Magical Girl Lyrical NanohaToward the World's End2

by Overlord-A

Story Two: Directed Start

Magical Girl

Lyrical Nanoha

Toward the World's End

Story Two – Directed Start

A fan fiction by

Addison Saunders

The sensation of flying through the air is like nothing else.

The sensation of flying through the air, on an alien world, in a different dimension however, is unlike anything most people I used to know would ever experience.

It was hard to control, but I was managing. Focusing my magical energy through my feet, allowing me to glide around the sky with ease, tightly gripping the silver, metallic staff that was my device in my right hand.

My barrier jacket flapped and trailed as I flew. I knew the next attack would come soon. Where? Where would it come from?

I swung myself around, spinning my staff as I did. The purple globe in the centre of its head lit up, as its wavy robotic voice spoke.

"Commander", it said, "Low powered attack incoming".

I nodded, spinning around again. Sure enough, there were four blasts of pink energy headed straight for me.

"Round shield!" I ordered my staff.

"Affirmative, Round Shield." It replied.

I put my hand out and the intricate, dark purple magic circle appeared in front of it. It slowly rotated in the air, the symbols within it pulsating.

The pink blasts slammed into my shield, not affecting me at all. I dispelled the shield and flew higher, trying to get a look at my attacker.

There!

I could see her, flying with ease bellow me, her gold and pink staff clutched within her hands, the pink wings on her soles giving strong beats as she moved.

In moments she was level with me. I could see her beautiful face clearly, her deep purple eyes staring right at me, her twin ponytails billowing in the wind.

She smiled.

"Nice block Arthur, you understand how the shield works quite well now" she said.

"Its hard enough to concentrate on staying in the air, let alone generate any other attacks" I replied, smiling as well, "How many times can I call you amazing?"

"You'll get the hang of it" she encouraged, "Come on, you need to focus on your attacks" she moved back, getting into attack range.

"Nanoha!" I called out to her, "let's have dinner together tonight after this is done okay?" "I haven't seen you much except here during training" I hoped she would accept. I was getting bored without her company. I was so used to having her around back on the dead earth that I had forgotten what it was like to interact with anyone else. Since getting to the TSAB's headquarters, I'd had to talk to a lot more people than I had in a very long time.

Nanoha flew up to me again, still smiling.

"Sure!" She said, "I've missed seeing you as well"

"Then let's look forward to it" I laughed happily.

"Mm!" Nanoha nodded, "but concentrate on your training for now."

"Right!" I flew backward, swinging my staff down to my side.

"Load cartridge!" I ordered it, "melee form!"

"Affirmative Commander", my staff droned. The section just below the head slid back, like a shotgun being pumped. An empty magical cartridge was ejected and a new one loaded into place.

"Flail form, set up" the staff said.

The four, elegant, blade-like spikes that framed the purple centre orb swung down so that they faced toward my hand, pointing outward. The purple orb glowed bright, and several spikes of energy burst along its surface. The head of my staff ejected off, trailing down on a magical purple chain.

I swung it slowly, spinning the now spike-lined head. The chain lengthened as I forced more magic into it.

"Flail Whirlwind" my staff declared as I raised it above my head, spinning the spiky head faster and faster.

I dived toward Nanoha, building more momentum in my spinning weapon as I did. I came level with her quickly and swung my staff down viciously. However the attack was rendered useless when a glowing pink barrier formed in front of her. The flail head simply slammed into that, unable to penetrate. I put more force into it, but it was no use.

"Not bad" Nanoha said, still keeping her barrier up, "but if your melee attack fails you shouldn't stick around too long…" she closed her eyes.

The deep red sphere at the centre of her device, Raising Heart's staff form lit up as it spoke with a cool female voice:

"Barrier Burst" it declared. Nanoha smiled quickly as the pink barrier exploded, sending me flying.

"Shield magic can be used offensively too remember" she called out to me as I fell.

Quickly I regained control of my magic, getting myself into an upright position.

"Strike From" my staff said. The purple glowing chain retracted, connecting the head with the shaft of the staff once more. The spikes of energy vanished from the central ball, and the four blades swung up to point forwards once again.

I took it in both hands and pointed it upward at Nanoha.

"Shooting Mode" Raising Heart chimed. It glowed bright pink and elongated itself into its secondary, long ranged form. Several pink rings of energy formed at its tip, forming a barrel for the blast that was coming.

Both of our devices loaded more cartridges, the discarded ones tumbling to the distant ground.

A magical circle formed upon the end of my own staff, directly in front of the four blades. Dark purple energy begun to build up in the centre of it.

"Ready for this?" Nanoha called down to me.

"Always!" I shouted back, grinning, before returning my focus to the attack I was about to unleash.

"Divine…." Nanoha called out.

"Fusion…." I roared.

"Buster!"
"Surge!"

4 months earlier

I clung tightly onto Nanoha as we sped through the air, underneath the sick, yellow sky. The tiny patch of blue sky kept fading in and out of existence, but we were still heading for it. It was the only hope we had left. We either made it away from this world or we died in each other's arms. Either way was fine for me, but I was still determined to reach that blue sky.

Raising Heart, flailing wildly as we sped forward, lit up and begun to speak:

"Signals to Mid-Childan worlds are getting stronger, continue advancement"

"It's working!" Nanoha cried, "Arthur we can leave!"

"YES!" I shouted over the rush of wind.

"We're going to make it!" Nanoha said happily.

The small area of blue sky begun to fade away once again. No! If it went now we wouldn't escape. I drew on all the effort I could, feeling the alien presence of "magical" energy within my, forcing it down into Nanoha's body.

She gasped a little as I did, blushing slightly for some reason. But the bright pink wings on her feet grew larger, and continued to beat, swinging us forward right bellow the blue patch of sky.

"FLY!" I screamed into the air, pushing everything I had into the pink wings.

We rushed ahead, gaining more and more speed. The stain of the yellow sky slowly vanished as we finally moved under that one patch of blue.

As soon as we were there, I felt Nanoha send a pulse of magical energy out. Light engulfed us and I felt my stomach drop as if we were moving at an incredible speed.

We tumbled around in the cone of light for several minutes, before it fades. My feet were on solid ground. I was dizzy and disoriented. There were people around me, me and Nanoha, talking, shouting. I couldn't hear them, I wasn't listening.

I stood with Nanoha, our arms around each other, supporting each other's weight. Our clothes were all tattered. Nanoha's barrier jacket had vanished, replaced by the torn, ill fitting clothes I had salvaged from the ship we escaped on. We looked into each other's eyes, breaking out in the biggest smiles we ever had.

"We made it!" Nanoha said to me.

"YEAH!" I shouted, pumping my fist.

Someone came up to us. He was wearing a strange uniform.

"Capitan Takamachi!" He said, saluting, "What happened to you?" "And whom is this" he pointed to me.

"Call Commander Hayate Yagami" Nanoha said, deflecting his questions, "Section 6"

"Right away Ma'am!" the man saluted.

"Where are we?" Nanoha asked leaning against me, just as I was leaning against her.

"TSAB Ship Tarkellia" someone called out, "We'll be returning to headquarters momentarily."

"We need to rest" I shouted out, "food, water, can you get us any of these?"

"Of course, we'll take you to a rest quarters!" someone else called out.

We were ushered along down metal corridors. I couldn't see any windows, and soon enough were in a one person quarters. There was an attached bathroom, but generally the place was tiny. We sat down on the single bunk, before falling back, laying next to each other again. After all the time we had spent sleeping together on the island, this seemed fairly normal. But still, I was laying next to a beautiful girl in a bed. Had the situation been normal, were we not on a spaceship in another dimension, my thoughts about our current position would have been very different.

Tiredness was overwhelming me, but I refused to sleep. I put my arm on Nanoha, turning my head to look at her. She looked back at me, tired but happy.

"We made it" I said to her, tears rolling out of my eyes. I wasn't crying, but they wouldn't stop coming. Through my own blurred vision I could see that Nanoha's eyes were watering as well.

"We did" she said beaming, "we did".

Finally, tiredness overwhelmed me, and I fell asleep.

My eyelids cracked open slowly as I once again became aware of my surroundings. For a moment I was disoriented, the surroundings were quite literally alien to me. Then I remembered where we were: In a spaceship flying through time-space. Well, that was reason enough to go back to sleep.

But instead I hoisted myself up, glancing down at Nanoha. She was sleeping peacefully, her chest rising and falling with each breath. She was exhausted, spending that much magical energy must have really drained her.

Slowly I got to my feet. My head spun a little, I was still disoriented. I stumbled around, pressing my palm against the wall to steady myself. I went for the attached bathroom.

At the basin I splashed water onto my face. This did a grand total of absolutely nothing. I wondered exactly why people did that. Oh well. Instead of wasting the water uselessly on my face, I cupped it into my hand and drank down as many mouthfuls as I could. Suitably refreshed, I returned to the dark room.

Nanoha was still slumbering. Watching her sleep had been something I had done often back on the destroyed earth, but I wondered if it was no longer acceptable. Back then I had been protecting her, since she was all I had left. I suppose she still was. I was in a completely new environment, I didn't even know what I would do from here on in. All I knew was that I would stand with Nanoha and see where we went. We had a better future for ourselves now, but what exactly it would involve for me I didn't know.

I sat down on a chair and sunk into thought. I found myself wishing I still had my music player, that was left behind on earth. I wouldn't be seeing that again.

Time passed, hours, minutes or seconds I wasn't sure, but I snapped out of my trance of thought when Nanoha stirred and awoke.

She sat up and looked around, eventually laying her eyes upon me.

"Arthur you were awake?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said, "Did you sleep well?"

"Mm" Nanoha nodded, "are you alright?"

"I just," I sighed, "don't know what to do".

I looked from side to side needlessly, I didn't know what else to say to her. I had no idea what I would do from here, other than be by her side. Where I would live, and how I would live were unknown factors right now.

Nanoha spoke up, her soft, sweet voice sounding through the room:

"It'll be alright, Arthur." She said, "I'll take care of you, everything will be fine."

I nodded.

"Thank you, Nanoha."

The rest of our "flight" was passed with idol conversation and silence. It was at least another hour before someone came in and informed us that we would be docking at "headquarters" soon. I guessed that I would be meeting Hayate Yagami soon enough. A friend of Nanoha that I'd heard plenty of stories about, but never actually met. Apparently she was even more powerful than Nanoha or Fate, but gentle and kind. It was going to be interesting.

I felt the spaceship shudder as it docked with something. There wasn't a window where we were so I couldn't see anything outside.

We were led along the metal corridors of the ship. I kept close to Nanoha, she clearly knew what she was doing. She walked with confidence and people showed her respect, even dressed as she was in her tattered, dirty clothes.

As we moved out of the craft, we stepped into a kind of hanger, full of strange, huge ships. For the first time I saw what the ship looked like externally. It had a far more "alien" appearance that I had always imagined, it's strange shape driving home to me the fact that I was no longer back on earth. This was my new future and I had to get used to it. It wasn't going to be easy though. Most people would have fainted from shock by now, but I was going to keep it together.

We were led into a room that could only be described as a "waiting area", two men came fourth, one handing a pile of clothes to Nanoha, the other handing a similar pile to me.

"Please change and wait here" the officer who was at the lead said to us.

Awkwardly, we turned away from each other.

"I, I won't look" I said to Nanoha. Even though I had seen her naked body before occasionally during her transformation into her barrier jacket, I had never seen her naked since we had met again before the world ended, and I thought it would be very embarrassing, and inappropriate to see her body now.

"It's alright" Nanoha said, her cheeks flushing red, "I won't peek either".

She gave her glowing smile, even while she was still blushing. For some reason, the site of a blushing, smiling Nanoha made me blush too. I quickly turned away, and I heard her move around, stripping off her clothes. The thought of it made me blush even more. I quickly undressed myself and pulled on the new clothes I had received.

They weren't much, dark gray trousers and a strange, robe like garment that I pulled over my chest.

"Are you changed?" I asked without turning around.

"Mm, you can turn around" Nanoha said.

I turned on my heal, and stepped back when I saw her.

She was wearing a set of clothes I had never seen. It consisted of a short blue skirt, blue and white top, long stockings, a blue and white jacket and a strange red ribbon tied around her collar.

"Wow" I said, "you look good"

"It's my training instructors uniform" Nanoha explained, "I guess my section 6 uniform wasn't available on such short notice."

"You have a different uniform for section 6?" I asked, curiously, "what does that look like".

Nanoha winked at me.

"You'll see soon Arthur, come on, time to find out what's happening"

"Yeah" I nodded.

We were flanked by the people that had escorted us in as we moved down yet another corridor. At the end of it was a large silver door.

"Ah" Nanoha smiled as she looked at it, then flashed her smile toward me. Caught off-guard, I blushed a little and wound up smiling as well.

The officers left us as the door hissed open and we walked inside.

There were three people inside, one on a chair in the corner, one seated behind the desk, the woman next to him, who came over to us as soon as we walked in

The woman was tall and beautiful, with deep red eyes, and long blonde hair spilling down her back, tied with a bow at the end.

It took me but a moment to work out who it was.

"Nanoha!" she said, wrapping her arms around Nanoha in a very tight hug.

"Fate!" Nanoha laughed, hugging her back, "sorry I took so long".

"I thought you were dead!" Fate said, tears forming in her eyes, "when the cataclysm struck and we lost contact with you!"

"I'm alright, thanks to Arthur!" Nanoha beamed at me.

Fate unwound herself from Nanoha and turned to me for the first time.

She was wearing a brown uniform, I knew it was a uniform because I had seen several other people around wearing it. She also had a yellow ribbon, tied differently to Nanoha's around her neck.

"Arthur?" she said, "wait, you're Arthur, who went away to collage?"

"Hello Fate" I smiled.

"Wow," she said, "you sure grew up".

I hardly looked impressive at that moment. Cracked glasses and ill-fitting clothes, but I held out my hand and shook Fate's anyway. Something had changed with her. She seemed less cold and sharp, though her dark sounding voice hadn't changed.

The man behind the desk stood up and coughed. The other girl stood up from her chair. I took a moment to examine her. She had short-length brown hair, kind blue eyes, and a smile on her lips. She wore the same uniform as Fate, except with a regular neck-tie around the collar.

Finally the man spoke.

"If we're all here then" he said, in an irritatingly official tone. He was wearing a navy suit jacket with a matching tie. The jacket had tassels dangling from the shoulders, giving it a distinctly "military" feel. He had grey trousers, which matched his shirt.

"I'm Admiral Chrono Harlaown" he said to me. So this was Chrono. He'd been in Nanoha's stories so many times. Now I got to meet him. His tone and nature irked me somehow.

He gestured to the brown haired girl behind him,

"This is…" he begun, but she cut in.

"I'm Hayate Yagami" she smiled, "head of Section 6".

With a sparkly glow, a tiny girl formed in the air next to her. Like a little pixie, she had silvery hair and a tiny replica of the uniform worn by Hayate and Fate.

"I'm Reinforce!" the tiny girl said, "Call me Rein!"

I had heard about these two a lot, but I was seeing them for the first time.

"You're Hayate Yagami, and Reinforce?" I said, "Pleased to meet you at last!"

"Likewise" Hayate shook my hand, "Arthur Kingston right?" she laughed, "Nanoha's friend"

"That's me" I said, pushing up my glasses.

"Now that introductions are finished," Chrono interrupted, "we have important things to discuss"

Nanoha, Fate and Hayate all turned to face Chrono, as did I.

We all took seats as Chrono spoke.

"Over a month ago, we lost contact with you, Nanoha, and Yuuno Scrya, but we were, at the time, unable to launch a recovery mission"

"Why?" Nanoha asked.

"The same reason we lost contact" Hayate said, "the word you were on was destroyed right?" "That's what you said?"

"Mm, it crumbled around us and the skies turned green, and then yellow…" Nanoha seemed to shudder as she remembered

Chrono tapped a holographic keyboard in front of him, and several images were projected in-front of us.

Nanoha and I gasped simultaneously.

The images showed different yellow skies, above alien planets, just like the sky we had fled from.

"This is…" I began.

"We officially call what happened "the Cataclysm"" Chrono said, closing down the images, "but that's not what it really was…"

"What was it?" I asked. Chrono glared at me, and so I glared right back at him.

Finally he took a deep breath and said one word:

"Retaliation".

Fate looked toward us.

"A lot happened in the tiny space of time you were away" she said.

"We knew there were universes other than our own, since we patrol a lot of them" Chrono explained, "but we made a minor discovery that there were even more universes, outside the ones we patrolled, that our universes were, universes within a universe".

I understood this perfectly clearly, the multiverse theory.

"Our scientists had theorized this for a long time, so it wasn't anything major, the discovery of "the void" – the endless nothing in-between the universes" Chrono went on, "but we discovered much more than we thought we would"

Everyone in the room was silent as he spoke.

"A universe of metal, a spaceship bigger than anything we'd ever seen was moving through the nothing, somehow" Chrono sat down as he said this.

"We don't even know how it's possible" Hayate said, "but it's there"

"We'd never encountered anything like it, an artificial universe." Chrono said, "but there was more, it wasn't just moving through the void, it was…" he stoped and looked away, like he didn't want to say the next words,

"It was what?" I asked, my tone serious.

He glared at me, and then finally spat out the words.

"Linking up"

I blinked.

"Doing what?" I said

"Linking up, to other universes" Chrono explained, "it sent out beams of energy, the likes of which could not be measured on any scale we have."

"And I assume that's incredibly powerful?" I said. The conversation appeared to be between me and him now, though Nanoha was still being filled in by the information and was still listening intently.

"Obviously" he said, adjusting the papers on his desk, "It was exerting a level of control we had assumed was impossible… the only way to explain it was that it was becoming…" he stopped, hesitating to finish his sentence.

"Becoming what?" I pressed. I had to know.

"God" Chrono said flatly, "it was becoming God over the universes it linked to"

I was speechless. I had never once believed in a God, and I was now being told that there was something that was capable of becoming one. It was a bit much to take in.

"You're kidding" I said.

"I don't kid" Chrono drawled.

"Clearly" I quipped back.

He threw me a contempt filled glare and returned to his story.

"The higher-ups made swift decision, the TSAB would regard this strange, "thing" as a threat and destroy it at once." "Everyone was panicked, no one could think clearly, it seemed so easy, such a good idea at the time"

"What happened?" Nanoha asked softly. I looked at her, seeing her purple eyes filled with sadness.

