The furious beast rushes past Mitsuya directly towards Julianna. She prepares to defend herself, but just in time, Elle jumps in front of her. " MITSUYA, DO IT NOW." Mitsuya opens a portal using his space magic, and Elle jumps through it. She is skybound, about 20 feet above everyone else, facing the ferocious animal eye to eye. However, things can never be this simple. He roars a booming, earth shattering sound which pushes Elle back in an instant. She gets thrown a considerable distance across the room. Next , the beast aims for Julianna. Being the master of martial arts that she is, she concentrates enough energy in her feet to jump high enough until she reaches the eyes of the beast. Quickly, almost as serene as a dove, she flips on its back and binds it using her signature second form. The beast falls to the ground, struggling to break free. Julianna jumps off before it collapses, standing right next to Mitsuya's side.
" I thought Elle said this would be simple." Mitsuya has an expressionless look on his face.
" Well it could be simple if he would stay down." At that moment, the creature breaks free from its binding. It opens its mouth so wide that every single row of his teeth, in addition to its blackened tongue. All at once,black patterns of dark energy gather in the core of his mouth. They all culminate into a big black ball, wide enough to fill its mouth. The creature blasts several consecutive shots directly at the three of them.They are so fast that they can barely dodge them. Mitsuya , using his quick thinking, decides to open a portal using his space magic, sending all of the dark masses back to the creature. Explosions follow, severely injuring the creature. Before he has time to react, Mitsuya and Julianna propel one another to its core, each landing a considerable amount of punches and kicks. At the same time, Elle takes the rear, aiming directly for the creature with one of her swords. She throws it and stabs the creature, but little effect. A dark energy begins to surround him, as his yellow eyes become more profound. " ELLE, NOW."
Elle forms a black and white reverse blade sword and throws it at Mitsuya. He catches it, makes a strong stance gripping the sword, and stands extremely still. The next thing we observe is him being consumed into the mouth of the monster. Elle and Julianna should be horrified, but they already planned this out. At that moment, the sword became elongated, and pierced through the beast's forehead. It opens its mouth in pain, and Mitsuya jumps out. Mitsuya rams the sword back into its core, and the beast falls down. Next, Julianna binds the creature again, as the yellow light wraps around its being. Julianna takes the sword that Mitsuya just threw at her , and stabs the beast in its core again. Throwing it back at Mitsuya, in succinct movements, they both proceed to jump the monster up limb by limb. As they do, all of the black matter disintegrates into oblivion. They step back, as Elle walks up to it. She places her hand onto its head, and takes a deep breath. A blue aura appears around her hand, as the beast soon falls unconscious. Her eyes turn from their hazel color to golden yellow. A dark aura begins to consume the area around her. Mitsuya and Julianna are put down by the enormous pressure of what is going on.
Soon Elle's eyes become pure white as all of the memories rush through her mind. It looks like she is too consumed , but she can't pull away. She's distressed, and the beast's emotions resonate with her soul as a result of this contact. The more that he roars in agony, the more tense Elle becomes. Too many things can be accounted for. Mitsuya hears Elle saying something- " No… what did they do to… it can't be…" The same green and purple patterns flow through her mind right towards her brain as Mitsuya witnessed only months ago in his near death experience. There can't be an explanation to these visions- " The grandfather, the parents, the bedtime story about the mages. The kids got taken. The younger ones were separated. Keiko was crying. He fought, but was put down. The sister was abused. The boy was taken to a lab. Suffering, pain, turmoil, misery, abuse, solitude. The girl with the white hair and the grey eyes. The witch- the man with the brown hair. Wait , hang on- Mitsuya and Keiko. Wait, no- KAORU." She gets interrupted by the sudden calling from Mitsuya's voice. "ELLE, WHAT'S HIS NAME." She gets back to consciousness, and concentrates. " AITO SHIMURA, RELEASE THY DARK ENERGY. MAKE YOUR FAULTS BE CONSIGNED TO OBLIVION. WITH THIS HAND, I SEAL YOU: EIEN NO KEIMUSHO." The beast falls back, roaring in agony. At once, its