Endless Waltz

By: Daishi Prime

-20 – Hippocrates-

Szash leaned back in her seat and frowned as Yosho continued to give his testimony. The attack was only a few hours gone, and already the entire Conclave had assembled to learn what they could and decide on a course of action. Looking around, she could see the worried cast to her fellow Masters' faces, could feel the tension and fear in the air. That was bad enough, but Yosho was making it worse just by doing his job his usual exemplary fashion.

The rebels' attack had been vicious but had, apparently and thankfully, failed in its actual objective. Over a hundred dead and close to three times that many injured was not good, but it was better than what would have happened if the attack had actually struck the tower. If their aim had been a little higher, further up the inverted tower from the corona, the blast could have vaporized an entire sector of the city before the fail-safes contained it. The loss of two Protectors when the booby-trapped weapon was destroyed was just the icing on the cake, a last vicious wound.

"This is bad," she muttered to Eri, "nothing but bad."

"But it could have been worse, General," Eri replied just as softly. As her formal aide and secretary, Eri was one of the few non-Masters permitted to attend a conclave, which at least gave Szash someone to complain to when the usually boring meetings dragged on. "That was a Sieretz static defense cannon. Gods know where the fools got one, but if they actually had a proper power source, or knew how to control the beam..."

Szash shook her head, "Not what I mean, Eri. Look at everyone. They're all scared, terrified, of what the rebels will try next. It was an intellectual exercise – what do we do about all these people on our world who don't understand what we are, what we mean to them. But now... now all the Masters are going to see is billions of fanatic rebels. They aren't going to think, Eri. We have to conquer this world, at least, to secure our way of life, but now... now they may demand more than just victory."

"The Masters would never order an extermination campaign!"

"No, they won't order it," Szash muttered, "but they just may arrange for it. Take a note, I need to brief all officers on proper restraint. Whatever the Conclave decides, I don't want my people descending into barbarism. Let the rebels dwell in the gutters, my people will control themselves."

"Yes, General."

Down on the floor, at the speaker's podium, Yosho was coming to the end of his report. "In short, my fellow Masters, the rebels have apparently retained access to major arsenals, but have lost the knowledge of how to use them. They also appear to have lost their distaste for mage-engines, though they retain their fanatical hatred of us. Between the Sieretz cannon and the shield-bridging device, they demonstrated a remarkable ability to adapt little-understood weapons to their war. Their method of powering both machines indicates a willful disregard for human life that is criminal, if not malicious, and their deliberate delay in destroying the cannon can only be considered a calculated attempt to kill more of our people."

"Bullshit," Szash muttered, "they were insuring they could escape before the blast. But the Masters won't care."

Yosho was still wrapping up, "We must act, carefully, to fully secure our city. Negotiations with the local governments will take time, time that will give the rebels opportunity to strike again. Further, as I have reported before, I have reason to believe that the rebels have infiltrated the local governments at a fundamental level, making those governments unalterably inimical towards us. We must act, and quickly, but we must also act cautiously. I propose a fifty kilometer cordon immediately, and the preparation of plans to seize the territory known locally as 'Egypt' in the near future. Doing so should provide us with sufficient breathing space to counter any future assaults upon our city and our people."

Dammit, he's got the initiative and he's not letting go any time soon, Szash thought. How do I get it back form him? How do I go along with everyone else's fear without letting them turn it into some blood-bath? They're terrified, and they're going to... want... to share... that terror... "Eri," she whispered, "that list of national and economic capitols you were putting together. How far along are you?"

"Mostly complete, General. Many of the smaller countries are... unreliably detailed. I had planned to include it in tomorrow's reports."

"I'll want that report, but we're going to go over it in detail," Szash said, the beginnings of a plan coalescing in her mind. It would not be perfect, probably would result in more hard feelings all around, but it might just let her avoid being responsible for any atrocities. "We're planning a strike campaign, and those are our targets. If I can get the Conclave to go along with me."

Before she could take the floor, however, one of the other masters asked a surprise question. "Lord Yosho. Identification patches and parts of uniforms which match those worn by some of the rebels taken immediately after our transition out of the Void. They claimed to be officers of some sort of inter-stellar Protectors. Your report has focused entirely on the rebels, not these outsiders, and I am curious as to why, given the identification materials."

Yosho nodded, "you are correct about the materials, sir, however there is other evidence. With parts of a uniform, one would expect there to be parts of the person wearing it, however there were no bodies in the blast area save my Protectors. More tellingly, the Bureau those patches came from are a police force, not a military force. Sieretz Cannons are military hardware, and do not match with any other magic artifacts the Bureau has been seen to use. Admittedly, this may be the first time we have seen them, but I doubt it. The Bureau currently has one vessel in high orbit, and its behavior to date has been consistent with observation. My analysis is that the evidence you have sighted was planted, to misdirect our retribution. To put it bluntly, the physical evidence is a clumsy attempt at misdirection. I had expected better from the rebels, to be honest, given their performance before we were lost to the Void, but we have been gone for several centuries."

The Master persisted, "But you cannot be certain, can you, Lord Protector? This 'Bureau' could very well be using the rebels as a cat's paw, and who says those you captured were speaking truthfully? Would it not be more prudent to engage the Bureau observer and drive them off, in order to insure they cannot repeat their attack?"

