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. ^^ It's always pleasing to hear people are enjoying the twists and turns I've put in the story. XD If you thought the last chapter was bad (not in a true bad sense, if you know what I mean :P), wait until you read this one. Mwhahaha...
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 33: The Saint Awakens ~ ***
~The Garden of Time. The night before the new heavenly alignment.~
The White Devil slowly limped down the spiralling onyx staircase to the hidden depths below. What lay ahead of her, she didn't know. In the end, she didn't find another Spirit Seed, not after the two she acquired the night before. As a result, the White Devil was left with no other choice than to storm into the Imperial Palace herself to confiscate the three Spirit Seeds she had given Yunno weeks before.
The Imperial Palace was like a fortress. Just trying to get in was a chore. Yet somehow, she managed to sneak in and get the Spirit Seeds without incident. Thankfully, Yunno was not in his office at the time, relieving the White Devil to no end that she didn't have to fight her childhood friend for them. But that's as far as her luck went. When she tried to leave the palace, she was intercepted by none other than Vita. For such a little girl, the redhead certainly had a lot of strength behind her attacks. Though, that shouldn't have been a surprise. The White Devil had already caught snippets of Vita fighting previously, while engaged against the Numbers clan that time in the cemetery days ago.
"Not much further," the Thunder Reaper's apprentice said, snapping the white assassin out of her thoughts.
The White Devil nodded. True to her word, the black assassin sought out the White Devil the moment she escaped from the Imperial Palace, and led her here. Wherever here was. The white assassin was so exhausted at this point, it was a miracle that she was still moving at all. Finally, after walking down the black staircase for who knows how long, they finally reached the bottom.
It was then the apprentice assassin stopped, turning towards the White Devil to look at her. "Through there," the girl said, pointing to the sole doorway at the bottom of the stairs.
Seeing no other movement from the other assassin, the White Devil took that as her cue to lead. Sighing, she moved in the direction of the door, nearly using up all of her remaining strength just to push through the gateway of stone. Looking up from her feet after that tremendous effort, the scene which unfolded in front of her made the White Devil pause in her tracks.
The inner chamber was massive. Walls went up as high as the sky and beyond. The White Devil wasn't even sure there was a ceiling to the place. Crumbled pillars and supports made of marble littered the area, and at the far end of the chamber, were humongous double doors. Plated with gold, silver, bronze and many recognizable precious gemstones and other metals, the White Devil could not tear her gaze away from the intricate images carved into the doors, ones which depicted life and death and everything in between.
A groan drew the White Devil's attention to the base of the double doors. A sole form lay on the ground, barely moving. Violet eyes went wide.
"Nii-san!"
Without thinking, the White Devil scrambled towards the fallen form as fast as her tired legs would take her. With pain forgotten, weariness forgotten, all the White Devil focused on was the one just steps away from her. The moment she was within arms reach, pain exploded from her stomach all the way through to her back, spreading outwards to her extremities. The White Devil came to a stumbling halt, looking downwards in a daze. A bloody claw protruded from her stomach. The white assassin looked behind herself.
"Didn't I tell you?" Due said, grinning in victory. "I'd enjoy tearing you apart!"
Due retracted her clawed hand, the weapon making a squelching sound as it pulled out of the White Devil's back. The strength from her legs immediately left her, the White Devil collapsing to the ground on her stomach, next to the fallen form. The moment her body hit the ground, what she thought was her brother fazed out, revealing none other than the Thunder Reaper himself.
"Wha...?"
Maniacal laughter.
"Welcome White Devil," Jail said, clapping, as he approached the wounded white assassin. "... to the Garden of Time."
Another laugh.
"I'm glad you could make it."
Whimpers and sobs now reached the White Devil's ears, the white assassin weakly moving her head to the side by an inch. Upon doing so, pain filled eyes widened at the sight of people, mostly regular city folk she had often passed in the streets of the Middle District. Many of them had visited the Midori-ya at one point or another. All of now however, were chained to the walls with heavy metal restraints. Among them was Kyouya, her brother looking a bit banged up, but otherwise alive yet unconscious.
"You'll have to forgive me for all the theatrics and deception," Jail said, drawing the White Devil's attention back to him. "But I just couldn't help myself!"
Another maniacal cackle shattered the air before Jail bent down to take the five Spirit Seeds from the white assassin.
"Who... are you...?" the White Devil wheezed out. She was starting to feel cold, and it had nothing to do with the cold, hard ground she lay on.
"Ah," Jail said, turning to look at the white assassin. "How rude of me. My name is Jail Scaglietti." Jail proceeded to straighten out his coat and run a hand through his violet hair.
"Some people call me a genius," the alchemist said, continuing to speak. "But that's not the right term. Soon-to-be-god, that is what I am."
The White Devil coughed, sputtering as blood trickled from her lips staining her face mask crimson.
"Oh dear," Jail said, reaching down again to pull the mask from her face. "I can't have you dying on me just yet-" Jail's eyes widened in surprise. "Well isn't this a surprise. Who would have thought the White Devil was actually a woman?"
Nanoha coughed again, greedily sucking in air with a breathy gasp. While it was a bit easier to breathe now, now that her own blood soaked mask wasn't choking her, it didn't change the fact that she was probably bleeding to death on the floor.
"Today is just full of surprises, isn't it?" Jail said cackling. "First I find out the Thunder Reaper is none other than my beloved Fate, and now I find out the White Devil is actually a woman!"
The Thunder Reaper is Fa-
Wait. What?
Violet coloured eyes snapped over to the prone form of the Thunder Reaper. Only then did Nanoha get a good look at the other assassin. She almost choked on her gasp.
"Fa..te...chan?" came the brunette's shaky voice.
"Oh?" Jail hummed in amusement. "You know little Fate? This day keeps getting better and better!"
Nanoha paid no heed to Jail's constant droning. Whatever the man said in the next few minutes, she didn't hear them. Her attention was completely and solely on Fate right now. "Fate..."
Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, the blonde looking just as bad, if not worse than how Nanoha was currently feeling. Fate's wrists and ankles were shackled with heavy metal restraints, Fate's once golden hair now knotted and soaked in the girl's blood. Splotches of purple bruises marked Fate's face and neck, the right side of Fate's face visibly swollen. Blood was also caked and dried all over her body where the black assassin sported many non-life threatening wounds.
Fate was still alive. Nanoha could see the blonde's chest rising and falling with every breath. But to see her best friend like this, battered and bleeding, Nanoha felt her heart break. At the same time, her blood boiled, violet eyes darkening as she thought about all the pain and suffering Fate must have gone through. There would be hell to pay for this.
"And that's how we all ended up here," Jail said, his words drawing Nanoha's attention back to him. Jail laughed yet again.
"Precia was so desperate to revive her dead daughter, that she was willing to believe anything I said if it meant bringing her precious Alicia back."
Jail hugged himself, grinning like an insane ward as he twirled around on his spot, laughing. "All I had to do was pay her a visit in the hospital, and off she went, to force open the door to Al Hazard all those years ago."
Nanoha's eyes widened in horror.
"Yes," Jail said smugly. "That day ten years ago, the one you now call the Garden of Time Incident, that was all because of me."
"Kisama!"
In a bout of strength that even surprised herself, Nanoha pushed herself up from the ground and lunged at the smug man. Jail actually had the audacity to laugh at her efforts, the brunette almost managing to knock the man silly with her bare fist. But one of the Numbers assassins intercepted her first and sent Nanoha slamming to the ground with a crunch. Nanoha almost passed out from that hit, her vision blurring dangerously as pain further exploded across her body. Whatever assassin had hit her, they still held her down to prevent another leaping outburst.
"Amazing!" Jail said, peering at the white assassin admiringly. "She has more resilience than I thought!"
"N-Nanoha?"
The said girl stilled, slowly turning her gaze to the other on the floor, just a few feet away. Pain filled violet eyes met shocked burgundy ones.
"Ah, my beloved Fate has finally woken up." Jail made his way over to Fate and stooped down next to the blonde. "Had a nice nap, daughter?"
"Don't touch her Baka Yaro!" Nanoha received a hard jab to her wound for that remark.
"Nanoha!" Fate exclaimed in horror, seeing her best friend cry out in pain, shuddering.
Jail could only laugh more. "So you two know each other. Marvellous!"
"Get away from her!" Fate growled, propelling herself to her hands and knees before launching herself at the blue assassin on top of the brunette. Fate's speed surprised everyone, the blonde literally body checking the assassin off of Nanoha with her shoulder, ramming into the woman like a rocket.
"Tre!"
Tre went tumbling across the ground, limbs flailing, eventually coming to a blunt stop when she crashed into the wall on the far side of the room. Multiple weapons raised at Fate in that instant, the blonde not the least bit fazed by it as she knelt protectively over a still shuddering Nanoha.
"Fa... te...chan..." Nanoha wheezed weakly, feeling the tug of unconsciousness pull at her harder now. The edges of her vision was starting to blacken.
"I'm here, Nanoha," Fate said softly, resting her hand on the brunette's shoulder. "I won't let them hurt you." She squeezed gently.
Jail was in hysterics. With his head thrown backwards, the alchemist howled in laughter. "This is just too much," he said. "Just hours ago, you were at each other's throats, and now, you're all protective of each other. How touching!"
Fate gritted her teeth, ignoring the aches and pains rampaging through her body. Sure she took one hell of a beating hours ago (Fate didn't know how long she had been out for), but it was nothing as severe as Nanoha's injuries right now. The brunette was starting to fade, no doubt because of all the blood she had lost and was still losing. Burgundy coloured eyes darted all over the place, Fate seeking an exit for both of them before it was too late. But she didn't have Bardiche with her, neither did Nanoha have Raging Heart. And Fate was shackled. It was not going to be easy.
"So gullible," Jail said, shaking his head with a smile. "Just like your mother."
That got Fate's attention.
"Such hatred," Jail tsked. "Even after all this time, you still haven't figured it out yet, have you?"
Fate remained silent.
Jail waved off the Numbers assassins, all of them reluctantly lowering their weapons before retreating to their previous positions as their master continued to talk.
"I wasn't kidding when I came to you that night, saying I was your father."
Nanoha blinked a few times, looking between Fate and Jail. It took so much effort to do that, but she did it anyhow. This crazy man was Fate's real father?
"You are not my Outo!" Fate roared, just barely holding herself back from charging at the man.
Jail grinned. "But that's where you're wrong Fate," he said. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even exist."
Nanoha glared at Jail the best she could. "You're... wrong..." she said breathlessly.
Jail ignored the brunette. "You were not born Fate," he continued. "You were created. By this very place, over ten years ago."
Fate went rigid. Flashes of memory flickered across her mind's eye, images and sounds coming back to Fate in a blur of noise. Precia's smiling face. A brilliant light. The doors to Al Hazard opening. Then demons and darkness everywhere.
"Precia thought she was resurrecting her dead daughter," Jail continued in his ramblings. "But what she was really doing was creating a key, a very special key." Amber coloured eyes stared at Fate. "You. You were to be the key which opened the doors to Al Hazard."
Fate felt her body go numb. "Wha-what...?"
"Stop... it..." Nanoha whispered.
"But she failed," Jail said with disgust. "That fool of a woman, in her haste, messed things up and instead created a failed clone in the image of her daughter."
Fate sank back on her heels as her mind reeled with this new information.
"Stop it..." Nanoha repeated, louder this time.
"Look at you," Jail said in amusement. He sneered. "Not even human, yet trying to be one, only to fail miserably."
"You're... you're lying!" Fate said. She was shaking.
"Stop it," Nanoha said again, desperation in her voice.
"Am I really?" Jail questioned, once again smugness rolling off of him in waves. "Do you truly believe that? No, no you don't. You know the truth. You already knew the truth all along. Face it Fate, you were nothing but a failed tool!"
"I SAID STOP!"
An explosion of pink erupted outwards throwing Jail off his feet, along with every single Numbers assassin who lurched to his defense. The floor underneath Fate and Nanoha lit up in a brilliant display of magic, the two having unknowingly been on top of a large circle of runes carved directly into the floor. The circle of runes was linked to the massive double doors closest to it.
Nanoha breathed heavily, half sitting up, half lying down. Sweat rolled down the sides of her face as she gasped for air. A hand clutched at the still bleeding wound in her stomach, the other holding tightly onto Fate's arm. The blonde looked at Nanoha in surprise, frozen in her spot as magic literally materialized around them in multiple spheres of pink.
"I said... stop," Nanoha gritted out in between breaths. "I don't know... *huff* ... who you are... *huff*... nor and why you're doing all of this horrible things... *huff*... but you're wrong about Fate... *huff* ..."
"Oh?" Jail said smirking. He was still sitting on his bottom, on the floor, surrounded by his Numbers assassins. "How so?"
"You say that Fate is not human?" Nanoha sucked in a pained breath. "That she's just a mere tool... *huff*... created by some sick woman who couldn't accept the death of her daughter?" Violet eyes narrowed at the man.
"Fate is more human than anyone I have ever known." The hand on Fate's arm squeezed tighter. "When she's happy, she laughs," Nanoha said with a small smile. "And when she's sad, she cries." The brunette's head started to droop, as did her eyelids.
"That in itself may not be enough proof, but I'll tell you this." Nanoha's stare bored into Jail. "I have never loved a person more than I have Fate."
Fate's breath got caught in her throat.
"And that would never happen if she wasn't human!"
Nanoha had known all along that she loved her best friend. From the first time she met the girl over ten years ago, she knew she had to become her friend. And over the ten years, as they grew up together, the bond between them only grew stronger, until the day the youngest Takamachi realized that her life would not be complete without Fate in it. But the brunette didn't have courage to tell her friend of her feelings, fearing both rejection and loss should Fate want nothing to do with her the moment her feelings were revealed. Now she no longer feared such things. She was dying, Nanoha knew. And with death knocking on her door, all of the previous reservations she may have had, melted away. She had only one chance and one chance alone, and Nanoha was not going to waste it.
"Nanoha..." Fate said, stunned.
"I love Fate-chan," Nanoha said, her voice trembling. The brunette weakly turned to look at her best friend and crush, feeling very tired now that the initial adrenaline rush had worn off. "For so long, I have loved you," she said in a whisper. Fate still sat there, shocked. "But I-"
Nanoha screamed in agony. As did Fate.
"Ah, so that's how it works." Jail smirked as he rose to his feet.
The circle of runes underneath Fate and Nanoha glowed purple, slowly and painfully draining both girls of their magic. Never had Nanoha nor Fate known of such pain, as if their very souls were being ripped out of their bodies, a hair's width at a time.
"To create the key to Al Hazard," Jail said, watching in sick fascination as the assassin pair crumpled to the ground, writhing. "A sacrifice must be given. What better sacrifice than a legendary weapon wielder and a failed attempt at the key who also wields a legendary weapon?"
The magical runes of the circle expanded outwards, running up the still standing stone pillars which circled the area, running along the walls, materializing across the floor. The lines of ancient glowing text formed one large Summoning Square. The large runed circle Nanoha and Fate lay on was in the middle of that Summoning Square, acting as the focal point of it.
Nanoha screamed until her breath ran out, somehow managing to suck in another breath before she choked. Despite this fact, no further sound left her lips. Pain wracked her body in ways she never knew existed until now. Yet, in all her pain, she found Fate's hand, both of them intertwining fingers with each other as they slowly faded away. Fate regarded Nanoha with such sad eyes, she too no longer finding the strength to scream as tears ran down her cheeks. The brunette forced a smile.
Streams of pink and yellow magic drained off the assassins, Bardiche and Raging Heart cracking fading away into nothingness themselves as their masters slowly ceased to be. Fate and Nanoha's bodies started to dissolve, flecks of light drifting away from their bodies and upwards. Above the two assassins, the bits that were them condensed into a small orb of white light which grew and expanded into a new form. Long blonde hair flowed all around her, green and red eyes slowly opening as more magic poured into her.
"The Saint..." Jail said breathlessly, watching in awe as the whole thing continued.
The very research which brought Agito to life was now doing the same for the Saint, the key which would open the doors to Al Hazard tomorrow, when the stars were correctly aligned. While researching this phenomenon, Jail learned that the key to opening the doors would be created some time before the true ceremony, through the combination of life and magic. Perhaps that's what Precia was trying to achieve ten years ago, but in the end, she didn't have the knowledge required to do it. But Jail did. Over the years he perfected his knowledge, having learned how Precia had failed in her attempt. And tomorrow would be the glorious day, the day when he-
BOOM!
The doors to the inner chamber were blasted open.
"No! No!" Jail exclaimed, watching in horror as ceremony to create the key was interrupted and the circle of runes faded into nothingness. With the blasting of the doors, part of the Summoning Square was destroyed, and hence, the ceremony failed to complete.
With magic and life force no longer feeding her form, the Saint floated down to the ground and collapsed in between Fate and Nanoha. The two were just barely alive, their bodies flickering back into existence again the moment the ceremony was stopped. Thankfully, they hadn't been dissolved completely at that point, otherwise they would have ceased to exist. Bardiche and Raging Heart flashed, transferring any magic they had to their wielders to keep them alive. Their survival was based on Fate and Nanoha's survival.
Jail turned his hate filled glare to the now non-existent chamber doors, his Numbers assassins doing the same. Signum charged through the smoke and grit, along with Shamal, Vita and Zafira, each brandishing weapons of their own. The Samurai and City Guards also accompanied them, filling in the other end of the room, clearly outnumbering Jail and his lackeys.
"In the name of the Empress!" Signum exclaimed, pointing Levantine at all of them. "Surrender now and you will not be harmed!"
A/N: For those of you unfamiliar with the non-English words, I have translated them below.
Hai = Yes
Outo/Outo-san = Father
Kisama = You (usually used to show the speaker's extreme hostility / outrage towards the addressee)
Baka Yaro = Stupid Bastard
For an explanation of Japanese honorifics (eg. [name]-sama), please check out: http:/en[dot]wikipedia[dot]org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics