Nanoha FanFiction Discussion

[Outlaender]

@Dezo

I'm strapped for time lately, so I don't have enough time to go over your recent fics
properly. :(

I can say I enjoyed them a lot. I liked the exposition of why Vivio wanted to go
to the Church school, and your insights into the nature of mage training, and Vivio's
in particular. I expected to there to be a "worried mother/family" scene at the end of
the museum incident, since Nanoha's near death (and crippling) incident brought into sharp relief the dangers of high-level/high power for Nanoha-tachi, and Vivio's own tramautic experience in the Cradle seems to much on Nanoha's mind.

Nice description of the beginning of the rescue mission. I for one doubt that Vivio's
been more than stunned- having been pounded on for years by Vita-sensei ought to let her shrug of the blow with little trouble.

As for a Belkan(german) command phrase for "all-seeing eye", I would suggest
"Argusauge" which actually comes from greek legends of the giant Argus, with the hundred eyes. Translating it directly sounds fairly clunky to my ears, anyway.
There might be something comparable in Norse Legends, which might improve its provennance, I don't know. :heh:

Looking forward to new chapters.

[Satashi]

Next short: Onyx chip

you can determine what it means.

[BPHaru]

Next short: Onyx chip

you can determine what it means.
xD
It took 0.2 seconds to get the reference, and while writing this I haven't stopped smiling yet :D
Nice choice for the title, I'll be looking forward to the short.

Cuídate y sigue sonriendo :)

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

Been a while since I fucked with your brains.

Nanoha/ StarCraft Crossover.

The Terran and Protoss fleets have been shattered. Their worlds...destroyed. Now fleeing in a last ditch attempt, they enter T.S.A.B space...with the entire Zerg Swarm hot on their heels.

How will the T.S.A.B fight a force that tore apart the minaret's of Shakuras and painted the Dominion red with the organs of its denizens?

Now really...who doesn't want to see Fate go toe-to-toe with Kerrigan? :D

[LoweGear]

You're two years behind on that idea...

*sees Keroko clean up some Zerglings >.> *

[Wild Goose]

Not to mention that we were doing the Spawn of Razgriz last year, which took the best the Zerg and Flood had to offer and merged them.

[Satashi]

Been a while since I fucked with your brains.

Nanoha/ StarCraft Crossover.

The Terran and Protoss fleets have been shattered. Their worlds...destroyed. Now fleeing in a last ditch attempt, they enter T.S.A.B space...with the entire Zerg Swarm hot on their heels.

How will the T.S.A.B fight a force that tore apart the minaret's of Shakuras and painted the Dominion red with the organs of its denizens?

Now really...who doesn't want to see Fate go toe-to-toe with Kerrigan? :D

You're two years behind on that idea...

*sees Keroko clean up some Zerglings >.> *

Not to mention that we were doing the Spawn of Razgriz last year, which took the best the Zerg and Flood had to offer and merged them.

I support this idea 100%. Fate vs Kerrigan would be an epic battle of the ages. It may have been done once before, but who's to say it can't be done again?

P.S. I am opted in to beta starcraft 2, is anyone else? You know, a few team games, maybe on skype, dominating other people...

(I play Protoss XD XD XD)

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

*Roars* HELL! YEAH! Protoss Rush!

*Grins* Lucky bastard.

I suppose another fun fight could be Fate vs Zeratul. Be a real test of her abilities beyond even Signum.

Nanoha and Kiddy Grade x-over...now that could be trippy...Nanoha's dimension eventually evolves into the G.O.T.T and Nanoha/ Fate/ Hayate are recreated as twelve year olds to act as peace-keepers for the G.O.T.T.

Admit it...it'd be funky.

[Satashi]

A late night movie filled the otherwise quiet living room with sounds of drama and action, although the movie itself was mostly ignored by me. In fact, I was more sleepy now than when I had originally started watching the show while Nanoha washed tonight’s dishes. With my red eyes half open, I shifted under the blanket lazily and gave up trying to get my nightgown to stay in its proper place. I watched Nanoha as the girl passed in front of me and found it more interesting than the program currently airing. Nanoha bent over to pick up Vivio’s mess of binders and notebooks, unconsciously wiggling her butt in front of my face. Seconds went by before I finally reached forward and poked my friend’s cheek, getting a small shriek.

Onyx chip
By:
Satashi

[BPHaru]

[The old short was quoted here ^^]
Great short!

Seems like you're already building up some drama with Nanoha and Fate, although the "onyx" part hasn't started yet, which is good because that means a longer story ^^

I'll be looking forward to the second part, and hoping for a good resolution of this dramatic conflict in the future.

Thanks a lot for writing this. It would be great is this ends as a long fic and you share it at ff.net.

Cuídate y sigue sonriendo :)

[AtomicoX]

Previous Chapters (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=2290905&postcount=13089)

Knight of Exodus
A weak breeze from the ocean drew past the harbor. The feeling of salt and the smell of fresh ocean air touched Hayate’s nose as it continued past her. The salt in the air made her hair feel a bit sticky, but she didn’t mind it.
She sat on a wooden bench, dressed in her uniform, but nonetheless with a calm expression on her face. Anyone passing by would not find it strange unless they knew her and what was really going on in the city. Even now, as she sat there thinking of the events that had played out during the recent weeks, she didn’t let her worries and nervousness show that something was wrong. She calmly looked out over the ocean, the sun’s beams reflecting in the water and warming up her face.

She recollected what had happened a few days ago, at the spaceport. She had gone over it several times already, but couldn’t let it go. Too much didn’t fit in.
The girl and the dragon had disappeared from the area as soon as the beam had dissolved. Hayate was glad to find out that no one had been a victim to it and that only a few had minor or severe injuries. Considering what could have happened, if she had not told them to move or if the beam had been more powerful, she refrained to think of. What puzzled her the most at the moment was that their intelligence officers had not been able to retain a lock on the dragon and lost it among the landscape. While she did understand that among the confusion someone might have made a mistake or something might have malfunctioned, she found it mightily odd that such a powerful creature and master would slip off the radar so easily. The intelligence officers’ equipment was high-tech and very powerful, and should have been able to detect any large flying object within a large area using magic. Yet nothing had been reported and it would take some time before they could track them down.
Hayate knew the people under and above her worked hard on this issue right now though. The reason she could take a break from the offices and earn herself a few minutes of fresh air was because she simply couldn’t do anything right now, at least for the time being. She felt bad about doing it, but even her body had protested the latest days about the lack of sleep and rest. It only took a few other officers to point that fact out before she decided to actually do it.

Someone made a noise behind her and she was dragged out of her thoughts. She turned around and faced the person.

“Oh, Signum. Didn’t expect you here so soon,” Hayate said and moved over, indicating to her knight to sit down.

Signum, with some reluctance, did so. She had her officer uniform on too.

“Was there something of importance you wanted to tell me, Hayate?” she asked and looked at her mistress. “It isn’t exactly standard fare venturing so far away for a private meeting.”

Hayate chuckled. “No, I know, but I felt like taking a stroll down here when I got out anyway. It’s separate and quiet here.”

“I see,” Signum simply said and let the matter drift.

Hayate turned to face her more directly and grew a more serious expression on her face.

“I wanted to ask you something. Have you met Sigrid yet, the girl we rescued from that ship?” Hayate made a sweeping move towards the ocean. The Joermungandr still rose above the water, showing off its impressive height to the city.

“No, I haven’t even seen her. At the spaceport I was too busy carrying out orders to notice her. I did hear her voice over the communications though. Was she with you during that time?”

“Yes, I brought her along as an observer. She was with me the whole time and there was something I noticed about her, that’s why I’m asking you this.”

Signum nodded but didn’t say anything. Hayate took that as a cue to continue.

“When she spotted you, for the first time that is, she froze up. She was didn’t respond for a few seconds until I managed to snap her out of it, but she didn’t say what it was that made her so. She was obviously remembering something, something that just you being there triggered. I didn’t push her for more at the time however.”

Signum once again made a nod to imply that she understood what Hayate had said. “It would appear that asking her directly would be for the best right now. I have no idea what might have caused it, but I think we shouldn’t let this slip away.”

“I had thought of doing just that, I just wanted to make sure if you knew anything,” Hayate said and rose from the bench. A few seagulls chased a lone fish a few meters away, their squawking breaking the silence. “I had my share of rest for today. Lets go back to the office.”

Hayate took a step forward and was immediately interrupted by a window appearing. An intelligence officer was visible, noticeable by the insignia she wore.

“Lieutenant Colonel, there has been some developments,” she said with urgency.

“You found the girl?”

“Yes, we have a lock on her a fair distance from the city. It’s in a mountainous region however, so the terrain is not easily traversable and there is a lot of hiding places.”

“Damn. I’ll head over to my office immediately and I’ll take over from there. Signum, come with me.”

The two women walked off towards the main building, increasing their speed as they went.

~~******~~

“Ouch. Damnit, I hate those caskets.”

[It is imperative to your health that the most accurate and planned procedures take-]

“Shush you, I’m aware,” the girl said and glared at her device that lay beside her. She continued peeling of skin that had gotten stuck with her barrier jacket. She had been awoken too fast for it to get back to normal and now she had to pay for it. Small drops of blood were smudged over both her arms.
The dragon consisting of only bones laid its head beside its master, as if to comfort her. The girl patted it on the nose.

“You did good back there, Nidoha. Without you I wouldn't be here now, probably.”

Nidoha made a low growl and eased her movements until she stopped moving completely.
The girl continued peeling of skin and at the same time notified her device.

“Fornjót , where the hell are we?”

[I am sorry, but I cannot give you an answer for that question, Madame.]

“What do you mean ‘cannot give’? You have no info on where we are?” she said, noticeable irritated.

[Correct, Madame. As long as I do not have a point of reference or information from an observatory, I cannot give an estimate.] Fornjót said.

“Perfect. Not only don’t I know where I am, I’m also being chased by these warmongers for some reason,” the girl said and sighed.

[Well, you did show hostility and blew up half of their spaceport] Fornjót said matter-of-factly.

“What should I had done, get myself captured? Beg for mercy? Please, if anything those Northern Beskanti dogs would have interrogated me or killed me anyway.”

[Northern Beskanti? This is a different planet, they can’t be here.]

“Didn’t you notice? I saw one of their knights. She was standing on a van some distance away. I was actually aiming for her at first,” she said and stopped what she was doing. She looked into the distance instead, letting her eyes wander the mountainsides. “I’m sure she has a hidden agenda. Maybe she took over those troops too.”

[Guesses do not truths make.]

“Quite true, but right now all I can do is guess.” She picked up her device and studied it. Its lance shape and metal surface glimmered in the sunlight coming from above. “Anyway, what really happened until now? Did you manage to record anything?”

[Yes, Madame. After we fled the surface of Cancri in the Airhawk, you entered the casket for more protection in case something happened. From there, I guess you don’t remember anything] Fornjót said and continued. [After we had drifted in space for a few minutes, I recorded an energy anomaly. It would seem like we entered it and came out somewhere else, presumably in this solar system. My recording is scarce on that account, as I had a technical malfunction right after we entered the anomaly. I do not know why that is.]

“And how did we get onto the ground all of a sudden?”

[I assume the people of this planet launched a mission to fetch us from orbit. Judging from the data from the ship, we were orbiting one of their moons so we would have been spotted sooner or later.]

The girl rubbed her temples with her hands. This was a lot of information to assimilate, even for someone of her caliber. She was also tired after the ordeal, which slowed down her thoughts.
She was reminded by her stomach growling that she hadn’t eaten for several hours either. She had to regain her energy in some way.
She scoured the mountains surrounding her, looking for something edible. Even though a warm meal at a restaurant would be preferable, she couldn’t exactly waltz right in. Instead her military survival training kicked in and the little party set off to find food.

~~******~~

"Clawcrusher?"

"Cyclonia?"

Zafira's and Arf's expressions on their faces were equally as surprised. Shari stood opposite them and laughed at them.

"You should see your faces. No worry, you can rename them if you want, it's not like they would object."

What she was referring to lay on a table in front of the three. Shari had been working on something for a few weeks and she had now uncovered her work. There were only the three of them there inside the lab.

"Thanks to the material found on the ship that crashed and the Beskanti device, I managed to reverse-engineer something from it and came up with this. They are still prototypes and need to be tested in combat, but Hayate told me to give it you. Go on, put them on."

Zafira and Arf looked at the things on the table with a doubtful look.

"They sure are big," Zafira said and picked one part of Clawcrusher up. It had weight, but not as much as he thought it would.

"Although the design ain't too bad," Arf said, hinting on a more positive note and picked up the largest piece of Cyclonia.

"They are power boosters, you might say," Shari explained while they put them on. "They enhance your current spells, combat abilities and give you an additional spell, but nothing beyond that. They are not devices in their own right, but still quite powerful. Especially for you Arf, you might find the mana boost likeable now that Fate is not available."

"I did find it odd I was called away from the Infinite Library when the higher-ups know I rely on Fate's power," she said and locked the final belt down across her wrist, "but with this I feel energized in some way."

Cyclonia was the first one Shari had begun working on. It consisted of two pieces, a large claw-like mechanical construct that extended from Arf's right hand to her right shoulder. It covered her entire arm top-side and was split at the end, showing her hand inside it. The last piece was smaller and was situated on her left wrist. Its armor covered a small portion of her wrist and her entire hand, and when she activated it an orange glimmer appeared that seemed to be protecting her arm like a shield.
Both of the parts were painted in a color scheme of red and orange.

"I would advise only turning that shield on in emergencies. It might not look like it but it still drains your mana like an ordinary shield would. It is a bit stronger though, so it might come in handy. As for the larger piece, it's needed for your new spell, but you can find out what that is later on," Shari said as to clarify.

Zafira had during that time finished equipping Clawcrusher. Its generally light-weight but hard exterior pleased him, as it didn't impede his movements.
Clawcrusher consisted of four parts, one for each of Zafira's limbs. For his arms, it covered his hands and up to his elbows, and for his legs, from his feet to his knees. The parts were made out of metal and were painted in matte black. They fit him perfectly.

"No new spells or abilities for you, but it will probably help in melee," Shari commented.

Zafira made a few swift hits in the air with his fists as if to feel how Clawcrusher handled itself. He stopped after a few seconds and smiled, pleased with the result. His speed was unchanged, but he could feel the power surging through the metal, empowering his punches.
Arf took that opportunity to poke him in the side. He flinched.

"Trying to look macho or something?" she said and grinned. Zafira merely shrugged in response and tried to ignore her. She found that hilarious for some reason and laughed.

Their chatter was cut short by Hayate talking through a window that had appeared.

"Arf, Zafira. The helicopter is arriving soon, get back to the main building and get up on the roof. I'll brief you what this is about there. Thank you for their upgrades Shari, it's appreciated."

Shari nodded. "It's the least I can do, reverse-engineering those devices was very enjoyable."

The window disappeared after that. Arf and Zafira glanced at each other and briefly nodded before they exited the lab and headed towards the main building.

~~******~~

2 hours later.

"Ah, that was a good meal. Fresh meat captured in the wild, prepared over open fire. Excellent."

She lay on her back, eying the skies and rubbing her tummy. The small party had managed to catch several creatures living around the rocky landscape and had provided the girl with nourishment. She preferred this at times; the outside added that special flavor you couldn't get in a restaurant.
She jumped in surprise when Fornjót suddenly spoke.

[Alert. An object with high speed is approaching our position. Advise caution, Madame.]

"What, what, did they find us?" she asked abruptly.

[I am not certain but the object is not biological, it is mechanical. We will see it in a moment when it comes around that mountain to the south.]

She looked where her device had indicated. There was a fairly low mountain in that direction, but she didn't see anything yet. The evening sun had lowered itself more now and its light began to disappear from the sky, making it harder to distinguish things.
However, she knew her device was right when something large appeared over the mountain's east side. It made a chopping noise that traveled through the air and it came at them fast.

"A helicopter, possibly a transport. Quick, Nidhoa! Awaken!"

The massive skeleton dragon shook itself to life and stretched its bony wings. It lowered its back and allowed the girl to climb up onto it, her device being held tight in her arms.
Then when its master was seated, the dragon gathered strength in its powerful back legs and took off from the cliff they had been resting on.
Four human shaped signatures then suddenly appeared at the helicopter’s sides and headed straight towards them.

"They sure are fast to act," she said to herself. The four signatures approached her quickly and without warning two orb shaped objects appeared in the sky heading straight towards her from a fifth signature, one she hadn't seen before.

"Damn, incoming fire! Nidoha, take evasive maneuvers!"

The dragon did as it was told and changed its direction by several degrees in the blink of an eye. That didn't help however, as the two orbs were tracking them faster than they could turn.
The orbs made it to their target and hit them head-on, but without much of an impact.

"Yes! The shields are back online, talk about lucky timing. Now it's my turn!"

As if filled with newborn strength and spirit, she told the dragon to turn around and face her adversaries. It was a naive mistake young humans often did.

[Dragon Shooter!]

With the targets even closer than before, she had a clear shot at the closest. It looked like a blue wolf of some sorts.
Her device released five small beams that cut through the air at a high speed and headed towards the blue figure. Just as she was about to switch targets, as she believed her shots would hit and incapacitate him, the wolf raised a white barrier and all the shots impacted it.
The wolf was unhurt and continued towards her.

"Tough little bastard. Uh, oh-"

[Raketen Hammer!]

Her shield took a massive hit on the side as the child from the previous encounter hit her with a huge hammer thing. It wasn't enough to break it however.

"Hah! Your attacks don't have any impact on my shield. Stand back and I might spare you!" she shouted at the child, her confidence extremely high.

"You sure are noisy," the child retorted. "I, Vita, with Graf Eisen the Iron Count will not be stopped by your pathetic little shield."

Just then the shield took another hard hit from the other side. The blue wolf had caught up to her and was hammering away with his fists on the round shield surrounding the girl and the dragon.

"You cannot stop the Guardian Beast, Zafira, with that little attack. Show me your real strength!" he yelled and added further fuel to the girl's confidence.

[Lance Rain!]

Several lances formed in the air but her adversaries noticed them before it came. Similar to the incident before, they managed to raise shields above their heads to protect themselves, but that let the girl make some distance between them.

"Time to finish-"

"Don't forget about me!" a voice suddenly called out. The girl looked above her from where the voice had come and saw the woman from the previous encounter falling from the skies, her sword at the ready. She hit the shield in a vertical angle at the absolute top. The impact made the dragon lose a tad bit of altitude in its flight.

[Warning. Critical failure. Shield is breaking down, Madame. It cannot hold for long.] Fornjót said in his usual collected voice.

"We can't break off here, I got them here I want! I still got a few-"

Once again she was interrupted when all three of her adversaries hit her shield simultaneously. The shield lost even more power and Nidoha groaned as a few of the attacks began to break through and touch her.

No way, I'm not running away again. No way!

Weird movements and light caught her attention, as strange lines danced around her and drew closer. She looked around her to find the source and noticed another wolf, red in color this time, high up in the air above her. She had a large piece of hardware that the girl could only assume was the source. The wolf seemed to be deeply concentrating too.

[Dragon Shooter!]

Several beams that was aimed for the wolf fired , but only got a few yards before being intersected by the swordswoman's barrier. In addition, several attacks managed to hit Nidoha at the same instance, making her lose more altitude.

Shit, I don't believe I forgot about that.

The weird lines drew even closer and now began to restrict their movements. It ensnared Nidoha's wings and the girl's arms. They both struggled to get free and almost managed too, before their shield finally broke.
That unleashed the full power of the spell, as the shield had severely weakened it before. Now with the shield gone, there was nothing stopping it from completely ensnaring the dragon and the girl. With their momentum gone, they started to fall downwards.

With one last effort, she managed to force the last bit of energy out of her shield just as they hit the ground. It managed to break their fall by a large margin and only made them bounce a bit. Their adversaries landed in a circle around them, but didn't advance further. They only looked at each other and seemed to be waiting for something.
The girl wriggled on the ground helplessly while her dragon companion was completely ensnared and couldn't even move. Nidoha made pained and confused noises but the girl communicated with it somehow and made it calmer.
Then she returned her attention to the others.

"What are you waiting for? Kill me now and be done with it. Or do you want to have some fun first? Huh? Torture me all you want, I’m not saying anything you northern dogs!"

As she continued her shouts that fell upon deaf ears, the helicopter landed a distance away and let two other figures out.

"That was easier than I thought," Hayate said to Sigrid as they disembarked.

"Southern Beskanti specialized in protective technology, as this shield you have seen. We never saw a reason to implement them to this degree ourselves though. If she wasn't so hotblooded and made stupid decisions, she would have been a harder challenge than you'd imagine."

Hayate eyed Sigrid and noticed she had the more serious face on again. She was speaking in a condescending tone, as if she was disappointed.
Their boots made the pebble on the rocky surface roll around as they approached the group and attracted the girl's attention. She spun around on the ground as best she could and saw them.

"You..."

"Yes, I believe we have met before, Elisabeth Jónsdóttir" Sigrid said and looked down on the girl before her.

"Northern dog, how the hell did you get control of these people?? The usual tricks you use against us?! Bargaining and bribes?!" Elly shouted back.

"No such thing has occurred. After I got here these people took care of me and have been ever since. They will take care of you too if you stand down," Sigrid said in a calm voice.

"Lies! That's the only thing you dogs are good for! Lying and betraying! I won't bow for anyone! I won’t forget what your company did!"

Sigrid sighed, closed her eyes and let her head tilt downwards. In a quiet voice she whispered to Hayate.

"Loosen the restraints."

Hayate thought she had misheard her and inched closer.

"What?"

"Loosen the restraints," Sigrid repeated.

"Are you out of your mind, we got her right here where we want. We just have to go back now."

"She won't escape and the dragon will be less of a problem if you do. Trust me, I’ve done this before."

Hayate looked at her in surprise and considered it. The dragon was still trashing around and Arf began to lose power. She had kept it up for far too long, but Cyclonia made her continue beyond that. Perhaps it would be harder bringing it back in this state, but she couldn’t stop thinking of what Sigrid had in mind. Then again, Sigrid did have experience with this sort of thing.
Hayate decided what she would do.

"Alright, but don't let her escape no matter what...and I'm hoping you're right in doing this."

"Thank you," Sigrid replied and opened her eyes again. She looked at Elly with those eyes again.

At the command of Hayate, Arf let go of Elly. The red wolf faltered a little bit from the sudden returning power. She managed to hold the dragon down however.
Elly was very surprised at what was happening, but didn't hesitate for a second.

"You made a big mistake now, dog! You will not win against me!"

"We won't hurt you and we won't interrogate you. Just surrender and let it be over with," Sigrid said in her usual calm voice. She didn't falter at all.

"Hah! Just shut up!"

With those words Elly jumped towards Sigrid. She drew her secondary device out of a hidden pocket and aimed for Sigrid's neck. With elegance Sigrid avoided the vibrating blade and let Elly crash into the ground behind her. Elly rolled to her feet in almost an instant and was up again.

"Tch, just let me get close!"

The maneuver was repeated three more times, with the same results. Eventually Elly shook her head and changed tactics. However, her rage was also building up and her energy was draining fast. She hadn't managed to land a single hit yet.

"I said I won't lose to you, don't think for a second I won't do that," Elly said and tried to catch her breath. She launched at Sigrid again.

This time however, Sigrid was not on the defensive. She had exhausted all her other options and made her move.
When Elly ran at her straight on and moved her arm into position for another strike, Sigrid made a sudden movement and came down on her knees. Elly's strike flew overhead, inches from Sigrid's hair. Elly had a fraction of a second to realize what happened before she felt a few ribs crack.
Sigrid had moved down to a lower position and had hit Elly with her elbow straight in the chest. A sharp pain rose in Elly's chest and she fell over onto Sigrid's shoulder and passed out. The pain and loss of energy was overbearing Sigrid assumed.

"It's over," Sigrid said and glanced at the dragon. It had calmed down considerably after its master had been defeated and stopped its struggling. Sigrid straightened out her body with Elly hanging over her shoulder and walked towards the helicopter.
Hayate and the Knights didn't say a word, but earned her a few questioning looks.

"Let’s head back," Hayate shouted and waved to the others to board the helicopter. The dragon was too big to fit, but it followed its master's captives diligently and flew behind the helicopter without causing trouble.

[Satashi]

Vivio groaned as she turned the page of her bundle of papers. " I hate math," she grumbled under her breath. "Stupid finals... Hate math... hate it..."


Satashi hates math too T_T Final tomorrow

[AtomicoX]

Maybe too fast after maybe not...

Knight of Exodus Extra

"Are you awake? Do you feel the pain in the back of your head? I'm sorry, but you would have never agreed to come here unless I did something like that. Here, let me wipe the blood off."

A blurry vision and a pain he had never experienced before soared through his head. Little by little, his vision began to recover and he managed to understand what the person in front of him had said. He noticed it was a girl in a white dress that stood over him. She was doing something with a piece of paper on the back of his head. It stung painfully.

"Ah, what...who are you?"

The girl didn't respond at first and finished cleaning his wound. When she was done she stood up and looked down on him. She had red eyes that went in contrast with her white hair, and in her hand, she was holding the paper she had used. It had bloodstains on it.

"My name is of no concern to you," she said and sat down on her knees in front of him. "At least, not yet."

It was then that he noticed his arms were being held up by something and that he was sitting on the floor. He glanced upwards and saw handcuffs around his wrists, connected to a pipe in the wall. Panic rose inside of him.

"What do you want from me? What happened?"

"Hmm? Don't worry, I promise I won't hurt you."

The girl chuckled and brought the paper up to her nose. She sniffed it and smiled. He eyed her with suspicion and fear.

"I like this. Your blood, that is." She put the piece of paper to her lips and licked it. A sense of warmth showed on her face and she put the whole paper in her mouth. She made a pleasing hum, as if she was eating a delicious steak.

"W-what are you doing?" he blurted out, becoming increasingly anxious by the girl doing strange things in front of him.

"Why, I'm enjoying this delicious blood of yours of course. It's clean and fresh, what isn't there to love?" she said and giggled.

"You're sick, what the hell is wrong with you?" he blurted out.

Those words apparently had an effect on her, because she stopped sucking on the paper and looked off into the distance, or rather the wall surrounding them. He noticed then that they were in some sort of basement.

"I'm sick. That's what I heard from the rest too. Everyone says I'm sick. Everyone asks 'what the hell is wrong with you?'"

She glared at him and got up on her feet in an instant.

"So what if I like it?! Why would you care about that, just leave me alone?!" she screamed and turned around. She crossed her arms and muttered something he couldn't hear.
Then she suddenly had a change of heart and looked at him again. She looked sullen and sad.

"What's your name?"

"F-frederik," he stuttered forth, confused of her strange behavior.

"Frederik is it? How old are you?"

"Twenty-one"

"That's only four years ahead of me! We are so close!" She made a big smile and sat down in front of him again. He didn't know if he was in trouble or not, but decided to play along.

"I once knew someone your age. He took care of me. Saved me. Nurtured me. I didn't like him at first, I thought the things he did was horrible, oh so horrible. But, then I realized; He was just misunderstood. Yes, just misunderstood. I was the only person he opened himself up to."

While she talked she closed in on him on her hands and knees. She was so close he could feel her breath, which smelled like fresh fruit.

"He told me something once. Something I took to heart. 'Trust yourself and no one else' he said. I didn't know what he meant at the time but, I felt it was important."

She brushed aside a strand of white hair that had swung down in front of her eyes. She stared at him with piercing red eyes.

"Now, years later I finally realized the meaning behind those words. But even then, you remind me of him. You smell like him. I want him back."

She suddenly leaned in towards him and kissed him. It was a kiss usually shared between two lovers, deep, filled with meaning and emotion.

If the previous minutes had not made Frederik confused, this took him completely back. He just stared at her face with those closed eyes so close to his. He didn't know what to do or think.

She eventually released their kiss and sat up straight. She straddled him now with her hands on his chest.

"Yes, this bring me back. That was...no, I can't say it."

She opened her eyes and there was a compassionate look in them...or was it love? Affection? Frederik let those thought run amok in his head while the girl got to her feet again. She licked her lips in a sensual manner and looked down on him.

"You asked me before...who I was. I think you are allowed to know now.
My name is Wallachia, also called The Blood Maiden by some. However, I don't particularly like that nickname, so if you could refrain from using it, all the better. I don't know why they gave me that name. So please, call me Wallachia."

"Wallachia...why am I here? I don't understand anything...why did you kiss me? Who are you talking about?"

"Everything will be explained in time, Frederik," Wallachia said and opened a locker standing a few feet away from them. She hunched down and looked for something. Frederik couldn't see what was in the locker from where he sat.

"Will you hurt me? Will you release me?"

"No and yes. I have no intention of hurting or keeping you a prisoner. I told you, didn't I?"

Thank god, maybe I'll get out of this alive.

"Oh, right," she suddenly said and turned to face him. "Have you heard of a man named Bloodspeaker?"

Frederik thought for a second but didn't find any relevance of that name in his memories.

"No, I can't say I have."

"Well, he was a wonderful man and he is the one you remind of. Hence, why I kissed you. To feel it again. That...compassion and affection." She turned back to the locker and found what she was looking for. "Aha!"

"I-I see. So that's why I'm here, I see."

He closed his eyes to focus. He still didn't understand though. He just acted like he did so it could end. He wanted out of there.

"So, are you done? Can I go home?" he asked carefully and in a calm manner, afraid of angering her again.

"Soon. Actually, in a few minutes," Wallachia said. She stood up from the locker and turned around.

"Oh thank god," Frederik whispered to himself and opened his eyes to look at her. His face changed color extremely fast to a shade of white.

"W-what is that?" he stuttered forth.

"This? It's a tool I use to prepare my drinks," Wallachia said and looked at the supposed tool she held. It was actually a large billhook, made of pure rust-free metal with a newly sharpened blade.

"B-but I thought you said I could go home. You said you wouldn't hurt me!"

She shrugged and tilted her head playfully. A chuckle escaped her mouth.

"I lied~."


Wallachia shorts are raking up fast, much because I really like where she is going. It's still unsure which paths she will take and what part she takes in the KoE main plotline.

Like her persona, even for me she can't be nailed down exactly.

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

Nanoha meets Foamy.

Awesome one-shot idea. XD

Insane swearing squirrel meeting 9 year old magical girl. XD

And if you don't know who Foamy is...you fail at the internet.

[wanwan1203]

All this talk about School Days with no nice boat on the image thread got the crack ideas working in my head. Because of the high demand for such ending, i hereby give you: Nice Boat Nanofate \o/

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/803/niceboatpage1.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4117/niceboatpage2.jpg
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8617/niceboatpage3.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4774/niceboatpage4.jpg
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2355/niceboatpage5.jpg
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2435/niceboatpage6.jpg
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/9360/niceboatpage7final.jpg

This is crack, i repeat, crack. If you are a rabid Nanofate fan who doesn't want to see such ending for their favorite pairing, please don't look at the spoilers.

:D

[Tempest Dynasty]

(ಠ_ృ)
...

( ﾟ ヮﾟ)

This is the greatest post in the history of FFC. No other story can match this in awesomeness.

I approve of this post. （゜□、゜）

[BPHaru]

All this talk about School Days with no nice boat on the image thread got the crack ideas working in my head. Because of the high demand for such ending, i hereby give you: Nice Boat Nanofate \o/

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/803/niceboatpage1.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4117/niceboatpage2.jpg
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8617/niceboatpage3.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4774/niceboatpage4.jpg
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2355/niceboatpage5.jpg
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2435/niceboatpage6.jpg
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6618/niceboatpage7end.jpg

This is crack, i repeat, crack. If you are a rabid Nanofate fan who doesn't want to see such ending for their favorite pairing, please don't look at the spoilers.

:D
Lol
That was funny.
And way better than with Makoto :D
Good job wanwan, you made something good from the discussion at the image thread.
And thanks for taking your time drawing this comic. Even Tempest looks happy with the NanoFate niceboat so I suppose that all the people who wanted to see this end will like this crack ^^

Cuídense y sigan sonriendo :)

[Laith]

All this talk about School Days with no nice boat on the image thread got the crack ideas working in my head. Because of the high demand for such ending, i hereby give you: Nice Boat Nanofate \o/

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/803/niceboatpage1.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4117/niceboatpage2.jpg
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8617/niceboatpage3.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4774/niceboatpage4.jpg
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2355/niceboatpage5.jpg
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2435/niceboatpage6.jpg
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6618/niceboatpage7end.jpg

This is crack, i repeat, crack. If you are a rabid Nanofate fan who doesn't want to see such ending for their favorite pairing, please don't look at the spoilers.

:D

...

.......

..........

*headesks while laughing*

Nothing describes its more than freaking win... oh god my sides...

[Tempest Dynasty]

I didn't care much for the NanoFate (no surprise there).

But the killing! Yes, how I loved the killing. The blood, and the screaming; the stabbing and the dismemberment! This chaotic symphony of violence and psychosis! What wonderful violence.

And... pasteurizing.

[Sheba]

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6618/niceboatpage7end.jpg[/SPOILER]

This is crack, i repeat, crack. If you are a rabid Nanofate fan who doesn't want to see such ending for their favorite pairing, please don't look at the spoilers.

:D


I loled hard.

[MeisterBabylon]

All this talk about School Days with no nice boat on the image thread got the crack ideas working in my head. Because of the high demand for such ending, i hereby give you: Nice Boat Nanofate \o/

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/803/niceboatpage1.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4117/niceboatpage2.jpg
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8617/niceboatpage3.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4774/niceboatpage4.jpg
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2355/niceboatpage5.jpg
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2435/niceboatpage6.jpg
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6618/niceboatpage7end.jpg

This is crack, i repeat, crack. If you are a rabid Nanofate fan who doesn't want to see such ending for their favorite pairing, please don't look at the spoilers.

:DNo wonder FFC loves you Wan. :D

[Rickrolled]

All this talk about School Days with no nice boat on the image thread got the crack ideas working in my head. Because of the high demand for such ending, i hereby give you: Nice Boat Nanofate \o/

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/803/niceboatpage1.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4117/niceboatpage2.jpg
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8617/niceboatpage3.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4774/niceboatpage4.jpg
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2355/niceboatpage5.jpg
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2435/niceboatpage6.jpg
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6618/niceboatpage7end.jpg

This is crack, i repeat, crack. If you are a rabid Nanofate fan who doesn't want to see such ending for their favorite pairing, please don't look at the spoilers.

:D

ah the creativity lawlz
i just love joke like this especially if it in Paint ;)

i lol the skin part the most hahawhaw

[XenahortCharybdis]

All this talk about School Days with no nice boat on the image thread got the crack ideas working in my head. Because of the high demand for such ending, i hereby give you: Nice Boat Nanofate \o/

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/803/niceboatpage1.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4117/niceboatpage2.jpg
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8617/niceboatpage3.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4774/niceboatpage4.jpg
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2355/niceboatpage5.jpg
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2435/niceboatpage6.jpg
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6618/niceboatpage7end.jpg

This is crack, i repeat, crack. If you are a rabid Nanofate fan who doesn't want to see such ending for their favorite pairing, please don't look at the spoilers.

:D

*stares*

:twitch:

*re-reads*

:D*GRINS*:D

Parody Accuracy - over 9000...
Words in terms of Pictures - over 9000...
Imagined/Non-Depicted gore, blood 'n' gibs - over 9000...
Wangoose Resonance Energy - THE MAX.

:bow: :bow: :bow:

Unbelievably awesome, and awesomely unbelievable.

AX, I believe the alternative to alternative...has come into her own.

[TheShinySword]

All this talk about School Days with no nice boat on the image thread got the crack ideas working in my head. Because of the high demand for such ending, i hereby give you: Nice Boat Nanofate \o/

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/803/niceboatpage1.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4117/niceboatpage2.jpg
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8617/niceboatpage3.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4774/niceboatpage4.jpg
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2355/niceboatpage5.jpg
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2435/niceboatpage6.jpg
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6618/niceboatpage7end.jpg

This is crack, i repeat, crack. If you are a rabid Nanofate fan who doesn't want to see such ending for their favorite pairing, please don't look at the spoilers.

:D

Ah wanwany~ *hugs* That is one Nice Boat. *I do believe my favorite sound effect is pasteurize*

[USB500]

All this talk about School Days with no nice boat on the image thread got the crack ideas working in my head. Because of the high demand for such ending, i hereby give you: Nice Boat Nanofate \o/

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/803/niceboatpage1.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4117/niceboatpage2.jpg
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8617/niceboatpage3.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4774/niceboatpage4.jpg
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2355/niceboatpage5.jpg
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2435/niceboatpage6.jpg
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6618/niceboatpage7end.jpg

This is crack, i repeat, crack. If you are a rabid Nanofate fan who doesn't want to see such ending for their favorite pairing, please don't look at the spoilers.

:D
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/6748/hoorayqn5.jpg

You've made me proud, wanwan. :bow: :bow:

[The Guy Named Zeo]

All this talk about School Days with no nice boat on the image thread got the crack ideas working in my head. Because of the high demand for such ending, i hereby give you: Nice Boat Nanofate \o/

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/803/niceboatpage1.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4117/niceboatpage2.jpg
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8617/niceboatpage3.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4774/niceboatpage4.jpg
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2355/niceboatpage5.jpg
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2435/niceboatpage6.jpg
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6618/niceboatpage7end.jpg

This is crack, i repeat, crack. If you are a rabid Nanofate fan who doesn't want to see such ending for their favorite pairing, please don't look at the spoilers.

:D

I almost died from laughing to much, that was just awesome wanwan.

[spawnofthejudge]

Weeklong vacations cause these, I'm told:
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/9125/backlogbreakerzl9.jpg

"The Last Dance"I quite enjoyed this.

Zenith Chapter 0: The Hestian Cadmus Incident ---- Chapter 1: Where the curtain rises, and where several weird young people are introduced.Oooo. It doesn't take a particularly smart person to realize that I like this portion of the timeline. I'm hooked already.

Short is shortHow cute!

Over-*:heh: WIN!

Parent's Day at School! OH NOES! D:Parent's Day at School! OH NOES! DXVery nice! I like Syn's constant defense.

Most abnormal Parent's Day ever:heh: You were on a roll when I was gone!

Stahlkönigin -- Chapter 18I like how Vivio's thoughts take a turn for the worse at the beginning to snap her out. Actually, her whole character here is just brilliant.

And you've done well in making me hate Sonoma.

*Okay, maybe second-most likely...I love Hayate!


Stahlkönigin--Chapter 19The switch in POV from Versa to Renault/Zafira is awkward. Don't know if there's a great fix... or even if it's just me.

I let out something between a cheer and a laugh when I saw the name of Vivio's attack on the door.

Tangent: Why the chapter buffer? I can think of a few reasons, but I want to know yours.

First TimeI wonder... The Shadows are so truly interesting... and I hate them so... and yet I've got a couple thoughts on stories borrowing your ideas. Maybe once I've polished up Many Masters?

The Bloodspeaker Homicides:twitch:...I'm so Squicked right now.

Swimsuit time!Fooled me.

Teenage!Erio"Cute little short :)

I support this idea 100%. Fate vs Kerrigan would be an epic battle of the ages. It may have been done once before, but who's to say it can't be done again?

P.S. I am opted in to beta starcraft 2, is anyone else? You know, a few team games, maybe on skype, dominating other people...

(I play Protoss XD XD XD)I'm so jealous. :upset:

Chapter 6 - The HuntHow old is Elly? Her immaturity is... I don't know. It strikes me as off with her introduction where she was infiltrating the base. She seemed better composed and more logical, as opposed to having all the logic coming from her Device.

Knight of Exodus ExtraHer Evil is showing. *shudders*

Nice Boat Nanofate...Oh dear.

And I have the next chapter of Many Masters in here somewhere...

[AtomicoX]

How old is Elly? Her immaturity is... I don't know. It strikes me as off with her introduction where she was infiltrating the base. She seemed better composed and more logical, as opposed to having all the logic coming from her Device.


I figured someone would pick up on that. In her profile she is 14, which makes her younger by the time of the infiltration mission. I'll get into more detail on Beskanti stuff later, as she is essentially a child soldier (some part of it being she can use magic effectively, explained in Beskanti history).
During the infiltration mission she didn't have her primary device at all, as might be obvious as he never appears until in the end.

Now, some year or months passes, an incident happens prior to the start of KoE, which will be told in chapter 7, and this incident has a big impact on her. Other things happens after that and she appears on Mid, as told by her device.

Without saying too much, as you can see in Ch6 she is tired, hurt, hungry and very, very angry with Sigrid, for reasons undisclosed until Chapter 7.
This made me feel that she couldn't keep her head cool as in a controlled situation/operation.

Sorry for rambling there, but these were my thoughts behind it.

[spawnofthejudge]

Found it!

The Many Masters of the Malevolent Manuscript - Complete First Draft

Part One (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=2191261#post2191261)
Part Two (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=2202144#post2202144)
Part Three (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=2219578#post2219578)
Part Four (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=2232195#post2232195)
Part Five (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=2234162#post2234162)
Part Six (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=2243762#post2243762)
Part Seven (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=2274728#post2274728)
Part Eight (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=2322272#post2322272)
Part Nine (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=2341294#post2341294)
Part Ten (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=2358336#post2358336)
Part Eleven (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=2365855#post2365855)

When George heard the scream, he knew he was alone with the Book of Darkness.

He didn’t turn around to look at where the other Enforcer had fallen. He instead was forced to dodge around the room as several magical blasts chased him. It was… hopeless. He wasn’t going to be able to defeat it by himself. Tanya might’ve had a shot…

No. Don’t think about her.

He didn’t, though, and that was what mattered. But in the past minute something strange had been happening to the incarnation of the Book of Darkness. The tall silver-haired woman hadn’t moved, and her body seemed to be more connected to the floor of the chamber… with greenery. The new stationary aspect was helpful to the remaining Enforcer, as the attacks were now always coming from the same place… at least originally.

The attacks stopped for a moment as the woman raised her hands to the sky. “I have… failed again…” she said haltingly, and then she was engulfed in a darkness that quickly spread out from where she stood. George darted to and out the door faster than he thought possible and slammed his hand on the close-and-lock pad on the outside.

“Starfall, open a connection to the bridge.”

~********~
Twilight
~********~

“George!” Paige shouted the instant the connection went through. “What is going on?!”

“The incarnation of the Book is doing a spatial attack that I had to leave the room for. She… she’s grown herself into the ground. I think there’s only a matter of time before she breaks down the door…” There was the sound of an explosion and the video feed went dark. “The door’s breached,” George said in an eerily calm voice. “With vines.”

“Clarify, George,” Admiral Harlaown asked with a carefully controlled voice.

“She’s spouting vines everywhere!” the video feed still hadn’t returned, and George sounded like he was either running or “Luna Buster!” in a battle. “I’m trying to hold back the spread, but it’s way too fast for me alone…”

“What happened?! Where are the other Enforcers?” Paige interrupted.

“…I recommend abandoning ship,” George finished, ignoring Paige’s plea.

Clyde frowned. “This is a big enough danger for the ship…”

“I’m being overwhelmed, Admiral!” George snapped. Paige gasped as the video blinked back on for a moment to show a vine shooting straight at the camera source and then the video was gone again. George cried out, but kept talking. “Ah! I – I don’t think that there’s much time before the ship becomes unflyable or… worse. I strongly – Heavenly Blow! – very strongly advise evacuating the ship. Sir. George out.”

“George!” Paige called again. “Don’t you dare close the connection! George!” The screen in front of her read “Connection closed.” She slammed her fist on the desk.

There was a long beat of silence on the bridge. “Evacuate. Code one. Get yourselves out.” An explosion behind him punctuated his words and made his crew move from their frozen stupor.

~******~

I…

You what?

…You asked me not to apologize so I shall not. I will simply tell you: The Defensive Program has lost control. I cannot assert control. I cannot return you to the –

Crack. Unacceptable. Get me out now.

I can put you into a dream forever. I can suspend you in a pleasant dream for-

I don’t care to be in a dream. I want to kill them! I want to get out there and take my revenge! Do you know what those Bureau bastards did to me?

I don’t. You didn’t tell the Knights.

…It doesn’t matter. Get me out there by anyway possible.

I cannot.

You must.

I cannot… I…

You what?

I… have nothing I can say.

~******~

George never thought that fighting against the different roots and branches of a living plant could be so tiring. He was out of gas now, though he had managed to stall the progress of the Book’s incarnation somewhat. He didn’t think he was going to be effective for much longer, but there were escape pods only ten meters behind him that he didn’t want to be compromised before they had been jettisoned.

“George!”

He heard Paige’s voice behind him, and the moment of surprise was his undoing. The vine that came at him sharpened to a point he wouldn’t have missed if he was fresh and fully alert, but in his state he had no chance to stop it in time. It traveled straight through his middle. Colors dulled. Sounds faded from his ears. Starfall fell from his hands. He clearly heard his name screamed from somewhere, but he didn’t know where. Place lost meaning. Light faded to black other than a pinpoint of light. Then it was all gone.

~******~

This is the Number Two Transport ship, Hestia. The Book of Darkness is out of control, and we can’t stop it. It has engulfed the bridge, and some of the crew. Navigation systems and the Arc-en-ciel controls have also been…

Admiral Clyde, expedite the escape. You are to abandon the Hestia.

I confirmed the evacuation of the remaining crew a moment ago. In a little over a minute, this ship’s Arc-en-ciel will be fully charged. I will send the countdown to you. You must stop the ship before it fires…

~******~

Paige clung helplessly to the uniform of the person closest to her as she cried. She didn’t care who she held, only that the person would let her cling while she aired her fresh grief… her two best friends among all the worlds were gone. Even the explosion of the Hestia behind her didn’t affect her. She felt nothing but the pain, no matter how hard she clung to anything.

~******~

Signum looked up and closed her eyes. I am… finished. She faded from view, into a light that remained behind with the very confused soldiers that were guarding her.

~******~

We’ll sleep now… we’ll sleep until the next Master is ready for us.

~******~

“She’s ready now.”

“Let’s go.”

~******~

“Anfangen.”

~*~*~

[Sassy_Bread]

All this talk about School Days with no nice boat on the image thread got the crack ideas working in my head. Because of the high demand for such ending, i hereby give you: Nice Boat Nanofate \o/

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/803/niceboatpage1.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4117/niceboatpage2.jpg
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8617/niceboatpage3.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4774/niceboatpage4.jpg
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2355/niceboatpage5.jpg
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2435/niceboatpage6.jpg
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6618/niceboatpage7end.jpg

This is crack, i repeat, crack. If you are a rabid Nanofate fan who doesn't want to see such ending for their favorite pairing, please don't look at the spoilers.

:D

Thats' just awesome. *applauds*

[Fuyu no Sora]

All this talk about School Days with no nice boat on the image thread got the crack ideas working in my head. Because of the high demand for such ending, i hereby give you: Nice Boat Nanofate \o/

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/803/niceboatpage1.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4117/niceboatpage2.jpg
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8617/niceboatpage3.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4774/niceboatpage4.jpg
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2355/niceboatpage5.jpg
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2435/niceboatpage6.jpg
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6618/niceboatpage7end.jpg

This is crack, i repeat, crack. If you are a rabid Nanofate fan who doesn't want to see such ending for their favorite pairing, please don't look at the spoilers.

:D

WTF, LOL! Wan-chan went insaaaaaannnneeee xDDDD!!!

EDIT: Page Claim for Crazy Wan-chan *waves*

[Jimmy C]

The Many Masters of the Malevolent Manuscript
Part Twelve: Twilight

This is the end? I was hoping we could get something on Hayate's term as well.

“She’s ready now.”
“Let’s go.”

I think a bit more here would be nice. Something like, why her?
Other than that, great ride, well done!

[DezoPenguin]

@wanwan: Wah! Wan went crazy! Fear the madness! :D *chuckle*

@outlaender: Thanks. Odin (hm, since the Belkans seem to use the Germanic version, probably Wotan?) sacrificed one of his eyes for wisdom and knowledge, but I'm not sure I recall any specific Norse myth of a particular deity or item that let one see the unseen...It's been quite a while since I partook of Norse myth, I'm afraid.

Oh, and no particular family scene for "Memory" largely because Vivio's Overdrive isn't particularly stressful on her body. Using it works her hard, and it's by no means comfortable, but it isn't dangerous in the way that Nanoha's Blaster System is.

@spawnofthejudge: Great final chapter! I have to agree with JimmyC about the "She's ready"/"Let's go" segment needing work, though. The problem is twofold, to my eyes: on the one hand there's the problem he pointed out, and on the other hand, the balance/pacing is off; the previous line is the "sleep until the next master comes" bit and suddenly the next master is up and ready...there's no real gap there and so it feels like basically, they laid down for a nap and someone shook them awake five minutes later.

@spawnofthejudge again: With regard to the chapter-buffer issue, I like to get ahead of myself so I don't end up dropping the story and so I can keep to a steady pace of chapter releases. I like to be able to say "New chapters every Xth day!" and stick to it, so that people who are following the fic can count on showing up regularly. Right now, I'm largely working on my Arisa/Suzuka fic, with Stahlkonigin's mandated page-a-day work being taken up by editing the previous chapters in anticipation of starting ff.net posting. Even here on AS I like to keep things moving along so people don't forget what the heck I was doing. Er...was that what you were asking about? :heh:

[wanwan1203]

(ಠ_ృ)
...

( ﾟ ヮﾟ)

This is the greatest post in the history of FFC. No other story can match this in awesomeness.

I approve of this post. （゜□、゜）
The rare smilies just for me! *glomps* Thank you :)

Lol
That was funny.
And way better than with Makoto :D
Good job wanwan, you made something good from the discussion at the image thread.
And thanks for taking your time drawing this comic. Even Tempest looks happy with the NanoFate niceboat so I suppose that all the people who wanted to see this end will like this crack ^^

Cuídense y sigan sonriendo :)
That was my intention and i'm really glad at the positive responses so far. I had fun making this comic. :)
...

.......

..........

*headesks while laughing*

Nothing describes its more than freaking win... oh god my sides...
:D *glomps Laith* yay! hey come visit once in a while, we miss you :p
I didn't care much for the NanoFate (no surprise there).

But the killing! Yes, how I loved the killing. The blood, and the screaming; the stabbing and the dismemberment! This chaotic symphony of violence and psychosis! What wonderful violence.

And... pasteurizing.
It was a random thing! *flails* well...much like the rest of the comic.. :uhoh: yay! X3!
I loled hard.
:D
No wonder FFC loves you Wan. :D
And i love FFC too. :)
ah the creativity lawlz
i just love joke like this especially if it in Paint ;)

i lol the skin part the most hahawhaw
Hi there! New FFT (fanfic thread) person? Welcome! I'm glad you liked the comic. :) The skin part was a reference to Wild Goose's short. It's in here somewhere <.> along with the origin of the fic.
*stares*

:twitch:

*re-reads*

:D*GRINS*:D

Parody Accuracy - over 9000...
Words in terms of Pictures - over 9000...
Imagined/Non-Depicted gore, blood 'n' gibs - over 9000...
imagined/non-depicted gore XDDD!
Wangoose Resonance Energy - THE MAX.
wangoose resonance energy??! lol!

:bow: :bow: :bow:

Unbelievably awesome, and awesomely unbelievable.

AX, I believe the alternative to alternative...has come into her own.
*hides* l_o! oiii hmp!

Ah wanwany~ *hugs* That is one Nice Boat. *I do believe my favorite sound effect is pasteurize*
*hugged by a shiny sword and bleeds*
*applies bandaid on the cut* ( : : )
Thanks shiny! I'm glad the master of the shiny crack approves. \o/
and yes, pasteurize, that makes 2 of you now. XD
http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/6748/hoorayqn5.jpg

You've made me proud, wanwan. :bow: :bow:
=D weeeee!! thanks!
I almost died from laughing to much, that was just awesome wanwan.
Thank you thank you *bows* =3

...Oh dear.

:D
Thats' just awesome. *applauds*
Hello Sassy, thanks! :)
WTF, LOL! Wan-chan went insaaaaaannnneeee xDDDD!!!

EDIT: Page Claim for Crazy Wan-chan *waves*
I didn't go insane Fuyu!!! *flails* nuuuuuuu!!! what..why do i have a machete....O.O *blanks out* ants...on my bed..KILLLLLL!! *tries to hack the ants away* @___@

Oh and thanks for the page claim! :) *hugs*
@wanwan: Wah! Wan went crazy! Fear the madness! :D *chuckle*
*flails* l_o! :D

To everyone who read, laughed, was amused, and those who liked it..to the cookie givers, to the Ventrilo server, and to FFC: THANK YOU!

[spawnofthejudge]

This is the end? I was hoping we could get something on Hayate's term as well. Sorry, Hayate's term was never going to be a part of this story. This was meant to be a study in the memory loss of the Wolkenritter and how that affected them in portions beforehand.

I think a bit more here would be nice. Something like, why her?
Other than that, great ride, well done!@spawnofthejudge: Great final chapter! I have to agree with JimmyC about the "She's ready"/"Let's go" segment needing work, though. The problem is twofold, to my eyes: on the one hand there's the problem he pointed out, and on the other hand, the balance/pacing is off; the previous line is the "sleep until the next master comes" bit and suddenly the next master is up and ready...there's no real gap there and so it feels like basically, they laid down for a nap and someone shook them awake five minutes later.

So my thought was to end with lines of three words, two words, one word, and this is what I came up with. Maybe it would work better with five, four, three, two, one, and that way I could get in more hints as to who's next... but what would there be to say during the time out? Maybe if the last word isn't "Anfangen," but there's no good way I can think of to separate the time. What precisely did you guys want more out of that particular statement, anyway? Something like this:


"Why are we awake now?"

"She is finally ready."

"...Another female Master?"

"We'll deal."

~******~

"Anfangen"


?

And I'm so glad you liked it!

@spawnofthejudge again: With regard to the chapter-buffer issue, I like to get ahead of myself so I don't end up dropping the story and so I can keep to a steady pace of chapter releases. I like to be able to say "New chapters every Xth day!" and stick to it, so that people who are following the fic can count on showing up regularly. Right now, I'm largely working on my Arisa/Suzuka fic, with Stahlkonigin's mandated page-a-day work being taken up by editing the previous chapters in anticipation of starting ff.net posting. Even here on AS I like to keep things moving along so people don't forget what the heck I was doing. Er...was that what you were asking about? :heh:Arisa/Suzuka fic what? :uhoh:

[Jimmy C]

Sorry, Hayate's term was never going to be a part of this story.

That's at your discretion as the author. So I won't comment on that further.

What precisely did you guys want more out of that particular statement,

Something that showed that the Wolkies had waited years for the activation. Do remember, the Book wandered around for 2 years before Hayate was even born. Then, it had to wait 9 more years before finally activating. Were the Wolkies awake for some time before the Book actually activated?

[spawnofthejudge]

Something that showed that the Wolkies had waited years for the activation. Do remember, the Book wandered around for 2 years before Hayate was even born. Then, it had to wait 9 more years before finally activating. Were the Wolkies awake for some time before the Book actually activated?No, they slept. Bored warriors are a very bad thing. I'm aware that it's a huge timeskip for those awake, but the Wolkies were not awake for practically any of it. It's also basically out of scope. I could end it with them falling asleep, but I fell in love with the idea of ending with something that actually took place at the beginning of A's.

[Jimmy C]

I'm aware that it's a huge timeskip for those awake, but the Wolkies were not awake for practically any of it. It's also basically out of scope.

Yeah, you wrote that. But I was wondering if they had been awakened from their slumber shortly before the Book activated that night in A's ep1. Yet, from previous chapters, it seems the Wolkies do have sufficient time between Masters to bitch about their past Masters. Perhaps a debriefing session before going to sleep?
Thinking on your words, I suggest you drop the "Why are we awake now?" line. None of them would ask that. They'd know there's only one reason for them to wake up after losing their last master.
It would also be interesting to hear their thoughts on what this new master would be like. You could have them be optimistic, pessimistic, resigned and indifferent. That will break the styling you're going for, but I feel that's more in keeping with how you ended the previous chapters.

[spawnofthejudge]

Yeah, you wrote that. But I was wondering if they had been awakened from their slumber shortly before the Book activated that night in A's ep1. Yet, from previous chapters, it seems the Wolkies do have sufficient time between Masters to bitch about their past Masters. Perhaps a debriefing session before going to sleep?
Thinking on your words, I suggest you drop the "Why are we awake now?" line. None of them would ask that. They'd know there's only one reason for them to wake up after losing their last master.
It would also be interesting to hear their thoughts on what this new master would be like. You could have them be optimistic, pessimistic, resigned and indifferent. That will break the styling you're going for, but I feel that's more in keeping with how you ended the previous chapters.Aaah, I'm with you now. I'll think on it. Probably come up with something (or not) tonight. I might be able to add all that without breaking style, but it would require more editing than you're suggesting :).

[Jimmy C]

Glad to help. One more comment, the reason I kept asking about how to get from rampaging Defense Program to vines taking over the Hestia wasn't in terms of how the battle would progress between those two points, but it was because I couldn't see how an out of control Defense Program would retain enough coherence to use the ship's systems instead of just tearing the ship apart and lashing out at the other ships with its own attacks. Even before it loses control, the Defense program of the completed Book still has attacks that should be powerful enough to destroy ships, what would you consider a reason to use the arc instead of the Book's own attacks? If you could write it out, it'll make the last battle better.

[spawnofthejudge]

Glad to help. One more comment, the reason I kept asking about how to get from rampaging Defense Program to vines taking over the Hestia wasn't in terms of how the battle would progress between those two points, but it was because I couldn't see how an out of control Defense Program would retain enough coherence to use the ship's systems instead of just tearing the ship apart and lashing out at the other ships with its own attacks. Even before it loses control, the Defense program of the completed Book still has attacks that should be powerful enough to destroy ships, what would you consider a reason to use the arc instead of the Book's own attacks? If you could write it out, it'll make the last battle better.

I guess it's a question of how well some of the attacks work in Dimensional Space. And if the Book has the ability to take over the controls of the Hestia, there's no reason to assume it won't when out of control, for no logical reason. Just because it is out of control doesn't mean it can't do interesting things like that... I just think it won't do them for any discernable logical reason.

[Jimmy C]

Since you put it that way, it'll do.
Look forward to reading the revised ending of your fic.

[Comartemis]

All this talk about School Days with no nice boat on the image thread got the crack ideas working in my head. Because of the high demand for such ending, i hereby give you: Nice Boat Nanofate \o/

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/803/niceboatpage1.jpg
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4117/niceboatpage2.jpg
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8617/niceboatpage3.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4774/niceboatpage4.jpg
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2355/niceboatpage5.jpg
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2435/niceboatpage6.jpg
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6618/niceboatpage7end.jpg

This is crack, i repeat, crack. If you are a rabid Nanofate fan who doesn't want to see such ending for their favorite pairing, please don't look at the spoilers.

:D
As a rabid NanoFate fanatic with absolutely no sense of humor, I have only one thing to say:

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa167/Comartemis/1195423550187356949molumen_red_appr.png

:p

[Keroko]

Hooo? Even anti-darkfic Comar approves of this? You've really outdone yourself on this one, Wanwan.

[Satashi]

Yuuno, Chrono, Zafira, and Vice were all leaning against a wall outside of the sixth mobile division. After Fate informed them that they couldn't pass as "Street thug rappers" to go undercover for her, the group sets out to prove her wrong by busting a fat lyric.



Chrono: Some people say that rappers don’t have feelings... We have feelings. Yuuno: We have feelings

Chrono: Some people say that we are not rappers.
Vice: We’re rappers!
Yuuno: That hurts our feelings.
Vice: That hurts our feelings when you say we’re not rappers.


Chrono: Some people say that rappers are invincible
Yuuno: We’re vincible.
Zafira: Yeah, we’re vincible.

Chrono: What you are about to hear are true stories
Yuuno: Real experiences
Vice: Autobiographical raps.
Zafira: Things that happened to us, All true
Vice: Bring the rhyme!!!

Yuuno hit a button on his boombox, blasting out a bass rich rhythm

Zafira: I make a meal for my friends, Try to make it delicious, Try to keep it nutritious, Create wonderful dishes! Not one of them thinks about the way I feel... Nobody compliments the meal!

Everyone singing in back: I got hurt feelings- I got hurt feelings
Zafira: I feel like a prize asshole, no one even mentions my casserole.
Everyone singing in back: I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings.
Zafira You coulda said something nice about my profiteroles!

Zafira takes a step back and Yuuno struts forward to rap out free style.

Yuuno: Here’s a little story to bring a tear to your eye, I was shopping for a wetsuit to scuba dive, but every suit I tried is too big around the thighs,And the assistant suggested I try a ladies’ size!

Everyone singing in back: I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings
Yuuno: I’m not gonna wear a ladies’ wetsuit! I’m a man!
Everyone singing in back:I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings
Yuuno: *throws arms out and looks around* Get me a small man’s wetsuit, please!

Yuuno walks back to the wall, shaking his head in disbeleif about his wetsuit. Vice steps up to show the world his rap

Vice: They call me the hiphopotamus, my lyrics are bottomless!

....
.....
......
.......

*Vice starts dancing*


Chrono:*takes over to buy Vice time* It’s my birthday, 2003, Waitin’ for a call from my family...
...
....
Chrono: They forgot about me T_T

Everyone singing in back:I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings

Chrono: The day after my birthday is not my birthday, Amy.

Vice: I call my friends and say, “Let’s go into town,” But they’re all too busy to go into town, So I go by myself, I go into town...Then I see all my friends- they’re all in town. >.<

Everyone singing in back: I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings.

Vice: They’re all lined up to watch that movie: Lyrical Nanoha pantie shot edition.


Chrono: Have you even been told that your ass is too big?
Yuuno: Have you ever been asked if your hair is a wig?
Zafira: Have you ever been told you’re mediocre in bed?
Vice: Have you ever been told you’ve got a weird-shaped head?
Chrono: Has your family ever forgotten you and driven away?
Yuuno Once again, they forgot about Dre (>.<)b
Zafira: Were you ever called “homo” ‘cuz at school you took drama?
Vice: Have you ever been told that you look like a llama?

Everyone singing in back: Tears of a rapper (tears of a rapper), I’m crying tears of a rapper....Tears of a rapper.

Fate looked at the group of people, sighed, and walked off to ask Erio to go undercover for her

[Comartemis]

It's too ridiculous to be a darkfic, and wanwan already said it's crack. Besides, the art quality (such as it is) makes it so ridiculous that it's impossible to take seriously. And the ending is very much lol-worthy, that helps too.

[Evangelion Xgouki]

Oh the crack ideas... >_>



Admiral Chrono Harlaown absentmindedly tapped his fingers on his console. As a high-ranking member of the TSAB he had a fair amount of influence throughout the organization. Gone were the days of waiting for weeks for request papers to be processed. It also helped that he had several powerful connections in other departments, much in thanks to his parents' reputations. Yet even with it all, he was still unable to make the maintenance of his ship finish any faster.

"If it was so routine they should be able to get it done faster than his," he mumbled.

The Claudia wasn't that damaged. The past few months had been fairly quiet. A few patrols and visits to Administered Worlds were not exactly a heavy work load for the warship. At times he envied his sister and Riot Force 6. With the escalating gadget drone attacks and combat cyborg sightings they were on constant alert. Not to mention being deployed around the planet and other worlds to deal with other Scagletti threats. All he had now was commanding his troops from the safety of the bridge and piles of paperwork in his office.

