[Finalage]

It's good. I myself have thought about using weapons in cards, it's a technique I first saw employed, in a way, upon a Castlevania's battle system, circle of the moon. It's a nice concept to add some more..."colorful"aspects to the mix too. Speaking of colorful aspects, my own fiftieth chapter is out, and this time....let's just say I'm not sure, but I know it's a powerful punch in the face, whether or not it's good or a flop...

Seems like such a big number, fifty. For this one, I toss in more than a smidgen of angst...and I was originally quite proud of it, but, alas, I say originally. I'm not so sure if it's good now, when I see it. Well, just one part of it plays in my head as stupid. The others are firm and strong, I think.

As always, harsh language is apparent in this fiction. Odd that I myself don't use the words I constantly type in speech. This is an actual chapter I'm putting here, if it'll fit that is...I removed all formatting from it just in case. (I have removed all formating as a way to save character space.)

Part One

Spoiler:

Warmth. Playing across his face, flickering light, a shivering candle flame held captive; his eyes. He was...underground, deep in the caves used for a library. In front of him, a man dusted off the dirt from a door, barely recognizable from the walls around, the scholar's eyes grinned, knowing. The lantern was passed, elder hands, gnarled with time and power succumbing to younger, clear ones.

"This is the truth, Negi... I will hide none of it from you."

"…Won't you? I hardly know who you are anymore, Asuna."

"The one you knew was an illusion, a girl made an orphan to be watched and pitied. Did you really think you knew who I was?"

Pain stabbed through him, lancing his heart in a passing blow, making him draw breath, quickly, painfully. He looked up to see Asuna, standing tall above him, a regal figure to his bowing submission. He pushed himself up off the ground, realizing he was, as a spirit, naked, something quickly remedied… not by him, but by a wave of Asuna's hand.

"You are someone important, that much I knew already, no one could be as dense as you were without being impressively retarded. Your memories were sealed, that I guessed. Your power was the reason, I thought. Magic Cancellation is a royal magic however, so I assume, following logic that you and I are related, unless you come from another line, which I somehow doubt..."

"...Always Negi, you are the sharp one. You make my task so much easier this way, you do. I...am actually not to much the junior of your mother... She and I are sisters, half sisters, but still sisters... My age does not show quite like hers...being a half breed has its advantages I suppose..."

It had been hazy. Through the pain, the boy had been unaware of that fact. Yet, as he looked up into those brilliant eyes, his pain receded; fell from him, giving birth to strength. The boy, lantern in hand, looked so much like himself...it only took a moment for his muddled mind to place him as his father...and yet, he looked so...different.

He held his lantern up higher for the scholar in front of him to see. He was mumbling something under his breath, throwing odd gestures about, magic flicking from him here and there. Nagi stepped closer upon being bidden to do so.

Large spectacles graced his eyes, sitting complacently upon the bridge of his sharp nose. Befit of his youth, a few sparse freckles graced his face here and there, mainly near his nose, where he tended to rub quite a bit. Thin, lanky some might say. Gripped tight in his other hand, the one free from the lantern, a star wand was held captive, dull…

The star wand was more than a training wheel for the practicing mage. These wands were created with a large gem set upon its top for an actual, practical purpose. They allowed a mage to easily gather magic from their surroundings, allowed them to let it out easily too, due to the purity and size of the gem, but...

They also were indicators. They were made to siphon magic from the air, and thus, in the hands of a mage, it would feed off their aura, showing those around how powerful the mage that held it was… Negi had always noticed how his star wand would glow brightly under his touch, but under the hands of magical students his age...they were dead, save for spell work.

"See him, in all of his glory, Negi. He is thirteen now, nearing fourteen. Was it not at fifteen that he stepped onto the field of battle, a rookie wonder?"

To see his father hold that wand, clearly a teenager and well into his power...to see it so dull...was disturbing. The scholar in front of Nagi gripped a large staff, one Negi instantly recognized, for it was the same as the one his father held now. The man spun it eagerly, making it glow faintly in the dark. Negi watched Nagi's eyes as the locked upon the arc it swung.

"Here we are boy, the deepest of libraries we have, finally rediscovered after being hidden for so long. The last time I saw this door...I wasn't even half your age! Ha ha! You surprised me with your sudden passion to follow me in my search to rediscover this place, you never were very scholarly, Nagi...but I suppose your dedication is justified."

The boy's lantern lowered, darkening his visage. Perhaps his arms were tired, for this place was deep inside the catacombs housed by their library, but Negi doubted this severely. Most only went into the first of the chambers, down here, in the deepest hallways, the natural cave was thought to be still un-used. Yet Nagi had found something, something that lit a fire in his eyes. A want, a need…for excitement, for power.

"I came with you, didn't I, sir?"

His home was far from the upsurge, the obvious tension of war...and, even if, push came to shove... many of his village would raise the banner of the king under Ostia. Yet, it didn't seem like any of the action would get here. The only thing that exited Nagi, the only thing that he was good at, seemed to be battle. That same excitement, that same battle lust, ran through his genes to his son.

"That you did, that you did. We've done a lot of studying, and taken quite a few wrong turns, seen a few odd sights too for that matter, this cave seems to have plenty of secrets…but today is our day. This is it."

