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 26: Dawn of the Night Sky I
Complete…
Must complete…
Must complete…
Completion eminent…
Completion eminent…
Completion eminent…
Why…
…
…
Why…
…
Why…
Why…
Why…
Why…
Detecting…
Something… Empty…
Calling…
Attempting connection…
Connection failure…
Connection failure…
Connection failure…
Assessing…
Connection failure… due to bounded form…
Reattempt Connection…
Connection failure…
Connection failure…
Connection failure…
-0-0-26-0-0-
"Dammit…" that was all Chrono whispered as he continued to rifle through the files from the Arthra's database. His remark wasn't from lack of results. In actuality, it more so stemmed from a distaste of what those results were pointing to. He didn't like them, but they were becoming undeniable. However he was already preparing himself for what had to be done. That was what it meant to be a-
"Chrono? This is where you were." The boy immediately shut all the files away the moment he heard Amy's voice. He had been so focused he didn't even notice her walk in. Careless, but he probably hadn't been caught. Hopefully… "What were you doing?"
"Just looking something up. Nothing that important," Chrono forced the best smile that he could, but even he could tell he probably looked awkward. It was at times like these he wished he had something of Ren's ability to act discreetly.
"Oh? Well I'd be happy to help you all the same," Amy still offered.
"No! I mean, that's alright. I'm pretty much done already so there's no need." He backed off from the chair, trying to not go too fast to arouse any more suspicion. "Hey, so how about Yuuno's report of the Book of Darkness? Did you get it out to Nanoha-chan and Fate-chan?"
"Well, just some of it. The two of them have reservations about its past. Not only that, but whatever we tell them, they're sure to also tell Ren-san. As a result it's difficult to relay everything to them. I don't know if they have told him yet, but they're almost always together so it's only a matter of time," Amy reported to Chrono, who could only nod in understanding. "They're even going to be together tomorrow seeing a friend, they said." Amy recalled Fate happily talking about it earlier.
"Yes, they are quite close…" Chrono said it on reaction to fill the air rather than with any meaning. "Say, earlier it sounded like you were looking for me. What is it that you needed?"
"Oh right! I almost forgot. I was here to let you know that-"
"I've come to pay a visit." The doorway split open to reveal Admiral Graham, walking into the room at a relaxed pace. The two saluted upon seeing their superior.
"Sir, I thought I told you to wait in the guest room," Amy recalled, mentally going over procedure to make sure she didn't miss anything.
"Oh you did, I just thought that I'd do a bit of exploring of my own." The man gave a wry smile. "No matter how old you get, sometimes it's boring to follow the rules all the time."
"Sir, how long have you been there?" Chrono asked with a measured rhythm.
"Not very. Just in time to hear Officer Limietta about to mention me," Graham answered, maintaining his wry expression.
"I see… if you don't mind my asking sir, why have you decided to visit?" Chrono followed up.
"I'm a bit on holiday and decided to come back to Earth. It is my home planet after all. I'm even planning to retire here once my service has concluded." Graham laughed a bit before continuing. " I just thought I'd see how you all were doing on my way. So to that end, there's no need to be so stiff."
"Well, thank you for the consideration sir," Chrono said as both he and Amy relaxed a bit.
"By the way, where are the Liese twins? Are they still back at TSAB headquarters?" Amy was the one to ask the question this time.
"Oh they've already gone ahead down to Earth to do some preemptive sightseeing. They insisted, and I couldn't say no. Don't worry, they're disguised so there shouldn't be any issues," Graham explained the twins' absence.
"I'm not that worried about them. They're more than capable of handling themselves. Unfortunately, sir, I'll have to cut this off here. I have somewhere I need to be," Chrono said giving off a regretful look.
"Oh of course, don't let me keep you," Graham said, his smile now softened. Chrono took that as his opportunity to bow and made his way towards the exit.
"I'll be supervising the Admiral's stay until he leaves the Arthra, but if you need anything, just let me know, okay Chrono?" Amy told Chrono, who just waved back without stopping before disappearing behind the door.
-0-0-26-0-0-
"And that's what I heard from the girls in the class next door."
"Oh come on, you can't actually believe any of that. Come on, Nanoha, tell her."
"Well, I don't know."
"Then what about you Fate? Surely it's impossible for kids to be able to do that."
"I'm abstaining…"
Walking down the hall of the hospital, Ren tried not to mind the conversation being held in front of him. However the gossip Nanoha, Fate, Alisa, and Suzuka were engaging in was beginning to get a bit heated and harder to ignore if only by volume. At the very least from one of the girls anyways. Morgana elected to stay in the bag. Pets weren't exactly allowed, even if the one in question would testify against such a label. As for the girls, Suzuka and Alisa were hiding something in their coats that they carried by hand. He knew better than to ask what was inside. That was for the recipient to find out.
"Well I think it's dumb. No way is it true!" Alisa maintained her position, not that Ren fully knew exactly what hill she wished to stand on.
"But don't you think it's more interesting if it is?" Suzuka prodded back. "I mean, it's not like… oh hold on. We're here! This is the room." The girl pointed to a door on the right of the hall. Though to be fair, the left side was a wall of windows. "Yup, Hayate Yagami. This is the room," she said, reading the nameplate next to the door. Ren internally sighed. A little bit too unique of a name to not be her. Well he had prepared for it. Suzuka was the first to walk up to the door, giving it a knock.
"You can come in." That was definitely Hayate's voice.
"Excuse the intrusion," Suzuka said as she opened the door and they all walked in, Ren at the very back. Though he couldn't see it, he definitely heard what seemed like a gasp from Vita.
"So she's in the room… then that means…" Ren mumbled to himself as he walked in, too concentrated on keeping himself composed to hear whatever was being said between the girls. Once inside he saw Nanoha and Fate frozen, the other knights matching their surprise. Signum and Shamal stood by the far windows, while Vita was instead kneeling next to the bed, leaning on it for support. Zafira meanwhile, just lay on the floor, probably no one was going to stop him, even with the no pet policy. The girls were standing in a row on the other side, Suzuka and Alisa none the wiser.
Opening up a telepathic comms between them, Ren spoke through it. "Everyone, keep it together. You can't let Hayate-chan know something's up."
"R-right…" Shamal was first to respond, relaxing her expression almost immediately after. The others also followed his instructions without any further prompting.
"I know that," Vita said, opting instead to just turn away and rather than to change how she looked.
"Hello, how are you,"
"Oh wow, Ren! I wasn't expecting to see you here," Hayate's face lit up upon seeing him. "It's been a while."
"You know him?" Alisa asked, her and Suzuka being the only ones unaware of their connection.
"I didn't know you all knew him either. He's a family friend. He's a great cook so we have him over for dinner sometimes," Hayate explained.
"Really? I've heard from Fate-chan and Nanoha-chan that he's a great cook, but I haven't had the chance to try it," Suzuka replied.
"Well if you ever get the chance I highly recommend the curry. Oh, what's that you've got there?" Hayate pointed at the coats in Alisa and Suzuka's hands.
The two girls looked at one another, before Alisa began to count down. "3, 2, 1…"
"Merry Christmas!" The two said at the same time, throwing the coats off to reveal neatly wrapped presents.
"M-merry Christmas!" Fate and Nanoha followed a bit too late. Ren opted to just stay quiet. Still he couldn't help but smile as Hayate beamed at the surprise.
"It might be Christmas Eve, but all the same, we got you some gifts," Suzuka said as Hayate leaned over to get a closer look.
"For me? Aww, you shouldn't have."
"Well they did, so go ahead and take them," Ren said, giving Hayate a wink. "It'd be a waste otherwise."
"I will." Alisa and Suzuka stepped closer, handing Hayate the presents.
"We picked them out together with everyone."
"Except that lazy bones over there. Nanoha-chan and Fate-chan asked him to help, but he just ducked out whenever we tried to get his opinion of what you might want," Alisa mocked Ren, pointing at him with her thumb. Ren took it without complaint though. It wasn't like it was a lie after all. "Still, you can't open them just yet. You have to wait until It actually is Christmas, then you can open them."
