Endless Waltz
By: Daishi Prime
-31 – Rubicon-
Master Sheirn shook the Guardswoman's hand politely, but shook her head, "That's all right, Master Luen, you don't need to wait. The ritual is very delicate, and the fewer mages present, the fewer sources of potential disruption we will have to deal with. To be honest, I think the Lord Protecter was being overly cautious in his concerns. Any area with sufficient space and some privacy would have sufficed, if it was outside the city's shields."
Luen looked through the warehouse doors to the mages setting up the ritual, then doubtfully at the empty streets around them. "Well, if you insist, Master Yakes, I'll leave you to it. There's a patrol in the area, though, and if you do run into any trouble, send up a flare and they'll come running."
"Thank you, Major," Sheirn said, releasing Luen's hand and stepping back slightly. Luen finally took the hint, and took to the sky, flying off to her own patrol.
"Finally," Sheirn muttered, turning and heading into the dingy warehouse. A gesture and trickle of power sent the massive loading doors rolling closed behind her. "Mearks, how does it look?"
The man observing the apprentices placing ritual circles down looked over at her and shrugged. "As expected. Another hour to get the circle placed, probably half an hour to verify it, then we should be ready to go. The DNA samples are replicated and worked into the markings, the only real question is how noticable this is going to be. The records we have made no mention of how the spell would manifest, only that it will be fatal to any target not fully shielded."
"I know that," Sheirn muttered, "and I wasn't asking about the time. I meant our egress."
Mearks chuckled, "Afraid of Szash?"
"Anyone human is afraid of that muscle-brained cretin."
"You're misjudging her, but in this case you're right. She won't like this, not at all. Our egress is fine, and no, not even Yosho knows how we're getting out of here. Neither will you or them until after we're done. No signals to waiting Protectors or Guard, thank you."
Sheirn glared at him a moment, but they were technically both in charge of this, and he had charge of the escape plan. She had charge of the ritual itself, and thinking of it, turned to begin an inspection. The sets of symbols were more complicated than she was used to seeing, overlapping and multi-layered circles reinforcing one another, and the apprentices putting them down were young, and thus prone to errors.
"If this blows up in our faces..."
"No one knows our identities," Mearks said, "and our apprentices are bound to silence on our projects as always, yes? We'll be out of here and back in the city before any reaction can begin, so long as it does not literally blow up on us."
00000
Noriko stepped into the workroom a little nervously. Despite her protestations to Laura earlier that day, she was very nervous about what was about to happen, and not just because of Cid-chan. Noriko knew perfectly well that this had not been done very often before, nowhere near often enough for any sort of statistical reassurance, and she was about to let someone play games with her linker core. The sight of Takashi leaning against one wall of the workroom did not reassure her, though the presence of most of the Wolkenritter did, as did Hayate's comforting smile. Only Shamal was missing of the Wolkenritter, locked in her ceaseless struggle to save Cid-chan.
They were using the workroom that had housed Colonel Esar after the first battle of Cairo. Niranjana had been returned to her dorm room a little sooner than Aria or Hayate liked, so that the sensors and support systems already in place would be available for this. Noriko approached the examination table a little hesitantly, then looked at Hayate. "I'm ready, sensei."
Hayate nodded, "I know. Just lay down here, Noriko. It will feel a little uncomfortable at first, but you should fall asleep shortly after we begin. You'll wake up in a little while with the new core, and we'll start teaching you how to control it."
"Will Cid-chan have to wait?"
Hayate shook her head, "I'll know almost immediately if this works, and I should be able to determine if it will work for Cid-chan just as quickly. If it works, we'll move on to transitioning her before you wake."
"All right," Noriko said, hopping up on the table then laying back.
Hayate reached up and gently disentangled Senbonzakura's dormant form from Noriko's hair. "I'll need this to hand."
"Do you need her active?"
Hayate shook her head, wrapping the chain around her left hand, "No, just close to hand. Takashi?"
He shoved off the wall with a grunt and moved to stand opposite Hayate, on Noriko's right. "You realize anyone else could assist you as well as I can?"
"You have gone through this," Hayate reminded him.
He chuckled darkly, "You forget who did it to me. Sara never asked me if I wanted to be a Deva mage, Hayate. She transitioned me on our wedding night. I went to sleep a happy and conventional, if skilled, Mid-Childan mage, and woke up a confused and significantly less happy Deva mage."
"Yet you have gone through this," Hayate insisted. "Who else would you suggest? If you know who transitioned Sara, I would be more than happy to get their help."
Takashi's grin vanished, and after a second, he held out a black-wreathed hand to Hayate. "Wilhelm transitioned Sara, according to her instructions. An old family friend and teacher, helping his prized student."
"I am not him," Hayate protested, taking Takashi's hand.
"Not what I said, but you do not want his 'help', either. Let us begin."
00000
Natalia looked around the chamber doubtfully as the door hissed closed behind her. On the good side, her permanent escort was on the other side of the door, and this place was like a small park – grass and bushes everywhere beneath a skylight ceiling. On the down side, it was so humid it felt like she was swimming, hotter than the desert outside, and... not at all the sort of place she expected to find an aesthetic monk. There were too many flowers, too many beautifully carved benches, and it was just all around too luxurious.
