Amount of Hugs needed: 16,886
Amount of Hugs found: 12,242
AN: Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 have all been rewritten to reduce their overall… terrible qualities.
Disclaimer: I do not own Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha nor any of the various seasons made after the original.
She assumed that it was commonplace that whenever someone was looking forward to something, it took far longer for the time to come. That was how it felt on waiting for everyone to fall asleep so that she could finally go out anyway.
Soon after she and Harlaown-sama spoke, Harlaown-sama went into her own room, presumably to sleep, but given who it as… it was hard to actually say what she was doing. Either way, Harlaown-sama was likely occupied the entire time, so that was one person she didn't have to worry about.
Chrono-san on the other hand was up later than normal when she went outside to return her cleaning supplies to their proper place, and by his side was Onee-sama. He seemed to be working on something new, something that wasn't related to his prosthetics, exactly what she had no idea, just like with Harlaown-sama. What she did know from sitting down on the porch and watching both Onee-sama and Chrono-san from a distance was that both got along rather well, somewhat like how Shinobu-san and Onii-sama got along.
Whatever it was Chrono-san was working on, it didn't need Onee-sama's help, seeing as she was just watching him put 'it' together with slight bits of wonder on her face, and it needed only his workbench, right now at least. For a moment she wondered what it was before giving up just as quickly, Chrono-san was a smith, one that made parts and pieces that fit together in numerous ways, she'd never figure out what it was he was working on unless she saw it.
It was rather nice, seeing Onee-sama with someone that enjoyed her presence as well as her being happy… probably. Onee-sama wasn't that good with expressing things, even compared to her.
Then, without any prior warning, Chrono-san just passed out and started sleeping, laid out on a work table. Onee-sama looked over at him, her smile softening somehow past her normal gentle look before she walked over to her dojo, stepping into the building for barely a few seconds before coming back out with a bundle of cloth in her hands. With an equal gentleness as the expression on her face, she glided across the grass back to Chrono-san, moved behind him, and proceeded to drape him in the cloth like a makeshift blanket.
Standing up fully from her place beside him, Onee-sama reached over to whatever he had been working on and picked it up in her hands. For a long moment Onee-sama just stared down at the object, before she gingerly placed it back down on the table. Turning around, Onee-sama found her watching with interest, Onee-sama's smile turning back to just normal gentle as she noticed her before walking across the yard to her side.
With grace that was expected of her, Onee-sama sat down on the porch's edge, humming once as she looked over at Onee-sama with a questioning look that was ignored for the moment as her sister simply watched Chrono-san's sleeping form. In a quiet voice Onee-sama spoke, happy yet confused, "Chrono-san is making me a trinket for helping him. I don't understand why."
Onee-sama tilted her head to the side and closed her eyes, thinking for a moment before her face narrowed in concentration until she shook her head slowly. Her own questioning look subsided in the face of Onee-sama's confusion and seeming uncertainty… it wasn't a look that fit with Onee-sama, so without hesitation, she thought for a moment before coming to a conclusion that seemed correct to her. "Maybe it's because Chrono-san likes you, Onee-sama?"
For a moment, Onee-sama seemed to consider that reason, thinking over it before shaking her head despondently. "No, no. Nobody likes me."
… That wasn't true. Just here in their family, she liked Onee-sama, Onii-sama liked Onee-sama, even Otou-sama did, though he had his own way of showing. She wasn't about to voice that out loud though, since Onee-sama wouldn't even bother to acknowledge what she said, probably saying that they didn't count or something else in that manner. So instead, she just sat there, sharing a moment of peace with Onee-sama as she tried to figure out why Chrono-san was making the trinket for here.
Time passed and Onee-sama stopped listing options to herself, a gentle smile came unbidden to her face when she looked over and saw Onee-sama leaning against a post, lightly breathing in her sleep. Quietly, she rose from the porch, taking care to step back up onto the wood without a sound and move into the dojo, looking around quickly before finding what she needed and collecting it.
