A/N: Sorry for the wait on this! I had to rewrite the second scene to even think of making this work because the second scene of last chapter ended up meant for this chapter. To Crosshair, I'm hoping this one will start to address some of your concerns. Anyway, on with the show!

12 - Bells

"You can fight, mister?"

Rae was torn about the expression on Vivio's face. Were all children in this place that excited about fighting? To be honest, she would rather avoid it, or at least make it quick. She had seen Vivio though. The girl could make practice go on for hours if she tried. She had once, and passed out on the floor.

Robin looked both puzzled and amused, the pale blue around him said more confused than anything. "Yeah, my mentor taught me the basics."

Vivio beamed. "So did mine! Can you show me? Please?"

"You have to ask Nanoha-mama first," Fate interrupted while Robin looked bemused. You didn't need empathy to notice Robin was not a kid person. Rae would have laughed, but she had no idea of what would happen if she went out of control while in that state. So she just smiled a little.

Vivio pouted. "Fate-mama…"

"I was trained to be pretty rough," Robin said with a twitch of his lips. "Catching criminals is a full time job after all." He was trying to be polite and friendly, but he really just came off twitchy.

Vivio crossed her arms. "So are my parents."

"Which is why you need to ask them." Robin's voice came out amused now. Rae smiled behind her hand. The sensation of a smile was still uncomfortable, but she was starting to like it.

"Awww..." Vivio only drooped for a few minutes more, then she took Rae's wrist. "Wanna go try projectiles?"

Rae nodded. She rather liked those. They were indirect and controllable. She began to chant her mantra in her head, letting herself get pulled on. It was almost like Beast Boy, but... easier to deal with.

Hold on... what?

Vivio cheered and tugged her away, leaving Robin and Fate alone again. Robin shifted and watched Fate out of the corner of his mask. She didn't seem agitated in the least.

"What do those Devices do?" Fate frowned at him. He paused, uncomfortable. They weren't on opposite sides of an interrogation table anymore. He shouldn't try to make it that way, but... "Is it really important for her to have one?" He didn't want to just drag her back, not when she was like this and her powers were probably unstable.

Fate shook her head. "It depends on the construction on the Device. They are not catch-all, fix everything machines." She held out a golden triangle to him. "My own, Bardiche, is for a Midchildan style. He works with my speed to increase my offense, for example. He processes some of my spells. That is the extent. Devices are only there to support the user. They can't take away the need for effort and time."

"Then why does she need one?" He was trying not to tap his foot, because this woman got a smile out of his friend so easily and that meant she had something.

Fate tapped her cheek. "I will not pretend to be an expert, but... the main purpose hers will serve is to temporarily absorb her excess magical energy. It will be an assistant. Younger children grow magically and physically at a higher speed than i would now. It will have a limiter, which will unconsciously force her to find alternate methods to use magic."

"So does meditation." And Raven had been doing that for years and enjoyed it.

"But she doesn't have that kind of time, does she?" Fate sounded still calm, still wary. "You are uncomfortable here, and I can't blame you. Even so, I, and likely Nanoha as well, will treat her like a child, because we see her as one. You know she isn't. Children need the freedom to grow and dream. However... that Trigon of yours... we naturally have to worry and plan."

"He may not come for her," Robin mused. "He's revived and she was supposed to die, but... you know." He understood. It was entirely possible that he would notice. As much as he needed to get back, she needed to be able to push back. That involved confidence. A confidence and strength he, all of the Titans, knew she had, but she did not.

She needed that back.

"What was Rae-chan like before?"

Her question was so abrupt, it took him by surprise. She was serious, kind. Her sharpness went against his roughness. It was surreal.

Still, he had no choice but to answer.

Cranagan was a city like a lot of cities. Except most cities did not run almost everything on magic. Azarath had, but they had had centuries and centuries to learn how to do it this well. According to Vivio's mothers, Mid-Childa had barely had eighty years, but the millennia of previous civilizations had assisted them in that regard.

Then again, if all of Vivio's stories were true, a lot had happened in those eighty years.

Rae glanced at the bracelet around her right wrist. It was supposed to suppress her magic, and it… wasn't really. She could still feel it bubbling at her fingertips. Wasn't that bad? What if it burst out?

"Rae-chan! Hurry, over here!"

Rae blinked, seeing Vivio at the crosswalk. "Ah… sorry." It was still something to get used to, this person calling her to be involved. Her first instinct was to say no, but something told her Vivio would tug her along anyway. She went to catch up when a low voice made her freeze.

"You're going the wrong way, dear girl."

Rae turned around and the bracelet shattered before she could rein in her fury, her fear. Her body trembled. She knew this man in that part of her mind that remembered Robin and Starfire and that this wasn't right.

"Slade," she said softly and if she could see his face, she might have seen him smile.