SonicANIME2010 here, bringing in another chapter to Lyrical Familiar. Apologies for the long wait, I've been in SoCal for the past week or so, and I have been a bit too busy to get things going with fishing and seeing the 2nd game of the Freeway Series between the Dodgers and Angels at Dodger stadium. It was loud but otherwise fun; saw the Dodgers win on a walk-off E-5 (3rd baseman) which I felt should've been E-2 (catcher) because the throw should've been caught. At any rate, this opening note is not for Baseball talk; let's get on with the story. I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or characters of his franchise, and I don't own characters from the Lyrical Nanoha series either. They belong to Sonic Team and Seven Arcs respectively. Granted that note was probably obvious, but legal peoples make me put the note out there anyways. Let's go.
[Uminari City, Japan]
[Urban District – Inside a barrier]
[Local Date/Time: April 26th, PM 20:27 (appx 8:27 pm)]
[BGM: "Ketsudan no Toki" Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha OST]
The Jewel Seed, with its serial number shown with the Roman Numerals "XIV" in red text, floated in the middle of Nanoha and Fate. It glimmered brightly, as if almost to tease the girls into capturing it. The girls rushed for it, only to meet up at the same time and clash their devices together; with said Jewel Seed in the middle. Their respective familiars, Sonic and Arf, along with the ferret archeologist mage, Yuuno Scrya, stopped and stared at the clash. None of the trio had any clue as to what could've happened, but they all had the sudden sense of foreboding.
Sure enough, the chain reaction from both magical girls' devices clashing, adding to the own power of the Jewel Seed, mixed for a very dangerous eruption. An explosive burst that had both girls caught right up in the middle of it.
The girls screamed out loud as they were engulfed. Although it wasn't a pained scream per say and there didn't appear to be too much damage to their bodies; the same could not be said about their devices. Cracks appeared on the overall frame of Bardiche and Raising Heart.
"Fate!" Arf shouted out in grave concern for her mistress, she set herself in a position to be easily able to jump to the girls' aid should it be needed.
"Nanoha!" Sonic and Yuuno equally shouted in concern of the latter girl.
The resulting explosion added a huge burst of light and a shockwave that sent both Fate and Nanoha out and away from where they clashed.
[Opening: "Innocent Starter" Nana Mizuki]
Sonic the Hedgehog: Lyrical Familiar
Chapter 9
More Mages?! A mysterious authority; are they friend or foe?!
[Uminari City, Japan]
[Urban District, inside a barrier]
[No BGM]
Both girls were thrown to opposite ends of the radius from that explosion. Fate, though was off balance in doing so, somehow managed to stabilize her flight into a hover. Arf, her wolf familiar, was standing by just in case she needed help.
As for Nanoha, she wasn't nearly as graceful in her fall. Sprawling and off-balance in her descent downward, she was barely able to catch herself in a stable flight. Thankfully, she found aid in two small gloved hands pressed against her back softly. Sonic, with all of his speed and easily being able to play pepper with the sound barrier with it, caught his mage with care to keep her from any embarrassing meetings with the ground.
"Arigatou, Sonic-kun" the girl thanked said familiar. Though it was arguable that she would've been just able to catch herself in time, the effort was certainly appreciated.
"No problem." The young hedgehog replied with a modest shrug, "It's what I'm here for, aside from my quick wit."
Meanwhile, with Fate, aside from maybe a mark or two from her previous battle with Nanoha, was unharmed for the most part. The same could not be said for her device, which took a huge hit from that explosive clash and was scratched up, but otherwise appeared active."
"Daijobu, Bardiche?" the girl asked, upon receiving a faint glimmer of acknowledgement, she felt it appropriate for her to dismiss the active mode and allow said device to repair itself, "Mode Release to your standby form, please."
"Yes sir!" although the response was scratchy and full of static due to the damage, it still was coherent. Within an instant, the device released its active mode and shifted to the yellow triangle that was its standby form. The girl, somewhat regretful that she put her trusted device through all of the damage, placed it in an open slot on her glove.
Meanwhile, the Jewel Seed was still floating there, but its glimmer was still there and worse enough, it was dangerously brighter. The chain reaction from the combined powers that came from the two mage's clash over the Seed and the Jewel Seed's own power must have overloaded it. Fate, realizing this, and feeling that she had little options left, rushed straight for the Jewel Seed with her right hand outstretched.
"Fate!" Arf, as if able to deduce what her mistress was thinking at the moment, shouted after her to try to get her to stop.
Said shout got the attention of Sonic, Yuuno and Nanoha, the former two were too busy looking over the latter's condition to be able to do anything to stop the blonde until it was far too late and the girl had the Jewel Seed in her grasp. Her hands shook hard and almost violently in reaction to the overload of power that the Seed was giving off.
"Okay, for the 64,000 yen question" Sonic asked, almost cynically, but was very much serious in doing so, "What in the world is that girl doing?!"
"It looks like she's trying to stabilize the Jewel Seed's power" Yuuno briefly explained, "That could kill her if it doesn't work right!"
"Fate! Stop!" Arf, although in vain futility, tried to get the girl to stop, "It's too dangerous!"
'Stop!' Fate repeatedly shouted in her thoughts as she used her magic to try and stabilize the overflowing power from the Jewel Seed, which would allow it to be sealed safely. It nearly drained her of the energy she had, but the reaction calmed down after the energy engulfed her for a moment.
In the end result, Fate was tired and her Barrier Jacket was damaged for the most part, but she was able to seal the Seed. Struggling to get up and let alone stand on her own feet, the girl wobbled to and fro.
"Fate!" Arf rushed hard and fast for her mistress, able to quickly shift forms to her human form to take advantage of the taller body's long stride. She quickly embraced her mistress and caught her to keep her from falling to the ground.
There was a brief moment of silence until the familiar heard some noises of movement. Upon noticing the noises of movement from behind her, the wolf-familiar turned her head and glared at the trio of Nanoha, Fate and Sonic. It was an angry type of glare, but nothing of the malicious sort. Instead, this was the look of mother bear that was ready to raise her claws on anyone that would seek to harm her cub, or in this case, her mistress Fate.
"Whoa! Parley! Truce! Cease fire! White flag?" Sonic quickly took a step back, and futilely said whatever he could think of to calm the storm while Nanoha took a small step backwards, intimidated by that protective glare. The hedgehog did not stop there and almost stepped into ridiculous means, "Armistice? Red light? Yellow card? Wait a minute that last one wasn't right."
"Sonic, you're not helping." Yuuno, evidently not in the mood, sent to the hedgehog in annoyance. The ferret had a serious glare, but it was aimed at Arf and Fate, he did not approve of the latter girl's choice of methods in the first place, but the latest was extremely dangerous.
