We're getting close to the end of the first season now. For those of you who want a time stamp, this begins two days after the last chapter ends, although story wise it doesn't matter too much how long it has been.
And on an unrelated note… my reader from Brunei Darussalam? Thank you, whoever you are, for expanding my knowledge of geography. I am continually amazed at how diverse my audience is. Also, thanks to Anon X, Drinker, and random89 for reviewing even though they either weren't signed in or don't have profiles. I normally don't respond in a chapter, but, well, this is the only way I know how to reach you guys. Thanks for the reviews, I appreciate the feedback.
Drinker, my answer to your question is in the author's note at the bottom of the page. Hopefully I have answered it to your satisfaction.
Once again, I have managed to mix together an eclectic mix of POVs and devices. If anything is done particularly well or particularly poorly, let me know. It is very useful for me to know, as it helps me become a better writer. The same goes for any glaring spelling and grammar errors. I'm doing my final look-over of this after midnight, so I'm pretty much guaranteed to miss something. Now, on with the show:
Chapter Four: Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst
Uminari City's Seaside Park was a result of poor planning, a desire to have green areas in the city, and a gap in the public transportation system. While it was by all accounts a wonderful park, the city council had neglected to zone the surrounding regions in such a way as to make it easy to get to. Situated a brisk twenty minute walk from the nearest parking garage, the Seaside Park was an approximately triangular green-space that bordered the warehouses of the dock district on one side, the old industrial center on another, and the bay on the third.
As a result, in spite of its beauty and its large size, the park was mostly empty during the work week and only filled up during the holidays. For the majority of Uminari's residents, it just wasn't worth their time to go visit.
For Nanoha and Yuuno's purposes, it was pretty close to perfect.
After having discretely checked to make sure that nobody was too close to them, Nanoha and Yuuno got to work. Transforming back into human form, Yuuno donned his Barrier Jacket in preparation. Nanoha followed suit, but with visible hesitance.
"We don't have to do this if you don't want to," Yuuno offered. "There is a risk that my spell will cause an activation. It's unlikely, as Compositional Analysis was designed to be as low powered and non-intrusive as possible, but that isn't a guarantee."
But Nanoha shook her head. "We need to know more about the Jewel Seeds. If Fate's mother is a bad person then we have to be ready. Besides," she smiled, "if it activates I'll just seal it again!"
Nanoha's infectious cheer wrung a grin out of Yuuno. "Alright. Whenever you're ready, Nanoha."
"Un!" She hummed. "Raising Heart!"
"Yes, my master. Put out."
The two mages backed up a bit, and Yuuno pulled out a notebook and a pencil. When he saw Nanoha watching him, he flushed and explained.
"I don't have a device or computer capable of interacting with the spell, so I have to take notes on my observations by hand. I'll probably take five or ten minute if the Jewel Seeds are as complicated as I expect they are."
Turning his attention back to the innocent-looking blue gem, Yuuno was struck by the thought that it had only been a month or two since he had first found the Jewel Seeds. It felt like it had been a lot longer.
With a flare of green light, he got to work. Nanoha watched the Jewel Seed closely, but when it stayed dormant she sat against a tree and settled in for the wait.
"I'll admit, I had my doubts, but this is working out pretty well, isn't it?" Arf commented idly. "We've been doing pretty well this past week. Just six more, right?"
"Mother will be pleased." Fate smiled shyly. "It would be best to have all of them as soon as possible, though. If possible, we should capture them today."
"All at once?"
Oh, Arf, Fate mused. Always the worrier. Mother will expect the best of me, and so I will provide it. That's all there is to it.
But because she cared for Arf, it was only fair to give reasons that Arf would accept. Arf was irrational about Mother, and it was best to avoid the topic so that Arf would be in a fairly good mood for the meeting tonight.
"How else? They are at the bottom of the bay. Anything capable of activating one of them from the surface would surely activate the others. There is no advantage to waiting."
Arf didn't have a good response to that, so she settled for grumbling incoherently, much to Fate's amusement. The two of them would rest for now, and then move out later. And hopefully Arf and Mother would be able to get along. She didn't understand why they became irritated in each other's presences, but that was something they could overcome later, after everything went back to the way it used to be.
Life might be difficult now, but she would persevere. After all, Mother and Arf were her family. She couldn't imagine what she'd do without them.
Yuuno's notes only filled two pages of his notebook, but the writing was densely packed, and the painstakingly drawn and annotated diagrams were incredibly accurate-looking. There was, however, one problem.
