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 12: Cracked Ego

"You do resemble Fate, or should I say that Fate resembles you," Rynith stated in a daze, her eyes glazed over as she perused Alicia's features. Perhaps she wanted to find even the slightest bit of difference, but every physical trait that could be gleamed was a complete match for Fate's own. The differences instead came from the way those traits were worn. Alicia's bearing held greater energy and confidence, standing taller and surer of herself. Fate by comparison felt more so reserved and demure. There were physical differences, but those had come from the way the girls had been… raised. Rynith did not dwell on those thoughts, did not want to dwell on them.

"I can see now how Precia had most likely came to despair." The greater the resemblance, the more pronounced the differences become. Rynith had always wondered why her master had treated Fate so cruelly, and now that she has seen with her own eyes the girl which Fate was meant to be, the answer now seemed so obvious that it bordered on the comical.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing… nothing that matters anymore," Rynith shook her head of idling thoughts as she replied to Alicia. "More importantly, tell me. Why do you aid these intruders?" She asked, pointing her staff at Joker and the rest of the Thieves. "Did you not hear them before, how they have come to take what is left of Precia's heart?"

"What is left?" Joker mumbled, trying to figure out if there was any greater meaning to that turn of phrase.

"I was the one who asked them to come."

"What?" Rynith's face broke into astonishment at Alicia's declaration.

"Well… sort of. I didn't know this is what they meant, but I was the one who asked them to save Mom. Apparently to do that, they have to take her heart." Rynith collected herself as she heard Alicia's explanation. Her head shook in pity, wondering how Alicia could be so naïve before remembering how old she was when she departed the world of the living.

"There is no saving that woman now. Master… your mother, has gone too far to stop now. The mistakes she's made have pushed her further and further to the point that you cannot bring her back. I am sorry."

"But we should still try!" Alicia stamped her foot, her face becoming flushed as began to talk back. "You don't know for sure that Mom can't be saved!"

"The woman doesn't want to be saved to begin with." Now it was Alicia's turn to be confused, her mouth agape trying to form words of any sort, but she had difficulty trying to form a single coherent thought. Her mother didn't want to be saved?

"What?" Was all Alicia could ask, still unsure of what she'd just heard.

"Precia does not have the necessary amount of Jewel Seeds to reach Al Hazard. That doesn't even include the fact that using them to reach Al Hazard is an untested theory that has not gone under the proper planning stages for basic safety, let alone success. Of all people, she should be someone who values safety and procedure, and yet she does not care in the slightest." A pause held as the group looked amongst themselves, cautious on the meaning Rynith meant to convey. Only the low hum of the facility around made any appreciable noise.

"So, she doesn't care if she dies?" Joker, finally understanding what Rynith hinted at.

"But that's-"

"Close," Rynith interrupted Alicia to say. "Precia only wants one thing at this point: to be with you, Alicia. How she accomplishes that, either by reaching Al Hazard, or death, it appears she is not picky on the matter. Though I doubt whether or not she's given it any greater thought at all."

"No, that can't be… that's not what I wanted. That's not what I want at all," Alicia's hands fell to the floor as she felt her heart crumble in her chest. "Mom… why?" Joker knelt down and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. A grimace twisted into form on his face as he watched the girl sob. As much as she tried to smother it, it was still clear enough to hear, even by those standing farthest away from her. With his hand still comforting Alicia, he turned to face Rynith.

"That doesn't change anything. We're still going to save Precia, regardless of her desires." Rynith scowled at the gall the young man had to say such a brazen thing. It seemed she wasn't the only one surprised as his fellows had also fallen into a small uproar.

"Joker!"

"What are you saying!?"

Rynith felt the ears under her hat curl a bit from the sudden outburst as those, and variations thereof, were the only things Rynith was able to make out of the messy cacophony that she heard from the other end of the room; nothing of any real substance. Once the noise had died down, she spoke again.

"Did you not hear what I had just said? Precia does not wish for such a thing."

"And I should care how?" Joker responded with a smug indifference. "I don't care about what Precia wants."

"B-but Ren, what about your promise?" Alicia pleaded, tugging at his trousers. He placed a hand on her head, patting it gently and giving a kind smile.

"Let me finish, okay?" He asked her in a soft tone of voice before turning back to Rynith. "I don't care what Precia wants. What I do care about though, is what Alicia wants, as well as what Fate wants. And what they want is their mother back. So to that end, who cares what Precia thinks about that? And the only thing left standing in our way is you and that door." Joker pointed past her, at the door that Rynith guarded.

"Now then, we're running out of time. If we're going to fight, then let's get this over with." His mask pinged a tinge of blue as he walked forward, readying his knife in hand. Seeing this, the rest of the thieves got into similar positions. They had a job to do, and thanks to their leader, the will to do it once more.

Rynith's eyes darted about, eyeing each of the weapons that came into view. It was an eccentric collection, but nonetheless the group brought out their arms with familiarity. They knew how to use those weapons. Their eccentricity not being enough to hide their competency. Despite the heavy atmosphere however, Joker appeared ever calm. Watching, waiting, anticipating when she was going to move. She steadied her breaths, readying herself for the action she was about to take. She hoped it would be the correct one. Once she was finally ready, she acted.

"Fine then." She saw them tense up but only for a moment. That was because she had proceeded to turn around. She raised her hand, and not a moment later the door opened to reveal a hallway further into the facility. When she turned back around to face them, it was clear they had not expected that at all. The uncouth blonde young man in particular almost dropped his weapon to the ground, clumsily catching right before impact, but still making a fool of himself.

"Well… alright then." Rynith took pleasure in having pulled rug out from under the usually smug young man but hid it to the best of her abilities. At least until they'd put their weapons away, after which they walked up to her in a casual, almost inviting fashion. "So what's prompted this?"

"A change of heart perhaps?" She heard a snicker escape from someone in the group but she wasn't familiar enough with their voices to tell who it was. Despite their attempts to remain anonymous, it was easy to feel an air of amusement emanate from the young adults.

"I suppose we can accept that, but care to spare a detail or two?" Fox asked.

"Fate desires as such, yes?" Joker nodded as his eyes still focused on her. Rynith wished to applaud him as his guard had yet to drop but kept it to herself. "Then I suppose that shall be my reason, and I ask that we leave it at that. We are, as you say, pressed for time. Ah yes, that does mean that I am coming with you."

"Thank you, Lady Rynith. Your cooperation is most appreciated." Mona bowed in thanks.

"Th-think nothing of it. I am just happy to be of service to a gentleman of your caliber." Rynith turned away, but Joker could swear he saw the slightest shade of pink plastered on her cheeks before going out of view. And it seems he wasn't the only one to notice.

"Ooh… someone's made a new friend," Panther teased.

"P-Panther it is not what you think! I am just giving her the proper respect she deserves as a-"

"Okay Mona, enough with the flirting," Oracle said as a couple of screens faded out of existence that the others had only noticed after hearing her speak up. "The hall appears to be a few miles long. Seeing as there's so much space in this hall though, here's your chance to impress your new lady friend."

"You're mistaken I'm just… ugh, fine." Without missing a beat, the not-a-cat jumped into the air and a large puff of smoke obscured him before a decently sized bus landed in front of them with a not-a-cat like grace. The thieves were already making way into the cat bus as the two new additions stood in surprise.

"Wow!" Alicia shouted, excited by the change Mona had undergone. She had become giddy and seemed ready to burst into a run around the bus. "It's just like one of those animes from Earth!"

"Magnificent…" Joker wasn't sure if Rynith said that, given how quietly she whispered it, but she probably wouldn't repeat as such if he were to ask.

"Come on then, you two should get on as well. It'll be a bit cramped, but just deal with it until we get to the end of the hall." At Joker's prompting, the two hopped into the bus. After a bit of logistical rearrangement, Joker put the pedal to the metal; the engine echoing in the empty, massive hallway down into the core of the facility.

-0-0-12-0-0-

An explosion ruptured the massive door, blasting away several soldiers that stood nearby to pieces. Whatever was not in a ruined mess was but a few good shots away from it. Four figures flew out from the dust into the room, firing magic at those that remained standing. As the group landed near the middle of the room to get their bearings, one of them spoke in a commanding fashion to be heard over the battle.

"There, you can get to the reactor through that elevator," Fate informed Nanoha, keeping her eyes trained on the automatons that were still active. Nanoha turned to where Fate had pointed at to find an elevator, thankfully untouched by the previous bombardment. She then fired a couple more shots towards some approaching golems before turning back to face Fate.

"Got it… and you're going to head over to where your mom is?" Nanoha asked, to which all Fate responded with was a nod. Nanoha felt just a bit forlorn. She wanted to work with Fate for a little while longer. However, if they were to succeed, if they were to work together in the future, then this is where they had to part ways. She had to remember that this was all for Fate, so she did the only thing she could think of: seeing Fate off properly.

Without Fate realizing it, Nanoha had placed her hands over Fate's, holding them in both of her own. Nanoha's hands held Fate's firm and steady, an act that made her notice how much her hands were trembling, a combination of nerves and fatigue. Before Fate knew what to make of the situation, Nanoha then said, "I'm sure that Ren would probably know something better to say at a time like this but… good luck."

The words were simple, nothing at all special really, but they set Fate's heart at ease, releasing some tension in her body; her trembling hands began to calm. She was… happy to hear them.

"Thank you." She didn't know if that was enough, but it was the only thing she could think to say. At the very least it seemed like that was enough given Nanoha's smile right back at her. The moment was cut short though as Yuuno spoke up.

"I've checked the readings in the facility. It seems Chrono's headed straight for Precia. If we don't hurry, he'll get to her first before Fate can get a chance to talk to her."

"You heard him then. Fate we have to move now!" At Arf's insistence, Fate broke her hands free of Nanoha's, albeit a bit reluctantly. There wasn't much actual resistance as Nanoha understood why, but for some reason it felt heavy despite that. As Fate was leaving-

"…" Nanoha hadn't quite caught what Fate had said.

"Hmm? What?" It took a moment before Fate spoke again, this time just a little bit louder.

"… good luck to you too…" Fate and Arf flew off to wherever Precia was. She stood there, even well after Fate and Arf had disappeared past a corner in the ruins.

"Nanoha, we should get going too," Yuuno said, shaking her shoulder to get her attention.

"R-right, everyone's doing their part, we should too. Let's go!" The two of them rushed towards the elevator, hopping inside and immediately pushing the button to head towards the reactor. To Nanoha's surprise it didn't take long at all before they'd reached their floor. The two of them stayed inside, taking a bit of a breather and gather themselves before moving out. The silence felt heavy, weighing on her in a way that kept her from speaking. Her mind scrambled for a topic before giving up. She just looked at the boy next to her, and the two of them wordlessly nodded towards one another. They'd had enough rest.

"Nanoha, my sensors show that there are enemies all over the place."

"How many is that?"

"Too many to count," Yuuno remarked with a grim expression. When he realized he was being a bit negative, he shook his head to clear it of such thoughts. "I'll concentrate on defense. You focus on taking them down," he stated, this time trying to be as positive as he could.

"Like always then?"

"Well, we're lacking a certain thief and cat, but I think we'll be fine." Yuuno's cheeky grin got a giggle out of the girl. "Can't rely on them all the time. As the senior mage, I have to prove my worth every now and then, right?"

"Right! Thank you, Yuuno."

"It's nothing. Now, on my signal. Three, Two, One…" The Elevator doors swung open, and the two flew out to meet the army standing between them and their objective. All they had to do now was win.

"Divine Shooter! Full Power!"

One hour and twenty minutes remaining.

-0-0-12-0-0-

"End of the road, it would seem," Joker said as he pulled the black bus to a screeching halt in front of the massive blast door at the end of the hall. He found it eerie how clean it had been ever since they'd reached Rynith's room. Here especially the door looked pristine, immaculate, new. Not a single gaping hole into nothingness, no mess of wires, nothing of the sort, not even a speck of dust or the faintest scratch. He couldn't even see any wear on the ground after having been driven on. Everything seemed… normal, if a bit overly clean.

Joker stepped lightly out the door as it swung open. Even though the ground was flat, it felt like one wrong step could send him careening off… something. The occupants filed out as quickly as they could after Joker, each of them looking over themselves to make sure they were ready. They remained silent, the tension choking any desire to make conversation. Eventually though, the elephant in the room had to be brought to attention.

"That's a pretty sturdy door," Mona finally was able to say. "I'm not seeing anything we could use to circumvent it, so how are we going to get past it?"

"It's magically sealed," Rynith answered. "A standard security measure for the kind of work Precia used to be a part of. Each door would be given a unique magic lock in order to ensure maximum security and safety. However, as Precia's familiar I can open it whenever you're ready to confront her."

"I'm sensing something behind the door. It's probably Precia like she said. But that's weird… the signal is all over the place." Oracle's face scrunched into a frown as she kept went over the odd readings again to try and make sense of them.

"Unfortunately, it's not like we have time to ponder on what that could mean," Fox pointed out. "I believe we're all ready. We await your signal, Joker." Joker looked over the team once more, all of them as determined as they always were. However, his team weren't the only ones there. Though the familiar seemed ready as well, the little blonde girl with them appeared to still have reservations. In what was likely to be an intense, high stress situation, that wasn't anything but a liability. If need be…

"You can stay out here if you want Alicia," Panther offered to the girl, who jumped a bit when addressed so suddenly.

"It can be difficult confronting a parent, even if you think what you're doing is for the best. It's not something everyone can do, or even want to do," Noir added, trying to assuage Alicia who began to look down at her feet. Suddenly though, the girl shook her head, and stood tall, her face full of courage and resolve.

