"K, it's been almost a week, and I'm gettin' really irritated." Ranma looked up at the ceiling of the dimensional space ship with a rather irritated frown on his face. "What the heck is taking so long?"
"We have to scan every inch of the ground to find the seeds. Un-activated they have very little signature." The woman in charge of the station frowned back at the boy. "We are finishing off the scan of the landmass where you found the majority of the seeds and are going to start with a deep sea scan next. Unfortunately that will take a lot of time."
"Ah, I suppose it was too much to wish for. Considering the way the seeds fell the rest of them probably hit the ocean." Lindy waved a hand and took a sip of tea before turning to Ranma. "I suppose that we will just have to shift to the waiting game."
Ranma just sighed and looked at the woman flatly before shrugging. "I suppose. I need to go bug Nanoha about taking it easy anyway. If we can't get it done fast, she needs to slow down."
"She is certainly taking advantage of our faculties isn't she?" Lindy chuckled and waved at Ranma. "Don't think I didn't see you doing the same thing." Left unsaid was that both children had been monitored the entire time.
Ranma just stuck out his tongue. "At least I know when to take a break. Nanoha knows the word moderation about as well as I know the word behave."
Lindy had been sipping on her tea when she heard that, and choked momentarily as the boy left. Her giggles followed the boy out.
"AHHH!" The whip crack sound of impact against flesh cracked through the air.
Another crack resounded as the whip struck the body, and then again, and again. Every strike was followed by a scream, and then whimpers near the end. Even as the cries died down the whip strikes continued, and soon there was nothing but the sound of whip strikes.
Fate's mother breathed heavily as she looked at her daughter, her face twisted into a ferocious expression of rage.
"Didn't I give enough?" Another strike of her weapon against Fate's limp body. "Haven't I slaved for you enough!?"
Fate's eyes just looked sadly at her mother, the girl having no real energy left to even scream as her mother brought the weapon down again and again.
"I gave you all the tools you needed, all the tutoring, all the power! And all I wanted was just one tiny little favor!" Precia screamed and brought down the whip again. "The jewel seeds, those precious little seeds. Mommy needed them, and you let her down." The woman took a deep breath and struck again.
Fate had no energy left to cry out, and her vision was getting blurry. Her barrier jacket was in tatters, a victim of the enhanced magical strikes of her mother's weapon. Her body was a mass of red welt and bruises from the assault.
Precia stuck her daughter a few more times, and then sighed. "I suppose you can salvage this." Her whip morphed and Fate fell to the ground. "There are still a few seeds left. If you can get mommy those, everything will be all right."
As Precia left, Arf ran into the room, and looked at Fate. The girl looked back at her familiar with a sad smile. "Sorry Arf, I made you cry."
"Damnit Fate," Arf sobbed and knelt by her battered master. "What kind of mother would do this to a child."
"It's ok," Fate shook with pain as she reached up to her familiar's face. "I will be fine." Her vision wavered and the girl let her hand fall.
Arf howled like a wounded animal and looked up to where Fate's mother had gone. Before Fate could stop her, the woman charged into the other room. Incoherent screaming, and magical discharge echoed back for a moment, and then the crackling of a barrier breaking.
"WHAT KIND OF MOTHER ARE YOU!?" Arf's voice screamed.
An explosion resounded though the floor and it shook slightly. The stately echo's of her mother's footsteps clipped into the room, and Fate knew that Arf was gone. "Such a poor excuse for a familiar."
Fate looked up at her mother with half adoration and half fear.
"Don't worry Fate." Precia looked down at her daughter. "We can make you a better one. When we have the seeds, you can have whatever you want. They will make everything better." She smiled hollowly. "Now let's get you cleaned up, and you can try one last time."
'I sorta expected the jewel seeds to all be sealed right about now.' Ranma sighed as he thought to himself. 'Instead we have been waiting for what seems like weeks.'
Considering the power of the scanners aboard the dimensional space ship, Ranma really had though that the jewel seeds would have been all located by now. Instead he and Nanoha had been reduced to the whole wait and see method. Since it was likely that Fate would have the same trouble, if not more, Lindy had finally decided to send Nanoha and Ranma home, and put on standby.
Nanoha was catching up with her friends. They had been feeling neglected lately, and the girl had been banned from excessive training yet again, so Nanoha had a lot of free time on her hands. Ranma himself had no friends in the area aside from Nanoha, and though the girl would have been happy to have him around her, Ranma always felt like a bit of a fifth wheel when he was around the three. Yuno would only tolerate Ranma poking him for so long before he got snippy, and Genma was actually up in the ship doing something or other.
That left the boy actually devoid of things to do. Ranma had slept half the day, and it was mid afternoon. The sun was shining through the slowly gathering storm clouds, but it was still a beautiful day, and the boy was getting antsy. Anyone who knew Ranma knew that him getting antsy was a bad thing.
Ranma had thought through and discarded half a dozen plans before making what was probably a spectacularly bad decision. He decided to go bug Fate.
It proved surprisingly easy to track down the ozone smell. Halfway across the town and a few dozen floors up the girl was standing, and just watching. Her long blond hair was snapping in the turbulent wind, and her cape fluttered. The picture was achingly beautiful in a way, and equally sorrowful.
Ranma was struck by the emotion in the scene as he set down across the rooftop. Here yet again he was stricken by how sad the girl felt.
Later he would never be able to say how long he watched the girl, but eventually she turned to face him. There was no real life in her movements, no passion. There was however, an edge, the frail feeling in her eyes that she had nothing left. She swept Bardiche to the side, and the device gave a clank that was oddly loud in the wind, and she looked at Ranma with eyes half dead.
"For you mother." Her voice was soft.
Ranma cracked his neck and looked at Fate. The mood didn't seem to fit his usual style, but the tiny boy smirked at his opponent anyway. "Eh, why not, I was half hoping this would happen anyway."
Fate's form blurred out of sight in a flash of yellow light, only to reappear behind the boy, Bardiche already swinging downward with deadly precision. "Scythe Form." Bardiche's voice was the same formal tone as always.
