A/N: to those that followed the dearly department 2814 thread on spacebattles, a new thread has been established on TvTropes. Please join us.
….
Takamachi Nanoha of 2814
by Shadow Crystal Mage
Chapter 26: World's Finest
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. If I did… well, this would all be canon. WARNING: MAY CAUSE HEAD EXPLOSION!
….
Fate woke from hazy dreams to find herself lying on a large bed. Sunlight filled the large, circular room as she looked about her in confusion. She knew this room. She'd lived here, once, in another life. Next to her, against a large mound, a little puppy-Arf slept.
On the other side of the bed, a loud beeping sound began to chime. She turned to a large mound beneath the blankets, a hand reaching out to pull a cellphone beneath it. There was an unintelligible mutter.
The mound in the middle of the bed next to Fate began to move. A golden-haired head poked out, rubbing her eyes. "Nanoha-chan," the girl muttered. "You said you'd turned that off…"
Fate found herself staring at her own face. Her own eyes. She felt her mouth slacken in shock.
The girl seemed to notice. "Eh? Fate-chan?" she said, straigthening her dark-green nightgown that matched the sheets that still hung from one shoulder. "Imouto? Are you all right?"
Fate flapped her mouth, and managed to speak on the seventh try. "Alicia…"
Alicia Testarossa smiled. "Good morning, little sister…"
The door to the room opened, and a ghost from the past walked in. "Good morning Fate-chan, Alicia-chan, Arf, Nanoha-chan."
Fate found herself staring again. "Linith…"
"Wake up now, children," she said pleasantly, walking over to the curtains and tugging them open the whole way. Nanoha winced, rubbing her eyes with her right hand. "Breakfast is ready."
Arf gave a little happy yelp, nudging Fate with her head before leaping off the bed. "Come on Fate!" she cried.
Fate could only stare. What the hell was going on here…?
….
Suzuka carried Alisa, the blonde's arm over her shoulder. The tall, busty, rather sluttily-dressed woman supported Alisa on the other side by dint of holding her upper arm near the shoulder. Her other hand was raised, a ball of energy with some kind of ring orbiting around it held ready. She was snarling, sniffing the air, feet stepping lightly as she kep the girls moving.
Not far behind them, a thunderous explosion rose, followed by the sound of collapsing masonry. A lot of it. The woman, Arf, looked behind them nervously and grimaced.
"S-so," Suzuka said. "How do you know Fate and Nanoha?"
"Fate-chan is my master," Arf said softly, her voice low. "As for Nanoha-chan… we fought."
"Ah…" Suzuka said knowingly. "Did it hurt much?"
"Hurt like hell. The girl likes using sharks."
"In the face?" Alisa said fuzzily.
"Yup. She SAYS she doesn't aim there, but I could tell!"
"I can't believe they were Magical Girls and didn't tell us," Alisa managed to grouse. "Fate-chan was Black Reaper, even! Some friends…"
"Ah!" Suzuka sighed. "Black Reaper-chan! Maybe Fate will let me take exclusive pictures."
"Hey, you're a Magical Girl too and you didn't tell them," Arf pointed out.
"I didn't know I was one. What's their excuse?"
"Got them there…"
They turned a corner and stopped dead at the Book of Darkness stepped out of the shadows before them, body clad in crimson-veined, dark armor of strange curves and eye-wrenching designs. Her eyes were cold, empty and merciless, a crimson spear in her hands. "Perish…" she said sibilantly, drawing her words like a snake's. "Die so I may endure…"
Arf threw her readied spell before it finished speaking, crying at the two girls with her to run. The armor had somehow blocked her sense of smell, letting it sneak up on them, and the spear parried aside the spell. The bind in it locked the weapon in place, and the Photon Lancers with it exploded, driving the Book back by maybe a half-step as her armor just soaked up the damage.
"Run like hell!" Arf cried, picking up both girls and kicking off, her feet leaving the ground. Their retreat was cut off as swords fell out of the air into their path, nearly impaling them.
Alisa felt her stomach roil at the abrupt change of vectors. She tried to do… whatever the heck she'd done when she'd made the shield thing, but she didn't have any clue what she'd done in the first place. The swords, the world, the situation… it was all unreal.
The explosion behind them that sent them flying seemed too loud in her ears. In silence, Arf twisted, putting herself between them and the blades, a shield at her back. The familiar grunted as the edges of some of the blades overcame her shield, and she dropped to the ground beneath them, her back bleeding, the blades barely moved from where they stabbed in the ground.
Frantically, Alisa flailed, trying to do… whatever. Suzuka had clamped against her in instinct, whimpering. A dark, insinuating voice whispered maybe she should have indulged Suzuka when…
"I'm straight, darn it," she muttered. "I'm straight, I'm straight, I'm straight!"
The Book of Darkness paused to snort. "Yeah, right…"
Alisa managed a glare.
And that's when a piece of the night swung feet first into the Book's face, throwing her back across the street. The blur landed lightly on the explosion-scarred, silent as a shadow. Alisa felt her eyes start to cross. Her eyes seemed determined not to make out details. Just a swatch of the night vaguely her size, form blurring and wavering. A swarm of swirling metal blades suddenly seemed to him through the sir, slamming into the book. Each blade exploded in a concussive burst and brilliant lights. Alisa blinked, the sudden spots in her eyes blinding her.
