Amount of Hugs needed: 11,375 ([(6865+8417+7477+7368+7010+7653+{7846-7-20-21=7798}+{6453-25-9-9-5-4-4-4-7-15=6371}+{9183-15-13-12-9-4=9130}+132+{11184-1-5-15=11163}+7828+{7141-9-44-7-31-17-12=7021}+9744+{9787-15=9772})/10 - Round up]
Amount of Hugs found: 5,377
Disclaimer: I do not own Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha nor any of the various seasons made after the original.
The last month of the dying year came about amidst a period of snowfall, something that was a rare time here, and as the year slowly came to its end, so too did school and the wait for her blade.
Aside from making a few 'new' spells, she hadn't really made much progress in magic, having for the most part difficulty in grasping who to change her mana to an element, something Harlaown-sama had said was normal and took a few months at the least to get an inkling of success. Otherwise the only thing she worked on was making sure her skill with a blade was as perfect as it could be, which mostly meant hacking away at dummies due to Otou-sama getting sick with something and Harlaown-sama teaching her other subjects.
Sure, he did everything that he had been doing, teaching at the dojo a bit further into town, watching over the soccer team he had and took care of the home, but he no longer kept up with her in practice and actively avoided the activity. That said, he did take the time to instruct her in the basics of Iaijutsu, not that he was an expert or even moderately good at it nor did she even think she'd be using that style given the likely size of her blade, as was customary for their branch before the incident.
Anyway, there was only a little progress truly made in anything she tried to accomplish, she'd made the upgrades to her augments, though she still needed to get them under control to not impede her after long usages, she'd managed to learn how to break binds, and she'd thought up the basis of what her newest augment would do. Unfortunately, those were the only things she'd managed to do in the time since the Jewel Seed Incident… and it greatly annoyed her.
Likely whenever she finished learning under Harlaown-sama and finished the last set of augments, she'd stop learning and making new spells, because while she was quite patient, the lack of progress grated on her.
Aside from her training and learning nothing particularly had happened, well there was Suzuka-chan and the girl she helped at the library that one time, Hayate-chan was her name, a sweet girl when she was with people she liked, and quite aggressive to those she didn't like, kind of like Arisa-chan. Nothing really… happened with them, aside from just doing unimportant things together, a tea party, some bouts of reading, those two laughing as she struggled against Suzuka-chan's many cats.
The only important thing that actually came from those was meeting Hayate-chan's guardian, a stern, cold woman with pink hair and blue eyes. She didn't ever learn her name, or if she did she had forgotten it by now, but what she did remember was the woman had made her promise, or was it a threat?
"If you so much as hurt a hair or feeling of Hayate without good reason, I will cut you down."
Meh, not like it mattered, unless she did something by accident, she wouldn't hurt Hayate-chan in the slightest, and besides that she should be able to fend off the woman without difficulty, unless she was a mage, then she had a much lower chance of winning that. The chances of that were low though, as whatever the 'lanes' Harlaown-sama talked about hadn't repaired themselves yet, though they were getting close, and Mages couldn't travel without a 'stable lane'.
Yuuno-san taught her a few new things in that time as well, mostly just a few trivial things as their time together wasn't as often as it used to be. There were eighty-three worlds administrated by the Bureau, each had their own dominant language in addition to speaking Mid-Childan… or English as it was, how that language was the same as one here was a mystery she didn't really care about.
And at one point they had all been under the control of some Kingdoms, collectively called Belka, some centuries prior to the Bureau's founding. Not that that made any difference now, most Belkan people apparently were killed or scattered to the corners by 'incredibly angry' denizens of the planets they ruled.
She had wondered briefly if Razing Heart came from that Era, considering she normally talked about Kings and Queens, and from what she heard the last of those had been forced to abdicate after Belka fell. Well, it really didn't matter that much if her device was from that era, it wasn't as if such a thing would make any difference now or in the future.
Anyway, having gotten off-track again, she focused back to her original thoughts, namely the last few things she'd done. She had visited Fate-san onc… no, twice, and had ended up being punched in the face both times by Arf-san, neither of which hurt, but the second one had her use the new defensive augment, aptly named Eisenmauer. The result of which had Arf holding her hand in pain after punching her in the face, and a faint glimmer of amusement welling up in her.
The last thing she'd done was take Harlaown-sama to visit her old friends… mostly due to pestering after she learned that she had any friends. That woman was as terrible as a toddler when she wanted something, only she knew how to get her way in addition to be incessant and not push too much. The result… went a lot better than one would expect.
This would either go over terribly or decently, there was no other option considering how Arisa-chan was. She might be friendly and caring when it came to her and Suzuka-chan, but Arisa-chan was… not fond of others. At all.
She'd asked Arisa-chan and Suzuka-chan for lunch at the café they'd last gone to, back when she'd given an apology for not going to the hot springs and they'd taken her there afterwards. It wasn't the best café… at least she didn't think so since it was one of three she'd been to, but it was nice, not very crowded, and generally you could talk without a single person overhearing.
Harlaown-sama was wearing a different set of clothing today as they headed to the café, rather than the standard dress uniform she normally carried herself in, an orange and white kimono dotted with cherry blossoms, sandals and a burgundy gem on a cord of thin metal was what she decided to walk around in. Herself? She wore just a blank white kimono and normal straw sandals, nothing too fancy. Considering their garb, it was unsurprising for them to be receiving some strange looks, not that either of them paid much attention... the Admiral was quite oblivious to everything around her.