"We fired our super-weapon, the giant Arc-en-ceil cannon housed in headquarters itself." Chrono answered, "the beam made it into the void and was on a direct course to hit the huge ship, even though it was the size of a universe we assumed because we could detect no shields, or even weapons on it, that our attack would at least deter it'

"I gather it didn't" I said, resting my head on my fist.

"Suddenly, shielding sprung up around it, as if they simply came into existence. Our blast was completely blocked."

I realised where the story was going now… I spoke in a quiet, whispered tone.

"And it retaliated"

Chrono nodded.

"Weaponry just appeared on the, the ship, unlike any weaponry we'd ever known. It fired back and the attack would have annihilated us"

"So why are you still here?" I asked, confused.

"We –" Chrono started, but Hayate cut in;

"We were desperate, we put up our strongest shields, there was nothing else we could do, but the shield only deflected the blast, dispersed it into all the other worlds and universes." She sighed, "some worlds, like yours, were hit, that's what taints the sky and causes everything to fall apart"

"We're sorry" Rein said, hovering above Hayate's shoulder, "there was nothing else we could do"

Anger boiled up inside me. If the TSAB had just left that strange ship alone, nothing would have ever gone wrong, no one would have died.

For the first time in over a decade, I lost my temper. I sprung to my feet, leaping across Chrono's desk, slamming my open palms into his chest. Caught by surprise, everyone in the room jumped up. I heard my name shouted but I didn't care. I wrapped my hands around Chrono's neck and begun to squeeze.

"You did this!" I hissed, "you killed everyone I cared about!" "Why didn't you just leave that ship alone!"

Chrono gasped for air. He fought, but to my surprise, I was stronger. My glasses slipped from my face, hitting Chrono and falling to the floor. I released one hand and drew it back, curling it into a fist.

Before I could burry my clenched hand into Chrono's throat, I felt it catch, a sizzling sensation around it. I looked to see a ring of sparking yellow energy. Magical restraints? More appeared around me, wrapping and pulling my arms behind my back. I looked up to see Fate, her expression serious. So this was her magic.

"That's enough" she shouted. The magic surged and I was thrown off Chrono into the wall.

Angrily I looked up, a cruel and conceited smile forming on my lips.

"That won't work on me Fate!" I pulled against the bonds, "this isn't the first binding magic I've been in!"

Slowly my hands begun to part. Fate's eyes widened. She had underestimated the amount of power she would need to keep me restrained. The yellow energy broke and I prepared to stand, ready to attack again.

I felt another binding spell hit me, cords of magic wrapping around my upper body, pinning my arms to my sides. I kept resisting as more cords appeared and wrapped my shoulders and legs. Unable to fight it off I fell, still struggling valiantly. It was then I realised the glowing strands that bound me so tightly were not yellow, but a familiar soft pink. I craned my head to see Nanoha standing up, her hand outstretched toward me, her face expressionless.

"Nanoha!" I cried, writhing around helplessly, "what are you doing?" Tears welled up in my eyes, "It's their fault, they killed everyone!"

She walked over to me and knelt down, putting her arms around me. She hugged me close, resting her head on my shoulder.

"It's okay…" she said. I could hear the emotion in her voice, and my clothes, I could feel, were becoming wet. She was crying as well.

"It's alright Arthur" she sobbed, "I know you're angry but, hurting Chrono won't bring everyone back"

"I…" I struggled for the words. I ceased to fight the bonds, accepting their restrictions. I relaxed in Nanoha's arms.

Fate and Hayate stepped around us, just watching our open display of emotion. I didn't care, they meant nothing.

Finally, I stopped the tears. Nanoha propped me up against the wall, so that even in my bound state I could see what was going on. She sat next to me on the ground. Chrono had gotten to his feet, rubbing his throat.

"I understand your anger, but it wasn't I that ordered the attack on that ship" he said, "are you stupid enough to think that killing me will bring back what was lost?" he glared at me. I felt humiliated, tied up as I was on the floor. But Nanoha's arms were still around me and that was reassuring.

"Chrono," Fate said, "don't upset him anymore". Was Fate defending me? Or just taking Nanoha's side, which happened to be mine as well?

"I've never been so brutally attacked in my own office" he said, straightening his suit

"Chrono!" Hayate said, cutting him off yet again.

I quietly smiled. The others had turned against him. Rein floated above Hayate, her arms crossed and expression angry as she glared at Chrono.

"But…" Chrono smiled, "you've got passion, and emotion and you're strong" he nodded, "You could be powerful, very powerful"

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked darkly.

"We'll see" he replied. Our eyes met. Though he was standing tall, and I was still wrapped in pink ropes of energy on the ground, I could tell just at that moment, we stood as equals.

"Can I finish the event account?" he asked, "or will you attack me again?"

I leant forward.

"Release me… and find out" I said.

I looked to Nanoha. She smiled and the magic vanished. My arms hung loose again. With her help I rose to my feet. Hayate passed me my glasses.

"Here you go, Rein picked these up" she said kindly.

"Thank you" I took them gratefully. I realised at that point I would definitely need to get a new pair. I wondered where I would get one, in this strange new world. I could ask Nanoha later I supposed.

"That, Cataclysm" Chrono was talking again, I had subconsciously been drowning him out, just like I did to everything that annoying me. I forced myself to listen.

"That Cataclysm, it unleashed something else of the worlds it struck, though we're not sure how…"

"Let me guess," I interjected, "monstrous aliens, great aggressive beasts"

"Yes" Chrono looked at me quizzically, "how did…?"

"We were attacked by one" I stated flatly.

"Oh" Chrono seemed a little taken aback. Stupid man.

"Keep going" I rolled my wrist, urging him to hurry up with his story.

"Yes, of course" Chrono cleared his throat and his annoying tone returned.

"These creatures, we're not sure where they come from but they appear on worlds affected by the Cataclysm" he said, "they are..."

Hayate cut in yet again:

"This is more Section 6's area, so if you don't mind…" She said, smiling her friendly smile. Somehow she had taken over from Chrono. Good. I didn't know either of them very well right now, but I knew that I liked Hayate more than I liked that fool.

"We call these creatures Xcelvortans, and we classify them as living Relics, which makes them Section 6's responsibility."

That's right, Nanoha had mentioned, Section 6 dealt with the acquisition, recovery and collection of often dangerous items of power called "Relics".

"But," Nanoha said, "how can Section 6 deal with these?" she lifted her hand off my shoulder, "it took a Starlight Breaker cast by me and Arthur to destroy one, there was no communication or anything with it!"

"That's true" Hayate nodded.

"So unfortunately there's only one option" Rein chirped from over Hayate's shoulder, "we exterminate them"

I nodded. It made sense. I looked over to see Nanoha reluctantly nod. I knew she really didn't like hurting living creatures, as powerful as she was.

"The Xcelvortans bread in nests, and seem to be asexual, so they just reproduce indefinitely." Hayate continued on, as if she was just extending on what Rein had said, "the operation is called Operation Conclude, and of course, Stars and Lightning Squads will be participating in it"

"Oh!" Nanoha said suddenly, "Subaru, Tia, what are they –"

Hayate smiled, "They've been under Vita's leadership, but they know you're back, and everyone's waiting to see you"

Could they be talking about Nanoha's "Stars" squad? I had heard of it from her yes, but not in detail.

"Can I see them soon?" she asked

"After we work out what to do with him". Chrono had spoken again. He was obviously referring to me, which also annoyed me.

"He can stay with me till he gets his own quarters" Nanoha said helpfully. What would I do without her? I'd probably be dead.

"In order to have his quarters, he'd need to work here, so he's going to have to live off world" Chrono snapped, "sorry Nanoha but that's regulation".

Nanoha's expression fell. I felt anger rise in me. Did this ignorant fool intend to separate me from her? The only friend I had left? I couldn't be separated from her, I simply couldn't.

"No." I said.

Chrono sighed, "Look, don't make this harder than it needs to be, you don't work here, so you don't get to stay here"

Anger boiled up in me again. I would not leave Nanoha!

"But he does work here…"

Everyone looked around. Hayate was leaning against the door frame now, her arms crossed and her expression almost mischievous.

"Haya- Commander Yagami!" Chrono blundered, "what did you say?"

Rein floated down to stare at Chrono.

"You heard her right?" the tiny silver-haired girl said, "He does work here."

Hayate walked over and took my hand, shaking it. I looked at her in bewilderment.

"Welcome to Section 6" she said with a smile.

Everyone, excepting Rein and Hayate themselves, spoke one word at that point. Everyone: Nanoha, Fate, Chrono and myself, in perfect sync cried it out:

"WHAT?"

Later

As I walked down though the corridor alongside Nanoha and Fate, I still could hardly believe what had happened.

"He can't just, join Section 6" Chrono had said, waving his arms erratically as he lost his former tone.

"He can if I say he can right?" Hayate was still smiling, "Nanoha trusts him, so, so do I".

My face broke out into a smile. I felt Nanoha's hand on my shoulder.

"We're going to work together Arthur!" "You'll get to be a mage, just like Fate and I"

"I can't believe it" I said, almost crying from happiness, "I can't believe it".

Chrono looked to Fate, as if seeking her help.

"If Nanoha thinks he can manage then he definitely can" she said in her low voice.

Chrono sighed.

"I'll admit he seems to have potential, like I said earlier he could be powerful"

He walked over and straightened some things on his desk.

"You'll take full responsibility for him them" he said to Hayate.

"Yes" she nodded.

"Don't worry!" Rein chirped from over her shoulder, "nothing will go wrong!"

"Do as you please" Chrono said, "this meeting is over"

"But I can't believe Hayate would just accept him into Section 6" Fate said.

"You know, I'm right here Fate, I can hear you" I smirked.

"I was talking to Nanoha" Fate replied coolly.

"I know, doesn't change the fact that I can hear you"

Nanoha smiled as we walked. She giggled a little, so I laughed too. I could tell she was happy to be back with Fate.

As we rounded the corner, I saw clearly someone leaning against the wall. With her long orange hair, revealing clothes, and of course, the furry dog ears that protruded from her head, and the bushy tail coming from her back, she was instantly recognisable.

She came over to us straight away, first throwing her arms around Nanoha.

"Nanoha!" She cried, "I'm so glad you're safe"

"It's good to see you to Arf," Nanoha smiled.

Arf let go over her, "I was here when that blast was deflected, I've seen the damage it caused," she shook her head, her ears twitching, "How did you survive?"

"Well…" Nanoha looked to me. Arf's gaze followed hers, as she looked properly at me for the first time.

"Hey Arf, no welcome for me?" I said smiling.

"Wait, no way…" she said backing up a little, "don't tell me you're…."

I closed my eyes and smiled.

"Arthur?" she said excitedly, "Woah, you sure grew up since last time I saw you."

I cast my mind back,

"When I left for collage right?" I grinned, "you were just a puppy on a leash back then"

"I couldn't help it!" she said, leaning in close to me, "your idiot friend and mother were there!"

My heart sunk as I remembered that my mother and Aaron were dead, sadness welled up in me again.

Arf must have noticed, it must have shown on my face, because she stepped back and looked to the ground.

"B-But anyway!" she said, her voice cherry and high, clearly she was desperate to change the subject, "How did you survive?" "You never said"

Nanoha put her hand on me again. She had done that a lot today. Each time she did I felt my heart skip a beat, my skin feel tingly and warm where she touched. I felt myself blush. I became strikingly aware that Nanoha was touching me. I looked to her and saw her soft smile, beautiful eyes and lovely face. I felt myself turn slightly red. My heart beat faster, all from just her hand on my shoulder.

Nanoha's voice gave me something else to focus on, I yanked myself back to reality.

"Arthur saved us"

"Whaa?' Arf opened her mouth wide, "How'd you save her?"

An understandable question. Nanoha was far more powerful than I could ever be, and at the time I was unaware I had magic.

"Just, logical thinking" I shrugged.

"Well guess I owe you one!" Arf said, "for saving Nanoha"

"No need" I said to her, "Of course I would save her…"

Arf smirked at me.

"Oh yeah, you guys have been gone for a whole month right?", she looked to Fate and back to me, "so you've been all alone together all that time right?"

I noticed Nanoha's cheeks turn red and felt my own follow almost immediately.

"We…" Nanoha stuttered.

"Well…" I blubbered.

"Anyway!".

I looked around to see that Fate was blushing as much as Nanoha or I. She hadn't even been there? Was it just the thought of me and Nanoha together that was turning her red?

"We-", Fate stuttered her words, it was rare for me to see her like this. She always seemed so calm and collected.

"We have to move on now, Arf I'll see you later!" Fate was already walking away, her shoes clicking against the floor.

"Arthur, Nanoha, come on" she called out.

"Ah, Fate wait up" Nanoha smiled at Arf and briskly followed Fate.

"See ya later Arf" I said to her.

"Yeah" she said grinning at me. As we walked away in opposite directions, we slapped our palms together. I had always gotten along well with Arf, probably better than I did with Fate.

I followed alongside Nanoha and Fate until we reached two huge double doors. The slid open with a hum and I stepped into sunlight.

The feeling of fresh sunlight on my skin was almost alien to me.

"I haven't felt sunlight like this in so long!" Nanoha said, "it feels good!"

"Yeah" I said, stepping up next to her.

With the quiet hum of an engine, a car pulled up in front of us. It was strange in design, with an open front and yellow sections around it.

"My car won't fit all three of us" Fate said flatly.

Fate had a car?

"I'm sure Arthur can fit in the middle… we need to all get the apartment-quarters after all" Nanoha said, smiling happily.

Fate sighed, walking around to get in the drivers side.

"Fine then"

Nanoha opened the door and waved me in. I squashed up next to fate as Nanoha climbed in after me and slid a seatbelt around herself. I was stuck tight between Nanoha and Fate and the appealing side of this wasn't escaping me. The fact that I could feel Nanoha pressing up against me turned me bright red.

We were already driving, Fate at the wheel. She seemed really cool while driving, the open window letting in the rush of air making her hair billow around just a little. She adjusted her hair with one hand, keeping the other on the steering wheel. I observed her for while until she caught my stare.

"What?" she said, laying her dark red eyes on me.

"Nothing" I smiled.

"You were staring at me", she frowned, "and now your smiling".

"You look cool when you drive" I said simply.

Nanoha gave her usual little giggle. It made Fate and I both smile.

"Thanks, I guess" said Fate, turning her eyes back to the winding, alien road. There were huge planets visible in the sky, just like the moon in the day back on earth. They hung there, spectacularly dominating the sky with their presence.

The architecture of the buildings we passed was alien as well, yet still familiar. Futuristic and sleek, it looked as if it might come from the 30th century of Earth, if Earth had reached the 30th century.

I tried to lean back in my seat but I was squished too closely so I just relaxed myself and enjoyed the journey.

Nanoha apparently decided at some point I might like to know about the various buildings and locations scattered around. This was not at all an incorrect assumption, and I listened gladly as she went on, pointing out significant structures or important places.

"Do you need to tell him everything" Fate asked.

"He's gotta know, he works here now right?" Nanoha chirped, "besides, I thought it'd be interesting."

"It is interesting" I backed her up.

With a small smile crossing her face, Fate said no more and kept driving. Fate had always been mysterious to me, but I was sure we had at least been friends back when we were younger. Now she seemed to be deciding whether to view me as a nuisance she had to tolerate, or someone who she could work with. There was no doubt in my mind –or hers I was sure – that she was far more powerful than me, but if what Hayate had said was to be believed I was soon to work in Section 6, and that meant I would be working alongside Fate and of course Nanoha.

Finally we pulled up in front of a large building. Its strange design matched the others around it. I looked it up and down.

"Reminds me of my old apartment back when I was at collage" I said.

"Really?" Nanoha asked, stepping up next to me. I noticed that Fate was on her other side.

"Yeah" I said smiling as I recalled the memories, "except back then I had to wear a uniform."

"You'll wear a uniform here too Arthur" Nanoha said, "like the one Fate is wearing, that's the Section 6 uniform".

I looked at Fate's brown uniform. It had been a while since I wore a suit, but then, looks didn't really matter much to me.

"Interesting" I said, "how's this for a job, for someone just a month out of collage"

Nanoha laughed. We walked inside and entered a glass elevator – another aspect that reminded me of my old collage apartment – moving up the floors. The building was huge and we were inside the transparent box for several minutes in a comfortable silence before the doors dinged open.

We walked along the carpeted corridors, it was like a hotel and an office combined, somehow. Eventually we came to a room. Nanoha pressed a few buttons on the protruding pad, and the door swung open.

"Please, come in" Nanoha said. She was still smiling. How I loved her smile. I loved everything about her. I was really going to have to think deep about these feelings.

We sat around at her table, sharing some green tea and talking idly.

"You can stay here tonight Arthur" Nanoha said, "Tomorrow, I'm sure Hayate will have organised to begin your training, and you can meet the rest of the squad"

"Squad?" I said, lowering my mug.

"Mm, my squad" Nanoha said.

"You mean I'm seriously going to be in your squad!" I said, my voice a mixture of happiness and disbelief.

"Of course" Nanoha said warmly, "did you think you wouldn't"

I grabbed her hand from across the table.

"Thank you" I said. I was so greatful, I was going to be able to work with her, train with her. She was the only true friend I had left, not counting Fate or Arf, and she was the person I had always trusted the most. My best friend.

"You welcome Arthur" she said, putting her other hand on top of my own.

"So I'm gonna join…." I slowly begun to truly comprehend this.

"Stars squadron" Nanoha smiled, "just call me your Captain, Stars 1!" she giggled.

Soon after that, Fate bade us goodbye, with the promise to see her tomorrow. Me and Nanoha were left alone in her apartment. We spent the night watching the holographic screen that functioned as a television, but mostly we talked, or sat in peaceful thought. When the time came to sleep, Nanoha had already changed into her nightwear. She looked very pretty in it and seeing her like that made me blush.

"There's a spare bed in there for you Arthur" she said softly, "it's already made so…" she hesitated, looking away, blushing slightly.

"Nanoha?" I asked, "what's up?"

"Well, its… if it would make you feel more comfortable, um, you… you can, share my bed tonight" she stammered.

I flushed bright red yet again. Nanoha was offering me to sleep in the same bed as her. Someone as beautiful as her.

"Well…. If it's alright with you" I said, casting my eyes everywhere but her"

"We've done it lots right, and it's just for tonight, since you'll have your own apartment soon right?" She was embarrassed too.

