Author's Note: Hey everyone, I am TwoZeroTwo. Several years ago, I wrote two stories set in the Nanoha universe with original characters and a new setting that I had created. The first story, Raze the Stray, was posted in early 2013 and then its sequel, Raise the Dawn, was posted from late 2013 to late 2014. I hadn't really intended to write any more, but recently I've fleshed out some of the ideas I had for a plot or other characters into something cohesive enough to be a full story. It's probably the timing and release of the ViVid Strike anime that really got me putting this all together recently. But now, two years since the end of my last story, I bring you its sequel, and, as I mentioned, the third in my Nanoha series.

I understand - two full stories is a lot to have to read to get set up for this one. And that's why I want to say you shouldn't need to read the previous stories to understand this one. If you have read RtS and RtD, then thank you for doing so, but it's been two years and unless you read them recently, you probably don't remember all the details. I'll provide a short summary of both stories below, but once I have the characters set up, in Chapter 3 of this story I will have a scene that goes through the backstory well enough to cover what I think you should know. Otherwise, I should have written well enough that you're not confused - message me if there's anything you notice that is distracting.

Raze the Stray introduced the main character, Bathory Kardenis, and took place on Bathory's home planet, Administrated World #84 - Siba. He was on the run from the Siban TSAB for a crime he didn't commit, and the Siban TSAB brought in Ace Enforcer Fate T. Harlaown to track Bathory down. She figured out Bathory was actually innocent and brought him to Midchilda when he was captured.

Raise the Dawn took place on Midchilda after Bathory was brought there and followed him and some others from Siba as the two planets clashed over Bathory's return home. In the process, he met and dragged a bunch of the canon characters into the conflict. At the end, Bathory and two other mages from Siba renounced their status as members of the Siban bureau and moved to a new planet for their rehabilitation. And here we are, a couple years later. In-universe, as well as out, I guess. Total coincidence.

If you do want to read the other two stories, go ahead, though if you only have time for one story, I would definitely recommend Raise the Dawn. It's more polished, contains more interactions with the canon characters, and there's a lot from it that's referenced and set up as defining moments for the characters. But again, Chapter 3 will have a bigger explanation of the story so far.

As with the previous two stories, the plot will be on a lower-scale than the massive conflicts of the first three seasons of Nanoha. Conflicts will mostly be on a personal scale, though things will ramp up obviously and there will definitely be some of that classic "friendship-through-victorious-battles" formula the Nanoha series has so much of. Anyways, on with the show!


Close your eyes
And watch very closely

And when your mind finally cracks at first you will perceive it as a trick
But you just can't wrap your head around it
Let alone be the soul who figures it out
And in the pursuit of acquired tastes
And with this new found food for thought
For the first time in your life you will swallow all of your doubt
You'll find all of your worries are running off now
As if you never even had them
You've got your reasons to want to see new seasons
that you've been cursed to never fathom
And in that very void
Shining through that crack in our condition
I say 'choose to stay'

Okkotonushi - Talk


Chapter 1 - All Things Ordinary


Planet: Administrated World #55 – Nemelendelle
City: Djavo Nije
Date: April 30, 0078
Time: 5:30 PM

Negati's feet pushed down onto the treadmill below her. She was jogging briskly, but the machine spun its track to keep her in place. It was nearing the end of its programmed routine, and in the final stretch, it kicked the elevation up just enough to pose an extra challenge to the mage. She reached for her water bottle and took another drink, though the bottle was nearly out. Sweat covered her body, and her dry throat begged for more water.

"Come on…come on…" she mumbled.

Around her, the public gym bustled with other equipment and other people's routines, but Negati didn't focus on any of that. One leg in front of the other. Strong, solid, consistent breaths. Her red hair was tied up in a high ponytail, but the end of it still bounced across her back, keeping another rhythm with her steps. Her eyes stared down at the interface of the machine. The outline of a circle was slowly filling up with red lights to indicate her progress, and as the treadmill ran the last couple of meters, the outline filled entirely with green lights and the machine beeped loudly.

The motor wound down underneath her and the track slowed to a stop. Negati followed the pace of the track and then stood there in place, hands gripping the two arms of the treadmill. She took a couple more deep breaths then reached for a small towel laying on one of the arms to wipe off her face.

Off to the side and somewhat behind her, a young man stood by the wall and watched. He had short brown hair, brown eyes, and was dressed more heavily than the workout attire Negati was wearing – a jacket with long sleeves rested on top of his plain shirt and his legs were covered fully too. He was a bit taller than the woman, but she was a bit older. They were both in their early 20's, but Negati had half a year up on him. In the man's right hand, he held a dark green gem, somewhat thin and with the shape of a sun. The gem was connected by a loop of thread that wound up around his right wrist and lower right arm, keeping it in place and close within reach. In his other hand, he held a cold, unopened bottle of water.