Arf merely sighed and remained silent until she stood up and readied herself for a big leap. Before doing so, she called back to the trio, "Don't follow us!"
Before the trio could even answer the wolf-woman's demand; she was up on the urban district rooftops and well out of sight. The situation was quickly defused from there into silence. The damage to the overall area was extensive and Yuuno's barrier was about to run out. Needless to say, the best course of action, which was to retreat back home, was taken with little argument.
[Residential District, Takamachi Residence]
[Local time: PM 21:15 (appx 9:17 pm)]
[No BGM]
After the trio returned home, they informed Nanoha's family of their recent development and clash with Fate. Though it was regrettable that they were unable to claim the Jewel Seed, Nanoha was still, for the most part, unharmed, which gave relief to her family.
After dinner was finished, while Nanoha was taking a shower and getting her pajamas on for bed, Yuuno and Sonic were busy in the girl's room, though instead of raiding the girl's panty drawer like some young boys of that age would; they were observing Raising Heart's condition.
"How's it looking?" the blue hedgehog asked
"Raising Heart's a very durable device, so it can take a lot of punishment" the ferret said as he stared hard over the device, "But still, for it to take this much damage in one impact?"
"You don't think it was just from their little clash" Sonic speculated, "I thought I saw some magic sparks between the two there. Although my attention was also on Ms. Lassie"
"No, even if their powers did clash, it wouldn't be enough to cause this much damage on its own" Yuuno shook his head, "It had to have been the Jewel Seed's power."
"How powerful are these things?" the blue hedgehog couldn't help but ask, "They have to be pretty powerful to get this much attention."
"Powerful enough to cause the damage we saw tonight, that's for sure. Although this probably isn't your first encounter with powerful jewels" The ferret gave the blue hedgehog a questioning glance; with the absence of Nanoha, he felt it appropriate to bring up a topic with Sonic, "What are these "Chaos Emeralds" you mentioned to Nanoha?"
"I only mentioned those to her once and that was during your own lecture of the Jewel Seeds" Sonic, visibly annoyed at the Tutorial Ferret, countered the question and glare with one of his own, "How much did you hear?"
"6 jewels confirmed with a seventh rumored." Yuuno, with an almost photographic memory to match his young talent and intellect in archeology, "Evidently they're from the South Island archipelago where you coincidentally came from. There had been no mention of these jewels in the news reports. So the only way for you to know about these would be firsthand experience, am I right?"
"Maybe I know of them, maybe I don't. I don't think it matters" Sonic glared at the ferret, feeling the need to be defensive as this was starting to look like a stereotypical interrogation, "So why should it matter to you? Why do you want to know?"
"The Jewel Seeds are dangerous enough" the ferret argued, not one to back down until he attained the truth from the blue hedgehog this time, "And if by chance they end up near your islands, if their power mixes with these other emeralds, it could mean devastating results."
"Well then you have nothing to worry about. The emeralds aren't here" the hedgehog said, not willing to divulge too much information, "So chill out."
"Really?" Yuuno found his patience pushed to the limit with the uncooperative hedgehog familiar. He was too worked up to notice some movement behind him such as a door opening, "How am I supposed to take your word for that? You've been avoiding every chance to talk about your past up until this point, so- ugh!"
The Tutorial Ferret's statement was cut short when he was blindsided by what appeared to be a small cookie. From the doorway, Nanoha stood in her pajamas with her left hand extended. She was carrying a tray that had two glasses of milk and two piles of cookies organized on it for a before bed snack. She might have just thrown one of the cookies she had, but she didn't care for that at the moment. She calmly set the tray down on her desk before giving both ferret and her hedgehog familiar to a very serious glare that held concern and some annoyance in her expression.
"Two things" the girl said sternly after making sure she commanded their attention, "One: No arguing in my room. Two: I thought I made it clear that Sonic-kun's past was off limits until he felt comfortable with talking about it."
"Why are you taking his side on this?" Yuuno asked the girl, "You know he mentioned these "Chaos Emeralds" to you and they had to have been important otherwise he wouldn't have mentioned them. Why are you allowed to hear these things from him while I'm apparently not?"
"Because- Mmmph!" the blue hedgehog started to say, but found his mouth quickly silenced by Nanoha's palm. Sonic was visibly annoyed by his mistress's action as he felt he could've held his own. The temptation to stick his tongue out and lick the girl's hand did cross his mind; but then again; so did the serious look that the girl had sent to her familiar clearly requesting to let her to handle it. Not one to be ungrateful for the effort taken for him, Sonic kept his mouth shut for once.
"He doesn't trust you enough yet; and interrogating him on this isn't going to help him trust you " Nanoha, not one to back down in defense of her familiar, answered, "I don't think he was lying when he said we're safe from the emeralds, and that should be good enough for you too. We have other things to worry about right now"
For that moment there was a silence and it made Yuuno rethink how he regarded the blue hedgehog and his past. He had really given Sonic no reason to trust him while Nanoha had earned his trust by reaching out to him and saving his life. If he was going to get Sonic to open up about his view, he'd have to become his friend like Nanoha did.
"You're right.." Yuuno let out a defeated sigh; he really felt like a jerk, and he frankly was a few minutes ago. He had let his own frustrations affect his attitude and it rightfully rubbed Sonic the wrong way, "Sorry about that, Sonic.."
"It's fine. I'm not exactly too happy about letting those two get away with another Seed either." The blue hedgehog shook his head then gazed at Raising Heart, "This little thing has seen better days"
"Will Raising Heart be okay?" Nanoha, feeling concern for her trusted device, asked.
"It took extensive damage from that impact, but it'll be fine" Yuuno answered, "It has an automated regeneration system working. So it should be back to perfect condition by tomorrow."
"Wait.. These devices can regenerate?" the hedgehog just stared for a moment, "As in repair themselves? Automatically? Wish I could do that"
"The wonders of magical technology" Yuuno had another one of those rare moments where he could have some fun at the hedgehog. But instead of relishing it like he knew the hedgehog would, he decided to come up with an offer that could help his standing with Sonic, "However, I can teach you and Nanoha through extension, a few healing spells I know."
"That would be helpful" Sonic grinned, knowing that Yuuno made that offer just to play kiss up, but was going to give him the chance to do it anyway as he was starting to like the ferret, if only because he was able to have some fun with him, usually at said ferret's expense, "Never know when we're going to be in a pinch where our trusty Tutorial Ferret can't help us out of."
"At any rate" Yuuno diverted his attention to Nanoha, "How are you holding up, Nanoha?"