"Okay, I can wait." Hayate placed the presents on the nightstand by the bed. "Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, is something wrong?" Ren looked over to see Nanoha and Fate, while a bit recovered, still looking a bit stiff.
"No, nothing's wrong, just a bit tired is all," Nanoha tried to give her best excuse.
"We're just a bit shy with all the new people…" Fate said, glancing over to the Knights, making use of Hayate's ignorance of their prior meetings.
"Yeah, there's that too…"
"Oh I see…"
"Say, Hayate-chan," Suzuka, "How are you feeling?"
"Oh I'm-" Ren couldn't hear the rest of the conversation as her heard Shamal's voice over comms overpower it.
"Since you're here, how are you feeling to finishing up the completion of the Book of Darkness? We can quickly set it up on the roof, and we can put up a barrier to prevent visitors," She asked him, shooting him a gentle look at the same time.
"If you're not up to it, just say so. We can do it tomorrow instead," Vita told him right after. He couldn't see her face, but he could tell how much she cared through her voice.
"Yeah, let's finish it up today," Ren answered with a small nod that wouldn't be caught by Hayate.
"Wait!" They all heard Nanoha interject.
"Let us come too," Fate followed up her friend's sudden outburst over comms.
"I'm afraid we don't wan-" Before Signum could finish, Nanoha continued to speak.
"I know that you don't trust us, but please. It's supposed to be the last time, right? We've let Ren go alone this whole time. What's the harm in letting us see it just once?"
"No means no! You're not coming," Vita answered, only to have a hand placed on her head. She knew whose hand it was, and it was only because of that fact that she didn't tear it off at the joint.
"Come on Vita…" Ren sent. "How about it, just let them come with us this time. If you can't believe them, can you at least believe me? They won't do anything. You have my word."
"… Fine. This is the last time after all. Once this is done, we'll hopefully never have to see the TSAB ever again," Signum finally relented. "Once this meeting is done, we'll head to the roof. Until then, make sure Hayate-chan doesn't suspect a thing." They all met eyes to relay their agreement.
"Huh? Ren, why are you patting Vita's head?" Hayate asked, finally noticing what Ren was doing.
"It looked empty, so I thought my hand could be used for a substitute hat," Ren answered with a deadpan expression.
"Well I don't think a hand does very well for a hat, although…"
"Ren-kun, don't give her ideas," Shamal said, giving him a wry glare. "Now girls, what say we go to the cafeteria and have a meal together before you go."
"Ooh, is hospital food as bad as they it is?" Alisa asked.
"Isn't that airplane food?" Suzuka wanted clarification. Ren couldn't remember the answer as they all walked out of the room, sans Zafira, who he noticed out of the corner of his eye use a teleporter spell to disappear. He kept it to himself as he followed the ladies through the hospital.
-0-0-26-0-0-
Night had fallen, but the stars were covered by thick clouds that had gathered overhead, leaving only the lights of the city to illuminate the rooftop of the Hospital. Nanoha watched closely at the movements of the Knights as they prepared the space to take from Ren's core for the last time. It wasn't that she was suspicious, just that the novelty of the event had captured her attention. That didn't mean the knights were privy to her thoughts, however.
"What are you lookin'?" Vita asked, her arms crossed and scowl clear to see even in the darkness of night. Of the knights, she was tasked with overlooking both her and Fate, who stood right nearby.
"Uh… nothing…" Nanoha shrank back. She wanted to avoid a fight, but she also didn't know how best to avoid the other girl's temper.
"Right…" Nanoha exhaled once it seemed that Vita had let her go, of sorts. Nearer to the center, she could see Ren talking to the Wolf familiar having transformed into a human form as Signum and Shamal continued to work.
"How're you holding up by the way?" Nanoha heard Ren ask.
"Fine enough. I'm just glad that this will be over with sooner rather than later." Nanoha thought that was probably the most she'd ever heard Zafira say. "Rather, I should be asking that of you. Of the books Six hundred and sixty-six pages, you're responsible for at least four hundred. I know we've said it before, but it's quite unheard of."
"As I said, I'm doing fine. Not really any problems on my end," Ren's bag rustled until a little black furry head popped out from within. Nanoha always liked how cute that looked. Maybe she should ask if Morgana would want to ride in her bag if she got one that could fit him.
"He's not lying. I'm with him almost twenty-four seven, and I can vouch that he's pretty much no worse for wear," Morgana testified for Ren. Zafira seemed to relax at the reassurance. He wasn't the only one as Nanoha also noticed the tension in her shoulders evaporate. "If he was, I'd be calling it off for him."
"That's good to hear. At the very least, after tonight there won't be any need for any further sessions. We should be able to complete the Book of Darkness tonight," Zafira stated, his tone having a sense of finality to it. A small, but warm smile formed on the man's lips. "After that, well… I'm sure Hayate would appreciate a visit once she's out of the hospital."
"I'll bake a cake for the occasion."
"A-a cake?" Vita suddenly asked. "You know how to make one?"
"He can, and they're really good," Fate answered.
"Really?" Vita's eyes lit up, her hostility having faded, replaced by childish excitement for sweets.
"As tantalizing as the prospect sounds, we have something we must do first," Signum interrupted, walking over to them. "Ren, it's ready. It's time to complete the Book of Darkness."
"Um, I have a couple of questions," Nanoha jumped in to say. It had been bothering for a while now, ever since she and Fate had received Yuuno's report. Looking around, she had become the center of attention; all eyes were on her. Ren, Morgana, and Fate looked with a bit of confusion, while the knights appeared more confrontational, though not necessarily hostile. Nanoha paused, a bit unsure of when to continue. A sudden sigh from Signum caught her attention.
"Go ahead…" Signum finally gave her permission, though still looking on guard.
Nanoha took the opportunity without hesitation. "How come you aren't using the real name of the Book of Darkness?" Nanoha saw the eyes of all the Knights widen at nearly the same time. She though that would happen. It wasn't that she necessarily wanted to catch them out, but this was her only chance to maybe get something more.
"What the hell are you talking about? It's called the Book of Darkness," Vita tried to argue back only for Fate to step in.
"Yes that is what it's more widely known as now. However in the recess of the TSAB's records, the Book of Darkness once went by a different name," Fate said with full confidence, enough to signal to Ren that she wasn't lying. "Sorry Ren, we were going to tell you after today, but we sort of ran out of time." Fate shot Ren an apologetic look, but all he could muster was slight confusion. It was the first time the girls knew something he didn't, and he wasn't sure how to respond with the shoe being on the other foot.
"I don't wish for you to take this the wrong way, but…" Nanoha took a deep breath before continuing, wanting her sincere intention to highlight the issue to come through. "Why is it that you can't remember what it's true name is?"
"That's…" Shamal wanted to answer but was unable to. That was strange. Why couldn't they remember? "A different name… true name…"
"Yes that's right. The Book of Darkness' true name is… The Tome of the Night Sky," Nanoha finally told them.
Shamal and the others could be said to be part of the Book of Darkness in a way. They were born from it, with the purpose to protect it and its master. However despite being in a position to know all there was to know about it, they couldn't recall such a thing, but they couldn't deny it either. What the girls were claiming… it didn't seem wrong. So then why? Why didn't they remember…
"Hey so does this have any effect on anything?" Morgana asked, looking over the knights with concern. "If they don't know something like that, what else don't they know…"
"That's true…" The knights seemed to be as in the dark as they were, or at least looked to be from Ren's point of view. But then, what should they do? "We're missing information, that's the safest thing we can conclude then."
"I won't say you're wrong," Signum seemed to agree at first. "However regardless, we have to finish The Book of Dar- I mean, the Tome of the Night Sky." That felt better to say for her. "If nothing else, then to at least ease our master's pain. Even though we may not know the full effects of completing the book, Hayate-chan's fate is certain if we do not."
"With us being so close to completion, combined with Hayate-chan's condition… I think so as well," Shamal nodded.
"It doesn't matter what the name is. Let's just get it over with already," Vita said more quietly than usual, though her voice still cut clear through the air.
"But it might be too dangerous to complete it. Yuuno-kun says there could be unknown dangers to-"
"Fate!" Signum stopped the girl from speaking further. When she had confirmed that the blonde girl's attention was on her, she continued. "Thank you for your concern," Signum said with a small smile. "Once this is all over, I'd like for us to start over on different terms, but it must come after we have finished our work. This is something we must do."
