Disclaimer: I don't own the worlds in this fic, or anything else portrayed. I did create the villains and story, though. I guess that means they're free for the taking, but if you do, just let me know if you would. Maho Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha and Maho Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's were produced by Ivory and Seven Arcs. Sailor Moon and its sequels were written by Naoko Takeuchi, and published by Japonica Polonica Fantastica (JPF). The 'Grid' mentioned multiple times in this chapter is my own interpretation of an old idea - it is what Midchilda mages call the ambient magic of an area. A kind of magical 'background noise' that can be drawn on to cast spells. Without using the grid, the energy must come either from the mage herself, (being insanely draining) or another source, such as a cartridge. In the alternate reality of MirrorS, the Linker Core is what allows a mage to form the 'link' between their personal magic and the ambient background magic.
Chapter 2 - 'This place is...'
03.20, 12th June, Tokyo city, Earth.
Everything was darkness, and they were falling. She could see Fate beside her, upside down. For a moment she feared the worst, but then the blonde opened her eyes and righted herself. Nanoha looked up and saw the light of the teaching room, the last few seconds from another's' point of view and tried to fly towards it. As though in a nightmare, she couldn't. She was flying as hard as she could towards that light, but it would come no closer...
"Nanoha-chan..." Fate's whisper sounded concerned, and Nanoha looked at her, and then looked down. At last, coming towards them she saw it. A sphere, blue and green and so like earth... Then pain, blinding and crushing from every direction. Magical barriers set against them from before the dawn of time. Almost without conscious thought, Nanoha forced Raging Heart around. Through threatening blindness, she saw Fate do the same with Bardiche, and then there was nothing but the sound of cartridges firing and someone screaming spells.
Nanoha groaned in pain as she awoke, her eyes cracking open to stare at a dark sky framed by giants. Her body felt like one huge bruise... the giants resolved themselves into skyscrapers, and she realised that she was lying on her back in her civilian clothes on top of a pile of rubbish bags. Groggily, she got to her feet and stood on the floor of the alleyway, looking around. Fate was standing at the entrance to the alleyway, holding something close to her face and staring at the street.
"Fate-chan, are you..?" Nanoha's voice croaked as she asked, moving up to stand just behind the other girl.
"I'll live... but... Bardiche... and... I don't know where we are."
"What's wrong with Bardiche..?" Nanoha asked, taking out Raging Heart and looking at it as she realised it was back on its cord around her neck.
By way of reply, Fate showed her the triangular device. The display on the back of the raised section displayed the same message that was flashing in sequence on Raging Heart's curved surface.
No Connection to Local Grid.
Please Load Cartridge to Initialise.
"But.. that's not possible." Nanoha stammered as she reread the blinking message. "The devices are connected to the grid through our linker cores... the only way something like this could happen is if something happened to the cores... but a total loss like this would mean..."
"The cores were destroyed. Which would mean we were dead." Fate declared the logical conclusion with solemn quiet. "Or the rules are different here. For now, we must assume that we can only activate our devices by using cartridges."
"But in a populated area... with no barriers... we need to move. Find out where we are and find some way to send a signal. Can you contact Arf?"
"No.." Fate shook her head. "Nothing. If I used cartridges to boost, maybe, but... I only have three loads left. Nineteen cartridges."
"I've got twenty cartridges... two boxes. I see... you don't want to risk wasting them since we might need them... we need a safe haven where we can make more, and materials... do you have empties?"
"Yes... but... only five." Fate told her. It was the one advantage of Bardiche's revolver-style cartridge store. Unlike the box-and-slide mechanism of Raging Heart, Bardiche stored the empty cartridges in their slots until the whole magazine was ejected.
"It'll have to be enough." Nanoha decided. "We need to look around. I don't think there will be many people around, it feels pretty late here."
Fate just nodded, and the two girls moved out into the streets. Shops were shut on all sides, advertising all kinds of goods. As they reached the corner of the block, Nanoha looked around and up, then blinked.
"No way... that would be too much..." she mumbled as she stared at the giant triangular structure in the distance. Lit up at night, the tower was instantly recognisable. "Tokyo. We're that close..." she looked along the street in the other direction and saw the bay with the brightly lit Rainbow Bridge in the distance. "That would make this... Odaiba..."
"Nanoha-chan?" Fate asked, mystified. Her companion was gawking like a tourist suddenly. "Do you know where we are..?"
"Tokyo city. We're in Tokyo. It's an hour away from Uminari on the shinkansen... one of the biggest cities in Japan." the girl told her, and she nodded.
"I see. That is good, then. We cannot be sure that Uminari is in this world, however..." Fate reminded her, then paused. "Nanoha-chan... what do you think happened to your students? Do you think they're alright..?"
