All versions of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha are owned by Masaki Tsuzuki. The Touhou Project is owned by ZUN. All other characters and concepts not found in either are owned without copywrite by Cryostasis.
****
In the hustle and bustle of a technologically superior society, sometimes the people like the opportunity to sit back and relax in a traditional manner, enjoying the style and low tech approach to taking it easy. One such facility flourished by catering to these random whims of the locals.
It was called "Flegra's Tea Shop". In the style of ancient times, Flegra's was an outdoor café. Cheep metal tables and chairs, painted in soft or light colors, laid out in a loose, patternless style deep into the sidewalk, with simple cloth parasols providing generally inadequate shading to each table. It was a place for people to sit down and enjoy a warm cup of Tea of Coffee while basked in the sunlight and a gentle natural breeze.
One man found himself enjoying the place far more than he thought he would. Always cooped up infront of a monitor or over a lab table, he had forgotten how nice it was to see the sky and not care about the deadline.
That wasn't his original plan when coming here though. Per a secret arrangement through anonymous channels, he had come to meet with a private contractee to discuss prices and conditions to an unusual job.
The man had arrived at the appointed time, and had spent the last hour nursing a cup of coffee while reading the News bulletin board off a small holographic monitor. "My agent will find you" my ass, thought the man. Many people had come and gone in that hour with no sign of anything other than a normal stopover. One such patron, whom he had hopes for at first, sat in the table behind the man, in a position to be able to talk. It obviously wasn't the case though, because that man was a boy who apparently still found the comics to be funny, the way he was sporadically laughing while eating his pastry.
He thought it could be the waiter (the place catered to the human touch), whom the man thought spent a longer amount of time roving the tables than necessary, but a simple test conversation disproved that.
It might even have been the woman who asked to join him when the other tables were full. But no, not even her. She drank her tea and made light conversation, then thanked him for the company and left.
Finally, the gruff old man gave up. He'd been had, the joke's on him, and as pleasant as the atmosphere was, he had better things to do than spend all day here. He put down his coffee cup with a measure of finality and moved to stand up.
"Why so small patience, Mr. Morris?" quietly asked the boy behind him. In English.
Joshua Morris forced himself to relax back in the seat, lest he draw unwanted attention to himself. English was an off-world language he thought to never hear again, letalone from a boy during an ordinary shady business deal. However many years it's been though, the language was his first one, so one not so easily lost.
"You're late" Morris said quietly in the same language after ordering another cup.
"Mr. N likes not be heard by people not involved" the boy said.
Morris snorted quietly. "Your English is terrible." He Said.
"Mr. N. teach. If you not like, then arrangement over."
"Hmph, I don't mind, but I hope your Mr. N knows who's fault it is if you misunderstand anything I say"
"Worry not Mt. Norris. Measures in place."
Both continued to read their respective holograms, for all the world ignorant of each other.
"100,000, with anonymity" Morris eventually said, choosing to skip the small talk. This guy was obviously a pro, so he felt he would appreciate the brevity.
"Mr. N feel that Mr. Morris overestimate rarity of goods. Offer was 50,000, no more."
"I feel that Mr. N underestimates the work that goes into the goods. The price of the goods is not in question, it is the time, work, and secrecy involved that dictate a fair cost."
"Mr. Morris also seem think that messenger have discussion rights…" the boy put his hand to his ear for a moment "…ability to negotiate. He does not." The old guy noticed the movement in the reflection off his coffee cup. So that's it.
One of the banes of modern advancement is that the authority looses sight of the value of low tech methods. With the increasing ability to intercept and overhear telepathic communication, those in the underground channels have taken to using short wave RF transmission. Joshua Norris knew this fact very well. "If Mr. N cannot negotiate, even through his proxy, than we are finished here. Good luck finding another to fill such an absurd request" he waited for a moment while the boy murmered to himself.
"Very well Mr. Morris, though Mr. N feels that warning need giving. Others are, that Mr. N may approach with matter. Others who provide for cheaper. Mr. N willing deal with Mr. Norris, only from respect for skill and speed of delivery."