At first, she thought he was not present. Walking around the greenhouse, there was only the one door, and no one else was present, that she could find. She made several circuits, then paused, frowning in thought.
Tam told me he was waiting here, she thought, was rather insistent about that. So where is he? Did Tam get the time wrong, or the place? Or is he playing weird games? What you want to bet he's here, watching me, waiting. I won't be able to sense him magically, he'll be too well protected. But... he's supposed to figure out my eye, so how likely is it that he's not shielded against that?
Removing the eyepatch was a struggle, more of will than of strength. She hated having her eye uncovered, hated what she saw. It reminded her too much of what she had lost, and now it reminded her of what she had done. But whoever she was here to see – even now no one had given her a name – was supposed to teach her how to control it, how to turn it off, so she pushed the eye-patch up, and flinched as every living thing around her color-shifted ever so slightly. Since Hong Kong her eye had become stronger, seeing not just when people would die, but when any living thing around her would fade. She thought she could even sense when some artificial structures were destined to fail, but the thought was too terrifying to spend time on. Knowing that those around her were already dying was bad enough, knowing when even their works and monuments and memories would be gone was too much.
It was the smaller of the two solitary trees that betrayed his presence, presenting two radically different life-spans to her eye. Walking over to it, she tried looking around for some sign of the man's presence, but there was nothing. None of the grass was pressed down, none of the dirt around the trunk was compressed, none of the branches seemed unusually bent, there was no trace of him. "So you're either floating in mid air, or your cloak spells are very thorough."
"A little of both," a gravely but amused voice replied, and the tree rippled. Footprints appeared in the dirt, and she looked up to find a tall old man standing on nothing, leaning on one of the lower branches. "I float here comfortably, and a very subtle illusion hides the traces of my passage." He dropped to the ground and studied her for a moment, eventually reaching out to take hold of her head and move it around to look at her eye. "Interesting. Yosho has good instincts, even when he doesn't understand what he's looking at. A pity he went into politics, he would have made an excellent Forecaster. Come, walk with me, while I decide whether or not to help you."
They began walking a meandering path through the greenhouse, silently at first. Natalia waited for him to speak, and after a while he asked, "What do you know of the Void?"
Natalia shrugged, "Very little, I'm afraid. I understand it is what my teachers called 'nulls' or 'null spaces', that you think they are all interconnected."
"They are," the man said. "The Void is... nothingness, in the most literal sense imaginable. It is what exists in between dimensions, in between seconds. Dimensions are all interconnected, of course, and when you transition between dimensions, you go directly from one to the other, there is no distance between them. However, the Void is there, immeasurably thin, infinitely vast. The Void touches everywhere, in every dimension, in every second. It touches the second just past, the second to come, and it touches them all at the same time.
"That is how your eye works, how Forecasters perform our predictions. Your eye is partially within the Void, seeing not through reality, as a normal eye does, but through the timeless nothingness of the Void. To be honest, I am surprised you're still alive. With a permanent connection to the Void, your eye should be draining energy directly into the nothingness – temperature, magic, light, all of it is sucked into the Void and lost. Simple drain should have killed you by now, unless there is an anchor effect at work that is not obvious. I suspect that, however you disfigured yourself, you created an external anchor that is supporting the drain instead of yourself, and that is what prevents you from 'turning it off', as you put it to Yosho."
Natalia finally managed to find her voice again, whispering in hope, "Then you can help me?"
He looked at her, then matched her shrug. "I am uncertain. The only anchors I know of that can support a Void connection for this long are those we use in our researches, massive containment systems larger than this garden. My daughter Atarsamain or her friend Kessenra would be a much better option, however they passed on along with the other rebels in the Cataclysm. Tell me how you gained this eye, every step."
It was difficult, more from embarrassment at how clumsy and risky her attempt had been, but Natalia related the entire sequence of events, from finding Precia's grimoire to her conversation with Hayate in her brother's hospital room. To her surprise, when she described the great Gates, he went ashen for a moment.
When she finished, he walked away a few meters, staring up into the sky. Finally, he said, "There is one thing no Forecaster ever sees, one thing we never willing look upon. The time and place of our own death. Those who do... they go mad, become obsessed with that moment, with bringing it about or avoiding it. They lose track of their lives and their selves, become consumed with that vision. For that reason, we never look for death, though we see it often enough. To look for it is to risk seeing your own."
"I know when I will die," Natalia said, then gave a weak laugh, "I watched it change, when I decided to come here. I gained another thirty years, and all it cost me was my friends."
"Yes," he agreed, "and you will pay for that betrayal for the rest of your life, even if you never see any of them again. But that is not what we are here to discuss. You show few of the signs of the madness I spoke of. You are mad, to have done what you did, but others will judge you for that. Every day, sunrise, this garden. Bring that mage-engine of yours, as well, next time."
He spun in place and began striding for the door. Natalia was more than a little angry at his comments – she knew she would pay for her actions, but she was not 'mad'. More importantly, she had yet to find out who he was. "Sir? No one has told me who you are, sir?"
He paused, glancing back at her. "I am Ahmu, Master Adept of the Forecasters, Keeper of the Pasts. Don't ever use that last one, though – most of the Conclave would kill to know who I am." Then he was out the door.
