Hi all! So... I know that somewhere there's a note on Another Universe that said I wouldn't pursue any other stories until that one was finished... But sadly... I lied.
This plot bunny has just been bugging me for quite some time... and demanded to be written. However! I promise that despite my extended absence and lack of updating Another Universe... It won't affect the rate at which I put out chapters for it.
Speaking of which, if you're getting an email about this and hoping that it was for Another Universe... I do apologize, and if you do read this anyways, I'll tell you now that the next chapter of it is currently being beta'd and I will be posting it soon.
Anyways, this story... is a crossover because I'm a huge fan of the unexplored potential of Reinforce from MSLN, but it's also going to be me looking at a possible interpretation of... well, I can't really say it without spoilers for the Negima plotline, and so I won't... (even if you haven't gotten to it yet... what are you doing? Get back to reading the manga!)
It is going to be much more Negima than anything else, merely with Reinforce along for the ride. And since this story has not yet been planned out far beyond this chapter, I'm happy to accept suggestions as to characters, possible plot points, etc etc... All within reason of course, the story is mine in the end and I'll take it where I want to go with it.
And enough out of me, I just wanted to post this to see if there might be interest in it, and to prove that I'm still alive... somehow... after a brutal semester of school.
-C1112
How long have I been here?
That recurring thought. She had long since lost count of it, and even her determination to not ask it faltered. The ritual should have ended her, why it hadn't was a mystery that even the wandering of her mind in the timeless dark had not brought any sort of logical conclusion.
Or perhaps I do know what this is. This is punishment for my sins. For allowing myself to be used, for losing control, for the countless deaths I am responsible for. How many innocents have I killed since the Wars? How many worlds did I help lay waste to? The numbers don't matter, even one would be too many. Even if it was my master's meddling that corrupted me, I was the one that allowed that corruption to take hold, to fester and grow to the point where I couldn't even hold it in check. Where I couldn't even keep from slowly killing my true mistress.
She raised her left hand, red eyes flaring in anger at the blood red claw, the bladed teeth, the heavy device that clung to her forearm was all that seemed to remain of NachtWal. That part of the ritual had gone the way it was intended to at the very least, so even if she found herself reappearing once more, she would be in no danger of causing any more massacres.
No longer am I the Book of Darkness. I am the Tome of the Night Sky once more, and I always will be. Never again will I allow myself to fall, I swear this to you, Hayate, my Guardian Knights, Nanoha, Fate. The pain that I put you through will never happen again. I promise, even if it means that I remain here for eternity, I will be what I should have been. I am no longer the control program, or even the unison device of the Tome, I am Reinforce.
"There is no such thing as eternity!"
Her lips quirked as the words of the little girl flashed through her mind. So young, and yet wise, even if mistaken it would seem.
The girl was naïve, hopelessly so. After seeing the wars of ancient Belka, and then the self-serving nature of countless masters during her time as the Book of Darkness, she knew that even with all of the power that girl had, she wouldn't be able to prevent every evil act. Reinforce knew that it would be a rude awakening for her the moment that she came up against someone of equal power, or even stronger than she was without Nanoha's sense of morality, or reluctantly doing evil.
Shutting her eyes, she resigned herself to the silence of the abyss, trying once more to cut off all thoughts, to simply be. For as long as possible. Anything to keep her thoughts from turning darker in contemplation of an eternity of nothing.
And so she slept...
June 13th, 2143, (Mundus Vetus Calendar) 1833 hrs, City-State of Ariadne, Mundus Magicus
Red eyes flashed open at the external stimuli. Her senses, so long restricted by the void she'd found herself in suddenly flashed within her brain, winds were howling in her ears, gravity pulling mercilessly upon her as she flashed downwards, seeming more a black and silver streak in the skies before she plunged into a thick blanket of clouds.
"Sleipnir."
Reacting instinctively, she uttered the spell, six black wings bursting into existence behind her. Her eyes went wide as the impulse and levitation spells they represented failed to slow her descent.
Has it truly been so long that I've forgotten how to fly?
The crimson eyes narrowed as she forced herself to concentrate, working feverishly to gain control of her descent as she felt droplets of water impacting against the defensive spells that constituted her Knight Armor. I must be at terminal velocity if they're striking with enough force to activate the barriers.
