Chapter 6: The Other Face of Hope
May 27, 0065
As the alarms sounded, Lindy raced through the hallways as fast as she dared, knowing that lives could depend on it.
She prayed that this was a drill.
The TSAB Headquarters floats in dimensional space like a spiky metallic star. The structure, if flattened out, is easily the size of a city, and for good reason. It houses the vast majority of the administration of the Time-Space Administration Bureau. While the number of people actually living there is not particularly impressive, perhaps thirty thousand permanent residents at any one time, the number of people working there can be in excess of ten million. The scale of the place is ludicrous, and without magic its existence would be a nightmarish drain on TSAB resources.
The TSAB's origins lie back in the time before the new calendar, when Belka was more than a dead civilization for archeologists to research. It was a different age, a time when mass-weapons were the rule rather than the exception. It was not until the time of the three legendary admirals that magic was the standard weapon rather than a supporting tool. It was then, around the time when what might be referred to as 'magitech' was placed at the center of MidChildan society, that things got complicated.
Times had changed, and the TSAB changed with it. Changed, and just as importantly, grew. The TSAB suddenly found itself the big kid on the block, and from its modest origins on MidChilda and a few other planets that had joined early on, the Bureau exploded. The superpowers were gone, and after so much conflict jumping on the band-wagon seemed to be a much better idea than setting up an opposing power bloc and starting it all over again. Of course, trying to resolve the social, economical, political, religious, and bureaucratic problems that followed in the wake of the collapse of the superpowers was no cake-walk, and it all landed squarely on the TSAB's plate.
In the interests of unity, the TSAB's leaders managed to convince the worlds that centralization was the key. The result was the colossal space station of TSAB Headquarters. The main office of the navy, HQ became home to countless offices for navy personnel and enforcers, laboratories, training areas, the Infinity Library, and more.
And every inch of it is used.
The TSAB is the police force, the military, the federal courts, the emergency services, the bureau of transport, the research and development sector, the archives, the park rangers, and more to dozens and dozens of worlds. The closest approximation to this would be if the countries in the United Nations decided to merge their judicial branches, much of their executive branches, some hefty (though limited) legislative powers, the entirety of their armed forces, most of their police, their fire departments, and a good chunk of their economies under one banner.
Not an exact comparison by any means, but it does give a good idea of how much bickering and politics was (and is) involved.
If anything, the TSAB HQ was too small for its job. And much the same could be said about the TSAB's manpower. Dimensional Space is HUGE. Insanely massive. A century ago, the TSAB would have laughed at the thought of overlooking fifty Administered Worlds, but it was closer to 100 at this point. And they had to keep an eye on the Non-Administered Worlds too, and they never had enough mages, let alone enough powerful ones, to get the job done, but they had to do it anyway…
The TSAB High Council and those that followed them made it work. Not work well, but it worked. Things fell by the wayside, interdepartmental bickering gummed up the gears, red tape made simple issues nightmarish, but it worked.
At some point during the construction of HQ, it was decided that since the navy needed a home base, this was where it was going to be, and so the builders added shipyards and so on. But they never thought to build a unified command center. Yet let it not be said that ways were not found around this.
In the event of an emergency situation that affected the HQ itself, all military personnel were to report to their duty stations if possible or their nearest superior if it wasn't. Due to the frequently-changing population of the HQ, the chain of command in such a case was somewhat fuzzy. The solution was that all officers would report in, and command would be taken by whoever was most highly ranked, most senior, most capable, and most charismatic. Or as one of the first admirals to find themselves in charge during one of HQ's dreaded drills infamously muttered, 'the person with the heaviest shoulders and the grayest hair.'
In the end, a chain of command and a steady flow of orders and information is paramount. As such, the crisis on Tuesday May 27, 0065, was first handled briefly by officers assigned to ships docked at the HQ, who used the advanced communications and analysis capabilities of their vessels to make something useful of the data they were gathering. This information was presented to the officer who took control of the situation, one of the three legendary admirals, the Bureau's Chief of Staff…
"Admiral Crowbel!" Acting-Captain Amy Limietta of the TSAB vessel Arthra snapped a salute and sent a data packet to the granny-like woman whose image had appeared before her. "We are currently attempting to triangulate the source of a large dimensional distortion, Ma'am!"
"Very good." The veteran replied calmly, eyeing the region confirmed to be affected, updated rapidly as ships on patrol and sensor buoys detected the distortion and reported it.
Amy was panicking under her thin veneer of action, and the moment Lindy entered the room she ceded command to her with a palpable sense of relief. Lindy couldn't do much in the current situation, but her presence was reassuring to the bridge crew nonetheless. The admiral took in the available information stoically, proud of her crew but worried.
"Dimensional distortion originates from the region of Non-Administered Planet 97!" A wavy-haired blond officer named Alex called out, and Amy instantly integrated the coordinates he provided into the display.
"No assets in the area, Admiral." A young man spoke up from one of the communication screens. "Closest would be the Wildlife Preservation Corps outpost on Anglos. The nearest vessel is the Gladia, two hours distant."
"Can we teleport a strike team in through the distortion?" Admiral Crowbel asked.
"Possibly, but we would need to modify the-"
"Oh no!"
"Distortion approaching threshold! Dislocation is imminent, repeat, dislocation is imminent!"
"Dimensional Transfer into the region is no longer possible-"
"Incoming call from Ground Forces, it's Lieutenant General Gaiz!"
"Dislocation in twenty seconds!"
"What is going on?" Gaiz growled. "Isn't the navy supposed to-"
"-I am ordering the evacuation of these areas," Crowbel announced. "I want-"
"We've lost contact with Anglos-"
"If you don't have something useful to say, then get off the line Lieutenant General!" Lindy snapped.
"Sensor buoy for the region is not responding-"
"I want disaster relief clerks out there as fast as we can get them-"
"Estimate dislocation in ten seconds!"
"You continue scorn us and our work when you can't-" Gaiz snarled.
"Shut down his link, that's an order." Lindy called out, her subordinates complying. "If he wants to complain he can do it when we don't need the bandwidth."
"Supplies are being sent through following clerks-"
"Dislocation confirmed."
The words were quiet. But everyone had been listening for them. For a long moment, the entirety of the network fell silent. Lindy hung her head, and Admiral Crowbel closed her eyes.
"This isn't something we can fight," the elderly woman spoke. "But we can, and we will, minimize casualties. We continue to perform our duties. Coordinate with…"
Light engulfed everything.
For some it was a moment of awe. For others, horror, as the downward pressure lashed out at them. In most places, not so much as a blade of grass was harmed. In others, gas pipes ruptured, water mains broke, and telephone poles fell. Most humans and animals hit directly were knocked down, which was fortunate as moving with the pressure wave minimized the damage. The majority of human losses were due to indirect dangers, such as falling trees and collapsing ceilings. Though less so than in many prior disasters, some homes were rendered unlivable as roofs and walls were damaged. More than one office building had its glass windows broken. And, of course, there was the magic. It was much weakened and few could sense it and only four could name it, but it was there.
A girl screamed as the roof above her collapsed, unable to move her wheelchair fast enough to escape. As she closed her eyes in fear, she did not hear the snap of a metallic chain giving in to the magic rushing about the atmosphere.
"Anfangen."
In the aftermath of the inexplicable event, a young woman carrying an unconscious child and supporting two other injured and exhausted children, limped into the emergency room of Uminari University Hospital.
Da-doodah-dee-dah doo-dah…
Da-doodah-dee-dah doo-dah…
Doo-de-dah-daa-dai daa…
De-daa-dah…
Dah… Doo… Duu…
A man in a lab coat scratched his chin, puzzled. No matter how he tested it, there was nothing abnormal about the music. Yet it gave him a feeling of awe, imminent doom, and (of all things!) the color pink. Perhaps if he played it again he would have a breakthrough?
