Game Theory (Nanoha fanfic)

[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."

...​

 

[Aleph]

Edit: Work started on Chapter 2, and progressing well. I would give an estimated completion date, but I really have no idea. Possibly maybe two to three weeks. I think.

Click to shrink...

Well, I said two to three weeks, and it's been exactly three weeks [1]. And since I do try to keep my promises [2]...

[1] Well, three weeks, eleven hours and twenty seven minutes. Cut me a little slack, I've been taking university courses.
[2] Unless it seems more amusing not to, of course.

Chapter Two​

She was half-blinded, dizzy and confused, desperately looking round to find her opponent.

[Sonic Move.]

Eyes widening with fear, she turned slowly... so slowly...

[Photon Lancer.]

The dead, mechanical voice spoke, each word like a block of iron dropping into place with military precision. Pain erupted from her chest, pangs of agony reverberating up and down her spine...

The pain was gone. She was hovering in midair, bound and restrained, helpless before the black-clad girl who stood on a circle of light in front of her. But something was different, something was wrong... she felt like those deep, burgundy eyes should have been filled with determination, or sadness, or hope. They should have been wide and open and full of emotion, drawing her in, silently calling to her.

Instead they were narrowed, vengeful and twisted with hatred. The blonde girl raised her weapon for a killing blow, the crackling scythe blade springing out with a hungry roar. The tip came down in an unstoppable attack...

She was standing on the ground, looking up at the source of the shots that had saved her from the enormous creature attacking her. But the staff that had fired them was slowly swinging round to point at her, cold eyes behind it regarding her as one would look at a cockroach in the kitchen. Golden light began to gather at the tip of the weapon...

Blue eyes snapped open with a strangled gasp. Nanoha jerked sideways and back, pressing herself into the mattress instinctively to get as far away from the phantom death-blow as she could. The awkward twist jarred her still-tender ribs and she hissed in pain

'Nanoha? Are you alright?' Yuuno's voice sounded, warm and comforting. She clung to it, still mired in the dregs of sleep, shivering as she hugged her pillow.

'... yes. J-just a little... a bad dream.' She tried to make her mental voice sound confident and self-assured, dismissing the lingering terror and pretending nothing was wrong. Had she been speaking out loud, she might have managed it. Unfortunately, she was not. The subtle brush of mind-on-mind as she replied told Yuuno all he needed to know about her emotional state, and he scurried over and up onto her bed to lick at her cheek in an attempt to provide comfort.

'It was that girl again, wasn't it?' Despite his questioning tone, it was a statement of fact. This was not the first such dream his charge had experienced in the fortnight since waking up in hospital. Nor, he had a nasty feeling, would it be the last. Tactfully responding to Nanoha's unspoken plea to talk about something else, he changed the subject.

'So. I heard your parents talking about a trip of some sort? What's did they mean?'

'Ah, yes. We're going up to a nearby hot springs resort we know well. We've been there before, we go every- ah, yes, you're not from Japan, are you? Well, we have a long series of consecutive holidays all strung together around this time of year, so we leave the bakery in the hands of store employees and all go on a family holiday. It's really nice. This time... ah... Suzuka-chan and Arisa-chan are coming...' Nanoha's mental voice became more uncertain as she mentioned her friends, both of whom had been highly suspicious in the two weeks since she had gotten hurt. Arisa in particular seemed to have forgotten or rescinded her agreement to allow Nanoha her privacy, and had only held back from forcibly interrogating the young mage out of concern for her health.

After a short, uneasy pause, Nanoha picked back up, 'Uh... anyway, yes. Um... I think mama and papa want to help me recuperate, because it's meant to be good for people who... aren't very well, spending time at a hot springs. We'll be there for the whole weekend, and then I have my last check-up the morning after we get back.' She glanced at Yuuno, smiling at his carefully-hidden concern. 'And it's a long way from the city, and nothing ever happens around there, so there's no chance of me running into any trouble.'

Marginally reassured, Yuuno nodded and shifted to nuzzle her cheek again. Giggling quietly at the ticklish sensation, she brought a hand up to stroke him, allowing herself to take a brief moment revelling in the warmth surrounding her, the lack of pain in her chest and the absence of anything attacking her -a combination that had been all too rare for the past fortnight.

"Mmm..."

Glancing over to make sure the door was locked, Nanoha stretched an arm over to her bedside cabinet to pick up Raising Heart. Resting the red gem in the palm of her hand, she twitched her fingers. The faint glow at the back of her mind brightened, warmth radiating from it to enfold her in a gentle embrace.

'Uh... Nanoha?'

The light within brightened further, flowing down her arm and coalescing under her fingers, guided by the simple equations she ran through in her head. Within seconds, it hit critical mass, and a sphere of soft pink light the size of a golf ball sprang into existence over her right hand. Responding to her commands, it hovered for a second before zipping upwards to circle above her head.

'Nanoha, what are you doing?'

'Well, I can't do any practice physically at the moment, with my ribs still sore. So I'm practicing my magical control instead.' The ball started to trace a figure of eight pattern, starting slow and slowly speeding up until it was almost a blur.

Nanoha closed her eyes to concentrate and another ball appeared, beginning its own figure of eight pattern at a right angle to the existing one. Yuuno spared a moment to be impressed - both projectiles were passing through the same space at the centre they shared at least twice a second, yet somehow Nanoha was keeping the pattern just right so that they wouldn't collide.

A faint grunt came from Nanoha, eyes still screwed tightly shut, as a third shot appeared. With a figure of eight on all three axes now, the mathematics was getting formidable. Keeping the shots slightly out of phase so that they didn't crash into one another made it even more so. Concern overrode Yuuno's awe, and he pushed against Nanoha's cheek.

'Nanoha, you shouldn't be straining yourself at all while you're still injured! Please, don't feel as though you have to train - stop and rest.'

'I feel fine, Yuuno-kun. And if I don't practice, I'll get rusty. Besides, if I don't do something, I'm going to go mad from boredom.'

Slowly, the entire whirring structure began to move in a wide circle as the origin point at the centre shifted. It looked like an atomic simulation, blurring projectiles flashing out in their orbitals at speeds that made it impossible to tell exactly where they were at any given time. The prone girl took a laboured breath as her lips moved soundlessly, and a second orbital-structure appeared about a metre from the first, drifting round along the same curved path. They followed one another, on opposite sides of a circle, the only sound in the room Nanoha's shallow panting and the whizz and whirr of the shots.

Yuuno growled, deciding he'd had enough. Focusing for a brief second, he lashed out with a barrier and green light flared. The shots disappeared with a sharp crack, and Nanoha gasped at the shock of the sudden cancellation.

"Yuuno-kun!" she blurted, hurriedly switching to telepathic speech when she realised she had spoken out loud, 'What was that for? I was practicing with those!'

'Listen to me,' Yuuno bit out, mental voice terse and tense with frustration, 'Overtraining will not benefit you. A week of bed rest will not make you rusty. If you continue pushing yourself beyond your limits - which you were, don't try to tell me otherwise - you will hurt yourself. You might even do permanent damage to your Linker Core. So lie down, tolerate the boredom and stop endangering yourself.'

'Yuuno-kun... look, I feel fine! I'm not overtraining-'

'You don't know that! You've been using magic for barely a month, you have no idea what straining yourself too much feels like!'

'I'd know if I were putting myself in danger! Please, stop holding me back! I'm not made of glass!'

'Why are you so adamant about this? What's so vital that you would risk injuring yourself and your own magic for it?! What difference will a few more days of bed rest to make sure you're healed-'

"I need to get the Jewel Seeds!"

Silence. The words seemed to hang in the air, both of them breathing hard from frustration and exertion. Blue eyes bored into green as Nanoha stared Yuuno down, propped up on her arms where she had reared up into a sitting position with her last, verbal declaration. Standing on her lap where the sudden movement had thrown him, his fur bristled and his back arched angrily, teeth bared. The words sank in slowly, and both of them relaxed, muscle by muscle, on some unseen signal.

'You said how much damage they could be capable of,' said Nanoha tiredly. 'I... I've seen the kind of damage disasters can do. On TV, and in newspapers. The Jewel Seeds could kill thousands of people. Tens of thousands. What... what if they cause an earthquake? Or a tsunami? You said that a Jewel Seed can do really bad things like that when it activates!'

Yuuno closed his eyes briefly, feeling a headache coming on. The frustrating part was, he couldn't even blame her. The Jewel Seeds were an enormous threat, and had they been scattered around his own childhood home, he had no doubt that he would be as frantic as she was.

'And... and there's that girl, too. She's after them for some reason, and I think she really needs them. But if it means that lots of people will get hurt, then that's bad, and I can't let her get them. Only... she's better than me. Stronger, and more skilled, and... I can't win against her. Not like I am now. And that means I can't get the Jewel Seeds, can't make sure they're sealed and kept safe. So... please, Yuuno. I need to train. I have to.'

Yuuno made the mistake of looking up, and caught the full brunt of Nanoha's pleading gaze. There was thinly veiled desperation in her eyes, backed by the knowledge of just how devastating a large-scale natural disaster could be.

'... alright,' he conceded, 'alright, I'll help you practice more. But not now, alright? Right now, focus on healing. Wait for three days. Then I'll start picking up the pace of what you're learning. Agreed?'

'... fine...' Nanoha's tone was grudging, but accepting.

'And enjoy this weekend. You're going to the hot springs! That's meant to be a good thing, right?'

'Yeah, I suppose,' Nanoha smiled, her mood lightening, 'And I'll be with my friends, and Noel-san and Farin-chan are coming as well, and mama and papa and Kyouya and Miyuki, of course... it'll be really fun!' Her tone was cheerful by the time she finished, optimistic and upbeat. Relieved, though not entirely over his concerns, Yuuno settled back down to nap some more until the time came to get up properly.

'But... um... Yuuno-kun?'

'Hmm?'

'Arisa-chan and Suzuka-chan are still mad at me...'

Ah, yes. He'd forgotten about that little detail.

... drat.

...​

The flurry, clamour and chaos of packing for a week-long trip for five people was thoroughly disconcerting to Yuuno, accustomed as he was to travelling relatively light and using magic to help with transport. After the second time he narrowly escaped being shut in a suitcase for the duration of the journey there, he retreated into Nanoha's room and hid under her pillow, with only a pair of dark green eyes and a small bump in the fabric revealing his presence. He stayed there stubbornly, refusing to come out, for most of the following day, even as the suitcases disappeared from the room and the frantic activity around the house stilled.

He was only drawn reluctantly out of his safe haven a little after noon, when Nanoha's voice called up from downstairs. "Yuuno-kun! Come on, we're leaving!"

After a few moments non-activity on his part, brisk footsteps sounded up the stairs and her brown-topped head poked through the door.

"Yuuno-kun..." Nanoha sighed in exasperation, "come out. We're leaving! It's okay, all the bags are packed away in the cars." She tried to coax the ferret from his pillow-cocoon, receiving only a few tufts of shed hair for her trouble.

'Yuuno!' she snapped in mild irritation, hands on hips. 'Come out of there right now! We need to leave soon, or we won't make it to the hot springs before it gets dark!'

"Nanoha?" came her mother's voice from downstairs.

"Coming, mama!" she replied, and threw an impatient glare at Yuuno, who grudgingly slunk out of the artificial den. She picked him up gently, despite her irritation at the wait.

"Thank you," she murmured to him, allowing him to scamper up onto her shoulder. "Though you took your time."

'I was nearly shut in two suitcases and a picnic basket,' came the flat reply. It was safer under there.'

Nanoha frowned. 'But there would have been food in the picnic basket,' she thought.

Yuuno gave her a level-gazed green stare. 'Yes. And also heavy plates. On top of me.'

'Oh. Um. It's lucky you escaped?'

The lack of reply seemed distinctly put out, somehow.

Once they got moving, however, the ferret's mildly traumatised sulk faded soon enough, and an hour into the journey he was happily sitting on Suzuka's lap, enjoying the attention of all three girls. Arisa and Suzuka seemed to have silently agreed to leave any irritation or arguments behind for the duration of the holiday, and a weight seemed to lift from Nanoha's shoulders as she laughed and chattered with her friends, the scenery blurring past the car windows as they sped down the motorway. Kyouya, Miyuki, Shinobu and the maids followed behind them in a second car - they had far too many people to fit into one - and Momoko was busy map-reading for Shiro, so Nanoha was left with plenty of time to think. Leaving Yuuno to Arisa and Suzuka, she turned to stare out of the window, gaze skipping from one lamppost to another, imagining a black mage-girl leaping from one to the next.

'Nanoha?'

Well-practiced by now, she didn't flinch at Yuuno's inquiring voice. 'Hmm?'

'You are going to make sure you take it easy this weekend, right? Nothing strenuous. Your injuries still haven't fully healed.'

'I promised, Yuuno-kun,' she replied calmly. 'I'm intending to relax and have fun on this trip. Nothing more. Nothing less.'

'I just... worry.'

'I know.' She turned to smile at him. 'It's nice to know you care so much. But you really don't need to, this time. There's nothing to worry about.'

'... alright.'

...​

"Ahhh!" The ardent exclamation echoed from all three girls at once as they stared at the hot spring. Smooth, pale stone tiles surrounded the pool and wisps of steam formed a thin layer over the clear water. There were more inside, of course, ones that had been specially set up for bathing. This, however, was the first of the many springs in the area that visitors entering the resort saw, and the simple elegance of its design was chosen specifically to welcome and invite customers in.

"It looks so good! I can't wait to get inside!" Arisa grinned, impulsively grabbing Suzuka and Nanoha by the hands. "Come on, let's go ahead and get ready!" Momoko and Shiro traded smiles as they watched the girls race off up the path towards reception, following along at a more leisurely pace to check in. Behind them, Kyouya, Miyuki, Shinobu and the maids started unpacking the cars, following them in with bags and suitcases.

Curled around Nanoha's neck like a living scarf, Yuuno weathered the unpacking with no more than a mild shudder when he saw the ill-fated picnic basket that had almost trapped him. Unfortunately, he neglected to take into account how this position might make him vulnerable to less easily evaded torments until just a little too late.

'N-Nanoha... I really d-don't think I should b-be in here...' he stammered, keeping his eyes determinedly fixed on the wall in front of him and his back turned on the room full of scantily-clad girls changing for a soak in the pools. This was not according to plan. He'd almost have preferred another round with the picnic basket.

'Huh? Nanoha's voice was distracted, occupied as she was with disrobing. 'Why not?' Footsteps padded over to him, and somewhere across the room Miyuki squealed to the accompaniment of Arisa's mischievous giggles. Yuuno blocked his ears and tried to ignore the laughter and movements behind him.

'Come on, Yuuno-kun, demanded Nanoha impatiently, 'you can come in with me.' A hand closed on his tail, giving it a teasing tug, and he turned. Even as he completed the motion, he realised what a monumentally stupid idea it was, and cursed himself for a fool. Too late, however; he had already caught an eyeful. Mercifully, Nanoha was wrapped in a towel, hair falling loose around her shoulders and a light flush on her face from the heat in the air.

Immediately behind her, Shinobu was leaning forward slightly to unstrap her b-b-br...

Sporting a crimson blush vivid enough to be seen through his fur, Yuuno whirled back round, eyes screwed shut and hair standing on end. Frantically, he searched his memory for a rough layout of the room, aimed vaguely towards where he thought the door was, and bolted. Two painful impacts with the wall illustrated his bad aim, and he only escaped from Nanoha's lunging grab at him because of the warning cry of "Yuuno-kun, come back here!" she gave as she made it. His third blind dash for freedom, however, struck gold, and he squirmed through the slight crack between the sliding doors of the changing room and poured on the speed until he ran face-first into a fourth and very final wall. Behind him, muted by the closed door, he could faintly hear Nanoha bemoaning his flight, but thankfully neither she nor any of the others seemed inclined to pursue him.

After lying still for a moment, until the pain receded somewhat and the world stopped revolving, he judged himself safe in opening his eyes, and did so. A quick look around verified that there were no nearly-naked women in the vicinity. Or indeed anyone else. A more detailed look brought him to the secondary conclusion that he had no idea where he was.

Well. Drat.

Hearing male voices from nearby, Yuuno came to the somewhat dazed conclusion that any bearing was better than none, and started towards them, keeping a wary eye out for any more attempts to grab him. Moving in a slightly dazed wobble, it nonetheless only took him a minute or two to locate the source of the voices, and he pawed the sliding door open far enough to slip through with a strained squeak. Both residents of the hot pool turned to look at the source of the interruption.

"Isn't that Nanoha's ferret?" asked Shiro, looking over at the little tan-brown creature. Kyouya squinted a little to see through the steam, and nodded.

"Think so, yeah. What's it doing here, though?"

Shiro shrugged, shifting in the pool slightly. The movement turned him further into Yuuno's line of sight, and the ferret stifled a gasp. The man's chest was a mass of scar tissue. A huge scar stretched down one side of his torso, crisscrossed by smaller lines of surgery, as an ugly reminder of what must have been a horrific injury - easily enough to put him at death's door. On the other side, a wide blotchy patch spoke of either a huge bullet or, more likely, some sort of explosive round. In all honesty, looking at the sheer scope of the marks, Yuuno was astonished the man was still alive. Picturing the size and severity of the damage as it must have been when it was inflicted... he shivered at the sickening testament to the deadliness of mass-based weaponry. He'd only ever seen this before in digs, on long-dead bodies, piecing together causes of death from long-dried bones. Which, now that he came to think about it, were rather often related to the barbaric tendency for Belkan weapons to include mass-based features. That was one of the most distasteful elements of that now-extinct polity, in his opinion; much as he enjoyed the challenge of excavating ancient battlefields, he couldn't help but think of the wastefulness of the slaughter - especially when the Belkans had possessed magic, which meant that they didn't need to kill.

'N-Nanoha?'

'Hmm? Why'd you run off? And where are you? Arisa-chan's annoyed, she wanted to pet you! And she's really hard to calm down, too...' Nanoha's voice was preoccupied but content, though marked by a certain tinge of frustrated exasperation at her blonde friend.

Had Yuuno been thinking more clearly, he would likely have refrained from asking, or at the very least put it off until another time. But too many shocks in one day had sapped his wits and blunted his words, and he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

'What happened to your father? I've only ever seen wounds like that on dead bodies!'

A long silence followed. He could almost hear the frigid cold spreading down the telepathic link as Nanoha's mind turned to ice and glass, and it slowly occurred to him that he probably couldn't have phrased that any worse if he'd tried.

'Nanoha, I-'

'A long time ago, papa was a bodyguard,' Nanoha said quietly. Her mental voice was subdued, hesitant. A far cry from the happy, blissful tones she'd responded with only a moment ago. 'He was very brave, and very skilled at what he did. Nobody he guarded ever got hurt, and anyone who tried to attack them, he'd subdue quickly and easily.'

Despite himself, Yuuno was fascinated. He could hear the latent pain in Nanoha's voice, but her soft voice telling the story made it sound so interesting, and he was learning things about the man sitting a few feet away that he'd never so much as suspected. Even so, he fervently wished he hadn't brought the subject up.

'But his work made him enemies, and his clients were all very high profile, with a lot of enemies of their own. Eventually, one of the groups who opposed him got lucky. The only thing people ever said was that he was injured "in the line of duty".'

Quietly, at the back of his mind, the part of Yuuno that harboured his guilt over dragging Nanoha into the conflict over the Jewel Seeds, already on edge due to her hospitalisation, began to emit a steadily rising wail.

'He was put in hospital by the injuries. He-' Nanoha's voice hitched, 'he was so badly hurt. Miyuki-chan stayed with him all day, sitting by his bedside, begging him to get better. Mama and Kyouya were stretched to their limit working at the shop to cover our finances. For the longest time, we weren't sure if he'd ever fully recover.'

The wail was now a scream, splitting the back of his head open and making him feel awful for dredging all this up. He noted one point in curiosity, though, and followed the line of inquiry before he could stop himself.

'Where were you during this?'

Another silence. He winced, realising he'd inadvertently prodded another painful topic, and decided firmly to shut up from here on in.

'... I was fine. I mostly spent that time alone at home. It... it's a good thing, I guess. It's why I can take care of myself, right? And... everyone else was so busy. I couldn't ask them to look after me, not when they had so many more important things to do. I wasn't going to be a deadweight on them.'

Yuuno didn't know what to say. How could he respond to that? He waited, half in anticipation, half in dread, to see if she would continue.

She didn't. Unsure of whether to be disappointed or relieved, and mostly just feeling guilty, Yuuno returned his uneasy attention to the bath in front of him. Shiro and Kyouya were reclining in companionable silence in the hot water, letting the heat soak into their bones.

"So," said Shiro laconically, breaking the quiet, "how is Shinobu?" Kyouya jerked, head whipping round to stare nervously at his father. Shiro's eyes stayed closed, though, and he didn't move from his relaxed posture, leaning against the side of the tub.

"Um... good. She's... doing fine. Happy to be here with m- us."

"Good, good." Shiro's tone was utterly composed, as if he were talking about the weather, or what was for supper that evening. "She's a fine young woman. Your choice in friends is laudable."

"Uh... yes. Yes, I'm... glad to know her. She's an amazing person." Kyouya looked distinctly unsettled, though he was trying with limited success not to show it. His father hadn't moved an inch, and was still wearing the same blithe, unconcerned expression he had started the conversation with. Yuuno watched with a kind of mild awe at the ease with which the man was controlling the conversation.

"Well, I'm glad the two of you are getting along so well." Shiro cracked an eye open and smiled at his son. "Though I must say, we're seeing less and less of you both. I think this is the first time Momoko and I have been in the same room as her for over a month. Why not invite her along for supper? I'm sure your mother wouldn't mind cooking a little extra, and we'd like to get to know your friends a little better."

"Ah... okay? Yeah, that... that sounds like a good idea. I'll ask her."

Shiro nodded paternally. "Wonderful. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get out of this heat before I fall asleep." He stretched, yawning slightly as he did so, and climbed out. Pausing at the door, he glanced back at Kyouya.

"Oh, and... son?" he said, tilting his head. "Did you bring... you know?" He raised his eyebrows, and twisted his head slightly. Kyouya blushed bright crimson, outshining even the flush caused by the heat of the bath. Attempting to look anywhere other than at Shiro, he gave a minute nod.

"Good boy." The door slid shut quietly, and Kyouya let out a faint groan of mortification and dunked his head under the water, possibly to try and drown himself to erase the embarrassment. Wincing in sympathy, Yuuno quietly backed out of the room and left him to it.

...​

The soft susurrus of birdsong and rustling leaves provided a pleasant background to the wash of water against the banks of the river and Shiro's quiet whistling as he walked along the riverside. There was barely a cloud in the sky, and the cerulean blue stood vibrant above the treetops as the warm rays of the sun beat down. He closed his eyes and took a happy breath of fresh air, revelling in the peace and tranquillity of the place.

Opening his eyes again as he rounded a bend in the river, he was unsurprised to come across Momoko, sitting comfortably on a fallen log a few yards downstream from a low bridge and watching the river flow past. She looked up as he approached, greeting him with a warm smile. He took a seat next to her, and they observed the burbling water in comfortable silence for a while.

"I spoke to Kyouya," he said eventually. "They're being careful."

"Good. I thought they were, but it's best to be sure about these things."

"How serious is he about her, would you say?"

She smiled again, maternally. "Very. More than he knows, at the moment. I'm proud of him. He's incredibly responsible for his age." A sideways glance with lidded eyes, "He's a lot like his father in that sense."

"He's certainly doing well teaching Miyuki," he mused, letting the compliment pass without comment. "She's getting better by the day, and he's learning a lot from teaching her - things he never really thought about when he was the one learning them. Soon she'll be good enough for me to take over her training."

"How long, would you say?"

"Hmm," he considered, "a few months, perhaps? It depends on whether or not she keeps to the learning curve she's been sticking to during her training so far. I'm mostly worried about Nanoha, to be honest."

"Yes, she has something going on. I'm not entirely sure what, but it started suddenly a little while ago. She's been..."

"Quiet," he offered, "reticent. Secretive."

"Yes, exactly. And she's been sneaking off in the evenings... I'm more than a little worried. Especially with whatever put her in hospital."

"She's not going to tell us, though. Not without some huge impulse prompting her to."

Momoko sighed. "Yes, I know. She's too independent, sometimes. She's trying to handle it herself, rather than bring it to our attention." She hummed softly, thinking. "If we try to push her on it, though..."

"She's as likely to clam up and pull away as she is to tell us, I know. What would you suggest, then?"

The wind rustled the boughs of the trees above them as she thought, leaning back and closing her eyes. Shiro waited patiently, gaze tracing over her face with soft affection, watching a strand of hair fallen over her mouth flutter as she breathed slowly in and out, mulling it over. He didn't try to rush her - whatever opinion she gave, she would give it when she was ready and not a moment sooner.

Eventually, she opened her eyes and nodded decisively. "I say we let her work it out on her own. For now. If any more... events, like the hospital, occur, then we move in and take action. Until then, I'm for keeping an eye on her and allowing her to deal with it as she sees fit. I'd prefer to see her come to us over it, if it's something important, but... unless she actively does so herself, I think pushing her into it would do more harm than good."

She paused, thinking. After a moment, she nodded again, "That's my opinion. She's a big girl, we can afford her a certain measure of trust."

Shiro smiled in amusement, "I thought you might say that," he chuckled, before growing serious once more. "I think you're right. I don't like leaving her to her own devices in a situation like this, but with no information, anything we try might make the problem worse." He scowled, annoyed at his relative powerlessness in the situation. Momoko laid a gentle hand on his, a wordless message of calm.

"You've taught her well, by example. As have I. Have faith in your daughter, she's able to fight her own battles." A slight expression of worry crossed her face, but only for a moment. "Of course, I'd prefer it if she wasn't fighting them at the age of nine, but..."

"Maybe she just needs to do something wrong," Shiro said, slowly, his attention distracted. "She's always been such a good girl, trying so hard. Maybe this is just a little rebellion and we're not used to it."

"Shiro." He blinked and looked up at his wife. "Trust her. This is a holiday. Relax, forget about the issue." Her lips quirked in a grin, "Have some fun."

After a moment's silence, he nodded, accepting the unspoken order to stop worrying at the issue. Searching for another topic of conversation, he looked around curiously. "Why this spot, specifically?"

"It just feels... comfortable. Like it's waiting for something. And there weren't any bushes around, and the grass looked soft." The smile on Momoko's lips became a smirk. One that could only be described as sultry. "And it's far enough from the bathhouse that any sound won't carry, and some way off the beaten track."

Shiro raised an eyebrow again, taking in the sultry smile, the light, figure-hugging dress she was wearing and the gleam in her eye.

"Well then," he said, a matching grin forming, "I suppose, in lieu of worrying, I best find some way to keep myself occupied."

Arms slid around his neck, pulling him down to the grass.

"I think I can come up with something."

...​

Cheeks flushed and hair damp, Nanoha yawned widely as she left the changing room, clad once again in a light yukata. Similarly Arisa and Suzuka padded along beside her, slippered feet producing soft footfalls on the smooth wooden floor of the corridor. Stretching, Arisa yawned widely and giggled.

"Ahhh... this feels so good!" she exulted, "What should we do next? Ping-pong?" She looked around eagerly, as if expecting to see a table already set up for their use around the next corner, or standing outside on the stone paving of the patio.

"Ping-pong?" Suzuka hummed thoughtfully. "Eh... I really wanted to go check out the souvenirs..."

"Suzuka-chan, you always buy the souvenirs. They're not even high-quality, they're just tacky junk!"

The purple-haired girl looked reproachfully at her blonde friend. "Well... I still like them! They're pretty, and they give character to a place. You haven't really visited somewhere till you've bought the souvenirs home. Nanoha, which do you want to do, ping-pong or souvenir shopping?"

Arisa would likely have retorted, and Nanoha was about to add her point of view, when they were abruptly interrupted.

"Ahhh! So you're Nanoha! You look just like she said!"

Three heads turned in bemusement to the source of the outburst. And stared.

The first adjective that sprang to mind was 'tall'. The woman towered over them, clad in a white yukata with a simple brown star pattern. Looking up at her, the second and third adjectives to occur were both 'busty', and Nanoha found herself privately wondering how on Earth the strange woman was supporting those without overbalancing.

Her hair was a pale orange, and a red gem rested at the centre of her forehead - some kind of religious symbol, Nanoha assumed. The woman smiled, her canines flashing bright white against red lips, and Nanoha belatedly processed her comment.

"... eh?" she said eloquently, "... I look... like..."

'What, you don't remember? Strange. I would have thought injuries like that would be hard to forget.'

Nanoha froze as the foreign voice spoke into her mind. The woman's eyes gleamed feral blue, and Nanoha felt a chill go up her spine. There was no need to ask further, it was suddenly all too clear who the woman was referring to.

"... ohh," she breathed, eyes widening. "Is... is she related to you? We... ah... didn't get very much time to talk."

'Why are you here?' she sent, scrabbling to keep up with both sides of the conversation - the innocent, verbal replies that her friends could hear, and the darker undertone of telepathy. 'Is she nearby? What do you want here?'

The woman smiled, affecting a casual, unconcerned air. "I'm her guardian, technically," she replied, obliquely answering Nanoha's verbal and telepathic questions in the same breath. "We're in the area for something else, and she thought she saw you, so she asked me if I could take a look and carry a message - she's very busy at the moment, lots to do. Anyway, she just wanted to let you know she was sorry for having to run off so quickly. Maybe next time, hmm?"

Her mental voice took a softer tone, almost kind. 'She also wants to apologise for using so much force. Please understand, we can't accept failure in our mission. There's no need to be alarmed at our presence, we're just doing a routine search of the area, looking for any dormant Lost Logia. We haven't found any yet, so you have nothing to worry about.' Her eyes flashed in the light and narrowed as a hint of threat crept back into her manner. 'So stay out of our affairs, and we'll stay out of yours.'

Nanoha gulped. "Ah... yes. Maybe next time. Um... if there is a next time. Uh... one more thing? I- I don't think I ever caught her name?"

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? Haha, such a silly girl. Ah well, I'll let her introduce herself, if the two of you meet again. She waved cheerfully, strolling away, and disappeared around a corner.

All three girls stared after her for a moment or two, still slightly stunned at the abrupt, seemingly random encounter. Arisa was the first to recover her voice.

"... Nanoha." Her tone was mildly confused, with a tinge of ire, "Who was that? Was she drunk or something? Who on Earth just randomly walks up to complete strangers and starts talking?!" A vein throbbed in her forehead as she continued ranting, "And how did she know you? Who's the 'she' were you two talking about? What's going on?" Despite the phrasing, there was no doubt that the fiery blonde wouldn't tolerate Nanoha trying to evade an answer.

Nanoha looked between the two faces - Suzuka's, curious and mildly concerned, and Arisa's, annoyed and impatient. She laughed nervously, one hand straying up behind her neck in faint embarrassment as she thought fast. Quickly running through her options, she concluded that her best bet was the truth. Well, some of it.

"I met... a girl," she said carefully. "A little while ago. She was..."

Blonde hair blew back in two vivid streamers, blazingly bright ribbons against the dull, monochrome surroundings. Deep red eyes looked piercingly at and through her, boring into her soul. The black metal of the staff seemed to suck in the light around it, a hole cut into a starless sky, with a single golden eye blazing hard and dispassionate at its head. It lowered, ominously, and crackling yellow light gathered at its head before leaping out at her like a striking snake, fangs bared and accompanied by the terrifying hissing crack of a lightning bolt splitting the skies...

"... powerful. Forceful. Very... driven."

There was a pause as both girls absorbed this with dubious expressions. Nanoha was still staring off into the mists of memory, and thus missed the slow, terrible look of realisation that spread over Arisa's face, like the gradual, unstoppable shift of a burgeoning landslide. This was unfortunate, because much like a landslide, Arisa's realisations tended to be somewhat indiscriminate and overwhelming for anything that got caught in their way.

"Nanoha... have- have you got a crush?!"

"Wh-what? No!"

"Ha! You're lying!" Arisa scowled further, "How dare you get a crush on someone without introducing her to me! Who is she? And how did you not even get her name?"

Desperately seeking an escape route, Nanoha turned to Suzuka, only to be met by a disappointed frown. "I'd like to meet this girl too, Nanoha-chan. You could have at least told us about her. Why keep her a secret?"

"But... look, it was just a chance meeting! I don't have a crush!" A vaguely nauseated look passed over her face. "Anyway, I'm nine. Crushes aren't till... later." At least, she thought so. Certainly, they seemed to come somewhere before Kyouya's age, given that he was dating Shinobu. When they started, she was less certain on, but she was fairly sure it wasn't this early. "Anyway," she added after a moment's thought, "... she's a girl. Girls get crushes on boys, not girls." She nodded, secure in her logic.

Arisa narrowed her eyes, advancing half a step forward, finger prodding at Nanoha to emphasise her words. "Is she a bad influence? Has she been pressuring you into things?" She stepped back in shock. "Did she give you alcohol? Force you to drink? Or smoke?!" She grabbed Nanoha's shoulders and stared at her intensely, as if she would be able to see traces of either on her friend's face.

"Arisa! No! Stop it!" Nanoha tried to wriggle free, flailing her arms to bat away the stubborn blonde's hands and backing away. Arisa followed, lunging at her again, and Nanoha dodged to the left. Executing a particularly dexterous manoeuvre which left Arisa hanging on grimly to Suzuka's arm and Suzuka standing on Arisa's foot, she trotted away down the corridor before they got themselves sorted out.

"I think I left Yuuno-kun back near the baths!" she called back as she made her escape, "Go on without me, I'll go get him then catch up with you two later."

Arisa and Suzuka stared after her in annoyance. "She's definitely up to something," said Arisa, in tones of fervent conviction. She slapped a fist into her palm.

Suzuka nodded, frowning in irritation. "But how do we get her to tell us what it is?"

Arisa gained a speculative look.

"No," said Suzuka, before she could voice the idea. "Whatever it is, no."

Arisa pouted. "Fine. Then I say we give her a few days to calm down, then confront her about it. And guilt-trip her."

"... that could work."

"It had better." The blonde gritted her teeth, fists clenching in frustration. "It's driving me crazy, knowing she's up to something - probably dangerous -and not being able to do anything about it."

Suzuka tilted her head, considering. Purple locks fell across her face, and she absently brushed them aside. "Well," she ventured, "she didn't deny knowing whoever this 'she' person is. Maybe we should let her parents know about it?"

"... huh. Good idea." Arisa grinned, happy to have found something to do, some way to act. "Let's go!"

...​

Later that night, Nanoha lay awake long into the night. She had barely registered the story Farin had told before bed, and the soft breathing from Arisa and Suzuka, to either side of her, went unheard. She wasn't sure what time it was, other than 'way, way after bedtime'. Sleep wouldn't come, though. Too many thoughts bounced around her head, refusing to die down and give her the peace of slumber.

She was here.

