Yu was sad for and worried for his friends. He never thought that in all honesty that Phoenix could have escaped his prison. And now the results were Fate and Nanoha were scared for the first time in their short lives. They were scared of Phoenix and seemingly lost their motivation.

That did not sit by with Yu well at all. At first he just comforted them and gave them soothing word to ease their pain. But it has been a month and they still don't have the courage to use their magic at all. Whenever they looked at their Devices, there was a sense of hopelessness in them.

Mind you he can understand where those two were coming from, to have all of your hard work ignored as though it was just a pest in their way would break anyone. Yu had to deal with his jealousy on Nanoha' part in the Jewel Seed Hunt due to her rapidly advancing skills which took him many years to accomplish just to get half as good as Nanoha during the early days.

But damn it, he never reacted like that ever in his case! But to them, the girls who were so use to having all of their hard work mean something now mean nothing was simply just too much for them to take he guess. He had no idea what to do, so he went off to spar to deal with his feelings.

When he got there he practiced all of his Blood Warrior Forms on the Enforcers and test dummies. He sliced through the first enforcer, jabbed past the second Enforcer, and then smashed his way through the last one. At least his skills and usage of those forms were better.

But still, he still could not take his mind off of the two girls he called his greatest friends, when all of a sudden after he shifted out of his armor. He was surprise to feel the cold metal of a soda can on his neck, and when he looked up it was Lindy smiling at him as she offered him a soda.

"Hey there Yu, you look like you could use a bit of a rest right about now." When he looked around he noticed that the sparring arena was a bit messed up. Oh well, he could use a break and it was grape soda as well, one of his favorite drinks, and maybe she could give him some advice.

"All right you got a point Lindy, besides there is a couple of topics that I wanted to ask you about anyways." As I took the soda and Lindy nodded at my request as we then sat down on the nearest bench. Just the two of us enjoying our drinks in outer space right now, how ridiculous.

"So Yu, was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Lindy asked in a curious tone, but I am well aware that she most likely knew what I wanted to talk about. "It's about Nanoha and Fate Lindy, they just seem so down and ready to give up that I don't know what to do." As I then sighed.

"They just seem okay with giving up after one defeat and have not done anything to practice their close quarter combat or their magic either. I been trying to do what I can to help them through but nothing seems to be working right now. They are just content to do nothing now."

Now turning to her, Lindy looked quite solemn and I was pleading a bit when I asked this. "Please Lindy is there anything that you can recommend that could possibly snap Nanoha and Fate out of their slump? It is just painful to see themselves waste away just because they failed."

Lindy looked a bit thoughtful at that, till she sighed. "In all honesty Yu? There is not much that I could do help you there." Causing him to slump down. "But that doesn't mean you should give up either. Those two girls need to remember what it was they are fighting for, and sometimes you have to go to the extreme to make sure they can regain their fighting spirits again Yu."

That caused Yu to pause from his slumping and becoming thoughtful of what Lindy said. Then suddenly Lindy playfully rubbed his head causing him to pout as Lindy laughed at him. "You do what you have to so Yu, sometimes it takes a while, and you just need the right catalyst to help."

Yu, was taking all those words in, he wondered if he could find the proper catalyst to bring them out of their slump. But in all honesty he was stumped, what could possibly make them take up their power as mages once more? Even so, the advice that Lindy gave was quite insightful to Yu.

She just laughed and then pat me on the head one last time causing me to pout a bit at how she seems to be taking it so easily. The she got up and left but not before looking at me with concern. "Yu it's okay if it takes time, everyone moves at their own pace, so try not to overthink it Yu."

And with those parting words she left me to contemplate on how to help Nanoha and Fate. 'Find the right catalyst that will make them ignore all their pains and doubts and move past it.' Yu mused as he then decided some time spent with Valkyrie might do his heart and soul some good.

Sure Valkyrie may be a prankster and pervert on par with Hayate's perversion, but she always knew how to cheer Yu up. Hopefully she doesn't give him her self-proclaim "Marshmallow Hell." … Whatever the heck that's supposed to mean, sounds made up and stupid as well.

