Hmm... Maybe when it comes to fighting they're different. All the images and information that I keep finding on them has S being pretty reserved, but polite (maybe slightly Tsundere/Kuudere) while L is a Genki Girl and a bit dumb, but easily angered and child-like while D is a bit of a brat who looks down on people as being less than her...
Here, here, and here. May or may not be accurate to their game personalities, but that is the only thing I can see. And from the game, when I played it, it's pretty close to the attitudes that I got from them.
__________________
My fics Due to certain things, I am not here, find me over on TFF.
false light
a false light casts a darker Shadow...
Spoiler for Chapter 5:
NSIS Headquarters
Cranagan, Midchilda
08.29.0088
Admiral Chrono Harlaown was worried.
The rather young flag officer leaned back in his padded leather executive chair and exhaled heavily. He hadn't received any communication from Lutecia Alphine since he had last seen the woman in person. This would ordinarily not be that troubling—Lutecia rarely phoned home during her long missions, preferring to maintain radio silence and keep her head in the game.
No, that wasn't what worried Chrono. The other, possibly related things that were brought to his attention, those where what worried him. He yawned cavernously and stared at the tiled ceiling for a long moment.
Victor Stormhawk had just left the director's office. If at all possible, the blond man appeared to be more worried than Chrono. The admiral felt awful, lying to one of his most trusted subordinates in such a fashion, but the stakes were too high.
He must really be freaking out, thought Chrono grimly. He knows just as well as I do that Shadows are not privy to the mission information and itinerary of their peers.
It's because Celica is gone, and I don't have a good answer as to why she is gone, Chrono knew. He rubbed tired eyes—the day was barely two hours old and already he felt exhausted. This job definitely wasn't for the faint of heart.
“Admiral, there's a call for you, redirected from your Navy office line,” the voice of his secretary said over the intercom. “It's your wife.”
Chrono groaned inwardly. His wife wasn't a fan of the long hours Chrono had been putting in since he took over the leadership of NSIS. Officially, the woman had no idea what her husband actually did for the Bureau, believing that he had taken a desk job within the Ground Forces liaison branch of the Navy. Which, for the most part, was actually true—he did work rather closely with the Ground Forces' joint chiefs of staff, specifically Lt. General Hayate Yagami.
Unofficially, however, Chrono's position as the director of NSIS wasn't nearly as secret as it ought to have been.
“Put her through, Jenna, thank you,” Chrono said solicitously. The receptionist disconnected the line and transferred the incoming call.
“Hi, honey,” Chrono greeted, a bit lamely, he thought.
“Chrono,” Amy's voice came over the line, “will you be coming home on time tonight?”
“Barring any world-destroying catastrophies, I should be home early tonight,” the dark-haired man responded with a slight smile his wife couldn't see. The communication was audio-only, a rarity in Midchilda's high-tech society. But it offered Chrono a slight degree of security.
“Okay. I just wanted to confirm; your mother's supposed to come visit us and the kids for the weekend. She should be arriving on Midchilda sometime this afternoon,” Amy reminded him.
Chrono was well aware his mother was on her way. Coming to visit her son's family was actually a cover; Lindy Harlaown was coming to Midchilda to talk to the director of NSIS about the strong anti-agency bias prevalent within the IAFW's Administrative Council.
“I know, I'm going to meet her at the starport,” Chrono replied warmly. “Give my love to the little monsters. I love you, Amy.”
“I love you, too, Chrono. I'll see you tonight.”
Chrono disconnected the call. Even the weight of his worries couldn't wipe away the smile he now wore. The admiral actually wished his wife would call him every day like that. It would certainly help relieve the stress this job caused, he knew.
But that wouldn't last. The small communications console next to his computer began to flash urgently. This line was not tied to his office at the Ground Forces HQ, nor was it through ordinary NSIS channels. This was a priority mission-report line, heavily encrypted—the encryption algorithm was actually coded by Celica, thought Chrono with no small amount of irony—designed for use by field agents to report important developments. It also had video, unlike his office line.
Chrono did not hesitate. He immediately answered the incoming call. What he saw made his blood run cold.
A small holographic display materialized in the air before him, displaying the face of Lutecia Alphine—only it was barely recognizeable. The woman's face was haggard and worn. A deep gash burned across her forehead, leaving streaks of dried blood down her face.
“Admiral, I failed my mission,” Lutecia said dully, without preamble.
“Explain yourself,” Chrono ordered immediately.
“The safe house was destroyed. I lost Celica and the Precursor Artifact.”
“What are you talking about, Alphine?” Chrono demanded. “What's this 'Precursor Artifact' you're talking about? What happened to Iris-Lynnfield? Did she do that to you? Was she rescued by someone?”
Lutecia didn't even flinch at the barrage of questions. “No, sir. Admiral, Celica didn't murder those Security Division officers. You were right—there's something very strange going on.”
Chrono digested that little bit of information before making his decision. It was the correct one, of course, but he wasn't happy about this turn of events. Perhaps now, however, he could actually figure out what the hell was going on within his own agency.
“I'm recalling you immediately,” responded Chrono gravely. “Are you able to cast a dimensional transfer and return to Midchilda?”
“I'm wounded, but not so badly I can't do that much,” Lutecia replied gamely. “I should be back at headquarters within an hour.”
“Medical will be waiting for you. I'll debrief you while they patch you up.”
“Yes, sir,” Lutecia said weakly, disconnecting the communication. Chrono dropped his head into his hands and hissed in anger. Something had gone horribly wrong and one of his agents—really just a girl, Chrono thought wrathfully—had yet again paid the price in blood.
Someone would pay dearly for this.
* * *
Twenty-four hours earlier:
Hayate's former home/Bureau safe house
Uminari, Japan
Non-Administrated World #97
08.28.0088
“So this is the Precursor Artifact,” Lutecia said neutrally.
Celica Iris-Lynnfield nodded as she pored over the data scrolling across Tizona's displays. The two women had successfully pulled off Celica's crazy plan, using Lutecia's summoning powers to cast a sort of reverse-teleport spell. This had allowed them to swipe the dormant artifact from the base without actually engaging any more enemies.
They had seven more of those 'protomages' still inside, Celica mused to herself. The two of them and Garyuu were able to defeat five protomages without too much trouble, but it was still a near thing. Celica was only too thankful that active Linker Cores were a rare thing on this world. The protomages, despite their technological disadvantage, were tough opponents.
“We don't know much about it,” said Celica without looking up from her displays. They had taken the artifact and relocated to a safe house on Earth that the Bureau maintained—actually, it was once Lt. General Hayate Yagami's own home, where she had spent much of her youth. It was used by NSIS field agents who operated on or around Earth for rest and recuperation.
Lutecia believed the safe house would be an ideal place to allow Celica to place a heavy seal on the Precursor Artifact in preparation to transport it to the secure conservation room at the Infinity Library, where Dr. Scrya and a team of arcanists from the Saint Church could study the device.
“Have you reported to the admiral yet?” Celica asked, still not bothering to look up from her screens. She took a bite out of a large slice of pizza and chewed thoughtfully as her eyes scanned over the rows upon rows of code.
“I try to maintain radio silence as much as possible during a mission,” Lutecia replied, taking a healthy swallow of cherry Coke from a frosted glass. “Once we get this thing sealed and transport it to the Library, I will contact him from the branch office there. It has a secure terminal.”
“Tizona could encrypt a transmission heavily enough that they wouldn't be able to break it without a lot of effort,” offered Celica.
“No,” Lutecia said at length, “I don't want to take any chances with this. We need to hurry this up and get to the Infinity Library as quickly as we can. With the Precursor Artifact, the doctored reports, the strategic planning notes and the lists of names, I don't think you'll have to worry about those murder charges any more.”
Celica smirked as she sipped at her beer. “The admiral won't be able to do anything immediately, Alphine. That information gets out, and the corrupt faction will just do a disappearing act, and the Administrative Council will tear us a new asshole. The admiral's going to have to take them out, and it sure as hell won't be legal.”
“I know that,” Lutecia said softly. “It's just nice to know...”
“That you weren't wrong about me?” Celica asked slyly. The lilac-haired summoner blushed faintly and shook her head.
“We've been through a lot together,” Lutecia said softly. “You, Vic and I have worked together more than most other Shadows ever have—the exact sort of emotional attachment the admiral tries to dissuade.”
“But we're different,” Celica pointed out, though the truth was actually different. Lutecia wasn't different, and both Victor Stormhawk and Celica, two of the woman's closest friends within NSIS, knew it.
If only things had turned out differently, you might not even be here today, Alphine, mused Celica silently. The analyst knew well why Lutecia Alphine was the number-one agent within the Field Division. It had little to do with the fact that she the third highest-ranked mage within NSIS as a whole.
Lutecia could have left and Chrono would have done nothing, Celica knew. She knew well that Lutecia was involved with the Takamachi family through the adoptive daughter, Vivio. The summoner had her hands around the admiral's balls and she didn't even realize it.
She doesn't leave, though. I don't really understand it—she's not cut out for this kind of life.
Celica turned her thoughts from such dark subjects and concentrated on the task at hand. The safe house would only remain safe for so long. Lutecia hadn't been strong enough after stealing the Precursor Artifact to transport them to the main office.
“Alphine, you should be resting,” Celica said sternly as the other woman sat down in front of one of Tizona's holographic terminals. She tapped a command into her workstation and the terminal in front of Lutecia dissolved into motes of blue-white light.
“I can't sleep.”
“You should try,” Celica reminded her. “You're our only ticket off this rock. The Bureau doesn't bother putting transfer ports on worlds they don't administer. I'm terrible at movement magic.”
