Sadly, this is the ending of A Certain Sense of Déjà vu (cries). Again, I must reiterate I am horrible at tearful reunions, but I tried. Hope you enjoy this last chapter! Please review!

Sitting languidly on the couch, one leg crossed over another, one arm resting on the top of the couch, and with glinting bloodred eyes, was Accelerator.

No one said a word. The silent staring contest between the first-ranked level 5 esper and one clone, one grimoire spirit, one magician, and two human women continued without a single sound. No one dared to move or even breathe.

Finally, Shizuka spoke, standing up and stalking over to stand in front of Accelerator. "Just where have you been and what have you been doing?"

"Enjoying death," came the sarcasm-laced voice. "It seemed rather fun, why?"

Shizuka rolled her eyes. "Sarcastic as ever, I see." She pulled him into a tight hug before he could react. "I'm glad you're safe." She leaned down and whispered some words in his ear. "Do you know how much misery you've caused Last Order over these past two weeks?"

Accelerator grimaced. "A lot, I'm guessing." The boy was about to say more before a blur of blue jumped on him, the blur resolving itself into a crying girl wearing a blue dress.

"'You've been gone for a long time,' whispers MISAKA as MISAKA tries to stop crying again.'You're back for real now, right? You won't leave MISAKA alone?'"

Accelerator's expressionless face softened just slightly as he carefully put his arms around Last Order and hugged her gently. "I won't ever leave you alone for that long of a time again. I said I'd come back, didn't I? Sorry you had to wait such a long time."

"You have a lot to tell us about, Accelerator." Arin stepped into the room, her eyes blazing silver with annoyance. "We searched all over for you."

"I gave you guys a note, didn't I?"

"Shizuka and Last Order kept on getting dreams seeing you in Academy City."

"They did?" A note of surprise was heard in Accelerator's voice. "I swear I didn't do anything like that. Must have been Michael or something."

"Anyways, get settled, girls. If we are to hear everything, at least do it while we're all in the home." Yomikawa walked into the room, Yoshikawa trailing after her, the latter making her way to the kitchen.

Yomikawa stood in front of Accelerator, her face an expressionless mask as she stared at the boy she had taken in so long ago. The boy esper stared back, the small girl still in his arms. The tension in the air increased tenfold as the two just looked blankly at each other.

Suddenly, a sharp sound rang out and Accelerator's head snapped to the side, a red mark quickly forming on his face. He stared at Yomikawa in shock. "What was that?"

"That, was for disappearing on us even if you said you'd be back." Yomikawa suddenly pulled the boy into a hug. "And that's for coming back."

Accelerator made no move to hug her back, but his lips flickered briefly into a ghost of a smile. "Missed you too, Yomikawa."

Yoshikawa came into the room carrying tea and a few snacks. She gave Accelerator a small smile. "Glad to see you're alright. Are you fine now?"

"I guess. Michael did heal my body, so there aren't any more risks of it getting destroyed." Accelerator knew this was the only reaction he'd get out of the researcher, so he said nothing else, shifting slightly on the couch to let Last Order settle down in a more comfortable spot, the girl making no move to let go of her guardian.

Arin came over and gave Accelerator a quick hug. "Not going to disappear on us again, right?"

"Enough with the mushy hugs. I'm fine, I'm back, and I won't disappear again. Okay? Now get off me, Arin." Accelerator pushed Arin off him, but he didn't look irritated at all.

Arin gave him a half-smirk. "Irritating you is always fun. Now, I think we all have the same questions in mind to ask you. What happened to you? Where have you been? Why were you gone for so long?"

Accelerator looked pensive for a second before the look shifted to one of resignation. "Fine, I guess I can explain everything. Don't interrupt me. I don't want to make it longer than it already seems."

~Flashback~

"This is a place that's going to heal me? Just another blank white space?!"

Michael sighed. "Accelerator, do you want to be healed or not?"

"Fine," the boy relented. "But I highly doubt a blank white dimension will heal my body."

With Michael's guidance, Accelerator had cut a rip in the fabric of the earth with the sword, transporting himself and the archangel to another dimension. He had also convinced Michael to give Arin a note saying that he would be back.

