DISCLAIMER: Negima, in spite of my best efforts, remains the property of its respective owners, creators and proprietors, i.e. people who are not me.

PREFACE: Yes, I am aware it has taken me months to update this; I have my reasons, including but not limited to university, exams, relationship-based distractions, new anime to watch, work, various disasters of a familial nature and Christmas. But! All is well again, and thus I have found the time to write this... somewhat large chapter. Not quite as big as the last, but still a fair few words to slog through.

Forgive me? :cringes under desk: Chapters from here onwards should (hopefully) not be as long, and will (hopefully) mean a shorter wait between posts for you. Probably. Maybe? I make no promises -.-;

Thank you to all my readers for your reviews, messages, support and patience! You’ve no idea how much I appreciate it :D and thank you very much for the positive response to my last chapter- it brought tears to my eyes and a stupid grin to my face XD

Without further ado, on with the show!

Egg Belly

Part Seven

Sunlight washed into the room like the froth on a wave, trickling through cracks in shutters to spill onto the faces of the young women who lay curled about one another in a tangle of smooth, slim limbs and soft hair.

One woman, pale as a moon-lit snowdrift, stirred in her sleep; her wings, snowy-feathered and currently folded against her back, rustled briefly. Sighing, she slipped back into the embrace of slumber, and did not wake as the other woman –brunette, beautiful and watching her with a peaceful expression- slipped from her arms and from the bed.

Konoka tip-toed away from the bed with all the stealth and grace normally associated with a person of the ninjutsu-persuasion, and attempted to make a break for the bathroom. Flinching with every faint squeak of the underlying floorboards beneath the soft carpeting, the young mage did not notice the dark figure of Mana Tatsumiya seated at the small kitchenette table until she almost tripped over her.

Suddenly very aware that the most dangerous person on campus (barring her dear Set-chan of course) was watching her butt-naked form creep across another girl’s room, Konoka froze, leg outstretched, and wobbled like a poorly-balanced statue in the doorway of the kitchen.

Oh, crap.

Mana smiled, and was no less frightening for her ill-disguised smirk. One hand nudged a cherry-pink handbag, sending its contents spilling across the table-top with a faint tinkling noise.

Konoka twitched, and jerked her head around to see Setsuna mumble something and roll over. Turning back to Mana, Konoka bit her lip.

“I wouldn’t worry too much, ojou-sama; if Setsuna didn’t wake up when I slipped through the wards, I doubt she’ll wake now,” whispered the sniper silkily.

Embarrassed and not exactly sure why, Konoka crossed her arms over her chest and attempted to hide behind the kitchen bench.

“What are you doing here?” she hissed.

“Returning the handbag that you lost in the woods. What are you doing here?”

Konoka’s brain clicked into overdrive. It really was far too early in the morning for this kind of interrogation, and as for answers, only the most obvious sprang to mind, and she didn’t think that would go down well with the dark-skinned mercenary.

“Um... I was... waiting for you to return the handbag that I lost in the woods?”

Mana blinked. Slowly, her eyes slid over Konoka’s naked figure in one smooth movement, followed by dark eyebrows rising quizzically.

“Were you intending to reward me in a ... particular way? Because, uh, I prefer cash.”

It took a moment for that to sink in, and when it did, Konoka flushed, squeaked, and ducked behind the kettle.

Pinching the bridge of her nose with slender, dark fingers- the tips of which were callused from years of mercenary work- Mana shook her head.

“I’m not surprised that Setsuna slept late –no doubt she had a busy night last night with all the demons milling about- but I am surprised to find you still here. I would have thought you returned to your room last night. Whatever will Asuna think, I wonder...” murmured the dark beauty slyly.

Konoka bristled, and as righteously as possible considering the circumstances, attempted to move the subject away from her nakedness.

“You leave Asuna out of this! And besides, you can’t just break into students rooms whenever you feel like it! Don’t make me tell my grandpa about this-”

“Tell him what exactly? That you and sleeping beauty over there,” a nod in the direction of the dozing Setsuna, white wings splayed over the narrow bed, “were doing things good little girls shouldn’t? Please. You’ve got nothing on me, and you know it.”

The young mage shivered, and not from the cool morning air. If Mana choose to tell her grandfather exactly what she’d seen this morning, both her and her Set-chan would be in a world of trouble.

If... if grandpa finds out before I’m ready to tell him about Set-chan and me, he could expel her, or make her leave the school.

And I don’t know if she could stand to disobey a direct order from the head of the Kansai Magic Association and live to tell about it...

Ignoring the brunette’s fearful expression, Mana continued in a low voice. “And besides, I’m supposed to be here. Setsuna and I take the morning shift for the security patrol, remember?”

Mana stood, and stretched, dark eyes cold and faintly cruel. Konoka felt goosebumps rise on her skin under the weight of that callous, assessing gaze.

“I’m not here to pick a fight with you, Konoka. I’m just here to give you some advice. If you’re serious about her –and judging from what I’ve seen this morning, you’d better be- I’d tell your grandfather, and tell him soon. The old man has plans for you, ojou-sama, and if you want to make sure those plans take into account certain recent developments...” Her gaze flicked to the peaceful half-demon, curled into a sleepy ball amongst sheets that were almost as pale as her skin.

“...Well, I’d get a move on if I were you.”

Mana smiled, and the expression was neither reassuring nor friendly.

“Oh, and just because I’m feeling generous this morning, I won’t bill you for the clean-up in the forest. Leaving demon bodies scattered over the landscape is not a clever thing to do if you don’t want the whole school to find out what happened last night.” Straightening her jacket and adjusting her shoulder holster, Mana jerked her head in Setsuna’s direction. “Tell bird-brain that I’ll expect to see her on patrol whenever she decides to roll out of bed.”

Brushing past a naked, confused and infuriated Konoka, the dark-skinned beauty slipped out the door with barely a breath of sound, closing it silently behind her, and leaving Konoka to deal with the realisation that unless she did something quickly, things were going to go downhill really, really fast...

Oh, double crap.

“Set-chan? Um, it’s almost seven o’clock... you might wanna wake up.”

The concerned voice in Setsuna’s ear drew her from the haze of sleep, and opening her eyes to look up at Konoka’s worried face acted like a bucket of cold water to her mental state.

“Kono-chan? What’s wrong?” asked the swordswoman, brain passing from Doze to Must Protect mode in 0.2 seconds. The half-demon jerked bolt-upright and clasped Konoka’s shoulders. “What happened?”

Konoka hesitated. After last night, it was almost cruel to wake her Set-chan up like this, but she didn’t want Mana to come back looking for her...

“Well, you see, I kinda woke up to have a shower and... uh, Mana was waiting for me at the kitchen table.” The last words blurted out in a rush, and not sure the smaller woman would have made any sense at all from her garbled speech, Konoka watched Setsuna’s blank face carefully for any sign of understanding.

Setsuna blinked slowly as the frosty implications of the young mage’s statement sunk into her brain, like drops of ice-water onto warm skin, and each thought chilled her even more.

Mana was here.

I overslept because of last night, and Mana was here.

I must not have heard my alarm, and Kono-chan wandered out to the kitchen, naked, and MANA WAS HERE...

Gods in heaven, we’re in trouble now!

“Um, Set-chan...? Are you- whoa!”

Konoka, suddenly airborne, landed precariously on the tousled sheets as Setsuna dashed past her, little more than a white streak, and literally flew into the closet, disrupting the air with enough force to send the young mage skyward.

There was a sound like the ripping of silk and, barely ten seconds later, the frantic half-demon emerged from the depths of the wardrobe, blowing the door off its hinges as she skidded towards the entrance, half-dressed in her school uniform, and shockingly pale against the dim light of the room-

“Set-chan, wait! You’re still all white!”

At the sound of Konoka’s frantic plea, Setsuna froze half-way through the front door, threw an arm up in front of her face, and stared blankly at the white skin that met her gaze.

“Gah!”

Dashing back into the room, she slammed the door shut and rested against it, breathing harshly.

“Thankyou for pointing that out, Kono-chan,” she sighed, turning towards Konoka, still seated on the bed, “else I would have walked straight out that doo-”

Setsuna paused, mouth half open.

Konoka blinked.

Slowly, flushed heat rose in Setsuna’s face, and a small trickle of blood dripped from her nose and down onto her chin, where it plinked onto the carpet.

“K-kono-chan? You, you m-might wanna put some clothes on,” she squeaked, cheeks the same ripe red shade as fresh tomatoes.

Konoka, puzzled, looked down at herself. Then at Setsuna and her bloody nose. Then at herself again. And blinked, and blushed, and yanked the tangled sheets up to her chin, suddenly feeling very shy.

Between them both, the world shrank down to three points of realisation:

Konoka was very, very naked.

Setsuna was in a similar state of undress, or had been up until some thirty seconds ago.

Both of them had spent the night in the same room, in the same bed, and also naked.

There could only be one scenario drawn from these facts, and Setsuna -whose mental state was already stressed enough with the concept that Tatsumiya Mana, baddest bitch on campus, had been in her room with both herself and her Kono-chan unaware, the sniper no doubt very aware of those three incriminating facts- felt her face get hot and sweat drip off her forehead as the only logical conclusion sank into her brain.

Last night, she and Konoka had had sex.

Sex.

S. E. X.

As in, sexual intercourse. As in, something no self-respecting body-guard should ever, ever, ever engage in with their charge. As in, an activity that would surely have Konoka’s father flay her alive.

We- I- Kono-chan- and then- oh my-

The stunned swordswoman reeled on the spot, and then, overworked brain unable to take it any more, her white eyes rolling back into their sockets, Konoka calling her name but to no avail, the distraught half-demon toppled down into a tangled pile of limbs in the small hallway that led to the door and was out cold before her head even hit the floor.

When Setsuna came to, she was in a bathtub with Chachamaru.

Having woken wet, naked, with a headache (not to mention having her hair washed by a nude gynoid) and a near-perfect recollection of what exactly she had done the night before, she was quite sure this was some nightmare sent to torment her from the depths of hell, and not, in fact, the real world; perhaps Konoka’s father had found out she’d defiled his dear daughter and slaughtered her where she stood, and this was to be her punishment for the rest of eternity?

(a small, treacherous voice, mostly ignored but also most likely responsible for the previous night’s events whispered thoughts in the vein of oh, but it was worth it and I will die happily, oh very happily, in knowing that last night she was mine in every way that matters as well as the exquisite recollections of her Kono-chan calling her name over and over and over-)

Though, as far as punishments went, it wasn’t exactly what she’d have expected to find in the depths of hell- the shallow edges, perhaps, but not the depths. It could be barely considered torment really, all things to be considered- the water was warm, and the soap a silky slide against her feathers that sent shivers through her and a vague feeling of guilt as well, though the way the robot kept tugging on her hair was sending sharp spikes of pain into the space behind her eyes...

Does being groomed by force count as torture?

“Sakurazaki-san, it is difficult enough to wash your hair with your constant movement, not to mention your constant twitching- if you do not sit still, I will have to render you unconscious again in order to continue cleaning you.”

Setsuna blinked, body automatically stilling under the faint level of disapproval in Chachamaru’s tone. Kneeling behind her in a half-filled antique enamel tub –complete with brass lion-claw feet- the gynoid clucked disapprovingly, and fisted another handful of shampoo into Setsuna’s dripping hair.