Ranma rolled out of the way, foot lashing behind him even as he dodged. The strike impacted against a shield, but the momentum transferred allowed the boy to continue his roll. As he turned to face Fate he wasn't surprised to see the girl already moving back and aiming Bardiche as she lifted up into the air. The boy smirked and began to move away even as a sphere of yellow energy impacted into the rooftop.
An explosion ripped through the air causing a few screams from the busy street below, and singing Ranma slightly. The boy winced as he watched Fate dispassionately aim yet again at him. He had forgotten that a lot of the fighting was done in a barrier, and there was a good chance that someone could get hurt with the way the girl was attacking.
Fate watched Ranma begin to run away, and with a frown looked at the devastated rooftop. A gesture later, and the world beneath her feet began to shift as a barrier began to form under her feet. The baring cars and moving people began to fade into the background, and then there was nothing left to hold her back. With a mere exertion of will she shot forward and higher into the air.
Ranma grimaced slightly as he looked behind him. He had a pretty good idea on what was going to happen next. He was proven right a few seconds later as he caught a glimpse of the speeding Fate. That was all he had time for as he sprinted and jumped off the building, narrowly avoiding the ovoid sphere of magical power. Again there was a large explosion among the rooftops.
Up in the air Fate frowned slightly as the smoke obscured her sight. She was faster than Ranma, but the boy was trickier than her, and even in her deadened state she knew enough not to get close. Unfortunately, the range that she needed to be at to be safe made it hard to properly strike the boy.
Further contemplation was cut off as a large length of cable came spinning towards the girl. She was forced to move quickly to the side, to avoid getting tangled. Ranma however had apparently predicted her dodging. Only a quick shield prevented the half dozen bottles from impacting into her, all of them shattering as they struck the barrier with terrific force. The last one impacted with a wet sound, and beer went flying everywhere, drenching Fate with the smell of old alcohol.
On the ground Ranma smirked slightly, and then broke into a full fledged smile as Fate glared in the first actual expression in the fight. His smirk lasted even as he ran to the side to avoid the wide beam of yellow light incinerating half the building he was on.
Fate swooped down next to him, lashing out with Bardiche, slicing the building but not the boy. Her previous caution was gone, only a fury totally out of proportion to the crime was left. Ranma's counter attack was swift and ineffective against her barrier shield, but did knock her back enough to make her wary.
Bardiche clanked and spoke as she aimed at the infuriating boy. "Thunder Smasher."
The bright beam of yellow light lanced out again ineffectually, obscuring the boy. The attack however had never been meant to hit, only to give Fate room to ascend higher into the air and out of the land bound boy's reach.
Fate hadn't counted on Ranma's excellent aim with his throwing arm. A roof antenna made an excellent improvised spear, and the weapon impacted her stomach with near deadly force. If her barrier jacket had been a little bit weaker the attack would have impaled her through, instead it knocked her into the side of a building, and through a window.
She gasped and slashed Bardiche at the air, near missing Ranma's blurring form as the boy tried to capitalize on the attack. Papers fluttered from the wind, and the clouds above them both began to rumble ominously as they obscured the sun.
Bardiche lit up, showing Ranma's no longer smirking face. Fate gasped, but held out Bardiche and glared at Ranma. A small yellow glob of power formed at her side, and Ranma inched forward. The next attack blew out the windows, and missed Ranma by inches.
He lunged forward, into the girl's range. She moved with the attack, and swung Bardiche in a glittering arc, only to have Ranma sweep out her feet.
"Blitz Rush." Bardiche spoke, and Fate's form blurred out of sight.
Ranma didn't hesitate, and moved past normal limits forward. Fate's form reappeared mere second's in front of him, still in the air, but with Bardiche aimed at him. It lit up, and with near impossible agility Ranma swerved around the small yellow globe of power. Bardiche came up, and flew out of Fate's grasp, spinning into the air.
Fate grimaced, but made a gesture. Too late Ranma realized that he had heard no explosion. The attack impacted his back with far more force than it's size would have indicated.
"Bardiche." Fate intoned, and the weapon was in her hands again.
Ranma gasped, and staggered to his knees, the entire back of his gi top was shredded, and burnt. It looked far worse than it really was, but it was enough to stun him. Bardiche aimed at him slowly, and trembled as it lit up.
Ranma smirked at Fate, still on his knees. The boy looked injured, and in pain, but far from defeated even now. "So what now?"
"Ranma.." Fate's hands trembled, and Bardiche lit up even brighter as thunder rolled overhead. Her eyes grew glassy, and a tear trickled down her cheek. The moment was impossible to decipher, impossible to define, but Ranma got to his feet, slowly, and painfully, and Fate did not fire Bardiche.
Suddenly Fate's eyes widened, and she swung her weapon to the side and let loose every ounce of power she had gathered up in a brilliant display of magical power. The resulting explosion lit up the thunder darkened sky, and showed one figure that made Fate's heart constrict in some unknown feeling.
"Hello Fate." Nanoha smiled at the girl as Raging Heart lit up in a bright pink light. "It's nice to see you again."
"Really Nanoha, I think you are a bit too young to be so caught up in this Ranma boy." Nanoha's blond haired friend stuck her tongue out at the thought.
Nanoha giggled nervously. "Ranma is an interesting boy, but he is just a friend."
"You have been so caught up in playing with him it's been like you have forgotten us." The girl with purple hair interjected timidly. "Always off with him, or out on family business."
"Yeah! It's like we barely know you anymore." The blond haired girl, Arisa chimed in quickly.
"I am sorry." Nanoha sighed and looked out at the veranda that the three were on. "I have been really busy, but I think it will be ending soon. Then I can spend a lot more time with you both."
Suzuka sighed at Arisa and Nanoha both, before taking a sip of her tea and looking out at the estate. Suzuka and Arisa both came from very rich and influential families. This was reflected by the shear size of both their homes. Size was probably the only thing that the two had similar though. Suzuka's home was almost jungle like the way it was set up, and was a near haven for several breeds of cats and kittens. Arisa's was clear of most trees and foliage, and home of several breeds of dogs.
