Disclaimer: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha belongs to Seven Arcs and all respective license holders. The Persona Series belongs to ATLUS. I only own this fic and nothing else. I also own all the mistakes too.
Chapter 9: Deals with the Devil
"Think it over, huh?" Ren repeated what Lindy asked of him earlier that day. He and the rest of the gang were back on Haru's yacht, in their civilian clothes. Nanoha and Yuuno had gone back to her own home, saying that she wanted to talk to her parents about something. They said their goodbyes, planned to meet a little later, and then headed off.
He looked out into the black sea as he leaned against the railing. Night had already fallen and Uminari, for all its size, was still a very quiet city. The only thing that he could hear was the creaking of the ship as the waves ebbed and flowed against it. He was alone. After an event akin to First Contact, he thought everyone needed a bit of a break to recoup so he ordered them to just kill some time until they were to meet and discuss what to do.
He forgot what it was like to be truly alone. For the past year and then some, he'd always been accompanied by someone. Whether that was Morgana or whoever else, he'd never actually just simply been by himself. Even when he'd come back to Uminari, Morgana was there by his side and it wasn't like he couldn't talk to his friends either. Whether it was the thieves or some of his other friends, he'd always talked to someone. It'd been a while since he'd heard true silence. Looking at the lights in the rest of the yacht, he wondered what everyone else was doing right now.
-0-0-9-0-0-
"Argh, you're kidding!" Ryuji fell onto his back, frustrated at having lost. He groaned as he hit the floor, kicking up cards as he made impact. Luckily the three of them, Ryuji, Yusuke, and Morgana, were all sitting on the floor of the room assigned to the guys, so it wasn't a precarious fall; more a comical one.
"I mean what did you expect? You're like an open book and that makes you easy to beat, whether that's cards or battle," Mona said, still in his Mementos form. "You're lucky you wear a mask when we're fighting."
"You sure this is the first time you've played?" Ryuji complained as he got back up.
"I mean it's not the first time I've seen it. I've seen you guys play this before, only now I have the hands to actually hold the cards," Mona explained as he licked himself clean.
"Did you always want to join us?" Yusuke asked as he picked up the cards that were scattered about; his matched pairs in neat piles, Mona's in haphazard but well partitioned piles, and Ryuji's now flung cards.
"N-no, just now that I have the chance, I thought it would be fun to try it just once."
"Right… well I'm not in the mood to play anymore anyways. Not that I was really in the mood to begin with…" Ryuji at least picked up the cards that he scattered, handing them to Yusuke.
"I suppose with a decision of sorts looming over us, it would be difficult to try and have fun in such a capacity," Yusuke admitted as he finished picking up the scattered cards and setting the deck aside on a nearby table so that no one could knock if over later. He'd be the one most likely to pick the cards up again in that circumstance. "I know we are going to decide later, however what do the two you think might be the best course of action?"
"I'll go with whatever Ren decides," Mona answered. "I mean it's not like either choice is bad. Neither are they without their downsides. If we accept, we'll get their resources and man power to take care of this as soon as possible."
"On the other hand, we cannot be sure that they are not hiding something beneath a veneer of decency. I'm sure all of us are aware of the dark depths such facades can hide." Yusuke's hands tightened together as he sat on the nearby bed. "We also aren't aware of the greater society of the TSAB at hand. They may very well be a tyranny disguising themselves with charity to those not fully understanding of their world."
"I get that but, honestly they didn't seem too bad… I mean, they had kids our age and younger on board. They didn't look like they were being forced to be there or anything like that. I mean sure maybe their child labor laws are different, but a mom working with her kid can't be all bad," Ryuji argued.
"Or perhaps it's just a ruse to make us work with them. After all, who's to say they won't just use the Jewel Seeds themselves after this is all over," Mona added as he put the finishing touches on his self-grooming.
"Right… and if that's the case then we as the Phantom Thieves can't let them get away with that." Ryuji brought his hands together, fist to palm.
"Of course, that's only if the TSAB really is a group of scoundrels," Yusuke pointed out. "We don't have any definitive proof that the TSAB are truly good or truly evil one way or the other."
"So, it seems we're at an impasse then…" Mona frowned as he said as such.
"Dammit! I miss when we had the app, then we could know for sure if the person we were dealing with was legit or not." Ryuji practically groaned out the words as he slumped forward in defeat.
"Ryuji, that wasn't exactly how the app worked," Morgana had to point out.
"I mean close enough, it told us that something was wrong with them at least! Now we're just going to have to dive in and hope for the best…" Ryuji groaned in frustration after clarifying his point. "I'm heading to the bathroom. I'll be right back." He got up and headed to the door. The Yacht didn't have bedrooms with dedicated bathrooms.
"Later, Ryuji."
"Be safe."
"Yusuke, it's just the bathroom. Anyways, Later." Ryuji shut the door on the way out, leaving the two behind. The room fell in to a natural silence.
-0-0-9-0-0-
"Wait, you what!?" Ann, Makoto, and Ann screamed in unison. They along with Futaba were sitting around in the main salon, discussing how they were going to proceed, at least until Futaba casually mentioned what she was doing on the Arthra.
"Ren asked me to, and I was more than happy to oblige." Futaba continued to type away at her computer as she sat cross legged on the seat. "I mean given all the noise he was making in the training room, it was easy to hack my way in, especially when that Amy girl had all her passwords in a file right on her desktop. It wasn't even hidden in a folder or encrypted. Talk about sloppy, easy pickings."
"But, I mean how? Aren't there like language barriers? How did you even get their files? They can't have USBs or stuff," Ann asked, still just floored that this was even happening.
"Sent it to my email, then deleted the history of the system ever having done so. Their systems are pretty fast, so it didn't take long to zip and send. Also, programming languages are primarily in English anyways, so I already have experience needing to learn a different language. Though to be honest, Prometheus is making this easier for me," Futaba admitted. Even she couldn't, with her skills alone, hack into an alien system, especially a military one, despite her prior experience getting into such things on Earth. "I probably wouldn't have been able to make much headway without him."
"I suppose we probably shouldn't tell Lindy-san and her team. It would damage any possible relations if we were to mention to them." Makoto basically gave up at this point, seeing as Futaba had already begun making her way into the system and plundering anything she could find.
"So, when were you two going to tell us about this?" Haru asked before Makoto could.
"Well, Ren hasn't gotten back to me on it. He probably wants to bring it up with the whole group later when we're all together." The other girls accepted Futaba's explanation. It made a decent amount of sense that he would like to break the news when they were going to be discussing things.
"Well what have you found so far?"
"Well just a bunch of data, I'm still trying to slip past a couple of protections that Amy's clearance can't… You're kidding? No database injection protection? How incompetent can you get?"
"What?" Ann asked for the sake of everyone else in the room.
"No, just decided to try a stupid method to get in that somehow worked. Literally everything else was getting blocked but the simple, easy way, that should be one of the first things patched up… worked. So much for advanced alien tech. Poor security practices are universal I guess."
"Okay, but what does that mean practically? Are you in?" Haru asked.
"In their deepest systems yeah. It'll still take just a bit to find anything useful inside here, at least for us, but I've pretty much got free reign." Futaba cracked her knuckles as she readied herself to dive further into the Arthra's files.
"Well what have you found so far?" Makoto was curious if anything useful had already been uncovered. The deepest systems in the Arthra couldn't be the only place that housed information they could use.
"A lot of simple specs, personnel dossiers, payrolls, military protocol, history of their society, magic database, terminologies, and so on. Curiously enough also, a lot of Japanese anime in Lindy's personal systems… Pretty classic stuff too actually. Ooh! Majokko Tickle!"
"We could probably make use of some of the latter information," Ann noted. "Knowing what their history and military protocol is like could tell us how they'll act going forward. Not the anime though… how does she even have that?" Futaba only shrugged.
"Anime aside, it'd be useful in determining if we really do want to work with them. They might be able to lie to us, but I doubt they'd have the foresight to deliberately forge false information into their historical records, assuming it isn't just propaganda." Haru added. "History is a great determinant for the future after all. At least that's what I've learned when it comes to making business deals."
"Right you will have to do those in the future… Anyways Futaba, can you tell us the details later when everyone's together?" Makoto relaxed back into her seat, realizing that she'd gotten tense from the recent topic.
"Will do. I'll probably have more at that time anyways." Futaba continued to surf through the TSAB's systems, sifting through the info trying to find anything useful. Luckily it was at least well organized, but vast.
"Right, so as she's doing that," Makoto started, trying to steer the conversation elsewhere, "what do the rest of you think of Lindy's offer?"
"It doesn't seem too bad, but I'm worried that it might not be a good thing for Ren…" Ann answered with a worried look in her eye, glancing to the side as if trying to not think about it. "I mean we all saw how on edge he was on their ship."
"For the rest of us it might not be too difficult to work with them, but for Ren, who suffered the worst of it from an authority, it might be too big a hurdle to surmount," Haru also pouted a bit thinking about how the rest of the team couldn't do anything as their leader was being beaten a drugged by the police. It was necessary, and it was a risk he took on willingly, but it had left its mark. A mark the rest of the thieves saw earlier that day as much as he tried to hide it.
"I'd like to believe that Ren would be able to overcome this." Makoto's expression wasn't so much confident as it was knowing. "He's faced just about everything that life could throw at him. I think out of all of us, if there's anyone who can get through this, it's him."
"You're right, and besides, he has all of us with him too." Haru's mood lightened, remember that they were there to help him, no matter what.
"Don't forget Nanoha-chan," Ann reminded them.
"Right, how could we forget," Makoto jokingly reprimanded herself. They all couldn't help but share a smile between them as they remembered the bright little girl who helped start this. "Well we still have some time to kill, how about cards?"
-0-0-9-0-0-
"And that's how it is…" Nanoha had just finished telling her mother what was going on. Out of her entire family, she felt that her mother was the only one she could reliably tell of her recent escapades. Her brother, father and Miyuki having gone out to train. Yuuno was upstairs, giving Raising Heart a once over to make sure nothing was wrong. During her explanation, she'd left out the more fantastical parts, and it was very difficult side stepping them. However, she felt that she did well enough in explaining the rough idea of the situation at hand. She still couldn't help but feel nervous though, as her mother had been silent the entire way through.
Nanoha also told her mother that she'd need to be away for a short while. It was agreed that if they were to work with Lindy, that she'd either have to stay with the crew of the Arthra, or with Ren and the others if they also agreed to work together. She'd already made up her mind. She'd use all the help she could get in order to save Fate and solve the incident. It would be nice if Ren also agreed to it, and she felt that he would, but she had already resolved herself to accept the offer. She still needed to hear what he mother had to say however.
"It might be dangerous, but I want to see what I started to the very end. I was afraid that it might worry you for me to go through with it though so…"
"I'm always worried about you. I'm your mother. I'll always be worried." her Mother finally spoke. Nanoha became downcast at hearing as such. "But you know, if you still looked troubled on what to do, I'd have told you to not do anything dangerous. Yet I think you've already decided on what to do haven't you?" Looking her mother in the eye, Nanoha nodded. "Then don't regret anything." Nanoha's mother got up from the couch, walked over to where Nanoha was sitting and began to pat her on the head. "I'll tell your dad and brother for you."
"Thank you, mom." Nanoha felt relieved. She had her mother, and by proxy, father and brother's approval to do what she needed to do. She could go forward knowing that she had their blessing. She wouldn't have to go to Ren and the others and tell them that she couldn't come and help. Now all she had to do was return to them and meet with Lindy.
"Now then," Nanoha's ears perked up when she heard her mother begin speaking once more. "You said Ren is a part of this as well correct?"
"Um… Yes, he is," she said a blush made its way across her face and she began to shift uncomfortably. "As I said he's been helping me and hopefully he'll still be around to help later…" She still didn't know if Ren and the others would accept the TSAB's offer. Hopefully they wouldn't reject it, and she felt they wouldn't. She still couldn't be sure of that though.
"I see." Nanoha did not like the look on her mother's face. It was the face her mother made when she was about to tease her. "I've seen the way that young man acts, and as such I approve of him. Your father and older brother might have their complaints, but rest assured I will support you."
"Mom!" Nanoha cried in embarrassment. How could her mother have seen through her?
