Changes
Chapter 3
Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
A few days later...
Alicia frowned softly, something had happened, she just knew it. "Linith..?"
"Yes?" Her familiar looked at her, though she seemed to be distracted at the time. "Lady Alicia?"
"You feel that?" It was a terrible pulse of magic, one that chilled her to the bones, and she wasn't even that strong, magically, compared to the rest of the people in her penthouse. She couldn't imagine how it was for Linith.
The two went back to what they had been doing before, Linith cleaning up while Alicia did some tests on various things that were laying around. She looked at the Jewel Seeds before shaking her head. The last thing she wanted to do was experiment on them without double-checking to make sure that they were sealed properly.
The two of them suddenly stiffened as they heard the door get kicked in and Arf yelling. The two were in the living room a moment later and Alicia gasped as she saw Fate's hands and arms. There were deep burns, some gouging, and even blood. "Fate!" She gasped and went to her daughter, taking her from Arf. "What happened?"
"I'm sorry, mother... I just wanted to get the Jewel Seed."
"Why would you risk yourself like that?" Alicia yelled, worry written all over her face as Linith moved them towards the bedroom. After putting Fate on the bed, Alicia grew more worried as Fate grimaced from that. "Linith..."
The catgirl nodded and gently, carefully, took Fate's clothing off, both women gasped and stared wide-eyed at the series of burns across Fate's upper body.
"Get the bandages, I'll see about healing her." Linith said softly as Alicia got up and went to the bathroom where they kept the bandages. As she worked some healing magic, mostly to stop any sort of bleeding and lessen the pain, Linith sighed as Fate looked away, out of shame. "What's wrong, Fate?"
"I upset mother... I just wanted that Jewel Seed before that other girl got it."
"So you decided you wanted to know what it felt like to become fried chicken?" Linith snapped at her, getting her to cringe and turn away slightly. Sighing, Linith took a deep breath. "Fate, I'm sorry, but, we're not used to seeing you so badly hurt. It scares us. What if Arf hadn't been there? What if the other girl decided to attack you while you were hurt?" When she didn't respond, Linith ran a hand through Fate's hair, before coaxing her to laying on her back again. "We don't want to lose you, Fate. Your mother would be very sad if you died."
Fate's eyes started to burn with tears as she hiccuped a few times, her breath coming in shuddering gasps, before she rolled over and clung to Linith. "I...I'm sorry!" She started crying, tears falling down her face as Linith, not stopping the healing spell, patted her on the head. She would have rubbed Fate's back, but there were burns there too. Just what had happened out there?
"I'm so so-sorry!" Fate sobbed into Linith's lap. "The other girl got one earlier today and then when the second one popped up, I really wanted to get it and..." She broke down, unable to form words at that time.
Alicia came back at that time and gently sat down on the bed, taking out some burn ointment and started to rub it on her daughter's back and arms. Neither woman said anything as Fate kept crying.
"Feel better?" Linith asked after Fate calmed down. The girl nodded against her lap. "Good... Fate, it's a good thing that you want to get these Lost Logia so badly, but..."
"I don't want you to do something that will get you hurt." Alicia finished for Linith as she continued to rub the lotion onto Fate's body. The two sat Fate up, since the burns were only on her upper body, and applied the lotion to her front. "You're my precious girl, if you died, I wouldn't know what to do with myself."
"I'm sorry." Fate sniffled softly and blinked as Linith wiped her face with a paper towel. The catgirl didn't say anything, thankfully, but Fate still felt bad that she had made both her mother and Linith worry about her.
At times, Linith felt like a mother to Fate, just like Alicia was.
It made her feel warm and happy.
But, she always felt a deep desire to do all that she could to prove herself worthy of the love that both of them and Arf gave to her. And that was why she did such dangerous and stupid stunts.
(-)
"Hmm..." A woman with long green hair stared at the monitor in front of her. "Dangerous games these children play."
"M...Mother!" A young boy with blue hair by her gasped in shock. "How can you say that?"
The woman turned to her son and smiled. "Because I don't think either of them are trying to hurt each other. It would be nice if they were just trying to collect the Jewel Seeds and got a little too competitive with each other. Besides, they are cute, ne?" She winked and held up a finger, causing the boy to look away as his face turned red.
A girl with brown hair turned to the woman and gave her a look that bordered between exasperated and irritated. "Admiral, wouldn't it be a better idea to get the Jewel Seeds ourselves?"
The Admiral turned to her and nodded. "Oh, it would, I admit, but we have no idea just how much damage the Jewel Seeds have done." She looked at a new video window. "Well, it seems that they've started fighting again. Chrono, perhaps you should go down there and see if they'll be willing to listen to us."
"Of course." The boy bowed his head and walked off to a tube at the back of the room.
"Oh, and Chrono..."
"Huh?" He looked at his mother as she grinned in a way that had him tremble slightly with worry.
"Do try to be diplomatic in this situation. I'd hate to have a fight start due to a misunderstanding again."
The boy's face flushed. "That wasn't my fault." Really, it wasn't. How was he supposed to know that accidentally knocking over a house of cards was considered a criminal offense on that last world?