"I'm fine…. Because Raising Heart protected me" the girl stared down at the device, unable to restrict the feelings of regret that she had for letting Raising Heart take that much damage at once, "Gomen, Raising Heart."
The device did not respond to its master vocally; however it did flicker pink for a moment.
[Local Date/Time: Same time, same day]
[Uminari City, Residential district]
[Fate Testarossa's Apartment]
[No BGM]
For Fate, while her risky method of calming the energy of the Jewel Seed had worked; it did not come without consequence or injury to her own body. In this case, her hands suffered serious burns from directly holding the seed in her grasp. She sat there on the couch in her apartment room, clad in her Barrier Jacket but had her gloves off so her hands could be tended to by Arf.
Cautiously, but with no need of assistance, probably as this wasn't the first time she's done this, the wolf familiar sprayed some antiseptic on the burned right palm. Taking a peek at her master's face before continuing on, she noticed that the girl had a neutral expression, not one full of too much emotion. Arf was starting to apply the medical gauze and tape to finish up the burn bandage when she heard and felt her mistress wince and flinch her hand.
"Gomen Fate" The wolf familiar apologized, "We're almost done"
"I'm fine" Fate calmly and softly assured her familiar with a glance and a small smile, "Arigatou, Arf. I have to report back to kaa-san on my current status, so I'll have to get better. If I went home in this condition, she'll be worried for sure, right?"
"Right… that woman would worry about you" Arf looked away slightly from Fate. Her face and expression was full of skepticism and deep down in her mind; even further than Fate could read, she had a lingering thought of, 'As if!'
"Kaa-san is just a little awkward after all" Fate said, softly and honestly, as if that was how she felt about her, "I can tell, deep down how she really feels towards me."
"If it's just to deliver a report" Arf, having that same feeling of foreboding she had whenever it was time to make a progress report home, "It would be fine if I could go alone."
[BGM Insert: "Daijoubu da yo" Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha OST]
"Kaa-san never really did listen to what you had to say, did she?" Fate asked, though she knew the answer anyway. She waited for her familiar to stand up and sit straight down on the couch before she softly stroked the wolf-woman's head with her bandaged hand, "Even though you're such a kind, good girl.."
"W-well… I'm sure tomorrow will turn out fine. I mean, in the small amount of time we've been here, we've already captured four Lost Logia.. Er Jewel Seeds. She should be completely full of praise for you since there's no reason for her to be angry, right?" Arf blurted out rapidly, but clearly; as if she was trying to convince herself of what she was saying before convincing her own mistress of it. Although, deep down, that foreboding feeling remained, and it worsened for her in fact and it put her in something of an internal battle, 'Who am I kidding?! I know how this is going to end already.'
"Yeah" Fate, oblivious to the inner turmoil of thoughts, agreed to the familiar's reasoning, "You're right."
[Uminari City, Japan]
[Residential District, Takamachi Residence]
[April 27th, AM 06:15 (6:15 am)]
[No BGM]
The sun had barely started to rise on this early spring morning as Miyuki and Sonic had ended their routine morning jogging route at the dojo. This was an everyday thing for the girl and hedgehog and it had started a few days after Sonic agreed to train under her in her family's style.
The two were dressed fitting for an exercise; although Sonic was only in his trademark shoes and gloves. As for Miyuki, while her glasses certainly can give her that bookworm look; they did little justice. During her workouts and training sessions, she would take them off, tie her hair back with a bow and don an outfit of jogging pants and shirt. In doing so, she showed to be well more than just the pretty face as she had a very athletic and slim figure, definitely one that could attract the gaze of a fair amount of male and female interest.
"Ah! Nothing like a quick, easy jog to get you pumped up for training" the girl said as she caught her breath and stretched her arms quite a bit to loosen up for more, "Good job, Sonic-kun"
"Nothing to it" Sonic shrugged, not feeling winded or tired in the slightest, but had a lot of adrenaline built up from the jog, "So, "sensei", what are we working on today?"
"I was actually thinking about working on your defenses, now that you mention it." The older sister of Nanoha giggled a bit on the mischievous side, since her pupil had decided to address her so teasingly about their teacher/pupil status. She knew that he'd listen and absorb whatever she could teach him about her style and apply it appropriately, but she wouldn't pass up the chance to give her pupil some karma for the snarky attitude, "I hope you're ready"
"Sure, sure, I'm ready" the hedgehog nodded bravely, "and busted."
The teen giggled a bit before opening the sliding door into the dojo. Inside it was spacious and well lit, and not just with the windows on the side walls that let part of the sunlight, minus most of the glare, in. There were wooden training swords alongside one of the walls. The sizes ranged from the short blade kodachi to the long blade katana, but for Sonic and Miyuki, their weapons of training were the twin kodachi. While it wasn't uncommon for some of the other family members to join in on the training, it came to Miyuki's surprise when she saw Nanoha leaning against the wall.
"Ara?" the older sibling blinked and addressed the pig-tailed girl, "Nanoha"
"Ah, onee-chan" Nanoha stood up and equally addressed her sister and familiar in return, "Sonic-kun."
"You sure are up early" Miyuki observed, "What's up?"
"Well.." the girl let out a sheepish giggle, "My eyes just felt like opening this early, I guess."
"I see…" If there was one trait Miyuki had that fitted her elder sibling status, it was her ability to note how honest her younger sibling was with her. In the current case, wasn't so easily fooled. She had a feeling that, after what she was told about last night's events, that Nanoha didn't just randomly wake up at 6 in the morning, but she let the girl say her piece.
"Ano.." Nanoha looked around to see if there was anyone behind the two, "Where's onii-chan?"
"He's out long distance running with otou-san this morning" Miyuki explained as walked over to the wooden blade stands and grabbed a pair of her usual twin kodachi and set them aside before skillfully tossing her hedgehog pupil another pair, "Catch."
"Got them" Sonic caught them easily without letting the blades touch the ground. He twirled them around for a bit before settling into a relaxed standing position, "Ready"
"Ano…" Nanoha softly interjected between the two, having a rather serious request to make, "If it doesn't bother you two… would it be alright if I watched?"
"Well.." Miyuki chuckled a bit, "I don't think it'll be all that interesting to watch."
"Awe come on; she must've known you were going to kick my butt and probably wanted to watch" the hedgehog grinned teasingly sending those looks to Nanoha and her sister, "My cruel master would just love to see her familiar get his tail royally kicked.."
"Mou…" Nanoha pouted, knowing full well that Sonic was messing with her and not even she was exempt from his snarky attitude, "Sonic-kun, you meanie."
