“Dios Chucos!”
Fire blasted from Sunset’s feet and palms as she rocketed herself to the side, barely avoiding the massive axe of lightning that Evangeline had brought down towards her. Her left gauntlet and the left sleeve of her jacket vanished as she channeled ki into her arm to block the shrapnel from the explosion. She skid across the ground, barely staying on her feet as she muttered an incantation under her breath. “Captus Flammeus!” A rope of fire shot from her right hand, binding Evangeline from head to foot. Sunset let out another blast from her boots, flying directly towards Evangeline with her left fist cocked back.
Evangeline smirked, melting into a swarm of bats which flittered out of the rope. Sunset skid to a stop, slashing her right arm across the air and summoning a wave of fire. The bats flew through the flames unhindered, surrounding Sunset and biting at her exposed skin. Sunset let out a cry of frustration, her left gauntlet reappearing as her entire body lighting with flame.
“A good shield, usually.”
The blow came from behind before Sunset could react, striking the small of her back and sending her flying forward, head over heels. She barely managed to roll to her feet and bring her tumble to a halt before Evangeline’s fist met with her face. Sunset felt her barriers shatter as she was flung backwards once more, rolling as best she could and ultimately coming to a stop lying limp on the ground.
“But only if your opponent fears fire,” Evangeline continued. “Anyone who can stand the pain and overcome that little psychological barrier will be able to ignore it easily.” She walked over and smirked down at Sunset. “You’ll need something a little more solid if you want to stop a punch.”
Sunset groaned, not bothering to get up. “That’d be a lot easier if I could manage to convert pyromancy into cryomancy like I used to. I’m still acting on old habits.”
Evangeline shrugged. “Well, break them quickly. At this point, the kid could stand up against you. And considering your years of experience and a comparable - if not superior - wellspring, that’s just pathetic.”
Sunset sighed. “You don’t need to remind me.” She groaned as she pushed herself into a sitting position, gazing across to the Villa’s entrance platform. “How much longer have we got?”
“About ten minutes,” Evangeline said. “Unless you want to stay and observe the kid’s training today?”
Sunset considered it but ultimately shook her head. “Nah.” She pushed herself to her feet. “I’ve got to meet up with Honya and Yue for their magic lesson. Speaking of which, have you decided whether to let us use this place?” It had been one of the first things Sunset had asked Evangeline when they got back from Ayaka’s island three days before.
Evangeline rolled her eyes. “It’s not that I’m opposed,” she grumbled. “It’s that if I start letting them in, it’s only a matter of time until the rest of the class follows. This is the one place in the Academy where I can get away by myself if I want to. Ruins the point if everyone knows about it and can jump in whenever they want a quick vacation.”
“But you’re still thinking about it?”
Evangeline waved her off. “I’ll have an answer in a few days. Now get going.”
Sunset nodded and started back towards the entrance platform. She stretched her arms above her head as she walked, looking around. Really, this place is amazing. She reached the platform and, a few minutes later, found herself standing in Evangeline’s dusty basement. The small, cobblestone room held the villa in a bottle in its center, surrounded by a magic circle etched into the floor. Sunset quickly stepped out of it, not wanting to be spirited back into the bottle for another day. She made her way through the short hallway, trying not to look at the creepy, human-sized dolls that lined the walls as she headed for the stairs.
As she emerged onto the first floor of the wood cabin, she saw Negi walk through the front door. He seemed exhausted, bags under his eyes and skin sunken a bit around his cheeks. Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Well you look like hell.”
Negi chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I’m fine. Just a bit tired.”
“And anemic?” She shook her head at Negi’s hesitation and started towards the bathroom. “I get that she takes a ‘donation’ to help replenish her magic for training, but your body is still young. Half a liter from you is a lot more significant than a half liter from me.”
“I’ll be fine,” Negi repeated, slightly more energetic. “It’s a small price to pay for Master’s training.”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “If you say so. Anyway, enjoy the hellish torture that is Evangeline’s training. If you’ll excuse me, I need a shower.” She began to strip as she neared the bathroom, prompting Negi to all but run for the stairs to the basement and slam the door shut behind him.