"Master Waus," Yosho said slowly, "there is only a single indication of Bureau intervention, and multiple indications that the Bureau has not intervened. The only transits we have detected from the Bureau vessel have been to an island off the far east coast of the main continent. We have detected no transits from there, or anywhere else. The simple fact is, there is plentiful evidence, in the two who died weakening the city's shield and the utilization of primitive local transports, that the rebels conducted this attack, and are attempting to pass the blame on to the Bureau. No, we do not need to worry about the Bureau, not yet. In fact, attempting to drive off their observer would probably invite the very intervention you are currently concerned about. I am not discounting the possibility of the Bureau assisting the rebels, or perhaps using the rebels as some sort of excuse for intervention, but they have done nothing yet, and we cannot afford to risk provoking them. So long as we limit our activities to clearly defensive measures, we should only face rebel opposition."

Szash took the opening as the other Masters pondered that. "All due respect to Lord Yosho," not that anyone will believe for a second that I respect him, "but your suggestion is lacking. The rebels, as you say, have this entire world infiltrated. The problem is not going to be protecting us from future attacks, but convincing the inhabitants of this world, who have centuries of history independent of our rule, that attacking or resisting us is futile and costly.

"Simply seizing territory will not do that, even if we can hold on to it. We must convince this world that our power is so great, the difference between their power and ours so extreme, that they become too frightened of us to oppose us, too terrified to support future rebel attacks. If we can manage that, the local governments will do the work of hunting down and eliminating the rebels for us. But we have to make them aware of our power, make them aware that we are not to be trifled with.

"In furtherance of that, as General of the Guard, I will after this meeting place the entire Guard on operational standby. I request from the Master of Vision, gathered in Conclave, permission to resume the war against the rebels and their puppet governments, effective immediately. I realize this course is somewhat precipitous, but the recent attack has demonstrated that we do not have the time to consider this threat in idleness. We must act, just as Lord Protector Yosho stated, decisively and quickly."

It was not a question for the witness, and thus a minor breach of etiquette, but this entire situation was so strained and so unusual, that Szash was fairly confident no one would call her on it. They would consider her request, remember that the war against the rebels had never been officially concluded, and move it to a vote shortly.

Then Yosho did the last thing she had expected, "You are correct, General, in that a fast and thorough response is required. I had not presumed to go beyond securing the city's immediate vicinity, as the Protectors lack the numbers for a more ambitious endeavor. The Guard should be more than sufficient to support a wider scope of operations. I would like to remind the Conclave that, while no action has been taken for many decades, we remain officially at war, and the General would be within her rights to resume operations without the permission of the Conclave. I move we vote on the General's recommendation as soon as she presents her plans for the initial stages."

Szash glared at him for a moment, surprised, wondering what he was up to. The clashes between the two of them had become legendary, as Yosho tried to reduce the Guard to a shadow and puppet, in favor of his own Protectors, and she fought tooth and nail to retain the Guard's independence and numbers. To have either of them say anything in support of the other, even with the implicit challenge of his request for plans, was unheard of.

Interesting times indeed, she thought. You're not done yet, are you, you old bastard? I wonder how well your Protectors' loyalty will last when they start taking casualties?

00000

Meals at the school had, within a week, settled into an established pattern. Most of the second years would get there first, and commandeer two of the middle tables right at the head of the dining hall, closest to the buffet tables where the food was laid out. The first years would follow along 'once it was safe', and generally wound up snagging a third table to one side, which side depending on whether it was one of the boys or one of the girls that got through the line first. Sometimes some of the second years – usually Noriko, Megan, or Marcel – would join the first years, but not always. None of the first years, not even the twins, ever quite had the gumption to try to sit with the second years.

With the arrival of the Bureau volunteers, Ekavir was not surprised to find that comfortable arrangement changing. He had been asked to give up his room in the rear of the top floor and move to the front of the first floor, which had not been a problem. Even moving had been easy, as the boys that weren't moving had chipped in to help. What he did notice, and what made him a little surprised, was that he wound up smack dab in the middle of the wing, with Didier, Jun, Verner and Kaemon, while the second year boys had all moved as well, taking rooms next to the common room, except for Marcel and Yussef, who were at the outer end. They were blatantly positioned to 'protect' the first years, and that was a little insulting.

Still, that realization made the altered dinner arrangements less of a surprise. The first night the volunteers were present, beyond the first, Reian, when Ekavir arrived at dinner, it was to find the volunteers at one table, by the boys' wing. Of the two usual tables, the one closest to the volunteers was fully loaded with all but three of the second years, all of them being just as noisy and friendly as always. When he got his own tray filled, he was going to grab a table close to his wing, but Yussef and Noriko, sitting at the otherwise empty table usually used by the second-years, waved him over.

Settling down, Ekavir shook his head and grimaced as he realized he had been very carefully maneuvered, "You know, you guys are going way overboard with this 'defend the weak' thing. They're no threat to us, and just because we aren't throwing about world-shaking power like you guys doesn't mean we're helpless."

Yussef and Noriko shared a look and chuckled. She responded to Ekavir's complaint, "We don't think you're helpless, Ekavir, but Hayate-sensei asked us to look after all of you, back at the start of the year. And we don't know any of the volunteers yet. We've had some... suspicious encounters with Bureau personnel last year. He was very polite, but he was also very obviously after Hayate-sensei. We learned last year not to take anything for granted, and things are rather tense right now. So, we watch over you to make sure nothing happens to you." Her smiled shifted slightly, "just think, next year you'll get to do the same for your kohai."

"No I won't," Ekavir shot back, "you're all going to smother me to death first."

"We aren't that bad," Yussef said. "Trust me, I know what smothering security is like. When I first went home for the summer, my father was a little paranoid about someone trying to assassinate me. So I wound up buried under a pile of guards for a couple of weeks. Had to cut a tank in half to convince him to go back to normal."

Ekavir choked on his first bite at that, then gave Yussef an incredulous stare. "A tank? You had to cut through a tank?"