"Now while there is an age difference that won't matter so much down the line. For now, just aim to provide a good impression and he'll surely remember it years from now. Or maybe perhaps you'd like to stake your claim right now? I think that would be a valid option. Perhaps it would be the better one. He's probably going to apply for University and might leave in the coming year, so it would probably do you well to capture him post haste."
"Mom! I'm fine!"
"I know, I know." She finally relented in her teasing when she saw her daughter tear up. "I just want you to know that if you don't do anything, you'll surely lose him." Nanoha had no retort for that. Her eyes widened when she realized that her mother was right on that account. "He's a fine young man, as expected of my daughter. Just make sure you don't regret anything regarding him either."
"Mom, I- thank you." she earnestly said to her mother. Though she hadn't expected to receive approval for that as well, she accepted it all the same.
"Of course, Nanoha… now how about some tips on how to win an older gentleman's heart before you leave?"
"Mom!"
-0-0-9-0-0-
"Welcome back Nanoha-chan," Ann was the first to say as the ten-year-old walked into the main salon. Everyone had gathered here in order to finalize how they'd proceed with the TSAB.
"Sorry, we're late everyone," Yuuno said from atop Nanoha's shoulder.
"No problem, most of us just got here ourselves," Morgana said to his fellow animal buddy. Yuuno jumped down and proceeded to sit next to the cat.
"Thank goodness…" Nanoha murmured as she took a seat with the rest of the girls on one side of the room. The guys sat on the other end while Morgana and Yuuno shared a different seat at the end. Ren sat in his own chair, relaxed with his legs crossed.
"Hey Ren!" Futaba was still clacking away at her keyboard as she spoke up. "Should we go ahead and tell them now or later?"
"Tell us what now?" Ryuji asked nervously. The guys looked amongst themselves while the girls, sans Nanoha, instead turned towards Ren knowingly.
"Go ahead. We still have some time," Ren handed off the explanation to the one with the most information at the moment.
"Sure thing. So anyways I did as you asked and I've pretty much hacked into a majority of the Arthra's file systems."
"How did you do that!? The Arthra is a military ship from an alien world. You can't have touched the TSAB's systems prior to this, let alone even the language. How did you even interface with it?" Yuuno couldn't believe what he was hearing. Earth's technology should have been centuries behind, and it was apparently hacked so quickly by someone so young?
"Jeez do I have to repeat myself?" Futaba rolled her eyes. When it became clear that she wasn't bothering to continue, Ren took it upon himself to ask for clarification.
"For our sake, Futaba?" Ren asked as he surmised, based on the girl's reaction to all this, that they probably heard of this beforehand. There wasn't any harm done though, so he let it go.
"Okay…" With just a bit of fuss, Futaba repeated to the rest of them what she told the girls earlier. Yuuno simply remained bug-eye the whole time, just flabbergasted that this had happened; that it was even possible. "So yeah, I now pretty much have free reign over their database, but not to their operational systems like weapons or life support," she concluded.
"Did you find anything useful? Anything to give us a clue as to how they'd act?" Ren asked while the guys were currently processing what was happening and Nanoha pretended to understand.
"Well from their history, I guess they're on the up and up. Lots of wars in the past, but for the most part they do have things like Non-interference laws and the like."
"Any hints of it being propaganda?" He brought his hands together and leaned forward, making sure that he wouldn't miss anything that Futaba was saying.
"Don't know. Never learned how to parse that," she answered frankly with a bit of an embarrassed blush. Ren believed her on that. Futaba wasn't one to lie; just tease and lead by the nose.
"Anything else?"
"Lindy's personal history. Here's the short of it. She's pretty decorated all things considered. Good records, nothing that'd make us nervous. Her service is clean and distinguished, so basically you can judge this book by her cover. Again though, can't tell if any of it is faked."
"H-hold on, is this okay for us to do?" Nanoha was understandably freaked out. Not helping was the way everyone, save for Yuuno, had at this point just accepted what was going on.
"Meh, I've done worse." Futaba's reply only further exacerbated Nanoha's worries. It wasn't even a denial. In fact, it was a confirmation that it was bad. "Come on, it's not that bad! It's not the first time I've hacked into foreign government systems."
"I'm beginning to think that maybe Ren isn't the most dangerous one in this group…" Yuuno let out while nervously holding his head in his ferret hands. The rest of the thieves found it hard to refute that comment given current events.
"To answer you Nanoha… No. I imagine it's probably illegal." Ren eyed Yuuno. When Yuuno finally noticed, he gave small nod to confirm that it was. "It's okay if you don't approve of this. However, at least hear us out," He directed at Nanoha. She stiffened at being directly spoken to but did her best to pay attention. "From where we stand, we don't have a reason to trust the TSAB," He started.
"But they don't seem that bad?"
"So, do a lot of people. Do you remember the prime minister elections last year?"
"Well I remember that there was some sort of scandal, but I kind of didn't pay attention to it," Nanoha nervously admitted. "But I do know that people vote and… stuff…"
"Shido, that was his name." He informed them. "He was supposed to win the election, but then he outed himself to a number of scandals and crime, and he's since been discredited. He's in jail now serving his time."
"What did he do?" Nanoha's curiosity out weighed her fear. Despite that however, she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at him containing a snort. Ren himself found it funny that maybe a couple of months ago he'd have been furious remembering it. Now it was a distant memory, just one of many.
"Well among other things like extortion, blackmail, bribery, and murder, He's the one who sued me for assault," he finally told her. Nanoha's eyes widened in disbelief. It didn't make any sense. How could somebody so horrible had gotten so close to one of the highest seats of power in the country?
"But he seemed fine. Even my parents were…" She couldn't finish her sentence, still shocked at how it was all connected and so horrible.
"That's why I asked Futaba to hack into the Arthra. We don't know anything about them. We don't have a reason to trust them outside of a single encounter. That's normally not enough to tell you what anyone is really like." Though confused, Nanoha felt he had a point. Or perhaps it was only because he was so calm and spoke so matter-of-factly that his words felt like they had weight. Either way it was clear to her that he wasn't just throwing words out.
"You can trust them, Ren. The TSAB is as reputable as one would imagine from such a governmental force."
