, trying to put forth a diplomatic answer.

"Weird" Mikoto had no claims about holding back" Again, what do you mean by that?"

"Whether through fate or coincidence, I encountered Imagine Breaker many times during my misadventures."

"Touma's ability?" Misaki put her hands to the glass" Is this why he is relevant to you?"

"Why, yes. But I wouldn't call it his ability. It's the other way around, he is its current host"

"Host? You make it sound like this power is hopping between people or something "

"Didn't he explain anything to you? Kamijou Touma is merely one of many for this ancient force. As remarkable as he may be as its host, he is certainly not the first and he is not the last... for now"

"For now?"

Vasilisa yet again evaded the pinpointing by Takitsubo. It seemed she had some order of things planned in mind.

"Well, the reason of what is happening now is interconnected with what happened in the past... a long time ago..."

(MEANWHILE)

"You had to leave your post. You just had to!" Yakumaru grumbled at Naru for yet another time" If you stayed put, like you were supposed to, we wouldn't be locked up in one of the creepiest place in the entire city"

"Well, I am not really a planner. I act! And don't tell me you wouldn't jump into action if we switched places. Because we kind of established that, oh I don't know, we both have feelings for him?"

Yakumaru got silent, fiddling with her fingers, and muttering for a moment, before gasping and turning around.

"Oh crap! Now it's not the time for that! Let's check on him, he needs help!"

When the two girls reached Touma, Helcalia was still leaning over him.

"How is he?"

"Breathing... alive..." the girl mumbled" But... it looked bad"

"We need to see the wound" Yakumaru commanded" There must be something my chemicals can-"

The boy on the ground opened his eyes and sat up.

"Ugh... "

"WAAAAH!" Naru screamed dramatically, jumping back." What? He came back to life?"

"I wasn't dead, I guess... but that hurt..." Touma grimaced, blinking and shaking his head, before noticing three shocked faces above him" What?"

"How are you so causual after being shot? How are you even conscious?" Yakumaru asked.

Next to her, Helcalia nodded vigorously, also wanting to know the answer.

Touma reached to his hoodie and took it off.

The bullet made a hole in the hoodie's material but the T-shirt underneath, glittering with a peculiar shine was intact, even though Touma felt that the skin underneath was bruised and aching.

"Woah... what is that fancy shiny stuff?" Naru patted the T-shirt.

"From the composition of the material, it is... silk?" Yakumaru examined the T-shirt." Silken shirt helped you? Do you have a guardian angel?"

Touma laughed weakly, lifting himself from the ground. Sure enough, the bullet itself bounced off and was laying nearby.

"Given her past, I would rather call her a guardian devil. Cute, pint size one, but still devilish nonetheless"

(MEANWHILE)

In the makeshift laboratory of Gokusai Rikuri, Hanatsuyu Youen clasped her hands over her nose

"Chu!"

The sneeze of a little chemist was of cutesy anime girl variety, which would be actually really disturbing when contrasted to the true nature of her and her twin.

"Ugh, what the hell? Why do I keep sneezing?"she groaned in annoyance, disinfecting her hands, before getting back to her work.

"Heh..." Kaai grinned wickedly, drinking some sludge of rather unspecified origin" I can practically hear the praying in your head for that superstition to be at work."

"Kaai, we are pursuers of science. Superstitions are beneath us"

"Oh, I see. So if that meant that Kamijou is praising your gift, you would rather not have it? I see, I see..."

"H-Hold on...maybe ... I suppose then I... wait, you know about that t-shirt?"

"Please, you may be stealthy to others, but not to your twin sister and crime partner for life." Kaai cooed in an overly sweet manner" Siblings or no siblings, you were so entranced in this little project, that I managed to capture a little bit of blackmail material"

"You wouldn't..."

"I am just worried that you might lose your edge. Because weaving and knitting clothing for your crush is, you know, soooo evil"

"I would stuff the mixture of live bugs down your throat, but that would probably only make you happy" Youen grumbled.

Kaai was not done with her teasing.

"Who knew you stuck your tongue so cutely when you weave for your cutie-pie. Or blush so sweetly when you glance at the finished work "

"He is not my cutie... I don't think that... Kaai, you are evil! I mean, I spread diseases and plague, and control literal armies of pests, but were is the sense of loyalty here?"

"Sorry sis, but the drama is too good. It will be even better if it got filthier... maybe I should do this classic beat of one twin pretending to be another and then getting all the smootch-"

"DON'T YOU EVEN DARE TO-" Youen roared, before she noticed her twin sister's smug face.

She walked straight into Kaai's trap, and blushed slightly upon realizing that.

"Yeah... not caring about him and his relationships at all. You are fooling everyone, sis"

"You know what, I am a mature woman-to-be. I will just have a dignity to ignore your childish taunts about my personal life, starting now"

Youen huffed indignantly, turning away, both to give Kaai silent treatment and to quench another need to sneeze by rubbing her nose.

Well, if Touma was mentioning her right now, she was... maybe a little interested. Was he praising her or her invention? Was he proud or grateful?

Okay, maybe it was more than a little.

But even so she would not give Kaai satisfaction. There was nothing she could do. Nothing that could bother her

"And since you don't care at all..."

Nothing. Nothing to react to from this childishness.

"...I guess you wouldn't mind..."

Her mind was clear, focused, and unbothered.

"... if I sent him a recording of you talking about him in your sleep"

In the next moment, the 'unbothered' Hanatsuyu Youen chose violence

(BACK WITH TOUMA AND THE GROUP IN THE CREMATORY)

"This is a gift from Youen. Some kind of a special kind of silken t-shirt. I kind of forgot I had it on, she really wanted me to test it as soon as I could. It was supposed to be bulletproof, but I wasn't really eager to try "

"Oh, I see, I see. That creepy girl gave you a bug made bulletproof vest... SO WHY THE HELL DID YOU FAINT?!"

Naru was having none of that, as she shook Touma back and forth, before starting to bash him on the head with her umbrella like a crazy Mary Poppins on a rampage.

"Ow, ow, ow... Fainting is a bit of a strong word... but I suppose I blacked out a little due to the impact of the bullet. It still hurt like hell... and it still does, hitting me with that thing does not help!"

"Naru is just... relieved. We all are" Yakumaru wiped cold sweat from her forehead, not realizing just how tense she got.

"Best thing... in this all... you alright" Helcalia resolutely resumed in her broken, adorably accented japanese.

She looked worriedly at the creepy place around them.

"But... what about... guy shot that... where he?"

"Good question." Yakumaru shook her head" Bastard ran away."

"How could he ran away?" Naru questioned, tapping her finger on the floor" This place is supposed to be sealed. He must be hiding somewhere, just waiting to strike."

"That wouldn't surprise me with my luck" Touma chuckled, looking around" But we should try to find a way out anyway. On top of actually getting something from being locked in here"

"Well, since we are stuck here for now, we might look around for more clues. Let's split up"

"Wait. In every movie and book, this is always a bad move"

"We are in neither of those. And now, when we are on high alert, a bullshit like that won't happen again. Helcalia-san, let's go! Keep close to me, in all circumstances"

Helcalia wavered, looking at Touma, who grinned at her.

"Go with her! I am fine, really, don't worry"

Helcalia nodded, before whispering

"Be back soon"

As Yakumaru and Helcalia disappeared, ascending to upper level of the crematory, Touma also rose up

"We should search for some way out."

"There shouldn't be any other door"

"I know. But we need to at least try"

They walked in silence, which was uncharacteristic for Naru as far as Touma knew her.

Only after 10 minutes or so, when they concluded that there was no other obvious way out in sight, she spoke

"Sorry for that. I really shouldn't have run from the door"

"It's okay. I am fine, as you can see"

"Just be accident. You got lucky"

She noticed that Touma shuddered slightly and tilted her head

"Something wrong?"

"Me and word 'luck'... we don't match. If I get events in my favour, I will have to pay for it dearly later on. I just... know it too well by now"

"Oh, that's just being paranoid. Stay positive!"

"I am positive that I am screwed later on, Naru-san"

They went back to the empty metal table.

"You think that the person we are looking for was taken from here?" Touma asked.

"Seems like an obvious thing to assume" Naru nodded, before twirling around" So... what about you and Calia-chan? If didn't know any better, she acts like an overprotective wife although she is a bit younger than us. What did you do?"

"She does? I saved her life... and it was a bit of an overcomplicated, messy affair. I think she wants to prove something to me"

"Or maybe she just cares about you. Not that I would know much about that" Naru shrugged" At least, I didn't use to. Not before the Scavengers and before..."

She gave him a quick glance, one that he missed, deep in his own thoughts.

"I never expected her to be so influenced by me"

"From what I am hearing, you tend to have quite an effect on people" the girl by his side giggled at that" And you would be surprised how many things you can't predict in life"

"I rarely can predict any misfortune that-"

"Well, that's not really what I mean" Naru smiled, focusing her eyes on his face" You see... personally, I thought that you were lame at the beginning. I didn't see what Yakumaru saw in you. I thought that you stole our pride and forced us into a compromise that was intertwined with humiliation"

"W-Was it that bad? And Yakumaru saw something? Is this connected to the fact that you were talking about having feelings for me?"

Naru was surprised for a split second, before a mischievous gleam appeared in her eyes.

"You heard that, huh? Well, this will make this super easy then"

"Hold on... you used past tense? That means that you too..."

Naru started to quickly walk forward, forcing Touma to walk backwards equally fast, until his back hit the wall.

"Naru-san... t-there is no time..."

"On the contrary, a moment like this is a luxury" Naru pouted at him" Do you know how damn hard is to get an alone moment with you?!"

She slammed her hand on the steel wall next to Touma's head.

A kabedon?!

"L-Look, I am flattered, I really am." Touma muttered, his eyes darting to the left and right" But seriously, we are in the crematory! Right now?! Right here?!"

"Well, true, this isn't the location I would imagine for something like this to take place..."

"Then..."

"But, there are few things to consider. For one thing, just like with Calia-chan, I just realized that you might get killed any moment with that supposed bad luck of yours and it would really suck if I didn't do it beforehand. Nothing really gets you the 'no time like the present' vibe when boy you like gets shot and misses death by a hair. Secondly, I am more of a woman of action than anything. Thirdly... can I take it that if it wasn't here and now, you would be interested?"

"Like I said, you are a great girl... but this is so sudden! I thought you hated me!"

"I am a bit chaotic, you know. But that's why I am charming, tee hee. And to answer your question, there was a time when your person and the fact that Yakkun got that weird obsession of getting you specifically to fall for her were getting on my nerves. Guilty as charged, I admit that. But after some time, I realized few things..."

SLAM!

Apparently the only thing better than a kabedon was a double kabedon, as Naru was now placing her weight on both arms supported on the wall, with Touma between them.

"I like chaos and mayhem. In my attempt to get you away from Yakkun, I got to know you more. And I find it very attractive how much unpredictability always occurs around you. You are so much fun"

"I am just unlucky. This is not a quality you would want to have around in a guy" Touma protested.

"And yet, once again, I hear that many girls find you super popular"

Touma hesitated. Although he said what he believed with conviction, something stung within his heart.

Even though he was now aware that many girls had varying degrees of affection, and he was grateful for it, on the other hands... it was also unnerving.

Why? Why would so many people be interested in him? To the point where his relationships were focal points, and fundamental cornerstones of new, brighter future.

But how could it be bright, with him involved in it?

Misfortune was intrinsically linked with his life. He couldn't fathom why some people would be interested in relationship with him, knowing that risk. He couldn't control the forms disasters would take around him. What if they affected those he loved, his children included?

Was he strong enough to protect them?

Those were not the questions a teenager like him was supposed to ask. But he couldn't help but wonder. He always assumed that over the years, Imagine Breaker shifted its target from others to himself, but was that true? Didn't Index and his friends get involved in the problems his presence created more often than not? Was that shift only illusionary because between coming to Academy City and meeting with Mitsuari Ayu and Kumokawa Seria, he didn't actually have friends, so he could only assumed misfortune was focused on him? If others were to suffer even still...

'Can I even allow... myself a life like that?'

That dangerous thought appeared in his mind. He shook his head, trying to dismiss it.

Naru watched him attentively.

"You know, don't read too much into this. I am just saying that I want to apologize... for trying to be a jerk earlier on. And for getting us stuck in here. I genuinely want to repay you..."

"This wasn't your fault"

"Oh come on, it kind of was. But don't freak out! I am not doing anything truly drast-"

Fragment of her skirt brushed against finger of his right hand.

In the next moment, the outfit burst apart into loose pieces of paper.

Naru raised an eyebrow, before giving Touma half-lidded look.

"Although that may change, seeing how often you make me almost naked"

Touma was not amused and stretched the girls cheeks.

"You know it well that's never intentional on my part!"

Out of all Scavengers, Naru was most interested in teasing him as of late. After getting over her first time embarrassment after Imagine Breaker caused her clothes to disperse, she would repeat it to embarrass him in turn. She had no problem in showing her body, quite the opposite in fact.

"A girl... can... try..." Naru smiled despite pain in her cheeks.

Touma sighed and let her go.

"Put some clothes on, please"

"Hmm, suit yourself"

Paper swirled around, forming Naru's clothes once again.

"The point here..." the girl said with a grin" is that you are so much fun. And I think that with you being all gloomy about your bad luck, you need someone to bring some fun and flair into your life. So I am going to show you what you can gain"

"W-Wait a moment, we should get to know each other better first"

"We know each other for a while now, since you invited us to work around your apartment complex, but I suppose I can add few things in: I am Sakuragi Naruha, I like rabbits and colour pink, hate teachers and boredom, love adventure and fun with my friends. And I really, really want you to feel like you have fun too"

"But we should do something together. Like... origami? Making a thousand cranes!"

Naru laughed heartily, leaning against him in her fit of snickering.

"I would completely obliterate you in it. Why bother to try?"

"Because I figured you would like it"

"You are really hilarious sometimes. Which is why... no more excuses! I might die on the inside later on, and overthink it during a sleepless night, but damn it all!"

"Naru-san, wait, we should talk lat-"

Naru went in for a kiss.

True to her words, she was a girl of action more than of words.

It made all the why questions in Touma's head get even louder.

Not only he had the attention of the girls. Not only something much bigger than he could image loomed on the horizon. But he even got the kisses!

That was not to say that it was unwelcomed. Naru was the type of girl who babbled a lot like someone with caffeine instead of blood, which included adding fast-paced, embarrassment-induced remarks that probably weren't meant to be said out loud, and she went for that kiss with exact same energy and passion. Who wouldn't enjoy it?

Touma couldn't lie and say that he would put it down for the sake of it, should they have opportunity to do it again. Naru did seem to have good intentions and wanted to make him feel better. And for a healthy high school boy that he was, a kiss like this was incredibly lucky occurrence.

Lucky... yet again. And another shiver, a different one from kiss-induced feeling similar electric shock spreading down his body. It was one of dread.

So with this strange mixture of enthusiasm and fear he broke away.

It was because there was a loud sound in the distance. Like something hitting the floor or being slammed into the hard surface.

"Wha..." Naru, despite keeping her promise and not doing anything else beside the kiss, clearly did not enjoy Touma ending it abruptly" What gives?"

"You heard that?"

"Heard wha..."

The noise repeated and this time, Naru also acknowledged it.

The listened for a moment, and then...

Yakumaru came sliding into view in

"Hey! We were attacked again! We have a situation here-"

She froze, noticing that in their sudden tension, both Touma and Naru motionlessly stopped in their tracks, with Naru's hands grabbing sides of Touma's head.

"And I think that we are not the only ones." the brown haired Scavenger said blankly.

As Touma hurried forward, Yakumaru shot Naru a glare.

"As efficient in slaying hearts as in slaying enemies, huh? You don't waste time" she said.

It came out more venomously than she intended, but she was rather mad that Naru could never read the right moment. They were in the middle of the dangerous action, for crying out loud.

And maybe there was a bit of jealousy mixed within this frustration.

"Oh come on, I think we both agreed that it's fair game and we won't hold a grudge. And I wanted to make apology clear to him."

"True, we agreed to it" Yakumaru nodded at that" But now? I admit, I thought about it after he got shot, but... there is time and place!"

"Yeah, called here and now" Naru quipped back" We are in so much trouble in this city that living in the present is only sane option for me"

"That explains a lot, and I mean a lot, of the way you act"

"Also... he knows that we have feelings for him"

"He... heard that, didn't he?" Yakumaru's perfect poise broke for a moment with a hot blush, before she regained her composure" S-Still, I think you should be more focused on what's actually important"

"Hey, I was looking for way out and clues"

"Where, in his mouth?"

Naru raised her hands.

"Alright, if it makes you feel better, it was only for a couple seconds. I just wanted him to feel better-"

Yakumaru stormed ahead, as the two arrived to the room where Helcalia and Touma were leaning over the fallen man.

(MEANWHILE)

A train was going through District 17. It was a train going out of the City, transporting technology of lesser value for import and some of waste to be delivered to the border, in order to be redistributed to the purification points near the outer wall.

On board of the train, besides the machinist, was a single person, hidden between the carts.

Covered with cold sweat, that person awaited the moment in which she would be beyond the city. There was no option of going too far way, but no one would look beyond the wall.

The man driving the train was on her side, so there was no need to panic about the control. Everything was going according to the plan.

"I will make it right later on. It's just repaying a debt. I don't like debts. It is a bit over the top, but I can make up for it, right?" the whisper echoed in the dark.

But the hopeful musings were interrupted.

At the same time, the train cart was yanked forward and then started to slow down, before coming to sudden, unnatural stop, as if something forcibly robbed it of its momentum by holding it in place.

The runaway looked around in confusion.

"Wha-"

Then, the walls strained and bent, changing their shape, before finally, with a terrifying screeching sound, the roof of the cart parted in the middle, opening up like a bizarre steel flower, causing the cascades of sparks and flood of light to invade the inside.

And the person onboard watched as in the middle of it, a silhouette of a girl gently glided into the air, above the walls torn by two extended index fingers, until she was right in front of her, still hovering slightly above the level of the floor.

