World 52
"Nice to see that she still has the touch," a man said, kneeling down and putting a hand to the ground. Across the forest floor, slowly decaying and foul-smelling bodies were littered, along with an interweaving set of hundred-meter scorch marks that were left in the wake of a powerful spell. "Can't believe that she took all these on by herself... even if that was several days ago."
"I would just like to know where she is," A female voice said next to the white-haired man. "We haven't had any contact with her since the incident here, and I'm starting to get worried..." red eyes looked down and away. "And recently... my own kids have disappeared."
"The support ship
Aus'ruf was in the vicinity of both attacks," the man told the woman behind him as he stood to observe the area around him. "I don't know a whole lot about them, but if I would have to guess, then Keroko and the others are safe." He gave a comforting smile to the woman. "Besides, they're all tough as nails. I was planning on Erio becoming a Cleric Knight, you know."
The two walked out of the shadowed forest floor, revealing the clearing that Keroko had so desperately fought in just days ago. Kha der Kleriker and Fate Harlown were greeted by a myriad of TSA personnel as they were investigating the still-growing Spawn biomass in the middle of the clearing. Compared to the battlefield it was just days ago, the area had become a full-blown Lost Logia investigation, and for added security, a few other personnel from several different branches had shown up to investigate the area.
Familiar and strage faces passed by the two as they walked toward the "command center" of the investigation, from all walks of life, yet all drawn here by the investigation going on. Despite their nature as hostile, the so-called Spawn were considered Lost Logia and thus were to be studied. DNA samples were taken from the bodies, some of which had hardly decayed while others had seemed to fall apart altogether; bodies were cut apart and inspected, piece by piece; and the biomass itself had been walked into and out of as reserachers gathered notes.
Kha's unit, the Cleric Knights, were the principal form of security in the area, though the TSA had sent other forces to act as security in the event that somehow the Knights were unable to fight off a grandiose outbreak of Spawn. This unwelcome "addition" to their investigation only put a hammer to the back of the ever-deeper wedge that threatened to cause the Saint Church to leave TSA space altogether, as it seemed that neither ally really trusted the other in these harsh times. Moreover, the TSA had the gall to send Kha's own
wife to spearhead the TSA side of the investigation, as if they were doing it out of spite.
The two didn't have too much of a problem with it, as it was really just an excuse to spend time together, something that been steadily decreasing ever since six years ago, but Kha nearly saw it as an act of war.
He showed it, too; when Fate arrived on the scene a few days ago, at first he was elated... until he saw the detachment she had to bring with her. The two had an argument after that, but both eventually cooled down and settled things between them. Well, after some much needed "alone time".
Nontheless, Kha had to keep from twitching violently when one of the people Fate brought with her gave a report.
"Ma'am!" Barked the young man, giving a salute. "The fifth search of the biomass has been completed!"
"Have you found something?" Fate asked.
"No, ma'am." was her answer. "Though Inspector Verossa is still in there. I asked him to leave, but-" He paused upon Fate's eyebrow twitching in annoyance. "Ma'am?"
"Oh, that man!" she growled. "How does Hayate put up with him?! Excuse me, Major," walking past him, Fate began to roll up her sleeves, prepared to give a certain investigator a beating. Shamsel Nagisa, the aforementioned Major, looked toward Fate, then back at Kha.
"What's her problem?"
Kha just shrugged. The two watched as Fate disappeared inside the biomass. Turning on a flashlight and scrunching her nose slightly at the stench, she nontheless moved forward, walking through the anthill-like structure of the mass. As she walked, her ears picked up the sound of a voice; a rather familiar one at that. Frowning in annoyance, Fate walked forward around a corner to see her "target".
Acous Verossa was knelt down, talking into a recording device. His long green hair was matted with sweat due to the heat in the biomass, and his eyes were narrowed in thought. The Investigator ignored Fate upon her arrival, opting instead to stare at this particular piece of wall and put his hand up to it. Only when Fate cleared her throat did he stop his recording and look up. "Ah, Miss Harlown, how nice to meet you in this dreary place."
"Very funny, Verossa," Fate snapped. "Why didn't you come out with the rest of the search party? It's dangerous in here!" Verossa smiled at Fate as she scolded him, not lifting a finger in defense. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Miss Harlown," Acous said. "I am not helpless in here. Besides, I have found something that's quite interesting." He gestured toward the fleshy wall. "Looks like a part of a larger being, yes?" Fate nodded.
"That's why we're investigating it," she reminded him. "This isn't any excuse to go off on your own-"
"This wall is man-made."
Fate blinked. "I'm sorry, I think I misheard you."
"Oh no!" Acous declared. "You heard me correctly! This wall is not of the same composition as the Spawn creatures outside! This wall was made by humans like me and you. In fact, I do believe that we're standing in front of a door as well!"
"Why do you say this?" Fate asked, confused. Acous lifted one hand gestured toward his side, where his hunting dogs stood, a few of them pawing at the wall. Confused, Fate looked at Acous expectantly. "So... what is it?"
"I'm not entirely sure, to be honest," the TSA Spook admitted. "But let's find out. Miss Harlown, will you do the honors?" Fate nodded, quickly summoning Bardiche to Riot Zamber form. With the precision of a practiced soldier, Fate quickly sliced a giant square into the biomass covering the metal. As the "sheet" of flesh fell to the ground, the two were greeted with a large steel wall with a smaller door in the middle. Rust and grime covered the walls and the door, giving an impression that the walls were
bleeding. Words were written on the door, in proper Mid-childan language.
"Throne Room," Fate read. To Acous, she said. "Shall we visit the lord of this place?"
"Can't be any more terrifying than what we've already seen," he agreed. Together, the two pushed on the door, which gave out and simply fell down, hitting the floor with such a clang that it caused the two of them to jump. Hot stale air rushed out at them, blowing their hair back and causing the two to squint.
Within was a dim room. Blue lights glowed from along the walls and the floor, tracing indescipherable static images everywhere. A set of blue lights trailed from the door to a set of steps, leading up to a large chair, where a small figure sat, unmoving. Fate and Acous looked at each other before nodding and moving forward, with Fate readying her weapons just in case.
"You know," Acous said quietly. "I once had a fantasy of being alone in a dark room with you, but this isn't quite what I had in mind."
"Very funny," Fate replied.
As they began to walk up the steps to the throne, they heard whispers in the air, speaking a language familiar yet strange. It was a dread voice that whispered, sending chills down both their spines.
Upon reaching the throne, Fate was mortified. Sitting the throne was a body of a small child, no more than ten or twelve. His body was unmoving, and a cursory sensor scan by Bardiche comfirmed that the body had indeed expired. No signs of decay had begun yet, and so the room was surprisingly free of any such odors as the area just before it. The body itself had been chained to its throne, and the armor the boy wore suggested that he was a Belkan Knight of some sort; his spear, rusted and the AI apparently scrambled, had been impaled in the floor next to the throne.
Acous encircled the throne, amazed. When he reached the back, he traced a set of words in Mid. "Project ATX Subject Number 15," he read off. "Project... ATX. That sounds familiar."
"Yeah..." Fate nodded. She tried to think about it, and her memory came to her easy.
"I'm a practitioner of Alternative Type-X or ATX magic," Glen told Fate. "It's one of the projects that were attempting to form the new Belkan style of magic, a competitor to the project that became Neo-Belkan today."
"Of course," Fate nodded to herself. "Acous, if Project ATX and Alternate Type-X have any sort of relation, I know who can tell us! And if this boy is related to that Project, and thus related to the Spawn..."
"That's kind of a stretch," Acous told the Enforcer. "...but, it's the best lead we have. What do you think about these runes everywhere?" Verossa looked over his shoulder, falling into silence as he stared at the Aztec-looking symbols on the walls and floor.
They look quite familiar... he noted.
...like Al-Hazared language.
Fate took one last look at the dead boy. "Let's go; that body creeps me out."
"Right," Acous nodded. "We'll return later."
The two walked down off the throne's rise and headed for the door. Both of them made haste, eager to leave the disturbingly calm room. Suddenly, a sound, akin to that of a heartbeat, resonated throughout the room, giving the two tremors. The biomass regenerated at speeds unheard of, sealing the pair inside the throne room and somehow making everything seem... darker.
Behind them, a chain rattled.
Slowly, the two turned around, and to their horror, the corpse that should have been dead, began to rise. His bones creaked in protest, muscles snapping from prolonged disuse and a horrible, inhuman rasp coming from its throat. The boy opened his mouth and spoke a single word.
"Come."
Against their wills, Fate and Acous began to walk back toward the throne, up the stairs, and before the throne itself. The boy stared up at them, gnashing his teeth and staring at them with eyes the colors of the galaxy.
"
Children of humanity, why have you come?" A rasp emanates from him with an inhuman voice; a voice coming from him, yet not spoken. "
Why have you stepped into my realm?"
Fate opened her mouth to speak, to ask a question, but was cut off. "I sense a presence within them, Master," The boy said. "The presence of the one you seek."
"The one you seek?" Acous echoed. "What do you mean by that? Who are you?
What are you?"
"Are you related to the Spawn?" Fate asked.
"
Spawn?" The second voice said. "[i]Foolish girl, I
AM the Spawn!"
"The master of all that is," The boy droned. "The master of all that was, and all that will be." The boy groaned in pain suddenly. "His is the hand that guides the galaxy, pushing it ever further..." Massive tumors began to grow on the boy's shoulders.
"
...toward paradise." The second voice claimed. As if on cue, the tumors erupted into massive tentacles, which flailed about, stretching toward Acous and Fate, before falling flat on the floor.
"What do you want with humanity?" Fate asked.
"
To join its songs with mine, and usher in a new era for the galaxy!" The inner voice declared.
"To fulfill the prophecy as set by our ancestors millenia ago."
"Prophecy? Ancestors?"
"
The Bringers of Light."
"Al-Hazared."
Acous and Fate looked at each other before looking back at the boy. "What's the prophecy?" Fate asked.
"
Lies for those who believe in them." The inner voice dismissed. The boy blinked, sending shivers through the tentacles.
"Translated, it reads: When the time is set and the stars are right, they will return to our galaxy. They are the Warped Ones, the Shadows of Ourselves, coming to reclaim what is theirs. They will be led by the right hand of God, and will attempt to seek out and take in the ultimate power. The White Devil."
Fate put two and two together. "White Devil... Nanoha?!"
"The Replacement Saint will be raised as a sacrifice, and not even the sword and the shield will be able to stop it. The portal that opens will brings forth the flood, the swarm, and usher in the era of darkness that they seek. Only Ghosts will remain."
"
We have touched the power, and we desire it again." The inner voice growled.
"How do you know all this?" Acous asked, trying to keep calm. Upon hearing the Spawn's desire for Nanoha, Fate had broken down slightly, shivering and nearly dropping Bardiche.
"
It is their destiny to know."
"Project ATX."
Acous looked at Fate, then back at the boy. "I suppose you're not going to let us go easily, are you?"
"
Never."
The tentacles came to life again, raising up like snakes to surround the two. Acous looked around, preparing to cast spells, when suddenly, the tentacles fell again.
"Get out of here!" the boy shouted. "Listen, you must hurry while I can hold him off!"
"Weren't you-"
"I was faking it, to convince him I had fallen. Take her and run!" The boy looked at them with desperate eyes. "Find the one, the most powerful of my former classmates, and seal his magic! Only then will the prophecy be stopped! Find the girl, the White Devil, and protect her! You must do this!"
"
Foolish Boy!" The inner voice rumbled from within. "
You dare to deceive me?! Then suffer the consequences!"
The boy begin to scream in unholy pain as Acous grabbed Fate's hand and started running back to the exit. Behind them, Acous heard crunching and snapping sounds, followed by the boy's screams... then suddenly silence. Acous didn't dare to turn around and look, instead opting to pause at the biomass and look at Fate in the eyes.
"Snap out of it, woman!" He shouted. "We have to get out of here!" Fate nodded slowly, barely comprehending and still lost in thought.
Is that why... she's so-
"Fate!"
Fate blinked, stared at Verossa, and nodded. Summoning Bardiche into its Riot Zamber form, she lifted the swords into the air to cut apart the biomass. But the Spawn weren't finished yet, and dozens of tentacles bound Fate and Acous and pulled them apart, lifting them into the air. Fate watched as a tentacle wrapped around Bardiche and yanked it out of her hands, throwing it off to the side.
"
You will make an appropriate sacrifice, girl." The voice rumbled around the throne room. Fate's eyes dilated at the thought of what that implied, and as the tentacles began to drag her back to the rapidly decaying body of the little boy, she felt a dread fear clench her heart. "
Your Core is powerful enough, I can taste it." The mouth of the boy opened to an impossibly huge length, large enough to consume Fate and then some. Fate gasped at the impossible
thing that the tentacles began to drag her to.
Fate screamed.
The biomass blocking the exit suddenly violently exploded inward, sending chunks of meaty flesh everywhere. A flash of white light severed the tentacles completely, dropping Acous and Fate to the floor. Stepping through the threshold like a valiant hero, Kha took one look at the now-formless mass that had once composed the boy.
"
Oh, an interloper?" the voice trembled. "
You think that you can interfere with the will of Omega?!"
Kha smirked bitterly. "Omega? I've heard more threatening names from a kid's book," he said, pointing
Tausend Kreuz at Omega. "Now, begone from this mortal coil!" Lifting his weapon into the air and shifting it to a bow, Kha pulled a magical arrow back. "Caladblog Zwei!" A beam of energy blasted outward, eviscerating the boy/creature/mass into pieces and ending its pitiful existence.
"...well... that was easy," Kha said, helping Fate up as summoning Bardiche to float next to him. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, thank you," Fate replied, smiling at Kha and grabbing the Intelligent Device from its place. Behind him, Acous groaned and stood up.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking."
"FOOLISH HUMANS!" A voice erupted around them.
"SINCE YOU REFUSE TO SUBMIT TO MY CHORUS, THEN YOU WILL BE DRAGGED TO ME BY THE MARROW OF YOUR BONES!"
From the ruins of the boy's body, five objects began to rise into the air. The three mages instantly recognized the objects: Four Jewel Seeds, slowly spinning around a rotating Relic. Electricity arced from the spinning Lost Logia, and Fire flew from the Relic itself, opening up rifts across time and space within the area. Massive tentacles began to slither forth like snakes.
The three looked at each other.
"Time to go?" Kha asked.
"Time to go," Fate agreed.
"Let's get the hell outta here!" Verossa shouted. The three broke into a run, running across pulsating and exploding biomass and droplets of flesh that began to form into Infection Forms, with tentacles hot on their trails. Fate quickly summoned an impromptu Trident Smasher and hurled it at the nearest wall, blowing a six-foot hole to the outside in it. The three leaped out of the hole, shouting voices of retreat as they ran back to the camp. Confused, the others just stood around, staring... that is, until the massive tentacles of the Gravemind burst out of the biomass, quickly grabbing and entangling people.
The biomass shivered and began to sink into the ground, into another gigantic rift in space. Within the rift, a seething mass of Spawn could be seen, running across a dark brown and green surface, hissing at the rift above them. Tentacles sprouted from the surface and ejected into the rift, grabbing at people; those too slow to react, unable to fly, or simply unlucky. As if becoming excited by the panicked screams, the tentacles moved faster, dragging the victims to the rift below.
Slowly, the biomass sank into the rift, taking with it dozens of people and any leads that would have helped the cause against the Spawn. Fate, Kha, and Verossa watched from several hundred meters away, mesmerized.
"What is that?" Fate asked.
"The depths of Hell itself..." Kha whispered. Closing his eyes, he furrowed his brow. All that was in his mind were the screams of the damned.
Fate shivered.
Nanoha... is this part of what you saw? Why you changed? Will this happen to others?
"Acous," turning to the TSA Spook, Fate looked resolute.
I won't let it happen to others.
"I'm one step ahead of you, Harlown," Acous answered, bringing up a computer screen. "I'm going to see this through to the end, and I know you want to come with me. I have a Prowler ship in orbit. I'll use some of my connections to get us where we need to go, to figure out this mystery."
"We'll need extra firepower," Fate decided.
"Then I'll order up one Teana Lanster, courtesy me," Acous confirmed. "What about you?" looking at Kha, he expected that the Cleric Knight would want to do. However, Kha shook his head.
"I need to report to the church. We'll start our own investigation." Looking at Fate, he said. "Good luck, Fate. Though our paths take us far, my heart goes with you."
"And mine with you," Fate said, smiling.
"Right, let's do this," Acous nodded to himself. "One Investigation, coming right up!"