Chapter 7: The Long Procession

May 29th, 0076

Siba Capital
10:00 AM

Fate had interviewed several people who'd been witness to Bathory over the last sixteen months, and so far all of the interviews took place in prisons. Every single time Bathory had been reported to the TSAB, it was by some other rat who just hoped he'd get years off his sentence if he did so. Fate didn't like meeting with these people, who were only sorry that they got caught, because none of them even tried to make things easy for her. If they weren't going to be let go for the info they had already given, then why the hell should they entertain one more enforcer for nothing? So in between being cursed at, yelled at, completely ignored, and otherwise being treated like dirt, Fate tried her hardest to get anything out of them. However, she often came up with almost nothing. None of them knew anything about where Bathory was now, since they'd all been sitting in prison since their capture anyways.

So when Fate got approval for an interview in the coastal city of Minerva, she could only hope that she'd have the fortune to be able to stay in her hotel room and do it long-distance. However, that changed when she saw who she'd be speaking to: instead of some pissed-off looking tough guy, a young girl looked out at the viewer from her TSAB Trainee card. Fate's eyes glanced over at the profile, and the first words she read were "Minasa Kimisho, nine years old".

Fate took a very, very deep breath upon reading that. She already began to feel protective of the girl as she looked over the girl's basic report. From what Fate read, Minasa stopped and confronted an escaping criminal, who just so happened to be Bathory. In the ensuing fight, she was devastated and had to spend some time in the hospital. At the end of the report, it was mentioned that the girl had a very hard time speaking of the incident, and it was recommended to just conduct a video interview with her. Due to the high chance of Minasa clamming up, the report said it wasn't worth Fate's time to travel over and try to do it in person; the Minerva TSAB would just send anything they could get the girl to say to the enforcer and save everyone some time. However, the more the report said it wasn't worth it to meet the girl, the more Fate knew she needed to be there.


"Permission to fly there, sir?" asked the Enforcer. In front of her, General Parkensine sat at his desk, working. He didn't even look up from his work as he responded.

"I don't know. I'd prefer you stay on the ground if you could."

"But sir, travelling by roads, it would be a four to five hour trip just to get there. If I fly, I can be there and back within six."

Parkensine paused his work, thought for a bit, and relented. He got on the computer and began typing. "Very well, I'll grant you clearance to travel by air to Minerva and back. The defense forces should know to let you enter the city by the time you get there."

Fate bowed slightly. "Thank you, General." She travelled up to the roof of the building and waited in front of some officers as her clearance went through. When it did, and she had the go ahead to leave, her feet left the ground and she hovered in the air, checking again which direction she would be heading in. Finalizing her trip, she took off, quickly speeding out of sight into the sky.


Two hours later

The Minerva skyline appeared over the horizon, and Fate began the last part of the uneventful flight. She reached for Bardiche and held it, waiting to be detected by the Minerva TSAB. It only took a couple more seconds for her to get close enough.

[INCOMING MESSAGE, SIR] said her device. Slowing down so the wind wasn't so loud, Fate told Bardiche to accept the contact.

"This is the city of Minerva police department," said a voice on the other end. "You are entering city airspace; please either turn back or land immediately."

"Enforcer Fate T. Harlaown responding. I believe I have clearance to fly within your borders?"

There was a little bit of down time as the caller checked for the authorization. Bardiche transmitted its registration codes, knowing from the multiple missions Fate had been on to just do it now, before they ask. Eventually, the voice returned.

"Very well, Enforcer, you are cleared to use our airspace. All units, please allow the Enforcer to pass by undisturbed."

Nearing her destination, Fate sped up again flew lower to the ground, traveling faster than any of the vehicles below her. At the traffic gates on the edge of the city, heads spun as the workers craned their necks to watch the woman fly past them.

[DESTINATION REACHED IN FIVE MILES, SIR]

Fate headed towards the large outpost of the TSAB, and glided down to the ground in front of it, landing gracefully. She started walking as soon as she touched the sidewalk. Standing by the doors was a boy TSAB Private, who began to sweat even before Fate got near. As he held the door open, he fought to keep his hormones in check.

"P...Please follow me, Enforcer!"

Fate entered the government station, which was laid out exactly like every other one she had ever been in. The boy walked off to one of the hallways, and Fate followed him. However, she began to get a little worried when he reached a set of stairs and started going down them rather than up. Normally, the basements in these buildings would be used to contain and detain, as temporary holding points for more...disruptive criminals. 'Why am I interviewing a nine year old girl down here', she asked. 'Why not some place more...well, some place with softer lighting, better aesthetics, more friendly workers, and especially where people aren't screaming in cells further down the halls. Wouldn't that be a better place for this'?

The boy stopped in front of a windowless door and opened it, motioning for Fate to enter. She did, and inside the room was a flimsy table, an extremely bright light, two chairs, and a nine year old girl. The girl was sitting at one side of the table, head down, her hair falling like a veil over her face. As the door slammed shut loudly behind her, Fate slowly sat down opposite of the girl and watched her for a bit. Fate's shoulders relaxed and she tried to look as friendly and as helpful as she could. In a soft voice, she spoke up.

"Minasa, is it?"

The girl slowly nodded her head, but kept her gaze at the floor. Fate rested her arms on the table as she continued.

