Chapter 1: Homebox
The TSAB Museum of Archaeology, a facility that was dedicated to house a vast array of artifacts from many ancient civilizations, was swarming with children in uniform today. St. Hilde Academy of Magic, the most prestigious magic school in Mid-Childa, had booked the venue for an educational field trip for all its students in the elementary division. It was a tradition for the Academy to arrange such a visit to the Museum when there was an exhibition on Ancient Belka, since the school was funded by the Saint Church, which was devoted to the teachings of the last ruler of Ancient Belka, Saint King Olivie.
Takamachi Vivio, a fourth year student of the elementary division, was perhaps the most excited one amongst her schoolmates. The fact that she was an artificial mage created out of the blood of the Saint King Olivie had a lot to do with why. She was grateful that this information was highly classified, otherwise all her peers would treat her like royalty instead of just a normal girl.
The irony that the clone of the Church's messiah was attending an Academy funded by the very Church itself was not lost on her.
"Ancient Belka was a very advanced magical civilization. Even though their homeworld was lost in a large scale dimensional dislocation, many artifacts remain. Some of them were later incorporated into modern Mid-Childa magic. Can anyone give me an example?" Sister Schach, one of the many nuns that oversaw this field trip, asked a group of students.
A hand shot up in the air. "The martial art form, Strike Arts.," one of Vivio's good friends, Lio, answered cheerfully.
"That's correct. Strike Arts was originally called Kaiser Arts in Ancient Belka. This form of magic boosts its user's physical capability dramatically for close-quarter combat. Can anyone give me another example?" Schach asked.
Vivio's other good friend, Corona, answered, "the Cartridge System, Sister."
Schach nodded approvingly at the girls. "Very good. The Cartridge System is considered one of the most widely used Belkan magics nowadays. It allows magic boosts for both short and long range magic, and its use is extremely versatile. Now follow me, everyone. We are about to see some newly discovered Ancient Belkan artifacts that were excavated last year in Southern Mid-Childa."
The group continued down the exhibition hall and stopped in front of a display of several charred cubes with faded writings on their surfaces. "Would someone like to take a guess what the cubes are?" Schach asked, and got many blank stares as answers.
Vivio slowly raised her hand. "The writings on the boxes, they are Ancient Belkan in origin, but they are more archaic than anything I've seen. I think the writing on this one says 'home'?" The blonde said unsurely.
Schach's eyebrows rose in surprise. "That's… very good. They are called Homeboxes. The dimensional shift that finally destroyed the Ancient Belkan homeworld was but one of many. Leading up to the demise of that world was a series of planet-wide natural disasters, including many smaller scale dimensional quakes. Some Ancient Belkans decided to flee their world instead of taking part in the long and bloody civil war later known as the Saint King Unification War. Each of those Homeboxes used to be an important part of an inter-dimensional migration ship."
"Then what happened to the ships if the Homeboxes are here?" One student asked.
The look on Schach's face told Vivio that she would not like the answer. "A Homebox is set to sail home when a ship crashes. The majority of the migration ships were lost in the treacherous dimensional sea. These Homeboxes are a tragic remnant of a civilization what wished to create a new life in a new world. They are the last moment of lost hope for lost souls."
"Last moment," Vivio whispered. "What does that mean, Sister Schach?"
The Knight inclined her head. "According to most reference materials, a Homebox is supposed to carry the ship's flight data and a copy of the captain's log. The Homeboxes you see here are inactive, too damaged to extract any data. For obvious reasons, the Bureau would not put an active ancient artifact on display, let alone within reach of school children."
A small frown appeared on Vivio's face. The ten-year-old tilted her head as she regarded one of the cubes, bewildered. "They are all inactive? But this one is singing…" She said, and touched the cube with circular markings before anyone could stop her.
The moment her skin made contact with the cold metal, pandemonium ensued.
The cube floated up and suspended in mid air, the circular markings on its surface lit up on all six sides briefly before the box cracked open. A mechanical voice rang out from the Homebox. "Highest authorization confirmed. Sankt Kaiser override."
"Evacuate, now!" Schach screamed and rushed between the glowing box and a stunned Vivio. Her weapons and her barrier jacket materialized in an instant as she crouched protectively in front of the young girl. The teachers and adult escorts were the first ones to react and herded the panicking students toward the exits.
A blinding light exploded outward from the floating Homebox. All of a sudden, everyone still inside the exhibition hall found themselves engulfed in a vivid hologram projection of the bridge of a crashing starship. Phantom shades of people in Ancient Belkan style armor were all around them, screaming as the ship was being torn apart by the dimensional storm. "Captain! The last hit just knocked out our shield. Life support is at fifteen percent! We can't hold on much longer!" The projection of a young man in black armor yelled desperately at the middle-aged woman sitting in the captain's chair.
Another shock rocked the ship. A few people were knocked off their feet. "Five percent!" The man in black armor yelled.
"Divert all power to the Residential Block," the captained ordered calmly.
"Captain?!" The man in black gasped in astonishment.
"Do it now," the woman ordered again.
A young woman in red armor shouted in horror. "It's failing! There is not enough power! The engine is damaged!"
The captain stood up from her seat and pulled out her staff. "I said divert all power, damn it!" She yelled impatiently before smashing the headpiece of her staff down against the dashboard. "We are the Knights of Sankt Kaiser! We shall fall before any harm would come to our people! Divert. All. Power!" The woman roared as pure magic poured out of her staff and injected into the ship.
