The village was in flames and chaos covered the land. A squad from Northern Beskanti had arrived at the outskirts of the village and attacked them. The villagers had been too unprepared and were too unskilled to stand up against them. Already the casualties were rising; no one was spared from the onslaught. Men, women and children alike were killed or captured with no remorse.
There was a small group, however, that had managed to make it further south of the town and they were now at the last gate before they could retreat into the forest. It was a huge metal gate anchored to anti-magic enforced walls and the lever was a few meters above on another level.
Among the little group was a huge dragon with a girl riding on it, giving out orders.
“Last stop for us. You two,” she said and pointed at two men standing around,”run up there and open the gate.”
They nodded and ran towards the stairs leading upwards. Elly turned Nidoha around in case the enemy came at them. They had been in close pursuit throughout the city just until a moment ago but they might have become lost.
A sharp sound told her the metal gate was winding upwards.
“Alright, run into the forest and try to hide until reinforcements arrive, they can’t be far out by now. I’ll stay here and fend them off in case they chase after us. Go!”
Not one of the others was really a fighter as she was and knowing that they all did as they were told. With only slight doubt in their minds they ran outside the gate and out into the forest. Elly watched them leave until the sound of footsteps reached her. Nidoha went into a fighting position with Elly still on her back.
Weapons suddenly discharged from a distance and magical shots filled the air. Elly raised a shield as fast as she could, but she noticed their attacks were more precise and powerful than before. More troops were arriving behind a few more buildings too. She couldn’t sustain the fire any longer.
“Nidoha, we can’t hold it here. Take flight!” she yelled and braced herself.The dragon gathered strength in her backlegs and jumped just as a significantly powerful beam struck her in one of her knees. Despite her natural resistance to magic and thick hide, it pierced through and left a large, smoking hole. Blood gushed out and Nidoha lost balance while yelping by the pain, throwing Elly off her seat. They both tumbled onto the ground and Elly rolled a short distance before coming to a stop.
With blurry vision and blood running down her forehead, she could see Nidoha desperately trying to get up. Enemy soldiers who overestimated themselves got too close and were cut to pieces or smashed to a pulp by Nidoha’s powerful limbs. With her master no longer in the seat and unable to stand on her legs, the dragon went into a frenzy.
Elly could only watch since any attempts she made to communicate with the dragon were lost in the confusion of the dragon’s enraged mind. Nidoha roared and continued to fight deeper into the enemy force.
A few soldiers had by that time located Elly and attacked her as soon as they could. She drew her own blade and engaged them, but she knew deep within her that she couldn’t win. Both her shield and strength were far too weak to stand against several opponents and there was even more flooding out from all directions. She fought the best she could until one of the soldiers got the upper hand and rammed her into the ground face-first. She felt her nose crack as it had another time long ago and the pain spiked into her skull. They gathered upon her and secured her with several binds before they turned their attention to Nidoha. Elly managed to move her head in that direction and watch as the once mightily powerful Crimson Dragon made its last attempts to kill its adversaries. There were bodies everywhere, limbs scattered and blood pouring onto the ground. The enemy had taken heavy losses against the dragon but now they finally began to get the upper hand.
Elly could only watch as multiple beams of the same kind as before stretched across the sky and hit Nidoha across the entire length of her body. Every shot pierced her and caused massive pain coupled with a massive amount of blood pumping out of that large body. She roared and yelped as best she could, but her efforts began to die out beneath the merciless barrage. Eventually her body couldn’t sustain the injuries anymore and she fell over on her back. Her stomach stopped moving a few seconds afterwards and Elly felt her mind disappear into darkness.
Where she lay, the blood began mixing with tears. She clenched her teeth and stared at her most trusted companion and important friend she had ever had taking its last breath in its own blood and flesh.
I’ll get you back...somehow, I’ll get you back…
~~******~~
She sat up in the bed with sweat running down her back and making quick breaths as if she was in a state of panic. She looked around the room to try and find something she could recognize, to confirm where she was. White walls and a white roof was all she saw and she had no idea where she was. She didn’t recognize anything in the room.