"Right!" I affirmed, "In fact, it's been a long time since I haven't slept in the same bed as you" I laughed nervously.

"Mm!" Nanoha nodded repeatedly.

"Yeah" I said.

We retired to her bedroom and crawled under her neat covers. She fell asleep quicker than I did and I watched her sleeping face, before I too fell into a dreamless slumber.

The Next Day

"Surprise!" Nanoha said happily, holding the case she had in her hands out toward me.

I shook my wet hair around to dry it. The shower in Nanoha's apartment was a very good one, but I had become too embarrassed to stay in there long after my mind decided to wander into the thought process that Nanoha also showered in here. Actually just thinking about thinking that turned me red. I really had to get a handle on my thoughts, especially about Nanoha. I was thinking about her even more than usual lately. Well that was understandable.

I took the case from Nanoha's hands.

"Last time someone handed me a case like this it was my school uniform." I said, half smiling at the memory of that plane ride.

I popped the case open. Inside were primarily brown garments, very much like what Fate was wearing yesterday. There was no doubt, this was my Section 6 uniform.

I looked up at Nanoha and cocked an eyebrow while smiling.

"This is beginning to feel like the first day of collage all over again" I said.

Nanoha smiled again. My mood lifted further. It could turn out to be a very good day if this kept up.

"Try it on!" Nanoha encouraged me enthusiastically.

I smiled widely again. If felt like I smiled almost constantly around Nanoha these days. I supposed I was making up for lost time, since I smiled so rarely when I was younger.

I walked back into the bathroom, carrying the case of clothes with me. I layed them out and changed into them.

Long brown trousers, crisp white shirt and brown jacket. These were easy to put on. It was a suit basically, and I had worn these before. There was only one thing in the case I was unsure of: a thin red ribbon. I guessed it was supposed to be a tie of some sort, but I hadn't the faintest idea of how to correctly fasten it around my collar.

I left the bathroom, showing myself off.

"Well?" I asked, "How do I look?"

"Great!" Nanoha said walking up to me.

"I can't work out how to tie this" I sighed, holding up the ribbon.

She took the ribbon from me and hooked it under my collar, bringing herself close to me as she looped it around and pulled it in a weird way. When it was done it had the two ends protruding neatly from a small knot.

"Each person in Section 6's forward squads has their own tie" Nanoha said, "that one is the same as mine, I thought you'd like it".

"You wear one like this?" I asked.

"Mm" Nanoha nodded.

"Can I see your uniform?" I queried, wondering if she would let me.

"Of course!" Nanoha said, "I'll change and we'll go to work together okay?"

"Yeah" I said. I was appreciative but how else did she think I was going to get to "work", I wasn't exactly going to somehow make it there myself.

I took a seat at Nanoha's table and watched some of the television that was on. I appeared to be watching a news channel, specifically weather at the moment.

I sipped on the remnants of the tea we had taken with breakfast. It had gone cold. That was annoying.

About twenty minutes later I heard the bathroom door swing open and Nanoha emerged. She was wearing the same primarily brown outfit as Fate had worn yesterday. Identical to mine except with a skirt instead of trowsers.

"You look better in this than I do" I mused.

Nanoha laughed. I loved it when she laughed.

"You look pretty good too, Arthur" she said, walking up to me.

On closer inspection I could indeed see that she had the same red, twisted ribbon around her neck as I currently did.

"Shall we go then?" she asked smiling.

"Yeah" I nodded. I had nerves running through my body, I could still hardly believe that I was going to become someone who used magic as a job. This was a strange new life.

Nanoha and I left her apartment and walked into the alien streets. I looked to the skies, seeing all the planets just hanging there. Mid-Childa was a wholly bizarre new home. A strange new life in a bizarre new home.

As I walked with Nanoha, I begun to wonder how we actually intended to get to Section 6 headquarters.

"Hey, Nanoha" I said turning my eyes toward her.

"Mm?" she hummed.

"We're not going to fly to headquarters are we?" I asked nervously.

Nanoha closed her eyes and laughed again. So I could still make Nanoha laugh. That was good. Making her happy had been my only purpose back on the dead earth, and since I hadn't entirely found a new one, it was still a strong purpose of mine here in the TSAB.

"No" Nanoha said, answering my question, "we're going to take the bus"

I realised we had stopped walking and were standing at a sign post. Most likely: A bus stop.

"Well that's"… I chuckled, "surprisingly regular"

I waited with her until a bus pulled up. Though it carried some strange traits, just like Fate's car, it was unmistakably a bus. We climbed on and took some seats, waiting out the journey as if it were perfectly normal. I supposed for Nanoha it was.

At last we exited the bus as it stopped at what I could only assume was the TSAB headquarters. I got a good look at it from the outside for the first time. The building was huge and imposing, as wide as it was tall. Its architecture was the same as the rest of the unfamiliar Mid-Childan structures, but on a much bigger scale. There were innumerable windows, which I guessed meant more rooms than even I could count.

I walked with Nanoha through the huge front sliding doors. I was full of nerves and shifted uncomfortably in my uniform.

"Calm down" Nanoha said gently, she must have noticed.

"Not easy!" I hissed, "going for any job is scary enough but this?"

We kept moving, taking strange elevators that moved along different paths than just up and down. It was at least a 20 minute journey before we got to Section 6's allocated area.

"Okay, Arthur" Nanoha said, "We'll see Hayate first to arrange technical stuff and then we'll go to the lab alright?"

"Yeah" I said.

We continued walking, and now the people that passed us were clad in uniforms just like ours. I was in my own little world of thought when a new, unfamiliar voice pierced through it.

"Nanoha!" it called, "Captain Nanoha!"

I swung around in surprise as Nanoha was pounced upon by a blur. She staggered back and then stood up straight, holding her assailant in her embrace.

The girl who has charged toward us was just slightly shorter than Nanoha, with short length blue hair and aqua coloured eyes. She was wearing the same uniform as Nanoha, except with a blue ribbon, tied the same way as ours, around her collar.

"Subaru!" Nanoha said to the girl who had stepped back slightly, "Hi!"

I noticed the girl had tears in her eyes, she was clearly very happy to see Nanoha.

"I'm so glad you're safe, when I heard you were caught on that world during the cataclysm, I thought…" she choked up a little.

"I survived Subaru," Nanoha said, "thanks to Arthur". She inclined her head toward me.

"Arthur?" she said looking to me, "you saved Nanoha?"

"Well, yeah" I said, trying to act modest.

She grabbed my hand.

"Thank you!" she said smiling at me, "Captain Nanoha means a lot to me!"

"I noticed" I said.

She let go of my hand, still smiling her strong smile.

"I'm Subaru Nakajima!" she said, "and you?"

"I'm Arthur Kingston" I replied, "so you're Subaru, the little girl Nanoha rescued, Stars 3" I smirked.

"Woah" she stepped back, "you know about me?"

"Nanoha told me all about her squad" I smiled, "I am pleased to meet you at last"

"Arthur is a very good friend of mine" Nanoha said, looking from me to Subaru.

Subaru looked me up and down and finally realised what I was wearing.

"That uniform," she said, "could it be your going to work here?"

"Apparently" I said, "I didn't even know I could use magic until recently, but Hayate Yagami said I could join"

"Personally inducted by Commander Yagami huh?" Subaru puffed, "you must be pretty strong"

"Not at all" I said, "but Nanoha supports me, so I'm sure I'll become at least proficient in time"

"Yeah!" she said. She took my hand and bent it upward so we had our hands crossed in a kind of handshake.

"I think I'll get along with you, Arthur" Subaru said.

"I hope so" I smiled

"Okay gotta run!" she said, "I gotta tell Teana you're back Nanoha!"

"Tell her you'll be training with Vita for a few days while I get Arthur ready" Nanoha said.

"Wooooahhh!" Subaru said to me, "personal lessons for Nanoha!" she whistled, "you sure are lucky".

"I know" I replied chuckling, "I really am"

"Hey, come and meet the others later okay?" she said, "after you've done training, we'll be in the mess hall"

"Okay" I said, nodding. I was really quite happy that I was probably going to make more friends.

The irony of that suddenly hit me. Back on earth, back in "the old days" I shunned contact. The only person I had cared about was Nanoha. That was still true but I no longer had a problem with interacting with others. If Nanoha cared for them, then I could care about them. I could do it for Nanoha.

"Isn't that nice Arthur" she asked me as Subaru jogged off, "sounds like you'll meet the others before training"

"Yeah" I said.

"I hope you make friends" she said.

"I have you" I looked her in the eyes, "I don't need anyone else".

She blushed, and I quickly continued:

"But I'm happy if I can make new friends here"

Nanoha smiled.

"I'll be busy sometimes, so we might not see each other as often, when we're not training or on missions, so it's good if you make new friends" she said calmly.

My stomach lurched. I didn't want that to happen! I didn't want to be separated from Nanoha.

"No!" I accidently blurted out, turning red. Nanoha looked at me, a little shocked.

"I-", I stuttered, "I don't want to not see you..." "I want to stay with you". I sounded pathetic but I didn't care. It was true.

"Oh, Arthur" Nanoha hugged me. I enjoyed her scent and warm embrace, her long ponytail tickling my nose.

"I didn't mean we wouldn't see each other, I'll always be here for you, I was just hoping you could make friends with the others for when I'm not around"

"I'll make friends" I said, "But I want to be able to talk to you often!" I said, more than a little upset.

"You can come to my apartment any time, text or call me whenever you want" She smiled, "and we'll be able to go on missions together, so don't worry, we'll see each other". Her voice was soft and gentle as always, "I want to stay with you as well".

Those words warmed my heart like fire. I instantly felt better.

"Okay" I said, "sorry about that"

"No, it's alright". She closed her eyes, shrugged her shoulders and smiled, "I'm happy you feel that way"

We walked through up to what I could only assume was Hayate's office. Nanoha knocked, and Hayate's voice came through the wooden door:

"Come in".

We entered to find Hayate sitting at her desk, shuffling through paperwork. Rein was in the corner moving other things around.

She looked up and smiled.

"Nanoha and Arthur, welcome, I was just finalizing Arthur's position" she said.

"Wow" I uttered, "thanks"

"No problem" Hayate said standing up. Her eyes gave me the once over.

"You wear that uniform well" she said, "good to see you in some proper fitting clothes"

"It's good to finally BE in proper fitting clothes" I chuckled, "never thought I'd be so glad to wear a uniform"

She laughed. Always a good thing if you can make your superiors laugh I figured, so I giggled along with her.

"I've just secured your own apartment, you can move in tonight, it's all yours"

"Thanks very much" I said genuinely. Though I was happy to have my own place to stay, it saddened me a little to be leaving Nanoha.

"Well it's about time to start training so you're mission ready right away" Hayate said, "Nanoha will handle you one on one for a few days and then you'll train with the rest of her squad, okay?"

"Okay" I nodded.

"Make sure you do everything she tells you," Hayate said firmly, "and remember she's your superior, so salute her"

"I can do better than that" I said. Without hesitation I went over to Nanoha and knelt down, bowing my head.

"I am at your command, and I always have been, Captain Takamachi" I said, lifting my head at the end to look at her.

Nanoha and Hayate were blushing.

"N-Nanoha's fine" Nanoha said slowly, embarrassed, "you don't umm, have to…."

"You don't have to kneel" Hayate said, "You can stand"

I stood.

"I didn't kneel because I had to, I knelt because I wanted to."

These words prompted some silence in the room. I could now see I had conveyed exactly how loyal and devoted I was to Nanoha, and to Hayate as well.

"Well then!" Rein's voice broke the silence, "why don't we get him started?"

"Mm!" Nanoha nodded, "I'll take him to the lab straight away"

"Right then, good luck!" Hayate waved us off.

We journeyed to the TSAB's lab, which was an intricate and remarkable place. Far beyond anything I had witnessed at collage, the technology here was absolutely remarkable. The perfect fusion of science and magic accelerated everything, making it so much more efficient and powerful than on earth.

I met the young and pretty science officer Shario who took various statistics from me, before giving me a plain card, about a centimetre thick.

"That's a storage device" she explained, "It'll let you use very basic magic, train with it till we find the right specifications to build you an intelligent device like Raising Heart"

"I see" I nodded, "thank you"

"Cause of what Commander Hayate's done, we're gonna have you're device ready soon, we'll be taking specifications even as you train"

"Wow" I nodded, "my own device?"

"Yes, that's right, a new, familiar voice came. I turned to see Fate enter the room.

"And not just any device" Nanoha said walking over to Fate, "we're going to design it, Fate, Shari, and I, personally, to perfectly match your power Arthur"

"I am honoured" I said humbly.

"Well let's get started then…" Nanoha said.

For the first lesson, as I stood in the wide training ground, I learned to focus magic. It took me a surprisingly short time to grasp it, and soon I had formed a glowing ball of light between my palms. It was a dark shade of purple and occasionally pulsed.

"Wow, so that's your magic colour"

"I like it" I said, "it suits me"

"Mm, it does" Nanoha said, "okay, try focusing energy into that card, to transform it to its staff form, "you won't get a barrier jacket yet, but you will soon okay?"

"Yeah" I said, taking the card. I focused my mind, gathering the energy I could and slipping it into the card. I felt it respond, a new presence in my mind.

Transform, I willed it.

The card glowed purple and elongated, transforming itself into a staff, with a simple cylindrical head.

"Well done" Nanoha said, smiling… She held something up. I looked closer and saw it was the red jewel of Raising Heart's standby mode.

"Raising Heart," she said, winking at me, "set up"

"All right, My master", the device flashed. Nanoha was surrounded by the pink light. I couldn't look away in time, and I felt myself go dizzy and blush like never before as her clothes were whisked away, leaving her briefly naked, before her barrier jacket appeared over her beautiful body. Raising Heart's staff form assembled and she grabbed it from the air, briefly flourishing it.

"Soon you'll be able to do that" she said confidently, "now, lets start"

For the rest of the day, I learned how devices work, how to change my magic into offensive blasts, and even focus is under my feet to fly. At first I got only a metre or so off the ground, before falling, but in a fit off determination I soon took to the skies. It was like nothing else I had experienced, flying through an alien sky, and Nanoha soon appeared beside me, the pink wings upon her feet carrying her with ease. We looped in the sky, flying high and then swooping low over the ground. Flying I had picked up easily. I could see the praise in Nanoha's eyes. That was all I needed.

Finally the day concluded. Since I was incredibly tired, I decided to miss out on my meeting with Subaru and the others. I went back to the apartments with Nanoha. However this time, I entered my own room. It was cold, and though comfortable, the absence of Nanoha made me lonely. I watched the TV for a while, but soon I simply changed into the drab grey clothes I had first received when I arrived and went to bed.

The Next Day

"You've finished my device?" I said, bewildered. I stood in the lab with Fate, Shario and Nanoha.

"Mm!" Nanoha said, sleepily, "I came back to the lab last night and worked on it all night with Shari and Fate"

"Some of my best work!" Shari said happily.

Nanoha yawned, she was really tired.

"So show it to him" Fate said.

Shari handed me a box. I took it gingerly.

I opened it to see a small, metallic badge sitting there. It was an octagonal shape, with a dark purple bead directly in its centre. It flashed once at me.

"It recognises you as its master" Shari said, then paused, "no, I should say, it's commander".

"I never did give you your honour badge back" Nanoha said, "so please accept this as a replacement"

My hands trembling with nerves and excitement, I took the badge from its velvet lining and held it up.

"You're my device aren't you" I whispered to it.

The jewel at its centre lit up. It spoke, its voice was a low, wavy drone.

"Affirmative, Commander" it said.

I looked up to the three girls and I said, my voice full of so much gratitude:

"Thank you"

"You're welcome Arthur" Nanoha said, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"It has three forms," Shari explained, "strike form, for long range magic, flail form, for your melee attacks, and a third from"

"Third from?" I queried.

"It's a bit of a secret" Nanoha said, "that from is very powerful, and I'm entrusting a lot to you with it, so it will only be available to you when you have a revelation"

"What kind of revelation?" I asked

"You'll only know when you have it" She said, a little teasingly.

"Fine" I nodded, "for you, I'll discover it"

"Good!" Nanoha said.

"But there's one think you haven't told me…" I said slowly, looking at everyone.

"What's its name?"

Nanoha smiled, and looked down to the device.

"It's name…" she said, taking my hand, "is Platinum Wave"

The Training Begins

I stood in the same place I had the previous day, with Nanoha in front of me. She had already switched into her barrier jacket, and was pointing Raising Heart's staff form at me.

"Ready Arthur?" she asked, circling around me.

"Of course" I said, nervous but determined.

"Then take Platinum Wave in your hand" she instructed.

I reached to the lapel of my brown jacket and unpinned the badge. Light gleamed off the purple jewel in the centre.

"Visualise, in your mind, the shape your barrier jacket will take, see it in your mind" Nanoha said calmly.

I tried to form a shape in my mind. Slowly I begun to picture what it could look like.

"Have you done it?" Nanoha asked.

"Yes" I said.

"Then order your device to set up" she said.

I lifted the badge up. And just like I had seen Nanoha do many times before, I called out a single command to it.

"Platinum Wave, set up!" .

The purple bead in the centre lit up as it's voice droned out.

"Affirmative Commander, initiating first configuration" "Strike Form"

I let the badge go as I felt my magic sync with it. The device was drawing my own magical energy out, I didn't have to force it in. The metal frame around the centre bead vanished in purple light, leaving only the tiny orb hanging in the air. It swelled in size, just like I had seen Raising Heart do so often. From sparking magic light, sections of its staff form came from nowhere, a funnel like section that held the magical cartridges, the long handle that plugged into that section. I watched as the purple orb lowered itself and attached to the top of the funnel. Four elegant blade-like protrusions appeared and assembled themselves around the purple centre globe, framing it. The section just below its head slid back and forth viciously as a cartridge was loaded in. I reached out, my hand trembling with excitement as my fingers touched the cool metal handle of the newly formed staff.

Nanoha's voice cut in, shouting an instruction to me.

"Here comes the barrier jacket!" she called, "visualise!"

With her words ringing in my ears, I finally grasped my device.

"Barrier Jacket, Plutonium mode" Platinum Wave said. Several purple tendrils leapt off it, wrapping around my arm and continuing up to my chest. Eventually they engulfed my entire body. I felt my clothes begin to warp and change, the glow around them shattering as they completed their own transformation.