She walked into the little café's outdoor pavilion, the Admiral in tow right behind with her tea cup present as always, and quickly chose one of the tables close to the door, having no desire to go and walk to the back pavilion. A waitress came out quickly once the both of them were seated, Harlaown-sama to her left with her back to the gate, leaving Suzuka-chan and Arisa-chan their customary spots. Suzuka-chan to the right, where she could always see the entrance for whatever reason, and Arisa-chan across from her, ready to get up in the case someone tried to get them.
Her friends were strange in that way, but it was tiny things and not worth wondering why.
"What can I get for you this morning?"
"Green tea please, and a single cup of white as well if you have it."
An absent-minded nod from the woman, as she wrote down the order on a little pad, turning to her guest as she was about to finish and asked. "And for you Ma'am?"
"I've been helped already, thank you though."
"Alright, I'll be back in a few minutes."
And with that they were left alone, with Harlaown-sama sipping from her teacup with a delighted expression plastered on her face, which quickly faded as she turned towards her, sighed and finally spoke to her. "Well might as well talk about it while we're alone."
"… Considering I know you have at least two physical augments, I'll just get the lecture over with while we're alone." Quietly a sigh was let out as she pulled the teacup away "According to Article III of the Nesaian Armistice, no mages or knights may develop any new augments affecting the user's body. Considering you have broken that, and never knew of the law due to being raised here, you'll get a warning whenever we go back to the Bureau if you decide to come with us."
Article and Armistice. The former implied that there were several other binding articles in addition to the three that was confirmed, while the latter once again gave her the impression that a War had been waged, or was being waged at some point. Which made sense from the few bits of information Harlaown-sama spoke about in 'private'. "There are a lot of rules where you're from."
"Haa… Yes, yes there are. And they have good reason, considering only a fraction of a percent of the Bureau's forces can use what the rules apply to. The rules are there mostly for the sake that we don't lose any men or women to stupid training mishaps. Normal individuals can't handle the strain of restructuring or reinforcing their bodies, myself included in that." … Well, most people didn't have very high pain tolerance, so that wasn't too far-fetched, and even with her own she felt the strain on her body from her augments.
She understood why that rule in particular was there, even though she didn't like it being in place. "So, how man-"
"Nanoha-chan!" Somehow, Arisa-chan had the single best timing to interrupt whenever she would want it. Discarding the thought immediately after, she stood up from her chair, and turned to greet her friends, only to be immediately tackled into a hug by Arisa-chan… oh yea, the last time she'd seen Arisa-chan was the end of school, it made sense for her to do this.
Seeing no other option aside from stand still, she calmly returned the hug and gave a "Good morning." to both Suzuka-chan and Arisa-chan. Of course, the moment that Harlaown-sama made noise getting up, both her friends instantly focused on her, with Arisa-chan being the first to say something.
"Who're you?" And Arisa-chan started the exact way she normally did when confronted with someone new. At least it was predictable, and Harlaown-sama shouldn't be mad with the blunt question. By the time her thought was finished Suzuka-chan was with them, and Arisa-chan had released her from the hug, to stare down Harlaown-sama… not the best idea, but she didn't know any better.
Given that she had a smile on her face, and sipped from her cup, she was correct in that assumption, if anything Harlaown-sama looked amused by the blatant disrespect and looked ready to humor her. "Harlaown Lindy, a friend of Nanoha-chan's Tou-san. And it's polite to say your own name before you ask a stranger where I'm from."
"I'm Arisa. That's all you need to know." She still didn't understand why Arisa-chan disliked her last name so much, only that she preferred being called Arisa over anything else, and so much as saying 'Bunnings' had resulted in numerous cases of 'assault'. Anyway, Arisa-chan pretty much settled into a 'aggressive' posture, a scowl set on her face and her body tensed as it always was to people other than her and Suzuka-chan. Likely in the event that Arisa-chan got mad enough to punch someone, as usual.
Suzuka-chan shifted slightly when Harlaown-sama looked over at her, looking down for a moment before meekly giving her name. "Tsukimura Suzuka. Nanoha-chan's first friend." After that was said Suzuka-chan moved directly behind her, probably uncomfortable with the new person introduced to her, not that she minded or was surprised, Harlaown-sama was someone a person was never ready for.
"Well it's a pleasure to meet both of you. Nanoha-chan speaks highly of both of you from our little talks. Let's have a seat, the waitress should be coming back with Nanoha-chan's tea in just a moment." With that said Harlaown-sama went and sat down again, leaving her, Suzuka-chan and Arisa-chan standing for a moment before she went and sat as well, her friends following after another moment of indecision.
Until the waitress came over again with her cup of tea, the table was completely silent, Suzuka-chan and Arisa-chan both staring at Harlaown-sama while Harlaown-sama ignored them completely to savor her own tea.
Wasting no time and not even batting an eye at the two new arrivals, the woman set down her tea in front of her before turning to Suzuka-chan and Arisa-chan, politely giving a smile before asking, "What would the two of you like?" With that question said, a few moments passed as both Suzuka-chan and Arisa-chan thought over what they wanted before Suzuka-chan gave an answer, shortly followed after by Arisa-chan.
"Green tea please."
"Black tea."
"Alright. It will be out momentarily." And with that the woman left and they were left to themselves again, and yet again silence reigned unopposed as none of them spoke.
Finally, Suzuka-chan of all people decided to break the silence by asking a little question, thankfully having gotten slightly less timid since Harlaown-sama did absolutely nothing but smile pleasantly and sip tea. "Um, Harlaown-san, how did you meet Nanoha-chan?"
Harlaown-sama barely reacted to the question, merely closing her eyes in thought as she continued another drink of her tea. After a few moments more of silence the cup was lowered and her eyes opened, placing the cup on the table before replying. "Let's see, I was working on a job to find a few treasures, and happened to run into Nanoha-chan during my search here. We didn't get along at first glance, and it took a few days before we were on decent terms with one another."