Da-doodah-dee-dah doo-dah…
"Doctor? Are you still listening to that?"
"Uno?" He paused the music. "I said I wasn't to be disturbed, did I not?"
"You have not eaten, drunk, or slept in the past 52 hours, doctor." Uno informed her creator.
The man blinked. He shrugged. "Genius cares not for such mortal restraints."
His stomach rumbled. He glared at it.
Uno smirked internally. "I believe this report might be of interest." Holding up a datapad, she indulged in the flair for the dramatic she had inherited from her father. "It seems that we received a video message from an old colleague of yours shortly before some unimportant planets were destroyed by a dimensional dislocation."
A grin slowly spread across his face. A chuckle worked its way up from within his gut as he came to the obvious conclusion. "So she really did succeed! She committed the greatest of crimes in the eyes of the TSAB, with nothing but her genius and a single artificial mage! Hahahahaha! Oh, Precia, as impressive as ever! Truly, this is a most wonderful event! Those fools will be falling all over themselves in a panic!" Spinning to face a large monitor, he ordered Uno to play the video. "Let us hear what the lady of the hour has to say!"
"Hello, Jail. I hope that you have received word of my success through other channels, or that you soon will." Precia's image looked smug. "There was some small trouble with two rather talented young mages, and the clone sided against me at the very end, but I have what I need. In a few minutes I will journey to Al Hazard, and I will finally be able to save my daughter."
Precia grimaced. "Disturbing as it is, you are the closest thing I have to a friend or ally, so feel free to claim anything of mine that you can. I'm sure you know where to look. I'd send you my notes, but unlike you I have some regard for human life."
"Still so stingy," murmured Jail. "Now I really want to know what breakthroughs you've made."
"The clone is out of my hands, so if it survives you will need to track it down before you can play with it. The same with the other mages I mentioned. If 'Nanoha Takamachi' and 'Yuuno Scrya' survive then I imagine you will have great fun with them." Precia's body language clearly indicated that she didn't approve of Jail's methods, but also that she didn't particularly care. "If I return, I'll be sure to tell you all about Al Hazard." Her lips quirked up mockingly. "Perhaps I'll bring you a present."
The video message ended.
Jail sighed. "So dismissive of my interests." The scientist grinned. "Well, I do believe I have inherited some new property, Uno. Have your sisters go collect it, would you?"
"What happened to this place?"
"Vita, now is not the time." Signum warned her subordinate. "Our mistress is more important than speculation."
"I agree," sent Shamal. "But it is rather unsettling. I do not like this. There is far too much magic around here, and it is not dissipating as it should. We need information."
"Until our mistress awakens, we cannot do anything." Vita and Shamal accepted that, though not happily.
Zafira frowned, the wolf ears on his head twitching. "Signum… we are in an area full of magic. So where are the mages?"
The Wolkenritter turned their attention back to the doctors and nurses around them. They strained their senses to feel through the fog of mana. Not a single person in range of their senses was using magic.
The Belkan Knights moved closer to their mistress. Until they knew otherwise, they would assume the worst. After all, many people had good reason to hate them.
"I take it that the news is bad, then?" Admiral Graham seemed to have aged a decade or more in the past few hours. His feline familiars, Aria and Lotte, sat on either side of the man, both catgirls clearly feeling emotionally strained. Though less expressive, Lindy did not try to hide her feelings. She had asked to be the one to inform her old friend, as he deserved to hear this from someone he knew, but that didn't make this easy. Looking Graham in the eyes, she spoke simply to the trio across the table from her.
"The dimensional dislocation originated close to Non-Administered Planet 97. While we won't be able to confirm it for some time, we are as certain as we can be… Non-Administered Planet 97, Earth, has been destroyed. I'm sorry."
Lotte let out a strangled sob, while Aria just sat there numbly, looking at her hands clasped before her. Graham, almost lifeless, stared blankly ahead. Lindy sat silently, knowing she could not help him yet, if ever. He had just learned that his homeworld had been destroyed. She couldn't even begin to imagine how that felt.
"Did you know," Graham asked quietly, "that on Earth we have… we had… a fascination with our own destruction? We have been making stories about world-destroying dangers for years and years. There was a time when it was unthinkable, outside of some religious tales. How could such a thing occur? But lacking mages, we relied on science, and it carried us far. Perhaps too far… we found a way to destroy ourselves utterly. Nuclear weapons…" He shook his head sadly.
"We wondered, in the face of our own destruction, how would we act? What would we do? Would we succeed? Would we fail? Would we be courageous and kind and strong and quick-witted? Or would we fall prey to the worst parts of human nature?" Graham spoke more strongly, but there was a bitter tint to his words. "In some stories we fought each other. In others, our writers created aliens and monsters and psychics and mages. Heroes and villains and armies and the eternal struggles between chaos and order, good and evil, war and peace, love and hate… In the stories, someone always tried to fight. There was always a chance, however small, that there would be a happy ending."
Graham sighed. "I've been called a hero, did you know that? I've saved lives, captured criminals, and enforced the peace. But where was I today? I am the only mage from Earth. The only trained combat mage produced by my home in the past fifty years, the only one who could have possibly made a difference. And I wasn't there."
"It isn't your fault." Lindy responded forcefully. "Don't blame yourself for not being in two places at once."
"I didn't have to be the only mage." Graham countered. "It could have been otherwise. Easily even. But in my foolishness…" The elderly man looked back to Lindy. "The only one to blame is the fool or madman who decided to cause this devastation. But beyond that, responsibility falls to me."
"You couldn't have known this would happen, father." Aria tried to reassure her master.
"I made foolish decisions," Graham corrected her. "I could not have predicted this, but I should have considered the possibility that something could happen. And in the end, I should not have made such a gamble. Earth's population topped 7 billion a few years ago." Lindy blanched. "And now my narrow-minded focus on that book has reaped a fell harvest."
Lindy's mind whirled. MidChilda had about 3 billion inhabitants, and it was one of the largest Administered Worlds. Now that she thought about it, the reason was clear. Without magic, colonizing other worlds would be nearly impossible. With magic, nobody would try to cram so many people onto a single planet. But… 7 billion? Could a world even support that many? And with so many people, how could they not have discovered magic? It was inconceivable. But what was he saying?
Seeing the look on Lindy's face, Graham came to a decision. Nobody would ever know if he remained silent, and in fact he had a story ready. He could simply say, truthfully, that since Clyde Harlaown's death he had thrown himself into his work and neglected his home. But now, after this tragedy, he could not stomach living with the guilt of such a secret. It was time to reveal the truth to Lindy. "Let me tell you a story of a girl named, family name first in the fashion of her country, Yagami…"
"…Hayate is fine." The wheelchair-bound girl insisted. "I don't want to be some unapproachable mistress. And I don't want or need power." She set the ornate book to one side, the strangely light tome clinking slightly as the gold on the cover touched the bedside table of her hospital room. "So we don't need to fill up the Book of Darkness, okay? If you need an order, then try to get along with the hospital staff. They are just looking out for me, and you have to admit, you do look suspicious."
The four knights wore plain black clothing that showed absolutely nothing and yet was clearly abnormal, though not enough so for anyone to be truly offended. The redheaded girl, 'Knight of the Iron Hammer, Vita' was essentially wearing a simple dress, but sized up for the elder women, 'Knight of the Lake, Shamal' and 'Knight of the Sword, Signum', it looked more like an elongated, modified tank-top. 'Beast of the Shield, Zafira' would merely look a bit unusual in his shorts and T-shirt, were it not for his bulging muscles making his clothing practically skintight and the furry ears on the sides of his head. Fortunately, nobody had noticed that they were real.
"Yes… Hayate." Signum answered for the Wolkenritter.