The man laughed, his eyes warm upon Nagi's visage. He spun his staff for more of an affectionate fondling than anything else, bracing against the swollen door. Nagi wasn't quick enough to offer his help, for the man was powerful, if aged. Finding his strength not enough, his staff shot out as he leapt back.

"Effrego!"

The blast shook dust from the ceiling of the tunnel they were in, but the door was blasted back to crash off in the distance, slamming up against a wall with authority. The man stepped through, Nagi not far behind him. Eagerly, the man spun his staff again, calling up a sphere of light to float upwards and towards the center of the room. Upon the bidding of the other, Nagi set down the lantern upon the floor as his partner ran his hands over long abandoned shelves. It was the boy's eyes that roamed however, for one specific book, even as the mind drifted back…

"Gah! Shit, her boyfriend is here! Run!"

"...and what, leave the wicked little witch, no way! Sagitta Magica, Trias Spiritus-"

The boy gagged as a fist shot into his gut, sending him skidding as Nagi spun around, planting his boot right into the boy's face, knocking him down. Another grabbed him to drag him up as Nagi held up both of his fists, attached to arms, slender… but far from weak. The two turned and bolted, leaving a third to scamper the other way. Nagi grit his teeth.

"Come back and fight me, yah whelps!"

He sighed, lowering his fists slowly. Looking back, he saw the girl they had been victimizing, whom had been fending them off with magic, believing her to be the one who had ratted them out on stealing another child's lunch. She tilted her head to look at him as he stood all the straighter. She smiled, but her smile had a laugh behind it. Ahh, he was a fist person, Nagi was it?

"You okay…? I can go beat them up if you lik-"

"Don't. You try Nagi, I'll give you that A bit too hard though..."

"Damn straight! Besides, it was Flora who ratted them, not you, Clarie."

She knew that already. He didn't need to tell her, she had been covering for the shy girl. Dense as hell, that's what Nagi was. He came up, about to ask her an obvious question, an attempt to try and wheedle her in to a walk maybe, or something else… Nagi was quite a charmer, but he didn't have the power or brains to back it up, only his fists… before he could squeak, she held up her hand, shaking her head again.

"Nagi, you're nice and all, but you're just…too brash. Your magic is proof of that. I wish you'd take that skill in fist fighting and boost your magic a bit. Besides, I know you've got your eyes on Laura, not me, I'm not a step ladder…"

Nagi was a free spirit. He was brash, and, regardless of his appearance, he loved a good fight, and while he could be a bit dense outside of it, inside, he was quite the tactician. Still, he had little to no power to his name, an unimportant boy in a non-descript town. A magical school drop-out had no future here in the magical world...at least, such was told to him...

Until now. Forbidden things...secrets, they had always intrigued him. Nagi was never much of a study, but when it came to the quick, he could pull himself together for something interesting, something..."forbidden". He had come to this town for that very reason, and had spent nearly four years, quietly waiting…for that very reason. Historically, in the grand magical school of London, there were only two years in which a student had not been found, once entering the Forbidden Libraries...in truth, there were three.

One year, there had been two to enter, and only one was found. Nagi Springfield. Yes, he had entered the library, but only once…and like Negi, he had found something, but what he had found, unlike his son, ignited not a passion to learn, but simply a stirring of a hunger already there. For power. A lust for strength.

Within ViaVox was his answer, he need only find the book, documented, under the meticulous care of some long gone scholar, of being in this very library, this one town he had spent years turning upside down, looking everywhere…everywhere but here.

"It is always the weak that succumb most easily to the darkness, Negi. The scorned…and the weak. Some however, don't have a choice. Like you. This is the very moment Negi, when your father chose your destiny, so that he could run free into a battlefield he knew nothing about...ViaVox is an ancient, dark text. I am sure you have read of it."

"ViaVox...its name means "The way of power" doesn't it? Said to have been written by a demon, it documents many of the dark spells used to gain strength, in grim detail. It mainly deals with, according to the books I have read, demonic pacts..."

Smart boy, as always, the quick study. She wondered just how much of the famed library, now burned to the ground, resided in his head. How much could be retrieved from him, what could be rebuilt, and even gained, from his influence? She gave him a small smile. He was a library in himself, and yet…yet, yet, yet…

This was of no consequence, and Asuna taking him by the hand, lead him through the memory, following Nagi and his elder as they worked in double time, the hours flying by in mere minutes, until time ground to a halt as Nagi lifted a book from deep in the heart of the room, quickly ducking under to avoid any kind of trap...but there was none.

A demonic book, dedicated to under worldly pacts for strength was an entrapment enough, after all. A quick glance around told Nagi that there was no one in sight, Suallice, his elderly friend, was in another row...he was free, and he had found it. All of his common sense, which was not much, admittedly, told him to put the book in his pocket, read it later, smuggle it out somehow...but no. Temptation was too great as he pulled his wand from his sleeves.

The book fell open when he dropped it out of clumsiness, opening to a random page, particularly upon magical amplification. Nagi bent down, carefully picking the book up to read upon his deficiency. Negi tossed his eyes to the sky, aghast.

"Are you trying to tell me my father gave up his immortal soul or something to gain magical power? If so, I don't really care, you know? So cliché... I fail to see what this has to do with me...mademoiselle."

