Of Assassins, Samurai, and Magic
A/N: And the next chapter is up! I've tried to keep everyone as close as possible to their characters in the anime though I'm sure there will be a few OOC moments. Comments and reviews are much appreciated. Enjoy!
For those of you who have left unsigned reviews, see my replies below:
Love thus story - Thanks for the review! ^^ While it was never my intention to astonish my readers, I'm happy to know it happened. Lol. If you think that was the exciting chapter, wait until you read this one. :P As for Subaru X Teana, I do have a little part in later chapters set aside for them. Nothing big, but I'm sure you'll enjoy reading it nonetheless. :)
Disclaimer: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them.
*** ~ Chapter 31: Revelations of the Scholar ~ ***
"Thank you all for attending."
A day had passed since the White Devil openly attacked the Upper District. Unfortunately, the white assassin escaped, another unknown black assassin assisting in their retreat. This was the first time anyone had seen the summoner assassin, the White Devil's partner quite skilled in the arts of summoning insect beasts. Since then, things had only gotten worse as the White Devil was hell bent on getting any and all Spirit Seeds around, no matter the cost. The White Devil was no longer holding back.
Yunno set the scroll in his hand down on the table, briefly glancing at those assembled. He had called a meeting of the utmost urgency today, the meeting itself taking place in the Meeting Chambers, a room normally used for meetings between the Empress and her guests. Yunno stood on one end of the massive cherry wood table in the Meeting Chambers, the others taking up the seats along the perimeter of the table. Everyone looked at Yunno wearing varying expressions.
To his right was Fate, the blonde looking uncomfortable and nervous. This was not surprising considering the present company. To Fate's right was Lindy, the Co-Captain of the City Guards also in attendance along with Chrono, the City Guards Captain himself, who sat to Lindy's right. To Yunno's left and opposite Fate sat Shamal, the Empress' head attendant. The blonde gave Fate a reassuring smile, hoping to ease the young woman's anxiety. To Shamal's left sat Vita, the redhead whose name still eluded Fate as they had yet to be introduced formally. Behind Shamal's chair lay Zafira, the blue demon wolf lazily yawning on the floor as he waited for Yunno to get the meeting started.
On the opposite end of the table from Yunno, on a raised platform and farther back from the rest of the attendees, was the Empress. Standing next to her was an ever familiar pink haired samurai. Today, Signum would be playing the role as the Empress' voice in place of Shamal. Like before, the Empress sat on her throne, partially separated by a bamboo curtain which obscured her from the waist up.
Fate hesitantly glanced to her right, the blonde spying on the Empress for the umpteenth time in the span of minutes. She quickly turned her gaze back to Yunno at the slightest movement from anyone, before she was caught staring. The scholar had called everyone here today to discuss the most recent turn of events, that being dealing with the White Devil, the Thunder Reaper, and the Numbers. Why Fate was invited to such a meeting, she had no clue. And that fact made her even more nervous.
"I realize this may not be the most convenient of times, especially considering all that has happened lately," Yunno said. "So I'll try to keep this as brief as possible." Looking down at the scroll on the table, he paused momentarily.
"As you all know, the incidents involving the Spirit Seeds and certain clans have become more violent and frequent within the last few days."
Signum pursed her lips at that comment. The scholar was putting things nicely. Things had evolved into a bloody nightmare!
"At first, there seemed to be no pattern to the events," Yunno continued. "Aside from the regular power hungry thugs fighting over the Spirit Seeds. It seemed like nothing out of the ordinary."
Shamal nodded in agreement.
"How did the Spirit Seeds come to be? Who created them? Why were they created? After many years of study, we still don't know the answers to those questions. Yet one thing remains true. They are not from our world, nor were they created in our world."
Vita openly yawned, covering her mouth with her hand as the scholar continued his explanation.
"From my research into nullifying their magic," Yunno said, looking down at the scroll on the table again. "I have confirmed that they are indeed not of this world. The Spirit Seeds are actually composed of materials which exists nowhere on our planet."
Vita rolled her eyes in boredom. Was she really dragged in here just to hear this man ramble on and on about things they already knew? Resting her left elbow on the table top, she rested her cheek against her left fist. "So what's your point, blondie?" the redhead asked.
"Vita-chan!" Shamal scolded. The Empress' attendant frowned at her younger companion. "That's rude."
Vita shrugged, completely unfazed by Shamal's look. "So what if they didn't come from our world? What does that have to do with what's going on right now?"