"I don't suppose you could write your notes in Japanese?"
Yuuno blinked. "You can't read it? But it's the same as Raising Heart's programming language. You use it all the time."
"I kind of get it, but there are all these weird words I don't know. I don't speak space-archeology." Nanoha informed her friend without an ounce of embarrassment at the admission. "Could you just explain it to me?"
Suppressing a twitch at the term 'space-archeology,' Yuuno dove right on in with his professor-level lecturing skills: "Well, as you know, magic is the general term for the use of mana, which is a unique energy that, in ways not fully understood, is three-dimensional and four-dimensional at the same time."
"I didn't know that." Nanoha interrupted. "And that doesn't make sense; doesn't everything in three-dimensional space exist in four-dimensional space?"
"Technically, yes, but for practical purposes, no. Would it make more sense if I said that mana is energy that three-dimensional being can control which is able to freely and directly interact with higher-dimensional space?" Yuuno offered, feeling like a fool. He had had good reason to skip the less practically useful parts of the basics of magic, but he should have mentioned it at least once.
"I can understand that, but how does-"
"I'm an archeologist, not a physicist. Don't ask me exactly how it works." Yuuno cut in. "We can talk about it later when we have more time. What is important at the moment is how this relates to the Jewel Seeds. A Jewel Seed is a crystalline magical construct that contains vast amounts of mana."
"Okay," Nanoha nodded, "but how is that important? Didn't we know that already?"
"What makes it important is the inherent instability of the Jewel Seeds. Not only does it store and generate energy, it is specifically designed to release that energy. Furthermore it amplifies it by resonating with other magical structures. So, if you have one Jewel Seed you have a dangerous power source. But if you have several, then it gets exponentially more dangerous. Doing things like attacking it with magic has a similar result, as we saw a while back."
Nanoha nodded her understanding. Yuuno took a deep breath before continuing.
"But the worst part is that because of the nature of mana a sufficiently large number of Jewel Seeds being activated would have a similar effect on the dimensional sea to that of a black hole on three-dimensional space. Well, it actually isn't all that similar in terms of how it works, but the level of destruction that the formation of a black hole causes is the closest three-dimensional analogue that I can think of. The result would be a dimensional dislocation."
"You've mentioned that before… What is it exactly?"
"Yes. It was a dimensional dislocation that destroyed Belka." Yuuno reminded her. "As for what it is… well I'm not entirely sure of how it affects the dimensional sea, my area of interest is more what happens afterwards, but it isn't good. But demonstrating the approximate effect it would have on Earth is simple enough."
Yuuno tore a page out of his notebook. "Let's say that this represents Earth and the surrounding three-dimensional space before a dimensional dislocation."
Without warning, the boy set into the paper, ripping it, crumpling it, and stabbing it a couple of times with his pencil. He let the savaged pieces fall to the grass below, and then ground them into the earth with the heel of his boot.
"This is the Earth afterwards," he said, stone-faced. "If it doesn't just get erased from existence, that is."
The morning dew mixed with the dirt and the pigments in the paper, staining the off-white parchment the color of burnt flesh.
It was Sunday, so Nanoha didn't really have any obligations. Normally she would help at the Midori-ya, go spend time with her friends, do homework, or just relax. These days, much of that was replaced by training and looking for Jewel Seeds.
Today was different. Guessing correctly that Nanoha might need some time to come to terms with what she had learned, Yuuno had suggested that they split up for the afternoon. They had already debated for a couple of hours at that point, and they had ceased to be productive. So Yuuno had gone off to see if he could figure out how to make a 'Distortion Shield' which would be capable of suppressing a dimensional distortion, and suggested that Nanoha spend some time with her family and reconsider not telling them what was going on.
Nanoha wasn't going to do that. It would require her to think about the possibility of losing her family, and she would rather do just about anything else.
In this case, 'anything else' was something that she had been putting off for the last week or so. She needed to ask someone for advice about Fate. More specifically, about Fate's situation.
The elementary school student's feet led her out to the dojo, from which the quiet, repetitive sound of her brother practicing could be heard. Nanoha rapped lightly on the wooden sliding door, and waited a few moments for her brother to put away any weapons he was using.
Due to the inherent danger of live steel, their father had taken great care to teach Nanoha, Miyuki, and Kyouya how to handle the blades they had around the house safely. How to hold them, sheathe them, unsheathe them, and clean them. And, most importantly of all, the situations in which they were and were not allowed to use them and the precautions they had to take.
