Amount of Hugs needed: 14378
Amount of Hugs found: 7092
Disclaimer: I do not own Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha nor any of the various seasons made after the original.
The first thing that happened, before anything else, was Razing Heart whispering in her head, diminishing her rage slightly.
"My Seraph… your anger will get you killed against the Traitor. Let it simmer, for the Traitor will use it against you if it consumes you. Just let everything go for now, I can handle it if you want…"
She took a moment to think, still walking forward towards the 'Traitor' as Razing Heart named her, nothing sounding around her as both sides watched her and the New Knight walk forward. Did she want to lose her anger, the rage that kept her going for blow after blow when she last faced 'Vita'… no, she didn't. With that said however…
Razing Heart never was wrong, unhelpful, cryptic and prone to recalling the past, never wrong though. If she said the anger would get her killed, she would believe that, and let Razing Heart take it… or whatever she planned on doing, so long as she was still the one to fight, all would be good. A little thought conveyed that with only a single word, 'Go.', and then everything muted itself.
The anger inside her destroyed itself until all that was left was a hollow nothingness, gnawing away as whispers tried to steer her back, only to immediately whimper and die as Razing Heart ruthlessly crushed them. "Now then… shall we began a dance with the Knight crafted before my time, my Seraph?"
She didn't give a response… it felt like she couldn't anymore, nothing besides continuing forward, step by step by step with a blade grating against the ground, she would have to remember to tell her thank you for this. For now though, she would settle on simply doing a-s Lindy had asked, and fight this 'Traitor' with all she had, though words came unbidden, muttered under her breath.
"Grant me wings and power, so that my duty may be done." A step, then another before she stopped in time with the 'Traitor', a blank look all that was exchanged between them, "Sing for the end of the World." She had no idea what the words meant, though they were familiar and felt like they'd been spoken countless times before.
"Darkness amidst the deep you slumber within… Light bathing the sky you dance upon." Her body felt light, her mind free, and nothing was bothering her… was this how it had felt to be the Seraph the last time? "Unfurl your ash-laden wings and take to flight to war again." The Traitor heard those lines, steadily rising in volume, the only reaction given being her eyes narrowed slightly and her sword rising slowly into a guard, she knew the words spoken.
One last part… one last part before it would start, her voice was still quiet, only enough for her and the Traitor to hear, her foe shifting slightly in response, the free hand reaching out and gripping the handle in preparation. "Guide this blade to blood, wielder of Magic and Steel… Burn it all away… - -" There was… something wrong with the very last part, she could feel that she should know the words, and yet she couldn't hear or understand them.
It didn't matter though, it didn't matter, because Razing Heart wouldn't be annoyed with her, she would know she couldn't hear whatever it was that she had said. She would forgive her, for she was not truly Nanoha, nor the Seraph.
She was just a simple Monster of Monsters.
No words were spoken again, silence engulfed them even as a battle began to rage above, they were focused on one another, for she felt something different in the gaze of the Traitor. She felt what her ancestor felt, what Sasaki Kojirō, the man who cut the swallow in flight, felt as he looked at his Hero of Heroes, Musashi Miyamoto.
The madness of fighting until there was nothing left from one side or the other, the feeling of wanting to know if the Hero could kill the Monster, or if the Monster would slaughter the Hero. She welcomed it, for even in the shell of nothingness that she was, she felt her instincts stir and her blood laugh, for Heroes and Monsters would always fight for as long as the other existed. So similar they were, and yet so vastly different.
She wanted this to last, it was so very, very difficult to find Heroes in this age. Heroes had been outlived, and the Monsters withered away, hoping one day they'd see their old foes again. For a Monster is nothing without a Hero, and a Hero nothing without a Monster, if one was gone, then the other was simply... a Killer without purpose or direction.
The battle started with a single swing.
She crossed the distance between her and the Traitor in a single stride, her blade whistling through the air to crash and skid against the angled swo- no scabbard. Her blade was sent off in a wide arc away from the woman, the bladed scabbard darting in a quick slash at her chest, a hand let go of the long handle and caught the blade before it managed to get halfway.
Blood dripped to the ground, neither hand nor blade moved an inch, staying completely still as the odachi finished its arc and still. The longer sword flipped and reversed direction, the hand continuing to grip the scabbard until it was yanked from her grasp and positioned to block the incoming blade. Fire crackled with noise as the two metal weapons smashed into each other, her blade sliding up the scabbard before reversing directions again and locking both of their blades in place.
Everything happened in the span of three seconds.
Neither of their faces showed anything, neither of their eyes showed anything. They were the same, and yet different, a Monster of Monsters and Hero of Heroes. It was nice, to know Heroes still existed, even if this one had fallen.
The deadlock came to an end when the Traitor put her entire weight behind the sheathe and barged into her guard, the sword careening to the side even with her tight grip, though still held in hand. 'Traitor' reversed her grip on the sheath and handle, now holding it 'correctly' as she stabbed forward with a speed comparable to Sonnenlicht-Tanz, the blade missing as she side-stepped a second before it would have impaled her.
Her sword came around again in a wide arc, one set of locks keeping it at its full length coming undone to shorten the blade and make it faster. Even still with that, the Traitor stepped a single step back to avoid it, twirling her scabbard back to its original position, her newly freed hand catching the returning sword in the gauntlet and holding firm despite the fire and strength behind it. She returned the favor and caught the scabbard again as it tried to slash her.
Another deadlock, this time with a single piece of conversation between the two of them, courtesy of the Traitor. "Another Seraph. I thought I ended the last of your kind two millennia ago." She pushed rather than answer, the Knight releasing her sword and taking three steps back before stabbing forward, the Traitor doing as she herself had done barely a dozen seconds ago and sidestepping at the last moment.
Her blade twisted in her grasp and shook as the woman brought her own weapon to bare again, slamming into her with a force similar to what Lindy normally used and sending her skidding back. Immediately she detonated the ground and flew at the Traitor, the woman easily side-stepping her and dipping her head under the slash, her body scraping along the ground while her hand bled freely as the asphalt cut up her hand. It didn't hurt, barely anything hurt anymore.
She didn't get up, just shifting herself around to get her blade back into position, Razing Heart then began speaking, hate and venom dripping off every word directed at their opponent… something that should have concerned her. "You did end her kind. You didn't end me, Traitor." There wasn't a response again, the conversation over after a single response as she detonated the ground again and charged, the Knight not even bothering to react as she blocked her sword again.
She didn't hear much of the noise they were making, or even of the fights happening alongside their duel, but that didn't matter too much, so long as the duel went on without anything to bother them, she was fine.
A slash from the traitor clipped her right shoulder, ignored in favor of nearly returning the blow and damage, instead only managing to scar the armor with a scrape before she was punched away with a quick jab of the woman's free hand. Crashing back-first into the side of a building, she immediately detonated a platform under her and rocketed into another a few meters up just as the Traitor stabbed through where she just vacated.
Another detonation, another scrape along the woman's armor as she stepped out of the way with a quickness that was unnatural, her blade burrowing itself into the ground halfway up its length as she hit the ground with a crack. Almost immediately following that she pushed off the handle of her blade, avoiding having her hand cut off by the blading sheathe slashing above the sword. She didn't even make a meter above where she'd been, and slowly changed directions back to the ground, twisting to avoid the next swipe of the blade before hitting the ground on her shoulder.
Darting around a stab from the Knight, then ducking under a slash behind the woman, she gripped her sword by the handle and ripped it out of the ground into the path of another swipe, a clang resounding as they both were sent back a few meters. She circled back onto the street, taking care to keep distance from the Traitor-Knight in the event of a sudden attack.
Thankfully for her, she was able to catch a short breath as the woman decided to put her sheathed sword into a more relaxed grip at her side, looking over at her before speaking for the second time this night. "Your sword. It is impractical." Were she just Nanoha, she would have narrowed her eyes and been indignant about the casual 'insult' the woman gave, instead she leveled her sword at the woman still standing on the sidewalk and replied.
"It is my monohoshizao. It is practical so long as it is mine."
Perhaps if it was a different person should would have gotten a more… lively response, instead she got zero actions at all and a single word spoken at her. "Fair."
In the wake of that one word she found herself doing something… different than normal. Instinct guided her not to charge again, but to get into a stance, the only stance taught to her by Okaa-sama when she was still alive. The stance had no purpose back then, Okaa-sama had just taught her it, sword at her side pointed forward, blade parallel to the ground, roughly at the height of her chest.
It had always felt… natural to do it when she was younger, it still felt that way now.
She stayed in that stance, the Knight narrowing her eyes and placing her left hand on the handle again for the first time since the beginning, obviously thinking something was up. Well, that was… convenient for her, she'd expect something different than what she would receive. Eventually after several moments the Traitor dashed forward, only to seemingly slow down after only two steps forward, she let her body do what instinct called for.
She swung, twisting the blade around and curving the blade down, before pulling it straight up, by that point the woman had reacted and placed her sheathe in the way. Halfway through the swing, the Traitor's eyes widened slightly and instead of facing the strike she threw herself to the side, she didn't understand why, the Traitor had been content to take everything before this, so what was different?
She followed the slash with another, the world slowing again as the Knight drew her sword for the first time, and positioned herself to block the slash… and something from her left. Her sword connected with the sheathe, and at the same time, something crashed straight into the woman's sword, the combined force sending her back a few steps.
Another swing continuing from the last resulted in the same result, with only two steps back taken, a third diagonal slash being dodged and again something sparking along the other sword's length before being directed into the ground and carving a furrow through it, it was strange. Like with the words on the incantation, she felt she should know what she was doing… and yet again she knew absolutely nothing about it, only that it was instinctive and apparently she couldn't even see what she was doing.
Not all bad, but she'd need to figure out what that was later, and see if she could recreate it… maybe, no best to wait and think of it later.
Another two times she swung, and was rewarded with nothing as the woman deflected both strikes occurring at the same time, with a slash from both marring the ground with a gash, before a third went off she stepped forward into her guard, brought the sheathe up and pushed forward. Her blade wouldn't make it in time to stop the blow, nor could she catch it, so instead she did the 'sensible' option, and positioned her right arm in the way and let her augment flood her body.
The strike was blunted for whatever reason, though it still bit into her arm and drew blood before she was pushed back, skidding along the ground and scraping the soles of her feet, until she came to a stop a few meters away. Both of them took a moment to stare at the other before settling themselves again in preparation of the next part, her just letting her instincts back into control of her body, while the Knight got into what could vaguely be called a stance.
"… Is that all you have to offer, young one?" The Traitor's voice may have been sad or disappointed if one were actually looking for it, instead all she heard was blankness more suited for the Seraph. All she did to respond was bring up her sword again as her body felt natural, before she felt something prick at her chest.
She had moved without realizing it, avoiding a stab from the Knight's sword that had managed to cross the several meters in barely a second, only managing to cut her instead of burying itself in her skin. Then came the sheathe, lashing across her chest and spilling blood before she ducked away, only to immediately find herself stuck in an onslaught of blades.
Two cuts, slashing her chest from neck to waist in tandem, the retaliation sweeping up easily side-stepped and countered with a biting lunge into her left shoulder with the sword. Seven cuts and a single miss, one marring her face, another drinking from her chest, a light slice of her neck, and two more slashes to her chest before the Knight moved behind her quicker than she could react and scored twin furrows into her back.
She tried to keep up, but the Traitor… the Traitor was worthy of being a Hero of Heroes, no matter how far she had fallen.
Sword and sheathe blurred, and she lost count of how many times she'd been cut after the twenty-seventh time, she had tried to parry several of the blows, but the Traitor easily forced the parry into her favor and sent the odachi careening away each time. Eventually the onslaught of blades came to an end, a cut across her face narrowly missing her eye, a slash along the length of her right arm, a gash through her chest. All of those were minor compared to the ending strike, both blades burrowing themselves in her chest, one puncturing into a lung, the other barely missing the second lung and heart.
Both weapons were wrenched out, her body taking a single involuntary step back as the Knight twirled her sheathe around and placed the sword back inside it, turning around as she began to fall backwards as her body lost itself.
…
…
A bare foot braced against the concrete, skin breaking as she brought herself back to awareness and took charge of her body again. "… Are you done, Traitor?" She felt 'Satisfaction' from Razing Heart at those words, her foe slowly turning back around to look at her, before immediately jumping back as she tried to gut her.
Neither of them had any honor. Such things were wasted on Monsters and Heroes, honor was only worth it to keep the rest of the faceless masses out of duels, nothing else.