To the utter disbelief of all in the captivated audience, every single one of the Ancient Belkan Knights saluted their captain before following her example to save the ship by sacrificing their lives.
The captain smiled proudly at her officers. The agony of channeling a deadly amount of her life force into the ship made the smile look more like a grimace. "Activate emergency Caretaker AI, Code Obsidian. Priority One. Deadlock and eject the Residential Block."
A great tremor wracked the ship at the order. Most of the lights went out after that. "This is the final log of Captain Windbloom of Cradle class migration ship Hime Star. We are going down. I repeat, Hime Star is going down..."
The wide area hologram project abruptly cut off at this point.
"Non-administrated world number ninety-seven," Chrono Harlaown, Captain of the XV class warship Claudia said doubtfully.
"Non-administrated world number ninety-seven, yes," Verossa Acous, Chrono's good friend repeated, not entirely certain what the cause for concern was.
"Earth." Chrono sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's the world Nanoha and Hayate came from."
Verossa raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh, I completely forgot about that. Dear me, what is with that world? It keeps attracting all kinds of dangerous Lost Logia. First it was the Jewel Seeds, and then it was the Book of Darkness. Now this."
A few weeks ago, Claudia had picked up the signal of a scale five artificial dimensional quake. From past experience, it was safe for Chrono to assume that there was a Lost Logia involved. With Verossa's help, they had traced the spatial disturbance back to its origin - Earth.
Another piece of news came in yesterday from Mid-Childa; his niece Vivio had an alarming incident in the Museum of Archaeology during her school trip. According to the flight data they extracted from an active Homebox that contained some disturbing historic footage, a Cradle class starship had crash-landed on Earth, in close proximity of the origin of the latest artificial dimensional quake, practically right on top of the house where his mother, his wife, his two kids, and his sister's familiar currently resided.
Putting his personal affairs aside, since all data pointed toward a dangerous and powerful Lost Logia, naturally the Bureau must be consulted. This was precisely why he was stuck in a meeting in TSAB HQ right now instead of on board Claudia.
"What else did your latest scan tell us?" Admiral Leti Lowran asked, scrolling through a long report with a faint frown on her face.
"In addition to the quake, there were several magical signatures present. All of them had a power level well above A rank." Verossa said with a light chuckle. "Most disconcerting of all is that one of the signatures was distinctively cyborg."
This information brought a wince to everyone's face in the meeting.
"I guess we haven't seen the last of Jail Scaglietti's influence. Damn that man." Admiral Lindy Harlaown shook her head. "Taking this into consideration, I advise we use a more… subtle approach. The last thing we want to do is to spook whoever currently possesses the Lost Logia. We do not want a repeat of the Book of Darkness incident. Luck was on our side when Hayate-chan took control of the berserking Relic. I doubt we will get this lucky again. No offense."
"None taken." Yagami Hayate waved off the concern. "I agree with Admiral Lindy that this situation calls for a delicate touch. I propose that we form a small task force to investigate undercover - personnel with experience working with the locals are preferred. On that note, I would also volunteer my ship, Wolfram, as a mobile headquarter for the duration of this case. Given my personal experience with this world, I believe my involvement is required."
"Special Task Force Six, I presume?" Admiral Leti asked with a knowing smile.
"Earth is my homeworld. I will do everything in my power to ensure its peace and safety," Hayate said sincerely. "In essence, yes. I humbly ask all of you to please support me in heading up the Hime Star case."
For the second time in a week, Takamachi Nanoha and her wife Fate Harlaown were awaken in the middle of the night by the shrill sound of their daughter's terror-filled cry. By the time the two concerned mothers rushed inside Vivio's room, the girl had calmed down enough to feel embarrassed about her episode.
"I'm sorry to disturb your sleep, mama. It was just a nightmare. Really, I'm fine." Vivio apologized profusely.
Nanoha and Fate shared a look before sitting down on either side of their daughter to give her a tight hug.
"Sweetie, it's alright." Nanoha said, kissing the top of Vivio's head. "You were dreaming about the ship again, aren't you?"
Vivio lowered her gaze and nodded.
Fate's lips thinned at the sight of her daughter's obvious distress. "Would you like to talk about it?" She asked kindly.
Vivio replied, her voice small and miserable. "I saw them again, on board the Hime Star. The ship was crashing, and I couldn't do anything about it. Those people… They are Sankt Kaiser's Belkan Knights. I don't know them, and I don't know which Kaiser they served, but I feel responsible. Does that make any sense at all? I understand I am only a clone of Olivie, a shadow of the last Saint King. I just feel so… so helpless. So useless."
"Listen to me: you are your own person, you are Takamachi Vivio, our most precious daughter. You are a sweet, empathic girl who cannot turn away in the face of people suffering. It is not your fault, nor your responsibility, that those noble Knights died for what they believed in. Do you understand?" Fate said sternly, her red eyes shone with utmost conviction.
It took her a moment, but at the end Vivio agreed solemnly. "I do, Fate mama. I understand."
"Good girl." Fate smiled gently at her little girl.
"Vivio," Nanoha suddenly grinned mischievously at her. "What if I tell you that I know a way for you to offer some meaningful help? Would you be interested?"
Vivio perked up at that.
"Nanoha!" Fate chided, looking slightly uneasy at her wife's antic. "Are you sure you want to involve Vivio in this? It might get really dangerous."