… Basically the summary of their first encounter, excepting the actual details, she hadn't expected that to be said, though a half-truth was better than a full lie, Suzuka-chan had a knack for finding those. Of course, before Harlaown-sama could continue, Arisa-chan decided to interrupt her with a forceful and slightly aggressive tone. "Are you the reason she had a broken leg back then?" A single eye was raised in response to the question, exactly why it did was something she didn't know nor cared too much about, a moment taken for Harlaown-sama to take another sip of tea to Arisa-chan's frustration and a sigh from Suzuka-chan.
"She had a broken leg before I met her, not sure how long before, but it was recent at the time." Arisa-chan didn't 'calm down' even remotely with that appeasement, something that was quickly noticed apparently since the Admiral decided to move on seemingly without a second thought. "Anyway, I met with her father a few years before on a business venture of his, and due to certain complications happening on this job, I and several people that work for me are currently staying at Nanoha-chan's property until we can go back home."
"How long until then?"
"I have no idea, probably until Winter's end, maybe into Spring. Not that we mind, home's not that nice a place currently and it's nice to finally take a few days off... or in this case months. Besides that, I plan on staying until the cherry blossoms fall, I'm annoyed that I missed them this year." Somehow that managed to make Arisa-chan lift the aggressiveness from her posture, and even made Suzuka-chan smile a bit, though the smile was short-lived until Suzuka-chan looked at her. There were so many things she didn't understand, why Suzuka-chan always smiled when she looked at her was just one of the many.
Another silence descended on them, unlike the other two however this one wasn't tense, much more comfortable like she was used to hearing in the forest. Eventually though the silence ended as it always did, once again Suzuka-chan being the one to break it with a bit of shifting around and a single question addressed to her guest. "Um… is that your normal hair color, Harlaown-san?"
"Yes, yes it is. It's not that common where I'm from… then again neither is violet hair, Suzuka-chan." Immediately in response to that, Suzuka-chan ducked her down to stare at the ground, causing Harlaown-sama to near-instantly place her head in her hands and groan slightly, which made all three look straight at her as she went off track. "I can't be this bad at small talk... That's four times now since we got here and all of those were with completely different people…"
"Eh, don't let it bother you, she probably just doesn't know how to respond." … She should be used to surprises by now, Arisa-chan being the one to 'comfort' someone else outside of her, or in rare cases Suzuka-chan, was unheard of. Regardless it happened and Harlaown-sama let out a sigh before going back to almost bright and cheerful, picking her head up to look at Arisa-chan with a questioning look.
"… How can she-"
Before Harlaown-sama could finish, Suzuka-chan interrupted her by talking, looking slightly downcast as she probably answered the unfinished question. "The first time I met someone outside of my Okaa-san and Onee-chan was Nanoha-chan, and that was when I was seven."
"Ah, that explains it. Well I apologize for that Suzuka-chan, if I had known that I wouldn't have said that." Suzuka-chan's face turned slightly red at her cheeks, before she ducked her head, Arisa-chan immediately holding her hand up to her face before devolving into giggling, an action that caused Suzuka-chan to redden even further and glare at Arisa-chan as the giggling turned to light laughter.
Once Arisa-chan settled down, with Harlaown-sama looking as lost as she had been the entire conversation, Suzuka-chan turned back to the mage, still with a bit of red on her cheeks, and stuttered out a quick reply. "I-it's a-alright." And with that Harlaown-sama gave a quick nod, sat back and quietly drank her tea, leaving her and her friends in quiet before they got into some random conversation about what was going on, what future plans were happening soon, and other general small-talk.
Eventually though, after about an hour they had to end this nice, peaceful tea time, Arisa-chan had to go back to her family, and Suzuka-chan had to return back home to her mother, sister and maids. Which left one last thing to do before they left and parted ways, paying for the tea, unfortunately the moment she tried to pull out some money, Arisa-chan decided to immediately 'shift gears' and go after her.
"No! You're not paying Nanoha, you always pay whenever me or Suzuka take you anywhere. I'm paying this time and that's final!" … So she did, because she had nothing else to spend her money on, she didn't like to shop for new clothing, she didn't like jewelry of any kind besides Razing Heart, and she didn't have any hobbies that required her to spend money to do. And even though she paid for every time, she still managed to build up a sizeable amount of money that was just going to waste, while Suzuka-chan had next to no spending money, and Arisa-chan had numerous things she enjoyed doing that required it.
"Just let her Nanoha-chan, you can pay the next time if you want to. Just humor her this time." Haa… fine… Considering there were two people against her doing it, and Suzuka-chan would take neither side, she might as well concede this time, maybe slip the amount needed back into Arisa-chan's bag the next time they were at school. Yes, that would work, as long as she didn't get caught doing it.
Without a single sigh she looked back at Arisa-chan and gave a quick "Alright.", making her blink several times in confusion before giving her a strange look, as if she expected her to make a fuss or argue like they usually did. The look was gone quickly, replaced with a light grin as she fished out some money from her bag, counted the bills needed and took the check to the register, leaving the rest of them to get up and walk over to the gate.
They didn't wait long for Arisa-chan to come almost-skipping back, obviously happy with herself considering she never did anything remotely 'girly' without being oblivious to it, and with that they had to part ways. Harlaown-sama said a quick goodbye to Suzuka-chan and Arisa-chan, something she was going to copy shortly, but before that… she had a single question to ask her friends.