Honestly, Sunset thought, stepping into the bathroom and removing the rest of her clothes. He should be used to this by now. She turned on the water as hot as it would go and stepped under the spray, sighing in relief as she felt her muscles relax. Ooooh yeah, that hits the spot. Nothing beats a nice shower after a few hours of getting the crap beat out of me. Just me and the relaxing water.
“Huh? There’s no-one here.”
“That can’t be right. I’m sure they entered the house.”
“Hey, it sounds like the shower’s running.”
“Oh? Could it be that secret thing after all?”
“Would you cut that out?”
Sunset sighed and started softly banging her head against the wall of the shower. And the idiots from my class who just can’t resist sticking their noses in where they don’t belong.
“Evangeline-san? Negi-kun?” Sunset heard the bathroom door open. “Is that one of you in…”
Sunset looked over her shoulder at Kazumi, the latter’s face frozen in a carefree smile. Sunset turned around fully and raised an eyebrow, not bothering to pull the shower curtain closed. “Can I help you?”
“Eh? Nichibotsu?” Setsuna pushed the door open further. “What are you doing…” Her face immediately turned red.
Sunset smirked. “Like what you see, Setsuna?”
Setsuna let out a strangled noise that might have been a denial before pulling Kazumi back and slamming the door shut. Sunset chuckled and shook her head as she finished her shower. She wrapped a towel around herself - more for the others’ sake than her own - and stepped out. The basement door was open, and voices were sounding from upstairs. Kazumi, Asuna, and Ku Fei, Sunset identified. And I heard Konoka, Yue, and Honya earlier. She smirked. And Setsuna, of course. She made her way upstairs just as her three classmates finished exploring the small loft. “So,” she said, leaning against the wall, “what exactly are you all doing here?”
Asuna looked over and sighed. “Honestly, Nichibotsu-chan. Can’t you at least put on some clothes first?”
“You should be lucky I even bothered with the towel.”
Kazumi laughed. “I’m sure Sakurazaki will appreciate it. By the way, do you know where Negi-kun and Evangeline-chan went?”
“E-everyone! This…” Nodoka’s voice was interrupted by a sigh. “Nichi-chan, would you please put on some clothes?”
Sunset turned and raised an eyebrow. “I assume you found what’s in the basement?” she asked, ignoring the request completely.
Nodoka nodded and looked past her at the others. “There’s something really interesting down there.”
“Yeah, Evangeline probably wouldn’t want you messing with that,” Sunset warned.
“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” Kazumi said, rushing downstairs with Asuna and Ku Fei in pursuit. “Let’s go!”
“Yeah, but what she finds out is likely to hurt me,” Sunset muttered. “A lot.” Nevertheless, she followed them down and, after a quick look from Nodoka, got dressed before following them down to the basement where she found them all standing around the villa.
“It’s amazing,” Konoka cooed. “Like a ship in a bottle.”
“The tower is far too detailed to be a miniature,” Yue said, examining it closely. “Maybe a hologram?”
“And I think I saw Negi-sensei walking around inside there before,” Nodoka added.
“Probably,” Sunset said, stepping forward as she resigned herself to another day in the villa. “That’s where they do their training, after all.”
“Eh?” Asuna asked, not noticing as the floor began to light up slightly. “But how do they-”
There was a feeling almost like a long-range teleportation, a quick moment of no sensation, and they were suddenly in the villa. Sunset weathered the series of gasps and confused questions for a minute before clapping her hands for attention. “Alright, everyone. Calm down. Let’s see if I can answer all of your questions before you ask them. Yes,” she gestured widely at the tower and surrounding ocean, “this is that villa in a bottle we were all standing around. Yes, Springfield is around here somewhere with Evangeline. Yes, this is where they train, and where I’ve been training with her. No, I don’t know the exact mechanics behind how it works. Anything I missed?”
She was met with seven blank stares until Ku Fei raised a hand. “So, does that mean that if someone else came and broke the bottle, we’d stay shrunk?”
Sunset hesitated. Okay. Nodoka, Yue, and Setsuna would definitely understand. Kazumi and Konoka, probably enough. But how do I explain to Baka Yellow and Baka Red that we’re inside a pocket dimension and that the glass of the bottle is nothing more than a window into the dimension and that we haven’t actually shrunk at all? “The glass is indestructible.” Meh, I’ll give the real answer to the others later.