"And it most likely would turn into a year-long mission. I refuse to leave my little girl behind. Between the two of us, plus Hayate-chan's family, I can't think of a safer place for Vivio." Nanoha retorted.
"I'm certain Knight Carim would take excellent care of Vivio…"
"No. Carim is not Vivio's mother." Nanoha said flatly.
Fate sighed. She knew there was no changing Nanoha's mind when her jaw was set in that stubborn way.
Nanoha smiled triumphantly at her wife.
Vivio blinked innocently at her two mothers. "What is this about? You haven't explained anything, Nanoha mama."
Nanoha blushed. She had become quite side-tracked by Fate. "Right. Vivio, would you like to visit my homeworld again? This time we will be staying a bit longer. Do you remember the story I told you about how I first met your Fate mama when we were nine-years-old…?"
One week after the last day of her first year of high school, Kuga Natsuki discovered that she had been cut off by her estranged father. It was good fortune in a twisted way that Nao had trashed her apartment a while before, and she was too lazy to clean up after that delinquent. At least she had the good sense to temporarily relocate all her possessions into Mai's dorm room by the start of summer vacation. If she hadn't procrastinated on much needed cleaning, Natsuki would have come home to a new lock on the door and all of her belongings in a dumpster somewhere.
What was that harpy's name again? Emily? Amy? Or was it Ellie? It was something that started with an 'eh'. In any case, her father's new wife had finally convinced the spineless man to drop his one and only daughter like a manure-covered shoe. Apparently the simple fact that said daughter was only seventeen of age, was of no importance. Good grief.
Natsuki always knew this day would come of course; she was a smart girl. She had not cared too much either. As absorbed in seeking vengeance as she had been, she had not expected to live past twenty anyway.
Natsuki scowled and tossed the now useless apartment key through the window. The sharp noise of glass breaking brought a vicious grin on her face. There, a broken window pane would lower the property value by that much. Good luck cleaning up after Nao's mess, too. Her useless dad's gold-digging whore can suck on that.
"So I guess I'm off the hook, then?" Nao asked sweetly as she followed the brooding teen out of the apartment building.
Natsuki snorted at her fellow Hime. "Sure. You lucked out. I was looking forward to watching you clean my apartment, too. I guess life just isn't fair."
The redhead laughed. "I suppose not."
"How is your mom now? I assume she is the cause of your recent 'penance' stint." Natsuki asked as they walked from her old apartment back to Mai's dorm room. The gang was planning to pull another all-nighter at Mai's favourite karaoke bar. Too bad she couldn't afford to go now, seeing how she was flat broke. Excellent.
Nao rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I don't know what happened during the time she was spark-ified, and honestly I really don't want to know, but she is as healthy as a horse nowadays. Can you believe she is already planning to work full time again? She wants us to move out of the dorm and find a place of our own. I told her Director Fumi gave us permission to live there for the next three years of high school, but she kept on insisting that we shouldn't take advantage of other people's kindness. Ugh."
Natsuki clenched her fists unconsciously as she ruthlessly crushed the ugly emotion of pure envy she felt at the way Nao talked about her alive and healthy mother.
"What about you? Someone changed the lock on you. Do you have a place to stay?" Nao asked with a touch of concern.
Natsuki shrugged casually. "I'll crash at Mai's for a little longer. Mikoto is perfectly content using Mai as a body pillow, so I've got her bed all to myself. My stuff is already there anyway. Oh, did I mention the woman can cook? Besides, I need to ask her to hook me up with some part-time jobs."
"Doing what? Busing tables in skimpy maid outfit?"
"Most certainly not! You won't catch me dead in that!" Natsuki shuddered at the mental image.
"Well," Nao drawled, "You can always stay with Fujino. I'm sure she wouldn't mind in the least. You'll probably need to bar your door at night though. You can never be too sure."
"Hey! That's enough." Natsuki growled in a warning tone. "She isn't like that. Shizuru is my friend. I trust her with my life."
Nao shook her head. "I understand she is your friend, but I also understand that woman has some serious issues. People generally don't wake up one morning and decide to become a homicidal psycho lesbian. I'm just saying that you should be more careful around her. Who knows when she could snap again."
Natsuki stopped walking and glared hotly at the redhead. "I trust her with my life!" She barked.
Nao put up her hands. "Alright, alright. Backing off now. I'm just trying to be nice here. No need to bite my head off."
The dark-haired girl scoffed and continued down the road in a foul mood. "Just don't talk about Shizuru this way again."
"Fine."
"Good."
"... If you like her so much, then why are you staying at Mai's?"
Nao's question almost made Natsuki trip over her own feet. She flailed about for a second before regaining her balance. "What? No! It's just, well, I don't know, ok? It's complicated."
"I'm listening. It's complicated, how?" The redhead asked disarmingly.
Natsuki harrumphed. "It's simpler with Mai and Mikoto, more like. I don't have to think when I'm around them."
Nao regarded the older girl with a strange expression on her face. "Did you just admit you don't like using your brain?"
"I never said that!" Natsuki shouted, earning startled looks from random pedestrians nearby. She responded in kind with a basilisk glare, scattering terrified bystanders all around her. "Look," she took a deep breath before explaining in a quiet voice. "The situation between Shizuru and I is something I've never had to deal with before. You know what Shizuru is like, she's all about subtleties and innuendos and all sorts of complicated stuff. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm quite out of my depth here. The last thing I need is to fuck things up so badly that I lose her. She is my best friend. She is my most important person."