I was now wearing a tight black undershirt, with a long white and blue jacket over it. It was much like a long trench coat, except lighter. The cuffs of the sleaves were wide, puffy and blue, with purple, oval shaped jewels embedded in them. The front of my coat, around my chest, was drawn closed by a red length of cloth, looking very much like a short, thick tie.

My trousers had changed to become slightly shorter, ending just above my ankles. They flared out at the end. Just like my new coat, they were white and blue. My socks had become black and strong, sturdy, blue boots now adorned my feet.

I looked at myself, twisting around to see my back as I took in my new garments.

"I look like…" I said bemused, "This, barrier jacket, looks like yours but, like a male version" I laughed, "you did that on purpose didn't you?" I looked to Nanoha.

"Well," she snickered, "all the forward have their barrier jackets altered to resemble their captains, but, kind of". She finished simply.

"I love it" I said flexing my arms. I twirled Platinum Wave's staff form idly between my hands. "I can't believe that I'm wearing something like this".

"Any questions?" Nanoha asked.

"Just one…" I had noticed something during my transformation, and I just had to ask:

"Why don't my clothes disappear when I transform but yours do?"

Nanoha looked slightly caught off guard. Bewildered she looked to the sky, blinking.

"You know, I've never really thought about it…" She said, "Well anyway would you like to begin some proper training now?"

I nodded.

"Yes, definitely" I said happily.

"Remember how to fly?" Nanoha asked.

I concentrated, drawing on power from my staff and within me, and concentrating it under my feet. I rose into the air, hovering just before Nanoha. It reminded me of the first time she had shown me her magic, only now it was me flying in front of her.

"Accel Fin", Raising Hearts voice declared. The usual pink wings formed on Nanoha's feet, and she hovered alongside me.

"Flying is probably the magic you will use most, so we'll train entirely in the air, because everything you can do in the air, you'll be able to do on the ground, okay?"

I nodded. That made perfect sense.

"So we'll just practice shielding for now" Nanoha said, "its probably some of the most useful magic you'll ever use, just allow your device to take over and practice blocking my attacks"

"Right!" I said, grasping Platinum Wave with both hands.

Nanoha flew back from me and together we rose higher and higher into the air. Several pink spheres of light appeared around Nanoha.

"Try to block them all" She said smiling.

I flew backward to put more distance between me and her.

"Platinum Wave, you can create a shield right?" I asked the silver device in my hands.

"Affirmative Commander, direct your magical flow to where you desire the shield. I will take care of all other procedures"

"Right, thanks!" I said. I put my hand out in front of me and saw that Nanoha had assumed the same gesture. At the same instant, slowly rotating magical circles formed under our floating feet. It almost looked as if we were standing upon them. Mine was dark purple and Nanoha's was her usual bright pink.

"Shoot!" Nanoha said. The pink spheres around her blasted forward, coming at me violently.

"Shield!" I cried, thrusting my palm out.

"Affirmative, Round Shield" Platinum Wave's central purple orb lit up as it spoke. I felt my magic surge into my hand and another magical circle formed directly in front of my palm. Two of Nanoha's blasts slammed into it, perfectly blocked.

I was feeling pretty satisfied when I remembered that Nanoha hadn't just fired two shots at me. I realised too late as two more pink spheres sped past me and turned. I spun to meet them but only managed to dodge one. The other slammed into me. It hurt, and threw me back. I lost control of my magic and tumbled to the ground.

I spun myself in midair and redirected my magic, through my device and regaining my flight. I sped up to where Nanoha was.

"Nice shielding, Arthur, for a first timer" Nanoha said encouragingly.

"That…" I panted, "hurt…".

"Sorry" Nanoha said. With that small smile and her face, I could never stay mad at her, and I was way to grateful that she was here with me to actually start complaining properly.

"Well," Nanoha said apologetically, "how about I give you a chance to get me back?" she smiled, "I'll teach you how to use a basic shooting attack"

"Okay, yeah" I said slowly. I was clutching Platinum Wave tightly, still maintaining the magic under my feet keeping me in the air. I actually didn't want to shoot Nanoha back, but since she was offering the chance in a kind gesture, I could hardly refuse.

"Your device already knows it's attacks, casting the spell won't be a problem, so try for your basic shooting one" Nanoha called, gliding backwards and putting distance between me and her.

I looked down to my glinting staff.

"You can aid me in casting a basic shooting spell can't you?"

"Affirmative Commander, preparing Gamma Bullet, load cartridge"

With its forceful motion, the slider on the under section of the head of my staff pumped, and an empty cartridge jettisoned out, the sound of a new one moving into place ringing out.

"Gamma Bullet…" I repeated. That was the name of shooting spell. I knew what Nanoha's was. The same one that she had just hit me with and the first spell she had ever shown me. Accel Shooter. Now I had my own equivalent.

I felt Platinum wave draw out my magical energy and collect it, changing it into its new form.

I directed it around me, the same way as Nanoha has done all those years ago. Three glowing spheres of purple energy formed around me. Hovering, waiting to be fired.

Nanoha applauded, the sound of her clapping resounding.

"That's really good Arthur!" she praised, "you got the hang of that spell so quickly, most people take a lot longer to master that, and your still flying"

It occurred to me I was indeed focusing on two different magics at once. Having a device helped.

I smiled and said one single word.

"Shoot"

One of the purple balls of energy shot forward, speeding toward Nanoha. She moved diagonally to evade, but the blast of magic followed her. Swinging Raising Heart down, she generated a pink barrier my attack hit, doing no damage.
I was already moving, the two remaining bullets of light following me as I did. Me and Nanoha were spinning, circling around each other, constantly weaving and twisting to get into the optimal attack position.

"You're good Arthur," Nanoha said over the rush of wind, "I knew you were amazing, but to master shooting your basic spell so quickly and still be able to fly, you really do live up to your reputation"

"Maybe…" I called back, "but you will always be the superior one, you're the one who's really amazing." I meant every word I said, we both knew it.

"You'll learn more soon, keep this up and you can join the others for proper training and even missions in no time!" Nanoha replied.

Smiling with happiness and joy, I pointed Platinum Wave at her, the four spikes glinting in the light. I mentally commanded another Gamma Bullet to fire and it sped away from me toward Nanoha.

She put her hand out and a shield projected itself, taking my attack. Then she stabbed forward with Raising Heart, pointing it at me.

"Accel Shooter" Raising Heart chimed. Several pink blasts exploded from the deep red orb at the centre of the staff's head and shot toward me. I put my own hand out and called forth my own shield. Most of the blasts slammed into it, a few speeding past me. I slashed Platinum Wave around and generated another shield at its front. As I predicted, the pink energy shots swung around and headed back toward me. They hit my shield and I realised that I had blocked all of Nanoha's attack.

She was looking at me, her eyes impressed. I realised I still had one Gamma Bullet left hovering around me.

I threw my hand out toward her and shouted out my attack.

"Gamma Bullet!" I growled, "Shoot!"

The sphere shot toward Nanoha. Like all the others it was deflected by her shield.

I flew toward her, the long coat of my barrier jacket flapping as I did. It has been so easy to mauver in it, comfortable and perfect. Just as Nanoha said it was. I had already begun to love how much it resembled Nanoha's. It made me feel closer to her, a feeling I cherished strongly.

We hovered in midair, directly in front of each other.

On impulse I threw my arms around her and hugged her close. Right there, in the sky. She closed her eyes and laughing softly, put her arms around me as well.

"Well done, Arthur, really well done."

"I can only do this because of you" I said into her shoulder, where I was resting my head.

"You're going to become a great mage" Nanoha assured me. And because she said the words, I believed her.

We drifted down, touching back onto the ground. Nanoha's barrier jacket glowed, transforming back into her training instructors uniform. Raising Heart morphed back into it's tiny jewel form and Nanoha hung it back around her neck.

"Order your device to return to it's standby mode" Nanoha said, "just say 'mode release'"

I nodded and held my staff up.

"Platinum Wave, mode release" I said.

"Affirmative Commander" droned Platinum Wave. The staff glowed bright, before shattering into energy fragments that shrank and swirled as the purple orb shrivelled to its smaller form. The energy collected around it, reforming the badge shape. It dropped into my waiting palm.

My barrier jacket warped back into my Section 6 uniform. I pinned Platinum Wave's badge form to my lapel, in the same place that my honour badge had once been.

"Let's finish up for today" Nanoha said.

I nodded, and together we walked away, back into headquarters.

We walked through the brightly lit corridors until we came to the entrance of the cafeteria, and I stood outside its double doors, expecting Nanoha to step in first. Instead she looked at me and simply said:

"I've got some left over work to attend to, so I can't join you tonight Arthur, I'm pretty busy" she closed her eyes, shrugged her small shoulders and laughed as she said this.

"I understand" I sighed, disappointed. I had really been looking forward to eating with her.

"I'm sure others from the squad will be in there, why don't you meet them?" Nanoha told me, I nodded and regretfully gave my usual response:

"Yeah"

"Have a good night, okay?" she waved and begun to walk away

I nodded.

Nanoha must have noticed the upset look on my face, because she turned and came back.

"Look," she said gently, "I'll show you one last thing…" Nanoha closed her eyes and then opened them, staring right at me.

I felt myself turn a little red under her gaze. Then I noticed something else:

"Arthur"

It was Nanoha's voice, but inside my head.

"Are you -?" I stuttered, amazed and bewildered.

"Yes, I'm talking to you telepathically, through Raising Heart". I was looking right at her, and I could hear her voice as clear as day, but her mouth hadn't opened.

"You can do that?" I said, still very much in shock about the whole situation.

"Mm, and so can you, it's really easy, just ask Platinum Wave how later" Nanoha's voice echoed in my mind.

"I can do it too?" I said getting excited.

"Of course, so later on, when your back in your own apartment, you can talk to me using this." Though she hadn't spoken a single word aloud, she smiled at the end of her sentence.

"I, I definitely will!" I nodded with determination.

"It'll be just like way back when you were in collage, all those late night conversations over the phone, only this time, no phone" Nanoha giggled. Her laughter was inside my head as well.

I remembered those times fondly, no matter what the pressures of collage, no matter how intense the work, I would spend hours talking to Nanoha on the phone and all my troubles would be whisked away. Now I could have that experience again, only this time, it would literally be magical.

"That sounds fun" I said slowly.

"Good" Nanoha said, speaking aloud again, "then, I'll look forward to talking to you, and you don't have to worry okay?"

"Yeah!" I said, nodding.

"Then, have a nice meal" Nanoha said. She turned and walked off, giving me a wave of the back of her hand.

I turned and the doors to the cafeteria slid open. It was full of noise and people. The old me would have avoided this place at all costs, but now, I was going to have to go in. I walked in, trying to be confident like I used to be, but instead I felt like the new kid at school, nervously walking through the canteen, with no friends and just waiting for the school bully to trip me over.

A cheerful voice cut through my negative thoughts, shaking me out of my mindset.

"Heeey" It called, "Arthur!"

I turned my head to see Subaru, standing up at a table that was occupied by her and three others.

She waved her arm.

"Come sit over here!" She shouted, causing many other people to look at both her and myself.

I expected to be embarrassed by the attention, to reluctantly shuffle over to where Subaru was. However, I felt a different, yet familiar feeling wash over me. It took me a moment to realise that it was my old confidence from back in my school days. I didn't know why it had come to me now, but I embraced it gratefully. I strode to where Subaru was, and just for one instant, I imagined that I was back in my school uniform, and that it was my honour badge that was pinned to my lapel, not Platinum Wave.

And then everything snapped back to reality, as soon as I reached Subaru's table. My confidence faded slightly, but I knew it would be there when I needed it again.

"Hello" I said simply.

"Hey!" Said Subaru, "no need to be so formal, pull up a chair, want some food?" She gestured to the laden plates on the table.

I dragged an empty chair around and sat next to Subaru. For the first time I took in everyone else who was sitting here.

Everyone was wearing the same Section 6 uniform, the only variation being their neckties.

On the right of Subaru was another girl with light orange-brown hair. Some of it was tied in two ponytailed, almost reminiscent of Nanoha's, back when she was younger and when she was in her barrier jacket, except this girl had hers considerably higher, and they only reached a little further than her ears. The rest of her hair hung loose. Her tie was a red ribbon that crossed over itself in an "X" shape. She had sapphire blue eyes which regarded me with slight curiosity, but otherwise in a friendly manner. On the other side of the table where two people that appeared considerably younger than us. One was a small girl, with pink hair and lilac eyes. A strand of her hair stood up, curving into the air. Her tie was a big pink bow. She looked at me shyly. Next to her was a boy, with dark red hair, that hung in spikes. He had the most standard tie, a regular red one. His eyes were almost the same colour as the girl he sat next to. Something struck me very suddenly about his demeanour. The way he held himself, the look in his eye, it all reminded me of Fate. I suspected she had a strong influence in this boy's life.

It had only taken me mere moments to analyse everyone on the table, and almost as soon as I was finished, Subaru spoke up again.

"So," she said, gesturing to the orange-brown haired girl next to her, "this is Teana, Teana Lanster"

Teana smiled at me,

"Call me Tea," she said, "nice to meet you." She had a polite and kind voice.

"Hello Tea," I said, smiling a little. I recalled what Nanoha had said about her in the many times we had spoken.

The boy spoke up next, as soon as Subaru looked at him. He fixed his eyes firmly on him and introduced himself:

"I'm Erio Mondial" he said. His voice also carried a similar tone to Fate, "good to meet you"

"Same to you" I said coolly. I realised that I was talking to him in the same way I spoke to Fate. Oh well.

The young pink haired girl was the last to speak. Her voice was timid and slightly nervous.

"I'm – I'm Caro" she stuttered, "Caro Ru Lushe, but you can just call me Caro."

Before I could return the greeting, there was a flutter behind Caro, and I moved back shocked at a creature flew out from behind her. Unmistakably, it was a tiny dragon, white and pale blue, with a golden ring through its nostrils.

"What the hell!" I exclaimed making everyone, including the dragon jump slightly.

Caro took the creature in her hands and smiled at me,

"This is Friedrich" Caro explained, "my dragon"

"That is," I said breathing out and chuckling, "really impressive"

"Thank you!" Caro said happily.

Friedrich flew over to me and hovered in front of me, before doing a lap around my head and, to my surprise, settling on my shoulder.

"He likes you," Caro said to me, giggling. Caro seemed very young, I guessed that she was around the same age as Erio, but her nature made her appear even younger.

"Well hello, Caro and Friedrich!" I said, "I'm," I looked to everyone as I said my own introduction, "Arthur Kingston, I'm pretty new here so, let's get along alright?"

There was a chorus of nodding as we finally slipped into friendly conversation. They told me about themselves, and I told them about myself. I was actually enjoying talking to them, Subaru and Tia particualy, since they were closer to my age. They were both 16, I learned, 3 years younger than Nanoha and I, yet they were far more proficient in magical and physical abilities than myself. I could learn a lot from them.

Erio and Caro were both 10, yet they were fully fledged members of Fate's "Lightning" squad. As I suspected, Fate had been a big influence on both of them, and was Erio's guardian, explaining where he got his nature from.

All of them had their call signs, which they used when on missions. I already knew that Fate and Nanoha were Lightning 1 and Stars 1 respectively, and that their lieutenants were Lightning 2 and Stars 2.

Subaru was Stars 3 and Tia was Stars 4, Erio was Lightning 3 and Caro was Lightning 4.

"So what'll mine be?" I asked.

"Dunno," said Subaru, looking into the air thoughtfully, "you'll be in Stars though right?"

"Yeah" I said.

"Hey," Subaru said, pointing to my lapel, and to Platinum Wave's badge that was pinned there, "is that your device?" "I didn't know you had one already!"

"Yeah," I put my hand near the badge, "This is Platinum Wave"

The purple jewel at my device's centre flashed and its mechanical voice rang out:

"Greetings" it said.

"Hello Platinum Wave" Subaru said to it. I felt a bit strange with someone talking to my badge but I went along with it anyway.

"In that case…" Subaru took off her tie and unbuttoned her collar. From underneath her shirt she pulled a black cord, on the end of which was a elongated hexagonal-shaped, light blue crystal.

"This is Mach Caliber" Subaru explained to me.

The crystal lit up, and a fast talking, female voice emmited.

"Hello" it quipped.

"Well hello" I said to it amused.

Tea reached into her pocket and pulled out a thick, metallic cart. There was a orange round jewel in the centre, which was covered by an "X" shaped cover.

"This is Cross Mirage" Tea said happily. The orange part lit up and it too spoke, in a male mechanical voice:

"Good day"

I laughed.

"What a polite device!" I said. Tea started laughing and Subaru joined in too.

With a smile, Erio pulled up his sleeve to reveal a futuristic looking blue watch.

"My device, Strada" he said.

"Guten Tag" the device said.

"German?" I said a little surprised.

"Yeah, I use Belkan magic" Erio said. I guessed this was some form of explanation.

"It's a different kind of Magic, I use it as well," Subaru said, "You and Tea use Mid-Childan magic"

To everyone's surprise I spoke up and said:

"I know, Nanoha's told me a fair bit about it, she neglected to mention that the devices speak German though"

"Wow" Tea said, "You're pretty close to Captain Nanoha aren't you?"

I shrugged modestly.

"Friends since childhood" I said, "she's, very important to me"

Tea nodded,

"I can understand that" she said.

"So, Arthur, when are you joining us for training, or on missions?" Tea went on.

"When Nanoha finishes solo training with me I guess" I said, "I'm really not sure"

"You're so lucky to get trained one-on-one with Nanoha" Subaru exclaimed, putting her arm around me and pulling me closer to her so she could talk quietly

"Hey, with you and Nanoha, is there anything, well, going on?" she drawled in a teasing manner, mischievously smiling.

I blushed manically thinking of all the time I had spent with Nanoha. The countless hugs we had shared were only the very tip of our affections. When we were kids, I fondly remember eating countless meals with her, holding hands, laying in the grass together looking into the sky. I remembered one night we had curled up on the sofa, sharing a blanket to keep warm as we watched a movie. I remembered when I had kissed her before I left for collage and how she had kissed me back. Then of course, there was our lives after the world had ended. All that time spent sleeping in the same bed, often hugging each other to stay warm. Even while I was apart, I had spent hundreds of hours talking to her. I "came out of my mouth in response to Subaru's tease were blatant lies.

"N-no!" I exclaimed, pulling away from Subaru, but she bounced in front of me again.