Morris knew who these "others" are, and he grimaced. He'll be damned if he lets one of them score such a lucrative deal. However, he wasn't one to give in so easily. "I can go down to 80. No less though. It will be difficult to work the other channels I need with even that little."
"What Mr. Morris do with extra 30, Wipe ass with silk? Mr. N know of so called 'other channels', and feel Mr. Morris lie about difficulty. However, Mr. N respect Mr. Morris, so willing go 60 for trouble."
Joshua took a sip of his coffee again as he mulled over it. Honestly, the job would have cost him a mere 10,000 to complete, and still make off with a profit, however his pride wouldn't allow for such a copout, not at this stage. "It will hurt the process gravely, but I'll accept 75, and delivery within 6 weeks."
"Mr. N appreciate brevity, but appreciate quality more. 70, and in 8 weeks. Is very generous for man of such skill Mr. Morris. Unless Mr. Morris feel he cannot complete the simple task"
"There is no need to be snide, Mr. Messenger." He took another sip of his coffee. "I'll agree to those conditions. 70,000, and delivery in 8 weeks."
"Price cut half every day late for 3 days. 4th day, deal moved to rival."
"Since I am never late, I will agree to those terms as well. Good day to you Mr. N and your messenger" He didn't get up to leave right away though. In order to keep up the image of disinterest, both parties continued to read and drink until their respective confections were finished.
****
If anyone were in the Coastal Airport 8 ruins in the middle of the night that night, they may have hears some light bangs coming from somewhere.
If this metaphorical person followed the sounds of the bangs, they would have been drawn to the pier, where they would have encountered a large, empty, yet mostly intact warehouse. Coming from that supposedly empty warehouse would be the muffled sounds of explosions, it's rate varying from sporadic to staccato.
Should they have found their way into the warehouse, they would have been greeted with an unusual sight, a sight that would have been awe inspiring to say the least.
Ethan Frist was bouncing around the inside of that warehouse like a supercharged superball. Every time his feet touched a solid surface, an explosion would occur projecting him outward again at a high speed. He didn't just go back and forth however. With every bounce and jump, his direction changed, almost at random, though to the bouncer it was anything but random.
The rate of jump varied because of this. Should he attempt a leap from one end to the other, he would spend several seconds gliding through the air before jumping again, yet if he bounced up and down beneath the maintenance awning to the side, those explosions occurred as many as 4 times a second.
The Force Jump spell wasn't easy or cheep, but Ethan had been working on it tirelessly for a couple of weeks now. If he concentrated, he could cast it before his feet touched a surface, forcing another jump seemingly instantly. And as costly as the spell was, his own natural recovery rate allowed him to keep going.
He couldn't jump out of mid air very well yet. Without a solid surface to focus the force of the explosion, it wasn't able to generate enough push to send him anywhere significant. A minor change of direction could be achieved, but little else. He considered forcing his own mid-air surface to compensate, but an extra spatial locked Round Shield was difficult to add in on the fly, plus the mana cost was just too much to be practical, so as it were he spent his efforts on what he could do.
The trick was in being able to flip in mid air, so that his feet were beneath him when he needed to jump again. It took a long time and a lot of bruises to get the hang of that, but he's able to do it pretty well in the familiar surroundings of the warehouse by now. Long range jumps gave him plenty of time to pivot, and the short range ones saw the explosion forcing him into a controlled spin to accommodate.
One of his jumps saw him flying right next to the awning. He grabbed the railing as he flew by, straining his arm and the metal as he pivoted on the spot, only to put his feet on the edge of the platform and jump off.
Success. However, he didn't remember that platform squeaking in fright when he performed that maneuver before.
Infact, that almost sounded like a person! Shit, have I been discovered? When he hit the far wall, Ethan jumped upwards, using the roof to jump again in an arc towards the awning. He landed ontop of one of the empty metal boxes resting on the platform and looked around. Nope, nothing here.
