Endless Waltz

By: Daishi Prime

"Here come the first of them," Yussef said.

"Yup," Marcel agreed, standing just behind his right shoulder, "going to be an interesting day."

A general chorus of agreement rumbled through the other boys, gathered around Yussef on the roof of the Boy's Wing. They had just seen the first lavender flash of an in-coming teleport up at the overlook, Signum returning with the first of their new classmates.

Still staring up there, Yussef asked, "Everything ready on our end?"

"The rooms are prepared, same for the Girl's Wing," Marcel answered him. "The demonstrations are ready, the welcoming dinner's cooking now – Cid-chan told me she would be staying in the kitchen helping the Kobayashi's – and Noriko says the girls are ready. Noah and Ichigo are on watch, Mariachi will be in the Library, and Toushiro will be in the main workroom, while Luke, you and I will be here in the dorm. Rotations every hour on the hour, dorm to library to workrooms to watch to dorm."

Yussef nodded, smiling slightly, "Good. Here's hoping for a smooth day, then." He turned back, and quirked and eyebrow at the others, "Well, lads? Why aren't you moving?"

Marcel stepped back a pace, and cleared his throat, "Ah, Yussef? I talked with the guys a lot over break, and we decided. I know you hate the name and the idea, but we can't help what you made us." His hand came out of his pocket, and for a moment, hands concealing the details, he fiddled with the collar of his uniform shirt. When he dropped them again, there was a brass pin there, an ancient Greek hoplite in full armor, standing at attention, spear vertical at his right shoulder, massive circular shield held along his left side. Holding out his hand, Marcel revealed a second pin, this one sporting a crested helmet and a twin-bladed sword on the shield. Grinning at Yussef's sour expression, Marcel continued, "We're your Myrmidons, and you're going to have to accept that."

"You idiots are serious about this, aren't you? I told you last year, one rescue op does not special forces make."

"We're not saying it does, man," Luke countered, tugging his own collar back into place after fixing his own pin in place. All six of the other boys now had matching pins on their collars. "Just that, of everything we learned last year, we learned to watch each others backs, and you were the one who taught us the most about how to do that. Hayate-sensei and the others taught us the basics, but you're the one that made us put it all together."

"You can say no, of course," Noah said, "everyone has the opportunity to relinquish responsibility, but we're still the Myrmidons, and we'll still look to you. Just accept the inevitable... Achilles."

Yussef actually glared at that, but he snatched the proffered pin out of Marcel's hand. "I am not Achilles," he growled, fixing the pin in place, "Achilles let himself get killed in the moment of his own victory, and I have no intention of doing that." He frowned at them as a ought occurred to him, "Any of you – any of you – so much as hint that this somehow makes you special or puts you above the rest of the class, even above the new kids, I will run all of you so ragged and pound you all so bloody you'll be praying for Signum-sensei's and Laura's undivided attentions. Do I make myself clear?"

"Understood," Marcel told him seriously, but the rest were still grinning at him as they nodded.

"It's even legal for the school uniform," Ichigo told him, "Marcel arranged it with Signum-sensei. We have to establish what criteria it takes to earn a pin and have her approve them, but we're allowed to wear them."

Yussef shook his head again, regretting not crushing the idea when Marcel first mentioned it to him shortly after Laura's return the year before. Back then it had just been an amusing topic for debate, something to talk about when the ever-present topic of magic grew over-used. I should have cut him, all of them, off at the knees then, Yussef thought to himself, now I'm stuck with this idiocy. Allah be merciful, 'Myrmidons'. The guys are good, but they're not soldiers yet, and sure as sunrise they aren't any sort of 'bonded companions'. "Laura's going to pitch a fit."

"Nah, Yu-chan, I'm just gonna laugh at you some more," Laura called out from courtyard. "Of course, I do that anyhow, so you probably won't notice, ne? What am I going to be laughing at you about this time, rich boy?"

Shaking his head, wondering how she had overheard, Yussef waved to the others, "Get going, guys. I'll decide how to pay you back for silliness this later." He strode to the edge of the roof and leaped, drawing just enough power through Zulfiqar to land gently next to Laura. "What you're going to be laughing about is what those yahoos came up with."

She snaked one hand up lightning quick, grabbing his collar and shifting the pin around for a better look. Then she glanced behind him, as Marcel and Luke landed, and shook her head. "Nah, I'm not going to laugh at any of your for that. You should probably have held out for a better inspiration, though, Yu-chan. Achilles bought it, hardcore."

"A point I'm well aware of. Shouldn't you be getting off to wherever you're supposed to be?"

Laura shrugged, and floated a few centimeters into the air. "Was just headed there, actually, 'till I saw you loonies up on the roof. First up's Matsuo Kaemon, local boy."

"He's not local, he's from Osaka," Marcel corrected her, "thirteen, bit of a samurai nut. Kendoist. Signum's already marked him out for testing." Marcel smirked at her, "looks like you're going to have some competition for her attention this year."