"And, this isn't an order, okay?" Hayate stressed. "But I'd like to request…" the girl fidgeted. "Could we try to be like a family?" She blurted out.
"She seems different. I cannot truly remember, but… she is different from the others."
"Yes, I think you are right."
"I would spend a few weeks each year on Earth, looking for talented young mages. I would visit places around the world, often orphanages and the like, searching. My efforts were largely unsuccessful, and I never found anyone strong enough to make a magic bullet without harming themselves, let alone activate a device. But several years ago, I met a young girl who had in her possession the Book of Darkness."
"What!" Lindy exclaimed. "I never heard that it had been found again!"
"That is because I kept it a secret." Graham grimaced. "After what happened to your husband during the previous Book of Darkness incident, I wanted to solve the problem permanently. And the method mandated by our laws is no good. A stopgap measure that can never do more than diminish casualties by making hard choices and, ultimately, using Arc-en-ciel. The collateral damage of such bombardment is preferable to the alternative, but with the resurrection funtion…" He sighed. "I saw an opportunity. Hayate had not activated the book, so I stepped in, claiming to be a friend of her father. Hayate was an orphan, so by taking care of her monetarily I kept an eye on her and gave her as happy a life as I could. And I began to plan."
"What was your plan?" Lindy said cautiously.
Gil Graham bit the bullet and told her.
"Frankly, I haven't the faintest idea what happened to them," a harassed-looking doctor told the Takamachi family. "All of them are exhausted, and we only managed to get names out of 'Arf' Testarossa before the four of them fell asleep." Seeing the looks on the family's faces, the young man chuckled nervously. "We're kind of hoping we misheard the name. Do you know any way we could use to get in touch with Yuuno Scrya's guardians? Or Fate and 'Arf' Testarossa's relatives?"
Shirou shook his head. "I don't have any contact information, sorry."
The doctor sighed. "Well, that can wait until they wake up then. Now, I can't give you any specifics, but the three others should be fine." Kyouya and Shirou caught him glancing at Fate uneasily, but obviously whatever the issue was, it wasn't serious enough for him to break confidentiality.
"Your daughter is banged up, but the worst to expect is some bruising in addition to the broken arm. We haven't put it in a cast yet, as it isn't a bad break but we want to make sure the arm is set properly. Normally we would have already done it, but we're prioritizing the x-ray machines for more urgent cases until tomorrow, possibly later if we get a large influx of patients overnight."
The doctor looked nervously at the family, but thankfully they seemed to be reasonable and didn't blow up on him at the implication that Nanoha wasn't the hospital's number one priority. "We could probably do it late tonight, but we'd rather just wait for her to wake up, if that is okay with you." Seeing the parents nod, he continued. "Does your family have a history of heart disease?"
"No, we're usually quite healthy." Momoko replied.
"Well, your daughter may have had a heart attack, based on what 'Arf' said and the burns on her chest, possibly form a makeshift or faulty defibrillator. She's fine now," he was quick to assure them, "so don't worry. We've got her monitored for now, but at this point her chances of relapse seem to be negligible."
The doctor took a couple more minutes to make sure that the four Takamachis understood Nanoha's condition, and moved on. "Now, one or two of you are welcome to stay through the night if you are quiet and stay out of the way."
"I'll stay." Shirou informed the doctor, lifting a duffel bag. "I have some necessities in here."
"Okay. Under the circumstances we are being lax about visiting hours, but I would suggest that the rest of you get home before dark." The doctor said, and moved on to other patients and relatives.
"I'll trust you two to keep your mother safe, alright?" Shirou instructed. "Don't burn down the house while I'm gone."
"Don't worry, Dad." Kyouya said, Miyuki nodding in agreement. "But don't make it sound like we're running off already. We can stay here for a few more hours before heading home."
"If we weren't in uniform, you'd be nursing a broken nose." Lindy spoke with deceptive calm. "But while we both know how immoral that plan was, it neither makes you responsible for what happened nor makes you a criminal. At the moment you have broken no laws. And we don't arrest people for considering breaking the law, we arrest them for doing so. For much the same reasons that we protect innocent little girls rather than, say, sealing them in ice for all eternity." Graham flinched, and Aria and Lotte glared at Lindy silently. Lindy's voice softened. "You are not to blame for this tragedy."
"Didn't you think it strange that there was no TSAB presence on Earth?" Graham said quietly.
"Not really," Lindy admitted, confused, but getting a bad feeling. "It is… was… a Non-Administered World. Of course we didn't have a garrison there."
"We normally have at least a few civilian collaborators on each inhabited world, just to keep an ear to the ground. It lets us keep track of which worlds to consider offering membership to, among other things." Graham sighed. "I discouraged placing anyone on Earth, fearing that Hayate would be discovered. As the only member of the TSAB from Earth and as an admiral, my opinion carried great weight. Non-Administered Planet 97 has been considered a nonentity. Boring, useless, nonthreatening, unimportant… there hasn't even been an interest in Earth's culture by sociologists, and believe me when I say that it should have been otherwise.
"I made Earth into a number. Bottom of the heap, lowest priority. I personally ensured that nobody would be there to get in the way when the Book of Darkness activated, and, as it turns out, the same went for dimensional dislocations.
"So, no, I'm not to blame. I didn't pull the trigger. I broke no laws. But I did make sure that nobody would have a chance to save Earth." His mouth twisted upwards in a mockery of a smile. "I do good work, don't I?"
"She should wake up by noon at the latest, right? We'll be here by mid-morning then." Momoko decided as the Takamachi family prepared to go their separate ways.
Two women, a red-headed girl, a man with animal ears, and a girl in a wheelchair holding a book passed by. Miyuki, Shirou and Kyouya stood in tense silence until they were gone.
"Did you want me to stay with you overnight?" Kyouya offered.
"No, but come over early tomorrow morning after you walk your mother to work. Can't be too careful," Shirou answered calmly.
"We'll bring our bags," Miyuki nodded.
Momoko blinked, unsure what had just happened.
"You'll tell the higher-ups, you'll cooperate with the investigation, and you will personally explain everything to Chrono." Lindy eventually commanded.
"Of course." Graham nodded.
"Don't resign unless you are forced to." Lindy stood up. "Don't run away from this. You, and the events of today, are all that remains of Earth. When you die, your world will be nothing but a memory of tragedy. You have the responsibility to try to make it otherwise. Make Earth something worth remembering, Gil."
"…Thank you."
"For what?"
Lindy left the room before he responded. Her old friend didn't need anyone to tell him what he did wrong, and he didn't need her to heap unnecessary blame upon him. He was already being punished disproportionately. And as his friend, she was not going to let him sink into despair.
"Fighters, but not mages," was Shamal's verdict.
"We'll keep an eye on them, but if we do nothing to draw attention to ourselves we should have no problems with the people of this world." Signum stated.
Hayate concentrated. "Don't worry. We're in a hospital! Besides, I think I recognize some of them from somewhere. They run some sort of shop? Something to do with food, I think. Maybe a grocery store? Just relax! Nothing is wrong." She tried to convey a 'smile' telepathically, but it was hard to tell if it worked, so she did it physically as well.
"Hayate, the atmosphere of this world is choked with magical energy, and it would be foolish to assume that it is not related to today's events." Signum explained. "This is almost certainly the result of a terrible accident or, more likely, a devastating battle of some sort. As your guardians, it is our duty to assume the second until proven otherwise."
Hayate considered that. "Then we should find a mage and ask them about it?"
Signum wondered if she had ever been innocent enough to believe that it would be so simple. "It could be dangerous. If I might ask a boon, Hayate?" Signum opened cautiously.
"Of course!" Hayate chirped. "What is it?"
"Once we find a possible source of information, please allow us to take the lead."
"What do you mean?"
"Hayate," Zafira rumbled, "you are a noncombatant. And…" He hesitated.
