WARNING: This fanfiction is NanoFate and it is rated M for strong, disturbing, violent, and explicitly sexual, content and situations, as well as intimate scenes between women. If this type of content is not to your liking, or if you are underage, please do not read it.
DISCLAIMER: MSLN Characters belong to their rightful owners. All the situations and characters presented in this work are fictitious, any similarity with real, historical, or present situations or individuals, is not intentional.
TRANSLATOR'S NOTES: So... we are back! Those that may have peeked Aleksei's profile should already know there is a sequel (well more than that actually) for The Legacy, which is kind of hinted in the Epilogue. So, although it took so many years for The Legacy to be available for those who started reading it in English years ago, turns out that its sequel, La Sombra was published in Spanish between 2012 and 2020. So now you guys won't have to wait that long as the readers in Spanish did, you already suffered that with The Legacy ;)
You survived The Legacy, brace yourselves for The Shadow. I'm going to steal a warning Aleksei wrote for a chapter of this story and I'm going to go ahead and post it right from the start:
Warning of the Warning for the Warning: You are reading a fic by Aleksei Volken. That means anything can happen, at any time. I really appreciate that you follow this story despite that.
The Shadow
Written by Aleksei Volken
Translation by Rogue Devlin
Chapter 1. Predestined Encounters.
— X —
"If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"
— Alexander Solzhenitsyn
— X —
Killing them is so easy.
It has always been so easy.
The female ones are even easier than the male ones. More fun. More exciting. And certainly… more pure. The terror when they look at me, when they really look at me… is absolute… whole… purity.
They can't even imagine I may be there. Watching them. Waiting for them. Stalking them.
And by the time they do… it's already too late… for them.
— X —
The twin moons rose radiant and silver, absolute mistresses of the dark Midchilda night sky.
The girl ran like every night. Firm steps and steady pace.
She was a bird of the night, unlike those morning people that wake up and the next second are already on the move, full of energy, ready for the upcoming day. No, she woke up, her brain started somewhat functioning until the first drop of water fell over her head, and started really thinking until the caffeine of her second cup of coffee was circulating in her system.
Thinking of doing exercise in those conditions was out of every consideration. She was barely able to make it to work as she was.
But the night was something entirely different. There she could find her precise moment in her perfect environment. The best ideas came to her on those moments, especially after or during her exercise session.
She sometimes used her sister's ID to swim five or six miles in the large pool of Midchilda's University late at night. Sometimes she opted to go out biking, through the sprawling suburbs of the university just letting the wind carry her on its back. Sometimes she just ran, like that night, along the safe, well-lit edge of the extensive park that was near her apartment.
During these sessions, she could really disconnect from a part of herself and just let go. And the ideas began to flow. Then she just had to get home and frantically empty them onto her tablet or directly by hand onto blank sheets. She still liked to work in that primitive, romantic way despite having all the advancements available at her fingertips.
That night she had chosen to run since she felt much more tense than usual.
He had called her. They had been dating for almost four weeks.
And nothing.
Nothing at all.
On their last date, she had almost jumped on top of him but somehow he had managed to dodge her at the last minute.
Her sister insisted he was gay.
"Too handsome, too polite, too considerate, extremely well-dressed, way too elegant and groomed… extremely attentive to detail and also SO respectful that he has not even tried to kiss you," she told her looking severely at her. "If they are that good looking, usually they only pay attention to themselves; if they are elegant, they are usually dickheads… and no matter their rank the only thing they want is to get in our panties… He has everything, and he did not try taking you to bed on the first date? Too good to be true. If that man exists, he has to be gay."
She defended herself saying that he was a true gentleman, although, truth be told, deep inside, she was starting to wonder too. But that afternoon he had called her and had asked for her plans for later. And he had told her that he was planning a special evening… just for the two of them.
She had not been able to relax since that moment. So, as soon as she had gotten back from work, she had rushed for a run before getting ready for her date. Which most likely would be, finally, THE date.
She was not on the best day of the month for that encounter, but she decided, as soon as the phone call was over, that such a little detail was not important. She had been waiting for so long for that encounter that she was not going to postpone it for such minor detail.