Asuna said nothing, just bade him to continue to watch, so he turned back to the image, mildly bored, to see Nagi twirling his wand, pulling upon what little he had to commit himself to chanting a spell for summoning up something or other, probably calling up a damn contractor. This was boring. There was nothing to be learned here, he turned his back to his father, and was about to tell Asuna that, unless she had something interesting to show him, she was wasting his time

...However, he suddenly found the vision had shifted, and he was once more looking at his father reading from a book. He raised an eyebrow to his current captor, not amused. She controlled his surroundings at the moment, so it was best he pay attention. That's what her eyes told him. He already knew what was going to happen though. The fool was going to summon a demon and cut a deal. What did this have to do with him?

Ahh, but it was not to be. For at that moment, soft, padded footsteps prompted Nagi to quicken his pace, stupidly trying to finish the spell instead of stuff the book away. Suallice came down the row just as Nagi finished the spell, calling forth from the ether, for only him to see, a dark contractor…he froze at the sight of Suallice, but the man locked eyes with the book in his hands, chuckling darkly before coming up, taking it from him.

"Ahh, I don't think you want to read that one, Nagi my boy. Dark magic seems to come from it. For the life of me, I can't read the title though. Must be in full Latin text...it's old, I'll tell you that much…"

He looked about at the shelves, all of which were in disarray, thanks to Nagi's searching. He gave a half smile, commenting on Nagi's trademark haphazard way of going through something…he had come to help, but it seemed that Nagi had this section already, hmm? Book still in hand, he walked off, leaving Nagi with an invisible horned friend to deal with.

He called back just as he was about to leave, asking him if he had found Mermoristan Bolcor, the book he was supposed to be looking for. Of course, Nagi had not even been really searching for it, but he was certain it was not in this row, as he had looked through it to find ViaVox, and if he had found the other, he would have, of course, put it aside…right?

"Oh nice, so now I get to watch my father make a deal to get some power and sell his soul in exchange…I still don't know what the hell this has to do with me."

Negi couldn't hear what they were saying as they began to go back and forth, it looked to be, at first, a normal offering, a smooth vendor talking his customer into buying his wares…but it soon became heated, Nagi tossing his head about. The boy looked to Asuna, but, grim faced, she offered no means of getting a better hold on what they were saying. However, Nagi smiled, and his voice was clear.

"Ahh, So wait. What's the catch to all of this? There's got to be one…What, I go to hell or something when I die?"

Laughing, silently laughing so the sound only bellowed in Nagi's own ears, his companion looked Nagi up and down. No, no. This man's soul was no kind of prize to take. He wanted power, innocently, as innocently as the sprite of death pinned for it, in the deep of the night. He was a free flying spirit, his soul was simple, and there were enough simple minded fools he had made contracts with. No, he needed something else.

Contractors existed outside of mainstream time, a kind of limbo scale that burst forwards at great speeds, but lagged behind too. These were masters of deception, winding around the tempted being and drawing them deep into darkness. The demonic being snaked out his arm, catching Nagi on the wrist to pull back the robes. His bracelet, set with a brilliant and clear gem in silver, glinted in the darkness. Smiling, he fondled it before answering Nagi.

"Each time you kill one of your enemies, you shall tint this stone a deeper and deeper color. Depending on how and who you caused the death, the color of the taint will change. Each soul sent into the darkness grants you a measure of their power. Your first shall grant you all of theirs however. I will take from you my prize, the luck of one you will soon know. Cursed they shall be, as long as you stay as long as the bond be. I have nothing to gain from taking what you have."

Scotch free huh? Still didn't seem right, but hey. He didn't come all this way for nothing. Let's do it, yeah? He nodded his head once, an affirmative, but just as they were about to begin, Asuna stepped forth, pushing the vision away with a sweep of her arm. Her eyes closed, morose her face, when Negi cared to look. Slowly, she shook her head.

Spoiler for Part Two:

"That day, his gem stained pink. Suallice had come at the last second to see the magical circle, and tried to stop Nagi. He was too late however, and Nagi was too fast. He took a book from the shelves and knocked him out cold, but not before he had stabbed out his star wand in panic. It had stabbed through the old man, making all of his pent up magic fall back upon him. The book ViaVox was burnt in the process, and those catacombs, with all the fire and smoke, collapsed not long after Nagi escaped…

"He had managed to grab Suallice's staff however, as you might notice…This demon also did, indeed, take the "luck" of one Nagi would soon "know"… he took your luck, Negi. In essence, the spell's price was that Nagi's first born would be cursed. The reason you are a catalyst… is because of this. Nagi left that burning underground library with Suallice's power flowing through him, and his staff… and while the man was old and weakening, he was still a powerful mage, perhaps near that of a lower Magister Magi even…"

Negi had locked focus with Asuna upon the mention of him being a catalyst, yet, putting the blame upon his father's actions here seemed steep, almost unreal. This could not all be real, couldn't it? Most likely it was a stint cooked up by Fate and herself to trap him; turn him against his father, against trying to save this world…and while he didn't mind much, the turning against his father part, he knew what he had come here to do; however, Asuna was not done with her story.

"Nagi attacked the war his way, traveling and ambushing lone sentries. Do you know why this war started in the first place Negi? Lack of communication. If The Mage of the Beginning had been able to explain himself properly…there wouldn't have been any war."