Really if the girls didn't have Nanoha holding them together, they would never have been friends at all. That was part of the reason why they were so frantic when Nanoha drifted away from them both. Privately, both girls blamed Nanoha's distance on Ranma. This of course made the boy slightly uncomfortable around the two, and prevented them from actually getting to know the boy.
"See that you do," Arisa finally said primly as she leaned back and sipped at her tea. Her next words were softer. "We miss you."
"I miss you too." Nanoha sighed and looked at her tea guiltily. She probably wouldn't have visited them for some time if Genma hadn't issued the ultimatum about training. She didn't even have Raging Heart with her right now. Yuno was keeping it at home until the end of the day.
"Enough serious talk!" Arisa waved a hand and smiled brightly. "Suzuka, how are the kittens doing?"
"Ohh, they are all still so cute!" The purple haired girl giggled. "And the poor gray one that got injured when Nanoha got hurt has actually started running around the estate grounds and chasing the birds."
"I think it decided to copy Nanoha." The blond haired girl giggled.
"Huh?" Nanoha jerked up from her contemplation.
Both of Nanoha's friends giggled. The topics drifted from Suzuka's cats to class, and to a few other things. Nanoha had to deflect a few questions about Ranma, and about her 'family matters', it was a very pleasant other than that though. One matter though, made Nanoha perk up in sudden interest.
"You found an injured animal?" Nanoha blinked at Arisa. "What does it look like?"
"She's a very beautiful red colored dog." Arisa looked to the side of the mansion in the direction the dog was staying. "We can't tell her breed, but she is really weak right now. The vet says it's like something shot her."
"Red dog?" The brown haired girl gulped and looked off in the same direction as Arisa. "Can we see it?"
"If you are careful." The blond haired girl waved and got to her feet. "This way."
Nanoha got to her feet, doing her best to conceal her sudden suspicions. Suspicions which were proven soon afterwards, because the dog that Arisa had saved was Fate's familiar, Arf. Nanoha's heart near broke at the depressed and defeated aura that the familiar had. The dog was barely moving inside her cage, part of it was obviously from the injures, but the rest of it was from something else.
"She looks so sad." Suzuka finally stated as she looked at Arf.
"We think it's owner abandoned it or something." Arisa looked at the cage with a frown. "She is a really beautiful dog though."
"Yes, she is." Nanoha looked at Arf and looked away.
The girl had to get away to speak with the TSAB, something had changed with Fate, and she needed the ships help to find out what. It took far to long in her opinion to extract herself without getting her friends angry, but the girl managed, and finding a deserted alleyway she contacted the dimensional space ship, and got herself transported to the bridge, just in time to catch all the excitement that Fate and Ranma caused to the ships sensors with their combat.
It felt strange somehow to be witness to this. Ranma grit his teeth as a pulse of pain made him wince. Watching the two girls look at each other through the shattered building he couldn't help but feel as if he was intruding on something intensely personal. The boy lacked the experience to really diagnose what was happening, but it didn't matter really. He knew in his heart that this was important.
A shame that he couldn't help anymore. Ranma staggered back to his knees as Fate's eyes slowly grew glassy and a few tear trickled down her face. The boy took a deep shuddering breath, and was surprised to find his own face wet.
The thunder from above crackled once, and then rain began to come down in sheets as the wind blew hard and vicious, and Fate howled like a damned soul as Bardiche lit up impossibly bright.
"Thunder Smasher!" Bardiche near yelled.
Ranma had to shield his eyes as the blast echoed across the cityscape. This was beyond her normal controlled demeanor. Something had finally snapped in the girl. When the blast died down, he saw that both Fate and Nanoha were out of sight.
"Well." Ranma grit his teeth and got to his feet once more. "Damn."
"Hold still." A voice made Ranma turn, and Yuno smiled briefly at Ranma as his small generic staff lit up. "I don't know the real potent healing magic, but I can assist in your recovery."
"Thanks."
"Round shield." Raging Heart intoned.
The sky in front of Nanoha lit up, and Bardiche hissed as it struck the shield. Lightning flashed in eerie counterpoint, revealing Fate's face, a horrid twist of pain, frustration, and something like despair. Both girls darted apart, and a half dozen round spheres of energy blitzed across the sky. The entire landscaped rippled once as the barrier separating the battle from the real shifted.
The sky lit up in fireworks as the two girls flashed across it. Lightning struck, and the storm seemed to intensify as Fate fed more and more power into her strikes. Unable to catch Nanoha in a decisive strike up close, Fate backed away and channeled her power into Bardiche.
The sky roared as lightning struck across the clouds, and the wind seemed to intensify, and another bright lance of yellow magic lanced across the sky, just barely missing the frantically dodging Nanoha The girl dropped from the sky, turning in midair and aiming Raging Heart through the rain to where she knew Fate was.
"Divine Buster."
The replying beam was just as bright, pink, but deadly, and it roared as it swept towards Fate. The blond haired girl near snarled as she held out Bardiche in front of her and stopped the strike in it's tracks. The beam hissed and dissipated, and Fate re-aimed Bardiche, only to twist and slash at a swiftly moving Nanoha.
The white clad girl swept downwards, under the swipe, and smiled at Fate as she got close enough to touch the black clad girl. The buildup of power she had been gathering released forward, and struck Fate right in the stomach, knocking her back.
Fate barely felt the impact. She was numb to everything, even the rage was rapidly dissipating into a blank despair as she flew back. She was nearing the end, Ranma had nearly finished her, and on a good day she might have matched and beaten Nanoha. Not now. That black despair of failure threatened to consume her. For a brief moment she contemplated giving up.
Then Ranma's face flashed in front of her. Her lost familiar, Arf. Her mother's smiling face, slowly fading away to the cruel look as she raised her whip shaped device. Fate grit her teeth and just looked where she knew Nanoha was. She didn't care anymore yes, but she was not going to lose. Not now. Not for her mother, not for anyone else. She was going to fight because she wanted to, what happened after that didn't matter.
Fate let herself fall downward, towards the concrete street. As she fell spheres of yellow light began to appear around her, orbiting and crackling. The rain poured, and the thunder cracked impossibly loud.
