AN: I feel obligated to upload an extra chapter this week because I was late with the last chapter, and admittedly it was sort of rushed. As always, thank you for taking the time out of your day to review my silly little story, constructive criticism is always welcome.
Chapter 8 – Ice Knight
Seishou Elementary
November 20, 0067 :: 12:15 PM
Nanoha, Kagami, Hayate, Alisa, and Suzuka ate their lunches, passing the time, and talking about whatever happened to come to their minds.
Where's Fate? asked Kagami.
Today happens to be Fate's combat mage exam, Nanoha replied.
"So do you guys have any idea when Harry's going to get back?" asked Suzuka aloud, Kagami froze.
"Harry…" Nanoha said slowly, "isn't he still over in Tokyo for cancer treatment?"
"Yeah…" Kagami's response was equally slow, they had told Alisa and Suzuka that Harry had been diagnosed with an early form of Leukemia, and relocated to Toyko for treatment.
Any Ideas? Hayate asked over telepathy.
I'm already talking to Lindy, Nanoha replied, Hold on.
"I heard… that he might be coming back soon…" came Hayate, pausing slightly at 'he'.
Okay, said Nanoha, We have authorization to tell them, Lindy seems to think that one may be one of the unidentified mages. So our orders are to get them somewhere private and tell them.
"Isn't Harry supposed to call us tonight?" immediately asked Hayate.
"Actually, yeah," Kagami turned to Alisa and Suzuka, "Do you guys want to come over and talk to him? I'm sure it would cheer him up," she winced slightly on 'he'.
"Um, sure," replied Alisa, slightly weirded out, she glanced and Suzuka, "you?"
"Yeah, I'd like to talk to Harry," Suzuka smiled, "I wonder how he is?"
Just fine, quipped Kagami.
Yagami Household
Same Day :: 6:00 PM
A knock came at the door, "Come in!" shouted Hayate down the hall, making a small motion to flick the lock open. The door opened and Alisa and Suzuka entered.
"Suzuka, Alisa," Kagami stepped into the room, "It's good to see you after all this time."
"Eh?" asked Alisa, "It's only been, what? Three hours?"
"I think your confusing them, Kagami" interjected Hayate, "Suzuka, Alisa, meet Kagami Heather Yagami-Potter or, Kyoko, as Fate seems insistent on calling her."
"Yagami-Potter?" asked Suzuka, slowly connecting the dots, "so you're a relative of Harry?"
"You could say so," smiled Kagami knowingly.
"No, wait," Alisa, getting to the point faster, "you are Harry, aren't you?"
"They got that one fast," commented Hayate, retreating into the kitchen, busying herself with dinner.
Alisa and Suzuka stood there in shock for a little bit, but Alisa shook herself, and flipped Kagami's skirt, "W-what the hell was that for?!" she stuttered out, red as a beetroot.
"Okay," Alisa grabbed Kagami's blouse, "what the hell did they do to you?"
"Who?" asked Kagami blankly.
"The Hospital, of course! The one that you were checked into in Tokyo?!"
"I was never checked into a Hospital!" Kagami said, calmly prying Alisa's hand off her, "just, sit down, and I'll explain, come here," she disappeared around a corner, then looked back, "Alisa, I meant in the kitchen, not in the hall."
"You said to sit down."
TSAB Cruiser Arthra – Medical Bay
November 23, 0067 :: 4:00 PM
"So what are the results, Doctor?" asked Nanoha, looking through a window into a checkup room, where Alisa and Suzuka were finishing their health examinations.
"The two are mages, there's no doubt about that," the female doctor brought up the database provided the medical computer, indicating two columns, "they're healthy, and both have linker cores in the AA-S range, not surprising, considering they're from earth."
"So how many mage's do you think earth has possibly?" asked Kagami, a frown briefly crossing her face.
"Well, with the ratio we have right now," the doctor brought up another data base, "we have a ration of about five mages to about one million, we can predict about three thousand potential mages total, most of which would be F or lower, leaving about 145 unknown mages of possible C+ power in their natural state."
"So not enough to be worth administration?" asked Fate, her face serious.
