This is a crossover of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and Negima. I do hope you all try to enjoy this.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own either series.
Thinking to themselves.
"Talking to someone with their voice."
'Talking to someone with telepathy.'
[Device Speech]
Chapter 9: Secrets Out in the Open
Aboard the TSAB Warship Asura, one of the command staff briefed Lindy Harlaown. "It appears the battle is underway at the second location."
Another officer's continued the report. "The core of the Lost Logia is rated A+. Their actions seem haphazard and insecure, and as you can see, they're using special attacks erratically."
"This emergency affects us on a dimensional level. We'll have to collect it as soon as possible. Enforcer Chrono Harlaown. Can you make it out there?" Lindy addressed Chrono over a magical vid screen to where he had been fighting with Negi Springfield.
"The transfer coordinates are already set. Given the command, I can go at any time. The first perpetrator is ready for transfer as well."
"Well then, Chrono, I order you to go to the combat site, cease all hostilities, and retrieve the Lost Logia. Listen to their explanations as well."
"Understood, Captain." Chrono saluted over the vid screen.
"You be careful out there, okay?" Lindy waved with a handkerchief as Chrono prepared for another transportation.
"Yes… I'll be going now…" was all he could say to his mother.
The Jewel Seed resonated slightly as Nanoha and Fate faced each other in the air. The two charged with weapons raised hoping to connect with a deceive strike.
Chrono teleported in directly between the two girls. "STOP!" He caught Nanoha's staff with his left hand while parrying Fate's axe with his own device. "Commencing combat here is too dangerous! I am a government official from the Time-Space Administration Bureau, Chrono Harlaown! I need a detailed explanation about this from you."
"Time-Space Administration Bureau?" Yuuno spoke out loud.
"First, withdraw your weapons!" Chrono ordered as he and the two girls lowered to ground. "If you continued to fight here…"
The boy was interrupted as bolts of energy shot down upon him. The TSAB officer put up a round shield to protect himself.
"Fate! We have to withdraw! Get away from there!" Arf spoke as she gathered more magical power before raining it down on Chrono and Nanoha, covering the two in smoke.
Fate however made a break for the Jewel Seed, but was denied as a few well-placed shots intercepted the girl and knocked her away from the Lost Logia.
"FATE!" Arf shouted in surprise as she rushed to the blonde's aid.
Chrono once again raised his staff at Fate preparing to fire. However, Nanoha jumped in front of him pleading to not attack. The blonde haired mage and her familiar took this time to escape as they disappeared into the air as they teleported away.
After scanning the area to make sure that combat was over, Chrono picked up the Jewel Seed and transferred it into his device.
A screen appeared near Chrono as Lindy Harlaown opened a magical communication channel. "Chrono, good job."
"I'm sorry, I let the other one get away." The officer replied.
"Well… that's all right. Oh, and I'd like to hear their story, so I was wondering if you could bring those two as well to the Asura?"
"Understood. I will return momentarily."
As the teleportation spell ended, Nanoha and Yuuno found themselves in an almost featureless hallway, the only exception was the magical symbols behind them and two other occupants.
Nanoha let out a gasp as she saw the state Negi was in. She could clearly tell that Negi had been in a fight and was worse for wear. Not to mention he had some magical binding cuffs around his wrists. The child teacher gave a sheepish grin as he raised his hands in a wave to Nanoha and Yuuno.
Nanoha was starting to get a little bit worried. 'Yuuno-kun… Yuuno-kun, what is this place…?'
'We seem to be inside the Time-Space Administration Bureau's Dimensional Cruise Patrol Warship. Umm… to put it simply, we are in a ship that moves through the space between dimensions.'
'I… I don't think that really simplifies things much…' Negi thought into the conversation.
Chrono nodded to the man guarding Negi before dismissing him, and then motioned for Nanoha, Negi and Yuuno to follow himself as he led them further into the ship.