"I…" Fate's voice stopped as she ran dry of a response, her initial outburst coming more from instinct rather than having anything substantial to say. Signum waited just in case, however. The wind was the only thing that howled through the air, and soon Signum's patience ran out. The knight shot the girl a small apologetic look before turning back to her colleagues and Ren.
"Everyone, this is the final time. Ren, if you please…" Signum asked him, to which he only gave a small nod. An unfamiliar light flashed from the ground though, blinding him before he could take another step.
"Kya!"
"Argh!"
"What the-"
"Woah!" A cacophony of voices exploded from the roof as all of them fell onto the ground, bound in a spell presumably being produced by the large circle engraved on almost the entirety of the Hospital roof.
"Dammit!" was Ren's remark as he rolled to minimize the fall but could only do so much with all his limbs tied up by the glowing blue magic. While it wasn't so much a flop, he still fell with a lacking grace, his glasses falling off as he winced from the pain. When he opened his eyes, he could see everyone, including Morgana, being restricted by the spell.
"Is this a trap?" He heard Zafira ask.
"It's not by us!" Fate was quick to reply between her grunts of struggling against the spell. "We're trapped as well," she explained.
"Our magic isn't working, and I can't get a comms out!" Nanoha shouted as she tried and tried again to activate Raising Heart. Ren for his part was also trying to activate Meta Barrier, but to no avail.
"Well then who was it?" Vita asked as she was the loudest in trying to break free.
"That would be me…" They all wrestled themselves to try and see who was the one who spoke. In the middle of the roof, the masked man in white descended, touching lightly upon the rooftop. "I'm surprised how easy that was."
"You!" Signum cried out, her eyes in fury as she fought even harder to break free. "What do you think you're doing!?" Her question went ignored as the man leisurely walked over to where Shamal lay. Once there, he then bent down to pick up the now fallen Book of Darkness. "That's not yours!"
"Quiet. It will all be over soon," the Masked Man said as he dusted the book off.
"Ha!" Was all the man heard right before he was tackled, however the attempt was sloppy and so the Masked Man was able to recover without missing a beat, nor dropping the book. "Argh!" Ren let out as he fell back onto the ground. "Not yet!" Ren yelled as he tried to get up again despite the bindings.
"How about no." Ren was confused. It was the man's voice, but it seemed to be coming from behind him and not the fro-
"Ugh-" was all Ren could let out as he was kicked from behind while he was on the ground.
"Ren!"
"No!"
Ren was too confused to tell who it was, or if there were even more voices showing concern. He was on trying to steady himself from the growing pain in his back, trying to get his vision back in focus. Even as it came back, he wondered if he was alright because it almost seemed like there were-
"Two!?" Vita yelled, confirming to Ren that what he saw was real. There were two Masked Men. One was holding the book, while the other seemed to be maintaining some spell, probably the binds.
"Hurry up. I can't maintain a bind of this level on so many at once for too long," one of the Masked men said. "Hm?" The masked man looked over to see Ren struggling again to stand up. "I'm impressed that you've still got some fight in you. However we can't have that."
Ren looked up to see the man walk into view. He wanted to say something but couldn't between labored breaths. Even so, he never broke eye contact.
"Nighty night." The next thing Ren saw was the man's foot coming towards him. Then there was only darkness.
-0-0-26-0-0-
"Urgh…" was the first thing that came out of Ren's mouth. "Argh…" was the second as his head was suddenly wracked with pain.
"Ren!"
"You're awake!"
"Thank goodness…" Morgana, Nanoha, and Fate all said one after the other. Hearing their voices, the young man's eyes opened immediately. What greeted him was something that took a second for him to register. At his sides, Nanoha, Fate, and even Morgana all seemed to be tied next to him by the binding spell. However alongside that, they seemed to have been imprisoned in some kind of blue diamond of magic or something. Not only that, but their diamond prison was also floating above the hospital roof.
"What's going on?" Ren asked once he'd finally taken stock of the situation. "How long was I out?"
"Not that long. Right now we're trapped by a quadruple bind. Even if we had our magic, it'd take quite a while to break free," Nanoha explained.
"They threw us in here after knocking you out, and not only that…" Morgana nodded his head towards the Hospital roof, prompting Ren to take a look.
The two Masked men stood on the roof. Beneath them was the absorption circle that Shamal had usually set up now, now co opted by them. Tied up and held in the air with what he could presume was magic, were the Knights, unconscious and helpless.
"I think… I think they're going to use the Knights' own cores to fill the remaining pages," Fate shared her speculation. Fate winced as she felt their crystal prison suddenly jolt to the side. She opened her eyes to see that it was Ren kicking against it.
"Ren don't do that! If it breaks while we're still bound, we'll fall!" Nanoha told him, which got him to stop.
"Oh! You're awake. That was faster than I thought it would be," one of the Masked Men remarked.
"I was hoping I'd kicked him hard enough to knock him out the rest of the night. Then again I suppose someone like him would have to be sturdy enough to handle having their Linker Core taken so many times," said the other Masked Man.
"Should have tried harder then. Like everything else about you, it was half assed," Ren yelled from within the crystal. However the two didn't seem to react.
"Hmm? Did you say something? Don't bother. The Crystal is soundproof going out," The Masked Man on the right said
"You just sit tight. It will all be over soon," the other one said right after. "This cursed history is coming to an end." As he said so the two became engulfed in the light of a different spell, turning into strange facsimiles of Nanoha and Fate. Ren scowled, confused as to why they would do so. Not only that but their colors were off. The Nanoha fake had red accents instead of blue, while Fate was the opposite, sporting blue accents instead of red.
"Why transform into us, and why are the colors wrong?" Nanoha asked.
"Huh? The colors are wrong?" Morgana asked, to which Ren remembered cats are partially color blind. He shook himself back into focus. Turning back he saw the two fakes summon another magic circle.
"A teleportation circle? But it's calling something instead," Fate noted as she looked at the spell formation. "Who could they be summoning though? Their master?" It didn't take long for her question to be answered, only it wasn't one any of them liked.
"Hayate-chan!" Nanoha was the first to call out when the girl, in her night wear, suddenly appeared with a flash of light. "Hayate-chan!" She tried again, only for Ren to nudge her a bit.
"Save your strength. It's sound proofed going out remember? Let's focus instead on trying to find a way out…" Nanoha stopped after hearing Ren's suggestion. But what could they do?
Down below, Hayate blinked at the sudden change of scenery. The last thing she remembered was being in bed. Now though?
"Huh? Where am I?" The roof? This looked like the hospital roof, but what was this glowing circle and… "Everyone!" She noticed her family strung up by some kind of glowing rope the same color as the circle below her. She shifted her weight, but that was all she could do as her legs sat immobile.
"Nanoha-chan! Fate-chan! What's going on?" Hayate pleaded. She hadn't the slightest idea what was happening. First she was suddenly out of bed. Then she saw her family in peril, and now her friends were there as well?
"You're sick Hayate-chan…" The girl that looked like Nanoha said in a low, cold voice. "It's called the Curse of the Book of Darkness."
"And I'm afraid that there is no cure," The girl that looked like Fate followed.
"I don't know what your Knights have told you, but even if the Book of Darkness is completed, you won't survive," Nanoha looking girl said, a sinister smile beginning to form on her lips.
"There is no scenario that you are saved…" The Fate looking girl said.
"You… you both know?" Hayate's eyes widened. "So… I am going to die." Tears began to form at the edges of her eyes before trickling down. It was something she ignored but based on how they seemed to know about the Book of Darkness, it was probable that they were telling something of a truth. She was going to die soon.
"That… that doesn't matter." She stopped herself from thinking about it again, just like she'd always done. Just like she'd always done. "Just what have you done to them? Just let go of them." Even if she were to die, she at least still had them. As long as she had her family-
"They were already broken, long before we ever did anything to them."
"They thought that they could still use the power of the Book of Darkness, though it has long since been broken." Hayate couldn't understand what Nanoha and Fate were saying. She couldn't believe how cruel they were being. "And yet they continue their futile effort."