A grim smile quirked her lips at the unintentional jinx that she might have placed upon herself. After another moment, she burst out of the clouds, finding herself greeted to a view of a city centered around a rather large hill, about two kilometers beneath her. Two kilometers to relearn how to fly, this should be exciting...
And then she realized why she was having trouble. None of the Tome's programs were responding, and she seemed to be critically low on mana.
Add to that the fact that she had materialized in a world without a master having collected all 666 pages worth of mana, she was quite confused flying blindly on her own with no fuel.
Lifting her left hand ahead of herself, all while still attempting to fly, she summoned the book into existence and waved the gilded leather cover open a gasp of shock escaping her at the name showing the master the book was registered to.
Well, that explains the lack of a master. 'Registered Mistress: Reinforce Eins' That's quite the change. Waving the Tome back out of existence, she refocused on trying to fly. She managed, to a degree. A curiously whale-like object loomed directly within her path, and she managed to roll mostly out of the way, only clipping the tail of what clearly was a metal construct, an airship of some sort, powered by magic unlike any she'd felt before.
Mentally apologizing for the damage she must have done based on the spike in mana usage she felt from her Knight Armor draining still more of her critically low reserves, she hurtled on, eyes scanning the city below for a place to land. Or rather, crash, seeing as I don't have the mana to bleed off enough speed...
And then she spotted it. On the hill, a relatively open area, even if it seemed to be partially occupied despite the storm. It was an artificial field, built atop the buildings further down the hill. The figures she'd seen were lined up in square formations, thankfully in such a way to leave her enough room for what would clearly be a landing that would require a stretch of runway.
She'd clearly been spotted, as those who'd been standing in front of the formations summoned armor and took to the skies on staves. Amplified voices thundered, audible over the rain and wind from the mostly uncontrolled flight, not that it helped any as she couldn't seem to understand a word of it.
The meaning was clearly understood shortly after however, as weapons were drawn, and what must have been hundreds of bolts of lightning and wind were flung her way. The one decent open space seems to be restricted...
There was power in the attacks that were launched her way, forcing her to expend still more of her precious mana as she raised a hand ahead of her, summoning a triangular shield ahead of herself. A sadly underpowered one she discovered as the spells impacted, quickly cracking, and then shattering the shield. Several of the bolts of lightning struck her head on, the last managing to breach the defenses of her armor, sending a weak jolt through her body, partially numbing her.
She hurtled past the mages who'd attacked her without a reply, or any time for them to launch another attack. Her focus was solely upon the grassy field, hoping that it would be able to take away some of the force of the coming impact. Both hands moved ahead of her as she pumped the last of her mana into a black semi-spherical barrier that bit deep into the rain-soaked ground, ripping out a deep gouge in the soil before she felt her consciousness beginning to fade, her elbows buckling before the barrier failed. She let out a cry of pain as she hit the ground, and bounced with all the elegance of a ragdoll before hitting grass once more, fortunately in such a manner that had her rolling, even though she let out another cry as she felt her right arm breaking along with several fingers of her right hand, her left thankfully protected for the most part by her device.
She panted heavily as she came to a stop, somehow on her back, staring up at the dark clouds, blinking as she felt the rain impacting her skin directly, and feeling the wet ground soaking into the fabric of her shirt and skirt, her Armor and wings having faded upon the exhaustion of her mana. She winced as she turned her head, watching some of the armored figures landing nearby, curious bladed lances pointed at her fallen form. She blinked as she heard more words from the closest, though they sounded muffled, as if the speaker were even farther away. Her own voice failed as she tried to reply, weakly lifting her head before her vision darkened, falling limp back to the ground.
July 20th, 2143, 0520 hrs, Ariadne's Grandmaster's office, Ariadne, Mundus Magicus
Emily Sevensheep, Grandmaster of Ariadne, gazed out at the sunrise as the warm rays lit the city below. If nothing else, her office certainly did have quite the view. Even better than the one from her home, a little further down the hill near the Monroe Mage Knight Academy.
A wistful smile came to her lips at the thought of her old partner. "I've lasted as Grandmaster for forty years without your care, Beatrix. It seems that you were finally able to teach me a thing or two and have it stick."
