Chapter Text
It’s early afternoon when the young man emerges from the magic circle into the bustle of Tokyo. Thankfully, with the help of some planning, it has been done completely unseen.
As the circle connecting him to his origin point closes, he’s left alone in a dusty alleyway. It’s much too dim to catch the glisten of his golden horns, three of them emerging from beneath dark brown hair like a crown. Brass tubing circles over his shoulders and around to his back like armor, concealed under a short cape. If someone were to see him, they’d likely believe he was in cosplay.
However, the mirrored badge affixed to his chest is the only thing of importance that he carries beyond his mission.
For this young man, known to the Magnifique as “Ibuki,” this mission seems just as simple as it does difficult. He is tasked with locating a rogue Magus. Or at least that’s what Beat Magi independent of the Magnifique are classified as.
Stepping out into the street, Ibuki takes on his civilian appearance. The leather jacket he was wearing earlier was much warmer than his Magus form anyways.
“Treble Magus Ibuki,” his father’s orders echoed in his head, “Your first mission as a purifier is to hunt down the rogue Magus we’ve detected in Tokyo.”
Despite his questioning, Ibuki wasn’t able to pull much information from his father, Michibiki. However, he was able to discern from several weeks worth of logs kept in the Conservatory that the rogue Magus was at the very least not currently a threat. Hunt seemed too hostile a word to describe finding someone who hadn’t been participating in corruptions or exhibiting usual Bass Magus behavior. Ibuki likely didn’t need to be so on guard for this purification.
Yet there was a twist of uncertainty in his stomach. Uncertainty that whoever this person was would be something unusual, and unusual often meant dangerous.
Glancing at the mirrored badge, his Reflector, he’s unable to see anything. With such a large area to cover, of course it wouldn’t detect the person he needed to find so easily. Ibuki frowns and pockets the mirror, deciding to find another place to scan.
He had to find this Magus.
/////
Hidaka Hitoshi didn’t think he’d ever undergo a transformation like this so late in his life. Well, 31 wasn’t the age of an old timer, but Hitoshi didn’t waste any time calling himself an “old man” the minute he reached 30.
Moreso, he didn’t quite understand why the mirror he carried had manifested in front of him not too long ago or why it did to his body what it did, but he liked it. He felt light, powerful, and full of energy.
In the park, he’s training: running with weights strapped to his ankles and wrists. It feels a little basic to him, like he should be trying something a little more complex and challenging, but the way his body would change thanks to the mirror was already complex enough to him. And more importantly: he had no clue how to use whatever it was exactly the mirror was meant to enable. It was a lot more simple for Hitoshi to focus on what he already knew how to do. He could run, lift weights, balance himself. His body as it already was was something he pushed to train and hone constantly. Surely, that would eventually rub onto whatever this new power was.
And whatever it was, Hitoshi had decided it was magic. At least the mirror seemed to be. It always seemed that when Hitoshi held the mirror just right or expressed the right amount of enthusiasm, something from the mirror would consume him. Maybe it was magic, maybe he was magic.
A few finger flicks in his new form would prove his suspicions usually. An uneven circle would trace the movement of his finger, sparks flying as it wobbled in an oblong shape before breaking. He didn’t get how it worked, but he knew there was something more to it he hadn’t figured out yet.
So when Hibiki reaches the end of his run, careful to conceal himself in a more wooded area off of the trail, he doesn’t take the chance to cool down. Rather, this was a warm up as he pulls out the mirror. Holding it to his face, he sees a look of determination in his eyes staring back into him.
Today he’ll figure this out.
“Go! Change!” he calls before he feels his body be whirled around. It almost appears for a second that he passes through the mirror, his appearance changing as he emerges from the other side.
There is a weight pressing down lightly on either side of his head, previous examination had shown they were horns, like a demon. A dark purple bodysuit clings to him, silver armor wrapped over his chest and around to his back. His arms are fully covered in fabric, the dark purple fading to a crimson red the closer it gets to his hands. At least this form granted him comfy sneakers and shorts to offset the otherwise ornamented appearance.
