SonicANIME2010 here, bringing in another chapter of Lyrical Familiar. Hope everyone enjoyed the debut of Fate in my previous chapter, I tried being somewhat correct in the anime and movie canon, while at the same time, not quite play Fate out as a true "villain" because she really isn't; even if she was a bit harsh. Here we go!
[Dream Sequence]
[POV: Nanoha]
[Local Time: Unknown]
[No BGM]
To say that Nanoha Takamachi had a lot to think about over the past few days would be an understatement. Not only that, but what she had to think about brought to her a sobering feeling. As a matter of fact, for her; her life had taken a drastic change over the past few weeks. She was supposed to be just the ordinary third grade schoolgirl, but it all changed one night. When she met the talking ferret; when she became a mage and saved the life of the blue hedgehog, making him her familiar in the process; when she gained her magic powers, all of that changed her life.
Since then, she saw the ferret as a friend and tutor-like figure for her; while for the hedgehog, she saw him as a brother. A question lingered in her mind as she pondered; some words and feelings couldn't be so easily connected, but was fighting the only way to connect them? Her latest sequence of thoughts reflected on her recent experience, the other mage she briefly met and was defeated by.
'I'm sure that our meeting was just a coincidence.' Nanoha appeared lying down, dressed in her elementary school uniform. In her dream-like state slumber, she was able to think about that experience, 'But if you layer all of the coincidences of the world on top of one another, I'm sure that people pick one of them and it becomes a path that they travel on.. At least that's how I believe.
'My life, I believe, started with a coincidence like that.' Nanoha, still within the depths of her dreamscape and well deep in thought, opened her eyes. Her clothing changed from the school uniform of her elementary school to her Barrier Jacket with Raising Heart appearing in her left hand, 'That's why I feel like I want to continue going on like this, believing that I've made no mistakes..
'Of my own free will' Raising Heart shifted into its Canon mode and the three strike flame wings appeared just under the device's head, 'And with my own feelings..'
[OP: "Innocent Starter" Nana Mizuki]
Sonic the Hedgehog: Lyrical Familiar
Chapter 7
A town of hot water; the Uminari Hot Springs!
[Uminari City, Japan]
[En Route to the Hot Springs]
[Local Time: 10:15 am]
[BGM: "Tanoshii Kyuujitsu" Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha OST]
For Japan, there comes an annual time where a series of consecutive holidays; usually starting with Showa day on May 29th are celebrated. This time of the year is known as the "Golden Week" and it is the longest period of vacation time for most Japanese jobs. For the Golden Week, most businesses and companies are closed down and their employees receive paid time off.
While the Midori-ya is technically exempt from the Golden Week, the fact that the café has other employees than just the Takamachi family allows the family to take the week off and go on a huge family vacation. They've got plenty of workers who are more than happy to fill in.
For this Golden Week vacation, the Takamachi family was taking on a few more additions. The Tutorial Ferret Yuuno Scrya, Sonic; Nanoha's familiar, Alisa and Suzuka; said girl's best friends and Suzuka's maid's; Farin and Noel; last, but not least by any margin if one were to ask Kyouya, Shinobu Tsukimura; all were allowed to tag along.
Two cars rode behind one another on the highway. The first carried Nanoha, Sonic, Alisa, Suzuka, Yuuno, Miyuki and Shiro and Momoko Takamachi while the second car trailing them had Shinobu, Kyouya and the maids inside. Their destination of this vacation was the Hot Springs in Uminari City where they would spend two nights relaxing at the spa and washing away all the pains and drama of the world if only for a few days.
As relaxing of a vacation it would be for everyone else going, it couldn't have been needed by anyone more than Nanoha Takamachi. As much as she and her familiar tried to hide it, nobody who knew about it could've missed the "down in the dumps" demeanor she was in as of the past week. It had been a week since the encounter with the mysterious black-clad mage and they hadn't been able to find a Jewel Seed since.
All that said; there was little argument from the family and friends, who know about her recent responsibilities and try their best to be supportive, to take this small vacation and just wind down. Nanoha, along with her familiar were admiring the view of the passing scenery from the car window when Yuuno spoke aloud.
"Nanoha, Sonic" the ferret, though he probably didn't "need" to do so as he had Alisa and Suzuka who could've done the same thing, reminded the two of an obvious tip, "We're all on vacation, so take it easy and slow."
"I know" Nanoha gave a small smile to the ferret, "I'll be fine."
"Ne, Sonic-kun" Alisa, taking the opportunity to talk to said blue hedgehog, had a slight curious question for him, "Have you ever been to an onsen before?"
