time to fire my travel agent

by kaviyarasank124

time to fire my travel agent

Time to Fire My Travel Agent (SI, Jumpchain)

By: dingbat779

Wait. I wasn't kidnapped for a really tasteless prank? It really was a Jumpdoc after all? To quote Sam Beckett: Uh boy…

Status: ongoing

Published: 2023-06-27

Updated: 2023-07-21

Words: 16790

Chapters: 5

Original source: threads/1100502

Exported with the assistance of

Prologue: Into the Nanohaverse

AN: I tried to be good. I really did. Unfortunately my Muse was simply too rambunctious. The theme of this chain is "Stuff I haven't used a dozen times already." Now for the fun part. This is me SI'd into the setting. It doesn't mess with my memories but I don't have a helpful Benefactor. All I get is a tablet. No bending the rules this time. Are you good for that? Let's buckle up and here we go!

AN 2: Remember the ages of the cast okay? I'm not doing any shipping of underage people. Got it? Good!

Prologue: Into the Nanohaverse

I want to fire my travel agent. Why you may ask? I was picked up in the middle of the night, whisked away to an undisclosed location and handed a tablet by an unseen hand. All that the tablet said was "Don't Panic." Now I've read enough Douglas Adams to know this was the perfect time to panic. In fact I was doing it even before being told not to by the tablet. The interface was the same as any other touch screen except for one thing. Someone loaded it with a program called "Jumpchain Character Sheet Generator."

"You kidnapped me to play an Isekai game?" I asked, but no one replied. In fact the darkened space seemed to encroach on my limited light threateningly.

Maybe I should just shut up and play the stupid game?

Admittedly it seemed kind of stupid to go along with my kidnapper's goals, but it was stupider to do nothing. After all the longer I survived the more likely someone would find me. Of course that all hinged on whether this was an actual kidnapping or a really stupid prank. Not too many of my friends could lift me unless they worked together. To get me out of my apartment without waking? That would be quite a feat indeed.

Most of my usual selections were grayed out. The tooltip said those were temporarily disabled. I tried to find Scooby Gamers for an easy Gamer power, but it wasn't there. In fact another pop up told me to refrain from Gamer powers of any type. Whoever designed this thing knew my tastes very well. I couldn't even take the Infinite Loops. Games that basically took away your free agency annoyed me to no end. It did give me my house rules weirdly enough.

House Rules

[Benefits]

Random Start CP: Roll 1d20 and multiply the result by 100, this is your starting Budget. If you agree to take 2 Drawbacks without applying their payout, you may add another d20 to this result in the same way, basically rolling 2d20 and multiplying their result by 100, or, rolling 1d20 and multiplying it by 200. The Drawback Requirement may be applied individually to each Jump and one may stack an additional Drawback for another d20 or to increase the multiplier by another 100.

Random Drawback Multiplier: Drawbacks can be useful, I know that, we all need some extra CP from time to time, am I right? Yeah who am I kidding? The number of jumps where taking a ton of Drawbacks isn't expected because either there is so much for each Origin to buy or some extra sections to use, is among more recent Jumps fairly small. However, often Drawbacks aren't worth as much CP as their danger implies, often topping out at 300 CP. No longer now. Once per jump, roll 1d4. Multiply all CP gained from Drawbacks by the result. Yes, all of them. Including the UDS Drawbacks you likely took.

[Restrictions]

Nightmares on Jumpchain: You have to take 1d4 of Drawbacks for each Jump, you roll for each Jump individually. Addendum: Must include at least one you don't want.

Oath of the Pencil: Each jump, roll 1d8 and multiply by 1000, your Jumper now has to write a lengthy report recording that Jump's events in a story format. Functionally, that is the number of words you need to write down in terms of content in that particular Jump. This may be ignored in Gauntlets, or applied for a x2 multiplier on Drawbacks.

A dice roller was included so that was one less thing to worry about. The d20 came up a '15' making my starting CP 1500. The number of Mandatory Drawbacks and the multiplier were both '3.' For Oath of the Pencil I rolled '8.' Eight thousand words to chronicle my journey? Maybe they don't know me. I can be incredibly wordy on some really out there stories. This was an easy challenge. That just left me to choose my Jump. The tablet wanted me to choose one I haven't done to death. From my extremely limited selection I chose Nanoha. I've written stuff for it before, but not that much. The Perks and Items were decent from what I can recall. Not only that but the setting itself was relatively easy if one used a bit of common sense. Something I have no experience doing, but I can give it a try.

"The only thing I don't like is having to take a Drawback I hate…" I muttered. Really, it was my fault, I'm the one who put that clause into my House Rules. That didn't mean I had to like it being used against me.

The first thing I dealt with were the Drawbacks. Three mandatory Drawbacks could mean a lot of CP if I wanted the aggravation. If I was to actually go to Nanoha then I'd want my trip to be as stress free as possible. To do that would require carefully figuring out what Perks I wanted and their costs. One of the things I did was check the Universal Drawbacks for something specific.

Retail Rocker [Special]: Discounts are for poor people. You're a Jumper of Quality. You always pay full price. Always. But in exchange, you now get double the CP from all drawbacks you take. If something else would modify the CP you'd get from a Drawback, Retail Rocker's bonus is calculated only from the original raw value and cannot be modified by anything. Example: You take a 200 CP Drawback, but have 'What Are Drawbacks' which adds 50 CP to that, are under the effects of 'Gauntlet-Kun' which doubles the base value, and it's a background specific drawback from the Princess Bride jump, meaning it should be valued at 300 CP to start with…. Retail Rocker ignores all the modifiers and just gives a bonus 200 CP which isn't ever modified by anything else. They still give their own bonuses, they just don't interact with each other. Drawbacks that give points for modifying other drawbacks are not doubled. That (obviously) includes this one. You get +100 JP per jump for Slot-O-Matic.

I'll admit it probably looks strange. Why would I give up my Discounts for extra CP from Drawbacks? Most Jumps, Nanoha included, have their best Perks scattered throughout the Jumpdoc. The really good docs avoid having a 'God' background to make them all look attractive. Since I couldn't have multiple Backgrounds it just made more sense to get more CP. To purchase everything I wanted, without killing myself with Drawbacks, this is what I took.

Drawbacks: 3 Mandatory, x3 Multiplier: [+1100 CP] [+300 CP Retail Rocker]

Befriending [+100cp]

One way or another, whether through a misunderstanding or accident, you will inevitably be 'Befriended' by one Nanoha Takamachi. You will lose the ensuing fight, conflict, or misfiring of her magic and it will hurt A LOT. The good news is that this won't kill you and will only happen once - you'll even become friends with her afterwards!

Hooked [+100, Requires Befriending]

Oh dear. You took that Divine Buster with a little too much… enthusiasm, Jumper. In addition to getting trounced by Nanoha, you've latched onto her and her entourage despite whatever your original intent was, and have gotten awfully attached to your new friends. You're plot bound, and there's no getting off of the ride. The good news is that you should survive most of the canon plot. The bad news is that you're not going to be doing much else - having been hooked into Nanoha Takamachi's social circle, you'll do anything to help your new friends with a distressing amount of enthusiasm, or be forced to by some control measure of the TSAB. Do note that committing sketchy or downright illegal acts will still earn their ire… a very personal one, too.

Lost Logia Magnet [+100cp]

Originally, it would be fairly easy to just keep your head down and live peacefully without having to worry about serious conflict… but now you can't seem to walk more than a few steps before suddenly being wrapped up in plots involving Lost Logia or other dangerous individuals, and you'll be expected to handle it. While you can still handle the situation how you see fit and won't have to worry about outside context threats, just keeping your head down and avoiding these constant plots just isn't happening, no matter how hard you try. At least they're easy to resolve…

Clothing Damage [+100cp]

Not again! 'Spontaneous nudity' shouldn't be something you need to consistently file on a report, but somehow, you're the lucky winner of this trend. Your clothing just seems to tear or rip off entirely at even the slightest provocation - losing your entire shirt to a stray tree branch, your pants to a magical blast, and all sorts of other humiliating events. Your Barrier Jacket or armor will generally hold together long enough to finish a fight, but you bet it'll find a way to be torn off or destroyed by the time the danger has passed. Hope you're not the easily embarrassed type.

Befriending. Nanoha is best known for making friends out of enemies through judicious use of firepower. Getting dragged into her little world wasn't quite the opposite of relaxing, but it came close. This wasn't a dangerous hardship. It was just damn annoying without limiting my free agency too much. Since Befriending was the gateway to joining her merry band, I snapped up Hooked. I wasn't really planning to sit on the sidelines when the city was exploding around us. Lost Logia Magnet linked up neatly with Befriending and Hooked. That was the whole plot really. Nanoha wanders into a new crisis, blows everything up, and goes home with more friends.

However, I didn't plan on getting blasted with a Starlight Breaker as collateral. If I was going to be in pain then I might as well do something to deserve it, right? For that I needed to take a specific Scenario. The original bonus CP was 400, but by taking a special addition it gave another 100.

