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 11: Fate Can Change
The bed felt different. Instead of the soft bed he'd been offered on the Arthra, he felt the bed had somehow become harder and smaller. He ignored it at first, wanting to fall back asleep, but something in the air that tickled his nose kept him from doing so. Only when the sound of dripping water reached his ears did he realize something was off. He struggled, trying to rouse himself up and pry open his eyes to see what was going on. As he did so, it felt like there was something near his face.
"Hello? Are you awake? Hello?" The sudden voice prompted his eyes to snap open as he violently lurched up off the bed. "Kyaaa!" He heard echo beside him. A quick glance told him that he was laying on the bed of the Velvet Room in his Phantom Thief attire. However, while he recognized that voice, he'd never thought he'd hear it here. He turned to his side to see just who it was that made it into the room, making sure to maintain caution as he did so. "Ouch…" The source of the voice said, rubbing her bottom as she sat on the floor. He scowled before donning an expression of surprise as he made out, in the darkness of his cell, just who it was that made it in here.
"Fate-chan?"
"No, but close," the girl answered straight away as she stood up from the floor. Dusting herself off, she then looked Joker straight in the eyes before giving a small curtsy. "I'm Alicia Testarossa. I'm Fate's older sister. It's nice to formally make your acquaintance, Ren Amamiya." Older sister? Fate had an older sister? The two were practically identical. Older twin perhaps? "We aren't twins if you're wondering." Either he had made it easy to read or it was what she expected. She was sharp.
"I see." He didn't, but he was accepting of it all the same. Had she been a danger to him, Lavenza would have seen her out. Besides, he had a guess as to who she also was. "I assume you were the one waiting in the next cell over last time I was here?"
"Yes, that's right! Though it isn't the first time we've met."
"Yeah, I remember now. You're the reason I wasn't getting any sleep recently." Her expression fell quite dramatically. Blushing in embarrassment, she twiddled her thumbs as she attempted to muster a response.
"Oh... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. It's just that- Hey, what are you laughing at!?" Her tone changed from an apologetic one to indignant as soon as she heard Ren trying to keep his laughter down.
"Sorry, I was joking. I didn't think you'd take it so seriously."
"Hmph! You should really respect your elders you know! I'll be 31 this year!" She stamped her foot and puffed out her cheeks. She was to be respected, at least that was what she believed. Ren found it hard to find her to be more than anything but a cute little girl, given that her mannerisms weren't any different from her looks.
"I think you're the only 31-year-old girl I know who'd proudly declare that." Ren had ample experience with older women by this point, and Alicia didn't act anything like those he had been acquainted with. At his remark, the two continued to stare off at one another, Alicia's cute little pout matching Ren's condescending, older brother like scrutiny. They both held on for what seemed to be… only a few seconds since it didn't take long for either to break into a quick bout of laughter.
"I was right about you.," Alicia remarked as she recovered from her giggling fit. "I feel better about now about asking you of all people."
"Ask me what? Sorry, but I couldn't hear what you were asking for every time you showed up in my dreams." Each time was always static. He tried his best to figure out what she was saying before, but now was the prime opportunity to ask.
"Really? I thought since we ended up here you already knew. Well I don't mind telling you again." Taking a deep breath, Alicia put her hands in prayer. "Please save Mama and Fate…" Her plea seemed so sincere to Ren, if only for a moment since she then broke into another series of giggles. "Well something like that. Sometimes I'd make it sound more flowery, which was of course until I realized you might not actually have been hearing what I was saying. But that's the gist of it. Not much more needs to be said, but I do mean it. Please save them…"
"I want to," he began, "and I might be able to with Fate, but your mother is a different story. Saving her might be a bit too difficult to do, given the circumstances."
"I guess that makes sense." Alicia frowned a bit as she sat on the bed next to Ren. "Mom wasn't always like that. She used to be super nice. Everything she did, I know she did because she loved me and wanted me to be happy. But then…"
"Then what?" Ren asked when she hadn't followed up on that for a good while.
"No, it's nothing. In the end she still ended up like that." She sat there, her sadness readily apparent, as she continued to think on what she'd just said, still wondering if anything could have been done. She shook her head, knowing that nothing could change the past. "Isn't there anything you can do to help her? I know you said that it might be too hard, but isn't there something, anything that can be done?" Ren wanted to say yes, since it would have been the best outcome.
In speaking with them, both Fate and Alicia have said essentially the same thing: Precia was once a normal mother. She used to be a doting kind mother that cared greatly for her children, yet something changed that; changed her.
As it stood now however, Precia was unlikely to change. She seemed to Ren, like someone who was set in the path she had chosen. For that person Alicia and Fate both loved and claimed to have once existed, he did want to help that person. However, it wasn't reasonably achievable. Not right now anyway.
"There is a way." The two of them looked to the entrance of the cell to find a girl standing there holding a large grimoire.
"It's you!" Alicia pointed at the girl, as if doing so would punctuate her existence.
"Lavenza," Ren remarked when he'd realized who it was. A small, but a visible smile painted Lavenza's lips, only to be quickly snuffed out, as she proceeded to further elucidate her previous declaration.
"You've made quite the number of promises and contracts recently, Trickster. As such, we here in the Velvet Room are more than happy to provide our assistance." The velvet clad attendant opened the grimoire in hand, causing the pages to zip by. The fluttering of the pages stopped once she'd found the exact page she was looking for. "Here, just what you needed." She tapped the page once, then twice. The grimoire then came alight with a soft glow of velvet that faded as quickly as it was born.
"What do you-" A sudden vibration emanating from his pocket cut his sentence short. Without delay, he dug in and grabbed his phone. "Download complete?" He read off the screen. He tapped the notification and typed in his password in order to quickly see what had been downloaded. "Is that…" What appeared before him was a familiar application with which whose image was that of a stylized eye, but instead of the red color that he remembered in his head, it was a velvet blue.
"What is that?" Alicia asked, as she moved closer to see what he was looking at on his phone. When she could not figure out just what it was that he was staring at, she looked up to see him smiling.
"What might just be the key to saving your mother." Before she could ask just what a picture on that small screen could do to help, he spoke into the Earth device. "Precia Testarossa…" He said aloud, ignoring a confused Alicia for the moment.
"Match Found. Provide further key words," his phone speakers blared, a slight echo mimicking it emanating from the empty prison. A devilish grin creeped its way onto his face.
"Alicia, I might be able to save your mother after all," he said as he wiped his grin away so as not to scare the girl, replacing it with one of simple confidence and assurance.
"Really?" Her eyes widened in hope. Though she didn't understand any of what had happened, his apparent and strong conviction bled onto her, providing her with faith in his words.
"Yeah. I can make that promise now."
"Thank you! I don't get it but thank you so much!" She said as she grabbed hold of his hands and brought them up. Small tears started down her cheeks as her elation began to overwhelm her senses.
His eyes widened as her visage slowly became ever more translucent as the seconds passed. "Ah, it seems I have to return now."
"Return? Return to where?"
"Maybe I'll see you again? And tell Fate-chan that I-" He couldn't hear the rest of what Alicia had to say as she soon completely disappeared in a cloud of quickly dissipating light particles. It was just him and Lavenza, and neither of them spoke for a while after. The room's silence became pronounced as he sat there contemplating what just happened. There was simply nothing. Only the clinking of chains and the dripping of water pervaded his ears. When he'd gotten sick of it, he opened his phone. He wanted to try a few more keywords, but nothing came to mind.
"Do not worry, she only returned back to the where she belonged," Lavenza spoke up in the silence.
"I figured as much. Is the app…"
"Yes, that is a gift from the master. Though the Metaverse itself may be gone, the worlds inside people's hearts yet remain. This should allow you to at least enter those worlds. Consider it a signing bonus."
"Thanks, I'll be using this right away if you don't mind." Lavenza nodded, her professional smile laxing into a genuine one. "Right, then I'll be heading back now myself. No time to waste."
"Yes, you'll need your rest for the coming challenges that await you. Sleep well, my Trickster." With a small wave, which Lavenza matched, he took his own leave of the place, through the usual corridor of darkness. Of course, he wouldn't be sleeping that night if he could help it.
-0-0-11-0-0-
"Match found," Ren's phone echoed in the command room. Though smothered by the bustle of the bridge, it was still audible enough for those nearby to hear it.
"For real!?"
"No way it can't be!"
"But how is that possible?"
"Where'd you download it? When?" Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke and Futaba all bombarded him one after the other.
"Calm down everyone!" Makoto yelled. As if on cue, all the Thieves, and even Nanoha and Yuuno, stood at attention. "Ren, is that what I think it is?"
"Yup, we're back in business." Ren waved his phone in front of everyone. Though Nanoha and Yuuno didn't recognize it, all the thieves certainly did; their expressions donning excitement and fervor. "That being said-"
"I'm sure none of us are against it," Haru interrupted. "You know that we all want to stop her after what she's done. Let's not dawdle and get right to it."
"That's what I should be telling the rest of you," Chrono interrupted. "If you don't mind, you're blocking the way," he told them, pointing to the exit that they genuinely were blocking. A couple of them blushed, a bit embarrassed at the gaffe.
"Where are you going?" Nanoha asked him.
"I'm going to head down to arrest Precia. This is our chance to stop her while she's distracted trying to gather magical energy," Chrono explained.
"Then I'm going too," Nanoha said without hesitation almost the moment Chrono had finished speaking.
"I as well!" Yuuno added. "Arf, it may best for you to stay behind and look after Fate." The boy looked down to see Fate still in a catatonic state. He frowned, but all he could offer in the interim was his thoughts given the circumstances.
"Right, I'll take her back to the sickbay." The familiar took Fate from out of Nanoha's hands and into her own arms, carrying her bridal style. "I'll leave the rest to you…" She turned around, the thieves walking out of the way as Arf rushed past them.
"What about the rest of you? Aren't you all coming along?" Chrono asked the thieves. They looked amongst themselves, unsure of how to answer, given the suddenness of the situation, even to them.
"You go on ahead," Ren finally answered.
"We've got something else we have to take care of first before going down," Makoto then followed.
"But what are you-"
"Is it something vital to resolving the situation?" Lindy swiveled in her seat to face the group. All the thieves nodded in unison, surprising the commander before she nodded back. "Then make it quick. Chrono, Nanoha, Yuuno, you three head down first. I'll meet you there once I'm finished with preparations on my end."
"Roger!" The three said in unison. After hearing them, she swiveled back around in her seat Lindy returned to issuing orders to the other crew members. Though Yuuno and Chrono headed towards the teleporters immediately after, Nanoha lingered behind.
"Ren?"
"Nanoha, can I ask you a favor?" He asked, turning towards her, and kneeling to her height, an action that bothered her a tad, she realized just then when coupled with her confusion.
"Can you try to delay Precia for as long as possible? Just buy us any time you can get."
"Ren you haven't-"
"Please, for Fate." That wasn't fair, she thought, bringing Fate into this. However, the earnestness in his voice overcame her anger at being left out of the loop of things.
"Okay, but you have to tell me everything once this is over, promise?"
"Promise," he said back finally looking at her with a grateful smile. She felt a blush overcome her; her face elongating into an embarrassed expression. She quickly shook it off though. Now was time to focus on helping Fate. "We'll be down there as well once we've got everything set up."
"Alright. I'm going first then. I'll tell Chrono and Yuuno to help me buy time then. Be careful."
"You too Nanoha-chan," Ann said.
"Don't push yourselves," Yusuke added. With a final nod, she ran past them to follow Chrono and Yuuno out of the command room and to the teleporters.
"Now then… Lindy do you have any broadcasting type magic?"
"Yes, but for what purpose do you need it for Ren?"
-0-0-11-0-0-
The three of them, Nanoha, Chrono, and Yuuno, stood vigilant in the unfamiliar environment. Before them was the entrance to the rest of the Garden of Time, a large door that was several meters wide and even taller than that, but in front of it stood a large army of various armored creatures and knights.
"So many of them…" Yuuno muttered as he surveyed the area, keeping his eye on the enemies in case they made any sudden movements, all the while minimizing his own along with Nanoha and Chrono.
"There'll be more once we're inside."
"Chrono, what are they?" Nanoha was unsure whether or not to attack; her eyes darting between the Knights and creatures that stood before them.
"They're just automatons that attack nearby targets automatically."
"So, there's nobody inside then? That's a relief. Then we can go all out." Her posture changed immediately, becoming taller and more confident, as she got herself ready to engage with the enemy.
"Don't bother. Let me handle this." Chrono raised his staff, aglow with a spell that he had at the ready. Once the head of his staff reached the peak of its glow, Chrono wound his stance back like a coiled spring.
"Stinger Snipe!" Swiping his staff, a blue lash of magical energy flew forward, slicing a sizable portion of the army to pieces in one fell swoop.
"Sniper Shot!" Following that, the blue lash spiraled to a point, before splitting into many smaller shots that rained on the battlefield, taking out even more of the enemy forces. Within seconds only a few of the previously intimidating numbers still stood. Only a single unit remained standing before the doorway. Chrono flew towards it, and though it attempted to slash at Chrono with its axe, the mage maneuvered around it without issue, before jumping up to its head and sticking the staff in a gap between the head and the rest of its body.
"Break Impulse!"The final enemy exploded as it was overcharged by a burst of magical energy straight at its weak point at point blank range. Chrono rose from the ensuing smoke and landed near the door. Once the smoke cleared, he could see Nanoha and Yuuno standing slightly slack jawed amazed at the display. Though they had witnessed his prowess before, that time he held back out of part arrogance, ignorance, and safety. This time, without those restraints, he was better able to display his abilities.
"What are you two waiting for? Let's go!" Chrono told them.
"Right! Nanoha, let's go! Nanoha?" Yuuno was confused as to why Nanoha seemed to be hesitating.
"Why isn't he here yet?" She whispered to herself.
"I don't know what they're doing, but we'll waste time waiting for them. Besides, they're the ones who asked us to buy them time, so let's-" A flicker of static flitted through their ears, interrupting Chrono. All three winced at the sudden ear-piercing sound invading their heads. As they were recovering, the static returned, only this time as a screen floating above them, the same kind used for their comms but on a larger scale. Looking inside the doorway, it seemed like multiple panes of the static filled screens were being broadcast in different, and almost random, areas around the Garden of Time, with a big one above the entire structure.
"Broadcasting magic?" Chrono recognized it. Normally this specific spell was used for large scale communications or announcements to civilians for evacuations and like. They used the same magic to communicate with Precia just before they landed on site, but he was confused. Why was it being used now of all times? Communication had broken down, there wasn't a need to use it anymore. If the Arthra needed to contact them, then they could have used the smaller scale comms spells. Before he could contemplate any further, the static dissipated replaced by a simple, unadorned red screen.
"Greetings, Precia Testarossa!" A garbled, though high pitched and almost cat like, voice boomed from the screens. From inside the innermost room, Precia watched with only the smallest bit of her attention, the rest spent on gathering the magic necessary to enact her final wish.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves. We are the Phantom Thieves of Heart." Once the second garbled voice, feminine and spunky, named themselves, an image of a stylized hat and mask with an animated flaming eye appeared right in the middle. Below in English were the words 'Take you Heart' in an erratic font. "We come to you today with the help of our very special sponsor the TSAB, who graciously allowed us to, ahem, 'borrow' their systems."
"Perhaps you have heard of us, and if not, allow us to explain what we do." Again, it was a different voice that Nanoha felt sounded familiar but couldn't exactly make out under the distortions added to it. "We Phantom Thieves perform, as you may have guessed, thievery! But we do not pilfer just any old mundane treasures. No, what we seek are the treasures of the corrupt and evil!" The same voice continued, a bit of class emanating from it through the voice editing.
"And guess what? You Precia have been chosen as our special target for one day, and one day only! Congratulations!" This time the voice was younger and female with bit of playful impishness evident in its. "Don't you feel honored?"
"We've watched you Precia, and we've determined that you are the exact kind of scum we specialize in dealing with; the worst kind of piece of shit around." The voice was rasher, and unrefined; energetic to say the least.
"You've committed various crimes of an interdimensional scale, endangering the lives of countless innocents for your own selfish gain. You've shown a callous disregard for those around you, using them like tools that you can throw away the moment it's inconvenient or when you don't have any more use for them." Though a bit daintier, this feminine voice still held the righteous fury of the others. Nanoha noted that this one placed extra emphasis on the latter accusations.
"Perhaps at one point you truly were a kind mother as those around you claim you once were. Perhaps in the past such crimes would have never been even a passing thought to you. Now however, there is nothing of that kind mother anymore. Your actions do nothing but shame those you claim to wish happiness for. Alicia would have never wanted this." The fierce female voice echoed, finally getting a rise out of Precia.
"How dare you!" She yelled at the screen, the room shaking as her magic fluctuated in the same manner, but the broadcast continued unaffected by her sudden outburst.
"And that is why, in light of your actions, we Phantom Thieves, have decided that you will be our next target," All the previous voices said in unison. The red image cut to a shot of all the Thieves standing on the teleporter of the Arthra, Joker standing at the center of all the thieves, ready and waiting.
"Before the night is over, your treasure will be ours. We're coming for you Precia Testarossa, let the games begin." With a snap of Joker's finger, all the screens simultaneously cut out, returning the world to silence. Precia, still in her throne room and gathering energy, grit her teeth in frustration. She was confused at whatever that… that farce was. However, she eventually let out her breath that she was holding. A laugh soon followed, her eyes widened in madness. Perhaps she could indulge in a final game.
"Fine, come to me. For daring to speak as if you know of my daughter, I'll be sure to send you all to hell before I go to Al Hazard!" Her voice echoed inside the empty room. The only response came from the glow of the Jewel Seeds. "Prepare to meet the full might of an SS class mage!"
Outside, Nanoha and company were just as confused about what had happened.
"What was that?" Nanoha was first to ask once the initial shock had finally passed over.
"Useless theatrics… Is that what they needed to do?" Chrono seemed the most annoyed of the three. In his eyes, not only was their stunt unprofessional, but also would have ruined the point of a sneak attack. He also disapproved of the idea of them stealing something from Precia, which against procedure.
"Huh? Behind us!" Yuuno pointed towards the back where they first came in. At the same spot, various figures appeared draped in light, before dissipating, revealing the Phantom Thieves.
"Ren!" Nanoha ran up to them as soon as saw them. "You're here! Was that what you needed the time for?"
"No, we still need you to-"
"You're late! If you're done wasting time, we have to arrest Precia before she finishes her spell!" Chrono yelled from across the open area.
"Cool your jets Spikes, we're not here to help you arrest Precia."
"Then what did you come here for?" Chrono readied his staff, placing himself in a combat stance as he leered at the thieves.
"Couldn't you have said that in a less antagonistic way, Joker?" Queen gave Joker a glare, causing their leader to curl up a bit in response. No matter how close friends they all had become, Queen still held a tight leash over them. The spiked knuckles also made for a very convincing addition to her arguments.
"Sorry, about that Queen."
"Right… Anyways, we're not here to stop you, in fact it might actually help you with your objective, it's just that we're going to be doing things a bit differently," She explained, in a sense.
"But it still involves Precia in a way, right?" Yuuno asked, as he caught up to Nanoha. "So, what are you guys going to do?"
"As I told Nanoha back on the Arthra, we don't have time to explain all the particulars." Joker pulled out his phone as he was speaking, fiddling with it. "Just buy as much time as you can, and I promise, Precia will surrender without much fuss."
"What are you talking abo-"
"Yeah! You can count on us," Nanoha answered, interrupting Chrono's confusion and making Joker feel a bit embarrassed about how much she believed in him. Regardless, he nodded in thanks as he turned back to his phone.
"Would you two mind stepping back a bit, don't want you to get caught up in this." Nanoha and Yuuno looked at each other, a bit confused by his request before deciding to acquiesce. They knew that what he was doing was most likely something that would help them, just as he said it would.
"Hey, what are you doing!?"
"Good luck!" Joker interrupted Chrono, tapping his phone screen one last time. "Let's go guys!" Ripples in the air expanded between the thieves and the three mages. The space itself became distorted, causing each party to view the other as if they were under water. While the thieves had no such expression of surprise, Nanoha, Yuuno, and Chrono all looked on in a daze as one by one, the thieves walked forward, disappearing into the aberration of space time. Once all of them had disappeared inside the distortion, the space returned to normal, with the thieves nowhere to be seen.
"Amy, did you see that?" Chrono opened a comms line back to the Arthra, the scene behind the operator still in chaos.
"They just disappeared! I can't get a read on their signature. I-It's as if they've hopped dimensions but they shouldn't have something like that according to the general technological and magical level of the planet!" Chrono clicked his tongue at Amy's panicked assessment.
"Chrono-kun, let's just move on. We'll be fine on our own." Nanoha and Yuuno had at some point walked back to where Chrono was, catching slightly off guard.
"We can worry about Joker and the others later, for now we have to get to Precia before it's too late." Chrono nodded back at Yuuno's statement. Now wasn't the time to quibble over them. Chrono let out a sigh before psyching himself back up with a quick shake of the head.
"Yeah, let's get going!"
"Roger!" The three of them turned and ran past the gates, heading inside. Only two hours and forty-five minutes remained before Precia was finished with her spell.
-0-0-11-0-0-
Fate lay in the sickbay bed once more. Though unfocused, she could see Arf nearby, the sound of something made of cotton rustling and unwinding also within earshot. Once those sounds had stopped, Arf walked up to her bed, free of the bandages from before, a determined expression on her face.
"Fate, I'm going to go help them," the familiar said, kneeling down to be closer to her master. "I'm worried about them. I think Ren probably has his side of things handled, but those kids are a different story. I'll be going." She placed a hand on Fate's cheek, gently caressing it. "I'll be back soon. When all of this is over, no matter how much time it takes, I'll wait for you to return to the Fate I love so much. You'll have all the time in the world for it." With a final smile, Arf stood up and exited the room, her steps firm as the walked forward. Even so, she turned back one last time, her master still unroused. Arf, with but a small grimace, continued her exit. She had work to do.
As she heard the doors open and close, in the corner of Fate's eye she could see mother's automatons in combat with Nanoha and the others as they continued further into the citadel on a monitor most likely meant for medical personnel to observe. She thought of her mother and a realization filled her heart with a woe.
"I can't remember mother ever smiling at me. Not even once." That was all she'd ever wanted; to see her mother smile. Everything she'd done up until that point was for that purpose. No matter how much her mother hurt her, or told her that she wasn't enough, if Fate could see her mother smile, that would have been enough. Even now, when she'd been thrown away, a part of her still clung to Precia.
"Arf…" she muttered when she saw her familiar appear on the screen next to Nanoha and the other two mages. "I'm sorry for not listening to you." When Fate thought back to the times Arf pleaded with her, it must have hurt more when she ignored those pleas. And even then, her familiar never left her side; remained her ally no matter the circumstance. And now that familiar, ever loyal, had gone to join that white girl to stop her mother.
"Nanoha Takamichi…" That girl greeted the familiar with a smile. There was no audio feed, but even so it was easy to see that the girl was ecstatic to see Arf. Though they had clashed many times before, fighting for different beliefs and different reasons, Fate realized that Nanoha was the first person to ever look at her straight on as an equal, not as her better or her inferior.
"Why did you keep trying?" Over and over, Nanoha kept calling Fate's name whenever they clashed, wanting to reach her. Fate finally rose from the bed, tears beginning to form.
"All I wanted was for Mother to accept me," she spoke as if Nanoha could hear her from beyond the screen. "It was everything to me. If I didn't have that I…" she couldn't say it. She couldn't say that she would have rather been dead. Though the feeling rang true, it reminded her that such a thing was reality. Right now, she didn't even have that. A fear overcame as she began to shiver in place, her breathing becoming more and more haggard as the situation set in once more.
"Sometimes if you love somebody, it's also about confronting them. Criticizing them when they're not doing their best, admonishing them when they do something wrong, and stopping them before they do something bad. Loving someone isn't about always trying to please the other person. That kind of relationship isn't love. If you really love your mother Fate, you have to be honest with both her and yourself."
Almost as if it was a magic spell, the words that rang in her head spread a feeling of peace throughout her body. Her shaking became still, her mind no longer raced, and her heart becalmed. When Fate remembered Ren's words, she'd felt assured, comforted by them. She felt Ren's words, and her memories of Nanoha giving her courage, despite the fears that still lay within.
"Honest…" she repeated, "with myself." She looked onto the near by desk to find Bardiche sitting peacefully. Without another word, she rose from the bed, and hobbled over. Though unsteady, she kept going without faltering. Her hands slammed onto the table as she panted and wheezed from the exertion. Even so, she maintained a resolute gaze.
"Then I cannot run away," she said as she took Bardiche in hand. "If that isn't love, then perhaps…" Bardiche transformed into its familiar staff shape as she continued to speak. "Perhaps it's time to put an end to my relationship with her and start something new." A light emanated forth from Bardiche, enveloping the girl before quickly dissipating, revealing her barrier jacket. Fate felt her strength and resolve restored. Looking at her staff, she smiled.
"You've also been at my side as well, Bardiche. Thank you…" The head of the staff nodded in response, causing the girl's smile to widen. Soon after however, her expression returned to a stoic one as she concentrated on casting a spell. A magic circle appeared beneath her, and in the blink of an eye, she disappeared.
-0-0-11-0-0-
"Well this is… weird," Skull was the first to say as the thieves surveyed the… open plain.
"It's just an open grassy field… with a house over there," Panther took the time to say as she moved her head about to try and see if there was anything else around. Her efforts were only met by grass, more grass, more grass… and clear blue sky with a couple of clouds in the distance and a bright yellow sun.
"Quite the idyllic view all things considered. It reminds me of those American Countryside paintings I've seen before." Fox placed his hands in his usual rectangular formation, looking about with a different purpose at the forefront.
"I was expecting something a little more… I dunno, final dungeony, I guess," Oracle commented as she continued to scan the area. "Well not like open grassy field with something in the center hasn't been a final dungeon before. Only thing here is the house," she said after finishing her scan of the area using Prometheus. "I guess that's it. No creepy kids around asking for masks either."
"Might be one of those, bigger on the inside kind of deals," Skull proposed as he ignored Oracle's last comment.
"Who knows, Precia's mind isn't exactly the most stable. Every one of our previous targets, even for as corrupt and despicable as they were, were in their right minds," Mona noted.
"Fair point. Precia's pretty much capital C for 'Crazy'. We've never had to deal with someone who was that off their rocker." Skull sighed, his worry visible even through the mask.
"This will be our first time dealing with someone who could be clinically classified as insane." The others shared in Noir's pity for Precia. This was someone who had gone over the edge; a broken individual. The thought edged in Joker's mind that if she'd been of sound mind, then none of this would have happened. Regardless of the 'what ifs' however, they had a job to do.
"Everyone be on guard more than usual. We don't know what we'll encounter in such a mind. Since it's the only thing in view, let's head for the house. We don't have time to waste so we should keep moving," Queen ordered, to which everyone agreed.
It didn't take very long for them to reach the house, as there hadn't been any surprise obstructions, nor had there been any shadows either. Without such, Mona was able to head straight there. The eeriness of peace only put the thieves more on edge which continued as they investigated the house, trying to find some way in. They scoured about, hoping to find something, a stray open window, perhaps a vent they could crawl through, or maybe a door that'd been unlocked. To no avail, they found nothing they could use to get inside after searching for a good 20 minutes. In what little time they had, it was a lot of time to have wasted.
"Is it a bit weird I'm about to ask if we should do some 'Breaking and Entering'?" Skull tapped his iron pipe on the glass door of the house's patio just enough to make a noise. Though they hadn't detected any shadows, even as they got right up next to the house, they still decided to avoid using the front door to avoid alerting anything inside if they could. Eventually they did try, only for it to also be locked. Despite the desperate situation, the setting itself still made them feel more like common crooks.
"We've already checked under the mat, around the plant pot, and other stuff for a key. There aren't any open windows either. It might be our only way in…" Panther said, a bit uneasy that they'd have to do something so crude; a feeling shared among the others.
"Well, maybe we should do a second sweep before we… do that?"
"I would appreciate it if you could avoid breaking anything," a muffled voice came from beyond the door, after Queen finished speaking.
"Woah!" Skull fell backwards onto his rear, as the other thieves had a bit of a start as well.
"Wh-Who said that?" Panther asked in a panic.
"Guys, I'm getting a reading from inside the house," Oracle announced to the group who entered a ready stance, all except their leader.
"Joker?" Mona asked for the group as all of them were confused by his lack of prudence. In fact, their leader seemed more bemused than anything else.
"I don't think we have anything to worry about from this one," Joker answered cryptically, though his relaxed confidence did assuage them of their nervousness. Though, they kept their guard up in case he was wrong.
"I can give you plenty to worry about if you really want it." Out of the side of the glass door, a girl walked into view at a leisurely pace, her visage sending a shock through everyone but Joker.
"What?"
"No way!"
"But isn't that…" Skull, Panther, and Noir cried in surprise. The little girl herself was unperturbed by their outbursts, smirking at their expense. Once the initial excitement of her appearance had died down, and when she was sure she had everyone's attention, she bowed.
"Hello there, I'm Alicia Testarossa. It's nice to meet most of you," the girl introduced herself to the group, a name that made most of the group think of someone who by all rights should not have stood in front of them. The girl's countenance however, made it difficult to not believe her claim; a dead ringer for Fate Testarossa and the girl in the tube.
"So, this is where you had to return to?" Joker asked as the rest of the thieves were still taking a moment to process the new face. Alicia nodded, as she took in the sight of the confused thieves.
"Hey Joker, it seems that you and Alicia have already met?" Noir asked.
"She's shown up in my dreams occasionally since I returned to Uminari. Not only that, just yesterday she showed up in the Velvet Room." Though it was weird to hear him say as such, the Thieves had experienced enough at this point that dream visions weren't much by comparison. The thieves introduced themselves to Alicia by using their code names. Even though they wanted to use their actual names, it was too risky doing so inside a Palace.
"So, wait, you mean that place with all the cells?" Joker nodded to Skull who had just remembered what the Velvet Room even was.
"Interesting, yet this individual is most likely a cognition, isn't that right?" Fox asked the rest of the group. Oracle shook her head.
"No, this reading is more similar to the ones I got from the VIPs in Shido's palace."
"You mean she might be Alicia's shadow self mixed with Precia's cognition?" Queen's question drudged up everyone's memories of Shido's palace, and how life like Shido's cognitions were, most likely thanks to Shido's close bonds with those individuals.
"I mean, maybe but… I'm getting a reading of something else there as well." Futaba faced contorted into a grimace as she continued to try and make sense of the reading she was getting.
"If you guys are done talking, perhaps you'd like to come inside?" Punctuating her sentence, the door slid open, and a tapping of her foot followed.
"Oh, right yeah…" Skull let his pipe fall to the side as he and the rest of the thieves walked in, bowing their heads one by one to the host on instinct, even Skull. Thanks to the inside though, they forewent the next instinct to take off their shoes.
