OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
Probably be awhile. >.>'
Have some sleeping issues and started to feel more awake and not awake at the same time. At least I'm technically more coherent right now, so I could reread again here.
Pathfinding for Beginners (Pathfinder/Nanoha)
- Thread starter Mizu
- Start date
Probably be awhile. >.>'
Have some sleeping issues and started to feel more awake and not awake at the same time. At least I'm technically more coherent right now, so I could reread again here.
Thankfully, it seems likely that this is a case of Mizuki being an unreliable narrator. All that "everybody hates me now" stuff is just coming from her perspective and is unconfirmed at the moment.
On the other hand, everything that's different from canon is worse, and Mizuki's presence has had a net negative effect (what with completely traumatizing Nanoha, to the point of giving her PTSD), so I agree that it's just not very fun to read right now.
Lindy Interlude
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
Lindy's first impression of London is—chaos. Cars, bicycles, and more people in a single street than she thinks can be found in the entire capital of Mid-Childa. That's an exaggeration, she knows, but not an enormous one; if there is one thing UA-97 is not short on, it's people. And the noise! People shouting, cars roaring, and everywhere there are the sounds of machinery. Construction vehicles, buzzes from the streetlights, the howl of sirens…
It's with a marked sense of relief that she leaves the main street to enter former admiral Graham's driveway. Built in the corner of a park, his house is technically still inside city limits—but it's quiet. She likes quiet.
Though, house? It's really more of a mansion. There's a single-story house, but sprawling, and set in a garden larger than it is. A wall, taller than her, and topped with greenery. Ancient-looking and solid, even though she knows it's been here scarcely ten years. Graham's doing well for himself.
The overall impression is imposing; everything shouts that here lives someone of the better sort, but it also looks like a home. There are tiny signs: A swing in the garden, an in-progress chess set on the patio. It's clean, but not too clean. It also doesn't look like Graham's type of place, and she wonders…
A wooden door. Thick oaken timbers, darkened by age and soot, but polished and well cared-for.
Lindy raps the steel doorknocker against it, thumping a staccato beat against the wood. The sound echoes through the driveway, through the immaculately maintained gardens and past the small road of finely ground gravel, and she waits a few seconds for a response from the depths of the mansion.
"Coming!"
There's a faint cry from within, muffled and barely heard, alongside the rapid patter of shoes on tile. A few seconds later the door swings open, well-oiled hinges offended at the very idea of squeaking, and Lindy finds herself face-to-face with a teenage girl right on the cusp of adulthood. She's got long, pale brown hair which is currently tied back into a loose ponytail, a black t-shirt boldly proclaiming allegiance to an oasis—Lindy blinks, wondering if her translator is on the fritz—and a tight pair of skinny jeans which hug her legs like a second skin. Bright blue eyes blink slowly at Lindy, puzzlement painting itself across her face, before being chased away a moment later by recognition.
"Ah! It's Lindy!"
"...Pardon?" Lindy blinks, thrown, and looks at the girl more closely. Let down the hair, swap to a uniform, add cat ears and a tail, and— "Aria? Is that you?"
"Yes, miss Captain, sir!" The girl grins, saluting, before shifting free of the posture with a giggle. "Man, though, I never expected to see you here at all. Should've known from that mess in Cairo, though—cute little Chrono leading the charge like that, of course you'll be around too. I'm guessing you're here to see dad?"
"That's right." Lindy nods, smiling, and tries to squash her surprise from Aria's appearance. It's a far cry from when she last saw the girl, but they are retired now. "Is he in? I've got some things I want to discuss with him."
"Oh, yeah, let me just fetch him." Aria moves back, walking deeper into the house, and waves a hand vaguely back towards Lindy as she does. "Follow me, I'll take you to the living room beforehand. This place is so big, you're sure to get lost if I just throw a set of directions at you."
As requested, Lindy enters and begins following the catgirl familiar. The mansion's insides prove just as rich as the outside, well-made carpets and solid furniture resting whichever way she turns. Paintings adorn the walls, of local wildlife, cityscape and impressive mountainous landscapes. She's led down a corridor to a small room, lit by sunshine through large glass windows while a number of soft chairs rest around a small table in the center. Off to one side is a bookshelf, while behind the table lies a small fireplace.
"Just be a sec," Aria promises, leaving Lindy to peruse the room as soon as she's waved inside, the door swinging shut with a soft click as Aria leaves. Looking about Lindy spots a few photograph resting on the fireplace till, depicting Graham in military dress, Lotte and Aria frolicking in kitten form, and a young girl smiling gleefully as she's carried about on Aria's shoulders through a forest. Who…?
The door swings open, silent but for the faint gust of air it brings, and Lindy's pondering is forgotten as she turns towards the entrance. Graham steps through the door, grey hair combed smoothly and beard neatly trimmed, in contrast to the pale blue jeans and white shirt he's wearing.
"Captain Lindy." Graham nods, polite as ever, and walks over to one of the chairs; with a sigh, he shifts down into it, resting his hands on his lap as he looks up at her. "Sit down, dear, sit down. How have you been? How's Chrono?"
They chatter about nothing of importance for a while. It can't last, and Lindy knows it, but it's good simply to catch up with an old friend this way. Graham looks good, and if there are new worry-lines etched into his face, she chalks it up to simple aging. That, or…
"Anyway, that's not why I'm here." Lindy continues, the faint smile on her face fading as she does. "Graham, why haven't you been doing anything about all this? Lost Logia running amok on your home planet, transforming people into monsters or causing mass destruction, not to mention the numerous clashes between Nanoha and Fate ever since this all began—why haven't you intervened? Contacted the TSAB for aid, if you brought a drone? Sent Lotte and Aria off to rescue people and seal seeds themselves—they're certainly capable enough—if for some reason you cannot, yourself? Retirement or not, this threatens your entire home, so… why?"
There's silence after Lindy finishes, Graham's expression inscrutable, before his mouth droops in a frown as he sighs. "I know. You're right, of course, and from your perspective I must seem to be sticking my head in the sand hoping it'll all go away if I ignore it enough, but I assure you there are reasons for my behavior. First, until you arrived I have been contacting TSAB, driving a message into the Interdimensional Sea every few days, as hard as I can—but you're well aware that unless someone's passing by right that moment I'm essentially wasting my time."
He barks out a short laugh, smiling wryly, and spreads his hands. "No local Church building here for me to visit, full of interdimensional communication equipment, after all. I'm stuck. What else can I do but hope?"
"A fair bit." Lindy retorts, frowning. "You've changed, Graham. The man I knew wouldn't let an inability to call for reinforcements paralyze him into inaction. He'd barrel into the problem, trying to solve it as hard as he could, to the best of his ability. Yet here you are, just sitting here, doing nothing to help the situation whatsoever—if you can't actively assist in the hunt, why didn't you aid in another way? Contact Nanoha and offer to train her in magic, like the twins did for Chrono? You've seen how outmatched she is by Fate, the whole world has, so why didn't you approach her?"
Graham sighs again, glancing at the fireplace photographs sadly, and opens his mouth. Before he can speak, though, he's interrupted by knocking on the door, a trio of sharp raps followed by a young voice calling out towards them.
"Dad? Want some refreshments? Aria told me you had a guest, so I thought you might like something to eat while you talk. Can I come in?"
"Yes, dear, of course!" Graham's expression undergoes an instant metamorphosis, sadness and regret melting away in the waves of paternal warmth flowing off him. As the door swings open, Lindy sees why, in the form of a wheelchair-bound, brown-haired young girl slowly trying to make her way into the room without dropping the tray resting on her lap. Graham shifts upright to assist her, grasping the grips of the wheelchair as he guides her in towards their seats.
"This is Holly, my adopted daughter." Graham introduces the girl as she begins unloading her tray. "We've been family for several years now. Lotte and Aria are assisting me in looking after her, and she's part of the reason I couldn't do as you said. A big part."
Holly looks at Lindy curiously as she unloads tea, cake and biscuits onto the table, eyes roaming over her uniform, hair and the tattoo on her forehead with interest. All she gives is a polite smile, though, and once finished wheels her way back through the door quietly.
As soon as the door shuts, Graham droops, slipping back into his chair with a sad smile. "I love her, Lindy. I'd do anything for her. And if I, or Aria and Lotte, try to assist in the Seed incidents, we might never see her again. She doesn't know anything about magic, about my job or the nature of the twins—all she knows is I'm retired military—and I want to keep it like that. That's why I haven't tried to assist, or sent the twins off to tutor Nanoha; she'd notice, they're too close for her not to, and I just… don't want that.
"All I could do was watch restlessly from the sidelines as these events happened, hoping a passing TSAB patrol would pick up my broadcast before it got bad enough I'd be forced to intervene, and the risk of my origins becoming known which that'd trigger. I'm sorry."
Lindy grimaces, sipping her tea, as the reminder of her own actions flash across her mind. The rumours, images and video going viral across Earth's internet, ever since Chrono and his force leapt into the fray above Cairo, despite how careful they were to minimize it. Graham… he'd end up like Nanoha, unable to minimize it. Unable to hide away from the world, hoping things will die down and people will forget.
"I understand." She sighs, a sad smile on her lips, and nods. "I won't ask you to disturb the life you've build here. The family you've formed." Standing up, she places the tea back down on the table with a small clink, and makes her way to the door. Before she leaves, she looks back one last time.
"Enjoy your retirement, admiral Graham."
It's with a marked sense of relief that she leaves the main street to enter former admiral Graham's driveway. Built in the corner of a park, his house is technically still inside city limits—but it's quiet. She likes quiet.
Though, house? It's really more of a mansion. There's a single-story house, but sprawling, and set in a garden larger than it is. A wall, taller than her, and topped with greenery. Ancient-looking and solid, even though she knows it's been here scarcely ten years. Graham's doing well for himself.
The overall impression is imposing; everything shouts that here lives someone of the better sort, but it also looks like a home. There are tiny signs: A swing in the garden, an in-progress chess set on the patio. It's clean, but not too clean. It also doesn't look like Graham's type of place, and she wonders…
A wooden door. Thick oaken timbers, darkened by age and soot, but polished and well cared-for.
Lindy raps the steel doorknocker against it, thumping a staccato beat against the wood. The sound echoes through the driveway, through the immaculately maintained gardens and past the small road of finely ground gravel, and she waits a few seconds for a response from the depths of the mansion.
"Coming!"
There's a faint cry from within, muffled and barely heard, alongside the rapid patter of shoes on tile. A few seconds later the door swings open, well-oiled hinges offended at the very idea of squeaking, and Lindy finds herself face-to-face with a teenage girl right on the cusp of adulthood. She's got long, pale brown hair which is currently tied back into a loose ponytail, a black t-shirt boldly proclaiming allegiance to an oasis—Lindy blinks, wondering if her translator is on the fritz—and a tight pair of skinny jeans which hug her legs like a second skin. Bright blue eyes blink slowly at Lindy, puzzlement painting itself across her face, before being chased away a moment later by recognition.
"Ah! It's Lindy!"
"...Pardon?" Lindy blinks, thrown, and looks at the girl more closely. Let down the hair, swap to a uniform, add cat ears and a tail, and— "Aria? Is that you?"
"Yes, miss Captain, sir!" The girl grins, saluting, before shifting free of the posture with a giggle. "Man, though, I never expected to see you here at all. Should've known from that mess in Cairo, though—cute little Chrono leading the charge like that, of course you'll be around too. I'm guessing you're here to see dad?"
"That's right." Lindy nods, smiling, and tries to squash her surprise from Aria's appearance. It's a far cry from when she last saw the girl, but they are retired now. "Is he in? I've got some things I want to discuss with him."
"Oh, yeah, let me just fetch him." Aria moves back, walking deeper into the house, and waves a hand vaguely back towards Lindy as she does. "Follow me, I'll take you to the living room beforehand. This place is so big, you're sure to get lost if I just throw a set of directions at you."
As requested, Lindy enters and begins following the catgirl familiar. The mansion's insides prove just as rich as the outside, well-made carpets and solid furniture resting whichever way she turns. Paintings adorn the walls, of local wildlife, cityscape and impressive mountainous landscapes. She's led down a corridor to a small room, lit by sunshine through large glass windows while a number of soft chairs rest around a small table in the center. Off to one side is a bookshelf, while behind the table lies a small fireplace.
"Just be a sec," Aria promises, leaving Lindy to peruse the room as soon as she's waved inside, the door swinging shut with a soft click as Aria leaves. Looking about Lindy spots a few photograph resting on the fireplace till, depicting Graham in military dress, Lotte and Aria frolicking in kitten form, and a young girl smiling gleefully as she's carried about on Aria's shoulders through a forest. Who…?
The door swings open, silent but for the faint gust of air it brings, and Lindy's pondering is forgotten as she turns towards the entrance. Graham steps through the door, grey hair combed smoothly and beard neatly trimmed, in contrast to the pale blue jeans and white shirt he's wearing.
"Captain Lindy." Graham nods, polite as ever, and walks over to one of the chairs; with a sigh, he shifts down into it, resting his hands on his lap as he looks up at her. "Sit down, dear, sit down. How have you been? How's Chrono?"
They chatter about nothing of importance for a while. It can't last, and Lindy knows it, but it's good simply to catch up with an old friend this way. Graham looks good, and if there are new worry-lines etched into his face, she chalks it up to simple aging. That, or…
"Anyway, that's not why I'm here." Lindy continues, the faint smile on her face fading as she does. "Graham, why haven't you been doing anything about all this? Lost Logia running amok on your home planet, transforming people into monsters or causing mass destruction, not to mention the numerous clashes between Nanoha and Fate ever since this all began—why haven't you intervened? Contacted the TSAB for aid, if you brought a drone? Sent Lotte and Aria off to rescue people and seal seeds themselves—they're certainly capable enough—if for some reason you cannot, yourself? Retirement or not, this threatens your entire home, so… why?"
There's silence after Lindy finishes, Graham's expression inscrutable, before his mouth droops in a frown as he sighs. "I know. You're right, of course, and from your perspective I must seem to be sticking my head in the sand hoping it'll all go away if I ignore it enough, but I assure you there are reasons for my behavior. First, until you arrived I have been contacting TSAB, driving a message into the Interdimensional Sea every few days, as hard as I can—but you're well aware that unless someone's passing by right that moment I'm essentially wasting my time."
He barks out a short laugh, smiling wryly, and spreads his hands. "No local Church building here for me to visit, full of interdimensional communication equipment, after all. I'm stuck. What else can I do but hope?"
"A fair bit." Lindy retorts, frowning. "You've changed, Graham. The man I knew wouldn't let an inability to call for reinforcements paralyze him into inaction. He'd barrel into the problem, trying to solve it as hard as he could, to the best of his ability. Yet here you are, just sitting here, doing nothing to help the situation whatsoever—if you can't actively assist in the hunt, why didn't you aid in another way? Contact Nanoha and offer to train her in magic, like the twins did for Chrono? You've seen how outmatched she is by Fate, the whole world has, so why didn't you approach her?"
Graham sighs again, glancing at the fireplace photographs sadly, and opens his mouth. Before he can speak, though, he's interrupted by knocking on the door, a trio of sharp raps followed by a young voice calling out towards them.
"Dad? Want some refreshments? Aria told me you had a guest, so I thought you might like something to eat while you talk. Can I come in?"
"Yes, dear, of course!" Graham's expression undergoes an instant metamorphosis, sadness and regret melting away in the waves of paternal warmth flowing off him. As the door swings open, Lindy sees why, in the form of a wheelchair-bound, brown-haired young girl slowly trying to make her way into the room without dropping the tray resting on her lap. Graham shifts upright to assist her, grasping the grips of the wheelchair as he guides her in towards their seats.
"This is Holly, my adopted daughter." Graham introduces the girl as she begins unloading her tray. "We've been family for several years now. Lotte and Aria are assisting me in looking after her, and she's part of the reason I couldn't do as you said. A big part."
Holly looks at Lindy curiously as she unloads tea, cake and biscuits onto the table, eyes roaming over her uniform, hair and the tattoo on her forehead with interest. All she gives is a polite smile, though, and once finished wheels her way back through the door quietly.
As soon as the door shuts, Graham droops, slipping back into his chair with a sad smile. "I love her, Lindy. I'd do anything for her. And if I, or Aria and Lotte, try to assist in the Seed incidents, we might never see her again. She doesn't know anything about magic, about my job or the nature of the twins—all she knows is I'm retired military—and I want to keep it like that. That's why I haven't tried to assist, or sent the twins off to tutor Nanoha; she'd notice, they're too close for her not to, and I just… don't want that.
"All I could do was watch restlessly from the sidelines as these events happened, hoping a passing TSAB patrol would pick up my broadcast before it got bad enough I'd be forced to intervene, and the risk of my origins becoming known which that'd trigger. I'm sorry."
Lindy grimaces, sipping her tea, as the reminder of her own actions flash across her mind. The rumours, images and video going viral across Earth's internet, ever since Chrono and his force leapt into the fray above Cairo, despite how careful they were to minimize it. Graham… he'd end up like Nanoha, unable to minimize it. Unable to hide away from the world, hoping things will die down and people will forget.
"I understand." She sighs, a sad smile on her lips, and nods. "I won't ask you to disturb the life you've build here. The family you've formed." Standing up, she places the tea back down on the table with a small clink, and makes her way to the door. Before she leaves, she looks back one last time.
"Enjoy your retirement, admiral Graham."
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Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
Turns out this wouldn't fit in the next chapter after all, so you're getting it now. As is probably evident, I've shifted to 3rd person present for this, and would appreciate opinions on how well it works, and whether you'd prefer non-Mizuki POV to be like this or not.
Heh. Lindy is just impossible to read because she's honestly so socially adept a lie would be easy for her.
Not sure if she immediately realized Holly was Hayate and intelligently decided to wait to act until she had her ducks in a row... Or if she was fooled.