Five sceptical eyebrows rose at that, but Ku Fei and Asuna seemed satisfied. “Anyway,” Sunset said, “you’re here for Springfield, right? Well if he’s not getting his ass kicked out here, then he’s probably inside with Evangeline studying. That, or he’s paying the price for these lessons.”
“Eh?!” Kazumis’ eyes lit up. “And what sort of price is that?”
Sunset waved her off. “Nothing big. Evangeline just…” She noticed the intrigued and slightly embarrassed looks she was getting from everyone, and recalled what she’d heard while she was in the shower.
It took a considerable effort to keep the evil smirk from her face. “She extracts a bit of lifeforce from him in the form of organic fluid. Totally natural process.”
Several faces turned bright red at that, though Setsuna’s and Yue’s showed actual understanding while Ku Fei’s betrayed confusion. “O-organic fluid, you say?” Kazumi stuttered, scandalized and intrigued in equal measure.
Sunset nodded. “Yeah. Evangeline’s pretty greedy, too. Always asking for more, even though it leaves Springfield exhausted.” Yue was concealing chuckles now while Setsuna rolled her eyes.
“You sound, ah, familiar with this process,” Kazumi prompted.
Sunset shrugged. “I would have to be; it’s a price I pay too.” She ignored the cries of surprise and further reddening faces of her classmates and continued. “Of course, I’m older and have more endurance, so I can afford to give a little more.”
“STOP!” Asuna shook her head violently, hands over her ears. “J-just stop it! You’re messing with us! You’ve got to be messing with us!”
Sunset shrugged and started walking towards the main tower. “Believe what you want. But I’ll show you where they probably are. If our timing is good, we might even be able to see the, ah, extraction taking place.”
Despite Asuna’s sputtering and protests, everyone followed Sunset towards the tower’s gazebo. Yue walked beside her and muttered under her breath. “You’re really quite evil, you know that?”
Sunset chuckled and whispered back, “Oh, I am well aware. But Evangeline is going to be annoyed that I didn’t do more to keep you all from finding this place. I just want to make sure I get my money’s worth out of the beating I have coming my way.”
They reached the gazebo, and Sunset began leading them down the spiral staircase. As they descended, they started to hear voices.
“Heheh. It’s alright, right? Just a little more.” Evangeline’s voice was low, a seductive purr.
“Y-you’re already at the limit!” Negi’s voice replied, exhausted and concerned.
“Rest a bit and you’ll recover; you’re young, after all.”
“Ah! No!”
“Come on. Hurry up and let it out.”
“I can’t! Evangeline san!”
“Hehe. You will refer to me as ‘Master.’”
Asuna raced down the remaining stairs, bursting around the corner with everyone else right behind her. “H-HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THAT KID?!”
“Hm?” Evangeline looked up curiously, her teeth embedded in Negi’s arm. They sat together on a couch, Negi wincing slightly as Evangeline continued to suck. Evangeline pulled away, bemused. “What do you people want?”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT?!” Asuna demanded, as she tried to cover her embarrassment with anger. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
“He’s letting me suck his blood in payment for his lessons,” Evangeline explained as she released Negi’s arm. “About a blood donation’s worth. I can’t give training if my magic isn’t replenished, you know.”
“What?! But… that…” Asuna turned and grabbed Sunset by the collar of her shirt. “But you said…!”
Sunset affected a look of pure innocence. “A natural extraction of lifeforce via organic fluid. Blood. Why? What did you think I was talking about?”
Negi’s face flushed beet red as Evangeline raised an amused eyebrow. “Hey now,” she said, smirking lecherously. “Careful there. I’m supposed to be the evil mage in this relationship.”
Sunset smirked in reply. “There’s a difference between being an ‘evil mage’ and being an ‘evil’ mage.” She turned her smirk to Asuna. “Though it sounds like someone is confused about the difference between vampires and succubi.”
“OH JUST SHUT UP!”
*****
Evangeline canceled the rest of Negi’s training for the day, letting him and Sunset show everyone around the villa. After a quick explanation of the time dilation that would ensure that only an hour passed outside, the girls split up to explore. Sunset managed to pull Evangeline aside for a moment and, seeing as the cat was out of the bag anyway, she gave her permission to use the villa for Yue and Nodoka’s magic training.
