Chapter 13 – Brothers
The end of the school year was fast approaching. It was only 2 weeks until the school year ended. That said Lee and company felt lucky since this break would be longer than average. Normally it only lasted around 10-12 days, but because of the multiple natural disasters that had occurred in the last year, including the incident at Fukushima Energy, a lot of school schedules in other parts of the country got screwed up a bit. In order to compensate, the ministry of education decided to do something new and split most of the summer vacation off and add it onto the spring vacation to give areas time to recover and other political reasons that they didn't really care about, and so they would have a very large break before the start of the new school year for once that was almost eight weeks, even if they would only get a one week summer vacation. In any case, time seem to fly as over the two remaining weeks of their last junior high semester, they only sensed one Saren Stone. But by the time they got there, Fate had already sealed it and was already gone. Lance remembered something familiar happening about 3 weeks ago. He originally dismissed it as his imagination but he wasn't so sure anymore. Today, they were going to Sakura's house to discuss their next move. Lance decided to tell them then what he had surmised. He was pretty sure he was on the money with this theory.
When everyone arrived at Sakura's house, they headed for Nanoha's new room. Until now, she was sleeping in the guest room but they finally finished getting all the furniture and refurbishing a room next to Sakura's for Nanoha. It was slightly smaller than Sakura's but it had a TV, large 4-poster bed, walk-in closet complete with clothes and it's own bathroom, and truthfully smaller than Sakura's still meant that it was larger than many full apartments. Nanoha loved it. There was also a very comfy pillow bed for Lance (while he was a ferret).
Of course, Sakura did have to ask the obvious question to Nanoha while the boys weren't listening, "Um, is it okay for, you know, Lance, in here?" Nanoha seemed very confused, "What do you mean. If it's about having to sleep and live here in his ferret form, believe me he doesn't mind. He sometimes transforms in his sleep even at home." Sakura, "Not that. I mean, you know, you're a girl, and he's, well, you know, not a girl." Nanoha still seemed confused, "I mean, are girls on Earth supposed to not sleep with ferrets in their rooms?" Sakura didn't know what to do at this point. It was like Nanoha didn't even register that Lance was the opposite gender. Sakura tried to broach the subject, but Nanoha didn't get it, "What's Lance being a boy have to do with anything. Lance is just Lance, he's been my first and best friend. I can't imagine not being near him." Sakura realized that this was probably a losing fight and just figured that maybe the same social conventions didn't apply as much to the out-worlders, at least that's how she'd justify it.
They arrived at the room that Sakura's parents had set up for Nanoha, which was located right near Sakura's own room. Nanoha went in and jumped on the bed, happy with her new room. She still didn't get what the TV was for. She just couldn't grasp the idea of needing a physical screen. Lance had to explain that from where they came from, screens were generally intangible and could be manifested from a host using their technology, which could be a computer or a device or pretty much anything. Lance showed them by making one appear in front of them from a small gadget he had on him that he said was basically their equivalent to a smartphone back on Maral. They were all (except Nanoha and Lance) in awe of this intangible screen.
They started talking about what to do about the girl named Fate. She too was a Sealer type and beyond that, she had excellent close to middle range combat skill. She was also very quick and good with multi shot attacks. To make things harder, she could make an AMF or Anti-Magic Field. As Lance explained it, this field forcibly interfered with magic on a molecular level, thereby cancelled all magic inside it. But it could be overcome in a few ways. One was a massive strike from the outside could disrupt the field. Another would be the severely damage the user like what Lee had done. Unfortunately, Lee would probably be the only one who could do that with his sword technique as it wasn't magic. The third way would be if another AMF were created around Fate's field. AMF's cancel all magic inside them, and another AMF was no exception but the disruption caused by the field cancellation would undoubtedly cause both opposing fields to disappear. Lance told them that while being able to make an AMF was a very rare skill, he too could make an AMF himself. Lance made a point of saying that AMF spells generally had a maximum time limit, and in Fate's case Lance surmised it to be around an hour given what they knew of her power, give or take a bit depending on the quality of it since the magic used for one had a set life so they disappeared after the time limit, so they could also try to outlast it but this would most likely not be practical. Also, another restriction of the AMF's in general was that one could only use a second one after waiting around the same amount of time they used the first one for to allow the area to become stable enough for it to work again, so her creating another AMF was unlikely. Thus they surmised that they could win against her as a team if they broke through the AMF.