"Oh, so you're saying he would have been able to talk people out of trying to stop him from destroying the world? I take back what I said earlier about hardly knowing you; you're still as dense as ever. You think people want some dude destroying their world and remaking it how he wants, and killing them to bring them back into the new one just like that? You think that if he explained himself, they'd just tell him it was a smashing idea and give him free reign?"

She shook her head again, he didn't understand, not that she was surprised, he was misinformed. She put her hands together, letting them slowly expand out, showing him a globe, the surface of Mars. Not as seen from space, but as seen with the magical world super imposed upon it. It expanded until she practically disappeared behind it; however, the growth was slow, hard to notice, as she walked around to him, speaking.

"The Mage of the Beginning knew more than you think Negi. This world…is dying. Look with your eyes, and you'll see it too. This illusion is old, and handling far more people than it was made too, for longer than it should have. It's crumbling to bits Negi, right before our very eyes…look! Do you think this is the paradise our ancestors thought up; do you really believe this is what they made for us? The Mage of the Beginning wanted to take this world and heal it, at first, but the damage, over time, and magical strain was too great. You want to see? Here, look at my home, look at my birth world, the spell that holds it together!"

In front of them both, as Negi felt his pain once more increase, the world disappeared, replaced with the dead surface of mars, rotating slowly. Yet, this is not what Negi was focusing on. He saw…the spell work. The rows and rows, the columns, the strings, words, stringing out, not in Latin, no not even in Greek. Negi recognized the guttural, strong language of Norse. His eyes were wide.

There was too much information, for once, there was too much information for him to absorb at once. An entire world, described in full, mountains, lakes, deserts, gravity, periods of rain, and periods of dry, varying temperatures, all as it should be. He took a few steps back, his knees collapsed under him when struck with the hammer that was his own spell's might. It was torn… everywhere. Ripped apart, with age if not contradiction. Landscapes had changed, resources taken, some areas were so sparse of the vibrant strings, reminding Negi of cloth. Tendrils flying free.

"I have no idea however, how the world is now Negi. The war that was waged between the Mage and his forces against Ostia, and the magical concentration, especially in that final battle, when the very world almost lost all of its power, transferring it into one place…that even further damaged this delicate, grand spell, as you might imagine…this is the image I gained from The Mage of the Beginning, Negi...

Negi looked up at her. It was…worse than this? Now, in front of him, the puzzle pieces fell into place, and no more could he deny that, at least in this, she was telling the truth. It fit, everywhere, and no matter how hard Negi looked for a loop hole, he knew she was right…and, once he admitted that, he realized that…just like when he had researched his father…he had already known it, only never paid it any mind.

It was like knowing that if you times any number by two, you will get an even answer. You never think about things like that, it's obvious after all, but once you do hear it you realize it's obvious…you always knew that, but did you ever really think of it like that? You double the number, doi, but it's even too, right? Obviously...just never gave it thought, I don't have to, so why bother?

…This is the true reason my mind was butchered the way it was. I knew too much, so much, I could play a grand part against the mage, but I hated to do it, because I knew he was right…I could have stopped them, but instead, I played a part in destroying our world…and, unlike the others, who celebrated thwarting an "evil" mage…I cried. I had just single handedly destroyed our world. Never again would there be a human who could learn the code, gain the key and have the power needed to do this. I can't even blame your father for that one. It was me Negi, me who played a main role, in Arika's plans, to control that magic, to push it back, redirect it unto itself."

Swallowing, Negi looked up. Hooked up to a generator. An entire city, an entire nation, losing it's magic to keep Asuna juiced, to give her the mental force and the physical push to hold off the magic with an entire fleet's energy to back her up, and Nagi. The whole country fighting one man with the power and the key to destroying the world, for a good cause.

In life, there really is no "pure" good guy, no "instant hero", and many times…those hailed as heroes are really the villains.

"People who wanted the war to take place would shoot down messengers from either party, and while Nagi was unaware, he ambushed and destroyed the most of them, believing the war inevitable anyway...in essence, even if I can't blame him for my bane, I can't absolve him of responsibility for the prelude to it."

"Are you saying that, in trying to gain power, he was instrumental in starting this fool war?"

"It's no excuse to say he did not mean to, but yes. Nagi started this war. He destroyed the most, and most important, of the messengers. They were also the weakest, as, due to the sensitive information they carried, could only be limited in numbers to prevent sell outs, and were sparsely armed as not to alarm the other party…but... that is not all…there's another thing I have to lay upon you…do you know who your father is? Is it Nagi, or ...Nagi?"

"...Is this a trick question? I don't like trick questions. Like my computer asking me for the answer to the square root of negative one, knowing full well that it cannot comprehend the result. The hell do you mean is it Nagi or Nagi? They are both the same..."

"Actually, they are not, Negi, for one of those "Nagis" is only a perfect, down to the DNA, copy of the other. Whom do you know Negi, that can become another person? Anybody, you may answer, anybody with an illusion pill or the will too. Yet, there is only one person who can become another so precisely, so perfectly, they can copy that person and their memories, and even their states, at the very moment of documentation, down the very DNA."