Not sure if she immediately realized Holly was Hayate and intelligently decided to wait to act until she had her ducks in a row... Or if she was fooled.
OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
So giving her a life before the book activates then? Ouch if I'm right, that is going to hurt a lot if he goes through with it.
Kinda curious why he chose to adopt her instead of going with his canon route of being something of her mysterious sponsor that gives her money to live off of though.
-edit-
Did the book not go to her like he wished? But then again her paralyze legs were because of said book.
Kinda curious why he chose to adopt her instead of going with his canon route of being something of her mysterious sponsor that gives her money to live off of though.
-edit-
Did the book not go to her like he wished? But then again her paralyze legs were because of said book.
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Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
This is basically right.
Graham originally intended to follow his canon plan... That is, until he made the fatal mistake of visiting her. Adopting her was difficult, but he's nothing if not resourceful.
He wasn't the one who decided where the Book would go. He merely took advantage once it did.
We're talking about the guy who made his cats into familiars so they'd live longer, then adopted them as daughters.
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OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
Good way to get the book filled completely though. Drain the jewel unless that only works on linker cores. Then there is the possible disaster of Hayate picking up a seed and making a wish which makes everything very, very complicated and possibly world ending.
Don't think that would work. It doesn't just drain the magic from Linker Cores, it copies and steals the spells as well. If I remember correctly that was the book's original purpose before being corrupted: a library of spells.
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
Lindy, socially adept? Didn't she muck on Japanese culture to the point Nanoha kept fidgeting with a barely-restrained desire to correct her when they had tea in the Arthra somtime in season one?
The Book of Darkness's design purpose is to act as a living repository of spells, likely made with the hope of retaining magical knowledge even if society is whacked back down to medieval due to the Belkan empire imploding from civil war at the time. After it got corrupted, it continued this trend, collecting 'pages' for the book via draining the linker core of magical beings and mage - you can't just repeatedly drain the same mage either, as far as I know; it's a once-off thing.
As for the book treating Jewel Seed as an easy source of raw magic, that's a bit uncertain. We never saw them interact in canon, so we've got no guidelines from there, but you make a good point that it's still quite the risk for Hayate. Graham has good reason to be concerned, really - who knows how to Logia interact when meeting? They're lost tech for a reason!
@Baughn, can you answer this for me? You know Pathfinder better, and I suspect I'd stuff something if I tried to explain here.
OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
Considering the jewel seeds interact with eachother unstably... I'd assume an explosion may or may not be involved if they interact with the book. Or the book would drain them.
One of the two. ^.^
-edit-
The book isn't picky about the target actually having spells after all, just a linker core type of thing. Considering all the animals that were killed to fill it in canon.
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Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Well, I mean... we haven't explicitly talked it over, so the below is subject to change.
As a matter of historical record, Mizuki isn't healing as fast as Pathfinder base rules would have her heal. Characters heal 1 HP per night; Mizuki is a third-level wizard, giving her 2d6+6 hit points -- a total of 8 to 18, depending on luck. She hit 0 HP while running away from House, so at most it'd take her two and a half weeks to recover, assuming that none of the TSAB's treatment helped in any way save for stabilization. That assumption is, of course, insane. It's been about three weeks since those events, so she ought to be fully healed by now, and she's obviously not.
On the other hand, by Pathfinder rules, characters get tougher as they level up while simultaneously becoming harder to heal. This makes relatively little sense; it isn't how biology works, and even if you assume magic is involved, you have to resort to some sort of spiritual shield that's charged by normal healing as well as cure spells... somehow. As a game mechanic, it's fine; it means you need more powerful/expensive healing spells as the game proceeds, and low-level characters can reasonably speaking heal each other under combat conditions without making the same trivial at high levels. For a story, it leaves something to be desired; the moment you try to explain the mechanics, or show their effect, you have twist physics into a pretzel.
The solution I'd go for is to remove HP increases on level-up. Mizuki starts off not-as-squishy, at somewhere around 30 HP, but unless she improves her constitution she'll never go above that. Training ("level-ups") instead act by improving her ability to not get hurt, and unless she starts doing explicit combat training that isn't just target practice on Nanoha, she won't get any better at that. On the other hand, spells like Mage Armor are far more reliable than in D&D; it'll block a thrown dagger with anything less than superhuman force behind it, regardless of luck, though the inertia behind a heavily swung sword could punch through. As can arrows, through focusing more force on a smaller area and carrying more kinetic energy; Protection From Arrows exists for a reason.
This provides approximately the correct scaling for healing spells. It also means she'll take about a month to heal up from "dying", which is where she was at. It may not be as obvious, but she's in far less pain now than she was three chapters ago. It's a good bit faster than normal humans, but not so fast as to be remarkable; there are bloodlines which can heal mortal wounds in minutes. No-one like that is currently on-board the Arthra, mind you.
Unseelie
(Verified True Fae)
- Location
- Tír fo Thuinn
Not...really? It's 1 HP per night per level, not just 1 HP per night.
But I noticed that you changed the healing anyway (and said so), my question was about which rules you DO follow (and where the +2 attribute bonus went).
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Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Ah, missed this.
Basically, none. This story is a story, not RAW, and we're not rolling dice. Things get adjusted for verisimilitude rather than game balance, and the numbers I give should not be taken as solid and unmovable affairs.
Chapter Nine
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
Chapter 9
Sleeping at a cafe table doesn't lend itself to comfortable rest, I discover upon waking, shifting upright with a wince at how numb half my face feels. The light shining in through the cafe's windows has shifted position a bit, alongside a small group of customers coming for the midday meal, and glancing at the clock reveals I didn't sleep too long after my apology to Nanoha's family; at most half an hour's passed.
Which, judging by Kyouya's expression as he looks my way, may be a good thing. My reputation's tattered enough already that I really don't want to push the limits of the Takamichis' famous Japanese politeness.
Guilt churns within me again, thinking of how spooked Nanoha's been since our fight, and I try to think of what I can possibly do to apologize. Especially when she doesn't feel it's my fault. I don't know her well enough, but… Little kids like sweets, right? Sweets, toys and cute clothing? Can't do anything about the latter two at the moment, not without knowing what she likes, but Midori-ya does serve confectionary goods…
I thumb my own uniform-dress. It's okay, but not as cute as Nanoha's usual outfit, or even the shorts-wearing blonde girl just lining up for cake.
Goal decided, I stand and make my own way to the counter, waiting behind the few people remaining in the cafe to be served my apology food— there's some delicious-looking chocolate cake displayed on a plate which looks like it'll work. Waiting patiently as the line progresses, a snippet of conversation from Kyouya catches my ear as that same girl steps up—
"Oh, you're here again Alicia-chan?"
—and makes me frown in vague recognition. Peering past the man ahead of me reveals the small girl being handed a plate of cake, wearing a baseball cap over her ponytail alongside a tan jacket and sunglasses. She's noticeably foreign, which has my attention just from the rarity in homogenous Japan, but coupled with the name and her hair, alongside her approximate age…
I think that's Fate. Fate's here, in Midori-ya, for some unknown, possibly nefarious reason. Plus cake.
The line moves on as she steps away from the counter, going to sit down at a table with a clear view of the entrance. She's quiet, eating her cake slowly with a listless expression on her face, and it's not until Kyouya coughs for my attention that I realize I've been watching her silently while the line advances. Drawing my attention back to him, I quickly buy a few slices of the same cake—Kyouya staring stony-faced at me all the while—before walking over to where Fate's perched herself.
I look her over. She's cute, that's for sure, and it's the sort of cuteness that her attempts at camouflage are doing nothing to hide, but that just might be because she's terrible at it. She'll be stunning when she's older; right now, she looks like a mopy kid. She's got her cake, which she's picking at with a fork and pushing around on the plate rather than actually eating.
"Hello, Fate," I say, sitting down. That gets a reaction, all right; she jumps halfway to her feet, stopping only when she sees that no-one else is paying attention. I make a show of leaning on my hands, demonstrating that I've nothing up my sleeves.
It's kind of uncomfortable, watching this visibly paranoid nine-year-old. She's still looking around, scanning the room for threats; if she hadn't had a half-eaten cake to worry about, I think she might have shot me, or bolted, and I'm intimidatingly conscious of being the squishy in the room. Nanoha is right, though, she doesn't look happy. A kid like her should be playing and having fun, not fighting her best friend over artifacts of power.
My eyes soften. Her and Nanoha have barely talked yet, and only while fighting, but Nanoha is still her best friend. Her only friend, no thanks to her mother, but someone who's going to be her life partner. Maybe I couldn't have seen her this way if I didn't know where the story is going, but I do—Fate is a good girl, kinder even than Nanoha, and she hates to see anyone hurt. What her mother is doing is horrible. Making a nine-year-old fight is already bad, and unlike Nanoha, I don't think Fate enjoys it.
Kids like her should not be looking at girls like me with fear in their eyes, afraid even to move.