"Sir, the dock reports all maintenance complete."

He resisted to urge to comment about the time it took them. "Understood. Request clearance from control and take us out."

"Yes, sir."

A thought brought up a screen next to him. His eyes idly scanned over the lines of text, double-checking their next assignment: patrol of the space around Administered World 547. That sounded oh-so exciting.

"Once we clear the station, set course for Administered World 547."

"Sir! An unknown vessel has appeared."

Well he did want something different. "What do you mean 'appeared'?"

Another bridge member spoke up. "Sensors are picking up some kind of dimensional anomaly. It's not matching anything we have on record."

Now this was a little more like it. "Can we identify the ship?"

"Negative. It's not matching anything in our database."

"Put it on the main screen."

The screen at the front of the bridge came to life. Surrounded by the stars and black of space around Mid Childa, the grey vessel was easily visible. Chrono gave it a look over, not recognizing its design. It was a sleek vessel, looking like it was composed of a sections. The upper component was almost oval like and flat while the lower section was thicker with what he presumed were two engines attached to the rear.

"Open communication channels."

"All channels open."

"This is Admiral Chrono Harlaown of the TSAB vessel Claudia to the unknown vessel. You have entered TSAB space without authorization. Please identify yourselves."

For a moment he hoped they would fire to make things a little more exciting. Instead, the image changed. Gone was the view of space and the vessel. Instead he was looking at what he presumed was the command area fo the vessel. He could see several humanoids manning what he presumed were control stations. Physical monitors lined the walls. In the center of the image were two people, a male and a female. From the positioning of the seats, he presumed the female was the one in charge since hers was centered in the room. His guessed proved right as she was the first to address him.

"I am Captain Katheryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager."

[Satashi]

Oh the crack ideas... >_>



Admiral Chrono Harlaown absentmindedly tapped his fingers on his console. As a high-ranking member of the TSAB he had a fair amount of influence throughout the organization. Gone were the days of waiting for weeks for request papers to be processed. It also helped that he had several powerful connections in other departments, much in thanks to his parents' reputations. Yet even with it all, he was still unable to make the maintenance of his ship finish any faster.

"If it was so routine they should be able to get it done faster than his," he mumbled.

The Claudia wasn't that damaged. The past few months had been fairly quiet. A few patrols and visits to Administered Worlds were not exactly a heavy work load for the warship. At times he envied his sister and Riot Force 6. With the escalating gadget drone attacks and combat cyborg sightings they were on constant alert. Not to mention being deployed around the planet and other worlds to deal with other Scagletti threats. All he had now was commanding his troops from the safety of the bridge and piles of paperwork in his office.

"Sir, the dock reports all maintenance complete."

He resisted to urge to comment about the time it took them. "Understood. Request clearance from control and take us out."

"Yes, sir."

A thought brought up a screen next to him. His eyes idly scanned over the lines of text, double-checking their next assignment: patrol of the space around Administered World 547. That sounded oh-so exciting.

"Once we clear the station, set course for Administered World 547."

"Sir! An unknown vessel has appeared."

Well he did want something different. "What do you mean 'appeared'?"

Another bridge member spoke up. "Sensors are picking up some kind of dimensional anomaly. It's not matching anything we have on record."

Now this was a little more like it. "Can we identify the ship?"

"Negative. It's not matching anything in our database."

"Put it on the main screen."

The screen at the front of the bridge came to life. Surrounded by the stars and black of space around Mid Childa, the grey vessel was easily visible. Chrono gave it a look over, not recognizing its design. It was a sleek vessel, looking like it was composed of a sections. The upper component was almost oval like and flat while the lower section was thicker with what he presumed were two engines attached to the rear.

"Open communication channels."

"All channels open."

"This is Admiral Chrono Harlaown of the TSAB vessel Claudia to the unknown vessel. You have entered TSAB space without authorization. Please identify yourselves."

For a moment he hoped they would fire to make things a little more exciting. Instead, the image changed. Gone was the view of space and the vessel. Instead he was looking at what he presumed was the command area fo the vessel. He could see several humanoids manning what he presumed were control stations. Physical monitors lined the walls. In the center of the image were two people, a male and a female. From the positioning of the seats, he presumed the female was the one in charge since hers was centered in the room. His guessed proved right as she was the first to address him.

"I am Captain Katheryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager."


That had potential for epic win, but you should have used

X6oUz1v17Uo

[lilgumba]

I can't see the nice boat ending T_T Gumba fails.

[wanwan1203]

As a rabid NanoFate fanatic with absolutely no sense of humor, I have only one thing to say:

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa167/Comartemis/1195423550187356949molumen_red_appr.png

:p
Oh wow approved o: Thanks Comar, I'm glad you liked it :)
Hooo? Even anti-darkfic Comar approves of this? You've really outdone yourself on this one, Wanwan.
>////>
*hides*
l_O Thanks Keroko.
It's too ridiculous to be a darkfic, and wanwan already said it's crack. Besides, the art quality (such as it is) makes it so ridiculous that it's impossible to take seriously. And the ending is very much lol-worthy, that helps too.
I can only draw stick figures XD
I can't see the nice boat ending T_T Gumba fails.

There suddenly seems to be a problem with the last image as it won't load. The link doesn't even work atm. @.@ I don't know why. Nevertheless, i uploaded the image again so you should be able to see the final page. :) *hugs*

[spawnofthejudge]

Here's what I think I can change that segment to:

Our Master is ready for us once again.

What do we know about this one?

She is very young this time.

Maybe… maybe that will help.

It won’t change anything.

Silence, it’s time.

… Be safe.

~******~

"Anfangen"

Page Claim! For... my first completed Nanoha fic! (My second chaptered fic completed ever)

[Evangelion Xgouki]

That had potential for epic win, but you should have used

X6oUz1v17Uo

As tempting as it was, I have a few plans for the Intrepid-class starship crew...

[Fuyu no Sora]

I didn't go insane Fuyu!!! *flails* nuuuuuuu!!! what..why do i have a machete....O.O *blanks out* ants...on my bed..KILLLLLL!! *tries to hack the ants away* @___@

I know, I just knew it would make you flail :D Machetes are dangerous :heh: Ants are also dangerous :heh::heh: *Watches in extreme amusement as Wanwan tries to hack ants from her bed*

Oh and thanks for the page claim! :) *hugs*

You deserve more than a page claim, if for nothing else but for being cute :D *Hugs tightly <3*

*flails* l_o! :D

And there you go again :D

*snip*

What the heck? xDDD! That was funny, Satashi, really. Poor Fate, having to stand there and listening to those four trying (and failing miserably) to be rappers xD!

[RadiantBeam]

So seeing as I successfully updated my Sailor Moon fic last night (Who knew writing something only slightly AU was so HARD?), I now have some free time to devote to Bless the Broken Road and the latest installement of my ViCia series, so be on the look-out for those sometime this week hopefully. :D

...

*kicks away plotbunnies reminding me of how I haven't updated Katara's Rain in a freakin' year*

[TheShinySword]

Yuuno, Chrono, Zafira, and Vice were all leaning against a wall outside of the sixth mobile division. After Fate informed them that they couldn't pass as "Street thug rappers" to go undercover for her, the group sets out to prove her wrong by busting a fat lyric.



Chrono: Some people say that rappers don’t have feelings... We have feelings. Yuuno: We have feelings

Chrono: Some people say that we are not rappers.
Vice: We’re rappers!
Yuuno: That hurts our feelings.
Vice: That hurts our feelings when you say we’re not rappers.


Chrono: Some people say that rappers are invincible
Yuuno: We’re vincible.
Zafira: Yeah, we’re vincible.

Chrono: What you are about to hear are true stories
Yuuno: Real experiences
Vice: Autobiographical raps.
Zafira: Things that happened to us, All true
Vice: Bring the rhyme!!!

Yuuno hit a button on his boombox, blasting out a bass rich rhythm

Zafira: I make a meal for my friends, Try to make it delicious, Try to keep it nutritious, Create wonderful dishes! Not one of them thinks about the way I feel... Nobody compliments the meal!

Everyone singing in back: I got hurt feelings- I got hurt feelings
Zafira: I feel like a prize asshole, no one even mentions my casserole.
Everyone singing in back: I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings.
Zafira You coulda said something nice about my profiteroles!

Zafira takes a step back and Yuuno struts forward to rap out free style.

Yuuno: Here’s a little story to bring a tear to your eye, I was shopping for a wetsuit to scuba dive, but every suit I tried is too big around the thighs,And the assistant suggested I try a ladies’ size!

Everyone singing in back: I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings
Yuuno: I’m not gonna wear a ladies’ wetsuit! I’m a man!
Everyone singing in back:I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings
Yuuno: *throws arms out and looks around* Get me a small man’s wetsuit, please!

Yuuno walks back to the wall, shaking his head in disbeleif about his wetsuit. Vice steps up to show the world his rap

Vice: They call me the hiphopotamus, my lyrics are bottomless!

....
.....
......
.......

*Vice starts dancing*


Chrono:*takes over to buy Vice time* It’s my birthday, 2003, Waitin’ for a call from my family...
...
....
Chrono: They forgot about me T_T

Everyone singing in back:I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings

Chrono: The day after my birthday is not my birthday, Amy.

Vice: I call my friends and say, “Let’s go into town,” But they’re all too busy to go into town, So I go by myself, I go into town...Then I see all my friends- they’re all in town. >.<

Everyone singing in back: I got hurt feelings, I got hurt feelings.

Vice: They’re all lined up to watch that movie: Lyrical Nanoha pantie shot edition.


Chrono: Have you even been told that your ass is too big?
Yuuno: Have you ever been asked if your hair is a wig?
Zafira: Have you ever been told you’re mediocre in bed?
Vice: Have you ever been told you’ve got a weird-shaped head?
Chrono: Has your family ever forgotten you and driven away?
Yuuno Once again, they forgot about Dre (>.<)b
Zafira: Were you ever called “homo” ‘cuz at school you took drama?
Vice: Have you ever been told that you look like a llama?

Everyone singing in back: Tears of a rapper (tears of a rapper), I’m crying tears of a rapper....Tears of a rapper.

Fate looked at the group of people, sighed, and walked off to ask Erio to go undercover for her

Since we're going with a FotC theme :p...


Yuuno: Sometimes my rhymes are polite like thank you for dinner Miss Wright. That was very delicious goodnight.
Sometimes they're obscene like a pornographic dream NC-17 with ladies in a stream of margarine. Ha ha ha ha ha

*poses* Some margarine.

My rhymes and records they don't get played
My rhymes and records they don't get made
And if you rap like me you don't get paid
And if you roll like me you don't get laid

Zafira: My rhymes are so potent that in this small segment I made all of the ladies in the are pregnant *Arf swoons in the background*
Yes some times my lyrics are sexist but you lovely bitches and ho's *Shamal shakes the frying pan in the backgrounds* should know I"m tryin' ta correct this...

Yuuno: Other rappers dis me say my rhymes are sissy~

Zafira: Why?
Yuuno: Why?
Zafira: Why?
Yuuno: What?
Zafira: Why exactly?
Yuuno: What? Why?
Zafira: Be more constructive with your feedback Please~

Yuuno: Why? WHY Because I rap about reality like me and Nanoha drinkin' a cup of tea! There ain't no party like Nana's tea parties~ hey~ho~~

I'm the motherflippin'

Zafira: I'm the motherflippin'
Yuuno: I'm the motherflippin'
Zafira: Who's the motherflippin?
Yuuno: I'm the motherflippin'
Zafira: I'm the motherflippin'
Yuuno: I'm the motherflippin'
Both: Motherflippin' *Gangsta pose* Word

Flight of the Conchords!

[Jimmy C]

Here's what I think I can change that segment to

That'll do for the ending. If you could put something that showed years past between the "we'll sleep now" line and these, that'd be good, I think.

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

*Hides from Radiant*

Don't kick me damnit! It's not my fault I give you so many ideas! *Cries and hugs arm to self*

[Satashi]

Teana and Fate walked side-by-side down the pavement of a carlot near the town they had just been dispatched in. As their current case was in the sunny tropics of the well known beach tourist attraction of Midchilda, Fate had decided to simply ride in the base's plane there and rent a car once they arrived. The blonde's eyes looked around hungrily, not missed by the red-headed partner walking alongside her. "Fate-san," Tea spoke before the main office was reached. "When do we need to meet with our contact here to get to the crime scene?"

"In an hour or so." Fate's words came easily as she opened the glass door leading to a large office that even had cars on display for the showroom. Custom painted cars lined up along the wall, making red eyes drift to them before a sales representative met up with them. "Hello," She greeted the teenager while showing her ID card. "Special enforcer Fate, assigned on a case here, and this is my partner Teana Lanster. I need to rent a car during my investigation period."

"Oh... oh wow..." The man started grinning while pointing at them. "I-I know you two! I'm a huge fan, I have all the magazines you two have been in and even did a report on the military section you are based in as my final report in college!"

Fate smiled at him sweetly. "Really? Would you like an autograph?" The man in front of her nodded excitedly and beckoned them to go back to his sectioned off desk before pulling out the swimsuit edition of Military Monthly. "Ooh, nice choice, I liked those pictures." She met his eyes and winked before taking the offered pen and signing the centerfold that had a paired picture of both her and Nanoha. "Say," She began while handing him the magazine and pen back, allowing him to stare at it in awe. "Could you do me a tiny little favor?"

~**~

Tea looked over at Fate once again as she rode in the newest model sports car that the man had boasted about having almost three time's the car's total cost in additions placed on it. "Hey... How come you always drive?"

"Because," Fate told her simply as she guided the car down the road lined with palm trees. "This is an eleven second car that can rip the wheels straight off of it if you can't handle the power. This thing is what the Midchildan racing dreams are made of."

Tea looked over at Fate and cocked an eyebrow up. "So why did you tell him to write down that it was a minivan on the offical car loan papers we have to turn in?"

Fate blinked, catching the meaning in Tea's words and looked over at her with uncertain eyes. Tea simply smirked at her.

Five minutes later Tea adjusted her sunglasses and placed her arm along the car door, steering with only one hand. Wind whipped through her hair now that the convertable's top was down and a smile was plastered on her face as she enjoyed the feeling.

Fate crossed her arms in the passenger seat and glared at the passed cars. "You know, I could court marshal you for this..."

[RadiantBeam]

*Hides from Radiant*

Don't kick me damnit! It's not my fault I give you so many ideas! *Cries and hugs arm to self*

Oh, suck it up!

You're only part of the problem anyway! XD

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

Better to be part of the problem than the solution!

And here's a concept I have never seen used in Nanoha fanfiction.

Three-dimensional array's. A Velkan/ Belkan 3D array would be a pyramid obviously...and a Childan one a sphere.

Oh sweet Khorne...can't believe I didn't think of this earlier!

Fate acquires the Witchblade. Can you say epic fanservice?! *Cackles* Plus ya know...whole sadism and violence.

And heels made from blades *Nodnod*

[Comartemis]

....you do remember the anime version has that whole "slowly killing off its' wielder" thing, right?

[AtomicoX]

Sounds like my OC's device...

[Nya~n]

Except, Walla-tan's more moe...

/me is knocked out and brought to a dungeon.

"Ne, ne, onii-chan, I wonder what your blood type is~"

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

Technically speaking...Nanoha's Starlight Breaker is no different you realise Comar. Yeah, whilst the Witchblade WILL kill its wielder regardless...just think of the carnage.

And judicious use of it could lead to a longer life-span. Plus the whole issue of magic coud provide a different form of sustenance for the Blade.

[Comartemis]

SLB is very different from an artifact that is certain to kill you once it bonds to you. Nanoha can handle the strain associated with SLB's usage unless it's coupled with a few other factors; in-series it took several years of non-stop Training From Hell combined with over usage of SLB and bombardment spells in general to make Nanoha have even a partial breakdown, and even then her injuries were also mainly due to enemy attacks while she was vulnerable.

The anime Witchblade, on the other hand, is more like Archer's arm; once it's activated it's essentially a ticking time bomb, slowly leeching away the life force of the wielder. Death is certain and inescapable. And how would you get the blade to eat magic instead of life force? Do you know enough about it to make modifications?

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

Not so much that...but mana/ prana/ magic/ whatever you want to call it has often been seen to be a force of life.

And the Witchblade is a predator and would go for the biggest prey...being the magic but would supplement the diet with bits of life from its wielder which would grant longer life.

[Comartemis]

But still shorten it, which is almost as bad. And saying the Witchblade would go after magic just because it's a more abundant energy supply is kind of like saying humans could learn photosynthesis because sunlight is more readily available than meat. You can't assume one energy type is similar enough to the original that the two are interchangeable unless there's evidence to support your case in-series, and to my knowledge there isn't any evidence that magic = life force.

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

Humans wouldn't go after photosynthesis for a few reasons.

The energy gained would be too minimal to support our current activities. Plants don't move much at all.

But magic...magic is clearly volatile, abundant and self-replenishing.

[spawnofthejudge]

I wanted to do a short celebrating something that happened yesterday (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXFnd32egRM), and ended up writing this. It's short, not all that complete, nor any real plans to, but it was fun to write. :)

...Unfortunately, reality is a hard road, indeed...

By the time I got out of Junior High, I was quite over the belief in magic or special things that might come and take me away from the mundane-ness of everyday life. Of course, I wasn't really counting on the beautiful girl that would end up sitting behind me in High School. Her introduction was the first clue, though I really wasn't the type to take a hint.

"My name is Takamachi Nanoha, from Seishou Junior High. I'm not interested in ordinary people, but if any of you are Aliens, Rogue Mages, members of a secret Bureau or have alternate Animal forms, come see me. That is all."

...I initially thought that she was trying to be funny, but if there's one thing I quickly learned about Takamachi Nanoha, it's that she's always dead serious. Not knowing anything I know about her now, of course, I was quite inclined to better get to know this quite attractive girl sitting behind me in class. I mean, really. Wouldn't you?

"Those things you were saying yesterday..."

"What about them?"

"About aliens and stuff. Were you being serious?"

"...Are you an alien?"

"Well, no, but..."

"No but what?"

"...Never mind. Forget it."

"Why did you even talk to me...?" Then she sighed and completely disconnected.

I heard a few giggles around me, which only got explained later by a new friend who had gone to the same Junior High as Nanoha.

"Look, if you're interested in her, I suggest you forget it," Vice said through a full mouth at lunch that day, "She's a bit, ah, 'beyond eccentric', let's say." He had quite a few stories to tell about her. From drawing figures in the school yard with the same lines you might see on a baseball field to rearranging the desks in the classroom to "for a while, she was going out with a line of jokers. They would last anywhere from a week to the shortest, which was something like five minutes. She'd say yes to anyone, but..."

"I'm not interested in ordinary people!"

"...She always broke up with them shortly after."

You sound like you know from experience.

"Hey! This is just what I've heard! I'm just saying. If you're interested in her, I suggest you forget it."

You would be the one to know.

And he was, too. He had already, apparently, gone through the entire first-year class and determined wihch girls were worth dating and which weren't. And assigned them grades too. He was particularly taken with "That one. Tsukimura Suzuka." Griffith, a friend of mine from my Junior High seemed fairly interested in this line of questioning.

"What rank is Tsukimura?"

"AA+!!"

Now, all of this was happening when Nanoha was acting rather normal... but hints were already showing up about how 'beyond eccentric' she really was.

Eccentricity number one: A new hairstyle every day.

And I do mean every day. It followed a pattern though. Monday, it was down. Tuesday, there was one tail. Wednesday, two. Thursday, three, and Friday, four. Each tied off with a green or pink ribbon. And then on Monday she reset to no tails once again. If she followed the pattern through the weekends, I kind of want to see what it looked like on Sundays...

Eccentricity number two: Our Gym classes separated into girls and boys, where the girls changed in even numbered classrooms while the boys changed in odd numbered classrooms. When it was time for Gym, the boys in my class would pack up what they need and head over to an adjacent classroom to change... but Nanoha wouldn't wait. She would just start changing the instant that we were supposed to start leaving.

Clearly, boys were about as important to Nanoha as sacks of potatoes.

[Keroko]

Heh. Chrono's dimensional double encounters Nanoha, now wielding the power of the gods and having zero knowledge of it.

Recipe for disaster? Yup.

Delicious disaster? Definitely.

[Comartemis]

Humans wouldn't go after photosynthesis for a few reasons.

The energy gained would be too minimal to support our current activities. Plants don't move much at all.

But magic...magic is clearly volatile, abundant and self-replenishing.
You miss my point completely. It's not a question of will or won't the blade feed off of mana, it's a question of whether it can or can't feed off of mana. If there were any evidence--in the anime, in the manga, or even in the original comic book series--that the witchblade were capable of feeding off of mana, I'd approve this concept in a second. And seeing how I haven't read the original comic book series, there just might be enough evidence there to prove the concept is feasible. But if there is, you'll have to find it on your own.

I'm not violently opposed to this crossover (just character deaths and gratuitous angst) but you have to justify it better than "the blade is choosing to feed off of mana instead of life force". Until you can prove it is capable of even interacting with mana, much less living off of it, this concept will remain unfeasible in its' present form.

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

Alright then...*thinks* Justification.

Mana is a potent energy source, clearly capable of great destruction. Depending on the wielders own affinity to magic, wether it be offense (Nanoha), defense (Yuuno) or healing (shamal) then the witchblade would potentially take after the offense given the fact it is indeed a weapon and would seek a supplemental energy source as close as possible to its own nature.

And the Witchblade is also clearly sentient to a degree, able to choose hosts. Similiar in fact to an Intelligent Device.

And Intelligent Devices clearly only responds to a mage. So one could theoretically say that the Witchblade is a parallel off-shoot of ID's. One constructed by demons who are immortal so the Blade wouldn't kill them. A mirror image to Intelligent Devices created by humanity who wield "Light magic."

Additionally, the Witchblade is very powerful and an object of darkness. It would seek to dominate light magic and so it would go after the magic due to seeing it as the biggest threat. It has shown in the anime that the Witchblade-posessed Masane clearly goes after the biggest threat in a predatory manner and indeed often licks the fluid from these machines off her armor as if feeding.

[Satashi]

Subaru looked over the training field with a fond smile. The artificial environment was currently set to a forest, bringing a bittersweet feeling to her heart. Just three years ago she had trained there every day, and she knew the forest layout as if she had grown up in it. As the sun started becoming more prominent, she looked at the ground and watched the shadows starting to form. Sounds of conversation started coming to her ears and she turned to see a group of almost twenty people walking together.

The blue haired girl smiled at them and put a hand on her hip while inspecting the crew. Each one of them stopped and stared at her, confused at why the girl in civilian clothing was standing on their training ground. "Hi," Subaru greeted them, skating over to the group. "You're Takamachi Nanoha's current trainee's right?"

One man stepped forward and crossed his arms. "I'm afraid this is a restricted zone, miss. I'll need to escort you off. Now."

With a grin, Subaru chuckled. "Wow, she must be soft if she allows her students to be rude to a visitor." Hr words obviously made the man angry so she waved her hands out defensivly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that as an insult. Anyway, when will Nanoha be here?"

"Instructor Takamachi will be here shortly, and she doesn't need to waste her time with a fan looking for an autograph." The person walked forward and reached out his arm to grab Subaru. "You're leaving."

Subaru lightly turned so teh hand would miss and skated backwards a bit. "I'm sorry, I never introduced myself. My name is-"

"I don't care." The man leapt forward, only to be grabbed and flipped onto his back.

"Hey!" Subaru frowned. "That is VERY rude. You should let someone introduce themselves before you-" her body twirled to avoid a sudden binding spell shot at her and she roundhoused the man to the temple, knocking him out cold. "Now, stand up and lets introduce each other properly....um.... hello...?" She scratched her head. "Wow, Nanoha must be going really easy on them."

"Subaru." Nanoha greeted her friend, stopping her walking when she noticed one of her students laying on the ground. "Oh lord, why is Z-kun unconscious?

Subaru laughed and sratched the back of her head. "Sorry, he tried to bind me."


someone gimme some OC names so I can make them train under Nanoha :P

[Sheba]

Clark Plymouth. Pervert, coward and slacker. Only enrolled in the TSAB for the pretty girls. Could be a decent C+/B- mage if not for... his flaws.

[Tempest Dynasty]

Samuel Delorean. A real tech-head and generally cool, but panicky when under a lot of stress. A nimble, acrobatic sort with emphasis on melee. Has a huge crush on Subaru. He may be unimpressive, but he's got your back.

[Keroko]

Jake Tyrell. Long range mage and a gun-device wielder. Excellent card player, which is understandable as he is also a chronic gambler.

[LimitedEternal]

Levin Toumax. Obsessive-compulsive for the color green; his eyes, hair, magic, and possessions are all green colored. Has a photographic memory for names and faces but can't find his way out of empty room. Healer by trade.

[Keroko]

Sander Zeal. Not really all that powerful in body, but his ego is the size of a small moon. He believes that he is one of the 'few chosen' allowed to learn under the Takamachi Nanoha herself. Loves to flaunt this little tidbit for more than it really is. Also believes that just because he is trained by Nanoha this automatically means he understands her. He doesn't.

[Fuyu no Sora]

Dia and Dae Lyonhart. Twins of short black hair, Dia has blue eyes, Dae's are green and both are melee specialists. Dia is fairly good with a sniper rifle and her weapon of preference is a two-handed sword. Dae's specialties are axes and swords and he likes to use a double edged 1H, katana-stlyle sword.

EDIT: Forgot to mention: They detest people with attitudes, think poorly of snotty or snobbish people and are experts at hiding their emotions. They rather like to follow orders and are fairly expressionless and very cold. Will only demonstrate emotions to people they respect i.e Nanoha and their sister.

[Tempest Dynasty]

Elizabeth Countach. A "noble" with a rich-girl personality from hell. While it is true that her family is rich, and her bloodline strong in magic, that doesn't automatically make her a great mage. Yet, as artillery girl, she can rain down hell. Also weak as anything -- Even Hayate or Caro could beat her in close-combat.

The most tsundere girl EVER.

"Her wrath falls from the heavens.

[Sheba]

Nena Galant. Appears as meek in front of all strangers. A potential support-type mage. However, she hides a weird creepy side that could be seen as the unholy child of Jim Carrey as the Cable Guy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK8Hw5XVvnk) and Fangirl Youmu (http://f.imagehost.org/view/0704/half-beast_half-ghost_strife_chronicle_11). This gets creepy in a comedic way when her interest is the White Devil.

[TheShinySword]

Jonathan J. J. Smith. Would rather have a spot of tea over a fight. Only joined to please his parents. Tends to hang in the back during fights, shooting the occasional round.

[Allquall]

Trailer "Fatass" O'Higgins- Strategy-wise, he's at the top of his game, and he's the self-proclaimed 'King of the Simulator.' However, physical activity is not his strong suit. At all. He will use the powers of his offensive tongue to land him in the brig than to be forced to take a few laps around the track. He hates it when the other cadets/ enlisted men point out his flapping gut as he runs but laughs it off in public.

[Sassy_Bread]

Clarice Alcaparlas - An aspiring singer, only joined due to her parents. Very loud, very outgoing...very impatient. When in battle, she is more of a brawler...too bad that not only is she terrible at strategy, she's very weak. Of Filipino descent, has tan skin.

(I hope for some reason this actually counts or this isn't limited to the OC thread posters...)

[Estavali]

John Russel. Your everyday guy with a slacker's mentality. Currently ranked D. Joined the TSAB simply because he felt that that it can provides free air tickets to other worlds (he likes sight-seeing, but is too lazy to actually plan for a trip himself). Will slack off at every chance and will run and hide if he feels that the fighting is decisively taking a very bad turn.

A potential B-rank, hindered by his lack of motivation. Skilled in illusions, which he puts to good use while "taking some time off" on the side.

Oh, and he has an addiction to pancakes too.

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

New idea: Nanoha x Morrowind

The final battle with the Book of Darkness...did not go as planned. Torn from that dimension by the blast of power, Nanoha is hurled through dimensions into perhaps the last dimension.

There...the prophecy of the Nerevarine is in motion...and nine year old Nanoha must do what the Triune could not.

Kill Dagoth Ur.

[Satashi]

New idea: Nanoha x Morrowind

The final battle with the Book of Darkness...did not go as planned. Torn from that dimension by the blast of power, Nanoha is hurled through dimensions into perhaps the last dimension.

There...the prophecy of the Nerevarine is in motion...and nine year old Nanoha must do what the Triune could not.

Kill Dagoth Ur.

You've posted like 50 differnt plot bunnies you've had.......why not try to write out some of those?

@Thread: Thanks for all the OCs lol :3 I wasn't expecting that many, I'll try to make sure they all get mentioned at least ^_^

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

Why? Currently working on my own fanfics. An Evangelion one, Nanoha one and etc.

Why am I posting them here? Simple. Get's 'em out of my head, other people may want to pick them up and...yeah.

*Shrugs*

Don't want 'em, no worries.

[TheShinySword]

Well I didn't get to post exactly at 12:00 like I wanted but ten minutes off isn't so bad.

Er anyway this is a gift for Tempest who I hope sees this.



It was odd for Noland to receive guests in his quarters. Actually it was rare that any knight received guests while they were in residence. The knights' quarters weren't permanent residences but rather rooms for the knights to stay in when they were preparing to be sent out. Anyone who wanted to visit one of the knights would just as well have visited said knight when he was at home safe and sound.

Nonetheless, a petite white haired girl, cloaked in blue with raging red eyes stormed down the long corridor that housed the knights' homes away from home. The anger radiating off of her was enough to turn the faces of the portraits lining the hall sour. Her destination was clear, the room belonging to the Knight of Two.

Pound! Pound! Pound! “Noland!” Pound! Pound! Pound! “Noland Reinger.” The noise was enough to cause the surrounding knights to poke their heads out of their rooms.

“Kaon,” The door cracked open only enough to reveal a single gray eye, “There are dead who are trying to sleep.” The man on the other side of the door started to close the crack.

Kaon was having none of that and slipped her hand between the door and the doorway, “There are advisors who attempted to assign a group of five to a mission in the south only to be informed that four of the five were heading off to the norther today by another knight too.”

There was an audible pause before the door swung open, “Come in.” Noland stood to the side holding it open for her.

The knight had been in the middle of preparing. He had almost finished changing but his hair was uncombed and untied and his shoes weren't on. Kaon stormed into the tiny room, no more than a closet really and ungracefully and indignantly flopped onto his cot of a bed. “So do you have anything to say for yourself sir knight?”

Noland buttoned his cuffs. “I sent you a messenger.” He looked back at her, “Winston I believe his name was?”

“Did you pay him?”

“I believe that is customary Kaon,” Noland chuckled softly, “Would you rather I give him fish?”

“Yes, actually,” She rolled her eyes and flipped over on his bed, “or at least pay him after you've had confirmation of delivery. He's probably getting drunk as we speak.”

“Ah, I apologize for having made such an error.”

“Look, I don't mind the formal speech in the court but,” Kaon sighed and shifted so she was sitting on the edge, “we're friends Noland, in private you're allowed to talk like the rest of you mortals.”

Noland picked up his comb and started to attack his hair. “Being inside the castle has that effect on me.”

“Don't kill your hair,” Kaon motioned for Noland to sit beside her. When he did so she plucked the comb from his hand. “Even I can do this much.”

“So even the eternal advisor to our liege has a girlish side,” Noland's soft chuckles were interrupted with grunts of pain as Kaon's combing grew rough.

“I have a lot of hair,” Kaon insisted, waving her ponytail around, “So I have to know what to do with it.”

“I know I know,” to Noland's relief Kaon's strokes grew softer and much more pleasant, a light tickle opposed to the painful scrape from before. “So, did you only pay me a visit to complain?”

“Pretty much,” she struggled with a particularly tough knot, “my job's tough enough without people messing with my plans.”

“I didn't know you had plans,” Noland pointed out, “And the situation in the north requires attention right away.”

“As does the situation in the south,” Kaon struck back. “It is not your responsibility to arrange assignments nor is it responsible to take away five of our best an-”

“Now who's speaking formally eh?” Noland smirked until Kaon violently jerked on his hair. “Ow ow, I call foul.”

Kaon muttered something about knuckleheaded knights but Noland didn't pay much attention. “Honestly,” she shook her head and put down the comb. In its steed she took his hair in her hands. “Without me this entire nation would fall apart in a flurry of unorganized masses.”

“Of course of course,” Noland chuckled softly as her movements became jerky but far more gentle than they had been. “Without you the world would stop spinning and we'd go flying off into the sun.”

“I-” jerk “-am-” tug “-serious!” Yank.

“I get it, I get it. Though,” he straightened himself after having been pulled back. It's not a particularly fair discussion when you're holding my hair.”

Wrench.

“Kaon please stop, my scalp can't take anymore.”

“Eh?” Kaon was truly befuddled. “What are you talking about?”

“My hair, you keep yanking on it.”

“Huh? I was just tying the ends up...”

“The ends? What did you do?” Noland stood and looked into the mirror hanging on the wall.

“You... braided it?” He twisted around, looking at it from all angles. It was long enough to drape past his shoulders and down between his shoulder blades.

“W-well,” the Kaiser's advisor scratched the side of her head, examining the wall. “Your hair always gets in your way so if you braid it you'll be more efficient and other... stuff...”

Noland twirled the braid in his hand. The braid was loose, hairs stuck out everywhere, and it was more than a tad uneven. However... it was sweet and uncharacteristic of the cold girl to at least attempt such a thing. He smiled ever so slightly. Then he noticed the black ribbon keeping his hair together. “K-kaon where did you get this?”

“Hmm?” She'd calmed down, “Oh it was sitting on your bedside table. Why is it...” A wicked grin, the kind she typically only had when well... actually it wasn't typical at all for Kaon to have such a look, grew like a weed. “I see so she gave it to you then.”

Noland stiffened up, his fists clenched, his chest tight and a silent panic crossing his face, “I-I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Is that a blush I see on the great knight's face?” Kaon twisted around him like a snake that grin of hers seemingly growing.

“Don't you have work to attend to!” He tried to worm out of the girl's cattish gaze
but it persisted.

“Hark, sir knight,” She laughed, not chuckled, not giggled but full on laughed, “that color cannot be healthy.”

“Kaon!”


“Are you finished yet?”

“You spend a couple hundred years locked in space ship, frozen in time and yet sitting still for five minutes makes you impatient?”

Noland Reiniger shook his head slowly, “That's not it, I'm just...” He contemplated his words, memories running through his head “worried.”

“About what?” Kaon poked around his side despite the fact that it didn't matter where she was considering his condition, “It's not like I'm going to hurt you or anything.”

“...” Noland's only response was silence.

“Oh come ON.”

“All I know is the last time you did this it hurt,” he wasn't one to mince words around, it had been an unpleasant experience in some ways.

“... that was several hundred years ago.” Kaon seemed to suggest that she had spent the last few hundred years braiding hair over and over again.

“It was only a decade or so ago for me, Kaon.”

“I've gotten better!” The immortal protested.

“I'll trust you when you finish-” Yank. “-ow, Kaon...”

“My hand slipped.”

“...”

Several minutes of silence and little incident to Noland's pleasure followed. Only after a final secure tug did Kaon finally speak up.

“Rejoice, you're done.”

Noland tentatively reached up and ran a hand over the newly braided hair. “... ah...” He sounded genuinely surprised, “it's smooth.”

“I told you I got better,” Kaon couldn't keep the smirk out of her voice.

“I apologize for not believing you.”

“Meh. It just motivated me to prove you wrong. I did say I got better though.”

“Hmm,” He continued to feel his braid, “what's this?”

“H-Hey don't...”

“I seem to have two ribbons.” One, his old ribbon, lay on top of one he didn't recognize, “Now I know one but this other one...”

“Sorry,” Kaon shrugged, “I'm no good at giving presents.”

“So this is yours then,” he turned around to face Kaon, despite the fact he couldn't see her.

“Er... Happy Birthday,” Kaon played with her fingers, “I know you don't care about it but I remembered so I thought since the other one's so old mine could help bear some of the load. Just lookin' after you and all.”

“Heh,” he reached out and patted her head, “you're the perfect height for this.”


“...Yeah yeah,” Kaon crossed her arms and shrugged it off, “enjoy while you can birthday boy.”

I wanted to make something longer but school work kept me down all week :<. And I apologize if I butchered Noland >< I tried as hard as I could to keep him in character. And really since it's for Tempest it really should have been all RAGE and FIRE but... I don't do rage well .__.

[Satashi]

Why? Currently working on my own fanfics. An Evangelion one, Nanoha one and etc.

Why am I posting them here? Simple. Get's 'em out of my head, other people may want to pick them up and...yeah.

*Shrugs*

Don't want 'em, no worries.

I knew why you were posting them here, I was just trying to poke you into trying to write some instead of just leaving them :p

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

*Grins* Satashi...these ideas are when I'm not trying. When I'm just sitting here listening to music to CALM my mind down.

Plus...who doesn't wanna see Nanoha as as the Nerevarine, trudging up Red Mountain and blasting a swarm of Daedra or Corprus monsters? XD

[Satashi]

*Grins* Satashi...these ideas are when I'm not trying. When I'm just sitting here listening to music to CALM my mind down.

Plus...who doesn't wanna see Nanoha as as the Nerevarine, trudging up Red Mountain and blasting a swarm of Daedra or Corprus monsters? XD

I know, you post them here in hopes someone will pick it up and write it.

and I have no idea what most of them are about, including that one lol ^^;

[Fuyu no Sora]

Well I didn't get to post exactly at 12:00 like I wanted but ten minutes off isn't so bad.

Er anyway this is a gift for Tempest who I hope sees this.



It was odd for Noland to receive guests in his quarters. Actually it was rare that any knight received guests while they were in residence. The knights' quarters weren't permanent residences but rather rooms for the knights to stay in when they were preparing to be sent out. Anyone who wanted to visit one of the knights would just as well have visited said knight when he was at home safe and sound.

Nonetheless, a petite white haired girl, cloaked in blue with raging red eyes stormed down the long corridor that housed the knights' homes away from home. The anger radiating off of her was enough to turn the faces of the portraits lining the hall sour. Her destination was clear, the room belonging to the Knight of Two.

Pound! Pound! Pound! “Noland!” Pound! Pound! Pound! “Noland Reinger.” The noise was enough to cause the surrounding knights to poke their heads out of their rooms.

“Kaon,” The door cracked open only enough to reveal a single gray eye, “There are dead who are trying to sleep.” The man on the other side of the door started to close the crack.

Kaon was having none of that and slipped her hand between the door and the doorway, “There are advisors who attempted to assign a group of five to a mission in the south only to be informed that four of the five were heading off to the norther today by another knight too.”

There was an audible pause before the door swung open, “Come in.” Noland stood to the side holding it open for her.

The knight had been in the middle of preparing. He had almost finished changing but his hair was uncombed and untied and his shoes weren't on. Kaon stormed into the tiny room, no more than a closet really and ungracefully and indignantly flopped onto his cot of a bed. “So do you have anything to say for yourself sir knight?”

Noland buttoned his cuffs. “I sent you a messenger.” He looked back at her, “Winston I believe his name was?”

“Did you pay him?”

“I believe that is customary Kaon,” Noland chuckled softly, “Would you rather I give him fish?”

“Yes, actually,” She rolled her eyes and flipped over on his bed, “or at least pay him after you've had confirmation of delivery. He's probably getting drunk as we speak.”

“Ah, I apologize for having made such an error.”

“Look, I don't mind the formal speech in the court but,” Kaon sighed and shifted so she was sitting on the edge, “we're friends Noland, in private you're allowed to talk like the rest of you mortals.”

Noland picked up his comb and started to attack his hair. “Being inside the castle has that effect on me.”

“Don't kill your hair,” Kaon motioned for Noland to sit beside her. When he did so she plucked the comb from his hand. “Even I can do this much.”

“So even the eternal advisor to our liege has a girlish side,” Noland's soft chuckles were interrupted with grunts of pain as Kaon's combing grew rough.

“I have a lot of hair,” Kaon insisted, waving her ponytail around, “So I have to know what to do with it.”

“I know I know,” to Noland's relief Kaon's strokes grew softer and much more pleasant, a light tickle opposed to the painful scrape from before. “So, did you only pay me a visit to complain?”

“Pretty much,” she struggled with a particularly tough knot, “my job's tough enough without people messing with my plans.”

“I didn't know you had plans,” Noland pointed out, “And the situation in the north requires attention right away.”

“As does the situation in the south,” Kaon struck back. “It is not your responsibility to arrange assignments nor is it responsible to take away five of our best an-”

“Now who's speaking formally eh?” Noland smirked until Kaon violently jerked on his hair. “Ow ow, I call foul.”

Kaon muttered something about knuckleheaded knights but Noland didn't pay much attention. “Honestly,” she shook her head and put down the comb. In its steed she took his hair in her hands. “Without me this entire nation would fall apart in a flurry of unorganized masses.”

“Of course of course,” Noland chuckled softly as her movements became jerky but far more gentle than they had been. “Without you the world would stop spinning and we'd go flying off into the sun.”

“I-” jerk “-am-” tug “-serious!” Yank.

“I get it, I get it. Though,” he straightened himself after having been pulled back. It's not a particularly fair discussion when you're holding my hair.”

Wrench.

“Kaon please stop, my scalp can't take anymore.”

“Eh?” Kaon was truly befuddled. “What are you talking about?”

“My hair, you keep yanking on it.”

“Huh? I was just tying the ends up...”

“The ends? What did you do?” Noland stood and looked into the mirror hanging on the wall.

“You... braided it?” He twisted around, looking at it from all angles. It was long enough to drape past his shoulders and down between his shoulder blades.

“W-well,” the Kaiser's advisor scratched the side of her head, examining the wall. “Your hair always gets in your way so if you braid it you'll be more efficient and other... stuff...”

Noland twirled the braid in his hand. The braid was loose, hairs stuck out everywhere, and it was more than a tad uneven. However... it was sweet and uncharacteristic of the cold girl to at least attempt such a thing. He smiled ever so slightly. Then he noticed the black ribbon keeping his hair together. “K-kaon where did you get this?”

“Hmm?” She'd calmed down, “Oh it was sitting on your bedside table. Why is it...” A wicked grin, the kind she typically only had when well... actually it wasn't typical at all for Kaon to have such a look, grew like a weed. “I see so she gave it to you then.”

Noland stiffened up, his fists clenched, his chest tight and a silent panic crossing his face, “I-I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Is that a blush I see on the great knight's face?” Kaon twisted around him like a snake that grin of hers seemingly growing.

“Don't you have work to attend to!” He tried to worm out of the girl's cattish gaze
but it persisted.

“Hark, sir knight,” She laughed, not chuckled, not giggled but full on laughed, “that color cannot be healthy.”

“Kaon!”


“Are you finished yet?”

“You spend a couple hundred years locked in space ship, frozen in time and yet sitting still for five minutes makes you impatient?”

Noland Reiniger shook his head slowly, “That's not it, I'm just...” He contemplated his words, memories running through his head “worried.”

“About what?” Kaon poked around his side despite the fact that it didn't matter where she was considering his condition, “It's not like I'm going to hurt you or anything.”

“...” Noland's only response was silence.

“Oh come ON.”

“All I know is the last time you did this it hurt,” he wasn't one to mince words around, it had been an unpleasant experience in some ways.

“... that was several hundred years ago.” Kaon seemed to suggest that she had spent the last few hundred years braiding hair over and over again.

“It was only a decade or so ago for me, Kaon.”

“I've gotten better!” The immortal protested.

“I'll trust you when you finish-” Yank. “-ow, Kaon...”

“My hand slipped.”

“...”

Several minutes of silence and little incident to Noland's pleasure followed. Only after a final secure tug did Kaon finally speak up.

“Rejoice, you're done.”

Noland tentatively reached up and ran a hand over the newly braided hair. “... ah...” He sounded genuinely surprised, “it's smooth.”

“I told you I got better,” Kaon couldn't keep the smirk out of her voice.

“I apologize for not believing you.”

“Meh. It just motivated me to prove you wrong. I did say I got better though.”

“Hmm,” He continued to feel his braid, “what's this?”

“H-Hey don't...”

“I seem to have two ribbons.” One, his old ribbon, lay on top of one he didn't recognize, “Now I know one but this other one...”

“Sorry,” Kaon shrugged, “I'm no good at giving presents.”

“So this is yours then,” he turned around to face Kaon, despite the fact he couldn't see her.

“Er... Happy Birthday,” Kaon played with her fingers, “I know you don't care about it but I remembered so I thought since the other one's so old mine could help bear some of the load. Just lookin' after you and all.”

“Heh,” he reached out and patted her head, “you're the perfect height for this.”


“...Yeah yeah,” Kaon crossed her arms and shrugged it off, “enjoy while you can birthday boy.”

I wanted to make something longer but school work kept me down all week :<. And I apologize if I butchered Noland >< I tried as hard as I could to keep him in character. And really since it's for Tempest it really should have been all RAGE and FIRE but... I don't do rage well .__.

Aww ^^

Very cute, TSS ^^. You utterly fail at RAGE and FIRE but in this department you truly SHINE :D It was adorable ^^

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

...you're joking, right?

You mean to tell me that you have NEVER played the Elder Scrolls games?!

Dear God...*Shakes head*

Nanoha/ Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

School is supposed to be boring. School is supposed to be lame and uncool and all that. However...when a new girl transfers in along with four others...school has changed.

Haruhi Suzumiya
Kyon
Yuki Nagato
Mikuru Asahina.

And Haruhi is hoping to find a mage.

====

*cackles*

[Satashi]

...you're joking, right?

You mean to tell me that you have NEVER played the Elder Scrolls games?!

Dear God...*Shakes head*

The first one, way back in the day, and the one on.....PS I think. I had high hopes for them and they....failed to deliver. So I don't know any of the storylines/why it would work ina crossover with Nanoha since she could blow up the entire continent

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

As to how it would work...simple.

Different universe, different quantum mechanics...even a different type of magic. Mid-Childan magic wouldn't really work there. All she would really have going for her was the amount of magic she posessed and instinctive grasp of said energies.

Similiar to a Breton or Altmer in that regard.

[Satashi]

As to how it would work...simple.

Different universe, different quantum mechanics...even a different type of magic. Mid-Childan magic wouldn't really work there. All she would really have going for her was the amount of magic she posessed and instinctive grasp of said energies.

Similiar to a Breton or Altmer in that regard.
She could blow up anything she wanted because her magic is generated through her linker core. The only thing she couldn't do would be her charge moves like SLB because she draws energy from around her (which might still work)

For example, Fate and Tea travel around from planet to planet but just because they're on a different world doesn't mean they can't use their magic. And Nanoha being on Earth, where magick was, she still is a demon with insane magical powers capable of leveling modern day cities.

[XenahortCharybdis]

...you're joking, right?

You mean to tell me that you have NEVER played the Elder Scrolls games?!

Dear God...*Shakes head*

Nanoha/ Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

School is supposed to be boring. School is supposed to be lame and uncool and all that. However...when a new girl transfers in along with four others...school has changed.

Haruhi Suzumiya
Kyon
Yuki Nagato
Mikuru Asahina.

And Haruhi is hoping to find a mage.

====

*cackles*

Gods not interesting enough for you, Deus? Even school not interesting enough for you?

School is interesting - it's up to you to turn it upside and down, that's all.

The first one, way back in the day, and the one on.....PS I think. I had high hopes for them and they....failed to deliver. So I don't know any of the storylines/why it would work ina crossover with Nanoha since she could blow up the entire continent

You over-estimate her a little. To completely blast an Elder Scrolls continent to pieces would take something on the level of say, the Avatar. Or Yagami Hayate channeling some serious Dark Sailormoon.

But I haven't played ES in ages either, Sata, so it's Deus' call as to whether Nanosagi can do it or not.

As to how it would work...simple.

Different universe, different quantum mechanics...even a different type of magic. Mid-Childan magic wouldn't really work there. All she would really have going for her was the amount of magic she posessed and instinctive grasp of said energies.

Similiar to a Breton or Altmer in that regard.

Different quantum mechanics is normally the cheap explanation for being unable to produce real world physics in games, really...they honestly still function on many of the same assumptions XD

And what does the supernatural arcane have to do with Einstein, other than the fact that developers tend to make as many myriad different mechanics for them to follow as there are hairs on my typing arms?

Okay, jokes aside.

Correction, Mid-Childan magic will technically work; 'Midchildan' magic refers to more of a *brand* or *style* of doing things (range over melee, Belka is the opposite, this is just a stylistic manifestation) and a *representation*, a *formula* (drawing nice circles, this is the pseudo-magiscientifics of it) of using magic, rather than a different *channeling* in the first place, FYI.

The singular basis of most if not all magic games is that they draw magic from a source; Human Linker Cores draw magic from THE source -call it the Mana, the Ether, or what-have-you- and that's their raw channel, after that it's up to them generating their circle/triangle/rectangle/octagon/decagon/trigonal bipryamid in order to project and focus that magic. Consider the circle not the source, not even the gate, rather it's a lens through which the real light from the source is focused and empowered.

Anyway, if Nanoha can't do it due to lack of artistic gift, Raising Heart can by raw process-and-draw. I'm pretty sure Nanoha can use Raising Heart's calculation abilities (as a machine, targeting device, it's pretty good at counting the numbers, it seems) and direct a bit of its CPU power to a little drawing and image-projecting, no? You sure if they can have speech, character, and precision control that would make Winchester cry manly tears, they can't do a little Photoshopping?

So, of course Midchildan Magic will work. Anything else is either an insult to even 1998-level computers (I believe they had better things than WinCalc by then), or a dreadful show of ignorance of the basic assumptions of, for a quasi-estimate, 90% of magic games in the world.

[Satashi]

Correction, Mid-Childan magic will technically work; 'Midchildan' magic refers to more of a *brand* or *style* of doing things (range over melee, Belka is the opposite, this is just a stylistic manifestation) and a *representation*, a *formula* (drawing nice circles, this is the pseudo-magiscientifics of it) of using magic, rather than a different *channeling* in the first place, FYI.

The singular basis of most if not all magic games is that they draw magic from a source; Human Linker Cores draw magic from THE source -call it the Mana, the Ether, or what-have-you- and that's their raw channel, after that it's up to them generating their circle/triangle/rectangle/octagon/decagon/trigonal bipryamid in order to project and focus that magic. Consider the circle not the source, not even the gate, rather it's a lens through which the real light from the source is focused and empowered.

Anyway, if Nanoha can't do it due to lack of artistic gift, Raising Heart can by raw process-and-draw. I'm pretty sure Nanoha can use Raising Heart's calculation abilities (as a machine, targeting device, it's pretty good at counting the numbers, it seems) and direct a bit of its CPU power to a little drawing and image-projecting, no? You sure if they can have speech, character, and precision control that would make Winchester cry manly tears, they can't do a little Photoshopping?

So, of course Midchildan Magic will work. Anything else is either an insult to even 1998-level computers (I believe they had better things than WinCalc by then), or a dreadful show of ignorance of the basic assumptions of, for a quasi-estimate, 90% of magic games in the world.

+ cookie for very nice insight and wording

[XenahortCharybdis]

+ cookie for very nice insight and wording

*om nom nom nom*

C is for Cookie and Cookie is for C.

:D

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

I turned school upside down enough without gods. Was still boring.

As for Vvardenfell and by extension Tamrielic magic...different types of magic.

In Tamriel, magic is focused into several branches. Illusion, Destruction, Mysticism, Alteration, Restoration and Alchemy are the ones off-hand.

So Nanoha would be of the Destruction. Potentially a match for Sotha Sil post-Nerevarine.

However...Tamrielic magic does not require an array of sorts. As to what I can formulate, it is simply drawing magic from ones-self so from ones Linker Core and then projecting it in the assigned format. Wether it be shock, fire, frost or a sub-speciality like draining.

Now...granted...I am not disputing how one draws magic. However...keep in mind Tamriel may be a different world, universe...or something different altogether. A closer universe.

Who's to say that the magic that the Nanoha verse uses can even reach the world of Tamriel?

Or that Nanoha could even use it there, given the abundance of other types of magic which could interfere.

Now if this magic was internalized then sure but really...it get's boring seeing Nanoha using the same type of magic over and over. She's clearly adaptable, inquisitive and posesses a degree of magical knowledge that would make her an instant admittee to the Mages Guild.

Where's the fun in having Nanoha Divine Shoot/ Buster/ Breaker everything? There's no challenge!

[Keroko]

Who's to say that the magic that the Nanoha verse uses can even reach the world of Tamriel?

Considering Nanoha's magic is generated from within her own body, for her not to be able to use her own magic means that she has to have her Linker Core ripped out or undergo some other mutation. Otherwise, there is no reason Nanoha shouldn't be able to use her own magic.

[Rising Dragon]

Nanoha in Tamriel would be too easy. She'd just blow a hole through Red Mountain and wipe out Dagoth Ur that way. She wouldn't have to deal with all of the nutjobs in the Great Houses and Ashlander tribes.

[TheShinySword]

Where's the fun in having Nanoha Divine Shoot/ Buster/ Breaker everything? There's no challenge!

Exactly and Nanoha Divine Shoots/Busters/Breakers everything. It's what she does. That's why it won't work... along with most of the crossover ideas you've thought of. You can't take magic away from Nanoha without taking ALL magic away because of the linker core system. Nanoha's not just going to switch her magic style 'cause the world is different. Xena explained that Mid-Childia is a style. You can put a limiter on her but she'll still be able to blast the heck out of everything. To cross Nanoha over she'd have to be going into a world that has equal or greater power or you're going to have , for those reasons it's much more logical to cross things into the Nanoha world. (But either way I don't much like crossovers unless they're for lolcrack)

And to go off of Xena. We know that magic can't vary between worlds or the TSAB would be screwed whenever they sent officers off to distant planets only to find they couldn't do jack shit. Thus magic has to be the same for the user everywhere.

[Nya~n]

In short. Mindblowingly facepalm-ish and you'll need to make a hell lot of changes to make them work.

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

Meh.

It's true I can't expect people to grasp exactly how I think and how my thoughts don't necessarily stay bound to time.

Let's say she lands in Tamriel. I'm thinking Cyrodil due to the focus of the arcane energy. Landing there, she is attacked after she is believed to be a daedra since really, only daedra appear from rifts.

She fights back and causes heavy damage with her magic but she isn't remembered, only her damage. Fleeing, she knows that she will have to restrict her use of magic if she wants to stay free for the most part until she can find a way home.

And genocide doesn't really suit her modus operandi. Because to stay free she'd essentially be declared an enemy of the state due to repelling guards/ escaping from law/ etc etc.

So therefore she would have to - whilst not abandon her typical magic - she would have to cut down on it heavily and adopt a new type if she wants to stay free long enough to find a way home. Could use it for large-scale engagements but her magic is simply too recognizable to use as a constant.

[TheShinySword]

Stay free? Nanoha can blast the shit out of everything and still not kill people (See well pretty much all of Nanoha). She's not about to limit herself so she can "stay free" when she can just blast her way away. If she's too damaged she can't use any magic if she's not damaged enough then she can still destroy anyone who bugs her. Also why is fighting the whatevers going to cause her to have heavy damage? She has yet to do all the extensive training that will wreck her linker core. The idea won't work not because you're not getting it across but rather because it doesn't work without disregarding a good chunk of what we know about Nanoha and her magic.

And the word you're looking for is massacre not genocide.

[Keroko]

He did explain how she got there. Nanoha got thrown there by the Book of Darkness.

So therefore she would have to - whilst not abandon her typical magic - she would have to cut down on it heavily and adopt a new type if she wants to stay free long enough to find a way home. Could use it for large-scale engagements but her magic is simply too recognizable to use as a constant.

I understand she would have to limit the damage she causes, but I still don't see why that means she has to pick up a new style of magic in order to do so. Nanoha can regulate her magic to be less flashy, you know.

Why go for such an unstable plot device at all? Nanoha is a curious girl. Just say she was curious about the style and chose to learn it.

[Satashi]

Crossovers are a difficult thing to do properly unless, like shiny said, is just for laughing your butt off at. Good fun crack with no solid plot and is only there to giggle at. If you want one to make people read and think its a good story then you have to focus on the readers and what they understand.

Meh.

It's true I can't expect people to grasp exactly how I think and how my thoughts don't necessarily stay bound to time.

Where you're wrong here is that readers NEED to be able to think what you are thinking. An author can't just write down what they think and expect people to enjoy it. From that statement right there you are admitting it without admitting it to yourself that people can't grasp what you're trying to do because to everyone else commenting on it, you're the one who isn't doing it right. AKA, your execution is bad.

The key to fully understanding worlds is to break them down (the OC people are really good at breaking things apart and discussing them, also the Nanoha Magic thread is a great place to toss some ideas up). Research is your best friend, and other writers/readers can give the best feedback. If other authors who know both series are saying it won't work then you probably need to swallow your pride, eat their words with some sugar, and re-think the strategy for executing said story. I, for one, would have never got as many done correctly if it wasn't for people saying I did it wrong. I've even re-done complete chapters of over 7,000 words because the reader didn't grasp what I was going for. What I'm trying to say is that before you defend your idea, try and understand what others are saying.

A better way to make this work would be to revise it and change the plot you're going for. Instead of being sent there forcefully at the time of A's, you could fast forward to where they are older, maybe even post StrikerS. Have the TSAB discover said planet and their magic system and have Nanoha (a teacher) specifically sent there, with information, on a mission to observe and see if said magic is worth "stealing" or if they should make a treaty with said planet to avoid being their enemy later. In that case you could even send a partner(Yuuno would work well here because his knowledge is so vast, or even Fate because she is strong). They could blend in, purposely not reveal their own power, and try to figure out the problems of the world, how they are fought, and learn it as they go. Nanoha is a mastermind when it comes to magic, and she could probably alter her own power to reflect what she is experiencing. She can draw "mana" from her linker core the same way she draws her energy to fire off her spells. The key would be Nanoha understanding and altering the "energy" and how it is used. That's why I'd suggest sending Yuuno along because those two together could dissect the magic, make a report, and even solve a problem or two there before they leave. Counter the unfairness of the power ratio by using logic and restrictions based on their mission and not personal choices/injuries.

Ideas can work, but how they unfold is the focal point

[EDIT] Now that I think about it, that's how I did my "Dream Wing" crossover. >.<

[Keroko]

The greatest problem with crossovers is the difference between the two worlds. The greater the difference, the harder the crossover is to accept.

For example, I recently started thinking of a crossover between Nanoha and To Aru Majutsu no Index. However, I quickly ran into a problem. In To Aruverse, magic was created to give power to those not born with psychic abilities. In other words: Magic there is usable by anyone. This blatantly flies in the face of Nanohaverse canon, and makes it difficult to write a crossover in it. Admittedly, I could just gloss over the whole difference in magic thing and focus on the Psychic part, but that would mean I would have to rely on my readers ignorance. Not the politest way to write.

On the other hand, writing a Nanoha/Negima crossover would have little problems. You even have a valid excuse as to why nobody discovered the entire magic society: They want to be hidden. The worlds have many things in common, which makes writing a crossover in the universe relatively easy.

[Jimmy C]

A problem with crossing over with Negima is similar to To Aru, magic is Negima is also usable by anyone. They don't state it directly, but that's the implication of every one of Negi's stutdents (who aren't already magical of some sorts) being able to use magic after Pactio.
EDIT: Forgot to add, there is one way to get around these. You could say 100% of these worlds' inhabitants have Linker Cores.

And Page Claim! Second one. Hope it actually sticks this time.

[Satashi]

Subaru looked over the training field with a fond smile. The artificial environment was currently set to a forest, bringing a bittersweet feeling to her heart. Just three years ago she had trained there every day, and she knew the forest layout as if she had grown up in it. As the sun started becoming more prominent, she looked at the ground and watched the shadows starting to form. Sounds of conversation started coming to her ears and she turned to see a group of almost twenty people walking together.

The blue haired girl smiled at them and put a hand on her hip while inspecting the crew. Each one of them stopped and stared at her, confused at why the girl in civilian clothing was standing on their training ground. "Hi," Subaru greeted them, skating over to the group. "You're Takamachi Nanoha's current trainee's right?"

One man stepped forward and crossed his arms. "I'm afraid this is a restricted zone, miss. I'll need to escort you off. Now."

With a grin, Subaru chuckled. "Wow, she must be soft if she allows her students to be rude to a visitor." Hr words obviously made the man angry so she waved her hands out defensivly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that as an insult. Anyway, when will Nanoha be here?"

"Instructor Takamachi will be here shortly, and she doesn't need to waste her time with a fan looking for an autograph." The person walked forward and reached out his arm to grab Subaru. "You're leaving."

Subaru lightly turned so teh hand would miss and skated backwards a bit. "I'm sorry, I never introduced myself. My name is-"

"I don't care." The man leapt forward, only to be grabbed and flipped onto his back.

"Hey!" Subaru frowned. "That is VERY rude. You should let someone introduce themselves before you-" her body twirled to avoid a sudden binding spell shot at her and she roundhoused the man to the temple, knocking him out cold. "Now, stand up and lets introduce each other properly....um.... hello...?" She scratched her head. "Wow, Nanoha must be going really easy on them."

"Subaru." Nanoha greeted her friend, stopping her walking when she noticed one of her students laying on the ground. "Oh lord, why is Sander unconscious?"

Subaru laughed and scratched the back of her head. "Sorry, he tried to bind me."

Stepping over the fallen lad, Nanoha walked over to Subaru and smiled down at her. "I didn't know you were coming by today, what's the occasion?"

The younger girl looked down a moment before meeting her old instructor's eyes again. "I took a few days leave."

Nanoha nodded at Subaru's tone of voice and turned to her students before clapping her hands. "Okay everyone, I want you to start your warm ups! Pair up and get ready to begin in ten minutes!" She pointed at one of them. "Clark you aren't pairing with Elizabeth, go with Levin. I don't want to spend another morning trying to find him again."

"Hey!" Levin protested the joke and got a few snickers. "You're never going to forget that one mission."

Clark shook his head and moved his partner to the side to get some room. "You got lost in a four story building, man that was hilarious."

The instructor smiled fondly at her group of crackpot mages before she turned back to her favourite student. "What's bothering you?"

"How did you know?" Subaru skated alongside her friend as she looked over the people preparing for the day.

"Because I know you. Subaru, you are horrible when it comes to hiding your problems." She stepped over Sander again but stopped when Subaru paused her rolling to look at the man. "Oh don't worry, he'll be fine." Nanoha started moving again and was quickly caught up to. "So? What is on your mind?"

Subaru hesitated a moment before replying softly. "I went on a mission last week... I was sent with a group of enforcers to rescue a group of hostages being held for ransom. When we got there... They were more powerful than we thought." Nanoha nodded lightly, placing her hand on the small of Subaru's back in a silent encouragement to keep going with the story. "You see... we thought they were D or maybe C ranked... with a group of B mages and myself, we thought we would be more than enough." She took a deep breath. "I'd say they were pushing A rank."

"Oh my..." Nanoha looked over at Subaru's face and could tell what was coming.

"They died... everyone." The words started getting softer. "I saw them all get killed. I... I was too slow. I haven't fought people in so long. I was rusty, didn't react as fast as I should have... I couldn't save them."