Just as quietly and with a bit of care, she returned back outside with a sheet of cloth in hand, and wrapped it around Onee-sama, just like Onee-chan had done to Chrono-san. And with that action done, she walked towards the gate of the compound, crossing the grass between the buildings before passing onto the weathered stone near the gate. Through the gate and into the city, where she'd wait for any of the 'Wolkenritter' to arrive before she'd start fighting. Hopefully the Hamm-
"Nanoha." Her thoughts and body stopped in sync at the low voice behind her, before she turned around with a normal smile plastered across her face, looking through the starlit night back at her home to find Otou-sama standing there in the doorway… He looked tired, not physically but… Anyway, she turned completely to face him, tilting her head in question before he continued in a voice that matched the way he looked. "Come with me. Please."
… She tilted her head further in confusion just as Otou-sama walked off… Otou-sama never said please, so whatever it was, it was bound to be extremely important to him. Confusion remained as she moved her head back to normal and followed after him into the hallways… he was moving slowly, which wasn't normal and caused what she assumed was concern to cross into her head. A short walk led them not to Otou-sama's room, but to a room she'd never been in, one that had a metal door instead of the wood every other one had, which Otou-sama opened with a key she'd never seen.
The room beyond the door was… different.
Unlike every other part of the house, each surface of the room was covered in metal, and every part of the room itself lined with shelves filled to the brim with old scrolls and books, organized to an exacting degree from what little she saw as they passed. It was like seeing the room in a library or museum that no one was allowed in that contained all the original works.
Yet, what caught her eye most was the single scroll, far older and worn than the rest, at the other end of the rather small room all alone, propped to look as if it was the most important thing among all others. Given that she felt familiarity from it, which was strange in itself, and from none of the others, she figured that it was the most important piece of literature there. Otou-sama ignoring everything other than that scroll only reinforced the thought.
While she felt interest in the rest of the literature around her, she kept focused on Otou-sama and the solitary scroll, walking with him up to the wooden pedestal the scroll sat on and watching as he gingerly took hold of the worn paper. With weariness in his movements, Otou-sama turned and looked down at her, not saying anything for a moment before turning his head minutely to address the scroll. "Nanoha… the other branches will arrive at the end of the month. They'll be coming to see and acknowledge you as the next clan head."
A pause sounded, in which she nodded her head in acknowledgement and nothing more, she'd rather not interrupt Otou-sama, not when he was talking about clan 'politics', if it could be called that. She'd never met anyone from the other two branches, the last time anyone from the other branches came here was sometime after she was born supposedly.
She was getting off track now, and if it weren't for those thoughts being very short, she'd likely have missed Otou-sama's next words, muttered as he turned back to the scroll. "The Takamachi have been without a proper head for years." She didn't make a single sound as she took a step forward, listening intently to Otou-sama even as her gaze moved to fixate on the scroll fully… it was strange to feel attracted to something she'd never seen before.
Otou-sama continued speaking, his voice unchanged from what it had been since he first called her to follow, gesturing to the piece of literature with a deliberate hand. "This scroll is for the clan head, and only the clan head. I have no idea what is in it, though I have my guess, but it belongs to you, and whoever comes after you, Nanoha." With that, Otou-sama lowered his arm, turning about and moving past her before stopping just after he passed by her, giving one last comment and pressing the key into her hand with a single movement of his hand.
"Whatever happens, know both I and your Kaa-san love you. No matter what you do or become."
And with that, he made his way out of the strange room and back into the house proper, likely to go to bed or something else, leaving her alone with what was apparently her 'birthright' or something in that sense. For a long moment she just stood there, still intently staring at the scroll before looking down as her hand brought up the key, a simple, unadorned piece of iron, another moment passing before she looked back at the scroll and pocketed the key.
A step forward, followed by two more brought her to the lone scroll, a hand reaching out and prying it from its pedestal before she beheld it… It felt familiar, so very familiar, from the feel of the parchment on her hands, to the faint smell of age it had on it… yet she'd never once seen it before tonight. It was strange and somewhat concerning that it felt like that, but she brushed aside any worry she'd make and focused on the object causing it. Her other hand came about and opened the scroll just enough to see the first portion, eyes widening in surprise at its contents before uttering two words found within.
"… Sasaki. Kojirō."
There was no reason to take the scroll outside the room, not when she was planning to leave the moment she looked at it once. So it was left there, waiting for her to come back and learn its great secret when she returned.