"Cut it in half," Yussef corrected, chuckling at the look on his face. "An old original-run M1, bought from the US more for show than serious use. Nice machine, but mundane. I was actually trying to get Dad to let the crew take a shot at me, Sand Wall would stop a tank round, but we both got so angry with each other, I switched the demonstration. He calmed down after that."

"I can imagine," Noriko shared the chuckle with Yussef.

"What about you?" Ekavir realized as he asked he probably should not have, but carried on, "your own family had to be worried. Especially since I hear you were the worst hurt last year." He had heard from Kaemon that, apparently, last year not everyone had known who Noriko was, but there had been no attempt at such secrecy this year. It had not been a major source of conversation, but it had not been any sort of secret, either.

Noriko just shrugged, "Laura was hurt worse than I was, though my injuries were more obvious. But my family took it fairly well... well, once Mother calmed down. She has a tendency to be emotional about things. Unlike Yussef, however, I did not have my own people calling for my head. Mostly, my people are quietly curious about us, not afraid. Thanks to my own presence, they seem to regard magic as an outgrowth of the Emperor's divine status."

Yussef grimaced slightly at that, but didn't comment. "The Japanese are too law-abiding to assassinate someone over magic, anyhow. If they objected to it like my fellow Arabs, they would just ostracize her, treat her like garbage until she left. More polite, but ultimately just as damaging as murder. Here, though, they seem to be treating the whole school as some sort of national prize."

"Japan likes to be at the forefront of new technologies," Noriko said. "Ever since Admiral Perry had the gall to dictate terms in Edo harbor, we have preferred to be the most advanced. Magic is the newest thing out there, so naturally my people are proud and happy to have the center of magical learning here. To get back to your point, though, Ekavir, my parents were concerned. But Takahata-sensei reassured them greatly, and Hidan made a point of personally reviewing and updating the security for the entire family. He's very, very good."

Despite the blatant herding and over-protectiveness, dinner was actually fairly comfortable. Ekavir and his classmates spent a lot of time questioning Noriko and Yussef – and Laura when she showed up towing the twins – questions about what to expect, what was happening, whether or not classes were going to be impacted more. There were already disruptions there, with Hayate and one or more of the other teachers traveling back and forth to talk to the Circles or various governments. But the older students had just as little information as the first-years, and their experience from the prior year was hardly the same thing.

"Last year," Yussef explained, "was two short, sharp fights. One when the Circles attacked the campus, one when we went to rescue our friends. They were big, flashy things, lots of fireworks and firepower, but there is a world of difference between that and what we're looking at now, in a worst case scenario. Any fighting that goes on now is going to be long, drawn out, and very messy. This won't be a couple of small factions trading blows over philosophical differences. This is going to be a war for territory and survival on one side, and genocide on the other, with us in the middle trying to protect our teachers while they try to protect Hayate while she tries to protect everyone."

"That is a worst-case scenario," Noriko argued, "Hayate-sensei could still calm things down."

Yussef shook his head, "There's already shooting in Egypt. The government's tracking down every Circle mage it can find, regardless of faction and despite not knowing what they're going to do with whoever they capture. On top of that, the Atlanteans are already pushing their perimeter out. The Egyptian Army is falling back now, but they won't go much further. They can't, not if Egypt wants to remain credible as a nation. Oh, Hayate-sensei may get things to stop there, prevent anyone else from getting involved. It's painfully obvious the Revenants pulled this off to try and screw over everyone, after all. But it's equally likely that this is going to explode. The Revenants are fanatics, the Atlanteans are justifiably paranoid, and everyone else is scared of being overwhelmed or left behind. That's a bad combination, Noriko. Not unrecoverable, not 'all hope is lost', but bad."

Ekavir could not help but feel depressed by that analysis. He was not afraid of battle, of any sort, but the idea of getting caught up in one now, of being a prime target, was not a pleasant one. He turned that over in his mind, while Verner and Chen-chi asked some more questions, looking for some way to improve things, or at least make himself feel better.

While he did not manage that, he did remember a 'note to self' from earlier that day, triggered when Niranjana and Allina rose from the second years' table, that he was having problems with the history homework. He remembered at the last minute that he had meant to ask Niranjana for a few minutes of help, and started to rise to intercept them, when something caught his ankles and waist, and Yussef's hand closed on his wrist like a vice. "Not now," Yussef rumbled. "Sit."

The abrupt order and borderline-hostility was enough of a surprise that Ekavir slumped back into his seat. He noticed a pair of glowing pink rings around his ankles and waist, then asked, "What's this?"

"You're being harsh, Yussef," Noriko chided him, to which Yussef let him go, then turned to Ekavir. "We had planned to talk to you about this later this evening, but now will do. Would you be willing to take a walk?"

"I'll handle it," Yussef said, rising to his feet, "come on, Ekavir."

"Yussef..."

"I'll handle it, Noriko. I may not be comfortable with... everything... but I'll handle this. He's one of mine, after all."

"He's not property, Yussef."

Yussef chuckled, "No, but he is a hard-headed male and would-be soldier. That makes him one of mine."

Ekavir was still confused, more so actually, but he followed Yussef to the kitchen, cleaned up his dishes and tray in one of the sinks, then stacked everything for the washer. They worked in silence, mostly because Ekavir was too confused to push, then Yussef headed out the back. Once there, Yussef picked him up with magic and lifted both of them to the roof of the boys' wing, before walking to the very rear of the wing.

Yussef took a few seconds to start, staring out over the woods. "This is going to be a little difficult, probably embarrassing, but I need you to bear with me. We're having a bit of a problem amongst the second years, and you appear to be a major part of it."

That was not reassuring, and Ekavir tried to defend himself, "I haven't done anything, I swear!"