Michael held his cracked hands in front of his face again. "I created this place myself. It runs solely on my power, making it the best place for my hosts to rest and heal. Again, you are still mortal, so whatever I see in here, you will not be able to see it."

"That again?!"

Michael ignored Accelerator. Also, in here, I can separate my being from your body." Accelerator's-or Michael's body glowed white, a vaguely human-like shape forming in front of Accelerator. The light around the figure died down to show a blond teenager wearing white robes, white wings extending from the boy's back.

Accelerator stumbled and collapsed on the white ground, the strength Michael had given him gone. "I'm going to die without you in my body, right?" He rasped.

Michael nodded, his eyes opening to reveal blank whites. "Time passes much more slowly in here. This will work to both our advantages. For the first stage of healing, I'll need to keep you frozen in time for seven earth days, or seven months my time."

"What?!"

"This is to stop the damage from progressing further. This sort of damage is difficult for even me to heal. After I remove the time freeze around your body, I will be able to heal you completely with magic."

"Fine. How long is this going to even take?"

"At most, 3 earth months." Accelerator was about to yell something before Michael held up a hand.

"At best, 13 earth days. Considering your resilience, I believe you will be fully healed within 13 days. Calm down."

"Tch. Hurry up."

Michael waved his hand and sent Accelerator into the land of oblivion.

~Reality~

"So you were frozen in time for a week?!" Despite Accelerator's words, Arin interrupted him.

"Yeah. Don't ask me how it felt; I was unconscious the entire time. Without Michael, my body would have been destroyed long ago. When I stepped back onto the earth to get to the other dimension, his power was the only thing keeping me alive by then."

"What exactly did you do to your body?!"

Accelerator shrugged. "According to Michael, one of the most powerful binding spells even for the supernatural. If the person casting the spell isn't powerful enough, the spell will also kill the caster, but it's effective enough to seal away even the strongest archangels. That's why Michael used it on Lucifer."

"'So what happened after that?' Asks MISAKA as MISAKA requests the ending to the story."

"Nothing much, really. For the next six days, Michael ended up using some high class magic that healed my body fully, but there were a few side effects."

"Like?"

"I wouldn't call them disadvantages. They aren't advantages, though. First off, that magic cut off my link to Michael. I can't draw on his power again unless under very dire circumstances. He can't take over my body. However, we can still communicate via telepathy. I doubt he's in my body anymore."

"So it was a one-time thing?"

"The Awakening? Yeah."

"What other side effects are there?"

"Anything I learned that's magic-related has disappeared. My body's still compatible with magic, though. I guess I could learn again, but I'm limited to maybe a fraction of Arin's magic."

Arin looked surprised. "So you can only use a little bit of the magic I possess"

"Well, yeah. You're still free to use your magic, but I can't use a lot of it. And you should have noticed our link has been cut off as well."

"I know. I don't know how I'm still staying in this world, though."

"We're still connected by a thin thread. But if you want to stay as you are right now in the long term, go make a link with Shizuka."

Arin nodded.

Yoshikawa gave Accelerator a look. "Any more side effects that could affect your normal life?

"My power's increased slightly. From a science perspective, you can say I'm a highly overpowered level 5. You guys should know by now reaching level 6 is pretty much impossible, given the standards for level 6."

"I see."

"Well, is that all you have to say after you disappear for 13 days?"

Accelerator shrugged. "Michael didn't do anything that flashy when he healed me. Besides, it was just a healing process, not another battle." A smirk formed on his face. "I'm quite relieved you guys weren't as emotional as I thought you'd be when you saw me." Immediately after he said that, Arin and Shizuka punched him hard on both shoulders. He winced slightly. "What was that for?"

Arin gestured to Last Order and Shizuka. "These two got all their tears out when you were gone."

Accelerator rolled his eyes but the smirk disappeared from his face. "Calm down, I was joking." His expression became confused as he glanced around the room again. "Where's Izumi?"

"Supposedly in England." Shizuka didn't look into his eyes as she answered.