Then Lance told them his theory, "Guys. I have some bad news. I think that Fate already has more than 1 Saren stone." Everyone looked surprised at this statement. Lee, "What makes you say that." Lance, "Well, a few weeks ago, I felt 2 Saren stones at different times but they disappeared quickly so I thought it was just me. But then we ran into Fate who was looking for Saren stones and it just so happens that she can seal them. She also seems to be adept at search magic because she was easily able to find Lee and Sarah who just so happen to have the Stones that are in HARUNO. I think we have to assume she was able to find and secure those two Saren stones so we should assume that at this time, she has 3 of them." Lee, "Make's sense to me." Nanoha, "I think you're right as well. I remember I thought I sensed a few a while ago as well." So it was decided that they would decide their strategies based on Lance's theory. Unfortunately, this meant that they were at a decisive disadvantage, since it would require teamwork from all of them to take Fate down, but they couldn't be together at all times either. What was worse was that Fate seemed to be able to locate the stones faster then they could. It was clear that she had more information on them than they did. In the end, they decided that they would just have to play it by ear, since there was no good counter-strategy for the situation, though Lance did say that he would be out on the lookout more often now.
After they cleared a few issues up, everyone decided to go home for the day except for Lance, who said that he would patrol the city from the skies to keep an eye out for a Saren stone reaction. This way, they could react faster, which currently was their only means of countering Fate who was otherwise beating them to the mark as of late. He said he didn't mind this because why they were all fighting, all he had to do was hold up a barrier. It was actually harder than it sounded but he still insisted that this was the least he could do to help. Nanoha ended up deciding to go with Lance since it had been a bit since just the two of them hung out, and so a few minutes later they found themselves flying over the city, concealed in a barrier of Lance's making that would make them undetectable by any Earth standards. Of course, this provided Lance with an opportunity to have a serious talk with Nanoha.
Nanoha could sense the incoming conversation, and knew what it was going to be about. Lance, "Ok, I thinks its about time we talk." Nanoha, "Yeah, I know." Lance, "I was trying not to say anything, because so far it hasn't been necessary, and despite our earliest intentions of doing this ourselves, we've found great friends who were not just willing, but basically are forcing us to let them help us with our mission, but that was before. It was fine before, but the enemy is getting stronger." Nanoha suddenly stopped in mid air, "I know. That girl that we fought, Fate, she's different than the Saren Stones, and she's strong." Lance, "Truthfully, do you think you could beat her in a fight as you are right now?" Nanoha, "In truth, no. In fact it isn't just that girl, even the Saren Stone manifestations are starting to get stronger." Lance, "True. I'm afraid that the longer they take to activate, the stronger they'll be. By not activating for longer, I bet that gives them an equal amount of time to store up power as well."
Lance suddenly took a deep breath, "You're my best friend Nanoha, and you always will be one of the most important people to me, so I'm willing to do whatever I can for you, but I feel that against our current enemy, I would be doing you a disservice not to tell you that you can't keep doing this. You can't keep trying to hide who you really are. I know after the last time, you don't want to have the burdens that your powers inevitably carry, but remember that was an accident beyond anyone's control, and that regardless of if you decide to use them or not, they'll always be a part of you." Nanoha looked down, "I know, but still, I'm not ready. And its not just that I'm afraid of hurting people. Lee, Sarah, Chrono, and Sakura, they're all really good people. It hasn't even been two months and I can say that they're already really good friends." Lance, "And you're afraid that it could scare them away. You know that's not likely to happen." Nanoha, "I know it's irrational, but I can't help it. You remember that time, you were there, and you saw how they looked at me after it happened. It was like I was some kind of monster, and it hurt." Nanoha was teary eyed now. Lance could only grasp her hand tightly, "I know, but also know that regardless of how anyone else sees you, I'll always be on your side. And as you said, we've met some great friends, I doubt it will be the same as it was back then, but I get why you are still hesitant. Thus I only will ask that if the time comes when you're in true danger, then at least then, you won't hold back." Nanoha wiped her tears away, "K, I promise." Lance, "Good, that's all I wanted to hear."