He tried the door, found it was open, and carefully looked outside. Nope, nobody out there either. Hmmm, maybe it was my imagination afterall.
He stepped back inside and prepared to keep going when something caught his eye.
It was a candy wrapper, half hidden under another of the boxes. The wrapper was still clean, the chocolate staining the inside still fresh, and he didn't bring food with him to his training. Damnit, somebody really was here. Whoever it was, that person is probably long gone by now, and Ethan wasn't confident enough to search the ruins without getting caught yet.
Well, nothing he could do about it now. He wiped the sweat from he forehead and jumped down, in order to climb back into the sewer. If he was caught, then he was caught. Perhaps he could argue his way out of severe punishment by showing how stable his spell modifications were. He could only hope that he could get away with it though.
****
"Alright Trainee Frist, Let me see a basic Snipe Shot" called the voice over the loudspeaker.
Ethan was standing alone in a wide, bright room. A target appeared on the far wall, towards which Ethan pointed his staff and called out the spell. A small ball of energy appeared and shot towards the target, hitting it on the outer ring.
"Very good. Now protect yourself from this" called out the voice. 3 lights appeared on the wall to his left, which shot out training lasers at him. He called up a protection spell, which absorbed all three laser blasts.
Calling up this much magic this quickly was starting to seriously tire him out. He was winded, and his spells seemed to flicker in and out of existence as he struggled to summon up the mana to cast them.
"I know you're tired, Trainee Frist, please keep at it for just a little longer" said the procter. Ethan nodded and held his staff up in preparation for the next task.
In the following minutes, Ethan managed to summon up several more attack spells, some more protectives, a small field, and several combinations. He was about ready to collapse after all that, but willed himself to stay standing until it was declared over.
"Very nice effort holding out this long. I only have one more task for you." Ethan nodded, too tired to even call out an acknowledgement anymore. "Successfully cast one spell you weren't taught during the training curriculum. Actually cast it though. No staff."
Ethan knew just what to use. He spent a moment going through a controlled breathing exercise to speed his recovery before standing up and holding out his free hand. "Blast away the obstacle before me. Oh holy light of destruction, I call upon thee to collect in my hand and explode at my command. Grenade!" A ball of light appeared in his hand. He threw it against the far wall, where it stuck and began glowing brighter and brighter for a few seconds before exploding.
In that time, Ethan backed away to the opposite wall and summoned up a round shield. The walls shook and his shield failed from the force of the explosion, but both he and the room remained intact. These testing rooms sure are tough.
"A grenade spell, huh? Interesting choice. Alright, that is all for now. Please wait in the waiting room as we tally up your score"
Ethan nodded and limped his way through the door that appeared in the side.
****
He slumped into the first chair he could reach, and let his staff clatter to the floor. He didn't even have the energy to compress it back into it's playing-card mode for storage, so instead chose to let it lay there on the floor while he collected his breath and struggled not to die.
"So how did it go Frist?" asked Lara Melt as she sat down next to him and slapped him on the chest.
"mmmrmGmmemf" he complained, not even having the energy to lift his head, letalone say anything coherent.
"Oh, don't be like that. I'm sure you did fine. You know what they say, 3rd times a charm!" she said happily.
"Please don't bother him, He's very tired" pleaded Luna protectively as she sat down behind Ethan and gently held his head up.
"yeah, I'd imagine so. Imagine having to take it 3 times. Got to be some sort of record!"
Ethan murmured something incoherent again as he managed to turn his eyes to look at Lara.
"Oh, don't be silly. Everything will be fine. You just wait and see" Lara said with a confident smile.
"That's not what he said" interjected Luna. "he asked what we were even doing here"
"You can understand that?" Lara asked of her partner.
"A little" she said. "Why wouldn't we come out to support our friend as he tried for his D-rank again?" Luna said with a pleasant smile to the head in her arms.
"Yeah, especially when your so-called partner doesn't even have the courtesy to show up himself" Lara spit hatefully.