That scared her, if she was perfectly honest with herself. The girl had been terrifyingly fast and powerful, and her ribs and back throbbed painfully just at the memory of the blast that had felled her. What was the girl doing here? That woman had said they were scouting the area, looking for Jewel Seeds. What did they need them for? So many unknowns... Nanoha shifted restlessly, dislodging Yuuno from his place resting against her cheek.

She apologised.

Granted, by proxy, but still. That was... confusing. She really didn't know how to feel about that. It confirmed her initial guess that the girl was a good person at heart, but... in that case, was it right to fight against her? Should she take the woman's advice, and just keep her nose out of the Jewel Seeds from now on? Should she stop?

...

Could she stop?

People could be hurt by the Jewel Seeds. It was a minor miracle that, so far, people hadn't been hurt by them. Property damage was all that had been inflicted so far, but how long would that last? Didn't she have a duty, an obligation, to put whatever effort she could muster into protecting her home and her fellow citizens? What right did she have not to fight? Power brought with in the implicit acceptance of using it responsibility, and for the cause of good. Otherwise, she had always been taught, you didn't deserve to have it in the first place. Even as it was, she hadn't earned the magic she wielded so easily - hadn't worked for it like her father and brother and sister did with their fighting and training. She had been handed it on a silver platter, and what, so far, had she done with it? Her fight with the dark-clad girl had clearly shown that however much gifted she might be, she certainly wasn't living up to it in action and deed.

Would her family be proud of her if they knew she had this potential, this talent, and was wasting it? Would they support her in walking away from it, squandering her abilities? She chewed her lip thoughtfully, mulling it over.

'Nanoha?' Yuuno, apparently woken by her restless tossing and turning, nudged at her cheek. 'What's wrong?'

'... I met a- a woman, today.'

There was a pause. Yuuno, as far as he was able to with the somewhat limited facial expressions of a ferret, looked confused.

'Um... I'm not sure I-'

'She was magical! Uh- that is... she could use telepathy. And she's connected to... to that girl. Her guardian, she said. She was... um...' Nanoha considered. 'Threatening' wasn't the word she wanted to use, but it rang fairly close to the woman's attitude. Still, something made her choose her words more carefully. '... intimidating. She said they were in the area looking for Jewel Seeds, and that... that we should - well, I should - stay out of their way. Um. And also said that the girl apologised for using so much force on me, and that she was sorry she had to do it, but that she couldn't risk failing her mission.'

Yuuno stiffened at the first sentence, and bristled further as Nanoha kept talking. He seemed to calm down slightly as she finished, though, and his oval eyes narrowed in thought, giving his face a sleek, aquiline look. 'When was this?' he demanded.

'Uh... just after we left the baths.' She shot him a faintly accusing look. 'You had run away, or you'd've been there.'

'Tell me exactly what happened,' he said, ignoring the accusation, and listened as Nanoha stumbled over a more complete explanation haltingly, stopping her a few times to ask for clarification.

'What are they doing here, though? he asked, once she had finished. 'Scouting the area... I'm not sure I believe that. Or that she 'just happened' to catch sight of you, and recognise you.' He hummed quietly in thought as Nanoha's eyes widened, having not considered that. He was right, though. The chances of the girl happening across her by sheer chance, while searching for something entirely different, were astronomical.

'Nanoha... listen,' Yuuno's voice took on a serious tone, and he faced her determinedly. Insofar as she could read his body language, he looked resolute and faintly guilty. 'I've been doing a lot of thinking, these past couple of weeks, and...' his eyes flickered to her chest, and her still-bandaged ribs under them, 'with this latest revelation that she's apparently... stalking you, maybe ever coming back to finish you off, I think you should-'

'Yuuno!' Nanoha's voice was fierce, her eyes flashing angrily as she sat up, 'Don't even think of telling me to stop!'

'It-'

'If she's stalking me, then she won't cease to do so just because I stop going after the Jewel Seeds! She might even decide she doesn't trust me, and make sure I can't! And the Jewel Seeds themselves won't stop activating if I step down - and don't pretend for a minute that you can seal them on your own, any more than I could! We're partners, Yuuno, and I'm protecting my home by doing this! It's the right thing to do! I'm not going to stop just because it's dangerous, and you can't make me!'

A brief silence fell, as both mages considered this last point.

'... technically, I could just bind you to the floor every time a Jewel Seed activated, and put a barrier around Raising Heart to stop you activating it,' Yuuno pointed out.

Nanoha shot him a withering glance. 'You wouldn't dare.'

There was an awkward silence.

A tinge of uncertainty flickered across her face, a slight edge of nervousness entered her voice. 'You... wouldn't dare. Right?'

Yuuno relented. '... no. No, I wouldn't.' He could see it in her face, much as he hated it. She needed this, needed to be useful, needed to be doing something important. Needed a purpose. Looking at this amazing, vibrant girl, so full of potential that it almost terrified him to think of what she could become... it was all too easy to see her losing her way, becoming quiet and withdrawn, unable to find a purpose that called to her, kept from her true place in the world. A bird with the potential to soar through the heavens, kept crippled on the ground with broken wings.

He shuddered. The only way she would learn to fly, though, was if he let her out of the nest. She had a point, much as he didn't like it. He couldn't seal the Jewel Seeds on his own - the very first one had taught him that lesson. Painfully. It had taken Nanoha to rescue him from that, picking up a Device for the first time in her life after responding to his weakened telepathic cry for help. And within seconds of doing so, she had destroyed the monster and sealed the Seed.

And now that he thought about it, they had only gotten more powerful since then. The tree, the cat... both were far stronger than the first one. Perhaps it was just that they had warped pre-existing things, rather than creating a form from whole cloth, but instinct told him that there was something more. Regardless, it was at least certain that he had no chance of sealing the remainder of the Jewel Seeds without Nanoha's help. For all that she was a civilian, an innocent; with no responsibility or duty to risk her life in lending aid... he had no choice but to ask it of her, and for no reward or recompense.

Hanging his head in shame, he acceded. '... alright. I... you're right. And I can't thank you enough for your help, I couldn't... I don't know how to... I...'

A warm hand on his head cut off his fumbling attempts at expressing his gratitude. Looking up, he felt like he was staring into a sunbeam as Nanoha smiled happily at him, her whole face lighting up.

'It's okay, Yuuno-kun. I'm doing this because I want to, okay? Don't worry. Together, we can face anything.'

After a moment of stunned silence, his eyes slowly creased upwards in a smile, and he began to return the sentiment.

'Yeah. As long as we work together, nothing is too-'

The sharp chill, like ice and glass slicing through the core of him, cut off his optimistic reply with all the suddenness and finality of an executioner's axe. From the widening of Nanoha's eyes, and the choked gasp she let out, she had felt it too.

Somewhere in the forests around the resort, another Jewel Seed had activated.

...​

The cool wash of the water sounded loud in the silence of the night. It played against the banks and over the bumps and dips in the riverbed. Above it, the tree boughs swayed in the breeze and the leaves rustled gently in an ever-present low murmur.

Fate and Arf sat on the bridge, watching the humming Jewel Seed in the water below. While it was tempting to try to seal it now, its harmless appearance was deceptive. It was undergoing the last cycle of drawing in ambient magic before it activated - any more power now would only give them a harder fight. As it began to glow, Fate stood, balancing effortlessly on the narrow handrail.

"Bardiche," she said, tonelessly.

Golden radiance blossomed, and enveloped her with wings of storm and lightning. The familiar, comfortable feel of her Barrier Jacket clothed her, and her magic swirled within her, exultant at the chance to be used again. As the brief burst of euphoria faded, she felt Arf put up a barrier, shielding them away from any outside interference.

As she touched down, clad in her Barrier Jacket and with the comforting heft of Bardiche calming her with its cool presence in her right hand, she looked at the enemy she faced, which was just finishing its own transformation. Eyes narrowing, she sunk into a combat stance, ready to move, and awaited its first move, aware out of the corner of her eye of Arf doing the same thing.

It was like nothing she had ever seen before. Seventy seven perfect, flawless orbs of solid ice, each the size of a human head, orbited in a wide sphere, refracting and reflecting moonlight in unpredictable patterns as they moved with no apparent means of propulsion through the air. They cast a soft radiance as well, emanating from the core, a pastel glow of blue-violet that mirrored the Jewel Seed from which they had come.

At the heart of the sphere, a central ring of seven - these ones deeper, darker, their colour the navy-indigo tint of a rainbow's trailing edge- span in a ring around the Jewel Seed. It shone in the dim light, a malevolent radiance illuminating the surrounding area for hundreds of yards with a light that cast no shadows. It was balanced at the exact centre of both sphere and ring, on a fountain of boiling water that steamed and-

... no. Wait. Fate's eyes widened as she took in the scant droplets falling off the edges of the flute-like column of liquid, which turned to ice as they fell and flash-froze chunks the size of a fist when they hit the river water. That wasn't heat, it was cold. A cold so intense that steam was flaring from the surface as water vapour in the air condensed into freezing mist, while the fountain itself crackled and hissed as the super-cooled water fought to solidify, only to be effortlessly forced to keep flowing by the power it bore aloft.

Kept tense by anticipation, Fate waited for it to make its move. But it didn't. It merely hung in the air, orbs floating in their predetermined paths around it, the soft hum of their movement adding a counterpoint to the rush of the river and the rustle of the leaves.

"... hmm," noted Fate, when it became clear that the thing wasn't going to attack.

"Shouldn't it be... I dunno, frozen solid, at that temperature?" asked Arf. "I mean, it's freezing the river where the droplets land, so-"

She caught the flat look that Fate cast at her, and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, her canines flashing as she grinned. "Oh, right. Jewel Seed. Gotcha."

Fate considered the Seed again, eyes roaming over it in evaluation. "It's still unstable," she decided, "not yet at full power." Bardiche came up in a two-handed centre grip, solid and simple, easy to adapt both to offense or defence. "Cover me. I'm sealing it."

"Ahh! Of course, Fate-chan! I'm sure you'll have no trouble!"

Phantom fingers traced her skin as she faced it, delicately probing every inch of the surrounding area. She supposed this served as the thing's senses. Setting Bardiche into sealing form, its blade locking out into the glaive configuration and four wings of light bursting from just beneath its head, she decided to start off light and test the Seed's defences with a probing attack before she really committed herself.

Setting off at a run to her right, along the bridge railing, she let loose a volley of lightning - a simple spell, low power. She didn't really expect it to work, merely to show her the kind of defence she would need to get past to seal the thing.

She was startled, therefore, by the sheer vehemence of the response. With a screech like fingernails down a blackboard, the sapphire blaze resting on the fountain pulsed, and the nearby orbs in the outer shell contracted to block her lightning, which scattered harmlessly off them. As quickly as they had clustered together to form a shield, they flew apart again, as if pulled by springs back into their geometric places in the sphere. Just in time to let the counterattack through. A volley of razor-edged ice shards whipped out at her, blurring through the air and slicing clean holes through the trees and soil they hit as she dodged.

"Fast," she muttered in surprise, and fired another volley of Photon Lancers to draw its attention. While effective as a shield, its clustering of the orbs in one place to defend itself opened gaps in the rest of the shell. If she could move fast enough, she could exploit the weakness to get an unblocked attack on the central ring - perhaps even the Jewel Seed itself. Bracing herself as the golden projectiles arced in, she prepared to move...

A sharp, staccato series of cracks split the air as the fountain spat a dozen or more pellets of super-cooled water on improbably curving trajectories. Fate's eyes widened in brief horror as they intercepted her shots, blasting into and through the fragile balls of contained lightning only to continue homing in on her.

The Seed wasn't finished through. With a blinding flash, another volley of ice-shards shot out. But this was no loosely-knit reactive counterattack. This was a wide spray, at chest-height, that covered at least a sixty degree arc in either direction. The shards were closely packed, too, leaving her nowhere to dodge and no way to avoid the dense spray of lethal ice.

Hissing in a mixture of fear and frustration, Fate willed golden wings into existence at her ankles, and desperately threw herself upwards. Just in time, as the deadly hail scythed through where she had been standing scant fractions of a second before.

"Arf!" she barked, half order, half cry for help.

Orange chains came to her rescue, dozens of them lashing out and wrapping around the orbs in the outer shell, anchoring them to the ground in three or four different places, then pulling taut to prevent them from moving. Evidently, Arf had made good use of the time the Seed had spent focusing on Fate.

It did not react well. A screech of anger cut the air to no avail, as Fate soared upwards. Snapping Bardiche into its scythe form, she plummeted from the heavens, a crackling, blazing blade of energy slicing down in a lethal blow towards the undefended Jewel Seed.

Had she not been focusing intently on her target, and by proxy the area directly under it, she might have missed the boiling of the water below it. As it was, she barely managed to throw herself out of the way as the river...

... erupted.

A pillar of frozen water slammed skywards, propelled with terrible force as the Jewel Seed shrieked in fear. Spikes, hammer-blow chunks and solid panes of ice flew up around the central ring, and then exploded outward in a furore of violence.

Outside the outer sphere, Fate skidded to a halt, eyes wide and face pale, breathing harshly from panic and exertion. Turning, she warily regarded the spinning ring of deep indigo orbs orbiting the Jewel Seed as the blocks and pillars of its desperately improvised defence crashed back down into the river. On the other bank, Arf tightened her grip on the magical chains that bound the orbs in place, muscles bunching against their strain.

A brief silence ensued as the combatants watched each other warily. Perhaps a minute had passed since the fight began. Faint, intangible threads of magic brushed across Fate's face, and she scowled as she realised how the thing had been reacting so fast to her. "Of course..." she murmured, "Arf! It can feel everything around it! Don't ever assume it doesn't know exactly where you are!"

She had scarcely finished the warning when the stalemate was abruptly broken by a flurry of water bullets and razor shards of ice. Compared to the brutal, panicked fury of its last attack, or the wide, cutting spray it had tried before that, it was a comparatively weak attack.

Unfortunately, it was directed at Arf.

The familiar cried out in fear at the oncoming attack, throwing herself out of the way into the undergrowth. Another volley forced Fate onto the defensive, preventing her from coming to her familiar's aid, and with a convulsive wrench, the Seed took advantage of Arf's distraction to rip itself free from the bindings, shattering the glowing chains like glass as the shell began its elegant rotation once again.

Fate could swear that the low hum, like a finger on a titanic wine glass, sounded somehow triumphant. "Fine," she said softly. "Arf!" she raised her voice, "guard me!"

An orange-topped head, bedecked by tufted ears, popped out of the bushes. "Right!" called Arf, scrambling over and bringing up a shield between Fate and the creature.

One foot forward, the other braced back. Hold Bardiche at the chest; use the upper body to brace it from the recall. Compress the power, force it into the limits of the spell, pull up the crackling electric song from within...

Crimson eyes focused on the centre of the sphere with almost enough intensity to melt stone.

"Bardiche!"

[Thunder Smasher.]

Arf's shield flickered out just as she fired, and the blast crashed into and over the paltry defence offered by the orbs of the outer shell like waves breaking over the side of a rowboat, capsizing it in an instant. Only it wasn't water that flooded the inside of the sphere, streaking across the short distance to the inner ring. It was condensed magic, lightning-aspected, which seared and burned and blazed.

The Jewel Seed screamed.

The steam began to clear, and from what Fate could see, the numbers of orbs in its outer shell had been drastically reduced. Its perfect order was broken, its calm elegance shattered.

It should not, in retrospect, have been so surprising when three orbs flew out of the dispersing cloud with sledgehammer force. Hurriedly bringing Bardiche up to guard, Fate swerved out of the way of them and prepared to smash any more that came toward-

The sound from behind her couldn't be described in words, exactly. It was the sound that would be produced by a page full of text being deleted, or a beautiful painting being wiped clean, or a gorgeous sculpture being returned in an instant to raw blocks of stone. Every ounce of her considerable willpower was strained to keep from looking round in shock, but she resisted nonetheless. Instead, she tensed and leapt upwards, glancing down on her way up.

A segment of the forest was gone.

Not destroyed, reduced to kindling by the terrible force and momentum behind the orbs. Not broken or smashed, frozen or cut. Just... gone. A sphere about a metre across had been cut cleanly out of the undergrowth - the curve passed partway through the trunks of a couple of trees, mirror-smooth and absolutely perfect. A wide, shallow crater showed that the effect had worked just as well on the ground as the wood and foliage - and indeed, the boundary was so perfectly absolute that she could even see leaves that had been sliced cleanly in two, along a glass-like boundary.

Wide-eyed and hyperventilating, Fate fought to get her hammering pulse under control. She had been intending to parry that! She didn't have time to suffer a mild heart attack from terror, though, because the scream of pain and rage was only increasing.

Once again, the surface of the river erupted. This time, however, it was not a single outburst of ice as a last-ditch defensive measure.

It was a maelstrom.

A whirling, roaring, screaming waterspout laced with razor ice and violet lightning exploded from the water, engulfing the central ring in a split second and expanding in mere heartbeats until it was at least a dozen metres across. The remainder of the outer shell, defence taken care of, quivered in the air and struck, firing like cannonballs toward the two mages. With twin curses, they split up, dodging frantically.

The next few minutes were hell, plain and simple. The orbs were relentless, hounding them without pause or respite, biting metre-wide chunks out of the landscape wherever the struck. After the third time she barely escaped intact, Fate flashed over to Arf, who was having marginally better success in keeping the things away with her barriers, and dropped into her arms.

"Arf," she said urgently, "can you keep them away from both of us? I need to charge up a spell."

The Familiar's eyes hardened. "They won't get close," she vowed fervently. Fate nodded gratefully and entrusted herself to her friend, closing her eyes to better concentrate. The orbs were Arf's problem now, worrying about them herself would serve no purpose. Her job was to charge up a very large amount of mana in a very short time.

Inward, she dived. Down, down, deep down, into the core of herself. There, eternally twisting and snapping, she beheld her magic - or at least her own visualisation of it. It was a crackling electric power, an enormous mass of lightning that never earthed itself, snapping and striking in all directions. A contained storm, held at the heart of her, wild and feral and savage.

Holding the images of her sister - so vulnerable, so small - and her mother, with perfect control and more magical skill than she could ever see herself gaining, Fate Testarossa straightened, a cool wash of imperial command taking over her face. The storm flew towards her - or perhaps she fell towards it - its electric, sparking surface boiling and turbulent, bolts of brilliant incandescence arcing from one point to another, blazing like a miniature sun.

Fate didn't so much as flinch as it bore down on her. 'You are mine,' she said, and her voice was certain. 'You are part of me. You do my will. Now help me.'

It engulfed her, but it did not burn or sear. It felt warm, protective, safe. A blinding radiance, exhilarating and elated, that shone from her heart, blazed through her eyes, and flowed in cascading torrents down her arms to feed her weapon.

[Thunder Rage.]

Lightning struck, and for a moment it seemed as through the world was engulfed in blinding brilliance. The Jewel Seed screamed again, but its protests were weaker. Its own defence was its undoing, as cruel lightning conducted through the very super-cooled liquid with which it made to defend itself. The vicious claws raked over it, shattering its defences and stabbing into the heart of its power, shredding it. For a brief moment, the maelstrom was frozen in time, lit from within by a blaze of fire and lightning that refracted off every piece of ice within, a second sun born in the night within a column of water and mirrors, which cast its deadly, beautiful radiance across the entire forest.

The moment passed, and the column collapsed. Water washed over the riverbanks from the sudden downpour, lapping at the trees and pooling in the shallow craters. The few remaining orbs - all seven central ones, and perhaps four or five of the outer ones - fell to the ground, inert. The Jewel Seed, diminished and defeated, floated passively in the air, deceptively fragile and small for something that had been so dangerous mere moments ago. Breathing hard, Fate reached out with Bardiche, slowly.

The sealing was easy. The Jewel Seed's power was shattered for the moment, it put up no resistance. Barely had the faint flare of light finished licking at her hands, however, when Fate heard a sound from the forest track off to her left.

She turned, Jewel Seed forgotten. There was never really any doubt over what the source of the movement was.

Red eyes stared into blue, and for the second time in as many weeks, Fate found herself face to face with Nanoha Takamachi.

...​

Shakily, Nanoha emerged from the trees, eyes wide. She had caught the last few moments of the fight, panting from the exertion of running to the source of the magical emanations she could sense. She had not expected to find the blonde girl locked in a pitched battle with... with...

Gulping, her eyes traced over one of the nearby craters. It looked like a bite had simply been ripped out of the world in a split-second flash of colour, the edges of the yard-wide sphere of nothingness as smooth as glass, no matter whether they sliced through wood, stone or soil. She imagined briefly what such an effect would do to a human body, and shuddered.

A soft movement returned her attention to the girl in front of her, who was now staring at her intensely. Cool mist was rising from the river as water vapour in the air was condensed by the intense cold. Moonlight gleamed through the branches above, casting shifting shadows over the scene in ardent hues. Perspiration beaded on the girl's brow, her slight frame trembling with heavy breathing. Despite the clear exhaustion she showed, however, Nanoha almost found her even more intimidating than the last time they had met.

Endlessly deep, the burgundy gaze regarded her with a trace of wariness, and... was that a faint hint of confusion?

"... leave."

Nanoha blinked. "... no," she replied, reflexively.

The girl sighed. "The last time we met, Takamachi-san, I hurt you. Gravely. I do not wish to do so again." She fixed Nanoha with a piercing look, one which perhaps held a hint of beseechment. "Please leave".

"Nanoha." She wasn't sure why she blurted it out, but pressed onward rather than stumbling over her tongue. "Not Takamachi-san. Call me Nanoha."

"... Nanoha-san." Her voice was soft. "My name is Fate Testarossa."

"Fate-san..."

Bardiche came down to point at her, Fate's grip firm and steady despite the faint trembling of her upper arms. Whatever Nanoha had been about to say cut off abruptly, and she took a wary step backward, bringing Raising Heart up defensively.

"Nanoha-san, I have given you a warning. If you do not leave - now - I will be forced to attack." Her eyes were sad, but resolute. "Understand. I must gather the Lost Logia. I cannot fail in this."

"Why? If it's for a good reason, maybe I can help! Please, just... explain! Can't we talk it over instead of fighting?"

Arf began to growl something, but Fate cut her off with a wave, turning back to regard Nanoha warily. "I... can't tell you the details," she began, slowly. "If I did... suffice to say that I cannot, not without knowing that you would not stand against me. As I said, I cannot fail. But... do you know what it is like, when someone close to you is hurt, and there's nothing you can do?"

The words struck like a hammer, and Nanoha actually twitched in physical shock. Shakily, she nodded, expression fragile. Fate raised an eyebrow at the unexpected impact the words had made, but continued unaffected.

"This is something I can do. Must do. And I can't allow you- or anyone else - to stop me from protecting my family. Do you understand?"

Another nod, wide-eyed, vulnerable. Raw empathy shone from Nanoha's eyes, and every line of her stance spoke of a common knowledge between them, an understanding of what it felt like to be in that position. A faint flicker of hope ignited in Fate's chest. This might actually work...

"Then you will concede?"

Nanoha so very nearly said yes. Her heart cried out for the girl's plight, demanding that she show sympathy. But nonetheless, a tiny part of her mind hung back, not opposed to Fate herself, but imagining in vivid colours the devastation the Jewel Seeds could wreck if misused. Fate might want them for a good cause. Perhaps even the best. But that didn't change the fact that if she made a mistake, dimensions could shatter and worlds could be laid to waste.

'Nanoha. We don't know if she's telling the truth,' Yuuno thought to her urgently. 'And even if she is, we have no idea how she's planning to use the Jewel Seeds! She could be planning anything with them! We can't be sure she knows what she's going, and one wrong move could-'

'I know, Yuuno-kun,' she cut him off sadly. 'I know. I just... wish there was some other way.'

'... me too. I'm sorry, Nanoha.'

Rather than answer him, eyes glimmering with tears, she shifted Raising Heart upward slightly toward the dark-clad girl balanced on the bridge rail. The movement was minute, but the message was clear.

"... I see." Fate's tone was sad - as sad as Nanoha's mental voice had been. "In that case, I apologise. But my family comes first. Always."

She was moving before the sentence was finished. Fast though she was, Yuuno was somehow faster, and a barrier blossomed out from his place on Nanoha's shoulder to block her path. She twisted in midair, bringing Bardiche back over her shoulder for an overarm blow as she adjusted her course. A simple evasion and she could end the fight cleanly and with one strike, hurting the stubborn girl as little as possible. Maybe even damage her Device a little to discourage her from coming back.

She wasn't expecting the barrier to keep going, the emerald pane of force accelerating forwards to plough into her like a runaway truck, sending her flying backwards across the river and into a tree.

Arf and Nanoha stared in pure, unadulterated shock for a second, before the former screamed in rage, her body bulging grotesquely and exploding out in a frenzy of hair and claws and teeth. The giant red-orange wolf that stood in her place as it finished howled in mad fury, but her telepathic voice was razor-edged with focus.

'You dare hurt my mistress, you little brat!' Leaping high into the air, she came down on Nanoha - or more specifically, Yuuno - with claws outstretched and jaws snapping and frothing for blood.

'Nanoha! You take care of the girl! I'll handle her Familiar!' ordered Yuuno, leaping off her shoulder. A dome-shaped barrier flickered into existence around both of them just in time for the enraged wolf to slam into it, throwing up sparks of viridian fire as she bore down on it with all her might. Cracks began to appear in the hastily-cast shield, but Yuuno was already casting again. Arf noticed the steadily rising updraft too late, and was only able to let out an impotent howl before both animals dissolved into green bars of light that flickered and vanished.

"A forced... teleportation..." Unsteadily, Fate got to her feet, holding her ribs gingerly. "Your friend is powerful, I'll give him that." Her eyes narrowed, "I've told you my motives. What do you two want the Lost Logia for?"

"Huh? No, you have it all wrong! We don't want them for anything! We just want to keep them safe and stop anyone else from using them! They're really dangerous! Please, Fate-san, I don't want to fight you!"

"Hnn. If you want to stop anyone from using them, that makes us rivals." The black metal of the axehead glinted ominously in the moonlight. "A fight, then. One Jewel Seed to the winner."

"Fate-san..." Nanoha seemed to realise that further talking wasn't going to help, and her expression firmed. "Alright! If you won't talk, I'll fight you!"

She was half-anticipating the lunge, and turned even as she made the declaration. As she had counted on, Fate appeared behind her, Device scything down in a hammer-blow, the crackling energy scythe spitting sparks at her. Nanoha barely got Raising Heart up in time, and the shafts of the two polearms crashed against one another, jarring her arms but arresting the deadly scythe blade's fall.

Defending hadn't worked last time. Taking a chance, Nanoha pushed onto the offensive, forcing Raising Heart forward and pivoting it around the point of contact between the two staves to bring the heavy, ring-shaped head around into Fate's face. Fate reeled backward, stunned at the sudden aggressive tactic. The native girl had used a shooting Device as a blunt instrument!

[Divine Shooter,] announced a cool, pleasant female voice, and Fate cursed inwardly as half a dozen pink bullets sped towards her. Nanoha was not, it seemed, letting up on her offensive. Her back and ribs were still aching from the forceful paired impact of barrier and tree, and she was starting to run dangerously low on magic after the prolonged fight with the Jewel Seed barely moments ago.

Well then. That just meant she would have to start using less gentle options.

Dodging upwards, she cast a shield and allowed the shots to break against it. Reaching the pinnacle of her upwards flight, she hung in the air for a moment. The view was incredible, silver-tinted canopy in monochrome and sepia tones stretching out in all directions, broken only by the punctures in the treeline left by the Jewel Seed's spiteful attack. The river ran between the trees far below, a mirror-like snake winding through the forest, and off in the distance she could see the hot springs resort, rising up like a squat, blocky hill from the surrounding woodland. The stars above were a sprinkling of light through the heavens as she turned, and the cool, clean air of the night was sharp against her face and in her breath.

Then the moment passed, and she fell, Bardiche drawn back, a silent wraith descending from on high like an avenging angel.

Nanoha saw her coming, of course. The girl wore a stubborn expression - she was probably aware that Fate's reserves were running low, and confident in her ability to win if she could just hold out long enough. Gritting her teeth and bracing herself in midair, she thrust Raising Heart upward and cast a barrier above her.

Just as planned.

Blue eyes widened in shock as Fate blurred past her, missing the barrier entirely, skirting just around the outer edge. A black edge lashed out, the space between axehead and shaft hooking Nanoha's leg and running down until it caught against her foot, where it found itself unable to move any further down.

So instead, it pulled Nanoha along with it.

Slowing her dive to a standstill, Fate anchored herself and heaved, using the entire length of Bardiche as a lever to physically hurl the girl she was dragging around and down, adding even more force to her already-impressive velocity. At the bottom of the arc, a mental command was enough for the blade to spring straight, flicking out into its glaive configuration and allowing the screaming girl to fall freely, caught completely unaware by the unconventional manoeuvre.

Which she did. Briefly.

As the dust from the crater cleared, Fate landed. Standing over the prone form, she held her glowing blade to Nanoha's throat and stared down at her, one foot resting lightly on her chest.

"Yield."

Pain singing in her still-unhealed wounds, Nanoha stared blurrily up into the blade of lightning frozen bare millimetres from her throat. Her vision swam, the force of the blunt impact reverberating through her body and turning all her bones into rods of red-hot steel. Or possibly jelly. They hurt like the former, but felt like the latter, so she wasn't entirely sure.

[Pull out.]

The red gem pulsed, and expelled a blue gem from its depths, the surface rippling like water as it emerged. Nanoha mouthed something in protest - exactly what was hard to say, as she had no breath with which to verbalise it. Fate deduced the likely gist of what she was trying to ask, though, and removed the blade from her throat in a smooth motion.

"Your Device obviously cares about you," she noted. "It's trying to protect you in the only way it has left."

Pained though they were, Nanoha's eyes still held a faint tinge of disappointment. Well, that was her problem. Fate plucked the Jewel Seed out of the air, storing it within Bardiche along with the one still hovering passively above the river. Noticing a couple of the inner orbs, dark blue and blemish-free despite the magical fireworks that had been going off near them, she took them as well. Mother might be interested in studying them, and if not... well, she could probably find some use for them.

"Goodbye, Nanoha Takamachi," she said. "I have not hurt you badly this time, but if you continue to insist on interfering, I may not be able to avoid it in future." Sending a mental prompt to Arf, she took to the air, flying up and over the treetops briefly before setting a course for home. Nanoha's friend, the ferret, would ensure her safety, even if she wasn't able to get back to the resort on her own. Regardless, Fate had what she had come for.

Left alone in the clearing, body aching and lying once again on her back after a humiliating and concrete defeat, Nanoha stared up at the sky and allowed a few lone tears to run from her eyes.

...​

Step. Drag. Wince. Step. Drag. Wince. Step. Drag. Wince.

Nanoha slowly, silently, stubbornly limped back toward the resort. Yuuno watched with concern, but after her vehement refusal of his first offer to help her beyond the light Physical Heal spell on her sprained ankle - which may have helped her to stand without screaming, but definitely not fixed it completely - he kept silent.

Step. Drag. Wince. Step. Drag. Wince.

Each step, followed by the accompanying shuffle as she rested as little weight on her injured ankle as possible, sent a faint flicker of pain across her face, but she gritted her teeth and ignored it as best she could. She needed to get back to the lodge and into bed before anyone noticed she was gone, and that meant that she had to hurry. Granted, it was the middle of the night, but that didn't mean Farin or Miyuki might not look in on them while going for a midnight snack, or something equally disastrous.

The lights of the hostel came into view, and Nanoha gratefully slipped into the building and snuck through the hallways until she reached the room she was sharing with Suzuka and Arisa. Slipping inside, she disrobed as quickly and quietly as she was able, hissing in pain a few times as she jarred her ankle. Yuuno stood guard outside the door, ready to give warning if anyone approached.

And yet, as mist-damp clothing fell softly to the floor, and bruised, battered ribs were hidden under pyjamas - she would have to be careful getting changed the next morning, to keep Arisa and Suzuka from seeing the fresh bruises - thoughts of pain, or discovery, or even the Jewel Seeds themselves were not what occupied Nanoha's mind.

"Do you know what it is like, when someone close to you is hurt, and there's nothing you can do?"

She did. Oh gods, she did. That time, when her father had been in hospital, her sister spending every second of free time she had by his side, her mother and brother stretched to their limits in coping with the bakery... and what had she done? Not much. She had learned to look after herself, made sure she didn't require supervision, freed up more time that didn't need to be spent caring for her, who needed it least.

But the feeling still lingered. She wasn't helping. Just minimising the difficulties she was adding to her family's plate. She had told her mother once, young, serious and earnest, and Momoko had kissed her forehead and hugged her, and told her that it wasn't true, that she was being incredibly brave and helpful. Nanoha had been mostly convinced, but she still wished she could have done something.

"This is something I can do. Must do. And I can't allow you- or anyone else - to stop me from protecting my family. Do you understand?"

Could she oppose that? Was she right to? This was nothing like any of the stories she'd read, where the bad guy was obviously bad, and the good guys were obviously good, and the heroes always won and everyone was happy. This was confusing, and difficult, and... and...

... and didn't Fate deserve to win as well? Didn't she deserve to protect her family, to help her loved ones? Whose cause was more worthy?

Troubled, Nanoha lay down and hugged herself into her bedroll, keen on getting to sleep as soon as possible so that she could stop thinking such uncomfortable thoughts. Yuuno scampered over, mentally assuring her that nobody had come near the room while she was changing, and that he hadn't seen anyone as she was sneaking back in, either.

Neither of them noticed the figure on the bedroll to Nanoha's right. Like Suzuka, Arisa's body was relaxed, her breathing slow, her head half-buried in the soft, luxurious pillows.

But unlike Suzuka, her eyes were wide open, and her expression was as hard as stone as she watched her friend suspiciously.

...​

Wreathed in a golden aura, Fate touched down gently on the roof of her penthouse, Arf following close behind. The flight back had been, if not tiring, then at least long, and the sun was peeking over the horizon. She wanted nothing more than to get to bed and enjoy a nice morning spent catching up on sleep.

Naturally, she was three steps into the apartment when Bardiche gave off the high-pitched series of chimes that signified an incoming communication. Groaning, and muttering words she probably shouldn't know under her breath, she tossed the two deep violet-blue spheres of ice to Arf for her to take care of, put the triangular yellow talisman on the table and pressed it once, accepting the call.

"Fate-chan!" Linith's warm voice sounded happily in greeting, "How are you? Have you been eating and sleeping enough? Run into any problems?"

Despite her tiredness, she couldn't help but smile at Linith's enthused, friendly manner. "Fine, yes and no, respectively. It's good to hear from you, Linith."

"You too, dear. Though... no problems at all? Not even a brown-haired little mage in white, with a ferret-companion?"

"..."

"Precia-sama told me," Linith answered the unspoken question. "Honestly, Fate-chan. You should tell me these things! I might be able to offer some advice!"

Fate blinked, startled, as a thought occurred. "Actually, you might be able to help. I ran into her again today."

"Oh?"

"Yes, and got two Jewel Seeds out of it, but that's not-" Fate had to pause for a moment to allow Linith's exuberant congratulations to subside, before continuing, "-that's not really important. Mother said I could tell her a little about my motives, to see if we can get her to join our side, and... she reacted so strangely. Strongly, too. I can't figure out why."

"Hmm..." Linith's voice sounded thoughtful over the connection, and Fate could hear the faint sound of tapping as she considered. "Have you considered hiring a private detective to look into her background? The funds we generated should allow you to cover something like that with relative ease as long as you don't get too carried away. How much have you been spending, anyway?"

"Not much. Food, rent. A few books."

Linith clucked disapprovingly. "It's been two weeks, Fate. You're not expected to spend every waking moment on the job, you could stand to spend a little time and money on yourself."

"..."

The familiar sighed - this was an old argument, and one that she'd never won in all the times they'd had it before. "Urgh... like mother, like daughter. Anyway, yes. A private detective is just someone who will investigate something for a client, after being paid a suitable fee. While you personally might have trouble hiring one, I'm sure Arf's adult form could. Or you could hire one by phone - I showed you how to use the phone book, didn't I?"

"Yes."

"Wonderful, then! Tell them that you suspect she might be a relation, and that you'd like to know about her family history and childhood. That should be sufficiently vague as not to arouse any suspicion, and get you the information you need." She hesitated, apparently uncertain as to whether to continue. "Ah... speaking of the attempt to gain her sympathies, you didn't... injure her again, did you?"

"..."Fate shuffled her feet, gaze dropping. "... may have sort of slammed her into the ground," she muttered.

"Oh, Fate," Linith sighed, before perking up slightly. "Oh well. You weren't to know. Just something to keep in mind for the future."

"I will. And... um... she did say she didn't want to fight me. And seemed sympathetic. So I am making some progress. And no, I didn't tell her any details, just that I was protecting my family."

"Wonderful. Well then, I'll go and tell Precia-sama that you've claimed two more Jewel Seeds and made inroads with the Takamachi girl. I'm sure she'll be very proud." Fate perked up slightly, and smiled. "And... have you just got back from this?"

"... yes?"

"Then get to bed! You can call Precia-sama to make your report when you wake up! Oh, and eat something first, or you'll go hungry."

"I will. Thank you, Linith."

"No need to thank me, Fate-chan. You're doing a wonderful thing out there, and I'm very proud of you. As is your mother. Take care of yourself, alright? Love you."

"Love you too, Linith. And mother."

With a soft click, the connection closed.

...​

Back at the resort, Nanoha long since asleep, Yuuno stared up at the moon from the windowsill, eyes tracing over its craters and pockmarks, marking the similarities to others he'd seen, on other worlds far across the dimensional sea. He missed Mid-Childa, and the comforting glow of its twin moons. He missed his clan, his digs and the masses of other magic users. He missed the TSAB and the knowledge that there was always a safety net there for him if something went wrong, one that was conspicuous only in its absence out here, on this strange, alien world, where there was nobody to call for help and the only mages were a lone native girl and a hostile expeditionary force that was after the same thing as he was. Only for rather different reasons, it seemed.

Mostly, though, he missed the feeling of boredom.

This world might only be a barbarian Unadministrated World, but it had been nothing but terror since he arrived. Right from the word go, the fight with the Jewel Seed monster had shown him that he was in way, way over his head. Since then, he had been alternately terrified and horrified in equal measure.

He glanced backwards over his shoulder at the sleeping girl behind him. Much of the terror had been related to Nanoha. Dry-mouthed fear whenever she fought, stark terror when he had seen her limp form falling bonelessly to the ground like a rag doll after the first round with the Testarossa girl, a low, nagging worry in the pit of his stomach while she had been incarcerated in hospital.

But the fear was as much of her as for her. Her learning curve was... he had no other way to put it, it was terrifyingly fast. She had first picked up a Device less than a month ago, and already she was flying, exerting fine control over shooting attacks and, if he wasn't mistaken, unconsciously speeding her own healing. She was progressing at a pace that, to his knowledge, was far faster than she should be.

Irritably, he shook his head. No, he was imagining things. She was powerful, yes, but Raising Heart was doing much of the work. Most mages trained on simple Devices, mass-produced, with heavy safeties and little in the way of fine control or precision. Raising Heart was a custom-built showpiece, a specialist Intelligent Device that happened to match her innate talents perfectly. That was all.

Still. It was as much what she wasn't learning as what she was. Her skills with magic were excellent, but she wasn't learning the theory to go with it. Fundamentally, she had no idea what magic couldn't do. And that was worrying, because she was doing things just because she thought magic should be able to do it; with no greater context for what Mid-Style's strengths were. Raising Heart was making up for her mistakes, for now, but in some ways that only added to the problem. She wasn't gathering the learning experiences, where a trainee would normally find that their Device couldn't handle something, and resolve not to do it in future. There was no organic process of discovery, finding out what was and wasn't safe in a controlled, comfortable environment. And her core was large enough that, despite it being a terrible way to solve problems, she was tackling challenges in a... a cunningly brutal way that he was beginning to associate with this world, using brute force in everything, even her finesse. She'd hit the Testarossa girl in the face with Raising Heart's central intelligence core, for crying out loud, with no concern for how she could have damaged the Device! Granted, it was probably just because she'd seen the other girl using her more melee-focussed Device as a weapon like that, but nonetheless.

It was a problem of culture, more than anything. A problem he should really have foreseen. She was just a child, one who had never known about magic until he dropped into her life and handed her an Intelligent Device. He was fairly sure she was spending every hour she could learning more maths from Raising Heart. And the problem with that was that in focusing only on what she could do, she was neglecting to learn about what she shouldn't. She knew nothing about the mistakes of the past, the horrors that magic could inadvertently bring about. Despite knowing how dangerous the Jewel Seeds were, she didn't seem to have drawn the connection between them and the small red orb that rested so innocently in the hollow of her throat. Any magic could be dangerous, and a fully operational Intelligent Device fed by what he estimated to already be an AA rank mage, even with barely any training...

... but that was the other problem. He couldn't tell her too much. For one, there wasn't the time. To give a proper history lesson - which was certainly something that he could do - would take time that they didn't have, not with that other girl out there, who was just as strong as Nanoha, and far better trained. That was in itself suspicious, because you didn't just find 9-year old mages of that rank. Was she from some other non-TSAB world? But she used orthodox Mid-style, albeit in a more combat-focussed stance. And... how was he meant to start on something like that? He'd just have to make sure he made clear to Nanoha how dangerous magic could be if misapplied, and hope that nothing else went wrong.

Yuuno sighed, feeling suddenly very weary, and very unsure. Laying his head down to rest on his paws, he stared out at the alien sky and waited for sleep that wouldn't come, feeling like he was his age for the first time in a long time.

He was getting the horrible feeling that he was in even further over his head than he had thought he was.

...​

 

[Aleph]

I apologise for being so late with this one! Though I'm still just barely inside the "one chapter a month" schedule I've set myself, if you count the extra time I gained from posting the last two with time to spare. And... hey, this way, it's a New Year's present!

To 2012!

Game Theory

Chapter Three​

Arisa was annoyed.

In and of itself, this was not particularly unusual. The young Bannings heir was a temperamental person, and her passions ran naturally hot. Nor was the subject of her ire one that would have garnered any surprise - Nanoha Takamachi had a long history of rousing her blonde friend's temper for one reason or another, often entirely inadvertently.

This case was, however, a particularly notable example of its type. Green eyes narrowed as they focused on their target, sitting one row in front and a little off to the left. Despite the fact that the lesson was maths - in theory her favourite subject - Nanoha was clearly distracted, staring off out of the window with an atypical expression of uncertainty. Chewing on her bottom lip absently, she gazed forward blankly, worry and confusion warring across her face.

Arisa gritted her teeth, suppressing a growl of anger. For weeks now, Nanoha had been distracted, preoccupied. Ever since she'd been landed in hospital, it had been raised to higher levels than ever. She would zone out frequently, barely participate in conversations and sit staring off into space whenever she had a free moment.

It was infuriating. And the worst of it was that she was clearly up to something, and yet she wouldn't explain! Didn't she know that her friends wanted to help her? Wasn't she the one who'd taught them that sharing your problems made them easier to cope with, even if your friends couldn't help directly?

With clenched fists and gritted teeth, Arisa scowled at her friend as the lesson dragged on. That Nanoha was apparently too out of it even to notice only spurred her annoyance even higher. She watched, ignoring the teacher, as the confusion and uncertainty writ large on the young brunette's face shifted back and forth, an internal debate raging behind the unfocused blue eyes. Slowly, her expression began to settle, her confidence began to grow. Arisa could actually see it happening; follow the slow settling on a decision. From long experience, she knew that once Nanoha decided on a course of action, she would move the heavens and earth to accomplish it, and waited in tense anticipation for the culmination of the decision silently being reached on the other side of the classroom.

Expression firming, hands fisting, Nanoha seemed to come to a decision. Blue eyes blazed with determination as she gave a firm, affirmative nod, and Arisa watched as...

... as...

... as her eyes glazed over slightly, and she settled back in her seat again, the mask of indecision having merely been swapped for one of preoccupation - or possibly intense concentration. Whatever she was thinking or daydreaming about though, it didn't seem to be leading to any actual action on the decision she'd just reached. The anticlimax was like a slap in the face, and the last shreds of Arisa's patience vanished.

Barely registering the end of the lesson as the teacher left the room, she stood in a rush, chair clattering backwards, stormed across the room and slammed her hands down on Nanoha's desk.

"Damn it, Nanoha!" she yelled, and heads turned all across the room at the sudden explosion. The girl herself jerked back violently, snapped out of her daze by the volume and violence she was addressed with. Either not noticing or not caring about the stares she was drawing, Arisa continued heatedly. "What is with you? You're off in a daze all the time, you're barely paying attention in class... what is going on?!"

Nanoha stared at her blankly, blinking in shock, before a light flush of guilt and embarrassment formed. "Uh... sorry, Arisa-chan. I guess I was just drifting-"

Arisa didn't want to hear it. Growling audibly, she turned her back on the weak excuses and stormed out, expression furious. Dimly, she noticed Suzuka trying to placate her from the back of the room, but she was far too annoyed to stay put. Her feet led her on a random path through the halls, past students just beginning to file out of their classrooms for lunch, until she found a relatively quiet stairwell. Gripping the handrail as hard as she could, staring out over the school grounds, she clenched her teeth and tried to rein in her temper.

Absorbed in her thoughts, she wasn't sure how long it was before a small noise from the stairs behind her drew her attention. Sullenly, already knowing who it was, she considered ignoring Suzuka for a moment before relenting. The purple-haired girl hadn't done anything wrong, after all. Letting out a sigh, she turned.

... well. Suzuka wasn't a surprise. The fact that she'd somehow convinced Nanoha to come after her was. Even more surprising, Nanoha didn't seem angry or upset about Arisa's eruption - which, now that she thought about it, had been a little over the top. If anything, she looked... contrite.

Maybe she was going to explain?

"Um... Arisa-chan?"

"What?" she said, huffily. Okay, so maybe she was still a little frustrated. She was allowed to be!

"I... um... I'm sorry that I've been off lately, I really am! Things have just been..." Nanoha trailed off uncertainly, face growing pensive. Before Arisa's annoyance could reignite, Suzuka stepped in.

"Nanoha-chan," she said, laying a gentle hand on the brunette's shoulder. "How long have we been friends?"

"Uh... ages. Since we were little, and..." a wistful smile crossed Nanoha's face as she remembered the events that had brought them together.

"And we've had problems in that time, right? Like when we were seven and the puppy got run over?" Nanoha nodded solemnly, remembering the tears that had accompanied the event. Arisa had taken a liking to the little creature, which had sadly been a little too inquisitive for its own good.

Eyes narrowing, Suzuka moved in for the kill. "And when one of us had problems, they shared them, right? And that made it easier to cope. We could help each other, when we shared what was wrong."

Nanoha froze, realisation dawning for her in much the same way as it did for a dinosaur realising that the bright light on the western horizon was not the sun. Despite herself, Arisa almost applauded.

"Suzuka-chan... um..." Biting her lip, Nanoha fidgeted uncomfortably, looking rather like she would rather be anywhere else. "I really want to tell you, but I-"

"Then do, Nanoha-chan! Please! We want to help you! And... and we can't help you if we don't know what's going on. We just want to make you feel better. You've been so... so miserable, lately." Suzuka turned imploring eyes on her friend, pleading with her. "Nanoha-chan... I promise, we'll both do whatever we can to help you. Even if there's nothing we can do, we can still help by sharing your problems! And... and I don't want to see you looking lost and troubled, Nanoha. Neither of us do."

"I'm not-"

"It's written all over your face," Arisa interrupted, cutting off Nanoha's abortive attempts at a denial. "And yet you won't tell us a thing, no matter how often we ask." She looked up, eyes blazing. "Can't you see you're hurting us, too? You're lying to us when you say that, and we're worried about you, and-" she stopped abruptly, looking down and letting her hair fall over her face, hiding her expression. Something inside Nanoha twisted painfully at the sight.

"Nanoha-chan... I know that everyone has secrets even from their best friends, but... please. Are you sure this has to be one of them?" Suzuka's tone was still gentle, her expression compassionate. Nanoha struggled inwardly for several tense seconds, before her legs abruptly folded, dropping her into a sitting position on the stairs with a light thump.

"O-okay," she whispered. "I'll... I..." Her mouth opened and closed a few times, unable to decide on how to start. Her friends waited - one patiently, one in tense anticipation.

"Um... okay." Nanoha nodded, seeming surer of herself, "It started with-"

She stopped abruptly, jerking ever so slightly, and cocking her head to one side - an unconscious movement, as her eyes glazed over. Arisa forced down the instant urge to yell at her for zoning out again, just as she was about to explain things, and looked closer. It almost looked like the girl was listening to something very faint, something that only she could hear. Arisa watched, suspicious, as emotions played across Nanoha's face again. Another inner struggle was taking place, it seemed - another decision. Except...

... except she had already decided to tell them. Arisa knew her friend. If Nanoha had decided something, she wouldn't just change her mind on a whim. She wouldn't turn back on that. And yet...

"... with... I..." Nanoha raised distressed eyes to her friends. "... I'm sorry, Arisa-chan, Suzuka-chan. I'm really, really sorry. But... I just can't." She looked miserable. But despite that, she'd made her mind up. Something, somehow, had changed her decision at the last second.

Well then. That was that, it seemed.

"Uh... Arisa?"

The blonde was looking down, face hidden by her hair. As Suzuka looked closer, she could see that her fists were clenched tightly in her lap, and she was actually physically shaking. Before she could reach out in concern, Arisa spoke, her voice low, tight and full of barely restrained fury.

"So what you're saying," she ground out through gritted teeth, "is that you still won't say. We're worried about you, we want to help, we're your friends," this last word she almost spat, " But that's still not enough, and you're just going to keep trying to handle whatever it is by yourself, and deny anything is happening." By the end of the terse summary, Arisa's voice hadn't risen much, but the hurt, insulted tone was clear, still undercut by raw fury. Eyes wide, almost fearfully, Nanoha nodded, and Arisa seemed to notice the response despite having not turned her head.

Abruptly, she turned back to the rail - a violent, sudden movement that sent her hair flying back over her shoulder. Taking two rapid steps forward, limbs stiff with anger and slight frame trembling with fury, she spoke again, grimly staring out of the window - not quite shouting, but nowhere near her previous quiet tone, obviously starting to lose the struggle to keep calm.

"If you're just going to lie to your friends to keep them out of your business, then fine, Nanoha. If you want to keep insisting nothing is wrong while you sneak out at night and come back limping and covered in bruises, that's just fine. But don't mock us by pretending nothing's wrong. We're worried about you, and we want to help, and all you do in return is feed us this line of..." She whirled back around, eyes alight and furious, almost yelling now, as angry as Suzuka had ever seen her. Something seemed to keep her from finishing, though, her rant cut off like a knife and she seemed to shrink slightly as she gathered herself, taking several deep, calming breaths.

"If you ever decide to actually be honest with us," she resumed, not looking at Nanoha, who was looking at her in a mixture of fear, hurt and pleading, "then we'll listen. But until then..." Finally, she met the girl's eyes, and glared at her in hot, furious betrayal, her anger all the greater for how much she cared beneath it, "... until then, I don't want to hear any more from you. Not after this."

Tears glimmering at the corners of her eyes - of anger, hurt or sadness, Suzuka couldn't tell - the blonde whirled on a heel and stalked off. Casting a sorrowful, apologetic look at Nanoha, who was still sitting stunned, Suzuka hesitated for a moment before following her.

Walking as fast as she could, trying as hard as she could to suppress the fuming, boiling cloud of anger and hurt inside her, Arisa let her legs carry her where they would, uncaring of where she ended up.

She didn't look back.

...​

Head hung low, Nanoha trudged home, still smarting from Arisa's vehemence. The girl's words had hurt, but not as much as the pain and frustrated helplessness in her eyes as she shouted. Nanoha had experience with knowing something was wrong and being unable to help. It wasn't a state she would wish on her worst enemy, let alone her best friend.

The cold bit at her skin, errant breezes tugging her clothes this way and that as she walked. Strands of hair fell across her face as the wind snatched at them. The weather was cold, the sunny days coming to an end. Off to the east, the skies were darkening, a storm front moving in. Shivering, she sped up, hurrying back to the warmth and safety of her home and her family.

Yuuno seemed to take in her mood with a glance as she walked in stiffly. He ducked his head, either in apology or sympathy.

'They... didn't take it well?'

Nanoha glared. He took the hint and shut up. The aura in the room radiated out from the small figure as she flopped onto the bed, her body language depressive and melancholy. He shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to do. His charge was angry and upset, and it was... sort of his fault.

Not that he wouldn't say the same thing again, if she asked him out of the blue like she had earlier. Telling her friends wasn't a good idea; he believed that as a matter of certainty. But their reactions to it had apparently not been positive, and he had to admit, he could see why. And now Nanoha was lying on her bed, scowling at the ceiling and showing none of the cheerful enthusiasm she usually displayed.

'Why can't I tell them, anyway?' Nanoha's voice sounded petulant, and Yuuno was vividly reminded for a moment that this girl, who had fought monsters and risked her life in saving him, was only nine years old. Indeed, she had only found out about magic a month ago. He wasn't much older, of course, but he had grown up accustomed to responsibility and independence. Nanoha was a stranger to all of this, shouldering a role that would have daunted adults three times her age.

'You know why,' he replied as gently as he could. 'It's-'

'Too dangerous, I know, I know. You keep saying.' She rolled over, huffing grumpily. "Stupid Arisa. Why can't she just... urgh. I want to tell her, can't she see that? I just..."

Another pause. Yuuno tried to think of something to say to fill the silence, but nothing came to mind. The diatribe wasn't really directed at him, anyway. This had been fermenting for a while, and if it didn't come out now, it would later. He'd seen it happen in his cousins, occasionally, when they had a fight. Deciding to let her vent - or possibly declining to remind her of his presence and make himself a target - he curled up tighter on the desk and watched the sullen girl, waiting for her to finish.

"... and the girl! Fate! All mysterious and... urgh. She said she was trying to get the Jewel Seeds for someone close to her, but not who or why! Is it too much to ask that everyone could just be open about things?!" Angrily, Nanoha rolled back, tossing a pillow across the room in a brief fit of frustration. From his position on the other side of the room, Yuuno felt a brief moment of relief that magic wasn't a reflex for her yet. Better a pillow than a training shot. Or an uncontrolled blasting spell.

Nanoha's tantrum seemed to be reaching its peak as she fumed. Abruptly, something seemed to tip internally, and her jaw set. "You know what?" she announced, "Fine!" She sat up, expression indignant. Where she had been morose as she came in, and sulky as she vented, she was now well into defiant, and verging on aggressive. Thumping the bed for emphasis, she nodded fiercely, her brief slump into depression replaced by incensed resolve. "If Arisa wants to have her tantrum, I'll let her! She can be all stubborn, see if I care! And Suzuka can too! And when I can tell them, they'll understand why I wasn't able to right now!"

Yuuno quietly wondered whether she was trying to convince him or herself with this, but held back from asking. This turn into determination seemed... positive. Mostly.

"And if Fate won't tell me what she's doing, I'll..." Nanoha faltered slightly as she remembered the outcome of the last two fights against the blonde, but rallied magnificently, "I'll get stronger until I can beat her, and then I'll make her tell me! And if the Jewel Seeds keep coming, I'll stop them all myself if I have to! And if anything else happens, I'll deal with that, too!"

Suiting word to deed, she sprung up from her prone position and raced out the door, Yuuno left forgotten in her wake. Following, with a faint tinge of foreboding about what she might be intending, he nonetheless found himself left behind by her as she sped off downstairs.

By the time he caught up to her, Nanoha had appropriated a broom from a cupboard and assumed a combative stance in the living room. Pausing at the doorway in mild confusion, the ferret watched in bemusement as she swiped at the air with it, nearly overbalancing once or twice as she swung with a little too much enthusiasm.

'Um... Nanoha?'

'Hush, this is part of my plan. Miyuki's upstairs, so you need to go up and get her to come down here. Then I can pretend to want to learn staff fighting, and get her to teach me, so that I can use Raising Heart better!'

Yuuno winced inwardly at the thought of Nanoha continuing to use the delicate Device as a melee weapon, but wearily accepted that he wasn't likely to change Nanoha's mind on the matter. And the girl had a point - greater combat skills would certainly increase her chances of survival in the fights against both Jewel Seeds and Fate Testarossa. He began to turn back upstairs, towards Miyuki's room, just as the door behind Nanoha opened.

The next few seconds happened very fast. Stepping backwards with a childish "hya!", Nanoha drove her impromptu stick sideways, still trying to emulate the movements that Fate had made so crisply and easily during their last fight. The momentum spun her round like a top, twirling through a half-rotation with the stick trailing out wildly, before it came to an abrupt stop in a slender hand raised protectively in front of its owner's face.

With a slowly mounting sense of dread, Nanoha followed the hand up the arm attached to it, over a tensed shoulder and into a face. A familiar face. A familiar face that had one eyebrow raised, and which had just entered the room from entirely the wrong direction.

"Uh... Nanoha?" asked Miyuki warily, not letting go of the broom handle poised inches away from her face. "Why are you... did mum ask you to clean the ceiling or something? Because I think you're meant to use the dusters, and... wouldn't it be better to get Dad or... well, anyone but the littlest one in the family to do it?" A smile crept onto her lips at Nanoha's mortified expression as she gently teased the girl.

Nanoha flushed bright red and stammered nervously, wide-eyed at how close the broom had been to Miyuki's face when her hand had snapped up to catch it. "Um... I... ah... I..."

"Breathe, little sister. I'm not mad, you didn't connect. Though I would sort of like an explanation."

"Well... um..." Nanoha struggled to find an explanation for a moment, looking sheepishly up at her sister, before her brain kicked into gear once more and she proceeded with stage two of her original plan.

"I'm doing staff fighting! Like you and papa and Kyouya! I want to learn, too!" She tugged on the broom, trying to get it back to demonstrate. Still caught in Miyuki's iron grip, it moved perhaps a centimetre.

"Really." The older girl sounded dubious. "And why the sudden enthusiasm?"

"Ummm..." Nanoha searched for an explanation that Miyuki would accept, scuffing her foot nervously on the floor. "I... uh... the new Ghibli movie?"

Miyuki stared at her for a moment, and then let go of the broom. Tilting her head, she gave Nanoha a searching look that made her squirm, and seemed to have a short mental debate with herself. After a second or two of decision, though, her expression melted into a slightly amused smile, though the evaluating look remained.

"Well, noble inspirations aside, I'm afraid you're not quite living up to the movies," she joked with a faint grin. "If you really want to learn, I suppose I can teach you, but... Nanoha, if you get bored of this in a week or so and decide to do something else, I will not be pleased. If you really want to learn, you'll have to show me that you're serious about it."

"I am! I'll work really hard on it, I promise!" Nanoha seemed to blaze with determination, and Miyuki took a half step back, surprised by her emphasis. The appraisal intensified, and she nodded as if something had been confirmed.

"Well... alright. In that case, go change into something more... wearable, and meet me out in the dojo. The first thing we need to work on is falls." She eyed Nanoha's hands where the clutched the broomstick, and closed her eyes in exasperation. "And the second thing will be your grip. Now go! Shoo! I can only give you a couple of hours today, so hurry up!"

Nanoha stared at her sister for a moment, stunned at how... how easily she had agreed. She wasn't sure Miyuki had fully believed her excuses, but if she hadn't, she wasn't questioning it. She was...

The memory of Miyuki's face as she woke up in hospital resurfaced. The worry, the anger, the concern. Examining her sister's face, she caught a glimpse of that feeling still there. Mixed with a determination not to have to go through it again.

Well. That explained... things.

Impulsively, Nanoha threw herself at Miyuki, engulfing her in a brief, hard hug which was reciprocated in full measure. Her sister knew she wasn't telling the whole truth, but... she was trusting her. Trusting that whatever she needed staff fighting skills for, it was for a good reason.

"Thank you, Miyuki-neechan," she mumbled, voice muffled by her sister's torso, face pressed into her chest. After a final squeeze, she looked up with a bright smile, eyes a little teary. "I'll go get ready now! I'll meet you in the dojo!" Already going through her wardrobe in her head, she dashed off upstairs to change.

Miyuki watched her go, eyes narrowed. Following her sister until the girl was out of sight, she hummed to herself quietly, lips pursing as she thought. Then she shrugged, pulling out a phone and heading off in the direction of the dojo.

"Hey, Kaya? Sorry, I won't be able to make it to study this afternoon. Something came up. No, don't worry, nothing bad, it's just..."

Still watching from the doorway, Yuuno smiled. Nanoha was bearing a heavy burden, yes. But she was waking up to the fact that she had family willing to support her in it. That was good. Worries assuaged, he followed Nanoha upstairs with a lighter step than he'd been carrying in weeks.

Perhaps things were starting to look up, after all.

...​

As Nanoha was beginning to be introduced to the basics of stick fighting, another girl well acquainted with the practice was walking along a high street, heading back to her apartment with a fresh bag of food and a satchel of library books. She hummed a happy tune as she paced along the streets; by now familiar enough with the city to navigate back home unconsciously. Her thoughts drifted idly, content for the moment. As the high-rise glass and steel facade of her current residence rose above her, she came back from the pleasant fog of daydreams and mundane boredom into sharp focus.

Nodding pleasantly to the porters in the lobby as she passed them on the way in, she took the elevator on up to her penthouse and toed the door open, burdened down with groceries and books as she was.

"Fate-chan!" Arf greeted her, as enthusiastically as always. "Did you bring more ramen?" Her tail and ears twitched at the thought of the delectable Earth meal, and she hopped off the couch and approached her master, sniffing inquisitively.

"No, just groceries." Fate ignored her familiar's whine of disappointment, dodging round her with a slight smirk and depositing the bags on the kitchen table. Checking to make sure that Arf hadn't followed, she slid half a dozen packages of instant ramen out of the bags surreptitiously and hid them in the-

"I knew it!"

... cupboard. Apparently, Arf's sense of smell was as good as she so often claimed. An annoyed twitch ticking at her eye, Fate sighed in resignation. So much for surprising her friend. Puppy-like, Arf pranced in a circle, chasing her own tail and singing triumphantly. "Ramen ramen ramen, ramen ramen ramen, hope you got some spicy things, for the ramen ramen!"

"Okay, yes," admitted Fate, pushing Arf away and defending the treat from her grabs, "I have ramen. But you're not to have any yet." Arf immediately began to protest, but Fate waved her down. "No! You need some healthy food! This is a snack food and a reward; you're not to have it now."

"Aww... but... but..." A sharp rap on the nose aborted her attempt to grab some of the packets and sent her whimpering back several steps, where she levelled a pleading look at Fate. "Fate-chan..." she protested, turning the full force of her puppy eyes on the girl. Fate stared back, entirely unaffected, and eventually Arf slumped, pouting.

"Meanie."

Fate let the barb pass, packing the rest of the groceries away, and pulled out the first book in the pile. While she had done her best to accommodate Linith's insistence that she take some time to spend on her own pursuits, she wasn't quite capable of wasting time on something totally irrelevant to her mission. So she had compromised, and bought a few history books. They probably wouldn't be that useful, but knowing about the history of the region she was working in couldn't hurt, and might yield a few valuable insights.

Flipping the book open to the first page, it was, of course, gibberish. Sighing, she called Bardiche up to hover over the page, and after a few seconds of scanning and translation, a more readable pane of light appeared above it, filled with glowing Midchildan text.

Settling back in the chair, curling up and letting the soft cushions engulf her slight form, Fate began to read.

She was halfway through the fourth chapter and fast becoming engrossed when Arf sidled into the kitchen in human form. Given the way she was staying close to the floor, crawling along in what she probably considered to be a stealthy, surreptitious manner and quietly humming her ramen song to herself, Fate was able to make a rough guess at what she was there for. Sighing, and tearing herself from the detailed account of the early Kamakura period, she glared at the hopeful familiar.

"Arf!" she snapped out, causing the girl in question to jump with a squeak of surprise. Fate stared for a second, honestly nonplussed. Had... had she actually thought Fate couldn't see her? While humming? Despite her best efforts, the blonde's lips twitched upwards in the beginnings of a smile.

"Arf," she repeated, "no ramen. Stop trying to sneak over and steal it."

"Awww... but..."

"Do you want me to throw it all away?"

Arf's eyes went wide and fearful for a moment, and she almost seemed to teleport away from the cupboard containing her precious ramen supplies. Fate endured her plaintive stare for another minute or so before impatiently beckoning her over. Recognising her intent, Arf shifted into her wolf form and padded over, curling up on the couch and releasing a low, happy growl as Fate's hand came down to stroke her absentmindedly.

"Arf?" she murmured after a moment, "If it's not too much trouble, do you think you could make me some tea?" The orange-red wolf lingered for a moment, growling sulkily at being forced to move from her comfortable spot just as she had got settled, but eventually slipped off onto the floor and padded through into the kitchen. A few moments of clanking and pouring later, Arf came back out in human form, holding a teacup and saucer and looking uncharacteristically worried.

Carefully setting the drink down on a side table, she curled up again next to Fate on the couch again and staring off into the distance, lost in thought. After a few minutes of peaceful silence, broken only by the quiet rasp of Fate turning the pages, she spoke tentatively, idly winding a loop of hair around one of her fingers.

"Um... Fate-chan?"

"Mmm?" Fate's eyes didn't leave her book, though she turned her head slightly to show that she was listening.

"What... what will we do if the TSAB show up, Fate-chan? Only... there's already that Nanoha girl. And the ferret with her, and..." Arf was speeding up as she got into full flow, hands beginning to tremble a little and eyes widening. Apparently, she'd been thinking about this for a while, and was rightfully scared of the possibility.

"Arf, calm down," Fate cut her familiar off before she could work herself into a rant. Attention now fully on the other girl, she absently flicked her book closed before settling back and pursing her lips in thought.

"... you've been thinking about this."

Arf nodded frankly. "Since the Jewel Seed in the river. Maybe even a little before. Fate-chan, if the TSAB turn up, we're... I mean, I'm good, and you're amazing, but the TSAB are just..."

Fate nodded, biting her lip and considering. Arf wasn't the only one to have had a few moments of gut-wrenching dread about exactly that occurrence. The TSAB were a frightening enemy, and everything she'd learned about them in the past three years drove that point home with chilling finality. If it came down to a direct confrontation between her and the Bureau, she would lose. Perhaps not to the first team sent after her. She might even survive or escape the second. But it was a near certainty that once the specialists of the Bureau started to move in, her chances of completing her mission dwindled to zero. And that would mean that she would have failed Mother, and... and Alicia would never get better.

Still. Her mother had been over this with her, describing the TSAB's strengths and weaknesses, outlining their plan for avoiding the self-appointed police force. Patting her book absently, Fate gathered her thoughts and started.

"The first thing you should remember is that the TSAB aren't very old - only about seventy years have passed since they were set up. And Dimensional Space is big. Very big. The main factor providing for our safety is the sheer size of the Dimensional Sea," she said, her voice unconsciously shifting as she recited what her mother had told her, "and the fact that the TSAB are still seriously lacking on manpower." She tilted her head, dredging up the figures from her memory. "This is Unadministered World #97... I think the nearest Administered World is three dimensions away by the shortest route possible - Unadministered Worlds 89, 96 and 93 are between us and there. That would be... Pihroea, I think it's called. A Type 4 world, but not as nice as Mid, and mostly a wildlife preserve." She smirked slightly at this, brushing a lock of hair out of her face and behind an ear as she continued, "Which is, Mother says, a nice way of saying 'it has a small military garrison to protect a backwater colony which no-one cares about'. And that's the nearest TSAB presence to us."

She smiled at Arf. "So, to start with, as long as we keep our heads down and don't do anything too flashy, the TSAB will never think to look for us here. They don't even know we exist, and the chances of them 'just happening' to look in on this planet with sensors good enough to detect us as so long as to be almost impossible." Considering for a moment, she absently stroked Arf's hair as she thought, brushing away the curl made by the orange-haired girl's fiddling. "And... I can't think of many things that could bring them here from that far away. I mean, Na... Takamachi-san and I have had full-scale magical battles, and that isn't detectable from much beyond orbit, even at the levels we fight at. Anything they could pick up from their standard patrol routes would have to be enormous, and I doubt we'll be seeing anything like that."

"Okay..." said Arf, mollified somewhat. The tension wasn't entirely gone, though, and while she had stopped shaking under Fate's petting, her voice still held a tinge of worry. "So they're really, really unlikely to find us by chance, then. But what if they do, somehow?"

Considering this, the blonde girl picked up her tea and sipped at it, savouring the taste and giving herself some time to think.

"That... would cause problems, yes," she acceded with a careful nod. "But the TSAB is still spread thin. They really don't have enough people to manage all the territory they administer, Mother says. So the chances of them sending in their top troops immediately are very low. We'd more likely be seeing one or two relatively experienced mages - A rank, probably - and a backup squad of C or D-rankers." She smirked again, raising an eyebrow at Arf. "I think we can probably handle an opponent like that with ease. It'll take them at least a week or so to bring in their powerful soldiers - maybe more, if something else requires their attention elsewhere in Dimensional Space - so we'd have to get as many Jewel Seeds in that time as possible and step up our timetable."

She sighed, leaning back into the soft cushions, tilting her head back until she could see the sky through the vast window behind her. Burgundy eyes fluttered closed, and a sudden increase in the amount of heat being thrown off next to her marked Arf's shift into her wolf form, fears apparently put to rest. The soft fur snuggled closer to her, and she brought a hand up to caress Arf's muzzle and tickle under her chin. "That would be really troublesome though," she mumbled sleepily. "Best would be to collect all the Jewel Seeds fast and efficiently, then get back to the Garden without anyone knowing we were ever here.

A rumbling growl was her only response - one that would have been a purr, if Arf could make such a noise - and a comfortable silence reigned in the luxurious apartment as the sun dipped towards the horizon and evening began to set in. The rays of light through the window travelled slowly up the wall, illuminating the family picture - Linith hugging Arf and Fate together with a smile, Precia standing slightly back and to one side with a pleasantly neutral expression - that hung in pride of place above the mantelpiece.

'Fate-chan... ?' Arf mumbled telepathically, and repeated herself slightly louder when the drowsy query drew no response from the blonde, whose breathing had evened out. She looked to be in a light doze, and Arf didn't like to wake her, but one point still nagged at her. 'Fate-chan, what about...'

Whatever she was about to ask was cut off, however, by the shrill tones of the phone demanding attention on the other side of the room. Groaning, and blinking sleep from her eyes, Fate pushed the heavy weight of Arf off her lap, which the wolf had gradually moved to cover during their shared nap, and stumbled over to the sleek black handset. Plucking it out of its charger, she fumbled and nearly dropped it before recovering it before it hit the floor and answering.

"Hello?" A pause. "Yes, this is her. Um... yes, I did." She tilted her head slightly, wandering back over to the window and ignoring Arf trying to eavesdrop on the other half of the conversation. "You have?" she exclaimed, surprised, "That's wonderful, what- yes, yes, that would be fabulous. Thank you." She held the phone between her ear and shoulder as she jotted something down on a notepad, smiling. "Yes, I'll be there as soon as possible. Thank you very much for your help." Hanging up, she hurried over to the door, Arf trailing behind her in human form.

"Fate-chan? Who was that?" she asked, bemused by the girl's sudden activity. Excited red eyes fell on her with a grin.

"That was the private eye we asked to investigate Takamachi-san's background," explained Fate, pulling her coat on. "He says he has his results ready for us to look over." She paused. "So that means you're going to have to make myself look like you could be my mother again," she added, staring meaningfully towards the bedroom where the clothes were kept.

...​

Reclining in the throne-like chair, Precia rested her chin on a thin hand and listened, eyes slightly narrowed. The vast, shadowy chamber she sat in was silent, save for the sound of the blonde girl speaking on the other side of the glowing panel hanging in the air. Linith stood at her side, quietly attentive and offering a cheerful smile as she gave Fate her full attention. She had been worried that the trip away from the Garden of Time would have been difficult for the girl, but she seemed to be positively blossoming in the new situation.

... and actually, she looked rather more animated than usual, talking about the young native mage she had been competing with. Linith's smile grew slightly, taking on a slight overtone of personal amusement, and she filed that observation away for later consideration. Fate could use a friend her own age besides Arf, and from the looks of things, she seemed to have taken a liking to the determined little brunette despite their rivalry.

But such things could wait. Diverting her thoughts from potential burgeoning friendships, she returned her attention to Fate.

"... he also found her school records, so I had a look through them," she was saying. "She's intelligent, and seems to be driven to exceed. She's excellent at mathematics in particular, easily the best in her year." She shuffled through a few of the papers she had spread out before her on the office desk, selecting one and skimming over it. "Her brother and sister don't have similar grades... maybe it comes from her mother's side of the family."

Precia nodded, lips pursing. "That would explain why she's taken so naturally to magic," she mused thoughtfully. "And her magic?"

"AA-rank at least, I would say," Fate replied seriously. "She's not as strong as I am, but a fair amount of that is simple lack of skill. If given proper teaching - and believe me, she's been learning as fast as she can - she could be really good."

"Interesting," Precia stated, clinically. "If that is true, she could soon represent a powerful agent on the board." She frowned. "It's... strange. The planet is largely devoid of magic, and yet this girl would be impressive even by the standards of Midchilda. It's nothing like the normal magical distribution you would expect to find."

Picking up another sheet of paper, this one lined with pictures, Fate cleared her throat and began to read from it. "Regarding her family... her father is Shiro Takamachi. Apparently, he used to be a bodyguard of some sort, and retired upon being 'injured in the line of duty' - no details of circumstance. He spent a long time in hospital though, so the injuries must have been severe. He now runs a bakery with his wife, Momoko. Her brother Kyouya-san is a half-brother from Shiro-san's first marriage, and Miyuki-san, the sister, is actually her cousin on the paternal side, adopted." She looked up. "That's not all, though. Mother, I've been observing them practice - all but Nanoha-san and Momoko-san are active sword-users who practice daily in their dojo. They're using magic."

Precia's eyes widened at this, and Linith let out a slight gasp. "You're sure?" the older woman pressed. "Certain?"

Fate nodded solemnly, her expression serious. Inside, she was glowing at the focused attention her mother was paying her, happy that she was being useful. "It's crude, not like any of the formal styles for using mass-based weapons for magic in the books. And not very powerful - barely E-rank, and they're not using any actual spells. More... enhancement. Making themselves faster, stronger. I think they might be slightly altering the trajectories of any projectiles or strikes aimed at them, too. Like a very, very crude Barrier Jacket. But it's definitely there. I'm not sure they're even consciously aware they're doing it. The son and daughter certainly aren't."

"Hmm." It was a cool, deliberate sound. "Interesting." Precia drummed her fingers on the arm of the chair, frowning slightly in thought. A raised hand forestalled Fate from continuing as she considered the information she had.

"... it's possible her father could be ex-TSAB," she said slowly. "Unlikely, but possible. Hmm. Keep it in mind, certainly, just in case. As to the girl... well, it seems that we've found out why your comment had such an effect on her. How old was she when her father was injured?"

Papers shuffled. Red eyes skimmed over lines of text. "Uh... it looks like she was four."

The smirk was cold and triumphant, and Precia nodded, before frowning and raising a hand to her mouth to mask a serious of violent, shuddering coughs. Linith immediately moved round to support her, one hand going to her chest with a soft glow and the other wiping red flecks away from her mouth. As the fit passed, she waved Linith off and looked back up, composure regained as effortlessly as if it had never been lost. "A serious injury to a loved one at such a young age..." she continued, stifling another cough, "it would be surprising had it not left marks. This is good. Well done, Fate. What else?"

Fate scuffed a foot along the floor in agitation. Her mother looked... thin. Too pale. The coughing fits were getting more frequent, too. Her upset showed as she examined the older woman, noting the bags under her eyes and the laboured breathing - harder than it had been a month ago? It was hard to tell for sure, but she thought it might be.

An impatient cough brought her back to reality with a gasp, and she hurriedly rewound the conversation in her head to recall Precia's last inquiry. "Ah... she seems compassionate, and has made multiple attempts to reach out to me, which is promising. At least two close friends - Arf met them in the hot springs resort up in the mountains. They seem close - the blonde in particular is... ah... protective of her. I imagine they're concerned about her, as I rather doubt she's explained where her injuries are coming from." Linith raised a mildly admonishing eyebrow at this, and Fate blushed. "Uh... that is... um. Yes. Well. Anyway, uh... the ferret, yes. It's definitely magical, and seems to at least be aligned with the TSAB. I can't be sure, but I suspect that it is advising her not to tell anyone about her magical activities. That would be in line with what you said about Unadministered Worlds. So the first step is to neutralise the ferret and get her away from it."

Precia rewarded her with a thin smile and an assenting nod. "Good. Yes, that is certainly a tactic worth exploring. Besides that... hmm. Capitalise on her father's injury, tell her that by stopping you, she endangers your sister's life. If the opportunity arises, and the ferret is nowhere nearby... have Arf distract it, if necessary... ask her to help you save Alicia. If she is as kind-hearted as you claim, it will at the very least discourage her from her attempts to interfere."

"I understand, mother."

"Good." Precia leaned forward, eyes intent, and almost succeeded in hiding a faint wince as the motion jarred an existing ache in the wrong way. "With that concluded, how goes the search for the Jewel Seeds?"

Smiling proudly, and trying to put the brief flash of pain in her mother's eyes out of her mind, Fate motioned to Bardiche. The yellow gem pulsed once, and a faint aura of gold light surrounded it. Buoyed up on the gentle radiance, half a dozen blue gems floated through the air, circling slowly above the Device in a hypnotic orbit. The blonde girl looked up hopefully, eager for praise, hoping to put Precia in a better mood. "I've managed to track down and recover three more Jewel Seeds since the last time we spoke," she said, "bringing me to a total of six. I suspect several are in the ocean, but I intend to put off retrieving those until I have collected all of the ones on land, as they are likely to be much more difficult to get at."

A skilled observer might have caught the faintly annoyed narrowing of Precia's eyes. But only a very skilled one would have been able to read it in the brief instant it was on display before she displaced it with a pleasant, congratulatory smile. Fate, preoccupied, inexperienced and looking for something else, missed it entirely.

"Six Jewel Seeds? I am pleased, Fate, well done indeed. You are a good girl, working so hard for your dear sister." She leaned back as the girl beamed at her and studied her face - so like Alicia's, and yet...

She sighed sadly, projecting an air of faint disappointment and grief. "But... Fate-chan. Six Jewel Seeds alone will not be nearly enough. Could... could I ask you to try that little bit harder, to find more? Alicia needs you, Fate-chan. Thirteen Jewel Seeds at the very least will be necessary to cast the spell. You are doing well so far, but I have no doubt you could be doing better still." A smile flickered across her lips as she watched the girl pale slightly and bite her lip, a guilty look in her widening eyes. Putting on a reassuring tone, she leaned forwards to deliver the coup de grace.

"I trust you, Fate-chan. You will not fail me."

Granting the girl one last smile, she flicked the connection closed. In the apartment on Earth, Fate sat very, very still for several minutes, Arf watching in concern. The familiar was about to ask her what was wrong when, the girl stood up mechanically and moved, slowly and stiffly, through to the main room.

Arf followed her just in time to see the history book hit the wall, closely followed by the empty teacup. A cushion followed them, hurled with an angry scream as Arf rushed over to grab the girl in a hug that was both restraint and comfort, staring wide-eyed at the faint trace of tears glittering in her master's eyes.

"Fate-chan! Fate-chan, what's wrong? Fate-chan?"

Trembling, Fate fought against the hug for a few seconds before subsiding and weakly reaching her arms around Arf's neck to return. After a few more moments, the trembling slowed and stopped, and Fate muttered into Arf's shoulder.

"S'okay. I... I've calmed down now. You can let go."

Tentatively, ready to grab her again if she resumed throwing things, Arf released her from the embrace and stepped back a little, eyeing her with concern. Fate's breathing was a little ragged, and her palms were white from where she had been clenching her fists too tightly, with a row of curved impressions where her fingernails had dug into her skin. Other than that, however, she seemed... not fine, but at least back in control. She looked at the far wall with a hint of shame and quietly walked over, gathering up the book and the shards of china in silence. Arf watched quietly as the broken teacup was disposed of neatly in the bin, and the book was exiled to a shelf in one of the rooms they rarely used.

"So," she ventured. "Um... what... was that?"

A hint of anger flashed across Fate's face, quickly suppressed. Arf almost flinched, but the anger seemed more focused inwards than out. The impression was borne out when Fate spoke, her voice quiet but intense.

"I... mother has trusted me with this. And... and I've been taking naps and reading history books and d-drinking tea," she closed her eyes and took a calm, centring breath before continuing, in a much leveller tone of voice, "when I should have been looking for the Jewel Seeds. Mother is right, I haven't been trying hard enough. And that's... selfish, and wrong, because it's Alicia's life."

She squeezed Bardiche, wordlessly triggering her transformation, and started her way up to the roof.

"Come along, Arf. We need to patrol."

...​

Sunset, and a slight nip hung in the air as night set in, the heavy blanket of cloud that had moved in during the afternoon reflecting the city lights down from the sky. Safe from the cold in her orange sweater, Nanoha padded quietly along the streets, favouring her left leg slightly. Whatever might be said about her sister's skill in comparison to her father and brother, it was impossible to deny that the older girl was good. Nanoha's fingers were still aching slightly from one or two sharp raps obtained when Miyuki was correcting her grip. She could feel the difference though; it was far more secure holding a staff like this than how she had been doing it. She'd been able to block strikes from Miyuki that were, as far as she could tell, even stronger than the ones Fate had been dishing out, and yet the white oak jo staff barely jarred her hands at all!

She smiled happily, pausing at a corner and concentrating. Her senses spread out, searching for any hint of a Jewel Seed activation - it would be much easier if she could sense them before they were active, but Yuuno had explained that she wasn't skilled enough to do that yet. Finding nothing, as she had every time so far that night, she opened her eyes again and continued on her patrol, heading off down the well-lit street with a bounce to her step. There were still people up and about at this time of the evening, and she was forced to weave carefully through one or two crowds as they were hustled out of shops that were closing.

A flashing neon billboard caught her attention, and she regretfully took in the time flashing in one of the lower corners. It was... late. Not badly so, but she'd been out longer than she'd thought. Mama and papa would start to get worried if she stayed out much longer.

"Ahh..." she observed, "it's getting late. I... should probably get back home." She threw a guilty look at Yuuno, perched on her shoulder and looking around with interest and focused attention. At her words, he turned to look at her, shifting slightly to keep his balance on the precarious perch. A slight smile fluttered onto Nanoha's mouth as he did so - it never ceased to impress her, how effortlessly he kept his balance on her even while she was running. It didn't even seem to be something he thought about, just a natural sense of graceful equilibrium.

'That's okay,' he replied, eyes crinkling in a smile. It was impressive how expressive the face of a ferret could be - though that might just be Yuuno, as he was the first ferret Nanoha had met. 'You go home and get something to eat. I'll keep looking out here and call you if I find anything.'

'You're sure it's not too much trouble? She didn't want to look like she was slacking off or making excuses. Though... she was getting a little hungry, come to think of it. As if on cue, her stomach rumbled quietly, and Yuuno chuckled.

'Yes, I'm sure. Go on now, go have dinner. Save some for me.'

She beamed. Yuuno was a great friend. 'I will!', she promised, and held still as he flowed off her shoulder and down her arm, hopping the short distance from her hand to the ground with a faint squeak.

"Okay then, see you at home!" she chirped happily with a parting wave, surreptitiously checking to make sure that nobody was nearby to see her waving at a ferret -and more importantly, see the ferret waving back. As Yuuno turned and scampered off, his lithe tan form quickly disappearing amidst the feet of the thinning crowds, Nanoha turned back towards the rising moon, plotting a course that would take her past the bakery en route home. As she jogged along the pavement and bounced impatiently at the crossings, she turned her thoughts to the blonde girl they'd lingered on with relative frequency in recent weeks.

She was better now. The staff alone... Miyuki hadn't taught her much in the one session so far, mostly just corrected her stance and taught her how to fall, as well as going over a few of the most basic blocks and strikes. But that alone, she estimated, would give her vastly improved chances against the other girl. And hopefully mean that she would be slammed into the ground again. Oh no, she wasn't letting that happen a third time. In fact, Nanoha had a little surprise planned for Fate if she tried to hook her like that in their next fight.

Turning at a major junction, she carried on through a group of what looked like older students hitting the bars early and smiled wistfully as she realised her friends must be finishing their extracurricular lessons around now. One hand moved towards her pocket before stilling. Given Arisa's explosion at her and Suzuka's disappointed agreement with the fiery blonde, there would likely be no messages waiting on her phone. Nor would she be getting visits or phone calls over the weekend. With a sad sigh, she continued on her way, but the bounce and spring was gone from her step and her shoulders slumped a little.

She was perhaps a quarter of the way home, and three or four minutes past parting ways with Yuuno, when it happened. A sudden, explosive wave of power blasted outwards from nearby, a little further towards the city centre, a pulsing, boiling outburst of magic with no form or structure, saturating the surroundings. She recognised it, even as the shock of it made her cry out and stumble, barely catching herself on a lamppost as she fell towards the ground. It was the familiar, the wolf-woman who had accompanied Fate at the springs. But that wasn't what sent a chill down Nanoha's spine and drew the colour from her cheeks.

The thing that scared her was the answering spike of power, faint at first but rapidly building. It must have been right at the edge of the initial burst's range - a miscalculation, perhaps, in its location. Had it been much further away, it might not have awoken at all. But such speculations were left abandoned for another day as Nanoha's head turned fearfully towards the downtown area.

Another Jewel Seed had awoken. And not only did it feel more powerful than those that had come before, it was also further away. Much further. A Barrier wouldn't reach it if she cast one here. Even if she knew how to cast one. Whatever it was doing, it was doing it around people.

'Yuuno!' she shouted frantically, already scanning around for a side-alley to transform in. 'Can you put up a Barrier?'

His voice when he replied was as frantic and frightened as hers. 'No, I'm too far! I'm not fast enough on my own, you need to come and get me! Quick, Nanoha! A Jewel Seed of such power could wreck untold devastation if we don't get it under a Barrier!'

Twin tails of hair flicked wildly as Nanoha frantically scanned for a safe place to change. Another pulse from... was that a pillar of light she could see between the high-rise buildings? She moved back, craning to get a better look. It was! Secrecy be damned, she had to get there and stop the damage as fast as possible.

"Raising Heart! Please!" she called, desperately, and the cool, calm voice of the gem responded reassuringly as it blazed with pink light and enveloped her, running along her arms and encircling her torso as her Barrier Jacket dissolved into existence.

[Alright, my master. Set Up, Ready.]

The staff landed in her hands as it always had, and after an experimental twirl, she set her hands in the new grip as she had been taught. Holding it properly, it felt a lot more secure, and she felt a rush of confidence as she took to the sky. The stares from below were ignored as she focused on Yuuno's location and pushed herself as fast as she felt safe going towards him. She could deal with the aftermath of being seen later, speed was of the essence here. She didn't know how much time she had before the Jewel Seed did serious damage, but long experience listening to her parents discussing the logistics of operating a small business and the fragments of combat strategy she had heard her father teaching both told her that it was best to assume the worst case scenario.

In this case, the worst case scenario was that the Jewel Seed had already done an enormous amount of damage, and would continue to do more with every second she delayed. Which was why, as she moved through the air fast enough that the streets below were a blur, weaving around tall buildings and other obstacles with the minimum deflection necessary to avoid them, she called ahead.

'Yuuno! Get up on top of something high! I'll pick you up without stopping!'

She barely had time to process his affirmative before she was almost on top of him, eyes instantly drawn to the tan shape balanced on top of a lamppost. She dipped down below the roofs, bringing a rush of air in her wake that howled as it was drawn down between the buildings, scattering the detritus that littered them and almost bowling many of the pedestrians over as she passed overhead. She slowed fractionally as she passed the lamppost, and the tiny form leapt as she came near it, arm outstretched toward it. A corona of green magic surrounded Yuuno as he jumped, and she plucked him from the air, veering up again at speed sufficient to be little more than a white blur as the ferret clung on grimly to her shoulder, claws digging into her Barrier Jacket to maintain their grip.

Turning at the zenith of her climb to face the Jewel Seed, she deflected the first blow by a mixture of pure reflex and sheer luck. It came from nowhere, a savage golden blade crackling down towards her face that she was barely able to turn aside with her staff, dropping several feet as she processed what had just happened. Fate's eyes were like steel as she came back for another strike, and rather than block her, Nanoha turned and fled towards the Jewel Seed, a pink-wreathed comet hurtling through the evening sky.

A high pitched whistle in the air and Yuuno's mental shout gave her ample warning this time, as a trio of shots arced after her, splashing off the shield Yuuno raised. Frowning, she pulled upwards again in a loop, releasing a barrage of her own to slow the other girl down. If she wanted a fight that badly...

... except apparently she didn't. Barely spending the magic to shield herself, the blonde girl was already moving at a ridiculously high speed, shooting away from them in the direction of the Jewel Seed. Left behind, her familiar turned her attention to Nanoha, orange chains whipping out to bind and slow her. A few dozen seconds of frantic dodging left Nanoha higher than she had been, backed by the moon, but every time she turned her back on the wolf, half a dozen shots flew at her or another glowing chain whipped out to snare her.

'Nanoha! You go on ahead, I'll keep her from following!' Yuuno tensed on her shoulder and leapt into the air in front of her, a circle forming to support him. Her stomach fluttered uncomfortably.

'What about the Barrier?'

'The other girl will probably put one up! Anyway, the important thing is getting there and sealing the Jewel Seed before it can do any more damage! Go now, I'll stop her from holding you back!'

There was no time to argue or debate the point. Turning on a heel, Nanoha pushed herself faster than she'd ever moved before; streaking across the sky with such speed that her vision narrowed into a tunnel in front of her and the ground below became nothing more than a blur. The yellow dot ahead of her... expanded. Slightly. She wasn't catching up, but she wasn't falling behind, either.

At least until the other mage noticed her pursuit and turned, doubling back to charge at her in a blazing aura of gold. From below, it looked like two comets leaving streaked trails as they soared towards one another on a collision course, lit by the moon and stars, and the reflected glow from the city beneath. Nanoha caught a split-second view of Fate's face, lips tense and eyes hard, before the shock of the collisions sent them both hurtling back. Rather than back off and recover, she pushed herself forwards again, arcing back towards the Jewel Seed and curving in towards Fate. Another bone-jarring, cataclysmic crash of Device on Device, and Nanoha thanked every star in the heavens for her sister's merciless correction of her grip and stance - it was the only thing allowing her to keep hold of Raising Heart as the two trails of light spiralled around one another, dipping towards each other and clashing repeatedly as they shot towards the pillar of light in the downtown city, sparks flying out from every explosive impact to fall like luminescent rain towards the awed and terrified citizens below.

...​

The doctor smiled reassuringly at the young brunette, looking over the clipboard at the end of her bed. The illness was still progressing, but slower than it had been, and the risk of organ failure had dropped back to highly unlikely levels for now. Cheerfully advising her to take it easy and get plenty of rest, he left the room and headed along the ward to check in on the next patient on his list, a young leukaemia patient. He remembered her from previous visits, pink hair cropped short for the treatment until only stubble remained. She was miserable under the diet regime, too, and he considered ways to cheer her up as he strolled along the-

"Dr Mato!" A hand on his shoulder turned him, and he raised an eyebrow at one of the porters, who looked a little out of breath. "Sorry Doctor, uh... you said you wanted to be told immediately when the test results from the blood analysis arrived. They're on your desk, sir."

"The blood- ah, yes! Thank you very much." He smiled at the young woman, who blushed slightly at the attention she was getting. Tall, young and with an open, friendly face under the crown of spiky black hair, the doctor was something of a heartthrob amongst the hospital staff. Sadly, he was also an oblivious one, as proven when he completely failed to notice her reaction and instead turned to look back along the corridor.

"Hmm... as long as I make it quick, I should be able to skim over the results before I'm due to look in on Miss Yoshida," he mused. "Alright then. Thank you again for informing me. I'll be downstairs in my office for the next few minutes if anyone needs me, alright?"

Stepping out of the lift on the ground floor, he whistled idly and frowned, trying to recall where he'd heard the tune. It sounded like... J-pop? Or maybe one of those new American bands? Repeating the whistled strains that he could recall, he concentrated on them, trying to force the memory up and bring the title to mind. Something about... fate? Fate bringing anguish, maybe. Lost in thought, he almost missed the strange glow coming from the bare, concrete flight of stairs leading downward on one side of the corridor.

Almost. But not quite. Curiously, thoughts of songs and blood analysis forgotten, he approached the strange blue light coming from... those steps led down to the morgue, unless he missed his guess. It wasn't the normal lighting down there - that was white, and nowhere near powerful enough to filter all the way up the steps.

What was going on down there?

His curiosity was on the point of overriding his caution when the matter was decided by a roar from below and a wash of light so intense that it left him blinking sunspots from his eyes. That settled it, whatever was happening down there was clearly not natural. Throwing caution to the winds, Mato rushed down the steps and flung open the door to the morgue. Cold air rushed out, ruffling his hair and sending goosebumps over his skin as he stared.

There was a body on the slab. An autopsy, no doubt, which looked like it had still been in progress when... whatever it was, had happened. The doctors who had been conducting it lay limply on the floor, thrown across the room and into the bare concrete wall and the row of body storage lockers by the same wave of force that had apparently sent everything within ten yards of the autopsy table flying.

Except... it wasn't the body that they had been flung from, he was willing to bet. It was the gemstone, hovering above it, blazing with a purple-blue radiance and sending a pillar of light too bright to look at directly straight up into the ceiling. As he watched, wide-eyed, it slowly lowered itself into the still-open body cavity of the corpse, where the light dimmed somewhat, though the pulsing pillar of light remained.

Mato gulped. This... this was freaky. Freaky, and strange, and wrong. He started violently as purple-blue arcs of static crackled out from the central body, crawling over the walls, the floor, the lockers -one of them even brushed across his arm, eliciting little more than a mild tingling. Biting his lip and hoping that the effect was just some harmless ionised light trails or... or something, he hurried over to his colleagues. The older man first, the senior surgeon who would have been performing the autopsy. The man's wrinkled, balding head lay motionless against the floor, but his hands were slowly scraping at the floor, trying to get purchase so that he could get up again. That was a good sign, if he still had manual dexterity and was acting purposefully; he wasn't in such bad shape that Mato needed to be worried. Yet.

Kneeling at the man's side, he touched his shoulder and gently took his arm, bracing himself to lift him to his feet. A rasping wheeze left the other doctor's mouth as his hands scrabbled at Mato's arm, clinging to the sleeve. Frowning, he carefully rolled him over - was his airway blocked? Was he worse off that the first impression had suggested him to be?

The body turned at his guidance, slumping round onto its back, and Mato went very, very pale. The movement lifted the elderly man's neck, which it became clear was bent at an impossible angle, far beyond what was natural. Looking closer, the young doctor could see several of the broken bones misaligned beneath the skin - a compound break, death should have been instantaneous. As if that wasn't enough, the front of the man's skull was slightly caved in from the force of the impact against the unforgiving concrete wall - he should be dead, every ounce of knowledge Mato possessed told him the man was dead. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't felt a pulse, either.

And yet... he was still moving.

Blank, rheumy eyes blazing with the same light as the hovering gemstone stared up at Mato as another laboured wheeze was forced out of protesting lungs, blue-violet radiance spilling from the corpse's mouth as it opened. The hands continued to scrabble at his arm - not seeking aid, they were gripping, holding him in place! With a yell, he swung his free fist into the corpse's face, putting all the strength he had behind the blow.

It barely reacted. The head lolled back, yes, with the sickening sound of broken bone grinding on bone, but its grip on his other arm only tightened. Hearing a shuffling sound from behind him, he wrenched at the adamant grip to no avail - the corpse was somehow far, far stronger than any living human should be, let alone a dead one. The wizened fingers tightened further, like steel clamps enclosing his forearm in a vice-like grip, and began to pull back with unnatural strength.

The door of the morgue was thick, and designed to swing shut on its own if left open. No sound from within escaped it to filter up to the corridor above.

...​

Duck.

Fate slid under a horizontal slash from Nanoha's staff and silently cursed the name of whoever had taught the girl how to hold it properly. Her speed and responses had jumped sharply now that she knew how to use the damn thing in combat, and Fate had a nasty feeling that she was looking to repeat the smack to the face she'd given her last time they fought. As Nanoha peeled away, accelerating straight upwards to avoid a counterattack, Fate found cause to curse again, more colourfully this time. Half a dozen pink spheres were almost on top of her - the brunette must have cast them before attacking and set them to follow her in, shielded from sight by her own body.

As close as they were, there was no time to bring her guard back into position or cast a shield. With a grunt of effort, Fate threw herself back and to the side, accepting two hits to avoid the rest. The blows felt like hammers on her right arm and hip, drawing a wince and a grimace from her as she ground her teeth to keep from crying out. Kicking off from her place hovering in the sky, she followed the pink trail, arcing round a building and coming into line of sight of the point of origin of the pillar of blue-violet light that marked the Jewel Seed's presence. Her breath caught in her throat, as it had in that of the white-clad mage hanging in the air close by.

The building below was unmistakeably a hospital.

A choked sound from Nanoha snapped her out of the horrified moment as the girl dived towards the building. Fate barely even thought, snapping out a couple of Photon Lancer shots reflexively as her opponent opened her back to her. There was no thought behind it, only pure reflexive reaction to an opening. Yet, even had she had the time to think, she would likely have done the same. Nanoha... she was strange, that was true. A rival for the Jewel Seeds, and she'd hit Fate in the face with her shooting Device, which the blonde still felt a certain amount of (in her opinion) justified hostility over. But she was also kind, and had tried to be understanding, and had tried reached out to a stranger who had done nothing but attack her. And while she was improving rapidly, her skill still left something to be desired.

Not, in short, the kind of person Fate wanted near the hospital below. The force of the Jewel Seed within was chilling in its intensity, and it was still building, still getting stronger.

A pink shield absorbed her shots as Nanoha landed on the hospital roof, a bright white figure against the grey concrete, and she started to run towards one of the access doors. Fate swooped down after her, hesitating momentarily as she realised there was still no Barrier up. Did she have time to cast one?

The end of Nanoha's hair tails flicked out of sight, the rusted metal door creaking closed behind her, and Fate hissed in frustration as she set off after her in pursuit. She couldn't allow Nanoha to get to the Jewel Seed first, and casting a Barrier wasn't something she had much experience with - barely any, in fact, it was Arf's area of expertise, not hers. In the time it would take her to force the spell through, Nanoha could get halfway to the Seed, and with a lead like that the risk of losing it to her altogether was too high.

The door slammed back open with a yank, and the rooftop was left empty once more as the rivals descended into chaos.

...​

Chikaze Yoshida was scared. It was something of a change of pace from the past few weeks, in which she had mostly been feeling ill, sick, weak and tired, sometimes all at the same time. But as changes went, this was not a particularly good one.

The light had been the first sign. She couldn't see the source, but the hospital grounds outside her second floor window were awash with a blue-violet glow that looked like nothing she'd ever seen before. The closest analogy she could make was, perhaps, the sudden bursts of illumination from fireworks going off, but this was a steady brightness, not fading or dimming.

That wasn't so bad on its own. But then the screaming had started, from the floors below. And stopped occasionally, and then restarted again, sometimes louder. Chikaze shifted uncomfortably in her bed. She was meant to be seeing Dr Mato, who was nice and friendly and looked a bit like her uncle. But he hadn't shown up on time, and now there were crashes and screams coming from downstairs, and she didn't know what was going on.

Setting her jaw, the eight-year old levered herself out of bed and leaned on the infusion stand that stood beside the headboard, pausing as a rippling wave of nausea bubbled up her throat. Holding very still, she closed her eyes and took deep breaths, knowing from long experience that this particular side effect of the chemotherapy was not one she could just ignore. After a few moments of strained breathing and shivering, the nausea and light-headedness subsided slightly, leaving her with a sudden urge to cry. It wasn't fair that she felt so horrible. Why couldn't her body just be better without all the feeling-horrible-ness? Why did-

Sighing heavily, and cutting those thoughts off as unproductive, she tested her balance carefully before hobbling towards the door, pulling the stand along with her and wincing as spikes of pain shot up her legs with each step. The cramps were another side-effect, made worse by her lack of activity sitting in bed all day. Before she'd been diagnosed, she'd been active, but the past few months had been spent getting progressively more and more out of shape, unable to exercise. Her constitution was too frail, the doctors told her. She couldn't take it.

It sucked. And she couldn't even show how much it sucked, because that would make Mummy and Daddy worried. More worried. They were already upset whenever they visited her, and while they tried to hide it, they didn't do so very well.

The corridor was noisy and bustling, not with the businesslike sense of purpose she was used to, but rather with a kind of contained panic, the effect of everyone being scared and nobody knowing exactly what they were scared of.

It wasn't long before they found out. The door to the stairwell burst open, banging loudly on the wall and rebounding back in again. It stopped short against the female figure that now stood in the doorway, with pale skin and the occasional crackle of blue-violet static - the same colour as the all-pervading radiance outside - that skittered over her body in jagged, zigzagging arcs from point to point. This was clearly evident, because the only thing she wore was the remnants of a body bag draped over it, holes torn in it for her face and limbs. A trickle of blood ran down her right leg past the tag around her ankle, most likely from wounds hidden by the body bag. She was a tall blonde woman, brown eyes dulled and hair falling in limp curls around her shoulders, and she let out a rattling gargle that held everyone's horrified attention as an alien light - the strange, blue-violet light that was becoming familiar - shone, far brighter than the illumination outside or the static crawling over her, from her mouth, her eyes and from the thin red line across her throat.

"Th- that's- i-it's-" stuttered one of the porters in horror, and all hell broke loose as people turned and fled, screaming in terror. Chikaze huddled against the wall and clung tightly to it as they stampeded, ears ringing at the din. She got buffeted once or twice by passing bodies, crying out herself as her ribs protested at the treatment and agony lanced through her chest. Her infusion stand was yanked away hard by a collision, and she screamed as the needles were jerked out in a single, sharp movement. It took almost a minute for the corridor to clear, screams and crashes fading away into the distance and the relative safety of the upper floors.

Another of the creepy death-rattles made her shrink into the slight alcove she had found in the wall, scared for her life, but the high-pitched, terrified whimpers that accompanied it drew her immediate attention. Spinning round, she noted with a little confusion that the... the thing hadn't made a single move to go after the fleeing people, instead apparently choosing to attack the door and walls, beating pale hands into them and, scarily, fracturing both the plaster and the concrete behind it. The whimpering, though...

A wheelchair lay overturned on the floor, its wheels spinning uselessly as the brown-haired girl it had housed tried desperately to pull herself away from the monster. Its attention seemed to have been caught by her struggles, though, and it was already turning, the rattling sound of air being forced out of its lungs accompanying the unnerving glow from within. Chikaze stared at the helpless girl, who looked back with petrified, pleading eyes. And though she was frightened, she still found enough courage to act.

"H-hey!" she shouted at the walking corpse, stumbling over to the other side, away from the wheelchair-girl. "Hey, over h-here! Look at me! Look at me, here!" It hurt, it hurt desperately, shouting and moving like this, and she could feel the strength already fleeing her limbs, the gnawing, biting fatigue setting in even from so little activity as this.

The thing didn't turn. Didn't even seem to notice her, its entire focus on the prone girl, who was sobbing with fear, tears trickling down her cheeks as she scrabbled at the floor to gain purchase, trying to pull herself away. The air around the monster began to shine, the terrible light within leaking out into the space around it, and it slowly started to move, in a hungry, predatory way, towards its prey. The world seemed to slow for Chikaze as she took in the situation and a solution presented itself. Nausea bubbled up again at the thought, but she gulped air and held her breath and screwed her eyes shut to ignore it and force it down again.

Then, unsteadily, shaking like a leaf, the pink-haired girl gathered every ounce of energy she had and charged. She let out a wild scream as she ran, pushing herself through the pain in her legs and the terrible, yawning emptiness inside that sucked down her energy in a seemingly endless torrent. She wasn't big, and she wasn't heavy, so she had to be fast. Fast like she used to be, fast like before the treatments, fast like when she was on the school track team and won races and never felt sick.

For the briefest of moments, it felt like she had that speed and effortless, boundless energy again.

Then she crashed into the thing from its blind side - not that it had been paying any attention to her anyway - and rebounded from the bigger, heavier body, cracking her head on the linoleum floor as she fell and bouncing slightly as her limp, exhausted body hit the floor, totally spent. But the damage had been done. She hadn't been moving very fast, and she didn't weight much, but she had hit the walking cadaver when it was unbalanced, and that made all the difference. Without even the instinct to throw its arms back to catch itself, it toppled over and crashed down the flight of stairs it had just ascended, toppling another that was following it up. A sharp, echoing crunch filtered up the staircase as its skull met the bottom of the stairwell, and it lay still.

She lay there, panting, until the repressed nausea surged back up and she had to turn her head and vomit, coughs wracking her slight frame. A touch on her shoulder drew her attention as she hacked out the last of it, and she turned to see the wheelchair girl, brown hair cut short and blue eyes filled with a mixture of fervent gratitude and worried concern.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, and Chikaze realised she must have dragged herself across the floor to check on her. Nodding through the choking coughs, she waved the girl back towards her wheelchair and cleared her throat. "C'mon," she croaked, "we need to... need to get out of here." And indeed, she could already hear shuffling sounds from further down the stairs. More of the things were coming, no doubt, and neither girl was in any fit shape to evade them. Still, they could try. And would. Painfully, jaw set grimly, she crawled over to the nearest wall and began the painstaking, arduous task of pulling herself to her feet, only to find that her knees and ribs were simply refusing to cooperate. Face pale and fearful, she turned to the wheelchair girl, who returned the expression as she realised what it meant. They were stuck.

"I..." she laboured to say, fatigue dragging at even her words now, "you need... to..."

Whatever she was trying to say was lost, though, as part of the ceiling four or five metres down the corridor caved in, and a white-clad figure fell through and slammed into the floor with a resounding thud that rattled pictures all the way down the hall. Chikaze wasn't entirely sure, but she thought she heard something splinter under it. Seemingly unharmed by the fall, it rolled out of the way just in time to avoid a second figure, this one black-clad and yellow-haired, come down on it with some sort of... glowing scythe? Was she hallucinating?

She remembered the eldritch glow from within the corpse-thing and decided that no, she probably wasn't. She tried to shout at the two blurry shapes, which seemed to be fighting, but only produced a quiet rasp. The girl beside her wasn't so limited, and her yell cut through the clash of battle like a knife.

"Hey! You two! Help me! Something's wrong with her!"

Both figures froze, and turned. Nanoha paled as she saw the two girls, one lying awkwardly on the floor, the other almost bald, with only a fine pink stubble covering her head, propped up against the wall with her eyes half closed. The tone of her skin and her laboured breathing did not look good, and Nanoha traded a mortified glance with Fate.

"We didn't put a Barrier up," she whispered in horror. The other girl was standing very, very still, eyes riveted to the pink-haired girl. At Nanoha's words, she jumped slightly, though she still looked... queasy? Guilty? She couldn't tell in the brief moment it lasted before being displaced by a mask of purpose. The shuffling from the stairwell grew louder and the brown-haired girl let out a moan of fear.

"They're coming back..."

"Alright," the blonde girl declared, abruptly all purpose. "I'll see what's coming and hold them off. You get that one back into her wheelchair, and then cast a Physical Heal on the other. And contact your familiar, tell him to stop fighting, get here as fast as possible and cast a Barrier the moment he gets close enough. I'll tell Arf the same thing."

"I... I've never cast anything like that before..."

Fate shot her a flat look, already moving a little way down the corridor and bringing Bardiche round. "Would you like to swap jobs, then?" she asked, with a raised eyebrow. Nanoha flushed a little as the icy comment found its mark - Fate was giving her the easier job, by most measures - and hurried over to the girls. Helping the shaking brunette back in her wheelchair, she bit her lip, ignored the girl's confused, questioning gaze and knelt beside the other, younger one, who was propped up against the wall.

"Raising Heart," she whispered, "please. I can't do this on my own; you're going to have to do most of it for me. Sorry." The sound of magic shots came from the stairwell, but she ignored it, focusing on the girl.

[Alright, my master,] the gem in her staff's head replied reassuringly, pulsing with a soft pink light. [Physical Heal.]

Light bloomed. Not dark and twisted, this was a soft radiance the colour of cherry blossoms, which soothed and calmed and healed. Chikaze's eyelids fluttered as she seemed to get a second wind, a gentle warmth spreading within her to exorcise the fatigue and nausea, still her trembling muscles and even out her laboured breathing. The world sharpened again, and she blinked up in confusion at the relieved smile of the girl kneeling beside her, white-clad and holding a staff with a great round ruby in its head over her chest, from which the light emanated.

"Oh, thank goodness," the girl whispered happily, blinking back... were those tears? She certainly seemed genuinely ecstatic that she was awake, that much was for sure. "Are you feeling alright?"

Chikaze thought about it, mildly surprised at what she found. She could still feel the slight hint of nausea coiled around her stomach, and her arms and legs still felt weak and a little bit prone to trembling. But nothing like it had been, and the pain and exhaustion were almost completely gone. It was as if she'd just woken up after a long and refreshing night of sleep, something that itself had been worryingly rare of late. With a tentative smile up at the girl, she nodded.

"Yes, much," she replied, "... uh... thank you." The girl's smile only grew wider, and she glanced over to her... friend? Enemy? The other girl, who was in the middle of beating back another dead body with the same glowing scythe she had been using when they came through the ceiling.

The white-clad girl stared at the mobile corpse in surprise and horror for a moment as the scythe-girl wrenched it off its feet and kicked it back down the stairs, but then seemed to regain herself. "Get somewhere safe and wait there," she commanded, speaking both to Chikaze and the wheelchair girl. "We'll try to... to get rid of the ones we pass, but a few of them might get past us." She seemed to consider something and then, with an honest and slightly embarrassed tone, continued, "... and also we might do a little bit of damage to the building, though we'll try really hard not to. It... just sort of happens." She got up, hurrying over towards her scythe-wielding companion with her staff in a more combative position, and set a barrage of pink shots loose on another of the things. She threw them one last smile and a wave over her shoulder as the pair descended, and then she was gone, with only the hole in the ceiling and the debris to show that either of them had ever been there.

The girls stared at each other, trying to fit this latest impossibility into the insanity of the last few hours. Levering herself upright and leaning on the wheelchair for support, Chikaze mulled over things for a moment, staring at the empty stairwell. "... she's right," she decided after a moment, putting the issue to one side with the simple ease of a child accepting the impossible and bending with a faint wince to pick up her infusion stand from where it had fallen. She inserted the needle back into the thingie in her arm - cannula, the doctor had called it - with a pout. She hated needles. Sighing, she took hold of the stand and moved back over to the other girl. "We need to get back into a room and stay there. Maybe block the door with something, too." She gestured down the corridor. "Mine's just down there. Uh... I'm Chikaze, by the way." She bit her lip uncertainly. Mummy and Daddy's visits were nice, but it would be nicer to have someone she could talk to while they were away. "Um... do you want to be friends?"

The glowing smile turned her way, she decided as she half pushed, half leant on the bars of the wheelchair, rolling it back towards her room, probably counted as a 'yes'.

...​

On the next floor down, a fragile peace was holding. The mutually agreed-on ceasefire declared for the sake of the girls had, surprisingly, not dissolved immediately. Awkwardness hung heavy in the air as they descended, knocking the corpses aside with carefully controlled shots, neither girl willing to be the one to initiate hostilities again.

Of course, that wasn't the only reason. The dead people attacking them were more than enough justification not to break their truce, even disregarding any other factors. There were more of them down here, all with the same pallid, clammy skin tone and body-bag coverings. The smouldering light within them that shone out of their wounds and in their eyes and mouths was beginning to disturb Nanoha, and she shivered as they cut, shot and blasted their way along the corridor, mechanically doing her part to keep them back.

"What are they?" she muttered to herself as a trio of Divine Shooter shots knocked one down; not wearing a body bag, this one, it looked healthier, and was wearing clothes. Clothes, she realised, which had blood all down one side, likely from its missing arm. She shivered again, closing her eyes in grief. The things seemed to mostly just be wandering around and attacking the walls and furniture - and sometimes even each other - but if they were attacked, they were more than willing to divert that aggression towards the source of the attack.

Fate swatted one into the wall with her scythe, which cratered nicely and sent a display case crashing down on the thing's head. "Bodies from the morgue, I would guess," she replied, "animated by the Jewel Seed. That's where we'll find it." She skipped around a clumsy lunge from a burly, rasping man and nodded in thanks as Nanoha swept it off its feet with Raising Heart. "They're... they're not people," she added, with more confidence than she felt. "The Jewel Seeds would have used anything nearby, like that one in the river which used the water." A frown skittered across her face as she turned away - the other girl's added proficiency with that damned staff was not going to help matters. The thing seemed to radiate malevolence - she could almost feel it looking at her, as if eager to smash her in the face again.

... she was probably imagining things on that score. Still, she was not looking forward to the inevitable resumption of hostilities. Scowling, she refocused her irritation on the animated marionettes, spotting the stairwell they were spilling out from, a little further down the corridor. Time for something a little more advanced that Photon Lancers.

Falling back a little, she motioned for Nanoha to cover her. "I think they may be reacting to magic, as well as attacks," she explained, "and this is going to put out a lot. So they may rush us." Nanoha nodded grimly, fingers tightening around her staff, and set herself stubbornly between Fate and the advancing corpses. The blonde girl raised an eyebrow as she began to draw power for the spell, a golden Mid-style circle blazing to life at her feet. Granted, they were theoretically cooperating, at least for now, but... to turn her back on Fate and guard her without a moment's hesitation? The girl was either incredibly trusting or profoundly naive. Or possibly both.

"Bardiche," murmured Fate quietly, and the idea of catching Nanoha in the attack hovered at the edge of her mind, tentatively. If she made it powerful enough, at this range, it would almost certainly take the girl out in one shot. And it would dispose of the rest of the marionettes on this level as well, so she'd be safe, and then Fate could get the Jewel Seed quickly and easily and get it back to Mother and everything would be fine, and...

... and she watched the girl, as the power around her climbed - slower than she could have drawn it up, preoccupied as she was. Brown hair tails bounced as she bashed a tall man in the face, sending him stumbling back into two others and clearing a space in front of her. The movement turned her enough for Fate to catch a glimpse of her face, determinedly set in a protective, stubborn frown. She had no doubt that, for all the insanity of it, Nanoha would hold the things off her until either they ran out or she collapsed. She made her decision.

[Photon Barret,] announced the black scythe, and a storm of golden lightning roared out, arcing out along the walls and ceiling of the corridor in great jagged arcs. It shot off to the sides as it left the Device, leaving a void directly in front of it, curving around the guarding form of the white-clad mage and raining down on the marionettes that she held back. The blue-violet radiance surged around their bodies to no avail; the torrent of electric gold ripped through it and sent them spasming to the floor, where they lay still. The advancing wave ran down the entire length of the corridor, arcing from the surfaces to any marionette it passed, until it hit the end of the wall with a thunderous crash, blowing out the window and dispersing itself into a fading cascade of yellow motes drifting down towards the ground.

"... wow," said Nanoha, lowering her weapon. "That was... uh... impressive." She turned, grinning at Fate with a sheepish, slightly embarrassed air. "You're really good. And... I was sort of half thinking you might shoot me when I turned my back." She raised a hand to the back of her neck and chuckled shamefacedly. "Silly of me, I guess. Sorry."

"... let's just get this over with," muttered Fate, a little guilty that she had even considered it. Moving warily into the stairwell, she noted that the ones in here seemed to have been caught by the periphery of the blast.

"There will be more, on the ground floor," she noted as they descended as quietly as possible. Pale but determined, Nanoha nodded, and she continued. "If you take up a guarding position again, I can destroy all of them the same way, and we can get onto the Jewel Seed itself." Another nod, and they paused on the last landing, only one flight of stairs above the corridor. The shuffling and crashing as the marionettes laid waste to the scenery were clearly audible.

"Okay then," decided Nanoha, taking the lead. "On the count of three." Her hand raised to signal the countdown, but she was cut off abruptly as a shiver passed through the hospital, a trembling pulse from some way away. Colours dimmed, and the light filtering in from above took on a dimmer, greyer tone. The girls traded a glance. Either Arf or Yuuno had just got close enough to raise a Barrier. It wouldn't be long before the two arrived in person, and both of them knew that their cooperation likely wouldn't last long after that.

"... three," decided Nanoha, and in unison, they charged. The first barrage of shots from both of them cleared the immediate corridor just outside the stairwell, and Nanoha moved into the gap, shooting and smacking with Raising Heart in what was, if not particularly high level staff fighting, then at least controlled and enthusiastic. Fate followed after her, circle already forming around her feet, power beginning to hum in Bardiche as she once again set the boundaries for the spell. They weren't walking corpses, she told herself, they were just things, animated by the Jewel Seed, and that meant they were no scarier than any other Jewel Seed...

... given that she still had terrifying moments occasionally, when she realised that she had nearly blocked those exploding shards of ice, that wasn't nearly as reassuring as it could have been. Okay, Fate thought, the light in front of her getting brighter, they were a Jewel Seed, and that's how they were taking blasts that would have sent a man flying, but at least there were lots of them, so it was splitting its power, and so she and Nanoha could take them out much more easily... and maybe that meant that the Jewel Seed itself would be weaker!

Then one of the corpses grabbed Nanoha's wrists, and everything went wrong. Her hands immobilised, a yank pulled Nanoha away from Fate, and she screamed, closing her eyes. Fate dismissed the half-formed spell instantly and went to help, but the glowing marionettes crowded in around her hungrily, forcing her onto the defensive. Teeth gritted, lips pulling back in a snarl, she forced them off with a combination of rapid casting and pure ferocity, the glowing blade of the scythe almost leaving streaked trails in the air from the speed at which it hacked and slashed.

A flash and a small explosion announced Nanoha's return to the fray along with a cluster of pink shots picking off some of the crowd around Fate. She caught a glimpse of the other girl through the mob and her own blurring defence, carefully aiming her shots to pick off the corpses from behind, her sleeves reforming from motes of light. Had she just detonated part of her own Barrier Jacket to escape? The girl was insane!

And that was when an enraged scream erupted from somewhere further down the corridor. Knocking back the last of her attackers, Fate looked for the source, and blinked as she found it to be Arf. Her familiar looked furious, angrier than she had ever seen her... and then Fate realised what the situation must have looked like. Her, fighting a group of walking dead, with Nanoha shooting at the group. Fate knew her wolf-like friend. The chances of her realising that Nanoha had been aiming for the corpses, not Fate herself, were... low. Still, she tried, if only to forestall the conflict until after the Jewel Seed was sealed and safe, no longer a threat.

"Arf, it-"

Too late. Orange magic flaring around her in a furious corona, Arf charged. Green light blossomed behind her as the ferret entered the fray, and a frantic glance from Nanoha somehow managed to convey shock, sadness, resignation and apology all in the same split second expression. 'It was nice while it lasted,' the look said. 'I'm sorry it's over.'

Then Arf was almost on top of her, and she was fighting again, both of them were, splitting their attacks between the few remaining marionettes and one another. As the ferret caught up, his chains and binds drew Arf away, and it was just the two of them again, clashing with the same stubborn determination on both sides.

"Give up," Fate ground out, forcing the staff back as Nanoha held her blade off in a block. She had learned a few moves, it seemed, and got her basics firmed up, but she still didn't know any advanced techniques for dealing with a more skilled opponent. And Fate still had an ace to play. "There's a reason I need the Jewel Seeds," she growled as Nanoha's arms wobbled slightly, before the white-clad girl disengaged and backed away, a speeding green barrier forcing Fate to do the same as the ferret spared a moment from his conflict with Arf to help Nanoha out. Her familiar made him pay for the lapse in focus, concentrating her anger into a series of savage bites that forced him to dodge frantically and flee for his life.

"If you'd tell me the reason," shouted Nanoha back at her, readying another half-dozen shots, "then maybe we could resolve this without fighting! I can't trust you if I don't know what you're planning with them!"

The news would make her falter, that much Fate was sure of. And if she did it right, that lapse in concentration would give her a window to snap up a bind on the girl, and from there knock her out and get the Jewel Seed. Arf was safely occupying the annoying ferret, he wouldn't be a problem. Then she could come back after the Jewel Seed was safely stored in Bardiche and talk things over with the girl like Mother had told her too, and convince her to help them. Everything would be just as planned.

"It's for-" she started, and a two-metre section of the wall beside them exploded. Ears ringing from the noise, eyes stinging from the dust and debris, they stared at the billowing cloud as a malevolent glow radiated out from it. As it cleared, it revealed the form of another marionette. But this was nothing like the ones they'd been cutting down in the rest of the building. The light formed a shroud around this one, a glowing aura that shifted and writhed. A long, y-shaped incision covered its bare chest, from which the light shone with a brightness too great to look directly upon. The sheet tangled around its legs and waist didn't hinder its movement in the slightest - it floated about a foot above the ground, head lolling sideways, hanging limply as if held up by a hook in the centre of its chest.

Or rather a Seed. For there, at the point where the Y-incision branched, rested the Lost Logia they had been looking for, humming with an eerie, rasping crackle. It seemed to be supporting the corpse, manipulating it inexpertly, crudely. But the eyes... though the head lolled sideways, unsupported, the eyes didn't blaze with the unnatural light. They were focused, albeit confused, and filled with pain. The man was... no, alive was the wrong word. Aware, at least partially. In agony. Reanimated.

"Huuuur..." rasped the man, and the Seed in his chest rasped as he did so, producing a horrible dual-toned resonance to the vocalisation. "Pleeee..."

The Seed, however, had other ideas. It pulsed once, the probing wave of light washing over the stunned, horrified girls. For a moment, the body hovered higher, the arms coming out to point at them, and purple lightning crackled over the body in even greater amounts, filling the air with the stench of ozone.

Then it turned, spinning in midair to face the far end of the corridor. Accelerating away from the girls, away from the fighting familiars, it pulled the animating magic from every corpse in the hospital, deep streaks of indigo rushing into it from all over the building, and fled.

...​

It was still scary. If anything, it was even scarier now, back in her room with a chair wedged against the door and the muted sound of explosions coming from below, than it had been... was it only a few minutes ago that she had got up and gone out to see what was happening? It seemed longer. Hours ago, maybe. And the nausea was returning, now that the chemotherapy drugs from the stand were flowing back into her system, and the colours didn't help. The blue-violet radiance outside had been muted, along with everything else, a few moments ago. Chikaze had watched through the window as a wall of monochrome colour and stillness had swept across the grounds, covering the hospital completely. As it did so, the distant sounds of the city had halted, leaving only the muffled cacophony from downstairs and her own breathing in an otherwise eerie silence.

Still. It might be scary, but Mummy had said when she started the treatments that she had to be very brave, even when she was scared. And she'd already seen, out in the corridor, that when one person was scared, other people got scared as well. So for the sake of her new friend, Chikaze put on a brave face and smiled, and chatted about ordinary, everyday things, and tried not to let the other girl see how her hands were shaking slightly or how her breathing was a little faster and shallower than was normal.

They had just got onto the subject of family, and Chikaze was describing how her mother fussed over her, when the diffuse light outside flared a deep indigo and abruptly shut off, shortly before an explosion rocked the hospital. Looking out of the window and craning her neck to see towards the source of the blast, Chikaze caught a glimpse of the cloud of dust and debris billowing out from a huge hole in the wall as a figure ran through it, heading away from the building at speed greater than any human could run at.

... no, wait. It wasn't running. It was floating, a slack form hanging in the air as if supported by wires, moving along at a rate of knots. It was wreathed in a deep indigo glow that blurred and distorted its form, making it difficult to pick out details, but that didn't stop the shining bullets that smashed into it from behind, sending violent ripples through the aura but failing to penetrate it. The girls from before, Chikaze deduced, just as they made an appearance, flitting out like glowing comets to pursue the thing and trading shots with one another as they did. They weren't alone, either - there were animals with them, an orange wolf and something small and nimble which nonetheless shone green with power and sent chains and shields out to hook and snare the retreating monster.

"Wh- what's going on?" asked her friend, staring at the light display and the fast-moving figures. Chikaze had no answer for her, though. Mystified and scared, she shook her head and kept watching, hands clenching nervously at her sides.

...​

Nanoha was getting frustrated. The Jewel Seed marionette was refusing to stay still - it was dodging most of her shots, heading for the edge of the Barrier, and the few that got through were deflected by the aura it had up around it. It was infuriating! And Fate wasn't helping, throwing as many attacks at her as she did at the fleeing corpse. When she was actually fighting in concert with her familiar, rather than going one-on-one against Nanoha while Yuuno and Arf fought their own match elsewhere, she was a lot more formidable; the two together were a fighting force greater than the sum of their parts, and Nanoha was being made painfully aware of the lack of coordination and teamwork she and Yuuno suffered from.

She ground her teeth, scowling. Fine then. There was another surprise she'd been saving for her next match with Fate. It was still mostly theoretical, but she figured it should work, as long as she got a few free moments to cast it.

'Yuuno,' she sent telepathically, 'I need you to keep them off me for a minute or two. Please?'

The tan ferret flew over to her, pausing over her shoulder. He was panting hard, getting tired from the number of barriers and binds he had been throwing, but his voice was steady as he replied. 'I'll do my best. Ignore anything I don't warn you about and focus on whatever your plan is.' He cut off abruptly as another barrage of yellow and orange shots slammed into a hastily erected barrier, and Nanoha breathed deeply, focusing on the light and warmth within.

"Raising Heart? Shooting mode," she commanded, and the Device obediently reformed into its spear-like configuration. This attack would take a large chunk of what she had left, but it wasn't something that the fleeing Jewel Seed could dodge or absorb. A visor slid across her face as she aimed Raising Heart carefully, a ring of pink runic script appearing around it. Two smaller ones faded into being as it moved down the staff, forming a barrel pointed straight at the marionette's back, and a window appeared in the visor, highlighting her target and prompting minor corrections to her aim.

Fate's eyes widened as the ball of pink energy grew at the tip of the Device. So did Yuuno's, and Arf's. That was... a lot of magic. An awful lot of magic. Was she really going to...

"Raising Heart! Ready?" the girl called, and her Device pulsed affirmatively, speaking the name of the spell along with her and adding a mechanical undertone to her voice as she shouted it.

"Divine! BUSTER!"

To its credit, the Jewel Seed did its best to avoid the enormous beam of energy. However, facing an attack that was very nearly the width of the entire road, there simply wasn't anywhere to dodge to. The wall of pink magic smashed into it with the force of a freight train and lifted it up, hurling it dozens of yards into a solid wall, which produced an interesting splintering sound and a small crater. The aura around the body ceased as it went limp, and the Jewel Seed detached, floating up and hanging in the air as the unnatural light radiating from it faded, replaced with a soft blue glow.

[Jewel Seed XIV, Sealed,] announced Raising Heart, with what sounded like a faint air of satisfaction.

"..." said Fate, staring. Beside her, Arf whined slightly in disbelief. That had been almost as powerful as her Thunder Smasher! And this girl had only been using magic for a month or so? How could she have learnt that kind of an attack so quickly? Not to mention gained the control and power needed to pull it off?

"..." said Yuuno, blanching. He had thought Nanoha's unusual skill was merely a product of Raising Heart's advanced nature and the synergy it had with her natural skill set, but that... that was impossible. There was no way she should be capable of something like that so soon, it signified a rate of growth that was nothing short of unnatural!

"... okay," said Nanoha, oblivious to the shock she had caused with her new spell, "now it's sealed." She started towards it, Raising Heart held out to pull the Seed into storage within itself. Her movement snapped Fate out of the mildly horrified daze, and she threw herself towards the Seed as well, racing to get there before Nanoha did. She was faster, but Nanoha was closer, and the gap wasn't small enough for her to make it up and overtake. They reached it at the same time, Devices smashing together over the soft glow of the gemstone, and all their remaining magic was thrown into the furious struggle to seize it, pouring power into the retrieval spells and pulling the Seed in two directions at once as the black axehead of Bardiche ground against Raising Heart's golden ring.

Torn between the two pulls, and with magic pouring into both attempts to claim it, the Jewel Seed shuddered as long-dormant programming was activated. Activated incompletely, crudely, by nothing more than a brutal wrestling match of magic to decide which Device claimed it, but activated nonetheless.

The Jewel shone for a moment like the heart of the sun, filling the world with a blinding, searing radiance.

And then it screamed.

...​

 

[Aleph]

So.. Fate is now reading history books, at least a little.


I wonder what the history of humanity is like in this universe? I mean, there are multiple planets, in different 'dimensions', but they don't really look like Earth. And humanity unequivocally evolved on Earth.


Let's be honest, the planet really sticks out. I bet there are lots of planets within the TSAB's reach that claim to be the origin of humanity, or at least that *would* claim such if that weren't obviously Al Hazard, but Earth actually has proof.

Click to shrink...

... wait.


Is that?


... I think it is!


An excuse to INFODUMP! Bwaa ha ha haa!


In the Gamesoverse, Earthscorpion and I have given considerable thought to the concept of the Dimensional Sea, and what, exactly, "different dimensions" means. This is what we've come up with. There are a limited number of dimensional templates. So for instance, there are a vast number of dimensions based around the third planet out from a Class G star, and is broadly temperate and approximately two thirds water. Rarely, dimensions will "bud", a single dimension splitting into two separate ones. Frequency of this is very low, and the causes that lead to it are... not well understood, there are a multitude of factors, and it's an ongoing topic of research. The split is violent, though, often causing dimensional quakes and severe turbulence in the Dimensional Sea during the process. Generally, while the daughter dimensions will be identical immediately after the split, divergence will render them noticeably separate on planet-wide scales within seventy to one hundred years.


This leads to the fascinating case that multiple worlds can bear claim to the development of intelligent life. The above described world template - of which Earth is an example - are called Type 1 worlds, and host more of the population of Dimensional Space than any other - they're both numerous and habitable. Intelligent life developed on a Type 1 world... but the interesting thing is, it then underwent several dimensional splits after the evolution of homonids, meaning that they continued their development, in parallel, on several different worlds. By the point it split, their evolutionary path was relatively set, and the divergences between what came to be called Type 1a worlds were small enough that the vast majority of humans in Dimensional Space are interfertile (though there are a few groups who aren't, probably from the earliest splits). Thirteen Type 1a worlds are on record, with UA-97 (Earth) being the last Unadministered one. It's also thought that the lost world of Al-hazred was a Type 1a.


Far more numerous are the Type 1b worlds, which split after the oxygen crisis and the development of a biosphere, but prior to the development of intelligent life. These worlds are perfect for habitation and terraforming, and the day cycle of these worlds, as they house the majority of the TSAB-aligned planets' population, are what set the TSAB New Calendar. The homeworld of Ancient Belka was a Type 1b world. Finally, Type 1c worlds split before the oxygen crisis, and are no different to any other non-viable planet, such as Mars. Barring unusual activity such as Lost Logia stored there, these are generally ignored, as they are no easier to terraform than any other unsuitable planet.


It is interesting to note that in rough terms, the maps of most Type 1 worlds are broadly similar, with the continental shapes being recognisable to anyone from any other Type 1 world. Geological activity is relatively predictable, and the timescales of change are such that divergence is very, very slow. No other form of intelligent life has ever been encountered - there are traces of some kind of highly intelligent bird-creatures about 9000 years ago, but it's unclear as to whether they were actually sentient, and they all abruptly went extinct anyway, so the point is kind of moot. Otherwise, humans appear to be the only sentient creatures in Dimensional Space, possibly because we evolved early and then spread so fast that nothing else had a chance to evolve.


Mid-Childa, the current base of operations for the TSAB, is a Type 4 world, the second planet out from its star, with two moons, two major supercontinents and a smattering of island chains. One of the supercontinents is situated directly over the south magnetic pole, and the interior of that one is a colder-than-the-Antarctic desert, but the edges are habitable, if rough. At least one Type 4 world has civilisation there, centered around an Alhazredian ambient-magic-to-heat plant, and in others, the Alhazredians and Belkans alike built strange, now-wrecked computer arrays in the cold. In the modern day, quite a few research labs usually get put there, well away from populated areas and water supplies.


And now I'll hand over to our favourite ferret-scholar, with an extract from one of his essays.

One of the most common questions from children when they find out about dimensional space, and how most planets are merely dimensional twins of at least one other world, is "Is there another me out there?". This isn't a question that merely facinates children, either. Brilliant scientists have devoted their lives to trying to answer it. And in the end, the only answer we have is "probably not".


Let me lay down the facts. Whatever makes dimensional spaces bud appears to be fairly rare, though our understanding of it is still sadly incomplete. Once a branch has occured, chaos theory means that with a few generations, populations are completely different. Then it simply becomes a question of mathematics. For example, Type 1 worlds, which are where human beings evolved, are one of the most common overall, and the most common in the area of the Dimensional Sea in which the TSAB operates. At the moment, 13 Type-1a worlds, where anatomically modern humanity has evolved are recorded, with Alhazred strongly believed to have been one - the origin of modern dimensional-space civilisation. Only 13 such worlds, over all that time, shows that it is rare. That means that they must have budded less than a few million years ago, although, of course, there is no way of telling how old a dimensional space is. Notably, some of the humans have notably different late evolutionary history than the dominant lineage, and so we have mutual genetic incompatibility. Indeed, some argue that the classification of 1a is over-general, but I believe that such an approach is somewhat chauvenistic. Certainly, 1b worlds, where an ecosystem has appeared, but which was colonised by humanity from elsewhere (ancient Belka being an example of one of these worlds) are much more common. 1c worlds, where the third planet has no life, are also common, though less so than the 1b worlds, as they had a shorter space of time in which to branch before the oxygen crisis. These, however, are generally no more useful than any other uninhabited world.


So... I do appear to have got a little off topic, but I think that explains why you don't have a dimensional twin out there. There are so few worlds that bud like that, and as soon as chaos theory gets involved, identical timelines become a near impossibility. And it is just as well. A dimensional budding is hypothesised to involve massive area dimensional quakes around nearby spaces, and hideous disruptions in dimensional space itself, drastically altering the positioning of dimensions relative to one another in the Sea.


-- On the Absence of "Alternative Me", Yuuno Scrya, 071.

Click to shrink...

 

[Aleph]

Ah, summons, you say? Well, you know what time it is...


Moar infodump tiem!


Summons are another branch of Alhazredian magic that's survived to the modern day, like the Familiar Uplift and the Time-Space Distortion Barrier. But we must first draw a distinction between exactly what we are talking about. There are three classes of entity which can be claimed to count as summons, though exact classification is a matter for debate. Still, we will not be picky, and will discuss all three here. They are the True Summons, the Bound Summons, and the Familiars.


First, True Summons. While terrifyingly powerful, Alhazredian magic in general was not particularly fast or efficient to cast. Thus, the priest-kings of Alhazred developed other ways of making war. They built advanced magitech arsenals of autonomous weapons, and genelocked them, storing them within the genetics and Linker Cores of every existent member of the bloodline they belonged to. Then they taught their mages the methods to unlock these arsenals and summon up the constructs within. These magitech-produced creatures were similar to the Wolkenkritter, in that they weren't really living beings, but rather manifestations of Lost Logia programs - only in this case, the Lost Logia in question were entire lineages, and the programs were encoded in the Linker Cores of everyone in whom the genetics ran strongly enough. The summoning spell realises this potential, taking the dormant program and turning concept into fact, bringing it into the world. A summoner will access the arsenal and have a user profile created, which retains information and experience between summonings. Note, also, that without Alhazredian magitech to reinforce the programming, diluted genelines lead to loss of information. An "impure" summoner won't have the higher tiers of summons encoded on her Linker Core, and thus won't be able to summon them. A weak one will have the codes, but not the magic necessary to bring them into the world. To use the strongest of the True Summons of Alhazred, both purity and magical strength are required.


And how strong they are! Some of the constructs in there, as wars between the priest-kings escalated, became titanically powerful, requiring many centuries of careful labour, development and construction to bring to fruition. This arms race culminated in the likes of Voltaire and Hakutenou, weapons of mass destruction that could devastate entire regions trivially as they fought. Cults formed around these monsters - Caro is a priestess of Voltaire - and rightly so, for these are the pinnacle of True Summons, and only those lucky few with strong enough Alhazredian lineage of the right type can summon them. Caro is a fluke and a prodigy, recessive genes activating strongly enough in her that she has high-level access to the arsenal her tribe carries, and the destructive potential that access carries with it is a rather clearer explanation of why they shunned her - she's effectively a walking nuke without full control over the things she can summon.


Bound Summons are a little different. Certain non-sapient animals exist with their own Linker Cores, or analogous structures. An example would be the worms from A's. They exist primarily on Type-3 worlds, but a few have been found on others - some spread through human action, a rare few having evolved there. While the procedure is much rarer now, mostly confined to a few tribes that have survived since those times and who still remember it, Alhazredians commonly bound such creatures to them, allowing the mage to tap the creature's Linker Core for power and direct it via the behavioural modification templates that were part of the binding. This is one of the sources for the prodigious magical strength that Alhazredian mages were reputed to have. Priest-kings in particular had not just one Bound Summon, but dozens - sometimes hundreds. Friedrich is a possible example of what this type of summon might be like - not something you dismiss, a real creature that is merely empowered and made more intelligent, though rarely fully sapient, by the binding. And which has its own magical abilities, powered from its own Linker Core, which are potent in their own way - and will become more so as it learns and grows.


Finally, Familiars. Closely linked to the spell used on a Bound Summon, this one has survived to the modern day almost intact. In Alhazredian times, it was limited to the nobility, who used it for their personal servants, which were made so that others could not compromise them. It is in effect a brute-force Uplift, applying a template of knowledge and intelligence taken from the mind of the caster to a non-sapient creature, using the brain of the animal as a structural short-cut so the incredible complexity of creating a new intelligent being can be done by relative primitives, rather than the high end tech needed for an ID. This is sometimes done with an animal that has its own Linker Core, but not often - such creatures are uncommon, and their existing Linker Core interferes somewhat with the Uplift, making it more difficult to cast. The familiar cannot know anything that the caster does not, but they will come into existence at a maturity level approaching that of their master, and with all the knowledge they have been bestowed with ready for use. Loyal servants and valuable support mages, they are incredibly useful to those with the magical capacity to required support them - which is intimidating. Gil Graham, to support two Familiars of the level of Aria and Lotte Liese, was a monster. Arf is the obvious example in-series, and it is because of the nature of the spell that she is no more mature than Fate is, and indeed somewhat less so. Finally, Linith shows what a Familiar created by a powerful, knowledgeable and skilled mage looks like - and indeed, Precia was something of an expert in familiar research, so Linith is a glowing example of her kind.

 

[Aleph]

Would it be safe then , to consider Olive as a character more similar to Kitsurugi Emiya , in some ways , instead of Arthuria?

Click to shrink...

No idea who either of those are, so a solid "maybe".

Secondly: are there changes to the continuity going on in the background (and unseen to us readers) that will not come into play until the build-up to Striker S , even during Game Theory? Because this is around the period where the First Combat Cyborgs are coming on-line , and the Birth of the trio of Erio , Caro and Lutecia.... and even more subtle elements besides....


If all parties concerned are informed to a certain extent by the concepts of the Game Theory....

Click to shrink...

*whistles innocently*





Right. Regarding kinetic weapons, some good points have been raised, so Earthscorpion and I have had a look at canon, thrown some ideas at each other and fanwanked the issue into something resembling sanity.


Simply put, modern magic is generally less-than-lethal, and much safer than kinetics. This is for several reasons. The first is the almost universal usage of Barrier Jackets, which are generally optimised towards defending against magic rather than kinetic weaponry. As well as this, if you observe things like the Divine Shooter bullets, they're both slower and less concentrated than a bullet, meaning a lighter impact spread over a greater area. They're beanbag rounds, designed for non-lethal incapacitation.


That said, the bigger spells are still dangerous. If we look at Starlight Breaker, we observe that even when Fate was hit by it, her Barrier Jacket survived, albeit highly damaged. It's probable that if you didn't have a Barrier up to soak it, something like Starlight Breaker would just vaporise you. That's another reason for Nanoha to not use it, quite apart from its other restrictions; it's a wide area spell that can kill. Things like the Divine Shooter can be micro-handled by the Device for their target; hit less hard against unarmoured targets, and the like. Divine Buster... you still have a single target, but you're only using it against a single foe who's probably armoured and there's still a risk of collateral damage. Starlight Breaker is not a safe weapon; it relies on your foes being armoured, and most magic attacks will be smaller than that, with safeguards built into the spells when they're designed so that they take deliberate effort to make lethal when used on other magic users. Time-Space Distortion Barriers are used to evac civilians who aren't likely to have armour, and the TSAB probably try very hard to keep fights away from population centres.


That said, this applies to modern magic. Belkan magic was not less-than-lethal as a default. If Shamal blasts you, she will be aiming to kill. Vita's little metal balls don't care if you're unarmoured. Signum is actually setting you on fire. Those pillars that Zaphira used to pierce the drones would have done the same to an enemy force. The Wolkenkritter will have to learn to put in safety features in their spells, which is one of the differences of Neo-Belkan style from Old Belkan Style.


In short, modern magic is less-than-lethal as a default due to the systems that the TSAB use being set up that way, and measures being taken to enforce it. It is still possible to kill with magic, especially if you're using it on civilians without a Barrier Jacket, but when fighting other mages, you're using blunted weapons, padded blows. That doesn't make them harmless, but it does remove a lot of the risk. With kinetic weapons like guns... there's not much you can really do to make a gun less deadly but still effective.

 

[Aleph]

So I said I would get this out by the end of the week. And I failed. And I'm sorry about that. It's just that I'm so agitated lately. Because-

... wait, no. I'm not Abridged Alucard. Dammit, I've been watching too much Hellsing. Urgh.

Anyway, while I sort out my burgeoning identity crisis, here's a little present for you all.

Game Theory​

​

Chapter Four​

The Jewel Seed screamed, and Nanoha screamed with it. The pain was like nothing she had ever felt before; a grinding, searing, blinding agony in her skull that felt as though she was being stabbed in the temples with cruel knives that were at once red-hot and ice-cold. She fell back, and the pressure took her, a vast weight pressing down on her chest until she thought she heard her bones creaking, slamming her away from the Jewel Seed and pinning her to the floor as if there were a mountain atop her. Beside her, Raising Heart lay where it had fallen, golden ring fractured and tarnished, and a jagged crack running through the ruby core at its heart. She whimpered - when had she stopped screaming? When she no longer had the breath for it, as the crushing pressure drove the air from her lungs and made it hard to even twitch? Nausea churned in her gut, strong enough to almost drown out the shrieking pain in her head, and had she been able to gasp for air, she would likely have thrown up. Dimly, she saw movement in the corner of her eye, but the light was too bright, and the pressure too great. She couldn't get up, couldn't rise to help whoever it was... couldn't even turn her head to look.

She wasn't aware of it, but Nanoha was far from the only one to be suffering the effects. In the hospital room above, Chikaze groaned and shivered on the ground, clutching her head as spikes of agony lanced through it. Nausea churned up from her stomach in an unstoppable tide and she rolled over onto her side to vomit, hacking and coughing as she struggled to breathe. Beside her, the wheelchair lay once again on its side, its owner twitching on the floor as trickles of blood ran from her ears and eyes. Her breathing was shallow and uneven and her eyes were unfocused, staring blankly at nothing.

Across the city, people fell. Some screamed, dropping whatever they were doing as the agony struck like a lance or an invisible vice tightened on their chest, forcing the breath from their lungs like a hammer. Others merely winced, leaning dizzily on walls as sudden, painful headaches bloomed. In the Takamachi household, plates and glasses shattered on the floor as Momoko fell, gasping for air, against a row of shelves. The wave of effects rolled out further, across the country, across the world. China, Russia, America, Europe... the severity faded as the distortions crossed thousands of miles, but they were felt nonetheless. Cars screeched and veered in the streets, ploughing into lampposts and buildings. Pedestrians swayed and crumpled in the streets as the unaffected bystanders around them stared in confusion. It continued out into Dimensional Space, an expanding ripple of magic through the fabric of spacetime, churning up turbulence and sending sensors into screaming alerts as it passed them.

And at the maelstrom's epicentre, a figure stood up, leaving her damaged Device on the road beside her. She stood shakily, with trembling legs and gritted teeth, as tears pooled in her eyes. But she stood nonetheless, and slowly started to force her way, step by painful step, towards the heart of the quake, the blazing pillar of white light that impaled the sky. The tremors were destabilising the dimensional barrier already, and the sky wavered in ripples of violet and grey as phantom figures faded into view around her - hundreds of them, the patients that had been evacuated from the hospital, separated from the perilous situation by only the thin skein of dimensional distortion that held barrier-space apart from the real world. She was probably visible to them, too... indeed, more than a few were looking at her, their blurred, indistinct features nonetheless registering surprise and panic. If the barrier broke completely, the damage from the quake would spill over into normal space - the civilians wouldn't stand a chance. Barrier Jacket blistering and flaking away, Fate forced her own magic into the mana-saturated surroundings, trying to swath the Jewel Seed in it and crush the developing quake into submission before it ripped the planet apart.

She wasn't the only one. On the opposite side of the pillar, green light flared around a small tan shape as Yuuno sent forth chains and planes of light to bind it. The mounting pressure within felt uncomfortably like the first few stones of an avalanche falling - not much yet, compared to what would come, but leading in an inexorable progression towards a cataclysmic upheaval of Dimensional Space that would leave the dimension he stood in shattered. His magic delved into the developing catastrophe, and he desperately started to work to cut it off and keep it from building any further.

Fate scowled, sweat breaking out on her forehead as she ruthlessly suppressed the urge to retch. Something was suppressing the magic she was pouring into her efforts to quieten the rising storm of mana being put out by the Jewel Seed. She tried to locate it, but there was just too much magic in the air - she could barely distinguish between what was hers and what was from the Jewel Seed, let alone anything else. Teeth grinding over one another, a growl forcing its way up out of her throat, she forced more power into the binding, plunging her hands into the pillar as it expanded outward. It felt like fire and ice and razors, shredding and burning and freezing her hands for an eternal moment, only for them to heal and the process to start over again. But though her throat turned raw with the effort of bottling the scream that tried to rip its way past her lips, she persevered, and the expansion halted.

Yuuno hissed, needle-like teeth flashing as his fur bristled. He wasn't good at this - he hadn't even been able to seal the first Jewel Seed, let alone this monster! And something was interfering with his binding, dampening the spell and leeching the potency of the effect out of it. He could feel the quake getting away from him - if it broke free from the temporary, artificial lull it was in, it would devastate the region! Eyes flaring a vivid emerald, he frantically dumped everything he had left into the spell as a blazing viridian aura sprang into life around him.

The scream that Fate had been keeping bottled up ripped itself loose with the impact. It was like a hammer blow to the Linker Core, and for a moment her resistance to the effects of the quake wavered, blinding pain splitting open her skull and the wet, sour hand of nausea reaching up her throat to bloat her tongue and make her gag.

"... Arf..." was all she managed to rasp out, but it was enough. The orange-haired wolf had no Linker Core of her own, and while the effects were filtering through from Fate, she wasn't as inconvenienced by them as her master. Snarling as she caught sight of the green light flaring on the other side of the pillar, blocked from Fate's sight by the incandescent column of light, she snapped at him viciously and sent a volley of Photon Lancers at the immobile shape in the middle of the light show. Caught unawares, and with the majority of his magic tied up in trying to suppress the Jewel Seed, Yuuno didn't stand a chance. One of the orange shots caught his slight frame full on, and he was sent spinning and tumbling away across the ground, unconscious.

The mental struggle for control that Fate had been engaged in abruptly lightened - not enough to be easy, but enough that she was no longer being forced back. With her magic once again free to work without interference, she forced her way deeper into the pillar, squinting as the heat-cold-razors beat down on her face, drawing goosebumps from it and sending phantom tracks of sharp pain down her cheeks and across her forehead. The light was so bright that she could see it even through closed eyelids, and her arms felt like they were on fire, but she kept going. The Jewel struggled with her for freedom, screaming and flaring as it bent the very fabric of dimensional space around it. Around her, the light shifted impossibly, a blue tint falling over parts of the surroundings even as others bent towards red and orange. Dust from the explosions and destruction gathered in clumps, hanging in the air like tiny clouds. Above her, the sky tore, great purple strips ripping open onto a turbulent, maddening sea. And still, Fate continued to pour magic into her sealing spell, flashing through the equations and variables as fast as her mind could handle them, leaning into the blistering, boiling pillar in a silent, never-ending war...

And then it broke, its strength exhausted. The pillar shrunk, light fading and tremors ceasing, as Fate cradled its source to her body, squeezing it between her palms and hoarsely whispering the calculations and parameters of the sealing. Steam wisped off the tattered remnants of her Barrier Jacket, ripped and torn where it had shielded her from the brunt of the effects. The Jewel Seed, dormant once more, lay peacefully and innocently in her cupped hands. It didn't look like something that could lay waste to a dimension, and a painful chuckle at the absurdity of the situation forced its way past the blonde girl's lips as she allowed Bardiche to take it into storage.

Then her gaze fell on Nanoha. The girl lay whimpering on the tarmac of the road, curled up foetally next to a puddle of vomit. She had stopped twitching, at least, but her face was tearstained and the quiet sobs were clearly audible in the silence. Glancing up at the openings in the sky and the phantoms still crowding the road, slowly gaining definition and colour, Fate hurried over and gently picked up the girl in a bridal carry. From the looks of things, the barrier was about to collapse, and it would be best if they weren't here to suddenly phase into existence in the middle of a crowd when it did. Grabbing the Devices from the ground and motioning for Arf to follow her, she took to the air and flew a few roofs over, searching for a safe spot to set down.

Nanoha whimpered at the sudden sense of motion, her senses swinging crazily and screaming at her brain in white-hot lances of stabbing pain and disorientation. The arms that encircled her were gentle, though, and avoided jostling her as much as possible. She stared up, blearily trying to see who it was through the tears and the haze of bright light and swirling colour, but picking out any detail was impossible, and a fresh stab of pain as the light tore down her optic nerves like a bolt of actinic lightning.

"Hey there," the blurred, distant figure said, putting her down on the cool concrete. Nanoha rolled over and clung to it, tears running down her face. Breathing hurt. The air felt like water as she pulled it into her lungs, and held an oily tang she couldn't readily identify, but which made her want to retch. "It really hurts, doesn't it? The first few times Mother did it to me so I knew what a close-up massive magical discharge was like, I couldn't get out of bed for days." Two hands were on her side, rolling her back onto her side into the recovery position. "You'll probably be sick, too, so you don't want to be on your stomach."

A cool hand on her brow made the pain recede a little, and she felt her hair being stroked sympathetically. The motion calmed her a little, and the nausea receded slightly as Fate -her head had cleared enough to work out who it was - spoke again. "You'll want to keep your eyes open. If you close them, your brain will get even more confused."

"... but," Nanoha swallowed, tasting the brightly coloured air, and shuddering at the sight of the halos of coloured light around everything she could see, "... too bright." She tried to rise, struggling to prop herself up on her elbows, but her head swam as she did so and she retched again. Dry retches, to boot, she had long since thrown up everything in her stomach. The hands pushed her down again, cradling her gently as she moaned in discomfort. "Stay down... no, Takamachi-san, stay down. Your Linker Core is still fluctuating. It'll be interfering with your other senses, including your balance." Nanoha only half-heard her, dizzily trying to focus through the haze of sensation as her inner ear told her that every direction was up. Her stomach rebelled again, sending her into another round of wracking dry heaves.

A wavering announced the Barrier's departure, along with an abrupt jerk and the sudden return of colour to the world. Fate winced. That had felt wrong... it was likely that at least some of the damage had carried over. And that was on top of the damage that had been done before it went up. She gently shook Nanoha's shoulder, waiting until the girl gave a slightly questioning whimper that Fate took to mean she was paying attention.

"I need to go, Takamachi-san. You're safe here, and you should be able to get down fairly easily once the effects wear off. Once you do, I strongly suggest you go straight home, eat something, and then sleep. You'll need it - your system has just taken a battering. Please, stay out of this. It's my fight, it's too dangerous for you" Another moan, and a weak hand gripped Fate's ankle pleadingly. Biting her lip, she hesitated. On the one hand, she really needed to get home. On the other... the girl was obviously uncomfortable, and the effects weren't likely to wear off for an hour or so. Leaving her alone did seem a little heartless.

Reaching a decision, she fingered Bardiche. It was damaged- badly damaged, having taken the full brunt of the initial outburst as the quake ripped free from its housing. Had it not been for the Devices and the protection afforded by their Barrier Jackets absorbing most of that initial shockwave, she realised, both of them would probably be dead. First the icy bombs that ripped chunks clean out of existence, and now this? She shivered. The mission was getting more and more dangerous by the day. Still, despite its damaged state, Bardiche was probably in good enough condition for this, and she had no energy to spend on more mental calculation for today. Whispering soothing reassurances to her rival, she gently cast the spell, seeking out the body's natural soporific triggers and prompting them into action. In any normal situation, the girl's own magic and her Barrier Jacket would prevent manipulation like this, but she was in no state to oppose Fate at the moment. Her breathing slowed, and then deepened, evening out into a steady rhythm of slumber. She would stay under for an hour or so, at Fate's best guess, and be... if not refreshed, then at least functional, when she awoke.

Giving her shoulder one last, vague pat, Fate dragged herself to her feet and took stock of herself. She... probably had enough magic to fly back to the penthouse. Yes, and Arf could always catch her if she didn't. Reassured, she set off, blearily remembering to fly high enough that she wouldn't be seen as much more than a vague black dot in the sky by anyone who thought to look up from below.

She would get back to the penthouse. Have a glass of water to wash the taste from her mouth. And then sleep, for as long as possible. And if anything woke her up early, she would shoot it until it stopped moving. And avoid using Bardiche. Let him self-repair.

Yes. That seemed like a good plan.

...​

"-No!"

Nanoha jerked violently as she woke, her legs and chest tightly tangled in the covers from where she had been thrashing in her sleep. Her arms instinctively jerked forwards and upwards against the constricting cloth, and the motion threw her balance over to the right, finishing the job that the rolling and turning of unsettled sleep had started. With a loud thump, the nine-year old hit the floor. Hard.

"... oww..."

Taking a few moments to catch her breath before attempting to get up again, she lay there, staring up at the ceiling and allowing her mind to wander. The raw fear of the nightmare lingered faintly, but the exact details were, thankfully, already beginning to fade from her memory. A crushing, impossible pressure making it impossible to breathe, tightening inexorably around her chest with no signs of stopping, a screaming, blinding agony splitting her head in two... the Jewel Seed's destruction had left its mark. Though perhaps the scariest had been the blank, lifeless red eyes staring at her out of the slack face that led the lurching corpses - a face, she had realised with horror, that she recognised.

Shivering, she turned her thoughts away from the lurking terrors of the night and allowed the cool wash of sunlight over her face to drive them away. As she glanced over at the cushion resting on her desk, her face fell slightly. Resting on the soft surface, the polished marble that was Raising Heart's storage form rested. It didn't look as pretty as it usually did, though. The cracks and splinters that ran through it had healed somewhat since the previous night as its self-repair system did its work, but there were still fractures running across the ruby-red surface, and its usual gleam was nowhere to be seen.

More worrying still, Yuuno was nowhere to be seen. Her memories of the quake itself were hazy, but she was fairly sure he had been there. She hadn't seen him last night... but that wasn't surprising. As exhausted as she had been, it was only a mixture of pure luck and her mother's similar reaction to the quake that had allowed her to get into the house and up to bed undetected. Her eyes darkened again as that thought came up. Again, innocent people had been hurt by the Jewel Seeds. Worldwide, from what she had heard the kitchen radio saying as she snuck upstairs. Not to mention the poor people from the hospital...

Pushing the thoughts aside, she focused on the immediate problem. No Yuuno. He had been there last night, and... she bit her lip with a hint of shame as she realised she had totally forgotten about him as she had limped back home. So that meant... that meant that he was probably still out there somewhere! And that he had spent all night in the cold! And there were... cats, and things! Half-panicking, Nanoha sent out a wide-spread telepathic broadcast, as loud as she could.

'Yuuno-kun!'

The response, when it came a few seconds later, was faint, groggy and rather annoyed.

'... urgh, my head... what is it, Nanoha?'

'Yuuno-kun! You're okay! Um... you are okay, right?'

A short pause passed before he answered again. His tone was matter-of-fact, but the sarcasm layered under it was not difficult to pick out. 'Well,' he began, 'I sort of took a dimensional quake to the face yesterday. Admittedly not a very powerful one, but I was only a few metres from the epicentre. And then I got shot at almost point-blank range while I was trying to bind it, and then lay there unconscious for what was probably a few hours. And was rained on. And then when I woke up, I spent another hour or so searching for you - unsuccessfully, I should add - and then had to run away from another cat, and barely managed to climb up a drainpipe to escape. And now I'm on a windowsill... somewhere. It's raining again. And you just woke me up with a shout that I'm fairly sure I could have heard from several dozen kilometres away. So... upon careful consideration, I would have to answer that with a resounding no.'

'...'

'... sorry,' he relented. 'I'm a bit... frustrated, at the moment. I didn't mean to snap at you. Where are you?'

'Uh... home. I got back safely last night.' She considered, momentarily, telling him about how Fate had helped her, cared for her. But... no, he was already in a bad mood. Telling him about what the blonde had done for her wasn't likely to improve it. 'Um... do you need me to come and get you?'

'... I have no idea where I am. So... uh... no, that probably wouldn't help. I'll try and find a landmark I recognise, and then go from there.'

She nodded. That seemed like a good plan. And she didn't have school today, so she could probably find an excuse to go and pick him up once he figured out where he was. 'Alright! I'll see you soon, then!'

Still, despite the reassurance that Yuuno was safe, something nagged at her. Fate had... probably saved her life, yesterday. She had been kind, and gentle, and helped Nanoha even when she was unable to move, throwing up and moaning in pain. It would have been easy to finish the job she had started and put her in hospital again - this time for long enough to ensure Fate would have collected all of the remaining Jewel Seeds by the time she got out. Even if that was too cruel for the blonde, it would have cost her nothing at all to just leave Nanoha there.

But she hadn't. Just like she had held to her truce, until her familiar had got the wrong impression. Just like she hadn't taken the opportunity to shoot Nanoha in the back. She seemed, in every action she took, to be an honestly, genuinely good person. And when she had claimed to have a reason for hunting the Jewel Seeds - a reason she had been about to reveal when the Seed itself interrupted - she had looked sincere.

In and of itself, that was only confirming what Nanoha had already been fairly sure of. The girl's face was kind, if determined, and she was obviously fighting for something she truly believed in. But now there was another factor. Yuuno had been adamantly opposed to letting the other mage collect the Jewel Seeds. After being told about the damage they could do in the hands of someone who didn't understand their power, and who set them off accidentally, Nanoha had agreed wholeheartedly. And yet... last night seemed to prove that Fate did know what she was doing. She had shut down the quake, which means she was entirely capable of recognising a developing catastrophe and averting it. And that was on her own, and even without her Device, at least as far as Nanoha could blearily remember through the fog of pain and nausea.

Why, then, was Nanoha fighting her?

This was complicated, grown-up stuff. For a moment, the nine-year old's thoughts set her a course towards that undisputed dispenser of all knowledge and wisdom in the universe, Mama. But... no, her mother was asleep at the moment, wasn't she? Recovering from the same symptoms as Nanoha; symptoms she had shown in reaction to the quake. Which was a bit odd, but... a mystery for another time. With Mama unavailable, the young girl turned to the next-greatest source of advice on moral dilemmas she could think of.

Picking her way up off the floor and extracting herself from the tangled blankets, she went in search of her big sister. And also a glass of water to help with the lingering nausea.

...​

"Uh... Miyuki-neesan?"

Nanoha's voice was distracted as she asked, carefully moved through the drills and letting the white oak flow through the guard and attack stances she had been shown with studied precision. In front of her, moving with a far more fluid ease, her sister cast an assessing eye over Nanoha's stance and nodded approvingly. She was a little tense, and still not fully comfortable with the stances, but she was already getting better.

"Hmm?" she replied, swinging her own bokken through a complicated disarming twist before stepping back quickly and coming forward with an overhead strike. The air hissed as the wooden blade sliced through it, and she brought it to a stop as it hit the horizontal, drawing back into a guard stance.

"Um... I kind of need some advice."

Oh ho. Miyuki's eyebrow rose slightly; though her little sister was concentrating too hard on the simple exercise she was running through to notice. Setting the bokken gently down, the older girl began to drag out a stand and some scrap wood for her next exercise. Pretending to be mostly absorbed in setting up a couple of old planks at shoulder height, held in position by the two support clamps of the stand, she paid careful attention to Nanoha's body language out of the corner of her eye.

"Advice? On what?" She grinned a little mischievously, taking the rare opportunity for some sisterly teasing. "Love troubles, maybe?"

"M-Miyuki!" Nanoha sputtered indignantly, and the mixture of shock, embarrassment and outrage on her face forced the older girl to clamp a hand over her mouth to hide her giggles. "Okay, okay," she backpedalled, waving her hands in surrender, "I was just teasing, little sister." Nanoha pouted petulantly at the unashamed admission of guilt, and Miyuki threw her another fond smile in silent apology. Allowing Nanoha a little time to recover her composure, the swordswoman-in-training focused for a second and drew a deep breath in with her diaphragm, sinking a little lower in her stance and finding her centre. Then, in a single motion, she released the breath and struck forward in an overhead cut that blurred through air and scrap wood alike with a smooth hiss. It was followed almost immediately by the sound of wood on wood as a chuck of the plank hit the floor, cleanly severed from its original position.

"So then," she continued, stepping back and coming forward again in another strike - diagonal, across the shoulder and down. Another piece of scrap wood clattered to the floor. "If not your love life - kidding, kidding! What do you need some advice on, then? How can I help?" She smiled encouragingly, then frowned when she realised Nanoha had stopped moving, and was standing still and nervously fiddling with her jo staff. Calling her kata to a halt, she propped the practice sword up against one of the stands and moved across to her little sister, gently taking the staff from unresisting fingers and laying it to one side. Pulling Nanoha down to sit beside her, Miyuki threw a comforting arm across her shoulders in a friendly hug.

"Okay, so this is serious. What's wrong, Nanoha? Talk to me, I can't help if I don't know what's going on."

"... um..." Nanoha bit her lip, uncertain. "I... there's a girl, who's- we're sort of rivals. And... um... we've been in a few fights, and... things. She's a nice person, I think, we were just... like Papa said once, about how sometimes you can respect and even sort of like someone, but they're doing something you're opposed to, and while you can understand, you can't let them do it. Only I sort of... you know how Mama felt really sick yesterday? I was like that too, and F- the girl, um... she was there, and she helped me when she didn't have to, and was really nice and kind. And at the same time, I sort of found out that the reason I have for not- for opposing her, might not be such a good reason after all. Except... um, I'm not totally sure about it, and... basically I'm confused. And... what should I do?"

Miyuki considered carefully. It wouldn't do to rush the issue, not given the importance Nanoha seemed to be placing on it. She hummed quietly to herself for a few seconds as she thought.

"... have you fallen out with Arisa?" she asked tentatively, guessing at the possible cause of Nanoha's troubles. It was a long shot, but the fiery blonde certainly fit the criteria Nanoha had described.

"No... well yes, but that's not what this is about." Nanoha leaned into Miyuki's shoulder as the older girl reached over to stroke her hair reassuringly. "She's being stupid," she complained, "and refusing to talk to me, so... fine. She'll come back of her own accord when I can explain everything to her. Till then, I'm letting her do what she wants."

Miyuki made very sure not to betray her reaction to the hints that Nanoha was letting slip. When she could explain everything? That meant that for some reason, she thought she couldn't do so at the moment, that something was stopping her. Very interesting indeed. Aloud, she hummed in noncommittal agreement and continued the reassuring hug, combing a few odd tangles out of Nanoha's hair with her fingers. The nine-year old relaxed bonelessly into the sensation, which was a pleasant break from the exertion of the staff training.

"So if not Arisa... hmm. Okay," Miyuki bit her lip on probing for more details. At least for now, Nanoha would be better served by her giving the best non-specific advice she could. She considered the information she had, reviewing it carefully - context would make things so much easier, but life was never fair like that.

"... it sounds," she started carefully, "like you've been on the opposite side to this girl for a while now, yes?"

A slight nod. Nanoha stayed quiet, waiting for Miyuki to talk her way through the explanation.

"And your quarrel, whatever it was... both of you thought you were in the right, and at least on your side, you could see why she thought that way. You just thought your reasoning was better."

Another nod, and Nanoha snuggled a little closer. Miyuki gave another comforting squeeze and continued.

"So your problem now is that she's shown herself to be... even kinder than you thought? Or just kind enough to put your safety over the quarrel you two have. And at the same time, your reasoning has taken a knock, and you're wondering whether she might not be in the right after all. Is that it?"

"Well," Miyuki smiled softly, "it may sound obvious, but the first step is to talk to her. One of you is going to have to acknowledge that the other one has a point, and if you do that, she might accept that you had a good reason, too. Then you just need to talk things over and decide who's right."

Silence, as Nanoha thought about this. Miyuki waited patiently, still running her hand through the younger girl's brown locks. Eventually, Nanoha nodded tentatively.

"Thank you, Miyuki-neesan. You've been really helpful. Um... I need to go think about things for a while. Can we keep practicing when I come back?"

She sounded deep in thought, but there was genuine gratitude there as well, and the uncertainty was gone. Miyuki smiled happily, deeming the conversation a success. She still didn't know exactly what Nanoha was talking about, but it seemed that her advice had cleared things up somewhat.

"Sure, Nanoha," she agreed cheerfully. "Anytime."

...​

Beeping. It was incessant, a sinuous irritant that wormed its way into her ears and penetrated her skull, pulling her tug by tug, beep by infuriating beep, out of the peaceful depths of slumber and once again into the too-bright, too-loud, feeling-ill and all-around generally horrible waking world.

Had Fate's sleep-addled mind been in any condition whatsoever to process mathematical calculations, she would have shot it.

"Arf," she slurred, "kill the bleepin' thin..."

[Call waiting, sir,] announced a crisp, mechanical voice. It drew a moan from the exhausted, fully clothed girl lying sprawled on the four-poster bed, and she rolled over and pulled a pillow over her head to escape the strident tones. A moment passed in relative silence, and then the pillow flew back across the room in the opposite direction as Fate's sluggish thought processes joined the dots together and realised who the call must be coming from.

"Ahhh! Mother must have been waiting... argh, and she'll think I was ignoring her!" Snatching up the gently pulsing triangle of yellow metal, she made a stumbling dash towards the office, not helped by the fact that one of her legs had gone to sleep at some point in the night, and she was therefore forced to proceed with a rather ungainly half-limp.

The connection opened smoothly, revealing the pale face she knew so well. It was frowning in displeasure. That was not so good.

"Fate," began Precia, her tone sharp. The terseness and the telling lack of a suffix drew a flinch from the blonde girl, but she gave Fate no chance to respond or greet her, instead cutting straight to the chase. "Thank you for finally responding, I am sure you had far more important business that could not wait." Fate flushed in shame, and Precia continued. "Would you care to explain the reason that the Garden was rocked by a Dimensional Quake last night? Every sensor within four dimensions must have felt it! I specifically asked you, Fate, to keep the Lost Logia activity low-key. I even blocked the messages being sent out to the TSAB - that ferret, almost certainly. And now you allow all of my hard work on your behalf to be ruined by a Dimensional Quake that all but announces your presence to the Dimensional Sea at large, for all to hear! Your explanation for this had better be extremely good."

"I... um..." Fate's lip was trembling, but she made a valiant attempt to square her soldiers and answered with only the barest tremor audible in her voice. "The Takamachi girl and I were fighting, when-"

"Fighting? With the Takamachi girl? That's strange, Fate," interrupted Precia. Her voice was soft and she affected an air of confusion, but the sting in her words was dripping with venom. "I was under the impression that I gave you very specific orders regarding her. 'Explain your position' was the gist of it, if I recall correctly. 'Bring her over to our side', as an end goal. Is there a reason you ignored this objective as well? Perhaps out of a desire for completeness, given that you disregarded the others? I suppose you're now going to tell me that you failed to retrieve the Jewel Seed itself, so as to make it three for three?"

Fate reeled under the verbal laceration, feebly defending herself, "I... no, Mother, I have the Jewel Seed. And I managed to take steps toward subverting Takamachi as well."

A thin eyebrow rose. "By fighting her?"

"No... I was on the verge of explaining my reasoning when we were interrupted by the Jewel Seed - it had animated... constructs, and we were forced to dispose of them first." Her voice firmed somewhat as she slipped into a clinical recounting of events. "And after the quake, she was hurt - sick from the quake, and I helped her. She will likely be better disposed to me in future."

"Hmm." Precia's eyes were still narrowed, but she refrained from any further verbal attacks in favour of gathering more information. "Constructs? What kind?"

"B-" Fate swallowed hard, tripping over the word, "bodies. Human bodies. It... was in a hospital, and... the Seed itself was in a dead body. Reanimated. It... it was puppeting the... the body." She shivered hard and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force the images out of her mind.

"... interesting. And you sealed it?"

"Y- well, not entirely on my own. Takamachi-san weakened it first, with a..." Fate took a deep breath, anticipating what was coming next, "... with what I estimate to be an A-rank bombardment-type spell on par with my own Thunder Smasher."

There was a pause of several seconds.

"... impossible," stated Precia flatly. "She has known about magic for less than two months."

"Bardiche?"

[Transmitting data, sir.]

Precia's eyes flicked across the screen, widening slightly at the replay of the pink beam of destruction the girl had fired. Casting an experienced eye over the readings picked up from the spell by Bardiche, she let out a low, impressed breath.

"... impressive," she eventually decided. "Very impressive. Her talent is putting you to shame, Fate. How long has she had this Device? Clearly, you must work harder, considering how slowly you are progressing compared to her." She observed the further slumping of the girl's shoulders, the slight flinch as her words hit home, and a slight smirk formed on her lips. "You have damaged Bardiche as well, I see." A long-suffering sigh. "Very well. The situation is... difficult, and problematic. And will require considerable work to fix. You will report home, back to the Garden, and Linith will make the repairs to Bardiche. And you will leave the Jewel Seeds you have collected so far with me."

"Yes mother."

"Good. I expect to see you this evening."

"Yes mother."

With a soft flicker, the connection closed.

"Fate-chan?" questioned Arf as her master walked slowly into the living room. "Um..." She faltered at the hollow expression the blonde girl wore, uncertain of what to say. Fate's face was a blank slate, and for several seconds she simply stood there, staring blankly forward at the wall-spanning window that looked out across the city. Then she seemed to gather herself with a pained breath, and come back to reality.

"We're going home this evening, Arf," she informed the orange-haired woman, prompting a happy smile.

"That's wonderful!" she exclaimed broadly, bouncing happily up and down on the couch. "I can show Linith my ramen and you can spend time with Precia-sama and-"

"Be packed and ready to go by the time I get back," Fate cut her off, and quietly retreated towards the elevator, leaving a blinking familiar behind her. Arf sat down on the couch in mild confusion and scratched her head, puzzled by Fate's sudden quietness. Deciding to put it aside and do something to cheer her master up later, she turned her attention to her orders.

"Right! Packing!" She stood up determinedly, eyes blazing with enthusiasm for her assigned task.

"... hmm. Where did I leave all the bags?"

As Arf pondered the mystery of the missing suitcases and began to methodically turn the penthouse upside down in search of them, Fate set a brisk pace towards the city centre. The sting of her mother's admonishments was still sharp, though slowly fading to a dull ache. A present, she thought. That would be a good first step in showing Mother that she was sorry, and then she could work much, much harder from now on to make her proud. Maybe something to eat - she didn't at all like how thin her mother was becoming, or the coughing fits that were slowly increasing in frequency.

Half an hour of searching yielded nothing, however, and a frown was just beginning to creep onto her face when a familiar-looking facade caught her eye. A second look brought the details to mind, and Fate paused, interested.

... well, she was supposed to be subverting Takamachi-san, wasn't she? And knowing a little more about her family couldn't hurt. And it wasn't as if the girl herself was likely to be in there. Besides which, the scents wafting out of the door of freshly baked pastry were... tantalising.

Nodding to herself with the clear air of one who has genuine and perfectly justifiable motives for walking into a shop full of delectable, delicious-looking confectionery, Fate squared her shoulders and marched through the door of the Midori-ya cafe.

Stepping through the door with a happy little shiver at the burst of warm air from an overhead heater positioned above the entrance, Fate scanned the shop instinctively. It was an open, inviting place, with polished wooden flooring and comfortable booths nestled up against the windows. Most were already taken, at this point in the afternoon, by a mixture of chattering schoolchildren and adults enjoying hot drinks and a snack.

Put on edge by the crowds, Fate slunk over to one of the smaller, unoccupied booths. Out of the open, away from all the people, she relaxed fractionally and craned her neck to look at the selection of cakes at the main counter, where a brown-haired woman she recognised as Takamachi's mother - Momoko, if she recalled correctly - was taking orders. Any thoughts of actually going up there to get a better look at the confectionary were out of the question - Fate was fidgeting nervously as it was, and the number of people ordering was far larger than she was comfortable with. Despite the volume of the orders coming in, though, the woman didn't seem to be having any problems. She dispensed smiles and nods, taking cash and quoting prices with an ease that made the multi-tasking and mental arithmetic seem effortless. She looked friendly... maybe Fate could wait until the throng had cleared a little, and then go up and buy something quickly?

"You know, you'd get a much better view from up there. You don't have to stay in your seat."

Fate jumped at the casual remark, snapping round to focus on... the sister? She searched her memory for the girl's name, drawing a momentary blank. Apparently realising that she had startled the young blonde, the older girl smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you. Or I can bring you the dessert menu, if you want?"

"... uh... yes, thank you. That would be... good. Thank you."

With a grin and a wink, the waitress - Miyuki, Fate finally remembered, her name was Miyuki - left, strolling over towards the counter. For her own part, Fate bereted herself for allowing the girl to sneak up and surprise her, even - no, especially since she hadn't even been trying to do so. Mother was right, she needed to work a lot harder.

This time, she saw the girl coming back before she arrived, and essayed a tentative smile of thanks as she... sat down in the booth with her? Fate blinked, confused. Wasn't she supposed to be... waitressing, or something? Miyuki caught her puzzled look and shrugged cheerfully.

"I was about due for a break, and... you looked a little lost and alone. I thought you might want some company. Do you mind?"

"Ah... no?"

"Great!" she grinned. "I'm Miyuki, by the way." She produced the menu she had gone to fetch, shifting round to sit beside Fate in the small booth. "Now, I know they all look good," a grin, "but trust me, you want to try the chocolate gateau. I had earlier this afternoon and it's divine." She gave Fate another conspiratorial wink and Fate found herself smiling shyly in response, causing Miyuki's smile to grow. "Any preferences on a drink?" she asked, and Fate returned her attention to the laminated menu, drawn in by the friendly manner of the girl.

"Um... I'm Fate. And... hot chocolate?" she asked, and Miyuki nodded cheerfully, sliding off the seat with a "be right back" and making for the counter again. Fate watched as she nudged her way behind the counter and had a short conversation with her mother between orders, culminating with the older woman rolling her eyes and dismissing her daughter with a laugh. Looking rather satisfied with herself, Miyuki made her way back to the table, precariously balancing two mugs of hot chocolate and two plates bearing slices of a chocolate cake that did indeed, Fate had to admit, look gorgeously decadent. Seeing that the older girl was struggling, she sprang up to help and got a grateful smile in response.

Settled, and sipping at their hot chocolate, Miyuki pinned Fate with an interested look. "So," she started, lowering the cup and leaning forward, "forgive me if I'm prying, but... you looked really lost and scared when you came in. And you sound a little unfamiliar with the language, too. Are you not from around here?"

Fate was ready for this. Bardiche allowed her to at least talk to the natives here, translating for her internally, but it made for an odd infliction to her voice and language. And she didn't exactly look native, although she shared a few features in common with the local population on this bit of the Unadministered World. Luckily, she had a cover story prepared.

"Yes," she nodded, sipping at her own cup - which was actually very good. She looked down at the chocolate beverage in mild surprise and took another sip, a smile forming. Glancing back up at the waiting Miyuki, she blushed a little and continued. "Ah... yes. I moved here quite recently with my aunt, who's on business. From abroad. I'm still not familiar with the area, or the... crowds."

"Ahh," Miyuki nodded in understanding. "Small-town girl? The big city hits a lot of people like that. I was a little freaked when I first moved here, too. You get used to it."

Fate nodded, though she had a hard time believing that anyone could grow accustomed to the millions of people that thronged the streets of the bustling city. She kept her reservations to herself, though, making a noncommittal noise of agreement. "Mmm. When I was growing up, it was mostly just me and Arf and Linith and Mother. This..." she motioned with her head to the crowded cafe, and the wider cityscape outside it. "It's jarring."

"Give it a while. It's weird for the first few months, then you sort of fall into a routine." Miyuki took a bite of her cake, and shuddered in pleasure. "Mmm. Really, you need to try this. Gorgeous." She tilted her head in thought for a moment. "Have you made any friends since coming here? Or picked up any hobbies? Distracting yourself from the change is a good way to adjust. It just sort of slides into being normal."

Fate averted her eyes downward, staring into the depths of her cup as if seeking an answer there. "There... was one girl, yes," she said quietly. "We were... well, there was something there. She liked me, certainly, even if we didn't get much time to talk. But..." Had Mother been right? Had she hurt her cause by fighting the girl? She had helped her after the quake, yes, but was that enough to outweigh attacking her in the first place? She bit her lip, and jumped again when a hand rested on her shoulder. Glancing up, Miyuki was giving her a calm, soothing look.

"But what? A falling out?" Fate hesitated briefly before nodding. It was as good an explanation as any. The older girl regarded her for a few moments more, then tilted her head to one side with an evaluating look.

"I was talking to a friend of mine - this morning, actually - with a similar problem - she'd had an argument with a friend, and had realised she might have been wrong. I'll tell you the same thing I told her. Talk to this girl. You might be angry with each other, you might not. You might fix things up, or it might fail horribly. But nothing is going to change from the way things are now unless one of you steps forward and explains yourself, and listens to the other person's point of view. And, preferably, is prepared to admit that they might have been wrong. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, but you'd be amazed how little your friends will blame you for it if you admit that you might have done something stupid."

Absorbing this, Fate took an experimental bite of the cake. Miyuki was watching closely for her reaction, and wasn't at all disappointed. The nine-year old stiffened as the chocolate explosion hit her taste buds, and a tiny moan sounded from her throat as her eyes drifted shut. When she recovered from the chocolate sensory bliss enough to open them again, Miyuki was grinning at her knowingly.

"Told you so. First time?" It was a statement more than a question, but Fate nodded anyway and Miyuki chuckled. "On the house, then. Nuh!" she cut off the start of Fate's protest, "I insist. Besides, the way you looked when it hit you, I'd half think you never tasted chocolate before."

Fate blinked for a few seconds, thrown by the unexpected generosity. Scrambling to make up for it another way, she hit on an elegant solution that repaid the kindness and got her a perfect present for her mother in one stroke.

"Could... could I buy a whole one?"

Miyuki stared at her for a moment, and then burst out laughing. "Whoa now, slow down a little! I know you liked it, but..."

"Ah-" Fate blushed again as she realised how that had sounded. She seemed to be doing that a lot in this conversation. "N-no, no! I meant... for my mother, as a present, I'm going back to visit her this evening, and..." her eyes darkened a little, "... she's... ill. And I'm worried, because she looks so thin and... and... I wanted to get her a present to..." she tailed off and swallowed hard, uncertain of why she was telling the girl so much. She was just... easy to talk to. And looking at Fate in raw, naked sympathy. Scooting round the table again, she sat down beside Fate and pulled her into a soothing hug.

"It's okay, it's okay," she murmured, patting Fate gently on the back. "I know what it feels like when one of your parents is hurt and it feels like you can't do anything about it." Fate couldn't see her face, but she could hear the bitter smile in Miyuki's voice. "It sucks, huh? Shh... it's okay." She gave her one last comforting squeeze before pulling away, and Fate was surprised at how much she immediately missed the reassuring contact. She felt a little better, too. The problem was still there, but somehow, sharing it had lessened the weight of it a little. She gave Miyuki a slightly watery smile of thanks, which the older girl returned.

A sudden sharp set of beeps from Miyuki's wrist interrupted the moment, and she looked at her watch and frowned. "Damn," she muttered, before raising her voice to address Fate again, "sorry... it looks like my break is over. But I'll tell you what, you stay cuddled up here for as long as you want, and I'll chat and keep your hot chocolate refilled as I go round, okay? And I'll see about getting your mum's cake wrapped. Sound good?"

Fate didn't entirely trust her voice not to crack with gratitude if she answered verbally. With slightly damp eyes and a smile almost wide enough to crack her face in two, she nodded in thanks. Her problems would undoubtedly return later on, but... for here and now, just for a little while, they retreated enough for her to pretend that everything would be alright.

...​

Deep in the Dimensional Sea, threading through deep, impossibly complex veils of shifting purple and black, a gleaming ship navigated the still-turbulent space between worlds. Gleaming to a casual observer, at least. A second glance from keener eyes would have revealed, to any onlooker in a position to make such an observation, the roughed-up state of certain parts of the ship indicating some considerable discomfort in the recent past. While running repairs had been made, and the ship remained fully functional, the tumultuous storm that had exploded from nowhere had not been kind to it.

Up on the bridge, sitting in pride of place at the captain's position, Lindy Harlaown steepled her fingers and sighed. The situation was... worrying. Deeply so. A magnitude 6 dimensional quake in a backwater like this... it could only be Lost Logia activity. And more alarming still was the way that it had cut off so suddenly. Her crew - a small crew, as this was supposed to be a backwater patrol, and thus not in need of any real manpower - had rejoiced when the shaking and turbulence had stopped. She knew better. Such a sudden halt couldn't be natural, and only powerful magic could halt a dimensional quake like that once it was started. Which meant that not only were they heading into a situation with a powerful, unknown Lost Logia, there was also at least one powerful mage involved. And since this wasn't an Administrated area and no messages had been sent out following the quake, it probably wasn't a TSAB-aligned mage, either.

In short, Lindy had good reason to be worried. Pursing her lips, she stared out into the mad vortex outside the ship, watching the threads of strange, eye-watering colour shift and dance as the Asura powered its way towards the source of the disturbance.

"I don't like this feeling," she murmured to herself. "This is something big, I can tell."

"Should I call for backup, captain?"

Lindy glanced round in mild surprise. She had been muttering to herself, not expecting anyone else to overhear her- ah, it was Amy. The young officer cadet was looking at her inquisitively, awaiting a response. Lindy started to shake her head with a smile, dismissing her comment, but then paused to consider. They were understaffed. Chrono was the only mage onboard that she was happy about sending into an unknown and potentially hostile situation. While they had other mages, they were mostly personnel, rather than actual operation teams. Reinforcements would be more than welcome if there were any in the area and this situation turned out to be as serious as she suspected it was.

Nodding decisively, she gave Amy the okay. "Thank you, officer Limietta. That would be wonderful. Hmm... yes, check to see if there are any squads on downtime or training in the nearby area. If they aren't doing any active missions, we might be able to bring them in." With a nod, Amy began work, fingers flying over the keys like lightning. Lindy turned back to the screen, considering. Reinforcements were one thing, but she still didn't like moving in without any information. Perhaps some discreet observation was in order before any direct intervention... there was something bugging her, as well. A nagging sense of familiarity with the area designation that she couldn't quite place. Perhaps...

"Oh, hold on!" she exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "UA-97? That's the place that does those wonderful sweets, isn't it? I remember... yes, sitting wrapped up warm under that red sun on a terrace during winter, back when I was just a lieutenant on temporary shore leave." She smiled at the memory, pleased to have placed the sense of déjà-vu. Her reverie was rudely interrupted by Amy's reply.

"Uh... no, Ma'am. UA-97 is a Type-1 World. I think you're thinking of UA-79."

"... oh." Lindy frowned, put out. "Drat." Oh well. She'd remember eventually. It was probably just a report of something or other nearby that had stuck in her mind.

"Captain? I've found three groups in this sector... two are quite far away, but the last one is perfect."

"Hmm?" She returned her attention to Amy, the officer cadet straightening unconsciously as she delivered her results.

"They're on Pihroea - a Type-3 world. Four mages - a second lieutenant and three officer cadets, all C-rank... no, wait, one B-rank. All reasonably talented in combat, for their ranks."

Lindy pondered it for a moment. "Who are they with?"

"Uh... ah, Cranagan Capital Air Force. It looks like the second lieutenant is assessing the cadets as a leadership and personal development exercise - a test of competence for him, and a test of capability for them. Nothing major... Pihroea doesn't look to be much more than a training facility, to be honest. They should be free to help us, if we need them. Shall I file a request for them to be reassigned to us temporarily?"

"... not yet. We don't know what we're dealing with, it could just be a fluke. We'll wait until we've done some passive observation before acting. But call them, if you would. I'd like to give them a little advance warning."

"Yes ma'am."

The communications window opened, and the call was answered within a few seconds - impressively fast, noted Lindy. The worried look on the young man on the other side cleared that up a little, though, as did his first words once introductions had been exchanged.

"We've been on alert since yesterday - we got pinged by the dimensional quake. Is there trouble in the area, ma'am?" He was respectful - as most junior lieutenants were when faced with an admiral - but the knot of concern in his frown spoke of a strong desire to know what was going on and why.

He was perceptive, then. That was good, she could use that. "Not exactly," she answered. "The situation is still largely an unknown. We were caught by the quake, same as you, and buffeted about rather violently. We're currently en route to investigate the occurrence, as it was centred on an Unadministered World, but this wasn't supposed to be a high-risk patrol, so we're short on manpower trained for insertion."

"I see... and we're the closest support squad in the region?" he guessed. She nodded in confirmation, silently applauding his guess. He swallowed, a reddish-brown hair falling askew. He looked fairly young - seventeen, maybe eighteen. Certainly, not much more than three or four years experience, and probably no real command experience in that time. And here she was, implicitly asking him to put his team into a potentially deadly hostile situation.

Nevertheless, he rose to the occasion admirably, saluting sharply after only a short pause. "Ma'am," he acknowledged, "we will remain on standby until called to help, or told to stand down."

"Thank you," Lindy replied gratefully. "We intend to do some passive surveillance of the state of affairs before moving in, so you'll have at least a day or so even if it turns out we do need you. And it could just be a fluke." He nodded in understanding, and she smiled gratefully. A four-man team of officer cadets wasn't perfect, but any support was better than none, and having reinforcements close at hand took at least a small weight off her shoulders.

"... ah," she murmured to herself suddenly, as the connection blinked off. "Ah, yes. I remember. UA-97... that's Graham's native home, isn't it?" Her frown deepened. Graham was an extraordinary mage, a rare fluke from a world that was otherwise almost devoid of magic. If another such mage had arisen - the reason the quake had cut off so suddenly, perhaps? That suggested a certain amount of power... and more worryingly, a certain level of skill in using it. And not a low level, either.

A rogue mage from a backwater planet, then, in all likelihood. One without ties to the TSAB, who had learnt or figured out enough magic to stop a dimensional quake, and who may well have been the one to set it off in the first place. And if they turned out to be hostile...

... well, that could cause things to become complicated.

...​

"Fate-chan!"

The joyful exclamation gave Fate about three seconds of warning, which was just enough to brace herself. Then Linith descended like a motherly avalanche and buried her blonde charge in an exuberant and engulfing hug. "How are you?" she asked earnestly, "Are you doing alright out in the city? I know it can be scary to be out on your own... oh, Arf! Welcome back! What's that you're carrying?"

"Hello Linith," Fate greeted the woman who had raised her. Her voice was somewhat muffled, pressed into Linith's chest as it was by the tight hug, but her arms came around Linith's waist to hug back, and she was smiling as the cat-familiar released her. "It's good to see you, too. And be back on the Garden." She looked around, taking in the familiar looping, swirling lines of the architecture - so different to UA-97, where everything was straight lines and right angles. Linith's plants and homely touches dotted the hallway here and there, barring a few alcoves she hadn't got around to redecorating yet. There, carvings and embossed writing marked the strange ceramic-metal walls, angular lines of cuneiform dotted around patterns that ranged from abstract chaos to depictions of people.

"I've been fine," she said in answer to Linith's enthusiastic interrogation. "And the box is a present for Mother. I wanted to get her something... nice."

"That's wonderful of you, Fate-chan!" Linith beamed. "I'm sure she'll love it. Do you want to give it to her yourself, or shall I carry it for you?"

"I'll do it." Accepting the package from Arf, Fate followed the Linith through the maze of corridors that ran through the Garden of Time, the sandy-haired familiar navigating with the ease of long practice as she chattered about this and that, asking the occasional question of her young charge. Fate let the flow of words wash over her, answering mostly on autopilot as she let her gaze wander. Ancient, rusted machinery lay abandoned in the cavernous spaces that oddly sized doors and windows afforded glimpses into. Some of the openings were mere slits, as high as a man but barely wide enough to fit an arm through. Others were jagged, slanted things - clearly crafted, but with acute tilts or zigzagging frames.

Universal to the odd openings, though, was the state of what they revealed. The mechanisms and devices beyond them lay dormant, thick layers of dust covering the strange shapes and fey sculptures and carvings decorating the walls. Some walls were covered in etched cuneiform writing, of some tongue so old as to be lost to the mists of history. Others hinted at detailed diagrams under the dust, with shapes matching the arcane devices they were set next to. Peering into the rooms and halls as Linith led her to Precia's throne room, Fate entertained herself with daydreams of what they must have been like in ages past, when the hum of functional machines filled the bowels of the Garden and the glow of magic pervaded every room.

Eventually, though, they reached their destination. The great golden doors loomed over her just as much as they had on that fateful day four years ago, when she had first come here and been told of her quest. Now, at last, they were seeing progress towards their goal. She cradled Bardiche, and the bounty it held within itself. Six Jewel Seeds. Half a dozen of the Lost Logia her sister needed. The Takamachi girl was determined, but she couldn't be everywhere, and Fate not only had more time to hunt them, she was also able to search and travel a much wider portion of the local area than the native girl.

Shivering a little, more out of habit than any real reaction to the faint chill in the air, she presented herself to her mother and waited, eyes cast downward. The woman was busy tapping away at a keyboard with a faint frown, and Fate knew from long experience to wait until she was addressed to speak - any interruptions to Precia's work would be met with, at best, a cold silence or a glare. She didn't have to wait long, though. After only half a minute or so, the violet-haired woman sighed wearily, terminating her session with a few decisive keystrokes and bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Fate," she said tiredly, the usual lilt absent from her voice. She sounded exhausted, and Fate noticed, peeking through her bangs, that the bags under her mother's eyes seemed rather deeper than normal. Her lips tightened, but she refrained from commenting on it as Precia spoke again, gesturing idly towards the box she carried. "What is that?"

Throwing an uncertain glance at Linith, who gave her an encouraging smile and nod, Fate lifted the box slightly, offering it forward hesitantly. "It's... um... a present, mother. I picked it up for you while I was looking into Takamachi-san's background."

Precia raised an eyebrow languidly and twitched her fingers, summoning the box to float out of Fate's hands and across the room to her. Fate couldn't help but quietly marvel at the effortless, unconscious ease with which the magic was cast - as casually and easily as moving an arm or blinking. Cracking the lid open, Precia peered inside and made a small noise of acknowledgement as she saw the cake, nodding slowly.

"Thank you, Fate. Do you have anything else for me?" A hint of energy returned as she looked at the girl expectantly, and Fate hurriedly brought out Bardiche, prompting it to release the Jewel Seeds from storage. "Yes, mother! The Lost Logia - six of them." The blue gems rose up from Bardiche's storage form with a yellow pulse of magic, drifting in a lazy orbit above it. A thin smile edged its way onto Precia's face as she took the sight in, and she nodded more firmly. "Good. Well done."

Gaze drifting to the Device in Fate's hand, Precia's neutral expression shifted into a slight frown of annoyance. "I see you've managed to damage your Device," she sighed. "The dimensional quake, I presume?" Not waiting for an answer, she continued, "Leave it with me. Linith can fix it once I've transferred the data off it for analysis."

"... yes mother." The yellow triangle of metal clinked quietly as Fate reluctantly set it down where Precia had gestured, and a faint pulse of light indicated the uplink connecting and the information starting to be transferred.

"Um... mother?" she asked, tentatively, "May I make a request?"

"Hmm? What now?" A tinge of annoyance threaded into the older woman's voice, and Fate shifted nervously, chewing on her lip.

"Um... may I visit Alicia?"

Sharp, cold eyes cut across to her, narrowed with some emotion she couldn't quite place. Fate squirmed under the penetrating gaze that pinned her unwaveringly in place. After a short, silent moment that seemed to drag on forever, the weight behind the stare lessened and the imposing presence diminished, leaving Precia normal once more.

"... very well," she acquiesced. "Linith, go with her." Another wave of a hand drew back a curtain at the back of the wide, high-ceilinged room and the door behind it slid open soundlessly. Dismissing them, the pale woman turned back to her work, already ignoring them in favour of the glowing screens that reappeared in the air around her. Symbols flashed across the glowing surfaces, arcane algorithms and detailed analysis of the data.

The chamber was chilled, and Fate's breath was just barely visible in the cold air. She hugged herself, shivering slightly as she walked to the centre of the room and the great glass tank that sat there. And within it...

Blonde hair. Pale skin. Eyes that were, behind closed lids, as red as Fate's own. A slight, small frame - so tiny, so fragile. Vulnerable and defenceless, she floated in the translucent green liquid, her hair fanning out around her in a curtain of yellow locks. She looked peaceful - tranquil, as if she were only sleeping. No older than when Fate had first seen her, four years ago. Resting a hand gently on the cold glass as the other clenched into a tight fist, she spoke quietly, her voice filled with choked conviction.

"I promise, Alicia. I will save you. No matter what the cost. You deserve a chance at life." The vow she had made so long ago echoed through her bones, and she renewed it silently and with grim determination. She would see her little sister restored. She would see her mother smile, and laugh, and love again. She would see her family restored, and nothing would be allowed to stand in the path of that goal. Nothing.

And even more silently, at the back of her mind, she added an amendment to the vow. Yes, if the choice came down to one where there was no other way to save her sister, she would do anything to make her mother's dreams come true.

But if there were a way to bring things to a close peacefully - to convince Takamachi-san not to oppose them, not to fight her... she would take it. And Fate would put as much effort as she could spare into finding such a way.

... if it was possible. She slumped slightly, and felt Linith move up behind her. Resting a hand on Fate's shoulder, the motherly woman pulled her into a hug, arms encircling her from behind. "Don't worry," she soothed, guessing the cause Fate's anxiety with ease gained from years spent raising her. "It'll be fine. You're a brave, brilliant, beautiful little girl, and you're making me and your mother so proud, I promise."

"I'm worried about her," confided Fate. "She looks so... so thin all the time. And pale. And... and sick." Her voice wobbled and tears stung her eyes. Mother shouldn't be ill. She shouldn't be cold and tired and snappish because of the pain. She was meant to be kind and warm and comforting, and healthy and happy, and... and...

"Linith... tell me it's going to be alright," she sniffed, trying to blink back the tears. Her lips trembled, and she took a deep breath and held it, concentrating on Alicia and pretending that she was just asleep, that she would wake up soon, that everything would be better. "Tell me that Mother will get better, and that we'll succeed, and that everything will be like it should again. Please?"

The arms tightened around her, pulling her back into Linith's warm body. "It will," whispered Linith, almost fiercely. Her voice was strong, reassuring and certain. "I promise, Fate-chan. It will. You'll succeed - you're already succeeding, and you'll make everything better. I promise."

Her confidence, her conviction and iron-clad faith in her charge, were like a soothing balm to Fate's fears. Linith believed in her. Mother trusted her. Alicia was dependant on her. Her hands still trembled, but less so, the shaking residing as her breathing steadied and she took Linith's assurances to heart.

But somewhere deep at the back of her mind, a tiny voice still coiled around her doubts, and whispered "liar".

...​

Nanoha loved her sister. She really did. And she was grateful, in the extreme, for the lessons she was receiving. She could already see the improvement in her fighting skills with Raising Heart that had come from the practice, and it was wonderful, feeling so much more competent, so much more assured in her ability to hold her own.

And she wasn't unwilling to put the work in, either. The katas Miyuki had left her practicing were simple, but demanding. She was currently on her ninth repeat of the fourth - one more, and she could start on the ten repetitions of the fifth, before taking a break. Her limbs were aching slightly, and her breathing was ragged, but both of those were things she could ignore. No, the tiredness and exhaustion weren't the problem...

... it was just that she was bored. Repeating the same set of actions over and over again was difficult for her body, yes, but it gave her nothing at all to think about! And she couldn't just let her mind wander, as she'd learnt the hard way that doing so led to her messing up and getting it wrong.

Sighing, she lined her limbs up right and started on the tenth set. There was no use in bemoaning it, she just had to tolerate the dreariness and focus on doing the work. It was annoying, but she knew of old that the only way to get better at something was to practice, practice, practice.

If only all those hours of practice could be more interesting...

'Um. Nanoha?'

She stopped, blinking in surprise. 'Yuuno-kun? Ah! Have you found somewhere I can pick you up from?'

'... well, yes and no.'

Frowning, Nanoha leaned the staff against the wall, carefully. She had a feeling this was going to preclude any further practice.

'Yes and no?' she asked curiously.

'Well, I was trying to find a place in the city that I recognised, so that I could call you to come and pick me up,' explained Yuuno. His voice had an interesting tint of embarrassment in it, and a glimmer of a smile played about Nanoha's lips as she listened. She wasn't sure what had happened yet, but it promised to be amusing in the recounting.

'So I searched around for a few hours, but... I can't move very fast, and I think we went quite a long way across the city during the fight. And I wasn't sure which way I was meant to be going in. But then I saw a bus, and I recognised the number! It was one of the ones that go past your house, through that stop two streets away. So I snuck onboard, so that you wouldn't have to come as far to pick me up.'

Nanoha frowned. 'But... if it was in the downtown city... the route isn't two-way. Wouldn't that be going away from the house, not towards it?'

A brief silence followed, as Yuuno somehow managed to communicate extreme embarrassment over a telepathic link without actually saying anything. 'Um...' he finally managed, in a sheepish tone of voice, 'well... yes. In a word. And I... uh... didn't realise that for a while. So...'

'So?'

'... I have no idea where I am,' he admitted. 'Can you try and work out where I am if I give you street names?'

'...' Despite her best efforts to stifle it, a giggle escaped. The image of Yuuno hopping blithely onto a bus and only realising several stops later that he was going in the wrong direction... Nanoha had to bite her lip to stop herself from snickering at his expense. 'Okay,' she sent, trying and failing to keep the amusement from her tone. 'Wait there a moment. I'll get a map.'

A mental impression of a pout came over the link as she hurried, giggling, into the house. 'It's not my fault,' Yuuno complained. 'Your buses are too complicated, that's all. I got the number right, didn't I?' He sounded mildly indignant, or possibly just sulky, and Nanoha giggled again.

'Alright' she said after a few moments of searching. Standing on tiptoe to reach the top shelf, she pulled down a city map and spread it out across the floor, walking her fingers over the small printed kanji to find her street. 'I've got the map open. Where are you?'

'Um... I'm near a Shinto shrine... Haedo Shrine, I think it says.'

'Ah! That'll be easier to look for, yes.' Humming distractedly, Nanoha scanned the map for Haedo, searching for the little symbols representing shrines. One, two, three, four, five... on the sixth one she struck gold, tapping the paper happily with a little nod of satisfaction.

And then stared. 'Yuuno-kun,' she asked in bewilderment. 'How on Earth did you get all the way out there? That's ages away!'

'Oh. Um. Well, you don't have to... that is, if it's too far for you to come...'

'Yuuno-kun!' Nanoha exclaimed crossly. 'Don't be silly! Of course I'll come get you! I'm just not sure how you got so far, and... oh.'

'Is something wrong?'

'No, no... you're just not that far from Suzuka-chan's house. I wonder...' Blinking, she reminded herself that she was letting Suzuka and Arisa have their strop, and shook her head. 'No, never mind. I'll be there as soon as I can, Yuuno-kun. Don't go anywhere.'

Yuuno, curled up next to a fence behind the bus stop, lowered his head onto his paws. 'Don't go anywhere,' he thought to himself sulkily. 'It's not as if I was planning on it.' He sighed, the corners of his mouth twitching downwards as much as they could and his shoulders slumping. 'I wish my clan were around. And it's probably going to start raining again soon.'

It took Nanoha almost an hour to get to him. By the time she stepped off the bus, hair slightly mussed from the wind that was picking up, Yuuno had left boredom behind and was making ground on soul-crushing ennui. Spotting her, he squeaked loudly in relief and scampered over to her.

'Nanoha! It feels like ages since I saw you last.' Flowing up her leg and onto her shoulder, he nuzzled her cheek affectionately in greeting. 'How are you feeling? The quake must have hit you pretty hard.'

Stroking his sleek-furred head, Nanoha set off towards the next bus stop. 'I'm okay' she reassured him. 'I... fell asleep for a while, after the quake. I was exhausted, and feeling sick, and... I felt better when I woke up. I'm sorry I couldn't find you, but... it was a lot of area to cover, and it was getting dark, and my parents were getting worried, so...'

'No, no. It's okay, I understand. And there was no real harm done, just a long day.' Yuuno licked Nanoha's cheek again to show that he meant it.

She smiled happily at him, 'Anyway, Miyuki has been teaching me more staff fighting, and...'

She trailed off, coming to a halt and staring at something on the other side of the road. Curious as to what had attracted her attention, Yuuno craned round her head to look. The wide path leading up to an expensive mansion looked familiar...

"Mraa!"

All the hairs along Yuuno's back stood up at the sound, and he emitted something that, had it been vocal, would have been called a mild shriek of terror.

"Mraa!" came the sound again, from the ground. Nanoha looked down and smiled in fond recognition. "Hello," she greeted the little grey kitten. "Vesta, wasn't it?" She leant down to pet the tiny creature, which had sprung out of a clump of weeds to savagely gnaw on one of her shoes. Yuuno moaned as her motion drew him closer to the feline menace that had almost eaten him, and he scampered up onto her head - just in time, for Vesta looked up as the girl's fingers brushed her head and playfully reared up, trying to climb up her arm towards Yuuno.

"Hee! Stop that," admonished Nanoha, amused, and pushed Vesta down again. With a grumbling purr, she went back to savaging the shoe buckle as Nanoha tickled the back of her neck. It didn't take long for the attention to drain the hunting instincts from her, and in relatively short order she was draped over Nanoha's foot, purring steadily as her belly was tickled and her head stroked. "I do hope you haven't had any unfortunate growing incidents again," the girl added playfully, as she gave her the attention she demanded, wagging a finger at the kitten. "Poor Suzuka-chan wouldn't be able to afford to feed you. And I don't think they do tins of cat food that big."

"Mraa," was the response she got, as the kitten stared at the finger, possibly wondering if it signified food. Nanoha sighed in mock exasperation, and another reproachful mewl coaxed her into resuming the stroking. Hands occupied with the kitten, her attention wandered. Gaze again straying across the road; she stared up the path at the mansion. Suzuka would probably be there. Possibly Arisa as well, if she didn't have any classes at this time of day. It would be easy to go in, say hello, apologise and explain everything... but should she? Arisa had been... well, it had been justified, sort of, but she'd still been mean. And hadn't trusted Nanoha, even when she'd said she was sorry she couldn't talk about it, that she had no choice.

Nanoha thought back to what Miyuki had said, about one of them needing to make the first move and admit that they might have been wrong. She had been asking about Fate, but... might it apply here? To Arisa and Suzuka, as well? Maybe she should...

'No.'

'Yuuno-kun?'

'You were broadcasting,' he explained, 'Nanoha, keeping them in the dark is the adult decision to make. The mature one. It's uncomfortable, but there's no gain and a lot of risk in letting them know. This isn't a situation where both sides have valid points - they don't have all the information, they don't know that your decision is based on such a solid foundation. I know it's upsetting to have them be angry at you, but... you're doing the right thing. I'm sorry.'

'...' Nanoha let out a sigh. This was hard. Hard and unfair and complicated. And the sort of thing she wanted her mother, or her sister, for. They knew about things like this, they could tell her what to do.

But they couldn't tell her properly without knowing everything. And telling people everything was what she wasn't sure about. So she couldn't get help from that quarter. It was just her. So... what did she feel was right?

'... yes,' she agreed, wearily. 'Yes, I suppose.' She suddenly felt very tired, and the kitten must have picked up on her change in mood, for with a final "mraa!", she wriggled free of Nanoha's attentions and went streaking across the road, back into the grounds of her home.

'Come on, Yuuno,' sighed Nanoha, watching her go. She rose to her feet and cast one last look back at the mansion. The decision felt final. Adult. She had decided on her course, and it was the right one. When she could tell her friends, she would. And until then...

'Let's go,' she said, turning her back on the house.

Until then, she would cope. One way or another.

...​

The sky was a clear blue and the sun shone down on the chill morning as noon drew closer. People walked briskly through the streets of Uminari City, hurrying here and there in the throes of everyday life. Somewhere in it, a brown-haired girl sat in her bedroom, watching solemnly as the crimson gemstone on her desk pulsed, each faint glow signifying a microscopic change in the hair-thin cracks that still ran across its surface. They were becoming thinner still, and some were disappearing, but it wasn't whole again quite yet.

Elsewhere, nearer the city centre, more active magic was taking place. The top of the tall building was deserted, as it usually way. Fortunate indeed, for anyone who had been present would have no doubt been surprised to see the yellow glow that built on the asphalt surface, scrolling out in lines of runes to form a wide circle. Light blossomed, electric power crackling in jagged arcs from symbol to symbol, and with a bright flash and a crack, two figures stood where none had stood before.

"I'm going to scout," said the smaller of the two, drawing a surprised look from the other.

"Scout?" asked Arf. "But we only just got back! Don't you want to have something to eat first, or maybe-"

"No." Fate's voice was soft, but firm. "Mother needs the Jewel Seeds. I can't afford to waste any more time." She glanced at Arf apologetically. "I'm sorry to make you work so hard..."

"No, no!" Arf hurriedly backpedalled. "I'm fine with working! I just thought you might want to rest! If you want to scout now, that's fine!"

Smiling at her loyal familiar, Fate gave her a quick hug of thanks. "Alright then. You patrol over towards the outskirts - one of the blocks we haven't done yet. I'll go this way. Call me if you find anything."

"Aye aye, master!" confirmed the wolf-woman cheerfully, throwing a mock salute as Fate lifted off. She grinned at Arf's antics, a fond smile of affection that lingered for some time after the orange-haired woman was out of sight.

The sun was lower in the sky when the spike went up. It took her by surprise. With a Jewel Seed activation only yesterday, she had expected there to be some time until the next one. Stupid of her... they were random, and just because they'd been sporadic so far didn't mean they always would be. Turning in the air, she sent Arf a mental nudge, checking that she'd sensed it and was already en route. She didn't stop, though, or move to rendezvous with Arf before proceeding. She wanted to get a clear look at their opponent as soon as possible.

Besides, she thought as she flew. This one didn't feel like the others - and not just in that it was stronger. It felt...

... hungry.

Fate got there first, though not by long. Pulling to a halt in the air above the park, she stared in alarm at the scene below. For a moment, she almost thought that there was a barrier up, but... no. No, this was the work of the Jewel Seed itself. Her familiar joined her, the orange wolf stalking onto the scene and growling softly at the sight.

Trees shrivelled. Grass withered. Lake water grew dead, dull and still. Colour was leeched out of the soil to leave only chalky grey. And with every ravenous pull at the world, the mass at the epicentre of the effect grew further. It must have been some sort of weed or vine before the Seed - now, it was enormous, a great, tangled ball of vines each easily as thick as a man's torso and decorated with cruel barbs and thorns. Pale and drained like the rest of the park around them, the only spots of colour to them were the strange growths bloomed along their length; cancerous lumps that pulsed with the mad light of the Dimensional Sea. Shifting and wriggling, the coiled-together mass looked like nothing so much as a writhing egg of bloated, tumorous tentacles.

