Game Theory (Nanoha fanfic)

[Aleph]

Scraped from here.

My first Nanoha fanfic, and indeed my first major fanfic period. You can blame EarthScorpion for this, mostly. He was the one who speculated on Precia being the one to pull a Peggy Sue, and how she would... you know, not be a moron and abuse her main - indeed her only - playing piece on the board.

And then I got into reading about Game Theory, the branch of maths dealing with the optimal course to take in anything that can be modelled as a game, and considered what might happen if a villain really understood it. And somewhere along the way, the Peggy Sue part fell off, and a few other things got bolted on, and... well... this happened.

Warning. This story may do horrible, horrible things to the canon timeline. Or maybe not. I'm not 100% sure where it will end up. We'll see.

Contents:
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four

Infodumps:
On dimensions and world-templates: 1 2
On summons and familiars: 1 2
On Alhazred, and the priest-kings of old: 1 2
On magic lethality, and kinetic weapons: 1
On Midchildan technology, and that of the TSAB: 1

Also up on fanfic.net.

 

[Aleph]

Game Theory

Prologue​

Click, click, click. Two sets of footsteps echoed loudly in the oppressive silence. The young girl advanced hesitantly along the corridor, throwing a longing glance at the sandy-haired woman alongside her. Long blonde hair swished softly at the movement, and Linith looked down at her. The familiar's face was grave - a startling contrast to the warm, kind demeanour she usually displayed. A hint of sadness entered her eyes at the pleading, terrified expression of her charge, but her expression remained resolute.

Click, click, click. Despite the high ceiling and wide, open space, the corridor was shadowy and indistinct. The girl could see little through the gloom, and flinched at every echoing retort bouncing back from the walls, every rustle of the plants that wound up the pillars lining either side of the hall. Everything was strange, unfamiliar and scary. Desperately, she clung to Linith's hand - the only secure, reliable thing she had encountered so far. Something was... wrong. The girl couldn't put a finger on what, exactly, but...

The world felt different, that was one of the main things. Her memories were hazy and indistinct, but she was sure that they were different to what she felt now. Even now, in the murk and gloom of the long, sinister corridor, the faint colours and dim light were far more vivid than anything in her memories. Food tasted different, she could feel the air against her skin in a way that matched nothing in her experience. It wasn't that she had never experienced such things - she could remember picnics in a rich and beautiful garden, warm baths and the smiling eyes of her mother.

But they were distant. Faded. Washed out, as if mere stories that she had heard. Not immediate, not in the way that her senses painted the world around her now.

It was scary. Everything felt different. Everything. Even Linith was new, though she was nice, because Mama had never had a Familiar before. And she didn't know where she was, either. Asking Linith had only gained her a name - the Garden of Time - which meant nothing to her. Any more questioning and the normally attentive woman would clam up, becoming vague and evasive. And Mama... she had been there when the girl had woken up. Happy, almost to the point of crying tears of joy. She had said something about the girl being sick, for a very long time... she had looked older, it was true. Was that why her memories were so strange and faded?

And what had happened? Her mother had been happy at first, but... she'd gotten quieter and quieter, colder and colder. Her smiles had come less often, and the girl had noticed strange, intense looks in her direction out of the corner of her eye. After two or three days, she had turned and left without a word, sweeping out of the room in a flurry of cloth and leaving Linith to take over caring for her. Had she done something wrong? Upset her mother somehow? She bit her lip fearfully, worried at the possibility. If she'd done something wrong, why hadn't her mother told her, so she could do it better? Did the older woman think she wouldn't try to make her happy? Her mother would never think something like that, would she? Was that why she had called the girl to her now, to admonish her and tell her what she was doing wrong?

The doors at the end of the corridor came into view - tall and imposing, and somehow ominous. The huge gold portal almost seemed to radiate malevolence in the dim purple light, and the leaves along the passage produced a soft susurration as a breeze raised chills along the girl's arms and up her spine.

Abruptly, Linith stopped, and the girl almost stumbled at the sudden cessation of movement, still clutching the familiar's hand. Confused, she looked up at the woman and met an expression of sympathetic austerity.

"I have to wait here," Linith said. Her voice was soft, apologetic. "You need to go in further by yourself."

Her expression becoming desperate with fear and uncertainty, the girl silently pleaded with Linith to say something, do something other than just stand there and wait. But to no avail. The familiar gave her a reassuring, encouraging nod, but made no move to step forward and accompany her. Tentatively, trembling slightly, the girl inched forward, towards the doors.

Slowly, ominously, they opened. There was no creak, no gush of air or billowing smoke from within. In some ways, that might have been an improvement. Instead, they swung silently aside, admitting the girl into the chamber beyond. An unseen wave of menace billowed out - almost palpable in the cold hush - and swept over the girl, making her flinch away instinctively before advancing reluctantly into the room beyond.

Large. That was her first impression. The room was round, curtained archways lining the walls around a glowing disk in the centre of the floor. Beyond it, on the far side of the huge chamber, light spilled out of a gap in the walls to silhouette a seated figure on a gothic, high-backed throne.

The silence that had been oppressive in the corridor was overwhelming here, a crushing, stifling weight that bore down on the girl as if it were a physical presence. Slowly, halting, she made her way to the centre of the room, where she stood. Her breathing was harsh and ragged, the strange feeling in her chest flaring again - not painful, but strange, alien. It felt electric, alive, dangerous. Whereas in her hazy memories she had only a dull pulse to compare it to, here and now it was like a living thing beneath her breast, sharp and wild and terrified as it writhed like a living thing.

All further thought fled as the light behind the tall chair faded, and she caught her first glimpse of its occupant. In spite of her attempt to stifle it, a gasp escaped her. This woman... this woman was her mother... and yet not. Her memories - even the more recent ones, before she abruptly left - painted her mother as a warm and smiling woman, always ready to hug or play with her daughter. Beautiful, intelligent and kind, the figure of her mother had been a light that not even the faded, pastel colours of her memory could fail to give warmth to, and the girl had clung to that figure through all the fear and uncertainty of the past few weeks.

This woman was so very like her mother... and yet different. Older. Tired. Cold, dark and forbidding. Her presence seemed to chill the room, and her eyes held not a hint of warmth as they regarded the young girl. Unable to hold the dispassionate violet gaze, the girl broke her stare, fixing her eyes on the floor and shivering uncontrollably, though the room was not that cold.

A minute passed, and then another, the oppressive silence building into a crushing force that battered the scraps of bravado and courage the young girl had mustered into nothing. With all her heart, she wanted nothing more than to turn and run, away from the chill, dark room and back into Linith's arms. Try as she might, however, she could not get her arms to move, nor will her legs to obey her commands.

Finally, the silence was broken as the woman spoke.

"You," she said, and her low voice cut through the silence like a knife, "are not Alicia."

The girl blinked, stunned. Her head flew up, hurt in her eyes and a wordless protest on her lips.

One look at the woman's face stopped her cold before she was able to make a sound.

"You are not Alicia," the woman repeated. "You have her memories, you wear her face, but you are not her. The differences are subtle, this early, but they are undeniably present." She paused, letting her words sink in for a moment before continuing. "You are a failed experiment."

Bitter tears welled in the young girl's eyes, a cold numbness forming into a dead weight in her chest. She had done something wrong. What was it? How was she different? Why... why didn't her mother accept her as- as who she remembered herself to be? She was Alicia, wasn't she? That was the name she remembered answering to.

"You are a clone of Alicia, my daughter. An Artificial Mage intended as a replacement. You have her memories, her appearance... but you do not have her essence. As a replacement, you have failed before you have even begun. You are not Alicia. You are a product of Project Fate."

Nausea rose in the girl's throat (Alicia's throat? Project Fate's throat? Who was she? What was she?) Her head reeled from the cold, emotionless words and she fought to keep her balance against a sick, clammy feeling of mingled horror and terror at what she was hearing. For a moment, the world spun and she began to hyperventilate.

"But," The word cut through her panic, dragging her sharply back to the real world. "But... I was wrong about one thing."

The woman beckoned the girl closer, frowning impatiently until her legs took over automatically, carrying her in a dull, dazed state towards the older mage. An elegant hand reached out, taking hold of the young girl's chin and lifting it slightly to examine her face.

"You are not Alicia, that much is true. I failed to bring her back. But... if you are not Alicia herself, you are still her clone. And while the experiment failed to bring back my little girl, its secondary aim - the production of a powerful, artificial mage... that does seem to have succeeded." She paused again, allowing the thought to sink in. Violet eyes regarded the girl as a look of slow comprehension dawned on the young face, and she finished the thought. "You may be of use to me yet, and... who knows? When Alicia wakes, she may be grateful for a sister. You are not Alicia, no. Not my daughter. But I will give you the chance to prove your worth to me... Fate."

The bleak tides of panic began to draw back as the words offered a platform of hope, and the girl desperately clung to it, waiting in tense anticipation and hanging on the woman's (her mother's) next words as if they were edicts from heaven itself.

"Would you like to see your sister, Fate?"

Deep red eyes widened in shock, and the young girl hesitated briefly before nodding. The woman raised a languid hand, and a shape moved forward from the opening behind her. As it came into the light, another strained gasp was drawn from the young girl.

For inside the tall, cylindrical tube, suspended in a foetal ball in the bubbling turquoise liquid was a figure she knew all too well. She saw it, after all, every day, in the mirror. The girl in the tank looked tiny against the complex machinery of the stasis tube - fragile, frail and impossibly vulnerable. Her eyes were closed, her expression peaceful, and along with the gentle undulating motion of her long, blonde hair in the viscous fluid, it almost served to give the impression that she was merely sleeping.

Almost.

"You see?" the woman whispered into the silence, "More than two decades ago... a terrible accident. A twist of fate cruelly snatched her away, unhindered by her youth or innocence. I managed to put her into stasis, but..." grief flickered over the woman's pale, elegant features and she took a laboured breath before continuing. "But she is not lost, Fate. She can be brought back, I have the knowledge. The ability. All I need are the tools. She can be saved." For a moment, her eyes grew wistful, looking onto a scene from long ago and far away. "And... and she was always loving and sweet. I don't doubt she'd like you too."

Snapping out of it, she favoured the young girl standing before her with a smile, and observed with calculating eyes as she seemed to almost glow in response. Her stance was unrecognisable from the scared, nervous and heartbroken trudge she entered the room with mere minutes before. Now she was brimming with energy, with hope and anticipation. The woman raised her head slightly, looking down at the girl imperiously.

"I can bring her back..." she continued" but there are those would stop me. Who say that it is wrong! Uncaring, arrogant, set and rigid in their refusal to take any mitigating factors into consideration, they issue a blanket ban on any quests such as these. They would oppose your very existence, and if they could unplug the machines that keep Alicia from the cruel ravages of time and bury her in some nameless, unmarked grave, they would do so in a heartbeat." She paused again, violet eyes narrowing in disgust as she took another deep breath before spitting the next words, "And despite what they might say, contrary to their fine ideals and delusions of moral superiority, they are no better. Some of the work they fund... well. There is time for that later. For now, all you need know is that they are arrogant hypocrites, petty bureaucratic meddlers who dabble in things they do not understand and presume to pass judgement on all, regardless of their authority to do so. They are the TSAB, the Time Space Administration Bureau, and they are our enemy, our opposition to setting things right."

Reaching forward, she rested a hand on the young girl's shoulder, feeling her shake slightly through the thin cloth at the touch. "Fate," she said softly, her voice low and kind, "I can save her, but I cannot do so alone. It requires tools, a power source for the spell. I cannot go out and retrieve what I need to help Alicia, nor can I defend this place on my own if the TSAB find us." She squeezed gently and stared deep into the wide burgundy eyes.

