Disclaimer: I own nothing! *falls in a pit of lava* Please R&R *bows* Shouldn't I be dead O_o
Self edited and re-posted: 9/2/12
Nanoha POV
When we entered the void, all I could see were eyes... everywhere, including the floor. Actually, scratch that, I don't even know if there was a floor. We were walking, but it felt like gravity didn't apply here. "This feels weird," I said as my eyes shifted around the red and black place. At least it's impossible to tri- *thud*
"Wow Nanoha, it is absolutely impossible to trip here, just... just how is that possible?" Teana asked while shaking her head.
"And that is what you get for smacking me earlier." Hayate said with a smirk. My eye just twitched as I glared at her while Teana helped me up.
"Ufufu, you humans are amusing," the blonde youkai chuckled as she opened another gap, but instead of more eyes, a small, run-down Shinto shrine came into view. "Welcome, to the Hakurei Shrine," Yukari said as she stepped out onto the cobble stoned path, and we followed her out of the abyss.
As we walked toward the shrine, Yukari slid the shoji doors open to reveal two girls around our age sitting lazily at a low table. One had long black hair with the back strands tied up high with a frilly red ribbon, while the strands of hair along the side of her face had red bands coiled around them. Her miko attire consisted of a red dress that had white detached sleeves leaving her shoulders uncovered and a yellow neckerchief.
Sitting across from the miko, her companion had golden eyes and had blond hair that reached small of her back. On the left side of her face, a large strand of hair was tied by a white ribbon. The blonde wore a black sleeveless dress outfit showing the white sleeves of her under shirt. A white frilly apron was tied around her waist, a broom and a floppy black witch hat sat beside her. Oddly white frills covered the underside, a large purple bow curled around the hat.
Normal POV
"The one in red and white over there is Hakurei Reimu, the one in black and white is Kirisame Marisa. Reimu is a lazy shrine maiden and Marisa is a kleptomaniac magician," Yukari introduced the two earning an irritated "HEY!" from both. "Both are human by the way," the woman added.
"I've never seen these two before. Are they from the outside world?" Marisa asked curiously.
"Only you would you bring outsiders for your own entertainment," Reimu deadpanned.
"Oh how rude, I would never do that," Yukari said defensively. "Anyway, this is Takamachi Nanoha, Yagami Hayate, and Lanster Teana. They wanted to come here to find their companion and lost memories."
"Eh? None of us said anything about 'lost memories'," Teana said full of confusion.
I sure didn't, Nanoha thought.
"Ohohoho, you will find out one day until then~" the blur of purple swiftly vanished into another void she created.
"ARGH! That damn gap youkai," Reimu banged her head against the wooden table. "She stole my snacks again."
"Awww Reimu, you're always saying that, but you never actually do anything," the blonde playfully smacked her friend.
"Too much effort. So," the miko turned her head to face the trio, "who are you looking for?"
"Wolkenritter Shamal, she has short blond hair and purple eyes," Hayate replied. "She usually wears green."
"Hmmm, Shamal... Shamal, heard of her Marisa?"
"Nope, but I have heard of Wolkenritter before. I think a rabbit youkai- she had red braided hair- mentioned she was a Wolkenritter. However, I haven't seen her in a while since she's not part of Eientei," the magician said. "By the way," Marisa turned to the outsiders. "I'm going to assume that you have no place to stay here in Gensokyo, right?" The trio slowly nodded their heads. "You are welcome to use my place then," the black and white grinned.
"Eh? But we don't want to be a burden," Nanoha and Hayate opposed.
"It's okay though, I crash at my friend's house all the time so it's not like it'll bother me."
"In that case then we can stay," Teana stared at the blonde with all-knowing eyes. "So what's the catch? We are complete strangers- yet you trust us alone in your house."
"Ooooh, you're sharp. Well, it's not like I have to worry about anything, my house in the Forest of Magic where youkai and strange things dwell. Don't worry, I put a spell around it to ward off youkai," Marisa cheerfully exclaimed.
"Be careful," Reimu started. "Her house is a huge mess. As a warning, don't go into the basement, there are tons of mushrooms growing there." She paused for a moment. "We should teach you three how to fly first since air travel is the fastest and easiest way to travel."
"...Fly? Just how are we suppose to do that?" Teana asked in disbelief.
"This is Gensokyo, where possibilities are endless," the magician spread her arms out as if to prove her point. "Come on, lets go," Marisa put on her hat and grabbed her broom, dragging Reimu along as she headed out of the shrine. They led the trio through the back of the shrine, passed the storage shed, and weaved through the trees. After 15 minutes of dodging branches and hopping bushes, a huge grassy clearing with a pond in the center came into view.