Scenarios:

Consumed By Darkness [+400 CP]

-The Left Hand of Darkness [+100 CP]

Essentially I was now Hayate Yagami's relative. I went with a sister since most guys in the series get shafted at some point. The scenario was basically the Book of Darkness incident plus one. With my meta knowledge of the series I could make things easier on the poor girl. The whole reason the incident took such a dangerous turn was because the Wolkenritter got some bad intel. They were led to believe that the book would continue to devour Hayate's magic and kill her. What they weren't told was that completing the book would do the same thing. Heading them off was important. Really, just take Hayate to Nanoha and let the future Ace of Aces work her Moe Girl Magic on the TSAB.

"On to the Perks and stuff…" I cracked my knuckles before diving in again.

Perks pt 1

Well Adjusted [100cp]

A powerful magical artifact that's causing trouble in your city? Eh, you've had worse Mondays. A dimensional organization that mixes magic and technology? That's pretty cool. You're going to go far away from your family to fight a dangerous battle that could end with you seriously hurt or dead? You'll be sure to say goodbye and to ask them to put dinner on for you when you get home. In short, you just have sort of a 'ho hum' reaction to new or unexpected discoveries, able to process the circumstances calmly and carefully instead of freaking out or suffering from disbelief. You can still be stressed out or even mentally damaged by particularly scarring revelations, but you won't ever have to go through the 'disbelief' or 'babbling in shock' parts of finding out the world is bigger than you knew.

Zenryoku Zenkai! [200cp]

You may have guessed this already, but Magic in this world isn't big on subtlety. Beams of light that can wipe a city off the map, one woman armies clashing, and more are all featured here. Yet, by default, Magic in this world is non-lethal and even the most destructive powers can be used to subdue someone without fear of killing them. You now know how to use this property to any of your own abilities or gear, able to damage someone to just 'knock them out' without fear of killing them, so long as you can actually hurt them in the first place. Be aware - this doesn't work very well on collateral damage. While the living beings and your opponent caught in a huge attack will either be unharmed or non-lethally KO'd, and never killed unless you deem otherwise, the surrounding area and inanimate objects aren't so lucky. Try not to blow up the city, okay?

Now these were a must have for this Jump and the future. The first was the most remarkable power of all. To be well adjusted and unaffected by lingering trauma. I could still be affected if it was bad enough, but it wouldn't stick. Zenryoku Zenkai wouldn't keep the property collateral down just the human collateral. Nothing wrong with having a way to turn my attacks nonlethal. I didn't want to kill anyone by accident. Especially in front of Nanoha or Hayate.

Perks pt 2

Mana Conversion Affinity [100cp]

Mana channeled by a Linker Core is normally something of a 'one size fits all' kind of energy that can be used for most spells. But maybe you had something a little more specific in mind? With this, you may convert this mana into a specific reaction or energy type - changing it to lightning, fire, ice, sound, or light with an intensity proportional to how much mana you put into it. You choose which energy type this is when you buy this perk.

This can be bought multiple times, but only the first purchase is free. Future purchases are 100 each, with 50 each for Belkan. (Darkness)

Cartridge Endurance [100cp]

The cartridge system, while a powerful legacy of what Belka left behind, is extremely stressful on your physical body and can lead to fatigue in battle at best or significant internal damage at worst. But as the legacy of Belka is part of you, your body can physically handle the punishment needed to make regular use of said system. In addition, this endurance applies to other types of dangerous magic that harms the user - it won't eliminate the strain or internal damage, but you'll find you can use it much more often than you could before the downsides actually kick in.

Okay, these two were just too cool to pass up. Not just cool but also useful. An Elemental Affinity would come in handy in later Jumps. The most difficult to find in this Jump would be one for Darkness so that's what I bought. Besides, it fit thematically with my role as Hayate's sister. Cartridge Endurance was just smart because the Wolkenritter made extensive use of them in combat. This way I wouldn't have to train extensively. The Perk was helpful when dealing with all forms of harmful magic I might use.

Perks pt 3

Thicker Than Water [300cp]

Nothing is more important than family. Family is both what defines you and defines your future, as is a family that you yourself start - whether through siring progeny or 'adopting' into said family. Whether it's in blood or spirit, individuals you consider family forge bonds with both you and each other more easily, likely stick out for each other when they would otherwise pursue their own goals. This doesn't overwrite clashing personalities - people still bicker, after all - but you'll find that your presence functions as a glue that holds them all together, and will smooth over internal conflicts in addition to helping members of your family become better people. Please note that the definition of 'family', even through adoption, usually refers to individuals close to you or related to you in some way - you may consider a city or country your 'family', but huge and unwieldy groups won't benefit from this perk. Blood is thicker than water, after all.

Ancient Knowledge [400cp - Discount Saint Church] The legacy of the Belkan Empire exists not merely within ruins or Lost Logia, but in the blood of its people. You have inherited a bloodline of note, and while it may or may not be one of the canonical or major bloodlines, a piece of it has followed you in your very DNA, subconsciously nudging at your memory. While this creates no stress or strain on your personality, the connection is diluted enough that you can't consciously access this memory… but when you come into contact with Lost Logia, you will rapidly gain insight into how it functions and possibly ways to engineer it once again. You will need actual technical skills to pull this off, but with a little bit of time, perhaps you can restore what is lost? Post-jump, this same insight applies to 'lost' or 'forgotten' technology, though you will likely need other sources of knowledge and abilities to truly restore it, depending on its complexity. May or may not come with brief instances of acting and speaking like a resident of the Belkan Empire at random intervals.

In The Blood [600cp - Discount Saint Church] That's the key word, isn't it? Legacy. You may or may not live forever yourself, but what about your creations? Your marvels? Your progeny? Whether or not you aspire to be a ruler yourself, you will find that there are ways to preserve your best traits, particularly within your own body or those of your descendants. You have learned the art of infusing mana into DNA, letting you create hereditary and unique magical abilities that are passed down from generation to generation, or specific individuals if you can't be bothered to wait that long. Traits like a specific hair color, eye color, or body type is child's play to you - and while complicated or powerful abilities may not always descend down the family tree, you could preserve the appearance and base talents of your bloodline for millennia to come. An affinity for a particular element, a talent for a set of skills, or even a unique magical ability tied specifically to the DNA of the user are valid examples for this. Whether you merely wish to experiment with magical DNA or begin a great dynasty, you will find that with the right motivation, your legacy could last forever.

The next trio of Perks had immediate uses, but also future applications. Thicker Than Water would help me to convince the Wolkenritter to abandon their well-meaning, but futile, plan to steal Linker Cores to save Hayate. The other benefit would be for after Nanoha 'Befriended' me. This way I could influence her and her friends a little. Since she tended to treat her friends as family this should work. Of course I was just as likely to be influenced, but the connection should go both ways. Ancient Knowledge was mainly to give me a backdoor into figuring out the Book of Darkness. Whether it let me figure out how to diffuse it safely was an entirely different matter. At least it would give me an avenue to work through. I could even help the TSAB figure it out for themselves. In The Blood was mostly for the future when I wanted to secure my legacy.

Perk pt 4

Blood of Kings [300cp]

Interesting. Whether through a trick of fate or a stubborn bloodline, you're related to one of the bloodlines of Belka that existed during the Warring Ages that led to its eventual collapse. You may even be more than that, if you take a particular Scenario… but for now, choose a single bloodline below.

Darkness - This isn't exactly a 'bloodline' per se, but somehow, you're connected to the original

program of the Book of Darkness. Your hair becomes white and your eyes turn red, and you bear more than a passing resemblance to Reinforce Eins. You've also retained the Book's function of collecting magical knowledge through a Rare Skill called Collect and Use, letting you drain a subject of their magical energy and copy their spells with near-perfect accuracy. With time, you can even copy other Rare Skills. You may not necessarily be able to use it depending on your own energy reserves, but you'll have a magical target's complete repertoire so long as you can absorb it.

No Limiter Can Hold Me [200cp]

You're not the type to follow the rules, are you? It seems that attempts from an ally organization or someone you're working for to limit your powers or magic in any capacity just don't seem to take - limiters malfunction, shock collars short out and stop working, and so on. You also tend to get away with 'cowboy cop' moments or defying orders more often, so long as you act in the spirit of the organization you're part of. Just try not to get yourself hurt…

Blood of Kings: Darkness was an incredibly broken Perk. With Ancient Knowledge it might be possible to straight up talk to Reinforce Eins or Nachtwal. Teaching Hayate to talk to them would be a better idea than trying to do it all myself. No Limiter Can Hold Me is just good common sense. In a world where they can slap restrictions on your power it pays to be able to fight it off. The TSAB liked to arrest people no matter if they had the jurisdiction or not.

Of course when given the option to purchase Magical Potential I went with SS. Why start at A when I can be one of the scariest Mages around? This way I could serve as a suitable deterrent in case anyone gets any funny ideas about attacking my family. Free Telepathy was always nice since it wasn't the always on version. My mind was still my own; it just gave me a hellishly good long distance plan. Magic Style? Ancient Belkan of course. Easy enough to explain too. After all Hayate was the Master of the Wolkenritter. Why wouldn't I learn something from them? The spells were the same as what we saw in the series. Shooting, Bombardment, Enhancements, Barriers/Shield and Capture spells. Of course I could flavor them however I like.

