Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Crisis
Chapter 2: Converging Paths
Xx~~*~~xX
"Fate-chan, are you feeling okay?" Nanoha asked as the golden-haired woman came downstairs for breakfast. "You seemed out of it when you came home last night."
Fate yawned as she poured herself a cup of tea and sat down. "Yeah, just tired. I'll be good after I get some food. I have to head out early today to follow up on some things with Teana."
The Ace-of-aces still detected something a bit off about her close friend, but further inquiry was halted as a bundle of energy promptly made its presence known.
"Good morning Nanoha-mama and Fate-mama!" Vivio exclaimed as she burst into the kitchen for breakfast, first glomping onto Nanoha in the kitchen, then racing around to climb into a surprised Fate's lap.
Fate giggled and Nanoha sighed, as she brought the plates of food around.
"Vivio, you need to sit in your own chair so Fate-mama can eat," Nanoha admonished her.
The young girl clearly looked disappointed. "Awww...."
"It's okay," Fate replied, smiling a bit brushing Vivio's hair a bit with her fingers. "Vivio hasn't been able to see Fate-mama in awhile, has she? This is the first time I've been home in a few days."
"There you go, spoiling her again," Nanoha sighed, but with a hint of amusement as she sat down. "Vivio, Fate-mama will be picking you up from school today, and then she'll be able to spend the rest of the day with you, okay?"
Thankfully, the young girl seemed to accept with only minor protest, as she took her own seat. "Okaaaay...."
"Now that's a good girl!" came a new voice from near the floor.
"Arf!" the young girl exclaimed, leaning down to pet the orange puppy next to her chair. "Yes, Vivio is always a good girl!" She giggled.
"Will you be taking Vivio to school today, Arf?" Nanoha asked, then starting to eat.
"Yes, and then I'm heading over to assist Yuuno in the library," the familiar replied as she wandered over to her food bowl. "He has some research projects he needs assistance on later today."
"Can I got to the liberry and help Mr. Yuuno, too!?" Vivio asked, not quite pronouncing the location correctly. All three girls knew she mostly wanted to play with ferret mode.
"Not today," Nanoha told her. "But perhaps this weekend. Yuuno is a busy man."
Vivio picked at her food. "Awww, I wanted to help." Fate smiled at her and winked, and Vivio began eating.
As they began to chow down, Nanoha noted that Fate was eating more slowly than normal. She could clearly tell that something was on her best friend's mind, having known her for so long. But she also felt it was something that should be discussed later, after Vivio had been sent off to school.
Speak of which, the youngest Takamachi had really brightened up once she got used to her new magic school. She had made new friends there as well, and Nanoha was glad she was starting to look like a normal school girl. Well, as normal as testube-created descended of an ancient Belkan king with strong magical powers in a magic school could be. Nanoha's own school years seemed far more tame and normal compared to that.
Once breakfast was finished, and Nanoha walked Arf and Vivio to the sidewalk to see them off, the pony-tailed mage returned to find that Fate was about to leave herself. Nanoha realized that Fate was purposefully trying to leave before sharing what was on her mind.
Fate stopped as she spied Nanoha standing in the doorway, blocking her path, giving her the look. "What?"
Nanoha didn't say anything, instead crossing her arms over her chest, continuing to give her the look. When Fate sighed, she knew he had acquired victory.
Fate began to explain a bit about their raid last night and how Jail's name had come up. So after leaving Teana to handle the cleanup with the enforcer crew, Fate took a teleport to speak with Jail directly....
x~~*~~x
"My dear beloved Fate, what a pleasant surprise!" Jail only seemed happy to see her, something that Fate barely hid her disgust over. "To what do I owe this happy visitation?"
"We cleaned up a little crew of smugglers last night, who apparently had contact with you," Fate told him, keeping her tone neutral and trying to gauge his reaction.
"I had contact with many people throughout my life," the doctor admitted easily, adjusting how he sat on his cell's small bed. If he was hiding something, Fate couldn't tell. "It can be so hard to get some items, what with the bureau's heavy-handed draconian laws restricting so many innocent yet fascinating objects."
Fate crossed her arms over her chest. "Recent communication. Computer logs indicate these took place within the past few months."
Jail laughed, holding up the shackles that kept his hands bound. "Do I look like a man who could contact anyone, without someone knowing about it?"
"Then do you know if someone could be faking your identity?" Fate probed. "Did you have some program set up to mimic you? Someone else working for you?"
Jail stood and shrugged, walking over to the opposite wall to lean his back against it. "How should I know? I'm a little Jail bird at the moment." He chuckled at his own pun.
"I want answers, Scaglietti!" Fate demanded, still managing to keep her composure, and going on the attack. "You're up to something again, I know it. What do you have to hide? What are you afraid of me finding out?"
"Oh..." Jail's attitude seemed to change a bit, as he focused on her, walking over to the translucent barrier that kept him locked in his cell. "Perhaps, like a good loving father, I am only protecting you, my dear daughter?"
"You can give that up, Doctor," Fate told him, emphasizing the title. "Being involved in Project F, and me being a clone, does not make you my father." She had come to terms with that a long time ago.
Jail smiled widely, like a cat who had just caught a mouse. "Project F? While you were produced from that research I pioneered, I had actually known your mother far, far earlier to that point. We were rather close, your mother and I. We worked on a number of subjects, before she departed with Alicia... the daughter I gave her. She so dearly wanted a daughter...."
Fate's eyes narrowed as she sought to harden herself. "You're lying again. I don't know why, but it won't gain you anything."
Jail looked hurt. "Lying? My dear girl, what would I have to gain through that? I just wanted my daughter to know. As a clone of Alicia, that makes you my daughter as well!"
Fate tried to steady her legs, as the thought of Jail being Alicia's and, by consequence Fate's, father swam through her head. "You're trying to distract me from the issue at hand. Tell me what's going on with this smuggling operation!"
Jail merely sighed and walked back to his bunk to lay down, refusing anymore attempt at communication. Fate let him know that she would find out sooner or later, and left him there.
x~~*~~x
"You obviously don't believe he could be your real biological father, do you?" Nanoha ventured, placing a hand on Fate's shoulder.
The golden-haired girl shook her head. "Of course not. Although I don't know who my father was, I decided it wasn't important. Jail is hiding something; I'm sure of it."
Nanoha squeezed her friend's shoulder encouragingly. "You'll find out. Just don't let him get to you. He's locked up now, where he can't do anymore harm."
"Thanks Nanoha," Fate said, smiling in earnest. "I feel better, but I need to be going. Teana is waiting for me at TSAB headquarters."
Nanoha hugged her, then watched as she departed. She could tell it was still bothering her good friend, but not as much as before. Whatever it was, Nanoha was confident that Fate would get to the bottom of it; she was an excellent investigator.
Another person was fixing breakfast that morning, while her father read the news. Ginga turned around to greet several pairs of sleepy eyes as they entered and sat down around the table.
"Good morning, sisters!" Ginga happily announced as the adopted cyborg numbers piled in around the table. The paperwork had been mostly finished, and the four cyborgs had officially become adoptees of the Nakajima family.
Only Cinque managed a quiet reply, as Nove, Dieci and Wendi merely grumbled.
"You girls were out late last night," Genya remarked, taking a sip from his tea. "Had fun?"
Wendi sighed. "We couldn't pull Dieci and Cinque away from the kareoke bar. I think they were given cyborg throat systems."
Cinque managed a quiet blush, and Dieci whistled while looking away and scractching the back of her head.
"Well, as long as you don't do that too often," Ginga replied, setting plates down. "You have a probation meeting later this morning, so you need to be at your best."
"Let me help with that," Cinque offered, heading into the kitchen to grab the rest.
"Where's Subaru?" Nove asked curiously, looking around.
Genya turned off the news display to begin eating. "She had an emergency call, so she to head in really early this morning. She should be back later today, though."
Nove nodded, satisifed. "Good. I wanted to spar with her today. She was gonna show me some hand-to-hand move of hers."
x~~*~~x
"[Subaru here, I found two more and am digging them out now,]" the short blue-haired rescue agent communicated.
"[Roger that,]" came the telepathic reply from the rescue organizer.
Subaru Nakajima hovered inches above the snowy avalanche on her Wing Road, Mach Calibur having located two skiers trapped below it. For a moment, she debated the best way to free them, then decide to dig down to them at an angle. She calculated the trajectory and the skier's location, then unleashed her Divine Buster variant at a 45 degree angle, blowing the snow out of the way and creating a ramp.
"That should do it," Subaru stated confidently. "Mach Calibur, we're going down, ski mode."
"Ski mode activation," came the female reply from her device. As Subaru jumped off her Wing Road, the wheels of her roller blades reformed, disappearing and forming a pair of short skis on her feet.
From there, it was a simple matter to ski down the ramp her Divine Buster had dug, to reach the same level as the skiers were at. Taking it easy, she carefully dug sideways to them, eventually reaching the pair within a couple of minutes.
"Are you two okay?" She asked, as she pulled the first one out, a woman a bit older than her.
"Just c-c-cold, m-mainly," the man still inside replied, shivering "Y-you got here f-f-airly fast. Is m-my wife okay?"
"I'm fine, dear," the woman told him. "I was more worried about you. You covered me with your own body when the avalanche came. Though I'll have trouble walking for awhile."
Subaru pull the woman's husband free and smiled. "That won't be a problem; I've arranged your transportation. Mach Calibur, Wing Road and prepare for skate mode. We'll get you two warmed back up in no time!"
Stepping back, she formed the road and leapt back up, skis reforming back to skates, then swung down to the couple's level, using her cyborg strength to haul them up. Placing an an arm around the waist of each of them, the rescue mage began her descent down the mountain.
"W-wow, you're v-very strong for a g-girl you're age!" the man exclaimed, finding himself fully supported by her arm.
"Dear, that's rude!" the woman admonished him, then looked at her rescuer. "Remind me to swat him later."
Subaru merely smiled. "Not a problem, I'm used to it. All part of the job!"
Once upon a time, being "different" had bothered her, but that was before Tea and Section Six. There she had met many friends who accepted her for who she was, and didn't shun her because she wasn't fully human. Now she was proud to use everything she had to help others, like a certain mage had done for her several years ago.
x~~*~~x
"...and that's everything we have right now," Fate was saying. "Have you heard anything on your end?"
Hayate leaned back in her chair in thought as she studied Fate's face on the screen. "Officially, the Golem project is still in the research and testing phase. Unofficially, I've heard rumors of some secret deployment. If any of the deployed prototypes were lost or stolen, no one will admit it. I'm afraid, for now, you're on your own."
Fate sighed. "So what do we do with this unit we captured?"
"I'd suggest sending it over to Shari for analysis," Hayate suggested. "Technically, it doesn't exist, so no one should complain if you do. Just make sure it's locked down well. Whoever in the Bureau lost it, might want to reclaim it. And I'll see what I can find out from here, in investigations."
"Is it that bad?" Fate ventured, speaking in a quieter tone.
"It's been crazy, ever since the Regius-Jail link got out," Hayate admitted, rubbing her temples. "No department wants to communicate with the others, for fear of leaks. No one will admit to anything, for fear it will get back to them. I've never seen such department in-fighting. My hopes of reforming the Bureau keep running into red tape and roadblocks. When it was created, the TSAB was a smooth operation that did a lot of good. But it's ballooned into a lot of bureaucratic territory squabbles."
Fate half-smiled, half-grinned. "Breaking through roadblocks should be a certain short knight's specialty."