"Did you find this enjoyable Arisa-chan, Suzuka-chan?" The question probably seemed to come out of nowhere for them, yet neither of them jumped or looked surprised, Arisa-chan just scrunching up her face in thought while Suzuka-chan looked over to Arisa-chan. Well, that helped her know who would be the first to answer.
After a half-minute of thought, Arisa-chan finally spoke, a bit of grudgingly made joy apparent in her voice as she answered. "Well, there's finally an adult that treats me as just Arisa instead of 'Ms. Bunnings', 'the next Genius' or whatever name or title they give me next. I may even begin to like her if she doesn't compare me to someone." That didn't answer the question really… but she'd continue with it and ask another question, if only to try and get back to the original question.
"So, you like her?" A small bout of silence ensued after that before her second friend shook her head, a frown coming in for a moment before it quickly disappeared.
"Not yet… she's better than most adults and that's enough reason to begin to like her, maybe after a while I'll like her. Aside from that yes, it was enjoyable finally seeing and talking with you again." Both of them almost nodded in sync, why Arisa-chan decided to was a mystery and not one she bothered to spend time on, instead looking over at Suzuka-chan and asking her again since Arisa-chan was done.
"And you Suzuka-chan?"
Suzuka-chan was silent for a moment, thinking over the past hour before lightly shaking her head and giving an answer. "It was nice. She seemed nice… there was something wrong with her though…" A pause waited for a couple of second before Suzuka-chan shook her head quickly and continued with one last statement. "I don't know what to think of her yet." It was nice to know they'd enjoyed the short time they'd had together… unfortunately they had to go now…
"Alright. Goodbye Suzuka-chan, Arisa-chan, see you another time."
Arisa-chan was the first one to begin leaving, closing the distance between her and herself in a single dart motion and giving her another hug… she was extra-clingy today for some reason. Quickly releasing her and backing off she gave a wide smile and a wave, running off down the street a ways before calling back to her. "See ya, Nanoha-chan! Don't do anything I would do!" She didn't even have time to wave back before Arisa-chan was gone.
Suzuka-chan waited for a little while for Arisa-chan to run off before turning back to her, fidgeting slightly in place before softly muttering a goodbye. "Bye, stay safe. Come over whenever you want, you're always welcome." She'd probably take that offer up another time, sooner than Suzuka-chan would think, maybe another surprise visit like the last time.
"I will Suzuka-chan, I'll try and be over again before the month ends." Her friend gave a gentle smile before nodding her head, giving a 'goodbye hug' as well before walking off in the same direction as Arisa-chan, turning around and giving a little wave that she responded with one herself, before turning back and continuing on her way. All that left was making her way to her guest, who'd waited a bit further away for her to say goodbye, and they'd be off to home.
Harlaown-sama said nothing as she walked over to her, merely falling in step the moment she passed by, and quietly sipping tea as was normal for her. Once they were a bit away from the café, her guest decided to speak her mind, mirroring the answers that Suzuka-chan and Arisa-chan had just given her a few minutes before. "That was quite enjoyable, I'd like to do that again sometime." All she did in response was nod her head once, she didn't need to respond vocally nor did she want to, and they continued back to home, to whatever awaited them there today.
Thankfully nothing bad should happen… at worst there'd be an explosion from where Chrono-san had his forge set up, everyone else was 'well-behaved' and didn't do anything besides occasionally spar or walk around aimlessly.
… It could have gone a lot worse, especially given her, Suzuka-chan's, and Arisa-chan's normal interactions with other people. Much, much worse. Arisa-chan didn't try and punch Harlaown-sama once, which was a major improvement from the last time, and Suzuka-chan actually talked instead of just sit quietly.
Aside from that event, and the other two times they all had tea together, there wasn't anything that she hadn't done already or was interesting enough to recall even remotely, which left her quite bored now, sitting on the top of a hill waiting for night to dawn.
It was… 'worrying' when several members of the crew had shown up injured and slightly drained of mana, only the enforcers that Harlaown-sama approved to be out and about. Which was why she, Harlaown-sama and Chrono-san were currently waiting for whatever was 'fighting' the Enforcers, seeing as how the only thing they managed to see of the attacker before running away was splashes of red and blue, it was better to wait and hope it came after them.
"An old Enemy of Seraphs comes, little Seraph." Oh?
That was interesting, she hadn't heard about an 'enemy of Seraphs' before from her in the history lessons, was this who she was waiting for then? She'd know soon enough, she honestly hoped for a real fight, it'd been so long since the last one and while she had spars with Harlaown-sama, there was nothing at stake there, and so she didn't try. Now?
Now there was a reason to fight until her body broke and ruptured, and then continue until she lost every bit of feeling there was. "How far away?"
"Five hundred meters, approaching quickly, visual in about a minute." She couldn't wait that long, so she'd shorten the time and run towards her as well. "Such a strange response. Do as you wish little Seraph, I await your request."
She didn't give another response in return, leaping off the hill top and landing on one of her platforms before beginning the long run to the city and eventually the 'enemy'. Shortly after she began moving, maybe a dozen seconds in total, she felt the tell-tale sensation of a barrier passing over her, as well as the colors becoming muted as it passed by. If the person didn't know about her before, they would now that the barrier went by.
Quietly she hummed a tune as she slowed down to a walk, there was no rush now considering she'd see the person coming well before she would need to draw her sword or move out of the way… even if they shot a massive projectile at her. "Visual in ten seconds, straight left." She didn't have time to say anything in reply, crashing sounding from the skyscraper in the direction Razing Heart had said as something probably did a 'her' and plowed into it.
Unfortunately, she misjudged the speed at which the things were going, and thus got hit straight in the head with the 'something' as it went crashing out of the building. A glancing hit it may have been, almost hurtling right past her right shoulder with only a skip into it making the projectile hit, but it hurt far more than any of the other spells she was hit by. "Projectile found, Schwalbefliegen. Identity confirmed, enemy is the Knight of the Iron Hammer."