"How unsightly…" Yusuke muttered. Though the home had seemed normal from what little they could gleam from outside, once inside, parts of the wooden floor were interrupted abruptly by metal paneling with no reasoning or pattern. Large wires that were more like pipes in size, zigged and zagged all about, up and down, across whatever they happened upon; furniture, walls, and décor covered up in the mess. Upon closer inspection, the group realized that some of the wires were coming out of holes in the home.
The holes were a shamble, as if one took a hammer and slammed it right through, cracks and dust sitting as one would expect near it. Curiously, holes that should have logically led to the outside of the not so humble abode also had wires coming out of them, even though the outside looked pristine and unmarred. Even more curious was that when one looked upon said holes it would not provide the idyllic view of the meadow beyond, instead they led to an inky black darkness that yielded nothing. Even when one of the thieves used a phone flashlight to peer into it, not even the slightest hint of anything had shown itself in the darkness.
"What a mess," Noir noted. Easiest to see was how there were cracks of varying sizes all over the dry wall. The pictures on the walls had some manner of destruction, sometimes the picture was torn, a frame in disarray, or the glass cracked to the point where the picture inside was unviewable. Decorations were strewn about on the floor, sometimes tied up in wires, lamps still worked but flickered every so often, and a fire place that was completely covered in ash.
"I mean, I guess it looks like a crazy person's home, the holes into the abyss notwithstanding."
"Oracle, is there any reading from that direction?" Queen pointed to a hall that all the wires seemed to be going to. "All the wires seem to lead towards that hallway."
"Hold on, give me a second." Oracle's attention was taken into a random direction as she focused on the analysis. After a moment a somewhat forgotten voice reminded them of her presence.
"Hm? That way? That's where Mom is," Alicia answered for them. "She's way, way, waaaaay, far down that way." The little girl pointed, standing on her tippy toes to emphasis just how way way waaaaay down she meant. A giggle or two could be heard from the members of the team that were of the more feminine persuasion.
"Alicia's telling the truth. It's faint, but I'm detecting Precia down that hallway," Oracle stated now that her analysis was complete.
"Though it's not like we have much choice," Mona noted as hopped over one of the large wires. "All the other ways are blocked." The other halls, doors, and even the stairs were completely enveloped in the tangled mess of wires just like the one Mona had gone over, blocking all the other ways out of the living room.
"Then that's the way we'll go," Joker stated in order to make sure everyone was on the same page. "That's most likely where we'll find the treasure." As soon as the word treasure left his mouth, he eyed the little girl standing next to them, a confused look on her face, and realizing that they hadn't actually said anything of what they were about to do. A silence permeated the room, the thieves unsure of how to break the news, until one of them spoke up at last.
"Alicia, you don't mind what we're here to do?" Panther asked her in a slow, nervous cadence.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, we're here to steal something from your Mom," Panther clarified when she realized she was still beating around the bush.
"Steal…" Alicia let the word practically droll off her tongue, taking a moment to let it sink in. She tilted her head about, thinking it over. She didn't know why they were here to steal anything. She couldn't think of anything they'd even want to steal. Still though, she remembered that Joker made her a promise, and he didn't seem like the kind to break it. "Will it help her?" Alicia finally asked as she directed her question towards Joker specifically, her eyes directly on him.
"Yeah, it will." he answered without shrinking under her gaze. Alicia closed her eyes and contemplated his answer, another round of thinking commenced.
"Hmm…" She tilted her head left again for a moment, then she tilted it right again for another moment more. The thieves watched, cold sweat forming a couple of them. None of them wanted to have to do anything they didn't want to. Cognition, or whatever, or not, she was still a little girl for all intents and purposes.
Finally, she brought her head back to the center and gave a determined nod. "Okay then, I trust you." A sigh escaped from the mouths of the thieves, relived that they wouldn't have to do anything they'd regret. "But I'm coming with you." The thieves looked at one another, unsure of how to respond.
"Alicia, it might be dangerous down there. Perhaps it would be best if you stayed here," Queen finally spoke.
"Yeah, who knows what we'll encounter in this place. You'll be safer here," Panther added, trying to give her best smile. Alicia's huff however showed that it wasn't as effective as they could have hoped.
"Well, do any of you know magic?"
"Pray tell why we would need magic?" Though it was difficult to see behind his mask, one could tell Fox's brow furrowed in confusion.
"For some of the security doors. They require specific magic sequences to unlock. Unless any of you can use magic, you're going to be stuck." At Alicia's explanation, the thieves all looked at one another. A mutual realization between all of them arose as it dawned on all of them that they probably would need her if what she was saying was true.
"I'm detecting something like barricades… Yeah, the little yellow squirt isn't lying…" Oracle grumbled. Alicia pouted, but they, for the most part, ignored it as best they could. Exasperated sighs and groans could be heard escaping from a couple of the thieves. None wanted to risk danger to a child, cognition, or whatever she was, or not. Regardless, they were more than aware they had no choice. Joker stepped up so as to not waste any more time.
"We don't know what we'll encounter down there, so make sure to stick close to at least one of us at all times. Am I clear?"
"Mhm!" Alicia nodded, her smile showing her satisfaction. "Got it!"
"Alright, then stick close by next to Oracle." None objected to Joker's command, though the orange haired girl did complain under her breath about having to babysit. Once everything looked to be in order, Joker nodded to himself before speaking once more. "Everyone, let's go!"
"Roger!" Without delay they started down the hall. They had quite a ways to go. Two hours and twenty-three minutes remained.
-0-0-11-0-0-
"One more down!" Nanoha confirmed as she watched another armor fall apart from the impact of her spells. They'd finally made it to the bottom floor of giant spiral staircase they were in, taking care of each armor on the way down as they went.
"All clear!" Yuuno's magic circles faded as he turned towards the others. "Nanoha! Behind you!"
"Huh!?" At his warning, Nanoha whipped her self around only to find a giant armor she had missed readying to swing at her. Before she could react in time, its massive sword began its descent right towards her. Nanoha's eyes closed as she braced for the oncoming strike with a magic barrier, only for that blow to never come.
"Thunder Rage!" As the name promised, a boom of thunder fell upon the Armor. As the attack wracked its body its arm froze mid-swing before the rest of it fell limp at the side. Nanoha, recognizing the actions at hand, flew away before it exploded, leaving nothing behind save for scrap.