"No," confirmed the doctor, "but enough to possibly require observation.
"Hey, Nanoha?" the door to the bay opened, and Alisa, and Suzuka entered, each held a black and white card in their hand, "what are these?"
Kagami glanced at the doctor, "they're being trained?" she asked, surprised.
She shrugged, "Admiral's orders."
"What model?" asked Hayate, curious.
"Uh," Alisa, shrugged, "I dunno."
[ST-7 Storage Series] quipped the card, flashing briefly, Alisa gave it a look, she stopped being surprised when Yunno turned into a ferret.
"Did they agree to this?" asked Nanoha, a worried look crossing her face.
"As far as I know, yes," Lindy entered the bay, "I finished speaking to your parents, and they give you full permission to enter the transfer program, leaving immediately."
"Do you two know what this kind of training entails?" asked Fate, amused.
"Lot of exercise and math, they said," replied Suzuka, "but, math?"
"More than you could possibly imagine."
Arthra – Training Bay
Same Day
"Okay, Kagami, I want you to concentrate."
Chrono was pacing around Kagami, who sat on the floor cross-legged, her eyes closed in concentration, Chrono continued to pace around her.
"Focus on where you want the energy to manifest, where do you want it to manifest?"
Kagami didn't respond for a second, "in my hands."
"Good."
A small blue light began flickering in Kagami's hands, slowly increasing in intensity.
"Now what do you want it to do?"
The question rang in her mind, what did she want to do with it? The only thing she could do.
"Convert it."
"Then do so."
The glow began to die out, and ice began to form on the floor around her, and she simply fed the mana conversion the energy she had accumulated.
"Kagami, stop."
Kagami opened her eyes, and was greeted with a wall of ice encompassing her from all sides, she saw Fate's blurred shape move behind the sheet of ice, and the ice wall was shattered, melting under the force of her swing.
[Assault Form,] stated Bardiche, the energy blade dissipating.
"Here," Fate reached out a gloved hand, pulling the dark haired girl onto her feet.
"That was…impressive," commented Nanoha, who gave Kagami a look, "how much did you exactly put into that?"
Kagami shrugged, "just a little."
Chrono was about to give his opinion when the bay doors opened, and Alisa and Suzuka entered, wary of the spear headed staffs they carried, carefully pointing them away from themselves.
"Ah, Suzuka, and Alisa, how nice of you to join us," Fate smiled at the confused girls.
"So," Chrono immediately gestured them over, impatient to start, "what have they taught you? And please stop doing that."
"Nothing," said Alisa, "Doing what?"
"That," Chrono pointed to the staff's they were carrying, "those aren't firearms you know, they won't do anything unless you actually cast a spell."
"Riiight," responded Alisa, unconvinced.
"I think what Alisa is trying to say," interjected Suzuka, "is that they told us that magic was very close to math and computer programming, which doesn't really make much sense."
Chrono sighed, "Alright, sit down and I'll explain the basics, Kagami, go and practice with Fate for a little bit."
Kagami nodded, then looked at Fate who shrugged, "let's try a mana blade again."
This had be going on for about six months now, every day, Kagami would run a mile before school, then train with Chrono and Fate for a few hours, then she had to go home and do homework, which she really had no problem with.
Much to Vita's chagrin, she was learning Mid-Childan, although Signum had taught her the basics of Ancient Belkan, not that she got to use it much. Gil had been relieved of all the serious charges, and had given her Durandal, saying that maybe it was a sign that she had an ice-type mana conversion affinity. The TSAB Engineering Techs had said that if she wanted a Intelligent Device, they could install an AI on Durandal, or commission a intelligent device for her, she was supposed to give them her answer tonight.
According to Nacht, who had recovered from the loss of the Defense Program, her ability to communicate with AI was a rare skill derived from the Ancient Belkan system, which she called "Aurora Song".
Nacht also called her something in Belkan, when she asked Vita what she meant, she told her that Nacht had called her "Knight of the Aurora."
TSAB Main Office – Engineering Division
December 6, 0067 :: 2:00 AM
"Alright," said one of the Engineering techs, handing Kagami a flattish, rectangular dark blue gem, "Take good care of it."