"If you're looking for Nanoha, she's upstairs," I quietly say. "I won't tell anyone you're here, so can we talk?"
While she's mulling it over, I push one of my own chocolate cakes over to her side. She looks between it and me, mouth slightly open, then eventually she sits back down.
She's just a kid, after all.
"So," I start. Fate picks up a slice before pausing to look at me. Something niggles my memory at the sight—she used her right hand—but I brush it off, not sure why it'd matter. "How come you're here, Fate? In Midori-ya, dressed as you are? First thought is you're scouting out Nanoha's folks to hold them hostage, but that doesn't really fit your behavior."
The girl blinks, looking shaken by the very idea. Slowly, she places the cake down again, before licking her lips and replying. "Nanoha. She hasn't shown up since the last fight, so I was looking for her, and keeping watch on her home seemed my best chance. I've… got something to tell her."
Couldn't find Nanoha? Well, she's been on the Arthra almost every waking second this past week, come to think of it, and invading the enemy base to talk to someone would be suicidally dumb.
"What is it?" I ask, only to get a shake of the head and sealed lips as my response. Further attempts at persuasion fail right out of the gate, the girl adamant that she'll only tell Nanoha and growing twitchier and more uncomfortable the more I probe. I sigh. It isn't odd at all, of course.
I want to help her. In canon—that is, maybe, if I hadn't been here—she had to get beaten to a pulp by Nanoha, and then be utterly rejected by her mother before she even considered 'betraying' her. I don't like Precia, but I like Fate, and I don't want her to have to go through that if I can possibly help it, but I don't know how to do that. I can't help her if she doesn't trust me, and she doesn't trust anyone. I have an idea, though. It might be a stupid one.
"She's a nice girl, isn't she."
I let that statement sit in the air while I reach into my purse for some photographs. Fate reacts slowly, but when she does, I almost want to take it back; she ducks her head, expression a strange combination of pride and vulnerability. Then I put the photos on the table.
"...What are these?"
"Important memories."
There are three of them in a row. A metal chamber, scorched by spellfire and with some broken lights; there are divots cut into the walls where Nanoha went berserk. An older girl--Aerith--strapped down in medbay with a grimace on her face. And Nanoha, on a couch, holding Suzuka and me with a death grip, all three of us asleep. It would be cute if I didn't know the background.
Lindy gave them to me afterwards, saying she'll forgive me so long as I don't forget.
"I kind of traumatized Nanoha yesterday," I say. "And I don't mean that as a joke. I didn't mean to, but we were sparring, and I wasn't thinking, and I think I really hurt her. Not physically—" Fate looked up at me, eyes alarmed, so I hastily correct myself. "—but she cried herself to sleep afterwards, and I think she's terrified of spiders now, and it's my fault. It sucked. Everyone is mad at me… well, except for Nanoha, she insists it's nothing."
"...she does that," Fate whispers.
"That's the impression I got. How do you apologise to someone who doesn't think you did anything wrong?"
Fate doesn't respond, so I lower my head and pick at my own slice of cake. It's… good. Very chocolatey, very sweet, but not just a solid lump of sugar. I swallow a lump in my throat along with the cake.
"You can't," Fate says. I look up, and find her eyes glued to the table. "All you can do is keep going, and hope they won't hate you."
"You like her, don't you?"
Her fingers whiten, but she doesn't answer. 'She's still the enemy'—is what Fate is telling herself, I'm sure.
"I know what it's like to have someone you'd do anything for. I have an older brother, and a few years ago he got hurt. I couldn't really help at all, but I spent days sleeping at his bedside and running out to search for flowers for him." My voice trembles with emotion. The words aren't quite my own, I don't remember any of this, but there's an old fear and hurt welling up that feels entirely familiar. I try not to let it bother me. "If I could have helped, I think I would have done absolutely anything, so it's probably good that I couldn't.
"We know what you're trying to do," I continue. "About your 'sister'. Trying to revive Alicia isn't wrong, I think, but the way you're going about it is wrong. That many wish-granting artifacts… it can't possibly be safe. The TSAB is here because they're powerful enough to destroy the entire dimension. If that happened, then Nanoha would die as well."
"Stop."
Fate's voice is flat. She scowls at me, biting the words off. "I'm not sure what you're trying, but it won't work. Alicia is my name. I don't have a sister, and Mother wouldn't do anything like that. She told me, she's going to fix everything."
I feel my stomach twisting itself into knots. She doesn't know yet, of course she doesn't know yet. Why didn't I remember?
"Now, are you going to take me to Nanoha or not?"
"...I'll bring her here," I temporize. I need some time to rethink my plan. "Just wait a minute."
————
Kyouya gives me a look as I slip past the counter into Midori-ya's general living quarters, but the customer he is dealing with at the time prevents him doing much beyond that. Moving quickly through the area beyond, in the hopes I won't encounter Momoka and squish my reputation even further, I tiptoe up the stairs onto the second floor and scout the doors for Nanoha's room.
"—visibly disturbed. Frankly, I rather agree that you need some time to recover, and with the TSAB looking for the Seeds it's not like we wouldn't be waiting around anyway."
"But I can't even train anymore, Yuuno! How am I meant to get strong enough to fight Fate when I can't train? Raising Heart, please, just one session? Just one?"
"I am sorry, My Master."
It's rather easy to find when Nanoha's whining can be heard from the top of the stairs, echoing from a partially-open door midway down the corridor. Although the fact she seems more bothered by being barred from training than anything else about the punishment throws me for a bit of a loop. It's… distinctly Nanoha, I admit.
"Hi," I greet as I push open the door, a small smile on my face, and find three pairs of eyes looking my way curiously as I do. Nanoha's sitting on her bed sulkily, Raising Heart in her lap, while Suzuka is holding her hand in what I'd assume is both a show of solidarity and an attempt to comfort her. Yuuno's perched on a chair facing towards them, and looks rather exasperated. "Sorry to interrupt, but we've got a bit of a situation."
"Jewel Seed?" Yuuno's eyes sharpen in an instant, posture shifting, and I see Nanoha's hands clench at the words. "Where's it appeared? What's happening? Are TSAB on the scene yet?"
"Not that kind of situation," I start, and everyone settles down from their sudden tenseness at my words. Then the next ones ratchet it right back up to twelve. "Fate's in the shop below and wants to see Nanoha."
"Fate?!" Yuuno chokes, eyes widening, while a low growl emerges from Suzuka as her hands tense tightly on the bed. Nanoha blinks at me, visibly surprised herself, although notably the least hostile of the three. "What's Fate doing here? Why's she here in the first place? Why hasn't anyone noticed her?!"
"A terrible disguise and lack of good photos, I would assume," I say with a small shrug. "She's sitting at a table near the door, munching on cake, and going by the fact Kyouya recognized her odds are she's been visiting for a while. Calls herself Alicia. She told me she's got something to tell you, Nanoha, but clammed up on anything beyond that, so I figured it'd be a good idea to go fetch you."
Suzuka snorts, her clenched fists glowing faintly, and peels back her lips in a snarl. "Good idea? The girl's a criminal, what's there to talk about? All we've got to do is contact the TSAB, tell them Fate's nearby, and they'll capture her within the hour. Why're you even acting like there's room to debate?"
"Well," I rub my head anxiously, "Because there is? Ignoring the fact I believe her redeemable as a person and that her crimes haven't included murder—" Suzuka snorts disbelievingly, "—she's in a populated area full of civilians and Nanoha's family, and is really twitchy to boot. Fate's well aware of the risk she's taking being here, and I wouldn't be surprised if she scampers at the first sign I'm doing anything but fetching Nanoha peacefully for a chat."
Suzuka growls again, hands clenched tight, before giving a small flinch as Nanoha touches her arm. The girl's expression is firm, determined as she looks at me, with maybe the barest hint of hope deeply buried within. "You're sure? Fate said she wants to talk? Nothing else?"
"That's what she said," I confirm with a nod, "although I obviously can't say for sure if she has anything else besides talking planned. Gonna do it?"
"Of course she's not—"
"Yeah."
Suzuka's objection sputters and dies at Nanoha's reply, her mouth hanging open disbelievingly as Nanoha pushes herself to her feet and makes for the door. She's still blinking in disbelief when we emerge back into the shop.
————
Nanoha slumps into a seat opposite Fate, struggling to work up even a facade of curiousity under the disapproving glare of her elder brother behind the counter. A customer dropping a plate behind her almost has the girl leaping for the ceiling, lowering herself back into her seat with a clenched grip, as she tries to pretend nothing at all out of the ordinary just happened.
I'd almost find it funny if I wasn't so guilty over causing it. Nanoha needs help, but I'm not the right person to give it. Fate's flickering expression as she takes it in, given her reaction earlier, suggests that maybe she might be.
Besides, they look so cute together. Fate and Nanoha, together forever… or is it Alicia after all? Fate was what her 'mother' named her after her resurrection, but she has Alicia's memories, and…
"Nanoha." Fate frowns, looking closely at her, and lays her hands flat on the table. Her gaze bores into the girl, focused and determined, as she speaks her next words. "You are my eternal rival, someone I shall forevermore clash against to challenge and improve myself, and I challenge you to a duel."
