Author's Note: My hand is feeling better today, for those of you who read my note from yesterday would know that I hit my hand with a hammer at work, by accident, and while nothing is broken it's not at full capacity quite yet, so my writing is still gonna be a little slow. Read, Review, Favorite and Enjoy!
Chapter 39: Magical Warfare: Aftermath
Klaud sat in the back row of the auditorium as the graduating class of her freshman year walked onto the stage to receive their graduating diploma's. Klaud also took the liberty of formalizing a great many things. As a start, she was officially enrolled in Course 3, The Magical Engineering and Ancient Magic course. Something that filled her with a true feeling of dread though was the sight of her sister Rebecca standing among the teachers behind the podium. As a sort of trial run, or fair warning, Rebecca had gathered many prospective 3rd course magicians in her classroom and gave them some idea of what they were in for in her class room. That day was filled with insults, put downs and many a spectacular feat of magic. Klaud had hoped that after half a dozen of her classmates had been sent to the nurse's office crying and in need of sedatives to calm them down common sense would kick in. But alas as Klaud looked around she saw even more students wearing the arm bands that substituted the temporary replacement of their uniforms first and second course patches, First High's lilly with a gear around it.
"I tried to warn yah's, I tried to warn yah's." Klaud stated shaking her head at the pitiful state the student body would soon be reduced to.
"Even though you say that you're still taking the course." Erika stated sitting next to Klaud with a big smirk on her face.
"It does seem somewhat hypocritical of you doesn't it?" Leo asked a his face mirroring Erika as he appropriately enough sat on the other side of Klaud.
"I have to live with her guys!" Klaud stated in a defeated and exasperated tone of voice. "If I didn't join the course here then she'd just bring it home with her, and I'd end up turning into a insomniac!"
"Oh please you know she's gonna do that anyway." Erika stated waving Klaud's concerns off with her hand.
"Specially if you keep talking about her like that." Leo stated looking up at the stage and seeing Rebecca glaring at them, before turning her attention back to the graduating class.
"I am so dead." Klaud stated mortal terror in her voice.
""Aha!"" Erika and Leo stated both nodding their heads happily.
That afternoon Rebecca was sitting in the teacher's lounge a cup of golden liquid sitting in front of her.
"I thought you stopped drinking." Mayumi stated, wearing her robes for graduation as she looked at the cup with suspicion.
"I haven't had anything to drink yet." Rebecca stated in a depressed tone of voice. "Klaud's still scared of me." Rebecca stated hanging her head low.
"You only have yourself to blame." Mayumi pointed out waving her hand back and forth like a lecturer.
"I know." Rebecca stated before taking a deep breath. "She's even been trying to warn people not to take the course." Rebecca stated, a loud thump marking when her head hit the table.
"If it's had a effect then it's not the intended one." Mayumi stated looking at the latest list of prospective third course students. "Huzzah. Everyone but my sister want's to hang out with me." Rebecca spat sarcastically, waving a napkin through the air like both a flag of victory, and the white flag of defeat.
"Oh don't let it get you down. Klaud will come around eventually, she just has too..." Mayumi paused while she tried to look for the right words.
"Not being scared shit-less by the mere thought of me moving in with her?" Rebecca asked in dry knowing tone of voice.
"I give up." Mayumi sighed and giving a defeated shrug. "Maybe you need that drink after all."
"Yah probably." To this acknowledgement, Rebecca pored the contents of the glass back into the bottle before hiding it back in the fridge where she had got it before she left. "See you after spring break is over."
Rebecca got into a self driving car and was soon joined by Klaud, the air in the car becoming tense enough to cut with a knife.
"Klaud do you want me here? In this town? Working at the school?" Rebecca asked her red eyes indicated that she was just as concerned about this as Klaud was.
"Against you specifically? No." Klaud stated before taking a deep breath. "Against you sending my classmates to the nurses office so that they can calm down after you sent them off hyperventilating? Yes. I am very much against that." Klaud stated cocking a suspicious brow.
"Ugh! It's just...! How the hell are these people so gods be damned stupid!?" Rebecca shouted yanking on her hair.