"Oh, really, I reckon there is!" Subaru laughed, "What, you two embarrassed about each other or something?"

"Subaru!" I shouted, trying to get angry. But it didn't work, I just laughed and smiled, blushing at the same time.

"Leave him alone Subaru," Tea said, only half seriously.

"Sure sure," Subaru said, putting her arm around me again, "but if you feel like talking to it, come to me alright?"

"Come on, let's get some desert." Tea said, gesturing with her chin over to the stalls of sweets right at the back of the cafeteria."

I spent the rest of the day with them, just mucking around. You'd never know we were a fighting force.

At the end of the day I retired, catching the bus from headquarters, back to my apartment. I unlocked the door and stripped off my uniform, before collapsing on the bed. I clamoured around with my foot, until I found the remote to the holoscreen that was the TV and turned it on. But I quickly turned it off as I realised the noise would disrupt my concentration. I gently unpinned Platinum Wave and held it in my hand

"Platinum Wave, you know what I want" I said

"Affirmative Commander, initiating telepathy"

I felt the presence of my own magical energy inside of me again. I didn't really know what to do, so I simply thought one word as clearly as I could:

"Nanoha!"

And to my shock, her sweet-sounding voice replied within moments

"Hello Arthur, I see you've worked out how to use telepathy"
"I have, this is amazing"

Nanoha's laughed came into my mind

"I like that my life impresses you" her voice said happily, "I remember when we used to hang out after school, you were so shocked when I showed you my magic, I had to cover your mouth"

I laughed, in my mind as well as out loud, as I walked over to my window, still clasping Platinum Wave tightly. I did indeed have fond memories of that day, and I could definitely remember Nanoha pressing her hand over my mouth to keep me from shouting my surprise to the world.

"Now look at you" Nanoha's voice was soft, like she was whispering, "You have magic all of your own, your own device, your own powers, you've come so far"

"I know," I said back, getting the hang of the telepathy now, "So, tell me how your work was"

And the night went on like this. Till the early hours of the morning, I lay in my bed telepathically conversing with my best friend. She stayed with me, in my mind until I fell asleep, to dreams of my old life.

The next day I hovered in front of Nanoha, gripping Platinum Wave tightly in my hands as my barrier jacket waved in the wind.

Raising Heart was in its shooting mode, and Nanoha slid her feet back into a stance in mid air. Beneath them, her usual pink magical circle appeared. Several magical rings appeared along Raising Heart, including three in front of its end. I knew what spell this was.

"Bombardment attacks" Nanoha explained, "like my Divine Buster, are extremely powerful for when you have time to fire them."

I nodded in recognition.

"If you can hit your opponent with one of these, do it" she said, "But be careful you have the right amount of distance, casting these at close range is a bad idea." Nanoha smiled and several cylindrical machines rose up. Each machine had several red tendrils emerging from them and a panel of lights at it center.

"These are Gadget Drones" Nanoha said, "We'll use them for target practise"

I nodded.

"Okay, Like this alright?" Nanoha said. Pink Magical energy begun to gather between the rings at the ends of Raising Heart.

Raising Heart loaded a new cartridge with its distinctive sound.

"Divine Buster!" Nanoha shouted.

A pink beam of energy shot forward through the rings, projecting itself forward. It struck one of the gadget bots and completely obliterated it, its scraps falling to the ground.

"Now you try" Nanoha said.

I took Platinum Wave in both hands and pointed it toward one of the Gadget Drones

"Platinum Wave, what's my bombardment spell?"

"Bombardment Spell is Fusion Surge, Commander" Platinum Wave droned.

"Then prepare that!" I ordered.

"Affirmative Commander"

The section below the head pumped, and a new cartridge was loaded into place, with the old one ejected and falling away.

At the end of my staff, directly in front of the four spike-like blades a magical circle formed, smaller, but otherwise identical to the same one that formed under my feet.

The dark purple energy built up and I could feel the power flowing though me.

Nanoha nodded.

"Mm, that's exactly right Arthur, now, shoot it!" she encouraged.

I looked at her and then turned back to the floating Gadget Drone. I took a deep breath and then shouted out the name of my attack

"Fusion Surge!"

From the magical circle, a dark purple beam blasted foruth, utterly annihilating the Gadget Drone and continuing into the sky until it faded as I ceased feeding it magical energy.

"Now that was…." I said breathless, and I found myself unable to finish the sentence.

Nanoha had me fire a few more, until I firmly understood how it worked, and how to control it. We floated to the ground after a few hours. I went to disable my barrier jacket but Nanoha stopped me.

"We're not done yet, you need to learn melee combat today"

"We're going back up?" I asked, loosening my grip on my staff.

"Well, not me" Nanoha said, "I have a surprise for you" she smiled, "Melee's not my specialty you see, so I thought I'd let someone else train you in this"

I heard footsteps behind me. A chilling thought came over me as I realised who she was talking about

A dark, low, velvety voice came from behind me.

"I'll be teaching you"

I turned around and confirmed what I had suspected. Standing there, the yellow triangle that was her device's standby from in her hand, and with an amused expression on her face, was Fate.

"Bardiche" she said, holding her device out in front of her, "set up!"

Arthur vs Fate

"Get set", Fate's device, Bardiche said. It had a low, deep masculine voice. Fate threw it into the air, and in a flash of yellow light, she rose up. He clothes begun to glow, and one by one, they vanished from her body, until only her underwear remained. Before I could even turn away, that was gone in yellow light as well, leaving Fate completely naked in front of me. The bow that held her hair vanished as well, allowing it to flow out everywhere.

I felt myself turn red, embarrassment rising inside of me, but I kept watching, because I had never seen this before. This was my first time seeing Fate's device, her barrier jacket, her magic.

"Assault form, set up" Bardiche said.

The triangle shape of the device's standby mode vanished completely, changing into a thick disk, with a round yellow gem taking up all but the very outer rim. New parts flew in from nowhere, linking up to it. A section that looked very distinctively like the head of an axe attached to the centre disk, completing the head of the staff. More sections built up as well, including its cartridge system, which plugged in just below the head, it looked like the chamber of an old-style revolver pistol, full of magical cartridges. Finally in flew the long handle of the staff, which connected underneath the cartridge system, a cover slid up to hide the chamber of cartridges. Befitting its name, Bardiche's primary mode, its assault form, looked like a cybernetic axe. The yellow jewel at the centre of the disk of the head flashed as it spoke again:

"Barrier jacket, impulse form"

Purple, lightning-like energy was sparking off the staff all over. Fate stretched out her slender arm and grasped the handle of Bardiche.

Finally yellow energy flickered over Fate's body, giving her a tight black top, along with matching underwear. The top had a high collar that enclosed her neck.

Another wave of yellow light and a sleaved, black jacket appeared over her top. On one hand, a black glove, bearing an object that looked identical to Bardiche's standby mode on the top of it. Her other hand however was slowly enclosed by a metal, armoured glove. It was in this hand that she held her staff. The back of her top extended through a belt that had appeared. It was all the way down her legs, with a split up the front. It almost appeared like a coat. Her black garments were all trimmed with white. Long black stockings manifested at her thighs and continued all the way to cover her feet. Metal shoes, similar to her armour-glove appeared upon her feet, each of them had a yellow band along the front of them.

Her hair split, divided, and black lengths of cloth appeared to bind it in that way, transforming it into twin ponytails that spilled down either side of her head, just like she used to have when she was young.

A thin, long white cape was the last think to appear. It covered Fate's shoulders and continued down to above her ankles.

She swung Bardiche out to her side, floating to the ground with the yellow light now fading entirely.

I stared at her, taking in what I had just seen.

"Wow, so that's what your barrier jacket looks like" I whistled, "Impressive"

"Yeah," Fate said, her choice of words mirroring my own. "Well, it's impulse form anyway"

I bent down and examined Bardiche's sleek form. It was my first time seeing it for real, but Nanoha had described it to me fairly well.

"It's nice to finally see you in your real form, Bardiche"

The yellow circle lit up.

"Thank you" it said.

I raised my self to full height and took a step back from Fate, holding up Platinum Wave's staff form.

"Well, are you ready?" Fate said

"Of course" I nodded,

"Bardiche!" She said, pointing the staff at me

"Yes sir" Bardiche said. Sir?

I raised my own device.

"Platinum Wave!" I responded.

"Affirmative Commander" Platinum Wave droned.

Fate took off with a tiny explosion of yellow light, flying into the air. I followed her, soaring behind. It was a new experience, flying with Fate. She was fast, and agile. It was clear why her squad was called "Lightning".

Eventually Fate stopped and stood in mid air. I flew up and hovered about two meters away from her.

"Harken Form!" She shouted, swinging Bardiche into the air.

The cover over the cartridge's slid down, and the chamber spun, loading a new one in place. The cover slid back up, and then Bardiche's head swung up on the centre disk, at a 90 degree angle. With sparks of glowing yellow, a jagged, scythe-like blade of energy manifested from the head of the staff. My eyes widened at the sight of this frightening looking weapon.

Fate lowered it to her side, staring at me with an expectant look.

"Convert your device to its melee form" she ordered simply.

I cast my mind back to when Nanoha had told me about the device. It's three modes, though the third was hidden from me. I remembered instantly the name of my melee form.

"Flail Form!" I ordered Platinum Wave.

"Affirmative Commander, Flail Form set up" My device responded, loading a new cartridge in place.

The four blade's that framed the centre purple globe swung down so they pointed outward. With a hiss, the orb at the centre of my staff begun to glow purple, and suddenly spikes of energy erupted from it. Violently the head of my staff, everything above the cartridge system ejected off, a magical purple chain connecting the now free swinging spiked section to the rest of the staff. It certainly lived up to its name: "Flail form"

"Hm," Fate mused, "Will you be able to handle such a weapon?"

"If I can't, I'll learn" I said back to her, "the best is teaching me after all"

"Don't expect flattery to get you anywhere" Fate said, turning her hair up into the air.

"I wasn't talking about you" I smirked.

Fate glared at me angrily, but underneath her tough expression, I sensed what may be the barest hints of a smile.

"This isn't just melee training" Fate explained to me, "I'm also going to teach you about binding spell, since they are extremely useful." "In addition, you can use your long range attacks if you think that'll help" she concluded.

"But mainly melee right?" I enquired.

"Correct" Fate said.

"Let's do it then!" I slowly begun to rotate my wrist, starting to spin the chain and spiked head of my newly acquired flail.

Fate placed both hands on Bardiche and drew her fierce scythe back.

In the same instant, we both sped forwards, swinging our weapons at each other. Fate ducked under the vicious spikes of my flail and brought her blade down toward me. Thinking quickly, I forced the handle of my staff against hers, stopping the blade from going any further.

"Impressive" Fate grunted, still pushing against my block.

"Thank you" I replied.

We flew back from each other, Fate swinging Bardiche. I twisted to the left to avoid the sizzling energy blade, and with my momentum, swung my own staff toward her.

Fate put her hand out and created a bright yellow shield to block my attack, but it had been a decoy on my behalf as I spun the handle around and, without actually believing my ploy would work, struck Fate on her cheek.

The mid air combat ceased. We both stood there, dumbstruck. Fate that she had been hit, and I that I had managed to hit her.

Her dark red eyes stared at me, a mixture of many emotions.

"S-sorry?" I said quietly.

There was already a bruised lump forming on Fate's cheek. I chuckled at the sight of it. It made her look like she was puffing up one side of her face.

"Don't" Fate said slowly, her voice slurred by her injury, "don't apologise".

She flew back, flying away from me, putting several meters of distance between us. Gripping Bardiche with both hands, she drew it back behind her head.

"This will not end well" I mumbled to myself.

"Harken Sabre!" Fate shouted. As she did she swung her staff down.

The curved, jagged blade of energy flew from her staff and spun through the air toward me.

I panicked, I hadn't been expecting such an attack. I quickly put my hand out, creating my own dark purple shield.

The arced blade smashed against my shield, pressing hard. I kept up my magic, blocking it from slicing me apart.

I noticed that Fate was smirking.

"Sabre explode" she said.

"Crap" I uttered.

The yellow blade of energy glowed brighter, before combusting, breaking my shield and knocking me back. I lost control of my flight and plummeted toward the ground. As I pulled my magic back into my command, gripping Platinum Wave, I noticed Fate was diving alongside me. Bardiche had reverted back to it's first from, the blade of energy no longer present. Several magical rings appeared around her, and within them, sparking orbs of yellow energy appeared. With a hissing noise, they elongated into sharp cones, like the heads of arrows.

Fate pointed Bardiche at me, just as I regained control of my magic and begun to fly backward.

"Platinum Wave!" I shouted, "Strike Form!"

"Strike Form" Platinum Wave repeated.

The energy spikes along the orb of my device vanished, and the magical chain retracted, reconnecting to the handle of my staff. The four blades quickly swung back to point upward.

"Plasma Lancer!" Fate called, "fire!"

The arrows of light shot toward me, menacingly closing in.

"Multiple shield" Platinum Wave buzzed.

Several shields appeared all around me, taking the impact from the plasma bolts.

Smoke surrounded me, blocking Fate from view. I sped out of the smoggy cloud, flying upward as fast as I could.

I became aware that Fate was directly behind me. I tried to move faster, but there was no way I could beat her in terms of speed.

"Now, let me show you binding magic!" Fate shouted as she pulled up alongside me.

"No thanks!" I said, flying off to the side, "I've been in enough of it!"

"Lightning bind!" She ordered, and several, sparking, yellow rings of light appeared around me. They closed in, squeezing my arms to my sides and effectively immobilizing me.

Fate gave a self satisfied smile. But I felt my confidence rise as I realised something.

"That won't work on me Fate!" I yelled, straining against my bonds. In seconds they shattered, and I twirled Platinum Wave around.

"Why?" Fate cried, looking more than a little upset. The bruise on her cheek was still clearly visible.

"Who knows," I replied, imitating Fate's former smile. I raised Platinum Wave.

"Gamma Bullet!" I shouted out, "shoot!"

My own, purple spheres appeared around me and shot toward Fate. Still reeling from seeing me break her binding magic, she failed to get ready to block in time. Several of the blasts struck her before she could block them.

Angrily she flew out of the blasts, speeding toward me.

"Harken form!" she called to Bardiche.

"Flail form!" I instructed Platinum Wave.

"Yes Sir"
"Affirmative Commander"

Both of our devices converted to their melee forms and I met Fate in mid air, both of us swinging out deadly weapons, blocking with the handles of our staffs and shields that we generated.

As I locked staffs with her again, I smirked at Fate.

"Your device is confused about your gender" I teased.

"Shut up!" Fate growled.

We exchanged more attacks, dodging and flying around each other, our magic colliding in spectacular bursts of purple and yellow. Fate was far stronger than me, I could feel it. But through quick thinking and tact, I could stay on her level enough to hold my own. And I was already putting a plan in place.

When we swung apart again, I decided the time was right.

"Now, Platinum Wave, Bind!"

"Uranium bind" Platinum Wave droned. The centre orb glowed and several thick ropes of energy appeared around Fate.

"What?" She said, confused, before I mentally ordered the binds to enclose her.

The purple cords pulled tight around Fate's body, pinning her arms to her sides, with Bardiche uselessly angled toward the ground. Instantly she begun writhing and struggling. I hovered in front of her, rather pleased that I had managed to tie up the captain of Lightning squad.

"Satisfied?" I asked the bound girl.

"You're getting over confident" Fate said, relaxing her efforts to free herself, "Bardiche" She said calmly.

"Yes Sir" Bardiche hummed.

I felt control over Fate's bonds vanish as they changed from purple to yellow. Suddenly they unravelled themselves from Fate and shot toward me, wrapping around my own body, rendering me in the exact same position as she had been.

"You're still inexperienced with magic" Fate said, her usual tone present, "I'll admit that it was pretty clever of you to learn binding magic so quickly, but you still don't understand the full effects of magical power"

"Yeah" I nodded, "but do you know what else I learned to do Fate?"

"What?" Said Fate curiously.

"This", My old smile crept back onto my face. I pulled my arms and shattered the bonds along them, raising my device above my head.

Fate's face was a mixture of shock and anger as she drew Bardiche back. Both of our devices loaded new cartridges as they converted to their melee forms and we clashed once again.

I backed up from Fate and begun to swing the spike-studded head of Platinum Wave around in a circular pattern, I forced more magic into it, lengthening the glowing chain.

"Flail Whirlwind" Platinum Wave said.

Fate sped toward me, drawing Bardiche back for a slashing attack.

I stabbed forward with my staff, sending the spiked head and chain spiralling toward Fate. She had to keep moving in order to avoid it. When she finally caught up with me, she slashed down. I wasn't fast enough, strips of my barrier jacket, singed and burnt from Fate's blade, drifted down to the ground.

Fate finally held the crackling energy blade up to my throat.

"You win" I conceded.

Fate first frowned, then smirked, then finally smiled. She lowered her staff, which revered to its first form, the scythe blade vanishing.

"You're pretty good, I'll give you that, I've never seen someone fight so well on their first time"

"Thank you, Captain Fate" I said respectfully.

Fate smiled again. I noted her cheek was still bruised and puffy.

"Fate's fine" She sighed, "You've always called me by my name so don't start adding "Captain" now"

"Alright, Fate" I laughed.

Alongside her I flew back to the surface, and as soon as my feet touched the ground, I reverted my barrier jacket to back to my Section 6 uniform. Platinum Wave shrunk back into its badge form, which I then pinned upon my lapel.

There was applause, and it took me a minute to realise it wasn't just one person applauding. I looked up and saw a crowd was here. I laughed with surprise as I saw Nanoha, clapping and standing at the front of the group that was all applauding.

Most of the people who had gathered I knew. Arf, Hayate, Subaru, Teana, Erio and Caro were all here, as well as Shario. With her was a tall blond woman, with soft features, clad in green clothing. Alongside her, there was a very short girl, who looked more like a kid. She had bright orange hair, which fell in two twisted braids. She had an obnoxious expression on her face, and her clapping was only half hearted. Next to her, far taller was a woman with bring pink hair, and serious eyes. She had the air of a warrior. I noted their close proximity to Hayate, and suddenly, I realised that though I had never met them before, I knew who these three were. Confirming my suspicions, there was a muscular man with them. He had short white hair, metal gloves, and most distinctively, blue dog ears protruding from his head, and a tail from his back, just like Arf. I smiled, knowing I would be introduced to them soon.

Nanoha had come up to me.