The woman in question frowned, blinked twice, resisted the urge to leap out of the bathtub and run for the window, and spoke as an idea slow in forming sank into her head:

“Wait, again? What do you mean again?”

“You regained consciousness half-way to the villa. My master was quite surprised- it was thought you would not come to for some three hours hence considering the blow you had taken to your temporal lobe when your head collided with the tiled doorstep. Since you started protesting soundly about being carried aloft by myself, I found it necessary to deal a calculated blow to the nerve cluster at the base of your neck. Rest assured that I have been trained to administer maximum helplessness through minimum effort, and it is highly unlikely that any brain damage will result.” Here the gynoid hesitated, and there was the faintest touch of guilt in her synthetic voice when she spoke next. “Probably.”

Setsuna blinked, and ignored the shampoo dripping into her eyes.

So she was in Evangeline’s villa. That would explain Chachamaru, though not the bath...

...and that’s not even asking the obvious question: why am I in such a position in the first place? How did I get into such a state that it was decided I needed a bath, and why is Chachamaru the one giving it to me? And who’s doing the deciding anyway?

As though she had read her mind, though she in fact lacked the necessary software to do so, Chachamaru continued, readying a jug of clean water to be poured over the naked half-demon’s soapy hair.

“When Konoka-san called my master to come help her with you in your unconscious state, it was decided that you needed a bath before she would work the necessary magicks on you. My master refuses to work on people who reek of ‘sex and sweat’, Sakurazaki-san- perhaps next time you should ensure you are clean before you need to have your glamour refitted?”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” whispered Setsuna, spluttering a little as a jug of cold water was upended over her, washing stinging soap from her hair and into her eyes.

So that explained why she was in the bath at least.

Though still not why the gynoid found it necessary to be in there with her...

Some questions are better left unanswered. Gods, I hope Kono-chan doesn’t see me like this-

Setsuna froze, and made no sound as she was bodily lifted from the bath and bundled into a fluffy towel.

Kono-chan...

Displaying more forethought than should be possible by a concoction of plastic, steel and various magicks, Chachamaru handed Setsuna a pressed, folded bundle of clean clothes- her school uniform. Mind still reeling, Setsuna blinked up at the tall, feminine figure before her, and stood, dazed, clothes in hand.

“Dress yourself as best you can, Sakurazaki-san; my master and Konoka-san are downstairs waiting. Don’t worry about the towel; I will collect it later.”

Still nude, the gynoid strode briskly towards the bathroom door and out of sight.

Setsuna stared at the clothes.

Setsuna dropped the towel, and got into the clothes.

Setsuna, mind still preoccupied with the enormity of her current situation and that her Kono-chan was waiting for her downstairs, swallowed, shook her feathers out, smoothed her dripping hair down as best she could, and walked slowly to the door.

Here goes nothing.

It was barely seven in the morning, and the hour was therefore ungodly by Asuna’s standards, when her teacher/ward leapt from his loft, tumbled onto her bed and jerked her groggily awake, panicked hands gripping her shoulders.

“Asuuuuna! Asuuuuna! Wake up! Something terrible has happened!”

Blinking, the bleary-eyed red-head stared up at the boy.

“What, you finally hit puberty?” she mumbled grumpily. Now was not the time to deal with Negi’s histrionics.

(being half-asleep had never stopped Asuna from being sarcastic.)

“Ye- No! Asuna, now is not the time! Something terrible has happened to Konoka-san and Setsuna-san! They could be in mortal peril!” wailed Negi, arms flailing wildly, and very nearly propelling him off the narrow bunk.

Asuna rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sat up.

“What, really? Mortal peril?” she asked blearily. The way Negi nodded his head hysterically and tried to drag her towards the floor suggested that perhaps, just maybe, he was serious.

“Yes!” Snapped the boy, hands flapping urgently as he watched Asuna scramble out of her blankets, “Do hurry up, Asuna, they could be in peril right this minute!”

“Sheesh, kid, don’t get your panties in a bunch,” mumbled the red-head grumpily, certain that Setsuna, wherever she might be, could more than handle a little peril, mortal or otherwise, and such a situation certainly didn’t require her to be dragged out of her warm bed early on the morning of her one day off work.

Negi, too impatient to wait, scrambled down the wooden ladder attached to the bed, and dashed across the room, scrambling back into his loft and disappearing with a flurry of thrown clothes and blankets into his small living space.

Asuna, yawning, cursed soundly as a replica of a magical pistol –replete with carved oaken handle- clonked into her head. Rubbing a lump, she glared up at the frantic boy, who having found what he was looking for, leapt over the railing of his small loft, and landed neatly in front of her. Before Asuna had time to think about the athletic feat the scrawny, almost-fourteen year-old had just performed, Negi thrust a handful of paper in her direction.

“Look! I can’t find their cards anywhere!” he cried, voice raising into a tearful wail, hands shaking as he held out what Asuna realised were Pactio Cards- the physical representation of every Pactio Negi had ever performed. Scanning the familiar faces, Asuna saw her own, Chisame, Yue, Nodoka- but not Konoka or Setsuna. Those two faces were conspicuously not present, and Asuna felt something cold well at the base of her spine as the implications of their missing cards sank in.

Biting her lip, she looked up at Negi’s frightened face.

“Their cards are gone, Asuna. I looked for them everywhere- even tried summoning them to my hand in case I’d just misplaced them, but nothing happened.” Tears welled in Negi’s eyes. “I even tried summoning them to me without the cards, tracing the magic that binds us in a contract- but I can’t feel them anymore. Wherever they are, my magic can’t reach them.”

Outside, Asuna could hear the sounds of morning stirring; birds chirping, the wind rustling through the trees, the muted murmurs of the other girls in the dormitory as they woke. Inside, nothing but the sound of her pounding heart as silence filled the space between her and the trembling boy before her.

Deep down, Asuna knew she was far more practical than she ever let on, and that whatever situation arose, she knew she could cope if given enough time to wrap her head around what faced her.

Which was why she laid her hands gently on Negi’s shoulders, drew a deep breath, looked him in wide, fearful eyes –a sneaking thought whispering hey, since when was he so tall?- and smiled gently at him, Negi smiling hesitantly back, before she pulled up her left leg and stamped down on the boy’s right foot with all the force she could muster.

Predictably, the short boy-teacher howled in pain, breaking free from her grip to hop about the room, clutching his shin, Pactio cards forgotten.

“Asuuuuna! Why on earth did you do that?!”

“Because, you little twit, it’s too early to start blubbering like a baby!” snarled Asuna. “We don’t know what it means that their cards have disappeared, and I bet you haven’t even checked Setsuna’s room yet, and here you are, whining like a little kid! Grow up, Negi- and don’t count this as a disaster before you even know what’s going on.” Asuna snorted and crossed her arms over her chest, staring down at the startled boy with regal mien akin to any empress ever born. “Go find Chamo- maybe he can tell us what’s going on. That vermin ermine was the one who told us about the cards in the first place, it makes sense that he’s the most likely to know what it means when they disappear...” added Asuna thoughtfully. Nodding her head once, her face was determined. “While you do that, I’m going to try calling Konoka’s mobile. Don’t you worry Negi- we’ll find them!”

She stopped then, pausing in the middle of her speech, stunned into silence by the way the boy-teacher was looking at her.

“What?” she snapped, trying her best to ignore the amazed look in the boy’s eyes. “I can be useful sometimes too, you know. It’s not just you who gets to make grand plans and encouraging speeches! So quit staring at me like that!”

Negi smiled gently.

“I didn’t say anything at all, Asuna-san. And you know, I’d be lost without you.”

Asuna flushed, not sure she enjoyed the warmth glowing in those eyes being directed at her. Ignoring the fizzy feeling in her stomach –just a side effect from being worried about her friends and certainly nothing to do with the shrimp’s words at all- Asuna stomped into the kitchen. To look for her mobile, of course. Not because she was embarrassed. Not at all.

“What are you waiting for, Negi? Hurry up and go find Chamo!” she snapped, not looking back to watch the boy dart out the door.

Hmph. Stupid Negi. Getting himself all worked up over nothing. Bet those girls are just sleeping in or something...

Refusing to think about the fact that today was a school day, and Konoka would rather die than be late to class, Asuna hastily punched in Konoka’s number, and listened to the phone ring out.

C’mon, Konoka... pick up the phone... please?

Incredibly, Evangeline did not launch into a tirade about the stupidity of youth in general, Setsuna in particular as soon as the girl took a trembling step into the small kitchen where her ojou-sama, the petite blonde in question and her robotic maid were seated. Surprisingly, the gaze she turned on the half-demon was, if not kind, than at least non-judgemental, green eyes frostily blank behind delicate wire glasses.

The vampire stood, pushing her chair back silently, indicating for Setsuna to take a seat.

Konoka smiled timidly up at her as the swordswoman slid, grateful if slightly graceless, into the proffered chair, hands resting nervously on the pine table-top.

A heartbeat of silence ensued.

Setsuna swallowed.

Finally, a look of annoyance flitted across Evangeline’s face, and she spoke with an exasperated sigh. “I’m not going to tell anyone what you did last night, you idiot; stop acting like you’re preparing to face trial. Her father isn’t going to pop out of the woodwork, you know.”

The diminutive vamp waved a hand crossly, and Chachamaru rose and headed for the kitchen bench, ostensibly to prepare tea, but at the same time guarding the only exit.

Eva focused cool green eyes on the young couple seated before her; both girls squirmed under the weight of that gaze.

“As far as I’m concerned, what events transpired last night after you somehow managed to fight off an army of demons- don’t look at me like that birdbrain,” she snapped at the startled half-demon, who jerked her head up to gape incredulously at the blonde, “I’m not stupid, I know what happened when you decided to go for an evening stroll on the same night the wards were undergoing maintenance. As I was saying, whatever you two got up to, I don’t particularly care, nor do I want to know the gory details.” The vamp shuddered theatrically, long hair slipping over her shoulders in corn-silk waves. In the kitchen behind them, the whistling kettle and the delicate clink of fine china against granite-top bench could be heard as Chachamaru went about her given task.

Setsuna, relieved, opened her mouth to speak and was cut off by a slender finger pointed in her direction.

“Don’t say a word; I’m not finished.”

Eva slid her glasses down to eye swordswoman and mage coldly, eyes dark with malice.

“Let’s set things straight, shall we? For the record, I don’t like either of you. Setsuna, you are a bird-brained fool who hasn't a lick of sense when it comes to guarding your ward, and you are the most inefficient and pathetic bodyguard I have ever seen. You clearly have no idea how to fulfil your potential, little though it is; nor do you seem to comprehend the danger you place yourself in every day by masquerading as human when you are clearly not.” There was a sharp intake of breath from Konoka, and Setsuna flushed angrily as Evangeline’s words sank in. Blithely oblivious, the vampire continued. “As for you, Konoka, the only reason I suspect you haven’t died of your own unfailing stupidity is the fact you are incredibly, incredibly lucky; every time you find yourself in danger, this heroic fool-” here a slender, red-nailed finger was stabbed in the enraged swordswoman’s direction, “-comes to your rescue, oblivious to the magical ripples the both of you send through the aether with your every action. Happy-go-lucky girls like you disgust me, and I honestly don’t know why on earth you insist on coming to me for help when it is obvious that I don’t particularly give a damn about your petty problems. Ah, thank you, Chachamaru.” Finished Evangeline, lifting the delicate cup before her and inhaling the sweet scent wafting from its steaming contents. Apparently ignorant of the fine tremors that shook Setsuna, talons grinding into wood gripped tight in her twitching hands, the slender young woman’s eyes dark with murderous intent, Eva took a dainty sip of red-brown tea and nodded appreciatively at her robotic attendant.

