Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction within a fiction work. I don't own anything here.

Cards And Devices

Chapter 10 - New Generation

by Sniperk

"I'm home," Nanoha said as soon as she entered the house.

"Welcome back." Fate echoed from the living room, before she appeared at the corridor. "How was your..." She trailed off as soon as she noticed that her wife was carrying an unconscious Sakura on her back. "Is she okay?" Fate stepped closer and noticed that the girl is snoring.

"Yes. Just tired. I'm amazed actually. She was the first person that could handle my special training menu, aside from you, Hayate-chan and her knights. Not even Subaru and the rest of the trainees at Riot 6 managed to handle that." Fate reached for the sleeping girl and lifted her from Nanoha's back.

"She's a hardworker. And she has a good mindset."

She climbed the stairs. After putting the girl in bed, she covered her with a blanket and stood there watching her sleeping for a few moments, smiling.

"Do you want me to get jealous?" Nanoha's voice reached her ears from the door.

"I'm just thinking about something. It's like we adopted another children."

Nanoha came closer and embraced her wife, resting her chin on Fate's shoulder. "Why do you think that?"

"She's just like you. Even Vivio thinks of her as a sister." Fate put her hands over Nanoha's.

"Like me? No way. Other than the color of her hair, I don't see any resemblance."

"Really?" Fate tilted her head to the side while turning it so she could face Nanoha. "Let's enumerate then. One, she's a hardworker. Two, she cares about her friend more than she cares about herself. Three, she treat her cards like they're part of her, much like you treat your students like they are your own offspring. Four, she's doing all she can just to save her friend, just like you did when you met me, or Vivio, or Hayate and her guardians. Five-"

"Ok. Ok. I got your point." At every compliment her wife gave, Nanoha's face got a bit redder and by the end of Fate's little speech she was completely red.

Fate turned to her and cupped Nanoha's cheek. "She's you all over again."

"Nyahaha." Nanoha gave a brief kiss on her wife's lips. "I'm gonna take a bath now."

"Alright. I'll prepare something light for you to eat."

"Thanks, Fate-chan."

She walked a few minutes after leaving the place before reaching an alley that was dark enough for her purposes. She double checked to see if anyone would see her and called her summoned beast. "Garyu," almost instantly the beast appeared from his hiding place in the shadows, "Take me to the top of this building."

The beast took the girl into his arms and started to jump, using the buildings that formed the alleyway as a support. Before a minute had passed they were already on top of a thirty story building. He let her down and she walked to the edge of the building, trying to see beyond the concrete jungle, to a neighborhood that would be more suitable for a person with money. From what she gathered on the streets, Hon lived in a mansion, where the internal area of the property could very well be mistaken for a park by someone unaware of it. After a few moments looking at the horizons, she found a spot in a neighborhood that seemed like what she was looking for. She again prepared her summon and chanted. A few moments later, a swarm of little insect-like creatures appeared around her. "Mission. Area survey." She raised her hand for the creatures and smiled gently. "Take care on the way."

She sat there, and waited, thinking about what she needed to do next. After a few minutes she felt her friends calling her, and turning to the shadow beast at her side, said, "Take me to them, please." The beast nodded and took her in its arms and jumped from building to building until they reached a small wooded area. After a few moments, the flying creatures came back and relayed what they knew about the area. Lutecia waited for all of them to come back, then started to walk in the direction of the place where the Inzects pointed her to. When she got to a wall, the creatures confirmed that it was the place. She created a mental link between her and her friends and issued another command. "Mission. Scatter about and be my eyes and ears." After a her little minions started to fly off, she hid in the shade of a tree and asked Garyu to cover her with its shadows.

"Man, there's so much people around town that it's almost impossible to track everyone down," the redhaired man sighed, leaning against a wall, near a window.

"Yeah. There's so many magical signatures around that I had to actually turn off Ana's tracking system yesterday at Sadi's." Chris was lying on a couch, at the big mansion.