As Negati took another drink from her bottle and emptied it dry, Bathory Kardenis pushed off the wall and walked towards her. Negati gathered up the empty bottle and towel and was stepping off the machine when she saw Bathory walking up.

"Need a little more?" he asked, holding his hand out.

Negati smiled as she let out another breath and took the bottle from him.

"You know me so well" she said, cracking the lid off the top and taking a long drink. When that was done, she exhaled in relief and turned to Bathory.

"Have I told you today that I love you?"

Negati didn't wait for a response; she got right back to drinking as Bathory smiled and chuckled lightly.

"Well, I had to leave kinda early this morning, so…"

As Negati took another gulp, Bathory went to put his arms around her. However, she held her hand up and stopped him.

"Bathory, wait, I'm – I'm all sweaty and stuff. Let me shower first."

The other mage looked at her, putting on a sad – if intentionally over the top – face. Negati chuckled as well and handed Bathory her things. She walked away from the equipment to do some cooldown stretches. First, she raised her arms high above her head, touching her hands together at the top, and then bend over to point them down at the ground.

"So," she asked, "you really for our battle tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Bathory responded, "the ground training session, right?"

Negati finished with that stretch and, with her hands kept together, rose back up and bent to the left as far as she could then did the same in the other direction.

"Right. We've got a new Captain transferring here to Nemelendelle and I guess she wants to evaluate some of the resources she's got under her now. So, at the end of tomorrow's session, we'll put on a little sparring match and she'll get to see the power of First Lieutenant Negati Winter!"

Negati finished her stretches and walked right up to Bathory.

"And…" she continued, "First Lieutenant Negati Winter's boyfriend."

Bathory laughed again and lowered his voice.

"Oh, is that how I'm listed?"

Negati smiled and went in for a quick kiss. They parted, and Bathory's eyes were open in mock astonishment.

"Wha…what happened to being all gross?" he asked.

"I cooled down some" she replied as she got her stuff and walked off. "Now I'm gonna shower. Meet you out front!"


Nemelendelle was a quiet planet. Compared to the Time Space Administration Bureau's busiest and most important worlds, like Midchilda, it was a far cry from the massive cities and bureau departments found on those – though it was equally as far from the untracked land and isolation of other planets. It was a good potential choice for mages placed in the TSAB's rehabilitation program who wished for a new beginning away from what landed them in trouble, or a place to stay momentarily before reintegration into another world.

The main city, Djavo Nije, was not large enough for a teleportation center to be constructed. Instead, everyone traveling off planet or arriving there had to land at the spaceport that was connected to the city by a long, flat road. Passengers heading towards the city would pass by flat fields of short grass, unobstructed by trees or other foliage. But soon, there would be signs of life – agriculture and farms would dot the landscape, followed by more structured grids of buildings and houses before one entered the limits of the city itself. There were areas for everything on Nemelendelle with regards to recreation, events, training, and of course, management by the Bureau.

Out by the edge of town, near the road leading away from it, a white van in rough shape was parked in front of an open field and two figures were leaning against the side of it. There was a boy in his mid-teens with short black hair, wearing full clothing to protect against the slight chill that came with the wind. Next to him appeared to be a woman in her early twenties, with light brown hair that went down her back and with clothes that seemed to be fitted for somebody else. They hung a bit loosely from her shoulders and waist, and she crossed her arms to warm herself a bit. Her tail twitched a bit in response and her long ears lowered to keep out of the wind.

She was a familiar, originally a fox, currently in her human form.

The two of them looked up at the horizon as a medium-sized ship came down from the skies over the port. They followed its gradual approach until it neared the ground and disappeared over the horizon line. The boy looked down at the ground and sighed. He remembered what he saw from the windows of a similar ship, a couple months ago. Back then, he didn't know what to expect. He didn't know how to feel. He had no say in any of this. He was brought along to this planet with his sister and his sister's familiar. It was for his sister's benefit, or at least it was supposed to be.

Shaking his head, the boy focused in. He was here for a reason. He pushed off the van and went over to the back to open it up. He lightly pulled the handle and then the door seemed to swing open on its own accord. Pushing it out of the way, he reached for the objects in the cargo bay of the van and carried them all out under his arm. They were all long, thin poles - about as tall as he was - with circular targets grafted onto one end of them. He walked a short distance away into a field, struggling to hold the weight of the metal targets. The familiar watched the boy but remained where she was. She knew this was something he wanted to do himself.

When the boy had gone far enough, he set most of the targets down and held one up. Then, he drove it into the dirt, making sure the thin end had buried itself down far enough to stay upright. He repeated for the other poles, placing them in a line so the target circles faced back toward the van. When he finished his efforts, he walked back to the vehicle.