"Vita raises a good point Scrya-san," Signum said, speaking up for the first time. "I think we all know that the Spirit Seeds were not of this world. How does that fact help us with the current state of the country?"
Yunno chuckled. This was an impatient bunch, but he really couldn't blame them, all things considered. "Al Hazard," was Yunno's reply.
Anyone who may have been dozing off at that point was now completely awake. The Empress squeezed the armrest of her throne in a white knuckled grip.
"Ten years ago, Precia Testerossa reportedly found the door to Al Hazard, and with the Spirit Seeds she collected, she tried to force open the door to use Al Hazard's magics to revive her daughter."
Vita sent a furious scowl in Fate's direction, the blonde sinking back into her chair under the glare. Fate wanted nothing more than to disappear right now. Either that, or become really, really small. A hand on her shoulder made the blonde jump, crimson coloured eyes darting to the right where Lindy gave her a reassuring smile.
"I think we all know how that ended," Yunno said, obvious to the looks between attendees. "But needless to say, her attempt failed, leading to one of the most tragic events in Japan's history."
Silence engulfed the room.
Taking that as a sign to continue, Yunno pressed onwards.
"Originally, it was thought that Precia-san had simply gone mad with the loss of her daughter. In doing so, she treated the legends and myths of Al Hazard as real, chasing after what was written in the ancient texts." Yunno ran a hand through his long blonde hair, before readjusting his spectacles.
"The reason why the stories of Al Hazard have always been treated as fairy tales was become we could never prove its existence." A pause. "That is until the Garden of Time Incident."
The scholar closed his eyes momentarily, sighing. "Even then, we still can't say whether or not Al Hazard exists, in spite of the demons and legendary weapons which started to appear in our world after that horrible day. The only reason why people say that place even exists, is because we didn't know how else to explain the coincidences between the ancient texts and what happened that day."
Harlaown Chrono frowned. A lot of what Yunno was saying was nothing new. Many people knew of the stories, about Al Hazard, about what really happened during the Garden of Time Incident, about the Spirit Seeds. But as Yunno had pointed out, a lot of it was merely hearsay and speculation, a type of coping mechanism for everyone to explain and accept what happened over ten years ago. But how much of that was truth and how much was just stories? From the way Yunno was talking, it seemed like the scholar was about to tell them some big secret or-
"I now have new evidence which suggests otherwise," Yunno stated.
Everyone's eyes bore into the scholar.
"What kind of... new evidence?" Chrono was not liking the sound of that.
"Al Hazard is real," Yunno said with firm conviction. Green eyes met everyone's gaze. "And the reason why Precia-san failed all those years ago was not because the previous Emperor interrupted the ceremony to open the door. It was simply because her timing for opening the door incorrect."
"W-what?"
Hushed murmurs circulated among those gathered. The Empress turned to Signum, the samurai doing the same, both of them looking at each other in shock. Chrono immediately sought out his mother's gaze, of which the teal haired woman met.
"It took some digging," Yunno continued, without missing a beat. "But I have confirmed with the other scholars that this is not the first time someone's tried to open the door to Al Hazard."
"You can't be serious!" Vita exclaimed in outrage, slamming her open palms down on the table top. "This has happened before?"
Yunno nodded, his expression grim. "In 1108AD, the current Emperor overthrew the most prominent clan in the country, the Fujiwara clan. That war spanned over a year," the blonde scholar recounted. "During the many battles, witnesses reported seeing unholy beasts emerging from a black void, and weapons of great power which could not have been crafted by any blacksmith. It was those two things which attributed to the Emperor's victory in battle and dominance over the land until he died."
"Demons and legendary weapons," Signum said.
"Hai," Yunno said. "In 997AD, there was a similar bloody war, ending in the Sugawara clan usurping the throne. The texts say that the Sugawara warriors had powers of divine light, one so powerful it could obliterate armies in a single blast."
"That sounds like Spirit Seeds if you ask me," Chrono commented.
"It is likely," the scholar said. "But there's more." Yunno unrolled the scroll on the table before him, looking down at the parchment.
"In 883AD, Japan experienced yet another horrific event, in which some estimate over half of the country's people perished. The transcripts for that time and the times before are sketchy at best, but even then there were reports of demons appearing from blackness and lights of great power."
Lindy wrung her hands tightly together on her lap. "How does that affect what's happening now?"