Keeper of the Past? Forecasters? Natalia found a bench under the larger tree and sank down onto it. Okay, so he claims to be able to see the future. Obviously he can't do it perfectly, or there would be no stopping Al Hanthis. But that's what my eye does, isn't it? It sees the future, the course of it at least, and I know it's accurate. But... if he really can see the future, he's the most likely to be able to teach me to turn off my eye... and maybe more? Could... could I do more than just turn it off? If I could see the future, predict outcomes, influence them... could I go back? Undo some of what I've done, what's been done to me, without risking Sasha?
It was a tiny sliver of hope, against all her fear and guilt, but it was there, and Natalia seized on it. Anything, even flights of fancy, was better than remembering the look on Niranjana's face.
00000
As the complicated flows of power steadied and faded, Hayate slumped back a little, relaxing from almost two hours of tense work. Her shoulders ached – from stress, rather than effort – and her feet were sore from standing for so long without walking. But she was satisfied, very satisfied. "It worked," she said, accepting a glass of water from Aria. "Thank you, Takashi."
He waved that aside, though he did accept his own glass. "This was the easy one."
"But I know I can do it, now, know the little things she did not put in her notes for being 'obvious'."
Takashi grinned slightly at that, "but they were obvious."
"To her," Hayate matched his grin. Nothing surprising had been serious, just a few nuances to what they were doing that Hayate had not interpreted correctly. Looking down at Noriko's sleeping profile, Hayate's smile widened and softened. "She's going to be very happy when she wakes up, I think. It went perfectly, and she should be protected from damage to Senbonzakura, now."
Somewhat hesitantly, Aria asked, "Will it work for Cid-chan?"
Hayate's smile faded to a thoughtful frown, "I believe so. The balancing and stabilization of the cores is one of the first things to occur, and it is much stronger, initially, than I expected. We will have to do this while Shamal continues to work, but her efforts should not interfere. Not enough to prevent us from adjusting for the interference, at least."
"If you are ready, then," Takashi said, "we should not delay. The longer we wait..."
"The greater chance Shamal will fail," Hayate agreed. She finished the water, then looked about, "I don't suppose we could find a chair or stool, though? Cid-chan will take somewhat longer than Noriko did."
"Lotte will bring them," Aria told her.
"Then let's be about it."
00000
It flowed over the world, soundless, invisible, detectable only by those trained to sense and use magic. Those who were not looking for it sensed its passing as a sickening sensation, a twinge of wrong. Those who were actively sensing magic felt the blood and pain it promised, and most shrank from it, glad it was aimed elsewhere. A few looked closer, but none who did so thought to act until it was far too late. The spell was targeted elsewhere, after all, and quite specifically, for all its worldwide reach.
It struck the Yagami Academy first, and Vita, on watch, swore in surprise as half the campus wards flared to life in an instant. The alarms screaming at her warned of multiple incursions, all magical, all aimed at one person. She began activating the school's dormant shields, triggered a general alert of the campus, and began a trace on the attack, all in seconds. Fast as she was, by the time Fate arrived from the living room, the attack was already fading from the campus, having been turned by the second layer of wards.
Powered by ancient laws and refined by the most advanced mages in the world, being thwarted of its first target did not stop the spell. It spread its tendrils wide, questing, seeking. It had a signature, a target profile, that no spell could hide, no camouflage confuse. It began finding that target profile, concentrated in the islands of Japan, just a few individuals amongst all that country's population. Most of these were protected as well, under wards of their own, but those wards were paltry things compared to the fortress of the Yagami Academy. Relentless in its mindless purpose, the spell wormed its way through those wards, reached its targets, and those targets began to die.
Death was quick, but far from pleasant. Unable to discern precise biology over such a spread of targets and distance, the spell was designed simply to disrupt and stop all biological processes it could distinguish in the targets. Within a minute of finding a target, that target was dead, and within five minutes of striking the Yagami Academy, all its targets save two were gone. The first target, the anchor target, survived, as did one other, though that one would not survive the night.
00000
Hidan was about to go off duty, to retire for the evening. Simple habit had him performing one more check of the Kyoto palace compound, verifying that the standard security arrangements were in place. The Emperor himself was resident, had been since shortly after Al Hanthis rose, so that security was far tighter than normal. Everything was in order, however, and he was quite ready to return home. Things were stressful enough, he did not need to add lack of sleep to his problems.
A retching noise made Hidan pause, hand on the door. Turning back, he cocked an eye at the younger man sitting in front of the monitors. Yugito had a hand on his stomach, and a very confused look on his face. He had been perfectly fine seconds before, so Hidan asked, "Yugito? Something wrong?"
"I... I don't... something is wrong, but..." Yugito's confused attempt to explain cut off as his gaze drifted over a monitor. "The Emperor!" He jabbed a finger at the screen, but before he could say more, the radios at the next desk crackled to life.
"Medical emergency! Repeat, medical emergency! Central, this is Yojimbo, Tennō has collapsed."
"Medical emergency! Repeat, medical emergency! Central, this is Daisho, Prince Akishino and his wife have collapsed!"
More calls came in, overlapping and interfering, but the names alone told Hidan too much. He lunged back into the room, taking the alternate station from Yugito and began furiously altering the displays, focusing on certain rooms. While he did that, Yugito grabbed the medical alert phone and began calling for ambulances.