"Subaru..."

"There's more." The girl looked down at the ground and inhaled through her nose slowly. "I tried to save them too... but the renegades were ruthless. I couldn't stun them... couldn't knock them out... One of them got back up...killed one of the hostages... I didn't really have a choice." She closed her eyes. "I killed them to try and save my team... who died because I couldn't protect all of them."

Nanoha nodded in understanding. "And you're doubting yourself because you're a rescuer, not a warrior." She got a small nod.

"I killed more people than I was supposed to save... and when it was done, I didn't even manage to save any of them. When...when the leaders came to pick us up at the specified point and saw only me... They thought I ran away. It wasn't until I finally was able to speak before I could tell them what happened. I don't know, Nanoha, I just.... I don't know."

[Keroko]

A problem with crossing over with Negima is similar to To Aru, magic is Negima is also usable by anyone. They don't state it directly, but that's the implication of every one of Negi's stutdents (who aren't already magical of some sorts) being able to use magic after Pactio.

*shakes head* Negi's students borrow Negi's magic when casting their spells. It's a detail that has faded somewhat into the background because of their awesome artifacts, but that's what the pactio are made for in the first place. The contractor provides magic to the contracted, and in exchange the contracted protects the contractor. Without a pactio, none of Negi's classmates would have the ability to use magic.

[Arkeus]

*shakes head* Negi's students borrow Negi's magic when casting their spells. It's a detail that has faded somewhat into the background because of their awesome artifacts, but that's what the pactio are made for in the first place. Without a pactio, none of Negi's classmates would have the ability to use magic.

Waht are you talking about?

They began using magic *before* they pactio'd, iirc.

[Satashi]

They did? From what I remember, most people could not use magic before Negi, and in Negima!?, Negi passed out becasue too many people were drawing from him

[TheShinySword]

Some of them could some of them couldn't. Not everyone can use magic. But this isn't the negima discussion thread :heh:

[Keroko]

*double-checks* Darn, you're right. Oh well, that puts Negima on the same spot as To Aru then. *shrug*

Edit: Or not. I just remembered Mana who can't use magic, and had to buy magic enchants to get similar results. Whatever. Like Shiny said, this probably isn't the best place to discus this, since I'm not even writing this crossover.

[Comartemis]

Alright folks, here's my latest attempt at getting a story going and keeping it there, crossposting from Outer Cadia.

For those not native to Cadia who may be in the dark here, this is an AU fic where Suzuka and Arisa are ID'd as latent mages after A's and decide to capitalize on the opportunity to become mages. This opens up several possibilities in regards to Carim's and Hayate's plans for RF6, which will become apparent in later chapters.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha
StrikerS ReduX
Prologue

April 29, 0071
Northern Mid-Childa 8th Coastal Airport

The first thing I remember is the heat.

A burning building is probably one of the worst places possible for a person to take a nap. Your chances of surviving such an experience are extremely slight, to say the least; if the fire itself doesn’t kill you, you’ll probably die of smoke inhalation or any number of other nasty and highly fatal events related to said fire, like having debris fall on you from the roof or something of the like. So let me begin by saying that I really hope I wasn’t stupid enough to fall asleep during a raging firestorm, no matter how dire the circumstances might’ve seemed. Waking up during a fire is bad enough, but if I ever find out that I woke up in one because I went to sleep in one, I’ll probably do Mid-Childa a favor and remove myself from the gene pool.

The reason I say “if I ever find out” is because I don’t remember how I came to be in said fire in the first place. For that matter I don’t remember anything prior to waking up in what felt like hell at the time. I know, I know, strange kid wakes up in the middle of a disaster area with no memories of his past—I can already hear some of you giving me “cliché!” catcalls. Well sometimes life is really like that; cliches are cliches because they seem to happen to a lot of people. So sod off and let me keep going.

I guess I’ll continue by saying that if waking up in a fire really sucks, waking up in a fire with no past memories really sucks hard, and for more than the obvious reasons. With no memories of other locales, you have nothing to compare to the present situation, no frame of reference at all; for all you know, you could be on one of the lower planes or in Al Hazard or just about anywhere.

When I first awoke in that inferno, for a few seconds I thought for certain I was in hell. The heat was what woke me, I suppose; it was the first thing I noticed and it was more intense than anything I’ve ever felt since (can’t say much for before, for obvious reasons). It was also the first thing to motivate me to move, and as soon as I did I noticed the second things I remember, those things being the corpses lying on top of me. Two adults, a man and a woman. They were charred and warped on one side like they’d been caught in some sort of blast, and thoroughly sickening to look at, much less be in contact with. I was weak and tired and adrenaline hadn’t kicked in yet at this point but I had enough strength to push them off of me and roll over on one side before my muscles screamed at me for a rest.

I let my eyes wander around the room while I assessed my surroundings. I was in a large room, something like a central plaza in a very large building. There were large hallways leading off to other areas, several of them blocked by debris. The ceiling was in pretty bad shape, and I don’t think anyone planned on putting that skylight there. Several walls were blown out and debris was scattered everywhere. Bodies everywhere too, many of them worse off than the couple I’d just pushed off of me. For that matter I wasn’t in such great shape myself. The floor was scorched and blasted for as far as I could see, but it seemed to get worse as you approach one spot near one of the far walls. The wall closest to that spot was blasted worse than usual, and the massive hole in the ceiling was right over it. Some sort of explosion, then? And I was right near ground zero. Guess that explained why the mister and missus look blasted instead of scorched; they must’ve been between me and whatever went off.

If I may digress for a moment, I’d like to point out that my cavalier attitude towards these most traumatic events stems from the fact that I’ve had several years to come to terms with them. That and I’ve always coped with my problems best by minimizing them. Better to laugh at something then to cry about it if at all possible, right? I’d also like to comment briefly on the irony of being able to remember the worst experience in my life as clearly as if it had happened this morning right after contracting a case of amnesia. Story of my life I guess.

I remember being unusually calm and detached about my situation, but maybe I was just convinced that I was stuck in a nightmare or something. I can see that happening in hindsight at least; waking up in a hellish environment with no memory of how you got there sounds an awful lot like how many peoples’ nightmares begin, or so I’ve heard. So I guess I can be forgiven for not doing anything to remedy the situation for a few minutes while I tried my very hardest to wake up, to no avail. It was at about the point where I was finally starting to panic a bit when I registered voices, two of them talking to each other some distance away. I was facing away from them and the crackling flames had done a good job of masking their conversation, but now they were coming closer to me and I began to catch snatches of their conversation.

The first voice sounded like a girl. It had a high lilting sound to it, and I found I didn’t like the speaker almost immediately for some reason. “…heavy damage… entire comp… no…. of your relic, doctor.”

Next was a man’s voice, this one much deeper than the first. I didn’t like this one much either, but more for his words than his voice. There was also a strange faintness to his voice that I later realized was because he was speaking to the girl over an M2D terminal, an older model from the sound of things. “Damage… expected… casualties… acceptable… no significant loss… it’s not… looking for… return home, Quattro.”

The girl again. “Yes, doctor.”

I tried to move, tried to raise my head, tried to call out, tried to do anything to let these people know I wasn’t dead yet, that I needed help. But I’d inhaled a lot of smoke already. I was weak and tired and the heat had stolen the moisture from my throat so that when I tried to cry out all I could manage was a weak hacking cough. But it seemed to be enough. The sound of footsteps began to draw closer again; I’d been noticed!

A shadow fell over me, made strangely large by the glow of the flames. I rolled over on to my back to face my savior… and paused.

The woman standing over me was much taller than I was back then, and I think she might have been in her late teens or maybe her twenties. She had brown hair done up in a strange pigtails/shoulder-length combination and she was wearing an equally strange combination of a white longcoat of some sort and a bluish-purple bodysuit underneath. But what caught my attention most forcefully were her eyes. Framed behind a pair of delicate-looking glasses were eyes of an unnaturally bright yellow. It was rather like looking at sunflowers in a person’s eyes, but less pleasant. The color of the woman’s eyes weren’t what caught my attention, however; it was the way she looked at me like something she had under a microscope. I was immediately hit with the mental image of a little boy about to pull the wings off of a fly.

“My my, what have we here?” she asked nobody in particular, stooping to bend over and look me in the eyes. Her voice said she was mocking me even before her words got started on that. “Looks to me like a cute little cockroach that doesn’t know how to die when it’s been smashed.” She laughed sadistically and in spite of the heat a chill went down my spine. Even setting her words and attitude aside there was something that scared me about this girl, something I couldn’t put my finger on.

She kept talking, still wearing that sick, sadistic look on her face. “So how long do you think you have to live, boy? A few minutes? Maybe an hour or so? With burns like those you won’t last long in any event, not unless you get to a healer pretty soon, and there don’t seem to be any around here, are there?”

Now this place was really starting to look like hell; they even had a devil ready to roll out the welcome mat for me. Seriously, didn’t that crazy broad have better things to do than mock me? She was in the middle of a burning building for god’s sake and she had the time to stop and make fun of me? And the worst part was that voice of hers; that sadistic tone was backed by an air of faux pleasantness, like she was complimenting my dashing good looks (burns and all, naturally) and belittling my existence at the same time.

I channeled my strength into trying to get up, but my body screamed in protest; I had burns all along my left side and it hurt something fierce to move like this. But it was worth a little pain to get this crazy woman to shut up and go away. Except she did neither.

“Oh, don’t get up on my account, the floor looks awful comfortable right where you’re lying, it’d be the perfect place for you to lay down and die.” I ignored her and tried to stand. Apparently this irritated her, because she lightly swept a leg between mine and knocked me off my feet.

“Really, I insist. You’ve reached the sum total of your life’s worth just by surviving a relic’s self-destruct sequence so close to ground zero.”

She gestured at the bodies around me.

“By all rights you should have been snuffed out like the rest of these insignificant little lives. What makes you so special that you should be different from them, hmm?”

I can’t remember exactly how I reacted to that, but it must have been satisfying for her because she laughed like an ancient harpie and continued. “What’s wrong, no answer? Guess your life really doesn’t have much meaning to it, does it kid? No more than any of these other worthless lives. Why I could even kill you myself and nothing would—”

The interruption I was looking for came from above without warning. Somewhere else in the building, someplace close by I think, there was a sudden roar of energy being unleashed, and a split second later the room was illuminated by a bright pink ray of light that shot upwards into the sky, visible through the massive hole in the ceiling. The sadistic woman paled slightly at the sight of it and stood quickly, apparently losing interest in little old me.

“Sein, now would be a good time.”

Without another word the woman vanished, sinking rapidly into the floor, and a second later it was as though she’d never been there. Which was good news for me at least, but it left me in the same situation I’d been in before.

Something exploded violently down one of the hallways and I was suddenly and forcefully reminded of how precarious that situation was. With the crazy broad gone, there was nothing stoping me from standing up and trying to leave… except the complaints of my own body, naturally. It hurt like a bitch to stand up again but I managed it somehow, though it took what felt like every ounce of energy I had to pull it off. For a moment all I could do was lean against the wall nearest to me, trying to catch my breath and not breathe in any more smoke at the same time. My whole left side was throbbing like I’d been rubbing my burns with sandpaper.

For a moment I wondered if it was worth continuing. If the pain I’d suffered just from standing up was so great, surely it’d be an excruciating journey to get out of the building, assuming I could even find an exit. And if I couldn’t, I’d just suffer that much more before I finally bought the farm. It would be so much easier to just…

“…lay down and die.”

Almost as soon as the thought crossed my mind, the sadist’s voice was there in my head, filling in the blanks for me. At once the adrenalin I’d been missing flooded my veins and I pushed off the wall, taking my first stumbling step towards one of the empty hallways.

There was no great reason for me to continue onwards like that. To the extent of my knowledge, I didn’t have family waiting for me outside. I didn’t have any particularly great will to live either, nor a promise to keep or any of the other great reasons the storybook heroes use to power their wills and accomplish impossible deeds. I was just a kid, barely even seven years old at the time and stuck in a waking nightmare. Ironically enough, however, it was the words of the psycho sadist that inspired me to push onwards, if only in defiance of her claim that I had no right to live. Granted, those weren’t the most pressing thoughts on my mind at the time, but in hindsight I can’t discern any other reason for my continuing will to exist.

So it was that I placed my will into a single step at a time, and bit by bit, worked my way through the inferno. It was not an easy process to say the least, but I somehow managed to make good time and not get incinerated on my way out… mostly.

I made it all the way to a wide open room that I think in hindsight might have been the baggage claim before my body finally gave out on me. My legs suddenly buckled beneath me in time with a coughing fit brought on by the smoke I’d inhaled and I collapsed in a heap near a support pillar. It was probably the absolute worst time and place it could have happened, too, because not ten seconds later the ceiling gave way above me and a mass of flaming debris rained down around me.

This, needless to say, was very very bad. I’d gotten through the airport so far by (quite sensibly) avoiding the rooms that were mostly or partially on fire and sticking to corridors and hallways where the fire hadn’t spread yet, but now the blaze was almost right on top of me, and the sudden increase in temperature sucked the air from my lungs and obliterated what little strength I had left in me.

This time there was no resistance. It didn’t matter how much I wanted to escape now, I didn’t have the strength for it. It was a bitter pill to take, knowing that I had struggled so hard only for it to come to nothing, and with no other recourse, I simply curled up against the support pillar, closed my eyes, and waited for the end to come.

“Aqua Surge!”

Except it didn’t.

Instead of the agonizing sensation of burning to death, a wave of cool air hit me just before a wall of water washed over the debris pile that separated me from the rest of the room, extinguishing the flames in an instant and sparing me from a most unpleasant death. A moment later the face of a woman peeked over the top of the debris pile.

“Are you alright?” she asked. I wanted to answer her, but my lungs were rather full of smoke and I was overcome by a coughing fit when I tried to draw in breath. Unperturbed by this, the girl clambered over the debris pile, allowing me to get a better look at her.

She was a teenager, and a well-developed one at that, about as tall as the psychobitch had been and much more… um… talented, I think the word is. She had long violet hair that draped down to her waist and she was dressed in a rather simple barrier jacket (which I would later realize was based on a combat-oriented variation on a Japanese school girl’s uniform… but not until I’d become much more familiar with Terran culture, and that was several years away from then). She held a halberd device in one hand, and as she cleared the top of the debris pile she was already weaving a spell with her free hand.

“Please hold on a few seconds, this will make you feel better,” she said as she reached my side and knelt next to me. A moment later her device chimed softly, and a wash of blue light engulfed me. Immediately most of my body went pleasantly numb and the aches and pains I’d been dealing with for the past half-hour vanished along with most of my ability to feel anything else. Perhaps in other situations it wouldn’t have been as relieving, but here it was a mercy.

As I relaxed, the girl studied my wounds with a critical eye, probably evaluating her options and trying to decide how best to get me out of there without aggravating my injuries. Finally she looped an arm under the bend in my knees and another under my back and stood, gently levitating both of us over the debris pile and out of the room, heading down a corridor I’d missed on my way in. As we passed into a large room with a hole in the ceiling and then out into the night sky, an M2D terminal manifested in the air alongside us, set to audio only.

“Ground control, this is rescue unit 03. I’ve rescued a male child near the entrance hall and am delivering him to the rescue efforts on the western bank.”

The was a buzz of static and then a reply.

“Nice work, Tsukimura. You and the other knights have been a great help this evening. Once the child is safe, stand by for further orders, Yagami is almost ready to douse this blaze.”

“ Roger that control.”

Gently cradled in the girl’s embrace and shielded from the pain of my injuries by her spellwork, the only thing I felt was the evening air on my face and the gentle strength of the arms around me. Against all odds I had survived my journey out of the inferno, yet somehow the victory felt hollow to me. While I was grateful for the girl’s assistance, there was a part of me that was disgusted with myself for not being able to accomplish such a task on my own. That I had been a burden to this girl, however slight it may have been to her, irked me greatly.

We set down on the western bank of the Achilles River and the paramedics rushed me to Saint Vierra Memorial Hospital in downtown Cranagan. I was in intensive care for three days and spent two weeks after that recovering completely, during which I was identified by birth certificate as Alexander Gracia, only child of the now-deceased Simon and Jennifer Gracia and nephew of Carim Gracia of the Saint Church, my only living relative. When I finally checked out of the hospital I moved to the Belka Self-Administrated Region to live with her.

Three days later I asked her how I could become a knight.

[Satashi]

Nanoha blinked and looked over her sister's shoulder. "What you doing?"

Jumping, Keroko quickly closed down her monitor and panicked. "N-nothing! I wasn't writing A Negima lemon crossover with lots of sex!"

Nanoha blinked. "Oh... well that's good to know, so what were you doing?"

"Checking...email?"

"Okay! ^_^" Nanoha trotted off happily.

Keroko sighed out and brought up her monitor. "I'm glad she doesn't catch on to things like that...."

"Like what?" Fate asked happily, leaning over the suddenly frozen redhead's shoulder. "Writing more porn?"

"Nya...ha...ha...ha..."

~**~

I'd like to thank Keroko for putting this back on topic *halo*

[TheShinySword]

Keroko wasn't writing a negima/nanoha lemon cross over with lots of sex. Keroko was writing a Nanoha/Negima lemon crossover with lots of sex. There's a big difference *halo*

[MeisterBabylon]

Nanoha blinked and looked over her sister's shoulder. "What you doing?"

Jumping, Keroko quickly closed down her monitor and panicked. "N-nothing! I wasn't writing A Negima lemon crossover with lots of sex!"

Nanoha blinked. "Oh... well that's good to know, so what were you doing?"

"Checking...email?"

"Okay! ^_^" Nanoha trotted off happily.

Keroko sighed out and brought up her monitor. "I'm glad she doesn't catch on to things like that...."

"Like what?" Fate asked happily, leaning over the suddenly frozen redhead's shoulder. "Writing more porn?"

"Nya...ha...ha...ha..."

~**~

I'd like to thank Keroko for putting this back on topic *halo*You have an awesome sense of on-topicness. :uhoh:

[AtomicoX]

Extremely short short with Sigrid spawned by late night thoughts and music. Recommending listening to the whole song just because it's lovely.

The clock was almost eleven pm and Sigrid was preparing to go to bed. She wore her usual attire for that purpose, a tanktop and some comfortable shorts. However, there was something she had to do first, something that went way back in her history and upbringing.

“Forseti, playlist please.”

The device did as it was told and the table lit up in front of her. Numbers and text scrolled with high speed until Sigrid pointed at a certain name.

“Open.”

More text scrolled, but slower this time. Eventually Sigrid found what she was looking for and stopped the list.

“Track number two. Medium volume, high bass.”

After a few seconds an ambient sound began to play.

5vV1QwPri7Q

It wasn’t something she danced to; it was a tune that reached into her mind. A relaxing song only meant to soothe.
She stood up straight in the living room with her eyes closed. She tapped her fingers against her thigh with the beat and tried to get into it. As the music progressed further it picked up a bit of speed and Sigrid responded by moving her arms very slowly upwards, letting her fingers be drawn upwards against her thighs and then her chest after which they passed above her head.
With her arms held up straight into the air she then began the descent down, with her arms stretched out to the sides.
She moved her fingers to stimulate the muscles in them and stopped with her arms horizontally. She then moved them in front of her slowly until her hands met with one another. She clasped them together, inverted her hands towards her and stretched.

She held that position for a few seconds before releasing her hands, moving her arms back to the vertical position again. She then let them lose to gravity and let them hang.
She remained like that, quiet and unmoving with her eyes still closed, listening to the music. It still had the same beat and soothing tune she liked at this time. It was a genre she only used at night, her usual favorite being brawlier and more aggressive, but that didn’t suit her needs with this activity.

This particular meditation process had helped her immensely during the years and also made her more focused. It calmed her mind and made her think about the past and the future.
She bent her back slightly until she nearly fell over. She felt it stretch to a point and then bent forward to counter it. The music still moved on in its own pace.

She continued like that for a few minutes until a particular memory suddenly flashed past her. She hesitated for a second before continuing.

When she was done and the music entered its final stage, she told Forseti to let the song play until it stopped by itself and after that he could shut down. Forseti confirmed the order and observed his master heading to bed. His sensors couldn’t make sense as to why Sigrid had shed a tear just a second ago and he tried to assess that during the rest of the music.

[spawnofthejudge]

That'll do for the ending. If you could put something that showed years past between the "we'll sleep now" line and these, that'd be good, I think.

Here's what I came up with this evening:

~******~

We’ll sleep now… we’ll sleep until the next master is ready for us.

We shall be ready when our master needs us.

~******~

Awareness came slowly but surely. Awareness of the others in the space inside the Book was comforting. It had been a long time, and yet a short time, since they had last seen each other. A camaraderie that had lasted for longer than anything. Camaraderie that was the only constant thing in their existence.

~******~

Our Master is ready for us once again.

What do we know about this one?

She is very young this time.

Maybe… maybe that will help.

It won’t change anything.

Silence, it’s time.

… Be safe.

~******~

“Anfangen.”

~*~*~

[Jimmy C]

Those lines will do. Good job.

[al103]

*double-checks* Darn, you're right. Oh well, that puts Negima on the same spot as To Aru then. *shrug*

Edit: Or not. I just remembered Mana who can't use magic, and had to buy magic enchants to get similar results. Whatever. Like Shiny said, this probably isn't the best place to discus this, since I'm not even writing this crossover.

More so - as i remember most people are about E or F in Nanohaverse classification. They can use simple spells, but they linker core isn't strong enough for anything else. It's Teana's problem btw - she is skilled, but on the weaker side of range where using magic is practical. It's exactly same with Negima - most people can cast one or two simple spells, but anything else is impossible or impractical. It can be corrected to a degree by skill like Yue in Negima and Teana in Nanoha, but only partially. And there are rare powerhouses like Negi and Konoka in Negima and Nanoha, Fate and Hayate in Nanoha who can dump enormous amount of power.

[Keroko]

*cough* Teana can use the rare illusion magic, and is a AA-rank powerhouse these days. She was always above average, just not with any special doohickies like Subaru's body or Nanoha's AAA-rank at 9.

[al103]

*cough* Teana can use the rare illusion magic, and is a AA-rank powerhouse these days. She was always above average, just not with any special doohickies like Subaru's body or Nanoha's AAA-rank at 9.

Thing is - her illusion require skill in first place, not power. And to do them en mass for a prolonged period of time she requires magical boost be it cartridges or Caro. She is above average at brains, power not so much. That is why she failed airforce academy.

[Keroko]

Ooooh, that's what you meant. You're right, my mistake. Though that still puts Teana far above the E or F levels, and these days she has enough strength to pull off a Starlight Breaker.

[Arkeus]

Thing is - her illusion require skill in first place, not power. And to do them en mass for a prolonged period of time she requires magical boost be it cartridges or Caro. She is above average at brains, power not so much. That is why she failed airforce academy.

Not True either.

While she may not be exceptional in power, she still is at least twice as powerful as Vice, who is an elite grunt.

[XenahortCharybdis]

Not True either.

While she may not be exceptional in power, she still is at least twice as powerful as Vice, who is an elite grunt.

If anything, Ark, you're good with the oxymorons XD it's like saying a blue red-shirt, or cold fire, or light dark, only...not quite. It actually computes.

But well, al, put simply, Teana's...grown up a little, and powered up some to boot, so she's for the most part dunked her old problems into the basement of her short life history :)

[TheShinySword]

If anything, Ark, you're good with the oxymorons XD it's like saying a blue red-shirt, or cold fire, or light dark, only...not quite. It actually computes.


We call computing oxymorons paradoxes.



It's like this: Teana is stronger than your average grunt so she is above average, however she doesn't have ungodly power like Nanoha so she's not above above average like most of the cast. She's one of the more "normal" characters in an abnormal cast.


Page claim hmm this is my first in a while...

Page claim for Teana someone go write about her :3

[Keroko]

On a note, you guys know who else is AA-rank? Shamal. Do you guys know what rank Rein is? A+

So yeah, I'd say Teana ranks in with the rest of the cast just fine.

[Arkeus]

On a note, you guys know who else is AA-rank? Shamal. Do you guys know what rank Rein is? A+

So yeah, I'd say Teana ranks in with the rest of the cast just fine.

i thought shamal was AAA and zafira AA+?

[Keroko]

Not according to their ID-cards. Zafira is AAA-rank.

[TheShinySword]

And yet he has but one attack, giant spikes of DOOM. *mutters* He'd have more if he ever appeared on screen *mutter*

[Keroko]

I see what Arkeus means though, the website gives his rank as AA. Consistency much?

Shamal is still AA+ though.

[Arkeus]

I see what Arkeus means though, the website gives his rank as AA. Consistency much?

Shamal is still AA+ though.

maybe one is sinthetic, and the other is raw strength?

[itanshi1]

Just sounds like we need a new grade scale. Its even in canon that such a thing might be suggested what with Fate and Nanoha both losing to grandma whom is ranked lower than they are. I really wish they'd finish scanlating that x_x

[Rising Dragon]

And yet he has but one attack, giant spikes of DOOM. *mutters* He'd have more if he ever appeared on screen *mutter*

Well he has more than that, its just that's all he used in StrikerS...

[TheShinySword]

Well he has more than that, its just that's all he used in StrikerS...

Thus maybe he'd have more if he appeared more.

[Satashi]

Just sounds like we need a new grade scale. Its even in canon that such a thing might be suggested what with Fate and Nanoha both losing to grandma whom is ranked lower than they are. I really wish they'd finish scanlating that x_x

In all my fics I used the principle of "Stronger doesn't mean you can win". For example, the style of fighting where you use your opponet's force against them. That style lets feeble old people take out much better/faster/stronger (work it, do it, makes us!!).

Didn't Nanoha ask Subaru a riddle once in the manga, what it meant to beat someone stronger than you, and not being weaker than them or something?

Such words make for nice thought in fics.

[TheShinySword]

Cross posting with the OCT

Time to post a little mini multi-chapter dealio (I'm thinking 3, 4 chapters tops probably)

OCs (not necessary to read but suggested if you have the free time):

Kaon (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=2343928&postcount=6506)
Remy and his familiars (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=2383263&postcount=6997)

Case File: Morph the Cat

Chapter 1

MC 76, May

It was way too easy to rob the Museum of Belkan History. For a museum best remembered in recent history for nearly getting robbed clean, it was odd for there to be no more than a few easily disabled instant bind traps and a few cameras. Perhaps they just didn't care anymore. Either way it didn't matter to Mark Galant. All that mattered was the treasure trove in front of him and the stuck up rich folk who'd pay out the ear to be the only ones to view it. Why the rich bastards couldn't be content with just viewing it along with everyone else was beyond his comprehension. Honestly, he didn't give a damn as long as their money was good within the country.

Museums were creepy as hell after hours. The first time Mark had pulled off one of these heists he'd taken a wrong turn right into a room of stuffed animals, came face to face with a lion perpetually in mid leap and had nearly wet himself right then and there. Now Mark wasn't particularly religious but there was definitely a specific air that museums had. The sort of air that made one feel like spirits were everywhere around you, hiding in suits of armor and behind paintings. 'Course he didn't really believe in spirits, that was just silly.

Still, as he passed through the black halls, aided only by the spell on his goggles, he couldn't shake the feeling, despite the fact he should have been feeling very much alone, that someone else was there with him. It briefly passed through his head that perhaps it was the Sankt Kaiser come to take revenge on the one about to steal from her. But he noiselessly laughed that ridiculous notion off. Dead people didn't stop crimes.

The thief paused at a fork in the main path. If he'd read the map correctly than the right fork would lead to the portrait gallery where he didn't need to go and the left would lead to the Sankt Kaiser wing where the artifact in question was. He'd have worried about the security if he hadn't already disabled their entire chain of spells. People always assumed thieves wouldn't be mages, a ridiculous notion that he wholly supported. It was so kind of them to make his job that much easier.

As Mark passed by the glass cases containing dozens upon dozens of artifacts from the Sankt Kaiser's era, including more than three dozen pots all in varying conditions, the feeling continued to follow him. Something just wasn't right. Even if Mark had deactivated all the spells surely there would be some sort of physical system as well but there had been nothing at all.

He couldn't stop the chills running down his spine, couldn't stop his arms from shaking. It was stupid. He was being foolhardy. But his reassurances didn't stop his trained ears picked up the slightest of noises, a mere shuffle. Mark's entire body stiffened. He flicked out the dagger that was his device. The spell on his goggles strengthened and he scanned the area, searching for any sign of life outside his own. However, there was nothing more than ancient lumps of metal and clay.

Mark pressed a hand against his chest. He was getting paranoid. He'd take a long vacation after this job. Somewhere tropic, somewhere without any museums at all, preferably without any being in the town over either or in the general radius.

He took one step forward.

The last thing he remembered was a giant, sadistic grin and a pair of red glowing eyes.

~~~
Three days later

There was a brief instant, one that occurred just as the hands of the bizarre cat clock with the moving eyes on the wall hit eight, where Thaddeus Remington Manroe or Remy, as he was called for the sake of everyone's tongues, had not the slightest idea where he was. He knew he was a bed because the ground was not nearly as soft but he couldn't recall whose bed it was nor how he'd gotten there. It wasn't until he became aware of the heavy weights spread all over his body that it occurred to him that he was, for once, in his own home. Remy made note to return home at night more often to avoid future confusion.

As his mind cleared itself of the abstract dreams that had come with sleep, Remy became more and more aware of the warmth spread on top and beside him. He took another moment to remember where he'd put his glasses before reaching over to his bedside table and grabbing his worn, wire-rimmed rectangular lenses. Brushing back his black hair, he put on his glasses and craned his neck up ever so carefully up so as to view, but not to wake up, the sleeping masses.

The sight of his seven snoozing cats was far too sweet, Remy smiled despite himself. However, he couldn't get anything done just laying there watching. So, he reluctantly moved a gray pair of paws off his arm, slowly moved a black, white, and orange pile of fur away from his chest. He chuckled at the two cats who seemingly had fallen asleep in the middle of a battle and awwed at the two who had curled up together in the crook of his arm. Finally he picked up the bundle of white fur sleeping in the center of his chest and carefully stepped out of his bed with as little movement as possible. Then he replaced the fluff ball in the center of his bed and headed for the kitchen, still clad in striped pajamas.

Remy loved his apartment, it wasn't the kind of place he could afford on his own salary or even on the salaries of all his friends combined. Rather he could only live in the heart of the city on the 27th floor because his father's company owned the building. Remy wasn't ashamed of that fact, if his father wanted to spoil his eldest son a bit why tell him no? Anyway, it was a lovely two room, two bathroom apartment. It was actually too big for him and his family, but it was nice to be able to have guests stay over, though he himself was home so little that guest probably stayed there more than him.

The real charm of his home was the kitchen. The average Cranagan apartment did not have a kitchen. Rather they had hallways with ovens and refrigerators. Remy on the other hand had the type of kitchen only ever seen in suburbs and movies. The oven, refrigerator, dishwasher, sink and various cabinets all took up one wall. In the middle was an island, perfect for culinary work. To finish it off there was a long counter, almost like the type one would see at a diner, perfect for sitting at while Remy cooked. Remy himself wasn't much of a cook, the real honor belonged to another member of the family but he liked to try, even if he often forgot to make enough for himself as well as the others.

Remy had gotten as far as the counter when he felt a soft nudge, really barely noticeable, against his leg. He looked down, “Ah, good morning Fluffy.”

The white ball of fluff, aptly named Fluffy, responded by sitting down and looking up at him with cool ocean colored eyes expectantly. Though what she wanted was beyond Remy and likely beyond herself as well.

“Could it be hmm...” he rubbed the morning's stubble on his chin, “let's see oh!” He tapped a finger against the side of his head, “You want to help me?”

The cat pondered his words for a moment, letting each one settle down in her brain, before nodding and, in a flash of light, in place of a puffy white cat a little girl sat. Fluffy, like the other six, was one of Remy's familiars. She could have passed for an ordinary girl if it weren't for the fuzzy white ears on top of her head or the poof ball tail sitting listlessly on the ground. She always had the expression of someone who was constantly just waking up. To top off the just out of bed look were the pair of pink footie pajamas she'd put herself in.

“Alright,” Remy bent down and ruffled the hair between her ears, “You get the bowls ready okay?”

“...mm...” the sound of confirmation was so slight if Remy hadn't known to listen for it he would have missed it. After playfully saluting she wandered off to the cabinet where the dishes were located.

Meanwhile Remy went through the cupboard and pulled out the preferred meals of each family member. Each one had a specific cat food they liked best and would eat others but wouldn't be happy about it. Remy admitted it was odd, serving familiars the food meant for pets but he wouldn't have done it if they hadn't enjoyed it. They claimed it was like eating cereal. Though they wouldn't eat it for more than a single meal a day. Most days it was cat food for breakfast, and take out for lunch and dinner, unless they weren't in the lab, then Remy was happy to cook for them.

“Yo~ Rems~ how you doin'?” A black, orange and white cat trotted into the kitchen, pausing only to scratch his ear and stretch. “What's my poison this morning? Vodka? Whiskey?”

“Water and Meow Trix Edgar,” Remy plopped a glass of water on the counter top next to a metal bowl filled with colorful bits of chicken and fish flavored nuggets.

“But of course~ I forget, you don't believe in drinks before 5,” Edgar jumped onto one of the stools planted by the counter. He transformed mid leap into slick brown haired half man, not even tall enough to hit the floor. Edgar straightened his tie and brushed off his vest. He looked ready to go out on the town not eat kitty food.

“...ah...”

Edgar's twice pierced ears perked up and he turned to look down. “Heh,” he took the offered spoon from Fluffy's hands, “Why thank you Fluff.” He tipped his top hat to her.

“Hats off inside the house,” Remy didn't even have to look at Edgar to know he was wearing one.

“No drinks, no hats, I'm starting to think you hate classy things Rems,” with a flick of his wrist Edgar's hat disappeared.

“Class? I don't see any class here.”

“Good morning everyone!”

Entering the room arm in arm, or rather arms clinging to other arm, were two more of Remy's familiars. The large black haired male, though still only four and a half feet tall, walked awkwardly as to accommodate the orange haired girl holding onto him.

“Ah Bear my old and brutish friend,” Edgar patted the seat beside him, which Bear took, “I will never understand why the lovely Wilbur chose you.”

Wilbur poked her head around Bear. “It's because Bear didn't try out all his cheesy pickup lines on me.”

“You wound me.”

“For Bear some Fancy Dish,” Remy scooped what was supposed to be some meat mixture into Bear's bowl, “And for Wilbur some kind of stuff in a can.”

“Thanks mister!” Wilbur raised her empty hand and headed straight for her meal. “W-wait!” Her hand stopped just short of the gooey gop. “No spoon!”

“...Mm..” Fluffy tugged on Wilbur's shirt, holding up two spoons.

Wilbur grinned cheerfully, “Thanks Fluffles, what would I do without you?” She handed the spare spoon to Bear who smiled down to Fluffy in thanks.

“Good morning... unless you had a bad night of sleep, then I suppose it's a bad morning... or would that be a good morning and a bad morning would be if you enjoyed your sleep... well I guess that'd make sense because-”

“It's a good morning Smudgy,” Remy shouted from the kitchen already starting to pour Smudgy's food before he had a chance to start contemplating what to eat.

Smudgy nodded slowly and crawled into his seat, taking his spoon from Fluffy and giving her a soft, thankful smile in return, as he waited for Remy to finish. The gray haired boy contemplated each piece before putting it in his mouth, eating his meal piece by piece.

“Sasha, I didn't push you off the bed.”

“All I know, Abby, is that I started on his chest and I ended up on the floor with you!”

“Not in the morning girls,” Remy called to the to teenage girls squabbling as they entered the kitchen. Neither Abby, the blond, nor Sasha, the black haired one, bothered to use a small form. Sasha swung into the seat next to Smudgy while Abby delicately sat beside her.

Remy poured their shared food into their bowls, for all their arguing they were rather similar. Finally he turned to Fluffy who had just finished passing out the last of the spoons. “And some Lucky Rabbits for you,” he winked. Fluffy alone didn't eat cat food, rather she had acquired a taste for sugary kids' cereals.

“And that's all,” Remy leaned on the counter, happily watching his “children” eat their meal as if it was the last one, except for Smudgy who ate it like it was his first. They stayed like that for a moment, until Abby remembered something very important.

“Master did you forget to make your own meal?”

“Oh,” Remy snapped, he knew he'd forgotten something, “right.”

Abby stood up suddenly, nearly toppling over her stool in the process, “Don't worry I'll cook you some eggs right now!”

“No no you really don't hav-” Remy's protests were cut off.

“It's important to eat three meals a day,” Bear offered sagely.

“Ladies won't like you if you're anorexic Rems~” Edgar threw in.

“Do you want them over easy Master?” Abby had already lugged out the skillet and eggs.

“W-wait you don't have to-” Remy wasn't sure who to keep his attention on.

“I'll make coffee!” Sasha jumped up, she did knock over her stool, and rushed to the coffee pot.

“No no I'm fine really.” He reached out as if he was going to physically stop Sasha as she dumped coffee into the coffee maker.

“I think you should just let them do it... if you want... I guess,” Smudgy swirled his food around with his spoon as he spoke.

Remy's hand met his forehead, “Right...”

~~~

After a hectic fifteen minutes, that had left much to be cleaned up later, Remy was settled with his paper, eggs and a cup of coffee, and the seven were off preening and brushing in the two bathrooms, one for the guys, one for the girls. It was a brief moment of peace only ever recreated when they were all asleep. Not that Remy minded, he'd chosen his hectic lifestyle not the other way around.

He'd just finished reading an article about a recent influx of pigeons in the area when the band around his wrist flashed at him. The gadget was akin to the devices mages carried around, it could send mail, receive calls, surf the Internet, but without the magic processing feature. The bright flash meant he had an incoming call.

“Remy!” A gruff growl, one that didn't seem like it should belong to the face that appeared when Remy pressed the button, filled the room. “Why'd you tell Yagami to request ME?”

“And hello to you too Kaon...”

Kaon Jin, an inspector for the Cranagan division of the Special Investigations Department, did not appear to be in a good mood. Rather the minute white haired girl, or rather the top half of her face as that was all the camera caught, looked about to throttle him and were it not for the fact they weren't in the same room she would have. “Look Rem,” she adjusted the screen so it fit her whole face, “It's not your job to go around ruinin' MY vacation.”

“Oh I didn't know you were on vacation Kaon,” Remy took a bite of eggs before continuing, “If I had I wouldn't have suggested you when I had coffee with Miss Yagami and Verossa the other day.”

“...well not a vacation per se but it was very enjoyable having time off...”

Remy smiled eerily, like a sociopathic killer just before the final strike, “Go to work Kaon.”

“It's not as if I never go to work,” Kaon looked off to the side and scratched her ear, pointedly not looking at Remy.

“Have you even looked over the case yet?”

“Well after getting woken up by the boss at 8 with instructions to go into work today I didn't think of anything but calling you to warn you that you had but a few hours to live.” She glared at Remy coldly, Kaon enjoyed her rest a little too much in his opinion.

“Think of the cats Kaon.”

Kaon contemplated before conceding, “alright I'll just beat you half to death, save some for the kitties.”

“Heh, please don't get any blood on the carpet.”