"Tche, new boy'll need it," she grinned back, "if he thinks he's going to give me a run for my money. Catch you guys at lunch!" Laura waved once, as she turned and zipped off towards the library.

Yussef watched her go for a moment, then turned and headed for the entrance, chuckling slightly. "I pity Kaemon," he said. "You realize, Marcel, that you just guaranteed he's going to be her number one target all year?"

"The trials she puts him through will build character," Marcel replied mendaciously.

They all laughed at that, waving off Aria's and Lotte's questioning looks as they headed for the Boys' Wings' common area. They would first meet Kaemon and his parents there.

00000

While last year's mass-introduction of all the students at once had worked well, Hayate had decided early in planning for her school's second year that the new students would be brought in one at a time, their arrivals staggered, to give each of them time to acclimate, and to get to know their new fellows. This way she could be certain that, as they arrived, each of the students and their families were properly greeted and shown about the campus in a workable fashion.

Primarily, the spacing also allowed her to focus her more limited resources. Chrono, Nanoha, Fate and Arf were not available this time, so it was just her and her knights doing the pickups. By staggering the new students' arrivals, she could send two Knights for each of them, and still retain two to help her watch over the campus. The assistance of her returning students, and the continuing intermittent violence of the Circles' civil-war, almost convinced her to send three Knights, but she decided to limit the pick-ups to two Knights, and be ready to respond if they ran into trouble.

The new students themselves were a cause for some concern. None of them quite matched the native strength of her first students, though they were still strong, and none of them could match the returning class' experience in both magic and battle, which gave her some concerns about keeping them from feeling overwhelmed. The new students certainly would not be able to match the camaraderie of her returning students, which had more potential to cause friction between the two classes. She was not terribly worried, given what a good bunch her first students were, but it was something she was already paying attention to. Despite their smaller number, the new kids also represented just as wide an array of culture and status. Again, given her returning students' ability to get along she was not overly worried, just concerned.

Most of what worried her about the new students was the two students she had almost not invited. They had appeared on Shamal's original scan, but been just a bit young for Hayate to invite them. Now, thanks to Akira, she knew the Marterosian twins were the daughters of two Circle mages, already had a grounding in magic none of their fellows had, and were, thanks to the events of the prior winter, part of a broken home. So, when Signum and Zafira brought the two girls and their father to the overlook, unlike the other new students, Hayate was there to meet them.

Their father, Shiraz Marterosian, was of middling height, wide shouldered and solidly built beneath his business suit, square face serious and demonstrably worried as he rested a hand on each girl's shoulder. The girls themselves obviously took after their mother, with thin builds, sharp faces, long wispy blond hair and dark blue eyes. They were also patently as worried as their father despite their blank faces, holding hands tightly and staring fixedly at Hayate.

"Good morning, Mister Marterosian," Hayate told them as the teleport faded, bowing politely before stepping forward. "Welcome to Japan."

He freed one hand long enough to shake her hand, "Thank you, Miss Yagami. And thank you again, for the offer."

She smiled a little sadly, "I am truly sorry for the troubles..."

He shook his head slowly, "Nothing you could do about it, Miss. Jessica and I had our problems before, Hughes' treaty just brought them all out."

Hayate could only accept that, still uncomfortable with her roll in his domestic issues. She put it aside, and leaned down to give the girls a friendly smile, "Hello Saeryn, Rhys. It's nice to finally meet the two of you."

They stared at her blankly for a moment, then replied in perfect unison, "Hello, Miss Yagami." The perfect synchronization was strange but expected. It was the utterly flat emotionless tone that sent a shiver down her spine.

Shiraz cleared his throat, "Shall we move along? I'm somewhat nervous standing out here in the open."

"Certainly," Hayate agreed, finally breaking her stare with the twins, "though I do assure you, our wards now extend to cover the entire valley and all three mountains, anywhere that might have line of sight to the campus. Come, the path is this way."

The girls moved to stay just behind their father as they walked, Signum and Zafira bringing up the rear a comfortable distance behind them, still on watch. Hayate let Reinforce and the Sword monitor her surroundings, and focused instead on her companion. "Has there been any more direct trouble?"

Shiraz shook his head, "Not since Jessica tried to kidnap them." She was a little surprised he said that aloud, where the girls could hear, but a glance back showed the same inscrutable faces staring at her, showing no reaction. "I have no doubt Jessica would like to kidnap the girls, but her Circle is underground, hiding. They cannot afford the resources to make an attempt in Georgia, let alone here in Japan, and certainly not enough keep a pair of school-age girls. But others do have the resources, and..." he trailed off, shrugging.

Hayate understood completely. "We have greatly improved our security, and one of the first things we will do is give each student a tracer-beacon. There will not be a repeat of last February. I must admit to some curiosity, though, as to why you accepted my invitation."