"My name is Fate T. Harlaown. I am leading the current investigation to find a man named Bathory Kardenis."

Minasa shifted in her seat, turning away from the enforcer. "I know why you're here" she stammered.

Fate closed her eyes. "Well, please understand that I still need to confirm your situation. I know it's tough, but I just need you to tell me if we've got anything wrong." She placed Bardiche on the table, opened the briefing for Minasa's interview, and began summarizing. "About six months ago, you stopped someone who you saw buying illegal goods. He attacked you, and during the fight, you recognized him as Bathory." Looking past the screen, she saw Minasa start to shake, and Fate could only assume tears were about to fall from her eyes. "Minasa," she asked, "is that correct?"

The young girl broke down, sobbing as she turned even further away from Fate. Fate closed her eyes again and leaned back in her chair. Perhaps this was where everyone else had given up, and thought getting anything more out of the girl was impossible. To someone else met with this exact scenario, Minasa locking up as much as she was, she'd be of no use anymore. If she wouldn't cooperate, then why would anyone need to keep wasting their time? The mission would have been aborted then. But Fate knew better than to think that. Though the girl didn't notice, Fate got up out of her chair, walked around the table, knelt down, and silently embraced the girl in a strong, protective hug. As she did so, she whispered to the girl.

"Minasa, it's okay. I know this is all very frightening to you. You probably think I'm mad right now, but I'm not. I understand."

Between heavy gasps for air, Minasa tried to make words. "I'm...I'm trying...I'm trying... but..."

Fate kept her arms firmly around Minasa's body and rested her head on the girl's shoulder. "It's okay. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. I'll make sure of that. I'll stay here as long as I need to."

Minasa began to get herself under control. Fate released the girl and stood up, walking back over to the other side of the table. Minasa's eyes followed the woman as Fate took the other chair and brought it back, setting it down next to hers. Fate sat down and leaned over.

"Do you trust me? Do you trust that I'm not going to be mad at you?"

Minasa kept on hesitating, and Fate knew what the answer she didn't want to say was. It was expected; trust was one of the hardest things to develop, especially when it was out of practice. Fate knew that the girl was so close, though, and knew that behind her exterior, behind her hesitations, Minasa was just searching for what to say.

It was time. To close the gap of apprehension, Fate pulled out a move she often used in times like this. It was one she learned ten years ago, and still regarded as the greatest and cleverest thing ever pulled on her. Fate held one of Minasa's hands firmly in her own.

"Here, Minasa," she said, looking into the girl's deep brown eyes. "Let's try this. Can you say my name?"

The girl looked at the enforcer confused, almost like she was expecting a trick. "Wha...what do you mean by that?"

"Nothing more, really. Just my name, Fate. Can you call me by that?"

The girl's eyes rapidly began to look around the room as she got a bit flustered. "I...I guess I can...if you want me to..."

Fate responded with a smile. Summing up her bravery, Minasa shut her eyes tightly.

"Fate! Your...your name is Fate!"

The enforcer smiled even wider. "Very good, Minasa."

However, to Fate's surprise, the girl kept going. "Fate...Fate Testa...Te-Te-Testarossa Harlaown!"

The enforcer put her left arm around the girl, holding her close again. "Thank you, Minasa Kimisho. Few people do my whole name; you are very brave to have been able to do that." And just like that, Minasa was ready to open up.

People often asked Fate how she was so effective at forming bonds like those. Especially in the years before Riot Force 6, few people outside of her circle saw her as someone with much of a warm side. She would try to resolve any loneliness she saw, but would be met with the same initial reactions from those who were poorly handling the problem. Stand back, get out of the way, we can handle this. You're not the comforting type; what can you do that we can't? Of course, after Fate had finally butted through and swiftly fixed the problem, she'd be asked the same questions, over and over. How? Why did the child listen to you? What did you use to do that? And as Fate walked away, she'd give the same answer to everyone in her head: "Ask Nanoha first. I only know because she taught me."

"Fate?" asked the girl. The blond-haired enforcer looked over at her, paring the messy hair from Minasa's face.

"Yes?"

"What is it like on Midchilda? I really really want to go there."

"Well, it's nice, warm, and sunny most of the time, at least in Cranagan."

"But what about all the people I hear about? What about them?" Minasa quickly leaned in, staring hopeful into the enforcer's eyes. "What about Nanoha?" The girl said the ace's name like she was Nanoha's number one fan.

Fate giggled. "What about her...what about her...oh, what a question. She's doing fine - training the recruits every day, watching them go do their own great things." Fate quickly flashed back to Teana running up to her and almost bowling her over after passing the Enforcer exams. "She's still friendly, she's still hard-working, she loves her daughter and she's still very happy..."

Minasa could tell that Fate got lost in thought at the end of that last sentence. Fate's face changed as she seemed almost sad, or at least preoccupied. In her mind, Fate remembered that a few nights ago, the first one Nanoha had spent alone with Vivio, the brown-haired, blue-eyed woman had called her. Nanoha asked her closest friend about the start of the mission and about the new planet Fate was on. Nanoha was genuinely interested, but all that felt like a conversation placeholder for what she actually wanted to say. The two finished up without reaching that point, but it was obvious to both parties (minus the blond girl by Nanoha's side) that what wanted to be said wasn't said.