With an audible click, Nao closed her mouth shut. "Wow. That's, um, intense. So are you guys, like, dating now?" The redhead asked a little uncomfortably.
After considering it for a moment, Natsuki replied, "I'm not sure. We did spend a lot of time studying at her place. She tutored me through the remedial classes. We just… hang out like we normally did."
"Nothing couple-y?"
"Not really, no. Like I said, we were busy studying. Sakamoto really would've held me back another year if I didn't pass the year-end exam. So far Shizuru hasn't tried anything. Lots of hugging though. The woman is a regular octopus. Oh, hey! I think I just figured out why Kiyohime looked like that..."
Nao had to bite her tongue so not to say the first thing that came to her mind. Instead, she asked, "What do you want then? Do you want Fujino to try something with you?"
Natsuki sputtered.
"Clumsy and emotionally constipated. I see. You were right about being out of your depth." Nao smirked at the rapidly reddening girl. "Some friendly advice: give the woman a chance."
"Did you seriously just give me relationship advice? You?"
"Yes, I just did. Me." Nao deadpanned. "If there is one thing I've learnt from the Festival, it would be this - we should all give ourselves a chance to be happy."
"... You are being uncommonly helpful and nice. I'm very confused."
With a pout, Nao admitted grudgingly, "it's part of my 'penance' stint, alright? Mama wants me to play nice and make friends. I would prefer if you keep this bit of information to yourself, though. I do have a reputation to maintain."
Natsuki laughed.
The last time Nanoha spent some quality time in her homeworld with her parents was three years ago, not long after the JS incident. Nanoha still remembered the comical look on her father's face as the poor man counted the years with his fingers; he was convinced that the year Nanoha had spent bedridden in Mid-Childa at the tender age of fourteen was the year she secretly gave birth to Vivio.
It was impossible for Nanoha to clarify the situation herself, seeing how she had a hard time breathing as she doubled over in absolute hilarity. At the end, Fate had managed to keep a straight face on long enough to explain to Nanoha's father that Vivio was indeed not Nanoha's nor her own biological daughter.
After the initial shock had worn off, Nanoha's parents had embraced the heterochromatic child wholeheartedly as the newest addition to their family.
This time, even though they were able to stay on Earth for more than a week, they were required to stay focused on their mission. Nanoha had briefed her parents on an abridged version of their mission, hoping they would not be too disappointed that they couldn't stay in Uminari for long. The Ace had not expected her parents to give them vital information in return.
"Unusual disturbance, you said? That explains a lot." Nanoha's father, Takamachi Shiro said to the mages. "A while ago, the Seawalk Bridge was bombed by terrorists. I was highly skeptical about the whole thing because none of the eye witness accounts matched up with what was on the news. The very next day there was this fleet of battleships being sighted in the harbor. I saw them with my own eyes. Imagine my surprise when there was no news about that either. I assumed it had something to do with the Bureau because there were also a lot of property damage in this area that couldn't really be explained very well. 'Gas leaks', they claimed. It all sounded very much like the time when you were fighting with Hayate-chan's family. People even claimed they saw a dragon."
Now Nanoha was worried. "Dad, the Bureau is trying to find out exactly what happened. That's the whole reason why we were sent here. It wasn't us who did the cover up."
"Someone did. We'll need to find out exactly who. Do you recall where those 'gas leaks' happened? Fate asked, her training as an investigator kicked in automatically.
"Most of it happened in Fuuka, the town across the bridge. I heard the private school by the ocean was hit the hardest. Apparently part of the campus sunk into the ocean because of the earthquake! The only way to get to the island is by ferry now. It'll probably take them a while to reopen the bridge. The damage was quite extensive."
"We will need to check out the school then," Fate decided. "I'll let Hayate-chan know to set up a place in Fuuka."
Nanoha chuckled at her wife. "This sure brings back memories. We did the exact same thing when we were fighting Hayate-chan. She will be so tickled now that she is playing the undercover role. Speaking of which, is Arf helping out with the case?"
"She is. That child is getting restless. I don't think working in the Infinity Library agrees with her. She almost talked my ears off when I mentioned Vivio is helping with the case the other day."
Vivio called for her parents' attention at that point in the conversation. "Mama, I have a request. Would it be possible to enroll me into that school? As a transfer student? I can ask a lot of questions without raising alarms. I would also be free to wander around the school ground and look for clues. Arf can keep an eye on me. I would be perfectly safe. What do you think?"
Nanoha did not look convinced. "Vivio, didn't grandpa just tell us the school was hit the hardest? What makes you think you would be perfectly safe in that place?"
"Because Arf is extremely protective, and is excellent at teleportation magic. Chances are, she would send me straight away at the first sign of trouble?" Vivio said sheepishly.
"Try again. Real reason this time." Fate chuckled.
Vivio squared her shoulders. "Because I believe I can raise a protection barrier powerful enough to repel whatever attacks would come near the school. It saddens me to hear that students were in danger because of Lost Logia. I wish to keep them safe when I'm there."
Nanoha wasn't sure if she should feel more proud or horrified. It seem little Vivio had inherited both of her her mothers' hero complex.
Nanoha's mother, Momoko, sighed loudly. "Karma! Nanoha-chan, now you know how I feel. You girls are too noble for your own good. Vivio-chan, I hope you have better sense than your mother? Do keep yourself safe at all times. You don't want to know how much I cried when Nanoha-chan hurt herself."