'Umm, let's see… along with the world you live in… there are hundreds of other similar to it, including the one I came from. This ship and the people of the Time-Space Administration Bureau travel between them, and supervise the affairs of those worlds when they interfere with dimensional space.' The ferret continued.
'I see…' Nanoha replied, though it seemed she only partially understood.
"Ah, you must be uncomfortable in that outfit. You can release your barrier jacket and device here." Chrono spoke in a matter of fact tone.
Nanoha realized that she still had her mage outfit on and took the enforcer's advice. Her outfit glowed pink for a moment as her barrier jacket dispelled, only to be replaced by her school uniform. Raising Heart returned back to being a small jewel around the girl's neck.
"Also… shouldn't you return to your true form, too?" The TSAB officer suggested to the yellow ferret.
"Ah, yes! Now that you mention it, I guess I will. I've been in this form for so long that I'd completely forgotten." Yuuno replied as he hopped off Nanoha's shoulder. Nanoha and Negi crouched down to see what their friend was talking about, when his body began glowing green.
The glow around Yuuno's body expanded a few feet outward before retracting. In the place of the ferret was a boy with blonde-brown hair, he wore a green and cream colored tunic over a pair of tanned shorts, a dark brown t-shirt underneath his tunic, a tan cape with matching boots and wrist guards. A green rune in the Scrya clan symbol covered the center of the tunic.
Yuuno stood up and smiled at his friends. "I guess it's been a while since you've seen me in this form, huh? Nanoha? Negi?"
Negi and Nanoha both had surprised looks on their faces, but Nanoha seemed to have been thrown for a complete loop. She couldn't stop her hand from shacking as she pointed at Yuuno unbelieving. "EHH?" was all the girl could reply.
"Nanoha?" Yuuno questioned, not understanding.
"Yuuno-kun, you're… Y-Yuuno-kun, you're a… ! Ah, what the heck is going on? B-But w-weren't you just a… no way!" Nanoha continued to try and figure out what had happened, but her mind just couldn't seem to wrap around what had just taken place.
"Did your images of each other just change?" Chrono interjected.
"Umm… Nanoha. When we first met, I was in this form, wasn't I…?"
"No, no! You were a ferret to begin with!"
Yuuno then thought for a moment trying to remember that fated day. "Ah! That's right, isn't it! Ah, sorry about that! Sorry! I never did show you my true form."
"Yeah! You never did! You really surprised me."
Though Nanoha and Yuuno had seemed to be in a little panic, Negi had seemed to take it all in stride after Yuuno had transformed.
"Umm… may I say something? I don't know what's going on between you two, but… the captain is waiting, and we'd like to hear your story as soon as possible." The blue enforcer interrupted. He still wore his barrier jacket and carried his device.
"Ah… yes." Nanoha replied.
"Excuse us." Yuuno apologized.
"Well then, this way please." Chrono started to lead them away before Nanoha stopped him.
"Wait, what about Negi-kun? Why is he in handcuffs?" The girl demanded.
"It's because he was deemed dangerous and we didn't want him to create another scene." Chrono replied in a matter of fact tone. This seemed to surprise both the girl and the ferret boy. Negi himself blushed a little and looked away abashed.
"But, I am sure that Negi-kun will behave now. Won't you Negi-kun?" Nanoha pleaded.
Before Negi could even speak up though, Chrono spoke instead. "It is a precaution that I did order but for now, it will have to wait."
"It's all right Nanoha-san, I don't mind at all for now." Negi replied. "Though Yuuno-san, I'm impressed. I always thought you were a ferret as punishment."
The other three mages gave Negi a bewildered look.
"Negi, I believe your name was, could you explain what you mean?" Chrono asked with interest.
"Well where I come from, it's rare for someone to change into animals freely, unless they are half-demon or yokai or an animal spirit. However, it is used as a punishment for certain crimes. Such as being turned into an Ermine and working at one of the 'Ermine Camps', which is a kind of prison but only in the strictest sense."
