Nanoha-mama is dead. Gone away. Disappeared. Left this world. Her stern but kind eyes will never shine on me again. No matter how I put it, my mind refuses to comprehend this fact.
Nanoha-mama is dead. She has been dead for three years. Somewhere deep inside my mind, the not-me whose memories I don't want to accept stirs. She knows very well what death means, and she offers solace.
Nanoha-mama is dead.
Aunt Hayate explains to me what happened three years ago as we make our way through the deserted corridors of the Cradle, hoping that she has abandoned pursuit. Hayate explains how I was created by a mad scientist, trapped here on the Saint's Cradle, and how Nanoha-mama fought me in order to free me from under his control. Aunt Hayate and her own children, Vita and Reinforce Zwei, were also aboard the Cradle at the time. I slowly begin to remember those parts.
Then the Cradle went berserk. Without warning, invisible force fields separated me from the rest of the group and then crushed the others. Exhausted and suffering from the AMF effects, the mages had no way of defending themselves. Vita died first, then Hayate, then Nanoha-mama. I do not remember any of this. I do not remember watching my mother being crushed to death, and I am pretty sure I know why my brain won't let me.
But Aunt Hayate continued to exist. In her last moments, with a pure effort of will, she cast out her Linker Core and dispersed it. What she did wasn't magic—it was a miracle. Her Linker Core, once part of the Book of Darkness, found a way to latch onto the soul of the ancient Belkan starship. It took Hayate three years to collect enough of her own debris to manifest herself visibly to me.
She watched me from the darkness all this time, though, as I was tortured and had my identity erased again and again, in an attempt to turn me into something I was not. An endless cycle of denial, pain, and oblivion.
"You are really strong, Vivio," Hayate tells me proudly. "Your mamas would be so proud you."
We hide in an empty room very much like the one where I awoke after the last memory wipe. There are a lot of empty rooms on the Cradle. Neither of us knows their purpose.
As I sit down on the floor to rest, the lights around us dim and I realize with a sinking feeling that she has finally found us. I jump to my feet again and look around.
"Well, well, Your Majesty quite enjoys playing hide-and-seek," the voice I hate comes from behind me.
I spin around at stare at her form. She looks like a little girl, perhaps nine years old, with golden eyes and long, flowing blonde hair that falls down her back. She is dressed in fancy garments of golden and dark purple that look heavy but don't seem to restrict her movement. She floats a little above the ground, just like Aunt Hayate, and I realize that they are made of the same material: pure magic.
"And the anomaly," she turns to Hayate, who eyes her warily. "I've been aware of you for much longer than you think."
She extends her right hand towards Hayate.
"Don't touch her!" I scream, and she freezes. "If you do anything to hurt her, I swear you'll regret it!"
"As you wish, Your Majesty," she chuckles after a pause, lowering her hand. "The anomaly poses no threat, just a minor nuisance. I came to clean it up, but since you have grown so attached to your toy…"
I feel something touch my left arm. Glancing back, I see Aunt Hayate half-hiding behind me. Her face remains calm but I know she is afraid of her.
"What are you?" I inquire.
"I am the Cradle," she confirms my suspicions with a smile.
"What do you want from me?"
"Power," her smile disappears. "Power to direct my own course."
"But why do you need me for that?"
"I don't need you, silly girl. I need what's inside your stupid little brain—the memories of the King That Is, ones that you refuse to accept. Once I have them, I'll have no use of you anymore."
"So you'll kill her like you killed me?" Hayate asks quietly.
"I have no need for obnoxious little girls," the Cradle smiles again. "But I will make sure she stays dead, anomaly."
I shudder.
"I will never give in to you."
"Yes, indeed, you've proven most obstinate in denying me these last three years. But it soon will not matter anymore."
"Why not?"
"Because the King That Was will bring me the Crown," her happy smile makes me extremely uncomfortable. "And if you refuse it, I will find another head to wear it."