"I heard that!" came a taciturn voice from across the room. "I AM here, you know. But Hayate won't let me use Graf Eisen on them." Vita sighed.
Hayate and Fate giggled.
"As much as I would love to, I'm afraid we're more reliant on your investigation to figure out what exactly is going on," Hayate said at last. "I could send Signum to you; you two work good together, and you might need the extra firepower."
The golden-haired girl nodded. "Thanks, I appreciate that." Her attitude shifted. "Now, are you really enjoying your desk job?"
"It's not too bad," Hayate said quickly.
"She'd rather be out there blasting bad guys!" Rein exclaimed. "She mopes around a lot about it! She envies you."
"Why not transfer to a front line assignment, then?" Fate inquired. "I could pull some strings and get you into an agent position."
Hayate shook her head. "Thanks, but no, for two main reasons. One is that my magic isn't well-suited to being an agent. I'm an artillery type, you know that. And two, if we're going to have any hope of rooting out the corruption and reforming the Bureau, I need to make contacts. Chrono, Lindy, and Carim by themselves, while helpful, aren't quite enough. Even the old admirals won't be enough, as they are mainly figureheads now. I learned what I needed to in Section Six, and proved what could be done. I already have commanders in other units inquiring into my methods and assistance for reform. I have a real shot here."
"Well, I wish you all the luck, as you'll need it more than me!" Fate replied, half-joking. "I have to sign off now; Teana and I need to follow up some leads."
"Take care," Hayate told her as the other ended communications. She then swiveled her chair to look across the room. "Well?"
"I can head out immediately to meet up with Testerossa," Signum offered. "While you may be able to tolerate these desk jobs, my sword will grow rusty without action."
"You just want an excuse to fight Fate again," Vita teased, smirking.
That was one of the few things that could get to the pink-haired Belkan warrior, and Vita was rewarded with the slight blush and righteous anger.
"Testerossa is a fine warrior, unlike a certain short knight I could mention!" Signum shot back.
The master of the Wolkenritter sighed and slapped the table to forestall a teasing session. While she knew they were just playing around, there were things that needed to be taken care of first.
"One last point of business, regarding Nanoha-chan's mail, I think it's a great idea," Hayate announced.
Signum and Vita nodded, and even the normally quiet Zafira lifted his head to nod from where he lay in wolf-form.
"Yay, party!" Rein exclaimed, only to be knocked back by several close firing fireworks. "Hey!"
"Looks like Agito is awake," Vita noted dryly.
"You can thank the shrimp for that," Agito groused, rubbing her eyes as she floated up out of Signum's bag. "I was sleeping so peacefully, too."
"I'm taller than you!" Rein steamed, getting into the face of the other unison device. Signum sighed and grabbed the two, putting thumbs over their mouths to prevent a shouting war.
Hayate groaned and rubbed her temples again. "Vita, could you detour and inform Erio and Caro? And take Zafira with you. I think it will be a nice surprise if those two are there for Fate's party. And Signum can notify Teana, Chrono and Lindy, as well as keep an eye on Fate."
Signum nodded, keeping a firm hand on the incensed Agito as the pair left her office, followed by Vita and Zafira. Hayate almost regretted turning down Fate's offer; she really felt like blasting something right now.
x~~*~~x
Yuuno blinked his eyes open, not that it did much good. The inside of his eyelids were an exact copy of the ebony void that surrounded him. Fortunately, all of his bones appeared to be in working order as he sat himself up. A few places felt a bit sore, but considering what he went through, he was glad he was alive and in one piece.
Standing up, he tried a simple light spell, but his brow furrowed in concentration and confusion, as he realized he had to put more magic than usual into getting the small glowing orb to form. However, the light did reveal his location to be some kind of underground tunnel. One side appear to be collapsed, and he realized it might have been because of his entrance. He vaguely remembered hitting the bottom and his spherical barrier bouncing and rolling him along as he was buried.