“Excellent as always. If there’s one thing you’re good at, it’s making tea.”

“You are too kind, master. Do you require anything else?” intoned the green-haired gynoid, synthetic voice quietly inquisitive.

Evangeline, already turning back to the topic at hand, ignored the question; bowing low, Chachamaru retreated to the kitchen once more.

Setsuna, seething at the insults heaped upon her and, even worse, her ojou-sama, fought to restrain her temper. It would not do to haul off and slaughter the petite but evil mage, no matter how tempting; like it or not, she needed Evangeline’s assistance to regain some semblance of humanity- at least, until she learnt to work her own cloaking glamour.

“Where was I? Oh yes, the two of you haven’t got a working brain between you, I hate you both, and wish you’d just get out of my sight. That said,” added the vamp, forestalling Setsuna’s rage, “I didn’t say I wouldn’t help you; only that I find it distasteful. And you’d better believe you’re going to pay me handsomely for my assistance.”

Eva snorted and waved the hand holding the teacup, scattering droplets of the sweet liquid all over the table.

“After all, try as I might, I can’t seem to get you children to leave me alone. And in my efforts to retain my privacy, it has not escaped my notice that the sooner I show you the means to solve your problems, the sooner the pair of you will leave me the hell alone.”

Evangeline pinched the bridge of her nose with slender fingers, and closed her eyes as though in pain, laying down her teacup with her free hand.

“Chachamaru, prepare the training program for the castle, will you? And bring me sake. If I’m going to be stuck with this feather-headed fool, I’m going to need something stronger than tea.”

The green-haired gynoid bowed smoothly, and departed without a word. Konoka, silent up until now, tentatively raised a hand.

Evangeline, opening a single green eye to a slit, glared at the brunette venomously.

“Spit it out, child. You’re not in class and I am not –thank the various gods- your teacher!”

Konoka swallowed, but sat up a little straighter.

“If you’re going to be showing Set-chan how to use glamour in your resort, then we’re going to be late for class-”

Evangeline snorted.

“Whenever did I say that you were coming, hmm? I’m not going to put up with the two of you making eyes at each other, one of you is bad enough. You are to go to homeroom as per normal and make up an excuse as to why your dear Set-chan isn’t in class.” Evangeline sniffed. “Not that I particularly care about either of your attendance records, but having you underfoot will make demonstrating the correct use of personal magic difficult.” Here an evil grin split over the petite vampire’s pale face, red lips curving into a bloody smirk, white teeth bare and glistening. “After all, I can’t really show the half-breed how to use her cloak and shield with you to prevent the wounds I inflict from leaving marks, now can I?”

Savouring the fear that bloomed in Konoka’s dark eyes, Eva chuckled and rocked back in her chair.

“I did say there would be a price, Setsuna, and your blood spilt will be my coin of choice.”

Setsuna, suddenly grim, nodded; Konoka, disturbed, opened her mouth to interject, but was stopped by gentle fingers pressed softly against her lips.

“Ojou-sama, do not fear for me. Eva-chan will not kill me, and I need to learn how to use my glamour if ever I am to return to some semblance of normality. Please, ojou-sama, go to class; I will join you shortly.”

Konoka nodded, tears stinging her eyes. Wiping them away hastily, she smiled weakly.

“Just... just be careful, Set-chan. I love you.”

“And I you, Kono-chan. Always.”

The blonde vamp rolled her eyes.

“Please, spare me the tearful good-byes. You’ll have your precious body-guard back, mostly unharmed, in a little over an hour. Now get out of my sight,” this with a dismissive wave of a slender, manicured hand, “I’ve had enough of you already, and it’s barely eight o’clock.”

Hesitating, Konoka stood, hovering by Setsuna’s side. The shorter girl gave her a reassuring smile, and Konoka nodded, trepidation dogging her steps as she headed for the door.

As she walked, she was distantly aware of a pull in the base of her belly- some ethereal cord tugged at her, pulling her back in her Set-chan’s direction, even as she moved through the house and out into the forest. The trail before her seemed suddenly lonely, bare stones damp from the morning dew. The tug in her stomach became a dull ache; easy enough to ignore but uncomfortable all the same.

Not daring to look behind her, the young mage took a deep breath, and stepped onto the path.

Stay safe for me, Set-chan.

Asuna sighed as the phone rang out for the third time. Konoka wasn’t picking up, and no amount of pleading with the girl through message bank was enough to make her call back. The trembling thought that maybe Konoka isn’t in a state to be able to pick up the phone was summarily dismissed; Asuna knew that come hell, highwater or bloodthirsty demons, Setsuna would never let anything hurt the dark-haired mage.

Negi was not nearly as confident; he paced jerkily back and forth in the kitchen, hands twitching into fists. Chamo, perched on the kitchen table, shook his head wearily.

“What if something happened to them? What if, just what if, there was a terrible accident and-”

“Negi,” said Asuna, not unkindly, “shut the hell up. I’m working on it, and your nervous babbling isn’t helping. Take a chill pill and sit down, alright? Geez,” muttered the impatient redhead, crossing the room to drag the protesting boy-mage over to the couch.

“But, but, but-!”

“Red’s got a point, y’know.” Added Chamo, tail sweeping across the tabletop.

Negi shot a frustrated glance in his direction.

“Not you too, Chamo!”

“Negi,” said Asuna softly, voice humming with exasperation, “Sit. Down. Now. Okay?”

Sighing, Negi crumpled onto the lounge, hands twisting into the blanket slung carelessly across the cushions. His brow creased, and although momentarily cowed by her temper, Asuna knew it was only a matter of time before the boy ran off and did something foolish.

“Look,” she began, raising a hand to forestall his argument, “I’m going to go check out Setsuna’s room. There’s a good chance Konoka stayed over there last night –maybe they got back late from dinner- and she’s probably left her phone on silent again. I mean, if you were on a date with someone, you wouldn’t want to be interrupted, right?”

Asuna laughed weakly. Chamo sighed. Negi was not impressed. The tension in the room ratcheted up a notch as Negi’s fingers twitched in the direction of his staff, resting in the corner of the lounge room.

Asuna grimaced. Now came the hard part.

“I want you and Chamo to stay here. And before you say anything, someone has to keep watch in case Konoka comes home. I mean, if she comes home to an empty house, there’ll be no one to grill her about why she stayed out so late, right?”

The boy mage humphed, turning away. Shaking her head, the redhead turned to Chamo. “You agree with me, right?”

“You got it, ane-san. It’s a good plan.” The ermine-fey ran a paw over his whiskers. “Just you be careful, though. There’s not many things out there that can nullify a contract- and I think that’s what happened in this case, Red. We don’t wanna lose you too.”

A heartbeat skipped past, in which all three tried to imagine a creature dangerous enough to take down a trained shinmeiryuu swordswoman, not to mention an enraged half-demon hell-bent on protecting her sworn liege and lady-love and shuddered. Asuna shook her head and chuckled through gritted teeth, pushing off the foreboding feeling sinking into her stomach like a brick.

“Hey, you think there’s anything out there that can take me down? You gotta be joking!”

She laughed again, the sound fake, and Negi hunched his shoulders a little more.

Sobering up, the redhead jerked her head towards the door. “Whatever. Look, I’ll be careful, but you two keep an eye out too, alright? I won’t be too long- class starts soon, and my track record’s pretty good this term. Don’t wanna be late, and all that.”

Smoothing down her school blazer, Asuna’s fingers slid into her pocket to touch the smooth paper of her pactio card. Reassured by the tingle of magic pressing against her fingertips (and the knowledge that, should the need arise, she could summon a bloody big sword), she turned, and with a hesitant backward glance towards a scowling Negi, headed out the door.

“You’re not trying hard enough. Do you want to look like an inhuman freak for the rest of your pitiful existence? If not,” drawled Evangeline, pacing about Setsuna where the half-demon sat, cross-legged inside a casting circle, “then you will try harder and concentrate.”

Setsuna felt a muscle in her left eyelid twitch.

Drawing on the inherent magic pooling in my bones is easier said than done with you hissing venom in my ear.

As though she had heard the wayward thought, the magus nosferatu narrowed eyes that glittered cruelly.

“If there is enough magic in the air that I can sustain this illusion –in itself, another form of glamour, child,” added Eva, gesturing about her to the lush forest scenery and the castle that shimmered in the distant fog, “then why can you not cast a simple cloaking spell?” Behind her, there was a faint clink of china on glass as Chachamaru, appropriately attired in goth-loli maid outfit, laid a delicate tea-set reverently on a small glass-topped table. Smoothing invisible creases in the hand-sown lace tablecloth, she appeared to take no notice of the two figures occupying the stone archway before her.

“Spells were never my forte,” bit out Setsuna, the words dragging through her clenched teeth. Pins and needles prickled along her skin from being forced to stay in a meditative position for nigh on five hours, and the blood in her temples throbbed loudly, each beat in perfect counterpoint to the twitching agony of cramping nerves. The muscles in her leg trembled in distress, but she made no attempt to ease her own discomfort. Such weakness could be ignored through willpower alone, and if she was ever to get out of this gods-forsaken “resort” she needed to master what the temperamental vampire was attempting to teach her.

The vampire –replete in ‘evil master’ attire, complete with red-framed wire glasses- frowned, and stood before the kneeling figure. Setsuna flinched back as Evangeline leant down, green eyes sparking behind her glasses, and cast her thoughtful gaze across the half-demon’s face.

“You are a shinmeiryuu swordswoman, are you not? I thought you were taught spellcraft as part of your training.”

“I... did not excel at my lessons in magic. Eventually, it was... decided... that I should concentrate on my swordwork.”

Gritting her teeth, Setsuna felt a hot rush of shame shiver into her stomach. No matter how hard she had tried as a child, even the most basic of magic spells, yes, even the pitiful ardescat, had eluded her. Although Eishun-sama had assured her that not everyone was capable of casting magic, and that there was no disgrace in her incompatibility with that aspect of shinmeiryuu training, her skill with the manipulation of chi more than enough to cover her flaws, she had always felt ashamed as she watched the new recruits –and, indeed, many of the Negi-gumi themselves- outshine her in the one skill she had never been able to acquire.

“Hmph. Strange. So much for the inherent ethereal properties of demon blood...” muttered Evangeline, reaching out a clawed fingertip to brush against Setsuna’s cheek. The swordswoman flinched as a quick slash laid her cheek open, exposing red flesh to cool air. Blood, hot on her skin, sluiced down her throat. Dazed, she watched as Eva swept her hand through the gore and, daintily, licked each finger clean. Her eyes flooded black and she shuddered a little, blonde hair writhing over her shoulders in thick locks as she tossed her head back in apparent delight.

“Interesting... there is magic there, though not all of it is yours. How odd...” her voice slurred a little, and Setsuna watched in growing horror as, drunk on blood, the vampire’s head rolled lazily in her direction, eyes glistening with darkness.

A red tongue flicked out to sweep over white teeth, and Setsuna, very much aware that the collar of her school shirt was soaked in red, shuffled backwards on stiff legs that throbbed with pins and needles.