"Maybe, maybe not," Yussef replied, "figuring that out is why I'm talking to you now. What it all comes down to is, what are your intentions regarding Niranjana?"

Ekavir twitched at that, even more confused. What did studying with Niranjana have to do with anything? "My what?"

"Your intentions towards Niranjana," Yussef repeated. "She's pretty, she's incredibly intelligent, even without magic she's got enough skills and smarts already to have a bright future, and she's not loud, brash, or uncontrollable like half the girls here. Your intentions, Ekavir. You've been spending more time with her than with anyone in your year-group, outside of class. So, what are your intentions?"

"Ah, I, wha... I have no idea what you're getting at, man. Sounds like you think I'm going to ask her out or something!"

"That is precisely what I think, Ekavir, and what the problem is," Yussef said, then relaxed to sit on the edge of the roof. "Look, I'm not going to come down on you, I'm not mad, especially not since you seem to be just as confused as everyone else. It's like this, Allina and Niranjana were the big romantic relationship last year, in large part because both of them were so strongly in denial about it. They were 'cute' and 'silly', and all of us feel that they're perfect for each other. Now, they appear to be breaking up over you."

For a few seconds, Ekavir was even more confused. He had a hard time picturing Allina and Niranana fighting over anything, let alone something as non-technological as himself. It was even harder to picture any of the second year boys with Niranjana. It took him a while, most of it in silence as Yussef gave him time to think, to realize precisely what Yussef had suggested their relationship was. The Arab waited until Ekavir blinked and twitched, then chuckled, "Yeah, you're no cosmopolitan, are you? Kind of confusing, isn't it?"

Ekavir grimaced, "Not confusing, just not something I had ever thought of. I mean, looking at it now, I guess I can see it. They act like one of my older brothers and the girl he's interested in. Always together, always talking about each other, but not actually doing anything. So, how does..." he trailed off, realizing the answer to his question before he even finished it, "Oh, crap, everyone thinks I'm after her as well?"

"Pretty much."

"That's ridiculous! I mean, she cute, and everything you said, but she's way out of my league! Besides, I'm like, thirteen! My mother would skin me alive if I went after a girl anytime in the next three years, then she'd hand me off to my father! Especially if I did it without their approval!"

"You might not have noticed, but your parents are several thousand miles away," Yussef chuckled, "and while Hayate-sensei may be our second mother, she tends to treat us as fairly responsible until we give her reason not to. So, for those who are interested, this is a perfectly good time and place to take a stab at a boyfriend or girlfriend. That's pretty much what Allina and Niranjana are, even if they won't admit it yet. To be honest, however uncomfortable I may be with it, even I think of them as a couple. I'll admit, I missed what was going on this year, but when Noriko pointed it out to me, I was royally pissed at you for about a minute for intruding on them. And that reaction right there is the problem. Have you noticed who gets pranked most in your class?"

The non-sequitur threw Ekavir a bit, but he was getting his feet back under him. "Mercedes, like tonight – she swiped Laura's cake as payback for Laura locking Mercedes' PDA in Cyrillic, right? Or did Laura do something else to her between then and now?"

"Who else?"

"Uh..." Ekavir had to think about that one, mostly because he was so used to laughing at the 'war' between Laura and Mercedes. "Chen-chi and I, I think."

"You, more than her, and not all of the pranks have been Laura's fault. See, last year, the two of them were kind of funny-cute until February. In February, Allina got herself captured getting Niranjana out, and Niranjana freaked over it. Then Niranjana was the one Allina called when she cobbled together a magic cell-phone. The two of them have been joined at the hip ever since, and... well, it's hard to match the drama of Allina sacrificing herself for Niranjana, or Niranjana's quest to get Allina back. Then you show up, and before the first week is over, you're 'moving in' on Niranjana. Forget whether you're actually interested or not, forget whether it even occurred to you, that's what we all saw.

"I'll admit, at first we just kind of laughed it off. Allina and Niranjana are so possessive of one another, the idea of someone new intruding on that was laughable. But Allina started getting depressed and angry, and avoiding Niranjana, which made her confused and depressed, which made the rest of us angry. Figuring out what to do about it took a while, though, mostly because none of us were quite sure how to do it without embarrassing everyone involved and making it worse. Thing is, no matter how we do this, someone's going to get embarrassed."

"And you all want it to be me," Ekavir said, shaking his head. "Man, this is... not at all what I expected to get caught up in at magic school. Look, I'm not willing to go all sacrificial lamb or anything, but if you've got any suggestions, I'm all ears."

"That depends on your intentions towards Niranjana," Yussef said. "We won't tell you you can't try to get her attention, but if that's what you want, you're on your own. In everything."

Ekavir chuckled darkly, understanding that the second years could very easily make his life a living hell, and finally sat down next to Yussef, feet hanging off the edge. "I've got two older brothers, and an older sister," he said. "My oldest brother, Sanga, is twenty, and just got married. Durga, my other brother, is seventeen. He's been not-going-out with Surma since before they were of age to date. I've heard both of the talking about girls, gotten some pointers from them as well, though I think they were laughing at me for some of them. Thing is, they both agreed, you don't poach someone else's girl. They were thinking of another boy's girl, but... same seems to apply here, right? Sanga just plain told me not to ever do it. Druga offered to break my knees for me, said it was betrayal of the highest order, plain and simple. So no, I'm not interested.

"Besides, even if I was... I'm not a 'farm boy', but there's no way I'm in Niranjana's league. I mean, she does calculus in her head! She writes in code – programming code! – like it's short-hand. Did you realize how smart she is? I'm no village idiot, but come on! Her family's going to match her up with someone big, probably before she even graduates. Forget caste, money, or position."