"How long does this punishment usually last?" The TSAB mage asked.
"Depends on the crime, though I think any were from one to twenty years."
"Could you give me an example?"
"Umm… sure. Originally it was a two to five year sentence for revealing the existence of magic. Though lately, it was changed around it." Nanoha and Yuuno had looked worried for a moment as Negi continued to talk with Chrono, but they slowly relaxed as the two boys talked.
Finally they arrived at the Captain quarters. Everyone but Chrono was surprised by the design of the room. Along the walls were many bonsai trees and a bamboo waterfall; to one side of the room was a raised platform with a red blanket and matching umbrella, on the blanket was a Japanese style tea set.
"Captain, I've arrived with them." Chrono reported to a woman sitting seiza style next to the tea set. She had green hair pulled back into a pony-tail that stretched down to her waist. She wore a blue uniform top and white pants. A friendly smile and welcome greeted them as they entered.
"Good job. Well, please come in. Make yourselves at home." Lindy Harlaown invited before waving her hand making Negi's handcuffs fall off.
"I see. Is that so?" Captain Lindy spoke in understanding. "You're the one who excavated the Lost Logia… the Jewel Seeds."
"Yes… and I came to Earth, Unadministrated World 97, to retrieve them." Yuuno reported ashamed.
"How noble." Lindy replied.
"But at the same time, it was very reckless!" Chrono scolded.
"Umm… just what are the Lost Logia?" Nanoha asked.
"Ah… if I told you they were relics of a lost world, you probably wouldn't understand. So let's see… Within dimensional space, there are countless worlds." Lindy began, truly catching Negi's attention. "Countless worlds that are all born and grow on their own. Among them, there existed a world that was just too evolved. Because their technology and science was too advance, they ended up destroying their own world. All that remained ware the dangerous technological relics of the lost world."
"The general term given to one of those relics is a 'Lost Logia.' How they're supposed to be used is unknown, but depending on the user… it can harness enough power to not only destroy a single world, but all of dimensional space. It's an incredibly dangerous technology" Chrono continued for her.
"We must handle those items properly, and they must be stored in a proper place for safekeeping. The Lost Logia you three are searching for… the Jewel Seeds… are crystalized forms of energy for dimensional interference. If several Seeds were activated together, a dimensional distortion would occur, and in the worst case scenario… a dimensional dislocation could be created because they're so dangerous."
"When you fought that black mage a few days ago, that flash of light was an explosion which had a huge impact on dimensional space. That was a dimensional distortion. Even using a couple thousandths of its power can cause that large of a disaster. The effect of gathering and activating several of them to their fullest extent at once is unfathomable." Chrono warned.
"I've heard of that happening once before…" Yuuno interjected. "In the year 462 going by our old lunar calendar, a dimensional dislocation occurred."
"Yes. That was a terrible incident. Many of its adjacent worlds were completely annihilated. It was a horrible tragedy that will always stain our history. We can't let that happen again." Lindy finished as she made a cup of green tea for herself, shocking Negi and Nanoha as she put sugar in. "So, I'd like to inform you that the Time-Space Administration Bureau will take over all authority regarding the Lost Logia, the Jewel Seeds."
Her words surprised Nanoha, Negi and Yuuno.
"It'll be best if you three just forgot about what happened and returned to your separate worlds and continue your lives." The TSAB Enforcer suggested.
"But that's…" Nanoha began to argue.
"This incident involves dimensional interference! It's not a matter we could let civilians get involved with." Chrono interrupted.
Nanoha tried to speak again but was stopped by Lindy.
"Well, we brought this up so suddenly, so you probably can't think clearly. So why don't you all think it over this evening and discuss it between yourselves? We can discuss everything in the morning."
"I'll take you back. Where we were before is okay, right?" Chrono spoke as he stood.
Nanoha looked over to Negi and then back to Chrono, almost pleading with her eyes, but unable to voice the question.