“Ha ha ha,” Kaon laughed, apparently she found the idea humourous. She grinned toothily, like a tiger Remy thought, “Oh I'll make sure to dye them red.”


~~~

Normally the Museum of Belkan History was full of tourists, snapping photos of everything from the ancient artifacts to the water fountains despite the signs everywhere telling them not to. On a typical day one could barely waddle through, let alone waltz into, the museum. However, the massive building, a gift to the city from the Sankt Church, was nearly empty that day. The reason being that the museum, as it had been for the previous two days as well, was closed until further notice.

The news had taken the city by, well not as much by storm really, as the citizens of Cranagan were used to their city being used as a battlefield, rather by light spring shower. Some noticed it and found it annoying while others could have cared less. That event was, however, why the museum had shut it's door to the general public.

The only ones allowed in were the TSAB officers authorized by one Lieutenant Colonel Yagami, who'd been placed, at least temporarily, at the head of the investigation. Inspector Kaon Jin and her assistant Ethan Monterey were two such officers. The Inspector was not a fan of such assignments. The inspectors of the Special Investigation Division had two jobs: to gather information and to then use the information to solve and stop crimes. Kaon preferred the former to the latter. The former allowed her to travel throughout the world and work more or less alone save for her assistant. The latter required her to stand in stuffy rooms for hours on end as police officer after police officer stared at the crime scene and repeated the same known facts time and time again. The only bright spot in her current assignment was working with the Lieutenant Colonel again.

As the two rounded the corner into the hall of the Sankt Kaiser a voice called out to them, “Inspector!” The voice was accompanied by a young woman.

Lieutenant Colonel Hayate Yagami raised her hand in greeting, “I'm thankful that you could come on such short notice Inspector Jin,” and, as if just noticing Ethan, she added, “And you as well Monterey.”

“It's nothing it's nothing,” Kaon shrugged and waved it off, “It's our job. Now,” Kaon crossed her arms, “care to catch me up?” Kaon wouldn't say it out loud but she was happy to work with the young woman again.

They'd worked together before the Scaglietti incident but they'd barely talked since it, even now that they were back in the same division. Kaon hadn't been around for the actual incident but she'd read the reports and come to the conclusion that it must have been a real pain in the ass to handle the aftermath. The fact that the TSAB had then chosen to use Hayate for such a, as Kaon assumed, trivial case, one really best left to the police department, was like kicking a dog when it's down.

“The victim, though I don't suppose that's quite the right word in this case, is Mark Gallant, an art thief we've been hunting down for a good year now,” Hayate flipped through the pile of papers she held.

“Art thief eh? Well in that case we're done aren't we?” Kaon stretched her arms up and around, “I don't see why an inspector's needed for somethin' like this.”

“He's the victim, remember what Hayate said,” The little pixie, Reinforce Zwei, who floated by Hayate's side reminded Kaon.

“Victim?” A suspicious eyebrow rose, “of what crime?”

“Vigilantism.” Hayate motioned for Kaon and Ethan to follow her down the hall. “The security guards found him two days ago, he was alive, fortunately but he hasn't woken up yet.” She stopped midway down the hall blocking something from Kaon's view. “He was found restrained.”

Hayate stepped aside. In the middle of the hall a pairs of... warped, distorted hands but that wasn't quite right, had risen, while the fingers had been snapped off to free the victim it wasn't hard to see that they had once gripped a human being. But something was off, the shape just wasn't quite human, the way the hands were formed they seemed more like claws, talons of a beast, rather than fingers.

Kaon rubbed her chin and furrowed her brow searching for where she recognized the limbs, “They look like...”

Ethan finished her sentence. “Cat paws.”

[AtomicoX]

Case File: Morph the Cat

Chapter 1

-
Interesting. Love the introduction of the familiars, well done there. Abby <3

Now I'm waiting for the development...

[Comartemis]

In all my fics I used the principle of "Stronger doesn't mean you can win". For example, the style of fighting where you use your opponet's force against them. That style lets feeble old people take out much better/faster/stronger (work it, do it, makes us!!).

Didn't Nanoha ask Subaru a riddle once in the manga, what it meant to beat someone stronger than you, and not being weaker than them or something?
That was actually an aesop on teamwork as a force multiplier. You can conquer foes much greater than you if you combine your strengths with those of your teammates. In grandma's case, she was referring to Nanoha and Fate combining their strengths; in Nanoha's case, she was referring to the Forwards and the role relationships between the Front Attacker, Center Forward, Guard Wing, and Fullback.

...

So nobody has anything to say about ReduX?

[Polyisobutene]

Alright folks, here's my latest attempt at getting a story going and keeping it there, crossposting from Outer Cadia.

For those not native to Cadia who may be in the dark here, this is an AU fic where Suzuka and Arisa are ID'd as latent mages after A's and decide to capitalize on the opportunity to become mages. This opens up several possibilities in regards to Carim's and Hayate's plans for RF6, which will become apparent in later chapters.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha
StrikerS ReduX
Prologue

Well it is an interesting start. The first person narrative style is a choice that is tentative and narrows down exploration. As an exposition it fails to create a foreseeable foundation for a on-going fiction, it certainly has the feel of a one-shot or snippet. Prologue wise, it serves it purpose well enough.

The narration is dry and witty, which is interesting for a young boy if I gather correctly. Amnesia and a fire would be very emotionally stressing, I feel like that was glazed over. The reactions and interactions read mundane. Explore active verbs and adjectives to spice things up.

Grammar and spelling wise this is one of the better fanfictions out there. No glaring mistakes or repeated misspellings although there are some run-on sentences.

All together it was a decent read. If you have any questions or concerns pertaining to my review, please feel free to PM me and I shall get back to you. I would have left a more indepth critism, however I am short on time this evening. I hope it helps.

Polyisobutene

[Comartemis]

Well it is an interesting start. The first person narrative style is a choice that is tentative and narrows down exploration. As an exposition it fails to create a foreseeable foundation for a on-going fiction, it certainly has the feel of a one-shot or snippet. Prologue wise, it serves it purpose well enough.
The first person narration is going to reappear again later in the fic from time to time but the story is primarily going to be told in 3rd person perspective, probably the omniscient variant.

The narration is dry and witty, which is interesting for a young boy if I gather correctly.
Alex has the mentality of someone almost twice his age on account of his status as a mage. ReduX lore has it that a linker core, dormant or otherwise, has unusual side effects on the development cycle of the human mind, so people born with powerful linker cores have a high probability of being unusually mature for their ages. Setting aside their individual experiences like Fate's abuse by Precia or Nanoha's pseudo-abandonment before the series, this is why pretty much all the child mages we see in the series are so freakishly mature. This is also why the Bureau doesn't have issues with hiring ten year olds; the only kids who would qualify for their training programs in the first place are the ones with the mental maturity to properly wield their abilities and understand the consequences of their actions.

Alex got hit with a particularly strong case of this development because his linker core was contaminated by the energy contained in the relic, so he's even more mentally mature than Nanoha and Fate were at his age. The reason Vivio doesn't exhibit this advanced maturity is because her mental development was deliberately inhibited (either by Jail or by the Belkans responsible for her genetic modification) to make her more pliable as a weapon and less likely to try to rebel against her masters.

I think there's even some loose evidence for this as well in-series. Remember the Sonic Grope incident right after Caro and Erio first met? Isn't Erio a little young to be making a big deal out of putting his hands on a girl's chest, accident or not?

[stormturmoil]

Maybe he found Fate's (extensive) Porn stash?

[TheShinySword]

I think there's even some loose evidence for this as well in-series. Remember the Sonic Grope incident right after Caro and Erio first met? Isn't Erio a little young to be making a big deal out of putting his hands on a girl's chest, accident or not?

It's because Caro has cooties. Erio was afraid he'd catch them.

In all seriousness characters in Nanoha are waaaaaaaaay too mature for their age, except for 5 year old Vivio who acts younger than she is actually... (Then she grows up a few years and has an IQ spurt)

[Nya~n]

In all seriousness characters in Nanoha are waaaaaaaaay too mature for their age, except for 5 year old Vivio who acts younger than she is actually... (Then she grows up a few years and has an IQ spurt)
She's seen the evils that Aunt Hayate can do to any chick in her proximity.

Also... *glomps Fluffy* ngnnnn

[Satashi]

Maybe he found Fate's (extensive) Porn stash?

Who hasn't found it? She's not really good at hiding it.

"Nanoha-mama.... Ne, Nanoha-mama?" Vivio hopped in place next to her mother while the older woman was making dinner. "What's a tristim rabbit?"

"A what now?" Nanoha asked absently, not really giving her daughter her full attention.

"A tristim rabbit." Vivio held up a blurred out object that was wiggling and buzzing. "I found it on your bed when I went to get my bunny."

"Vivio!" Nanoha grabbed the now pixil distorted triple stimulating object and hid it behind a black censor bar. "that isn't a toy!....well it is but....." Cute innocent eyes looked up a her. "Run play now, Vivio, Nanoha-mama has to have a word with Fate-mama.... again."

[Fuyu no Sora]

Who hasn't found it? She's not really good at hiding it.

"Nanoha-mama.... Ne, Nanoha-mama?" Vivio hopped in place next to her mother while the older woman was making dinner. "What's a tristim rabbit?"

"A what now?" Nanoha asked absently, not really giving her daughter her full attention.

"A tristim rabbit." Vivio held up a blurred out object that was wiggling and buzzing. "I found it on your bed when I went to get my bunny."

"Vivio!" Nanoha grabbed the now pixil distorted triple stimulating object and hid it behind a black censor bar. "that isn't a toy!....well it is but....." Cute innocent eyes looked up a her. "Run play now, Vivio, Nanoha-mama has to have a word with Fate-mama.... again."

Would that word she intends to have with Fate happen to include some Nanoha-style persuasion? :D (I did NOT say befriending though :heh:)

EDIT: Oh nice.

Page Claim for Nanoha seducing Fate ~

[Knight of L-sama]

*peeks inside* *sees no witnesses*

*drops a quick little pressie on the table with a note on it*

To FFT peoples+Sata-God,
Sorry I haven't been on for... a while. o.o Here's a lil payback, pressie... ness. NanoFate, AU, orphan/adoption background with current mid-20 age-ness. So no loli's for me. Potential lols tho. Whee. Have yet to seriously determine ratings, but on FF.net I said it was T for Teen. w/e.
-KL
P.S. And some cookies!!!


Nanoha looked helplessly from one angry face to another. She looked down at her empty glass of milk, and wondered if she dared ask for more.

"You were supposed to pick her up today! Was your tongue so far down some other woman's throat that you forgot?"

"Like hell, don't start that again. And what about you? Getting your nails done more important than taking care of the kid?"

Nanoha winced and quietly walked back up the stairs to her room. She looked back once, when she was at the top of the stairs, before going to her room and shutting the door behind her. She climbed up onto the bed and groped around for soft pink bunny.

"Fate-chan... I wanna go home. This place is no good either..."

The eyes of the bunny flickered and a holographic screen popped up. Bright red eyes peered back at her. "Nano-chan... Are you sure? Are they really bad to you?"

"I'm sowwy. I'm not trying to be picky but... they yell a lot... not at me... at them... and it hurts..."

Fate frowned and nodded, scrambling to her feet. "I'll go tell Mama right now. We'll pick you up in the morning, 'kay? Promise."

"Wahh... it's late... will you stay with me a bit longer? Please?"

Fate blinked and nodded, as if it were the most obvious assumption in the world. "Of course. I wouldn't leave my Nano-chan all alone. Here, I'll take Bardi with me."

Nanoha curled up underneath her clean pink sheets while she watched Fate cross the hall to Lindy-mama's room. Dimly, she could hear them talking.

"God, again? Poor Nanoha... this must be the fifth family we've tried to find her a happy fit with... I wish I could put an end to her misery and adopt her myself but... I'm just too tied up right now to handle three kids..."

"I'll watch her while you're working. We can hang out here. I'm safe, aren't I?"

"Yes you are, pumpkin. But the two of you together... Somehow, I don't think Amy's up for the challenge."

"We'll be good! Really!"

Nanoha giggled quietly, seeing Fate cross her fingers behind her back.

"W- Is Nanoha on the line right now?"

"Uh-huh. Wanna talk to her?"

"I guess that would be best..." Within a few seconds, the screen was pointed up so that Nanoha could see Lindy sitting up in bed. "Good evening, Nanoha-chan."

"Good evening, Lindy-san. I promise I'll be good. Can I go back to your home?"

"Nanoha-chan... you should be with a family that cares for you... not that we don't care for you, of course we do... but... someone who can properly raise you and give you the love and care and attention that you need growing up. You're a bright girl..."

Nanoha pouted, ready to let loose the tears she'd been holding back. "I get it. You don't want me."

"Nano-chan!" Fate flicked the camera back on herself. "You got it all wrong! We'd love to have you with us, right, Mama? It'd just be better if you found a family that can make you a top priority."

Even as Nanoha understood what they were saying, it still made her sad, knowing she would have to keep looking. It seemed like such an endless journey. "Will you take care of me until I find my family then?"

"Of course, sweetie. We'll always be here for you. But sleep on it for now, and if you still feel the same way, we'll come pick you up. It'll be easier since they were still in the trial period."

"Mm. Okay. Hurry, okay? I don't want to be here..."

"We love you, never forget that Nanoha. And if anything happens tonight, tell us right away."

"Mm."

"Try and sleep good, Nano-chan!"

"You too, Fate-chan. Lindy-san. Sleep sweet."

"Good night, Nanoha-chan."

As the transmission ended, Nanoha sighed softly. All she wanted was to be back there, sharing a bed with her best friend, Fate, and be held gently. It was wrong. All wrong. And she hated it.

Rolling over onto her back, Nanoha stared up at her bare ceiling. "Fate-chan's ceiling has glowy stars on it..."


"Nanoha-chan! What are you doing? Get up! You're going to be late for work!"

Nanoha sat up, looking around blearily. She was in a small one bedroom apartment, sharing a bunk with a close friend and classmate, Hayate. She smiled upon remembering the dream. 'God, I haven't seen Fate-chan in so long... After Mom and Dad adopted me... I didn't have the heart to tell them the shop always took priority... I mean, they gave me everything I needed or really wanted... they were never mean to me or each other... Still... It wasn't...'

Glancing at the clock, Nanoha let out a yelp as she dashed out of bed to get ready for her day. Even still her mind was on memories of the past. 'I wonder what they're up to these days? Is Lindy-san still running the foster care center? I can't believe I've never gone back there... maybe, I was afraid that if I did go...'

Nanoha fluffed her bangs into place and spun around in front of the mirror, giving herself a last check. She then nodded to herself and called out, "I'm taking off!" After a pause, she giggled, knowing Hayate had left ahead of her.

The commute to work was as humdrum as ever, but at least it wasn't crowded to the brim like usual. In fact, it was comparatively empty...

Nanoha felt a sudden chill, as if someone were watching her. She glanced over her shoulder but saw no one looking at her in particular. She sighed. 'You'd think I'd have gotten over those days as a kid by now... stupid psychological imprints...'

Just then, her phone rang loudly, startling her. She looked at the caller ID and froze when she saw Fate's name flashing back at her. "Fate-chan...?" Nanoha looked around again, searching for the telltale sparkle of blonde hair... Nothing. Of course, this was Japan. Any blonde would have stuck out like a sore thumb.

By the time she registered that she should answer the call, the call went to voicemail. After waiting a tentative ten seconds, she checked her voicemail and listened to the one new message.

...

Nanoha frowned.

...

The message ended without so much as a peep from the caller. 'That's weird... Fate wouldn't do a thing like that, would she? I'll call back and ask why...'

-"-Approaching station 13A. Tokyo. Please collect all personal belongings. Approaching...-"-

Nanoha sighed, the same cowardice that had constricted her heart the last several years working its magic on her once again. 'I'll do it when I get into the office...'


"Ah, Nanoha-san! Good morning! How are you doing today?"
Nanoha smiled at her secretary and nodded. "Good morning, Shamal. I'm fine. I hope you're doing well, too?"

"Yes, I am, thank you. Would you like your usual cup of tea?"

"If you can spare the time, yes, please. Any messages?"

"Ah, a woman came by earlier, she wanted to set up an appointment. I told her you didn't have a slot open until next month and she said... she said..."

Nanoha laughed and coaxed, "What'd she'd say, Shamal? Just spit it out."

"She said she was willing to discuss matters over dinner... on her tab."

Nanoha raised an eyebrow. "Did she say what matters there were to discuss?"

"Ahm, ah, she said it was... personal."

Nanoha frowned, thinking again of the phone call earlier this morning. "Did she leave her name?"

"Yes, yes she did. She even left her business card. Here it is."

As Nanoha accepted the card and looked at it, the tension in her hand went slack, causing her to drop her case.

FATE T. HARLAOWN
Private Investigator and Law Enforcer
Affiliate of Child Protection and Support Division
TSAB

A small smile flitted across Nanoha's lips as she thought, 'So Fate took after her mother after all...'

"Did she leave without making an appointment?"

"Ah, I penciled her in for next week, as I wasn't sure if you were up to a sudden business dinner with a stranger..."

Nanoha's smile widened and softened as she read what was scribbled on the back. After a moment, she tucked the card into her coat pocket and picked up her case again. As she walked into her office, she said, "If she comes back, tell her I'll see her tomorrow at the Louvre."

"T-the Louvre? Do you know this person?"

"Maybe." 'I don't know how much she's changed since then.' "In any case, keep up the good work."

As she shut the door behind her, the scribbled words replayed in her mind.

-8pm. Le Grand Louvre
I've missed you, Nano-chan. Call me.-

'But if all it was was missing me... why now? Why after so long?'


TBC? *runs*



P.P.S. I wrote this before I came on and saw the page claim... >.< *adds it to list for future reference*

P.P.P.S. ... *runz*

[itanshi1]

Well, never too late er I mean early for a Vivid story. Wonder if people are timid for lack of data.

Nanoha, Fate and Vivio fluff. Shiptease level only, so fairly in tune with how the series does it.



"Oh... Fate-chan, I'm sorry." Nanoha slumped, but Fate helped her to a chair so she didn't fall down and hurt herself. Well, not this time.

"I know, long day, right?" Fate smiled. She used to have those long days, but since she decided to play little miss housewife, she took to studying and researching when not cooking and cleaning. She was aiming for a much higher position in the Navy. One that perhaps didn't lead her too far away like her brother had. She was young, so that was possible.

"Yes, so very, very long." Nanoha smiled. She smelled cookies. "What's that smell?"

"Why, it's cookies!" Fate laughed and walked off. She grabbed a small plate and removed a few cookies from the platter on the counter. They had finished not long ago, actually. She brought them back to the table and saw Nanoha's face flat on the table. She was sleeping already even in that short amount of time.

"They really did wear you out, didn't they?" Fate sighed. Nanoha was still a teacher even if she no longer went on missions. She wondered if this really could be called 'resting her wings'. She placed the plate beside her head knowing well she'd wake up again. She hardly thought sleep would change the subject all that much inside her mind.

Also, Vivio would be home soon. Nanoha had tried to match her schedule so she could be there for when she did. Some days decided to take more time away much like today. "Mou, Nanoha-chan, eat a cookie. Tell me what you think before Vivio-chan gets here." Fate smiled and gently pushed Nanoha's head. It rocked on the table a bit, but she still slept. "Do I need to be more creative?"

Nanoha woke up in a startled giggle, "Oh, no, cookies are a great wake up call!" She laughed her tension away and quickly tossed one in her mouth. "Mmmg.." She almost choked, but she finished eating it, "It's better, really!"

"No good?" Fate frowned.

"Ah, no, it's not that bad. You used brown sugar this time?" Nanoha blinked.

"Yes. Is that bad?"

"Oh, no, just you can't rely on it too much. I'll help you bake next time, OK?"

"Well... our schedules are..."

"Oh, I know, let's bake with Vivio!" Nanoha smiled and grabbed another cookie from her plate. Fate was glad Nanoha liked them. She wasn't fond of them herself, she had to admit.

"She has a test coming up this week." Fate reminded her.

Nanoha quickly finished chewing and swallowed. "Ugh, sorry, do we have milk?" She smiled sweetly as to not offend her.

Fate laughed, she knew she should have brought it out regardless, but surely Nanoha needed it more than just for taste. She'd get those cookies right some day. "Yes, coming right up."

--

"So, after her test, we should set some time during the week to bake?" Nanoha nodded. They had the entire platter on the table now and plenty of milk. Vivio was running late, no doubt she was talking to her new friends and got distracted. They weren't worried about it. If there was anything wrong, they'd be the first to know. Well, actually, they wouldn't be the first to know. They were refrained from partaking in battles, but someone would be there. Hayate had a way with watching over people including her own children. She certainly considered Vivio as one, well close enough.

"Yes." Fate smiled. She broke a part another cookie and looked it over, "So, Brown sugar, sugar and egg whites?"

"No a whole egg and a yolk will work."

"Ah," She nodded. "Was the chocolate wrong?"

"What kind did we have?"

"Bitter? I think."

"Use unsweetened next time, I'll put it on the..." She turned as she heard a small commotion by the door.

It soon opened and the room filled with sparkly energy, "Mamas! Mamas! Look at this!" Vivio ran in and Nanoha pointed to the floor. Vivio blinked and kicked off her shoes. She put on her slippers and renewed her rampage, "Look Look!" She tossed a flier onto the table, "Ooh, cookies!" She grabbed one without asking and tossed it into her mouth. She blinked.

"Sorry." Fate smiled.

She took the almost eaten cookie out of her mouth, "Uh, milk?"

"Help yourself." Fate looked at Nanoha and saw the shocked look on her face. It took quite a bit to shock her. She looked down at the flier and dropped her jaw. "WHAT!?"

"Its a swim suit competition!" Vivio gave a thumbs up, ate her cookie and drank her milk.

"But but but but but but but but," Fate lost it so Nanoha took over.

"Honey, this says ages 14 and over. You aren't going." Nanoha was stern.

"But but but but but..."

"Aw, last time I transformed, all the boys and girls were whistling at me! Oops."

"When and where did you transform, young lady?" Nanoha wasn't happy about this.

"No when nowhere?" Vivio laughed and grabbed another cookie, Nanoha put a hand on hers just enough so she didn't decide to put that cookie in her mouth right now.

"But but but but but but..."

"Vivio, dear, we love you a great deal, but having you stand in front of so many people just for the purposes of being looked at wearing little more than a bikini concerns us. I know you are very nearly 16 when you transform, but right now you are nearly 10 years old and we see you as that first and foremost."

Vivio nodded, "Sorry."

"No, you don't have to apologize, just understand how we feel."

"So... can I when I'm 16?" Vivio smiled.

"But but but but but..."

Nanoha turned to Fate and sighed. She took a cookie and shoved it in her mouth, "Let's get you a bikini you can wear. We can go to the beach this weekend together."

"YAY!"

"If you pass your test."

"I will, thank you Mamas!" She laughed and hugged Nanoha tight.





I got to thinking, Vivio's not one to go behind their backs on this, but take it in stride. Still, Tenchi Muyo Universe episode comes to mind. I'm also getting Pretty Sasami (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/kiyone/magical-project-s-pretty-sammy-pixy.jpg?t=1243516240) vibes. Heck I'm getting them anyways if the obvious theories are true about Ingvalt.

[Satashi]

Well, never too late er I mean early for a Vivid story. Wonder if people are timid for lack of data.

Nanoha, Fate and Vivio fluff. Shiptease level only so fairly in tune with how the series does it.



"Oh... Fate-chan, I'm sorry." Nanoha slumped, but Fate helped her to a chair so she didn't fall down and hurt herself. Well, not this time.

"I know, long day, right?" Fate smiled. She used to have those long days, but since she decided to play little miss housewife, she took to studying and researching when not cooking and cleaning. She was aiming for a much higher position in the Navy. One that perhaps didn't lead her too far away like her brother had. She was young, so that was possible.

"Yes, so very, very long." Nanoha smiled. She smelled cookies. "What's that smell?"

"Why, it's cookies!" Fate laughed and walked off. She grabbed a small plate and removed a few cookies from the platter on the counter. They had finished not long ago, actually. She brought them back to the table and saw Nanoha's face flat on the table. She was sleeping already even in that short amount of time.

"They really did wear you out, didn't they?" Fate sighed. Nanoha was still a teacher even if she no longer went on missions. She wondered if this really could be called 'resting her wings'. She placed the plate beside her head knowing well she'd wake up again. She hardly thought sleep would change the subject all that much inside her mind.

Also, Vivio would be home soon. Nanoha had tried to match her schedule so she could be there for when she did. Some days decided to take more time away much like today. "Mou, Nanoha-chan, eat a cookie. Tell me what you think before Vivio-chan gets here." Fate smiled and gently pushed Nanoha's head. It rocked on the table a bit, but she still slept. "Do I need to be more creative?"

Nanoha woke up in a startled giggle, "Oh, no, cookies are a great wake up call!" She laughed her tension away and quickly tossed one in her mouth. "Mmmg.." She almost choked, but she finished eating it, "It's better, really!"

"No good?" Fate frowned.

"Ah, no, it's not that bad. You used brown sugar this time?" Nanoha blinked.

"Yes. Is that bad?"

"Oh, no, just you can't rely on it too much. I'll help you bake next time, OK?"

"Well... our schedules are..."

"Oh, I know, let's bake with Vivio!" Nanoha smiled and grabbed another cookie from her plate. Fate was glad Nanoha liked them. She wasn't fond of them herself, she had to admit.

"She has a test coming up this week." Fate reminded her.

Nanoha quickly finished chewing and swallowed. "Ugh, sorry, do we have milk?" She smiled sweetly as to not offend her.

Fate laughed, she knew she should have brought it out regaurdless, but surely Nanoha needed it more than just for taste. She'd get those cookies right some day. "Yes, coming right up."

--

"So, after her test, we should set some time during the week to bake?" Nanoha nodded. They had the entire platter on the table now and plenty of milk. Vivio was running late, no doubt she was talking to her new friends and got distracted. They weren't worried about it. If there was anything wrong, they'd be the first to know. Well, actually, they wouldn't be the first to know. They were refrained from partaking in battles, but someone would be there. Hayate had a way with watching over people including her own children. She certainly considered Vivio as one, well close enough.

"Yes." Fate smiled. She broke a part another cookie and looked it over, "So, Brown sugar, sugar and egg whites?"

"If you use the whole egg, it'll be an omelet." Nanoha laughed.

"Ah, well, maybe I just need to whisk more. I think I separated them enough." She nodded. "Still, is the chocolate wrong?"

"What kind did we have?"

"Bitter? I think."

"Use unsweetened next time, I'll put it on the..." She turned as she heard a small commotion by the door.

It soon opened and the room filled with sparkly energy, "Mamas! Mamas! Look at this!" Vivio ran in and Nanoha pointed to the floor. VIvio blinked and kicked off her shoes. She put on her slippers and renewed her rampage, "Look Look!" She tossed a flier onto the table, "Ooh, cookies!" She grabbed one without asking and tossed it into her mouth. She blinked.

"Sorry." Fate smiled.

She took the almost eaten cookie out of her mouth, "Uh, milk?"

"Help yourself." Fate looked at Nanoha and saw the shocked look on her face. It took quite a bit to shock her. She looked down at the flier and dropped her jaw. "WHAT!?"

"Its a swim suit competition!" Vivio gave a thumbs up, ate her cookie and drank her milk.

"But but but but but but but but," Fate lost it so Nanoha took over.

"Honey, this says ages 14 and over. You aren't going." Nanoha was stern.

"But but but but but..."

"Aw, last time I transformed, all the boys and girls were whistling at me! Oops."

"When and where did you transform, young lady?" Nanoha wasn't happy about this.

"No when nowhere?" Vivio laughed and grabbed another cookie, Nanoha put a hand on hers just enough so she didn't decide to put that cookie in her mouth right now.

"But but but but but but..."

"Vivio, dear, we love you a great deal, but having you stand in front of so many people just for the purposes of being looked at wearing little more than a bikini concerns us. I know you are very nearly 16 when you transform, but right now you are nearly 10 years old and we see you as that first and foremost."

Vivio nodded, "Sorry."

"No, you don't have to apologize, just understand how we feel."

"So... can I when I'm 16?" Vivio smiled.

"But but but but but..."

Nanoha turned to Fate and sighed. She took a cookie and shoved it in her mouth, "Let's get you a bikini you can wear. We can go to the beach this weekend together."

"YAY!"

"If you pass your test."

"I will, thank you Mamas!" She laughed and hugged Nanoha tight.





I got to thinking, Vivio's not one to go behind their backs on this, but take it in stride. Still, Tenchi Muyo Universe episode comes to mind. I'm also getting Pretty Sasami (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v30/kiyone/magical-project-s-pretty-sammy-pixy.jpg?t=1243516240) vibes. Heck I'm getting them anyways if the obvious theories are true about Ingvalt.



Vividly Vivio Victory!

I'm going to love Vivid fics. Cute fluff is what I go for (om nom nom)

It was funny, I like how Fate sucked at cooking. One thing, though, and this is just a nit-pick because I cook: You need to add a whole egg into the mixutre. The egg helps bring everything together for a thin cookie, or a chewy cookie depending. If you use two eggs, your cookie will become more "puffy" and thicker. Also if Fate used more brown sugar than regular it would be really chewy and......... Oh god, I'll stop now.

Anyway, I like how Vivio is a mix between ten years old and sixteen at the same time. Both parents act the way I think they would in vivid as well. *good job*

[krisslanza]

Quick little post.
Which means I graduated BMT! Go me. :P
I'll hopefully be back "regularly" in like... A week? Dunno how tech school will go...

But yup. Just a little postie.
...
Worshipploxkthxbai.

[itanshi1]

Vividly Vivio Victory!

I'm going to love Vivid fics. Cute fluff is what I go for (om nom nom)

It was funny, I like how Fate sucked at cooking. One thing, though, and this is just a nit-pick because I cook: You need to add a whole egg into the mixutre. The egg helps bring everything together for a thin cookie, or a chewy cookie depending. If you use two eggs, your cookie will become more "puffy" and thicker. Also if Fate used more brown sugar than regular it would be really chewy and......... Oh god, I'll stop now.

Anyway, I like how Vivio is a mix between ten years old and sixteen at the same time. Both parents act the way I think they would in vivid as well. *good job*

Heh, well I had it chewy and cake like it seems. Def needs milk.

I knew I was gonna be called on that, I had corrected part of it, but thought ah who cares maybe they both don't know what they are doing :P who taught them anyways? Thanks

edit - ack forgot about the bakery... out of practice? haha ok I'll fix the fic. silly me

[Keroko]

Quick little post.
Which means I graduated BMT! Go me. :P
I'll hopefully be back "regularly" in like... A week? Dunno how tech school will go...

But yup. Just a little postie.
...
Worshipploxkthxbai.

Kriss! *tackleglomps*

Good to see you back! Glad to hear you graduated, you go girl!

[Fuyu no Sora]

Quick little post.
Which means I graduated BMT! Go me. :P
I'll hopefully be back "regularly" in like... A week? Dunno how tech school will go...

But yup. Just a little postie.
...
Worshipploxkthxbai.

:eek:

KRISS-CHAN! *TACKLEGLOMPHUGSQUEEZEHUNGSONTONECK*

WHY YOU! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!!! :( I was wondering if you died!

It's so good to see you back :D! Congrats on graduating!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR GRADUATION, KRISS-CHAN!

[wanwan1203]

:eek:

KRISS-CHAN! *TACKLEGLOMPHUGSQUEEZEHUNGSONTONECK*

WHY YOU! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!!! :( I was wondering if you died!

It's so good to see you back :D! Congrats on graduating!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR GRADUATION, KRISS-CHAN!

lol fuyu! yes yes glad you're back kriss. congratulations! :)

now go read teh awesome backlogged fics *shot*

XD

[MeisterBabylon]

Quick little post.
Which means I graduated BMT! Go me. :P
I'll hopefully be back "regularly" in like... A week? Dunno how tech school will go...

But yup. Just a little postie.
...
Worshipploxkthxbai.Bunny Begins. Starring Kriss Lanza as Sacred Heart. :nod:

[Satashi]

Quick little post.
Which means I graduated BMT! Go me. :P
I'll hopefully be back "regularly" in like... A week? Dunno how tech school will go...

But yup. Just a little postie.
...
Worshipploxkthxbai.

KRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!

*hugs tightly!!!!!!* HEy! I'm so happy to hear you're doing well! we all missed you!

[DezoPenguin]

Quick little post.
Which means I graduated BMT! Go me. :P
I'll hopefully be back "regularly" in like... A week? Dunno how tech school will go...

But yup. Just a little postie.
...
Worshipploxkthxbai.

Congratulations!! And good to hear you'll be back soon!

(First wanwan, now you...good month for happy returns!)

[wanwan1203]

May 31 for me atm.. i just want to say: http://i709.photobucket.com/albums/ww95/Nati78_2008/Smilies/hbday-1.gif

Happy 1 Year Anniversary FFC!
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk31/DarkAngel799/smilies/confetti.gif
Happy Birthday Fon Filia :)

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h51/dbowperson/smilies/birthday.gif

*That means it's my 1 year anniversary on FFC too. *confetti* \o/
Certainly a lot has happened ever since May 31, 2008.
Fun times, tense and bad times, crazy times..
Confrontations, disagreements, interesting conversations,
EB's, skype, ventrilo, relationships, raburabu, nsfw, sfw, Yakyuken,
bewbies, nosebleeds, nanoha, fate..fate...
fate-chan~ *mauled* x_x

A big THANKS first and foremost to Satashi for asking certain people for help in creating FFT's very own channel.
Thanks to those who helped in making that possible: PhoenixG and Spacebrotha. Apologies to those i may have forgotten.

Special mention hmm: Suzaku our guardian bot who've been with us almost 24/7 since the very first day.

Thank you:

FFC'ers and OCC'ers. ^^

Nanoha fans, anime fans, touhou fans, random passersby.. um uh.. @.@
Frequent chatters, people who have logged on only once or twice, people who aren't there and active anymore (we miss you).
Everyone really.

And to those we will meet in the future. :)
---
Here's to more chatting, more fun, more crack, more story ideas, more fics, more... more more..motto..motto tsuyok--*shot* X_x!!!

Thanks for being a fun place ffc, and for being open-minded, silly people.. :p

Love you guys!!! (and girls and sword and ambiguously gendered people..and cats..plants..roll of cheese..birds..wolves..robots..bots..hybrids...um. .normal people..creatures...traps..) <.>!!!

-wanwan

[Satashi]

It's been....one year? @_@ wow....

Where did the time go?

Well.....um....... @_@.......

*hugs everyone* I'm glad to have shared it with all my friends here! Love you guys!

[nictory]

One year? The time sure flies by. Had to pop in and hug everyone on our 1 year anniversary *big huuuug*

Oh and Wan, you had to put "roll of cheese" there didn't you >.> <.< *hugs*

[narubu]

Happy Aniversary!!! (Even though I'm a newbie that occaisionally drops by...)

And as congratulations, here's a little blast from the past. I'm really hoping you guys will pick this up again because I'm curious to see how everything will play out.


*Plays Revival of the Forgotten Card*
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g140/LeviValor/MirroredSouls.jpg

Title Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: Mirrored Souls: Fate
Genre: Joint fanfiction
Summary: Do to a time paradox, Nanoha somehow swaps places with her nine year old self.
Rating: T
Links:Part 1 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1491154&postcount=2707), Part 2 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1492430&postcount=2722), Part 3 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1492726&postcount=2727), Part 4 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1492848&postcount=2729), Part 5 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1492974&postcount=2731), Part 6 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1493116&postcount=2737), Part 7 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1493218&postcount=2738), Part 8 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1493285&postcount=2740), Part 9 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1494161&postcount=2748), Part 10 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1495126&postcount=2755), Part 11 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1495158&postcount=2756), Part 12 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1496214&postcount=2808), Part 13 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1496413&postcount=2818), Part 14 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1496688&postcount=2833), Part 15 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1497328&postcount=2858), Part 16 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1499771&postcount=2964),
Part 17 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1501817&postcount=3018), Part 18 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1514556&postcount=3222),

Title: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: Mirrored Souls: Nanoha
Genre: Joint fanfiction
Summary: Do to a time paradox, Nanoha somehow swaps places with her nine year old self.
Rating: T
Links: Part 1 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1495742&postcount=2775), Part 2 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1496468&postcount=2821), Part 3 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1496753&postcount=2836), Part 4 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1496971&postcount=2844), Part 5 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1497419&postcount=2861), Part 6 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1497449&postcount=2862), Part 7 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1498448&postcount=2887), Part 8 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1499028&postcount=2908),

Title: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: Mirrored Souls: Vivio
Genre: Joint fanfiction
Summary: Do to a time paradox, Nanoha somehow swaps places with her nine year old self.
Rating: T
Links: Part 1 (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1501490&postcount=3005)

[wanwan1203]

It's been....one year? @_@ wow....

Where did the time go?
same place our sanity went =D *fleeees*
*hugs everyone* I'm glad to have shared it with all my friends here! Love you guys!
Ditto. Love ya too! :D in a completely friendly way that is.. :uhoh: *hides from a certain aussie*
One year? The time sure flies by. Had to pop in and hug everyone on our 1 year anniversary *big huuuug*

Oh and Wan, you had to put "roll of cheese" there didn't you >.> <.< *hugs*
*hugged* of course, i could never forget about you, you plant/roll of cheese hybrid thing person. NEVARRRR! *shot*
btw, any new nanoha fics from you? *still mourns for your comp*
Happy Aniversary!!! (Even though I'm a newbie that occaisionally drops by...)
Hello hello! Welcome \o/ *glomps*
And as congratulations, here's a little blast from the past. I'm really hoping you guys will pick this up again because I'm curious to see how everything will play out.


-snip-
oooh i remember this one! *o*
*suddenly starts being nostalgic* ;-; oh my my..where did time go. ^^
i would like to know what happens too ^^

On another note:
*apologizes for entering fangirl mode*
I just noticed this morning but.. to those who haven't read yet:

Arigatou Sheitarou updated and wrote 2 fics!!!!!! *flails* *o*
Melody of a Broken Memory (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3748274/1/Melody_of_a_Broken_Memory)
Instances of Gratitude (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4941883/1/Instances_of_Gratitude)

and

Eagle8819 too!! 2 updates!! *flails* *o*
Sonreir (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4901737/1/Sonreir)
Paper Thin (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5086347/1/Paper_Thin)

Weeeee!!!!

Angst, yuri. To those who are interested and want to read go click :)

Good day FFT! ^^

edit: fixed the mix up on the stories and links DX! can't believe i missed that @.@ so yeah paper thin is by eagle8819 and instances of gratitude is by arigatou sheitarou. Orz. sorry ;-;

[TheShinySword]

Happy Aniversary!!! (Even though I'm a newbie that occaisionally drops by...)

And as congratulations, here's a little blast from the past. I'm really hoping you guys will pick this up again because I'm curious to see how everything will play out.




*laughs* That old thing huh? I doubt it'll pop up again unless some chooses to write the next part.

[Tempest Dynasty]

Hmm. Cross post to here for those interested.

Previous chapters. (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1602495&postcount=47)

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Gospel of Judas

Book Two: The Terror of Death

“What worth is loyalty? How far are you willing to go to prove your fealty, your devotion? What will you do when your meaning of existence, your raison d’être, betrays you?"

"What worth are you then?”

-------------------------------------------

Behold, Belka.

Once, this world was a paradise, a gem of blue and green upon the black sea of space. But, ah, see how Belka has fallen, now a brownish mass of hive cities, polluted seas and smog-filled skies. The world was a darker place now, a twisted land of the corrupt, the downtrodden, and the weak. Yet, in little places here and there, pockets of peace and beauty still clung tenuously to existence. The inhabitants of Belka had not been kind to their home, but still the planet survived. And amidst the hordes of the discontent and the wicked were souls still kind, working dutifully and tirelessly to live their lives as best they could.

The Sankt Kaiser, god and emperor, was both revered and cursed. Blame and praise was heaped upon the Belkan ruler, as people both suffered and prospered under the Kaiser’s rule. Yet these times were not of peace – war and conflict raged across the Belkan homeworld as much as it did in colonies and other Belkan territories. Disparities amongst the population was wide, the gap between the rich and the poor as wide as the seas. However ruined their lives are, unfortunate and needy, they still survived. Hard work and will to live carried generation after generation through hardship and stagnation. Even here, on this dank, dying world, love could bloom, and happiness, if for a fleeting moment, could be found.

This was no utopia, but people would make do.

The royal capital was the center of the world, around it a smattering of cities and towns of people hoping to be closer to their king. From there, the rest of the land seemed… uninviting. To the east were wild seas and unforgiving storms. The south was thick with life, dense forests blanketing much of the land, but in that same place were dangerous beasts and heartless men. Scorching deserts and lifeless wastes dominated the west, rich with resources but perilous for even the most prepared man.

And in the north, an unforgiving tundra. Few dared to even think of traversing this place, with barely surviving settlements few and far in between. If the cold did not kill you, the more apt beasts would. Yet it is often here that people would escape to, as it was believed that only madmen and the desperate would ever willingly travel through this eternal blizzard.

Madmen, indeed.

Like banshee howls, the wind screeched in his ears, whipping his tattered cloak all around him. The blustery snow nigh well blinded him, cutting his vision down to a few bare feet in front of him. Not that it mattered much, as the frozen wastes were all around him, hills of ice and snow in every direction. Here, in the north, Noland Reiniger struggled through the frozen plains.

North. He had to keep going north.

Away from his hunters, away from those that sought his blood. How long had he been running? It had been too long to count. Months, probably. But that was fine. Anywhere was fine. He could go anywhere, so long as it took him away.

This hill… why was it so hard to climb? Dozens he had already conquered, yet each new meters high snowdrift felt progressively steeper and harder to climb. And even though he eventually reached to top after a struggle, the down slope seemed even more daunting. Alas, it would be here that Noland fell; the knight’s knees failed him as he stumbled down a snow bank, causing him to roll bodily down the rest of the way. When at last he came to a stop, he found that even the smallest movement was impossible.

Dammit… his body… his body could no longer go on. Ice clung heavily to his tattered clothes, the fabric no longer holding back the chill. His feet were completely numb, as were his hands. It felt like a thousand razor blades sliced into any flesh exposed to the bitter cold, sapping his strength with every gust. How quickly his consciousness seemed to slip away in this unforgiving blizzard.

Yet, in the distance, he could make out a single dark shape slithering through the howling winds. Closer and closer it came, almost leisurely, having a distinctly humanoid shape. Was he hallucinating? Had the madness finally breached his mind? Or perhaps death was giving him one last respite before spiriting him away. Whatever it was, it had finally come close enough for Noland to make out some features. Long hair, tall, lithe and graceful. This had to be an illusion, for it seemed the figure was not even remotely affected by the storm.

Who…?

“Still you live, Sir Knight? How it does make my heart soar to see you still amongst the living. Though in this hell, not even you may last much longer,” the figure spoke, standing over him at last.

What? No…! What was she doing here?!

“Do you know how hard it is to track you, Reiniger? All this time, you’ve eluded capture and fooled your hunters. I’ve always admired that tenacity and will.”

Noland could not form any words. Were his lips frozen? Or was he just not able to speak? Not only his lips, but his entire body felt paralyzed. Only his dimming vision and shaky hearing was left. Yet she stood there, glorious and completely unaffected by the storm. She, the Azure Witch, the Right Hand of the Sankt Kaiser.

“Selvaria… Bles…” Noland finally managed to wheeze out, his breath freezing immediately in the air.

“Ahh, how cruel your fall was,” as if acknowledging him, her tone and vernacular morphed, like a chimera, discarding the frank, coarse language of commoners for the sweet poison of the Nobility. “Your life, torn apart in an instant, and innocent blood spilt. That child really was cruel…”

What… what do you want?

“Poor, lost, lonely soul. Your quest will be a long one, and your soul will be tested. You will know fury, hatred, and bitterness. You will suffer defeat, fear, and loneliness. All this, you will witness. But…”

What? What the hell was she talking about?

“You are not alone, Knight Reiniger.”

A warm palm pressed against his snow-covered forehead, a strange but soothing heat spreading from his head downwards into the rest of his body.

“I will ensure that…”

Darkness came to claim what last of his consciousness remained, a bright light suddenly encompassing the entire figure of Selvaria. It would be the last thing he saw, even as the light revealed itself to be the headlamp of a haphazardly maintained snowtruck. A heavily clothed and portly figure hopped out of the vehicle, coming to a stop before the prone knight.

“Izzee still ‘live?” came a tinny voice on the truck’s external speakers.

“Oy, I caunt baleeve dis bloke still be breathin’! Mus’ be a strong one!” a puff of warmed air escaped the crude respirator mask, its eyes dimly glowing a baleful yellow.

“Eh, we’s low on quota this time. Toss ‘em innda cage wi’ da resta them, Biggs!” the figure’s partner spat. “And ‘urry up! It’s colder thanna hag’s tit out there!”

“Roight, Wedge!”

Who was right?

Was he right?

What was right?

Isn’t that right?

Right?

“Right, Reiniger?”

The question worked to snap Noland back to attention, turning his head towards his companion. “I’m sorry, my liege, what was that?”

Alone in this long hallway, he and a much shorter person walked side-by-side. Dim lights upon the walls illuminated their path, casting dark shadows along their path. The time was late, and the time to rest was upon them. But first, a king must be escorted to his room, and his eccentricities---entertained. He was, perhaps, the only king whoever enjoyed speaking the ordinary tongue of the peasantry, though an indulgence he made sure only to partake in amongst close friends.

“We had asked if there was anything else that would require Our attention in the morning. Really, Reiniger, what is the matter today? You’ve been out of it for a while now.”

“I’m afraid I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in a while. Current events have had me rather stressed.”

“Hmm, you and Us both,” the shorter one nodded. “However Our question still remains. Are there any pressing matters to attend to in the morning?”

“No, sire. None that the Chancellor hasn’t gone over already. However the thirteenth Knight of the Round must still be determined.”

“We’ll worry about that in the morning, then,” he gave another nod.

“As you wish, my Kaiser.”

The hall soon gave way to an elaborate set of doors, a pair of heavily armored guards standing at attention nearby. At their approach, the guards raised their arms across their chest salute, a gesture returned by Noland and acknowledged by the Kaiser. Here was the private quarters of the Saint King, a lavishly decorated room with a grand velvet and silk covered bed and exquisitely crafted wood. Gold and azure furniture dotted the dim room, the lights brightening only when the two of them entered. It was not until the door closed in grand fashion of deep, resounding tremor that a sudden change in the Belkan Sankt Kaiser was witnessed.

“Whew! Finally, a moment of respite!” the Kaiser huffed, unceremoniously collapsing on to the giant bed. In a shimmer of light, the Belkan king’s ceremonial armor dissipated to reveal the cobalt blue dress underneath. “He” rolled about on the luxurious surface, rumpling fabric and mussing up “his” hair, arms and legs outstretched like a cat lazing about. Finally sitting back up, the Emperor of Belka shrugged off the topmost layer of the dress, revealing a subtle, but most definitely feminine figure.

“My lady, that isn’t very becoming of one of your position…”

“Come now, Noland. We are in private quarters now. Have you forgotten your promise already?” she gave Noland a look as she loosened the braid in her hair, letting her blond locks fall around her shoulders.

The knight turned away, unable to keep his eyes on his lord. Old lessons in etiquette made him automatically fall back on the timeless defense of formality, “Err… no, but I am quite aware of my status as a male, and you female…”

“Oh, fine! I’ll just be a minute then…” she huffed, the rustle of clothing the only sounds the large room, until finally, “Alright, I’m decent…”

With a quiet sigh of relief, Noland turned around. With the Sankt Kaiser lounging upon her bed, the knight took a seat nearby, inciting a small smile from the young woman.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been able to talk like this. Tell me, how is your family?”

The mention of family was enough to bring a similar smile to Noland’s face, “They are well, thank you. Mother and father continue to experience success with their business, and my sisters are doing well in class. Remilia is soon to graduate, and Cecilia has become quite popular with her classmates.”

“Ahh, little Remilia is far too adorable, and it is good to hear Cecilia is getting along with her classmates!” a low giggle came from the Kaiser, as she slipped back into the courtly manner as well unconsciously. When another speaks as such, it is only natural to acquiesce even at the risk of overcompensation. “Ah! That reminds me: is she to have an extended break soon?”

Noland looked thoughtful for a moment, racking his brain for dates. “I believe she is to have a break in the next two weeks. Shall I invite her to the capital?”

“There’s no need – I know of ways of visiting without your assistance,” she smiled evilly, promising great frustration in the future.

That incited a low groan from the Belkan knight. “Oh no, not that again…”

They talked like this, casual and frank, into the night. Now, they were not knight and emperor, but friends meeting again after a long absence. Alas, like all good moments, an end must come.

“The bell has rung; time to rest, my lady,” Noland murmured, doing his best to hide a yawn.

A sigh, “I wish we could be like this a little longer. Only with you, only like this, can we speak like this. I’ve no other confidants like you, not even the Chancellor or…” she trailed off, unable to speak more of the matter. Recognizing the sensitivity of the topic, Noland was quick to interject.

“I’ll not die the morrow or the next, my Kaiser. Have faith in my loyalty; so long as there is breath in my lungs and strength in my body, I shall always return to you.

The Sankt Kaiser said nothing for a moment, only digging deeper into the folds of her bedsheets. Then, quietly, barely audible to the knight despite his proximity, she spoke. “Thank you, Noland. You… I… … good night.”

“Rest well, my lady.”

Noland’s exit was as quiet as a whisper, though the warmth of the room lingered still.

…

"She was cold and lonely that night... a pity she cannot give voice to such feelings of weakness."

…

It was warm. No, it was bloody hot. The throne room felt oppressively scorching this day, the fault of horrid, unpredictable weather and his heavy uniform. Despite that, Noland Reiniger did his best to hid his discomfort before the seat of the Sankt Kaiser.

“You summoned me, my liege?”

“Knight Reiniger, We are alone here. What We discuss now must not be revealed to anyone else, not even your fellow Knights of the Round. Do you understand?”

What could be so important…?

“I do, Kaiser.”

“Before We continue, We must ask you: what of your life? How far are you willing to go in my service Knight, even if death is almost certain? The possibility of failure is incredible, and the chance of victory is miniscule. Can you survive, Reiniger?”

Noland blinked, confused at the question. Was the Kaiser doubting his loyalty, his ability? It was almost insulting, had it come from anyone else.

“My oath is sacred. My life, yours. Death will not stop me.”

“I see…” the Kaiser murmured, so faintly that Noland thought it an illusion.

His liege would never do such a gross breach of propriety in such a public space as the Throne Room, where the walls are filled with many eyes and ears! And so occupied was his thoughts that the knight never his liege lord, bringing a hand to rest upon the hilt of his armed device. Slowly, the blade was drawn, its platina luster gleaming in the light. The holy sword of the Sankt Kaiser, a sacred treasure and a symbol of a nation; how beautiful it was… and deadly. “Clench your teeth.”

Faster than he could see, the Holy Emperor of Belka had a spell charged and ready, the glowing blade of his sword cutting a cross-shape in the muggy air. In an instant, the roaring flames of the Holocaust came bearing down upon Noland with unstoppable fury. He had not even a chance to defend himself. No, even if he could, shock and surprise froze his limbs and mind, bewilderment jumbling his thoughts. All he could witness was the blinding fires of the Sankt Kaiser’s perfect Holocaust as it came crashing upon him. Searing his flesh and scorching his clothes, the very air he sought to breath was lit ablaze. The might of a titan crushed his chest, his head and his torso, threatening to rip his limbs away as Noland was blown off his feet and sent sliding across the once flawless floor.

The world… it spun all around him, hot as the sun. By luck or by reflex, a Protection spell had managed to spring up around him just as the Holocaust struck. Yet, it did little more than soften the blow, like a sheet of cotton before a warhammer’s strike. Dimly, Noland registered a pair of strong hands grabbing him by the arms and hauling him up. Despite this confusion, however, the Kaiser’s voice rang clear in his mind.

“The Knight of Two has attempted to assassinate the Throne. For this blatant act of treason, We hereby strip you of title and position! Nevermore will you know peace, Noland Reiniger, for the lot of traitors is only damnation.”

Wait. What? WHAT?

“What—what are you talking about?! What’s going on—UGH!”

An ironclad backhand rattled his brain, quieting his tongue for now.

“Be silent, filth! You no longer have the right to speak to me!” the Kaiser hissed acidly and turned away, unable to gaze upon the fallen form of the Knight of Two any longer. “Take him away. He is to be executed at the third bell the morrow.”

The shock had finally faded away, the reality of the moment settling in. Despair and confusion lost their hold on the knight’s tongue, soon replaced by boiling rage. Fury sprang forth anew as Noland was dragged away, giving vigor and fire to his voice at last.

“What madness has taken your mind now?! To what goal do you hope to find by doing this, Kaiser?! First you throw away Kaon like she was some unwanted dog, and now you brand me a traitor when I bear no crime?! What of our bonds, Holy Kaiser?! What of the trust we were supposed to have?! Answer me!”

Struggle as he did, he could not gain any leverage against his captors. All he could do was stare at the Kaiser’s back.

“Lord Kaiser! Holy Emperor! Do not ignore me! Do not forsake me! Kaiser! KAISER!”

The doors closed with grim finality, heavy and loud, before he could receive an answer. Abruptly, the hands that held his arms yanked him upwards.

“On your feet, trash! We’ll not waste the energy dragging your pathetic hide through these halls!”

Silently he obliged, awkwardly placing one foot in front of the other, as if in a daze. Barely did he realize that he had stumbled all the way to the prison halls, the final resting place for thousands, but for some, the first step into hell.

“Surrender your device immediately, traitor!” a large, burly man screamed at him.

Do not scream at me.

“Are you hard of hearing, wretch?!” a meaty hand slapped him across the face. “Obey my orders!”

Do not touch me. You have no right.

“You worthless dog! I should kill you here myself!” spittle splattered on Noland’s face, just as a great pair of hands wrapped around his neck and lifted him a foot off the ground.

Release me. Let Me Go. GET OFF ME.

“Get your filthy hands…” Noland growled, his wits finally at its end. “Off of me!”

The bonds that held Noland’s hands (he had bonds?) shattered as the fallen knight roared his defiance, his fists coming together to crush the arms that dare held him up. He dropped to the floor as the giant guard screamed and recoiled, Noland reaching up and grabbing him by the lapels. Once. Twice. Thrice. Noland’s forehead smashed into the guard’s face three times, each blow a great meaty crunch. He spun around, hefting the obese guard as if he were a mere sack of flour, and threw the pig into a crowd of approaching guards.

Alas, the prison guards faced a knight scorned and furious, whose strength was supplemented with rage and an undying will to survive. A thunderclap announced the arrival of the knight’s chosen weapon, a spear masterfully crafted and artfully wielded. These sad guards, with nothing more than swords and rifles, could not hope to stand against a berserk Knight.

Their last moments were of a sorrowful, rage-filled roar:

“AND TEAR THEIR SOULS ASUNDER! HOLOCAUST: EXIST!”

Noland Reiniger escaped. His actions would not be so easily forgotten.

…

"She cried a thousand and one tears that day... Such a pitiful existence."
…

“It seems our dear Knight of Two has broken free of his bonds. Unsurprising…” a tall man in a white physician’s coat murmured, one hand idly petting a young woman similarly dressed. The Knight of Eight, actually two people, did not seem all that worried.

“His flight only proves his guilt! Had he been innocent, he would have stayed to face his charges,” the Knight of Ten, a blond man in blue and indigo robes. Unlike the former, this knight blazed with anger, his vitriolic words mirroring his stance.

“What charges? He doesn’t even have the opportunity to defend himself! The accusation of treason… that is immediate execution!” A young woman in white knight’s garb cut in, her wide eyes betraying her confusion.

“Sympathizing with the enemy, Knight of Seven?”

“No! I’ve nothing to do with this. It’s just… I can’t believe that the Knight of Two…” she trailed off.

“Believe it or not, it’s the truth,” the gruff voice of the Knight of One at last spoke up, his expression decidedly neutral. Rather, he looked to the room’s entrance, immediately jumping into a bowed salute. “Behold, our king arrives.”

The other knights followed suit in an instant, dropping to their knees in respect. Before them stood the Sankt Kaiser, resplendent in full armor and sword by his side. Heterochromatic eyes gazed over the collected knights, twelve in all; the Knights of the Round, the Kaiser’s elite. Without preamble, the Kaiser addressed them.

“We are shocked and supremely disappointed. To discover that one of Our precious knights turn traitor during these trying times, We cannot even begin to understand what his motives were. However surprised We are, the facts cannot be changed: Noland Reiniger is a traitor to the throne and to the country, and as such, he must be brought to justice by any means!” The Saint Kaiser thrust a hand out dramatically, red and green eyes ablaze with anger. “Capture him at all costs! Bring this traitor to Us and to justice!”

The Knights saluted and called out in harmony, “Yes, Your Majesty!”

…

"The selfish and the selfless, pure and corrupt. What strange bedfellows you had..."
…

“You cannot run anymore, traitor! By the order of his majesty the Holy Kaiser, you are under arrest for highest treason against Our Lord!”

What misfortune, to be cornered at this dead end so quickly. Behind Noland stood ready a battalion of mages and infantry, lead by two Knights of the Round. Before him was a fall several stories high, jagged rocks below, and clear sight for some distance away. A brilliant idea it was to come here, oh yes. Right into this damn ambush…

“I had expected you, Knight of Ten, Algus Sadalfas,” Noland spoke without turning around, his eyes glued to the faraway horizon.

“You’ve no right to speak my name, trash!” Sadalfas does not even notice his poor slip into common in his righteous rage. Heh, what a hypocrite; he was always quick to correct the impropriety of others but never noticing his own failings. “Surrender immediately and I may show mercy on your pathetic soul!”

“That’s real promising, Sadalfas. You, showing me mercy? Don’t joke around – you are absolutely relishing this, aren’t you? This is an opportunity of a lifetime, isn’t it? But that’s rather pathetic that one of noble blood would hold such a grudge against a commoner such as me. Am I not below you? So why so serious?” Noland slowly turned around, giving the gathered soldiers a mocking grin as he did so.

“Wretched filth! How dare you speak to me like that!” the noble glared with all his might at the fallen knight, gripping his sword tighter. Oh how he wished he could just cut him down like the peasant mongrel that Reiniger was and be rid of this garbage forever! It was so easy! He was right there!

“Enough, Algus. You fail at diplomacy! It’s my turn, now!” a woman’s voice cut in, young and girlish in quality. From behind a line of infantry riflemen stepped out a short girl, almost child-like, but enrobed in the honorable cloth of the Knights of the Round.

The Knight of Ten crossed his arms childishly in a huff, turning his head away. “Hmph. Very well then, Knight of Six! See if you can get this fool to see reason for once.”

Noland only raised an eyebrow at the newcomer. She was not expected, but her presence was not surprising. How strange it was to see her in this state, without her Seibzehn knightmare. “You as well, Maria? Did Jack put you up to this?”

The young woman shook her head, her curls swishing with the movement. “I’m only here to take you back, Knight of Two. I care not what events brought us to this, but I have been ordered to bring you back to the Throne. Please, Noland, come with me peacefully.”

“And back to my death? The executioner’s axe awaits me at the capital, not justice! Already the people spit upon my name. There is no hope for me!”

“You cannot believe that already! There still has to be a chance for you…”

“Can you really promise me that? The Kaiser has already ordered my execution, an irrevocable command. Can you, Maria, really grant me the chance to defend myself and clear my name?”

The girl’s silence was all he needed.

“I will not go with you, Maria. Not while this noose tightens still around my neck. I have no future, no hope with you. I’ll not find my death yet.”

“Are you daft as well as stupid?!” Algus sputtered, unable to see just why this fool kept resisting. “You’ve no chance beyond here, Reiniger! This is your final opportunity! Are you a coward as well?!”

“…I’d rather live a fugitive, than die in false infamy,” Noland muttered, his eyes downcast. He then looked behind him, out into the dying lands. “At least then, I have a chance to clear my name.”

“You would refuse my mercy?” Algus scoffed and raised an arm as a signal. “Very well then! All units, ready arms!”

Before a single weapon could be brought to bear, the former Knight of Two had already made his move.

“Wait! Noland!”

He leapt.

…

"Poor lonely soul, where do you have to go? Upon this road of broken dreams, I shall walk as your shadow..."
…

The earth below him rumbled, jumped and shook. No… It was not the earth. Whatever the hell he was on was shaking. It rattled his bones and shook his drowsy mind, serving only to further ruin what tenuous grasp he had on reality.

Why the hell was it so noisy?

It did not help that his head felt like a blacksmith’s anvil, nor did the fact that his body felt like it was made of lead and sand. A heavy fog seemed to permeate his mind, dulling his senses and blurring his vision. Still, as seconds ticked by, he could feel his sanity returning.

Where the hell was he? A cage? A prison of rusty, stained metal. So he was captured… how pathetic. With the cage covered by a large blanket, he could not immediately ascertain his location. All he knew that it was cold.

A rustle behind him caused him to whirl around. Another was here with him? Was it a beast? A monster? No, it was too small. Covered in a ratty blanket, a tuft of grimy red hair peeked out from the top.

A boy? Perhaps another like him, trapped in this cage for who knows for how long. The knight’s movements must have awakened the child, as a pair of icy blue eyes came to bear upon him. Noland was almost taken back by the emotion he could read from the glare the child gave him.

Those eyes… so full of rage. A familiar, almost kindred, sight.

Licking his dried lips, Noland willed his voice to return, a tired and dry rasp that was a far cry from his normal tone. “Where… where are we?”

No answer. Just that glare.

“What’s your name?” he tried something else.

Still no answer.

Grunting in annoyance , Noland settled in a corner opposite of the child, drawing his ragged clothing closer to him in an attempt to stay warm. Bothersome, mute brat! As if glaring at him would solve things. No, there was nothing to do for now, not while this caravan rolled on. With no idea of his location, escape now would just be a blind leap into the wilderness. If he was lucky, whatever wretched city the caravan arrived at would be thick enough for him to escape, lay low, and recover.

Until then, he would wait. He would share this cage with this hate-filled child, waiting for the opportune time to strike.

[wanwan1203]

Hmm. Cross post to here for those interested.

Previous chapters. (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1602495&postcount=47)

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Gospel of Judas

Book Two: The Terror of Death

-snip-

...

O.O!

ITSA GOSPEL UPDATE!!! *flail-glomps Tempest*

\o/ *happy dance*

alas, i'ma have to read it later DX have to settle things at school.

[Evangelion Xgouki]

Dum dee dum...


Hayate leaned back into her office chair with a sigh. The entire week had been hectic for her, full of meetings and reports. She mused at a point that high-ranking officers got their own offices because they needed all of the space to keep the piles of reports they had to keep up with. But all of that ended a moment ago with the last form saved and sent away.

The peace and quiet was broken by the beeping fro man incoming transmission. However her cringe faded away as she saw it to be from Fate. If she recalled she was with Nanoha off on a recovery mission on another world.

"Yes, Fate-chan? What can I-" A loud explosion came through the communication window. "What's going on?!"

Her friend cringed on the screen and quickly glanced behind her. "We have a bit of a situation here, Hayate."

"What happened?"

"We were sent here to recover a possible Lost Logia that had been detected." Another explosion came from behind her. "Only the residence of the world are magic users and realized that it contain powerful magical potential."

Hayate frowned. "And they don't want to give it up."

"Kinda..."

"What do you mean 'kinda'?"

Fate glanced behind her again. "You see the Lost Logia had come into the possession of a resident sorceress. Apparently she's some kind of mercenary or treasure hunter and had her thoughts set on selling it for a hefty sum."

"And thus she and Nanoha have gotten engaged in a fight, right?" she remarked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Pretty much."

"But why call me? Between you and Nanoha you should be more than strong enough to handle her."

"Actually, she and Nanoha are fairly even right now..."

That made Hayate sit up in her chair. "...and how long have they been going at it?"

"Almost a half-hour?"

"I'll see what help I can get you from my end but I don't know what ships are nearby." Suddenly the explosions stopped. "Fate? What's going on over there?"

"I'm not sure. Wait...I'm detecting a huge concentration of magic coming from her! And...Nanoha is-"

Hayate strained her ears at the communication link, barely able to make out the spell the sorceress was chanting as well as Nanoha.

"...we may deliver doom to all alike!"

"Starlight..."

"Dragon..."

"Breaker/Slave!"

The communication cut off, leaving Hayate to stare at a blank screen. She slumped back in her chair, getting the feeling she was about to receive a lot more paperwork to do...

[AtomicoX]

-snip-

Goosebumps, seriously...such wonderful power <3
-----
Here is a litte short with more info on what's going on on Cancri and what is to come...
”Doctor Alice Platora, welcome to the team.”

A big and rough hand shook hers and she smiled back. After years of studying at the University of Adaptive Synthetics she had finally managed to get a job under one of the most highly regarded men in the Southern Beskanti science collective. He had been revered as a genius and was in charge of the government’s Mokkur Project. She did not know exactly what the project was, but considering he was so famous and looked up to by many, it had to be amazing.

“I’m honored, Doctor Shavez. To be working under someone of your caliber has been a lifelong dream for me.”

Doctor Shavez chuckled heartily and smiled. His accent was much heavier than her own and it took some focus to hear him correctly.

“It is good you have ambitions, but I certainly hope you aim to go higher than working under an old man like myself. You youths have a whole life in front of you and possess far more knowledge than me on things that will be necessary in the future.”

Alice smiled back and they finished the handshake.

“But please Doctor Platora, when we are inside the lab, call me Robel. There is no need for such official titles in our work place.”

“If you insist,” Alice said and bowed her head politely.

Robel waved it off while smiling and motioned to her to follow him. The two of them, accompanied by two other scientists, left the office they had been in and entered the corridor. White, clinical walls followed them all the way down another level until they reached a pair of glass doors. Robel entered a code on a panel beside it and without a sound the doors flew open. The four of them stepped into it and the doors closed behind them. It was like a cubicle with closed solid doors on the other side of it.

“Just regular security procedure, nothing to worry about,” Robel said to Alice, who nodded in understanding.

While something behind the walls made some kind of noise, a strange device appeared out of the roof and traced a beam across each of them, one at a time. Alice guessed it checked for weapons or smuggled material. Soon enough, after it didn’t find anything, it chimed and the solid doors opened.

They stepped out onto a platform overlooking a huge laboratory complex. Alice estimated they were several meters above the ground floor and could see other scientists reading of gauges, checking fluids and moving equipment on the first floor. She was very happy over finally being there and she grinned at the thought of it.

Robel and the two others entered something looking like an elevator and waited for her to board. When she did the platform shook slightly and they began their descent.

On the way down, more industrial scenery appeared in front of Alice. Strange tubes with blue liquid stood in the corners having air pumped into them, a few pedestals in the middle stood all alone, looking really out of place, and cables were running all over the place. They went to different places around the facility, each having their own purpose.

“As you can see,” Robel said and leaned against the railing while looking around, “this facility is quite large and I am glad it is. A lot is being done down here, I’m sure you figured that out, but nothing can compare to the Mokkur Project which you are going to be helping with. Have anyone told you what it entails?”

Alice shook her head in disagreement.

“No, I haven’t been told anything, not even after I got the position. When I asked they told me I had to wait.”

Robel chuckled a little.

“It seems the loyalty of those working with me still is in effect. I was the one who told them not to tell you anything, because…you see I wanted to tell you, no, show you myself. It’s one of my biggest achievements in my life, this project.”

“It sure is showing on you, Robel. The pride I mean.”

“Oh, really? Yes, I guess it does,” he said and laughed, as if he hadn’t thought of that before.

The elevator reached the ground floor and shook as metal grapples attached it safely. The guardrail opened and the four of them traversed out onto the floor. They walked in the middle of it all, scientists working on each side.

“Right now we are in the final stages of completing the first prototype and as you can see the mood and activity are high. It’s been years since we first started on it, and since it’s nearly complete, we all feel a little like kids on Christmas Eve.”

The two other scientists that had accompanied them had disappeared into the mass of lab coats, but Robel did not give it a thought. Alice increased her speed to walk besides Robel instead of behind him. He was a short man and bulky, probably in his sixties, with a beard and age-stricken face. A heavy contrast opposed to herself who was in her twenties, taller than him and with a good physique.

“The cooperation with the government has gone better than we first hoped, and they have supplied us with what we needed. Funding, a facility, personnel and even…” He pressed a button on a strange looking machine and a cup with fluid dropped out below. He picked it up and took a sip. “Delicious hot chocolate.”

They continued down the middle lane as Robel continued to talk, with Alice listening intently by his side. They passed other machinery with wires stuck into intelligent devices that lay on tables, cut open like fishes with their innards free to show. Digital numbers scrolled down transparent panels everywhere, even on the walls there was a few big ones. Numbers with information about electricity, ampere, processor heat, power and the like was noted down by scientists working on their respective piece.

“…and here we are, Alice.”

They stopped before another door, or maybe gate was a better term. It stretched almost all the way up to the ceiling and across the half width of the facility. Similar to the glass door before it began to open without a sound when Robel entered another code. Alice was astonished at how fluid the motion was, considering the sheer size of the metal wall.

“Only I and a few of my most trusted companions have access to this room, but since you will work directly under me, I’ll make an exception.”

As the gate came to a halt, exposing a just tall enough opening for them to go under, they went inside. The gate closed behind them to avoid any other personnel to enter.

“Light please,” Robel said and clapped his hands.

One by one a spotlight came online. It flooded the complex with light and exposed several tables lined up as far as Alice could see. The complex was even larger than the lab facility on the other side of the metal gate and she wondered how it could fit beneath the surface of the capital so easily.

