The control room shook lightly from the shockwave that resulted from the impact of the last spell used by the Kaiser hitting against Nanoha's shields.

"Mr. Scrya, are you alright?" asked Carim. Considering that they indeed felt a little something thanks to the fight in the simulator, it meant that his barriers had weakened a bit. Then again, he had been maintaining them for two straight brawls between powered mages.

"Y-yeah… just gotta maintain my concentration," muttered the Librarian. He had hoped that none of his barriers were compromised during the last exchange of blows although he wasn't totally sure since his mind had been rather drained running the numbers to keep the barriers up and running.

"Wait… where did Mom Junior go?"

"Mom Junior?" Subaru thought about that for a moment before she figured out what he meant. 'Ah, Touma meant Vivio… wait a minute!'

A quick scan of the room did indeed prove that the girl was no longer among them which got Hayate sweating. "Vivio?! Where did you go?!"

"I believe Her Majesty went into the battlefield. As you can see, the chamber door seal had been damaged, most likely as a result from Mr. Scrya's inability to maintain the barrier during the last clash," noted Otto. "It's likely that she slipped through to reach her mother."

"Let's just go get her back before she gets hurt in the crossfire! Get in touch with the combatants and get them to pause their match!"

'I'm… still conscious?' Nanoha had been expecting that last attack from the Kaiser to knock her out since it didn't have any problem smashing through the Multiple Defenser but perhaps her opponent pulled her blow at the last moment. For what reason, she couldn't tell but since she had a chance now, she might as well do a quick situation assessment.

Low on magical energy? Check.

Bind spell still in effect? Nope. At least she could fly again but with the above fact in place, that could be an issue.

Barrier jacket damage? Fairly extensive with her eyes spotting several rips and tears on the magical cloth.

"Raising… Heart?"

"I can still fight, my Master."

That's good. The question was whether her body would be prepared to head back into battle. Although she had come a long way in her recovery from the JS Incident, she wasn't able to go at maximum power as frequently as she used to. Perhaps she should take some time off to rest her wings but that will have to wait. The more immediate concern was the approaching Olivie who took her time while walking towards her.

"Nanoha, can you hear me?! Nanoha!" She could hear Hayate's voice in her mind and she sounded really panicked.

"What is it?"

"You have to stop your match right now! Vivio's gotten into the combat simulator!"

Hayate's warning came a little bit late as Nanoha's ears picked up the sound of tiny footsteps approaching rapidly. "DON'T BULLY MY MAMA!"

"Vivio?!" Nanoha realized with horror that her child had somehow gotten into the arena and placed herself in danger. "No, get out of here!"

But the little girl didn't listen. As soon as she reached the red clad armoured woman, she started kicking at the legs since that was as high as she could reach with her own. "Take this! And this!"

For a few moments, the only sound that was in the arena came from a foot making contact with magical armour repeatedly. Olivie's expression remained unchanged so that meant nobody could tell what she was thinking. Not Carim… not Hayate… not even her son.

Finally, after a few seconds of staring at the little girl kick her, Olivie finally spoke. "You're doing it wrong."

That caused Vivio to stop. "… … eh?"

"Get into your stance and have your dominant leg behind your other leg." Olivie moved so that she would be able to help Vivio fix her stance. "The dominant leg's toe should be pointed to its side while your secondary leg is in front, its toe pointed straight forward. You want your torso to generally face the direction of your dominant leg. Your hands can be in a guard position or relaxed."

"… …" Who is this lady… and why did she look so much like…?

"Are you listening, young lady?"

"Uh, yes!" The smaller girl snapped to attention and moved her right leg back as instructed.

"If you want to go for speed, you will use your front foot. If you want a more powerful kick, use your back leg." After letting this fact settle in with the child, Olivie continued. "Raise your kicking-leg's knee so your thigh is parallel to the ground, about hip to waist level. This is called chambering. Breathe in as you do this."

'So I want to raise… which leg?' She was trying to remember what that lady was saying but she was going so fast.