"I saw them... when we were falling. I think they're still in the room, or were when we landed. I hope so..." she trailed off. Fate opened her mouth to say something, but paused. She had the strangest feeling... like she was being watched.
In a nearby alleyway, their watcher pulled back, worried that he'd been spotted. He'd felt the power of their arrival from home, and since his partner was long asleep for a change he had decided to investigate alone. He sat down in the alley and contemplated what he'd seen.
Two girls, the same age as his partner, wandering around like they were lost. He didn't think they were enemies, but the monster attacks had gotten more frequent recently than the usual background chatter of survivors. One with long, blonde hair cascading down her back and tied with a ribbon at the end who wore a black shirt and white slacks, and the other with brown hair - almost as long, but tied in a single tail mysteriously hanging from the side of her head. She wore a grey sweatshirt, about a size too big, and a knee-length skirt. Ordinary clothes... but these were definitely the two. They had a strange power, shrouded from him somehow...
"Fate-chan... are you alright?" It was Nanoha's turn to ask as the blonde looked around, suspiciously.
"I.. yes. I just felt like we were being watched. It's probably nothing." Fate smiled at her. "I don't think we're going to find anything wandering around in the middle of the night. We need to wait until morning... this is a possibly hostile environment, and we need to adapt as soon as possible."
"You're right. Sorry, I've just been at headquarters so long... I'd forgotten what it's like to be in the field."
"It's fine. I'm here." Fate took Nanoha's hand and squeezed it, smiling. After a moment, Nanoha squeezed back.
Dawn found them still awake, sitting on a bench in one of the few parks in Tokyo. This one overlooked something called the Infinity Institute which appeared to be some kind of school. Nanoha was starting to feel fatigue set in. Soon, the park started to come into use as early risers walked dogs or took morning runs. A moment later, Fate's stomach rumbled.
"Fate-chan... do you have any money?" Nanoha asked, searching her own clothing for her purse. Well, most people would probably call it a wallet, since it was in that style, but she couldn't find it anyway. She must have left it in her quarters back at base.
"Nothing..." her friend replied, her own search having come up equally stumped. "Some Midchilda Rains, but other than that..." The Rain was the standard unit of currency on Midchilda, as well as being nominally the currency Bureau agents were paid in. It was, of course, completely valueless in Japan, Earth.
"We need food, and drink. Without money, that means either stealing or trickery..." Fate murmured, thoughtfully. "I'm not good at illusions..."
"We can't anyway... It's not just Raging Heart and Bardiche... I can't find the grid either... which means that must be the problem..." Nanoha sighed and looked down at the ground. A moment later, Fate looked up at the sky, shading her eyes with the back of her hand as though the answers were there.
"Hey, you look kind of rough. Are you girls alright?" A man's voice asked from nearby, and both mages looked at him. A redhead, he was wearing a uniform similar to those of several other students moving around the park. One shoulder sported a sideways eight - the universal symbol for infinity.
"Well..." Nanoha started, "Actually... we're lost, and we don't have any money..."
As though to emphasise her point, her stomach rumbled again, causing the man to chuckle.
"A couple of strays, huh? I'm called Ferry. I was meant to be meeting my sister here, but she'll understand. I'll buy you some breakfast, but I've got college today so..."
"Thank you." Fate whispered, standing. Since she still had Nanoha's hand in hers, this pulled the other girl up with her. When Ferry saw, he grinned.
"Ah, like that is it? You're runaways?" he smiled, his voice friendly. There wasn't any malice in the comment, but Nanoha took her hand back quickly and clasped it with her other one even as Fate looked away and blushed. "It's okay, you don't have to tell me." He held up his hands in surrender. "Still, I'll buy you breakfast and give you a train fare, but I think you should go home and try to make it work with your families."
Briefly, Nanoha thought of her elder siblings and their constantly uncertain relationship with each other and fought down a blush of her own before nodding.
"Thank you, Ferry, but... I don't know. I don't like to accept charity... I'm Nanoha."
"Nonsense. I have enough of it. Come on, there's a coffee shop nearby that does good breakfasts. I was going there anyway, so it's not a problem."
"Thank you..." Fate whispered again. "My name is Fate, and we will accept your help..."
As they walked together, Ferry made light conversation and both girls couldn't help but like him. At one point, he was telling them a story and capering around to try and show them and had both girls giggling into their hands. He looked so ridiculous in his dignified school uniform prancing around like some kind of mountebank.
As they left the park, he calmed down some and walked beside them until they arrived at the small coffee shop. In some ways, its similarity to Midoriya was almost painful, and Nanoha paused on the threshold as she realised that there was a chance that, like AlHazard, they might never get back. Dimensional Disturbances had an even higher tragedy rate than Lost Logia.
"Are you alright?" Ferry asked, and she shook herself off and nodded.