The next Midchildan night, Nanoha called again. The two talked about any further developments, both in Fate's case and with any of the other crew, and again, Nanoha put something off for the entire conversation. Her face showed it, though, and Fate remarked that she looked a little sleepless. Nanoha brushed it off, but Vivio, bless her heart, spoke up and told Fate-mama all about how she had woken up in the middle of the night and had gone to get a drink. She saw that the downstairs lights were on, and crept down to see Nanoha-mama sitting on the couch, watching the clock go by. As Fate nervously laughed, Nanoha tried to brush it off, saying that didn't mean anything. She patted her daughter's head as she did so, though maybe a little too hard. They all exchanged goodbyes once again.

Of course, the third night, Nanoha called once again. Looking even more haggard, she finally admitted that she missed Fate and wished she'd come back home. Fate didn't want to mention that she'd started thinking the same thing, and instead just told Nanoha that eventually it would get easier. Nanoha seemed to finally agree, though maybe that was her mind begging her to get a good night's sleep. The call ended, and Fate hadn't heard back since then.

"Yeah, she's still very happy," Fate finished, "and everything's fine..."

Minasa, perked up again, continuing her own interview. "Does she have any new moves? Any new awesome attacks? Something even BIGGER and BETTER that you can tell me?"

Fate was about to answer, but remembered that she also had an interview to do. To make Minasa think about all that again might destroy her spirits. However, if Minasa was this big a fan of Nanoha...

Fate had a great idea as she looked at the young girl. "Minasa, sorry, but we need to get back to the matter at hand." As expected, Minasa slowly began to pull away from Fate. "But," the enforcer continued, "if you be a big girl, and tell me what happened, I'll see if maybe I could do something for you."

"For me?" asked the girl. "Like what?"

Fate put her arm back around the girl's shoulders. "It's a bit of a surprise, but it's something I know you'll love."

"Okay," said Minasa, focusing on beginning her story. Of course, that night was still hard for her to think about, but she didn't want to let enforcer Fate T. Harlaown down.

Though she stuttered a bit at the start, she began. "I...I was out...patrolling the city, keeping it safe, when I...I saw these two men standing on the sidewalk..."


.


December 4th, 0075
Minerva
10:30 PM

Bathory Kardenis had it all figured out. Over the course of the last week, he had arrived in Minerva, found someone who needed his services, and proved himself a couple times. That all happened much quicker and much easier than in all the previous cities he had visited. It was a new record, but he didn't really know what to think about that as he looked out at the coastline. In front of him, a wide, short beach bridged the water and the edge of the wall. It wasn't a steep drop off, but it was one blocked by a railing running the length of the wall.

With the sun having gone down a while ago, and the foot traffic having all but cleared, Bathory could assume that the footsteps behind him were from the man he would be trading with. He turned around, holding his end of the deal in his hand.

"Blacktongue?" the other man asked, holding up a bag with several bricks of a powdery substance in it. Bathory just nodded, handing him the payment. However, the other man brought his hand up and paused the transaction. Reaching in the sack, the man opened one of the bricks and scooped some up in his fingers. He opened his mouth and pressed his fingers to his tongue, digging the powder in nicely. It was obvious why the drug was called blacktongue; instead of being a healthy pink, the other man's tongue looked ashen and charred to a deep, dead black.

"Here, I won't tell if you don't. Want some?" asked the man, holding the open brick out. Bathory politely declined, and the man wrapped the block back up. Bathory handed him the payment again, and both it and the sack of blacktongue exchanged hands. As quietly as they had begun, the two nodded and went their separate ways.

Bathory headed towards the beach and hopped the railing, dropping down on the sand below. He hadn't been to the ocean in a long time. The still night and the waves lulled him a little and he sat down, watching the water creep up to his feet and then rush back. Minerva wasn't exactly an oceanfront 'tourist-y' type of place, and the small row of sand under him wouldn't be able to support much activity, but Bathory liked it here. Looking out at the vast water, Bathory closed his eyes and thought that a little short break wouldn't hurt.

Of course, when he heard the soft thud of feet touching the sand, as well as a quiet gasp to his right, Bathory opened his eyes again. Looking over at the sounds, he saw a young girl in a mostly-white barrier jacket getting back to her feet. In her hands was a staff with a large blue gem at the top of the firing head. Around the gem were golden parts that stretched out past the gem to concentrate any attacks. The girl sprung up like she'd never crashed in the first place, and aimed her device at the sitting man with vigor.

"Caught you red-handed, criminal! Put your hands in the air and come quietly."

Bathory looked over at her, confused. He felt like he had met her before, but then again, he felt like he had met hundreds of others who looked like her before. Either way, he looked around, trying to find the rest of the ambush, but couldn't. Was she acting alone? And if so, why? Maybe if he acted innocent, he could simply defuse the situation.

"Hey there, what are you out doing this late at night?" he asked.

The girl held her ground and kept her device aimed at the man. "D...don't act dumb with me. My name is Minasa Kimisho, and I'm here to stop you!"

Bathory stood up and got to his feet. As he did so, he got a look at her fully and remembered who she reminded him of: Nanoha Takamachi, the so-called Ace of Aces. Wildly popular for the last ten years, and one of the most famous mages alive today. Bathory was there around her age when news of the amazingly powerful girl began to spread. In those tentative years of early childhood, when a mage began to form an identity for him or herself, the barrier jackets, weapons, and attitudes of the girls around him were dominated by wanting to be just like Nanoha. A huge influx of star-struck fans with merely-slightly-original designs appeared and believed that they themselves were destined to be as good as their hero. Call him an asshole, but Bathory hated them. They put a strain on the then-very-sort-of-almost-nonexistent Siban Air Forces branch for a few years before mostly failing to pass their C-rank tests with their special blends of delusion.

