Blood That Flows

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Note: I know that some people are going to say that Nanoha-style magic is superior, or Slayers-style magic shouldn't be as good as it is. I'm going to say, just sit down and let me flesh the story out.


Miyuki pouted as she looked at the boy laying on the floor near Nanoha, both kids looked as if death had swam over them. "Mom! No fair! Yuuno's not very fun in the bath like this!" She sweat-dropped at her mother's look. "I meant him as a ferret, mom! He's cute and splashes around, it's fun."

"Uh huh..." Lina said with a flat look. "Yuuno, you were a gentleman, weren't you?"

"Uh huh." The boy nodded tiredly. "Always looked away."

"Good boy!" Lina grinned at hearing that. "Because if you weren't, I'd have to work you even harder." She laughed as both Nanoha and Yuuno groaned loudly. "Oh, come on, that Mono Volt barely had any power behind it."

"Still shocking that you'd use it." Nanoha mumbled, her hair was all frizzy from that spell.

Lina laughed at her daughter. "Nice play on words, but anyway, you should get used to it."

Nanoha mumbled something about wanting to eat and Miyuki giggled at her. "Not funny, sis."

"I can't help it, your Nano-fro is all frizzy."

"Stop watching those American shows, Miyuki." Lina shook her head. "They'll rot your brains." She was actually grateful that her family was taking the news that she and Nanoha had magic so well, though, in retrospect, she probably should have guessed the only comment would be that they wanted to know sooner.

"So, mom..." Miyuki let out a slow grin. "When can we get magic swords?"

"As soon as the Sword of Light shows up, which I doubt will happen any time soon." Though, that might have been interesting. Lina did remember something about there being more than just the Sword of Light, but those had been rumors, nothing concrete. "Then again, even if it shows up, you're not getting it." She didn't want to risk if the rumors that the Sword of Light drained its user of their intelligence being real after all.

"Aww..." Miyuki pouted at hearing that.

"If you have time to complain, you and Kyouya can spar in the dojo." Lina chuckled as she went about making breakfast for everyone.

"I think I'll go practice anyway." Miyuki chuckled as she slipped out. "Oh, mom..."

"Yes?" Lina looked at her oldest daughter, blinking. "What is it?"

"That knife of yours... Does it ever get dull?"

Lina grinned and closed her eyes. "Now that... Is a secret." She waggled a finger at Miyuki, who sweat-dropped, before Lina broke down in a fit of laughter. "Oh man, I've wanted to do that for years."

Miyuki sighed and shook her head. Sometimes she wondered about her mother.

After getting the table set up, Lina looked at Nanoha, who had rolled over and fallen asleep next to Yuuno. "...So cute." She smiled and pulled out a camera, before snapping a few photos. "Alright, you two." She shook them until they looked at her blearily. "Breakfast." She bit back a laugh as they woke up in an instant and practically teleported over to the table. Seeing her redheaded daughter and her blond friend practically drooled over the thought of food brought back memories. Oh well, Yuuno was a lot more intelligent and Nanoha a lot less destructive and temperamental than the two people she was remembering.

Idly, she wondered how her friends had been doing in the past fifteen years.


A few days later...

Blinking as the door was knocked on, Lina looked at the calendar, before shrugging. "Wonder who that is." It was almost time to make supper for her family, and she knew that Nanoha and Yuuno were going to be hungry, the poor kids had an appetite that resembled hers when she was younger. Kyouya, Shiro and Miyuki were lucky that they didn't burn through so many calories by using magic, but the younger two could still eat a lot. "Yes?" She blinked as she opened the door and saw a woman, a rather beautiful woman with green hair, in some sort of outfit, standing there and smiling at her. "Hello?"

"Mom!" She blinked as she saw Nanoha pop her head up. "This is Miss Lindy Harlaown and her son, Chrono." She indicated a boy with blue hair and a uniform as well.

Lina raised an eyebrow as she looked at her daughter and Yuuno, who was in ferret form on her shoulder. "So... Did you accidentally destroy an American military ship?" Why else would someone who looked like they were from the military bother showing up?

Nanoha turned to Lindy and smiled at her. "See?"

"I guess you were right." Lindy smiled softly at her. "May we come in?"

Lina smiled and nodded. "Sure, I was just about to start making supper."

After getting tea for her guests, Lina sat down on the couch next to her daughter and Yuuno while looking at Lindy and Chrono. "So, Nanoha, why did you bring some guests over?" Not that she was complaining, she was just curious.

"Well, um... They saw me and Fate-chan and..."