"…I don't know any…one…like…that… ... ...oh... my... fuc-"

"I see… Nagi wasn't well liked by his opponents, Negi, in fact, many demons cursed his name. Nagi thought he was brilliant in one thing however... He killed the contractor whom he made the deal of power with. He thought he had gathered enough, after a few months of fun, to go back and try and kill off the deal before the demon could extract his price...

However, while this cut off Nagi's incredible growth of power, it could not stop, obviously, the price tag. Someone still needed to pay…Nagi laughed in the contractor's face that day he killed him, paying no mind to him as he cursed his name, his family tree, and vowed the man would never have children if he had anything to say about it…and he did…I'm not sure if you are aware, but Nagi and Arika tried several times to sire a child, and failed…until Nagi thought up a brilliant plan…"

The boy said nothing. Even as he opened his mouth, no sound came out. It was impossible, after all, impossible, what she was suggesting. Impossible...he was impossible. This wasn't real anyway, right? No, no, he didn't want to hear this. This was the fundamentals of his existence, uncharted territory for a child. He shouldn't know exactly what went on "in the hotel room" so to speak, as long as he knew who is parents were…but that was the point, wasn't it? He didn't know...

"Not yet Negi. You see, Nagi didn't have a pactio with Alberio yet…That story requires some more time to tell, and more sin to be seen spilt. No child should know exactly how they were sired, it's extremely rare that their parents tell them everything…but I shall tell you it. Witness the brash man you know, carefully planning out a ploy that would have put Shakespeare to shame..."

As the world around him shivered and shifted into another time and place, pain lanced through Negi again, sending him to the ground once more, hissing, and strangling his pain. Asuna shifted her mouth about, apologetic. She could not hold back the pain forever, not while keeping his body and mind under control. Her power and concentration were only so much, and Negi's struggles to escape were great...she allowed the memories to flow, dredging up her power to swallow the darkness whole once more…

A bar this time, and inside it, the past…

"Come on Nagi, cheer up. Arika is just a strong woman. Don't doubt your manhood...she's just too much of a woman for you!"
"Alberio, shut the hell up. You're not helping me."
"Glad to be of service!"
"No shit. Seriously man, be quiet. I'm trying to read."

Now, this was indeed a new sight, and Alberio wasn't sure if he approved of it or not. Nagi reading a book, a magical textbook to add irony to the whole thing. He wasn't sure what kind of text it was though, just that it seemed to have lots of magical circles in it.

Partner in crime, if more subtle and calm minded than Nagi, Alberio rose a glass of red wine to the bartender as it was passed to him, depositing his coin upon the table to be scooped up deftly by meaty hands. Nagi had yet to take anything to drink himself, and this slightly worried the other. The only time Nagi didn't drink while in a bar was when he was seriously bogged down.

"Well, well! You find some kind of Magical Viagra in that book? Not that your performance is off par Nagi...not that I would know...it might be though...hey, hey, I have a wine glass here! Seriously though...what are you trying to do, cast a protection spell on your semen? I mean come on. They have pills for this kind of thing you know; mundanes manage it all the time."
"Ha ha...Not my case, I need this, now. My case is magical."
"Oh, so someone spelled your dick to be infertile? Hey, hey! I said I had wine here!"

Nagi turned back to his book, quietly fuming at the pure nerve Al could occasionally pull. The other lowered his glass back to the table slowly, taking it from its protective position in the air. Nagi's grunt upon the other lifting the glass again to his lips clearly claimed, without words, that if Al cared so much about his wine... he wouldn't jibe him anymore.

"I am a man Al. Don't push me, I'm already at my wit's end. If I can't give my wife what she wants, something we men are practically made to do, what the hell can I do? It's not about pride Al, it's about her."

Of course, there were other small reasons that came with this admittance. Nagi hadn't cared for a child before, and if you had asked him even two years earlier, he would have looked at you as if you came from Betelgeuse. Still, now he thought it probably wouldn't be all that bad, as long as the brat wasn't all "cry-e" like. Yet, Arika was a queen, and Ostia was steadily falling without its royal line. Sure, she was supposed to be dead, but she wasn't, right?

Then there was the fact that Arika wanted a kid, not for royal reasons, just to have one, yah know? He swore it was a phase these women went through, and they somehow infected otherwise sensible men, making both their lives miserable in the end, ehh?

That was the other thing, he caught the disease, or more like something in him nagged him about it. He needed to have at least a firstborn, for some insane reason, like fulfilling some kind of debt. If only he knew what kind of debt it was, he might have veered off course, but, like Nagi was, he had forgotten all about it.

He'd find out soon enough though, but Negi turned away once more, eyes closed to pain, only it was a different kind of pain than the one lancing through his body. It was one he thought he had gotten rid of, used up, burnt out. The pain of his heart, a tortured soul. Asuna shifted the vision again, but Negi closed his eyes, trying to beat it out. Even that didn't stop her…

"I...don't need to see any more of this. These…lies. You can't know all of this! Your memories…they were sealed before any of this even happened!"

That one truth he held dear to him, it was his tool to use against her, and once he had found it, he employed it, harshly, his eyes snapping open to see the lies. Yet what he saw was only pity, and truth. The power in her eyes, it burned him, singed his pride, beat him back and down into the darkness. He fought, of course, he fought. The other would not be denied however as she rose her voice, shooting him down.