She took a few minutes to go back through the house and to the grass outside to check on Onee-sama and Chrono-san, finding them sleeping peacefully in their respective spots with only minor shuffling having happened, moving both of their blankets to cover themselves better. With only one look back and a gentle smile, she walked to the gate of the compound before strolling down the road to the city below.
Her walk came to a stop once she was a ways away from home, a platform made under her that took her into the sky with a simple burst of mana. Idly her mind wandered as she strolled along her platform, then off onto another without a break in stride, the thoughts slowly darkening her mood and causing her to grip Okaa-sama's sword by its handle to the point her hand ached.
She'd carve apart the Hammer-Knight, carve Okaa-sama's blade into her skin and mar her flesh, then it could be placed with Okaa-sama when they took her corpse to the ancestral graveyard.
Shaking her head lightly to return herself to reality while loosening her grip on Okaa-sama's sword, she sped herself up until she was within the city itself, staying out of sight as much as possible while observing the ground below. The night was still alive, people moving through the streets to places she could only guess, vehicles passing by in near silence… it was best not to be noticed by normal people, too many questions to answer.
Her journey came to an end as she felt a familiar pulse of mana, her demeanor falling apart completely to be replaced with a blank mask as she came to a stop atop a random building of concrete and glass. With a miniscule movement of her arm her own sword came out of her sleeve and into her waiting hand, a flick of her hand bringing it to its full length.
And with that she waited for her foe to arrive, standing proud and in the open as the inevitable barrier came forward. With barely any thought given to it, her blade scraped against the rooftop as she started to pace about, growing increasingly tense as time passed and none of the Knights appeared.
Stopping for a moment as her instincts flared up alongside a trio of Ablenkschutz manifesting around her, her gaze turning up as something screeched against the mana before plowing into the building. Hammer-Knight's scowling face met her own, rage quickly setting in behind her features as she glared upwards, though she didn't do anything more as the girl sent a volley of shots at her again.
Just like before, her shields came about from Razing Heart's intervention, sending them straight into the crumbling roof around her, a platform made under her in the case of it failing even as her instincts continued to warn her of something. With a quickness gained through repetition, her free hand snatched Razing Heart from her neck and socketed her jewel into the blade, her Jacket made shortly after just as the roof crumbled and her instincts flared again.
No shots from the Hammer-Knight were sent through the midst of the dust cloud made by the collapsing roof, instead she strengthened her skin with the second endurance augment she'd made. "Eisenmauer." Razing Heart intoned the single word right as something impacted against her head, whatever it was having enough force to knock her head back and make her stumble, but little else.
Her gaze moved to where the attack came from, even as her body moved to slash through the settling dust at the new enemy, the blade hitting something else with a clang before a masculine grunt sounded in front of her. "Großer Einfluss." It was overkill. But she didn't care.
More force was put into the swing, and with a startled noise, whatever had hit her was sent flying with several audible cracks spearing through the cloud, just before the augment was turned off, too much mana put into a single part of the body for an extended time ended poorly. A crash sounded further ahead, and as the final bits of dust settled she saw the Wolf-man briefly flying before she found herself smashed through the platform and battered roof by a hammer.
Two floors she was sent through before impacting into the third and rolling away just before a metal sphere smashed through the cratered floor to the lower levels, leaving her unharmed for the most part. Not even a concussion from being hit in the head, surprising but helpful since it allowed her to concentrate, Eisenmauer was a worthwhile investment in making for this fight.
Her thoughts quickly came to a halt as she exploded a platform under her, sending her through the concrete wall rather than the hole as her opponents would likely expect and onto another waiting platform that sent her higher into the air, alongside a taller building. Quickly looking around, she found one of her foes standing above the hole, the Hammer-Knight holding three spheres between her fingers, though she didn't see the Wolf-man.
Mana flooded her legs for a moment before she pushed off the building, sending her rocketing back at the girl as mana coursed along her blade the moment she pulled it back. As she crossed the distance, the other girl sent her projectiles flying at her, a shield manifesting for each bullet to deflect them without a second thought. Her blade lashed out just before she reached the other girl, seemingly missing and letting the knight's hammer sail towards her unimpeded.
Not every attack is a slash though, something the Knight forgot for the brief moment between her reaching them.
