"Heroas mori ... saeculum legendas Et hodie, novum est ut virago sua fode historia."
"Heroes die, but legends live forever… And today, a new heroine is about to carve her own legend."
In the magical world of Mid-Childa, there live two powerful mages by the names of Fate T. Harlaown and Nanoha Takamachi. Together, they solved many cases and assisted in the rise of many great mages. While today they live their everyday lives as members of the instructor and investigation staff respectively, Fate in particular is also the mother of a little girl named Alicia Harlaown. With a mother of such legendary status, Alicia strives to be the best in all she does, especially to prove herself to her elder sister figure: Vivio Takamachi. What she didn't realize however was that today, her chance to shine had finally come, whether she was ready for it or not. Her magical incantation is "soaring" and this is her story.
Magical War Chronicle Lyrical Nanoha: Photon
[Year 095 of the Mid-Childan Era]
Today was an average day in the Takamachi-Harlaown household: Fate had already left for work, Nanoha was cooking breakfast, and young Alicia had woken up late for school yet again. "Ugh, I'm going to be late again!" cried the little blond girl.
Nanoha smiled. "You wouldn't be late if you had just gone to bed early like we told you to, Alicia," she chastised teasingly.
"Mouuu," whined Alicia. "I'm not like Vivio! I just can't wake up this early. It's impossible!"
"Nyahaha," laughed Nanoha. "I don't know where she gets this from. As far as I know, Fate was never this lazy." Sighing to herself and placing Alicia's bento in a quickly made bag, Nanoha handed it to the running in place Alicia and waved her goodbye. "Be home before dinner!" yelled the auburn-haired mage to the scurrying little girl.
From the distance, Nanoha heard Alicia yell, "Okay! Thanks mama!" Out the door the little blond girl sped, leaving the door wide open in her frantic dash to school.
Once again Nanoha had been left alone in the house like every other morning. She took a moment to carefully pick up a photo from the fire place: one of herself standing next to Fate, who behind Vivio, who held a younger Alicia in her arms. A smile crept its way onto the white devil's lips as she muttered to herself, "What a lively family I have?" Giggling, she added, "And I wouldn't have it any other way!"
Up in the sky, unbeknownst to the average civilian as of yet, a shooting star was soaring across the sky.
Alicia ran through the streets, gracefully and yet at the same time very quickly shuffling through the crowds of people. As she ran through the crowded streets of her suburban neighborhood, she came across a large metal pipe laid out in the middle of the road. It was probably some prankster's idea of a barricade to the people living in her area.
Quickly looking around for another way around, Alicia found none. The little blond girl backed up as she focused her mana into her feet. Sparks of golden light danced along the soles of her shoes as said footwear began to glow a similar color. At last, Alicia began to dash toward the pipe. The little blond ran faster and faster with speed that would have made her mother proud. It took little time for the neighbors to take note of the Takamachi-Harlaown girl's actions.
"She won't make it!" an elderly man yelled.
"Hey, kid, are you crazy?" yelled a grisly man.
"Isn't that the Takamachi-Harlaown kid?" asked a woman standing to the side.
Alicia ignored the commotion she was causing and successfully cleared the obstacle with a powerful jump. Landing several paces from the metal pipe, she looked up with relief evident on her face, the sun shining upon her golden hair.
[Record 01: The Shooting Star]
Running with a panicked scream, Alicia made her way through the bustling streets of Cranagan. Taking note of an old woman sweeping outside of what appeared to be a bakery, the golden-haired girl waved as she yelled, "Good morning Mrs. Rose!"
The elderly woman looked up from her sweeping and smiled. "Good morning, Alicia! Late again, are we?" teased Mrs. Rose.
"Yeah! I'll be back later to buy some snacks! See ya!" yelled Alicia before dashing further into the distance.
Mrs. Rose smiled worriedly while muttering to herself, "Since she is Nanoha's and Fate's little girl, you would really think that she could use teleportation magic or something."