Vita didn't.
"You're too nice." The prepubescent knight said bluntly. "If they are enemies, we need to take them down, hard and fast."
"…I don't want anyone to be hurt."
"We are your knights, Hayate." Signum stated solemnly.
"If that is your wish, then we will do what we can to make it so." Shamal affirmed.
Hayate was different. They could not remember her predecessors, not with any useful detail, but they knew it to be true. The Wolkenritter destroyed their enemies. They were not created with the intent to 'not hurt anyone'. But they would do their best to fulfill their mistress's wish.
"Chrono. Amy." Lindy quietly called out. The two turned to her from where they were sitting on the couch, exhausted by hours of nonstop work.
"Sorry, ma'am," Amy stumbled over her words. "I know I shouldn't be in your quarters-"
"Don't worry about it." Lindy reassured her. "My son understands boundaries and I'm willing to trust you two to use your common sense. I'm not going to leap to conclusions and bite your heads off."
The two teenagers were simultaneously embarrassed and relieved, and not entirely sure of what they were worried about in the first place. Ah, youth, Lindy smiled to herself, and gave the two of them a couple years at most before they realized that they wanted to be more than friends, probably sooner for Amy. Then they would start dancing around the issue… or maybe not. She might be his mother, but that didn't mean she knew everything about her son's mind (though she encouraged him to think otherwise). Sometimes he surprised her.
"This has been hard on everyone, and tomorrow will be a long day. Get to bed early, alright?"
Leaving the teenagers behind in the small living room that she shared with her son, Lindy entered her bedroom and sat down at her desk, her thoughts on more serious matters.
She was not looking forward to writing this report.
"Tomorrow we need to get you guys more clothes on our way back to the house," Hayate decided, looking critically at the black clothes her new family was wearing.
There was an awkward silence.
Hayate followed the gazes of Signum, Shamal, and Zafira, wondering why they were staring at Vita.
Vita flushed and, looking exactly like a little kid who had knocked over grandma's antique vase, tried to break the news gently. "I, uh, might have gone a little overboard with Graf Eisen when I saved you from being crushed…"
Kyouya, Miyuki, and Momoko stopped to stare at the house. Other buildings had had varying degrees of damage, but this one took the cake. An entire side of the house had been blasted outwards, and much of the roof had vanished to parts unknown.
Vita pointedly ignored the four used cartridges Shamal was fingering.
"Sorry?"
Hayate stared blankly at Vita, trying to rationalize what she was hearing. Forcibly suppressing the urge to bury her face in her hands and cry, she smiled at Vita. "No worries. My uncle, well a friend of my father's really, has an emergency fund set up for me. Besides, I'd rather have you guys and a wrecked house than a mostly intact house and a chained up book."
Vita stared disbelievingly at her, then threw herself at Hayate, sobbing. Completely bewildered, Hayate did her best to calm the youthful knight down. Looking to her other knights for help, she was surprised to see Shamal wipe away a tear, Zafira smile, and Signum nod approvingly. Deciding to simply go with the flow, Hayate hugged Vita close.
Eventually getting her emotions under control, Vita made excuses to escape the room, Shamal following her. Zafira exchanged a glance with Signum before going to get food for everyone.
"Thank you." Signum said quietly.
"For what? I don't understand."
"For being yourself."
Hayate decided not to question further, and spent the time until the others came back deep in thought as she considered what to do next. She wanted her knights to be happy. She had a chance to have a family. She was… content… as she was, that was a good way to put it. But… a family. She could be part of a family. Was she being too possessive? Was she going about this the right way? She seemed to be doing something good, but was it the right something?
She knew, instinctively, that the Wolkenritter, especially Signum, would do anything she told them to do. She didn't want to use them like that though. She didn't want to 'play house' with them, she wanted more than that. But the selfishness of her approach to this felt wrong. She was thinking only about herself, even when she thought about them. But she honestly wanted them to be happy, Hayate felt mostly certain of that. Just because she had a selfish reason for her actions didn't mean that she only had selfish reasons for her actions, right?
She didn't know what to feel about the whole situation. They had offered to kill for her… No, they had expected to kill for her. She was weak, helpless. She couldn't imagine that that was normal for them. They were so much more powerful than her, it would be easy for them to just… lock her away or something. They couldn't kill her, but unless she used the book on them (she shuddered at the thought) they could easily take control of the situation, and it would be easy to stop her from doing that. They could just take the book and leave, and Hayate couldn't stop them. But they were still here.
So they had to see something in her, didn't they? Unless… What if they couldn't leave? They were people, but they were also programs. Artificial intelligences given form by magic. What if they were forbidden from not following her or something? What if she was nothing more than their mistress?
Hayate watched Signum out of the corner of her eye. The pink-haired woman leaned against the wall, seemingly relaxed, but Hayate wasn't sure that it was even possible for her to let her guard down. Signum was so strong, so confident, so capable. If she were unwillingly chained to Hayate, then it would be so completely and utterly wrong. Hayate was tempted, strongly tempted, to make Signum tell her the truth about her worries. All she had to do was ask, and Signum would tell her everything she needed to know. But what if it really was like that?
In the end, Hayate was too afraid to ask.
'I'll just have to make them happy.' Hayate told herself. 'Even if they don't want to be with me, if I'm their mistress, then they are my responsibility, so I have to look after them. I'll give them a home. I'll give them as much freedom as I possibly can. I'll give them clothes and food and they won't have to fill up the Book of Darkness. And then, they can be happy, right? Even if I can't make them happy, I can let them find what makes them happy. And if they don't want to be my family, then, then I'll just be quiet and stay out of the way, and I'd still get to spend some time around them… That would be good enough, right?'
Hayate spent the rest of the evening getting to know the Wokenritter, her thoughts on her new goal. By the time she drifted off to sleep, sharing the bed with Vita, she felt a little less worried. They didn't seem unhappy, at least, and they were more open, more expressive, than when she had first met them, if only by a little bit. So maybe there was hope, after all.
Her sleep was restful, and her dreams were full of hope for the future.
May 28, 0065
As morning sunlight shone on her face, Nanoha awoke to a nightmare. The antiseptic twinge to the air, the distant beeping of heart monitors, the murmur of doctors and nurses and patients… Nanoha found herself reliving that time when her father was confined to a hospital bed. Fear filled her, and she stretched out towards her magic, noting with horror how little mana she had available, calling out Raging Heart, Yuuno, Fate, Arf, anyone…
There was no response.
Stumbling out of her bed, she blindly fled, the only thought in her mind that she had to get out of here.
Her father, who had been dozing at her bedside, was completely stupefied, but followed as fast as he could.
"There may be a mage here." Shamal murmured in Signum's ear. "I think I felt a wide cast telepathic call, but it was very weak."
"If it happens again, can you pinpoint it?" Signum asked quietly.
"If I have Klarer Wind active, yes."
Signum glanced at Hayate, still asleep on the hospital bed. "Do so. Take Vita and look around, see if you can find them. Use a search spell if you think it wise, I'll trust your judgment. If you find any mages, approach them peacefully with Vita as your backup. If hostilities start, put up a barrier and I'll come support you."
Bursting out onto the roof of the hospital, Nanoha slowed to a stop, the fresh air and gentle breeze helping to clear her head. Turning towards the bay, Nanoha began to calm down. She sighed with relief, her worries momentarily forgotten at the sight of the city stretched out before her. They had done it. The city was fine, the world was saved, things were going to turn out alright.
Realizing that she should go back inside before she made people worry, she turned around to head back. However, what she saw made her rush to the other edge of the roof. Her face turned ashen, and she hugged herself with her unbroken arm in an attempt to suppress her shudders. As she stared inland, she could clearly see her failure.
The mountains were gone.
"Wait."
Vita turned to face Shamal, the blond having stopped beside an open door.
