Nanoha FanFiction Discussion

[mega1987]

Originally Posted by Nanya01

Peek's Mini-Arcs:

Yagami Mid Four Dwell Takamachi Scrya Fatherhood Harlaown Dreams Dance Healing Twins Advice History Onwards Cycle Playdate Forging

BTF Omakes:

Old Iron Omakes 1, 2, 3 Mr Snuggles Omake Oh Bandit Tree Old Iron Omakes 4, 5

Spoiler for Blood That Flows - Peek - Meetings Start:

Meetings Start

Erio sat on the ground sullenly. He didn't like the fact that Lina had stated that they were going to be leaving Gourry, Leo and Sylphiel soon. The redhead shook his head as he felt a headache come on. Rubbing his nose, he grinned and looked up. Leo was a lot of fun, and Val, back home, was a lot of fun too. If Erio knew that Caro could be so much fun if she got riled up, he might have done it sooner. Sure, it hurt bad, but she wasn't so whiny when she was like that.

There was a giggling sound and Erio blinked as two girls, both with darker skin than he was used to seeing, one with silver-white hair, the other one had purple hair, both had their eyes closed as they smiled at him. "Wow, Lena," the one with the silver-white hair spoke up and opened her eyes, nearly shocking Erio with how they were yellow, "you were right. Never saw someone like this."

"Carona, you know that we shouldn't be trying to spoil the secret." The one with purple hair opened her eyes, revealing lavender colored eyes to Erio. The two were wearing short-sleeved shirts that matched their hair and pants that were brown with purple stripes on the sides. For some odd reason, it seemed to work for them. "Still..." Lena grinned and jumped right up in Erio's face. "You're interesting."

Erio blinked, before frowning and pushing the girl away from him. "Get in someone else's face!" The next thing he knew, he found himself on his back as Carona narrowed her eyes from where she was kneeling on his chest. "Hey!"

"Hey, Lena, maybe we should do to him what those two guys were doing to that tree?" Carona had a nasty grin on her face and Erio gulped as he felt Lena grab his legs. "Ready?"

"Yep!"

"Hey!" Erio yelped as Carona grabbed his arms and jumped off of him and pulled them above his head. "Let go!" He squirmed, but found that they were a lot stronger than they looked. "What are you doing?" He asked as they lifted him off the ground. "Stop that!"

"Ready?" Lena giggled at Carona as they started to swing Erio back and forth, moving his body more and more and ignoring his pleas to stop.

"Hey!" Caro ran out, frowning at the girls, who turned and kept swinging Erio. "Let him go!" She yelled while running at them, swinging her arms up and down.

Carona smirked at Lena. "You heard pinkie."

"Yep!" Lena grinned and the two let go of Erio, causing him to let out a cry as he flew through the air and slammed into Caro, who was trying to stop in time, causing them to land on the ground in a heap.

The twins started giggling hard until someone new appeared in the yard. The two blinked and looked at the busty, purple-haired young woman dressed in form-fitting pants and a light colored shirt ran into the yard. "What the heck are you two doing?" She looked at Caro, who was groaning in pain and Erio, who looked disoriented as he lay on top of her. Looking at the giggling girls, the teen's pupils suddenly shrank as she was overcome with a sensation. "Mazoku?" She asked, her hands clenching into fists.

"How rude!" Lena pouted and looked at her sister. "We're only half-Mazoku."

"But we're half-Shinzoku." Carona nodded and looked at the newcomer. For some reason, the twins thought they heard some sort of weird announcer saying something about a new challenger. "You can call us MaShinzoku."

"Demon Goddesses..." The human muttered and looked at Erio and Caro. "Why'd you attack them?"

"He pushed my sister!" Carona protested. "It's not nice to push people."

The woman blinked and nodded slowly. "True, but you didn't have to throw him, what if he got hurt?"

"Considering what he is, I doubt that." Lena giggled at the young woman. "Who are you anyway?"

"Suzuka Tsukimura." She nodded and narrowed her eyes at the girls. "I'd ask that you not attack them again."

"I'll have to say..." A new male voice spoke up next to Suzuka and made her stiffen as she felt a hand on her shoulder. "I don't like it when people threaten my daughters."

Suzuka turned to see Xellos looking at her, his eyes open and his lips pursed into a tight smile.

Me: Why do I have a feeling Xellos will be in a headlock?

Val and Odin: Lina.

Reia: Oh boy! Is Nanoha's way of making friends is spreading thru out her friends?

Iris: If it is... It's gonna hurt.

Me: And WHY in the world I'm thinking of Mazinkaiser from the word MaShinzoku?

Odin: Well...It could be someone have have quoted that a certain hot-blooded individual can become a God or a Demon.

Val:That certain individual who just suggested to break an AT-Field of a freaking Angel with Brute Force...

[vic-vic]

Originally Posted by Nanya01

Peek's Mini-Arcs:

Yagami Mid Four Dwell Takamachi Scrya Fatherhood Harlaown Dreams Dance Healing Twins Advice History Onwards Cycle Playdate Forging

BTF Omakes:

Old Iron Omakes 1, 2, 3 Mr Snuggles Omake Oh Bandit Tree Old Iron Omakes 4, 5

Spoiler for Blood That Flows - Peek - Meetings Start:

Meetings Start

Erio sat on the ground sullenly. He didn't like the fact that Lina had stated that they were going to be leaving Gourry, Leo and Sylphiel soon. The redhead shook his head as he felt a headache come on. Rubbing his nose, he grinned and looked up. Leo was a lot of fun, and Val, back home, was a lot of fun too. If Erio knew that Caro could be so much fun if she got riled up, he might have done it sooner. Sure, it hurt bad, but she wasn't so whiny when she was like that.

There was a giggling sound and Erio blinked as two girls, both with darker skin than he was used to seeing, one with silver-white hair, the other one had purple hair, both had their eyes closed as they smiled at him. "Wow, Lena," the one with the silver-white hair spoke up and opened her eyes, nearly shocking Erio with how they were yellow, "you were right. Never saw someone like this."

"Carona, you know that we shouldn't be trying to spoil the secret." The one with purple hair opened her eyes, revealing lavender colored eyes to Erio. The two were wearing short-sleeved shirts that matched their hair and pants that were brown with purple stripes on the sides. For some odd reason, it seemed to work for them. "Still..." Lena grinned and jumped right up in Erio's face. "You're interesting."

Erio blinked, before frowning and pushing the girl away from him. "Get in someone else's face!" The next thing he knew, he found himself on his back as Carona narrowed her eyes from where she was kneeling on his chest. "Hey!"

"Hey, Lena, maybe we should do to him what those two guys were doing to that tree?" Carona had a nasty grin on her face and Erio gulped as he felt Lena grab his legs. "Ready?"

"Yep!"

"Hey!" Erio yelped as Carona grabbed his arms and jumped off of him and pulled them above his head. "Let go!" He squirmed, but found that they were a lot stronger than they looked. "What are you doing?" He asked as they lifted him off the ground. "Stop that!"

"Ready?" Lena giggled at Carona as they started to swing Erio back and forth, moving his body more and more and ignoring his pleas to stop.

"Hey!" Caro ran out, frowning at the girls, who turned and kept swinging Erio. "Let him go!" She yelled while running at them, swinging her arms up and down.

Carona smirked at Lena. "You heard pinkie."

"Yep!" Lena grinned and the two let go of Erio, causing him to let out a cry as he flew through the air and slammed into Caro, who was trying to stop in time, causing them to land on the ground in a heap.

The twins started giggling hard until someone new appeared in the yard. The two blinked and looked at the busty, purple-haired young woman dressed in form-fitting pants and a light colored shirt ran into the yard. "What the heck are you two doing?" She looked at Caro, who was groaning in pain and Erio, who looked disoriented as he lay on top of her. Looking at the giggling girls, the teen's pupils suddenly shrank as she was overcome with a sensation. "Mazoku?" She asked, her hands clenching into fists.

"How rude!" Lena pouted and looked at her sister. "We're only half-Mazoku."

"But we're half-Shinzoku." Carona nodded and looked at the newcomer. For some reason, the twins thought they heard some sort of weird announcer saying something about a new challenger. "You can call us MaShinzoku."

"Demon Goddesses..." The human muttered and looked at Erio and Caro. "Why'd you attack them?"

"He pushed my sister!" Carona protested. "It's not nice to push people."

The woman blinked and nodded slowly. "True, but you didn't have to throw him, what if he got hurt?"

"Considering what he is, I doubt that." Lena giggled at the young woman. "Who are you anyway?"

"Suzuka Tsukimura." She nodded and narrowed her eyes at the girls. "I'd ask that you not attack them again."

"I'll have to say..." A new male voice spoke up next to Suzuka and made her stiffen as she felt a hand on her shoulder. "I don't like it when people threaten my daughters."

Suzuka turned to see Xellos looking at her, his eyes open and his lips pursed into a tight smile.

Xellos opened his eyes... now It`s Suzuka`s time to be scared.

[mega1987]

Originally Posted by vic-vic

Xellos opened his eyes... now It`s Suzuka`s time to be scared.

Then Suzuka gone into panic, suddenly push Xellos away without holding her strength and send the poor Mazoku crashing into several trees as the rest arrived and not to mention Suzuka's got a nervous smile while the kids are gawking at what just happen...

From what i can foresee atm... but we'll never know till nanya brings the next part out...

[NorthernFallout]

Index

A plot tossed as an idea in IRC. It didn't turn out as planned and I'm not that happy with it... But since it's a lot longer than expected, I didn't want to scrap it. Hence, I hope some of you get some enjoyment out of it.

This is a two-part story. The second part will be a bit closer to the initial core concept.

Spoiler for Fate's Dilemma: The Beginning:

It is in the minds of men that madness is created. From the things that they see, and cannot understand, they are afraid. If they can comprehend it, and understand it, that fear goes away. But if they cannot, for the cosmos does not always use the logic of man, their minds will not be able to make sense of the horrors that lurk outside of this world. That fear will fester and grow. It will build into a fear of the unknown, of what is and what is not.

And it is from this fear that madness comes. The madness of not understanding that which you see before you. The madness of knowing that the cosmos hides things you were never meant to see...

*****

I came home from work that night, tired and beat. Another murder had happened in my district, and no leads had appeared that I could follow up on. During the years I had been an Enforcer, I had never came upon such a weird case. It was the work of a serial killer, on that point I was certain. But he was good. Supernatural kind of good. He left no evidence whatsoever, apart from the victims’ faces. Their eyes had been slit in two, but luckily for them, after he had murdered them. To me it seemed to be his trademark and the only thing i could secure as evidence against him.

My apartment was dark as I arrived. It always was at that time. I entered the hallway, throwing my coat on the hanger and laid the keys on the drawer. Almost stumbling into the kitchen, exhausted from the long day and hungry like an animal, I opened the fridge and took what I could find. Noodles and left-over fried salmon, to be precise. That was my dinner that night. I didn’t care.

Having boiled the noodles and heated the fish, I stuffed it all into a bowl and took it with me to the living room, collapsing in the sofa. The television turned on automatically at my presence and I threw my legs up on the table. I stayed that way. It was a side of myself I rarely showed to others; the soft and quiet Fate, a slob when it came down to it. At least after such a rough day, I thought, I have no regrets.

I sat there, or lay, slurping my noodles and nibbling on the fish. It tasted horrible, but I had expected that. It was dry and raw, making my throat dry up. I barely watched the TV. There was some show on about mushrooms, but I had no idea what they said because my mind was drifting between thinking how wonderful sleep was and how I could solve the murders. It refused to leave my head, a bane as an Enforcer. Our brains were hardwired to think about crime, all the time. Or maybe it was just me. I was too tired to think straight, anyway.

I put the bowl down on the table and just watched the TV. Its light appeared to give the room a light blue tint. It was a soothing color, because my eyelids were becoming heavy, sleep starting to conquer my body. But I didn’t feel like sleeping. I had to think about the murders some more. There was something there, right in front of my eyes. A clue as to how to solve them. I just couldn’t put my finger on it... Maybe if... I...

I woke with a light jolt, a muscle reflex, as if I had fallen in a dream. I couldn’t remember if I had, though. I hadn’t closed my eyes for more than twenty minutes as the show about mushrooms was approaching its end. They were babbling about different kind of color tones on the mushrooms. I barely listened as I stretched my limbs. I then stood up and walked to the kitchen, taking the bowl with me. I put it in the sink, the porcelain clanking against the metal. But another, strange, noise followed it. I froze, goosebumps on my skin, and waited.

There was something weird around me. I couldn’t hear or see it, but I could sense it. What it was I didn’t know. But something was wrong. Something was... observing me. I looked over my shoulder and listened, letting the full silence of the apartment fill my ears. I heard nothing once again and turned on the water to clean the bowl. My imagination is running rampant, I thought to myself. It has to be. I have been awake for too long. I’m fatigued.

The water pipes gurgled and only air escaped the muzzle. I sighed and hit it lightly. Nothing happened and I hit it a bit harder. It gurgled again, but this time water came out with force. It had been a block in the pipes, I figured. The water...

The water was red. I froze again as the liquid ran over my outstretched hands and into the bowl. It didn’t feel like water, either. It was heavier, stickier and-

I recoiled and lost my balance, dropping the bowl with a crash as I fell to the floor. It was blood, flowing from the pipes. I looked at my red hands. I noticed they were shaking. I reached for a towel and tried to clean them. It only made it worse, leaving stains all over the towel and on the floor. I wiped harder, desperate to make it go away. My skin started to itch, irritated at the rough rubbing.

As I tried to clean myself, still in a state of shock, I didn’t notice that the sink had been clogged. It slowly filled with blood, and by the time I stood up, it was flowing outside of it. It ran down the cabinet and down to the floor where it formed a small puddle around my feet. I took a few deep breaths and calmed down. After I had collected myself enough to think straight I twisted the knob on the tap, strangling the stream of blood. I then leaned back against the wall, letting out a long sigh.

I had no idea what was going on. I was disgusted to the brink of throwing up, and tired enough to fall asleep where I was. My head was in pieces, trying to understand what was going on. It was as if I was in a fog. Gray and blurry. I wobbled out of the kitchen, into the bedroom. I didn’t take off my clothes and simply rolled onto the bed. The mattress felt reassuring, soft. My brain started to shut down. It left everything to later, telling em to sleep. I didn’t want it to, not now. But I had no control.

I curled up on the bed and felt my eyelids close, heavy as they were, but my mind was still in disarray. I was fatigued. I was hallucinating. It couldn’t be real, but it felt too much like it was. It didn’t have the usual signs of an hallucination and I still felt awake.

The bed suddenly moved as something laid down beside me. The hair on my neck stood up. Chills ran down my back as I felt an ice-cold hand on my shoulder. It squeezed so hard that I almost felt its fingers penetrating my skin and I could feel its cold breath in my ear. I shut my eyes so tight it hurt. Then it spoke.

“Fate. HE is coming.”

I turned my head against my will, pulled by an unbeatable desire to see the owner of the obscene voice. What I saw was an unspeakable abomination. But, somewhere inside my head, a connection was made to my deepest memories. And I knew who it was.

My mother.

*****

I woke up, panting. It was morning, the sun breaking in through my windows. I took a deep breath and calmed down. Rubbing my temples I told myself it had just been a dream. Just a dream. But a realistic one, I admitted. It had felt so real. I was still shaking, my nerves unbound beneath my skin.

I slowly sat up in the sofa where I had fallen asleep. The TV was still on, showing the morning news. I shook my head, clearing it. I felt sluggish, sick. Maybe I even had a fever.

I got up and walked into the kitchen. I didn’t mean to, but the recent memory of the sink filled with blood made me flinch. It was empty, of course. I started to prepare breakfast, all the while darting my eyes this way and that, checking things that weren’t actually there. t had been a dream. But why had it felt so real? And why had Precia been in it...

The thoughts flowed as I poured up my tea and added the honey. I was lost in thought for a few minutes and didn’t hear the TV. Slowly I started to return again, its noise bringing me back into reality.

“And now, for a special report about he riots in Central Cranagan that started earlier this morning. So far the police have given no statement, as they are still investigating the underlying causes of the riots. Our reporter, however, is there, ready to give us updates. Sofya, can you hear me?”

I took my tea and toast and went back into the living room, sitting down in the sofa. The TV switched from the studio to a place with a lot of screaming and fighting in the background. I recognized the buildings in the background. It was the Cranagan Square, not far from where I lived. The reporter seemed nervous while she tried to speak.

“...-rioters are getting more vicious. I’ve already seen a couple of beatings and a car was set on fire just a few minutes ago. The situation is getting worse by the minute, Ann.”The noise of sirens in the background made the reporter turn her head. “Ah! The police has arrived. They’re starting to circle the rioters. It’s starting to calm down a little, I have to say. I think-”

I tuned the TV out and sipped my tea. A riot in Cranagan was nothing unheard of, but it was still rare. Searching through my memory, I found nothing in recent events that could have set it off. If anything had happened I would have been notified as well, which I found very odd.

“Bardiche,” I said, holding the cup of tea with both of my hands, “check the net for anything related to this riot.”

“Yes, Sir.”

I waited while he trawled the net, taking a bite of my toast. The delicious butter melted in my mouth.

“Sir, no data found relating to the riots,” Bardiche said after a while.

I shook my head slowly in disbelief and eyed him where he lay on the table. “Doesn’t make any sense. Why would they be rioting? There’s no reason.”

“Perhaps they’re a group unknown to us, Sir. They could have gone undetected until now,” Bardiche suggested.

I shook my head again, looking intently at the TV. “They aren’t carrying banners or similar clothing. The things they are screaming are incoherent at best. Did they escape from a mental hospital?”

“I very much doubt that, Sir.”

I sensed a tad of amusement in his voice, but ignored it. He was still right, though. It had been a silly proposition. There were too many of them, and they looked like normal people from a first glance. No, this was similar to mass hysteria. But from what?

A panel suddenly appeared by my side and I accepted the call. An operator stared back at me. “Good morning, Ma’am. I’m sorry to disturb you during breakfast, but you have been requested at the Cranagan Square.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “That’s where the riots are going on. They seem to be under control as far as I can see,” I said and nodded at the TV, where police were moving in to subdue the rioters.

The operator seemed flustered. “That isn’t the case behind the scenes, Ma’am. It’s a serious situation-”

I nodded and hurried to put my tea down, feeling a pang of guilt for my behaviour. “Sorry. I’ve had a rough morning. Of course, I’ll be down as soon as I can.” I cancelled the call, grabbing my coat and headed for the car. My hair had seen better days and I hadn’t even managed to get a shower. But the job was calling for me again. As it had many times this past week.

*****

The scene where the riots were taking place had calmed down when I arrived. People were rounded up in small camps patrolled by police while medics checked on the wounded. What the cameras hadn’t revealed was the fact that the rioters weren’t determined with a common goal. Instead, they were all shouting random words and sentences, bewildered by their own imagination. I hesitated on using the word ‘mad’, but that was the closest thing I could think of.

Walking through the checkpoint at the front of the square, I approached one of the senior doctors working on a patient with a bloody ear. As I got closer I could hear that the patient was mumbling something incoherent, much like the people around him.

“Before you ask,” the doctor said as he acknowledged me with a nod, “I will tell you that I have no idea what is going on with these people.” He gestured around him hopelessly. “Screaming, murmuring, whispering. Coupled with violence and crying. Sheer mass hysteria.”

”Any idea of what could have caused it?” I asked. “Chemicals? Bio-terrorism?”

“Unlikely. A bomb would have been noticed. They’d have to infect the water supply. Or it would have been airborne.” He shook his head, scratching his chin. “More people would have been affected if that was the case...”

“Understood, Doctor,” I said. “Then what about the rioters? What are they mumbling about?”

The doctor gestured at his current patient. “Hear for yourself.”

I approached the patient sitting on the improvised bed and watched as his lips moved without any sound being made. I leaned in closer. His voice was barely a whisper. Straining my ears to their fullest let me hear his words.

“The lurker... is...what I’ve seen is... the lurker is to...Him...”

I stood up straight, an eyebrow raised. “Random ramble?”

The doctor shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. Most of the ones here are mumbling the same thing. Others are screaming it. Some are crying about a ‘gate’. I just don’t know.”

I nodded and observed the patient. His eyes were blank and shiny. His lips were dry. His body looked otherwise normal from what I could determine. “Any weird... mutations? Disabilities?”

“No, not from what I’ve been able to gather.” He looked at his watch and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Ma’am. The clock is ticking and I have many patients to attend to.”

“I understand,” I said and watched him leave. Just as he disappeared into the mass of people shambling back and forth, another call came in for me, audio only.

“Yes?”

“Ma’am, I need you over at Main Street. There’s been a horrible suicide... The circumstances are weird. I think it’s related to the riots.”

“I’m on my way,” I said and added, “Teana, you don’t have to be so formal with me, you know.”

“Right, Fate.”

*****

I felt like I was pulled in several different directions at once. First I had been at the square and now I had arrived at Main Street. As I left the car and entered the apartment complex where the body had been found, I wondered how they had connected the supposed suicide to the riots. A note, perhaps. Writings, recordings, something mentioning the same things that I had heard from the patient at the square. Other than that, I didn’t see how they could connect it.

Teana stood outside the apartment when I reached the third floor. She nodded at me and went inside. I followed her, entering the apartment that was in disarray. Furniture had been overturned and paper sheets lay all over the floor. I bent down and picked one of them up. I had never seen such a disjointed and chaotic language before. I couldn’t understand a single word, but it was pulling me in regardless. I tried to make sense of the words written on the paper. The harder I looked at the words, something scratched in the back of my mind. It was hidden away, a locked memory or a strand of thought. It made me uneasy.

“Fate?”

I gasped and looked up. Teana was standing next to me, looking at me with confused eyes.

“Sorry, I got distracted,” I said as I stood up. “Where’s the body?”

“In here.” Teana gestured at the bedroom. “But prepare yourself. It’s not pretty.”

So that’s why you’re so mellow, I thought and walked past her. The door was barely open so I pushed it lightly. It opened without a sound and once my mind realized what I was looking at, I turned my eyes away and took a couple of deep breaths to calm the bile rising in my throat.

The bedroom was as chaotic as the first room had been. But where the latter had been covered with sheets of paper, the bedroom was covered in blood. It formed words, the very same words that had been written on the papers. It covered the floor and the walls. But that wasn’t what had made me turn away. That had been the dead body, lying on the bare bed at the opposite side of the room. It was the most gruesome sight I had witnessed in my career. It was all made even worse by the fact that it had been a suicide. The man, who could barely be called a man anymore, had done it all to himself while he was still conscious.

The crime scene analyst approached me, having been crouching down next to the victim, and handed me a datapad. “He died slowly,” she began while eyeing the body. “An extreme loss of blood is the primary cause of death. He used the knife you can see on the floor, carved that text into his stomach. I’m not sure how he managed to cut his face that way.”

I looked at the body again, prepared this time. His eyes were gone, gouged out by what I could only guess had once been his fingers. They were now small stumps on his hands. His mouth had been slit open as well, cut from side to side, with his cheeks punctured. “And the words? Same as the ones on the notes and the walls?”

“Actually,” the analyst said and pointed at a specific entry at the datapad I still held in my hand, “They’re different.”

I looked down at the screen and brought up the entry. The words were in our language, but they still didn’t make sense. “‘The Lurker is impending. I have seen him. I know the Lurker. The Gate, the Key.’?”, I said and rose an eyebrow.

The analyst shrugged. “We haven’t found anything similar anywhere else. Nor anything, or anyone, that can make sense of it. But it’s similar to what some of the rioters have been saying, isn’t it?”

So that’s what the connection is, I thought and looked at Teana who had been standing next to us the whole time. She was still looking mellow and also a bit pale. She wasn’t used to these cases yet.

“Good work, Teana,” I said to lighten her up a bit. “We’re done here. I can give you a ride back to HQ if you want.”

Teana smiled meekly and accepted the suggestion. I said goodbye to the analyst, who went back to her gruesome task, which she called work, of further analyzing the sack of meat that lay on the bed. I then left the apartment complex together with Teana, all the while pondering deeply about the meaning of the words I had read.

*****

“What do you think about all this?” I asked Teana as we drove up on highway. She sat beside me, idly looking out of the window.

“I don’t know what to think, Fate. This feels... surreal. Unreal, even. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s not much better together with my dreaming either...”

My ears perked up at that last part and I looked at her sharply. “Dreams? Teana, what kind of dreams have you had?”

Teana regarded me with surprise at my sudden change of tone. “Nightmarish-ones. It started a couple of days ago...”

“Please, Teana, tell me about them. It might be important.”

“Important how?”

“I had a nightmare as well. But just one. It might just be a coincidence... But with the riots, the people... It might be connected.”

Teana sighed and clenched her fists in her lap. She started to speak, reluctantly; “I had fallen asleep at my desk, at home. I was late on some reports so I had decided to finish them. I didn’t know it was a dream back then, when I ‘woke’ up, I mean. It felt too real. Anyway, I decided to eat something as I was quite hungry. I stood up from my desk and walked over to the closed door, leading to the kitchen. I think I was distracted because I stepped through without thinking and when I looked up all I saw was... darkness. I looked behind me and the door had gone. I was in ‘nothing’, I assumed, until I looked down and saw the floor. It was then that I realized that I was walking upon a sea of blood. It made the noise of water puddles when I stepped on it. I was going mad at that point. I had no idea what was going on. I was confused, horrified. And then I felt something snatch my ankles, rooting me to the spot. When I looked down, I...”

I looked at her, intrigued. “And?”

“I saw my brother. His face and the hands holding me. It... An abomination. It wasn’t him, yet it was at the same time. My mind told me it was him. But I couldn’t... I woke up shortly afterwards.”

She took a deep breath and avoided my eyes. She instead looked down on her hands, hiding most of her face from me. “That is all,” she finished in a small voice.

I nodded, more to myself than her, and turned off the highway as we were getting closer to HQ. “I saw Precia,” I said. “An abomination. But I knew it was her. Just as you knew it was your brother.”

She finally looked at me, her eyes glossy. “I see...”