At the same time as Lance and Nanoha were flying through the skies, Lee and Sarah, tired from school and from the rest of the day just teleported straight out of the room and into their own house. They would be the only ones home at this time so no one would see them and then started just veg'ing around. While they were watching TV, the house phone rang. It turned out to be Lee and Sarah's older brother Sora who was currently abroad at college. Their older brother Sora, "How are you doing?" Lee and Sarah, "We're good." Sora, "That's good. I just called to tell mom that I will be coming home the day your spring vacation starts." Lee, "Well mom is not here right now but we can tell her that for you." Sora, "That would be great. By the way, any news about Dad, this is the first time I called in a few weeks so I am sort of out of the loop." Lee, "He's home right now and is going to be home for the rest of the year. His next long term bodyguard assignment isn't until the winter so he is free." Sora, "That's good news. I need a good sparring session with someone. I don't have any real opponents on the college's Kendo team since the previous captain left, especially now that I'm the new captain. It kind of gets boring after awhile." Lee, "Do you want to spar with me when you get home, I've gotten much better." Sora, "Okay, I'll spar with you after dad."
Both Lee and Sarah were excited; spring vacation started when school let out tomorrow and their brother would be coming home. Lee couldn't wait to spar with him. Ever since the match he had with his father, he had insisted on training Lee even more seriously. He saw after the match he had that Lee also had what it took to enter the Cross's Bodyguard line, though Lee didn't have to if he didn't want to, as John reassured him, for he always insisted that each individual follow their dreams. Most of the males in the Cross-family line though had been either a bodyguard or some other type of protector like police officers ect... You could actually trace their roots as far back as to the Feudal era in Japanese history to some of the original Samurai that had supported Ashikaga Takauji when he had first risen to Shogun before the Onin Wars in the 15th century, though they hadn't emerged as the Cross's until much later and some unexplainable gaps made it unclear who was the direct decedents and who were the branch offs before that point, not that it mattered anymore, though that was a story for another time.
The training sessions were immensely difficult but Lee himself felt the results pretty fast. After just two weeks, his strength and speed were improving tremendously at a rate that eventually in the near future they would be top notch even without magic. He was starting to approach being as physically strong and as fast as he had been at the match with his father. It was part of the family secret on how to train someone so fast with such good results in a short period of time, though John did say that it could only work this well for someone with a huge amount of natural inborn talent, something that Lee, whether he realized it or not, was something he had in extreme excess. It was also a bit of mind over matter, for while physics still constrained them, it was true that even a normal person's body was capable of amazing things if harnessed correctly as Lee was now learning. It also didn't hurt that John had at least been laying the foundations for Lee to more seriously learn the family style of swordsmanship ever since he was a child with his previous training.
Lee also showed his father his perfected ZERO TENSHI, though like before it seemed to drain him immensely, but he did notice that it wasn't quite as much as before, since at least this time he didn't faint. His father said that he and his brother were much alike. Down to the day, it took Lee and Sora the exact same time to learn ZERO TENSHI. Lee had once asked where the roots of ZERO TENSHI came from and his fathered explained the tale. John told Lee that he himself invented the technique but that it was loosely based off of one of their family's techniques passed down in the family from way back from the beginning of the Edo period called RAIJIN CROSS, which loosely translated into "The Crossing of the Thunder God". It was an attack of tremendous speed and agility that had you speed past your opponent with your sword out slashing them as you went by. It was called RAIJIN CROSS because of the thunderous sound it made when you pounded the ground with the force of the charge. The technique itself was said to be immeasurably difficult to master due to the user requiring super human levels of leg strength as well as cat-like agility and finesse to pull it off. The Cross family actually had it's own style descended and perfected from even before that time with a complete but evolving move set and training schedule. The only thing was that it was forbidden to teach anyone other than a Cross family member. But John was known throughout the family as one of the strongest people in its long history, which Lee could believe.
When their Mom and Dad got home from doing the shopping, Lee told them about the call. Their mother was glad that Sora finally called. She had sent him a letter a month ago and was waiting for him to reply, though Sora had mentioned it would have been quicker if she had just emailed or texted, but she was never the best with technology. Their father was equally happy when he heard the news. Lee, "Dad, Sora said he wanted to challenge you when he gets here tomorrow." John thought for a moment, "Well, I actually think I'll have him spar with you first. I want to see the result of your training just as much as his results. Besides, it should prove to be a good match." Sarah then asked the question she wanted to ask her dad for a long time. "Dad," she said, "Can you teach me too. Not on Lee's level but just so I can get stronger too." John smiled, for he was finally getting one of his life long wishes granted, for with this, he had finally gotten all of his children genuinely interested in learning the swordsmanship he himself had devoted much of his life to, "You know I will if you train hard." Sarah smiled at this. She saw the results of Lee's training and decided she needed to get stronger too for the battles ahead. Their dad wanted to see how much Sarah improved on her own so they went into the dojo after dinner. Lee went to just for something to do. She asked Lee to do something for her. Lee, "What?" Sarah, "I want you to hold BRIGHT DESTINY for me so I am fighting without magic. It seems that Bright Destiny does automatic enhancements whenever I fight." Lee, "There is no need for that. Just tell it not to use magic right now. That's what I do during my training sessions." So with that in mind, her evaluation began. She actually wasn't bad at all. She lasted 5 minutes against him. That was almost 2 times her previous record. Her father said she too had improved a good bit. They trained for a bit more, but stopped once they noticed the time. It had gotten quite late, and so they decided to turn in for the night, all of them thinking about Sora coming home the next day.
Lee and Sarah went through school the next day feeling like time had slowed down due to anticipation. Chrono, Sakura and Nanoha all thought Lee was hyped up about spring vacation like everyone else until he told them about his brother coming home. Nanoha had never met Lee's brother so she looked forward to it as well. They had all already finished their exams the previous week(which they all did at least decent on) and officially graduated and had the ceremony and such the previous day, so the last day of school was basically just to clean out their desks etc... When school ended, Lee found Sarah waiting for him on the steps of the school. They decided it would be fun to fly home, as it was the end of the school year so they went about it in a smart manner. They went to the back of the school, then teleported up into the sky so no one saw them take off and create awkward questions. Lee had only flown a few time out of battle for fun. He realized as he was flying through the air how nice it was. They teleported again down into the forest so no one saw them land. Then when they got home, they saw an extra car in the small parking spot across the street. They knew it was their brothers since it was one of his prized possessions and had showed it off once he had gotten it with money he had saved for years from part time jobs just over a year ago. And so they rushed inside to see their older brother for the first time in almost eight months.
They ran over and greeted him like any family would with lots of hugging and over emotional statements ect… Then when their father got home, they all went into the dojo including Mary (MOM). When they were all warmed up, their dad told all three of them to remove their training weights. They all wore them so they would be training technically all hours of the day by doing normal things. That was one of the training secrets, though John admitted that this particular one was not exclusive to the Cross style, but was really just good sense, though only if done under guidance in a proper manner, else it could do more damage than good. Lee and Sora appeared to be wearing the same amount of weight until Sora took of two weights he had on his legs that were heavier than Lee's leg weights. Sarah's were 4 times as light as Lee's were but since she had gotten serious about training only a few days ago, she was just starting out. Sora turned to his father, "Okay, ready Dad." To that, John smiled, "I'm not the challenger for this match, He is," he pointed at Lee. Sora looked at his dad with a half joking expression, knowing that Lee had never been particularly serious about learning swordsmanship before, "Are you sure? I wanted a challenge." Lee's dad just smiled. Sora thought this must be a warm up so he can face his dad at full strength.
Sora turned to Lee, "I won't go easy on you." Lee. "Same goes for me." On their Dad's signal they started. Lee charged first and for the first time, he saw the results of the training for real. This was the first time he had taken the training weights off since he had gotten them. He first noticed the speed difference and so did Sora thought he wasn't expecting it. Next was his new strength as he clashed swords with Sora. At first, Sora who actually had taken it easy lost his composure but quickly rebounded with similar force. Both their father and Sarah were impressed with the results.
The match continued to escalate. Soon their swords were going so fast that they were just blurs and the sounds of the swords clashing sounded like thunder. Sora now realized what his father had been thinking when he had him fight Lee first. And to his surprise, he found that he was enjoying sparring with Lee a lot. It finally got to the point were they were fighting all out. Now they themselves were starting to blur to everyone except John, who could easily keep track of their movements, but Sarah and Mary could sometimes catch a glimpse in the seconds when they had their blades clash. Finally both knew what they had to do to beat the other but neither was expecting the other to use it. They both stepped back, and then they both assumed the Special Kendo thrusting position. Sora just thought Lee was going to do a super fast thrust to try and get through his defenses and Lee thought the same thing about his brothers' stance. Only John, the father of both combatants had any idea what was about to happen. They both charged and entered zero time. In zero time, they had a clash of swords and each one appeared on the opposite sides of the dojo. To everyone else, it just looked like they disappeared and at the same time, but to them, their ZERO TENSHI bout seemed like it lasted a few minutes. Suddenly, both of them fell to the ground laughing. Beside each combatant laid a sword cleanly cut in half. They were dead tired and decided to call it a draw, though as Lee and John noticed, Sora might not have been going all out, but Sora just had a shocked expression on his face, not believing what had just occurred, that Lee could use that technique. John walked over to his oldest son with a grimace on his face, "See, told you that you'd be surprised." Sora just looked over at Lee who was also smiling, "Yeah no kidding. Fair enough, its my fault for underestimating him." As it was obvious that Sora was too tired to fight John, he decided to have Sarah face him to see her progress over the last few days. She had improved a bit and lasted 6 minutes this time, 20% improvement to her last bout. Then everyone headed into the dining room for dinner.