Nanoha had never learned how to actually use them as weapons and as Raising Heart was a staff she had even less interest in it now than before, but Kyouya and Miyuki had taken the time to do so. That was why she knocked; if Kyouya was using a live blade (or, more likely, two live blades given his preferred style) then he would have a chance to sheathe it.
A sword is always dangerous, but a sheathed one is much less likely to be accidentally so.
This time, Kyouya had apparently been doing strength exercises, as he was holding a bokken when Nanoha slipped into the room. Nanoha closed the door behind her, but wasn't sure of what to do next, so she fidgeted nervously. Fortunately, Kyouya's instincts told him what his little sister didn't, so he put away the practice sword and gave her his full attention.
"Nanoha," he said lightly, as if she wasn't obviously a few steps from a nervous breakdown, "I don't see you in here too often." Ruffling Nanoha's hair slightly, he smiled down at his pint-sized sibling, pondering how to get her to cheer up. "Ah!" He exclaimed, "While you are here, why don't you help me with my swords?"
Kyouya's offer gave a boost to Nanoha's confidence. Kyouya wasn't inherently violent in any way, but he took his two short swords very seriously, something Nanoha had only come to understand the reasons for after she had received Raising Heart. Letting Nanoha perform maintenance on one of the blades was a statement of trust, a faith that Nanoha could be trusted with his life it Kyouya had need of his blades in battle.
It was not quite as applicable in modern times, of course, and as far as Nanoha knew, Kyouya didn't fight anyone outside of matches, let alone with live steel, but the sentiment was there nevertheless. Kyouya was behind Nanoha all the way, even if he didn't know what was going on. It meant a lot to her.
"You do know that unless we set up a barrier, they'll be on us in a minute or two at most?" Arf said, her fears about her master's plan resurfacing. At least she had a while to talk Fate out of it, since they had yet to find the best location for activating the Jewel Seeds.
"A barrier would do little to help. The girl's companion is far more capable than either of us at barriers and movement magic. As there is little reason for us to try to limit collateral damage out on the water, there is no real reason to add to the strain of capturing the Jewel Seeds by maintaining a barrier."
Did Fate have an answer for everything? It almost sounded like… "Do you want them to be there?" Arf asked incredulously.
Fate shrugged. "It would save us the trouble of finding them later. Whatever the outcome is today, it will ultimately be moot. Mother needs more Jewel Seeds than we would have even if we capture all six here. We might as well set up a meeting for the final confrontation sooner rather than later."
"It's all well and good to plan ahead, but shouldn't we worry about what they'll do today first?" Arf suggested with her usual subtlety.
"Don't worry about that," Fate waved her off.
"Fate!"
"You'll see why I'm not worried later. There are other advantages to not using a barrier, after all. That girl won't be a danger to us today, and we certainly aren't going to start a battle. Relax."
Try as she might, Arf failed to get more than that out of her master, who simply devoted her full attention to the task at hand, leaving her familiar to try to decipher her vague assurances on her own.
Carefully removing the two blades from their mounts, Kyouya carried them to where Nanoha had set up the cleaning implements, and passed one of them to his sister. Given how well her brother looked after the weapon, there was nothing special that needed to be done, but the process had a soothing rote nature to it. Unsheathe the blade, wipe the oil from the blade, dust the blade with powder, rub it to polish the blade, apply two drops of oil to each side of the blade, spread it evenly along the surface of the blade, re-sheathe the blade. It kept her hands and eyes busy, and by the time Nanoha re-sheathed the blade she knew what to say.
"A friend of mine is hurting, and I don't know how to help them."
It wasn't a question. It was merely a statement. But Kyouya knew that his little sister needed a response. It was a strange relationship that the two of them had: Nanoha, always self-sufficient, never needy; himself, always nearby, never pressing. There was not an agreement, only an understanding, never spoken of for fear that it might vanish.
Kyouya knew that Nanoha preferred to never rely on others, but he was also aware that Nanoha did not always know how to deal with her problems. As she would not ask for help, she sometimes needed advice that would allow her to solve her problems. That wasn't the sort of help that authority figures could provide, as their job was to make sure that she didn't need to solve problems. If she had not been so young when the incident had occurred, then Kyouya would likely be as separated from Nanoha's life as their parents and sister were. Fortunately, he had, almost unknowingly, slipped into a gap in her life, and he was grateful for it.
