Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Well, it is now...
Pathfinding for Beginners (Pathfinder/Nanoha)
- Thread starter Mizu
- Start date
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
They were described by colour, yes. Beyond that...
It's a funny story. You see, Mizu has never actually seen Nanoha or the others, and therefore neither has Mizuki. What Mizu watched was a cartoon. Nanoha and Suzuka are Japanese, Fate is... whatever she is, anime isn't terribly realistic, and therefore in neither case are they likely to be easily recognizable based on just appearance once you see them for real. Although, Suzuka does apparently have purple hair still...
The reason Mizuki focused on colours is simply that they were what she had to differentiate them by.
The question of how much Earth knows about magic is more interesting still. Nanoha-the-cartoon was a magical girl story, and could be expected to follow magical girl tropes—mostly—which includes a masquerade, but we're looking at real life here. This story is under no obligation to follow the same tropes.
We know that magic isn't totally unknown. Nanoha's father and siblings are magic-powered ninjas, and Suzuka has canon feats of superhuman strength even without whatever is going on here. That's two children, two children we know of, in a class of twenty-something students that have significant magic in their bloodlines.
Unless there's some reason to think that the plot was attracted to them, the obvious implication would be that it actually isn't that rare. On the other hand, the TSAB doesn't consider contacting Earth to be worthwhile, but... well, we got a glimpse of why in this chapter. It isn't necessarily because of a lack of mages, even if magic clearly isn't on a scientific and commonplace footing either.
———
You know what else I find interesting?
Judging by the dialogue, the current fight isn't taking place in Uminari.
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Czlyydwr Llrngwl
"Sell ya a door Learn gull," Czly/Celly for short
- Location
- Where the Beef is
- Pronouns
- Any
Well, I suppose that could be Rider if the 5th Grail War is currently going on...
I think you could make a "Magic attracts Magic" argument perhaps. Magic users, known and unknown, just kind of... cross paths.
Could easily make the argument either way, but just saying.
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
She's going through a teenage rebellion phase
Cities exist with rivers splitting them in two besides Fuyuki, you know. It's kinda a common feature, in fact, considering building next to a clean source of running water has so many benefits (and, occasionally, downsides if you're 18th Century London and dump sewage into your drinking supply).
Can't be Rider, anyway, the girl was wearing a shirt and shorts. And was, you know, a little kid instead of twenty-something young woman.
Czlyydwr Llrngwl
"Sell ya a door Learn gull," Czly/Celly for short
- Location
- Where the Beef is
- Pronouns
- Any
Eh, if you'd changed things enough to fuse Nasuverse into MSLN, who knows what strangeness would result? The Servants just being Nanoha-compliant murderlolis would be a minor stylistic choice at that point 
ltmauve
"Excuse me?"
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Okay, I have to ask where this acronym came from.
Czlyydwr Llrngwl
"Sell ya a door Learn gull," Czly/Celly for short
- Location
- Where the Beef is
- Pronouns
- Any
Mahou Shojo Lyrical Nanoha - I tend to prefer preserving titles (in romanji at least) rather than translating them.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
I did a rather large infodump over on SB, just now. Copying it so you guys have a chance to poke holes in it as well.
=======
And probably not a ghost.
1: Her name is officially spelled "Arisa". But she's British, and while "Arisu" is the common japanification of Alice, it's not like either of the two are any further from the english spelling. She can commiserate with Alicia on people getting their names wrong. Granted, she's lived long enough in Japan to be thoroughly used to it.
Their universe is natively eleven-dimensional. I went with M-theory for its basic layout, although with all eleven dimensions large-scale rather than 'rolled up'. That is to say, it follows Brane cosmology.
This has a couple of consequences.
- The 4D universe they live in, one of those branes, is crumpled up like a piece of paper. Much like shortcuts are possible inside the ship, shortcuts are also possible between locations in the universe by going through the bulk. This provides effective FTL, but with very little correspondence between distances inside the brane and FTL transit time.
Going from Sol to Alpha Centauri would take at least five years, inside the brane. In principle it cannot possibly take more by going through the bulk — this is only usually true — but the TSAB has no idea how to navigate there.
If you do a dimensional jump to a random, close location in the bulk — that is, point your ship in a random direction and move until you hit a brane again — then you will in practice never even be able to locate any other, colonized solar systems in the sky. The brane is very crumpled, and no-one in known history has been able to find two locations inside each others' Hubble volume. The only reason it's believed that they're all in the same universe (that is, brane) is because they all have precisely the same values for the physical constants.
Navigating through dimensional space (that is, the Bulk) is an adventure in itself, and is impractical without using literal magic. The Bulk is not wholly featureless, and only skimming the surface of the brane is actually possible; go too far, and you dip into imaginary space. TSAB ships are capable of surviving a very brief brush with that area, which gives them a massive speed advantage over the more primitive ships used by most of the client states, as moving further from the brane allows you to skim over more of the crinkles.
In practice all dimensional ships are coast-huggers, to varying degrees depending on their level of technology and design purpose. A ship capable of surviving in Imaginary Space would be a deep-water liner, but no such thing currently exists. That's not considering any active hazards which may or may not exist.
All of that being said... quite a few of Al Hazard's original colonies (which include Midchilda and Belka) are visible on each other's night sky, though that's a heartbreaking sight in the case of the latter. Historians believe the most likely way this was done was through STL colonization in "realspace".
- Human life, and most human-made machinery, can only exist inside 3D volumes which have the same physical laws we're used to. A few exceptions exist; powerful mages are capable of forcing structure on the Bulk that allows them to stay alive inside dimensional space, but this really amounts to the same thing. The ability to do so is a basic requirement for any form of teleportation, with the power requirements increasing as distance does and spiking sharply for cross-'dimension' teleportation.
Skill requirements also spike rather quickly, but an Intelligent Device is easily capable of handling the whole procedure. Mizuki will consider this rather unsporting.
A dimensional cruiser will have a scaled-up version of that system, capable of operating continuously and with massive redundancies, as assaulting its ability to maintain integrity is a common tactic for ship-to-ship combat; indeed, most combat ends when one party's power systems or integrity spells fail, with relatively little internal damage seen until then.
It would be possible to build a fully 3D ship in realspace, then install the spellwork and power systems that let it survive D-space as the final step, and most nations do this. For one thing, most of them do not have the ability to construct ships wholly in dimensional space; since it's eleven-dimensional, it poses... unique construction hazards. A powerful mage may feel relatively safe there, but the TSAB doesn't have enough such mages to waste them on construction programs.
What it does have, however, is the technology to build compartments in realspace (the 4D brane) and then "rotate" them inside the Bulk to fit them together.
The result is a ship where, although any space which its personnel would normally reach is 3D, the ship's overall internal geometry is four-dimensional. More would have been perfectly possible, but also would dramatically complicate the construction process and maintenance.
For the same reason, all the compartments are roughly the same size. The larger ones are integer multiples of the basic compartment. Again, doing better would dramatically complicate the process.
From the "outside" it'd look a bit like a 4D cluster of grapes, but the part of the hull that intrudes in 3D space looks like a very compact space-ship. As usual, this is largely to simplify things; you get a single location to stick point-defence systems on, though the main defence of a TSAB cruiser if faced with a real-space assault is to not be there, and even if it appears to be situated in real-space, it's still largely not.
Power loss would be catastrophic, although not immediately; the spellwork has a lot of "capacitance".
- It's easy to get lost in TSAB ships.
To Mizuki's regret. They're folded up on each other in a way that's somewhat reminiscent of the brane, resulting in a geometry where the room connectivity is locally hyperbolic but folds back in on itself at larger scales.
Mizuki walked around on the ship for a distance of several hundred meters. The furthest distance from any location on the ship, to any other location, is around ninety meters. The total volume of the ship is dramatically larger than that would imply.
There are signs on the walls to prevent cadets from getting too horribly lost, and the overall structure is predictable once you're used to it. The bridge, by the way, is offset only slightly from dead center; those were not windows.
Incidentally, that hyperbolic geometry means sound falls off much faster than you'd expect, even for a not very noisy ship. Again, to Mizuki's eternal regret.
- TSAB ships have way too much space.