Not a single word Mrs. Rose muttered reach Alicia's ears; rather, the blond was too busy running to hear her. Seeing the school at last within the distance, Alicia's eyes lit up with hope. Perhaps just this once, she would not be late! That also meant that her mother would not scold her this afternoon. Her grin was all-too-obvious. "Almost there, I've got this!" she mentally cheered. As Alicia drew closer to her destination, a shadow appeared before her. She paled as the shadow stepped out into light. It was the Knight of Iron Hammer: Vita, one of her mother's friends, and probably here to scold her for missing her combat training yesterday.
"Hey, Alicia! You didn't come to practice yesterday!" yelled Vita. Seeing Alicia's skittish face, she asked, "What? Are you late for school again?"
Alicia gulped. "Oh man, it just had to be Vita of all people!" the blond mentally whined. Laughing nervously, the blond yelled, "I'm sorry, Vita! I'll come by today, I promise! I'll even bring you that pastry from the bakery by my house!"
Vita had no time to reply. Alicia was long gone as she made a mad dash for her school. The red-head knight looked up at Graf Eisen before returning her attention to the school building where she could see Alicia quickly pulling the door open and running inside. Crossing her arms, Vita rolled her eyes while saying to herself, "Hmph, kids these days. What a pain!"
Having finally entered the school building, Alicia kindly greeted all who she had managed to run past with the brightest of smiles she could muster. She blanched when she had finally caught sight of the clock mounted to the wall on her right. "Wh-What? Only four minutes left? Awww man!" Continuing her mad dash, the blond did not notice all of the people looking outside the window.
"Whoa what's that!" one yelled, pointing at a crimson stream of light in the sky.
"Looks like a shooting star!" a boy cried.
"Stupid, shooting stars aren't red," another boy muttered quietly.
The crimson light collided with a purple-colored light in the sky, causing a gigantic show of lights. All who witnessed it were completely entranced by its splendor.
Alicia ignored all of it as she made her way up the stairs. Only one floor was left and only three minutes remained. She almost sighed in relief when she saw that she just might make it. Running through the pristine white hallways, sapphire blue tiles in every single hallway, she finally made her way towards her destination: the fourth floor! Looking down at her little black and white watch, she almost screamed in panic as she read the time. "O-Only one more minute left!" Running even faster than before, Alicia completely failed to notice the mysterious white "X" that appeared on her left palm as she dashed past the past the final window.
Seeing that she was finally in the clear, Alicia slowed down. The small blond quickly heaved with exhaustion. There were only a few seconds left and she could hear the teacher taking attendance. Thankfully, her name hadn't been called yet and they were still high up on the list of names. With only six seconds left to get to her seat and five names left on the roster before her own, Alicia finally opened the door and crept toward her desk at the other end of the room with incredible stealth. Sitting down, she thought to herself, "Whew, talk about cutting it close!" Still unaware of the white "X" on her palm, Alicia let out a tired sigh. With that sigh, the mark disappeared without having been noticed by Alicia or any of her classmates.
Finally, the teacher called, "Alicia T-Harlaown?"
Smiling with a smug grin on her face, Alicia raised her hand and rasped in a tired voice, "H-Here!"
The teacher snickered. She was a woman roughly about her biological mother's age with short black hair and deep, amethyst eyes. "While I admit that you are on time with two seconds to spare and an entrance that would have made your parents proud, do try to come to class on time Ms. T-Harlaown. Perhaps then you would not require such an entrance."
"R-Right," replied Alicia. She smiled sheepishly as stifled giggles echoed all around her throughout the classroom.
While Alicia was busy with her everyday school life, Fate had just returned to the main office to report her findings. She was shocked however to find Nanoha already back. Raising an eyebrow, noticing no trainee in sight, she asked, "Did I miss a day on your calendar Nanoha? I thought you were teaching today."
Nanoha shook her head smiling. "Vita wanted to take them on a field trip today and I was asked to leave it to her," answered the auburn-haired mage while straightening a stack of papers.
Fate nodded with an "Oh" shape forming on her lips. Sitting down and making herself at home in the chair beside Nanoha's, she asked, "So did Alicia wake up in time for school?"