Kyouya made sure that he was always available for Nanoha to talk to, and on the rare occasions when she needed… well, advice, not that they'd ever call it that, Kyouya never judged or asked questions. He did not overtly offer support, although support her he would, but rather he would offer suggestions.
In return, Nanoha would, if she could not find a solution to a problem, come to him instead of the alternative, which was normally her bottling it up and pretending that nothing was wrong. Well, that happened anyway, but at least she would come to him before she drove herself crazy trying to figure everything out on her own.
It could be nerve-wracking at times, but Kyouya felt it was well worth the wait for Nanoha to approach him. It was, he felt, his responsibility. And while the past could not be changed, their future as a family depended on such trust.
"It is important to take care to understand the cause of the pain." Kyouya stated solemnly, sheathing his blade and moving to his feet. He continued to speak as he approached the sword mounted on the wall of the dojo. "There are many types of pain, and many more causes. It is not always possible to prevent pain, nor is it always possible to heal what ails someone. But I have found that if you extend a helping hand, then sometimes they will grasp it."
Nanoha quietly shifted to his side. "What could I offer, when their pain is so deep that their eyes are filled with it?"
Kyouya considered that. This seemed to be a serious problem, and if he lived in a different country he would suggest getting them help. But this was Japan, and for better or for worse their culture took care of problems in-house, even if that was the worst possible way to handle a situation. And considering some of their own family's issues and private exploits, it would be hypocritical in the extreme to suggest breaking that tradition of silence. Nanoha would probably not accept that as a solution anyway.
Kyouya gripped his sword carefully, and slowly slid several inches of shining death out of its casing. "A sword is many things. A weapon. A defense. A promise. A duty. It can offer hope to the hopeless or inflict fear in the fearless. And yet…" He re-sheathed. "It is but a blade. A person, and, more importantly, a friend, is capable of all of that and more. I would say that there is little you could not offer them. But if I had to point to the most important thing, it would have to be 'sanctuary'."
Nanoha looked at him in confusion. "Sanctuary?"
He nodded. "Yes. It is a western term, which used to be associated with sacred places, such as shrines. The word is used for a place of safety. It is often a literal place, but in this case it might be more appropriate to say that it is a time or place in which one prevents the cause of pain from hurting a friend. Basically, one can provide sanctuary by separating a friend from their problems, at least for a time. A little bit happiness can go a long way." Kyouya cracked a smile. "That might be a bit too philosophical for you though. I've usually just offered to help and made sure that my friends know I support them. Time may not heal all wounds, but it certainly helps. Patience and persistence are important."
The two of them quickly and quietly put the dojo in order, Nanoha thinking about what Kyouya had said and Kyouya keeping an eye on his sister. Nanoha was still deep in thought when they stepped outside and he closed the door behind them, and only woke up when her brother squeezed her shoulder lightly.
"Don't over think it too much. Just be clear about your feelings, and be yourself. You'll manage; you're my little sister, after all."
Nanoha looked at him inscrutably for a couple of seconds, then bobbed her head, grinning. "Right!"
Yuuno was about ready to give up at this point.
Crumpling up yet another piece of paper and tossing it into the nearby waste receptacle, he glared at the blue sky above him as if it were its fault that he was making no progress. At the very least, it should have the decency to look as miserable as he felt.
The sky, of course, did not deign him with a response.
Grumbling, he pulled out yet another piece of paper from the package of printer paper he was using as a writing desk, and got to work again. From what little he knew about distortion shields, he should be able to use the spell to suppress a dimensional distortion, and given how good he was with barriers, fields, and shields, he would be able to use it to its fullest potential. Unfortunately, he didn't know the spell.
The TSAB had good reasons for not passing spells like that around like party favors, he supposed. But he was too annoyed at this point to justify the decision. He should be able to do this!
He had all the equations he needed. He understood the theory. He had the skill. He had the mana capacity. All he had to do was design the spell. How hard could it be, right? Yeah, famous last words.
It turned out that none of his spells could be modified by swapping parts out to give the desired effect. And that meant designing a new magic circle rather than modifying an old one. And that meant staring at a standard magical circle and trying to come up with a way to turn it into something useful.
So far, no luck.
If he had a week or two to spare, then Yuuno would have taught Nanoha dimensional physics and let the girl put her considerable abilities in spell creation to use. That wasn't going to happen any time soon though.
His latest attempt seemed to be on the right track at first, but halfway through the second layer of equations Yuuno realized that rather than stabilizing anything, he would instead wind up in an event cascade, draining himself of mana trying to futilely make it work, and more likely than not causing a dimensional disturbance. It was actually kind of impressive… in the same way that a train wreck is. Nevertheless…
Failure. Again.
"Yuuno!"
Nanoha's greeting kept him from defacing another innocent sheet of paper. Yuuno looked up in time to catch a bemused look on his friend's face, and he failed to miss seeing Nanoha's nose crinkling at the waste of paper. He grinned sheepishly; looking at the trash can next to the bench he was sitting on gave the impression that he had gone through a ream of paper. It looked as though he had filled it with discarded sheets, but while he certainly felt like he had, in truth it had already been mostly full when he had arrived.
Thankfully, Nanoha didn't comment on it, instead sitting next to him. She seemed calmer now, more focused. It seemed that she had found whatever she was looking for. Yuuno squashed the temptation to ask. It wasn't his business.
"I haven't had any luck." He grimaced. "It wasn't much more than a shot in the dark to start with. It probably won't make a difference; I wouldn't be able to suppress a full-blown dislocation anyway."
"Don't worry about it," Nanoha smiled. "We only have to worry if the bad guys get the Jewel Seeds. And we aren't going to let that happen."
Nanoha's spirit was infectious, but Yuuno had to point out the danger.
"They don't need all of them to be dangerous. They probably won't be able to cause a dimensional dislocation, but if they get the six that are left then they'll have 12 Jewel Seeds. That's enough to do a lot of damage."
Nanoha considered that, but before she could respond the sun was covered by clouds… clouds that hadn't been there a minute ago. Storm clouds choked the sky and lightning could be seen over the bay, lingering in a way that wasn't quite natural…
"What's going on?"
"Ritual magic?" Yuuno mumbled. "Why is someone doing ritual magic out over the water?" As soon as the words left his mouth, comprehension struck.
"Arukas, Krutas, Eygieas… Heavenly gods who shine over all, descend upon us now as I guide you."
"Fate must be trying to activate the Jewel Seeds under the water!"
Nanoha gasped, eyes widening. "All six at once? After casting such a large spell? We have to help her!" Raising Heart flashed, forming her barrier jacket.
A small part of Yuuno wanted to stay as far away from the area as possible. There were plenty of reasons to stay away. But the rest of him was already in motion, and it had some convincing arguments. Nanoha's idealism was infectious, it seemed; he had never been particularly cynical, but a couple of weeks back he would have had some serious doubts about jumping into danger to save his enemies' lives.
"I'll teleport us out over the bay, and we'll fly the rest of the way! It's too risky to jump in blind!"
Green light appeared beneath their feet.
"Baruel, Zaluel, Browzel… Strike with lightning and roar with resonant thunder… Arukas, Krutas, Eygias…"
While the universe did not act dramatically appropriate around Yuuno, the Jewel Seeds were another story. So when Nanoha and Yuuno materialized a couple hundred meters over the once-calm bay, they found themselves buffeted by tempestuous gusts and bracketed by lightning. Half a kilometer or so away, six glowing, crackling waterspouts stretched up to the clouds.
The two mages approached quickly, keeping an eye on Fate, who had launched herself towards the Jewel Seeds. The yellow glow of Bardiche's sealing form clearly showed her form against the thrashing waves.
"What are we going to do after we seal the Jewel Seeds?" Yuuno yelled to his partner.
"…I'll think of something. There has to be a way to avoid a fight!" Nanoha called back, her face scrunched up in determination.
"I hope you're right." He answered, but he couldn't tell if she heard him over the roar of the thunder.
"Fate, they're coming. They'll be on top of you in less than a minute. Should I stall them?"
"No, I need you to help me by constraining the Jewel Seeds. I did not expect to be so drained by this." Fate frowned. "Ignore them. We'll seal the closest three first."
"But what if they attack us?"
"They won't. If they attack us it'll be after they try to 'reason with us', and going by their previous behavior they won't even do that until after the Jewel Seeds are sealed. And if they do, we'll just leave. They'll have to deal with the Jewel Seeds if that happens; since there isn't a barrier they will have to take the time to make sure nobody gets hurt. I'm closing in, are you ready?"