...Uh.
"The rules are as follows," Fate says, ignoring the people staring at her in various degrees of shock. "It will be a one-on-one match between the two of us, with no outside interference allowed. We each wager our collected Jewel Seeds on the duel, the winner taking the opposing party's collection for themselves. In addition, if I lose I shall peacefully hand myself over. Do you accept?"
I… vaguely recall something like this happening.
"Yes." Nanoha nods, expression firm, focused and unafraid for the first time since she came downstairs. Yuuno gives out a curdled squawk at the agreement, alongside Suzuka's yelp, and they immediately try to convince her to take it back.
"Nanoha, what are you thinking?!" Yuuno whispers rapidly to the girl, face pale and worried as he glances at Fate. "You can't win this, you just can't! Even when it was three on one we barely managed to eke a win, it's impossible for you to beat her on raw skill alone."
"Yeah!" Suzuka agrees, hands clenched. "This is stupid, Nanoha, all you're going to do is lose again! Fate's been at this way longer than us, like years or something, and—"
I recall it happening, but not like this. Nanoha is shaken, not at her best; in the story I remember, Fate was the one who was upset enough to make mistakes. I hesitate, wanting to stop her, but not wanting to make her mad at me. Even though she definitely should be.
"I'm doing it." Nanoha's expression is mulish as she interrupts, lip jutting out as she scowls at her friends. "It'll stop Fate doing bad things, causing problems and hurting you anymore, Suzuka. Everything'll be better if I win, so all I've gotta do is win, right?"
"Yeah, but what if you don't?"
...that's blunt, Yuuno.
"You all… know each other?"
Of course they do, Kyouya. Eh? Wait...
I look up from my fidgeting hands to see Kyouya standing next to us, having abandoned the counter of his deserted cafe to attend to his sister and friends surrounding the sole customer he may have had all day. In retrospect, I really should have seen this coming.
"Alicia-chan?" Kyouya squints at the girl, his forehead wrinkled. "Are they bothering you?"
Fate shakes her head.
"Good…" He gives Suzuka a long glance. "You know you can tell me anything that worries you. Friends, then? From school?"
"She's actually—"
"You know, I found it a little suspicious. Nanoha stops going to school, and two days later, here you are. You must have spent half the week here, but you never asked for her after that first time. I told you I wouldn't tell you to leave, and that you didn't have to explain, but I'm not blind, you know. Little sis… you had this funny tendency of bringing back notes from your principal, as I recall. Tell me, is she being bullied?"
"Nya ha ha… er, no?" Nanoha scratches the back of her head while Suzuka gapes, temporarily lost for words. "I mean, she always looks sad, but calling it 'bullies' would be…"
Kyouya sighs. Then his expression firms, and he looks straight at Fate. "Which basically leaves troubles at home. I assume, if it were something else, you would have said something—but this isn't something I can guess at. If you're in trouble with your father or your mother…"
He trails off. From Fate's sudden ashen, rigid expression, it's obvious why.
"...Too high expectations? Or…" He bites his lip. "Does she touch you? Physically?" A beat. All I can do is watch the train-wreck in progress. Fate hides her reactions well—that is, well for a nine-year-old, so not actually well at all. She's nearly in tears.
"...Fuck, I didn't mean to put it that way."
The fact is that when we got here, I ended up in the seat next to Fate. I'll never know why I did what I do next. Maybe it's because, while shaking her head in denial and looking anywhere but at Kyouya, Suzuka or Nanoha, she ends up looking at me and I can see the unshed tears in her eyes, or maybe it's because I'm still feeling guilty, and I want to make someone feel better. Maybe I'm still confused by her earlier outburst.
I put my hand on top of hers, both of them on top of the table. I can feel it trembling. And I ask her something stupid.
"Fate, are you okay?"
Which is how I get the disbelieving stare of Suzuka, the horror-filled eyes of Nanoha and the rapidly blinking, confused but quickly dawning apprehension of Kyouya all aimed in my direction.
"Fate?" Kyouya mouths the word.
...What? What did I just do?
"Kyouya-nii. Sorry. I'm actually…" Fate hunches in on herself, swallowing hard as she tries to respond. And fails.
Suzuka answers instead, her voice sarcastic. "Yes, exactly. That's Fate. You know, the girl who tried to kill Nanoha and me? That girl?"
Fate stares down at the table with wet eyes, cake thoroughly forgotten, and I get to call myself a dummy once again. Yes, it would have come out, but I'm sure I could have come up with something better than that.
I'm really bad at thinking on my feet.
She takes a shaky breath, then Fate raises her head and glares at Nanoha. I'd call it intimidating, but I'm getting sadder just looking at her. Her voice breaks a little when she speaks.
"...I'm going to finish this. Meet me outside."
I wish I could give her a hug.
——————-
I'm bad at thinking on my feet, but the walk to the dual site gives me a few minutes to think, and I make a few guesses.
Fate is nothing like she was last week. What happened to her while we were hiding on the ship? She doesn't say, but she doesn't move like she's hurt, so I gratefully push her mother down the list of probable causes. If she's already being whipped…
I grimace internally. I only saw it once, but that doesn't mean that Precia hasn't done it already, and I don't know how to help someone like that. It scares me. Even just the thought of trying makes a cold pit grow in my stomach. The last thing I want to do is hurt her, and I don't trust myself anymore.
There's also a slight risk that she'd accidentally kill me, but I'm not nearly as afraid of Fate hurting me as I am of the opposite. She's too fundamentally nice for that.
If the other four knew what I was thinking, they'd look at me like I'm an alien.
'Kyouya-nii,' she said.
I hang back behind the group. Nanoha is mumbling something to her brother that I can't make out, while Suzuka squeezes her hand like she's afraid she'll disappear, but it's Fate's behaviour that's the most heartbreaking. She keeps stealing glances at Kyouya, and I'm—despite recent events—not an idiot. They've somehow gotten close in the week we were away, or at least Fate has gotten attached to Nanoha's brother.
She keeps looking at him, her expression wavering. He doesn't look back. And she looks more like she's going to her execution, than a duel.
I…
It took almost nothing, in canon, for Fate to latch on to Nanoha. I thought that was because of mutual chemistry, that they were 'made for each other'—and maybe they are—but maybe I got that wrong. Maybe it's just that she'd latch on to anyone who shows her any sign of affection. She spent months to years fighting for her mother's, and she tore her heart out to fight when I'm almost sure it's the last thing she wants. So then, if Kyouya actually showed her some concern—
And he's going to reject her. Of course he will. Between some girl, and his own sister—
I open my mouth, wanting to say something, anything, but I don't know what to say. I have to stop him—
I feel a sour taste in my mouth. I'm scared of talking.
And before I can think of anything to say, before I have a chance to drag off Kyouya or explain everything or do anything at all, I'm out of time. Fate stops, her entire posture screaming at me to help her. We're nowhere in particular, just an anonymous alley. I mean… granted, there was no need to go anywhere at all to hold a duel.
"Here is good enough," she says.
And it's too late, I couldn't stop them if I wanted which I do, the kids are focused on each other and I feel numb, like there's a brick stuffed in my mouth and I'm speeding towards a train crash. This feels horrible, and I'm scared, even more than I should be. I want to stop them, but it's like there's a glass wall between me and them, and I feel like if I reach out, or say anything, the world will shatter.
"So? Take out your Jewel Seeds, so I can see that you have them."
Nanoha looks nearly panicked herself, despite Kyouya's grip on her shoulder. I'm not sure, but I think she just realized what she's signed up to do. Suzuka looks angry, like she always does. And Yuuno looks blank, like he doesn't understand how he's gotten in this situation, and he doesn't seem to be following. He's started casting, there's a green circle beneath him, but no-one is paying him any attention.
"You too! How do I know you didn't give them to the TSAB?"
"The TSAB—" Nanoha looks stumped for a second. Then she rallies. "Like I would! You first."
"No, you!"
The feeling builds to a crescendo.
"Same time?" They nod at each other. "One, two—"
Yuuno's head snaps up. "No, stop—"
Nearly two dozen artifacts of untold power phase into reality, split very roughly between the two of them. A bright blue glow snaps into place around Suzuka, strongest at her palm but encompassing her entire body, and where it meets the Seeds it triggers miniature strikes of lightning that, despite their almost tangible potential, fail to penetrate that aura at all.
Three.
Yuuno's circle shatters, green sigils glitching and fuzzing out before rewriting themselves in mid-air. In a bare instant it's like I'm deep inside a jungle, but the now three-dimensional sigils don't look remotely Midchildan. They don't resemble anything I recognise. They look wrong. They're still moving and growing, getting denser while I struggle to think of anything I can do.
"Re-seal the Seeds, now!"
Reality shivers, then twists. To my sides, everywhere except closer to the epicentre, there's nothing but blackness. I take a half-step forwards, and the blackness moves with me. Then it feels like I stick, I'm out of balance and can't move my body backwards, and I nearly fall on my face before I grab a dense vine of sigils. Somehow it holds my weight.
