AN: Shirō is perceptive, Fate is unsettled, Yuuno is confused and panicked, and Chrono has a wounded pride and is annoyed. Nanoha is Nanoha, rainbows and sunshine with a dabble of steel and cluelessness.
Also, Nanoha's growth rate is ridiculous. That is all up here.
Amount of hugs needed: 3,714 [(6865+8417+7477+7368+7010)/10 - Round up]
Amount of hugs found: 1,105
Disclaimer: I do not own Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha nor any of the various seasons made after the original.
The truce began with both of them wrenching their weapons out of the TSAB agent's grip, the boy actually seeming surprised at the action before Fate set her device on him, the scythe shifting back to its default state before it smashed into the boy's chest. She was shortly behind Fate, quickly lashing out with her arm and hitting the boy in a little lower than where Fate hit him, the expected gasp let out before he was sent flying from them.
She went after him, running along her platforms as the boy recovered and pointed his stave at her, blue lights flickering into existence around the head of his weapon before shooting at her at a speed comparable to Fate. Fate replied in kind with her own shooting spells, yellow and blue flying past one another and her without hitting their targets… though several shots did ping off her as she ran down. A few seconds later and she was at the ground, the boy having backed off into just inside the treeline by the time she reached the ground, now within relative cover and not under a volley by Fate he shifted his aim at her.
She didn't slow down as he shot a point-blank volley of spells at her, all but two of the nine shots leaving a dull pain on her body as they hit, her opponent's eyes widening in shock before she hit him with her blade, sending him flying into and through a tree as was common… it probably said something that that was common… The boy got back up quickly, seemingly righting himself immediately after passing through the tree and pointing his stave back at her while backing away, an orb forming at the end of the stave as he did.
Motes of pink mana swirled around her gently as she walked forward calmly, it wouldn't do to run blindly into a high-power spell or bombardment like she was prone to do. Thankfully that mentality let her react to the thin beam of mana the boy shot at her, a sidestep letting the spell pass by harmlessly before she continued walking past the lingering trail… until she was hit in the back by something painful and making her stumble. She caught herself shortly after only to immediately get hit by another thin beam and fall to the ground off-balance, irritation welling up inside her before she sent a crescent of mana at him.
The attack missed of course, she didn't aim at all aside from shooting in the general direction of the Enforcer, coupling that with her falling… it was lucky she even came close to hitting him with it. She managed to get back to her feet again, a half-formed shield blocking a third beam long enough for her to get her balance before it hit her, a dull ache at her left rib the only consequence of her failure of a shield.
As she focused back on her current foe, who was charging up fourth orb in front of his stave, a hail of yellow bolts rained from the sky through the treetops, making the boy dismiss his orb and opt for a shield spell protecting him from the spell-fire. Herself on the other hand… she formed a platform underneath her and trusted her augment to protect her from the worst of the rain, tilting the platform until it was pointed at the boy, then made it explode.
The boy barely registered her flying at him, calmly creating a second shield facing her before she was even halfway to him while preparing something for Fate, multiple little orbs manifesting round the head of his stave. And that was as far as he got as she smashed into his shield and, with the help of one of her platforms, shattered it, surprise quickly forming as he turned to face her before her katana sent him up and out of the forest with a light crack into Fate's domain.
She watched through the leaves as he righted himself as quickly as possible, a shield created to take several of Fate's 'heavier' beams before it shattered under the firepower brought on it, but by then the Enforcer was away from the remainder of the volley. She saw a dance of sorts of blue and yellow lights in the sky, motes of pink lifting off steel into the air around her idly as she watched the airborne duel as best as she could. They were… matched evenly really, sort of like how her and Fate were matched, the Enforcer couldn't hit Fate, and when he did it dissipated on one of her shields, and he blocked or dodged her attacks in turn, though he seemed to have the advantage...