"Why couldn't she go over this before-hand?" Arf groaned, but nevertheless the magic circle for Chain Bind appeared. "Ready!"
Yuuno's eyes widened as orange chains lashed out and constricted around… three of the waterspouts.
"No!" He turned to face Nanoha as they flew. "We have to seal the other three! There's too much magic being produced by the Jewel Seeds to only seal three at a time! If we can't seal them all at once, then the Seeds they're sealing could reactivate!"
"Right!" Nanoha called out-
-and then they were there.
It was strangely anticlimactic. There was a brief scramble to seal the Jewel Seeds, with green and orange chains lashing out and pink and yellow ribbons of light enveloping the waterspouts, and then it was done. While the young mages were not professionals, save for Yuuno, although this wasn't exactly his area of expertise, the lack of active danger from the living water (at least, so long as they kept their distance from the stray arcs of lightning) and the extensive practice they had had allowed them to capture the six lost Logia in less than a minute. Their best time yet, not that they had ever cared to keep track.
However, this only made the standoff that followed all the more awkward and jarring.
The six Jewel Seeds floated together in between the two groups, gleaming in the light streaming through gaps in the dissipating clouds. Nanoha and Yuuno flew beside one another, looking a bit windswept but otherwise unharmed. In contrast, Fate seemed to only be airborne thanks to Arf's support, the familiar wrapping an arm around the blonde's upper torso to steady her. Fate looked to be unharmed, but had a visible pallor to her skin and was clearly unsteady.
As if drawn together, the two pairs slowly drifted towards the Jewel Seeds, finally coming to a halt a few feet apart, almost close enough to reach out and grab the artifacts. No one spoke.
Really, what were they going to do now? Yuuno had to wonder. It would be almost pathetically simple to defeat their opponents in their current state. They could capture them, get information from them, finally have all of the Jewel Seeds… but they couldn't. That was wrong. They would be perfectly justified in doing so, but even thinking about it made him feel dirty.
His mind easily rationalized avoiding that course of action. Nanoha and he were civilians; they didn't have the authority to arrest anyone. They didn't know what might happen if they captured Fate and Arf; things could get worse rather than better. Fate could easily overstress her linker core in this state if she tried to fight back- and he was sure that she wouldn't go quietly.
They could grab the Jewel Seeds and leave. Again, it would be easy. And they had every reason to follow through; after all, their primary goal was to capture the Jewel Seeds. But it felt cheap. Wrong. They were supposed to be the good guys, and while Yuuno intellectually knew that the real world wasn't that simple he still felt that his childhood ideals were worthwhile, even though he tried to set them aside so that he could be the voice of reason for Nanoha.
There had to be some way to help Fate and seal the Jewel Seeds, didn't there?
Nanoha drifted forward slightly.
"Nanoha, what are you going to do?"
"Improvise." She responded, her mental voice hard and determined.
All of Arf's instincts screamed at her to get out of here. They couldn't fight, they could hardly run, and she hadn't the faintest idea why she had allowed herself to get this close to her enemies. When the auburn-haired girl moved, Arf had to suppress her fight-or-flight response. The girl clearly didn't want to fight, and this was too good a chance to set up the final stage of Fate's plan to let this pass by. All Arf had to do was name a time and place for a meeting and then leave, and Fate's plan could proceed. But what was she going to say? 'I promise it isn't a trap?' So Arf let the girl speak first.
"These Jewel Seeds are important to you, aren't they?" A rhetorical question and they all knew it. "I don't know what Fate's mother wants them for. I can't just give them to you when they are so dangerous unless I know her motives. But… I am just collecting them to keep them from harming the people of this world. If your mother has a good reason and it doesn't conflict with my wish, then there is no reason this couldn't end peacefully."
Time seemed to stop. Arf wanted to cry out in joy and at the same time she wanted to grab the girl and shake some sense into her. A peaceful resolution… but it wouldn't happen. Even if Precia agreed to share her reasons, That Woman was as evil as they came. There was no way she had a good reason.
"I see," Fate replied. "I will have to speak with Mother about this."
But Fate doesn't understand. This, this won't end well.
"Thank you. I hope to be able to meet her face-to-face and find a solution that pleases everyone." She considered for a moment. "Take these as a sign of good faith."
Everyone was taken aback at that, even the boy. Arf's mind raced as the Jewel Seeds floated over to Fate. She couldn't be that naïve. That was just about the worst possible move she could make here. What was she-
"After all, I wouldn't want your mother to… punish… you for failing to capture them."