After dinner, Lee and Sarah went to chat with Sora in his room. Sora still couldn't believe how far along Lee was in his Kendo training. Lee knew that if he poured his magic into it could have defeated Sora but he had decided the day before that he wanted to fight him with his own strength without any supernatural augmentation. They talked about their spar for a bit, which eventually just devolved into talking about what Sora had been up to while he was gone and then other random topics. That said, after awhile, they noticed that it was getting late and so they decided to call it a night there. Lee and Sarah said goodnight to their brother, making him promise to hang out with them the next day before heading off to their own rooms.
That said, their night wasn't going to end that easily, for just when Lee and Sarah got to their rooms, they got a message telepathically from Lance for Lee and Sarah, who were closest to head over to an activated Saren Stone. Wanting to waste no time, they rand downstairs and past their father right out of the house saying that they needed to go over to a friend's house for something they had forgotten quickly, bolting out before their father could even give them a reply. That said, Sora who heard this was no fool and not nearly as aloof as their father acted in these kinds of situations, and so could easily tell that what Lee and Sarah just told their father was a lie. He knew his little siblings would never be involved in anything bad, but that just got him even more curious, Wondering what they were up to, he quickly and quietly ran downstairs and out the door after them, following them secretly, which was easy for him thanks to the training he had gotten from his father ever since he was in middle school to succeed him in his bodyguard business, for it was a bodyguards job to blend in and be unseen most of the time, and John took this concept to what could only be considered unusual heights with training and techniques that Sora knew probably dated back to actual Ninja traditions. When Sarah and Lee got there, Chrono and Nanoha were waiting for them along with Lance. Unfortunately, Sakura couldn't come due to a family event she was going to and so was not in the area.
Lance set up the barrier as soon as he briefed them on what was happening. When Lance had put up the barrier, Sora suddenly felt a weird sort of chill wash over him and decided to sit still, not quite sure what was happening when he saw a brief flash of green light. It wasn't like anything he had ever felt before. Then things only got even more confusing when he saw all of them change into their Barrier Jackets. Sora looked more than bit shocked at this, "How the hell did they do that?" That said, this was nothing compared to what he witnessed next.
Out of nowhere, "It" appeared, a giant human looking black monster, but it was taller than a house. Lance didn't have to tell them twice, they all charged and started to attack. Chrono was first to make a hit with his GRAVITON STRIKE. It crushed its left arm. Then Nanoha tried her DIVINE BUSTER and hit its right arm. That said, it all amounted to basically nothing as the monstrosity healed both arms so it looked like nothing had happened. The monstrosity then launched a blast of black magic at them all which Lee deflected with his shield.
Suddenly, and without warning, Fate appeared behind them. And to make matters worse, she started to attack them instead of the monster. Now Nanoha, Lee, and Chrono were dragged into a battle with Fate leaving Sarah alone with the monster person. Sarah, "Alright then, I'll take you on myself. PIERCING LIGHTS!" she shot a flurry of light shards at the monstrosity. "Second Stage, BLIND DESTRUCTION!" Now all the shards that were in the beast exploded in a blinding light. "Try SHOOTER STYLE." Sarah's staff suddenly changed. Now it had a silver-colored "U" shaped head and in the middle was BRIGHT DESTINY. It also had a white handle coming out of the staff. "DIVINITY SMASHER." Sarah shot a large blast of sparkling white magic at the monster, which tried to deflect it with its hand only to have it blown off.
"HBD, START," Sarah's blade turned into her short sword. "Alright, take this, FLASH CROSS." A giant white cross then appeared at the tip of her sword. Also, Large white wings appeared on Sarah's feet. "GO!" Sarah launched sword point first at the monster. She was moving so fast that the ground ripped up from the force of her passing. She went straight through the beast and sliced it up into quarters. It didn't regenerate as with anything cut with Sarah's special sword, but it wasn't over. Out of one of the quartered sections, right where the heart would have been, walked out a new foe. It looked even more humanoid than before, and was of regular size and a somewhat feminine physicque, though its face was blank except for two cat like eyes, which paired with the pointed ears on its head, and while normally one would think a cat eared person might even be considered cute in some way, there was nothing remotely close to that sentiment that could be said about the abomination before them.