Their construction technology makes crew compartments practically free, as they require little magical engineering beyond mass-market goods, and damage-control concerns make redundant passages useful, while those same passages double as buttressing in 4D space. In any case, crew space is a small fraction of the total volume of the ship.
Ships aren't free, but a TSAB cruiser can be constructed almost wholly by automatons; most of the cost is in material and component inputs.
AI support, simultaneously, reduces the crew requirement of the Arthra to... well, Lindy could run it on her own if she has to, and they can potentially (although inefficiently) be used as drones. Self-repair systems exist for TSAB cruisers as well as their devices, and are even more capable; Raising Heart is not intended to take penetrating attacks dead-on and keep fighting. (The 4D nature of the ship, by the way, means a smaller fraction of the ship would be in the way of any such attack spell than if it had been 3D; this largely makes up for the costs on its own.)
At the same time, the TSAB is massively over-stretched and would like to field as many ships as it practically can, which results in the ship's crew rattling around like peas in a tin-can. As you've seen in the previous chapter, it would be entirely possible for Mizuki to get lost there and never find anyone else for days.
Well, until Amy asks the computer where she is.
=====
TL;DR, though?
The exact nature of TSAB cruisers, and of dimensional space, is unlikely to matter to the story and you can therefore skip reading the above.
======
Not much would happen. For one thing, the connections aren't actively magical in nature; the ship simply happens to not be three-dimensional, and if you turn all the magic off then it won't immediately tear itself apart. That happy state of affairs would last less than a second, but one second is like unto an eternity to the sentient algorithms running damage control and stabilization on the ship, which would immediately analyse the damage to the spellwork and construct exactly the right magic to repair it.
For another, for any anti-magic or dimensional disjunction spell you could possibly throw at the ship, you can be reasonably sure they've seen something similar before and the spellwork is hardened against it. The most dangerous feature of imaginary space is its tendency to unravel magilink spells, and TSAB cruisers are capable of surviving for multiple seconds in that environment; anything less simply won't do very much.
Sufficient power could punch through, but in practice it's easier to degrade the ship's self-maintenance capabilities using direct attacks and only attempt to assault the spellwork once it's already overloaded.
That being said, the Arc-en-ciel would do its work exactly by overpowering those spells. A TSAB cruiser's best defence against such an attack is to move out of the way; a sufficiently powerful battleship could potentially tank it, but the TSAB doesn't generally field anything larger than cruisers.
=======
Alice[1] is the scion of a wealthy British family which moved to Uminari.
And probably not a ghost.
1: Her name is officially spelled "Arisa". But she's British, and while "Arisu" is the common japanification of Alice, it's not like either of the two are any further from the english spelling. She can commiserate with Alicia on people getting their names wrong. Granted, she's lived long enough in Japan to be thoroughly used to it.
I actually wrote most of that scene. I hinted at the explanation with Aerith's offer, but it's not a spoiler, so I don't mind telling you about it. Uh, but note that anything below here which hasn't been shown in-story yet is up for revision if required.
Their universe is natively eleven-dimensional. I went with M-theory for its basic layout, although with all eleven dimensions large-scale rather than 'rolled up'. That is to say, it follows Brane cosmology.
This has a couple of consequences.
- The 4D universe they live in, one of those branes, is crumpled up like a piece of paper. Much like shortcuts are possible inside the ship, shortcuts are also possible between locations in the universe by going through the bulk. This provides effective FTL, but with very little correspondence between distances inside the brane and FTL transit time.
Going from Sol to Alpha Centauri would take at least five years, inside the brane. In principle it cannot possibly take more by going through the bulk — this is only usually true — but the TSAB has no idea how to navigate there.
If you do a dimensional jump to a random, close location in the bulk — that is, point your ship in a random direction and move until you hit a brane again — then you will in practice never even be able to locate any other, colonized solar systems in the sky. The brane is very crumpled, and no-one in known history has been able to find two locations inside each others' Hubble volume. The only reason it's believed that they're all in the same universe (that is, brane) is because they all have precisely the same values for the physical constants.
Navigating through dimensional space (that is, the Bulk) is an adventure in itself, and is impractical without using literal magic. The Bulk is not wholly featureless, and only skimming the surface of the brane is actually possible; go too far, and you dip into imaginary space. TSAB ships are capable of surviving a very brief brush with that area, which gives them a massive speed advantage over the more primitive ships used by most of the client states, as moving further from the brane allows you to skim over more of the crinkles.
In practice all dimensional ships are coast-huggers, to varying degrees depending on their level of technology and design purpose. A ship capable of surviving in Imaginary Space would be a deep-water liner, but no such thing currently exists. That's not considering any active hazards which may or may not exist.
All of that being said... quite a few of Al Hazard's original colonies (which include Midchilda and Belka) are visible on each other's night sky, though that's a heartbreaking sight in the case of the latter. Historians believe the most likely way this was done was through STL colonization in "realspace".
- Human life, and most human-made machinery, can only exist inside 3D volumes which have the same physical laws we're used to. A few exceptions exist; powerful mages are capable of forcing structure on the Bulk that allows them to stay alive inside dimensional space, but this really amounts to the same thing. The ability to do so is a basic requirement for any form of teleportation, with the power requirements increasing as distance does and spiking sharply for cross-'dimension' teleportation.
Skill requirements also spike rather quickly, but an Intelligent Device is easily capable of handling the whole procedure. Mizuki will consider this rather unsporting.
A dimensional cruiser will have a scaled-up version of that system, capable of operating continuously and with massive redundancies, as assaulting its ability to maintain integrity is a common tactic for ship-to-ship combat; indeed, most combat ends when one party's power systems or integrity spells fail, with relatively little internal damage seen until then.
It would be possible to build a fully 3D ship in realspace, then install the spellwork and power systems that let it survive D-space as the final step, and most nations do this. For one thing, most of them do not have the ability to construct ships wholly in dimensional space; since it's eleven-dimensional, it poses... unique construction hazards. A powerful mage may feel relatively safe there, but the TSAB doesn't have enough such mages to waste them on construction programs.
What it does have, however, is the technology to build compartments in realspace (the 4D brane) and then "rotate" them inside the Bulk to fit them together.
The result is a ship where, although any space which its personnel would normally reach is 3D, the ship's overall internal geometry is four-dimensional. More would have been perfectly possible, but also would dramatically complicate the construction process and maintenance.
For the same reason, all the compartments are roughly the same size. The larger ones are integer multiples of the basic compartment. Again, doing better would dramatically complicate the process.
From the "outside" it'd look a bit like a 4D cluster of grapes, but the part of the hull that intrudes in 3D space looks like a very compact space-ship. As usual, this is largely to simplify things; you get a single location to stick point-defence systems on, though the main defence of a TSAB cruiser if faced with a real-space assault is to not be there, and even if it appears to be situated in real-space, it's still largely not.
Power loss would be catastrophic, although not immediately; the spellwork has a lot of "capacitance".
- It's easy to get lost in TSAB ships.
To Mizuki's regret. They're folded up on each other in a way that's somewhat reminiscent of the brane, resulting in a geometry where the room connectivity is locally hyperbolic but folds back in on itself at larger scales.
Mizuki walked around on the ship for a distance of several hundred meters. The furthest distance from any location on the ship, to any other location, is around ninety meters. The total volume of the ship is dramatically larger than that would imply.
There are signs on the walls to prevent cadets from getting too horribly lost, and the overall structure is predictable once you're used to it. The bridge, by the way, is offset only slightly from dead center; those were not windows.
Incidentally, that hyperbolic geometry means sound falls off much faster than you'd expect, even for a not very noisy ship. Again, to Mizuki's eternal regret.
- TSAB ships have way too much space.
Their construction technology makes crew compartments practically free, as they require little magical engineering beyond mass-market goods, and damage-control concerns make redundant passages useful, while those same passages double as buttressing in 4D space. In any case, crew space is a small fraction of the total volume of the ship.
Ships aren't free, but a TSAB cruiser can be constructed almost wholly by automatons; most of the cost is in material and component inputs.