She giggled at him and nodded. "Of course, good luck, dear."
After watching Chrono disappear, the girl turned to the woman. "Admiral Lindy, was that really neccessary?"
Lindy smiled at the girl. "Amy, sometimes it helps to be constantly reminded of small failures. It helps us avoid big ones in the future."
"So..." Amy's face took on an annoyed bent at that point. "Why bring up that those girls were cute to Chrono?" Sure, she was a couple years older than Chrono was, but she still liked him. Now if only he'd stop being so stiff and formal all the time.
Lindy shrugged as she watched Chrono interrupt the fight between the two girls. "To be honest, I just want him to interact with more people close to his age. It's not good to be around adults all the time, even if one of them is just a teenager." She winked at Amy, who just shook her head and looked back at the screen. "Well, that was a bit unexpected." She hadn't expected the redheaded familiar to attack her son like that. "Amy, can you track them?"
"Already on it, ma'am." Amy's hands flew over the keyboard in front of her before she grimaced and sighed. "I'm sorry, but they did multiple teleports in quick succession, tracing them would take so long that by the time we caught up with them..." She trailed off, disappointed.
Lindy shook her head. "No, it's okay. No one's perfect after all." She smiled as it looked like Chrono was able to talk the other girl into at least coming on board. "At the very least, we should be able to find out what's been going on on this planet."
Amy nodded, though, deep down, she wondered who was going to get in trouble for what was going on. Non-Administered worlds just didn't have powerful mages laying around after all, and Lost Logias didn't just pop up on those worlds either.
So, why were two mages of such power actually fighting on the planet?
(-)
A few days later...
Chrono looked at the screen and frowned softly. "So, with Nanoha's help, we managed to get nine of the Jewel Seeds. Combined with the six that aren't found, that means that the other girl has six Jewel Seeds herself." He turned to Amy. "Are you certain?"
The girl nodded at him. "Yes. All the remaining Jewel Seeds are not on the ground. Which means they can only be in one place..."
"The ocean." He sighed and grumbled about stupid planets having more water than they knew what to do with. "Still, nothing much we can do until they activate on their own..."
Or someone else activated them by force.
(-)
Alicia looked at Arf and sighed. "So, you and Fate got six seeds, huh?" When she nodded, Alicia shook her head. "Well, that's fine."
"Huh?" To say Arf was confused was an understatement, didn't Alicia need at least ten of those Jewel Seeds?
The woman had a sad smile on her face as she stood up from the table. "It's okay, Arf, I should have expected to fail once the Bureau got off its butt and came here." She had faith in Fate and Arf, but to go against anyone with full and proper training? She sighed, before shaking her head and smiling at Arf. "You and Fate did great. After tonight, I don't want you two going out to look anymore."
"Huh?" Arf stood, her eyes wide as she stared at the woman. "All that work, for nothing?"
"Arf, it's not that, I just don't want you or Fate to be badly hurt. If the two of you go against the Bureau, you will be."
Squeezing her hand into a fist, Arf growled slightly. "You'll see... We'll get four more by tonight."
"Arf, wait!" Alicia tried to stop the familiar, but she was already gone and out the door. "No..." A cold sensation welled up in her chest as she ran out of the kitchen. "Arf! Fate!" She stared as the two weren't in the living room. "Linith!"
"Lady Alicia?" The catgirl blinked as she saw her master's worried face. "What's wrong?"
"Go after them." Alicia shuddered, her face seemingly blue. "Something big is going to happen. For god's sake, stop them!"
Linith didn't need anymore motivation as she took off out the window, tracing after Fate and Arf's magic signature. Alicia had a weird way of knowing just when something bad was going to happen sometimes. This was one of those times, she was certain of it.
(-)
"What's going on?" Arf yelled as she and Fate got over the site where they suspected the Jewel Seeds to be.
"I'm not sure." Fate grimaced as she and Arf were forced to dodge out of the way of twisters. "It's like it just started all of a sudden!" Still, if there were six seeds under the water, leaving them alone would be the worst thing in the world.
(-)
"Just what is she thinking?" Amy gasped as she looked at Fate and Arf battle against the out of control Jewel Seeds.
"Did she activate them?" Lindy asked as she came into the control room.
Chrono shook his head. "No. They just went off on their own." Not pleasant, but it was better this way. "Still, it doesn't look like she has the situation under control, does it?"
"I'm here!" He turned to see Nanoha and Yuuno run into the room. "What do you want me to do?"
"Nothing." Chrono turned away to watch the screen. "We're going to let her handle this and you two will stay here."
"What?" Nanoha was stunned, she couldn't believe it. Chrono wouldn't do something like this, would he?
"It's simple, either she seals up the Jewel Seeds and is worn out, or she fails, but bleeds a lot of power out of them. Either way, after she's done, we'll just swoop in and clean up the mess."
"Nanoha..." The brunette turned to the blond boy next to her. "Go. I'll cover for you."
"Thank you, Yuuno-kun." Nanoha smiled as she ran for the teleporter.