"Uh…" The hedgehog had to think about that one for a second, "I travelled through some ancient ruins with lava and an ancient, underwater labyrinth maze in the same day. Does that count?"
"I don't think so.." Suzuka shook her head while Nanoha giggled a bit. There was certainly no shortage of skepticism from the girls and ferret; though the one who had the most disbelief was the latter ferret.
"What kind of a world did you come from where you had to go through things like THAT?!" Yuuno gawked out; even though he may be a dimension/world hopping 9 year old archeologist, he had a tough time swallowing the idea that the talking blue hedgehog could have gone through what he just described and still hail from this same world.
"There's a lot of different terrain on South Island alone" Sonic, unfazed by the disbelieving looks, shrugged, "You'd be surprised at what you could find if you take the time to look for yourself. Ancient ruins, lush green hills, beautiful and peaceful urban environments; it's all there."
"And you've seen all of that in one day?!" Yuuno asked, his fascination over hearing about what he believed to be the hedgehog's homeland growing; several things clicking in his head, "Wait… if that's true then you do know about what's been reported in the news. What could've happened that made you have to go so far in just one day?"
"I don't want to talk about it." The hedgehog shook his head and stared out the window again with his muzzle resting on a gloved soft fist, "Sorry to disappoint you. I know what you've been trying to ask me since you've heard about it, but I'm not comfortable talking about it yet. Not just with you, but with everyone else here; because, to be honest, I'm still getting over it myself."
"Alright, that's enough! This is a vacation and we're going to the spa to have fun and relax! " Alisa, looking to break up a negative atmosphere that would've ruined the relaxing intent of the vacation in the first place, cut the small exchange short with her outburst, "This is a vacation and we're going to a hot springs spa! We're going to let loose and have fun!"
It didn't take long for the drive to finish and everyone to arrive at the Hot Springs spa. One of the biggest ways for a Hot Springs spa to make a great first impression on those who haven't been there before would be location; and, being situated in a beautiful forest with the backdrop of the mountains impressed Sonic and Yuuno a bit.
The cars parked next to one another and everyone checked in before splitting up into groups that were technically divided by gender. Ironically, only Shiro and Kyouya were the lone males to go into the designated male changing room and attached bath. Sonic and Yuuno were not so lucky and they found themselves dragged, albeit the hedgehog was the only one dragged while the ferret was held, into the female section.
[Uminari Hot Springs]
[Female Bath]
[BGM: "Eeto desu ne" Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha OST]
For the lone two males who shared the misfortune of being dragged into the female bath changing room, neither one of them could say that they were particularly comfortable. Sonic was able to somewhat endure it for now as he was somewhat innocent and had yet to come around to separate how he regards females and males of the human species. Yuuno, for reasons unknown to all but himself, looked quite uncomfortable and tried really hard to avert his gaze and stare at the wall of the cubby he was seated in next to the basket that Nanoha had while she changed.
"Yuuno-kun" Nanoha, oblivious to Yuuno's discomfort, asked the ferret, "Have you ever been to an onsen before?"
"Well um.." the ferret, still with his back turned away, "If you count a public bathhouse as one then yes.."
"Onsens are so much fun…" There was a certain, jovial tune to Nanoha's statement that drew a curious expression from Yuuno that had him turn around to take a small peek; one that he would probably regret later.
Yuuno and Sonic, who already had the equivalent of a front row seat already, watched a rather humorous sight as the girls, with the exception of Nanoha, decided to have a little fun in stripping out of their casual clothes. Shinobu and Suzuka took it casually and let it not be said that the differences between a pre-teen girl and a mid-to-late teenage girl weren't so obvious. Because they were as obvious as Shinobu's nearly full-developed chest bursting out of the black lace lingerie as compared to her little sister's yet-to-be-developed one. Yuuno, who was already blushing red and uncomfortable from going into the bath alone, started to fidget as said blush grew a darker shade of red. Sonic, on the other hand, had a little bit of a more interesting reaction; all he could do was stare at the scene with a slight tilt of his head as if he was on the brink of discovering something.
Alisa, grinning like the perverted mischief-lover that she was slowly growing into; fulfilled a task of metaphorically taking out two birds with one stone. She pounced on a naked Miyuki Takamachi and fondled the girl's breasts. Said teenager, not one to let such an act go "unpunished" got her payback in the form of pulling down said dirty-blonde's panties. Yuuno's comical discomfort and reactions, though only noticeable by Sonic, were furthered. The blue hedgehog wasn't quite as uncomfortable again and the majority of girls were able to see his reaction. There was nothing perverted about said reactions, oddly enough; his subtle innocent and curious demeanor.