"Supposedly?" Accelerator's eyes narrowed slightly, his senses picking up the melancholy tone Shizuka's voice held.

Yoshikawa sighed, her hands wrapped around a cup of tea. "According to what I've heard from Arin, Izumi went back to England shortly after you disappeared for the first time. They haven't told me any relevant details, but from what I've heard, Izumi is apparently not in a right state of mind."

Accelerator was stunned into silence. He turned to Shizuka. "Is that true?"

"We suspected it, but some of Izumi's acquaintances at Necessarius have confirmed it. His mind seems to have been shattered by guilt and grief."

"Why is he feeling guilty?!" Accelerator demanded. "He did nothing wrong!"

"He's feeling guilty since he was the one behind the scenes that manipulated you into this life. He's grieving since he lost his last family member. Combined together, I doubt his already-fragile mind was able to handle it."

"I get the grief part, but he shouldn't be feeling guilty. I may have been born into this life, but I chose to go ahead with it. He didn't force me to do it; I willingly said I'd fight!"

Last Order, who had been silent the entire time, spoke up from her place on Accelerator's lap. "'MISAKA thinks if Izumi-san were to see Accelerator again, he wouldn't be like that anymore,' hypothesizes MISAKA as MISAKA shares her thoughts."

"That's a good idea, but there's always the chance Izumi would think Accelerator's ghost was coming to haunt him. That's always a possibility." Surprisingly, Yomikawa was the one who said that. When Accelerator glanced at her, she shrugged. "I'm just trying to think of everything that could happen."

"If that happens, I'll beat some sense into him. It wasn't his fault in the first place. I don't get why he's beating himself up over this."

"He was still trying to heal his wounds from when your parents were killed. He never took deaths of people close to him lightly. When you disappeared, you were likely presumed dead, and that was just rubbing salt into barely-healed wounds." Yoshikawa looked Accelerator directly in the eye. "I doubt it is guilt that is eating away at him. It is mainly grief."

"Well, that's settled then." Accelerator gently picked up Last Order in his arms and set her down beside him. "I'm going to England and find Izumi."

"H-hey, wait! Isn't that too quick of a decision?!"

"Shouldn't you at least be resting for a while? I don't care how much Michael's healed you, you still need some sleep."

"'How are you even going to get to England?' Asks MISAKA as MISAKA tries to obtain the general information needed for travel."

Accelerator merely sat back in the couch, ignoring the females that were throwing questions at him, a calm look on his face. Once they finished, he spoke. "Are you guys done?" When he received nods, he continued speaking. "I want to get Izumi back as soon as possible. Arin, make a link with Shizuka so you won't disappear. After that, transport us to England, or more specifically, Necessarius."

"You do know if you walk in unannounced, you'll be attacked by magicians, no matter who you are." Arin gave Accelerator a look. "How are you planning to get past them?

"There are three people from Necessarius here. I'll go ask one of them for help."

"Looks like you've got all your bases covered," Arin said sarcastically. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to establish a link with Shizuka." She dragged Shizuka out of the room, the latter trying and failing to break free of the smaller girl's iron-hard grip.

"What's gotten into her?" Accelerator looked bemused. "I was stating some facts."

"Well, I'm agreeing with her right now, Accelerator." Yomikawa finished her cup of tea and looked at Accelerator. "You are not going anywhere until you get a good sleep and recover from the previous few weeks' events. No buts," she added as Accelerator opened his mouth to argue back. "We will work this out, but I think the girls would be happy with you around for a few days without disappearing on them again."

"Tch." Accelerator was about to speak but he was interrupted by Last Order.

"'Can Accelerator please stay with MISAKA for a while?'Pleads MISAKA as MISAKA gazes at Accelerator hopefully."

Accelerator sighed, but nodded. "I will be going to get Izumi in a few days. Alright with you?" He asked sarcastically at the two women.

"Good."

"Perfectly fine."

Accelerator lifted Last Order off the couch and onto her feet on the ground. "I'm going to sleep, considering that's what you guys are insisting on right now." He stood up and stalked off to his room. Last Order was quick to trail after him.