"It's pretty foolish to trust anyone simply on word of mouth," Ren spoke back to Yuuno. "Ask anyone before the election and they'd tell you that Shido was an upstanding man, the genuine future. He was who Japan needed. The leader that we were waiting for. Turns out all of that couldn't have been further from the truth." To Nanoha it felt like he was recounting something that happened years, decades, ago. It was hard to believe this was all occurring not even a year ago. Ren's demeanor and calm dismissal of the matter simply didn't match how it should have affected him. "That's kind of just how the world is. You can't just blindly trust people Nanoha."
"Bu-" Her mouth moved faster before she could come up with an argument and so it died right as it left her. She wanted to argue back however she didn't know what to say. She wanted to tell them that though it's hard, you can't move forward with others without trust. She could feel it, but the words wouldn't come. Ren waited in case Nanoha finally formulated a response, but ultimately nothing came of it.
"Stew on it for a while. We can talk more after the meeting since it's just about time. So, is, everybody ready?" Ren asked. Everyone in the room gave affirmation in their own ways. Once he'd heard at least something from all present he felt that it was appropriate to proceed. "Then I think we should get started." Lindy appeared in front of them through the magic array not even a moment after Ren had said as such.
"Were you watching us this whole time?" He asked just to be sure.
"No. I've only just connected as per our predetermined time." Though he didn't show it, Ren felt a bit of relief knowing that what they'd done wasn't overheard. "So, this is everyone correct?" She asked just to be sure. She was still trying to become familiar with the group, making sure to better remember them this time.
"Yeah, everyone is here," He confirmed. Looking around he saw his teammates all tensed up and in varying degrees of nervousness. "Anyways let's just get right to the point." He wanted to move the point forward in case any of them… Ryuji cracks. It would probably only be Ryuji.
"Of course, so to remind everyone, we are offering a joint operation between ourselves and the group, The Phantom Thieves of Heart. We'll work together to solve the current incident involving the Jewel Seeds. Once the incident has been resolved, we will retrieve the Jewel Seed from within Ren and our business will conclude. Is this fine?"
"We'll share resources I presume?"
"Unfortunately, we cannot offer everything, but rest assured we will try to provide as much as we can," Lindy answered. A predictable response, but at the very least it wasn't a denial. It was probably the most they could probe at this juncture anyhow.
"Fair enough. Any questions?" He asked the rest of them.
"Um… what will happen to Fate-chan?" Nanoha asked. It was her only real concern. What would they do with her after this was all over?
"Well, it will depend on what happens. However, at minimum we will have to detain her. You can rest assured that at the very least, we will attempt to use only the minimal amount of force necessary. If we don't have to hurt her, we won't."
"I see." Nanoha heaved a sigh of relief that they would try to not hurt Fate. "Then can you let me handle her?"
"I don't see why not." Lindy couldn't see a downside to letting the girl have her request. Besides that, she recalled the fight the two had earlier. There was more to their relationship than that of two opposing forces on opposite sides. At the very least, an attempt at more.
"Thank you, then… I don't mind working with them." Yuuno nodded in confirmation as well once Nanoha had spoken her opinion on the subject. "Ren, I think it's okay to trust them. I think they're our best chance of saving Fate-chan. Please?" Ren's face remained the same despite Nanoha's plea. He slowly swiveled his head towards his team.
"We make our decisions by unanimous vote, meaning if even one person dissents we refuse," Ren reminded the team. "Before I ask you guys your decision, do you all mind if I say something first?"
"Go ahead man. Say your piece," Ryuji was first to respond. He was about as calm as he sounded, which certainly didn't match anyone else in the room.
"If it's you, then I'm sure all of us know that it's probably something very important," Haru followed alongside nods from the rest of the team.
"So, what is it, then?" Ann was asked, implicitly giving the go ahead. Their leader took a breath
"Well," Ren started. "I think we should work with the TSAB." Everyone's faces broke out into various bouts of surprise.
-0-0-9-0-0-
"Is this a bad time?" Ren's eyes slid to the side to find Lindy, currently contacting him using the same magical array she used the first time they spoke. The glow of the comms took a moment for his eyes to adjust to as it lit up the small area around him in a green hue.
"Not really. I could use the company I guess. Isn't it a bit early though?" In fact, it was about an hour before their scheduled meet up. He was still relaxing at the side of the yacht, just taking in the scenery.
"Yes, it is, but I just wanted to speak to you privately, if that's alright." Lindy relaxed in her chair as the sound of the waves got through the speakers.
"If the conversation is private…" Ren's eyes squinted, trying to see if he could tell just where she was on the ship, and if anyone else was with her.
"Rest assured, I'm currently conducting this conversation from my personal quarters. None of the other crew members are present," she spoke truthfully. From what he could gleam, he didn't recognize the room behind her in the video feed.
"How candid." He wanted to comment further but stopped himself from doing as such. At least it wasn't the first time he'd dealt with older women… in fact most of his female acquaintances were his age or older in general. At least that was the case in the past.
"Please do not misunderstand my intentions, I just wished to respect your privacy," Lindy said in a straightforward and professional manner. It seemed she picked up on what he was thinking. "After all, I might be broaching a sensitive topic here, and if such, it wouldn't be appropriate for more individuals to be here than needed."
"Well I suppose I should thank you for that then," Ren said in a half joking, but half sincere voice. "So, what is it you wanted to ask that has you needing to do so in privacy?"
"Then I'll just go ahead?" Ren only realized that Lindy was still asking for permission after a moment or two had passed in silence. Returning a silent, measured nod, he heard Lindy taking a large breath over the comms. "If you'll let me be, perhaps, blunt, have you, in the past had a bad run in with authority?" Lindy saw Ren visibly freeze up, but quickly relaxed again.
"What makes you say that?"
"Well, certain cues and mannerisms for one thing. When we met on the Arthra, it was, not necessarily easy, but I was able to tell that you certainly weren't as calm as you tried to present yourself. You hid it well, but I've seen it enough times to know when someone is on edge."
"Looks like I still have a lot to learn then…"
"Oh? Not hiding it?"
"Looks cooler if I own it?" He gave a little shrug as he turned over, now leaning his back against the railing.
"I suppose so." A silence sat between them as the both of them had expected the other to say something. The sound of the ocean filled the space as the two stared down at each other, practically daring the other to move first, but not with malintent. Of course, dares were beneath her. "I know that as difficult as it may be to believe me when I say as such, but I want you to know that you can trust me. I am not be able to speak for the TSAB as a whole, and in fact I'm sure there are a number of unsavory elements within the organization that I am not privy to. However, I can at the very least vouch for myself. In that regard I wish to let you know that on my word, as just myself, as Lindy Harlaown, that you can trust me."
Lindy placed a hand upon her heart as she started straight at the young man. Only the fact that the feed would put her out of frame prevented her from standing. For those precious few moments, her gaze didn't waver as she tried her hardest, with her greatest sincerity to get through to him. She didn't know what happened to him. Perhaps abused, let down by the system, possibly even worse; maybe that and more, but it could only, right now, ever be conjecture on her part. Regardless, she felt that not only did she want to prove she was different, she wanted to reopen his heart to those like herself, those that wanted to help with only the best of intentions. She didn't need to reach as far as she thought.
"Sure."
"I understand that it may be difficult to- I see I've jumped the gun. You're more forthcoming that I thought you would be." Lindy barely contained her surprise. She hadn't expected such a level of maturity from him, especially given the way he toyed with her son during their fight and just before in conjunction with his jitters so to speak.
"And I don't think you're very much like the people in authority I'm used to seeing. Besides, I already know a few people already in the system who really do look out for people like me. It doesn't take a genius to understand that not every adult is out to get you." Toranosuke, Chihaya, Kawakami, Iwai, Ohya, Takemi, Sae… their faces popped up in his mind, reminding him of that very lesson.
"So then-"
"However, I'm not going to say I trust the TSAB unconditionally."
"I understand." Lindy was making headway, that was enough for her at this stage. "Whatever happened to you. I'm sorry. It may seem out of place for me to apologize, but I feel that I must."
"Meh, it was just authoritarian abuse, getting sued for assault, probation, drugging, violent interrogation, and attempted murder. I'll be fine." Lindy's brow furrowed as she heard him. Anger welled up at the discussion of such treatment he was unduly given. Such a thing wouldn't happen under her watch, and she would have certainly had the heads of whoever would have done so outside of her purview.
"You say that but-"
"If I'm alive, I can do something about it. I assume you'll also help with that?" He asked as he finally turned to face Lindy head on. She was taken aback by the resolve he seemed to exude even through the video feed, how it seemed to just pour out even from such a distance away through time and space. She couldn't help but respect such.
"Yes, with everything I can." She felt compelled to meet his resolve with her own at full force. "I'll formally contact you later with the rest of my crew to discuss how we are to proceed going forward." Silence fell between them. To Lindy it was clear that Ren wanted to ask something but seemed to, whether by youthful pride or some other reason, choked on the words. She let him ruminate, not wanting to force whatever it was that he was going to say, lest everything she'd done so far fall apart. Finally, though, he said something.
"Would you say that trying the same thing and expecting different results is stupid?" A roundabout question, Lindy noted. However, his sincerity in asking prevented her from staving off an answer.
"I would say so, yes. Unless said repetition is part of a greater plan, then it undoubtedly will lead to similar results without fail," She answered him as best she could. She still couldn't understand why he asked her as such. So, she decided that maybe now would be okay to push. "Do you regret something?"
"Well…" He brought his hands up to his face as if to push up a non-existent pair of glasses. He chuckled to himself once he realized what it was that he tried to do, stopping his hand mid-way through the habit. "Looking at those two, Fate and Nanoha, reminds me of a different pair. Some parts of Fate specifically bring to mind someone I knew once. I guess I can't help but think that maybe, had things been different, if a few variables were changed, maybe Ake- I mean, that guy would still be around."
"Well regardless of things in the past, things can be different in the present," Lindy said with a confident hope in her voice. Perhaps it was just simply her age lending credence, but he believed her.
"Exactly. Maybe this time things are different enough to bring about a better outcome; a happier one. Perhaps Fate can be saved…" When Akechi couldn't be, he finished saying in his mind. Despite everything that bastard put them through, he, and probably everyone else, felt that Akechi could've still worked to make amends. It wouldn't have been easy, but that's just how it was. If he worked to atone, maybe in time they could have at least accepted him. Probably never forgiven, but at least put it in the past. However, that was a 'maybe' that wouldn't be asked again. A silence fell between them again as the sound of the ocean continued in the background. The two simply stayed like this for a few minutes taking in the sounds of the sea.
Finally, when he had his fill, he spoke up. "We make our decisions unanimously. I can't guarantee the rest of them will want to work together."
"Still though, I look forward to hearing from you later. Until then." The video feed cut off, and he was left alone again.
-0-0-9-0-0-
"For, real!?"
"I-I… wait… are you serious?"
"Huh? What did you just say?" A cacophony of noise erupted from the group as they all were in disbelief over what Ren just suggested, especially given what he'd just told Nanoha moments before. Speaking of which, the girl herself was also surprised. In contrast to the Thieves however, she was elated to find that Ren's decision mirrored her own.
"Ren…" she whispered with a smile and a hand on her chest where Raising Heart was. Ren raised a hand, signaling for them to stop to which they complied. Once silence had been established, he continued.
"I don't trust the TSAB. Not in the slightest, but at very least I can trust Lindy." This time the one in surprise was the Captain but she quickly squashed that down so as to maintain her image for the event at hand. "Before the meeting she and I spoke and from that, I think, even if we can't trust anyone else in the TSAB, that at the very least, we can trust her. That's my decision on the matter. So, what about the rest of you?"
"Ren… Thank you…" Lindy said under her breath, happy to see that her sincerity got through to the boy; that her efforts were not a waste.
"No problems on my end. I'll follow your lead like usual," Morgana said in a confident tone.
"And here I was ready to make a case as to why we should trust them. I suppose I won't be needing that anymore. As always you defy expectations Ren." Makoto grinned just the slightest bit.
"Didn't care one way or the other, but it's nice to have help every now and then." Ryuji relaxed back in his seat, glad that the tensest part, at least in his mind, was over.
"Sure, why not," was all Futaba said as she went back to working on learning more of the Arthra's systems. She made sure that her screen wasn't visible to the feed as she continued to work.
"I'm fine with this decision. At the very least it means I'll have more opportunity to see the ship and its designs." Yusuke was already forming a new piece in his mind. Realizing this, most of the thieves decided not to comment on it.
"So, you'll be okay Ren?" Haru asked, still a bit worried.
"I'll be fine Haru, thanks for worrying though."
"Well if you need anything, just let us know," Ann offered, making sure that Ren had heard her with a tap of the shoulder.
"I will," he answered playfully, but truthfully. "So, the decision is unanimous then?" He asked just one more time to be sure.
"Looks like it," Morgana confirmed as he jumped onto a nearby tables. The rest of the thieves each had a look of resolve as they all turned to look towards Lindy. "We have a deal," he told the TSAB Captain. "Looks like we'll be seeing each other more often."
"And we look forward to working with you for the foreseeable future," Lindy stated happily, but not a moment sooner she began to speak in a motherly tone. "With that out of the way, how about we all get some rest. It's getting late and I'm sure this has been draining on all of you. We can speak further in the morning."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow morning."
"See you tomorrow morning," she said with a wave before disappearing. Once the call ended, everyone eventually cleared out of the room. Nanoha opted to follow the girls to their room while Yuuno went with the guys. Soon the Yacht became quiet.
-0-0-9-0-0-
"Ren?" Nanoha said, trying to get the attention of the young man staring off into the ocean again. The meeting had gone relatively well things considered, and since everyone seemed exhausted they all decided to turn in for some early shut eye after some prompting by Morgana. At least, most of them did. Nanoha couldn't sleep, and so decided to explore the yacht. She was still worried about Fate, and anxious over what was to come. She thought that fresh air would do her well. Besides that, though she was sure one of her friends' families probably owned a yacht as well, it was her first time on one, so her curiosity was a bit higher than usual. After just a bit of exploration, she found Ren leaning on the railings of the deck.
"What's wrong? Can't sleep? Pretty sure it's past your bed time." She walked up to his side, standing next to him as she also began to look over the dark water that stretched out before them.
"You know that I've been up later than this when we were hunting the Jewel Seeds," she fired back. She was proud of herself for that one. She felt that she was getting better at handling his teasing.
"And what happened most of the time when we were done? I seem to recall needing to wipe some drool off the back of my shirt a couple of times."
"I didn't drool! D-did I drool?" She instinctively went to wipe her mouth, in hopes of not getting caught flat footed.
"Not a bit."
"Meanie!" She tried to give him a half-hearted punch, only for him to stop it halfway with his hand.
"Going to have to try better than that." And try she did as she attempted a swift kick at his shin, only for her to nearly trip as he dodged it. "Hey, careful!" Ren knelt down to catch the girl before she could fully fall to the ground. In doing so, Nanoha ended up cradled in his arms. As she realized this she seemed to shrivel a bit in embarrassment. "Sorry about that. I went too far again."
"N-no, it's okay," She tried not to concentrate on the way Ren's proximity was making her feel. It wasn't the time for it, was it? However, it was still difficult to ignore the way he gently held her, not too tightly, but enough to make her feel safe. The way his body heat met her skin, causing her to feel smothered, yet it wasn't unwelcome. All the more emphasized thanks to the cool sea breeze. And his eyes that so clearly looked into her own tha- She shook her head violently to rid herself of her wandering thoughts.
"Nanoha-chan?" He was worried that something was wrong given how fast her head was moving to and fro. "Want me to put you down now?" Nanoha's head stopped, only to then nod in affirmation at the same frequency as before. Though he was still worried, he ignored it and went on to comply with her request "Alright then." He lowered her feet first before letting fully go once he was sure she had gotten purchase with the ground.
"Thanks…" She bowed just enough to hide her face from view, made easy thanks to their difference in height. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she met Ren head on. "I didn't ask earlier but what are you doing out here?"
"Just taking in the view."
"Ren, it's super dark. There's kind of no view."
"Well let's just say I'm trying then." Well she couldn't fault him on that. If she had to fathom a guess, he just couldn't sleep and not wanting to wake anyone else up, he decided to get fresh air. Just like her. Realizing that the two were probably going to be alone for the interim time, she quickly glanced from side to side, and even behind her while Ren was looking the other way. Maybe now was her chance. Her mother's words from earlier that evening echoed in her mind. Perhaps now was indeed the time. No regrets.
"Hey Ren?" She tried to calm herself. It was just a question, but even so she couldn't stop fidgeting around so much at even just the inkling and idea of it.
"What is it Nanoha?"
"Wh-what kind of girls do you like? I-I mean, just curious is all. You don't have to answer or anything, b-but I'd like to hear it if that's alright. You know like, attitude, personality, the way they act…"
"Those are kind of the same thing Nanoha…" Ren felt he needed to point out. He felt exhausted just looking at Nanoha driving herself into a panic.
"R-right! Because personality is really important! Though what kinds of hairstyles, looks, and, well, anything…"
"I'm into older mature women." Nanoha's face fell from a blistering lobster red to a pale chalk white. It wasn't a lie. He preferred older women. Just his luck so far didn't match his preferences… when push came to shove, he chocked. He felt like crying a bit thinking about how he absolutely screwed up each damn time to form a relationship.
"I-I see…" Nanoha's legs felt weak. She hadn't accounted for such an insurmountable preference. Anything else she could have dealt with. Okay maybe not everything, maybe not the really weird ones, but close enough. However, age wasn't something she could ever overcome. She would always be younger than Ren. But that was just one preference! She didn't have to overcome it, just bypass it. "But younger wouldn't be bad right? I mean do they have to be older?"
"Uh… no." Ren hadn't expected the light in Nanoha's eyes to return so quickly. Hearing his response, she rebounded with gusto.
"Right! So younger is okay?"
"To a point…" With the way Nanoha just simply looked elated, he kind of had an idea of where this was going. He had to nip it in the bud. "Nanoha?"
"U-uh yes?" She froze up when she heard her name, bottling up her previously rampant emotions. It was so hard to, since she had just heard she still had a chance.
"Tell me, why are you asking me this?"
"Wel-"
"Nanoha." He saw the way her eye drifted away from his, only to be pulled right back when he interrupted her. He took a deep breath to compose himself, and to make sure his voice was heard. "Be honest with me." He could see Nanoha's eyes still swimming, seemingly trying to find a way out, trying to figure out a solution to the predicament she was in. It was clear to his eyes, based on the way she kept fidgeting, that her mind was racing.