That innocence put a diverse of thoughts through the girls' minds. Alisa and Miyuki saw the potential of having some fun with that innocence in the future, while Suzuka and Shinobu were merely thankful that they couldn't see the hedgehog grow up to be some perverted deviant. Nanoha, though, felt a slight mix between the two: on one hand, she could tell that even though it may be a month or two technically, she was still slightly older than her familiar and could see a learning experience for him; however, if exposed to too much too early, the experience could not only affect him negatively, but her as well.
"N-Nanoha.. I r-really think.." Said girl was pulled from her musings of the reasonable idea of seeing Sonic as a slightly younger brother by Yuuno's soft voice getting her attention. When she turned to face him, unintentionally flashing her naked and growing body in his direction, she could see the ferret really freak out and fall to the ground rather comically as he somehow formed a sentence, "I think I'd better go into the boys bath with Shiro-san and Kyouya-san."
"Huh?!" Nanoha really didn't see what the big deal was with Yuuno; if she only knew, "It'll be fine. Let's go in together."
The defeated fidgets from said ferret drew yet another curious glance from Sonic. That clued him in that there was something about the Tutorial Ferret that he had been holding back. Not one to make it an issue in front of the other girls who were oblivious to the discomfort and fidgets, the hedgehog merely put the though in the back of his mind and made a mental note to ask about it later.
[BGM Insert: "Honobono" Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha OST]
Yuuno's discomfort was calmed down a bit when the girls all walked into the spa with towels clad on their bodies. Sonic couldn't help but feel impressed and in awe about how relaxed he felt already and they had yet to do anything in the spa. The warm, moist atmosphere created from the steam that came from the large but shallow pool of warm water easily put some tense muscles to ease.
Before the girls plus ferret and hedgehog could hop into the spa pool, they first went over to a small shower area so they could all soak up and wash themselves a bit. Suzuka offered to wash her older sister's back while Nanoha did the same with her own sibling. Before Sonic and Yuuno knew it, they were dragged over to Alisa Bannings.
"Then I get these two!" the dirty-blonde grinned a bit as the two made no effort to hide their slight feelings of discomfort. It didn't help that Alisa decided to tease them further, "Don't worry! I'm good at washing and I can handle two at a time."
Other than that, it was all relaxation and sighs as the hot springs worked their magic and put everyone's minds to ease. For Sonic, who had never been to a spa before, could honestly say that he enjoyed the relaxing feeling he got from the warm water against his tense muscles and quills. As he, Nanoha, Alisa and Suzuka were still kids at the age of 9; they had to be careful as they were advised by Shinobu and Miyuki not to stay in the spa too long.
[A little bit later on]
[No BGM]
Nanoha, Alisa, Suzuka and Sonic, clad in matching pinkish yukatas, explored around the building complex of the spa, debating on what they could do. With Yuuno comfortably riding Nanoha's shoulder, they all traded ideas. There were so many things they could do: Ping pong, souvenir shopping; more exploring. As they were trading ideas, little did they know that someone was watching them, and that someone was about to show up.
"Hi~ Little girls!" an unfamiliar voice called out to them in a chipper, almost sing-songlike way as the source of the voice was right in front of them all. The voice belonged to another girl who looked to be not only taller than the three girls, but also older if how her body was of any clue. Curves, endowment, she was quite attractive and looked no older than her mid-to-late teen age. She had reddish-orange hair, bluish eyes and a small red gem in her forehead.
The three girls plus hedgehog and ferret stared at the tall girl and she returned the favor. It did not go unnoticed by Suzuka and Alisa that her attention was more on Nanoha than them. To their surprise, the girl kept walking towards them until she was up close to Nanoha. She was to the point where she could kneel down and put herself at Nanoha's eye level; which was exactly what she did.
"Oh so it was you two.." The unknown girl said to Nanoha and Sonic after a quick, small glance at the blue hedgehog, "You're the ones she was talking about."
"Eh?" Nanoha just blinked in confusion, who was this girl?!
"Can we help you?" Sonic asked in some form of a slight quip.
"Hmmm.. Neither of you seem like much of a problem" The young woman said in observation, "You seem like a little runt to me, girl. And you're taking a little risk, aren't you, hedgehog?"
"Okay time out, I think I know who you are and who your friend is and magic isn't much of a secret with us" Sonic said with a flat look in the young woman's direction, "I assume you're with that blonde girly in black we saw last week?"