"Really well done, Arthur!" she said enthusiastically, "I've never seen anyone fight so well against Fate on their first go"

I nodded, gratefully accepting her praise.

"Thank you" I said, simply and humbly.

"Yeah it was impressive," Arf said, shrugging and closing her eyes as she walked toward us, "but you've still got a long way to go before you can match Fate"

I laughed, "very true, Arf" I said.

Suddenly there was a crowd around me, as Subaru, Tea, Erio and Caro came over. Subaru clapped me on her shoulder.

"Amazing!" She applauded, "Not only can you fly, but you can go toe-to-toe with Captain Fate and hold your own"

"Yeah, I've never seen anyone other than the lieutenants and Captain Nanoha herself keep up with Captain Fate like that before", Tea congradulated, "And, your barrier jacket…"

"What about it?" I asked, confused.

"Oh yeah!" Subaru said, looking to the air like she had just remembered, "Your barrier jacket, I know all forwards have their jackets altered to resemble their captains, but yours is almost exactly like Nanoha's"

"I don't have a skirt Subaru" I said flatly.

Subaru winced, "Okay, like a male version of Nanoha's"

I nodded, "I thought so as well"

Erio shrugged his shoulders back,

"Well, regardless of that, you're pretty good"

"Yes!" Caro chirped up, "that was really impressive!"

From above her shoulder, Friedrich gave a screech.

"Arthur" Nanoha's voice cut through all the chatter around me. Instantly all my attention was on her.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"Come over here, Hayate wants to talk to you, and she wants to you to meet some others." Nanoha's words were accompanied by her gentle smile.

I nodded, and shifted my way through everyone else to stand next to her. I noticed Fate was already over with Hayate and the others.

With Nanoha, I walked over to where Hayate stood. I saluted her as we aproched.

"Commander" I said.

Hayate chuckled, "That was some very impressive stuff out there, well done."

"Impressive" I said, rolling the word around in my mouth, "everyone's saying that word, so what I just did really must be something"

The tall, pink haired girl stepped forward.

"Yes it is, for someone to hold their own against Testarossa so well, it's quite the feet", she put her hand out and I shook it. She had a very tight grip.

"I'm Signum, Lightning 2, Testarossa's lieutenant." She said.

"Signum", I said quietly, yes I knew who she was, "I'm Arthur Kingston,"

"I'm pleased to meet you, Kingston" She said, with a smile and a nod.

Hayate came fourth.

"So you've met Signum, and this is –"

I cut her off.

"I know" I said to everyone, aside from Nanoha's surprise.

I looked to the short, orange haired girl.

"Vita, Stars 2" I said. She stared at me with shock.

"How did you -?" she began, but I hadn't finished talking. I looked to the blond woman.

"Shamal," I said.

Again, another look of confusion and shock.

I finally turned my gaze to the dog-eared man.

"Guardian Beast, Zafira" I said.

More shock and confusion.

"You're, the Wolkenritter" I breathed out, "Hayate's personal guards summoned by the original Book of Darkness"

Everyone looked around, trying to figure it out. Hayate was the first one to work out the answer. She gave a sigh and looked to Nanoha. I noticed Fate was doing the same. Nanoha giggled and closed her eyes.

"You're correct" Hayate said, "Nanoha, how close are you two that you've even told him that?"

Nanoha shrugged, I noticed she was blushing a lot.

"We talk a lot" she said, "I really trust Arthur"

"I knew you told him about us, but did you really tell him that much?" Fate said, her tone amused, but hiding a hint of… jealousy?

"Mm, I did" Nanoha said, "I tell you all my secrets too Fate". She was talking a little apologetically

"You tell him all your secrets?" Fate said, her face falling.

As the two of them continued to talk,Vita came up to me.

"You might know my name but I'm not sure I like you yet" she said, her voice was gruff and angry sounding.

"That's unfortunate" I said, not knowing what else to say.

"Sure what you just did was impressive, but it's not enough to convince me you're worth Nanoha's attention" She stared at me intently, making me more than a little nervous.

"S-sorry?" I said, completely confused as to why this tiny girl was speaking to me with such contempt.

"Don't you dare waste her time, I'll be watching you" she said, and with a "hmpf" she turned away.

That wasn't a pleasant experience for me, but I smirked at her last comment, "don't waste her time". I guessed Vita didn't quite know how close I was to Nanoha. Either that, or she did know and didn't like it.

Hayate loudly cleared her throat, interrupting Fate and Nanoha, who were still going on about Nanoha telling me. Both of them were blushing slightly. I detected something between them but I wasn't sure what it was yet.

"Anyway, I want to personally congratulate you Arthur" Hayate said, "You've come a long way, I made the right choice letting you join Section 6, and I'd say your diffidently ready to join the rest of the team in training and on missions, wouldn't you agree Nanoha?"

Nanoha came up to me and hugged me. Caught by surprise I blushed heavily. I noticed Fate was staring at me angrily, herself blushing slightly.

"I'm so pleased" Nanoha said, letting go of me and looking me in the eye. I looked back at her and almost lost myself in the depths of her purple eyes.

"T-thank you" I stuttered, yanking myself back to reality.

"You're definitely ready to join the others, to come on any mission with us." Smiling she put her hand on my chest.

"Welcome to my squad Arthur, or I should say: Stars 5"

Four Months Later

Breathing out deeply, I opened the door to my apartment and stepped out into the long, carpeted corridor. My Section 6 uniform clad my body, despite the fact I had the rest of the day off.

I had a conundrum on my hands. I was meeting Nanoha for dinner tonight and yet, I had no idea where to take her. I had agreed to meet her outside her apartment, two hours after she got off work, but the rest was a mystery to me. Whether she already had a place to eat in mind, or whether she expected me to take her somewhere I was unsure. Part of me suspected "dinner" might just wind up being leftovers and chocolate like it had been occasionally when I showed up and her house when I was young.

But then, that couldn't happen now. We were too old, weren't we?

I had internet searched several restaurant locations but had stopped when I realised I didn't know the names of most of the streets. Hence, I was going out to look for them.

I finally left the apartment building feeling the cool air on my face. I looked up to the strange, planet filled sky and smiled. I did like it here. It might not be Earth, but it was beautiful in its own right, and even more so by the fact that here was where Nanoha was.

As I thought of her my face grew red again. My emotions were getting out of control. I couldn't even think about her without setting my heart pounding and my mind racing. My feelings for her got stronger every second, yet I cherished our friendship far too deeply to act on some impulse of emotion. I knew me and Nanoha had strong bond. Part of me suspected she might have similar feelings for me, but there was too much else to consider. My heart and mind were conflicted. I had never been the type to experience emotions like this. Always dismissed Aaron and other girls whenever they talked superficially of "love". Could that be what I was experiencing now?

Enough! With a physical shake of my head, I pushed all these thoughts away, turning back to the situation at hand. I had to locate these restaurants.

I turned my attention to the path and had taken but one step forward when a familiar voice distracted me yet again.

"Hey, Arthur"

Slightly irritated, I twisted around to see Subaru and Teana walking toward me. They were both wearing causal clothes. A light coloured skirt, blue striped T-shirt and a warm looking, dark grey hooded jacket for Subaru, and orange shorts, with a yellow jumper for Tea.

"Hey, you two" I said, attempting to put more enthusiasm than I felt into the greeting, and failing.

"Don't sound so depressed to see us" Subaru smirked, catching on my less-than-impressed tone.

I shook my head and smiled. I liked both Subaru and Teana, so it wasn't all bad that I was seeing them now.

"Sorry, I was kind of distracted" I said, fully turning around and going over to them.

"With what?" Tea asked.

"Trying to work out where some restaurants are" I said, "I'm going to dinner with Nanoha tonight."

"Whoo!" Subaru whistled, "Dinner with Captain Nanoha eh?" Subaru slid close to me, her expression happy and mischievous.

"Just how close are you two?" she teased, "are you two a couple?"

I turned red. Thank you so much Subaru, after I finally managed to stop thinking about things like that.

"N-no!" I stuttered, "We're not, not…" I couldn't finish the sentence. Part of me didn't want to.

"Not yet" Subaru finished, slipping away from me.

Tea giggled, I shot her a look. She was supposed to be the mature one.

"So why're you in your uniform, we got the day off remember?"

"Yeah I know" I said flatly, hoping in vein that she wouldn't continue on with the topic.

"So why are you in uniform?' Tea asked, joining in.

"I have," I sighed,

"You have what?" Subaru prompted.

"I have no other clothes" I mumbled.

Both of the girls looked shocked.

"You have no other clothes!" Subaru exclaimed.

"Then, what do you wear when you're at home" Tea asked cautiously.

"I've got these, grey things, they don't fit too well and I use them as pyjamas" I said quickly, slightly embarrassed.

"No way!" Subaru said, "You were gonna take Nanoha to dinner in your work clothes?"

"Yeah, in case you forgot Subaru, most of my clothes are back on Earth, which is, you know, dead." I said a little irritated.

"Oh yeah" Subaru said, her face falling. As I remembered my homeworld, devoid of life my mood fell.

Tea caught on to my mood and quickly blurted out appologies.

"We're sorry!" She said, "we didn't mean to…"

"Yeah" Subaru said awkwardly, "I didn't want to upset you, I just…"

She couldn't finish. I turned away from her, unpleasant thoughts swimming through my mind unbidden and unwelcome.

"I know!" Subaru said, cutting through my horrid slump, "We'll take you shopping, we were going anyway!"

Shopping with girls? I had only done that a few times, with my mother and a couple of times with Nanoha back on Earth.

"Yeah, I'm kind of busy" I said slowly.

But Subaru had already grabbed my arm, and Tea was on my other side smiling.

"It'll be fun!" Subaru said, "No way am I letting you take Captain Nanoha on a date dressed in your work uniform"

She pulled me away and I went willingly with her. We caught a bus and road into a huge, futuristic city-mall.

"This is what a shopping mall looks like on Mid-Childa?" I asked, "Impressive"

"Haha, just wait till we get going!" Subaru said, "I'll dress you so nice, every girl in the TSAB will want a date with you!" her tone was confident.

"Do you have any idea what he'd look good in?" Tea asked Subaru thoughtfully.

"A few" The blue haired girl shrugged.

When the bus stopped, we got out and I was ushered along by my two companions. Without time to take in my surroundings, I found myself inside a clothes store. It really didn't look that different from the clothes stores back on earth.

I smiled as Subaru, and occasionally Tea pulled and shoved me around, holding things up to me to see if they would fit. Finally, my arms laden with clothes I was led to the change rooms.

"Okay, try on the first outfit" Subaru said cheerfully.

I went in, stripped off my uniform, and donned the clothes.

For some time afterward. I stepped in and out of the change room in different outfits, Tea and Subaru shaking their heads or giving me the thumbs up, like in a movie. Eventually, I tried on the last outfit and emerged.

I was clad in a red shirt, tucked into black jeans, secured by a white belt, the buckle of which was silver. The collar of my shirt was open, with this outfit, I wore no tie.

I wore a black vest over my shirt, and though it had three buttons, only the second and third were done up, leaving the topmost button loose. Over this all, I had a black leather jacket, with the collar high. It has a tiny buckle to secure it together, though I left it hanging loose and open. I looked to Subaru for approval.

She and Tea were both staring at me.

"Wow" Tea said.

"Wow?" I repeated enquiringly.

"You look, amazing" Subaru said.

I was a little taken aback by the sudden, very genuine compliment.

"That's the outfit, that's the one you gotta wear tonight" Subaru assured me, "come on, I'll pay for it"

"Oh no, I'll pay" I said. I had already accumulated a sizable amount of money, seeing as I had so little to spend it on. All the money in the universe couldn't buy me more time with Nanoha, which was all I really wanted.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Subaru said, "I've gotta get you that outfit, call it my present, as a welcome to our squad"

"Subaru really, it's fine, I'll pay" I said, pulling my Section 6 jacket back on after changing back to my original clothes.

Tea stepped forward.

"Can you let us get you this, please Arthur, as a token gift?" she asked politely.

I sighed. Really I should be the gentleman, and not make the ladies pay for anything, but they were adamant and I was appreciative.

"If you insist" I said.

After I had brought the outfit, and a few other clothes I paid for myself, I wandered around the mall with the two girls. They showed me where all the restaurants I had looked up were. Meeting them had really been a blessing. I apologised to them for the way I had acted when they first showed up tonight, but they waved it off with laughter and dragged me willingly away to their next stop.

By the time we were finished, when I asked the time, it was just half an hour before I was due to meet Nanoha. Leaving Subaru and Tea behind at the bus stop, I raced back to my apartment, jumping into my shower, blasting myself with steaming hot water. I had mere minutes to dry myself, brush my hair and teeth, freshen my breath and of course, dress myself in my new clothes. They fitted me well, and suited my new style, if I could be said to have one. Back on earth, in my later years I had been fond of wearing suits. This combined elements of a suit with a modern, causal look. I observed myself in front of the mirror for a few moments before stepping out. Leaving Platinum Wave on my bedside table, I took the elevator down and waited outside the apartment building for Nanoha.

Barely five minutes, the doors to the apartment slid open. I turned and saw, framed by the light inside the building, Nanoha.

She was wearing a dark, navy blue jumper, with a yellow jacket over it. Knee length jeans that matched her jumper covered her legs until below her kneecaps, where there was a small gap of her soft, pale skin visible, before stockings covered the rest down to her casual shoes.

"Good evening, Nanoha" I said, happiness filling me at just the sight of her.

"Evening Arthur" She said in her perfect voice, as she walked toward me. Her eyes sized me up, taking in my new clothes.

"Wow" she said. That would make the second time I got that reaction today.

"You look really good tonight, when did you get those new clothes?"

"Subaru and Teana took me shopping today" I said, smiling. I wasn't sure if I was smiling because I was remembering the good day, or just because I was hearing Nanoha speak.

"Am I underdressed?" Nanoha asked, an apologetic tone appearing in her sweet words, "I wasn't sure what to wear."

"No!" I blurted out, perhaps a little to fast, judging by the reaction on Nanoha's face.

"You look, great" I said, "you look beautiful." They were words I was always thinking when I saw her. I took this opportunity to say them aloud.

Nanoha cheeks blushed.

"Thank you, Arthur" she said gently.

"You're welcome" I replied.

"Shall we go?" Nanoha chirped.

With a nod from me, we began walking side by side. We caught a late-night bus - which was completely empty aside from us and the driver - and road it to the restaurant I had picked. I had had the smart idea of reserving a table for us, so we were led away to it and quickly delivered wine and menus. We sat in the warm environment. Food here was very similar, often identical to back on Earth, and I was able to make an easy selection. So was Nanoha.

In typical restaurant style, it took a good thirty minutes for our food to be delivered, giving us plenty of time to talk. I asked Nanoha about what extra work she had been doing so much of lately. She gladly told me, and just like always, I listened intently as she spoke. She was staying late, working with Fate and Hayate, trying to locate Xcelvortan nests, an incredibly difficult feet since, as we were both painfully aware, scans and communications did not work on any worlds affected by The Cataclysm. Probes had to be sent in manually, painstakingly sweeping inches of decimated planets. I took in her expression and tone of voice as she told me all of this. Clearly it was unpleasant experience, having to scour though dead worlds, full of the bodies of what had once been their inhabitants.

Finally our food arrived. It was delicious on all accounts. I quickly became mesmerized watching Nanoha eat. Somehow the sight of her taking the food from her plate with her fork, and bringing it to her mouth entranced me. The site of her lips gently taking it and watching her chew softly bewitched me. I felt myself blush, and became embarrassed for thinking the simple site of Nanoha eating was so beautiful. Nanoha looked directly at me, making me even more nervous. I quickly tried to avert my eyes but couldn't. All I could do was gaze at her.

She smiled at me and swallowed her mouthful.

"So Arthur, how do you like your new home?" she said.

Her words shook me from my current state and my brain snapped into action to answer the question.

"I like it here." I said truthfully, "I love where I live, I love the people I've met, I love my job…" I concluded this sentence before I said what, or rather who, I really loved.

"I'm glad" Nanoha said, "you fit in really well here, you've become really good with all your training, and you get along with everyone"

"Except Vita" I chuckled, "and Chrono" I added, "and Fate" I added again, laughing a little.

"Fate?" Nanoha said, her expression puzzled. "Come on Arthur, you and Fate have been friends for ages, she might be a little strict and kind of harsh at time, but you know she's got a good heart and she cares about you"

I knew what Nanoha was saying was true, but there was also something else that I couldn't mention. That it felt as if Fate was competing with me for something, and I had a very good idea of what it was, or rather who it was.

"Vita's okay really" Nanoha continued, "she's just got a nature that's hard to get along with, but she's a good person as well."

"Yeah" I said, "you're right, they are good people, especially Fate"

"Mm" Nanoha said, smiling, "They like you Arthur, it's just they have a kind of difficult personality sometimes."

I remembered that both Fate and Vita had once been Nanoha's enemies, yet she had managed to reach them and eventually they had become her allies. Truly she was amazing.

"Chrono…" Nanoha said, putting her finger to her mouth and thinking.

I smirked. Nanoha was trying her hardest to justify that Chrono liked me, but it wasn't going to go well.

"He's a good guy, really he is" Nanoha said, "he's kind of…"

"Arrogant?" I interjected, "Stuck-up?", "Full of himself?", "Stupid?", "Moronic?", "Painful?". I listed, smiling as I did.

"Err, actually I was just going to say 'difficult'" Nanoha said, before she begun to laugh quietly. Soon I was laughing too.

We finished our meal and conversations quietly and happily. The hours past, yet I didn't notice. Here in this moment, I was happy.

After we were done, a waiter had cleared our table

"Would you like desert?" I asked Nanoha, watching as she drank the last mouthful of her wine. My own glass was already empty, it had been a particularly tasteful wine.

"Mm" Nanoha nodded, "If you don't mind"

"I never mind desert" I said smiling.

Nanoha smiled as well, and we cheerfully pondered the desert menus. There were a number of delicious looking dishes, most of them very sweet. In the end, Nanoha and I opted for the ice-cream sundaes.

Three scoops of ice-cream, topped with chocolate and whipped cream. They tasted as good as they looked. Once again, watching Nanoha spoon the creamy desert into her mouth made my face blush and my heart pound.

As I ate, I remembered back to old times.

"Remember all those years ago, when we first met up in town together, I brought you ice cream then as well" I said to Nanoha.