"Kick your leg, snapping it forward quickly. With a front kick you can use the ball of your foot or your instep as a striking surface. As you kick, rapidly release the air in your lungs. Remember, breath in when you contract, breath out when you expand. This also will relax your body, allowing for proper technique, because holding air in means your muscles are too tense, and you are trying to control your kick too much, which weakens the kick, slows it down and tires you out faster."

'So much to remember…!' This was making her head spin.

"Now give it a shot," instructed the older woman while bending down to closely observe the younger girl's progress.

Vivio complied, using her back leg as the kicking leg. It shot forward, grazing the older woman in the face.

"ARAA…!" And there goes Olivie, fainting backwards dramatically while her armour and gauntlets vanished, leaving her in that fancy dress again while everyone stared, rather stunned at how all this turned out.

"Mom, what just happened?!"

She looked up and smiled at Touma. "Well, my son… I do believe that I was just defeated by a seven year old."

"I'm eight!" protested Vivio.

"I stand corrected." Olivie's playfulness dimmed down a bit as she carefully looked at the child. "So… you must be Vivio? Wow… I never knew I looked so adorable when I was a child."

It slowly came to the smaller girl. This was the person from the distant past. The person she had been copied from. "You're…?"

"Olivie Segbrecht. It's a pleasure to meet you. I guess since we share the same blood that would make us…" She paused for a moment. "… sisters? Or biological mother and daughter? Oh, I don't know!"

That was the last thing on Vivio's mind at the moment. "My wish… it came true!" She quickly closed her eyes and clapped her hands loudly. "I wish I had a big large bag of never ending candy that only I can see so that Nanoha-mama won't take it away from me!"

"Um, Vivio… I'm right here," said Nanoha in a flat tone.

"Geh…!" That response proved beyond a doubt that she really was her adopted mother's daughter.

It had been expected that plans would change for the evening. Instead of Olivie going to give her recollection of events on Touma's home world to the investigators, she would do that the next day. And instead of Vivio and Nanoha going out to a local restaurant for dinner, they instead settled for eating with everybody in the office cafeteria. Thank goodness that the kitchen staff worked late hours to provide something to eat for those who worked night shifts in the head office.

Hayate had been the exception as she went to check on her Knights and take them home for their own evening meal. If she had stayed, they probably would have stayed to keep an eye on things and there was a good chance that having them share a table with the Kaiser while there were still some underlying tensions would have been awkward.

The conversation had been focused on Vivio's upbringing. It was something that the older Kaiser wanted to hear so that she would be at ease in the event that she would no longer interact with the child in the future although that didn't seem likely to happen seeing how the little girl didn't want to let go of the other woman. There was so much she wanted to know about her predecessor but the child didn't mind doing the talking this time around (although she tried not to talk too much about the Cradle since that made the other woman get all gloomy and sad).

"And then when me and Nanoha-mama became a family, Fate-mama offered to be my guardian and somehow, I just got used to seeing her as my Mama too."

"So you have two mothers, hm?"

"Do you find that strange?" asked Nanoha while grabbing a slice of bread.

Olivie shook her head. "Not really. When I went around visiting various communities, I saw a fair share of households where children were raised only by women and they seemed to turn out healthy and fine. But is it alright if she grows up without a male parental figure? She might be missing out on something."

"What do you mean by that, Your Majesty?"

"My father, Matthias Segbrecht, instilled many of the values that I live by today, Ms. Carim. If not for him, I would not have been involved with the communities of common people and could have grown up with a closed heart."

"Can you elaborate a bit more on that?" Yuuno had taken out some things so that he would be able to record everything that she said.

"My daily activities on the Cradle were planned out in advance. Mornings were for combat magic and martial arts training. My grandparents and Great Uncles often tested my limits to get a good reading on my progress. Then afternoons were for studying military strategy and being involved in planning out operations to conquer worlds so that the Belkan Empire could be reborn again. Evenings were for getting familiar with different functions of the Cradle and learning how to make the most use out of those mechanical automatons that were on board. If I had continued that routine every day of the year, I probably would have turned out to be a perfect puppet Warrior King for my elders and any other powerful figures in the political landscape."

