Toaru Majutsu no Index II Episode 12

Synopsis
Touma loses Oriana in a bus stop and contacts Tsuchimikado Motoharu about his progress. He tells the person on the other line about her possible destination - somewhere within District 7 - and realizes something: Oriana has been roaming around the district. Touma doesn't accept the reason of being pursued as a possible cause of her actions, and since that a transaction might not happen, he suspects that Oriana is trying to fulfill certain conditions for the Croce di Pietro's activation.

Soon, Touma relays information Orsola gave to Stiyl earlier related to the Croce di Pietro. Motoharu discovers that the report explains how employees of the British Museum clean up the storage area of the Croce, and it contains a certain piece of vital information: that the Croce di Pietro is avoided from direct sunlight. Touma assumes that the Croce's activation is connected to time, but the requirement of the cleanup to finish before evening proves otherwise.

Motoharu then tells Touma that the owner allegedly performs astrology to predict the future. A new theory soon emerges, one concerning the position of the stars itself to activate the Croce.

However, Motoharu points out some discrepancies with the connection: Saint Peter died on June 29th, and the latitudes and longitudes of Japan and Rome are different. He tells him that he has no trust in their current theory, but still gives a deadline of sunset to retrieve the Croce.

Touma's conversation is then interrupted by Index.

Elsewhere, Oriana seems relieved that Kanzaki Kaori still hasn't appeared to her. However, someone else is not impressed with what she did earlier. Lidvia has contacted her again, reprimanding her for targetting a relative civilian. She identified the victim as Himegami Aisa, a person whose ability are sealed by a Celtic cross.

Oriana feels dismayed by what she discovered, but nonetheless, Lidvia still tries to lift her spirits by reminding her of their duty. However, even Oriana is doubtful of the success of her task.

Index asks Touma about his inability to participate in afternoon events. Touma tries to use an alibi of helping out the administrative committee. He then calmly asks Index to go to his classmates, which she follows immediately, and tells Motoharu that they need to finish the task as soon as possible.

Touma later goes to a shopping center and, after hearing a certain MISAKA speak through the throngs of people, he is contacted by Stiyl, who tells him that he has finished the spell that would heal Aisa. Stiyl, however, has to put up with Touma's whimsical tone over the phone and Komoe's teary show of gratitude. Through the unusual situation he is in, Stiyl tells Touma to contact Motoharu immediately, as he feels that he will do something reckless.

Meanwhile, Seiri calls Komoe and tells her of her current condition. She has fully recovered, and was shocked to hear that Aisa has been attacked from Komoe. Komoe, however, reassures Seiri that Aisa is fine, and it is because of Touma's help.

Later, Motoharu and Touma meet up. The member of Necessarius tells Touma that the activation might rely on constellations, but it might not be correct due to the Croce being last activated in Summer. Touma becomes impatient about having to think about the Croce and wants to move As soon as possible.

Then, they receive a call from the Anglican Church; more specifically, it's from Orsola, who contacted Motoharu instead of Stiyl by mistake. Orsola then reports to them that she has finally understood how the Croce di Pietro is activated; the Croce is confirmed to be reliant on constellations, but the location or the season is irrelevant. Moreover, the location must be understood well, and a choice is to be done on which of the 88 constellations are the most relevant for use.

Touma then asks about the date of Saint Peter's death to Orsola. Orsola explains that June 29 might only be a coincidence to the date when the Croce is used in the Vatican. Touma then asks about the relevance of September 19 in the activation of Croce, which Orsola tells that she has understood.

Meanwhile, inside a mall, Mikoto and Misuzu shop together. While Misuzu childishly looks at an unusual item up for sale, Mikoto feels a strong presence behind her. As it turns out, Kuroko has tailed them, and upon a glance at Mikoto's mother, she is overwhelmed by the aura that Mikoto's mother gives off. Before her mother could assume something, Mikoto tries to stop Kuroko from her lascivious thoughts; meanwhile, Misuzu sees Touma over at the ground floor.

Touma is still busy with tracking Oriana, and with Orsola's help, they acquire new information regarding Oriana. It turns out that Oriana is looking for a possible location that does not block the view of the sky, and is trying various sites. Tsuchimikado suspects that Oriana will travel to District 23, since the buildings on that district do not block the view.

Stiyl later arrives, being late because of how hard it is to hide from Komoe. Touma then wonders if they can travel to District 23 without disturbing the security. Motoharu assures them that security is not an issue, since he can use his privileges for that purpose.

Oriana contacts Lidvia one more time in District 23, reporting to her about her current status. She discovers that security has been tightened unexpectedly, and the time for preparations are getting close. Nonetheless, Oriana is confident that the optimal location is within her reach.

Motoharu has just ordered the security in District 23 to be altered, causing a period of chaos in Oriana's part. Meanwhile, he will use the time to sneak into the district with Touma and Stiyl. Despite plans being laid out without any hitches, Stiyl is concerned about Motoharu's intent in proceeding in spite of his injuries. Motoharu tells him that there is no turning back, and, as the train to District 23 arrives, Touma announces to Stiyl that he will finish this once and for all, while still avoiding a bloodbath.