With a lunge her sword speared through the girl's right shoulder, crippling the hammer's blow greatly and causing the girl to cry in pain. A second later had her body ram into the girl, sending both of them back into the building… or rather, just the girl as she had the side of her head hit unexpectedly, sending her flying away with her bloody blade still trapped in the Knight's shoulder.
A terrible crash sounded below as she stood back up, seemingly not fazed in the least by the blow as she dusted off her kimono before looking back at the heavily-breathing Wolf-man, with the man tensing further into his stance at her casual dismissal of his attack. Of course it was mostly just an act, her vision swam briefly as what was most likely a concussion settled down, the man probably putting in more power than before now that she had Eisenmauer up.
It wouldn't be up for much longer. Putting one foe down was more important than staying safe, and remaining alive wasn't much of a concern. They were 'pulling their punches' as Onii-sama would call it, that last punch was enough proof.
Eisenmauer was dropped, replaced with both her higher-level speed and strength augments, though not the best ones, no sound made to indicate the change before she pushed off and closed the distance. For a brief moment before she started, she saw the man's eyes widen minutely before trying to punch her, something she ducked under before rising and striking him straight in the chest.
She had to give that despite her current strength, the man was tough since he didn't go flying, only giving a pained grunt and closing his eyes before trying to deliver a return blow to her. She ducked under it as well, though doing so made it impossible to dodge the following kick… so she did the next best thing and punched his leg.
It… worked. Somewhat.
Wolf-man was sent off-balance while most of her arm broke on impact, the folly of being without Eisenmauer in this situation, on top of being sent flying back into and through the edge of the rooftop and into the air above the street. She was given no time to catch herself before a second crash came from the ruined building a shout drowned out by rocket engines, a quick look finding the Hammer-Knight spinning erratically with her hammer turned into a rocket again.
Mana flooded her body even more than it had, what her speed spell replaced with Eisenmauer as her right arm reared back, even more mana concentrated in the limb. And just like the first time they fought, as the Knight came barreling at her, she caught the drill-head, 'upgrading' Eisenmauer to its highest form before they both crashed into the building behind her.
She didn't bother focusing on the girl's face, the emotion that was there would almost certainly be one of determination, instead she focused on the wound she made earlier. There was blood still running from it, but it wasn't a debilitating wound, just one that would impede the Knight slightly. There wasn't any feeling in her arm, despite the rocket-hammer embedding itself in it and started spraying blood around and on them, even as her arm tore itself apart from the inside out.
After they came to a dead stop against a ceiling, she finally heard the Knight speak for the first time since they started, yelling over the rocket. "Break Damnit!" Engines flared with an angry roar in response to those words, and she felt actual pressure being applied to her arm for a moment, her response being only to send more mana to her arm, despite the obvious implications to that, and raised her other arm behind her.
"BREAK YOU DAMN BITCH!"
No. She would not break.
Her fist collided with the other girl straight in the same shoulder she'd stabbed just a while ago, she heard a break through the rocket's declining roar, before the engine simply sputtered out and was wrenched out of her hand. The moment the hammer was removed she shut off every augment in her right arm, mostly because the arm was useless now and she'd waste mana keeping those up, and her mana was starting to get low after the usage of her biggest augments.
Still, being without one arm was fine. She still had another one to fight with, and Razing Heart wou-
… That needed to be addressed now, before she lost herself in the fight again.
The Knight was admirably still in front of her as she made a platform between her and the ceiling before detonating it, the girl clutching at her shoulder with a pain look before looking back at the noise. For a brief moment panic appeared in her eyes, and the Hammer-Knight brought up a shield to try and defend herself, the shield holding for a few seconds on the first strike before it shattered with its course unaltered.
Her foe was aware enough at least that she had started to flee the moment her shield arrived, so by the time it shattered into mana, she was already halfway through the holes left in their wake. Unfortunately for the Knight, all it took was another explosion from a platform to get back her lost speed, which led her to snatching the back of the other girl's head and dragging her out with her.
Out one building, only to ram into the first with all the force of a wrecking ball, cratering and breaking the metal, glass and concrete making up the lower level. While without a doubt a heavy hit, it wouldn't kill the Knight… she'd taken too many hits before to die just from that, but she needed to get her sword back in order to fight properly.