"I need you, Fate."

A light entered the youthful gaze. Dim to the point of almost non-existence when she entered the chamber, crushed mere minutes before by the harsh words Precia began her speech with, it sprung to life now as a fierce, hungry blaze. To be needed, to be useful, to have a purpose and to make her mother proud of her... the offer was irresistible, and she clung to it like a drowning girl.

"Will you fight for Alicia, Fate?" The woman's voice grew commanding, challenging, inspiring. "Will you train, and grow strong, and defend her? Will you stand against our enemies and hold to your beliefs, even in the face of adversity? Will you... will you help me save her?" Her voice broke slightly, and she swallowed back something that sounded like a sob, "I... I just want her back. To hold her again in my arms, sing her to sleep at night. And you'll do it for me, won't you? Make me proud."

"Yes!" The girl's voice was resolute, brimming with determination. She did not pause; no thought was needed as to her response. The words burst out from her heart, emotion layered thick behind them, "Yes, I will! Mother, I promise... I will make you proud!"

Precia gave her shoulder one last reassuring squeeze before sitting back in the throne-like chair. "Good. You are a good girl. Thank you, Fate." She refrained from commenting on the slight wetness that appeared around the girl's eyes at the expression of gratitude, gracing her instead with an imperial nod. "I have high expectations, and will be severely disappointed if you fail to meet them. Linith will be your tutor at first. Once you become... skilled... I shall take over, and teach you how to properly control the power you wield."

"Yes, mother." The girl's voice was quieter now, her shoulders dropping slightly. Already, she was tiring after the rollercoaster of emotion the meeting had induced. Despite having only entered the room moments ago, it seemed like hours in her memory, looking backward as if through a thick fog. She shivered again, suddenly uncomfortable in the chill room.

"Very well," Precia said. "You may go now. Eat. Bathe. Sleep. I will see you again presently."

Dipping a short bow, the girl nodded and turned to leave, her tired step still vastly more confident than the tremulous hesitance with which she had entered the room. Confidence was in every line of her face, the aura of someone with a solid certainty of whom they are and where they are going. There was enough purpose and clarity in her to fight away the exhaustion she felt resonating through her slight frame with every step.

"Oh, and Fate?" Precia called out, just as she passed the open doors. The girl paused, turning back to the austere woman.

"Yes, mother?"

A challenging look. "I expect great things from you. Prove to me that you are not a true failure. Remember, you fight for Alicia's life."

The doors slowly swung shut, leaving no time for a reply. And blinking back tears, buoyed up by hope, happiness and sheer, implacable resolve, Fate Testarossa allowed her mother's familiar to guide her away.

...​

 

[Aleph]

Chapter One​

Sunlight broke through a thin gap in the curtains, spilling in golden rays onto the small figure slumbering beneath the blankets, head hidden beneath an askew pillow. The slow rise and fall of the covers told of peaceful sleep and pleasant dreams. Across the room, a ferret shifted quietly in its own bed, fashioned from a pillow-lined basket. Its nose twitched gently, and one paw sluggishly batted at the air. The room was quiet and calm, filled by a sense of serenity and tranquillity.

The peaceful aura was abruptly shattered by the high-pitched, tinny tones of a mobile phone alarm. The tune filled the room, rousing a bleary-eyed head from under the swaddling covers to some semblance of consciousness. After a few seconds of sleepy blinking, the untidy mop of brown hair extruded a hand, reaching over to fumble at the phone. All this accomplished, unfortunately, was to knock the phone off the edge of the bed and onto the floor, where it continued to pipe its annoying wakeup alarm.

With a sigh, Nanoha Takamachi kicked the covers off and rolled out of bed, stopping to turn off the alarm as she did so. Her mood brightened considerably as she remembered what she had planned, and she hurriedly threw some clothes on and got herself ready for a day with her friends.

'Yuuno-kun!' she called mentally, 'wake up! We're spending the day with Suzuka-chan and Arisa-chan!'

'Mmm?' came the sleepy reply. The tan-furred ferret stretched languidly and shook himself awake, flashing sharp teeth and a bright pink tongue as he yawned. 'Oh, yes. Hold still a moment.' Nanoha obediently stilled as she finished pulling her jumper on, holding out a hand to him, and Yuuno launched himself onto her in a display of acrobatic skill that she never tired of seeing, landing lightly and flowing up her arm before settling into a secure position resting on her shoulder.

Smiling at him, she giggled as he leaned over to lick her cheek, and carefully picked up the necklace that rested on the other side of her desk. A small, round gem the colour of blood rested serenely on a cushion, its innocent appearance at distinct odds with the power that lay within.

"Raising Heart?" Nanoha asked politely as she picked it up, "are you ready?"

[Yes, my master,] replied the Device in mechanical tones that nonetheless held a hint of feminine intonation. The faint light at the heart of the ruby-like material pulsed faintly to reinforce its words, and Nanoha smiled happily at the affirmation. Slipping the necklace on, she carefully made sure it was hidden beneath her top before heading downstairs, Yuuno balancing improbably on her shoulder even as she practically flew down the staircase and into the kitchen.

"My my, Nanoha. Eager to go?" Momoko chuckled good-naturedly as she watched her daughter wolf down her breakfast. Nanoha nodded eagerly, barely registering Yuuno leap off her shoulder and trot into the living room.

"Well, have fun and be careful, alright? I know how active you girls can be with your hobbies." She smiled cheerfully and kissed her husband as he strolled in before turning back to Nanoha. "And tell Arisa-chan and Suzuka-chan hello from me, alright?"

"I will, mama!"

"Nanoha! Are you ready yet?" Nanoha glanced towards her brother's voice, then back to her remaining cereal. "Just a minute!" she replied, polishing off the remainder and washing it down with a drink of orange juice before joining Kyouya at the door. "Alright! Let's go!"

"Ah, Nanoha," he said, looking a little relieved to see her. Miyuki, eyebrow quirked and a teasing smile on her face, shot him an amused look as she handed Yuuno over, cooing as he scampered up Nanoha's arm and took his accustomed place on her shoulder.

"Well then," said Kyouya, opening the door and gesturing his little sister through, "off we go."

The weather was clear and sunny as they boarded the bus, a perfect day for an outing with friends. Eagerly, Nanoha pressed her face up against the window, staring out at the glittering ocean in childish wonder.

"So pretty..." she whispered. "Doesn't it look gorgeous, Yuuno-kun?" Kyouya raised an amused eyebrow at the earnest tone with which she addressed the ferret, who was staring out at the bay with as much interest as Nanoha herself. He tuned out her excited chattering, waiting patiently for the bus to reach their destination. It trundled along at a placid, unhurried pace, the quiet hum of the engine sending vibrations rippling through the frame and making Nanoha's teeth rattle where she rested her head against the window, lulling her into a half slumber.

'Yuuno-kun...' she asked drowsily, staring out at the scenery passing by, 'tell me about your home, would you?'

'Huh? Um... why do you want to know?'

'I'm just curious.'

The ferret shifted his weight on Nanoha's shoulder, making himself more comfortable. 'Well... okay then. Um... where to start... I was raised by the Scrya tribe, since I had no parents. They took care of me as I was growing up, so I sort of moved into the family business, which is archaeology. We like on a world called Mid-Childa, which is a lot like Earth, physically. Not as much as some, of course, there are other worlds far more similar, but... it's relatively alike. Far more people can use magic there, though. I'm not sure why magic is so rare on Earth, to be honest.'

He paused for a moment, pink mouth flashing in a yawn. 'I was something of a prodigy there - my magic is very good at searching spells, amongst other things, and I have a talent for the processes of archaeology in the field. I was in charge of a dig there a little while ago where we found twenty or so ancient Lost Logia - relics from an all-powerful civilisation lost to the mists of time.'

'The Jewel Seeds,' Nanoha stated. It was not a question.

'Yes,' he agreed, 'They were sealed under several layers of the strongest wards I've ever seen, in an ancient Belkan tomb. And then there were the assault constructs, and the defence systems. We managed to get them out, and had them shipped back to be analysed, but something happened to the transport. It was damaged in a storm, we think, and the Jewel Seeds were lost.'

'And they landed here on Earth, and you came to try and get them back?'

'Yes. I dug them up, it's my responsibility to see them sealed again. I won't stop until they're all made safe.'

'Wow...' Nanoha fell silent, lost in thought for a moment, gazing out of the window without registering anything she was seeing.

'Yuuno-kun?'

'Yes?'

'I'm not saying it was a good thing, but... if all of that hadn't happened, I wouldn't have met you. And I'm glad I did. So maybe some good did come of it, in a way.'

Yuuno didn't respond in words, but the affectionate lick he gave her cheek was answer enough.

...​

The Tsukimura household was huge. A sprawling mansion comprised of three major wings, it sat comfortably in the centre of an extensive plot of land, surrounded by lush gardens on two sides and bordering a small forest behind it. Thoroughly used to the place from her long years of friendship with the family's youngest daughter, Nanoha walked unhesitantly up the wide path flanked by intricately shaped hedges and delicate marble water features and stood on tiptoe to ring the doorbell.

They didn't have long to wait. An elegant, smiling maid opened the door for them and ushered them in.

"Nanoha-sama, Kyouya-sama," she greeted them warmly, "It's good to see you! The young mistress is just this way."

'That's Noel,' Nanoha answered Yuuno's unspoken question, 'she's the head maid for Suzuka-chan's family. Her little sister Farin is Suzuka-chan's personal maid. She's really pretty and elegant, isn't she?'

'Your friend's family must be rich, to have full-time maids working for them.'

'Uh huh! Suzuka-chan's parents own a really successful engineering company. She wants to take up the family business when she grows up.'

'How did you become friends with her, anyway?' Yuuno asked as Noel led them through the rich, finely decorated halls, footsteps soft on the thick, expensive carpet. Nanoha smiled fondly in reminiscence, blue eyes clouding over as she drifted back into the mists of memory.

'It was when we were much younger. Arisa-chan has always been very aggressive; and back then she wasn't as nice a person as she is now. She was bullying Suzuka, and... well, I stepped in to stop her, and there was a small incident. But after that we became very good friends! And we've stayed friends ever since. I feel a little guilty for not telling them about the Jewel Seeds, magic and everything else that's happened recently, to be honest. I can tell they're getting worried about me.'

'I know. But you really shouldn't. Knowing about the Jewel Seeds would worry them more, and they couldn't do anything to help. And your society doesn't know anything about magic - if a discovery of that magnitude was announced so suddenly, it could potentially spark wars, or even trigger a collapse!'

'It could really be that bad? Just from showing people magic exists?'

'Hey, I'm an archaeologist! I know these sorts of things! There are lots of societies that discovered something ahead of their time, moved too quickly and ended up tearing themselves apart. I've dug up their ruins. Look at Alhazred, where the Jewel Seeds come from. A mighty empire that destroyed itself because it went too far, too fast.'

"Nanoha-chan! Kyouya-san!" Suzuka's voice snapped Nanoha out of her light trance as she realised she had arrived. Smiling happily, she greeted her friends in turn and joined them at the table as Suzuka's older sister retreated upstairs with Kyouya and Noel to talk amongst themselves. Ushering a large, fat tomcat off her seat and depositing Yuuno on the table, she accepted a cup of tea from Farin, with a grateful nod of thanks as the ferret looked around the wide, open room with interest.

Cats. His first impression was cats. Fat toms curled on soft, luxurious chairs, a pair of pale-furred Siamese lounged by an old fireplace and rambunctious kittens chased one another underfoot. Yuuno felt all the hair up his back stand on end as dozens of curious feline eyes turned his way. He was suddenly very aware that he was the smallest animal in a room full of what were, despite their domestication, predators.