That's why he liked Kaisa Ellen so much, actually. She rolled her eyes at the other girls along with Bathory, and put just as much determination and focus as Bathory did on expanding her abilities as an actual TSAB officer. Both of them saw themselves in each other. The two of them trained every day to focus their attacks and become even more effective, not just to make sure that the finish of their devices exactly matched that of someone else's. Besides, along with all that, if Bathory had to pick an ace, he'd go with Fate T. Harlaown himself.

After the initial burst of followers, things died out some, but there were still young girls out there who were heavily inspired by the Ace of Aces. The girl currently in front of him was proof of that. But Bathory didn't really feel like getting annoyed at all as he approached her. In fact, he worried for her a bit, running off to confront someone alone like she did.

"Listen, Minasa, are you lost? Confused? Do you want me to help you out?"

The girl sputtered, stomping her feet further into the sand. "No! No no no! You're under arrest. The TSAB orders you to hand over your illegal purchases and turn yourself in."

"Really, I think you're confused. I don't have anything bad on me."

"Th...then what about that bag, in your hand? I saw you - you were waiting over there, and someone else walked up to you, and you took that bag."

As Bathory kept approaching her, Minasa became a bit more panicked. Again, Bathory had the feeling that she was going far out of her comfort zone to do this.

"I don't remember that at all," he said. "And this?" he asked, holding up the bag. "It's takeout."

"You're lying! I...I saw you...you were right over there..." Bathory walked right up and kneeled down in front of the girl. She flinched as he reached out and patted her head.

"I really don't think you have the right guy. I'm just out minding my own business." He looked down at her eyes, and she stared up into his. "Here," he continued, "why don't I take you back to your parents? I don't think you should be out this late."

Minasa shut her eyes and clenched her hands around the staff. "No, I'm...fine...I'm ok."

"Alright then." Bathory rubbed her head and stood up. "It was nice meeting you, but I need to get going." With that, he walked past her along the beach. As he did so, he rolled his eyes at the girl. First, he thought, to be like an Ace, you have to have the willpower and confidence of one. And from what he saw, Minasa didn't have much of either.

Meanwhile, the girl took a few seconds to recover. She shook her head, realizing that she was letting a criminal get away. Determined again, she raised her device up into the air as high as her arm would go. "Radiant Heart," she shouted, "stop that man."

[LIGHT BIND] said her device. Walking along, Bathory felt his arms get pushed against his body as his legs were pushed together mid-step. There wasn't much he could do as he fell forward, face-planting into the soft sand. Without moving, he just mumbled to himself a little.

"Are you shitting me?" he asked the ground under him. Rolling over and sitting up, he watched Minasa jump into the air, trying to fly over to him. However, she wobbled violently back and forth the whole way over, as if she could barely hold on to the spell. Floating in front of him, she aimed the staff at him again.

"I give you one last chance. One last chance to turn yourself in withou- wi- witho- WHAHH!" Minasa lost her flight balance and toppled over, falling to the ground. She hadn't been floating very high up though, and the sand cushioned her completely. Getting up and brushing off her barrier jacket, she re-aimed at the bound mage and finished her sentence. "One last chance to turn yourself in without injury."

"Injury, really?" asked Bathory, rolling his eyes again. "Listen, this has been cute and all, but I do need to get going." He tested the binds quickly and figured he could break them just by yawning. If he actually fought Minasa she wouldn't stand a chance, and so for both of their sakes, he still hoped she'd give up. Still, he should have expected that she wouldn't.

A white magic circle appeared below Minasa. "Watch out, I'm not holding back!" she said, before beginning to recite an aria, with some difficulty. "This powerful blast of love will make you listen to me! Because I think you need to...uhh...to...to cool your, uh, cool your mi- no...uhh...oh no, I practiced it so hard yesterday, come on...oh! I think you need to cool your head a little!"

The bound mage's head was spinning with confusion. Maybe that line would have been better without all the false starts.

Minasa continued as the magic circle of the Midchildan style appeared several times around her device. "This is my full power attack!" she cried, a charge of energy appearing at the tip of her device. "Feel the power of my Radiant! Starlight! BREEEEEEEAAAAAAA-"

'Alright, that's enough,' thought Bathory. In one quick motion, he thrust his arms out to the side, breaking the weak bindings around him. He gripped Aphelion in his hand as it transformed around his arm, aiming it at Minasa. He fired a basic shot which hit the girl before she could attack, tossing her backwards violently. She screamed the entire time she flew back, only stopping when she crashed into the sand and skidded through it for a couple feet. Bathory stood up and walked over to her as Minasa slowly struggled to get back up.

"What are you doing?" he asked her. "You can't go around 'defending the peace' like that. What rank are you - an E, maybe a D?"

Minasa finally got back up and aimed her device again. She winced as she did so and struggled to keep looking tough. "I'm tougher than that! I'm a strong defender of the law, watch me."