"Japan only started researching magic a hundred years ago Rebecca, our family's been at it for three times that time." Klaud stated shaking her head.
"But they're doing it wrong! Their half baked... what the heck have they been teaching these people!? Who the heck thought it was a good idea to try and create something called C.A.D.s anyway!?" Rebecca snapped rubbing her temples.
"Firstly!" Klaud took out a mug filled with hot liquid from the car's built in coffee machine. "Drink some decaf and calm down!" Rebecca took the offering and drained the paper cup. "Secondly, don't yell at people, don't insult them, don't curse and swear every time you found out that someone did something stupid. You're gonna be a teacher soon, teach them!" Rebecca could only hang her head low, before taking a deep breath.
"Sorry. Oi so this is what they mean by butterflies in your stomach." Rebecca explained holding her hand over mouth during a burp. "Ugh. I feel nauseous."
"Come on. Madison's suppose to be making a spa in town this week, maybe we can do something to settle your stomach."
The two sisters made a detour from home to a mountain shrine where Madison was building a day spa. It was while inside while getting changed that the two encounter some old associates.
"Mayumi, Miyuki, Azusa what are you guys doing here?" Klaud asked looking at the girls as they finished getting dressed.
"Changing of the guard." Mayumi stated prompting Klaud to look at her funny.
"A-chan's the new student body president?" Klaud repeated getting into the hot tub with the others.
"Well she is the most qualified for the position. Ignoring her magic that was tailored made for calming people down, she has natural leadership skills." Mayumi stated patting the younger girl who looked extremely nervous on the head.
"Please don't do that nee-san, it's demeaning." Azusa stated trying to shrink down.
"What do you mean A-Chan? You love it when I pat you on your head." Mayumi stated, Azusa's pathetic defiance only encouraging her to continue.
"Haven't I seen you before?" Rebecca ask slinking into place alongside Klaud as she glowered down at Azusa, the younger girl shrinking down on the spot.
"She's one of the people you sent off the hospital wing ready to piss their pants." Klaud stated prompting Rebecca to gain a look of bitter recognition.
"Sorry about that, I've been having a bad week." Rebecca stated resting her cheek on her fist.
"Because of the Invasion by the GAA?" Mayumi asked prompting Rebecca to nod.
"Half of the crap they stuffed into that monkey was stuff I made. It's a funny thing realizing you manufactured the gun pointed at your head." Rebecca stated a defeated tone in her voice. "And a terrifying one when you realize that it's pointed at your own little sister."
"What are they doing with that great big ape anyway?" Klaud asked scratching her head.
"Well, because it's dead they can't rely on the cybernetics to move it out of the streets. Instead a team of men, mostly volunteers, are hacking off pieces of it and moving it out of the city with trucks. The trucks are going to nearest laboratory so that the people there can figure out exactly what those mad men did with that poor monkey." Mayumi stated rubbing her chin with her hand.
"More important than that is what Japan has been up to lately." Rebecca stated a sour look on her face that could sink a freighter. "One third, of The GAA's naval forces, wiped out in a instant, you two don't know anything about that do you?" Mayumi simply shook her head, Miyuki on the other hand seemed a little nervous.
"But you do don't you? Interesting little bag of tricks your brother has. Regrowth, Decomposition, Elemental sight. Magic I would imagine would be quite handy for splitting an atom. Do you know why they called the weapons dropped on Hiroshima during the mid-twentieth century were called atom bombs?" Miyuki gulped as Rebecca continued with her explanation. "The unique material of the bomb's cores made them uniquely qualified for splitting atoms, the resulting release of energy created a catastrophic explosion strong enough to level a city."
"Big sis, are you suggesting that Tatsuya was the one who sunk the GAA's fleet?" Klaud asked looking at her sister suspiciously.
"Suggesting? No. I know he sunk the GAA's fleet." Rebecca stated looking at Miyuki suspiciously.
"Okay. So..." Those present looked at Azusa, who was staring in shock at the people having a conversation about things that she strongly suspected that she should not know about. To this end Rebecca reached out and squeezed down on Azusa's shoulder.