"Aren't you a smart one? She did tell me about you so I figure I'd come and look for myself who our "rivals" could be.." The woman, not really seeming to care about if the civilians knew or not, they saved her the trouble of having to privatize her message through the mind-speak method, "This was just a simple greeting, however I'm going to warn you in advance"
"Warn us?" Nanoha, very confused, asked in hopes of some explanation of sorts, "What do you mean?"
"Little kids should be good ones and play elsewhere" the woman said with a rather obvious smirk that displayed a few subtle fangs in her teeth, "And if you don't, you're just cute enough for me to swallow up whole."
The woman patted Nanoha's shoulder a bit before letting out a loud chuckle and walk off in another direction, excusing herself to go take another bath, or at least that was what she said. The girls plus hedgehog and ferret, all stared at the retreating figure of the woman as she left them. Sonic probably would need to get his eyes checked, because he could've sworn that he saw a large wolf-like tail pop out from the woman's rear, but it disappeared as quick as it had appeared.
"That girl.. who does she think she is?!" Alisa gritted her teeth in frustration, "Threatening our Nanoha-chan and Sonic-kun like that!"
"Alisa-chan" Suzuka tried to cool off her hot-headed friend, "Calm down."
"I wonder if she's connected to the girl in black we met last week" Nanoha, looking back in memory, thought out loud.
"Probably is" Sonic shrugged, "She knew about us and said something about competition."
"We better be careful" Yuuno urged them all in caution.
[Spa bath]
[No BGM]
As it turned out, the woman did go to the pool area and sit by an edge, allowing only her legs to enter the warm water. However, although she was the lone woman in the bath, rest and relaxation weren't the only reasons to be there. As she was alone, as far as she knew, her location was secure.
"Ah~ Moshi, moshi~ Fate? Arf here" The woman, identifying herself as Arf, not-so-coincidentally having the same name as the large wolf that the blonde girl was with earlier.
Elsewhere, the blonde girl, clad in black, but girly clothing, laid against a tree branch with only the pole-ax device in her grasp. She opened her eyes when she heard that familiar call, "Yeah?"
"I met with the two you told me about just now" Arf, relaxing in her spa, sighed as she reported in the mind-speak.
"I see.." Fate's voice was calm and neutral, "And what did you think?"
"They didn't look like a big deal to me" Arf reported, "They don't seem like major enemies that we should worry about."
"Is that so?" Much as she would like to believe that, Fate didn't appear to be quite convinced, yet she reported news of her own, "I've made some progress here too. I've been able to pinpoint the general area of our next Jewel Seed. With luck, we should be able to capture it by tonight."
"Nice Fate! I wouldn't expect any less from my master" Arf was very much ecstatic to hear that, "This spa sure is relaxing, are you sure you don't want to join me here?"
"N-no t-thanks" Arf didn't need to be near her master to tell that she was blushing from the thoughts her offer brought to her, "I'll um.. see you tonight"
"Hai~" the woman cut the mind-speak call short and leaned back against the windowed wall to relax. In doing so, not only did her ample chest bounce despite being covered up by the towel, but a pair of wolf ears sprouted up from her head. Embarrassed and glad that nobody else was watching, the woman held her hands to the furry ears and tried to push them back in, "Oh, they came out!"
[Later that night]
[BGM: "Ketsudan no toki" Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha OST]
Nightfall soon descended on the complex, and, fittingly to the relaxing atmosphere; the night was calm and peaceful, a fine way to start the end of a day. The kids, under the watchful eye of the young maid Farin, were all nestled up in futons on the wood floor. After making sure that they were all off to dreamland, the young maid softly and quietly closed the door.
"Are they all asleep" Momoko asked softly.
"Hai" the young maid nodded
"Arigatou, Farin-chan" the woman softly thanked her
"Iie.. I enjoy doing things like this" the maid said in a bashful quality.
Meanwhile inside, the maid was only 3/4ths of the way correct. While Alisa and Suzuka were sound asleep, Nanoha was not so much. She had a lot on her mind still, especially after the recent encounter with that mysterious woman and her warning-laced threat.
"Yuuno-kun?" Nanoha reached out to the Tutorial Ferret in question, "Are you awake?"
"Hai.." Looks like the ferret couldn't get much sleep either as he poked his head out from Alisa's sleeping futon
"If that woman is connected to that girl like Sonic-kun thinks she is.." Nanoha noted, still in mindspeak as she was careful not to wake her other two friends, "We could have a situation like before.."
"Hai.." The ferret lowered his head down in regret again. Regrets seem to have been plaguing him a lot lately, and last week's events added to that, "Say.. Nanoha.. I've been doing a lot of thinking since then.. and.."