The AA-rank mage stopped walking and sighed. He raised Aphelion but didn't fire yet. "Then prove it," he said. "Put up a shield this time and let's see how much you can take. Aphelion, basic shot, fire."

The girl did as Bathory told her to and held her device out sideways in front of her, putting up a round shield. The green blast crashed against her shield, tearing straight through it. While some was absorbed, Minasa was still hit by a good amount of magic and was tossed back again. Bathory started walking over to her again, but she hadn't been able to stand up by the time he got to her. He grabbed her by the arm and lifted her to her feet.

"Hey, you can't go taking matters into your own hands like that. You have a lot of work to do to get to that point. So I'm going to leave now, and you're going to fly home, and that will be the end of this, okay?"

He didn't wait for a response as he started walking away. He assumed the girl would stop trying to arrest him after that, and indeed there were a few seconds of relative peace. He had almost begun to deactivate his device when Minasa shouted after him.

"Wait! Wait a second!"

Bathory rolled his eyes for a third time and turned around. "What? What do you want now?"

She looked at him in detail, spending a while just staring him down, then made another fighting stance. Again, all of her determination had flowed back into her. "I've seen you before. You're a wanted felon, Bathory Kardenis, and I'm NOT letting you escape!"

A pin could drop on the sand and you could still hear it. Both mages were dead quiet - Minasa silently waiting for a response, and Bathory feeling an absolute rollercoaster of thoughts and emotions.

Ohhhh no, he thought. No no no no no damn it no no no NO!

And with that, Bathory now began to tremble. He had gotten into this city not even a week ago, and couldn't believe his cover was blown just like that. He didn't care that Minasa was young, naïve, and simply inexperienced. He wanted to hurt her. He couldn't let her tell anyone.

"You shouldn't have talked...you shouldn't have said a damn thing" he said to her.

"No escaping now," replied Minasa. "I've seen your picture on the news; I know it's you. I can't let you roam free anymore." The girl surged again with the inspiration from an Ace, practically holding her hand to her heart and pledging to Nanoha that she'd bring this criminal down. If she could do that, she would be well on her way to becoming an Ace herself. However, reality would not be so kind.

"Aphelion, full auto mode" shouted Bathory.

[FULL AUTO MODE ACTIVATED], it replied. Bathory held Aphelion out at the girl and fired once, causing a continued stream of shots to soar from the device's firing ports. Minasa again held her staff out in front of her, putting up a circular shield. With the full-auto shots' weakened effects, she was able to block them at the start, but her shield began to crack more and more as the barrage continued. Finally, it could hold no more, and tore open violently. In desperation, Minasa held her staff so the head of it was blocking the continued attacks. Radiant Heart protected her body, but it began to crack itself.

Bathory quit the attack and both parties stood there on the beach. Minasa held her device tightly in her arms, wondering what Bathory would do. The man shook his head, held his weapon down at his side, and spoke.

"Aphelion, charged multi-shot. Just tell me when."

[UNDERSTOOD, MASTER]

Bathory slowly started walking over to Minasa, who found herself backing away from him as he approached. She told herself that she needed to stay strong, and she readied her own attack as Bathory kept walking.

"B...Beam Shooter, fire!" A standard beam attack shot out of Radiant Heart, and Bathory just nonchalantly brought his shield up. The green triangle absorbed it without a problem, and the man kept walking over to her.

"F...fire again!" shouted Minasa, and another beam of energy was shot from her device. The green shield again took it, no problem. As he got close to Minasa, she realized she definitely wouldn't win this. With her device cracked and injured, she wished she'd followed the man's advice and let him just leave before. "Please," she cried, "I won't tell anyone, I promise! Just let me go, alright, and I'll be quiet, I promise!" However, instead of hearing her pleas, Bathory was focused on the voice of Aphelion.

[CHARGED SHOT READY ON COMMAND]

Coldly, Bathory aimed the device down at Minasa. The firing ports all glowing with energy was a sight that Minasa never thought she'd forget. She held Radiant Heart tightly in front of her as he closed her eyes and waited for the impact.

"Fire."

The shots rushed out of the device, slamming into the girl with the full strength of the attack. Radiant Heart took the front of the attack and the staff shattered apart. The rest of the blast all went into Minasa, who felt unimaginable pain as she again flew back and hit the ground. It was too painful to scream, and she instead lay there, mouth open, trying to make something come out. She had never felt anything worse in her life.

If Bathory had ended there, it would still have been a traumatizing situation. However, he was still brimming with violent intent, still hating the girl. The girl felt her limbs get pinned together under a suffocating clamp bind, and she could do absolutely nothing to stop Bathory grabbing her by the neck, picking her up, and throwing her back down into the sand. She landed on her stomach, and before she could even turn to spit the sand out of her mouth, Bathory pressed her head down with his foot. He pushed down hard, not allowing her to escape the sand and not allowing her to breathe.

She fought back, of course. She fought as much as she could. Her neck tried as best it could to lift her head up and overpower Bathory's foot, but she was losing. Her arms pushed at the bonds and her legs tried to kick wildly, though once again, she couldn't escape. Her knees bent, and her feet flexed back and forth, but aside from that, her body could do nothing. Her mind, however, could race with panic. To her, it seemed like she'd gone minutes without air, though it had really only been ten seconds or so as Bathory decided what to do with her. He figured something out and took his foot off of Minasa's head. Her head arced back to breathe, and Bathory used this as he grabbed her hair and pulled her up to her knees. She knelt down, facing the ocean, gasping as Bathory walked in front of her and held Aphelion to her head. She looked up from her open green eyes into her attacker's narrowed ones, and pleaded with them. Her face was covered in the dry sand, though her tears were beginning to wet some of it below her eyes. She thought she was about to die and Bathory thought the exact same thing.

