Swallowing, Nanoha cleared her throat and gradually regained her composure. This wasn't the first time she'd encountered something that stumped her, but unlike the prior times when she was thrust in over her head, she felt she'd matured enough to handle this. She wasn't the naive girl who'd just learned of the existence of magic within her and was recruited by the TSAB.
No, not her. Not anymore. She was more than capable of skirting the lines to properly assess this new situation she was thrust into…only, the realization that her own world was a magic civilization still threw her for a loop.
By the feel of the magic energy stored within a mere blueprint of some sort of 'jewel' sword, Nanoha was struggling to find where to categorize her findings.
Taking a breath, she straightened her back and shifted her gaze away from the blueprint of the sword in front of her. Raising a hand to her left ear, she tapped lightly on the lobe and activated the coms when she heard a ringing notification from command.
"Command to Nanoha."
A subtle magic circle opened within the space between Nanoha's finger and her left ear, rotating sigils expanding out into a conical shape that acted as an ear-piece.
"Nanoha responding, what do you think of all this, Fate?" Nanoha inquired, her lips pursing as her thoughts ran wild. Everything she was discovering here was overturning her understanding of her own world.
"Central's in a buzz in Midchilda. No one really knew that Earth possessed its own magic. Priority will likely shift from just reacquiring the Jewel Seed to investigation and recovery."
"R-Recovery," Nanoha stammered, knowing exactly what was being implied by her friend and what it would entail.
"Indeed. You are to escorte the man said to be in possession of numerous Lost Logia to the TSAB HQ for his own safety."
Right. Of course, it would be like this. Nanoha had already understood that this was the best course of action, as she didn't think that any organization other than the TSAB could safely protect Shirou and what he represents. However, her thoughts had begun to shift somewhat after seeing the blueprint of the sword before her. Her world's magic society may very well prove capable enough to house and secure Shirou, meaning that his choice on the matter would be relevant. It would be a different matter entirely if Earth's magic association was weak, but from what Nanoha could infer right now, this may not be the case.
More importantly, Nonaha felt that she was a good judge of character and could infer what choice Shirou would likely make already.
"I don't think Shirou would be too agreeable to that sort of arrangement," Nanoha scratched the side of her cheek with a finger, knowing that this issue would turn from a simple one to a complex one.
"Even still, Nanoha. You should understand what dangers just having a single Lost Logia can impose, let alone the number we can safely assume Shirou has. Then there's also the matter of the Jewel Seed merging with him. He has to be returned to the TSAB if not for his value, then for his own safety. You know how dangerous Jewel Seeds can be."
"I know I know, alright? It's just that I haven't found the words to convince him yet. Yeah, that's all it is." Nanoha blustered, doing her best to keep her voice down while shifting her weight from leg to leg. She nodded, more to convince herself than Fate who was sighing through the coms line.
"Nanoha, I know when you're skirting around an issue."
"Just leave it be for now Fate. I'll think of something. You of all people should know how persistent I can be, but you can't rush it either. How do you think things would have turned out if I did that with you?"
"...dammit fine. Let's move onto another topic. What's your assessment of the Exceptional Humans in this institute so far?"
"Hard to say outside of live action," Nanoha responded, more relieved that she could try to convince Shirou through her own means rather than being pressured into doing so under orders. "They just appear like normal students in an educational facility. They even have dorms. I'm standing in one."
"Evidently."
Nanoha could somehow picture her friend pinching her nose by this point, and grew sheepish upon being called out.
"You're prattling Nanoha."
Nanoha couldn't deny it, and chose to remain silent until Fate eventually dropped the matter in favor of more pressing issues.
"Do you think you can send a visual link of that blue print in front of you? The hidden magic side of your world has a fascinatingly different system of magic to our own. The interest of a couple executives monitoring the live feed have been roused, especially if something this complex was in the dormitory of just a student."
"Visual link," Nanoha muttered, a feeling of guilt cursing her to grow pensive. "Don't you think it's rude to do this?"
"Nanoha."
"I'm a guest."
"Seriously?"
"This feels like intellectual property theft- Oh no Fate, you're cracking up. Bzt bzt-"
"Nanoha, you're not fooling anyone, so don't you dare cut coms!"
