Unforeseen Eventuality
By: Kasumi H.
--
You Can End This
(Because That is What I Wish For)
-Nanoha Side-
--
It came without warning. A sudden flash of white, hot, searing pain that brought her down to her knees. Her hand automatically went to clutch at her heart, but it did nothing to ease the rapidly mounting distress. The pain spread. From the chest outwards to her entire body, leaving a trail of scorching, agonizing burn within her as it went.
"Master!"
Raising Heart was the first to notice her master's condition, alerting the other officers with whom they had just returned from a mission together.
"Instructor Takamachi!"
She could hear their calls. But she couldn't answer. Her world was spinning. She found it increasingly difficult to breathe. The one hand that gripped her staff tightly started to lose its strength. Her body shivered. A clash. It was the sound of Raising Heart in its staff-form hitting the floor. And that was the last thing she heard before her world went black.
--
She felt cold. Sore. Numb.
What happened?
She slowly opened her eyes to look around, only to be met with an endless vast of darkness. She tried to move, but found her movements to be restricted. She was chained.
What was this place?
Her mind desperately tried to grasp the current condition; tried to recall the most recent bit of memory. She remembered the mission; remembered returning to Mid-Childa. Then there was the pain. Yes, she recalled the pain that took her without notice. After that… After that, there was darkness.
The conclusion was that she must have passed out.
So then, where was she now?
A loud explosion brought her out of her thoughts. In that same moment, the darkness around her disintegrated.
"Nanoha, stop this!"
A voice. She knew that voice. She'd recognize it anywhere. The voice that normally calmed her, made her feel at ease, made her feel like she belonged. But something felt off about it. The voice was desperate, thick with pain and something else she couldn't quite place her finger on.
Then her vision focused on the images before her. And she felt her blood drain. Because Nanoha suddenly found herself pointing her staff at the last person she would have ever thought she would.
Fate T. Harlaown.
--
She was screaming. Screaming out her name, telling her to get away, but it had no effect. Nanoha's voice was not reaching. She struggled against the chains that constrained her, tried to break free, but nothing was working.
"…Fate-chan…"
Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. She didn't understand. She was chained here yet her physical body was launching attack after attack at the one person she loved the most. And there was blood. Too much blood. It stained her white barrier jacket. Except it was not blood that belonged to her.
Nanoha could barely bring herself to look at Fate.
The enforcer's barrier jacket was ripped, torn, and blood was dripping and flowing from the countless number of injuries on her body.
No, the blood on the white barrier jacket didn't belong to her. All of it belonged to Fate.
Nanoha couldn't bear the thought. She was hurting Fate. She was making her cry. Yet there was not a single thing she could do.
"…Stop it. Stop it!"
She found herself aiming her staff at Fate again, readying herself for one of her signature moves. Divine Buster.
"Stop it! Raising Heart!"
Suddenly, the sounds of explosions and Fate's cries fell silent around her. She found herself back in the darkness where she first regained consciousness. Except now, there was a window in front her, showing her what was happening outside. Outside with Fate and her own physical body of which she had no control over.
"You called, my Master?"
Nanoha turned her head quickly to her left. There, floating in mid-air and emitting a soft red glow, was a small crimson sphere.
Raising Heart.
"Master?"
"Raising Heart! You're here… Then that…what…How…?"
There were too many questions running through her. She closed her eyes. She first had to make sense of her situation. Then maybe, just maybe, there was a way out of this. There was still hope. She had to stop herself. She had to save Fate. Nothing else mattered.
"Raising Heart… Do you know where we are?"
"In the depths of your own mind, my Master."
…What? Of all the possible answers she was expecting from her partner in battle, that was definitely the last thing she expected. In her own mind? Here? This darkness where she was chained for an unknown reason? Nanoha was tempted to label it as a joke if not for the fact that her intelligent device never made jokes.
"I'll be needing an explanation on that…"
Nanoha's voice was meek, disbelief and confusion clearly displayed. Her thought processes were a jumbled mess.
"Both of us are currently trapped in the deepest chamber of your mind. Due to an unexpected surge of magical energy that took place within you, it has completely severed all connections between you and your body. The same energy then flowed into my system, causing an overload, which eventually overrode my functions."
Nanoha blinked. The information given to her by Raising Heart was too much to believe. Yet there were still questions left unanswered.
"…If this is the depths of my mind… Why is Raising Heart here?"
"Because we are connected, my Master."
Ah. Nanoha supposed that last part made sense. She could not deny that a user and his or her intelligent device shared a unique bond.
"A few more question, Raising Heart."
"Yes?"
"Why would a surge cause me to attack Fate-chan?"
