Haruka wasn't experiencing anything that Accelerator was. On the contrary, she was just sleeping. Her memories were gradually being added back to her mind, and her magic was also returning. However, the process wasn't speeding up like Accelerator's since nothing was there to speed it up. Yet, she was often dreaming about her parents. They were telling her to wake up in kind tones.
Meanwhile, Accelerator woke up on August 21, three days after he went into a coma. He opened his eyes to a darkened room, illuminated only by the faint glowing of the magic circles. Besides that, the rest of the room was shrouded in darkness. He sat up, only to grimace in pain as his stiff neck cracked.
"So you're awake." Accelerator glanced around quickly, finally locating the owner of the voice leaning against the wall, pretty much indistinguishable from the shadows.
"So you're my uncle?"
"So your memories are back. Don't call me that. You're old enough to just call me Nagato."
Michael's right. His personality has changed a lot.
"Well, how do you feel, Accelerator?"
"After getting out of a coma? Not as bad as I thought."
"Has your ability returned?"
"How am I supposed to know?"
"Don't use your choker and control the direction of the wind." The black-cloaked figure moved over to the window, drew back the dark curtains, and opened the window, letting a breeze in. Resisting the habit to turn on his choker, Accelerator directed the wind to fly around the room and back out the window, ruffling the edges of the curtains.
"My ability's back." Accelerator said in surprise.
"There was an 85% chance that it wouldn't have come back. Well, looks like you'll be much more powerful now."
Choosing to ignore the fact for now, Accelerator asked something else. "What time is it?"
"2:48 am, August 21."
"You don't sleep?"
"I still have a bit of jet lag, considering I live in England. Anyways, one of us had to keep an eye on you guys. Index is sleeping, so I took the night shift. You did wake up earlier than I expected."
"When's Haruka waking up?"
"When she wakes up. Although, I estimate around 2-3 more days." Nagato finally moved to the side of Accelerator's bed, where Accelerator could clearly see Nagato's features. There was a clear change from the cheerful, outgoing man Michael had shown him. The current-time Nagato had icy indigo-black eyes which looked like chips of black ice. He had an extremely cold air about him. Any trace of warmness was nonexistent. He stepped back from the bed and examined Accelerator with a critical eye.
"You haven't changed a bit except for your height."
"That's 'cause you haven't seen any changes yet." Accelerator suddenly hunched over as a wave of intense pain slammed into his gut. He inhaled sharply in surprise and shock, and shook uncontrollably as red and black energy flowed out of him. The magic circles changed colour to a menacing black and a beam of black hit the esper in the chest, knocking him onto his back.
Nagato swore and quickly moved back to Accelerator's bed, shouting a spell. A blue barrier formed over Accelerator's body. As the beam made contact with the barrier, the beam disintegrated. Nagato put his hand on Accelerator's head and spoke another spell. The shaking slowly stopped and the light emanating from the teen's body faded, leaving a wide-eyed Accelerator who was staring up at the ceiling.
"What the hell was that?"
"Apparently your magic is reacting with your science ability now that your magic power has increased. I just put a quick binding spell for now."
"What was that black beam?"
"Defensive measures to make sure your magic doesn't go out of control. Although if I didn't step in, it would have killed you in minutes."
"Thanks, but I thought my body could handle science and magic."
"When you were younger, your magic power levels weren't that high. Now that your full magic power has been unleashed, it's clashing with your ability."
"So what do I do?"
"I'm going to train you to control your magic and to use it. When you're done, you'll be able to use both your ability and magic at the same time."
"I see." Abruptly, a thought occurred to him. "Where's the brat?"
"Do you mean the clone Last Order?"
"Yeah."
"Kikyou sent her to live with the doctor Heaven Canceller until you guys wake up."
"I see. What should I do now?"
"What do you mean?"
"I've been asleep for 3 days, and I wake up in the middle of the night. I can't sleep anymore."
Nagato stayed silent, the cold look never wavering. After a while, he spoke. "I have two choices for you. You can start magic training now, which I wouldn't recommend but you can do it, or we take a walk around Academy City. I haven't been here in nine years."
"Magic training," Accelerator immediately responded, wanting to try something that wasn't scientific for once.
"If you wish. Follow me." Nagato didn't sound surprised, although Accelerator could have sworn he had a slight undertone of disappointment in his voice. Getting off the bed, he was about to reach for his crutch, but he figured that since his body was restored, he didn't need it. Quickly hurrying after Nagato, he followed the black-cloaked figure out of the apartment and out onto the roof. He stopped just a few metres away from Nagato, who was gazing out at the city line.
"It's changed so much in less than a decade." Nagato's voice sounded wistful, not cold.
"I guess." Accelerator sounded flat and noncommittal.
"You should go somewhere outside of Academy City for a while. It'd be a great adventure. Trust me. I've travelled a lot."
"Where have you travelled?"
"Practically all around the world to track down and hunt escaped monsters or rogue magicians. Such is the life of a member of Necessarius. Well, no time to talk. You want to learn magic, I'll teach you." Nagato's voice had returned back to its usual brisk and cold tone. Muttering a few words under his breath, a large translucent blue dome formed over them.
Accelerator touched the side of the dome, which felt like cool glass. "What is this?"
"A barrier. Blocks any traces of magic from being detected in the city. By any chance if Aleister Crowley would want to track the traces of magic in his own city, even he won't be able to know that we used magic in this place."
"Just how powerful are you?"
"Seventh-ranked magician in the world. The first two aren't even human. Third-ranked was originally your father, but now the title is held by the leader of the Irish Protestant Church, and she's neutral. The fourth and sixth-ranked are in seclusion. The fifth-ranked is a member of the Roman Catholic Church. He's the only one we might actually need to look out for in the war."
"What's the difference between the Protestant Church and Necessarius?"
"We're Anglican. They're Protestant. There's a difference, but it's complicated and I don't want to explain."
"I see."
"Considering your magic clashes with your esper ability, I'm not too sure if I should remove the bind on your magic now. For now, I'll hone your reflection ability so you can reflect magic, and we'll work on hand-to-hand combat and your reflexes. I'll tell you this: I am not a lenient teacher." Nagato had a smirk on his face that promised pain and torture. Accelerator repressed a shudder. It would have taken himself years to perfect that smirk.