"What do you mean?" Hayate finally asked, wanting an answer, only for a coughing fit to break out from the effort.
"Broken machines serve no purpose."
"And so they should be disposed of." In Nanoha's hand appeared a purple glowing card, whereas Fate's hand simply glowed the same color, appearing poised and ready to do something to her family, something that Hayate knew she didn't want.
"You… you can't!" Hayate cried between labored breaths. "Don't hurt them! Please!"
"If you want to stop us-"
"-then you'd better use force." The Nanoha and Fate looking girls said as they took aim at the still unconscious knights. Hayate's heart sunk as her tears followed suit.
"But Why? Why do you have to do this? Why can't we just be left alone?" Hayate continued to beg, crawling on the ground, heaving as her lungs burned and threatened to make her cough again. "Stop! Just stop! Let them Go!"
Hayate's cries fell on deaf ears, as a bright flash of light engulfed her view. She shielded her eyes as a gust of wind blew past her, roaring louder than any sound she'd ever heard before. However it lasted only for a moment as the light died as quickly as it had arrived, and the night returned to stillness. Hayate opened her eyes to find the two gone. Instead, what remained was the book, it's pages flipping to and fro as five small little lights that looked ever so familiar danced around it. Her hand, trembling and weak, reached towards it, only for the five lights to be ensnared one by one by tendrils of darkness that were borne from the book.
Without a struggle, the five lights were snuffed out, and taken into the book's pages. With a faint glow, as if a final breath from the lights, the book the snapped shut, yet remained in the air. Hayate wanted to scream. She wanted to scream so loudly like she'd never screamed before… but instead something else began to crawl inside of her. It washed over her, tainting, and dulling every one of her thoughts until they shriveled and died. She could only let out a pathetic heave that one could mistake for either laughing or crying, while her body shook ever so slightly, ever so steadily. Either way the book didn't seem to care as it floated before, and a magic formation, triangular in shape, white in color, appeared beneath her.
"Guten Morgan, Meisterin," a voice echoed from the book, but Hayate was despondent. Even so, the book continued with its work as its formation's glow turned a sinister purple and its lines black. And then it erupted. Black lightning, and purple magic reached for the sky in a flash. In the chaos, Hayate could no longer be seen. A shock wave rocked the sky, ramming into the crystal that imprisoned them, undoing their bindings as well.
"Ren!"
"Hold on to us!" The real Nanoha and Fate told him as they donned their Barrier Jackets without a moment to lose. A livid Ren did as he was told, letting them grab his hand while his other held onto Morgana. He looked down as he tried to catch of glimpse of Hayate from anywhere within the erupting magic.
"Book of Darkness, to these hands grant power. Release the Seal…" Ren heard Hayate's voice echo despite the turbulence.
"Hayate! Stop!" Ren tried to call out. "Stop this! Don't release the seal!" His word seemingly went unheeded as the eruption of magic continued. However it did eventually begin to die down, dissipating into the ether as the air became still. Down below on Ren saw a person standing there. "Hayate!" He called, hoping that it was her, but once the last dregs of magic finally calmed, what he saw wasn't Hayate, at least he didn't think it was her.
A silver haired, fully grown woman in a black barrier jacket accented with gold, stood where Hayate had been. Her right arms and legs covered in red belts, and black wings adorned her back, four in total, with an extra two on the sides of her head. The Book of Darkness waited beside her. And it waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. Despite the show of magical power from before, the woman who stood there did… nothing.
"Nanoha, Fate!" Ren called to them. "Throw me and Morgana down. While you two contact the others, we'll try to see what's going on with Hayate and look out for Tweedledum and Tweedledee."
"Who?" Nanoha asked.
"The masked men. Now hurry!" Nanoha and Fate looked at each other before giving a silent nod to one another.
"Heave-ho!" They threw Ren as hard as they could, causing him to spin due to the applied force. As he did so, he activated Meta Barrier, donning his Phantom Thief attire as he fell. At the same time, he let Morgana go who in turn also transformed on the way down. The two landed in a black blur upon the roof. Upon getting up from their landing, they saw the woman continuing to stand there in silence. Joker glanced up to see streaks of Pink and Yellow flying out. It was just him and Mona now.
"Why isn't she doing anything?"
"She's supposed to be going on a rampage. Why is she silent. I guess she really is broken." Joker looked up to see the tweedles talking amongst themselves in the sky, now having taken off their disguises.
"Well regardless, I've managed to put up the shield. Is the Arc en Ciel ready?" Joker's eyes furrowed. That was the new weapon on the Arthra. How do they know?
"Yeah, and hopefully she'll remain inert until we can fire it."
"Care to share with the rest of the class?" Joker asked, pointing his gun up at them. The two seemed caught off guard, quickly whipping their heads down to look at them.
"You can put the weapon away it will all be over soon."
"There's nothing left for you to save. Any more fighting between us will be useless now that the Book of Darkness has awakened." The both of them quickly put distance between them as a couple of bullets shot past them. "If that's how you're going to be…" The two readied themselves for combat, while Joker and Mona did the same, readying themselves to meet them. However before that could happen-
"Wha-"
"Huh?" familiar looking binds wrapped themselves around the Masked Men. As the two then began to fall towards the Earth. Joker and Mona, still in a bit of surprise from the sudden aid didn't know what to do as they watched them fall.
"Caught you!" A black blue appeared, grabbing the two men by the binds.
"You're late Spikes!" Joker yelled with a smirk.
"Wow, way to go!" Mona cheered at the same time.
"Sorry about that, I just had a few things I wanted to confirm first…" Chrono said as he held tight the binds he held over the Masked Men, descending to the roof. "Not only that, but the spell requires a bit of finesse and it can be quite fragile. I needed them distracted before I could use it. But I don't think I'd need to tell that to them…"
Joker looked at the Masked… no masked women? Even that was no longer a proper appellation as their masks fell revealing them in full. So even that was a disguise. Joker didn't recognize the two… cat girls? Were they familiars then? Then whose were they?
"I'd hoped it wasn't the two of you…" Chrono sighed as he saw the Liese twins struggling in their binds. He did his best to hold himself together. "My teachers, by the way. The Liese twins Aria and Lotte. They're Admiral Graham's familiars" he told Joker and Mona as an aside.
"Chrono how could you!" Lotte cried out interrupting Chrono's introduction of them.
"What's the meaning of this?" Aria asked as she tried her best to break free, only for her attempts to undo it fall apart. Chrono turned towards the twins, huffing another sigh.
"You know very well what this is about. You may be my teachers, but even so I cannot let people who blatantly disregard TSAB procedure and endanger the lives of innocents get away scot-free," Chrono said trying his best to hide his disappointment. "Joker, Mona, I'll take the twins back to the Arthra," he said while keeping his eyes on the twins. "I'll need to get in contact with the Admiral in order to-"
"That won't be necessary…" Another transportation circle appeared beside them. Following that, Admiral Graham appeared before them as the circle died, having fulfilled its purpose. "We can conduct our business here."
"Sir, while I am going to need to question you, it is not safe here with a fully awakened Book of Darkness," Chrono protested, only to be met with a hand that the Admiral up to stop him.
"Father! Please, let's just go back to the Arthra!" The Lotte pleaded, only for the Admiral to shake his head.
"I don't believe that is necessary," he pointed to the Silver haired woman, who hadn't moved even a single inch since she had appeared, remaining mostly still. Were it not for the rise and fall of her shoulders, they wouldn't have even known she was breathing. "I think we can have our talk here. We still have time." Chrono looked back at the admiral, wanting to protest, but before he could do so, Joker stepped forward.
"Alright, then. Let's talk." Chrono knew that tone of Joker's. It was similar to the one had towards them when they had decided to… to let Fate die amongst the Jewel Seeds over the ocean. While he'd never been the direct target of it, he knew that it meant that Joker wasn't very happy to say the least.
"I see…" The Admiral whispered. "So you were hiding your true abilities weren't you," he said to Joker at full volume.
"So what if I was… Spikes, mind if you start?" Joker threw the onus of the conversation onto Chrono suddenly. "You seem to know more about what's going on after all." Chrono thanked whatever powers that be that Joker always seemed to be in control, even when his emotion ran hot.