"Well, if that's the case, then I can't disappoint her" skillfully and without pause, Miyuki flipped one of her kodachi blades then gripped the blade firmly, "You can watch if you want"
"Okay! Nanoha happily chirped, "Arigatou!"
[BGM Insert: "Star Light Zone" Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)]
Seated on the wood floor on her knees, Nanoha watched carefully as Miyuki and Sonic warmed up their sword training routine with some practice swipes. Miyuki would take a few clean, swift strikes at the air and then would watch as Sonic tried the same thing with almost the same precision. The purpose of this exchange was not to practice the hedgehog's speed of his swings as his own speed wouldn't make that an issue. It was his balance and momentum that needed the work.
From Nanoha's perspective, it was the first time that she was able to watch how the morning training for her familiar's swordplay turned out. So far, albeit with the small amount of time, she actually found it interesting. It was more than just sword strikes, there was a bit of finesse and fluidity in the art, and she saw Miyuki almost drill that in as she instructed. It didn't take long for her sister to turn on Sonic and start working on his defenses and guarding skills and it was during that time that Yuuno woke up and contacted the two via the mindspeak
"Nanoha? Sonic?" The aforementioned Tutorial Ferret sounded like he was just about waking up as well when he called the two, "Is there something wrong? You both are up early"
"The hedgehog you are trying to reach is unavailable. Please leave a message after the tone" Sonic answered, and he probably would've been mentally cheering for victory had he not been busy fending off Miyuki. Heck he even left his own beep tone, "Beep!"
"What Sonic meant to say is that he's in the middle of the morning training with Miyuki-onee-chan" Nanoha, who had almost thought about asking Yuuno if it was possible to have an answering machine in a mindspeak conversation, but then remembered who her familiar was and declined to ask, "And I just woke up this early, that's all."
"I see" the ferret found the hedgehog's answering machine impression somewhat cute if not a bit on the entertaining side, "Any reason why you woke up early?"
"Well, actually; I've been doing a lot of thinking lately" Nanoha confessed one reason rather quickly. Noting that the only two she knew were still listening in, though with Sonic busy getting his tail handed to him on the pretext of defensive techniques; which while the girl found humorous, knew she wouldn't get his input until later, "It's about that girl… Fate-chan, I'm really curious about her."
"Curious?" Yuuno asked her. Sonic would've asked something as well if he wasn't too busy blocking another practice swipe form Miyuki.
"She's so strong…And even though she seem so cold… she has such kind, beautiful eyes" Nanoha clarified with the two of her meaning over the mindspeak; she had received silence on both ends. Little surprise to her, she probably gave Yuuno a lot to recall, while Sonic almost got his tail whacked by a wooden sword, "Yet, for some reason… she looks incredibly sad.. Almost like she's lonely."
Nanoha's internal observations about Fate brought about conflicting feelings between the ferret and her familiar. Sonic had a similar feeling that she had about the two, and if Nanoha could guess, she'd say it came from fighting the wolf-woman familiar, Arf. She didn't know much about the magic and familiars, but if Arf and Fate had any emotional bond similar to hers and Sonic's, she'd guess that Arf could feel that loneliness from Fate. But she'd have to wait until the morning training concluded before she could get that confirmation from Sonic.
As for Yuuno, he couldn't tell what to think, on one hand, he disagreed with how brutal and borderline reckless Arf and Fate were with how they went about the Jewel Seeds. On the other hand, however, he wasn't one to talk either as he had jeopardized the lives of two civilians from a world that shouldn't have been involved in the first place. Were it not for Nanoha making Sonic her familiar, he would've died and Yuuno would've had that on his conscious. He still refuses to allow himself to get over it despite the efforts by the hedgehog and girl to help him. His internal musings were halted again as Nanoha continued her thoughts.
"I really believe she has a reason for doing all of this. Her reason for collecting the Jewel Seeds…" Nanoha sounded so sincere, and at the same time, full or resolve as she continued, "I want to talk to her.. So.. In order to do that, I'm going to…"
Her thoughts trailed off as she saw Miyuki continually strike against Sonic. The hedgehog, for the most part, was able to deflect the majority of her practice strikes. She saw that he had a tough time doing so as Miyuki kept a firm momentum and rhythm in her approach. But there was something about Miyuki's final strike that made the younger sister stop her chain of thought altogether. Something that she hadn't seen until she saw it from the side view; and that was the expression on Miyuki's face.
[Uminari City, Japan]
[Residential District, Rooftop of Fate Testarossa's Apartment]
[Local date/time: Same day, AM 08:17 (appx 8:17 am)]
[No BGM]
Meanwhile, for Arf, her internal chain of thoughts continued as she waited for her mistress, who had apparently went out for a quick stop for a souvenir before returning home. Despite the thought conflicts, she was able to agree that she couldn't leave things the way they were. Though, on that note, what could she do?Who could she turn to for help? The ideas about her newest rivals crossed her mind before she could stop herself.
'That other girl; she was so innocent, but could she have meant what she said earlier? I can't just go out and talk to her directly yet. I need another opinion. The ferret seems like the type to annoy me with a lecture. But, what about that blue one? I know that he's her familiar, but what's his own stake in this? Wait… why am I even considering them?!' Arf finally stopped herself from going any further. If her master caught any hint of these thoughts, she might feel betrayed if her familiar went to seek aid from the other side. Although that thought brought about another thought, was it really betrayal if what she did turns out to save her master's life? She didn't get any further though, as she took notice of her master finally showing up on the rooftop.
"Ah! Fate!" she took notice of the small box of sweets that was in the girl's hands, "What would this be?"
"Souvenirs" Fate, oblivious to her familiar's conflicting thoughts again, answered softly and kindly, "I thought kaa-san might like them."
"Sweet candies, huh?" the wolf woman held up the box in one hand so she could use the light from the sun to see the shadows of the contents through the box, "Would these really make that woman happy?"
"I don't know, but it's the thought that counts for this kind of thing" Fate was unsure of her actions herself, but sounded confident enough to go through with it, "ne?"
"I guess.." Arf sighed, knowing she couldn't talk her master out of this, 'I'll leave it up to chance this last time. If it doesn't work, I may have no choice.'
"Dimensional Transfer for two; dimensional coordinates: 876C-4419-3312-D699-3583-A1460-779-F3125." The blonde declared, clearly and coherently without a trace of emotion, knowing that any slip of the coordinates would be troublesome. As she did so, her yellow magic circle appeared to surround a small diameter just big enough for herself and Arf, "Open, O Door of Invitation to the Garden of Time! Take us to the household of the Testarossa family!"