She put her face in her cupped hands and mumbled something. Gradually she stopped shaking and her breathing slowed down to a calmer pace. She lifted her head again, took another look around the room and tried to sort things out. She talked to herself absentmindedly.
“A hospital. White walls, white bed and white clothes. I’m getting medicine from these wires, yes that must be it. What happened, I don’t remember…”
She then realized that neither her device nor her familiar was anywhere to be sighted. She looked around frantically.
“Fornjót, where are you? Answer me! Nidoha, come to me!”
“Take it easy and don’t yell.”
The sudden voice made her spin around towards the corridor and she managed to rip out a needle supplying her with nourishment. She grabbed the spot in pain and hissed. It stung like a wasp.
“I see you’re awake and active, Elly,” the woman in the doorway said and approached her. Elly glared at her but couldn’t muster the strength to retort back. She noticed her throat was dry as a desert and the recent yelling had taken the last strength out of that.
“Your device and the dragon are safe. The dragon is just outside the window and the device is in our lab. They were quite cooperative after you got knocked out,” the woman said and pulled out a chair standing next to the bed. Her tone was not the condescending one Elly had learned to expect. This one was more out of pity.
“You might remember me from before but I don’t think I’ve introduced myself. Am I correct in thinking that?”
Elly nodded slightly. The woman in front of her had a military uniform, very similar to something she had seen before.
“My name is Hayate Yagami, commanding officer of the squad sent out to capture you. You were knocked out and you’ve been here since we got back from the mountains,” Hayate said and looked at Elly. Tiny fists formed on the bed as the words sunk in.
“I don’t know how or why you are here and neither does the woman you fought with. It’s obvious you are acquainted with her. So tell me, to start with; who are you exactly and what are you doing here? If it’s too early for you I can come back later.”
Elly shook her head and spoke. Her voice was weak but she could speak loud enough for Hayate to hear.
“I can handle it, as long as that woman isn’t here,” she said and took a deep breath. She had already realized it was pointless to resist anymore. “My name is Elisabeth Jónsdóttir, a Korporal in the Southern Beskanti army. I escaped from the planet Cancri and the next thing I know is that I woke up on this planet with that woman here. That’s all I know.”
Hayate picked up a bottle of water on a nearby table and poured some in a glass. When it was filled to the half she put the flask down, picked up the glass and handed it towards Elly.
“Drink, we got time.”
Elly accepted the glass with unsteady hands and drank from it slowly. Hayate spoke while she did so.
“And why did you decide to attack us?”
Elly stopped drinking and but the glass down in her knee. She stared at it while rubbing her thumb against it.
“Because that woman was there I assumed you people were working under her and I didn’t want to get captured again. So I decided to flee.”
“Why did you think we worked for her?”
Elly glanced at Hayate and then looked out the window.
“You obviously don’t know her. You can’t see what she has done in the past and therefore you don’t see who she really is. The Norfolk are all like that.”
Hayate didn’t speak for a moment and thought of how to proceed. After a moment she made up her mind and pushed on.
“So, can I assume she did something that affected you personally?”
The girl in the bed, who now looked frail and lonely, got a dark expression on her face.
“I took an oath,” Elly said slowly, “that I would hunt her down and get revenge for what happened some time ago. Simply put…”
She faltered as her throat refused to work for a few seconds. She then took another deep breath and continued.
“They attacked the area where I lived and she was the leader of her squad. First they kidnapped my father and my brother. They took them somewhere, I don’t know where. They just took them.
My mother and I were hiding in the house, but they soon found us. For some reason they didn’t attack us but waited instead. My mother tried to beg and plead to let me go, she even went down on her knees.
Then she arrived. I refuse to forget that look she had. I remember she told my mother to stand up and face her, and for a second I thought they were going to let us leave.”
Elly stopped talking suddenly and held out her glass. Hayate poured up some more water which the girl drank slowly.
She continued after a moment’s pause.