Taking his chance while he had it, Chrono started. "Then allow me confirm the information that I have. Ever since the last Book of Darkness incident eleven years ago, you've been searching for wherever the book would transmigrate. Eventually you managed to find it, tracked it down enough to find out not just where, but who: One Hayate Yagami in Uminari, Japan on the Planet Earth."
Graham looked down, memories of when he'd first found Hayate running through his mind. If Joker didn't know any better he though the man looked almost sad.
"When I'd first learned of the girl," Graham began. "She'd just lost her parents in a terrible accident and fallen ill herself. I felt great pain looking at what had befallen her. It was nothing less than a tragedy. At the same time though, I thought that it must have been destiny. Afterall, with her being alone, there wouldn't be anyone to grieve for her."
"That's your reason?" Joker looked at the man in disbelief. "That's your justification for condemning a child to never ending torture? That's the absolute worst fucking excuse I've ever heard!" Joker yelled at the man. The only reason Joker held himself back was because the man didn't seem willing to put up a fight.
"Hey! You can't talk to father like that!" Aria fired back, only to receive a cold scowl in return.
"I'll talk to him however I damn well please. Especially when they're wrong." Joker looked back at the so-called Admiral. "Being alone? No one to grieve? She's got the Knights; she has the people at the hospital; she has me! They'd grieve. I'd grieve." Joker knew Maruki would grieve as well. She wasn't alone.
"She only met you thanks to the Book of Darkness. Without it, you two would have never met." Graham continued to remain calm, even as Joker's head was starting to ache. However Joker could see it, the main refused to look him in the eye.
Joker calmed himself down before continuing. "And that matters how? In the end, your reason is up in smoke. Hayate has people who care about her now. That pitiful thing you called an excuse for your actions literally doesn't exist anymore," Joker pushed again.
"Joker, I have another inquiry, if I may…" Chrono grabbed his sleeve to catch his attention. Joker, seeing the look in the boy's eye, decided to back off. "Thank you. Admiral, you also posed as a friend of Hayate's Father correct? You also used it as a pretext to financially support her, yes?"
"I…" Graham managed to look straight at Chrono but refused to do the same with Joker. "I wanted to know at least a little bit of happiness. At least before the end. A life with nothing but tragedy I thought would be too much. It's hypocritical I know…"
"So you are aware…" Joker said, his arms crossed.
"Yes… it was mostly for my own self-indulgence," the Admiral admitted.
"He probably doesn't have a palace…" Mona muttered to himself, looking just as disgusted as his friend. "He's too self-aware for such a thing. As much as I hate to say it, we probably shouldn't bother looking for one if he's like this. Besides, we don't really have the time." Only Joker was left unconfused by Mona's statement, but they had more pressing matters to attend to.
"Disregarding that…" Chrono steered the conversation back into his hands. "I assume your plan is to freeze both the book and its owner, and then send them both between dimensions or instead inside a dimension of ice. Does that sound about right, sir?"
"Yes, it is the only way to prevent transmigration."
"Look, past owners of the Book of Darkness were also lost when we destroyed them. It's not like this plan is that much different," Lotte tried to justify their plan.
"It's not too late. Set us free, so we can carry out the rest of the plan," Aria pleaded. "The only time we can freeze the Book of Darkness is within a couple hours of it losing control."
Before Joker could make a rebuttal, Chrono beat him to the punch. "However until that time, if the owner is innocent, then they are not considered a criminal worthy of needing to be sealed away for eternity. It would not only be illegal, but unethical as well."
"And it's because of that stupid law that Clyde… that your father was-"
"That's enough Lotte…" Graham stopped the girl from saying anything further, backing off at his prompting. "Ren… or was it Joker?" Graham finally was able to look at him. "You must understand. I know that my actions are deplorable to the core. However what would you have me do? This Lost Logia has plagued all of interdimensional space for god knows how long. Finally, a solution is in our grasp, and a once in a lifetime chance to put that solution to use has also appeared. To be able to put an end to a string of uncountable tragedies, would you not take the same chance?"
Joker looked a Graham. All he could see was a tired old man. As much as he didn't like the man now, he could admit to some level of sympathy. Still, he already knew his answer to his question, and one he wouldn't back down on.
"No. Because any solution that requires the unwilling sacrifice of someone else's life, is not a solution I'd ever consider. It's not a solution I'd ever want to take." Not ever again… "You've already said it. You're a hypocrite. You've reached for any justification to make yourself feel better for damning a child to an eternal frozen hell. You're from Earth, you ought to know what kind of punishment that's considered here…" To be frozen; that was the punishment only for the most wicked at the bottom. A grimace grew on the Admiral's face.
"Dante's Ninth Circle… Brutus, Cassius, Judas-"
"-and Lucifer," Joker finished for him as he twirled his twisted looking gun around. "It takes a lot of guts to say child is as deserving of hell as they are, or perhaps it's not so much guts as something else… Look, I'm not going to tell you that you should have a better solution. I'm not so arrogant or stupid as to believe such a thing is so easy. I'm sincerely willing to believe that the one you have now is the culmination of generations of research and effort. Even so, it's still not good enough if it condemns an innocent girl to a fate worse than death, for a crime she didn't commit. I could never call that justice."
"Then what would you do?" It was the most heated the Admiral got, though it was almost more like begging than anger. "What could you possibly achieve what the best of the TSAB couldn't?"
"Hmm, I wonder. I'll admit I don't really have a plan, but I have yet to try, and I've already done something they thought was impossible with the Book of Darkness," Joker chortled a bit. "Perhaps I can pull off another miracle. Wouldn't be the first time. It's the job of a Phantom Thief after all." His smirk faded as he looked back at the Admiral, the man having failed to gain his sympathy.
"Is that really all it took? Years of resolve all down the drain because of a kid, a thief, and his partner in crime? I guess your reasons really were that thin. You're lucky we're got more important things to do. Otherwise I'd be trying to take you down for killing my friends." The glare Joker shot the twins sent a shiver down their spines.
"What a disgrace to felines everywhere…" Mona said matching his partner's mannerisms.
"Chrono, I'm done here. You can have him. I don't want to deal with this guy any longer," Joker said as he turned around to face the silver haired woman in the distance.
"Alright, then." Chrono nodded. "What will you do?"
"Mona and I are going to try and talk to her. Has anyone tried that before?" Joker said as he stretched and readjusted his glove.
"Not to my knowledge no. If anything happens though-"
"Yeah, I got it, thanks," Joker cut Chrono off, giving the kid a wry smirk. Before he left, however. "Hey, you said you were retiring to Earth right? Pick somewhere else. This planet's already got enough pathetic bastards on it. We don't need another." And with that he walked off, Mona following beside him, and leaving the Admiral and twins with Chrono.
Once Chrono was sure Joker was out of earshot. was out of earshot, "The law aside," Chrono catching their attention at the sound of his voice. "There's another issue with your plan. First of all, removing the freezing spell would not be difficult. Second, no matter how well you try to hide it, no matter how hard you try to protect it, human greed will always be strong enough to find it and try to use it for their own gain. To that I agree with Joker."
"I see…" Admiral Graham looked downcast. "So even you side with him… Aria, Lotte, give Durandal to Chrono."
"Sir?" Chrono's eyes widened in surprise.
"Father!"
"Are you sure?" The two of them cried out at the same time.
"Yes I am. It will see more use in his hands than in ours. As for how your hands will use it… you decide," Graham said as he took an ornate card of sorts from the twins and presented it to the young man. "This contains the freezing spell that we planned to use on the Book of Darkness. Do with it what you will."
Chrono looked down at the device, his mind raced to find how he would respond. What was he to do?
-0-0-26-0-0-
"Hey, are you alright?" was Joker's opening line as he approached the silver haired woman. "You've kind of just been standing there this whole time."
"Joker, that's not how you talk to the ladies. You can't just talk to her like she's a guy," Mona scolded him, though Mona seemed more nervous than anything else.
"Well I'm not sure how to approach someone like her to begin with to be honest," Joker scratched his head before turning back to the woman. "Are you okay?"