In the air Nanoha gulped and began to dodge frantically as what felt like hundreds of yellow spheres began to streak to her position. Finally, unable to stay where she was she darted downwards, nearby the buildings, and right where Fate wanted her.
The beam of light lanced through the building to Nanoha's right, striking her barrier jacket with terrific force, and sending her into the neighboring building. The wall didn't stand a chance, and the girl was knocked inside, and out of the pouring rain.
In swept Fate, Bardiche raised high, and Nanoha was forced to dodge to the side. The weapon swept down and after her with deadly speed. It drove through a wall, through the desks and nearly through Nanoha. The girl fell to the ground in a tumble, and for a moment she looked at Fate.
She looked beautiful. Wet, miserable, and her eyes were so very sad, but in that moment Nanoha would have told you that she had never been more lovely. The beautiful death.
Nanoha didn't let that stop her though, she rolled as Ranma had taught her, and swung Raging Heart like a club, knocking Bardiche off course, and letting her get to her feet. Raging Heart lit up, and she aimed it.
"Divine Buster." The beam blast glanced off Fate's shoulder, and the girl spun with the impact.
Nanoha just barely avoided the scythe impact as she flew up and out of the hole she had made. She turned to see Fate gathering her magical power up once more. Nanoha just grit her teeth through the rain and the aches and the exhaustion.
"This is it Fate!" She spoke the first words since the battle had begun.
"So be it." Fate replied with little emotion.
Both beams struck midair, right above the abused building. The entire top of it was vaporized in the resulting explosion, and the winds roared as more magic was poured into both attacks. The clash was dead even though, and the beams dissipated against each other without there being a clear victor.
That was fine with Fate. She utilized the backlash to conceal her positions change to right behind Nanoha. Her scythe dropped down, and stopped in mid air. The magical binding twisted around the girl tightly, and Nanoha dropped to the now devastated building and turned, a spell already on her staff.
"No!" Fate struggled, but the binding held just enough for Nanoha to smile sadly, and speak.
"Starlight Breaker." The words were soft, but the attack was not.
This strike was beyond the previous ones, and lanced into the sky with a magnitude beyond the previous attacks. It struck dead on, right into the still struggling Fate. Thunder roared once, and the rain stopped as Fate's blackened and unconscious form dropped from the sky. Nanoha flew forward frantically to catch the girl, but it turned out to be unnecessary.
Ranma smiled as he caught the blond haired girl. He looked beat up still, but he could move without serious pain now. The boy chuckled as he looked at the devastation the two girls had wrought, holding Fate's body close.
"You girls really know how to have fun."
Nanoha just giggled herself as she got to Ranma's side. She looked a fair bit singed herself. Yuno just shook his head from behind Ranma. All three of them looked at Fate, and slowly, ever so slowly the girl stirred.
"Bardiche?" It was half question half request.
Yuno held up the weapon from the side. "I have it here. You can have it back when we talk with Lindy."
"I..." Fate looked at the three children, and felt herself let go. A few tears trickled down her smudged face. "I am glad."
"Don't worry Fate." Nanoha smiled warmly.
"We have you." Ranma shifted his grip on the girl.
Yuno smiled up at the sky and gripped Bardiche gently. "And we can help."
The girl felt herself slowly drift into unconsciousness, looking at the people she had fought. Strangely she wasn't worried, and that black despair that she had felt, just wasn't there.
Nanoha grinned warmly at her friends and silently corrected herself. Before Fate had been beautiful, but right now, right now was beyond that. It was near perfect.
"Aww, they are so cute!!" Lindy gushed as she looked at the ending of the recorded battle. "Very nice display of capabilities form all corners as well."
"Humph." Genma grunted as he manipulated the touch screen. The technology these people used was fantastic. Sure there were certain places even the universal translation spells couldn't overcome, but the rest of the information displayed was enough to give him a lot more information than Lindy probably knew. "I foresee remedial training for my boy though. He has an idea to deal with that whole flying advantage, but he hasn't had time to properly implement it."
"I look forward to seeing that." Lindy commented with a smile. "Later, we must speak about having you and your child join our ranks."
"Maybe." Genma hedged, glancing at the screen and rewinding it to a few points of interest. "The boy still has far too much training to go through before I even think about having him take up a career."
"Another time then." Lindy sighed and watched Genma manipulate the scenes.
The man was almost frightening the rate he deciphered the various spells they had. If he was bad though, Ranma was worse. At times Lindy found herself slightly worried at the potential she saw, but at others.. If she could have both the Saotome men join the TSAB, combined with Nanoha and Fate she could foresee a very bright future for the entire organization.
"So what are you going to do with the blond one?" Genma finally asked as he turned off the screen. "And that dog of hers?"
Lindy smiled and gestured to an aid for some tea. "We have Arf in full medical care. She is still fading in and out, but we foresee her being fine within the week. Fate is cooperating fully right now, and the picture we have gotten isn't very good."
"She's a victim of abuse." Genma shrugged and picked up a teacup. "I could tell that just by the way she moved. A lot of non-battle injuries. She flinches when an adult gets near her too." Genma sighed and held out the cup, and watched the steam waft off the liquid.
"You can tell that just by looking at her." Lindy raised an eyebrow, impressed. "It corroborates what little we managed to get out of her. She honestly doesn't know as much as we would like, and the information we have looked up doesn't match up right with her story. We think that her 'mother' has been feeding her misinformation."
Genma gave a shrug as he looked at the office the two were talking in. It had been nearly a day since the battle between the three children, and Ranma had refused to leave Fate's side. Considering that Nanoha insisted the same thing, the situation might have gotten a little tense. Instead Lindy had called in Genma, and the man had swiftly browbeaten the children into at least getting themselves cleaned up and treated.
"I don't think kindly of a person who would send a child into a situation like Fate found herself in the first place. The girl found herself surrounded on all sides with no assistance." Genma put the teacup down and frowned. "Whoever sent Fate either had no tactical sense or wanted Fate to fail."