"It's nothing. Just a faint moment." Nanoha smiled at him and he nodded.
"All the more reason to get some food into you. Find somewhere to sit, I'll join you in a moment." he moved towards the counter, and the girls looked at each other before sitting at a table in the corner with three seats. They took the two closer to the wall, letting them see the room properly.
"Can we trust him..? He seems too good to be true..." Nanoha asked, and Fate looked at her surprised. Usually it was her who suspected people, Nanoha accepting everyone as they were.
"We have to. It's only for a little, so..."
If she was going to say any more, it was cut off as Ferry came back with a tray laden with plates. Three of them, in fact, with full European-style breakfasts.
"Sorry if it's not what you like, but it's what they do here... I'm from England, so they're what I'm used to." he told them, conciliatory.
"It's very generous of you..." Nanoha smiled at him. As he started to eat, the mages both muttered quick prayers before settling in. The greasy food was almost too rich on their empty stomachs, but even so it was all gone in short order. A waitress cam over with another tray, this one laden with coffee, and took the plates away as Ferry thanked her. He was clearly a regular at the small shop.
"I have to go soon for college, but before I do... here." He pushed some money over the table to them with a smile. "There should be enough there for a ticket home, wherever that might be for you. No, don't tell me." He said as Nanoha opened her mouth. "It's enough that I could help a couple of innocent waifs. The gentlemanly thing to do. If you see my sister, though, don't tell her. She'll be convinced you conned me into it!" he grinned to show he was joking and stood up. "Seriously though, this is where I'm staying. If you need help, don't hesitate." He wrote something on a napkin and gave it to Fate, who smiled and folded it into her pocket. "I'll see you around, maybe, if you're in the area again."
Then he was gone, waving as he walked out of the small coffee shop. Nanoha took the money and folded it into her skirt pocket before doing up the zip.
"He is... strange." Fate conceded after a moment, and Nanoha nodded.
"But good, I think. We shouldn't impinge though... even though he offered. It doesn't feel right."
"There's something..." Fate began, but stopped, uncertain. "No... it's probably just interference from my Core..."
"It is odd... I feel dislocated. Like something's wrong. Missing. I didn't realise how much I was relying on my magic for awareness... now I just feel weird." Nanoha mused, before standing suddenly. "Well, we won't figure out how to send a message to the Bureau sitting here all day. I don't think this world is awakened, magically speaking, so... we'll have to use cartridges to boost the signal."
Fate nodded, starting to stand, when suddenly there was an explosion outside and several screams. The mages looked at each other for a moment before sprinting outside.
The street had become a scene of chaos. A car was overturned and burning - the explosion had been the petrol tank going up. People were moving away from the cause quickly, abandoning cars in their haste to run. A moment later, Nanoha saw why.
In the middle of the road, holding a salary man by his head was a twelve foot tall ape-like monster. Mostly formless, it seemed to be made out of some kind of grey putty. The claws on its elongated fingers looked sharp enough, though, and the rift in its neckless head looked vaguely mouthlike. Two red glowing orbs stood in for eyes, set above the rent that might have been a nasal cavity.
"What IS that thing?!" Nanoha yelled, shocked. She'd never seen anything like it. Neither had Fate, but that didn't matter.
"I don't know, but we have to stop it. Bardiche, Auxiliary Power mode, Set Up." she said all in the same level voice, plucking the triangular device and a cartridge from her pocket and holding them together. Momentarily, she wished for an S2U storage device, but beggars can't be choosers and her Bardiche was much more powerful than those units. A moment later, her barrier jacket settled around her and she held the weapon in her hand.
"Raging Heart... please!" Nanoha intoned a moment later, the gem held in her hand. She let it roll to the edge of her fingers and palmed a cartridge, bringing the two into contact and waiting while the device activated.
"Aux Power Set." Bardiche informed Fate, even as Raging Heart told Nanoha;
"Auxiliary Power Mode Ready. Lets do it, my master."
"Right!" Nanoha clipped the box magazine into place.
"Reload." Raging Heart intoned. "Lets shoot it. Axel Buster."
Even as Nanoha gave the command, Fate dashed forward, activating Haken form to deliver a deadly slash... to where the monster had been. Despite her speed, the monster had jumped over the attack to land on an abandoned taxi, crushing the roof in. A moment later, Nanoha's blast swept through that space as, with ponderous agility, the large monster rolled sideways to throw a sweeping punch that knocked the mage flying into a wall. She felt the impact, but her barrier jacket held even as the wall cracked behind her. Blearily, she saw the monster turn away to approach Fate, who stood with Bardiche held defensively, scythe ignited. She was forced to lower the weapon as the monster threw the still living, if badly injured, salary man at her however, and as the monster followed the attack with its own bulk she rolled out from under the unconscious man and brought the scythe up again, knowing it would be too late...