The white devil giggled. "I think she was late this morning, but who knows? Her mommy is quite the speed demon."
The blond swordswoman smiled. "Well you know, tomorrow's her birthday. Is it ready?"
"Yep," answered Nanoha with a nod. "The R & D crew finished it just this morning. They claim it to be their finest work since the upgrade they gave to Bardiche Assault during the Silver Cross Incident"
While Nanoha seemed completely pleased with this thought, a metaphorical sweat drop rolled down Fate's head. "Does our daughter really need something that ridiculous?" thought the blond swordswoman. "Th-That's quite a claim!" stuttered Fate. Smiling deviously, she said, "Let's hope she takes more after me! We wouldn't want anyone getting blown away by a Starlight Breaker!"
"Why not? I for one think it would be fun! She could be a master of both the sword and the cannon," replied Nanoha with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.
The two shared a laugh over the thought before sipping down two cups of coffee that were apparently brought by a server bot that had passed by unnoticed. Just as the two were about to catch up on the morning events, the warning signs went off.
Nanoha was the first to stand. "Hmm, I guess today's not going to be a cozy day in the office after all."
Fate followed Nanoha's lead with a worried countenance. "I wonder what's happened. We should go now, Nanoha."
The white devil smiled. "Yeah, let's go, Fate!"
It took the two aces little-to-no time at all to arrive at the observation bridge where Hayate was awaiting their arrival. The two of them immediately saluted their leader.
"What's going on, Commander?" Nanoha asked curiously.
Hayate shook her head. "I'm not too sure either," answered the commander. "A strange, unidentified signal was spotted gathering a dangerous amount of power near the edge of the city. We have reason to believe that the suspect was attempting to start a dimensional tremor. I have already sent Lieutenant Vita and Lieutenant Signum. Would you two be willing to assist?"
Fate nodded her head. "Of course. We'll head out right n-" Fate's voice was interrupted by a sudden transmission.
"This is Lieutenant Vita! Requesting back up for the detainment of the target! I repeat, requesting-"
The signal was broken leaving the three aces in shock. Vita's face had been scratched just slightly, enough to cause blood to leak from her forehead. Behind her was a mysterious figure with auburn hair a shade similar to Nanoha's.
Fate narrowed her eyes with interest. "Hey, Shari?"
"Yes? What's the matter Captain Testarossa?" answered Shari.
"Can you get that image back? Also, is it possible to zoom the screen in?" replied Fate. Her eyes never once lost the still image that was obscured by the static.
Nodding her head, Hayate said, "All hands focus on the image behind Vita and zoom the screen in."
With a little computer magic, the squad had done their work, zooming on the image to reveal a shocking new face. The aces gasped. It was a young boy roughly around Alicia's age, his eyes an eerily familiar blue. His hair was indeed similar to Nanoha's in color but worn wild at medium-length. His barrier jacket looked incredibly similar to Vivio's current one with the exception of the white gauntlets he wore around his forearms and the navy blue abdomen guard also shielding his entire torso. What was more shocking were the numerous tattoo lines covering the boys body. Tattoo lines that the three aces knew all too well: the markings of the eclipse virus.
Hayate blanched, dropping her clipboard in her bewilderment. "No way."
"Wh-What the?" the white devil gazed up in shock. "My god…" Nanoha could only stare in surprise, her shoulders shaking for reasons unknown.
Fate said nothing as she gazed up at the image with a hardened stare. Eyeing the image before her, something clicked in her mind. With an unreadable countenance, she turned to Commander Yagami and said, "I thought you said that nothing bad would come of leaving him with them."
The commander nodded agape. "I did. I did, but right now, I think we need to confirm our suspicions." Turning back to the command center, Hayate said, "Shari, please get a matching profile of all registered mages and/or knights with this appearance. Use his magical profile if you must."
Immediately punching in keys, Shari had the information up in a flash. She swiftly began to read the information. "He's a Mid-Childan mage from what it looks like. His name is Saber Gremory. Our records show that he registered himself under an alias and was requested to present his birth name. Shall I pull it up-"
"Just pull up the given name," interjected Hayate. "That aside, keep reading, please."