"Vivio would do her best, Grandma." The little blonde girl promised.
People, except for the perceptive few, only see what they wish to see. Shizuru understood this phenomenon well. She was not one to boast, but by the good fortune of genetics, she had inherited her mother's natural beauty and her father's dignified disposition. On top of that, she was lucky enough to be born into a famous Kyoto clan with an ancient and well-respected family name. Better yet, since her father was the fifth son out of a brood of seven, there was no expectation for her to join the family business - there would be no set career path, no arranged marriage in her future. Fujino Shizuru had it all: beauty, brain, wealth, and freedom. In the public's eye, her life was perfect. Or so everyone thought.
Shizuru was well aware her many character flaws. She was charming and intelligent, so she was manipulative at times and could usually get away with it. She was very lazy and practical as well. It would not bother her too much to do things that would be considered unethical if it suited her needs. Much to her chagrin, the Kyoto-born also realized that she had the mind of a dirty old man despite her breeding as a lady as she went through puberty.
Not counting her parents, only two people had ever seen through her veneer of perfection and truly understood her as a person: one was her self-proclaimed rival Suzushiro Haruka, and the other was her unrequited love.
Haruka hated her because she was vexed that nobody else seemed able to see her flaws; Natsuki simply accepted all of her, including the manipulative and perverted side hidden behind the gleaming facade. It was both liberating and terrifying to be read so clearly by the object of her affection.
The accursed Hime Star had dragged out the deepest part of her true self, amplified it to the point of distortion, and laid it bare for the whole world to judge. It was not a pretty sight. The Festival might be over, but Fujino Shizuru would never look at herself the same way again. How could Natsuki ever stand to be around her, let alone forgive her?
Natsuki, such an sincere girl with no guile about her, had seen her at her worst but still managed to love her as a friend. There was no doubt in her mind that she would love this girl for as long as she drew breath. It mattered not that the girl did not reciprocate her own romantic feelings, Shizuru knew her own heart was set. She could never love another person as truly as she did Natsuki.
There were no other options. Shizuru would do anything to stay by Natsuki's side, in whatever capacity Natsuki wished.
Shizuru had thusly surrendered.
As soon as she had come to this conclusion, life became easier again. The constant heartache of not having her feelings reciprocated was always there, of course, but the happiness she felt when she simply basked in Natsuki's presence was enough to dull the ache. Shizuru was a hopeless addict, and she didn't care.
Was it so bad to devote her life to this one person?
"Umm. Hello? Is there a problem?"
Shizuru snapped out of her private thoughts with a start. She blinked owlishly and noticed two young women around her age looking at her with a mixture of concern and caution. It seemed she had been staring at them quite impolitely as she had zoned out earlier. Or, more accurately, she had been staring at the red and black motorcycle they were sitting on for a while.
"My apologies. How rude of me. I didn't mean to stare." Shizuru bowed at the pair. She must have been really out of it to be caught staring at random strangers on the street.
"That's fine, it's not a big deal." The rider of the bike, a girl with bright orange hair that bared a strong resemblance to Tokiha Mai's shade said with a pleasant smile. "If you don't mind, could you please move to the side a bit? You are, sort of, blocking traffic…"
A faint blush blossomed on the Kyoto-born's fair cheeks as she quickly stepped aside. Shizuru could hardly believe she had been so scatter-brained today. The rider was correct, she had been standing in the middle of the small residential road the whole time her head had been in the clouds. It was easy for a motorcycle to drive past her, but the moving truck behind the bike could not do the same. The truck maneuver pass them and pulled to park a few yards ahead. Three people climbed out of the cabin of the truck soon after.
"Tia, Subaru, is everything alright here?" Asked the truck driver, an attractive woman with long golden hair - obviously a foreigner. Behind her, a brunette in her mid twenties and a young girl with stunning heterochromatic eyes watched the incident with open curiosity.
"No, ma'am. Everything is under control, ma'am." The boyish girl with short purple hair jumped from the backseat of the bike and stood at attention with a crisp salute. An elbow dug into her ribs, and the girl slouched. "I mean, all is well, Fate-san."
"That's good to hear." The blonde gave the two flustered girls a serene smile before she greeted Shizuru. "Sorry about the inconvenience. We just moved here. I'll move the truck as soon as possible."
"No worries, I understand your truck won't fit in the parking stall. I see we are neightbours then. I am Fujino Shizuru, my house is right across the street." She gestured at the small two-story house with blue sidings and white trim on the corner lot.
Fate introduced everyone. "I am Fate Harlaown. This is Takamachi Nanoha. Our daughter Vivio..."
Shizuru's eyebrows raised a little at that.
"... And these two are our family friends, Teana Lanster and Nakajima Subaru. It's very nice to meet you." Fate finished.
"... Fate, we are in Japan now." Nanoha reminded gently and got a wince from the other woman as a response.
Shizuru quickly dismissed their concern. "That's really quite alright. I do not mind at all. In fact," she sighed wistfully, "I appreciate your candidness. It's a virtue not often observed in this society." She paused, and smiled again. "Goodness me. I am holding you up with my blathering. Better get going then. Have a good day." She said her farewell and went on her way.
The mid-summer sun was merciless in the early afternoon. Combined with the humidity of this seaside town, the end result was a perfect wet sauna condition that could make one feel both dehydrated and drenched at the same time. Moving heavy objects in such weather was pure torture.