"H-How... why are you here?"

Maidono Hoshimi looked down at Saronia Irivika.

She didn't even move her head. Only the eyes went downwards, as she spoke in an icy, bone-chilling tone:

"I found you"

Finally gaining coherence and strength, Saronia bolted passed by Maidono, jumped outside and began to ran as fast as she could.

Maidono slowly turned around and lowered herself to the ground outside of the cart.

"Wrong move"

(MEANWHILE)

"I am going to tell you a story" spoke Vasilisa" a story of something you all might be familiar with, but wouldn't know about it like I did"

"I would have insistence ability... for you to let us out" Misaki insisted

"Very well" Vasilisa nodded" But it appears that it will not be necessary. You can get out by yourself... isn't that right, наша принцесса молний?"

In the same moment, the black outfit on Mikoto bubbled and burst, splattering over the glass walls, which broke in the next moment, when a bolt of lightning shot through it.

Sparking and sizzling, Misaka Mikoto stepped out of the cell.

"You saw it? That I worked to free myself?"

"Indeed. I must applaud you on destroying this suit. It was a tricky thing to make, but I suppose you are one of this city's level 5s for a reason"

"You made this wretched thing?"

"Yes. First and foremost, I am a seamstress. I had decades of experience, I can turn almost all types of fibbers into clothing"

Vasilisa walked to Misaki's cell and turned something in the wall. It was an analogue lock, crafted to be manually opened from the outside. A moment later, Mental Out almost fell out, wheezing and panting.

"You don't seem surprised that I managed to break free"

"Well, this only proves your worth as a spare"

"Spare?" Mikoto sparked some more. She didn't like the sound of that.

"If you expected Misaka-san to free herself..." Misaki muttered standing up, her body still glistening with sweat" What was the point of locking us up in the first place?"

Vasilisa pondered on that for a moment...

And that she knocked on her head with a fist, making a playful expression.

"I suppose I was just curious to see such daring, yet ultimately flawed constructions at work. Simple curiosity, my dears!"

'This woman is seriously getting on my nerves!'

For once, two rival level 5s shared the same exasperated irritation.

Vasilisa could go from very serious to airheaded, childish even, and not once in all of the time they interacted with her did she show true malice. It seemed that even though there was something groundbreaking going on with her, she still enjoyed teasing them.

Mikoto raised her hand, palm open, toward Vasilisa.

"Well, with your curious experiment out of the way, why should we stay at all? Even without a projectile, I can still generate a current that would threaten your life. And Shokuhou..."

"Waaah-eeeep!"

Despite Mikoto attempting to exert some intimidating force from her fellow level 5 comrade, her efforts were completely ruined by string of sounds, each girlishly adorable and sounding progressively less threatening. It was due to the fact that Misaki chose that moment to slip in that moment due to her still wet skin. As she did a flip in the air, almost 360 degrees, a very feminine scream followed, before all of the process culminated in the squeak of pain and surprise upon landing on her back.

Mikoto's eye twitched, as she sighed and finished.

"... is also here"

"T-That's clearly not what you wanted to originally say, Misaka-san!"

"Well, you are not making it easier for yourself!"

Misaki quickly got up, dusting herself off. She assumed her usual pose of haughty confidence during the battle, although humiliating slip had testimony in her red face. She really, really didn't want a repeat of her physical performance from battle with Anna Sprengel... or lack of thereof.

"I simply have to recover... but I can also give you world of trouble if you don't release us!"

"Какой ужас! My my, you seem quite fired up. I am not the one to discourage the enthusiasm of beautiful maidens. Yet in this moment, specifically, I must insist that you remain here for a while longer"

"What if I said that I would force you?" Mikoto replied bluntly.

Relaxed expression did not leave Vasilisa's face, as she spread her arms.

"Go ahead. You are welcome to do your best"

"I am serious."

"So am I"

"Billions of volts of electricity and you are that calm?"

"I wouldn't live that long if I was frightened by something like this"

Mikoto and Vasilisa didn't take eyes from one another. Misaki was standing at the ready, wondering what to do with her remotes. Hasako put hands to her face, looking from one side to the other, while Takitsubo had her usual blank expression on display, yet she was also attentive to the confrontation in front of her eyes.

Mikoto realized that Vasilisa was fully prepared for the outcome of her Shokuhou fighting back. And not because of those strange contraptions she tested out, supposedly for her own entertainment. No, it was because she was just that strong.

There was more than one type of intimidation that could be felt in front of someone.

Level 5s of Academy City were accustomed to people going out of their way to challenge them, or loudly exclaiming that either they weren't worthy the title, or, by extension, someone else was, usually person making the claim. Such people were loud, cocky, and tried to demonstrate their power by showcasing raw, brutal force.

Mikoto was rarely involved in such situations, unless she was the one who got irritated by someone else's attitude, and she was the one to try putting them in their place, like she once attempted to do with Touma... The rest was history. She was similar to Sogiita Gunha in that regard, who, in his free spirited and enthusiastic philosophy of gutsy willpower, challenged people himself.

Kakine Teitoku and Mugino Shizuri experienced such challenges countless times, with sickeningly violent outcomes occurring in the past for the challengers. Accelerator was a category of his own, with number of bloody ended challenges being worth only to be wrapped in the veil of dreary silence. Even Shokuhou Misaki, who preferred to act through proxies, experienced external unrests directed into her clique, and herself, from time to time.

That raw, loud intimidation would be especially ineffective in case of Mikoto. If anything, it would strike her ego just enough to flare her temper and actually ignite the fight.

But, like it was said, there was more than one type of intimidation. And Mikoto suddenly felt unsure as she felt that was exactly what Vasilisa was giving off.

Namely, she didn't say any more words than it was necessary, and was standing in her way very, very calmly.

'She is just that strong' Mikoto realized, her hand shaking ever so slightly against her will.

There was no mocking from Vasilisa. Nor was there any hesitation, or fear. She was simply unbothered and determined.

Just like it was said that the true heroes wouldn't call themselves heroes, people of true strength would have no need to shout loudly and brag about how strong they were. And as quirky, carefree, and strange Vasilisa was, she was clearly very powerful.

Mikoto slowly lowered her arm.

"Fine. But make it quick"

"Misaka-san?"

"It would be stupid to attack someone from that side of the world head on"

"Wha... who are you and what have you done with Misaka-ugh!"

Misaki supressed hiss of pain when Mikoto crushed her foot, putting an end to a sarcastic comeback.

"It will take exactly the amount it needs. In fact, almost all elements are in place" Vasilisa said" I am doing this for your understanding. Well, to be honest, Hasako Kankyougami, моя дорогая девочка, you are the most vital one here."

"And I... wish to learn what is going on" Hasako responded" You clearly manipulated the situation to great lengths for some great purpose of yours. You seem... distressed, more than anything. And seeing that you didn't actually harm us since we got here... I am inclined to listen"

Vasilisa's smile got brighter.

"Hmm... you are just as kind and understanding as she said you are. It's a pity..."

"What is?" Takitsubo, silent till this point, tried to inquire, but was drowned out by a parallel question.

"Can we take that you have an accomplice? Someone told you about the situation in the city, about Hasako-san..." Misaki asked.

"And the murder" Takitsubo added, keeping in mind her own doubts" Did that person had her part in it?"

"Also, is this person responsible for something that happened to Maidono?"

"Patience. I have no reason to hide it by this point. In fact..."

There was a commotion outside and few people went inside, leaving final person to join them.

Mitsuari Ayu looked tired and frazzled, but maintained dignity, looking across the room.

"Wow..." she whispered" this is quite the collection of people. Takitsubo-san, Hasako-san, Misaka-san, and that blond sweaty mess that looks a lot like Shokuhou Misaki"

"Even with our mutual forgiveness ability and leaving the animosities behind, I still hate you" Mental Out muttered, shooting a fellow telepath a glare.

"What are you doing here?" Hasako asked, running up to Ayu and giving her a warm hug.

"Well, I was minding my own business, when all of the sudden the city went nuts"

"In what way?"

"People started to act weird. As if they were... possessed, or controlled, like when we do it with our powers" she gestured at Misaki" Basically, crowds of people acted as if they were brainwashed. They started to chase me, and there was so many of them. I managed to assume control, but it was fickle and something kept interfering..."

"But it's not supposed to happen. Who would be powerful enough? No one should be able to challenge either you or Shokuhou-san when it comes to mind control"

"Not alone. But with appropriate preparation" Vasilisa interjected"you would be surprised"

"So... were you captured because they overpowered you?"

"Well, that probably would be the case. I didn't want to have people fighting against each other. But mostly... the message was conveyed to me. That you..." Ayu pointed at Hasako" are in trouble"

"Me?" Hasako felt tears well up in her eyes, once again hugging the burgundy haired telepath" You agreed to come... because of me?"

"Well..." Ayu blushed slightly from embarrassment" You know, I kind of woke you up, to this world, and all the mess that it's going on around this era, so in times like that, I... feel a bit responsible for your well-being"

Hasako whimpered a little, very sweetly, into Ayu's hair.

Vasilisa cleared her throat and said.

"Mitsuari Ayu, you were last person I was waiting for. Since you are probably even more confused that those girls, I am about to tell you something important. Which will, hopefully, sate all of your curiosities"

Eventually, all of them were cautiously seated.

As Vasilisa was about to begin her tale, Misaki whispered to Ayu

"Those people that attacked you... do you know any of them? Was there something specific about them?"

"That's the thing... they were rather... well..."

(MEANWHILE)

"Completely random" Touma scratched his head" I don't get it..."

The quartet looked at the unconscious boy laying on the floor in the room that appeared to be some sort of computer workspace. From what Touma understood, it worked as the register of corpses coming into the morgue.

"How did it happen again?" Naru asked Yakumaru.

"Well, we discovered this place and apparently, Helcalia here is lot better with computers than I am"

This got the brown skinned teen to blush slightly, and look away.

"Got better... watching mom... not that good... though" she mumbled.

"So good news was, we got the records, a entry log of sorts, that gave us some interesting conclusions. Bad news... when we were distracted, this guy just sprung out on me. We went tumbling down, knocking things down..." she gestured towards the mess on the floor" I was about to smash a vial into her face, when Helcalia-chan saved the day"

"You really knocked him out with a fire extinguisher?!" Naru laughed loudly" Wow, this is my cup of tea. I wish I could have seen it!"

Helcalia had a mixture of joy and embarrassment on her face. Joy came from the fact that she indeed helped out, and embarrassment... came from the fact that she intended to use the extinguisher the way it was supposed to be handled. And yet, it slipped her grasp while she took it off the wall, and smashed into man's head.

Not exactly the most elegant of knockouts, but well, it was effect that counted. Surprise was also a factor in attack.

The attacker was a teen, maybe a bit older than Touma. He wore a dark hoodie and jeans, had shortly cut black hair and well-defined face. But...

"Yeah... this is just some random guy that none of us seen before" he repeated himself.

"What does that mean?"

"I mean... that since there is no connection tying him to either of us... and no individual motif for him to attack... he had to be controlled"

"You mean brainwashed? Like a mind control?" Naru pried on" But who would do that? Do you think there are more people like him? What if the killer... or the guy who made it look like a killing... was under control too?"

"You think it's like a massive apocalypse of mindless zombies?"

"There a quite a few telepaths in the city" Yakumaru mused" But to implant a command and leave someone to remotely fulfil it... it requires great level of power"

"Well, I know two very powerful telepaths, but they are both..." Touma paused.

"Into you?" Naru wiggled her eyebrows at him, which caused both Touma and Yakumaru to look at her and sigh (albeit one sigh was vexed, another irritated)

"I was going to say 'on our side'. There is no way this is a doing of either of them" Touma looked at Helcalia" What do you think?"

The girl wrote a message, which was momentarily translated.

'I think we should get out of here fast. If someone out there is controlling people, our friends can be in real danger!'

Touma frowned, chill spreading through his body.

"You are right. This was an ambush anyway"

"Well, I wouldn't say that we got nothing out of it" Yakumaru pointed at the nearby computer" We got the data of our deceased, alongside with the time and date of her body entering and leaving the morgue. Maybe this will give us some clues. Although I am pretty sure that it's just some poor girl, who lost her life through the remnants of dark side. It's still downloading, I want to take it for a future reference. But it should be over soon. Oh, and by the way, Helcalia apparently found the possible way out. "

"Really? Wat to go!"

'Yes... but I am afraid it will not be fun... it is a hole in the wall... possibly for the remains of the...'

Touma gently squeezed Helcalia's hand, trying to comfort the disturbed girl. Even if Helcalia was determined to help, being in the setting like this was not something someone could walk into and not feel anything. He knew that very well.

"Naru, take Helcalia with you, and get through that hole. Like she says, it is probably some kind of tray for the waste or ashes. Yeah, it sucks, but with doors sealed, and them being a huge pain to bust through even with our abilities, it seems like the best thing to do for now. I want to remain here for a while longer till the download finishes. Touma..."

"I am staying with you" Touma said immediately" There is no way I am not leaving you alone in this place"

Naru shrugged, giving Yakumaru 'good luck' look.

'This is not my intention! Ugh, read the room!'

Although , Yakumaru couldn't deny that her heart fluttered a bit due to Touma's concern for her safety and unwillingness to leave her behind in the crematory while the possible way out was around the corner.

Soon, Naru and Helcalia left, dragging the man who shot Touma on the floating stretcher made from reinforced paper, wanting to leave them tied outside so the Anti-Skill could take care of him.

Touma and Yakumaru was left alone. Just like with Naru, it was first such occasion for some time. But unlike Naru, Yakumaru focused on the task first, and only after the download was finished, they left the room.

"Thanks" the brown haired chemist finally spoke

"For what?"

"For sticking here with me. I can take care of myself, but... I appreciate it"

"Yeah, I for one thing wouldn't like to be alone in a place like this after some guy attempted to go for a kill, even if I've been through much worse"

She looked at him strangely.

"You have quite screwed perception of good and bad, when getting shot classifies as good or decent"

"Heh, I guess you have a point. Using me as a reference point in any mental research would surely bring about some disaster"

"Seriously, what kind of stress and calamity are you used to?"

"You have no idea"

"Tell me then"

"You wouldn't believe me. And it's not something you could really get used to"

They entered the dark room at the end of the corridor and immidiately realized that there was going to be a problem.

There was indeed a hole on the wall. But it wasn't a single one.

There were two of them. Another one was on the opposite wall.

"Did it really slipped their mind to tell us which one they are going to enter?" Yakumaru spread her hands in frustration.

"Maybe they didn't notice it" Touma suggested" I barely did, I only accidently glanced at the other side of the room

"Naru is a goddamn airhead at times like this, so they could very well miss it" Naru agreed" And Helcalia was probably preoccupied with all of that happening... still, how do we know that this exit is the one she had in mind? She is the only one who saw the exit earlier, before I called out for her to not venture out on her own and she came to the computer room"

"So we have 50 % chance to go where they went, and 50% chance to miss them" Touma muttered, drumming his fingers on the wall deep in thought" I have an idea! Yakumaru-san, do you have some spare change?"

The question caught his companion by surprise, but after checking her bag, she salvaged a single yen.

"Great!"

"You are going to choose based on a coin toss, aren't you.. "

"Heads for the hole to the left exit shaft, Tails for the right."

Touma enthusiastically flipped the coin upwards. When it landed, he put it on his other palm, and they both looked at it.

"Tails. Then it's settled"

Touma then moved towards the left hole. Yakumaru cocked her head.

"Wait... I thought this was a sign to go right"

Touma lifted his finger with a smug smile.

"That's the thing. If fate suggests for me to go right, I should definitely go left"

Yakumaru was silent for a moment, before facepalming

"You know... if this misfortune of yours is so terrible and is not letting you go no matter what... wouldn't it accounted for something like-"

"No, don't say this! Please allow me to dream of having a semblance of control over the chaotic mess that is my life!"

"Alright then. We are not better of knowing where they went anyway, pragmatically speaking..."

The two of them looked inside the hole. It looked like a wide slide, at the very least wide enough for them to go in side by side. And that was exactly what they were planning to do.

"On 3. 1...2..."

(MEANWHILE)

After three seconds, enormous shockwave slammed Saronia to the ground. She tumbled and slid for meters, groaning in pain.

Moments before, she ran and ran and ran, through the switchyard filled with containers.

But this didn't change a thing.

Maidono Hoshimi walked slowly while the one she pursued ran. But while Saronia had to manouver through the obstacles, she needed just a few gestures.

The containers obstructing the chase were lifted crushed in an instant with tremendous force, spare carts flung to the side hit by invisible blows, fences and walls twisted and ripped apart like the frailest of paper.

While Saronia ran, Maidono walked. While the one was frantic, the other was calm.

Or rather, was too furious to even scream and lash out. But it didn't stop her from finally losing her patience.

A shadow loomed over the District.

One by one, the train cars rose up, as if parts of one long chain, lifting into the air.

Maidono wasn't even breaking a sweat as she lifted entire train of 30 carts and used it like a giant whip.

It weighed nearly 1000 tons. But with her optimized ability, and weight training she was undergoing, she was able to lift almost 15 times as much.

The impact sent shockwave that blew away almost everything that wasn't attached to ground. Which of course included Saronia.

When she came to, she realized she was wrapped up in steel railing, which bent at unnatural angle around her to immobilize her.

"How... how did you find me?"

"One of my colleagues from Judgement can access camera network even in her sleep, if she wanted to. Though you can mask your presence, noticing obvious blind spots on the way was enough of a clue. And I figured you would want to hide something close. Just outside city's border would be a perfect place to lie down in wait"

Maidono was standing above her. She exhaled and asked:

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you doing this? You are obviously involved in all that mess."

Saronia slowly nodded.