entire body turns to stone, all except for its eyes. At this point Mitsuya uses the sword, now having evolved into a second form, this time generously concealed with a grey sheath. He targets directly at the core again, and puts all of his force into one final attack. The creature explodes into oblivion as a sealing circle appears around it. Mitsuya quickly jumps out, as the entire monster explodes. He, Julianna and Elle struggle to keep their balance as all of the wind comes straight towards them. When the dust settles, Aito is unconscious on the ground. Mitsuya rushes over towards him, quickly picking him up. " Aito,are you okay?" The boy opens his eyes slowly until he meets Mitsuya's gaze. " Mitsuya… is that you? What are you doing here ? Weren't you just with my brother at piano practice… how did you…"
Suddenly Mitsuya remembers something. When he first met Keiko he said " Have I met you somewhere before?" He didn't know why it had taken him so long to figure it out. Keiko was his friend. Before his mother died, before his father left, Mitsuya and Keiko went to the same school. Mitsuya rarely interacted with Keiko because he thought that he was too weak when it came to athletics, but he had faint memories of them spending time together. Until the day that Mitsuya saved Keiko from getting beat up by some people who were picking on him. " You need to start doing more exercises. I won't always be here to save you." He has a brother, and he had a sister. The brother always spent time with Kaoru, and the sister… What happened to the sister? Mitsuya is in awe. He clenches his fists, muttering under his breath.
" I remember now. Keiko… he was my friend. Aito, do you know where we are?"
Aito looks around the room. " This is heaven, Mitsuya. I know that I died."
" Are you fine with that ?" Mitsuya sheds a tear.
" There was nothing I could do about it. As long as my brother and my sister are alive. I'm fine with it."
Mitsuya pauses for a second. " I'm sorry Aito. I really am. For not being there when it mattered the most."
" It's not your fault Mitsuya. There was nothing you could have done. My brother tried his best. But in the end, he couldn't help us. Is he with you ?" Mitsuya nods his head. " I saved him. We've been looking for you and your sister. He was so optimistic about finding you." Aito smiles. " That's just how he is, that idiot." They both begin laughing. For a moment there is silence, until Julianna and Elle walk over. Mitsuya speaks.
" Aito, how did you die?" Aito struggles at the beginning, but all at once his answer becomes clear.
" When we got separated, Keiko was the first to go. Then my sister and I were taken to a place. We weren't fed, we weren't given baths. We just performed experiments in a room while people watched us behind a glass, taking notes. They put my sister in a water tank and forced me to watch. They shocked me and drugged us. They experimented on us. Day by day, night by night. I could barely sleep. My eyes… I lost my eye. I couldn't even see my sister after a few weeks. By then I had lost the will to live. I don't remember everything clearly. I must have starved. I don't really know."
Mitsuya is scared, but his face doesn't show it. " Do you… do you remember the faces of the people who did that to you?"
Aito ponders the thought. " There was a man. I don't remember what he looked like, but I remember his voice. It was smooth, almost as much that I began to trust him when he said that I would see my parents again. And there was a girl, she looked after us. She had a nice smile, and a calm voice. Her hair was white, and her eyes were calming. She said that she had come from an orphanage."
Mitsuya's eyes widened tremendously. His heart begins to pound harder. " Aito… what was the name of that girl, if you remember." Julianna looks at him questioningly. Elle begins to speak. " I saw the girl in his memories. She was in yours too. She seemed like an older sister to him. She read to him, sometimes she had conversations with him. Her hair covered her eyes. She was a special girl." At the same time, they say the same: " Her name was, Angel."
Mitsuya stands up, with Aito at his side. " Aito, we're going to see your brother. So you can say your goodbyes. Are you ready?" Aito nods, as Julianna helps him to balance. He's still frail, even in spirit form. Mitsuya looks determined, but depressed at the same time. Julianna notices it. Elle sits down, and begins to open the portal once again. " You two, concentrate your energy. And focus very hard. Don't let anything distract you." Julianna and Mitsuya close their eyes, and begin to emit grey and red energy.
Meanwhile at Tsubasa Manor, Mayuri, Mayomi, Himura and Kaoru are sitting at the library table.
" What's taking them so long ? Did they meet that witch ?" Kaoru wonders.
" I think that I'll go get them now , Himura." Mayomi says, getting up from the table.
" Avoid all contact with that witch. Make sure that all four of them are safe, do you understand ?" Himura says as he begins to light another cigarette.
" Alright, I got it." She puts on her black coat and begins to walk to the door. " Mayuri, what's for breakfast today ?"
" Steamed rice and grilled fish. Your favorite."
" The rice is fine , but I don't think I have a taste for fish anymore. I'll try it, but if I don't like it, you can give it to the cat."
" I'd rather put it in the garbage before I give it to that wild thing. Kaoru, where did you even find that cat in the first place ?" Mayuri asks.
" Oh, I remember that day vividly. It was about 4 months after I lost my vision. Mitsuya came back to the cottage and said that he had accidentally kicked a cat that was hiding in a trash can. Then the cat followed him home, and he couldn't get him to go away. When Mitsuya left him outside at the doorstep , he just purred all night long. Soon Mitsuya got irritated and I convinced him to let him in. Now Mitsuya just messes with him for fun sometimes, but he just stayed with us. He really is a good cat, no matter how bad he might seem."
" After the number of times that he's almost drowned in the pool or gotten stuck in a tree, I'm surprised that he's lasted this long." Mayuri says. They both laugh as Ceasar hisses at her. Next Kaoru asks a question. " Ms. Mayuri and Ms. Mayomi, why are your names so similar ?" Mayuri looks at Mayomi, who isn't paying attention in the least until her name is mentioned.
" We met each other at the Mage's Academy in Paris. Me, Mayomi and Himura were all in the same class. Once we had to do a genealogy project dealing with magical traits through bloodline. That's when we found out that my mom and Mayomi's dad were second cousins. It turns out that they had decided to give their children similar names to keep the bond strong. However, they grew apart, which is why we didn't know each other. When we were assigned squads of four, Himura joined with us. Mayomi was Himura's partner, while I had mine. You know that Himura thought I was weird, but Mayomi introduced us. And she became close to my partner. From then on, we were best friends. You don't know how scared I was when I learned that she had gotten captured."
" That's what I like to call true friendship. It's nice to know that friendships can last for so long. I wish I had one." Kaoru says, smiling. Mayuri also smiles. Suddenly an alarm blares. " ACTIVITY INDICATED. THE MAGICAL BARRIER HAS BEEN BREACHED." Mayomi and Mayuri instantly become alert. " Someone passed the barrier. Who do you think that it is ?" Mayuri says.
" I could have sworn that I've felt this before. But I don't know who it is." Kaoru says.
"' He's coming to the door. Just wait and you'll see." Mayomi says.
Himura stands in front of the door. The footsteps outside stop right before the entrance. He opens the door. Mayomi grins as she sees a man with fair skin, dark eyes and straight black hair. He wears a suit. " Long time no see, teach." The man smiles back at her. " It's been a while Mayomi. Good to see that you're getting along well." At the same time Kaoru becomes tense. " That voice… I know that voice... DAD". Everyone in the room stares at her. Himura lets him pass as he walks up to Kaoru's chair and kneels before her. " Hello, Kaoru. It's been a while." Kaoru begins to cry a little bit. " Where have you been ? Why weren't you there… for mom. What did you do? The Organization betrayed us because of you. You left us all alone."His smile quickly turns into a frown of regret.
" It's too hard to explain right now. I'm sorry that I couldn't help you. I had something important to do."
" MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR OWN KIDS ?" Kaoru yells at him. He stands up.
" You wouldn't understand." He turns to Himura. " Himura, we have to talk." Mayomi pats Himura on the back and walks out of the door. " Hey teach, your son is fighting a witch. You should be proud." The door closes behind her. Mayuri helps Kaoru up from her chair. " I think it's time for you to go to bed." She wipes her tears away. Mayuri looks at the man. " Mr. Dazai. Your children are in safe hands. After you talk to Himura, you are free to leave our home." He nods. " I'll be quick."
The witch floats down to where Casanova and Keiko are unconscious. She peers around their bodies, bloodied from all of the wounds that they received in their battle. The look on her face is one of utter disgust and disappointment. She paces around for a few seconds before sitting herself down next to Casanova.
" You really are a special one, you know that. You managed to counter possession using shadow magic and you defeated my ultimate piece. You seem to be a natural counter to witchcraft. How did you get shadow magic- possession by a demon, contract with forbidden magic. Either way, you're too much of a problem to keep alive." Next she turns to Keiko.
" You are a failure. I put my most valuable spirit inside of you, and you couldn't achieve one job. I salvaged you from the depths of hell, I contracted you and restricted your powers to my will, but you could not follow command. After experimentation, recreation, observation and countless testing, you couldn't do anything. And now, you refuse to come out of the body of this stupid little boy. Has he, taken control of you and your powers?" She stands up. " In any case, you two interfered with my plans. The other two are already dead. Under the moonlight, the lives of a shadow manipulator and a cursed child are about to be taken. I'm sure that you didn't have any qualms, but you and you alone made the choice of coming here. It's just our faults for being mages. For that, you deserve to die." She points a black wand at them, and an aura of black energy surrounds it. It all comes together, forming a black ball of energy aimed directly at Casanova and Keiko. She prepares to fire it. " Maybe you two could have come back to the lab so I could have strengthened you. But then your nuisance friends would have come from you, and I would have to kill them too." The black energy disperses as a hand grabs her.
" Why are you here ?" Her tone becomes harsh as she pulls away from the hand. " I was just about to kill them."
" We have to go back. You failed the mission. There's nothing more that you can do here."
" The other two are dead and these two are my last obstacles. Let me kill them. And take off that stupid hood."
The girl takes off her black robe to reveal a head of dangling white hair. Her fair skin shines under the moonlight. She opens her eyes, revealing them to be light gray. " Don't kill them. You have no use for it. They'll die in a few minutes anyway from those injuries. Plus, even if you killed them , it wouldn't be satisfying. They aren't strong at all."
" You sensed it?"
" Yes. In my eyes, they're nothing but- weak. They pale in comparison to me in terms of magical power. If it were a battle between the two of them and me, they would be dead in a matter of minutes."
" You sure are haughty today, Angel. What's wrong with you? Are you mad about that little boy? What was his name- Aito , or something ? You sad that I took him for my experiment ?"
" Not in the least, Carmen. He was gonna die anyways. I guess it was necessary for the project that you made use of his remaining spiritual energy. Speaking of him, where is he?"
" He went to the second stage. He had a fight with the other two kids who were here. He was giving them a lot of trouble. I gave him enough energy so he could nullify weaker attacks, so he probably devoured them and took their soul energy. He seemed to be able to move freely enough in that artificial body."
" I still sense their energy somewhere. It's … lingering. Like they were just here a moment ago, and then they vanished. It seems somewhat familiar… I've felt it before."
" If it makes it any easier, there was a boy and a girl.The girl had white hair and was about your age. The boy had brown hair."
" Brown hair you say." She pauses for a moment. " Doesn't ring any bells."
" It'll come to you later if you know them. But for now, what are supposed to do with these two ?"
" I just told you, leave them here. They're gonna die soon enough. As for the other two, don't worry about them. Let's go." Carmen summons her broom from the sky. It comes down towards her. Angel also summons hers. " If you see anything suspicious from the sky, don't hesitate to kill or attack." They both float into the air, directly above Casanova and Keiko. " About the soul in that boy. Leave it in there. It serves no purpose to us right now. We can probably use him later."
" What's so special about him. The soul that possessed him might be too powerful for him to handle. Now that he has magical energy, he isn't a mere human anymore- an artificial mage. And it's gonna take a toll on him, Angel. He's gonna die sooner than later."