My heart feels like it's trying to tear apart, and not in a metaphorical sense. I recognise this. Anisotropic space, used in most dimensional spells—invariably fatal if badly contained.
I can see the girls; they look terrified. The seeds glow brighter and brighter, an actinic glare that's accompanied by electric snaps and a harsh, ever louder grinding sound. It feels like the world is going to shatter.
Then everything stops moving.
I can't see the Seeds spin anymore, and there's no sound. It takes me a moment, then I notice that the world is slowly growing redder. Nanoha's previously auburn hair is primarily fading to black, but now it also looks like it came out of a bottle.
I don't have the faintest notion of what's going on, and there isn't a single thing I can do when the spell vines begin growing again. The last thing I see is Nanoha's silhouette, now speared by at least a hundred of the things.
Sleeping at a cafe table doesn't lend itself to comfortable rest, I discover upon waking, shifting upright with a wince at how numb half my face feels. The light shining in through the cafe's windows has shifted position a bit, alongside a small group of customers coming for the midday meal, and glancing at the clock reveals I didn't sleep too long after my apology to Nanoha's family; at most half an hour's passed.
Which, judging by Kyouya's expression as he looks my way, may be a good thing. My reputation's tattered enough already that I really don't want to push the limits of the Takamichis' famous Japanese politeness.
Guilt churns within me again, thinking of how spooked Nanoha's been since our fight, and I try to think of what I can possibly do to apologize. Especially when she doesn't feel it's my fault. I don't know her well enough, but… Little kids like sweets, right? Sweets, toys and cute clothing? Can't do anything about the latter two at the moment, not without knowing what she likes, but Midori-ya does serve confectionary goods…
I thumb my own uniform-dress. It's okay, but not as cute as Nanoha's usual outfit, or even the shorts-wearing blonde girl just lining up for cake.
Goal decided, I stand and make my own way to the counter, waiting behind the few people remaining in the cafe to be served my apology food— there's some delicious-looking chocolate cake displayed on a plate which looks like it'll work. Waiting patiently as the line progresses, a snippet of conversation from Kyouya catches my ear as that same girl steps up—
"Oh, you're here again Alicia-chan?"
—and makes me frown in vague recognition. Peering past the man ahead of me reveals the small girl being handed a plate of cake, wearing a baseball cap over her ponytail alongside a tan jacket and sunglasses. She's noticeably foreign, which has my attention just from the rarity in homogenous Japan, but coupled with the name and her hair, alongside her approximate age…
I think that's Fate. Fate's here, in Midori-ya, for some unknown, possibly nefarious reason. Plus cake.
The line moves on as she steps away from the counter, going to sit down at a table with a clear view of the entrance. She's quiet, eating her cake slowly with a listless expression on her face, and it's not until Kyouya coughs for my attention that I realize I've been watching her silently while the line advances. Drawing my attention back to him, I quickly buy a few slices of the same cake—Kyouya staring stony-faced at me all the while—before walking over to where Fate's perched herself.
I look her over. She's cute, that's for sure, and it's the sort of cuteness that her attempts at camouflage are doing nothing to hide, but that just might be because she's terrible at it. She'll be stunning when she's older; right now, she looks like a mopy kid. She's got her cake, which she's picking at with a fork and pushing around on the plate rather than actually eating.
"Hello, Fate," I say, sitting down. That gets a reaction, all right; she jumps halfway to her feet, stopping only when she sees that no-one else is paying attention. I make a show of leaning on my hands, demonstrating that I've nothing up my sleeves.
It's kind of uncomfortable, watching this visibly paranoid nine-year-old. She's still looking around, scanning the room for threats; if she hadn't had a half-eaten cake to worry about, I think she might have shot me, or bolted, and I'm intimidatingly conscious of being the squishy in the room. Nanoha is right, though, she doesn't look happy. A kid like her should be playing and having fun, not fighting her best friend over artifacts of power.
My eyes soften. Her and Nanoha have barely talked yet, and only while fighting, but Nanoha is still her best friend. Her only friend, no thanks to her mother, but someone who's going to be her life partner. Maybe I couldn't have seen her this way if I didn't know where the story is going, but I do—Fate is a good girl, kinder even than Nanoha, and she hates to see anyone hurt. What her mother is doing is horrible. Making a nine-year-old fight is already bad, and unlike Nanoha, I don't think Fate enjoys it.
Kids like her should not be looking at girls like me with fear in their eyes, afraid even to move.
"If you're looking for Nanoha, she's upstairs," I quietly say. "I won't tell anyone you're here, so can we talk?"
While she's mulling it over, I push one of my own chocolate cakes over to her side. She looks between it and me, mouth slightly open, then eventually she sits back down.
She's just a kid, after all.
"So," I start. Fate picks up a slice before pausing to look at me. Something niggles my memory at the sight—she used her right hand—but I brush it off, not sure why it'd matter. "How come you're here, Fate? In Midori-ya, dressed as you are? First thought is you're scouting out Nanoha's folks to hold them hostage, but that doesn't really fit your behavior."
The girl blinks, looking shaken by the very idea. Slowly, she places the cake down again, before licking her lips and replying. "Nanoha. She hasn't shown up since the last fight, so I was looking for her, and keeping watch on her home seemed my best chance. I've… got something to tell her."
Couldn't find Nanoha? Well, she's been on the Arthra almost every waking second this past week, come to think of it, and invading the enemy base to talk to someone would be suicidally dumb.
"What is it?" I ask, only to get a shake of the head and sealed lips as my response. Further attempts at persuasion fail right out of the gate, the girl adamant that she'll only tell Nanoha and growing twitchier and more uncomfortable the more I probe. I sigh. It isn't odd at all, of course.
I want to help her. In canon—that is, maybe, if I hadn't been here—she had to get beaten to a pulp by Nanoha, and then be utterly rejected by her mother before she even considered 'betraying' her. I don't like Precia, but I like Fate, and I don't want her to have to go through that if I can possibly help it, but I don't know how to do that. I can't help her if she doesn't trust me, and she doesn't trust anyone. I have an idea, though. It might be a stupid one.
"She's a nice girl, isn't she."
I let that statement sit in the air while I reach into my purse for some photographs. Fate reacts slowly, but when she does, I almost want to take it back; she ducks her head, expression a strange combination of pride and vulnerability. Then I put the photos on the table.
"...What are these?"
"Important memories."
There are three of them in a row. A metal chamber, scorched by spellfire and with some broken lights; there are divots cut into the walls where Nanoha went berserk. An older girl--Aerith--strapped down in medbay with a grimace on her face. And Nanoha, on a couch, holding Suzuka and me with a death grip, all three of us asleep. It would be cute if I didn't know the background.
Lindy gave them to me afterwards, saying she'll forgive me so long as I don't forget.
"I kind of traumatized Nanoha yesterday," I say. "And I don't mean that as a joke. I didn't mean to, but we were sparring, and I wasn't thinking, and I think I really hurt her. Not physically—" Fate looked up at me, eyes alarmed, so I hastily correct myself. "—but she cried herself to sleep afterwards, and I think she's terrified of spiders now, and it's my fault. It sucked. Everyone is mad at me… well, except for Nanoha, she insists it's nothing."
"...she does that," Fate whispers.
"That's the impression I got. How do you apologise to someone who doesn't think you did anything wrong?"
Fate doesn't respond, so I lower my head and pick at my own slice of cake. It's… good. Very chocolatey, very sweet, but not just a solid lump of sugar. I swallow a lump in my throat along with the cake.
"You can't," Fate says. I look up, and find her eyes glued to the table. "All you can do is keep going, and hope they won't hate you."
"You like her, don't you?"
Her fingers whiten, but she doesn't answer. 'She's still the enemy'—is what Fate is telling herself, I'm sure.
"I know what it's like to have someone you'd do anything for. I have an older brother, and a few years ago he got hurt. I couldn't really help at all, but I spent days sleeping at his bedside and running out to search for flowers for him." My voice trembles with emotion. The words aren't quite my own, I don't remember any of this, but there's an old fear and hurt welling up that feels entirely familiar. I try not to let it bother me. "If I could have helped, I think I would have done absolutely anything, so it's probably good that I couldn't.
"We know what you're trying to do," I continue. "About your 'sister'. Trying to revive Alicia isn't wrong, I think, but the way you're going about it is wrong. That many wish-granting artifacts… it can't possibly be safe. The TSAB is here because they're powerful enough to destroy the entire dimension. If that happened, then Nanoha would die as well."
"Stop."
Fate's voice is flat. She scowls at me, biting the words off. "I'm not sure what you're trying, but it won't work. Alicia is my name. I don't have a sister, and Mother wouldn't do anything like that. She told me, she's going to fix everything."
I feel my stomach twisting itself into knots. She doesn't know yet, of course she doesn't know yet. Why didn't I remember?
"Now, are you going to take me to Nanoha or not?"