"Surprised you're thinking about that sort of thing," Yussef admitted, "but you'll find that you're wrong. Oh, I admit she's a genius – 'scary smart' as Laura put it. But none of us are dumb, and we're at the forefront of the future. Wherever we go from here, however this current crisis turns out, we're all going to be well past caste, money, position, race, even religion. But, for now, we have to deal with keeping my classmates from stringing you up for something you're not consciously doing. First thing is, now that you're aware of it, you need to back off. The flip side of that is, you can't do it too fast, or Niranjana will notice and start worrying about that as well."

"Which would just change the reasons everyone's mad at me," Ekavir muttered.

"We're not mad at you, not really. Just upset that two of our friends are upset. So, to start with, you're getting a new tutor. I think Marcel would be best for most things, but Noriko and I can make some time. You might do well with Toushiro as well. What subjects are you worst off in?"

It was far from the most comforting of conversations, even after the embarrassing parts were done, but Ekavir was happier hearing it from Yussef than he would have been hearing it from Noriko. Yussef, however Arabic, was a guy, and understood Ekavir's side better than Noriko would have. Plus, talking about girls with a girl was just plain wrong. But mostly, Ekavir was kicking himself for not having noticed earlier, and for coming so close to dishonoring himself. Sure, a relationship like Allina's and Niranjana's might be a new idea to him, but it was still real, still there, and if he had intruded on that, it would have been shameful.

Still turning it over as Yussef left him on the ground again half an hour later, he realized he was going to have to call his brothers. Man, Sanga and Durga are going to rip me a new one, but I need help figuring out how to fix this.

00000

Two days after Hayate's trip to Yellowstone, Cidela was more nervous than she could remember being since she arrived at the school, the last time she had seen her father. There was a singing emptiness in her stomach, and her knees and hands were shaking so badly she could barely type, barely pay attention to Hayate-sensei's lecture. When the bell rang at the end of class, she jumped so hard she almost knocked her desk over, and nearly had a heart-attack.

When she calmed down from that, she realized everyone was staring at her, and friendly smiles or not, that was a terrible feeling. Now she was worried about Rafiq, about her device, and about her classmates.

"Relax, Cid-chan," Hayate told her, walking over to rest a hand on her shoulder, "this will be fine."

"We will meet you down there, Cid-chan," Noriko told her, waving the others in the class towards the door, "whenever you're ready."

Cidela started to try to go with them, but Hayate held her back gently. Her classmates filed out with quiet words of reassurance. Once the two of them were alone, Hayate pulled over a chair, took Cidela's hand, and asked, "Are you sure you are ready for this, Cid-chan? I know the idea of having a device makes you nervous, but you're worse today than I think I've ever seen you. We can wait, give it a few days, let some of the others go first."

Cidela slumped a little, embarrassed that she had been so transparent, and ashamed that she almost wanted to agree to the offer. "No," she said after a moment, "I don't want to wait, it's just... I'm worried."

"I know," Hayate said, "and that's a good thing, especially how worried you are about Rafiq. We've given you all the reassurances we can, all the history we have. Activating a new device while you have a familiar is not that uncommon, nor is it uncommon to have a device when your magic is still somewhat wild. Look at Nanoha, she was using record-setting spells long before she learned to fully control her magic. Mages with familiars often have to replace their devices, due to any number of reasons, and it never has any effect on the familiar. You provide the power to Rafiq, whether it goes directly to him, or through a device. You don't need to worry about this, Cid-chan, but until you're sure, you don't have to try."

"No, Hayate-sensei, I'll do it, but... I'm sorry, I'm just... very nervous."

"We'll be with you every step," Hayate promised, "Shamal will be watching over you, and Fate and Arf will be watching over Rafiq. Every step."

"I know, sensei." Knowing it or not, hearing Hayate's reassurances did help calm Cidela's nerves, a little. Enough that she could collect herself and stand up without shaking.

"Good girl," Hayate said, rising herself, "now let's go get this over with, shall we?"

Shamal was waiting in the hallway, taking Cidela's hand silently and walking beside her. Hayate lead them to the workroom, then held the door open for them. For just a second, standing in the open door, only her mother's hand in hers kept Cidela moving forward. Then she saw her device, sitting in a cradle a short way inside the workroom, and froze in place again, the conflicting emotions of the moment – fear, anxiety, excitement, wonder, terror – overriding everything.

Rafiq calmed her this time, coiling completely around her neck like a massive necklace, flicking his tongue over her cheek. 'Please remember to breathe, Mistress. It would be most embarrassing if you keeled over in a faint right now.'

The matter-of-fact tone and hint of laughter, made her choke on a giggle, but reminded her to breathe, and she let go of her mother's hand to reach up and stroke Rafiq's head in thanks. "I'll be okay," she insisted, as much for Shamal as for Rafiq, then started walking forward again. She managed to filter out her classmates as she passed through their ranks, then paused about halfway to her device, where Lotte was waiting.

"You know generally what to do," Lotte said, "but this one's a little different, for obvious reasons. So, you'll have some company up there on your stage. Don't worry about it, relax, calm yourself just like we've been practicing in class. You have to hear your heart to hear your device, okay? So stay calm, give it some juice, and let's see what we can see."

"Yes, sensei," Cidela answered, and resumed walking forward.

Her device, in its unactivated configuration, was subtly different from Noriko's or Laura's. Theirs had both had an unwieldy, haphazard appearance, Laura's more so than Noriko's. Cidela's was very organized, the components arranged in a collection of arcing lines, falling from a central white sphere. It reminded her of a hanging fern, more than anything else, even as her eyes picked out individual parts. The primary circuits, the secondary processors, and the all important regulators – she had spent enough time researching each part, all their functions and interactions, that they were all as familiar to her as her PDA.