Both of them still remained silent. The boy was focused on the next task, and the other knew there was nothing to say. The younger mage reached into his pocket and held up an unassuming rectangular card-shaped device. It was a shade of brown that looked like an unpolished surface – as if a different color was supposed to go over it. Clutching the device in his hand, they boy held his hand up in front of him and stared out at the targets.

"Activate!" he shouted.

A pattern of lights pulsed across the card, and it began to transform into a pistol-shaped weapon. The grip formed first, which the boy wrapped his hand around as the body of the pistol formed next and a barrel formed at the end of it. Like its standby form had been, this device was a dull brown and looked obviously pieced together by an amateur. Some of the parts didn't seem to fit well with each other, and it lacked the sleekness that a well-made custom device would have.

How it looked wasn't important – or at least, not at the moment. The boy wasn't here to see how it looked. He was here to fire it.

He brought his other hand over to support the device and focused in to aim it straight at one of the targets. He held his breath and took several seconds to line the device up just right. When he thought he had it perfectly, he pulled the trigger.

A shot of energy flew out from the barrel. However, it missed the pole and flew off to the right.

The boy's eyes opened wide in disbelief. He stared at the targets for a bit before refocusing on the chevron on top of his weapon. Maybe he wasn't aimed right. He centered on the same target as before and took another few seconds to ensure he was absolutely still. When he knew he had it, he fired again.

This time, it arced left. The shot zipped past the target and back into the open air.

He couldn't believe it. He lost focus again and he opened his mouth, letting out a short burst of air. He was stunned.

The familiar knew what this could lead to and she finally spoke up.

"Vaele…"

Vaele Lumiere narrowed his eyes.

"What, Asana?"

Asana looked back at the targets.

"At least you're getting close…"

"I was getting closer yesterday. And…and the shots weren't going off in both directions."

Vaele took a deep breath. This wasn't what he expected to happen. He thought that he had aligned things better, going off what his results were from the last few days. He was really hoping to hit a target, at least. Asana didn't respond, and Vaele got back in the mindset. He focused in on the targets again. Maybe he could figure out a pattern in the sway. Maybe he could still get something out of this.

He readied himself, lined up another shot, and fired. This time, it arced down, shooting just under the target and bouncing in the dirt behind it. Vaele gritted his teeth and sighed harder than before.

"Dammit…" he mumbled. "I don't know what's wrong. I don't know what I did. I screwed this up. What a waste."

Asana frowned and uncrossed her arms.

"I'm sorry you're having so much trouble. I wish Miss Izah were here to help…"

The mention of Vaele's sister pinched a nerve on top of his already-building anger. He spun to face Asana and pounded his fist into the side of the van.

"I wish Izah would do ANYTHING!"

Asana turned to face Vaele and raised her voice as well.

"Vaele, she's your sister!"

"Yeah, and she ain't gonna help! You think she'd suddenly decide to come along?"

"Vaele, I-"

"You think anything's gonna change, Asana? You think one day it's just gonna be different?"

"Vaele, you know that she-"

"All she does is lay strung out in her room all day. Laying in her bed, clutching that bottle of her pills!"

"VAELE!" Asana cried.

The boy shut up. He just stood there, trembling. He and Asana knew there was nothing he needed to add. Asana looked away and crossed her arms again. Her ears twitched when another breeze blew past her.

"You know we need to stay positive for Miss Izah. You know she doesn't want this either."

Vaele looked out at the targets. He didn't much feel like continuing his attempts there.

"How is she?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"I know you're connected to her. I know you can feel how she is. Is she responsive? Is her latest pill wearing off? If we go back now, could I actually talk to her?"

Asana closed her eyes and focused on her master. Izah was always supplying her with the energy needed to power her own magic. She could tell her master's condition just as her master could tell hers. When she felt the connection for long enough, she responded.

"Yes, I believe so. I believe she will be stable."

Vaele nodded and held up his hand again.

"Then I think we're done here. Like I said, what a waste."

He looked at the device and deactivated it, putting the card in his pocket. Then, he went and gathered the targets, pulling them up out of the ground and dragging them over to the van. He chucked them in the back and then tried closing the door. The first time, it didn't latch and the door just swung right back open. Rolling his eyes, he tried again, forcing the door shut with all his might. He kept his hands in place for a few seconds, as if that would do anything. But this time, the doors stayed shut, and Vaele walked over and climbed into the driver's seat as Asana sat next to him.

He started the van, and it sounded like the engine was about to just drop out of the bottom. It startled Vaele, as it always did when something like that happened. He just left the vehicle running in park while his hands gripped the wheel.

"I hate this thing" he muttered. "Wish we still had the car the TSAB gave us. But of course she went and traded that out for this. Probably just to get more of her-"

"Vaele," Asana interrupted, "come on. She'll be waiting for us."

The boy sighed once again, and started to drive off. With one more heavy kick from the engine, they got back on the road.