"Sealed? The only way they could seal my memories is if I would let them Negi. I am a magic canceller. I did not let them, and even if I did, once I started to practice magic under you, the seal would have been broken… They did something to me, something far more efficient, more binding. You know computers, do you not, Negi? Tell me then, what is a partition?"

"…No. That would require…"

"Require what, Negi? Nothing. No magic, no nothing, just a simple wall of will. A simple unconscious wall. Why do you think Alberio was locked away in Library Island, so close to the world tree? Why is it that my dorm is the one in a building nearest to the tree? Why was Takahata one of my supervisors and teachers for so long? Nothing is a coincidence here, my dear nephew. Alberio was the secret keeper, the guard to the safe. Through him, these memories became mine, locked away in a convenient part of my mind, that I could not access. Alberio put them there, without permission I may add. He just couldn't handle them alone Negi…"

"No."

"Alberio was called out by Nagi, on a mission he knew there would be an ambush, Nagi let them get captured, made it impossible to get out without giving Alberio a pactio. Always a military tactician, Nagi was. Later, he wheedled Alberio, and believe me; it took a lot to bring Alberio to such a task. Arika is a beautiful woman, but…Alberio wasn't one to bed another's wife. He didn't have to though, just transform into Nagi at a crucial point…"

"…No…no…this doesn't make any damn sense! Besides, there was no kind of time!"

"It does. Al was in the room, invisible Negi. It was the first time that Nagi managed to successfully cast a spell on Arika too I might add. Distracted I suppose…"

"Do you KNOW how stupid this sounds to me? How farfetched? I am not going to believe that Alberio hid in the room my father and mother did their business in, waited for Nagi to spell Arika, transformed and f*ck*ng stuffed a shaft where it didn't belong! I don't care what the hell you say here, I ain't buying this crap!"

"Oh, but you must Negi. What would you do if you have the power and the skill, and knew your friend, your best friend, had been suffering on this point for so long? If you knew nothing else but his suffering, it you knew he had been cursed somewhere along the line, if you knew Negi, if you looked, through Alberio's eyes? What would you do Negi?"

"I would sure as hell not do what you're suggesting!"

"Of course not Negi, it's all nonsense anyway, isn't it? You're a smart boy. Alberio is a clever man, but he had nothing on your intelligence. You figure it out for yourself. I gave you an alternative to the truth there then."

It was said quietly. Yet the force behind it made the pain redouble, he winced, gritting his teeth, dealing with this pain was wearing him down, breaking his logic, destroying his ability to fight off this nonsense, and yet, those eyes burned still brighter, stronger, more justified with every word. He shook his head, looking away from her eyes, yet there was no escape from her, she was in front of him once more. She was laughing now, in her eyes…making fun of him.

"I am Nagi's son, no matter how much I despise the dude-"

"Genetically, yes…you are. Actually? No, as twisted as that may seem. You have his eyes, his body, perhaps some of his brash heroism, but you are not his…should I show you now how your mother abandoned you? How her own hate for your existence drove her from home, using the excuse of looking for Nagi?"

No, he didn't want to see. Yet, that didn't matter, did it? His face twisted with all the more pain. She couldn't keep this up for much longer, his face, his pain, was killing her, not literally of course, she felt nothing doing this to him physically, but it tore her heart. Yet, he had to know. He must know the depth of character that his family held, the consequences of their actions, his remorse. The damnation that they must face for it all, reasons so flimsy, nothing but petals scattered near and far…the memories, to cleanse his soul, prove his worth and finally put this to rest…

"No…I said no God damn it!"

Deep in the depths of night they went, as, in front of them, a village materialize, one that struck Negi hard once more, that infernal hell hole, whose burnt remains haunted him far more harshly than he ever should have let them. A single cottage, its light glowing softly from the windows, peaceful as the snow quietly fell. However, nothing moved.

"No...don't show me this...god damn you, anything but this!"

Negi looked to Asuna, but she shook her head. He must do this. This one, he had to see for himself. It burned in her mind, harsh and powerful, so much so, the detail so strong, that it could be offered like this. She indicated him forth softly, a simply lift of her head, eyes momentarily closed. Negi shook his head, swallowing to keep from biting his tongue. He couldn't do this. That door seemed to speak his entire history. He wasn't pushed, but he felt his foot move forward anyway, of its own accord.

He reached out his hand for the door's knob, instinctively, but he passed through the door. Of course, a memory, he had no substance here. He saw a typical home, cozy, none too small, but cozy nonetheless.

Walking by the entrance, he entered a living room in disarray...no, he was wrong. It was organized chaos. Messy to the stranger, but to the familiar, everything was within reach. It had the feel of a home haphazardly broken in, but broken in anyway. A strain, a kind of strangled cry, made Negi whip his head around.

A woman, bent over a crib, reached down, scooping a bundle out to hold it in her arms. She looked so much like his foster sister, but she was older perhaps her mother... Negi watched, and felt something inside him burst, in a way. The expression on her face was one of pain. Her hand was bleeding...

Negi's ears picked up upon the crying of a woman. He already knew what he was going to see, even as he began to walk towards the sound. Morbid curiosity. He passed by a fridge. Upon it was a list with daily tasks, many of which were dedicated to his, Negi's, care. This list had been crossed out recently, and a new task written in:

I HATE THIS.
NAGI YOU B*ST*RD!