... Time to fall back on what worked. A slash broke the wood of the tree closest to her with ease, the trunk slowly falling to the ground as she moved out of the way and let it crash with a thump and cloud of dust. Calmly she walked back up to it and knelt down, beginning to wrap her hands around the tree before stopping… this wasn't like the other times, where her foe was not expecting a tree or was too slow to react… the Enforcer would be alert and expecting something…
Slowly she stood back and walked a few steps away from the tree, creating another platform under here before walking up its surface, her little motes dancing lazily around her as he went. Taking aim, or as much as one can aim with a sword, and sent two slashes at the boy, a bit smaller than her normal waves but hopefully fast enough to hit him. The boy turned briefly to look at her projectiles before he summoned another shield to deal with them and turned his attention back to Fate, who was dealing with… a projectile that twisted and turned as if it had a mind of its own…
Her slashes did nothing to the shield, which was somewhat expected but still annoying, so she immediately swapped to a different plan of action and began to speed up her climb towards him. Three more lighter waves were sent at him as he began to back away, several yellow bolts from Fate shattering the first shield, though the last two failed to connect as he flew around the beams, her own paltry spells barely scratching his other shield. That didn't matter though.
Her platform exploded again, a sharp pain going through her leg ignored as the boy suddenly sped up and made to dodge to the side out of her path, her right arm and leg brushing against another platform before it sent her directly where the Enforcer would be… hopefully. For once things went in her favor, if only barely as she was ahead of him, a hail of bolts from Fate coming from behind her pinging off her skin as the boy brought the shield around to defend against both her and the hail.
His shield lasted two hits.
The horizontal strike from her blade cracked the shield almost to breaking before it skidded off, the following punch shattered it and left the boy in subdued shock, still able to bring up his stave and arm to block the remainder of the punch. It sent him back a ways, giving the impression that he was sent skidding along the air, right into the midst of a small cloud of her motes, the majority having unfortunately dissipated it seemed. They all came at him like a silent swarm, nipping and biting at the cost of their 'lives' and dealing only minor damage, that was fine though, they were only there to be a distraction.
She was back on him before each mote sacrificed itself, her strength augment off for a moment as she wouldn't need it for this, and swung her katana at the boy in a diagonal slash, barely catching him in the chest and eliciting a tiny stream of blood trailing behind her weapon. A swing from the stave was sent at her from the side, a quick parry downwards made short work of the attempt, another slash sent upwards cutting a bit deeper this time and forcing the Enforcer back. A shield was formed, and her augment came back to life, one strike breaking it into pieces before another slash sent the boy flying.
He caught himself, seeming to be breathing a bit heavier than normal as he floated in the air, a quick glance back showed Fate rapidly approaching before coming to a stop beside her. A light giggle came unbidden as she turned back to their opponent, causing Fate to glance at her before looking back at the Enforcer, at which point she spoke her thought out. "He's not much of a threat, is he?" She received a light nod at that, at which point she let out a sigh before returning her focus to the Enforcer, seeing the older boy holding a blue light to where his wounds were.
She started walking towards him again, Fate deciding to fly higher in preparation for… something, the boy stopping the light shortly after she began and looking towards here with a cold expression. Motes drifted off metal to swirl around amidst the cloud rapidly growing behind her, the Enforcer bringing his stave up in response as his mana gathered in four spots around him. Was he getting serious now? Did being beaten by two nine year-olds make him snap, or was it the use of lethal force?
Eyes closed for a short moment, as she shrugged helplessly, she wouldn't know so there was no point in thinking on that, opening her eyes again she saw her foe's mana had coalesced into something vaguely like swords. A small jab sent one of those swords speeding at her, she let the platform holding her up disappear and let her drop to another made below her, the second sword deflected to the side before she was sent back upwards.
Fate sent a hail of bolts from above at the boy as she was flying, a light amount compared to what she was prone to do, a shield formed quickly to deal with the yellow rain before Fate came crashing down on the shield with her scythe, coupled with the light hail the shield broke after several seconds of contact. A quick decision was made by him as she had another platform send her at the dueling pair, both remaining swords at the Enforcer's side pointed at her and fired.