It took Hidan less than a minute to get the views he needed. Twelve members of the Imperial Family were in residence in the palace that night. All twelve were collapsed, only the Emperor himself was still moving, and that weakly. "Kami-sama," Hidan whispered, "what could have done this?"
"Magic," Yugito said, "that's what I felt."
Magic, Hidan thought, the one thing I cannot sense thanks to the priests... wait, magic... "Noriko!" He almost knocked Yugito over to reach the phone to outside, pounding in a number by memory hard enough to crack the first digit.
The phone rang for an interminably long time, five times, six times, but finally, "Yagami Academy, Sandoval Tai-yu."
"This is Hidan, Imperial Security. What is the princess' status?"
Tai-yu was silent for a moment, "Why would... never mind, she's asleep, recovering from the transition."
Hidan felt his heart clench, "Recovering? From what?"
"Hayate transitioned her this afternoon, an hour ago or so, to a Deva mage, the same type as Hayate herself. Noriko is sleeping that off right now."
Feeling a mixture of hope and sorrow – hope that some member of the Family was still alive, and sorrow that Hayate did not have some miracle fix for whatever had just happened – Hidan asked, "Are you certain? Have you checked in the last..."
"Five minutes? I'm looking at her now, Hidan, both the video feed and the sensors. We've had her under monitors for the last ten hours to establish a baseline prior to the transition. Everything is normal, sleeping state, just as she has been since the transition completed. The princess is safe. Now, the campus was just attacked magically, but it did not get through the second tier of wards. We're back-tracing it now. How did you know about it?"
Hidan took a moment to send a silent prayer of thanks to Heaven, then explained, "Her family has collapsed." A glance at the monitors showed his security personnel and the few on-duty medical personnel attempting CPR, or worse, doing nothing. "It is not good."
Tai-yu gasped slightly, then said, "We'll wake her as soon as it is safe and get her home..."
"No! No, she is safer on the campus for now. Hayate's wards protected her from this, they will protect her from further attacks. I and some of my people will be out in the morning, once we have a handle on the situation. Keep her safe."
"We will," Tai-yu said.
Hidan hung up the phone and turned back to the monitors. "Time to emergency services?"
"Too long," Yugito replied, "three more minutes for the first ambulance, but..." he put a hand on Hidan's shoulder, "I am sorry, Hidan-san. Both princes have... already passed."
The door opening cut off Hidan's reply, a member of the Palace staff waiting outside. "Hidan-san," the man said, bowing slightly, "the Emperor has requested your presence."
Hidan stiffened, drawing in a breath, and his left hand came up to touch the tanto, politely hidden in a special pocket inside his jacket. "I am ready."
When Hidan reached him, the Emperor was in the sitting room of his private chambers, slumped over in a chair, visibly wasted. The hand he raised to wave Hidan closer was shaking and weak. Hidan almost fell to his knees, instead of his usual grace, bowing his head. "I am sorry, Heika. I cannot apologize..."
A weak hand on his head cut him off. "Hidan." Even the Emperor's voice was weak, rasping and feathery. Hidan looked up, to find his Emperor's gaze, at least, was just as iron-willed as ever. "Noriko... lives? Feel it."
Hidan nodded, "Her school's wards protected her... we don't..."
"Others... dead," the Emperor said. "I... will soon... join... them. These..." the Emperor's other hand moved, and Hidan's eyes widened – the Yasakani no Magatama and the Yata no Kagami were both in the Emperor's lap. "These... to Noriko. No one... else. Just... Noriko. Kami... kaze... must flow."
Hidan had no idea what that meant, beyond the myths, but this was his Emperor, the man he had sworn his life to serve. He bowed his head again, "I will see to it, Heika."
The hand rested on his head again. "Serve... her. I will... hold... the night. No... longer. Go."
Leaving that room took every ounce of his self control, but Hidan did it. Part of him would always remember seeing, as he backed out of the room, the weak and failing old man sitting in that chair, dying slowly. Most of him would remember those eyes, the gaze of his Emperor, proud and strong even to the last.
Once the door was closed, he picked two security men on duty, summoning them from their posts – men he had known for years, men he had once served alongside, and had helped select for their current positions. "You two will remain with him until the end. If I am not back before then, bring the Regalia to the Yagami Academy by any means necessary. The Emperor has ordered it." The two saluted sharply, then took up station to either side of the door, waiting. Hidan nodded approval, then turned down the hall. He was not even to the corner before he had a cell phone in hand, "I need a helicopter, immediately."
00000
Laura knew she was not supposed to be there. They had all been very specifically told – especially after Hidan arrived and Vita explained what had happened – to leave Noriko alone until she had a chance to wake up and Hayate could talk to her. But Laura knew Noriko would need someone close, a friend who would at least sort of understand, and Cid-chan was unavailable.
Hayate, the best option, was out cold after transitioning two people in under a day. Everyone had felt it when she finished Cid-chan, the rippling pulse of green energy had washed over the campus and several miles in every direction, healing in an instant all the bruises, scrapes, and physical injuries from Hong Kong. But that burst had also told them something was wrong, which Zafira had confirmed without words when he carried an incoherently sobbing Shamal up to Hayate's house, past almost everyone on the campus.