Sure enough, it was his third time taking his D rank exam. The first time was an epic failure, and the second time he failed by only a small margin. This waiting room was becoming a familiar sight to him, though he'd admit that it was a lot nicer when it was only the three of them in it.
"Please be kind Lara, He said he had a family emergency, and that he'd rush over here as soon as he could" said Luna disapprovingly.
Ethan murmured something unkind as he struggled to keep his eyes open.
"Trainee Ethan Frist" said the testing proctor as he walked into the waiting room, a blank expression on his face.
Ethan suddenly jumped to his feet, surprising the girl who was holding him, and wobbled as he nearly fell over. His two friends held him up though.
"We looked over your scores very carefully, and even tried to bend them a little considering the size of your magic but…"
The two girls looked horrified with the man. Ethan would have drooped if he wasn't already drooping.
"but…" the proctor suddenly smiled "Congratulations on passing your D-rank exam"
Lara separated from the boy and gave the proctor an angry stare "How could you do that to him after he tried so hard... uh… sir!"
Luna dropped a little herself in relief, but was still able to hold up Ethan. She was stronger than she looked.
"Sorry" said the older man apologetically. "I couldn't help myself. But don't worry Trainee Frist. The next series of rank exams are more ability based then pure magic. I'm sure if you worked hard enough at it, even you could climb up pretty high"
Lara relented, but was still angry with the man. She was angry at most everyone for most everything though, so it didn't matter too much. She did come back over and pulled Ethan into a big hug. "Congratulations! I told you you could do it!" she said. The tired boy merely groaned at the sudden pressure. Luna also gave her congratulations.
"Well then, That's all I have for you today. Girls, if you would be so kind as to help Mr. Frist back to the dorms, he's done for the day."
"Thank you Professor" said Luna from underneath Ethan's arm. Ethan managed to throw out a salute, but only because Lara was holding his right arm up.
"Great! Let's go" said the red-head. "I can't wait to tell everyone about this!"
****
The door to the room slid open, and three figures entered. One of them of being half carried.
"I can take it from here" said Luna from where she was holding up Ethan.
"What" said the red-headed partner. "Are you sure you don't need help?"
"Don't worry about me. I'm stronger than you, remember?" Luna said.
"yeah, don't remind me" Said Lara dryly. "Still though, I don't want him taking advantage of you"
Luna giggled. "I'm sure he'll be a perfect gentleman" she said. She playfully pinched his cheek and pushed his drooping head around a little. "See?"
Ethan groaned something uncomplimentary about it, but otherwise didn't resist.
"Well alright then. I'll see you downstairs" said Lara as she left. The door slid closed behind her.
Luna dragged Ethan over to the bed and unceremoniously dropped him on it. She carefully took off his shoes, then dragged the blanket from under him in order to drape it over.
When it was done, and Ethan was tucked in, she sat down on the side of the bed and gave him an uncharacteristically mischievous smile. "We're finally alone, and you're too weak to resist, so I'll ask again" she said. Ethan was suddenly worried.
"Would you go out with me?"
She had asked that several times in the past, but always meekly, and Ethan always turned her down with an excuse about not having enough time or something.
The boy in question tried to groan out a no and ask for her to leave.
"Oh, comeon Mr. Ethan. Especially now that the test is done, I know you can find the time for one date"
Dawn had been becoming more assertive and insistent of late, so Ethan was worrying about how he could dissuade her from trying. She was his friend, sure, but between secret training, spell modification, and normal classes, he really didn't have any time for something so time wasteful. He tried to spout out some other pathetic excuse, but Luna would have nothing of it this time. She put a finger on his lips to quiet him, kissed him on the forehead, and leaned in close to his ears.
"I know what you're doing at night" she whispered, then stood up and went for the door.
Ethan's eyes shot open and he reached out to stop her, but she was too far away and he just fell on the floor instead.
"I'll see you Sunday at 4 than" she said with a sweet smile, before leaving.
As the door silently slid shut behind her, Ethan's outstretched arm fell in defeat.
For a few days since that time in the warehouse, he hadn't heard a thing. Whoever had seen him either didn't recognize him, or was keeping shut about it for whatever reason they had.
He didn't go back to the airport for a few nights after that, instead choosing to bounce around the sewer system. The sewers were wide and expansive enough, yet twisted and turned so randomly that it made for excellent travel exercise.
Still though, he didn't expect his secret to come back and haunt him like this. Why was she so interested in him like that anyway? He had a world spanning incident he had to be able to prevent from blowing up the wrong way, and she wants to date him?
He couldn't do anything about it though. More and more things were piling up against him, and he hated not being able to see a way around anything.
He managed to drag a pillow off the bed and squeeze it under his head as he gave up and tried to sleep. Unfortunately, he suddenly found it something very hard to do.
****
"So how did it go?" Lara asked of her partner as she came into the common room. "Did he agree?"
Luna smiled sweetly as she took a seat.
"It's about time" Exclaimed Oberi from his spot next to the redhead.
****
Darkness…
Pain…
Suffering…
It moved through the darkness of night, searching.
It's master had orders. Find. Collect. Return.
It looked. It moved. It looked again.
So many lights. Not enough. Need more, need better.
Further along it moved. Hidden in shadows.
Too hot. It was pain in this hot.
Speckles of frost appeared over the ground as it moved.
Better.
There!
A light, among many others. Not as bright, but perfect.
Quality was important to it's master.
It moved towards the light, floating upwards, onwards.
Excitement. Soon to return to the cold.
Must collect for the master first.
The wall became coated in a thick layer of ice as it floated along the surface.
It reached the window, and opened it.
Two lights. One too bright, too hot. It hated hot. It will have to kill the hot before returning.
The other light was bright. Pure. Perfect.
It silently approached the other light. Clean. Pure. White.
By it's masters will, it pushed itself into that light. Such bright light, strong.
It was stronger though. White fled before blue as the light was taken over.
It fought. It struggled. It won.
It opened it's new eyes. The hot had woken up. The hot confronted it.
It attacked the hot.
****
All Ethan needed was a good night's sleep. Sure that night involved most of the previous afternoon as well, but he felt too refreshed to care much about the lost time.
The date looming around the corner bothered him a little, but he tabled the thought, deciding instead to deal with it when it happened.
His Linker Core was fully recovered, his stamina was refreshed, and he found himself really getting into the morning workout.
Subaru mildly complained about the fast pace he set during the long run. The run these days was a 10 kilometer route twisting through most of the training area and even some of the main base. It usually took an hour, though today they finished in 45 minutes.
Calisthenics was equally over exerting, though Subaru never complained about that anymore, ever since she saw the effect it was having on her overall strength and physique.
Finally the sparring. On the grassy area in front of the dorms, the sparring was a sort of cool-down exercise for the two of them. A half combat speed martial arts fight where they mock-fought and tried out different skills against each other. Since it was an easy task, it gave them a chance to talk.
"So I heard you finally made D. Took you long enough" said the golden child who was already scheduled for her C rank exam.
"Don't get started. I had to hear enough of that from my roommate when I was trying to sleep" Ethan said irritable as he blocked a slow strike and twisted that arm into a throw.
Subaru flipped to untwist her arm and threw out a kick as she landed. "Relax Ethan! I've been rooting for you this whole time" He ducked the kick, so she spun the full 360 and tried to come down on him with her elbow.
He blocked the elbow with a rising palm, and stepped in for a combat shove. "Well that aside, I have a question"
She leaned back away from the shove, wrapped her arm under his and threw him over her hip. "What's up?" she asked.
He landed on one foot and swept the other one out in a wide sweep. She jumped over it. "If you were stuck going out on a date that you didn't want, what would you do?" He used the same leg to spin around into a mid kick.
She caught his foot and threw it up as she stepped in for a gut punch. "If you're asking me out, I accept." She said sweetly.