The first was dealt with easily, a shield formed haphazardly to take the brunt of the force before she deflected it off to the side… the second one she didn't have time to react and was impale upon it, blood welling from both sides of her left shoulder. Her momentum was diminished, not heavily but still noticeable, but she kept going forward, a platform made and detonated to her leg's displeasure in order to go and help Fate. She didn't reach them in time before Fate was sent upwards by three of the beams that darted about, she was in time however to… 'tackle' was the closest word, the Enforcer before he caught his breath.
And then they both plummeted down to Earth.
Branch, branch, branch, tree, branch, tree, tree, dirt. Those were what they smashed through on their journey down, many crashes and cracking sounding behind them before they hit the ground in a plume of dust and debris. She tumbled out of the dust cloud with a silent pained gasp, shakily rising to her feet before watching her foe do the same, though he was breathing heavily compared to her light breathing… And then she looked up and her smile brightened.
He looked confused for a moment through the stoic face, then more so when she gave a jovial wave to him before he looked up, and confusion turned to resignation. A pillar of yellow engulfed him, four seconds passing before it dissipated and left the boy standing, another two following before he fell face-first into the ground unconscious.
Looking back up she saw Fate descending from the sky, scythe set up likely in the case they were going to continue fighting… no… that would be a bad choice to choose… Aside from gasping for breath every so often Fate was better off than her, a few scratches and bruises compared to her barely functioning arm and broken leg… if it was just the leg she'd take the odds. Reaching the conclusion she removed Razing Heart from her shaking blade, returning her sword to its sheathe as gracefully as she could with it trembling, much to Fate's confusion.
Glancing over at her arm… it didn't feel nearly as bad as it looked… four… no, five rivulets of red running down her arm, a rather sizable hole in both sides of her shoulder… it was actually surprising her arm was capable of moving despite the wound. Looking back at Fate just before her 'jacket' shattered into mana, her smile softening afterwards to the response of Fate tensing, a sigh released before she shook her head "The Jewel Seed is yours Fate, for fighting with me against him. Perhaps we can team up again another time?"
Fate kept her stance ready but relaxed in response to both the words and actions, returning her device back to its default form and dropping the remaining distance to the ground next to the knocked-out boy. She gave another nod, her face brightening momentarily with a miniscule smile before it faded back to a thin line, moving to turn and leave before catching herself, a blunt statement at her lips as she turned and faced her. "I would have thought you would be more… tenacious concerning a Jewel Seed."
She gave a giggle at Fate's words, a giggle that turned to chuckling before she managed to calm herself, the wound she had nothing but a faint thought as she looked back at pretty Fate. She would be, wounds and injuries meant nothing so long as the objective was complete… however if she died or lost, Fate would pick up her Jewel Seeds for herself, and with how injured she was… no that risk was too much. "As I said, you aided me in putting down the outsider, so it's yours. This time. The next Jewel Seed… I will get it."
Another smile from the pretty red-eyed girl, this one staying for a moment longer than the prior before it fell as well one last parting statement before she walked away through the forest. "I have no doubts… And thank you for your generosity." She gave a wave with her properly working hand at the retreating figure before turning in another direction and beginning the walk home, a quick message to Scrya-san telling him she was leaving the forest. A minute later she was subject to Scrya-san's worrying over her condition and over the incident with the Enforcer… this conversation would end poorly without a doubt.
They returned to the city fairly quickly, Scrya-san continuing to worry over her until they went into an alleyway to avoid the attention she was gaining… was it really that uncommon for a girl to be bloody and have a katana at her waist? Passing along the back-alleys was… less of a hassle than she would have thought, there were next to no people loitering them, though that suited her fine considering she wasn't supposed to be out of bed and she could speak freely with Scrya-san… not that she was wanting to. Scrya-san eventually called for her to stop and rest, which she complied with and sank down to sit on the concrete without a word, Scrya-san moving to inspect the wound and barely keeping his worry out of his voice.