Seconds went by in this one-sided standoff. Minasa kept looking up with her scared face, more tears streaming faster down to the ground. Bathory kept Aphelion held to her head and kept his eyes in a narrow glare for a while, but slowly, his eyelids began to open. The anger rushed from his face and he lowered Aphelion.

"The hell am I doing?" he mumbled. "Seriously, why am I..."

Aphelion changed back into its standby form and Bathory lowered the bindings on Minasa as he let out an extremely disappointed sigh. He looked to the right, unable to face the girl. "I can't believe I even thought that..." He sighed again and looked back at her. Kneeling down, he hunched over to face to face with Minasa. Still scared out of her mind, her wide open eyes met his again.

"Listen," said the man who had finished his rampage, "I'm sorry. I went way too far. I just...I just panicked when you said my name. I lost control, and I know none of those mean anything to you, but I'm sorry, okay? I really am. I shouldn't have done that." The girl continued to stare at him silently. He put his arms on her shoulders, and she didn't even finch or try to break away.

"Now, you know that I'm Bathory Kardenis. I've had a lot of experience dealing with pretty much everything. I'm sure you just figured this out, but I'll say it again, and I hope you listen; you can't run off on your own trying to be a hero. You need your partners in case anything, anything at all goes wrong. I mean, tonight, if I were anyone else - if I was any other criminal in this city, who didn't care at all about what he'd have to do to get away, you would be dead right now. I didn't kill you because...well...I don't...don't want to..." Bathory had a very hard time trying to explain, and finally just gave up. "Anyways," he asked, "do you have any friends? Any people your age you probably called out to as you fought for your life?"

Minasa just nodded slowly up and down. Would Bathory hurt her again if she told the truth? Would he hurt her again if she lied? Instead, he just took a breath, and looked back at her. "Good. They're on their way right now because they care for you. They'll all wish that they could have been here to protect you. They are your team, and you need to stick together, alright?" Minasa nodded again, but her mind was starting to come back. She shook in fear as Bathory stood up and walked over to the broken device lying on the ground. It had been broken in multiple places along it handle. He gathered up the parts and brought them back to Minasa. He set them down in front of her.

"Again, sorry for that. I should have stopped long before." He looked at the broken pieces as Minasa reached out and cradled them all in her arms.

Taking another look at the ocean, he patted Minasa's shoulder one more time and started walking off. "Everything will be okay - say that you faced down 'the legendary Bathory Kardenis' and I'm sure they'll repair your device immediately." He rushed off, not waiting for an answer as he heard two other voices shouting in the streets. He got far enough away that it was too dark to clearly see him, and looked back as two children around Minasa's age flew down to her aide. They both hugged her tightly. She slowly stood up, and her friends grabbed her, saying they were going straight for the hospital. As the three kids headed off along the beach one way, Bathory turned and went the other way. He knew Minasa would reveal who she really fought, and knew that he had to get out immediately. However, his actions that night tarnished all the good parts of the coastal city, and he didn't look back as he dropped off the sack he'd been carrying the whole time and then headed out on his continued journey.


.


May 29th, 0076
Minerva
12:15 PM

Minasa finished, and both she and Fate sat there, silent. The nineteen year old was still trying to process everything about the terrible situation, while the nine year old quietly cried. She had started tearing up again during the story, and it had gotten worse as it went on. By the end, her words were almost illegible, but Fate never stopped her. Every time Minasa paused a bit too long, as if she was doubting her ability to keep going, Fate would ask her "and then what happened?" But now, she didn't know what Fate would say next. And so she waited as the enforcer finished thinking.

"Minasa, have you ever told anyone else that much?"

The girl was caught a bit off guard, but quickly answered. "No, never that much. I did say that I caught him, and he attacked me, but that's really all. They asked me for details several times, but I...I...I couldn't..."

"You weren't ready to reveal them. I understand. It takes some time to be able to understand an event enough to speak about it. And, of course," said Fate, stroking the girl's head again, "it depends on who's asking you. I bet there were some pretty big, pretty mean looking people who sat you down before."

"Yeah," muttered Minasa, "they were scary...really scary...un- unlike you." She looked up at the Enforcer and gave a light smile. Fate responded with her own large grin.

"You did an amazing job, Minasa, telling me what happened. Few people could be as brave as you were. I think you deserve your reward."

Minasa's mouth opened in surprise. She had completely forgotten about that. "What is it?" she asked. "What is it?"

Fate chuckled, bringing Bardiche up and setting him on the table. She looked over at the girl. "So, Minasa, you look up to Nanoha, right?"

"Yeah" said the girl energetically.

"And you wish you could go to Midchilda and meet her?"

Minasa almost stood up on her chair. "YEAH! I DO!"

"Well, I can't do that right now, but I can do the next best thing." Fate looked down at her device, making sure Minasa was watching her. "Bardiche, contact Raising Heart."