"Ah." Lina nodded at her. "That's fine." She then looked at Yuuno. "Why are you a ferret again?"

He gulped and jumped off of Nanoha's shoulder, turning back to normal. "Sorry, it's just easier to explain a ferret on her shoulder than a boy coming out of her house."

"I guess." Lina turned to Lindy and Chrono. "Let me guess, you had this really complex story you were going to tell me to keep me from being worried about her, right?"

"Well, yes." Lindy chuckled softly, at least this made things somewhat easier. "Mrs. Takamachi, I am Admiral Lindy Harlaown of the Time-Space Administration Bureau and this is my son, Enforcer Chrono Harlaown."

Nodding, Lina turned to Nanoha again. "Like I said before, did you destroy a ship or something?"

Nanoha shook her head. "Nah uh. Fate-chan and I were fighting after the Jewel Seed got sealed up and I was trying that spell you taught me and..." She blushed as she looked at Chrono, who was rubbing his arms and for the first time, Lina noticed that he had bandages on them. "Um, the Val Flare slipped a little. It didn't make anything explode, it just gave really bad burns."

Lina laughed at both that and the way that Chrono blanched from hearing that. "Well, that's pretty good. I guess I should have started you on simpler fireballs and the like." Seeing Nanoha pout, she smirked slightly. "Still, for only a few days worth of training, that's really good."

"You taught her that spell?" Chrono gasped as he looked at the woman, who grinned at him. "But..."

"It's not that hard." Lina rolled her eyes. "Just a fairly strong fire spell. It's not like I tried teaching her the Blast Bomb." She cleared her throat. "Anyway, Yuuno, why don't you try working that recovery spell I taught you? Nanoha, pay attention, it should help you figure out how to modify the spells I taught you." Seeing them nod, she turned her attention to Lindy. "I take it that you're here because of those Jewel Seeds?"

Lindy nodded, privately she was a little worried that someone from this world was such a powerful mage and hadn't been noticed until now. Mostly because if she was hostile or destructive, it would be pretty bad for everyone on the planet. Still, at least she didn't need to think up a cover story. "Yes. These Lost Logia, the Jewel Seeds, are dangerous things. We're not exactly sure how dangerous, but if enough of them get together, the dimensions themselves could be at risk."

Lina nodded at her. "I figured as much. That's why I told both Fate and Nanoha to only fight after the Jewel Seed was sealed up."

"Wait, you knew about them fighting?" Chrono spoke up and got a frown from Yuuno in the process. "You talked to that girl?"

Lina rolled her eyes. "Yes, I knew about them fighting and yes, I talked to that girl. What kind of mother would I be if I didn't know my own daughter's actions?"

Lindy giggled slightly. "I hope you don't mind, but we could use your daughter's help in getting the rest of the Jewel Seeds. Considering that she has experience with Miss Fate and she's a native here, I do hope you don't mind..."

"Nah, it'll be good for her." Lina smiled softly. "Though, I do have one stipulation."

Lindy blinked a few times at that. "...What?"

"I want to see the ship!"

Lindy nearly fell over at the sparkling look in Lina's eyes. "Wh, what?"

"What?" Lina shrugged at her. "You're an Admiral of some "Bureau". Considering that I've never heard of anything like that on Earth, that means that you're likely from some other world, and I want to see what the ship of an Admiral who uses magic looks like."

"Um... Sure." Lindy blinked as Lina smiled with her eyes closed and clapped her hands together.

"Excellent. We'll go after supper. You two will stay for dinner... Won't you?"

There was something about the way she said it that had Lindy on edge. "Um, sorry, I do have to keep my crew under control." She bowed slightly. "However, we do have Miss Nanoha's phone number, we can call her later and let you come see the ship then."

"Ah, okay then." Lina smiled as she stood up, along with Lindy and Chrono, who was looking at his arms in wonder. "We'll see you two around, don't be a stranger now."

As he watched Lina escort Lindy and Chrono out the door, Yuuno turned to Nanoha and whispered softly. "Your mom can be scary."

Nanoha nodded and whispered back. "Yeah, but she's so cool!"

"Yeah." Yuuno nodded as Lina looked at them and grinned, saying it was time to make supper and asking if they wanted to help. The two practically teleported, without using magic, into the kitchen to help out, causing Lina to giggle at their antics.


"Mother?" Chrono looked at Lindy as the two walked away from that house.

"Yes?" Lindy looked at him as they turned a corner and waited for Amy to transport them back to the ship.