Her eyes lit up as she cast her mind back.

"Mm!" She said, "I had strawberry, it was really nice"

"Yeah it was pretty good" I smiled.

"We got it from that nice man right?" she tilted her head up to the side and tapped her spoon against her chin as she thought.

"God I hated that guy" I groaned, "he was such a pain"

We both laughed, our faces contorting as we tried to contain ourselves and failed miserably.

"He-" Nanoha said between her giggles, "He was kinda strange"

"He was just painful" I said while still laughing, resulting in my voice being rather louder than it normally was.

Other patrons in the restaurant were looking at us. I heard whispers amongst them and ignored them. I had never cared what strangers though, why would I start now? I was here with Nanoha, we were laughing, we were happy.

We finished our ice cream and walked out, after I successfully paid for our meal. I gave the waiter a sizable tip, one because I could afford it, and two because this had easily been one of the best nights of my life.

After the bus dropped us off at the nearest stop we walked in the cool air back to the apartment. Seeing our breath from small clouds in front of us, I removed my jacket and placed it gently around Nanoha's shoulders. She looked up to me gratefully, her cheeks blushing.

"Thanks, Arthur," she said, "It's really cold, but will you be alright without this?" she gestured to my jacket.

"I'm fine" I lied, suppressing my shudder from the chill.

As we reached the door to Nanoha's apartment, we stood and looked to each other.

"Nanoha, thank you, for tonight." I said, "I really, really enjoyed it"

"Mm, me too" Nanoha said, "it was great, thank you Arthur" she said.

My heart beat fast as I looked into her eyes. If this has been a date, this would be the part where we kissed. But it wasn't a date, was it?

I wanted to kiss Nanoha, more than anything. I just wanted to embrace her, here and now.

But I didn't. I cursed myself, hated myself for not. I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Nanoha was still looking at me, was she waiting for me to do it? Maybe she wanted me to kiss her as much as I wanted to do so.

Then I saw it. My eyes happened to fall on Nanoha's cheek and I saw the speck of white, ice cream on her skin.

I pushed aside all doubts, all thoughts, out of my mind. I leant down and laid my lips upon Nanoha's soft cheek.

I could feel, could almost taste her blush when I did. I held myself there for not long, perhaps only two seconds. Or maybe it was longer. For as far as I was concerned, time had frozen in this moment.

I pulled away, raising to my full height again. I looked at Nanoha's purple eyes and summed up her emotions. She was surprised, yes, a little embarrassed, but there was happiness in her eyes as well.

"Arthur…" she started.

"There was some ice cream on your face" I smiled, "goodnight Nanoha"

"Goodnight, Arthur" Nanoha said.

The door to her apartment closed, leaving me alone in the hallway.

Smiling, I walked away, chuckling slightly.

Bang bang bang!

I cracked my eye open, daylight peeking through the blinds of my bedroom.

Bang bang bang!

That would be knocking at my door.

Irritated, I cast of my blankets and stepped out of my bed. I looked around and failed to locate my pyjama top, or any other garment that I might put over my bare chest. Too tired to care, I walked sluggishly into the living room and opened the door.

My mood did not change upon seeing Subaru and Tea, both in full uniform at my door.

Both of them looked at me, then to each other and smiled.

"Hey Arthur" Subaru said looking me up and down, "Might wanna get dressed, it's time for work"

"I'm sure I can be a few minutes late" I said, attempting to close the door as I turned back for my bedroom.

"Not today" Subaru said smiling.
"Yeah, not today" Tea repeated.

My annoyance visible on my face, I turned around again.

"And what" I sighed, "is so special about today?"

Subaru laughed.

"Mission Time"

Cleansing Helthrion 17

With Subaru and Tea, I dashed into the monitor room. Reports had come in last night that Xcelvortan activity had been sighted on a world called Helthrion 17. We were going to head for it as soon as we confirmed a location, Stars and Lightning were both going out at once, to exterminate every one of the vile creatures.

The monitor room certainly lived up to its name, every wall was dominated by a huge screen, and smaller computers were splayed across all the desks. The operators of the computers, all dressed in Section 6 uniform tapped furiously at their keyboards and moved their mice unrelentingly, moving probes across the surface of the dead world. I got a sickening lurch in my stomach when I saw on the screens, that this world's sky had turned yellow, and all that was on the surface were ruins, just like Earth.

To distract myself from the unsettling sight, I looked to the people in the centre of the room.

Hayate, Signum, Vita and Chrono were all there. Alongside them at the front were Nanoha and Fate looking very official in their capacity as squad captains. Rein floated above Hayate's shoulder and Erio and Caro were already here, smiling at us when we came in.

Chrono looked over to us, to me specifically.

"You're finally here" he said drily.

"Better late than never" I smirked.

"What's going on?" Subaru asked.

"We're closing in" Rein said, swooping down to hover in-front of us. Up close she was quite pretty, I noted uselessly.

"So when do we deploy?" Tea asked. Her voice was a mixture of nerves and eagerness.

"Probably not for another few hours" Rein said, "we've got to find it yet…"

"So we wait" I said simply.
"Yep" Rein nodded.

My hand reached to my lapel and touched Platinum Wave.

"Prepare, Commander", said its monotone mechanical voice.

"Oh I will be" I assured my badge.

Two hours later we were still staring at the screens. We had all grown a little weary.

"Perhaps there is nothing on this world?" Chrono said.

"Chrono, your existence annoys me, go and stand in the corner" I said, annoyed with him yet again.

"Will you please stop saying that?" Chrono sighed.

My mouth twisted into my old smile, it was true that I had told him to do that over half a dozen times in the past hour.

"Will you stand in the corner?" I asked, not suppressing my aloof tone.

"No" he said tiredly.

"Then no, go and stand in the corner" I concluded flatly.

Outmatched, Chrono opted to ignore my last comment. I thought I hear a chuckle come from Subaru and Tea, which was pleasing.

Suddenly I heard an alarm beep loudly, people were shouting from across the room.

"Xcelvortan next confirmed!"

"Posting co-ordinates!"

"Get locked on, drill in the probes!"

"Get Vice on the communicator, tell him we're good to go!"

"Right!"
Hayate stood at the front of our group, Rein speeding over to hover next to her. Now there was true authority mixed in with her kind aura. Now she was giving orders.

"We're only going to be able to get one helicopter through the teleport range on this world, so just the Captains and their forwards will go, understand.

"Yes Commander!" We all said firmly.

"The Xcelvortans aren't like any other form of life, they only attack other things and kill them for no reason, don't show mercy and don't feel pity for them, that'll cost you your life" she continued seriously.

"Yes Commander!" We repeated.

"Alright, Nanoha, Fate, Take it, we'll be monitoring you via the probes, remember once under that sky you can't contact us. Wipe out the nest and get straight out, good luck" she concluded.

"Everyone ready?" Nanoha asked

We all nodded.

"Well then" Fate said, half smiling, "to the helicopter then."

We moved up to the rooftop helipad, taking the elevator so we didn't expend any energy that we would need for the looming mission.

Leaping into the futuristic Helicopter, I buckled myself in alongside Subaru and Teana, Erio and Caro were strapped in on the other side from us. Fate and Nanoha opted to stand, clinging on to handles on the roof.

"Ready everyone?" Asked Vice, the man piloting the copter.

"Mm!" Nanoha said.

"Then let's go!" Vice pulled on the controls and we swung into the air. Rising higher into the sky and flying forwards.

Hayate appeared on several computer screens within the helicopter, her voice sounding over the noise of the blades.

"We're opening the teleportal now, remember, communication with us isn't going to happen after you get under that yellow sky, so good luck to you all!"

"Mm, thanks Hayate, we'll be back before you know it" Nanoha said.

"We'll be fine, just watch us through those probes" Fate said smiling.

A green disk of light appeared in front of us, I could see it through the windscreen of the copter, the teleportal.

"In we go!" Vice announced, and the chopper sped forward, flying through the green void.

For just a moment there was nothing but green light, and the when it cleared, all I could see was the sickening yellow sky.

"We're here, get ready to move out" Nanoha announced. It dawned on me that this was her first Xcelvortan extermination mission as well, and yet, she handled it like it was nothing.

The hatch of the Helicopter opened, wind rushing in.

"The nest is in that destroyed research facility" Fate said, pointing down to it.

"Um", came an unexpected voice. It was Caro, and she had a worried tone.

"Will there be bodies of the people who died?"

"Yes" Fate said solemnly, "but there's nothing we can do so just try to ignore them, nothing but Xcelvortans will be alive in there"

Caro nodded. Erio put his hand on hers and looked at her reassuringly.

"Right, Erio, Caro, get ready, we're going first" Fate said, letting go of the handle and stepping up to the edge, her long hair flailing madly in the wind.

"Lightning 1, Fate T Harlaown, leaving!" Fate said, and then dived into the air, dipping out of view of the helicopter. I saw a flash of yellow light and realised she had transformed into her barrier jacket.

Erio and Caro were up next, and for two small kids, they stood fearlessly at the edge of the chopper, Friedrich fluttering about above them.

"Lightning 3, Erio Mondial!"

"Lightning 4, Caro Ru Lushe!"

They both took a deep breath and said in sync

"Going out!"

Then they too leapt into the open air.

"Okay Stars, ready?" Nanoha asked.

"Of course!" Subaru said.

"Completely" Tea smiled.

"Yeah" I said, closing my eyes.

Nanoha walked up to the edge, Raising Heart in her hand.

"Stars 1, Nanoha Takamachi, heading out!" She called, and jumped.

Subaru, Tea and I unbuckled out seatbelts and stepped up to the edge.

"Hey Arthur" Subaru said, "Good luck!"

"Thanks Subaru, you as well" I said.

"Subaru Nakajima, Stars 3!"

"Teana Lanster, Stars 4!"

"Leaving!"

They jumped, and I watched them become engulfed in the light of their magic as they transformed into their barrier jackets, Subaru's was blue, Tea's was orange. After the glows vanished, I saw Subaru generate a long, winding path of magical light, which the two girls landed on and begun moving to the ruins of the laboratory below us.

"Just you left new guy!" Vice called out to me, "ready for this?"

"No" I said taking Platinum Wave from my lapel, "But Nanoha's down there, and I'll follow her anywhere!"

Vice raised his eyebrow at me, I nodded and breathed in.

"Arthur Kingston, Stars 5, Heading out!"

I jumped.

Air rushing against my face, the sensation of falling, the wind bellowing my hair, my glasses threatening to slip from my nose as I plummeted toward the ground. I held Platinum Wave out in front of me.

"Platinum Wave!" I commanded, "SET UP!"

"Prepare"

My decent slowed and I felt myself flip upright as purple light engulfed me. The purple jewel in the centre of my badge lifted up, the rest of it vanishing. I watched it swell and grow, the parts of my staff flying in out of nowhere and combining together. I reached out and grabbed it without hesitation and felt my own magic begin to warp my clothes.

I felt my pants change, by shoes transform. My shirt, jacket and tie, in a flash of light became the black undershirt I wore. In another light-flash, my long coat appeared, and the front of it drew itself shut as the red ribbon appeared and wound itself through.

I put magic under my feet and twisted around, twirling Platinum Wave around. In an instant I wasn't falling through the air, I was flying downward. Into the ruined lab building.

I glided in through the broken wall and touched down. The stench was terrible, bodies littered the ground. I steeled my nerves and ignored them, I guessed that everyone else had done the same.

I took a single step, ready for anything.

"Arthur!"

I spun around pointing Platinum Wave at the source of the noise, only to see Subaru, her hands in the air, edging her face back from the sharp points of the blades that framed the orb of my staff.

"Easy, it's only me" she said.

"You shouldn't startle him" Tea said, stepping into view.

"Sorry" I said lowering my device.

"Nanoha and Lightning Squad are down on the lower levels, we're going to clear the upper levels and blast out together on the middle" Subaru informed me.

Like me, Subaru and Tea's barrier jackets were styled after Nanoha's but both unique in their own, distinctive ways.

"Lets move" Tea said, raising her device. It was then I saw what Cross Mirage's active mode was.

Two, sleek, duel barrelled Pistols, one in either of her hands. On both was the orange disk-like jewel, covered by the X shape, just like in it's standby mode.

I looked to see that Subaru's device had taken the form of an a thick, armoured gauntlet on her right hand. Just above the wrist section it had a large, thick disk that clearly spun, I wondered what it was for, but before I could ask, I noticed she was wearing rollerblades, which had the blue gem of Mach Caliber on them.

After I had observed their devices I began to follow them.

A low, alien growl suddenly sounded.

"They're here" Subaru said.

Out of the blackness, the vile creature stepped into the light. It looked identical to the one that had attacked Nanoha and I on Earth. Its four sided mouth split open, issuing its growl yet again. Its spike lined tail swished, smashing walls and damaging anything else in its path.

Tea had her guns up.

"Crossfire Shoot!" she shouted.

Balls of orange magic light formed in-front of the barrels of her pistols and shot forward, but they hit the Xcelvortan with no effect. It charged forward, but Subaru was already moving, gliding forward on her rollerblades. The cylindrical section of her gauntlet was rotating crazily. I heard a cartridge be loaded in, and an intricate, blue triangle shape appeared under Subaru's feet. Each of its three points had a circle on them, and it was filled with the symbols and marks just like a Magical circle. The difference between Mid-Childan and Belkan magic I guessed.

Blue energy appeared around Subaru's armoured fist, she jumped, leaping off the triangle and plunging her hand down toward the beast.

"Revolver Knuckle!" She called, punching the Xcelvortan's back.

It howled in pain, It's tails flailing wildly. Subaru flipped on to the ground, but was unable to avoid the swing of the tail, it smashed into her, sending her crashing through a door into another room.

"Subaru!" Tea cried, looking from the creature to where her friend had been cast.

I raised both Platinum Wave and my free hand, several purple spheres appearing around me.

"Go to her!" I shouted to Tea, "Make sure she's alright, I'll handle it here!"

"Can you!" Tea said agitated, "can you handle that thing alone?"

"No," I said, "now GO!" I surged my magic the spheres around me pulsing.

"Gamma Bullet!" I yelled.

Tea ran for the room where Subaru was laying, just as my blast shot forward, smashing into the horrid creature.

The bursts were ineffective, as I had suspected, but that was just the start. I swung Platinum wave into the air. The used magical cartridge ejected out and a new one loaded in.

"Flail form" My staff hummed.

The blades framing the purple orb swung down, and the head of my staff ejected on its glowing purple chain. With a noise like snapping electricity, magical spikes lined the orb of my device.

I spun the head of my flail, first slowly, then fast.

"Bring it!" I said charging forward.

I dodged around the snapping mouth and brought the flail head down on the Xcelvortan's head. It screeched and swung it whole body, trying to get me with its tail, but I had already flown into the air, still spinning my glowing flail. A new cartridge snapped into place.

The beast leapt for me, but I swung down with my staff, and the head of the flail smashed into its open mouth. One of the four sides – with all its teeth – was torn off. Murky green sludge-like blood poured from the wound. The creature dropped the ground, making aggressive noises.

"Pain is not a deterrent for these things" I grunted to myself, "good to know"

I landed on the ground in front of it. Without a single bit of hesitation, it sprung at me, the three sides of its mouth open wide.

I put my hand out and generated the round, magical circle shield. The Xcelvortan hit it and strained, trying to slash its teeth though my protection.

"You hurt my friends," I said to it, sneering, "this is what you get, barrier burst!"

The shield exploded throwing the creature back. It smashed into the wall, and rubble fell upon it. I noticed its location was near a stairwell. So that was how we would descend to the lower levels.

The creature still stood, snarling at me.

It had to have a week point, a nerve cluster or something. My eyes surveyed it, as it prowled toward me, where was its weakness?

Then I noticed it's head was lowered significantly, there was no logical reason for it to take that pose, unless…

"Thanks" I said to it, "You've just showed me how to kill you."

I gripped Platinum Wave with both hands, stretching my arms out behind me. I pushed more magic into the chain of my flail, lengthening it so it touched the ground.

"Good thing I've got a weapon like this, guess it came in handy in the end, Fate" I said to myself.

I ran forward, with the head of my flail trailing behind me. As I neared the creature, I flew into the air. It raised its head to try and bite me, and then I swung my staff.

"Flail Impact!" I screamed.

With its head raised like it was, the head of my flail was able to slam directly into the base of its neck, right below its head.

The creature gave a cry of pure pain, before its single eye glazed over and it fell on its side, dead.

"Strike Form" Platinum Wave droned.

The chain retracted, the head of my staff reconnected to the handle, the spikes vanished and the blades swung back up to point forward.

I looked down at the dead Xcelvortan. I felt no pity or remorse, these creatures had hurt Nanoha once, and now they had hurt Subaru, there was no way I'd let any one of them in my path live.

I walked into the room where Subaru had been flung. Tea was standing there, her hand on Subaru's shoulder. Subaru herself was leaning on the wall.

"I'm almost fine again" Subaru said in response to my look of concern, "but, well, we saw some of what you did…"

"You're amazing, this is your first mission and you faced down a Xcelvortan alone and killed it" Tea said, "What are you?"

Their eyes had praise for me, and I accepted it gratefully.

"It hurt Subaru, like I'd let it live" I said.

"You are good," Subaru said, "After this mission, tell us a bit more about yourself okay?"
"Yeah" I said. I turned my mind to the matters at hand.

"I found a week point on the Xcelvortans" I said, "Base of the neck, just under the head, hit it and they die"

"Really?" Tea said, "they have such a weakness?"

"Yeah but they're damn good at protecting it" I said.

Subaru spoke out over a telepathic frequency.

"Captain Nanoha, Captain Fate and everyone else, Arthur's found a week point on the Xcelvortans"

"What?" Came Fate's voice inside my mind, "How?"

"I observe" I said telepathically.

"Well done Arthur!" Nanoha's ever-sweet voice in my head, I blushed when I heard it, "You're so amazing!"

"A lot of people are saying that today, anyway base of the neck, just under the head, you've got to hit that if you want to take them down quickly" I informed them

"Excellent work Arthur, make your way down and exterminate all the Xcelvortans, we'll be out of here in no time!" Nanoha's voice said. The telepathic link was severed.

"Let's go, we move down!" Subaru said.

"Mm!" I nodded.

Tea giggled and Subaru smiled at me.

"You even sound like her, oh you two weremade for each other…" Subaru chuckled. Without saying anymore she walked out, and Tea and I followed behind her.