Two hours later, Shizuru showed up at her new neighbours with a cooled watermelon and a tall pitcher filled with iced-tea. From the grateful looks she got, she was most welcome.
"Shizuru-san, could you tell us when your parents would be home so we can drop by? We'd like to greet all the neighbours," Nanoha asked. Unlike Fate, this Uminari local was well aware how things worked in small town Japan.
"That would not be necessary. I live alone. I came here on my own to attend Fuuka Academy a while ago." Shizuru clarified.
The little girl Vivio jumped up excitedly at this bit of news. "That's great! I'm going to Fuuka Academy in September. I'll be in grade five. You can tell me all about the school?"
Shizuru wasn't sure where to begin. She carefully composed an acceptable response in her mind and answered deliberately, "one thing that's unique about Fuuka Academy is that it allows its students to elect an independent Student Council to represent the student body, and basically run the school."
Ragged. Haruka certainly did that.
"The school has many facilities to support a wide range of extracurricular activities. For example, there is an Olympic sized swimming pool, a tennis court, a library, a dojo, a two-story greenhouse, a manicured English garden, and a church on campus."
Which are all still under renovation because of the Festival… Not to mention it was my fault that Kiyohime blasted through the high school wing. The giant scar of scorched earth carved into the side of the mountain by Kagutsuchi is quite an eyesore as well. That will take decades to recover.
"The current Director of the school is very competent and compassionate. Just like her predecessor, Director Himeno not only keeps the school well funded so the tuition fee is affordable to an average middle-class household, she also offers a generous scholarship to a dozen recipients."
With First District's blood money. Criminals of the worst sort, the lot. The revolting things I've discovered in their headquarters… I'm glad they won't be able to hurt anyone anymore.
"And that would be all. Do you have any specific questions about the school?" Shizuru asked with an innocent smile.
Vivio thought about it for a while, and shook her head. "Not really, no. I suppose I'll have to wait until the school starts to see for myself."
"That's right. Your classmates would be the most important element that shapes your school life." Nanoha added. The young mother turned to Shizuru and asked, "Since we are talking about the school, I was hoping you can answer some of my questions."
Shizuru held her breath.
"I've heard some worrying rumours about the school. Safety issues, you understand. I know Fuuka Academy is pretty much the only school in this town, but as a mother, I am concerned with Vivio's wellbeing. Could you tell me more about it?" Nanoha asked gently.
Shizuru slowly breathed out as her mind worked furiously to come up with a benign explanation for the mysterious explosions, arson, vampire attacks, fire-spewing dragon sightings, and an armed invasion where the entire student body was held hostage at gunpoint by platoons of mercenaries, tanks, and a fleet of battleships…
It was very difficult to keep a straight face, but Shizuru somehow managed to pull it off. "Well..." The Kyoto-born began by carefully feigning a thoughtful expression. "Rumours, you said? If you meant the underwear thief, the pervert had been apprehended by the police."
"No, that's not what I meant." Nanoha laughed with a hand over her mouth. "I suppose it's still good to know. What I meant was the bridge bombing."
"Ah, the terrorists attack. I did not think to mention it when you asked about the school since the incident itself had a deep impact on the entire island, not just on the school." Shizuru nodded in understanding; she was waiting for the concerned mother to bring up this topic herself. "As one would imagine, the whole school was shocked by the bombing – you see those on the news sometimes, usually in other war-torn countries on the other side of the planet. It just never occurred to us it would happen so close to home. Fortunately, the authorities showed up soon after to protect the students from the terrorists. I don't really know what happened to the terrorists afterward; I assume the authorities had everything under control."
"By 'authorities', you are talking about the Self-Defense Forces, correct?" Fate asked.
Shizuru tilted her head in puzzlement, and wondered aloud, "who else would it be?"
The two mothers exchanged a look that was raising all sorts of alarms in Shizuru's head. "Of course, who else?" Fate repeated mildly, but dropped the subject.
Tia, however, decided to press Shizuru a little further. "I've heard something ridiculous about the school, too. People say that the school is haunted by vampires and vengeful spirits. I'm just wondering if you know what actually happened."
Orphans.
"I would not be able to confirm or deny any of those claims since I would have to see them with my own eyes to give an accurate account. What I do know is that the woods adjacent the school ground was inhabited by wild dogs and bears. Incidentally, the woods is also a popular spot for students to, well, rendezvous. In any case, I would advise Vivio-chan to stay away from the woods until she is much, much older. After all, irate upperclassmen are scarier than wild animals." Shizuru said with a soft chuckle.
Vivio pinked at the tease.
"I didn't hear anything about monsters and ghosts. I heard there was a massive cover-up. Bribery and corruption was mentioned. Someone even told me the yakuza was involved." Subaru said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
First District.
Shizuru acted surprised. "That's the first I've heard of it. I understand every school has a few delinquents, but I have a hard time believing the yakuza would go so far as to recruit students in Fuuka. I should know. I was the President of the Student Council last year."
That statement incited a round of excited chatter from her neighbours - which was exactly the reaction she was aiming for. A change of topic was in order.
"That's impressive! Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Tia asked with her eyes shining with interest.
"I didn't think it was relevant." Shizuru said simply. "Besides, the election was more of a popularity contest than anything. It was the Council members who did the brunt of the work. All I did was sit at the head of the table and look important."
"Still, the role of a leader is not an easy one to play. With all the unrest last year, it would have been tough on you." Fate said.