A hand came up to a lock of her free-flowing still mostly silver-free blonde hair, twirling it around a finger as she had so many years before, back when they had still been cadets. Her smile widened a little as the memories of her time in the Academy with Beatrix, Collette, and of course Ayase Yue. She let out a quiet chuckle at the antics that they had managed to get into, particularly a certain broom rally that had determined that the four of them would be going to New Ostia for the festival celebrating the end of the Great War.
A small chuckle escaped her as she remembered. "How foolish could you be, taking a shortcut through the forest and running into a Griffin Dragon... Only to be saved by the Dunce Duo that had managed to strip you. It's a wonder that I managed to live this long as stupid as I could be."
"Aw, don't be like that, Class Rep! You weren't stupid, you just weren't thinking clearly!"
Emily winced before turning to face the owner of the familiar voice. "Knight-Commander Farandole, as irreverent as ever."
She smirked at the wounded expression that flashed on the Knight-Commander's face. The dog-woman's floppy ears twitched before she adopted a pouting expression, emerald eyes shining in the morning sun. "Augh! Formality! The bane of my existence! You know I don't like titles unless it's someone from the Mage Knights..."
"It's been more than a century since we were cadets, Collette, I promise to stop using your title if you stop calling me 'class rep.' Now then, what brings you up here so early in the morning?"
Smiling at her old friend, she stepped over to one of the sinfully comfortable chairs before she plopped down on it, seemingly not caring if the sky-blue uniform she wore ended up wrinkled. "Reports I'm receiving, sadly. War seems next to inevitable, Empress Theodora is doing what she can to keep the Hellas Empire in line, but Imperial forces have been... less than accommodating thanks to the Megalomesembrian Confederacy's... hardliner attitude. There have been a number of border skirmishes between small units, and even a fleet engagement a bit closer to Ariadne than I'd prefer."
Emily returned to her own seat, leaning back as she sighed. "Megalomesembria has been calling for us to sign an alliance with them as well... with threats of dire consequences should we attempt to remain neutral in so dire of circumstances. And while Theo has assured me that the Empire will not take any hostile action against Ariadne, I've heard some... unpleasant rumors regarding some contingency plans that Imperial war hawks have been advocating should the Confederacy move against us. Tell me, Collette, how do you think we'll fare against the Confederacy when they make their move?"
That brought a frown to even the ever cheerful Knight-Commander. "The Mage Knights are ready, even our cadets, at least those third year and up, I'd be confident in sending against any Megalomesembrian troops save for the Heavy Knights. I wouldn't want to send any of our troops save for the Valkyrie Brigade. Although, personally I'd rather we leave pounding the heavies to the fleet, but I doubt we'll see them anyways. The Senate is going to be far too cautious to let their elites go just to take care of Ariadne, after all, any conflict with us will give the 'evil empress' a perfect opportunity to attack. However, as good a fight as we could put up, I'm afraid it wouldn't be enough. If they're willing to accept the losses, and the risk of a preemptive attack by the Empire, there's nothing that we can do to hold back the entirety of the Confederacy's forces; although if we use the new ships we'll certainly be able to give them the fight of their lives, one that would cement Ariadne's reputation for centuries to come."
"No, the new ships are not to be used. Even if Ariadne falls, they won't be used for combat. I want preparations made for them to be able to evacuate our civilians though. As well as as many cadets as possible. They were designed to be able to support us for the coming end of Mundus Magicus, but they'll also serve quite nicely to evacuate nearly all of our population."
Collette simply nodded, a far cry from her earlier starry eyed admirer of the Mage Knights. No, she truly was a well seasoned commander who had earned her current posting in the aftermath of the Second War, some fifty years earlier. That one had been instigated by the Megalomesembrian Senate just as the war looming seemed to be.
They didn't like the thought that the demi-humans of the Hellas Empire were using up copious resources in an effort to run projects to try to sustain Mundus Magicus, and when the last of those had failed, to find methods to support demi-human life outside of the magical world, the first of which had come to fruition with the first visit of a demi-human to Mundus Vetus in 2085. It was made all the worse in the eyes of the bigoted humans of the Confederacy that it had been none other than the then-Third Princess of the Empire, Theodora to visit Meridiana Academy in Wales.