Nanoha deflated, the finger over her ear sorely tempted to tap over the disconnect sequence, but she knew she couldn't do that. She couldn't act as impulsive as she did in the past, especially when it concerned her home world.
Fate continued on.
"Listen, Nanoha. You can tell as well as I that if students are already studying a magic blueprint of this complexity before you, then there's no telling what the professors in this institute research. You know the TSAB labels different magic worlds with a ranking that denotes a magic civilization's danger level, right? Black for the highest, and white for the lowest. The Lost Logia left behind by the ancient Balka's is proof enough of what such Black-level magic societies are capable of if misguided and led to ruin. Therefore, it's imperative that the TSAB accurately designate Earth's magic world ranking to be able to prepare an accurate response."
Fate was right, and Nanoha knew it. Moreover, she didn't really think too much about what an accurate response could be since she was convinced that what she could gleam for TSAB now could only help negotiations. It's often easier to negotiate with an understanding of another, rather than going in blind. How else would one be able to properly assist another force's interests otherwise?
For now as the only agent of the TSAB on the field, Nanoha had a duty to fulfill.
The only downside was that it felt like she was backstabbing her fellow Exceptional Humans somehow…
Reluctantly, Nanoha began making a copy of the blueprint before her. Whether she or anyone in the TSAB would be able to decipher it, well, only time would tell.
In the adjacent sound-proof room from Nanoha, things on Shirou and Rin's end were still underway.
If Shirou knew one thing about Rin, it was that the quieter she became as he extrapolated on another blunder, the more thorough she'd be in chewing him out.
By this point, he was just waiting for it, but it was taking longer than usual.
Around the time he explained that he'd forgone the secrecy of his magecraft when he noted Nanoha's magic fluctuation and assumed her a fellow magus, Rin was heavily frowning and tapping the heel of her right foot on the ground from her cross-legged position on a desk chair.
Rin was annoyed, granted, she couldn't really fault Shirou for his quick judgments on a battle zone, nor could she have predicted Nanoha's affiliation to a parallel world organization force. Nonetheless, Shirou's words got Rin thinking. Considering that Rin's professor was Zelretch, the Wizard Marshal and owner of the Second Magic, Rin could infer that there was no way Zelretch hadn't run into the TSAB before.
As expected, Shirou then elaborated on his meeting with the Wizard Marshal himself, causing Rin's features to darken before she broke her silence.
"So, let me get this straight," she uncrossed her legs, and leaned forward with a heavily twitching brow. Her hair was currently swept down, having grown out of the original twintails she'd sported in Japan. "You took her here, the girl, Nanoha; the person you weren't supposed to reveal the secrecy of our world's magic association to?"
"Well, when you put it that way, it doesn't sound as good."
Shirou had the nerve to shy away from Rin's gaze. That was exactly what he did, but at the time he'd felt that it was a good idea as Nanoha had already learned of the Mages Association. Rather than have her blindly search for the Clock Tower and be discovered by other magi, he'd thought it better to keep her close. Moreover, he had full faith in Rin. Just because he didn't have a solution in mind didn't mean that Rin wouldn't either right?
"Emiya…don't look at me like that. Your face that says 'you must have the answer' is pissing me off. What else could you have possibly been thinking before coming here?"
Shirou opened then closed his mouth, thinking over his response when he considered that Rin was a woman who could throw Gandr curses at him with a flick of her hand.
"Look," Shirou wet his lips and started slowly. "I thought if I showed her how revealing the Mage's Associations to her superiors would be a bad idea, then she wouldn't do it? From the time I spent with her, she doesn't seem like the calculative sort at all. In fact, she's rather kind to think of others in an emergency situation rather than just herself."
"Are you a daft?!" Rin barely resisted the urge to wring Shirou by the neck and shake him back and forth. For his part, Shirou felt somewhat wronged.
"I thought you said you trust my judgment with people?" Shirou complained, trying to pacify Rin, only to be shoved away by her foot.
"That's one thing, and this is another!" Rin seethed, a tick mark forming over her brows while Shirou decided to give her a bit of room. The action did little to appease Rin who began pacing back and forth on her own. "Think about it Shirou. If her organization is anything like you've described it, then who's to say she doesn't have any sort of monitoring magic on her? What would her report even matter if her superiors can just see everything themselves through her?!"
"...oh."