Within a matter of seconds, the magic flared up in response to the girl's spell declaration and request. The two were engulfed in a yellow flash of light before they were quickly whisked away in the magical transportation spell.
Whether it was the burst of magic, or the clouds that engulfed the mid-morning sun, Nanoha paused in her trek to school as if she noticed of something happening. At the same time, Sonic, who was cleaning himself up of the sweat he built up from training in the shower, and Yuuno; who was busy watching the morning news report, both paused as if noticing the same thing. Despite that, the trio didn't dwell on the feelings.
[Within Dimensional-Time-Space]
[Time-Space Administration Inter-Dimensional Cruise Patrol Warship "Asura"]
[Local date/time (following Earth's clock): Same day and time]
[BGM: "Gin no Tsubasa ~Asura" Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha OST]
Deep within the reaches of space a silver, medium-sized ship flew. The overall layout was similar to that of a cruiser spacecraft, only it had a large wingspan which resembled two tips of a spear with a gap in the middle, like a pitchfork without the middle point. The ship was armed with weaponry appropriate to its title, but for cruising purposes all were inactive. The ship flew at a speed similar to what some may call light or warp speed, regardless, the speed was appropriate to cover large distances of space in such short time.
In the cockpit area of this patrol warship, several uniformed officers manned a few of the controls or heads-up-display information. As these individuals worked, they were soon joined by another.
This woman appeared young, but not too much so at around 31. She had long light-bluish hair with a touch of green, tied up in a long ponytail that hung from the top of her head to almost the small of her back. She had a lovely, fit figure that would've been any sort of clue as to how well she takes care of herself. Her uniform consisted of long, white pants, dark-bluish heeled boots that were matched by the long, official coat that had either a badge or insignia on the left forearm. She was certainly not dressed casually as the necktie on the collared shirt of her uniform was of any indication.
"What's our status people?" The woman asked in an almost motherly tone that could only add to her aura of authority and experience, "Are we still on the proper heading this time?"
"Hai, ma'am." One male glasses-wearing uniformed officer answered without missing a beat, "Presently we're cruising at a constant level three nautical velocity and we should be arriving at the target destination within 160 vecs."
"There hasn't been any movement to note since the relatively small-scale dimensional disturbance" the other male tech answered, "However, there's still an extraordinarily high chance of those two individuals clashing again."
"Well" the woman calmly sat down on her desk chair, "Is that so?"
"Excuse me, Captain Lindy" a young, appx 16 year old, girl with short brown hair and clad in a similar, if not female variant, of the other uniforms, "Your tea is ready."
"Arigatou, Amy" the woman, Lindy Harlaown, Captain of the Asura and an Admiral from the Time-Space Administration, thanked her youthful assistant and took her tea, "Even though this last one was on a small scale, the fact that these dimensional disturbances are occurring at all are troublesome. Especially on the worlds like our destination, where we hold no official presence"
"If I may, Captain; if another one of these disturbances happen, we'll just have to make sure we're right there" a 14 year old boy with dark-bluish hair, clad in a dark-blue and black attire with spikes on the shoulders offered. The boy was identified as Enforcer Chrono Harlaown, who just happened to be the captain's only son. The young teen's tone did little to conceal any confidence he held as he held up what appeared to be a card, "After all, that's why I'm here in the first place, is it not?"
"You are correct there, Chrono" the admiral nodded and countered with a confident expression of her own, surprising her son greatly when she held up a card of her own, "But don't assume that I'll be letting you go out there on your own and take all of the fun away from me."
"Yes, ma'am" the boy sighed in defeat, silently hoping his own mother would keep it professional enough not to embarrass him out in the field.
[High Dimensional Time Space]
["Garden of Time"]
[BGM: "Chi no bakukusari" Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha OST]
The actual Garden of Time would've probably been a misnomer if one were to look at it up close. It looked nothing like any garden one would find. It was a small, asteroid-like structure hidden well in the outskirts of the Dimensional Space, well beyond the range of any sensor. It was this place that served as the "home" of Fate Testarossa along with her mother and familiar.
Though there was little noise from the halls of this place, for Arf, though, there were two only noises that she dreaded to hear. The first sound was that of a whip making sharp and painful contact on something, or someone; the second noise was a young girl's cries of pain. Those were the noises that she heard now, and dreaded them because they were the cries of her own master; whipped in punishment by her own mother.
Inside of the main room, Fate was held in place by binds of darkish purple magic. The bindings held her wrists and made her spread her arms out wide while her feet dangled pitifully. She was held in the center, while ahead of her was a throne, in which a woman stood.
This woman had long graying purplish hair that just flowed with no restraint. She was tall and, despite being at the ripe old age of 54, looked pretty well fit. Her outfit, despite being a longish dress-like robe and matching cloak, had gaps in the hips, chest and belly area to display some of the exposed skin. In the woman's hand was a device that had a purplish magic generated whip.
"Only four?" the woman admonished darkly, lashing at poor Fate with two more strikes of her whip, "I'm truly disappointed in you."
"H-hai.." Fate nodded weakly, just submissively taking the punishment with not even a thought of fighting back. This must have gone on for a while already, as the poor girl's Barrier Jacket showed cuts in where the whip had struck her. Her gaze was downward and she appeared apologetic, "Gomen-nasai… kaa-san."
"Do you understand, Fate? You are my daughter; the sole offspring of the Great Mage Precia Testarossa" the woman, identified as Precia Testarossa, slowly approached her magic bound daughter. The whip in her right hand shifted forms to a long, tall staff. When she was within arms' reach, the woman lifted the girl's chin up to gaze into her face, "Nothing is impossible for us; no matter what it may be. Yes… we must complete everything we begin, in all respects."
"Hai.." Fate said submissively in acknowledgement; knowing that she had crossed her mother again.
"You've made me wait longer, only for these meager results.." Precia continued to almost lecture darkly; thoroughly upset with her daughter's performance, "I cannot welcome you back home with a smile, even if you wasted time to bring me a gift. I trust that you understand, Fate."
"H-hai.." Fate softly acknowledged again, "I understand."
"That's why…that's why I want you to remember" Precia said as she let go of the girl's chin, "So that you may never disappoint me again."
It took less than a second for the staff in Precia's right hand to transform back into the whip, but it took even less than that for Fate to react. Gasping in fear, the poor girl shut her eyes tight and waited for the inevitable blows that were to follow.
The whipping noise and Fate's screams resumed, only far quicker and Arf, who was helpless to do anything about it, could only press her hands firmly against her wolfish ears. Sadly, her efforts were in vain, and she had to endure the painfully horrible noises that came from that throne room; the noises that were like hell for the Familiar to listen to.
"What the hell?! What the hell is wrong with her?! That woman is too cruel" Arf, who knew full well that this was the norm of what would happen when she and Fate had to return home for progress reports, found even her own tolerance thinning and she bolted to the opposite end of the hall, and placed her hands against the closed door.
'That woman! She claims to be Fate's mother… this is far from the first time she's been cruel to Fate, but… It's just too much this time! What the hell is wrong with her?! Are the Lost Logia… the Jewel seeds, worth all of this?!' Arf screamed in her thoughts as she used that large door to support her hands, despite not feeling even a fraction of Fate's physical pain, 'Moreover... what the hell is wrong with me?! I'm supposed to be Fate's familiar, and I'm allowing this to happen to her!'
There was a pause in the whipping noise and that took the wolf woman out of her thoughts for a brief moment to listen in on what Precia had to say this time.
"The Lost Logia are essential to the fruition of my dreams." The woman informed Fate
"Hai, kaa-san" the girl acknowledged.
"They're essential to everything. The purity of the Jewel Seeds goes far beyond any other substance" The woman continued, "You're a kind girl, so you may hesitate when trying to collect them, but… if something gets in your way, destroy it; through any means necessary! You have the power to do so within you."
Feeling that her message was conveyed and the appropriate punishment was dealt, Precia shifted her whip back to its staff form and dismissed the bindings on her daughter's wrists. Knowing that the girl was awake despite the limp way she landed on the ground, the woman made her final order.
"Now go, bring me the Jewel Seeds, my daughter!" Precia declared her order to be final, "My charming, kawaii, Fate."
"H-hai…" despite all of the pain from the deep lashings and her body almost practically shouting at her to stop, Fate managed to get on her knees and elbows in a pitiful kneeling stance, "I'll be going then.. kaa-san.."
"I shall rest for a while" the woman declared as she turned her back on the girl, "Next time, be sure to delight me with your offerings."
"Hai…" Fate acknowledged softly and silently watched her mother leave the throne room. She took one moment to gaze in the direction of her mother's throne chair.
On the table next to that throne was the box of delicious sweets, the ones she bought earlier that morning before leaving. In spite of her thoughts, that box was still there, untouched, as if it wasn't even a passing thought in her mother's mind. Hoping that maybe her mother would come back for them later, Fate turned to leave the room herself.
[BGM Insert: "Kizuna, shinjite" Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha OST]
Arf had finally started to figure out what her next move was when she saw her master "walk" out of the throne room. The poor girl looked even worse than what her screams earlier could indicate. She barely walked without a noticeable limp and she had fresh marks, cuts and lacerations almost everywhere on her body. With all of what happened, it was a wonder that she was even able to stay conscious!
"Fate!" the wolf woman nearly sprinted to intercept her master in stride, stopping her before she could tax her body even more from walking, "Gomen! Are you alright?!"
"Why.. why are you apologizing, Arf…?" Fate softly asked her familiar, "I'm.. perfectly fine… really"
"But… if I had known something like this would happen; even after you got what she wanted, I never thought she'd do something this cruel to you…!" Arf said to her, finally speaking a majority of her mind, "If I had known, I would've stopped you, no matter what!"
"It wasn't cruel…" Fate softly said with a small smile, "Kaa-san was thinking of me when she did this."
"Yeah, right!" Arf almost scoffed at that, "That was cruel and unusual punishment!"
"Iie.." Fate softly countered, "After all, we're mother and daughter… I'm sure the Jewel Seeds are really important to kaa-san. She was always full of sadness, and I wanted to do something that would help her"
"But… even so.." the wolf woman had just about the end of her patience with the status quo, 'That does it! I won't let her be harmed like this again! I'm going to protect her!'
"Arf.. . Onegai.." Fate softly pressed her right hand against her familiar's cheek, "Once I return every Jewel Seed, even kaa-san will smile again… She'll go back to the one she used to be, and I'm sure she'll even be kind to you, Arf.
"Now… Let's go…" Fate declared as she donned her cloak again, "We won't fail kaa-san this time.."
[Earth]
[Uminari City, Japan]
[Public Seishou Auxiliary Elementary School]
[Grade 3, Class 1]
[Local Date/Time: April 27th, PM 13:32 hours (appx 1:32 pm)]
[No BGM]
Nanoha easily conversed with Suzuka about the recent tests that came up in class. Even though it was challenging to juggle her Elementary School, Cram School and her assistance with the Jewel Seeds, the girl was still able to keep her grades up. Her work ethic, while it impressed Suzuka, it drew some concern that she could be trying too hard. Taking a chance, Nanoha had turned her head to look in Alisa's direction, only for the dirty-blonde to give some acknowledging nod and a tsunderish huff.
"Alisa-chan…" the brunette sighed a bit in defeat.
"Don't worry, Nanoha-chan" Suzuka tried her best to keep her friend in high spirits, "She'll come around soon, I'm sure."
"Thanks.." Nanoha let out another sigh, but at least was somewhat inspired more
The rest of the school day went without much issue on Nanoha's end.
[Uminari City, Japan]
[Urban District]
[Local Date/time: Same day, PM 16:10 (appx 4:10 pm)]
[No BGM]
Upon a random rooftop, two individuals stood Fate and Arf, the former clad in a cut-free version of her Barrier Jacket, and the latter shape shifted into her wolf form. The two gazed out into the city, as if looking for something, and they probably were. Out in the city somewhere was the next Jewel Seed, waiting to be activated.
"Bardiche?" Fate spoke to her standby form device, embedded in a gem on her right glove, "How are you feeling?"
"Recovery complete" came the male voice's reply from the device.
"I see. You really gave it your all." Fate greatly complimented her device with that soft, sweet tone of hers, "You're great."
"I can sense it…" Arf said as her wolf form's ears twitched, "Even I can tell that it's around here."
"Hai.. it'll soon be activated" Fate agreed, "And it's very close."
"I have a feeling we'll run into the other three again." Arf added in regards to the possibility of their rivals; she had to suppress the wishful thinking part of her tone, 'I'm counting on it… I have questions to ask.'
"It's no matter… If they come, let them." Fate said calmly and almost coolly, "They have Jewel Seeds of their own as well."
[Uminari City, Japan]
[Urban District]
[Local date/time: Same day, PM 17:05 (appx 5:05 pm)]
[No BGM]
It was another of the days where Nanoha Takamachi hadn't had Cram School and he best friends had lessons. Instead of taking the long walk, however, she opted to take a bus. Still, she was all alone to disembark from the bus. Or at least she thought so, and she was in for a little bit of a surprise to find two individuals waiting for her.