"Yes, I am. And I suppose not running away wouldn't convince you"

"You have the ability that can influence minds and brainwash others under specific conditions, correct? You were the ones orchestrating all of this chaos. You were the one who staged this murder... by using me. I pieced it all together, and I am sure my friends are realizing parts of that too. I was the one who staged this tragedy. You forced me to do this. I used my ability to float a dead body, which can be grasped by my telekinesis, to make it look like suicide, while also not leaving a visible trace, since telekinesis holds objects without physical contact. You... control a lot of people around this city, don't you? Why? Why all this? All to get to Hasacchi? Or Touma? Or something else entirely? This is something big, isn't it? Something big is coming, and you are about to tell me what"

Saronia shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, about what you are saying... yes and no. It wasn't for me."

"We fought before, even if it was more of a match of rivals. I know you have stronger stuff up your sleeve. You are not using it, so even you won't... or can't. Why would that be? Because there is something going on, which requires all of your power to be focused on. It went far enough. So now, you will spill it. And I will advise you once..."

Maidono's eyes flashed dangerously and the railing wrapped itself around Saronia's neck.

"Do not lie. "

"I am not lying!"

"So tell me... even if it was just days ago, was friendship with Hasacchi a lie? A convenient way to use her?"

"It was supposed to be like this... but I actually started to like her... I didn't want her to be hurt, but I had to fulfil my obligation, repay my debt. You have to understand..." Saronia gasped, and Maidono released the pressure on the binds a little bit to allow her to speak" I had to repay the debt to the person who got me out... I had to help her, because without her, I would be left alone in the stinking, awful cell..."

"You are doing this for someone else? But who would..." Maidono blinked in realization" Oh... you weren't actually spying on that Vasilisa woman... you are working with her!"

She could tell from looking alone that her guess was spot on.

"I guess with how mad you are at me, half truths will only get me killed" Saronia sighed, her whole body sore from pressure of rails bent around her body" I will tell you everything. Because by now, everything is already in motion"

Maidono was so nervous on the inside that she wanted to smash something, squeezing it in her grasp. With bonds of inanimate matter around Saronia, it would be very easy to do it. But she forcibly extinguished that urge.

"Speak" she instructed curtly" Tell me everything about what's going on with you and Vasilisa"

(MEANWHILE)

"Do any of you know the fable of Vasilisa the Beautiful?"

As the girls shook their heads, Vasilisa told them abridged story of how the poor girl, mocked and bullied by her stepmother and stepsisters, managed to brace through series of challenges. Enraging her stepmother, she was driven out of home to get source of fire when her father was away, eventually winding up in a witch's hut, and being challenged my the old woman to do her biding or part with her life. As she succeeded in those tasks as well, the witch gave her the enchanted lamp filled with coals, that burned her evil family to crisp. The girl, talented in craft of weaving and seaming, got noticed by the tsar himself after becoming assistant to royal cloth maker, and became his wife.

"What a... heartfelt story" Hasako, ever the dyplomatic sweetheart that she was, spoke gently.

"Except for the literal incineration by that lamp" Takitsubo completely crushed the diplomacy with her trademark apathetic comment.

"Are you sure that it actually was a witch? Not some ancient Gemstone?"

The other three girls looked at Mikoto with varying degrees of exasperated blankness in their gazes.

"What?" Railgun looked around.

"Misaka-san... there is a denial ability and there is this"

"What do you mean, Shokuhou?"

"You are quite stubborn in your habits, huh..."

"I would accept you even if you can't have an open mind..."

"Why do I feel like I am being insulted here? Takitsubo-san? Kankyougami-san?"

What would happen first, would the Sun explode, or would Misaka Mikoto actually embrace the existence of actual magic? The answer was not obvious, even if it should be.

"So... I take that the girl in the legend was you?" Misaki asked Vasilisa.

"Hmm? Did the name gave it away? Or the beauty epithet?" Vasilisa lightly tossed her hair, before bowing slightly" But yes, you are right. The girl from that story is me."

"How... how are you still alive then?"

"Patience, we are getting to that. While the legend aged relatively well, it is what happened afterwards that is interesting for us. And you won't hear about it from anyone else. You see, I did marry a tsar. Well, I was his partner to be specific. You wouldn't find me in a history books or anything of this nature. The court had to uphold a certain image and even if I was tsar's true interest, he had another political marriage arranged with appropriate wife to ensure dynastical purity. All in all, I was the peasant girl, despite how beautiful I was."

"That's horrible!"

"It was pretty understandable at that time. And I knew that he truly fancied me. I lived my life until I was almost the age I appear to be..." she pointed at her own face" And then... things started to go down. It all started with the sword..."

"A sword?"

"One day, the tsar was gifted a sword. I remember it clearly to this day. It was a polished damascene steel, with the hilt sporting a ruby encrusted in the middle. The tsar was always fond of treasure like this and accepted it. I had a feeling back then, but only later the suspicion became a reality..."

Vasilisa took a deep breath, rubbing bridge of her nose, as she relieved her memories.

"Despite my plebean origin, and obvious jealousy of some maidens on the court, I was generally favoured because of my weaving skills and also because no one dared to anger the tsar by dishonouring his favourite mistress. But there was one more reason why I was in good graces. It was my intuition. Because of my experiences before coming to live in the capital, I had an open mind and sensitivity to what I didn't know much of back then, and what I now know was magic. Whispers in the trees, cries in the river, signs on earth... I saw more and heard more than regular person, even back then. And I certainly felt weary about that sword. Now, magic itself was in use since ancient times. I wasn't a part of it, not officially, but I knew that some soliders fought better, or had better defense than others, during times of war. And that sword..."

Despite their predicament, the quintet of girls became actually drawn deeply into Vasilisa's tale.

"I got curious once and followed the army to the sight of the battle. Hidden in the bushes, I watched as my partner swung the sword around. Even without being able to explain it, I saw defensive spells, invisible to soldiers themselves, rites of old praslavic enchantments and warding hexes. But tsar's sword cut through them, and whether the enemies defense, or attack towards the tsar, that sword slashed through magic, dispersing it with the unique sound... so distinct and yet familiar, as if glass shattering on impact..."

Mikoto heard Misaki draw breath quickly, as her own fist closed up in tension.

"That was my first encounter with an ancient power of great might, known as Imagine Breaker. Over time, the tsar changed his demeanor. Once hospitable and jovial, he became crazed with conquest and expansionist policy. I pleaded him to reconsider, but he pushed me away. He believed that he was doing our empire a favour. He considered the sword his victory amulet. That sword could negate magic, which contributed to the important yet unseen part of struggles of humankind. The kind man who took me in, changed beyond belief into the battle driven overlord, believed that it will bring him luck and bestow upon him the opportunity to benefit the country. However, he couldn't go further from the truth..."

"Did something... happened to him?"

"Well... while Imagine Breaker is able to negate any form of supernatural, even gods miracles, there is always one consistency as drawback: it also negates the blessings of fortune, deeming every incarnation it assumes to be surrounded by ill fate and misery. In case of objects, such as the sword, that misfortune affects the one who wields and interacts with it..."

Vasilisa got silent for a moment, before finishing:

"The problems of economic, social, and cultural unrest started to pile up over the land... and finally, the misfortune reaped its bounty. The tsar was killed in battle with invading forces, and the sword was lost in the waters of Volga. Meanwhile, the invaders ransacked and plundered homes. The capital burned and many perished. Yet scarce few, myself included, somehow survived."

"And how exactly did you do that?" Hasako asked quietly.

Vasilisa shrugged gently.

"I pretended to be dead. I had a little help in pretending that my heart stopped, just for the moment of inspection"

"Who could have possibly helped with that?"

"I cannot tell you about it. That power forbade me from ever disclosing its identity. Let's just say that it was my mother's dying blessing. The important part is that I was loaded on the carriage with a pile of corpses, and moved out of the city. Probably to intimidate anyone who would come to city's aid, they dumped the corpses into the river. But it was the dark, so no one noticed me resurfacing on the nearby shore and fleeing. The only light at that moonless night was fire engulfing the capital's poorer districts, as I fled without looking back."

Vasilisa sighed, reclining a little. Her fingers were running on her crimson dress, as if they needed to occupy themselves with something.

"Just like that, my court life was over. I wandered around the woods, wondering what to do next. And as if by fate, after some time on my own, I wounded up around the old hut. It wasn't the one I knew, and neither was the old woman the same... but she knew me. And somehow, I recognized her as well. She was Baba Yaga, the witch who once tested me and gave me the magical lamp. She usually loathed humans and was ill tempered even when it came to me, but given our past connection, she allowed me to rest in exchange for doing some chores. She told me that she was the elemental force, and she switched bodies of older women when they aged too much, but remained around the world since the time immemorial. Throughout the time we spent together, I learned that, but also discovered the broader world of magic and the nature of Imagine Breaker."

The girls leaned even closer. Everyone, even Takitsubo, never felt like they knew enough about Touma's ability.

"She revealed to me that Imagine Breaker was born from the subconscious of magicians, that it was a power meant to revert reality to its original image, no matter how far it was distorted. When I told her that the sword was lost, she explained to me that this ancient power had a mind of its own, and assumed many forms. Animate and animate, objectual and personal, animalistic and plantlike, male or female. It could not be copied or stolen, while the current incarnation was alive or unless power itself decided to leave. Usually it preferred durable vessels, but no one knew what exactly were the selection conditions."

It was incredible and somewhat ominous to think about. They had an inkling when Vasilisa mentioned Imagine Breaker before, but the thought of countless previous users of mysterious power that resided in Touma's right hand was... beyond belief, honestly.

"And then, one of the greatest changes in my life ocurred. When we were about to part ways, it was obvious that I wanted to learn more, even if Baba Yaga already taught me a lot about magic. So she offered to make me a priestess of higher force, and prolong my life. I accepted and became connected to Baba Yaga. No matter how much time passed or where I found myself, I would be connected to current vessel of Baba Yaga and be able to draw power from her. Then, the old woman living in the dark hut led me to hidden springs beneath the mountains, to Waters of Life and Waters of Death. After drinking from the former, and being soaked in the spring for 3 days and 3 nights, I emerged with body that would age far, far slower than a normal human and the liquid that would restore me to health regardless of everything."

"You are... immortal?" Mikoto asked incredulously.

"Oh no, I wouldn't go that far. Immortals do exist and walk on face of the earth, but I am merely invulnerable to most harm, and have an extremaly long lifespan. It was all that I needed. Following the Baba Yaga's advice, I found the hidden society of magic users within Russian Orthodox Church, and slowly climbed up the ranks. Then, after becoming involved with the Church's Foreign Relations, I obediently stepped into the shadows and travelled around the globe, searching for rumours and sightings. I honestly don't know why was I so intrigued with that specific power. Maybe it was because I could not believe that something so small. like a sword, brought a downfall to an entire city. Or maybe I wanted to make a firm opinion about it. So I travelled and saw many sights. A fresco in Italy deemed miracle from heavens. The oasis in the middle of African desert that could dispel curses. A ring of French cricus ringleader, who boasted he would come unscathed from any magic trick. A seemingly irrelevant dog from indian countryside that overnight started to be revered on par with their scared bovines, through the act of seemingly ending malevolent spirits by biting them, causing them to vanish into nothingness. Many, many, many of those vessels existed in the past. Those incarnations were incredibly hard to locate, but while there were many stories and tall tales, only one was always genuine. Imagine Breaker always exists in a singular being, without exception. As I observed all of those instances of Imagine Breaker's presence, my uncertainty only grew. On the one hand, without doubts many Imagine Breaker incarnations aided others and the world benefited. But on the other, the constant companion of theirs was death and misery. So as the decades passed, it seemed that my research will remain inconclusive. Well, at least until..."

Vasilisa paused, and a peculiar expression entered her face. It was a somber smile, with a hint of nostalgic playfulness.

"Until what?"

"Until Imagine Breaker manifested in a human, and I met that man"

(MEANWHILE)

Of course, Touma should have known that trying to trick his misfortune would get him absolutely nowhere.

Not only did he and Yakumaru slid down uncontrollably after 10 seconds or so, but also landed painfully on the pile of waste and glass at the end of slide-like tunnel.

His leg got painfully shreeded up by glass, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

Yakumaru on the other hand...

"Ow!" The girl hissed in pain. She landed on her right leg, in unnatural position, and even after adjusting the dislocation, she couldn't put her full weight onto it." Damn it!"

"Maybe you just need to rest. Your leg doesn't appear to broken, but maybe your muscles need a moment..."

He sat down close to her. They could barely see each other, until he heard Yakumaru rumage through her bag. She found a vial and shook it until the content glowed, illuminating a small circle around them.

"Seem like this where they throw general waste, in conrast to the ash of the incinerated, if it's not buried..." Touma noted.

"Pathetic..." Yakumaru muttered quietly.

"What?"

"I said I am pathetic" she sighed, splashing something on her wounds, possibly to disinfect them" I really wanted to show my good side to you on this mission. To become closer. Instead, it's just fail after fail..."

"No, you are not pathetic. And I never expected you to show off or anything"

"Maybe you didn't. But I want to... ugh, this is so..." Yakumaru slammed her fist to the ground.

After a moment of silence, Touma got an idea.

"Look, we need to get out of here anyway, so why don't we go ahead and talk while moving? You don't have to walk"

"W-What do you mean by tha- aaah?!"

Yakumaru Itsuki was lifted into a bridal carry.

"W-Wait a moment..."

"Sorry for that, I will make it up to you for that later. Alright, we are set, let's go!"

As he began to walk forth with the girl in his arms, Yakumaru was too stunned to speak, resting her cheek on Touma's chest in the stunned wonder.

While she was a little bit freaked out at first, as seconds passed and turned into minutes, she found herself feeling strange, almost possessive satisfaction. And maybe it was those positive feelings that made her more talkative than before. So she spoke, as they traversed the piles of thrown away machinery and other waste.

"You know, you might say that I didn't need to show off, but you were the one who made me want it"

"Is it connected with the feelings you spoke about with Naru earlier on?"

"You really did hear that, huh..." Yakumaru shifted slightly in his arms" well, ever since I was a very little, I had people gushing over how cute I was. It just became... natural for me. And you... you were the first in a really, really long time who tended to miss that whole aspect."

"I didn't really miss it..." Touma said awkwardly" It's just there is always a lot going on..."

"Really? You chose to focus your priority on a chicken and then on me"

"Oi! Do not hate on the chicken! Such a good source of fresh quality protein doesn't come around at such a good price"

"Oh my gods..." Yakumaru sighed, half exasperated and half amused" But I suppose I should thank you..."

"Thank me?"

"Yup. I was fawned over again and again, and I liked it a lot... but when you get something on default, just for being there, you kind of stop questioning what made you special in the first place. When I didn't get the same reaction out of you, I was initially annoyed... incredibly annoyed. But after some time, out of that annoyance, I started to question: What is it that I want you to see in me? Why do I want you to see it? And then, I realized that as we spent time together, I realized that not only I wanted you in particular to notice me, but that I also started to get interested in you. Does that make sense? Heh, it's kind of ironic actually. For all this times, I laughed at those guys trying to have a chance with me for years, at how foolishly persistent they were. And in all this time, the key was to pull away instead of pushing for it."

"Girls are... complicated"

"That's your quintessence of this?" Yakumaru giggled" Trust me, you are quite confusing yourself"

They reached the wall and moved slowly in search of the exit.

"So..." Touma asked, trying to find words" You know, for a guy like me, who is not well-versed in that kind of stuff, I think being straightforward is the best way to avoid confusion. Do you... love me?"

Yakumaru rested her head on his chest again.

"I still need to go through all of this. I am definitely feeling something beyond friendship. But all those things about undying love and such... I think we both need time to explore this territory a bit more."

Touma frowned, trying to determine what this answer actually meant.

"It means I lean towards the yes, but I need time. And given how much you have on your head, you probably do too" Yakumaru explained.

"Probably. But... did something happen to you?"

"What?"

"Did something happen that made you lose faith in relationships?"

Yakumaru froze in his arms, the luminescent flask almost slipping from her hands.

"I didn't lose it, I have my team-"

"You know that's not what I mean. Both you and Naru don't have any experience in the area of dating... I shouldn't speak about it, since I don't really have it either... but... I just find it strange that it is like that, when I know for a fact many would be happy to be with you"

Yakumaru couldn't help but blush lightly at that.

"Even though we were rather crazed and violent?"

"Yeah, I've seen weirder people getting together. So, what's the deal there? You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I was just..."

"No, no, it's fine" Yakumaru waved her hand" It's alright... you know how Scavengers bounded together over the hatred for education system and teachers?"

"Yeah, I think. All of you had bad experiences of that sort?"

"Not all of us. Seike just followed us because he thought we were a riot. But as for the rest of us... Leader was accidentally estranged by her own family... Naru was always a bit too inquisitive and adventurous for the teachers liking, they made her life hell because she was 'misbehaving'... and as for me..."

"What?"

"Don't laugh. Promise me"

"I promise I won't"

"I had problems because I was too pretty"

Silence.

"I am glad that you explicitly told me not to laugh-"

"Come on, this is serious! I know it sounds stupid, but it's the truth! I was so popular that aside from my peers, male teachers also started to... favour me over other girls, in grading or praising my behaviour" Yakumaru shuddered a little, which Touma still felt due to her proximity" Conversely, many girls and female teachers were letting their displeasure known... in more or less restrained ways. And I... didn't even do anything. I just looked like I do now. To judge me for other people's reactions... it's just unfair"

Touma frowned at that, strengthening grip that was supporting Yakumaru.

"I am... very sorry to hear that. I was bullied too... although definitely not because I was too pretty."

"Don't sell yourself short. You are pretty handsome yourself"

"Nah, don't tease me. I am plain and ordinary. The only thing that might stand out is my hairstyle. If I stopped using my gel, I would look like a random shonen protagonist"

"Now that I have to see"

"Not happening. Others would never stop making fun from it, especially Naru"

"Point taken. Still, better watch this gel of yours"

"Getting back to the previous topic, are you alright now?" Touma then remembered his conversation with Takitsubo and asked" Would you rather stop being beautiful if it could stop your problems?"

Yakumaru looked appalled at the prospect of such a thing.

"No, I would never... beauty is my gift! I would never throw something away... would you? If you could rid yourself of the source of your problems?"