And somewhere along the way, he lost his pack with his camping gear and food in it, although his water canteen was still connected to his belt.
"Well, I'm not getting out that way," he said out loud. After concentrating for a moment, he sighed. "And apparently not teleporting out, either. Could their jamming barrier still be in effect?"
Noticing some red sparkles on a wall, he walked over and brushed them with his right fingertips. The light in his left hand flickered a bit, and Yuuno instantly realized what was going on. [Anti-magic minerals!]
He recalled the reports on Jail's drones, that their Anti-Magic Field appeared to be generated from a unique substance found within. It was never properly identified, since it resisted magical inspection. But Yuuno wondered if Jail had discovered it and was mining it. If so, that could be the reason he was attacked: Automated defenses designed to protect his mines.
"Well, that doesn't help me for now," he realized. "And this tunnel looks like it was carved out, which means it leads somewhere. Let's hope it's outside."
Ignoring the aches in his joints, Yuuno began to walk. He slowly lost track of time, where minutes soon felt like hours as the tunnel curved this way and that, up and down. The air was stale, but at least it was breathable. Still, he thought it best to be on the safe side and formed a magical barrier breathing mask over his nose and mouth. It would filter out any impurities, like any kind of harmful gas.
As he walked, he noted there was no sign of any life. No bats or spiderwebs, which was a bad sign. It meant that this area wasn't hospitable to any form of higher life.
However, the tunnel eventually gave birth a large cavern, at least as far as Yuuno could see into the void beyond. He created another light ball and sent both of them ahead. Immediately in front of him, was a partially demolished stone arch standing in front of wide hole, but beyond that was still darkness despite the light from the twin orbs. As he walked up to the edge and looked down, he could see it wasn't a direct drop, but more of a gradual slope downwards, probably evening out somewhere near the middle. Also, the edges were smooth, as if something had once been there and then were removed. It didn't seem natural. He guessed the hole itself was easily several kilometers across.
Recalling one of the light balls, Yuuno headed to the stone arch to examine it. On the front, there appeared to be some sort of plate. Brushing the dust and debris away from it, he could barely make out some symbols.
"Obviously an ancient language, but these seem almost familiar," he mumbled to himself. "A dialect of Belkan?"
He tried to sound them out, but at first they made no sense. He wished he could interface with the Infinity Library to search for a match. The best he could do at the moment, was memorize the symbols. Although he couldn't shake the feeling they were familiar.
[It's not Ancient Belkan...] Yuuno reasoned, closing his eyes to think. [Before that? What would be before that?]
His eyes snapped open. He suddenly realized where he had seen them before. And if he was right, this discovery could be the most important in his life.
Xx~~*~~xX
Author's Notes:
One criticism so far is that I may be including too many characters, which is a criticism some have leveled against the StrikerS series. I've cut down some parts of the story, and many of the secondary characters I mention, will remain secondary. But I do want to give some of the main characters a chance to shine, including some of the mains that barely had roles in StrikerS. If it's still too much, I can look at seeing what else I can cut out, but based on the dictates of the plot, it basically demands a response from quite a few.
Oh, and a bit of a helper note for those that have trouble sorting out the cyborgs:
In jail:
#1 Uno – Secretary
#3 Tre – Wide/Ride Impulse girl (pinkish-purple wings)
#4 Quattro – If you don't know who this is...
#7 Sette – Boomerang Blades girl (she defended Jail along with Tre against Fate at the end)
Adopted by Nakajima family:
#5 Cinque – eye-patch girl
#9 Nove – Roller Blades like Subaru and Gin
#10 Dieci – Uses the big cannon
#11 Wendi – Surfboard girl
Taken in by the St. Church:
#6 Sein – Deep diver
#8 Otto – Ray storm, the one that looks like a boy
#12 Deed – the two red blades chick stopped by Teana
And #2 Due was whacked by Zest.