Mikage's Death

Mikage's Death was the possession and eventual death of Mikage Celestine, as well as the first major conflict shown in the series.

The skirmish began following Teito Klein's escape from the Barsburg Military Academy after he attempted to assassinate the army's Chief of Staff. His best friend and accomplice, Mikage, was later arrested on treason charges and possessed through the use of Vertrag's power.

The event was a bungled attempt to return said fugitive Teito Klein to Hohburg Fortress for his trial.

Though the mission to return Teito failed, due to the intervention of Bishop Frau (acting as the Ghost Zehel), the attack alerted Ayanami to the Eye of Mikhail, the Ghosts, and Verloren's Scythe all within the Barsburg Church. This news triggered the Black Hawks' involvement in the Wars Attacks.

Teito's escape
After Teito Klein had passed the Begleiter Exam, he overhears a familiar clinking noise when on his way to return his paperwork. He looks through the slightly open door where the sound is coming from and sees the Chief of Staff, Ayanami, holding a golden necklace, and the sight of this triggers a flashback of when he saw his father murdered. Recognising the Chief of Staff as his father's killer, Teito bursts into the room, attempting to assassinate him. However, Teito is easily stopped by his bodyguard, Hyuuga, captured and sent to a cell where he is to await interrogation.

As several guards clear out Teito's locker, Mikage Celestine overhears their gossip about Teito's fate, and goes out to find and help him. As Mikage descends the prison stairs, he finds Teito had already killed all the guards, and the pair flee the prison. Pursued by the guards, and realising there is no escape for the two of them, Teito pretends to take Mikage hostage, allowing him to escape but ensuring the guards would not harm his friend. Teito escapes on Hawkzile, but is attacked by Ayanami's Zaiphon, which destroys the vehicle and causes him to crash. Teito's unconscious body is found by three Bishops from the neighbouring District, and he is taken to the Barsburg Church.

Mikage's interrogation
Mikage Celestine tells the guards he was a hostage, so the military doesn't find out he was an accomplice, but it fails to work and the Chief of Staff has him arrested.

Mikage is confined to a cell and is interrogated by Ayanami and Hyuuga. It is possible, though not confirmed, that he may have been beaten during interrogation. The evidence for him being beaten is stronger in the anime than the manga.

Ayanami offers Mikage a choice between his family and Teito, asking him to chose which one he wishes to die, and if he chooses neither then he (Mikage) will die. Ayanami then possesses half of Mikage's soul using Vertrag's ghost power, then puts a seal on him so he is unable to escape and sends him to the Barsburg Church to find Teito Klein.

Old man Kor and return of Verloren
As Teito Klein wanders the Church his is greeted by an Old Man who offers to grant him a wish sould he make a deal with him. Teito later goes to meet the Old man and he (the old man) brings back some of Teito's memories, but the situation turns foul when the man turns out to be a Kor. The Bishops rush to his aid.

As Frau challenges the Old Man on his actions, he (the old man) is revealed to be hunting Teito as he is a criminal from the 1st District. Frau defends Teito, and uses a mysterious weapon, looking like a scythe, to fend off the Kor, and asks the Kor if his 'master' would be prefer the scythe to Teito. The Kor reacts with outrage when seeing the weapon, and recognises Frau as having his scythe.

"If the scythe is alive then that person must also be alive! Don't forget it!"

- The Kor's final words.

During the ensuing battle, Teito is somehow able to see Frau's weapon, something he normally should not be able to do, and is saved from falling out the window when Labrador catches him. It takes the combined efforts of Frau, using the scythe, and Castor, using his ghost strings, to destroy the wings of the Kor and take the Old man to safety. As Labrador appears worried that "the flowers are still astir", Frau removes the mark of the Kor from Teito.

The conflict
Just as Teito attempts to leave the Church, he is suddenly and inexplicably reunited with his best friend Mikage. As Mikage is tired and unable to travel, Teito, the Bishops and the nuns and look after him as he rests.

One-winged Kor
As the Bishops prepare for mass, Teito goes to visit Mikage Celestine and is overjoyed to see him well but becomes anxious when he finds Mikage's hands are cold.