AI support, simultaneously, reduces the crew requirement of the Arthra to... well, Lindy could run it on her own if she has to, and they can potentially (although inefficiently) be used as drones. Self-repair systems exist for TSAB cruisers as well as their devices, and are even more capable; Raising Heart is not intended to take penetrating attacks dead-on and keep fighting. (The 4D nature of the ship, by the way, means a smaller fraction of the ship would be in the way of any such attack spell than if it had been 3D; this largely makes up for the costs on its own.)
At the same time, the TSAB is massively over-stretched and would like to field as many ships as it practically can, which results in the ship's crew rattling around like peas in a tin-can. As you've seen in the previous chapter, it would be entirely possible for Mizuki to get lost there and never find anyone else for days.
Well, until Amy asks the computer where she is.
=====
TL;DR, though?
The exact nature of TSAB cruisers, and of dimensional space, is unlikely to matter to the story and you can therefore skip reading the above.
======
I just realized I didn't explicitly answer your question.
Not much would happen. For one thing, the connections aren't actively magical in nature; the ship simply happens to not be three-dimensional, and if you turn all the magic off then it won't immediately tear itself apart. That happy state of affairs would last less than a second, but one second is like unto an eternity to the sentient algorithms running damage control and stabilization on the ship, which would immediately analyse the damage to the spellwork and construct exactly the right magic to repair it.
For another, for any anti-magic or dimensional disjunction spell you could possibly throw at the ship, you can be reasonably sure they've seen something similar before and the spellwork is hardened against it. The most dangerous feature of imaginary space is its tendency to unravel magilink spells, and TSAB cruisers are capable of surviving for multiple seconds in that environment; anything less simply won't do very much.
Sufficient power could punch through, but in practice it's easier to degrade the ship's self-maintenance capabilities using direct attacks and only attempt to assault the spellwork once it's already overloaded.
That being said, the Arc-en-ciel would do its work exactly by overpowering those spells. A TSAB cruiser's best defence against such an attack is to move out of the way; a sufficiently powerful battleship could potentially tank it, but the TSAB doesn't generally field anything larger than cruisers.
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Chapter 6
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
Chapter Six – Suzuka POV
I walk down the street towards the Midori-ya, just another person within the crowd. It's a sunny day, clear skies perfect for playing outside, and kids are taking full advantage of the fact as they run up and down the street in games of tag or hide-and-seek. One boy passes me by, bumping into my shoulder momentarily. As he does, my cap is jostled enough to reveal my face for a moment; his eyes widen, and he dashes off without a word.
My shoulders hunch, and I tug the cap back into place. He was only a little younger than me. I hate this. I hate… I hate everything about this. I hate the way my classmates look at me, the way I can't go outside without hiding, and what's up ahead, I hate…
The seed in my palm throbs, a gentle warmth that scours the sourness in my stomach, and the flush of happiness and satisfaction it gives me makes me scrunch my hand into a tight fist. I bury it deeper into my hoodie pocket, forcing my eyes ahead, and hurry on towards Midori-ya. Towards Nanoha.
People are gathered outside the shop, reporters and camera-men standing about aimlessly. A police cordon keeps them back, silent blank-faced men and woman standing guard against their attention. The few shoppers entering the Midori-ya are a far cry from what I remember it being, bare months ago, and acts as one more sign that things have changed now. Lots of things have changed.
Walking up to the cordon, I'm stopped by one of the officers, a beefy man whose uniform barely manages to stretch across his wide frame. A meaty palm slaps down upon my shoulder, but I just look silently up at him, tilting my cap enough he can catch a glimpse of my face; the hand is removed, and he steps aside.
"Ah–"
There's a gasp, a quick intake of breath in the same moment, and one of the reporters nearby stumbles back a few steps. They've gone pale, eyes wide, and tremble slightly as their hands clutch the cordon behind them for support. My shoulders hunch further.
"Oh hey, it's–" "Ah, excuse me miss, just a few words–" "This is Japan News Network, could I get just a few–"
Reporters spot the reaction, stirring into action like a shark scenting blood, and begin bombarding me with questions and demands. Hands reach out for me, grasping for my shoulder or extending boom mic, while the world flashes white with the occasional camera flash. I ignore it all, pulling my cap down lower and hunching into myself, hands so tight in my pockets I can feel nails digging into the skin. Anything outside my hoodie can't hurt me.
I hate this…
There's a soft chime as I slip inside Midori-ya, a tiny golden bell alerting the Takamichi family that they've got customers, and sound dampens down to a low murmur. Alice and Nanoha are sitting at one of the tables alongside that strange boy—I mean, Yuuno—chatting happily to one another while nibbling on a plate of small cupcakes laid before them.
Well, it's mostly Alice and Yuuno. Nanoha looks as lost as I've ever seen her.
"-is learnt from a young age, due to a majority of Mid's population consisting of mages. Schools exist without it as a required course, but it's uncommon, and so many necessities of daily life require it that it's almost impossible to find someone who hasn't picked up at least a little."
Alice nods along. "Makes sense. There are a few places like that here, but for public schools… I think just a few universities."
"...Hey." My voice is quiet, despite my attempts to hide my subdued mood. The others look around with surprise, smiles spreading across their faces, and for a moment I'm smiling back. Then there's a loud thump from outside, police shouting angrily, and the tiny flutters of joy sink back down into the bottom of my stomach.
Nanoha scowls, glaring at the scuffle outside. Her chair screeches as she pushes away from the table, leaping to her feet, before she's grasping my hand in her own – warm, soft, trusting – and pulling me into a hug. I melt into it, almost shuddering as the stress drains out of me. I'm smiling again, but it's all I can do not to cry.
"It's been hard, right?" She pulls back, looking at me apologetically. "I'm sorry. This is all because I asked you to help."
Oh, for—
Alice thwaps her with a rolled-up map. I giggle.
"It's not your fault, dummy, nor is it anyone else's!" She says, with the tone of an oft-repeated argument. "It was pure chance she found the thing when she did, and no one – not you, not Yuuno, sure as heck not her – could've predicted what would happen. Now quit moping, you two, and let's decide on where in Okinawa we're going already! Beach or mountain?"
Nanoha winces and hunches down, caving to the angry blonde's demands with a pained cry of "Arisaaa". I slide into a free chair next to Alice, who gives my hand a comforting squeeze, and try to get my mind off anything but having fun with my friends. Today is going to be a great day.
"I've always wanted to climb Mt. Yonaha," I suggest. "Nanoha?"
She blinks at me, then grins. "Sounds good. Oh, but that's going to be full of tourists, so we could go… off-trail…" She trails off, looking at Alice, who's refusing to take the bait. "And spend the whole day climbing up the mountainside? Unless that's too much work?"
"I seem to remember you spending the whole day in bed after the last time," Yuuno says, eliciting a slight grin from Alice.
Yuuno pulls free of his seat, now the location's been decided, and moves to an empty section of floor. Closing his eyes, he begins muttering softly under his breath, a frown creasing his brow as the Midori-ya phone begins ringing loudly further inside the shop. Footsteps echo as someone goes to answer it, followed by a flurry of quick, muffled words, while at the same time Yuuno's spell circle materializes with a soft green glow before him on the floor.
"Right," he starts, opening his eyes once more, "one teleport circle to Okinawa, destination–"
"Nanoha!" He's cut off by Shiro, leaning in from the door behind the counter. A phone's clutched to one ear, and he looks both worried and determined. "There's been another one. Abasi contacted me, before communication blackouts hit again – it's in Cairo, Egypt."
I feel my heart sink in my chest, before being buoyed by the flames of anger. How dare this happen when we were going on holiday, to have fun, relax, unwind! How dare these things try to ruin my life again! My fists clench within my hoodie, cool glass pressing against my skin, and a rush of frustration and destructive desire races through me.
There isn't much time. Alice looks devastated, but she escapes to the sidelines while the rest of us continue the teleport. If we're going to have any chance of success, then every second counts.
"It's a single opponent this time," Shiro explains, speaking rapidly as Yuuno rewires his spell. "Physical transformation only, likely inexperienced, seems to be politically motivated. He's going for their parliament. There might be soldiers in the area, try to work with them if you can. Fate hasn't been seen yet—"
Good. My eyes narrow as I remember our last encounter. If it hadn't been for Nanoha stopping her, I might be dead now. That thought really just makes me angrier.