"Quite the impatient one, even if it's for his family," Yoshikawa observed.

"I'm just glad he's back, even if he's his usual sarcastic, snappy and somewhat tsundere self." Yomikawa was about to pour herself another cup of tea before a piece of paper appeared and covered her face. Once she managed to remove the piece of paper, she saw the words written on it.

I heard that. I'm not a tsundere. And enough of the sappy reunion talks. I want my regular life back by tomorrow; with no one commenting on how they're oh-so-glad I'm back.

Yomikawa just smiled to herself, making her way to her bedroom just as Shizuka and Arin reappeared in the apartment.

~Time Skip: 3 days later~

In the course of the past few days, Accelerator was able to track down and contact Stiyl Magnus, asking the fire magician to tell the Archbishop Laura Stuart that he intended to go to Necessarius to find Izumi. Stiyl agreed without too much protest, saying he'd contact the frivolous woman. The archbishop had replied in the affirmative almost immediately, giving Accelerator, Shizuka and Arin permission to visit Necessarius. However, she had told them to take Index along, since the silver-haired sister apparently had to give a report on what had happened over the past month.

After talking with Arin, she had agreed to teleport the four of them to the Necessarius grounds. Last Order wasn't happy that she had to be left behind, but Accelerator managed to placate her by reassuring the young girl that he'd be back as soon as he could.

A day after they settled things with the archbishop, Arin led them all up to the roof of Yomikawa's apartment building. With a snap of her fingers, the four disappeared, on the way to England.

~Necessarius Base, England~

Arin had transported herself, Accelerator, Shizuka and Index right in front of the doors of the church. Without hesitation, Accelerator pushed open the doors, taking the familiar path Michael had shown him in a vision. He soon led the three girls to a beautiful garden, where they saw a woman with long blonde hair drinking tea.

"Archbishop Laura Stuart," Arin muttered under her breath.

As if she had heard Arin speak, Laura set down her teacup and smiled at the group of four. "Welcome to Necessarius, the Anglican Church of Necessary Evil." She locked eyes with each of them one by one, until they rested on Accelerator's red ones. "It's very unusual for an esper to request meeting with the people from the Magic Side, but you are a special exception."

"I guess so," Accelerator said nonchalantly. "Where's Izumi?"

"Straight to the point, I see. I meant to contact Stiyl and have him tell you, but Izumi left for Venice a few hours ago. He told me he had one last thing to settle with Mathieu di Angelo. If you wish to find him, I can tell you where he is."

"And you let him go, despite his mental condition?" Arin looked bemused.

"His mind has fractured even more ever since Tsukasa died, but he is still sane. Although right now, he doesn't speak one word and he always looks like he's haunted. If I didn't let him blow off some steam, he'd be getting worse."

Shizuka stepped forward. "Will you please tell us where Izumi can be found?" She asked politely.

Laura smiled at her. "Of course." She took a piece of folded paper out of midair and unfolded it, revealing it to be a map of Venice. She placed a slender finger on a small moving blue dot. "I put a tracking spell on Izumi so he wouldn't do anything rash. This map will guide you to him. Once you go to Venice, you will appear on the map as a red dot. I suggest you three leave now if you want to catch up to him. Good luck. Please come back here once you get Izumi. I wish to speak to him."

"Okay." Arin led Accelerator and Shizuka out of the garden, obviously intending to teleport them.

Laura turned to Index. "A word please, Index Librorum Prohibitorum. I want you to recount everything that has happened in the past few months."

The short sister nodded quietly, her perfect memory allowing her to accurately recount the past month's events.

~Venice, Italy~

"Of all the places I expected to be in the past few crazy months, Venice wasn't one of them," Shizuka grumbled as the trio appeared in a narrow alley.

"Agreed," Accelerator said as he eyed his surroundings. "Hope my Italian isn't that bad."

"You speak Italian?!"

"Level 5 espers are required to learn a number of world languages in case we get sent somewhere outside of Japan, like America or Russia. That aside, who has the map?"