So Laura knew she was not supposed to be there, that she would probably get in trouble just as surely as any of her pranks, but she could not not be there when Noriko woke. When Hidan insisted on checking on her physically, Laura had used the Cloak of Shades to slip inside the converted workroom. She would have used Escher Step to avoid running into anyone, but the monitors would have detected that much magic, and she had a frantic minute while everyone was leaving, trying to figure out where she could hide that the monitors would not notice.
In the end, sitting on the bed next to Noriko's head was probably not the best place, but it was the best she could come up with, as Noriko's weight would disguise her own. The hair Noriko was so vain about did a good job of concealing the depression Laura made, but that hiding spot meant Laura had to remain motionless for a far longer time than she was used to or preferred. Laura took it as a challenge, remaining perfectly still, and had to resort to meditating, half-on the bed, sitting in full lotus. The stress on her knees was a bit much, but the traditional meditative posture helped her slip into a light trance.
She had no idea how long she was sitting there, but knew it was still somewhat before dawn when Noriko shifted, stirred, and opened her eyes. Noriko looked around, frowning in confusion for a couple of minutes. Then one hand snaked out of the covers, seeking the cause of the depression in the mattress.
Worried as she was, Laura could not help joking, as Noriko's hand found her knee, "That hand wanders much higher, miss, and my daddy's got a shotgun."
Noriko stiffened, then twisted around to look up, "Laura?!"
"Shh, I'm hiding. Not supposed to be here."
"Not supposed... of course you shouldn't be here!"
"Hey, I was worried about you. And... well... yeah." Laura almost managed to say it, but the apology Nanoha had convinced her she owed Noriko stuck in her throat. It was such a petty thing to worry about at the moment.
Noriko did not let that go, however. "'Yeah' what?" When Laura remained silent, she gave an exasperated sigh and sat up, "Laura, seriously, there was nothing to worry about. The transition was easy as breathing..."
"Cid-chan is gone," Laura said. Noriko gaped at her in silence for a moment, and Laura faded into view, looking down at her hands now. "We don't know specifics, Aria-sensei said there was still something going on, but she had no idea what. But... Cid-chan's gone."
"Not entirely," Hayate said, fading into the room. "The damage to her linker core reacted to the transition's completion, releasing a great deal of power in a single sudden burst from both linker cores." Hayate pulled a chair into position beside the bed, settling into it as she continued, "There is still a vague physical presence in the hospital bed, her original linker core is stable and healing in Hipocrates, and Rafiq insists he is being supported entirely by Cid-chan, but all we can detect of her is a distortion in the room. We'll know more once Shamal wakes and can assist us in looking for her."
Noriko slumped sideways a little, "Now I feel even worse again. Is there anything I can do?"
Hayate paused, and glanced at Laura, before dodging the subject. "You're not supposed to be here, Laura."
"She needed someone," Laura shrugged. "In case."
Noriko frowned at that, looking back and forth between them, "In case of what?"
Hayate took a deep breath, then reached out and took Noriko's hand in both of hers. "Last night," she said, "the campus was attacked, by magic. We traced it back to Cairo, and believe it to have been an attack by Al Hanthis. It was targeted through you."
Noriko looked panicked for a moment, free hand going to her chest, "Is something... am I okay? I feel okay, but haven't tried any magic yet."
Hayate shook her head, "The attack did not penetrate the wards, never even touched the workroom's shields. But..." she paused, and squeezed Noriko's hand, "but it was not only targeted on you."
Noriko's eyes widened, "No..."
"They targeted your family, Noriko. All of them, as far as we can tell. Hidan and your family's staff is still checking on some of your more distant relatives, but..."
"Are they all right? The palaces are warded, some shrines, if they could reach one..."
Laura slid down next to Noriko, hugging her, "I'm sorry, Riko-chan."
Noriko tried to push her away, "Sensei? Hayate-sensei?" Her voice was rising, "Tell me they're okay? Mother? Father? Kubo? Yukina?"
Hayate tried to say something, but all she managed was to shake her head, tears falling silently down her face. It took her a minute to whisper, "I'm sorry, Noriko. So sorry."
"No... No I don't believe it!"
"I wish it wasn't true, Noriko," Hayate told her. "Hidan is waiting outside for you, with items your grandfather ordered given to your keeping."
"No!" Noriko flinched away from Hayate and Laura, curling up, tears starting to flow, "No, it's a lie! It can't be real."
Laura moved up behind her again, wrapping her arms around Noriko in a hug, trying to be comforting but having no idea how. Noriko continued to reject what they had told her for a minute, crying and muttering to herself, but Laura could feel power building. "Riko-chan, it'll be okay. We'll get through this. Hayate-sensei'll help, I'll help, we're all here..." Laura cut off with a grunt of surprise and pain as the build-up of power peaked and reality pinched around her.
When it cleared, the converted workroom was nowhere to be found. Instead, she was sitting on the ground holding a still-sobbing Noriko. To one side, she could see a substantial traditional Japanese building, wide porch beneath several levels of sloping peaked roof. Off to her left was a large pond and stream, complete with deer-chaser. Surrounding all of it was a veritable forest of trees, of multiple types. Among the trees Laura could tell there were other buildings. She had no idea where they were, but was not going to take the time to explore. "We'll find them, whoever they were. We're here for you, Riko-chan. I'm here for you."