Meanwhile, the Bishops, who are preparing for the annual Baptism Ceremony, become very worried after Labrador reveals he had a vision of Mikage disappearing, and it's revealed Mikage only has half a soul left and will soon cease to exist. Teito explains all of his recovered memories to Mikage, and is surprised, but pleased when Mikage believes him without question. Teito tells Mikage that he is unable to return to the Imperial Army and upon hearing this, Mikage tells Teito to follow the light instead of taking revenge against the army, and then begs Teito to kill him.

Biding Teito a final goodbye, Mikage suddenly becomes more aggressive, sprouts a single Kor wing, and then attacks Teito. As Teito flees, Mikage pursues him until he has him trapped within the Bridge of Trials.

Castor realises that Teito is in danger due to the destruction of one of his dolls, and the Bishops quickly attempt to track him down. The guardians of the bridge repair the Church's barricades in order to isolate the intruders, and Mikage attempts to place a promise collar on Teito that will control him. Teito fights back and, remembering what Frau had done earlier with the Old Man Kor (destroying the wings of the Kor), attempts to destroy Mikage's Kor wing. Mikage defends himself, and reminds Teito that he is not a normal Kor and the destruction of the wing will result in his death, not save him. He then restrains Teito and puts the collar on him, letting the collar bite him (Mikage) so it recognises him as his master.

Meanwhile, Frau has separated from his body and begins to search for Teito in Ghost form, encountering the Guardians of the Bridge of Trials as he does so, who tell him that they have sealed the intruders on the Bridge. Teito attempts suicide as a way of bargaining with Mikage, but as he does he accidently summons the God Mikhail. When Mikhail wakes, he (Mikhail) tries in vain to attack Mikage, but the promise collar pevents him from doing so and Mikhail is incapacitated. Frau, having found Teito in time, protects Teito and challenges the one controlling Mikage.

Mikage's death
The fight with Mikage and Frau continues on the Bridge of Trials, Ayanami, who is in control of half of Mikage's soul, recognises Frau as, Zehel, one of the Seven Ghosts, and calls him by his name. Upon hearing this, Teito remembers hearing the same from one of the sisters in the Church and believes he has come to help, as the sister had said the Ghosts appear to those in need. Frau realises that Mikage's soul is being eaten by the Kor wing, and that it is impossible to save him. Teito does not realise this and begs for Mikage to be saved by the Ghost. Mikage goads Teito into taking revenge against the Barsburg Imperial Army, and then he throws himself against the scythe Zehel is wielding, which cuts his wing, thus killing himself. Ayanami, noticing the scythe Zehel wields, warns Frau that his scythe will soon return to him(Ayanami), so he must treat it with care until then.

As Mikage begins to crumble away, Teito runs to him, and he and Teito share one last hug. As Ayanami lets Mikage's soul go, he realises why Miroku sent him after Teito.

Mikage's Reincarnation into a cute looking abomination of a creature
Teito Klein remembers his friendship with Mikage Celestine and becomes depressed. Frau had been searching for Mikage's reincarnation judging by the colour of people's souls. He eventually found a soul that matched Mikage's in the body of a small pink Fyulong dragon, (nicknamed by fans as Burupya (ブルピャ) due to distinctive call the young have) and brought him to Teito saying that the dragon had fallen out of its mother's nest, and would have been abandoned after as a result.

The reason Mikage chose not to be reincarnated as a human is because he wished to protect Teito, no matter what form.

A contract with the Promise collar
Frau notices the collar Mikage had placed on Teito during the battle, and tries to remove it. As he tries to cut the collar off Teito's neck, it awakens and bites him, meaning he has accidentally becomes Teito's master.

Castor explains that if they are separated for more than 48 hours, the collar will explode.

Discovery of the Eye of Mikhail and Wars Attacks
"That was the Eye of Mikhail. The real Eye of Mikhail."

- Ayanami

Following the reveal of the Eye of Mikhail, Chief of Staff Ayanami worries that if the Pope got a hold of the Eye, there would be a repeat of the Raggs War, and he tells Hyuuga that they must try to stop this from happening by ensuring the Barsburg Empire is in control of both eyes.

He sends a Kor, Haruse and Kuroyuri to the Barsburg Church, leading to the Wars Attacks.

Consequences
Aside from Mikage Celestine, no other deaths occurred. Teito Klein and Ayanami were both injured in the battle, the former badly.

The Barsburg Church was also severely damaged during the battle.