That didn't mean she was finished just yet with the Knight.
She couldn't move her right arm, meaning she had to let go of the girl in order to draw Okaa-sama's sword, though aside from a pained gasp, some blood seeping through the rubble and a slight shifting of the girl's body, the Hammer-Knight didn't move as she let go. With quick motion Okaa-sama's sword was drawn, and without any hesitation she reversed the weapon and plunged it into the center of the girl's back.
A scream of pain came unbidden as she twisted the blade, before wrenching it out, a breath taken before she turned and made her way up with help from her platforms. She didn't look back as the Wolf-man barreled towards her with what looked like rage on his face, another detonating platform sending her through the glass of the building, hopefully where her sword was.
The Wolf-man followed her seemingly without a thought given, leading her to abandon her search before she even started, leaving her full of annoyance as she turned back to him. A triangle of white mana appeared in front of the man without warning, the man yelling angrily just as the magic triangle shot numerous white beams at her. "Steel Yoke!"
Before she even had a chance to prepare for the beams several shot up from the ground and impaled her through her body, though strangely it didn't cause any blood to appear, in addition to no pain whatsoever being caused. What it did do was raise her off the ground and unbalance her, making the rest of the beams ram into her with all the force she did against the Hammer-Knight, and, while not painful in the slightest, sent her flying through the wall behind her and embedded her into another wall.
He came charging without any delay, her eyes taking in the room and ceiling before finding what she had been looking for. Then came painless punch, after painless punch, after painless punch, though she heard every bone hit break on contact with the man hitting her. It stopped just as quickly as it started, though he was smart enough to jump back rather than stay near her, getting ready for anything she might do.
It was smart, but it didn't mean it was a good idea. He should have continued committing until she was dead.
She heard the whispers coming from Razing Heart in her head, and from the momentary lull she saw them amidst the rubble, both Razing Heart and her sword. Her head lulled to the side as her smile slowly worked its way back onto her face, unnerving the man as she started to giggle. "Die Nummer ist auf Neunundsechzig eingestellt. Eins wird subtrahiert, die Zahl wird auf achtundsechzig gesetzt." Razing Heart's voice rang pleasantly through the air, the Wolf-man startling at the noise before stilling and watching as her body reknit itself before his eyes.
He hadn't seen it before, only the Hammer-Knight had… it was natural to stare in fascination… or horror at what she did with Razing Heart's help.
"My Seraph." Her head twisted to look over at her sword, the beams holding her in place 'groaning' as she twisted her body, before completely snapping without warning and releasing her. Aside from looking at Razing Heart and her sword though she didn't say anything, her bones making little cracks of noise as she took a few steps and reached her blade. "You are in a better mood now. Did something happen while you were away?"
Her smile was gentle and happy as she grasped her blade, something that felt nice to her after the last two battles of just a blank look… She shook her head as she stood back up turned her head back to the still-tense Wolf-man, before humming. "I stabbed the Hammer Knight in the spine. It felt nice." There was soft laughter coming from Razing Heart, quickly fading away into silence as she turned fully back to the man, her head tilting to the side at his actions.
"Aren't you going to attack me?" Her voice startled the Wolf-man, just enough to be noticeable and nothing more, the man quickly returning to his stance without saying a word, seemingly as if to guard against her rather than fight her… Wait, wasn't the third of their number a healer?
…
Her smile dimmed slightly while her eyes narrowed, that would explain why he looked uninjured despite the beating she had given him barely a few minutes ago… which also meant the healer was treating the Hammer-Knight right now. Abruptly her sword burst into pink flame, moments before she stabbed the floor and unleashed the rampant mana.
Exploding the ground was simple enough, the debris wasn't much of an issue with Eisenmauer active, so without a second thought she leapt through the dust and into the hole, and then immediately stopped and turned. Cruelty gleamed in her smile as she brought her blade back, before swinging the moment she saw something coming through the cloud.
A grunt of pain cut through the crumbling rubble and dust, before Razing Heart announced the next spell's name with glee. "Sprengenklinge!" Flames ignited further for a brief moment before a deafening explosion sent the Wolf-man flying, her smile returning to normal as she dropped to the floor and heard a crash from the direction she sent him in.