'What, did I do to deserve this?' he asked silently, 'Dammit, this is unfair! Somebody, somewhere, somehow, is punishing me for something I haven't even done yet!'

Shivering, and trying hard to ignore the curious gazes - helped by the fact that most of the cats merely examined him for a few seconds before losing interest - he looked around further.

The large window situated in the far wall offered expansive views over the gardens, and elegant potted plants lined the walls, their thin branches curving upwards in carefully shaped arcs. The walls were a delicate pink, with the occasional picture breaking up the monotony, and a few low tables and cabinets were interspersed between the plants, strewn with knickknacks and small ornaments. A few soft, cushiony chairs sat squatly here and there, mostly occupied by bundles of gently purring feline. One or two were squabbling quietly over ownership of the comfy spots, irate paws batting at one another's ears and low hisses threatening dire reprisals for continued obstinance.

A soft sound behind him drew his attention, and he turned round to meet blue eyes a few shades darker than Nanoha's, set into a curious grey-furred face. Rather more importantly, from his point of view, a pink tongue licked sharp white teeth a few inches away from his eyes.

"Mrrowl?" the kitten voiced, raising an inquisitive paw to bat at the strange new furry thing in her home.

'... why me?'

Without pausing to find out how friendly the kitten's intentions were, Yuuno turned and bolted off the table at top speed.

'Nanohaaaaaa! Heeeeelp!'

Running for his life from the murderously inquisitive feline, Yuuno dodged around the table legs, scampered through Nanoha's legs and streaked across the floor. Throwing himself out of the way of a swatting paw from one side and leaping over a lashing tail on the other, he chanced a glance back over his shoulder.

Not only was the grey kitten keeping up, she appeared to actually be gaining.

'Naaanooohaaaaaa!'

Distantly, he heard the sound of human voices and movement, but he was too focused on staying ahead to really register what was happening. He swerved as he came to the wall, skidding on the tiled floor and bouncing off the skirting board as he turned through ninety degrees almost on the spot. Flattening himself to fit under a low chair, he gained a few inches as the kitten had to swerve around it, and he used the brief respite to frantically glade around for salvation. Seeing a pair of feet ahead of him, he put on an extra burst of speed and made a desperate bid for safety.

"I'm back!" announced Farin cheerfully, bearing a tray loaded with cups, a teapot and a plate of snacks, "Sorry I took so long, I had to - ahhhh!" Stumbling backwards as Yuuno shot between her legs and used them as a barrier against the kitten on his tail, she desperately tried to regain her footing without stepping on either of the two small animals as they spun and wove around her feet, Yuuno trying to keep her between him and his pursuer, the kitten trying to dodge round and catch him. The tray wobbled and shook alarmingly, rattling the cups and sending the teapot sway ominously.

"Yuuno-kun!"

"Vesta, stop that!"

"Farin-san!"

All three girls darted forwards to help, getting in one another's way and impeding their attempts at intervening. The animals continued their dizzying chase, spinning Farin around like a carnival wheel as she desperately tried to regain her balance and avoid stepping on the animals. Alas, her attempts in vain, and gravity eventually took its toll. The young maid toppled backwards with a strangled yell, sending the tray flying up and the kitten flying.

Nanoha didn't consciously decide to intervene. She just moved, eyes focusing on the off-centre maid as she began to fall as she rapidly analysed the situation. Her hands darted out in a lightning-quick motion, grabbing the tray in an attempt to stabilise it and supporting Farin's dizzy, toppling form at the shoulder. She sagged slightly under the weight, because the older woman was noticeably taller and heavier than she was, but endured.

"Safe!"

The word rang out in dual tones, two girls giving voice to it at the same time. Nanoha blinked and looked sideways at Arisa, who had apparently moved to help at the same time. After a moment of staring in surprise, both girls started to giggle quietly in relief. Most of the cookies were still on the tray, and the teapot hadn't spilled. Whilst one or two cups and plates had fallen, the damage was far less than it could have been.

"Uwaaa..." moaned Farin from between them, blearily recovering. She looked slightly green, and her eyes were still slightly glazed with disorientation. "That was... urgh, really not fun..." Her eyes lit on the shattered china on the floor, and widened in horror even as her face paled. Contrasted with her purple hair and uniform, the grey-green tint was far from complimentary.

"Ahhh! Sorry Suzuka-chan, sorry Nanoha-chan, sorry Arisa-chan! I'll get some more and clean up the mess, I promise!"

"Ah, Farin-chan, don't worry. It wasn't... your... fault..." Suzuka trailed off with a sigh as her maid continued the babbled apologies as she set the tray down and vanished back out of the room in search of cleaning equipment. The young heiress shook her head in fond exasperation at the older girl, smiling with warm amusement.

"She's so excitable..."

...​

Once the mess had been cleared up and the broken crockery replaced, conversation turned to lighter matters. Nanoha drifted in and out of the chatter, responding absent-mindedly. Her thoughts were on other things, central among them the twenty-odd glowing blue gemstones currently scattered over her home city. Yuuno had said that any one of them was powerful enough to shatter dimensions at full power. So far, none of them had been activated to more than a few thousandths of their potential, but even so...

She shivered, remembering a tree the size of a small mountain, with roots that had torn through city blocks with casual ease, breaking bridges and reducing great swathes of the city to rubble. It was a minor miracle that Yuuno had managed to get a barrier up in time to confine the damage to temporally distorted space, the destruction reverting as soon as he cancelled it.

Nanoha's eyes darkened. That fiasco had happened because she had decided to take a day off. Because she'd gotten lax and lazy, assuming that because she had been gathering Jewel Seeds without much difficulty so far, she could afford to take a few days off to relax for a bit. Never again, she vowed silently. Never again would she put her personal comfort before the safety of others.

"-oha!" "Nanoha!"

Snapped out of her reverie, Nanoha looked up, startled. Suzuka was giving her a concerned look, and Arisa seemed more than a little annoyed at her failure to answer them. She flushed a little as she realised that she'd been ignoring them, absorbed in her musings as she was.

"Nyaa ha haa... sorry, sorry. I was lost in thought. What were you saying?"

Arisa sniffed huffily, but Suzuka leaned forward, a worried frown on her face. "You're been a little down lately, and you're distracted all the time. And you've been zoning out, like just now. Is someone wrong? If something's worrying you, would you like to talk to us about it? We might be able to help."

"Suzuka-chan..." Nanoha breathed, guilt striking hard at her reticence about coming clean to her friends. She looked sideways at Arisa, who looked back levelly through lidded eyes, a silent promise of support in her gaze. "Arisa-chan..." Tears welling in her eyes, she almost spilled everything there and then. But Yuuno's words of earlier rang clear in her mind, bolstered by the warning look the ferret was giving her. 'Knowing about the Jewel Seeds would worry them more, and they couldn't do anything to help,' ran through the back of her mind in memory, 'There are lots of societies that discovered something ahead of their time, moved too quickly and ended up tearing themselves apart.'

Somehow, she bit the words back. Her mouth worked soundlessly, starting to form words before dismissing them unsaid. Eventually, in a voice far smaller and more insecure than she had intended, she managed to speak. "Suzuka-chan, Arisa-chan... I'm sorry, I can't. I... I wish I could tell you, b-but it's not something I can talk about just now." She looked at them pleadingly, willing them to understand. "Please... I promise I'll tell you as soon as I'm allowed to. And it's not anything bad, honest, just a few little things! They're just... not really mine to talk about, so I have to-"

"Nanoha-chan," interrupted Suzuka gently, "it's okay. We're not going to force you to talk about it if you can't, or don't want to. We understand. Right, Arisa-chan?"

The blonde looked a little put out at Nanoha declining to explain what was occupying her thoughts, but nodded grudgingly. "Alright. But you have to tell us soon! Promise!"

"Arisa-chan! Don't promise, Nanoha-chan, you don't have to tell us anything!"

"Yes she does! I'm worried about her!"

"That doesn't mean you can force her to talk about her problems!"

"Well then, it should!"

A smile spreading on her lips despite herself, Nanoha sat back, soaking in her friend's voices. Both of them, in their own ways, had accepted her choice not to talk about it - perhaps not with the best of graces, but they had accepted it nonetheless. For the first time in weeks, the nagging weight lifted from her shoulders, and she allowed herself to simply laugh, smile and enjoy the company of her oldest and closest friends.

...​

Twitch. Sniff. A slight wriggle forwards. The kitten hunkered down low in the undergrowth, a faint breeze gently ruffling her fur. The food-givers had picked her up by the back of her neck, in a grave affront to her dignity, and put her outside. Clearly, they were not pleased that the very large brown-tan rat had managed to escape her, and wanted her to bring them food. Well, they'd see how much they liked it when she hunted down the largest, most dangerous animal in the whole area, and then ate it herself! Her eyes were fixed on her target, the unsuspecting prey hopelessly unaware of her magnificent presence. Slowly, carefully, she edged closer, allowing it a few more moments of blissful ignorance as she gained a more favourable position, sealing its fate beyond any hope of escape or survival.

Oblivious to the huntress closing in on it, the leaf on the end of a fallen branch fluttered gently in the breeze that stirred the forest floor. Some distance away, the three humans chatted and laughed, having moved outside to savour the bright, warm afternoon over a picnic lunch near the edge of the forest. For now, the kitten disregarded them. They were unimportant, minor details consigned to the background (though later... well, the possibility of stroking remained open - she might deign to allow one of them to pet her under her chin, just the way she liked).

In a perfect leap, calculated and enacted with grace and poise that would make the greatest of human athletes weep with envy, she pounced upon her target in a flawless strike from the heavens! Nothing could escape such an attack, so beautifully was it made, and the style and elegance of the movement were sheer poetry in motion. Cunningly, though, her prey proved its formidable and treacherous nature by darting aside at the last moment, too fast for the eye to follow.

That was, after all, the only explanation for how she could have missed. The possibility that she had miscalculated her leap, however briefly or minutely, was absurd - to even think such a thing was to acknowledge its impossibility. Still, her victim's base trickery would not save it for long. In a lightning-fast movement, she recovered from the stumbled landing - entirely intentional, of course, in order to give her prey the false impression it had so much as inconvenienced her, and thus trick it into lowering its guard - and struck. This time, her claws shredded its woody support, and her deadly fangs bit deep into its flank as she rolled over with it, kicking at its body with the sharp, rending claws of her back paws.

Leaves, as it turned out, tasted terrible.

Spitting the offending morsel out in disgust, she sniffed haughtily. This farce was unworthy of her further attention, and she resolved to pay it no further mind. Glancing around quickly to check that nothing had witnessed her infinitesimally small error, she spotted something moving on the ground just inside the forest border. A brightly illuminated patch of the ground shimmered and shifted, grass and dirt gleaming in a sunbeam from on high. Eyes wide and tail perking up, the kitten followed its dancing, fluttering motion raptly, focusing with laser intensity on every shift and sway.

A loud rustle sounded as a sudden gust swept through the trees overhead, and the patch of light darted away from her. An escape attempt! She bounded after it eagerly. The leaves above shifted once more in the wind, and the sunbeam vanished. But another appeared ahead of it! Switching focus in a heartbeat, she leapt forward again, intent on this time catching the brightly-lit spot of sunshine.

Twenty seconds and seven consecutive sunbeams later, a perfectly executed pounce was snarled by a tree root that definitely hadn't been there when she jumped. Tumbling head over heels, she fell through a small bush and came to rest in a rather undignified upside-down heap.

Hissing in annoyance as she extracted herself from the jumble of limbs and tail, the kitten looked around grumpily. Her irritation vanished, however, as her eyes fell on the object resting on the grass before her, half-hidden from view in a slight hollow beneath the curving trunk of an old oak tree. The blue gem sparkled even in the meagre light that was able reached it under the shade of the large trunk and broad leaves. It seemed to whisper softly to her, a siren song of promise and potential in its honeyed, wordless tones.

The kitten's mind was young and simple, but impressions nonetheless expressed themselves to her - food, warmth, strength, grace, power. Curious and tempted, she edged closer to the shiny thing, hazarding a tentative sniff. It smelled strange, tantalising and fundamentally wrong, like arrogance, lightning and the shape of the sky on moonless nights. The heady, alien scent made the fur all along her back stand on end, but the quiet murmurs of possibility it exuded kept her from bolting.

Faint shivers ran along her spine and her tail bottled out with a mixture of anticipation and fear, but the kitten had never been one to deny her curiosity once it was roused. Mind whirling with the images the glittering jewel offered, she focused on the only one worthy of her self-acknowledged magnificence, edging closer and closer still as the image solidified, displacing the others and enveloping her until she was almost living it.

Her whiskers met the surface of the gemstone, encountering a resistance that was at once hard, brittle, yielding and supple. The paradoxical sensations sent hot and cold chills racing through her tiny body. Shivering once more, fur puffing out and heart hammering within her chest, she gingerly, fearfully stretched out her tongue and licked the strange artefact.

And the world changed.

...​

Nanoha felt it the instant it happened, like a punch to the gut. The wave of power rolled out, washing across the grounds like an ethereal tsunami and continuing on, sensed only by those attuned to such things. Luckily, Suzuka and Arisa were too busy petting the kittens that vied for their attention to notice her turn suddenly pale, swaying slightly and clutching the table for support. A soft gasp escaped her at the sheer violence of the release, terrifyingly close by.

'Yuuno-kun...'

'I know. I sensed it too.' The ferret looked at her searchingly, sleek head cocked up and eyes narrowed. 'What should we do?'

'Uh...' Nanoha dithered, unable to decide. She couldn't just run off to tackle the Jewel Seed with no excuse, yet her mind remained stubbornly blank of any reason she could give to Arisa and Suzuka. Yet staying put, with the Jewel Seed so nearby, would present an unacceptable risk to her friends.

'Uh...' A time distortion barrier would take her friends out of the battlefield, but Yuuno couldn't cast that here, they would be certain to notice the circle of glowing runes around him. She had to get far enough away from them that Yuuno could safely cast it out of sight, but without an excuse, their suspicions would be raised even further, and they would probably insist on starting to question her again.

What to do?

'Nanoha! I have an idea! Follow my lead!' Squirming out of Nanoha's hands, Yuuno squealed and darted off towards the forest. Nanoha stared after him in shock for a moment before realising what he intended.

"Ah! Yuuno!" She looked apologetically at her friends. "Maybe he found something... hang on, I'll go get him back."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Suzuka leaned forward, carefully depositing the kitten occupying her lap onto the ground. Blinking in confusion at the sudden loss of stroking, it mewled piteously and pawed at her ankle, vying to be picked up and petted again.

"No, no. He's not gone far, I'll be fine." Standing, Nanoha flashed a quick smile at the pair and departed, following Yuuno into the forest at a light jog, calling his name. As soon as she was sure they could no longer see her, she broke into a full sprint, no longer pretending to search the ground for the wayward ferret. Reaching under her shirt, she drew out the marble-sized jewel, its deep crimson hue a splash of ruby against the green and brown forest she rushed through.

"Raising Heart, please!"

A burst of light the colour of cherry blossoms at the height of spring enveloped her, and she felt ribbons of light coalesce into her Barrier Jacket in a matter of two or three seconds. Raising Heart's staff form dropped into her hand, and she gave it an experimental twirl without breaking stride, reaffirming its weight and heft in her muscle memory.

'Yuuno-kun!' she called. She couldn't see him, but that didn't matter for telepathy, 'The barrier!'

'I have it!' came the reply, and a moment later she felt the pulse of his by-now-familiar magic a second before a ripple passed over the area, dulling colours to a near-monochrome and accompanied by the characteristic jerk of a time distortion effect.

Breaking into a clearing, she had a brief second of warning in which to throw and arm up to cover her eyes from a blinding flash of light beyond the next cluster of trees. As it faded, blinking, she lowered her arm and looked up.

And up.

And further up still.

"MREAAOOW," went the kitten, standing a head taller than most of the nearby trees. The sound echoed oddly, as if it was a hundred cats mewling all at once, slightly offset, at a volume that had Nanoha wincing and raising a hand to her ears. "MRAA!"

"... ... ..." said Nanoha. A glance down at Yuuno revealed him to be staring at the titanic feline with much the same expression of stunned disbelief as her.

The kitten's enormous tail lashed happily, stripping branches and leaves from the trees it brushed over with every stroke. It cocked its head curiously, wondering why the grass was looking so funny. Stepping forwards to get a closer look, it experimentally batted at part of it with a paw.

Each step sent reverberations through the ground, the vibrations shaking the earth beneath Nanoha's feet and almost making her stumble. Wide-eyed and gaping, she watched as the huge creature ripped a tree clean out of the ground with a single stroke of a paw, sending it bouncing away.

"Th- th- th-" she stuttered, "that's a b-big..." She trailed off, blanching as the giant kitten licked another tree with a tongue the size of a car.

Beside her, Yuuno was scarcely in any better state. "I-it must've... the Jewel Seed granted its wish to become bigger... literally..." With a light groan, Nanoha raised a hand to her head in a mixture of confusion, shock and bewilderment.

"MREAOW?" The pair turned pale once more as table-sized blue eyes turned their way. Eyes, Yuuno realised with a horrible sense of déjà-vu, that he recognised. Evidently coming to the same conclusion, Nanoha's mental voice intruded, laced with tones of dread.

'Yuuno-kun, is that...'

'Yes,' he replied in a dull, lifeless tone. 'Yes, that's the same one.'

Nanoha took a moment to recall how the kitten had acted when she had encountered Yuuno. And then to imagine the same behaviour applied to her current scale.

'... urk.'

The kitten raised another inquisitive paw to swat at the interesting new tiny things, and Nanoha scooped up Yuuno, bracing to dive out of the way. The paw began to descend...

... and a dozen bolts of golden lightning blazed out of nowhere, the air shrieking in their wake, to impact its flank, sending it stumbling with a yowl of pain that split the air and landing prone on its side with an earth-shattering crash.

Dumbfounded, Nanoha turned to see her saviour.

...​

Blonde hair blew back dramatically in the wind, fluttering in two long streamers of colour. A long pole of black metal terminated in an axe head inset with an orb of electric gold, held with confident familiarity by a gloved hand. Deep red eyes focused on their target with a powerful intensity, backed by a resolve so great it was almost frightening. The figure stood on top of a telephone pole just outside the edge of the forest, balancing with impossible ease. Her Barrier Jacket was mostly black, a leotard and skirt with a wide, billowing cape fanning out behind her in the breeze.

Nanoha stared.

Levelling her Device at the fallen kitten, the girl spoke. Her words were inaudible at the distance Nanoha stood from her, but the runic circle that appeared in front of her was unmistakable in its intention. Gasping, Nanoha took to the air, the Flier Fin spell coming automatically. Wings of pink light snapping into existence at her ankles, and she launched herself towards the kitten. Landing on its side, she swivelled round and barely managed to raise a shield before the attack hit.

Golden lightning broke over the forcefield of pale pink like waves over the sea. The sheer force behind the attack made Nanoha gasp again, this time at the unexpected effort. Driven back a step by the impact, the taste of copper flooded her mouth along with a bolt of pain as she bit her tongue.

Yuuno watched from the cover of the bushes. He would be of no use in this fight, he knew. Too small, too vulnerable, and not at all cut out for offensive combat. And frankly, he was beginning to realise that Nanoha was terrifyingly powerful - far more so than him, if it came to it.

'She's improving at a terrifying rate,' he mused. 'It was bare weeks ago that she first picked up a Device, and yet she's already able to fly, and shield against attacks as powerful as that. What is she?' He looked back over at the black-clad girl, assessing her. From the style and composition of the attacks, as well as the Device she held...

'Nanoha! She's almost certainly from my world! Be careful!'

Atop the felled kitten, Nanoha had already come to that conclusion herself. What she was struggling with, however, was how to respond. She didn't want to attack - fighting would solve nothing, and she didn't want to hurt the girl. Deciding to see if the girl was willing to listen to diplomacy, she nodded to herself. All she had to do was find out why the girl was attacking - or rather more likely, why she was after the Jewel Seeds - and then they could work things out like reasonable people.

"Excuse me!" she called, hoping her voice would carry the distance. "Why are you- ahh!"

As she began to speak, the blonde had narrowed her eyes, tensed, and moved. Nanoha had never seen anyone cross a distance so fast in her life. Before she had even got five words into her opening question, the girl was almost on top of her. The head of her axe-like Device snapped back, and a blaze of energy erupted out to either side, forming a glowing scythe-blade that looked, to Nanoha's eyes, very intimidating indeed.

Rather more intimidating still was the fact that the girl didn't stop. Snapping the crackling blade out in mid-flight, she continued moving, weapon seamlessly moving into an overhead strike...

... straight at Nanoha. With a cry of fear and surprise, the young mage barely brought Raising Heart up in time to block, the polearms crashing together with a shock that hurt her hands and jarred her arms all the way up to their sockets. Quick as a flash, and apparently not even inconvenienced by the force of the collision, the blonde girl drew back for another attack. This close, Nanoha could see her eyes directly - burgundy pools of resolute will, hidden desperation and absolute conviction.

She began to rapidly rethink her notion of not wanting to hurt the girl. From all the evidence, it looked like the opposite state of affairs was more likely.

The next strikes came slower - still terrifyingly fast and strong, but Nanoha managed to keep up with them. Still, each one forced Nanoha back a step, until a particularly vicious swipe at her stomach sent her stumbling backward. Almost on reflex, she activated her Flier Fin spell again, taking to the air in order to escape.

Retreating quickly to a safe distance, she recognised the triumphant look in the other girl's eyes a second too late.

[Lightning Bind,] intoned a mechanical voice. Completely unlike Raising Heart's dulcet tones, this voice was deep, crisp and stern, as well as being more overtly mechanical. Nanoha brought Raising Heart up in readiness to block whatever came at her next, eyes flicking around to identify the source of the-

Golden rings encircled her wrists and pulled. She barely kept hold of Raising Heart as her arms were yanked out to either side in a crucifix position, leaving her unguarded, totally defenceless and with almost no leverage whatsoever.

"Wha- a bind? H-hey!" Straining, she forced her arms together with every ounce of strength she could muster. They didn't budge an inch. The girl flew over in a long arc, stopping in front of her. The scythe-blade crackled with energy, and Nanoha flinched, suddenly aware of how utterly defenceless she was.

The scythe rose high in the air, and Nanoha caught the girl's eyes again. They were captivating, so full of emotion. The sheer determination in them... Nanoha felt a little humbled by it. Her own drive to collect the Jewel Seeds suddenly seemed minor in comparison. This girl was fighting for something that meant the world to her, there was no doubt. There was sadness in her gaze as well, this time. Hidden behind layers of resolve and dedication, to be sure, but Nanoha knew sadness when she saw it.

"Whatever means so much to you," she blurted suddenly on impulse, "I hope it works out for you. If it's that important to you, you deserve it."

The girl blinked in astonishment, completely thrown. It was the first real expression Nanoha had seen on her for the entire fight. Glancing at the scythe, halted in mid-fall, she noted with some relief that the blade wasn't in line with her. Either the girl had suddenly become a terrible shot, or it had been aimed to knock her out rather than kill her. That was good. Not only did Nanoha really not want to die, but it showed that the girl really wasn't all that bad.

So. She was bound in midair, with no defences whatsoever, and her captor was standing in front of her holding a very big, very sharp scythe with an energy blade and looking confused. Not... not the best of negotiating positions, but Nanoha felt confident that if she could get the girl talking, they could get this sorted out quickly and amicably.

"Um... I'm Nanoha Takamachi, and I'm-"

"Another mage in search of the Lost Logia," the girl interrupted softly. Her voice was calm, firm and clear, and she had recovered her composure, expression once again a calm, steely mask of focus. Her gaze flicked to Raising Heart. "With an Intelligent Device like my Bardiche," she noted with interest. Looking Nanoha up and down, she thought for a moment.

"Do not interfere, and cease your search for the Lost Logia," she stated. It was not a request. "I will allow you to go unharmed this time, but in future I will not be able to be so lenient. For your own safety, stay out of this." She ignored Nanoha's stammered attempts at a rebuttal and turned back to the giant kitten, which was beginning to rouse itself. Landing near it, her Device shifted again into a glaive-like form. Four long struts flipped out from the haft just under the blade, and wings of golden energy sparked out from them.

Even from a distance, and at a bad angle due to the stubbornly unmoving binds, Nanoha knew a Device's sealing form when she saw one. As the sphere of energy grew at the Device's tip, she renewed her struggling, trying to break out of the bind on raw strength.

'Yuuno-kun, help!'

'Nanoha!' He sounded close by. 'Listen, she's definitely from my world, and she's a powerful mage! This is a fight you can't win! Please, listen to reason and stay out of her way!'

The girl drove the sphere of energy into the ground, and a line of broken, shattered earth traced its path to the kitten. Golden lightning wreathed its form, arcing mercilessly over its fur, and the giant creature yowled in pain, writhing and kicking.

'Yuuno-kun, please! I have to do something!'

'Nanoha...'

'I can't just let the poor thing suffer! I'm sure she's a good person at heart, I just have to find out why she's doing this and make things right! PLEASE, Yuuno-kun! Help me!'

A scream from the kitten punctuated the silence as the Jewel Seed was torn from its body hovering above its prone form. The sound seemed to prompt Yuuno into action.

'... alright. But promise me, Nanoha, be careful.'

'I will, Yuuno-kun.'

Green light flared around the rings of gold, and both shattered, freeing her. Nursing her sore wrists, she turned and made a beeline for the kitten. As she did, a bolt of lightning shot up to the heavens. Where it dispersed, dark clouds began to gather. That looked... ominous.

'Suppression spell!' Yuuno warned, 'She's sealing the Jewel Seed! Nanoha, don't get caught in that, it's powerful!'

A hole opened up in the cloud layer, expanding rapidly into a jet black ring. From it, a dozen or so spears of lightning fell. They did not, to Nanoha's eyes, look friendly.

"Divine Shooter!" she yelled desperately, hoping to disrupt the spell and stop the deadly arrows hitting the kitten by forcing the girl to defend herself. The pink balls of light shot out with blinding speed... only to break against a shield the girl conjured almost reflexively. She didn't even look round, all her attention focused on the sealing.

The spears of light crashed into the ground, lancing into the kitten and the ground around it and prompting further mewls of pain. As a magic circle began to glow underneath it, a glimmer in the black circle above quickly grew into a light too bright to look at. With a final grunt of effort from the girl, a pillar of golden fire erupted downwards from it, bathing the kitten, the Jewel Seed and everything else within a twelve-metre circle in the sealing spell.

When it was over, and the light had faded, the Jewel Seed hung motionless in the air above the limp form of the kitten, returned to its normal size. Focusing on it intently, Nanoha was relieved to see it breathing slowly. Alive, then. That was a relief.

Her focus on the once-again tiny creature nearly cost her dearly. Only the hiss of an incoming attack alerted her in time to slam a shield up. Eight spheres of crackling electricity exploded against it, less than a metre from her face, with a blast that left her ears ringing and her eyes blinded by sunspots, pain ricocheting through her skull. The sparkling motes of gold left by the explosion hung in the air for a moment as her shield guttered and vanished, drained and broken with the effort of holding off the attack.

Then they rushed towards her en masse, like iron filings drawn by a magnet, and detonated.

White hot agony speared through her chest. The impact, buffered only by her Barrier Jacket, was like what she imagined being kicked by a horse would feel like, as long as the horse in question was wearing red-hot horseshoes and it set off a cannon next to her ears as it did so. Coughing, deafened, her vision bleary and her nerves screaming in pain, she desperately tried to stabilise her flight, no longer even sure of which way was up. She scanned around for her opponent as she cleared the cloud of smoke, Barrier Jacket tattered and burnt, skin reddened by the intense heat, two white-hot spikes of agony signifying what she was fairly sure were broken ribs. Well, probably. It certainly felt like something in her chest had been replaced with jagged metal taken straight from a blast furnace. Some abstract part of her mind, divorced from the immediate situation by shock and panic, hysterically wondered how it was possible to hurt this much and still even be conscious, let alone flying.

She couldn't see the other girl. Clumsily, hampered by the fact that her fingers weren't working right and her hands were shaking, she tried to brush the hair that had fallen loose out of her face. She needed to- to... there was something she needed to do, some precaution she needed to take. A... barrier? Or a shield? Or a field-type spell? Her head ached, and she couldn't remember what she was supposed to-

[Sonic Move.]

A presence behind her, so close she could feel the body heat. Eyes widening in horrified realisation, Nanoha started to turn-

[Photon Lancer.]

Light. Pain. She was falling...

Darkness claimed her.

...​

Yuuno flung himself recklessly through the undergrowth, ignoring the thorns and whip-like branches that scratched his flanks, racing to catch Nanoha before she hit the ground. On top of the injuries from an attack like that, it was possible that a bad landing might even be fatal, with the critical damage to her Barrier Jacket. Skidding to a halt at roughly the right spot, he gasped for air and set the magic loose.

Three casting circles of soft green light appeared; arrayed above one another at what his quick calculations told him would be the end of Nanoha's tumbling path down from where the other girl had caught her with the last attack. As the plummeting girl's body hit them, they sunk under her weight, compressing like a giant spring to slowly bleed off the momentum of her fall and lower her softly to the ground. She came to rest on her back, feather-light, and Yuuno scampered over hurriedly to check the extent of the damage.

She was breathing. Good. He pushed as much power as he could summon up into a Physical Heal spell, watching the viridian glow bathe her prone form - her Barrier Jacket having dissolved completely as she fell unconscious, leaving her school uniform in its place. It helped - he could feel her bones knitting together and see the burns shrinking - but it was nowhere near enough.

The blonde girl touched down softly and held her Device out. The Jewel Seed, still hanging in the air, quivered for a moment before shooting into the yellow gem inset into the head of the black metal axehead.

[Jewel Seed XIV sealed,] it announced, pulsing once to confirm the acceptance of the Lost Logia before falling silent. Eyes flicking downwards, the girl frowned. The Jewel Seed hadn't moved... but the kitten was gone.

She found it a few metres away, weakly limping towards Nanoha. The girl's words echoed again at the back of her mind, and she gently picked it up. It struggled a little, but was too weak to put up more than a token protest. Silently, she carried it over to the fallen mage, noting the ferret perched on her shoulder staring at her. While obviously no normal animal, she was less than intimidated. It was no match for her in a straight fight, and both of them knew it.

She deposited the kitten down near the girl's body, watching dispassionately as the tiny creature limped over to the girl and nuzzled her face. Mewling softly when she failed to relax, the young kitten tried to rouse her, licking her cheek and pushing its little head against her chin. A flicker of guilt ran through the dark-clad magical girl as she watched the distressed little feline.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, kneeling down beside the girl, just out of reach. The ferret glanced at her, but seemed to realise she wasn't talking to him. "I wish- I would have left you alone. I would. But I can't let anyone interfere. Not with this. Not with the stakes as they are." For a moment, her resolute mask dropped, and she suddenly looked very young, and her eyes bore sadness far beyond her years. Her hand drifted out, as if to touch her unconscious rival's cheek. "I wish..."

She sighed wearily. "Please," she said, and this time it was addressed to the ferret whose eyes gleamed with intelligence far greater than a simple animal should possess, "keep her out of this. I hit her hard enough to take her out of the running for at least a fortnight. Use that time to convince her not to come back." Her eyes drifted up and left, into the depths of memory. "Next time, I won't be able to hold back."

Yuuno watched her with hard green eyes, gaze unwavering. Nodding once, she rose and walked away. Within a few seconds, she was lost between the trees. Yuuno put the mystery the girl represented aside for now. At the moment, his primary concern was Nanoha. He had people to fetch.

...​

"She isn't back yet. How long has it been?" asked Arisa for the third time in as many minutes. Diplomatically sipping her tea to avoid having to answer immediately, Suzuka snuck a glance at her friend from beneath her eyelashes. Despite her grudging acceptance of Nanoha's refusal to talk about whatever was going on with her, it seemed as if Arisa was still unwilling to allow the brunette out of her sight for too long. Hopefully she would calm down a little over the remainder of the weekend and be less agitated by Monday.

To tell the truth, she was getting a little concerned as well. Nanoha had been gone for almost ten minutes, and catching Yuuno should only have taken one or two. Nonetheless, she summoned up a reassuring smile for Arisa and set the cup down with a clink. "Don't worry," she soothed, "I'm sure she's just having a little trouble catching Yuuno-kun. He can be pretty hard to keep hold of when he wants to run around and play."

"Hmph," Arisa sniffed. "Fine. I guess. But if she isn't back soon, I'm going to look for her."

Spotting a scrap of moving tan fur amidst the grass, Suzuka nodded towards it. "No need. Here they come now."

Arisa turned, fully intending to give Nanoha a piece of her mind for taking so long and making her worry, an angry frown already on her face. She was halfway through the first indignant syllable when she stopped and blinked, confused.

"... there's Yuuno, sure. Where's Nanoha?" She scanned the trees behind the ferret, looking for a patch of moving white amidst the greens and browns. None appeared. As Yuuno got closer, they began to hear his frantic squeals.

"I think he's upset... do you think something happened?" Arisa stood, Suzuka following suit, and moved to meet Yuuno halfway. As soon as they started moving, he skidded to a halt, circled twice and began to dash back the way he had come, stopping after a few metres to look back over his shoulder at them impatiently. His small body seemed to quiver with tension, and his stance emanated panic from every line.

"I think something's wrong," said Arisa, tone now dead certain and heavy with worry. Suzuka nodded, declining to talk in favour of running after the small patch of fast-moving fur. Yuuno moved as fast as they could keep up, flashing through the undergrowth at impressive speeds for such a small creature, stopping only to allow them to reorient on him when they lost track of where he was, squeaking loudly to draw their attention.

"Why would Nanoha be all the way out here?" gasped Suzuka, ducking under a branch and manoeuvring around a bush's sharp-thorned, grasping branches. "Surely she couldn't have chased Yuuno this far? How far did she-"

Her questions were abruptly cut off as they cleared a particularly dense thicket of saplings and saw the girl in question.

...​

Kyouya was smiling idly, playing with a lock of Shinobu's hair and laughing softly with her. The tea cooled slowly beside them, ignored, and Noel was conspicuous only in her absence, having retreated to give the two a little alone time.

The faint scream split the warm, peaceful atmosphere like the sharp crack of shattering ice, and the distant, panicked shriek that followed it by a second made both teenagers' blood run cold.

"Nanoha!"

Kyouya moved, forcing his body to its limits as he grabbed the first available object that could substitute for a sword. Hockey stick in hand, he considered the stairs only for the split second it took to dismiss them as too slow, rammed open the window and leapt out in a single, seamless movement. Tucking and rolling as he hit the ground a storey below, he came up in a dead run, the wind howling in his ears as he raced towards the source of the screams.

Bursting into the clearing, he came to a dead stop almost instantly, his vision narrowing until only one thing remained.

His sister lay limp on the ground, Arisa frantically checking her vitals. Her hair, unbound, fanned out across the ground in a soft curtain, and a faint purpling around her left cheek foreshadowed a magnificent black eye later. Her clothing was riddled with small tears from branches and undergrowth, and there were burnt patches dotted here and there whose source he couldn't even begin to guess at. Thin lines of scarlet signified shallow lacerations - again, probably from branches or thorns - which were bleeding sluggishly, and her posture was that of someone who had fallen some distance, not simply collapsed.

Forcing down the tidal wave of rage, he ignored the stares of the two girls as they noticed him, surprise painted clearly on their faces as they took in his mussed hair, half-buttoned shirt and the hockey stick he carried casually. Noting the slow rise and fall of Nanoha's chest and the twin-toned keening of her ferret and a small grey kitten that was nuzzling her face, he ruthlessly leashed his movements down to a brisk walk over to Nanoha's prone form, glancing around at the surroundings as he did so.

No hills. No disturbed undergrowth, save the paths he, Arisa and Suzuka had taken. No trees large enough to climb.

Hmm.

Kneeling down next to his little sister, he carefully checked her vitals. She was in no danger, thankfully. Unconscious, yes, but her breathing was good and her heartbeat was strong. The damage seemed to be mostly superficial, aside from a couple of lightly fractured ribs and a few nasty burns on her back. He stared at the charred cloth, eyes narrowed, wracking his brain for anything that could create an effect like this. Nothing came to mind, and he dropped the matter in favour of more important topics.

"Arisa." His voice was crisp, stern and betrayed almost none of the boiling fury he felt. Almost. "Go back to the house. Phone an ambulance. Get the maids to make up a bed for her to rest in until then." The girl opened her mouth to argue, to refuse, to adamantly insist on staying by her Nanoha's side.

Kyouya looked at her. A brief moment passed.

Arisa shut her mouth again and nodded mutely, before dashing off towards the house as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Now, Suzuka. Tell me everything that happened, right down to the last detail. Leave nothing out." He glanced at her, took in the wide eyes, the faint tremor. His voice softened somewhat. "Go slowly. Start from the beginning. Where were you?"

She swallowed, composing herself before attempting to start. When she did speak, her voice was shaken and a little wobbly, but clear. "I- we were sitting out near the edge of the forest, on the p-patio. Talking about... um... I think we were talking about the cats. Yuuno-kun suddenly ran off into the forest, and Nanoha went to get him." She paused, thinking hard for a minute, "... we offered to help catch him, I think, but she said she could do it easily and went after him. Um... we waited for... I think maybe ten minutes or so? Then Yuuno c-came back, acting really upset, so we followed him, and he led us here, and... and..." For a moment, she teetered on the edge of tears, but recovered before she succumbed to them.

"Alright," said Kyouya, "thank you. The doctors might want to talk to you, when they get here, so try to remember all the details you can." Carefully scooping Nanoha into his arms, he stood up, supporting her head on his shoulder. Her breathing hitched as he lifted her, but otherwise she made no reaction. His frown deepened, and he set off back towards the house at a brisk pace.

First, he had to get Nanoha settled somewhere she could recuperate until the ambulance arrived. Then he needed to call his parents and explain what had happened. And then... then, he was going to find out who or what had hurt his little sister, and make them pay.

...​

"... she wake up?"

"Hard to say, but she's recovering fast. At this rate, she should..."

Darkness flowed behind her eyelids. She felt as though she lay at the bottom of a deep pool of still water, the depth muting and distorting sounds from above. Down here, in the cool darkness, everything was peaceful and still. She knew, however, that the sharks of pain and exhaustion circled above, just waiting for her to make a break for the surface. Time passed - perhaps seconds, perhaps hours - as she lay there and contemplated what to do. Maybe it would be better just to stay down here? Not forever, just until the sharks got bored and went away. Then she could swim up to the surface unhindered. That would a be better plan than trying to go now, right?

"... worried about her, Shiro. I hate seeing her so... so still. It's like the time you were..."

Her mother's voice, wavering with suppressed pain and anxiety, sent a jolt through her system. She had heard that pain before, years ago, when her father lay surrounded by machines and IV drips, pale, frail-looking and swathed in bandages. Never again, she had vowed back then. Never.

Through a distance that could have been inches or miles, she looked upwards through clear water towards the sound of her parents' voices. Damn the sharks. Ignore the pain. Forget the exhaustion.

Kicking off from the bottom, Nanoha swam.

...​

Blue eyes fluttered open briefly, and Shiro nudged his wife, who was cuddled into his shoulder seeking comfort. "She's waking up," he observed quietly, watching his daughter's eyes struggle open again before losing the fight to remain so and sliding closed once more.

"Nanoha?" asked Momoko gently. "Nanoha, can you hear me?"

"Mmth..." mumbled Nanoha. She dragged her eyes open a third time, and this time kept them that way, blearily focusing on her family arrayed around her bedside with matching expressions of concern. She blinked a few times, dazedly, before an expression of guilt spread across her face.

"I made you worry..." she rasped, "... and Suzuka-chan and Arisa-chan as well."

"Shh, sweetheart," Momoko soothed, kneeling beside her and wrapping her in a gentle hug, careful not to jar her bandaged ribs. "It's alright, it's alright. Do you remember what happened, how you got hurt?"

Nanoha hesitated. Not for long, just a fraction of a second, but everyone in the room caught it, though nobody reacted to it. "N-no," she said, "not really... there was a light? From behind me. And then... I was falling down, and then I woke up here. I'm not really sure exactly what happened." Her eyes flickered over their faces, assessing their expressions, "I'm sorry I can't be any more helpful," she added. "It all happened so fast, and..."

"It's alright," Shiro soothed, "if you can't remember, we won't blame you for that. Just rest, and focus on getting better, alright?" He waited until she nodded sheepishly, then smiled.

"Alright. Now, if you feel up to it, I believe there are a couple of young ladies downstairs who are rather eager to see you."

"Suzuka-chan and Arisa-chan are here?!" Shiro was impressed as Nanoha actually rose up on her elbows into a half-sitting position as she reacted, before falling back down onto the pillows again with a wince and a soft thump. Momoko hid a smile, and Kyouya raised an eyebrow.

"... yes," Shiro temporised, "but I don't think you should see them if you're going to overexert yourself..."

"I'll be good, I promise! Please, papa? I won't strain myself; I just really want to see them."

He looked her up and down, taking in her condition. Despite her heavy slumber of a few minutes ago, she seemed reasonably alert, and apart from a slight slurring of her speech the mild concussion seemed to have had no deleterious effects. "Alright," he decided, "I'll ask the staff to send them up. Now, your mother and I need to talk to the doctors, so we'll step out for a minute and give you some time with your friends. Kyouya, Miyuki, do you mind staying here and looking after her?"

He needn't have asked. Both were more than willing to stay guarding their little sister, and Shiro left them to it with a chuckle. Nanoha sank back into the pillows as he and Momoko stepped out, weakly requesting a few moments of rest until her friends arrived.

Quietly pushing the door to, they approached the white-clad professional reading through Nanoha's clipboard in the outer room. He was middle-aged, balding, with faint bags under his eyes and a slight blue tinge on one side of his lip. The cause was apparent, as he was chewing absently on his pen while scanning over the information. Glancing up as they approached, he waved them over.

"Frankly," he started without waiting for them to ask about Nanoha's condition, "her injuries have me baffled, and I can say that without any shame, because they don't make sense. Your son tells me that there were no disturbances or broken undergrowth near where she was found, which doesn't make any sense because to be perfectly honest it looks as though she's been dragged headfirst through a hedge."

He flipped the page and skimmed over the next one, pausing to reread a couple of the notes before continuing. "Her chest injuries and concussion remind me of what I once saw on a JSDF recruit who had a concussive grenade blow up in his hand before he threw it, except for the fact that two lightly fractured ribs are far too minor for the force of an explosion necessary to cause the grade of concussion she was brought in with, though she's been recovering at an astounding rate."

Flipping another page over he frowned, "The most bizarre part, however, are the electrical burns on her back. Three of them, two in the small of her back and one just under her right shoulder blade, all indicative of..." he looked up, expression earnest and apologetic, "... I have no idea. I can't think of anything that could cause burns like this, they're like nothing I've ever seen before. The only comparison from thirty years on the trauma ward that I can draw is a lightning strike, and the size, placement and circumstances render that theory ludicrous."

Inside the room, carefully listening for the faint strains of the conversation through the not-quite-closed door, Nanoha winced as she caught the words 'concussive grenade', 'electrical burns' and 'lightning strike'.

"Anyway, despite the unusual nature of her injuries, she's responded excellently to treatment-" the doctor abruptly fell silent as Suzuka and Arisa entered the room. Pausing briefly to murmur polite greetings to the three adults, they hurried into Nanoha's room. After a brief silence, Arisa's voice exploded from inside in near-wordless anger, interspersed by Suzuka's calming tones. Glancing in through the door as he shut it, Shiro caught a glimpse of the blonde girl pacing and gesturing wildly as she roundly scolded Nanoha, with her softer-spoken friend trying to calm her down in between her own worried, disapproving glances at Nanoha. Nanoha herself looked guilty and more than a little ashamed, for some reason. It could just be at making them worry, but combined with whatever she was holding back...

A glance at Kyouya revealed the teenage boy already looking back at his father. His expression made it clear that he was suspicious as well. Exchanging a nod with his son, Shiro pulled the door closed again and returned to the conversation at hand.

"So when will she be recovered by?" asked his wife. The doctor considered for a moment, flipping through the clipboard. "I would say... two weeks of bed rest at home, and she should be alright. Bring her in for checkups both weekends so that we can be sure of no relapses, but as long as no complications arise, I'm optimistic she'll be up and about again in a fortnight. She's a healthy girl, and most of her injuries aren't as bad as they look. And she's healing fantastically."

"I see." Momoko smiled at the man in gratitude. "Thank you very much, you've been very helpful. May we take her home now, or should we wait until later?"

"My pleasure to be of service, I assure you. And there are some forms to fill in, but once those are out of the way, she's free to check out whenever she wants to."

The forms didn't take long to complete, but it was still long enough for Nanoha to have fallen asleep from exhaustion by the time they returned to the room. Arisa and Suzuka seemed a little put out, but were mollified by a promise that they could visit Nanoha at home. Nanoha herself remained in a deep slumber until they were almost at the door, only rousing as she was tucked into her own bed.

"Mama, papa? I'm sorry for worrying everybody..."

"That's okay, sweetheart. Are you sure you don't remember anything? If anything comes to mind, anything at all, you can tell us."

She remained silent for a long time, absently bringing a hand up to stroke Yuuno as the little creature flowed up onto her bed and nuzzled her cheek with a torrent of squeaks and nips, obviously glad to see her safe and sound. After a few minutes of quiet contemplation, she looked up apologetically.

"I'm sorry, everything's still blurry." A yawn forced its way out of her, and she blinked tiredly. "I don't think I can stay awake much longer... night mama, night papa. Say goodnight to Kyouya and Miyuki for me?"

"We will. Sleep tight, sweetheart."

As her parents left, they were unaware of the second conversation taking place in the darkened room.

'Nanoha... this was my fault. I shouldn't have drawn you into this, if I hadn't asked you to help, you wouldn't have been injured so badly.'

'It's not as bad as it looked, Yuuno-kun. I'll be fine in a couple of weeks. And as soon as I'm better, I'll start searching for the Jewel Seeds again. I still don't think that girl really wanted to hurt me.'

'Didn't want to- Nanoha, she put you in hospital!'

'Nyaa ha... well yes, sort of. But she gave me a fair chance to surrender first, and I did sort of attack her, so it was really self defence. And she even apologised. I think she would really have rather not hurt me; she just didn't have a choice. Next time, I know I can get through to her. All we have to do is talk, and I'm sure we'll be able to sort everything out.'

'What about your family, though? What if you get hurt again?'

For that, Nanoha had no answer, and an uneasy silence fell between the two until she drifted off to sleep.

...​

Outside, red eyes watched patiently through the window until the girl fell asleep, her breathing becoming slow and steady and her expression sliding into peaceful slumber. A dark cape rustled faintly from amidst the shadows of the rooftop as its owner brought a small golden triangle up to her face.

"Did you capture snapshots of the family?" she murmured quietly. The talisman pulsed once with a soft gold light and she nodded. "Good. Note the address and location." Another pulse from the talisman confirmed its acknowledgement, and she sent a lingering look back towards the sleeping girl in the room across from her rooftop perch.

Then she turned, cape flaring out behind her as she set her mind homewards. With another faint rustle and a brief flash of light, the shadows were once again left empty.

It only took a few minutes of blurred travel to arrive at her temporary lodgings. Alighting on the roof of the towering skyscraper, she dismissed her Barrier Jacket as she made her way down from the access door to her penthouse. The black lace of her dress replaced the comforting protection of the Barrier Jacket as she pushed open the door and made a beeline for the kitchen.

"Fate-chan!" Arf interrupted her en-route, bounding over to nuzzle her in greeting, "how did your preliminary scouting go?" She growled happily as Fate's hand came down on reflex to pet her, the reaction having long since become automatic.

"It went well," said Fate, smiling down at her Familiar as she scratched in exactly the right place to make Arf's hind leg spasm with pleasure. "I'm familiar with the basic layout of the area, and I managed to locate and seal one of the Jewel Seeds-"

"What?!" Arf abandoned the petting session instantly, rearing back and reflexively taking human form to gain height. "Fate! You know that's dangerous, why did you try something like that on your own?! You should have called for me - or better yet, taken me in the first place!" She waved her arms irritably as she scolded, gesturing wildly to illustrate her point. "My job is to protect and support you, you can't just-"

"Arf... Arf!" Fate spoke over the irate Familiar, "Arf, it went fine, barring one minor complication. I sealed the Jewel Seed without any significant problems... I wasn't even scratched, and it didn't take much power, either. I don't think it had activated to more than a thousandth of its full potential."

Arf seemed to mostly calm down at the reassurance, but still eyed her master suspiciously. "What kind of 'minor complication'?" she asked dubiously, eyes narrowed. Fate paused at the fridge, staring off into the distance.

"A girl... a young mage. Her name is Nanoha, she was..." Fate trailed off, looking contemplatively through the window at the city panorama spread out below. The fridge light cast a sharp contrast across her face in the evening light, illuminating one half while leaving the other in shadow. After a moment of quiet reminiscence, she appeared to snap out of it and removed a couple of sandwiches from the fridge, nudging the door closed as she returned to the table. Arf watched apprehensively, distrustful of this new turn of events.

"Anyway," Fate said, her voice once again businesslike, "she was after the Jewel Seed as well, but she wasn't at all trained- she could barely hold her Device, and she had no idea how to fight. I was originally going to just bind her and let her go, but she somehow broke free - I think she had an ally somewhere - and attacked again, so I took her out. Hard." A slight expression of guilt flashed across her face, but she buried it ruthlessly. "She won't be a problem for at least a week, probably more. In that time, we can gather the Jewel Seeds unhindered, and with any luck, she'll decide not to try again once she gets out of hospital." She nodded decisively and took a bite out of the sandwich, closing the issue. Still, Arf was uneasy for some reason. This unknown mage had shaken Fate's resolve, even if only briefly, and from the sounds of it she had done it even from the wrong end of an entirely one-sided fight. That boded... badly.

Polishing off the last few pieces of the sandwich, Fate stood. "Alright, I need to call Mother. You should get some rest, I'll join you shortly."

Acknowledging a reluctant nod from Arf, Fate strolled into the small, private room marked on the penthouse plans as an office. She didn't use it as such, of course, but it was still useful for things like this - private communications back home, planning, doing maintenance work on Bardiche and so on. Focusing her will through her Device, she concentrated on the dimensional coordinates for the Garden of Time, whispering them under her breath to lock them into the spell.

An inward jerk as the magic stretched out across dimensional space to connect, and a Midchildan casting circle spun into existence in the air in front of her. The area inside the ring of runes and symbols flickered briefly before resolving into a pale woman with long grey hair in an elegant, low-cut dress. She sat in a cavernous hall on a high-backed chair, and looked up as the communication window opened with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, Fate," she greeted. Her tone was drawling, low and husky. "You have completed your preliminary assessment?"

"Yes, mother. Linith made sure Arf and I were settled before returning to the Garden, and I have already acquired a basic familiarity with the area and obtained one Lost Logia." The woman's eyebrow rose further at this, the only change in expression she showed.

"Within a day? Impressive, Fate. Very well done." Her voice was flat, almost monotone, and the words sounded rote. Nevertheless, the effect on the young girl was transformative; her shoulders came up, a smile appeared on her face and she stood taller, more confidently. "There was one small complication to report, however," she continued, waiting for her mother to wave a hand in a silent command to elaborate. "A young girl - a mage, native to this world from what I can tell. She was trying to collect the Lost Logia herself, accompanied by an animal-"

"A Familiar?" the woman interrupted. Fate considered. "... no," she eventually decided, "it didn't look or act like one. In appearance, it was just a small mammal, but it was able to use magic and seemed to be intelligent. It only intervened twice, though. She was badly trained, or laughably inexperienced, so at first I just drove her away from the Jewel Seed and bound her. I believe it stepped in to free her, and she attacked again as I was in the process of sealing it. I used a dual-stage attack as a feint to shoot her from behind, and it used magic again to catch her as she fell."

"She was able to fly?"

"Yes, she was relatively powerful. Probably AA rank at least, just horribly unskilled. She could barely even hold her Device."

"Hmm," the woman mused. "You say she's a native? Follow her, find out where she lives, who she is."

Fate smiled happily at the chance to impress her mother with her initiative. "I already have done," she said proudly, "She was taken to hospital, and then to her home. Transmitting pictures of her family - mother, father, two older siblings - and the location and address of her home." Bardiche glowed briefly as it sent the information in question, and the images flashed on-screen, finishing with a shot of the girl herself.

Precia nodded in interest, looking over them. After a moment, she looked up and favoured Fate with a smile that fell just short of reaching her eyes. "Again, good," she complimented, still in the lazy, drawled tone that had not changed substantially throughout the conversation. "Your initiative is impressive."

Fate glowed at the praise.

"Hmm..." The woman flicked through the data Fate had gathered, narrowing her eyes sharply at one or two parts, skimming over other portions. After a few minutes of thought, she nodded. "Very well, Fate. You acted well, given the circumstances. Continue searching for the Lost Logia, and keep an eye on this Takamachi girl."

"Yes, mother."

"Good. If that's all..." she waved dismissively and began to turn away.

"Um..."

The woman looked back impatiently, "What is it?"

Fate bit her lip, fidgeting slightly. "Um... during the fight, while she was bound... the girl said something... confusing."

"Oh? What was that?" The tone was bored, but Fate didn't seem to notice.

"She told me her name, and said... she said that she hoped I achieved whatever my goals were, because if something was important enough to me that I fought so hard for it, she thought I deserved it."

The bored, distracted expression slowly slid off the woman's face, and a glimmer of interest lit her eyes. "Did she now..." she mused. "Interesting... very interesting indeed..." She thought hard for a moment before pursing her lips. "... do not reveal our ultimate goals, but... if you wish to explain why you need the Lost Logia without going into details, you may do so. Tell her your name if she returns. Let her see... yes, let her see that our cause is just, that we fight to protect a life. I know you would prefer to discourage her peacefully. Hopefully, she will stand down and stop opposing us if she understands the stakes we fight for."

"Yes, mother."

"Avoid the ferret. If it was using magic as you say, the chances are that it is connected to the TSAB, or some other faction. Perhaps some new type of Familiar or an artificial being of some kind... regardless, it is not to be trusted. You are certain it was not hers?"

"Yes, mother."

"Very well. And Fate... you are a kind girl, I know. But if she will not see reason... harden your heart, and do what you must."

"Yes, mother." The young girl's voice was hollow, but resolute. "I will."

...​

 

[Happerry]

This is very interesting. Faved. Lets see where you take this.

 

[Biigoh]

Oh dear... I can see Fate trying to paint the TSAB in a negative light....

 

[Nolrai]

Interesting.

 

[Jonen C]

Excellent work. I eagerly await more.

 

[thesevenwielder]

Read this literally 10 minutes ago on FFN. Great potential. It's interesting how you made Precia out to not be a complete monster. I don't know how much Fate will paint the TSAB in a negative light, but so far Yuuno hasn't really mentioned the TSAB, so her first impression of them will be negative.

I can see Fate, after okaying it with Precia, allowing Nanoha into the Garden of Time, much to Yuuno's consternation. I wonder how Nanoha would react when the TSAB tries to stop them, if she has gotten the whole story about Alicia and Fate. Will Nanoha get training from Fate/Linith/Precia, and will Precia eventually snap and revert to her canon persona?

Waiting eagerly for the next chapter.

Edit: By the way, could someone give me a summary on just what Game Theory is? I looked it up on Wikipedia, but that didn't help at all.

 

[Jonen C]

Game theory is essentially a study of optimization of outcome.


Provided by a set of rules for potential outcome, game theory finds out what the potential outcomes are, which give the best payoffs, and which are more likely to give a consistently good outcome.


For example, the best possible outcome for one participant may require the other participants to make actively poor decisions - it is usually better to assume that all players will be trying for outcomes that will grant them the best possible outcome, with the realization that other participants will do the same (so making choices which requires the other side to do bad choices in order to pay off is not good).


An example is the Prisoners Dilemma.


So, basically, aside from trying to optimize the outcome, Game Theory is also about minimizing risk - and in case of failure - loss. Applied to real life, it would be trying to figure out which possible action would be most likely to lead to a particularly beneficial outcome - since the most efficient path to the best possible outcome is likely going to be inaccessible due to people being people and looking out for themselves first (unless they understand game theory too, in which case they may - knowing you also know game theory - try to play for the outcome which is most beneficial to both, though this is potentially a big risk).


***


I also note that, being alerted to Nanoha being involved in "Something", early on, and knowing Nanoha may be in over her head...


Well, the Ninja princess background of Nanoha's may actually be seeing some use in this story.

 

[thesevenwielder]

I sincerely hope so, because as things are going I can't see how this doesn't lead to "Precia wins, everyone dies." Either Fate convinces Nanoha to join up with Precia, or Precia probably nukes the Takamachi household with her cross-dimensional lightning magic or something like that.