"—But don't take anything for granted. And Suzuka..."
"I won't hurt him too bad," I say, looking back up at Shiro. Not unless he makes me. No-one can blame me for wanting to vent a little frustration, though, and I can feel the seed in my palm heating in anticipation.
If Nanoha's dad spots that desire, he doesn't say anything. Shortly thereafter the air in-between us starts warping.
"Don't get hurt, either of you." He whispers it, but with the seed fully active, flooding my body with life, he might as well have been shouting. The world sharpens into stark relief, the core of power I can always feel in Nanoha becoming nearly visible. She looks… delicious, is the word. Not one I'd ever speak out loud.
We step through Yuuno's portal into dusty hell. Sand is everywhere, whipping into eyes, ears, squirming between cracks in your clothes till it itches and scratches like mad. Cars sit abandoned all around us, their occupants fled, while blocky sandstone buildings squat throughout the area. A large one stands above the rest, white marble even for the hundreds of steps leading up to it, barricaded off by a line of soldiers in thick armoured clothing and riot gear. Yuuno immediately drops to the ground, already in his hard-to-see ferret form, and starts casting a dimensional shift.
"Raaagh!"
Screaming angrily, a large shape smashes into the barrier, barreling right up against a soldier's riot shield before tearing it free with a single heave. Bullets ping off dark green scales as surrounding soldiers react to the threat, doing little but annoy the beast as it snarls and lifts the unfortunate man in its grasp towards its snout; opening wide, I catch a glimpse of serrated teeth, before it rears back with a pained cough when a lucky shot hits the inside of its maw.
Bright pink bullets fly towards the monster, Nanoha leaping right into the fray, and it reacts almost instantly by spinning and tossing the soldier in their path; they hit with a small flash, thumping into him, and he slumps to the ground unconscious. Cracks form in the pavement under it as the croc leaps towards Nanoha, claws spread wide for a swiping slash, only to stop halfway there when pink bindings materialize around it.
"Divine Shooter!" And then Nanoha blasts it in the face.
It roars again, more angry than hurt, and as the smoke clears I can see it's glaring at us, yellow eyes slitted and narrowed in anger. Nanoha slowly floats upwards, while I carefully search for a better foothold. The ground here is dusty and covered with debris. And… human parts. I try not to think about what I've been stepping in, such as—
'That arm on the ground is far too small.'
A rush of warmth from the seed smoothes away the worst of the horror before it can really set in, the remains fading into deepening anger. The worst part though, the absolute worst, is that for a bare moment after it forced my mind back into balance I was thinking, "Damn, bet they'll blame this one on me as well".
The monster roars, trying to keep an eye on both of us at once. I'm grinding my teeth, hard enough that they'd crack if they weren't as reinforced as the rest of me. I want to scream, and tear him into little shreds. He can kill children, but if he thinks he can fight me—
But Shiro trained us for this, so even though I'm seeing red, I keep the plan in mind. Not yet. I'll get my chance. It's unlikely, but he might be stronger than me. Give Yuuno a chance to finish his spell—don't let him kill anyone else. Triple-team him, because fairness is an excuse made by losers. Do it fast, before Fate interrupts.
The monster looks left, then right, straining against its bonds. I tense as it looks towards Yuuno. Nanoha's eyes are shut, arcs of pink lightning flaring around her as she fights to keep it contained. I could punch it down into the ground right now while it's stuck there, but that's not the plan. It wouldn't be enough, not if it's like me. Follow the plan.
My arm throbs strangely, and it screams, straining and looking towards Yuuno, whom it shouldn't know even exists, Yuuno who's in the middle of a spell and can't defend himself. It doesn't scream, it roars. Monster—
Then the binds shatter, like they'd never been there in the first place.
I'm flying towards it before it can even start moving, yelling a scream of my own. My fist is so hot it feels like it's nearly on fire, but I won't be there on time!
"Yuuno!" I gasp out, terror gripping my chest as the monster gets closer and closer. The tiny ferret looks up, yelping as he sees the monster coming towards him. That breaks his concentration, but somehow—I don't know how, I don't care how—he resets his spell, and with a sound like shattering glass the previously-invisible spellwork that was supposed to keep everyone else safe turns into a nightmarish barrier in-between them, all jagged shards and fragments of shields.
It only lasts a moment, but the moment is enough. The monster screams as one of the shields lacerates its arm, cutting its hand nearly in half, and it's the sweetest sound I've ever heard. Then I'm there, and it screams far louder when my kick nearly impales it on a broken girder. It doesn't, it's made of sterner stuff, but it's a start.
So it's time to get started.
I step in, closer to the beast as it gets back to its feet, and it snaps at me with razor-sharp teeth. My palm blocks the movement, pushing it back up, while my other rears back and I punch hard at the snout. White shards bounce everywhere, and it screams again. Another thrust, at its wounded left arm, feeling scale depress and crack under my hand, bone and muscle following moments later as I grab and tear. Another scream of pain. I don't hesitate for a moment. Neither does Nanoha, pink peppering its side with nasty-looking welts.
Green blurs to the side, the beast's tail whipping furiously around as it fights to get free, but failing to hit. Each injury I inflict only seems to heighten its fury, smoke rising from its wounds as they scar over with impossible speed. Not as fast as mine, nor as complete. I bet he's never lost an arm to a plasma saber.
A loud crack and it whips further around, sliding into my ankles, and I'm knocked down and backwards to the dusty road. I kick off instantly, gravity barely seeming to affect me at the speed we're going, and try to block the claw swinging towards a frozen-seeming Nanoha. I'm bare inches away, when I see why she was distracted. A blur of yellow flies past me, and the monster vanishes — it reappears at the end of the street, orange bindings already springing to life around it while Fate hovers above with her scythe digging into the monster's neck.
I freeze, wanting to stop her, but not wanting to go any closer to that scythe. Fate is fast; faster than me, when she flies in a straight line. If she cuts its head off and comes after me—
But Fate won't do that. Probably. Nanoha's thoughts—they don't have quite the same weight as the terror that's gripping my spine. And where did she go, anyway? Why isn't she here? Is it Arf? I want to look around, but I don't dare to break eye contact.
Fate hesitates, glancing between me and the monster, and I think she's about to say something—she looks pained, but she always does—and that's when the soldiers we'd both forgotten about take the chance to intervene once more. Bullets trace through the air in red-yellow lines as machine-gun emplacements whir to life, tearing the ground into strips before thumping into the monster in hundreds of wet impacts. I'd wince, but it frankly deserves it.
Shots fly at Fate too, blocked by a bright yellow shield spell, and she releases her captive with a frustrated snarl to return fire. No-one shoots at me; I hear mutters, but when I think back to a second ago, I also heard half-hearted cheers. It didn't quite register that they were for me.
Electricity crackles, arcing out in blinding streams to strike the emplacements, soldiers scattering with panicked shouts as metal twists and melts from the heat. Pink and green scattershot strafes the ground around Fate, forcing her to call it off, and she takes to the sky to try and strike down Nanoha and Yuuno. She'll succeed, given time.
And so I'm back to looking at the monster, but this time I'm on the clock. At least it looks about as off-balance as I'm feeling.
There's a thump from behind me, a grey blur whooshing past on a contrail of smoke, before the monster's engulfed in an explosion of heat and flame; it roars, in agony this time, staggering back as blackened scales flake to the ground, right before a second thump and burst of flame a moment later.
Heat hits me in a wave as I run through the smoke towards the monster, as do two separate bursts of shrapnel. It stings, and if my favorite jacket wasn't a write-off already, it is now. My shoes sink into shattered and red-hot concrete as I move on, and my feet tug free with sticky, tearing plops. Now I'm barefoot, too. Small fires flicker around me, remnants of cars that are nothing but shadowy skeletons in the gloom.
The monster's struggling to its feet, panting in pain and exhaustion, half its scales gone entirely to bare bleeding flesh weeping from numerous wounds. Its head rears up as I approach, teeth pulled back in a snarl, and I see it's half blind – one eye nothing but cooked jelly, sliding slowly down its snout to drip to the ground.