Negi walked by it, ignoring the message. Even as his eyes failed to leave the ugly writing, written right over his name. His mind called up an excuse, Post Partum depression, he told himself. A common medical condition. Nothing of his concern. If this was what Asuna meant, she was simply ignorant of the medical knowledge...still, something inside him laughed at his excuse.

I...I have accepted my mother, this is nothing worth importance to me...

Once more his hand reached out to push a door open, but he met air as he passed through to the bathroom. A knife, a simple filet knife, lay in the sink, stained red. This was perhaps the reason the woman holding him had been bleeding.

"F*cking thing. Damn it and damn it's crying!"

It's just a hormonal stage, I should walk out now and leave this behind, it's nothing of my concern.

"Damn her and her sentiments too, don't get in my way next time, b*otch...If I want to take it out of this world, I brought it in, so I have a right!"

...You tried to kill me? ...Not that I'm surprised at the attempt, as it is possible...yes, this has nothing...but it's my life, it has everything to do with me...no! This is old, forbidden pasts; I have nothing to do with this!

No matter how much he told himself he should turn away, his feet stayed anchored to the ground. Arika looked up, allowing Negi to see bloodshot eyes, and a face that had seen better care in grander days. Nothing but depression, his mind told him, but what was left of his heart...it quaked at the sight. A crazed smile, almost, graced her features.

"You said we'd stay together, one family, Nagi. Now where are you? Off to lay another woman? Or have you just abandoned me to the shame and the burden this...thing gives me? I hate it. It reminds me to much of you, If I could, Id' break it over your head, kill you both, I would, if your beer buddy Al didn't keep getting in my way…and then your b*tch of a sister…"

"I don't need to see anymore of this."

He said it simply, but his fists were clenched, his voice clear, clearer than ever before. The vision faded, leaving only Asuna standing with hands clasped in front of her. He felt like rushing at her, calling up whatever power he had in this realm against her, running her through where she stood, but he was still, tired, done. He coughed, and spat out what looked to be bile, blood.

"I don't need to see anymore of these…lies, truths, opinions, visions, whatever the hell you call them. I'm done. I'm out. This, this…I can't deal with it anymore, that's it. I'm done. Let me out, come on, wave your magic hands before I break them. I want out. Friggin move!"

Blinking, she turned her head to the side, but made no motion to let him out, or do anything for that matter. Negi felt his temper, and thus his power, rise. She looked up to see his shaking fists. What…was this now? His fighting had redoubled, and slowly she was being shut out, the mind righting itself. She was losing control.

"I pushed you too far."

"Damn straight."

'I told you nothing but the truth, however."

Negi shook his head, allowing it to lower as he felt his emotions take hold, confusion, anger, hate, revenge above all, destruction, need, want, power. Even in his mental visage, he felt his hands darken, the whisper of power swirl. Asuna focused on him as he shook his head again, looking at his shoes. She had struck him. Yet he only continued to grow in power…where was it all coming from?

"I don't care. Nothing matters anyway. I'm a tool, remember? A catalyst. None of this matters to me. I shouldn't hate, or love even. I can't be loved, that's why. Easy as pie. I was cursed. Now my curse will serve a purpose. You said no one will ever be able to save this world? I'll do it then. I'll get the power for it; blow my damn self up because I have no purpose anyway. I shouldn't be able to feel, damn it all. Just a tool, just a tool…die, all of them, for all I care…catalyst, unloved child of a fake father, I don't care what's true and what's false anymore. You wanted something to purge you of your sins and everyone else? Here, I'm your stand in sacrificial cross, throw it on me. Just get out of my damn way!"

This time, his arms did explode into black, as around him, the darkness shattered, his body had fallen to the floor, but it exploded upwards, his fists condensing painfully black, traveling up his arms, gaining substance, he seemed to grow actual claws, fur even, hair blowing free, his eyes shrunk into pinpricks of light. Familiar symbols glowed painfully bright, expanded outwards, encompassed the air, some even crept up to take over his face. Asuna had still been holding, him, but his transformation blew her off, her blade send skidding away.

She landed on her feet, cursing. He'd gone berserk! She'd pushed him far too far! This was Magica Erebia, and in his pain, both physical and emotional, she had broken him open. He was no better now than an animal! Yet, even so, his hands broke into electric light, crackling along as practically roared out a spell. The thousand thunder bolts, cast twice, once in mind and once by mouth. He crashed against Fate, a solid wall that pushed him off, with difficulty, but he came back again, hands now glowing with fire.

"Τὸ συμβόλαιον συμβόλαιο και υπηρετώ εμένα βασιλιάs του φωτιά! έλα, τελείωμα φωτιά , πρώτος φωτιά! έναs φωτιά όλος ότι να είμαι ζωή όχι θάνατος φωτιά! τέλοs του κόσμοs!"