For the Items I went with a Cosplay Closet and a Cartridge Kit. The Closet was mainly to goof around with Hayate and play dress up. As for the Cartridge Kit? I planned on building a cartridge using Intelligent Device. Shamal wouldn't have time to reload everyone's cartridges. This way I could help as well. Which brings me to the Device itself.

Device: Black Fenrir [600 DP + 400 DP (100 CP)]

Type: Wearable

Forms

Standby Form - Necklace

Device Form - Gauntlets, Greaves

Sealing Mode [100DP]

Most Devices are far from standardized, this feature is fairly ubiquitous among custom Devices made for use by TSAB mages. It is also somewhat unique among other Modes for being usable with other Modes, as the main body of the Device remains unchanged except for the Device deploying energy wings from somewhere near the 'hilt' of its body. The Device also gains a very limited capacity to store small objects within its main body, with a capacity equal to its actual size.

Sealing Mode does limit Device output a not insignificant amount, attacks made in this form, along with access to a 'sealing' spell allow the anomalous properties of objects and artifacts to be sealed, rendering them safe for handling. It also cancels out active effects of the object, for example separating someone from an artifact that's possessing them. Once sealed, an artifact is even safe to handle and can be even used to a limited extent. Sealing does not last forever, however. An upkeep is required to keep the sealing in place, albeit at a very low intake.

Alternate Mode [100DP]

When it comes to magical combat, the truth is that there often isn't a perfect weapon for every

occasion, so many Devices compensate for this by including a transformation mechanism. This lets the operator overcome the limitations of their Devices form somewhat, allowing them to fight ranged with an otherwise melee-based weapon or vice versa.

These are not 'true' transformation mechanisms in the sense that they do not excessively alter the form of the Device, rather modifying what is already there. For example, the head of a halberd or bardiche may rotate to become the base for an energy scythe, or a sword might split apart into a whip. Some more exotic examples include a sword combining with its sheath to become a bow, or an enormous sword splitting into two smaller swords. (Shotgun Gauntlets)

Intelligence: Intelligent [100 DP]

Additional Systems

Auto-Repair [Free]

Auto-Guard [50 DP]

Cartridge System [150 DP]

Knight Armor

Knight Armor Forms

Overdrive Form [100DP]

Normally, differing Jacket designs hinge on the redistribution of power between systems, making the reasonable assumption that the Mage does not wish to allocate any more power to the Jacket as a whole. However, it is possible to do so. Simply by increasing the power available to the Jacket, it can become more mobile and armored, provided the Mage has designed the Jacket to handle the increased power.

Enhancements

Maybe you've got some extra DP left over? Or maybe you just want to give your equipment some boosts? In the

section below are some upgrades for the purposes of just generally improving the parameters of your

equipment. All options may be purchased multiple times.

Defenser Plus [50DP] x 2 [100 DP]

Most spells have a natural 'bleed' loss, where a fraction of the energy put into casting the spell is lost as waste, within roughly half a rank's worth of power. The natural solution is simply improving the algorithms used in the spells, which gives them more effective power.

Sonic Boost [50DP] x 2 [100 DP]

The simplest way to improve a flight spell is simply to pump more power into it. However, the fields that adjust for G-forces, altitude, temperatures and aerodynamic profile (especially important for those that wear capes) all have their own tweaks that need to be made so the increased speed is survivable.

Mana Boost [50DP] x 2 [100 DP]

As with bits and the standalone flight mode, any spell designed to affect those outside direct contact are going to suffer a slight loss in energy spent to effective energy of the spell. Thankfully, this loss can be mitigated by simplifying the algorithms, which increases the coefficient between cost and result.

Efficiency Boost [50DP] x 2 [100 DP]

A relatively simple modification, this streamlines some of the more critical processes in the Device, conferring a general increase to efficiency, although due to just making the modifications in the Device as a whole, it is simply a general boost, instead of a more potent boost to a specific aspect, as with the above enhancements.

My Device was going to be a beast. I took some inspiration from Yang and her Ember Celica. The difference is that I also had cartridge loaded greaves. While the gauntlets had a ranged form, I could "only" kick really hard with the greaves. Magical cartridge loaded footwear! All the rage in a major brawl!

Once I finished locking in my choices the tablet started to vibrate. The screen flashed a bright blue so suddenly I shut my eyes. I could feel my body lifting from the chair. Now I knew no one was lifting me. A thrill of fear ran down my spine. This was the real deal! I just spent hours crafting a real Character Sheet! The last thing I saw was my new face before darkness claimed me…

Faceclaim

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Last edited: Jun 26, 2023

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

So little to do and so much time to do it…

Wait. Strike that. Reverse it.

The Jumpdoc says that the start is some months before even the Jewel Seed Incident. Nanoha A's takes place six months after that. That leaves me with a little under a year to make some important changes. Number one with a bullet was making sure Hayate didn't suffer. The Book of Darkness was not going to get her. The Ancient Knowledge Perk and Blood of Kings should let me talk to the Book. I wasn't going to take the book from her. Just fix it a little bit so that it wasn't trying to kill her and the entire planet. Number two was to avoid the numerous miscommunications in canon. If my plan didn't succeed before the Wolkenritter awakened I needed to tell them that completing the book was Bad. We could feed it mana from magic creatures, but absolutely no human Linker Cores. I didn't want the TSAB coming after us as enemies. For objective Number Three I wanted to try to locate any unattached Unison Devices. In canon several survived to the present but were being experimented on. I wanted to at least save Agito, but finding others would be nice. Not because I wanted the power, even though I did, but for one simple reason. Absolutely no one deserves to be tortured like that. Not even Jail.

Kicked in the balls a few dozen times? Totally fine.

How was I going to do that? The rest of my plan was crazy, but at least seemed grounded in reality. What made me think I could locate the captured Unison Devices without any knowledge of interdimensional scrying? Quite simple really. My Intelligent Device, Black Fenrir, was not only incredibly powerful but I gave it some nice background fluff. The reason I started with it instead of having to make one is because it's a lost relic of Ancient Belka. Goes well with my personal background of being a descendant of Ancient Belka. It's not specifically a royal bloodline, but that of the creator of the Tome of the Night Sky. The backstory for the Device is that it was made at the same time by a dear friend of the creator. Whoever held the Tome acted as an archivist of ancient magic. The two Devices were separated due to time and circumstance but are once more reunited. It could only be used by a descendant of the original holder or of the Tome's creator. The original user of Black Fenrir reasoned it could be used to locate the Book if they were separated.

I'm the only family Hayate has since the accident. Losing both of our parents in a single day was a terrible blow. The worst part, at least for me, was that I also lost my original mother before coming on this trip. I was just coming to terms with her loss when this happened. Okay, I get it, there's no one to blame but myself. It was my decision to drop in as Hayate's older sister. The reason I did wasn't just to save her from the Book, but because I understood what it was like to lose a mother. She did make a family with the Wolkenritter in canon. It's just that I was here now. I also had some ideas for dealing with the absolutely shitty treatment she received from the TSAB. That could wait for later.

One of the things I needed to do was get in fighting shape. Black Fenrir was loaded with training programs based on the first holder's fighting style. Something I learned is that only Belkan Combat Mages who used melee weapons, not gauntlets, were called Knights. Fine by me. My personal combat philosophy wasn't very knightly anyway. The shed in the back served as my makeshift dojo. I didn't need much space to practice the forms since everything was done virtually. The only thing not virtual were the physical conditioning exercises. For a teenage girl in this series I was kind of flat. No, slender. There, that sounds better. That slenderness was only more pronounced by how tone my limbs were becoming. To be fair I had a few advantages there as well. As a descendant of BF's original wielder my body was naturally suited to their fighting style.

"Mia? Time for breakfast!" Hayate called.

"Be right there!" I wiped my face free of sweat before tossing the towel around my neck.

We lived in Uminari City on the coast. The city was a quiet place even in the daytime. Weird I know, but it's true. There just wasn't as much hustle and bustle here. Our home was a spacious two story house with a nice yard and a high fence. Even in a nice place like Uminari we could never afford the property taxes on our own. That's where our 'mysterious benefactor' came in. He claimed to be a friend of our father's even though we never met him before. I knew who he really was.

Admiral Gil Graham of the TSAB.

The man felt guilty over my sister's plight and eventual sacrifice so he wanted to give her a happy childhood. He's just all heart, isn't he? Instead of bringing her in to try and defuse this mess safely he decided to sacrifice a child. Nope, can't bring it up to his superiors. This staggering genius kept the whole thing to himself until it was too late to do anything. In canon it took a bunch of preteens and an eccentric TSAB ship's captain to fix his fuck up. Relying on him for anything was a lost cause. The money he sent was enough for the taxes and some small amenities. That's all it was meant to be used for, but to advance my plans I needed more money. Hayate didn't know this but I dropped out of high school. High school wasn't mandatory in Japan so I just opted not to go. This gave me more time to work while she was at school.

"Did you do your homework?" I asked while coming through the sliding glass door.

"Of course I did sis! I noticed you didn't do yours," Hayate gave me the stink eye.

"That's because I do mine at school," I carefully avoided looking in her direction. She had the uncanny knack to know if I was lying if she could see my face.

"It's too bad your classes let out before mine. I'd like to pick you up for once," Hayate teased.