"Over the past month," Yunno continued, dragging his finger along the image inked on the scroll. "Some of the other scholars studying the sky have reported strange movements in the heavens. The regular pattern of stars appears to be broken."
The Empress went rigid at that piece of information.
"During the night of the no moon," Carim began. "I received a vision of the most startling revelation."
The blonde reached into her hidden satchel, pulling forth a small bundle of parchment. Untying the bindings that held it, she pulled out a single sheet of parchment filled with script. She handed it to Hayate. "The saint is awakening."
"The… saint…?" Hayate looked at Carim questioningly before turning her attention to the words on the page.
The seed of shadow will poison the land.
The gate to the heavens will break...
"The stars are aligning into a new formation," Yunno said, unaware of the Empress' disposition. "Hearing that, I felt that this event, on top of the movements of the clans around the Spirit Seeds, was just too coincidental. So I had some of my colleagues search for other unusual patterns previously recorded in the texts."
Zafira's eyes narrowed slightly. "Let me guess," the blue demon wolf said. "They found some."
Yunno nodded. "Hai. Similar changes in the heavens were noted during the peak of those horrific events I mentioned earlier."
Signum looked at the Empress again, her jaw clenched.
"It appears that Japan, specifically this capital city, will be the focal point of this alignment, one of which will happen in the next three days."
"Three days?" Chrono questioned, the Captain of the City Guards paling slightly. "How can you be so sure?"
"The Spirit Seeds," Yunno replied. "Over the past few weeks, they have been pulsing in regular intervals, despite being sealed. These intervals have been steadily decreasing in rate. I have confirmed with the other scholars that the pattern is not as random as it appears. The Spirit Seeds seem to be counting down to something, like a timer of sorts."
Lindy's hands clenched tighter into fists. "What happens when the timer reaches zero?" she asked. The teal haired woman already knew the answer, but she had to ask anyway.
"The door to Al Hazard will open."
Shamal bit her lip at this news. The Empress' attendant was already fearing the outcome of the door being forced open again. The tragedies during the Garden of Time incident had been horrific. And that happened without the door being opened at all. If the door to Al Hazard were to open this time-
"Because the Spirit Seeds are connected to all of this," Yunno continued onwards before he lost the group's attention completely. "It is likely that the person who has the most Spirit Seeds in their possession at that time will not only be able to open the door to Al Hazard, but they will also have the ability to wield whatever power they attain from it."
"Kuso!" Signum cursed. The news had just gone from bad to worse. Who knew how many Spirit Seeds the White Devil, the Thunder Reaper, or the Numbers Clan had? The samurai captain was pretty sure it was more than what they had sealed away in the Imperial Vault.
"With the new alignment so close at hand," Yunno said. "The door to Al Hazard must have already materialized somewhere. I think that is what the clans are searching for. They're searching for the door in preparation of it opening."
"Then we must find the door before they do." Lindy said firmly. The teal haired woman was already thinking of the different ways to go about searching for the door to Al Hazard.
Yunno nodded at Lindy. "That's where you actually come in, Fate-san."
"Me?" Fate's head snapped towards Yunno in surprise.
"While I realize this is a touchy subject," the scholar started. "Do you remember anything from before waking up during the Garden of Time Incident? Anything at all? Precia-san was a brilliant archeologist and had studied Al Hazard in great depth. Anything you can think of could help us."
Fate looked down at her hands, fists clenching on her lap. "I-"
"They wouldn't find me where I went," Arf barked. "I went back to Al Hazard. It's really pretty over there Fate," the demon fox said, her tail thumping against the back of the chair. "I can show you how to get there if you want."
Fate's eyes went wide like saucers, the blonde remembering her conversation with Arf the night the demon fox returned to her. Lindy must have remembered the same thing, for she too wore a shocked expression. Both of them looked at each other.
"Fate-san?" It looked like the blonde had remembered something, but Yunno couldn't be sure.
"Ile..." Fate said reluctantly, shaking her head. She could feel her adopted mother's gaze boring into her from the right. "I'm sorry Yunno-kun, nothing comes to mind." With a quick glance to Lindy, Fate knew she was going to have a talk with her mother later.
"Well, it was worth a try," Yunno said dejectedly.
"Signum."
The pinkette turned towards the Empress, approaching the woman behind the bamboo curtain per her beckoning.
"I understand," the samurai replied a moment later. Signum returned to the visible side of the curtain again.