"Arf!" she snapped in alarm, "Barrier! Now!"

The monochrome tones of the barrier rolled out and the thing below hissed, an eerie rattle going up as its vine-limbs trembled. Warily, Fate gained a few feet of altitude, waiting for whatever...

It exploded. Or seemed to, at least. Thorny tendrils shot out in all directions, ripping and tearing at the earth hungrily in search of the sustenance that had been denied to them. It spread fast, lashing its way across the ground in all directions, seeking the edges of the barrier.

Well. Time to put a stop to that, for certain. Giving Bardiche a preparatory twirl, she snapped it out into its scythe form and slashed towards the nearest branching spread of vines. Smoothly leaving the Device, the glowing blade whirled towards its defenceless target with uncanny accuracy. Once it had cut those vines into chunks, she would be able to move in and-

Fate's plans to follow up her initial strike were rudely interrupted as the spinning blade shattered on... a shield? Her eyes widened. How on earth was it generating a- she hissed and cut off the question, throwing herself sideways to avoid the retaliatory strike of spear-like vines that punched up into the air through the point she had just occupied.

Well...fine. A quick glance at Arf and a second or two of non-verbal communication conveyed what her idea, and Arf gave her a nod to show that she was ready. Shifting her grip on Bardiche, Fate tensed low in preparation for the effort she was about to expend. She would need all of her speed for this. Crouching low and exploding from her starting position like an Olympic sprinter leaving the starting gates, she blurred towards the centre of the vine, preparing the spell she needed en route with Bardiche as she handled the calculations for her speed entirely on her own.

Of course, the vines retaliated. As she had expected them to, they closed in like the many jaws of a cavernous maw, lined with thorny teeth. At range, they were spread out enough for her to dodge them with relative, but close in there were just too many attacks and not enough space for her to dodge into to succeed in that.

So she didn't try.

Glowing orange bands encircled the vines around her, manacles that locked them in position and forced them apart, clearing a hole for her. A barrier snapped up on her left to deflect a tendril from further round, and she ignored it - her focus was on the dash, and the spell she held in readiness. Trust Arf to see to her safety, it was what the familiar was trained for, made for. Her job was to get as close as possible to the writhing, bloated core of the central mass of vines, and unleash...

[Thunder Smasher.]

The spell was weak. Barely half as powerful as normal due to the sheer speed with which she got it off, trading preparation time for power. The aim was slightly off as well; a result of her trying to handle too many things at once and making an error somewhere. Nevertheless, a point-blank bombardment-type spell from an AA-class mage, even hurried and at low power, was never something to be sneezed at. The shield that snapped up just as the blast fired deflected the worst of it, but enough of the force still squeezed through to take a huge chunk out of the side of the egg-shaped core, the smell of ozone and burnt plant matter filling the air to the tune of an agonised screech.

Fate darted out of the wounded mass as the vines that had been seeking the edges of the barrier withdrew at speed, snapping back to guard their centre. They moved with eerie delicacy through the air, great slab-like limbs and finger-thin tendrils alike. Hovering around the mass, they tasted the air, seeking any movement or threat that might come towards the main body. Hovering above, Fate regarded her opponent with a mixture of annoyance and consideration. The same trick would not work again.

"Wh- what is it?" came a voice from behind her, and she turned, Bardiche at the ready. It was Takamachi. She looked... scared? Worried, at least. Had she seen Fate's last attack?

"It can shield itself," Fate informed her by way of reply. "I think it's those glowing lumps generating the shields. And it's stronger than the other ones."

"Mmm," the brunette nodded in confirmation. "Yuuno-kun told me that, too. He said that they've been gathering up magic from their surroundings all the time since they landed, so the longer it takes for them to activate, the stronger they'll be when they do."

Fate squirreled this information away as useful. "That's not good," she commented dryly, observing the other girl out of the corner of her eye. She was pale, nervous... shy?

"Um... I know we normally fight. But... given what happened yesterday..."

Fate nodded in understanding. "We can't risk that again."

A smile. The girl looked relieved. Happy, almost, though that was sapped slightly by the eldritch thing below them. "Okay then," she said. "Truce, then? We were doing well yesterday, I thought. Until... um..."

"Yeah," Fate agreed. She understood what Takamachi was trying to say. "Arf," she called, making sure her familiar was listening. "We cooperate on this one. It's too powerful to waste half our energy on fighting each other." The orange haired woman nodded tersely, eyes still on the ball of vines probing the air below.

"Yuuno-kun, you too!" Takamachi told the ferret on her shoulder, to which it nodded. "Okay," she confirmed, turning back to Fate and Arf. "What's the plan?"

'The plan that Testarossa-san tried looks like a good one,' replied the ferret telepathically. 'If her Familiar and I handle the vines, you two can seal it with bombardment. If it's using the growths on the vines to generate the shields, it shouldn't be able to shield as effectively if we pin them all to the ground.'

Fate quirked an eyebrow - the mental voice sounded surprisingly young - but nodded. "Alright. Once we start charging, it's going to sense us and attack. Keep it off our backs and get as many of the vines pinned down as you can before we fire, okay?"

Both familiars nodded, and on an unseen signal, the attack began. Both girls flew up and across, covering the Jewel Seed from opposite sides. Around them, pink and yellow light began to build as casting rings spun out in front of their respective weapons to form firing barrels. The vines reacted instantly, questing upwards with bristling thorns, but they met orange and green chains as they rose. The inexorable bindings tied them together and lashed them to the ground, winching tighter to force them down. On one section, Yuuno merely called a flat pane of green light into being and sent it crashing downward, crushing the vines beneath it against the ground and pinning them there. Though the central mass screamed and struggled, though the vines writhed and strained, the bonds and bindings held. It was trapped.

Yellow light built in front of Fate as the elements of the spell clicked into place. She had more time to cast, this time, and wasn't nearly as hurried. The firing barrel extended, centred on the core of the mass below her, and she drew back Bardiche to fire as, across from her, Takamachi did the same.

And then it all went wrong.

A shifting of earth and a whisper through the air was her only warning, and she twisted desperately out of the way as Arf's scream rang through the air. Pain exploded across her side, a white-hot ripping agony as if a dozen jagged knives had been drawn across her ribs. Dazed and muddled, she fell, mind putting it together slowly. The Jewel Seed... oh, of course. Roots. She had been stupid, only focusing on the threats she could see. It must have sent its roots burrowing underground to the right place, to have them burst out in a lancing attack to take out one of its threats. Which meant its next move would be...

'Reinforce the bindings!' she screamed, desperately. Too weak and winded to speak as she fell, but telepathy was a boon that way. 'It's going to try to wrench free!'

Too late. Almost. The surge of power to the bindings as Arf and the ferret renewed their attention didn't come quickly enough to stop a number of the larger vines ripping free, trading chunks of their mass for unrestricted movement. Most of them, she realised with a bitter amusement, were around her. Cruel thorns seeking blood, they closed in.

[Flash Move, Barrier.]

And broke, on a pink barrier so bright it was nearly blinding, as warm arms closed around her and arrested her fall. For a moment, Fate was disoriented, before putting the pieces together. Takamachi... where had she learnt a speed booster like Fate's Blitz Action?

"Fate-chan!" the girl exclaimed worriedly. "Oh no... don't worry, I think it looks worse than it is. I hope. Um... we need to get you to safety." She looked around, lips tightening and brow creasing with worry. Blinking her eyes open enough to take in her surroundings, Fate could see why. Unable to break the Barrier, the vines had tugged it over to the central mass as Nanoha had examined her. Now, the pair of them were engulfed within the body of the thing, with thorny vines rasping over the Barrier's surface from every direction like the grinding maw of some hideous sea beast. If Nanoha dropped the Barrier in order to shoot in any one direction, they would be killed as the vines rushed in from every other. And if she tried to keep it up... already, the barrier's light was beginning to dim as the Jewel Seed devoured the magic in it, as it devoured everything else to feed its unnatural rate of growth and shield-generating tumours.

... tumours, she realised, which she couldn't see. They must only be on the outer vines.

Well then. That was helpful. It meant that what she was about to do stood a rather high chance of actually working.

"Nn-ha..." she murmured, and frowned. Still winded. She tried again. 'Nanoha.'

"Eh? Uh... Fate-chan?"

'If you drop the Barrier to shoot it, we'll die. Use this.' Mentally, she prompted Bardiche to send Nanoha's device the form for the spell she was thinking of.

"Huh? Raising Heart..." Nanoha fell silent for a moment as her Device relayed the basics in turn to her. "Photon Barret? I'm not sure I can use this..."

'It's the one I used at the hospital. To clear out the whole corridor. You can adapt it to fit your own magic, and then fry all of the vines at once.' Fate squeezed the girl's hand for support, and gently took back her own weight. The girl wouldn't be able to fire if her hands were occupied carrying Fate. 'Quickly,' she urged, 'I've seen you do this before. I know you're capable of it.'

Judging from the faint blush and the slight frown of concentration, the prompt seemed to work. Turning her attention to Arf, she reassured her frantic familiar that she was alright. 'It's okay, Arf, Nanoha got a Barrier up in time. We have a plan to get out and seal the Jewel Seed in one shot, but we're going to need you two to distract it. Can you try to rip some of the larger vines off the core mass? Give it something to preoccupy it, so that it can't turn all its attention on us.'

A pause. Then, 'I understand! We'll do what we can, but please, Fate-chan, be careful!'

"Okay," Nanoha breathed after a minute of tense silence. The Barrier was flickering by now, and alarmingly dull in places - almost completely transparent. The vines writhed and twined just beyond it, hungry for what they sensed inside. "I think I've got it. But I'm not sure..."

'We're out of time,' Fate shrugged, 'It doesn't matter if it might not work, it's the only chance we have. The Barrier won't hold for much more than another minute, and the familiars won't get us out in that time.' Gulping, Nanoha nodded. It was all on her, then.

"Alright," she said shakily, and gave a little nervous laugh. "Better hope this works..." Pink light began to build around her, and the vines increased their eager corrosion of the Barrier. Lips tense, Fate leant on the white-clad girl for support and breathed in, eyes closing. With her outward breath, she sent as much of her magic as she could rushing through the points of contact with the other girl, offering it freely to help reinforce the spell. There was loss, of course. Nanoha was nowhere near as closely aligned to her energy as Arf was, and even Fate's attempts to compensate only decreased the amount wasted by a little. But the small proportion that did make it through was still enough to reduce the charging time, and time was one thing they had precious little of right now. It was worth it.

With a grateful look thrown over her shoulder, Nanoha hefted her Device in front of her and cast.

[Divine Barret.]

The Barrier fell, the vines rushed in... and burnt. A hundred blazing rays of pink light shone in every direction, curving around the forms of Fate and Nanoha. Where they touched the thorny tendrils, brighter motes within crackled and burst, scorching and purifying the Jewel Seed tainted plant matter. Multiplying as it they radiated outward, the soft violet radiance raced through the squirming mass of vines towards the light of day, bursting out from every dark shadow within as if a sun had been ignited inside it. Screaming and withering, the egg-shaped bundle lost cohesion as ray after ray struck the Jewel Seed within, battering it down and sealing it, until all that was left was a collection of rotting vines under the hovering figures, and a soft blue glow from the gem that sunk down into Raising Heart's core.

"Well," said Nanoha, smiling broadly as the Barrier unravelled around them. "Looks like it worked!" She turned her head to the girl leaning heavily on her shoulder. "Um... I know we've been a bit... at odds. But... um... if you'll still tell me why you're fighting for the Jewel Seeds, I'll-"

A sudden flash of bright, blue-white light briefly outshone the quiet pulse of the Jewel Seed, casting long shadows across the landscape before it faded.

"Stop!" a voice interrupted. Male, youthful and confident. "I am a government official from the Time-Space Administration Bureau, Chrono Harlaown! You are hereby required to peacefully accompany me for questioning with regards to the recent dimensional disturbance that originated in this area!"

Nanoha stared, stunned. Fate, on the other hand, wasn't so passive. Pushing off Nanoha, she shot towards Arf in an attempt to run.

"Halt!" barked the boy. Nanoha spotted him now. A teenager with a trimmed head of dark blue hair, he stood at the edge of where the Barrier had been, a dark overcoat covering efficient, functional clothes that allowed for free range of movement. His hands were covered by armoured gauntlets not unlike her own, there were spikes on his shoulder pads and he carried a black staff with a strange, cylindrical head capped by a disk and a metallic wing.

This last, he levelled at Fate as she ran, a scowl forming. Blue light began to gather at the staff's head, and Nanoha realised he was going to shoot her. From what he said, it sounded like he was from some sort of authority investigating the dimensional quake... but Fate was hurt. Injured, and probably unable to dodge as well. Making her decision and holding to it, she moved.

'Nanoha!' Yuuno cried as she flew into the line of fire. 'Don't-'

[Stinger Snipe.]

A blue beam lanced towards the girl, swerving to avoid Nanoha. She was ready, though, and moved with it, blocking it with a shield and grabbing Fate in mid flight - the girl was moving slowly, compared to her usual speed, and Nanoha gritted her teeth as her suspicions that the injury was hindering the blonde were confirmed. She threw a quick, wild look at Arf, conversation passing at the speed of thought.

'I try can get her away from here, if you want. But he'll follow.'

Arf snarled reflexively at the thought of Nanoha taking her master anywhere. But... 'I can't beat him,' she admitted, 'And you're right, he'll chase. I'll hold him off, then get away myself.'

'How?'

'If Fate isn't slowing me down, I can outpace him. I think. Go!' She turned, conversation cut off as she threw a bind and a flurry of shots at the advancing teen. Nanoha didn't hang around to watch him block it. Throwing a beckoning look at Yuuno, who hesitated only briefly before running to join her, she took off into the sky and threw herself away from the stalemate that was developing behind her.

'This is bad...' moaned Yuuno, 'That's a TSAB official! We should turn ourselves in, it'll be better for everyone! Please, Nanoha, turn around!'

'No,' she replied resolutely. 'Fate-chan ran from him. She must have had a good reason. She took care of me yesterday, after the quake. I'm not going to just turn her over to someone she's afraid of.'

'But-' Yuuno protested. Nanoha silenced him with a glare, looking back down at the girl she carried with concern. The wound across her side was bleeding sluggishly, and she appeared to be unconscious. That, or so disoriented as to be unresponsive. Biting her lip, Nanoha came down to land on a high building, sneaking a quick look back across the skyline to make sure that she had lost any hint of pursuit.

"Okay..." she breathed, reassured that she hadn't been followed. "Let me see... Raising Heart? Like yesterday, okay?"

[Alright, my master,] chimed the staff lyrically. Nanoha lowered it over the wound and concentrated. She had made sure to practice this spell last night, going over it carefully so that it would be easier to cast the next time she had cause to do so. She hadn't expected to find such an opportunity so quickly, but... lucky she had thought to do so anyway.

[Physical Heal.]

Soft pink light shone down on the wound, and the lacerations closed a little. Yuuno watched, eyes narrowed, and seemed to struggle for a moment. Reaching a decision, he bowed his head.

'We've already run away from a TSAB officer, so... I guess this won't hurt. Here, let me.'

Flowing over to the girl where she rested on the roof's surface, he studied her breathing for a moment and nodded, lifting a paw in silence. Green light bloomed, targeting the wound in the same way Nanoha's casting of the spell had done. Unlike hers, this was considerably more effective, and the cuts and gashes closed until they were almost gone. Lowering his paw again as the light faded, Yuuno nodded.

'That's all I can do. Any more magic would risk saturation. She should be okay now.'

"Thank you, Yuuno-kun," Nanoha murmured softly, touching his head in thanks. She knew he was uncomfortable with helping the girl - he didn't fully trust her, and hadn't since their first meeting. That he was willing to heal her injuries anyway was a sign of how much he trusted Nanoha's belief in the girl.

A soft landing on the other side of the roof brought both of them to their feet. It was Arf, and thankfully there seemed no sign of the boy she had been fighting, though she looked tired. "I lost him," she explained tersely, "but I have no doubt he'll be back." Her eyes slid over to Fate, noting her freshly healed wound. A hint of softness slid onto her face, and she nodded to Nanoha in thanks.

'Thank you,' she sent, a sideways glance at Yuuno making it clear as to why she wasn't speaking out loud. 'I'll take her back home. And I suggest you do the same. The TSAB are bad news.' She scowled, lips pulling back to reveal sharp teeth as she unconsciously snarled at the thought of the organisation. 'They'd deny Fate-chan a sister, if they had their way.'

"Wh- what?" Nanoha stammered, but Arf merely picked up her master, cradling the black-clad girl lovingly. 'Stay away from them,' she advised again, and leapt from the roof, landing easily on the next building across and bounding away in a series of huge, gravity defying leaps.

'Nanoha?' Yuuno asked, curiosity and worry colouring his tone, 'What did she say? Nanoha?'

Numbly, Nanoha shook her head, gesturing for Yuuno to retake his place on her shoulder for the flight home. The wolf-woman might have been lying... but the conviction in her tone spoke of truth. And yet Yuuno had wanted to cooperate with the boy.

Who was telling the truth?

...​

Slumped on her bed, Nanoha was pouting. "But he shot at me!", she complained, before realising she had slipped into speaking out loud again. Switching back to telepathy, she continued complaining. 'You can't tell me that he's one of the good guys if he goes around shooting people!'

'He was reacting to the dimensional quake, Nanoha!' Biting down on his rising tone, Yuuno tried to speak gently. Making Nanoha angry or scared was the last thing he needed right now. 'You saw how much damage it did. He couldn't be sure that it wasn't set of deliberately. Of course he was wary when he came in. And when the two of you refused to come and explain the situation, and Testarossa ran, he assumed the worst. I'm sure that a simple explanation will solve everything.'

Nanoha wasn't having any of it. 'Who says he gets to order people around, anyway? I'm not allowed to! Why should he be?'

Yuuno sighed. He could give the simple answer, that the boy's authority came from the TSAB. But he had younger cousins, he knew that would only lead to her asking where their authority came from. Attempting a calm, informative tone, he explained. 'There are Lost Logia all over the Dimensional Sea, Nanoha, scattered across the worlds. Artefacts from ancient cultures like Alhazred and Ancient Belka. They're not understood, and people who play around with them get hurt, and hurt other people. Sometimes whole worlds. It's happened.' He looked at the girl seriously, willing her to believe him. 'So some groups try to regulate things like that, and lock them up, and make sure nobody uses them for ill. They try to stop fighting and provide everyone with a decent standard of life, and coordinate between different worlds so that those with a surplus can help those with a deficit. And... maybe you could say that they have no right to do that, but they're making people's lives better. Isn't that enough?'

This seemed to stump his charge, who pondered it for a few seconds, lying back on her bed with a soft thump and staring at the ceiling, thinking. 'I suppose that makes it okay for them... but he didn't look like a policeman at all! And anyway, he was too young to be a policeman! Policeman are old! Like, twenty!'

'The TSAB are spread very thin, and the things they deal with usually aren't too dangerous, so-'

'The Jewel Seeds aren't dangerous?' Nanoha interrupted incredulously, sitting up and staring at him, 'Were you there last night?'

The ferret groaned. 'This situation is hardly normal. Usually, when things are normal, TSAB officers generally just face other mages and do patrols.'

'I don't care! He's still too young! I don't know about space... dimension-time-travelling confederation group things, but I know about policemen!' Stubbornly, she thumped the bed to emphasise her point. 'We got taught about them in school! Policemen are responsible grown-ups who wear proper uniforms that aren't evil and spiky and who you should talk to if you have a problem because they're friendly and will help you!' She paused, running over what she had been taught to see if she had missed anything. 'One of them came into school,' she added, proudly. 'He said I was responsible.'

'If you're responsible, shouldn't you talk to the TSAB and give them a chance to explain?' asked Yuuno weakly. This conversation was not going the way he had hoped. Very little had been, recently.

'No! I told you, he's not a proper policeman!'

'Nanoha...' Yuuno closed his eyes and rubbed a paw against his head. He could feel a headache forming, which probably wasn't going to go away for the rest of the night. 'Look... I know about the TSAB, and I trust them. He'll be from a ship. It's probably in orbit now. It'll have a captain - an adult. You can talk to them, and they'll have a...' he winced '... proper uniform, and be friendly and helpful, and everything.' He hoped. 'And we can get everything explained and sorted out, and maybe try to help Miss Testarossa. Please. For me?'

The note of pleading that entered his voice with the last request didn't go unnoticed, and Nanoha pouted, letting out a sigh. 'Fine,' she relented. 'I'll talk to them tomorrow, and see what they have to say.'

'Thank you,' Yuuno replied, fervently. As long as the ship's captain was reasonable - which he really, really hoped they were - they could get things cleared up and give Nanoha some proper training in magic. Maybe straighten out some of the more... aggressive attitudes she had been developing. With a TSAB ship backing them up, the rest of the Jewel Seeds could be sealed without much difficulty, the Testarossa girl could be dealt with somehow and he could get all the Lost Logia from his dig boxed up again where they couldn't hurt any innocents. Everything would be fine.

Of course, he was starting to realise by now that nothing ever went that easily. But they would be able to deal with the problems as they arose. The presence of the TSAB ship he imagined hanging in orbit was a huge weight off his shoulders, a comforting blanket reassuring him that everything was going to be alright with the world. The professionals were here now. The competent ones, trained to deal with this sort of thing. Later than he would have liked - he had been calling for help ever since he got to this world, but... better late than never.

'For now, though,' Nanoha announced, 'I'm going downstairs to talk to Mama.' Slipping Raising Heart into its customary position around her neck, she scampered off downstairs, leaving Yuuno staring up out at the light rain that was beginning to fall, his eyes turned skywards and looking beyond the clouds above at the TSAB cruiser he imagined was floating in orbit around this little world, ready to send down help.

Reaching her destination on the ground floor, Nanoha paused outside the door. "Mama?" The older woman turned at the sound, a smile on her face for her youngest daughter. Pulling off the oven gloves, she turned the heat down on one of the saucepans bubbling away.

"Nanoha-chan," she greeted warmly. "I thought you were doing something up in your room?"

"I was. Um... can I help?"

An eyebrow rose. "Have you washed her hands?" Momoko queried. "No? Over to the sink, then. And then you can help wash and cut the vegetables."

"Okay!" Carefully washing her hands and beginning to wash and peel the carrots, Nanoha worked in silence for a few moments, mulling over the events of the last couple of days. Quietly, she looked at the back of the woman tending to the stove and humming softly. Her mother was everything Nanoha wanted to be - beautiful, calm, always smiling and ready to meet the world. She was, in Nanoha's humble opinion, the strongest, kindest, prettiest and generally best mother in the whole world ever. And right now, Nanoha wanted her advice.

"Mama? I... kind of have a hard decision I'm stuck on. Can you help?"

"Oh?" Momoko turned a teasing smile on her daughter. "Would this decision have anything to do with a friend or rival?"

"... Miyuki told you," Nanoha pouted, and her mother laughed softly. Crossing the room, she pulled Nanoha into an embrace, stroking her hair tenderly as the nine-year old rested her head against her chest.

"Your sister loves you very much," she said, "and she was worried about you when you came to her for advice. So yes, she told me. Are you upset with her?"

Nanoha shook her head, smiling into the apron. "Nah. I didn't ask her not to tell." She looked up, slipping her arms around Momoko to return the hug. "But... yeah, it's kind of related to that. I'm just not sure whether to go talk to her myself or get... someone else involved. Like an impartial person."

Momoko hummed thoughtfully. "Well..." she mused, "it might be that it would be better with just the two of you. Certainly if you're fairly sure of what you want to say, there might not be a need for anyone else. But if you're worried things might go wrong, or you might start fighting again, a neutral arbiter would be a good thing to have. It all depends on what your rival is like."

Nanoha thought about this. "But... that doesn't help me decide at all," she concluded, after a moment's thought. Momoko chuckled again.

"I can't make this decision for you, sweetheart. You have to make it yourself. The only person who can decide things for you is you." She tousled her daughter's hair. "But if you want to talk it over with me, properly, I'm always here for you."

The girl nodded. "Not right now, Mama, but... thank you. I'll remember." They stood like that for a while longer, as the scents of cooking swirled around them and the whistle of the kettle slowly rose. Mother and daughter, comforting and being comforted.

Their embrace was broken by the sound of the front doorbell as the kettle began to boil. Momoko sighed, disengaging from the hug. "Oh... drat," she muttered, glancing at the stove. "Nanoha, I need to get this under control... could you answer that for me?" Nodding, Nanoha retreated from the kitchen, going to see who it was. The rain was really pounding down outside, she realised - over the various sounds of the kitchen, she had missed it turning from a light shower to a downpour.

She opened the door, and met red eyes. A black, lacy dress was drenched and clinging to the girl's sodden form and her hair was hanging down in sodden streamers. She looked primarily like a drowned rat, but underneath that was the calm control Nanoha had come to recognise. And underneath that...

... was that panic? Thinly restrained and well-hidden, but mild, low-level panic nonetheless. The girl was shaking, too - possibly out of nervousness, but probably out of cold. "F-" stuttered Nanoha, dimly aware that she should be offering the girl a coat, or a hot drink, or to come inside, or... something. Her brain, however, was still stuck on the mental short-circuit of the girl showing up here, without a Barrier Jacket, without her familiar, without even Bardiche that she could see. At her home. "Fa-" she tried again.

Teeth chattering, Fate Testarossa nonetheless looked resolute as she held out her hand.

"You wanted me to explain why I'm collecting the Jewel Seeds?" she asked. "Then come with me. I'll explain everything."

"I can't... my family..."

"You can come back," the girl urged. "I'm not asking you to commit to anything permanent. Just come and let me show you."

"I... don't..." Nanoha stood torn, undecided. She wanted to go with the girl, she really did. But she couldn't just leave her family with no warning, and Yuuno's warnings rang clear through her mind. She hesitated, wavering, unsure of what to do.

"Nanoha?" Momoko asked curiously, emerging from the kitchen with one hand still in an oven mitt. "What's taking so long?" She looked curiously at the sodden girl standing on the doorstep, before her eyes slid past her, widening in shock at something outside. "Nanoha!"

Alerted by the woman's expression, Fate moved without bothering to look back. One arm shoved Nanoha hard, sending her stumbling back into the house. At the same time, she threw herself in the other direction, putting herself out of the line of sight through the door even as half a dozen blue bolts slammed through the space she had been occupying; punching holes the size of tennis balls through one of the inner walls.

"Stop! This is the TSAB! Surrender, and you will not be harmed!" the amplified voice of the teenage boy called out.

Shocked and bruised from the fall, Nanoha stared at the holes wide-eyed from her position on the floor. Her surprise didn't last long, though. Fate was still injured, if only mildly, and her grimace of pain did not speak well of the repercussions of her last-second dodge. Besides, the girl had just saved her - again - from the TSAB boy. Who had shot at her. Again. Heedless to the stunned presence of her mother in the room, her hand flew to the red gemstone around her neck.

"Raising Heart! Please!" she cried desperately, and her world became a sea of light the colour of cherry blossoms. A second later, clad in her Barrier Jacket and with Raising Heart in her hand, she darted to her feet and aimed through the door, searching for her target. A thought summoned the visor to her face, pink script illuminating the world and marking information and points of note. The one she was interested in...

For the second time in as many minutes, Nanoha went sprawling on the floor. This time it was voluntary, and not a moment too soon. The boy, apparently aware that return fire would be coming through the door, had changed positions, keeping the wall between him and his target. And when that had posed a minor problem in continuing his own attack, he had come to a relatively simple conclusion.

He shot through it.

The barrage of shots tore through the wall to one side of the door, punching holes clean through the brick and plaster without being noticeably slowed in the least. Once inside the room, they quivered momentarily before homing in on Fate. Nanoha spared a split second for appreciation of the homing qualities as wings of light burst into existence at her ankles and were supercharged with mana.

[Flash Move.]

And then she was in front of Fate, and bringing a shield up to block the shots as a burst of golden light and an energy spike from behind her revealed that yes, the girl had brought her Device. "We need to get out of the house!" she said urgently, "this is my home, we can't fight here!"

Her home. Her home, where her parents lived. Her home, where her parents lived, and where she had just been talking to...

Slowly, as if hoping very hard that she wouldn't see what her mind glumly told her was there, Nanoha's head turned towards her mother, standing next to the door to the kitchen. Momoko's eyes were wide, her face pale, and she was leaning on the wall as if it was the only thing supporting her.

"Um..."

Another barrage of shots through the wall interrupted her - from behind! When had he... no matter. They splashed off a shield from Fate, and the blonde girl was next to her, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her across the room. "Wait-" Nanoha said, only to be cut off by a near-instant flash of telepathy, words resolving in her mind far faster than the mouth could form them.

'He's expecting us to go through the door. If we come out of there, he'll shoot us. I'm sorry about this.' And she sounded like she meant it, she really did. 'I'll make it up to your mother. Somehow. But not right now.'

Nanoha managed to snatch a single glance at her mother as Fate's hand came up and a barrier projected out, rushing ahead of them towards the wide bay windows. In that split-second look, she conveyed guilt, apology, heartbreak and loss. The moment seemed to stretch out for hours, and yet was over in the blink of an eye.

Then the barrier hit glass, and sent it spraying out over the lawn beyond as the two figures tumbled through it on wings of light and magic. In the air now, unrestricted by the walls and ceiling, both of them sought for altitude, stopping twenty feet above the lawn and spinning back to back. The boy's dark Barrier Jacket blended well with the dark of the early evening, but Nanoha's visor picked him out with ease, hovering on the other side of the house to them. Scowling, furious at the damage done to her home, she snapped out a dozen pink bullets towards him, to force him into an evasion pattern or lock him down so that she could-

... watch, as they splashed off a glowing green barrier that formed in the air before him. Nanoha physically dropped a couple of feet in shock. Yuuno... was defending him? The boy who'd shot at her twice, and attacked her family home?

'Nanoha, no! He's one of the good guys! An Enforcer!' The tan form of her ferret-companion appeared on the roof below the three mages, hair bristled out in anxiety. 'Please, Nanoha! Turn yourself in! Come with us! He can still fix this, if you just cooperate with him!'

Behind her and slightly to the side, she felt the warmth of Fate's body tense at the words. Yuuno must be broadcasting - probably so that the boy could hear as well. That would explain why he had stopped attacking, and was watching her, evaluating. She looked back at him fiercely, chin held high, expression furious. Looked at his terse expression and the Device her pointed at her, just as she pointed her own at him. Looked at his dark uniform, the spikes glinting on his shoulders and the frown on his face. Looked at the holes in the walls of her home, the frightened face of her mother watching from the shattered window and the broken glass strewn over the lawn. She felt power building behind her as Fate readied herself for a burst of speed, and silently held one hand back, open, inviting. Keeping her eyes on the boy - and his attention on her - she felt the other girl pause briefly before taking it, the motion hidden by Nanoha's body.

'Nanoha... everything can be sorted out,' Yuuno pleaded. 'This doesn't have to turn into a fight. Please, we can still fix this!'

Nanoha looked down one last time at the pale face of her mother, frightened and confused, staring up at what was happening through the broken window. Yuuno wouldn't let anything bad happen to her, she trusted him in that much. But the boy...

"No," she said sadly, tears running down her face. She shook her head slowly, stifling a sob. "No," she repeated, "He can't."

The building power behind her reached its peak - too late, the boy noticed, too late to do anything to prevent it. Surrendering to the motion and letting Fate's spell take her in its lightning grasp, Nanoha turned her back on her home, her family, her friend.

And fled.

...​

... I'll just leave that there, shall I?

*walks off, whistling cheerfully*

 

[Aleph]

As promised. Mid-tech.

So, ES and I have been over canon. After debating for some time over what we've seen, what will crop up in future bits of Games, how the developments we've made to the backstory have propagated through history and Midchildan culture and so on and so forth, we've come up with the following.

Midchilda, and the TSAB in general, do use a substantial amount of electricity, mostly because it is simply a useful and easy-to-work-with form of energy. Their power storage is mana-based, not chemical like our batteries - cartridges show that you can get ridiculous energy densities with very little loss, with mana. A Midchildan cellphone won't need charging more than once every couple of months, and that's the low-end models. Higher-end ones draw in ambient mana from the environment, and never need recharging. However, for the effects it can produce and transmission of energy, electricity is used often - streetlights, for example, are an easy use of electricity, electromagnets are as ubiquitous as they are in our culture and copper wire is frankly too easy not to use.

Microelectronics are rarer. They're known about, but the TSAB tends to use solid-state computational hardware like the central processing units of Devices (though obviously considerably reduced in scope) for the stuff we'd use a much more fragile and prone to damage circuitboard for, as it's both more powerful and a lot tougher. Production facilities are first-rate - nowhere near post-scarcity, but one person using Myedoan-style with a Construction Device can operate an entire factory line by themselves. That means you can get whole factories running with maybe ten-to-twenty active employees, and twice that number of maintainance and support staff. Construction Devices are, at maximum, about on par with an Armed Device like Graf Eisen in terms of intelligence, though totally non-combat oriented. They're generally only made as "smart" as needed, so given that there's a lot less variability in factories, they tend to be pretty "dumb" and rely on their operator for the thinking. But they can react far faster than a human if, for example, something bad happens, and they can multitask and manage lots of separate operations simultaneously on the line. They're basically integrated versions of those modern car factories. The operators generally cast in Myedoan, which I'll go into in a later post on different magic styles.

Power is generated in a range of different ways, some similar to how we do it, others very different. Precia's reactor - the one that blew up and killed Alicia, and sparked all of this - was a new, theoretically clean type of generator meant to tap the currents of the Dimensional Sea for large amounts of mana. It was meant to be the magical equivalent of what we want for hot fusion - clean, almost unlimited power. Unfortunately it worked out as more like fission, and that little incident was the TSAB's Chernobyl. Interestingly, that means that the colour of the blast has become associated with overloading reactors in the same way that we link green. Fate's magic is basically the equivalent of a radioactive green; an "unhealthy" colour (and you wondered why Yuuno was wary of her).

Civilian Devices exist. If you can call them that. They're not even at the level of things like S2U, Chrono's Storage Device in the first series. They're where the line between "Device" and "feasible Earth technology" blurs - they operate as phones, wallets, ID cards, PDAs and casting-aid sonic screwdrivers for little things. They're a mix of mana-operated bits and electronics, and the Midchildan government subsidises them because you really need one to be part of modern society - not only do you use it for everything from shopping to working out where your next meeting is, Midchilda legally requires all citizens to carry ID on them, like Europe does. For most people, their Civ-Device is their ID, and it's generally only tourists from poorer worlds who have paper things. Some come with transformation modes, but a lot are just things like Raising Heart in its storage mode; a necklace or a watch.

Next on the infodump roster is a long screed on the different types of magic, and how they've developed since Alhazred. Which, since ES and I are both linguistics nerds to some extent, we've worked out according to how languages developed in real life.