The dark form seemed to look over its shoulder, and Alisa caught sight of curving horns bracketing a metal masked face and narrow, grim lips. A lock of pale hair curled against one cheek. "Go," she said, her voice a low, menacing, slightly unhinged growl of animalistic command taken from humanity's most terrifying night terrors. Alisa felt a flutter in her chest she knew was DEFINITELY not the result of confused sexuality and more likely an impending heart attack.
Arf made a whimpering sound on top of a full-body shudder. "Ah… oh good, I didn't lose control of my bladder…"
The Book of Darkness, tears in its blinded eyes, snapped up a hand, snarling out a spell. "Blütiger Dolch!!"
Crimson daggers formed out of the air, hanging still for a heartbeat before leaping forward, seeking blood. Arf blearily snapped up a hand, casting a Round Shield. The first few impacted explosively, knocking Arf back and destroying her shield. Suzuka screamed as the rest flew straight at them.
The small, dark form seemed to materialize between them and the daggers, a length of curved, edged metal in either hand. With a snarl, she swung the blades, catching the daggers and detonating them prematurely. Her cape fluttered behind her with each explosion. Suzuka felt her bones rattle at each one, felt the brief, fierce blast of air on her face as each dagger was intercepted.
"That's impossible," Alisa breathed. "No one can do that…"
Arf opened one eye. "Meh, looks par for this planet to me."
The dark figure slashed at the last dagger violently, and didn't slow. She threw both blades at the Book of Darkness, each spinning through the air with deadly grace. They exploded in the Book's face, but this time, instead of light and sound, they dissolved into nets of dark, constricting metal that wrapped around the Book's limbs, binding them to her torso. A moment later, they crackled with electricity, the air filling with ozone.
The shock net was followed by a razor-edged, serrated black disc with a bulbous center that exploded a hair's breadth from her face, coating her in some sort of viscous goo. It burst into flames on contact with the crackling electricity, finally making the Book cry out in surprise.
Arf was hauled to her feet with wiry strength by sharp, claw-like gauntlets on her biceps. "Move…" the dark figure snapped, and Alisa suddenly found herself more or less on her feet and running from the scene before she realized what was happening. Her knees tried to buckle, but she managed to push them on, some of her strength returned now.
Arf had teleported them to a part of the city where things were still mostly standing, though here and there a sign had fallen or a window had broken from the shaking, earthquake-like impact of the Starlight Breaker. Therefore, they had a lot of cover to run through as they put as much space between and the screaming Lost Logia as they could. Arf soon managed to get back to her feet, picking up Suzuka and Alisa so she could fly, following the dark figure's lead.
They lost her between one shadow and the next, and Arf skidded– more or less– to a stop, looking about wildly. "The heck?-!" she exclaimed, sniffing the air. "Her scent's gone! Where'd she go?"
"SAGITTA MAGICA!-!-!-!-!" came the scream from behind them.
A thousand and nine arrows of fire flew into the sky, only to curve downwards in a wide, expanding circle. Force and fire erupted on impact.
"Never mind, not important!" Arf said hastily, kicking it back into high gear.
"Who was that masked girl?" Suzuka wondered.
"Probably another one of Nanoha's Magical Girlfriends she doesn't think we're cool enough to know about," Alisa grumbled.
"Actually, I'm pretty sure Fate's the only one who wants that position," Arf said.
….
It hurt like hell.
The Berserker class was regarded as a poison pill by those who knew of such things. Power in exchange for madness. It was usually used– or was intended to be used– to strengthen a weak Servant, turning a paltry little thing like, say, Guy Fawkes (Who? Exactly), into a deadly juggernaut more in common with a rabid dog just present enough to obey commands than a thinking human being. Or at least, that's what people have thought.
The problem was people drew these suppositions from a painfully small subject pool consisting of four incidents, each incident fifty years apart, and those possessing accurate information finding it tactically unwise to make that information known to others. What little was known of it– or, indeed, the other classes– is derived from passing comments and observations made by traditionally closed-mouthed magi to someone lucky enough to survive, who was likely suffering Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder at that point: the journals and notes, if any, of said observers, what little they were willing to write down; what little the Einzbern had said publicly that the Makiri, Tohsaka and the Church had been willing to reveal; and what little exposition those 4 Berserkers had managed to sputter out or another Servant had been able to surmise that they had been willing to share with their Master and the Master had been willing to either record and share.
Given all this uncertainty, the only true 'facts' about the Berserker class likely boiled down to: it existed; it boosted the Servant's stats while affecting mental functions; it had a markedly higher energy requirement to maintain; and it somehow worked.
Illya, at the moment, was getting first-hand experience on the matter. And it hurt.
Epic Spirits were drawn to the class they fitted in life. Sabers used swords, Casters were magic-users, Lancers used spears. It hadn't been a large leap of reasoning to surmise that one of the requirements to be a Berserker was that a spirit needed to have gone insane at some point of their lives, however temporarily.
It was, as such things went, close to accurate. It was also highly misleading.
Madness is not a digital state. It is not that one is either mad or sane. Reasoning people, knowing that reason is the only true evolutionary advantage they possess, fear to lose it, and thus see its loss or degradation as a dark, evil thing, to be feared. Madness, like death, is a spectrum, with subtle grades and nuances. Even as sanity is dictated by the masses, so too is madness.
So it is true, all of the Berserker class are mad. But madness is a many-faceted thing. There is the madness that comes only in battle, where one fights and fights and kills without thought, and the word blurs until the battle is over. There is the madness called genius, the power to see things that others do not, and lets you bend the world around you into a new, wonderful, terrible thing. There is the madness called love, that both blinds and illuminates.
And there is the madness of obsession.
Vengeance! Justice! The blood on the ground… the seeds of pearls… mother! Father!
Illya felt Berserker's– her Berserker's– madness now. It was a thing of loss, of pain, of anger so hot it became a holy, rigtheous thing. She felt its heat burn her muscles, her skin, giving her inhuman strength. Heat was nothing. Cold was nothing. Pain was nothing. The limits of the world around her were guidelines, not laws, and she could gleefully dance against, over and beyond their shaking, wavering borders. She WAS darkness! She WAS vengeance! She WAS the knight!
She!
Was!
Berserker!
The fire tried to scour her mind, to fill it with the hurt, the rage. It called on her to spread the hurt, to make the world bleed for her, to burn, to break, for her, all for her!
She didn't. The Oath wouldn't let her.
I swear by the spirits of my parents to avenge their deaths for the rest of my life… to fight against crime and corruption, and never swerve from the path of rigtheousness…
There was more to it that that, but those words were the core. It gave her strength. It gave her purpose. It was a wall that wrapped around the nakedness of her soul and armored her beyond the dreams of mere mortals and gods, a Conceptual Weapon in and of itself, a Noble Phantasm that guarded her mind and soul from all that sought to ravage it… even her own power.
Noble Phantasm: Oath Against Endless Evil.
Behind its wall, her mind was clear, even as her body growled and stalked like a beast. She saw opportunities, analyzed the situation, formed plans. It weakened her, this Oath, making the passive form of Mad Enhancement not as effective as it could have been, but now clear thought was a deadlier and greater power than a mere stat boost.
She stalked the shadows, avoiding the Sagitta Magica falling from the sky. It didn't matter they lit the night. All she needed was the smallest sliver of shadow to stand in, and she was invisible, skipping from one dark patch to the next. She kept the Book distracted, kept them away from Arf, Alisa and Suzuka. To protect innocents was part of the Oath too.
She made no sound as she struck from behind, her armor concealing her completely. Heartbeat, scent, heat, sound, magical signature… all were shrouded by her armor, seemingly brief and abbreviated as it was. Despite the exposed skin, she knew it would protect her from the crushing depth of the sea all the way to the vacuum of space. Yup, Berserker could breath in space.
Noble Phantasm: Armor of Darkest Night.
Her foot, powered beyond what her small frame could give by the spirit and madness she channeled, slammed into the back of the Book's knee, and there was a crack as anatomy, even magically reinforced anatomy, was defeated. The Book gave a short cry of pain, but slammed its flight into gear, turning quickly in place and scything the air with an EnsisExsequence.
Illya was already gone, however, faded back into the shadows.
The bomb she left was still there, though.
It burst in a wave of force, sound and light, blinding the Book again and ringing her bells if not actually stunning her. Dazed, it kicked into the air, but a chain wrapped around it's leg, pulling it back down and slamming it into the ground. The Book reacted, sending SchwalbeFliegen flying like buckshot.
There was again nothing, the end of the chain tied to a car slammed into a wall, its lights still blinking.
Somewhere inside the Book's Grail-Corrupted self, two brains cells rubbed together, and it rolled as the ground beneath it exploded, raising a shield against debris as it finished resetting its leg. The wings on its back flapped, and suddenly it was streaking into the sky, a darkly glowing radiance.
"Hraesvlgr!" it snarled, and several streams of power lanced downwards into the city.
What followed were several smaller, briefer repeats of the impact of Starlight Breaker. Corrupted as it was, the Book recognized that it had a tactical advantage in flight and that trying to hunt down its prey was pointless when it could just resort to aerial bombardment.
As the air rumbled with multiple impacts, someone tapped them on the shoulder. "'Scuse me."
Blinking, the Book turned.
"RING CONSTRUCT! STARLIGHT BREAKER!"
The Book's world turned green.
As the barrier rippled where the Book had been slammed into it, Yuuno blew on his ring. "Now I get why Nanoha likes doing that. Very satisfying. Asura, I'm in and have made contact. Can you teleport Arf out yet?"
"Negative," Amy said. "There's too much interference from all the big spells it's released, plus the barrier seems to be adapting. We can guide them somewhere safe,though,"
"Do that," Yuuno said. "I'm going to go find my partner."
….
I'm dreaming, was Fate's only coherent thought. I'm unconscious and this is all just a dream my psyche is dishing out to cover up the fact I'm actually in extreme agony and dying from injuries taken against the Book of Darkness.
For a dream though, it sure felt real. There was no haze of unreality that usually accompanied Fate's dreams, as she remembered them, no sense of belonging. The scene didn't feel natural, it felt wrong and unsettling but real.
Yet the feel of Nanoha and Alicia's hands on hers felt so warm and soft and she wondered if this could be a dream, one of those that had her blushing and were DEFINITELY the result of watching that Utena anime Amy liked, and not for any other underlying psychological reason, no sir, not her, because she was STRAIGHT, very STRAIGHT, yes sir, that was her, straight as a line, definitely, yay boys, go dicks, not that she'd ever seen any because she was a GOOD girl who didn't look at or keep any of those magazines like the ones Amy kept in the back of her closet in a bag hanging inside her dress uniform, or those magazines Chrono-kun kept rolled up in his dress boots next to his hat with the girl on girl DVDs inside it…
Fate realized she was drooling and wiped her mouth.
"Wow, you must be really hungry, imoutou," Alicia said, laughing. "Don't eat too much though or you'll be as big as a house!"
"I-I don't eat that much," Fate protested, feeling like this was something she'd done before. "And I'm a growing girl, so it's all right even if I did!"
"Don't tease Fate-chan like that, Alicia-née," Nanoha defended her. "Besides, it seems to be working. She's already taller than you!"
Alicia pouted. "Nanoha-chan! You're being very disrespectful to an elder!"
Fate found herself chuckling as the two bickered good-naturedly, to the accompaniment of Arf's barks.
And then they reached the dining room and she stopped dead. Nanoha and Alicia's hands slipped from hers, but they didn't seem to notice as they rushed in, Nanoha bowing to the woman sitting at the head of the table, Alicia cheering and giving her a hug of greeting.
Precia Testarossa looked nothing like Fate had seen her last, ranting in apoplectic fury as the Garden of Time was literally dismantled from around her piece by piece, component by component (she vaguely recalled Nanoha telling her the pieces were still on the moon awaiting the TSAB to retrieve it as evidence), eyes wide in madness and rage, lightning spells crackling from her fingers and blood dripping from her mouth. The woman she saw was far removed from the distant, icy figure she could remember for most of her actual existence. The few wrinkles on her still-lovely face seemed the result of smiles instead of years of toil and sickness.
Fate suddenly felt so small and insignificant, ducking behind one of the marble pillars that flanked the dining room.
"Precia, I have some bad news," she heard Linith say. "It might rain or even snow today."
There was a pause as Fate leaned back against the pillar, trying to control her breathing. Then Linith called out, "Come on, Fate."
Mother never hurt me when Linith was around, she said to herself, and forced herself to take what comfort she could from that. She stepped back from the pillar, eyes filled with trepidation as she met Precia's gaze. There was none of the darkness there she had come to know, only a slight, benevolent smile. She knew that smile, though never from her own memories. It was one she had only seen in what she knew now to be Alicia's recollections, a small, indulgent smile. It made her ache inside.
"Fate," Precia asked, and it was a soft, tender voice that made a little piece of her heart that still thought of itself as Alicia cry tears of joy, "what's the matter?"
Linith was talking about Fate having a nightmare but she had eyes only for that smile, drawn inexorably to it like was Nanoha's underwe— er, like it was a siren's lure.
Nanoha and Alicia were teasing her about studying too hard, but that was only so much background fluff as Precia called to her. There was no whip in her mother's hands, and no spell danced between her fingertips. Fate walked to her hesitantly, stopping with her head bowed, not meeting Precia's eyes.
Soft hands reached for her face, and an animalistic instinct made her start to draw back. Precia's hands stilled, and so did she. Gently, Precia reached up to cup Fate's chin, meeting her eyes. Her smile held only love and concern.
"You must have had a really scary nightmare," Precia said soothingly, and oh how it made her heart ache, "but everything's all right now. I'm here with Linith and Alicia and Nanoha… We're all here with you."
"Precia, I'm here too!"
Precia laughed. "Yes, and Arf too."
Linith leaned down to her. "By the time you finish breakfast, that dream will have faded away…"
This was a dream. It had to be a dream. Linith and Alicia were long gone. Precia had never smiled at Fate like that. And Nanoha, though she hid it well, hated Fate's mother. It had to be a dream.
And yet, as she watched Alicia digging into breakfast with gusto, as Nanoha complimented Linith on her cooking, she wished, she dearly wished, that it was all real…
….
Illya scaled up the side of the building, the claws on the tips of her gauntlets ripping into the masonry and pulling her up as swiftly as if she'd flown. The movement was effortless and graceful, and completely at odds with the fact the building was already at a 10 degree angle and falling, as it had been blasted about halfway through and was slowly tipping over. She quickly reached the top and stood balanced on the roof's edge, looking out over the city.
The place had already been faring badly, but Yuuno's arrival had definitely signaled the start of new unpleasantness. The ground was shaking near-constantly again as Reinforce and the second Green Lantern if Sector 2814 exchanged blows, her building just one of many casualties. Not to say she hadn't made her own contributions. She reached into the air and growled, "Noble Phantasm: Son of Fortune!"
A shoulder-mounted missile launcher came out of the air as the building reached 30 degrees of tilt, and she took a moment for Knight of Justice to claim it and change it before she took aim and fired. The rocket, now a darkly-glowing Noble Phantasm streaked through the sky, locking onto the Book of Darkness, who was trying to batter through Ferret Lantern's defenses. The multiple, spherically arranged layers of rune-inscribed circular shields weathered the onslaught of 1009 Sagitta Magica as the boy readied his ring to counter attack.
The rocket struck in an explosion of armor-piercing black fire, sending the Book reeling, the clothes she wore gaining a noticeable hole and wounding the flesh beneath. Ferret Lantern took the opening, his ring snapping up in a flare of light as a cloud of darting, explosive spheres nimbly wove through the net of his own defenses and began to pummel the Book relentlessly.
Illya nodded in satisfaction and only then seemed to realize gravity was starting to drop to zero as the building rapidly accelerated past 45 degrees on its inevitable date with the ground. She leapt easily off her perch, her cape catching the air and billowing dramatically behind her as she launched one of the chains around her arms, snagging the ragged edges of the top of another decapitated building.
Yuuno kept up his assault, trying to force the berserk Book of Darkness to the ground where that other Magical Girl could help deal with her. Discs formed from green light, tracing a circle fifty feet wide above and below the book before they activated, the gravity/anti-gravity generators creating a cylinder of 6000 Gs for the few scant moments needed to almost slam the Book into the ground, cutting out just before the moment of impact.
The Book of Darkness-shaped impact crater was quite humorous.
The Book began getting to its feet, but Illya was already on her, fists and feet slamming with brutal efficiency and precision. Mana-fueled limbs struck with literally epic-human force as she attacked unrelentingly.
Dazedly, the Book tried to defend herself, trying to raise a shield or blast something at point-blank range. Illya didn't give her a chance, aiming for crippling strikes— until her fist struck metal.
"Noble Phantasm: Armor of Darkest Night," the Book intoned as its own armor began to enshroud it, granting it greater protection.
Illya kicked it in its exposed, unarmored face. There was no crack of a nose breaking, but that had obviously rung her bell, and Illya followed through with several further savage jabs.
The Book finally managed to raise a defense, parrying Illya's blows. Seamlessly, Illya darted back, fading into the darkness. The Lost Logia fell into a defensive stance, raising a shield behind her to protect from that direction.
She never saw the giant green mallet slam into her from above.
Yuuno nodded in approval. He was an archaeologist, after all. This wasn't the first time he'd sucker-punched someone who wasn't ready. It was kinda the first time he'd done this with a giant mallet thoug—
With a cry of "TRACE, ON!", the construct was shattered by a rising pillar of magic swords.
"Oh, that's not good," Yuuno said philosophically, raising his shields against it as some streaked towards him.
Something wrapped around his leg and tugged him roughly out of the way. He yelped as she was roughly pulled down. The swords passed through where he'd been, and his blood ran cold as he got a clear view of them effortlessly shattering both shield spells and constructs alike.
He looked down to see the black-clad figure he'd barely been glimpsing all through the fight hanging from the chain around his leg, pale hair and cape fluttering in the wind.
"Hide us!" she hissed, and Yuuno felt his skin crawl, his ring sputtering a little at the sudden primal terror the voice evoked, of snakes pouncing and eating poor little mammals in the distant past. "Hurry!"
That actually wasn't such an imprudent idea, though the delivery could have been better. Hurriedly, Yuuno made a construct around them, blinking them out of sight and out of the way as the Book let loose another wave of spells. He quickly wove a construct for his passenger to stand on, and she dropped lightly onto it, the chain around Yuuno's leg somehow detaching and rewrapping around her arm.
"Who are you?" he asked the obvious.
The dark-armored figure glared at him— though how he could tell with her eyes covered, he had no idea— and he recoiled back in terror, heart thumping like crazy. Wait, what?
The girl pushed up her visor, showing her crimson eyes and face. "It's me, Ferret Lantern! Kaleido Ruby! And really, you have got to change your name…
"Ah," he said faintly. "New outfit?"
Glare. Yuuno yelped and wondered what the heck was wrong with him.
"No time for inanities," Illya growled, lowering her visor over her eyes again. "You need to know quick. That thing did something to Nanoha-san and Fate-san. They vanished, but I don't think they died. The matter-energy conversion wasn't violent enough to be a lethal effect. It has them somewhere. We need to get it to release them."
"There might not be enough time," Yuuno said, eyeing the distant ground. Fissures seemed to be opening, glowing with dull, fiery light. "It's already starting to begin its reincarnation cycle. In a little while, it's going the destroy this planet." Yuuno paused. "Though apparently, that's not going to be anything new."
Illya nodded. "If TV has taught us anything, it's that we're always on the brink of doom."
They shared a solemn nod.
"Magical girl anime?" Illya asked.
"Nanoha's sister's magical girl manga," Yuuno said. He glanced about. He'd been increasing their altitude to bring them above the Book's indiscriminate bombardment. "Wow. At this rate there won't be any city left to defend."
Illya paled. "Arf and the girls!"
Yuuno whirled on her. "What?-!"
She told him.
"Oh, poot," he muttered. " Wait, why am I saying poot? Oh, shit."
….
"Why don't we go into town today?" Precia proposed as they strolled through the garden.
"Yeah!" Alicia cried, walking backwards to face her mother. "That sounds like fun!"
"Ah!" Nanoha waffled. "Alicia-chan, watch where you're going!"
Precia looked back at Fate, who walked with her head slightly bowed behind her mother. "After all, Precia said, "I need to buy Fate a new pair of shoes."
Alicia pouted jealously, her cheeks puffing out. "Ah! No fair! It's always about Fate!"
"It's her reward for getting top scores on her test for becoming a full-fledged mage," Linith said. "You need to do your best to catch up to her, Alicia."
"Eh!" Alicia pouted some more. "Fate-chan! I'm counting on you to tutor me until the next exam!"
Fate smiled. "Y-yeah…" she said.
And suddenly, she was crying. They rose up from her, inexorable and would not be denied. This… this was all she'd ever wanted, once. She'd dreamed of it, lying restless at night, staring at nothing. Now it was here… and it was all wrong. It felt so real… how could it be wrong?
How…?
She cried as Precia, Alicia, Arf and Linith gathered around her, asking why she was crying, what was wrong. She couldn't answer them, not with anything that made sense.
Alicia looked sadly up at her sister, suppressing her own tears as she offered what comfort she could. Oh, Fate-chan… I wish this were real too, imoutou.
….
I'm so tired…
After days of pain, the lack of it was like a drug in itself. Hayate felt her eyes fluttering as she realized her chest no longer hurt, that she could breathe easily.
A tall, pale-haired woman stood before her, vaguely familiar. She had seen her once before. Hayate tried to recall…
"Rest, my mistress," the woman said gently.
Oh yes, Hayate thought fuzzily. I know her. She is the Book of Darkness…
"Close you eyes and sleep."
I spoke to her like this, once… in another dream…
"Dream beautiful dreams… for us both…"
It was in one of the Sound Stages if I remember right… oh look, Fourth Wall Breaking… I must REALLY be out of it…
She closed her eyes again.
"There. It will all be over soon. One way or another…"
….
The Book of Darkness was gaining the upper hand again.
Yuuno kept the green quadruple Gatling guns strapped to each arm leveled, their triggers depressed as they spun faster than the eye could see, send hundreds of construct bullets per second flying at the Book as he flew backwards, trying to stay out of its range. They slammed into the Silence Wall it maintained before it as it pursued, the bullets bouncing off the invisible barrier as it flew at Yuuno relentlessly, charging up another spell.
"Atem des Eis," it intoned, several head-sized glowing cubes coming into existence around it before they leapt at Yuuno.
"Ring!" Yuuno cried even as he called his shields into being. "Auto-target and shoot down!"
The guns moved in his hands, directing their fire at the cubes streaking towards him. Two erupted in a burst of cold, taking down three more in a block-wide explosion of ice, but several more flew at him. He threw his shields in their way, their impacts detonating the spells, even as he increased his speed to evade.
The Book of Darkness gathered its power, but before the air above her warped and rippled, and Illya came out of the darkness, her cape spread like wings and slammed into the Book with both feet. The Book was sent reeling, the crimson lines on its clothes and skin pulsing. Illya managed several more blows before a growl of Exarmatio sent her cape flying. Unfortunately, it was still attached to Illya's neck. Her armor shuddered, but didn't fly to pieces at the spell.
The Book turned in time to raise another Silent Wall to block the swarm of chainsaws burning with fusion plasma Yuuno hurled at it. Yuuno swore, then swore again as the Book let loose a Schwalbe Schwarm. Yuuno barely managed to raise his own defense against the veritable storm of metal balls. We need a new plan, he sent to Illya.
"We need more cover," Illya sent back. "We're running out of city. Arf and the girls are running out of places to hide. We need to change tactics. We need a trap, something to keep it contained, controlled."
I… think I might have something… um, excuse me, I need to stop her from taking my head off–
"Schwarze Wirkung!"
….
Hayate struggled to wake. It was so difficult. It was like every lazy morning she'd ever had in her life had decided to gang up on her at the same time, overwhelming her with drowsiness, a cofortable bed, and the soft, cuddly feeling of Vita in her arms. She persevered through it. There was no Vita in her arms. Such a lie meant someone would pay!
Someone put a hand on hers. "No mistress…" a soft, familair voice said. "Go to sleep. It's better that way…"
Some part of Hayate wondered if that wasn't such a bad idea, but she persevered. No girl manages to get Signum to put on a skirt and act maternal by being a pushover. She forced her eyes to flutter open, despite a deep urge to weld them shut and dream really dirty dreams.
The silver-haired woman knelt before her, the spirit of the Book. And she'd been crying.
"Please mistress…" she begged. "Sleep. Your dreams will be peaceful. Let me give you that much. It is all I can give you…"
Hayate stared, confused. Flickers of knowledge began assembling themselves in her head, pieces she'd vaguely glimpsed amidst dreams, growing more coherent now.
"I can't forgive myself for being the one who's killing you," the spirit said. Her fingers on Hayate's hand shivered, clenched. "I can't stop my power from going out of control yet again… I can't stop it from devouring your body… I can't stop the you outside that's going out of control, trying to hurt your friends…I cannot stop this dark taint that has been hidden within me so long from corrupting us as it corrupted the knights… " The spirit bowed its head in shame.
Hayate stared, trying to understand. "When… when the true awakening happened, I gained some insight into what's been going on… you've been sad and lonely for so long."
The spirit smiled ironically. "I had my duty. It was enough."
Her eyes were haunted with infinite sadness and horror.
….
Illya ran between some bookshelves of the geometric migraine that Yuuno said was a perfect replica of some place called the Infinity Library. A green glow came from everywhere, rendering her Noble Phantasm-given ability to fade into darkness and shadow useless. Her Mantle of the Darkest Knight inert, she was staying out of direct line of sight.
"Iaiken!"
There was a rumble as several construct walls of bookshelves were blasted apart, only to reform almost instantly. There was no effort or support in the constructs except to maintain their existence, no attempt at much solidity, meaning them getting destroyed cost Yuuno nothing and allowed him to quickly rebuild. Their purpose wasn't to imprison or really contain the Book, it was to disorient it and keep it relatively blind. Yuuno was subtly manipulating gravity and the spin of his giant construct to keep the Book pointed away from Arf and the girls so no stray spells struck. That left Illya with the task of attacking, using the masses of reconstructing shelves and twisted, non-traditional architecture as cover.
Her cape flew behind her like a manner as she leapt to the top of a shelf, grabbing a 'book' from it– "The Seven Firearms of Highly Effective Archaeologists"– and throwing it into the empty space in front of her. It flew up for longer than it should have– another gravity deadszone– and Illya threw one of her arm-chains through the patch, feeling it catch onto a pylon and letting her reel herself upwards as she drew a several curved metal blades from her belt. She hit the deadzone and turned, seeing an opening through the shelves, the Book outlined almost dead center of th opening, and threw. The blades spun, flying through and slamming int othe Book's side, exploding on contact.
The Book turned to retaliate, but Illya was already gone, lost amidst the shelves, bizaarchetecture, and optical illusions. The Book's attack tore throug the deadzone, and everything behind it, for a moment revealing the devastated skyline of the inside of the barrier. Then it was gone again, the construct rebuilding almost instantly. The Book's cry of frustration echoed through theshelves.
Illya decided she like the sound of screams of frustration coming from people trying to kill her.
Suddenly, the whole construct shook slightly. Illya raised a hand to the base of one of her helm's horns, tapped a green dot. "Green Lantern?"
"GAH!" came the shrill reply. "Don't do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"What was that shake?"
"It wasn't me or the Book… hang on…" A pause. "I'm picking up dimensional stress! It's disrupting the barrier slightly, which is what you felt. I think the Book's starting its self-destruct cycle!" Another beat. "The Asura confrms my readings! We're running out of time–"
"Gather, light of the stars!
Illya jerked her head up, and she heard Yuuno do the same. "Oh, shit…" they chorused.
"I summon the light of destruction down upon my prisoners. Stars, gather, and become the light which pierces everything."
Illya turned and started running for the closest edge of the construct, seeking open air.
"Tear through everything in a blaze of light!"
"RUN!"Yuuno cried.
"Starlight Breaker EX!"
The construct exploded in a blaze of pink, the magic tearing through the weak light and crying for the sky. The blast wave took her from behind, sending her flying through several deteriorating walls, her night-black armor managing to protect her. Then she was out of range, falling towards the ground head-first.
Blearily, she tried to use her Mantle to teleport to somewhere safer, but it was still too bright. There was nothing to throw her chains at, no more buildings below them. Gritting her teeth, she determinedly pressed the green button Yuuno had put on her helm as she fell head-first to the ground. "Illya to Yuuno-san. I need air support. Since I can't fly just now. At all."
The pink beam struck the barrier, and it shattered, reality rushing back in its place.
The top of a building appeared over Illya's head, fifty feet away. She calmly pressed the button again. "Now would be nice."
The building rushed at her head…
There was a crack of thunder and a brilliant golden flash.
Illya blinked as she found herself being cradled bridal-style by a masked, glowing boy about her age, his long hair trailing behind him like a kite's tail as he landed lightly and set her on her feet. "Are you al right miss?" he asked, smiling at her.
Some things are beyond the ability of even powerful Noble Phantasms to protect from. Illya found herself blushing at that smile. "Um, yeah, I'm fine, thank you," she nearly– didn't, but nearly– stammered out.
"ONEE-CHAN!"
Illya found herself getting tackled from behind by her enthusiastic sister. "K-kuro?"
"Don't EVER do that again!" Kuro cried. Then she slammed her lips onto Illya's.
Illya found her self blushing even deeper as Kuro, without any preamble, stuck her tongue into Illya's mouth. Negi's entire face grew red, and he looked away, deeply embarrassed.
The ground shook.
Illya panted, and pushed herself away from Kuro unsteadily. "W-what did you d-do…?" she panted. "It couldn't have been that goo– er, that is…"
Kuro sniffed. "Gee, thanks," she said. "Way to insult my technique."
"Gefängnis der Magie!"
The world pulsed again, becoming seen seemingly through a film of oil on water again as a barrier was raised once more. Illya only then became aware of a roaring above her. She looked up and stared. "Isn't that… from mom's movie?"
It was a sleek, triangular vessel, made of gold and precious stones, shinning like the sun. And on it and around it stood and floated… "MINNA-SAN!"
A shining emerald light was falling from the remains of the gigantic library construct, and already several girls riding flying manta rays were heading to catch and intercept Yuuno. People leapt from the deck of the Vimana, landing on the buildings around them, the white-clad forms of the Senshi, the more esoteric wear of Ala Alba, the rather disturbingly skin-tight, fetishy clothes of the Servants, the off-the-rack garb of her fellow Magi, even her Onii-chan wearing that replica of Archer's outfit. Behind the Vimana hovered a black helicopter, bristling with weaponry.
It was Sakura who'd cast the spell, Rin's sister Sakura, floating above them all, clad in the black of the Noble Phantasm Armor of Darkest Night, a dark purple triangular glyph glowing beneath her. "Book of Darkness!" she cried. "For putting innocents in danger!"
"For threatening our world!" Eternal Sailor Moon cried.
"For making me miss my sitcoms!" the red-headed sword-wielding Ala Alba cried. There were several hisses of outrage from the Senshi. Sailor Mercury sighed.
"WE WILL PUNISH YOU, IN THE NAME OF ALL MAHOU SHOUJO!"
Illya stared… and facepalmed.
"You couldn't think of anything better to punish her in the name of?" she said.
Kuro shrugged. "I wanted 'For the Loli', but I was outvoted."
….
"Ah…!" Nanoha sighed lazily, a blissfully contented look on her face as she lay like a boneless slug under the tree. "This feels soooo good…!"
Fate giggled at her, leaning back against the tree as they enjoyed the breeze of the nice, warm, cloudless, sunny–
Thunder rolled.
"Huh?" Alicia said, looking up from her book. She scrambled to her feet. "It looks like a storm's coming! Fate, let's go back."
Fate said nothing, just staring at the darkening clouds above that had certainly NOT been there a moment before, her legs tucked beneath her.
"Fate!"
Fate roused herself. "I'm sorry, Alicia… I'm going to stay here a little longer."
Alicia tiled her head. "Really?" Then she broke into a smile, rushing next to Fate under the tree. "Then I'll stay, too! Together with you… taking shelter from the rain."
Next to them, Nanoha began to snore.
Fate just stared at the ground as rain began to fall. For a long time, there was only the sound of the rain and Nanoha's snoring. Hesitantly, Fate dragged her friends head onto her lap so she wouldn't get water down her nose and choke.
"Hey, Alicia–" Fate began softly.
"Alicia-neechan!" Alicia corrected, a tad primly.
Fate found herself smiling. "Alicia-nee-chan… This is just a dream, isn't it?"
Alicia said nothing. Fate bowed her head.
"The two of us don't belong in the same world…" Fate said softly. "If you were still alive, I wouldn't have been born."
"Oh, I don't know about that," Alicia said, smiling. "I bugged mother a lot about getting a little sister. I'd like to think that, when that little sister came, it would have been you…"
Despite herself, Fate chuckled. She had faint copies of memories of Alicia doing exactly that, of a birthday where Alicia told her mother she wanted a little sister. She tried to push it down, but it wouldn't go. "Mother was never this kind to me… not in a long time…"
Alicia looked down. "She was a very kind person…" she said quietly. "Because she was so kind, she broke… loss can do strange things to a soul. "
Another long moment passed in silence.
"I need to go," Fate said, and the admission was like a weight.
Alicia's face became weary, but she nodded. "Yes," she said. "You need to stop the Book of Darkness. You have… a duty."
Fate looked sideways at her, surprised. "I… wouldn't put it like that…"
"Never the less," Alicia said, and you can't argue with 'never the less'. "Your friends need you to fight for them."
Fate nodded, eyes studying Alicia now. "Alicia…?"
Alicia just smiled, seemingly ignoring her scrutiny, and reached into a pocket of her vivid green dress. "You'll be needing these, then," she said, holding out her hand.
In her palm lay Bardiche, Raging Heart and Nanoha's Green Lantern Ring. Fate stared.
"I wished you could stay here longer," Alicia said, staring at the items in her hand. "I wished we could steal a few more moments together, little sister… but time moves on, and you're needed by the people who love you."
She held them out. Hesitantly, Fate picked up Bardiche, who flickered to life. "Ready, sir," it said.
Alicia took Fate's other hand and placed Nanoha's weapons in it. "You won't be able to leave easily," Alicia said. "Besides the original problems with it, the Tome of the Night Sky has been corrupted by the taint of the 4th Holy Grail that was sealed into it ten years ago when the seal was broken in Mahora, allowing the taint to escape."
Fate blinked in surprise. "What?"
Alicia smiled. "I'm helping you, silly. It gives me a excuse to be with you a little longer." Her smile took on an ironic cast. "Consider it ten years of big-sisterly love and advice being made up for. Wake your friend and follow me. I'll lead you to the Mistress of the Tome. She is your best chance of escape."
Fate stared. Alicia rolled her eyes and bonked Fate on the head lovingly. "Move it, silly. We don't have much time!"
Shaking herself, Fate knelt next to Nanoha and shook her gently. Nanoha let out a groan, and turned over, one hand feeling around for a blanket to pull over her head.
Alicia reached into a pocket of her green dress and helpfully pulled out a cell phone. Fate took it, flipped it open, set the alarm, and placed it more than arms length away from Nanoha's head. It began to ring annoyingly. Nanoha began flailing around for it. When her hand touched nothing, she grudgingly opened an eye.
Fate smiled down at her. "Time to wake up, Nanoha-chan," the blonde said gently.
Nanoa stared at her blearily for a moment… then her eyes snapped open wide, and she jerked upright. "Hayate-chan!" she cried! Yuuno! Illya! The Book!"
Fate put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Nanoha shook her head hard. "Did we… did we actually eat breakfast with her?"
Fate nodded. Nanoha shuddered. "That was the most distrubing experience in my life," the Green Lantern muttered, getting to her feet. Fate held out her hand, holding Raging Heart and the ring, and Nanoha stared, patting at her left hand to confirm before putting her ring back on. "Where are we?"
"Within the Tome of the Night Sky," Alicia said. "Inside a capture space it created to house you."
Nanoha nodded at Fate in understanding. "We need to find a way out. Ring-chan, Raging Heart, can either of you– "
"There's no need, Nanoha-chan," Fate said. "I know what to do."
Nanoha blinked. "You do?"
Fate nodded, glancing at Alicia. "We need to find Hayate. She's trapped in here with us, but she has administrator powers over the Book of Darkness, so she's our best chance to get out." Alicia nodded in agreement, smiling approvingly. She waved at Fate to follow her and started walking, backin the direction of the house.
Fate followed, turning back to look at Nanoha. "Come on! Time's running out!"
"Um, okay?" Nanoha said, a green umbrella unfurling above her and Fate as she jogged to keep up…
….
Arf, Alicia and Suzuka exchanged looks.
"The world hates us," Arf grumbled.
"At least we have cover again," Suzuka pointed out, looking for the bright side.
"Oh, goody," Alisa said. "More running."
They all sighed.
….
- To be continued…
….
A/N: Yes, I am aware there is a limit to how many Noble Phantasms a hero can have at the same time. It's BERSERKER! He's a damn sight better than Perseus. He can do it.
Please review, C&C welcome. Also please check out the TvTropes page and the Wiki.
Until next time, this is Shadow, signing off.