“Are you sure you don't need any help?” Lutecia pressed. Celica did not reply, her attention wholly absorbed by the task at hand. The woman was essentially writing a new spell—altering the core logic of an existing magical seal to function with the Precursor Artifact's alien composition. The whole time, Tizona was scanning, gathering data on the device, trying to glean some sort of clue as to what exactly it was supposed to do.
It wasn't terribly successful. The Lost Logia was still dormant, and Celica did not know how to activate it, nor was she sure she wanted to. In her experience, activating strange Lost Logia generally resulted in a quick but messy death.
“Is there any of that pizza left, Celica?”
“Help yourself,” Celica said, pointing to the white cardboard box sitting on the counter top in the kitchen. Lutecia padded barefoot into the kitchen and drew out a few slices of lukewarm pizza, refilling her glass with cherry Coke from a plastic two-liter bottle.
“I have finished compiling,” Tizona announced abruptly. Celica smiled tightly; her ever-present partner never failed to surprise her. He was thirty minutes ahead of schedule.
“Good job, Tizona. Give me a minute to go over the sequence and then we'll seal this thing up good and tight.”
“Alert,” Asclepius's voice rang out suddenly, ominously in the darkened room. “Detecting incoming magical energy signature, Ancient Belkan-type. It approaches at high speed.”
“What is it?” Lutecia asked her Device, setting the paper plate bearing her meal on the counter.
“Tizona, what's going on? Stop analysis; enter active scanning mode. I hope to hell the Bureau didn't decide to use this safe house tonight, of all nights.”
“There are no Bureau-sanctioned operations on #97,” Tizona reported grimly. “I have identified the incoming contact.”
Celica hissed in anger and dismay as Tizona produced a small holographic display with the identification information. The visage in the floating display window was familiar to her—and to Lutecia, as well. Information scrolled under the window, identifying the man's mage rank and combat classification.
“It's Stele,” Lutecia murmured. “How did he find us so quickly?”
“Unfortunately, Alphine, we stand out too much,” Celica said acidly, though her anger was directed not at Lutecia, but at being discovered so quickly. She thought they'd have at least a day or two before being detected. “This world is populated largely by people with dormant Linker Cores, and it just makes ours much more obvious.”
“Shit,” Lutecia muttered, then turned her attention to her Device. “Asclepius, what's the incoming contact's ETA?”
“Not enough time,” said Celica immediately. “The sealing spell to close up this thing will take me at least ten minutes to cast. We're going to have to go, now, and hope that the long-range transfer doesn't accidentally turn this thing on. Can you do it?”
“I can't take us directly to the main office,” Lutecia explained, “but there's an unmanned Bureau sensor station a few light-years away that has a full-range transfer port. We can use that to get to—”
Lutecia's voice died in her throat as the air around them seemed to fade and distort. Colors began to wash out and the space felt heavy, oppressive, as if an invisible wet blanket had fallen over their shoulders.
“Dimensional lock detected,” Tizona pointed out rather unnecessarily.
“So much for leaving,” Celica growled. “Fuck. I can't dispel a dimensional lock this powerful from the inside, and I don't know how big it is.”
“He's after the Precursor Artifact... and you,” Lutecia said quietly. “Though I'm sure he won't hesitate to kill us both.”
“We worked our asses off getting this tinker toy,” Celica snapped harshly, “and I'll be damned if I let that bastard take it away from me without a fight.”
“Abraham Stele is an SS-ranked combat-type,” Lutecia pointed out. “He's known within the Shadows as the—”
“Yeah, the 'One-Man Army,' I know,” Celica interrupted, scowling fiercely. “Specializing in annihilation missions, Agent Stele is sent on the most dangerous assignments, and he's almost always successful. He's also the highest-ranked mage within NSIS.”
“And you expect to fight him?” Lutecia asked incredulously.
“We don't have another choice,” Celica said impatiently. “I can't dispel a dimensional lock from the inside of the field, and I don't know how large it is. Considering Stele's rank, it could be hundreds of miles wide. A dimensional lock isn't nearly as hard to keep active as a phase barrier.”
“Contact approaching. ETA: one minute, four seconds,” Asclepius reported. Celica watched as Tizona reverted to his weapon form, grasping the dagger-shaped Device in her right hand so tightly her knuckles whitened.
* * *
Abraham Stele stood mere meters away, his massive body encased in heavy plate armor, fashioned in the old style, when the Belkan Empire was the definitive power on Midchilda. His face was obscured by a full great helm, magically powered and outfitted with sensors and support systems linked to his Armed Device, Ridill.
The man gripped that very same Device in his right hand, holding the massive two-handed broadsword as if it weighed no more than a table knife. The iron-gray blade was etched with glowing Belkan runes, imbuing the blade with various offensive powers.
Celica and Lutecia stood resolutely together, their respective Devices brought to bear. Tizona's silvery blade gleamed with a blue-white corona. Garyuu stood to one side, partially obscured by the shadows, his own natural weapons glinting dully in the moonlight.
Stele planted the tip of Ridill into the concrete patio, sending up chunks of masonry. With his right hand he removed the great helm, revealing his undeniably handsome face, his chiseled features splitting into a smug grin.
“At last I've run you to ground, Iris-Lynnfield,” the man said conversationally. “I will be taking the Precursor Artifact.”
“Do you really think I'd just hand it over to you?” Celica demanded. “Knowing that your orders are to kill me, too?”
“Of course not,” Stele said, still standing casually, his helmet slung over one shoulder. “Your fate—and the fate of the Precursor Artifact—is sealed.” His gaze traveled to Lutecia.
“But I have no quarrel with Agent Alphine,” Stele pointed out, chewing his lower lip thoughtfully. “I am a busy man, Iris-Lynnfield. I don't have time to play with the two of you. I would appreciate it greatly if you surrendered yourself and the Precursor Artifact to me.”
Lutecia glanced at Celica worriedly. The implication was clear—Stele was offering to spare Lutecia's life if Celica would surrender herself and the Lost Logia without a fight.
The summoner did not wait for Celica to reply—the Belkan knight was hardly vulnerable, even with his helmet removed, but Lutecia would have the element of surprise.
Garyuu, now!
A black flash of chitin and razor-sharp blades exploded from the shaded terrace as the insect guardian attacked. Lutecia did not wait around to admire Garyuu's handiwork before launching a withering barrage of her own. Dozens of black-purple blasts of magical energy lanced outward, converging upon their target and detonating in a roaring conflagration.
Celica may not have been a warrior, but her reaction time was fast enough. She immediately leaped backward as the space around her as Garyuu flashed past. Stele grunted in agony as Garyuu connected with a spinning kick, the insect guardian's foot setting Stele back on his heels.
A split second later he was engulfed in the explosion of Lutecia's attack.
“Celica, get over here, now,” Lutecia ordered harshly. The red-haired woman complied without words, falling back behind Lutecia's position. The black-purple summoning circle under Lutecia's feet told Celica that she was in the midst of a powerful casting.
It may have been too late. Stele shot upward, leaping into the air with the sheer power of his huge leg muscles rather than magical flight, clearing the dust cloud before it could dissipate. His armor was scored with several creases—Garyuu's strikes had been felt.
“[Abyssal Chains],” Asclepius intoned. A second summoning circle, smaller than the first, materialized underneath Stele's feet at the exact moment he touched down on the carefully-maintained lawn. Black iron chains, each link easily as thick as Celica's wrist, slashed out from the summoning circle and wrapped themselves around Stele's arms, ankles and waist.
“I cannot be chained,” Stele said contemptuously, staring sidelong at the material summon holding him bound. A blood-red Belkan magic circle sprang into being beneath him.
“[Festigkeit von Stahl],” the Armed Device, Ridill, intoned in a stern feminine voice. Lutecia and Celica watched in awe as the Belkan knight began to glow with a red-black aura. He took a deep breath and flexed his muscles, shattering the thick chains as if they were formed of spun sugar, rather than magically-forged iron.
“[Blitzstrahl].”
Stele moved with impossible speed, charging forward, Ridill gripped in a two-handed stack as he attacked. The blade flashed with crackling reddish lightning as he bore down on Lutecia, intending to strike the summoner with a sundering blow that would kill her or put her out of the fight permanently.
Garyuu interceded, a razor-sharp wrist blade catching Stele's Device and driving it high. The insect guardian was extremely skilled in swordplay, especially with his own natural weapons. He knew better than to directly block such a powerful blow; instead, his parry deflected the blade.
Redirecting the kinetic energy of the blow did nothing to stop the lightning imbued into Ridill's edge, however. Garyuu writhed in soundless agony as his body was wreathed in reddish arcs of energy. He backpedaled to avoid further damage, his black carapace smoking faintly.
“[Shadow Shield],” Asclepius barked, forming a shadowy protective field over Celica's location. The gray-eyed mage nodded in understanding; while Celica had several melee techniques, she would not last ten seconds against Stele. She was best off supporting Lutecia from a distance.
“Tizona, Interface Form!” Celica ordered. The Device complied instantly, reforming into a diverse array of holographic terminals and displays. This left her terribly vulnerable, she knew—when in Interface Form, Tizona redirected all of his resources to his processing cores. Celica was reduced to only her Barrier Jacket and Lutecia's shadow shield for her own protection.
But if I can hack into Ridill's systems, perhaps I can take control, or at least reduce his fighting effectiveness...
Lutecia was keeping her distance from the man while Garyuu continued his harassing tactics. The insect guardian never remained in direct melee for long, using his speed and his natural flight abilities to dart in for a single blow, then quickly retreat before Stele could retaliate.
“This grows tiresome,” Stele said in a disinterested tone, just as Garyuu danced out of the way, dodging a blow from Ridill with contemptuous ease. Lutecia responded with a flurry of magical energy blasts.