Shiro's words flash through my mind, about this enemy's likely goals. I grit my teeth. I don't wanna. I really don't wanna, but I also remember the last time I thought that, and I know how bad I'll feel if I don't. That, and even though it probably feels like it's dying, I know from bitter experience that there's a lot more fight in it once it gets desperate enough to trigger its seed. We don't have time for me to beat it all the way down.
"Ready to give up?" I ask. The monster is silent, panting at me warily, and I take it as a sign to continue. "I don't know what you were after, not really, but surely you can see you're not going to get it? Not as badly hurt as you are. Just stop fighting and let us help you, OK?"
The silence continues, and I start moving slowly towards him. Hands raised, visibly unthreatening, or as unthreatening as a nine-year-old can get when she looks like she's been sandblasted and she's walking barefoot through burning concrete. Hands in the air, though. See? I won't break you in half like I'm snapping a twig. Even though I really, really want to.
I'm close enough to touch it now, still moving slowly and carefully, and begin to reach a hand out towards its snout–
"Raagh!" Before it snaps, jaws clenching forwards, my fingers only retained by the virtue of half-expecting this already.
So much for the peaceful approach, Suzuka.
Leaping back into the melted muck of the road, I put some distance between us, the monster glaring and stepping after me with the crackle of broken scales. I'm hoping the soldiers will have another of those boom-rockets, and it's moving much slower now. Wind blows through the area, whipping the smoke away, and with a series of small pops more people arrive in the brawl.
People in white jacket uniforms, floating in midair across the street, with spell circles forming around them in glowing blue tracery.
The world shudders as soon as they appear, a grey cube forming at their point of arrival and expanding rapidly outwards, tinting the world grey and removing the numerous military groups scattered across the street in the blink of an eye. Several members point towards us, spell circles forming momentarily, before I find myself wrapped tight in a neon blue bind barely a second later; the monster's in much the same position, but it's got binds on all five limbs and its snout.
Who are these people?
Nanoha POV
"Photon Lancer!"
Panting, I dodge another group of Fate's spells, sending off a few of my own to intercept. She dodges them cleanly. Fast, too fast, but I'm higher. I dive, plummeting towards the ground to gain speed. A few binds are shot off, pink ribbons forming around Fate and pinning her arms to her sides, only for her to blur free in a flicker of yellow a moment later. How did she do that?
She reappears right above me, scythe already raised for an overhead swipe, and I'm forced to block desperately with Raising Heart's shaft; metal creaks and groans as magically-reinforced steel meets plasma, hissing ever so slightly, and I'm slowly pushed back till the the shaft's barely before my neck. She's strong, too, stronger than me.
Plasma hums right before my nose, crackling yellow-white, and I grit my teeth and redouble my efforts to stop her gaining ground. The corona is already licking across the outer fields of my barrier jacket.
"Chain Bind!"
Green chains wrap around Fate from behind, reeling her back, and I see Yuuno toss me a brief smile before refocusing on his fight with Arf. The wolf-girl snarls, struggling against the bonds ensnaring her, before breaking free with a crack and diving at the ferret; he squeaks and flees, abandoning his spell.
Fate dashes backwards from me, gaining distance, another set of lightning balls preventing me from pursuing. She tilts her scythe towards me as a spell circle forms beneath her feet, drawing mana into a spell, and I flinch while instinctively building a shield, before–
With a series of small pops, people appear in the air around us, utterly throwing my concentration from sheer surprise.
They're clad in white uniforms, looking only vaguely military next to the actual military down below, and they have blue spell circles forming up beneath their feet from the moment they appear. A grey cube forms around one of them, rapidly enlarging till it encompasses an entire city block, tinting the world grey and removing everyone I can see in the city below me in the blink of an eye.
At the same moment, binds lash free from a number of others, spell circles forming for barely a second around their feet before I find myself wrapped tight in a neon blue bind, arms pinned to my side and utterly unable to move. Fate's in the same way directly across from me, her spell circle broken and eyes wide with shock and horror, and she starts struggling to break free as soon as she's captured.
"Nanoha, it's the TSAB!"" Yuuno's mental voice is thrilled, excited and amazed, in stark contrast to the blue bindings wrapped about his fuzzy animal body. "They must've picked up my distress call, and come to rescue me!"
...The who? The name sounds vaguely familiar.
"That's great," I start, watching as they spread out from where they first arrived. Out of the corner of my eye I can see a few pointing down at Suzuka, bindings flashing around her and the monster a moment later. "But how about you tell me who they are again, and why I shouldn't be struggling to get free like Fate?"
"Eh? I've told you about them before, though, just this morning! The TSAB are–"
"Attention!" Yuuno's interrupted by one of the mage, a small black-haired boy in an all-encompassing black cloak, speaking loudly towards us.
"This is Chrono Harlaown, of the Time-Space Administrative Bureau, here to arrest one Fate Testarossa!" He looks towards her, the girl herself freezing and turning pale as a ghost as she hears those words. "You're under arrest for theft of Class XXX Lost Logia, alongside numerous other crimes both petty and severe. You shall be held aboard the L-Class spaceship Arthra, captained by Lindy Harlaown, before being transported to Mid-Childa for processing of your crimes. Everyone else, please wait calmly as we secure the criminal."
"Fate!" Arf freaks at those words, struggling madly against her binds, making two of the white-clad figures frown and focus to maintain the restraint. With a small pop the bind's suddenly gripping nothing but empty space, Arf shifting to wolf form to escape, at which point she dives desperately at Fate in an attempt to break her free. Orange blasts shoot out towards the new arrivals, obscuring their view as they shield, allowing Arf to break Fate's bonds and fly rapidly away from them in the moment of distraction.
"Halt!" Cursing, the TSAB members pursue, Chrono heading up the group as a black blur through the air. "Fate Testarossa and Familiar, cease this at once! You're in a dimensional barrier, there's nowhere to run!"
Fate evidently didn't care, firing a few lightning ball back at her pursuers as she fled and darting between skyscrapers with Arf in a weaving attempt to lose them. The chasing group splits up, half darting around in a pincer movement as they pursue her behind a building at speed; there's a white flash of light and a great rumble, before the top of the barrier shatters into hundreds of panes of light scattering towards the ground. The world shudders and shakes around us, like an earthquake but in mid-air; it only subsides when the shards finally vanish.
When the TSAB group come back into sight a few moments later, they're visibly depressed, as well as looking somewhat shaken by whatever happened. Chrono flies over to me, hovering a few metres before my bound form. Then, with a gesture towards a colleague, he releases me.
"Miss Nanoha Takamichi?" He asks, voice professional but sounding frustrated. I blink, wondering how he knows my name, but nod an affirmative. "Right. We'll need you to come aboard the Arthra, as well as–" he glances down at Suzuka, before moving his gaze towards Yuuno, "a few others for questioning. I hope this won't be a problem?"
I look to Yuuno, who's nodding his head.
"Can I call my parents first?" I ask.
I walk down the street towards the Midori-ya, just another person within the crowd. It's a sunny day, clear skies perfect for playing outside, and kids are taking full advantage of the fact as they run up and down the street in games of tag or hide-and-seek. One boy passes me by, bumping into my shoulder momentarily. As he does, my cap is jostled enough to reveal my face for a moment; his eyes widen, and he dashes off without a word.
My shoulders hunch, and I tug the cap back into place. He was only a little younger than me. I hate this. I hate… I hate everything about this. I hate the way my classmates look at me, the way I can't go outside without hiding, and what's up ahead, I hate…
The seed in my palm throbs, a gentle warmth that scours the sourness in my stomach, and the flush of happiness and satisfaction it gives me makes me scrunch my hand into a tight fist. I bury it deeper into my hoodie pocket, forcing my eyes ahead, and hurry on towards Midori-ya. Towards Nanoha.
People are gathered outside the shop, reporters and camera-men standing about aimlessly. A police cordon keeps them back, silent blank-faced men and woman standing guard against their attention. The few shoppers entering the Midori-ya are a far cry from what I remember it being, bare months ago, and acts as one more sign that things have changed now. Lots of things have changed.