Before she could open her mouth to protest, Evangeline was on her in a shadowed streak, lace dress fluttering out behind her, clawed hands about Setsuna’s throat, slamming her hard into the stone floor, hissing mouth inches from her bloodied neck.

There was nothing human in Eva’s eyes now, for all she looked like a child; soul-creeping evil seethed along her skin where the vampire touched her, and Setsuna felt her feathers ruffle against the bricks, the wrongness of the situation oozing into her instincts like chilled water-

Inside her, heat roiled against that frigid touch, and Setsuna found herself suddenly choking on her own rage that such a creature should touch her as coruscating fire spilt along every vein, screaming for her to rise up and slaughter this dead thing that dared lay claws upon her-

Eva, lost in instinct, fixed a gaze that leaked dark magic as tears of burning black fire upon the half-demon pinned beneath her, pupils white hot in the dark hollows in her eyes and snarled, lips splitting wide to expose teeth like a mouthful of broken glass-

“Master, your tea is ready.”

Evangeline, distracted by the synthetic voice of Chachamaru, crystal clear although she was some few hundred metres away, blinked and sat up, apparently oblivious to the woman sprawled beneath her.

“Hmm? A tea break already? Well, I suppose I could do with a cup...”

Her eyes, green again, seemed to glow with faint disapproval as she snatched Setsuna’s slack hand and hauled her to her feet with no apparent effort.

“Some swordswoman you are. You did nothing but cower beneath me, half-breed. So much for your combat skills...”

Setsuna flushed unhappily, and snatched her hand back from Eva, who raised an eyebrow. Dried blood itched on her cheek, she was tired, sore, and more than a little confused by what had just happened and the half-pint sorceress was giving her the evil eye.

I’ve still got nineteen hours to go... oh, joy...

“That said, I suppose I should apologise. I am not some neophyte thrall to be dizzied by the taste of blood; I did not expect yours to be so potent, and lost my control.” Eva sniffed, and wiped her mouth, smudging faint smears of red across her fingertips. “What have you been doing of late to have so much energy seething inside you, I wonder?”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” muttered Setsuna, smoothing down her clothes as best she could, and walking stiffly towards the small table where Chachamaru poured tea.

The magus nosferatu rolled her eyes.

“Really, Setsuna- how childish of you. It was a simple question, and if you cannot survive my interrogation, I’m sure you won’t fare well against that of her father’s.”

Choosing to ignore that statement, Setsuna took the seat proffered to her by a graceful Chachamaru, who bowed and placed a steaming cup in front of her. Sipping hesitantly at the tea –it would be just like Eva to poison her own brew- the swordswoman relaxed at little when the fragrant beverage proved to be oolong tea, and accordingly non-toxic (and quite tasty too).

“You do realise he’s going to skin you alive, yes?”

Ppbbbsht!

Lukewarm tea dripped off every available surface, including Chachamaru (to the robot maid’s credit, she merely flicked her wipers on before continuing about her serving tasks) and Eva shook a slender hand in a disgusted manner, scattering drops onto the stained tablecloth. Setsuna, choking on her own tongue, hacked and spluttered until the drenched gynoid thumped her soundly on the back. Flopping forward onto the table, further ruining her school blouse, Setsuna sighed weakly into a puddle of tea.

“You had to wait until I’d taken a sip before you said that, didn’t you?”

“Of course,” sniffed the vampire, shaking back cornsilk tresses. “It’s not nearly as enjoyable teasing you if you don’t make an absolute ass of yourself in the process. You mortals are so amusing.”

“...I’m glad I was of service.”

“Oh please, Setsuna- don’t try sarcasm on me. I’m five centuries your senior. At any rate, I only brought it up because I’m curious to know whether you think you stand a chance or not if Eishun challenges you to a duel.”

Setsuna blinked, and managed to convey confusion, apprehension and disbelief in one simple facial movement.

With a gentle rattle of cup on saucer, the blonde took a sip of her tea, proclaimed it passable to a waiting Chachamaru, and fixed her sinister gaze on the bewildered half-demon.

“You seduced his daughter-”

“-I’ll have you know the ojou-sama was the one who seduced me!”

Evangeline rolled her eyes. “Whatever the facts of the matter, he’ll never believe that and you know it. You deflowered his pure and innocent daughter-” (pure and innocent my foot, thought Setsuna, who’d had firsthand experience of exactly how devious Konoka actually was) “-and then had the gall to show your face in public. He has -by shinmeiryuu lore and the code of honour, not to mention a father’s prerogative- every right in the world to demand satisfaction from you. And I think you would find it difficult to weasel your way out of a confrontation with him, especially if you want to stay with your dear ojou-sama.”

Setsuna, face down in her tea-puddle, shuddered. Evangeline, savouring her obvious distress, smiled winsomely.

“When you do eventually face him on the duelling field, I would appreciate it if you nominated me as your second.”

That was different; Setsuna lifted her head, and made no attempt to disguise her distrust. “Why?”

“Because when he slaughters you where you stand, I would make it clear that I am there to defend your honour- and take the chance to knock the smug bastard down a peg. It’s been far too long since he duelled me last; swordmaster or not, I rather think he’s forgotten exactly how weak he is compared to me.”

That was more like the Eva-chan she knew. Setsuna laid back down in her spilt drink.

“Sure. I’ll be dead; it’s not like it will actually matter to me what you do afterwards.”

Eva lifted a thin eyebrow.

“That’s a bit defeatist of you, Setsuna- whatever happened to the ‘I must live for my ojou-sama!’ attitude, hmm?”

In response to this, Setsuna blew miserable bubbles in her lukewarm beverage.

Eva rolled her eyes. “Pull yourself together, will you? It’s not fun if you just give-up.”

More bubbles.

Eva pinched the bridge of her nose, a gesture Setsuna was coming to associate with annoyance on the diminutive despot’s behalf, and sneered down at the young woman sprawled into her own tea.

“By the gods, but you are pathetic. You can’t tell me that you, you who faced hordes of demons and slaughtered them where they stood, you who achieved mastery of your sword-style before you hit puberty, you who fears nothing but displeasure in your ojou-sama’s eyes, are afraid of confronting your girlfriend’s father?”

Setsuna’s temper, which seemed so much closer to the surface these days than it ever had before, surged up, spilling through her until it roiled and seethed beneath her skin. Setsuna snapped open white eyes flooding with black anger, and spat out a snarl as wicked as a sawblade.

“What would you have of me, vampire? I came to you for aid, and receive insults. I came to you as an ally, and I am treated as an enemy! If you wish me to split you open and spill your rotting insides upon your tiled floor, you have only to say the word!”

Slamming back her chair with a scream of tortured wood, Setsuna rose, wings snapping out with a cyclonic gust that bowled the table over, shattering teacups on stone. Chachamaru blurred into action, crouching before her perplexed master, body tensed into a defensive position.

“Emergency protocol online. Fatal threat perceived. Evasive action in order.”

Chachamaru, faster than possible by human limbs, snatched the stunned vampire into her arms, kicked off her jet boosters, and propelled herself into the air, streaking towards the castle that hovered in the distance.

Setsuna screamed in temper, hot frustration seething through her, demon raging in her blood, and shrieked into the sky as a feathered, enraged avatar of fury.

Evangeline, dainty feet dangling over Chachamaru’s elbow, watched, enraptured, as the pale figure of Setsuna flew after her with speed that her inhuman eyes watered to follow.

So fast-!

“Threat regaining ground. Turbo boosters engaged.”

An ear-burning blast of sound that burst Eva’s eardrums; Chachamaru’s synthetic hair streaming out as aerofins exploded from her back; silk and lace dress sloughing away like discarded skin as twelve boosters –dotted along the gynoid’s spine and legs- roared into life; Evangeline staring into the blue flame streaking into the sky as the half-demon pursuing her faded into a distant smear on the far horizon.

Miles below them, an illusory sea –modelled off the Mediterranean Ocean, if she recalled correctly- glittered with grains of silver.

“Threat evaded. Turbo boosters disengaged.”

The blonde vamp ignored the hot blood dripping down her neck, and the faint sting of her torn auditory organs repairing themselves. Distantly, she registered a half-dozen cracked ribs from Chachamaru’s rough handling (though strictly speaking, she had herself to blame as she had designed the defensive program), but they were unimportant as her gynoid screeched to a stop mid-air, jostling Eva in her partner’s steel embrace.

“Threat removed. Emergency protocol offline. Master, are you hurt?”

“Only a little,” said Eva with a dismissory wave. “Where is Setsuna? Is she still following?”

“My optics register a faint blur some four hundred kilometres away. Probability indicates this is Sakurazaki-san. Figure is moving; speed... incalculable. My sensors indicate some form of teleportation or space/time warp-folding is taking place.”

The smear against the sky, darker now, and growing imperceptibly larger with every millisecond, seemed to blur, winking in and out of sight.

“Ah,” said Evangeline, feeling for the first time in almost four hundred years, some small measure of caution. Perhaps goading a newly unsealed half-demon with a disposition for monster-slaying had not been the most intelligent decision.

“Should I take further evasive action, Master?”

“Hold. Let me down; I can handle her.” Probably.

Obligingly, Chachamaru disengaged her grip; Evangeline tumbled some dozen or so metres to her left, balance a little off from her damaged ears, and righted herself in a flurry of black lace.

“Warn me the next time you do that, will you?” she asked dryly.

“Yes, Master.”

The distant figure, previously the size of a speck of dust, was now as big as a broken chopstick and growing larger every time she blinked.

“If she is overly aggressive, prepare temporal locative drive for escape.”

“Yes, Master. Preparing nuclear warpspace engines.”

A low hum rumbled through Evangeline’s bones, and the faint tang of radioactivity seared the air. Evangeline wrinkled her nose delicately. Radioactive substances could not harm her, her body stripping damaged cells faster than needed to heal, let alone prevent injury, but they still burned her nose.

Setsuna could be seen now; still small, but her details grew perceivably clearer as every second passed. Her face was twisted into a grimace, whether from rage or exertion could not be discerned.

“Stand by, Chachamaru.”

“Systems on standby. Boosters engaged in neutral.”

The silence could have been considered eerie, if it weren’t for the fact that the parties engaged in this stand-off were a half-demonic swordswoman and a vampire sorceress, complete with robotic minion, and nothing could really compare to that.

Sunlight flashed off Setsuna’s talons, hands lax against her side as her wings pounded through the scattered clouds; the illusion of water vapour steamed into nothingness where her wings touched them. The girl was silent, conserving her breath for flight, and Eva relaxed a little (but not enough to indicate she had been concerned, certainly not).

“No threat perceived. Warpspace engines powering down.”

“So, you’re no longer out for my blood? Though, I must say I am impressed with that display. Not very many creatures can fold time about themselves so effortlessly, you know.”

Setsuna, wings outstretched, glided forward, slowing with considerably more grace than Chachamaru had displayed. She beat her wings lazily, using feathered limbs as parachutes to slow her further, coming to a gentle stop some twenty metres from the vampire.

Around them, the air was still; Eva’s words were loud and sharp in the silence. The ocean sparkled beneath their feet, a few hundred metres below.

“I think... it was hardly... effortless.” Setsuna was not exactly panting, but a little out of breath all the same. She swiped the sweat from her forehead with clawed hands, and shook herself with a ruffle of feathers. Her wings beat twice, and she pulled a loop to regain some height, unable to hover like either the vampire mage or the robot, who rested on her back burners, tattered dress seared and scorched beyond recognition.

