[SS] Reunion With The Lost

So many years have passed since Aleister Crowley betrayed the side of Magic. Milo had left shortly after Aleister in order to find him and convince him to return. He hadn't even been sure that he would ever find the other but, as luck would have it, he did eventually locate him. That's where he was going tonight. His destination was a building with no windows. Would Aleister really be there? There was only one way to find out.

It took him only a few minutes more to reach the Windowless Building, as it was called. Getting in wasn't all that difficult, either. He had been expecting a challenge since Aleister Crowley was involved. Perhaps the other really wasn't here? Well, it was still worth a look. He was there, after all. That was when he spotted a soft, orange glow and decided to follow it.

That's when he saw the person he had been searching for for such a long time. He was suspended upside down in what seemed to be a life-support system. Why would Aleister be needing that? Even so, the spell he was preparing would, without a doubt, save Aleister. Then they could both return to the side of Magic together and things could return to how they used to be.

"Aleister?" he asked, just to make sure even though the answer was clear.

"It's taken me a great many years but I have finally managed to locate you." the Magician added.

He looked around for a moment. The room that Aleister was in was a bit depressing and dark. He didn't mind the dark because his eyes were sensitive to any form of light, even the orange glow from Aleister's life-support system was rather bright to him. However, Aleister wasn't like him and this room just didn't seem right for someone who looked so much like an angel.

"I wont ask you to come with me right now in your condition but I promise that I'll save you, Aleister. I'm working on a spell that will put even the most powerful Magicians to shame. It'll save you, I promise. And then we can return to the side of Magic together and be as we used to be." he told Aleister.

He placed a hand against the glass tube that held Aleister, looking at the only man he had ever considered to be his friend. It was cold and it made Milo want to save him even more. He wanted to save Aleister so that they could once again walk together in the sun, or sit and talk about the stars at night. Milo missed the old days quite a bit but he had missed Aleister even more than that. Even if he could get Aleister back then he wouldn't care if things didn't go back to the exact way that they were before. All he truly wanted was to save Aleister, even if Aleister ended up hating him for it.

"You should not have come." Aleister spoke in a detached monotone the instant the man had entered the room. It was clear that he was, if not prepared for the intrusion, not surprised by it.

"Aleister?"

He did not respond as the man called out his name.

"It's taken me a great many years but I have finally managed to locate you."

"Then you have wasted those great many years." Aleister said, his inverted features static and lifeless as he gazed upon Milo. "

"I wont ask you to come with me right now in your condition but I promise that I'll save you, Aleister. I'm working on a spell that will put even the most powerful Magicians to shame. It'll save you, I promise. And then we can return to the side of Magic together and be as we used to be."

A tense silence hung in the air as Milo pressed his hand to the glass. The chamber seemed to hum like some infernal machine in a way that was felt more than heard. It would be a simple matter to eliminate his old companion. The room's defenses were at Aleister's immediate control. Cold and clinical, like excising a cancer or erasing a faulty variable in an equation. It would be so simple. But he did not.

"Still so naive." Even as he spoke in a cold tone his words seemed filled with condescenscion. "What use is it saving one who does not need salvation?"

It was no surprise to Milo that Aleister had already knew he would be showing up tonight. Aleister had always been that way. No one could sneak up on him, no one could trick or fool him. That was something that Milo admired about the other man. He heard the hum and he could even feel it in the glass and in the floor beneath his feet. It didn't take him long to realize what the hum was.

"Do you wish to kill me, Aleister?" he asked.

Milo asked this question with a slight smirk. He had no fear of death but he couldn't let himself be killed right now, not when he was so close to his goal of saving Aleister. Though, the other didn't seem like he wanted to be saved. Had someone somehow managed to brainwash him? It was a nearly impossible feat but what if someone had somehow managed to do so? That would explain this situation and why Aleister believed that he didn't need to be saved.

"You can say what you want but I will save you, none-the-less. If you come to hate me after I have saved you then I may offer up my life to you. However, I can't allow myself to die right now, not when I'm as close as I am to my goal. Kill me, if you wish, but only after I have succeeded. Besides, yours are the only hands I wish to meet my end by." he stated with a gentle smile.

He was being completely truthful in his statement. If he were to die he would much rather be killed by Aleister than to die by someone else's hands. In fact a death by Aleister's hands would be his ideal way to die. It was then that he removed his hand from the glass. Aleister hadn't really changed at all and he was glad to know that.

"Do you wish to kill me, Aleister?"

His question was met once more with stony silence.

"You can say what you want but I will save you, none-the-less. If you come to hate me after I have saved you then I may offer up my life to you. However, I can't allow myself to die right now, not when I'm as close as I am to my goal. Kill me, if you wish, but only after I have succeeded. Besides, yours are the only hands I wish to meet my end by."

There was a flicker as a beam the width of a hair scored across Milo's neck, just deep enough to sting. It wasn't obvious where the laser, if that was what it had been, had come from.

"It is obvious that you are beyond reason. But I shall tell you this. We stand at the threshold of a new age. A new Aeon. And no one. Not God Himself can halt its dawning." He paused as if to consider his own words. "Your abilities will prove insufficient to hinder my plans. However, should you force me to reconsider, you will be dealt with the same as any obstacle." The beam of light that had singed Milo only moments earlier proved that the building's self defense systems were at Aleister's direct command. "It would be a trifling matter to eliminate you."

The Magician didn't even flinch when the laser struck him. In truth, he had expected it. He had been around Aleister long enough to be able to predict some of his actions but Aleister, over all, was still a puzzle that Milo has only partly solved. He wasn't even sure if he would ever be able to completely solve the puzzle that is Aleister but it was still worth a try.