Within a week of her return, Megalomesembria declared war and had brought it's full might to bear upon the Empire. The Empire should have fared better than it did, but the Confederacy had broken several arms limitations treaties that had held since the end of the Great War when both sides had been brought to the negotiating table by the fabled Ala Rubra and the Royal house of Vespertatia, despite the destruction wrought by both sides over the heavy fighting in the small kingdom, and even the destruction of the floating capital city of Ostia.
It was the treachery of the Confederacy that had helped bring Ariadne into the war on the side of the Empire. It had still been a long, and bloody two years before the combined forces had managed to push the Confederacy back out of Imperial territory, although both sides had been exhausted and when a peace treaty was presented by the mages of Mundus Vetus that was fair enough, particularly in terms of reparations to the Empire by the Confederacy.
Emily pulled herself out of her thoughts as Collette continued. "I'll pull and update all of our defensive plans with the new ships used for evacuation then I'll have them sent to you for review and approval."
"Thank you, Collette." She gave her old friend a smile as the Knight-Commander stood and sketched a salute. "Ah, before I forget, have we learned anything of our mystery patient?"
The furred ears twitched again as a slight blush colored her cheeks. "Ah, yes, sorry, but the incident actually slipped my mind with all the other reports that have been making their way to me." She gave a little smile as the Grandmaster merely waved the apology off as unimportant. "Well, unless anything's changed since I came up to visit you, she's still in a coma. I know we've both been swamped, so I'll recap a little." She cleared her throat before continuing more formally. "Seven days ago, around 1830 Ariadne Standard, our intruder appeared in our airspace. None of our patrols spotted her, but the first report came from the ANS Ayase, where our intruder seemed to have personally impacted the ship's tail and knocked out one of her spell amplifiers, by ripping it off the hull..." Collette shivered at the thought of that, wondering how the silver-haired woman had even managed to survive that. "Ayase's captain sent her to general quarters thinking that they were under attack, and managed to track the woman's signal as she made her way towards the Academy. We've managed to clean up the signals that we got from her as well... And I'm told that our technicians have never seen anything like the magical signature she was giving off."
Sevensheep frowned at that. "How so?"
"That's just the thing, they were detecting mana, but she seemed to be drawing it from within herself. It's like she was able to convert Ki to Mana somehow. But at any rate, a scramble order was issued, and several Valkyries were able to intercept short of the flight training field, but due to the target's velocity, they were only able to get off a single spell, and only Sagitta Magica at that... but it amounted to nearly two hundred wind and lightning arrows... and a target that seems to have been unable to dodge. And yet, she managed to raise an unincanted shield that stopped all but five of the arrows, all lightning which struck her head on, and didn't even seem to faze her in the slightest. What I found interesting though, was the tales of how she landed, she apparently uses darkness in her spells, but she created a second type of shield that managed to dig up quite the trench in the field before she seemed to have exhausted her mana and... well, tumbled to a stop, which I'm fairly certain is where she picked up most if not all of her injuries. And then she passed out, mana exhaustion from the feel of it."
The Grandmaster nodded as she leaned forward, placing her elbows onto her desk. "And do you think she's a spy or saboteur for the Confederacy?"
"That... is a more difficult question. She's fully human according to the Academy's doctor, but she has a very unnatural hair color for her age, and her eyes... Well, they're quite an eerie shade of red that you don't see outside of a very few Hellas, or demons. And when you add the Valkyrie reports that she was flying using six black feathered wings rather than a broom or staff... It's hard to say, especially since she had no wings when I saw her when they were taking her off the field. For now we're keeping her under guard by a squad of Valkyries at the Academy's infirmary. We found no artifact cards on her, nor any sort of wand, but she had a rather... ominous looking weapon that we removed that is apparently an interestingly advanced piece of technology beyond anything we've seen because it speaks, quite intelligently I might add, and there were traces of mana all over it, so I'd consider it safe to assume we've mostly disarmed her for the time being."
"Good work, now, go do what you need to, just keep me informed of the situation, though I'll trust your judgment on what to do with her."
Collette nodded before stepping out of the office at the dismissal.
Emily turned her gaze back to the rising sun, giving a little sigh before she turned back, finding the ever present stack of urgent paperwork that demanded a Grandmaster's attention on a daily basis, and picked up a pen before pulling the first in line to read.