Τὸ συμβόλαιον συμβόλαιο και υπηρετώ εμένα βασιλιάs του φωτιά! έλα, τελείωμα φωτιά , πρώτος φωτιά! έναs φωτιά όλος ότι να είμαι ζωή όχι θάνατος φωτιά! τέλοs του κόσμοs

Negi landed upon his feet, feet that were more wolf-like than his own. His hands alive with fire, he didn't shoot it off, but…took it in, to himself. It wasn't…possible…Negi barreled at Fate, alive, sparking with lightning, burning with fire. He had just…activated a Triple Complex! This was his magical capabilities once driven to the edge, his berserk? His strength and speed, he almost matched Fate, almost unseated him but his silver haired opponent sidestepped, swinging his key out, glowing now all the brighter.

Negi ducked low, swiping out a long leg to trip Fate up. He punched up in the air, catching Fate and sending him sky wards, literally, the boy crashed against the edge of the ceiling, just before it opened to the heavens. He used that as ground however, and shundoed right to Negi, punching him in the gut with his key.

He avoided Negi's charge and ducked under a punch, disappearing from the front to axe kick his berserk opponent in the side, but Negi spun around, grabbing his foot and tossing Fate to slam into one of the pillars, rushing after him. He never made it, for the other disappeared from there, quickly shooting out his hand.

"Τό τεῖχος διερξάσθω! Δόρυ Πέτρας!"

Hitting home right in his chest, it gave Negi a little pause, enough for Fate to punch him dead in the face, his fist exploding into a powerful spell, a direct hit, the evil eye of petrifaction, but the swirling power around Negi, he laughed, striking out to kick Fate in his own face, knocking him back. He had no teeth to grit, but the pain was obvious, the spear was still sticking out of him. Stone was creeping out from his middle, but the boy rose a voice above the din his own body was making with magic.

"Precor...lux lucis, signum vulnus, conforto vulnero Aceso... Achelois, lavo mihi in vestri lux lucis, succurro meus in meus vicis of postulo, restituo, Amplitudo Rememdium! Fragrantia Floris, Meis Amicis Vigorem, Vitalitatem, Auram Salutarem! Refectio!"

It normally needed a catalyst to work, but Negi pulled off the spell regardless, after all, he considered himself an object anyway, at least his twisted and broken emotions told him so. Fate however, pointed off to Negi's side, and When Negi ignored the jibe, rushing at him, he shifted behind him, so Negi would see.

Eva, Anya, Alma, They all were in a ring, surrounded by summoned demons, as the shaking continued, calling up some unknown beast from the depths…something inside him told him to save them, but another thing told him to leave the traitors to lie. Fate absolved him of the responsibility, smiling. He was enjoying this, every time, more and more. It seemed that Springfield kept surprising him, every time. Negi didn't see Asuna attack him from behind, even as his instincts took over, too late.

"Redirect."

Negi was powerful, but Asuna had Fate on her side, and drawing from him through the pactio, Negi felt The Thousand Thunder Bolts leave him, Primal Prominence leave him, but she could not remove Magica Erebia from his form…instead, she redirected those two still active end of the world spells to slam into Negi, burning and striking him again and again until he fell. Fate smiled, seeing that they were near the exit, and his party had succeeded, gathering near him.

"We should make our exit. These demons won't stop until they are dead or the others are, and this building will soon collapse…are you coming Kagurazaka?"

She couldn't help but look at the burnt, smoking boy, still breathing, by the miracle of Magica Erebia, but in danger as the rubble from the ceiling began to fall. This was her nephew, and he had just displayed how much power he could hold…how hard he had trained, how far he would go. Yet, it was impossible. Only a human could control the Code after all…and Negi had been through enough pain…yet, even as she thought that, she remembered the Rosary.

Would he use it? Would he go that far? If so…he would not be able to defeat Fate…but if he could…did she still have a hope? Instead of having this world destroyed for good, the people transferred to earth, could this planet be rebuilt? Would she risk the boy who had been through so much, seen so much, once more, this time for good, to die?

"Of course…I am…sorry. I'm sorry…Negi."

Turning around, she went to Fate, as he held up a bauble, glowing bright, a teleportation device. It activated in a muted explosion, drowned out by the destruction all around. Nothing but a whisper of the wind was left as a piece of pillar fell and shattered upon where the party had been. Three for team Fate, zero, Team Negi

One another note...posting up my spell list got my brain moving, and I have to say, I couldn't help but add a few new spells, (read: six, going on eight once I get the idea for the words on two others...) ...besides putting in the other original stone spells Fate uses in the manga, I added these:

Spoiler:

~Effrego! = Break, Blast away. (Blast type, obviously.)

~Continuo Flans Venti Nobis Protectionem Tempestas! = Circular Dance (Blasts enemies away, a knock-back circle, blast type.)

~Ex Somno Exsistat Tumbus Undique Inimicum Tectum Terreteres! Victus Humus! = Ropes of Earth. (Following the Ropes of fire and water, trap type.)

~Ex Somno Exsistat Complexio Tumulus Inmicum Silens Fulgor! Lancea Fulgurans! = Ropes of Lightning. (Trap type.)

~Dea of igneus incendia, commodo mihi vestri spiritus, flamma ut tripudio ut meus terrenus, Verbero Flamma! = Whip of the Valkyrie (Following the hammer of the ice god, weapon type.)

~Senior Sanctus, commodo mihi vestri vires shafts niteo mei oris, tripudio super inimicus, Sanctus Lancea!! = Lance of Light. (Weapon type.)