"… Puncture through shoulder, missed the bone and important muscles, tore supporting muscles… Lethal force was used by that Enforcer… What did you do to make him drop his safety restrictions?" The diagnosis was good, much better than yesterday's injuries, much, much better, the fact that there was a safety restriction in Devices... that was new… she'd have to get a lecture about that another time. As for the actual question… she'd just done what she always did, she fought, she cut, she tackled, and generally beat up the opponent until the situation resolved itself… somehow…
A "Nothing out of the ordinary." received a deadpan look from Scrya-san before he sighed and started to glow green… and become human-shaped… Barely a minute passed and she was staring blankly as Scrya-san, now roughly her size, if a little shorter, with light brown hair, green eyes and a rather strange set of clothes… White shoes, black fingerless gloves, a cloak, a tunic with a strange design on the front with a belt at his waist and a single holster for something at his right hip. Well she'd seen stranger before… cosplayers were strange. "Haa… Did he tell you to stand down or use a protocol of some form?"
She looked up in a gesture she thought people used when trying to remember something, recalling… the Enforcer saying something… she couldn't remember what aside from him saying his occupation… and something about fighting… didn't matter know. So with that she looked back at Scrya-san and gave a small shrug, or the best that she could with one shoulder, resulting in another sigh being drawn out.
A short pause took place before her shoulder felt warm and 'nice', her smile gentler than prior as Scrya-san did something to alleviate her wound. She 'felt' the wound close and pain numb, yet the torn muscles didn't mend themselves back to normalcy… she should have figured that would be how healing spells worked, or at least a lower-ranking one… at least she hoped it was a low-ranking spell. Regardless of that her wound was patched up quickly, letting her use her arm a bit more than she had been able to, which amounted to little more than helping her back up to her feet at the current moment.
They resumed their walking shortly after, Scrya-san remaining quiet for a moment before asking her a simple question, or what should have been a simple question, "Nanoha, why did you attack the Enforcer and side with the other girl?" That was an easy question to answer… though he may not like the actual answers…
"I fought him because he showed that he held intent on obtaining the Jewel Seeds, resulting in a conflict between him and myself. As for fighting alongside Fate against him, I am confident in my ability to defeat Fate even with my injuries should we fight without outside interference, as I'm sure Fate is of the same mind. A secondary opponent that neither of us have any experience with and is capable of matching us for a short time, that would lead both of us to ally against that unknown and deal with them before moving on to each other, it was the best choice out of the two."
Scrya-san gave a slow nod, face set in an annoyed frown for some reason, which was elaborated upon quickly with a combined statement-question. "You are aware that Enforcers are part of the TSAB, and that I am also employed in a different section of TSAB? And because of that both he, along with his backup, are on the same side as us." She was aware, however… there was one flaw with his logic, one she would address so that he would remember that error and correct it next time.
"I am aware. Only, you never said before now that they were your 'allies', which led me to assume that they were either a rogue faction, or you were operating on your own due to this being an… illicit activity." He stopped and stared at her, and so she did so in kind. A minute passed before Scrya-san brought his hand up and slapped his forehead for some reason… gestures were strange things.
He gave a sigh before shaking his head and they continued on, both of them receiving strange looks, her for the sword and bloodstain, and Scrya-san for his strange clothing choice, though they paid the bystanders no mind, it wasn't as if they were going to do anything and neither of them were disturbing anyone. They continued walking in mostly silence, Scrya-san apparently forgetting to change back in the alley and unable to with all the attention they gained, and then they arrived home to Otou-sama waiting at the entrance… this probably would turn out alright… hopefully.