00000
It took Hayate several minutes to figure out the route into Senbonzakura's pocket-dimension. She was a little surprised to find it so complete so soon, but only slightly. Even Sara had not been entirely certain how things worked in the pocket dimensions, save they reflected their mage, and Hayate had no time at present to investigate. She appeared before the closed gates of a traditional castle, and figured Noriko and Laura would be inside it. When she tried to gain access, however, she found the way blocked, even her attempts to fly over the walls. Flight did let her see most of the castle grounds, however, and she spotted the two in a small courtyard.
Deciding that leaving them be for a time was better for Noriko than breaching the castle's shield, Hayate returned to Earth. In the workroom, she sighed, resting a hand where Noriko had been. "I am so sorry, Noriko. After Li, I should have planned for something like this, but I thought your family, of all of them, would be safe."
With Noriko once again unavailable, however, there was work to be done. She had used Allison's Cloak of Shades and a little illusion to enter the workroom without anyone knowing, needing the comfort of her success with Noriko after the disaster with Cid-chan. Now she had work to do, so she opened the door and stepped out into the hall. Hidan was standing there, across the hall, as he had been since shortly after sunrise, when two of his fellows arrived bearing the Regalia.
"She is awake, but unavailable," Hayate told him. When he frowned, she held up a hand, "She needs time to recover herself, Hidan. She's a little girl who was just told her family has died. If you push now, you may very well break her. A little time, Hidan. She will return, and I know where she is. She is just as safe there as here."
Hidan hesitated a moment longer, then nodded. "I will wait as long as possible, Yagami-san."
"If anyone pressures you, let me know," Hayate said. "I will deal with them. She is one of my children, even more so now. Princess or not, I will not allow anyone to harm her."
Hidan actually gave her a slight grin, "Then we are in agreement, Hayate-san."
Hayate relaxed a little at that. Hidan had repeatedly demonstrated his loyalty to Noriko's family, but she had not been certain how that loyalty would push him. "Can you tell me how bad it is?"
Hidan closed his eyes a moment, then said, "She is all that remains. The spell targeted anyone who could trace their ancestry to her family back at least four generations, possibly five. It is taking time to find the more distant relations. Even if we do find a living relative, there is no one close to the Imperial line left, save for Noriko. I have no idea how that will turn out, how the Diet will react, but she is all that remains."
"There is little time," Hayate said, "but enough for Noriko to recover. I understand you insisted she remain here. Do you still believe that?"
"Yes, and I can make it stick," Hidan told her. "The Family's staff will listen to me in this, even the traditionalists. She is safe here, with the wards around her. No place else in Japan has such defenses against magic."
"We should be able to set up something similar at one or two other locations," Hayate said, then grimaced, "but only one or two. Wards such as these require a great deal of time, months, and would require myself and at least one of my knights. It was a combination of the Velka and Deva wards that stopped the attack here, and we have not yet puzzled out which."
"That would be a matter for the priests," Hidan told her. "There are... considerations, in the design of the palaces and shrines. I will convey your offer to them, but the decision will be theirs."
Hayate nodded, then gestured towards the stairs, "It's a little early, but since I'm up, I was going to get breakfast in the cafeteria, to be there when the children wake. Would you care to join me? We can reassure the children about Noriko, at least."
"I will wait for her to return."
Hayate shook her head, "She will not return here. Not to this room, I should say. She'll return..." Hayate shrugged, "... wherever she thinks to, which will probably be someplace on campus."
Hidan stared at the workroom door for a few moments, then nodded slowly, "Then I will accept your invitation, Hayate-san."
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It had taken Yussef all of an hour after returning from Hong Kong to decide that he had not planned enough for the battle, not thought about it enough. He needed to plan his battles more carefully, to involve the Myrmidons in that planning as completely as possible. They had all come up with good ideas before and during Hong Kong, but it had not been coordinated, and had not occurred to any of them soon enough. Yussef had no idea if such efforts would have made a difference, but it was still a problem, and better than sitting around worrying over their losses.
So he talked to Zafira, and appropriated Workroom Five, the first of the mid-size workrooms, about the size of the classrooms above. There, with more of Zafira's assistance, input from the satellite monitors, and Zulfiqar's mapping program, he started big. Now, four days after Hong Kong, with Cid-chan missing, Noriko's family dead and the princess missing until she returned, he had his Myrmidons standing around a holographic representation of the floating city of Al Hanthis, arguing over how to take the city.
"It all comes down to the shield," Luke said, gesturing at the faint blue haze that denoted the city's shield perimeter. "Until we find a way to crack it without vaporizing Egypt, we can't touch Al Hanthis."
"We can go after North Africa," Mariachi countered, "as long as we stay over the horizon from Al Hanthis itself. Hughes is doing that now, right?"
"The United States is quietly taking steps to begin supplying guerilla forces in North Africa," Zafira said, "though we have no details on that. But it is never a good idea, Mariachi, to allow an enemy to remain in their stronghold unmolested. Especially when their entire power is built on that stronghold."