Blood… Blood flowed freely down her body, dripping to the ground several drops at a time until a puddle started to take shape, malformed and shallow. The Traitor apparently found it lightly unnerving that she didn't remake her Jacket and let it simply hang tattered around her, taking a step back and raising her sheathe in a defensive posture, ready for whatever was to come.
"Where is the pain? Where is it? I want to feel it again…" Eyes narrowed in suspicion from only a few meters away as she whispered that, but that didn't matter… she missed the pain, it was a friend to her, one who told her to keep getting up and trying harder.
Eventually she repositioned herself, blade at her side at her default ready position instead of whatever that instinctive stance had been, her opponent saying nothing until she took an unsteady step forward. "… I will admit, I expected you to die from that."
If she were capable of, she felt she would let a short-lived laughter out before she responded, that or a normal, carefree laughter, instead she just stared back at the woman, and gave an answer without a shred of emotion, just like the Traitor did. "If I do not feel pain, why should I die?" Silence met her answer, the Knight not saying anything for a time until finally responding.
"I see." A smile, soft and gentle that was at odds with the otherwise blank face and posture the woman carried appeared on her face, the smile staying as she slowly shook her head as her eyes shifted slightly to something more alive. "Perhaps… no, you are worthy of the legacy, even a fallen Knight can see that." The life left the Knight shortly after that was done, almost all of it dead as she spoke what seemed to be parting words. "I do not deserve to know your name, and you will not give it to me. But, it will be an… honor to fight you again, young one. Perhaps you'll show something as impressive then as you did just now."
After she finished, the Traitor left her stance into a neutral posture, taking a step back before turning around and looking up into the sky. "Vita, Zafira, Shamal. We're leaving." She barely raised her voice, and yet everybody seemingly heard her, the three foes she, Lindy and Chrono faced all acquiescing to the order, even if 'Vita' looked to be extremely 'displeased' with being told to retreat, regardless of the fact she looked to have been a punching bag.
The woman walked away in the same, near leisurely stride she'd arrived in, the other three preferring to dart away in flight instead. Silence was all that played its song as she disappeared further into the city, leaving just the three of them alone, alongside a confusion of why the Traitor decided to just up and leave.
Shortly after the woman disappeared, her guests dropped to the ground around her while Razing Heart undid… whatever she'd actually done, letting her feel a quickly doused anger before she went back to normal. Shaking her head slowly, she turned her attention to Harlaown-sama and Chrono-san, seeing the former with barely any out of place feature, and a sad smile in place… the latter looked like he had gone through hell and was barely standing, not that difficult to understand though.
She didn't care about that though, proceeding to plant her sword into the ground, sit down, left leg propped up and letting her arm rest on it, and dip her head and let sleep take her… she was tired.
It'd been an… interesting fight.
Oh, by no means was it too hard or easy, but it had been… stranger than the ones she was used to. Vita had been trying to get through her shields with a fervor she hadn't ever seen from the Knight, eventually getting through only for her own hammer to batter the youngest-looking Knight away. Zafira on the other hand had been aided by Shamal in an attempt to get through Chrono… for the first time one of his little projects actually worked and did its job perfectly.
She'd only seen little snippets of what had happened, mostly because of Vita constantly throwing herself back at her, but what she had seen was impressive considering how… bad he was in melee. His prosthetic was capable of holding Zafira in place as well as matching punches with the Knight, yet he himself wasn't able to match the man and always kept distance, firing spell after spell at him until the man faltered. Of course, that was where Shamal stepped in, supporting Zafira until he was ready again.
In the end, they would have lost, were it not for Signum calling a withdraw without warning or reason.
Chrono would have been worn down until he was defeated by the combination of unrelenting offense of fists and mana-enhanced blows and unending support of healing, teleporting and shields, and then move on to her, with Vita taking advantage of the allies. Signum's fight with Nanoha was always, no matter what circumstances happened, going to end in Signum's favor, that was the sheer skill Signum held.
Letting out a sigh and stretching out a kink that had developed somehow during the fight, immediately moving over to Chrono and healing most of the bruises he had accumulated when she finished. "Well, that went as best it could have been. Nanoha's alive, you're conscious and I'm not dead." Chrono tried to look back at her, only to wince as one of the numerous bruises complained about the action, immediately turning back to looking forward while she continued healing, eventually stating what he wanted to reply.