“The libraries here are impressive,” Sunset said, setting a small bundle down on the table in the gazebo. “But the more important aspect of this place is that the air is absolutely saturated with magic. Far more so than Mahora. This makes drawing in mana easier, allowing even novices to potentially cast spells.” She unwrapped the bundle and Nodoka and Yue leaned in, staring down in excitement at the small wands with planets and stars at their tips. “Pick one, it doesn’t really matter which, and start practicing with that incantation we’ve been working on.”
They nodded, each choosing a wand and stepping back. They brought their wands up and chanted together. “Practe Bigi Nar, Aldescet!” They gave their wands a small flourish…
...and stared in disappointment when nothing happened.
“Good,” Sunset said, her tone genuine. “Your pronunciations were spot on. That’s going to be the hardest part throughout your training, since there are so many sound structures in Latin that are foreign to Japanese.”
“Ehe, I really hoped we’d be able to do it on the first try,” Nodoka admitted.
Sunset smiled and shook her head. “I admire your enthusiasm, but that just wasn’t going to happen. It took me several attempts to cast my first spell, and I have decades of magical training and experience, even if it isn’t with this system. Give yourselves some time. Although,” she pointed at Nodoka, “you have a distinct advantage. Thanks to your contract with Springfield, you already know what magic flowing through you feels like. Try to recreate that sensation.”
Nodoka nodded and Yue frowned. “Hm. Would it be worth it for me to form a contract as well, then?”
Sunset shrugged. “It’s a pretty big commitment. Bigger than I’d thought it was when I made it. It would be better to think about whether you want to form a contract with someone specifically, rather than decide that you want a contract and then start looking around for options. There are other ways to accustom you to the feeling of magic.”
“Maybe you could give us a demonstration?” Nodoka asked hopefully.
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “A demonstration? You know the incantation. You know the theory. A demonstration won’t…” Her eyes narrowed. “You just want to see me do more magic, don’t you?” At their nods, Sunset rolled her eyes but nevertheless picked up a wand. “I guess it couldn’t hurt. Practe Bigi Nar, Aldescet.” A small flourish, and a flame appeared above the tip of her star-tipped wand. “Just like that.”
“Eh? What’s this?”
“Are you doing magic?”
“Secchan! Nichi-chan is doing magic over here!”
Sunset glared at Nodoka and Yue. “I blame you for everything that’s about to happen.”
Within a minute, the rest of the girls were gathered around as Sunset and Negi instructed them on the basics of the practice spell. As expected, none of them made any real progress, all of them but Nodoka and Yue struggling just to pronounce the incantation correctly. Only Setsuna and Asuna refrained from joining in.
“Eh? Aren’t you going to try it, Secchan?” Konoka asked curiously.
“I can already do it with ki,” she replied, holding up a single finger. “Lan.” A small flame flared to life above her finger, flickering steadily.
Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “How did you do that, exactly? You told me that ki isn’t versatile enough for spellwork.”
“For what is traditionally thought of as spellwork,” Setsuna corrected. “This is far less efficient than even the magical version, and larger acts of pyromancy would be beyond anyone who didn’t dedicate their training to it. Imbuing elemental effects into our combat techniques is fundamental, but wielding the elements directly as a mage does is all but impossible.”
Sunset hummed as she studied the small flame. Specifically, she watched as it flickered in the wind and faltered where it passed beyond a certain boundary. Almost like there’s a pocket of cold air immediately around it, Sunset realized. Ki comes from the same source as Equestrian magic. Could it operate on principles of physics instead of elementalism as well?
“Practe Bigi Nar, Aldescet.” Sunset blinked in surprise and looked behind her at Asuna who held a wand before her, trying desperately not to look disappointed.
“That… that was actually perfect,” Sunset said, startling Asuna out of her funk. “Is that your first time trying that incantation?”
Asuna blushed and quickly put the wand down. “I-I just wanted to give it a try,” she stammered. “It was nothing. Just a passing thought.”