Either way, this whole idea being inspired by ES does not fill me with good feelings.

Click to shrink...

Precia seems like a bit less of a dick in this story. She probably wouldn't kill Nanoha's family for no reason. If she IS using Game Theory, she is probably smart enough to realize that this will result in a Nanoha hell-bent on her death. Considering Fate told her that Nanoha, even untrained, is AA rank, she'd realize that having a powerful mage determined to kill her is detrimental to her plans.


If Precia isn't as evil as canon, and she is truly willing to just get back Precia, I don't see too much of a problem with Nanoha joining them. Or at least being on her own side and not working with the TSAB. Except I rather liked Chrono, Amy and Lindy, so I hope they wouldn't get killed in the crossfire.


Also, I'd like to see how A's goes if Nanoha joins Precia and they revive Alicia. Maybe they would make an offer to the Wolkenritter to use the Jewel Seeds to heal Hayate, or use some Al Hazardian equipment.


This is, of curse, if Precia doesn't try and kill them all after Alicia is revived.

 

[TheLastOne]

Game theory is essentially a study of optimization of outcome.


Provided by a set of rules for potential outcome, game theory finds out what the potential outcomes are, which give the best payoffs, and which are more likely to give a consistently good outcome.


For example, the best possible outcome for one participant may require the other participants to make actively poor decisions - it is usually better to assume that all players will be trying for outcomes that will grant them the best possible outcome, with the realization that other participants will do the same (so making choices which requires the other side to do bad choices in order to pay off is not good).


An example is the Prisoners Dilemma.


So, basically, aside from trying to optimize the outcome, Game Theory is also about minimizing risk - and in case of failure - loss. Applied to real life, it would be trying to figure out which possible action would be most likely to lead to a particularly beneficial outcome - since the most efficient path to the best possible outcome is likely going to be inaccessible due to people being people and looking out for themselves first (unless they understand game theory too, in which case they may - knowing you also know game theory - try to play for the outcome which is most beneficial to both, though this is potentially a big risk).


***


I also note that, being alerted to Nanoha being involved in "Something", early on, and knowing Nanoha may be in over her head...


Well, the Ninja princess background of Nanoha's may actually be seeing some use in this story.

Click to shrink...

One thing to note is that sometimes game theory is abstracted to much; the Prisoners Dilemma suggests an outcome that doesn't happen nearly as often in reality. This could be because the Prisoners Dilemma is a mini-game within a greater game - it's often unhealthy to be know as a rat, so there is another game you play immediately afterwords which has it's outcomes adjusted based on your initial choices.


Essentially, game theory is useful, but it has a tendency to simplify beyond parsimony.

 

[Aleph]

I will say that I'm intending to take a lot of the bits that sort of got ignored in canon *cougheverymaleintheseriescough* and give them more exploration and screentime. So that'll be fun.

... well, for me, anyway. Not sure they'll be quite as happy with it. Ah well, can't place everyone.

 

[EarthScorpion]

I will say that I'm intending to take a lot of the bits that sort of got ignored in canon *cougheverymaleintheseriescough* and give them more exploration and screentime. So that'll be fun.


... well, for me, anyway. Not sure they'll be quite as happy with it. Ah well, can't place everyone.

Click to shrink...

Hey, I'm pretty sure that [classified information] will be happy with it, because it means that he actually survives notably longer than in canon, and gets much more screentime. Likewise, [classified information] will get to be a lot cooler, even if [classified information] will never let him live down how he mucked up by giving [classified information] [classified information]. And [classified information]... well, technically he spends a lot more time as a major character, before he [classified information].

 

[Jonen C]

Precia is trying to maximize her assets to increase the likelihood of success, while also trying to minimize the number of opposing assets.

Taking Nanoha out quickly to discourage her from interfering is part of that, and is probably the default response. As Nanoha not so easily discouraged, but sympathetic, they'll probably switch over to trying to win her over to their cause, but their initial strategy will probably mean that's not going to work (Nanoha's family, at least, would probably guarantee such an approach would have a less than optimal outcome further down the road, due to misunderstandings).

Once the TSAB gets involved, trying to keep Nanoha out of it is more of a priority, or possibly getting her to distract the TSAB.
Attacking the TSAB would be a pointless waste of resources - that would only attract more of them later on. Sneak in and grab the lost logia from under their noses, without attracting undue attention.

So Precia would probably encourage Fate to connect to Nanoha, win her over at least enough so that she's not actively opposing them (and if not count on getting her direct support, at least try to get the Jewel Seeds she's already bagged peacefully).
No lightning to cut the losses and grab what she could - note that it was that attack which allowed the TSAB to locate the Garden of Time - no abandoning Fate or kicking out Arf. Possibly abandoning a cooperative Nanoha as a scapegoat for the TSAB's attention, since Nanoha and her family can easily be traced (on the other hand, Nanoha is unlikely to face much punishment, the TSAB aren't unreasonable - possibly Fate won't know this, which may lead to conflict and maybe a "rescue" attempt...).

And no last stand trying to save Alicia while the TSAB are coming.

And once (if) she manages to complete her objectives, why should she get rid of Fate? That is short sighted thinking. Given her own advanced age, she should keep Fate around to help her protect Alicia - and besides, she says it herself - Alicia would like to have a sister.

In all: I don't think Precia will be killing anyone in this story, not if she can help it.
Hell - even Linith is still around. In case you missed it.

 

[Aleph]

Lots of [classified information].

Click to shrink...

Wow. I plotted the story, and it took me about a minute to figure that out. I congratulate you on your confusion-fu.

And yes, ES is in on the planning. Though he's mostly just been making helpful suggestions, I'm the one who's been deciding where the plot will go. (I may have had to refuse to let him put in a few rather Madoka-y bits, and then removed a few more that he tried to sneak in quietly).

Regarding the speculations of where the story will go... wait and see. I have a pretty good idea of where it's going to end up. Roughly. Provided none of the characters decide to Starlight Breaker my plotline off-course because they don't like it.

And as for A's... I have ideas for A's. Wonderful ideas.

Fufufufufu...

 

[EarthScorpion]

And yes, ES is in on the planning. Though he's mostly just been making helpful suggestions, I'm the one who's been deciding where the plot will go. (I may have had to refuse to let him put in a few rather Madoka-y bits, and then removed a few more that he tried to sneak in quietly).

Click to shrink...

Bah! Yuuno totally found the Jewel Seeds in the tomb of the Belkan Sankt Kaiser Ku Bhai, and you know it!

 

[Biigoh]

Perhaps Darth Artemis shouldn't read this and stop protesting about it being such a bad fic and let those who enjoy it, enjoy it. ie. stop being a kill joy.

You've made your displeasure known, let it be.

 

[Jonen C]

Except, y'know, her using the Jewel Seeds and destroying the universe. Did you forget that part? That tech is sealed for good reason.

Click to shrink...

Now, now, if you follow standard insertion procedure I'm sure everything will turn out just fine.


Besides, Jail Scaglietti (remember that guy), proves (in StrikerS) that Jewel Seeds have perfectly safe applications in powering killbots. It's the uncontrolled activations (and, addittedly, some of the controlled, weaponized applications) that potentially break universes.

Assuming they do somehow revive Alicia, they've probably jumped straight to the top of the bureau's most-wanted list, and I'd imagine that Nanoha would qualify as an interdimensional terrorist for helping to activate the Seeds. Still not seeing any good possibilities from this endeavor.

Click to shrink...

If Precia has played her cards right, she'll be no worse off than any other unethical scientist. She'll be hunted, yes, but she has probably not killed anyone, and probably taken pains to avoid doing things that would equate to terrorism, which means that she has fairly low priority. And if she is successful, there's a fairly good chance of being able to trade in her results for a reduced sentence - something like Lutecia got in StrikerS, maybe - functionally, more time with her daughter(s) (although, Fate will probably have to do public service like in canon, which will take her away from home).


And I'd say this iteration of Precia may just be planning ahead for after she's healed Alicia to make damn sure she's got good odds for that - she'll certainly have a better knowledge of just how the TSAB judicial system looks at criminals like her than any of us (apart from, maybe, the author of this story).

 

[Aleph]

You'll have to excuse me if I disagree. My definition of interesting does not include "all the canon heroes are dead/in prison/locked in cold stasis for eternity" which is far and away the most likely outcome of making enough noise that the whole bureau comes after them.

Click to shrink...

Well I can promise you right now that I'm definitely not doing the first one, the second one (if it happens at all)... heh. Heh heh heh. Yeah, that's not going to be lasting long at all. And the third one is just boring, so not that either.

I may, however, deny them lesbian make-out sessions for some time. Definitely until they're of age, because... seriously, this is not that kind of story.

 

[sebsmith]

Darth, why do you hang in threads you know you won't like to tell the rest of us to not have fun?

 

[Jonen C]

On the note of the shipping department (and yes, I'm relieved that it's on hold until the characters are of age), am I the only one that thinks that with this particular first impression...

It was Nanoha who got befriended? Right off the bat?

She certainly saw the drive in Fate's eyes, and since it's that drive that she herself feels that she's been lacking...

Anyway, what I'm on about is this: Aleph. Is Fate going to have to deal with a fangirl?

 

[Aleph]

This pleases me. You have my continued readership for the time being.

Click to shrink...

Glad to hear it. I'm not going to just casually drop any of my characters - they may go through some hard times (bwaa haa), but they'll come out reasonably intact (save perhaps their dignity) and stronger than ever.

...this does not. }p Now I'm going to have to hunt you down and beat you with a live trout for the sake of all the crazy-fanatical yuri shippers who are sadly absent on CrW.

Click to shrink...

Please, for the love of all that is good and holy, not the trout! Noooooo!

On the note of the shipping department (and yes, I'm relieved that it's on hold until the characters are of age), am I the only one that thinks that with this particular first impression...


It was Nanoha who got befriended? Right off the bat?


She certainly saw the drive in Fate's eyes, and since it's that drive that she herself feels that she's been lacking...


Anyway, what I'm on about is this: Aleph. Is Fate going to have to deal with a fangirl?

Click to shrink...

*snerk*

*laughter*


Oh gods, that was good. *ahem* I won't spoil, but I will say that Fate has made, if possible, an even bigger impression on Nanoha in this than she did in canon.


... the mental type of impression, that is. The physical one sort of goes without saying, what with the whole "blasting her into hospital" thing.


I will admit, part of the reason I did that was just for the irony of seeing Little Miss Befriender get Befriended.

 

[notgreat]

First, great story. I really love reading fics where characters act in a more intelligent manner in attempting to achieve their goals.

Hey, I'm pretty sure that [1] will be happy with it, because it means that he actually survives notably longer than in canon, and gets much more screentime. Likewise, [2] will get to be a lot cooler, even if [3] will never let him live down how he mucked up by giving [4] [5]. And [6]... well, technically he spends a lot more time as a major character, before he [7].

Click to shrink...

Hmm. (changed classified information to numbers for identification)
These are probably completely wrong, but here's my guesses
1) A no-name mook that got killed in the Precia attack
The mook dies which fits "survive" better, but any of the male antagonists also work if you use the word metaphorically.

The next ones have 2 paths that work to me:
2) Yunno or Gil
3) Chrono(the most randomly guessed)
4) Nanoha or Hayate
5) Raging Heart or Book of Darkness
6) Chrono or Yunno
7) Is arrested/put on trial

Though, 4/5 could possibly be something about giving the jewel seeds to Percia. When operating off of so little data, it's little more than guesswork.

 

[Flere821]

*story faved*


*goes back to lurking and waits for more updates*

 

[Robo Jesus]

Ditto.