After the tournament was over, Natalie and Edward had left Negi and the others and decided to walk around for awhile. There were still hundreds of things going on for the festival that they hadn’t seen yesterday. That and maybe they could find some place for Edward to try out the new card more.
“That was some amazing stuff we saw at the tournament, but I thought they weren’t supposed to be using their magic out in the open like that,” Edward said.
“They aren’t supposed to be but since Chao Lingshen opened it up to that, they did. The civilians just think it was some sort of staged performance with special effects anyway so it should be alright.” Natalie knew better though. At this point one of the sets of Negi’s group was probably at Eva’s in the resort training to fight Chao and stop her from exposing magic. The second, created by the Cassiopeia watch should be at the Headmaster’s office explaining about Chao’s plan. That meant they’d probably start seeing and hearing about the adjusted closing event soon. Well that would also be if she remembered the timeline right, she was unsure of it was on the second day or the actual third day that Negi and his friends came back to tell the Headmaster about Chao. With all of the time shifting that Negi had done it had been a little hard to keep it all straight when she’d read it.
No sooner than she’d had the thought then Takamichi walked up to them. “Good, I was hoping to run into you two.”
“What’s up Takamichi?” asked Edward.
“The Headmaster needs to see all of the magical students and staff immediately. Seems we have a problem and he needs everyone to help out.”
“Chao?” Natalie asked.
Takamichi nodded. “Yes, but the Headmaster will be able to tell you more. I still have a few more people to find so if you could, head over there without me.”
Natalie and Edward both nodded. “No problem, thanks Takamichi,” Natalie said as they hurried off to the Headmaster’s office.
When they arrived, Negi was there with the Headmaster but it didn’t look like anyone else had arrived yet. Natalie went over to Negi and the Headmaster. “I already know why we’re here. Chao’s planning to try and take over the points around the World Tree so she can cast a spell that exposes magic isn’t she?”
Negi and Edward both looked at her confused but the Headmaster nodded. He didn’t need to question how she knew about this plan. “Very good Natalie, again it seems you have done your homework on our world.”
“It’s one of my favorite stories, sir. I’m just glad you want us to help.”
“We need all of the help we can get honestly. Are you and Edward prepared to be part of the Hero Unit for tomorrow’s game?”
Natalie nodded. “You bet. Between Edward and me, I think we can do our part to keep her army at bay and keep the students safe.”
“Wait a minute,” Edward interrupted. “What the hell is going on here?”
“The most epic battle ever, that’s what,” Natalie said with a smile. “You get a chance to show them just how much of a bad ass you are and protect our new friends. Please understand, we have to help them, if we don’t then this world will be thrown into chaos and every one of the magical people we’ve met here will be lost. We can’t let that happen. This may not be our world but we’re here now and we can’t just think of ourselves.”
Edward crossed his arms and looked at her. “You have a way with words you know that?”
Natalie just grinned at him. She was just using his own words, though to be completely honest; they were actually the words of a different Edward, one whose story hadn’t ended the same way that her Edward’s had. That didn’t matter though, they may be different people but deep inside they were the same and she knew that it would have an effect on him hearing the words.
“He is right though, that was very well put indeed,” Negi said.
“Thanks,” she said smiling. “So which of the points do you want us at?”
The Headmaster nodded. “We’re expecting the attack to start around seven in the evening tomorrow so please make sure you’re at the World Tree Plaza ready to go at least an hour before that. If you have any last minute things to attend to, I’d ask you do it well before then.”
Natalie nodded. “We will,” she said as they headed out of the office. Just as they were leaving the others were coming in to be briefed on the plan. Natalie had to wonder if somehow the Headmaster had planned it with Takamichi to find them first so he could talk to them alone.
“I think we should get some training in before this all goes down,” Natalie said as they walked to the train so they could go back their apartment.
“I agree but first why don’t you tell me exactly what we’re going to be dealing with since you seem to know so much about it.”
“Fair enough. Basically the reason Chao allowed the use of the magic in the tournament was because part of her plan is to expose magic. She wanted people already questioning the existence of it before she cast the spell tomorrow, the strongest magic day for the World Tree. She’s planning to tap into it using a circle much like the one Father made out of the five laboratories. There’s five points around the World Tree she has to get and then the World Tree itself in the center. She’s going to use that power to basically brainwash the world into believing in magic. If magic gets revealed then Negi and most of the girls in 3-A will be taken away and turned into ermines or imprisoned indefinitely. So what Negi is suggesting is a large scale event where we as the Hero Units will work with the civilian students to eliminate Chao’s army of robots. She only has a certain amount of time to capture the six points and create the magic circle required so all we have to do is hold them off, though Negi and a few of the other girls will be going after Chao herself as well. We need to stay out of that fight; Negi has to be the one to beat her.”
“And I’m guessing this is an anything goes battle? We don’t have to worry about hiding our alchemy or your magic?”
Natalie nodded. “Exactly. Just like with the tournament, the public is being led to believe this is just an elaborately planned game and that none of it is real. Chao won’t be using anything too entirely dangerous, naked rays and ammunition that if you’re hit with it you get transported outside of the school and three hours into the future, just long enough to not be in her way anymore. She doesn’t want to see anyone get hurt anymore than we do which is good.”
“So what’s Chao’s deal anyway? Why does she want to expose magic to begin with?”
“I’m not entirely sure, all I can say is that she’s from the future and something happened between now and then that she thinks people knowing about magic might have prevented.”
Edward shook his head. “Wait a minute, if she’s trying to prevent some tragedy, why are we stopping her?”
Natalie sighed. She should have seen this one coming. “You should already know the answer to that Ed. Just because you or I believe its right doesn’t mean it is. You’ve seen already how people react to things they don’t understand and just being blindly forced to accept it, well you can’t do that. No one has any right to take away anyone’s free will for any reason just like they have no right to kill people just because they think it’s right or necessary. This world and just about every other are not just black and white, good or bad.”
Edward nodded knowing exactly what she was talking about. “All we have is what we believe in. Our conviction to that belief is the reason we fight. But like I said, how do we know what’s right or wrong here?”
“Our friends here are our reason Ed. I don’t know about you but I’ll be damned if they’re going to be punished because of Chao’s selfish desires. We have to do everything we can for that end.”
“OK, I agree with you there but there’s one more thing you said that’s bugging me. You seem to know already that Negi is going to win. If that’s the case why are we getting involved?”
“Because he can’t win if we don’t all fight. When I read about this place in my books that’s how he did it. We just now happen to be here to help them out and get them to that same end. Besides, it’ll be a good work-out,” she said with a laugh.
“Speaking of a work-out, weren’t we going to do a cram style training session for tomorrow night?” Edward asked as they finally made it to the train.
“Yup, that’s why we’re headed out to the far edges of the campus. There are open fields out there where we won’t have to worry about attracting attention or damaging anything.”
“We’re going to be at this all night aren’t we?”
“You bet. We can rest up tomorrow before the battle starts. Now come on, let’s get going,” she said as they boarded.
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