"Stop! If you say another word, I'll get mad" The girl softly patted the ferret on the head, ""I think it'd be best if I worked alone, I shouldn't have gotten your or Sonic involved in the first place, and I don't want either of you two involved anymore" That's what you want to say, isn't it?"
"Hai.." Yuuno could not deny that. Nanoha, much to his surprise, only gave a calm, honest smile.
"Gathering the Jewel Seeds; at first it was just to help you out… but it's different now" Nanoha let her honest feelings and thoughts be known to the ferret, as she softly held him up with a serious look to her face, "Now I'm doing this because I WANT to do it and I think Sonic-kun feels the same too. If you say that you'll do it on your own and leave us behind, we'll both get really angry."
"Yeah.." Yuuno looked down and away.
"Oy oy.. could you two keep it down?" Sonic's voice surprised them both, and one glance in the hedgehog direction showed that Sonic was awake, and had an annoyed look on his face as if someone had woke him up, "Some of us are trying to sleep in case, I don't know, we could get some trouble."
"Sorry, Sonic-kun.." Nanoha tried to apologize to her familiar, who she almost could see as a younger brother figure, "How long were you awake?"
"Long enough to ask how in the world did you know what I was thinking when our Tutorial Ferret was contemplating jumping ship and hogging the fun for himself" Even in mind-speak, the hedgehog doesn't hide his cynical side.
"I can't really explain.." Nanoha, in all honesty, shook her head, "I just felt something. Maybe it's just this magic that allows you to be my familiar, but I can feel your feelings and thoughts."
"Yeah, me too.." Sonic nodded a bit, "I can feel your emotions too sometimes.."
"I know how you feel when Yuuno-kun asks you about South Island too.." the girl looked down at the ground, as if reluctant to admit something else, "I could also see your memories with those emotions when we're dreaming in our sleep.. Ano... I didn't mean to intrude.."
"Can't be helped" The hedgehog shrugged slightly, "I trust you enough, so I would've told you sooner or later. Still, you should know why I'm not comfortable enough with talking about it with anybody else yet."
"Yeah.. I understand" Nanoha nodded with a small smile, "You'll come around soon though, I can feel that much. Until then, Yuuno-kun, please stop pestering Sonic-kun about his past until he feels comfortable enough with telling us."
"H-hai.." the ferret nodded and looked at the ground, "I'm sorry"
"It's fine.." Sonic shook his head and turned to return to his futon and resume his sleep, "Can we all get some sleep now? I have a sinking feeling that something big is about to come up and you know how much I hate being right."
"No you don't" Yuuno deadpanned as he crawled back into Alisa's futon to sleep while Nanoha mentally giggled and returned to her futon to get some rest.
"Touche" Sonic was the last to fall asleep.
[BGM: "Inflexible Determination" Final Fantasy X OST]
It didn't take long for the next Jewel Seed to reveal itself. This one originally laid in a patch of grass overlooking a small stream near the complex where the hot spring spa was. It was just the slight shifting of the wind that pushed this seed over the patch and soon into the water. As the Seed went into the water, it activated itself and a flash-like stream of light signified that activation. Needless to say, it drew some attention, not only from Fate and Arf, who were already en route to where the seed had revealed itself, but also their de facto rivals.
Nanoha, Yuuno and Sonic all woke up almost simultaneously; they were all quite startled by the sudden outburst of magic that they had felt. Needless to say, they were all quite quick to change out of their yukatas and into regular clothing in preparation for the upcoming situation.
After having a quick run in with her parents and explaining their sudden start, Nanoha and Sonic, with Yuuno riding the girl's shoulder, bolted out of the spa complex and tried to get to the scene of where they felt the surge of power. In anticipation of a rumble and a run-in with their new "rivals" the mage and familiar changed into their Barrier Jackets.
"You're going to counter me when I say this, but I don't care" Sonic said as they ran, "I hate being right!"
"You choose to say that while we're running full speed towards where the latest Jewel Seed activated itself" Yuuno did counter that.
"You two.." Nanoha sighed slightly
Unfortunately, even with all of the speed that Sonic could muster, they weren't able to get to the source of the activation on time. To their credit, they arrived just as the mysterious blonde had sealed the Jewel Seed, in which the Serial number they could not read from the angle they had.
They could tell that Fate was not alone as the woman from before was right next to her, only she had what appeared to be wolf ears and a tail in the same color scheme as her hair. Her outfit was a skimpy white top and pink short-shorts with a black cape, red belt-like garters, black gloves and black shoes. The outfit made a slight pinkness grace Nanoha's cheeks for 3 reasons: a: it was skimpy, b: it was skimpy, and c: it was skimpy. Let it not be said that the woman didn't have skimpy tastes in clothing. The woman, fittingly enough, noticed them already.