Stele was right, in a twisted sort of way, Lutecia knew. They were barely hurting the behemoth, and they were expending large amounts of energy to do so.
The Ancient Belkan knight was merely bored.
“Firewall breached, core logic adapted,” Tizona reported. Celica nodded as she tapped in a string of commands with dizzying speed, her long, dextrous fingers flying across the projected input panels.
“Let's see how you like this one,” Celica muttered wrathfully, stabbing her right index finger on the “Commit” key. The results were not visually spectacular, but Celica felt a deep sense of satisfaction as Stele's body ceased to glow with reddish light.
“Error,” Ridill bleated suddenly. “Core logic disrupted. Augment systems failing.”
Lutecia and Garyuu struck simultaneously.
The summoner sent a deadly stream of magical projectiles striking one after another, slamming against Stele's depowered armor, blasting dents and cracks into the heavy beaten plates. The insect guardian struck Stele's right hand, slashing through the metal armor and severing the tendons beneath. The Belkan knight grunted in agony but did not falter, instead shifting Ridill to his left hand. Celica was awed by the ease at which the warrior handled the weapon, even in his non-dominant hand.
Garyuu flew backwards, but wasn't quite fast enough. Stele slammed the insect guardian hard with the flat of Ridill's blade. Garyuu's flight failed and the alien creature fell heavily to the ground.
“[Regeneration],” Ridill said suddenly. Stele shuddered as his Device activated an automatic healing system, repairing the injury to his wrist and returning him to prime combat effectiveness. Stele flexed his injured right hand experimentally before taking his weapon back in a two-handed stack—Celica knew that even with the rapid point-healing spell, it would still be stiff and sore.
It won't slow him down much, if at all, thought Celica bleakly.
“Tizona, can you compromise the connection between Ridill and Stele's Linker Core?”
“I can,” Tizona replied confidently. “Beginning process now; security attack initiated.” Rows upon rows of code scrolled across Tizona's displays as the Device leveraged its awesome processing power to compromise the link between Device and mage. It would greatly reduce Stele's ability to cast spells, but Celica knew better than to think that would significantly stack the deck in their favor.
But Stele had other ideas.
“Ridill, Cartridge Load!” Stele snapped.
“Explosion!”
The Armed Device complied, cycling its action and slamming home a cartridge filled with compressed magical energy. Energy surged into the Device and fed back through the link into Stele's Linker Core. Ridill's blade flashed with a seething reddish-black aura.
“Link stabilizing,” Tizona reported, the frustration evident in his artificially-generated voice. “Energy levels are 500% of nominal. I cannot disrupt the link.”
“Shit,” Celica cursed, frowning. As long as the cartridge energy flowed through the link between Stele's Device and his Linker Core, Tizona would be unable to disrupt the connection. The link was too strong. Celica cursed the fact that Tizona's unique construction made him totally incompatible with the Cartridge System, but it was just as well—she'd likely totally collapse her Linker Core if she ever tried to combine cartridge use with her Overclock ability.
“Tizona, Cannon Form,” Celica said, changing tactics. Stele had prevented her from further hindering his efforts by overcharging Ridill with energy; she could do nothing more now than act as fire-support.
Celica lifted the weapon and braced it against her shoulder, sighting down the aperture and loosing a potent bombardment spell at point-blank range.
“[Plasma Cannon].”
Blue-white fire exploded from Tizona's aperture, coalescing into a brilliant beam of destructive magical energy. Stele tried to backpedal to avoid the blast, but Lutecia's suppression fire hemmed him in. The blast caught him fully, sending the armored knight crashing to the ground.
His knight's armor, still depowered from the initial assault on the Device, was not fully up to the task of deflecting the blast. Metal creaked and groaned in protest as superheated magical energy washed over the man.
“Enough!” Stele growled, planting Ridill's tip into the cracked patio, levering himself up into a standing position. The man was injured, but not badly. “This certainly was amusing, but my time grows short.”
Celica's eyes widened, stealing a glance over at Lutecia. The summoner looked to be just as exhausted as Celica herself felt. “Brace yourself, Alphine! This one's going to be bad!”
Stele gripped his Armed Device in a reverse two-handed hold, lifting the blade high as he prepared to plunge it deep into the ground. The weapon's action cycled several times, fully filling its mana reservoir with the contents of four cartridges. The Belkan magic circle materialized beneath Stele's feet, the angular runes glowing fiercely with barely-contained power.
“[Erschütterung],” Ridill intoned as Stele shoved the sword into the ground with all of his might. The blade sank nearly a foot into the concrete of the patio. The magic circle flared with intense brilliance as the ground began to rock violently. Pulses of invisible power flowed from Ridill's blade into the ground, setting up massive seismic shockwaves through the earth.
A spiderweb of cracks spread out from the point of impact, shattering the slab of concrete. Celica, protected as she was beneath the shadow shield, was spared the blast as the shockwaves rolled outward, washing over the defensive barrier.
Lutecia, however, was not so lucky. Garyuu darted forth to protect the summoner from the oncoming blast, but he was not fast enough. The pulse of kinetic energy slammed into Lutecia's petite frame like a hammer blow, knocking her sprawling to the ground, the wind blasted from her lungs.
Garyuu immediately shielded her body with his, weathering the intense forces as the shockwaves increased in intensity. Celica watched helplessly, unable to move underneath the shadow shield, unable and unwilling to dispel the protection from the inside.
“Tizona!” Celica screamed. The Interface Device complied with his mistress's wishes and erected a protective shield around both Lutecia and Garyuu, but it was a wasted gesture. Celica's defensive capabilities could not hold against such a potent assault. The dome of faintly-glowing defensive magic shattered like glass underneath the punishing onslaught of seismic shocks.
Debris from the ruined safe house rained down around Celica. The shadow shield began to flicker and falter—Lutecia must've been knocked unconscious, Celica knew with certainty, disrupting Asclepius's connection to the woman's Linker Core.
Stele took a step forward and sundered the weakened shadow shield with a single powerful blow from his Device. The umbral barrier dissolved into black-purple mist, leaving Celica vulnerable.
“I will end this now, foolish girl,” Stele growled menacingly. The knight raised Ridill high above his head and began to chant softly in a language that Celica had never heard before—it sounded similar to Ancient Belkan, but the inflection was different, and she found she could not understand a single word.
A strange, painful pressure began to build within Celica's head. She could feel a weird buzzing that was not audible at all, but something psychic, something she could feel only through her Linker Core. Motes of dark energy coalesced amidst the shattered ruins of the safe house, flashing more and more brightly as time went on.
Celica could do nothing. The pressure on her mind was so intense and debilitating she couldn't concentrate, couldn't bring Tizona up for a second shot. The Device itself appeared to be affected by the psychic disruption, as well. Tizona's physical form began to block and distort. Wisps of raw mana began to leak away and suddenly, the Device shattered into innumerable fragments. Tizona had involuntarily been forced to revert to his suspended form.
“Don't worry; the pain will be all over soon,” Stele rumbled as he focused the energy he had gathered. Celica collapsed to the ground, the pressure building to intolerable levels. She retched, vomiting on the cracked concrete, dimly aware that blood was running freely from her nose. Blackness edged around her vision, but Celica was able to remain conscious long enough to witness her fate.
Stele had sheathed Ridill and now held the Precursor Artifact aloft in both hands, the large triangular device etched with glowing, sinuous runes of an unknown language. A perfect sphere of what appeared to be silvery liquid magic floated within the device's transparent crystalline housing.
The Precursor Artifact was active! Somehow the bastard had activated it! Celica had no idea what would happen. She was on the very edge of consciousness, clinging to the material world with all of her will. Whatever Stele intended, she would have absolutely no defense.
“Now sleep, deep within the legacy of the Al'hazred!” Stele commanded grandly, brandishing the Precursor Artifact like a weapon. The suspended sphere of liquid magic flared brilliantly and shot out a narrow beam of argent light.
Celica could only watch helplessly as the beam struck her body—through her body, directly into her Linker Core. The metaphysical organ was induced to resonate, sympathetically vibrating to an agonizing frequency. Celica screamed, her back arching in horrific pain. The pressure on her mind intensified tenfold and the woman felt as if her thoughts themselves might simply shatter like glass.
Then she felt nothing at all.
* * *
Lutecia opened her eyes and found that she could not move. She saw nothing except a dull black blur. It took her a long moment to realize that Garyuu's unconscious body lay atop hers—the insect guardian had protected her, even as he lost consciousness.
“Garyuu, return,” Lutecia whispered hoarsely. Asclepius flashed once, canceling the spell that held Garyuu suspended in this dimension. The insect guardian's body dissipated into purple-black motes of light and was gone.
It was still late at night; she had been unconscious for no more than a few minutes at most. The stars shone brightly overhead, no longer dimmed by the presence of the dimensional lock. Lutecia glanced around worriedly, hoping that she was wrong, but deep down, knowing she was right.
The safe house had been utterly ruined. It looked for all the world like a bomb had gone off in the nearby vicinity—which, Lutecia reflected, was an accurate analogy. Debris and other bits of unidentifiable, mangled building materials were scattered across the destroyed yard. The expansive backyard patio was cracked and blasted.
“Celica, are you alive?” Lutecia called out as she struggled to her feet. A deep gash across her forehead bled into her eyes, stinging and blinding her. She impatiently wiped the blood from her eyes and blinked several times to clear her vision.
There was no sign of Celica Iris-Lynnfield.
Lutecia felt a deep sense of foreboding as she ignored her injuries and began to systematically search the site of the devastation. She didn't have much time; the fight hadn't lasted terribly long, but Stele had not placed a phase barrier over the battlefield. Someone surely had noticed the commotion and would come to investigate.