Walking up to the cordon, I'm stopped by one of the officers, a beefy man whose uniform barely manages to stretch across his wide frame. A meaty palm slaps down upon my shoulder, but I just look silently up at him, tilting my cap enough he can catch a glimpse of my face; the hand is removed, and he steps aside.
"Ah–"
There's a gasp, a quick intake of breath in the same moment, and one of the reporters nearby stumbles back a few steps. They've gone pale, eyes wide, and tremble slightly as their hands clutch the cordon behind them for support. My shoulders hunch further.
"Oh hey, it's–" "Ah, excuse me miss, just a few words–" "This is Japan News Network, could I get just a few–"
Reporters spot the reaction, stirring into action like a shark scenting blood, and begin bombarding me with questions and demands. Hands reach out for me, grasping for my shoulder or extending boom mic, while the world flashes white with the occasional camera flash. I ignore it all, pulling my cap down lower and hunching into myself, hands so tight in my pockets I can feel nails digging into the skin. Anything outside my hoodie can't hurt me.
I hate this…
There's a soft chime as I slip inside Midori-ya, a tiny golden bell alerting the Takamichi family that they've got customers, and sound dampens down to a low murmur. Alice and Nanoha are sitting at one of the tables alongside that strange boy—I mean, Yuuno—chatting happily to one another while nibbling on a plate of small cupcakes laid before them.
Well, it's mostly Alice and Yuuno. Nanoha looks as lost as I've ever seen her.
"-is learnt from a young age, due to a majority of Mid's population consisting of mages. Schools exist without it as a required course, but it's uncommon, and so many necessities of daily life require it that it's almost impossible to find someone who hasn't picked up at least a little."
Alice nods along. "Makes sense. There are a few places like that here, but for public schools… I think just a few universities."
"...Hey." My voice is quiet, despite my attempts to hide my subdued mood. The others look around with surprise, smiles spreading across their faces, and for a moment I'm smiling back. Then there's a loud thump from outside, police shouting angrily, and the tiny flutters of joy sink back down into the bottom of my stomach.
Nanoha scowls, glaring at the scuffle outside. Her chair screeches as she pushes away from the table, leaping to her feet, before she's grasping my hand in her own – warm, soft, trusting – and pulling me into a hug. I melt into it, almost shuddering as the stress drains out of me. I'm smiling again, but it's all I can do not to cry.
"It's been hard, right?" She pulls back, looking at me apologetically. "I'm sorry. This is all because I asked you to help."
Oh, for—
Alice thwaps her with a rolled-up map. I giggle.
"It's not your fault, dummy, nor is it anyone else's!" She says, with the tone of an oft-repeated argument. "It was pure chance she found the thing when she did, and no one – not you, not Yuuno, sure as heck not her – could've predicted what would happen. Now quit moping, you two, and let's decide on where in Okinawa we're going already! Beach or mountain?"
Nanoha winces and hunches down, caving to the angry blonde's demands with a pained cry of "Arisaaa". I slide into a free chair next to Alice, who gives my hand a comforting squeeze, and try to get my mind off anything but having fun with my friends. Today is going to be a great day.
"I've always wanted to climb Mt. Yonaha," I suggest. "Nanoha?"
She blinks at me, then grins. "Sounds good. Oh, but that's going to be full of tourists, so we could go… off-trail…" She trails off, looking at Alice, who's refusing to take the bait. "And spend the whole day climbing up the mountainside? Unless that's too much work?"
"I seem to remember you spending the whole day in bed after the last time," Yuuno says, eliciting a slight grin from Alice.
————————————
Yuuno pulls free of his seat, now the location's been decided, and moves to an empty section of floor. Closing his eyes, he begins muttering softly under his breath, a frown creasing his brow as the Midori-ya phone begins ringing loudly further inside the shop. Footsteps echo as someone goes to answer it, followed by a flurry of quick, muffled words, while at the same time Yuuno's spell circle materializes with a soft green glow before him on the floor.
"Right," he starts, opening his eyes once more, "one teleport circle to Okinawa, destination–"
"Nanoha!" He's cut off by Shiro, leaning in from the door behind the counter. A phone's clutched to one ear, and he looks both worried and determined. "There's been another one. Abasi contacted me, before communication blackouts hit again – it's in Cairo, Egypt."
I feel my heart sink in my chest, before being buoyed by the flames of anger. How dare this happen when we were going on holiday, to have fun, relax, unwind! How dare these things try to ruin my life again! My fists clench within my hoodie, cool glass pressing against my skin, and a rush of frustration and destructive desire races through me.
There isn't much time. Alice looks devastated, but she escapes to the sidelines while the rest of us continue the teleport. If we're going to have any chance of success, then every second counts.
"It's a single opponent this time," Shiro explains, speaking rapidly as Yuuno rewires his spell. "Physical transformation only, likely inexperienced, seems to be politically motivated. He's going for their parliament. There might be soldiers in the area, try to work with them if you can. Fate hasn't been seen yet—"
Good. My eyes narrow as I remember our last encounter. If it hadn't been for Nanoha stopping her, I might be dead now. That thought really just makes me angrier.
"—But don't take anything for granted. And Suzuka..."
"I won't hurt him too bad," I say, looking back up at Shiro. Not unless he makes me. No-one can blame me for wanting to vent a little frustration, though, and I can feel the seed in my palm heating in anticipation.
If Nanoha's dad spots that desire, he doesn't say anything. Shortly thereafter the air in-between us starts warping.
"Don't get hurt, either of you." He whispers it, but with the seed fully active, flooding my body with life, he might as well have been shouting. The world sharpens into stark relief, the core of power I can always feel in Nanoha becoming nearly visible. She looks… delicious, is the word. Not one I'd ever speak out loud.
We step through Yuuno's portal into dusty hell. Sand is everywhere, whipping into eyes, ears, squirming between cracks in your clothes till it itches and scratches like mad. Cars sit abandoned all around us, their occupants fled, while blocky sandstone buildings squat throughout the area. A large one stands above the rest, white marble even for the hundreds of steps leading up to it, barricaded off by a line of soldiers in thick armoured clothing and riot gear. Yuuno immediately drops to the ground, already in his hard-to-see ferret form, and starts casting a dimensional shift.
"Raaagh!"
Screaming angrily, a large shape smashes into the barrier, barreling right up against a soldier's riot shield before tearing it free with a single heave. Bullets ping off dark green scales as surrounding soldiers react to the threat, doing little but annoy the beast as it snarls and lifts the unfortunate man in its grasp towards its snout; opening wide, I catch a glimpse of serrated teeth, before it rears back with a pained cough when a lucky shot hits the inside of its maw.
Bright pink bullets fly towards the monster, Nanoha leaping right into the fray, and it reacts almost instantly by spinning and tossing the soldier in their path; they hit with a small flash, thumping into him, and he slumps to the ground unconscious. Cracks form in the pavement under it as the croc leaps towards Nanoha, claws spread wide for a swiping slash, only to stop halfway there when pink bindings materialize around it.
"Divine Shooter!" And then Nanoha blasts it in the face.
It roars again, more angry than hurt, and as the smoke clears I can see it's glaring at us, yellow eyes slitted and narrowed in anger. Nanoha slowly floats upwards, while I carefully search for a better foothold. The ground here is dusty and covered with debris. And… human parts. I try not to think about what I've been stepping in, such as—
'That arm on the ground is far too small.'
A rush of warmth from the seed smoothes away the worst of the horror before it can really set in, the remains fading into deepening anger. The worst part though, the absolute worst, is that for a bare moment after it forced my mind back into balance I was thinking, "Damn, bet they'll blame this one on me as well".
The monster roars, trying to keep an eye on both of us at once. I'm grinding my teeth, hard enough that they'd crack if they weren't as reinforced as the rest of me. I want to scream, and tear him into little shreds. He can kill children, but if he thinks he can fight me—
But Shiro trained us for this, so even though I'm seeing red, I keep the plan in mind. Not yet. I'll get my chance. It's unlikely, but he might be stronger than me. Give Yuuno a chance to finish his spell—don't let him kill anyone else. Triple-team him, because fairness is an excuse made by losers. Do it fast, before Fate interrupts.