She received a single look-over, his gaze lingering on her shoulder and the barely noticeable limp she had from her broken leg, before he moved onto to looking at Scrya-san, who now appeared to be 'frozen' with something… he was still breathing. Otou-sama spoke one word, a single weight-laden "Follow." before he turned and walked into the house, herself following instantly before looking back and seeing Scrya-san still 'frozen'… now was not the time for that…
She ended up calmly taking him by the hand and making his body walk without his notice until they were inside and a few steps down Otou-sama's hallway, then he finally got himself back together and looked very worried… that was not helping her feel better at all… Otou-sama was already seated with a cold cup of tea in front of him, she spent no extra time seating herself as well, while Scrya-san stumbled a bit before getting seated as well… though with far less grace.
Otou-sama looked over at her first, a blank look etched into his face as he stated, "You have been excused from school for a week's time, your schoolwork will be picked up by your brother and given to you each afternoon, they will be done by the following afternoon regardless of your job." She gave him a nod of understanding, that would be simple to do, unless she got knocked out and even then she'd only have to do it for a week. Then Otou-sama turned to Scrya-san, who tensed before fidgeting under the older man's stare, a few seconds of heavy silence before Otou-sama 'asked' his first question, "Your Name."
It was more an order than a question, but it equated to the same thing, and Scrya-san hastily answered the question as it registered, unwilling to annoy the man. "Scrya Yuuno in your dialect, Archaeologist of the Time-Space Administrative Bureau's Infinity Library." At least despite the fidgeting and general lack of calm he was able to deliver his introduction without any issue, that was good… now to hope that he could do the same for any more of Otou-sama's questions.
Another moment of stifling silence before Otou-sama broke the 'peace' again, this time with a reply rather than a question, "Takamachi Shirō, 18th Head of the Takamachi clan and heir of Sasaki Kojirō." Scrya-san wouldn't know the man who was her and Otou-sama's ancestor, as it was there were very few that would know that name anywhere in the world, the name and other title on the other hand were much simpler. "Now then…" Otou-sama took his tea and sipped it, expression unchanging before he set it back down and pushed it aside. "I take it you hired my daughter Scrya-san?"
A nod was given somewhat reluctantly in reply, the older man not missing a beat as he proceeded to continue his questioning with a calmness she didn't understand, and Scrya-san could definitely use. "That name… it's rather familiar, my little Nanoha brought home a ferret named Scrya shortly before she took on this job of yours… is there any connection between you and that ferret Scrya-san?" And Scrya-san broke out in cold sweat… that is not how you try to keep a secret… you have to keep your body relaxed and natural… and now Otou-sama as chuckling a bit.
"I do not know how you are connected to that ferret, but you are familiar with him… and he's not around Nanoha currently unlike every other time I've seen him, instead you're with her." She facepalmed at the amount of cold sweat Scrya-san had… it wasn't any more than… three it looked like, but he was not holding well in the face of Otou-sama… hopefully this would be over soon. "Back to business…" And so her wish came true, wonderful… "I take you have no place to stay, and no clothing other than what you have on you?"
A tentative nod, and then Otou-sama nodded slightly and closed his eyes, a light humming noise emitted before he reopened his eyes and looked directly at Scrya-san, seemingly paralyzing him for some reason. "You have a room here until you no longer require our accommodations, you'll be given casual wear for around town as well." And then Scrya-san shutdown from hearing what he clearly wasn't expecting… something she didn't expect either since there had never been any reason to have a client stay over in a long time… And Scrya-san was still dumbstruck and it'd be improper to snap him out of his stupor…
It took a minute before he regained his bearings and thanked Otou-sama, the latter hiding a bit of amusement at the boy's reaction… Otou-sama was strange when it came to talking with clients… Otou-sama took a few more moments to be amused with Scrya-san before turning to her, amusement fading as she gave him her full attention, calmly giving her an order to follow after the impromptu meeting. "He will stay in the room two doors from yours Nanoha, his alibi is up to you, and get him a set of clothing to change into for tomorrow. I will inform your siblings of the arrangement."