"No, I'm coming with you. I need to talk to mother, and if I don't do it now, I don't think I'll be able to ever again. So please, let me see this through to the end." Though her voice wasn't loud, it had been firm. The thieves were collectively taken aback by Alicia's strong declaration. A singe glance between them was all it took to come to an agreement. With their own history in mind, they could never have refused, even if some of them still wanted to out of concern for her safety.

"Alright, you can come with us. We don't know what will happen after we open this door, so stick close to one of us as much as you can, okay?" Queen told Alicia.

"Yes ma'am," Alicia answered, the smile returning to her face. Right, Joker thought, this was what they were doing this for. He then wondered if Fate could ever smile like that too. Only if they win could that little curiosity be answered.

"If that's settled, Rynith, if you could so kindly show us in." At Joker's behest, Rynith nodded and proceeded to open the door. A massive magic circle appeared over the door, turning ever so quickly, probably the lock Joker thought. But then it began to slow. It slowed and slowed until finally it stopped. Crack, they all heard before they realized that such a thing had appeared on the circle. Then another crack, and then another, until the circle broke entirely into a shower of glittering residue. Then at last, the hydraulics started, metal screeched into place, and the door creaked as it moved out of the way. It was time to introduce themselves to their gracious host.

-0-0-12-0-0-

"Nanoha and Yuuno, are currently engaged with the force protecting the reactor. At this rate they'll soon have the area cleared and the core ready for sealing. Fate and Arf are headed to the bottom floor as we speak. Huh? Woah!" Amy braced herself as she felt a tremor erupt throughout the ship. Despite the way her entire world shook, she pushed through to speak on the comm links. "Ma'am the tremors ar-"

"Don't worry, I'm working to suppress them as we speak," Lindy said, her voice coming through the main monitor at the front of the ship. On it, Lindy could be seen standing at the entrance to the Garden of Time in the middle of a huge magic circle, a set of fairy like wings protruding from her back. They began to glow an ethereal green, bathing the world around her in a soft, inviting, and warm light. Soon the tremors began to die down, but the woman maintained her vigilance.

"They're getting stronger…" The time space tremors from the immense magic produced by the Jewel Seeds was beginning to worry her. At this rate they'd even reach Earth if they hadn't already. "Concentrate…" She had more to do than just suppress them, such were the duties of a Commander.

"Precia Testorrossa, can you hear me? Please lay down your staff and surrender immediately. The reactor will soon be sealed, and we have an Enforcer headed towards your location." Lindy sent the message directly to the Sorceress. "Al Hazard is naught but a myth. Any chance it may be real… are you truly willing to bet on such slim odds?"

"The odds are perfectly fine. Al Hazard simply lies in the gap between time and space. Where the glimmers fall in between those gaps must be where Al Hazard lie-!" Precia hacked a cough as she finished speaking, the blood on the ground thickening more and more with each evulsion of her lungs. She wheezed as she struggled to remain upright; her legs shaking, and her vision teetering into darkness.

"Even if the chances were as slim as you say. They are better than the guarantee of my little Alicia never waking again. In Al Hazard, I can make everything right again! There I can finally reject the mistakes of this world. None of this is how it was supposed to be." She placed her hand on the glass Alicia's tube, making a motion as if she was caressing a cheek. "I can bring back our past, and our future. I can right those wrongs!"

"I see. If that is how you feel, then so be it. I shall let my enforcer speak for himself." That was the last Precia heard from Lindy, as she felt the connection cut off into dormancy; inactive but waiting. She returned to gathering the energy she needed. She hadn't the time to mind any distractions any longer. However, she would not be afforded such a boon.

A beam of light pierced the area above her, followed by an explosion in the distance. The force of the explosion, even at such a distance, caused her feeble body to sway. She leaned against Alicia's tube. She refused to falter now, even if she needed outside powers to achieve such. She craned her neck as best she could to see from where the explosion came from. Emerging from the rubble was a young boy in black, bloody and beaten, but still standing.

"Everyone has something they believe isn't how things are supposed to be," Chrono began as he staggered his breathing. Once he had gotten his breath back, he continued his approach, his device aimed and steady. "Everyone has mistakes they want to correct. Like everyone else you have a right to fight or run away as you see fit. No one can blame you for the choices you made to yourself under the circumstances. But what you don't have is the right to rope innocent people into your selfish, fatalistic depression!"

-0-0-12-0-0-

"I've sealed the reactor core!" Nanoha shouted into the comms with a haggard breath, as she clutched the red jewel she assumed to be the core. "Yuuno is taking care of the rest of the soldiers. We'll be finished in just a bit."

"Good work! Return to the ship. Chrono has made contact with Precia and will proceed to subdue. Your job is over now," Lindy said in congratulations, though she was still focused on monitoring Chrono's situation and keeping the tremors at bay.