There it was again. He looked at his right hand.

If he really was rid of it... would it really end his problems?

Would he take that opportunity?

Suddenly, there was a different kind of colour on the wall.

"The door! Well, looks like everything turned out to be alright"

"Emm, as resident focal point of misfortune around the neighbourhood, I would really advise against saying this like tha-"

There was a loud alarm noise and flashing red lights.

"PERIODICAL WASTE INCINERATION ENGAGED!" announced robotic voice.

In the next moment, the floor tilted slightly, enough for the two of them to slide down in surprise.

"What the... what is..."

One of the walls opened like a giant maw. There was bright light of fire beyond it, and it radiated heat even from the distance.

"Oh no..." Yakumaru screamed, as they slid down alongside the waste" It's probably the system to reduce space occupied by the trash."

"It's the incinerator, right?"

The two parts of the wall were moving in a cycle, slamming against each other, and crushing the trash, before it was sent into fiery abyss.

Touma tried to run uphill, but the inclination was getting the better of him. Still, his struggle was giving them a bit of time to figure out any way to escape the new peril. As it turned out, it was exactly what Yakumaru needed. She rummaged through her bags, until she found the vial she was looking for.

"Alright, I think I have an idea. But you have to trust me"

"Is it dangerous?"

"Try not to think of the fact that if it fails, we will be incinerated so hard that not even ash will remain"

"Wow, isn't that a reassuring picture"

"I need you to get closer"

Touma frowned but allowed them to slide on.

The jaws and fire were getting more and more into their vicinity.

"Not yet"

He could feel the heat and smell of burning trash from this distance.

"Hey..."

"Just a bit closer..."

And when he felt they were surely going to be pushed in...

Yakumaru uncorked the vial and splashed a greenish liquid through the air with meticulous precision, the chemical splashing through air like an emerald crescent moon of droplets, and hitting the crushing wall, just as two halves connected.

It hissed and solidified instantly, acting like an elastic adhesive. The walls tried to separate, but after few attempts... everything went quiet, and the two teens felt the floor return to normal inclination.

Touma wasted no time and ran through the entire hall, now devoid of most trash. After a minute, they managed to get into the door, and after pushing it, got into slow opening that was made.

They slumped to the ground, breathing heavily.

"Talk about pressure raiser"

Yakumaru nodded, trying to brush away strands of hair, wet from sweat.

Wait... strands of hair?

She reached to her head, and found that hair brown hair came undone, reaching to the middle of her back.

"My cap!" she cried out" I lost my cap! I..."

She must have lost it when they fell out of the tunnel. Or later, when they tried to get out. Whatever was the truth, it was most likely incinerated.

Touma had to arrive at the same conclusion.

"Was it important for you? We can always get you a new one"

Yakumaru was about to say it was extremely important. How else would she deter the boys from her, and save herself for one she truly loved?

But as she thought about it, and looked at Touma, she thought about it more. Was it really necessary? After all, she found someone special to her. If this flimsy crush would evolve and get into serious stage, then other guys would have to get lost because of Touma.

Thanks to him, there was no reason to hide her true beauty. In fact, it was his presence that made her want to put it on display and be proud of it even more.

Yakumaru wasn't a horoscope fanatic, like Naru, but maybe the destruction of her cap was a sign of something grander.

"You know what? I don't need it anymore"

"Are you sure?"

"Yup, I just have a hunch that this way it's better for me"

They noticed a second pair of doors.

"Can you break them down?" Touma asked.

"Possibly, but I need a bit of time to do the mixing. But first..." Yakumaru cleared her throat." I want to ask you... you were saying something about having a feeling that this situation can get you in real trouble, right?"

"Probably. Why do you ask?"

"Because I... I want to tell you that I realized something. It's not that I only want you to notice me. I am also noticing you..."

"Yakumaru-san?"

"This might be hypocritical, given that I talked about giving ourselves more time. But if something bad were to happen to you... I know from experience that having regrets because of not doing something sucks... and with that luck of yours, I don't want to take any chances..."

The bioluminescent vial dimmed down and then stopped glowing, as the girl pulled herself upward, closing the distance between them.

The darkness surrounded them (curiously, Touma had to question why there was no sort of lamp at the entrance. Cutting costs in the automatized facility?). Without sight, other senses got very sensitive. And it was probably why sweet sensation that followed seemed absolutely overwhelming.

It was a long, charming moment, with only heartbeats and rustles being able to be heard, and delicate touch of Yakumaru's hands on Touma's hand.

Until there was a rather anticlimatic sound of metal being torn apart.

A glowing wing stabbed through the door. Although it looked like luminous substance between liquid and gas, it cut through the entrance as if the doors were made of butter.

In just a moment, light flooded to the inside.

"We found them... nya?" said a voice that Touma recognized as Fremea Seivelun's.

Kakine Teitoku raised an eyebrow as his wings shrunk and disappeared into his pale, glowing body.

"They are certainly alive" he added.

Beside them, Touma noticed a car, looking like a jeep one could see on safari movies, but pure white and shining. On the open part sat Naru and Helcalia, and Touma noticed three very familiar girls stepping outside of the car.

Kaibi looked flatly at Touma and Yakumaru. The Scavenger chemist had her hands around his neck, while her legs were crossed behind Touma's back as she was still supported by him. In their shock, their eyes shifted towards the entrance, but they froze in mid-kiss, which meant they were more than a little noticeable.

"Seems like you are having good time..." Kaibi said with cold smile.

"W-Wait..." Touma pulled back and tried to speak.

"Seems like you are having good time..." Amazora repeated, with exactly the same look.

"I... there is a reason... I can really..."

"Seems like you are having good time..." Rikuri completed the icy staring triad of siblings.

"T-This is going to hurt, isn't it?"

(FEW MOMENTS LATER)

Touma's body ached after Kaibi shot her blank projectile gun at him from almost all possible angles. There was no way around it. By now, he knew how generous and passionate Gokusai family could be, but also how possessive and domineering they could be in laying their claim in romantic life.

Only when Amazora suggested to swap Kaibi's weapon with her gattling gun, Rikuri stepped in, sparing Touma.

"Alright, that would be a little bit of an overkill, Amazora-chan. Besides, I am sure that in such a dire crisis, Touma-san would not be the one to initiate such a lecherous activity" her tone shifted alongside with appearance of gloomy aura. It would be no surprise if the words mature girl started to drip poison" Isn't that right?"

"It is, it is" Touma reassured them.

"Hmph, fine" Kaibi relented, reclining a little to give Touma's hands more space on her shoulders" You are lucky that I love you and that you do great apology massages"

Meanwhile, Yakumaru tried very hard not to look at Naru, who sported the most smug, cat-like face ever.

"So you are only so pure when lights are on... literally..."

"Please stop" Yakumaru wasn't embarrassed before, but Naru effectively brought some pink onto her skin.

"'You should be ashamed of yourself, Naru'... 'what are you thinking Naru'... heh, pot and kettle, pot and kettle, right here... well, I guess this way we are even..."

"You are not going to stop any time soon, are you?"

"What are best friends for, Yakkun?"

Helcalia watched Touma with expression he once again couldn't read. It was as if she wanted to do something, but didn't know how or when. And her eyes hid behind her silver hair when Touma tried to catch her eye. Was she upset because Yakumaru got the idea to kiss him? Well, they would need to settle this later.

"So..." Touma said slowly, as the jeep rolled away from the crematory" Who wants to fill me in on what all of you are doing here?"

"I can, I can..." Fremea lifted her hand" Basically, some people came by and trashed the apartment. But the black haired onee... no, onii-chan... distracted them enough for me and Fraulein-chan to escape. But we got separated, and I called for Teitoku"

"I left piece of my Dark Matter with her in the form of a brotch" Kakine added" So I can always come to her aid when she needs it. After I found her, she told me that you might be in trouble. I made this car and we drove here... meeting Gokusai and her sisters in the middle of our trip"

"And what are you doing here?"

"Truth be told, we were worried about you" Rikuri said, messing Touma's hair with affectionate concern." We felt like we should be helping you, instead of being at the sidelines"

"Worried is an understatement. Who kept talking about phoning him every 5 minutes" Kaibi asked.

"Well, sister dearest, I wasn't the one who almost trotted a circle in your favourite carpet from all the anxious pacing, was I?" Rikuri countered with a smile" It's not a contest"

Kaibi glanced back at Touma and twirled strand of her hair, a habit she sometimes showcased when she was embarrassed or caught on something she didn't want to have exposed.

"The point is, when Amazora came back and informed us what happened, we rushed outside"

"We stumbled on each other going towards the crematory. When we arrived, we noticed Naru-san and Helcalia-san outside"

"Really?" Touma eyed Naru" You got out?"

"Yeah. We landed on the pile of ash and dust.

"Seike-san is being detoxified by Kaai and Youen right now" Kaibi added" But this is not the end of what we want to tell you"

"Yeah, from what I can see" Touma laughed weakly" we can complain at everything but the lack of things going on..."

"The hair found at the scene of the crime was synthetic one, from a wig. It belonged to Maidono Hoshimi"

"Maidono? But she couldn't..."

"We know" Kaibi nodded" We suspect she was controlled by someone. But no one in this city comes to mind-"

"Wait" Touma suddenly grabbed his head with his hands" This city? But there is also... oh crap..."

"What?"

"I think I know who manipulated Maidono. And if it's her... if this time she has help from someone stronger... than this might be a whole lot of trouble..."

(MEANWHILE)

"Vasilisa was the one who freed me from prison. She gave me the place to stay and cared for me" in District 17, bound Saronia explained herself to Maidono" In exchange, she required my help."

"Which was?"

"Spying and taking control over the population. To create distraction and mayhem, so she can achieve her objective"

"Which is?"

"I don't fully know"

The rails tightened around Saronia's body.

"I really don't! She didn't let me in on everything!"

"Actually, why should I assume you are not telling me a bunch of lies?"

"Maybe I would, but prospect of being crushed to death by coil-choke of rails kind of opens one's lips. I don't really have a reason to lie"

"How would you assume control?"

"My magic... Vasilisa helped me achieve higher degree in my Leshy spell. The spell can be activated remotely by either of us, as Vasilisa infused her own mana into sources of my spells, namely, the flowers or plant parts."

"You gave Hasako the flower, that she passed to me. Why did you control me, specifically?"

"For confusion, and also because... it would get Beginning Child involved"

"You seem to know a lot about this city and the espers"

"I was here... for quite some time. I passed information I obtained from those I controlled to Vasilisa. That was part of the deal."

"From what I gathered, you need to have a medium to control someone."

"There are... two ways. A direct part of the enclave, like the flower I used with you. Or exposure to the pollen or other fragments of the forest..."

"Like with Hasacchi... and presumably others needed for Vasilisa."

Saronia bit her lip and then shouted.

"Vasilisa said that she wouldn't hurt her. She said that whatever she will do will make Kankyougami Hasako more powerful than we could imagine. I think everyone will benefit from-"

"Shut up!" Maidono shouted angrily" You are not justified to decide something like that. For that matter, you have no right to meddle with affairs of others or control them."

"I am just trying to repay my debt. When I learned about Beginning Child, I had no idea I would befriend her. But-"

"I can't trust you, you know that? Even when I am not mentioning..." Maidono narrowed her eyes with lowered head" Those 20 people trying to sneak up on us from all directions"

There was a rumour of running feet and soon, people appeared on the sides of her field of vision.

"I am sorry" Saronia said" But I have to go back. Restrain her!"

The people gathered attacked. They were teenagers, bunch of boys and girls from different schools and different levels.

As they advanced, Maidono exhaled and spoke, clearly and straightforwardly

"I think you got something wrong. Allow me to clarify... I am Maidono Hoshimi, strongest telekinesis user in the world. And I am not done talking here"

As she rose her eyes, trembling permeated through the people around her.

No, Saronia realized, she was not shaking because she was scared.

She was still. It was the world that was shaking around her.

"Since I am not done talking, I would appreciate if you people weren't yappy and loud. So..."

Maidono Hoshimi, ridiculed and traumatized by experiments that left her unable to properly use her hands' micro motorics, paid a price with a heavy psychological toll.

But in exchange, she wielded an incredibly potent ability, strong enough to grasp and shake the very foundations of tectonic plate underneath her, and create city-wide fault lines in earth's crust.

"...ENOUGH!" she yelled, her eyes flashing angrily.

The air exploded in a shockwave of pressure, blowing everyone expect Maidono and immobilized Saronia back.

For one moment, entire city shook. The cracks spread through the soil of District 17, creating the enormous blocks of earth reaching upwards from the ground, shifting and moving. The closest buildings to the switchyard cracked, and tilted as well.

It looked as if it was the storm in the middle of the ocean, except the fact that the waves were big plates of soil and metal.

The attackers lost their balance, and slid helplessly down. No matter the orders they were given, they couldn't fight without proper footing.

And then, Maidono made a wide motion with her arms, and the earth reached upward, like petals of the flower or peels of an orange, closing above the ground into the sphere, which now contained misfortunate attackers.

Maidono jabbed her finger into the air, creating few holes for the air circulation, and turned to Saronia.

"Now then..." she remarked" let's get back to business."

Saronia was quiet, still shaken, literally and metaphorically, by the display of overwhelming power. asking.

"What are you going to do? Will you kill me?"

Maidono was silent for a moment.

"I really don't know your motivations. While you speak about repaying the debt, I think there may be something even more personal there, something that you are not telling me about even considering your position" she replied slowly" I am furious right now. I want to hurt you. I admit that. It would be easy... so very easy... I could just squish you... and you would be dead. Even if you had some justifiable end, the means you used are horrible. They alone deserve punishment. And yet... you know..."

She crouched down, to look Saronia in the eyes.

"You remind me of myself. Back during my dark side days. When I thought my worth could only be my service to someone, when I thought I had no other way. But he changed that. Despite how ridiculous my reasoning had to sound to him with his own emotional baggage to compare it to, he still gave me a chance and gave me something amazing to be a part of. I can't spit out on that. That being said... you messed with my friends."

Silence, disturbed only by the sound of sliding debris.

"Did you know that me and Touma spoke about you? Before we had our little duel, I told him I was suspicious of you. He in turn told me that you two used to fight in the past. You know what he said to me? 'If there is a moment when something happens that will prompt you to be violent with her, try to understand, before doing anything else'. Do you know why he said that to me?"

"He was... He was trying to not make you a murderer. He was saving you"

"No, wrong. I killed before. In that regard, I was lost a long time ago. He was saving you. Because through and through, this is just a kind of guy he is"

She shook her head.

"Yeah, I might go to hell, I am prepared for that"

She looked at the wasteland left after the earthquake.

"My ability is a force of destruction. Even when I make something, I have to destroy preexisting objects, pull matter apart to move it. If I put my mind into it, I could probably level this city. But Hasako... she is so much more precious. She can create and cause anything someone like me destroys to flourish and be filled with life. A world filled with life for the people like Touma, who are able to forgive, who are able to fight for mercy instead of vengeance. They are ones I want to love. Those are the people I wish to follow forever... no, people I want to stand side by side with. I can go to hell and reincarnate all over again, but I will not allow them to die. So I will become the destruction to keep them safe, I will embrace this part of me to keep them from being hurt"

"I didn't intend Kankyougami Hasako to die at any point" Saronia stated firmly.

"Did you? That's wonderful. Because you are coming with me and you are fixing this mess. Firstly, you will shut this... spell thing down."

"I can't. Not on my own"

"What?"

"Vasilisa made it so there is her essence running through the structure of the spell. It cannot be shut down without both of us relinquishing it. And it can be activated by either of us. She has enormous level of mana, so she can support it even if I weaken..."

"That woman did appear like she had good head on her shoulders. Alright, so you will lead me to her..."

She lifted her index finger and tangle of rails rose up with Saronia still bound inside.

"We are going to where Vasilisa is. And one more thing. I am still learning a lot of things about living a normal life. The reason why I love Kamijou Touma so much... the reason why I treasure Kankyougami Hasako so strongly... it's because they are my anchors. I can't be as kind and forgiving on my own, I have to learn it. Their kindness and love towards me are my teachers. So mark my words. Like Touma did for me, I am willing for you to stick around long enough to change my mind about you and present some evidence that you didn't do it out of outright malice."

Saronia nodded slowly, as Maidono narrowed her eyes and spoke firmly:

"I used to have so much mercy before my life went to hell. I am slowly gaining it back, but I am not nearly there yet. I am not saviour nor bringer of life, just messed up girl unable to use chopsticks, who tries to make something from her life, and have the opportunity to smile. Which I wouldn't be able to have if not for those who are now in my life. So, I would suggest you pray that they are still alright. Unless you want to witness me stopping to hold back and unleashing absolutely unrestrained output of my telekinesis against a single person. But I can assure, that would be the last thing you would ever see"

(BACK WITH TOUMA'S GROUP)

Everyone in the jeep flinched at the sudden tremor that permeated the ground.

"I hope everyone is alright..." Touma muttered" Too many things are happening at once..."

"On that, I can really agree" Rikuri nodded" Life truly went on its head since we met you"

Noticing Touma's eyes, she gently brushed her hand against his face with a smile.

"But I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. No poison, nor piece of machinery, no amount of money, beauty, or fame. You belong with us"

"Onee-chan is right! We will always stick together, as long as we can. If someone has the problem, they will answer to my bullets" Amazora also skidded closer to Touma.

They looked at Kaibi, who cleared her throat and glanced sideways at Touma, while crossing her arms.

"W-Well, we came for you, didn't we?"

"You did. I am really grateful for that. You are all amazing" Touma looked to driver's seat" Thank you too, Kakine-san"

Kakine nodded curtly, before pulling over and stopping the vehicle.

"It's fine. Though, I would rather escort Fremea to safety first and foremost, so we will part ways here"

"Of course. Take care"

"I leave the car with you. Even without my presence, my construct should be stable long enough to be of use to you. Fremea, let's go!"

"Hmm..." the smaller blond looked at the sky" I wonder what is Hamazura doing right now..."

Truth be told, Touma wondered about that as well.

(MEANWHILE)

As it happened, Hamazura's group also decided to get a vehicle for transportation.

Although, this decision was mainly forced due to the brainwashed mob.

No one wanted to spar with so many unrelated people, even Mugino. To avoid unnecessary carnage, they hopped onboard of unmanned bus.

Hamazura and Enka were in the process of trying to get the wiring to hijack the vehicle for themselves. Mugino roamed the back of the bus, while Kaira and Junko stood behind the boys backs.

"I was wondering, but isn't this stealing?" Junko innocently tilted her head.

Hamazura, for n-th time, made a mental observation that her head appeared smaller with her frayed, neck-length hair, without any curls. It seemed that Junko herself was not used to not having the weight of her curls from the way she moved.

"Don't think about this as stealing, think about it as borrowing due to the state of emergency. It's not like we want to do it in the first place, or like we want to destroy it. Although, I cannot speak for all of us..."

"FUCK!" Mugino roared, kicking one of the seats" We are wasting time here!"

"I agree with her" Kaira clapped her hands" Come on boys, use your heads. Thugs united!"

"It's nice to have an encouragement, but please stop. It sounds like some lame band name." Hamazura groaned, as he looked through the circuitry" Besides, we are on another road now. Enka, did you ever hijacked a vehicle like this?"

"My gang used to... but it wasn't an autonomous one, so..."

"Oh for the love of..." Kaira sighed, before pointing her finger forward to Enka" If we can get on the move, I will let you do that nibbling kiss you like"

The methane esper froze. Then he clapped his hands together with the look of absolute seriousness... and then shot his out forward into the tangle of wires.

ZAAP!

There was a discharge of electricity and the controls of the bus flared up, before the system switched into manual setting.

Enka looked a little bit frazzled from the shock, but still grinned widely.

"Dude, did you randomly pressed main wires together?"

"Still worked, didn't it? I hope you keep your word"

"I-I suppose I will have to reward you" Kaira huffed, crossing her arms.

"Nah, I know you liked the nibbling too"

"Preposterous. It's a commoner poison of traditional courting"

The black haired ojou-sama with sapphire eyes said that, but she looked away with a somewhat coy smile.

Hamazura could not deny that if Takitsubo promised to get into bunny suit, it would motivate him beyond belief too.

"I don't care if you are going to kiss her, eat her up, or whatever! Hamazura, just fucking drive!" Mugino yelled from the back.

"R-Right..."

So they went forth, looking for the orthodox nun through the streets. But as far as of now, it didn't yield any significant result. Which didn't help the atmosphere.

In terror, Hamazura realized that if Mugino and Enka activated their powers in stress, the result would be the blowing up of the car.

"I swear, if everyone gets any louder in here, I will-"

Hamazura could expect everything, but not two small shapes at the center of the road.

He screamed and tried to hit the brakes. But it was too late.

SPLASH! CRUNCH!

Tires screeched on asphalt

"What's the hold up? What was that?" Mugino demanded.

"Oh gods..." Hamazura jumped" I think I ran someone over. I know I was going fast, but they didn't move on milimeter out of the way!"

"Oh no!" Junko was also outside already, pointing behind their car.

There was a body split in half in the pool of blood. And another, bent and twisted, which bounced away from the car.

"M-Maybe there is a way to do something! CPR, breaths... something, anything!" Junko paniced out loud.

"I appreciate the optimism, but I don't think doing CPR to someone cut in half is going to do anything"

Junko was leaning over the other body, which had long hair and was dressed in white clothes.

"Hello? Hello? Can you hear me? Are you still-"

The body rose. Junko's eyes widened when she noticed that the neck was almost completely twisted 180 degrees from the norm. Yet, the girl put her hands on her head and simply twisted it back on. Then, the same thing happened with her arm and leg.

"Fraulein-chan?" Hamazura asked incredulously, as Junko stared at the girl with open mouth.

"Ugh... I knew that I would survive that, but it's still rather refreshing to be rode over from time to time." Came the voice from the body on the ground.

As they watched, the cuts disappeared, body tissue reconnected, as small figure of a blond girl rose up. A new limb burst out, growing at accelerated pace, until it was fully formed.

Ladylee Tangleroad cracked her neck and saluted to the group

"Yo, how is it going, gang? Do kids these days still say that? Oh, can you give me a hand? I mean, my actual hand. My arm is few meters this way, I have to throw it away. Signorina Kreutene, you are still alive?"

"Mhm" Fraulein Kreutene. She gestured awkwardly in the direction of Ladylee

"Am I alive? That's a good one! As you can see, I am unfortunately still strong and breathing"

Hokaze Junko was once a friend with a ghost. She was a valued confidant of an esper who could bend the concept of autonomy and free will on a whim with her mental ability. In addition, one of her two male friends was a Gemstone who could achieve ridiculous amount of feats through his delusions and fantasies.

But even with the fact that she already saw Ladylee's immortality in a action, she wasn't ready for two girls being rode over and then picking themselves together as if they only scrapped their knees.

With great amount of elegance and grace, she fainted, Hamazura catching her just in time.

"Oh, it's the angry one again." Ladylee waved at Mugino.

"It's Mugino Shizuri, midget"

"Whatever"

"I told you before, don't you dare 'whatever' me"

"I have high hopes for you. Please try to kill me more"

"Ladylee-san, was it? How do you know Fraulein Kreutene?" Hamazura asked.

Ladylee looked at other immortal, who had a spaced out look on her face, watching the clouds on the sky.

"We crossed our paths several times. Last time was I think... over 200 years ago?"

"Mhm"

"Around time of French Revolution, I would say. Anyway, I bumped into her as she wandered around town. I thought to catch up. And nothing brings people closer than death experience... or what was supposed to be one!"

"Rrright..."

" Also, either I grew, which is physically impossible, or Signorina Kreutene is smaller than the last time I saw her"

"That's a long story... and there are probably better people to tell it than me. Like Boss or Kakine Teitoku for example"

"Oh, I would have forgotten. Kreutene here has a message for Hamazura Shiage"

"For me?"

Fraulein Kreutene blinked, slowly drifting back to reality. She swayed, walking in front of Hamazura, and motioning behind her.

"Your love... in danger... fled from home... need to help..."

As Hamazura listened, his eyes became wider and wider in terror.

"Takitsubo was taken?" Mugino clenched her fist" Whatever asshole did it, they will not get away with that"

"Sorry everyone" Hamazura said, mainly to Enka and Kaira, whipping out his phone" but Sasha will have to wait for a moment longer"

(BACK WITH TOUMA'S GROUP, MOMENTS LATER)

Touma was swarmed with information from various sides. Mostly bad information, not that he expected anything else.

Turned out that his phone could not get good reception in the crematory, so now he noticed an enormous wave of messages from Index and Othinus via Kumokawa Seria's phone. Then, a very distressed Hamazura contacted him.

Apparently, both Hasako and Takitsubo were missing, one of them definitely captured. Not to mention, Misaka Mikoto and Shokuhou Misaki also weren't accounted for.

"Is this really Vasilisa? And Saronia..."

"Who is Saronia?" Helcalia asked.

"Enemy from some time ago. I don't know why she got to control people around the city, but it explains the complicated mess we are in now"

"What do we do now?"

"The body from the crematory was pulled out by someone completely random and given to Maidono Hoshimi. That was a dead end"

"I am not so sure about that. I still have to get a good look at the files we got in the crematory's database..."

"Guys, I know that there are too many things to focus right now" Touma said, putting an end to the frantic chatter surrounding him" But I think helping find the missing is most important right now"

"It's great that we agree on that" Mugino sounded over the phone" I will send you Takitsubo's location to you. There is a good chance that others that you are looking for may be with her. Everyone just dropping out off the face of the earth is a bit too convinient"

"Mugino..." Hamazura's voice was heard" How do you know where Takitsubo is?"

"Simple. Because she insists on wearing this tracksuit of hers all the time, it was convenient to plant a tracking device there"

"Why would you do that?!"

"For situations like this one, since someone can actually recall her potential and go after her. It's apparently effective, isn't it?"

"W-Well.. fine, you do have a point, but we are still talking about this later on!"

And so, two groups went in the direction of Takitsubo's location, not knowing that in a couple of moments the world they knew was about to change.

(A LITTLE EARLIER, BIND FACILITY, WITH VASILISA AND THE GIRLS)

Vasilisa continued her tale.

"The man I met was a Saint"

"Like a holy figure?"

"Many of them were saints in theological saints, but he was just a good man who happened to be born with alignment of insides similar to Son of God. Some of you may be familiar with Kanzaki Kaori, who shares the same characteristics.

I met this man by accident. He stepped into the woman's bathrooms while I showered. He said that he was there by accident. I was too shocked to respond at first, and truth be told, although he left fairly quickly, he didn't look really apologetic"

Some girls, especially Misaka Mikoto, narrowed their eyes at that. Why did that sound strangely familiar? To a degree, that is.

"Later, I found him and a friend of his in the restricted section of the library. They wore foreign clothing and spoke in Italian with hushed voices, so I assumed that they were trying to infiltrate and steal from the Orthodox Church. I attempted to set the ambush, but the entire bookshelf fell on me... and that man came to help me. Naturally, I dragged him and his companion to Patriarch."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Patriarch sighed, hearing the commotion beside the door.

"What is it no-"

The doors burst opened, and angry looking Vasilisa stormed into the gabinet, dragging two men by holding their ears.

"Your eminence, can you confirm that those two are guests?"

Patriarch sighed again, even louder.

"Yes, Vasilisa. What on earth happened that let you suspect otherwise?"

"I found them sneaking around the library. In a very secretive manner. And the brown haired one... h-he committed a misconduct!"

The man on the left was thin, yet tall, slim, yet not scrawny, and had dark brown hair, accompanied with emerald green eyes. He appeared to be in his 30s. He had something on his back, wrapped in the bandaged scaffold. He grimaced in pain, patting Vasilisa with his left hand.

"H-Hey, can you let go now?! Hello, scary yet pretty russian lady? Du wirst mir ein Ohr abreißen!"

"Eike, maybe do not anger her, she chased us throughout the entire church" His companion, held on Vasilisa's right, advised.

He was shorter than the brown haired foreigner, much more pale, with lighter, receding hair, and very pronounced, sharp facial features. Slightly hunched, with simple clothes, he appeared to be a scholar, and this feeling was completed by the set of old fashioned glasses on his nose.

"Уважаемые господа" Patriarch said, spreading his arms" Dear gentlemen! The lady you had a... pleasure of meeting is one of most prominent members of our community, being concerned with foreign affairs and magical investigation. Gentlemen, Vasilisa The Beautiful. Vasilisa, those two are the delegates from Rome and Nuremberg. They are here legally, to study some historic documents, as the act of peace between our churches. We are all brothers in Christ, so Vasilisa, dearest, please don't cause international scandal"

"Me? But it was him who-" Vasilisa paused, and clenched her fists.

"Yes?"

"Nothing of importance" she huffed, letting go of the men.

After a moment, all of them left the office.

"Well, since this is clarified..." the scholarly delegate dusted himself off, and extended his hand" I am Girolamo. I am the Archivist and Head Historian of His Holiness the Pope. To be precise, I am here for official business. And he just tagged along"

"Oh, don't be like that, old man" his brown haired companion spoke lightly" You just like my company. It doesn't hurt to have someone watch your back, when you have your nose in the book"

"You make me sound like some kind of idiot, Eike. Also, I am not an old man! I am only 5 years older than you."

"You can tell yourself that" Man from Nuremberg shrugged and then turned to Vasilisa" I am Eike. We already...emm... met"

"I remember" Vasilisa crossed arms at her the chest level" Are you ashamed?"

"I am sorry, that's probably rude, but not in the slightest"

"Oh? You have guts, I admit. Why is that, then?"

Eike gathered air into his lungs, and then slammed his fist into the chest, while exclaiming loudly.

"Because I will remember this sight for as long as I live and I can completely tell where the epithet 'Beautiful' comes from-"

Vasilisa smiled thinly, before punching the the stomach of the German magician

"Still standing true by it" Eike wheezed out.

Girolamo sighed, rubbing his temples.

"I have a foreboding that this relationship will add even more chaos into my life"

"One other thing" Vasilisa said, grabbing Eike by the long, worn-off coat he wore. "While I was chasing you, I cast a spell against you. A spell that you intercepted with your right hand. Right hand that caused the magic to be dispersed into nothing"

Two magicians exchanged glances.

"W-What?! That's crazy!" Eike exclaimed, his voice higher than before" Crazy talk, this is like a fairytale."R-Right, Giro?"

"Eike, you are too awkward and straightforward to be a good liar. Signora Vasilisa, please, do not share this with anyone" Girolamo leaned forward, confidently" You see, this man possesses power that can negate all forms of magic, no matter the strength or origin. On top of the fact that he is a Saint"

"I am nothing special, although it would be nice to be good for something" Eike remarked" And I am the weakest of the Saints, with terrible luck all around, so..."

"A Saint? And a human vessel for Imagine Breaker?" Vasilisa stepped back, not minding the magician's remarks.

"Yes, that is unpreceden-... wait a moment. How do you know the name of that power?"

"Well..." Vasilisa pondered on what to do for a moment" Let's have a deal. I too have my share of secrets. If you two tell me all about your connection with Imagine Breaker, I can disclose my tales. Is that agreeable to you?"

She extended her hand.

"Sounds interesting. Doesn't it, Giro?" The German Saint extended his hand and put it on Vasilisa's.

"You are not going to let me rest until I agree, don't you?"

"You know me so well, it's melting my heart"

And so, three hands were placed on each other.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Wow... you attacked a guy just because he seemed suspicious?"

"I was a fairly different women back then. Much more pragmatic, serious, and had a... tendency to act first and ask questions later"

"We know someone like that" Misaki muttered offhandedly.

"Oh, cry about it Shokuhou" an arc of electricity danced between Mikoto's bangs.

"That man was called Ekkhard Sündlige" Vasilisa mused out loud" but everyone called him Eike. If there was a word to describe him, it would be 'contradiction'. He was a German, from predominantly Protestant country, yet was not closely affiliated to any Protestant group. He was cheeky and liked to joke, but more often than not he was awkward and clumsy, especially in front of others, and often deflected his pain with laughter to hide it. He liked to fight, but disliked killing. He was born a Saint, but was also chosen as a vessel by Imagine Breaker, as first recorded human example in modern history. Due to this duality, misfortune and fortune were always at war within him. His bad luck manifested both on his own person, and then affected others, depending what quality, his inborn blessings or ability negating them was dominating at the moment. Not as strong as other Saints, but still far stronger than any human. Unpredictable, irresponsible, kind-hearted, and secretly anxious, he was one of the most unique people of that time.

He could never fit in with the protestant community when he was growing up, it was far too rigid and suffocating for him. He always hid the fact that his right hand was special, But as a teenager he met a travelling magician known as Anna Kingsford, who understood his desires, and took him too temporary travel with her. While they reached Rome, Eike had an... accident, in which he accidentally destroyed important historical artefact by touching it with his right hand. Luckily, the only one who saw it with his eyes was an assistant to the the archivist, who, to Eike's surprise, made up a cover story. In exchange, much like I did, he observed Eike due to his ability. Girolamo remarked many times that Eike annoyed him, and it was true that their personalities were at odds, but they remained friends for years. Perhaps it was due to this difference that they complimented each other well. Eike parted ways with Anna Kingsford, who still appeared in his life from time to time during their travels but nevertheless refocused her attention on her students.

Meanwhile, Girolamo was sent to study documents across the world to create coherent history of Magic Side, and Eike just went along. He always had a... desire, to prove that he was worth being called a good man. During one such escapades, they met me. After we exchanged information, I didn't really want to have a much to do with such a troublesome man. But because he kept finding me in most ridiculous ways, or perhaps because my curiosity was far too big, I relented and went to travel with two of them. Officially, I was overseeing the affairs of the Russian Orthodoxy abroad. Yet again, we actually went around the world, studying Imagine Breaker's origins, manifestations, and impact on the world. For Girolamo, it was additional quest while he collected the artefacts which would help him to make history books. For Eike, it was to blow off some steam and learn more about strange mystic force that chose his body as his home. As for myself... I wanted to quench this feeling of uneasiness I had regarding this ability. That, and I was kind of dragged along on the voyage, at first that is. Because, admittedly, over time, I got used to the this bright and joking man

Our journeys took us throughout the elegant capitals, and ancient ruins alike. Eike wasn't using Imagine Breaker often, in fact, he limited its use to necessary defence and pulling some practical jokes from time to time. And as you can imagine, with company of Imagine Breaker, those journeys were not always trivial and easy.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The pair of adventurers emerged from the tropical bushes, running at full speed.

"I told you they wouldn't take no for an answer"

"Well, Lisa, I would be mad too if I was rejected"

"Don't use this nickname! You got married to an amazonian princess. Girolamo was out only for couple of minutes, studying the glyphs, and you already got in trouble!"

"It was not my fault that I fell into the pool while she was taking a bath. And in my defence, I made her be the record holder for the fastest divorce in nation's history..."

"What's with you and falling into pools with naked a women?"

"Brings back memories, huh? Also, is that jealousy I hear?"

"I am tempted to use you as a human sacrfice to placate them!"

"I AM ALREADY BEING USED AS A HOSTAGE HERE!" Girolamo hollered behind them.

Vasilisa and Eike stopped, as they were cornered by forest of spears and faces covered in painted symbols.

Girolamo was tied up in front of the crowd of very angry populace, his glasses fogged up and lips twisted into exasperated frown.

"Aw, right. You are about to die! My bad" Eike grinned, waving to his scholar senior.

"MY BAD IS NOT A GOOD REACTION HERE! Vasilisa, do something!"

"О́тче наш, И́же еси́ на небесе́х. Да святи́тся имя Твое́..."

"Not that! Stop chanting Lord's Prayer, as if I was already a goner! Why do you have such a dark sense of humour?"

Their team was balanced one, with each member being assigned particular attribute:

Vasilisa had the greatest aptitude in magic and greatest quantity of mana.

Girolamo had the greatest intellect, historical knowledge, and information gathering skills.

And as for Eike... in addition to possessing Imagine Breaker, he was their strength.

"It appears I have to take my friend back" Saint narrowed his eyes with a smile, reaching to his back" I know he would make a great souvenir, but we are kind of the team"

The bandaged scaffold came undone, exposing a very peculiar weapon.

It resembled two short, pale green spears, being connected by a very long chain of the same colour. What was most peculiar however was the fact that both poles of green were ended in something resembling a hand, with five finger-like claws that gleamed in the light.

The chief of the tribe shouted something to the warriors.

But no one managed to move.

In the next moment, weapons of the people holding Girolamo were snatched away and sent into the air. Simultaneously, row of men behind the cornered adventurers backed away in fright.

The Saint grinned as he kept rotating the short spheres in circular motion by controlling the movement of the chains. With great precision, he grabbed Girolamo by his bindings using the claws at the end of the weapon and pulled him towards them.

Ekkhard Sündlige was the weakest of the Saints, with Imagine Breaker partially negating blessings that he should possess due to his birth. But his senses and strength were still above regular human. This was why he could yield great effects in fight requiring both force and coordination. He could not achieve supersonic speed, thus he compensated for it with the range of his equipment.

The weapon he wielded was something absolutely uncommon in the western world, made from light yet sturdy titanium, with touches of super sharp corundum. Eike was gifted it in thanks by a female merchant from Eastern Asia, and enjoyed fighting with it, should it become necessary.

With precise manipulation of swinging, pulling, and releasing the chains, as well as changing their direction by height of his stance and motion of wrists, Eike created pale green spheres of rotating spherical slashes, and barrage of crescent cuts in front of the crowd. It was as if the attacks extended in all directions at once.

The name of this that type of weapon, originating from China, was Flying Claws. With long range through the chain, and claws at the endings, it was designed to wrap, entangle, grip, and capture objects, weapons, or enemies. It was its primary usage and that's why Eike liked, although it could also be used more brutally, and rip flesh apart.

After a moment, getting the difference in skill, the pursuers ran away. Girolamo dusted himself off and sighed.

"Do I have to lecture two of you again?" he shook his head, cleaning his glasses.

"Why do I get the lecture?" Vasilisa asked incredulously.

"Because you two are always distracting influence on each other"

"I think you mean empowering" Eike pulled the pale green chains in well-trained motion, causing the endings of Flying Claws to jump back into his hands. He clasped them together and hid the weapon in the concealment on his back once again" I think I had great impact on Lisa"

"Would it kill you to listen for once, friend. You too, young lady"

"Young lady? I am way more mature than you"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Years passed. We learned about each other. Apparently, Girolamo had a family back home. As archivist, he wasn't technically a clergy member, thus the pope allowed it. Sometimes, he separated from us and checked matters in Italy. It was probably due to those moments of aloneness, which just the two of us, that I better understood Eike's deeper feelings. No matter how much positivity he tried to muster, a deep sadness ran through him"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was a cloudless night at the corner of sub-Saharan desert regions. A blond woman in red dress sat near the German Saint, as they both looked at the sky.

"Do you really have no one else?"

Eike shrugged. Over the years, he got much more muscular and grew a short kept beard. Though there were still sparks of mischief in his eyes, he looked much older and weary. There was even a small trace of grey in his hair, even though he was only nearing his 40s.

"I bring misfortune. I suspect that this is the work of my right hand. It's a wonder I had even few people who stuck around for a while longer"

"The fact that you occasionally affect yourself is most strange. Most other vessels I encountered affect others, but not themselves. I suppose that the inverse would be the case in case of humans, who have their own agency. You might be the only one who alternates between those two cases"

"Well, you have my Saint body to thank for it." Eike stretched a little and then collapsed on his back, feeling soft sand beneath his body." Also, I think that when I want to be around others, this power starts to affect me more and vice versa. I have absolutely no idea why. It's as if... it was responding to my motivations."

"That's an interesting theory, for sure" Vasilisa said, her golden hair reflecting light of the fire.

Eike looked at his right hand.

"I never wanted this power. When I first discovered it, I was convinced that I could use it to get famous and powerful. But my family was terrified. We were a very religious household, and my father blamed me for calamities that stuck the family. Because there were so many accidents, either mine or my relatives, he was convinced that this hand was a curse of satan. It... it brought me a lot of pain. But... I think I try to live with it and use it for good to spite him"

"But you said you have no one-"

"Accident. The part of the bridge crumbled down during the rainstorm and carriage fell to the river. My father, my mother, and my younger sister drowned. I was knocked out and badly hurt, but the river washed my ashore downstream. Later, I was taken care of by my grandmother, until she died. Then I was homeless for a while, until I saved a merchant woman from China from robbery. As thanks, she took me in, trained me and gave me my flying claws"

"Who was she?"

"I don't know. She never told me her name and was not keen on sharing much about herself. Anyway, later on I worked as a mercenary, until I winded up in Rome and met Giro. It was a fateful meeting"

"How so?"

"It was raining. I opened the doors to the tavern, gathering attention of everyone by my looks of a reckless rouge hardened from battles. As I strolled around and looked for free table, the only one available one was by the window, where Girolamo sat. I slammed my fist on the table and asked with a deep voice: 'Is this taken?' And he was so stunned with my presence that he allowed me to sit there, and then gladly accepted my company"

"Funny you say that"

"Why?"

"Because Girolamo told me that you stumbled into the tavern completely drunk, fell face first on the table he worked by, threw up on his books, and then instigated a fight that involved almost all furniture and food in the tavern flying through the air. This resulted with both you and Girolamo being thrown into the rain and mud... and you kind of followed him and never went away"

"Well, Lisa, this is the curse of not being there in person. Now, you will never know the truth"

"Sure I won't..."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"You... are never sure, do you?" Vasilisa finally said" Whether this misfortune will strike you or not, whether those close to you will suffer or not...through all that time, you are just hiding your suffering inside, aren't you?"

"What gave you that idea?"

"Your smile doesn't reach the eyes, when one knows when to look"

"Maybe you are right..." Eike sighed, looking at the constellations above" I like to smile even when I feel like crying. Because sometimes I think that when I smile hard enough and dream for long enough, happiness will become my reality. But can it really be achieved, especially with that hand? Sometimes, when I focus enough... or when I sleep... I see flashes of memories... visions of things and feelings I could never see with my own eyes. I can put my brave face, but pain and suffering I saw through those memories... through remnants of power that chose me... it scares me. It scares me to think of the future. When I die, Imagine Breaker will move on. If it will ever find new human host, that boy or girl will be as lost as I was. Lonely and misfortunate. All my life I didn't care about world as a whole or being heroic for the sake of being heroic, but for that one person... I would really like to help them. But I won't be there anymore, and I am not sure how memories of the incarnations are stored, or if they are even actually accessible..."

"I can do it" Vasilisa spoke firmly" If there is someone like that in the future, I will assure to they won't need to worry about their future through this power. It's a promise"

"Thank you. That means a lot"

"You always say you are self-centered, but what about you? Is there any way you can be happier?"

"Well, I always wanted to belong somewhere. Who am I? Too strong to be normal human, too weak to be a proper Saint. Too free to fit in, too unlucky to be happy. I bet no one would like to be around someone like this. Either I, or one close to me, would be hurt."

Silence, broken only by the crackling of the fire.

"Well..." Eike rose up to his feet" I better get more wood from the pile..."

Vasilisa reached forward and grabbed his arm.

"I won't die" she whispered" I will not leave"

They looked at each other meaningfully, as pair of flying claws and sewing accessories lied in the sand, next to one another, being only witnesses to what transpired next.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What? What happened?" Hasako asked.

Vasilisa raised an eyebrow.

"You will learn when you are older, my ladies"

"You mean... oh..." Hasako blushed brightly, putting a hand to her lips.

Mikoto wasn't looking better, with her face red as a tomato.

Shokuhou put her hands together, looking as if she found the gossip of her lifetime.

"He was... to you..."

"Он был моим милашкой."

"He was your cutie?!"

"Shokuhou, you can speak Russian?"

"Misaka-san, I can scan language center from the brain of any native speaker and learn languages instantaneously. You are focusing on wrong details here. This woman..."

"You don't look like..." Takitsubo weighed her words" someone who would engage in romance"

"Correctly so" Vasilisa nodded" I was a different person. I never felt so close with someone. Even the tsar, ages back, only treated me like a talented concubine. But there, I felt like I had the ability to make that man happy. So we became physically involved, and travelled to Girolamo, to get him the news. He happened to actually be in England at the time"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So, when are you going to get married?" Girolamo looked up from manuscript he was reading by the brewery's table. Even the napkins were

"You know it's complicated" Eike smiled" Especially given who we are"

"But I have to say, good for you. I was getting tired of dancing around it"

"Huh? It was obvious to you?"

"Of course. Anyone with a brain could notice something. Oh, I forgot you are so reckless that you don't have this organ. Signora Vasilisa, I hope he doesn't create more problems than it's worth"

"Not at all. And if he does, I will be sure to keep him in line"

"That's what I want to hear. Excuse me, we would like to have your best ale"

"Coming right up. I may be retired, but I shall serve you personally" the owner came to their table.

As they drank their fills, he took a good look at Vasilisa" I don't think I ever saw your face around here, miss. Welcome. My name is Edward Crowley, shareholder of Crowley Alton Ales. Back there are my wife Emily and my only son, Edward Alexander"

He gestured to the woman sitting near the window. She quickly came to his side, holding (or rather dragging) a boy of four, maybe five years of age, with short, silvery hair, and green eyes.

"Charmed. Mister Girolamo is our client whenever he visits United Kingdom, so any friend of his is ours as well. I am Emily Crowley, and this is our son" she then hissed to the boy, who looked fairly disinterested with the conversation." Come on, don't just stand there "

The peculiar child slowly looked at them, and then slowly extended his hand towards Eike.

The Saint grinned and extended his hand.

But as they connected the handshake, something flashed in the eyes of small boy. Girolamo also narrowed his eyes and looked closer.

Little Crowley tilted his head and stared deeply into the Saint's eyes.

"What do you have on your back?" he asked.

"Young man, this is an inappropriate-"

"No, no, that is alright" Eike waved his hand" But it's a secret. You see, it is magical tool"

Although the way in which he said 'magical' was clearly intended to make it sound fun to a kid, young Crowley remained uncharacteristically serious for such a small child.

"Magical?"

"Yes, super secret magical tool. You don't have to be afraid of magic. It can be helpful, and even if misunderstood, it can make you defender of mankind, who changes the world for the better. It can make you stronger and braver, just like me. It can make a world in which no one would have to be afraid."

"Defender... of man... kind" Edward Alexander repeated, maybe thinking what those words meant.

"Our guest seems to have excellent sense of humour" Edward Crowley looked at Eike in a more reserved manner" However, in this house, magic is not needed. All we'll ever be, and all we'll ever need, is through Our Lord and Saviour"

"Amen" Emily made a sign of cross" Honestly, my apologies. This child is... strange, ever since I gave birth to him."

"Well... that's fine" Eike said, getting up" I think he might be someone great. Handshake can tell a lot, you know. So, young man, if you ever need help in the future, I will give you my hand in aid. That's a promise"

A few minutes later, the trio was out.

"Did you notice?" Girolamo asked.

"Yes. That boy... something about him... aren't you good in prophecies?"

"Yes... I am." the Italian scholar said slowly" But with this right hand, everything always gets complicated. Still, I can't get this feeling out of my head.

He tapped his finger on his coat, as they walked through the misty afternoon of rainy british day.

"ἀλέξω and ἀνήρ, alexo and andri, 'defend' and 'man'. The defender of mankind. Given the country we are in, Alexander would be changed into... Aleister, I think"

He sighed, looking at the back of Eike, who admired display windows around the street.

I don't know why, but I think this fool, with disregard for the flow of fate, set something in motion."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I am a little scared to ask..." Mitsuari Ayu inquired" But I... don't think this story has a happy ending"

Vasilisa was quiet for a moment, before exhaled deeply.

"Well, we tried to have children. But..." she touched her belly and shook her head" They didn't made it"

"I am... very sorry..."

"He blamed himself. I tried to stop him, but he went away to cope with that loss. After three months or so, I invited him to a diplomatic event in Sankt Petersburg, which I attended as Orthodox Church representative of House Romanov. To my delight, he agreed, saying he was back to his old self, and that he wanted to see me. He was familiar with delegate arriving from Berlin, so it was also an additional reason. So, there we were, on the opposite sides of the private dining room, in attendance. Everything was going well, until..."

She shook her head again, anger flashing in her eyes.

"On that day, a group known as Narodnaya Volya organized an assassination attempt at the Tsar, one of many. But they were not successful that time. They attempted to blow up the dining room with guests inside by stacking enormous amount of explosives day after day, in secret. However, because the delegation from abroad was later, the royal family moved away from the dining room. But not everyone was so lucky. One might even say that some were... misfortunate. All because of trying to keep me safe. It was pointless and stupid, and yet he did it"

The feeling of dread descended on all gathered.

"The explosion was so grand that it was heard throughout all of the city. Because I had Water of Life within myself, I healed up and survived. But Eike... was too badly burnt and injured. I tried to carry him out, and finally, we escaped from the palace. He... was dying a long time. His Saint body was trying to resist to the very end. So we talked... and then I had to..."

She got silent. It was clear that there was a lot more to this part of the history, but no one dared to press for it.

"He died in my arms, and I buried him. For the longest time... I couldn't speak to anyone. I just thought that this demise... it could not be a matter of chance alone. If not for Imagine Breaker, he would live, I was sure of that. So this changed my view drastically, and forever.

But it didn't end there. I don't know how they found out about place of burial or significance of his body. But when I returned to his grave later on, I noticed that it was disturbed. Only after a month or so, I discovered why. Golden Dawn took part of the bones of his palm, and changed its shape, making it into a arrow resembling a human hand. It was to trick Imagine Breaker into reincarnating into something that was already familiar, a body of a former host, but technically qualifying as new object. It didn't took long for the Imagine Breaker to possess that arrow. When I found out about it, I felt anger like I never felt before. And the fact that Aleister used his hand... that Eike could not rest even in death... that misfortune of Imagine Breaker users truly had no end... I wanted to do something. But the assassins that caused Eike's accidental death were dead by that point. But what Aleister did went unpunished. So I thought that I could manage both of my objectives.

Eventually I visited Girolamo's family. I immersed myself in studies. Soon I found out that I wasn't the only one who desired to know more.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Girolamo knocked on the door and slowly creaked it open.

"Vasilisa? Do you have a moment?"

After a moment of silence, he cleared his throat.

"I know you don't want to be disturbed but I might have found someone who is interested in our shared research"

Vasilisa slowly turned around and asked blankly

"Who is it?"

"My son. He just enrolled at the university and he could use your knowledge. And maybe... this can be a way to think about-"

"I don't need pity or distraction"

"I know. I realize it, but... you are not the only one who lost him. It's so terribly quiet without him. Anyway..."

He motioned at the person behind him.

The young man who entered the room was skinny and short, with even more sharp facial features than his father. His hair looked as if it was windswept, and even though he maintained neutral expression, his eyes were penetrating, and smile thin, without much of a warmth.

Girolamo left, as the young man and Vasilisa looked at each other.

"You are Vasilisa? Father spoke a lot about you" the student asked inquisitively" I was hoping we could help each other out"

"How so?"

"Apparently, you know a fair bit about the power that can negate magic and miracles of the divine. I am searching for the way of explanation how a divine being like a Son of God can be killed by human hands. I know a lot of details about history of our glorious religion, father told me a lot about it. I just know that this... Imagine Breaker can be the key"

Vasilisa thought for a moment

"I will consider aiding you. If and only if your findings will help me in turn. How should I call you?"

The young man bowed slightly, his thin smile not disappearing even for a moment.

"In church's circles, I go by Terra. Please refer to me by that name"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

And so, my work with one who was to become Terra of the Left, member of the Right Seat of God, began. I never liked that man. He had intellect of his father, but his morality was rotten. Additionally, he wanted to misuse this ability, while I wanted to end it.

"End it?" Takitsubo echoed.

"Earlier, you were talking about objectives" Mikoto exclaimed, pointing at Vasilisa" What are you really up to? I can get that you were depressed that someone you cared about died. But what do you want with Touma?"

"You still didn't figure it out? Since it's happening at this very moment, I will enlighten you" Vasilisa stood up, and everyone tensed slightly" Personally, I find Kamijou Touma admirable. Not only because he wields the same ability as one I once loved, but also because he is courageous and enduring. So I don't want to use his hand, like Fiamma of the Right, Othinus, or others back in earlier times. I wish for total annihilation of Imagine Breaker, and freeing its user from its curse. And you will assist me with this"

"Why us? You are from... the other side" Misaki pointed out" Why espers? Why Kankyougami-san?"

"Aleister." Vasilisa said without skipping the beat" It will be a poetic if destruction of force that was a centerpiece of his grand plan would be carried out by hands of his children. I had to bide my time, but finally, I learned about you, his Child of Beginning. With help of Saronia, I had all the elements I needed."

"Why would you want to hurt him?" Mikoto asked

"Hurt him? On contrary, I want to help him. Destruction of Imagine Breaker will not kill Kamijou Touma, it will give him a life in which he can be free. Didn't you see how misfortunate he is? You had to see it with your very own eyes. Don't you think that it is unfair for someone so valiant to be stripped of right to be happy and calm about his future. With Imagine Breaker, he might sooner or later die for good. It would be yet another accident from fate, who denied him even a tiniest bit of luck"

The girls moved among themselves, unsure of what to say.

"I want to end the despair of those who want to just live a happy life with a person chosen by Imagine Breaker. I am sure some of you considered future with him. Do you want him to be miserable for the rest of time?"

"E-Even if you could destroy his power, how?" Mikoto said, uncertainty showing in her voice.

"Well..." Vasilisa looked at Hasako, before moving her gaze to Takitsubo" My relationship with Terra of the Left in his youth left a lot to be desired, I mainly collaborated with him because he was the son of my dear friend, but arrogant and zealous as he was, his own research gave me a pretty good idea. It was similar to a feat of killing a divine by human hand... but in reverse. To destroy Imagine Breaker, equivalent force to one that of its creation is needed. A power equivalent of Magic God."

"But this is Academy City. Nothing like that even-" Misaki paused" Oh... level 6..."

"What was that saying about the rose and its name? Don't you think that One Who Understand The Will Of Heavens is just a backdoor way to ascend to divinity?" Vasilisa smiled, her eyes gleaming with sudden energy.

She clapped her hands.

"The hour is high. I have the mind control derived from Saronia's magic, with my own touch. Some spares, if need arose. An esper who can amplify and decrease the quality of your AIM fields. And most importantly, first of artificial espers, the one closest to the way of magic, Aleister's first creation. You, Kankyougami Hasako."

"This... this is madness!" Mikoto screamed" Among level 5s, only Accelerator can theoretically achieve level 6. We know that better than anyone... I know that better than anyone. Someone actually tried that with me"

"I wouldn't be so sure. After all, Девственник Kankyougami may surpass you in power. One closest to the source of magic that formed the espers may have the highest chance of remaining stable long enough to do this one thing I need. And that leaves you, Mitsuari Ayu"

"Me?" Burgundy haired telepath blinked in surprise" You need me?"

"But of course. Someone should stabilize the mentality of the one undergoing ascension. I know that you like to see Kamijou Touma happy. I heard that you know very well what is like to suffer. This is why I want you, and not Shokuhou Misaki, to aid Kamijou Touma in achieving happiness. Your own suffering earned you this part. If you do this, the one you love will be thankful to you. This way, we should all achieve happiness. Consider it, picture it! You could be responsible for ending his suffering. You could be his saviour"

Mitsuari Ayu was silent for a long while.

Shokuhou Misaki bated her breath, observing her fellow telepath carefully.

It would be a lie that there was no temptation for Mental Stinger when she was confronted with such a choice.

All of her life, she was put aside in favour of someone else. When someone had to use her help, she would be cursed for just being who she was. Now, she had the opportunity to be in the spotlight, and not only that, to be the one who would take the pain away from the one she loved.

Given what she and Touma went through, the answer finally presented herself to her.

"No" she firmly said

Vasilisa put a hand to her own cheek with genuine thoughtfulness.

"No? From what I gathered about your history, I would assume you would be the first to engage in such an opportunity"

"I... am tempted. Even if I resist, there is a willingness. But... something this big... he told me that he can't solve all my problems or take them away. I finally understood why. You can't what to do with other person's pain, or force some solution, even if I you think it will lead to happy ending. This is why people fear mental espers. I will never rob him of choice"

"Even if it could bring forth the happiness for everyone?"

"Even then. We never know what can become happiness, and what may turn to tragedy. Predicting everything will only bring about insanity. You say you are doing this for everyone" Ayu slowly pointed out, keeping her eyes on Vasilisa" but I think you are hurting in your own way. He can help you. And if he won't make, we can"

Vasilisa's gaze softened slightly.

"I want to believe that. It seems his heroic spirit had truly a magnificent ... I am sorry. I will make true of my promise..." she raised her hand in the air, with cold determination" no matter the price"

Suddenly, the faces of Hasako and Takitsubo went blank, and they rose from their chairs.

"No!" Ayu shouted and tried to pull her phone to point at two girls.

But her entire bag was snatched away and crushed by a shadow that once again manifested by Vasilisa's side.

"I am sorry" she said, moving toward AIM Stalker" But if you are not helping, I can't have you interfering"

(TAKITSUBO'S POINT OF VIEW)

Everything is muffled and slightly hazy. It's like when I am floating in the pool. I love doing that. It feels like everything is drifting away.

I feel like I can be like this forever. All I need to do is obey.

There is a voice of hesitation in my head. Something that tells me things are going awry. That for the sake of everyone I should... I should...

I don't remember. Probably doesn't matter.

Vasilisa comes close to me, positioning herself behind me. I feel something being slipped into my hand.

"Swallow them all"

I lazily look at my hand.

For a moment, panic spikes my consciousness into freshness, if only for a moment.

How did she get those? Her spy network managed to retrieve it?

I know what this is. Of course I know, as I never wanted to see this substance ever again.

But I can't stop myself. Soon after consuming the crystals, I feel something rising within me.

My ability flares up against the pain of my body.

No, no, no! I can't... I went through such lengths to cure myself from this...

"Now, do exactly this..."

But I can't stop, as I reach for the AIM fields in the room. And as my ability peaks, I force those of others to act along my will.

(MEANWHILE)

"Misaka-san, why didn't you shoot?"

"Takitsubo-san was in the way. What about you?"

"Even if using my ability in the state of imbalance was safe, which it isn't, without remotes I cannot do anything major!"

"Just great. Alright" Mikoto readied herself" Alright. Sorry if I hit anyone, but all of this room gets a good electric shock for immobilization."

She thrust her hand forward...

Only to have a stream of sparks burst forward, as if it was a birthday sparkler.

Ayu and Misaki looked at Mikoto's hand in silence.

"Wow... that was..." Misaki said slowly" Do you want to immobilize her by shocking her with ineptitude ability?"

"SHUT UP! You know how it's supposed to look like. I was aiming for strong electromagnetic shock" Mikoto said in a panic" Calculations were all good, so why did my ability act as if it was 4 levels lower?"

Ayu looked at the other side of the room and gasped.

"I might have an idea why"

With a glimmer of violet aura around her and pupils maximally narrowed, Takitsubo Rikou extended her hands in two directions. One was towards them, and the other...

Towards the figure that began to glow with bright light.

"Hasako-"

In the next moment, everything around them exploded, as the forest emerged from depths of the earth and blew them away.

(KANKYOUGAMI HASAKO'S POINT OF VIEW)

Everything was burning and shining.

Just moments ago, everything felt normal.

Then, there was numbness in my skull and fogginess in my mind. And a whisper

"Once ascension is completed, find and destroy Imagine Breaker"

Something was happening to me. My AIM field, her ability, was rising in power by the seconds. It was already massive in its normal state, but now it was spreading far and wide, changing everything around her.

My body burned as if it was about to self-combust. Whatever was happening, it was not supposed to be happening so fast. But the fog in my mind was numbing the pain.

In the remnant of consciousness the mind control left for me, I knew that I had to resist. But I felt no real capacity to do so.

Yet everything paled in comparison to despair and terror, as if I was having the panic attack.

'My body is not my own! Not again... not again, not again, not again! I don't want to hurt anyone. Never again!'

The time freshly after I awakening, with her mind in shambles and her body running amok, came in full force.

But I couldn't resist, even if I clenched her teeth and tensed my muscles. She could only slow herself down a little bit, as the process was already in full force.

My body kept changing. Clothes dissolved, replaced by the robe of light on my nude body. Two wings, looking like curtains of branches, leaves, and flowers, appeared beside me. My eyes became heterochromic, like a sun and the moon, over the darkened skin, that resembled night sky. Hair came undone as moving waves of frost, magma, and lightning, arising around her in a veil of terrific might of nature. Above me was a halo of light. Whenever I stepped, carpet of flowers would grow from the soil.

Yet it wasn't the end. The glow intensified, as my body lifted into the skies, my AIM reaching peak of its power. And as I found myself above the city, something happened.

It was a moment in eternity. It felt like a gentle sigh going through my body and mind.

In one moment of clarity, even though I was frightened, everything became right. It was so, so clear.

I didn't simply adapt the world.

My body was the fire. My body was ice. My body was lightning, soil, and gaseous clouds above. I was becoming the world, and nature. I listened. I felt. I smelled. I tasted. I saw. I acknowledged it all.

'I... understand...'

For a moment, I saw the glimpse of Truth.

"Nothing will last forever. Everything will die... but I..."

The skies around me turned into pure gold, as I hovered in the middle of the universe of my own making.

"I bring life" my lips whispered.

The industrial landscape burst with nature, vines growing and trees flourishing.

My senses extended beyond the city, beyond Japan, across oceans and continents. In the moment of utmost clarity, entire planet fell in my grasp.

The deserts became green and lush. The icebergs reclaimed their proper icy kingdom, unbothered and frozen solid. The volcanoes erupted, bringing gifts of fertility to the ground below.

I realized that my power brought creation. Even if I destroyed something, it was accidental, as each environment was originally made to support life and bring forth new possibilities.

It was wonderful. It was divine.

But it hurt.

My body flickered.

It hurt.

And there was something else.

'No...'

I reached forward.

'No... no, no,no, no, please...'

...zoomed down...

'I beg of you... stop...'

Until I found what I looked for. Group of people standing outside of the car.

And with me, I took one human I needed.

Touma barely even struggled as he was lifted high into the sky.

Instead, there was shock painted all over his face. Everything is happening with span of seconds, even he has trouble processing all of it properly.

I felt as if my body was about to cease to exist. As if I was to lose all mass and explode, or float away forever.

"Hasako... tell me what's going..." he tries to speak through the wind, and reach for me with his right hand" I can still help-"

I bite my lip in last effort to resist. I feel blood in my mouth. This almost makes me happy, since at least some of my old self is down there.

"Fo...Forgive... m...mmmm..." my lips try to say, but then it's too late.

My hand goes into him.

As if it was a beam of light passing through the clouds, I reach inside.

But not inside the body. There is no gore or blood coming out. I don't know I know that, but I reach within his very self.

My body is now more energy than matter... maybe not even energy, but something else entirely. This something reaches within until it founds it.

Masless, shapeless, boundless yet contained, old yet new, instrumental yet sentient. My hand of light wraps around it, as if it was a cage of thorny vines.

He looked at me. Even then, in pain and confusion, he didn't look angry. Just concerned. Concerned... for me.

I couldn't even cry when I squeezed that formless force, putting my ascended ability into it.

(FEW MINUTES EARLIER)

It was fairly normal ride, until the pillar of light shot out into the sky, and the forest suddenly emerged in the middle of the road.

Touma heard Rikuri screaming and felt Kaibi grabbing him and Amazora as Naru lost control of the vehicle and it whirred around. Touma in turn managed to grab Helcalia, and hug her to himself. After a moment, vehicle finally lost the momentum after slamming into the tree.

"Ow! What happened?" Amazora groaned, massaging her head.

"I don't know. Why is there suddenly a giant forest in the middle of the city?" Yakumaru complained, massaging her head.

"Seems like Hasako-san's doing. But on that scale..." Rikuri mused, wobbling outside the shimmering vehicle. It flickered a little, but still kept is shape" Did something happened to her that made her lose control?"

"Whatever it was, I have a bad idea about it" Kaibi looked at the changed terrain of the road" What do we do now?"

But there wasn't even a moment to formulate a new plan of action. Helcalia, narrowing her eyes, pointed at the sky

"Human... sky... floating" she spoke in strained japanese" Who... that... is?"

"Let me see. Can you get me up, onii-chan?" Amazora asked.

"That might be a good idea. Amazora has amazing eyesight, the best out of all of us. Part of the reason behind being a talented shooter" Rikuri affirmed.

Touma held Amazora up and the young teen squinted a little.

"Looks like Hasako onee-chan... but all weird"

"How is Hasako up in the sky? She can't fly"

Amazora told them what she saw. Both Touma and Kaibi looked as if something hit them hard.

"It's just like during Daihaseisai... but worse..." Touma muttered, recalling Misaka Mikoto's Level 6 Shift. "And trust me, golden sky does not bode well either"

"But this shouldn't be happening! What has a power to elevate someone's AIM field like this? Even Kakine wouldn't be able to maintain stable level 6..." Kaibi muttered rapidly, her thoughts blitzing through her head" Unless..."

"Maybe someone doesn't care if she will hurt herself. Maybe the might of this form will be used only for something-"

There was a glint of light.

In one moment, Touma was standing on the ground.

In next, an otherwordly figure grabbed him and shot into the air with him.

"NO!"

Strangely mixed voices of both Kaibi and Helcalia, who barely registered what was going on, and tried to grab him, zoomed out from his earshot with incredible speed.

'Hasako... she is taking me somewhere... she wants to do something... what...'

"Hasako... tell me what's going..." I scream, trying to get my voice over the wind" I can still help-"

Could he unleash the dragons? Maybe if he did...

For a moment, he could swear that he saw golden and silver eye turned into their regular prismatic selves. They were filled with sorrow and regret.

"Fo...Forgive... m...mmmm..."

Then, Touma's body jerked slightly.

There was no wound. But somehow, the entity Kankyougami Hasako has become stuck his hand into him.

It was a eerie, uneasy sensation. Not painful, not pleasant, it just felt... wrong. And rather disturbing.

However, he immediately felt something even worse, when she found it.

He knew, somehow, that Imagine Breaker was at her mercy.

They looked at each other. He thought of ways to turn this around.

He couldn't enact any of them.

In the next moment, his body burned with overwhelming stream of sensations, when this formless part of himself was crushed. For him, it was as if something he took for granted just stopped being there.

One would expect the fireworks and spectacle. It came, although not in a form one would expect.

Reality rippled. It was as if entire universe was a pond and crushing of the force within Kamijou Touma was a rock thrown in the middle of it.

The loudest sound shattering was heard, with something exploding outside and scattering, like millions of shooting stars.

(AT THE SAME TIME)

"Aggggggh!"

Away from Academy City, in the middle of bath given to him by dozens of girls, brown haired high schooler screamed in pain.

"K-Kamisato-sama!"

Kamisato Kakeru, smashing into the walls and furniture, wobbled outside the huge bath, and then looked at his World Rejecter, with sweat on his face.

"It burns..."

If his right hand was filled with molten lead, or if it was stabbed if a hundred knives, he would have believed it. It pulsed with pain at steady rythm, deeper than muscle, tendon, or bone.

It looked normal, but... if it wasn't a hand, Kamisato could have sworn that the feeling he got was a cry... of what? Outrage? Sorrow? Mourning?

"Kamisato-sama, did we hurt you? What happened?" he heard cries of multiple girls that travelled with him

"Nothing... I just..."

That was a good question. What was going on?

'Kamijou, what the hell are you doing out there?'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Fiamma of the Right winced and shivered.

"What was that ominous feeling of dread and sorrow? As if my Holy Right... reacted to something..."

He looked outside of the window.

"Something great occurred... shift transpired in a very structure of reality"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

At the same time, many magicians of higher awareness also felt it. The great change in the very universe, felt throughout phases enveloping the world.

Hamazura Shiage and others travelling with him felt tremble of reality running through them, just like Maidono Hoshimi, running with immobilized Saronia Irivika in tow. They all knew something strange occurred, although they couldn't tell what.

This wasn't the case with a former magic god and a nun, whose eyes widened in terror and worry.

"Touma!"

"Human!"

They both had instinctual knowledge of what happened.

But the worst was about to come

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

With the sound of shattering getting silent, the ripple slowly calmed down.

And as it went back to Touma, the bright light seemed to consume everything around him... the wave of brightness washing over entire existence...

Until there was nothing there anymore...

(SOME TIME LATER (?))

"Hey... hey..."

The voice seemed to come from afar, but finally, Touma managed to open his eyes.

He found emerald green irises of Niang-Niang staring down on him.

"You are finally awake, huh?"

"Niang-Niang... what are you doing here?"

As he rose up, his vision became blurry, before his equilibrium normalized.

"Sorry that we couldn't be here sooner. We felt it when it happened, and instantly went to your side. Nephthys caught you when you were falling, and I can only shield those down below before everything started breaking down..."

"Wait, wait, slow down. What exactly happened? I remember Hasako reaching into me..."

"You don't remember?"

"Well, I do, I just understand... where is Hasako?"

"We... don't know. She disappeared right we were getting to you. She appeared hurt. Presumably because of the backlash on her body. But we are still to locate her"

"I must help her. I have to-"

"Agreed, but there is something even more alarming to take care of first. Imagine Breaker...got destroyed. Sort of"

"What?!"

"Maybe... it's better for all of us to be together for this"

It seemed Niang-Niang, more serious than usually, spoke frantically, almost as if in shame. But now, she got silent and motioned for him to come closer. Then, she snapped her fingers.

They reappeared in a different room. Only a moment later Touma realized that Niang-Niang teleported them.

'That's so strange. I never experienced teleoprtation before. I can't be teleported because of my right-'

He paused and frowned.

Was it... really gone?

Helcalia and Gokusai sisters shot up from their seats, relief appearing on their faces.

"Touma! You are alright!"

"Oh dear, we were so worried!"

"Onii-chan, are you okay?!"

"Are you hurt?!"

"I think... I am fine" he said slowly" But I don't understand. What happened? How long was I out?"

"Few hours. But a lot changed during that time..." came a voice from behind him.

Nephthys appeared from behind them, and put her hand on his arm.

"Are you sure you can stand?"

"Y-Yeah, I don't think there is any problem. Did you... save us?"

"We tried. But we only managed to reach those present here, before unravelling began."

"Unravelling? Everone here-"

Touma paused and looked around

"Where... where are Naru and Yakumaru?"

"We..." Kaibi shook her head" We don't know. They disappeared shortly before that light blinded everything around us"

"Yeah. Hasako onee-chan lifted you up, and then there was super loud shattering sound, and some weird meteor shower, and then everything got white and then... the world got really weird..."

"What happened to

"Vasilisa hid herself from us" Nephthys interjected. The others got quiet and allowed her to speak" And manipulated Beginning Child by controlling her and temporarily elevated her to a level of almost divine might, sufficient to scatter Imagine Breaker."

"Scatter? I... I still don't understand. What do you mean the world is weird?"

"Vasilisa" Nephthys pressed on" For some agenda, desired to destroy that power. It succeeded only partially. And because of that... because the bond between you and it was forcibly removed... there are consequences. Three, to be precise."

"Forcibly removed? I thought it was impossible"

"Destroying is not like stealing or copying. But you are right, completely destroying Imagine Breaker wasn't actually an option. What was achieved was scattering the Imagine Breaker, that is, returning it to its original form, from focused entity to collective dream. That power scattered around reality. Which leads us to first consequence."

She snapped her fingers and wall on their right disappeared.

Touma looked. And then looked once again. He couldn't believe his eyes.

Academy City was in ruins. Or more precisely, it was in the process of turing itself into ruin.

The fires, the rubble, the crashed vehicles, the bodies of people lying on the ground... there was no other word for it than...

Chaos.

Pure, unrestrained chaos.

He started to run forward, disregarding shouts behind him.

But no matter how far he ran, how many times he turned around, it was the same.

All he saw was chaos.

All he heard were cries of confusion and misery.

All he smelt was smoke

He felt heaviness in his chest, as he stopped in the green area, that was still recognizable as park.

His eyes were wide, and his throat was dry. He couldn't speak as he just stood there, taking it all in.

It was just like the future he wanted to avoid. How did it become reality?

He almost failed to notice Niang-Niang standing behind him.

"Sparing the details, Imagine Breaker is no longer with you." she said quietly" But its remnants didn't just vanish. They scattered, and part of it latched itself into living beings all across the planet. This is the effect. The misfortune this power brings was divided into humanity. Individually, it might not pose such a problem like it did for you. But... what happens if every single living being gets more unlucky, all at once?"

Imagine Breaker scattered, its fragments, without agency and sentience on their own accord, etching themselves onto beings of this world like shard from a broken mirror.

This wasn't the matter of quality, like it was for his individual bad luck being much worse. It was a matter of quantity. Normally, people were lucky and unlucky in intervals. But what would happen if world's luck collectively dropped? It created worst butterfly effect imaginable.

After a while, he asked a question he dreaded to ask.

"Others... are they..."

"I don't want to lie to you. They may be in great peril. Or even be dying. Including Grimoire Library and Othinus. As well as others in this city and around the world. They are all suffering..." she hesitated, before finishing" All except you"

"What?"

"Think about it. Misfortune was distributed around the world. That means..."

"No..." Touma shook his head, mortified.

"that by default..."

"No, no... don't tell me..."

"...you are the luckiest, most blessed person in existence right now"

Touma collapsed on his knees, gritting his teeth.

Above him, the clouds parted, as a plane, another victim of collective misfortune, dropped from the skies and plummeted to the ground due to malfunction.

It hit the park and exploded, sending rising pillar of flames and flying parts of machinery in all directions.

But when it settled down, the boy was unscathed. None of the flames reached him, and all the ricocheting parts missed him.

It was a miracle. It was... pure luck.

Kamijou Touma grabbed his head and screamed, through the flames he was surrounded by. He smashed his fist into the ground, muscles of his face so tense that it resembled a mask more than human features.

"No... this is wrong! This is so wrong! What kind of blessing is this?! What kind of luck is that lonely?! I... wanted... all this time I wanted to avoid this! I... I just..." he hung his head down, emotions overwhelming him. "I didn't want... not for this price... not through everyone..."

Niang-Niang allowed him to come to his senses, waiting for a moment, before touching his shoulder, and teleporting them back in front of the building in which everyone were hiding before.

Touma flinched, and asked in a quiet, tone

"Anything else?"

"Maybe I will fill that in. Do not worry about the girls, they are resting inside" Nephthys said, leaning against the wall near them" The second and third consequence are intertwined. Sooner or later, the lack of Imagine Breaker will bring about clash of different versions of reality brought forth by magicians and Magic Gods. Without point of reference, initially, world will be chaos. And I mean with it not only absence of order, but the randomness brought forth from imagination so complex, that without reference point, everything around will lose meaning."

"So... that's what you meant by unravelling?"

"Precisely. You see, everything that exists is stretched out between Destruction and Creation. Former breaks down reality, the latter redefines it within new forms. Without breakdown of life, no new forms can arise, and without new forms arising, disrepair would not be able to differentiate and change things in the first place. Between Destruction, usually associated with demonic forces, and Creation, frequently attributed to divine beings, lies the Truth. Objective, unperceivable, and yet defining reality in itself. Situated between demonic and divine, fractions of Truth were reflected in physical world, and most importantly, in humanity, which alongside freedom of their will, possesses Body, Mind, and Soul, and is capable of both Creation and Destruction"

"What does this have to do with this chaos?"

"A lot." Niang-Niang The point is, there are three forces that exist in relation to the Truth, or rather, to the physical manifestation of space undistorted by magic, Pure World."

"Imagine Breaker, the one that preserves the Truth. World Rejecter, the one that denies the Truth. And Holy Right, one that transcends the Truth" Nephthys finished" Each of them possesses parts of Creation and Destruction within them. And removing any of them from the reality will have consequences."

"So... the world is coming to an end?"

"Well, yes and no. Is the universe going to cease to exist? No, absolutely no. The universe in itself is a very sturdy thing. Because Imagine Breaker was part of it, and served as its blueprint, for so long, right now it fell into chaos... but Vasilisa didn't want the destruction of the world. It will take time, but the world will normalize itself. But it won't be the world you know"

"Including the people, right? They are in danger! Because I don't have Imagine Breaker anymore"

"That's not-"

"How to fix this? You can't just snap it back to normal, right"

"It's not that simple-"

"I figured that. So what can I do? I had connection with Imagine Breaker. My life kind of revolved around it. I cannot leave all of this like that. Is there any way for me to reclaim Imagine Breaker?"

"Yes"

"No"

Niang-Niang and Nephthys looked at each other.

"Niang-Niang" Nephthys' voice said warningly" Don't you dare to suggest..."

"It is his choice..."

"We put him through so much already. Of course, it was because of Othinus... but what would she say if she was here? He already experienced too much... through the time I spent with him, I realized just how much. I cannot allow this solution!"

"Funny, I don't remember asking your permission." Niang-Niang snapped back

"HEY!" Touma shouted, raising his hands" It's really simple! I want to save everyone, every single person hurting right now! So I want the full truth. Is. There. A way?!"

"There... is" Nephthys nodded reluctantly" But it is... hurtful"

"Hurtful how?"

Nephthys tried to speak, but shook her head, tears filling her eyes.

"The way is to claim Imagine Breaker piece by piece by bringing misfortune upon yourself, from every single being affected."

"Bringing misfortune upon myself? How would I do this?"

"By... reliving someone's misfortune as if it was your own. In short, you would be scattered as well and have to live through multiple lifetimes, experiencing all the troubles and strife, each experience claiming Imagine Breaker back, like a painting made out of puzzles."

"How many lifetimes?"

"Billions, at low estimate"

Kamijou Touma nodded slowly, before looking at the stange, chaotical sky of fracturing reality. He closed his eyes, feeling rays of slowly setting sun on his face.

He took a deep breath.

Deep down, he knew that something like that was coming. He didn't know what form it will take, but he actually felt at peace.

He exhaled.

Everything was going too smoothly. Coincidences, lucky shots, kisses, good opportunities. It was a given that something like that was approaching.

Another deep breath.

He was afraid. Very much so. If it was like the last time he was plunged in the vortex of multiple lifetimes, it would not be pretty.

But he had to pass through it. In the end, the world around him was suffering.

And Kamijou Touma wouldn't be Kamijou Touma if he just let that go on without any intervention.

Was it cruel? Yes. Was it unfair? Yes.

But was going through with this something that he needed to do? Also yes.

Another exhale and third, deepest breath.

He knew from experience that he could not run away from this kind of thing, even if he wanted to. Some time ago, he gambled and for the period of good fate, died in front of Alice Anotherbibble.

There was no outrunning this calamity.

This realization followed through as he let out the third exhale.

He was afraid. And uncertain.

But he needed to be brave.

Fear and bravery were not mutually exclusive. This was another thing he knew.

Being brave was being afraid and yet bracing through the trouble because there was something more important than staying put.

"I will do it" he said, opening his eyes" Do whatever you need to do"

Niang-Niang nodded, but Nephthys once again stood in her way.

"I can't. I-"

"Nephthys" Touma touched the shoulder of Egyptian Goddess" Is this about what Othinus did? Are you... ashamed?"

Nephthys nodded.

"I didn't feel like that back when we tried for you to be our scorer... but after I spent some time with you, I realized that I regret what happened to you. This is why I was so angry at Othinus, but I am also angry at myself. I cannot let you go like that, into something that can be potentially be just as painful"

Giving into her nature, she broke into tears, not caring about any pretense.

But then, she felt Touma gently wiping them away.

He looked at her with kindness, but also unyielding resolve.

"I am grateful to see that you care. Trust me, I never walk into those kinds of things because I want to. I never want to be a hero, save the world, have power, fame, or be revered through history. I do what I do because right in front of me there are people who suffer. I do what I do because it must be done and I must be the one to do it. I must also save Hasako and bring her home with me"

"Do you really have to be the one?"

"Yes. I will clean this mess up, save everyone, and find Vasilisa"

"For what?"

"To punch her for endangering everyone just so I could be rid of this power. But also... to understand her. I think we just need to... talk about all of this."

Nephthys smiled softly, choking slightly on remaining tears, still sporadically streaming down her cheeks.

"You are incorrigible. Yet this is the reason why I became fond of you in the first place" she then turned to Niang-Niang" Well, I can understand his point, but what about you? Why are you eager to let him go through with this?"

"I am NOT eager" Niang-Niang looked offended by the suggestion" You think I want to endanger him? No, I don't. But let me give you a straightforward confession. Some time ago, you asked me why would I be fond of Kamijou Touma. And here you have it. The reason I fell for him, out of any mortals, is that he has a soul and determination of a true warrior. And that doesn't mean the bloodshed or even strength. He has the power of will to challenge odds, even death itself, to stand and fight for those ideals. That's absolutely amazing quality for me. I get that you are attached to his empathy and don't want to lose him because of it. But if it's his decision to try and do this, I will respect and admire it"

"Thank you" Touma said, looking at Niang-Niang with gratitude" I never realized any of this"

"Well..." Niang-Niang scratched her cheek, and looked away in a slightly bashful manner" I am more of a fighter than a talker, so maybe that's why..."

Nephthys looked slightly dejected, but Touma hugged her.

"Hey, I am coming back, okay? I promised that I will be the one you can rely on when you can cry for yourself. And I will be more than happy to give you reasons for happy tears as well. Promise?"

Nephthys sighed, straightened herself, and smiled weakly at him, hugging him back.

"Promise"

(SOME TIME LATER)

Nephthys and Niang-Niang looked at the chaotic sky above them from the rooftop of a building.

"Yes, it is."

Kamijou Touma was sent to recover Imagine Breaker scattered through time and space, in lifetimes of beings inhabiting the universe.

"This might be one of his hardest challenges yet" the Shijie-Xian remarked.

"Indeed. The challenge to confront the hurt of the past, the problems of the present, and uncertainty of the future, facing the fear not only concerning others, but also his own self" Nephthys added.

"It might be perilous. It might be painful" Niang-Niang mused wearily, before smiling slightly" But this time, it's different than Othinus' doing"

"How so?"

"Two reasons. Like I said, it was his choice. And secondly..." she looked behind herself and smiled, seeing the people she wanted to be there all ready, without hesitation" This time, at least for some parts of his challenge, he won't be alone"

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Okay, end for now. There is a lot to unpack, and even more to come, trust me. Chapter 45 will be much more introspective, but it will also pay homage to both Infinite Hells and GT10, that I consider one of the most important sequences of events in the main series. There are lot of emotions to come, but for now, let's focus on what we got in this chapter.

Alright, I assume, addressing Vasilisa in general would be in order. Some people suggested that Vasilisa may be main antagonist by the end of GT, given how little we know about her and that she might have a connection to Secret Chiefs. I can totally get behind that. But I am not going to stop in trying to write her here just because of that. I think there is a chance not all things I speculate about Vasilisa are true. But I really go out of the way to make sure future events won't ruin the story. Of course, writing your own take with character is always a gamble, as Bologna backstory in this fanfic had to suffer some modifications after latest GT volumes. But, since possible revelations about Vasilisa may or may not come in some time, I still decided to follow through with her involvement in this story. If we fretted about something coming up and ruining our theories in the future, we wouldn't have fanfics at all, only the retellings of the original story. Still, I hope that my take on Vasilisa lore will not contradict the canon lore, and instead will only enrich it with hypothetical possibility.

Speaking of which, we have the de facto original character, Ekkhard "Eike" Sündlige, Imagine Breaker-wiedling Saint and the original source of the bones that formed Treasure of Blythe Road. He might appear as if he appeared rather suddenly, but nothing more deceiving. I actually wrote story of Eike and Vasilisa very long time ago, and Eike's character was conceived even earlier. The mysterious Saint intrigued me since I read about Battle of Blythe Road, and so I tried to give him life and personality, doubting that Kamachi will do that himself. I wanted to make him very torn and extreme-jumping person. He is very jokey and cheerful, but at the same time awkward, clumsy, and secretly very anxious and alone. He is eager to travel and see everything around him, but at the same time he cannot define himself, and doesn't seem to fit in any place. He has Imagine Breaker, but is also a Saint, he was born in a rigorous religious household (like Aleister) but although he liked the idea of the divine, he didn't like the rules of worship. He likes to fight for fight themselves, but does not like to permanently harm or take a life. This duality is reflected in his surname, which is a play on german words "Sündig" - Sinful, and "Heilig" - Holy, so his surname can be read as "Sinful Holiness". In his creation, I also wanted to make him from a protestant denominations (by the way, where are protestants in Toaru? We have Anglicans, Orthodox Church, and of course Catholics, but where are Evangelics, Lutherans, Kalvinists etc.?), and also gave him Flying Claws as a weapon, because I think Toaru lacks chain users, and idea of a Saint, even weaker than normal, using chains in battle was exciting for me for some reason. Besides, if operated skillfully, flying claws were weapons that could be used to disarm without bloodshed, which would go along Eike's disinterest in unnecessary violence.

Also, can you guess who was the merchant who trained and looked over Eike after he was left without family?

I admit, I went along with romance for Vasilisa, because it followed the fairytale motif of her origins, because I wanted to have her transform in character due to emotions (from abused to brave and resourceful to closed off and pragmatic to relaxed and loving to masking her grief by being carefree and happy on the outside), because I like the free-spirited, boyfriend x pragmatic, serious girlfriend, and also because it's refreshing to write a romance outside of Touma. It's a good exercise and change of pace, even when I admire Touma so much that I would like to give him all happiness he deserves.

Saronia Irivika being involved in antagonistic plot and creating mayhem comes from discussion I had with few people, who claimed Saronia is irridemable for what she did on Hawaii and should not be forgiven. She has a villanous role, but who knows what will happen. Seriously, her fate is in flux and she might be the character who is most on the edge of morality as of this moment in the story.

We got moments with Yakumaru and Naru, two completely different approaches that ended with the same lucky result (which was also omen of incoming disaster). I honestly cannot tell which of those ships I like more, both have great potential and that's why I am taking a bit of time to expand upon them. I also want to give some love and expansion of character for Helcalia, as I think she might have potential to be a great character despite being perceived as one volume filler character by some people. I think the idea of wedding in space is adorable and concept of Touma having a girl that both idolizes him, is concerned for him, but can also be absolutely through with him as well, is endearing. So we are not finished with Helcalia yet, in fact, she might play greater role in what's about to come.

For a bit of a hint, the little cosmology monologue by Magic Goddesses has some relevance. We have three big forces: Creation, Destruction, and Truth in between them. In addition, there is material world, and three entities positioned in some relation to the Truth, each having both constructive and destructive part:

Imagine Breaker - It preserves the Truth, restores the image of Truth after distortion. It destroys the illusions, but also creates anew view on the Truth that was hidden by them.

World Rejecter - It banishes and rejects the Truth. It erases beings away from Truth and shows them alternative world, that is hidden between the cracks that form the Truth of the universe.

Holy Right - It transcends the Truth, that is, it goes beyond what is conceived in Truth because it creates miracles and destroys natural order by bypassing logic, rising beyond world of objectivity.

There is a symbolical reflection of those elements in many characters of this story. I will not reveal all of it, but as it is mentioned by them in this chapter, we have a yin-yang symmetry of Maidono and Hasako, who represent Destruction and Creation, respectively (which they want to use for Touma). Do you know what is represented by Touma and Gokusai sisters?

I have so many notes on the adventures of Vasilisa, Maiden of Legend, Eike, Saint of Imagine Breaker, and Girolamo, Terra of The Left's father. If I were to tell all of them, it would probably take few chapters, so I had to abridge it, a lot. We got a little Aleister's cameo in his hometown, Leamington Spa, as well as a conversation that could be one of the potential inspirations for change of his name. Also, Aleister really took Eike's word and 'used his hand'...

Eike's death is based on a real life assassination attempt in Sankt Petersburg by detonation of colossal amount of explosives under dining room in Winter Palace. I intentionally kept actual description vague, because we are not over with those events yet.

I needed to face a dilemma lot of people had when discussing Treasure of Blythe Road. On one side of the argument, people said that Saint had Imagine Breaker while still alive, others argued that the arrow made from the bones became Imagine Breaker only afterwards. I tried to made a compromise and while assuming that Eike, our Saint, had Imagine Breaker much like Touma, I also assumed that upon robbing Eike's grave, Golden Dawn made the arrow so it would be a new object, and yet hoping that Imagine Breaker would more likely choose it as a vessel due to familiarity (essentially tricking Imagine Breaker in a similar way Kihara Yuiitsu tricked World Rejecter). Of course, there was a matter how Saint, a blessed person, can have Imagine Breaker. So I assumed that there is a sort of waxing and waning of each characteristic within Eike at given moment. It is not an ideal solution, but I think it is still decent enough.

All in all, I really wanted to have a story of what would happen if Imagine Breaker was, even temporary destroyed. Will Touma really want to claim his power back? And to which lengths will he have to confront others and himself, regardless of any choice he makes? Will ones closest to him be able to help?

You shall find out next time.

Thank you for staying put. You are awesome, see you in the following chapter!