On the next floor down, four Xcelvortans slinked out to confront us.

"Take them down, no mercy" I said, holding my staff high, "For all those that fell!"

With cries of approval from Tea and Subaru we charged forward.

It was like a blur. I blasted forward with my Gamma Bullet's, striking one of the creatures. It reared up for an attack and I stabbed the four blades of my staff into the week spot I had discovered. It fell to the ground dead. I whirled around to see Subaru glide forward on her roller blades, then drop to ground and slide under the beast. Blue magic surrounded her glove.

"Revolver Knuckle!" Subaru grunted and punched the creature in its week point. With a burst of blue energy, it flew into the air dead, and then fell lifelessly.

I spun in the other directed to see that one of Tea's pistols had moved slid its handle back so the gun barrels pointed straight up. The barrels themselves were covered by a short blade of energy, which formed an ark and connected to the base of the handle. The arc was lined with spikes. Cross Mirage's second mode I guessed. She rammed the blade under the Xcelvortan's neck and it died in an instant.

The remaining creature leapt at us. I thrust my staff forward, gathering my magic.

"Uranium Bind!" I ordered.

Thick purple bands of energy appeared in the air and enclosed the Xcelvortan, binding its legs and mouth. It slid to a stop, struggling against its bonds.

I generated a single Gamma Bullet sphere at the head of my staff, pointed it at the creature's weak spot and fired it. Its vile blood splattering all around as the beast died.

"Going down" I quipped.

We kept moving, and kept killing. Every one of the foul beasts was slain by our hands. We ignored the dead human bodies on the floors, nothing could be done about them, all we could do was honour them by making sure their corpses were not desecrated by the horrid Xcelvortans.

Soon enough we reached the last level before the middle section where we were going to make out escape. I could even hear the sounds of combat coming from bellow.

My staff reverted to its standard Strike Form.

"This floor is clear" I said.

"Commander" Platinum Wave suddenly said, "Unrecognised life-signature is present on this level"

Everyone stopped, staring at my staff.

"What…. Someone else is on this level?"

"Correct" Platinum Wave buzzed.

"But that's impossible!" Subaru shouted, "March Caliber, scan and confirm what Platinum Wave is saying!"
The blue jewel on Subaru's rollerblades lit up.

"It is correct Partner, there is an unidentified person on this level, in the room directly adjacent to us"

Subaru, Tea and I bolted, kicking the door to the specified room open. It was a plain research lab, except for one thing, a silver door, clearly a reinforced room. From the look of it, some form of cell.

"Whoever it is, they're in there" Tea said.

"How do we get it open?" Subaru asked.

"Move aside" I said, gripping Platinum Wave with both hands and pointing it out in front of me. A large purple circle appeared under my feet and a smaller one at the tip of my staff. Magical energy begun to build up in the small circle.

Tea and Subaru both cleared my path, as the cartridge section of my device pumped and loaded not one, but two new cartridges.

"Fusion Surge!" I shouted.

The purple beam of energy shot forward, slamming into the door and melting it away explosively, smoke filled the now open room and from within came small whimpering sounds.

We rushed in just as the smoke cleared, and could not believe the sight that met our eyes.

Huddled, frightened in the corner of the room was a small girl. Dressed in dirty white rags, she had long blond hair and she pressed her hands against her ears, perhaps trying to block out the noise. Her eyes were squeezed shut tight, but still tears fell from them.

"Impossible" Subaru said.

"She survived the Cataclysm" I said, looking from Subaru to Tea, "it's not impossible, Nanoha and I did"

"But why is she here" Tea asked.

"I don't know" I said. I knelt down, looking at the helpless little girl.

"Hello" I said gently, "can you understand me?" I tried to reach her, "My name's Arthur, we're here to help"

The girl opened her eyes, and I moved back a little when I saw them.

One of her eyes was red, the other green. It was a bizarre sight, yet beautiful as well.

The girl just screamed, closing her eyes again as soon as she saw me.

Subaru came down to her level.

"It's okay!" She said, "We're the good guys, we won't hurt you at all"

She gently picked the girl up. The child's response was to cease all noise and simply shake madly; she was clearly frightened beyond belief.

"Nanoha" I said over telepathic link, "we have a situation"

"What is it Arthur?" Nanoha's voice came into my mind as clear as crystal.

"A survivor" I said, "are you at the rendezvous point?"

"Mm, with Fate and the Lightning Forwards" her voice said.

"We're on our way" I terminated the link.

"Move out" I said to Subaru and Tea, "we're getting her out of here"

We moved as quickly as we could to the next floor down, Nanoha, Fate, Erio and Caro were waiting for us there.

Nanoha stared at the young girl who sat on the ground in front of her, still shaking and crying silently.

"She was in a cell?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, I don't know what they were doing with her, but whatever it was, it can't have been pleasant, I don't even know if she can speak" I sighed.

"We've got to get her back to headquarters" Fate said, "I can't believe there was a survivor amongst all these dead"

"Agreed" Nanoha said, "Lets get back to the Heli-"

Her words were cut short as the ground in front of us cracked. Horrid snarls came from dust, as several Xcelvortans emerged.

"Thought you got rid of them all" I said.

"I though I did too" Nanoha said, aiming Raising Heart.

Then came the worst noise I had ever heard.

It was a bellow, like the roar of the Xcelvortans, but deeper and larger.

The last of the dust cleared, revealing a huge beast standing behind all the other creatures. It looked like a giant Xcelvortan, but it was a far darker colour, and rather than the single cyclopean eye, it had four eyes, all in a row, above its mouth. Upon it's were a pair of vestigial arms that slowly moved as it reared up.

"What is that thing?" Fate asked, not removing her eyes from it.

"Queen" I said.

"What?" Nanoha looked to me.

"This is a nest right?" My voice was full of fear, "this is a Xcelvortan Queen, or something like a queen, that spawned all the original creatures"

"You mean there was one of these on Earth as well?" Nanoha asked, not taking her eyes of the huge creature in front of us.

"If my hypothesis is correct" I muttered.

"How have we not noticed these on the probes before!" Fate shouted.

"How did we not notice it on the way up?" Erio asked, looking as much confused as scared.

I took a step forward. The Xcelvortan's guarding the huge queen snarled, lowering their heads to protect their weak points, swinging their spike-lined tails.

"I'm guessing it concealed itself underneath the building, then ascended to this level," I gripped Platinum Wave tighter.

I looked to the tiny girl, hopelessly curled on the floor. She had begun to wail and cry. I felt so much pity for her.

"Protect her!" I said, "We have to protect her!"

"We can't do that and fight those things at the same time." Fate said, pointing Bardiche at the Xcelvortans.

I breathed deeply. I had to form a plan here and now. It had been a while since I really thought. I had to use my mind like I used to when I was in college. Nanoha's inspiration was the only way to do that, and thankfully I had more of that than ever before.

I took just a moment to look directly at Nanoha. To take in all her beauty. Right now, in her barrier jacket, with her hair split into two pigtails, instead of her usual single long ponytail, she really reminded me of when she was young.

Then I closed my eyes, and my mind exploded.

Height, weight and range-of-attack of the Xcelvortans. 8 of them, plus the queen. 7 in our group, plus the girl. In order to protect her she had to be kept away from the Xcelvortans, but they outnumbered us. Therefore escaping to an upper or lower level was impossible, as a Xcelvortan could easily pursue the one who escaped with the girl. She had to be kept out of the creatures reach.

Reach…

REACH!

"Fly!" I yelled suddenly, "They can't jump that high, someone has to fly her into the air, they won't be able to reach them then"

"The queen will." Fate said.

"It'll be too distracted" I said rapidly, "So who's gonna fly her?"

"Um,"

I whirled around to see Caro stepping forwards.

"I'll do it," she said, "I can carry her on Freid and I don't have much combat ability, so this is a way I can really help"

Friedrich flew down to the ground, and with a magical glow, enlarged to become bigger than a horse.

"Now that's a dragon" I said, smiling at Caro, "Fate, can she do it?" I twisted my head around to look at Lightning's captain.

"If you think you can Caro, I believe in you" Fate said, "we'll be counting on you, okay?"

"Okay!" Caro said.

Fate picked up the girl and helped secure her on Friedrich. Caro herself jumped up on her shortly after.

"We'll be going then" Caro said.

"Get as high as you can" Nanoha told her, "good luck Caro"

Fried took off, flying high enough up to almost touch the roof.

"Right," I said.

"We shouldn't have too much trouble handling the Xcelvortans" Subaru said, "but what about the queen?"

I breathed out, and looked to Nanoha.

"Fight it with me?" I said.

Everyone looked shocked.

"You want me to take it on with you?" Nanoha said surprised.

"Hey!" Fate shouted, "I'm captain of Lightning, what makes you think you can fight it with Nanoha!"

"Fate," I said putting my hand on her arm and looking directly into her dark red eyes, "I know how powerful, how strong you are, but there are 8 Xcelvortans, and with you and Nanoha against the queen, that leaves half the amount of forwards to fight them, someone with your strength is the only way to fight that many at once."

Fate blinked.

"But, if Nanoha is fighting, I want to be by her side" Fate said. I detected the same longing as my own in her voice. The same desperate desire to be with Nanoha.

"I will protect her with my life, you have my word" I whispered, "I will die before I let Nanoha be hurt"

"Fine" Fate breathed, her voice equally quiet, "Don't mess up"

"I won't"

She smiled, and I smiled back. Then I turned and walked up to Nanoha.

"Can you, Nanoha?" I pleaded, "Please fight that queen with me"

Nanoha looked to me and took hold of my hand.

"Mm, let's do it" she said.

Together we hovered into the air, rising to become eye-level with the queen. Instantly all four of its eyes swivelled to look directly at us, and as it made eye-contact, it emitted its horrible growl.

"You two ready?" Fate called to us.

Nanoha and I first looked to each other, and nodded.

"Mm!" Nanoha said.

"Yeah" I yelled.

"Let's go!"

The 8 Xcelvortans around the queen leapt at Fate, Subaru, Tea and Erio, I watched them snap into combat before turning my eyes to the queen.

"Okay Arthur," Nanoha said, "let's see you in action"

"Without doubt, Captain Nanoha!" I winked at her, "Arthur Kingston, Stars 5, exterminating the enemy!"

We both flew forward, our barrier jackets trailing out behind us.

The Queen snarled and lunged it's huge head at us, snapping its four-sided mouth, but Nanoha and I split apart and flew along either side of the beasts head. The two outermost eyes followed us as we flew above its head. A dozen purple orbs appeared around my body, and as Nanoha pulled around to be at my side again, her own, pink magical orbs appears.

"Accel Shooter…" she cried.

"Gamma Bullet" I roared.

"Shoot!"

Like comets of pink and purple energy, our attacks rained down on the Xcelvortan queen's head, striking it in all of its eyes. Its howl of pain was enough to shake the already unstable building, and in retaliation, it swung its massive tail around, annihilating large parts of the room. I weaved around it and noted that Nanoha was doing the same.

"Bet you never thought you'd be able to do this with me!" I laughed.

"No!" Nanoha smiled back, dodging the spike-lined tail again, "I'm glad I can though"

"Me too!" I said.

Platinum Wave reloaded its cartridge and converted to flail form. I spun it around, building up momentum.

In Nanoha's hands, with a pink glow, Raising Heart morphed into its shooting mode and loaded new cartridges.

"I'll cover you" Nanoha told me, "go in for your melee attack"

"Right!" I said, saluting with my free hand.

Nanoha giggled at my salute, then viciously pointed her staff down at the huge Xcelvortan.

"Cover fire, maximum area" Raising Heart chirped.

I dived down as pink beams blazed everywhere. I drew level with the queen's chest, where the two vestigial arms immediately begun to swing and try to grasp me.

I repeatedly beat the hands with my flail, until I had broken several of their fingers and wounded them deeply. The queen's vile blood splattered my barrier jacket. I looked up and saw that Nanoha was still flying around, blasting the queen with all her firepower.

In the instant I was distracted, my leg was seized by the damaged arm of the queen. It begun to apply pressure, threatening to crush my bones into powder.

I quickly brought the head of my flail down upon the hand, forcing it to let go. I drew on my magical power and called out my binding spell.

"Uranium Bind!" I declared.

The bands of purple energy pulled the queen's hands together, sealing them in place. I flew upward as fast as I could and smashed my flail into the week point at the base of the Xcelvortan's neck.

It howled in pain, but it's attacks only became more aggressive. I flew back up to Nanoha's side.

"The week point is the same, but it'll take more than a single blow to finish it off, can you use Starlight Breaker?" I panted.

Nanoha shook her head slowly.

"If I missed I could bring the whole building down on top of us."

I thought hard. The queen was becoming really aggravated now. It had broken the binds on its arm and was destroying the floor with its tail-swings.

Platinum Wave reverted to its Strike Form and I twirled it around.

"In that case, we'll hit the week point together!" I said, "if you can"

Nanoha smiled at me.

"Of course I can, let's do this!"

The cartridge magazine of Raising Heart dropped out, falling away, as she whipped out a new one and plugged it in.

"New magazine accepted" Raising Heart informed us, pumping a new cartridge into place.

I held up Platinum Wave, as it too loaded new cartridges, two, three, four fell away as their magical energy was absorbed to augment my own.

Nanoha pointed Raising Heart out toward the Xcelvortan queen. Several pink rings of magic formed around its head, forming the barrel for her attack.

I assumed the same stance as Nanoha, the dark purple magical circle forming directly in front of the four blades.

Magical circles formed under our feet as we built up our magic. I took a moment to look down at the battle below and saw that Fate and the others had managed to dispatch most of the Xcelvortans. I looked around and saw Caro on Friedrich, still holding onto the girl. Everyone else had succeeded in their tasks, now it was our turn.

"Fusion…." I called out, watching my own purple magic build up at the centre of the circle.

"Divine…." Nanoha yelled, her own power growing by the second.

"SURGE!"
"BUSTER!"

Our blasts of magical energy – the bright pink and dark purple beams – rushed fourth with such ferocity and speed that the rush of air they created caused Nanoha's twin ponytails to billow out behind her. They slammed directly into the week point at the base of the neck on the queen. It howled with pain, its four eyes in spasm within their sockets.

The voices of our friends and allies came out from beneath us.

"Come on Arthur, Captain Nanoha!" Tea's voice shouted.

"Go!" Subaru's voice rang out, "Bring it down!"

"Nanoha!" Fate screamed, "Arthur!" "You're about to do it!"

Nanoha and I both looked to each other, the light from our magic illuminating our faces. In sync we let go of our staves with one hand and stretched our arms out to each other.

I felt my fingers brush against hers, and then we linked hands, her soft palm within my own.

Holding onto one-another's hand, we drew out every ounce of magical energy we could.

Clinging onto our devices with just one hand each, we gathered every scrap of power into our blasts.

"Ready and….." We called out together, as if preparing to lift something.

Forcing all of our magic into the beams of energy we projected, we looked on as they fluctuated in size, blasting the queen back through the wall and sending it tumbling to the ground, dead before it hit the ground.

The battle was over.

I drifted the ground, my magical power fading, still holding onto Nanoha's hand. The moment my feet touched the ground, my barrier jacket vanished in purple light and Platinum Wave reverted to its badge form.

"Looks like" I coughed, "Looks like I used too much power"

"You'll be fine" Nanoha said, "that was amazing as usual, Arthur."

Her smile was the only reward I needed. I dropped to my knees, exhausted.

"That was incredible!" Subaru said, "It was… Just so… and then….!" Subaru apparently had too many things to say at once. The only reaction I could muster was to smile at her.

Friedrich flew down, landing next to us. The now colossal dragon let out a friendly screech toward me and Nanoha.

Words of approval from Caro, Tea and Erio came fourth, praising our efforts, commending us.

"I can safely say that, that, was pretty impressive" Fate said, her eyes amused, "In fact, it was far more than impressive, it was as Nanoha said, amazing."

I looked up to Fate, and remembered that while no-where near as close to me as Nanoha was, she was still my old friend.

"Wasn't it…" I managed to smirk at her.

Fate blushed a little and turned her back.

"Well, I still think I should have been the one to do it" she said dismissively.

I chuckled quietly. I had realised Fate's feelings now. I knew that they were the same as my own. Now we were more than friends, we were rivals for Nanoha's love.

The building begun to shake, dust falling from the ceiling.

"Looks like we've taken our toll on what was left of this building," I said, still panting for breath.

"We're getting out of here" Nanoha said, breathing in, "Though I can barely hold my barrier jacket on, flying is going to be hard"

"I can't fly either" I said, "How's this gonna work?"

"I can't fly both of you," Fate said, "Caro?"

Caro shook her head.

"With Erio and this girl on Fried, there's no more room" she said, sounding guilty.

"Oh don't sweat it" Subaru said, walking up to the huge hole in the wall

Now blocks of debris were starting to fall around us, almost hitting some of us.

"What's your plan Subaru?" I said, "and hurry it up" I glanced around at the slowly collapsing room.

"I used most of my power as well, but I think I can manage this" she said. I heard cartridges being loaded into her device as she placed her metal gloved-hand on the ground.

"Wing road!" she called out.

From Subaru's hand, a wide, winding path of magical blue symbols shot out, spiralling into the yellow sky.

"Run along this then" Subaru said smiling triumphantly, "Tea and I do it all the time"

I looked to Nanoha and both of our faces lit up.

"Brilliant!" I said!

"Alright!" Nanoha yelled, "Stars and Lightning, back to the helicopter, Mission Accomplished!"

Mission Accomplished

We sat in the Helicopter as it made its journey back to Headquaters. Nanoha had the tiny girl we had rescued in her arms, and she was our only topic of conversation.

"Why do you think she was there?" Tea asked.

"She was in the lab so she was probably a test subject" Erio said.

"How awful" Caro shook her head.

"Experimenting on human life is forbidden on almost every world," Nanoha said, "poor thing" she stroked the girl's forehead.

"Who knows what they've done to her" I said sighing, how could anyone experiment on a little girl?

The girls different coloured eyes opened suddenly. She seemed frightened still, but less-so than originaly.

"Hey" Nanoha said, "I'm Nanoha."

Nanoha smile seemed to calm the girl down, she opened her mouth and a small croak came out. Could she speak?

"Can you talk?" I asked her, leaning forward, "What's your name?"

Her voice was cracked, week. She had clearly never done much else than cry or scream. But she managed one thing, her name.

"Vivio"

The End