"Wait, what about Fate?"

"I believe our sensors picked up her presence heading down to where Precia is. She seems to be taking a route from above and will arrive there soon. Chrono is there so she should be fine." So that was it then. Her role was finished. It was over, but even gripping tight the jewel in her hand did not set her at ease.

"I'm heading there as well!" She declared without a second thought, as she started to fly back to the elevator.

"No, the facility is becoming increasingly unstable. If Chrono fails to properly subdue Precia, the place might collapse in its entirety. Evacuate back to the Arthra immediately. That's an order!" Lindy commanded. She didn't need this, not now of all times. "Nanoha, do you hear me? Please, for your own safety, return to the ship."

"Yuuno!" Nanoha called to the boy once she'd caught a glimpse of him, the last of the robotic soldiers falling to pieces before him. "Catch!" Before he had even finished turning around, she'd thrown the reactor core towards him.

"Huh? Woah!" Though it fumbled in his hands a bit, Yuuno had managed to catch it, albeit needing to take a bit of an awkward stance to do so. "Nanoha, wha-"

"I'm heading to where Fate is. Take care of that for me, okay?"

"But… Alright! Stay Safe!" Yuuno replied, realizing that the girl was already speeding away. Not even Ren would be enough to stop her at that point.

"See you back on the ship!" Nanoha, with a final wave goodbye, disappeared behind the elevator doors. Yuuno sighed and made peace with the fact that he wasn't going to like reopening his comms in the next few minutes to make his report. All he could do now was pray for their success.

-0-0-12-0-0-

Chrono surveyed the room for traps whilst making sure to look out for any sudden movements by Precia. He was injured, so any gambit by an experienced opponent could easily spell failure. Once he was sure that the room was cleared, he began to move in. However, before Chrono could move any further in to subdue Precia, a second explosion, softer than his own, erupted from above. Debris fell from where the explosion had come from while smoke

Though Chrono wanted to move in regardless of the new addition, something in the way the blonde girl carried herself prevented him from doing so. Far from the empty wreck he remembered from aboard the ship, Fate now stood firm, determined. Precia was the first to try and speak, only for her throat to sear with pain, like knives stuck in her throat. The Sorceress heaved, first spit, then more blood than she had already spilled.

"Mother!"

"Why are you here!? I've told you that you're no longer of any use to me." Fate had found herself stopped by her mother's words, but only for a moment. She hadn't come all this way to betray herself again, especially not when she came bolstered by the good will of Nanoha and Ren.

"I came all this way to tell you something." Fate placed a hand on her heart. She could feel the beating even through her glove and clothes. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she knew she only had once chance to say this and needed to say it write; her declaration to her mother. "I… I am not Alicia Testarossa! I am Fate Testarossa, and though I might be just a doll that you created, I am your daughter that you brought into this world and raised from my birth."

A feeling swelled in Precia's chest. However, this time it was not one of pain. It was something completely different. It slowly built as she listened to Fate speak. Word after word it grew stronger and stronger. Eventually, when she could not contain it anymore, she let it out without hesitation or restraint.

She laughed. She bellowed, as hard as her weak body would allow. It was a soft, almost wheeze like laughter, even as it came from her belly. For her though, it was a laugh that was hard enough that she could not see the sadness that grew on Fate's expression. Not that she would have cared, not that she could allow herself to care. When enough of her amusement had left her, she spoke with a trace of her amusement still on her lips.

"Really? That's what you had to say? Are you telling me to think of you as a daughter even after all I've said to you? After all I've done to you?" Precia asked as she looked at Fate with pity, wondering just how this doll could have been so ridiculous as to believe that Precia could ever love her. Even so that was the reality before her, and Precia could not help but find such lunacy anything but a joke. Even in the face of such clear derision however, Fate continued on.

"Mother, I would do anything for you. I would protect you from everything that ever would want to hurt you. If you asked me to, I would have fought any enemy to keep you safe. I would have given everything for you," Fate said, her heart feeling light as she spoke, finally able to say what she wanted.

"Even after all you have said, none of that has changed. Even now I'll do everything I can to protect you." Fate raised Bardiche, an act prompted Chrono to hastily prepare himself. This wasn't good. In his current condition he couldn't hope to ward off two mages of their caliber. However, as he tried to calculate his next move, Fate had readied Bardiche, not at him, but at Precia.

"I'll protect you from anything that hurts you, even if that thing is yourself."

A sigh escaped from Precia's lips. Though she had been amused by Fate's previous antics, this time it was simply annoying. Worst of all, was that this doll had decided to get in her way. She was so close, but now her tool had turned against her at the eleventh hour. She supposed she should tie up loose ends. She couldn't leave anything to chance now more than ever.

"Fine. It would seem that I have one last piece of trash that needs to be disposed of. Come then, little doll. Come here so that mother can finally throw you away!"

One hour remaining.

-0-0-12-0-0-

"Move out!" The group rushed into the dark room, their weapons at the ready. They cautiously tried to scan through the darkness. A dim set of lights from what looked to be LED tubing at the sides of the room in four equidistant corners wasn't enough to see anything substantial. Even after barging into the room as loudly as they had, it lay strangely quiet, too quiet.

"Careful, not even I have been in this room," Rynith warned them, as she tried to use her senses to locate Precia's shadow.

"Oracle, where is she?" Joker asked as he gave the signal to group together to avoid an ambush.

"I don't know! I said earlier that I'm getting a reading from all over the room, and that's still true. It's like she's all over the place."

"Is she the room itself?" Panther asked, as she held onto Alicia with her SMG in her other hand.

"No… I'm getting distinct signatures, like stars in the sky, and they all seem to be connected…"

"What does that mea-"

"Woah!"

"Jesus, Skull! What the hell!?" Panther yelled.

"N-now's not the time for jokes Skull!" Queen said in a more threatening tone than usual.

"It's not my fault! I tripped on… I tripped on… this?" When Skull looked down on the ground what he saw seemed to be a mess of red and blue wiring, but in the center were what looked to be chains. As he looked at them, they pulsed with a familiar, but unnatural rhythm. Instead of focusing on that detail, his eyes followed them to the end where he saw- "What… the… hell?"

A hand; what lay at the end of the wire and chain was a hand. However, the hand itself was broken, but not in the way flesh was supposed to be broken. The fingers disconnected and shattered into pieces like glass rather than flesh, held together tenuously by smaller wiring and chains. It was as if the reality of the hand had been shattered.

"It's… it's giving off Precia's signature…" Oracle told them while trying to keep from letting loose her stomach contents.

"Mona do you-" A light turned on with a thunderous noise announcing its arrival. Then another light, then another. Joker had lost track of how many had turned on, his senses too busy dealing with the sudden increase in luminosity until at last, the room had become fully lit. Once Joker was no longer dazed, he scanned the room as quickly as he could, only for him to once again slow down as he couldn't really make out what he was seeing.

Patchwork was how Joker would describe it. Parts of the room were the kind he expected to see, a laboratory facility where experiments might take place in, or maybe even a reactor. He hadn't the experience with such things to reasonably tell.

Others however were of the home that lay at the top of the palace, twisted and elongated to fit the room in whatever way they could, but in a way like it was a 3D image file being stretched unnaturally to cover the space. In another corner he could see what was clearly the meadow from outside, but he couldn't even begin to understand the space as it seemed like it lead outside, but was then cut off unnaturally by the other walls it was attached to. A school, playground, cafes, all of them littered the walls either by distorting the space they occupied or, like the home space, stretched like space shouldn't.

"I… recognize those places. That's my school, the park where mommy used to take me, and over there was my favorite cake shop." Alicia listed off what she could remember but seemed to stumble at a few others. Joker guessed that it was a horrible mish mash of places important to Precia, which would include places Alicia was familiar with.

Looking further around he realized that cracks were forming everywhere, some were even already open, revealing that static black beyond they had passed earlier, only it had now become more chaotic if it was even possible. He didn't want to look to closely in them, as he felt he could see that mad visage of a person again from within that distorted space. He could even hear that low wailing, and crackle. He turned his focus elsewhere, as he couldn't afford to be distracted.

In doing so he found others like the arm, parts of a human body strewn about the room. He could tell something that resembled a leg, clothing that covered what he guessed could have been part (or at least the outer part) of a torso, the forearm of a different arm, and even parts that would normally have been on the inside. They were all strewn about and shattered in a similar manner to the hand, only some had stuck to the walls or ceiling.

While some of them seemed to actively cling to the surfaces they were attached to, and other were more like they were stickered on by some invisible force. He swore some of them twitched, but he didn't want to check to be sure. He didn't want to tally it all up either, but he was certain most if not all the parts would be accounted for, just based on the sheer number.

Joker then realized that all the pieces he saw were wired and chained; each little fragment was connected. All of it was a tangled mess, strewn about without thought or reason, but they all seemed to converge somewhere. He followed the wires with his eyes as the team was still coming to grips with what they were seeing. And then finally he found it: the convergence point. They all converged in a small little part of the room off to the side, near one of the giant vertical tube structures that held the LEDs in place.

"Oracle, can you focus at around that point?" He asked, pointing to where he believed was the source.

"There? Behind that thing? I guess, just hold on… It's faint, but it is a tiny bit stronger than any other reading the room. If you're going to check it out, just be careful."