Yuuno nodded in understanding. "The Belkan political atmosphere had been described by some historical textbooks as dangerous with members of the court always looking to gain more power and influence by playing games of deception. They were people who would smile at you right up to the point when they plunge a knife into your ribs."

"That's a rather accurate description," admitted the young woman.

"You didn't have a mama to care for you?"

Olivie merely smiled sadly at Vivio. "When my mother was giving birth to me, some complications arose and it came down to a choice to save her life or mine. So I essentially grew up without a mama. The female servants that tended to me never stepped out of place and never acted as mother figures even though they looked like they wanted to."

"They probably were kept in place by the wills of those elders of yours," noted Nanoha. "But they probably couldn't keep your father in place. Is that right?"

"He knew how to navigate the political system in order to provide for me. He protected me where he could from anything that could put me in genuine danger, physically or emotionally. He always managed to find time for me when I needed his counsel. Above all, he was my friend who wanted what was best for me. It was thanks to him that I was able to leave the Cradle and stay with Ingvalt on Shutra when he saw how I was crumbling emotionally thanks to living on the ship daily. I honestly can't think I would have turned out the way I did if not for him."

"He must have been something," remarked Subaru while digging into her own meal.

"His greatest pride was being my papa next to becoming a Kaiser who could serve the people faithfully. It was something I tried to do while on Shutra and now that I'm on this planet, I would like to continue to carrying out that mission."

"So… I should ask for a papa?" asked a confused Vivio.

"Not necessarily," replied the older Kaiser gently. "If things are okay with you as they are now, then you don't need to change anything. It's your choice after all. Just don't dismiss the benefits of having a male role model."

"So what's he like, Mom? Your dad that is."

She paused for a moment to address her son's question. "Hmmm… he was a very large and outspoken man full of life. And I'm not sure if I would be able to describe him well so I'll have to try and draw an image that I can share with you all." She closed her eyes for a moment and projected the memory of her father into everybody's minds which caused a number of varied reactions.

"T-that's your papa?" squeaked out Vivio.

"Correction. That's our papa."

"He's huge!" exclaimed Subaru. "Kinda crazy looking too!"

"How does Her Majesty's father maintain those curls on his hair?" Otto found that particularly fascinating. "And what is with that purple cape and pink tunic?"

"Yes, I know it's an eyesore. I wish his choice of wardrobe was a bit more normal but what could I do?" Olivie sighed dramatically. "Maybe he did it to throw his enemies off balance by dressing in weird colours."

Nanoha chuckled once before cleaning up her tray. "Well, it's getting late and we need to be getting home. Let's go, Vivio."

"Eh? But I wanted to talk with Ollie-chan some more!"

"Ms. Carim said that we could stay at the Church for now. After I make up for not speaking with that officer today, I'll be able to enrol for proper language classes and start figuring out how I can best serve the community while Touma can get registered to go to school at that St. Hilde Academy. But if your mother doesn't mind, you can come see us after your classes end at the Church."

"WAAII!" Vivio couldn't wait for tomorrow to come. She then turned to the boy sitting by the Kaiser's side. "That means I'll get to see you lots at school, onii-chan!"

"Er… yeah, that sounds… nice." Touma just shifted uncomfortably by the way she smiled at him. Then again, who could blame him when a child version of his mother was looking up at him in adoration?

"Sheesh, what a day!" exclaimed Touma as he and his mother entered the temporary quarters that were assigned to them at the Church, an hour after they finished their supper and parted ways at the Bureau office.

She set down the bags that she had been carrying near the couch. "And it's only going to get busier from here. You need to get prepared to start a new student life at that St. Hilde Academy once I get that other appointment out of the way with that officer who's reopening your case."

"School, huh?" He took a quick look around their temporary home which had two bedrooms, a main living space, a washroom and a small kitchen. The laundry equipment was tucked away in a corner, consisting of some washing bats and a board. It was a bit of a comfort to Olivie, knowing that the Church still did things in a manner that she was familiar with. "I'll probably be seeing Vivio there pretty often."

"From what I remember, the school has two separate sections. Based on your age, you'll be likely to go into the middle school section so you won't be able to spend time with each other aside from lunch times and recesses."

"I just wonder how far behind I am in everything." After all, his formal education had taken a dramatic shift ever since his home town was destroyed. "That multiple choice exam is going to be scary tomorrow."

"Oh, don't stress too much about it," said Olivie gently while ruffling her son's hair. "If you want, I can wait outside your test room while you get evaluated."

"If you're going to come to school as well, you should disguise yourself like that other lady said," commented Touma.

"Carim did say I would have to do that in order not to cause any ruckus," muttered the woman to herself. She was well aware that history had recorded her as perishing at the end of the war so if she just went out in public as is, that could cause some unwanted hassle.

For the moment, she would comply with the request of the Church's director to hide her identity. Disguising herself shouldn't be too difficult. As long as her heterochromia was concealed, nobody would be able to pick upon who she really is. "I guess I'll go with that alias that Carim had suggested for me earlier. What was it again?"

"Once the paperwork has been cleared in the morning at the Bureau's end, she will be registered as Elina Higgins. Her background story is that she has been caught in the middle of a political power struggle on her home world and she fled for her own safety a few years ago. She had settled on Vaizen where she took the boy under her care. And now that she's here, she is requesting that a new identity be created for her in order to protect her adopted son from being dragged into her past."

"Thank you for all your hard work, Otto. For something put together on short notice that was well done." Carim hoped the story would hold up well. It wasn't out of the ordinary for new legal identification requests to be sent to the Bureau to give refugees a brand new identity in cases where they were previously well known in their home worlds. "Also, I would like it if you kept this information to yourself for the moment."

"Yes, I understand. If I may ask… is the best course of action to take, Director?"

"Honestly, this is a very unusual situation we're facing." The blonde woman got up from her desk and strolled over to a file cabinet tucked away near the bookshelf. She opened the top section and began scrolling through the files.

Otto nodded in agreement. "I guess what comes next will depend on whether the claims can be verified."

"I'm certain that once Mr. Scrya has completed his investigation and gets the genetic results back, those findings will prove that she is who she says she is. And once that is confirmed, then we will have to decide once and for all how to address the matter of the vacant throne."

"Director?"

Carim just smiled softly. "Just thinking to myself. In any case, you may take your leave. It's getting late."

Otto was a bit curious what the blonde woman meant earlier but decided to leave it be for now. "I bid you good night then, Director."

As Otto departed from the office, Carim pulled out the lengthy list of contacts and placed them on her desk. The list consisted of the name of every Saint Church Cardinal who was currently in service. Considering how many worlds they were spread across, it would be best to set a meeting date a month in advance so that they can all make their arrangements on their respective worlds before coming to the Grand Cathedral.

The last time that the College of Cardinals had gathered was after the whole JS Incident with the Saint's Cradle. The decision that had been made at the time was to leave young Vivio be and observe her carefully. If she chose to take the throne, then she would do so once she has learned all about Belkan customs and traditions and when she is of age.

But right now, they have a candidate who satisfies those conditions. Carim had no doubts that Olivie would make a fine Kaiser but how would the people react? Her concern wasn't just focused on the people who lived on the Church's land but there were also the Cardinals.

Right now, because the throne was vacant, the College of Cardinals was seen as the one with ruling power over the remaining Belkans who lived on Church grounds here on Mid-Childa and elsewhere wherever the Church had a presence. Would they acknowledge the Kaiser and yield to her claim if she chose to ascend? They may prefer to keep the status quo since things are stable at the moment. She understood that perfectly.

But the latest divination she performed with her Rare Skill, Prophetinschriften, indicated otherwise. From the interpretation she was able to get out of her new poem, it hinted at other aspects from Belka's past awakening. Whether it would be a threat to the current peace is uncertain but if the Kaiser took the throne and had the proper political power and influence, it would give the Director some peace of mind.

'The only hard part is to get the other Cardinals to see this as well. Especially the Dean and the Sub-Dean.' Those two were going to be the key. Since they were seen as the ultimate authority on the College of Cardinals, she would need to make her case to them first. Once they were on board, the rest would follow.