“Yes, well,” said Evangeline dismissively, “That’s not my point. Also, it seems I’ve been going about this the wrong way, as much as I am loathe to admit it.”

Setsuna said nothing, waiting for the apology that never came.

“You’re not a mage,” continued the vamp, oblivious to the swordswoman’s frostiness, “and you will, most likely, never be one; what magic there is in your blood seems to be a side effect of your demonic heritage, and quite possibly your association with the boy; I don’t think it likely you will ever be able to achieve anything more than the manipulation of chi.” Here the petite blonde began to pace an imagined path, stepping daintily in mid-air, ocean shimmering far below her delicate footsteps. In full-blown lecturer mode, she seemed oblivious to Setsuna’s incredulous look as the swordswoman beat her wings steadily to keep aloft.

“So, in a similar vein, you must learn to regard your personal glamourie as an extension of your chi and manipulate it accordingly- and from what I have seen of your working of chi, I believe that you should achieve mastery in a mere year or so, though if you work at it, you should be able to create a passable glamour today. Which means you don’t have to take up space in my resort for too long.”

Pulling off her glasses, she rubbed the lenses with the edge of her petticoat, realised the left lens was missing, rolled her eyes and tossed the pair over her shoulder with a dainty shrug.

Setsuna watched the red-framed pair tumble end over end towards the ocean until they passed out of sight, unable to see the delicate splash they made upon hitting the shimmering, sparkling water.

“Whatever glamourie you are likely to weave won’t hold up to intense scrutiny; anyone with the sight –that is, the ability to perceive magical creatures and or objects- will see through it immediately. If you wish to remain undetected, it is prudent to also be wary of the following: cats; rocks with naturally-formed holes in them; rowan, ash or oak trees; milk and blessed water or alcohol; sun showers, full, half and dark moons; four leaf clovers and consecrated ground, although in the case of the latter it mostly applies to malignant forces and the undead, neither of which apply to you...”

Evangeline, lost in thought, trailed off into silence. Setsuna, distinctly aware that not only had she performed a spectacular feat of speed to get here, but hovering continuously on the spot for over ten minutes whilst exhausted and wounded was not a clever thing to do.

Black spots danced in front of her eyes, and sudden chill washed through her, leaving her hollow and weak. The slash on her cheek burned, and her wings shuddered as she slipped downwards twenty metres before regaining her purchase on the air. Ignorant of Setsuna’s sudden dizziness, Evangeline continued.

“I would also be careful around the shinmeiryuu and their associates; the seal you broke also shattered the human-appearance illusion that had been with you since shortly after birth. It was a strong spell, that- its remnants still linger in your blood, and it would have kept almost everyone from seeing your true appearance.”

The swordswoman’s eyes closed; lack of sleep, on top of everything else was getting to her. Swaying in mid-air, she slid her hand across her bare stomach –school shirt long ago torn and discarded in the chase, leaving her in breast bindings and a skirt, shoes lost somewhere in the ocean below- to touch the aching tug behind her navel. A small pain, in contrast to the burn of tired muscles and sliced cheek, but somehow powerful enough to send a shiver through her, leaving a faint throbbing in its wake. Her eyes fluttered open again, barely conscious of the fact she’d slipped down once more. Beating her wings against the air felt like pounding stone with her fists, but she somehow dragged herself upwards.

Eva was still talking; her childish voice was thoughtful, and its soft cadences lulled the swordswoman back towards drowsiness. Her eyes drifted closed again, and she knew her grip of consciousness was slipping, but could not seem to stay awake...

“Without it, you may find those you once thought of as friends now regard you as an enemy whose true nature has finally been revealed. You might find yourself at odds with the organisation that trained you. Not an enviable position, that...”

Evangeline stopped, suddenly aware from the sound of rustling feathers in the otherwise still air that’d she’d lost her audience; Setsuna plummeted downwards, eyes closed, wings splayed and feathers filling the air like scraps of silk. Evangeline whispered a curse in Gaelic, and performed a perfect swan-dive, graceful in freefall as she speared towards the surface of the ocean.

Behind her, past the rush of air in her ears, she could hear the hum of Chachamaru’s engines. Before her, only the susurration of feathers as the half-demon tumbled towards her doom.

Not for the first time did the vampire wish she was less thorough in her crafting of illusions; although an ocean glimmered below them, apparently bottomless, in reality it was a scant metre or two deep, and solid bedrock under that. It was a moot point anyway- hitting the water at this height, regardless of how deep it was, would be like hitting concrete at over 400 kilometres an hour. No matter how fast half-demons healed, Setsuna wouldn’t survive that.

Not to mention that if I let her die, I’ll have to deal with the unrestrained fury of the most powerful magical vessel the world has ever seen. I’ve no wish to anger a descendant of the sun goddess, not if I want to live to see the dawn.

Gaining speed, she angled her slender body like an arrow, and felt the whip-like sting as her clothes lashed about her body. Hands over her head, fingers reaching, she strained to grab a handful of feathers, the limp body of Setsuna with arms outstretched falling like an angel from grace.

There’s a thought. I haven’t waxed poetic in decades.

Spread wings slowing the swordswoman just enough, Evangeline managed to snag a limp arm, and kicking off apparently empty air, the vampire shot upwards with a jerk, magic power boiling off her skin to streamline her ascent, dragging a lifeless half-demon behind her.

“You couldn’t give me a hand, could you?” she snapped at a hovering Chachamaru.

“My apologies, master. I have entered power-conservation mode as WARNING: batteries at critical level I used a lot of power to elude Sakurazaki-san previously. Unless I divert power from non-essential functions, I fear I will slip into shutdown modSpeech program offline. Disengaging AI. Shutdown mode engaged.”

Stunned into disbelief, the vampire nevertheless managed to lunge forward in time to catch her suddenly falling gynoid, as her visual monitors flickered into darkness and her jet boosters sputtered and died.

“Not you too!” moaned Evangeline.

“All functions terminating. Shutt-tt-ttinggg d-d-d-ddowwwwnnn-nnn-nnnn...” said Chachamaru, failing batteries dragging out her synthetic voice into a death rattle.

Alone, in the middle of the (apparently) Mediterranean Ocean, and as far away from her castle as it was possible to get, the Magus Nosferatu Evangeline hissed in anger, cradling the limp figure of Setsuna in one small arm and the significantly heavier Chachamaru in the other, and screamed a series of unintelligible curses to the heavens.

Asuna hesitated before knocking on the door. Although it was identical in shape and function to any other door -in fact, it was identical in shape and function to every other door on this floor- she couldn’t help but feel trepidation.

Which was odd.

It wasn’t like she was entering the lair of some evil monster, who deigned to prey upon young virgins-

Quit it. You and your damn imagination. Just knock on the door, and when Konoka eventually sticks her head out of it, let her have it for making you get worried sick-

She knocked.

Asuna listened to the noises about her for a moment. Down the hall, she could hear the hubbub of the cheerleader’s early morning practice; Ayaka was letting fly at Makie for something, and the twins were watching the early-morning cartoons they loved so much a few rooms down. But nothing from this one, not even the dull murmur of conversation...

She knocked again, and felt the door shudder.

Huh? It’s open...?

Sighing, Asuna pushed the door open and stepped inside, eyes covered with one hand. She could remember all too clearly what happened the day before walking into a room unannounced. Though common sense dictated one shouldn’t need to knock upon entering their own room.

“Look, guys, I’m coming in. Uh, can we make sure we’ve got some clothes on please?”

No noise, no frantic rustling of clothes as her best friends attempted to cover their nakedness.

Okay, maybe they aren’t going at it like rabbits. You can probably open your eyes.

Slowly, Asuna opened one eye, and then the other, prepared to squeeze them both shut at any sight of heaving breasts or creamy thighs- but her gaze met nothing so saucy.

Just an empty room.

“Hey? Hello?”

A little embarrassed that her caution had been for nothing, Asuna strode confidently into the small door alcove, scanning the room for any side of her brunette friend, but only finding an unmade bed with rumpled sheets and a few scattered items of clothing-

Wait a minute.

Her gaze settled upon the single bed in the corner of the room- pushed up against the wall beneath the only window, scattered beams of sunlight warm on twisted sheets. An extra blanket lay at the foot of the bed, cast off during the night. A rumpled pair of pyjamas half-hung from a cupboard, clothes spilling from its open drawers. A pair of pillows were bunched up at the head of the bed, overlapping as they lay- this was a sleeping space designed for one that had been made to accommodate for two.

Okay, so that’s not so bad. Those two must’ve stayed out late last night and rather than wake Negi and me, Konoka decided to stay here overnight. That’s not, uh, suspicious... I think. But, what’s with the clothes all over the floor...?

A pair of pink high heels laid discarded against the couch, next to a pair of patent leather shoes with jagged holes in the leather uppers. Cast over the arm of the lounge was a cherry-pink shawl, which, even from this distance, Asuna could see was rumpled and torn. Stepping closer, the young woman reached out hesitantly to brush her fingers over dark stains in the silky cloth- the shawl was unwearable now, having been used as a bandage of some kind...

“A bandage?” whispered Asuna, loud in the empty apartment, casting a fresh gaze over the room. Now she was looking for them, signs at odds with the innocence of simple untidiness appeared. A few dark droplets stained the carpet at her feet, and a bloody handprint had been hastily wiped off the coffee table. Walking forward, she noticed that the rug on the living room floor was damp, as though recently washed and not yet dry. Near here, a woman’s dress shirt lay rumpled by the wall, as though hastily tossed there. Dark stains dotted the once-white top, now a muddy red, as though blood drenched and then wrung out, and Asuna felt a shiver trickle down her spine. From what she’d seen so far, someone had come home hurt last night, badly hurt- the drops of blood and the hand print seemed to suggest someone had been carried home, bleeding heavily, and laid upon the rug, where someone else had tried to patch them up...

That’s Setsuna’s shirt. It’s too small and too plain to be Konoka’s, so she was hurt last night, and Konoka carried her home. She must have tried to heal her, but that still begs the question as to how Setsuna got hurt in the first place. I mean, unless they got ambushed on the way home, I think Setsuna’s strong enough to handle just about anything else.

I mean, gods, she’s a trained shinmeiryuu swordswoman, unstoppable in battle. It’d take a whole damn army to put a scratch on her, let alone cut her up this bad.

Asuna sighed, and wandered over to the bathroom, pushing the half-open door wide, and exposing a half-cleaned mess. Dirty towels hung crookedly from the shower rail, and a few smears of dried blood hadn’t been mopped up from the floor. Turning back to the unmade bed, sheets tangled in a manner suggestive of something other than sleep, and a pair of panties dangling suspiciously from the bed post, she shook her head.

This makes no sense. Okay, so they get ambushed by what, a freaking army on their way home? And they fight them off- else they probably wouldn’t have made it home in the first place. So Konoka’s dragging a badly hurt Setsuna –who’d let nothing short of being hit by a truck –scratch that, a Sherman Tank- stop her from coming home by her own power- and lays her down on the rug, completely disregarding how on earth they managed to get in the building in the first place and not be seen by anyone, and tries to heal her. And then they both go have a shower. Wash all the blood off and all that. And then... have... post-shower nookie? What in the hell! That story makes no sense.