"...I'll bring her here," I temporize. I need some time to rethink my plan. "Just wait a minute."
————
Kyouya gives me a look as I slip past the counter into Midori-ya's general living quarters, but the customer he is dealing with at the time prevents him doing much beyond that. Moving quickly through the area beyond, in the hopes I won't encounter Momoka and squish my reputation even further, I tiptoe up the stairs onto the second floor and scout the doors for Nanoha's room.
"—visibly disturbed. Frankly, I rather agree that you need some time to recover, and with the TSAB looking for the Seeds it's not like we wouldn't be waiting around anyway."
"But I can't even train anymore, Yuuno! How am I meant to get strong enough to fight Fate when I can't train? Raising Heart, please, just one session? Just one?"
"I am sorry, My Master."
It's rather easy to find when Nanoha's whining can be heard from the top of the stairs, echoing from a partially-open door midway down the corridor. Although the fact she seems more bothered by being barred from training than anything else about the punishment throws me for a bit of a loop. It's… distinctly Nanoha, I admit.
"Hi," I greet as I push open the door, a small smile on my face, and find three pairs of eyes looking my way curiously as I do. Nanoha's sitting on her bed sulkily, Raising Heart in her lap, while Suzuka is holding her hand in what I'd assume is both a show of solidarity and an attempt to comfort her. Yuuno's perched on a chair facing towards them, and looks rather exasperated. "Sorry to interrupt, but we've got a bit of a situation."
"Jewel Seed?" Yuuno's eyes sharpen in an instant, posture shifting, and I see Nanoha's hands clench at the words. "Where's it appeared? What's happening? Are TSAB on the scene yet?"
"Not that kind of situation," I start, and everyone settles down from their sudden tenseness at my words. Then the next ones ratchet it right back up to twelve. "Fate's in the shop below and wants to see Nanoha."
"Fate?!" Yuuno chokes, eyes widening, while a low growl emerges from Suzuka as her hands tense tightly on the bed. Nanoha blinks at me, visibly surprised herself, although notably the least hostile of the three. "What's Fate doing here? Why's she here in the first place? Why hasn't anyone noticed her?!"
"A terrible disguise and lack of good photos, I would assume," I say with a small shrug. "She's sitting at a table near the door, munching on cake, and going by the fact Kyouya recognized her odds are she's been visiting for a while. Calls herself Alicia. She told me she's got something to tell you, Nanoha, but clammed up on anything beyond that, so I figured it'd be a good idea to go fetch you."
Suzuka snorts, her clenched fists glowing faintly, and peels back her lips in a snarl. "Good idea? The girl's a criminal, what's there to talk about? All we've got to do is contact the TSAB, tell them Fate's nearby, and they'll capture her within the hour. Why're you even acting like there's room to debate?"
"Well," I rub my head anxiously, "Because there is? Ignoring the fact I believe her redeemable as a person and that her crimes haven't included murder—" Suzuka snorts disbelievingly, "—she's in a populated area full of civilians and Nanoha's family, and is really twitchy to boot. Fate's well aware of the risk she's taking being here, and I wouldn't be surprised if she scampers at the first sign I'm doing anything but fetching Nanoha peacefully for a chat."
Suzuka growls again, hands clenched tight, before giving a small flinch as Nanoha touches her arm. The girl's expression is firm, determined as she looks at me, with maybe the barest hint of hope deeply buried within. "You're sure? Fate said she wants to talk? Nothing else?"
"That's what she said," I confirm with a nod, "although I obviously can't say for sure if she has anything else besides talking planned. Gonna do it?"
"Of course she's not—"
"Yeah."
Suzuka's objection sputters and dies at Nanoha's reply, her mouth hanging open disbelievingly as Nanoha pushes herself to her feet and makes for the door. She's still blinking in disbelief when we emerge back into the shop.
————
Nanoha slumps into a seat opposite Fate, struggling to work up even a facade of curiousity under the disapproving glare of her elder brother behind the counter. A customer dropping a plate behind her almost has the girl leaping for the ceiling, lowering herself back into her seat with a clenched grip, as she tries to pretend nothing at all out of the ordinary just happened.
I'd almost find it funny if I wasn't so guilty over causing it. Nanoha needs help, but I'm not the right person to give it. Fate's flickering expression as she takes it in, given her reaction earlier, suggests that maybe she might be.
Besides, they look so cute together. Fate and Nanoha, together forever… or is it Alicia after all? Fate was what her 'mother' named her after her resurrection, but she has Alicia's memories, and…
"Nanoha." Fate frowns, looking closely at her, and lays her hands flat on the table. Her gaze bores into the girl, focused and determined, as she speaks her next words. "You are my eternal rival, someone I shall forevermore clash against to challenge and improve myself, and I challenge you to a duel."
...Uh.
"The rules are as follows," Fate says, ignoring the people staring at her in various degrees of shock. "It will be a one-on-one match between the two of us, with no outside interference allowed. We each wager our collected Jewel Seeds on the duel, the winner taking the opposing party's collection for themselves. In addition, if I lose I shall peacefully hand myself over. Do you accept?"
I… vaguely recall something like this happening.
"Yes." Nanoha nods, expression firm, focused and unafraid for the first time since she came downstairs. Yuuno gives out a curdled squawk at the agreement, alongside Suzuka's yelp, and they immediately try to convince her to take it back.
"Nanoha, what are you thinking?!" Yuuno whispers rapidly to the girl, face pale and worried as he glances at Fate. "You can't win this, you just can't! Even when it was three on one we barely managed to eke a win, it's impossible for you to beat her on raw skill alone."
"Yeah!" Suzuka agrees, hands clenched. "This is stupid, Nanoha, all you're going to do is lose again! Fate's been at this way longer than us, like years or something, and—"
I recall it happening, but not like this. Nanoha is shaken, not at her best; in the story I remember, Fate was the one who was upset enough to make mistakes. I hesitate, wanting to stop her, but not wanting to make her mad at me. Even though she definitely should be.
"I'm doing it." Nanoha's expression is mulish as she interrupts, lip jutting out as she scowls at her friends. "It'll stop Fate doing bad things, causing problems and hurting you anymore, Suzuka. Everything'll be better if I win, so all I've gotta do is win, right?"
"Yeah, but what if you don't?"
...that's blunt, Yuuno.
"You all… know each other?"
Of course they do, Kyouya. Eh? Wait...
I look up from my fidgeting hands to see Kyouya standing next to us, having abandoned the counter of his deserted cafe to attend to his sister and friends surrounding the sole customer he may have had all day. In retrospect, I really should have seen this coming.
"Alicia-chan?" Kyouya squints at the girl, his forehead wrinkled. "Are they bothering you?"
Fate shakes her head.
"Good…" He gives Suzuka a long glance. "You know you can tell me anything that worries you. Friends, then? From school?"
"She's actually—"
"You know, I found it a little suspicious. Nanoha stops going to school, and two days later, here you are. You must have spent half the week here, but you never asked for her after that first time. I told you I wouldn't tell you to leave, and that you didn't have to explain, but I'm not blind, you know. Little sis… you had this funny tendency of bringing back notes from your principal, as I recall. Tell me, is she being bullied?"
"Nya ha ha… er, no?" Nanoha scratches the back of her head while Suzuka gapes, temporarily lost for words. "I mean, she always looks sad, but calling it 'bullies' would be…"
Kyouya sighs. Then his expression firms, and he looks straight at Fate. "Which basically leaves troubles at home. I assume, if it were something else, you would have said something—but this isn't something I can guess at. If you're in trouble with your father or your mother…"
He trails off. From Fate's sudden ashen, rigid expression, it's obvious why.
"...Too high expectations? Or…" He bites his lip. "Does she touch you? Physically?" A beat. All I can do is watch the train-wreck in progress. Fate hides her reactions well—that is, well for a nine-year-old, so not actually well at all. She's nearly in tears.
"...Fuck, I didn't mean to put it that way."
The fact is that when we got here, I ended up in the seat next to Fate. I'll never know why I did what I do next. Maybe it's because, while shaking her head in denial and looking anywhere but at Kyouya, Suzuka or Nanoha, she ends up looking at me and I can see the unshed tears in her eyes, or maybe it's because I'm still feeling guilty, and I want to make someone feel better. Maybe I'm still confused by her earlier outburst.
I put my hand on top of hers, both of them on top of the table. I can feel it trembling. And I ask her something stupid.
"Fate, are you okay?"
Which is how I get the disbelieving stare of Suzuka, the horror-filled eyes of Nanoha and the rapidly blinking, confused but quickly dawning apprehension of Kyouya all aimed in my direction.
"Fate?" Kyouya mouths the word.
...What? What did I just do?
"Kyouya-nii. Sorry. I'm actually…" Fate hunches in on herself, swallowing hard as she tries to respond. And fails.
Suzuka answers instead, her voice sarcastic. "Yes, exactly. That's Fate. You know, the girl who tried to kill Nanoha and me? That girl?"