"Who knows." Lindy sighed and set down her teacup as well. "Thank you for your assistance and insight at least."
"Bah!" Genma waved a hand. "You got my boy in this mess, I might as well be sure that he at least gets out of it with all his limbs attached."
"Of course." Lindy giggled a bit and held out a picture. "Here is that copy you wanted of them."
"Thank you." Genma bowed slightly and looked at the picture with a wicked smile. "It is never too early to gather blackmail pictures."
"They looked so cute sleeping like that that I couldn't resist." Lindy got up and gave Genma a nod. "I should get back to the bridge. We still have more places to search for the jewel seeds."
"Of course." Genma got to his feet and blinked as the entire ship shook, knocking Lindy off her feet. The man lunged and grabbed her quickly, but there was little time for anyone to speak as alarms began to ring loudly.
Lindy paled slightly, but gathered herself and began to run. Genma following.
"Moderate damage on two surface decks, minor structural damage on all floors. Estimated time of repair is two days." The technician rattled off as Lindy got onto the bridge. "Sensors have been knocked off alignment, and our weapons array is offline until the engineers can get to it."
The woman sat herself at the captains chair quickly, and began to call up various displays. "Our attacker?"
"Unknown, descriptions match The Garden of Time, but sensors are having trouble pinpointing it though the dimensional interference." The technician frowned as she called up another screen. "The attack wasn't directed only at us though."
The main screen lit up, showing a massive typhoon in progress. Several dozen waterspouts began to form, and were just as quickly shut off as a beam of light lanced out and bisected each of them. The light seemed to catch on something each time, but it was difficult to tell.
"The jewel seeds." Lindy breathed. "She poured magic into the sea and caused them all to go off at once, and is gathering them."
"We lack the tools to intercept her at this time." The woman at the main board frowned and looked up at Lindy. "We are however near a full lock on the Garden of Time. We should be able to get a full scrying and teleportation lock soon."
"What's going on?" Ranma yawned as he stumbled in the room.
"Not now boy." Genma muttered and knocked him gently on the head.
"Mother.." Fate looked at one of the screens showing the Garden of Time, and backed away slowly.
"We are here Fate, don't worry." Nanoha smiled and hugged the blond haired girl from behind.
"Prepare platoons three and four for departure." Lindy gave the command and frowned at the screen. "We don't know exactly what Precia is attempting, but if she activates the jewel seeds she has gathered she could potentially destroy half this sector."
Ranma frowned and backed out of the room slowly while everyone else was focused on the screens. No one noticed the boy, more concerned about the massive spiked ship that was the Garden of Time.
"Our scryers have managed to get a full lock, bringing it onscreen."
A woman with black hair appeared on the screen, smiling evil as she rested her head on one hand. She was seated almost nonchalantly on the throne, looking almost amused by the scrutiny. Above her head several jewel seeds floated serenely.
"Send the platoons."
"Such a disappointment." Precia spoke, confident that the scrying was focused on her. "I wonder, is my darling little failure there with you?"
Genma grimaced and looked at Fate's trembling form. At her side Nanoha held the girl tightly. Further behind Yuno looked just as worried, only now did Genma realize that his son was missing.
"I suppose it doesn't matter does it?" Precia's smile widened manically. "I mean you have probably already figured it out. I wonder, did you decide to dissect her? Or perhaps just terminate the little abomination?"
"What is she talking about?" Nanoha asked Genma. The man grimaced and looked like he wanted to plug Fate's ears.
"Momma?" Fate looked lost and confused.
"Darling little Fate, I always wanted to tell you something." Precia got to her feet, and watched as a dozen men began to charge into the room, surrounding her and pointing lethal looking staffs at her. "I always wanted to tell you how much I HATED you." The room lit up with lightning, blasting every man off his feet and knocking them all out.
"Such a little fake." Precia took a deep breath and held her staff tightly as she began to walk out of the room, the scrying following her. "You could never match up to my darling little girl. I should have strangled you when you first looked at me with those little monster's eyes."
"Yoink!"
Precia blinked in confusion. One moment the jewel seeds were in front of her, the next moment they were gone. Quickly the woman turned around, and spotted a running boy in a torn and dirtied gi. In his hands he held every jewel seed that she once had.
The shriek of outrage made Ranma twist and stick out his tongue. "Take that you old hag! You talk too much!" The replying thunderbolt singed him, but missed as he ran away.
"Was that Ranma?" Nanoha blinked at the screen with wide eyes.
Fate looked wide eyed as well. From near total breakdown, the intervention of the boy had so surprised the girl that she found herself smiling as her mother shrieked again in outrage.
"You think this will stop me?!?" Precia howled and invoked a spell. "Kill him!"
Hundreds of stone shapes began to meld from the ground, and formed into large foreboding metal robots. From there the screen blanked out, drawing cries of outrage from all the watchers.
"Get me another lock on!" Lindy commanded. "Chrono, you are going to lead the next platoon. We need to get to Ranma before that woman does." Lindy turned to the other people in the room. "If you want to go, get to the pad immediately."
"Yes!" Fate and Nanoha replied in unison.
Genma growled to himself and began to walk out of the room as well. He was going to rescue his boy, and then put him on at least a few months of punishment training.
The machines were large, human shaped, but around twice the size of a normal person. Each of them were patterned off old medieval armor types, and each and every one of them had cold metal weapons in their hands. It was an army that wouldn't have been out of place centuries years ago, now more massive, and far more deadly and unfeeling.
"I don't have time for this." Genma finally growled as he surveyed them all.
"These are simple robots." Chrono informed the crowd around him. "They are all on a search pattern for Ranma, but with their limited intelligence they are just guarding specific points while the rest wander around."
"That's fine then!" Nanoha flew up into the air and aimed Raging Heart.
"Bah!" Genma charged forward. "Take out the ones in back then!"
The mechs might have been old looking, but no one faulted them on speed. They responded near instantly to the attack, several of them swinging down their halberds in the places where Genma's body once was. Another person would have been chopped in two. In this case the hit nothing but air, and one robot found it's leg shattered, and the massive halberd it once had in Genma's hands.
