Aureolus Izzard stood on the highest floor of the Northern-most block. It was a floor called Principal's office, a large space that encompassed the entire level. As a cram school, it was more like a director's room than a principal's office.
Aureolus was looking out the window, ignoring the glamorous room and luxurious decorations inside. Though, the night scenery below was not his interest. Instead, he was looking at the face reflected on the window.
…The road taken was quite long.
With one sentence—just a single sentence—like "Revert back to normal" the entire building stood back up like a living creature. He had witnessed the event without even batting an eyebrow. He looked at the mirrored face and sunk into deep thought.
In the past, he was not like that. Though he was more of the stoic type, he was still a human that expressed his emotions. In the current time, he had an emotionless calm that he ignored since he had no time to be bothered with it.
It's acceptable even if I've become like this. Even if he were aware of the change since the very beginning, he had no time to relax. He had an entire world to fight for the sake of achieving his goals.
Aureolus Izzard had done everything to save the single girl on the black ebony table behind him. Index Librorum Prohibitorum. Index. Three years had passed since he had met the girl who did not know her own given name. While involved with the Roman Catholic Church, he was a Cancellarius. Though a member of the Church, he was tasked with writing grimoires, making his situation a unique one amongst unique. He was to decode modern witchcraft, discover ways to counter them, and record the results. He had believed, through his actions, he could protect innocents hurt by witches.
In fact, the grimoires that Aureolus had written had helped many people. However, the Roman Catholic Church had used those grimoires as trump cards. Pagan cults and even other Christian sects like the Anglicans and Orthodoxies had no knowledge of the existence of these trump cards. Such individuals were even warned that they should convert to Catholicism if they wished to be protected from witches. Though the alchemist had devised ways to defend against the witches, many were not benefited, some even harmed. It was much too unreasonable, as if they were patients who could have been operated upon but were abandoned.
Aureolus could not endure. He had originally believed that his trump card was created to save others. Eventually, he had decided to smuggle the "books" he had written. He escaped to England, a country of magic seriously rampant with witches. Aureolus carefully disguised himself and successfully made contact with the Anglican Church using underground methods.
It was there that he met the girl that could not be saved. At first glance, he knew. He whom he had given the task of saving the entire world knew that he could save the girl before him. The girl possessed 103,000 grimoires from across the globe, each capable of driving an ordinary person insane. However, the keeper herself smiled on, despite knowing being saved was impossible.
Saving her was impossible. A human being memorizing 103,000 grimoires would result in her physical intoxication because of the grimoires' logics and the mind being corroded by the actual knowledge. It was the realization that caused the alchemist to see the limits of his knowledge. The girl perpetually facing misfortune always smiled for others. If he could not accomplish saving even her, how could even discuss saving the entire world?
At some point when he had lost count of how many grimoires he had written, he began to wonder why he had not given up and continued to write. It was then he had realized. Even if saving her were impossible, he struggled, using the excuse of providing her with grimoires to visit her.
It was an ordinary story. An alchemist desired to save a girl but in the end was saved by the girl. His realization that he could not save her brought about the end: he could no longer hold a pen, his faith and confidence in his writing ability gone.
Unable to save… unable to save… The alchemist at that time could save no one. However, to save her at no matter the cost, he chose to walk, even fall down, a path of darkness for that one reason.
If Aureolus could obtain the power to save everything, he decided he would utilize it for the girl before him. Thus, Aureolus rebelled against the Roman Catholic Church, Christianity and even the entire world. Despite those actions he had failed. Depleting the knowledge taken from the Hermes and Zurich schools he still failed. He had believed he could simply understand the human anatomy and cure any disease. He had believed that understanding the brain could cure any emotional scar. But of course, he was wrong.
If it were impossible through faith or technology, what was wrong with relying on Cain's descendants, whose powers surpassed human understanding? For achieving his goal, he was willing to betray and manipulate anyone and anything. This included Deep Blood. And, like that, the alchemist strayed from righteousness. His initial desire to save others had become a pitiful shadow.
"…"
Aureolus Izzard had not realized. The girl titled Deep Blood watched him silently from behind with the desire to save others.
Aureolus had not realized. The savior had not arrived.
"Aureolus Izzard reflected the Gregorian Chant? How is that possible?" said the shocked Stiyl as Kamijou told them during their game of tag. Incidentally, Stiyl was playing with a flaming sword.