Ethan caught the fist, and fell backwards, putting his knee in her gut and threw her. "That's not what I mean Miss Nakajima." What the hell did he ever do to disserve a canon character fawning over him? At the very least it sounded like a joke though. "Please answer"
Subaru rolled to her feet and charged in with a one-two-knee. Ethan was once again impressed with how well she could fight while wearing her rollerblades. "What's the matter, don't like the girl?"
He blocked the punches, but took the knee in his gut so he could wrap his arms around her leg. He lifted her into the air, caught her other leg, enjoyed the brief moment his face was in her breasts, then slammed her into the ground ala professional wrestling. "It's not that. She's my friend, but I just don't have time to waste on things like that"
She kicked him away, and spun to her feet, this time waiting to counter whatever he threw. His watch beeped though, indicating the end of the session. "Then you should make the time." She went to grab her towel and started to wipe the sweat off. "One should always support their friends, no matter the situation"
"I suppose so" grumbled Ethan as he went to do the same. Leave it to Subaru to say something like that.
"Let me give you some advice" She said as she put her hand on his shoulder. "Just do it and try to have fun. So you loose a few hours from your precious studies or training. So what? We've still got months left before we're done here. Plenty of time to catch up" She smiled at him and turned to walk in. She stopped half way and turned her head. "Besides, if it doesn't work out, come find me. I'll make sure you have a much better time of it"
Ethan smiled weekly at her, but inside he was wincing. Damnit, please tell me she's still joking.
A scream suddenly pierced the air around them. As they turned to look at the source, a window on the 4th floor exploded outwards.
The two of them stared in a sort of dumb shock as smoke and the signs of a magic battle spilled out of the window. Then there was a gout of flame that spit out one unconscious Lara Melt. The opening quickly froze over after that.
Subaru was already on the move, skating across the grass. She caught Lara with a slide.
"No, Miss Luna!" Ethan shouted as he ran inside.
He was at the stairs in 4 steps and simply Force Jumped his way to the top floor. He sprinted down his hallway and began pounding on his friends door. "Miss Luna! Are you all right?"
The door was frosted over and wouldn't open. With a curse, he slapped a grenade spell on the door and took cover with his ears covered.
The door exploded, and even before the dust settled down, Ethan was racing into the room.
He was stopped cold. Literally. The entire room was frosted over, and it began crusting it's way up his shoes. He had to keep shifting his feet to not get stuck.
Luna Dawn was floating seemingly unaided in the middle of the room, her feet dangling mere centimeters above the frosted floor, and seemed to have been unaffected by the explosion.
"Miss Luna! What's wrong? Answer me!" he shouted. Luna pivoted in mid air to look at him, and he had to take a step back. Her eyes were completely white.
She smiled darkly at him and spoke in a voice that was not her own. It was much higher pitched, and seemed to be laced with frost. "Your light is small. It has no need of you. It has finally taken full control and you won't interfere" She held her hand up and jagged spears of ice sprouted from the ground in his direction. He jumped to the side to avoid it.
The open doorway was covered in ice spikes, preventing anyone from entering. Luna sent another spell at him, one he couldn't avoid this time. In a moment, both his legs and one arm was trapped against the wall under a thick block of ice. He struggled to free himself and pleaded again. "Luna! Snap out of it! Don't let that thing control you!"
She smiled coldly again. "This one can no longer hear you. It now has full control. It will take this one back to It's master" She pivoted in the air again and floated to the window. The ice over the window retreated, and She floated outside.
Ethan hit the ice with a smaller, modified grenade and screamed as it exploded. He was freed, but it hurt him up pretty good, as blood ran down his legs from the cuts he got from the shattering ice. He ignored it however and ran to the window. Luna was floating quickly through the sky towards the pier. She wasn't out of range yet. Ethan braced himself and used a full powered Force Jump to go after her.
****
Subaru was outside cradling an unconscious Lara Melt, while trying her best to explain what happened to the instructor. Many of the other trainees were already outside, looking on in fear and horror. The more responsible trainees and the other instructors were doing their best to calm everyone's nerves.