"Harlaown-san," the Captain of the Samurai said grimly. "The Empress has ordered us to stop the Numbers, as well as the Thunder Reaper and the White Devil at all costs. You are allowed to use extreme force, even if it means killing them."
Fate's eyes widened in horror. Nanoha! Burgundy coloured eyes darted all over the room, the blonde now was desperately looking for an escape out of this place. She was not about to let her best friend die, not without knowing the truth behind things first.
"I will continue my research on nullifying the magics of the Spirit Seeds," Yunno said. "I still believe there is a way to do it, and maybe if we're lucky, I'll be able to devise-"
"Sturmfalken!"
Yunno flinched as Signum's bolt of purple magic whizzed by his head just missing him by inches.
"Wha-"
BOOM!
The entire room shook, Lindy and Chrono diving at Fate to shield her from the debris while Zafira tackled Shamal from her chair and stood in front of her protectively. Vita was already at the Empress' side with Graf Eisen ready, while Signum chased after the intruder.
A blur of black zipped out of the smoke from the blast on the other end of the room, charging straight through the Meeting Chamber doors before anyone could catch them. Signum was hot on their heels a second later, chasing them through the corridors of the Imperial Palace as they sought a quick escape.
Rounding the corner the black assassin vanished around, the pink haired samurai prepared her signature attack. "Purple-"
Signum slid to halt at the sight of two bodies on the ground before her.
"Rein...?"
Agito looked around in disorientation. One moment she was in some dark room, the one called Lutecia approaching her and the other tiny guardian. Then, in the next, they were all in some large place with red decorative walls and carpets glittering in gold.
"Rein...?"
How she and the other mini ended up on the floor, Agito had no idea. But before she could make heads or tails of the situation, there was the stomping of booted feet rounding the corner near them and Agito did the only thing she could think of. She cowered in fear, all the while clutching at the unconscious silver haired sprite next to her.
"Rein-chan!"
Agito's eyes snapped open at the voices and found a small grouping of large people towering over them both. Rein groaned in her grasp, shifting slightly.
"Hay... ate...?" the silver haired guardian mumbled.
The said brunette dropped to her knees next to Signum, in tears. "Rein..."
At this recognition, Agito swallowed thickly before backing away from Rein. Hayate wasted no time and immediately cuddled Rein to her chest. Shamal appeared next to the Empress within seconds, quick to check on the little guardian's health.
And Agito had never felt more alone. But what she did felt right.
"Who are you?" Vita demanded, pointing Graf Eisen at Agito.
The fire sprite cowered back again, holding herself, shivering. Long red hair draped over her bare shoulders, her wings (which were of the same colour) wrapped as much around her body as possible, acting as both a weak shield and a blanket. Agito clutched at her tail tightly.
"Answer me!" Vita exclaimed, taking a menacing step towards the little one. "Who are you and who are you working for!"
Agito whimpered, turning her face away from the angry redhead, shaking. She squeezed her eyes shut. Tiny tears threatened to fall.
"Vita."
"But Signum-"
"That's enough Vita."
Agito flinched as something draped over her head and body. Opening her eyes in fear, she immediately found herself covered up in Signum's handkerchief. The pink haired samurai had stooped down at this point, and offered the tiny sprite her hand.
"How about we get you cleaned up?"
Agito looked at Signum's hand, long and hard before looking up to meet the samurai's gaze. There was such kindness in the woman's voice, despite the strong aura and mean appearance the pink haired swordswoman sported. The angry redhead from before grumbled in the background somewhere, but Agito paid no heed. Gathering up her courage for the first time since she awoke, the small fire sprite hesitantly reached out her hand to grab onto Signum's finger.
"H-hai."
A/N: This story takes place roughly in Feudal Japan, set between 1100-1200, for the purposes of this fanfiction. Yunno refers to previous eras in Japan's history, but please not they may not accurately portray how the era was in real life. For more information on Japan's eras, visit: http[colon][doubleslash]en[dot]wikipedia[dot]org/wiki/History_of_Japan
I realize that during this time period, the concepts of stars, planets, etc may be too advance for that time. So for the sake of this story, let's just say they knew about those things. ;)
And just to clarify, any blocks of text in italics are flashbacks.
For those of you unfamiliar with the non-English words, I have translated them below.
Hai = Yes
Ile = No
Kuso = Damn it
Sturmfalken = Storm Falcons (German)
For an explanation of Japanese honorifics (eg. [name]-sama), please check out: http:/en[dot]wikipedia[dot]org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics