Almost as if on an alarm, Accelerator got up and headed back down to the apartment. When he entered, he was greeted with the sight of relieved faces from the girls.
"We were about to send someone out to search for you." Yomikawa said.
"Didn't you see my note? Geez, stop worrying about me."
Index cut in. "Anyways, It's 10 minutes to midnight. Get to your room. Once you enter a coma, no one can touch you, so I suggest you save us the trouble of trying to move you to your bed if you collapse right now."
"I get it, I get it." Accelerator strode into his room and lay down on his bed, folding his arms behind his head. He looked up at the magic circle on the ceiling. To his surprise, it was faintly glowing with a blue light. He quickly turned his head from side to side to look at the other magic circles. They were also glowing.
"The magic circles can double as a magic detector. They're glowing since traces of magic are detected on us." Haruka entered the room and flopped onto her bed. "I'm so tired."
"How do you know all that?"
"Index told me. They didn't glow earlier because this spell works best at night."
"Where's the brat?"
"Sleeping in my room. She's fine."
"I almost envy the brat. She's a pure science person. I rather liked it better when I was just an esper, not a magical esper."
"We can't change our fates. At least you are part science. I'm a pure magic kid, but with a taint of science due to my telepathic ability. I'm not even supposed to belong in Academy City."
"You do belong. You're here, aren't you?"
"Well, I don't have any science blood in my veins. Just magic. You're the special one."
"I don't think there was a time where I wasn't special. The title of the first-ranked esper comes with the reputation of being special."
"Keep quiet now, you two. For the spell to work at its best, I have to start 5 minutes before midnight." Index entered the room and planted herself in the middle of the two beds, right in the centre of the magic circle on the ground. Glancing at the clock, it struck 11:55.
Index starting chanting in a language that sounded like Latin, but then changed to something that sounded remotely like Aramaic. The circles glowed with a stronger light, and the two espers felt a sense of restraint. Accelerator almost saw something that looked like the walls of a box. Index started chanting faster, moving her hands in patterns in the air. The blue light grew stronger, almost blinding. Haruka looked at the doorway and saw the faint outlines of people watching the spell casting.
Index stopped chanting. The light died down, and she checked the clock: 11:59. "One minute. See you guys in a few days."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll see." The clock struck midnight. Suddenly, Accelerator felt something crack in his mind. Unbidden, the magic seal he saw a day ago swam into his mind's eye, but he saw cracks in it. The cracks grew larger, and then the seal dissipated into nothingness. Accelerator suddenly had a sensation of falling, falling into the darkness.
Is this what's supposed to happen? He thought as his vision darkened. And then he knew no more, as he collapsed into unconsciousness.
Haruka, on the other hand, felt as though something in her mind was being released. Something that felt like a block on her mind disappeared, and multiple scenes flew into her mind, expanding until she could see nothing else but flashes of colour. Finally, the scenes cracked away into black nothingness, and she fell unconscious.
The two weren't aware that their bodies were glowing, clashing violently with the circles's light. Index was chanting again, faster and faster, and the circles's light grew stronger and blanketed the light from the espers's bodies. Finally, all the light died down to reveal the unconscious espers and the room, still in its regular state. The magic circles were pulsing with faint light. Index opened her eyes and sighed in relief. She slipped out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her.
Touma, Kanzaki, Stiyl, Yoshikawa and Yomikawa were waiting for her in the living room.
"How did it go?" Stiyl asked.
"The unleashed magic power was really strong. It took all my strength to suppress it. They should be fine for now. For now, we can do nothing but wait."
"So you're telling me you didn't need my right hand after all."
"I don't know what will happen in a few days, so you have to stick around, Touma."
"So now what can we do? I still have my job to do."
"One of us has to stay home all the time to make sure nothing happens. The rest of us are free to help or we can go about and mind our own business. What happens to the clone then?"
"Last Order? I don't think she'll leave the two alone until they wake up."
"That can't happen. Right now, only I can enter the room. Or a powerful magician. If someone else tries, there's a chance they may burn up from all the magic energy. She needs to stay away from their room."
"Well, we'll have to keep her busy then," Yomikawa said.
"Or you can send her to stay with some of the other clones," Touma suggested.
"That's a good idea. I'll call someone right now." Yoshikawa pulled out her cellphone.
"Who?"
"The doctor. Heaven Canceller. I think he's also taking care of MISAKA-10032." Tapping a few buttons, Yoshikawa stepped into the kitchen.
Yomikawa stretched. "I need to sleep. I still have work tomorrow. Do tell me if anything happens when morning comes." She headed into her room.
Kanzaki turned to Stiyl. "Did Nagato-san tell you when he was coming?"
"He didn't give me an exact time."
"12:27 AM in Japanese Standard Time, August 18th, 2018, to be exact." Everybody in the room whipped their heads around to the door. At the doorway, a figure shrouded in a black cloak stood, blending in with the shadows quite easily. The only reason they could see the figure was because of a tiny magic circle brightly glowing on the door, illuminating the person's pale hand on the knob.
"How did you unlock the door?!" Touma asked.
"A rather simple spell. Can't I get a welcome of some sorts?"
"Tell me how to welcome an extremely reclusive diviner then,' Stiyl muttered under his breath."
"The least you can do is take off your hood, Nagato. In all honesty, I didn't expect to see you here." Yoshikawa stepped out of the kitchen, looking at the figure.
"Long time no see, Yoshikawa Kikyou. Stiyl didn't tell you I was coming? No matter. I'm here to train Accelerator and Haruka in magic." The figure drew back his hood to reveal a handsome, pale face. Accelerator's uncle, Nagato, had messy black hair, dark indigo-black eyes, and sharp, defined features. He was tall and had a lanky build. If it weren't for the jagged scar that marred the right part of Nagato's face, people could have mistaken him for an older, black-haired indigo-eyed Accelerator from far away. Up close, they could see other distinctive differences: high and defined cheekbones, slightly paler skin, and traces of old scars across his face. His eyes were cold and hard, with no trace of any cheerfulness.
"You look just like Accelerator," Touma said in surprise.
"Surprisingly, he got most of his looks from me and not my brother. The lankiness is genetic. Anyways, stop staring at me." Nagato settled on a couch, leaning against the back and crossing his legs. "Remind me again to never take a nonstop flight to Tokyo from England. My legs got horribly cramped."
"At least give us a proper introduction of yourself."
Nagato sighed. "Must I? Tedious. You know my name already. I'm a diviner and combat magician from Necessarius. And yes, I'm the younger brother of Accelerator's birth father. I'm currently one of the most powerful magicians from Necessarius, perhaps 7th ranked in the world, but I don't like flaunting that fact. And for those who haven't realized yet, I put the seals on Accelerator's and Haruka's minds."
Everyone reacted with surprise. Seeing their expressions, Nagato groaned in irritation. "You haven't noticed? I had to do it. If it didn't happen, the future would be a whole lot more bloody. Do remember I'm a diviner."
Getting over her shock, Yoshikawa spoke. "So, what do you intend on doing once Accelerator and Haruka wake up?"
"The family magic is combat magic. I'll train him in that. He should be fine, since the seal also unleashed his suppressed magic power. As for Haruka, I will help her with her elemental abilities."
"I doubt Accelerator would be too good in combat if he still has to use his crutch."
Nagato's eyes darkened and narrowed to black slits. "What happened to him?"
"I thought you knew, since you said you were watching over him with your scrying ball or something like that. Even without that, I thought you would have seen it in your visions."
"I was busy dealing with a demon attack in Iceland a couple months ago. When I came back, I saw him using a crutch, but I have no idea what happened. Also, my visions of Accelerator only show him in the war, or what happened years before. I can't control them. So, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO HIM?!"
Yoshikawa shushed him, and then quickly gave him a very short summary on what happened. Nagato's face fell. "If my brother were alive right now, he'd kill whoever was supposed to be his guardian."
"He didn't have a guardian until after he got shot."
Nagato put his face in his hands. "This complicates things by a great deal. The magic that was suppressed has a chance of restoring his body to the original state before he got shot, or it won't help."
"What are the odds?"
"Chances of his body being restored are very low. 15%, I'm estimating. Over the years, his magic power has accumulated, so it has some chance of healing his body."
"Well, it would be better if his computation skills are restored. Then his ability would be as powerful as before."
Nagato nodded. Then, he spoke to Index in a casual tone. "Oh, and Index Librorum Prohibitorum?"
"Yes?"
"I do believe if you consult the 8th Sibylline Book, a prophecy has just decoded itself."
"What?! You memorized the Sibylline Books?" Kanzaki and Stiyl looked shocked.