Oberi Grey finally came outside and made a beeline towards Subaru. "What happened here?" He asked, completely ignoring the instructor. He could see that Lara was pretty badly hurt. Several burns, probably from her own spells, as well as some frostbite.
"There was an explosion in her room" Subaru said. "Miss Melt here was blown out, and Ethan ran upstairs after Miss Dawn. That's all I know."
"Mr. Grey! Would you kindly leave this to the pro's and see after the other trainees? We've called for help and a team is already on it's way" said the instructor, obviously put off at Oberi's behavior towards him.
Oberi blithely ignored the instructor as he looked up at the damaged window. The ice over the window bled away, and Luna floated out of it. Ignoring all of the commotion beneath her, she proceeded to float away towards the forest, a trail of mist and snow following her.
A sound of a smaller explosion came from inside the room, then a much larger one. With a collective gasp, the panicking crowd below saw Ethan Frist practically Fly out in the wake of the second blast, speeding towards Luna. Without even looking back, the girl sent some sort of light or ice spell at him, which he blocked with his arms. He was knocked out of the air apparently though, as he crashed into the woods below.
Without waiting another moment, Oberi took off after his friends.
****
Ethan took a high direction with his jump, and was glad to see his arc taking him right to his friend. A dozen shards of ice appeared out of thin air and sped towards him though. Without time to erect a protection spell, he instead crossed his arms over his head. The ice shards cut some light gashes into his arms and knocked him off of trajectory, causing him to crash into the forest.
The BA spell is a wonderful thing, and he was so glad he had it on that moment. Crashing through the trees like that hurt, and gave him some more cuts, but he was otherwise unharmed from the fall. Without even coming to a stop, he Jumped back into the air.
He didn't even care if anyone was watching at the moment as he bounced his way through the trees after his friend. The trees weren't that big, so his jumps lacked some of the umph he would have liked, but it was enough. Luna kept sending ice shards down at him at a high rate and number, so he was forced to simply bounce around instead of up like he wanted.
Beyond the woods was the pier. In the early rays of dawn, the pier was still empty. Luna floated over it before coming to a stop. Ethan bounced out of the woods a moment later and stopped himself at the edge of the sidewalk.
"Luna!" he shouted out.
Luna turned to face him, and spoke again in that other voice. "This place is empty. It can shift from here. Small light not interfere. It kill pathetic light before presenting gift to It's master" She glowed brightly, and sent out thousands of shards of multicolored light and ice in every direction.
"Luna! Snap out of it! Can't you hear me?" Ethan called out. He erected a Round Shield, but it quickly faltered under the onslaught. He found himself instead jumping and twisting to avoid the barrage of attacks, and even batting a few away with his staff. He still got caught a lot and developed a number of additional cuts.
The attack ended, and without wasting a moment, Ethan moved himself beneath her and Force Jumped up to her level. A wave of cold knocked him out of the air though.
She sent out a concentrated beam of ice shards at him, against which he hid behind a nearby tree. The shards managed to chop the tree down, but Ethan was able to avoid further injury.
"Pathetic light refuses to die, and other lights approach" Luna said with that high pitched voice. "It must be quicker."
Ethan broke cover and sent a Snipe Shot at Luna. Luna floated out of it's way and sent another of the shard beams at him. He jumped out of the way, but with a wave of her hand, another wave of cold milked out of the ground and trapped one of his feet in another block of ice.
Ethan couldn't pull his foot out, and looked on in horror as his friend prepared to kill him. Whatever she threw out, he knew that he couldn't block it.
"Now small light may die, so that it may return to it's master" Luna said as she extended her hand.
She froze in mid air, a look of mild shock on her face. Ethan, who was bracing himself for the end, noticed it and looked up. A spot of color was returning to her eyes.
"Luna!!!!" he shouted. "Fight it! Don't give in!"