So as he finally gotten into his meditative stance, he then delved into his mind and much to his pleasant surprise. The entire underworld has changed to a more outdoorsy look and it was nice to see. It was also there he noticed that Valkyrie was just sleeping on her really fancy looking bed.

As soon as he reached down to where Valkyrie was she sensed him and woke up and squealed when she saw him. 'Yu my host! How are you doing? Are the girls doing okay? Is there anything that you want to talk about with the perfectly awesome and amazing Phantom Valkyrie now?'

Valkyrie asked him a lot of questions after she tackle hugged him to the ground where Yu's face was in her chest, coincidentally suffering the so called "Marshmallow Hell", that she talked about. After some time though he managed to get out the reason as to why Yu was down here.

'So because Fate and Nanoha are still in a slump from the last battle against what could arguably and most likely the most dangerous monster in the world. They have yet to regain their courage or their will to do magic and thus you talked to Lindy. Whose only advice was to simply just take it easy for the time being? Then you decided to come here to talk to me and possibly just help you talk right through it. Since I am so awesome beyond anything you have ever seen correct?' he only nodded at that as Valkyrie just sighed but still gave me a soothing hug still.

'Thanks for the hug Valkyrie. It's just… there's been so much going on right now in my life as you very much know.' Causing Valkyrie to nod in understanding. 'The Book of Darkness, the Cloud Knights, the unknown third part, Hayate's illness, and now we have to deal with the return of Phoenix. Who just so happen to traumatize Nanoha and Fate into not using magic right now.'

Yu just sighed again as he ran his hands through his hair as Valkyrie looked at him with understanding and concern like usual. 'It is just so hard to see those two girls just wallowing around in their own fear for him. And yet instead of trying to improve like I did back then and now. They just abandon their magic, heck I even have to take their Devices for their maintenance now! I mean even they are expressing their own concern for them, even after the upgrade they got.' He then reached a wall where he rested his head on it as his own eyes showed his worries.

'Ever since we have gotten back to Earth, it has been one disaster after another. The attack on Nanoha, the reveal of the third party, my fall into a coma, your near death Valkyrie, the return of Phoenix, and now the depression and fear of Nanoha and Fate. All of these incidents are starting to just push onto me now. But my greatest issue is the fact that even with all my power I am still so powerless to do anything.' Now gripping the sides of the wall. 'What is the point of having power if you can't even use it to protect others Valkyrie? How can I live up to the legacy of the Riders when I don't even have the ability to protect those closest to me as of now Valkyrie?'

There was silence at the moment and Yu heard nothing at all from Valkyrie. 'Hah I guess it was pointless to ask such a question huh Valkyrie?' CHOP! 'Ow!' Yu shouted as he rubbed the spot on his head where Valkyrie just suddenly karate chopped him as she smiled mischievously at him. 'Yu, as much as I respect the fact that you have been trying everything in your power to help the girls. Sometimes you forgot about the needs of yourself. It is true there is not going to be any simple solution towards the girls' issues anytime. But the best we could do is just to offer them our support. Am I right Yu?' '…Valkyrie.' Yu said rather softly, as he then begun to smile.

'Hehehehehehehehehehehehahahahahahahahahahahaha!' As Yu then let out a loud roar of laughter as he just let go of all the distress he's been building up just as he finished laughing. Valkyrie was just standing there with both of her arms on her hips looking quite smug as he laughed once more. It seems that Valkyrie did managed to cheer him up. So Yu spent the rest of his time enjoying the many jokes and pranks that she did for fun and did some pranks as well on the mimicries of the figures she made. For the time being he forgotten all of his troubles now.

"Truly we are in a very bad situation Haruto." A very grim looking Nitoh told to Haruto and Mayu as they were just as shocked as he was when Phoenix came back and tore through them like it was nothing. "We would call for help but unfortunately Phoenix's rampage cause some of the other monsters and groups to try their luck at attacking the people, And now all the Riders are trying their hardest to deal with the situation." Now rubbing his head at their bad situation.