"Yes, he can go back with you, now that we understand the situation."
"For the time being, should we go home?" Nanoha asked the two boys as they stood looking at the ocean from the shipping pier where Nanoha and Fate battled earlier.
"Yeah…" both boys agreed.
"And umm… I guess you're about my age?" Nanoha asked looking at Yuuno.
"Ah… yeah… probably. Are you mad about this? I didn't really mean for things to turn out this way, but… it ended up looking like I was keeping it a secret from you" Yuuno apologized.
"Oh… not at all. I was a little surprised, but that's all."
"Umm… I'm sorry. And thank you. For now…" Yuuno replied before changing back into his ferret form. "It seems more convenient for me to stay in this form, so…"
"Yeah. I guess you're right." Nanoha thought out loud.
"Let's go home and have some dinner, and then do some thinking… about what to do from this point on." Negi suggested.
"They're both amazing! Both of them are AAA class mages!" Amy Limietta spoke as she viewed the combat data they had received from Nanoha and Fate's earlier battle. The data she watched was displayed and examined in the main annalistic room of the Asura, it had screens circling the room and one main console at the center, which Amy was currently sitting at.
"Yeah…" Chrono replied with only half interest standing behind Amy.
"The girl in white seems like she'd be your type, Chrono. She's pretty cute."
"Amy! I don't care about stuff like that…" He retorted with a slight blush.
"Looking at the average of this girl's magical power… is 1.27 million! And the girl in black is… 1.47! When they release their greatest powers, those numbers triple! They exceed you in magical power statistics alone, huh, Chrono?"
"That's not all there is to magic! There's also the ability to apply yourself to the situation at hand… and use sound judgment when faced with a problem, you know! Besides, it was the boy, Negi Springfield, which seemed the most dangerous."
"Let's see… huh? He only has about 0.78 million magical power. Though on one or two of those spells he cast, he could beat either girl hands down." Amy reported as she ran the data and video from Chrono's first fight of the day on a few screens but left Nanoha and Fate's on others.
"No, that's not what made him a tough opponent." Amy just looked at Chrono in confusion for a moment before he continued. "It was his ability to plan and execute his tactics. Amy, do you know what the one defining difference was between us that let me get a victory?"
"Hmm… that you had a fourth more power than he did?" Amy reached for the only answer she could think of.
"No, besides, I told you that raw power alone doesn't make that big a difference." Chrono shook his head. "It was that he couldn't fly."
"Huh? Be he was up in the air a good amount of the time he fought you. See!" the brunette brought up multiple videos of the fight at different moments.
"You are close, but every time he was in the air, he had either launched himself from a tree or did one of his mid-air rebounds. He could rebound once in the air at a single time before he had to land again, true it got him to a good height, but it wasn't really flying. He could only just stop me from having complete air superiority. If he could have flown like me, I wonder how the battle really would have turned out." The child Enforcer sounded almost eager for that match, though Amy knew he wasn't like that.
"Well, of course. I trust you. After all, you must be the most talented of us all here on the Asura, Chrono-kun." Amy stated matter of fact.
Chrono just looked at her before the door opened as Captain Lindy stepped in.
"Ah, Captain." Chrono welcomed his mother.
"Ah. You're looking at their data."
"Yes" Chrono replied.
"They're amazing, aren't they?" Lindy spoke as she gripped the chair back that Amy was sitting in.
"If that much magical power flowed into a Lost Logia… a dimensional distortion would undoubtedly occur." Chrono spoke in desperate hope that it never happened.
"Those kids, we know why three of them are fighting to gain the Jewel Seeds, but… I wonder why this girl in black was gathering them?"
"She looked… pretty desperate. I wonder if she has a strong reason for what she's doing?" Amy thought out loud as the girl was displayed on the main screen. "She's such a young girl…"
"She still looks young enough to be relying on her mother's love…" Lindy ached with a twinge of motherly concern. "…if she's being raised like a normal girl…"
At Fate and Arf's apartment, Fate cringed in slight pain as she lay on the couch while Arf kneeled over her.