Shiraz gave her a strange look, then shrugged. "Primarily, for safety. There are things I must do, both in my business and for Hughes. I cannot stand watch over my girls at all times, and there are few in the Circles I can trust to do so, all of whom are just as busy as I am. You will protect them, February proved that beyond any doubt, and you will also teach them. In time, they will bring that teaching back to the Circles, where we can put it to use, but until then, they will be safe."

They continued their conversation, touching on general points of what the girls would be learning in their first year, until they reached the campus proper. Once there, however, Hayate had Signum take the twins into the dorm, but pulled Shiraz aside. "I knew from initial interviews and research that Saeryn and Rhys are quiet, but they appear to be rather more withdrawn than I had expected. Are they having as much trouble with recent events as I think?"

Shiraz grimaced, staring after his daughters, then nodded, "They have had a very traumatic year. My fights with Jessica, her attempt to kidnap them, the divorce, coming here... yes, they have become more withdrawn. They're leaning on each other even more than they used to, shutting people out more than normal... normal for them, that is." He grimaced again, "they have never been particularly social. They taught each other Latin, a couple years ago, so they could keep their conversations private. Impressive, but it's just another way they shut people out."

"Many children are like that, twins or not," Hayate told him. "Cid-chan was very similar when she arrived here. We'll bring them out as much as they are comfortable, help them understand what has happened, what is happening, around them."

"I would be grateful for only that, let alone the magic and safety," Shiraz said, "just... just, please, make sure they don't hate their mother. She has closed her mind, chosen a violent and hateful path, but... she is still their mother, and I still love her."

"We'll do our best for them," Hayate promised. "I'll speak with the other students privately, as well, make sure they are warned to be careful. We have some very good children here. We'll treat them well."

00000

The day progressed with admirable smoothness, despite Yussef's worries about anything and everything. Per pre-arrangement, he and Noriko checked up on each other and their classmates in the other buildings often, just to make sure there were no problems. Each of the returning students rotated through their dorm wing, the library, and the main workroom at different times, helping with demonstrations and questions for the new students and their parents. It was a significantly compressed version of the orientation week from the preceding year, greatly aided by the returning students' experiences.

Shortly before noon, as the last student arrived, disaster struck from what Yussef ever-after claimed was the destined source.

The problem occurred not with said last student, Didier Akalé from the Ivory Coast, but with an earlier arrival, Mercedes Garibaldi. It was not even her fault, more a combination of bad timing and lack of warning. Heading out of the dorm to check out the library, she encountered Laura, who was on her way back from the library, at moderately high velocity. The fact that Mercedes was talking to her father, and Laura was having a shouted conversation with Mariachi headed the other way, meant neither was looking where they were going.

Luke, standing in the common room with Yussef and Marcel as they introduced themselves to Didier, was staring right at it, saw the entire train-wreck unfold, and the mixture of horror, pity, and amusement froze him in place just long enough that all he got out before the crash was, "Oh, crap."

The others with him looked up just in time to see the impact, to watch Laura's slight frame rebound off Mercedes, sending both of them to the ground. Laura bounced back immediately, naturally, and Luke saw her offer a hand to Mercedes, who snarled something and slapped the hand aside, getting to her feet herself. Any sense of humor about it vanished when he saw that, and Luke sucked in a breath to yell at the new girl.

Yussef's hand on his shoulder cut him off. "Steady," the Arab boy told all of them. "Luke, go rescue Mercedes from the ditz. Marcel, cut off Mariachi. Didier, Mister Akalé, could you please wait here a moment?" Luke was moving before he finished, stalking across the dining room just below a trot.

He reached audible range in time to hear Mercedes' voice, rising with affronted anger, "You need to watch where you're going, little girl! I can't believe you!"

Laura, never one to back down, got right into Mercedes' face, floating off the floor, "I need to watch where I'm going? I said I was sorry, you puffed up rich-girl wanna-be witch! How dare you..."

"Oi, Laura!" Luke reached the confrontation then, vaguely aware of Marcel intercepting Mariachi's return and Yussef crossing the room behind him towards Allison. Thinking fast, Luke told Laura, "Signum-sensei was just here, looking for you." It was not entirely a lie. Signum had passed through, dropping off Didier, and had asked where Laura was, but only as a general question. The lie was, "said something about you missing a sparring session this morning. She didn't look happy."

The anger faded from Laura's face slightly, to a more confused look, "What? We didn't have a session today, she said the first day of classes! That's tomorrow!"
"First day, or first day of classes?"

"First day of..." the last anger faded to be replaced by pale shock, "Oh, crap. I don't remember. Paradox didn't note it..." She shot a look out the doors, gnawing on a lip worriedly, then grabbed his shirt in both hands. "You've gotta help me, Luke, old buddy, old pal, old friend! Tell her I'm... tell her I'm in the Library!"

Luke chuckled, and disentangled her hands, "Where are you actually going to be?"

She snorted, "Duh, not in the Library!" Then she disappeared out the door she had just entered by, launching up and over the dorm wing towards the classroom building.

Still standing beside him, Mercedes watched her go before demanding, "Ugh, what is her problem?"

Luke turned slowly to face her and stepped closer, taking shameless advantage of his six inch height advantage to loom over her, and finally let the anger show on his face. "You," he rumbled, "do not, under any circumstances, raise your voice to her. You do not insult her, you don't hit her, you do nothing, no matter what she does. You haven't earned the right."

"Luke, back off, man," Yussef ordered, "I'll handle it now."

Luke wanted to continue glaring at her, incensed that this upstart girl had been so rude to Laura, but... orders were orders. He stepped back, shook his head once, and turned away, ignoring Mercedes since he could not yell at her. Instead he headed back over to where Didier and his father were watching curiously. "Come on," he said as he reached them, "I'll show you where your room is."

Guillaume Akalé gave him a curious look as they began walking towards the Boys' Wing, "I take it there was more to that than a couple of girls fighting?"

Luke nodded with a grimace. "Laura's special," he said simply, "you have to earn the right to talk back to her. But, that's kinda depressing to think about. You looking forward to a roommate, Didier?"

"Not really," the younger boy replied morosely.

"Good, 'cause you don't have one. None of us do, Hayate-sensei really over-built this place..." He continued on in that vein, anger fading as he talked up the school. Yussef would straighten Mercedes out, he was sure.

00000

Yussef, watched Luke go, nodding approval as the older Australian herded the Akalés off, then turned back to Mercedes, who was now glaring fiercely at Luke's back. "You have a problem with Luke?"

"Why was he on my case? What, is he the midget's boyfriend?"

Yussef frowned at her, disliking her affronted tone, but shook his head. "Laura does not have a boyfriend. She is interested only in magic and battle. For which all of us, you included, should be extremely grateful." He looked away from the olive-skinned girl to her parents, who looked somewhat conflicted themselves. He was unsure if their lack of interference was due to incompetence, uncertainty as to whom and how far to discipline, or simply observation to see how things would play out. Noticing the speculative look in Pietro Garibaldi's eyes, he was tempted to pick the third option. "Have you heard much of what happened last February, Mister Garibaldi?"

Mercedes' father nodded, showing no sign of surprise at the non sequitur, "Some, some. Not much more than was on the news, but some."

"That," Yussef, jerked a thumb at the door, "was Laura Sims. The Black Mage, the media call her, thanks to her armor and her encounter with American reporters back in July. She prefers the self-bestowed moniker of 'Quantum Knight'. She's the fourth-ranked student from last year, Signum's personal apprentice, and the single best fighter in the class. She was the point-woman for our counterattack here at the campus, and takes a large share of the credit for Cid-chan's rescue," He turned back to Mercedes, to find her giving him a disbelieving look, "during the course of which, she risked and nearly lost her life, her soul, and her sanity, for all of us. She fought, in single combat, the man directly responsible for last year's tragedy, and beat him rather severely. She has proven, Mercedes, that she will lay down her life for all of us, even for me, who she would just as soon never see again. You may eventually prove the same, but you have not yet.

"Whatever problem you have with Laura, or with Cid-chan or Noriko, you remain polite, you remain civil. If you cannot manage that, walk away. If you can, explain what they're doing that insults or offends you, and they will usually stop. Even Laura never goes beyond annoyance. If you ever raise your voice to her again as you just did, if you're as rude as you were in refusing her apology, you had best pray that the teachers reach you first. Those of us she defended will not be nearly so forgiving."

She was glaring at him outright now, "She ran into me!"

"And from what I saw, apologized immediately and offered you her hand to get you back on your feet. An offered hand that you slapped away, yes?"

Mercedes glared at him a moment longer, then looked a little sheepish, "Yeah, I guess. But she..."

"It's called an accident, Mercedes," her mother said, resting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Things happen."

"Don't worry about it too much," Yussef told her, relaxing slightly now that her parents had picked a side, "just don't make the mistake again. Oh, there are some occasions, especially in Laura's case, where a little shouting will be excused, but outright rudeness will not be, whatever the provocation."

Mercedes gave him a dirty look, "And I suppose all of you follow that rule too, huh?"

"With Noriko and Cid-chan, yes. With Laura," he shrugged, "sometimes. The ditz has a habit of pushing people. But we all survived February, we proved almost as thoroughly as Laura that we will lay down our lives for one another. Just be polite, and avoid her as best you can. Or not. You may find her entertaining. Allah knows most everyone else does, for some reason. But you be polite, until you've proven yourself."

"Oh, who are you kidding, Yu-chan," Lotte chimed in, draping an arm around his shoulder then pinching his cheek, "You're deeply in love with our resident trouble-magnet, and everybody knows it."

Yussef pulled free of Lotte's pinch, but knew better than to try and slip her grip on his shoulder. Her usual response to that was to completely drape herself over her victim, and her current position was bad enough. "I am no such thing. She's an annoying but skilled classmate, a reliable fighting partner, and a challenge. Nothing more."

"You'll have to forgive him," Lotte laughed, "he's been in denial since last year."

Pietro gave the cat-woman a searching look, then asked, "I'm curious, Miss Lieze, why you did not interfere? No offense, young man, but it would seem that allowing students to fight like that would be detrimental to learning."

"Oh, we prefer to let the students sort things out, so long as they don't get violent about it," Lotte told him. "If we interfered every time there was trouble, they'd never learn how to handle it themselves, and there would always be the question of if one of them could really look after themselves. This way, they both establish their own arrangements, and learn how to handle uncomfortable situations. There's also the fact that once we get involved, it becomes 'official', and we have to start filling out little forms that stick with the dears for the rest of their lives. Besides, Yu-chan's right. Laura's special, because of what she went through in February. We're all careful and protective of her."

"Also, a mage must ever be in control of themselves," Aria added as she strolled over from the Girls' Wing, "no matter the provocation or situation. Encounters such as this, uncomfortable as they are, provide experience in doing just that. We would have intervened, had Yussef not, or had things progressed to a more hurtful stage. As it is, Laura is annoyed, Mercedes is embarrassed, and both will hopefully learn to watch where they are going and be more careful in their reactions."

"I didn't see Laura getting yelled at," Mercedes countered, though there was no longer any real hostility in her voice.

Aria flicked an ear at her, "Didn't you?"

"Laura's terrified of missing a session with Signum-sensei," Yussef explained, "and of losing her temper. Once she figures out Luke was bluffing, she'll know why he was. Lesson learned."

Mercedes looked doubtful, but her parents were nodding. Pietro returned to studying him for a moment, then asked, "Tell me, son, do all the students here jump at your orders? They moved like quite the well trained crew."

Yussef shrugged, more than a little uncomfortable. Sure, they guys do pretty well, he thought, but that's as much their will as mine. They're far from 'well trained'. "Not everyone does, sir, and certainly not in every situation. The boys are just in the habit, a result of some extracurricular work we did last year and the rescue missions. Luke and Marcel were with me when Zafira-sensei, Aria-sensei, and Lotte-sensei took us into New Delhi, for instance. But that's history, and you folks were on your way elsewhere, I believe." He waved Allison over, "This is Allison Caeghlin, a second year like me. Allison, could you please show them over to the Library. Also, could you let Noriko know I'd like to talk to her, please?"

"What do I look like, your personal messenger or something?"

Yussef matched her grin with a blank look. "Right now you do, yeah."

"Tche, punk," Allison countered, punching his shoulder lightly as she passed, carefully avoiding Lotte's arm. "Come on, Mercedes, I'll show you our local version of Purgatory."

As they walked away, Lotte finally stood up from leaning on him, and asked, "you do realize, Laura's going to make her life unbearable until she apologizes, right?"

Yussef nodded, grimacing at the thought. "Mercedes will no doubt react just like any of us would have last year, which will just encourage the ditz. Hence my talking to Noriko. Laura might listen to her and back off. For now, however, I better go see how much damage Luke has done."

00000

The parents were shown around until shortly before dinner time, and slowly cycled home in the same order they had arrived. Hayate had decided before the previous year even finished not to extend the families' stays, and by dinner the only people still on campus were those who would be there all year. The second-year students quickly resumed their old seating arrangements, and the first years gathered by unspoken agreement at a neighboring table.

Settling gingerly down with his tray next to several of his fellow first-years, Jun could not help staring over at the two tables occupied by the second-years. He could not really call them rowdy or anything, but they were much definitely louder than the first-years, and none too shy about carrying on conversations not just up and down their tables, but between the two. It was quite obvious to him that they were all old friends, getting reacquainted after a long while apart.

Thinking back on what he had seen in the course of the day, both the deliberate demonstrations and the not-so-deliberate ones, watching the easy camaraderie, he muttered, "Man, those guys are scary."

"Not really," the oriental girl next to him said. He recognized her face, but did not remember her name. "They've just been here longer. We'll be just like that next year," she hesitated, then smiled widely, "or better."

"So you hope," Jun countered. "Didn't you hear what they did last year?"

"Yup," she answered, still smiling, "they rocked hard. It'll be fun, seeing if we can do the same." She stuck out a hand, "Sorry, I forget your name. Mao Chen-chi, outta Taiwan."

Jun grinned back at that, "Ah, a rebel, then. Xie Jun, from Beijing."

Chen-chi's smile vanished for a moment, then reappeared in a smaller form, "Oh, you're going to be fun, aren't you?"

Jun chuckled and shrugged, "Plan on it, so long as it doesn't get in the way." He turned back to watching the second-years, and had to do a double-take when he realized one of the girls was now upside down over the table, chatting with several of the others, a bowl of something in her lap. Staring at her in confusion for a moment, head twisting as he tried to puzzle out the contradictions, he asked, "Shouldn't her hair be hanging down? Or the food falling? Or something?"

"I was talking with Noriko-san," the boy across from him rumbled as he twisted back around from his own look, "that's Laura Sims. Apparently, she's crazy. Breaking school rules isn't enough of a challenge for her or something, so she breaks the rules of physics." He nodded to each of them, "Verner Metzger, Nuremberg Germany."

"Escher Step, it's called," Chen-chi told them, "I asked her when she was giving a demo. She's definitely fun."

Jun was going to reply, when a flicker of motion at his elbow made him flinch. When the motion resolved into a cream and black Siamese cat, he huffed once and relaxed. "Man, cat, you scared the heck out of me." He reached out one hand, letting it sniff at his fingertips. When it butted its head against his hand, and gently started scratching its ears, smiling as a buzzing purr sounded. "I didn't know they had pets here."

The cat flinched back just then, ears going flat, and swatted his hand once, though he felt no claws. He jerked his hand back, wondering about the cat's sudden change of attitude, and watched it warily as it stuck its nose and tail in the air and gingerly wended its way down the table. Once it was next to Chen-chi, it paused, and relaxed from its haughty attitude, sniffing at plates and trays. Chen-chi shooed it away, but it just started purring again, and attacked her hand playfully. For a few seconds, the cat was the center of attention at their table, trading swats with Chen-chi, until a green-clad arm stretched over the empty chair next to Verner and scooped the cat up.

Shamal brought the cat around until it was nose to nose with her, smiling slightly, and said, "You're not supposed to have your feet on the table, Megan-chan." The cat meowed once, struggled for a moment, then visibly slumped in Shamal's hand. She put the cat down, and a moment later, its form disappeared into a yellow glow that rapidly expanded. When it cleared, a brown-haired western girl stood there, grinning up at Shamal.

"Sorry about that, sensei," she said, "got a little carried away."

"I didn't say you had to shift back," Shamal said, "just keep your feet off the table, dear."

"Hai, sensei."

"Man, Tigger," Laura caroled, "I didn't think you'd actually go through with it!"

Megan stuck her nose in the air and countered, "It was a good way to see how they're doing! Unlike your idea of throwing them off the overlook to teach them to fly."

Jun flinched at that, looking over to see the floating girl smirking at them. "Oh come on, Tigger," Laura laughed, "Yu-chan would've caught them."

Megan just snorted, then turned her back on Laura and hauled out the chair Shamal had leaned over. "So, now that the secret's out, how are you kids doing?"

All of them just stared at her for a few seconds, before Mercedes demanded from the end of the table, "You spy on us, turn it into a joke on us, and expect us to answer that?"

"Wasn't a joke," Megan protested.

"Megan is simply more comfortable in other forms," Noriko explained, settling into the seat next to her, "and despite her secrecy last year, has a tendency to forget that not everyone knows she can shapeshift."

Megan gave her a look, then shifted it to Didier, pointing an accusing finger at him. "I know you knew," she said, "I showed you, showed you that form, not an hour ago."

Didier nodded, "I remember. But nobody asked."

"You could have just said something," Jun commented. Didier just ducked his head and shrugged, obviously uncomfortable.

"But you could have noticed," Noriko countered. "When you called her a pet, she swatted you, ne? Her behavior should have warned you. But, take it as a lesson. Nothing here is quite what it appears to be, everything can surprise, and nothing should be taken personally."

Mercedes quirked an eyebrow and actually smiled, "Not even you, Noriko-san?"

Noriko matched the smile with a more mysterious one, and shook her head, "What would you say I appear to be?"

"The girl in charge," Mercedes replied, "the one everyone else follows like a school of fish."

Noriko shook her head, "Close, but not quite. I'd say, I'm sort of an 'elder sister'. They'll listen to me, because I've proven they can trust me to listen to them. I have no real authority, though, just trust."

Mercedes gave her a doubtful look, "I thought you were second place last year, right?"

Noriko's smile grew slightly, shifting from serene to amused, "Do you know by how much?" Mercedes shook her head, and Noriko twisted about in her seat, gesturing to one of the boys. "Ichigo there had the unfortunate distinction of coming in at sixteenth place last year, with an overall grade of ninety-two point eight seven out of one hundred. Niranjana," another gesture, "came in first, with an overall grade of ninety-four point seven six. She beat me by seven hundredths of a point, Laura and Yussef by point eight hundredths of a point." Noriko turned back to Mercedes disbelieving look, still smiling, "do you really think a grade difference of less than three percent gives me any authority?"

"That didn't help, Noriko-san," Jun commented sourly. "How are we supposed to measure up to that sort of track record?"

"The same way we did," Megan laughed, "by not trying. Don't worry about your grades, just worry about learning. Trust me, as interesting and exciting as these classes are, you're not going to have any trouble getting grades your parents will approve of. The best part is, we'll have fun doing it!"

00000

Simon Arlain, Formerly a respected sergeant of Her Majesty's Special Air Service, now an 'honorably discharged' civilian, stepped off the still-rumbling C-130's ramp, and automatically slid sideways, clearing the route of those behind him while remaining in the relative shelter of the hulking transport aircraft. Looking about as the cargo pallets continued to slide down the rollers, he was distinctly unimpressed.

The facility appeared to consist solely of a single runway, a lone hangar, and two other buildings next to that, one single story, one two-story, all covered in bleached peeling paint. The surrounding terrain was monotonously flat, brown, and lifeless under a crystal clear blue sky. The heat shimmer coming off the surrounding terrain argued that, contrary to normal physics, the searing heat of the tarmac under his boots was the local cool spot. To the north and west he could see mountains hulking up towards the sky, but they were hazy and blue with distance.

"Bloody wonderful," he muttered. "Drop what you're doing, dump your whole bloody life, and high-tail it out to some frakin' colonial desert. Bloody Grand Master Hughes and his bloody vision."

A chuckle made him turn, to find a short, wide American, bald and sunburned where his t-shirt and jeans didn't cover, leaning against the side of the aircraft. "This is an all-volunteer job, Arlain," the man commented, "bitching about it's pretty silly, when it's your own damn fault you're here."

Arlain frowned at him, "Who're you, then?"

The man shoved off the plane and stepped closer, holding out a hand that Arlain took cautiously. He had a strong grip, but not crushing, just confident. "Name's Schuster, Edward Schuster. North American Ops."

Arlain quirked an eyebrow, noting the lack of any other allegiance. The man moved like military, and the majority of Ops mages had been, at least briefly, military. The experience and training was too valuable for what they did. "What service?"

Schuster grinned back, "None. Never saw the point. I've been pure Circle Ops, all the way. That your only bag?" Arlain nodded. "Come on, then. We'll get you settled with the others. You're the last to arrive, which means we can finally get this show off the ground."

Schuster started walking, heading for the single-story building, and Arlain was obliged to follow. He caught up, walking beside the other man, and asked, "So, what is this show, anyhow? All Hughes' orders said was to drop everything and show up, 'for the good of the Circles', or some such nonsense."

"You're aware of the whole Modern/Revenant split, of course," Schuster said. "What you probably don't realize is that seventy to eighty percent of Ops, worldwide, went over to the Revenants. That gives them a tremendous advantage in terms of operational flexibility and initiative. Most of our Ops types are now tied down in quick-response forces and guarding critical sites."

"Yeah, that's what I was doing," Arlain told him, "and doing a bloody good job of it, too. My boys don't have the foggiest how to handle a Revenant attack without me, and that punk who showed up as my replacement's so wet-behind-the-ears I think he was wearing a diaper under that pretty uniform."

"Probably was," Schuster agreed with another chuckle, "but what we're doing here should take the pressure off him, along with everyone else."

The statement made immediate sense to Arlain, and he almost froze in surprise. Then the full implications occurred to him, and he found himself smiling. "We're a strike team," he said with relish and excitement, "a first strike team."

Schuster nodded. "Mostly, yup. We're Hughes' poisoned dagger, the quiet weapon that'll start getting those bass-ackwards nutjobs to shut up and behave. And once the Revenants are under control, we're the ones who'll get to teach the Yagami witch what the bear does to the buckwheat." He paused, hand on the door to the building, "Welcome to Hughes' Black Dogs, Sergeant Arlain, the sharp end of the Circle's sword."

00000

Turo watched the display carefully, noting the structure of the readings as they came to a conclusion, and shook his head a little sadly. "I'm afraid that is the limit of our information, Master Adept. Without accessing the old large-area arrays, I won't be able to get much more information. I'm sorry."

Nodding slowly, Yosho rested a reassuring hand on the younger man's shoulder. "I'll see if I can arrange for you to use the arrays, Journeyman. Perhaps a 'maintenance check', or theoretical refinements. For now, though..." He leaned over Turo's shoulder, and entered a string of commands at his station. A sub-window appeared in the display, and Yosho scrolled through the options, until he located the one he was looking for. A few more commands, and, "Send that signal, general broadcast, as much power as you can generate with it without needing special access permissions."

Turo gave him a concerned look, "Are you certain, sir? Those things are..."

"I'm sure," Yosho said. "There can't be many left, but those that do remain will make an excellent tool for evaluating our opposition."

"Are we certain there is opposition?"

"The traitors are still out there, Turo, you can rely on it. The sooner we begin gathering information on them, the better."

"It will take me a few hours to access the broadcast arrays," Turo said. "I'll report to you as soon as I have any response."

"And no one else."

"Understood, Master Adept.

00000

billyjiahaogao: Glad you liked it. The new kids should be all sorts of intriguing.

CrimsonDX: yup, third of the Deva magic stories. I debated not including the quote from the future, but re-wrote it a few times to try and keep it deliberately vague... we'll see how well I succeeded. As for the new kids & Tai-yu, time will tell:).

Baughn: On the one hand, I'm sorry to be disappointing you with how my stories are varying from canon. On the other hand, I'm glad you're still willing to read. I will admit there are more fantastic elements to this so far, but I've never really been able to separate fantasy and sci-fi – they're both about worlds that can't actually exist. In my defense, however, I said in a prior review-reply Natalia doesn't actually see ghosts – 'Sasha' is a magical construct along the lines of Akira and what the Wolkenritter originally were. Atarsamain's apparent precognitive ability is beyond the norm, but there are some surprising things going on in physics these days that seem to suggest limited time travel – not to the scale of allowing viewing of the future, admittedly, but still. Natalia's ability is as much about reading present energies/probabilities as seeing the future. The Al Hazred language is not inherently evil, it just lacks certain concepts of humility and 'pride is dangerous', and it evolved (at least in my stories) specifically as a method of manipulating magical energies efficiently. It does have an evil history, but that's because of Al Hazred's fall and because most of the people who have learned it since then – and all those who did so while gaining fame – had more than a few screws loose. As for how dangerous it is, any linguistics professor can argue quite well that the structure of a language influences how its speakers think and view the world, and the Al Hazred language's inherent arrogance, combined with its inherent magical connotations, would give sane mage pause. I know the nicknames from the 'future quote' are melodramatic, and part of it was just me having fun. But most of those names come from the Terran Mage-War referenced in the same quote, and major figures pick up nicknames, because soldiers are superstitious and melodramatic types – for instance, ever hear of the Desert Fox? While the initial reaction by the population at large to Hayate's announcement was bland, that reaction has changed as events have progressed, and it will be described eventually, though there are hints in several chapters. As far as the 'failing weather control machines'… you've been reading Anne McCaffery, haven't you? Thanks for reading!

AceStarLeaf: Glad you liked the first chapter.

liingo: Thank you for the review. I've actually been writing this since late December, but kept making changes as what I wrote and what I (tried) to outline refined into a better plan. Omar was just a joke that occurred to me as I was picturing how any teenage male would react to first seeing Signum. I'm glad you liked the history section, and I am not sorry about confusing you with the final quote, since confusion's part of why it's there. Mostly, though, it helped me establish in my mind what was going to happen in the story, and I decided to leave it (suitably modified) as a sort of teaser. I was originally thinking of putting similar quotes at the end of each chapter, but found myself revealing the entire plot at the end of the third chapter.

Kainti: Thank you for reading, and for reviewing. As for whether or not Hayate looses… that's a very good question. I'll get back to you on it:).

Ray Venn Hakubi: Yup, the third story, and that does mean more variance from canon (though I am finally watching StrikerS… slowly). Merudach and Atarsamain were Circle mages (witness – the rank she calls him by – First Mage of the Grand Circle) from the time of Atlantis' fall. Some of their story will be related as 'background' on the Circles in future chapters. As for the callsigns, I mostly explained those replying to Baughn – partly they were for fun, partly to keep a little mystery, and partly because, given the situations I plan, popular knowledge will give them those names ('Quantum Knight' being much more recognizable to John Doe Random than 'Laura Sims'). Have fun guessing, most of them will be revealed in good time, but your guesses of Morrigan/Nagalia and Wrack and Ruin/The Twins were half right (you'll see which half shortly). Thanks for the review!

Natimus Prime: Foreshadowing was the point, yes. I didn't make the clues to the plot as clear as I wanted, but my attempts to do so made it too obvious. The history/origin of the Lords of Light will be revealed as part of this story, as will the Circles' origins. Here's the next chapter, and thanks for reviewing!

Marine Brother Shran: Integrating the new kids will be one of the challenges for me (making it believable as well as fitting it into the plot). The twins' views and attitudes will be a problem for everyone. Thank you for the spelling correction, I've corrected it, but don't worry about hiragana – I am unfortunately illiterate in Japanese writing. Thanks for the review!

SpaceBrotha: Yeah, I finally got tired of waiting to get the outline 'perfected', and decided to force things by starting to post. I've got the general plan, and enough notes to keep going for a while, so hopefully I should be able to finish the outline before I run out of finished outline. The first section last chapter was supposed to be a bit of a punch in the gut, as was the final section. If you're really interested in where I got the names from, go with the wiki. Thanks for the review!

Eternal-Longing: Thank you for the compliments, and the review. As far as the little mistakes, I'm not perfect, but will make corrections. I won't wait until the end this time, probably every couple of chapters. I have to admit I'm cheating (sort of:) at the variety of the characters – One of my majors was History, and thanks to my father's job, I've lived over-seas a couple times, both of which give me a long list of 'little details' that lend veracity. I am not in any way shape or form an expert on any culture except American, but I know enough to give the characters realism (and, so far, not offend anyone). Personally, I've always liked the idea of an Empire. It makes for great heroic and villainous characters, events, organizations and situations. Thanks again for the review!

pfeil: Yup, new story. Though I insist I never left, I've just been lurking.