"Hey I like picking you up! You always look so adorably happy to see me. Like a cute puppy just waiting for me to pick her up… !" I playfully scooped her up in my arms. The exercises were helping a lot. Hayate was still able to walk, the Book hadn't activated yet, but it was only a matter of time. She flailed around comically even as I bussed her cheek.

"Stop it… ! No no no… !" Hayate giggled hysterically. I set her down at the table before taking my seat.

"I'll be a little late today. My teacher's got this idea for an after school project. It's extra credit, but I really kinda need it…" I playfully bopped myself on the head. Hayate rolled her eyes.

"For someone who does their homework in class you kinda stink at school," she noted with fond exasperation. At least I hope it was fond.

"Don't follow my example and you'll do great," I told her cheekily. Now she was pouting at me.

"I don't understand," Hayate admitted.

The thought went unvoiced 'I hope you never do.' I was lying to her for a good cause. It just didn't make it any easier. For now she would be a happy elementary school student. The day her innocence was taken away felt so close. We continued to eat and chat about silly things, but my heart felt chilled. I walked her to school. The perfect picture of a doting overprotective big sister. She never suspected a thing as I still had my school uniform. Once I was out of sight it was time to get the ball rolling. I quickly ran towards the warehouse district. There were a few empty warehouses from which to stage my first foray.

Was it strange that I was immediately jumping into the fray instead of waiting? I was on a strict time limit that I couldn't even see. If I didn't get a move on now it might be too late. Time was not on my side no matter what anyone else thought.

Also Hayate got out of classes at 3 so that was a factor too.

"Okay Black Fenrir. Locate Unison Devices," I told the Device. The necklace I wore looked like a purple crystal claw with a darker purple control gem at the top.

[Anerkannt… Vollständig]

"Wait, what? Already?" I was taken aback. Part of its functions were to locate Ancient Belkan technology, but this was so much faster than I anticipated!

The Device didn't reply to my outburst, which is fair. It wasn't stupid, but it wasn't a fully realized AI either. Now for my self appointed mission I had two Knight Armor configurations. One was meant as a disguise while the other was my 'true' form. The disguise would conceal my Device with a baggy oversized jacket and pants, tied off at the wrists and ankles to prevent accidents. My natural hair color was white but I dyed it pink because it amused me. All I needed to do was magically strip out the dye and presto! A white haired girl remained. To finish things off I used a complex looking black visor and metal ninja mask setup. They didn't do anything besides prevent people from seeing my face. I made a simple spell to create mana based weapons. That way no trace of me would be left behind.

Black Fenrir showed me the location. It looked like an abandoned installation, but the device registered several active Belkan signatures. I couldn't tell much else since BF was only designed to track specific things. That meant I had to physically go there to pick up anything else. Part of my enhanced training regimen was dedicated to the math of magic. While my partner started dialing in the dimensional coordinates, I was paying close attention. Just in case I had to do it unassisted in the future. That's when my magic dropped suddenly just before I popped out on a rocky outcropping. Thank goodness my Knight Armor protected from foreign contaminants. The notice I received stating there was a mild atmospheric imbalance was worrying. There was much more carbon dioxide and nitrogen here. I was just hoping my Jacket wouldn't fail.

"Scan for signs of life," I whispered while quickly hunkering down behind a large rock. The installation looked even more broken down from where I sat. So far nothing leapt out at me as out of place. Were the Unison Devices in hibernation or something? Whatever power source was in use could be quite valuable to me. If the place was intact it might make a good fall back point or a research station. Black Fenrir didn't exactly have an updated list of Non Administered Worlds though. This might belong to the TSAB or something.

[Vollständig]

"No signs of life? Not even a native mouse?" I inquired. This was slightly concerning. The planet didn't look unhealthy. There were plants within view. I could see a couple insectoids that didn't look too different from what I knew. There should be some local rodents.

[Nein]

Great. My goal was before me but this latest mystery made it tempting to scrap the plan for today. I asked Black Fenrir for a list of active power sources. The only things active were the Unison Devices and a perfectly normal generator powering the facility. What were the odds this was a trap? Low. I didn't take Trouble Magnet because this was my beginning Jump. An unexpected complication in this universe could be Bad. That meant this was probably something perfectly normal. No outside influences beyond myself.

"Low power mode. Knight Armor only," I informed Black Fenrir.

[Anerkannt]

Low power mode turned off all of my enhancements save for the Knight Armor's basic defense. If there was someone here I didn't want to tip them off to my presence. I wasn't Solid Snake or anything in my former life. In fact I wasn't even very stealthy no matter what my friends might say. Just because I could walk quietly in sneakers didn't make me a master of silent movements. My only advantage here was common sense, which I was ignoring at the moment, and being a 154 cm Japanese girl. So I was kind of tiny and slender. My common sense was screaming at me to get out of here and come back later. The problem with that is there might not be a later. What if something did detect me and destroyed the installation? I couldn't risk that.

My heart was hammering in my chest by the time I made it to the wall. The Knight Armor didn't wick away the sweat. I had rivulets of nervous sweat pouring down. Next version of my armor would include temperature controls. The good news was that nothing jumped out to gank me. The bad news was that I still didn't have a complete picture of the interior. I took a chance and had Black Fenrir link up with the surveillance system. It could only get one camera. The rest were either offline, too old to function or suborned by someone else. What I could see was promising. There were glass tubes with tiny humanoid figures inside. Six in all. The initial scans showed eighteen inside. One of the tubes was different from the others. Inside was a red and gold device in the shape of a playing card.

"What Device is that…?" I murmured. Hopefully Black Fenrir could get a better reading.

[Eigenschaften können nicht gelesen werden]

A whole sentence to say 'no information.' It wasn't showing up on the list of active Devices. Then again I couldn't see if any had names either. Just a string of designation numbers. Okay, I could work with this. The camera's location put it near the front of the facility. I could run in, grab whatever wasn't nailed down, and bolt back out again. If there were defenses I couldn't breach. There was one piece of wisdom I followed at all times. Always have an exit strategy. My exit strategy was to have Black Fenrir keep a Dimensional Shift spell ready. It wasn't drawing on my Linker Core yet so it wouldn't register to scans. The first shift showed me that while the drain was large, it wasn't outside of my ability.

Rule 1: Never taunt Murphy!

Entering the facility wasn't so difficult. In fact the doors opened as soon as they registered Black Fenrir. Even better, the interior doors allowed us to enter the main complex. Now this part I'm sure wasn't a trap because they specifically acknowledged my Device. Someone programmed them to respond to Black Fenrir. The only part I didn't count on was something that, in hindsight, should have been obvious. Jail Scaglietti found this place first. How do I know that? All of the Unison Devices, save for the six I saw earlier, were inside of Gadget Drones. Gadget Drones with extremely annoying AMF fields. Was I strong enough to blow them away? Oh yeah. The problem with that is I was trying to lowball my rating for future heists. Not only that but I wanted to rescue the innocent Devices without hurting them.

My Knight Armor shattered on one of my many meetings with the wall. I learned a valuable lesson today. You can survive in a high carbon dioxide/nitrogen atmosphere. It's actually keeping a breath that's damn near impossible. Especially when you're reduced to fighting in a tattered schoolgirl outfit while your Device rebuilds your defenses. Injuries were starting to accumulate as another laser forced me to dodge on rubbery legs. Fenrir prioritized my facemask/visor combo and tied the atmospheric protections to that. Once I could breathe again it was more manageable. If by manageable you mean "I'm no longer dying immediately." The last drone went down to a combination of desperation and utter chuuni.

"Darkness… FINGER!" I cried and rammed my purple glowing hand through its front plate. Thanks to Black Fenrir I avoided hitting the innocent battery. Then I hooked my fingers into the internals and ripped them out. I needed to sit down. Luckily my legs were in agreement as I managed a controlled fall on my ass.

[Abdichtung]

Small glowing purple wisps flowed into my Device as it sealed the victims for easy transport. It even managed to nab the unidentified Device. The base's power source fit inside as well. Some enterprising soul, probably Jail, partially reverse engineered a Jewel Seed. I say partially because it was almost ten times bigger than the genuine article with less output according to Fenrir's records. Yeah, they were Al-Hazard Lost Logia, but Ancient Belka knew about them too.

"Time to get out of here…" I forced my aching body to a standing position. The rest did me some good as I had time to cast Healing. Jail would probably want to know what happened here. I had to leave before he sent reinforcements.

That didn't mean I would leave him the base.

Only an idiot gives her enemy resources. I did have to clean up the battlefield after all.

I held my hand aloft as I floated above the facility. A ball of purplish-black magic formed in my palm. This spell definitely required my Device's help. Normally it would be cast by using all of my cartridges first, just to maximize the pain, but I didn't want to have to police my brass as it were. The incantation was short and cribbed from a video game. Dragon Slave was tempting, but this required a faster approach.

""In the abyss, the trident of Hel dances. Dripping crimson truth, light the one true path! Maleficent Harm!" On the word "Harm" I threw my hand towards the ground. The sphere of annihilation ripped forth and plunged into the building below. I was already teleporting away as the unholy combination of darkness and warped dimensional magic ripped the facility apart. The dimensional component was especially important to screen my departure. With any luck Jail would be unscrambling the signal for weeks at least.