She was so focused, running frantically and thinking that she practically did not realize, nor did she care, what was going on around her.
The park was very well lit on the outer edge and although she was not the only one going through it, little by little, the people around her became scarcer. The people who were there walking their pets, taking a stroll, running, or simply dating hand in hand with their partners, as it was getting late, decided to move away from the night cold for a more benevolent environment.
That would be her last lap. She felt she had let out most of her anxiety. A shower and she would be ready.
She was always extremely careful to keep in the safe area and never got into the darker areas of the park. The neighborhood was extremely safe, but that wouldn't mean there could be occasional prick thinking it was easy to steal covered by the darkness. Or something worse.
A slight groan to her left, into the park, made her stop and pay attention.
A light breeze rustled the leaves of the trees in a whisper. Autumn had started a month ago and many leaves were already dry and falling but the trees were still lush enough for the interior of the park to remain in tight darkness. Nothing could be seen inside. Just a few silver dashes when the trees moved.
She strained her eyes as well as her ears but could not notice anything. She turned around but no one was close enough to ask if anyone else had heard the same thing as she had.
When she was about to sprint out again, a new groan made her stop again and listen carefully. It was definitely a groan. From an animal. Quite possibly a dog. She heard something dragging over a bed of dry leaves.
Probably a dog that had been taken to the park for a walk had lost its owner and had ended up scared and hiding in the park.
Very carefully she approached the edge of the park. And whistled.
A groan replied her.
There was definitely a dog or a puppy there.
Cursing herself for not having a flashlight, she took out her mobile device to shed some light with the screen at least and entered the bushes slowly, half crouched, whistling and calling.
"Hey, doggie…"
There was nothing she could see yet, but her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. She began to make out the outlines of tree trunks and smaller shrubs. After three steps, she was completely inside the lush area of the park. There were no benches or internal lights or paved walkways.
Her footsteps creaked on the leaves. The rustling of the leaves above her head and the sound of her footsteps were the only sounds for a few seconds. It would have been comforting if instead of being eight at night and completely dark, it was three in the afternoon and everything was covered in the glow of the golden autumn sun.
A new groan brought her forward three more steps. Maybe the puppy was hurt and that's why it couldn't get close. Now that she had thought that, she just couldn't leave him and go. She had to find it. Even though her heart was beating wildly in her neck.
With fresh courage, she whistled and called.
A new groan answered her.
She moved one, three, four, ten steps until she reached the area of a small clear illuminated by the silver light of the moons.
There, almost at the edge of the pool of silver light was a dark lump. The bulge groaned.
She ran to her side, crouching down.
It was a medium-sized dog with long, shiny, wavy, chocolate-colored hair. Up close, the animal seemed familiar. One of her neighbors had a dog like that. It was lying down and a dark stain spread out under him.
"Oh, God," she muttered, "A car must have hit him," she thought and her mind kicked in thinking what she was going to do, how she was going to move him, her date…
Very carefully, speaking gently to the animal, she tried to move it to check it and know where to grab him, and then she noticed.
The belly of the animal was completely open; sliced, from the base of the neck to its lower abdomen. The dog was dead but his body was still warm and pliable and blood still flowed from the wound.
Her mind still couldn't process what she was seeing. She was crouched in front of the poor animal, completely frozen, when a new moan made her jump back.
"That's impossible!" she thought standing up and walking backwards to get away from the scene until she bumped into something.
She turned to find a tall, well-built figure covered by the shadows of the trees.
She had no time to be shocked or to scream since, with a savage slap, the figure knocked her to the floor.
With her heart beating wildly, she realized that she had fallen into a trap and that she had to do everything possible to get out of there as quickly as possible. She had to run. As she could, she got up, scared and disoriented, and ran.
Piercing pain in the skin of her ankle made her fall to the leaves in the dark.
The weight of the shadow fell on her slowly but without mercy.
A punch broke her nose and almost rendered her unconscious.
Almost.
— X —
TSAB's Headquarters, Section 6-9 offices, Special Unit of Violent Crimes
Midchilda City. Day 15, Tenth Month, 2044 - 07:00 hrs.
