Disclaimer on Chapter 1

Electric Revolution

Chapter 6

Family City

Hayate had been in a wheelchair for as long as she could remember, and always felt so lonely even when she had her mum and dad. She had a white western appearance, but she had been found all alone when she was small, left in Japan all alone. She was taken in to child services, and luckily she was adopted soon after by a very nice couple who had taken great care of her.

However, she was now 12 and was left alone in the world, but she had a generous weekly snippet coming in from somewhere, not completely sure on where the money came from, or who sponsored her to live alone she was grateful, and it was generous enough to buy her what she needed, clothes, food, books and the like.

Her adoptive parents were not around anymore, and she felt so alone in her nice suburb house, but at least she was warm and still had a home and wasn't in an orphanage somewhere. She tried to go to school every day to get her education but she was sick and weak, and sometimes couldn't make it in because she needed to go to the hospital, but her doctor was really nice, and she liked her a lot.

However, when these girls and a 'dog' appeared one day; a few weeks ago to look after her she felt tears in her eyes. There were 3 girls. They were Signum, she was nice but she thought she worked at whatever it was she did too hard and was about anywhere from 16 to 19. She couldn't tell her age, and asking seemed rude.

Shamal was older than her though, or seemed it as she had a motherly big sister vibe, but still only looked like she was no older than 22. She was really smart and helped her with her homework when she could. It was nice but she wasn't sure for how long she could continue going to school, which was sad.

She did like school and some of the girls tried to be nice and help her, but she supposed it could be some trouble with her wheelchair so she couldn't blame them for wanting to run around and play without having to worry about the sick girl in the wheelchair. She supposed it would have been nice to make a close girl friend at school to talk with and have lots of fun, but she shouldn't get herself down; the girls at school tried at least.

Then there was their dog, Zafria. He was huge, like a sabre toothed dog or something with purple fur and fluffy white mane around his neck. Though he was nice too, and could actually speak like people, but her friends didn't know she knew, but she overheard him, but that was so awesome, and she wouldn't ever tell anyone.

Last was Hayate's best friend Vita. It was great having a best friend finally. Vita worried about Hayate so much it was nice to have someone love her like that after her mum and dad – well Vita was small and feisty, quick to fight would be a great way to describe her. But she was fun and slept in Hayate's bed with her as her house only had 2 bedrooms and Signum and Shamal shared the other together while Zafria stayed in the living room area.

Hayate didn't mind sharing with Vita. She was a nice roommate, and it was great sharing with her. Vita snuggled up to Hayate making her feel warm and comforted at night, and she found that was a nice change from being alone. It was also amusing the crazy antics that Vita managed to get up to, and didn't realise she was 'misbehaving'.

Vita was always looking out for Hayate, but she was short, and though Hayate wasn't sure how old Vita was, she must have been a few years younger than her; maybe nine if she were to guess. Hayate hadn't had the heart to ask, just in case Vita was really the same age as her, which she was certain she wasn't, but she wouldn't count out the possibility, and upsetting her was furthest thing from Hayate's mind.

They were Hayate's new family, worrying over her when they took her to see her doctor at the hospital. Though, she didn't condone lying they managed to convince the doctors that they were family, and came to take care of her. They did take care of her, but she knew they weren't related by blood or her adoption. She knew they had to lie, so that they could stay with her because to her that first day they came, they became her family.

Hayate's doctor couldn't do anything for her, not really, not even knowing what was slowly – she didn't want to think like that. Vita would be upset if she found out. It seemed all her doctor could do for her was help ease the pain with medications and treatments for things that likely weren't doing anything, but they could not just give up. She could only wish that she could move her legs a little, just a day to walk and run with Vita, and she would be happy.

"Hayate...!"

Hayate was startled as the amusing voice interrupted her as she was making dinner for everyone for the evening as they were all useless in the kitchen, and she enjoyed cooking. The house was a kitchen-diner on the ground floor opened up into the lounge, so even when someone was in the living space she could ask for help if she needed it, as her chair wasn't always high enough to reach some areas in the kitchen space.

She smiled at Vita as she charged over after closing the front door after her while Hayate sat in her wheelchair making some homemade pastries with some packet noodles, as she didn't have time to make them from scratch too or her new family would get hungry waiting. She had to admire Vita's ginger hair neatly framing her pretty face, and tied into twin braded pigtails at the back of her head to each side as they made her look cuter than anything.

"Vita...!" Hayate greeted her with a grin as the 'punk'-'Goth'-ish girl hugged her, and she laughed, hugging her in return. "...could you set the table, dinner will be ready in a bit," Hayate said checking the pastries were crisping as they should. Being Japanese and in Japan, Hayate found that Japanese dishes got boring all of the time. So she liked to try different things, and she came to realise that Signum was a big pastry fan, especially stake and potato.

That was why Hayate was making them as had had promised Signum that morning before she and the others took her to school. Shamal had picked her up after classes and brought her home before leaving. She needed to pick up groceries and Hayate couldn't go with her as she had dinner to prepare. Signum and Shamal were both the 'responsible' young adults who took care to be her new guardians, and she couldn't be more thankful for them becoming my new family.

Vita grinned as she looked at the pies before Hayate shooed her away to the table, closing the oven door. Vita giggled as she rushed off to finish setting the table for dinner. It was good to have a family again but Hayate was startled as she looked out of the window as it started raining and streaks of lightning crossed the sky.

Hayate always liked the rain, and thunder storms had been comforting for some reason she couldn't understand. She smiled as Vita returned, looking out of the window with me. Hayate saw that look in Vita's eyes that she bravely tried to hide from her. She was just too adorable while she tried to pretend she was the bravest girl on earth.

"I hope Signum and Shamal don't get too wet. Don't worry Hayate; I'll protect you from the storm!" Vita declared, pumping her fist in triumph before she was in Hayate's lap a moment later as the sky roared and lightning flashed across the heavens.

Hayate couldn't hold in her giggle while Vita pouted at being caught out. It was obviously it was her that wanted protecting from the storm rather than Hayate. It was adorable of her, and Hayate gave her a cuddle in her arms.

"Don't worry, Vita, I've always been comforted during storms since I was little," Hayate said thoughtfully. "I don't know why, but it makes me think of home. I guess that's weird, but... everyone has to be a little weird or they'll all be boring!" she told her laughing while she sat up on Hayate's lap and laughed with her.

"Y-yeah, Hayate!" she said as she hopped off Hayate's lap with a sigh of relief and a small embarrassed blush, smiling back as she tried to be brave, but everybody had their fears. "I'll finish with the table. Don't worry; the others will be back soon."

Hayate nodded her head, smiling as she watched Vita return to the table again for a moment before getting back to checking the pasta before the pastries. They were doing well, and would hopefully taste great.

It didn't take long after that for Shamal to get home with the groceries. She had short blond hair that hung only to her neck, and had kind blue eyes. She was wearing a long green coat when she entered and was a little wet, but removing her coat and placing it with her yellow umbrella on the coat rack. She was wearing a long green skirt and a white polo jumper.

She smiled at Hayate and Vita as she carried her bags into the kitchen to put the groceries away. "Wow, that smells delicious, Hayate!" she praised, and Hayate smiled widely pleased that she liked her cooking, even if it was only the smell. She just had to hope that she enjoyed the meal too when she finally got to sample it.

Hayate had to grab some tomatoes and lettuce for the plates as they hadn't any vegetables since Shamal hadn't been able to get the groceries while she was at school. But that was okay as they had some salad stuff left over from the day before when they had chicken salad. She arranged 4 plates before going about straining the noodles before Shamal came over.

"Let me Hayate," she said as her chair wasn't exactly high enough to reach the sink so she was pleased she offered help and started dishing out some noodles for all of our plates while Hayate checked on the oven.

"Perfect!" she declared happily as she took her oven mitts and carefully pulled out the hot tray of pies and placed it on top of the hobs as they were then off. They looked delicious and Vita rushed over to see with a hungry look on her face.

"Wow!" she declared while Hayate laughed at her as the front door opened and a young woman with her bright red hair tied up. Her hair was in a ponytail down her back. She entered with the large 'pet' dog. They both looked soaked but unconcerned. Fortunately our 'pet' wasn't fussy and a couple pies in his bowl was what he needed as apparently he was always eating sneakily and he did look sheepish when Shamal had told her, and he wouldn't eat most veggies or pasta anyway, so he got to get his first while Hayate dished out for the humans.

"Feeling hungry Signum?" Hayate asked while she slumped at the table after removing her coat, and she finished dishing out the food while Shamal placed some glasses with juice on the table.

She turned a grin on her, but her green eyes said she was a little tired. Hayate liked her eyes as they looked kind of like hers, so it was almost like they were related. The other two had blue so they had that in common so it was only fair, but Hayate's hair was brown and short cut to her neck and clipped out of her eyes so that was different from all of them.

Hayate went to bed later content and tired as she snuggled up in bed and once I she was asleep her mind wandered someplace else. It was a dream. She dreamt of her again. She knew magic was real, how could she not? She was quite sure her new family came from a magical book, but she couldn't bring herself to ask anything about it. She didn't want to lose them for saying the wrong thing.

However, since she opened the book she dreamt every night, weird things but she was always there. She lived in a world of amazing things, but she could never see it all clearly no matter how much she wanted to. She was a light and deadly blaze of light and power too far out of her reach, like a goddess, beautiful and amazing.

She was going somewhere new, full of magic she knew, and it worried her because she didn't want to stop seeing this girl, even though she didn't know why. But as always the dream lasted but moments and changed. This time of darkness and green shadows from the night striking light across the sky through a window, and she sat up in bed when she heard the scream so terrible it begged the world.

Hayate held herself up with her hands on the bed, panting in breath, sweat drenching her face and PJ's. She looked to see Vita kneeling beside her in her cute Goth-bunny PJ's looking at her in worry before Shamal and Signum burst in the room moments later. They looked as scared as they always did when she woke them like that every night, sometimes having dreamt for longer, or even just moments.

"We heard you scream?" Shamal asked in concern. She looked so afraid for Hayate it could almost break her heart to worry them all every night.

"Master Hayate!" Vita whimpered with worried tears in her eyes. She always called her that when she was so concerned for her and made Hayate feel like crying for her and cuddling her and never letting her go. "She must have had that dream again," she said as she turned to the others, "–it could be bad-!" she said, leaving something unsaid, but Hayate wasn't stupid, but she didn't mention anything yet.

"I'm fine now Vita!" Hayate quickly tried to reassure her as her pounding heart slowed its beats, and she tried to relax like she had for a while. "It's just. I saw her again and... she was going somewhere –it was a school for magic-."

"Magic!?" Vita asked not looking reassured about my dream as Hayate knew they believed it was all real, which worried her more as she felt concerned for a person she had never met.

"Then it was those green flashes of something and I just felt a cold dread suddenly like always," she finished, explaining. "I-I should be okay now, I don't have them more than once, but I really wish I knew what they meant," she said tiredly sliding into her pillow with a tired yawn.

"Okay," Shamal said in concern. "Get back to sleep! Do you need anything?" she asked, but Hayate just shook her head sleepily. "Vita if anything is wrong call for us, okay?" she commanded and Vita was fast to nod as she was always worrying about Hayate.

"Of course," she agreed as she snuggled up to Hayate and pulled the covers over them both before the other two left. It wasn't the first nightmare just like it, so they shouldn't be too concerned as she would try to forget that dread was too gentle of a word to describe that hopeless, endless fear of what that light meant.

She knew that the girl in the first vision was different. That wasn't as much a dream but it felt like she was there, but not enough to see everything in detail, or hear anything, but Hayate knew that the girl was strong, and powerful. She just knew that she would stand before the green darkness and smile, putting it in its place because that was what Hayate sensed from her.

If it was her? She would cower, small and afraid while her Knights protected her. She paused that thought as she looked to Vita and wondered why she thought that. She was fast asleep, so Hayate didn't try to speak with her.

Knights...?

Were they knights? Were they her knights? They came to her when she opened the book, but she hadn't opened it since. She got a sense of danger from it and just wouldn't want to do something bad with a magic book when she didn't understand the first thing about magic and she was afraid to ask her new family in case they left her all alone again.

She felt like such a wimp. She was too soft and gentle. She was too nice sometimes, but she supposed Uminari City was just really peaceful and quite most of the time. She had never had any reason to be tough, and though her illness should have made her angry about how unfair it was, and that she was so young that she hadn't experienced much like that she just wasn't, and she accepted it, and now she had her new family she could spend what time she had left being happy with them.

Was that silly of her or not? She knew she didn't have long. However, how long she had she wouldn't want to guess. She didn't feel that she should waste her time being angry, but living the rest of her life loving her Knights and making sure they knew how important they had become to her.

Hayate curled up and smiled as she cuddled her little Vita and kissed her forehead. She sighed and a little smile graced her lips as she held back tightly and Hayate was soon joining her in more peaceful dreams.

Meanwhile, Shamal and Signum had left Hayate and Vita to sleep and went to the sofa within the lounge, slumping down while Zafria sat up and watched them while they gathered themselves looking uncertain and more concerned than they ever had before.

"Mistress H-Hayate is starting to see beyond!" Shamal said in concern. "She won't keep pretending nothing is different about her to normal people. I didn't think that she would notice anything, not this quick at least. Then filling the book... the book is refusing to take too much from the linker cores.

"It's never done that before. It used to kill, but it's still linked to Hayate, and she's just too pure that she's somehow imposing her will on it enough to stop us killing any magicians, and it's only a matter of time until she realises that the book is missing and all that is left is an illusion."

"Then what should we do?" Zafria asked in a strong voice. "Do we explain to her what we're doing, and why?"

"She would never let us continue!" Signum said looking sick. "She could order us to return the book no matter how dangerous it is, or whether we beg her! She's too pure, good, and not to mention nice... we've never had a master like her before. She would never want the power because it would mean hurting others and letting us, even if we could cure her, and fix her legs, so she could finally walk. She wouldn't care, and would stop us, and be so disappointed but I don't want to lose her."

"I know, but you know that look, right after she wakes from those nightmares!" Shamal said, frustrated. "She looks at us as if she can see straight through the lie to the secrets we hold, and none of the previous owners of the book ever looked at us like that. We care about her as we never did the rest, and in return she cares for us. We have never had a bond with our master before and we can't start being distant. It wouldn't be fair on her, it would be a huge lie, and Vita would never go for hurting her!"

"Then what do we do?" Signum demanded gritting her teeth in frustration as she didn't know how to cope with the situation.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "We don't do anything yet... we carry on as planned, but when she finally asks we tell her the truth. I heard a phrase that sits right here. It is easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask permission."

"Especially when you know the answer would be no...!" Signum added looking defeated. "We need to hurry, take Linker Cores from off world, animals if we need to!" she said clenching her fists, shaking as she could feel her own uncertainty. "Before Master Hayate finds out, so that we can save her!"

"Agreed," Shamal said nodding even though she felt terrible about all the lies and going against their master, but they wanted to save her so they would have forever together, but even if she hated them for it – they could live with that if only Hayate was safe and alive.

to be continued...