"I have it." Arin unfolded the map and pointed at the small red dot. "Right now, we're here." She moved her finger to the blue dot, which was moving down a street. "Izumi's there. I'd say we'd have to take a taxi."

"And what if there aren't any taxis?"

"Then let's depend on Mr. I-can-speak-Italian for directions."

"Can't you just transport us there, Arin?"

"I can only teleport to places where I've seen or have been before."

"So how did you know where Necessarius is?"

"Accelerator, I was created and written in Necessarius. Of course I'd know where my home turf is."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go already. We still need to get back to Necessarius after this, since the archbishop wants to speak to Izumi. "

"The Archbishop seemed nice."

"Quite frivolous. When I was still a grimoire, Tsukasa got the methods from her to turn me sentient. My first impression of her was a giggling young girl who loved drinking tea and antagonizing Tsukasa, Izumi, and even Chihiro. Actually, she loved antagonizing any male magician. She hasn't changed at all." Arin flicked her wrist and her appearance changed to that of a teenage girl, with casual clothing to blend in with the regular people. "Lead the way, Mr. I-can-speak-Italian."

Accelerator shot her a look that could have killed someone before stalking out of the alley.

~On the streets of Venice~

Accelerator kept his eyes fixed on the map, depending on his peripheral vision to check for people in front or behind him. To his confusion, the map was quite inaccurate, showing streets where buildings where and alleyways where the waterways for the Venetian gondolas were.

Only once did he stop a local Italian and ask for directions to the specific street Izumi was on. The Italian stared at the esper with surprise and a little trepidation, telling the esper that the street did not exist in Venice and the supposed area it was rumoured to be in was a very sketchy area.

Taken aback, the esper changed his question to ask about the general area. The shaken Italian man said that the area was like a ghost town, only inhabited by a few outcasts of society and 'people who practice sorcery.' Mentally sighing, Accelerator asked for directions to the area. The man said the area was on the outskirts of Venice, and then ran off in fear before Accelerator could say anything else.

"Tch. No wonder the map made any sense." Accelerator crumpled the map into a ball and tossed it towards the ground.

Shizuka caught the paper before it hit the ground and straightened it out. "The archbishop must have given us an older map of Venice."

"Let me take a closer look at it." Arin took the map and studied it for a second, before muttering a spell. The lines on the map shifted around until they finally settled down to reveal a completely different map. "Should've known she would have pulled a trick like this."

"What did she do to the map?" Accelerator took the map from Arin and looked at the now-accurate map.

"One sign of her love of antagonizing people of the opposite gender. She messed up the map so we'd get lost."

"That's not frivolous, that's plain annoying!"

"Whatever. The map's correct now, so we should be able to get to the outskirts of this town. I don't get why that man was so scared of the supposed 'ghost town'."

"Why are you surprised, Arin?"

"Italy is the base of the Roman Catholic Church. Well, it's actually the Vatican, but it's in Italy. Many magicians live in and outside of the Vatican, and many also live in major Italian cities. With this huge amount of magicians, there's simply no way regular humans can be kept unaware of magic."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that the regular humans in Italy are aware that magic exists. Although it seems like the majority of them are frightened by it, though. The very few that are unaware of magic must be the most frightened by any supernatural event. The area we're going to is most likely a place where many magicians live. We'd better be careful."

"Agreed."

"Oh, and don't bother asking for directions anymore, Accelerator. Regular Italians are sensitive enough to sense magic."

"Could have told me that earlier, you know."

"Sorry. Something's messing up my senses, so I forgot some major points about Italy."

"Something's messing up your senses?" Accelerator started walking again with fast strides, causing Shizuka and Arin go scramble after him to catch up.

"I think it's the archbishop again. 99% of the time, I don't know why she does what she does. Probably for her amusement. But for now, try not to rely on me."

The trio walked in silence for a while. Accelerator kept his eyes on the map, occasionally making turns here and there. Eventually, they reached the outskirts of Venice.

"Well, this looks like a nice place to live," Accelerator said sarcastically. "I see nothing but empty buildings."

"This whole place feels ominous. I sense a lot of magic. I think we're walking into a trap." Shizuka shivered slightly.

"There is a boundary around the area which cuts this place off from Venice. Stay on your guard once you go in. I have a feeling the residents aren't as welcoming as the Venetians to a trio of lost Japanese teens." Arin's eyes had started glowing a faint silver.

Without a second glance, Accelerator calmly walked outside of Venice. The moment he walked in, it felt like a sudden transition from day to night. The bright light of the afternoon sun was immediately blotted out by dark clouds. The light dimmed rapidly, until Accelerator couldn't even see his own hand. He paused to let his eyes adjust to the darkness, but he couldn't see a single thing.

Behind him, a bright silver light flared up, making him raise up an arm to shield his eyes. Once they adjusted, he saw a glowing Arin walk up to him and hold her hand out for the map. He handed it to her, and she led him and Shizuka ahead.

Along the way, they noticed numerous people lying on the ground, apparently dead. After a minute of silent debate, Arin went to the nearest dead body. Holding a hand over the dead man's head, she closed her eyes. "Cognoso: Pietro di Angelo." Opening her eyes, she flashed a small ball of bloodred light around the man's body.

"What is she doing?"

Arin walked back to them. "Identifying the man and the cause of death. As you may have heard me, that man was Pietro di Angelo, cousin of Mathieu di Angelo. Cause of death: severed spinal cord. The cut was either made with a small knife or magic."

"Di Angelo, huh? Didn't the archbishop say Izumi left for Venice because he had something to settle with Mathieu?"

"True." Arin lightly tapped her foot on the ground. A thin layer of silver spread out in a wide around them, and swiftly disappeared. "I just did an area check. Every person in this place is dead, with the exact same cause of death."

"How...?"

"That's because I killed them," a tired voice said.

Shizuka turned around, a ball of fire ready in her hands. "Who are you?"

"Has my voice changed to the extent where you don't recognize me?" A thin, haggard figure stepped into the light of the fire ball Shizuka held.

"Izumi?" The fire disappeared from Shizuka's hands.

"In name, but definitely not in appearance or reputation."

"What happened to you?" Accelerator couldn't suppress his shock at the sight of the sickly-looking thin figure.

"Nothing much. My mana, or magic energy's been drained, that's all. Good to see you're alive, Accelerator." A faint smile flickered across the man's lips.

"What have you been doing and why did you disappear a few weeks ago?"

Izumi waved a dismissive hand. "Nothing you should worry about."

"At least answer this question: why did you disappear?"

"Because my work in Academy City was done. You may have thought I left out of grief and guilt. Yes, I grieved; yes, I felt guilty. Yet, my job was done, so I had no more ties to the city of science."

"And what exactly was your job?

"Tsukasa's last wish. Protect, guide, and teach Accelerator and Shizuka up until the battle with Lucifer."

"How did you know that was his last wish? He died before you saw him," Accelerator said blankly.

"I hired a medium not too long after I took you in. Tsukasa didn't say anything in his will, so I had to find out any unfinished wishes the magic way, as per my role as the living sibling. Now that I have finished the job, and had some free overtime, I can rest."

"Wait, Izumi. You don't mean...?"

The man nodded. "It's about time I left this earth and joined my brother."

"You-"

"Accelerator, I died a long time ago when my brother died. The only thing that kept me going was his last wish to keep you safe and teach you until the battle with Lucifer."

"I won't stop you if you really want that."

Izumi smiled slightly. "The reason I came here a while ago was to wipe out the last traces of Mathieu's family. I knew you survived, so I didn't choose to end my life earlier since I still wanted to talk with you."

"How did you know I was alive?"

"Once you entered battle, my visions of the future cleared up. I saw that you would have a hard battle, but in the end, you would live."

"Was there anything else you wanted to tell us?"

"No. Don't try to persuade me to do anything else." Izumi turned and left. Before he took a step, he turned back. His eyes shone with pride and some sorrow. "Accelerator. Shizuka. I'm proud of you. I'm sure your parents would have been proud as well. I really am happy that I got to teach you two."