The rest of the drive was filled with silence, but it didn’t take long until we pulled in on the parking lot next to the HQ building. As we got out of the car, I noticed for the first time that day a weird cloud in the distance. It wasn’t dark, but rather gray, blending in with the rest of the clouds. But what catched my attention was the shape. It was strange for a cloud to look like that. I couldn’t even explain it. It was too weird. Teana didn’t seem to notice it as she entered the building straight away. Putting my thoughts aside, I shortly did the same.

Right as I stepped through the revolving door I was promptly met by an officer I recognized. Her name was Anna, part of the small crime division. Before she even began to speak she handed me a datapad.

“This is?” I asked.

“Reports that just started to come in. Crimes, such as stealing, assault and public disturbance are going through the roof.” She shook her head with her arms crossed. “I don’t like this, Harlaown. I really don’t.”

I agreed with a nod and opened the datapad. An abnormal long list of crimes scrolled across the screen, none of which stood out in particular. “Why are you showing me this?”

“Just wanted you to know. I think it’s related to the riots, but I can’t prove anything. Just be careful, Harlaown.”

“Anna?”

She looked at the busy people around us with a suspicious glare, then stared right at me. “Things aren’t as they seem. Something is coming. I don’t know what. But it’s going to be bad.”

Without another word she strode off and left the building. I stood there with the datapad in my hand, taking her words in. Surely it was just my mind playing tricks... But hadn’t I seen some of the madness of the rioters in her eyes? It had been weak, yet influential enough to make itself visible.

I resisted running after her. I didn’t see the point. I was most likely wrong. Besides, I had too much to do. Stuffing the datapad in my coat’s pocket, I took the elevator up to my office. I had reports to do and documents to sign. If anything, I wouldn’t go outside until later that evening.

*****

Hours passed. Words appeared on my screen as I wrote the reports. My back ached and I was hungry. And even if four hours had passed since my strange meeting with Anna, it still hadn’t left my mind. I couldn’t stop worrying about it. What she had said felt too real, too genuine to have been a hoax. Then there were the dreams that both I and Teana had. And the rioters...

I leaned back in my chair and stretched my arms. My joints popped and I felt some of the tension go away, but the fatigue that threatened me stayed where it was.

I need coffee, I decided and stood up. The coffee machine wasn’t far from my office so I left and walked into the corridor. The machine was to my left, in the corner by a window. The thin corridor was lined with offices on either side and to my right, at the end of it, was another window with a person standing next to it. Even from a distance I recognized him as David, one of the technicians in the building. His bulky form was easy to spot, especially with his silhouette against the white sky behind him.

The trip to the coffee machine was delayed as I noticed something odd about him. He had his back to me, standing in silence. He was rocking back and forth, only a little, but just enough for it to be noticeable. I took a step toward him and called out; “David? Are you alright?”

He flinched at the sound of my voice. He turned around and looked at me, eyes empty, lips curved in a frown. He said nothing, which wasn’t like him. He was always smiling, happy to chat. This wasn’t the David I knew. The strange person standing there was someone else entirely.

“David?”

He turned back again to stare at the window. That’s when I noticed that the window was open. A chilling breeze stroke past me and I tensed up, unbelieving.

“Don’t-”

Had I reacted quicker, I might have caught him. With my speed I could have reached him before he took a step into thin air and disappeared from view. But I had hesitated. For some reason I had frozen in place, my thoughts flaring wildly with all that had happened that day. I heard the impact and the screams of horror from below.

I approached the window, hesitated, and then finally looked down. Far below on the street a crowd had already gathered around David’s body, while a couple of officers tried to seal the location off. Even from the height I was watching from, I saw the damage. The impact had crushed his head, splattering his brain all over the pavement. His limbs were twisted, white bone sticking out in varying angles, and below him a dark pool of blood was slowly forming.

At that moment my mind decided to show me the images of the man in the bed. I almost vomited out of the window, but managed to hold it down and sat down on the floor. I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself, and my stomach, and make sense of what had just happen. David’s eyes had been the same as the rioters, but he hadn’t said anything. David hadn’t been David. He had changed.

“What the hell is going on?” I said it out loud. Hearing my own voice against the booming images on the inside of my eyelids made me feel a bit better, but it was as if I was surrounded by fog. My vision was blurry for a few seconds before it went back to normal.

I eventually stood up, my legs shaking from the frailty of my mind. The day was getting worse. Around me the building had gone into a state of confusion and chaos. As I stumbled back to my office, others rushed past me. Rumors started to drift around and I heard someone mention another suicide in the nearby area. I was shaking my head all the way back to my office. I had the same feeling as in the dream. Reality seemed to bend around me, but this time I knew that I was awake.

Or was I? Was I still asleep, caught in another world that my mind had created? Everything around me, filled with faked reality. At that moment, it made sense to me. It had all happened so sudden, out of the blue, that it had to be another dream. But I didn’t know how to make sure, how to wake myself up-

Maybe that was what David had done, I thought, the answer suddenly jumping into my mind. If this was a dream connected to others, David’s suicide had made him wake up. He probably was in the real world right now, going to work as usual, complaining about nightmares. Yes. It makes sense.

I looked at the window and felt a strange longing to wake up. But I still wasn’t sure. If I was wrong, I’d die, fooled by my own ideas and imagination.

Maybe that’s actually what happened. David was caught in the dream, just as I was. And he wanted to wake up. Only he wasn’t in a dream at all. I-

A hand on my shoulder made me jump and I blinked in sudden confusion, my senses returning. I turned around and stared wildly.

“Fate?” Teana said, worry hidden in her voice. “Are you OK?”

I nodded warily and gave her a gentle smile. “I think so. I’m just exhausted.”

“You should head home. You’ve done enough for today.”

“But-”

“Fate. You’re tired, fatigued, what with everything that happened today. Myself included. But we need you to be rested. You aren’t thinking straight, right now.”

I kept my mouth shut because I knew she was right. The thought that had occurred to me just a moment ago was silly. And dangerous. I thanked her on the inside, somewhat amused that she didn’t know what possible disaster she had prevented.

“Thanks, Teana. I’ll take your advice and head home for now,” I said and waved a weak goodbye, intentionally avoiding to speak any further. She was smiling as I spun around and called for the elevator. It was already there, so it just pinged and opened its doors for me. I walked inside and pressed the button for the bottom floor as I turned my head back to look at Teana again. The door began to close. And I saw her face. Grinning in madness.

The horrifying sight was gone when the elevator doors closed and I began my descent, heading homeward.

*****

Entering my apartment as I had the day before, I felt as if the world came crumbling down. The worries I had suffered at HQ was back, together with the last image in my mind of Teana grinning at me. I had never seen such a grin before, filled with malice and insanity.

Despite not having eaten for hours, I didn’t feel hungry. I didn’t go into the living room either. The memory of last night still hung fresh before my eyes. That’s why I decided to head straight to bed, to conquer sleep before the dreams would surprise me. I would be ready for them this time.

I collapsed on the bed, too tired to take my clothes off. My hair was tangled and sticky. I could feel the roughness of my skin against the sheets. But it was warm and comfortable. I relaxed, letting my heavy eyelids close. I felt sleep rushing towards me, like a pleasant summer breeze. I slipped away into darkness...

And then abruptly opened my eyes again. The room was now dark, but I was certain only a few seconds had passed. It had been bright inside back then, the curtains before my windows open. Which they still were when I looked at them. Day had turned to night in an eyeblink, but I knew for a fact I wasn’t dreaming. I didn’t have the same feeling as the last time. Whatever that feeling had been. I was more alert now, conscious of my state of mind.

I sat up on the bed and looked around the room. There were no signs of the abomination that had haunted me the previous night. I carefully stood up, trying to be quiet, and gently eased the door open. It was dark, but I could still see.

I stepped into the hallway and walked a few meters until I could look into the kitchen. I froze, my muscles tensing. Horror filled me on the inside. I saw the abomination in there, its back facing towards me. Its left side was an unintelligible mass of flesh and bones. Its feet hung in the air, as its body floated, held up by nothing. I felt no magic radiating from it. It was a being from another world.

So I am dreaming again... Damn, I thought and recoiled as the thing suddenly turned its ugly head towards me. Its hollow eyes regarded me, but it said nothing. It instead rose an arm that pointed out of the window, motioning for me to come closer.

I stood, frozen to the spot, not knowing what to do. It was most likely a trap. But, then, this being a dream it wouldn’t matter. Maybe I would wake up if I approached it. And there was something else, too. An inner voice, speaking to me. I couldn’t understand it, but it was soothing. Calming.

Before I knew it I had taken a step forward, and then another. Soon I was standing next to the abomination, looking out the window. The abomination didn’t speak and didn’t look at me. It joined me in staring out the window. And twisted its mouth in a horrendous smile.

My breath was taken away at the sight. Outside, where buildings had once towered next to mine, where the streets had run intricate patterns far down below, and where the lights would lit up the darkness of night, there were now structures of the bizarre. It had the texture of flesh and colors that couldn’t exist. Shapes that my mind failed to comprehend. They dug into me, twisting me. It went on for miles and miles. I sunk to the floor, my knees faltering.

I felt misery, hopelessness and wonder. Tears formed in my eyes. I tried to wipe them away, but they wouldn’t stop. I still tried, and as I did, tilted my head upwards. I saw dark, spiralling things piercing the clouds in the sky. Thunder reigned around them, lighting up the world outside my window. And as I looked down again, I saw the masses of beings, creatures of the beyond crawling in the thousands along the streets.

This world is a dream, I reminded myself. But it didn’t help. Something kept pushing me down, from within. It was that voice again. But now I could understand it. The implication of its words made me shiver.

Your dream. Your reality. Beyond the Gate, with a Key. HE is here, and HE is the Key. HE is the Gate. HE is All-in-One, and One-in-All. Dreams and reality become one in HIS world. HIS world, your world, combined, connected.

And it was at that moment, as I was balancing on the edge of madness, that millions of voices screamed in unison inside my mind. I clutched my head from the indescribable pain, from the sheer madness, and fell to the floor, twisting in agony. I soon joined them with my scream of desperation. Pleading for help. Praying for it all to stop.

“HE has arrived,” the abomination whispered as I started to crawl on the floor, drooling and crying from my mind breaking in two. “HE has returned from the void. Your world is now HIS. All will join HIM.”

I stared at it, my vision clouded by pain and the madness of a whole world suffering from within. Behind the abomination, in the sky above us, I saw the clouds parting and HE descended. Transparent spheres and impossible shapes accompanied HIM. No logic, no sense. The definition of madness and the breaking of sanity.

HE then spoke to me, inside of me. HIS words, HIS voice. I knew that for me, and the millions of voices destroying my mind, sanity had become impossible. And my world had succumbed to madness.

[Craxuan]

Originally Posted by AtomicoX

Index

A plot tossed as an idea in IRC. It didn't turn out as planned and I'm not that happy with it... But since it's a lot longer than expected, I didn't want to scrap it. Hence, I hope some of you get some enjoyment out of it.

This is a two-part story. The second part will be a bit closer to the initial core concept.

Spoiler for Fate's Dilemma: The Beginning:

It is in the minds of men that madness is created. From the things that they see, and cannot understand, they are afraid. If they can comprehend it, and understand it, that fear goes away. But if they cannot, for the cosmos does not always use the logic of man, their minds will not be able to make sense of the horrors that lurk outside of this world. That fear will fester and grow. It will build into a fear of the unknown, of what is and what is not.

And it is from this fear that madness comes. The madness of not understanding that which you see before you. The madness of knowing that the cosmos hides things you were never meant to see...

*****

I came home from work that night, tired and beat. Another murder had happened in my district, and no leads had appeared that I could follow up on. During the years I had been an Enforcer, I had never came upon such a weird case. It was the work of a serial killer, on that point I was certain. But he was good. Supernatural kind of good. He left no evidence whatsoever, apart from the victims’ faces. Their eyes had been slit in two, but luckily for them, after he had murdered them. To me it seemed to be his trademark and the only thing i could secure as evidence against him.

My apartment was dark as I arrived. It always was at that time. I entered the hallway, throwing my coat on the hanger and laid the keys on the drawer. Almost stumbling into the kitchen, exhausted from the long day and hungry like an animal, I opened the fridge and took what I could find. Noodles and left-over fried salmon, to be precise. That was my dinner that night. I didn’t care.

Having boiled the noodles and heated the fish, I stuffed it all into a bowl and took it with me to the living room, collapsing in the sofa. The television turned on automatically at my presence and I threw my legs up on the table. I stayed that way. It was a side of myself I rarely showed to others; the soft and quiet Fate, a slob when it came down to it. At least after such a rough day, I thought, I have no regrets.

I sat there, or lay, slurping my noodles and nibbling on the fish. It tasted horrible, but I had expected that. It was dry and raw, making my throat dry up. I barely watched the TV. There was some show on about mushrooms, but I had no idea what they said because my mind was drifting between thinking how wonderful sleep was and how I could solve the murders. It refused to leave my head, a bane as an Enforcer. Our brains were hardwired to think about crime, all the time. Or maybe it was just me. I was too tired to think straight, anyway.

I put the bowl down on the table and just watched the TV. Its light appeared to give the room a light blue tint. It was a soothing color, because my eyelids were becoming heavy, sleep starting to conquer my body. But I didn’t feel like sleeping. I had to think about the murders some more. There was something there, right in front of my eyes. A clue as to how to solve them. I just couldn’t put my finger on it... Maybe if... I...