But I wasn't going home right away.

The Unison Devices needed a new home. As much as I wanted to take them all with me they weren't cats. They were people. Horribly traumatized people that I didn't have the capacity to treat. The Saint Church received an anonymous package from one of the frontier worlds. Sixteen Unison Devices in suspended animation. Why only sixteen? Because I found Agito and another Device. The other tiny girl had long black hair and dark hazel eyes. I know it was weird, but she had my mother's eyes. She was one of the Devices in the storage tubes. So was Agito actually. Oh and the unusual card shaped Device? It was a sword with a powerful fire aspect called Clarent. I just denied Jail some major resources and left a confusing trail across four worlds. I was patting myself on the back for a job well done.

"Sis! Why're you runnin' around half naked and where'd the fairies come from!?" Hayate blurted out. I stared at her in bafflement before turning to the clock. It said 5:45 pm. Time flies when you're tripping across multiple dimensions and time zones. The half naked part was entirely accurate since I didn't stop to change my clothes. My Knight Armor covered everything up.

"Well sis… It's like this…" I started to explain my day.

Hayate was getting her You're a Wizard talk earlier than I expected.

AN: This ended up longer than I expected. That's not a complaint either. I won't be doing it day by day or anything. Also not going to be doing huge time skips either. Let's let the family grow and blossom together. Clarent was a Device from one of the Jumpdoc scenarios that I thought might be cool. Also welcome Agito and Currently Unnamed Unison Device to the story! Canon is firmly off the rails at this point. Any attempts to steer it back on track will be laughed at, scorned and fired out of a cannon.

Last edited: Jul 2, 2023

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I almost wish there was a fast forward button for awkward conversations. Because this was the sort of thing it would help me with. Hayate really wanted to know where the fairies came from and why I was half naked. The half naked part was easy to fix. I managed to put her off long enough to toss on a t-shirt and shorts. She wasn't too upset over the stalling since I left Agito and She Who Must Be Named with her. Actually, come to think of it, they both needed names. Agito wasn't called that until she was rescued by Lutecia Alpine and Zest Grangeitz. Then again I did start calling her Agito out of nowhere and she answered. That means I accidentally left the other Unison Device nameless and visibly appeared to favor the other.

"It is all right. You had a lot on your mind. If you would not mind naming me now it would be appreciated. Lady Hayate is quite affectionate, but hugging us will not put her off forever. I would like to be able to introduce myself." Her voice was gentle and polite tinged with amusement.

"Mae," I sent back even as my throat constricted. I gave her my mother's name. My mother from my old life. Obviously I wasn't expecting her to act like my mom. That would get my mother coming back to kick my ass. No, she was her own person. I just wanted her to have a name that meant love to me.

"… Thank you my Lady," Mae whispered back.

"Just call me Mia. We're going to be together a long time," I replied. Thankfully no one was there to see me crying.

"As you wish… Mia. I will keep Hayate occupied with Agito. However you may wish to hurry. Agito was telling Hayate about magic now she thinks she's a Belkan Princess. They're designing her princess gown right now… I only looked away for a second…" Mae trailed off in confusion.

That's my sister for you. A heart bigger than herself and more chuuni than an entire middle school. Except is it chuuni if you really are a magical girl?

By the time I washed my face the downstairs was a disaster area. Hayate didn't just bring out a few things, but had her entire sewing kit strewn about. It looked like a clothing store exploded. Mae was wearing a simple white dress with a black ribbon tied at the waist. The little white/black ribbon in her hair was very cute. She was trying her hardest to contain the storm of activity that was my sister. Watching her zip around in midair was both adorable and hilarious. Agito was already wearing a prototype version of her future outfit. It kind of looked like Etna from Disgaea to be honest. The fiery fairy was gleefully swirling around Hayate's head as she worked. My sister was already in the zone with fabric all around her. That's when I smelled something starting to burn and had to run to the kitchen to save dinner. Mae fled the room after me.

"I swear I wasn't upstairs that long…" I muttered. Luckily the soup could be saved, but the stuff in the oven was barely identifiable. Luckily it wasn't too badly burnt. Scraping off the extra crust was easy and I just tossed the rest into the soup. If Hayate wanted to complain then she should have been paying attention to the cooking.

"Honestly I expected her to be more wary or even confused. Her trusting nature is quite endearing… I can see where she gets it from," Mae said with a fond smile. I smiled back before turning back to the stove.

"She's more trusting than I am. I want to see the best in people. Through her I can… I'll confess I was only there to maybe get some information. I hoped to find some Unison Devices to help with my future plans…" I shrugged absently. Mae sat on my shoulder.

"Whatever it is you desire I will gladly assist you. Agito and I did not suffer even a fraction of what the others had, but we know it was terrible. You saved us from sharing the same fate at great personal risk. Let me be your ally on the battlefield so that you may come home to your dear sister," Mae patted my hair lightly.

"So that we will come home. No one gets left behind. Ever. We're not just comrades but also family. If you ever get the idea to sacrifice yourself then forget it. I sure as heck won't be suicidal so you don't get to be either." There were things going on in this world that scared the crap out of me. Yes, I was taking risks, but I had a damn good reason. Right now the safest person in the house was Hayate. Graham may be a shit but he was keeping worse people away like Jail Scaglietti. Jail had to move carefully even with his unofficial backing by the TSAB's big brains.

I wish that was just a euphemism. They were literally brains floating in jars.

Dinner was a strange affair. I didn't really think about the logistics of having tiny Unison Devices at the table, but Hayate did. She brought out the little table and chairs from the dollhouse. No one had the heart to tell her that Agito and Mae could take a larger form. Oh well, it wasn't hurting anything. I still needed to slip out to the shed to talk to Black Fenrir and Clarent. The fiery sword would be of great use in my future plans. The shed was about as secure as I could make it which should keep Graham from snooping. For now anyway. I just had to survive dinner and Story Time with Hayate first.

"How long did you know about magic?" Hayate started off with the hardest question. The temptation was there to just tell her the truth. As in the whole truth about my nature as a Jumper. Telling her my origin story in this world would be technically the truth, but also technically a lie. How would she feel to know that someone saw her plight and chose to become her family? It would make things easier on me in the long term. If I just told her the bare minimum she would be worried. At least with the truth she would still be worried, but not as much. There was also the matter of having her cooperation.

Time to roll the dice.

"Black Fenrir. Clarent. Set up a barrier against intrusion and keep up a passive scan for interdimensional disturbances. Inform me if the disturbance is targeting this home," I told the Devices.

[Anerkannt]

[Natürlich, meine Dame]

Huh. Clarent really was going to say 'My Lady' everytime I asked it to do something. The air suddenly felt charged and my ears started to ring. Hayate flinched as she detected the barrier go up. Was using two ancient Devices of unknown power overkill? Not even close. The way they went about it was interesting actually. Black Fenrir was using obscurity to hide our discussion from an outside view. In essence using a Somebody Else's Problem Field. Clarent was as blunt and direct as a Knight. The barrier it used was just a solid wall of denial. BF placed its barrier just outside of Clarent's to screen the more obvious defense. The scanning didn't feel like anything. My new Device was letting Black Fenrir mask that too. It made me so happy that my friends could play well together.

"Warn us next time, huh? My ears are still ringing!" Agito complained.

"It is uncomfortable, but I understand why she did it. There is simply too great a risk in exposing her secrets without proper precaution," Mae said.

"It's kinda like going up a mountain real fast and coming back down…" Hayate pinched her nose and breathed to stabilize her inner ear.

"Yeah, sorry everybody… It's not physical sis. You're just going to have to ride it out for now. Black Fenrir and Clarent are still ironing things out. But it's good enough for now. There's a lot to talk about…" I sighed. Just because I decided to tell her everything didn't mean there wasn't some fear. Irrational I know, but that's just how I was.

"What is it?" She asked with trepidation. I needed to nip that in the bud. With how cagey I was, it came as no surprise she expected something bad.

"I'm not from this world originally. I come from a place where this reality is a story. A story I love very much. Your tale in particular spoke to me… I wanted to come here and live a life as your sister. You wouldn't be alone forever. Eventually the Book of Darkness will awaken and give you four people who would go on to become your family. There's just so much heartache and pain in the process… I wanted to avoid that. So here I am. Maybe I'm breaking the rules by telling you about this, but I don't care. You need to know that you're loved and will be loved in the future as well." I really wish I'd taken a perk to make me more eloquent. The whole thing was so full of stammering and confusion it was no wonder Hayate looked perplexed.

"Book of Darkness!?" Agito and Mae weren't quite so confused. They heard that and immediately started freaking out. Hayate started patting Agito's head unconsciously while I did the same for Mae.

"Yes, the Book of Darkness. I took an advantage before coming here that allows me to understand any ancient technology I come across. It takes time to work, but much less than I expected. I've got a basic working knowledge of how my own Device works and I didn't build it. Give me some more time around the Book and I'll have a concrete plan to fix it," I promised with certainty. It was easy to feel confident when the perk was working as advertised. I was even gaining insight into how a Unison Device was made just from observing Agito and Mae. With two examples the speed didn't just double, but quadrupled.