Shari cocked an eyebrow, but immediately returned to reading the data. "The boy's real given name is Yuusei. It appears that he registered himself in our database with the alias under his current guardian's request not too long after Alicia was registered for legal magic practice."
"Quite the coincidence," muttered Fate under her breath.
"Furthermore," Shari read on, "his parents are apparently under a classified lock. It won't let me into any more of his personal data. It's possible that he may be an Eclipse Infectee. He's using a divider similar to Thoma's judging from the image that we saw earlier."
A few seconds passed.
"Wait, hold on a second!"
Hayate raised an eyebrow. "What's the matter, Shari?"
Shari shook her head. "The next part wants you to input your security code, Commander. Will you?"
Fate and Nanoha looked towards Hayate, knowing what had to be done. The commander solemnly nodded her head as she strolled to Shari and input the code. Suddenly two final sentences appeared in red. Shari read them aloud. "Yuusei is the product of the latest breakthrough in gene-modifying technology via Project Photon. Yuusei was one of thirteen survivors of the tests out of-"
There was a pause.
Her features grim, Hayate looked away from the screen. "Out of how many, Shari?"
"Out of," Shari paused, "Out of one-hundred-seventy-five test subjects." The tension in the room suddenly grew tenfold. Shari turned around to find Nanoha and Fate looking at each other and then towards Hayate with looks filled with numerous and yet indescribable emotions.
"We're going," said Nanoha curtly.
Fate nodded. "Please excuse us," said the blond swordswoman as she trailed after the white devil.
Hayate remained where she stood. "Be safe," she offered quietly.
No one answered her.
Shari was bewildered. Never had she heard Nanoha speak to Hayate in such an almost irate manner.
Finally, the commander broke the silence. "Shari" she began, "I'll explain everything to you over lunch, but you must refrain from telling this to anyone else. What is about to be told to you is incredibly top secret. Is that understood?"
Shari was unsure of what to say, but eventually, she replied with a quiet but firm, "Very well."
At the scene of the incident, Fate and Nanoha had found only rubble. Eventually, they found Vita and Signum just barely injured but nevertheless in good shape.
"Signum!"yelled Fate.
"Vita!" cried Nanoha.
As the two captains rushed toward their lieutenants, Vita frowned and huffed. "You guys are late! What took ya?"
Nanoha's face immediately became all business. "We were trying to ID the enemy back on base but failed to come up with anything other than his given name."
Signum's focus was the sky. "He was," she paused, "A unique child. He looked very much like you Captain Takamachi and yet he fought in a manner very similar to Captain Testarossa."
"Did he wound either of you? Was he strong?" asked Nanoha curiously.
Vita shrugged. "I would have to say that he was decent. He reminds me a lot of you actually, Nanoha. His spells constantly changed at random from mid to long range. His skills in short range and close quarters combat are similar to Thoma though. Despite that, we did a pretty good number on him towards the end. He was a slippery one though."
The Knight of the Sword nodded. "Unfortunately, he escaped just a few minutes before the both of you arrived here. Please forgive the blunder."
Nanoha smiled. "It's fine, Signum. I'm just glad the two of you are safe."
Vita snorted. "Us? Taken down by a mere brat? Please!"
"Still," chimed Fate, "We should attempt to capture him as soon as possible. According to the report, he sounds like he could be trouble if we let him roam free."
Vita crossed her arms. "I guess. What I wanna know though is how he got that divider! I got a load of it while we were fighting, it's the same number as Thoma's but there's a strange acronym in front of it."
Time froze. Everyone seemed to realize something at once.
"Hold on, you're on to something Vita." Fate replied quietly.
"Only those registered with the TSAB's Eclipse Foundation can grant someone permission to arm themselves with either a real divider or a replica," muttered Signum.
"Which means that whoever has Yuusei," began Nanoha.
"Has some kind of connection with the higher ups," finished Fate.