I woke with a light jolt, a muscle reflex, as if I had fallen in a dream. I couldn’t remember if I had, though. I hadn’t closed my eyes for more than twenty minutes as the show about mushrooms was approaching its end. They were babbling about different kind of color tones on the mushrooms. I barely listened as I stretched my limbs. I then stood up and walked to the kitchen, taking the bowl with me. I put it in the sink, the porcelain clanking against the metal. But another, strange, noise followed it. I froze, goosebumps on my skin, and waited.

There was something weird around me. I couldn’t hear or see it, but I could sense it. What it was I didn’t know. But something was wrong. Something was... observing me. I looked over my shoulder and listened, letting the full silence of the apartment fill my ears. I heard nothing once again and turned on the water to clean the bowl. My imagination is running rampant, I thought to myself. It has to be. I have been awake for too long. I’m fatigued.

The water pipes gurgled and only air escaped the muzzle. I sighed and hit it lightly. Nothing happened and I hit it a bit harder. It gurgled again, but this time water came out with force. It had been a block in the pipes, I figured. The water...

The water was red. I froze again as the liquid ran over my outstretched hands and into the bowl. It didn’t feel like water, either. It was heavier, stickier and-

I recoiled and lost my balance, dropping the bowl with a crash as I fell to the floor. It was blood, flowing from the pipes. I looked at my red hands. I noticed they were shaking. I reached for a towel and tried to clean them. It only made it worse, leaving stains all over the towel and on the floor. I wiped harder, desperate to make it go away. My skin started to itch, irritated at the rough rubbing.

As I tried to clean myself, still in a state of shock, I didn’t notice that the sink had been clogged. It slowly filled with blood, and by the time I stood up, it was flowing outside of it. It ran down the cabinet and down to the floor where it formed a small puddle around my feet. I took a few deep breaths and calmed down. After I had collected myself enough to think straight I twisted the knob on the tap, strangling the stream of blood. I then leaned back against the wall, letting out a long sigh.

I had no idea what was going on. I was disgusted to the brink of throwing up, and tired enough to fall asleep where I was. My head was in pieces, trying to understand what was going on. It was as if I was in a fog. Gray and blurry. I wobbled out of the kitchen, into the bedroom. I didn’t take off my clothes and simply rolled onto the bed. The mattress felt reassuring, soft. My brain started to shut down. It left everything to later, telling em to sleep. I didn’t want it to, not now. But I had no control.

I curled up on the bed and felt my eyelids close, heavy as they were, but my mind was still in disarray. I was fatigued. I was hallucinating. It couldn’t be real, but it felt too much like it was. It didn’t have the usual signs of an hallucination and I still felt awake.

The bed suddenly moved as something laid down beside me. The hair on my neck stood up. Chills ran down my back as I felt an ice-cold hand on my shoulder. It squeezed so hard that I almost felt its fingers penetrating my skin and I could feel its cold breath in my ear. I shut my eyes so tight it hurt. Then it spoke.

“Fate. HE is coming.”

I turned my head against my will, pulled by an unbeatable desire to see the owner of the obscene voice. What I saw was an unspeakable abomination. But, somewhere inside my head, a connection was made to my deepest memories. And I knew who it was.

My mother.

*****

I woke up, panting. It was morning, the sun breaking in through my windows. I took a deep breath and calmed down. Rubbing my temples I told myself it had just been a dream. Just a dream. But a realistic one, I admitted. It had felt so real. I was still shaking, my nerves unbound beneath my skin.

I slowly sat up in the sofa where I had fallen asleep. The TV was still on, showing the morning news. I shook my head, clearing it. I felt sluggish, sick. Maybe I even had a fever.

I got up and walked into the kitchen. I didn’t mean to, but the recent memory of the sink filled with blood made me flinch. It was empty, of course. I started to prepare breakfast, all the while darting my eyes this way and that, checking things that weren’t actually there. t had been a dream. But why had it felt so real? And why had Precia been in it...

The thoughts flowed as I poured up my tea and added the honey. I was lost in thought for a few minutes and didn’t hear the TV. Slowly I started to return again, its noise bringing me back into reality.

“And now, for a special report about he riots in Central Cranagan that started earlier this morning. So far the police have given no statement, as they are still investigating the underlying causes of the riots. Our reporter, however, is there, ready to give us updates. Sofya, can you hear me?”

I took my tea and toast and went back into the living room, sitting down in the sofa. The TV switched from the studio to a place with a lot of screaming and fighting in the background. I recognized the buildings in the background. It was the Cranagan Square, not far from where I lived. The reporter seemed nervous while she tried to speak.

“...-rioters are getting more vicious. I’ve already seen a couple of beatings and a car was set on fire just a few minutes ago. The situation is getting worse by the minute, Ann.”The noise of sirens in the background made the reporter turn her head. “Ah! The police has arrived. They’re starting to circle the rioters. It’s starting to calm down a little, I have to say. I think-”

I tuned the TV out and sipped my tea. A riot in Cranagan was nothing unheard of, but it was still rare. Searching through my memory, I found nothing in recent events that could have set it off. If anything had happened I would have been notified as well, which I found very odd.

“Bardiche,” I said, holding the cup of tea with both of my hands, “check the net for anything related to this riot.”

“Yes, Sir.”

I waited while he trawled the net, taking a bite of my toast. The delicious butter melted in my mouth.

“Sir, no data found relating to the riots,” Bardiche said after a while.

I shook my head slowly in disbelief and eyed him where he lay on the table. “Doesn’t make any sense. Why would they be rioting? There’s no reason.”

“Perhaps they’re a group unknown to us, Sir. They could have gone undetected until now,” Bardiche suggested.

I shook my head again, looking intently at the TV. “They aren’t carrying banners or similar clothing. The things they are screaming are incoherent at best. Did they escape from a mental hospital?”

“I very much doubt that, Sir.”

I sensed a tad of amusement in his voice, but ignored it. He was still right, though. It had been a silly proposition. There were too many of them, and they looked like normal people from a first glance. No, this was similar to mass hysteria. But from what?

A panel suddenly appeared by my side and I accepted the call. An operator stared back at me. “Good morning, Ma’am. I’m sorry to disturb you during breakfast, but you have been requested at the Cranagan Square.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “That’s where the riots are going on. They seem to be under control as far as I can see,” I said and nodded at the TV, where police were moving in to subdue the rioters.

The operator seemed flustered. “That isn’t the case behind the scenes, Ma’am. It’s a serious situation-”

I nodded and hurried to put my tea down, feeling a pang of guilt for my behaviour. “Sorry. I’ve had a rough morning. Of course, I’ll be down as soon as I can.” I cancelled the call, grabbing my coat and headed for the car. My hair had seen better days and I hadn’t even managed to get a shower. But the job was calling for me again. As it had many times this past week.

*****

The scene where the riots were taking place had calmed down when I arrived. People were rounded up in small camps patrolled by police while medics checked on the wounded. What the cameras hadn’t revealed was the fact that the rioters weren’t determined with a common goal. Instead, they were all shouting random words and sentences, bewildered by their own imagination. I hesitated on using the word ‘mad’, but that was the closest thing I could think of.

Walking through the checkpoint at the front of the square, I approached one of the senior doctors working on a patient with a bloody ear. As I got closer I could hear that the patient was mumbling something incoherent, much like the people around him.

“Before you ask,” the doctor said as he acknowledged me with a nod, “I will tell you that I have no idea what is going on with these people.” He gestured around him hopelessly. “Screaming, murmuring, whispering. Coupled with violence and crying. Sheer mass hysteria.”

”Any idea of what could have caused it?” I asked. “Chemicals? Bio-terrorism?”

“Unlikely. A bomb would have been noticed. They’d have to infect the water supply. Or it would have been airborne.” He shook his head, scratching his chin. “More people would have been affected if that was the case...”

“Understood, Doctor,” I said. “Then what about the rioters? What are they mumbling about?”

The doctor gestured at his current patient. “Hear for yourself.”

I approached the patient sitting on the improvised bed and watched as his lips moved without any sound being made. I leaned in closer. His voice was barely a whisper. Straining my ears to their fullest let me hear his words.

“The lurker... is...what I’ve seen is... the lurker is to...Him...”

I stood up straight, an eyebrow raised. “Random ramble?”

The doctor shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. Most of the ones here are mumbling the same thing. Others are screaming it. Some are crying about a ‘gate’. I just don’t know.”

I nodded and observed the patient. His eyes were blank and shiny. His lips were dry. His body looked otherwise normal from what I could determine. “Any weird... mutations? Disabilities?”

“No, not from what I’ve been able to gather.” He looked at his watch and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Ma’am. The clock is ticking and I have many patients to attend to.”

“I understand,” I said and watched him leave. Just as he disappeared into the mass of people shambling back and forth, another call came in for me, audio only.

“Yes?”

“Ma’am, I need you over at Main Street. There’s been a horrible suicide... The circumstances are weird. I think it’s related to the riots.”

“I’m on my way,” I said and added, “Teana, you don’t have to be so formal with me, you know.”

“Right, Fate.”

*****

I felt like I was pulled in several different directions at once. First I had been at the square and now I had arrived at Main Street. As I left the car and entered the apartment complex where the body had been found, I wondered how they had connected the supposed suicide to the riots. A note, perhaps. Writings, recordings, something mentioning the same things that I had heard from the patient at the square. Other than that, I didn’t see how they could connect it.

Teana stood outside the apartment when I reached the third floor. She nodded at me and went inside. I followed her, entering the apartment that was in disarray. Furniture had been overturned and paper sheets lay all over the floor. I bent down and picked one of them up. I had never seen such a disjointed and chaotic language before. I couldn’t understand a single word, but it was pulling me in regardless. I tried to make sense of the words written on the paper. The harder I looked at the words, something scratched in the back of my mind. It was hidden away, a locked memory or a strand of thought. It made me uneasy.

“Fate?”

I gasped and looked up. Teana was standing next to me, looking at me with confused eyes.

“Sorry, I got distracted,” I said as I stood up. “Where’s the body?”

“In here.” Teana gestured at the bedroom. “But prepare yourself. It’s not pretty.”

So that’s why you’re so mellow, I thought and walked past her. The door was barely open so I pushed it lightly. It opened without a sound and once my mind realized what I was looking at, I turned my eyes away and took a couple of deep breaths to calm the bile rising in my throat.

The bedroom was as chaotic as the first room had been. But where the latter had been covered with sheets of paper, the bedroom was covered in blood. It formed words, the very same words that had been written on the papers. It covered the floor and the walls. But that wasn’t what had made me turn away. That had been the dead body, lying on the bare bed at the opposite side of the room. It was the most gruesome sight I had witnessed in my career. It was all made even worse by the fact that it had been a suicide. The man, who could barely be called a man anymore, had done it all to himself while he was still conscious.

The crime scene analyst approached me, having been crouching down next to the victim, and handed me a datapad. “He died slowly,” she began while eyeing the body. “An extreme loss of blood is the primary cause of death. He used the knife you can see on the floor, carved that text into his stomach. I’m not sure how he managed to cut his face that way.”

I looked at the body again, prepared this time. His eyes were gone, gouged out by what I could only guess had once been his fingers. They were now small stumps on his hands. His mouth had been slit open as well, cut from side to side, with his cheeks punctured. “And the words? Same as the ones on the notes and the walls?”

“Actually,” the analyst said and pointed at a specific entry at the datapad I still held in my hand, “They’re different.”

I looked down at the screen and brought up the entry. The words were in our language, but they still didn’t make sense. “‘The Lurker is impending. I have seen him. I know the Lurker. The Gate, the Key.’?”, I said and rose an eyebrow.

The analyst shrugged. “We haven’t found anything similar anywhere else. Nor anything, or anyone, that can make sense of it. But it’s similar to what some of the rioters have been saying, isn’t it?”

So that’s what the connection is, I thought and looked at Teana who had been standing next to us the whole time. She was still looking mellow and also a bit pale. She wasn’t used to these cases yet.

“Good work, Teana,” I said to lighten her up a bit. “We’re done here. I can give you a ride back to HQ if you want.”

Teana smiled meekly and accepted the suggestion. I said goodbye to the analyst, who went back to her gruesome task, which she called work, of further analyzing the sack of meat that lay on the bed. I then left the apartment complex together with Teana, all the while pondering deeply about the meaning of the words I had read.

*****

“What do you think about all this?” I asked Teana as we drove up on highway. She sat beside me, idly looking out of the window.

“I don’t know what to think, Fate. This feels... surreal. Unreal, even. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s not much better together with my dreaming either...”

My ears perked up at that last part and I looked at her sharply. “Dreams? Teana, what kind of dreams have you had?”

Teana regarded me with surprise at my sudden change of tone. “Nightmarish-ones. It started a couple of days ago...”

“Please, Teana, tell me about them. It might be important.”

“Important how?”

“I had a nightmare as well. But just one. It might just be a coincidence... But with the riots, the people... It might be connected.”

Teana sighed and clenched her fists in her lap. She started to speak, reluctantly; “I had fallen asleep at my desk, at home. I was late on some reports so I had decided to finish them. I didn’t know it was a dream back then, when I ‘woke’ up, I mean. It felt too real. Anyway, I decided to eat something as I was quite hungry. I stood up from my desk and walked over to the closed door, leading to the kitchen. I think I was distracted because I stepped through without thinking and when I looked up all I saw was... darkness. I looked behind me and the door had gone. I was in ‘nothing’, I assumed, until I looked down and saw the floor. It was then that I realized that I was walking upon a sea of blood. It made the noise of water puddles when I stepped on it. I was going mad at that point. I had no idea what was going on. I was confused, horrified. And then I felt something snatch my ankles, rooting me to the spot. When I looked down, I...”

I looked at her, intrigued. “And?”

“I saw my brother. His face and the hands holding me. It... An abomination. It wasn’t him, yet it was at the same time. My mind told me it was him. But I couldn’t... I woke up shortly afterwards.”

She took a deep breath and avoided my eyes. She instead looked down on her hands, hiding most of her face from me. “That is all,” she finished in a small voice.

I nodded, more to myself than her, and turned off the highway as we were getting closer to HQ. “I saw Precia,” I said. “An abomination. But I knew it was her. Just as you knew it was your brother.”

She finally looked at me, her eyes glossy. “I see...”

The rest of the drive was filled with silence, but it didn’t take long until we pulled in on the parking lot next to the HQ building. As we got out of the car, I noticed for the first time that day a weird cloud in the distance. It wasn’t dark, but rather gray, blending in with the rest of the clouds. But what catched my attention was the shape. It was strange for a cloud to look like that. I couldn’t even explain it. It was too weird. Teana didn’t seem to notice it as she entered the building straight away. Putting my thoughts aside, I shortly did the same.

Right as I stepped through the revolving door I was promptly met by an officer I recognized. Her name was Anna, part of the small crime division. Before she even began to speak she handed me a datapad.

“This is?” I asked.

“Reports that just started to come in. Crimes, such as stealing, assault and public disturbance are going through the roof.” She shook her head with her arms crossed. “I don’t like this, Harlaown. I really don’t.”

I agreed with a nod and opened the datapad. An abnormal long list of crimes scrolled across the screen, none of which stood out in particular. “Why are you showing me this?”

“Just wanted you to know. I think it’s related to the riots, but I can’t prove anything. Just be careful, Harlaown.”

“Anna?”

She looked at the busy people around us with a suspicious glare, then stared right at me. “Things aren’t as they seem. Something is coming. I don’t know what. But it’s going to be bad.”

Without another word she strode off and left the building. I stood there with the datapad in my hand, taking her words in. Surely it was just my mind playing tricks... But hadn’t I seen some of the madness of the rioters in her eyes? It had been weak, yet influential enough to make itself visible.

I resisted running after her. I didn’t see the point. I was most likely wrong. Besides, I had too much to do. Stuffing the datapad in my coat’s pocket, I took the elevator up to my office. I had reports to do and documents to sign. If anything, I wouldn’t go outside until later that evening.

*****

Hours passed. Words appeared on my screen as I wrote the reports. My back ached and I was hungry. And even if four hours had passed since my strange meeting with Anna, it still hadn’t left my mind. I couldn’t stop worrying about it. What she had said felt too real, too genuine to have been a hoax. Then there were the dreams that both I and Teana had. And the rioters...

I leaned back in my chair and stretched my arms. My joints popped and I felt some of the tension go away, but the fatigue that threatened me stayed where it was.

I need coffee, I decided and stood up. The coffee machine wasn’t far from my office so I left and walked into the corridor. The machine was to my left, in the corner by a window. The thin corridor was lined with offices on either side and to my right, at the end of it, was another window with a person standing next to it. Even from a distance I recognized him as David, one of the technicians in the building. His bulky form was easy to spot, especially with his silhouette against the white sky behind him.

The trip to the coffee machine was delayed as I noticed something odd about him. He had his back to me, standing in silence. He was rocking back and forth, only a little, but just enough for it to be noticeable. I took a step toward him and called out; “David? Are you alright?”

He flinched at the sound of my voice. He turned around and looked at me, eyes empty, lips curved in a frown. He said nothing, which wasn’t like him. He was always smiling, happy to chat. This wasn’t the David I knew. The strange person standing there was someone else entirely.

“David?”

He turned back again to stare at the window. That’s when I noticed that the window was open. A chilling breeze stroke past me and I tensed up, unbelieving.

“Don’t-”

Had I reacted quicker, I might have caught him. With my speed I could have reached him before he took a step into thin air and disappeared from view. But I had hesitated. For some reason I had frozen in place, my thoughts flaring wildly with all that had happened that day. I heard the impact and the screams of horror from below.

I approached the window, hesitated, and then finally looked down. Far below on the street a crowd had already gathered around David’s body, while a couple of officers tried to seal the location off. Even from the height I was watching from, I saw the damage. The impact had crushed his head, splattering his brain all over the pavement. His limbs were twisted, white bone sticking out in varying angles, and below him a dark pool of blood was slowly forming.

At that moment my mind decided to show me the images of the man in the bed. I almost vomited out of the window, but managed to hold it down and sat down on the floor. I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself, and my stomach, and make sense of what had just happen. David’s eyes had been the same as the rioters, but he hadn’t said anything. David hadn’t been David. He had changed.

“What the hell is going on?” I said it out loud. Hearing my own voice against the booming images on the inside of my eyelids made me feel a bit better, but it was as if I was surrounded by fog. My vision was blurry for a few seconds before it went back to normal.

I eventually stood up, my legs shaking from the frailty of my mind. The day was getting worse. Around me the building had gone into a state of confusion and chaos. As I stumbled back to my office, others rushed past me. Rumors started to drift around and I heard someone mention another suicide in the nearby area. I was shaking my head all the way back to my office. I had the same feeling as in the dream. Reality seemed to bend around me, but this time I knew that I was awake.

Or was I? Was I still asleep, caught in another world that my mind had created? Everything around me, filled with faked reality. At that moment, it made sense to me. It had all happened so sudden, out of the blue, that it had to be another dream. But I didn’t know how to make sure, how to wake myself up-

Maybe that was what David had done, I thought, the answer suddenly jumping into my mind. If this was a dream connected to others, David’s suicide had made him wake up. He probably was in the real world right now, going to work as usual, complaining about nightmares. Yes. It makes sense.

I looked at the window and felt a strange longing to wake up. But I still wasn’t sure. If I was wrong, I’d die, fooled by my own ideas and imagination.

Maybe that’s actually what happened. David was caught in the dream, just as I was. And he wanted to wake up. Only he wasn’t in a dream at all. I-

A hand on my shoulder made me jump and I blinked in sudden confusion, my senses returning. I turned around and stared wildly.

“Fate?” Teana said, worry hidden in her voice. “Are you OK?”

I nodded warily and gave her a gentle smile. “I think so. I’m just exhausted.”

“You should head home. You’ve done enough for today.”

“But-”

“Fate. You’re tired, fatigued, what with everything that happened today. Myself included. But we need you to be rested. You aren’t thinking straight, right now.”

I kept my mouth shut because I knew she was right. The thought that had occurred to me just a moment ago was silly. And dangerous. I thanked her on the inside, somewhat amused that she didn’t know what possible disaster she had prevented.

“Thanks, Teana. I’ll take your advice and head home for now,” I said and waved a weak goodbye, intentionally avoiding to speak any further. She was smiling as I spun around and called for the elevator. It was already there, so it just pinged and opened its doors for me. I walked inside and pressed the button for the bottom floor as I turned my head back to look at Teana again. The door began to close. And I saw her face. Grinning in madness.

The horrifying sight was gone when the elevator doors closed and I began my descent, heading homeward.

*****

Entering my apartment as I had the day before, I felt as if the world came crumbling down. The worries I had suffered at HQ was back, together with the last image in my mind of Teana grinning at me. I had never seen such a grin before, filled with malice and insanity.

Despite not having eaten for hours, I didn’t feel hungry. I didn’t go into the living room either. The memory of last night still hung fresh before my eyes. That’s why I decided to head straight to bed, to conquer sleep before the dreams would surprise me. I would be ready for them this time.

I collapsed on the bed, too tired to take my clothes off. My hair was tangled and sticky. I could feel the roughness of my skin against the sheets. But it was warm and comfortable. I relaxed, letting my heavy eyelids close. I felt sleep rushing towards me, like a pleasant summer breeze. I slipped away into darkness...

And then abruptly opened my eyes again. The room was now dark, but I was certain only a few seconds had passed. It had been bright inside back then, the curtains before my windows open. Which they still were when I looked at them. Day had turned to night in an eyeblink, but I knew for a fact I wasn’t dreaming. I didn’t have the same feeling as the last time. Whatever that feeling had been. I was more alert now, conscious of my state of mind.

I sat up on the bed and looked around the room. There were no signs of the abomination that had haunted me the previous night. I carefully stood up, trying to be quiet, and gently eased the door open. It was dark, but I could still see.

I stepped into the hallway and walked a few meters until I could look into the kitchen. I froze, my muscles tensing. Horror filled me on the inside. I saw the abomination in there, its back facing towards me. Its left side was an unintelligible mass of flesh and bones. Its feet hung in the air, as its body floated, held up by nothing. I felt no magic radiating from it. It was a being from another world.

So I am dreaming again... Damn, I thought and recoiled as the thing suddenly turned its ugly head towards me. Its hollow eyes regarded me, but it said nothing. It instead rose an arm that pointed out of the window, motioning for me to come closer.

I stood, frozen to the spot, not knowing what to do. It was most likely a trap. But, then, this being a dream it wouldn’t matter. Maybe I would wake up if I approached it. And there was something else, too. An inner voice, speaking to me. I couldn’t understand it, but it was soothing. Calming.

Before I knew it I had taken a step forward, and then another. Soon I was standing next to the abomination, looking out the window. The abomination didn’t speak and didn’t look at me. It joined me in staring out the window. And twisted its mouth in a horrendous smile.

My breath was taken away at the sight. Outside, where buildings had once towered next to mine, where the streets had run intricate patterns far down below, and where the lights would lit up the darkness of night, there were now structures of the bizarre. It had the texture of flesh and colors that couldn’t exist. Shapes that my mind failed to comprehend. They dug into me, twisting me. It went on for miles and miles. I sunk to the floor, my knees faltering.

I felt misery, hopelessness and wonder. Tears formed in my eyes. I tried to wipe them away, but they wouldn’t stop. I still tried, and as I did, tilted my head upwards. I saw dark, spiralling things piercing the clouds in the sky. Thunder reigned around them, lighting up the world outside my window. And as I looked down again, I saw the masses of beings, creatures of the beyond crawling in the thousands along the streets.

This world is a dream, I reminded myself. But it didn’t help. Something kept pushing me down, from within. It was that voice again. But now I could understand it. The implication of its words made me shiver.

Your dream. Your reality. Beyond the Gate, with a Key. HE is here, and HE is the Key. HE is the Gate. HE is All-in-One, and One-in-All. Dreams and reality become one in HIS world. HIS world, your world, combined, connected.

And it was at that moment, as I was balancing on the edge of madness, that millions of voices screamed in unison inside my mind. I clutched my head from the indescribable pain, from the sheer madness, and fell to the floor, twisting in agony. I soon joined them with my scream of desperation. Pleading for help. Praying for it all to stop.

“HE has arrived,” the abomination whispered as I started to crawl on the floor, drooling and crying from my mind breaking in two. “HE has returned from the void. Your world is now HIS. All will join HIM.”

I stared at it, my vision clouded by pain and the madness of a whole world suffering from within. Behind the abomination, in the sky above us, I saw the clouds parting and HE descended. Transparent spheres and impossible shapes accompanied HIM. No logic, no sense. The definition of madness and the breaking of sanity.

HE then spoke to me, inside of me. HIS words, HIS voice. I knew that for me, and the millions of voices destroying my mind, sanity had become impossible. And my world had succumbed to madness.

Mm... I could kind of see what you meant by 'it didn't turn out as planned'. I'll try to go in detail on my reviewing.

I assume that you're seeing the story playing out in your head as a movie sequence/trailer style, correct me if I'm wrong. The mistake here is that you're trying to depict absolutely everything precisely as if from an omniscient view. By no means I'm encouraging you to cut on details (In fact you seem to lack on it to create the correct atmosphere), but although I'm unable to pinpoint exactly what there seems to be details of your story that should be best left with vague words and no explanation. There is no sense of mystery and anticipation, much less madness, both which are especially crucial when you're writing from a 1st person PoV.

Incoherent thoughts, warped sense of reality, the slow deterioration of one's mind, corrosion of belief etc are the general few things you have to depict not in precision but in sync to the victim's state of the mind. Do not be afraid (Something I have to tell myself >_>) to use screams such as "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"; used right and they never fail to bring out the terror of emotion.

Random question. Are you trying to hint that HIM > Him with the all-caps emphasis? Whatever your answer, all-caps have the tendency to ruin moods really bad (It has to run with a suitable font too. Calibri ftw! ^^), and in this case it did.

Well, Extrinsical is a master of emotional writing with simple words and sentences, perhaps you can try to reading her stories? Though they are the exact opposite of your chosen theme, in which case you might benefit more going through some Stephen King books. Although they could be boring as hell sometimes.

[Justin_Brett]

Or just some of his short story collections. There's at least one story like that in each of them, and they're far more succinct than most of his novels.