"So you plan on going to other dangerous places? I know that's where you found Agito and Mae. She told me all about it…" Hayate gestured at the suddenly embarrassed looking fairy. The confusion in her eyes cleared as she turned to me with determination. "Teach me about magic so that I can help you. I know… I know you can't take me with you… but I can at least do this much…"

"The part where I'm from another world…?" I started to ask before she erupted.

"I don't care about that! I remember the sister who shared a bed with me after Mom and Dad died. I remember the kind sister who held me as I cried! You've always been there for me so let me be there for you… !" Hayate's blue eyes shimmered wetly as tears poured down her face. I was around the table and hugging her quick as a flash.

"Okay sis… okay… You can help me…" I whispered soothingly as I held her. She clutched at me so hard I could feel the nails in my back. Her tiny frame shook against me. At some point I started crying too. This was my sister and I loved her with all my heart. Even though the memories were implanted on arrival they were still mine. No one would take this away from us. Hayate wanted to help and she would.

The Book of Darkness was not a foe to defeat. Not in the conventional way. It stood at the pinnacle of Ancient Belkan technology. Perhaps it wasn't as amazing as the legendary Saint's Cradle, but it was certainly an impressive piece of equipment. The only issue was that until it awakened I couldn't do more than passive scans. Hayate could get it to come on in sleep mode, but I stopped her. We did not want to set this thing off early. Especially with the chaos of the Jewel Seed Incident nearby. Book of Darkness and Jewel Seeds? No thank you! Come to think of it, that may be why Graham avoided prodding the book until the Jewel Seeds were found. It wasn't because he knew they were on Earth specifically, but with those in play all our plans could be ruined. All it would take is one of the Wolkenritter feeding a Jewel Seed to the Book. Which is why I wanted to stay out of the incident even if the Seeds might help my research.

Hayate did read me the riot act for dropping out of school, but I wouldn't budge. She did admit that school wasn't as important as what I was doing. I had to stop her from dropping out herself. It would only bring child services into the picture and that wasn't a cheery thought. The fewer people who knew about this the better. This wasn't Nasu where hypnosis spells fixed everything. Even with Device assistance I could fry some poor person's brain with a memory modification spell.

Now for Hayate's magic lessons she needed a training Device. I made a quick trip to that same out of the way world I mailed the Unison Devices from. Black Fenrir took more than just Unison Devices from the facility. He, I have to stop calling him an it, also found hundreds of data files of Ancient Belkan history and lore. Clarent didn't outright object, being an Armed Device and all, but he certainly gave the impression of disapproval. The small outpost did brisk business with the shadier markets so I managed a good price. With that I could buy the parts for a simple training Device. Then it occurred to me I didn't need to stop there. Why go for a simple Device when I could make something better? I had access to Black Fenrir's schematics, and my perk gave me added insight into his construction, so I could make something useful. Now it wasn't going to be an Armed Device. No cartridge system either. The people here were shady, not outright black market. They wouldn't sell me something like that without registering with the TSAB and I didn't want to leave a paper trail. Turns out Device kits were fairly common as were How To manuals.

"What is this?" Hayate stared at the golden disc pendant in awe. It had a black face with a golden crescent moon inside and a smaller gold orb to the side. The orb was the core of the Device.

"This is your personal Device. You even get to name it and come up with your activation phrase. Just make sure it's something you can remember in an emergency." I wanted her to be safe, but to also not take away the wonder of magic. That was why I decided to let her name the Device. This way it would truly be hers. She smiled brightly at me.

"Saving Light. I want to be able to protect you and our new family with this…" Hayate cradled it to her chest. The Device resonated with the new name so well that in a flash she transformed. She was wearing a version of my stealth Knight Armor in inverted colors.

"Whoa… She didn't even need an incantation…" Agito spoke in a hushed voice.

"That is impressive," Mae agreed.

"Of course it is! She's my sister, y'know?" I couldn't help feeling proud of her.

The day was coming when the Jewel Incident truly began. Already dimensional disturbances were being reported. When the Seeds landed in the bay I knew it was time. Soon two little girls would meet and form a friendship that would last for years. It was also the time to keep our heads down. Well I definitely had more time to train Hayate now. Until the incident was over all interdimensional transport would be monitored by Prescia at the least. Now for the hardest part: waiting.

AN: Waiting is a pain when you want to just go go go. If Hayate seemed awfully accepting she's just 9 years old and her beloved big sister is saying things that are over her head. So she just goes with the only thing that makes sense. Her sister chose to be there.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

There is a saying that goes "No Plan survives first contact with the enemy." In this case it might as well be "No Plan survives the plot of a Magical Girl show." I had a brainfart, as is normal, and forgot that my Drawbacks might lead me into incidents I wanted to stay away from. All of my planning to avoid the Jewel Seed Incident? Undone in an instant by my own (and Hayate's) sweet tooth. I thought that by staying away from the Midori-ya we would be safe. After all, there were dozens of sweet shops in the city. What were the chances we would run into one of Nanoha's friends, or Nanoha herself, while wandering around? Let us all bow our heads for a moment of silence for my poor potato brain. There was someone I forgot all about in my devious machinations. Fate Testarossa.

The very same Fate Testarossa who was just now coming out of the nice chocolate shop on the corner.

"Oooh Fate… These peppermint sticks are so good… !" A boisterous woman pushed through the door just in front of us. Her figure was quite shapely with wild orange hair evoking untamed nature. The outfit she wore was a button down shirt with three buttons undone and short shorts. She was clearly not ashamed of her body. I dimly noted that Fate was taking good care of Arf. Dogs and chocolate do not mix after all. The larger part of my brain was screaming incoherently.

"Slow down please… You could give yourself a stomach ache," a softer voice spoke. The child who followed her out was in a world, adorable. Long blonde hair in twintails tied with slender black ribbons that matched her gothic dress perfectly. The smile on her face was small but genuine as she enjoyed a day out with her Familiar.

"Ooh… Peppermint sticks! Think Mae and Agito would like to try them? I know Agi really likes cinnamon, but other flavors're good too," Hayate gushed. Well months of planning, it's been nice knowing you, but now we must part ways. The FUBAR Train has left the station at mach 1 and is approaching escape velocity.

Arf and Fate turned to us curiously. After a moment they both stiffened for much the same reason. I wear Black Fenrir around my neck while Hayate wears Saving Light the same way. It's pretty obvious to other Mages just what we are. A scanning spell swept over us turning their shock into alarm. Right, because of course they could sense we were both S to SS Rank. My sister, bless her heart, merely looked confused. Her lessons in detecting magic were going slowly. She had so much innate mana it was hard for her to look beyond. I still held out some hope that we might be able to talk them down. A hope that flew away with the rest of my plans when Arf tried to grab Fate and run. The little Mage tried to run on her own but collided with her Familiar. Both girls fell down in a heap on the ground from the sudden impact. Onlookers stopped to watch the unusual event unfold. Just what we needed: witnesses. Someday this would be funny, but right now it was just one more complication on the pile.

"What's going on?" Hayate asked cluelessly. She tried to help Fate stand, but Arf immediately snarled at her.

"Knock it off. This isn't the time or place. We're not with the TSAB or any other peacekeeping agency. We live here." I said telepathically while saying aloud, "I'm sorry we startled you…" Then I made sure to subtly get between Arf and Hayate while helping her up. The agitated Familiar didn't look quite so certain now.

"It's okay, Arf…" Fate said kindly before turning to Hayate. "Thank you…?" Just like that she was a shy nine year old with zero social skills.

"You're welcome! Have ya been in Uminari long? It's a great city… We can show you around…" Hayate without so much as a by-your-leave, took Fate's hand and led her back in the shop. The bewildered girl allowed herself to be dragged along. Arf bit her lip in concern.

"You're really not with those guys?" She asked doubtfully.

"No. In fact we're kind of hiding from them too. It's a complicated situation much like yours is, I wager," I replied easily.

"Complicated is one way of looking at it," Arf remarked dryly.

"Well I won't ask. Hayate's decided we're giving you a tour so I guess that's it," I said with a shrug.

"Just like that? You're not even curious?" Arf asked incredulously.

"Unless it's a threat to Hayate I don't need to know. Just… If you need help? If your complicated situation explodes? Call me and I'll be right there. I'll make sure my Device is ready to receive your call," I said softly to keep people from overhearing.

"Why do you want to help?" Arf eyed me with distrust.

"I've been watching out for Hayate since our parents died. Fate's the same age as my sister. It's making me feel protective, okay?" I replied honestly. Seeing the two girls together made me want to go to the Garden of Time and rip Prescia into bite-sized pieces. Something in my demeanor must have betrayed my thoughts as Arf settled down. She was still ready to flee with Fate, but it wasn't as urgent as before.

By now I was making some decent money jumping to other worlds and raiding old storehouses. Nothing like what I found on my first off world trip, but decent. Parts to keep our Devices in good repair, primers on Belkan Magic, but mostly it was historical stuff that the archaeology buffs enjoyed. I dealt mainly through a broker who still gouged me for 30%. It was my butt on the line, but he had the contacts. Still, he was trustworthy, and he did vouch for me on several occasions. I wouldn't introduce him to my family, but he was okay. He also helped me learn how to spot people trying to rip me off. The Belkan historical relics I sold off world, but generic jewelry and stuff was offloaded on Earth. Fletcher's lessons helped me to cultivate a relationship on Earth with another broker. This guy looked like someone who used to be a Yakuza and ran his operation out of a flower shop. Why did I waste space mentioning all this? I'm more than just comfortable. Four tickets to the Allston Sea theme park were nothing. Hayate always wanted to go, and Fate never even saw an amusement park before, so it was an easy decision. To the outside observer it probably looked like Arf was our minder. After all there were two preteen girls and a beanpole teen. She at least looked old enough to drive.