Frowning, the redhead scanned the room, but was unable to come up with a scenario that fit the facts better than her first guess. Rubbing her temples, and shooting a final, peeved glance at the messed up bed, Asuna stormed out, slamming the door shut behind her.

“And that STILL doesn’t tell me where the hell she is! Konoka, you’d better have a bloody good excuse when you get home!”

Wet. Something wet, dripping down my cheek.

Blood? No, too cool.

Water?

“Good evening Sakurazaki-san. My master has asked me to remind you that you are not, in fact, at home and therefore she would be grateful if you saw fit to deem her with your presence as soon as you are capable.”

Setsuna, barely awake, sat up and brushed a wet cloth from her forehead. Chachamaru, re-dressed in a 1950’s era maid outfit, nodded politely and turned to open the curtains. Dying sunlight filtered through gauzy fabric, casting a peachy glow across the stone floors.

“Eva said that?”

“Um... in not so many words, no. To directly quote...” with this, the gynoid tilted her head slightly to the left. A soft click, followed by a gentle whirr and when next Chachamaru opened her mouth, it was Evangeline’s childish voice that rang out.

“Get your lazy ass out of my guest beds, half-breed, and get over to the training arena in the arctic world before I come in there and- click.”

The gynoid seemed slightly abashed. “I thought it prudent to terminate the recording then, before my profanity filter engaged.”

Still groggy, the swordswoman looked around at her opulent surroundings in a daze.

“How did I...?”

Chachamaru, understanding her confusion, smiled gently.

“After your... disagreement... with my master, you exhausted yourself in flight and collapsed mid-air. My master brought you back to the main castle to recover in order to continue your training. Nine hours of internal time have passed, Sakurazaki-san; although according to academy time, it is still early morning. I have prepared another school uniform for you, though I do suggest your remain in your current attire until you have survived, er, completed your training with my master.”

Nodding, Setsuna stood, wincing as she stretched out the kinks in her wings. Without a glamour that gave her the illusion of a smooth back, lying down was really quite uncomfortable.

Rolling her shoulders from side to side, she flared her wings, feeling the ache as sore muscles stretched and pulled. The gynoid, true to her base programming as a maid, brushed past her smoothly to straighten the bed, peeling silken sheets from a plush velvet mattress. The sheets, raw silk, were priceless- and stained with her blood. Brushing a hand against her cheek, the swordswoman felt smooth and unbroken skin where once a slash had exposed raw and bloody flesh.

Must have healed in my sleep.

It seemed there were some benefits to being a half-demon, after all...

Chachamaru, now seemingly engrossed in plumping bolsters and pillows, nodded in the direction of the open windows, where a gust of cool air, sharp with the faintest hint of arctic snow, melted into the room. A shiver ruffled Setsuna’s feathers, a bead of sweat chilling down her spine like an icy fingertip.

“If you follow the breeze, Sakurazaki-san, you should find the portal quite easily. I would warn you that my master intends an ambush; you would do well to be prepared.”

“Thankyou.” Stepping out onto the windowsill –wide enough to seat four people comfortably- Setsuna sighed, breath steaming into evening air grown suddenly chill. Unnatural darkness roiled against the sky, storm clouds boiling around a distant beacon, illuminated by teleportation magic.

The longer I keep her waiting, the angrier she gets, and the longer I am away from Kono-chan.

Low in her belly, something twisted at that thought- a tugging, pulling ache deep within that was quickly echoed by her heart, her lungs, every inch of her. Each breath dragged in bore the ghost of agony, every blink of her eyes threatened to send her spiralling into the inky blackness that crowded her. A thunderclap boomed across the horizon, sending jagged sparks of lightning screaming to this illusionary earth before her. The pain inside, whose cause she was not certain of, throbbed in counterpoint to her heartbeat.

Distant rain, turning to icy sleet as it plummeted from the sky, smashing onto the chipped stone parapets of the castle, was a clear indicator of Evangeline’s disappearing patience. Better to leave now and finish the task that had sent her here in the first place rather than to give into foreboding and try her host’s nerves further.

Sparing a glance for Chachamaru, who hurried forth to shutter windows against the coming storm, Setsuna threw herself into the air in a flurry of feathers, ignoring the bite of the twilight cool, and soared over wet-slicked cliff tops. The pulse of the teleportation gate was her marker in the growing dark, clouds spilling like ink through the sky. Although the rain hammered down upon her, her feathers did not clump and cluster damply; she could feel the weather, though it did not affect her. Another illusion to match the looming castle behind her.

Evangeline was, among many other things, a master mage; to craft such a detailed, realistic world-within-a-bottle was a testament to her massive power if nothing else.

Tucking her wings in to streamline, Setsuna caught the edge of a rising gust and shot towards the glowing portal, plummeting headfirst into the magic haze-

-and falling into a snowdrift, illusory raindrops cast off her skin as thousands of tiny icicles. Sputtering out a mouthful of snow, she sat up and choked in a breath. The air whistling down her throat slashed into her lungs as ribbons of ice; the half-demon coughed violently, clambering to her feet to shake the snow from her feathers.

“You’re going to die if you stay here too long. Unlike the boy, you’ve no magic to burn for heat. Unless you can cloak yourself in chi quickly, you’ll be an icicle in minutes.”

Evangeline’s voice poured out of the snow-flecked darkness like honey; thick, cloying and sickly sweet. Setsuna shuddered and wrapped her arms about her chest, pulling her wings tight. Fluffing her feathers up would trap a little heat, enough to keep her warm for a little while, but the thrashing snow and wind would snatch away her body heat before long. And, in contrast to Asuna, who had survived a week here, she had no kankahou to aid her.

“North of you, some two hundred metres ahead, is a sparring ring surmounted by four stone pillars. If you wish to learn how to cloak yourself in a human guise, I suggest you make you way there before you freeze to death. Or not. The choice is yours, after all...”

Evangeline’s words floated in the dark, distorted a little by the roaring wind. Setsuna cursed. At the moment, beset by the elements and shrouded in artificial, storm-borne night, she had no chance of finding her bearings. Human eyes couldn’t even see in the dark-

Oh.

Shuddering a little, the swordswoman closed her eyes, and reached inward. Beneath her conscious mind, she felt the demon stir, sending ripples through her soul. Long suppressed, recently awakened, her deepest nature felt alien to her searching mind, and instinct screamed for her to recoil, to push it away- but she did not.

If I am to survive here, if I am to go home to my Kono-chan, then the demon and I must make an accord.

Power, the merest sliver of the power sleeping within her, shivered loose and brushed against the core of her, setting the consciousness that was Setsuna alight with possibility.

Her seal was gone, that was true, but the slumbering demon inside had not fully awoken. Not yet. Perhaps she never would. But this small fragment of youki was enough to see her through this chill darkness...

Hah. Wah!

Expelling a breath to burst from her lips as a cloud of steam, Setsuna felt the rivers of energy within her flex and churn, changing subtly as more power flowed upwards. Shivering with new energy, the swordswoman hesitated. Perhaps what she had done had not been what she was aiming for. What if she had damaged herself by trying to harness the demon within, and yet not become it? What if she-

No. I am not afraid.

Hands clenched in front of her, cold burning across her skin as chilled acid, Setsuna pushed back doubt and opened eyes blurred with tears as pain streaked across her vision. Before her, nothing. But as her blood seethed with this new fragment of her birthright, she blinked furiously to clear the tears as light seeped into the landscape before her. Pupils wide, drinking in the dark, the half-demon laughed to find the pitch-black landscape illuminated for her. Each snowflake spun in fluorescent glory, the sky streaming with luminescence. Finding her feet in the icy, glowing flurry, the swordswoman dashed forward, heading for the stone pillars that glowed with incandescent traceries, casting shadows upon the snow-swept platform where Evangeline stood.

It was only when her gaze fell upon the vampire did Setsuna realise the significance of the changes in her sight. She did not, in fact, have night-vision; instead of drawing in luminescence and the reflections thereof to guide her preternatural sight, what her demon-eyes saw with was, in fact, magic.

Raw magical essence spills from all living things, from all natural substances and from all enchantments and spellcraft in varying degrees. Thus, the world around her –an immensely complicated illusion crafted by a master mage who happened to be a vampire, an inherently magical once-human creature- spun in such brilliant colour before her eyes because it was not only saturated in magic, it was magic.

And the space where Evangeline stood, the crafter of such an awesomely powerful web of spells, was as incandescent as the midday sun. Evangeline burned in her sight like a star, a nexus of raw magical illumination; as the swordswoman stumbled towards her, bare feet finally meeting cold stone, her eyes streamed with tears and red shadows as the power that boiled around the magus nosferatu was laid bare to her. Looking away to avoid being blinded, Setsuna’s gaze raked down her own body-

-and stopped, and stared at the thinnest, faintest strand of silken thread, winking in and out of existence, tied to her smallest finger in a scarlet strand that trailed off into the distance, fading into the impenetrable black.

What on earth-?

“Hmph. I see you managed to dredge up another aspect of your heritage, half-breed. I assume you can see the magic in the air, yes? Well done. Though it would be best to switch back to mundane sight before I light this lamp...”

Click. Whoomph.

Closing her eyes before the flame scorched her retinas white, Setsuna flinched at the red glow pressing against her eyelids.

“I... I don’t know how.” She said quietly, nodding in the direction of the brightest glow, feeling tears seep through her eyelashes and freeze to her cheeks, chilling the skin there until it ached. Numbness crept up her legs, snaked into her belly and made her teeth chatter.

Eva tutted, the sound low and menacing, as chilly as the roaring wind. “Not particularly wise to mess with your supernatural physiology so soon after being unsealed.”

Sweat, hot against her spine, trickled down, chilling as it slid over her vertebrae, leaving a trail of almost frost. The shadows sketched onto the red warm inside of her eyelids moved, flowed as the bright spot that was the vampire circled her, ghostly feet silent on the stone.

“I should leave you like this. It would be a lesson not to meddle, child. Though I don’t blame you for your curiosity. After all, it is very hard not to pry and poke at one’s inner nature when one realises, completely and utterly, that they are not human...”

Pain, following the numbness, clawing into her flesh; the searing, scorching light pressing tight against her closed eyes; and the soft tickle of a sigh brushing against her cheek. Evangeline stood before her, peering upwards, and one cool hand pressed against her forehead in an odd gesture of benediction.

“Child I called you. And you are one. But, that is no reason to be unnecessarily cruel. I suppose.”

Darkness.

Her open eyes met the thin, pixie-ish face of the figure before her, alight with nothing more sinister than the faint glow of a half-buried lantern, banked by a drift of flaky, powdery snow. Amber light spilt into the dark landscape, melting into the shadows pressing in on the small, stone platform. Eva’s blonde hair seemed scarcely more substantial than the snowflakes caught on scattered beams of light, and whipped about her face in silken, tangled skeins.

Evangeline’s eyes, green and jaded like a temple cats, like jewels in a porcelain face, smouldered with impossible, uncertain intent.

The half-demon, bolder than perhaps she should be, stared right back.

The vampire smiled, though there was nothing pleasant in it, and a shuttered veil of boredom shivered across her penetrating gaze. Turning away, she paced a half-dozen metres before turning back to the slender figure of Setsuna. Her expression was a little too impassive.

“You’ve only an hour’s worth of oil in that lantern, you know. And the dark is no inconvenience to me, so what care I if the light goes out?”

