Magical Atoner Lyrical Alicia

Chapter 30

Rachel Yagami shook her head, "but... THE ROYAL WEDDING?!"

"Calm down, Mom," Subaru said wryly.

"You have to admit, it's a bit startling," Yuchiro, her father, added mildly. He had taken it somewhat more calmly, then again he was generally a more relaxed type.

"I knew thar you had worked together," Rachel added, shaking her head ruefully as she muttered, "but..."

There had been several adventures where the Princess, as Sailor Moon, had fought beside Alicia and Subaru. Apparently, the Princess counted that as 'friendship' it seemed. Which was kind of sad, really, though Erika had explained that Usagi wanted some 'normal' guests at the event. Did she and Alicia really count as 'normal' though?

"Are we going to need to buy you a suit or something?" Yuchiro wondered reasonably. "And all the accessories..."

"I think once we have a design figured out, I can just have my barrier jacket copy it," Subaru calmly noted.

"Fair," Rachel said. She brightened, "You father knows some designers, we could get something nice done!"

"Nothing TOO fancy though," Subaru started, when Raising Heart flared red.

"GODDESS CLASS HOSTILE NEAR BARDICHE."

"Eh?!" both Rachel and Yuchiro blinked.

Subaru bolted out of their apartment, "I'll be back as soon as I can!"

"Be careful," Rachel called.

"Incanted, Enchanted," Subaru cupped the gem, "SET UP!" The barrier jacket formed around her as Raising Heart went to staff mode, then she shot into the sky.

It didn't take THAT long to reach Hinata Inn by air, ands Subaru dropped down by the main entrance as she asked, "Raising Heart, location of the Goddess?"

"... they are in the hot springs. No hostilities detected," the gem sounded bemused.

"So... false alarm?" Subaru sighed.

"Apparently," Raising Heart agreed.

"Hey, here to see Alicia?" Yoko waved as she entered, having reverted the weapon to it's harmless standby mode.

"Yeah... uhm, did someone just check in?" Subaru asked sheepishly.

"The Goddess Skuld. I guess your device went off?" Yoko guessed.

"Exactly," Subaru sighed.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Una Scaglietti was listening in to embassy communications on her device, sitting cross legged on top of her bed

(She, of course, should NOT have had access to that. But her big sister was head of Intelligence at the Embassy, and she had picked up a few things. And her device was state of the art, unlike a LOT of Crystal Tokyo tech...)

"Yes, Skuld. The GODDESS."

"I thought she was off Earth?" Nene asked grimly.

"Last we checked she was out in Jurai space, working with Washu."

"There's a worrying combo," Nene sighed.

"Agreed. She's checked in at the Hinata Inn for awhile, but other than that we don't know about her intentions."

"Might be here for the Wedding," Nene mused.

"Anyway... she's here so she might be OUR problem. I'll keep a eye on things."

"Do that," Nene signed off.

Una smirked as she shut her link off. That was interesting... she knew that the Goddesses Belldandy, Urd and Mara all hung out in Crystal Tokyo, so it made sense Skuld might come back. But was she there at the Inn for Alicia? Or some other reason?

"Una! Dinner is on!" her mother called from downstairs.

"Coming!" Una answered, and hurried down.

"Nene is tied up at the office," her other mother, Mira, noted disapprovingly.

"It's a important job," mother Anne said placidly.

"And... the Scaglietti will have our revenge!" Mira declared.

Anne bonked her on the head.

"Ow!" Mira pouted.

"Revenge is stupid and pointless," Anne scolded, "remember that."

"Yes dear," Mira pouted meekly.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Ahh, that's nice," Skuld sighed as she relaxed in the hot springs behind the Hinata Inn. She smiled at her companion, "M-Zak, here to fight again?"

Attim M-Zak, a tall gorgeous black haired woman, smiled wryly while also relaxing in the steaming waters, "I think we can put our history behind us, hmm?"

Attim and her lover Kei worked as agents for Venus and Crystal Tokyo. They were also based out of the Hinata Inn to keep a eye on Alicia, though that was unofficial.

"Considering I blew you up, you're very forgiving," Skuld noted mildly.

Kei emerged from the mists, the smaller blond only wearing a towel. "I haven't forgiven you," she settled into the water by Attim.

"I thought you were a system bug!" Skuld defended herself.

"Hmph," Kei pouted cutely.

(Skuld's duties as a Goddess included removing bugs from the great 'celestial computer' of reality. And it had at least LOOKED like Attim and Kei were 'bugs' with their unearthly healing powers and such. It was a honest mistake!)

"I'd grant you a wish in apology, but we're no longer allowed to DO that," Skuld added.

Kei looked surprised, "Really?"

"Hmm. The risk of damaging reality is considered too high," Skuld agreed.

"Yo!" Yoko waved as the buxom manager of the inn strode in.

"Ma'am," Skuld looked a bit envious at the bouncing boobs. She was barely in her teens, physically, and hadn't filled out much.

"Just call me Yoko," she ordered cheerfully. "Subaru Yagami just arrived... I think she figured you meant to hurt Alicia."

"Yagami.. as in Hayate? I should catch up with the family...," Skuld mused.

"You knew her?" Yoko asked.

"They PROBABLY fought," Kei teased.

"I don't fight everybody," Skuld protested.

"Well?" Attim gave her a look.

"Okay, YES we fought," Skuld admitted. "But it wasn't my fault... I had run into their evil counterparts from the Space Time Administration Bureau."

"STAB?" Yoko blinked.

"Hmm." Skuld nodded, "So when I met the originals, well...," she shrugged.

"Afternoon, all," Alicia called as she and Subaru also walked into the springs.

"Come on in," Yoko waved. "Did you know Skild beat up Nanoha, Fate and Hayate?"

"Hey!" Skuld protested. "It was just the once..."

"You met my revered ancestor?" Subaru asked as she settled in the water besides Alicia.

"Yeah," Skuld chuckled as she said, "and she'd be VERY amused at the whole idea of being called 'revered' too."

"I had heard she wasn't very serious," Subaru agreed.

"You don'y know the half of it," Skuld laughed.

To be continued...

Notes: I kind of like the idea there's a continuous link between Bardiche and Raising Heart. Also, why didn't she just teleport over? She forgot.

I still need to decide if any of the Scaglietti family will go out for revenge. I'm thinking no but...

Attim and Kei are from the little known but GORGEOUSLY illustrated manga Seraphic Feather.

At some point I want to write a full fic using Space Time Administration Bureau. I was thinking of having Tanya von Degurechaff be a evil Nanoha with them...