Arf felt like she'd been punched in the gut. A strangled cry died in her throat, and as Arf stared wide-eyed at the girl, the brunette locked eyes with her. She knew.
Fate seemed to take her words at face value, merely being surprised rather than horrified, which in and of itself spoke volumes. The two girls exchanged words of acceptance and thanks, but Arf couldn't hear them. Six Jewel Seeds… just to let them know of her awareness? No, that wasn't right. Six Jewel Seeds just to test a theory. And now she knew. Just what was this girl?
"To contact me, leave a message at these coordinates. Hopefully I'll be meeting your mother-"
Arf didn't even try not to flinch at this point.
"-face to face in the near future. It will be good to clear the air. We have a lot to talk about after all. But regardless, my door is always open to you two." She smiled. "I'd like you to think of me as your friend."
"Nanoha!" Yuuno hissed. "What was that back there?"
"Oh, please, you saw it too." Nanoha snorted, much more snappily than normal. Yuuno actually recoiled in shock. He took a few deep breaths before continuing.
"I was talking about giving them six Jewel Seeds." He said, calmly. "You could just as easily have given them one or even three. But six?"
"Fate isn't the enemy here." Nanoha said, sitting down on a park bench to watch the sunset. "I showed her that I'm not her enemy. At least, I hope I did. Maybe I could have, or should have, done it differently. But it was the only way I could think of that was sure to get the message across."
Yuuno sat down next to her. "I guess you're right. I certainly couldn't have done better; I had no clue what to do. I just hope we don't regret it later. Twelve Jewel Seeds… that's a lot of power. At this point they only need a couple more Jewel Seeds, or equivalent sources of energy, to cause a dimensional dislocation. As it is, they could seriously damage the fabric of space-time if they are all activated at once."
Nanoha nodded, and then stopped. She grinned. "Now you're doing it too! Alright!"
"What?"
"Space-time. You said space-time instead of time-space." Nanoha said matter-of-factly.
"They're the same thing!" Yuuno defended himself. "Earth terminology is just catchy, that's all. It's not important. Why are you making a big deal about it? We're in the middle of a serious conversation here!"
"Call it planetary pride." Nanoha responded airily. Then she continued more soberly. "Besides, considering the situation, we need to find laughter wherever we can or we'll go crazy. If I start worrying about what could happen now, I'm not sure if I'll be able to stop."
"…You should tell your family." Yuuno suggested. "If not about magic, then at least about Fate. She'll need all the help she can get if this turns out badly for her."
Nanoha hesitated. "I'll think about it. I mean, you're right, but I need to figure out how to tell them. I still don't want them involved in this."
"Go rest, Fate." Mother said softly, lightly touching my cheek. "I will think on this for a while. Take tomorrow to recuperate and I will tell you how the meeting will occur the day after."
My heartbeat quickens. The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them. "We can resolve this peacefully then?"
Mother frowns. "Of course. My goal is a just one, after all. Surely you do not doubt that? No, I can see you spoke without thought. Do try to control yourself, will you?"
I lower my head in shame. How could I have thought that? Of course Mother has good reasons. "My apologies."
"It is possible that she will not accept my explanation, but she is a young girl. And young girls can be so fickle, can't they? Silly things, not knowing who knows best. You aren't like that though, are you, Fate? You know that only your mother truly cares for you. You always do what your mother tells you, even when you don't understand the reasons. You're a good girl, aren't you, Fate?"
"Yes, Mother." Mother smiles a little at that. Not like she used to, but in that almost-smile I can see she is pleased with me. Soon enough, she'll be able to really smile. I will make sure of it.
"Run along now, Fate."
I go. As the door to Mother's hall closes behind me, I see Arf there before me. She looks surprised, but pleased. In fact, she's almost crying.
"Silly Arf," I say. "Were you worrying again?"
She hugs me, and I return it awkwardly. Hugs are strange. I'm never quite sure how to deal with them. Another thing to do after Mother finishes her work: learn how to hug again.
"Remind me to thank that girl," Arf mutters.
"What for?" I ask. 'Thanks' is something very special. That's why Mother doesn't use it much. The girl was nice, but she didn't do something as special as that. She said she wanted to be my friend. I wonder if that's possible. I know what friends are, but it is something I don't really understand. Mother will know. I'll ask her after she finishes her work.
"Don't worry about it," Arf says. "That's my job, right? Now, let's get you to bed."