"Now that we've taken care of that perhaps we should focus on the subject of your brother." Rebecca stated glaring at Miyuki.
"Alright, so how much trouble are we in?" Miyuki asked nervously.
"I'll just take A-Chan somewhere she can lay down." Mayumi stated dragging her subordinate off to the locker room.
"It would be hypocritical of us to scold you for having the power of Erase and Time." Rebecca stated holding up her two card's in question before the disappeared to parts unknown. "But your choice on how to use them, is questionable at best. Part of what makes that questionable is that thanks to your brother, we have no idea of what was on that ship."
"So it could have been a boat full of generators, or those robots, or simply a bunch of psychopath's who wanted nothing less then to burn this country down and take it over." Klaud asked her face scrunched up in a mess of mixed emotions. "Excuse me. I think I need to go and sit down somewhere." Klaud explained as she got up out of the water.
"Uh before your go Klaud." The ancient magician in question turned around and cocked a brow at Miyuki. "I was thinking, you've already brought us to see your home, so I was wondering if you wanted to come over during the break to see ours."
"Oi Rebecca, how much longer is it gonna be till dad gets here?" Klaud asked looking at her sister suspiciously.
"Let's see here. Couple days I think." Rebecca stated looking up pondering. "Course it would be easy to... divert his course to visit our long lost relatives in the modern community."
"Your Dad? As in the crime lord your Dad?" Miyuki asked looking quite justifiably concerned.
"Actually it's our dad the Senator now. He's had a discussion with the upper management of the GAA after your brother sunk their fleet." Rebecca stated tapping her fingers in annoyance.
"His new position requires that he lives in Japan. Visiting an influential member of the ten master clans could be thought of as a business meeting." Rebecca stated as a amused look spread across her features. "I only bring this up because it would seem imprudent to take a vacation first day on the job."
"Alright. I guess it's settled then." Klaud stated rubbing her hands together in anticipation. "I could use a little bit of vacation."
Tatsuya was working in a lab at the school examining the data he gleamed from the docks after the battle between the Americans and the GAA. True much time had passed since the battle, and he would not be able to derive any more information from examining the scene of the crime as it where. However, while the chaos was happening between preparing for the battle and the battle itself he had not had the time to visit the former base of operations of the GAA. Instead, utilizing what he had learned of molecular copying and pasting he gave some goggles the power of elemental sight and sent some competent people here to take some readings and notes of the area, which he was reviewing now.
"Baryon Particles." Tatsuya stated scratching his chin with his hand.
"'Baryon particles?'" Shizuka asked standing next to Tatsuya with two glasses full of lemonade.
"A type of subatomic particles composed of neutrons." Tatsuya explained taking a deep swig of the lemonade. "They're a lot heavier then most others too. Without them there would be a lot more people floating off into space."
"Okay, so what do they have to do with what happened at the docks?" Shizuka asked looking at the data. "Did someone load a gun full of heavy and shoot it at someone?"
"You're not wrong, breaking down a solid item and restructuring them into baryon particles before hurling them at high speeds is a highly effective armor piercing magic." Tatsuya stated something akin to excitement in his voice.
"You sound happy about this, you think you can recreate it?" Shizuka asked looking at the computer confused.
"I'm familiar with how Katsuto's shield magic works and several of Klaud's cards. That doesn't mean I can reproduce any of those magics." Tatsuya explained continuing to look at the data with fascination. "And yet this peaks your interest." Shizuka stated gesturing to the machine.
"That it does. It is my theory that..." Suddenly Tatsuya was interrupted by a call and so picked up and answered his phone. "Hello? Oh Miyuki good to hear from you... No I have no immediate plans... I see. It sounds like a lovely idea. I'll have my bags packed by tonight." Hanging up the phone, Tatsuya noticed that Shizuka looked pretty down cast. "I wouldn't worry, I'll be back after I've finished a little bit of family business. But first, there's work to be done here." With that Tatsuya went to work getting First High's Militia outfitted and trained for the next mess to pop out of the wood work.
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