Sonic, with the resident Tutorial Ferret, Yuuno Scrya, on his shoulder and Raising Heart, appearing free of cracks and in standby form, twirling attached to the necklace that the blue hedgehog had twirling on his gloved fingertip.
"Oh!" Nanoha almost started back with a surprised expression, "Yuuno-kun, Sonic-kun."
"Yo" the blue hedgehog greeted her with a small grin. He stopped twirling Raising Heart on his finger, only to grip it and lightly toss the gem in the girl's direction, "Catch"
"E-eh?" the girl was caught by surprise, but recovered quickly enough to catch the Standby form device in her hands. It didn't take her long to realize what it was that Sonic tossed to her, "Raising Heart! You're all better now, right?"
"Condition green!" the device chimed almost sounding chipper and happily
"I'll give it my all again today" Nanoha, her tone full of that determination and drive, said to her device, "Will you do the same for me too?
"All right" Raising Heart confirmed, "I will give you my best, my master"
"Before you ask" the hedgehog interjected, having a hunch that she'd ask him the question as well, "I'll promise you my 100%. Don't know if I can say the same about our Tutorial Ferret"
"Oy!" Yuuno had the sense to appear annoyed, though he was sadly starting to get used to the hedgehog's teasing, "I'm not going to hold back either."
"Arigatou" Nanoha softly said to them all, "All of you.."
[Uminari City, Japan]
[Uminari Seaside Park]
[Local Date/time: April 27th PM 18:24 (appx 6:24 pm)]
[BGM: "Raikou Shuurai" Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha OST]
The woods in this park seemed so peaceful here on this beautiful evening. The sunset dipped the trees in a calm yellowish hue. It almost seemed too peaceful for something bad to happen. Sadly, a new Jewel Seed would not let that happen. The gem flickered to life and spiked in power to signal such activation.
The power spike was enough to draw the attention of the mages and their familiars; no matter where they were. Though, as they were the ones closest to the area, Nanoha's party arrived first.
"Emergency barrier!" Yuuno declared his spell, "Expand!"
Yuuno's barrier expanded just as he commanded it to. The barrier expanded over a wide diameter, covering almost half of the park and warping the flow of time there so no innocents would be harmed if they so happened to be in the area. The tree, though caught up in the barrier, continued to grow until it took the form of a vicious monster. The monster itself had a large mouth and large claw-like hands that used to be its branches.
"Really? Another demon tree? I though the Jewel Seeds had originality" Sonic quipped sarcastically as he settled into a battle-ready stance, "Oh well, we could use the firewood for s'mores later."
Calmly and full of her drive, Nanoha, clad in her usual white and blue Barrier Jacket, held Raising Heart in its device form and pointed it to the possessed tree. For the most part, the possessed tree roared at the girl.
A barrage of Photon Lancers raining down upon the demonic tree signaled to Nanoha, Sonic and Yuuno that Fate had arrived. Despite the good entrance, Fate's Photon Lancers were guarded easily by a magical barrier generated by the tree.
"Wow! This one's certainly an arrogant one" Arf commented, "Putting up a barrier already."
"It's stronger than the others" Fate added in observation then noticed the presence of the other three, "That girl and her companions are here as well."
"Huh!?" Nanoha turned and gasped to see Fate and Arf behind her. If she wanted to say anything, she had to cut it short as the tree grew aggressive and lashed out several roots from the ground, aiming to crush anything that was in its path, which happened to be Nanoha, Sonic and Yuuno. "Yuuno-kun! Hide! Sonic-kun! Get away! It's attacking."
"Aye aye" the blue hedgehog didn't need to be told twice and he started to jump back-and-forth; easily avoiding the tree's roots with his speed and agility. Yuuno had retreated back to the bushes behind the white-clad mage.
"Flier Fin" Raising Heart declared as wings appeared at Nanoha's feet and took her airborne and away from the roots of the demonic tree. Sonic, opting to go after the roots and make sure they wouldn't attack Nanoha, remained on the ground
"Arc Saber" Fate called out to Bardiche, "Let's go, Bardiche"
"Arc Saber" the black device declared mechanically, shifting the open the ax-head of the device as it ran a blade of magic through the head. With Bardiche in said mode, Fate readied herself to unleash an attack while Arf covered her.
"Oy, oy!" Sonic called to his counterpart as he sliced roots from the tree with his twin kodachi, "If you wanted to have s'mores, you could've asked. I didn't bring enough marshmallows, chocolate or graham crackers for five"
"Who said I'd be interested in that?!" Arf countered, matching Sonic's slashing of roots with her claws; while doing so, she took the opportunity to reach out to the hedgehog via the mindspeak, "We need to talk."
"That came out of left field" Sonic sent back in the mindspeak, "What's up?"
"I need to know your stake in this" Arf went right to the point
"I like mine done medium-rare" the blue hedgehog offered cutely
"Not what I meant and you know it" The wolf woman deadpanned, "And if you don't wish to be on the wrong end of my master's Arc Saber I suggest you move within the next two seconds."
"Huh? Whoa!" the hedgehog almost embarrassed himself by letting his squeal gain a few octaves on the girlish side as he jumped to avoid the curving arc of Fate's Arc Saber.
In no way was said saber targeting the hedgehog, he just happened to be in its path heading for the center of the demon tree. Like before, the tree generated a barrier to guard against the saber. However, doing so opened up a weak point for Nanoha to jeopardize. The white-clad mage did just that and unleashed a volley of pinkish blasts.
"Let's smash it!" Nanoha declared as she pointed the tip of Raising Heart targeted right at the possessed tree, "Divine…"
"Buster!" Raising Heart almost happily, which would've drawn a running gag of concern, chimed as it finished the spell declaration. The blast was unleashed upon the tree. Although it was guarded, there was something about the tree that Sonic took notice of as he observed the guard appear to slowly waver. Before he could say anything, he took notice of Fate looking ready to cast another spell.
"Bardiche! The girl called out to her device and stretched out her right palm
"Thunder Smasher" the device declared as a blast of energy, almost similar to the Divine Buster, was unleashed. It too was met with the barrier, but she didn't let up on her spell.
If the pressure from Nanoha's Divine Buster wasn't enough, combined with Fate's Thunder Smasher, the spells mixed for a huge amount of damage to the demon tree's defenses; and it didn't take long for them to be broken and the tree itself to feel the pain. Within a matter of seconds, the Jewel Seed-possessed tree was engulfed in blasts of pink and yellow.