“It's just as well,” muttered the summoner aloud, her voice empty of hope. Her worst fears had been confirmed. Celica was gone... and so was the Precursor Artifact.
“Asclepius, let's go,” Lutecia murmured softly.
There was only one thing she could do at this point. She closed her eyes and felt deep within herself, connecting with that formless distortion of reality known as the Linker Core. A Belkan magic circle sprang into being beneath her feet, glowing faintly with black-purple light.
“... and I transferred a short distance away, to avoid any possible contact with native disaster-relief forces.”
Chrono Harlaown nodded wordlessly and turned to the medic standing over the infirmary bed. Lutecia Alphine lay on the bed, dressed in a white hospital gown, her hair and body cleaned of the dirt, grime and soot accumulated over the course of a pitched battle.
“I'm glad you came back in one piece, Agent Alphine,” Chrono said as warmly as he could, offering the young woman a smile. The admiral tapped a few commands into the holographic display in front of him, ending the recording and saving the intermission debriefing.
“Admiral,” Lutecia said wearily, “Celica didn't do anything wrong.”
“I know that now, Alphine, and it's all thanks to your efforts,” Chrono said softly, but there was a hard edge in his eyes. Lutecia began to protest, but Chrono cut her off.
“Relax. I haven't released this information to anyone I don't trust implicitly. While you were asleep and Celica's supervisor over in EAID had a chance to analyze Tizona's memory banks, the NSIS core computer returned a negative reading for Abraham Stele. He severed his Device's connection to the network, very neatly and thoroughly.”
“Just like Celica did, so we can't track him,” Lutecia noted acidly.
“Right. Commander Davidson has a few ideas on how we can find him, but it's going to take a while. The data Tizona had stored on the Precursor Artifact should help immensely, especially considering how you say it's active now. It should be a lot easier to detect.”
“Admiral—”
“Don't worry about it right now, Alphine,” Chrono interrupted gently. “Your only job right now is to get plenty of rest. That's an order, Agent Alphine.”
“Yes, sir,” Lutecia said glumly. “If I may ask, Admiral... ?”
“You want to know if I'm going to reassign the mission, correct?”
“That's correct, sir.”
“No,” Chrono said at length, “nobody else is as familiar with this as you are. This is still your mission, Alphine. It's not over until both Iris-Lynnfield and this 'Precursor Artifact' are both in my office.”
“Admiral—”
“Get some rest, Lutecia,” Chrono repeated firmly. “I've got to get home or Amy will have my head. Mother's coming to visit us and the kids; I'm already on thin ice as it is with the hours I've been working recently.”
“Once I finish a few more tests to ensure no lingering abnormalities with her Linker Core, she can go home and rest,” the nurse said without looking up from her charts.
“Good. Be in my office at 0800 tomorrow, Alphine,” Chrono ordered as he walked out of the infirmary. Lutecia sighed and laid her head back down on the pillow as the nurse tapped a string of commands into the medical console.
“Just relax, Agent Alphine,” the woman said soothingly. “We'll be all done in about an hour, then you can head home and get some sleep. You look like you haven't slept in days.”
“I really haven't,” Lutecia replied with a grimace. She closed her eyes and sighed, letting the medic do her job.
Chrono knew something was wrong as soon as he stepped out of the staff car and saw his mother, Administrator Lindy Harlaown. She was dressed in casual civilian clothing, but the expression she wore on her face told him that whatever she had to say, it was all business—and likely nothing good.
“Thank you, Corporal. Wait for us a moment, please,” the admiral said graciously as the driver opened his door and allowed him to step out. The driver saluted smartly and got back in the vehicle, awaiting the admiral's return.
“Your news must be particularly bad if you were waiting for me to arrive out here,” Chrono said neutrally. Lindy said nothing at all, but entered a few commands on the portable holographic terminal floating in the air in front of her. It was opened to a news feed showing an attractive female anchor discussing breaking news. Clips of various Council representatives arriving at the Cranagan Starport were superimposed over scrolling text.
“... the Administrative Council announced today that it will be calling a special investigative hearing concerning the Time-Space Administration Bureau's Naval Special Intelligence Service. Reliable anonymous sources within the Administrative Council have claimed that the hearing is in relation to the murder of three NSIS officers by one of their own agents—”
The images of the arriving dignitaries faded, replaced with an old picture of Celica Iris-Lynnfield, likely a stock photo taken from her Naval Forces ID, surrounded by scrolling text.
“The suspected murderer, Agent Celica Iris-Lynnfield, Senior Analyst-EAID, is currently at large and is considered armed and extremely dangerous. The TSAB's liaison office has been unavailable for comment.”
Lindy closed the window, cutting the news anchor off, but Chrono had seen more than enough. He hissed angrily, turning around and thrusting his hands deeply into the pockets of his uniform jacket.
“I just found out about this today,” Lindy said grimly. “The IAFW requires my attendance as the Bureau's representative to the Administrative Council. The Prime Minister called me at my office today and nearly gave my secretary a heart attack.”
“This is the worst thing that could have happened,” Chrono spat acidly. “How did they find out? The leak cannot possibly be from within NSIS. Neither side of this incident would benefit from this information becoming public.”
“The newsie said, 'reliable sources within the Administrative Council,' so I can take a pretty good guess,” Lindy said wearily. “There was no mention of the schism within NSIS, so I'm pretty sure the leak's in my office. I'm sorry I let this happen, Chrono.”
“No sense in blaming yourself,” Chrono replied darkly. “What the hell am I going to do now, Mother?”
“Whatever you do, it's not going to be good enough for the Council,” Lindy pointed out truthfully. “They've been looking for any good excuse to exert tighter control over the Bureau—and they just found one.”
“Great. Just great. Thanks to the leak, now the whole world is going to view Celica as a murderer.”
“Find her and the Precursor Artifact,” Lindy said sternly, clearly an order. “That's the only thing you can do now that the cat's out of the bag. Uncover the motives of this rogue faction within NSIS—and put a stop to them. If you do that, best-case scenario? You may be able to resign with dignity.”
“I know,” Chrono said hoarsely. “Maybe it's time to move on.”
“Try not to worry about it tonight, dear,” Lindy said in a motherly tone, draping her arm over her son's shoulders. “Tonight we belong to the kids and Amy, so let's try not to think about work right now.”
The shit's going to hit the fan tomorrow, thought Chrono darkly as he allowed his mother to lead him back to the staff car. The least I can do tonight is be a good father while their grandmother is visiting.
Spoiler for author's notes:
I finished this chapter a lot faster than I thought I would. I guess that's because I'm done with Fallout 3 and have more time to spend writing.
Anyway, a lot has happened in this chapter, and I'm going to be fairly tight-lipped about what continues from here on out!
We had our first meeting of the opposing NSIS factions, and to no one's surprise, I'm sure, Celica and Lutecia lost against Stele. He managed to activate the Precursor Artifact and use it against Celica, whose status is currently unknown. Now he's hidden himself somewhere and it's going to fall to Lutecia to get Celica and the Lost Logia back, while continuing to unravel the mysteries around the artifact itself.
Stay tuned for Chapter 6, where the cast will be expanded by two—and if you don't know who those two are, you haven't been paying attention.
Shiny! Where's the next chapter of Babysitter Zaffy?
Also, have some NSFW crack pairing short and a pathetic attempt at creepypasta.
Spoiler for Material Aspirations:
"Seikou! Seikou! Where have you been?! You've been out the whole night!" Material-L squealed as Material-S closed the door behind her and put her shoes on the shoe rack.
With all the dullness of eating an insipid meal, Material-S lifted her skirt. "I prevailed on Yuuno Scrya to copulate with me."
Material-L stared for a long while, trying to figure out what Material-S had just said, then jumped in surprise. "Seikou, you... you... you..."
Material-S did not bat an eyelid. "I fail to see what is so surprising."
"Congratulations, sister of ours!" Material-D said, clapping. Joy was written all over her face, although there was something off about her expression. "How was it?"
"It was... physically pleasant.” Material-S freed one hand to rub her chin. “I do not understand why Nanoha does not seek this union. It is mutually beneficial."
''Why ask such things, Seikou? Their loss is our gain! Take us along the next time you, uh, visit him!" Material-L clasped her hands together and squealed, her eyes seemingly sparkling.
"Well said, our sister," Material-D said, firmly squeezing Material-L’s shoulder. "We shall free Scrya of whatever regrets he may have for failing to claim Takamachi, Testarossa and Yagami."
I hope I'm doing the characterisation right.
Heh, darn, you beat me to it. I had an idea involving them but I've yet to enact on it. I was wondering what names I should give the Materials, but could only come up with lame things like "Dee" and "Elle" Might just follow your lead in that area...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanya01
Um... Well.. Hmm... *Thinks* Didn't someone have Chrono try to have Yuuno integrate the Materials into society?
Funny you guys mention this; I am in the process of writing a short that covers the Materials remaining following the events of the PSP game. Struck by inspiration, I might have it done in the next few days.
Seikou might work as a name, but Material-L and Material-D have it a little more difficult. As such, I've decided on my own names for them. Though, it seems no one picked up on them from one of my earlier posts.
Seikou might work as a name, but Material-L and Material-D have it a little more difficult. As such, I've decided on my own names for them. Though, it seems no one picked up on them from one of my earlier posts.
false light
a false light casts a darker Shadow...
Spoiler for Chapter 5:
NSIS Headquarters
Cranagan, Midchilda
08.29.0088
Admiral Chrono Harlaown was worried.
The rather young flag officer leaned back in his padded leather executive chair and exhaled heavily. He hadn't received any communication from Lutecia Alphine since he had last seen the woman in person. This would ordinarily not be that troubling—Lutecia rarely phoned home during her long missions, preferring to maintain radio silence and keep her head in the game.
No, that wasn't what worried Chrono. The other, possibly related things that were brought to his attention, those where what worried him. He yawned cavernously and stared at the tiled ceiling for a long moment.
Victor Stormhawk had just left the director's office. If at all possible, the blond man appeared to be more worried than Chrono. The admiral felt awful, lying to one of his most trusted subordinates in such a fashion, but the stakes were too high.
He must really be freaking out, thought Chrono grimly. He knows just as well as I do that Shadows are not privy to the mission information and itinerary of their peers.
It's because Celica is gone, and I don't have a good answer as to why she is gone, Chrono knew. He rubbed tired eyes—the day was barely two hours old and already he felt exhausted. This job definitely wasn't for the faint of heart.
“Admiral, there's a call for you, redirected from your Navy office line,” the voice of his secretary said over the intercom. “It's your wife.”
Chrono groaned inwardly. His wife wasn't a fan of the long hours Chrono had been putting in since he took over the leadership of NSIS. Of course, the woman had no idea what her husband actually did for the Bureau, believing that he had taken a desk job within the Ground Forces liaison branch of the Navy. Which, for the most part, was actually true—he did work rather closely with the Ground Forces' joint chiefs of staff, specifically Lt. General Hayate Yagami.
“Put her through, Jenna, thank you,” Chrono said solicitously. The receptionist disconnected the line and transferred the incoming call.
“Hi, honey,” Chrono greeted, a bit lamely, he thought.
“Chrono,” Amy's voice came over the line, “will you be coming home on time tonight?”
“Barring any world-destroying catastrophies, I should be home early tonight,” the dark-haired man responded with a slight smile his wife couldn't see. The communication was audio-only, a rarity in Midchilda's high-tech society. But it offered Chrono a slight degree of security.
“Okay. I just wanted to confirm; your mother's supposed to come visit us and the kids for the weekend. She should be arriving on Midchilda sometime this afternoon,” Amy reminded him.
Chrono was well aware his mother was on her way. Coming to visit her son's family was actually a cover; Lindy Harlaown was coming to Midchilda to talk to the director of NSIS about the strong anti-agency bias prevalent within the IAFW's Administrative Council.
“I know, I'm going to meet her at the starport,” Chrono replied warmly. “Give my love to the little monsters. I love you, Amy.”
“I love you, too, Chrono. I'll see you tonight.”
Chrono disconnected the call. Even the weight of his worries couldn't wipe away the smile he now wore. The admiral actually wished his wife would call him every day like that. It would certainly help relieve the stress this job caused, he knew.
But that wouldn't last. The small communications console next to his computer began to flash urgently. This line was not tied to his office at the Ground Forces HQ, nor was it through ordinary NSIS channels. This was a priority mission-report line, heavily encrypted—the encryption algorithm was actually coded by Celica, thought Chrono with no small amount of irony—designed for use by field agents to report important developments. It also had video, unlike his office line.
Chrono did not hesitate. He immediately answered the incoming call. What he saw made his blood run cold.
A small holographic display materialized in the air before him, displaying the face of Lutecia Alphine—only it was barely recognizeable. The woman's face was haggard and worn. A deep gash burned across her forehead, leaving streaks of dried blood down her face.
“Admiral, I failed my mission,” Lutecia said dully, without preamble.
“Explain yourself,” Chrono ordered immediately.
“The safe house was destroyed. I lost Celica and the Precursor Artifact.”
“What are you talking about, Alphine?” Chrono demanded. “What's this 'Precursor Artifact' you're talking about? What happened to Iris-Lynnfield? Did she do that to you? Was she rescued by someone?”
Lutecia didn't even flinch at the barrage of questions. “No, sir. Admiral, Celica didn't murder those Security Division officers. You were right—there's something very strange going on.”
Chrono digested that little bit of information before making his decision. It was the correct one, of course, but he wasn't happy about this turn of events. Perhaps now, however, he could actually figure out what the hell was going on within his own agency.
“I'm recalling you immediately,” responded Chrono gravely. “Are you able to cast a dimensional transfer and return to Midchilda?”
“I'm wounded, but not so badly I can't do that much,” Lutecia replied gamely. “I should be back at headquarters within an hour.”
“Medical will be waiting for you. I'll debrief you while they patch you up.”
“Yes, sir,” Lutecia said weakly, disconnecting the communication. Chrono dropped his head into his hands and hissed in anger. Something had gone horribly wrong and one of his agents—really just a girl, Chrono thought wrathfully—had yet again paid the price in blood.
Someone would pay dearly for this.
* * *
Twenty-four hours earlier:
Hayate's former home/Bureau safe house
Uminari, Japan
Non-Administrated World #97
08.28.0088
“So this is the Precursor Artifact,” Lutecia said neutrally.
Celica Iris-Lynnfield nodded as she pored over the data scrolling across Tizona's displays. The two women had successfully pulled off Celica's crazy plan, using Lutecia's summoning powers to cast a sort of reverse-teleport spell. This had allowed them to swipe the dormant artifact from the base without actually engaging any more enemies.
They had seven more of those 'protomages' still inside, Celica mused to herself. The two of them and Garyuu were able to defeat five protomages without too much trouble, but it was still a near thing. Celica was only too thankful that active Linker Cores were a rare thing on this world. The protomages, despite their technological disadvantage, were tough opponents.
“We don't know much about it,” said Celica without looking up from her displays. They had taken the artifact and relocated to a safe house on Earth that the Bureau maintained—actually, it was once Lt. General Hayate Yagami's own home, where she had spent much of her youth. It was used by NSIS field agents who operated on or around Earth for rest and recuperation.
Lutecia believed the safe house would be an ideal place to allow Celica to place a heavy seal on the Precursor Artifact in preparation to transport it to the secure conservation room at the Infinity Library, where Dr. Scrya and a team of arcanists from the Saint Church could study the device.
“Have you reported to the admiral yet?” Celica asked, still not bothering to look up from her screens. She took a bite out of a large slice of pizza and chewed thoughtfully as her eyes scanned over the rows upon rows of code.
“I try to maintain radio silence as much as possible during a mission,” Lutecia replied, taking a healthy swallow of cherry Coke from a frosted glass. “Once we get this thing sealed and transport it to the Library, I will contact him from the branch office there. It has a secure terminal.”
“Tizona could encrypt a transmission heavily enough that they wouldn't be able to break it without a lot of effort,” offered Celica.
“No,” Lutecia said at length, “I don't want to take any chances with this. We need to hurry this up and get to the Infinity Library as quickly as we can. With the Precursor Artifact, the doctored reports, the strategic planning notes and the lists of names, I don't think you'll have to worry about those murder charges any more.”
Celica smirked as she sipped at her beer. “The admiral won't be able to do anything immediately, Alphine. That information gets out, and the corrupt faction will just do a disappearing act, and the Administrative Council will tear us a new asshole. The admiral's going to have to take them out, and it sure as hell won't be legal.”
“I know that,” Lutecia said softly. “It's just nice to know...”
“That you weren't wrong about me?” Celica asked slyly. The lilac-haired summoner blushed faintly and shook her head.
“We've been through a lot together,” Lutecia said softly. “You, Vic and I have worked together more than most other Shadows ever have—the exact sort of emotional attachment the admiral tries to dissuade.”
“But we're different,” Celica pointed out, though the truth was actually different. Lutecia wasn't different, and both Victor Stormhawk and Celica, two of the woman's closest friends within NSIS, knew it.
If only things had turned out differently, you might not even be here today, Alphine, mused Celica silently. The analyst knew well why Lutecia Alphine was the number-one agent within the Field Division. It had little to do with the fact that she the third highest-ranked mage within NSIS as a whole.
Lutecia could have left and Chrono would have done nothing, Celica knew. She knew well that Lutecia was involved with the Takamachi family through the adoptive daughter, Vivio. The summoner had her hands around the admiral's balls and she didn't even realize it.
She doesn't leave, though. I don't really understand it—she's not cut out for this kind of life.
Celica turned her thoughts from such dark subjects and concentrated on the task at hand. The safe house would only remain safe for so long. Lutecia hadn't been strong enough after stealing the Precursor Artifact to transport them to the main office.
“Alphine, you should be resting,” Celica said sternly as the other woman sat down in front of one of Tizona's holographic terminals. She tapped a command into her workstation and the terminal in front of Lutecia dissolved into motes of blue-white light.
“I can't sleep.”
“You should try,” Celica reminded her. “You're our only ticket off this rock. The Bureau doesn't bother putting transfer ports on worlds they don't administer. I'm terrible at movement magic.”
“Are you sure you don't need any help?” Lutecia pressed. Celica did not reply, her attention wholly absorbed by the task at hand. The woman was essentially writing a new spell—altering the core logic of an existing magical seal to function with the Precursor Artifact's alien composition. The whole time, Tizona was scanning, gathering data on the device, trying to glean some sort of clue as to what exactly it was supposed to do.
It wasn't terribly successful. The Lost Logia was still dormant, and Celica did not know how to activate it, nor was she sure she wanted to. In her experience, activating strange Lost Logia generally resulted in a quick but messy death.
“Is there any of that pizza left, Celica?”
“Help yourself,” Celica said, pointing to the white cardboard box sitting on the counter top in the kitchen. Lutecia padded barefoot into the kitchen and drew out a few slices of lukewarm pizza, refilling her glass with cherry Coke from a plastic two-liter bottle.
“I have finished compiling,” Tizona announced abruptly. Celica smiled tightly; her ever-present partner never failed to surprise her. He was thirty minutes ahead of schedule.
“Good job, Tizona. Give me a minute to go over the sequence and then we'll seal this thing up good and tight.”
“Alert,” Asclepius's voice rang out suddenly, ominously in the darkened room. “Detecting incoming magical energy signature, Ancient Belkan-type. It approaches at high speed.”
“What is it?” Lutecia asked her Device, setting the paper plate bearing her meal on the counter.
“Tizona, what's going on? Stop analysis; enter active scanning mode. I hope to hell the Bureau didn't decide to use this safe house tonight, of all nights.”
“There are no Bureau-sanctioned operations on #97,” Tizona reported grimly. “I have identified the incoming contact.”
Celica hissed in anger and dismay as Tizona produced a small holographic display with the identification information. The visage in the floating display window was familiar to her—and to Lutecia, as well. Information scrolled under the window, identifying the man's mage rank and combat classification.
“It's Stele,” Lutecia murmured. “How did he find us so quickly?”
“Unfortunately, Alphine, we stand out too much,” Celica said acidly, though her anger was directed not at Lutecia, but at being discovered so quickly. She thought they'd have at least a day or two before being detected. “This world is populated largely by people with dormant Linker Cores, and it just makes ours much more obvious.”
“Shit,” Lutecia muttered, then turned her attention to her Device. “Asclepius, what's the incoming contact's ETA?”
“Not enough time,” said Celica immediately. “The sealing spell to close up this thing will take me at least ten minutes to cast. We're going to have to go, now, and hope that the long-range transfer doesn't accidentally turn this thing on. Can you do it?”
“I can't take us directly to the main office,” Lutecia explained, “but there's an unmanned Bureau sensor station a few light-years away that has a full-range transfer port. We can use that to get to—”
Lutecia's voice died in her throat as the air around them seemed to fade and distort. Colors began to wash out and the space felt heavy, oppressive, as if an invisible wet blanket had fallen over their shoulders.
“Dimensional lock detected,” Tizona pointed out rather unnecessarily.
“So much for leaving,” Celica growled. “Fuck. I can't dispel a dimensional lock this powerful from the inside, and I don't know how big it is.”
“He's after the Precursor Artifact... and you,” Lutecia said quietly. “Though I'm sure he won't hesitate to kill us both.”
“We worked our asses off getting this tinker toy,” Celica snapped harshly, “and I'll be damned if I let that bastard take it away from me without a fight.”
“Abraham Stele is an SS-ranked combat-type,” Lutecia pointed out. “He's known within the Shadows as the—”
“Yeah, the 'One-Man Army,' I know,” Celica interrupted, scowling fiercely. “Specializing in annihilation missions, Agent Stele is sent on the most dangerous assignments, and he's almost always successful. He's also the highest-ranked mage within NSIS.”
“And you expect to fight him?” Lutecia asked incredulously.
“We don't have another choice,” Celica said impatiently. “I can't dispel a dimensional lock from the inside of the field, and I don't know how large it is. Considering Stele's rank, it could be hundreds of miles wide. A dimensional lock isn't nearly as hard to keep active as a phase barrier.”
“Contact approaching. ETA: one minute, four seconds,” Asclepius reported. Celica watched as Tizona reverted to his weapon form, grasping the dagger-shaped Device in her right hand so tightly her knuckles whitened.
* * *
Abraham Stele stood mere meters away, his massive body encased in heavy plate armor, fashioned in the old style, when the Belkan Empire was the definitive power on Midchilda. His face was obscured by a full great helm, magically powered and outfitted with sensors and support systems linked to his Armed Device, Ridill.
The man gripped that very same Device in his right hand, holding the massive two-handed broadsword as if it weighed no more than a table knife. The iron-gray blade was etched with glowing Belkan runes, imbuing the blade with various offensive powers.
Celica and Lutecia stood resolutely together, their respective Devices brought to bear. Tizona's silvery blade gleamed with a blue-white corona. Garyuu stood to one side, partially obscured by the shadows, his own natural weapons glinting dully in the moonlight.
Stele planted the tip of Ridill into the concrete patio, sending up chunks of masonry. With his right hand he removed the great helm, revealing his undeniably handsome face, his chiseled features splitting into a smug grin.
“At last I've run you to ground, Iris-Lynnfield,” the man said conversationally. “I will be taking the Precursor Artifact.”
“Do you really think I'd just hand it over to you?” Celica demanded. “Knowing that your orders are to kill me, too?”
“Of course not,” Stele said, still standing casually, his helmet slung over one shoulder. “Your fate—and the fate of the Precursor Artifact—is sealed.” His gaze traveled to Lutecia.
“But I have no quarrel with Agent Alphine,” Stele pointed out, chewing his lower lip thoughtfully. “I am a busy man, Iris-Lynnfield. I don't have time to play with the two of you. I would appreciate it greatly if you surrendered yourself and the Precursor Artifact to me.”
Lutecia glanced at Celica worriedly. The implication was clear—Stele was offering to spare Lutecia's life if Celica would surrender herself and the Lost Logia without a fight.
The summoner did not wait for Celica to reply—the Belkan knight was hardly vulnerable, even with his helmet removed, but Lutecia would have the element of surprise.
Garyuu, now!
A black flash of chitin and razor-sharp blades exploded from the shaded terrace as the insect guardian attacked. Lutecia did not wait around to admire Garyuu's handiwork before launching a withering barrage of her own. Dozens of black-purple blasts of magical energy lanced outward, converging upon their target and detonating in a roaring conflagration.
Celica may not have been a warrior, but her reaction time was fast enough. She immediately leaped backward as the space around her as Garyuu flashed past. Stele grunted in agony as Garyuu connected with a spinning kick, the insect guardian's foot setting Stele back on his heels.
A split second later he was engulfed in the explosion of Lutecia's attack.
“Celica, get over here, now,” Lutecia ordered harshly. The red-haired woman complied without words, falling back behind Lutecia's position. The black-purple summoning circle under Lutecia's feet told Celica that she was in the midst of a powerful casting.
It may have been too late. Stele shot upward, leaping into the air with the sheer power of his huge leg muscles rather than magical flight, clearing the dust cloud before it could dissipate. His armor was scored with several creases—Garyuu's strikes had been felt.
“[Abyssal Chains],” Asclepius intoned. A second summoning circle, smaller than the first, materialized underneath Stele's feet at the exact moment he touched down on the carefully-maintained lawn. Black iron chains, each link easily as thick as Celica's wrist, slashed out from the summoning circle and wrapped themselves around Stele's arms, ankles and waist.
“I cannot be chained,” Stele said contemptuously, staring sidelong at the material summon holding him bound. A blood-red Belkan magic circle sprang into being beneath him.
“[Festigkeit von Stahl],” the Armed Device, Ridill, intoned in a stern feminine voice. Lutecia and Celica watched in awe as the Belkan knight began to glow with a red-black aura. He took a deep breath and flexed his muscles, shattering the thick chains as if they were formed of spun sugar, rather than magically-forged iron.
“[Blitzstrahl].”
Stele moved with impossible speed, charging forward, Ridill gripped in a two-handed stack as he attacked. The blade flashed with crackling reddish lightning as he bore down on Lutecia, intending to strike the summoner with a sundering blow that would kill her or put her out of the fight permanently.
Garyuu interceded, a razor-sharp wrist blade catching Stele's Device and driving it high. The insect guardian was extremely skilled in swordplay, especially with his own natural weapons. He knew better than to directly block such a powerful blow; instead, his parry deflected the blade.
Redirecting the kinetic energy of the blow did nothing to stop the lightning imbued into Ridill's edge, however. Garyuu writhed in soundless agony as his body was wreathed in reddish arcs of energy. He backpedaled to avoid further damage, his black carapace smoking faintly.
“[Shadow Shield],” Asclepius barked, forming a shadowy protective field over Celica's location. The gray-eyed mage nodded in understanding; while Celica had several melee techniques, she would not last ten seconds against Stele. She was best off supporting Lutecia from a distance.
“Tizona, Interface Form!” Celica ordered. The Device complied instantly, reforming into a diverse array of holographic terminals and displays. This left her terribly vulnerable, she knew—when in Interface Form, Tizona redirected all of his resources to his processing cores. Celica was reduced to only her Barrier Jacket and Lutecia's shadow shield for her own protection.
But if I can hack into Ridill's systems, perhaps I can take control, or at least reduce his fighting effectiveness...
Lutecia was keeping her distance from the man while Garyuu continued his harassing tactics. The insect guardian never remained in direct melee for long, using his speed and his natural flight abilities to dart in for a single blow, then quickly retreat before Stele could retaliate.
“This grows tiresome,” Stele said in a disinterested tone, just as Garyuu danced out of the way, dodging a blow from Ridill with contemptuous ease. Lutecia responded with a flurry of magical energy blasts.
Stele was right, in a twisted sort of way, Lutecia knew. They were barely hurting the behemoth, and they were expending large amounts of energy to do so.
The Ancient Belkan knight was merely bored.
“Firewall breached, core logic adapted,” Tizona reported. Celica nodded as she tapped in a string of commands with dizzying speed, her long, dextrous fingers flying across the projected input panels.
“Let's see how you like this one,” Celica muttered wrathfully, stabbing her right index finger on the “Commit” key. The results were not visually spectacular, but Celica felt a deep sense of satisfaction as Stele's body ceased to glow with reddish light.
“Error,” Ridill bleated suddenly. “Core logic disrupted. Augment systems failing.”
Lutecia and Garyuu struck simultaneously.
The summoner sent a deadly stream of magical projectiles striking one after another, slamming against Stele's depowered armor, blasting dents and cracks into the heavy beaten plates. The insect guardian struck Stele's right hand, slashing through the metal armor and severing the tendons beneath. The Belkan knight grunted in agony but did not falter, instead shifting Ridill to his left hand. Celica was awed by the ease at which the warrior handled the weapon, even in his non-dominant hand.
Garyuu flew backwards, but wasn't quite fast enough. Stele slammed the insect guardian hard with the flat of Ridill's blade. Garyuu's flight failed and the alien creature fell heavily to the ground.
“[Regeneration],” Ridill said suddenly. Stele shuddered as his Device activated an automatic healing system, repairing the injury to his wrist and returning him to prime combat effectiveness. Stele flexed his injured right hand experimentally before taking his weapon back in a two-handed stack—Celica knew that even with the rapid point-healing spell, it would still be stiff and sore.
It won't slow him down much, if at all, thought Celica bleakly.
“Tizona, can you compromise the connection between Ridill and Stele's Linker Core?”
“I can,” Tizona replied confidently. “Beginning process now; security attack initiated.” Rows upon rows of code scrolled across Tizona's displays as the Device leveraged its awesome processing power to compromise the link between Device and mage. It would greatly reduce Stele's ability to cast spells, but Celica knew better than to think that would significantly stack the deck in their favor.
But Stele had other ideas.
“Ridill, Cartridge Load!” Stele snapped.
“Explosion!”
The Armed Device complied, cycling its action and slamming home a cartridge filled with compressed magical energy. Energy surged into the Device and fed back through the link into Stele's Linker Core. Ridill's blade flashed with a seething reddish-black aura.
“Link stabilizing,” Tizona reported, the frustration evident in his artificially-generated voice. “Energy levels are 500% of nominal. I cannot disrupt the link.”
“Shit,” Celica cursed, frowning. As long as the cartridge energy flowed through the link between Stele's Device and his Linker Core, Tizona would be unable to disrupt the connection. The link was too strong. Celica cursed the fact that Tizona's unique construction made him totally incompatible with the Cartridge System, but it was just as well—she'd likely totally collapse her Linker Core if she ever tried to combine cartridge use with her Overclock ability.
“Tizona, Cannon Form,” Celica said, changing tactics. Stele had prevented her from further hindering his efforts by overcharging Ridill with energy; she could do nothing more now than act as fire-support.
Celica lifted the weapon and braced it against her shoulder, sighting down the aperture and loosing a potent bombardment spell at point-blank range.
“[Plasma Cannon].”
Blue-white fire exploded from Tizona's aperture, coalescing into a brilliant beam of destructive magical energy. Stele tried to backpedal to avoid the blast, but Lutecia's suppression fire hemmed him in. The blast caught him fully, sending the armored knight crashing to the ground.
His knight's armor, still depowered from the initial assault on the Device, was not fully up to the task of deflecting the blast. Metal creaked and groaned in protest as superheated magical energy washed over the man.
“Enough!” Stele growled, planting Ridill's tip into the cracked patio, levering himself up into a standing position. The man was injured, but not badly. “This certainly was amusing, but my time grows short.”
Celica's eyes widened, stealing a glance over at Lutecia. The summoner looked to be just as exhausted as Celica herself felt. “Brace yourself, Alphine! This one's going to be bad!”
Stele gripped his Armed Device in a reverse two-handed hold, lifting the blade high as he prepared to plunge it deep into the ground. The weapon's action cycled several times, fully filling its mana reservoir with the contents of four cartridges. The Belkan magic circle materialized beneath Stele's feet, the angular runes glowing fiercely with barely-contained power.
“[Erschütterung],” Ridill intoned as Stele shoved the sword into the ground with all of his might. The blade sank nearly a foot into the concrete of the patio. The magic circle flared with intense brilliance as the ground began to rock violently. Pulses of invisible power flowed from Ridill's blade into the ground, setting up massive seismic shockwaves through the earth.
A spiderweb of cracks spread out from the point of impact, shattering the slab of concrete. Celica, protected as she was beneath the shadow shield, was spared the blast as the shockwaves rolled outward, washing over the defensive barrier.
Lutecia, however, was not so lucky. Garyuu darted forth to protect the summoner from the oncoming blast, but he was not fast enough. The pulse of kinetic energy slammed into Lutecia's petite frame like a hammer blow, knocking her sprawling to the ground, the wind blasted from her lungs.
Garyuu immediately shielded her body with his, weathering the intense forces as the shockwaves increased in intensity. Celica watched helplessly, unable to move underneath the shadow shield, unable and unwilling to dispel the protection from the inside.
“Tizona!” Celica screamed. The Interface Device complied with his mistress's wishes and erected a protective shield around both Lutecia and Garyuu, but it was a wasted gesture. Celica's defensive capabilities could not hold against such a potent assault. The dome of faintly-glowing defensive magic shattered like glass underneath the punishing onslaught of seismic shocks.
Debris from the ruined safe house rained down around Celica. The shadow shield began to flicker and falter—Lutecia must've been knocked unconscious, Celica knew with certainty, disrupting Asclepius's connection to the woman's Linker Core.
Stele took a step forward and sundered the weakened shadow shield with a single powerful blow from his Device. The umbral barrier dissolved into black-purple mist, leaving Celica vulnerable.
“I will end this now, foolish girl,” Stele growled menacingly. The knight raised Ridill high above his head and began to chant softly in a language that Celica had never heard before—it sounded similar to Ancient Belkan, but the inflection was different, and she found she could not understand a single word.
A strange, painful pressure began to build within Celica's head. She could feel a weird buzzing that was not audible at all, but something psychic, something she could feel only through her Linker Core. Motes of dark energy coalesced amidst the shattered ruins of the safe house, flashing more and more brightly as time went on.
Celica could do nothing. The pressure on her mind was so intense and debilitating she couldn't concentrate, couldn't bring Tizona up for a second shot. The Device itself appeared to be affected by the psychic disruption, as well. Tizona's physical form began to block and distort. Wisps of raw mana began to leak away and suddenly, the Device shattered into innumerable fragments. Tizona had involuntarily been forced to revert to his suspended form.
“Don't worry; the pain will be all over soon,” Stele rumbled as he focused the energy he had gathered. Celica collapsed to the ground, the pressure building to intolerable levels. She retched, vomiting on the cracked concrete, dimly aware that blood was running freely from her nose. Blackness edged around her vision, but Celica was able to remain conscious long enough to witness her fate.
Stele had sheathed Ridill and now held the Precursor Artifact aloft in both hands, the large triangular device etched with glowing, sinuous runes of an unknown language. A perfect sphere of what appeared to be silvery liquid magic floated within the device's transparent crystalline housing.
The Precursor Artifact was active! Somehow the bastard had activated it! Celica had no idea what would happen. She was on the very edge of consciousness, clinging to the material world with all of her will. Whatever Stele intended, she would have absolutely no defense.
“Now sleep, deep within the legacy of the Al'hazred!” Stele commanded grandly, brandishing the Precursor Artifact like a weapon. The suspended sphere of liquid magic flared brilliantly and shot out a narrow beam of argent light.
Celica could only watch helplessly as the beam struck her body—through her body, directly into her Linker Core. The metaphysical organ was induced to resonate, sympathetically vibrating to an agonizing frequency. Celica screamed, her back arching in horrific pain. The pressure on her mind intensified tenfold and the woman felt as if her thoughts themselves might simply shatter like glass.
Then she felt nothing at all.
* * *
Lutecia opened her eyes and found that she could not move. She saw nothing except a dull black blur. It took her a long moment to realize that Garyuu's unconscious body lay atop hers—the insect guardian had protected her, even as he lost consciousness.
“Garyuu, return,” Lutecia whispered hoarsely. Asclepius flashed once, canceling the spell that held Garyuu suspended in this dimension. The insect guardian's body dissipated into purple-black motes of light and was gone.
It was still late at night; she had been unconscious for no more than a few minutes at most. The stars shone brightly overhead, no longer dimmed by the presence of the dimensional lock. Lutecia glanced around worriedly, hoping that she was wrong, but deep down, knowing she was right.
The safe house had been utterly ruined. It looked for all the world like a bomb had gone off in the nearby vicinity—which, Lutecia reflected, was an accurate analogy. Debris and other bits of unidentifiable, mangled building materials were scattered across the destroyed yard. The expansive backyard patio was cracked and blasted.
“Celica, are you alive?” Lutecia called out as she struggled to her feet. A deep gash across her forehead bled into her eyes, stinging and blinding her. She impatiently wiped the blood from her eyes and blinked several times to clear her vision.
There was no sign of Celica Iris-Lynnfield.
Lutecia felt a deep sense of foreboding as she ignored her injuries and began to systematically search the site of the devastation. She didn't have much time; the fight hadn't lasted terribly long, but Stele had not placed a phase barrier over the battlefield. Someone surely had noticed the commotion and would come to investigate.
“It's just as well,” muttered the summoner aloud, her voice empty of hope. Her worst fears had been confirmed. Celica was gone... and so was the Precursor Artifact.
“Asclepius, let's go,” Lutecia murmured softly.
There was only one thing she could do at this point. She closed her eyes and felt deep within herself, connecting with that formless distortion of reality known as the Linker Core. A Belkan magic circle sprang into being beneath her feet, glowing faintly with black-purple light.
“... and I transferred a short distance away, to avoid any possible contact with native disaster-relief forces.”
Chrono Harlaown nodded wordlessly and turned to the medic standing over the infirmary bed. Lutecia Alphine lay on the bed, dressed in a white hospital gown, her hair and body cleaned of the dirt, grime and soot accumulated over the course of a pitched battle.
“I'm glad you came back in one piece, Agent Alphine,” Chrono said as warmly as he could, offering the young woman a smile. The admiral tapped a few commands into the holographic display in front of him, ending the recording and saving the intermission debriefing.
“Admiral,” Lutecia said wearily, “Celica didn't do anything wrong.”
“I know that now, Alphine, and it's all thanks to your efforts,” Chrono said softly, but there was a hard edge in his eyes. Lutecia began to protest, but Chrono cut her off.
“Relax. I haven't released this information to anyone I don't trust implicitly. While you were asleep and Celica's supervisor over in EAID had a chance to analyze Tizona's memory banks, the NSIS core computer returned a negative reading for Abraham Stele. He severed his Device's connection to the network, very neatly and thoroughly.”
“Just like Celica did, so we can't track him,” Lutecia noted acidly.
“Right. Commander Davidson has a few ideas on how we can find him, but it's going to take a while. The data Tizona had stored on the Precursor Artifact should help immensely, especially considering how you say it's active now. It should be a lot easier to detect.”
“Admiral—”
“Don't worry about it right now, Alphine,” Chrono interrupted gently. “Your only job right now is to get plenty of rest. That's an order, Agent Alphine.”
“Yes, sir,” Lutecia said glumly. “If I may ask, Admiral... ?”
“You want to know if I'm going to reassign the mission, correct?”
“That's correct, sir.”
“No,” Chrono said at length, “nobody else is as familiar with this as you are. This is still your mission, Alphine. It's not over until both Iris-Lynnfield and this 'Precursor Artifact' are both in my office.”
“Admiral—”
“Get some rest, Lutecia,” Chrono repeated firmly. “I've got to get home or Amy will have my head. Mother's coming to visit us and the kids; I'm already on thin ice as it is with the hours I've been working recently.”
“Once I finish a few more tests to ensure no lingering abnormalities with her Linker Core, she can go home and rest,” the nurse said without looking up from her charts.
“Good. Be in my office at 0800 tomorrow, Alphine,” Chrono ordered as he walked out of the infirmary. Lutecia sighed and laid her head back down on the pillow as the nurse tapped a string of commands into the medical console.
“Just relax, Agent Alphine,” the woman said soothingly. “We'll be all done in about an hour, then you can head home and get some sleep. You look like you haven't slept in days.”
“I really haven't,” Lutecia replied with a grimace. She closed her eyes and sighed, letting the medic do her job.
Chrono knew something was wrong as soon as he stepped out of the staff car and saw his mother, Administrator Lindy Harlaown. She was dressed in casual civilian clothing, but the expression she wore on her face told him that whatever she had to say, it was all business—and likely nothing good.
“Thank you, Corporal. Wait for us a moment, please,” the admiral said graciously as the driver opened his door and allowed him to step out. The driver saluted smartly and got back in the vehicle, awaiting the admiral's return.
“Your news must be particularly bad if you were waiting for me to arrive out here,” Chrono said neutrally. Lindy said nothing at all, but entered a few commands on the portable holographic terminal floating in the air in front of her. It was opened to a news feed showing an attractive female anchor discussing breaking news. Clips of various Council representatives arriving at the Cranagan Starport were superimposed over scrolling text.
“... the Administrative Council announced today that it will be calling a special investigative hearing concerning the Time-Space Administration Bureau's Special Naval Intelligence Service. Reliable anonymous sources within the Administrative Council have claimed that the hearing is in relation to the murder of three NSIS officers by one of their own agents—”
The images of the arriving dignitaries faded, replaced with an old picture of Celica Iris-Lynnfield, likely a stock photo taken from her Naval Forces ID, surrounded by scrolling text.
“The suspected murderer, Senior Analyst Celica Iris-Lynnfield, is currently at large and is considered armed and extremely dangerous. The TSAB's liaison office has been unavailable for comment.”
Lindy closed the window, cutting the news anchor off, but Chrono had seen more than enough. He hissed angrily, turning around and thrusting his hands deeply into the pockets of his uniform jacket.
“I just found out about this today,” Lindy said grimly. “The IAFW requires my attendance as the Bureau's representative to the Administrative Council. The Prime Minister called me at my office today and nearly gave my secretary a heart attack.”
“This is the worst thing that could have happened,” Chrono spat acidly. “How did they find out? The leak cannot possibly be from within NSIS. Neither side of this incident would benefit from this information becoming public.”
“The newsie said, 'reliable sources within the Administrative Council,' so I can take a pretty good guess,” Lindy said wearily. “There was no mention of the schism within NSIS, so I'm pretty sure the leak's in my office. I'm sorry I let this happen, Chrono.”
“No sense in blaming yourself,” Chrono replied darkly. “What the hell am I going to do now, Mother?”
“Whatever you do, it's not going to be good enough for the Council,” Lindy pointed out truthfully. “They've been looking for any good excuse to exert tighter control over the Bureau—and they just found one.”
“Great. Just great. Thanks to the leak, now the whole world is going to view Celica as a murderer.”
“Find her and the Precursor Artifact,” Lindy said sternly, clearly an order. “That's the only thing you can do now that the cat's out of the bag. Uncover the motives of this rogue faction within NSIS—and put a stop to them. If you do that, best-case scenario? You may be able to resign with dignity.”
“I know,” Chrono said hoarsely. “Maybe it's time to move on.”
“Try not to worry about it tonight, dear,” Lindy said in a motherly tone, draping her arm over her son's shoulders. “Tonight we belong to the kids and Amy, so let's try not to think about work right now.”
The shit's going to hit the fan tomorrow, thought Chrono darkly as he allowed his mother to lead him back to the staff car. The least I can do tonight is be a good father while their grandmother is visiting.
Spoiler for author's notes:
I finished this chapter a lot faster than I thought I would. I guess that's because I'm done with Fallout 3 and have more time to spend writing.
Anyway, a lot has happened in this chapter, and I'm going to be fairly tight-lipped about what continues from here on out!
We had our first meeting of the opposing NSIS factions, and to no one's surprise, I'm sure, Celica and Lutecia lost against Stele. He managed to activate the Precursor Artifact and use it against Celica, whose status is currently unknown. Now he's hidden himself somewhere and it's going to fall to Lutecia to get Celica and the Lost Logia back, while continuing to unravel the mysteries around the artifact itself.
Stay tuned for Chapter 6, where the cast will be expanded by two—and if you don't know who those two are, you haven't been paying attention.
But no, seriously, this was so totally worth the wait. Seeing Chrono get some nice moments and some development was very nice, and I particularly liked his interaction with Amy. They feel very much like "old married couple", but you can tell the love is still there from when they were young.
Also.... holy shit, Stele sure as hell earned his name. x_X I'd say Celica was lucky to get sucked away when she did, and Lutecia is even luckier to have gotten off as beaten and bloody as she was. I mean, hell, they couldn't even scratch him! That man is just as terrifying as he is awesome! Though I sense there will be much Vivio/Victor RAGE next chapter when they realize what has happened.
But no, seriously, this was so totally worth the wait. Seeing Chrono get some nice moments and some development was very nice, and I particularly liked his interaction with Amy. They feel very much like "old married couple", but you can tell the love is still there from when they were young.
Also.... holy shit, Stele sure as hell earned his name. x_X I'd say Celica was lucky to get sucked away when she did, and Lutecia is even luckier to have gotten off as beaten and bloody as she was. I mean, hell, they couldn't even scratch him! That man is just as terrifying as he is awesome! Though I sense there will be much Vivio/Victor RAGE next chapter when they realize what has happened.
Celica/Lutecia friendship moments FTW, too.
I really wanted to expand a little on the Daddy!Chrono aspect at the end, having Lindy break the news to Chrono after the little ones went to bed rather than at the starport.
But I forgot the names of his kids! Tell me and I'll make sure to have more Daddy!Chrono parts in future chapters. Also need to know the names of Hayate and Verossa's little monsters, too.
If the fight against Stele felt abrupt, it's because basically, he could have whooped both of their asses right away. But he was having fun, so he didn't use his best move right off--not until they started annoying him, anyway.
Do I get bonus points for the Gratuitous Google Translate German abilities that Stele & Ridill used?
Spoiler for general Stele spoilers:
He won't have it so easy against Vivio, though. Like it or not that little boat-lights brat is an anthropomorphic thermonuclear warhead.
I've got a total of three fights against Stele planned for the series. The first one, as we read about in this chapter, was Celica & Lutecia vs. Stele. This fight was obviously lost.
The second fight is Vivio, Victor & Lutecia vs. Stele. That fight... well, I won't say anything about what happens, but it'll be interesting!
The last fight, the big throwdown, is Stele vs. Lutecia... only Lutecia isn't exactly alone... She has a very powerful ally with her for that fight... an old friend who doesn't often get much attention in fics.
No mention of Unit Epsilon in this chapter--they're concerned mostly with protectionism, and Earth doesn't have the required tech to go skipping about the stars as easily as IAFW member-worlds do. They'll show up again, though, and the seven remaining protomages are more than a little annoyed that Celica and Lutecia kicked their comrades' asses.
RadiantBeam: Have you established any specific spells for either Vivio or Victor? I need to know before I start making stuff up. Fortunately for me, your fics don't really involve much fighting, so I got to play around a bit with Asclepius's spells (though I stuck to canon with Lutecia's beam spam, as it's unvoiced/no verbal component).
Material-S, you got right. Material-L and D... I think you got them backwards a bit...
Material-L is more a Genki Girl than the rest. She's excitable and sounds just like a normal girl, but she has a temper and, yeah, she is Ax Crazy in battle. She's also a bit stupid compared to the others, or rather, at least ACTS stupider than the rest.
Material-D, she looks down on people and sees herself as a king and everyone else needs to bow down before her, since they're inferior to her.
....Is it okay if I think that this makes them seem like Sakuya, Remilia, and Flandre? I mean S as Sakuya, L as Flan, and D as Remi.
2010-06-08, 15:40
Author
Might just follow your lead in that area...
Seeing Chrono get some nice moments and some development was very nice, and I particularly liked his interaction with Amy. They feel very much like "old married couple", but you can tell the love is still there from when they were young.