Fate stares down at the table with wet eyes, cake thoroughly forgotten, and I get to call myself a dummy once again. Yes, it would have come out, but I'm sure I could have come up with something better than that.
I'm really bad at thinking on my feet.
She takes a shaky breath, then Fate raises her head and glares at Nanoha. I'd call it intimidating, but I'm getting sadder just looking at her. Her voice breaks a little when she speaks.
"...I'm going to finish this. Meet me outside."
I wish I could give her a hug.
——————-
I'm bad at thinking on my feet, but the walk to the dual site gives me a few minutes to think, and I make a few guesses.
Fate is nothing like she was last week. What happened to her while we were hiding on the ship? She doesn't say, but she doesn't move like she's hurt, so I gratefully push her mother down the list of probable causes. If she's already being whipped…
I grimace internally. I only saw it once, but that doesn't mean that Precia hasn't done it already, and I don't know how to help someone like that. It scares me. Even just the thought of trying makes a cold pit grow in my stomach. The last thing I want to do is hurt her, and I don't trust myself anymore.
There's also a slight risk that she'd accidentally kill me, but I'm not nearly as afraid of Fate hurting me as I am of the opposite. She's too fundamentally nice for that.
If the other four knew what I was thinking, they'd look at me like I'm an alien.
'Kyouya-nii,' she said.
I hang back behind the group. Nanoha is mumbling something to her brother that I can't make out, while Suzuka squeezes her hand like she's afraid she'll disappear, but it's Fate's behaviour that's the most heartbreaking. She keeps stealing glances at Kyouya, and I'm—despite recent events—not an idiot. They've somehow gotten close in the week we were away, or at least Fate has gotten attached to Nanoha's brother.
She keeps looking at him, her expression wavering. He doesn't look back. And she looks more like she's going to her execution, than a duel.
I…
It took almost nothing, in canon, for Fate to latch on to Nanoha. I thought that was because of mutual chemistry, that they were 'made for each other'—and maybe they are—but maybe I got that wrong. Maybe it's just that she'd latch on to anyone who shows her any sign of affection. She spent months to years fighting for her mother's, and she tore her heart out to fight when I'm almost sure it's the last thing she wants. So then, if Kyouya actually showed her some concern—
And he's going to reject her. Of course he will. Between some girl, and his own sister—
I open my mouth, wanting to say something, anything, but I don't know what to say. I have to stop him—
I feel a sour taste in my mouth. I'm scared of talking.
And before I can think of anything to say, before I have a chance to drag off Kyouya or explain everything or do anything at all, I'm out of time. Fate stops, her entire posture screaming at me to help her. We're nowhere in particular, just an anonymous alley. I mean… granted, there was no need to go anywhere at all to hold a duel.
"Here is good enough," she says.
And it's too late, I couldn't stop them if I wanted which I do, the kids are focused on each other and I feel numb, like there's a brick stuffed in my mouth and I'm speeding towards a train crash. This feels horrible, and I'm scared, even more than I should be. I want to stop them, but it's like there's a glass wall between me and them, and I feel like if I reach out, or say anything, the world will shatter.
"So? Take out your Jewel Seeds, so I can see that you have them."
Nanoha looks nearly panicked herself, despite Kyouya's grip on her shoulder. I'm not sure, but I think she just realized what she's signed up to do. Suzuka looks angry, like she always does. And Yuuno looks blank, like he doesn't understand how he's gotten in this situation, and he doesn't seem to be following. He's started casting, there's a green circle beneath him, but no-one is paying him any attention.
"You too! How do I know you didn't give them to the TSAB?"
"The TSAB—" Nanoha looks stumped for a second. Then she rallies. "Like I would! You first."
"No, you!"
The feeling builds to a crescendo.
"Same time?" They nod at each other. "One, two—"
Yuuno's head snaps up. "No, stop—"
Nearly two dozen artifacts of untold power phase into reality, split very roughly between the two of them. A bright blue glow snaps into place around Suzuka, strongest at her palm but encompassing her entire body, and where it meets the Seeds it triggers miniature strikes of lightning that, despite their almost tangible potential, fail to penetrate that aura at all.
Three.
Yuuno's circle shatters, green sigils glitching and fuzzing out before rewriting themselves in mid-air. In a bare instant it's like I'm deep inside a jungle, but the now three-dimensional sigils don't look remotely Midchildan. They don't resemble anything I recognise. They look wrong. They're still moving and growing, getting denser while I struggle to think of anything I can do.
"Re-seal the Seeds, now!"
Reality shivers, then twists. To my sides, everywhere except closer to the epicentre, there's nothing but blackness. I take a half-step forwards, and the blackness moves with me. Then it feels like I stick, I'm out of balance and can't move my body backwards, and I nearly fall on my face before I grab a dense vine of sigils. Somehow it holds my weight.
My heart feels like it's trying to tear apart, and not in a metaphorical sense. I recognise this. Anisotropic space, used in most dimensional spells—invariably fatal if badly contained.
I can see the girls; they look terrified. The seeds glow brighter and brighter, an actinic glare that's accompanied by electric snaps and a harsh, ever louder grinding sound. It feels like the world is going to shatter.
Then everything stops moving.
I can't see the Seeds spin anymore, and there's no sound. It takes me a moment, then I notice that the world is slowly growing redder. Nanoha's previously auburn hair is primarily fading to black, but now it also looks like it came out of a bottle.
I don't have the faintest notion of what's going on, and there isn't a single thing I can do when the spell vines begin growing again. The last thing I see is Nanoha's silhouette, now speared by at least a hundred of the things.
1. Ow, my feels.
2. Oh, that will end badly.
Also, Suzuka's a bitch. I understand why, but she's being a complete bitch about it. I could see my arguments with her already, but that's because I also lash out when I feel very bad about myself. To a degree at least. And the target usually does something to deserve it. Usually. *Sigh*
So now they get to fight all the spiders probably. With Jorogumo!Nanoha maybe? ... Oh boy.
2. Oh, that will end badly.
Also, Suzuka's a bitch. I understand why, but she's being a complete bitch about it. I could see my arguments with her already, but that's because I also lash out when I feel very bad about myself. To a degree at least. And the target usually does something to deserve it. Usually. *Sigh*
So now they get to fight all the spiders probably. With Jorogumo!Nanoha maybe? ... Oh boy.
20 Seeds is a bit insane as well on one person. 1 Seed can change anything into pretty much anything else. 3 or 4 seeds could probably make a Reality marble/Witch barrier type of thing. 20? Complete rewrite of the local reality/dimensional space.
There are, coincidentally, enough for 4 seeds to hit each of them. Something something, Mizu still sane because Freya, something something, she has wings now. Cue epic adventure into each of their souls to help them.
Or make it a worse time in whatever the seeds spit out and split them in half between Fate and Nanoha. Introduce the siblings to Nanoha-verse "Haha! Fuck You And Your Entire Planet!" Magic and go "No, you really can't do anything to help here." Well, unless Ninja. And frankly, that's really fucking glass cannon anyway.
Not that Mizu is in a much better position.
In the end though, Mizu only saw them target Nanoha. *Shrug* We'll see I guess.
There are, coincidentally, enough for 4 seeds to hit each of them. Something something, Mizu still sane because Freya, something something, she has wings now. Cue epic adventure into each of their souls to help them.
Or make it a worse time in whatever the seeds spit out and split them in half between Fate and Nanoha. Introduce the siblings to Nanoha-verse "Haha! Fuck You And Your Entire Planet!" Magic and go "No, you really can't do anything to help here." Well, unless Ninja. And frankly, that's really fucking glass cannon anyway.
Not that Mizu is in a much better position.
In the end though, Mizu only saw them target Nanoha. *Shrug* We'll see I guess.
- Location
- scrabbling
Man is that an argument not to give nine-year-olds wish-granting artifacts of untold power or what? Or, give, let them keep, whichever.
On the other side of the argument, I'd be peeved if Fate/Nanoha happened despite a difference of the situation (assuming that the situation is different in a way that makes Fate/Nanoha less likely, anyway). Canon ships are not unsinkable in the wide seas of AU.
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
Pardon? Who talks too much, Jrin?
*looks up what Jorogumo is*
Why would the kid terrified of spiders be a spider? Or, well, spidergirl.
Sorry for the 2-3 month delay, in any case. We've got the next bit planned out and partially completed, and barring issues describing things we shouldn't have quite as big a gap as we did for this one.
Mizuki sure have a lot of foot in mouth situation.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Not to worry, by this point she's scared of opening her mouth at all. Or doing much of anything, really.
Poor girl... She doesn't have the best judgement, but I don't think it's unusually bad for a thirteen-year-old. She's just been unlucky enough to find herself in a situation where her mistakes have real consequences. She was trying pretty hard to help, and it almost worked.
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Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
To be fair... Fate cut off her arm. She's honestly trying to be nice about it, mostly so Nanoha won't worry, but that was a severely traumatic event for Suzuka.
Doesn't really help that, according to the Arthra's doctors, she's close to being more magical construct than biology and definitely couldn't survive without that seed. It isn't capable of healing, not really.