The cat-eared monster suddenly made a crude sword made out of magic appear out of nowhere and proceeded to attack Sarah. Sarah luckily was fast enough to pick up her own sword and defended successfully. Unfortunately, Sarah was exhausted after that last attack so she couldn't do more than defend herself or swing her sword around sloppily. Then after a minute or so, it became too much as Sarah fell over just as the cat woman was about to deliver a final strike. Sarah looked on wide-eyed at the incoming attack, knowing that there was nothing more that she could do and seeing no way out when just as suddenly, a dark gold barrier appeared, just barely deflecting the attack. Sarah was momentarily shocked, but she quickly came back to her senses and hastily got up, realizing that she didn't have the time to think about what had just happened and was once again back to blocking the cat woman's attacks, digging down deep just for the energy to do even that, but it was clear she was on her last legs.
While the sword fight continued below, Fate was fighting Chrono, Lee and Nanoha all at once up in the air. She kept using the same combo. She started off with a PLASMA LANCER, which fired at all of them. Then she tried to see if she could get one of them on their own. This strategy proved ineffective. Nanoha though was getting flustered. As much as she attacked and tried to help, she couldn't keep up with the others speed. Lee and Chrono had swords out (Chrono's multi-weapon was a sword right now) and went into high speed combat with Fate who changed her staff into HAWKEN FORM SONIC STYLE. In this mode, she sacrificed defense for speed and thus was as agile and speedy as Lee and Chrono. Nanoha couldn't keep up so she decided to see if she could do a finisher. In fact, it was getting pretty bad, since Nanoha couldn't keep up with the three Melee fighters. What was more, Fate was starting to overwhelm Lee and Chrono with her superior fighting prowess. In the end, there was some things that could only be gained through experience, and that difference was showing itself now as Fate beat Lee and Chrono back. That said, Nanoha knew she could end this fight right now, and would stop at nothing to help her friends.
That said, as Lee and Chrono distracted Fate, Nanoha took this chance to charge her finisher. "EXCELLION MODE," said Nanoha, "AxcelChargeSystem, Stand by." Suddenly, Nanoha shot up in power, a LOT of power, more than any of the combatants had frankly ever felt from Nanoha before, but before they could question it, she aimed her new spearhead towards the battle of the three high-speed combatants. "LEE, CHRONO, OUT OF THE WAY." Both moved out of the way quickly, not wanting to get in the way of what Nanoha was about to unleash. "BARREL SHOT," Nanoha shot a medium wave of clear-pinkish magic at Fate, which it made solid contact with, and suddenly Fate found herself held in place, like Nanoha's last attack had paralyzed her temporarily somehow. Nanoha, "ACS FLAME IGNITE," a glowing pink point appeared out of the spearhead. "ACS, GO!" Four giant pink wings appeared on the spearhead, as well as six more on Nanoha's back and ankles that with a single beat of their wings, launched Nanoha forward in a massive gust of power. Nanoha sped at Fate point first, flaring out more power than she had ever shown before. Fate put up a shield to defend herself. Nanoha hit the shield full force with the staff, and the glowing pink point just barely cracked through the shield. The glowing pink point grew brighter and brighter as it started to gather more magic. "ACS, SHOOOOT!" Where Nanoha and Fate had been, there was a HUGE explosion that wiped out the nearest buildings to them. Nanoha came flying out of the explosion looking a bit worn but otherwise surprisingly okay, especially given the amount of power she had just shown. Lee and Chrono went over to support her though just in case. Chrono, "YOU yell at ME for using the OBS and you turn around and use your ACS thingy. Talk about reckless." Nanoha, "Just trying to help, and besides, that wasn't a full powered one like yours, I left out a bunch of step from the full combo that makes the entire thing 5 times strong and just as much more dangerous." Lee was about to ask about the power thing. He had seen Nanoha fight before, but he had never seen her do anything like that. That said, Nanoha cut off his thoughts for him, "There are some things I keep in reserve. Using it at max is very dangerous." Lee and Chrono accepted the explanation. That said, Fate came flying out of the cloud, but she was clearly feeling the hurt, but looked like she wanted to continue, Lee thought she would attack but instead, she just vanished. This puzzled Lee, though he just assumed she knew when she was outclassed, and probably thought she was too beat up to continue.