With that done, she turned back in the direction she'd been going and ran to the wall, putting her augments for endurance and strength on before ramming though the wall in a shower of debris and dust. Immediately a platform formed under her, which she managed to land on with some grace before looking back at the building she'd exited, searching up without luck before moving down and finding the crater she'd made… and the Hammer-Knight and Healer there.
Her smile didn't drop again at the scene, it just twitched before she settled for just launching herself forward and falling towards the two.
They saw her of course, it was hard not to when her method of flight was loud when she was going fast along with her being the middle of the air, and the Healer quit whatever it was she was doing and started to run off while the Hammer-Knight got ready. Her feet touched another platform, immediately beginning to slide down it, twisting her sword around in her hand quickly to where it was held in reverse as she did.
With a single movement of rearing her hand back, she first had the sword burst into pink flames again before throwing it like a spear at the Hammer-Knight.
The Knight reacted as any normal person would have, bringing up a shield to block the flaming projectile after a moment of short-lived surprise. That shield barely protected the girl, since fire-aligned was especially good at breaking apart defenses, though weren't good for much else, the entire sword impaling through the now-cracked shield and barely missing the Knight's head.
It gave out when she rammed into her blade shoulder-first, shattering the mana into pieces and sending the Knight stumbling through the air for a moment, her blade quickly caught before it went sailing somewhere else. Before the Knight had a chance to catch herself, she detonated a hastily-made platform that sent her at the girl, her free hand grabbing the girl by the face and dragging the Knight along with her.
She opted to do what had taken the girl out in the first place… except on a slightly… bigger piece of construction, 'flying' into a piece of the highway running through the city while putting- "Mächtige Einfluss" on.
Slamming into the pavement sent a jolt through her body, though it had it had to be far worse for the Hammer-Knight since she had been used to carve a trench into the highway. Not like it'd kill her though, this was too weak to kill her after all the damage she'd already done after all the fights.
The trench lasted for several seconds more before it was ended prematurely by a fist smashing into her face, her head snapping back before her body followed soon after, sending her away from the Hammer-Knight. "… Oww…" Low groaning quietly came out as she slid to a stop, sword finally ceasing its scraping against the concrete as she did, it didn't really hurt too much, but it would leave an ache for a while.
Bones cracked in discomfort as she stood up, she stopped making noise, immediately noticing the Wolf-man standing in front of the Hammer-Knight as the latter struggled to get out of the trench, coughing and spitting of blood. She had really done a number on her… that was… surprising honestly.
Nothing happened between them, the Hammer-Knight struggled to get up, Wolf-man stood ready to defend the Knight, and she herself stood there, stretching to remove the kinks and a few of the sores accumulated throughout this fight. Verdant colors in her periphery drew her eyes to the sky, watching as the Healer worriedly descended and manifested out a Belkan 'circle' in front of her, green light covering the Hammer-Knight.
Slowly, and likely with a lot of pain, the youngest of the three here drew herself to her knees, hammer bracing herself from falling back down as a pained cough wracked her body. It didn't last long, but it affected what the girl directed at her, and made her strain to hear what she had to say.
"Who… the hell… are… you?!"
Her head tilted in response to the question, it was similar to the question asked when they first met but worded just differently enough to warrant a different answer. So with that in mind, the moment she pulled her sword out of her chest, she gave her reply to the Hammer-Knight, words devoid of both amusement and sarcasm. "I'm no one important."
Silence stood alone for a few moments as they seemingly tried to comprehend what she had said… which was strange since it wasn't that hard to understand. She wasn't important to them and she never would be, she wasn't even important period until the year ended, and even then that was only to her family. So again, she wasn't anyone important, and it wasn't like she was going to name herself to them when they never gave her that courtesy.
They didn't take her words well though, well Hammer-Knight didn't anyway, it was hard to tell when the Healer wasn't anywhere she could see, and the Wolf-man rarely changed expressions. Either way, the Hammer-Knight didn't take it well, and instantly went into a tirade she didn't care about, she still listened since it was aimed at her, but it wasn't interesting in the least. "Not Important!? You beat the shit out of me and Zafira, and have higher mana reserves than the crazy woman with a teacup-hammer, then claim not to be impor-"
It came without a single warning.