The mirror affixed itself to the material on his chest, between a gap in the armor. Had he been able to look in it, his reflection would have shown the same determined look, now covered in red markings that wrapped around his cheeks.
Hitoshi had only been able to turn into this for a few weeks, but he had already transformed plenty of times, each time easier to manage than the last. He had also chosen to name his new self “Hibiki”, after the delicate bell sound that chimed and resonated sweetly with his every movement.
Becoming “Hibiki” felt lifechanging.
It was time to resume his training.
//////
Ibuki’s eyes go wide as his Reflector picks up on something, a careful warmth emitting from his pocket. By now, he’s out of the busier part of the city and coming up on a park. Fishing the Reflector out of his pocket, he checks to see what it is detecting: a hazy vision of deep purple amidst abundant greenery, he can’t make out the face or much other details.
Finding a bench, Ibuki props up his foot to pretend to retie his boot to conceal the magic circle he traces onto the wood beside him. Once a couple briskly strides by on the park’s path and is out of view, Ibuki whistles softly to coax something out from the circle. It solidifies and unfolds into a cobra, his familiar.
“I’m counting on you,” he reassures. “Let’s find this rogue Magus.”
The cobra nods in understanding, slithering off of the bench and into the grass towards the magic signal’s source. Patting his boot as if he finished his job, Ibuki straightens himself and follows.
Through a field, he is lead into the woods. He’s not on the park’s path, which is equally a good sign and a bad sign. Was this Magus looking to attack people from the bushes? It would be a perfect set up, it would have taken the Takeshi even longer to receive reports or information on anything so isolated had this person managed a mass corruption out of the park goers.
But the information he received indicated that this person wasn’t hostile, so that couldn’t be it, right?
/////
After some time, Ibuki hears the soft ringing of small bells. His familiar slithers along, winding itself around a tree and indicating with its tail that their objective isn’t too far ahead.
Ibuki readies his Reflector, creeping closer to spot someone dressed in what was most definitely the garb of a Beat Magus. Watching for a moment, he observed as this other Magus, alone in a clearing in the brush and trees, attempted to draw a magic circle. Or rather, he watched as this other Magus impatiently snapped his fingers until something faintly sparked.
“Come oooooon!!! I had it before!” the Magus groans in frustration, prompting Ibuki to laugh. The Magus snaps his head in Ibuki’s direction. “Who’s there…?”
Locking eyes, Ibuki realizes staying concealed, or trying to, is useless. Stepping into full view of this other person, he watches the full range of emotions run across this other Magus’s face. He realizes this other guy looks a fair bit older than him.
Surprise, confusion, that look someone gives when they know they’re in trouble, and then a smile completely intended to hide his nerves. Ibuki knows these expressions despite not knowing this guy, he’s seen them all before from tagging along for purifications with his mother.
“Hey, kid. What brings you out here? The path is back that way, you know.” The Magus laughs, nudging his thumb to gesture behind him.
“I’m actually here for you.”
There is a look of confusion on the Magus’s face.
“I’ve been sent by the Magnifique’s Japanese branch, Takeshi.” Presenting his Reflector to the other Magus like a detective’s badge, Ibuki flicks it in front of himself to activate his transformation and marches forward. Passing through the light that reflects onto him, he’s now in his own Magus uniform. “Treble Magus Ibuki. I’ve been sent to purify you.”
“And I’m Hibiki!” The joyous reply almost knocks Ibuki off balance.
“I-I… I just said I was going to purify you!” Ibuki stutters, trying to keep his cool. Didn’t this guy understand the kind of situation he was in? “Doesn’t that make you worried?!”
“Oh, I guess it should.” Hibiki blinks. Eyeing Ibuki from head to toe, he smiles. “But there is another guy out there just like me. That actually makes me feel a lot less worried!”
“Eh…?”
Now Ibuki can see why the information on this Magus was not only lacking, but oddly tame for someone considered “rogue”.
He wasn’t sure this Magus was much of one at all.