Fate could not believe her eyes when she entered the large main conference room for Section 6.
"Hi, guys. I'm very glad to see you all!"
And she said it just like that. As if they had seen each other the day before.
Everyone stood up with large smiles to greet her. Verossa, Griffith, Signum, Misato… and even Ellis. What to say about Hayate, who was wearing an ear-to-ear smile. Rein, behind her, merely shrugged upon Fate's questioning look, as if saying, "That's all on her."
Fate wouldn't doubt it for a second.
Then a pair of bright blue eyes met with hers.
"Agent Testarossa," Nanoha said, smiling almost shyly, clad in the black uniform just like theirs.
Fate walked towards her. Her heart was beating uncontrollably in her chest and she was suddenly feeling her head light. As if the air had too much oxygen. She was surprised when she extended out her hand to greet Nanoha and it wasn't shaking.
"Agent… Takamachi," Fate greeted her with a slightly contained voice.
They looked at each other for a few seconds before letting go.
"Okay," Hayate said, calling back everyone's attention. "It seems we're finally all full on board. Agent Takamachi will work, for now, directly with me. Once we have all the personnel hired and the restructuring process of the Units is more in place, she will be assigned to one of the teams."
Everyone nodded.
A thousand questions crammed in Fate's mind.
"Why is Nanoha here? Where was she all these months? Why here in TSAB when her father doesn't want to even hear the word TSAB or government agent? ...Why? … Why…?"
Too many questions that were going to have to wait, due to other more pressing questions that they had to deal with on that working day.
At the screen of the conference room, the faces of Cypha and Veyron Huckebein were still being displayed.
"I called you all, due to the cyberattack on the Central Bank. The market will open in half an hour and then we will be able to know for sure the extent of the damage. Fixing this mess is not our job. Our mission is to find the perpetrators and unveil their motives.
"Nanoha-san," Rein called her, handing a device to her.
One just like the one Fate and all the other members of the team had. Extremely thin and about four by two in size. With that simple cutting edge device, they not only controlled the communication among the teams but also had access to the latest information and data of the ongoing investigation or TSABs central database.
The new security measures implemented after the Scaglietti-Scrya incident had forced them to change their older devices for ones more modern and secure.
"There you will be able to find all the information we have so far, Nanoha. The message found in one of the bank terminals and the presence of those two," Hayate said pointing to the screen, "on the whereabouts of the bank, makes me think they are responsible, but the motives are more important in this case."
From there, Nanoha quickly read how a cyberattack had been successfully perpetrated that morning against the high computer security facilities of Midchilda's Central Bank. The main server, the mainframe that controlled all the financial operations of the institution had been breached. That would have been serious on its own, but what little they knew in addition to that, was that the information had been altered. And not only the mainframe information, but the different backups and mirror servers that made up the complex security system of the most powerful bank on the planet.
"Whoever did this is a genius," Nanoha mumbled reading the information.
"Or has very good 'help' within the bank," mumbled a soft and deep voice.
Everyone turned around towards a figure that was comfortable sitting in one of the corners, as silent and invisible, that no one had noticed her presence until that moment.
"Oh… right," Hayate mumbled, taking a hand to her face as if she was slightly annoyed. "I had forgotten about you, Miss Natsume…"
"Major… Natsume…" the other corrected her, without flinching and without moving her position from the chair where she was comfortably and silently installed.
"Major," Hayate accepted. "Guys, this is something I was forgetting. Due to the magnitude that this case has for national security… For this case we will be counting with the… assistance… of the Intelligence Headquarters from the Department of Defense…."
All of Hayate's subordinates arched a brow, except for Nanoha who had no idea the implication that had.
"Yes, the Department of Defense in person," Hayate corroborated. "Let me introduce you to Major Yuri Natsume, field operations liaison. She would have to work with Section 9… but given the circumstances…"
Hayate did not need to say more.
After the arrest of General Regius Gaiz and pretty much the dismantling of Section 9, they were handling many of their cases. And, apparently, they would also have to deal with many of their contacts.
And the Area of Intelligence for the Department of Defense was not, needless to say, one of the most pleasant ones.