Nanoha on her end was debating incessantly inside her mind. Should she, or shouldn't she? If not, then what should she do? If so, then how would he react? Back and forth she went on and on in her mind whether or not to go through with it. She wasn't prepared for this. She hadn't readied herself to tell him, but she also couldn't think of a way out that wouldn't involve the worst possibilities, not after he asked her so directly. She decided however, that there was nowhere to run. Besides that, she didn't want to run away the first place; not from Ren. Instead she would run towards where he was; meet him and stand beside him. That's what her heart said.
"Ren, I like you…" There! She said it! She could feel her entire face light up, sweat beginning to form at her brow. A part of her wanted to both crawl in a hole and another wanting to jump for joy. Maybe both at once if she could somehow manage it. She heard, ever so softly, Ren let out a breath she didn't he was holding.
"If it was any other kid, I'd have probably just brushed it off," he said wistfully off to the side.
"Ren?" Did her confession not come through? Did he think she was just joking? What was he going to say?
"Nanoha?" She went ramrod straight when she heard her name. "When you say like, you mean the dating kind, marriage, romantic?" He wanted to confirm. He wanted it right out in the open and fully disclosed.
"Ma-marriage? I mean maybe not right now, but when I'm olde- I mean," she shook her head of those dreamy thoughts so that she could make them a reality later. "Yes, I really, really like you Ren, almost more than anyone else." He wouldn't question the 'almost' that she said. That didn't matter right now. "I know that we're not really the same age, but can I still be your girlfriend?" Nanoha watched Ren intently, her eye catching on to every movement he made no matter how small. She both didn't want to hear, yet at the same time wanted nothing more than to know his response. Inside she hoped, she prayed that he would say yes. That they could be together. Only that hope began to shrivel when she noticed Ren grimace.
"Nanoha, I'm flattered, but I'm sorry. I can't return your feelings." Nanoha's heart sank. It felt like something lodged itself inside her throat as her vision became blurry. Her legs felt like they would come tumbling down any moment. Her eyes widened as she felt a slow dull pain ache more and more in her chest. She tried to pat it down with a hand, but it morphed into a clutch as the pain became unbearable. Finally, when her cheeks became wet she realized, she was crying. She'd been rejected, and she'd become heartbroken. "Nanoha I-"
"I-it's okay," She forced out as best she could with as a big a smile she could make. It only served to pathetically let her tears fall into her mouth, making her look even worse. She soldiered on. "I u-understand. I'm sorry, for asking…" She asked, and he was kind of enough to give her an answer immediately rather than string her on with excuses and the like. She was happy that he respected her enough for that. She was happy to have received an answer at all.
At least that's what she was trying, and failing, to convince herself. But every time something inside her cried that it wanted more. It wanted him. She wanted him. That was one of her heart's dearest wishes. But she supposed that that was not how it would go. She was just being a bother. She couldn't inconvenience him more. She had to be out of his way so that she couldn't be a nuisance any longer. So she ran, the tears in her eyes now an absolute flood that trailed behind her as she, with all her might, went the other direction. She knew this could happen. She knew that this was possible, but it still hurt so much. It still hurt worse than anything she felt before, and the pain was simply suffocating.
"I'm going to regret this…" Ren said to himself with a sigh. In flash, he'd changed into his Phantom thief attire. "Arsène," he called quietly sending out his Persona before Nanoha got too far. In the next second, Arsène flew in front of the girl stopping her in her tracks. Joker followed right behind. "Nanoha!" He made sure that the girl wasn't about to leave. She'd frozen on the spot, confused as to what was going on, on top of other things. "Wait and listen to me for a moment!" He held her by the shoulders once he'd caught up to her. When he turned her around so that they could face each other, he found that her face was a mess, and getting worse. Despite that, she held firm and did as he asked. Her desire to run away still held strong, but she continued to hold on.
"Wha-what is it?" She whimpered regardless of her best efforts to put up a strong front. "I'm sorry to have bothered you Ren. You don't have to worry about me. I-I'll be fine." It was clear that she wasn't. Her smile was still strained, and her cheeks stained with tears that were still falling. He wasn't even sure she could see him with how watery her eyes were. Each sniffle and whimper that entered his ears caused a pang of guilt to ring out in his chest. He really couldn't stand to even entertain the thought of Nanoha being like this, and yet here it was in reality.
This was for the team. This was to make sure everybody's morale was high going forward. This was something anyone in his shoes would do. This was what he told himself. He knew deep inside that really, he just didn't want to see Nanoha cry. He didn't want her to be sad. A part of him, wanted to make sure she was happy. And right now, it was what was pushing him to go through with this half-baked promise. He was definitely going to regret this, he thought.
"Nanoha, let's make a promise." He dispelled Arsène and his outfit. He did what he needed to do with that so there was no sense in keeping it up.
"A… promise?" Here eyes went wide. What was this? Was she allowed to hope again?
"Yeah, a promise." He knelt down on one knee so that he was eye level with Nanoha. "The age of consent for marriage for girls in Japan is 16. If you reach that age and you still feel the same way, and I haven't found someone else, we can give it a shot. I won't wait for you, but I'll give you a chance to catch up. How's that sound?" He wanted to chide himself for such a non-committal deal. It was just a stop gap measure to keep her from crying. Not only that, he could hear his friends admonish him for trying to pull a modern day Hikaru Genji. Another part was already screaming at him to take it all back. Those thoughts seemed to just fade away when Nanoha's expression brightened up bit by bit.
"Really? Do you mean it?" It was her turn to grab hold of him, taking hold of his arms and tugging at his sleeves with a renewed vigor. "You promise?" She asked full of hope, her eyes glistening with a childlike innocence yet with a unflinching gaze that spoke of maturity.
"I promise, but only when you're 16, if you still feel the same way, and I haven't already found someone else," he repeated. He had to make sure she understood that. He internally made a note to try and get a girlfriend before that happened. He had six years or so. He had time. He'd laid out the terms clearly, so he just had to make sure that either he got a girlfriend or hoped Nanoha moved on by then. Yeah, that was most likely what was going to happen. He had this in the bag. And besides he can't say he lied either. He was being completely square on the deal.