Setsuna brushed the frozen teardrops from her cheeks roughly, and shuddered, feathers rustling against the too-cold skin of her back. A harsh breath followed, her frozen limbs settling into a stance learned by rote some ten years ago. Chi, summoned by the motions of her hands and the ritual exhalation of energy, simmered beneath her skin, an almost-painful blaze in her belly. She couldn’t hold this heat forever, but certainly long enough to keep her alive and defrosted for the better part of an hour. Already melting snow was sliding off her feathers.

“I won’t fail again.” She said evenly, voice ringing with confidence over the bleak landscape. In the inky distance, the light of the single lantern seemed small and insignificant against the wailing, thrashing blizzard, but its light was comforting none the less.

Evangeline grinned, red lips splitting open to expose shiny teeth, glistening with the honeyed light of the small oil burner.

“We’ll see. Now. The first thing you need is to conjure an image of yourself in your mind...”

It had been surprisingly easy to sneak back into the dormitory, although Konoka had experienced a moment of anxiety as a semi-conscious Makie stumbled down the main steps, bumped up against the pot-plant she was hiding behind, and staggered down the hall to the bath, mumbling as she went. Although Chachamaru had provided her with an appropriately-sized school uniform, her feet were ensconced in a borrowed pair of fuzzy slippers adorned with kittens, a design so obnoxiously cute it was obvious they didn’t belong to her- something which could lead to questions about why exactly she was trying to get back into the building this early in the morning.

The young mage nevertheless found herself creeping up the hall that led to her room with relief, and a sneaking sense of guilt that refused to be squashed. Fighting down the terrible inclination to burst into her own bedroom, begging forgiveness for her sins –of which she was sure the others would be certain to see written upon her forehead in glowing letters- regardless of whether said sins were deserving of punishment or not.

Really, she tried to rationalise with herself, it’s not as though what you’ve done is a crime. Staying out late at night is a little unwise, involving yourself in an epic battle between the forces of demon-kind and your bodyguard/girlfriend slightly foolish perhaps, especially on the night before the start of the school-week, but hardly criminal. And no one can say anything about you staying the night at said girlfriend’s house if no one notices...

Though the sinking feeling as she hesitantly turned the doorknob and felt it tremble in her shaking hands suggested bad things waited for her in the darkened room stretching out from the doorway.

Tiptoeing across carpet for the second time that morning (though thankfully fully-clothed this time), she slid the door closed as silently as possible, trying to avoid stumbling over the numerous objects in her path, heading for the dark kitchen with stealth Kaede would be proud of.

Click.

“And where, exactly, were you when we woke up this morning, Konoka?”

Asuna’s voice, deceptively pleasant, hummed with the special kind of temper she reserved for beating the ever-loving crap from Chamo (and, sometimes, Negi) after he’d been caught doing something particularly displeasing.

The bright fluorescent light cast shadows across her seated figure, lending an eerie quality to mis-matched eyes, simmering with anger. Behind her, Negi stood at the lightswitch, arms crossed angrily over his chest, Chamo seated disapprovingly on his shoulder. Slippers in hand, Konoka felt her shoulders slump in despair.

“Oh, crap.”

“You said it, young lady.” Snapped Asuna, waving her left hand which clutched a cigarette, sending thin spirals of smoke to curl into the air. Bringing the thin cylinder to her lips, she drew in an angry puff, and hacked violently, smoke streaming from her nostrils.

Konoka gaped in astonishment at the redhead, who sputtered, her face the same shade as her hair.

“Since when do you smoke, Asuna?” she asked incredulously.

The schoolgirl, still spluttering, stabbed the smoke into an ashtray, twisting it violently. A worried Negi steeped up and thumped her on the back, Asuna waving a dismissive hand in his direction.

“I don’t,” she wheezed, brushing away the boy-teacher’s concern, “It’s for effect. And since when do you stay out all night and not let anybody know where you are, hmm?” she snapped, turning the tables on a stunned brunette.

Gaping, Konoka turned to a flustered Negi for support, and found only judgement in his eyes.

“We were very worried about you, Konoka-san. It really isn’t like you to stay out so late, and when we woke this morning to find you not at home and not answering your mobile, we grew even more concerned.” The boy-teacher frowned, straightening himself up with a shake of his head, smoothing his hands across the front of his suit. “Really, Konoka-san, would it have been so hard to send a message indicating you intended to stay the night with Setsuna-san, and save everyone here the worry?”

Uncomfortable with the naked disappointment in his voice, Konoka flinched and mumbled an apology, wishing the ground would swallow her up like countless other teens around the world when confronted by a figure of authority. Though being lectured by someone five years her junior and barely pubescent was vaguely disturbing.

“Yeah, and what was with the scene I found in Setsuna’s room, hmm? Blood all over the place, torn clothes and the bed all messed up? What the hell happened to you two last night?”

Asuna, recovered from her bout of coughing, stood up and glared at the downcast brunette, voice cracking like a whip across Konoka’s frayed nerves. Shifting from foot to foot, the young woman shifted her gaze across three accusing faces, and finding no support there, glanced over at a shuttered window. Thin fingers of sunlight brushed against the laminated bench, and a glass of water, still cold, glistened with condensation.

Trepidation ran cool fingers down her spine, making her shiver and wrap her arms about herself. Mind racing, she chewed on her bottom lip anxiously.

Set-chan, what am I supposed to tell them? Do I just come straight out with it and say what happened last night?

Sighing, Konoka turned away from her accusers in the kitchen, and let her arms drop.

I’m no good at lying. I guess... I guess honesty is the best policy here. But... but where do I start?

She could feel their eyes on her, and flinched when Asuna huffed, clearly impatient to hear her justification for her absence.

“It’s... it’s a long story,” she whispered, refusing to look behind her, eyes firmly fixed in the distance. “You guys might want to sit down for this...”

“...after the ambush, Set-chan was pretty messed up. I... I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone that badly hurt, and I’ve helped patch you up countless times, Negi, so I’ve seen my fair share of trauma.” Taking a sip of her water, Konoka leant back in her chair, head bowed. In front of her, Asuna stared at the kitchen wall, face chalky, no doubt imagining the wounds the brown-haired mage rattled off as a bizarre shopping list of pain.

“Broken wing, lacerations, multiple fractures in her spine and skull, internal bleeding and a severe concussion. She passed out soon after the... the battle. I carried her back here, but by then, she was hardly breathing. I think one of her lungs was punctured.”

Her voice was surprisingly steady as she recounted the harrowing walk through the dorm, using her shawl to stem the fresh bleeding that oozed forth with every step they took, Setsuna’s head lolling slackly on bruised and bloodied shoulders, twisted and broken wings scraping the tiled floor. Negi, grimacing, pushed back his chair, walked over to the fridge, hands trembling as he laid his forehead against the cool surface. His eyes were scrunched tight, lips bloodless.

Chamo, eyes darkly serious, gaped in amazement as she told of trying to heal her Set-chan, and Konoka dimly registered tears sliding down her cheeks as she whispered of the terror that she was too late, too late, too late to stop the woman she loved more than all the world dying in front of her eyes...

“After that... after that,” her voice cracking, Konoka swallowed and took another a sip of water, and brushed the wetness from her eyes. “We took a shower. I think I was going into shock. There was, was, so much blood, all over the place, all over us. Set-chan was really worried, and she... she had to stay with me because I was scared. I didn’t want her to leave my sight because... I thought that if she left, she’d...”

“Disappear?” said Asuna softly, looking back at her best friend, eyes soft with pity that made the young mage crumple with sadness.

“Yeah.”

Chamo rubbed his face with one small paw, and paced back and forth across the table top. His little face was furrowed, eyes determined. “This makes no sense. Why would the barriers go down the night all the patrollers were given the night off? I mean, surely, no one could have known you would be attacked...” trailing off, the small fae nodded briskly at the young woman seated before him. “Sorry, ane-san. Go on.”

Hesitant, Konoka shifted her gaze unhappily. What had happened the night before was so private, so... special and new she wasn’t sure she wanted to share it with anyone. Not just yet. It wasn’t as though she was ashamed of what had happened, oh no! She just... wanted to keep it to herself for a little while longer.

“We, uh, went to bed. I... I didn’t want to be, um, alone, so Set-chan... Set-chan s-slept with me last night.” This said in a shivery, tremble-ly voice that made Asuna’s eyes narrow and face turn white, then flush red as all the pieces clicked together. Chamo jerked his head up at her words, ears pricked back, whiskers twitching.

Negi, oblivious to the sudden undercurrent of tension, smiled gently in her direction.

“What happened when you woke, Konoka-san?”

“When I got up, Mana was there. She... she said some stuff about Set-chan needing to go on patrol when she woke up, and gave me back my handbag -I lost it in the forest last night. I guess it’s still on the kitchen table, which is why I didn’t answer when we were at Eva’s...”

Asuna, face still carefully blank, jumped on the opportunity to steer the conversation away from what had been meant by ‘slept’, and hastily blurted out “so, uh, why were you at Eva’s?”

Konoka smiled gratefully, if a little wetly, at the redhead, relieved at the change in direction. “You have to understand that ever since last night, Set-chan doesn’t... doesn’t look human anymore. Something about her demon being unsealed, but she didn’t... didn’t know how to, um, turn human again.” Shaking her head, the young mage trailed her fingers through the puddle of condensation on the table. The tension in the room shimmered thickly, choking her up and making her words stick in her throat.

“Eva... she helped her last time, when Set-chan broke her seal, so we thought that maybe she could help again. Anyway, that’s where she is now- in Eva’s resort.”

Negi sighed and crossed the room again, slumping into his seat. Pinching his nose, he shook his head, and glanced up at her sadly.

“It seems like you’ve been through a lot these past couple of days, Konoka-san. As your teacher... and, as your friend, I can’t help but feel partially responsible. If you girls are in trouble, and I don’t know about it... it makes me feel useless when I find out.”

Asuna thumped her hand against the table. “This sucks! Something was totally up with the barriers going down last night. I bet you anything your granddad had something to do with this. Sneaky old bastard,” muttered the hot-tempered schoolgirl.

“Now, Asuna,” began Negi, hands raised to forestall an argument, “let’s be reasonable. We can’t be sure this was anyone’s fault. Before we form a lynch mob, I suggest we find out a few facts first. It could just be a horrible coincidence-”

“Coincidence my ass, Negi!” snapped Asuna, jerking upwards. Frustrated and feeling more than a little guilty, the young woman stalked over into the kitchen. Chamo, still pondering the exact implication of Konoka’s words, and the fact both her and the young swordswoman’s pactio cards were missing, glanced at the young mage, slumped in her seat forlornly. Questions, of a sort perhaps not appropriate considering what the brunette had just recently gone through, buzzed through his mind.

If Konoka-ne-chan meant what I think she meant by that carefully-worded sentence, then... then I’ve got a pretty good idea as to why their cards went missing...

Glancing over at the clock, a thought struck him.

“Hey, Negster... didn’t you have a meeting with the headmaster?”

Negi, startled, stared at the clock, eyebrows vanishing into his hair.

“Oh, I don’t believe this!” jumping out of his seat, the teenaged teacher dashed for his briefcase, muttering words of a distinctly un-gentleman-ly nature. “I’m going to be late! Girls, class starts soon, and I’d get a move on if I were you!” skidding around the corner, suit jacket dangling loosely from one flailing arm. Jerking the door open, he sent an apologetic smile at Konoka before darting down the hall and out of sight.