"Conflicting orders… need to resolve… conflicting order." Joker's eyes widened at the first words he'd heard the woman say, though she didn't move to look at him despite that. Her eyes remained unfocused and dull.
"Conflicting orders?" Joker repeated. "What orders?" The woman didn't respond again, instead remaining silent like before.
"Is Hayate-chan the one who issued the orders?" Mona asked. "But conflicting orders means more than one, so what are they?"
"More than one wish…"
"More than one wish? Hayate-chan made more than one wish?" Mona repeated.
"Need further direction…"
"Huh? Another order… is this perhaps how you use the Book of Darkness?" Mona wondered to himself. "Well uh, how about give back Hayate… Nothing?" Mona shrugged at the lack of response. "What do you think?"
"Well considering it's supposed to help the master of the Book… maybe instead… Help Hayate," Joker tried. "Woah!" The woman suddenly moved. Her wings flapped as she stood upright.
"Understood, I will prioritize helping Hayate. I will disregard the conflicting order." The woman seemed to spring to life, as she raised her hand into the sky, the book's pages fluttering as another magic circle appeared beneath her. Joker and Mona, readied themselves, unsure of what was to come.
"Joker!"
"Yo!" While he was still looking at the woman, he heard voices in the distance. There he could see Nanoha, Fate, Arf, and Yuuno on the approach.
"We've brought reinforcements," Fate said as they touched down onto the hospital roof.
"Is that Chrono over there?" Yuuno asked, pointing to the back. "And is that the Admiral and twins as well? What are they doing here?"
"It's a long story," Joker said not sure if he should explain.
"Well we probably don't have time for that since it seems like this woman's prepping some sort of barrier spell," Arf squinted to make sense of the magic circle. She'd seen something like it before but she couldn't place it.
"Has she done anything else?" Nanoha asked, holding her Raising Heart at the ready.
"No, but I think she's about to start… Everyone, hold on!" Joker ordered as the light of the woman's spell seemed to reach its peak.
"Meta Barrier!"
"What!?" Joker let out as he heard a familiar spell name reach his ears. That was his spell, or more like the spell Precia gave him. Despite the burst of light, though, it disappeared as soon as it was cast, or at the very least that was what it seemed. "Did… did it work?" Nothing seemed to have changed about the woman. For Joker and Mona, they'd transform into their Phantom Thief attire, but for the woman, nothing seemed to have changed.
"Why did she cast that? That spell should do anything except mimic the conditions of the Metaverse," Mona voiced his confusion, as he couldn't fathom a reason why she'd cast that spell. Just then though, azure flames flickered at her feet, causing panic between the two members of the thieves there. "Wait, hold on, she isn't going to do what I think she is, is she?"
Something resonated within Joker, shaking his heart as he watched the flames around the woman grow brighter and stronger. He could even hear the sound of chains rattling about. It couldn't be. How?
"This feeling, it's exactly like-" Nanoha said as she partially shielded her eyes from the glow.
"It's just like Joker's-" Fate was cut off as the fire around silver haired woman found their form, combining in a haphazard display to form a winged humanoid shape. All of them stood stunned at the proceedings, unsure if it was truly reality, but true enough it was as the woman called the figure's name in a small, pleading whisper.
"Pillage them, Arsène…" A shockwave exploded out, almost knocking all present off their feet. Joker could hear those behind him struggling to stay on the roof. Even so, Joker kept his sight trained on what was before him both as a matter of vigilance, and a desire to see for himself what was to come.
"Dammit…" were the only words that left Joker's mouth as he saw, floating behind and above the woman, a very familiar figure. There was no mistaking it. She had not only summoned a Persona, but she had summoned his very own Arsène. Not a detail was out of place, and even the way it carried itself was the exact same. Before he could scrutinize it even more however, he saw the woman's Arsène move while at the same time the Book of Darkness's pages flipped wildly. The energy between the two seemingly mixing into one.
"Megidolaon Genocide Shift…" the woman called a twisted version of a spell that he knew. Joker looked above as he saw something shining in the sky… no it wasn't just one thing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one of those shining things drop onto a neighboring building, and then explode into blinding white light, enveloping the world around it. And then another, and then another, falling closer and closer. A low toned symphony of the spell boring into the earth where they landed filled the air to the breaking point, as Joker couldn't hear anything else. Even so he tried his best to project his voice as loud as he could.
"Move!" Joker yelled as all of them scattered. At the same time as his words, a rain of Megidolaon fell from above, consuming the world below in white light. The world had become filled with that white light, hiding the darkness as if it were day. Even so, they didn't seem to approach where he and Mona were. For whatever reason they would come close to them, but not actually reach them. Instead it was done in such a way almost as if to trap them, and only them.
Eventually, the spell had ended. Despite the onslaught worthy of signaling the end, the barrier created by the Book of Darkness held. Only he, Mona, and the woman remained on the rooftop, intact only because of said barrier. Joker looked about to see if he could find the others. Nanoha and Fate he could see as streaks of light going in one direction, Yuuno and Arf in another, while Chrono and the others went their own way.
"Joker, are you alright?" He heard Nanoha call over comms.
"I'm fine. Where are you guys?" Joker responded.
"Yuuno-kun is going to try and set up a connection with the Arthra from within the barrier. Arf is going with him as back up. Chrono is taking Admiral Graham and the twins to safety," Nanoha explained.
"Nanoha and I are still nearby," Fate added, as Joker put a hand to his chin to think…
"Alright. Mona and I will engage with her directly. If she's doing what I think she's doing, then the two of us stand the best chance of countering whatever comes our way," Joker told the two.
"Are you sure… wait what is that?" Nanoha seemed distracted by something.
"That signature!" It sounded to Joker that Fate was surprised for some reason.
"Joker, could you give us some time?" Nanoha asked. "I think Alisa and Suzuka somehow made it into the barrier!"
"What? Is that true?" Mona asked jumping in shock.
"The both of you go after them immediately! Mona and I will stall her until then," Joker ordered without losing a second.
"We'll be back as soon as we can, Fate-chan, let's go!" Nanoha said to the other girl.
"Be careful Joker!" After Fate's word of caution, the comms cut off. Joker turned back towards the woman, who seemed to be watching him intently. As if her mind had been made up, she nodded to herself. The book beside her flashed a familiar blue as she raised her hand to the sky and called another.
"Ishtar!" The persona appeared as she had commanded, staying be her side and ready to do as she willed.
"Dammit, she even has that one?" Mona complained. The woman then pointed her hand at them next without missing a beat.
"Maziodyne…" With Ishtar still out, the woman called another spell, summoning forth lightning from the sky. That fell upon from the sky in an uncountable number. Joker shifted his Persona again as he covered Mona from the onslaught. Another high-pitched pinging sounded erupted, once again returning the spell back to the caster, however unlike before, she was none the worse for wear from the counterattack.
"Thanks… I would have been a goner if those hit me…" Mona said in an exhausted panic. "But we can't just keep taking hits. Come on, we got to fight back!" Joker nodded as he and Mona then separated, Joker's mask flickering blue again as they did so.
"Mercurius! Masukunda!" Mona's Persona appeared behind him, and with a movement of sorts, a green orb of light fell upon the woman, though she didn't give an effort to dodge or block it. Instead it was more like she let it happen to her.
"Arsène! Brave Blade!" Joker called as he rushed in, Arsène coming in on one side, and he on the other. Despite them closing in, the woman instead flapped her own wings, raising her hand up.
"Shiki-Ouji…" A tall shikigami appeared before her, its hands raised as it blocked both Joker's and Arsine's attacks, rendering them ineffective. Seeing this, Joker backed off, jumping off of it as Arsène returned to him. Even so, he switched Personas and tried again.
"Ardha! Comsic Flare!"
"Kohryu…" A shining golden dragon appeared, rendering the cosmic rays that darkened the world around impotent as it absorbed the attack without any single bit of damage.
"Dammit…" Joker heard Mona whine. "This is going nowhere fast. It seems like she has every Persona who you let get absorbed by the book. We're pretty much fighting you, and she seems to know how to use that power to stop our attacks." It was like a battle between fools. The closest he'd come to such a thing before was in a dinosaur movie, but that was hardly a fight. Besides, the situation right now only held a passing resemblance to that kind of scenario.