"Ara, ara, ara, ara, ara, ara.." The woman droned out in a not-so-innocent tone that shocked all three of them when they started connecting the dots; though Sonic's surprise was more toned down for some strange reason, "Didn't I tell you earlier to be good little kiddies and stay out of the way?"
"Good little kiddies haven't had to live through what I went through" Sonic shrugged, his hands holding the twin kodachi weapons he honestly could say that were growing on him, "It'll be over 50 years before you can intimidate me, wolf-lady!"
"That Jewel Seed! What are you going to do with it?!" Yuuno questioned the duo, "It's dangerous"
"Ah.. who cares?" the woman shrugged ever so uncaringly, "I don't see any reason to tell you."
"Heh.. I bet you don't even know why you're collecting them" the blue hedgehog had a confident smirk as he tried to get under the wolf-woman's skin a bit, "I'm right, aren't I?"
"Watch it blue boy, all I said was that I don't see any reason to tell you anything that we know. And it'll take even longer than 50 years before I fall for such an unoriginal trick like the one you just tried." Arf countered once more, fully turning to face the trio of Sonic, Nanoha and the Tutorial Ferret, "I think I was being pretty nice when we talked before, wasn't I? You know when I said that if you weren't good kiddies that I'd swallow you whole"
Before their very eyes, Sonic, Nanoha and Yuuno watched as the wolf-lady, Arf, shapeshifted her form. Fur sprouted all over her human form and her hands and feet turned into paws with sharp claws In no time at all she transformed into a huge wolf that had a rather imposing figure and aura about her.
"Well.." Sonic blinked, slowly raising his blades upwards, "Can't say I saw this coming."
"As I thought.." Yuuno said with a serious demeanor, "That woman is a familiar"
"Eh?! Familiar?" Nanoha blinked, staring slightly in awe at the wolf, "Like Sonic-kun?!"
"That's right! I'm a magical beast, created by her. In return for being allowed to live through her magical power, I will protect her with my life!" Arf said as Fate came into view right behind her, "But of course you probably knew that already as you have one of your own, and if that's the only form he has, I'm honestly disappointed."
"Hey! I'm about 10 times cooler of a Familiar than you'll ever be." Sonic countered with a grin, "Why don't you put your yen where your muzzle is?"
"Fate, why don't you go on ahead? I'll be right behind you" Arf took a protective stance in front of her mistress.
"I will…" Fate nodded, "Please don't be reckless."
"Okay!" With that, Arf took a mighty leap and let gravity pull her down, aiming to body slam right on top of the trio and crush them with her large form. Her efforts were halted by a barrier spell conjured up by Sonic the Hedgehog, who was quick to take a defensive tank stance in front of his own mage.
"Oy, Nanoha, why don't you go after the girl?" Sonic said with confidence, "Tutorial Ferret and myself can handle little lassie here!"
"Hai" Nanoha nodded in agreement.
"Do you really think I'll let you?!" Arf asked as she scratched the barrier with her claws, doing some, but not too much damage to the structure.
"You don't get a choice as you're about to go for a little ride!" The hedgehog smirked as he suddenly dismissed the barrier and take the huge wolf by surprise with an instant tackle that had his Super-Peel-Out dash fueling the speed, but also the quick-loop that he sped around Nanoha and the ferret's position that allowed him to set up for that dash-tackle. Needless to say, he sent the wolf, along with himself and Yuuno, who was frankly holding on for dear life on the hedgehog's shoulder, a long ways away from the bridge that Nanoha and Fate stood on.
[No BGM]
"Knowledge of barrier spells and with speed that can complement what he can do" Fate admitted some praise for her rival's familiar, "You have a strong familiar."
"Sonic-kun isn't just a familiar.." Nanoha corrected, holding out her Raising Heart, "He's a close friend and like a little brother to me"
"You're as close to your familiar as I am to my own" the girl noted in some observation, she took more notice to the fact that Nanoha hadn't made her move yet, like she was patiently waiting, "So.. what are you going to do then?"
"Isn't there some way we can talk this over?" Nanoha asked, really reluctant to fight someone she barely knew, even if she was supposedly a rival to her as a mage, "A way we can avoid fighting?"
"My goal is to collect the Lost Logia fragments.. the Jewel Seeds as they're called" Fate shook her head, "And if you share that same goal, then we will be enemies, with the Jewel Seeds at stake."
"That's exactly what I mean!" Nanoha argued, "Isn't there a way that we can just talk this over, reasonably, before we have to do anything drastic like having to fight each other."