Chrono felt a quick build-up of magic behind him and he turned to look, his eyes wide. "What the heck are you doing?" He yelled, but found himself unable to move forward due to a barrier that materialized in front of him.
"I'm going to go down there and help that girl before she gets killed!" Nanoha yelled as Yuuno finished the teleport and dropped her high above the battlefield.
"Sorry." Yuuno shook his head and followed after Nanoha.
"My, my..." Lindy shook her head. Who knew Yuuno was so skilled? 'Able to make a barrier, teleport Nanoha down and follow after her, without a device and through this ship? Impressive.'
Chrono grimaced and watched as Nanoha and Yuuno lent their aid to Fate and Arf. "Amy, send me down there." He didn't even wait for a reply as he ran to the teleporter.
Lindy sighed as she watched her son disappear. 'Clyde, if you were here, what would you do about your son right now?' She asked herself before turning to the view screen. "Amy, make sure to get them back here as soon as possible."
Amy nodded as they watched the events play out.
(-)
Fate looked at the girl in front of her. "Why?" When she blinked, Fate sighed softly. "Why help me? Aren't we enemies?"
Nanoha shrugged at that, the six Jewel Seeds between them floated harmlessly. "You aren't a bad person, you could have done a lot to me when we first fought, but you didn't." She smiled softly. "I'd like to think that we could be friends."
Before Fate could answer, blue binds wrapped around her and pinned her arms and legs to her body. "What the?"
"Fate Testarossa, you are under arrest." Chrono said calmly as he floated into the area. He looked around for her familiar but couldn't see her. "Where..?"
"How dare you!" He heard her voice from behind, moments before a hard kick to the back of his head, knocking him off balance. "Fate!" Arf yelled as she flew to grab the blond girl. "What the?" She blinked, there were only three Jewel Seeds there. "Where are the others..?" She turned and saw Chrono holding up three Jewel Seeds between his fingers. "What the?" When did he get those? She growled as she watched him seal them into his device. "You..." They were one short, just one Jewel Seed short and these two had them! "Fate!" She turned to see that Fate had broken the binds. "We just need one more!"
Fate nodded. 'One more, then Mother will have all that she needs.' The blond girl took a stance behind Arf.
Chrono grimaced as he looked at them. He might have been skilled, but he didn't relish the thought of fighting two people as powerful as them. "Nanoha, Yuuno, I'll need some back-up." At least he could deal with the familiar or the master easily enough if the other one was distracted or fighting.
"Actually, you'll be handing over a Jewel Seed now." A new voice was heard as Nanoha and Chrono spun around to see a woman in a gray and white outfit holding Yuuno around the waist with long nails pointing towards his exposed neck. "Or this boy will be dead." The dead-serious look in her eyes had both Chrono and Nanoha stunned.
'Linith...' Fate couldn't believe that Linith would do this, but she was. 'Why?' She didn't want to kill anyone, she didn't think that Linith wanted to either.
"Well?" The familiar asked, her tone cold and sharp as she pulled her hand back to stab at Yuuno's neck. "Just one Jewel Seed and I'll let him go."
"We can't trust you." Chrono yelled and then grimaced. 'Gods, I sound like a character from some cheesy book right now.' Still, if she was still for a few more moments, he could bind her up and... "Urgh!"
"Not this time!" Arf yelled as she punched Chrono in the small of the back before grabbing him by his jacket and throwing him to the ocean below. "You!" She spun to Nanoha. "Just give me one of your Jewel Seeds and the ferret will be okay." When Nanoha didn't respond, Arf's face got a bit mischevious. "Or maybe you'll take me up on that offer to become my personal pet?"
Arf didn't know why Nanoha blushed at that, but it sure was weird, and kind of funny. If she saw that girl more often, she'd have to tease her more like this.
"...You'll let Yuuno-kun go if I give you a Jewel Seed?" Nanoha looked at Linith, who nodded.
"Just one and he won't be harmed."
"Put out." Raising Heart intoned as a Jewel Seed was released from the pink orb.
Nanoha grabbed the Jewel Seed with her left hand before throwing it right at Linith. True to her word, she let Yuuno go as she grabbed the Seed out of mid-air. "Arf, Fate, we're leaving!"
The two nodded as they all disappeared.
"How could you?" Chrono yelled at Nanoha as he got close to them again He was so close to getting to the root of all of this, and she just GIVES up one of the Jewel Seeds like that?
Nanoha ignored him and floated over to Yuuno. "Are you okay?"
Yuuno nodded and smiled at the girl. "I wasn't in any danger, Nanoha."
"Huh?" Nanoha and Chrono blinked as Yuuno blushed slightly.
"She told me, that she wouldn't hurt me, she just wanted the Jewel Seed, and those two to go with her safely, that's all."
"GAH!" Chrono felt like tearing his hair out. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"I was worried she might actually hurt me if I did tell you." Yuuno sighed as he looked at Nanoha. "It's okay, Nanoha." He smiled at her as he grabbed her hands, getting her to blink in surprise at him. "Thank you."
"Welcome." She smiled softly, glad he was okay.