"Not God Himself can halt its dawning."

Milo couldn't help but burst into laughter at that. His laughter wasn't the kind you would normally hear from a sane person. However, Milo wasn't completely sane and it had gotten worse over the years. His split personalities played a role in his slow decent into madness.

"God, is it? Then all I need to do is become even more than God." he stated with a smirk.

Milo, unfortunately was being serious. He had predicted this and that's why he was absorbing the mana from his fellow Magicians. He needed the magic power and he needed a lot of it. If he were to unleash it in order to attack someone then the strength of the magic he collected over his many years would probably bring about a mass extinction. However, he had no intention of doing that. He needed that magic for a spell in order to save Aleister. The magic, alone, would probably kill him because he was certain that it was more than he could handle but he vowed that he wouldn't die until Aleister was saved.

His laughter eventually died down as he managed to regain control of himself. If Milo didn't have this mission of his then he probably would have completely lost it years ago. It was will alone that kept him sane. Will was probably his greatest strength. Nothing will keep him down until he has succeeded in his mission.

"It would be a trifling matter to eliminate you."

Those words came as no surprise to Aleister. The other had always been a bit cold towards others but Milo didn't mind at all. In fact, he wouldn't have it any other way.

"I know, my friend. If you truly came at me with the intent to kill me then I would allow you to do with me as you wish. However, it is your hands that I wish to die by, not machines. So, if you truly wish to kill me then allow me to save you and then you can come over here and do as you want." he told Aleister.

"I know, my friend. If you truly came at me with the intent to kill me then I would allow you to do with me as you wish. However, it is your hands that I wish to die by, not machines. So, if you truly wish to kill me then allow me to save you and then you can come over here and do as you want."

There was no reply and no movement. Was it compassion or some other purpose that moved the 'Wickedest Man Alive' to spare the boy before him? The older mage betrayed nothing. All that was certain was that Aleister had indeed spared Milo. His point had been made. Milo Lorelei was an intruder within Academy City. An unwelcome menace that would be driven out or eliminated.

It was always this way with Aleister. One either fell into line with his designs or they were driven under his heel. One did not become the most hated man alive without reason.

The lack of reaction from Aleister made Milo smile. He was used to such cold reactions from the other man. Perhaps Milo was a bit of a masochist because he actually somewhat enjoyed the cold treatment. He gently touched the cold glass again. His eyes were burning because of the bright orange glow. Milo would need to leave soon, otherwise he would damage his eyes.

"I must be going now, Aleister. I'll be attending a school of science in two days as a transfer student. My goal was to try and find the reason you chose them over us. I must say that, so far, I am unimpressed. However, my mission will not change. Saving you is still the only thing I am focusing on. That is my goal. Send someone out to kill me, if you wish. Just know that I wont die until I have saved you. Tear me apart and I will still fight back. The only time I will stop fighting is when you, yourself, have your hands around my throat." he told Aleister.

He removed his hand from the glass and rubbed at his stinging eyes. It was a pain sometimes to have such sensitive eyes and there was nothing he could do about it. The contacts did nothing to help. They only helped to keep unnecessary attention away from him.

"I must be going now, Aleister. I'll be attending a school of science in two days as a transfer student. My goal was to try and find the reason you chose them over us. I must say that, so far, I am unimpressed. However, my mission will not change. Saving you is still the only thing I am focusing on. That is my goal. Send someone out to kill me, if you wish. Just know that I wont die until I have saved you. Tear me apart and I will still fight back. The only time I will stop fighting is when you, yourself, have your hands around my throat."

"That day may be sooner at hand than you realise." Typical of Aleister, his parting words to Milo were a threat.

There was movement behind Milo. In the center of the room a girl now stood, her feet planted wide and her arms folded impatiently as she waited for him. She wore the dark blue uniform of Kirigaoka Girls' Academy with the jacket slung over her shoulders like a cape and her long, dark red hair was tied back in two low ponytails. Musujime Awaki did not seem the least bothered by the sinister surroundings or her odd company. In fact she looked positively bored.

"I'll escort you out." She extended her hand to Milo as a formality. She often acted as the guide into the Windowless Building, her teleportation powers made her useful for such a purpose in a way most couldn't match. She wondered briefly how Milo had entered the building without her but pushed the question from her mind. Some things were better off unknown. She knew this as well as anyone.

"That day may be sooner at hand than you realize."

Those words repeated a few times inside of Milo's head. He smiled and nodded to Aleister. The others cruel way of dealing with people was something that Milo truly didn't mind. Aleister wouldn't be Aleister if he wasn't a bit cold towards people. He had gotten used to it and he had even learned to like, perhaps even love that about the older Magician.

"I may stop by again but I can't make any promises. There's no telling how busy I'll be when I start attending this school." he stated.

It was that that someone else showed up. Teleportation? That was very rare indeed and it didn't seem like she had used an artifact like he had. Milo was a collector of artifacts and he even knew how to create some of his own. He was a genius when it came to creating magical artifacts. He nodded to the girl and reached out to take her hand.

"Very well." he told her.

He watched impassively as the two vanished, leaving him to contemplate this new turn of events.

An old face returning after so many years. If God's Design did indeed exist it was evident in such unexpected occurances. This was not coincidence. Nor was it fate. Aleister Crowley hung in quiet contemplation of the many repercussions this night may have on the future, and on his plans. His presence could affect a great many things, for better or for worse. But in the end it would all be accounted for and every piece would be put in its rightful place.

Now he reconsidered his schemes, his many plans and strategies, shifting them, altering them to optimise their outcome in light of his former colleague's appearance.

To Aleister Crowley, Milo Lorelei was simply another variable in the equation.