"If we take Al Hanthis, we end the war, as simple as that," Luke said. "But we can't do that until we find a way to bring this shield down."
"Do we need to bring it down," Marcel said slowly, "or just crack it?"
Staring at the model pensively, more absorbed in his own ruminations on Hong Kong than on Al Hanthis, that still caught Yussef's attention. Glancing at Marcel, then looking over the city, it only took him a second to realize Marcel was on to something. Aloud, he said, "What's the difference?"
Marcel shrugged, "That's what I'm wondering. Is there a difference between cracking or breaching the shield, and bringing it down?"
The other boys were frowning now, glancing back and forth between each other and the model. "Well, breaching a shield this size is usually easier than bringing it down completely," Noah said after a minute, "but it's also easier to close a breach than to rebuild a shield. A breach would get us access, but we'd be cut off again pretty soon. Whoever we sent in would have no way out, unless... we could Trojan Horse it, send someone in to seize one of those portal generators Hayate-sensei went in through when they showed up. Or if we could figure out how those work, we could generate breaches at will."
"May as well wish they'd just surrender now," Toushiro said, "we'll have to force any breaches. And we'll have to do it quick." He called up a floating control panel, then used that to explode out a section of the model. "This thing's the same as that weapon the Revenants used to start this mess, and there's fifty of them spread out all over the city. Anyone trying to breach that shield is going to have those shooting at him, the Guard crawling all over him, and a couple million mages waiting on the other side of that shield."
"Most of the population won't be a problem, they're civilians who'll probably be in shelters." Yussef shook his head, "No, it'll be the Guard and the 'Protectors' Hayate-sensei mentioned, which will be bad enough. But a breach... we can find a way to do that far more readily than we can bring the entire shield down. If we can breach the shield, we can get a force inside. Once inside, we can seize the shield generators, enough to bring part of it down. Once we've got that, and they're vulnerable, they'll have to negotiate. That's what Hayate-sensei wanted out of Hong Kong, right? To force them to negotiate, to buy time to calm the situation down."
"That is what Hayate-sama originally wanted, but now..." Zafira shrugged. "Hayate-sama may very well decide now that the only way to bring the situation to a peaceful conclusion is to force Al Hanthis to surrender completely. Which bringing down the shield would also accomplish. How do you propose to breach the shield in the first place?"
Yussef thought it over for a few minutes, then asked, "What about Allison's idea? If she can get in, she can show us how to get in. The Myrmidons could seize or destroy a shield generator before being found easily, provided we can get in."
"Signum is testing Allison as we speak," Zafira said, "but while I recommend you investigate that route, do not rely on it. Allison's experience as a hunter has influenced her magic, and I doubt any of us will be able to match her ability to disappear in any useable time frame."
"But we may not need to disappear completely," Ichigo said. "Just enough to get in."
"We could use Laura's wormhole thing, like she did with Hicho last year," Luke suggested.
"No, not without figuring out how it actually works," Noah replied. "I'm not interested in getting myself irradiated, thanks."
"Maybe we could use it for bombs, then. If she can target it precisely, and we can be sure the shield generators won't cause a dimensional dislocation if they blow up, we could slip explosives through the shield that way."
"If her wormhole will go through the shield," Yussef said. "Luke, ask her about it – how accurate the wormhole is, if it could be used for people, all of that. Ichigo, dig up everything you can find on the shield generators. Get help from Zafira-sensei and Vita-sensei if you need access, maybe some of the volunteers. See what explosives they would be vulnerable to, and what the likelihood is of an explosion triggering a dimensional dislocation."
He brought up his own control panel, and removed the shield from the model, expanding the city slightly. "For now, however, I like where this is going. Let's assume we breach the shield and get our entire force through – us, the teachers, the girls, the volunteers, every device mage we've got. We'll start... here," he picked a spot essentially at random, in the air over the city edge. "This is where we breached the shields, gentlemen, a one-time breach that is already sealed. Where do we go from here and how do we get there? Zafira-sensei, if you would be so kind as to run the Op-For?"
It was different from the usual exercises they ran. He was used to working with a couple of them at a time against the others, or against all of them at once through the simulation. This, working cooperatively with all of them, was what he preferred, but it took some getting used to. It was also far less physical than he was used to, less about training reflexes and habits of thought than learning to think through the battles. That, again, took some getting used.
Regardless, Yussef enjoyed it, and looked forward to showing the fruits of this labor to the Guard when the time came.
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Spell/Ritual – Blood Penance: This is officially a spell, and technically a single person can cast it, though it would take as much prep time as the full ritual depicted above. However the spell was developed long before the refinement of the Al Hanthis/Al Hazred rune system (the basis for Midchildan and Velkan runes), and at that time did require a full on ritual. It was created by the Warlords, precursors to the Conclave of Masters, as an assassination tool and as a punishment worse than simple execution. By reading the prime-target's blood (DNA, in modern parlance), the ritual spreads over a planetary surface, looking for close matches amongst the human population. Where it finds matches (basically anyone who can trace blood relation back to the target's ancestors five generations) it induces biological failure in whatever systems it can distinguish, usually manifesting as congestive heart failure or massive stroke. The spell's major drawback is that any target worthy of the investment of time and energy will routinely be very well shielded, as will their close family members. The spell will penetrate light wards, but any serious magical defenses will stop it from reaching the protected target. While it will continue to other targets, in the Warlords' era those targets would be just as well shielded as the primary.