Oh, was right. Shirou hadn't considered this perspective where it didn't matter whether Nanoha was a good person or not. What truly mattered were the intentions of those who were behind her.
"Oh? Is that all you can say knowing what's at stake?" Rin deflated, her shoulders slumping before she plopped herself down onto her bed, sprawling with her back pressing into the mattress. Groaning, she grabbed her pillow, hugged it to her chest and began rolling from side to side while biting on the nail of her thumb.
Rin eventually sat back up, hands cradling her head at the prospect of an interdimensional conflict. She glared at Shirou, trying to convey how upset she was feeling. "What can we do now that she's here- and you better not even suggest we insist on somehow spinning this entire thing back into a 'Pro Golfer's Club.'"
Once again, Shirou shut his mouth, shying away from Rin's deathly flat stare. What else could he say? Rin knew him far too well considering the nature of their relationship and how many life and death situations they've shouldered through.
"Forget it." Rin said, feeling fed up and helpless at what decision she was leaning towards. "Shirou, rather than flounder…I'll consult my teacher."
Her teacher? Shirou immediately shot up onto his feet while shaking his head. "A-Are you serious? You know the kind of man he is?"
Rin's teacher was Zelretch himself. Beyond the scope of his identity as a user of True Magic, Zelretch had a staunch reputation for putting magi through various difficulties. What's more, Shirou had no idea what sort of stance Zelretch would have on him considering he'd done the opposite of what Zelretch had asked of him prior.
Rin grimaced. "I'm not stupid. I wouldn't have wanted to either, but now that Nanoha's here, what other choice do we have after you've blundered so hard?"
Shirou had no response.
Their course of action was pretty much set.
Glancing at each other, Rin reluctantly headed towards a corner of her room where an array in the shape of the moon was carefully arranged. Setting aside a few items in the arrangement, the magic nodes shifted such that the depicted moon took on a red hue and shifted into a crescent.
The shadows inside the room flickered, stretching out even without the presence of a light. A gust of cold air blew out from the red moon, and sure enough, a swell of magic gathered the stretching shadows, and when those shadows parted, Zelretch appeared.
"To think you'd be able to figure out the complexities of my Jewel Sword this soon, apprentice of mine," Zelretch began, only to pause as he took in Rin's apprehension and Shirou's presence. "Well, now I suppose this changes things. What of the task that I've given you, Emiya?" He asked, tilting his head towards Shirou who balked, not knowing what to say.
Eventually, Shirou mustered his courage and explained the situation to a quiet Zelretch. At first, Shirou expected frustration or disappointment from Zelretch, but the Wizard Marshal wasn't known to be eccentric for nothing. It was almost like he knew that with Shirou, things would turn out like this already.
"If you intended to show Nanoha the nature of the Mages Association, and the dangers of the Moonlit World, then why don't I lend you some aid?" Zelretch's current expression, playful arced eyes, and a subtle grin made it seem as if he'd been waiting for this exact situation.
The Wizard was going to take things into his own hands.
Shirou and Rin were getting a bad feeling about this, and began to reconsider their decision, but unfortunately, from the moment Zelretch was summoned, the decision was no longer in their hands.
"Call the girl here, it shouldn't take long."
Zelretch clasped his hands behind his back, and beckoned towards Rin's door that led to her dorm's living room where Nanoha was waiting.
Nanoha didn't know how long she'd been waiting for whatever Shirou and Rin were discussing to conclude, but that was the last thing on her mind when the door finally opened. Hurriedly, she straightened her back and returned to where she'd been waiting before, feeling guilty of snooping around.
However, the last time she checked, other than her, only Rin and Shirou had been inside Rin's did an old man arrive?
Nanoha rubbed at her eyes, making sure that she'd hadn't been mistaken about Rin's dorm only having a single entry and exit door.
Nanoha blinked, looked at the entrance and exit door, and then back at Zelretch. How? Was at the tip of her tongue, but she somehow managed to keep her curiosity to herself. Magic was magic she supposed. What was there to be surprised about, right?
"You must be Nanoha from the TSAB," Zelretch opened with a blunt statement while Rin and Shirou who were behind Zelretch glanced at each other.
Even Shirou and Rin hadn't expected Zelretch to be this forward, but here he was doing just that. It was as if the man had decided to forgo subtlety now that there was no longer any helping Nanoha's presence in the Clock Tower. Well, to begin with, Zelretch had the best idea about what sort of organization the TSAB was compared to anyone else in the room.