“We’d better get to class too,” murmured the red-haired girl, stretching with a yawn. Konoka nodded, sighed, and stood up, unable to stop herself from turning to the window. Although all she could see were trees, she knew that somewhere beyond her line of sight, her Set-chan was trying her very best to appear human again.

I don’t care what you look like, Set-chan, just as long as you come home to me in one piece...

Asuna, sensing her best friend’s dismay, smiled and laid a hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, buck-up, Konoka. I’m sure shorty will be fine. Look, we’ll go to class, get ourselves seated and she’ll dash in the door, bowing and scraping and with a sorry smile for being late... you’ve got nothing to worry about. Even Chamo agrees with me.”

“Hm? Uh, yeah, whatever you say ane-san.” The ermine smiled vaguely, still concerned with the consequences of the young couple’s actions. Something told him it was best if he kept his thoughts to himself for now- those girls had enough troubles on their shoulders for the moment.

“I guess...” the brunette trailed off wistfully, before giving herself a slight shake.

Pull it together, Konoka! It’s not the end of the world, and it’s about time you stopped making other people worry about you! Get a grip, get to class, and take the day as it comes, alright?

Squaring her shoulders, the young mage nodded firmly. “Yeah, you’re right, Asuna! Let’s get going, and I’m sure Set-chan will meet us there!”

“That’s the spirit! Come on, let’s go. You know if we’re late for English again, Negi’ll roast us.”

The lantern, barely a glowing shape slumped in snow, was dying; the small flame guttered like the heartbeat of a beast on the verge of death, and Setsuna supposed, if anyone could see her life force, its flame would be wavering and flickering in much the same manner. Blood painted her cheek, dripping in icy, scarlet droplets onto the snow pillowing her where she lay, scattering as black spatters in the violet shadows of the fading light.

Evangeline, utterly merciless and more than willing to prove it, kicked her in the ribs. The sharp stab of pain was merely another echo to the chorus of small cuts, scrapes and fractures that shuddered through her body.

“Hmm. You are flickering a little, though that could be the poor quality of light... provided no one attempts to drench you with milk, your glamour should hold. Probably.”

The half-demon, beaten bloody and concentrating on not choking on her own blood, tried to sit up. A dainty, delicate foot –tiny toes adorned with scarlet nail polish, glinting like specks of blood in yellow, sputtering light- pressed down on her spine, pushing the young swordswoman further into the icy ground. Beneath the swirling snow, frozen slabs of rock grated against her cheek, chilling her to the bone in shivering, scorching waves.

“Impressive- I can barely feel your feathers.” Scrunching her toes into the illusory smooth skin of Setsuna’s back, Eva frowned. “Seems you did better than I thought you would.” The howling wind snatched her words away as soon as they passed her lips, leaving a ghost of an echo to raise goosebumps down the swordswoman’s bruised spine. Choking in a breath between gust-blown snowflakes, Setsuna scrunched numb fingers into the chilled ground, trying to gain enough leverage to raise her up from her prone position. Ignoring her valiant efforts, Evangeline stepped back, scooping up the lantern where it lay. Resting in her thin-boned hands, the tiny, wavering flame finally flickered out, plunging barren snowscape into darkness between one breath and the next.

Setsuna, mustering her strength, rolled onto her back, and lay there shaking. Shivers rolled across her body, wrenching agony from sorely tested muscles –maintaining a constant body temperature of thirty-seven degrees in sub-zero temperatures whilst channelling chi into an illusion of normalcy had drained her to the dregs.

What use is this facade if I never make it back home?

The dark void above swirled with pale shadows of snow and scattered stars. Blackness bore down on her pale figure, snow-damp hair inky against the frozen swells of wind-blown snow and ice.

“If you’re going to lie there and die, there’s no point in me having wasted my time to teach you.”

“Your teaching has left me weak,” gasped Setsuna, voice a rasp on a parched throat. Writhing in the snow, her blood-flecked lips twisted into a bitter smile. “Tell Kono-chan I love her.”

Eva snorted. “I’ll do no such thing. You won’t die here. Your corpse would be inconvenient.”

Lolling her head in the vampire’s direction, Setsuna peered blankly into the dark. A slender figure, probably Evangeline, loomed over her, cradling a shadowy shape that could be the dead lantern.

“You survived my best attempts to kill you, and maintained a passable human glamour at the same time. You won’t die here- no, you’ll get up and go to class soon enough. After changing your attire, of course. Snow-caked and nearly naked is not appropriate for the class room.”

Stalking over to the young woman, Eva bent down, lace dress fluttering in the roaring gale. A thin, icy fingertip pressed against her forehead. “Hard-working dog that you are, I suppose I could throw you a bone...”

Heat seethed under the press of that fingertip; like a stone thrown in a pond, ripples of heat scorched through her body, causing the slender woman to arch and thrash in frothing, melting snow. Hot magic sealed her wounds shut in a flood of burning magic, dragging a scream from bloodless lips. Howling, Setsuna bolted upright, skin scratching with tongues of magical fire, melting the ice around her but leaving no mark on snowy skin.

The cold press of Evangeline’s fingertip against her forehead lifted; the flames guttered and died. The vampire sucked in a breath and blew on the cold wick of the lantern; it flared into life, casting a shimmering golden glow over the pooling water beneath them, already freezing over in the chill.

“What I gave you won’t last, nor will the lantern. You’d best make it to the gate before my gift fails you...”

Snatching the lantern from Eva’s cold, dead hands, Setsuna sketched a hasty bow and raced for the portal, still glowing in the distance. She would not question the vampire’s generosity; such was not conducive to her continued existence. Whatever reasons the diminutive mage had, it was best to let them lie...

Thrashing through the snow, she could feel the fire inside flicker with every chilly step. Narrowing her eyes, Setsuna tucked her head down and hurried, desperate to reach the exit before those flames died and left her a frozen corpse. Hopefully, Chachamaru would have a change of clothes waiting...

In the dark, Eva watched her struggle with cool, impassive eyes. Above her, the stars wheeled and swirled, mirroring her racing mind. Half-demon or not, the girl had survived for far, far too long against her onslaught. The continuing spice of magic in her blood, alien to the girl herself, and vaguely familiar to the magus nosferatu, was just another sign that pointed to interference- something, some spell or enchantment, was keeping the girl alive regardless of what injuries she sustained, and whatever it was, was more powerful than even she wanted to tamper with.

Watch yourself, half-breed. Something, somewhere has plans for you- regardless of your opinion on the matter...

“-and so, if we consider the metaphors present in the text, combined with the typical Shakespearean turn of phrase, it is clear that this sonnet, although attributed to Marlowe, should be observed to belong to the great Bard himself-”

Feeling Negi’s words wash over her like foam on the seashore, Haruna lolled her head from side to side, flicking her pencil between her fingers. Although the boy-teacher was trying his best, there were few in the world that could make her concentrate when she really didn’t want to. Glancing down at her –somewhat sparse- page of notes and over towards Nodoka, faithfully scribing down their young tutors lesson, word for word, she couldn’t help but grin.

Heh. Oh bookstore, whatever shall we do with you?

Rocking back in her chair, blithely ignoring Negi’s explanation of lyrical meter, movement in front caught her eye. Konoka, brown-haired and perhaps a little more sombre than usual, wriggled in her seat, her gaze flicking towards the door. Behind her, the seat that Setsuna usually occupied was conspicuously empty, and the fretting young woman seemed to be very aware of this fact.

Oh my, whatever could have delayed our resident swordswoman so? Seems to me, dear Konoka, that you should keep a better eye on your girl...

The rattle and scrape of the opening door caught her attention, and apparently the rest of the class as well, and even Negi paused mid-sentence to watch a sheepish swordswoman make her way into the room.

“Well, Setsuna-san, so good of you to join us.” Said the boy-teacher pleasantly, with just a gentle hint of sarcasm. Setsuna, perhaps a little paler than usual to Haruna’s observant eye, flushed guiltily and stammered an apology. Dismissing her with a casual wave of the hand, Negi turned back to the lesson and the sheepish young woman all but bolted for her seat, eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

Haruna’s eyes narrowed, glasses flashing. Had that been just a hint of relief in Negi’s voice? And why was Konoka looking as though the sun had finally dawned on the longest, darkest, most frightening night of her life? Even Asuna, characteristically ignorant of just about everything between the hours of nine and three seemed to relax into her seat just a little more now that the slender young woman had finally walked into the room.

Squeezing awkwardly down the aisle, with many a muttered ‘sorry’ and ‘excuse me’, Setsuna hurried to her seat, gaze everywhere but Konoka’s expectant face. When their gazes finally locked, Haruna felt the sparks crackle and send goosebumps over her skin in rolling, prickling waves.

Oblivious to her silent observers, Setsuna paused, sending an apologetic smile to her loved one, eyes soft and anxious lines smoothing from her young face. Craning forward as much as possible, Haruna caught the tail end of a whispered conversation:

“-sorry to have worried you, ojou-sama.”

“Just Kono-chan, Set-chan, and don’t ever scare me like that again-”

Aware that no-one was actually paying attention to him –not even the normally studious Nodoka- Negi paused, and coughed meaningfully into his hand.

“If I could continue with the lesson, please girls...?”

Jumping, Setsuna flushed and skittered to her seat, a flustered figure that passed bare inches by an amused Haruna, who snorted when the tip of Setsuna’s ponytail brushed her cheek. “Sorry!” whispered the swordswoman, all but diving into her chair and shrinking downwards in the most conspicuously inconspicuous way possible, ignorant of the thoughtful look that flitted across the perverted mangaka’s face.

Her nose wrinkling, the dirty-minded young woman grinned as she recognised a familiar, sickly-sweet smell, tempered with just the faintest hint of earthy, musky sweat.

Almonds, if I’m not mistaken. I knew those two got up to something on their date last night!

Grinning, and happily anticipating the chaos that was sure to break loose upon the wings of her next statement, she stood, pushing back her chair. Turning slowly, aware of Negi’s exasperation and Setsuna’s pleading expression, but unable to stop herself for all the silk in china, she lifted a hand dramatically, and jabbed her finger in the young woman’s direction. Taking a deep breath, tasting almonds on her tongue, Haruna smiled evilly.

“You,” declared Haruna, Setsuna’s eyes flinching closed, Asuna slumping onto her desk, Konoka rising from her seat far too late to stop her, “had sex last night!”

A stunned silence descended upon the classroom, and held for all over a heartbeat; Setsuna sighed as she slumped back into her chair, even as Haruna cackled triumphantly.

This is going to be bad...

More silence. Then, as predicted, the class erupted into chaos.

Asuna thumped her head on the desk as, moving as one, the class burst out of their seats, surging towards a flustered swordswoman and an infuriated mage. Sighing in to the mass of her hair, Asuna grimaced.

“Here we go again...”

End Part Seven

ENDNOTE: ...even though it didn’t seem like it, the above chapter was very integral to the plot. I think. Um, a bit heavy dialogue wise, and featuring quite a lot of Eva-chan, but it was all for a reason!

Unfortunately, it's neccesary to have a plot-heavy chapter now and then. But! Fear not, next chapter will be back to the normal shenanigans, with hopefully a bombshell or two being dropped and a sure-to-be-epic trip to the chemist.

Till then, thanks for reading, and for being patient :)

(The button's down there. Go on. Make my day...)