"Right, I understand! I just have to keep… I just have to keep loving you from now on!" She felt embarrassed to say it out loud, but if that's what it took, she'd do it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. "I'll love you forever, just you wait!" She declared with as much vigor as she could. Now it was Ren's turn to feel embarrassed. Even if it was from a kid, it was so genuine and sincere that it would have put even the most honest adult to shame. Worse, he knew Nanoha meant it. She was mature for her age, and so wasn't the type to say something like that lightly. Knowing how stubborn she could be… he probably just made a big mistake didn't he?
When she couldn't take it anymore, she let Ren go. Her heart was absolutely pounding, almost like it would burst out her chest at any moment. The last few minutes had been, for her at the very least, an emotional roller coaster all ending on a high. There was hope, even as small as it was, and she'd grip it tightly. She didn't plan to let go in the slightest. She'd have to work to make Ren happy with the decision, but it was work she was more than happy to put in and then some. Though maybe she'd have to chase away a few people going after Ren… He never said she couldn't do that. Realizing the underhandedness of that thought, she wondered if Ren's attitude was starting to rub off on her. Maybe it'd make him like her more if they were more similar?
"Anyways, it's getting late. I think we should get some sleep before it gets too late. What do you say?" Ren asked as he stood up.
"Yeah, let's go." She held her hand out to him to get going. When he didn't immediately grab on to it, she became worried she'd made a faux pas of some sort. "Too soon?"
"No, just… Never mind." He took Nanoha's hand and the two returned to the ship's interior. He noted that Nanoha's hand held on tighter than before. Nanoha on her end, noted the feeling of elation in her heart as she felt his hand in hers. The two quietly returned to their rooms, separating at the appropriate juncture.
-0-0-9-0-0-
"Fate-chan, you don't have to keep doing this!" Arf pleaded to her master. The familiar was reaching her limit. Her master continued to take injury after injury as she pursued the Jewel Seeds without rest. Fate lay on the couch, resting herself after having tended to the wounds she'd received from that TSAB officer earlier that day. Arf herself was sitting on the ground next to her.
"It's okay, Arf. It'll all be over soon. Just a bit more, and we'll be done." Though Fate's smile was meant to be comforting, it only further served to justify Arf's fears.
"The TSAB's appeared. There's nothing more we can do! Let's just run away! That guy! Joker! We can go to him! He'll take care of us! I'm sure of it! We just have to-"
"You know we can't do that," Fate reprimanded, but did so using as kind and gentle a voice she could muster. She didn't have the energy to do more than that. "If-"
"These aren't weak amateurs Fate! They're professionals, and that officer we faced off against earlier today was top class. If they begin searching for us properly we won't have anywhere to hide! We won't be able to stay here for long. But maybe he could shelter us…" Arf's teeth gnashed against one another as she tried to contain her anger. "That old hag- Your mother is insane Fate, doing awful things to good people and making you do them too."
"Don't speak poorly of mother…" Fate's voice was weak despite her attempts at adding severity to her tone.
"Fate your mother isn't how you think she is. I speak poorly of her because it's the truth. I'm worried about you!" Despite her attempts to speak up, Fate's words died in her throat as she saw tears fall from her familiar's eyes; A loyal friend, begging with everything she had, both in word and body. "When you're sad, my heart feels like it's going to break too! When you cry, I can't help but feel my tears welling up too! I hate it!" Fate felt her face morph into a grimace much to her chagrin. She had to something, anything to make Arf feel better.
"It's just because, although it's weak, our minds are linked with one another." She just started saying whatever came to mind to help soothe Arf's heart. If her familiar knew that it wasn't her fault, it should help right? "I'm sorry. If it hurts you I won't sad anymore, and I won't cry." Fate sat up and tried to reach out to Arf however-
"I just want you to be happy!" Arf cried as her face scrunched in pain, her feelings having been misunderstood by her master. The rest of her body then fell to the ground sobbing. "Why!? Why don't you understand that?" Fate drew her hand back and averted her eyes from the sight of her distraught companion. She found herself unable to think of anything that could calm Arf now.
"Thank you Arf… but," she found the next sentence hard to say. Before, in the past it would have been easy, but for some reason something caused her to choke on those words. It wasn't just Arf's crying as she tried to speak, but something else as well. Gathering her will, she forced the rest of what she wanted to say out. "But… I want to grant mother's wish. Not just for mother, but I'm sure for my own sake as well." As she neared the end of sentence, her eyes closed for some reason. Perhaps it had become too difficult to bear watching Arf sobbing on the floor. She nonetheless reached out her hand again and pat her familiar on the head. "So, wait just a while longer. It won't be much longer. Will you still work with me?"
"Just…" Arf began as she lifted herself off the floor to at least the sitting position she was in earlier. "Just promise me that you'll do your best for your own sake, and not because she's telling you to. If you do, I'll protect you without fail." Fate nodded, setting Arf's heart mostly at ease. As long as her master was happy…
Author's Notes:
Yachts are very nice, as my research has told me. They're also very expensive. Anyhow this gave me a rut of writer's block and so came out in spite of my best efforts. At the very least it is out now, and I feel fine with it as it currently stands. For the next few chapters I'm toying with idea of merging/speeding up certain events due to the fact that currently going by the Nanoha anime, this is about episode 8 of 13, but things are ramping up to a near close already according to my (poor) understanding of interest curves. I'll see what happens as I rewatch them for clarity. I believe Ren's interference can serve as enough impetus and butterfly flapping to make changes to Nanoha cannon (at least more than before)
In regard to Futaba's hacking: SQL Injection is literally something you should never let happen in your system and is one of the things typically (by just practicality) handled automatically due to it just being standard practice. I know I'm stretching that aspect for the hacking, but I thought it would be funny if the advanced alien firewall overlooked that really, really basic security flaw.
Oh right… also the shipping… I'll let you all just look on that as you wish.
Any who, as always I hope you enjoyed reading this little ol' writing of mine. If you enjoyed it, leave a Review and tell me ways I can improve, or maybe just to say hi. I'm lonely and could use the company of more than my FGO servants and Neptunia VR sessions. Regardless reviews of all kinds are welcome so that I may learn weaknesses or errors I've missed or a good old fashioned Peg knocking. I could always use that too.
Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day. I'm going to go and watch Dover Boys again. Farewell.