At sunset, Komoe apologizes to Touma's parents for not being able to keep a close eye on Touma's whereabouts. However, Touma's parents understands this, and instead, asks her about Touma's decisions. They find out from Komoe that he is not forced into anything he does, and this is enough for Touya and Shiina to allow their son to do what he wishes.

Meanwhile, Lidvia emerges, carrying a massive cross on her back. As she stabs this onto the ground, she mutters a long incantation. Touma, Stiyl and Tsuchimikado, on the other hand, keep a low profile as they plan on their attack near a landing strip. Motoharu plans on using blind spots opened by changing aerial routes of patrol planes to proceed without attracting security.

They soon make their advance.

As they find themselves faced with a high steel fence, Touma warns Motoharu of one of Oriana's Shorthand pages. It fails to reach Motoharu on time, and he gets hit by an electric wave. Soon, Oriana appears on the other side, awating their next move. Touma is forced to leave behind Motoharu, and dispels the magic in the fence before crossing it.

As they reach the other side, Stiyl and Touma fend off Oriana's attacks. She proves superior even to the combined efforts of the two, managing to disable Stiyl and Touma with a mixture of fighting skill and magic.

Touma manages to get up and rejects Oriana's ideas of making a world of happiness by destroying the barrier between science and magic. Touma then declares that he will destroy her illusion if it would cause the disruption of the Daihasei Festival.

Adapted From
Toaru Majutsu no Index Light Novel Volume 10

Major events

 * Lidvia Lorenzetti and Oriana Thomson begin their final preparations for the activation of St. Peter's Cross.
 * Kamijou Touma, Tsuchimikado Motoharu and Stiyl Magnus discover how St. Peter's Cross is activated, and continues their pursuit of Oriana Thomson, with Motoharu getting injured by Oriana in the process.
 * Kamijou Touma and Stiyl Magnus engage in combat against Oriana Thomson.

Characters
By order of appearance
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Tsuchimikado Motoharu
 * Misha Kruezhev (flashback-only)
 * Kanzaki Kaori (flashback-only)
 * Kamijou Touya
 * Index
 * Oriana Thomson
 * Lidvia Lorenzetti
 * Himegami Aisa (mentioned-only)
 * Last Order (voice-only)
 * Stiyl Magnus
 * Tsukuyomi Komoe
 * Seiri Fukiyose
 * Orsola Aquinas
 * Sherry Cromwell (mentioned-only)
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Misaka Misuzu
 * Shirai Kuroko
 * Kamijou Shiina

New Characters
No new characters were introduced during this episode.

Abilities

 * The Sweep - Misha Kruezhev (flashback-only)
 * Shorthand Original - Oriana Thomson
 * Communication Spell
 * Several unnamed spells


 * Imagine Breaker - Kamijou Touma
 * Fire magic - Stiyl Magnus

New Abilities
No new abilities were introduced during this episode.

Locations

 * Academy City
 * Oowarai Beach (flashback only)
 * The hospital the Heaven Canceler works in
 * British Library

New Locations

 * School District 23

Trivia

 * In the Novels, Tsuchimikado Motoharu was taken out of the fight against Oriana by his hands and legs being burned by the fence, not being blasted by electricity. Other differences include the mention of the 'Kami-yan disease', and Misuzu making fun of Mikoto's relationship with Touma being omitted.
 * Motoharu called General Superintendant Aleister on his cellphone to help them infiltrate School District 23, but this episode did not mention Aleister's involvement when it was mentioned in the novels.

Referbacks

 * Misha Kruezhev is referenced by Touma in a flashback when she used her power to create a magical array in the night sky.
 * Touma references both incidents that occurred to Seiri and Aisa because of Oriana.

Cultural References
No notable cultural references were featured during this episode.

Animation Trivia

 * When Touma takes out the brochure to tell Motoharu that the bus Oriana took moves around district 7, right after the scene uses another bus to cut to a close up of Touma, the brochure disappears completely as well as Touma's posture changes.
 * The scenery that was shown in the ending song, Magic∞World where Touma, Index and Mikoto cross paths after walking is featured in this episode.

Unanswered Questions

 * Where is Aisa now?
 * Where exactly is Lidvia?

Quotes

 * Lidvia:"We bared fangs to people who are unrelated to magic.And this isn't the first time.Those people are lost sinners seeking salvation whom we should protect.We cannot make anymore mistakes from now onwards.Also for her sake we must use the Croce di Pietro and take over Academy City."
 * Stiyl:"There's no turning back once we board this train.Only a bloodbath awaits us,nothing more.Kamijou Touma,are you prepared?"
 * Touma :"Yeah.I'm going to to bring an end to this.One more thing...Remember this.I have no intention of letting this end in a bloodbath."
 * Touya:"There's something I'd like to ask.Touma is acting on his own initiative,isn't he?He's not being forced to.So that means it's something more meaningful to him than attending events.I see no reason to stop him,I guess?"
 * Touma:"I'm going to stop you here.I won't let you use Croce di Pietro.You're going to destroy the Academy City and mess up the Daihasaisei,right?I'll definitely stop you!"
 * Touma:"Happiness?That sure sounds nice.I know that's a nice word ,but...What bothers me the most is that you're going to use the Croce di Pietro to put an end to the Daihasaisei.!Do you know how any people treasure the Dahasaisei?Regardless of what great religion you use as an excuse,you have no right to rob people of their enjoyment."