"I'll go with you, the rest should stay here and keep watch," Queen ordered. "Keep an eye on Alicia as well." Panther and Rynith in response, stood closer to the girl, readying their weapons for anything to come. Once that was settled, a silent nod was shared between each other before Joker and Queen made their way towards the focal point with deliberate, measured, almost leaden steps. They made sure to avoid stepping on the wires, unsure of whether further disturbances would worsen the situation.

After what seemed like an eternity, they closed the distance and only turning the corner remained. Joker wiped his brow before turning to Queen who looked just as exhausted. Joker held up his hand to motion a three count, and in the other was his gun. Once he was sure Queen understood, getting out her revolver, he began the count down. Three, Two, One, Zero!

The two leapt past the corner, aiming their weapons at whatever lay beyond. And once they could see it-

"Who goes there!?"

"Oh, Hello?" It was the same voice, and yet the two replies couldn't have sounded any more different. Joker and Queen stood there, frozen and bewildered. Though they had kept their weapons up, it was more so due to their lack of surety over what to even do next.

A sprawled mess of wires and chains in the vague shape of a person lay limp before them, propped up only by the wall behind it. At least they thought the shape was vaguely like a person. It had so many wires and chains leading to other directions away that it ultimately was more like they hoped it was a person.

"Did you not hear me!?" The right side yelled.

"Excuse me?" The left side tried to catch their attention. It was at this point Joker had to acknowledge what he saw. Though he could see the whole face, with hair attached, the face had been split into two uneven pieces. The left side only consisted of an eye and maybe a third of the mouth. The right side held the rest of the face. Joker took note that the left was softer and gentler, while the right side was more of what he expected. Though he was sure that they'd finally found who they were looking for, Joker found himself a bit taken aback enough that he still felt compelled to ask any ways.

"Are you Precia?" He lowered his gun, only just enough to lighten the threat it presented, but still raised high enough to where it would be ready at a moment's notice. A half-measured response, but perhaps one that matched a situation that was presented by halves.

"Yes How that rude would to be ask my for name my may name I when who you I have am not speaking given with your own?" A headache came on for Joker as the two spoke in tandem, their words mixing into an incomprehensible mess. He figured that they might have been asking for who he was, and if they weren't, oh well. It wasn't as if he knew what else to do.

"As we promised, we're here to take your heart," he stated plainly without much adornment in his speaking.

"The thieves!"

"Thieves?" That time he could tell who was speaking.

"Leave this place, you cretin. There is nothing here for you to take. Not anymore." Joker's brow furrowed as he took in what he'd heard. Not anymore? Yet even so, a palace had still formed, meaning something was its source. It was probably a bluff, something to throw him off.

"Sorry, but we didn't come all this way to leave empty handed," he said, raising his gun back up.

"I'm sorry young man, but I did not lie. I do not know what you would wish to steal from this place."

"I told you already, there's nothing here." He kept his gun trained on them, just unsure on how to proceed. Did they really not have a treasure? But they had a palace…

"Joker I don't think they're lying…" Queen whispered over to him. "I think they really believe that they have no treasure."

"That doesn't leave us many options." No treasure to steal, meant nothing to change her heart. Perhaps a different approach was in order. Putting his gun away, he signaled for Queen to do the same. She hesitated for a moment, but given that Joker had already holstered his, she followed suit, trusting that he was doing the right thing.

"How about a different question then. Precia, do you remember why we came to steal your treasure?"

"How am I supposed to know what scurries in the minds of thieves? I do not even remember an explanation to begin with," The abrasive one said as such, with all confidence for that matter. However, the other face… that one refused to look him in the eye.

"Then allow me to remind you." The abrasive Precia's brow furrowed, but he ignored it, given that it meant he had her attention.

-0-0-12-0-0-

"Hey, Joker and Queen put down their guns," Skull was the first to notice.

"Did they not find her, I can't hear them from here," Panther said, as she squinted at them.

"No, they found… something. I don't know what, but they've been talking to it for a while now," Oracle let the group know as she tried to stay tuned in to the conversation.

"Is it just me or does something feel different about the air?" Fox asked, his hand tense over his sword.

"Shhh, Inari! I can't hear them, everybody quiet." Oracle's order quieted them down as she continued to monitor where Joker and Queen were with extra scrutiny.

-0-0-12-0-0-

"We're here because of the sins you've committed. Justified or not, your actions have caused harm that you need to pay for."

"What sin-"

"You mean Fate…" The kinder Precia interrupted the abrasive side. For once the two were not in sync. "You've come here because of the way I've treated her."