"Simply talking.." Fate shook her head, "Words alone won't change anything.. nothing will be transmitted!"
[Nanoha vs Fate / Sonic vs Arf]
[BGM: "Yuzurenai Omoi" Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha OST]
In a huge burst of speed that caught Nanoha completely off-guard, Fate was already behind Nanoha, ready to take a big swing at the girl with Bardiche. Nanoha just barely was able to avoid the attack. Almost immediately, she took to the skies, aided by her Flier Fin spell. It took no time for Fate to pursue the white-clad mage.
"But.. even then.." Nanoha tried to reason more, but Fate cut her off with an ultimatum.
"Put yourself on the line and we'll make a bet" Fate offered; her terms were on the conservative side to start, "One Jewel Seed for the winner."
"Photon Lancer" Bardiche declared in its metallic male voice, "Get set!"
Nanoha, realizing that Fate meant what she said and that there was little more she could do to avoid the inevitable battle, pulled up in her flight to allow Fate to get in front of her. Strategically, it would allow her to ideally keep the blonde within her sights so that she wouldn't be caught by surprise again.
While their mages were out in a clash with one another, the familiars were in a little clash of their own; albeit it was as close of a "clash" as it was a dead-run pursuit of her blue hedgehog opposite number by Arf. The wolf familiar would've been lying if she said that the hedgehog's speed didn't impress her greatly; she'd just prefer that said speed wasn't used to give her a rough time.
"Why don't you stop running!?" the wolf shouted out to the blue hedgehog in his samurai-themed Barrier Jacket, "Make it easier for me to catch you! Wolves are higher on the food chain than hedgehogs and ferrets, but I promise that you'll be seasoned quite well and cooked right before being eaten by such a beautiful wolf like myself."
"Two things!" Sonic shouted back, "One: Only I'm allowed to make ferret jokes with the Tutorial Ferret! Two: Food Chain? Really?! That one's so unoriginal!"
"Your mistress is a mage strong enough to create you, why are you two here?!" Yuuno, safely riding the hedgehog's shoulder, countered with a question, "How do you know about the Jewel Seeds?! Why are you after them!?"
"Shut up!" Arf took a huge leap when she saw the opportunity and clearing to do so. Sonic, who had to stop for a moment to figure out where he could cut through in the forest next, almost got pounced on by Arf; it was only his superior agility and short size that allowed him to just avoid it.
Sonic, able to keep his firm footing from that agile leap, aimed to counterattack with a double-kodachi slash. His attack never made contact as a barrier, generated by Arf's magic, appeared and protected her from the counter. There wasn't much the hedgehog could do about it other than back off. He didn't let up for much long and immediately went back on the offensive with his innovative spindash and sword combo. The barrier still held strong despite the power boost generated from the spindash's momentum and fierce speed. The lack of any real progress or advantage for either familiar put the two of them at a stalemate.
"You're not too bad" Arf said, wincing a bit as she felt a good bit from the force of the hedgehog's improvised attack on her shield spell, "That's the only form I've seen you use, and you make the most of it.. Is that your only form?"
"Beg pardon?" Sonic couldn't help but tilt his head slightly; having the need for answers, he turned to the trusty Yuuno, "Oy.. Tutorial Ferret, elaborate please"
"Hai.." Yuuno said with a slight pause, "What she's referring to is the shapeshifting ability. Almost all familiars have it as they usually gain a humanoid form when they are made. Like you saw with this one, her humanoid form came with the ears and tail leftover from her original form. Though these features can be easily hidden should the need arise."
"I'm surprised that I haven't seen a human form from you" Arf noted, "You should've gotten one when you were made; not that I really care."
"I wasn't made…" Sonic glared at the wolf, "And I don't really care now about other familiars, I wouldn't be caught dead as a human if I can help it. I like my cool, true blue hedgehog self; thank you very much. This was how I was born, and I'll be kicking and screaming before I let anyone try to change it!"
'He still has those trust issues' Yuuno shook his head, 'Although I can't help but wonder why.'
"Ara, ara, ara, aren't we feisty?" Arf grinned toothily; slowly readying herself for another go around, "I like that; you'll really make a good meal, it's always the tough fighters that taste the best."
"Yeah, sorry" Sonic readied himself in a defensive stance, "Hedgehog's not on your menu tonight"
Meanwhile, Nanoha and Fate were trading blows and spells in their own battle. It didn't take long for either of them to start taking things up a notch.
"Thunder Smasher" Bardiche declared as Fate unleashed a powerful torrent of magic in her bombardment spell that looked much similar to Nanoha's Divine Buster, albeit with a more yellowish color to the mana.
"Divine Buster" Raising Heart chimed as Nanoha countered with her own bombardment spell. Hers and Fate's collided in a huge explosion-like clash that seemed to signify the evened out powers put behind the spells.
"Raising Heart, onegai!" Nanoha called out to her device, almost praying that she could pour more power in. Her effort did not go to waste as her bombardment spell's power jumped up quite considerably, and it was well enough for the Buster to overpower Fate's smasher.
When the dust settled from all of that, Fate was nowhere to be seen. While it wouldn't be too unreasonable to assume that she got caught up in the blast, a betting person wouldn't put money on that.
"She's strong…very strong" Arf commented as she and Sonic had halted their fight again at a stalemate to watch the power struggle between their mistresses; the wolf levelled a serious look at her counterpart, "But she, like you, blue boy, is still too innocent."
"Come again?" Sonic blinked and looked up at the sky, only to gape and pale at what he saw, "Oh…NANOHA! HEADS UP!"
"Scythe Slash" If Sonic's loud shout wasn't any indication alone to Nanoha that something was up, Bardiche's mechanical voice from about five feet away certainly was. When she looked, Nanoha found herself on the wrong end of her rival's surprise melee attack from above. There was nothing she could do about it. Aside from float in place in no man's land, she closed her eyes and flinched away from a potential life ending strike
[Battle End]
[No BGM]
That strike never came; Fate stopped her attack just as the tip of her scythe reached Nanoha's neck. Much to Nanoha's obvious surprise and shock, she felt no contact between the Scythe mode Bardiche and her neck, although she could faintly feel the heat of her counterpart's magic tickle her skin slightly. Through the one eye that she didn't have closed, Nanoha could get a close look at Fate's face; the neutral, almost emotionless expression on her face as she could feel the girl gaze stare at her.
"Pull out" Raising Heart chimed out as it released one random Jewel Seed from its storage. One Jewel Seed, as if to honor the terms of the bet that Fate had previously laid down.
"Raising Heart?!" Nanoha was shocked at this and tried to question with her device, "What are you doing?!"
"It's worried about you and it did this to protect you" Fate said as she removed Bardiche from being positioned at her counterpart's neck and allowed the Jewel Seed to fall into her grasp before allowing herself to float down to the ground. Once she did so, she called out to her familiar, "Arf, we're going home"
"I expected nothing less from my dear, lovely master!" Definitely not one to disregard an order from her lovely master, Arf shapeshifted back to her humanoid form, "Cute little girl, blue boy, ja ne~!"
"Matte!" Nanoha called out to the blonde as soon as she herself touched down, trying to give chase with Sonic and Yuuno in tow, but with little intentions of getting in another fight.
"If either of you can help it, never appear before us again." Fate, with her back turned, still stopped to talk to her counterpart, if only for that stern warning, "I may not be able to stop myself next time."
"Your name.." Nanoha called to her again, "What's your name?"
"Fate.." the girl answered softly, "Fate Testarossa.."
"Um.. I'm.." Before Nanoha could finish her statement, Fate had already taken flight and left the area.
Arf was soon to follow her, but before she did so, she sent a cute, teasing wink in the direction of the trio of rivals, "Bye bye~!"
For the second time, Nanoha and Sonic had to swallow another bad result from a confrontation with Fate and Arf. This time they lost a Jewel Seed of their own; though at least they knew the names of who they were dealing with.
The trek back to the Uminari City Hot Springs complex was a long and quiet one. When they got back, to little surprise, they found that Nanoha's parents had waited up for them. There wasn't much said, as Nanoha was not only too tired, she wasn't also in the talking mood. With a promise made to recap their night battle in the morning, Nanoha, Sonic and Yuuno went to the room they had shared with Alisa and Suzuka. The mentioned girls had also waited up for their friends, as it didn't take long for them to notice their absence as evidenced in the empty futons. They said nothing however and let the three go to bed peacefully. Though Nanoha, Sonic and Yuuno were able to finally get to sleep; they wouldn't be able to get much rest at all.
[Ending: "Little Wish ~Lyrical Step" Yukari Tamura]
[End of Chapter 7]
Author's notes: Well to add to that consolation. All of that happened on the first day; so the days for their stay at the spa would do some good to help them put that behind them. Anyways, the spa scene would've been my favorite if not for the Nanoha/Sonic vs Fate/Arf battle. We don't really know Fate's motifs for all of this and before we start thinking of her as your prototypical enemy, she isn't. Neither she nor Arf are really "evil" in a sense, they're just on opposite sides and after the same thing. Anyways! Reviews please! Constructive criticism please! Comments please! I'd love for some opinions