[BGM ends]
When all of the dust settled, the Jewel Seed floated there. The serial number read out in the Roman Numerals VII. Sonic, Arf and Yuuno, with little importance at this stage, could only watch as Nanoha and Fate prepare their sealing spells.
"I don't suppose they could settle this with rock, paper scissors." The hedgehog quipped, "How about chess?"
"Jewel Seed, serial 7!" Nanoha's reading of the Jewel Seed's serial number interrupted any musings Sonic had.
"Seal!" both Fate and Nanoha called out at the same time as the Jewel Seed was engulfed again by the combined sealing spells.
When the light settled the seed floated there, inactive and almost ready to be stored in one's device. The real question became who would be the one to claim the Jewel Seed. Fate and Nanoha, neither the type to let the past repeat itself, or in this case, collide with each other over the Jewel Seed and cause potentially another overload of power, floated in place at opposite ends of one another.
"It doesn't look like we can put any more stress on the Jewel Seed" Fate noted
"Yeah" Nanoha agreed, "If it turned out like the one last night, I'd feel sorry for Raising Heart and your Bardiche."
"Is the chess game still off?" the blue hedgehog, serving as the peanut gallery for once, offered somewhat cutely.
"As if the claim of a Jewel Seed could be so easily settled" Arf scoffed as she lowered herself in an aggressive stance, ready to charge at her blue hedgehog counterpart, "And you still haven't answered my question!"
"Alrighty, if you want a rumble, I won't refuse. It'll give me something to do while our girlies are probably going to be fighting" The hedgehog readied his own twin blades in a stance of his own, "You were saying something about a stake."
"Yeah! Why are you out here? The girl's doing this for that ferret, whose reasons I could care less for, but what are you out here for?" the wolf continued as she pawed at the ground, ready to launch off, hoping she could time it with Fate's own charge, "She's your master, but you're not like other familiars."
"Tutorial Ferret needed help with these Jewel Seeds. Nanoha volunteered, since I owe her my life and probably would've helped on a whim anyway. I'm helping out, simple as that" the hedgehog answered back, twirling his blades and crouching low, making him appear much shorter than he already was, "Now for the 125,000 yen question; why do you want to know anyway?"
"N-no special reason!" Arf stumbled over her own words but she recovered to put on the tsundere act, "I still don't care!"
"Touchy, touchy, touchy" Sonic shook his head and continued the patient act of waiting. He and Arf were still well within earshot of Fate and Nanoha's small pre-battle conversation.
"This changes nothing" Fate pointed Bardiche straight at her rival, "I still won't yield this match to you."
"Axe form" Bardiche declared as it shifted from the multi-purpose sealing and shooting form back into the default axe mode.
"I just wanted to talk to you" Nanoha held Raising Heart close to her chest, "Is that too much to ask?"
"Device Form" Raising Heart declared as it shifted from Cannon to Device form. The default form was more suited for close combat anyways
"If I win; and you understand that I'm not just some innocent little girl mixed up in all of this..." Nanoha conceded that a clash with her black-clad rival was once again inevitable, but she made one request, "Would you let me listen to your story?"
Fate allowed the other girl's words to affect her for merely a moment before she shook it off and broke into a head-on charge, heading straight for Nanoha. On the other side, Nanoha barely had a moment to react before she too rushed ahead to oppose Fate.
"No more talk" Arf, mirroring her mistress's actions, rushed right for her blue hedgehog counterpart, "Let's go!"
"100 yen says we are going to be interrupted, but okay, let's rock!" The hedgehog answered by charging in against Arf as well. His blades held ready at his sides as he did.
Both mages and familiars were set up for a dramatic showdown. Mage against mage and familiar against familiar; emotions could've been felt even from Yuuno's vantage point. The dramatic battles were just about to commence when that 100 yen bet was about to come into play. The interruptions were building in the form of two separate glyphs of Mid-Childan magic circles appearing right between the two. The one between the mages was a light bluish in color while the one between the familiars was a mint-green.
Raising Heart found itself gripped in a gloved hand while Bardiche clashed with the head of another device, this one looking much different than that of the other two. In between Nanoha and Fate appeared an unknown 14 year old boy clad all in black. The interference stopped the duo's fight altogether.
For the familiars, they were interrupted by a much older woman, albeit in her 30s with light-bluish hair. She had blocked Sonic's twin kodachi with a device of her own; this one looked more like a blue silver pole with a long pointed spear at the tip. She had also dealt with Arf's advance with a Round Shield spell in her other hand.
"Stop!" The boy, Chrono Harlaown of the Time-Space Administration, ordered to Nanoha and Fate as he held their devices in place, "Commencing combat here is too dangerous!"
"I highly suggest you to listen to what he says" the woman, Admiral Lindy Harlaown, who happened to be Chrono's mother, advised almost more firm than what her son had just ordered, "As it stands right now, this area is too dangerous to allow combat here to continue."
"Look... uh... I don't know who in the world you two are..,. but you two just made me 100 yen richer" Sonic, ever so snarky and not quite one to see the serious side just yet, informed the two newcomers, and even thanked them for their troubles, "Thank ya, thank ya very much!"
"This is a far too serious matter for that" Chrono shook his head as he started to go through his official identification, "I am an Enforcer for the Time-Space Administration, Chrono Harlaown."
"I am also a government official from the Time-Space Administration Bureau, Admiral Lindy Harlaown" Lindy identified herself as she addressed all present, "And you all have some explaining to do."
[To be continued!]
[Ending: "Little Wish ~Lyrical Step" Yukari Tamura]
[End of Chapter 9]
Author's Notes: FINALLY! AFTER FAR TOO LONG! I FINALLY GOT THIS ONE COMPLETE! MY HIATUS IS OVER! YEEEEAAASUH! YEEEEES! At any rate, I really wish I could've gone through the specifics of that airship scene, but I could find absolutely nothing so I just went with the anime.. Evidently they arrived at the same day so they must've either been close or covered a lot of space fast. And here we are introduced to the Time Space Administration, the group that Yuuno did NOT want involved… he should've known better….
And finally we are introduced to the "real" antagonist in the arc. Precia Testarossa, Fate's "mother"….although I don't know what kind of a mother would whip her own child half to death just for disappointing her. And yes, I am trying to play Fate in a little more sympathetic role as she's not quite the evil antagonist some may think of her as … Poor Fate-chan.. Believe me I had a lot of problems with writing out that scene. It added yet another dark twist, which means I gotta add more humor to counter.. As for Arf, it may seem a bit out of character with how she tried to reach out to Sonic during that fight with demon firewood tree, but in some ways it is in her character. She would do just about anything to protect Fate, and if getting help from "rivals" is what it takes, so be it. Anyways, more to come soon..