Sunset stared for a moment longer before turning back to observe the other girls. Come to think of it, she mused, she doesn’t have a lot of trouble with English pronunciations either. She’s incredibly dense when it comes to vocabulary and grammar, but she can read a passage with almost no accent. She shrugged. Strange gift to have. It’s probably nothing.
*****
The afternoon passed without anyone having managed the spell, though Konoka and Nodoka had spent considerable time concentrating intently on their wands between casts towards the end, each insisting that they “almost had it that time.” They’d worn themselves out with their enthusiasm and had collapsed into Evangeline’s several bedrooms shortly after night fell. Sunset had gone to sleep as well, still worn out from her own practice session with Evangeline.
So it was with considerable ire that Sunset glared at Kazumi as the reporter shook her awake. “Unless the tower is sinking into the sand,” Sunset muttered, “I see no reason for you to be waking me up like this.”
Kazumi grinned. “Something really interesting is going on with Negi-kun and Asuna-san. Nodoka-chan is using her diary to read his mind and he’s telling her all about when he was a kid!”
Sunset groaned and pulled herself out of bed. Ugh. So stupid. Why do we even care about what he was like as a kid. Better humor her at least or she’ll never let me go back to sleep.
She followed Kazumi upstairs and across the gazebo to where the rest of the girls were huddled around Nodoka and Evangeline, who held the diary between them. Asuna and Negi were a ways off, kneeling on the stairs at eye-level with each other, their foreheads pressed together and their eyes closed. Sunset peered over her classmates’ shoulders at the diary and rolled her eyes at what she saw. The picture was of a young (and admittedly adorable) Negi racing home after a day of fishing. Thought so. Just some pointless childhood fluff. I’ll hang around for a few pages and then go back to bed. Nodoka finished reading the diary entry aloud and turned the page.
A village in flames.
Sunset’s blood ran cold. It was just as well that Nodoka faltered in her reading, as all Sunset could hear were the rushing sounds of an inferno. The crackling of wood. The collapsing of a centuries-old house. The cries of a young, horribly burned unicorn girl as her brother held her back from rushing back inside.
Sunset barely managed to pull herself back to the present in time to hear Evangeline take over where Nodoka had stopped. “The whole village was in flames. I ran in without thinking, calling for Stan-ojisan and Onee-chan. Everyone I found was turned to stone, and it looked like they had been fighting. I ran further into the village, but I began to despair. I thought, in my childishness, that I was somehow responsible for this.” The next page began to fill in, with dark figures rising from the ground.
“Then, the demons appeared. I don’t remember clearly what most of them looked like, but they attacked me immediately. I closed my eyes and started crying out for anyone to help. For Father.” She turned the page.
“And suddenly, someone was there.” A figure stood before the demons, blasting away at them with fist and spell. “I’d never seen him before, but he was strong. And scary. He killed them all easily and without hesitation. I didn’t realize he had saved me. I just knew that I was scared. So I ran.”
Another demon on the next page, and two people standing between it and Negi. One of them was an old man, the other a young woman. “Stan-ojisan and Onee-chan protected me when another demon attacked, but it turned Stan-ojisan to stone and hurt Onee-chan. The person from before came and grabbed us both, fleeing from the village with us.”
A hilltop, the burning village in the background. The young Negi stood between his unconscious sister and the mysterious cloaked figure, who held a familiar staff in his hand. “He saved us both. I was still scared and thought he was going to hurt Onee-chan, so I stood in front of her to protect her. That’s when he gave me his staff, and encouraged me to grow up well and happy. He flew away, and that’s the last I saw or heard of him.”
The next two pages were divided into several sections of pictures, showing Negi in a new village and studying magic. “My sister and I were rescued three days later, and we moved to a town of mages in the mountains of Wales. For the next five years, I spent every day studying in a school of magic. I don’t know what happened to the other villagers. Everyone said “they’re fine, don’t worry” and wouldn’t explain because I was a kid. I was always afraid because of what happened that snowy night. For some reason, I devoted myself to my studies with tremendous energy. All I wanted was to meet my father one more time. To meet the great mage who was my father. Who saved me. But even now sometimes I think about it. That incident. When I used to think that “if I get in trouble, my father will come and save me,” and wonder if it wasn’t some kind of divine punishment.”