A "Yes sir." was given before he ushered them out with a simple gesture and she began her tasks, guiding him to the designated room, a more… 'normal' room than her own, a few decorations on the wall, some light paint coating the walls, a decent bed with several pillows and blankets, and a wardrobe, two lamps and desk off to the sides. Overall more lively than hers by a bit… or a lot…
Next came clothing… her own clothing was about his size and ambiguous enough that he could wear it… and it wasn't like she was lacking for clothes either, so that would work… that just left an alibi as she went and got a few sets of clothing… Relative… no they didn't look alike, not even mentioning that it was common knowledge that most of the family was killed in a terrorist attack… Family friend was plausible… the Takamachi's did have many family friends, and it wouldn't be a stretch to assume Scrya-san was the child of one of those. And client… no one would believe that a 9-year old was capable of employing someone, let along one being a professional assassin/bodyguard, so that left friend as the only plausible option.
During that quick thought process she managed to get to and enter her room without conscious effort, moving over to her small dresser and quickly pulling out three sets of her clothes from the two drawers, making certain they were damage-free before setting them off to the side, that should last him long enough before proper clothes could be bought for him. She closed the drawer quietly, standing up with Scrya-san's temporary clothing in her arms and making her way back to his room, entering without announcement since the door was still opened and placing the clothes on his bedside without ceremony or words… Was there a reason he was holding his head in his hands?
Fate quietly sat on her bed, Arf currently downstairs tending to… something and leaving her to think on the past happenings… including her mother's treatment of her earlier today. She had failed mother greatly… only bringing her three Jewel Seeds in several weeks' time… she'd have to do better and beat the other girl… Nanoha… for mother's sake… and for big sister's sake… always her sake…
That lead her to the girl that constantly was in her way, the always-smiling, tenacious, blood-thirsty girl named Nanoha… That girl unsettled her at the least, at most… she was terrified of that girl. The first time they had met she'd only been able to put her down through the use of multiple Arc Sabers and Thunder Smashers, andshe withstood them and tackled her shortly after the Jewel Seed was sealed… and that was when she couldn't fly, was forced to throw trees instead of spells, and couldn't catch her.
Then there was the skirmish between her and Arf… the fact that she was able to injure Arf so much while fighting in Arf's preferred type of combat was frightening, and that didn't even take in the fact that in the span of a week she had made a new form of flight spell, at least that was the only thing making sense with the explosions at her feet and her walking on water. If she made spells in the span of a week, her growth was greater than hers and they were already roughly the same after only two weeks… what would she become after another three?
… It was a race against the clock now rather than a simple fight between her and the other girl to obtain the Jewels… and even with Arf backing her up by the third week would the other girl be able to match or beat them? At least… the other girl was crippled a bit, her leg apparently wasn't working and she constantly had a limp while moving… On one hand, she was relieved, that injury settled the odds in her favor as long as Nanoha's leg was broken… on the other… she was sad that she'd inflicted that injury on her…
And then there was the Enforcer that showed up. Without Nanoha around she wouldn't have been able to fight him well or gain the Jewel Seed… or be able to say she forced an Enforcer to remove their safety restrictions… That girl had issues if her first thought was teaming up with her opponent to take on a newcomer, before even taking stock of the situation… it worked out in the end for them but still.
Going back to the Enforcer and TSAB, mother had entrusted her with gathering the Jewel Seeds for big sister, no matter who or whom got in her way, so she wou- couldn't fail. Though the fact that the Bureau had arrived in the first place with an Enforcer was cause for concern, she doubted the other girl had called them, otherwise the truce would have been between her and the Enforcer instead… Now there was a three-way fight for the Jewel Seeds now instead of her against Nanoha… and the Enforcer would be more willing to start with his safeties off now.
There were so many things that… didn't make sense about that girl… she just hoped the rest of the Jewel Seeds would appear soon, or else Nanoha would overtake her…
Her knees were brought up to her chest before she wrapped her arms around them… that girl… how was she able to barge her way through volleys of shooting spells with barely any form of damage? How was she capable of hitting as hard as a bombardment spell with a punch of all things? Why was her device seemingly stuck in lethal configuration? Why was she so willing to truce and let a Jewel Seed into her grasp when she was risking herself for every other one… Why was she so friendly with her despite being enemies?
Arf came up from below, carrying what looked like a meal in her hands, one look at her and Arf set down the meal and sat down on the bed and hugged her tightly, one she leaned into slightly… one last question crossing her mind before she relaxed in her familiar's embrace and drifted off into sleep…
… Why did her eyes not match her smile except when it turned gentle?
Chrono Harlaown was having a… unpleasant day. First his mo- Admiral, took to teasing him throughout the morning and afternoon alongside Amy, then came the skirmish that shouldn't have even happened where he was beat by two girls younger than him… his pride as a mage was damaged to even think that. And now… the Admiral was asking him to recount the incident in detail… there were times when he wished he was old enough to drink and now was one of those times, at least she was taking this more seriously than usual.
"…nd you were beaten by two girls not even in their teens, both of whom have higher mana reserves and output than you do. I take it that sums up the basic summary of your interference and the aftereffect." He gave a stiff nod in response, the Captain taking a sip of her tea, relaxing before a small smirk suddenly grew on her face… it was too good to be true… "Would you like to explain more in detail how you were beaten by these two girls or will I have to re-watch the footage a third time?"
… Why… Why did he have to be on this case with Admiral Harlaown? Why not Admiral Graham or one of the more 'serious' Admirals… or at least one that let him tinker on stuff. He gave a sigh in his head at those thoughts and instead turned back to his mo- Admiral! Admiral while on duty, mother when off duty. … He looked up at her and met her gaze without hesitation, calm green meeting steely blue before he answered,
"The girl who started the engagement, the blonde-haired girl with yellow magic, is a high-speed, high-power melee combatant by appearances. She seems to be proficient in high-speed combat and high-penetration spells and was overall a ridiculously hard target to hit. Out of roughly 4 dozens spell exchanges she was hit once and that was from a Stinger Snipe, I personally didn't get a chance to see the results as the other girl fought with me as she was hit. Her spells are potent even within the safety restrictions, and her scythe that she used in most of the melee engagements was barely able to keep from crossing the line. Her Bombardment spell in particular was quite nasty, penetration alongside power over a large area is a deadly combination."
"Personality-wise she seemed to actively hold back in some cases until I fired a few larger blasts in response to her and the other girl's spells, and even then she held back considerably more than both myself and the other girl."
He took a deep breath, idly noting that the smirk had dimmed slightly on the Admiral's face in response to his report, he was glad, that meant she wasn't just acting serious earlier, but was treating it seriously, one of the good qualities the Admiral could dredge up whenever it was necessary… now came the worse report…
"The second girl provoked the incident, asking the first girl truce, implying that they were behind the disturbance earlier and are actively competing for the Lost Logias for whatever reason. Moving on, she is a straight-up melee combatant, she preferred to fight with her fists and device than with any form of spells. Compiling that style and her strength and durability, she is a living juggernaut, slower than both myself and the first girl in straight up flying, but far more durable and packing a punch that puts several of the lower level Bombardment spells to shame. Her durability is as annoying as the other girl's speed, only add terrifying to that and you get what it's like to face it, medium power shooting spells deal no damage in the slightest and high-power make little headway."
He looked the Admiral in the eye again, the smirk fully gone for the moment as she gave him her full attention, before continuing with the second girl. "It took the use of four Stinger Blades in lethal setting to get through that defense and only one of those actually hit her. In addition to this her durability also applies to physical objects as well, I got treated to a front row view when she tackled me through three trees and multiple branches. I saw the barest hint of a limp in her left leg, most likely a prior injury that wasn't healed yet, but aside from maybe slowing her down she didn't show anything wrong about the limb."