But what could they honestly do at this moment? Call for help from who exactly? All the Riders around the globe are facing off monster threats and attacks. The TSAB don't exactly have the manpower, and not only that but the Galactic Police Union is facing off a serious threat right now which they just barely managed to defeat and are currently cleaning them up as fast as they can. The only thing for them to do was to plan for Phoenix's attack as best as they can right now.

Seeing Nitoh in his current condition the two made plans to make it Earth as fast as they could, while Nitoh and the rest of the TSAB try to hold off the Phantom and deal with the Book of Darkness now. From the reports and news he received from Lindy. Chrono has been trying his hardest to master a Device that could supposedly help deal with the Book and Yuuno has been trying his hardest as well to trying to find anything on the Knights or the Book to help them out.

Nitoh really just hoped that the situation can be resolved soon. He cannot deal with all the possible planet destroying weapons out there. At least Yu was still good even when his two "girlfriends" are not doing too okay at the moment. Ah well he will leave their issue for Yu to help deal with it, he does know those two girls the best out of everyone here on the ship now.

Now leaving the video screen call with his two best friends he went off to see Lindy to check up on her. And much to his amusement she was being swamped in paperwork that she was literally buried in it and was asleep. He decided to have fun with her when he poked her really hard on the back which caused her to yelp and send papers flying a bit everywhere much to his happy amusement and to her annoyance as he clearly delighted in taking in her pain of the paperwork.

"You really shouldn't have done that Nitoh! Regardless of how much of a welcomed distraction you are!" Lindy shouted at him as she pouted which only made her look adorable, which still caused to laugh a bit as she then sighed and picked up the last piece of her paperwork. "But you wouldn't be here unless you wanted to do something Nitoh. So what is it you were looking for?"

He just shrugged as he spoke. "Just wanted to check on my girlfriend to see how she's been holding up since the attack that occurred about a month ago which caused lots of issues for us is all Lindy. So how are you holding up since then?" she thought about before coming to her own answer about it and let him see her eyes. Which had a lot of bags underneath it and it was also here ne noticed just how strained her smile was. So meaning pretty tired to deal with overall.

So naturally he decided to give her one of his promised massages and already there were results of change in Lindy's mood as she groaned in relief and then just let Nitoh work her over. She must have been really stressed out of she's giving him free reign to do what he needs to do to help her out. So he went back to his work for her as for the moment the two were quiet for now. It was after all the little things in life that counted the most for people for the likes of them.

It has been about several days since the talk with Valkyrie and Lindy, so while Yu did his best to support the two girls to the best of his abilities. There just doesn't seem to be any change to be had at all. They were doing normally fine as they typically do. But they whenever Yu brings up magic or the TSAB, they just seem to flinch. It was reaching the point that even Alissa and Suzuka avoid bringing it up to them just to have a normal talk. Heck he was even made the temporary caretakers of both their Devices, as their Devices only trusted him to watch over them.

After yet another failed session to get them back into using their magic. He just could not help but worry. He needed to find a catalyst to bring them back to their normal mode. Well he had an idea but it seems kind of foolhardy and he knew that Lindy and Nitoh would never approve of the plan either. It was risky, foolhardy, dangerous, ridiculous, and yet it may have the effect needed. But he knew when it comes to protecting their friends, they will defeat any obstacle.

So he quickly went up to Lindy and Nitoh with this plan, naturally they were quite against it and argued heavily that he should not be doing it but Yu told them of the need for all the mages they can get on hand. And having just two of their biggest powerhouse mages do nothing is going to hurt them in their operation. With all those points made they all reluctantly agreed to the plan. So they began the preparations for plan that Yu has in mind for the two girls to regain their spirit.

There was not many things that could keep Nanoha down but dealing with the aftermath of the assault from Phoenix certainly kept her down. She could not find the courage to take up her Device and train before the next mission. Heck she's been wallowing around ever since that incident. While her mind tells her that they need her help. Her heart, unfortunately, could not find the courage to muster it to train. How could she help? All of her hard work was for naught when she and Fate dealt with Phoenix. It must have been what Yu felt when he fought her.