I had Black Fenrir scanning for other active Devices, carefully of course. That left Clarent to keep an eye on the Jewel Seeds. There were several in the ocean, but the anime didn't exactly show an exact location. Just a generic stretch of coast line. The city looked similar to the source material, just not a perfect match. After nothing exploded for at least twenty minutes I started to relax and enjoy myself. The sight of Hayate and Fate together was just so adorable. If I had to make a guess, my sister was asking Fate where she got her dress. Well it looks like the sewing machine was coming out tonight. My cosplay closet had some nice things, but sometimes you just wanted custom work. Poor Fate looked so bewildered by everything. Some of the joy dimmed due to what I know. Right now she was just a kid playing around with another girl her own age.

"Hey, what's got you down?" Arf asked. I shook myself loose from the dark thoughts, but they didn't completely go away.

"Just watching the two of them together is kinda… bittersweet. Hayate's a sweet kid but she's had to grow up so much. I try to let her be a child, she just insists on helping. I sense that Fate's much the same. You want her to be a kid, but she feels like she's got responsibilities. It can weigh on a person, adult or child," I let out a tired sigh. Mae wanted to know if we needed her, but I had her stand down. The last thing we needed was for Mae and Agito to show up. So far we had the two calm, but if more people arrived? They'd probably freak out and run. Agito harrumphed and grumped. Hayate started laughing hysterically, drawing a startled giggle from Fate.

Sometimes I forget we've got a telepathic party line.

"Yeah… This is the most relaxed I've seen Fate in days…" Arf's sigh was as melancholy as my own. She seemed surprised when I gently took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"You're already succeeding at the hardest part. You're letting her know she's not alone. Just continue to love her and be the support she needs. Trust me. You've got this," I said with a smile. Her answering smile came with a hint of wolf fang.

"Maybe I should be saying that to you," Arf teased. Just like that the heavy atmosphere evaporated as we shared a laugh. Just a couple of sisters trailing behind their siblings as they got into mischief.

For the sake of our future peace and tranquility I will never say this out loud. Arf getting sick on the roller coaster was the funniest thing ever. I swear her hair was turning green. Hayate screamed with delight all the while Fate just held on for dear life. Okay, fair enough, even though I can fly it was still hard to relax on a rollercoaster. Not because we're afraid of heights, but because the ride weighs several tons suspended on a pair of thin tracks. Thinking about it that way was kinda making me nauseous. Arf needed to be helped off the coaster. Hayate gave her an empty popcorn bucket while Fate found us a bench. The sick Familiar was really trying not to throw up, but that bucket was none-too-fresh. Imagine smelling old butter, salt and burnt kernels with a dog's sense of smell. So while Hayate's solution made things worse, I left with Fate to find some more peppermint to settle her stomach.

"Next spell I learn is a general healing one. There has to be something to ease an upset stomach," I muttered. Fate tilted her head curiously.

"A spell for curing nausea or general metabolic issues? I mean, there is one, but most people don't even bother… I only know it because Arf always overeats…" Fate blushed as if betraying a confidence. I felt the impulse to pat her head before letting it wash through me. Touch a battered child's head unexpectedly and watch all the new anxieties emerge! Nope. I knew this one from personal experience. Arf did a good job in keeping her stable, but it wasn't perfect.

"If we weren't in public you'd use it. I understand. Still, thanks for confirming something for me. Now I know what to ask my fence for in the future. A data file of healing spells would be a big help," I said cheerfully. Fate bit her lip before allowing her eyes to go distant. That's when Bardiche shimmered once with an echoing glimmer from Black Fenrir. The words 'Transfer Complete' scrolled across my mental link. Now it was my turn to be surprised.

"The general spells are fine, but these are much better. My mother made them years ago…" Fate's smile turned melancholy. I barely held back a wince. Spells created by Precia Testarossa herself would be invaluable. Especially healing spells. No doubt she crafted them either just before or after the accident that took her first daughter in canon. I didn't even want to think how often Fate had to use them on herself or Arf before now. Now she was entrusting them to me. I knelt down in front of her. Her burgundy eyes stared back into mine hesitantly. I opened my arms invitingly. After a couple moments of indecision, she tentatively stepped into the hug.

"Thank you so much… This means the world to me," I whispered. I still wasn't clear on whether it was the spells, the day at the park or the hug.

The correct answer was all three. Once we got Arf back on her feet it was almost time to go home. We took a few pictures together before parting ways. They didn't tell us where they were staying and we didn't ask. Though judging by how Hayate kept glancing back at Fate, they would be using their Devices to talk. The thought crossed my mind that canon was nuked, but some things just deserved to go off the rails. Someday in the future I will look back on this day and laugh. All of my efforts to avoid messing with the Jewel Seed Incident went up in flames and we're using that flame to roast S'mores.

For the record? Never ask Agito to make S'mores. Just don't.

Honestly, I didn't think about it too much. We had a great day together before the Jewel Seed Incident really took off. It wasn't too late to try to stay on the sidelines. Arf had my number if she wanted to get Fate out of there early. Hayate was chatting with Fate sporadically over the next week. Maybe I should have just given in and burnt a dozen goats. The dread demon Murphy shattered the last of my hopes and dreams. As it turns out my sister and her new friend weren't just talking but also planning something. They had so much fun together at the theme park it just seemed right to do another outing. I thought it was a great idea right up until I heard just where we were going.

"Yeah she got us a reservation at this awesome hot spring up in the mountains…" Hayate babbled excitedly. All the while a sickly smile crossed my face.

Fuck my life.

AN: Really. I have got to stop getting my hopes up. For those of you who know the story then I think you can guess this won't just be pear shaped. It's a full on clusterfuck.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Golden Week was upon us. Essentially it was a series of holidays in Japan that all occurred close together. Families often took time off to spend together and go on vacations. I was planning on just hanging out with Hayate like previous years. This year we had Agito and Mae in the family. We weren't just a couple sisters against the world. Now there was four of us. The idea I had was to teleport to an Unadministered World and camp out for a few days. There were some truly beautiful worlds among the stars. That plan was shot down before it even left the hangar by Fate's invitation to the hot springs. Getting there would actually be harder since I couldn't just teleport us there. We had to rent a car and a driver to take us there. I was honestly hoping this would be a quiet trip, but I wasn't holding my breath. In the original series the hot springs episode took place just after Fate met Nanoha for the first time. It was even the right time frame given that it happened during Golden Week.

"And Fate knows you're bringing us, right? I don't want to get my head shot off by a jumpy Mage," Agito remarked from where she lounged in the air.

"I let her know. She can't wait to meet you. Apparently she never got to see a real Unison Device up close," Hayate said as she continued to pack. She used her whole body to try to close the lid, but it refused to shut. It just kept bouncing up and down with her on top.

"Ease up, sis. It's only a couple days in the mountains, not a trip to the Arctic," I couldn't help teasing her.

"How are we getting there? Do you want to put us in the travel dollhouse?" Mae asked. Agito turned to the aforementioned item in dismay. My sister made it for the two as a gift so we could take them out with us. The interior was rather comfortable and done with care. It even had a pair of beds anchored to the 'floor' with sleeping bag-like pockets. The problem is that it was eye searingly pink. Agito hated it for that alone, but didn't want to hurt Hayate's feelings. I honestly couldn't tell how Mae felt, her poker face was unbeatable.

"I hired a car to take us up there. If you want to go in your bigger forms that's fine. We'll have more than enough room for all of us," I assured the smallest members of our family. The driver was an old 'acquaintance' of Nakajima. Nakajima was my not-quite-legal contact on Earth. He was a pretty cool guy and everyone he knew was discreet. The man owned a chauffeur service so this trip was completely above board.

"Aww…" Hayate gave a disappointed pout before brightening. "Still, they're cute no matter what form they use." That made Agito and Mae smile. A warmth settled in my chest as I watched my family together. There was nothing I wouldn't do to protect them. My eyes landed on the Book of Darkness sitting in the corner.

Not even the Book would stop me. It was just another obstacle to overcome.

"Are you okay? Your emotions are all over the place," Mae whispered in my ear.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just reaffirming my pledge to keep our family safe," I said aloud. Hayate abandoned her efforts to shut the suitcase to give me a hug.

"You're not the only one who worries, sis," Hayate insisted. I gave her a kiss on the forehead with a happy smile.

"I know. You, Agito and Mae are all so capable. I promise I'll ask for help when I need it," I said. 'When' not 'if.' There was just no way for me to handle all of this alone.