[NorthernFallout]

Originally Posted by Craxuan

I assume that you're seeing the story playing out in your head as a movie sequence/trailer style, correct me if I'm wrong.

Not really, actually. I'm surprised it comes across like that, but there I go.

Originally Posted by Craxuan

The mistake here is that you're trying to depict absolutely everything precisely as if from an omniscient view. By no means I'm encouraging you to cut on details (In fact you seem to lack on it to create the correct atmosphere), but although I'm unable to pinpoint exactly what there seems to be details of your story that should be best left with vague words and no explanation. There is no sense of mystery and anticipation, much less madness, both which are especially crucial when you're writing from a 1st person PoV.

I think this summarizes my main problems with horror (and I'm not used to 1st person PoV, so that explains that). I've read a lot of Lovecraft and tried to emulate that, but there's something missing. I think I fail to decide when to use details and when not to. I'm also bad at foreshadowing and mystery in general, lol.

Originally Posted by Craxuan

Incoherent thoughts, warped sense of reality, the slow deterioration of one's mind, corrosion of belief etc are the general few things you have to depict not in precision but in sync to the victim's state of the mind. Do not be afraid (Something I have to tell myself >_>) to use screams such as "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"; used right and they never fail to bring out the terror of emotion.

I'd have to disagree here, but it's more of a personal thing. As you say with using caps for "him" below, using outbursts like this breaks the mood, for me. Massively. I can see their usage, but I rarely see them in actual novels and I really don't like them.

Originally Posted by Craxuan

Random question. Are you trying to hint that HIM > Him with the all-caps emphasis? Whatever your answer, all-caps have the tendency to ruin moods really bad (It has to run with a suitable font too. Calibri ftw! ^^), and in this case it did.

Using caps might have not been the best thing ever, agreed. I needed something to put on some emphasis... but perhaps just the fact that I don't mention what "he" is would have sufficed.

Originally Posted by Craxuan

[...]benefit more going through some Stephen King books. Although they could be boring as hell sometimes.

I actually have some of them in my queue, so I'm getting to them eventually.

Thanks for your thoughts. All is welcome in my quest to improve.

[Nanya01]

Peek's Mini-Arcs:

Yagami Mid Four Dwell Takamachi Scrya Fatherhood Harlaown Dreams Dance Healing Twins Advice History Onwards Cycle Playdate Forging

BTF Omakes:

Old Iron Omakes 1, 2, 3 Mr Snuggles Omake Oh Bandit Tree Old Iron Omakes 4, 5

Meetings Start

Spoiler for Blood That Flows - Peek - Meetings End:

Those eyes, something about those eyes were taunting her, goading her into doing something, anything against him. Every fiber of her being wanted to take him up on that offer, but there was something, something far worse than she could imagine that was hidden in his eyes.

Suzuka felt her body completely lock up as an aura of power surrounded the purple-haired Mazoku. Every part of her wanted to lash out at him, to strike him down, but for some reason she was having trouble breathing, even light itself seemed to be disappearing. 'Why is everything turning into a single point?' Suzuka asked herself as she tried to breathe and get air into her lungs again.

Xellos had a grin that slowly stretched across his face as he watched the girl react to what he was doing. It was so easy to manipulate human biology. A simple twist to their metabolism and sense of time and then...

Xellos found himself tilting his head in confusion as Suzuka shook her head and her eyes, which had glazed over, suddenly regained focus. "Well then, I guess I'll have to..."

Xellos suddenly found a weight on his neck that he hadn't felt in a long time pulling him down and squeezing tight. "Ack!"

"What's the matter, Xellos?" A familiar female voice spoke up. "Trying to hurt the kids I'm watching after? Or your daughters hurting my grandchildren?"

Suzuka, Carona and Lena all sweat-dropped as they watched Lina squeeze Xellos's head while the Priest closed his eyes and pouted while Lina grinned. "Uh..." Suzuka turned to look at Carona and Lena, both of whom had confused looks on their faces.

"Lina..." Xellos almost whined out. "You're making me look stupid in front of my girls." He whispered and almost groaned as she tightened her hold. "Liiina..." He pouted as she rolled her eyes.

"I know you could get out at any time, Xellos." Lina muttered and narrowed her eyes at Xellos's children. "I'll give you two a pass because of your dual natures, but don't try and hurt my grandchildren."

"Sorry, auntie." The twins said at the same time and looked down as they dug their toes into the ground. "We won't do it again."

Lina smiled and let go of Xellos, who immediately stood up and looked at the twins. "Carona, Lena, come on, we need to meet up with your mother soon."

"Coming, daddy!" The two said as the same time as they ran over to him.

"Well, Lina, I do need to get going." Xellos said, his eye twitched slightly as his daughters waved to their "auntie". "We'll talk some other day."

Lina had a tight grin on her face as she nodded at him. "Of course." As Xellos and his daughters disappeared, Lina turned to Suzuka, her eyes narrowed and the purple-haired teenager gulped softly. "You do realize that the only reason that he puts up with that from me is because of a deal that I made with him when I was a teenager."

Suzuka blinked several times. "A... A deal?"

"A business deal." Lina smirked at Suzuka. "I get to beat him up and get nuggets of information from him and he's free to lead us around by the nose, so long as our goals overlap." Suzuka sweat-dropped before gulping as Lina lost all traces of humor in her face. "Suzuka, Xellos is the fifth most powerful active Mazoku on this world. He's far and above Riksfalto."

"I can handle Riksfalto!" Suzuka protested, causing Lina to sigh.

"Only because she likes a good fight. Riksfalto likes a challenge, a fight. She'll handicap herself so she gets more of a challenge out of it." Suzuka blinked before realization slowly creeped over her face. "Xellos isn't like Riksfalto. She'll fight as fairly as a Mazoku can possibly fight. She doesn't use a lot of tricks on her enemies to beat them. Xellos, on the other hand, he would dirty, horribly dirty. I know you could probably punch a hole in his body, Suzuka," Lina shook her head, "but you'd end up with holes all over your body if you attacked him."

Suzuka paled at the thought. "That..." Lina nodded and Suzuka took a deep breath. "Even if I can fight against Mazoku, I'm pretty useless against high-ranking Mazoku, huh?"

Lina shrugged and smiled as Erio helped Caro to her feet. "Most everyone is. One-on-one, there's almost no human that can take a high-level Mazoku by themselves. I wouldn't worry about it too much though." When Erio and Caro walked over, she knelt down to make sure that they were both okay. "So, how about it? Shall we go?" She asked as she stood up and took Erio and Caro's hands.

The three of them nodded and followed Lina out of the back yard.

(---)

Elsewhere...

"So, where are we?" Arisa asked as she and Yuuno walked out of a forest.

"Not..." Yuuno trailed off and blinked as he saw a sign. "Zephillia?" He blinked and looked in the direction of where the arrow was pointing. "...That was convient."

Arisa smirked at him. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." She laughed when Yuuno rolled his eyes. "And stop staring at my ass."

"Hard not to." Yuuno muttered softly. "You keep running ahead of me." Arisa had taken his jacket off of her waist sometime ago and was wearing it over her shoulders to cool off slightly. It wasn't much, but it did help her move easier, since they weren't flying.

Of course, that let him get a nice view of Arisa's nearly exposed butt-cheek. He sure wasn't complaining, but it was getting slightly annoying having to deal with certain other problems that kept popping up.

"How come you don't know your way around this place?" Arisa asked as she turned to look at him while walking backwards.

"I explained already, I've only been to this world once, there's a higher magical index on this world compared to Earth and other than you, Lina's the only one I really know in terms of what their magic feels like." Yuuno took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes before putting them back on. "And the last time I was on this world, Lina did most of the leading until we got to the outer world." He blushed heavily. "I was more concerned about Nanoha having nightmares than remembering what rock is where on the side of the road."

"...Oh." Arisa nodded slowly. "So... What's Zephilla?"

"Lina's hometown." Yuuno grinned at Suzuka, who blinked at him. "Hey, I remember that much at least."

"Well, then lead the way, good sir."

"You sure you want everyone to look at your butt? You get mad when boss looks at it."

Arisa twitched and quickly wrapped the coat around her waist again. "Yuuno, when this is done, I'm going to..."

"Give boss something nice?"

"Thoth!" Yuuno groaned and blinked as Arisa looked away, blushing. "...Arisa?"

"Nothing! Nothing! Let's just get going!" Arisa grumbled and started walking towards Zephillia. She did not want to suddenly start thinking about the "nice things" she could have given Yuuno. And why did her mind suddenly envision both of them naked surrounded by red and blue flames and on a bed while a volcano erupted in the background?

Yuuno nearly face-faulted as a very similar image entered his mind. 'Where did that come from?!' He mentally yelled and tried to get the thought of doing that with Arisa out of his head. Not that he didn't like the image, it was nice, but walking around completely aroused was incredibly difficult.

"Yuuno-san! Arisa-san!" A familiar female voice yelled, startling the two teens out of their mental daydreams as Caro ran up to them, waving at them. "How'd you get here?"

"...If this was a story, I'd say a convenient plot device." Arisa muttered, but smiled at Caro. "How'd you get here?"

"Grandma called the ship and asked them to pick us up." Caro beamed and blinked as Arisa turned to glare at Yuuno. "What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you think of that?"

"Boss was too busy with his mind behind other priorities."

Yuuno just groaned and slapped his face as Arisa's face turned bright red. "One of these days, Thoth, I'm going to do something about you."

Caro just blinked and ran over to Yuuno, before jumping onto his leg and hugging him. "Missed you!"

Suddenly all the problems that Yuuno had a moment ago disappeared as he knelt down and hugged Caro back. "Missed you too, kiddo."

Watching that, Arisa just smiled and sighed. Why was it that Caro could make her anger just disappear so easily?

Not too far away, Lina smiled as she saw Yuuno, Arisa and Caro together. Things would work out, even if Arisa was upset about something. Those two teens were good kids.

She was still smiling as the door opened and her mother stood on the other side of it. "Hello, mom."

"LINA!" Her mother smiled and walked out to give her youngest daughter a hug. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Lina smiled as she hugged her mother back. "I think you'll want to meet your great grandchildren." She laughed as her mother blinked in shock. "Allow me to introduce you to Erio Mondial," she gestured to the redheaded boy next to her, "and," she pointed at the pink-haired girl that was hugging Yuuno, "Caro Lu Ruche."

Her mother smiled and looked at Erio, and then over to Caro. "Well then... I bet this is a long story, but... Welcome to the family, my great-grandchildren."

- Meetings End

Spoiler for Comments:

I could have done a serious Suzuka vs Xellos confrontation, but... That would have had a bad end for Suzuka.

So, I went with comedy instead.

[biodude711]

Originally Posted by Nanya01

Little grammatical mistake,
"Lina's hometown." Yuuno grinned at Suzuka, who blinked at him. "Hey, I remember that much at least."

Should be Arisa.

Other than that, good job!

[mega1987]

Originally Posted by Nanya01

Peek's Mini-Arcs:

Yagami Mid Four Dwell Takamachi Scrya Fatherhood Harlaown Dreams Dance Healing Twins Advice History Onwards Cycle Playdate Forging

BTF Omakes:

Old Iron Omakes 1, 2, 3 Mr Snuggles Omake Oh Bandit Tree Old Iron Omakes 4, 5

Meetings Start

Spoiler for Blood That Flows - Peek - Meetings End:

Those eyes, something about those eyes were taunting her, goading her into doing something, anything against him. Every fiber of her being wanted to take him up on that offer, but there was something, something far worse than she could imagine that was hidden in his eyes.

Suzuka felt her body completely lock up as an aura of power surrounded the purple-haired Mazoku. Every part of her wanted to lash out at him, to strike him down, but for some reason she was having trouble breathing, even light itself seemed to be disappearing. 'Why is everything turning into a single point?' Suzuka asked herself as she tried to breathe and get air into her lungs again.

Xellos had a grin that slowly stretched across his face as he watched the girl react to what he was doing. It was so easy to manipulate human biology. A simple twist to their metabolism and sense of time and then...

Xellos found himself tilting his head in confusion as Suzuka shook her head and her eyes, which had glazed over, suddenly regained focus. "Well then, I guess I'll have to..."

Xellos suddenly found a weight on his neck that he hadn't felt in a long time pulling him down and squeezing tight. "Ack!"

"What's the matter, Xellos?" A familiar female voice spoke up. "Trying to hurt the kids I'm watching after? Or your daughters hurting my grandchildren?"

Suzuka, Carona and Lena all sweat-dropped as they watched Lina squeeze Xellos's head while the Priest closed his eyes and pouted while Lina grinned. "Uh..." Suzuka turned to look at Carona and Lena, both of whom had confused looks on their faces.

"Lina..." Xellos almost whined out. "You're making me look stupid in front of my girls." He whispered and almost groaned as she tightened her hold. "Liiina..." He pouted as she rolled her eyes.

"I know you could get out at any time, Xellos." Lina muttered and narrowed her eyes at Xellos's children. "I'll give you two a pass because of your dual natures, but don't try and hurt my grandchildren."

"Sorry, auntie." The twins said at the same time and looked down as they dug their toes into the ground. "We won't do it again."

Lina smiled and let go of Xellos, who immediately stood up and looked at the twins. "Carona, Lena, come on, we need to meet up with your mother soon."