"Don't move." Concern spilling out in Arf words. "Now that the TSAB's shown up, we won't be able to continue. Let's run away… we'll go somewhere we can be alone…"
"I can't do that…"
"But even though we managed to get away, he's a top class mage! If he really tries to come after us, we might now be able to stay here forever without being noticed!" Moisture slowly began to form at the edges of Arf's eyes. "And that demon woman… your mother keeps saying all those things that make no sense! And she's cruel to you, too!"
"Don't speak badly of Mother…" Fate replied, though not in a scolding tone.
"I will speak badly of her! Because I'm so worried about you!" Arf interrupted. "Whenever you're sad, my heart hurts so much it feels like its being ripped to pieces! Whenever you cry, my eyes and nose get all blurry and drippy, so much that I lose myself! I don't want you to be in pain or cry anymore, Fate!"
Fate didn't reply, she could tell that her familiar was completely honest with her and it make the girl feel a little hurt inside that her familiar had to go through this pain. It wasn't something that the master and familiar bond actually did; the red head just cared so much.
"I guess you and me are linked in both mind and spirit. I'm sorry… if you're ever hurting, I'll be sure to stop myself from being sad, to stop crying." Fate finally answered.
Arf fell to the floor crying as she spoke. "I just want you to smile and be happy, Fate! Why… why can't you understand?"
"Thank you, Arf. But you see, I want to grant my mother's wish. And it's not just for my mother. I'm sure… it's for myself, as well." Fate sat up, holding down a winch of pain as she petted Arf's head to calm the wolf familiar. "So… just a little more. There's only a little more until we reach the end, so will you give me you best until then?"
"Arf stopped crying as she look at her master. "Promise me… that you're not doing this because that woman's telling you to, but you're doing your best because it's for you and you alone." Arf's eyes quivered as she held back more tears. "Then I'll definitely always protect you."
Fate nodded with confidence.
"So… Nanoha, Negi and I would like to help you" Yuuno reported to the Captain of the Asura, using Raising Heart as a medium. The ferret boy was in Nanoha's room reporting the decision the three had made while Negi, Nanoha and her family finished dinner.
"Help us, huh." Chrono mussed as he thought about it. Yuuno had contacted them while they had still been in the annalistic room.
"Even without me, I'm sure the other two will increase your strength. In collecting the Jewel Seeds, and fighting that girl. Or whichever way you choose, I'm sure we can help you."
"I see. You have really thought this through. In that case, I guess it'd be all right." Lindy replied.
"M-Mom- Captain!"
"Let's have them help us. I'd like to save our trump card until the last minute, if possible. Isn't that right, Enforcer Chrono?" The green haired woman smiled at her son, and he knew he had lost the argument before it even began.
"Yes…" was all the boy could reply. Amy could only just suppress herself from giggling.
"We have two conditions. All of you must put yourselves in the hands of the Time-Space Administration Bureau for the time being… And to always follow our instructions. I trust that's all right?" The green haired woman gently ordered.
"I understand." The ferret replied before closing the link. 'Nanoha, Negi, it's been decided.'
The two children the ferret contacted had been recruited to help with the dishes by Nanoha's mother.
'Yeah… thanks, Yuuno-kun' the girl replied.
"Well then, Kyouya and I are going out back now." Nanoha's father relayed.
"Yeah, will you be training again tonight?" The older woman responded.
He could only nod in affirmation.
"Be careful!" Nanoha encouraged.
"Well then, shall we go?" Shiro questioned his son. "It's been a while, so I'm not going to hold back!"
"Ah! Wait, wait! Let me watch!" Nanoha's sister called out as she chased after them.
As the two brunette Takamachi women finished placing the last of the dishes on the shelves, Momoko turned to her daughter. "Well then, that's that. So what's this important thing you wanted to talk to me about?"