[UNDERSTOOD, SIR - CONTACTING NANOHA NOW]

Minasa brought her hands up to her head, looking wildly back and forth from Fate to the device. A screen popped out of it and the TSAB emblem floated around in the background as the call went through. Minasa was unable to speak, though now it was out of overwhelming anticipation. "I don't...what...what do I even say? I never...I never thought this...this would actually..." She practically fell off her seat when Nanoha's image appeared on the screen.

"Fate? How's it going?" she asked. The brunette stood somewhere in the halls of the TSAB office, wearing her Instructor Corps uniform.

"Oh, nothing much," said Fate, acting normally. Next to her, the girl with the voice caught in her throat still couldn't believe that Nanoha was right there on the screen in front of her. And Fate was just treating this as an everyday occurrence because to her, it was.

"So, it's been a few days. Everything still holding up over there?"

"Yup, so far so good" said the enforcer. She leaned in towards the screen a bit. "Hey, Nanoha, are you free right now? Just for a little bit?"

"I am for a bit. What's going on?"

Fate wrapped her left arm around Minasa's shoulders. "Well, there's someone sitting next to me who'd like to talk to you - someone who's been a big help today." With that, she looked at Minasa and nodded as she turned the video screen so it was facing straight at the girl. Her eyes and Nanoha's eyes locked, and her gaze was so powerful that nothing could break it. As she stared on, the Ace of Aces looked back at her.

"Um, hi there. I'm Nanoha Takamachi. What's your name?"

The girl answered back by reaching out, grabbing the screen, bringing it back in and hugging it. "NANOHAAAAA!" she shouted, swaying back and forth as the screen did its best to stay intact. When the girl did speak, she poured out torrents of words.

"MynameisMinasaandIcan'tbelievethatIgettotalktoyou I'myournumberonefanandIcan'tbelieveitandIalwayswan tedtobeJUSTLIKEYOU!"

Nanoha got the gist of that. "Ha, well, it's very nice to meet you, Minasa. Are you in the TSAB?"

Minasa released the screen, much to the thankfulness of Bardiche, and sat back down in her seat. "Yup! I'm a trainee!" She reached in her pocket and pulled out a blue sphere. "And this is my device, I call it Radiant Heart after yours, and, oh, and this is my barrier jacket." She started to stand up and push the chair out of the way, but Fate intervened. She reached over and held the energetic girl back.

"Alright, Minasa, I'm sure you don't need to do that."

"Okay," replied the girl, sitting back down. As soon as she did so, she launched immediately back into the conversation. "I'm a trainee, and one day, I'm going to be just as powerful and loved as you! One day...I...definitely..." she started to falter, remembering her fight with Bathory, and how easily he defeated her. "I...I..." she started to slump badly, and Fate looked at Nanoha nervously. However, Nanoha was no stranger to helping out with these.

"Minasa," said the instructor smoothly, "what's wrong?"

The girl answered her. "I'm only...only a D...I didn't pass my C rank test..."

"Well, that's okay, you can always give it another go."

"But...when you were nine, you were...you were doing amazing things! And I'm not...not doing anything at all..."

Nanoha did the best she could do over a planetary call. "Minasa, you are doing amazing things. I'm talking to you right now because you helped Enforcer Fate out so much."

"But...but...when I battle, I just..."

"Trust me Minasa, you have a lot, I repeat, a lot of time to become better. Take me, for example. I know so much more now than I did when I was your age." Nanoha chuckled. Give it some more time, and of course, train every day, and you will surprise yourself how far you go."

Minasa looked back up from her slump. "R...really? Do you mean it?"

"I mean it. You are stronger than you think you are, Mi-"

A voice screamed Nanoha's name from off camera, and the two mages on Siba watched as an energetic teen with blue hair dove onto the screen, hugging Nanoha tightly.

"Subaru," said Nanoha through her slightly-crushed windpipe, "I see you're in a good mood."

"Cinque called us, and she's getting out in two weeks! From today! We'll throw a biiiiiiiiiiig party then 'cuz now the whole family will be together." She started swinging Nanoha back and forth in her gripping hug. "I'm excited, Gin-nee's excited, Nove, Wendi, and Dieci are excited..."

"The Nakajima family is very excited, I see that. Hey Subaru, I'm talking to Fate right now. Do you want to say hi to her?"

Subaru released Nanoha from the hug and looked at the screen. "HIIIIIIII FATE!" she said, waving. She looked at the other girl next to the enforcer. "Hiiiiii, uhhhhhh...other person."

Minasa waved back, fairly confused. "Hello, uh, my name is Minasa Kimisho, it's nice to meet you as-"

"FATE? WHO'S TALKING TO FATE?" yelled another voice from off-camera on Midchilda. Another teenaged girl slid in front of the camera, butting in front of the instructor and the blue-haired girl. Teana gripped the sides of the screen and put her face up close to it. "Fate? Where did you go? What are you doing?"

Fate looked at the giant face of Teana and shrugged. "On a mission" was all she said.

"I know that, but tell me details. Where did you go? Who are you fighting? How has it been?" Teana backed up, standing next to her partner and their former instructor. "Ohhh, you know I want to hear that kind of stuff."

"Well, maybe when I get back, I'll tell you all about it."

Teana and Nanoha said the exact same thing at the exact same time. "And when is that?"