“She looked into my mother’s eyes. There was a killing intent, I could feel it, but there was also something else. Rage, disgust, something was there that made me realize we wouldn’t get out of there. I tried to shout out to my mother to flee or jump away but it was for nothing. That woman suddenly drew a sword faster than I could blink and stabbed my mother in the stomach. It went all the way throughout her back and I remember the sound of something dripping on the floor. I had closed my eyes in fear so I couldn’t see anything and I only heard the sword withdraw after that, with a body dropping on the floor.”
She stopped again and didn’t speak anymore. Hayate retrieved a handkerchief hanging from the bed and leaned forward. Elly had been crying without realizing it and Hayate was wiping the tears away, not saying a word. She realized Elly probably didn’t know more than they had already heard from Sigrid and she decided to back away. The weight on the girl’s shoulders was already heavy.
“I’ll come back later to check up on you so take this time to rest,” she said and got on her feet. Elly nodded in response and sank back against the pillow. When Hayate walked out of the room the girl had already closed her eyes.
~~****~~
Sigrid’s apartment was pretty much the standard for apartments in the capital. It had a simple, single bedroom, a pretty normal-sized living room, a separate kitchen and a bathroom. Pretty much everything one needed, and a little more, to enjoy life in these parts. She had been invited by Nanoha, after the crash and before Nanoha had gone on vacation with Vivio, to buy furniture, everyday equipment and clothes.
Sigrid had taken a liking to it because it wasn’t often she had gone outside like a normal civilian back on Cancri. There she had usually gone in a group, always in uniform and never gotten to choose where to go herself. Even with Nanoha and Vivio trailing after her, they let her choose mostly by herself what she wanted. Occasionally they would butt in to tease her about various outfits she definitely didn’t want, but they didn’t tell her what she should buy.
It had left a sweet experience in the back of her mind and today she was out to expand her wardrobe again. She had left the apartment early, before the real commerce began, and left Forseti behind to guard. Not that he could do much by himself, but he could at least distract anyone getting in. A voice in an empty room would probably scare anyone off.
However, since she was part of the Norfolk and a citizen of Northern Beskanti, she really wasn’t allowed to part with her device. She had made a decision today, though. Since she wasn’t on Cancri anymore and people around here didn’t bring their devices along everywhere, she would try, at least once, to be without him. She had said goodbye to him before she left, having a sinking feeling in her chest saying that it was wrong. Forseti had cheered her on in his own way though and she had managed to get on with it. As she wandered the streets downtown she started to feel slightly better. This was perhaps her new life getting a start.
Forseti, who lay on a bureau in the living room, was playing around with his settings. He sensed a couple in the apartment underneath engaged in some very energizing activity, a woman and her child screaming at each other in the apartment above and no signs of life in the two other apartments on the sides. He had never sensed this kind of life before because the only thing he was used to was military compounds and soldiers with nothing interesting to take note of. There was also always someone, usually Sigrid, who told him not to change his settings without orders. Now there was no one around so he took the chance.
He expanded his sensors further into a wide circle that stretched down to the street below. A lot of noises and activity travelled through the air and flooded him. He adjusted the sensitivity and spent some time tweaking them before he was satisfied. He lay there in the silence of the apartment and didn’t do anything worthwhile.
Then the phone suddenly rang. It was of the wireless type and connected to a receiver that displayed the number calling. Forseti had previously taken it upon himself to hack into it and he could listen in on any conversation. The automatic message clicked on after a series of dial tones.
“The owner of this phone is unreachable at the moment. Please record a message after the beep.”
The beep came, but no one spoke on the other side afterwards. Forseti could however sense that there still was someone there, swaying between saying something or not saying anything at all.
“…I don’t know if I have reached the right place or not,” a male voice said. Forseti quickly confirmed it was in the same language and even dialect that his lady spoke. In a matter of milliseconds he activated his recording software and listened in.
“I don’t know if you know anything about this whole thing, because I certainly don’t, but in case this line is wired, let me say this; Meet me at the first bus stop outside the city borders to the north the first thing tomorrow. I don’t know what this city is called, but I do know you are in there. I hope at least. I can see if it’s you alone if you do, although I’m not alone myself. There is someone with me that knows you well. I can’t say more over this line. Knight Captain, I’ll be waiting.”