" I don't care. I know that he'll be a valuable chess piece that plays in our hands later on. Plus, he reminds me of someone that I knew. Back at the Orphanage."
" Whatever. Suit yourself. Dacre is gonna scold you for it later. And I don't want to get involved in that."
" Who cares about him. He can't hurt me." They both fly away into the distance.
Just moments later, Julianna , Elle, Aito and Mitsuya came from out of the portal. After a long distance walk, they reached the point where Casanova and Keiko were still unconscious. " So these are the other two. They look almost as beat up as you, Mitsuya." Elle says. Mitsuya does not appreciate this comment, but he quickly brushes it aside. " I can wake them up." Elle kneels down next to them, and puts a hand on each of their chests. A blue light emerges from her palms. In an instant, Keiko and Casanova both wake up from their unconscious states gasping for breath. Casanova shouts. " WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED !"
" Long story. Just that you two almost died. But you're fine now." Mitsuya says.
" Speak for yourself. I just got stabbed in both of my arms." Casanova grunts.
Mitsuya is expressionless. " Well , I have to say. That's tough , buddy. But does it really matter when you're still alive." Casanova doesn't respond.
Keiko looks past them to Elle. " Excuse me, ma'am, but who are you ?"
" Don't call me ma'am. I'm 18 years old and crying out loud. But anyways, that's another long story. Think of me as a spirit of a sort. So maybe you'll be meeting me again if you manage to die at an early age." Keiko quickly gets scared of her, prompting Julianna to laugh. " Keiko, there's someone here to see you." Keiko notices Aito.
" AITO, THANK GOD. I'VE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER FOR YOU-"
" Keiko, I'm dead."
" Excuse me, what?"
" It's hard to explain. I'm dead, but Ms. Elle brought my spirit here so I could talk to you one last time. So I only have a few minutes before I go back." Keiko sheds a tear.
" Don't cry brother. Thanks to you and Mitsuya, I know that my final wish can be granted. I wonder which one of you is gonna save Nariko." Mitsuya stands up. " We'll find your sister together. Don't worry about it." Aito looks at him. " You seem to be distracted. I don't know if I can count on you, Mitsuya." Slowly he begins to disintegrate. Keiko gasps. Aito smiles.
" I don't have enough energy to keep this form anymore." Casanova's healing can't help him. " Keiko, you should go live with Mitsuya now. Will you stay with him, for my sake."
" AITO, I CAN'T. I MADE A PROMISE TO GRANDPA. I HAVE TO PROTECT YOU."
" I gave it my all in order to see you again. In the end, it just wasn't enough. I might have died earlier, but I always kept my faith in you. That's more than enough. You just have to believe in yourself and your potential. I'm looking towards the future. Both as a Shimura, and as a new mage, you can defend yourself. I was able to meet everyone, and I'm happy with that."
" When did you become so mature. You're only 10 years old."
" I guess I had a pretty good teacher, wouldn't you say?"
" I'm glad that I got to have you as a brother. You made me very happy."
" As was I. Thank you, Keiko, for 10 years of life. I'm holding you to a promise. Find Nariko." The raven's outline appears on Keiko's hand. "Goodbye. Oh, and Keiko, remember,Grandpa said reincarnation was possible." He turns to Elle. " Ms. Elle, where am I going now ?" She smiles at him. " It's fine. I'll guide you up there." He disintegrates. At the same time, the sun begins to rise on the horizon. Keiko breaks down into tears, but Julianna holds him up. Elle looks at the sun. " It's been a while since I saw the sun." The kids behind her all have different emotions on their faces. " Julianna, all of the spirits that you sent up have been allowed to see their loved ones one last time. You found out what was happening with the spirits in Yokohama. And the police won't have to investigate suicides from skyscrapers for the time being. So in my opinion, Operation Spirit Dive was a success. Congratulations." Julianna sighs. " I don't know whether to be happy or sad, just knowing that this is what every mission will be like in the Mage's Academy." Elle laughs. " Well that means that Himura prepared you." They both laugh. After a few minutes, Elle leaves and Mitsuya and Julianna go with her to close the gate. " Well you two, I guess this is goodbye. It was nice to meet you."