Stepping up close to it now, she could not entirely still the shaking of her arm as she rested a hand on the central processor. Rafiq curled down around her arm, then around the device, until his head rested on the back of her hand from the far side of the core. She had debated passing him off to Shamal for this, but it would have been wrong, not including him. Besides, having him with her made her feel safer, helped her calm down.

Now she reached for that stillness, the calm and steady control her mother had taught her, that Lotte had helped her refine specifically for this moment. She found it, not easily but she found it, and words floated into her mind as her power spiraled into the device. "I will do no harm, I will teach what I have learned, I will cure those who are ill, I will defend those who need my aid, and I will repair that which is broken. I ask your support and call upon your strength, Hippocrates, that they will know my name, by the numbers I have saved."

The tendril of power she had been feeding the device crescendoed, and for just a moment she was so gloriously thrilled, it was so easy and such a smooth feeling. Hippocrates impressed itself on her mind, drew its identity from her even more deeply and thoroughly than Rafiq had, and she could feel it coalescing in her mind and in her hand. Then the process interfaced with her linker core completely, and her healing gift reacted, turning the smooth swell of power into a flood, struggling to burst free and run wild.

This was a familiar battle, one she was long used to, even if her response was new since the previous year. Instead of trying to suppress it, to hold the power in and make it all go away, she dissipated it, clamping down on her linker core and cutting off the chaotic surges by decreasing the energy drawn. Rafiq had made the process so much easier, handling the dissipation of excess energy much more quickly than she could manage. Now, though, there was another presence, Hippocrates, tied in to her linker core more deeply than her familiar, shunting the power aside and fading it into the background. What should have taken minutes was finished in a matter of seconds, and while she was gasping, it was more in surprise than effort.

As she recovered from that and regained her breath, she studied the object now resting lightly in her hand. It was a square cross-section staff, about the length of Reinforce, capped by a pair of wings spread upwards around a small green gem stone which floated free. The entire staff was an almost painful white, and there was an odd twist to its length, the upper half of it twisted through a complete rotation about its long axis. Rafiq was now curled around that twist, his tail still wrapped about her arm, his head and neck swaying as he inspected the gem.

"Rafiq," she asked, "are you all right? Is there anything odd or uncomfortable?"

He paused in his inspection, cocking his head at her, then replied, 'No, Mistress, nothing at all. I am fine, the activation has not affected me at all. Hippocrates also appears to be stable.'

Cidela nodded, then began a scan of her own, checking him over, just to be sure. She found Fate and Arf running their own checks from where they stood back by Lotte, but as much as she respected them, Rafiq was hers, and she would worry until she made certain herself that he was all right. She also vaguely felt the familiar touch of her mother's magic, a deep and thorough scan similar to what Cidela was using on Rafiq. It was a little amusing, so many health scans running simultaneously on two people, but it was hard to begrudge anyone their caution, given how nervous she still was.

She was starting to relax when she heard Shamal say, quite distinctly, "Her linker core has restructured itself again, Hayate. I still don't know how or why, there's no sign of any stresses or exterior forces, structurally it's as if her linker core was always this strong, but it's a half percent stronger than it was last night."

Hayate was calmer, "Is she in any danger?"

"No," Shamal sounded more exasperated than worried, "I just cannot understand why it keeps happening! The linker core is supposed to be fully grown and stable by the time someone is nine or ten. I can find a few cases where people have come into great strength in moments of extreme stress, especially while the linker core is still stabilizing, but nothing like what keeps happening with Cid-chan."

Turning to look at Shamal, Cidela asked, "Okaa-san? What do you mean about... my linker core changed?"

Shamal blinked, then her eyes went wide. "You heard that?"

"Of course, Okaa-san," Cidela replied, confused, "You were just speaking to Hayate-sensei..."

'They were using telepathy,' Rafiq told her absently, 'not broadcasting.'

"What? But I heard them!"

Shamal put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry about it, Cid-chan. We'll talk about it tonight, after dinner. It's something I've been keeping an eye on, just an oddity, nothing to worry about. For now, your Hippocrates looks stable, Rafiq is fine, even with the shift in power from you to the device. Can you show everyone what you can do now?"

Cidela wanted to press on that point, but the reminder of their audience quelled that. Tonight would be soon enough, after all, and if it was truly something for concern, Shamal would have had her out of the workroom and under serious observation by now. Instead, she turned to a challenge she could win. "Rafiq? I have a device now."

He did not turn to look at her this time, merely replied, 'I believe that is the proper term for this hunk of plastic, yes.'

"Do you remember what you refused to try again until I had a device?"

Rafiq paused in his continuing inspection and looked at her again, then visibly drooped. 'You are going to insist aren't you?'

"Fair is fair, Rafiq. I'm tired of people judging you as a mere snake, and of you being so dependent on me to get around."

'No one judges me, and I'm not dependent on you, I simply prefer being in your presence. But, if you insist,' he uncoiled from around Hippocrates and her arm, settling to the floor in a coil, 'do your worst, you heartless dictator. I can take it.'

She smiled at his joking tone, "Nice try, Rafiq, but you control your shift, remember? Go ahead," she hefted Hippocrates, "I'm in no danger this time."

Rafiq began to glow, a deep green that rapidly expanded before fading away. Rafiq in full humanoid form was something of a surprise, she had expected him to be about her size. Instead, he was even taller than Zafira, towering over her, but whip-thin and wiry, bald, with heavily slanted eyes and almost no nose. He was dark-skinned but strangely shaded, similar to the scales of his snake form – darker on his back and sides, pale on his chest and stomach. She had expected him to have armor, similar to Zafira's, but he was dressed in loose flowing pants tied tight at the ankles, light sandals, a long-sleeved shirt with open front, and a leather strip tied around his head. It was that which made her finally laugh, for burned into the leather was a caduceus.