Well… knowing that didn't help her considering she didn't know who that was, or what they were capable of, though at least she knew a name to call them by… which wasn't really that amazing. "Is there anything I should be prepared for?" "She's tiny, and hits a lot harder than you'd expect. She also uses a hammer." That was much better than just the name, as now she had something to expe-
The cracking of concrete and shattering of glass snapped her out of her thoughts, the platform she was standing on dissipating under her and letting her fall as a volley of 'Schwa… Schwalbef…' sailed directly over her head. All she saw was a streak of red pass by as she fell, continuing past until all four of them slammed into a 4-floor building, shortly after which she made another platform to halt her fall, letting her land softly and wait for whatever was next.
And of course with her luck of things, another volley of those projectiles came crashing through the building, somehow aimed at her again despite neither her nor the other person having seen one another yet. Considering the angle they were coming at… Eisenmauer and Macht came up as her blade was pulled from its sheathe. No time to slot in Razing Heart with their speed.
The first of the eight projectiles she let fly past without a single worry, it wouldn't hit her, even though it would come close to grazing, the next was subjected to one of her shields, the latter being broken through the moment it appeared while doing its job. While the second of them was set to careen away, the third met a different fate, finding her blade meeting it and cleaving it in half as the fourth one passed by.
The fifth struck her straight in the same shoulder, a sharp pain lancing through her as it ricocheted off, while the sixth hit another shield, that one managing to last a few seconds before shattering. Seventh and eighth of those projectiles were nowhere close to where she was, probably just meant to box her in for the other six to hit.
After the inevitable crash of each projectile making impact, silence reigned as she dropped to the street, checking over her blade and 'tsk-ing' as she found a chip in it where the projectile had hit it. Wasting no more time she pulled Razing Heart down from her neck and inserted her Device into the blade while donning her Jacket, and then looked up.
… She really was tiny.
Standing atop the building directly next to the one she'd just thrown several projectiles through, the girl looked to be around her size, mainly clad in red clothing, just judging by the mass of color since they were quite a distance away. Nothing was said, yet she could feel something 'heavy' on her as they looked at one another… that was strange and worth trying to figure out later.
There was no warning before the Knight came hurtling down from above with hammer raised behind her, she was ready though, and stepped to the side twice a moment before the Knight made impact. The ground shook slightly under the impact, enough to be noticeable but little else, while dust sprang up around and partially obscured them. Her own blade was pulled across her chest, point forward before she lunged, piercing through the dust only to find nothing.
Immediately she made a platform under her and detonated it, sending her into the air and blowing away the dust to reveal her opponent picking herself up from the ground and glaring at her, how she warranted that was a mystery. The Knight… was tiny, slightly smaller than herself from the looks of it, with red hair braided in two 'tails' and had blue eyes narrowed angrily at her… She'd never met this person once, and they were irrationally angry towards her… this almost felt like her meeting with Fate-san again.
Anyway, she was wearing a dress, an old-fashioned, Western, red dress with black accents and brown… 'things' hanging off the back, as well as black 'gloves', red-black boots and a strange-looking red hat with what looked like rabbits and yellow 'x's on it. Last was what she assumed was the device, a fully metal, silver hammer with two sides on the head and a red handle and… 'connector', far smaller than the one Harlaown-sama used, both in length and in head size.
… She looked far stranger than anyone else she'd seen in a Barrier Jacket.
Nothing got said again, just her standing on a platform looking down and the Knight looking up at her for several long moment, considering she would probably need it, she let her last two augments bubble to life, while at the same time letting her other two fade back to the base 'level'. She'd put them back on when the fight was actually underway, but for now they just wasted mana… even though she barely used any whatsoever now that Razing Heart regulated it all.
Motes begin to flicker into being, lazily floating off her blade without a care in the world as the Knight brandished something in her off-hand before tossing it into the air and swinging at it, so that was what the projectiles where. More motes drifted off in sync with the projectiles being fired, four streaks of red lancing through the air only to bounce off the same number of shields that sprang to her defense, Razing Heart's voice whispering in her head when no second volley came. "Calibrations set, Schwalbefliegen angle found."
She didn't respond again, merely focusing on the Knight as she readied herself for something, motes continuing to float off without a care from her sword. They hadn't gotten any better, though she could probably do something with them whenever she learned how to change her mana to an explosive, but they still served a purpose, however minor it was.
The Knight didn't waste any more time, leaping up at her with a glowing hammer raised as she was lost in thought, flying through the field of motes without a care or worry and ignoring whatever effect they had on her. Falling backwards off her platform made the inevitable swing pass directly over her face and let her fall through the growing cloud of mana, before she immediately righted herself as best as possible.
Another platform awaited her beneath the motes, landing gently with a single stumble, she hopped back two steps and readied herself for the Knight to charge her prior position. Sure enough, the Knight barged straight through the cloud almost directly where she did so, and clearly wasn't expecting her to be swinging at her the moment she came through, at least it seemed that way with the widening eyes.
The Knight's hammer was there just in time to block her slash, unfortunately for the Knight, she didn't have time to brace and got sent flying off into a building… was she really that strong that even a Knight couldn't stand her ground? Her thoughts distracted her from the fight again, and she got hit in return straight in the face… surprisingly she didn't go flying, only skidding along the platform a few meters before she hit the edge and started falling again, motes trailing behind her. And that was when the pain started trickling in, a dull ache echoing in her check that was ignored for the moment.