"Fate!?" Arf was the first to name as she saw the blonde girl fall from above with a controlled grace. The black clad girl flew down until she reached Nanoha, who still looked at her with surprise. However, it didn't last long, as Nanoha's expression soon turned into one of happiness.
"You're here." Fate nodded, but didn't get to do more than that as the orange blur in the corner of her eye approaching her made sure of.
"Fate!" The girl soon found herself in the embrace of her familiar. Muffled crying could be heard as Fate pat the woman's head.
"Arf, I'm sorry I made you worry." The sobs continued for a few seconds more while Yuuno caught up to them. Yuuno stood by Nanoha as the two of them watched silently to give the others space. Once she'd gotten control of herself, Arf let go of her master.
"Are you sure you're okay being up so soon?" Arf asked as she wiped her face. "You don't have to be here if you don't want to."
"I'm fine Arf," Fate answered. "I… I must end this with my own hands. I can't start again until then." Arf looked at the blonde girl, trying to see even the smallest crack in her resolve, but Fate looked unwavering and firm. Arf could see a determination in her master that she'd never seen before. Though she wanted to tell Fate to rest some more, that desire left her as she continued to match Fate's gaze.
"Alright, Fate." Arf stood back, finally giving the girl space to stand on her own. Fate gave a thankful nod before turning to Nanoha and Yuuno.
"Where are the others?" She asked, as she found them to be short quite a few people. She tried to search for him, her movements a bit frenetic, only to find that the one she wanted to see aside from Nanoha was nowhere to be found.
"Chrono stayed behind to take care of the reinforcements outside," Yuuno answered. "He's holding the entrance down until our own forces can get back up and running."
"Then where's Ren?" Fate came out and finally asked with the decorum of a sack of bricks. Nanoha and Yuuno looked at one another, both unsure of what to say. Fate frowned when she was not given a timely response. "Did something happen to him? Is he alright?"
"No! No! He's fine… I think? It's…" Nanoha raced to answer her. "Ren's doing something else right now, but it's something to do with your mom. He says he can save her, but I don't know how. Still I think we can trust him. If he says he can do it, then he'll definitely do it!" Save her mother? How? What could he be doing and where? As wonderful as it would be for such a notion, it was something she had to do. Regardless of the circumstances, if he wasn't here, then they had to concentrate on what they could do now. If he was fine, she could talk to him later.
Looking around once more she could see more soldiers coming up on them. These soldiers were bigger than the ones that had just been dispatched, sporting artillery cannons and if her readings were correct, then their barriers were stronger as well. An uphill, difficult battle was more than promised by the display.
"Uh…" Nanoha looked upon the new wave of enemies nervously, seemingly larger than the last. She'd already fought many on their way this far in, and here new foes continued to emerge in a seemingly endless supply. She was beginning to feel exhausted, and yet they still hadn't reached their goal.
"We should be able to take care of them, if the two of us work together." Nanoha looked at the other girl in surprise before happily giving a nod back, as she felt some strength return to her.
"Yeah, together!" The two of them, alongside Arf and Yuuno, readied themselves. They still had a lot further to go, but now with Fate by their side, the burden felt lighter.
"Let's go!" Nanoha cried as she and the others charged further ahead.
-0-0-11-0-0-
"And there we go!" At the little girl's word, a pair of doors slid open once their seal had been undone. The thieves looked bewilderment at the sight that lay before them.
"What the hell…" Skull let out as he looked upon the broken, dilapidated staircase that led down into the depths. To be clear, the stairs were the only thing they could see in front of them. There were no walls, or ground beneath them. The stairs seemed to hang in an abyss of what looked to be a static filled void, broken by what looked to cracks in reality itself. Though they could see the occasional bit of floating rubble and sometimes even what looked to be sections of room, there wasn't any clear path that could allow them access to these far-off chunks of land in the void.
"Nothing here either…" Oracle mumbled worryingly as she scanned the area before them now that the seal had been dealt with. "I still can't detect a single shadow…"
"Hey Mona, do you have any idea why we haven't encountered any shadows so far?" Panther asked while trying not to be creeped out by the sights around them.
"I'm not sure. Palaces are supposed to draw in shadows without exception, with those who have greater corruption drawing in stronger shadows. It's not supposed to be this empty, ever, for anyone who can manifest a palace. Heck they aren't supposed to be such a straightforward line like this one either." As he had said, once they'd started down the hallway with Alicia in tow, it had simply been a straight line with only the most insubstantial of obstacles in the form of slightly awkward placements of wires, holes in the ground, or the occasional stop whenever Alicia had to open a seal using magic. To most of the thieves, such a strange palace left them feeling on edge.
"Hey are we going yet? We still have some way to go until we get to Mom." Alicia's remark reminded them of their goal. Even if things were strange, they couldn't turn back now. They had to go forward no matter what.
"She's right. One at a time, and be careful going down," Joker commanded, looking unperturbed by the scenery before them. Skull and Panther took the lead, followed by Fox and Queen, Joker and Alicia were after, and lastly Noir, Oracle, and Mona were in the back. Silence pervaded the walk down as they carefully sidestepped holes in the stairs that varied in size and steepness.
Their footsteps did not even echo like it did in the rooms prior to their descent, instead only making a sound as it met the step, and that sound immediately dying right after. Combined with the eerie scenery around them, it made it too difficult to speak for even a slight moment of levity. At least for most of them. Alicia stopped in her tracks, causing those behind her to jolt to a stop.
"Woah! What's the hold up?" Mona yelped as they tried to gather themselves from the sudden delay.
"That's… my room…" Alicia said, pointing to a distant floating block in the void, walls missing to give view of what lay inside it.
"I'd call it cute if it weren't for the… well… everything else." Panther was a bit taken in by the pink wall paper, and girl toys that were strewn on the floor. The furniture was equally adorable and suited someone at Alicia's age. However, it was floating in a backdrop of a broken, static world prevented her from being able to compliment it in full.
"She still remembers how it looks like." No one had to ask who it was exactly that remembered it. "Mommy was always busy at work. She didn't spend a lot of time at home," Alicia began to explain. "But it was okay, because she was working hard so that we could have a place to stay, food to eat, and clothes to wear. Even then she tried to spend as much time at home with me as she could even though she was so busy." Joker realized that neither she nor Fate mentioned anything of a father, making it clearer what kind of situation Precia was in with her daughter. "One day though, they forced her to speed up the experiment. They still needed three months, but the committee wanted it in one. Despite mommy's pleas, she was forced to do as they ordered."