"What is it?"
Klarer Wind, now in the form of two jeweled pendulums, twinkled as the Knight of the Lake performed a scan to confirm her instincts.
"There are mages in this room."
Her hands unconsciously went to her necklace, and she flinched upon feeling a crack on the side of the small red orb. "Raising Heart…" She sniffled. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
There was no response. The device, damaged from channeling so much magic, remained dark and lifeless.
Hayate blearily rubbed sleep from her eyes as Zafira and Signum wheeled her off towards breakfast, which was being provided to everyone at the hospital. Some kind of agreement with some companies for situations like this, probably. Uminari wasn't as badly off as a disaster area usually was, but there were a lot more people around the hospital than normal, and Hayate doubted that there was normally enough food for this many people lying around. Now that she thought about it, the university probably handled it, this being Uminari University Hospital.
She wasn't sure about how she felt about what Shamal and Vita were doing. She was worried for them, worried about any other mages they might find, and after what had happened to her house she was a little worried about the hospital itself. But she was glad that Signum had taken her at her word and handled it without double-checking it with her. After watching them walk on eggshells around her yesterday, Hayate considered this a small victory.
To be honest, she felt that she probably should be more concerned that magical knights under her control were taking the initiative and possibly starting a fight in the hospital, but it wasn't as if she had the faintest idea about how fighting worked. Signum's tactical prowess was much more trustworthy than her own. If the knight felt that she had taken suitable precautions, then Hayate was satisfied.
"So these guys are mages?" Vita asked, eyeing the room's occupants. "Do you think they were involved in this? I mean, they're kind of young."
Shamal very carefully did not mention that Vita looked younger than either of the children. "The Guardian Beast's Linker Core is unusually active," she muttered. Speaking up, she answered Vita. "I believe the girl is the master." Stepping away from Arf, she moved to Fate's bedside. "To maintain a powerful Guardian Beast at such a young age, she must be a prodigy, at least in terms of mana capacity. And prodigies are… useful."
Vita gave Shamal a dry look. She was quite aware of how child-mages were quite popular recruits and tools for nearly anyone. Criminals, authorities, armies… Powerful, easy to control, and (if they survived) the next generation of the elite, kids like this one were wonderful resources. Not only could they be indoctrinated easily, they were also useful from day one, and only became more powerful with time. It wasn't very nice, but it was an unfortunate truth of life that magical prodigies were often snapped up young and never let go.
In other words, if the three sleeping magic-users weren't involved in this then they were very lucky indeed.
Vita didn't put much faith in luck.
"You can be fixed, right?" Nanoha pleaded. "Like before… but you need magic and I don't have enough right now… No." Her voice hardened, and she stood up. "I have enough. I have to. This has to work."
Taking off her necklace, Nanoha held the red jewel tightly over her heart. "This is just like the first time we met. I say the magic words, give you magic, and you activate, right?" Vague memories of the long incantation she had recited floated to the forefront of her mind. "Like back then. Yuuno always did say that arias helped…" She took a deep breath. "I am the one who…"
But it wasn't right. There was nobody to fight. No mission. And it had to be right, or it wasn't good, and the aria wouldn't help her channel her power. "No mission this time. No contract either. But…" She closed her eyes and focused her power, searching for words.
A standard MidChildan circle formed beneath her feet. Concentric circles and squares, rotating slowly, with circles containing Greek letters attached to the four corners of one of the squares. Pi. Delta. Omega. Nu. Rotating and overlapping between the concentric rings were visual representations of her calculations of her own power, her device's needs, her intent, and the desired results. Meaningless in and of itself, the circle's importance laid in Nanoha's interpretation of it. It was simply a sign of her thought process as she collected magic from her linker core for use.
"The wind is in the sky…"
The pink glow of her magic shone out from between her fingers.
"And the stars are in the heavens…"
The light intensified, the circle speeding up its rotations. A thrill raced down Nanoha's spine, and she knew what to say.
"And a resolute heart beats within my chest!"
Her voice rising to a shout, she pushed one last burst of mana into her device, the pattern of her words and her circle resonating with the crystal matrix of the jewel. Her energy drained, Nanoha quietly continued to speak. "So, Raising Heart, please…"
Please be well. Please accept me. Please…
Please respond…
Please…
...
...
"StaNdby, rEAdy."
"Raising Heart!" Nanoha exclaimed, opening her hand to see a scuffed but intact glowing gem. "Oh thank goodness, I was so worried! Nobody was responding and you were broken and- and the mountains and I was all alone and…" Tears of relief and joy streamed down her face as she opened her heart to her device.
"YoU are nEver aloNe." Raising Heart spoke insistently as her voice stabilized. "You are my master. Even if we are parted, my heart would live in yours and yours in mine."
"The gem lady is right," Shirou spoke from behind her, causing Nanoha to spin around fearfully, but there was nothing but acceptance and reassurance and love on her father's face. "Your new friends are down below, Miyuki and Kyouya will be here any time now, and your mother should be here by lunch time. And we all love you, even when you drive us crazy with worry."
Nanoha stared at him, sniffling. He smiled, and hugged her until she restored her emotional equilibrium, not judging her in the slightest.
"Let's go downstairs and wait for your friends to wake up, shall we?"
"Vita, there is a magical reaction from the roof."
"On it."
The little knight walked off towards the elevators.
Hayate fingered the Book of Darkness nervously as Signum walked away in the direction of Shamal and the mages they had found. She could hear their telepathic messages, and they certainly seemed confident, but she still worried.
Zafira took note of Kyouya and Miyuki walking past and mentioned it to Signum, but as dangers went the two of them were near the bottom of the list. Even without their full knight armor, which Hayate had yet to have a chance to design for them, their basic barrier jackets and their devices put them on an entirely different level than normal humans. And physical damage was only an inconvenience at most, given their nature. Still, better safe than sorry.
"There's nobody here." Vita called out from the roof a short time later. "They either left or went inside."
"Shamal, leave for now." Signum thought as she sped up just a little, though not enough to draw attention. "Wait for Vita and I to track-"
"Too late." Shamal sent grimly.
"What are you doing to Yuuno?" Nanoha demanded of the woman, pointing Raising Heart's Shooting Mode at her. "Who are you?"
"I'm just helping out." Shamal said calmly, not offering too much information. The girl was a possible enemy, after all. Still, best to put her fear to rest. "This is a diagnostic spell." She added somewhat belatedly.
"Unless I'm quite mistaken, magic is rather rare around here." Shirou retorted.
"Please, tell me why you're here!" Nanoha insisted, doing her best not to draw attention to her broken arm and her almost empty reserves of magic. If the woman decided to fight, Nanoha wasn't sure she had enough for a magic bullet, let alone a Divine Buster.
Before Shamal could answer, Vita burst through the window and did what, under most circumstances, would be considered a beautifully performed rescue of her ally. One moment, Nanoha was holding Shamal at staff-point, the next, Nanoha was flying back out of the door courtesy of Graf Eisen, with her unarmed father racing over to her side as she fell unconscious.
Even as hospital staff rushed to the scene, a barrier whisked the combatants away.
By the time Nanoha recovered enough from the knockout blow to be functional, the battle was well underway. Arf had tackled the first woman out of the window and was fighting with her one-on-one, leaving the girl who had attacked Nanoha and a second woman to fight Yuuno, Miyuki, Fate and Kyouya, Nanoha's siblings wielding their swords. At one point or another the fight had left the hospital room and moved outside the hospital, which was good for Nanoha, but bad for those incapable of air-to-air combat.
'Fighting' was perhaps an overly generous term for 'admirably surviving in the face of an overwhelming force.' Yuuno and Fate had more mana left than Nanoha, but not nearly enough to fight back effectively. Worse, Yuuno seemed to be in pain every time he cast a spell. Kyouya and Miyuki were vastly underpowered, unarmored, inexperienced, confused, and worst of all unable to fly, which meant that they were nearly useless against their current opponents.