Yuri Natsume, the woman with strong oriental features, tall and skinny, long, straight dark hair, wearing glasses and dressed in an elegant business suit, stood up. Hayate made the gesture to introduce her to the team, but she just shook her head.
"Let's save the unnecessary formalities for later, I know perfectly well who all of you are. As for me, you will know what's there to know when you need to know."
A slight black aura of displeasure radiated from those present in the room. Apparently, the woman was as 'lovely' as they thought she would be.
"TSAB, specifically Section 9," Natsume continued, ignoring everyone's expressions, "has been behind the Huckebein organization for several months. However, given the magnitude of this latest attack and its importance to national security, we cannot help but get involved and we will have to work together with you."
Natsume approached the table where everyone was to conclude, "I hope we can all work well together."
Hayate's Unit leaders, Griffith, Verossa, and Fate, just looked at each other in silence.
"Who are the assets that the Intelligence Area will designate for the collaboration team?" Fate asked at last.
"For now, me. More information will be provided as we progress and become necessary."
Fate contained her desire to growl at the woman. That attitude was what everyone hated about having to work with 'Intelligence'... it was all surreptitious and secret. It was all spies, covert ops, and plans within plans of the plans.
Working with them and trying to get a concrete response was like trying to catch smoke.
"Very well, Major Natsume," Hayate intervened. "We will give you a device like the ones my agents use and will be able to be connected at all times with them and myself. You will have access to all the information just as the Secretary-General has requested… but we expect the same level of… 'collaboration'... I hope you will not keep information from us that would… delay… our investigation in any way."
Natsume smiled, "You can be certain that you will have all of our collaboration, Colonel Yagami."
Neither Fate nor anyone present believed those words for a second.
"Right now, we don't have much, Major. I need to organize my team to continue with the other cases we need to attend, that's why I called them at such an early hour. I had thought that your main link in this case was Agent Verossa Acous but something has come up that also requires our attention. Please wait a few minutes in my office and I will catch up with you there with the details."
After saying that, and without any gesture from Hayate, Rein approached the woman to walk her to Hayate's office.
Natsume walked to the door, but before stepping outside, she stopped for a few moments to add, "Interesting welcome reception you had a moment ago," she said smiling. "Very touching… I am also looking forward to working with you, Agent Takamachi. I've heard excellent references regarding your abilities."
Nanoha jolted in her seat without knowing what to say. Fate looked at the spy frowning.
Once the women were out, Verossa did not waste a second before complaining.
"Are you really going to put me to work with that brick?" He asked, completely worried.
"It's part of what I want to discuss with you all," Hayate said, making an indication with her hand for everyone standing up to take a seat. "We have some things to decide. Something else has come up."
Hayate pressed one of the buttons on the table and Special Agent Shari Finieno soon entered the room and stood next to her as Rein had been before. The Colonel's gaze fixed on Fate.
"I'm sure you have a lot of questions, Fate. We have always worked as a team here and when it was decided that Nanoha-san would join our Unit earlier today, we did not expect to have to deal with a terrorist attack of this magnitude."
Fate shifted a bit uncomfortably under Hayate's scrutiny, but she held on. Her colleagues from TSAB had been with her, always supporting her in the crisis of her last case, all without exception; everyone had found out about the relationship she had had with Nanoha... surely everyone knew or at least imagined how she was feeling at that moment.
Nonetheless, that didn't make it easy to talk publicly about how she felt.
"Nanoha-san received the announcement of joining our unit in Vaizen two weeks ago. She arrived in Midchilda just a couple of days ago. I would have preferred her to start her career at TSAB with a week of activities that were more 'normal'… but…"
"I suppose this is 'normal' when it comes to Section 6, Colonel Yagami," Nanoha said with a smile. "I am ready to start at any moment as I told my instructor in Vaizen."
"I know and I have no doubts about it. But we have a very difficult case ahead of us, aside from dealing with the Huckebein organization. I want to discuss that with you all before deciding what the best course of action is."
Hayate beckoned to Shari and she tapped on the terminal on the table. A couple of seconds later, the faces of seven girls appeared on the screen. Their physical features were completely different from each other.