July 20th, 2143, 0950 hrs, Monroe Academy Infirmary, Ariadne, Mundus Magicus
Her eyes opened, only to close tightly at the sudden brightness of the lighting. She lifted her left arm, trying to help block out the light as a soft groan escaped her. She heard a voice, heard footsteps approaching, though she couldn't understand a word. Thinking it worth the effort, she tried all the languages she knew, and spoke back, trying Midchildan, Belkan, and lastly, Japanese.
"Where am I?"
To her surprise it was the one that drew a reaction from the figure beside her. She opened her eyes, slower this time, turning her head to look up at the figure next to her. White coat... Doctors... They just don't change, no matter where you find yourself. I wonder if Shamal will ever end up wearing one?
Reinforce discarded that train of thought quickly as she looked up at the aged doctor as he spoke back, his accent quite strong, but still understandable. "Excellent! We do have a common language. You, my dear, are in Ariadne."
"Ariadne... Administered world 20?" She didn't notice the look of confusion on the doctor's face. "Please contact the TSAB, tell them that Reinforce needs to speak with Admiral Lindy Harlaown. The Admiral will understand."
"Ah, I might be more out of practice with this language than I thought. I'm sorry, but you're in the sovereign City of Ariadne, this world is Mundus Magicus."
Mundus Magicus? Where is that?
The doctor continued on as he waved to the side, her eyes following to catch sight of two armored figures with swords at their sides. "We'll figure out where we all are shortly though. We've healed you up, that was quite the rough landing you had the other day. You managed to break most of your fingers on your right hand, and nearly shatter all of the bones in your arm, as well as cracking the majority of your ribs, and several other breaks of varying severity. You're fine now, but you'll probably be sore for a few more days, and you were critically low on mana, so I'd recommend that you don't use any magic at all for at least a week. We need to get you some food, and something to drink I imagine as well, after nearly seven days unconscious. After that, I'm afraid I'll have to allow the Valkyries to contact the Knight-Commander so we can get your situation taken care of."
Reinforce couldn't help but blink at the doctors rapid fire explanation of what had happened and simply nodded as the doctor headed for the door, the armored gazes of the Valkyries never leaving her even as he passed. She twitched as she remembered herself, calling out to the doctor before he opened the door.
"Thank you, Doctor."
He didn't reply, only giving her a little smile and a wave before shutting the door behind himself. With his departure, she turned her attention to what were obviously guards to keep her from causing any trouble. She couldn't see either of their faces, but it was hard to miss the thinly veiled hostility emanating from the both of them. Well, at least they both feel like they're only in the C+ to B- power range if worst comes to worst... But Mundus Magicus? I've never heard of a world called that before... Even among local names for Non-administrated worlds.
A sigh escaped her as she squirmed a little, working to get more comfortable as she waited a little impatiently for the promised meal.
The meal had been an excellent one, despite the odd blend of seasonings. Something which had surprised her given that she seemed to be in a hospital. It was common knowledge over many worlds that hospital food was... lacking. When she complimented the doctor on the quality, he simply laughed before telling her that it was only that good because it was from the Academy mess rather than a hospital 'chef.'
The doctor hadn't lied though, as she used her left hand only to eat, her right was sore enough to cause her to gasp in pain before they'd immobilized it, even if it was obvious that the bones within were no longer shattered.
She had just taken the last bite as the door opened once more, revealing a woman of average height... with brown... floppy dog ears laying alongside the blonde hair that was showing signs of graying. She was in an obvious uniform, long-sleeved sky blue jacket sporting insignia at her collar and shoulders, as well as a rather impressive showing of bits of decoration upon her chest, which given the general lack of décor upon the rest of the jacket, she assumed were awards that she'd earned, not simply been given. The uniform was finished off by a white knee-length skirt that flowed freely around her legs as she turned to close the door behind her, revealing a... slender furred tail.
Suppressing the urge to twitch, she chuckled mentally. Hayate... it's a good thing you aren't here right now. Your hobbies might have sparked a war...