In response, Fate just shrugged. "I don't know. If I can find the guy, maybe a day or two, if not, a week or more. That's what I'd say."

"Fine," said Teana, "but you better tell me all the exciting parts."

"Well, if you're going to be an enforcer, I'll have to tell you all the boring parts as well. No sense holding anything back."

Teana crossed her arms. "Well, okay."

Subaru leaned over to her friend. "Hey, Teana, are you coming to the party?"

The shorter brunette stomped one of her feet on the ground and replied boldly. "Yes you idiot, you have asked me FIVE TIMES NOW and I said yes THE FIRST TIME YOU ASKED."

"Okay you two, break it up" said the instructor caught in the middle. She reached an arm around both of them and pulled them in. Subaru smiled as she gave Nanoha another hug in response, while Teana kept her arms crossed and looked away grumpily from her dolt best friend. "Now, I need to keep talking to Fate, so I'll stay here" remarked Nanoha as she ended the group hug. "You two...go off and do whatever you need to do."

"Alrighty then. Bye Nanoha!" said Subaru as she rocketed off somewhere. After she did that, Teana looked back at the screen.

"B...bye Fate...have fun." When she was done, Teana also walked off, leaving Nanoha alone again. She laughed as she looked back at the caller.

"Well," she said, addressing both Fate and Minasa, "things are very...interesting here." Nanoha focused back on the trainee again. "Anyways, back to you. Is there anything else you would like to ask me?"

"Yeah," answered Minasa. "I've...I've never actually been to Midchilda. My family can't just go, and I've applied for transfer programs, but they didn't accept me...Is there anything you can do, Nanoha?"

"Well, let's see. I could put in a good word for you, if you ever were to apply again." Nanoha winked at the girl. "And I'm sure Fate would do the same thing."

"Of course" said Fate. "I'd love to help out."

Once again, the girl was star-struck by the power of the Aces. "Really?" she asked, her eyes even wider than when Nanoha first talked to her. "Can you really do that for me?"

Nanoha looked off-camera, and then back at Minasa. "Well, you have to find a program to apply to; I can't just get your class to take a field trip or anything, but I'll make sure that you're a prime candidate for the picking."

"Oh thank you Nanoha, thank you so much!"

Nanoha looked off-camera again. "Alright, I have to get going. It's been fun talking to you though. And Fate," she said, turning back to the enforcer, "don't take too long, alright?"

"Alright," Fate answered. Nanoha quickly waved goodbye and ended the call. Turning to look at Minasa, Fate smiled when she saw the face of someone whose wishes had been fulfilled.

"Well, Minasa, I'm glad that we did this. It's time for me to leave, though - I need to get back and process everything." Fate stood up, pushed her chair in, and headed for the door. Minasa followed her.

"Are you sure? Are you sure you have to go?"

Fate opened the door and the two of them stepped out into the hallway. "Yes, I'm sure. I really enjoyed our time together though, and I hope you start to feel better." Both of them climbed out of the basement and walked to the front doors of the building together. Minasa stood in the foyer as Fate went to open the doors and head back out of the city.

"Fate! One more thing" shouted the girl. Fate stopped opening the door and turned around.

"Yes? What is it?"

Minasa bowed her head. "Th...thank you for listening to me."

Fate bowed her head back. "You're a brave girl. Remember that." And with that, she headed out onto the streets of Minerva. Looking in the direction of Siba Capital, she hovered up into the air and took off for her return trip. After she had passed by the edge of the city, and as the Minerva skyline was far behind her, Fate closed her eyes and soared. She let her mind wander as she cut through the air, slowly rolling over until she was on her back and the sun was on her face.

"Bathory...what am I even supposed to think?" she muttered to herself. Fate remembered the reports that surfaced after the hotel incident, saying the mage had been violent and unstable even before the crime happened. A decent, respectful person definitely wouldn't attack and injure a defenseless girl, but Fate always made sure to examine things from both sides. What other explanations were there? 'If I were in Bathory's place', she thought, 'could some set of circumstances cause me to act like that? Would I have done something I normally wouldn't do if I felt like I had to do it'? And then Fate rolled back over and opened her eyes.

'Of course - I already have. I brought those Jewel Seeds to Mother so that she would be proud of me - I did that because I felt like I had no other choice. I was put on trial by those who just looked at what I had done, and was defended by those who knew why I had done it.'

Fate still found it horrible that a nine year old girl was traumatized, and the image of Minasa staring up at a weapon pressed to her head still made Fate shudder, but Bathory had held back. He held back and would have only taught her a light lesson had she not known who he was. Minasa's story, as well as Ia Zver's story - provided that the man who assisted her was actually Bathory - started to paint a different picture of the man than what Parkensine portrayed him as.

"Bathory," whispered Fate, "I hope I can see what you're really like. I have a feeling that only you can truly explain yourself."


A/N: Yup. As I've mentioned, when I write dark stuff, my fingers just fly across the keyboard compared to when I do lighter things. Also, I said this back in chapter 4, but this story is also a way for me to do little one-off 'expansions' on things (like writing a unison accident) and I had wanted to do a complete "Original Character Do Not Steal"-type Nanoha ripoff getting...uhh...doled on I guess? But don't worry, everything turning out alright was also part of the plan. And by 'one-off', I mean situations, not characters with that. I try to have some characters come back, even if they only show back up much later...