"Okay," Kagami nodded breathlessly and nearly ran out of the room. She met the others down at a fountain at the front, lightly jogging up to the others, at the age of eleven, she was unusually fit from hours of running and training, and even though she was one of the knights, she was still aging for a reason even Nacht couldn't explain.
The others greeted her, and they proceeded to a training pitch, Nanoha and Fate activated their devices and rose into the air.
"I think I'll go with Schwertkreuz today," announced Hayate, activating the Tome and following Nanoha and Fate.
[Sir?] asked the gem Kagami held, [Deformation Mechanism is standby.]
"Okay," muttered Kagami, holding the gem out in front of her, "Polarlicht…Set Up!"
[Drive Engagement.]
The others watched in silence as the light faded, revealing…no one.
[Artic Rain,] said a voice above them, and they all looked up to see a hundred blue shots rain down on them from above, which they barely managed to avoid.
"Alright, who taught her Flash Move!" Shouted Hayate, looking above them to see a grinning Kagmai in her barrier jacket, holding a black and silver staff in her hand. Her barrier jacket was as unique as anyone else's, a black sailor fuku with a trench coat and beret, something that no one expected from someone who used to be a boy.
"Shall we begin?" grinned Kagami, raising her spear.
The others shared a look, then remembered they were on teams and separated, Kagami and Hayate versus Nanoha and Fate. This was gonna be fun.
Yagami-Potter Household
Same Day :: 11:00 PM
"That was exhausting," Nanoha groaned, flopping onto their couch.
Fate sighed, stifling a yawn, "for someone who was practically hyperactive a few minutes ago, you're tired."
Kagami yawned, then flopped down in a chair, "you can crash here if you want to, I don't think Shamal would mind very much."
"No, we couldn-"a small metal clang was heard from the hallway.
"Mail?" Hayate stumbled into the hallway, and came back to the room, holding three letters in her hand.
"Let's see… 'To Hayate Yagami, Uminari City, Japan'" she read off of one of the letters, "Nanoha Takamachi, Uminari City, Japan," she looked at the last letter, "Harry Potter, Cupboard Under the Stairs, Number Four, Privet Drive, England…Delivered by Proxy to Uminari City, Japan…" She looked up, and then handed out the letters, opening hers.
Kagami opened the letter and began to read slowly aloud, unfamiliar with some of the English words:
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,
Mr. Potter and Ms. Kagami,
We understand that in these tough financial times that somethings can be expensive, which is why the letter for one Harry James Potter has been combined with the letter for one Kagami Heather Potter.
We hope you understand,
Deputy Headmistress
Minerva McGonagall."
Kagami looked up into her friends who were just as confused as she was.
"The term starts on September 1st…" Hayate looked up, "they sent it late, we were supposed to be there last month."
"And how come Fate didn't get one?" complained Nanoha, holding up her own letter.
"I don't…wait," Hayate reached into her letter, taking out yet another two sheets of paper, "yes they did."
"If they wanted to save postage, they could've just put it all in one letter," pointed out Kagami, "do these people even know how the postage system works?"
"Apparently not," frowned Hayate, "Do you know how to get a letter back to them?"
"There's no return address," said Nanoha, looking at the back of her own letter.
"I need to ask Lindy about this," Kagami said, pointing to her own letter, "Polarlicht, could you open a line?"
[Of course, Sir,] the gem flashed, and a video screen opened, showing the tired face of Lindy.
"Admiral?" asked Kagami, "Do you know what this is?"
{What is what?} asked Lindy, yawning.
Kagami read the contents of the letter aloud to Lindy, "Do you have any idea?"
{No,} replied Lindy, fully awake, {But I'm interested now, so I'm giving you permission to investigate this, rest up, and begin immediately, I'll give the school and excuse as to why your gone.}
"Yes ma'am" wearily replied Kagami, cutting the link, she turned to everyone else, "Oh joy, waking up at 8:00 again."
-‡-
AN: Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I've been having some slight computer problems, I'll try to update over the weekend and on Tuesday, until then, later.