"Wow," Teana started.
"This is-" Nanoha followed.
"Amazing!" Hayate shouted out, the brunette started to run to the pond when something caught her eye. As she walked closer to the pond, she spotted an old turtle with a gray beard resting on a rock near the edge of the pond.
"So this is where you were Genji?" Reimu said as she crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow. "I haven't seen you since the mystic square incident."
"Well, since you learned to fly, you didn't need my help anymore, and so I retired back here in this pond," the turtle said slowly.
"Awww, well, we need your help teaching these girls how to fly. So, go teach them," The dark-haired girl commanded.
"You really learned nothing, Reimu." Genji sighed before saying, "fine I'll help, but you have to teach them yourselves."
"Ugh... fine, Hayate get on Genji's back, Nanoha go to Marisa, and Teana, your with me. Put your stuff over there under that tree," the shrine maiden ordered.
As the three went to their respected places, the three Gensokyo inhabitants lifted them up off about a hundred feet in the air... and dropped them.
"UWAHHHHHH!" the trio simultaneously screamed. Just before they hit the floor, the three "coaches" caught them.
"What the hell was that?" A pissed off Teana exclaimed. Both Nanoha and Hayate were too shocked to say anything.
"A method of learning," Reimu smoothly said. "We are going to do this until you figure out how to fly. You see, flying is something you have to learn on your own."
"Everyone has their own way of making it easier to feel the wind the space surrounding them. Once you have a feel of what the air is like, flying should be easy," Marisa advised with a wink.
Sometime around noon, when the sun was at its highest peak...
"Okay!" Marisa shouted. "We need to take a break! Come on Reimu, let's go get lunch." The magician trotted off with the miko in tow. Genji slowly went back to his rock.
"This is so tiring," Hayate collapsed in exhaustion.
"What happened to that enthusiastic drive of yours?" Teana questioned as she lay on the ground.
"It died when I started to feel hungry," Hayate responded as she crawled towards a sitting Nanoha. "How are you not tired?"
"I'm used to it I guess," Nanoha said simply. "Being up in the sky feels like déjà vu," she looked up at the sky with a longing gaze. "It's as if that person was with me, whoever she is," the chestnut-haired girl whispered. The trio stayed in their positions and enjoyed the comfortable silence.
"Yo! We brought back some foooood!" Marisa and Reimu came back with some grilled lamprey. "Mystia sure makes some great lamprey," Marisa cheerfully hummed.
"Thank you for the food," The three humbly accepted.
Reimu POV
"So," I asked the group, "how is attempting to fly going for you?"
"You were the one to drop us so you should know," Teana said, annoyed at constantly being dropped.
"That doesn't mean I was paying attention. Besides, it's how you feel the air around you that's I want to know about."
"I could feel that Nanoha is having an easy time," Marisa piped in. "It's as if she's done something similar to this before." She glanced at the girl with the side ponytail.
"Nyahaha~It feels like I've done this before, but I don't remember when," Nanoha said nervously.
"I see..." the black and white examined her closely, then turned her attention to Hayate and Teana, "So, how about you two? I saw you drop dead once we left."
"Hmmm," the brunette tapped her chin, "it felt like I had three pairs of wings on me. I just need to learn how to work them."
"It felt like I was being carried by someone," Teana sighed. "I've got a weird feeling about it."
These three are very interesting. No wonder Yukari showed much attentiveness in them. "You three should get used to those feelings very soon. In Gensokyo, the things you experience will be apart of you forever, even if you forget."
"Oh, what wise words from the great Hakurei Reimu," Marisa said sarcastically, earning a smack on the head. "Ow."
"Well, we should get back to practice. Genji, let go," I turned to the old turtle, only to acquire a light snore. Wow, he must be old. Ahhh, such a hassle. "Okay never mind, you practice on your own, I'm going to clean up the shrine. Until next time," I waved to the group and flew off.
Normal POV
"Awww, Reimu," Marisa watched her friend fly toward her shrine. "You lazy miko, why can't you walk back to your own shrine?" Turning to the trio, she said,
"well anyways, go float on your own. You all seem to be learning quicker than expected."
"Okay!" The three responded in unison.
I feel great power coming from them, but Hayate's bag was emitting a strange power. As a magician I am curious! I'll just ask about it later, the magician thought.
Three hours later...
"Oh my gah! We actually did it," the chestnut haired girl exclaimed along with her two friends. "Ooooh I was right," the magician grinned, "see you can do it.
Come, I want to show you Gensokyo from above."
From high above the tree tops, the trio were mesmerized by the scenery. "It looks like it could be Japan without human activity," Hayate whispered.