"Coming, daddy!" The two said as the same time as they ran over to him.

"Well, Lina, I do need to get going." Xellos said, his eye twitched slightly as his daughters waved to their "auntie". "We'll talk some other day."

Lina had a tight grin on her face as she nodded at him. "Of course." As Xellos and his daughters disappeared, Lina turned to Suzuka, her eyes narrowed and the purple-haired teenager gulped softly. "You do realize that the only reason that he puts up with that from me is because of a deal that I made with him when I was a teenager."

Suzuka blinked several times. "A... A deal?"

"A business deal." Lina smirked at Suzuka. "I get to beat him up and get nuggets of information from him and he's free to lead us around by the nose, so long as our goals overlap." Suzuka sweat-dropped before gulping as Lina lost all traces of humor in her face. "Suzuka, Xellos is the fifth most powerful active Mazoku on this world. He's far and above Riksfalto."

"I can handle Riksfalto!" Suzuka protested, causing Lina to sigh.

"Only because she likes a good fight. Riksfalto likes a challenge, a fight. She'll handicap herself so she gets more of a challenge out of it." Suzuka blinked before realization slowly creeped over her face. "Xellos isn't like Riksfalto. She'll fight as fairly as a Mazoku can possibly fight. She doesn't use a lot of tricks on her enemies to beat them. Xellos, on the other hand, he would dirty, horribly dirty. I know you could probably punch a hole in his body, Suzuka," Lina shook her head, "but you'd end up with holes all over your body if you attacked him."

Suzuka paled at the thought. "That..." Lina nodded and Suzuka took a deep breath. "Even if I can fight against Mazoku, I'm pretty useless against high-ranking Mazoku, huh?"

Lina shrugged and smiled as Erio helped Caro to her feet. "Most everyone is. One-on-one, there's almost no human that can take a high-level Mazoku by themselves. I wouldn't worry about it too much though." When Erio and Caro walked over, she knelt down to make sure that they were both okay. "So, how about it? Shall we go?" She asked as she stood up and took Erio and Caro's hands.

The three of them nodded and followed Lina out of the back yard.

(---)

Elsewhere...

"So, where are we?" Arisa asked as she and Yuuno walked out of a forest.

"Not..." Yuuno trailed off and blinked as he saw a sign. "Zephillia?" He blinked and looked in the direction of where the arrow was pointing. "...That was convient."

Arisa smirked at him. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." She laughed when Yuuno rolled his eyes. "And stop staring at my ass."

"Hard not to." Yuuno muttered softly. "You keep running ahead of me." Arisa had taken his jacket off of her waist sometime ago and was wearing it over her shoulders to cool off slightly. It wasn't much, but it did help her move easier, since they weren't flying.

Of course, that let him get a nice view of Arisa's nearly exposed butt-cheek. He sure wasn't complaining, but it was getting slightly annoying having to deal with certain other problems that kept popping up.

"How come you don't know your way around this place?" Arisa asked as she turned to look at him while walking backwards.

"I explained already, I've only been to this world once, there's a higher magical index on this world compared to Earth and other than you, Lina's the only one I really know in terms of what their magic feels like." Yuuno took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes before putting them back on. "And the last time I was on this world, Lina did most of the leading until we got to the outer world." He blushed heavily. "I was more concerned about Nanoha having nightmares than remembering what rock is where on the side of the road."

"...Oh." Arisa nodded slowly. "So... What's Zephilla?"

"Lina's hometown." Yuuno grinned at Suzuka, who blinked at him. "Hey, I remember that much at least."

"Well, then lead the way, good sir."

"You sure you want everyone to look at your butt? You get mad when boss looks at it."

Arisa twitched and quickly wrapped the coat around her waist again. "Yuuno, when this is done, I'm going to..."

"Give boss something nice?"

"Thoth!" Yuuno groaned and blinked as Arisa looked away, blushing. "...Arisa?"

"Nothing! Nothing! Let's just get going!" Arisa grumbled and started walking towards Zephillia. She did not want to suddenly start thinking about the "nice things" she could have given Yuuno. And why did her mind suddenly envision both of them naked surrounded by red and blue flames and on a bed while a volcano erupted in the background?

Yuuno nearly face-faulted as a very similar image entered his mind. 'Where did that come from?!' He mentally yelled and tried to get the thought of doing that with Arisa out of his head. Not that he didn't like the image, it was nice, but walking around completely aroused was incredibly difficult.

"Yuuno-san! Arisa-san!" A familiar female voice yelled, startling the two teens out of their mental daydreams as Caro ran up to them, waving at them. "How'd you get here?"

"...If this was a story, I'd say a convenient plot device." Arisa muttered, but smiled at Caro. "How'd you get here?"

"Grandma called the ship and asked them to pick us up." Caro beamed and blinked as Arisa turned to glare at Yuuno. "What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you think of that?"

"Boss was too busy with his mind behind other priorities."

Yuuno just groaned and slapped his face as Arisa's face turned bright red. "One of these days, Thoth, I'm going to do something about you."

Caro just blinked and ran over to Yuuno, before jumping onto his leg and hugging him. "Missed you!"

Suddenly all the problems that Yuuno had a moment ago disappeared as he knelt down and hugged Caro back. "Missed you too, kiddo."

Watching that, Arisa just smiled and sighed. Why was it that Caro could make her anger just disappear so easily?

Not too far away, Lina smiled as she saw Yuuno, Arisa and Caro together. Things would work out, even if Arisa was upset about something. Those two teens were good kids.

She was still smiling as the door opened and her mother stood on the other side of it. "Hello, mom."

"LINA!" Her mother smiled and walked out to give her youngest daughter a hug. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Lina smiled as she hugged her mother back. "I think you'll want to meet your great grandchildren." She laughed as her mother blinked in shock. "Allow me to introduce you to Erio Mondial," she gestured to the redheaded boy next to her, "and," she pointed at the pink-haired girl that was hugging Yuuno, "Caro Lu Ruche."

Her mother smiled and looked at Erio, and then over to Caro. "Well then... I bet this is a long story, but... Welcome to the family, my great-grandchildren."

- Meetings End

Spoiler for Comments:

I could have done a serious Suzuka vs Xellos confrontation, but... That would have had a bad end for Suzuka.

So, I went with comedy instead.

Me: Did I really Jinx Xellos to be in a headlock?

Odin: Don't push it, mate.

Me: I know. I know. It was a gut feeling, after all.

Val: And Arisa was trying to break the 4th wall back there... "Plot device"... Yeah, right. Try getting lost in time and space and sooner or later you'll find your existence is actually a fantasy or fiction in some realms and/or dimensions...

Reia: Like what happened to you?

Val: Don't remind me of my hundred years or so of going from one dimension to another trying to get back home, Rei....

[shiroi mahotsukai]

Originally Posted by Nanya01

Peek's Mini-Arcs:

Yagami Mid Four Dwell Takamachi Scrya Fatherhood Harlaown Dreams Dance Healing Twins Advice History Onwards Cycle Playdate Forging

BTF Omakes:

Old Iron Omakes 1, 2, 3 Mr Snuggles Omake Oh Bandit Tree Old Iron Omakes 4, 5

Meetings Start

Spoiler for Blood That Flows - Peek - Meetings End:

Those eyes, something about those eyes were taunting her, goading her into doing something, anything against him. Every fiber of her being wanted to take him up on that offer, but there was something, something far worse than she could imagine that was hidden in his eyes.

Suzuka felt her body completely lock up as an aura of power surrounded the purple-haired Mazoku. Every part of her wanted to lash out at him, to strike him down, but for some reason she was having trouble breathing, even light itself seemed to be disappearing. 'Why is everything turning into a single point?' Suzuka asked herself as she tried to breathe and get air into her lungs again.

Xellos had a grin that slowly stretched across his face as he watched the girl react to what he was doing. It was so easy to manipulate human biology. A simple twist to their metabolism and sense of time and then...

Xellos found himself tilting his head in confusion as Suzuka shook her head and her eyes, which had glazed over, suddenly regained focus. "Well then, I guess I'll have to..."

Xellos suddenly found a weight on his neck that he hadn't felt in a long time pulling him down and squeezing tight. "Ack!"

"What's the matter, Xellos?" A familiar female voice spoke up. "Trying to hurt the kids I'm watching after? Or your daughters hurting my grandchildren?"

Suzuka, Carona and Lena all sweat-dropped as they watched Lina squeeze Xellos's head while the Priest closed his eyes and pouted while Lina grinned. "Uh..." Suzuka turned to look at Carona and Lena, both of whom had confused looks on their faces.

"Lina..." Xellos almost whined out. "You're making me look stupid in front of my girls." He whispered and almost groaned as she tightened her hold. "Liiina..." He pouted as she rolled her eyes.

"I know you could get out at any time, Xellos." Lina muttered and narrowed her eyes at Xellos's children. "I'll give you two a pass because of your dual natures, but don't try and hurt my grandchildren."

"Sorry, auntie." The twins said at the same time and looked down as they dug their toes into the ground. "We won't do it again."

Lina smiled and let go of Xellos, who immediately stood up and looked at the twins. "Carona, Lena, come on, we need to meet up with your mother soon."

"Coming, daddy!" The two said as the same time as they ran over to him.

"Well, Lina, I do need to get going." Xellos said, his eye twitched slightly as his daughters waved to their "auntie". "We'll talk some other day."

Lina had a tight grin on her face as she nodded at him. "Of course." As Xellos and his daughters disappeared, Lina turned to Suzuka, her eyes narrowed and the purple-haired teenager gulped softly. "You do realize that the only reason that he puts up with that from me is because of a deal that I made with him when I was a teenager."

Suzuka blinked several times. "A... A deal?"

"A business deal." Lina smirked at Suzuka. "I get to beat him up and get nuggets of information from him and he's free to lead us around by the nose, so long as our goals overlap." Suzuka sweat-dropped before gulping as Lina lost all traces of humor in her face. "Suzuka, Xellos is the fifth most powerful active Mazoku on this world. He's far and above Riksfalto."

"I can handle Riksfalto!" Suzuka protested, causing Lina to sigh.

"Only because she likes a good fight. Riksfalto likes a challenge, a fight. She'll handicap herself so she gets more of a challenge out of it." Suzuka blinked before realization slowly creeped over her face. "Xellos isn't like Riksfalto. She'll fight as fairly as a Mazoku can possibly fight. She doesn't use a lot of tricks on her enemies to beat them. Xellos, on the other hand, he would dirty, horribly dirty. I know you could probably punch a hole in his body, Suzuka," Lina shook her head, "but you'd end up with holes all over your body if you attacked him."

Suzuka paled at the thought. "That..." Lina nodded and Suzuka took a deep breath. "Even if I can fight against Mazoku, I'm pretty useless against high-ranking Mazoku, huh?"

Lina shrugged and smiled as Erio helped Caro to her feet. "Most everyone is. One-on-one, there's almost no human that can take a high-level Mazoku by themselves. I wouldn't worry about it too much though." When Erio and Caro walked over, she knelt down to make sure that they were both okay. "So, how about it? Shall we go?" She asked as she stood up and took Erio and Caro's hands.

The three of them nodded and followed Lina out of the back yard.

(---)

Elsewhere...

"So, where are we?" Arisa asked as she and Yuuno walked out of a forest.

"Not..." Yuuno trailed off and blinked as he saw a sign. "Zephillia?" He blinked and looked in the direction of where the arrow was pointing. "...That was convient."

Arisa smirked at him. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." She laughed when Yuuno rolled his eyes. "And stop staring at my ass."

"Hard not to." Yuuno muttered softly. "You keep running ahead of me." Arisa had taken his jacket off of her waist sometime ago and was wearing it over her shoulders to cool off slightly. It wasn't much, but it did help her move easier, since they weren't flying.

Of course, that let him get a nice view of Arisa's nearly exposed butt-cheek. He sure wasn't complaining, but it was getting slightly annoying having to deal with certain other problems that kept popping up.

"How come you don't know your way around this place?" Arisa asked as she turned to look at him while walking backwards.

"I explained already, I've only been to this world once, there's a higher magical index on this world compared to Earth and other than you, Lina's the only one I really know in terms of what their magic feels like." Yuuno took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes before putting them back on. "And the last time I was on this world, Lina did most of the leading until we got to the outer world." He blushed heavily. "I was more concerned about Nanoha having nightmares than remembering what rock is where on the side of the road."

"...Oh." Arisa nodded slowly. "So... What's Zephilla?"

"Lina's hometown." Yuuno grinned at Suzuka, who blinked at him. "Hey, I remember that much at least."

"Well, then lead the way, good sir."

"You sure you want everyone to look at your butt? You get mad when boss looks at it."

Arisa twitched and quickly wrapped the coat around her waist again. "Yuuno, when this is done, I'm going to..."

"Give boss something nice?"

"Thoth!" Yuuno groaned and blinked as Arisa looked away, blushing. "...Arisa?"

"Nothing! Nothing! Let's just get going!" Arisa grumbled and started walking towards Zephillia. She did not want to suddenly start thinking about the "nice things" she could have given Yuuno. And why did her mind suddenly envision both of them naked surrounded by red and blue flames and on a bed while a volcano erupted in the background?