The voice hung up and the recorded message saved itself into Forseti’s databanks. He ran it again, this time with voice identification software ticking along in the background. In his internal core he watched the sound waves trying to find a common source as they waved back and forth. Initially it didn’t make a move anywhere and just played. But then, slowly, it began to inch closer towards another sound wave previously recorded until it fit above it. They fit perfectly and Forseti raced to another side of his databanks where the voices were stored. The time it took to find it was fast even for a machine and a name coupled with a picture, rank information, location and ethnicity appeared in rapid sequence. With the series of commands and processes complete, his processor came to a halt and awaited further instructions.
He thought for a moment. All devices native to Cancri and developed from the Himalaya had different personalities and were more ‘thinking’ than devices on Mid-Childa. This showed, when Forseti after some consideration suddenly decided to delete the message and the number appearing on the receiver. He instead extracted all information from it and imported the data to his own databanks, into a separate archive which only he could access. He was his lady’s device, he knew that and he also knew his lady loved him as a family member. But this had moved something inside of him, something deep within that he wanted to take upon himself.
~~******~~
Fate sat at a desk aboard the Cynthia, one of the warships currently orbiting Mid-Childa in wait for departure. Her desk was cluttered with papers, pens and other materials. It had been a hectic night because a new incident related to the other strange ship appearances had found its way to her table.
“It’s about that ship we tracked down to the surface,” the officer that had left his report had said. “We lost track of it just after it entered the atmosphere, but we have gotten several reports about people being knocked out down there. We think it’s related to the ship.”
Fate had accepted the report and sent him on his way. She had read through it several times and a plausible theory had begun forming in her head.
The ship, a small transport vessel from the looks of it, had appeared out of nowhere and passed the Cynthia on its way down to the surface. They had then, as the officer reported, lost sight of it. However, the place where these assumed assaults had taken place could have been where the ship had landed several hours ago. The vector it had flown in, the descent angle and its speed showed that it would land about there.
She scrounged out some other reports from the pile with more detailed descriptions. The victims, random people in various ages, had been brought to the nearby hospital as soon as they had been found. They were in good health and some had already woken up.
However, most of them were delirious and told strange tales not of this world. Some had walked in a labyrinth, some had been locked inside a room and someone had even been stuck in a sinking car. Each of the various scenarios required them to figure a way out. The strange thing was that it had all happened inside their heads.
The doctors and psychiatrists that had taken care of them had filed reports Fate now had on her desk. They had all agreed on that the victims had been assaulted by something or someone that had mentally attacked them. They had heard from old legends about people with strange abilities that could read or alter other person’s mind but it had never been scientifically proven, so the theory was still mere speculation and might be hogwash. But they couldn’t prove the opposite either, as they had no idea what could have caused it.
Fate had already mailed Hayate about it and hoped she could look into it. It wasn’t protocol to do so as they each worked in different departments, but she knew Hayate always had something up her sleeves and Hayate had after all taken care of Sigrid and was the supervisor for those investigations.
There were also other reports related to the first one that she had also notified Hayate about. According to witnesses, a blonde girl travelling with a man in strange clothing had been sighted around the area and no one knew who they were. Whether or not they were connected to the investigation Fate didn’t know but she had mailed it anyway.
She stretched and leant back on her chair. All these incidents, ships appearing, strange humans that also could use magic arriving with them, they all went through her head. She pondered about what was really going on, if this was really a coincidence. There had been other reports of these so-called wormholes opening and closing rapidly. Nothing had come out of them however, nothing that they could track. Cloaking devices perhaps, maybe aliens were already sneaking around the surface or maybe spies from another planet.
Before she lost her mind entirely she sat up straight and shook her head. She took a new pen that wasn’t broken and started signing the paperwork again.
2009-06-20, 18:25
i can fangirl and squeal and pasteurize ants---wait i'm going terribly off topic *rubs eyes* sleepy still wahh..
oh ho ho ho--*bricked*
Author
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For those that belittle their favorite characters, complain about pairings, complain about oversexed images. Stop, thank you.