"If the TSAB wanted to get to us, now would be great time."

"But they don't have the guts. Not after the last two we sent to them in those little packages." The little shivered. "The boss can be scary sometimes."

"I'll take that as a compliment." The white haired man was climbing down the stairs at that moment. When he got to the last step he turned to the woman that was accompanying him. "Get me a bourbon, would you?"

"As you wish." The woman turned and entered a side door.

"If we want the city to be in our hands, we need first to make the people trust in us," he said after sitting on an armchair next to where Chris was sitting.

They both looked at their boss. He was scary as hell in their mind. Even more for Chris, who hadn't known him for all that long. Reeve on the other hand was pratically raised by him, but he never was close to the business before, because his adoptive father was working with the TSAB at the time.

Yoru no sora ni matataku

"Huh?" The red haired perked up while Chris sat upright.

Tooi kin no hoshi

"It's the girl," the man said while the woman came into the room with a tray.

Yuube yume de miageta

"She seems fond of singing."

Kotori to onaji iro

"I see..." Chris said, still unsure as to how to react to that.

Nemurenu yoru ni

They listened to her for a few moments.

Hitori utau uta

Wataru kaze to issho ni

Omoi wo nosete tobu yo

"Beautiful voice, isn't it?"

Yoru no sora ni kagayaku

"Yeah, and powerful too, to reach down here from that room," Reeve noted.

Tooi gin no tsuki

"What I don't get it is why is she singing? She isn't in a situation to be singing. Is she nuts?" Chris was looking up the stairs from his sit.

Yuube yume de saite ita

"She said that these songs held memories with her precious one, or something like that. Romantic, isn't it?" Hon poured another glass of the beverage.

Nobara to onaji iro

Chris turned to his boss. "Putting this aside, how are gonna rip that Card off her to sell at the auction?"

Yasashii yoru ni

"I never said that we would rip it off. She's a side prize for the source." Hon smiled. "I just hope that where she goes, they don't destroy her voice. It would be a shame," He said, without actually showing any sign of being worried.

Hitori utau uta

"Hmm... Boss, there's something that I wanted to ask ever since you said that we would sell the source."

Asu wa kimi to utaou

"Go ahead, Reeve."

Yume no tsubasa ni notte

"Well, I don't understand why did you go to such lengths just to get something that you won't be even using."

Yasashii yoru ni

"Let me ask you two something. What did we get when we took over this town?"

Hitori utau uta

The redhaired and the small man glanced at each other, then Chris said. "Respect?"

"Power?" Reeve echoed.

Asu wa kimi to utaou

Hon smiled at both of them. "Money. A huge money-making machine. It's what this town really is."

Yume no tsubasa ni notte

The man took a sip of his beverage, then looked at his two minions. "That's what the source is all about. Money. How much do you think we're going to get with it?"

"No idea, but even then, isn't it dangerous to sell something that can be used against us in the future?" Chris asked, uneasy.

"No need to worry. The people to whom we are selling this to have bigger targets. They don't need the money. They want the world, or worlds."

"I see." Reeve frowned, but hid it by looking outside the window.

"How is the city? Have our guests arrived?"

"Yes. There's too many people running about in town. We don't have even a hope of tracking them all down." This time he didn't hide his frown.

"Don't worry. Don't worry. The more the merrier," Hon said, lifting his almost empty glass to his protegée.

"It's just that at least half of these people are enemies with some of the others. I'm surprised that there were no fights everywhere until now."

"Don't worry. Let them fight. As long as it doesn't affect us or the city, I couldn't care less."

Suddenly, Ana's and Kron's alarms went off.

"Magical Beast Detected, Honey. Type, Summoned Beast. Type of energy used, Belkan."

"Ranking estimate, A+ to AA. Distance 824 yards, Chief."

Chris jumped from the couch and got to the window, squinting his eyes to look into the night. "Protect the boss. I'll see what's happening out there. Ana, lock and load."