"Izumi, thank you for everything you've done. Even if you're the one who erased our memories, you returned them to us and taught us what we needed to learn." Shizuka smiled at the older man.

Arin walked up to Izumi and had a brief exchange, during which Izumi handed Arin a black envelope.

Accelerator said nothing. After a minute, he opened his mouth. "Thank you for everything...Uncle Izumi.

A wide smile appeared on the man's face. "You don't know how happy I am to hear those words. Now I can finally rest in peace. Goodbye." Speaking a spell, a bright light broke through the darkness and shone down on the land, chasing away all the darkness that covered the area.

Turning his head, Accelerator managed to catch Izumi's final smile before the darkness was pulled towards the man's body. Izumi's body was consumed by the shadows, and the whole seething mass of black disappeared, along with the bodies of the other dead magicians.

The sun shone down on a ghost town. The buildings were crumbling, decrepit. Yet, the entire scene felt peaceful.

Accelerator turned around and started strolling back to Venice. "So, is this the end?"

"The end of a man who shaped your lives, yes. We still have to report to Laura and tell her Izumi died, so we couldn't bring him back."

Despite the loss of a close relative, none of them were sad. They knew the reasons behind what Satou Izumi had done, and accepted them.

Arin put her hands on Accelerator's and Shizuka's arms and they disappeared in a flash of silver light.

~Necessarius Base, England~

This time, Arin had transported them right into the garden. Despite what they thought, only a few hours had passed. The sun had started to set, painting the sky gold.

Archbishop Laura Stuart looked up from her table in the garden, another cup of tea in her hands. Index was also with her, busy stuffing her mouth with food. She looked at the trio. "Oh? Welcome back. Where's Izumi?"

Accelerator's voice was void of emotion. "He's dead."

One of Laura's eyebrows lifted imperceptibly. "What happened?"

"He used up most of his mana to kill the magicians living outside of Venice, and used the last of it to destroy the bounded area the magicians had made outside of Venice. He said his tasks were completed and he had no more reason to live."

"I see." Laura pushed her teacup aside and brought a laptop onto the table, opening it and typing something. "I suppose I should change Satou Izumi-san's status to deceased, then."

"Is there anything else you want from us or can we go?" Accelerator's voice remained stoic. He hid his initial shock at Laura's calm dismissal of a major magician's death. It was almost if she had expected him to die.

"No. Thank you for the information. You may go now. Index, you may return to Academy City as well."

Index stood up, wiping off her mouth. She went over to the little group of three, and gave the archbishop a nod. With that, Arin led them out of the garden and a silver flash indicated that they had teleported back to Academy City.

Laura opened a video messaging app, contacting a certain man in Academy City.

~Back in Academy City~

Arin first made a stop at Touma's apartment, dropping Index off, before teleporting herself, Accelerator and Shizuka outside of Yomikawa's apartment.

Accelerator unlocked the door and walked in, immediately grabbing a can of black coffee. Throwing himself onto the couch, he opened the can and started drinking it. Shizuka sat down beside him, while Arin stood behind her. Yoshikawa walked in sleepily, as it was the middle of the night. Yomikawa also came in, glancing at Accelerator.

After he finished the can, Accelerator spoke. "Where's the brat?"

"Sleeping on your bed. It is the middle of the night, you know."

"Tch. Looks like I have to sleep on the couch again."

"Where's Izumi?"

"Dead." Accelerator went to the kitchen and took out another can of coffee. Ignoring the looks of shock both women had on their faces, he opened the can and sipped it slowly.

Shizuka joined in the conversation, explaining everything to the women. The whole exchange took around 10 minutes. Silence fell upon the group after Shizuka finished; the only sound was from Accelerator idly twisting the empty cans with his ability.

After a while, Yoshikawa spoke. "Are there no chances of recovering his body?"

"No chances at all." Arin cut in before Shizuka spoke. "And I highly doubt we should hold a funeral."

Accelerator spoke. "At least get a memorial for him."

"I will handle that. Meanwhile, it's time to decide on the future." Arin held out the envelope Izumi had given her. "This is Izumi's will and one extra thing as well."