When the woman turned back, once again facing Reinforce and walking towards the bed, any urge to laugh faded as she finally looked into the woman's eyes. Despite the polite smile on her lips, it was obvious that she was a soldier, and one who'd seen combat at that. Reinforce stiffened slightly, almost coming to attention as she sat up in the bed.
"Now then, the doctor has informed me that you're healthy enough for me to ask you a few questions. Before I begin, allow me to introduce myself. I am Knight-Commander Collette Farandole, Commander of the Ariadne Mage Knights."
The woman held out her left hand, her smile widening a little as she nodded to Reinforce's immobilized right. Reinforce couldn't help but chuckle slightly as she grasped the offered hand with her left. "Knight -Commander, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am Reinforce Eins, from Japan."
The Knight-Commander's emerald eyes seemed to sparkle momentarily before she replied. "It's always a joy to meet individuals from Mundus Vetus," she seemed to notice Reinforce's confusion. "Ah, it's our term for Earth. I had a number of friends many years ago from Japan, and I hope you won't take this the wrong way, but you don't look like you're from Japan originally. And given the abilities you displayed to my soldiers upon your arrival, I'm assuming you're from the magical side of Mahora. Don't worry, we're on quite good terms with the Dean of Mahora, and as soon as you're patched up we'll be able to get you back to your home."
Her expression turned to one of confusion as the woman rattled on. "Um, I'm afraid I don't know of any Mahora... or any dean."
Emerald eyes narrowed at that. "Well then, unfortunately this just got a bit more difficult. Because that makes you one of four things, the first... A spy for the Megalomesembrian Confederacy, with whom we find ourselves likely to be at war with in the coming weeks. The second being that you're a spy for the Empress of the Hellas Empire, in which case I would contact Theo and have you sent home unharmed, along with a report of whatever it was the Theo sent you here for. The third, you're a spy for the Hellas warmongers, in which case you would not be sent home with information, but rather in chains to be delivered to Empress Theodora's justice. Lastly, and indeed, the least likely... You're a girl that managed to utilize self-taught magic to transfer from Mundus Vetus into the skies over Ariadne, which should be impossible with our current knowledge of magic. And so, I need to ask you, which option was it? Of course allow some variation in the options based on me simply attempting to oversimplify."
"I... To be completely honest, none of those are even close to right. I promise, I've never heard of this Confederacy, or any Empire by that name. I ended up in Japan due to various reasons, but I've never even heard of this Mundus Magicus, or Ariadne. I apologize for whatever damage I might have caused, but I swear I'm not a spy, of any of the groups you mentioned."
Collette's gaze remained stern as she stared into Reinforce's eyes as if she were attempting to read her mind. Finally she spoke, a smile breaking through as she nodded. "I believe you. And your circumstance reminds me a little of an old friend and how she arrived here one day without any idea of what was going on. Though at least you still have your memory... I managed to wipe a lot of her memory in an accident. Add to that the fact that you asked to be put in contact with an Admiral that is not from either the Empire or the Confederacy, but rather this TSAB? Allow me to formally welcome you to the city of knowledge, Ariadne, where... Oh drat, what was the old saw... even Death would be welcome to learn? Something like that. Although it probably wouldn't hold true any more. Not many Megalomesembrians are looked on kindly here any more... Sadly humans too at that... Save for the ones that are citizens of Ariadne anyways. I promise, you won't have any problems while you're here though, two from the Valkyrie brigade will be with you at all times. Trust can only go so far when war is on the horizon I'm afraid. Now then, you need to rest up. I'm told that we'll be able to release you from the infirmary tomorrow though, And I'm fairly certain that the Grandmaster will want to speak with you. I'll go talk with her and I'll be right back to let you know what she decides."
Well, Emily, what do you think?
Collette gave a little chuckle at the mental sigh that was returned by the Grandmaster after she'd relayed the conversation with the intruder, this Reinforce Eins.
I don't know. If you say she was being truthful, I'll believe it. I'm just not sure what to do with her if she's somehow gotten herself misplaced. We can't afford to help her if she needs more than the most basic of things, we have a war that we'll have to fight, and the new ships have to be finished, and soon. The reports coming from Mahora's Solar System Development Organization are only giving us another year of stability. And you know as well as I do how it's already begun. To be honest I'm surprised we've managed to stave off war this long. We should just consider ourselves lucky that we've managed to create the technology necessary to save Ariadne's population, and at least a third of the Empire's according to Theo. Much better than just the humans running back to Mundus Vetus and leaving all demi-humans to die.