The back row of mechs found themselves rapidly destroyed one after another from the magical barrages, and another robot was slammed to the ground, bisected by it's own halberd. The field lit up in magical and mundane explosions. One machine fell, and another quickly took it's place, only to be cut down. The parts shattered and broke under the onslaught, and in little time what was once an army of mechanical nightmares was just scattered bits of scrap.
Taking a brief moment to be sure that no one was injured, Chrono motioned to the rest of the people to continue on. Genma grunted from the side and hefted a massive axe that he had appropriated from one of the mecha.
"Why are you carrying that?" Yuno finally asked as they began to move into tighter corridors.
"Need something to cut with.." Genma chuckled slightly as he swung the massive axe through a mecha without pausing. " 'Sides I think it would make an interesting souvenir." Considering the weapon was twice his size it was almost humorous how easily the man was able to wield it.
"Regardless, do you know where Ranma might have gone?" Chrono was all business in this endeavor.
"Up," Genma replied simply. "With the way these things are arranged he would have wanted to find a small place up high where he could run circles around these things." An explosion ripped through the halls as Fate blasted one of the mecha in their way.
"This way then." Fate looked determined, and for the first time since she had met Nanoha she had no shadows of sadness in her eyes.
The group ran, through the halls, and the dozens of mindless, near endless robots. Genma cleaved them, broke them, and twisted them into trash. Yuno held them, Nanoha blew them up, and Fate sliced them down while Chrono covered the rear and blasted the ones to the side with precise, efficient, and deadly shots..
As they ascended a massive spiral staircase they were assaulted by the more advanced robots. Ones with wings and cannons. Yuno's shield made short work of their attacks, and Chrono's shots destroyed them rapidly. Then the reinforcements arrived, in another swooping host of winged robots, and a massive crash from the side.
The wall to the side cracked and shattered as a massive robot broke into the room sending debris everywhere. It was a massive thing, easily the size of a house with cannons for arms, and one massive cannon as it's main weapon.
"Divine Shooter." Nanoha was quick to act, sending dozens of pink blasts into the beast.
"Photon Lancer." Fate added her fire in the form of dozens of yellow spheres.
The attacks flew and crashed into a transparent shield. Both girls frowned, and were forced to fly back as a massive blast replied in kind, blowing out the side of the fortress. On the ground, Yuno grit his teeth and shielded against the next wave of flyers while Chrono picked them off as quickly as possible.
"Allow me to show you how a Saotome fights." Genma made himself known from halfway up the stairs.
The man dropped right onto the robot's shield, and the thing lit up in an impossibly bright flash as the axe that he had been carrying blurred impossibly fast, striking again and again with speed beyond human. The shield flicked, and suddenly stopped, and Genma's axe struck at the main cannon, embedding itself to the hilt. Genma pulled mightily as he dropped, and the axe came free with a screech.
Nanoha and Fate didn't need an invitation. Their next blasts of magic flew forth, massive and powerful. Without the shield the machine had little chance and was melted into slag. The last wave of flyers fell to Chrono and Yuno, and the party ascended quickly.
"Impressive, " Chrono commented as he ran.
"Bah," Genma scoffed, and stretched slightly as he jumped a ruined area. "I am getting old, that shouldn't have taken half as long."
Nanoha and Fate giggled slightly as the flew along, Yuno close behind. Fate directed them down one barren corridor, and there they saw it.
Dozens of robot parts were torn and littered across the hallway, with massive gouging claw marks streaked across the walls. The destruction was disturbingly familiar to Nanoha, but the rest of the part was slightly disturbed at how the debris was shredded in some areas.
"Not again." Nanoha gulped and looked around the area for a sign of Ranma.
"Oh..." Fate took a moment to actually figure out what her friend was referring to, but she gulped as well.
"What is it?" Chrono finally asked, as one by one the surrounding people put the pieces together.
"The Neko-Ken." Genma growled slightly to himself and dropped the axe on the ground and felt one of the gouges. "There weren't any cats to set him off, so the jewel seeds must have done it."
"He did it once earlier, he went all shadowy and black and tried to attack us," Nanoha finally explained.
"The shadow manifestation." Chrono showed the first real emotion that day as he frowned deeply at Genma. "A result of intense emotional trauma along with an intense magical source. The best guess I have is Ranma tried to deliberately invoke it considering where it happened."
"It doesn't matter. My boy is near unbeatable like this, and with the added power, it might be best to let him run it out of his system." Genma looked to another gouge. "I haven't seen him do this ever, even at his worst."
"Jewel Seeds are self perpetuating." Yuno shook his head, and clutched his generic looking staff tightly. "They gather energy from the natural dimensional tides and store it. We don't know how they do it, but we do know that if you tap it correctly you can last for years."
"We stopped him before," Nanoha commented nervously.
"With one seed," Fate added.
"So we have a near unstoppable mage with an unknown amount of power. To top it all off we have no idea how long it will last." Chrono sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Any ideas?"
"To be honest, until we see how the seeds manifested we have little idea on how to seal it." Yuno replied, and frowned. "Unfortunately I haven't seen the first manifestation, so it's nearly impossible to tell what happened."
"I suppose then I have no choice." Genma sighed and began to walk forward. "I will not lose my boy to some magical toy." The rest of the group quickly nodded and followed cautiously.
The next room probably didn't even deserve the name. It was more a large platform to nowhere with an eternal drop into nothingness and no ceiling. The physics of the dimensional barriers meant that with the proper spells one didn't need an air tight seal, but the very space surrounding the area could get maddening as time went by.
There was Precia, and Ranma. Precia was bloody, heaving and coughing blood from a combination of sickness and injuries. Across from her was Ranma, looking near pristine aside from the missing top. Across the boy's collar bone and forehead the jewel seeds glowed and flashed with ominous power.
The woman screamed with exertion, and a massive pillar of lightning lanced forward from her palms, and dissipated against something black. As the lightning crackled, it illuminated the massive feline hovering above Ranma. It had none of the shapeless, ever shifting, ethereal quality of the previous form. This one was solid in a way that way that sent chills down everyone's spine.