"You know of my association?" Nanoha muttered, blinking owlishly in confusion. She'd been using Shirou as a basis and assumed that all the other Exceptional Humans on Earth were also unaware of the TSAB's existence.
Nanoha wouldn't be wrong, but the logic didn't apply to Zelretch at all.
Zelretch simply smiled and nodded at Nanoha. "Why yes. Yes indeed. I also know it's your organization's duty to uphold the peace in the worlds under their supposed jurisdiction including this one. I regret to inform you that those sentiments are unnecessary here."
Frowning, Nanoha felt something odd in the way Zelretch phrased his words just then, but it was true that the TSAB did uphold peace through the dimensions. It was just that, her authority wasn't at the level where it made sense to discuss any of this with Zelretch. She spoke out thusly.
"Uhm, Mr. I don't think I can speak for the TSAB when it comes to their policies," Nanoha broached the topic, lips pulling back into a frown, but she'd be in for a surprise.
Zelretch glanced at Nanoha, only to let out a low chuckle.
"Oh no, I wasn't talking to you, child." Zelretch craned his neck up to stare beyond Nanoha. "I was referring to the TSAB's High Council Members listening in on your coms line."
Nanoha's pupil dilated. She had never heard of a High Council within the TSAB. Fate too was silent on the coms line, and this worried Nanoha as she knew that Fate also wasn't aware of such a group's existence.
Trying to interject about Zelretch getting something wrong about the TSAB's structural organization, Nanoha was cut off as Zelretch continued to speak unhindered.
"You may believe this planet and dimension fall under your jurisdiction, but do not get full of yourselves. Underestimate the strength of earth's mysteries and magic societies, and hope you don't live to regret it."
Nanoha frowned, a hand moving to her earpiece which still remained utterly silent. There was no new news at all from her superiors let alone Fate. Still, it felt uncomfortable for the organization she worked for to be under scrutiny. There had to just be some sort of misunderstanding here.
"Sir-" Nanoha began only to be cut off.
"Oh? Not answering? I suppose none of you believe our magic society can access your key command bases while restricted to Earth's dimension? How complacent. Perhaps a demonstration is in order?"
A demonstration?
Nanoha got a bad feeling. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise all at once from a sudden massive influx of energy. If the energy wasn't enough, it was how Rin reacted that got Nanoha nervous.
"No no no no no," Rin began backing away while dragging Shirou with her by his arm.
Alas, it was too late.
Zelretch snapped his fingers, the crisp sound echoing throughout the office…and nothing.
No matter where Nanoha looked, nothing seemed to have changed. She was still in Rin's dorm room with Shirou and Rin on the side. Yet-
No. Something had definitely changed; if not from Nanoha's perspective, then through Midchilda's command room.
"-Command to Nanoha, spatial infraction detected! Be careful!"
S-Spatial infraction:
Warp.
A single word came to mind.
Did they just warp dimensions at the snap of this man's fingers? A parallel world?
"B-But that's impossible," Nanoha shuddered, backing away by a step and readying herself to deploy Raising Heart at a moment's notice.
The earpiece by Nanoha's left side was suddenly filled with exclamations of disbelief and astonishment.
Even the TSAB requires a medium and complex magic theory to warp between dimensions, not to mention the necessary power consumption. No single person could just travel between worlds like this at his leisure.
Zelretch snorted in amusement at Nanoha's expression, unperturbed by the caution in Nanoha's eyes.
Instead, Zelretch wasn't looking at Nanoha, but continued to look at those watching silently behind her through the TSAB's monitors.
"Allow me to introduce myself." Zelretch gave a small mocking bow towards the air. "I am the Wizard Marshal of the Clock Tower, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, user of the Second True Magic; the Kaleidoscope that can open a path to any world. I suggest you think deeply before taking rash action. I am only one of twenty-seven other monsters, and only one of Earth's True Magic Users- You don't want to meet Blue."
Zelretch grinned leisurely.
"Pleased to meet you."
Thanks for reading. Sorry for later update. This was meant for yesterday, but I ended up catching a cold and aren't feeling too well right now.
Next update: TBA
P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious
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The Lonely Peak
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