"Hold up, so does that mean that the bureau planned all of this?" asked Vita loudly. "And who's Yuusei?"
"That's the child's name," answered Nanoha.
Vita's eyes lit up with interest. "Oh. Yuusei, huh? What a weird name."Narrowing her eyes, the Knight of the Iron Hammer murmured, "I don't like this."
"Neither do I," said Fate in agreement.
Nanoha remained silent. While everyone seemed to be formulating their own theory as to what was going on, Nanoha's mind was far too lost in thought to even begin thinking about why the mysterious boy with auburn hair and blue eyes was rampaging about. "What in the world is going on here?" thought the white devil.
Noting Nanoha's unusual behavior, Signum eyed her with concern. "You know more about the boy then you're letting on, don't you?"
Fate didn't answer.
Nanoha's bangs fell over her eyes as she tried to find an answer. Alas, she found none.
The red-headed knight's eyebrows rose with concern. "Hey, are you okay?"
At last, Nanoha answered, "I'll tell you both later."
Some several hours later, Alicia had returned home with Yuuno. It was one of those unusual days where Nanoha and Fate had to call Yuuno to assist in picking up the children. Currently, he and Alicia were discussing the day's events while Vivio and Einhart were spending their time talking in Vivio's room.
"So, Alicia, I hear that tomorrow is your birthday," said Yuuno.
Alicia nodded. "Yeah that's right! Will you be able to come to the party, Yuuno?"
The librarian smiled. "Of course I will. I've also heard that Einhart and Vivio have taught you some of their Belkan fighting moves."
The little blond girl smirked. "Yup, it was awesome!" Giggling sheepishly, she added, "But I still have a lot of work to do. I still don't really have the coordination for the exact movements."
Yuuno snickered. "Don't you worry! I'm sure you'll have it down in no time. Your Fate's daughter after all."
"Of course!" cheered Alicia. "Speaking of Mama, did she tell you why she's coming home late today? It was so strange you know? Even Vita called to say that she had to cancel practice today to work with Mama, Nanoha-mama, and Signum on something so it must be really important."
Shaking his head, the librarian replied, "No, she didn't. I'm sure it's because she just wants to make sure that someone out there is safe though. She did however tell me to tell you that Erio and Caro are coming for your birthday tomorrow."
With eyes akin to those of neon lights, Alicia cheered. "Erio and Caro? Yay! It's been a long time since I last saw them."
"I'm sure they'll be just as happy to see you," assured Yuuno.
Two pairs of footsteps made their way into the living room. Upon turning their heads, Alicia and Yuuno discovered the source of the two footsteps to be Vivio and Einhart stopping by to raid the fridge.
"So what do you think we should do tomorrow before the party? It's our first day off in a while," asked Vivio cheerfully.
Einhart's thoughtful humming could be heard from Yuuno's and Alicia's location on the couch. "How about we go and spar down by the docks?" offered the minty-haired bruiser. "No one really goes there on Sunday, so we wouldn't have to worry about interruptions."
Vivio giggled. "True. So, what do you wanna get Alicia for her birthday?"
Once again, Einhart's hum sounded through the living room from the kitchen. Alicia leaned in to hear her answer. "I think we should get her a pair of armored gauntlets. They'd do nicely for upgrading the safety of her barrier jacket."
"But Alicia doesn't have a device yet, Ein," replied Vivio.
"I-I thought I told you not to call me that," stuttered Einhart.
The sankt kaiser chuckled deviously. "Oops, it just slipped out of my mouth."
After a brief pause, Einhart said, "Still, I think it would be a good idea. If you think about it, we were around Alicia's age when we got our devices. It wouldn't surprise me if your mothers got her one."
"Hmm," Vivio took a moment to consider this. "You have a point there. Alright! Gauntlets it is!" With that, the two trekked back to Vivio's room, completely unaware of the still-listening Yuuno and Alicia.
"Well, that's quite a spoiler. Wouldn't you say, Alicia?" asked Yuuno.
Alicia smiled widely. "Sure is! Do you know if Mama got me a device Yuuno?"