"Command recognized. Changing mode, Honey." Chris's clothes changed to his barrier jacket.

"Change it to combat mode too."

"Alright, Honey." Chris frowned.

"Boss, after this, can we have a little talk about Ana's programming?"

"Sure, sure. Whatever." Hon was talking more under the effect of the alcohol than from his mind. The woman stood by his side. Chris looked at her then at Reeve and then took off.

"Crap. Detected. Think fast, Lutecia." She couldn't run, because they would detect her, and couldn't teleport because they could probably track the traces of her teleportation. Then the idea came to her. "What I desire..." She summoned another beast. The second biggest that she had. "Jirayo!" She felt sorry for not chanting his summoning, but now she didn't have the time.

"Garyu, grab me in your arms and start to run. Jirayo, start to attack us. For real, with everything you've got. Try and kill us. We have to act as if we're really in battle."

The shadow creature started to run. Not long after that he made a hard turn to the side, avoiding a huge thunder strike that exploded at where they were. "Good." She looked at the distance. "Avoid the city, go to the beach." The creature nodded one more time before changing direction. She concentrated again. "You can all go back now. Thanks, guys," she said, talking to her little army of insects.

Another explosion, and they got to the beach.

"A second Magical Beast was detected, Honey. Type, Summoned Beast. Type of energy used, Belkan. Estimate ranking, A to A+."

"Huh?" Chris was starting to wonder if someone was having a summoning party.

"The two beasts are engaging in battle, Honey," Ana's metallic voice announced as he saw a explosion little ways from where he was.

"That's even weirder." After a few moments he was flying above the battle. "Reeve, is the boss ok?"

"Yes. A little drunk, but ok. Why?"

"There's two creatures here, not only one. They're engaged in battle, or rather, a big beetle-like thunder beast is attacking the first one we detected, a Shadow Warrior. This one is holding something or someone, and running from the first one."

"Okay. Just a moment. I'll see what the Boss says." After a few seconds, "Is it attacking with full power, or is it seem like a diversion?"

"I can't tell from here." He turned to his staff. "Ana, examine the attack pattern and calculate the level of engagement of the battle."

"Attacks registered as being the full potential from the beast, Honey."

"Apparently, it's for real. What do I do? Do I engage them?"

"Just a sec." Again a moment of silence before Reeve answered. "What direction are they going?"

"I'm already over the beach. Wait. The shadow creature just entered a cave that's too small for the big one to enter. It's hovering around the entrance. Wait. It's using an attack to create a landslide at the entrance of the cave."

"Just watch for now. If they turn to the city, then intervene, for now, just be on guard, and relay the play-by-play."

"Alright. But there's not much more to say. The beetle creature just created the landslide and apparently caved in the entire cavern."

"Signs of life?"

"Ana, scan the cavern area for life signs."

"No signs of life inside the cave, Honey. The magical beast presence disappeared, too."

"No activity from the cave and no signs of life. Wait. The big one just disappeared in a Belkan magic circle. Seems like it was summoned back."

"Install a sensor near the cave, Chris."

"Ana, life, activity and magical sensor. Prepare to install."

"Prepared, Honey."

Chris pointed his staff to the rubble of the cave. "Install."

A small ball fired from the device and stuck itself onto one of the rocks. "Receiving readings, Honey. Activity normal. Sensor working well."

"I'm going back."

"Okay."

She was in the middle of the desert. She walked near the road almost all afternoon. That had been a risky move for her to do, asking Jirayo to create a cave in to cover the tracks of her teleportation with his magical signature. Good thing it worked in the end. Now she was far enough from the city, but her transport would still take at least four more hours before getting there. The information that she had needed to be relay sooner than that, so she started to chant a proper teleportation spell, one that would take her directly to Clanagan. Unfortunately, she still didn't have good control teleporting over great distances like this one, but she figured that if she teleported a few miles before the town, she could get the rest of the way more easily. The only problem was that each teleportation would drain her of a lot of magical energy, and she would need to be in a rest center for at least a week after that little stunt, but she had not other choice.