What had her confused, however, was the lack of drain. When they had tried this over the summer, the sudden spike in his energy demands had been actively painful, but now she had to mentally check Hippocrates to find any change. "Very appropriate, Rafiq," She said. "But illusions won't count."

"This is no illusion, Mistress," he replied, looking himself over and carefully testing his new form. "Full-size shape-shift, as requested."

She frowned, checking her power carefully, "but that's impossible. You're not drawing any more power from me, and you should be."

"He is, actually," Shamal told her, "but you can't feel the difference. It's related to your linker core, we'll talk that over tonight. You will notice when he begins using his own magic, and when you try greater spells."

"But shouldn't I feel a greater drain now?"

"Technically, yes," Fate took over the explanation, "however you have had Rafiq for a long time now, and are very much used to supporting him without a device. You are so used to how hard you had to work to support him before Hippocrates woke, and now Hippocrates vastly simplifies that issue. Give yourself some time to acclimate to the device, and you will notice the difference between his forms."

Cidela could see that, nodding along, "Did you undergo the same adjustments, Testarossa-sensei?"

Fate shook her head, "No, I was not as ambitious as you. I already had Bardiche when I created Arf. At the time, I thought a device was required, and Precia... well, you'll adjust to Hippocrates over the next few days and weeks, I expect. Just be careful, all three of you, until you are adjusted. For now, Lotte-san?"

"Ah, finally, someone remembered that this is supposed to be my class," Lotte complained dramatically. "Recognition, such a wonderful feeling."

From amongst the students, someone stage-whispered, "Encore, encore! Give that woman an Oscar!"

"That's enough out of you, Laura!"

Laura just laughed, "Wasn't me! I blame Allison."

"No comment," the other girl replied.

"Regardless," Lotte continued, glaring at the audience equally for a moment longer, "Let's see what you've got, Cid-chan. Other than a hunk of a body-guard. Armor first, please, let's be safe."

Cidela blushed at Lotte's comment about Rafiq, but could not come up with a good reply. Instead, she stepped away slightly, and asked, "Hippocates, Aegis, please."

"Yes, My Lady," the device replied, surprising her with a voice similar to Shamal's.

The wash of energy up her arm cleared in a moment, leaving in its wake a long-sleeved dark-green dress. It was similar to Shamal's, but subtly different, one color, the open skirt reaching floor length over long pants and soft shoes. She had a scarf wrapped around her hair instead of a hat, and a truly ridiculous number of pockets, with a sling on the back for Hippocrates. She rolled her shoulders, shifting around to see how it felt, but it was perfectly comfortable.

"Not bad," Lotte allowed, "I'm sure your mother approves. Now, where to go next? Oh, I know!" She gestured slightly, and a small gemstone on her collar vanished in a flash of light. Cidela blinked, instantly sensing a series of minor strains and a not-so-minor sprain. Lotte continued, "I hurt myself a little getting Laura off the ceiling yesterday..."

"Hey! I was doing fine until you got in the way!"

Lotte grinned at the interruption, but carried on, "... I'll let you fix it, Cid-chan, but not until the end of class. Let's see just how well your control holds, shall we? Now, I know you're not really a fighter, so we'll start with defenses. Hayate gave Noriko a target, so, here's yours," she gestured and a trio of standard targets appeared further down the room. Lotte pouted at them for a moment, "I wanted to use Rafiq, give you some incentive, but someone," she mock-glared at Shamal, "threatened to take you out of my class if I did that."

Cidela flinched at that, reaching out instinctively to find Rafiq resting a hand on her shoulder. "I would have left, instead, sensei. I couldn't let someone threaten Rafiq, I'm supposed to protect him."

Lotte laughed, "Silly girl, he's a familiar! It's his job to protect you. But, we already know you have him under your thumb, let's see about this device of yours. Laura! Three targets, fire on my command in three..."

Cidela knew she could not hope to match Laura's rate of fire, or predict which targets Laura would strike in which order. Unlike Laura and Noriko, she had also not given much thought to new spells for her device, being more focused on getting it assembled and making sure it was safe. So she seized on the simplest exercise she could, the second shield spell Lotte had taught them, and simply poured power into it. It did not feel like much, compared to the strain such an attempt used to cause, but Hippocrates responded instantly, forming a circular barrier just as Lotte said, "Fire!"

Laura, being Laura, went for all three targets simultaneously, using her bolt-drones instead of direct shots. All three of which slammed into a green wall, framed by a ring of runes that stretched from floor to ceiling.

"Damn, Cid-chan," Laura commented, "I'm good, but I'm not Godzilla."

Blinking at the shield, Cidela commented, "Um, that is... larger... than I... expected."

"A first attempt with a device," Rafiq said. "Naturally you will need to adjust."

"Hmm, that's part of it," Lotte agreed, "but I bet its training, too. Tell me, Cid-chan, did you just form the spell to the requisite size, or did you do anything else?"

"Um, I did not set a size," Cidela answered, "I... cast the Round Shield spell you taught us last October, and just... put more power into it. The more power, the larger the Round Shield becomes, yes?"

Lotte laughed, "Not at this scale, chibi-ko. Round Shield's really only stable up to about a three meter diameter. After that, well... just hold that shield for now, Cid-chan. Fate-chan, something with a little more 'oomph' behind it, please?"

"Of course, kitten," Fate replied, calling up Bardiche with a gesture. "Thunder Smasher, Fire."