Without Ranma moving a muscle, the cat swung down with blinding speed, and batted Precia away like a rag doll. As the woman tumbled away the massive shadow seemed to look at the party with blood red eyes. It made no moves, but it watched with predatory patience.
"Mommy?" Fate approached Precia's downed form. "Mother.." She sighed and looked at her mother.
"Yuno, can you do a full bind and seal?" Chrono asked quietly.
"Yes," The boy in tanned clothing nodded.
"Bind Precia, and we can have her teleported out of here." Chrono turned to the immobile Ranma. "This behavior is rather different from the previous time."
"It's a lot more territorial I think." Genma finally commented as the boy seemed to watch the girls move towards Precia out of the corner of his eye.
"Yeee!" Fate screeched and fell backwards as Precia sent a small lance of magic at her just barely missing her head.
"Accursed child." Precia coughed out blood, and got her feet slowly.
She looked as if she was going to say more, but Yuno finally completed the binding, and several bands of light wrapped around her form, and a magical array appeared under her. The circle flashed once, and the woman slumped to the ground. Shortly thereafter she was teleported out.
"One thing down." Chrono stated and looked to Ranma. "Now for the hard part."
"Fate?" Nanoha's voice was soft.
"She was still my mother." The blond girl sniffed softly and got to her feet. Bardiche clanked as she gripped it. "Even with all the hate, and abuse, some part of me still wanted her love."
Nanoha hugged the blond girl in response. "It's ok. You have friends here to help."
"I know." Fate looked at the still immobile Ranma. "But first we have to help him."
"Can you seal him like you did Precia?" Genma asked Chrono softly.
"If we can get him to stay still, maybe." Chrono replied just as softly. "Somehow I doubt it would be that easy."
Finally Ranma seemed to get tired of being stared at, and turned to fully face the rest of the people. His face looked serene almost, there was no conflict, no indecision, and no intelligence in his eyes. The jewel seeds glittered and flared at random intervals, and his form seemed to blur at the edges. He leaned forward ,bared his teeth in the mockery of a smile, and hissed.
"Out of time!" Chrono called out, and began to give out commands. "Nanoha, Fate, try to deal with the manifestation. Yuno and I will try to seal him, and Genma try to restrain Ranma."
Genma shot forward, and dodged the swiping paw of the massive shadow creature. Twin blasts of magical power impacted into it, and the beast seemed to shimmer slightly before facing the irritations. Ranma himself never the macabre smile as he twisted and lashed out at Genma, sending a spray of blood across the floor as his strike glanced across the man's arm. Genma didn't hold back, and struck out impossibly fast, each strike missing by inches as the boy lashed out again and again, sending pieces of clothing, and blood flying.
Nanoha and Fate had better luck, though not by much. The cat was large, and fast, but it couldn't fly. Both girls kept it at a distance and confused it by swooping into its sight and blurring away.
"Divine shooter."
"Photon Lancer."
Raging Heart's and Bardiche's attacks didn't have much affect though. The massive siege attacks that were their trademarks made the thing flicker, and the smaller attacks just seemed to irritate the thing. Fate and Nanoha twisted and dove around the thing while peppering it with as much attacks as they could, but the strikes did little.
"We need him still." Chrono stated as he and Yuno evoked a binding.
The chains shot up into the air, and fell into pieces as the boy gestured to his sides with impossible speed. Genma, seeing this grimaced heavily and darted forward again, the boy dancing just out of reach.
"He's just playing with us!" The man called out, and ducked back.
His top was a shredded mess, but his skin while bloody was still intact. The area surrounding the boy seemed to swirl into clawing shadows, and Genma disappeared into it. Moments later the shadows burst, and the man reappeared, his clothing in tattered, and breathing heavily. He didn't allow this to stop him though, and charged even as another set of chains lifted into the air, and was shredded mercilessly.
Fate and Nanoha both frowned and darted away as the cat pounced at them, missing by inches. The girls responded like they had been working together for years, darting under the thing with both weapons alight. They gleamed, and a massive blast of pink and yellow shot up and right into the cat's stomach, bisecting it in two.
For the first time in battle Ranma flinched, and a single seed went dark. The boy jumped to the edge of the platform, Genma following. The shadows seemed to surge and crest, and then suddenly half the world seemed to go black as a tidal wave of shadow erupted into the air. Countless red eyes opened and began to separate into twisted mockeries of cats. The only sign of Genma was a strip of white and bloody gi.
"Mr. Saotome!" Nanoha yelped as she looked for the man.
"He isn't playing anymore." Chrono finally said.
The cats yowled and circled the party. It was like facing the incoming tide, there was no end to the creatures, and each and every one of them looked angry. The trembling mages got back to back for the inevitable charge, and on some unseen signal every creature surged forward, and at them all.
"Now damnit!" Genma yelled, startling everyone.
There at the edge, a bloody Genma held his son in a sleeper hold. The boy's claws arced up and dug deep, and blood flew, but the grip held. For a moment the tide of cats held still, and then was knocked back as Fate and Nanoha's attack lanced forward, devastating the ranks of demonic looking shadow creatures.
Chrono and Yuno evoked their magic frantically as Genma's arm twitched, and was flayed to the bone by the increasingly frantic possessed Ranma. The boy hissed, and black shadows began to inch up his body. The shadows hissed and spat and bit, but the only thing the man did was grit his teeth and hold the boy.
The ground beneath Ranma lit up in a magical circle, and one by one went dark the jewel seeds went dark, falling to the ground with echoing and strangely loud pings.
Ping.
Ping.
Ranma slumped to the ground with the seeds.
"Jewel Seeds Sealed." Chrono's device spoke sedately.
"Good." Genma groaned and ripped the rest of his gi top off, wrapping it in a tourniquet around his arm.
"Ranma!" Nanoha and Fate sped to the boys side, and checked him over frantically.
"Is he ok?" Yuno called out as he ran to their side.
"He's sleeping." Fate smiled at the boy.