"E…Ethan?" came her real voice as tears started to flow down her cheeks.
The color from her eyes fled, she put her hands to her head, and the other voice screamed. "AhhH! No! How is it still alive!? It crushed the vessel's mind! It should be in control!"
Ethan managed to smash the ice on his foot, and once again jumped up to her level. This time he was able to reach her unobstructed, so he wrapped his arms around her, trapping hers. "Luna! Keep fighting. You're stronger than it!"
Luna spasmed inside his arms, and frost began to quickly spread it's way across him. He screamed in pain, but refused to let go. Her floating faltered and they both gently fell to the ground.
He held her tightly as she spasmed, her eyes flashing between colored and not. "No!" the other voice yelled. "It must not loose! It must….return…to……master….."
Ethan held onto her as tightly as he could, whispering encouragement into her ears. Slowly she stopped shaking, and simply stared up at the sky.
Color returned to her eyes, but it was different. It was an icy blue instead of her usual dark brown.
She spoke again softly, but it was in that other voice. "What… where am I?"
"Luna?" Ethan asked.
Her eyes widened in shock, and she started to shake in fear. "No! What's going on! Why am I here? I…I'm fading! I don't want to die! I can't die here!" Her arms shot into the sky in a vain effort to reach for help. "Somebody help me! I don't want to die! I don't….I don't….."
Her voice and shaking slowly stopped, her arms falling limply to her side as she stared lifelessly into the brightening sky.
"Luna?" Ethan asked hesitantly to the limp body in his arms. "Luna!?" he called out again, emotion clear in his voice. Tears began to fall onto her face as he tried to shake her awake.
"Luna!!!" he called out in anguish as the body refused to move.
He wasn't sure when Oberi arrived, but he felt a comforting hand over his shoulder. The partner was uncharacteristically silent that moment.
The girls eyes finally faded from blue to brown, and twitched up to look at her benefactor. "Ethan?" she quietly asked, as she weakly raised an arm to touch his crying face.
"Luna! Are you alright? Please tell me it's over!" he cried.
"You came for me" she said quietly with a smile. He nodded. "Does this mean you'll go out with me?"
He laughed through his tears. "Yes damnit, but not right now. Let's go back first"
"Alright, next week then" she said as she closed her eyes and snuggled into him. "I'll remember your promise" she said tiredly as she fell asleep in his arms.
Ethan looked up at his partner. Oberi remained silent, but gave his friend an approving smile before extending a helping hand.
****
The police and medical crew had arrived at the dorms, and were in the process of investigating the incident.
The students were all gathered in the lawn of the next building over, and were taking turns answering the questions posed to them.
Subaru had handed off Lara to the medical team as soon as they arrived and had rejoined her classmates.
"Look! They're back!" someone shouted and pointed to the nearby treeline.
Oberi and Ethan emerged. Luna was being cradled by Ethan while the taller boy helped the smaller one limp onwards.
Ethan was a mess. Cuts, scrapes, bruises, burns, and frostbite covered his entire body, his cloths were little more than rags, and he was covered in blood. Still though, he insisted that he carry the girl back under his own power, so his partner stayed around to aid him only.
The medical team rushed over, and Ethan carefully handed the girl over. As soon as she was safely out of his arms, he collapsed, held up by his concerned roommate as another medic looked him over and began casting healing spells.
Subaru broke free from the crowd and skated over to her friend. "What happened? Is everything alright?" she asked, worry clear on her face.
"I hope so" Ethan said quietly. "How's Miss Melt?"
"She's fine. She was taken to the hospital a minute ago, but they said her injuries were minor."
"That's good… I think I won't be able to work out with you for a while" he said.
She laughed at that. "Take all the time you need. I'm sure I'll be fine without you for a few days"
"We'll see…" he said, before the medic's healing sleep spell finally took effect.
****
Next time… It's been too long.
Yes, that was Cirno from the Touhou Project, and Yes, as a Cirno fan it hurt me to do that to the 9-ball. It was necessary for the story however.