While the fight above was happening, back on the ground, Sarah was less fortunate in her sword fight. She had finally been forced into a corner. She was running out of both magic and stamina, even what she had gotten through her last adrenaline rush. Then as she was about to defend herself, the cat person knocked her sword out of her hand, Sarah too tired to keep a grip on it tight enough. Sora so far had been watching all of this in a mix horror, confusion, and sheer disbelief at the insanity and impossibility that was unraveling before him. That said one thing stood out beyond all the others. He was watching his little sister and brother fighting with all their strength against a literal monster and he wasn't doing anything to help. He didn't even hesitate, and suddenly drew his katana and just as the cat person was about to deliver the final blow, Sora appeared out of Zero Time with his blade just short of it's neck, much to Sarah's and everyone else's shock. "I suggest you move away from my little sister, NOW!" The Cat person then disappeared and reappeared a few feet behind Sora. Sora held his sword up and prepared for another attack. Unfortunately, due to the extreme stress of using Zero Tenshi, he wasn't able to use it again but he had plenty of other high speed attacks to draw upon. Next thing it knew, the cat person had slashes all over its body and a severe stab wound in its would-be heart. Unfortunately, it just recovered and swung a sure hit kill shot at Sora. Sora thought he was about to die but then, for a second time that day a miracle occurred, a dark golden shield appeared before him, blocking the attack and repelling the attacker.
"RELEASE ME" said a voice inside Sora's head. Sora, "Huh," "RELEASE ME." Sora unknowingly started to glow in an orange light. He continued to cross blades with the cat person, unaware of the fact that he was getting faster and stronger as he was filled up with an intense burning sensation. The others were watching on, not quite sure what they were seeing, but also not finding a time to get in and help him. That said, they were shocked when Sora's supposedly purely physical attacks were starting to do actual damage to the monster he was fighting. Sora was going faster and faster until he was going so fast, he was tearing up the ground as he passed, leaving a trail of embers wherever he stepped. He felt his sword start to heat up, and thought it was from friction until suddenly, he saw a small flash of embers after his sword had hit, and suddenly he found that his whole blade was alight as he made an almighty slash at his foe that caused a flash of fire to be released that forced the monster back. "RELEASE ME." Sora suddenly felt words force their way out of him, "FLARE STORM!"
He was suddenly enveloped in an orange fiery light, but this one didn't fade away, instead swirling around Sora like some mythical flaming vortex. But then all at once, it seemed to fade out of existence, revealing Sora, but he had changed completely. He was now wearing an orange blazer with black stripes over it at random, and orange pants with shielding at the top and holding a bright silver bladed Japanese full length katana with an orange hilt, embedded in it was some type of orange marble, which much to Sora's surprise lit up and spoke, "Ready to serve, Master." Sora was both baffled and confused, but he knew now was not the time to be worried about such things. He turned to his new weapon, "So what do I do with you." The orange marble known as FLARE STORM, "Try using FLARE SLASH." Sora's blade ignited into flames made of pure magic. Sora got a feeling and decided he should follow it. He held his sword in both hands. "FLARE SLASH!" Sora swung his sword down until it hit the ground. Off his sword flew an orange, flaming wave of magic. Traveling along the ground sticking up vertically like a shark's top fin and it hit the cat person at an amazing speed. "Next try HEAT STRIKE FLAME." Now his sword absorbed all the flames around his blade and it glowed red hot like a poker fresh out of the fire. Then an orange magic circle appeared under him. "HEAT STRIKE FLAME!" He launched at the enemy with frightening speed and power and swung his sword at them and tore through the monstrosity like tissue and as an added bonus, set them ablaze.
"Change to STORM MODE." His sword changed into a staff with an orange marble at the top surrounded by six prongs. Power started charging up in the now enlarged orange marble at the head of his staff and an orange magic circle appeared under him. " FLAMING BLITZ CRIEGE." Sora, much to his own surprise as much as everyone else's suddenly flew up into the air and launched a large blast of flaming orange magic at super sonic speeds at the cat person who tried to dodge but got scorched by the intense heat that the blast gave off as it passed. Now his staff was charging again. This time it seemed like more magic than before. He pointed his staff at the cat eared person and a large orange magic circle appeared under him. "FLASH FLARE CANNON." Sora unleashed a large ray of intensely heated orange magical energy that burned everything around it to ashes straight at the cat person. It made a direct hit and a large explosion. Next thing anyone saw was a nice-sized crater. Then a Saren Stone flew up from out of the smoke. "Lets seal it, Sealing form." The top of his staff's head started to glow brightly. "SEAL IT!" said Sora and shot a small orange ray at the Saren Stone that then flew over to the Orange Marble and absorbed into it. FLARE STORM, "Number 15, Sealed." A large amount of steam blew out the back of the staff.
