Chapter 1 –
AN: The exact time frame of this I'm not certain of, (I really need to watch the original series again) but this is technically during the fight against Precia in the introduction to the chapter, afterwards assume this is the time period between TOS and A's, so before Vita attacks Nanoha.
-‡-
The sound of thunder echoed throughout the Dimensional Sea. A dangerous rift had been opened, and a dimension was falling into the void. It echoed throughout it, and out an open rift, where it manifested as a lightning storm above the ocean. Thunder roared. Lightning struck. The storm complex began to move towards a city on the coast.
Yagami-Potter Household
"Hayate, the powers gone out!"
"…obviously."
"What do we do?" asked Harry.
"Wait it out, its going to be fine," was Hayates reply, unawares to what was happening, "The backup generator should come on soon."
They waited in silence and after about 10 minutes the lights in the building came back on.
"See? It's fine," stated Hayate, she stood up, going for the stairs, "I'm going to read for a little bit."
"Okay, Later," answered Harry, chewing a pencil, getting back to his cram school work.
Hayate picked up a book from her nightstand, a manga that she was currently reading, and propped herself against the pillows on her bed to read. She tried to read, distracted, then gave up after a few minutes. She put down the book and got off the bed, walking over to her desk. She reached up, and yanked a blue book off of it, and sat down at her desk.
Hayate undid the lock, something Harry never figured out how, and removed the chain from the Book. She sat back and looked at it, it seemed to wink back at her. Hayate put her hand on the cover and moved to open it, and she heard something go click.
The Book was glowing.
Hayate pushed back out of her chair as the book rose into the air, hovering about a foot above the desk. Then it spoke.
[Lehrer,] stated the Book, [Gibt es da etwas Ungeschicktes?]
Master, is there something amiss?
"U-uh…" managed Hayate, aware that it was speaking German, and she understood it, "What are you?"
[Daten zeigt, dass ich mich haufig wissen wie das Buch der Finsternis,] stated the Book.
Data suggests that I am commonly know as the Book of Darkness.
"Okay, Book of Darkness… why are you in my bedroom?"
[Sie sind mein Master,] it stated simply.
You are my Master.
"And, what does that entail?"
[Ich dienen sie, obwohl ich keine Funktion ohne Mana,] it stated.
I serve you, although I provide no function without any mana.
"Mana? How do I get that?"
[Mana gesammelt von Linker Kerne ,]
Mana is gathered from Linker Cores.
"And how do I get these Linker Cores?"
[Finden Sie in den Lebewesen ,]
Find them in living beings.
"Hmph," muttered Hayate, not sure what to make of it, she needed time to think, "Can we resume this conversation later?"
[Natürlich, Herr. Herunterfahren. ,]
Of course, Master. Shutting Down.
Hayate just stood there, absolutely flabbergasted at what had just happened. She heard Harry moving around downstairs, 'He would freak if he found out,' thought Hayate, 'better to not speak of this for now.'
"Hayate!" called Harry, "Do you know what 7x+8 = 5 is?"
"Give me a second." Called Hayate down the stairs. Wrapping the book up in chains and putting it on her shelf again, then going down the stairs to help Harry.
The Dimensional Sea
TSAB Cruiser Asura
6 hours later…
"Admiral! I have a report!" stated a Leuitenant to a blue haired woman.
"Alright Kenny, what is it?" smiled the woman, "And no ones going to sue you, call me Lindy."
"The dimensional storm created by the recent incident has ceased, but we detected a smaller pulse masked by the storm, it is a very powerful Lost Logia, originating from Unadministered Planet #97." He took a breath to continue.
"Thank you, Kenny," replied Lindy, holding up her hand, "that's all I needed to hear for now, please send me the detail files later."
"Yes ma'am!" stated Kenny, who left the room.
"Earth…" sighed Lindy, "Why is it always Earth…"
Sheshou Elementary School
Later that Week…
"Hayate, has Nanoha been around at all this week?" asked Harry.
"I noticed that too," replied Hayate, "No, she's been out of class, a 'family emergency' they said."
"Really? No kidding." Thought Harry, "If its bad enough to pull her out of school, it isn't an emergency, its worse."
Tamamachi Household
Same Time…
"Nanoha…" began a blond haired girl.
"Oh shut up, Fate-chan," Nanoha nearly shouted, bringing her into a tight hug, "I'm glad you're safe."
"I'm glad as well."
Nanoha sighed, "I don't know how Lindy's going to work this all out though, It was a mess."
"Your telling me."
A blue haired boy stuck his head into the room, "Sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds, but we have to leave in an hour."
"Thanks Chrono," replied Fate, looking at the clock on the wall.
"No problem," he said over his shoulder as he left the room.
They sat in silence for a few moments before Nanoha spoke, "do you think we need to tell anyone?"
"Tell what?" asked Fate.
"About stuff, everything," said Nanoha, waving her hands in the air, "Some of my friends are getting really suspicious about what I'm doing."
"Wait on it," advised Fate, "if they get anymore suspicious, tell them, but your return to school should help things."
"Okay," agreed Nanoha, who scooted up closer to Fate, "one more thing…"
Yagami-Potter Household
2 months later…
(AN: I don't know exactly when Hayates birthday is, but for the sake of the story, Hayates birthday is before Harry's, somewhere in May. At this point in the story, its about August, and Harry and Hayate are both 9, in the original series, Vita would be attacking Nanoha somewhere in Feburary.)