The librarian snickered at the little girl's enthusiasm. "Afraid not. What I can tell you though is that your chances of getting one are high."
The little girl cheered as she tightly embraced the librarian. "Tomorrow is gonna be awesome!"
Yuuno laughed as the door slowly opened.
At last, two voices yelled, "We're home!"
Vivio immediately rushed back down the stairs with Einhart in tow. Embracing her mother Vivio cheered, "Welcome home; Nanoha-mama, Fate-mama."
Einhart smiled before giving the two homeowners a graceful bow. "Welcome home."
Fate smiled. "Thanks you two. Do either of you know where Alicia is?"
The two nodded.
"I think she's with Yuuno in the living room," answered Vivio. "Oops!" Realizing her blunder, Vivio flushed furiously.
Smiling sheepishly, Einhart muttered, "Well, we blew that one."
Vivio laughed a little whilst shrugging her shoulders. "Oh well. Can't do anything about it now, right?" she said over telepathy.
"Right," answered Einhart.
It was then that Vivio noticed something strange: Nanoha and Fate were incredibly quiet this evening. Normally the house was a lot more lively. Fate would run up to Alicia and greet her while Nanoha would laugh and cheerily wander off into the kitchen to prepare dinner. "Hey, are you two alright?" asked Vivio worriedly.
Realizing her mistake, Nanoha smiled warmly and ran a gentle hand through Vivio's hair. "Yes, everything's fine," answered the auburn-haired mage. "Thank you for asking though, Vivio."
Vivio wasn't convinced, but she smiled and cheerfully replied, "Okay!"
Having finished their greetings, Vivio and Einhart followed the two aces into the living room where Alicia waited with Yuuno. Not too long after entering the living room, Alicia dashed off of the couch and leaped into her mother's arms. Fate cradled her lovingly and at the moment, almost painfully.
Nanoha smiled as she watched the heartwarming scene, but never once did the image of the boy with auburn hair and blue eyes ever leave her mind.
"So, it appears that Yuusei made a ruckus in town today." A male voice announced in a cheery tone.
"Yes. He apparently met two Lieutenants in combat and was defeated; however, he managed to avoid capture. Precia is displeased. What shall we do about this, Prometheus?" asked a girl with flowing green hair and crimson eyes.
Prometheus was a grey haired boy around the age of seventeen. He grinned maliciously as his crimson eyes flickered with terrible intentions. "Nothing yet, Pandora. Let's wait to see if the other brat becomes active any time soon. After all, everyone needs to be present for the little game to play out properly. It wouldn't please our boss if the enemy died so soon."
Pandora nodded in agreement. "Very well then, Prometheus."
With the conversation finished, Prometheus looked out upon Mid-Childa from where he stood. The room was well furnished, obviously a hotel. He stood at what must have been the top floor's viewing window. Eyeing his bloodstained left palm, his grin widened. "Yuusei and Alicia. Do you have what it takes to play in our little game?"
Author's Notes:
First, I want to apologize to new readers for making an OC-driven story. I know how that's not really a welcomed stunt around here. To my returning readers, I re-welcome you and hope that you enjoyed the new opening chapter.
You may have also noticed the chapters are longer. This was done to capture the length of a full anime episode and will basically combine two chapters from the original version into one. Some important things that should be made clear (for both readers new and old) are as follows:
1. This takes place 14 years after the Eclipse Incident (Force), so Nanoha and Fate are both 39 as of this story. The main storyline for the most part has not been changed. Most of the reboot is a bunch of grammar improvements, style improvements, and improved consistency between what I use from the real canon and my own canon.
2. This is an alternate timeline with made up endings for the canon Vivid and Force arcs, which have not actually ended; therefore, certain events to fill in the gaps between now and those time periods along with endings to both arcs have been made up and should not be taken as actual canon material. A quick example: most of the Hückebein were killed during the events of Force in this canon.
TL;DR? This is a revised version of "Magical Chronicle Lyrical Nanoha: Photon" with edits done to improve the story as a whole.
With all of that said, let the befriending begin!
KaiserPhotos signing off!