"Perhaps. I would not have survived my last year of high school with my sanity intact if it weren't for my friends." Shizuru admitted. She was about to change the topic again when her phone rang once. Seizing this perfect opportunity, Shizuru quickly excused herself to check the text message.
It was from Anonymous.
When it rains, it pours. Natsuki clenched her teeth together tightly as she conjured up a forced smiled for the people in front of her. "Welcome to Linden Baum, I am your server today. Would you like something to drink?"
"Tea please." A middle-aged woman replied pleasantly.
"Tea… tea for me as well. Kuga, I thought you wouldn't be caught dead in a skimpy maid outfit, busing tables?" Nao gasped, trying to catch her breath from laughing too hard.
Natsuki muttered a curse and explained hurriedly, "Mai is picking up Takumi today. I promised to cover her shift… Hey! No pictures!" She lunged at the reformed junior delinquent who was snapping away with her phone, no doubt for blackmailing purposes.
The woman who had come in with Nao exclaimed excitedly, "dear me! Nao-chan, you didn't tell me your good friend Kuga-san is such a pretty girl."
Natsuki straightened up and gave Nao's mother a polite bow. "Thank you for the compliment, Yuuki-san." She then turned to smirk at Nao, "Good friend, eh?"
"Of course." Nao smiled sweetly. "... And send. I wonder what Fujino will say about your attire?"
A look of outrage flashed across Natsuki's face. "You didn't!"
"Bite me." Nao flipped her the bird. "A strawberry parfait for mama, and a slice of chocolate cake with raspberry sauce for me. Chop chop."
Natsuki grumbled something intelligible under her breath and stalked away.
Twenty minutes later, Shizuru showed up at the restaurant with an entourage of three girls in tow. Shizuru waved cheerily at Natsuki before sitting in a window booth.
Since Shizuru had come with a group, Natsuki couldn't really hide from the woman. She approached the table stiffly and warned, "Not. A. Word." as her cheeks flushed pink with a mixture of embarrassment and indignation. Ignoring her friend, Natsuki greeted the three that had come in with Shizuru instead. "Hello. Welcome to Linden Baum. Would you like something to drink?"
The one who looked surprisingly like Mai said, "coffee, please."
"Coffee for me too." The one with boyish short hair said.
The last one of the group, a young blonde girl no older than eleven smiled brilliantly at her server. "Yes please. May I have some orange juice?"
"Orange juice it is. Be right back."
Shortly after, Natsuki came back with the drinks, which included a cup of green tea for Shizuru. "Have you decided on what to order yet?" She asked.
"Strawberry banana crepe for me," The Mai look-alike said, "And a Super Deluxe Sundae Explosion for her."
The boyish one grinned broadly at her friend.
The child gave Shizuru a shy glance before answering, "Cheese cake please. Shizuru nee-chan said it's the specialty here."
Natsuki shot Shizuru an accusing look. "The kid is what, ten? Would you mind dialing it back a bit? You have enough drooling fangirls as is."
The ever present furtive smile on the Kyoto-born's face faded. For a moment there, Natsuki could have sworn Shizuru actually seemed hurt. "They are my new neighbours, not fangirls. There is no need to be rude. They just moved here from Uminari, so I volunteered to show them around. If I didn't know better, I would say Natsuki is jealous." Shizuru teased. "But you could be right. Vivio-chan is such a cutie, I certainly want to have her as a fan. Isn't that right?"
Vivio agreed enthusiastically. "Shizuru nee-chan is beautiful and gentle, just like Vivio's mama. And she talks funny like my favourite aunt. Vivio is a big fan!"
Natsuki palmed her face. This girl was by far the most defenseless kid she had ever seen. She even talked in third person sometimes, too.
"Rest assure, Natsuki is my one and only love. My heart has no room for anyone else." Shizuru proclaimed shamelessly.
"Not in public!" Natsuki hissed at the tawny-haired woman as she eyed the group anxiously.
Shizuru gave her a cheeky grin.
"You two must be very good friends, like Tia-san and Subaru-san here. Vivio is quite envious. My friends are far away now, and I won't be able to see them for a while." The little girl said with a sigh. "I can still talk to them every day, but it's not the same."
"Cheer up, kiddo. I'm sure your friends miss you too. Besides, you can always make new friends." Natsuki said.
Vivio beamed. "Vivio thinks she will become a big fan for Natsuki nee-chan too."
"Ara, ara. Perhaps Natsuki should dial her charm back as well? It would worry me quite a lot to have such adorable competition for Natsuki's favour." Shizuru teased with a hand over her mouth.
Natsuki shook her head and walked away.
After teleporting down from Wolfram to Hayate's childhood house in Uminari, Signum and Shamal made their way to the half destroyed Seawalk Bridge. According to their initial survey, the energy output that damaged the bridge was at least AA rank. When they did another scan to examine the collateral damage in the surrounding area, the two Knights discovered that the energy output had to be at least S rank, possibly a Breaker type attack. In other words, Signum herself would not be able to deal this kind of raw damage without unison.
Shamal came to a startling revelation after comparing the residual magical signature to that of a Lost Logia - the two simply did not match. Whoever destroyed the bridge did so without using a Lost Logia to accomplish the feat.
"This is not good at all. We have at least one S ranked rogue mage on the loose." Signum said solemnly.
"Who is not afraid to abuse his or her power. And if this person were in possession of a Lost Logia, then we are in a world of trouble." Shamal finished Signum's unspoken words. "Judging from the trajectory, it could be the work of an aerial mage. Vandalism, I hope?"