Another platform met her feet before immediately detonating and sending her flying back towards the cloud, swinging her blade at the younger-looking girl as they pass by only to miss completely as the Knight dipped down at the last moment. Skidding along the platform left behind, she made the cloud drift from its position above her to around her, enveloping herself in her own mana before almost immediately detonating that platform to go out.
The last of the motes left her blade as four red streaks lanced through the cloud and scattered the motes comprising it, letting her see the Knight looking quite frustrated at, likely, the distinct lack of progress, which became readily apparent when the little girl shouted at her. "Stand still damnit!" She felt her smile grow in amusement at the first words spoken, but otherwise didn't do anything in response to the words, why would she when that would be a waste of energy and possibly a distraction to herself?
Whoever the Knight was, she was rather fun to fight with and she finally got to use the… Göttlich Streuen Kugel as Razing Heart had named it, in a new way to replace the old one. "Dodge, Seraph."
Without even bothering to look where whatever it was was coming from, she let the platform dissipate and let her fall through with the aid of a platform above her detonating into a third. When she finally focused back, she saw a big red blur fly in front of her face before rocketing through where she'd been, as well as the Knight following behind it with her hammer reared back. That would get boring quickly, and she wanted to enjoy an actual fight.
So, she did the simplest solution to that, detonate the platform and ram into the girl before she could swing. It worked perfectly as it normally did.
Both of them flew down the street back towards the hillside she'd started at, both disengaging from one another with a single clash of weapons before stopping and looking at one another. The Knight looked neither tired, nor terribly hurt from their short exchange, and she didn't feel either as well, aside from dull aches from the few hits she'd taken. Aside from that, her smile was a bit brighter than when they started, probably because the Knight could take a hit from her, unlike everyone but Harlaown-sama, while the little girl had her face set in… something.
Without anything to spark it, the Knight's face immediately 'worsened', as if she learned of something terrible, before it schooled back to the 'something' it was set at… was that determination? Regardless she started to back away, they were nearer to the hill and the forest behind it with the unstopped ram, an- "Who are you and why the hell were you waiting for me?"
She had to take a moment to actually register the question, considering the girl decided to interrupt her without getting her attention first, though the moment she did, she had a reply ready and waiting, "No one important and no reason in particular." She saw what she thought was frustration work its way onto the other girl's face, and her amusement from earlier came back in full force.
As soon as the girl got ahold of herself and was ready to come at her again, she bolted behind her into the trees, ignoring the immediate, "GET BACK HERE!" and happily humming to herself as she made landfall and started ducking and weaving through the trees. Hearing crashing behind her immediately told her that the Knight was both very angry, and wasn't too nimble in these tight spaces, a pity for the Knight.
Quickly deciding on a course of action, she let a few motes drift off her blade in random directions before sheathing her sword and waited patiently for her foe to arrive. She didn't wait long for the Knight to arrive, bursting through a tree amidst splinters and bark and continuing to charge at her, apparently too 'enraged' to think clearly and even assume this was a trap… not that it was, but it was reckless to just charge in.
Another detonation sent her to the side just as the girl swung her hammer, making another platform and detonating it to send her back at the Knight, quickly swinging and managing to land a light cut on her foe's calf before skidding to a stop. She continued to hum happily as she ducked under a retaliatory swing, stabbing out twice and eliciting two more cuts along the Knight's stomach before hopping away as the hammer smashed into the ground.
Slashing quickly through the air, she sent a small Welle-Schrägstrich straight at the girl, crossing the distance between them and breaking upon the Knight's hammer before she charged at the girl again. A swing met the hammer's haft, a punch met the Knight's face and stunned her, and a kick sent her flying away without issue… she wasn't nearly as tough as the Admiral.
Another volley of metal balls fired from the Knight's direction, only one needing to be dealt with a quickly-made shield as the others went far too wide, likely from firing wildly while moving. Shortly afterwards she started walking in the direction the Knight had gone, still happily humming whatever tune it was today until the Knight flew out of the trees again and tried to smash her face in. Key being 'tried'.
She detonated the ground under her and flew into platform waiting above her, watching as the hammer harmlessly exploded a tree beneath her before she punished the opening given… at least she tried to. A shield quickly formed into existence right where she aimed herself, resulting in her slamming into it without any preparation and immediately scrambling off with another hastily-made detonation before the hammer clipped her. "That's not going to work again!"
She felt her amusement drop slightly with the Knight's declaration, and her humming died, though rather than be annoyed like the other girl was she felt excitement take hold of her body as her smile turned sharper. It would have been quite… annoying if this Knight was taken out with a simple tactic like that, regardless of how 'unconventional' it may have been.
Without a word, she dropped back to the forest floor and slowly stood up, watching with slight interest as the Knight brandished a single, slightly larger metal ball than the others, more like a baseball than marbles, and threw it into the air. The hammer came around quickly and struck the projectile, sending it hurtling at her… given that Razing Heart hadn't prepared for this projectile yet, or knew how to set up the shield, she got ready to get rid of it herself.
It closed the distance far quicker than her own spell had, she barely had time to 'upgrade' her strength augment to the next spell, and bring her sword in time to try and cleave it. The projectile screeched as it fought against her sword, grinding against it for less than a moment before a loud crack echoed and it split cleanly in two, her smile lessening in response to the numerous spiderweb cracks dotting her blade now.