“Wh-What are you talking about?!” Everyone jumped at the shout and looked up. Asuna had pulled back from Negi and grabbed him by the shoulders, breaking their memory spell. “There’s no way that’s true!!! What’s wrong with you?! You’re about as dumb as those weird monsters!” She shook him slightly as she continued to yell at him. “There wasn’t even one part of that story that was your fault, got it?! You’ll be fine! You’ll even meet your father! Because he’s alive, right?!”
Negi stared at Asuna in shock. “Asuna-san…”
“Leave it to me! Asuna asserted. “I’ll definitely find your fa… ther…” She trailed off, finally realizing that she and Negi had an audience. Negi turned around, staring in shock at the girls that stood right behind him, most of whom had tears streaming down their faces.
It didn’t take long for the group hug to begin. Sunset, Evangeline, and Setsuna were the only ones with enough restraint to refrain, and even Setsuna enthusiastically pledged her support to Negi’s goal of finding his father. Evangeline stared off to the side, trying poorly to hide that the whole scene was pricking her heartstrings as well.
As for Sunset, she just stared. Stared at this child teacher. This young mage. This kid who had stared death in the face from such a young age, who had lost family, and who had somehow not come away from it broken. Who had become, if anything, stronger. More determined.
And scarred on a level far deeper than physical.
She turned and walked away, ignoring the cries and cheers of her classmates as they pledged themselves to finding Negi’s long-lost father. She walked to the edge of the gazebo, the edge of the tower, and sat, staring out over the ocean. She let the crashing of the waves far below drown out the commotion behind her. Let it try to drown out the echoes of the past. She stared out at the distant horizon, willing her mind to clear.
“Nichibotsu-san?”
Sunset blinked. She looked over her shoulder at Negi. He’d left the girls behind at what looked to be the beginnings of a party. He stared at her, concerned. “Are you alright, Nichibotsu-san?”
Sunset stared at Negi, unmoving. Thinking. Pondering.
Deciding.
“That was quite the story,” she said, gesturing to the ledge beside her. Negi cocked his head curiously but took a seat. “Honestly,” Sunset continued, returning her gaze to the horizon, “I was shocked. I didn’t think that a kid who’s usually so carefree would have something like that in his past.”
Negi fidgeted uncomfortably. “I try not to think of it too often. I mean, I think about finding my father all the time. But what happened in the village…”
Sunset nodded. “You can think of it objectively, when you need to. When you’ve braced yourself. But there are also times when it jumps out at you suddenly, right? Usually when you’re alone? Maybe at night? And you need to be assured that there’s someone there to keep you safe from the monsters and the fire.”
Negi slowly nodded. “I guess now you know why I sometimes crawl into Asuna-san’s bed.”
“You should explain that to her,” Sunset suggested. “It’d help her understand.”
“But you didn’t need help.”
Sunset tensed briefly before turning her gaze back to the kid, who looked back with understanding, inquizitive eyes. “You’re unusually perceptive tonight.” She hesitated. “You’re sure he’s still alive?”
Negi nodded, turning his own gaze to the horizon. “He’s out there.” There was no hesitation in either his face or his voice. “He’s out there, somewhere. Probably saving more people like he saved me that night.”
Sunset slowly nodded. “Alright, then. I’m in.”
Negi jerked in surprise, his gaze whipping up to Sunset. “E-eh?”
“I’m in,” Sunset replied. “Hey, it’s not like this is totally outside of my goals, you know? The route to your father is unquestionably going to require getting far stronger than we are now, right? Well, power is what I came here for. Might as well put that power to good use.” She pulled her pactio card out of her pocket and held it up. “After all, whether I realized it or not at the time, I kind of committed myself to you anyway.
“Which I guess means I’m going to have to trust you. Adeat.”
A flash of light heralded her gauntlets once again, and Sunset took Negi’s hands in her own. “Teach me that spell. If I’m going to be fighting beside you and relying on your strength, then you deserve to know why.”
Negi stared into Sunset’s eyes for a moment before nodding. A couple of minutes was all it took and Sunset was ready. She pressed her forehead to his and closed her eyes.
“Mater Musarum, Mnemosyne. Ad se me alliciat.”