Harry and Hayate ate dinner in silence. Hayate slumped in her chair, poking at her noodles, not talking. Harry simply at his dumplings, and Hayate sniffed. Harry looked up at Hayates face, and spoke up.
"You feeling alright?" he asked.
"Not too good," sniffed Hayate, "I think I'm coming down with something."
"Let me see," said Harry, standing up and putting his hand on her head, "Your burning up!" he exclaimed, "get upstairs," he pointed.
Hayate, not feeling near well enough to argue, trudged up the stairs, and got under her covers. The bad feelings in her stomach intensified, she felt like she was burning up inside. A headache pounded the inside of her skull. Her lungs began to burn, it was hard to breath. What in the hell was she sick with?
Suddenly, a searing pain, more intense than anything else, began to burn in her neck. Hayate could feel something draining away, the darkness eating at the edge of her vision intensifying, she felt that if she didn't stop it, something terrible would happen. She grasped at it, pulled back, instead, the burning intensified in her legs, and the drain intensified. Hayate remembered something Harry had shown her, a focusing technique for ignoring pain. She breathed slowly and thought about something even more painful than this. Her brow furrowed, and the pain ebbed a little. Hayate mentally gripped the force in her body, and yanked. The draining stopped completely, the burn in her legs however, increased tenfold. It proved too much for Hayate, and she let out a scream, and went unconscious.
Harry was downstairs, boiling water for some soup when he heard a screech, thinking it was just a car in the street, he kept on cooking. A few minutes later, he realized there were no cars upstairs. In fifthteen seconds, the stove was off and he was up the stairs, standing in Hayates doorway, flabbergasted.
Hayate was in her bed, and her fathers book was floating in the air above her.
Harry mad to move into the room, but as soon as he tried to get close, a clear white wall appeared and barred his way. Harry resorted to the only other thing, he shouted, "Hayate!"
She stirred, and her eyes slowly opened to the sight in front of her, she managed, "Oh…"
[Startup ... Aktivierung ist abgeschlossen, guten Abend, Master,] stated the Book of Darkness
Startup… Activation Complete, Good Evening, Master.
Harry blinked, the book has spoke, in German, he didn't know a word of German.
Hayate, fully awake, spoke up, "I thought I told you to shutdown?"
[Ich wurde gebeten, wieder das aktuelle Gespräch später, habe ich falsch? ,] responded the Book.
I was asked to resume the current conversation later, did I misunderstand?
Hayate remembered the last time, and palmed her face, "No, you didn't misunderstand," she looked and saw Harry, "Harry!"
"Hayate! What the hell is going on here?!" shouted Harry.
"You tell me," she muttered, "come in," she guestured.
[Zugriff gewährt,] stated the book.
Access Granted.
The barrier around the door flared and disappeared, allowing Harry into the room, where he rushed to Hayate, "are you okay? I heard you scream!"
"I'm fine, I think," responded Hayate, pulling her covers off, "I feel a lot better too," she threw her legs out with her hips, a sinking feeling in her stomach, "can you help me up?"
"Yes," responded Harry, pulling Hayate off the bed, who promptly fell flat on hder face.
"Okay," she announced, "definetly not okay. I can't feel my legs."
Harry helped her into a chair before something clicked in his mind, "what did you do to her!?" he shouted at the Book.
[Ich war aktiviert unter dem Deckmantel der Befehl wurde ich, und ich erhielt Energie und Mana bei der Aktivierung, der aktiviert meine Startup Routine, die ich kurzzeitig angehalten haben, scheint es, dass die Energie wurden einige meiner Masters Lebenskraft,] stated the Book.
I was activated under the pretense of the command I was given, and I received energy and mana upon activation, which activated my startup routine, which I have paused momentarily, it appears that the energy was some of my Masters lifeforce.
"What startup routine?" asked Hayate, "and is this lifeforce gone forever? Can I get it back?"
[Mein Startup Routine wird sie anhand der gesammelten Mana zum Aktivieren der Hüter, wie für ihre Lebenskraft, es ist nicht meine Domain und ich bin nicht in der Lage, Hilfe zu diesem Thema,] replied the Book.
My startup routine will use the gathered mana to activate the Guardians, as for your lifeforce, It is not my domain and I am unable to help on the matter.
"Where'd you get the mana? What is mana?" asked Hayate.
[Mana ist kurz für magische Energie, ich erhielt es von meinem Meister bei der Aktivierung,] the Book stated.
Mana is short for magical energy, I received it from my Master upon activation.
"Magical… energy?" asked Hayate, "Since when did I have magical energy?"
[Sie haben sie immer ,] the Book simply stated.
You have always had it.
"Hayate?" asked Harry, not understanding what was going on, "Can you understand that?"
"Yes…" was Hayates soft answer, "I understand it."
"Then what did it-" began Harry before being interrupted by the Book.
[Verfahren zur Aktivierung überschreiben, die Initialisierung Programme… Capture System online, online, Aktivierung starten der Guardian System,]
Activation Procedure override, initializing programs… Capture System Online, Storage System online, begin activation of Guardian System.
A intricate white triangle appeared below the book, turning black at the edges.
"Whats happening now?" fearfully asked Harry.
"I don't know," truthfully admitted Hayate.
AN: Yes. This IS a cliff hanger. :D