One moment she was listening to the Hammer-Knight with disinterest, the next there was a blinding pain in her left eye, her body stumbling back while her head instinctively bowed, almost bring her hand to claw at the eye before she got a hold of herself. Her right hand quickly moved to her eye and felt what had caused it… something metal, thin and long was embedded in her face, causing her to bleed and lose her sight.
Faintly she heard the Healer shout at something, while the other two remained silent, though didn't do anything, "Signum! What are you doing? We need her alive for her Linker Core or el-!" Forcefully she gripped the projectile in her eye by the metal, and with a single jerk tore it, and what remained of her eye, out. Her breath hitched as large amounts of pain assaulted her head, making her release the bloody arrow in her hand, the metal projectile clattering against the concrete loudly before she looked up with a single baleful eye.
Whatever else would have been said after the Healer started never came as they found themselves under her glare, her sword coming up to point at the older of the two women, atop a random building far away from the rest of them. She could barely make her out, especially with only a single eye, but she still saw the Hammer-Knight and Wolf-man backing away in the corners of her vision.
"Commen-" "No." Her voice cut through Razing Heart's own, were the Device able to look at her with her human form, she'd almost certainly be looking at her with confusion. Her sword lowered minutely as the two combatants near her tensed and got ready yet again to fight, her voice continuing as she started walking forward. "I only need one eye to fight. Wait until I'm blind or severely wounded."
There was silence for a moment before Razing Heart replied, no emotion at all in her robotic voice. "There will be consequences if you keep it unhealed, Seraph." Her own reply came quicker, yet was just the same as Razing Heart's own, practically lifeless as she looked down at the jewel for a moment. "All things have consequences. Even your healing." Her body tensed in preparation, a platform behind her waiting, and then came Razing Heart's reply.
"… Understood, my Seraph."
With that reply ended her attention returned to her foes, spread out with the healer no where to be seen… A hollow clang echoed through the empty city as another arrow collided with her shoulder, the projectile not piercing through her skin with Stahlmauer active for the brief time that the arrow was noticed.
Immediately she took the spell down, if she didn't her shoulder would probably implode on itself again. Once more, she heard the Healer speak, asking the same question the Hammer-Knight had asked the night they had met one another, fright and nervousness palpable in her voice. "What… What are you?"
"I'm just a Monster, no one important. None of you… are my Hero." A sigh left her lips upon her saying that… it was getting both annoying and tiring to continue answering what she was… It really, really was.
She's just have to tune them out from now on, so she could enjoy herself, and fight without any distractions… a shame that they weren't actually calling out to one another… maybe they were doing something like Yuuno-san did back when they were gathering the Jewel Seeds?
Either way, the battle resumed as her platform detonated behind her and sent her straight at the Healer.
Nock the arrow, pull the string back, start to aim where the target was…
Crashing in the distance, a building smoking as she watched with mechanical detachment. Then Vita's voice called yet again through the link they had with one another. "LEFT LEFT LEFT! She's going through the building! Hol-" Another crash sounded just as Vita cut out, followed by yet another crash as the new Seraph did something to Vita.
Vita's voice shouldn't have been affected by whatever had just happened, strange that her next words were said weakly with pain evident. "Why am I the one that gets the short end of the stick?" She didn't reply, nor did either of the other two focused as everyone was, Seraph's were difficult to put down, even one as young and wingless as this one.
String taut, aim lower to compensate, release the arrow.
"Whe-" Her arrow flew, true and emotionless as always, straight into the Seraph. High-pitched clangs rang out from the contact between the Seraph and her projectile, just like before. This time however, she had put more force behind the arrow, and evens occurred naturally in the arrow's favor, taking the Seraph with it.
Form the arrow, nock the arrow, pause.
In the distance she felt them coming, two signatures breaching the barrier with relative ease. "The Admiral and her child are approaching." Cold words echoed through the link the Wolkenritter shared, the three pausing momentarily as the statement set in before Vita started raging.
"DAMN IT!" She didn't wince at the volume, though her mouth dipped slightly in annoyance at it, Vita continuing in her anger to vent even as she moved after the Seraph. "We finally get one person all alone, that doesn't bolt like a hare and two more show up to intrude! Why!? Why the Hell do we have the worst damn luck!?"