"Yeah," Nanoha agreed, "This is absolutely breath-taking."
"Mmmhmm. It is, but it's even more amazing when you look at the places up close in person," Marisa grinned. She turned to Teana, "Why don't you say something?"
"It feels nostalgic..." Teana's eyes looked cloudy, as if she were trying to recall something. Have I been here before? She shook her head to clear her mind, Nah, it can't be.
"Follow me," Marisa said as she hovered over a forest. "This is the Forest of Magic, where odd things happen. Be careful," the blonde moved further into the forest until they reached a large clearing with a house in the middle, and a well ten feet to the side of it. She landed and walked toward the house. "Welcome to my humble abode."
Nanoha POV
As we followed Marisa in her house... honestly, the only way to describe it was messy. So many object occupied the floor, shelves, table, and chairs. "How do you live in this mess?" The words just slipped from my mouth, but I could tell that Teana and Hayate were thinking the same thing.
"Oh, this? Hmmmm," the magician brought her hand to her chin, "well, like I said, I usually just crash at my friend, Alice's place. I practically live there. Besides this is a magic shop," the blonde said with a grin.
"I hope you don't trash her place like this. How do you even run a magic shop in the middle of the forest?" We tried to shuffle our way through the piles of bottles, staffs, grimoires, books, swords, daggers, and other little trinkets.
"Uhhh... it just is, okay? Beside it's my hobby to collect things. They are treasures in my eyes so I see no problem in this," she proudly exclaimed as she lead us to a staircase leading to the second floor.
"Argh!" I landed with a fwamph. "Ughh...too much stuff." Apparently I slipped on a scarf and tumbled down the stairs. Luckily there were piles of "treasures" to break my fall.
"Nanoha!" my two friends hurried to help me up.
"Wow Nanoha-chan, you even fall here in Gensokyo," Hayate-chan just added salt to my wounds. Sure I fall a lot, but come on there was a scarf this time.
"Whoops, sorry about," Marisa leaned down to pick up the scarf. "Hey, this is the scarf Alice gave me, I've been looking forever for it. It keeps me nice and toasty during winter."
"Wow you sure like this Alice, huh?" I asked, in response the magician flushed red.
"I-I-I d-don't kn-know what you're talking about. Ahahaha," Marisa tried to cover her embarrassment with laughter. "Lets go," she turns around to head upstairs.
Wow...it's so obvious, the three of us blinked. As we were about to follow after her, something shiny caught my eyes. "Hey, what is this?" I bent down to pick up a red jewel with a black string attatched to it so it can be worn as a necklace.
Marisa turns around to look at the item, "hmmm, I don't know, but it came with," she bent down and rummaged through the pile of junk, "this." She pulled out a golden triangle.
A flash went through my mind. "Raising Heart." I whispered.
"Stand by ready," A voice came from the jewel, then a magenta colored magic circle appeared under me. The jewel began to glow and turned into a white staff.
The top held a gold crescent and two pipes stuck out, the red jewel was floating in the middle of the crescent. "Hello, my master, long time no see."
Dumbfounded, I turned around to see three pairs of widened eyes. "W-what just happened?" I asked more towards Marisa since she was knowledgeable in the magic department. She just shook her in disbelief. "I knew I heard a voice from you, but there was never a response."
"Let me explain," the jewel... errr... staff started. "I am Raising Heart, I was a treasure of yours many years ago in the outside world. After arriving here years after being forgotten, I became an intelligent device and will only respond to you, Takamachi Nanoha, or anyone you entrust me to."
"I see... so Raising Heart, you knew me before?"
"Yes, master. I was given to you by someone close to you, and Bardiche, the one in the magician's hand, is something you gave to her in exchange."
"Did she have crimson eyes?"
"Yes, master. She looked very happy whenever she was with you."
It might be her, but is she in this world? Turning to Marisa, I asked "Is there anyone here who has crimson eyes?"
"Hmmm, there are a quite a few. Red eyes aren't that rare here. Are there any other specific details?" she questioned.
I shook my head, "No, that's all I could make out from my dream. Her voice was bittersweet and her gaze was full of sorrow."
"You are going to be a fine mage if you trust your dreams like that," the magician grinned. "I'll even train you myself, and probably get Patchouli and Alice to help."
"Really?" Nanoha questioned as her staff went back to a jewel.
"Yes, of course, you might find out some information on the girl you're looking for. Ah, that reminds me," she turned to Hayate, "can I see what's in your bag?"
"Um, sure." Hayate opened her backpack, revealing the Book of Darkness.
"This-this is-" the wide-eyed Marisa started...
A/N: I'm surprised InstantNoseBleed didn't kill me. :D