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Author's Note: the Yasakani no Magatama (a jewel representing benevolence) and the Yata no Kagami (a mirror representing wisdom) are two of the three items that constitute the Imperial Regalia of Japan, along with the sword Kusunagi. Normally kept sequestered in shrines, they are part of the (private) coronation ceremony for new emperors, and symbols of the Imperial Throne. I do have a reason they were not in the shrines where they are usually stored, which will be explained in-story.
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Eleventh Messenger: Got your PM too close to posting to respond, so here you go. Don't worry about 'spoiling the plot', Natalia's eye will have only a peripheral effect on her eventual fight with Laura, because it only has two uses in combat – telling Natalia if she is about to kill her opponent, and potentially freaking out said opponent. I'm not sure how Natalia would react to realizing she was about to cause Laura's death, but there's no way Laura would get freaked out hearing about her own death. She knows about Natalia's eye and has her own take on it (which I'm saving for a later verbal sparring match). As for how Laura could win a fight with Natalia, all she really has to do is show up. Natalia is not a combatant, remember? Sure, she has all the Al Hanthis runes and her own tricks, and whatever she learns between now and the battle, but she lacks the fighter's mentality and the intensive training. If she doesn't have some sort of help when Laura goes after her, she's going to get stomped rather viciously. You are right that the Schroedinger spell would give Natalia's eye fits, but only while it was active, when the spell itself would give anyone fits. There's a huge problem with that spell that hasn't come up in story yet, I'm still debating that scene.
Kell Shock: 'Fallen Angels' is actually supposed to be a somewhat specific code-phrase for students who have been misled and corrupted – dangerous, to be met with all due force, but still able to be saved. Maunders and those who go with her will be outright heretics, in the eyes of most Circles mages, assuming that anyone ever tells most Circle mages. You are correct, though, that they will make very good device mages, once they get over their prior inhibitions and training. Yosho is not entirely an 'ends justify the means' type, but he is distinctly unconcerned with anything that happens to those his people are at war with. Not a nice outlook, but practical. With Thorngrave being Takashi in disguise, while I was putting Endless Watlz together before I posted it, one big question was where Takashi would be for most of it. I didn't want him around the school or looming over the Circles, as neither would be his style at this point – the first roll would be too passive, the second too public. At the same time he would not leave the Circles unwatched, and he would not leave Terra while Kriegsen was there. Infiltrating the Circles' most promising unit was the best idea I had, and a nice little twist to Kriegsen's hiding spot. Allison will make an excellent infiltrator (if she's 'excellent' enough is yet to be seen), and it fits with her training as a hunter. Your original thought of her as an ambush fighter is also true, though, again thanks to her hunter training.
Baughn: Actually, the one time I've mentioned Subaru, she was manning the sensors on the Asura, and that was mainly just me reaching for names and coming up blank. Regardless of whether that Subaru was the same as the StrikerS Subaru, the way I look at it, anyone who can construct a multi-dimensional mage-enhancing device can probably handle some basic cybernetics. Al Hanthis, now, they could probably completely replace the damaged components with custom-grown cloned tissue, good as new. I don't think the Bureau would put her in a cell next to Scaglietti – she's a kid, there were extenuating circumstances, and they'd have a devil of a time proving more than one unauthorized access – but they'd lock her up for a while and keep an eye on her for the rest of her life, much as I imagine they do with Hayate. You are correct that, if she can get inside at all, Allison could probably sneak a suitcase-nuke inside Al Hanthis. To be portable without magic it would have to be a tiny one, just what is considered 'first stage' in a modern device (the initiator explosives and the plutonium core). More importantly, would Hayate ever allow one of her kids to use a nuke? Against a city with a civilian population in the millions? Remember, Hayate's Japanese, not Bureau, and she views nuclear weapons with especial distaste, and she's a police officer and teacher at heart, not a cold and distant general. Yosho would do it in a heart-beat, Szash and Hughes would seriously consider it, but Hayate? She would surrender first.
GeshronTyler: When has any series done away with an annoying villain prior to the climax? Kriegsen still has a role to play, so I'm afraid he's going to stick around. I won't be spending much time on him, personally, though, too much else to do. The event at Ayers Rock was a one-off incident, both a deliberate provocation by the Circles, trying to draw Hayate out and get information on her capabilities in the build-up to Operation Nimrod, and to show that there are more mage-traditions on Earth than anyone was aware of, as cover for the Circles' remaining hidden. As for what's under it, I have no specific plans to use it, but I will say this – the Circle presence in Australia is almost all Containment, and they're a strange and paranoid bunch by Containment's standards, who are considered strange and paranoid by the rest of the Circles.
CrimsonDX: And here's a third chapter (relatively) soon. Feel free to muse away, the 'fishing for plot points' comment was a joke. The bit with the program-Allina in Al Hanthis is complicated, but should be interesting.
Advent000: Nope, Kriegsen was Schuster – back when I revealed that just after Al Hanthis returned, he talked to Thorngrave. You may or may not be wrong about the program-Allina (yes, I'm being obtuse on purpose:), it'll show up later.