"Before either Shamal or Zafira could respond she cut in, silencing whatever they would say and dousing the haze of anger Vita was in. "I will deal with those two personally when they arrive. The three of you will take care of the girl." Their moment of silence was quickly interrupted by the wall Zafira was beside breaking apart, shrapnel flying outward barely dodged by the second youngest of them.
Aim for the target, compensate for distance. Pour mana into the arrow.
Unfortunate that the Seraph was right behind the rock and sent the Guardian Beast flying into the building opposite from her with a punch. Fortunate, for she revealed herself for another arrow.
"Sturmfalcon." Laevatein said nothing in response to her whisper, yet lit the arrow in flame.
Release the arrow and watch it soar.
The girl turned just in time to witness the arrow, one of her shields manifesting quickly into existence only to fall before the phoenix's wrath. Without any resistance the spell ripped through he girl's chest, taking the heart and assuredly both lungs as well, before continuing forward to pierce building after building in its path until it impacted the ground.
"Signum? Are you sure that's a good idea? Not to say I doubt you but there's two of them and only one of you." Shamal's concern was refreshing, but misplaced. Her main hand gripped the top half of the bow before ripping it off in one smooth motion, untold amounts of time making it as simple as breathing, with both halves turning back into their normal forms.
Sheathing the blade back into its container without a single though, she watched as the Seraph started its cursed rejuvenation, organs regrowing quickly before bone, muscle, skin and clothing followed. Even the eye came back, but that was expected, a shame it would fail eventually, faster than the other. A Seraph with only one working eye was less of a challenge than one with two.
A moment of silence spent watching the girl reform passed before she answered the youngest Wolkenritter. "My blade may not have been used in the years since our last Master, but it is not dull yet. I worry more for you three fighting the Seraph than myself fighting those two." Her heart may have grown cold over the long years spent in their Masters' service, but she still held some attachment to her siblings.
"I will deal with them quickly. Simply survive the Seraph in the meantime."
There was a hesitant acknowledgement from Shamal, a pained one from Zafira, and nothing from Vita. Vita made sense since she just rammed her hammer straight into the Seraph's head, sending her rocketing into the ground. Without another word she turned, walked a step before leaping into the air, catching herself with flight before speeding off towards Lindy and Chrono.
This would be yet another sin added to her. Knight of Betrayal was much more apt a title than Knight of the Burning Sky was considering her history and the people she had served.
Beyond that thought, nothing assailed her beyond the distant sounds of the battle and Vita cursing as she flew towards her friend. Just before reaching them, she landed on top of one of a skyscraper and waited, rewarded near instantly with Lindy alighting onto the rooftop with her hammer lazily thrown onto her shoulders and Chrono hovering a bit behind his mother, stave at the ready for anything.
Naïve to think he would make any difference in this fight considering how young he was, brave to come to a fight despite knowing that. Fortunate for him, she wouldn't harm him physically.
Lindy wasted no time in speaking, voice humming and light despite the circumstances, even if she started with a drawn-out sigh. "I just went to sleep Signum. I know you four are desperate and all, but couldn't you have waited for me to get even a few hours of sleep before trying to beat Nanoha up?" Amusement didn't make its way into her body at Lindy's antics, the woman was dangerous even if slightly tired.
It didn't mean she stood a chance though, there was too much of a gap between them, simply because of experience of years. Even in her weakened state that was the case.
Another sigh came from Lindy when she didn't react at all, hammer slung off her shoulders to rest at her side, humming slowly ending as she did. The hammer lifted to point at her before bursting into flame at two mechanical words, a sad smile in place on Lindy's face as she spoke their last civil words. "It was nice to see you again, Signum."
She merely nodded in reply, before bringing her sheathe up in front of her. Yet another betrayal added to countless others… it wore at one's soul to remember each and every one. It was the price paid for memory of all the good times of the Wolkenritter and their Masters.
Her other hand rose to grip Laevatein before pulling it from its sheathe with sullen finality. No noise came from her Device, empty as it was after sharing her pain for so long and finally asking her to cease. She complied, he had suffered too much like herself.
For her Master, any betrayal save one was worth performing.
Father comfort her Soul.