I kicked Hayate out and took over packing for the trip. With Agito and Mae using their larger bodies we needed more clothes. Luckily they weren't much bigger than Hayate. My body went on autopilot as I went over the week's events. Hayate didn't know about the big magical fight the other day. I had Black Fenrir keep tabs on Bardiche, Fate activated her Device for fifteen minutes out in the Uminari countryside which corresponded with a significant flare of magic. This was both good and bad. Good in that it meant our meeting Fate didn't disrupt events too badly. If we kept our heads down then the incident would resolve itself. The bad part? It was already too late. We were involved whether we liked it or not. Going to the hot springs now almost certainly guaranteed a meeting with Nanoha. Now I just had to keep Arf from bullying a nine year old, Yuuno from becoming a pervert by proxy, my sisters (Mae and Agito count) from joining Fate's hunt and avoid getting blown sky high. I let the delightful dream of my success swirl around before reality dragged me down again.

I was going to fail.

There was a perverse sort of freedom in realizing you had no choice. Failure was the only option. I took the Drawbacks that led to this point. This was my own fault. Accepting my circumstances and liking them were two different things. Now that I knew where I would fail, it was time to focus on where I could succeed. The Book of Darkness was still inert so that didn't need my attention. Black Fenrir found another Belkan installation. Preliminary scans showed that no one found this one yet so that meant no Gadget Drones. The trip was in two days so I could slip off today, explore the site and get back before dinner. With any luck I might be able to claim it for my own and get a training area out of the deal. I needed to work with Clarent. A Boundary Field just wouldn't do since I was trying to avoid setting off the Seeds myself.

Mae wanted to come with me and promised to stay out of sight. She could hide in the hood of my barrier jacket. If this turned out to be a trap then I had my own secret weapon just in case. Except we haven't practiced Unison together. That was another thing to work on in the future, but for now she could provide added spell support. Mae was able to tune her magic color to match mine for short periods. This way it would be harder to detect her if we needed to hide.

The world we landed on was dark with the only light coming from the stars overhead. We were on the wrong side of the planet to see the moon. Well, in this case, moons. The last scan showed they were weirdly purplish yellow as viewed from the planet. It had something to do with atmospheric refraction and the unique elements on the moons. My Barrier Jacket could protect me from a lot but I didn't want to try to explore a place with no breathable atmosphere. As for the surrounding area it looked like a forest. There were some clearings within sight one with a large pond. I could see some sort of furry creature with six limbs taking a drink. It might have been cute if the critter wasn't twice my height at the shoulder and it was crouched over. Black Fenrir identified it as a particularly brutal creature strong enough to tear a battle suit apart. In fact the ancient Belkans picked this place because the flora and fauna were so terrifying. It gave them a place to train.

"This could be what you were looking for," Mae said.

"Yeah, but I want to see the facility first. Hopefully it's not too banged up. I wouldn't mind setting up a fall back point here," I replied.

Having a place to retreat in case of emergency was essential. If it looked like no one else found this facility it would be perfect. The only thing I had to worry about was Jail Spaghetti locating it as well. Yes, I know what his name is, but misnaming him is funny so deal with it. What I thought of as a facility turned out to be more of a complex. The scans showed one large hexagonal building but the trees hid the rest. I stared awestruck as the forest consumed the great structure. The site was abandoned almost a century ago yet nature claimed so much. From what I could tell the walls were still intact under all the ivy. Well, I called it ivy as the closest equivalent. This particular 'ivy' was as thick as a sapling with a knotty exterior. The door was still sealed shut, but thankfully it still had auxiliary power. Black Fenrir checked it for intrusion and found nothing. So far, so good. There was no sign of anyone hacking the panel either. I still had to help the door along as it was rusted in the tracks. Good thing my Device augmented my strength. After what felt like hours of straining it finally opened enough for me to squeeze inside.

"Remind me to bring some WD-40 next time," I said.

"Of course," Mae giggled.

[Anerkannt]

That drew a laugh from both of us. He probably would add it to my notes too.

The interior was more ornate than I was expecting. It looked less like a research facility or military base than someone's home. Of course with the size it might even be considered a castle. Which could be why Jail left it alone. The royalty and nobility rarely mixed military affairs with pleasure. Black Fenrir tried tapping into the network but all he could find were more door locks. The central power supply was down. First order of business was to find the power and turn it back on. Most places put that stuff in the basement. I had my primary Device use a wide area search to locate the control room. The probes located a number of interesting things, but that could wait.

"How old is this place? It looks older than the other places we've been…" I stared at the halls in wonder. You could feel the age radiating from the structure. Only the faintest traces of decoration could be seen. Time eroded it all despite the atmospheric sealing.

"I honestly have no idea… Some of this looks Belkan, but it seems different. Older perhaps? Did Black Fenrir find this site by accident or was it in his database already?" Mae inquired.

Good question. I asked him about the out this was in his database, but the file was corrupted from prolonged disuse. Over time Black Fenrir worked on sorting out the damaged bits of code. It wasn't until I learned enough about fixing Devices that my partner could finally put his coding back together. From what I gathered this place holds a special connection to my Device. Otherwise why save these coordinates specifically?

The little search beacons provided enough light to see by, but not enough to make out fine details. Our path led us further into the structure and down a slight incline. It felt like hours in the gloom as we descended to the bottom. The incline stopped at an intersection of four hallways. Thanks to the search spell we knew which way to go as each hall led to another intersection. The dizzying array of halls would have been too confusing otherwise. Before I could lose too many brain cells, we arrived at a more solid looking door. This one appeared fully intact with a red gem set in the center.

"This must be it… Hmm?" I realized a half second too late that the gem was powering up. A grid pattern swept over me without warning. "Black Fenrir! What's going on?"

[Genetische Übereinstimmung festgestellt] The door proclaimed.

"Genetic match detected…?" Mae noted in a bewildered tone.

A seam split the door down the middle before the halves slid aside. Beyond that was a laboratory. Thick dust coated every surface. Good thing Mae and I were protected from airborne contaminants. Who knows what might have developed in the years since it was sealed? There were empty containment tubes along the wall. At least I assumed they were empty since the lights were still out. Just when I was about to ask about the power the lights suddenly came on. It happened so suddenly my visor shifted to opaque mode to reduce the glare. Mae whined and rubbed furiously at her eyes. Next time I would make sure she had a visor for her Barrier Jacket too. The tubes remained empty, thankfully, but now I could see more of the lab.

"Oh wow… What are these?" I carefully lifted up a silvery gray hexagonal prism from one of the shelves. It sparkled in the light tantalizingly.

[Datenkristalle]

"Data crystals? I've never seen one like this before. Do you think you could play this?" I asked.

He could play the data crystals even though they were in a format neither I or Mae had seen before. The first crystal was just some Device schematics. There was something about the design that both intrigued and worried me. From what I could gather with my limited knowledge its purposed was to store and archive vast quantities of data. The next crystal was for a more orthodox Device. High combat output, exceptional storage capacity, a prototype spec'd to go into hazardous situations and survive. I felt a chill run down my back as I read further. The design was familiar. It should be because these were the schematics for Black Fenrir! I wasn't too surprised when the crystal after that showed another familiar Device. This one was Schwertkreuz. A staff designed to work alongside the Book of Darkness, or as it was known, the Tome of the Night Sky.

"Mae. I think we found the design specs for the Book of Darkness," I said with as much calm as I could muster.

"What sort of place is this…?" She asked in numb shock.

Of course it wouldn't be a dramatic reveal without a monitor coming on for no reason. The holo screen appeared on the wall showing the lab where we stood. In the recording was a very familiar looking woman. She was beautiful with white/gray hair and red eyes wearing a black dress. Her legs were covered by a blanket as she rolled around the lab in a wheelchair. There was a man standing with his back to her as he fidgeted with something. That something looked like a dark brown book with golden trim. I felt the air stick in my chest. We were seeing the man who created the Tome of the Night Sky! He turned to the woman with a tired smile. His face was lined but there was a kindness in his eyes. She smiled at him and said something, but that portion of the data was lost. Parts of the picture glitched in spots as we watched.

"Oh… my… God…" I stared at the images in confusion. The woman looked like Reinforce and had the same crippling malady my sister would develop. At least something that looked like it at any rate.

"Mia! Look!" Mae blurted out. I spun to see what she wanted only to freeze. A little girl, no more than nine at the most, ran into the lab with a bright smile on her face. The white haired child flung herself in the wheelchair bound woman's lap eliciting a delighted laugh.

"Well that explains why the genetic lock let me in. Yep. Makes perfect sense," I remarked while still in a state of shock.

We found the original birthplace of the Tome of the Night Sky. Not only that but the place where mine and Hayate's line began. The answers we sought might be here in these data files. That is if we could restore them. I wanted to get started right away, but the images captivated me. Just watching the happy family together made me long for the day Hayate was free. Did they know what the Tome would become? Of course not, otherwise this happy family wouldn't be so happy. I refuse to believe a man with kind eyes like his could create an abomination so easily. Mae reminded me that we needed to get home for dinner. Dinner. After the earth shattering revelations it seemed almost profane to think of something so normal. We also had the hot springs resort trip. I needed to be at the top of my game to keep it from becoming a clusterfuck.

Maybe I needed a vacation more than I realized…

AN: The Drawback "Lost Logia Magnet" is so much fun to use. Mia went looking for more stuff to sell and resources? Of course she would trip over a secluded research lab and a mind bending revelation.