"Her spells… they are completely and utterly foreign. I didn't recognize any common Mid-Childa or Belkan spells she used, and her shield was barely formed every time she used it to even know the system she uses. I saw four spells get used, the first was her flight spell, a strange spell since she wasn't flying… more standing and running on air than any recorded spell, she also seems to be able to detonate the spell to increase her speed for a short time or change directions quickly. Her second spell seemed to be an augment, her mana was around the edge of her device's blade and seemed to enhance the blade and looks to power the other two spells."
"Then there were her shooting spells… they barely could pass for shooting spells, one made spheres from the mana coming off her that did next to nothing except provide her a distraction, while the other sent a wave of mana from the device's blade. Neither of them works remotely well in a duel between mages, which further reinforces her image as a close-combat combatant."
He stopped for a moment to catch his breath after that long-winded report, the Admiral strangely quiet as she waited, sipping her tea noiselessly as she waited for him to continue. All that was left was to say what he got of her personality in combat… and that was where the conversation would go from bad to worse… he just had a feeling it would, and rarely did those feeling prove him wrong.
"Her demeanor in battle… she acted like a battle-hungry warrior that only wanted to fight until everyone around them was down uncaring of injuries, yet that act was tempered by a… cunning of sorts. She used several maneuvers that left me on the receiving end of her 'tender' ministrations several times through the battle, including setting up the end of the battle. She also didn't care about having the safeties on in the slightest, either that or her device didn't have any… both are equally worrying, but not frightening."
"… What was frightening about her wasn't the battle-lust or the cunning lying behind it… what was frightening was the fact that not once, even when she was hit did her smile falter… it was like the smile was… as much a feature of her face as her eyes were. If it weren't for her smile changing slightly depending on circumstances, I would have called her a Doll or Android, as it stands… that just makes the fact more frightening and confusing."
He let out a sigh as he finished his report, hanging his head slightly and thanking the medical officer that they could remove the soreness from his bruises. He let another sigh out, one of relief as he picked up his own tea and brought it up to take a sip before freezing as he saw his Mother staring at him… his feeling rang true… this was going to get worse…
They stayed in frozen silence for a few seconds before he finally managed to gather himself and drink his tea before setting it down, by then Admiral Harlaown finally spoke again since the beginning of his report, her voice lacking most of the cheerfulness he was used to… it was getting worse… "So what you are saying is that we have two girls, both of whom have an average magical power of over 1 million, that are clearly willing to fight a lethal fight with magic to gain one of these Lost Logia."
… It got worse… he gave a slow nod, watching as the Admiral slowly raised herself from her sitting position back to standing, leaving her tea and son behind as she went a bit farther into the heavily Japanese-styled room. He heard the Admiral murmur to herself as she looked for something, "Where did I put you…" … he was certain he didn't want to know what she was looking for, or why she was looking for it in the first place… so he went back to the tea and sipped it… it needed more sugar…
"Enforcer Harlaown." That immediately snapped him out of his reverie, nearly dropping the cup as he was shocked back to lucidity… She never called him by that unless it was for teasing… hearing her saying that in a serious tone was unnerving… and then came the rest of the statement. "Given your report and video evidence, you are to receive reinforcements in the field effective in four days' time." … It was now beyond worse… he knew what that meant, and while some would see a AA rank mage as beneficial… they hadn't worked with Admiral Harlaown before…
"But before that…" Her voice was turning back to normal now for some reason as she stopped him from leaving… and then came the request… please no… "Be a dear and help me find my damn device. I'll need it considering those twos' apparent 'Shoot first, Ask never' mentality." Well… on the bright side the Admiral was back to normal… on the other… he'd be subjected to his mother during the excursions and have to help her find that nut of a Device…
Saint-King what did he do to suffer like this?
AN: In honor of my classmate and... 'friend' I give this chapter. He passed away far too soon and was a greater man than me, may he rest peacefully in the embrace of the Lady Death, and dream a wonderful dream. Goodnight and Goodbye.