It was times like these that she truly envied Yu's will, he had the courage to keep training with her, despite being outdone by her every time. And he made sure to scrap those victories in and despite being on the lower tier of magic he still had the courage to move on and keep training with her. She felt like a complete hypocrite for giving up so easily when Yu did everything in his power to catch up to her no matter what. All in all she felt bad about herself for being this weak.

After yet another failed attempt to use her magic with Fate doing no better, she just collapsed on the ground in despair. She really can't do it, the memories were still there and while Yu was able to help he was not capable of giving her the courage to move on. She noticed at how sympathetic Yu's eyes were to the both of them, and what makes it worse is that they have no way to say no.

After they left the training session, Yu said he was going to go off to visit Hayate to check up on her. I admit I felt a little jealous of her for spending more time with Yu lately. And Fate seems to agree with me, if it wasn't for the fact that Hayate was in the hospital now and Yu's been taking some time out of schedule to visit her when he can. Just as Yu left through the teleporter though, that is when things started to turn for the worse. As alarms bared all over and there was disorder all over the place. As Lindy tried to figure out what on earth is going on now at the moment.

"Pilots, engineers' status report now!" Lindy barked out as they all scrambled to figure out what was going on till one the engineer pointed out. "Ma'am! There been a fluctuation in the energy component. It threw off our teleporters and sent Yu out freefalling into the sky right now!" and like that my heart dropped as Fate also paled at that thought as well, while Lindy was shocked.

"Is there anything that we can do to retrieve Yu safely?" Lindy asked with concern and with good reason. The engineer shook his head. "No ma'am there is no way to save him, all we can do is just send everyone out and only recall people if they were in the spot!" As they then pulled up an image of Yu panicking trying to find some way to slow his descent as fast as he possibly could in the situation right now.

At the sight of his panicking Fate and I both gasped at him. There was no way that anyone could save him. All the enforcers that were capable of flight are not available and Nitoh was out doing some research. So all that was left were… Fate and I to rescue Yu from his approaching death. But then that would mean using magic, magic that neither of us had any confidence in now. But looking back at the screen and seeing Yu barely managing slow himself down using his air form which does not allow him to fly and no doubt vastly depleting supply of mana, we went to help.

So looking at Fate and seeing the same conviction on her face, we both nodded and rushed to grab our Devices where we shot ourselves out as well. Now looking out into the sky and seeing Yu freefalling we both had some mistake to make up for. "I'm so sorry Raising Heart! For ignoring you like this." It's No Problem. Thank goodness that she forgave me. "Bardiche!" Fate yelled as well. No Problem! Now we were both ready to use magic once more to help people.

Raising Heart called out grabbing both of our attention. This is the first activation of the new system, please input new activation code. They both looked at each other and nodded and before grabbing their Devices to yell it out. "Raising Heart Excelion!" "Bardiche Assault!" then they yelled as one "Set Up!" as a bright shining light engulfed the both of them to change them onto their combat form. First their clothes left them as the Device slowly expanded themselves to create their staves, and then came the clothes slowly being formed on them. As then they were in their typical outfits, only to receive additional armor pieces onto themselves. Then they both looked determined as they finished it and soared out of it and dashed to where Yu was, who looked relieved at the rescue coming for him.

Each of the girl grabbed his arm as they landed on a nearby building where thankfully they were not caught and Yu was looking at them with pride once he left his Rider form. "I am so proud of you two, you not only managed to conquer your own fear but you have finally regain your own fighting spirits once more as well." As Yu then dragged both of them into a big hug, which caused both her and Fate to blush happily as their secret crush hold them tight as he nuzzled into their necks causing them to fee really happy at the closeness he's showing to the both of them.

What started as another possible bad day for her and Fate became quite glorious in her opinion.

"So guys what did you think of my plan to get Nanoha and Fate out of their funk?" Yu asked Nitoh and Lindy who were currently glaring at him before they both just sighed in exasperation. They honestly thought that his initial plan was silly, as Yu said to put him in danger to make Nanoha and Fate come out of their slump. But the accident with the teleporter caught all of them off. But Yu still use the coincidental failure to make them ignore their trauma. So the plan was pointless but Yu adapted to the situation quite well without any major issue on hand for him.