"How do you know all this?" Noir asked when it became clear to her that these memories couldn't possibly be Alicia's.
"I just… I just know them," Alicia said with an apologetic smile, before continuing. None of them stopped her, wanting to know more of what happened in the girls recounting. "Like mommy predicted though, something went wrong with the experiment. Things broke down and the lab exploded. We lived nearby to the lab. I guess I and everyone around it was caught in the accident. Ever since then…" Alicia's voice trailed as she failed to find the words to describe what had become of that kind mother. No one needed such a description. Though they stood there for a bit of time, urgency dictated they had to keep moving.
"Okay, that's enough story time. I think it's time we get going." In silence, they continued back down, resolve reaffirmed by new knowledge of the past. One hour and fifty-seven minutes remaining.
-0-0-11-0-0-
"Looks like this is it," Queen said as the stairs finally ended, leading to an open doorway floating in the middle of space.
Each of them hurried in, not wanting to address how the cracks in the void seemed to grow more numerous in number, how the static quickened in pace with each step down, and that the amount of floating rubble in the distance grew fewer and fewer. They didn't want to talk about what that could have meant for the mind they were inside, nor the face that seemed to appear in the static for but a fraction of a second.
They ignored it as best they could and ran in even faster. They tried not to notice how the face seemed to flicker more and more frequently as they approached the exit, and noises that weren't quite screaming, weren't quite whispering started to be made, nor how it seemed to closer and closer. They definitely did not notice how the face seemed to multiply and it's black eyed, bleeding gaze stared at them as they now ran down the stairs. Not at all. Once they were all inside, they fell to the floor, panting as their hearts beat at a wild rate.
"Let's not talk about any of that ever again, agreed?" Skull wheezed out between hard breaths as he tried to calm himself down.
"Agreed," the entire group save for Alicia said in unison. The girl was instead preoccupied by something else.
"Alicia, what's wrong?" Noir asked as she noticed the girl was distracted. The rest of the group looked around. They were currently inside a medium sized rectangular metal room that was longer than it was wide with an aesthetic matching that of the Arthra in basic structure and design. Given that Precia was from the same place, it would make sense for a similar room to be in her memories. While they could spot a door on the far end that was most likely their next destination, in front of it, someone stood.
"Who goes there?" As if the person, at the same time they noticed her, in turn was made aware of their presence. The brown-haired woman, who looked to be in her early twenties, wore a matching ensemble of brown and white clothing matched by white hat with a crossing brown pattern. Her clothes were simple but somewhat fashionable, hugging her body and showing off a modest bit of her cleavage. In her hand was a simple wand with a blue staff and yellow orb at its head; a wand that was readied and aimed at the group.
The thieves readied their weapons at the threat, each taking a battle stance. Wordlessly, Joker commanded with gestures and eye movements for Skull, Panther, and Mona to move forward while the others were to gather around Alicia and Oracle.
"For what purpose do you intruders intend upon this place?" The woman asked, her demeanor unchanged by the display in front of her. No answer came to her as the thieves watched her, and she in turn watched them for any sudden movements, or signs of battle.
"I see, then allow me to introduce myself if you will not. I am Rynith, familiar to the owner of this place, or at least the memories of such a person. If it is your wish to proceed further, then it is my duty to stop you."
"Joker, of the Phantom thieves," their leader answered in courtesy as a gentleman ought to.
"I see you do have some manners, though not enough to leave this place well enough alone."
"Sorry about that, but we're here because we have a promise to keep. If we have to go through you, then so be it." Joker pointed his gun at her, mimicking her stance with her wand.
"Unfortunate that I must fight you, your entourage, and that dashing gentleman over there." The thieves looked at each other in confusion as Rynith's gaze fell upon their smallest member. Mona in turn felt bewildered by the singling out but returned to focus.
"While I must thank you for the compliment, flattery will get you nowhere," Mona responded. "We must proceed beyond where you stand my lady. My apologies in advance for our actions henceforth."
"A shame. Well then, without further ado. If you must continue, then there is only one thing I can do in response." A light began to glow from the tip of Rynith's wand, causing the thieves to ready themselves for the oncoming attack.
"Stoooooop!"
"Alicia!" Oracle yelled as she saw the girl breakaway from her and run in front of them. Her sudden appearance caused all to stop in their tracks as she ran up to Rynith. The woman herself was frozen as she looked upon Alicia's visage, as if she was seeing a ghost, or perhaps it was someone else.
"So, you're Alicia; Precia's daughter."
One hour and thirty-one minutes remaining.
Author's Notes:
Writer's block is fun. Even more fun when you have excuses to do other things like playing Kingdom Hearts 3, Tales of Vesperia DE, Devil May Cry 5, and Etrian Odyssey Nexus. Man, what a great first quarter of the year for games and getting my hands on the new Fate game on PS4 is giving me more reasons to not write some more, alongside trying to find new ways to bully DMC5's final boss with Royal Guard.
Anyways, this is the first part of the end. We're coming to the final few chapters now. Most of the stuff for the Cannon Nanoha bits were rewritten to better fit a written medium rather than the original medium that was an anime. I also modified some events to better fit how this story was flowing, but for the most part it's following cannon with some slight hints of the changes Ren has made by his inclusion. I'm a stickler for wanting to be as cannon as possible and deviating not too outlandishly, but still enough to justify the existence of the cross over. That's just the way I am. Even then I did include Rynith who didn't appear animated until the movies and debuted in a drama CD. Not that that's new for Japanese media.
Speaking of Ren, I hope the idea of Precia's palace is coming across. It's not meant to be normal because Precia isn't normal. She's not so much corrupted as she is broken. Perhaps I'm being blunt about it in the way I designed her palace, but hey Persona tends to pretty blunt too. Anyways we'll see that idea of broken continue in the next chapter, on their side of the events. It's also where the greatest changes to Nanoha's cannon will begin as well.
Well that's it for now. I hope you guys enjoyed what you read, and had a great time. I hope to see you all again. Be sure to leave a review to tell me how I'm doing and how I can improve as always. Have a great rest of your day and take care.