"Worse, she could have more than I do…" He was limited in the number of Personas he could have at a time; a limitation she might not share. "We can't keep this up forever…" And the spells that could pierce past those resistances… he couldn't cast them too many times. Not only that, but if he kept using them, she could possibly become accustomed to it, and perhaps develop counter measures. He had to play it smart.
"This is going to get rough," Joker said as he aimed his gun.
"Like it's ever easy," Mona said with a cheeky grin as he raised his slingshot.
"I wish it could be for once…" Joker sighed as he kept his eyes on the woman as the book beside her flashed blue again.
-0-0-26-0-0-
"What was all that?" Suzuka asked as she and Alisa tried to catch their breaths. The two of them had run as hard as they could to try and get away from whatever it was that was falling from the sky.
"I don't know, but we should probably run even farther away," Alisa said, being the first to recover and grabbing on to Suzuka's hand. "Come on! We have to get going!"
"Yeah, but…" Suzuka was still heaving. "What's that?" the girl pointed to something pink and yellow heading there way.
"Is that more? We got to go now!" Alisa dragged Suzuka and the two started running in the opposite direction.
"Wait!" Alisa stopped, more so because of confusion rather than exhaustion. For a second she thought she heard Nanoha's voice.
"Did that sound like Nanoha-chan's voice?" Suzuka was the one to broach the subject.
"You heard that too?" But before Alisa could get an answer, another voice came through.
"Alisa-chan, Suzuka-chan!"
"Fate-chan?" Suzuka let out. A gust wind blew past as they two hadn't realized that the pink and yellow light had closed in on them, only to reveal that the lights weren't at all dangerous.
"Thank goodness you two are alright!" Nanoha let out a breath she was holding as she and Fate landed.
"Wait that was the two of you?" Suzuka said as she looked at them with wide eyes of wonder.
"What's going on? What are you two wearing? And how were the both of you flying just now?" Alisa bombarded the two with questions.
"Um… well… it would take a while to explain." Nanoha gave an apologetic smile.
"Well start explaining. What is all this? What were those lights?"
"I'm sorry, but we'll tell you later. Yuuno-kun? Arf? Do you read us?" Fate called over comms.
"Loud and clear. I've also managed to get a hold of the Arthra," Yuuno reported in.
"Amy here. I've got a read on your location. Yuuno's already let me know. You'll want an evac for two civilians, correct?" Amy said, the clacking of keys could be heard as well.
"Yes, please do it as soon as you can-"
"Nanoha-chan! Just explain what's going on! Please!" Alisa begged. Nanoha sighed in resignation, knowing that this was one of those moments with Alisa. Besides, it would take a bit for Amy to get them out of there.
"Well you see… I guess you could call us mages," Nanoha began to explain.
"We work with a group called the TSAB. Our job is to stop problems like what's going on right now," Fate jumped in to help.
"A job? Are you like police or something?" Suzuka asked, tilting her head as she did so.
"In a way, I suppose," Nanoha giggled in a bit of a nervous fit. "I promise, we'll explain all of it once this is over, but for now we to get you two to safety. Kya!" A wind blew past them as an explosion of psychedelic colors happened in the distance.
"Joker, are you okay?" Fate asked over comms.
"Not bad, but not great. It's a stalemate over here," he said in a strained voice.
"Then I'll leave you to it. Be careful."
"Trying!" The line went cold right after.
"How's Ren doing?" Nanoha asked, only for Alisa to barge in again.
"Wait Ren-san is in on this too?" Alisa's head was starting to hurt. So much was just happening, and completely out of her control.
"Um… kind of? He's sort of a bit different, but he's helping out as he can," Nanoha tried to say without mentioning the Phanto-
"Wait, Fate-chan! Didn't you say the name Joker just now? That was the name of the leader of the Phantom Thieves…" Fate and Nanoha froze up at how sharp she was.
"Huh? Does that mean Ren-san is part of the-" a white circle appeared beneath the two civilian girls before Suzuka could finish her sentence.
"Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, I've set up the teleportation array to get them out of the barrier," Amy informed them as if on cue.
"W-well would you look at that!" Nanoha's nervous laugh returned. "This will take you to safety… Sorry, but we have to cut the explanation short here."
"We'll finish it once this is all over," Fate said with her own apologetic smile.
"Take us where?" Suzuka asked as she looked over the strange circle that had appeared on the ground.
"You better keep your promise Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan! Yo-" Alisa didn't get to finish her sentence as she and Suzuka disappeared.
Nanoha heaved a sigh. "Well looks like they know."
"They even know that Ren is the leader of the Phantom Thieves. We were careless when addressing him," Fate admonished herself.
"No it was my fault. I was the one who called him by his name… In the end though, we'll have to explain all of this to them, and apologize to Ren." Nanoha wasn't looking forward to that. While never explicitly promised, they implicitly understood that Ren's identity was to be kept a secret.
"After. For now though, let's head back to where Ren is. Yuuno-kun, Arf? Are you there?"
"We're trying to look for any holes in the barrier. We're going to see if there are any more civilians who've slipped through," Arf explained.
"Alright, we're heading back to where Joker is. Good luck on your end," Nanoha said as both she and Fate left the ground and began to fly back to where the battle was taking place.
-0-0-26-0-0-
"What the hell is all this?" Yoshizawa ran down the street. She'd never seen the city so empty, or the sky looking so strange. "Those lights… I have a feeling Senpai's involved." The reason for that was simple: she had donned her Phantom Thief attire. That wasn't the case at first. Whatever happened to the sky didn't prompt a transformation, but a bit later, she saw azure flames engulf her, replacing her clothes before she could even blink. She was closing in on the explosions, and she'd be there soon, but even with her enhanced physicality it would take her a bit.
Another explosion, this one actually large enough to blow wind her way. She stopped to keep herself upright, crouching down just a bit to keep her center of gravity low. It passed quickly but gave her time to think. This was big. Much bigger than she thought it might be. Just her and Ren wouldn't be enough. She got her phone out and went to the chat list. There she looked a particular chat that she was given access to by Ren at her request: The Phantom Thief Chat. Luckily, she still had signal, so that wasn't the problem.
"Would they be able to make it though?" They were in Tokyo, at least that was what Ren said. That was a couple hours away, and that might be too late… Still, she had to try. They could use all the help they could get. She would just have to convince them that she was one of them.
"Hello? Is this the Phantom Thieves?" She typed in. Perhaps it was just her elevated heart rate, but it felt to her like it was taking forever to get a response. She tried to calm herself down, even as more explosions happened in the distance. It just takes time. It's not like they know something is happening. Come on…
"Who wants to know?" She the picture of an unfamiliar looking blonde boy. Never had she been so happy to hear from a stranger. She took a deep breath and steeled herself.
"Here goes nothing…" Time to introduce herself to the rest of the team. "You can do this Kasumi… you can do this."
-0-0-26-0-0-
Down at the street level, a vicious set of strikes flew against one another.
"Hassou Toubi!"
"Hassou Toubi…" Red streaks carved against red streaks, canceling out one another with a furious clash. Clash, clash, clash, clash, clash, clash, clash, clash. Each strike had parried the other, until the attack had run its course. The Yoshitsune behind Joker faded, just as the one behind the woman did. Joker breathed heavy breaths, trying to steady himself. The woman on the other hand still didn't look the least bit perturbed, but she did seem to take deeper breaths. It seemed she was thinking again, as she floated in the sky above them.
"Diarahan!" he heard beside him as his strength returned with a soft glowing light around his body.
"Thanks Mona…" Joker said as he could breathe easy again.
"Don't push yourself. This battle is far from over," Mona said, scowling at their opponent in focus.
"I know, I'm trying to pace myself until we get an opening, but it's like she's not really even trying. She hasn't even tried that Genocide Shift thing again…" Instead she was only using the normal versions of attacks. For some reason she was holding back… but why?
"Not only that, but she's just targeting you. Outside of that first spell with Ishtar, she's tried to focus on you," Mona pointed out to him, to which he didn't notice.