"Aren't you going to open it?"

"The will itself is indecipherable, sealed with a time-lapse spell I will not undo out of respect for Izumi's last wish. The extra thing is for Shizuka. It's from Tatemiya Saiji, substitute pontiff of the Amakusa Church and an old friend of your parents."

Shizuka opened the apparent letter Arin had given her. She frowned at the date. "This was written 19 years ago." Her eyes widened. "Before I was born?"

"Actually, that date was the day your parents got married. By then, they had already left the Amakusa Church. This was the pontiff's last message to them, specifically your father, before they cut themselves off completely from the world of magic. Read it."

Shizuka scanned the letter, reading it out loud.

Chihiro:

I might as well start with congratulating you two. In my opinion, you, Chihiro, should have proposed earlier. Anyways, that is beside the point. I know you do not want anything to do with magic anymore, or anything to do with the Amakusa. It pains me to remember the day you announced that both of you were leaving magic behind and you would be renouncing the ancient Tsukiko bloodline, but I do understand your reasons for leaving.

If you ever tell your future kids that magic exists, they may be interested in learning. I know by then you will refuse to teach them anything or let them go down the path of a magician, so I have an offer for you.

If your children do want to learn magic, do not say no. When they are of age, they can choose to come here to the Amakusa to learn with us and learn about the ancient Tsukiko bloodline. This offer will stand until I perish, but even then, i think the others would accept your kids. Consider this the last few words of advice I will give you as an old friend and fellow magician,

I hope you lead a good life with Hikaru. Goodbye, my friend.

Tatemiya Saiji

Shizuka finished reading. "The offer still stands today, does it not?"

"You read the letter. They'll accept you."

Shizuka sat silently for a while, contemplating the offer. One side of her desperately wanted to go learn more magic and learn about her parents, but the other side wanted to stay in Academy City with her new-found family. Two voices speaking in unison broke her out of her thoughts,

"I think you should go." Accelerator and Yoshikawa stared at each other in disbelief before Accelerator clicked his tongue and looked away,

Shizuka looked disbelievingly at the researcher and the esper. "Who are you two and what have you done with the real Accelerator and the real Yoshikawa?"

Accelerator scoffed, "How was I supposed to know she'd say the same thing as I said? You should go learn with them. I know you really want to learn more about your parents and the different kinds of magic they use."

"Those were pretty much the exact same points I had in mind. Also, I doubt Aiho can keep you hidden any longer as a supposed unregistered esper. While your elemental abilities count as an esper ability, you are a pure magician with no ties to science. You should accept your bloodline."

"I guess I'll go."

Accelerator had a hint of a smirk on his pale face. "See you around in three years, then."

"Three?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

A new journey was about to start, with the end of another.

~Windowless Building~

"So, is this the end of your little adventure with Accelerator?" Tsuchimikado Motoharu asked. "He's done far more than an average esper-or even a magician-these last few weeks."

"His life had piqued my interest ever since he was born," the General Superintendent said. "Quite a pity that Satou Izumi decided to end his own life and not mentor him anymore."

"One of Necessarius's best magicians gone. And the archbishop didn't even care."

"She told me earlier she knew he would have ended his own life sooner or later."

"Anyway, you didn't answer my earlier question."

"You should know the answer."

The multi-organization spy shrugged. "Did you really expect Michael and Lucifer to show up on the earth, no less Academy City?"

"I did not account for that happening, but as long Accelerator was able to defeat Mathieu, nothing would have affected my plans."

"As for Tsukiko Shizuka leaving?"

"She is a magician."

"Did you allow all this purely for your amusement?"

"Again, you should know the answer."

"Fair enough." Tsuchimikado walked away from the tube in which Aleister was floating, an unreadable look on his face. A teleporter appeared and transported the blond spy out of the building.

Aleister mused silently to himself. "It has ended for now, has it not? Perhaps I will allow Accelerator some years of peace in his life."

Aaaaaaaand Aleister gets the last word. Heh.

Happy New Years to you guys as well! Thanks to everyone who followed and favourited this story to the end. You've been really supportive!

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