"Yes…" Joker said, caught off guard that she was so quickly cooperative. "Frankly speaking, your other crimes don't really concern me. I won't excuse them, but to say I care about them would be an overestimate. No, instead we're here because Fate asked us to be here." Joker saw as Precia's body seemed to shake, small at first, but then gradually larger.

"I see, so that child truly does hate me."

"The wretched tool. Even after all I've done for her."

"We didn't do anything for her!"

"We gave her life! We can do as we please with it!"

"That's no- AAAAHHHH!"

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" The two sides screamed all at once; a piercing, bloodcurdling scream of pain. Though Joker and Queen winced, his eyes remained open just enough to see it. A crack formed on a portion of the torso still attached to them. A snapping sound of glass accompanying it as it grew. First slowly, but as if a cascade, the crack grew exponentially, a high pitched screeching cutting through the air, almost straight into his head, as if the screaming wasn't enough.

It kept moving through the body, branching like prismatic roots. Branching, creeping, growing, until it suddenly stopped. Then it fell, falling like a puppet without its strings. A piece of her body fell, echoing like glass as it slapped against the floor. A wire and chain was all the attachment left between her and piece that tore itself away. Her heart was now even more exposed than before.

"ENOUGH!" The abrasive side yelled at them. The kinder Precia appeared weaker, exhausted, though the abrasive Precia looked just as tired. "Your presence is welcome here no longer!"

"Guys I don't know what you just did, but I'm getting Shadow readings from all over the place!" Oracle said over the comms. Joker looked up and around to see shadows crawling from out of the holes, amorphous masses of darkness slinking from the breaks in reality from all over the room.

"LEAVE!" Joker turned around to find Precia's body beginning to rise up, shadows were attempting to climb the chains to reach her but fell in a heap as they couldn't grab hold of the snake like shackles.

"Regroup!" Joker ordered as he and Queen ran back to the rest of the group. Once there, they formed a circle around Alicia, almost obscuring her from vision, and watched the shadows as they became surrounded by the mass of formless darkness.

"What did f'n you do!?" Skull cried as he kept his shotgun aimed at the shadows.

"I think the only thing I could do. She said that she doesn't have a treasure," Joker explained.

"That's impossible. A palace necessitates a treasure. It can't exist without one," Mona gave his retort. "She has to have a treasure, even if I can't smell it."

"If what the Honorable Sir says is right, then why putting us in danger?" Rynith began to prep some spells. "Just because she says she doesn't have one, does not make it true. We could have searched for it ourselves without alerting her."

"As Mona said, he can't smell it. If it's not here by itself, then we need to make it appear. I don't know why but I think this is probably the only way to get the Treasure to show up," Joker reasoned.

"Are you regretting that decision?" Fox asked.

"We'll just have to find out. Alicia, stay behind us." The girl nodded as they saw Precia's shadow clumsily climb herself from out of the corner she original lay. A screech of glass accompanied her every step as she moved to a place she could better see them. She lumbered in unsteady steps until finally she stopped, and her head drooped into place. A manic, empty, but familiar face now stared at them, no longer obscured in static.

"Leave you wretched thieves!" She yelled at them, rage and fury clear in the eye of the monstrosity of glass, wires, and chains. Yet even so Joker swore he could hear more of a quiet glass cracking underneath that sundering voice. Quieter still, he heard another voice, from the side that looked weak and tired. A voice, that made Joker's will falter in its path just the tiniest bit. A voice that asked in a whisper, "Please… stop me…"

Forty-one minutes remaining.


Author's Note:

Well I suppose deciding to platinum Sekiro then Demon's Souls (fuck pure bladestone), then do everything in Bloodstained, 100% River City Girls, try to get S-Ranks in every mission in DMC5, then get Outer Worlds, was probably a bad idea for my writing pace wasn't it.

Regardless, this chapter was mostly to set up the 'boss fight'. The next chapter will be the 'fight' proper and hopefully the conclusion. After that I've got a few epilogue chapters planned, and already partially written. How do you think the 'fight' will go? I hope what I have planned will meet those expectations.

As for the Nanoha parts. For the most part I've modified some aspects of the Nanoha portions to flow a little better for a written setting (or at least attempted to) and set up a slightly different scenario down the line. For the Persona part I was stuck on for the longest time. I threw out about 10k words on prior versions of it, and I won't say this one was the best, but it was the one I felt the least bad about. I've gotten used to settling thanks to programming under some pretty strict deadlines.

As always, tell me what you think in a review. I appreciate feedback, both praise and criticisms alike so don't hold back on my account. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great rest of your day. Hopefully the next chapter comes out sooner than this one did… probably not because I'm going to be out in the Halcyon system for a bit. It's not he best choice, it's Spacer's Choice.