"… Only you would say this was the best outcome. The best would have been we take out one of them before making them withdraw." She raised an eye in response to that, not that Chrono could see, considering he couldn't look back with some bruise or another would act up and cause him to wince, before she immediately decided to… enlighten Chrono on exactly who they were facing.
"Chrono-kun." Her normally happy-go-lucky voice was replaced with coldness, immediately garnering Chrono's attention and making him fall as silent as possible, the only times she used this voice were when she was rather… angry, which Chrono had never witnessed and wouldn't witness if she could help it, or when she prepared to deliver… worse than usual news.
"Shamal is the greatest healer, all the way back when she was first seen… at the end of the Lawless Era, and probably before then as well. Zafira and Vita are among the best at hitting something until it breaks, and getting up regardless of how much damage gets dealt to them.
"Signum… Signum makes all three of them look like children, Chrono. The only one who has a chance of matching her and winning is the Reaper." The blood in his face decided to drain and leave him pale at her blunt statement, to which she gave a slight nod. While she rarely liked to make him worry and hid… a lot of what she'd done from him, she'd be brutally honest if it helped him understand the threat of who they were facing. The Wolkenritter weren't some terrorists holding a school hostage, nor a militia that had to be put down, or even normal soldiers.
Just from what little she knew, courtesy of Signum, they had faced several creatures and individuals that made the majority of Aces seem insignificant. Even she wasn't as strong as those beings, though… the three less threatening members were apparently better in those days if Signum was to be believed.
Her Chrono's next words came out as a whisper, barely able to be heard despite her being right next to him. "What rank is she?"
"Magic-wise, Borderline-S. Lethality, same as the Reaper. SSS."
Silence was what answered that statement for all of a minute, something that made a rueful smile form, until finally Chrono found the will to speak again. "How are we alive?" Her smile stayed in place as she regarded that answer, finishing healing Chrono and helping him up with a firm hand, feeling only the most minute shudder from him in the process. Pride seeped into the smile at that, even when told about those odds, he still refused to let fear in… if only it wasn't because of that incident.
"Your guess is about as good as mine, if a little smaller." … Well, that was little white lie, her guess was a bit better than Chrono's but not much better, she knew Signum and her 'quirks' a little, but not as much as Clyde had. "Best guess? She just doesn't want to fight, maybe because we're friends, maybe something else. We'd have to ask, and given how tonight went, it's not likely we'll see her around for a bit."
Another sigh left her before she shook her head, clearing her head of thoughts and returning her focus to what they had started from… or what she thought they started from. "Whatever the case, we're alive and well… for the most part."
Neither of them noticed that Nanoha-chan wasn't moving until they hit a lull in their 'argument'/conversation… whatever it was today, and looked at the girl finally noticing how bad a condition she was in. After a moment of looking at her without either of them doing anything, she decided to walk over and look over the girl and see what all she could heal, Chrono following behind her shortly after to see if he was needed.
Surprisingly, it was actually less threatening than it looked, still dangerous if it wasn't treated, but much, much better than it could have been. "Hmm, she must have been holding back a lot, on top of Nanoha-chan's… 'impressive' pain tolerance."
Chrono looked honestly curious about how she knew that, what little she could see from her peripheral, though he stayed quiet as she looked over the somehow sleeping girl. Eventually, after an idle thought of how Nanoha-chan was sleeping despite the wounds, her Chrono eventually speaking again as she started the healing the more 'life-threatening' wounds. "What makes you say that?"
"It's all damage that can be healed with a basic healing spell. No majorly damaged organs, no damaged bones, no major bleeding. It's just cut skin and a slightly punctured lung, easy enough to fix without much issue." She didn't need to look at him to know of the incredulous look he had, nor that he walked silently up to her and started healing what little he was able to while she focused on the more important matters.
Barely two minutes passed before they were done to the point of Nanoha-chan not being in danger of bleeding out, with Chrono only having to stop once to apply a barrier around them when the Wolkenritter's barrier fell apart to hide them from the civilians. She could honestly care less about them, but it was more trouble than not to let them see the aftermath of a battle… or brutality.
She probably wouldn't have been 'employed' as quickly if she hadn't demonstrated the latter in the middle of the City on Calnarog, at least 'Sister' came to pick her up and deal with the Albino Anzen threatening the Tribe. It'd been nice to see Sahar again… even if she had become an alcoholic since the last time she'd seen her.
Stretching her limbs again, she finally decided that it was time for them to go, exemplified by Chrono failing to stifle a yawn, a soundless chuckle let out before she finally decided on an action for them to take. "Time to go. You two need your rest after this."
"And you don't?"
She let a smile grace her instead of answering, hefting Nanoha-chan up onto her shoulder again for the second time this week, only a slight stirring showing she was still semi-aware, before walking away. She never answered that question, and it never failed to bring amusement to her when Chrono 'sulked' after failing yet again.
'Father' was a kind man, if a little 'unstable' in the head.
Despite being the chief, he never led any hunting parties in the time she knew him, always going off on his own and hunting with only his own weapons and instincts. That said, he was still there enough that when he and Sahar were together they acted like family, and eventually she too was allowed to join in, and she was considered unofficially as their kin.
It felt nice, having a 'Sister' and 'Father'.
Life was nice, she hunted and people accepted her as a person, rather than do whatever it was they did before. 'Sister' learned how to use Magic, it was nothing special just making fire with only mana, but she still learned it on their own. 'Father' was proud, and at the same time saddened, which only made sense later in her life, while she tried to get 'Sister' to teach her how to do it, something that eventually Sahar gave into.
Life was fine.
Then the Meeting came, and the Bureau took Sahar away.
She understood now why they did so, unlike other worlds, Calnarog didn't have too many people capable of using magic, fewer still took the time to so much as try and get it to work. Those few that did were normally picked up by the Bureau at the City when the Meeting took place, to become Aces. That was the way it'd been since the Bureau had found them.
It didn't change the fact that she didn't want her 'Sister' to leave her, not after just becoming family.
The tribes of Calnarog met several times per year, what would be a year to Mid-Childa marking the Meeting's date, it was a time of revelry for the tribes that remained, a time of grief for the tribes lost, a time of rest after the hardships of Calnarog. None of the tribes liked to live in the City, it was wrong and anathema to them, they who lived without rules or comfort, the only reason they came was it had been built on the Still Island, and the Still Island was where every other Island eventually returned to, no matter the path they took.
Because of that, only she and 'Father' were up in the City with 'Sister', walking her towards where the place that kept the City living, the spaceport. The City wasn't sustainable, farming in the way Mid-Childa and other worlds used wasn't reliable on Calnarog, the ground was too hard and filled with stone and metal to accommodate plants beyond the grass, and water traveled with the Islands, and were unpredictable where they fell and diverted course.
Since it wasn't sustainable, the Bureau had to regularly bring in supplies and materials to maintain the City, because Calnarog's Aces had proven in the past, they were worth the cost of the City.
The paths they walked were strange, made of something like stone only weaker, lined with buildings of the same material or something stranger and lights on sticks. The City wasn't too large, the Still Island was large true, it's only issue was most was covered in water, apparently a third of it was covered in water, and while the rest of it was covered in buildings and roads, it didn't hold a candle to cities elsewhere.
Not that she would actually know, all she'd seen was it, the city she was currently in at the present, and technically a smaller one on Mid-Childa for a few days. The rest were just ruins.
This was the only place the Bureau had any authority over on Calnarog, evidenced by several enforcers walking about the streets, a few eyeing them warily before resuming their patrol. Foreigners didn't interact with them often, the Meeting was the only time they ever saw them, and even then, at a good distance. Her people never went to the City unless they had to, the Foreigners never went outside unless they had to, it worked fine that way, the 'civilized' people and the 'savages' would never understand one another. Such was life on Calnarog.
'Sister' and 'Father' were silent, both unusually somber about the affair, contrasting with 'Sister's' normal happy-go-luck outlook and 'Father's' halfway-gone stare. It felt wrong, too closed in, too many people around, too much stuff, not enough freedom. She didn't like it here.
Eventually they arrived at the spaceport, little more than a glorified hangar and landing pad, it was enough for what they needed here and that was it, the best that was given to a place in constant need of supplies and repair. On the landing platform was a single ship, an ugly thing of unnaturally-shaped metal and buzzing noises that made her even more uncomfortable. A ramp led into the thing, though it barely looked like it would fit more than a hunting party of eight in it, and at the bottom was some man dressed in the strange clothing the Foreigners wore, blue and white.
Idly she noted the armed men around the hangar and around the landing pad, standing at attention with their hands on just as strange weapons at their waist or stamped into the ground. Then she immediately discarded the notion of them and fingered the weapon at her waist, a rounded square of rock crudely grafted onto a small metal pole. The man at the ramp noticed them coming and started to walk towards them, hands behind his back and making her tense as they all stopped a bit from one another.
"You're the new Ace?" Sahar gave a curt nod to the man, the officer giving a nod back before continuing to speak whatever else he apparently needed to, something she reluctantly listened to. "The Fleet Admiral wants us to get you to Mid-Childa as soon as possible for an evaluation." A pause as he seemed to consider something before finishing his little 'briefing'. "You have a few minutes until we're clear to take off, say your goodbyes, I'll be on the shuttle."
Another curt nod from 'Sister' was enough for him to nod back, turn around and stride back to the shuttle, leaving them to themselves for the short time they had. For a long while none of them said anything, Sahar taking a few steps forward before turning around, the hint of a smile forming as she tried to raise their spirits. "Well… guess I'll be seeing you'll another time…"
'Sister' turned to her first, leaning down to her height, and giving a gentle smile reserved only for her. "You take care Lindy, have fun hunting, keep trying to understand the fire within your chest and keep our Old Man out of trouble alright?" She gave a quick nod, a tear threatening to form until 'Sister' wiped it away with a light laugh, getting back up and turning to 'Father' and letting the smile drop.
No words were exchanged, only a single item, a necklace with a burgundy gem at its end, the crystal pulling at the metal cord and pointing off away from all of them, off to the island they followed. Without any words, she took the offered necklace and slipped It on, nodded her head once and turned back to her, and let the smile return as she spoke to 'Sister'.
"Bye-bye. Stay safe Sahar." Her 'Sister' flashed a confident smile at her, before ruffling her hair and turning away, hefting her axe onto her shoulder and marching towards the ship hat would take her away to the Bureau. She didn't do anything but watch 'Sister' until she disappeared into the shuttle and the ramp closed, no acts were done when the shuttle lifted off and disappeared into the sky, neither she nor 'Father' did anything as Sahar left them for another, worse place.
The enforcers shifted uncomfortably, they were used to some form of attachment, or something resembling 'life' whenever goodbyes were exchanged, seeing their peoples' way of goodbye, unorthodox as this one was… They weren't them. Those of Calnarog, and those of the other worlds… they could never understand one another. They still were unnerved when they silently turned and head back the way they came, it would be a longer journey without 'Sister's' fire.
She was right to be worried and scared for Sahar. None of the Aces from Calnarog had ever come back home.
Eventually she'd go to. It was only a matter of time since 'Sister' had taught her.
The night was calm… far too calm.
Nanoha and her two guests that were lodging in their main house had gone out to fight again… not that he was worried, Nanoha had long ago proven that she was capable of taking care of herself without him… Really he was only still around because he was holding on to her title and keeping the clan in line until she was ready. Nanoha… ha… it hurt to so much as think now… his body was failing him faster than he was expecting… ha… just a little longer and he could go meet Momoko again…
A light tapping reverberated through the floor… they wouldn't be back yet, and they wouldn't be coming to this abandoned building either… No one but him did anymore, except for today apparently.
He didn't get up and position himself to greet his visitor, too much… effort to spend. Instead he just sat on the edge of the porch and stared into the forest… he could remember when there were sounds other than nature in those woods at night, and even in the day. He missed it…
Eventually he heard the padding of footsteps alongside feeling the tapping through weary bones, finally turning his head to look at whoever came to see him, becoming pleasantly surprised when he saw Kyōya quietly walking towards him… They disagreed on much, but they were still… 'close'… and Kyōya was regularly concerned for him and his declining health.
He was the only one really concerned, he welcomed it while Nanoha and Miyuki-chan were oblivious as always.
He didn't try and get up to greet his son, knowing full well that his body would falter the moment he took a step… still he inclined his head in acknowledgement and gave a soft smile before returning his fading gaze back to the forest. It was such a beautiful scenery… what a shame none of them were able to paint its beauty.
When the footfalls stopped near him without Kyōya coming into view he turned and regarded his son again, seeing the worried frown across his face and instantly losing most of his good mood… Ha… "Come and sit with me… Kyōya." For a long moment, his eldest didn't move a muscle as he regarded the 'request', eventually walking over from his place near the wall and sitting down at the porch's end next to him… they hadn't done this since before the incident occurred…
Neither he nor Kyōya spoke for several minutes, his son taking several moments to look at him with concern before turning back to try and find why he was just staring into the forest, while he was content to just watch and listen in comfortable silence. Eventually though Kyōya turned fully to him again, his face cold yet angry as he again tried to tell him to do something.
"You're getting worse Tou-san." Ha… he already knew that, he could feel it eating away at his muscles, choking his lungs and giving stabbing headaches with every though… He didn't need someone else to tell him what he already knew and felt for the past few months… he didn't need anyone to tell him… "You need to go to the hospital and get you illness checked. Otherwise you are going to die Tou-san."
His smile hid a bit of sadness at that, not because he was going to die… no… because he was making his son worry over him when he should be more worried over himself and his sisters. "That would be… a pleasant thing. It isn't as if any of you need me anymore." From the corner of his eye he saw Kyōya look over at him with a hint of anger over concern, beginning to retort angrily with an answer he knew would come. Kyōya's responses were easy to recall after so many arguments.
"Nanoha-"
"Nanoha hasn't needed me since she was born." He interrupted Kyōya before he could so much as start the second word, without a single hint of coldness or bitterness in his voice he continued before his son could try and form another word. "Miyuki never needed me, all she needed was a bit of guidance from your mother… The only one who has needed me was you Kyōya."
Discouraged and near-reeling from the blunt truths he spoke, Kyōya barely managed to respond in a concerned voice. "Th… That may be true, but still…" A sigh, almost turning into a cough, interrupted the young man, a sadness making the smile fall and be replaced with a depressed frown… It hurt… it hurt to think, it hurt to move… he was past his time, when everything was right and great for him.
"Kyōya… I'm far too old for this life…" … He may be young compared to most, not even at forty yet… but… he'd seen, witnessed, done and suffered through far too many things… Too many faces of those murdered seen each and every day… "… you never needed me to tell you how to live your life…"
… He wasn't that great a parent, he knew his children's names… he knew what general activities they enjoyed doing… and that was it. Momoko… Momoko had been the one that showed them the way… he was there just to pick them up again when they fell. "So, I will ask you to do the same for me… this one time…"
For a long time Kyōya simply stared at him miserably, caught between concern for him and the 'desire' to adhere to his wishes. A minute passed, then two before he, as much as possible, calmly lowered his head, quietly muttering under his breath his answer. "… Against my better judgement, I'll take my leave then Tou-san."
"Kyōya?" His son looked back with a confused glance, justified since it wasn't like him to call any of them back when he dismissed them… Even so he still had two more things to say… just in case he never got a chance to say them again... "… I am proud of you… keep your sisters out of trouble, alright?"
For a moment, despite the gloom and darkness, he felt happy as his son's face first became surprised and a touch joyous, before hardening into a mask of cold and steel, giving a nod of his head, turning back around and walking away, one last reply drifting back before he vanished back towards their home. "Of course… Tou-san."
He stared after his son for only a short time before turning back to the forest, finally letting his strength fade and allowing his body to show its pain, coughing quietly with a hand covering his mouth… Whatever it was that was killing him slowly, it took its time and likely if had not wanted to die and get it checked… this sickness would be cured without any issue whatsoever.
He looked back into the trees as his little coughing fit came to an end, an image of a woman with auburn hair smiling at him with playful grin greeting him, the memory… apparition, whichever it was now that he knew Magic was possible, held out a hand to him. "Momoko… Momoko…" For a moment his hand shakily rose up as if to grasp her hand… only for the image to fade and his hand to slowly drop back to his lap… Another sigh passing through before he continued to watch the forest.
Everything hurt… Only a few more days before he could let go… a few more days until he could join her…