Nanoha was nearly out of mana, injured, and having trouble focusing. Raising Heart was active, but not fully repaired. And there was much more mana in the air then the two of them were prepared for. So it was understandable that Nanoha's first attempt at casting Starlight Breaker literally exploded only seconds into charging with the force of a small firework. Strangely enough, it brought a gleam to her eyes.
"Please, this is just a misunderstanding!" Shamal begged as she blocked Arf's assault with a shield. "If you would just surrender-"
"Oh, sure!" Arf snarled. "I suppose it's just pure coincidence that you snuck up on us while we were asleep, hammered Nanoha unconscious, and trapped us in a barrier. I bet you're really a nice person! Are you even listening to yourself? Of course I'm not going to surrender!"
"Just hold on, Fate. I'll take her out and come back you up!"
"We'll do our best."
Fate panted heavily, leaning against a wall that provided a small amount of protection. Miyuki rolled into cover next to her, metal balls coated in red energy cratering the street behind her.
"I don't think we've been introduced," the older girl panted. "I'm Miyuki Takamachi, Nanoha's sister."
"I'm Fate Testarossa, and this is my device, Bardiche."
"So, how does she do that?" Miyuki gestured to Signum, who was fighting Yuuno in the air.
"You mean, how does she fly?" Fate asked uncertainly.
"No, how does she get so much power behind her attacks! I can practically see the shockwaves!" Fate stared blankly at her. "Although, now that you mention it- Incoming!"
"Defenser."
The yellow barrier held up to Vita's attack for a few seconds, then shattered under the force of the knight's hammer. Miyuki valiantly stepped in front of her young ally, but was thankfully saved by a well-timed shoulder-charge by Kyouya, which pushed Vita far enough to the side that her swing slammed into the wall rather than the teenager's ribcage.
"Don't take their attacks head-on!" Kyouya instructed.
Vita was happy to, all too literally, hammer the lesson home.
"Why are you attacking us?" Yuuno cried out desperately, on the verge of collapsing from pain. He was using a healing spell on himself, but he had a nasty feeling that his linker core was the problem and he didn't know a good way to fix that, so he concentrated on keeping himself conscious and mobile. As using magic was the cause of his pain all he was doing was buying time in a vicious cycle, but Yuuno healthy fear of his opponent's sword was a great motivator.
"We require information about yesterday's events," Signum responded, her device, Laevatein, crashing against Yuuno's shield.
Yuuno stared blankly at her. He twitched, a suppressed well of emotions bubbling within him. "And why, out of all of the possible ways of doing this, did you decide to try to kill us rather than ASKING POLITELY?"
Signum disengaged for a moment. "That was the original plan." She fed a small metallic object into her sword, which vented steam and spat something out. "But now that you have seen us in combat we cannot allow you to leave with such information. Surrender and you will not be harmed."
Yuuno's mouth opened and closed repeatedly, but no words came out. Eventually he shook his head. "If I give up, my friends will have to fight you. I can't let that happen."
"Very well. Shiden Issen."
A vortex of fire erupted from the pink-haired swordswoman's device, leaving her with a sword covered in flames, which Yuuno automatically analyzed the strength of. Wow, comparing the amount of magic in the attack to what he had left in his body gave a ratio of… how many orders of magnitude? This was going to be fun. He'd always wanted to get his face burnt off.
Worst. Morning. Ever.
"For what it is worth, I can respect your determination." Signum calmly informed her opponent.
Yuuno looked skyward, being too emotionally drained to feel more than resignation. 'Whoever is up there? I concede. I'm not particularly religious, but I now feel certain that not only do you exist, you also hate me.'
Moments later, his unconscious body hit the ground. Signum was actually impressed. His shield had withstood her until he had run out of strength. After making sure Yuuno was alive and mostly unharmed, but out of the fight (she was pleased to feel her mistress's relief at the news) she flew off to join Shamal.
From her vantage point in the wrecked hospital room, Nanoha shuddered. Arf wouldn't last long against both enemies, so she had to hurry, but it was so hard to focus at the moment… She had never really experienced the effects of using up so much of her magic before, as she had always needed to save enough strength to fight due to the situation she and Yuuno were in. Physically, she was healthy enough (though battered) but magically she was one step above comatose. She needed to fight her instincts to do magic, as she was continually reminded that no, she really didn't have enough magic for this.
Compounding this problem was a little voice that sounded like Yuuno that brought up the importance of listening to her instincts while doing magic, as ignoring them was a good way to get seriously hurt. Of course, Raising Heart would be helping, and it wasn't as if she was going to overexert herself (she hoped). But Raising Heart could only help so much, especially with this. Nanoha was improvising, and since she wasn't using a spell that Raising Heart had the parameters for, the device could only support her and help her target. Unless she had fifteen minutes to do some quick programming… a quick glance outside dashed that hope.
"Suggest use of aria, master."
Why hadn't she thought of that? It would only help so much, but every bit counted. Thank goodness for Raising Heart! But what could she use? It had to be fitting, or it wouldn't be a good trigger. There wasn't a single 'ideal aria' for a given spell, so it didn't have to be perfect, just appropriate…
"Mana collect, no, uh, magic collect, no, compress, no… gather! Um… Um…" Nanoha winced as Arf was sent crashing to the ground and the three enemy mages congregated above Nanoha's allies. "Gather mana? Gather shiny- no, that's stupid." Nanoha gradually became more and more panicked as her friends were dominated by their opponents. What she wouldn't give to give them a Starlight Breaker to the fa- of course!
"Gather, starlight! No," she shook her head. "Gather, light of the stars!"
It happened quickly. One moment, there was nothing, then a girl yelled something and the air was full of little flying pink specks of light. Soon, the three members of the Wolkenritter were surrounded by fist-sized balls of magic, which they eyed warily.
"Please don't try anything!" The voice cried out again, and they turned to see Nanoha leaning heavily on a wall at the edge of the destroyed hospital room the fight had started in. "They're made of compressed magic! If you upset them, they'll explode!"
"Do you really think we'll give up that easily?" Vita called back scornfully.
"Please, can't we just-" Nanoha's words were cut off by an explosion which enveloped all three knights. Below, Arf, Fate, Kyouya, and Miyuki watched nervously, looking up at the blast. When it cleared, the three knights still stood, intact though somewhat singed.
"I will give you one final chance to surrender." Signum said simply.
"That's funny," Shirou said coldly. "I was about to say the same thing. How about we all calm down and discuss our issues in a civilized fashion?"
His sword, held to an unconscious Hayate's neck, made it clear that this wasn't a question.
It took the longest, most awkward hour of their lives for them to escape the worried doctors and nurses. It would have taken longer, but the Takamachi patriarch's ability to charm, misdirect, and flat-out lie to the medical staff pulled them through. Which 'merely' left them with an hour of nervousness (Fate and Nanoha), hostility (Arf and the Wolkenritter), confusion (Shirou, Miyuki, and Kyouya), and bringing their unconscious companions up to speed on their stories before they got caught in a lie (Yuuno and Hayate).
After everyone had been patched up and Nanoha had a cast put on her arm (Hayate was both relieved to hear that it wasn't Vita who was responsible and horrified to learn that she had had the injury the whole time), the twelve of them were very grudgingly allowed to leave the hospital (for now; obviously Nanoha and Hayate would be returning in the future).
In short order, they had removed themselves to a nearby park, doing their best to act like acquaintances rather than a group of people that was only restraining themselves from fighting because (1) the Wolkenritter could and would slaughter everyone else if a fight started, (2) everybody wanted to know what happened the previous day and dead people usually can't talk, (3) Arf wasn't going to attack without a good excuse and an opening, and (4) Hayate begged the Wolkenritter to not go on a murderous rampage (which, incidentally, had made things even more awkward, as none of the knights had any idea how to react to their mistress pleading with them to spare Shirou's life).