Bed, yes. Mother told me to rest. Sleep sounds really good right now. It has been a long day.
This is an opportunity I must grasp. I would normally teach that Thing a lesson for questioning me, but I need to be ready. Everything has to be perfect. The day after tomorrow, yes, that is when Alicia and I will journey to Al Hazard. Perhaps I can get the rest of the Jewel Seeds peacefully, perhaps not. It doesn't matter. I will succeed regardless. After all, those children cannot hope to succeed once that poor deluded doll leads them to the Garden of Time. Maybe they'll even survive? It doesn't matter.
All that matters is you, Alicia. My sweet, sweet Alicia… I failed you once. I won't fail you again. This is my atonement. I take no pleasure from what I will have to do to save you, but it is necessary. I'm sure you'll understand.
But I will enjoy breaking that doll that dares to mimic you. For that crime, she deserves everything she's going to get.
Author's Note:
Well, things are certainly stating to move now, aren't they?
Not much in the way of fighting this time, although it is technically on-screen. Also, no Alisa, Suzuka, Chrono, Lindy, Shirou, Amy, Momoko, or Miyuki. So sue me, I didn't want to double the chapter's length. You'll see more of them later. This chapter was all about the main characters… and Kyouya. So it turns out that Nanoha's family isn't completely disjointed. Anyway, he was one of those sneaky characters that do things behind the writers back. I honestly didn't know he was going to do this until I started to write that scene.
Kyouya isn't perfect. He tries hard to be there for his little sister, but he can't always stick around and his advice isn't always particularly coherent. But everything he does is heartfelt and honest, and Nanoha knows that she can trust him with anything. Of course, that doesn't mean that she trusts him with everything. The Takamachi family dynamics are complicated. I tried to express this in that section. If you were kind of confused, but understood the gist of it, then I succeeded.
Just in case you are wondering, his swords do get used occasionally. Nanoha is locked out of the loop, as Shirou, Miyuki and Kyouya don't want the baby of the family involved in the sort of problems that require a 'physical solution'. Oh, the irony.
Concerning Precia. I have recently had a revelation concerning her. I've hid it here in the middle of my author's note so that this is a secret between me and those of you that actually read these things. It isn't that important to you guys who are here for the plot, but it is important because it is a noteworthy aspect of her character. Here it is: Precia thinks she is completely sane.
The only person she's worked closely enough with during the last twenty or thirty years to notice her mental disorder is… Jail Scaglietti. The single most insane character in the series. Lineth was only just beginning to realize when she died. Arf thinks Precia is just evil rather than amoral and insane. Fate loves her Mother. So Precia doesn't have the faintest idea that anything is wrong with her. She honestly believes that she is the good guy, that Fate is not her daughter, and that the 7 billion people on Earth are 'acceptable losses' so long as she saves Alicia. Wow. I've said it before and I'll say it again, she is a very sick woman who needs help.
Regarding the newest roughly-once-a-chapter-info-dump courtesy of Professor Yuuno, I do have a more complete idea of how things work than I expressed in this chapter. Unfortunately, as Yuuno states, he is an archaeologist. He is not an omniscient generic science guy. While he can, and will, be teaching us more about how the universe works, don't expect him to have all of the answers. He is very smart, but he doesn't know everything. His knowledge in this realm is pretty much confined to whatever he has picked up along the way, and whatever he needs to know to be able to use his magic.
So, more to come, but it will not be coming out all at once. Eventually Yuuno will have some spare time to teach Nanoha everything she needs to know. Maybe. Probably. We'll see. Definitely not in the next couple of chapters though.
And to answer Drinker's question about whether or not I am sticking to canon, I am taking as my starting point a version of canon that includes Triangle Heart elements, simply because it helps me flesh out otherwise flat characters. For example, my version of Nanoha's father is an ex-bodyguard, and Kyouya and Miyuki have some mean sword skills and use them to do bodyguard and ninja stuff from time to time. However, Shinobu Tsukimura is not a vampire. I'm picking and choosing. Other than this, no retroactive changes. Every change in this story will be a result of the events chronicled here. I'm not burning the book, but I am scribbling on it.
Things are changing now. I'll be doing my best to show where these changes occur, so everyone should be able to keep up. But, obviously, things are not going to be the same. I have an idea of where I'm going, and there will be some rather noticeable differences. But not everything is going out the window. You'll just have to wait and see.