"They are also grimoires. I was told to memorize them." Closing her eyes, Index mentally shifted through her library of 103,000 grimoires.
"How did you know there was a prophecy that was going to be decoded?" Kanzaki asked Nagato.
"I studied the books. On an auspicious day, a prophecy will decode itself. Even if the person who memorized the books has not read that particular prophecy, the prophecy will magically decode itself in that person's mind."
Index interrupted just then. "Give me paper and a pencil." Yoshikawa handed her a pad of paper and a pencil. Index started writing. When she finished, she showed it to Nagato.
He scanned it, and winced. "Mind translating it to Japanese? My Latin is a bit rusty. And I don't think the others here read Latin."
"Why is it in Latin?" Touma wondered out loud.
"The original Sibylline Books, written by the oracle Sibyl, were produced in Ancient Rome, where the national language was Latin."
Index finished translating and read the prophecy out loud.
"A child two different worlds shall create,
The strongest of the strong, the number shall be eight.
Sacrifice for another at one's demise,
Rise again, as Heaven's eyes."
Everyone shifted nervously, even Nagato. "I don't like the third sentence," he muttered.
"None of it makes sense." Yoshikawa said.
"Prophecies are meant to be ambiguous. On the contrary, the first sentence is quite simple. A child two different worlds shall create. That's definitely Accelerator. The two different worlds are obviously science and magic. Next line?"
"The strongest of the strong, the number shall be eight. "
"Strongest of the strong? Maybe that can refer to the level 5 espers." Yoshikawa suggested.
"Aren't there only seven of them?" Kanzaki asked.
"Haruka's a level 5, albeit unknown. With her, that brings the number to eight."
"Okay, so second line down. That was pretty easy."
"Third line: Sacrifice for another at one's demise ."
"Doesn't 'demise' mean death?"
"Basically. So someone's sacrificing himself or herself for someone else and die. Sounds a little creepy."
"We can dwell on that later. Last line is Rise again as Heaven's eyes ."
"Heaven's eyes?" Again, Touma looked confused.
"I don't know." Nagato said flatly. "And I'm not going to dwell on it."
"While you're here, why don't you tell us some information about Accelerator's parents?"
"I can tell you that in the morning. Is there any place to sleep?" He yawned.
"There are two couches. I think Aiho also has a few sleeping bags, if you all want to stay."
"Index, Kamijou, stay here."
"What about you and Kanzaki?"
"There's no more reason for us to stay. We'll check up occasionally though."
Stiyl and Kanzaki walked out the door, closing it behind them. Nagato chuckled. "They probably won't be back, unless they're feeling sentimental. They've done their job."
"Job?"
"I told them to inform Accelerator and Haruka about magic and as much as they knew about their parents, and about magic."
"So they didn't come of their own accord?"
"Oh, they did. I gave them a choice to do it or not."
"Do you even know Haruka's parents?"
"Hakutsuki Minato and Kushinada Kushina, I presume? If you want to know, we all knew each other."
"'We?'"
"You guys ask way too many questions.'We' as in my brother, my sister-in-law, me, and them."
"Fine, we'll let you sleep. But one last question: if Accelerator's father is your brother, why don't you call him by his name?"
"I'm withholding that information for Accelerator. He gets to hear it first. Even if his memories return, there wasn't too much information he knew about his parents. Am I allowed to check on him?"
"Sure. Just make sure you have a spell ready in case something reacts to your presence."
"Oh please, I know what I'm doing."
"Do you even know which room is Accelerator's?"
"I'll tell by the magic levels." Nagato walked into the hallway. His hand hovered over the handle to Yomikawa's room, but then he shook his head. Despite not knowing the layout of the place, he found Accelerator's room with no difficulty after that.
Quietly, he opened the door. Avoiding contact with any of the magic circles, he walked to the side of the esper's bed and looked down at his brother's child. Accelerator looked quite peaceful, looking as if he was just sleeping. Yet, Nagato knew what was going on the boy's head, considering he had put the seal there himself. He still remembered the anguished pain he felt after. He had erased every trace of the past and Accelerator's parents, and replaced it with a past of loneliness and hurt, purposely disguising his magic to make it look like a work of science. He had seen Accelerator's future at the Institute, full of pain and blood. He had even tried to change the future by begging Yoshikawa to not make Accelerator participate in any of the projects, but she couldn't do anything, and the future went on without any change.