And thus Nanoha, Yuuno, Fate, and Arf found themselves the center of attention.
"Well…" Yuuno looked around uncertainly. "I guess the story starts a couple months back. Well, a lot longer than that for Fate, but we can get to that later. My name is Yuuno Scrya, and I am a mage from a world called MidChilda. Like most of my family, I'm a scholar, specifically an archeologist, and I became involved in everything when my expedition unearthed 21 magical artifacts that we named 'Jewel Seeds'…"
The story took a long time, largely because the Japanese needed a lot of explanations. "Wait, aren't you a bit young to be running an archeological expedition?" was but the first of many questions, being swiftly accompanied by "You're an alien?" and after the first twenty minutes the Wolkenritter suggested (politely, as Hayate was listening) that questions about magic be dealt with later (i.e. after the story was finished).
Other problems were the… touchier subjects. Not so much Precia herself, though Fate didn't talk more than necessary about her mother. However, as the other three were not going to bring up her scars without checking to see if Fate was alright for them to mention it, that particular revelation was glossed over (Vita, showing that she knew what tact was, she just applied it sparingly, did not press for details). Then there were some things that they were all extremely uncomfortable to talk about, but could not avoid:
"It was a little while later that I first met Fate. Yuuno and I were at Suzuka's house when a kitten activated a Jewel Seed and…" Nanoha hesitated.
"I put a barrier up and…"Yuuno tried to pick up where she left off, but didn't get much further.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…And?" Zafira prompted.
"…I attacked them and *mumblemumblemumble*" Fate's face turned red and she stared down at her feet.
"…Did you just say that you electrocuted a kitten?" Miyuki had, unfortunately, heard correctly.
"It was the size of an elephant! Give her a break!" Arf demanded.
"The kitty was fine," Nanoha told them. "Magic lightning isn't as dangerous as non-magic lightning if the mage is careful. I had a hard time explaining to Suzuka why its hair was all standing on end though."
The general reaction to their story was fairly predictable, though Signum and Zafira were as opaque about their thoughts as Vita was vocal. Beyond Vita's opinion of their plans, which might be expressed in more polite terms as 'less than flattering,' (strangely, Shamal was struck with a number of fits of coughing at that point, and Zafira looked vaguely amused) the audience was kind enough to be encouraging or at least neutral in their reactions.
Much to the shapeshifter's relief, Shirou forgave Yuuno for sleeping in Nanoha's room, although he also managed to convey the message that any such incidents in that occurred in the future were to remain just as innocent… or else. Fate and Arf were also forgiven, Miyuki helping to lighten the tone by claiming some nonsensical rules of friendship involving 'beam weaponry' and 'proving the validity of one's belief system' (Kyouya made sure to explain to Fate that it didn't work like that, but she was indeed forgiven).
One of the more daunting challenges for the quartet was narrating the events that had hurt Nanoha, as not only was it frightening to Nanoha's family to hear just how close it had been, it was also an unwelcome reminder of just how close that not only they but the entire planet had come to death. If anything, it was worse to recall than to live through, as there was no adrenalin rush or imminent danger to distract them this time around.
For Hayate, it was an emotional experience, and she found that she was both sympathetic and, surprisingly, envious of them. The four mages were obviously not yet fully comfortable with each other, but there was an unconscious trust similar to the Wolkenritter's, and Hayate wished that she could experience that.
The Wolkenritter, being more emotionally removed from the situation but also more experienced, analyzed first and empathized second, though how they showed this to the others varied. For the knights, this was an important intelligence gathering event, and they paid attention to everything, only allowing themselves to stop considering the mages as enemies after careful consideration and telepathic conferencing.
Of course, that wasn't the same as being friends. And they kept an eye on Nanoha's father.
"…and then Vita broke through the window, and you all know the rest." Nanoha finished.
Shirou quietly slipped off to one side, Signum following him. The conversation continued, but with the more serious issues put aside in favor of lighter anecdotes. Hayate was laughing at something Arf was saying when Shirou spoke.
"Will you protect this world?"
"We will protect Hayate." Signum answered. "…How did you do it?"
Shirou stared at Hayate, not really seeing her. Ghosts of memories swam before him. "I was a bodyguard. Most people ignored you, and those who didn't just noticed that you were dangerous, but I saw four bodyguards and their principle. Then you hurt my daughter, threatened my family. Hayate was your weakest point."
"Then, why?"
Shirou removed the blade from Hayate's neck as the combatants approached him.
"Why not? It worked out in the end."
He set down his sword and handed the girl to an angry Zafira.
'You had us,' Signum thought. 'You had us. And you just… We could have turned around and killed you and your family after you gave her back. How did you know we wouldn't?'
Shirou handed her a piece of paper with a string of numbers on it. "Call me later, when the time comes. The four of you will need to learn to handle it in your own way, but that doesn't mean I can't give you advice."
"I don't understand what you're talking about." Signum responded honestly.
Shirou gave her a look of sympathy and pity.
"You will."
And with that he walked back to the others, and left Signum to her thoughts.
Now what?
That was the question that needled Fate. Everything was more or less over. Hayate and Nanoha were exchanging cell phone numbers, Miyuki was teasing Yuuno, the Wolkenritter and Arf were glaring at each other again, and Kyouya was talking with his father. Mother had what she wanted, Earth was saved, the Wolkenritter hopefully would not attack again, and Nanoha was alive. And Fate had the rest of her life to spend with Arf and figure out what she wanted to do, who she wanted to be…
But she didn't know what to do NOW. At some point, she should go by the apartment complex she had been using, retrieve her belongings and take down the barrier. But then what? She would have to have another living space ready first, and she would need to make sure she had enough funds. And Arf would have to pretend to be her guardian if she wanted everything to work legally. But where to begin? Regretfully, Fate admitted to herself that she and Arf would likely be continuing to use their current living space for at least a few weeks, which was unfortunate. She had hoped to stop cheating the building owner, but at this point a few more weeks would make no difference to him (he had never known she was living inside a 'barrier copy' of the building in the first place) the extra time could make a large difference to herself and Arf.
"Fate, are you coming?"
Nanoha's voice broke Fate out of her thoughts. Looking around, she saw that Hayate and her companions were already on their way to wherever they were staying, Arf watching them go. Yuuno, Nanoha, and Nanoha's family stood waiting.
Not understanding, Fate looked at Nanoha in confusion as Arf trotted over to her master's side. "Coming?"
"'My door is always open to you,' remember?" Nanoha smiled. "The Garden of Time was your home, and you can't live there anymore, right? The two of you are welcome to come and stay with us if you want."
Fate blinked. She hadn't been expecting that. It felt… nice. But while Nanoha's offer was very kind, Fate didn't want to be any more of a burden to her and her family. Fate opened her mouth to thank her but refuse, but as she did so she looked at the others. Rather than talking amongst themselves or waiting impatiently for an answer, Shirou, Miyuki, Kyouya, and Yuuno stood there calmly. Yuuno looked hopeful, Kyouya and Miyuki smiled kindly, and Shirou gave her an understanding nod. Nanoha exuded joy and kindness and acceptance and friendliness and love, and Fate knew that if she said yes, then they really would take her in.
Fate tore her eyes away. She couldn't tarnish that. She was different, she didn't belong there. Maybe one day, but not yet. Not now. She didn't have the right.
"Whatever you choose, I'm with you all the way." Arf said encouragingly.
Oh, Arf. You really are too good for me. I don't deserve you.
It isn't really my place to say this, but…Arf loves you. You don't have to earn her loyalty; it's a gift from her to you. Whether or not you feel you are worthy is unimportant as far as she's concerned. Just follow your heart and try your best, and be honest about your feelings.