"It's true! It was like I was watching the rewind of a video! The damaged towers reverted back to how they were!" said Kamijou, running down the corridor. Stiyl had apparently explored further into the building than Kamijou had but, before he could discover the alchemist's hiding place, he had wavered.
"If that's the case… don't tell me… but modern alchemy can't possibly do that much…" muttered Stiyl as he exhaled smoke.
"He even used chants like 'you shall not touch me' and 'forget everything.' Is magic really so omnipotent that anything you want appears!?"
"…How is this possible? Magic's a form of knowledge with strict rules and logic. If there were such a ridiculous spell, who would want to honestly research magic?"
"Then what did I see? Everything he said somehow happened."
"'Everything he said…' is such an irritating term. Reminds me of Ars Magna."
Focused on the noted term, Kamijou remembered the discussion where Stiyl mentioned the final, unachieved aim of alchemy, where one could project one's thoughts onto the world. "Then, wait. Has that guy already mastered the most powerful spell in alchemy?"
"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" yelled Stiyl with a rare, violent tone. "I said it before. Ars Magna isn't something achievable by humans. The incantation exists, sure, but it can't be completed with one, no, two hundred years of continuous incantation. You can't shorten the incantation and the later generations can't pick it up. Like a game of telephone it gets more and more twisted. Humans with limited lifespan just can't possibly have that kind of magic!" Stiyl's refutation was logical for those who understood magic, but, Stiyl himself trembled as if he had seen something unbelievable.
"You're right." Kamijou pondered from a different point of view. "If could really do anything he wanted, we wouldn't be alive. He wouldn't've used the False Sacred Song Corps to use the Gregorian Chant or that fake Aureolus. Wouldn't he have just said 'die'?"
In fact, vampires and Deep Blood would have been unnecessary. If it were necessary, he could have just created a vampire. If the alchemist's desires were projectable onto reality, why was there a need for vampires?
"Speaking of which, what's his aim? I'd heard he wanted to save someone but he ended up mercilessly killing a lot of people. Right now, even Index is involved… Did the stress of blowing this out of proportion get to him?"
"What? That child too?"
"I heard him talk about her but I never actually saw her. Maybe he was delusional or something." Kamijou said with an easygoing demeanor, "Maybe consolation for himself?"
Stiyl's expression had become more serious. Apparently bitter, he spat his cigarette away. "Tch! I see what's going on. He isolated himself for three years to study alchemy and hasn't kept track of current events." Said Stiyl has he stuffed a new cigarette. "I know what he wants. It's Index."
"What?" Confused, to his understanding, the situation had no relevance to Index.
"Listen, Kamijou Touma. Index has had her memories erased every year. Every year, her relationship changed and found a new partner each time."
"So… What about it?"
"This year, it's you. Two years ago it was me and," Stiyl continued vengefully. "three years ago it was Aureolus Izzard. They were teacher and student."
Shock.
"The fate for every companion was the same. They tried to save her from having her memory wiped but absolutely failed." He said with disdain. "It was of course the same for him. And, it would seem he didn't accept it."
"What do you mean?"
"Simple. We companions weren't abandoned by her, she simply forgot us. If that so, then all they needed to do was cure Index and salvage her memory. Wouldn't she go back to them?"
Kamijou's heart felt a pain like a hammering stake. He did not know what affected him so much. It was a good thing that Index was healed but still there was an inexplicable and invisible impact. He remembered the smile. That smile that she showed to others carried a heavy burden for Kamijou.
"But it won't happen." Stiyl smiled. "Just like how erasing someone's memories is already a huge sin, changing memories is as well. He must know this or he's completely lost his senses." Stiyl voice was much too soft. As Kamijou turned around to face Stiyl and hear more clearly, Stiyl simply exhaled smoke and calmly shook his head.
"It's nothing. I'm saying that guy can't save that child. It's that simple."
"Why?" Kamijou failed to make the connection, his mind focused on the idea of his omnipotence. If he could take away people's memories or revive the dead, what could he possibly not do?
"The reason's simple. It's you."
?
"Haven't you saved her already? How could someone be saved twice? It's that simple, nothing more to it."
The boy drew the connections. Aureolus Izzard was Index's former partner three years prior. Since he had lost Index, he had lost contact and did not know the current situation.
Which meant that Aureolus…
"We're here. Look, he even deliberately left the door open for us. How nice." Stiyl looked forward. In the highest floor of Misawa Cram School's North tower, the enormous doors leading into the principal's office were open. They were inviting Kamijou and Stiyl.