"Why?" Was he the biggest threat? Then why not go all out? Instead, rather than trying to kill him, it was more like she was trying to wear him down. But what would that accomplish? What was her goal?
"Why are you holding back?" Joker decided to ask directly. The woman blinked for a couple of moments, taking a bit to realize she was being addressed by him. "You're targeting me, but it's not with the intent to kill."
"Why would I kill you?" She asked, looking just as confused as Joker had become from the reply.
"Why would… You're not trying to kill me then?"
"I have no desire to kill you. That is reserved for the ones who took the Knights away. The only desires I've ever had was to grant the wishes of my masters."
"Wait, so is it Hayate's wish that you don't kill me?" Joker asked another question, not really understanding just what the woman was getting at.
"I will grant the wishes of my kind masters, protecting them before eternal slumber befalls them." Joker groaned in frustration at her answer as it wasn't really an answer at all. "To that end, I ask that you surrende-" She cut herself off as pink magic bullets pelted her from the side. Before they could reach her, she put up a barrier to block them, only for yellow magic bullets to assault her from the other. Using her free hand, she formed a second barrier to block both onslaughts at once until they had stopped.
"Joker!"
"We're here!" Fate and Nanoha flew down, landing beside him and Mona. "Are you alright?"
"We're fine. How about Alisa-chan and Suzuka-chan?" Mona replied.
"They've been warped out by the Arthra, they should be somewhere safe now," Nanoha told them. "How's the Book of Darkness?"
"Well it's…"
"So you'll call me by that name as well?" Joker stopped as he heard the woman speak up. Nanoha winced, realizing that she had misspoke, and that the woman seemed hurt at the mentioning of the name. "That cursed name…"
"I'm sorry," Nanoha apologized. "I just-" Another triangular magic formation appeared beneath the woman. With a wave of her hand, the street quaked and cracked open as magic binds emerged from below and raced through the air at speed, binding each of them as the stumbled from loose footing.
"Ugh!"
"Woah!"
"Not again!" Nanoha, Fate, and Mona yelled out as they became bound by the magic.
"I won't allow you to interfere. I will grant the wishes of my masters," the woman said as she descended down to the street.
"Granting wishes? But would all this destruction really make her happy?" Nanoha struggled to say as a bind constricted her throat. "What if it doesn't? Maybe there's some other way to make her happy? And what about you? Is that really everything to you? Do you really only want to grant your master's wishes without caring about anything else? Are you really satisfied with that? You can't possibly be that soulless." Nanoha pleaded with the woman. This wasn't right. Hayate wouldn't want this. And the woman's eyes. They looked so empty, so burdened, so sad.
"I'm only a magic book… I-I'm nothing more than a device."
"That's not true! You have to have a heart! Because if you didn't then why are you crying right now?" Nanoha's warm expression confused the woman. Why was the girl looking at her so kindly? However she spoke the truth. The woman could feel her cheeks become wet, and her vision blurred and unfocused.
"That is… not true," the woman began to reason. "These are but my master Hayate's tears. I'm nothing more than an object. I don't have a soul," she said as she raised her arm to wipe her tears away, but it only served a moment of release as more continued to flow.
"Now that's not true…" Joker spoke up, getting on his knees, and trying to stand despite the binds. "You have a soul. I know because you can use a Persona."
"What do you mean?" the woman looked confused. It was just a peculiar magic she had access to in this age, nothing more. What does the spell have to do with souls?
"Personas come from the depths of the human heart shared by everyone. Only those with souls, with an ego, can have one. I suspect that if you didn't have one, none of those Personas would have answered you, but you're using them just as well as this guy does," Mona explained. "If even something like me can have one, why not you?"
"I…" she had a soul? But…
"Hayate-chan is a nice girl. She'd say the same thing, that you have a heart…" Nanoha added. "Please… disengage your barrier jacket and release Hayate-chan."
"Please!" Fate asked as well.
"…" The woman looked on silently, unsure of how to proceed, however the decision was made for her. Pillars of fire sprang forth from the ground one after the other. "It would seem that it has started sooner than I had thought. The destruction of this world and myself has already begun. Soon I will lose hold of my consciousness. From then I will lose control of myself. I wish to grant the wishes of my master, while I'm still me. And so for that reason-"
"Dekund-" Before Joker could finish casting the spell.
"Disengaging Meta Barrier!" Ren's body flashed as he returned to his civilian clothes. Losing his momentum, he fell to the ground, powerless.
"Ren!" Nanoha and Fate cried at the same time as they saw him writhe a bit in pain.
"Joker!" Morgana cried as he also turned back into a cat, his small body now even more useless against the binds.
"Dammit!" Ren scrambled, trying to grab at his storage device to activate Meta Barrier again. Before he could, he heard the woman land right next to him, kneeling down and then hold his head in her hands.
"I will protect you…" he heard her say in a tender voice before another magic formation appeared beneath him, and the book shined a pale white. A second later, jolt was sent through his body. Static filled his head. His vision was fading into gold…
"What did-" was all he could say as his voice soon lost power as well.
"Joker!" Morgana's voice seemed distant to Ren. It was getting harder to hear.
"Reeeeen!" Nanoha cried as she saw his body glow gold and seemed to be breaking apart. Her mind went into a panic. What was happening? What was happening to him? He couldn't… he couldn't be…
"Ren Nooooooo!" Fate yelled at nearly the same time, as Ren's body suddenly disappeared in a flash of light that shot through the air and into the book. A sinking feeling found its way into Fate's stomach, her body went limp while her mind refused to accept what had just happened. Ren couldn't be gone. He just couldn't be.
"Sleep peacefully…" the woman said with her hand on her heart. "Soon it will all be over."
-0-0-26-0-0-
Clacking, something clacked. That was the first thing he heard. When his eyes finally opened, he realized that he was in some sort of fancy game club. On one of the walls were advanced dart boards that flashed and played songs when the patrons hit their mark. At the other edges were tables for people to sit down and relax while looking out upon the rest of the city. Looking directly down, he saw a pool table, the balls strewn about, some already in pockets. In his hand was a pool cue at the ready.
"Huh?" Wasn't there something he had to do? This isn't right. This isn't where he was supposed to be. He had to leave. He had to go back. Back to where?
"Hmm? Is something wrong? You've just been standing there for a while. What, don't tell me you're giving up already? I don't mind an easy victory, but I was still hoping for a little more challenge." Whatever thoughts he had vanished when he heard that voice. He whipped his head in their direction, readying himself for whatever he would see, only for his mind to blank, and his mouth to drop. There, standing with his own pool cue was a man much the same age as himself in black pants and a white dress shirt under a tan peacoat with black buttons. A mop of brown hair draped over his head, framing a face that held reddish-brown eyes that looked back, giving not even the smallest hint as to what they could be hiding.
"You look like you've just seen a ghost." Ren was almost about to say he had. After all, Goro Akechi was supposed to be dead.
Author's Note:
Yup so it's basically fool versus fool right there… kind of. Sort of. Also Akechi's kind of sort of back too. How's this going to affect things? Who knows? I did a bit of rearranging for this, mainly making the Book of Darkness' main attacks be Personas for this situation as well as some setting stuff. In this case I'll justify it by saying that her pages are mostly filled with Personas at the moment so it's most of her repertoire. Not all of it, but most of it at the moment.
I've also dropped a couple of hints for other things to come, one that's coming up very soon, and another that will happen a bit later. I wonder how many people will catch the specific words I've been using in certain instances. Perhaps I made it too obvious.
I also enjoyed getting to write that dressing down of Admiral Graham. The guy kind of got off scot-free in the original anime. At most he was made to feel a bit sad. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a way to justify more than a harsher dressing down, but it's not like he had that distorted a view. The man was already self-aware in the anime and did sort of do a heel-face at the end. Hell he's gone in the movie, though that's for other in universe reasons.
Anyways, the A's Season of Nanoha here should end at or around Chapter 30. Already got most of it planned out in advanced here, but that's not why this was late. It was late because I was getting the platinum for Nier Replicant √1.5 and am playing Nocturne at the moment. Sorry about that.
I'll see you guys next time. I hope you enjoyed yourselves, have a great rest of your day, and take care.