"Honestly Yu," Lindy spoke up as Nitoh already had a talk with Yu about it already. "I do not know whether or not to thank you for your bravery or kneel you over and spank you like a bad child for being so foolhardy. But this was an unforeseen accident and you just made it work for the best. So you won't be punished Yu." Causing him to sigh in relief but quickly straightened up when lindy still glared at him. "Next time however, will involve me bringing back your soul from the dead and punishing you for your foolishness do I make myself clear?" Causing him to nod. "Good, now you should go check up on the girls, they seem to be doing much better now."

Yu just saluted her with a big goofy smile on his face. "Aye, aye captain!" Before he ran out of the room to check up on his closest buddies on this ship. Quite eager to out them through their paces for skipping out on so many sparring sessions and training montages with him. But also to see how far has him, Nanoha, and Fate have come in terms of combat experience since the Jewel Seed Incident. They have reached new levels of combat modes, so it would be prudent to test it.

Soon after Yu left Nitoh broke off into a bit of a chuckle, causing Lindy to look at him in confusion as he chuckled on before finally controlling himself. "Sorry about that Lindy, it is just so hard to believe that all of that was an accident and Yu still chose to implement his plan in hope of helping Nanoha and Fate out of their funk. It is just wonderful to see how far that boy will go for in order to help his friend's issues. Or maybe it is just love to the young boy, Lindy."

That caused Lindy to chuckle as well, everyone on this ship knows that those kids have a thing for each other. Both Nanoha and Fate love Yu and know him all too well, while Yu seems to be harboring his own crush on the two girls as well. And who can blame him for crushing on them?

From what Nitoh told her about how long Nanoha and Yu known each other for and how Yu has been the one to be there for her every step of the way on the Jewel Seed hunt. Even when he was quickly being outpaced by her, he was still dedicated to help her, because she was a precious person in Yu's book. He must have been one of Nanoha's connection to both worlds at the time. He was someone to lean on in times are tough, someone to look up to for his determination, someone who would stay by her side, and someone who will unconditionally care for her always.

Fate on the other hand loved Yu for one simple reason, he stood up for her in front of her mother. Just when her whole world was being shattered and found out that the one person who you think cares about reveals that you are just a fake. The pain like that must have been horrible, especially of you think about all the amount of abuse that Fate must have gained over the many years with her mother. Then came Yu, who stood up for her, was kind to her, treated her with respect of that of a fellow human, still gave her the choice in what she wants to do, and fighting off her mother for the sake of Fate, whose face was drowning in despair over her true nature. He was her light.

It's no wonder that both girls fell for him as heavily as they did, they were not many men who would go that far for their friends. There were perhaps only a few select people in the entire galaxy who would do that, and most of those people are heroes in their own right after all.

There was also a bet going on around the crew, mostly the engineers and enforcers, about when will the trio get together or when will they get married. Most have put their money on after puberty as the reason for that is, they are most likely to develop a physical action towards one another. Some put their money on a little bit earlier due to how close the kids were at times with each other. Normally Lindy and Nitoh would have disapproved it with great ferocity. But in all honesty they were quite curious as to when they will get together as well, so they put their money on after puberty and around eighteen to nineteen range for them to get together.

The current honey pot on the amount of money betted was around a million earth currency of sorts. While in their space it was also worth about three times the amount due to the betting materials being silver, which is quite valuable in their market, and was worth more than gold. She really hoped that none of the kids find out about it, not because of how sad they will be; but most likely demanding a fifty percent cut of the profit, then probably wreck horrifying pain on all those involved to teach them a less while giving out their deluxe scary closed eyes smile. As much as she and Nitoh want to deny it, those kids when they enter that mode are just that scary.

Seriously though, where on earth did they learn to smile like that? She had never seen Nanoha or Fate learning it from Yu. And according to Nitoh, that scary smile really popped out of nowhere during the closing stages of the Jewel Seed Hunt. Not even being the target yet being near those who smiled like that gave her the chills and nightmares for weeks on end, so terrifying to see it.