Thankfully for her she paid attention to duck under another swing of the hammer, unfortunately she wasn't prepared to be punched in the cheek by the girl, nor was she prepared for the hammer to come swinging straight back into her on the opposite cheek. She tried to move her sword and arm up to defend herself, but she was far too slow and was nailed in the chest by the hammer and stumbled back a step, before managing to grab onto the hammer and prevent the Knight from getting away. "How the hell can you take all of that without saying anythi-"
A knee to the Knight's stomach cut the Knight off from continuing, the girl nearly doubling over before she gave a quick, truthful answer. "I've had worse." And with that, she punched the girl straight in the face and sent her flying away into the woods, again. Quickly checking over her sword and letting a concerned smile grace her face at its sorry-state, cracks lining the metal from top to bottom… it had a single hit to take left in it and that was all.
While this was enjoyable and all, she still had to complete the little mission her guest had asked of her, which was find and defeat the enemy attacking her crew, and given the way things were turning out, they'd be beating each other senseless for hours before either of them won, and she'd lose her sword before the battle's end. Which meant that to actually win she'd have to hit a lot harder and faster, her spells sucked and the Knight took a lot from her regular hits… and she'd been forbidden to go Seraph without being told to by the Admiral…
Back to what worked well and true then.
Turning slightly, she slashed through the tree to her left before throwing her blade into the ground, grabbing the falling trunk with both hands and finally swiveling back to face the Knight's direction and 'wind up' the throw. A few seconds later the girl broke through the treeline and stopped short just as she caught sight of her, face immediately turning from determination to surprise as the Knight's eyes widened greatly and she hastily brought up a shield. That had never worked before with a tree, it wouldn't work now.
She felt the need to say something as she started throwing the impromptu projectile, nothing too long otherwise the tree would be thrown and hit before she finished… simple usually worked. "Hi." And with that said, the tree was sent hurtling at the Knight.
Her shield was raised just in time to take the brunt of the force, the tree shattering it on impact and continuing to plow into the Knight and send both of them flying… she wasn't nearly as tough as Harlaown-sama. Several more trees broke as both the Knight and projectile flew past, eventually coming to a stop several dozen meters away, the Knight straining herself to get up as she happily made her way over while humming. Then she stopped the moment the girl looked over at her, what had been frustration had turned to anger, justified probably, and her mouth was pulled back in a snarl, and the voice sealed that.
"… You Bitch."
… She screwed up, didn't she?
A scream of rage came from the Knight, ignoring it, she decided to immediately run away, given how much fire there was, and the fact the Knight seemed to be extremely angry… yea… woods and fire don't go well. She heard an explosion and another, slightly quieter scream behind her and took the chance that as a warning to go straight up, narrowly avoiding an ensuing explosion of fire blow her… Definitely screwed up…
Another explosion echoed out from behind her, softer than the other, but it immediately made her explode the platform she was on to avoid whatever caused it, three moments later watching the Knight rocket past her with a literal rocket having replaced the hammer-head. A single slightly complicated turn and the Knight was rounding back towards her, another explosion occurring from the red 'connector' and making her go even faster than prior, again she dodged by detonating a platform to the side, narrowly avoiding the drill-like tip… This wouldn't end well at all.
She let herself fall through the air, followed by the Knight after several twirls and spirals to try and follow with the rocket and keep momentum, calmly trying to think of some way to stall for more time and not get into a fight that got her sword shattered. … Nothing came to mind and the ground and Knight were quickly approaching… so run away it was.
An upright platform formed next to her, reaching out to touch it she felt the gentle caress of mana just before it violently exploded and sent her flying to the side, right before she would have been hit by the Knight. Her feet hit the ground just as the Knight hit the pavement, a bit of pain shooting up them before another platform sent her further away, skidding along the ground behind a building before quickly entering it.
Of course, her current location went unknown for only a couple of seconds before the other girl smashed through the wall with a snarl, only being avoided by virtue of her being on the exact opposite side of the current floor. Immediately she ran and barged through a wall, turned and ran towards an entirely different building, to eventually repeat the process again and continue avoiding the small bundle of rage behind her.
And thus, the chase began.
She dodged, ran and hid as best as she could, explosions, angry screams and roaring engines telling her where her opponent was at all times… yet she didn't risk fighting her for the simple reason of even one of those hits would take her out, even with Eisenmauer taken into account. If there was one ray of hope her, it was Chrono-san and Harlaown-sama would eventually get through… probably, there had to be something holding them up if they were this late after several minutes of fighting.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!" The Knight's voice carried far, even with the engine loudly firing as the girl looked for her, her opponent being almost directly outside the building that she currently hiding in right now… Apparently actually 'sensing' other people wasn't possible, something to be grateful for now and keep in mind later on. For now though, she just stalled for time until Chrono-san or Harlaown-sama showed up, just as she'd been doing since the beginning of the fight.
Quietly she sat down and rested a while, taking care to continue listening for the engines as they died down, steadily growing close until the engines fully quieted. It would seem that she would be seeing her opponent sooner than she'd wanted, haa… best be ready before she got found by the Knight.
She didn't bother running off or waiting somewhere hidden, just standing in the middle of the parking garage she found herself in, specifically one of the ramps leading to a higher level, she was 'sick' of running away, even if that was her best course of action. Eventually after a minute or two, the Knight barged through the concrete above her, dropping from the ceiling in a crouch before quickly standing up, still with a snarl etched into her face. "There you are." There was no reason for the Knight to be so mad, all she did was throw a tree at her.
In response she gave a little wave and a smile, something that infuriated the other girl greatly from the way she clenched her hammer tighter… it didn't have the engines or drill tip anymore, which somewhat made sense since the Knight had barely any control over direction with the thing. For probably the first time in the fight she dashed forward first, taking the Knight by surprise for a moment as she slashed at her, only to find the hammer haft in her way and having to duck under said hammer.