Fate looked at Arf, then to Nanoha. Fumbling a bit, Fate grasped Arf's hand, and opened the empathic link between familiar and master further than normal. Her concerns couldn't be expressed fully in words, so Fate opened her heart and showed Arf her feelings, her fear and her doubt and her hope and her joy, and was shown Arf's feelings in exchange. The two of them were in this together, they weren't alone. And they would make this choice together, for better or for worse.
Fate's misgivings didn't disappear. Both options had risks. Both had opportunities. There was no right or wrong answer. It didn't make decision easier or harder. But that was fine.
Arf and Fate exchanged looks. And they stepped forward towards the future, choosing the path that, now that they stood on it, seemed inevitable.
"Yes." "Yes."
Nanoha smiled brilliantly, and took a hold of Fate's free hand.
"Let's go home."
Author's Notes:
Yes, I am evil. This chapter's theme was mood contrast, in some cases verging on mood whiplash. Today's chapter title is from the following quote: "I will not say 'Do not fear.' Fear is the other face of hope." If you know where the quote is from you get a cookie. If you have no clue what the quote means, come talk to me and I'll explain. Or you could google it.
So, goodbye season one, hello A's!
What on Earth am I doing, you ask? This all seems so pointless, and what is up with the Wolkenritter? Why are they so out of character and inconsistent and what's with Hayate and her issues? And arias, really?
The answer, dear readers, is simple: this is Hayate and the Wolkenritter 6 MONTHS EARLY! In canon, the Book of Darkness activates on Hayate's ninth birthday, June 4, 0065. (If you want to quibble, it starts glowing ominously at midnight between June 3 and June 4, and is fully activated 30 seconds later). The first encounter between Vita and Nanoha occurs on December 1. I arbitrarily decided that May 27 was the day that this chapter starts on, so everything is slid up by about a week, and then shoved off the tracks.
Before I go any further, I will make a point of saying that the timeline of the first season is rather vague, occurring in the rather general time frame of 'spring to summer of 0065'. I could probably narrow it down more, but it would still be 'give or take a month or two' levels of fuzzy and May 27 works for this chapter and moreover *googles*:
Fun fact: the Battle of Tsushima started on May 27 and ended on May 28, 1905. It was a naval battle between the Russians and the Japanese, with Japan victorious. It was the only battle to feature fleets of modern steel battleships (later fleets would favor ships with bigger guns and larger ranges of attack), the first naval battle to feature major use of the wireless telegraph, and the last time that a defeated fleet of ships surrendered to another fleet on the high seas. It was one of the most significant naval battles in history, as the lessons learned would become doctrine until aircraft carriers changed the nature of naval battle again.
I will pretend that I knew that beforehand, and chose it on purpose.
But back to what I was saying:
So rather than the Wolkenritter hyped up on fanatic devotion to Hayate after the best 6 months of their existence, we get four magic knights dropped into a disaster zone who have no idea what the heck is going on and have good reason to be paranoid. And rather than a Hayate who is sad about how her family isn't around as much as normal, we get a Hayate who is struggling with the issues that she had mostly (but not completely) resolved off-screen by A's…
Any part of the resulting conflict that resembles canon is a red herring. This is completely different emotionally, physically, and mentally. Except, as always, for any parts that are the same. Sorry, that isn't helpful, but that doesn't make it any less true.
As for Nanoha and her chanting, it is first and foremost a spell-casting aide. It helps boost a spell's power and efficiency. She knew what she was doing up on the roof, and to be honest she could have waited a couple days for Raising Heart to fix itself, but she was feeling desperate. Illogical, yes, but emotions tend to do that to people. Anyway, that worked.
On the other hand, she was completely making it up as she went along when she tried to attack the Wolkenritter. The technical term for the vast majority of people who do stuff like that is 'dead' as going into battle with an untested spell is technically referred to as 'suicidal.' I'll talk more about what she did in later chapters, but she basically tried to bluff them and they called her on it.
Jail is, of course, Doctor Jail Scaglietti (the validity of the 'doctor' part is questionable). He is a mad scientist from season three of dubious morality who shows up to laugh evilly from time to time. The music he is listening to is Starlight Breaker's 'lietmotif' or theme song, Tsudoe… Hoshi no Kagayaki or, (roughly) translated, 'Gather, Light of the Stars'.
Some of you will be able to understand a good deal of what I am doing in A's from what I've said so far. I will not spoil it for those who don't. But I will say two things:
A's will be about the characters. And man, some of them have beautiful little neuroses.
Also, Fate will be getting therapy. Yes, really. I know, crazy thought. You won't get to listen in on the sessions (doctor-patient confidentiality and all that) but you will be kept in the loop.
Tune in next time for more magic stuff, more medical stuff, more psychological analysis, and TSAB politics. And paperwork.
LAST CHAPTER:
As promised, answers to questions.
Q: Where did everyone teleport to?
A: Earth. Sorry for those of you who didn't catch that, I accidentally left it out. It is now, after some quick changes, present in… one sentence, while Fate is giving orders. And it doesn't explicitly say Earth, but it does imply it. So, um, my bad? Thank you to everyone who mentioned it, I may go back and fix it up better later.
Q: What happened at the end? I was completely lost after the teleport and things started exploding.
A: I could be snide and talk about using the information provided in Chapter 3 and a little imagination, but that would be unfair. So, remember what happened to the Arthra in Chapter 1? To cut a long story short, the system that performs that function was stolen by Yuuno. He has the 8 focusing crystals that produce the distortion effect be rearranged around Earth, then Fate helps him literally cut their 'power cord' out of the Garden of Time's systems and teleports to Earth with it. They power up the crystals, using the Jewel Seeds as batteries and BAM! They have a shield that can protect them…
Provided they supply enough power. Which they don't, due largely to Nanoha's heart failing and Arf having to restart it. And so the dislocation reaches one of the crystals, and suddenly Yuuno has only 7 crystals left. So he recalculates, does some heavy-duty teleporting, and… runs into the same problem. 6 crystals left. He does it again, and this time it is the crystals themselves that can't keep up, and he's down to 4 crystals and the entire system shuts down. They have almost succeeded at this point, and they redirect the Jewel Seeds into powering a planetary-scale shield, and then a smaller shield after that which protects Uminari City (which would have received the worst of it otherwise). They Jewel Seeds are out of power, but the world is saved.
If that doesn't help you, PM me or leave a review and I'll happily discuss it with you.
Q: Did they stop the dimensional rip from happening?
A: No. They just survived it. Wait for next chapter, and you'll get more details on what effects the dimensional dislocation had. You can thank Yuuno in advance.
Q: Why is everyone stranded on Earth? And for how long?
A: Because if you tried to dimensionally shift yourself to or from Earth, you would kill yourself very painfully. Dimensional space in the vicinity of the Garden of Time is NOT a good place to be at the moment. It will be a few years until it is safe to make the attempt, and it will be a bumpy ride for a decade or so.
Q: What was up with Yuuno? How did he do that bit at the end? That parallel processing capacity of his is unbelievable.
A: He is capable of doing pretty much everything he did. And yes, some of it was unbelievable, but this is the guy who, in canon, can meaningfully process information from 9 books he is simultaneously speed-reading (by which I mean 5 pages per second per book) through the use of a spell. He is ridiculously good at his specialties, and useless at anything else. That's just how he is. I figured that he could do a linear algebra problem in his head. *shrug*
Q: It gets kind of cheesy at some points. Why?
A: The characters are mature, intelligent, serious, capable… nine-year-olds. They thought it was awesome. I figured it was cute and the chapter needed more warm-fuzzies. If they were teenagers, several scenes would have been drastically different.
Finally, thank you for your support. And good luck to all of you students out there with your exams.