The monster looks left, then right, straining against its bonds. I tense as it looks towards Yuuno. Nanoha's eyes are shut, arcs of pink lightning flaring around her as she fights to keep it contained. I could punch it down into the ground right now while it's stuck there, but that's not the plan. It wouldn't be enough, not if it's like me. Follow the plan.
My arm throbs strangely, and it screams, straining and looking towards Yuuno, whom it shouldn't know even exists, Yuuno who's in the middle of a spell and can't defend himself. It doesn't scream, it roars. Monster—
Then the binds shatter, like they'd never been there in the first place.
I'm flying towards it before it can even start moving, yelling a scream of my own. My fist is so hot it feels like it's nearly on fire, but I won't be there on time!
"Yuuno!" I gasp out, terror gripping my chest as the monster gets closer and closer. The tiny ferret looks up, yelping as he sees the monster coming towards him. That breaks his concentration, but somehow—I don't know how, I don't care how—he resets his spell, and with a sound like shattering glass the previously-invisible spellwork that was supposed to keep everyone else safe turns into a nightmarish barrier in-between them, all jagged shards and fragments of shields.
It only lasts a moment, but the moment is enough. The monster screams as one of the shields lacerates its arm, cutting its hand nearly in half, and it's the sweetest sound I've ever heard. Then I'm there, and it screams far louder when my kick nearly impales it on a broken girder. It doesn't, it's made of sterner stuff, but it's a start.
So it's time to get started.
I step in, closer to the beast as it gets back to its feet, and it snaps at me with razor-sharp teeth. My palm blocks the movement, pushing it back up, while my other rears back and I punch hard at the snout. White shards bounce everywhere, and it screams again. Another thrust, at its wounded left arm, feeling scale depress and crack under my hand, bone and muscle following moments later as I grab and tear. Another scream of pain. I don't hesitate for a moment. Neither does Nanoha, pink peppering its side with nasty-looking welts.
Green blurs to the side, the beast's tail whipping furiously around as it fights to get free, but failing to hit. Each injury I inflict only seems to heighten its fury, smoke rising from its wounds as they scar over with impossible speed. Not as fast as mine, nor as complete. I bet he's never lost an arm to a plasma saber.
A loud crack and it whips further around, sliding into my ankles, and I'm knocked down and backwards to the dusty road. I kick off instantly, gravity barely seeming to affect me at the speed we're going, and try to block the claw swinging towards a frozen-seeming Nanoha. I'm bare inches away, when I see why she was distracted. A blur of yellow flies past me, and the monster vanishes — it reappears at the end of the street, orange bindings already springing to life around it while Fate hovers above with her scythe digging into the monster's neck.
I freeze, wanting to stop her, but not wanting to go any closer to that scythe. Fate is fast; faster than me, when she flies in a straight line. If she cuts its head off and comes after me—
But Fate won't do that. Probably. Nanoha's thoughts—they don't have quite the same weight as the terror that's gripping my spine. And where did she go, anyway? Why isn't she here? Is it Arf? I want to look around, but I don't dare to break eye contact.
Fate hesitates, glancing between me and the monster, and I think she's about to say something—she looks pained, but she always does—and that's when the soldiers we'd both forgotten about take the chance to intervene once more. Bullets trace through the air in red-yellow lines as machine-gun emplacements whir to life, tearing the ground into strips before thumping into the monster in hundreds of wet impacts. I'd wince, but it frankly deserves it.
Shots fly at Fate too, blocked by a bright yellow shield spell, and she releases her captive with a frustrated snarl to return fire. No-one shoots at me; I hear mutters, but when I think back to a second ago, I also heard half-hearted cheers. It didn't quite register that they were for me.
Electricity crackles, arcing out in blinding streams to strike the emplacements, soldiers scattering with panicked shouts as metal twists and melts from the heat. Pink and green scattershot strafes the ground around Fate, forcing her to call it off, and she takes to the sky to try and strike down Nanoha and Yuuno. She'll succeed, given time.
And so I'm back to looking at the monster, but this time I'm on the clock. At least it looks about as off-balance as I'm feeling.
There's a thump from behind me, a grey blur whooshing past on a contrail of smoke, before the monster's engulfed in an explosion of heat and flame; it roars, in agony this time, staggering back as blackened scales flake to the ground, right before a second thump and burst of flame a moment later.
Heat hits me in a wave as I run through the smoke towards the monster, as do two separate bursts of shrapnel. It stings, and if my favorite jacket wasn't a write-off already, it is now. My shoes sink into shattered and red-hot concrete as I move on, and my feet tug free with sticky, tearing plops. Now I'm barefoot, too. Small fires flicker around me, remnants of cars that are nothing but shadowy skeletons in the gloom.
The monster's struggling to its feet, panting in pain and exhaustion, half its scales gone entirely to bare bleeding flesh weeping from numerous wounds. Its head rears up as I approach, teeth pulled back in a snarl, and I see it's half blind – one eye nothing but cooked jelly, sliding slowly down its snout to drip to the ground.
Shiro's words flash through my mind, about this enemy's likely goals. I grit my teeth. I don't wanna. I really don't wanna, but I also remember the last time I thought that, and I know how bad I'll feel if I don't. That, and even though it probably feels like it's dying, I know from bitter experience that there's a lot more fight in it once it gets desperate enough to trigger its seed. We don't have time for me to beat it all the way down.
"Ready to give up?" I ask. The monster is silent, panting at me warily, and I take it as a sign to continue. "I don't know what you were after, not really, but surely you can see you're not going to get it? Not as badly hurt as you are. Just stop fighting and let us help you, OK?"
The silence continues, and I start moving slowly towards him. Hands raised, visibly unthreatening, or as unthreatening as a nine-year-old can get when she looks like she's been sandblasted and she's walking barefoot through burning concrete. Hands in the air, though. See? I won't break you in half like I'm snapping a twig. Even though I really, really want to.
I'm close enough to touch it now, still moving slowly and carefully, and begin to reach a hand out towards its snout–
"Raagh!" Before it snaps, jaws clenching forwards, my fingers only retained by the virtue of half-expecting this already.
So much for the peaceful approach, Suzuka.
Leaping back into the melted muck of the road, I put some distance between us, the monster glaring and stepping after me with the crackle of broken scales. I'm hoping the soldiers will have another of those boom-rockets, and it's moving much slower now. Wind blows through the area, whipping the smoke away, and with a series of small pops more people arrive in the brawl.
People in white jacket uniforms, floating in midair across the street, with spell circles forming around them in glowing blue tracery.
The world shudders as soon as they appear, a grey cube forming at their point of arrival and expanding rapidly outwards, tinting the world grey and removing the numerous military groups scattered across the street in the blink of an eye. Several members point towards us, spell circles forming momentarily, before I find myself wrapped tight in a neon blue bind barely a second later; the monster's in much the same position, but it's got binds on all five limbs and its snout.
Who are these people?
Nanoha POV
"Photon Lancer!"
Panting, I dodge another group of Fate's spells, sending off a few of my own to intercept. She dodges them cleanly. Fast, too fast, but I'm higher. I dive, plummeting towards the ground to gain speed. A few binds are shot off, pink ribbons forming around Fate and pinning her arms to her sides, only for her to blur free in a flicker of yellow a moment later. How did she do that?
She reappears right above me, scythe already raised for an overhead swipe, and I'm forced to block desperately with Raising Heart's shaft; metal creaks and groans as magically-reinforced steel meets plasma, hissing ever so slightly, and I'm slowly pushed back till the the shaft's barely before my neck. She's strong, too, stronger than me.
Plasma hums right before my nose, crackling yellow-white, and I grit my teeth and redouble my efforts to stop her gaining ground. The corona is already licking across the outer fields of my barrier jacket.
"Chain Bind!"
Green chains wrap around Fate from behind, reeling her back, and I see Yuuno toss me a brief smile before refocusing on his fight with Arf. The wolf-girl snarls, struggling against the bonds ensnaring her, before breaking free with a crack and diving at the ferret; he squeaks and flees, abandoning his spell.