" Thanks, Elle. Are you gonna get in trouble for coming to the world of the living ?"
" Not at all, Jules. I'll be fine. But if you see a woman roaming around in the human realm who looks exactly like me within the next few months, don't be surprised. By the way Mitsuya, that sword won't dissolve. So you can keep it."
" I don't know what to think of that." The portal opens, and Elle prepares to enter, but Mitsuya stops her. " Hey Elle, can you do me a favor ?"
" What is it ?"
" Let me go back into the Thought Elevator for a few minutes. I have to see something."
" You think that there's another person waiting for you ?"
" It's just a wild guess."
" Well sure. I guess I could open the portal again, even though it would drain the heck out of both of us."
" Julianna, wait here." He jumps into the portal with Elle. In what seems like an instant, they are back in the White Room."
" Well, here it is." The box appears again. " MITSUYA NIETO, enter." He says the prayer as usual, and the white light blinds him again. The woman with blond hair flowing down her back, blue eyes, about 5 feet and 5 inches in height. With a fair complexion and a pleasant smile.
" Hello Mother."
After that was done, another raven's mark appeared on his other hand. He walks out of the temple to meet Julianna, Keiko , Casanova and the crimson fox. " Mayomi, when did you get here ?" She turns back into her human form. " About 3 minutes ago. Just enough time to make introductions with Keiko and get Casanova to heal himself." She looks at the discontent expression on his face. " Your dad came to visit." Mitsuya instantly becomes wide eyed. " You let him go, didn't you ?" Mayomi nods. " He should be gone by now." Mitsuya lowers his head. " What are we gonna do with Keiko ?"
" Well now that he has this soul inside of him, he has artificial magical powers. So I guess he's gonna be applying to the Mage's Academy with you three."
Keiko doesn't understand. " Excuse me, what ?"
" While you're at Tsubasa Manor, we can keep looking for your sister, and your parents and your new baby sibling. Are you fine with that?"
" There's nothing more that I can do. I guess I can make myself at home. And I also want to thank you for the hospitality. We have a lot to catch up on , don't we, Mitsy."
" That's what you called me in elementary school. Say that again, and you're gonna be meeting your brother sooner than you thought you would."
And so they all took the train back to Tsubasa Manor. Keiko greeted Himura and Mayuri, and Kaoru finally remembered who he was. 3 months had passed. Mitsuya spent the next few days in his room while Julianna continued to leave food at the door for him. Mayomi introduced Mitsuya to this new series called Vinland Saga once he came out of his room. Casanova got bitten by Ceasar, and he was also struggling to care for a baby. Speaking of babies, Arisu/ Remy said her first word- " No", when Julianna tried to hold her. And Keiko felt an unusual connection with her as well. Mayuri was 8 months pregnant. On the first day back, Himura called Mitsuya to his study. " Mayomi told you about your dad, didn't she ?" Mitsuya nods his head. Himura sighs. " I want to give you something." Behind a picture frame of Mayuri, there is a lone photograph. In it, are 7 people in it. There's a woman seated, a man with a hand on her shoulder , 2 young boys at each side, 2 young girls ( one smiling, the other smirking), and a baby with brown hair staring directly at the camera. The boy with black hair is holding the baby. " You, Mayomi, Mayuri, my mom and my dad. And me, when I was a baby. But who's that other boy ?" Himura doesn't respond for a few moments. " Just a person from the past." Mitsuya looks it over. " So you met me when I was a baby ? Why didn't you tell me ?" Himura gives him a stern look. " You idiot, I was the one who named you." They both quickly disregard that. " Your dad left this for you." He takes out an old brown book, with a strange raven symbol on it. " Before you ask, I don't know where he is. He just left this. He said it would be important in due time." Mitsuya looks at the first page of the book. There's something written on the bottom of it. " The ancient ones are coming back soon."