Robel went up to a console just a few meters to their right and punched in a sequence.

“This laboratory is mostly automatic, so don’t let your eyes fool you. It might be big, but I can handle most of it from here,” Robel said and looked at Alice with a glint in his eyes. “On these tables that you see, are the project itself. Let me turn of the cloaking apparatus.”

He punched in a few commands. In the blink of an eye all of the tables where there had not been anything previously now had something akin to bodies upon them.

“…what? What is this?” Alice stuttered, taken aback.

“This, Alice, is Project Mokkur and my children. Fear not, they aren’t human. They just look like it.”

With the flip of a switch one of the humanoids raised its hand and took support against the table it lay on. It sat up with a straight back and stared at Alice with empty eye sockets.
Alice took a few steps of uncertainty backwards.

“Most people that come in here react the same way as you do, so don’t worry. It’s only natural.”

The android, as Robel said it should be called, flipped its legs over the side of the bed with its gaze still locked on Alice. The android was androgynous in appearance and its metal surface further increased the difference to an ordinary human. Alice noticed it was missing an arm and a foot.

“This android is still in the building stage. I just wanted to show you how they once looked before the final stage.”

He switched a few more buttons and the android lay down again. It released its empty stare it had had on Alice and she relaxed.

“Now, this is what I really wanted to show you,” he said and whistled. A mechanic sound began to increase in volume and a crane attached to one of the walls heaved out its solid arm into the air with something suspended to it. It levered it down and released it softly on the floor.

Alice realized it looked like a lifepod one had in a spacecraft, although this one was more elongated.

“This is nearly complete,” Robel said and approached the pod. A panel lit up on the side of it and he punched in a code. The pod made a few noises as locks inside it opened and cold air floated out of it. The hatch opened itself and revealed its contents.
A hand grabbed the side of the pod. It was slender and had human skin. After that, a human body heaved itself out of the pod and stood up. Except for the few metal plates in some areas, it could have at a distance been mistaken for a human. Its face was amazingly well detailed, but when Alice looked close enough she saw that the eyes were blank and purely decoration. There were most likely cameras and sensors just behind them. The rest of the android’s body was androgynous, in similarity to the previous android.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Robel asked while rubbing his hands together.

“It truly is, but what is the government going to use them for?”

“Military operations, of course,” Robel said. “You see, another reason I didn’t tell you is because this project is highly controversial, we can’t let anyone tell the public what we really do in here. Just think; imagine wars with these beautiful pieces of art. They have no feelings, completely void of emotion. They can kill anyone they perceive as a threat without a hint of remorse or regret. It can think for itself, after the guidelines of its programming of course; it’s faster and stronger than a normal human and…it’s flexible.”

He had a datapad in his hand which he clicked on once. The android shuddered for a second and its right arm suddenly splintered into smaller pieces and was withdrawn into its shoulder. From the same hole came instead a solid pole. It extended itself further than the arm, expanded joints so it could move better and finally reached the floor. A claw appeared at the end of it with to complete the transformation.

“This claw can crush diamond and bend solid steel. It’s extremely powerful and flexible.”

Alice nodded but felt a hint of disgust in her stomach. The android looked like a freak with that long metal arm hanging out of it and that pointy claw at the end. Being killed by one of those would be worse than dying by the hands of a soldier.

“That’s not all. Look.”

The android’s lower left arm disappeared into the upper part and was replaced by a metal blade. The spotlights shining from the roof reflected in the plain surface and cast a foreboding glare over the android. Now it truly looked like a pure killing machine.

“This blade is made out of the same material as the claw. It has the same strength but is more inclined on cutting,” Robel said and finally turned to Alice. He was grinning widely and was completely different from the nice old man from before. Alice was scared but also fascinated.

“It truly is amazing,” she said with a weak voice. “To be able to work on something like this…I understand how you feel.”

Robel shone up more and waved to the android to approach them. Its feet, or metal pads, made a clunking noise against the floor as it walked, rocking back and forth. It was a bit unsteady and clunky still.

“Shake hands.”

It brought up the claw from the floor and held it out towards Alice. It clenched and opened it a few times, indicating for her to shake it. She was unwilling to do just that, but the curiosity made her bring forth a shaking hand. She rested it above the claw for a few seconds, uncertainty coming at her again. She shrugged it off and let her hand fall into the claw. Cold metal met her touch and the claw closed around her hand with surprising tender.

“This is a strange feeling,” she said and giggled. “I’ve never shook hands with an android before.”

“It’s a wonderful feeling isn’t it? This unique life that one has created, that it’s able to shake hands with its creators. It feels like…I don’t know what to feel, but it makes me feel wonderful inside.”

The grip from the android suddenly tightened slightly and Alice got nervous from the sudden action.

“Uhm, you can stop shaking now,” she said and glanced at Robel.

“Yes, of course. Release!”

The android who was supposed to execute the order didn’t respond and tightened its grip further. Alice felt the bones in her hand being clamped together.

“Robel, can you stop this thing?”

“It doesn’t want to respond…maybe it’s a glitch,” he said and worked on the console.

“It better be a glitch that can be fixable because my hand is not feeling too well right now.”

She tried to open the claw with her other hand but she couldn’t move it. Blood began to make the claw a tint of red as it pierced her skin. She yelped at the pain.

“Robel! Make it release!”

“I’m trying but I don’t know what’s wrong!”

A scream pierced his ears and he turned towards the two. The view made him turn back with a blank expression and tried to work faster than he had ever done before. The claw had finally pierced her skin entirely and began to grind the surface of her bones. The pain was immense and she was down on her knees with clenched teeth.

“You…fix it…now,” she uttered.

The claw grew deeper and crushed the bones on the outer rim of her hand. It made a crunching noise as she screamed and blood spurted out as the pressure in some of the veins grew too high. The metal continued to grind into the bone.

“I’m almost done! I know what the fault is!” Robel yelled from the console without looking at her.

Finally the claw had crushed the hand to such a big degree that Alice managed to get loose with only a slab of meat hanging from her arm. Crushed bone could be heard inside it as it moved around. She got on her feet and backed away from the android as fast as she could, but the metal gate behind her stopped her.

The android took a step forward and didn’t stop.

“Robel! Help me!”

She wrapped her destroyed hand in her coat, soaking it with blood and pieces of meat. She realized that there was no way past the android and she only had Robel to depend on.

“Just a few seconds left!” he yelled.

The android continued walking forward until it stopped two meters in front of her. As if it was considering what to do it eyed her with those lifeless eyes and tilted its head. Alice was shaking and pleading for it to stop, but she knew it didn’t listen. The blood dripping from her crushed hand hit the floor with a soft sound that blended in with Robel frantically pressing buttons on the console.

The woman and the android looked at each other until the latter changed its head back to normal and aimed it’s left arm, the one with the blade.

“No…please no…”

It thrust forward, threw the blade from under Alice’s arm and above her head. It stopped there with its blade still elevated until a long, drawn-out, squishy sound was heard in the room. Alice’s right arm had fallen to the floor and blood flooded out from her shoulder. She had a stunned expression on her face and slowly turned her head to look. She brought up her remaining hand and touched her shoulder that now didn’t have her arm attached to it. She felt moist on her hands and looked at it. Dark blood smeared across her fingers and her brain started working again. The only thing she did was to scream straight in the face of the android. Not of anger or pain, but of fear. She was so terrified of what had just happened that she didn’t even think of her lost arm, or her crushed hand. Everything her brain allowed her to do was to scream.

The android returned its blade to a horizontal position in line with her head and then swung it with its full power against her.

“I got it Alice! I fixed the gli-“

Robel turned around smiling but froze in mid-sentence.

The android was supposed to be offline, but when the command had been given its blade was already a mere centimeter from Alice’s head. When it went offline the blade diverged slightly, but only in a vertical manner. The momentum it had propelled it into Alice’s ear, cut it in half, continued through her eyes and brain until it came to halt with half of the blade still stuck in her head. Brain tissue and blood sippered down the silent body that now hang onto the blade with its upper scalp cut in two, only held together by a thin slice of skin. Alice’s eyes that had been cut in half hang from small bloody threads out of her sockets and stared at the floor with a lifeless gaze.

The scene was so gruesome Robel fell to his knees and just stared at it.

“My child…what have you done? Oh my god, what have I done? Alice, I tried to stop it, I swear to you. I would never…this is unreal. Did I really create this monster? Why didn’t I stop and realize what I was doing…”

He cried and his tears dripped on the floor. His mind was thinking over and over on exactly what he had created. He always knew it would be used for such things, so why didn’t he stop. He could have always have stopped.

A resolution appeared in front of his eyes.

“I must…destroy it. If I let something like this fall into the hands of the military…oh what have I done?!”

He rushed to his feet and hunkered over the console. He typed as fast as he could and began to erase data from the memory cores, when a voice appeared.

“Doctor Shavez, we cannot allow such action to be taken.”

He had never heard the voice before and looked around frantically. Those who could enter he knew wasn’t in the facility, so he wondered who this was.

“Erasing the technology that you have created? Erasing the means which we will use? Unacceptable.”

A device similar to the one in the first security control appeared from the roof and Robel stared at it. He did not know there were weapons inside the complex. The government must have put them there for exactly this purpose.

“We will find a replacement for you, because humans can always be replaced.”

The device shook with the power from the slugs being launched. They hit Robel straight in the chest and he convulsed as it continued to spray into him. The slugs went straight through him and hit the console which was shot to bits. The shower of death suddenly ended and the device retracted up into the roof.

Doctor Shavez still stood up with his head hanging, but eventually his body fell over the console and piereced itself on the bits that remained. The complex fell into silence with the blood from two dead humans pouring out onto the floor.

[al103]

...


Heh. A good one. Even with my suspension of disbelieve didn't bought this situation like at all. If Lost Logia was something serious and got into Lina possession by relatively legal way TSAB would simply bought it. And even if not, Nanoha would be one against simple robbing in that case.

[itanshi1]

eh easy enough, someone said 'flat chested'

[Evangelion Xgouki]

eh easy enough, someone said 'flat chested'

Or she's been broke (again) and hasn't eaten for a week or so...

[AtomicoX]

Hmm. Cross post to here for those interested.

Previous chapters. (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1602495&postcount=47)

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Gospel of Judas

Book Two: The Terror of Death


Ah yes, delicious Gospel yet again. Very nice descriptive in the first part, I love the mental images I get of frozen landscapes and what that all entails. Later parts were interesting, especially the mention of...yea you know who I mean. Also, interesting background info is very much delicious.
Still a fan of the style, inspires me on a lot of factors. I ought to develop my own more.

[AtomicoX]

D-d-d-double post.

Some time ago I did a little fic (which I forget the name of) that was inspired by a book I had just read and the movie Cube. The fic was...so-so.
This is the rewrite inspired by SAW, Cube and various other things. Music is available.

First I thought I would do a short. Then it evolved into a "long" short. The final is a beast. 5.6k of gore, start!

http://i455.photobucket.com/albums/qq275/AtomicoX/Random/paradigmshitlogo.jpg
Vita groaned and opened her eyes. It was pitchblack and she could feel solid ground under her body. She moved her arms and heaved herself up. With another groan she found herself upright on her knees.

“Where the hell am I?” she said to herself.

There was no use trying to see anything, so she started navigating around on the floor with her hands. She shuffled forward from where she sat and just within a few meters came upon something soft. She pulled her hand back quickly.

“Who’s there?” she asked into darkness.

“Ahh, hurm…Vita?” a weak voice said.

“Hayate, is that you?”

She could hear a shuffling as the person in front of her sat up next to her.

“Yeah, it’s me. What in the world happened?” Hayate asked with a low voice. Vita guessed Hayate might have the same sore head as herself.

“I don’t remember anything and I don’t know where we are. Are you alright? Are you injured?”

“No, I’m fine, except for this massive headache.”

So she had gotten her guess correct. The massive pressure in Vita’s head annoyed her greatly, but she never used to have headaches. She found it weird.

Another voice in pain was heard.

“That sounds like…no it can’t be. Nanoha?” Hayate asked.

“Hayate? What are you doing here? Wherever here is…” Nanoha said and started to crawl on the floor towards them.

“Nanoha, does your head hurt?” Vita asked as something downed upon her.

The crawling stopped for a moment.

“Yes, you too?”

“Yeah, and it’s too much for a coincidence. Hayate is also in pain.”

Vita could hear Nanoha continue her crawling until she felt a hand on her leg. Vita sat in Hayate’s lap being hugged by her and Nanoha sat up beside them.

“Do you have your devices?” Nanoha asked.

Vita felt her heart skip a beat as the revelation surged into her head. She looked around, but the room was still pitchblack.

“Graf Eisen! Where are you?! Graf Eisen!”

“Vita, calm down” Hayate said and patted her on the head. She stopped shouting for the time being.

“So, where were you two before we ended up here?” Nanoha asked. “I was downtown investigating something I can’t remember and suddenly I’m in this room. My memory feels like it’s been through a mixer.”

Vita thought hard and tried to recall what she had done earlier that day. She sighed when it didn’t yield any result.

“I don’t remember either. Maybe it’s connected to this headache,” she said.

“Nanoha, Hayate, Vita, is that you?” Another voice sounded through the darkness.

“Fate! You are here too?” Hayate said.

They could hear Fate getting to her feet and following their voices to where they sat.

“And no, before you ask, I don’t remember either. Only thing I know is waking up here a few seconds ago and hearing you three talking,” Fate said and hunched down when she reached them.

Vita noticed she could see a little better now. A red color began to lighten up the room until it looked like one of those rooms for old photographs being developed. She noticed a black panel on the wall with yellow numbers racing across it.

“Guys, look,” she said to the others who hadn’t noticed it yet. They turned their head to where she was pointing and was greeted by text replacing the numbers.

aQk8VNkAZBw

Welcome.

The text only showed that at first and they stared at it until it changed.

Ahead of you await challenges that will test your strength, your knowledge and your soul. Your safety is not guaranteed.

They glanced at each other with concerned eyes. The text changed again.

Teamwork and a sharp mind will most probably lead to success. If you reach the final room, you are free to go. You are the 876th group of four people that have been chosen to conduct these challenges.

“876 groups? That’s almost 3500 people,” Hayate said, not wanting to believe it.

Of these groups one point four percent has proved successful and has been rewarded accordingly. The Paradigm wishes you luck and let the challenge begin.

The text disappeared and they saw a door open in one of the walls. Normal light streamed out of it and invited them in.

“I wonder what the talk about ‘successful’ meant,” Hayate said and grumbled.

“Well, it’s not like we have a choice. Either we stay here and do nothing or move on,” Nanoha said and got to her feet. “I got Vivio waiting for me at home; I can’t leave her alone all night.”

Vita got out of Hayate’s lap and jumped to her feet.

“I’m not planning to stay either. I want to smack the person who gave me this headache,” she said and closed a fist.

Fate nodded in agreement and when they all had gotten on their feet they went towards the opening. The door had been retracted up into the roof and wasn’t visible. However, from the little they had managed to see, the door had been made out of metal and had looked very solid.

They walked through the opening and into the other room. The door closed slowly behind them, as if it knew they wouldn’t try to go back. It shut with a noisy clank.
The room revealing itself before them this time was clinically white and with a lonely table in the middle. Hayate recognized it as being made out of wood and with various beautiful, golden ornaments carved into it, forming strange symbols.

“A table and a room. Pretty,” Vita said sarcastically and looked around. There was nothing other of interest in the room, except for another panel on the wall. Another set of random numbers scrolled down until a text formed once again.

First challenge will begin. To help you on your way through the first three challenges, I will give you hints on the way.

“And who are you?” Vita asked with annoyance. The panel didn’t respond.

“Ignorant bastard.”

Depending on how you do, either PASS or FAILED will be displayed on this panel. PASS will result in another room opening for you. If FAILED is displayed, a timer starts and if you clear it, PASS will be displayed and you may continue.

“I wonder what he meant by ‘clearing’ it,” Nanoha said and glanced at the others. Vita shrugged, but the other two didn’t look so sure.

“Let’s get on with it. What are we supposed to do?” Vita said and went up to the table. Upon it was a puzzle with a lot of pieces.

You have two minutes to complete. Three, two, one, Go.

They got to work as quickly as they could. It wasn’t as big as Vita had first thought, because with the four of them working together they managed to find each piece fast. The puzzle started to take form.

One minute remaining.

Vita positioned the last pieces on her side and the puzzle was completed well within the timeframe. As the panel had said it would, the word PASS was displayed on it and another door opened for them. Vita made a move towards it but Hayate stopped her.

“Wait, take a look at this. We didn’t notice what the puzzle was of until we finished.”

She gestured towards the table and they gathered around it. The puzzle they had put together showed a symbol, a square. It was dark red in color and had something written within it. Hayate lent in closer and tried to make sense of it.

“No use, I don’t know what it says. I’ve never seen the language before.”

The others leant in, but they couldn’t understand what it said either.

“We are wasting time,” Vita said and walked to the door. The others followed suit as they had no reason to stay in the room.

The next room was identical to the previous, except for a large cube that stood in the middle of it. Vita took notion of it immediately because it was the only thing in the room. This time the panel was attached onto it instead of the wall.

“A black cube? Is it solid or can’t we just see into it?” she said and closed in on it. She knocked on the surface and received a hollow noise.

“Guess it’s hollow.” She crossed her arms and waited for the panel to write up new text. The other three gathered around her.

Congratulations on receiving PASS on your first challenge. This one is much harder than before.

“Harder, huh? Isn’t it strange he, she, it or whatever it is didn’t help us before, despite telling us it would?” Fate thought out loud.

“Maybe to give a sense of hope,” Hayate suggested and realized how depressing that sounded.

“Let’s get on with it,” Vita grumbled.

You have five minutes to find a key within this room. Use it to unlock the cube. Three, two, one, Go.

With a sudden flash the black color of the cube disappeared and Vita saw the contents within. She yelped and jumped back in surprise.

“Oh my god,” they all said at almost the same time at what showed itself.

They couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Inside the now transparent cube was a girl chained to the roof. She hung from a couple of metal poles that had been shoved through her hands and to which the chains attached themselves. Dried blood from her wound had flowed along her body all the way down to the floor where it had caused a small poodle to form. The girl had her eyes closed, unaware of what was happening outside.

“Can’t she hear us?” Vita said and knocked on the cube. There wasn’t a response, not even a small reflex.

She can’t see or hear you. To her this cube is unchanged and darkness fills it from the inside. I advise you find the key.

“Fucking bastard,” Vita muttered and started looking. Considering it was a completely empty room, she didn’t know where to look and neither did the rest. They checked on the floor, at the previous door and around the cube, but no ‘key’ showed itself.

The key is sunk in into the wall and painted white.

“You tell us that now?!” Vita yelled back and ran towards the closest wall. She could hear the others doing the same so they occupied a wall each. They moved their hands across it to check for dents or bulges.

Two minutes remaining.

“This is impossible!” Vita screamed as she frantically searched the wall.

“Keep looking, we have to get her out of there!” Hayate yelled back to encourage her.

One minute remaining.

They looked, scratched, clawed and stared at the walls in front of them but no key appeared. They looked at each other and shook their heads. None of them could find the key that was supposedly hidden somewhere in the room.

They eventually gave up completely and gathered together next to the cube with ten seconds remaining. The girl had opened her eyes by now, but since she couldn’t see anything she was terrified of what was going on. They didn’t know how long she had been in there.

The text changed to something red on the panel.

FAILED. You have FAILED to complete this challenge. However, considering it’s only your second challenge, you will only have to watch.

“Watch? What does it mean by that?” Fate said. She turned towards the cube and her face got white.

“What’s happening, what-“ Vita stopped herself.

Something red had begun to appear on the floor that had opened a hole beneath the girl. It had a similar appearance to blood, as it flowed very slowly and had a dark red color. It reached the walls and rose in height fast as more of the substance pumped up.

“We have to stop it!” Nanoha yelled and started hitting the cube. Vita and Fate followed her lead and did the same. Hayate just stood and watched.

“Try a few spells!” Fate shouted.

“I can’t!” Nanoha yelled back. “I don’t know why but I can’t use my magic. It’s some sort of AMF!”

“She’s right,” Vita said and stopped kicking the cube. “There is nothing we can do. Damnit!”

Be glad. She died for your failure, but you don’t have to suffer.

“Having a dialogue now, do we?” Vita said and pointed at the panel. “Come out now you fucking coward!”

Yet again it didn’t respond. Since it could hear or see them, it knew what they were doing but it probably ignored them altogether. It made Vita furious.

Twenty minutes it took for the cube to fill completely. When it reached the girl’s mouth she got some in her throat and she choked on it. It probably tasted horribly and more blood flooded the girl’s mouth, clogging up her airways. A few more seconds passed and the blood, or substance, completely covered her. The substance was so thick they couldn’t see through it.

The panel changed its text to a green color and PASS showing.
A new door opened for them and they walked towards it with sunken heads. Vita took a last look at the cube behind them before they entered the new room. It was still filled to the brim the last time she saw it before the door shut down again.

“This is insane. Let’s stop here and think this over,” Hayate said and turned towards the rest.

“Well, no one remember anything, but what do we know?” Nanoha said.

“That we are in some kind of building? A ship maybe?” Fate offered.

“I would guess it’s a building,” Vita said. “Even if it was a ship, it would have to be very large to fit all of this into it and I haven’t felt any movement either. No engines, nothing.”

“You got a point. A building it is then, but what could possibly hold something this complex? I’ve never seen anything like it,” Hayate said and frowned.

“Not to say who would like to do something like this. I mean, locking us up, drowning a little girl in blood…” Fate trailed off and left it for interpretation.

Vita saw that the panel in the room had text on it again, and even if she didn’t want to, she alerted the others.

This room is empty and different from the first two. Simply, the challenge is to stay alive. Three, two, one, Go.

“I hate that panel so much, the fucking bastard,” Vita said and clenched her fist.

“’To survive’eh? I wonder what will happen…” Hayate said and looked around.

Vita heard a noise behind her and turned around. She jumped backwards away from it.

“Look! The wall!”

They looked where she pointed at. The wall behind them had turned black instead of white and small glowing points had begun to appear. They continued to glow with more intensity as the four of them backed away from them.

“What do you think it will do?” Nanoha asked.

“I have no idea, but try to not get in the line of sight of one of the glowing points. I have a feeling it will do something with those,” Hayate said.

Seconds later, Vita found out Hayate had been correct in her assumption. Energy beams shot out at them from the glowing points and hit Vita on her right arm. It burned intensely and a small speck of blood appeared.

“Ouch!”

“Vita, are you alright?” Hayated said.

“Yea, just a fleshwound. Dodge those things, if it hits us in the chest or head we are done for.”

They dodged best they could. A few beams managed to hit them in several places, but only drew small drops of blood. The speed at which the beams were shot was pretty slow, so it wasn’t that difficult to dodge. The problem was the amount of them. They filled the room with yellow lines that streaked across it.
Suddenly it stopped and a new door opened. The wall turned white again as if nothing had happened.

PASS.

“Are you alright?” Nanoha asked.

They all had small wounds covering their bodies, but no bigger than needles. To their annoyance, it had drawn a small amount of blood and made their clothing sticky.

“Next room, let’s go there,” Vita said and pushed them on.

And so they ventured into the next room. As the rooms before it, it was white and empty. This repeated itself several times over as they ventured deeper into the complex. They received more wounds, saw more people die to strange contraptions as they failed a few challenges. Their morale started to break down and they started to tire out. It was too much to handle.

Congratulations on coming this far. This is where most other groups have failed before you. The Paradigm wishes you best of luck for these three last rooms.

“Fuck you and your fucking praise or congratulations,” Vita muttered as she tried to patch up a newly received wound on her elbow. The others were seemingly okay, except for a few wounds.

Go.

The countdown that had usually started didn’t come and it all started at once. They weren’t prepared as a blade about two meters long and one meter wide shot out across the floor. It went fast, much too fast for a normal human to react properly. Fate with her speed managed to jump and so did the other two, barely. Hayate however got trapped in the slashing arc. She managed to get one foot up in the air, but the other was too slow. The blade quickly cut through it and made a perfect cut. The foot remained on the floor while Hayate sprawled in the air, having lost her balance.
The four of them started to fall back to the floor when the blade took another turn back to its original position. The other three who had managed to get a good jump was still in the air when Hayate hit the floor and she reflexively took support with her arm. The blade came swiftly and cut it off at the elbow before stopping into the wall again.

PASS.

“Hayate!” Vita screamed and rushed to her when it was over. The blade had moved across the room in the fraction of a second and it had all happened so fast they didn’t know exactly what had hit them.
Hayate’s foot stood on the floor alone, with its bone and tissue cut off perfectly. Her arm still hung from the elbow in a few strands of meat.

“I’m..ok, I think,” she said and yelped. Blood gushed out from her wounds.

“Lay her on her back, quick!”

Nanoha and Fate took of their jackets and ripped them apart. Fate covered Hayate’s arm in hers and Nanoha took care of the leg. With a little handiwork they managed to stop most of the bleeding. Blood still seeped out, coloring their jackets red.

“Hayate…” Vita said and cried by her side.

“It’s ok, Vita. I think I can continue.”

Nanoha and Fate supported Hayate by her sides and helped her stand up. She vomited suddenly as the pain and shock became too much.

“Can you handle it?” Fate asked.

“Yea,” Hayate said and wiped the vomit off. “Let’s move on.”

They helped her towards the next room, nearly falling over a couple of times. Hayate’s face had lost all its color and she breathed heavily.

The next room opened before them, once again empty. They dragged themselves into it and put Hayate down on the floor to let her rest. The bleeding had subsided a little.
Vita turned to a new panel on the wall.

“Show us what you’ve got! We take anything you can throw at us and when we are done we will rip you to shreds,” she shouted, pointed and cried towards it. It ignored her as usual.

Two rooms to go. Go.

Again it came without warning. A metal arm shot out from the wall and grabbed Fate by her waist. A metal band formed around it and threw her back, making her immobile against the wall.

“Fate!” Nanoha screamed. She rushed to Fate’s side and tried to bend the metal off, but to no avail. Vita soon joined her but it didn’t help. It was as steady as rock.
A strange metal pole appeared behind her back and began to press outwards, bending her spine. She screamed.

“What’s happening?!” Vita yelled to no one in particular.

Another metal clank was heard and they turned towards Hayate. A similar metal band had formed over her waist, but compared to Fate, this one pressed down, crushing Hayate’s insides slowly.

Choose who will live.

Those words echoed in Nanoha’s and Vita’s heads. They stared at each other in horror. They would have to choose who of their best friends would die a horrible death. They couldn’t think about it.

“Choose Fate,” Hayate said with a weak voice,” I’ll die before we get out of here.”

“No way, there has to be a way to free you both!” Vita yelled and bent down beside Hayate, grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

The pole pressing on Fate’s spine rotated further outward and began to pierce her skin. The metal band holding Hayate had begun to sink into the floor further. Time was running out.

“Maybe it’s a test! If we choose no one it will free them!” Vita said but it was only an idea. If she was wrong they would die anyway.

“I’m not sure. I don’t think there is a way out,” Nanoha said with a voice struck with despair.

“Then what are we going to do?!” Vita screamed. She cried and hugged Hayate by the neck.

The decision they had to make interfered with their thoughts. One had to die, it was inevitable. But how could anyone do such a choice. They all knew each other closely, had helped each other through hard times and fought in battle together.
The answer was simple. They simply couldn’t choose. A decision to choose one would leave another one to die. Maybe they would escape from death further on, maybe not.

Nanoha shook her head and cried.

“This can’t be happening! It’s a dream isn’t it?!”

Vita hit the floor with her fist silently until it began to bleed.

The screams increased in volume as the metal band holding Hayate finally crushed her stomach and split her in two. Her innards spilled onto the floor and her screams were silenced. Blood flooded out mixed with her lunch she had had earlier and formed a gory puddle on the floor. Vita looked in horror as her Mistress’ life withered away.

“Hayate! No!”

From the other side of the room another scream in pain was heard. The metal pole behind Fate drove further into her back until it pierced her spine, went through her gut and out the other side. Blood flooded out of the large hole and dripped onto the floor.

“Fate! This can’t be happening, this is insane! This isn’t real!” Nanoha screamed, tears flooding down her cheeks.

Fate stopped breathing within a few seconds. The blood dripping on the floor was the only thing being heard mixed with the sobbing from the two remaining.
Amidst the carnage Nanoha and Vita stood, having walked to each other and now stood combined in a hug. They cried together and had their eyes closed to shut out everything.

PASS.

The next door opened. With their eyes still closed they approached it and went into the next room. The door shut behind them leaving two corpses to their fate.

The last room was filled with strange wires. At a first glance it looked like barbwire, but when Vita touched on of the spikes it burned painfully instead of drawing blood. It left a scorch mark.

“There is a door on the other side!” Nanoha said and pointed.

Vita looked where she pointed and could faintly see an open door on the other side. What were in the way were all the wires filling the room. It looked like a jungle of scorching terror.

“Don’t tell me we have to get through all that,” Vita said with a quiet voice. The impact of her Mistress’ death and one of her best friends had taken its toll. It was the same for Nanoha. They both were close to being defeated.

Congratulations on reaching the last room. PASS will be rewarded with freedom. You have five minutes before annihilation phase begins.

“Nanoha, I don’t want to find out what annihilation means, so quick!” Vita said and tried to climb into the mess of wires.

It burned and scorched her body as she touched a few of them, but thanks to her small size she could maneuver somewhat easy. Nanoha had bigger problems and received a few burn marks in her face, almost rendering her blind.
They traversed it for what felt for hours. The opening got closer and closer, and they could feel freedom. Soon this purgatory would be over.

Thirty seconds remaining.

“Shit! Speed it up!”

The encouragement from Nanoha made Vita move faster, without looking back she ignored the pain and rolled through the wires. She screamed from the pain but eventually the wires grew less dense and she fell through an opening. The door beckoned beyond her and she turned around smiling.

“I’m sorry, Vita…I can’t go with you.”

The smile disappeared as she saw Nanoha entangled in the wires, burning into her flesh. Drips of blood formed as they sank deeper, even reaching the bone. Nanoha had her mouth shut in pain.

“Of course you can. Come-“

“Go! Vita! Warn anyone else! Save yourself!”

“I can’t do that, I can’t leave you!”

With tears streaming down her cheeks Nanoha made a final scream.

“Yes you can! Go! Just go! You need to stop this from happening again! You are the only hope!”

Vita cried and walked backwards slowly through the door opening. Her mind refused to believe she was leaving Nanoha behind to her certain death. Another one of her best friends would meet her fate.

PASS. Annihilation will begin.

From several holes in the walls a flame appeared. It was small and inactive, but as the seconds went by they increased in heat and size. Within a minute it would have filled the whole room with fire. The door began to close in front of Vita as she looked at Nanoha with tears flowing. The flames closed in on Nanoha as she gave a final smile and the door closed completely.

“Why…Nanoha!”

Vita banged on the door in fury and rage. She was alone, still standing. It was up to her now. She didn’t want that sort of responsibility.

Congratulations. You have successfully completed all of the challenges. Your reward is waiting.

She stared at the panel. Her mind was numb and she couldn’t think of fighting any longer.
The room she had entered this time was large, much larger than the previous rooms had been and it was covered in the same strange, golden ornaments as in the first room.
She noticed a man approaching her. He had a formal suit on and he looked terribly old. His voice was shaky when he spoke.

“My young lady, welcome to the Inner Sanctum. Congratulations,” he said and bowed.

Vita didn’t know how to react and sank down on her knees while staring at him.

“Through that door your freedom awaits. Go through there and you can stop this madness from happening again.”

He pointed at an antique door to her left.

“Who…are you?” she said and stared at him with empty eyes.

“I am the butler of the Paradigm. I am only here to serve and had nothing to do with the loss of your companions. Now, if you would be so kind.”

Vita had one thought on her mind. To kill whoever killed her friends, to get revenge, to stop this thing called the Paradigm. It was all in one thought, one goal.
She got on her feet and walked towards the light streaming out of the door. When she was a few feet away from it she sank to her knees again and her vision grew worse. She lost her hearing and sense of balance. She was beginning to pass out.

“No, not when I’m this…close…”

She fainted.

~~****~~

There was a suit attached to a wall. It was small, about the size of a child and eyes could be seen through the visor. The child inside the suit had gotten her mouth sewn shut by metal wires, but she wasn’t aware. She was still unconscious.

To the right and left of the suit were more suits of the same kind, but in varying sizes. They stretched along the wall, just outside the room in front of them. There were about three thousand of them forming a gigantic square around it. The room itself was pitchblack inside, but the walls were made out of some sort of window material. The inhabitants couldn’t see out, but those outside, the suits, could see in if light appeared inside the room.

And so it did. A red light began to reveal itself and illuminated the room that had four figures inside of it. They shook their heads, probably having a headache of some kind.
One of the suits outside, the one the size of a child rocked slightly. The one inside had woken up and judging from her reaction one could determine it was her first time in the suit. She tried to scream, but couldn’t. She tried to warn them. She knew the people inside the room. They were her friends.
Yellow numbers appeared on a panel a couple of yards away inside the room. The figures looked at it with confused looks. The numbers eventually formed a word.

Welcome.

**END**




The Paradigm
A mysterious organization with ties back to Ancient Belka and beyond. No known leaders or what their purpose is.
TSAB don’t have much information on them, but investigations are underway.

The Complex
A building in an unknown location. It features 10 rooms, including the last one. It might be an alternate dimension or multi-dimension complex.

The Suits
Medical suits which can sustain a person for months with the help of fluid and other machinery. Mouth of the person inside sewn shut due to ideological reasons, courtesy of the Paradigm.

Suit Room
Where the thousands of suits are held. The room is possibly multi-dimensional to hold them all. Each suit has a clear view of the entire complex containing the traps and can follow the participants progress.

The Traps
Mentioned: 5
Unmentioned: 3
Unknown: 1

First trap: Not triggered, unknown. Information lacking.

Second trap: Triggered. A cube with a girl inside of it. The girl is one of the previous survivors who were randomly chosen to occupy it. The cube, when the time runs out, is filled with blood collected from other victims. It fills it up until the person drowns.

The girl was the 371th person to occupy it.

Third trap: Triggered. Laser beams shoot out from a wall. Easily dodged but in a large number.

Fourth trap: Untriggered, unmentioned. Information lacking.

Fifth trap: Triggered, unmentioned. A man stretched across a table. When the timer runs out the table is heightened upward into the roof, crushing the man. Another survivor, number 230.

Sixth trap: Triggered, unmentioned. Objective is to solve a math equation. Another girl is being hold between the roof and floor with metal handcuffs. They stretch her until she breaks in two.
Yet another survivor from previous groups, number 600.

Seventh trap: Triggered. A deadly blade shoots out from a wall. It’s a mere decimeter over the floor and cuts anything it touches. Extremely fast and makes two swoops.

Eight trap: Triggered. A dual trap, captures victims with a) a metal waist band from the floor. It can be moved around to the walls if needed b) another waist band holding the victim against a wall with a pole against their spine pressing outwards. A) dies by being cut in two, B) By crushed spine and pierced gut.

The remaining survivors have to choose who dies. If one is chosen the other lives.

Ninth trap: Triggered. Hot barbwire placed into a room. There are paths in-between, but it’s a very tight fit.
After the counter runs out, flamethrowers are activated and “cleanse” the room of biological matter.






Might be bad, grammar might falter, but heck. It was hell of a lot fun to write.

[Saharet]

*Sends lots of love AX's way*
Hell yes! Sadly I can't read it right now >< I'm going to work but I promise you to read and review it tomorrow after I'm home :3

*pats and gives a cookie*
Dun worry about the double post ;)

[Satashi]

For those who were expecting "Onyx Chip" (name to be changed) this week, sorry.

A nasty bit of bronchitis and being forced to take 6 pills a day for it has rendered me bedridden for most of the days. I'm hoping to try and finish it shortly, have it checked and beta read, and posted sometime soonish.

[wanwan1203]

Hmm. Cross post to here for those interested.

Previous chapters. (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1602495&postcount=47)

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Gospel of Judas

Book Two: The Terror of Death

-snip-

yosh i've just finished reading this latest installment of gospel. as always, the writing style never fails to captivate me. it's an easy and entertaining read and i agree with AX, the background info here is delicious XD it's always nice to know more about Noland. it's not a big info dump (which kinda turns me off from some fics) but it provided clues to the past in just the right amounts, just enough to make me want to crave for the next part to know more. i guess that's a good thing. the wait is gonna be torture though. loved the little bit of angst by the way. the dialogue, the way the scenes were written, i couldn't help but sympathize with Noland ;-; WHYYYYYY???? what happened???? *flails* I shall continue poking you for the next parts. :D :p *poke poke poke* like that *hides* l_o

[TheShinySword]

Hmm. Cross post to here for those interested.

Previous chapters. (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1602495&postcount=47)

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Gospel of Judas

Book Two: The Terror of Death

*snip*
I told you I'd do it! Life tried to stop me but I didn't let it!

Where do I begin? Do I begin with how curious you've made me? Do I begin with how much I like Noland when he isn't being a nutjob? No no I think I shall start with the beginning, or at least my absolute favorite thing. The way you write. By far your writing technique is my favorite part of reading Gospel, more than the plot, more than the characters (after all Noland's been little more than a pillar of rage until now). It makes me want to write (and hopefully life will let me soon). While I know it'll probably be another month I'm still looking forward to the next chapter. I'd say more but other people have already touched on those topics.

and btw: You had two "was were" errors both involving using was for plurals so look out for those.

[Outlaender]

D-d-d-double post.

Some time ago I did a little fic (which I forget the name of) that was inspired by a book I had just read and the movie Cube. The fic was...so-so.
This is the rewrite inspired by SAW, Cube and various other things. Music is available.

*snip*

Might be bad, grammar might falter, but heck. It was hell of a lot fun to write.

:upset: Urrgh, I admire your writing, but for my part, you've simply reinforced why I don't like to watch or read horror/suspense.... :heh: I've never been fond of the "twist of doom" at the end of such stories either. So, now I'll have to go read some thing light and fluffy. In any case, good work, and I hope to read something more light hearted next time. :uhoh:

[Saharet]

D-d-d-double post.

Some time ago I did a little fic (which I forget the name of) that was inspired by a book I had just read and the movie Cube. The fic was...so-so.
This is the rewrite inspired by SAW, Cube and various other things. Music is available.

First I thought I would do a short. Then it evolved into a "long" short. The final is a beast. 5.6k of gore, start!

http://i455.photobucket.com/albums/qq275/AtomicoX/Random/paradigmshitlogo.jpg
Vita groaned and opened her eyes. It was pitchblack and she could feel solid ground under her body. She moved her arms and heaved herself up. With another groan she found herself upright on her knees.

“Where the hell am I?” she said to herself.

There was no use trying to see anything, so she started navigating around on the floor with her hands. She shuffled forward from where she sat and just within a few meters came upon something soft. She pulled her hand back quickly.

“Who’s there?” she asked into darkness.

“Ahh, hurm…Vita?” a weak voice said.

“Hayate, is that you?”

She could hear a shuffling as the person in front of her sat up next to her.

“Yeah, it’s me. What in the world happened?” Hayate asked with a low voice. Vita guessed Hayate might have the same sore head as herself.

“I don’t remember anything and I don’t know where we are. Are you alright? Are you injured?”

“No, I’m fine, except for this massive headache.”

So she had gotten her guess correct. The massive pressure in Vita’s head annoyed her greatly, but she never used to have headaches. She found it weird.

Another voice in pain was heard.

“That sounds like…no it can’t be. Nanoha?” Hayate asked.

“Hayate? What are you doing here? Wherever here is…” Nanoha said and started to crawl on the floor towards them.

“Nanoha, does your head hurt?” Vita asked as something downed upon her.

The crawling stopped for a moment.

“Yes, you too?”

“Yeah, and it’s too much for a coincidence. Hayate is also in pain.”

Vita could hear Nanoha continue her crawling until she felt a hand on her leg. Vita sat in Hayate’s lap being hugged by her and Nanoha sat up beside them.

“Do you have your devices?” Nanoha asked.

Vita felt her heart skip a beat as the revelation surged into her head. She looked around, but the room was still pitchblack.

“Graf Eisen! Where are you?! Graf Eisen!”

“Vita, calm down” Hayate said and patted her on the head. She stopped shouting for the time being.

“So, where were you two before we ended up here?” Nanoha asked. “I was downtown investigating something I can’t remember and suddenly I’m in this room. My memory feels like it’s been through a mixer.”

Vita thought hard and tried to recall what she had done earlier that day. She sighed when it didn’t yield any result.

“I don’t remember either. Maybe it’s connected to this headache,” she said.

“Nanoha, Hayate, Vita, is that you?” Another voice sounded through the darkness.

“Fate! You are here too?” Hayate said.

They could hear Fate getting to her feet and following their voices to where they sat.

“And no, before you ask, I don’t remember either. Only thing I know is waking up here a few seconds ago and hearing you three talking,” Fate said and hunched down when she reached them.

Vita noticed she could see a little better now. A red color began to lighten up the room until it looked like one of those rooms for old photographs being developed. She noticed a black panel on the wall with yellow numbers racing across it.

“Guys, look,” she said to the others who hadn’t noticed it yet. They turned their head to where she was pointing and was greeted by text replacing the numbers.

aQk8VNkAZBw

Welcome.

The text only showed that at first and they stared at it until it changed.

Ahead of you await challenges that will test your strength, your knowledge and your soul. Your safety is not guaranteed.

They glanced at each other with concerned eyes. The text changed again.

Teamwork and a sharp mind will most probably lead to success. If you reach the final room, you are free to go. You are the 876th group of four people that have been chosen to conduct these challenges.

“876 groups? That’s almost 3500 people,” Hayate said, not wanting to believe it.

Of these groups one point four percent has proved successful and has been rewarded accordingly. The Paradigm wishes you luck and let the challenge begin.

The text disappeared and they saw a door open in one of the walls. Normal light streamed out of it and invited them in.

“I wonder what the talk about ‘successful’ meant,” Hayate said and grumbled.

“Well, it’s not like we have a choice. Either we stay here and do nothing or move on,” Nanoha said and got to her feet. “I got Vivio waiting for me at home; I can’t leave her alone all night.”

Vita got out of Hayate’s lap and jumped to her feet.

“I’m not planning to stay either. I want to smack the person who gave me this headache,” she said and closed a fist.

Fate nodded in agreement and when they all had gotten on their feet they went towards the opening. The door had been retracted up into the roof and wasn’t visible. However, from the little they had managed to see, the door had been made out of metal and had looked very solid.

They walked through the opening and into the other room. The door closed slowly behind them, as if it knew they wouldn’t try to go back. It shut with a noisy clank.
The room revealing itself before them this time was clinically white and with a lonely table in the middle. Hayate recognized it as being made out of wood and with various beautiful, golden ornaments carved into it, forming strange symbols.

“A table and a room. Pretty,” Vita said sarcastically and looked around. There was nothing other of interest in the room, except for another panel on the wall. Another set of random numbers scrolled down until a text formed once again.

First challenge will begin. To help you on your way through the first three challenges, I will give you hints on the way.

“And who are you?” Vita asked with annoyance. The panel didn’t respond.

“Ignorant bastard.”

Depending on how you do, either PASS or FAILED will be displayed on this panel. PASS will result in another room opening for you. If FAILED is displayed, a timer starts and if you clear it, PASS will be displayed and you may continue.

“I wonder what he meant by ‘clearing’ it,” Nanoha said and glanced at the others. Vita shrugged, but the other two didn’t look so sure.

“Let’s get on with it. What are we supposed to do?” Vita said and went up to the table. Upon it was a puzzle with a lot of pieces.

You have two minutes to complete. Three, two, one, Go.

They got to work as quickly as they could. It wasn’t as big as Vita had first thought, because with the four of them working together they managed to find each piece fast. The puzzle started to take form.

One minute remaining.

Vita positioned the last pieces on her side and the puzzle was completed well within the timeframe. As the panel had said it would, the word PASS was displayed on it and another door opened for them. Vita made a move towards it but Hayate stopped her.

“Wait, take a look at this. We didn’t notice what the puzzle was of until we finished.”

She gestured towards the table and they gathered around it. The puzzle they had put together showed a symbol, a square. It was dark red in color and had something written within it. Hayate lent in closer and tried to make sense of it.

“No use, I don’t know what it says. I’ve never seen the language before.”

The others leant in, but they couldn’t understand what it said either.

“We are wasting time,” Vita said and walked to the door. The others followed suit as they had no reason to stay in the room.

The next room was identical to the previous, except for a large cube that stood in the middle of it. Vita took notion of it immediately because it was the only thing in the room. This time the panel was attached onto it instead of the wall.

“A black cube? Is it solid or can’t we just see into it?” she said and closed in on it. She knocked on the surface and received a hollow noise.

“Guess it’s hollow.” She crossed her arms and waited for the panel to write up new text. The other three gathered around her.

Congratulations on receiving PASS on your first challenge. This one is much harder than before.

“Harder, huh? Isn’t it strange he, she, it or whatever it is didn’t help us before, despite telling us it would?” Fate thought out loud.

“Maybe to give a sense of hope,” Hayate suggested and realized how depressing that sounded.

“Let’s get on with it,” Vita grumbled.

You have five minutes to find a key within this room. Use it to unlock the cube. Three, two, one, Go.

With a sudden flash the black color of the cube disappeared and Vita saw the contents within. She yelped and jumped back in surprise.

“Oh my god,” they all said at almost the same time at what showed itself.

They couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Inside the now transparent cube was a girl chained to the roof. She hung from a couple of metal poles that had been shoved through her hands and to which the chains attached themselves. Dried blood from her wound had flowed along her body all the way down to the floor where it had caused a small poodle to form. The girl had her eyes closed, unaware of what was happening outside.

“Can’t she hear us?” Vita said and knocked on the cube. There wasn’t a response, not even a small reflex.

She can’t see or hear you. To her this cube is unchanged and darkness fills it from the inside. I advise you find the key.

“Fucking bastard,” Vita muttered and started looking. Considering it was a completely empty room, she didn’t know where to look and neither did the rest. They checked on the floor, at the previous door and around the cube, but no ‘key’ showed itself.

The key is sunk in into the wall and painted white.

“You tell us that now?!” Vita yelled back and ran towards the closest wall. She could hear the others doing the same so they occupied a wall each. They moved their hands across it to check for dents or bulges.

Two minutes remaining.

“This is impossible!” Vita screamed as she frantically searched the wall.

“Keep looking, we have to get her out of there!” Hayate yelled back to encourage her.

One minute remaining.

They looked, scratched, clawed and stared at the walls in front of them but no key appeared. They looked at each other and shook their heads. None of them could find the key that was supposedly hidden somewhere in the room.

They eventually gave up completely and gathered together next to the cube with ten seconds remaining. The girl had opened her eyes by now, but since she couldn’t see anything she was terrified of what was going on. They didn’t know how long she had been in there.

The text changed to something red on the panel.

FAILED. You have FAILED to complete this challenge. However, considering it’s only your second challenge, you will only have to watch.

“Watch? What does it mean by that?” Fate said. She turned towards the cube and her face got white.

“What’s happening, what-“ Vita stopped herself.

Something red had begun to appear on the floor that had opened a hole beneath the girl. It had a similar appearance to blood, as it flowed very slowly and had a dark red color. It reached the walls and rose in height fast as more of the substance pumped up.

“We have to stop it!” Nanoha yelled and started hitting the cube. Vita and Fate followed her lead and did the same. Hayate just stood and watched.

“Try a few spells!” Fate shouted.

“I can’t!” Nanoha yelled back. “I don’t know why but I can’t use my magic. It’s some sort of AMF!”

“She’s right,” Vita said and stopped kicking the cube. “There is nothing we can do. Damnit!”

Be glad. She died for your failure, but you don’t have to suffer.

“Having a dialogue now, do we?” Vita said and pointed at the panel. “Come out now you fucking coward!”

Yet again it didn’t respond. Since it could hear or see them, it knew what they were doing but it probably ignored them altogether. It made Vita furious.

Twenty minutes it took for the cube to fill completely. When it reached the girl’s mouth she got some in her throat and she choked on it. It probably tasted horribly and more blood flooded the girl’s mouth, clogging up her airways. A few more seconds passed and the blood, or substance, completely covered her. The substance was so thick they couldn’t see through it.

The panel changed its text to a green color and PASS showing.
A new door opened for them and they walked towards it with sunken heads. Vita took a last look at the cube behind them before they entered the new room. It was still filled to the brim the last time she saw it before the door shut down again.

“This is insane. Let’s stop here and think this over,” Hayate said and turned towards the rest.

“Well, no one remember anything, but what do we know?” Nanoha said.

“That we are in some kind of building? A ship maybe?” Fate offered.

“I would guess it’s a building,” Vita said. “Even if it was a ship, it would have to be very large to fit all of this into it and I haven’t felt any movement either. No engines, nothing.”

“You got a point. A building it is then, but what could possibly hold something this complex? I’ve never seen anything like it,” Hayate said and frowned.

“Not to say who would like to do something like this. I mean, locking us up, drowning a little girl in blood…” Fate trailed off and left it for interpretation.

Vita saw that the panel in the room had text on it again, and even if she didn’t want to, she alerted the others.

This room is empty and different from the first two. Simply, the challenge is to stay alive. Three, two, one, Go.

“I hate that panel so much, the fucking bastard,” Vita said and clenched her fist.

“’To survive’eh? I wonder what will happen…” Hayate said and looked around.

Vita heard a noise behind her and turned around. She jumped backwards away from it.

“Look! The wall!”

They looked where she pointed at. The wall behind them had turned black instead of white and small glowing points had begun to appear. They continued to glow with more intensity as the four of them backed away from them.

“What do you think it will do?” Nanoha asked.

“I have no idea, but try to not get in the line of sight of one of the glowing points. I have a feeling it will do something with those,” Hayate said.

Seconds later, Vita found out Hayate had been correct in her assumption. Energy beams shot out at them from the glowing points and hit Vita on her right arm. It burned intensely and a small speck of blood appeared.

“Ouch!”

“Vita, are you alright?” Hayated said.

“Yea, just a fleshwound. Dodge those things, if it hits us in the chest or head we are done for.”

They dodged best they could. A few beams managed to hit them in several places, but only drew small drops of blood. The speed at which the beams were shot was pretty slow, so it wasn’t that difficult to dodge. The problem was the amount of them. They filled the room with yellow lines that streaked across it.
Suddenly it stopped and a new door opened. The wall turned white again as if nothing had happened.

PASS.

“Are you alright?” Nanoha asked.

They all had small wounds covering their bodies, but no bigger than needles. To their annoyance, it had drawn a small amount of blood and made their clothing sticky.

“Next room, let’s go there,” Vita said and pushed them on.

And so they ventured into the next room. As the rooms before it, it was white and empty. This repeated itself several times over as they ventured deeper into the complex. They received more wounds, saw more people die to strange contraptions as they failed a few challenges. Their morale started to break down and they started to tire out. It was too much to handle.

Congratulations on coming this far. This is where most other groups have failed before you. The Paradigm wishes you best of luck for these three last rooms.

“Fuck you and your fucking praise or congratulations,” Vita muttered as she tried to patch up a newly received wound on her elbow. The others were seemingly okay, except for a few wounds.

Go.

The countdown that had usually started didn’t come and it all started at once. They weren’t prepared as a blade about two meters long and one meter wide shot out across the floor. It went fast, much too fast for a normal human to react properly. Fate with her speed managed to jump and so did the other two, barely. Hayate however got trapped in the slashing arc. She managed to get one foot up in the air, but the other was too slow. The blade quickly cut through it and made a perfect cut. The foot remained on the floor while Hayate sprawled in the air, having lost her balance.
The four of them started to fall back to the floor when the blade took another turn back to its original position. The other three who had managed to get a good jump was still in the air when Hayate hit the floor and she reflexively took support with her arm. The blade came swiftly and cut it off at the elbow before stopping into the wall again.

PASS.

“Hayate!” Vita screamed and rushed to her when it was over. The blade had moved across the room in the fraction of a second and it had all happened so fast they didn’t know exactly what had hit them.
Hayate’s foot stood on the floor alone, with its bone and tissue cut off perfectly. Her arm still hung from the elbow in a few strands of meat.

“I’m..ok, I think,” she said and yelped. Blood gushed out from her wounds.

“Lay her on her back, quick!”

Nanoha and Fate took of their jackets and ripped them apart. Fate covered Hayate’s arm in hers and Nanoha took care of the leg. With a little handiwork they managed to stop most of the bleeding. Blood still seeped out, coloring their jackets red.

“Hayate…” Vita said and cried by her side.

“It’s ok, Vita. I think I can continue.”

Nanoha and Fate supported Hayate by her sides and helped her stand up. She vomited suddenly as the pain and shock became too much.

“Can you handle it?” Fate asked.

“Yea,” Hayate said and wiped the vomit off. “Let’s move on.”

They helped her towards the next room, nearly falling over a couple of times. Hayate’s face had lost all its color and she breathed heavily.

The next room opened before them, once again empty. They dragged themselves into it and put Hayate down on the floor to let her rest. The bleeding had subsided a little.
Vita turned to a new panel on the wall.

“Show us what you’ve got! We take anything you can throw at us and when we are done we will rip you to shreds,” she shouted, pointed and cried towards it. It ignored her as usual.

Two rooms to go. Go.

Again it came without warning. A metal arm shot out from the wall and grabbed Fate by her waist. A metal band formed around it and threw her back, making her immobile against the wall.

“Fate!” Nanoha screamed. She rushed to Fate’s side and tried to bend the metal off, but to no avail. Vita soon joined her but it didn’t help. It was as steady as rock.
A strange metal pole appeared behind her back and began to press outwards, bending her spine. She screamed.

“What’s happening?!” Vita yelled to no one in particular.

Another metal clank was heard and they turned towards Hayate. A similar metal band had formed over her waist, but compared to Fate, this one pressed down, crushing Hayate’s insides slowly.

Choose who will live.

Those words echoed in Nanoha’s and Vita’s heads. They stared at each other in horror. They would have to choose who of their best friends would die a horrible death. They couldn’t think about it.

“Choose Fate,” Hayate said with a weak voice,” I’ll die before we get out of here.”

“No way, there has to be a way to free you both!” Vita yelled and bent down beside Hayate, grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

The pole pressing on Fate’s spine rotated further outward and began to pierce her skin. The metal band holding Hayate had begun to sink into the floor further. Time was running out.

“Maybe it’s a test! If we choose no one it will free them!” Vita said but it was only an idea. If she was wrong they would die anyway.

“I’m not sure. I don’t think there is a way out,” Nanoha said with a voice struck with despair.

“Then what are we going to do?!” Vita screamed. She cried and hugged Hayate by the neck.

The decision they had to make interfered with their thoughts. One had to die, it was inevitable. But how could anyone do such a choice. They all knew each other closely, had helped each other through hard times and fought in battle together.
The answer was simple. They simply couldn’t choose. A decision to choose one would leave another one to die. Maybe they would escape from death further on, maybe not.

Nanoha shook her head and cried.

“This can’t be happening! It’s a dream isn’t it?!”

Vita hit the floor with her fist silently until it began to bleed.

The screams increased in volume as the metal band holding Hayate finally crushed her stomach and split her in two. Her innards spilled onto the floor and her screams were silenced. Blood flooded out mixed with her lunch she had had earlier and formed a gory puddle on the floor. Vita looked in horror as her Mistress’ life withered away.

“Hayate! No!”

From the other side of the room another scream in pain was heard. The metal pole behind Fate drove further into her back until it pierced her spine, went through her gut and out the other side. Blood flooded out of the large hole and dripped onto the floor.

“Fate! This can’t be happening, this is insane! This isn’t real!” Nanoha screamed, tears flooding down her cheeks.

Fate stopped breathing within a few seconds. The blood dripping on the floor was the only thing being heard mixed with the sobbing from the two remaining.
Amidst the carnage Nanoha and Vita stood, having walked to each other and now stood combined in a hug. They cried together and had their eyes closed to shut out everything.

PASS.

The next door opened. With their eyes still closed they approached it and went into the next room. The door shut behind them leaving two corpses to their fate.

The last room was filled with strange wires. At a first glance it looked like barbwire, but when Vita touched on of the spikes it burned painfully instead of drawing blood. It left a scorch mark.

“There is a door on the other side!” Nanoha said and pointed.

Vita looked where she pointed and could faintly see an open door on the other side. What were in the way were all the wires filling the room. It looked like a jungle of scorching terror.

“Don’t tell me we have to get through all that,” Vita said with a quiet voice. The impact of her Mistress’ death and one of her best friends had taken its toll. It was the same for Nanoha. They both were close to being defeated.

Congratulations on reaching the last room. PASS will be rewarded with freedom. You have five minutes before annihilation phase begins.

“Nanoha, I don’t want to find out what annihilation means, so quick!” Vita said and tried to climb into the mess of wires.

It burned and scorched her body as she touched a few of them, but thanks to her small size she could maneuver somewhat easy. Nanoha had bigger problems and received a few burn marks in her face, almost rendering her blind.
They traversed it for what felt for hours. The opening got closer and closer, and they could feel freedom. Soon this purgatory would be over.

Thirty seconds remaining.

“Shit! Speed it up!”

The encouragement from Nanoha made Vita move faster, without looking back she ignored the pain and rolled through the wires. She screamed from the pain but eventually the wires grew less dense and she fell through an opening. The door beckoned beyond her and she turned around smiling.

“I’m sorry, Vita…I can’t go with you.”

The smile disappeared as she saw Nanoha entangled in the wires, burning into her flesh. Drips of blood formed as they sank deeper, even reaching the bone. Nanoha had her mouth shut in pain.

“Of course you can. Come-“

“Go! Vita! Warn anyone else! Save yourself!”

“I can’t do that, I can’t leave you!”

With tears streaming down her cheeks Nanoha made a final scream.

“Yes you can! Go! Just go! You need to stop this from happening again! You are the only hope!”

Vita cried and walked backwards slowly through the door opening. Her mind refused to believe she was leaving Nanoha behind to her certain death. Another one of her best friends would meet her fate.

PASS. Annihilation will begin.

From several holes in the walls a flame appeared. It was small and inactive, but as the seconds went by they increased in heat and size. Within a minute it would have filled the whole room with fire. The door began to close in front of Vita as she looked at Nanoha with tears flowing. The flames closed in on Nanoha as she gave a final smile and the door closed completely.

“Why…Nanoha!”

Vita banged on the door in fury and rage. She was alone, still standing. It was up to her now. She didn’t want that sort of responsibility.

Congratulations. You have successfully completed all of the challenges. Your reward is waiting.

She stared at the panel. Her mind was numb and she couldn’t think of fighting any longer.
The room she had entered this time was large, much larger than the previous rooms had been and it was covered in the same strange, golden ornaments as in the first room.
She noticed a man approaching her. He had a formal suit on and he looked terribly old. His voice was shaky when he spoke.

“My young lady, welcome to the Inner Sanctum. Congratulations,” he said and bowed.

Vita didn’t know how to react and sank down on her knees while staring at him.

“Through that door your freedom awaits. Go through there and you can stop this madness from happening again.”

He pointed at an antique door to her left.

“Who…are you?” she said and stared at him with empty eyes.

“I am the butler of the Paradigm. I am only here to serve and had nothing to do with the loss of your companions. Now, if you would be so kind.”

Vita had one thought on her mind. To kill whoever killed her friends, to get revenge, to stop this thing called the Paradigm. It was all in one thought, one goal.
She got on her feet and walked towards the light streaming out of the door. When she was a few feet away from it she sank to her knees again and her vision grew worse. She lost her hearing and sense of balance. She was beginning to pass out.

“No, not when I’m this…close…”

She fainted.

~~****~~

There was a suit attached to a wall. It was small, about the size of a child and eyes could be seen through the visor. The child inside the suit had gotten her mouth sewn shut by metal wires, but she wasn’t aware. She was still unconscious.

To the right and left of the suit were more suits of the same kind, but in varying sizes. They stretched along the wall, just outside the room in front of them. There were about three thousand of them forming a gigantic square around it. The room itself was pitchblack inside, but the walls were made out of some sort of window material. The inhabitants couldn’t see out, but those outside, the suits, could see in if light appeared inside the room.

And so it did. A red light began to reveal itself and illuminated the room that had four figures inside of it. They shook their heads, probably having a headache of some kind.
One of the suits outside, the one the size of a child rocked slightly. The one inside had woken up and judging from her reaction one could determine it was her first time in the suit. She tried to scream, but couldn’t. She tried to warn them. She knew the people inside the room. They were her friends.
Yellow numbers appeared on a panel a couple of yards away inside the room. The figures looked at it with confused looks. The numbers eventually formed a word.

Welcome.

**END**




The Paradigm
A mysterious organization with ties back to Ancient Belka and beyond. No known leaders or what their purpose is.
TSAB don’t have much information on them, but investigations are underway.

The Complex
A building in an unknown location. It features 10 rooms, including the last one. It might be an alternate dimension or multi-dimension complex.

The Suits
Medical suits which can sustain a person for months with the help of fluid and other machinery. Mouth of the person inside sewn shut due to ideological reasons, courtesy of the Paradigm.

Suit Room
Where the thousands of suits are held. The room is possibly multi-dimensional to hold them all. Each suit has a clear view of the entire complex containing the traps and can follow the participants progress.

The Traps
Mentioned: 5
Unmentioned: 3
Unknown: 1

First trap: Not triggered, unknown. Information lacking.

Second trap: Triggered. A cube with a girl inside of it. The girl is one of the previous survivors who were randomly chosen to occupy it. The cube, when the time runs out, is filled with blood collected from other victims. It fills it up until the person drowns.

The girl was the 371th person to occupy it.

Third trap: Triggered. Laser beams shoot out from a wall. Easily dodged but in a large number.

Fourth trap: Untriggered, unmentioned. Information lacking.

Fifth trap: Triggered, unmentioned. A man stretched across a table. When the timer runs out the table is heightened upward into the roof, crushing the man. Another survivor, number 230.

Sixth trap: Triggered, unmentioned. Objective is to solve a math equation. Another girl is being hold between the roof and floor with metal handcuffs. They stretch her until she breaks in two.
Yet another survivor from previous groups, number 600.

Seventh trap: Triggered. A deadly blade shoots out from a wall. It’s a mere decimeter over the floor and cuts anything it touches. Extremely fast and makes two swoops.

Eight trap: Triggered. A dual trap, captures victims with a) a metal waist band from the floor. It can be moved around to the walls if needed b) another waist band holding the victim against a wall with a pole against their spine pressing outwards. A) dies by being cut in two, B) By crushed spine and pierced gut.

The remaining survivors have to choose who dies. If one is chosen the other lives.

Ninth trap: Triggered. Hot barbwire placed into a room. There are paths in-between, but it’s a very tight fit.
After the counter runs out, flamethrowers are activated and “cleanse” the room of biological matter.






Might be bad, grammar might falter, but heck. It was hell of a lot fun to write.

Alright.
I'll start with a "Nice guy pose" for the traps ideas :D But seriously you should have written the whole rooms, it would have build the atmosphere a LOT more, but again maybe you didn't want to write them all and that's your choice as an author.

Something I noticed that bugged me was the lack of description on the characters's feelings or reactions to this madness. It was too much like descriptions of the outside of it all (like watching a movie for exemple). To recreate the atmosphere and the whole "OMFG THIS IS HORRIBLE" feeling going through their heads, maybe you sould have described how they felt, what was going through their heads..or more like Vita's head since it was her POV.
Also, I think they were acting a bit too calm, I know they're army and shit..but man that is gorish, lots of shit happens, the kind that makes you wanna sit in a corner and craddle yourself. And...i mean...they're still young for army...

The idea about the organisation is interesting though a bit hazy, I guess it was the purpose though *shrugs*

Despithe all I've just said AX, I really enjoyed reading your fic and I hope this review helps <_>
I tried my best to comment more than "I liked it :3"

[AtomicoX]

Alright.
I'll start with a "Nice guy pose" for the traps ideas :D But seriously you should have written the whole rooms, it would have build the atmosphere a LOT more, but again maybe you didn't want to write them all and that's your choice as an author.

Something I noticed that bugged me was the lack of description on the characters's feelings or reactions to this madness. It was too much like descriptions of the outside of it all (like watching a movie for exemple). To recreate the atmosphere and the whole "OMFG THIS IS HORRIBLE" feeling going through their heads, maybe you sould have described how they felt, what was going through their heads..or more like Vita's head since it was her POV.
Also, I think they were acting a bit too calm, I know they're army and shit..but man that is gorish, lots of shit happens, the kind that makes you wanna sit in a corner and craddle yourself. And...i mean...they're still young for army...

The idea about the organisation is interesting though a bit hazy, I guess it was the purpose though *shrugs*

Despithe all I've just said AX, I really enjoyed reading your fic and I hope this review helps <_>
I tried my best to comment more than "I liked it :3"
I see what you are saying. In everything I've written, showing feelings and emotion is not my thing as I've always have problem visualizing how they would react to such a thing. Showing from "outside" is what I'm good at. I also changed PoV from Vita to a normal "narrator", after I realized I couldn't write good yet with her PoV.

I most certainly see what you mean by acting too calm, it was a problem I had but in fear of repeating the same thing over and over, I didn't know what to write. Hence, why I didn't go more on the rooms. I eventually ran completely out of ideas and vocabulary.
This is a "part" of my writing I realized some time ago I need to improve, somehow.

And yes, your review certainly helped =3

[DezoPenguin]

For those who were expecting "Onyx Chip" (name to be changed) this week, sorry.

A nasty bit of bronchitis and being forced to take 6 pills a day for it has rendered me bedridden for most of the days. I'm hoping to try and finish it shortly, have it checked and beta read, and posted sometime soonish.

Sorry to hear that. :( I hope you're feeling better. Bitterly ironic, also, given the working title of this fic, since your original "Onyx Days" involved Nanoha and Fate coming down with the flu...

Some time ago I did a little fic (which I forget the name of) that was inspired by a book I had just read and the movie Cube. The fic was...so-so.
This is the rewrite inspired by SAW, Cube and various other things. Music is available.

Ah, nothing like an hour of recalling the nausea and disgust I felt from reading the first fic that haunted me for a good week...and that's just because you mentioned it now. Tell me, did you refer to the first as "so-so" because it had no plot beyond "Nanoha and Fate get kidnapped by an unstoppable alien force, stripped of all powers, and subjected to physicial and emotional brutalization" without even the slightest glimpse of who was doing this or why so that it basically consisted of softcore torture porn, or because the only reason it had for being a MGLN fanfic was because it meant you didn't need to go through the effort of creating characters for the reader to empathize with before you deconstructed them?

The fact that you can't even remember the title of "The Cube" while I can is one of the cruelest ironies of the entire concept.

[AtomicoX]

Ah, nothing like an hour of recalling the nausea and disgust I felt from reading the first fic that haunted me for a good week...and that's just because you mentioned it now. Tell me, did you refer to the first as "so-so" because it had no plot beyond "Nanoha and Fate get kidnapped by an unstoppable alien force, stripped of all powers, and subjected to physicial and emotional brutalization" without even the slightest glimpse of who was doing this or why so that it basically consisted of softcore torture porn, or because the only reason it had for being a MGLN fanfic was because it meant you didn't need to go through the effort of creating characters for the reader to empathize with before you deconstructed them?

Among other things, yes. This one suffers from it too.

These are shorts I occasionally write for the heck of it to get ideas out of my head, but also like to play around with.


The fact that you can't even remember the title of "The Cube" while I can is one of the cruelest ironies of the entire concept.
Indeed. Remembering my old shorts I haven't indexed is hell.

[Tempest Dynasty]

http://i455.photobucket.com/albums/qq275/AtomicoX/Random/paradigmshitlogo.jpg

I laughed (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPCyc5dL3K8).

[Tempest Dynasty]

Ho ho double post. A cross post too. Scandalous.

I realized that the latest chapter of Gospel was shorter than usual.

So I did this really quickly. Blame the ficbunnies that torment me.

Some say courage is the refusal to flee against superior forces, to fight until there is nothing left,
and that retreating is great cowardice. Others say it is greater courage to know when it is prudent
to withdraw, to strike at a more opportune time, and that to brashly face a greater force would
only end in futility. Regardless of opinion, none would dare speak up in this situation.

There was no other choice but to run. The opposing force was too strong, greatly underestimated
by TSAB analysts. Even after so many skirmishes, the enemy was barely understood, leading to
many ill-fated ventures. Now, a lone man ran through the alleys of rubble and ruin, pursued by
numbers unknown.

“Have we lost them?” a quiet voice came from within the man’s coat, a tiny head with long
silver-blue hair peeking out.

“I think so… I don’t sense any nearby…” he whispered back.

Peace is often fragile, shattered by the smallest of conflicts. Yet from this tiny incident spawned a
greater number of battles in which the Time-Space Administration Bureau found difficulty in
combating. Lost artifacts of times long past, strange automatons that moved and operated with
an efficiency and power unseen in the centuries they had slept. Neither living nor dead, but
soulless machines without morality, only the cold efficiency of mechanical perfection.

Leaning against the side of a building, Noland released a small sigh of relief. The enemy was
relentless, untiring in their hunt for mages. Lost Logia? Ancient relic? There was no real way of
categorizing them. What they were, and their purpose, was well known: mage hunters.

“How did this all happen? Everything just kept going wrong…”

“No plan survives contact with the enemy. There was no way we could’ve known,” the knight’s
words did little to console the girl.

Although a task best suited for Riot Force Six, they were woefully underprepared for the sheer
flexibility and adaptive power of these… “Robos.” Far more advanced than the Gadgets utilized
during the Jail Scaglietti Incident, these humanoids shared a sort of hive mind and could copy as
well as counter virtually every spell thrown at them. Despite all their training and preparation, the
enemy forces had scattered the teams. It was virtually all luck that Reinforce Zwei managed to
reunite with a friendly face, even if he was almost useless in this situation.

Or was he?

“Get down!”

The wall next to them exploded, flinging shrapnel all over as dimly glowing eyes pierced the
cloud of dust. From the hole came a one, two, three, four figures, clad in identical blue and white
robes and even the same hair. In their hands were swords, each of them the same as the other,
crackling with strange electricity.

“BZZT—Enemy sighted. Proceeding with elimination—BZZT.”

Noland had already dropped into a defensive stance, a single dagger his weapon against these
foes.

“Get away from here, Lady Reinforce. I will hold them off as long as I can.”

“No way! I can’t leave you here! We need to get back to the others together!”

“We don’t have time to argue, Lady Reinforce! Get out of here now!”

The enemy struck, their faces a bizarre mask of riveted metal, yellow lights as eyes, and large
grill for a mouth that seemed like a permanent insane smile. Sword meet live steel as Noland met
their attacks and deflected them as best he could. At first, they seemed awkward and weak
compared to the knight, but this situation quickly changed.

“BZZT—Combat analysis complete. Technique identified as Ancient Belkan Close Quarter
Combatives. Adjusting attack algorithms—BZZT.”

Suddenly, they moved with frightening precision, deftly avoiding Noland’s attacks and preventing
his counters. A blade trick, a feint and a pivot, in an instant they seemed to dance around the
knight, whittling away at his defenses. Noland’s movements gradually became less focused and
more desperate, his speed and precision unable to keep up with the literal swarm of attacks that
seemed impossible to avoid and even more so to counter. At last, the Robos’ came in for the kill,
simultaneously thrusting their swords at the knight. Despite his best efforts, Noland was impaled
in four ways, in his chest, his back, his side and his belly.

“B-bastards…” Noland coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“BZZT—Kekekeke. Enemy neutralized. Proceeding with elimination—BZZT”

Was… was this the end…?

No. No, he wouldn’t allow it. These abominations could not be allowed to harm anyone else!

There was still one thing he could do.

“Lady Reinforce, you… You need to get away from here. I’m going to—uugh—I’m going—
GRAGH!” another sword was thrust into his body, cutting off his last words.

“BZZT—Be silent, meatbag. Killing you will not take long. Kekekeke—BZZT.”

“He-heh. I-is that so?” blood was quickly filling his mouth, choking him with every word he
managed to get out. “You abominations don’t know a thing! Killing… killing is an art.
Manslaughter. Murder. Homicide. Genocide. Regicide. Deicide. Stained upon my hands are the
blood of the sacred and the blood of the damned. You know nothing. I’ll show you…”

Noland reached up with a shaky arm to grasp the bloodied wrappings that sealed away his eyes.
With a jerk, the scraps of magical fabric were torn away, revealing the burning red eyes of lunacy
underneath. A crazed grin spread across his face as the whirling madness of insanity stole away
Noland’s mind, a familiar but gut-wrenching feeling.

“I’ll show you what it means to kill things.”

--

Pressed closely against his chest, Reinforce Zwei could hear, could feel Noland’ heartbeat as
they ran from those strange “robos.” Her small form, cradled snugly in the knight’s coat, was
warm and strangely comfortable as she guided the blind man in their escape. It comforted her,
strangely, that Noland also felt fear, his heart thundering next to her head, when they were
discovered and cornered by the enemy. And when Noland fought back, she knew somehow,
that he fought not for victory, but to protect her. She could not insult him by fleeing and leaving
him, even if he told her to. And even as terror seized her heart as the knight was finally defeated,
his blood spilling and soaking her clothes crimson, she felt at ease.

Why did she feel this way?

I’ll show you what it means to kill things.

A chill ran down her spine.

Suddenly, she felt like she was being pulled into his very being.

A fury of red upon a sea of black, violently swirling and thrashing in turmoil. In this boiling sea of
chaos, Reinforce Zwei felt as if she were but a tiny ship amidst a raging hurricane. Tossed around
and battered relentlessly, the tiny girl was almost lost to the vortex of madness. Otherworldly,
inhuman howls reverberated amidst this cacophony, churning the waves even more. Yet amongst
this violence, she could see a tiny, almost invisible mote of light.

She reached for it, stretching her arm and willing her being to fly closer to the light. It felt so far
away, yet deceptively close. The light was so small it barely fit in the palm of her hand, yet it was
warm, like when she was hidden in Noland’s coat.

She held onto that light as tightly as she could, clasping it against her chest. This light, the only
solidarity Reinforce knew now, was suddenly extraordinarily precious to her. It pulsed to a
steady rhythm, as if it were a heartbeat.

His heartbeat.

Held at her chest, at her heart, the beat was in harmony with her own. With each beat, the
warmth spread, the light growing brighter. From a pin-sized dot, it grew into a baseball, a
basketball, greater and greater, until finally, the girl could no longer hold on to it.

She released the orb and let it rise into the “sky,” the chaos parting as it traveled higher and
higher. In its wake, a calming, cooling effect, until finally it reached its apex.

The “sea” had calmed, though under the waves it still churned. The “sky” had cleared, though in
the distance the storm still rumbled. The sun had risen, though only for her. But at least here,
now, there was peace.

--

Unison successful. Synchronization: 98%

--

Kill! Kill! Destroy them all! Crush this inhuman junk and tear them apart!

No programs or algorithms could give any edge to these Robos, the sheer ferocity of the Mad
Knight’s rage trampling what feeble defense they put up. Electric swords and precise attacks
beat upon his armor with growing futility, like striking a stone wall with a wooden stick. In their
mechanical precision came their folly; incapable of survive even a single blow from the knight
and unable to predict his rampage, the Robos locked up in their analysis. How pathetically quick
they fell, though terrors they were but moments before. And amidst the massacre Noland roared,
victorious once more.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, he woke up. The head of one of the Robos, false blond hair and bright,
square yellow eyes upon “skin” of green metal and rivets, dangled from his hand.

What… what just happened? All around him was carnage, the aftermath of some twisted
slaughter. But instead of blood and flesh, machine oil, gears, hydraulics, and wires littered the
battlefield. It was quiet now, with he alone standing victorious. He then realized something
amazing.

The world. He could see the world! Vibrant; colorful; alive! Never before could he witness the
world around him with such clarity of sight and of mind, not since the times of Ancient Belka.
How was this possible?

He held his hands up, marveling at their platina finish.

His armor!? What… why was it white? Pure and shimmering, not blackened and pitted. Unlike
the fearsome obsidian and scarlet armor of the Lunatic Knight, Noland now stood as a gleaming
paladin

What was going on? Wait. Reinforce Zwei. Where was she?

“Lady Reinforce? Are you there?” he asked, both out loud and in his mind. Almost immediately,
he got a response from within.

I’m right here! Reinforce Zwei’s cheerful voice rang clearly in his psyche, as if she were a part
of him.

“You unisoned?!”

Yup! And quite successfully too! It was a little crazy at first, but I got my bearings!

“But… what of Cocytus?”

WHO DARES INTERRUPT?! As if on cue, the hateful roar of Cocytus damn near drowned
out his thoughts.

You be quiet desu yo! You yell too much!

DO NOT SPEAK TO ME WITH SUCH DISRESPECT, TRASH.

You don’t scare me!

I WILL SUFFER NO TRESPASS.

Cry some more!

How strange it was… What was once a nightmarish whisper in peace and a damning roar in
battle suddenly be reduced to an almost harmless prattle that quarreled childishly with little Rein,
leaving his own mind and sanity clear of any influence. Yet, he still felt his body strengthened,
every bit of him as light as air. Such raw power at his command…

Now if only the voices in his head would quiet down a bit.

YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU DISTURB.

I am getting really tired of you.

BEGONE FROM HERE WRET—Guuh!

Silence.

Suddenly, Noland had a mental image of Reinforce Zwei standing over the fallen body of
Cocytus, her right hand a clenched fist.

“…Did you just punch out—“

You want some too?!

It seemed even Reinforce was being affected by the residual rage. “Let’s go look for our friends,
then. Lady Reinforce.”

Ah! Yes! I-I’m sorry for yelling at you, Noland-san. All this, you suffer with every waking
moment… you didn’t deserve that.

“It’s quite alright. I am very surprised at these… changes as well. But in any case, let us be off.”

Then, to the skies!

As if on command, a pair of charcoal wings erupted out of the knight’s back. With a single,
grand sweep, they were airborne.

--

Although they were scattered, the mages had managed to regroup to some level and get to
shelter. At least, these mages did. Keroko Georashi Takamachi lead this rag-tag group, remnants
of several teams spliced together. Thus far they’ve managed to escape capture, or worse,
“retirement,” but now they were at their wits’ end. Cornered like rats, those infernal machines
were gradually smashing their way through whatever defense the mages could muster. Now
most of her team was injured, her effective fighting force down to a bare 30%. For now, they
rested in a ruined remnants of a hotel lobby, every possible entrance boarded up and sealed
from prying eyes. They were safe… for now.

Keroko was not going to complain about the unfairness of it all, how these Robos seemed to
counter everything they threw at them, or how the machines seemed to adapt in an instant to
whatever surprise they concocted. No, there was no room for complaints. Even now, as her
time grew shorter and shorter, she refused to even admit to the growing worry and despair in
her heart.

A wall nearby suddenly exploded, blasting wood, sheetrock, and brick everywhere and
flooding the room interior with dusty sunlight. With grim finality the enrobed figure of a Robo
stepped through the rubble, its bright yellow eyes slowly, almost gleefully, scanning the
assembled mages.

Dammit.

“BZZT—Kekekekeke. The rats’ nest has been found. Proceed with extermination—BZZT.”

And just as sudden, another, even louder explosion detonated outside. It rocked the very
foundation of the building, unsettling dust and cracked paint from the walls and ceilings. At first,
Keroko and the others thought it some horrible weapon that the Robos were bringing in, but
then, they realized the almost human-like franticness of the Robo’s voice.

“BZZT—Alert! Unknown hostile is attacking! Regroup and—GYAAGGH”

The Robo was pierced through at the chest, a rippling crimson spearhead punching straight
through. In an instant following, the spearhead exploded in a flash of red, taking its victim with it.
What followed was the familiar symphony that was battle, the cries of the defeated echoing with
tearing metal and crackling electricity. Keroko cautiously crept up to the opening in the wall,
peering through it with guarded curiosity. She gasped at what she saw.

http://i523.photobucket.com/albums/w352/TempestDynasty/MtG/ArmorShop2.jpg
His wrath falls from the heavens.

As her fellow mages gathered behind her, several voiced their shock, and some, their horror.
Raw, monstrous power, combined with refined precision and brutal ferocity, a gleaming white
blur plowed through the gathered army of Robos like a sweeping scythe cutting through tender
grass. In mere moments, the once seemingly invincible Robos had been decimated into scrap.
Silence soon took the field. The dust was settling; he approached.

Seven feet tall. Plate armor. Its profile matched that of the Lunatic Knight, a form that all of them
feared would present itself upon the battlefield. Though the man underneath that armor was a
good person, his madness knew no friends. Indeed, it was a barely hidden fear that Noland
would someday succumb to the insanity, and today, it appeared to be very possible.

Yet, something about him seemed… different. White armor aside, the figure stood tall and proud,
not hunched like a wild man. Instead of ravenously searching for more victims, he remained at
guard, vigilant and aware. Without a doubt, this was the berserk knight that everyone feared…
or was it?

The monstrosity stopped just before the hole, turning its head to Keroko. A moment of silence,
everyone’s breath stilled. Then, he spoke, his voice distorted, but still clear and very familiar,
“Lady Keroko. How it does give my heart cheer to see you unharmed.”

The girl, along with her ragtag squad, all blinked is surprise. As the being addressed, Keroko
carefully looked over the knight.

“Noland? Is… is that you?” she asked with uncharacteristic uncertainty. A part of her was ready
to bolt at a moment’s notice, though she controlled that admirably.

“I am,” he nodded.

The Ace jumped up, dashing up the knight—Damn he was tall! “My God, it is you! But how?
Why? And where’s Reinforce?!”

The armor shrugged, an action that seemed atypical for the usually formal knight.

“This situation is one that I do not fully understand, but am wholly grateful for. Lady Reinforce
Zwei is here with me. Somehow, we unisoned, and it seems Lady Rein has cooled the fires of
my madness, leaving my mind clear and free. You have nothing to fear from me, Lady Keroko.”

The redhead let out a long breath, relief washing over her. Those with her may not feel the same
way, but she trusted the Noland completely and unerringly.

“Well, I’ve got good news too. Everyone’s fine, but they’re all on the run from these Robos.
Now that we’ve managed to push them back, we gotta keep the momentum going. Are you
with me?”

Noland brought his fist across his chest, thumping the armor as he did so. “With all my—no,
our—strength. Lady Reinforce is with me, with us. And we are with you.”

“Heh. That’s unfair, Noland! Really unfair! How the hell do you expect me to keep up?” the
Ace chuckled and shook her head. “Well, whatever. Shall we?”

The paladin held out his hand to Keroko in response, one that the girl took without hesitation.

“We will bury them.”

[AtomicoX]

First time ever I tried to write in 1st person PoV, but I gotta say it felt good. Naturally felt more personal and I might write some KoE chapters like this, although it's uncertain.

4 years ago. Somewhere in the northern regions of Southern Beskanti, Cancri.

The mission had been simple and straightforward. Infiltrate the Southern Beskanti base, extract the agent and retreat. It wasn’t anything strange about it; I had taken part in several of these sorts of operations before and not once had I failed.
Until now.

“They got searchlights! Quick!”

The frozen snow underneath my boots made a crunching noise as I ran ahead of my squad. The sun had just passed away beneath the horizon and the little light remaining began to disappear from the forest. I couldn’t see clearly ahead of me, making it hard to dodge the trees and rocks that populated the landscape.

“Where is the extraction?! Where do we meet up with them?!”

The voice filled with emotion came from one of my subordinates who were running beside me; Erin Solstadt, one of the newer recruits that had gotten selected into my squad. She was a fine, albeit inexperienced, knight that had showed an eagerness to perform well in the field. She had always obeyed my orders to the letter and this had been her third mission together with me.
I bit my lip and continued running. As much as I regretted even thinking it, I couldn’t guarantee her safety anymore on this mission. The resistance was too powerful, too ruthless for us to resist.

“A few hundred meters ahead!” I answered her. “They are not there yet, but I promise they will be when we get there.”

What in my mind made me promise something like that?

I didn’t hear Erin’s response. The wind soared through my ears as we ran through the forest. I couldn’t see a speck of light anymore, and the seconds before a tree would connect with my face and cause a broken nose or worse counted down in my head.

“Knight Captain! We have to slow down before we run into something!”

As if reading my thoughts, my second-in-command, Ragnar Odhinkar, yelled at me. Perhaps he was right. Despite our followers closing in we had to slow down so we didn’t hurt ourselves.

“Alright. Move closer in formation.”

They did as I said and ran up beside me. We slowed down into a jogging speed and I could hear their boots across the snow more clearly. The night was unusually quiet but the cold was still there, making each of our breaths come out in small puffs of smoke. I was used to this biting cold, it reminded me of home.
The three of us were breathing heavily, exhausted from running.

“I can hear them behind us. I think they are closing in,” Erin said and looked back with eyes full of fear. I couldn’t think of anything to say.

“Keep running and don’t look back.”

Ragnar sounded as resolute as usual and we moved on. The lights behind us grew brighter but the forest ahead of us began to clear ever so slightly. I could see the extraction point not far away now, a small patch free of trees in the forest.

I don’t see any lights…don’t tell me…

When we got closer to the extraction point I felt my hope drop and my heart pounded in my chest. The clearing in the forest was empty of life and there was no sign of the helicopter supposed to take us home to base. Only a faint sound of wind rustling the trees and voices behind us reached our ears.

“What the fuck is this crap! We are on time and they are supposed to be here!”

Ragnar swore and ridiculed the air forces in his own way. I remembered he had at numerous occasions clashed with them and I was the one who had to pull him out before he got himself hurt. I doubted that was why they hadn’t showed up though; they wouldn’t disobey orders for such a thing. At least I hoped so.

“Maybe the Southern army is on the move and they got intercepted or something. Considering we got our cover blown it wouldn’t be that surprising,” Erin suggested and looked at me with begging eyes. She wanted me to support her on that theory and tell Ragnar. He always listened to me.

“Yea, I think so too. Ragnar, calm down and let’s analyze the situation.”

He gave me an irritated look but calmed down. He crossed his arms and nodded at me. I thanked him in silence.

“The enemy is not far away and they will reach us soon. We have three options right now. The first one is to surrender-“

“Surrender is not an option!” Ragnar interrupted me. For a second I had forgotten his stance on that matter and I swore at myself for letting my tongue slip.

“The second option,” I continued, vary of what I was saying,” is to run further into the forest and hope we can outrun them and hide.”

“Not a good option either,” Erin said and shook her head. “We still can’t see anything and considering they have only closed in on us the last hour, I doubt we could outrun them.”

I nodded. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. She was smart that girl.

“The third option is to stay here and fend them off until the helicopter arrives. I have no idea how long that would be and I can’t say if we would live to see the morning.”

An eerie silence replaced my talking as the two knights in front of me considered the matter. The once so strong squad of ten was now reduced to a mere three, a huge failure for me as a squad commander. It grinded through my head, I felt it punishing my soul. I could never forget this failure and I would never forget the faces of my once living subordinates. Vonkel, Erika, Onka…all of them.

“Knight Captain?”

I was drawn out of my self-pity and noticed Erin looking at me.

“It’s your decision, Knight Captain. What you choose we will follow.”

I sighed and smiled at her. The loyalty they showed me warmed my heart and I was happy to have them in my squad.

“Ragnar, I think I can guess what you want,” I said and glanced at him. He smashed his fists together and grinned.

“Oh yes…you think right.”

“Erin?”

“Whatever you order us to, Knight Captain.”

“Alright then,” I said and closed my eyes. I could hear the enemy not too far off now, approaching us through the silent forest clad with a white dress. I felt something grow inside me.

To war we go, in war we die. It’s how it should be.

“It has been an honor serving with you. Now, take them down to hell with you. Show no mercy, show no regret. Triangle formation!”

As soon as my order left my mouth they gathered around me so we had a pair of eyes in every corner of the area. I closed my eyes and I assumed they did the same. The sound of boots traversing the frozen landscape was now right upon us and I heard them spread out in a circle. Orders where shouted around to organize them, but the commander let his nervousness show through in his voice that wasn’t steady.

“Don’t take your eyes off them!”

“Don’t let them escape! They took down twenty of our own before! They will pay!”

I took a better hold of Forseti which I still hadn’t unsheathed. The cold metal on his handle seeped through my gloves onto my hands, but it was reassuring. It made me know that he was still there.
I opened my eyes again and took in my surroundings. Solely on my side I counted at least fifteen soldiers. I looked them all over one by one.

“How many?” I asked, not letting my gaze fall off the soldiers in front of me.

“Twenty.”

“Eighteen.”

“So, about fifty-three soldiers surrounding us.”

I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath. The knowledge that I would probably die in battle spurred on my adrenaline and it felt like my heart would burst out from my chest. I could still feel the warmth from Erin and Ragnar standing close to me. The camaraderie in battle was as strong as ever.

“Charge!”

The warcry of almost fifty Southern Beskanti soldiers rushing at us blended out any other noise.
Sweat trickled down my forehead and I took another deep breath. My throat felt dry.

Here we go.

Without an order from me or anyone else, I could feel Ragnar and Erin leaving their positions to engage the enemy on their respective side. I did the same, rushing into a mob of soldiers that weren’t prepared for our sudden choice of action. My blood felt like it was boiling, adrenalin pumping through my veins. I recalled a song I had heard somewhere in the past and I let the instruments play their tune in my head. It was heavy, deafening and encouraging.

The first soldier I came upon looked young, but I didn’t let that stop me. Without unsheathing Forseti I brought my shoulder to bear and connected with his stomach. The impact made him stumble backwards, all the while grasping for air, onto two other soldiers and they all fell onto the ground. My shoulder with which I had hit him with hurt a bit, but I ignored it. It was just the force from the impact lingering behind.

Three other soldiers made their move and rushed towards me. I saw them in my peripheral vision and I decided it was time to unsheathe Forseti. The familiar sound of metal against metal made me smile and I drew him in a wide arc aimed at the soldiers. They hesitated, surprised at the sword lashing out at them and I saw an opening before me. I took the chance and leapt forward. I could still feel the adrenalin pumping, the sheer power in my muscles making them explode.

I landed in the middle of them, grabbed the closest one I could get my hands on and inserted Forseti into his gut. I felt light resistance as the sharpened blade went through his stomach, through his spine and out on the other side. Something warm flooded over my right hand and I pulled Forseti out, knowing the soldier was done for. He fell to the ground and didn’t make a move to get up.
The other soldiers hesitated for a second and I continued to grind through them without hesitation. I cut off a few limbs here and there and some heads flew through the air as I rampaged through them. Forseti flew from side to side with my hands swinging him, becoming redder as time passed and the more he cut.
I didn’t know why, but it felt too easy. They barely did any resistance and just stood there, letting themselves be cut down by my swift blade. It felt wrong.

You lack discipline. You are inexperienced. I feel sorry for you.

A few of them finally broke ranks and fled, screaming and throwing their weapons to the ground. I started to think it was a cruel joke, because they hadn’t shown such cowardice at the base.

A diversion? Is there a larger force waiting for us in an ambush?

I inserted Forseti into another soldier who had tried to attack me from behind. He managed to get a lucky hit on me and I felt a sharp pain searing through my left shoulder. I felt something moist run down it.
I put my boot on the soldier’s front and pulled Forseti out. Blood sprouted from the wound and colored the white ground red. If it wasn’t for the large pools of the same color all over the ground it would have looked out of place.
I looked around with Forseti in a defensive stance, expecting another attack. My shoulder ached but I ignored it. There was no time to drop my focus for a shallow wound.
I saw three soldiers holding back a few meters in front of me, but it didn’t look like they would dare to attack me. Their comrades had been cut to pieces by me, the bitch right in front of them and they didn’t want to meet the same fate. They were clever in that sort of way at least.

I earned myself a glance over my shoulder and saw Erin together with Ragnar, back to back, fighting off the remaining soldiers. There were only a few left but I couldn’t see if the two were injured. It was too dark and the moon didn’t give off enough light.
I brought my attention back to the soldiers in front of me. They hadn’t moved a centimeter and just stared at me with weapons raised high. I noticed that one of them was shaking, his weapon dangling in his grip.

I let a treacherous little smile form on my mouth and let Forseti slid back into his sheath. The adrenaline began to settle down and I felt my heart beat a little slower.

“What are you going to do?” I said and held out my hands in a defeated manner.

The surprise that showed in their faces made me smile more and I just stood there, staring at them. They hesitated a few seconds before they suddenly attacked me head-on. They ran at me, screaming and with their swords ready to cut my head off. There was no order behind how they moved, they just attacked.

I moved quickly and grabbed the first soldier’s wrist. The sword he wielded fell out of his hand as I twisted it around and used his momentum to flip him over my back. I felt his arm break into two and the sharp noise of bone being broken. He fell to the ground screaming while holding his arm.
The two others hesitated again, but they were too close now. Yet again my adrenaline started pumping, my warm blood giving my muscles the strength to hit the second soldiers straight in the face. I felt his nose break under my fist and he too tumbled to the ground. He tried to stand up almost immediately but the punch I had delivered wrecked havoc with his sense of balance. He fell to the ground again, unable to stand.

I turned to the last remaining soldier and crossed my arms. I didn’t know what I was trying to do, but it felt right there and then. He stared back at me, unable to move a muscle.

“What is it that you are so afraid of? I stand here, with no weapon. You are free to attack me whenever you want. However, you could also escape right now. I won’t hunt you down.”

I said it as calmly as I could. It seemed to come natural for me, those words that escaped my lips and that came from my heart. My subordinates’ faces flashed before my eyes again.
My expression obviously had some effect as the soldier stared at me for a few more seconds before dropping his sword, turning around and running away.

“Knight Captain!”

I turned around to meet the voice and saw Erin running towards me with a face filled with happiness. Her hair was torn in a few places, she had cuts and bruises all over, but she was still alive. Ragnar walked behind her with a wide grin on his face, seemingly unhurt. I put a hand on my cut shoulder and groaned. The pain was still searing.

“Hahaha, I actually didn’t think we would survive. It feels great to be alive!”

His positive attitude was a dark contrast to the scene surrounding us. It was pure carnage, with limbs and bodies everywhere. The once so white snow had changed color to an evil red, but I couldn’t help to feel glad at the same time. Against the odds we had survived to see the next morning.

I can’t believe we are so lucky…

I began to walk towards them and as ridiculous as it seemed, Erin had the intention to hug me. It wasn’t standard procedure between a subordinate and a commander, but I understood how she felt. She was younger than me and she had survived an encounter with almost certain death. Of course she was filled to the brim with happiness.

“Erin, dodge!”

Ragnar suddenly shouted with a panic-stricken face and I looked in the direction he was looking.
To my left there was a figure, but it was moving abnormally fast. I could barely see it with my eyes.
Within a second it reached Erin and the figure flew into her with amazing power. She let out a shriek and flew out of sight.

“Erin!” I shouted but didn’t receive an answer. I looked at the figure now standing between me and Ragnar, a cloud of snow settling around him.

“Who…are you?”

The figure, which I now could see was actually a man about the size of Ragnar, corrected his coat with simple shake of his hand and turned towards me. I could see a large scar running through his face and green eyes meeting mine.

“Commander Elon is my name, Norfolk dogs. You were very impressive back there, taking out most of our forces.”

He smiled awkwardly and put his hands behind his back. He looked at me like I was a child who didn’t understand anything. I felt a hint of rage building inside me.

“That was some bad soldiers you had in your squad. All of them inexperienced kids and you sent them to their death,” I said bitterly. I was the one that had killed them, I knew that and it left a sour taste in my mouth, but he was the one that had sent them to their death.

“That’s what happens when we only got spares. They don’t get enough training before they leave the base and this is what happens.” He shook his head and pierced me with those green eyes. Something was burning behind them and I felt my heart skip a beat.

He is not like them…

“Now, dear Norfolk dogs, let me show you the power of a true South system user.”

South system…!

He was too fast for me to track. I barely managed to block his big sword that came out of nowhere. Its blade with strange, golden markings on it was aimed at my head and I felt his strength come down upon me, Forseti slipping in my hand. I tripped and fell on my back with Elon still pushing me down. My arm burned with exhaustion from the previous battle and it felt like I would lose my grip any second.

“Hey, don’t forget I’m here too!”

Ragnar popped up behind him and slashed his sword at him. The force pushing me down disappeared suddenly and he was nowhere to be seen until he appeared at the side of Ragnar. Before Ragnar could even finish his swing Elon hit him with another one of the powerful crushing punches.
I saw my second-in-command tumbling to the ground a couple of meters away, probably knocked out from the impact. The white snow was yet again painted an angry red.

“Ragnar!” I shouted, hoping he was still conscious. My attempt was for naught however as Elon came down upon me again and pressed me down onto the ground. I held Forseti in a two-point grip, one hand on the handle and the other on the blade. I had no other choice, since the larger sword was a few centimeters from my head and getting closer. I felt something moist again and remembered the wound on my shoulder. It suddenly spiked in pain and I almost lost my grip. Forseti dug deeper into my own hand.

“Here you lose, here you die, Norfolk dog.”

I refused to believe it but the truth was another. I pressed my muscles and magic to its limits, the pain beyond anything I had felt before. It burned like heated steel against naked flesh and it felt like my heart would explode from all the blood being pumped from it. I began to lose strength, seeing the blade of his sword inching closer in front of my eyes.

“Don’t try to ignore me!”

Ragnar!

I could see him in the corner of my eyes. He stumbled onto his feet and launched towards us with a crazy expression on his face. I remembered faintly, from a long time ago, how he had mentioned two things he hated; giving up and being ignored. Both of them infuriated him.

“It won’t work.”

Those words made me lose hope again and my head exploded into a fountain of pain. My nose hurt more than it ever had and my vision got blurry to the extent that I couldn’t see what was happening. I couldn’t hear either, as my ears didn’t pick up a sound. They just rang, not letting anything else through.

What…did he punch me?

My hearing returned after a few seconds and I could hear a soft thump beside me. Elon was not on me anymore but he stood right at my feet with a grin on his face, looking at something. I turned my head to my right where the sound had come from while I held my nose with one hand. It still hurt like hell. I guessed it was probably broken.

My vision started to focus and things began to appear with detail again. I shook my head and closed my eyes to clear the last of it. When I opened them again I could see Ragnar lying in the snow, clutching his right hand. His face was twisted into an expression of extreme suffering and I noticed a large pool of blood forming on the ground where he held his hand.

Then I noticed something else, a small object lying to his left. I tried to focus and I felt a cold spear down my spine when I realized what it was. I connected one and one, and decided that that was his hand not attached to his arm anymore. It lay there, lifeless in the snow.

“Very good. You have a very fine soldier there, willing to sacrifice his own hand to save you. It’s hard finding that sort of loyalty and courage.”

Elon sighed and then shrugged. I glared at him, an inferno of emotions flaring up inside of me. All of my subordinates lost and I was the one still able to fight. It wasn’t fair.

I must survive.

I made an effort to get rid of his boot that held me down on the ground but my arms protested. They were empty of energy, my whole body just an empty shell out of power. No matter how much will I summoned I couldn’t get loose from under his boot. I saw him heighten his sword with both hands above me for the final hit. I felt useless.

This can’t be the end.

I closed my eyes and stopped resisting. My mind was calm; I had been trained for this moment. But still, it felt wrong. Something was off.

“Sigrid!”

Erin?

Erin was one of the faster soldiers I had seen during my time as squad commander, no one could beat her in terms of speed. She showed that today.

The sound of two swords entering flesh echoed in the forest but I didn’t feel any pain. My body was still whole and I opened my eyes to check. The first thing meeting my eyes was Erin standing above me with clenched teeth, but with a smile still on her lips.

“Ah…hah…I made it.”

“Erin…”

I gathered the little strength I had left in my arms and touched her waist. I danced with my fingers on it until I came upon the large sword sticking out of her gut. The blood coming from the wound dripped down on the armor around my stomach and painted it red.

Why her…

“I’m…sorry I can’t go back with…you.”

She let her eyes close and her smile faded before me. She fell to her side onto the snow with the blade still stuck through her with Elon, who had been wielding it, still standing at my feet. He had a surprised expression on his face but also started to fall over. Erin’s sword was imbedded deep between his ribs. A perfect hit, straight through the heart.
He collapsed into a heap and I could hear a flapping noise getting closer through the forest. I ignored it and reached out to touch Erin. She might have been alive still, but when I touched her ankle it felt as cold as snow. She didn’t move by reflex either. There was no life in that feeble little body; no more laughter would ever escape her lungs again.

Why…

I felt something wet in my eyes and a tear ran down my cheek. I began to cry in silence next to Erin’s body when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned my head and met Ragnar’s gaze. Despite the carnage, he was smiling; reassuring me that I was still alive. I clenched his hand in mine and smiled back. My heart had gone back to its normal rhythm, but my muscles were exhausted. I couldn’t move a single limb anymore and I didn’t want to either. My head was a hurricane of emotions filling it up.
Eventually the warm light of a spotlight blinded me and the sound of a helicopter soared overhead. I managed to make out a few soldiers amongst the light, repelling down to where we lay.

Too late…why weren’t you here earlier…

[Evangelion Xgouki]

D-d-d-double post.

Some time ago I did a little fic (which I forget the name of) that was inspired by a book I had just read and the movie Cube. The fic was...so-so.
This is the rewrite inspired by SAW, Cube and various other things. Music is available.

First I thought I would do a short. Then it evolved into a "long" short. The final is a beast. 5.6k of gore, start!

http://i455.photobucket.com/albums/qq275/AtomicoX/Random/paradigmshitlogo.jpg
Vita groaned and opened her eyes. It was pitchblack and she could feel solid ground under her body. She moved her arms and heaved herself up. With another groan she found herself upright on her knees.

“Where the hell am I?” she said to herself.

There was no use trying to see anything, so she started navigating around on the floor with her hands. She shuffled forward from where she sat and just within a few meters came upon something soft. She pulled her hand back quickly.

“Who’s there?” she asked into darkness.

“Ahh, hurm…Vita?” a weak voice said.

“Hayate, is that you?”

She could hear a shuffling as the person in front of her sat up next to her.

“Yeah, it’s me. What in the world happened?” Hayate asked with a low voice. Vita guessed Hayate might have the same sore head as herself.

“I don’t remember anything and I don’t know where we are. Are you alright? Are you injured?”

“No, I’m fine, except for this massive headache.”

So she had gotten her guess correct. The massive pressure in Vita’s head annoyed her greatly, but she never used to have headaches. She found it weird.

Another voice in pain was heard.

“That sounds like…no it can’t be. Nanoha?” Hayate asked.

“Hayate? What are you doing here? Wherever here is…” Nanoha said and started to crawl on the floor towards them.

“Nanoha, does your head hurt?” Vita asked as something downed upon her.

The crawling stopped for a moment.

“Yes, you too?”

“Yeah, and it’s too much for a coincidence. Hayate is also in pain.”

Vita could hear Nanoha continue her crawling until she felt a hand on her leg. Vita sat in Hayate’s lap being hugged by her and Nanoha sat up beside them.

“Do you have your devices?” Nanoha asked.

Vita felt her heart skip a beat as the revelation surged into her head. She looked around, but the room was still pitchblack.

“Graf Eisen! Where are you?! Graf Eisen!”

“Vita, calm down” Hayate said and patted her on the head. She stopped shouting for the time being.

“So, where were you two before we ended up here?” Nanoha asked. “I was downtown investigating something I can’t remember and suddenly I’m in this room. My memory feels like it’s been through a mixer.”

Vita thought hard and tried to recall what she had done earlier that day. She sighed when it didn’t yield any result.

“I don’t remember either. Maybe it’s connected to this headache,” she said.

“Nanoha, Hayate, Vita, is that you?” Another voice sounded through the darkness.

“Fate! You are here too?” Hayate said.

They could hear Fate getting to her feet and following their voices to where they sat.

“And no, before you ask, I don’t remember either. Only thing I know is waking up here a few seconds ago and hearing you three talking,” Fate said and hunched down when she reached them.

Vita noticed she could see a little better now. A red color began to lighten up the room until it looked like one of those rooms for old photographs being developed. She noticed a black panel on the wall with yellow numbers racing across it.

“Guys, look,” she said to the others who hadn’t noticed it yet. They turned their head to where she was pointing and was greeted by text replacing the numbers.

aQk8VNkAZBw

Welcome.

The text only showed that at first and they stared at it until it changed.

Ahead of you await challenges that will test your strength, your knowledge and your soul. Your safety is not guaranteed.

They glanced at each other with concerned eyes. The text changed again.

Teamwork and a sharp mind will most probably lead to success. If you reach the final room, you are free to go. You are the 876th group of four people that have been chosen to conduct these challenges.

“876 groups? That’s almost 3500 people,” Hayate said, not wanting to believe it.

Of these groups one point four percent has proved successful and has been rewarded accordingly. The Paradigm wishes you luck and let the challenge begin.

The text disappeared and they saw a door open in one of the walls. Normal light streamed out of it and invited them in.

“I wonder what the talk about ‘successful’ meant,” Hayate said and grumbled.

“Well, it’s not like we have a choice. Either we stay here and do nothing or move on,” Nanoha said and got to her feet. “I got Vivio waiting for me at home; I can’t leave her alone all night.”

Vita got out of Hayate’s lap and jumped to her feet.

“I’m not planning to stay either. I want to smack the person who gave me this headache,” she said and closed a fist.

Fate nodded in agreement and when they all had gotten on their feet they went towards the opening. The door had been retracted up into the roof and wasn’t visible. However, from the little they had managed to see, the door had been made out of metal and had looked very solid.

They walked through the opening and into the other room. The door closed slowly behind them, as if it knew they wouldn’t try to go back. It shut with a noisy clank.
The room revealing itself before them this time was clinically white and with a lonely table in the middle. Hayate recognized it as being made out of wood and with various beautiful, golden ornaments carved into it, forming strange symbols.

“A table and a room. Pretty,” Vita said sarcastically and looked around. There was nothing other of interest in the room, except for another panel on the wall. Another set of random numbers scrolled down until a text formed once again.

First challenge will begin. To help you on your way through the first three challenges, I will give you hints on the way.

“And who are you?” Vita asked with annoyance. The panel didn’t respond.

“Ignorant bastard.”

Depending on how you do, either PASS or FAILED will be displayed on this panel. PASS will result in another room opening for you. If FAILED is displayed, a timer starts and if you clear it, PASS will be displayed and you may continue.

“I wonder what he meant by ‘clearing’ it,” Nanoha said and glanced at the others. Vita shrugged, but the other two didn’t look so sure.

“Let’s get on with it. What are we supposed to do?” Vita said and went up to the table. Upon it was a puzzle with a lot of pieces.

You have two minutes to complete. Three, two, one, Go.

They got to work as quickly as they could. It wasn’t as big as Vita had first thought, because with the four of them working together they managed to find each piece fast. The puzzle started to take form.

One minute remaining.

Vita positioned the last pieces on her side and the puzzle was completed well within the timeframe. As the panel had said it would, the word PASS was displayed on it and another door opened for them. Vita made a move towards it but Hayate stopped her.

“Wait, take a look at this. We didn’t notice what the puzzle was of until we finished.”

She gestured towards the table and they gathered around it. The puzzle they had put together showed a symbol, a square. It was dark red in color and had something written within it. Hayate lent in closer and tried to make sense of it.

“No use, I don’t know what it says. I’ve never seen the language before.”

The others leant in, but they couldn’t understand what it said either.

“We are wasting time,” Vita said and walked to the door. The others followed suit as they had no reason to stay in the room.

The next room was identical to the previous, except for a large cube that stood in the middle of it. Vita took notion of it immediately because it was the only thing in the room. This time the panel was attached onto it instead of the wall.

“A black cube? Is it solid or can’t we just see into it?” she said and closed in on it. She knocked on the surface and received a hollow noise.

“Guess it’s hollow.” She crossed her arms and waited for the panel to write up new text. The other three gathered around her.

Congratulations on receiving PASS on your first challenge. This one is much harder than before.

“Harder, huh? Isn’t it strange he, she, it or whatever it is didn’t help us before, despite telling us it would?” Fate thought out loud.

“Maybe to give a sense of hope,” Hayate suggested and realized how depressing that sounded.

“Let’s get on with it,” Vita grumbled.

You have five minutes to find a key within this room. Use it to unlock the cube. Three, two, one, Go.

With a sudden flash the black color of the cube disappeared and Vita saw the contents within. She yelped and jumped back in surprise.

“Oh my god,” they all said at almost the same time at what showed itself.

They couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Inside the now transparent cube was a girl chained to the roof. She hung from a couple of metal poles that had been shoved through her hands and to which the chains attached themselves. Dried blood from her wound had flowed along her body all the way down to the floor where it had caused a small poodle to form. The girl had her eyes closed, unaware of what was happening outside.

“Can’t she hear us?” Vita said and knocked on the cube. There wasn’t a response, not even a small reflex.

She can’t see or hear you. To her this cube is unchanged and darkness fills it from the inside. I advise you find the key.

“Fucking bastard,” Vita muttered and started looking. Considering it was a completely empty room, she didn’t know where to look and neither did the rest. They checked on the floor, at the previous door and around the cube, but no ‘key’ showed itself.

The key is sunk in into the wall and painted white.

“You tell us that now?!” Vita yelled back and ran towards the closest wall. She could hear the others doing the same so they occupied a wall each. They moved their hands across it to check for dents or bulges.

Two minutes remaining.

“This is impossible!” Vita screamed as she frantically searched the wall.

“Keep looking, we have to get her out of there!” Hayate yelled back to encourage her.

One minute remaining.

They looked, scratched, clawed and stared at the walls in front of them but no key appeared. They looked at each other and shook their heads. None of them could find the key that was supposedly hidden somewhere in the room.

They eventually gave up completely and gathered together next to the cube with ten seconds remaining. The girl had opened her eyes by now, but since she couldn’t see anything she was terrified of what was going on. They didn’t know how long she had been in there.

The text changed to something red on the panel.

FAILED. You have FAILED to complete this challenge. However, considering it’s only your second challenge, you will only have to watch.

“Watch? What does it mean by that?” Fate said. She turned towards the cube and her face got white.

“What’s happening, what-“ Vita stopped herself.

Something red had begun to appear on the floor that had opened a hole beneath the girl. It had a similar appearance to blood, as it flowed very slowly and had a dark red color. It reached the walls and rose in height fast as more of the substance pumped up.

“We have to stop it!” Nanoha yelled and started hitting the cube. Vita and Fate followed her lead and did the same. Hayate just stood and watched.

“Try a few spells!” Fate shouted.

“I can’t!” Nanoha yelled back. “I don’t know why but I can’t use my magic. It’s some sort of AMF!”

“She’s right,” Vita said and stopped kicking the cube. “There is nothing we can do. Damnit!”

Be glad. She died for your failure, but you don’t have to suffer.

“Having a dialogue now, do we?” Vita said and pointed at the panel. “Come out now you fucking coward!”

Yet again it didn’t respond. Since it could hear or see them, it knew what they were doing but it probably ignored them altogether. It made Vita furious.

Twenty minutes it took for the cube to fill completely. When it reached the girl’s mouth she got some in her throat and she choked on it. It probably tasted horribly and more blood flooded the girl’s mouth, clogging up her airways. A few more seconds passed and the blood, or substance, completely covered her. The substance was so thick they couldn’t see through it.

The panel changed its text to a green color and PASS showing.
A new door opened for them and they walked towards it with sunken heads. Vita took a last look at the cube behind them before they entered the new room. It was still filled to the brim the last time she saw it before the door shut down again.

“This is insane. Let’s stop here and think this over,” Hayate said and turned towards the rest.

“Well, no one remember anything, but what do we know?” Nanoha said.

“That we are in some kind of building? A ship maybe?” Fate offered.

“I would guess it’s a building,” Vita said. “Even if it was a ship, it would have to be very large to fit all of this into it and I haven’t felt any movement either. No engines, nothing.”

“You got a point. A building it is then, but what could possibly hold something this complex? I’ve never seen anything like it,” Hayate said and frowned.

“Not to say who would like to do something like this. I mean, locking us up, drowning a little girl in blood…” Fate trailed off and left it for interpretation.

Vita saw that the panel in the room had text on it again, and even if she didn’t want to, she alerted the others.

This room is empty and different from the first two. Simply, the challenge is to stay alive. Three, two, one, Go.

“I hate that panel so much, the fucking bastard,” Vita said and clenched her fist.

“’To survive’eh? I wonder what will happen…” Hayate said and looked around.

Vita heard a noise behind her and turned around. She jumped backwards away from it.

“Look! The wall!”

They looked where she pointed at. The wall behind them had turned black instead of white and small glowing points had begun to appear. They continued to glow with more intensity as the four of them backed away from them.

“What do you think it will do?” Nanoha asked.

“I have no idea, but try to not get in the line of sight of one of the glowing points. I have a feeling it will do something with those,” Hayate said.

Seconds later, Vita found out Hayate had been correct in her assumption. Energy beams shot out at them from the glowing points and hit Vita on her right arm. It burned intensely and a small speck of blood appeared.

“Ouch!”

“Vita, are you alright?” Hayated said.

“Yea, just a fleshwound. Dodge those things, if it hits us in the chest or head we are done for.”

They dodged best they could. A few beams managed to hit them in several places, but only drew small drops of blood. The speed at which the beams were shot was pretty slow, so it wasn’t that difficult to dodge. The problem was the amount of them. They filled the room with yellow lines that streaked across it.
Suddenly it stopped and a new door opened. The wall turned white again as if nothing had happened.

PASS.

“Are you alright?” Nanoha asked.

They all had small wounds covering their bodies, but no bigger than needles. To their annoyance, it had drawn a small amount of blood and made their clothing sticky.

“Next room, let’s go there,” Vita said and pushed them on.

And so they ventured into the next room. As the rooms before it, it was white and empty. This repeated itself several times over as they ventured deeper into the complex. They received more wounds, saw more people die to strange contraptions as they failed a few challenges. Their morale started to break down and they started to tire out. It was too much to handle.

Congratulations on coming this far. This is where most other groups have failed before you. The Paradigm wishes you best of luck for these three last rooms.

“Fuck you and your fucking praise or congratulations,” Vita muttered as she tried to patch up a newly received wound on her elbow. The others were seemingly okay, except for a few wounds.

Go.

The countdown that had usually started didn’t come and it all started at once. They weren’t prepared as a blade about two meters long and one meter wide shot out across the floor. It went fast, much too fast for a normal human to react properly. Fate with her speed managed to jump and so did the other two, barely. Hayate however got trapped in the slashing arc. She managed to get one foot up in the air, but the other was too slow. The blade quickly cut through it and made a perfect cut. The foot remained on the floor while Hayate sprawled in the air, having lost her balance.
The four of them started to fall back to the floor when the blade took another turn back to its original position. The other three who had managed to get a good jump was still in the air when Hayate hit the floor and she reflexively took support with her arm. The blade came swiftly and cut it off at the elbow before stopping into the wall again.

PASS.

“Hayate!” Vita screamed and rushed to her when it was over. The blade had moved across the room in the fraction of a second and it had all happened so fast they didn’t know exactly what had hit them.
Hayate’s foot stood on the floor alone, with its bone and tissue cut off perfectly. Her arm still hung from the elbow in a few strands of meat.

“I’m..ok, I think,” she said and yelped. Blood gushed out from her wounds.

“Lay her on her back, quick!”

Nanoha and Fate took of their jackets and ripped them apart. Fate covered Hayate’s arm in hers and Nanoha took care of the leg. With a little handiwork they managed to stop most of the bleeding. Blood still seeped out, coloring their jackets red.

“Hayate…” Vita said and cried by her side.

“It’s ok, Vita. I think I can continue.”

Nanoha and Fate supported Hayate by her sides and helped her stand up. She vomited suddenly as the pain and shock became too much.

“Can you handle it?” Fate asked.

“Yea,” Hayate said and wiped the vomit off. “Let’s move on.”

They helped her towards the next room, nearly falling over a couple of times. Hayate’s face had lost all its color and she breathed heavily.

The next room opened before them, once again empty. They dragged themselves into it and put Hayate down on the floor to let her rest. The bleeding had subsided a little.
Vita turned to a new panel on the wall.

“Show us what you’ve got! We take anything you can throw at us and when we are done we will rip you to shreds,” she shouted, pointed and cried towards it. It ignored her as usual.

Two rooms to go. Go.

Again it came without warning. A metal arm shot out from the wall and grabbed Fate by her waist. A metal band formed around it and threw her back, making her immobile against the wall.

“Fate!” Nanoha screamed. She rushed to Fate’s side and tried to bend the metal off, but to no avail. Vita soon joined her but it didn’t help. It was as steady as rock.
A strange metal pole appeared behind her back and began to press outwards, bending her spine. She screamed.

“What’s happening?!” Vita yelled to no one in particular.

Another metal clank was heard and they turned towards Hayate. A similar metal band had formed over her waist, but compared to Fate, this one pressed down, crushing Hayate’s insides slowly.

Choose who will live.

Those words echoed in Nanoha’s and Vita’s heads. They stared at each other in horror. They would have to choose who of their best friends would die a horrible death. They couldn’t think about it.

“Choose Fate,” Hayate said with a weak voice,” I’ll die before we get out of here.”

“No way, there has to be a way to free you both!” Vita yelled and bent down beside Hayate, grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

The pole pressing on Fate’s spine rotated further outward and began to pierce her skin. The metal band holding Hayate had begun to sink into the floor further. Time was running out.

“Maybe it’s a test! If we choose no one it will free them!” Vita said but it was only an idea. If she was wrong they would die anyway.

“I’m not sure. I don’t think there is a way out,” Nanoha said with a voice struck with despair.

“Then what are we going to do?!” Vita screamed. She cried and hugged Hayate by the neck.

The decision they had to make interfered with their thoughts. One had to die, it was inevitable. But how could anyone do such a choice. They all knew each other closely, had helped each other through hard times and fought in battle together.
The answer was simple. They simply couldn’t choose. A decision to choose one would leave another one to die. Maybe they would escape from death further on, maybe not.

Nanoha shook her head and cried.

“This can’t be happening! It’s a dream isn’t it?!”

Vita hit the floor with her fist silently until it began to bleed.

The screams increased in volume as the metal band holding Hayate finally crushed her stomach and split her in two. Her innards spilled onto the floor and her screams were silenced. Blood flooded out mixed with her lunch she had had earlier and formed a gory puddle on the floor. Vita looked in horror as her Mistress’ life withered away.

“Hayate! No!”

From the other side of the room another scream in pain was heard. The metal pole behind Fate drove further into her back until it pierced her spine, went through her gut and out the other side. Blood flooded out of the large hole and dripped onto the floor.

“Fate! This can’t be happening, this is insane! This isn’t real!” Nanoha screamed, tears flooding down her cheeks.

Fate stopped breathing within a few seconds. The blood dripping on the floor was the only thing being heard mixed with the sobbing from the two remaining.
Amidst the carnage Nanoha and Vita stood, having walked to each other and now stood combined in a hug. They cried together and had their eyes closed to shut out everything.

PASS.

The next door opened. With their eyes still closed they approached it and went into the next room. The door shut behind them leaving two corpses to their fate.

The last room was filled with strange wires. At a first glance it looked like barbwire, but when Vita touched on of the spikes it burned painfully instead of drawing blood. It left a scorch mark.

“There is a door on the other side!” Nanoha said and pointed.

Vita looked where she pointed and could faintly see an open door on the other side. What were in the way were all the wires filling the room. It looked like a jungle of scorching terror.

“Don’t tell me we have to get through all that,” Vita said with a quiet voice. The impact of her Mistress’ death and one of her best friends had taken its toll. It was the same for Nanoha. They both were close to being defeated.

Congratulations on reaching the last room. PASS will be rewarded with freedom. You have five minutes before annihilation phase begins.

“Nanoha, I don’t want to find out what annihilation means, so quick!” Vita said and tried to climb into the mess of wires.

It burned and scorched her body as she touched a few of them, but thanks to her small size she could maneuver somewhat easy. Nanoha had bigger problems and received a few burn marks in her face, almost rendering her blind.
They traversed it for what felt for hours. The opening got closer and closer, and they could feel freedom. Soon this purgatory would be over.

Thirty seconds remaining.

“Shit! Speed it up!”

The encouragement from Nanoha made Vita move faster, without looking back she ignored the pain and rolled through the wires. She screamed from the pain but eventually the wires grew less dense and she fell through an opening. The door beckoned beyond her and she turned around smiling.

“I’m sorry, Vita…I can’t go with you.”

The smile disappeared as she saw Nanoha entangled in the wires, burning into her flesh. Drips of blood formed as they sank deeper, even reaching the bone. Nanoha had her mouth shut in pain.

“Of course you can. Come-“

“Go! Vita! Warn anyone else! Save yourself!”

“I can’t do that, I can’t leave you!”

With tears streaming down her cheeks Nanoha made a final scream.

“Yes you can! Go! Just go! You need to stop this from happening again! You are the only hope!”

Vita cried and walked backwards slowly through the door opening. Her mind refused to believe she was leaving Nanoha behind to her certain death. Another one of her best friends would meet her fate.

PASS. Annihilation will begin.

From several holes in the walls a flame appeared. It was small and inactive, but as the seconds went by they increased in heat and size. Within a minute it would have filled the whole room with fire. The door began to close in front of Vita as she looked at Nanoha with tears flowing. The flames closed in on Nanoha as she gave a final smile and the door closed completely.

“Why…Nanoha!”

Vita banged on the door in fury and rage. She was alone, still standing. It was up to her now. She didn’t want that sort of responsibility.

Congratulations. You have successfully completed all of the challenges. Your reward is waiting.

She stared at the panel. Her mind was numb and she couldn’t think of fighting any longer.
The room she had entered this time was large, much larger than the previous rooms had been and it was covered in the same strange, golden ornaments as in the first room.
She noticed a man approaching her. He had a formal suit on and he looked terribly old. His voice was shaky when he spoke.

“My young lady, welcome to the Inner Sanctum. Congratulations,” he said and bowed.

Vita didn’t know how to react and sank down on her knees while staring at him.

“Through that door your freedom awaits. Go through there and you can stop this madness from happening again.”

He pointed at an antique door to her left.

“Who…are you?” she said and stared at him with empty eyes.

“I am the butler of the Paradigm. I am only here to serve and had nothing to do with the loss of your companions. Now, if you would be so kind.”

Vita had one thought on her mind. To kill whoever killed her friends, to get revenge, to stop this thing called the Paradigm. It was all in one thought, one goal.
She got on her feet and walked towards the light streaming out of the door. When she was a few feet away from it she sank to her knees again and her vision grew worse. She lost her hearing and sense of balance. She was beginning to pass out.

“No, not when I’m this…close…”

She fainted.

~~****~~

There was a suit attached to a wall. It was small, about the size of a child and eyes could be seen through the visor. The child inside the suit had gotten her mouth sewn shut by metal wires, but she wasn’t aware. She was still unconscious.

To the right and left of the suit were more suits of the same kind, but in varying sizes. They stretched along the wall, just outside the room in front of them. There were about three thousand of them forming a gigantic square around it. The room itself was pitchblack inside, but the walls were made out of some sort of window material. The inhabitants couldn’t see out, but those outside, the suits, could see in if light appeared inside the room.

And so it did. A red light began to reveal itself and illuminated the room that had four figures inside of it. They shook their heads, probably having a headache of some kind.
One of the suits outside, the one the size of a child rocked slightly. The one inside had woken up and judging from her reaction one could determine it was her first time in the suit. She tried to scream, but couldn’t. She tried to warn them. She knew the people inside the room. They were her friends.
Yellow numbers appeared on a panel a couple of yards away inside the room. The figures looked at it with confused looks. The numbers eventually formed a word.

Welcome.

**END**




The Paradigm
A mysterious organization with ties back to Ancient Belka and beyond. No known leaders or what their purpose is.
TSAB don’t have much information on them, but investigations are underway.

The Complex
A building in an unknown location. It features 10 rooms, including the last one. It might be an alternate dimension or multi-dimension complex.

The Suits
Medical suits which can sustain a person for months with the help of fluid and other machinery. Mouth of the person inside sewn shut due to ideological reasons, courtesy of the Paradigm.

Suit Room
Where the thousands of suits are held. The room is possibly multi-dimensional to hold them all. Each suit has a clear view of the entire complex containing the traps and can follow the participants progress.

The Traps
Mentioned: 5
Unmentioned: 3
Unknown: 1

First trap: Not triggered, unknown. Information lacking.

Second trap: Triggered. A cube with a girl inside of it. The girl is one of the previous survivors who were randomly chosen to occupy it. The cube, when the time runs out, is filled with blood collected from other victims. It fills it up until the person drowns.

The girl was the 371th person to occupy it.

Third trap: Triggered. Laser beams shoot out from a wall. Easily dodged but in a large number.

Fourth trap: Untriggered, unmentioned. Information lacking.

Fifth trap: Triggered, unmentioned. A man stretched across a table. When the timer runs out the table is heightened upward into the roof, crushing the man. Another survivor, number 230.

Sixth trap: Triggered, unmentioned. Objective is to solve a math equation. Another girl is being hold between the roof and floor with metal handcuffs. They stretch her until she breaks in two.
Yet another survivor from previous groups, number 600.

Seventh trap: Triggered. A deadly blade shoots out from a wall. It’s a mere decimeter over the floor and cuts anything it touches. Extremely fast and makes two swoops.

Eight trap: Triggered. A dual trap, captures victims with a) a metal waist band from the floor. It can be moved around to the walls if needed b) another waist band holding the victim against a wall with a pole against their spine pressing outwards. A) dies by being cut in two, B) By crushed spine and pierced gut.

The remaining survivors have to choose who dies. If one is chosen the other lives.

Ninth trap: Triggered. Hot barbwire placed into a room. There are paths in-between, but it’s a very tight fit.
After the counter runs out, flamethrowers are activated and “cleanse” the room of biological matter.






Might be bad, grammar might falter, but heck. It was hell of a lot fun to write.

Ah, The Cube. I remember watching that and The Cube 2 on Sci-Fi before. Freaky films, too :twitch:. Though I guess you can't have over 17,000 rooms without making this several novels, huh? :p Need mooorreee....

[Outlaender]

First time ever I tried to write in 1st person PoV, but I gotta say it felt good. Naturally felt more personal and I might write some KoE chapters like this, although it's uncertain.





Ah, much more to my liking ;). So, a flashback from dear young Sigried, unfortunately another tragic story. War is hell, and Forseti isn't Midchilda. It would be interesting to see how well Nanoha-tachi could relate to her experiences. For all they're experience as TSAB mages, they've never actually fought a war. The JS incident is the closesest so far, aside from "Forces" still to come.

[wanwan1203]

Ho ho double post. A cross post too. Scandalous.

I realized that the latest chapter of Gospel was shorter than usual.

So I did this really quickly. Blame the ficbunnies that torment me.


-awesome was here-


TEMPESTTTTTT!!! I just finished reading and i must say it is: :love: I liked the scene where you described the unison, rein's thoughts then, the imagery (i went *o*), as well as the post-battle scene. LOL

This made me giggle:
Cry some more!
XD
wanwan likes it! :nod:

and btw, while reading this i realized that i haven't read noland's profile yet. le gasp! =O i went wha who is he talking about?? XD silly me. so because of this i immediately went to read the profile and i must say, despite not understanding some concepts completely, (after all i'm more of a fluff, nosebleed, angst reader rather than a magic/tech one so my attention span doesn't hold out that long XD") i reached the end of that post without losing interest one bit. nice profile. *o* why didn't i read it sooner!!! DX <3 noland) and so the wanwan obligatory post of: MOAR GOSPEL WOOT! :D

[RadiantBeam]

Baaaah....

Why don't I feel like posting anything lately?

[AtomicoX]

'Cause you are out of ideas and motivation...or maybe that's just me.

[Satashi]

Motivation seems to have dried up lately. I thought it'd be the opposite since Vivid came out.

[TheShinySword]

'Cause you are out of ideas and motivation...or maybe that's just me.

Or 'cause you have FINALS FROM HELL and are studying like a mad woman :uhoh: you know I hope that's just me.

[spawnofthejudge]

That's right, it's the end of school! How could I forget? :heh:

Decided to write whatever came to mind, since I hadn't written anything Nanoha lately. Result is as follows. Hope it's a nice distraction for you studying fiends!

Imagine That
What was I even doing here, anyway?

“...You failed.”

Was there a purpose? A reason? A driving force?

“You're welcome to come back next year...”

I didn't know anymore. How could I?

“but I personally wouldn't recommend going through the humiliation again.”

It was with dejection that I walked away from the training facility. It was, after all, a place that I was basically unwelcome in. I'd been there a few times before I had made this attempt... but none of them had been for my own sake. All of them had been for someone else. Someone else had asked me to do something, and I always watched when my work was being tested.

I had great ideas. Terrible execution. I don't know where I went wrong... but I knew that there wasn't much I could do about it this day. The sun may still be high in the sky, but that doesn't mean that I would be able to get myself to do anything for the rest of the day. It was the end of a dream. A nice dream, certainly; something that I had my whole being working toward for six months. For nothing, it seemed. I had wasted my time. I should have remained at my desk, in my own building, where I belonged.

My eyes were suddenly drawn to a figure that had come out of one of the medical buildings nearby. She was attractive; her hair was a reddish brown, kept in a long side ponytail... must be in her mid-twenties...

With a shock that goes through me, I realize that I'm looking at the Ace of Aces, and she is clearly not pleased.

I don't remember stopping, but I must have, because I'm not moving at this point and it takes a specific attempt from me in order to get my legs moving toward... I don't even know. The medical building is not one that I need to pass to get to either my flat or my office, so I don't even know why I had managed to get myself over here. So I stop again and look around, trying to figure out what the best way toward... well, anywhere... was from where I stood. This apparently caught the Ace's attention.

“Excuse me,” she said, causing me to snap around to look back at her. She is walking toward me. “Are you lost?”

I shook my head quickly. This was a mistake, as it exacerbated the headache that was now threatening to get only worse and worse as this terrible day went on. “I'm not. I just seem to be wandering aimlessly today, and I just realized where I had ended up...”

She laughed. “Oh, okay. Where are you headed, then?”

I looked back at her blankly, unable to tell her where I was going because I didn't know myself, and unable to bring up the reason why.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, when she noticed my facial expression wasn't changing. Maybe she could see something of my day in my face? “Are you alright?”

I couldn't say yes; I was not. But I also didn't want her to think that she had an obligation to do anything for me. This day was already bad enough; I didn't need to be imposing on the Ace of Aces' time as well. “I've been better.”

Her eyes were kind, I noticed. “I'm sorry, then. Perhaps you should head home, then? It is a weekend, after all.” She tilted her head to one side. “Where would that be?”

I had made the calculation by this point, so I indicated the direction of my flat. She was probably right about where I should go anyway; I wasn't going to get any decent work done toward my deadline at the end of next week.

“Would you like a lift? I'm headed home myself, and it's in that direction.”

“Oh, no... I couldn't... I couldn't accept that, Miss Takamachi...” I stuttered. I meet the Ace of Aces, she offers me a ride home, and I stutter. I clearly will never be anything but a dork.

“C'mon, can't let any up-and-coming technician be wandering about aimlessly!”

“Really, I...” Wait. What?

“I insist, Mr. Volt.” Now I'm pretty sure my mouth is open at this point and I'm staring. But I can't stop. She knows my name and my profession...?!

“A...alright...” I didn't really have a choice in the matter, did I?

“Good,” she said, apparently satisfied. She then walked past me, and I had to shake my head to try to get myself to move again. My headache objected to this, of course, but I don't think I cared. I caught up to her quickly enough. She looked at me as I pulled up alongside her. “So what's got you so melancholy today?”

Did I really have to tell the Ace of Aces that I had failed an exam to become a frontline mage? “I... failed an exam...”

She seemed to understand instantly. “Oh, I'm sorry. Lots of people fail the exam today, you know.”

I already knew that. Being told again didn't help much. “Only thirty percent of those examined at this test are passed...”

“And only one in every thousand that is past the age of majority,” she concluded. “It's not really a reflection on you or your merits if you're not able to pass that exam, Mr. Volt.”

“It's...” How do you explain to a role model of yours that your dreams of being just like her have been completely dashed? “...the end of a dream.”

We had reached her car at this point. It was a sleek black machine... far beyond my budget. Though really, I had a flat and no car. Very little was within my budget to begin with. “Why focus on this thing that you're not good at?” she asked as she unlocked the car and opened the driver's side door. I used the opportunity to open the other door and get in on the other side to stall, but I just couldn't tell her. I mean, I can't just go off and say that I wanted to be like her! Once we were in the car and she turned the key in the ignition, though, I was saved from answering when she asked a follow up question. “I mean, you're one of the best new device engineers we've got on staff. Shouldn't you focus on that?”

I'm what?!

“Oh, you didn't know?” She asked as she pulled out of the space. “I'm surprised. I'll have to give a word or two to Shari about that, then. She showed me one of your latest breakthroughs. You know, that Boost Device that you had added the auto-guard to?” I could only nod. My face was burning so much that I wanted to open the window. “Where is your place?”

I must have been coherent enough in my mumbling of the directions, because she nodded and we headed off in the right direction. “She told me that it was one of the best new things she'd seen out of an engineer younger than her, well, ever.”

“Miss Finieno... said that...?” Shario Finieno had been a visitor to my Advanced Device Mechanics class just a few months ago... she had assigned us to make an auto-guard to a Boost Device. I had done most of the work on it, and gotten a great grade to boot, but I hadn't really thought of it again.

Miss Takamachi laughed. “Yep, I really do need to have a word with Shari about encouraging good engineers. She's actually keeping an eye on you for possible relocation into the Enforcer corps.”

I couldn't actually contain my astonishment at this piece of news. “What?!”

She cast me an amused glance. “Shari really should have told you that, I think.”

I was flabbergasted. Was I... was I something to talk about when it came to my skills with a device? Sure, I'd helped others with their devices from time to time when they came to me about them, but I was always tinkering with devices with the aim of using one... I had taken a bunch of classes in that realm because they were enjoyable, and I was learning a lot about fighting with a device too... but to find out...

“So I think you should be concentrating on building devices, since you're so good with them.” She laughed again, “I mean, I'd be terrible at it. Shari tried to explain what you did, but she lost me only a few words in.”

“But... Using magic requires the same amount of math skills that device building does, doesn't it?”

“Amount, sure, but it's not the same thing by a long shot. I can do the math required for magic, but don't ask me to look at device code.” She stopped the car, and I realized that she had managed to take me right to my building. “Well, here you are. Feeling a bit better?”

I didn't quite know how I felt... but it certainly wasn't the same hopelessness that I had before I had been so kindly taken home by Nanoha Takamachi. “Yes... thank you very much for your words and the ride, Miss Takamachi.”

“Nanoha.”

I made a noise of confusion.

“Call me Nanoha. All my friends do.”

I managed to keep my tongue, for once. “Okay... Nanoha.”

She smiled.

After she drove away, I walked up to my room in a thoughtful mood. I knew that there were things that I needed to work on if I was to become an engineer in the Enforcer corps...

It was shocking that I even had a shot.

But my thoughts did stray back to Nanoha Takamachi, the Ace of Aces. A nice person who had given me a ride home when I was literally without direction. A young woman that had, through spending a bit of her time, made my day not only not suck, but had given me a new direction... a new dream.

And my friend. Imagine that.

[RadiantBeam]

Or 'cause you have FINALS FROM HELL and are studying like a mad woman :uhoh: you know I hope that's just me.

Quoted for truth. God, I hate finals.

Though I'm looking forward to graduation. :D

[AtomicoX]

I forgot I had this laying around on the HDD.

A land where no human had came out sane. An area filled of mysterious forces, hidden from outsiders. Those who trespassed never saw the world they had once known again. Either they succumbed to the land, or were driven insane by the powers floating around.

Those who had not succumbed and escaped with their life still close to their souls had told stories of strange creatures roaming the land, powerful beasts that instilled them with a freezing horror. Some had been brutally killed by these monsters; others had managed to kill them. There were a lot of these creatures they had said and they tried to stop others to venture into the lands.

New expeditions were sent out, but soon enough people realized it was for nothing. More people died or came back insane, and so they decided to stop venturing into the area. The coast of the land soon became void of life as the expedition parties returned to the mainland and their respective nations. They named it after its nature, implying that no one set their foot there again, else they wanted to be consumed by it.

The Forbidden Nation, or just The Zone as a few call it, fell into the shadows and was only told in legends to scare small children. Soon enough people forgot about the land to the north and didn’t bother to go there at all.
That is, until the spacecraft known as the Himalaya crashed and Cancri entered a new era. While the technology and the four nations flourished, some began to think about going north again, into the Zone, to find out whatever was hidden inside with the help of devices and more properly trained soldiers. It was discussed for a long while before a decision was made to send another expedition up north.

The operation was on a small scale and they left the mainland on a sunny Monday morning. They travelled by boat, on a large research vessel named Maria that was supposed to transport them over the rough Lobrok’s Sea and help them reach the land on the other side.
The trip took only a few hours, the distance being not that much of a challenge. The sky was cloud-free all day long and allowed them to safely reach the opposing shore. There they unloaded their equipment, said goodbye to the ship’s crew that would stay behind to wait for them until their return, and ventured across the border to the Forbidden Nation.

What they had expected to encounter after a few hours of travelling didn’t come. The forest was thick and snow covered the entirety of it. It was white, soft and calm where they walked, without as much as a sound. Some of them found that strange, as not even a single bird made a noise in the forest. No singing, no animal rushing to cover in fear, no wind blowing. It was all still and silent.
They eventually came upon a few ruins very similar to those they had seen in pictures that had survived other expeditions. They investigated them thoroughly but didn’t find anything worthy to look into more closely and so they moved further into the lands.

The radio and satellite communications devices they had brought with them still functioned properly but the signal was becoming weaker the further they went. They kept one of the soldiers talking at all times with the Maria’s crew to see when it would break.
After a few minutes of talking, the first horrifying event occurred. It was about time, since they had been undisturbed for so long.

It wasn’t a monster or mysterious creature that had caused it, as the stories had told, but one of the twelve members of the party had to sacrifice his life to something the others couldn’t figure out what it was.
When they had walked through a particularly thick part of the forest, that unlucky soldier had gone off far to the side to try and find another, easier way through. While the others kept an eye on him they saw how he suddenly froze in the middle of a step. They shouted at him, asking what he was doing but he didn’t respond. His eyes were full of fear.
Then his body started to levitate over the ground. The other soldiers stood wide-eyed and couldn’t believe what they saw. The soldier floated further up into the air until he began to spin with an increasing speed. He screamed at the top of his lungs as the gravitational forces suddenly reverted and his body exploded in a red cloud.
Nothing was left where he had walked and the rest of the party stood silent in shock. Eventually they moved on, coerced by their leader. While they had lost a comrade, they couldn’t stop this far in.

Their march continued for hours. Now and then new things happened that caused one of the party members to lose their life. Some was burnt to death by strange electrifying anomalies; others were suggested to have been poisoned by long, slender plant-like things hanging from the trees. Each death affected the party tremendously, but they knew they had to move on. Their comrades’ life had been for nothing if they returned.

Then they finally reached another building, one they had never seen or heard about. It looked like an abandoned bunker, its rounded roof sticking out of the ground with a heavy door sunk into the ground next to it. The few that were left, a total of four soldiers, gathered around it and managed to open it. They one by one entered the darkness to investigate what was inside.

Hours passed outside the bunker. It was still as silent and peaceful as it had been when they first arrived, no noise travelling through the forest. The sky was cloudy, as it always was over the Zone, caused by some strange natural phenomena no researcher had ever managed to figure out. If it was due to the atmosphere of Cancri, the location of the Zone or just this particular weather system, no one knew. It was always, without falter, cloudy.

A noise suddenly broke the silence. One of the soldiers, a woman, came running out of the bunker, screaming with horror. She was drenched in blood and made red spots in the snow where she ran. She continued to scream as she ran in the wrong direction, only venturing deeper into the Zone. What awaited her there no one knew, not even herself. All she could think of was to get away from the bunker. She entered the thicker parts of the forest again and disappeared.

The crew of the Maria, when they had waited for two days, finally unanchored and travelled home to the mainland. What had happened to the expedition party they didn’t know. The whole operation was deemed a failure and the relatives of those that had disappeared were notified. Funerals were had and tears were shed.
From that day onward no one ventured to the Forbidden Nation again. It has now been several years since anyone set their foot there. However, once again new forces are gathering, new motivation getting stronger.

The Zone will soon have new visitors.

[Satashi]

That's right, it's the end of school! How could I forget? :heh:

Decided to write whatever came to mind, since I hadn't written anything Nanoha lately. Result is as follows. Hope it's a nice distraction for you studying fiends!

Imagine That
What was I even doing here, anyway?

“...You failed.”

Was there a purpose? A reason? A driving force?

“You're welcome to come back next year...”

I didn't know anymore. How could I?

“but I personally wouldn't recommend going through the humiliation again.”

It was with dejection that I walked away from the training facility. It was, after all, a place that I was basically unwelcome in. I'd been there a few times before I had made this attempt... but none of them had been for my own sake. All of them had been for someone else. Someone else had asked me to do something, and I always watched when my work was being tested.

I had great ideas. Terrible execution. I don't know where I went wrong... but I knew that there wasn't much I could do about it this day. The sun may still be high in the sky, but that doesn't mean that I would be able to get myself to do anything for the rest of the day. It was the end of a dream. A nice dream, certainly; something that I had my whole being working toward for six months. For nothing, it seemed. I had wasted my time. I should have remained at my desk, in my own building, where I belonged.

My eyes were suddenly drawn to a figure that had come out of one of the medical buildings nearby. She was attractive; her hair was a reddish brown, kept in a long side ponytail... must be in her mid-twenties...

With a shock that goes through me, I realize that I'm looking at the Ace of Aces, and she is clearly not pleased.

I don't remember stopping, but I must have, because I'm not moving at this point and it takes a specific attempt from me in order to get my legs moving toward... I don't even know. The medical building is not one that I need to pass to get to either my flat or my office, so I don't even know why I had managed to get myself over here. So I stop again and look around, trying to figure out what the best way toward... well, anywhere... was from where I stood. This apparently caught the Ace's attention.

“Excuse me,” she said, causing me to snap around to look back at her. She is walking toward me. “Are you lost?”

I shook my head quickly. This was a mistake, as it exacerbated the headache that was now threatening to get only worse and worse as this terrible day went on. “I'm not. I just seem to be wandering aimlessly today, and I just realized where I had ended up...”

She laughed. “Oh, okay. Where are you headed, then?”

I looked back at her blankly, unable to tell her where I was going because I didn't know myself, and unable to bring up the reason why.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, when she noticed my facial expression wasn't changing. Maybe she could see something of my day in my face? “Are you alright?”

I couldn't say yes; I was not. But I also didn't want her to think that she had an obligation to do anything for me. This day was already bad enough; I didn't need to be imposing on the Ace of Aces' time as well. “I've been better.”

Her eyes were kind, I noticed. “I'm sorry, then. Perhaps you should head home, then? It is a weekend, after all.” She tilted her head to one side. “Where would that be?”

I had made the calculation by this point, so I indicated the direction of my flat. She was probably right about where I should go anyway; I wasn't going to get any decent work done toward my deadline at the end of next week.

“Would you like a lift? I'm headed home myself, and it's in that direction.”

“Oh, no... I couldn't... I couldn't accept that, Miss Takamachi...” I stuttered. I meet the Ace of Aces, she offers me a ride home, and I stutter. I clearly will never be anything but a dork.

“C'mon, can't let any up-and-coming technician be wandering about aimlessly!”

“Really, I...” Wait. What?

“I insist, Mr. Volt.” Now I'm pretty sure my mouth is open at this point and I'm staring. But I can't stop. She knows my name and my profession...?!

“A...alright...” I didn't really have a choice in the matter, did I?

“Good,” she said, apparently satisfied. She then walked past me, and I had to shake my head to try to get myself to move again. My headache objected to this, of course, but I don't think I cared. I caught up to her quickly enough. She looked at me as I pulled up alongside her. “So what's got you so melancholy today?”

Did I really have to tell the Ace of Aces that I had failed an exam to become a frontline mage? “I... failed an exam...”

She seemed to understand instantly. “Oh, I'm sorry. Lots of people fail the exam today, you know.”

I already knew that. Being told again didn't help much. “Only thirty percent of those examined at this test are passed...”

“And only one in every thousand that is past the age of majority,” she concluded. “It's not really a reflection on you or your merits if you're not able to pass that exam, Mr. Volt.”

“It's...” How do you explain to a role model of yours that your dreams of being just like her have been completely dashed? “...the end of a dream.”

We had reached her car at this point. It was a sleek black machine... far beyond my budget. Though really, I had a flat and no car. Very little was within my budget to begin with. “Why focus on this thing that you're not good at?” she asked as she unlocked the car and opened the driver's side door. I used the opportunity to open the other door and get in on the other side to stall, but I just couldn't tell her. I mean, I can't just go off and say that I wanted to be like her! Once we were in the car and she turned the key in the ignition, though, I was saved from answering when she asked a follow up question. “I mean, you're one of the best new device engineers we've got on staff. Shouldn't you focus on that?”

I'm what?!

“Oh, you didn't know?” She asked as she pulled out of the space. “I'm surprised. I'll have to give a word or two to Shari about that, then. She showed me one of your latest breakthroughs. You know, that Boost Device that you had added the auto-guard to?” I could only nod. My face was burning so much that I wanted to open the window. “Where is your place?”

I must have been coherent enough in my mumbling of the directions, because she nodded and we headed off in the right direction. “She told me that it was one of the best new things she'd seen out of an engineer younger than her, well, ever.”

“Miss Finieno... said that...?” Shario Finieno had been a visitor to my Advanced Device Mechanics class just a few months ago... she had assigned us to make an auto-guard to a Boost Device. I had done most of the work on it, and gotten a great grade to boot, but I hadn't really thought of it again.

Miss Takamachi laughed. “Yep, I really do need to have a word with Shari about encouraging good engineers. She's actually keeping an eye on you for possible relocation into the Enforcer corps.”

I couldn't actually contain my astonishment at this piece of news. “What?!”

She cast me an amused glance. “Shari really should have told you that, I think.”

I was flabbergasted. Was I... was I something to talk about when it came to my skills with a device? Sure, I'd helped others with their devices from time to time when they came to me about them, but I was always tinkering with devices with the aim of using one... I had taken a bunch of classes in that realm because they were enjoyable, and I was learning a lot about fighting with a device too... but to find out...

“So I think you should be concentrating on building devices, since you're so good with them.” She laughed again, “I mean, I'd be terrible at it. Shari tried to explain what you did, but she lost me only a few words in.”

“But... Using magic requires the same amount of math skills that device building does, doesn't it?”

“Amount, sure, but it's not the same thing by a long shot. I can do the math required for magic, but don't ask me to look at device code.” She stopped the car, and I realized that she had managed to take me right to my building. “Well, here you are. Feeling a bit better?”

I didn't quite know how I felt... but it certainly wasn't the same hopelessness that I had before I had been so kindly taken home by Nanoha Takamachi. “Yes... thank you very much for your words and the ride, Miss Takamachi.”

“Nanoha.”

I made a noise of confusion.

“Call me Nanoha. All my friends do.”

I managed to keep my tongue, for once. “Okay... Nanoha.”

She smiled.

After she drove away, I walked up to my room in a thoughtful mood. I knew that there were things that I needed to work on if I was to become an engineer in the Enforcer corps...

It was shocking that I even had a shot.

But my thoughts did stray back to Nanoha Takamachi, the Ace of Aces. A nice person who had given me a ride home when I was literally without direction. A young woman that had, through spending a bit of her time, made my day not only not suck, but had given me a new direction... a new dream.

And my friend. Imagine that.

That was enjoyable :3 It was neat seeing Nanoha from an outside source.

[Satashi]

So, How is everyone doing here? School finals and exams going on and all that. IT's been so dead here lately, lets get some life back into it! Are our authors going to be able to write again soon? :3

My finals are over (3 weeks ago lol) I don't know my grades on the tests, but I have an A in every class. Woohoo! 6 for 6 A's so far!

As for fics, my current one, Amber Dreams ( previously Onyx chip ) is almost done. I think it'll take about 2,000-3,000 words to be completed. I originally wanted to release it as one chapter but it pressed way too far. So I'm going to have one 8,000+ word chapter and one 3,000-4,000 word chapter. I should have chapter 1 done soon, Denzo is betaing it for me and then Angel will proof it.

One thing is, this'll be the first fic I've done where I actually sat down and wrote it in about 3-4 fics now. My last few were actually shorts here that compiled and then put together ( like Vampire!Fate, PornStar!Vivio, ect ) so this one will actually be good quality! *gasp!*

Anyway, Amber Dreams is a NanoFate fic with a twist. Set a few years before Vivid, Nanoha is over working herself trying to be a good mother, a flight instructor, and an active duty Ace for the Air Force. Fate, only able to come home for a day or two a month, has broken off her relationship with Nanoha after they split ways. Now broken up with her girlfriend for almost half a year, Fate comes to visit again and finds Vivio sick. Staying to help take care of her, Fate realizes that even though she wants to distance herself from Nanoha, it gets harder and more painful each day. Now Nanoha wants to re-kindle the fire while Fate tries to push her away for reasons that even she herself doesn't fully understand. Torn between a girl calling her "mama", an ex-girlfriend who still loves her, and her duty as an enforcer and the emotional baggage built up over the years of her life, Fate will have to make the decision that will effect everyone's life around her. And, like my other fics, it could go either way >3

[Jimmy C]

Just a suggestion, don't let anyone but you decide which way it goes. And only write one version of the outcome. No alternates.

[Satashi]

Just a suggestion, don't let anyone but you decide which way it goes. And only write one version of the outcome. No alternates.

I never write alternatives unless it replaces the original. Trust me, I got several request for it on "Week" and the other ones I did that had a "bad end".

But as for who decides this ending, it's not me but rather Fate. To some that may sound silly, but a few of you here know what I mean. I don't really plot what happens, I just give the characters a scenario and let them take it from there.

Hm.... have a short

"Are... Are you sure?" Fate's words a little shaky and her face was tinted so much that she felt a little faint from it. "Hayate..."

"She'll love it!" The short brown haired girl was grinning like a school girl, holding up a set of lingerie. The black fabric was sheer, white lace and frill running along the edges. several red bows were scattered over the materail as well, giving it an innocent but devilishly revealing appearance. Paired with the bra/pantie combo came thigh high stockings connected to a garter belt to go around her stomach. laced around the back and sides of the bra was a free flowing sheer sheet that covered her skin lightly but still allowed it to be seen. Satin gloves hung from the rack as well, long enough to go well past her elbows, leaving her hands uncovered, save for a loop for her middle finger to go through.

"But its... I don't even know how to put all that on!" Her eyes were looking everywhere save for the lingerie her friend had picked out.

"Relax, I'm sure you can figure it out. Besides, Nanoha-chan will do all the work taking it off.... But then again, she'll probably leave most of it on..." She put a finger to her chin in thought. "I'd definitely leave it on, makes it more exciting!"

"Hayate!" Fate was almost ready to leave the story, eyes closed tightly. "I- I changed my mind, maybe we're not ready-"

"You're ready!" Hayate told her firmly, but her voice was still laced with humor. "For goodness sake, you've been dating for how many years, have an adopted daughter, and ahve lived together since I had my division made! It's time to have sex!"

"Hayate!" Fate stammered, holding the front of her own shirt with a hand as if it would help calm her rapidly beating heart. "I-It's making love, not... sex" The last word was almost whispered out, eyes now looking at the floor.

"Sure, sure," Hayate pushed the lingerie at Fate and smiled as it was taken. "Just be sure to be yourself. Don't be so nervous about it girl! I'm sure Nanoha wants to take the next step as well, but she's probably worried it'll frighten you to get so intimate." She judges Fate's red ears. "And I can see why, you're so shy and innocent."

"You're not making this easy..." Fate mumbled lightly, eyes still downcast as she was suddenly starting to be pushed toward the register to check out. After what seemed like an eternity at the counter, she finally was able to leave the store with the set in a bright pink and white striped bag that proudly displayed the store name, much to her embarrassment. "Um, thanks again for the help."

"Anytime!" Hayate nudged her friend playfully. "Make sure you give me all the juicy details!"

"Hayate!?"

~**~

"Nanoha!" Fate knew she sounded nervous when the girl on the screen in front of her suddenly looked conscerned. "Um, hi! How's your day going?"

"Everything okay?" She asked instead of answering the question. "You look really red, do you have a fever?"

"N-no!" Fate heard her voice almost break. "Hey, um, will you be off at your normal time today?"

"Yes?" Nanoha looked at Fate oddly.

"Well," Fate glanced to the side where Hayate was flailing silently at her to calm down. "I'm going to cook dinner tonight for us, something really nice since we haven't been.. alone... in so long." She inhaled through her nose, suddenly remember what it felt like so many years ago when she asked Nanoha on a date. "Since, you know, Vivio is staying at a friend's and all..."

"That would be wonderful." Nanoha smiled brightly, eyes closed. "Should I bring anything home?"

Fate smiled, feeling her heart skip a beat at the happy look she was getting. "No, just your appetite. I'll see you at six then?"

"I'll be there." Nanoha waved lightly and got a happy nod before the monitors cut off.

Fate sighed out at once. "I was obvious wasn't I?"

"Badly." Hayate agreed without delay. "But you're only home here a few days a week so it's not too bad. Anyway, I need to get back to base. You set?" She got a small nod. "And Fate-chan?" She took her friend's hands and smiled at her. "Really, you two love each other. It's natural to be nervous the first time you make love. Just remember that she loves you deeply, and I promise you that she will be speechless when she sees you. Okay?"

"Okay," Fate gave her friend a tight hug before smiling at her. "Thanks."

~*To be continued*~

[KoSSa]

@Satashi: Finally something from MSLN section to look forward to. Not that there are bad works but... just too much action or violence for my taste (well except 2-3 other alreadi started fics). I hope this one wouldn't end like Week. Or not. I don't know, I just hope to have something good for reading.

[Satashi]

@Satashi: Finally something from MSLN section to look forward to. Not that there are bad works but... just too much action or violence for my taste (well except 2-3 other alreadi started fics). I hope this one wouldn't end like Week. Or not. I don't know, I just hope to have something good for reading.

Aw thank you, hearing that really makes me smile.

[RadiantBeam]

I get out of school next week, so here's looking forward to THAT. Graduation, HUZZAH!!

On the writing front, I've got another ViCia work in the wings (a direct sequel to "Shadow") and am currently chipping away at the next chapter of Bless the Broken Road.

[TheShinySword]

*clears throat*FINAAAAALSSS! *coughs*
That is all, see you in a week when I actually have the brain power write again.

[Satashi]

"Are... Are you sure?" Fate's words a little shaky and her face was tinted so much that she felt a little faint from it. "Hayate..."

"She'll love it!" The short brown haired girl was grinning like a school girl, holding up a set of lingerie. The black fabric was sheer, white lace and frill running along the edges. several red bows were scattered over the materail as well, giving it an innocent but devilishly revealing appearance. Paired with the bra/pantie combo came thigh high stockings connected to a garter belt to go around her stomach. laced around the back and sides of the bra was a free flowing sheer sheet that covered her skin lightly but still allowed it to be seen. Satin gloves hung from the rack as well, long enough to go well past her elbows, leaving her hands uncovered, save for a loop for her middle finger to go through.

"But its... I don't even know how to put all that on!" Her eyes were looking everywhere save for the lingerie her friend had picked out.

"Relax, I'm sure you can figure it out. Besides, Nanoha-chan will do all the work taking it off.... But then again, she'll probably leave most of it on..." She put a finger to her chin in thought. "I'd definitely leave it on, makes it more exciting!"

"Hayate!" Fate was almost ready to leave the story, eyes closed tightly. "I- I changed my mind, maybe we're not ready-"

"You're ready!" Hayate told her firmly, but her voice was still laced with humor. "For goodness sake, you've been dating for how many years, have an adopted daughter, and ahve lived together since I had my division made! It's time to have sex!"

"Hayate!" Fate stammered, holding the front of her own shirt with a hand as if it would help calm her rapidly beating heart. "I-It's making love, not... sex" The last word was almost whispered out, eyes now looking at the floor.

"Sure, sure," Hayate pushed the lingerie at Fate and smiled as it was taken. "Just be sure to be yourself. Don't be so nervous about it girl! I'm sure Nanoha wants to take the next step as well, but she's probably worried it'll frighten you to get so intimate." She judges Fate's red ears. "And I can see why, you're so shy and innocent."

"You're not making this easy..." Fate mumbled lightly, eyes still downcast as she was suddenly starting to be pushed toward the register to check out. After what seemed like an eternity at the counter, she finally was able to leave the store with the set in a bright pink and white striped bag that proudly displayed the store name, much to her embarrassment. "Um, thanks again for the help."

"Anytime!" Hayate nudged her friend playfully. "Make sure you give me all the juicy details!"

"Hayate!?"

~**~

"Nanoha!" Fate knew she sounded nervous when the girl on the screen in front of her suddenly looked conscerned. "Um, hi! How's your day going?"

"Everything okay?" She asked instead of answering the question. "You look really red, do you have a fever?"

"N-no!" Fate heard her voice almost break. "Hey, um, will you be off at your normal time today?"

"Yes?" Nanoha looked at Fate oddly.

"Well," Fate glanced to the side where Hayate was flailing silently at her to calm down. "I'm going to cook dinner tonight for us, something really nice since we haven't been.. alone... in so long." She inhaled through her nose, suddenly remember what it felt like so many years ago when she asked Nanoha on a date. "Since, you know, Vivio is staying at a friend's and all..."

"That would be wonderful." Nanoha smiled brightly, eyes closed. "Should I bring anything home?"

Fate smiled, feeling her heart skip a beat at the happy look she was getting. "No, just your appetite. I'll see you at six then?"

"I'll be there." Nanoha waved lightly and got a happy nod before the monitors cut off.

Fate sighed out at once. "I was obvious wasn't I?"

"Badly." Hayate agreed without delay. "But you're only home here a few days a week so it's not too bad. Anyway, I need to get back to base. You set?" She got a small nod. "And Fate-chan?" She took her friend's hands and smiled at her. "Really, you two love each other. It's natural to be nervous the first time you make love. Just remember that she loves you deeply, and I promise you that she will be speechless when she sees you. Okay?"

"Okay," Fate gave her friend a tight hug before smiling at her. "Thanks."

~*To be continued*~

"Okay, let's see..." Fate spoke aloud to try and calm herself down. "Dinner is almost done... Salads are in the refrigerator waiting for the dressing... rolls are cooling, wine is chilled..." She checked the table, already set, and made sure her side dishes were already in serving bowls with spoons. "Okay... good here..." The blonde walked around to the few steps leading up to the raised section of their loft. "Candles are ready to be lit." Picking up her fire stick, she made sure it worked. "Okay... incense is out." She inhaled heavily, smelling the faint scent of cinnamon spice.

Reaching to the side of the bed, she picked up her bag and laid out the contents on the bed. "Okay... I can change into this and light the candles after asking Nanoha to put the dishes in the kitchen to clean later... I'll have just enough time to set everything up... but..." Fate picked up another bag and felt her cheeks color even more as she opened it, being rewarded with several roses worth of petals. Taking a handful gently, she started scattering them over the bed that had one side of the blankets turned back already. After a few more sprinkles, she smiled at the sight. On Nanoha's side was a vase full of matching roses, a medium sized teddy bear, and a jewelry case. Moving to it, she opened the small box and smiled fondly down at the golden ring. Twin hearts were designed on it, each containing their different birth stones. With a slight tilt, she looked at the band of the ring, seeing the words I love you, forever engraved into it.

Slowly closing the box, Fate took a deep breath and went over everything once more before walking back down the stairs. Dinner was placed on the table and the candles were lit. A small bucket of ice was sat on a pedestal she had moved from the living room and the wine was placed in it. Again, she nervously triple checked everything and sat down into her seat.

Red eyes looked at the candles flickering flame and her thumbs started to nervously fiddle with each other. After a few minutes she looked at the clock on the wall and started to nervously bounce her leg while waiting.

One minute passed, and then another. After checking her watch several more times, she took a nervous breath and let it out slowly. The anticipation was building on her and she could feel each minute tick by with a painstakingly slow pace. Finally she looked at the clock once more after forcing herself not to for a while and noticed that it was far past what she had thought. 'She's almost an hour late...

Fate looked at the almost room temperature food layed out and sighed again, still nervously playing with her hands. 'Where are you, Nanoha...?

[ghazghkull]

*snip**snip*

You realize that you're teasing people right?

And as far as I can tell, I can see it going one of two ways and branching out from there |3

[BPHaru]

"Okay, let's see..." Fate spoke aloud to try and calm herself down. "Dinner is almost done... Salads are in the refrigerator waiting for the dressing... rolls are cooling, wine is chilled..." She checked the table, already set, and made sure her side dishes were already in serving bowls with spoons. "Okay... good here..." The blonde walked around to the few steps leading up to the raised section of their loft. "Candles are ready to be lit." Picking up her fire stick, she made sure it worked. "Okay... incense is out." She inhaled heavily, smelling the faint scent of cinnamon spice.

Reaching to the side of the bed, she picked up her bag and laid out the contents on the bed. "Okay... I can change into this and light the candles after asking Nanoha to put the dishes in the kitchen to clean later... I'll have just enough time to set everything up... but..." Fate picked up another bag and felt her cheeks color even more as she opened it, being rewarded with several roses worth of petals. Taking a handful gently, she started scattering them over the bed that had one side of the blankets turned back already. After a few more sprinkles, she smiled at the sight. On Nanoha's side was a vase full of matching roses, a medium sized teddy bear, and a jewelry case. Moving to it, she opened the small box and smiled fondly down at the golden ring. Twin hearts were designed on it, each containing their different birth stones. With a slight tilt, she looked at the band of the ring, seeing the words I love you, forever engraved into it.

Slowly closing the box, Fate took a deep breath and went over everything once more before walking back down the stairs. Dinner was placed on the table and the candles were lit. A small bucket of ice was sat on a pedestal she had moved from the living room and the wine was placed in it. Again, she nervously triple checked everything and sat down into her seat.

Red eyes looked at the candles flickering flame and her thumbs started to nervously fiddle with each other. After a few minutes she looked at the clock on the wall and started to nervously bounce her leg while waiting.

One minute passed, and then another. After checking her watch several more times, she took a nervous breath and let it out slowly. The anticipation was building on her and she could feel each minute tick by with a painstakingly slow pace. Finally she looked at the clock once more after forcing herself not to for a while and noticed that it was far past what she had thought. 'She's almost an hour late...

Fate looked at the almost room temperature food layed out and sighed again, still nervously playing with her hands. 'Where are you, Nanoha...?

Noooo Nanoha, where are you!? Blush!Fate needs you!!

Thanks for this second part, I'll be looking forward to your next update, and hoping for some fluff ^^

Cuídense y sigan sonriendo :)

[Satashi]

"Are... Are you sure?" Fate's words a little shaky and her face was tinted so much that she felt a little faint from it. "Hayate..."

"She'll love it!" The short brown haired girl was grinning like a school girl, holding up a set of lingerie. The black fabric was sheer, white lace and frill running along the edges. several red bows were scattered over the materiel as well, giving it an innocent but devilishly revealing appearance. Paired with the bra/pantie combo came thigh high stockings connected to a garter belt to go around her stomach. laced around the back and sides of the bra was a free flowing sheer sheet that covered her skin lightly but still allowed it to be seen. Satin gloves hung from the rack as well, long enough to go well past her elbows, leaving her hands uncovered, save for a loop for her middle finger to go through.

"But its... I don't even know how to put all that on!" Her eyes were looking everywhere save for the lingerie her friend had picked out.

"Relax, I'm sure you can figure it out. Besides, Nanoha-chan will do all the work taking it off.... But then again, she'll probably leave most of it on..." She put a finger to her chin in thought. "I'd definitely leave it on, makes it more exciting!"

"Hayate!" Fate was almost ready to leave the story, eyes closed tightly. "I- I changed my mind, maybe we're not ready-"

"You're ready!" Hayate told her firmly, but her voice was still laced with humor. "For goodness sake, you've been dating for how many years, have an adopted daughter, and have lived together since I had my division made! It's time to have sex!"

"Hayate!" Fate stammered, holding the front of her own shirt with a hand as if it would help calm her rapidly beating heart. "I-It's making love, not... sex" The last word was almost whispered out, eyes now looking at the floor.

"Sure, sure," Hayate pushed the lingerie at Fate and smiled as it was taken. "Just be sure to be yourself. Don't be so nervous about it girl! I'm sure Nanoha wants to take the next step as well, but she's probably worried it'll frighten you to get so intimate." She judges Fate's red ears. "And I can see why, you're so shy and innocent."

"You're not making this easy..." Fate mumbled lightly, eyes still downcast as she was suddenly starting to be pushed toward the register to check out. After what seemed like an eternity at the counter, she finally was able to leave the store with the set in a bright pink and white striped bag that proudly displayed the store name, much to her embarrassment. "Um, thanks again for the help."

"Anytime!" Hayate nudged her friend playfully. "Make sure you give me all the juicy details!"

"Hayate!?"

~**~

"Nanoha!" Fate knew she sounded nervous when the girl on the screen in front of her suddenly looked concerned. "Um, hi! How's your day going?"

"Everything okay?" She asked instead of answering the question. "You look really red, do you have a fever?"

"N-no!" Fate heard her voice almost break. "Hey, um, will you be off at your normal time today?"

"Yes?" Nanoha looked at Fate oddly.

"Well," Fate glanced to the side where Hayate was flailing silently at her to calm down. "I'm going to cook dinner tonight for us, something really nice since we haven't been.. alone... in so long." She inhaled through her nose, suddenly remember what it felt like so many years ago when she asked Nanoha on a date. "Since, you know, Vivio is staying at a friend's and all..."

"That would be wonderful." Nanoha smiled brightly, eyes closed. "Should I bring anything home?"

Fate smiled, feeling her heart skip a beat at the happy look she was getting. "No, just your appetite. I'll see you at six then?"

"I'll be there." Nanoha waved lightly and got a happy nod before the monitors cut off.

Fate sighed out at once. "I was obvious wasn't I?"

"Badly." Hayate agreed without delay. "But you're only home here a few days a week so it's not too bad. Anyway, I need to get back to base. You set?" She got a small nod. "And Fate-chan?" She took her friend's hands and smiled at her. "Really, you two love each other. It's natural to be nervous the first time you make love. Just remember that she loves you deeply, and I promise you that she will be speechless when she sees you. Okay?"

"Okay," Fate gave her friend a tight hug before smiling at her. "Thanks."

~*To be continued*~

"Okay, let's see..." Fate spoke aloud to try and calm herself down. "Dinner is almost done... Salads are in the refrigerator waiting for the dressing... rolls are cooling, wine is chilled..." She checked the table, already set, and made sure her side dishes were already in serving bowls with spoons. "Okay... good here..." The blonde walked around to the few steps leading up to the raised section of their loft. "Candles are ready to be lit." Picking up her fire stick, she made sure it worked. "Okay... incense is out." She inhaled heavily, smelling the faint scent of cinnamon spice.

Reaching to the side of the bed, she picked up her bag and laid out the contents on the bed. "Okay... I can change into this and light the candles after asking Nanoha to put the dishes in the kitchen to clean later... I'll have just enough time to set everything up... but..." Fate picked up another bag and felt her cheeks color even more as she opened it, being rewarded with several roses worth of petals. Taking a handful gently, she started scattering them over the bed that had one side of the blankets turned back already. After a few more sprinkles, she smiled at the sight. On Nanoha's side was a vase full of matching roses, a medium sized teddy bear, and a jewelry case. Moving to it, she opened the small box and smiled fondly down at the golden ring. Twin hearts were designed on it, each containing their different birth stones. With a slight tilt, she looked at the band of the ring, seeing the words I love you, forever engraved into it.

Slowly closing the box, Fate took a deep breath and went over everything once more before walking back down the stairs. Dinner was placed on the table and the candles were lit. A small bucket of ice was sat on a pedestal she had moved from the living room and the wine was placed in it. Again, she nervously triple checked everything and sat down into her seat.

Red eyes looked at the candles flickering flame and her thumbs started to nervously fiddle with each other. After a few minutes she looked at the clock on the wall and started to nervously bounce her leg while waiting.

One minute passed, and then another. After checking her watch several more times, she took a nervous breath and let it out slowly. The anticipation was building on her and she could feel each minute tick by with a painstakingly slow pace. Finally she looked at the clock once more after forcing herself not to for a while and noticed that it was far past what she had thought. 'She's almost an hour late...'

Fate looked at the almost room temperature food layed out and sighed again, still nervously playing with her hands. 'Where are you, Nanoha...?'


Leaning forward, Fate rested her cheek onto her palm and drummed her other fingertips against the table. Glazed ruby red eyes watched the wax melting down the side of the candle before it pooled in the catch near the base of the holder. A strand of hair fell over her line of vision and she lazily moved it to tuck behind her ear. Slowly she leaned back and crossed her arms, stomach growling at her as she looked at the now cold food. The bucket of ice holding their drink was covered with water droplets running down it from condensation. The clock was looked at yet again and she realized why she was so tired. 'She's two hours late...'

Standing, the blonde went to the podium housing a very expensive looking white pillow. Bardiche was picked up from it and looked at for a few moments. "Sir?" It asked her curiously.

"Bardiche... Can you do me a favor?"

"Yes Sir."

"Could you contact Raising Heart and ask her where Nanoha is? I don't want to tell her to come home, it wouldn't feel the same..."

"Certainly." The robotic male voice went quiet as the device flashed a few times. Fate held her partner in her palms, waiting as patiently as she could for the exchange of information. "Sir," she was addressed again. "Nanoha is running an extended training session with her students. Estimated time of completion is not known by Raising Heart."

"I... I see... thank you, Bardiche." Fate smiled at him as best she could, gently placing her device back onto the pillow. Walking back to the table, she looked at the food so carefully arranged on her plate. Everything was arranged in order from a picture she had looked at while plating the food, trying her best to make it show the feelings she had while making it. 'She decided to stay late to train them instead of coming home, even though I told her I wanted to spend time with her...'

Pushing the plate away from herself, Fate laid her head down on the table, resting on her arms. 'She does love her job... I guess I should be used to that by now...' Her stomach growled at her again but the blonde didn't feel like eating anything at the moment. Her eyes went to the clock on the wall again and watched the second hand tick away as it made the never ending circle. Each move of the hand made Fate's eyes glaze just a little more before her eyes finally closed on their own and sleep over took her.

~**~

"Okay everyone!" Nanoha called out, using the monitors to make sure every student could hear her. "I think we're ready for the evaluation tomorrow. Remember to rest well tonight, morning practice is canceled so you can all be ready for a hard afternoon and night. Please try your best, I'm sorry we only found out about this during tonight's session. I hope I didn't push you too hard?" The look of her students made her smile to herself lightly and she judged each person's body position, ranging from desperation to just keep standing to the ones who looked like they had seen hell and only barely came back to tell the story. "Dismissed then!"

Several salutes later, Nanoha closed down her monitors and sighed out. 'I can not believe they're giving me a surprise performance interview tomorrow. My poor students are going to be scared stupid when they are talked to and have their performance judged... I wish I had another day to prepare them...' With a sigh, she began walking to the residential area of the base. 'I'm starving, I can't wait to get something to...' Her eyes widened slightly and a hand was brought to her mouth. 'Oh my goodness, Fate-chan was going to cook for me tonight! I didn't even think to tell her I would be late!'

Bringing her hand down to her chest, she gripped Raising Heart lightly. " Can you contact Fate-chan please?"

A few seconds went by before she was answered. "Bardiche says that Fate is asleep. Should I contact anyway?"

"Ah, n-no, I'll be home soon..." Nanoha started going as fast as she could without looking like she was running. 'Oh I hope she didn't wait on me...' She knew before she was even done thinking that Fate would wait on her regardless. This made her finally pick up her speed to an almost full run to make it to the front doors of the building faster. Panting lightly, she jogged to the elevator and pushed the button. Several seconds went by in an annoyed rush before she was able to get in, smile at the person joining her, and repress a groan when he pushed the button for the floor beneath hers.

After several long moments in the enclosed space, Nanoha finally made it to her floor. As she stood in front of her door, she took a long deep breath before placing her hand on the scanner to open it. At once she smelt a scent that she could only place as 'romantic' and felt the mood hit her full force when she noticed that the lights were mostly dimmed and the dining room was illuminated by a soft flickering glow from candles.

After a few moments to allow herself to adjust to the shock, Nanoha quickly took off her shoes and padded her way to the table in her socks. When she saw Fate she stopped at once, bringing a hand to her mouth again. Slowly she walked to her girlfriend and looked with wide eyes at the surroundings. The candles were melting slowly, casting their light over the dinner that she could tell took the better part of the night to prepare. The wine was glanced at and the empty glasses were ones they only used for special occasions. Guilt built up in her stomach seeing it and when she finally was able to look at the blonde leaning onto the table. "Fate...chan?"

No response came to her and her chest tightened when she noticed that Fate was sleeping. 'She waited for me... past the time we normally go to sleep...' Nanoha brought both hands to her face, feeling a mixture of wanting to scream at herself and cry at the same time. 'Fate-chan's too nice! I don't know what to say when she will look at me with those eyes... I can always tell when she has her feelings hurt... '

Several moments passed by in silence as Nanoha stood beside Fate, looking over her and glancing around to see everything that had been prepared for her dinner. 'Should I wake her?' She knew that even if she tried to carry Fate to bed that she would wake up. 'Ohhh... what do I say...?' A shaking hand went to place onto the blonde's shoulder gently. "Fate-chan...? Hey, Fate-chan?"

Fate slowly rose up, blinking a few times in confusion before looking over at Nanoha. At once she averted her eyes and looked over the table. "You're late..."

The two words cut deep into Nanoha's heart and the soft hurt tone only made it worse. "I-I'm sorry, I..."

Fate looked over at her again, light tears almost visible in the corner of her eyes. "Nanoha, why didn't you call me?"

"I..." Nanoha swallowed, her throat tightening when she realized that the honest answer would be that she forgot. "I suddenly was told I would be inspected tomorrow and... and..."

"You could have told me."

Again, the words were gentle but full of sadness. Not a trace of anger was laced with them. "I.. I'm sorry."

"... Never mind, it's okay." Fate stood and wiped her eyes while trying to make it look like she wasn't. "Enjoy dinner, just heat it up a little okay? Salad is in the fridge, I'm going to get in bed."

"No, lets eat together?" Nanoha reached out but found Fate stepping away, eyes downcast.

"Thank you, I'm not hungry right now..." Turning, the blonde started walking to the stairs, not noticing the girl trailing behind her.

"Fate-chan, I-" Nanoha stopped when the girl turned around on her.

"Just eat for a while, please!" Fate's words almost broke, her bottom lip quivering. When Nanoha took a step forward again to reach out to her, Fate turned and walked quickly to the bed, shoving her lingerie into the bag.

"Fate-chan!?" Nanoha ran the three steps up to her bed, stopping and gasping when she saw everything. Fate was quickly pushing the things into her bag to hide them but she still saw what they were. Scared blue eyes took in the bed, seeing the rose petals over it and finally the candles lined up everywhere on their nightstands and dressers. Finally she saw the large vase of roses and she walked over to it slowly, picking up a card envelope with her name on it.

"Don't!" Fate cried out, plucking the card from Nanoha's fingers. "Just, just go away a moment!" She couldn't hide her sadness anymore and tears started to trickle down her cheeks. "Please! Nanoha!" Her hand went to pick up the small velvet box but it ended up slipping from her shaking fingers.

"Fate-chan, I" Nanoha quickly caught the now open box and her words froze when she saw the ring. "Fate...chan?" Looking up, she saw Fate try to hide her face in her hands, shoulders shaking as she cried. "I- I'm sorry!" her words faltered, seeing the stuffed animal for her as well next to the flowers. Her mind finally put everything together and she realized exactly what that night should have been. "Oh my god... Fate-chan... I'm... I'm so sorry..."

"I just... Nanoha..." Fate's voice broke again and she quickly ran past her. "I'm staying with Hayate tonight!"

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha rushed after her, reaching out to grab Fate's shoulder just as the blonde made it to the door. "Don't!"

"I'm sorry!" Fate sobbed loudly, shaking the hand off and running down the hallway.

Nanoha stood in the doorway, helplessly watching Fate pass the elevator to take the stairs to the floor above them so she wouldn't have to risk Nanoha calling out to her again. "Fate-chan..."

[BPHaru]

"Are... Are you sure?" Fate's words a little shaky and her face was tinted so much that she felt a little faint from it. "Hayate..."

"She'll love it!" The short brown haired girl was grinning like a school girl, holding up a set of lingerie. The black fabric was sheer, white lace and frill running along the edges. several red bows were scattered over the materiel as well, giving it an innocent but devilishly revealing appearance. Paired with the bra/pantie combo came thigh high stockings connected to a garter belt to go around her stomach. laced around the back and sides of the bra was a free flowing sheer sheet that covered her skin lightly but still allowed it to be seen. Satin gloves hung from the rack as well, long enough to go well past her elbows, leaving her hands uncovered, save for a loop for her middle finger to go through.

"But its... I don't even know how to put all that on!" Her eyes were looking everywhere save for the lingerie her friend had picked out.

"Relax, I'm sure you can figure it out. Besides, Nanoha-chan will do all the work taking it off.... But then again, she'll probably leave most of it on..." She put a finger to her chin in thought. "I'd definitely leave it on, makes it more exciting!"

"Hayate!" Fate was almost ready to leave the story, eyes closed tightly. "I- I changed my mind, maybe we're not ready-"

"You're ready!" Hayate told her firmly, but her voice was still laced with humor. "For goodness sake, you've been dating for how many years, have an adopted daughter, and have lived together since I had my division made! It's time to have sex!"

"Hayate!" Fate stammered, holding the front of her own shirt with a hand as if it would help calm her rapidly beating heart. "I-It's making love, not... sex" The last word was almost whispered out, eyes now looking at the floor.

"Sure, sure," Hayate pushed the lingerie at Fate and smiled as it was taken. "Just be sure to be yourself. Don't be so nervous about it girl! I'm sure Nanoha wants to take the next step as well, but she's probably worried it'll frighten you to get so intimate." She judges Fate's red ears. "And I can see why, you're so shy and innocent."

"You're not making this easy..." Fate mumbled lightly, eyes still downcast as she was suddenly starting to be pushed toward the register to check out. After what seemed like an eternity at the counter, she finally was able to leave the store with the set in a bright pink and white striped bag that proudly displayed the store name, much to her embarrassment. "Um, thanks again for the help."

"Anytime!" Hayate nudged her friend playfully. "Make sure you give me all the juicy details!"

"Hayate!?"

~**~

"Nanoha!" Fate knew she sounded nervous when the girl on the screen in front of her suddenly looked concerned. "Um, hi! How's your day going?"

"Everything okay?" She asked instead of answering the question. "You look really red, do you have a fever?"

"N-no!" Fate heard her voice almost break. "Hey, um, will you be off at your normal time today?"

"Yes?" Nanoha looked at Fate oddly.

"Well," Fate glanced to the side where Hayate was flailing silently at her to calm down. "I'm going to cook dinner tonight for us, something really nice since we haven't been.. alone... in so long." She inhaled through her nose, suddenly remember what it felt like so many years ago when she asked Nanoha on a date. "Since, you know, Vivio is staying at a friend's and all..."

"That would be wonderful." Nanoha smiled brightly, eyes closed. "Should I bring anything home?"

Fate smiled, feeling her heart skip a beat at the happy look she was getting. "No, just your appetite. I'll see you at six then?"

"I'll be there." Nanoha waved lightly and got a happy nod before the monitors cut off.

Fate sighed out at once. "I was obvious wasn't I?"

"Badly." Hayate agreed without delay. "But you're only home here a few days a week so it's not too bad. Anyway, I need to get back to base. You set?" She got a small nod. "And Fate-chan?" She took her friend's hands and smiled at her. "Really, you two love each other. It's natural to be nervous the first time you make love. Just remember that she loves you deeply, and I promise you that she will be speechless when she sees you. Okay?"

"Okay," Fate gave her friend a tight hug before smiling at her. "Thanks."

~*To be continued*~

"Okay, let's see..." Fate spoke aloud to try and calm herself down. "Dinner is almost done... Salads are in the refrigerator waiting for the dressing... rolls are cooling, wine is chilled..." She checked the table, already set, and made sure her side dishes were already in serving bowls with spoons. "Okay... good here..." The blonde walked around to the few steps leading up to the raised section of their loft. "Candles are ready to be lit." Picking up her fire stick, she made sure it worked. "Okay... incense is out." She inhaled heavily, smelling the faint scent of cinnamon spice.

Reaching to the side of the bed, she picked up her bag and laid out the contents on the bed. "Okay... I can change into this and light the candles after asking Nanoha to put the dishes in the kitchen to clean later... I'll have just enough time to set everything up... but..." Fate picked up another bag and felt her cheeks color even more as she opened it, being rewarded with several roses worth of petals. Taking a handful gently, she started scattering them over the bed that had one side of the blankets turned back already. After a few more sprinkles, she smiled at the sight. On Nanoha's side was a vase full of matching roses, a medium sized teddy bear, and a jewelry case. Moving to it, she opened the small box and smiled fondly down at the golden ring. Twin hearts were designed on it, each containing their different birth stones. With a slight tilt, she looked at the band of the ring, seeing the words I love you, forever engraved into it.

Slowly closing the box, Fate took a deep breath and went over everything once more before walking back down the stairs. Dinner was placed on the table and the candles were lit. A small bucket of ice was sat on a pedestal she had moved from the living room and the wine was placed in it. Again, she nervously triple checked everything and sat down into her seat.

Red eyes looked at the candles flickering flame and her thumbs started to nervously fiddle with each other. After a few minutes she looked at the clock on the wall and started to nervously bounce her leg while waiting.

One minute passed, and then another. After checking her watch several more times, she took a nervous breath and let it out slowly. The anticipation was building on her and she could feel each minute tick by with a painstakingly slow pace. Finally she looked at the clock once more after forcing herself not to for a while and noticed that it was far past what she had thought. 'She's almost an hour late...'

Fate looked at the almost room temperature food layed out and sighed again, still nervously playing with her hands. 'Where are you, Nanoha...?'


Leaning forward, Fate rested her cheek onto her palm and drummed her other fingertips against the table. Glazed ruby red eyes watched the wax melting down the side of the candle before it pooled in the catch near the base of the holder. A strand of hair fell over her line of vision and she lazily moved it to tuck behind her ear. Slowly she leaned back and crossed her arms, stomach growling at her as she looked at the now cold food. The bucket of ice holding their drink was covered with water droplets running down it from condensation. The clock was looked at yet again and she realized why she was so tired. 'She's two hours late...'

Standing, the blonde went to the podium housing a very expensive looking white pillow. Bardiche was picked up from it and looked at for a few moments. "Sir?" It asked her curiously.

"Bardiche... Can you do me a favor?"

"Yes Sir."

"Could you contact Raising Heart and ask her where Nanoha is? I don't want to tell her to come home, it wouldn't feel the same..."

"Certainly." The robotic male voice went quiet as the device flashed a few times. Fate held her partner in her palms, waiting as patiently as she could for the exchange of information. "Sir," she was addressed again. "Nanoha is running an extended training session with her students. Estimated time of completion is not known by Raising Heart."

"I... I see... thank you, Bardiche." Fate smiled at him as best she could, gently placing her device back onto the pillow. Walking back to the table, she looked at the food so carefully arranged on her plate. Everything was arranged in order from a picture she had looked at while plating the food, trying her best to make it show the feelings she had while making it. 'She decided to stay late to train them instead of coming home, even though I told her I wanted to spend time with her...'

Pushing the plate away from herself, Fate laid her head down on the table, resting on her arms. 'She does love her job... I guess I should be used to that by now...' Her stomach growled at her again but the blonde didn't feel like eating anything at the moment. Her eyes went to the clock on the wall again and watched the second hand tick away as it made the never ending circle. Each move of the hand made Fate's eyes glaze just a little more before her eyes finally closed on their own and sleep over took her.

~**~

"Okay everyone!" Nanoha called out, using the monitors to make sure every student could hear her. "I think we're ready for the evaluation tomorrow. Remember to rest well tonight, morning practice is canceled so you can all be ready for a hard afternoon and night. Please try your best, I'm sorry we only found out about this during tonight's session. I hope I didn't push you too hard?" The look of her students made her smile to herself lightly and she judged each person's body position, ranging from desperation to just keep standing to the ones who looked like they had seen hell and only barely came back to tell the story. "Dismissed then!"

Several salutes later, Nanoha closed down her monitors and sighed out. 'I can not believe they're giving me a surprise performance interview tomorrow. My poor students are going to be scared stupid when they are talked to and have their performance judged... I wish I had another day to prepare them...' With a sigh, she began walking to the residential area of the base. 'I'm starving, I can't wait to get something to...' Her eyes widened slightly and a hand was brought to her mouth. 'Oh my goodness, Fate-chan was going to cook for me tonight! I didn't even think to tell her I would be late!'

Bringing her hand down to her chest, she gripped Raising Heart lightly. " Can you contact Fate-chan please?"

A few seconds went by before she was answered. "Bardiche says that Fate is asleep. Should I contact anyway?"

"Ah, n-no, I'll be home soon..." Nanoha started going as fast as she could without looking like she was running. 'Oh I hope she didn't wait on me...' She knew before she was even done thinking that Fate would wait on her regardless. This made her finally pick up her speed to an almost full run to make it to the front doors of the building faster. Panting lightly, she jogged to the elevator and pushed the button. Several seconds went by in an annoyed rush before she was able to get in, smile at the person joining her, and repress a groan when he pushed the button for the floor beneath hers.

After several long moments in the enclosed space, Nanoha finally made it to her floor. As she stood in front of her door, she took a long deep breath before placing her hand on the scanner to open it. At once she smelt a scent that she could only place as 'romantic' and felt the mood hit her full force when she noticed that the lights were mostly dimmed and the dining room was illuminated by a soft flickering glow from candles.

After a few moments to allow herself to adjust to the shock, Nanoha quickly took off her shoes and padded her way to the table in her socks. When she saw Fate she stopped at once, bringing a hand to her mouth again. Slowly she walked to her girlfriend and looked with wide eyes at the surroundings. The candles were melting slowly, casting their light over the dinner that she could tell took the better part of the night to prepare. The wine was glanced at and the empty glasses were ones they only used for special occasions. Guilt built up in her stomach seeing it and when she finally was able to look at the blonde leaning onto the table. "Fate...chan?"

No response came to her and her chest tightened when she noticed that Fate was sleeping. 'She waited for me... past the time we normally go to sleep...' Nanoha brought both hands to her face, feeling a mixture of wanting to scream at herself and cry at the same time. 'Fate-chan's too nice! I don't know what to say when she will look at me with those eyes... I can always tell when she has her feelings hurt... '

Several moments passed by in silence as Nanoha stood beside Fate, looking over her and glancing around to see everything that had been prepared for her dinner. 'Should I wake her?' She knew that even if she tried to carry Fate to bed that she would wake up. 'Ohhh... what do I say...?' A shaking hand went to place onto the blonde's shoulder gently. "Fate-chan...? Hey, Fate-chan?"

Fate slowly rose up, blinking a few times in confusion before looking over at Nanoha. At once she averted her eyes and looked over the table. "You're late..."

The two words cut deep into Nanoha's heart and the soft hurt tone only made it worse. "I-I'm sorry, I..."

Fate looked over at her again, light tears almost visible in the corner of her eyes. "Nanoha, why didn't you call me?"

"I..." Nanoha swallowed, her throat tightening when she realized that the honest answer would be that she forgot. "I suddenly was told I would be inspected tomorrow and... and..."

"You could have told me."

Again, the words were gentle but full of sadness. Not a trace of anger was laced with them. "I.. I'm sorry."

"... Never mind, it's okay." Fate stood and wiped her eyes while trying to make it look like she wasn't. "Enjoy dinner, just heat it up a little okay? Salad is in the fridge, I'm going to get in bed."

"No, lets eat together?" Nanoha reached out but found Fate stepping away, eyes downcast.

"Thank you, I'm not hungry right now..." Turning, the blonde started walking to the stairs, not noticing the girl trailing behind her.

"Fate-chan, I-" Nanoha stopped when the girl turned around on her.

"Just eat for a while, please!" Fate's words almost broke, her bottom lip quivering. When Nanoha took a step forward again to reach out to her, Fate turned and walked quickly to the bed, shoving her lingerie into the bag.

"Fate-chan!?" Nanoha ran the three steps up to her bed, stopping and gasping when she saw everything. Fate was quickly pushing the things into her bag to hide them but she still saw what they were. Scared blue eyes took in the bed, seeing the rose petals over it and finally the candles lined up everywhere on their nightstands and dressers. Finally she saw the large vase of roses and she walked over to it slowly, picking up a card envelope with her name on it.

"Don't!" Fate cried out, plucking the card from Nanoha's fingers. "Just, just go away a moment!" She couldn't hide her sadness anymore and tears started to trickle down her cheeks. "Please! Nanoha!" Her hand went to pick up the small velvet box but it ended up slipping from her shaking fingers.

"Fate-chan, I" Nanoha quickly caught the now open box and her words froze when she saw the ring. "Fate...chan?" Looking up, she saw Fate try to hide her face in her hands, shoulders shaking as she cried. "I- I'm sorry!" her words faltered, seeing the stuffed animal for her as well next to the flowers. Her mind finally put everything together and she realized exactly what tonight should have been. "Oh my god... Fate-chan... I'm... I'm so sorry..."

"I just... Nanoha..." Fate's voice broke again and she quickly ran past her. "I'm staying with Hayate tonight!"

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha rushed after her, reaching out to grab Fate's shoulder just as the blonde made it to the door. "Don't!"

"I'm sorry!" Fate sobbed loudly, shaking the hand off and running down the hallway.

Nanoha stood in the doorway, helplessly watching Fate pass the elevator to take the stairs to the floor above them so she wouldn't have to risk Nanoha calling out to her again. "Fate-chan..."
Wow, unexpected drama!
You're an idiot, Nanoha. How could you forget about your Fate-chan?

This fic is turning more serious than what I expected, and that's great.

Thanks for this third part. Its length is very appreciated too.

Cuídense y sigan sonriendo :)

[Satashi]

Wow, unexpected drama!
You're an idiot, Nanoha. How could you forget about your Fate-chan?

This fic is turning more serious than what I expected, and that's great.

Thanks for this third part. Its length is very appreciated too.

Cuídense y sigan sonriendo :)

:3 glad you liked it, wrote that while eating lunch while on break today at work ^^

And that's real life for you. Make one small mistake like forgetting to call your significant other to tell them you'll be late and all of a sudden you're facing a crisis.

[Satashi]

"Are... Are you sure?" Fate's words a little shaky and her face was tinted so much that she felt a little faint from it. "Hayate..."

"She'll love it!" The short brown haired girl was grinning like a school girl, holding up a set of lingerie. The black fabric was sheer, white lace and frill running along the edges. several red bows were scattered over the materiel as well, giving it an innocent but devilishly revealing appearance. Paired with the bra/pantie combo came thigh high stockings connected to a garter belt to go around her stomach. laced around the back and sides of the bra was a free flowing sheer sheet that covered her skin lightly but still allowed it to be seen. Satin gloves hung from the rack as well, long enough to go well past her elbows, leaving her hands uncovered, save for a loop for her middle finger to go through.

"But its... I don't even know how to put all that on!" Her eyes were looking everywhere save for the lingerie her friend had picked out.

"Relax, I'm sure you can figure it out. Besides, Nanoha-chan will do all the work taking it off.... But then again, she'll probably leave most of it on..." She put a finger to her chin in thought. "I'd definitely leave it on, makes it more exciting!"

"Hayate!" Fate was almost ready to leave the story, eyes closed tightly. "I- I changed my mind, maybe we're not ready-"

"You're ready!" Hayate told her firmly, but her voice was still laced with humor. "For goodness sake, you've been dating for how many years, have an adopted daughter, and have lived together since I had my division made! It's time to have sex!"

"Hayate!" Fate stammered, holding the front of her own shirt with a hand as if it would help calm her rapidly beating heart. "I-It's making love, not... sex" The last word was almost whispered out, eyes now looking at the floor.

"Sure, sure," Hayate pushed the lingerie at Fate and smiled as it was taken. "Just be sure to be yourself. Don't be so nervous about it girl! I'm sure Nanoha wants to take the next step as well, but she's probably worried it'll frighten you to get so intimate." She judges Fate's red ears. "And I can see why, you're so shy and innocent."

"You're not making this easy..." Fate mumbled lightly, eyes still downcast as she was suddenly starting to be pushed toward the register to check out. After what seemed like an eternity at the counter, she finally was able to leave the store with the set in a bright pink and white striped bag that proudly displayed the store name, much to her embarrassment. "Um, thanks again for the help."

"Anytime!" Hayate nudged her friend playfully. "Make sure you give me all the juicy details!"

"Hayate!?"

~**~

"Nanoha!" Fate knew she sounded nervous when the girl on the screen in front of her suddenly looked concerned. "Um, hi! How's your day going?"

"Everything okay?" She asked instead of answering the question. "You look really red, do you have a fever?"

"N-no!" Fate heard her voice almost break. "Hey, um, will you be off at your normal time today?"

"Yes?" Nanoha looked at Fate oddly.

"Well," Fate glanced to the side where Hayate was flailing silently at her to calm down. "I'm going to cook dinner tonight for us, something really nice since we haven't been.. alone... in so long." She inhaled through her nose, suddenly remember what it felt like so many years ago when she asked Nanoha on a date. "Since, you know, Vivio is staying at a friend's and all..."

"That would be wonderful." Nanoha smiled brightly, eyes closed. "Should I bring anything home?"

Fate smiled, feeling her heart skip a beat at the happy look she was getting. "No, just your appetite. I'll see you at six then?"

"I'll be there." Nanoha waved lightly and got a happy nod before the monitors cut off.

Fate sighed out at once. "I was obvious wasn't I?"

"Badly." Hayate agreed without delay. "But you're only home here a few days a week so it's not too bad. Anyway, I need to get back to base. You set?" She got a small nod. "And Fate-chan?" She took her friend's hands and smiled at her. "Really, you two love each other. It's natural to be nervous the first time you make love. Just remember that she loves you deeply, and I promise you that she will be speechless when she sees you. Okay?"

"Okay," Fate gave her friend a tight hug before smiling at her. "Thanks."

~*To be continued*~

"Okay, let's see..." Fate spoke aloud to try and calm herself down. "Dinner is almost done... Salads are in the refrigerator waiting for the dressing... rolls are cooling, wine is chilled..." She checked the table, already set, and made sure her side dishes were already in serving bowls with spoons. "Okay... good here..." The blonde walked around to the few steps leading up to the raised section of their loft. "Candles are ready to be lit." Picking up her fire stick, she made sure it worked. "Okay... incense is out." She inhaled heavily, smelling the faint scent of cinnamon spice.

Reaching to the side of the bed, she picked up her bag and laid out the contents on the bed. "Okay... I can change into this and light the candles after asking Nanoha to put the dishes in the kitchen to clean later... I'll have just enough time to set everything up... but..." Fate picked up another bag and felt her cheeks color even more as she opened it, being rewarded with several roses worth of petals. Taking a handful gently, she started scattering them over the bed that had one side of the blankets turned back already. After a few more sprinkles, she smiled at the sight. On Nanoha's side was a vase full of matching roses, a medium sized teddy bear, and a jewelry case. Moving to it, she opened the small box and smiled fondly down at the golden ring. Twin hearts were designed on it, each containing their different birth stones. With a slight tilt, she looked at the band of the ring, seeing the words I love you, forever engraved into it.

Slowly closing the box, Fate took a deep breath and went over everything once more before walking back down the stairs. Dinner was placed on the table and the candles were lit. A small bucket of ice was sat on a pedestal she had moved from the living room and the wine was placed in it. Again, she nervously triple checked everything and sat down into her seat.

Red eyes looked at the candles flickering flame and her thumbs started to nervously fiddle with each other. After a few minutes she looked at the clock on the wall and started to nervously bounce her leg while waiting.

One minute passed, and then another. After checking her watch several more times, she took a nervous breath and let it out slowly. The anticipation was building on her and she could feel each minute tick by with a painstakingly slow pace. Finally she looked at the clock once more after forcing herself not to for a while and noticed that it was far past what she had thought. 'She's almost an hour late...'

Fate looked at the almost room temperature food layed out and sighed again, still nervously playing with her hands. 'Where are you, Nanoha...?'


Leaning forward, Fate rested her cheek onto her palm and drummed her other fingertips against the table. Glazed ruby red eyes watched the wax melting down the side of the candle before it pooled in the catch near the base of the holder. A strand of hair fell over her line of vision and she lazily moved it to tuck behind her ear. Slowly she leaned back and crossed her arms, stomach growling at her as she looked at the now cold food. The bucket of ice holding their drink was covered with water droplets running down it from condensation. The clock was looked at yet again and she realized why she was so tired. 'She's two hours late...'

Standing, the blonde went to the podium housing a very expensive looking white pillow. Bardiche was picked up from it and looked at for a few moments. "Sir?" It asked her curiously.

"Bardiche... Can you do me a favor?"

"Yes Sir."

"Could you contact Raising Heart and ask her where Nanoha is? I don't want to tell her to come home, it wouldn't feel the same..."

"Certainly." The robotic male voice went quiet as the device flashed a few times. Fate held her partner in her palms, waiting as patiently as she could for the exchange of information. "Sir," she was addressed again. "Nanoha is running an extended training session with her students. Estimated time of completion is not known by Raising Heart."

"I... I see... thank you, Bardiche." Fate smiled at him as best she could, gently placing her device back onto the pillow. Walking back to the table, she looked at the food so carefully arranged on her plate. Everything was arranged in order from a picture she had looked at while plating the food, trying her best to make it show the feelings she had while making it. 'She decided to stay late to train them instead of coming home, even though I told her I wanted to spend time with her...'

Pushing the plate away from herself, Fate laid her head down on the table, resting on her arms. 'She does love her job... I guess I should be used to that by now...' Her stomach growled at her again but the blonde didn't feel like eating anything at the moment. Her eyes went to the clock on the wall again and watched the second hand tick away as it made the never ending circle. Each move of the hand made Fate's eyes glaze just a little more before her eyes finally closed on their own and sleep over took her.

~**~

"Okay everyone!" Nanoha called out, using the monitors to make sure every student could hear her. "I think we're ready for the evaluation tomorrow. Remember to rest well tonight, morning practice is canceled so you can all be ready for a hard afternoon and night. Please try your best, I'm sorry we only found out about this during tonight's session. I hope I didn't push you too hard?" The look of her students made her smile to herself lightly and she judged each person's body position, ranging from desperation to just keep standing to the ones who looked like they had seen hell and only barely came back to tell the story. "Dismissed then!"

Several salutes later, Nanoha closed down her monitors and sighed out. 'I can not believe they're giving me a surprise performance interview tomorrow. My poor students are going to be scared stupid when they are talked to and have their performance judged... I wish I had another day to prepare them...' With a sigh, she began walking to the residential area of the base. 'I'm starving, I can't wait to get something to...' Her eyes widened slightly and a hand was brought to her mouth. 'Oh my goodness, Fate-chan was going to cook for me tonight! I didn't even think to tell her I would be late!'

Bringing her hand down to her chest, she gripped Raising Heart lightly. " Can you contact Fate-chan please?"

A few seconds went by before she was answered. "Bardiche says that Fate is asleep. Should I contact anyway?"

"Ah, n-no, I'll be home soon..." Nanoha started going as fast as she could without looking like she was running. 'Oh I hope she didn't wait on me...' She knew before she was even done thinking that Fate would wait on her regardless. This made her finally pick up her speed to an almost full run to make it to the front doors of the building faster. Panting lightly, she jogged to the elevator and pushed the button. Several seconds went by in an annoyed rush before she was able to get in, smile at the person joining her, and repress a groan when he pushed the button for the floor beneath hers.

After several long moments in the enclosed space, Nanoha finally made it to her floor. As she stood in front of her door, she took a long deep breath before placing her hand on the scanner to open it. At once she smelt a scent that she could only place as 'romantic' and felt the mood hit her full force when she noticed that the lights were mostly dimmed and the dining room was illuminated by a soft flickering glow from candles.

After a few moments to allow herself to adjust to the shock, Nanoha quickly took off her shoes and padded her way to the table in her socks. When she saw Fate she stopped at once, bringing a hand to her mouth again. Slowly she walked to her girlfriend and looked with wide eyes at the surroundings. The candles were melting slowly, casting their light over the dinner that she could tell took the better part of the night to prepare. The wine was glanced at and the empty glasses were ones they only used for special occasions. Guilt built up in her stomach seeing it and when she finally was able to look at the blonde leaning onto the table. "Fate...chan?"

No response came to her and her chest tightened when she noticed that Fate was sleeping. 'She waited for me... past the time we normally go to sleep...' Nanoha brought both hands to her face, feeling a mixture of wanting to scream at herself and cry at the same time. 'Fate-chan's too nice! I don't know what to say when she will look at me with those eyes... I can always tell when she has her feelings hurt... '

Several moments passed by in silence as Nanoha stood beside Fate, looking over her and glancing around to see everything that had been prepared for her dinner. 'Should I wake her?' She knew that even if she tried to carry Fate to bed that she would wake up. 'Ohhh... what do I say...?' A shaking hand went to place onto the blonde's shoulder gently. "Fate-chan...? Hey, Fate-chan?"

Fate slowly rose up, blinking a few times in confusion before looking over at Nanoha. At once she averted her eyes and looked over the table. "You're late..."

The two words cut deep into Nanoha's heart and the soft hurt tone only made it worse. "I-I'm sorry, I..."

Fate looked over at her again, light tears almost visible in the corner of her eyes. "Nanoha, why didn't you call me?"

"I..." Nanoha swallowed, her throat tightening when she realized that the honest answer would be that she forgot. "I suddenly was told I would be inspected tomorrow and... and..."

"You could have told me."

Again, the words were gentle but full of sadness. Not a trace of anger was laced with them. "I.. I'm sorry."

"... Never mind, it's okay." Fate stood and wiped her eyes while trying to make it look like she wasn't. "Enjoy dinner, just heat it up a little okay? Salad is in the fridge, I'm going to get in bed."

"No, lets eat together?" Nanoha reached out but found Fate stepping away, eyes downcast.

"Thank you, I'm not hungry right now..." Turning, the blonde started walking to the stairs, not noticing the girl trailing behind her.

"Fate-chan, I-" Nanoha stopped when the girl turned around on her.

"Just eat for a while, please!" Fate's words almost broke, her bottom lip quivering. When Nanoha took a step forward again to reach out to her, Fate turned and walked quickly to the bed, shoving her lingerie into the bag.

"Fate-chan!?" Nanoha ran the three steps up to her bed, stopping and gasping when she saw everything. Fate was quickly pushing the things into her bag to hide them but she still saw what they were. Scared blue eyes took in the bed, seeing the rose petals over it and finally the candles lined up everywhere on their nightstands and dressers. Finally she saw the large vase of roses and she walked over to it slowly, picking up a card envelope with her name on it.

"Don't!" Fate cried out, plucking the card from Nanoha's fingers. "Just, just go away a moment!" She couldn't hide her sadness anymore and tears started to trickle down her cheeks. "Please! Nanoha!" Her hand went to pick up the small velvet box but it ended up slipping from her shaking fingers.

"Fate-chan, I" Nanoha quickly caught the now open box and her words froze when she saw the ring. "Fate...chan?" Looking up, she saw Fate try to hide her face in her hands, shoulders shaking as she cried. "I- I'm sorry!" her words faltered, seeing the stuffed animal for her as well next to the flowers. Her mind finally put everything together and she realized exactly what that night should have been. "Oh my god... Fate-chan... I'm... I'm so sorry..."

"I just... Nanoha..." Fate's voice broke again and she quickly ran past her. "I'm staying with Hayate tonight!"

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha rushed after her, reaching out to grab Fate's shoulder just as the blonde made it to the door. "Don't!"

"I'm sorry!" Fate sobbed loudly, shaking the hand off and running down the hallway.

Nanoha stood in the doorway, helplessly watching Fate pass the elevator to take the stairs to the floor above them so she wouldn't have to risk Nanoha calling out to her again. "Fate-chan..."
The world blew up and everyone died. The end.

[Grand Phoenix]

Originally posted by Satashi
The world blew up and everyone died. The end.

LMAO! Jeez, what an ending! Hopefully there's an actual ending to this.

It's been a while since I lasted posted on this thread, so here's a yarn of mine called "Have You Heard the Word?" It's basically Nanoha with a heavy (over)dose of Family Guy, mainly the episode "I Dream of Jesus" that featured the Surfin' Bird song by The Trashmen. It's currently two chapters in out of a possible four, maybe five for an epilogue if I decide on it, with the third currently in the works.

Here's the link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4738673/1/Have_You_Heard_the_Word

[DezoPenguin]

A little something. This is yet another "back side" to one of RadiantBeam's VivioxLutecia stories (i.e. "What Nanoha and Fate were doing while the main characters are doing their stuff"). This one matches up with Shadow (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5003511/1/Shadow), in case you're wondering.

At nine years old, Takamachi Nanoha had confronted Lost Logia-spawned monsters, a mad scientist, ancient mage-warriors, and an out-of-control artifact that had caused the deaths of millions, and not least of all the complete upending of the way she'd viewed reality up until that point. She'd gone on to greater and greater things, becoming the TSAB's legendary "Ace of Aces," the heroine of the JS incident and numerous other cases. She'd danced on the edge of death, her life hanging by the slimmest of threads, and yet she never hesitated to risk that life when the cause was right.

People thought that the White Devil wasn't afraid of anything, that nothing could scratch the armor of her confidence.

"Fate-chan, where is she?"

People were wrong.

"It's three in the morning, Fate-chan, and Vivio's not home yet! Where can she be?"

Fate Testarossa Harlaown was supposed to help to calm her down. What was the point of having a wife if they weren't there to lean on when you were being driven crazy?

Fate yawned into her pillow.

"Go'sleepNan'ha," she mumbled.

Some help.

If Vivio had had Burning Glory with her, it would have been easy. Nanoha would have had Raising Heart contact Vivio's device and find her location and condition.

Wasn't Fate even a little concerned? Darn it, Fate was supposed to be the brittle, easily depressed one, the big softie with the heart full of flowers and fluffy bunnies and rainbows! But whenever it was about their daughter, her wife seemed to be made of iron. Maybe it was because Vivio was Fate's third child, so she'd already ushered Erio and Caro through their teenaged years and was used to it?

Nanoha vigorously shook Fate's shoulder.

"Fate-chan! Wake up!"

Groaning, Fate rolled onto her back and blinked, trying to accept that she wasn't going to be getting any more sleep until Nanoha was at ease. The look in her eyes didn't help that ease, though. Fate's scarlet gaze was generally too kind and soft and loving to make Nanoha think of the usual stuff that goes along with red eyes, but this time the look her wife was skewering her with had Nanoha immediately thinking of werewolves and demons.

"She's at 'Cia's. Go to sleep," Fate managed to separate her words.

"I know that's what she said when she left, but that was at seven-thirty, and she said it'd only be for a few minutes! It's been seven and a half hours now!"

Fate blinked at her.

"Nanoha, Megane called at ten to say Vivio would be spending the night."

Now it was Nanoha's turn to blink in surprise.

"Megane-san called?"

"Yes, Nanoha."

"Why didn't you tell me? I've been going crazy!"

Ordinarily, Fate would have had something nice and soothing to say, to explain kindly how it was that Nanoha didn't know about Megane Alphine's call. That was when she hadn't been snapped out of the depths of sleep.

"Raising Heart, tell her?"

"My master's love-bunny informed my master of Megane Alphine's call, stating that Vivio would be spending the night with Lutecia, at twenty-two-oh-six. Master replied, 'Um, yeah, thanks' and continued with her student evaluation reports. At twenty-two-seventeen my master wondered aloud why her love-bunny had not brought her the cup of coffee she'd offered, although no such offer had been made."

Nanoha blushed.

"Um...eheheh...how about that..." she murmured, rubbing the back of her neck. She'd actually been working on those reports until nearly two, having assumed that Vivio had already come home. She'd washed her face, brushed her teeth, changed for bed, and only then had found that Vivio wasn't home when she poked her head in the girl's open bedroom door to whisper goodnight.

No wonder Fate-chan had gone to bed so easily.

"Um, I'm sorry, Fate-chan."

Fate yawned again.

"It's okay, Nanoha. At least I know you'll never"--yawn--"cheat on me, since you wouldn't have any time to squeeze an affair in around work."

"A direct hit, my master."

"Whose side are you on?" Nanoha complained, then turned back to Fate. "As for you, I'll show you just how much free time I have!" She rolled over, pinning her wife to the bed beneath her.

"Nanoha, what are you doing?"

Nanoha nibbled her way down Fate's neck and along her collarbone, demonstrating what it was that she was doing.

"Nanoha, it's three in the morning!"

Nanoha slid her hands down Fate's sides, lightly trailing her fingertips across the blonde's flanks.

"Ahh! Well, I guess as long as I'm awake anyway..." Fate murmured, and pulled Nanoha up so that she could capture her wife's lips with her own.

An hour and a half later, Nanoha lay propped up on one elbow, looking down at the sleeping Fate. A little smile was playing about her wife's lips even in dreams, and Nanoha wondered if she was re-imagining what they'd just done.

She's so cute when she's asleep, Nanoha thought, and couldn't help thinking about they complemented each other so well. Nanoha's resolute spirit helped to carry the more hesitant Fate through the major incidents in their life, and in turn Fate's calm, accepting personality helped Nanoha to take it easy and put the minor bumps of day-to-day living into perspective. She snuggled down, nuzzling her head into Fate's shoulder. I should have known that everything was all right just because Fate-chan went to bed, even though I missed her telling me that--

Suddenly wide awake, Nanoha sat bolt upright in bed.

"What do you mean, Vivio's spending the night with Lutecia!?"


Some notes:

1. Since this takes place in her ViCia continuity, Vivio's device is Burning Glory instead of Sacred Heart.

2. You might notice that Nanoha doesn't think about vampires when she thinks about Fate's angry red-eyed glare. That's because, as she knows, NanohaVerse vampires have purple eyes. :D

3. Raising Heart's method of addressing Fate first premiered in "Something About Fate-mama Just Bugs Me," for the detail-obsessed. Not that anyone actually is that detail-obsessed. :heh:

[RadiantBeam]

While this means I need to go back and edit "Sunrise" to better match what you wrote, I still enjoyed it! :D

I was planning to edit it anyway once I got your review, so no biggie there.

I don't know what's more hilarious... that Raising Heart still insists on calling Fate "love-bunny" (or did Nanoha program her to do that?), or how Nanoha went from worrying about Vivio's whereabouts to worrying about her virginity!

[BPHaru]

A little something. This is yet another "back side" to one of RadiantBeam's VivioxLutecia stories (i.e. "What Nanoha and Fate were doing while the main characters are doing their stuff"). This one matches up with Shadow (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5003511/1/Shadow), in case you're wondering.

At nine years old, Takamachi Nanoha had confronted Lost Logia-spawned monsters, a mad scientist, ancient mage-warriors, and an out-of-control artifact that had caused the deaths of millions, and not least of all the complete upending of the way she'd viewed reality up until that point. She'd gone on to greater and greater things, becoming the TSAB's legendary "Ace of Aces," the heroine of the JS incident and numerous other cases. She'd danced on the edge of death, her life hanging by the slimmest of threads, and yet she never hesitated to risk that life when the cause was right.

People thought that the White Devil wasn't afraid of anything, that nothing could scratch the armor of her confidence.

"Fate-chan, where is she?"

People were wrong.

"It's three in the morning, Fate-chan, and Vivio's not home yet! Where can she be?"

Fate Testarossa Harlaown was supposed to help to calm her down. What was the point of having a wife if they weren't there to lean on when you were being driven crazy?

Fate yawned into her pillow.

"Go'sleepNan'ha," she mumbled.

Some help.

If Vivio had had Burning Glory with her, it would have been easy. Nanoha would have had Raising Heart contact Vivio's device and find her location and condition.

Wasn't Fate even a little concerned? Darn it, Fate was supposed to be the brittle, easily depressed one, the big softie with the heart full of flowers and fluffy bunnies and rainbows! But whenever it was about their daughter, her wife seemed to be made of iron. Maybe it was because Vivio was Fate's third child, so she'd already ushered Erio and Caro through their teenaged years and was used to it?

Nanoha vigorously shook Fate's shoulder.

"Fate-chan! Wake up!"

Groaning, Fate rolled onto her back and blinked, trying to accept that she wasn't going to be getting any more sleep until Nanoha was at ease. The look in her eyes didn't help that ease, though. Fate's scarlet gaze was generally too kind and soft and loving to make Nanoha think of the usual stuff that goes along with red eyes, but this time the look her wife was skewering her with had Nanoha immediately thinking of werewolves and demons.

"She's at 'Cia's. Go to sleep," Fate managed to separate her words.

"I know that's what she said when she left, but that was at seven-thirty, and she said it'd only be for a few minutes! It's been seven and a half hours now!"

Fate blinked at her.

"Nanoha, Megane called at ten to say Vivio would be spending the night."

Now it was Nanoha's turn to blink in surprise.

"Megane-san called?"

"Yes, Nanoha."

"Why didn't you tell me? I've been going crazy!"

Ordinarily, Fate would have had something nice and soothing to say, to explain kindly how it was that Nanoha didn't know about Megane Alphine's call. That was when she hadn't been snapped out of the depths of sleep.

"Raising Heart, tell her?"

"My master's love-bunny informed my master of Megane Alphine's call, stating that Vivio would be spending the night with Lutecia, at twenty-two-oh-six. Master replied, 'Um, yeah, thanks' and continued with her student evaluation reports. At twenty-two-seventeen my master wondered aloud why her love-bunny had not brought her the cup of coffee she'd offered, although no such offer had been made."

Nanoha blushed.

"Um...eheheh...how about that..." she murmured, rubbing the back of her neck. She'd actually been working on those reports until nearly two, having assumed that Vivio had already come home. She'd washed her face, brushed her teeth, changed for bed, and only then had found that Vivio wasn't home when she poked her head in the girl's open bedroom door to whisper goodnight.

No wonder Fate-chan had gone to bed so easily.

"Um, I'm sorry, Fate-chan."

Fate yawned again.

"It's okay, Nanoha. At least I know you'll never"--yawn--"cheat on me, since you wouldn't have any time to squeeze an affair in around work."

"A direct hit, my master."

"Whose side are you on?" Nanoha complained, then turned back to Fate. "As for you, I'll show you just how much free time I have!" She rolled over, pinning her wife to the bed beneath her.

"Nanoha, what are you doing?"

Nanoha nibbled her way down Fate's neck and along her collarbone, demonstrating what it was that she was doing.

"Nanoha, it's three in the morning!"

Nanoha slid her hands down Fate's sides, lightly trailing her fingertips across the blonde's flanks.

"Ahh! Well, I guess as long as I'm awake anyway..." Fate murmured, and pulled Nanoha up so that she could capture her wife's lips with her own.

An hour and a half later, Nanoha lay propped up on one elbow, looking down at the sleeping Fate. A little smile was playing about her wife's lips even in dreams, and Nanoha wondered if she was re-imagining what they'd just done.

She's so cute when she's asleep, Nanoha thought, and couldn't help thinking about they complemented each other so well. Nanoha's resolute spirit helped to carry the more hesitant Fate through the major incidents in their life, and in turn Fate's calm, accepting personality helped Nanoha to take it easy and put the minor bumps of day-to-day living into perspective. She snuggled down, nuzzling her head into Fate's shoulder. I should have known that everything was all right just because Fate-chan went to bed, even though I missed her telling me that--

Suddenly wide awake, Nanoha sat bolt upright in bed.

"What do you mean, Vivio's spending the night with Lutecia!?"

LOL
RH is awesome.
Nanoha was great too, I really like the family dynamics here with Fate, it was cute and very funny.
NanoFate rabu-rabu scenes are always appreciated too, for comedy or romantic purposes~

I don't know what's more hilarious... that Raising Heart still insists on calling Fate "love-bunny" (or did Nanoha program her to do that?), or how Nanoha went from worrying about Vivio's whereabouts to worrying about her virginity!
Indeed. The end was priceless!
Thanks for writing this short, DezoPenguin ^^
And thanks to RadiantBeam too. Good luck with "Sunrise"

Cuídense y sigan sonriendo :)

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

*Cracks knuckles* I have come forth once more to give very odd ideas!

01: Sarah Kerrigan had a child. Or rather...the Queen of Blades gave birth to a perfectly normal human child gifted with copious amounts of psionic potential. However...the child was stolen in a last ditch attempt by the Protoss to force a draw with the Zerg. Hurling the female child back through time and space with a modification to their Gateway, they lose her amidsty the waves of time.

Now left far in the past in Japan...Nanoha Kerrigan Takamachi must come to terms with what she is...what her past was...and the ravenous army of Zerg tracking her down.

(( For this idea, I simply had the drool-worthy idea of Nanoha flinging about tree-trunks at super-sonic speeds. *Malevolent grin* ))

02: The TSAB was built on the ruins of an even older empire...one far more barbaric and powerful. An empire that spanned the galaxy and eventually conquered all of the xeno's present within the realms. The Gods have perished to leave a new Multiverse.

Now Nanoha Takamachi has found a relic of that time. Code-named Raising Heart, it had one purpose.

To accelerate the training and realisation of Grey Knights, soldiers of the Ordo Malleus.

Now gifted with barbaric technology over a millenia old...Nanoha must hunt down both the Jewel Seeds and rogue magi with Bolter and Halberd.

Redeem them with sword and fire!

(( Now really...who doens't want to see a more barbaric, brutal Nanoha? Shoving the Storm-Bolter into a Jewel Seed monster's face and cutting loose with a burst of magically-created rounds? Or carving open a rogue magi with the halberd then incinerating them from the inside out?! :D ))

03: With Precia's activation of the Jewel Seed's she posessed, something unexpected happen. Something that had a one in an...incalcuable number of occuring.

The energies intersected with a forming Oblivion Gate.

Ripped through space and time with Raising Heart plucked from her grasp on the way through, Nanoha finds herself emerging right at the moment the Great Gate forms at Kvatch.

Escaping, Nanoha must find Raising Heart before Mehrunes Dagon or Mankor Camoran gets their hands on it. But not just one Daedric Prince has their gazes upon her.

Azure, Boethiah and Mephala are watching her, seeing Nanoha as a chance to extend their dominion beyond the limits imposed by their respective Sphere's of Influence.

And the Four Corners of the House of Troubles are also hunting her. For both Raising Heart...and the key to the Multiverse!
====

*Insane laughter*

[Nya~n]

*snip*
*Insane laughter*

next time, write stuff down as a fic. you'll find that it annoys us less than these random "ideas" that you dish out that goes nowhere.

[Deus_Ex_Obscurum]

*Shrugs* And your annoyance means nothing to me. I merely put ideas here in case somebody does wish to pick them up.

And I am currently busy with my own fiction, thankyou very much.

[Nya~n]

*Shrugs* And your annoyance means nothing to me. I merely put ideas here in case somebody does wish to pick them up.

And I am currently busy with my own fiction, thankyou very much.

yea, except that out of all these crazy-ass, half-baked ideas that you dish out, no one thinks much about them, let alone even want to pick them up. As a matter of fact, this attitude of yours of "i'm just gonna throw these weird ideas here kkthxbye i don't give shit what you think" alone irritates us. There's khrack, and THEN there's really, really bad crack, like yours. So just... Just stop this and concentrate on writing that fic of yours instead of defiling us with anymore of this terrible crack of yours.

[RadiantBeam]

*Shrugs* And your annoyance means nothing to me. I merely put ideas here in case somebody does wish to pick them up.

And I am currently busy with my own fiction, thankyou very much.

Erm, Ley...

If I remember correctly, didn't you send me, like, three different starts for Nanoha stories?

Why don't you just post those here for critique and comments instead of the whacky ideas? You can get away with that on Beast's Lair, but it's kind of different here.

[spawnofthejudge]

The (White) Devil's in the Details

A Direct Hit, My Master.

*giggles*

There were quite a few great one-liners in that one, but that one wins. I liked it a lot! Nanoha's tunnelvision was rather consistent(ly awesome).

[Vie]

A little something. This is yet another "back side" to one of RadiantBeam's VivioxLutecia stories (i.e. "What Nanoha and Fate were doing while the main characters are doing their stuff"). This one matches up with Shadow (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5003511/1/Shadow), in case you're wondering.

At nine years old, Takamachi Nanoha had confronted Lost Logia-spawned monsters, a mad scientist, ancient mage-warriors, and an out-of-control artifact that had caused the deaths of millions, and not least of all the complete upending of the way she'd viewed reality up until that point. She'd gone on to greater and greater things, becoming the TSAB's legendary "Ace of Aces," the heroine of the JS incident and numerous other cases. She'd danced on the edge of death, her life hanging by the slimmest of threads, and yet she never hesitated to risk that life when the cause was right.

People thought that the White Devil wasn't afraid of anything, that nothing could scratch the armor of her confidence.

"Fate-chan, where is she?"

People were wrong.

"It's three in the morning, Fate-chan, and Vivio's not home yet! Where can she be?"

Fate Testarossa Harlaown was supposed to help to calm her down. What was the point of having a wife if they weren't there to lean on when you were being driven crazy?

Fate yawned into her pillow.

"Go'sleepNan'ha," she mumbled.

Some help.

If Vivio had had Burning Glory with her, it would have been easy. Nanoha would have had Raising Heart contact Vivio's device and find her location and condition.

Wasn't Fate even a little concerned? Darn it, Fate was supposed to be the brittle, easily depressed one, the big softie with the heart full of flowers and fluffy bunnies and rainbows! But whenever it was about their daughter, her wife seemed to be made of iron. Maybe it was because Vivio was Fate's third child, so she'd already ushered Erio and Caro through their teenaged years and was used to it?

Nanoha vigorously shook Fate's shoulder.

"Fate-chan! Wake up!"

Groaning, Fate rolled onto her back and blinked, trying to accept that she wasn't going to be getting any more sleep until Nanoha was at ease. The look in her eyes didn't help that ease, though. Fate's scarlet gaze was generally too kind and soft and loving to make Nanoha think of the usual stuff that goes along with red eyes, but this time the look her wife was skewering her with had Nanoha immediately thinking of werewolves and demons.

"She's at 'Cia's. Go to sleep," Fate managed to separate her words.

"I know that's what she said when she left, but that was at seven-thirty, and she said it'd only be for a few minutes! It's been seven and a half hours now!"

Fate blinked at her.

"Nanoha, Megane called at ten to say Vivio would be spending the night."

Now it was Nanoha's turn to blink in surprise.

"Megane-san called?"

"Yes, Nanoha."

"Why didn't you tell me? I've been going crazy!"

Ordinarily, Fate would have had something nice and soothing to say, to explain kindly how it was that Nanoha didn't know about Megane Alphine's call. That was when she hadn't been snapped out of the depths of sleep.

"Raising Heart, tell her?"

"My master's love-bunny informed my master of Megane Alphine's call, stating that Vivio would be spending the night with Lutecia, at twenty-two-oh-six. Master replied, 'Um, yeah, thanks' and continued with her student evaluation reports. At twenty-two-seventeen my master wondered aloud why her love-bunny had not brought her the cup of coffee she'd offered, although no such offer had been made."

Nanoha blushed.

"Um...eheheh...how about that..." she murmured, rubbing the back of her neck. She'd actually been working on those reports until nearly two, having assumed that Vivio had already come home. She'd washed her face, brushed her teeth, changed for bed, and only then had found that Vivio wasn't home when she poked her head in the girl's open bedroom door to whisper goodnight.

No wonder Fate-chan had gone to bed so easily.

"Um, I'm sorry, Fate-chan."

Fate yawned again.

"It's okay, Nanoha. At least I know you'll never"--yawn--"cheat on me, since you wouldn't have any time to squeeze an affair in around work."

"A direct hit, my master."

"Whose side are you on?" Nanoha complained, then turned back to Fate. "As for you, I'll show you just how much free time I have!" She rolled over, pinning her wife to the bed beneath her.

"Nanoha, what are you doing?"

Nanoha nibbled her way down Fate's neck and along her collarbone, demonstrating what it was that she was doing.

"Nanoha, it's three in the morning!"

Nanoha slid her hands down Fate's sides, lightly trailing her fingertips across the blonde's flanks.

"Ahh! Well, I guess as long as I'm awake anyway..." Fate murmured, and pulled Nanoha up so that she could capture her wife's lips with her own.

An hour and a half later, Nanoha lay propped up on one elbow, looking down at the sleeping Fate. A little smile was playing about her wife's lips even in dreams, and Nanoha wondered if she was re-imagining what they'd just done.

She's so cute when she's asleep, Nanoha thought, and couldn't help thinking about they complemented each other so well. Nanoha's resolute spirit helped to carry the more hesitant Fate through the major incidents in their life, and in turn Fate's calm, accepting personality helped Nanoha to take it easy and put the minor bumps of day-to-day living into perspective. She snuggled down, nuzzling her head into Fate's shoulder. I should have known that everything was all right just because Fate-chan went to bed, even though I missed her telling me that--

Suddenly wide awake, Nanoha sat bolt upright in bed.

"What do you mean, Vivio's spending the night with Lutecia!?"


Some notes:

1. Since this takes place in her ViCia continuity, Vivio's device is Burning Glory instead of Sacred Heart.

2. You might notice that Nanoha doesn't think about vampires when she thinks about Fate's angry red-eyed glare. That's because, as she knows, NanohaVerse vampires have purple eyes. :D

3. Raising Heart's method of addressing Fate first premiered in "Something About Fate-mama Just Bugs Me," for the detail-obsessed. Not that anyone actually is that detail-obsessed. :heh:

Loved this. Raising Heart's one liner made me choke on water. XD

*Shrugs* And your annoyance means nothing to me. I merely put ideas here in case somebody does wish to pick them up.

And I am currently busy with my own fiction, thankyou very much.

Do you mind putting them under a cut? ;)

[TheShinySword]

Vivio stepped out of the hellish nightmare that had plagued her for the past week feeling like she was walking on sunshine, woahoohh and boy it felt good. She fled from the school each of her steps making flowers blossom up from the concrete. Little blue birds fluttered around her tweeting their merry songs.

"No more finals!" Vivio spun around and around earning the stares of everyone around her. But she didn't care! She had freedom! Freedom! Sweet Freedom! And a whole summer in front of her.

[Oi Vi,] the little orange cube on Vivio's wrist spoke, [You got a phone call.]

"Falling Soul? Why are you still around? I have a canon device now," Vivio pointed out the canological inconsistency to her device.

[It's a friggin' bunny, I won't be replaced by such an inane device!]

Vivio didn't linger on the subject and instead took her phone call. To her pleasure she found it was her beloved former babysitter, "Zaffy!"

"Ah Vivio," he waved in greeting, "I'm calling to make sure you're ready."

"R-Ready? For what? My finals are over."

He shook his head, "Not for that, for your job."

"J-job?"

"The summer one at the camp."

Vivio's eye twitched, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

I'm out of the pot into the fire, I have a week left of freedom TT-TT but at least I have no more finals ^^.

[itanshi1]

Haha shiny nice to have you back even if for a bit. Speaking of summer, I have a garage sale to sort out, so much youth to sell away for bargain prices. I bet the kids around me never once heard of Crash Test Dummies.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to the big new fic Satashi, glad to see people are still writing. I wish I could say the same for myself. So much musing, so little progress.

Did that stahlhoenigin fic stall? I so want a conclusion x_x; however long it takes, its just good, canon be damned!

I also would love for that Franken Fran fic to develop more ^^ I'm addicted to it heh. Just gotta see what weirdness is in store.

[Evangelion Xgouki]

Vivio stepped out of the hellish nightmare that had plagued her for the past week feeling like she was walking on sunshine, woahoohh and boy it felt good. She fled from the school each of her steps making flowers blossom up from the concrete. Little blue birds fluttered around her tweeting their merry songs.

"No more finals!" Vivio spun around and around earning the stares of everyone around her. But she didn't care! She had freedom! Freedom! Sweet Freedom! And a whole summer in front of her.

[Oi Vi,] the little orange cube on Vivio's wrist spoke, [You got a phone call.]

"Falling Soul? Why are you still around? I have a canon device now," Vivio pointed out the canological inconsistency to her device.

[It's a friggin' bunny, I won't be replaced by such an inane device!]

Vivio didn't linger on the subject and instead took her phone call. To her pleasure she found it was her beloved former babysitter, "Zaffy!"

"Ah Vivio," he waved in greeting, "I'm calling to make sure you're ready."

"R-Ready? For what? My finals are over."

He shook his head, "Not for that, for your job."

"J-job?"

"The summer one at the camp."

Vivio's eye twitched, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

I'm out of the pot into the fire, I have a week left of freedom TT-TT but at least I have no more finals ^^.

Ah, a feeling I understand all too well. I believe my high school summers went something like...

Finals -> Weekend -> Back to same high school to work for the Summer School Program

And then I had to come back to train a new guy for the summer after I graduated so I did the graduation stuff and then work started 2 days later :(

[Satashi]

Vivio stepped out of the hellish nightmare that had plagued her for the past week feeling like she was walking on sunshine, woahoohh and boy it felt good. She fled from the school each of her steps making flowers blossom up from the concrete. Little blue birds fluttered around her tweeting their merry songs.

"No more finals!" Vivio spun around and around earning the stares of everyone around her. But she didn't care! She had freedom! Freedom! Sweet Freedom! And a whole summer in front of her.

[Oi Vi,] the little orange cube on Vivio's wrist spoke, [You got a phone call.]

"Falling Soul? Why are you still around? I have a canon device now," Vivio pointed out the canological inconsistency to her device.

[It's a friggin' bunny, I won't be replaced by such an inane device!]

Vivio didn't linger on the subject and instead took her phone call. To her pleasure she found it was her beloved former babysitter, "Zaffy!"

"Ah Vivio," he waved in greeting, "I'm calling to make sure you're ready."

"R-Ready? For what? My finals are over."

He shook his head, "Not for that, for your job."

"J-job?"

"The summer one at the camp."

Vivio's eye twitched, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

I'm out of the pot into the fire, I have a week left of freedom TT-TT but at least I have no more finals ^^.

But Vivio would work at the library probably, she'd enjoy that :3

But shiny, are you going to camp again? @_@ We'll miss you!

[TheShinySword]

But Vivio would work at the library probably, she'd enjoy that :3

But shiny, are you going to camp again? @_@ We'll miss you!

Vivio's going off to be a camp counselor like me *sigh* WHY DID I AGREE TO DO THIS AGAIN?!?!?! TTATT

[Tempest Dynasty]

Crossposting in here for anyone that cares.

How quickly negotiations had broken down, diplomatic ties severed and arms brought to bear.
Unfortunately for the mages of the Time Space Administration Bureau, their opponent was not
easily defeated. Unlike the magic-enhanced forces of the Bureau, their foe used a simpler, though
more brutal weapons. Firearms, a gun in every able soldier’s hands, spewing thousands of bullets;
armored battalions and aerial craft that shook the earth and burned the skies; gigantic ships, upon
the sea and underneath, the full might of the civilization’s army was brought to bear. At first, the
mages dominated, their magical abilities granting them unmatched flexibility and power.

Yet they had adapted. What they could not do, they countered. Anti-mage bullets, shieldbreaker
rounds, mass-area-effect weapons, anything that could grant them any sort of edge against the
Bureau forces. What they lacked in magic, they made up for in stubbornness and frightening
adaptability.

They were evenly matched, Bureau and opposing force, neither gaining the advantage. The victor
would find no spoils, only the fallen; they would only earn the right to live another day.

No pride, no glory, no fame would be gained from this conflict, this shameful, unwanted clash.

This… Unsung War.

-------------------------------------------

What…

What happened?

A strange pain, dull yet sharp. Breathing was difficult. Why was it hard to move?

The world was dizzying, muffled, as if far away or buried.

All around… shouting, screaming, and explosions. There was… there is a conflict going on.

The enemy. Who was the enemy?

Wait. Who was that…? The shouting… she’s shouting over the din of combat.

That voice… Lady Keroko? She’s fighting hard. Everyone is fighting hard…

What the hell happened? The dull ache was incredibly painful, yet as distant as the chaos
surrounding him. Had he still had his eyes, his world would’ve been a swirling blur of dulled colors
with brilliant lances of light crisscrossing the skies. He tried to move, tried to sit up, but his body
refused.

Get up, dammit. There is a war going on.

Yes… A war. No victor would rise, only the suffering of countless men and women. They were
fighting… distantly? Closely?

Where were they?

Where was he?

No, that didn’t matter. They were still fighting. He had to keep fighting.

Get up. Get up! Blind, he may be, but a soldier he was still. Get up and face the enemy…!

A sudden, jarring weight. Something was on top of him! Another person, warm but unmoving.
Push it off, move it away, and get up…?

Weakened, trembling hands caressed his cheek. Soft, long hair, silken to the touch but also slick
with blood. Whispers in his ear with shallow breaths. Familiar… Keroko? It was Keroko! But
she was injured? She was fine! She couldn’t possibly be hurt that badly

Why won’t you move? Get up? Please? Show that you’re all right. Only a scratch, or just a flesh
wound, right? Why won’t you get up? The others, they still need you, your soldiers need you.
You are just resting, right?

Please be okay…?

Her hand fell away. Limp.

Keroko? Keroko?! You… you can’t…

No. No! Medic! Where the hell is the medic! W-what the hell was wrong with his voice? She
was down – Keroko was down! Medic!

Where… where is the medic?! The enemy, where was the enemy?

God damn it. Damn it no! They were coming – the enemy was coming!

If they won, what then? Execution? Enslavement? No, no no no! This cannot happen!

The enemy… the enemy cannot be allowed victory.

They must be stopped.

Avenge the fallen. Avenge her. With all his strength. With all his soul!

Stop them. Crush them. Defeat them. Destroy them. Kill them

They’re coming out in droves, like cockroaches.

Kill them all.

Revel! Murder them all in fantastic killing spree.

No. A wonderful, insane massacre.

Slaughter.

The seals tore away like paper.

-------------------------------------------

The first thing Noland heard was the rhythmic beeping of an electrocardiogram, pulsing in-sync
with his own heartbeat. A hospital? What had happened to him? The last thing he remembered…
argh. What a terrible, pounding headache. Every time he tried to recall those memories, his mind
would explode in throbbing agony.

An incident. A conflict. Something had happened, and an incredible battle was waged. But
anything after that, a blur and terrible, mind-jarring pain.

He tried to move, only to find it incredibly painful to do so Not only his thoughts, but his body
ached horribly as well, inciting a low groan from the knight.

A gasp. A shuffling of clothes. Someone was here with him.

“Hey,” the word was enough to identify his guest.

“Lady Keroko,” he croaked in greeting, his throat impossibly dry. “I am very glad that you are
well.”

“You’re worse off. When medics finally picked you up, your body was ripped up a hundred
ways to hell. It’s a miracle you survived.”

“Ah. I see…” Noland trailed off. Dammit, what the hell had happened?!

“Do you even know how you got here?”

“I… no. I cannot remember anything past the initial deployment.”

She sighed, reluctant to continue.

“Ten minutes into the operation, you… An enemy sniper managed to hit you with a shieldbreaker
round. It must have struck a vital, because you collapsed immediately.”

Ah, so that’s why his chest hurt like hell.

“Your squad was pinned down, and my squad came in to assist. We just had to hold the line for
a little longer, just enough for the main reinforcements to arrive. We had hoped then to get you to
a medic. But… plans never go the way they’re supposed to, do they?

“Our combined squads were almost overrun, the anti-mage rounds brutally effective against us.
I was wounded. Then…”

Keroko’s voice dropped to a whisper, one that Noland had to strain to hear. But… did he really
want to? “You went berserk.”

Noland’s heartrate spiked, mirrored by the EKG and the slow grimace that spread across his
face. By the Kaiser, no! How could… how could he lose control like that?!

“In that state, you managed to push back the opposing forces. For a while, everyone was
cheering for you. I couldn’t believe it either, you know? One guy, making the biggest difference
in the battle… you’re a strong guy, Reiniger. I don’t think anyone can match you in brute force.
By the time reinforcements arrived, you were as big a celebrity as any of us,” Keroko tried to
chuckle, but it came out weak and uncertain.

Noland was not one to miss something so obvious, nor did he believe that everything had
transpired so smoothly. And Lady Keroko, she sounded so insecure. Despite the growing dread,
he pushed onwards. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”

A pause. “Yeah. After defeating the enemy, you… without an obvious opponent, you turned on
us. The strength that everyone was cheering for suddenly struck back at them. By the time
someone managed to subdue you, you had neutralized over half of the Bureau forces and
incapacitated even more. It… it’s not looking good for you.”

The knight’s face showed no emotion, but the long, shuddering sigh he released betrayed his
sorrow. Suddenly, he seemed so much weaker, pallid and tired.

“More innocent blood upon my wretched soul; even in the future, I can find no peace. Maybe
my existence truly is cursed…”

Finally feeling a little stronger, the knight tried to sit up. What he found instead were several
bands that not only held his body down, but every limb.

“Restraints,” he observed.

“They’re… security precautions. Orders from the top – they don’t want to take any risks. This
room is under heavy guard, and I don’t even know what’s laying in wait outside. I had to beg
them to let me stay in the room with you, waiting for you to awaken.”

“How long was I out?”

“Three days.”

“I see… Thank you, Lady Keroko.”

“I have another purpose here, other than to watch over you. The Bureau has already determined
your sentencing, and I have to inform you of this. I’m sorry.”

The shuffle of movement. Keroko stood.

“Noland Reiniger. The Time-Space Administration Bureau has recognized you as a Class SSS
threat to Ordered Space. Upon review of the incident, it has been decided that you are
uncontrollable and too volatile to remain in Ordered Space. As such, you are hereby sentenced
to immediate incarceration in a cryostasis prison. This is a life sentence.


“You will be kept under watch until you’ve healed, then be transferred to an undisclosed location
until the stasis device is prepared. No visitors will be allowed, and communication will be strictly
limited. Do you understand?”

“…Yes.”

“Very well, then.”

Shuffling. The dull click of boots walking across the floor.

“Wait.”

She paused.

“Did I…” he hesitated, not wanting to say any more. “Did I… you… was anyone else injured?”

There was a hidden query behind those words. Had he harmed her?

The redhead declined to speak for a moment, every passing moment serving only to spurn the
growing despair in Noland. The silence was absolutely suffocating.

Finally, a faint whisper:

“No.”

With a muted clatter, the door closed.

Noland did not feel anyone else in the room with him.

Alone, once again. Alone and cold.

-------------------------------------------

Outside the door, Keroko slumped tiredly against the wall. Idly, a hand came up to gently touch
her bandaged neck, still sensitive from the severe bruising. No, she couldn’t bear to tell him the
complete truth. If Noland ever found out, he would be completely ruined. For once, Keroko
was glad that her friend was blind, lest he see the bandages that covered much of her body. How
fortunate it was that her voice managed to recover in time, though the rest of her body still ached.

The memory of that horrid incident was still fresh in her memory, the elation of victory mixed with
the shock and awe of the chaos that followed. Maybe she was fortunate to only come out with
relatively minor injuries.

That terrifying strength, a black and crimson gauntlet grabbing her by the neck and lifting her a
clear three feet into the air. Those furious, burning red eyes, so full of rage and hate. They bore
into her own, peering into her soul. She couldn’t breath, gasping futilely against the Lunatic’s
adamantine grip. Her consciousness was fading, hazy darkness creeping into her vision. One
errant twitch would have crushed her throat; a mere tremble could have popped her head right off.

Her death was so frighteningly real, so close that she nearly accepted her end. Was it luck? Or
maybe, for that moment, Noland had awakened. At the brink of collapse, she was abruptly
released, and by the time she recovered enough to take stock of the situation, Noland was
howling mad, grasping his helmet frantically as he convulsed. With every scream, he shuddered,
as if fighting within himself. Just before his collapse, Noland made known to the world his fury.

In that moment, he stood tall, head thrown back and stance out wide. The Mad Knight roared
to the sky his defiance, his rage and his sorrow.

In that moment, Keroko thought he was magnificent.

But now…

To see him, lying there, a broken man; a far cry from his usual calm, confident, and polite self.
No longer a proud, strong knight, nor a mad, unstoppable fury. Now he was… shattered.

Such a sight felt so wrong.

And to think, her last memory of him, possibly ever, would be that beaten state. It nearly brought
her to tears.

She looked down at her hand, specks of dried blood still evident under her nails and staining her
skin. This blood… wasn’t hers. Noland, he bled for her, just as she did for him. Would he ever
know? Heh, knowing him, he probably already did.

Her hand suddenly clenched into a fist, straining the tired muscles in her forearm, but she didn’t
care.

Cryostasis. God damn it, not even Jail got that sort of sentence! Precia, too, if she was captured
alive, would’ve gotten a completely different punishment. The mage could not even begin to
remember a single precedent case that involved the use of cryostasis as punishment. It was a
damn death sentence—no, a death sentence would be a mercy. To be forever entombed in a
frozen sarcophagus, neither dead nor alive, sleeping eternally without a dream… No one
deserved that. Hayate didn’t, and they managed to save her from that fate. But Noland? How
could they save a convicted man? There was proof! The graves of hundreds upon hundreds,
both friendly and foe, was undeniable. There was evidence of his crimes, but it was not his fault!

He had no control—none of them had control! So why did he alone have to suffer? He, of all
people, did not deserve this. She did not blame him, nor did her friends, but the populace, so full
of fear and uncertainty, could not see beyond his faults. They only saw the Traitor of Belka
reborn, and so they demanded that he be punished.

But it wasn’t fair, dammit!

Why did it have to come to this?

Why couldn’t there be another way?

Noland…

I’m sorry.

-------------------------------------------

End Part One

[wanwan1203]

Crossposting in here for anyone that cares.

-snip snip-


what a good feeling, waking up to a new installment/short of your fic! *w*

as always, i cannot give any constructive, scholarly criticism (lol!) but i can fangirl damnit! http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh302/JenovaRevival/Emoticons/thfangirl8.gif i can fangirl and squeal and pasteurize ants---wait i'm going terribly off topic *rubs eyes* sleepy still wahh..

*cough*

anyway i shall just copy paste what i said:
>>> ...
>>> D: DX!!! nooooooooooooooOOOOOoo!!
>>> Noland http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh302/JenovaRevival/Emoticons/thpuppy.gif
>>> i wonder when, Noland turned from insane creepy "gah please die monster" to likeable character for me. ahh i love this fic yes ^^

yup that was my reaction. yay! \o/ KeroNoland http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh302/JenovaRevival/Emoticons/thHitit.gif oh ho ho ho--*bricked*

oh and btw this one needs to be edited (unless it was intentional @.@)

No. No! Medic! Where the hell is the medic! W-what the hell was wrong with his voice? She
was down – Keroko was down! Medic!

No. No! Medic! Where the hell is the medic! W-what the hell was wrong with his voice? She
was down – Keroko was down! Medic!

and that's about it. waiting for your next one. :)

[RadiantBeam]

My goodness... I'm actually posting something!

Kind of a short omake, really, possibly foreshadowing to a story that I'm considering writing for my ViCia universe... though the discovery of this particular skill will be much more serious than it's presented here.

“Shoot Barret!”

Vivio yelped and quickly whipped Burning Glory around, the dark blue orb flashing at the end of the black rod as she summoned suitable defense for Teana’s signature attack. “Round Shield!” she cried, sighing slightly with relief as the protective shield harmlessly bounced away Teana’s bullets.

“Five seconds, Tea!” Subaru called from the sidelines, enjoying herself as she watched her partner spar with their former mentor’s daughter. Erio and Caro were watching the whole spectacle with detached amusement, while Lutecia looked torn between wanting to just watch and wanting to jump in and interfere with Asclepius. “What’s the point of this again?” the purple-haired summoner asked, shifting uncomfortably as Vivio continued to maintain her Round Shield against Teana’s assault.

“Vivio asked to do it.” Subaru shrugged, leaning back on her elbows. “Said something about wanting to focus on her defenses, that she had a feeling that Burning Glory would surprise her. Heck if I know what that means. Tea! Two seconds!”

Teana cursed and aimed Cross Mirage, aiming for the younger girl. Normally she wouldn’t have been so rough, but time limits always pushed her patience. Plus, Vivio had never liked being babied; for her age, or because of her status as the daughter of Takamachi Nanoha and Fate T. Harlaown.

On top of that, her money was riding on this, dammit. If she didn’t hit Vivio’s body at least once, she’d have to buy lunch. She sprang back, opening up some distance. “Cross Mirage?”

“Crossfire Shoot!”

The bullets rained down on Vivio, and seconds later the younger girl was encased in flames and smoke with a startled cry; Lutecia immediately jolted forward as the girl’s Round Shield shattered beneath the force of the attack, Asclepius flashing. “Vivio!”

Teana landed, narrowing her eyes as the smoke cleared and feeling her heart sink. Crap…

Only to blink, stunned, by what she saw.

Shaking slightly, Vivio lowered the smoking revolver pistol, eyes wide as the wisps faded away to show that not even a scratch remained. Dark blue embroidery weaved its way along the muzzle and bottom of the black gun, with a six-chamber cylinder of the same color clicking softly into place.

Teana’s jaw dropped slightly. Erio and Caro both stared as Subaru let out a low whistle of approval. Lutecia blinked, sighed, and settled back down, Asclepius calming at her command.

Vivio stared at the weapon with wide eyes before she blinked.

“Wait… who let Burning Glory watch gunfight movies?!”

... Heh.

1. I got the name of Lutecia's Device from Wikipedia. Also, for those who are curious, just imagine what Vivio wore when the Relic transformed her whenever she powers up... because I'm lazy like that. No definite idea of what Burning Glory's staff form looks like.

2. Since this is set in my universe, Vivio's Device here is Burning Glory.

3. Again, possible foreshadowing to a story I might write to explain how Vivio got Burning Glory's... Pistol Form? Because I'm planning for her to use it in my final ViCia story, and I want to explain how she got it.

[DezoPenguin]

My goodness... I'm actually posting something!

Kind of a short omake, really, possibly foreshadowing to a story that I'm considering writing for my ViCia universe... though the discovery of this particular skill will be much more serious than it's presented here.

“Shoot Barret!”

Vivio yelped and quickly whipped Burning Glory around, the dark blue orb flashing at the end of the black rod as she summoned suitable defense for Teana’s signature attack. “Round Shield!” she cried, sighing slightly with relief as the protective shield harmlessly bounced away Teana’s bullets.

“Five seconds, Tea!” Subaru called from the sidelines, enjoying herself as she watched her partner spar with their former mentor’s daughter. Erio and Caro were watching the whole spectacle with detached amusement, while Lutecia looked torn between wanting to just watch and wanting to jump in and interfere with Asclepius. “What’s the point of this again?” the purple-haired summoner asked, shifting uncomfortably as Vivio continued to maintain her Round Shield against Teana’s assault.

“Vivio asked to do it.” Subaru shrugged, leaning back on her elbows. “Said something about wanting to focus on her defenses, that she had a feeling that Burning Glory would surprise her. Heck if I know what that means. Tea! Two seconds!”

Teana cursed and aimed Cross Mirage, aiming for the younger girl. Normally she wouldn’t have been so rough, but time limits always pushed her patience. Plus, Vivio had never liked being babied; for her age, or because of her status as the daughter of Takamachi Nanoha and Fate T. Harlaown.

On top of that, her money was riding on this, dammit. If she didn’t hit Vivio’s body at least once, she’d have to buy lunch. She sprang back, opening up some distance. “Cross Mirage?”

“Crossfire Shoot!”

The bullets rained down on Vivio, and seconds later the younger girl was encased in flames and smoke with a startled cry; Lutecia immediately jolted forward as the girl’s Round Shield shattered beneath the force of the attack, Asclepius flashing. “Vivio!”

Teana landed, narrowing her eyes as the smoke cleared and feeling her heart sink. Crap…

Only to blink, stunned, by what she saw.

Shaking slightly, Vivio lowered the smoking revolver pistol, eyes wide as the wisps faded away to show that not even a scratch remained. Dark blue embroidery weaved its way along the muzzle and bottom of the black gun, with a six-chamber cylinder of the same color clicking softly into place.

Teana’s jaw dropped slightly. Erio and Caro both stared as Subaru let out a low whistle of approval. Lutecia blinked, sighed, and settled back down, Asclepius calming at her command.

Vivio stared at the weapon with wide eyes before she blinked.

“Wait… who let Burning Glory watch gunfight movies?!”

... Heh.

1. I got the name of Lutecia's Device from Wikipedia. Also, for those who are curious, just imagine what Vivio wore when the Relic transformed her whenever she powers up... because I'm lazy like that. No definite idea of what Burning Glory's staff form looks like.

2. Since this is set in my universe, Vivio's Device here is Burning Glory.

3. Again, possible foreshadowing to a story I might write to explain how Vivio got Burning Glory's... Pistol Form? Because I'm planning for her to use it in my final ViCia story, and I want to explain how she got it.

*chortle* I'm guessing it's the same person who lets Bardiche watch all that anime. *innocent whistle*

(Did Vivio and BG actually shoot down the assorted Crossfire projectiles that got through her shield? And if so, was this in any way inspired by our discussion of Himeko's combat style in "Black Dog"? :D )

[SulliMike23]

Yo Folks, I'm back. Unfortunately, my laptop's screen is dead so I'm forced to use my dad's computer. And due to my idiocy, the start of my Nanoha/Star Trek crossover is still on my laptop! Now I either have to start from square one, or write a different story alltogether.

[Satashi]

Yo Folks, I'm back. Unfortunately, my laptop's screen is dead so I'm forced to use my dad's computer. And due to my idiocy, the start of my Nanoha/Star Trek crossover is still on my laptop! Now I either have to start from square one, or write a different story all together.

Try this, most laptops have a hookup for a monitor, either VGA, HDMI, ect. the chances of yours having one is VERY VERY high. Just run down to your friendly neighborhood walmart/radio shack and buy a cable, shouldn't be more than a few bucks (or heck, unplug the one to your tower and use it to go to your laptop), plug it into your laptop then to your computer monitor and it should automatically dual screen. Mine instantly went to my monitor and my laptop screen when I used my HDMI cable.

[SulliMike23]

Try this, most laptops have a hookup for a monitor, either VGA, HDMI, ect. the chances of yours having one is VERY VERY high. Just run down to your friendly neighborhood walmart/radio shack and buy a cable, shouldn't be more than a few bucks plug it into your laptop then to your computer monitor and it should automatically dual screen. Mine instantly went to my monitor and my laptop screen when I used my HDMI cable.

I'll see what I can do. But I won't hold my breath.

[Jimmy C]

If you're sure the only thing wrong is the screen and not the video chips in the laptop itself, then Satashi's suggestion will definitely work. If your laptop's interface is standard VGA, you don't even need to buy a cable. Just plug a monitor's cable into the slot.

[Evil Rick]

I'll see what I can do. But I won't hold my breath.

Also, by doing what Satashi said, you could transfer the fic to your dad's computer, with the simple help of an USB memory unit or with a LAN conection transfer all the memory from your laptop to a new computer (yes, even a desk one), the cable pointed by Satashi and the LAN cable are not that expensive either, maybe $9.99 at much. ;)

[itanshi1]

I'll concur, I'm pretty tech savvy fyi

Damn this Iran thing, I won't be writing for awhile much less reading, sigh.

[AtomicoX]

Previous Chapters (http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=2362337&postcount=6769)

Knight of Exodus
The village was in flames and chaos covered the land. A squad from Northern Beskanti had arrived at the outskirts of the village and attacked them. The villagers had been too unprepared and were too unskilled to stand up against them. Already the casualties were rising; no one was spared from the onslaught. Men, women and children alike were killed or captured with no remorse.

There was a small group, however, that had managed to make it further south of the town and they were now at the last gate before they could retreat into the forest. It was a huge metal gate anchored to anti-magic enforced walls and the lever was a few meters above on another level.
Among the little group was a huge dragon with a girl riding on it, giving out orders.

“Last stop for us. You two,” she said and pointed at two men standing around,”run up there and open the gate.”

They nodded and ran towards the stairs leading upwards. Elly turned Nidoha around in case the enemy came at them. They had been in close pursuit throughout the city just until a moment ago but they might have become lost.
A sharp sound told her the metal gate was winding upwards.

“Alright, run into the forest and try to hide until reinforcements arrive, they can’t be far out by now. I’ll stay here and fend them off in case they chase after us. Go!”

Not one of the others was really a fighter as she was and knowing that they all did as they were told. With only slight doubt in their minds they ran outside the gate and out into the forest. Elly watched them leave until the sound of footsteps reached her. Nidoha went into a fighting position with Elly still on her back.

Weapons suddenly discharged from a distance and magical shots filled the air. Elly raised a shield as fast as she could, but she noticed their attacks were more precise and powerful than before. More troops were arriving behind a few more buildings too. She couldn’t sustain the fire any longer.

“Nidoha, we can’t hold it here. Take flight!” she yelled and braced herself.The dragon gathered strength in her backlegs and jumped just as a significantly powerful beam struck her in one of her knees. Despite her natural resistance to magic and thick hide, it pierced through and left a large, smoking hole. Blood gushed out and Nidoha lost balance while yelping by the pain, throwing Elly off her seat. They both tumbled onto the ground and Elly rolled a short distance before coming to a stop.

With blurry vision and blood running down her forehead, she could see Nidoha desperately trying to get up. Enemy soldiers who overestimated themselves got too close and were cut to pieces or smashed to a pulp by Nidoha’s powerful limbs. With her master no longer in the seat and unable to stand on her legs, the dragon went into a frenzy.
Elly could only watch since any attempts she made to communicate with the dragon were lost in the confusion of the dragon’s enraged mind. Nidoha roared and continued to fight deeper into the enemy force.
A few soldiers had by that time located Elly and attacked her as soon as they could. She drew her own blade and engaged them, but she knew deep within her that she couldn’t win. Both her shield and strength were far too weak to stand against several opponents and there was even more flooding out from all directions. She fought the best she could until one of the soldiers got the upper hand and rammed her into the ground face-first. She felt her nose crack as it had another time long ago and the pain spiked into her skull. They gathered upon her and secured her with several binds before they turned their attention to Nidoha. Elly managed to move her head in that direction and watch as the once mightily powerful Crimson Dragon made its last attempts to kill its adversaries. There were bodies everywhere, limbs scattered and blood pouring onto the ground. The enemy had taken heavy losses against the dragon but now they finally began to get the upper hand.

Elly could only watch as multiple beams of the same kind as before stretched across the sky and hit Nidoha across the entire length of her body. Every shot pierced her and caused massive pain coupled with a massive amount of blood pumping out of that large body. She roared and yelped as best she could, but her efforts began to die out beneath the merciless barrage. Eventually her body couldn’t sustain the injuries anymore and she fell over on her back. Her stomach stopped moving a few seconds afterwards and Elly felt her mind disappear into darkness.

Where she lay, the blood began mixing with tears. She clenched her teeth and stared at her most trusted companion and important friend she had ever had taking its last breath in its own blood and flesh.

I’ll get you back...somehow, I’ll get you back…

~~******~~

She sat up in the bed with sweat running down her back and making quick breaths as if she was in a state of panic. She looked around the room to try and find something she could recognize, to confirm where she was. White walls and a white roof was all she saw and she had no idea where she was. She didn’t recognize anything in the room.

She put her face in her cupped hands and mumbled something. Gradually she stopped shaking and her breathing slowed down to a calmer pace. She lifted her head again, took another look around the room and tried to sort things out. She talked to herself absentmindedly.

“A hospital. White walls, white bed and white clothes. I’m getting medicine from these wires, yes that must be it. What happened, I don’t remember…”

She then realized that neither her device nor her familiar was anywhere to be sighted. She looked around frantically.

“Fornjót, where are you? Answer me! Nidoha, come to me!”

“Take it easy and don’t yell.”

The sudden voice made her spin around towards the corridor and she managed to rip out a needle supplying her with nourishment. She grabbed the spot in pain and hissed. It stung like a wasp.

“I see you’re awake and active, Elly,” the woman in the doorway said and approached her. Elly glared at her but couldn’t muster the strength to retort back. She noticed her throat was dry as a desert and the recent yelling had taken the last strength out of that.

“Your device and the dragon are safe. The dragon is just outside the window and the device is in our lab. They were quite cooperative after you got knocked out,” the woman said and pulled out a chair standing next to the bed. Her tone was not the condescending one Elly had learned to expect. This one was more out of pity.

“You might remember me from before but I don’t think I’ve introduced myself. Am I correct in thinking that?”

Elly nodded slightly. The woman in front of her had a military uniform, very similar to something she had seen before.

“My name is Hayate Yagami, commanding officer of the squad sent out to capture you. You were knocked out and you’ve been here since we got back from the mountains,” Hayate said and looked at Elly. Tiny fists formed on the bed as the words sunk in.

“I don’t know how or why you are here and neither does the woman you fought with. It’s obvious you are acquainted with her. So tell me, to start with; who are you exactly and what are you doing here? If it’s too early for you I can come back later.”

Elly shook her head and spoke. Her voice was weak but she could speak loud enough for Hayate to hear.

“I can handle it, as long as that woman isn’t here,” she said and took a deep breath. She had already realized it was pointless to resist anymore. “My name is Elisabeth Jónsdóttir, a Korporal in the Southern Beskanti army. I escaped from the planet Cancri and the next thing I know is that I woke up on this planet with that woman here. That’s all I know.”

Hayate picked up a bottle of water on a nearby table and poured some in a glass. When it was filled to the half she put the flask down, picked up the glass and handed it towards Elly.

“Drink, we got time.”

Elly accepted the glass with unsteady hands and drank from it slowly. Hayate spoke while she did so.

“And why did you decide to attack us?”

Elly stopped drinking and but the glass down in her knee. She stared at it while rubbing her thumb against it.

“Because that woman was there I assumed you people were working under her and I didn’t want to get captured again. So I decided to flee.”

“Why did you think we worked for her?”

Elly glanced at Hayate and then looked out the window.

“You obviously don’t know her. You can’t see what she has done in the past and therefore you don’t see who she really is. The Norfolk are all like that.”

Hayate didn’t speak for a moment and thought of how to proceed. After a moment she made up her mind and pushed on.

“So, can I assume she did something that affected you personally?”

The girl in the bed, who now looked frail and lonely, got a dark expression on her face.

“I took an oath,” Elly said slowly, “that I would hunt her down and get revenge for what happened some time ago. Simply put…”

She faltered as her throat refused to work for a few seconds. She then took another deep breath and continued.

“They attacked the area where I lived and she was the leader of her squad. First they kidnapped my father and my brother. They took them somewhere, I don’t know where. They just took them.
My mother and I were hiding in the house, but they soon found us. For some reason they didn’t attack us but waited instead. My mother tried to beg and plead to let me go, she even went down on her knees.
Then she arrived. I refuse to forget that look she had. I remember she told my mother to stand up and face her, and for a second I thought they were going to let us leave.”

Elly stopped talking suddenly and held out her glass. Hayate poured up some more water which the girl drank slowly.
She continued after a moment’s pause.

“She looked into my mother’s eyes. There was a killing intent, I could feel it, but there was also something else. Rage, disgust, something was there that made me realize we wouldn’t get out of there. I tried to shout out to my mother to flee or jump away but it was for nothing. That woman suddenly drew a sword faster than I could blink and stabbed my mother in the stomach. It went all the way throughout her back and I remember the sound of something dripping on the floor. I had closed my eyes in fear so I couldn’t see anything and I only heard the sword withdraw after that, with a body dropping on the floor.”

She stopped again and didn’t speak anymore. Hayate retrieved a handkerchief hanging from the bed and leaned forward. Elly had been crying without realizing it and Hayate was wiping the tears away, not saying a word. She realized Elly probably didn’t know more than they had already heard from Sigrid and she decided to back away. The weight on the girl’s shoulders was already heavy.

“I’ll come back later to check up on you so take this time to rest,” she said and got on her feet. Elly nodded in response and sank back against the pillow. When Hayate walked out of the room the girl had already closed her eyes.

~~****~~

Sigrid’s apartment was pretty much the standard for apartments in the capital. It had a simple, single bedroom, a pretty normal-sized living room, a separate kitchen and a bathroom. Pretty much everything one needed, and a little more, to enjoy life in these parts. She had been invited by Nanoha, after the crash and before Nanoha had gone on vacation with Vivio, to buy furniture, everyday equipment and clothes.

Sigrid had taken a liking to it because it wasn’t often she had gone outside like a normal civilian back on Cancri. There she had usually gone in a group, always in uniform and never gotten to choose where to go herself. Even with Nanoha and Vivio trailing after her, they let her choose mostly by herself what she wanted. Occasionally they would butt in to tease her about various outfits she definitely didn’t want, but they didn’t tell her what she should buy.

It had left a sweet experience in the back of her mind and today she was out to expand her wardrobe again. She had left the apartment early, before the real commerce began, and left Forseti behind to guard. Not that he could do much by himself, but he could at least distract anyone getting in. A voice in an empty room would probably scare anyone off.

However, since she was part of the Norfolk and a citizen of Northern Beskanti, she really wasn’t allowed to part with her device. She had made a decision today, though. Since she wasn’t on Cancri anymore and people around here didn’t bring their devices along everywhere, she would try, at least once, to be without him. She had said goodbye to him before she left, having a sinking feeling in her chest saying that it was wrong. Forseti had cheered her on in his own way though and she had managed to get on with it. As she wandered the streets downtown she started to feel slightly better. This was perhaps her new life getting a start.

Forseti, who lay on a bureau in the living room, was playing around with his settings. He sensed a couple in the apartment underneath engaged in some very energizing activity, a woman and her child screaming at each other in the apartment above and no signs of life in the two other apartments on the sides. He had never sensed this kind of life before because the only thing he was used to was military compounds and soldiers with nothing interesting to take note of. There was also always someone, usually Sigrid, who told him not to change his settings without orders. Now there was no one around so he took the chance.

He expanded his sensors further into a wide circle that stretched down to the street below. A lot of noises and activity travelled through the air and flooded him. He adjusted the sensitivity and spent some time tweaking them before he was satisfied. He lay there in the silence of the apartment and didn’t do anything worthwhile.

Then the phone suddenly rang. It was of the wireless type and connected to a receiver that displayed the number calling. Forseti had previously taken it upon himself to hack into it and he could listen in on any conversation. The automatic message clicked on after a series of dial tones.

“The owner of this phone is unreachable at the moment. Please record a message after the beep.”

The beep came, but no one spoke on the other side afterwards. Forseti could however sense that there still was someone there, swaying between saying something or not saying anything at all.

“…I don’t know if I have reached the right place or not,” a male voice said. Forseti quickly confirmed it was in the same language and even dialect that his lady spoke. In a matter of milliseconds he activated his recording software and listened in.

“I don’t know if you know anything about this whole thing, because I certainly don’t, but in case this line is wired, let me say this; Meet me at the first bus stop outside the city borders to the north the first thing tomorrow. I don’t know what this city is called, but I do know you are in there. I hope at least. I can see if it’s you alone if you do, although I’m not alone myself. There is someone with me that knows you well. I can’t say more over this line. Knight Captain, I’ll be waiting.”

The voice hung up and the recorded message saved itself into Forseti’s databanks. He ran it again, this time with voice identification software ticking along in the background. In his internal core he watched the sound waves trying to find a common source as they waved back and forth. Initially it didn’t make a move anywhere and just played. But then, slowly, it began to inch closer towards another sound wave previously recorded until it fit above it. They fit perfectly and Forseti raced to another side of his databanks where the voices were stored. The time it took to find it was fast even for a machine and a name coupled with a picture, rank information, location and ethnicity appeared in rapid sequence. With the series of commands and processes complete, his processor came to a halt and awaited further instructions.

He thought for a moment. All devices native to Cancri and developed from the Himalaya had different personalities and were more ‘thinking’ than devices on Mid-Childa. This showed, when Forseti after some consideration suddenly decided to delete the message and the number appearing on the receiver. He instead extracted all information from it and imported the data to his own databanks, into a separate archive which only he could access. He was his lady’s device, he knew that and he also knew his lady loved him as a family member. But this had moved something inside of him, something deep within that he wanted to take upon himself.

~~******~~

Fate sat at a desk aboard the Cynthia, one of the warships currently orbiting Mid-Childa in wait for departure. Her desk was cluttered with papers, pens and other materials. It had been a hectic night because a new incident related to the other strange ship appearances had found its way to her table.

“It’s about that ship we tracked down to the surface,” the officer that had left his report had said. “We lost track of it just after it entered the atmosphere, but we have gotten several reports about people being knocked out down there. We think it’s related to the ship.”

Fate had accepted the report and sent him on his way. She had read through it several times and a plausible theory had begun forming in her head.

The ship, a small transport vessel from the looks of it, had appeared out of nowhere and passed the Cynthia on its way down to the surface. They had then, as the officer reported, lost sight of it. However, the place where these assumed assaults had taken place could have been where the ship had landed several hours ago. The vector it had flown in, the descent angle and its speed showed that it would land about there.
She scrounged out some other reports from the pile with more detailed descriptions. The victims, random people in various ages, had been brought to the nearby hospital as soon as they had been found. They were in good health and some had already woken up.
However, most of them were delirious and told strange tales not of this world. Some had walked in a labyrinth, some had been locked inside a room and someone had even been stuck in a sinking car. Each of the various scenarios required them to figure a way out. The strange thing was that it had all happened inside their heads.

The doctors and psychiatrists that had taken care of them had filed reports Fate now had on her desk. They had all agreed on that the victims had been assaulted by something or someone that had mentally attacked them. They had heard from old legends about people with strange abilities that could read or alter other person’s mind but it had never been scientifically proven, so the theory was still mere speculation and might be hogwash. But they couldn’t prove the opposite either, as they had no idea what could have caused it.

Fate had already mailed Hayate about it and hoped she could look into it. It wasn’t protocol to do so as they each worked in different departments, but she knew Hayate always had something up her sleeves and Hayate had after all taken care of Sigrid and was the supervisor for those investigations.

There were also other reports related to the first one that she had also notified Hayate about. According to witnesses, a blonde girl travelling with a man in strange clothing had been sighted around the area and no one knew who they were. Whether or not they were connected to the investigation Fate didn’t know but she had mailed it anyway.
She stretched and leant back on her chair. All these incidents, ships appearing, strange humans that also could use magic arriving with them, they all went through her head. She pondered about what was really going on, if this was really a coincidence. There had been other reports of these so-called wormholes opening and closing rapidly. Nothing had come out of them however, nothing that they could track. Cloaking devices perhaps, maybe aliens were already sneaking around the surface or maybe spies from another planet.
Before she lost her mind entirely she sat up straight and shook her head. She took a new pen that wasn’t broken and started signing the paperwork again.

[Satashi]

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g140/LeviValor/amberdreams.jpg (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5159094/1/)

Amber dreams is finally released <3 click image to read it ^_^

Enjoy!

[DezoPenguin]

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g140/LeviValor/amberdreams.jpg (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5159094/1/)

Amber dreams is finally released <3 click image to read it ^_^

Enjoy!

Great! I can't wait to see how it ends! Really awesome artwork, too.

Edit: Oh, darn--chapter break! :D Still excellent work, though...and now, I really can't wait to see how it ends!

[RadiantBeam]

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g140/LeviValor/amberdreams.jpg (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5159094/1/)

Amber dreams is finally released <3 click image to read it ^_^

Enjoy!

Never seen this one before...

Which probably means I should check it out.

[Jimmy C]

Amber dreams is finally released <3
It's good, but I hate to say that your habit of using inappropriate passives tripped up several heartfelt scenes. Please be aware of it when you write future fics, since you're not likely to be able to do anything to this one anymore.
I think I have an idea about your usage of passives. You seem to use them for "tiny" actions where you trip up. That's not how they're used.
You have to do something to break this habit, ok? It's really hurting your fics.

[SulliMike23]

Just out of curiosity Satashi, is it a oneshot?

[Satashi]

Great! I can't wait to see how it ends! Really awesome artwork, too.

Edit: Oh, darn--chapter break! :D Still excellent work, though...and now, I really can't wait to see how it ends!

I couldn't' release a 15-20k chapter XDD

Never seen this one before...

Which probably means I should check it out.

Hope you enjoy <3

Just out of curiosity Satashi, is it a oneshot?

Nope, it hasn't ended yet :p

[SulliMike23]

Nope, it hasn't ended yet :p

That's good to know.

[yuiseppe]

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g140/LeviValor/amberdreams.jpg (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5159094/1/)

Amber dreams is finally released <3 click image to read it ^_^

Enjoy!

And enjoy I did :) Wonderful tone (it doesn't come off repulsively emo for me).

[spawnofthejudge]

Knight of ExodusA fun little romp, as usual :)

There are a couple formatting issues; perhaps from the copy-paste?

Where in the timeline does this split off from canon, again? I've forgotten.

While Sigrid shows a nice willingness to try to assimilate the culture that's around her, Forseti's actions were slightly odd. I mean, is he revelling in his freedom so much that he's going to do something significant without the permission, or even the knowledge of the master he's only ever parted with once?

And Elly's revelation makes a lot of sense. Can't wait for Sigrid's side of that one.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g140/LeviValor/amberdreams.jpg (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5159094/1/)

Amber dreams is finally released <3 click image to read it ^_^

Enjoy!I shall get to it and review over there :)