"Silly boy," Nanoha said fondly.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The magical version of a intensive care ward wasn't that different than a scientific one just looking at it. Sure there were a few floating glowing symbols, but the parts were identifiable, and the machines that monitored life signs were fairly obvious. Since this was a space ship, the hospital consisted of a row of beds with several machines y each of them.
On one of the beds lay Precia. She was pale and unconscious. To the side lay Arf, and seated on a nearby bed sat Fate. The blond haired girl just sat. Nothing else. No proclamations of love or hate. No questions. No emotion.
Sometime between now and when her mother had shot that final shot at her Fate had let go. Some part of her would still love her mother, but now, at Precia's death bed the girl found herself without sorrow. So here she sat watching the heart monitor. Her mother had little time left, and would probably be unconscious when the time finally came.
"We found a life support capsule containing a small girl in the room behind the throne room." Chrono's voice echoed in her memory. "From the records we have been able to decipher your mother had an accident experimenting in forbidden arts and afflicted both her and her child with a wasting disease. The girl, being younger was affected far worse, and is in stasis at the point of death. So Precia cloned her daughter, and named her Fate. We think at that point a mania started to set in from the affliction and she saw you as a demon instead of her daughter."
'So every memory I have of her kindness is nothing but the memories of a dying child.' Fate sighed as she looked at her mother's still form. 'Even still, some part of me wishes that she looked just once at me with something like kindness.'
The machine beeped on. In time it would stop. Not right now though. Not right now.
"And after that you will be doing push ups until your arms fall off." Genma paced across the gym in the dimensional ship. "And after THAT you have a date with a set of chains and a wooden stick. I found a new technique that will not only toughen you up, but will be nice and painful." He paused there and growled. "I didn't say stop!"
"Yes papa!" Ranma continued to pull himself up.
Ranma's training session had apparently drawn quite the crowd. Right now the boy was suspended upside down with his feet tied to an overhanging bar. The boy was already drenched in sweat, and Genma showed no sign of letting him stop anytime soon.
"How long has he been doing that?" One of the spectators asked someone nearby.
The reply was swift. "About half an hour, and he was running full sprint for about an hour before that."
The questioner whistled softly. "Tough little bastard."
"I would ask to learn if I thought I would be able to walk afterwards," One of the men commented with a laugh.
"Nanoha!" Arisa waved at the brown haired girl. "You look so much better right now."
Suzuka looked at her friend and smiled as she caught up to them. "I didn't realize how worried you looked before. Did you get that family business done?"
"Ah!" Nanoha smiled brightly and nodded at her friends. "I didn't realize it, but it's like a great weight has been lifted. Everything is going to be fine."
All three girls smiled and began to walk into their school. For Nanoha it was like today was brighter somehow. Fate was getting better, and Ranma was fine. Genma was being strict as always, and Chrono had given Nanoha a lot to think about.
Fate was not totally off the hook. Since she was Mid-Childen, she was subject to their laws, and she had committed quite a few crimes in the pursuit of the jewel seeds. Fortunately she was a child, and had done the majority of the crimes under purview of her mother. She would most probably get pardoned after a court review.
Nanoha herself was thinking about becoming a full fledged mage in the service of the TSAB. It was a very big decision, but Nanoha felt that it would fit her. In time she would tell her parents, but right now she wanted to get back to school, and for a few days let the world pass by without worries. Also train herself in magic. Lots of training.
That was another day though. Today was school and friends.
"I am surprised that Genma let you come here." Fate commented from her place at the railing.
It was a beautiful morning, a perfect day to just sit and watch the waves on the seashore. The sun was shining, and the temperature was just right. Here was a perfect place to say goodbye for awhile.
Fate needed to be judged, and that would happen at her home world. It would be a fairly long process by all accounts, but fortunately it was a near guaranteed that she would get off with little to no punishment. Ranma was actually going with, both as a witness, and because Genma wanted to study the magics that the TSAB practiced.
"Eh, pops is a hard ass, but he likes Nanoha." Ranma made a face as he spoke. "I got extra training until your trial is done anyway. Pops finagled a few magic tutors for me, but I think I can manage to get some time to bug you."
"I am glad." Fate waved as Nanoha came running up. "Hello Nanoha."
"Hi!" Nanoha smiled brightly at the two children. "I am glad we could meet before you both left."
"Heh." Ranma gave a little chuckle and hopped up on the railing between the two girls.
"We will meet again." Fate smiled back at Nanoha. "I am so very glad I met you both."
"I am too, no matter how rude Ranma gets." Nanoha stuck her tongue out at the boy.
Ranma stuck his tongue out back and chuckled. "You know you love me."
Nanoha smiled warmly at the boy and Fate, and tilted her head in thought at the blond haired girl. Reaching behind her head she pulled off her small white ribbons tying her hair and handed them to Fate. "So that you can remember me."
Fate looked touched, and with a soft smile she undid her hair and held out the black ribbons that had been holding it up. "So you can as well."
Nanoha giggled and looked to Ranma as she tied up her hair. "Now what do we do with Ranma?"
"Good question." Fate looked at the boy as well.
Nanoha smirked evilly and pounced at the boy. Surprised the boy found himself pulled off, and pulled into a hug. "Fate, get the other side!"
"Huh!?" Ranma's eyes went wide, and he blushed deep red as both Fate and Nanoha kissed his cheeks. The flash of light and small click of a picture made him yelp in surprise. "Hey!"
"I don't think you need to worry about him forgetting this." Lindy smiled at the children, and waved a picture of the event. "But I am afraid that it's time to go."
"Urk." Ranma replied intelligently.
Nanoha giggled and took a step back. Fate nodded at the girl and began to walk away. Her last sight of Nanoha was the girl waving wildly. Ranma still looked a bit pole axed even as he was teleported up to the ship.
"Miss Lindy, do you think I could get a copy of that?" Fate asked softly as the boy raced off muttering something about soap.
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There we go. I might made a mistake here and there while uploading and consolidating, but I thats why I have reviewers to assist me. This is arc one done. Arc two will come eventually, but I can't guarantee a date.
On a different note anyone wishing to do fanart for this fic is free to, and if wish I will linky your stuff in my profile as thanks.