Game Theory (Nanoha fanfic)

The d'aw quotient is high, yes.

Happy Family for S:
/post/show/721047/
She just wants to bake:
/post/show/726992/
/post/show/727755/
/post/show/728939/
/post/show/727568/
/post/show/727565/
/post/show/727563/
/post/show/727144/
/post/show/727558/
/post/show/727143/
/post/show/727564/
/post/show/760603/
/post/show/728944/

And a bit more happy family for L:
/post/show/672102/

And this is about as close to it that D gets:
/post/show/1030619/
(And later)
/post/show/625428/

I'll stop now.
 
The point is again rendered somewhat moot, as I'm not taking anything past StrikerS as canon. I may steal bits that I like, but I won't alter my story based on stuff brought up in later series.
 
Aleph said:
The point is again rendered somewhat moot, as I'm not taking anything past StrikerS as canon. I may steal bits that I like, but I won't alter my story based on stuff brought up in later series.
No, that's not true, remember. Sound Stage X gets into it by the StrikerS exemption, because it's basically a StrikerS OVA. I mean, it's the one that [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED], and that will have a notable influence in the way that [REDACTED] happens. And [REDACTED] would be [REDACTED] if [REDACTED] didn't get to [REDACTED].
 
EarthScorpion said:
No, that's not true, remember. Sound Stage X gets into it by the StrikerS exemption, because it's basically a StrikerS OVA. I mean, it's the one that [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED], and that will have a notable influence in the way that [REDACTED] happens. And [REDACTED] would be [REDACTED] if [REDACTED] didn't get to [REDACTED].
... true. Yes, sorry, I'd forgotten about the [REDACTED] influence on the plot. I was focusing more on how [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] are going to have their hands full handling [REDACTED] and [REDACTED].
 
Dragontrapper said:
Just finished reading through this - all I have to say is well done good sir!

Just a quick question - when you say that you might borrow bits from post-StrikerS, does that include this?: http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/2927/cwaec02xbefriender.jpg

Just wondering how far Nanoha's quest for ultimate MG firepower is going to go in your stories.
Oh, it'll go places that most would be too mad to go. The bit in [REDACTED] when [REDACTED] modifies Raising Heart with [REDACTED] rather than [REDACTED], which provides a whole new source of [REDACTED], could be seen as making clear that [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] are [REDACTED].
 
EarthScorpion said:
Oh, it'll go places that most would be too mad to go. The bit in [REDACTED] when [REDACTED] modifies Raising Heart with [REDACTED] rather than [REDACTED], which provides a whole new source of [REDACTED], could be seen as making clear that [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] are [REDACTED].
I find it hard to believe that someone actually finds this entertaining. The whole [REDACTED] thing, I mean.
 
It's about A's and RH Excelion. I suspect that it will be Jevel seeds instead of cartridges.
 
Well, speaking personally, it's always rather amusing for me watching you try to work out what's behind the [REDACTED] tags. Some guesses so far have been impressively accurate. Others have been hilariously wrong. And I'll confirm that when ES said this would be going "places that most would be too mad to go", he wasn't exaggerating in the slightest.

Bwaa ha ha haa.

(Work on Chapter 4 has started, and is progressing slowlyish. Can't give an estimate at this point in time beyond "I'm working on it".)
 
I try to get out a minimum of one chapter a month, and can usually manage one in three weeks if I'm not too snowed under with work (which I was in November-December, which is why the last chapter came out on the last day of December). Chapter 4 is currently at 11,020 words, and looks like it might be ready to post by the end of next week, with a bit of luck.


As for brainstorming, I've had the skeleton of the fic written up since long before I began writing - indeed, ES and I have the series planned out in broad strokes up to the end of StrikerS (so I get to put in delicious, tasty long-term foreshadowing :D). Then I went over the first series episode by episode, writing up the basics of what would happen in each episode-equivalent chapter as a flowing progression of the plotline, conferring with ES for some of the harder bits that were uncertain. Basically, looking at the progression of events and thinking "okay, how do the changes that have happened previously alter this?" In a few of the later episodes, the chapters bear very little resemblance to their episode-equivalents, because of that. And then each chapter, I take those notes, rewatch the episode, expand on them, split the chapter up into scenes and work out what I need to put into each scene - what the point of the scene is, what it has to accomplish, what it needs to include. There are several long-running "threads" - subplots that go through the story and wind together to make the whole thing. For instance, Precia's illness is a subplot thread - not a big one, just something that I can reference every so often with a coughing fit or a note of how she's pale or thin.


Then I sort of settle the "feel" of the scene into my head and begin to write. As long as I have that tone settled in my brain correctly, it generally flows nicely - talking with ES helps too, as that always sparks my creativity with ideas. Sometimes odd things happen - Chikaze sort of took over her scene and wound up in a much larger role than I thought she was going to, and in this chapter one of the scenes that I intended for one purpose kind of got hijacked by something else for a thousand words or so, which made it much better and led naturally into the thing I originally wanted to happen, as well as accomplishing the goal of that scene a lot better and referencing one of the threads. I can't tell the exact details of the content that's going to be produced until I write it, just the basics. I always try to keep within the bounds that I've planned out, though.


As for how I plan out what's going to happen in the broad strokes, how things diverge? I'm afraid I can't really explain that. Some of it is just logical deduction "we have this, and that, and that, so clearly they would leave to this". But how do I decide that one thing will happen, instead of another? Part of it is just a realistic-seeming way of ending up at the place I want to go, and part of it is just what seems fun to write and cool. Creating original stuff on your own, be it plotlines, artwork, music, whatever... it's dredging
 
Well, everybody writes differently. This is just how I do it, there's no set process that you'll be arrested for not following. I've heard of (and am deeply envious of) some authors who can just sit down and start writing, and turn out something viable in one go, or possibly with one or two revisions. I can't do that, though. I need the planning and the structure.
 
Chapter Four
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*

:D
 
Even though we all kind of saw this coming, the actual execution... was near flawless.
 
Chrono, you dun goofed. BIG TIME. Yuuno, you haven't done much better. A part of me expected this, but another part is still surprised that you actually went through with it.

Damn, and now Miyuki and Momoko most likely are going to believe Chrono and Yuuno are bad guys as well.
 
I think Lindy and other TSAB higher ups are going to be very upset with Chrono for his rather poor handling of this incident. The fact that he attacked someone younger than him (who was already injured) is going to piss his mother off when she finds out the full story. Add in that in doing so he caused a young mage to (rightfully in her mind) be afraid and flee is also going to come back and haunt him. Attacking Nanoha at home will be the icing on the cake. Chrono is going to be in a lot of trouble if Nanoha ever explains her side of the story.


Honestly how are they going to explain this to the Takamichi's, and any authorities that might get involved? Remember Nanoha's father has some pretty impressive connections from his former line of work. The shitstorm this could potentially cause will likely screw over any chance Chrono has of advancement in the TSAB for quite some time.
 
Tut tut tut This is why you never Shoot first and ask questions later. And this is why appearance is important.
 
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