Fate dashes backwards from me, gaining distance, another set of lightning balls preventing me from pursuing. She tilts her scythe towards me as a spell circle forms beneath her feet, drawing mana into a spell, and I flinch while instinctively building a shield, before–
With a series of small pops, people appear in the air around us, utterly throwing my concentration from sheer surprise.
They're clad in white uniforms, looking only vaguely military next to the actual military down below, and they have blue spell circles forming up beneath their feet from the moment they appear. A grey cube forms around one of them, rapidly enlarging till it encompasses an entire city block, tinting the world grey and removing everyone I can see in the city below me in the blink of an eye.
At the same moment, binds lash free from a number of others, spell circles forming for barely a second around their feet before I find myself wrapped tight in a neon blue bind, arms pinned to my side and utterly unable to move. Fate's in the same way directly across from me, her spell circle broken and eyes wide with shock and horror, and she starts struggling to break free as soon as she's captured.
"Nanoha, it's the TSAB!"" Yuuno's mental voice is thrilled, excited and amazed, in stark contrast to the blue bindings wrapped about his fuzzy animal body. "They must've picked up my distress call, and come to rescue me!"
...The who? The name sounds vaguely familiar.
"That's great," I start, watching as they spread out from where they first arrived. Out of the corner of my eye I can see a few pointing down at Suzuka, bindings flashing around her and the monster a moment later. "But how about you tell me who they are again, and why I shouldn't be struggling to get free like Fate?"
"Eh? I've told you about them before, though, just this morning! The TSAB are–"
"Attention!" Yuuno's interrupted by one of the mage, a small black-haired boy in an all-encompassing black cloak, speaking loudly towards us.
"This is Chrono Harlaown, of the Time-Space Administrative Bureau, here to arrest one Fate Testarossa!" He looks towards her, the girl herself freezing and turning pale as a ghost as she hears those words. "You're under arrest for theft of Class XXX Lost Logia, alongside numerous other crimes both petty and severe. You shall be held aboard the L-Class spaceship Arthra, captained by Lindy Harlaown, before being transported to Mid-Childa for processing of your crimes. Everyone else, please wait calmly as we secure the criminal."
"Fate!" Arf freaks at those words, struggling madly against her binds, making two of the white-clad figures frown and focus to maintain the restraint. With a small pop the bind's suddenly gripping nothing but empty space, Arf shifting to wolf form to escape, at which point she dives desperately at Fate in an attempt to break her free. Orange blasts shoot out towards the new arrivals, obscuring their view as they shield, allowing Arf to break Fate's bonds and fly rapidly away from them in the moment of distraction.
"Halt!" Cursing, the TSAB members pursue, Chrono heading up the group as a black blur through the air. "Fate Testarossa and Familiar, cease this at once! You're in a dimensional barrier, there's nowhere to run!"
Fate evidently didn't care, firing a few lightning ball back at her pursuers as she fled and darting between skyscrapers with Arf in a weaving attempt to lose them. The chasing group splits up, half darting around in a pincer movement as they pursue her behind a building at speed; there's a white flash of light and a great rumble, before the top of the barrier shatters into hundreds of panes of light scattering towards the ground. The world shudders and shakes around us, like an earthquake but in mid-air; it only subsides when the shards finally vanish.
When the TSAB group come back into sight a few moments later, they're visibly depressed, as well as looking somewhat shaken by whatever happened. Chrono flies over to me, hovering a few metres before my bound form. Then, with a gesture towards a colleague, he releases me.
"Miss Nanoha Takamichi?" He asks, voice professional but sounding frustrated. I blink, wondering how he knows my name, but nod an affirmative. "Right. We'll need you to come aboard the Arthra, as well as–" he glances down at Suzuka, before moving his gaze towards Yuuno, "a few others for questioning. I hope this won't be a problem?"
I look to Yuuno, who's nodding his head.
"Can I call my parents first?" I ask.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
The previous chapter had some hints that all was not according to canon. For this chapter, we had canon taken out back and shot. With a cannon.
I wonder if you can spot the overarching theme of the changes? It isn't a single point of divergence, or anything like that; it's more to do with the concept of writing itself. Mizuki remembers the same canon as us, if you're wondering.
I wonder if you can spot the overarching theme of the changes? It isn't a single point of divergence, or anything like that; it's more to do with the concept of writing itself. Mizuki remembers the same canon as us, if you're wondering.
The ship was shot down higher up in the atmosphere, or going at a higher speed, so the Jewel Seeds were scattered over a larger section of the planet instead of just Japan?
Yeeaaaahhhh, that sounds just a little bit messier.
And I'm going to guess Nanoha and company are basically international heroes *Looks at Suzuka*... Well, getting there anyway. Poor Suzuka, I can already guess what happened with her if not the exact context.
Yeeaaaahhhh, that sounds just a little bit messier.
And I'm going to guess Nanoha and company are basically international heroes *Looks at Suzuka*... Well, getting there anyway. Poor Suzuka, I can already guess what happened with her if not the exact context.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
The Japanese media is not helping.
The jewel seed, however, is Halping. She'd have serious PTSD by now if it wasn't.
I didn't even think about the Japanese culture angle, just the human one. Yikes.
Well, I'd be worried if it was just the Jewel Seed, but Nanoha "No More Sad Eyes" Takamichi is there as well. Suzuka's probably in some of the best hands she could be this side of the multi-verse between Nanoha and her dad... Shiro I think?
And they're about to meet Mizu. Eldritch, moeblob, fluffball... person? That fell apart. Point being, as long as Mizu doesn't hit a landmine, then it should be a good meeting I think.
*Shrug* Everyone knows SV-ers are hug-sluts, so Mizu will probably be able to spot at least that much. Even with the birdbrain.
The end of last chapter is pretty much the end of this one. Just a little before it.
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
...I'm not sure how to react to this. I'd never even heard of the term 'hug-slut' before now.
As Shadow mentioned, chapter six is showing the ending events from chapter five (and leadup to them) from a different point of view, - Suzuka's, mostly, with a bit of Nanoha at the end. It's also a bit different in that Suzuka didn't toss the croc into a skyscraper here, by dint of my writing ch5 before I'd plotted out how ch6's fight would go, exactly. I should probably see about fixing that.
*Snrk* What can I say, I heard it in a quest not too long ago when we went full hug-blob on someone because SV no word well.
Or; if someone's hurting and we don't know what to say, we usually end up hugging them... we usually end up hugging them anyway actually.
A lurker came on and (fondly) called us a bunch of hug-sluts. *Shrug* It's true and it stuck in my head anyway.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Mizuki's still hurt. She might show up, but she's also likely to be confused -- there's a large difference between 'cute anime character' and 'real, traumatized young girl' -- reminding you that Nanoha and Suzuka are about four years younger than she is. (She's the same age as Chrono.)
There's nothing terribly eldritch about her, honestly. There are plenty of bloodlines in TSAB space with some degree of enhanced regeneration, Mizuki's is just a little above average. And "moeblob"...? She's almost aggressively plain, actually.
As for Shiro -- yeah, Suzuka is in good hands there. Unfortunately he does have some combat experience... ...which has lead to them spending a lot of time training, lately.
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Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
*checks ages*
Uh, Baughn, it's the other way around. Nanoha, Suzuka, Fate, etc. are 9 or so, while Mizuki and Chrono are 14.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
"Oh hey! I can see my intestines. Hi Mister Intestine!"
Between the avatar pic and the way Mizu acts... yes, moeblob. *Shrug*And "moeblob"...? She's almost aggressively plain, actually.
Mizu's already wandering around and Seer, so... *Shrug* I thought she/he'd be there to meet them. Maybe.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
That still does not make her eldritch... wouldn't Suzuka have a better claim?
Read And Find Out.
But I take object to the 'moeblob' claim. She's intended to be plain-looking; a girl-next-door type, nowhere near as pretty as Alicia or even Nanoha, nor as charismatic. Of course you're hardcoded to find children cute, but... Let's do a comparison. She'd be a lot cuter if she cared enough to care for her appearance. Mizuki is too busy studying to brush her hair properly, it seems.
And not really a "bird-brain".
Moeblobs:
Mizuki:
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OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
Mizuki:
Average girl, so moe~.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Don't make me reach for the "pitchfork" rating.