A yellow ball of energy appeared at Bardiche's crown, then became a lighting bolt rumbling down-range. It slammed into Cidela's shield, and she felt the impact, just before the buster, reduced but not stopped, punched through and carried on into the central target. The sensation of the buster passing through her shield was odd, like a needle slipping through numbed skin.

Odd sensation or not, she asked, "Shouldn't it have collapsed?"

"Not in this case," Fate told her. "Thunder Smasher is a siege attack, designed in part to penetrate defenses. Given how diffuse your shield's structure is, it will stop a minor or unstable attack such as Laura's bolt drones, but a dedicated siege spell will pass through it. I could take it down, probably with a variant of Phalanx Shift to hit most of the shield at once, but that wasn't the point."

"The point was, you don't have to worry about the power anymore, and there are very few spells that are generic enough for any situation," Lotte told her. "Choose your spell, choose the end result you want, and let Hippocrates handle the power, let Hippocrates handle the little details and patterns. You, especially, have been working on keeping every last little bit of every spell you cast under complete control, that's going to be a difficult habit to break. Especially in the face of challenges like not fixing my sprain. Now, we have a few more tests to run. Try not to worry about power levels or detailed structures. Form the spells, yes, hold them in your mind, know what you want them to accomplish, but try to let Hippocrates handle the nuances. Next up, movement. Can you fly, chibi-ko?"

Cidela was more than a little confused by that lecture, it sounded like Lotte was telling her to throw away everything she had learned since coming to Japan. But simplifying things was one of the reasons she had decided to pursue a device, so she had to at least try and do things the 'right' way, at least until she figured out how to modify that for herself. "I can fly, sensei," she said, "Mercury Ascendant."

00000

MaZe-Pallas: Fixed the typo, thanks! I'll probably get around to watching the rest of StrikerS eventually, but I'm in no rush. Though I have never wondered where Yuuno's device is – Nanoha has it:). Glad you're enjoying the story and here's 'more'.

Tombadgerlock: I always try to reply to reviews, though I've missed a couple due to computer failure. I have some ideas for where Nanoha and Fate are in terms of skill and power compared to my characters, general continuations of the progression from first series to As. As you can see above, they have a blatant skill advantage over the kids, much as Chrono had over them.

Ray Venn Hakubi: Hayate's predictions are not going to be perfectly accurate, because she doesn't know Al Hanthis that well, but will be generally accurate. The thing about Al Hanthis' is, they know the Circles better than Hayate does. Their information may be out of date, but the Circles' activities and responses have become more like Al Hanthis' assumptions over the years. Hughes' Moderns may surprise them, but not especially. What is really going to surprise Al Hanthis, despite Kriegsen's betrayal, is Hayate and her crew, which surprises will start happening shortly. Also, typo fixed, thanks! As for Jessica's comment, that's lifted word for word (except for Rhys' name) from something I heard from my own mother way too many times.

MissGardenia: Glad you're still reviewing, and I understood your last review, FFN's idiosyncrasies aside. And please don't complain about fast updated, I may slow down:).

Anonymous: Not sure who posted this one, no name showed up in it. Couldn't find the first typo you noted, but fixed the other two. The 'evidence' left behind by Hassed's team consisted mostly of parts of a Bureau uniform and patches, but as noted above, it was a clumsy attempt that has partially failed. Put it to you this way, it's a case of Hassed and his people not seeing or understanding any difference between Hayate and the Bureau. Kriegsen's information was much more accurate in that respect. Hayate's involvement could come from any number of factors, not the least of which is that she told the Bureau she would handle any magical emergencies on Terra – which this qualifies as. Also, there's her natural inclination to help the defenseless (as Egypt's army will be in the face of the Lords), and her ingrained distrust of lost logia such as Al Hanthis uses. Specifics will show up in a little while. As for the runes, go look at the meanings Essien ascribed to them again, and compare with Hayate's runes. You are right that Hayate looked at them and saw Deva runes, but the meanings are so close, especially for such abstract markings. Someone else could use them, but the chances of those runes having such close meanings are miniscule. Thanks for reading!

Skyfall v2.0: The 'evidence' was some left-over bits Kriegsen left when he was 'helping' Li. Less effective than the Revenants hoped, mostly due to their misunderstanding of Hayate's relationship with the Bureau. The kids' reactions are still coming, those will be spread out a ways. You'll note how Cidela gave no thought to it, an 'ignore it until it goes away' approach. This chapter's a little slower than last, but I'm trying to build a wave-pattern to the chapters, ups and downs that eventually peak at the end. Glad your enjoying this, thanks for the review!

Ryand Smith: New BSG or old BSG? I liked the new BSG mini-series, but the full series lost me halfway through season one. Still, I can see the comparison, though Chrono's reactions are based more on some of the side characters in Honor Harrington, in those parts of that series where she was 'out of favor'. Nanoha is present mostly because I could not imagine her not showing up. I could picture the Bureau being forced to back off, but not Nanoha, and where she goes, Fate & Yuuno go. Strong as she is, even she is going to have challenges here, from numbers if nothing else – Al Hanthis has a population of around a million people, all of them mages of varying degrees. I've had some rough spots, and there are a couple more on the horizon, but this is definitely worth it for me. Thanks for the review!

Shinjai: Glad you're enjoying this, and thanks for the review. I do work hard on keeping things covered and consistent, thanks to running role-playing campaigns. The more consistent you are, the me believable everything is, so I do try to make sure everything makes sense. Also, it makes it easier to keep things consistent, since I don't have to spend as much time and worry where everything is and what everyone is doing, it's already figured out. Good luck on prognosticating where this is going, I'll do my best to surprise you.