Yu was quite ecstatic about his current situation right now. Nanoha and Fate were finally coming at him with as much as they could in this spar as they finally get to push each other to new limits. Nanoha and Fate's spells were even faster and stronger than normal and he's been easily keeping up with the girls using the power of his three Blood Warrior forms right now.

He can feel their excitement and their desire to spar, after being out from fighting for so long they finally have the resolve to face the challenges ahead. It seems that those two were quite happy as well, considering their wide grins on their faces, as he teleported out of Nanoha's Divine Buster spell. Only to deal with Fate's Scythe module as he barely blocked it with his trident in Water blood Warrior form. Then he twisted around to kick her into Nanoha easily.

But they both quickly regained control to barely dodge my water blasts, then they both came at me with their devices in their melee form. It is so wonderful to know they are taking close quarter combat so seriously. However, in my opinion Nanoha will always be a range mage at heart, at the very least she will be able to protect herself in close quarters when it comes to it. Fate, has the potential to excel at both range and close quarters, she does seem to be doing good.

Just as we were about to clash once more, the bell ringed ending our fight. We were all breathing heavily at the intense spar we all just had. While most of the enforcers were quite impressed with us for being so skilled, we knew we could go even farther than that. 'From what I heard from Nitoh though, my Wind Blood Warrior ring should be here soon, then I will have the set done.'

Daniel thought to himself as the three of them went to take a nice and long deserved break from their sparring. Now turning to the girls. "So how does it feel to get back into using your magic now you two?" then the two girls who were breathing heavily looked just about absolutely ecstatic with themselves. Then they gushed about all the changes that they had done to their Devices and how it gave them new fighting and tactical skills to work with for them to use now.

"And it makes me feel so powerful!"

"I can use Photon Lancer spells much more easily now."

"The armor pieces we got look awesome for our Barrier Jackets!"

"It feels comfortable using Baridiche once more with ease."

"We are going to defeat that flaming chicken's butt with this!"

"I am glad that we can now help you more Yu."

Of course it went on for a while with those girls, but at some point Yu managed to get them to stop gushing about their new liking for their Devices. So he could convince them to grab some ice cream with him; which succeeded. Now back in the cafeteria enjoying some ice cream they all discussed about what could happen in the future, or the current situation right now. They all knew that the Book must be sealed and that Phoenix must be dealt with as well. But for some reason Yu was forgetting something rather important that he felt he should have attended to.

"Tell it to us straight Shamal, how long does Hayate still have to live still?" a pink haired woman talking to a blonde woman in distress, who only looked equally distressed. "By my calculations at best Hayate has about a month and a half, at worst a month and a week till she finally dies." That caused all the people in the room to groan in frustration and annoyance at her situation.

Even since that damn Phantom came about all the monsters were popping out of nowhere causing most Riders to pop out and lead extermination campaigns against these rouge monsters. That prevented the Knights from killing them and using them for their own purposes. Even worse as they are now on a wanted list for the Riders to go after them to prevent the destruction of their own home world. So they had to be extra sneaky just to kill a couple of monsters or so.

But all that effort to restore the damn book may be rendered moot if that damn Phantom was rampaging around. If it continues to rampage as it has, then their mistress will be in danger of its insanity. They have to find some way to destroy it permanently else the monster will cause major trouble for them all the freaking time and might even harm Hayate really badly from its power.

The TSAB was no longer their main concern right now, the biggest threat that was heading towards their master right now was the Phoenix Phantom. They have to find anything that could be used to stop him or seal him away forever. One possible route might be the book, but she has no idea how will the book react to such a being within its system and it may also lash at Hayate.

So all of them placed that under a last solution answer, so for now they just thought about ways to defeat the thing or ways to seal it away forever, hopefully sooner rather than later. Who knows what kind of danger does it pose to all of them, and to Hayate's safety.

Meanwhile the Phoenix Phantom was slaughtering his way through a bunch of Yummies, Dopants, Imagin, and other various monster while laughing insanely to himself. He was having so much fun that he forgot about the schedule to destroy them and even if he did remember he would put it off later. He has a bunch of foes to destroy and torture for the giggles and joy.