Nanoha, Negi and Momoko all sat on the sofa as Nanoha pondered where to begin and what to tell her mother. Yuuno had just joined them and jumped onto the older woman's lap as she began to pet him.
"Before you begin, let me ask you. This is about Magic, isn't it?" Momoko shocked the three children with her direct question.
"W-w-what do you mean magic?" Nanoha stammered.
'Nanoha…' Negi's voice questioned in the young girl's mind.
"I know that you practice magic, or at least Negi-kun is and I can suspect that you are too Nanoha. And while I don't know how it exactly came to be, let me say that I overheard you this morning."
"How much did you hear?" Negi tentatively wondered.
"I came in just as you started talking about the demons that attacked your village, before you then left to the Merdiana Academy of Magic. I then listen to the rest, I haven't told anyone yet; thought in compensation, Nanoha I want the truth from you."
Nanoha could only sigh as she began to tell of everything that had happened since first meeting Yuuno and Negi. She made it brief enough so that the rest of the family wouldn't come in before she finished but she had to tell of all her fight's she had been in.
"…and now we want to leave to go help find the Jewel Seeds and help Fate-chan. It's possible that it might be dangerous, but… I want to see thing through to the end. It might be enough to make you worry…"
"Well… you know that I'll always worry about you. Because I'm your mother. Of course I'll be worried about you, Nanoha." Momoko's face became very sad and Nanoha could only look at the carpet with a slight feeling of shame. "But you know… If you were still thinking about which path to take, I think I'd probably tell you that you can't do anything dangerous like that. But you've already decided for yourself, haven't you?" the older woman's face changed to that of caring mother as she spoke her next words. "You want to finish what you started with your friends. And you still want to try talking things over with that other girl, Fate-chan."
"Yeah…" Nanoha nodded.
"Well… have a nice trip, and don't regret anything you do. I'll bring your father and brother to my way of thinking, too. And don't worry, I won't tell them about the parts involving magic. Though Negi-chan, I want your word as a Magister Magi to return home safely." This final part she looked at Negi with true concern as a parent.
"I promise. You have my word that I will do every in my power to make sure Nanoha-san get back."
"I meant all three of you. You and Yuuno-kun have to return here as well!"
"Yes ma'am."
"Okay… thank you, Mom!" Nanoha beamed.
I can no longer turn back… This is the path I have chosen… This is what I truly want to do! Nanoha thought as she packed her stuff for tomorrow.
"And I have one more request." The mother looked at the two children and the ferret. All of them preparing for whatever else she wanted. "Could I see Yuuno-kun here in his real form like you told me about?"
Nanoha, Negi and Yuuno all stared at her almost random request.
In the Garden of Time as it floated though the dimensional seas, Presea Testarossa gazed longingly at the four Jewel Seeds that Fate had brought her.
"Hurry… hurry, Fate… The Promised Land… Al-Hazard is awaiting us…" Presea longed as if the destination couldn't come soon enough. "My… our utopia!"
"Don't forget Presea, I'm the one who told you about the land of the Ancients and I will want adequate compensation." A young woman's voice drifted from the shadow's to the distracted mother.
Ok, to start with I know that this chapter took a long time in coming but over the last month I had a few major bumps in the road that prevented me from writing.
First and foremost, I am now dedicating the rest of this series in memory to two of my close friends. Chris and Ashley I will miss you both.
Next I would like to thank all of you who have been leaving reviews and hope you keep it up. A shout out goes to M. Touhou Magicus for leaving a nice and thorough review, and thanks for catching that slight error in the title of chapter 2.
And now for the part that some of you may want to yell at me about, but please don't do it in an overly offensive way, the two big changes in this chapter when compared to the main story. Yes, I did want Momoko to know about Magic, and YES there is an extra character that will be played into later on.
If all goes well I should have the next chapter out soon.