When the first jump was made she managed to get the city in sight, but the Belkan Summoner almost fainted as soon as her feet landed on the ground. She droped to her knees, refusing to let her vision fade. She was panting and looking at the ground when she started to recite her mantra.

"We do our job in silence to make the other do theirs with a bang," she said, almost out of breath.

The mantra Miranda taught her.

"We kill so that they can save the lives of the ones that deserve to live," she panted again.

The ideal of how things should be.

"They are the heroes, and we are their guardians." She knelt, forcing herself to stand.

The reason she existed.

"They are the light that create the shadow." She looked up into the starry sky.

The reason that she let go of her life in Mau Gram.

"A Shadow's job is to make the light shine even brighter." She closed her eyes and felt the wind fluttering her purple hair.

The life she'd sworn to dedicate to those that she'd made miserable when she was under Scaglietti's influence.

"That's why we'll always be tarnished with the shadows." She forced herself to stand, supporting her hands on her knees so they wouldn't bend again.

The comprehension of how the world really worked.

"We are the ones the ones that will suffer, so they don't need to." She stood upright, with her head still down.

The selflessness needed to do such a thing.

"We will never exist. A Shadow doesn't exist. A Shadow is a mere projection of the light." She lifted her head and opened her arms, viewing the place where she needed to leap next.

The need to finish their mission as soon as possible.

"We will never exist. But with out help, the light will shine today more brighter than the day before." She disappeared from that place, and was in front of her superior a moment later.

"Sorry. This case is taking its toll on me too, but I can't leave it alone for a second. Every moment can be crucial."

"Alright, I'll not ask anything from you anymore, for now," his wife said from the other end of the call.

"Thanks."

"Just promise one thing."

"Anything," he said, forcing a smile. He knew what Amy was about to say.

"After this case is over, I don't care if the world is ending. You're going to take a vacation."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Not see. You will." At this, she cut the call.

"Oh, boy." He sank in his chair. He was reviewing for the nth time everything that was in the reports from the Saint Church and from Sakura's training. Every bit and byte of information was crucial. In that moment he felt the energy of an incoming teleportation. Few people could manage a teleportation without the Admiral sensing it before it finished, so he reached for his device and waited. A few moments later, his subordinate appeared before him.

"Alphine reporting, Sir," was the last thing she said before stumbling back to the ground, trying to catch her breath.

"I need an medical team to treat a case of energy wear out in my office immediately" The raven haired man reached for the girl lying on the floor, lifting her up and sitting her on the couch. He wanted to know why the heck his subordinate got there so suddenly, and more than seven hours before her mission was over, in this state. Looking at the girl, if she said that she had teleported all the way from the Central to MidChilda by her own powers he wouldn't be surprised.

"I... need to make my... report immediatly, Sir." She was almost fainting.

"First, breathe. Then stay still and awake. The medical team will treat you in a few moments."

"Okay." Lutecia stayed there, feeling like her body was trying to rip off her soul from it until the nurse came and gave her an injection that almost instantly made her head pang with the sudden burst of energy coursing trough her. "Waaaaaahhhh..."

"Calm down. Calm down. It was just a light energy boost, to make your Linker Core more stable. I'll go get an stretcher," the nurse said as she walked out of the room.

When the nurse lef of the office, she looked at her superior and held her head. "Sir, I need to pass on this information now, else I'll pass out without telling you anything."

Chrono frowned. "You've got two minutes to tell me, so be quick."

Lutecia then relayed to him what she could manage in those conditions, about the auction, about the girl, about the city and even about the girl singing, before she finally fainted in his arms.

"Good job. You earned a well deserved rest," he said as the nurses came back with the stretcher and took her to the medical center.

A/N: I know I'm taking a few liberties with the context and a few characterizations too, but if you uncomfortable with it, please take it as an AU.

The music in this chapter is "Yoru no Uta" from Card Captor Sakura.