"A series of murders have been happening in the past few weeks. In the past few months, actually. All in the Cranagan-Midchilda metropolitan area. The police had been working the case until yesterday when, for its characteristics, it was escalated to our Unit," Shari started explaining. "The police do not think they will be able to solve it with only the means they have. They will collaborate with us, but officially, the case is now under our jurisdiction."
"The case is disturbing, to say the least," Hayate said. "Last night I reviewed all the information available on the case and I must say that, as I read it, I thought that the most prepared team to take this case would be yours, Fate."
Hayate and Fate looked at each other.
"However, I don't know if it's too soon to work on this after the…"
"The Scaglietti-Scrya case?" Fate completed.
"That's right. When the incident at the Central Bank happened this morning, Director Carim and I talked and agreed that the most appropriate agent to handle the collaboration with intelligence would be Verossa…"
The referred made a face of annoyance.
"... but in the light of this serial case, I have been also thinking that maybe you should handle the Huckebein case and that Verossa and Griffith should work on the murders."
Fate remained silent for a few seconds. She did not fail to notice that Hayate had not said which of the two cases Nanoha would be working in. Probably not even Nanoha herself knew.
And it was Nanoha, much more than her, the one who had suffered the most with the Scaglietti-Scrya murder. Nanoha and her family. If there was the slightest chance that Nanoha had to deal again with a new serial killer, she wanted to be there to back her up.
Besides, after Nanoha left to do whatever she had to do, although now she had a clearer idea of what that had been, Fate had promised herself that no matter what happened between her and Nanoha, she would not stop hunting monsters and stop them from ruining the lives of other people.
So, there was not much to decide.
"We'll move forward as you thought it was best, Hayate. I will deal with the killer case."
Signum smiled in an evil way, in anticipation of the hunt they had in front of them.
"Oof… I knew you'd say that. Can't you reconsider?" Verossa said.
Both Hayate and Fate ignored him.
"Good, I'm counting on all of you guys. Fate, gather the rest of your team. Shari will give you the information on this case. Nanoha-san… stay with Agent Testarossa to give her your initial opinion on the case. We'll meet later. Verossa, Griffith, come with me, we need to meet with Miss Congeniality."
The meeting was over.
Everyone stood up to follow Hayate. Only Fate, Signum, and Nanoha remained behind.
"I'll get the team," Signum announced, leaving the room as well. She could have easily called all of them through her digital intercom, but that way she could give those two a moment alone.
When Signum left and they were alone, Nanoha and Fate looked at each other.
"Hi," Nanoha said shyly.
Fate approached her cautiously as if the redhead were some beautiful and exotic bird that could fly away at any moment.
"Hi," Fate replied. "It's been a long time."
Nanoha smiled. "A few months."
"It's been like years for me," Fate said before being able to stop herself. "And of all places, finding you precisely here has been… a surprise."
"I know… I'm sorry, I could not tell you anything," Nanoha was looking at her with her blue eyes shining and full of emotion. "I had to make myself stronger and face my demons, Fate-chan… just like you have done. I think that way also works for me."
"But… your family?" Fate asked, frowning and feeling slightly guilty for that decision Nanoha had taken.
"We will have to talk about that…'' Nanoha said and noticing that Fate was slowly getting closer to her, she held her device between and pointed to it, "... later."
"Yes…" Fate said stopping and staring directly into her eyes. "I think we have a lot to talk about."
Neither Fate nor Nanoha could add anything else because, at that moment, Fate's team entered the room. Shamal was the first to shriek and jump at Nanoha to hug her like they were teenagers and this was a school reunion. Vice, Alto, and Lucino joined them.
Fate remained a bit distant watching her team reunite. She then turned to the big screen to see the faces of girls who were no longer alive and she wondered what new monster they would have to face.
A shudder ran through her spine.
This would be the first case of serial murders that she would have to face after the Scaglietti-Scrya one.
Hayate had kept her solving Section 9 cases for the past few weeks. Important, difficult cases... but no serial killers. Griffith had been taking that assignment. But if she had thought of her for that particular case, surely there was a very good reason for it.
Despite what she had said to herself before making the decision, she almost prayed with all her might that she hadn't been wrong.
— X —