As Sora landed down on the ground, everyone looked at him with awe and amazement. Then Sarah went up to him and hugged him tightly, profusely thanking her older brother for saving her. Then after the after battle cleanup came the hard part. Sora started asking a lot of questions just like with Lee, Chrono, Sakura and Sarah when they got their magic. To clear things up, they went to Chrono's house and went up to his room; Lee having to teleport there with Sora because Sora obviously didn't know how to yet. Sora may have been older but in this situation he didn't seem it to the group. He was exceptionally smart and he was taller than them, but beyond that he didn't act much older than Lee except in more formal settings, though he still maintained some level of maturity. Now Lance and Nanoha explained it all to him. After the explanation finished, Sora was quite a bit dazed with all the information he had just taken in, including the realization of alien life and other worlds, not that he could deny it after all he had seen at any rate. That said, Sora immediately made them agree to let him help. He knew his two younger siblings well enough that he knew he couldn't stop them from doing this dangerous stuff if he tried so he might as well be there to keep them safe and to help, and truthfully he also knew he himself couldn't leave the situation alone knowing there was something he could do about it as well. No one had any objections of course, for they had already seen his strength, as well as his device. FLARE STORM turned out to be an Orange Marble that placed itself around his neck, much like his siblings. Sora, "By the way, which one of you saved me and Sarah with that Dark Gold barrier thing? Big thanks for that."
Sarah had almost forgot about that part, and so wasn't surprised when none of them took credit for them. Sora was very confused at this point, and so they explained the weird phenomena with the barrier, and how it wasn't the first time since Lee had also been saved by the mysterious phenomenon as well. Sora, "Wonder where it came from?" They pondered it for a bit before deciding to leave it for another time. Now that he had been briefed on everything, Sora decided it would be best before his parents found Lee and Sarah out of the house for any longer than they had been so they all teleported (Sora with Lee because he didn't know how to yet,) and went home without anyone the wiser as to what had happened.
Authors Note:
So I know I said there would only be an Authors note at most once every other chapter, but I've been breaking that limit lately so let's just say that this is now invalid, and I'll simply add an author's note whenever I feel like.
In this chapter, we are introduced to Sora, Lee's older brother by around 7 years, and what a surprise, his brother is also a mage (honestly anyone who didn't see that coming isn't paying enough attention). I won't go into more here about it, but this particular coincidence isn't without reason, and one that will be resolved in the not-too-distant future. But just to clarify Sora's abilities on a different front, right now, Sora is truthfully much stronger and more skilled than Lee when it comes to kenjutsu. Sora is the first son of the family, and thus in traditional fashion, he is the families heir apparent. Now clearly, as it is revealed in this chapter, the Cross family has some serious history behind it (which while shown already will be expanded upon very soon I promise), but Lee and his family live a mostly ordinary life. That said, John is a master of their family's sword style, aptly named the Cross style. Thus, as the family's heir, Sora has been more rigorously trained than his younger siblings. That is not to say John didn't teach them either, as he did to whatever extent he felt that his children were comfortable with, but Sora was basically trained from the moment he could walk to inherit the style. As such, if people couldn't pick it up, he was holding back in their spar. That said, it wasn't by quite as much as one would assume, as Lee is truly that gifted, and this disparity between time and skill is on purpose, but for reasons that aren't yet going to be shown.
On another note, something some friends pointed out to me way back when I originally wrote this story, that many of the names I use are too English or otherwise foreign in either pronunciation or spelling to be for a traditional Japanese family, and you would be correct. That said, there are actually reasons for this, and I even have a short story on this reasoning written, but it can only be read after finishing the main story, so I'll leave it for then, but as a preview, 'Sarah' is written correctly, and is supposed to be an English name, 'Lee' is written correctly, and is meant to be of Korean origin, 'Sora' is, well if you can't tell that its Japanese then you clearly haven't been keeping up with your LN, Mangass and animes. Then finally, John is also supposed to be English, and is thus spelled correctly.