Silence. As if Raising Heart was afraid to give the answer. Then…
"…The surge has resulted in an excess build-up of magical energy to run through your body. In an attempt to get rid of the excess energy, it has gone on a rampage, releasing energy through any possible means.
…You are merely attacking anything in sight."
Raising Heart's response ended and silence once again fell.
Attacking anything in sight.
So she was currently no better than a weapon gone out of control. A senseless cause for destruction. And perhaps she was. No, not perhaps. She was.
She looked at the window that led to the outside world. The cruel reality. Fate was coughing up blood. The image brought a sob out of Nanoha.
"…Why did this happen…?"
"I am afraid that I do not know the specific details."
A pause.
"I am sorry, my Master. I was supposed to monitor your body conditions, but I was not able to catch the surge until it was too late."
--
How long has the battle being going for? How many times have she screamed out Fate's name? How long have the both of them been crying?
She didn't know. All she knew was that she wanted all of it to stop. Trapped inside a body that she had no control over. Watched her own attacks bring harm upon her best friend. If it kept up, she was going to kill her.
"Raising Heart… When this all ends, will you be able to return to normal?"
"It will take some time to recover but…Yes, my Master."
"I see… That's good to hear."
"…Master?"
"Then it's okay to let it all end, isn't it?"
And she closed her eyes to wish for it. Wish for an end. Because that was the only thing she could do.
The cheerful combat instructor had fallen deeply into the abyss of despair.
--
She had knocked Fate into the ground with a powerful blast. Nanoha could tell that Fate was approaching her limit. How much magic did the blonde have left? Not much. Nanoha knew that for certain.
The end that she was wishing for was not coming.
And then suddenly, she found herself summoning that attack. Starlight Breaker.
Fate. Where was Fate? Fate. Fate. Fate!
Nanoha scanned the grounds frantically and found her amongst the rubbles left behind from the destruction she had caused. Fate was barely able to stand. In fact, without Bardiche, Fate probably wouldn't be able to stand.
Horror dawned on Nanoha.
No. No, no, no! Fate-chan, move!
But the enforcer was not budging from her position. Fate's lips moved, and despite their distance, despite the fact that Fate was merely whispering the words, Nanoha heard it clearly.
"…I love you, Nanoha…"
No…No! Don't give up. Don't give up. Don't. Give. Up.
Nanoha gritted her teeth. There's got to be some way. She had to reach Fate. To make her understand. She wanted her to end all of this. Nanoha was frantic. She needed her voice to reach Fate.
Why don't you understand, Fate-chan?
This is meaningless.
I can't bear this anymore.
You are bleeding because of me.
You are crying because of me.
You are in pain because of me…
Fate-chan.
It's because you're important to me…
That I want you to be the one to end this.
Did you know?
I made a promise to myself.
I promised that I'd never bring you harm.
If you were to cry because of me, it'd be only out of happiness.
But that can't come true now. The promise has been broken.
I want you to be the end of me, Fate-chan.
Because you can end this.
Because that is what I wish for.
And because… I love you, Fate-chan.
A loud sound that resembled that of a heartbeat resounded in the darkness that Nanoha was in. All of a sudden, without knowing how, nor did she care how, she knew she was connected to Fate. But there was not much time left. Only seconds at most. No…
"No, Fate-chan!"
"Nano…ha?"
"Fate-chan…End this."
Nanoha could see that Fate was evidently confused by the sudden communication. But there was no time for explanations.
"Fate-chan, you can do it. Please…"
Nanoha held her breath. She did it. Fate heard her.
But…
She watched as Fate closed her eyes, gripping Bardiche tightly.
The reply that came froze her in her tracks.
…I can't do it…
That was the last thing she heard before she felt the release of a massive amount of energy. Starlight Breaker was fired, resulting in a blinding light of destruction.
Then her thought processes came to an abrupt halt. Her vision became completely and utterly dark.
Nanoha had passed out again.
-Nanoha Side END-
Author's Note: Hai, here's the delivery of Nanoha's side of the story. I might have unintentionally caused the uprising of more questions rather than diminishing them. …Hahah…I sincerely hope no one is too disappointed with this second part.
I originally played with the idea of ending this (meaning the entire fic) right before Starlight Breaker was fired. So that'd the same place where Fate's side of the story ended. I thought it'd be fun to let everyone to draw their own conclusions.
But I actually do have the aftermath planned, which is why I moved on and have Starlight Breaker be shot.
I hope you will all stay with me until the next and final chapter, When It All Ends.
As always, reviews are welcome. It will make me finish the last chapter more quickly!
-Kasumi