Two more slashes from her were blocked by the hammer and a single swing of the other girl's hammer smashed into the ground, a volley of the metal projectiles were sent only to be deflected by shields before a single mistake was made. The Knight brought her hammer around again and swung with all the force she could muster, visibly angered and frustrated with how the fight was going, while she ducked under the hammer and proceeded to slash upwards while the hammer was still in motion and out of blocking range. Blood welled and splashed her in the face, a pleasant feeling, as her sword bit past the Jacket and into the Knight's skin, the girl wincing in pain before being decked in the face by her free hand and sent skidding back.
A pained grunt wrenched itself from the Knight's throat, the girl's hammer turning back into the rocket-hammer as she regained her balance, engines roaring to life as she immediately started flying back at her. The first pass was ducked under with the aid of a shield slowing the Knight down a bit, the second being dodged to the side with another shield, an explosion heralding the third try and failure as she jumped over it. The fourth had her dodging again with no time to make a shield… the fifth found her up against the wall, and with no other options she brought her sword up and hoped.
An audible crack echoed out above the engines, and her eyes widened slightly as her sword gave out under the strain and shattered, her left hand immediately reaching out and grabbing Razing Heart before she was sent hurtling through the wall towards the pavement. She didn't even try to slow down, simply flipping herself back upright and cracking the ground as she landed, staying still as metal shards and concrete rained down with a clatter as she tried to realize what had happened.
Her sword…
Her gift…
Her treasure…
She broke it…
She broke it…
She broke it…
She broke it…
The 'wall'… it was falling apart, and the 'whispers' were finally back after so long. There was something 'different' about these whispers though, they were dissonant and full of rage for some reason. She didn't understand why really, the only thing that had happened was her wielder's sword broke under a rocket-hammer, it wasn't even her life-weapon so it wasn't like the thing mattered.
She wouldn't really understand her newest wielder, she was just too radically 'different' from the rest of the past Seraphs to understand this quickly, not that that was an issue, it was nice to puzzle about what this girl of hers was beyond being the Seraph of Blades. Not that it really mattered at this moment, such musings could be done later when the only other choice was sleeping, there was something else she could be doing at this moment~
Finally, something to stave away boring sleep and entertain her. The only annoying part was 'Nanoha' hadn't used her during that younger little program's rampage, but that'd be changed quickly, Devices were meant to be used to kill, destroy and fight after all.
And the little program had made the always smiling 'Nanoha' feel absolute rage. This would be so very enjoyable.
The whispers made from Okaa-sama's voice came back after so long, but they weren't the same as the ones before. These echoes weren't filled with love and kindness, nor laced with direction and a helping hand. They were not gentle, nor did they desire to protect or lead.
She broke it.
Filled with rage, fueled by a desire to burn, kill and destroy, the whispers had lost all traces of their innocence and warmth, it suited them in this moment as their rage was directed to an unassuming little girl hurtling at her. She felt her smile dying.
She broke it.
A pulse of mana was sent coursing through her body, right hand lifted up quickly into the path of the rocket-hammer as both Eisenmauer and Mächtige Einfluss took effect. She didn't feel anything as the drill slammed into the palm, she didn't feel anything as skin was rent from her fingers as her hand closed around the drill, she didn't feel anything as her body was dragged along the rupturing pavement by the force she was hit with. The only sounds she heard over the roar of the girl's rocket was said girl's grunting of exertion and the shattering of concrete, neither of which were worth noting.
She broke it.
Quickly they both came to a stop as the momentum of the red-haired girl gave out, there was red dripping to the ground and a trail leading back to here she'd started… a short distance, a few meters, she expected more from the other girl. "The hell are you made of?" She heard the girl's angry words, she didn't care to answer, the answer was obvious and she didn't feel polite enough to talk to this little girl without insulting her.
She broke it.
Both of them weren't moving any more, well the girl was trying to force the rocket-hammer down through her arm, but her body was strong enough to withstand and ignore Harlaown-sama's blows at the moment. Her other arm raised itself in response to her smile ticking away to nothing and her right arm finally gave out under the strain of mana, skin rupturing small founts of blood and bones fracturing. Of course, as luck would have it, the girl decided to use more of whatever fueled that rocket the moment her arm gave out.
The result of that was what could be expected.
She broke it.
Engines flared and roared before the 'hammer' simply went through her arm taking its wielder with it, as well as making her own strike miss entirely. Bone splintered and flew like shrapnel while skin and muscle turned to bloody mist before slowly floating to the ground. Her opponent crashed into the ground and apparently skidded along it before coming to a stop if the noise behind her was correct, her smile drooped more to a near thin line.
She broke it.
Pain… why couldn't she feel any more pain? She could still feel, otherwise the strange… 'tingling' concentrated at her right shoulder wouldn't have been noticed, so that raised the question, why couldn't she feel pain? … It didn't matter, not now when she was experiencing rage for the first time in her short life, those little rules she kept to herself didn't matter right now. She let a low whisper hiss through the air, one similar to the hate-filled ones echoing in her head, before beginning to turn around to face the little girl.
She broke it.
Whatever the girl was about to say died in her throat as she turned around and looked at her, the Knight taking a step back in response to a few things. The first was likely Razing Heart finally speaking for the first time in this fight out loud, "Die Zahl ist auf einundsiebzig gesetzt. Man wird subtrahiert, die nummer ist auf siebzig gesetzt." [The number is set to seventy-one. One is subtracted, the number is set to seventy.] Next was whatever was happening with her arm, or what remained of it, and the third and last was the single most important of the three.
Her smile was gone.
"You broke it."
AN: Nanoha-chan's mad. Vita-chan's mad.
On another note, Conception III was updated with a minor thing, nothing too major but it'll make more sense for something later on for Nanoha-chan.