Collette sighed at that. The fact that they wouldn't be able to save everyone didn't sit well with her, especially considering that the reason they wouldn't was because the Confederacy had refused to participate in the building programs that would produce the ships that would be able to support the demi-human population after the magical world merged with the same plane of existence as Earth.
I'll do what I can for her then. I do trust her. Her eyes are too revealing for her to be a good spy. Well, either that or she's the very best of spies. I'll place her in with the fourth or fifth year cadets for the time being though, that way she won't be able to get into any information we wouldn't want her getting at, as well as keeping her out of the way until we figure out what we need to do with her.
Very good, Collette. I'll leave her to you then. And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to contact Theo and let her know that we've completed our final ship, and will be able to begin production to help her manufactories.
Collette smiled as she pulled the card away from her forehead before slipping it back into a pouch at her waist, knowing that the Grandmaster wouldn't be expecting her to say anything after finishing. She turned to step back into the infirmary.
This Ariadne is certainly quite the sight. She stood next to the window, gazing out at the city in the morning sun. It was a very curious mix of both old and new, with the majority of the buildings being made of brick rather than any of the more modern steels and plastics that were common on Earth, or at least in Japan.
She turned back, on eyebrow rising as the Knight-Commander returned just a minute or two after having left. Farandole simply chuckled quietly before she smiled. "Sorry, there might have been the implication that I was going to go see her personally, but she and I can speak telepathically. I just didn't want to seem rude by doing it right in front of you."
She smiled at Reinforce's nod. "While normally we'd love to help with your situation, I'm afraid we simply don't have the resources to devote to any side projects. You are going to stay with us for the time being though, and there's something of a tradition that you're going to adhere to. Anyone is welcome in Ariadne... well, anyone with good intentions anyways... But one must either be a student, or faculty while here. So we've decided that we'll make you a student here for the time being. We'll be putting you in with our fifth year Mage Knight cadets when you're released tomorrow. The Valkyries tell me that you had quite the powerful shield for as quickly as you cast it, and I'd like to see how you compare with students a year away from graduating. And don't worry too much about getting lost or anything, you'll be escorted by you guards, and they'll be keeping an eye on you unless anything major changes. Do you have any questions for me?"
Reinforce shook her head, somewhat dazed by the Knight-Commander's rapid decision making with little to no concern of her own consent, not that she could expect much different after causing such a ruckus. "Ah, wait... Actually I do have one question. What happened to my device?"
The blonde cocked her head at that. "Device? Oh! You mean that weapon of yours that won't shut up about being returned to it's 'Mistress?'"
That... does not sound at all like NachtWal. "Ah... Yes?"
"I'm afraid I can't return... what did it call itself... Nacht Klaue... something like that, to you just yet. While I'm fairly confident that you aren't an enemy, that doesn't mean that I can let you walk around armed, even if you are under guard. One of the technicians that's studying it tells me that it's essentially your wand... but it incorporates elements of artificial intelligence to boost their power... Such a combination of magic and technology is unheard of here on Mundus Magicus, though more than a little research has gone on back on Mundus Vetus, especially in Mahora, to combine magic and technology... We won't send it off to be studied by anyone other than us though, and I promise we won't disassemble it or anything. I just can't let you keep it until you've proven you won't be a threat."
Reinforce simply nodded, wondering exactly what happened for NachtWal to have turned into this Nacht Klaue. "I understand."
"Now then, fair warning, the cadets might be a bit eager when they meet you. After all, it's not often that they run across someone their own age that can take spells from Valkyries and come out unscathed!" She frowned slightly before glancing at Reinforce's right arm. "Well, mostly unscathed, and you would have been if you hadn't crashed." Her smile widened to a grin before she turned to leave with a lazy wave back at the new fifth-year cadet.
Well, it's not as if I have anything else to do at the moment. And if they'll take me in, I'll be able to recover my strength until I'm able to contact the bureau on my own if they can't. Now I just hope that interacting with an unaffiliated group of mages doesn't get me in any more trouble... I have enough of that as it is already.