"I'm not sure if I trust her." Chrono generally wasn't one to make a snap decision like this, but something about that Lina woman had all his senses on edge.

Lindy nodded, she was nervous around the redhead herself, something about her was unsettling. She could feel magic around the other woman, but it was weird, sometimes it felt like it was going to swallow her whole, and sometimes it felt like it would protect her from any harm. It felt dark and violent, and at times it felt light and life-like.

And that had just been what she had felt from being near the woman for five minutes. She couldn't imagine what it was like for anyone who was around her for more than that amount of time.

How the heck did those children put up with such a maddening sensation all the time? Lindy wasn't sure, but she knew that if she was around that woman for too long, she might need to retire early.


Elsewhere…

Looking out of her window, Fate sighed softly. She should have returned to her mother, she should have. But ever since her talk with that woman, she just couldn't, not yet. She didn't hate her mother, but she didn't think she should return back to her mother until she had more Jewel Seeds to show for it. Surely her mother would forgive her tardiness if she showed up with more than just a couple seeds. She was sure of it.

So, why did she feel so empty when she thought about her own mother? Why did thoughts of her mother leave her wanting something more?


Arisa looked at Nanoha as the two of them and Suzuka walked from school. It was only a half day, so the three of them were planning on just relaxing for the afternoon. "You okay, Nanoha?" Her redheaded, well, closer to auburn haired, friend had been tired lately, not to mention her appetite had picked up in the last few days. The blonde-haired girl had never seen anyone eat so much in her life, but Nanoha had said that she was taking up some of her family's arts and was incredibly active, so she ate a lot more to compensate for how much energy she burned.

"Yeah..." Nanoha rubbed the back of her head. "It takes a lot of energy to practice my family's arts."

"Sounds rough." Suzuka patted Nanoha on the back, getting a chuckle from her friend.

"Not really, it's a lot of fun, I just wish I wasn't hungry all the time though." Nanoha pouted while her friends laughed. She was either hungry or tired these days due to how much energy magic used up at once, it was almost annoying. Her mother said that she'd get used to it soon enough and be able to deal with it, but since she was so young and her body growing, she needed even more food and sleep than she would if she was just practicing kendo.

"Well, just don't eat so much that you swell up like a balloon." Arisa smirked at her. "Otherwise you'll never end up getting anyone to like you."

"Why you!" Nanoha pounced on Arisa, eliciting a yelp from the girl as Suzuka shook her head in amusement. Oh well, it was nice seeing Nanoha so energetic.


Looking at the boy as he helped her around the pastry shop, Lina couldn't help but notice how unsteady his steps were. "Junko!" She yelled at one of her employees. "Cover for me for a little bit, okay?"

"Sure thing, boss!" Lina smiled as she guided Yuuno to the back and had him sit down where she could look him in the eyes. His gaze was a little unfocused and he looked like he was about to fall over.

"You okay?" Lina frowned as he shook his head. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know... It's... I feel like something is going to eat me whole, but at the same time, keep me safe and it's making my head hurt..." Yuuno groaned, causing Lina to sigh. She had only taken him to the pastry shop today so that he wouldn't be bored.

"Alright, I think I know what's wrong." Casting a quick recovery spell on Yuuno, he blinked as she dropped her glamour on her eyes.

"Um, what?" He was startled by the sudden appearance of her gold and red eyes.

"I think I have an idea, Yuuno." Lina smiled at him softly. "You're feeling the Chaos magic that's a part of me."

"Chaos magic..?" He blinked in confusion as she nodded.

"Yes." She indicated her golden eye. "I used to have two red eyes, but I was exposed to an incredibly dense and powerful source of Chaos magic about fifteen or so years ago. I was lucky that I survived it." She shook her head, sighing softly. "My eye color was the least of my worries. My own magic was far different than I recalled it being before I was exposed to so much at once."

Yuuno nodded, that didn't sound good at all. "Um, how come Nanoha isn't affected by it?" The only reason that he hadn't noticed until recently was because of how tired he had been.

Lina shrugged at that question. "I don't know. Likely it's because she was born after I was affected by the magic, so, she's unaffected by it, simply because we're family."

Nodding, the boy thought that made sense.

"Or the Chaos magic will drive her insane and cause her to go on a violent rampage, killing thousands of people before she calms down." Lina shrugged, it was a possiblity, though, very unlikely. Blinking as she heard a soft thud, she looked down and saw Yuuno twitching on the ground. "Was it something I said?"


I'm going to say this, right now.

The first season that I'm doing here is going to lay the ground work for the rest of the story.

Hopefully it doesn't bore you too much.