"I have a hard time accepting that." Signum frowned deeply in thought. "Earth is a non-magic world. If there were any rogue mages capable of this much wanton destruction, someone should have noticed a long time ago. No, this looks more like a precision strike. This bridge was destroyed for a reason."
"I'm sending a request to Hayate. Wolfram should be able to hack into the local archive easily. We'll find out soon enough." Shamal said as she submitted her findings through her device. "Vita-chan, what about your end? Did you find anything interesting?"
Over at the Fuuka end of the broken bridge, Vita was scowling to no one in particular. "Same here, pretty much. Although I find it disconcerting that people in Fuuka are so tight-lipped about the bridge. It's almost like they are scared. I even did the whole cute-little-girl-walking-a-puppy thing Hayate taught me, but I couldn't get any more information out of them. Pisses me off."
Zafira in puppy form whined.
Vita walked to the edge of the broken bridge to pick up a small piece of debris for a closer look. "The edge is jagged but slightly melted. This is unlikely caused by a physical weapon. Ranged bombardment type attack, perhaps?"
"It was a giant laser beam from space!" Chirped a cheerful voice behind the Crimson Knight.
Vita and Zafira both whipped around in alarm. They had not sensed the person approaching them from behind.
A petite girl with two thin braids and a head full of short black hair grinned broadly at them. "That's dangerous, little kid. You are standing right at the edge. Why are you here? Are you not afraid of heights? Hey look, a puppy! You look like a mini Duran. Natsuki would totally flip."
A thin sheen of sweat broke out over Vita's forehead. "You said something about laser beam from space? What do you mean by that?" She asked.
The dark-haired girl with the distinct feline aura tilted her head curiously. "I thought you wanted to know what broke the bridge, didn't you? A giant laser beam from space did it. Vita. That's your name, right? Who were you talking to just now? I can't see anybody."
Vita instinctively closed a fist around Graf Eizen hanging on her neck. Standing rigidly beside her, Zafira's fur stood on its ends.
Signum, Shamal, help! My cover is blown! I need to high-tail out of here. How fast can you give me a barrier? Vita urgently sent through the request via telepathy.
"Your friends must be foreigners. Odd names, Signum and Shamal. You don't look very Japanese either. What cover are you talking about? I'm Mikoto by the way. What's the puppy's name? Can I rub his tummy? Oh! Look at that! Mai and Takumi are on that ferry. Do you think they can see me from here? HELLO! MAI! TAKUMI! LOOK AT ME!" Mikoto yelled at the top of her lungs as she waved her arms enthusiastically at the ferry sailing from Uminari to Fuuka.
Two tiny dots on the deck waved back.
Vita and Zafira stared dumbly at the wild girl. They only managed to snap back to attention when a telltale hue of barrier magic covered the entire landscape. In a span of an eye blink, several cuffs of pink magical restrains had tightened around the mysterious girl's body, effectively immobilized her.
"What the - !" Mikoto exclaimed in shock.
"Signum! Shamal!" Vita shouted at the two Knights flying fast towards her. "Hold on a second, you don't have to…!"
The two newly arrived Knights landed between the immobilized target and their own comrades. "Vita, Zafira, are you hurt?"
"No! But-!"
"Let me go!" Mikoto struggled with all her might against the binds. To the utter disbelief of the Wolkenritter, the girl burst out of the restrains as if they were made of wet tissue paper.
Several green chains shot out of the ground to drag the enraged girl down to her knees. Even knowing her Commandment Chain was an A rank capture spell that was far more superior than Signum's Restrict Lock, Shamal still took an involuntary step back at the look of pure loathing in her opponent's golden eyes.
Mikoto let out a guttural growl as a faint aura began to gather around her small body. The magical green chains that bound her snapped to pieces with a loud crack. With a roar of righteous anger, Mikoto lunged at her attacker.
"Sleep." The Captain of the Cloud Knights commanded as she re-sheathed Laevatein. She had used the blunt side of her blade to strike her opponent. Still, a direct hit to the back the head was enough to finally incapacitate this stubborn girl.
Mikoto's eye rolled up as she slowly sank to the ground.
Not taking any chances, Shamal activated the teleportation spell from underneath the unconscious girl and sent her straight to Wolfram's brig.
"I told you to wait!" Vita shouted at her Captain. She was too late; the girl was gone in a flash of magical energy. "She didn't do anything wrong. Why did you attack her?"
Signum frowned deeply at Vita. "She must have posed a significant threat to you. You would not have asked for help otherwise. Am I mistaken?"
"Stop it, you two. We need to leave immediately. You can argue later." Shamal warned.
Vita was not remotely happy with how the situation turned out, but Shamal had a point. This was no time to argue.
"Fine. Scatter and teleport back to Wolfram in a safe distance. That should make it harder to track us back to the ship. Who knows how many of them are out there." Sigum agreed.
The four Knights flew out to the far corners within the barrier before teleporting back to Wolfram to deal with this mess. They knew Hayate would not be impressed.
A/N: First order of business, I must apologize profusely for the lack of updates. Strictly speaking, I shouldn't be ficcing at all because of real life obligations (like, a wife, three cats, a full time job, and a professional accounting program). Alas, I am but a humble servant to the Great and Mighty Muse-chan. When she says fic, I must obey. I have little choice which story I have to write. Here's hoping she would stay with me for a while.