Yuuno nearly face-faulted as a very similar image entered his mind. 'Where did that come from?!' He mentally yelled and tried to get the thought of doing that with Arisa out of his head. Not that he didn't like the image, it was nice, but walking around completely aroused was incredibly difficult.

"Yuuno-san! Arisa-san!" A familiar female voice yelled, startling the two teens out of their mental daydreams as Caro ran up to them, waving at them. "How'd you get here?"

"...If this was a story, I'd say a convenient plot device." Arisa muttered, but smiled at Caro. "How'd you get here?"

"Grandma called the ship and asked them to pick us up." Caro beamed and blinked as Arisa turned to glare at Yuuno. "What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you think of that?"

"Boss was too busy with his mind behind other priorities."

Yuuno just groaned and slapped his face as Arisa's face turned bright red. "One of these days, Thoth, I'm going to do something about you."

Caro just blinked and ran over to Yuuno, before jumping onto his leg and hugging him. "Missed you!"

Suddenly all the problems that Yuuno had a moment ago disappeared as he knelt down and hugged Caro back. "Missed you too, kiddo."

Watching that, Arisa just smiled and sighed. Why was it that Caro could make her anger just disappear so easily?

Not too far away, Lina smiled as she saw Yuuno, Arisa and Caro together. Things would work out, even if Arisa was upset about something. Those two teens were good kids.

She was still smiling as the door opened and her mother stood on the other side of it. "Hello, mom."

"LINA!" Her mother smiled and walked out to give her youngest daughter a hug. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Lina smiled as she hugged her mother back. "I think you'll want to meet your great grandchildren." She laughed as her mother blinked in shock. "Allow me to introduce you to Erio Mondial," she gestured to the redheaded boy next to her, "and," she pointed at the pink-haired girl that was hugging Yuuno, "Caro Lu Ruche."

Her mother smiled and looked at Erio, and then over to Caro. "Well then... I bet this is a long story, but... Welcome to the family, my great-grandchildren."

- Meetings End

Spoiler for Comments:

I could have done a serious Suzuka vs Xellos confrontation, but... That would have had a bad end for Suzuka.

So, I went with comedy instead.

I wonder if the meaning of Great-grandmother has sunk in yet, after all my Great-grandmother is eighty-seven.

[mega1987]

Originally Posted by shiroi mahotsukai

I wonder if the meaning of Great-grandmother has sunk in yet, after all my Great-grandmother is eighty-seven.

She might be thing of spoiling them to death.... IMO

[Craxuan]

Spoiler for Hayate Tentacles!:

Kaijo, I cannot find another image that so perfectly fits your ero story.

[TheCuriousFan]

Originally Posted by Craxuan

Spoiler for Hayate Tentacles!:

Kaijo, I cannot find another image that so perfectly fits your ero story.

*Starts running in the opposite direction.*

No one is safe......

[vic-vic]

Originally Posted by Nanya01

Peek's Mini-Arcs:

Yagami Mid Four Dwell Takamachi Scrya Fatherhood Harlaown Dreams Dance Healing Twins Advice History Onwards Cycle Playdate Forging

BTF Omakes:

Old Iron Omakes 1, 2, 3 Mr Snuggles Omake Oh Bandit Tree Old Iron Omakes 4, 5

Meetings Start

Spoiler for Blood That Flows - Peek - Meetings End:

Those eyes, something about those eyes were taunting her, goading her into doing something, anything against him. Every fiber of her being wanted to take him up on that offer, but there was something, something far worse than she could imagine that was hidden in his eyes.

Suzuka felt her body completely lock up as an aura of power surrounded the purple-haired Mazoku. Every part of her wanted to lash out at him, to strike him down, but for some reason she was having trouble breathing, even light itself seemed to be disappearing. 'Why is everything turning into a single point?' Suzuka asked herself as she tried to breathe and get air into her lungs again.

Xellos had a grin that slowly stretched across his face as he watched the girl react to what he was doing. It was so easy to manipulate human biology. A simple twist to their metabolism and sense of time and then...

Xellos found himself tilting his head in confusion as Suzuka shook her head and her eyes, which had glazed over, suddenly regained focus. "Well then, I guess I'll have to..."

Xellos suddenly found a weight on his neck that he hadn't felt in a long time pulling him down and squeezing tight. "Ack!"

"What's the matter, Xellos?" A familiar female voice spoke up. "Trying to hurt the kids I'm watching after? Or your daughters hurting my grandchildren?"

Suzuka, Carona and Lena all sweat-dropped as they watched Lina squeeze Xellos's head while the Priest closed his eyes and pouted while Lina grinned. "Uh..." Suzuka turned to look at Carona and Lena, both of whom had confused looks on their faces.

"Lina..." Xellos almost whined out. "You're making me look stupid in front of my girls." He whispered and almost groaned as she tightened her hold. "Liiina..." He pouted as she rolled her eyes.

"I know you could get out at any time, Xellos." Lina muttered and narrowed her eyes at Xellos's children. "I'll give you two a pass because of your dual natures, but don't try and hurt my grandchildren."

"Sorry, auntie." The twins said at the same time and looked down as they dug their toes into the ground. "We won't do it again."

Lina smiled and let go of Xellos, who immediately stood up and looked at the twins. "Carona, Lena, come on, we need to meet up with your mother soon."

"Coming, daddy!" The two said as the same time as they ran over to him.

"Well, Lina, I do need to get going." Xellos said, his eye twitched slightly as his daughters waved to their "auntie". "We'll talk some other day."

Lina had a tight grin on her face as she nodded at him. "Of course." As Xellos and his daughters disappeared, Lina turned to Suzuka, her eyes narrowed and the purple-haired teenager gulped softly. "You do realize that the only reason that he puts up with that from me is because of a deal that I made with him when I was a teenager."

Suzuka blinked several times. "A... A deal?"

"A business deal." Lina smirked at Suzuka. "I get to beat him up and get nuggets of information from him and he's free to lead us around by the nose, so long as our goals overlap." Suzuka sweat-dropped before gulping as Lina lost all traces of humor in her face. "Suzuka, Xellos is the fifth most powerful active Mazoku on this world. He's far and above Riksfalto."

"I can handle Riksfalto!" Suzuka protested, causing Lina to sigh.

"Only because she likes a good fight. Riksfalto likes a challenge, a fight. She'll handicap herself so she gets more of a challenge out of it." Suzuka blinked before realization slowly creeped over her face. "Xellos isn't like Riksfalto. She'll fight as fairly as a Mazoku can possibly fight. She doesn't use a lot of tricks on her enemies to beat them. Xellos, on the other hand, he would dirty, horribly dirty. I know you could probably punch a hole in his body, Suzuka," Lina shook her head, "but you'd end up with holes all over your body if you attacked him."

Suzuka paled at the thought. "That..." Lina nodded and Suzuka took a deep breath. "Even if I can fight against Mazoku, I'm pretty useless against high-ranking Mazoku, huh?"

Lina shrugged and smiled as Erio helped Caro to her feet. "Most everyone is. One-on-one, there's almost no human that can take a high-level Mazoku by themselves. I wouldn't worry about it too much though." When Erio and Caro walked over, she knelt down to make sure that they were both okay. "So, how about it? Shall we go?" She asked as she stood up and took Erio and Caro's hands.

The three of them nodded and followed Lina out of the back yard.

(---)

Elsewhere...

"So, where are we?" Arisa asked as she and Yuuno walked out of a forest.

"Not..." Yuuno trailed off and blinked as he saw a sign. "Zephillia?" He blinked and looked in the direction of where the arrow was pointing. "...That was convient."

Arisa smirked at him. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." She laughed when Yuuno rolled his eyes. "And stop staring at my ass."

"Hard not to." Yuuno muttered softly. "You keep running ahead of me." Arisa had taken his jacket off of her waist sometime ago and was wearing it over her shoulders to cool off slightly. It wasn't much, but it did help her move easier, since they weren't flying.

Of course, that let him get a nice view of Arisa's nearly exposed butt-cheek. He sure wasn't complaining, but it was getting slightly annoying having to deal with certain other problems that kept popping up.

"How come you don't know your way around this place?" Arisa asked as she turned to look at him while walking backwards.

"I explained already, I've only been to this world once, there's a higher magical index on this world compared to Earth and other than you, Lina's the only one I really know in terms of what their magic feels like." Yuuno took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes before putting them back on. "And the last time I was on this world, Lina did most of the leading until we got to the outer world." He blushed heavily. "I was more concerned about Nanoha having nightmares than remembering what rock is where on the side of the road."

"...Oh." Arisa nodded slowly. "So... What's Zephilla?"

"Lina's hometown." Yuuno grinned at Suzuka, who blinked at him. "Hey, I remember that much at least."

"Well, then lead the way, good sir."

"You sure you want everyone to look at your butt? You get mad when boss looks at it."

Arisa twitched and quickly wrapped the coat around her waist again. "Yuuno, when this is done, I'm going to..."

"Give boss something nice?"

"Thoth!" Yuuno groaned and blinked as Arisa looked away, blushing. "...Arisa?"

"Nothing! Nothing! Let's just get going!" Arisa grumbled and started walking towards Zephillia. She did not want to suddenly start thinking about the "nice things" she could have given Yuuno. And why did her mind suddenly envision both of them naked surrounded by red and blue flames and on a bed while a volcano erupted in the background?

Yuuno nearly face-faulted as a very similar image entered his mind. 'Where did that come from?!' He mentally yelled and tried to get the thought of doing that with Arisa out of his head. Not that he didn't like the image, it was nice, but walking around completely aroused was incredibly difficult.

"Yuuno-san! Arisa-san!" A familiar female voice yelled, startling the two teens out of their mental daydreams as Caro ran up to them, waving at them. "How'd you get here?"

"...If this was a story, I'd say a convenient plot device." Arisa muttered, but smiled at Caro. "How'd you get here?"

"Grandma called the ship and asked them to pick us up." Caro beamed and blinked as Arisa turned to glare at Yuuno. "What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you think of that?"

"Boss was too busy with his mind behind other priorities."

Yuuno just groaned and slapped his face as Arisa's face turned bright red. "One of these days, Thoth, I'm going to do something about you."

Caro just blinked and ran over to Yuuno, before jumping onto his leg and hugging him. "Missed you!"

Suddenly all the problems that Yuuno had a moment ago disappeared as he knelt down and hugged Caro back. "Missed you too, kiddo."

Watching that, Arisa just smiled and sighed. Why was it that Caro could make her anger just disappear so easily?

Not too far away, Lina smiled as she saw Yuuno, Arisa and Caro together. Things would work out, even if Arisa was upset about something. Those two teens were good kids.

She was still smiling as the door opened and her mother stood on the other side of it. "Hello, mom."

"LINA!" Her mother smiled and walked out to give her youngest daughter a hug. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Lina smiled as she hugged her mother back. "I think you'll want to meet your great grandchildren." She laughed as her mother blinked in shock. "Allow me to introduce you to Erio Mondial," she gestured to the redheaded boy next to her, "and," she pointed at the pink-haired girl that was hugging Yuuno, "Caro Lu Ruche."

Her mother smiled and looked at Erio, and then over to Caro. "Well then... I bet this is a long story, but... Welcome to the family, my great-grandchildren."

- Meetings End

Spoiler for Comments:

I could have done a serious Suzuka vs Xellos confrontation, but... That would have had a bad end for Suzuka.

So, I went with comedy instead.

I bet, Xellos secretly enjoy this headlocks.

Hey, now I realise, that spanking those twins very much useless: being half-mazoku they will (or may) enjoy it too.

[WarpObscura]

Originally Posted by TheCuriousFan

*Starts running in the opposite direction.*

No one is safe......

Nothing is sacred!
We are Blackwatch Animesuki!
We are the last line of defence!
We will burn our own to hold the red line!
It is the last line to ever hold!

[Old_Iron]

Finally off of the forge comes Swords and Shields chapter 3!

I hope you enjoy it and this marks the longest chapter I have ever written to date.

Also, because of post size limits. I'm chopping this into two parts.

Spoiler for Swords and Shields: Chapter 3: Part 1:

Erio Mondial had seen and done a great many things in his short life. He had been part of the legendary Riot Force 6 during the conflict against Jail Scaglietti and fought alongside legends such as the White Devil, the Black Lightning, and the Wolkenritter. A beautiful young mistress of dragons had declared him to be her Dragon Knight, who would protect her in battle and possibly forever into the future.

Right now though, that mattered little compared to the scene before him. The teenager had been training against drones in one of the numerous fields that the TSAB maintained for use by mages. He'd had a good run of things in his opinion. Erio wasn't about to get a swelled head about it, but he felt that he'd improved to some decent degree. That opinion shattered when he laid eyes upon the bout that had drawn his attention most violently.

One of the combatants was recognized instantly. First Lieutenant Signum Yagami, the General of Fire and his direct superior officer during the Scaglietti Incident. Her pink hair whipped about like the flames that filled the arena as fought viciously against her opponent.

The second was far harder to place, but eventually a name slid into place. Yuuno Scrya, the Head Librarian of the Infinity Library. Admittedly, Erio knew very little about the man, having heard only stories about him from his adopted family and their friends. Still, if he was capable of going toe to toe with the legendary Knight of the Sword, why wasn't he more well known? Or part of the military forces? And what was he doing with those shields?

Such thoughts faded as his mind and vision were drawn into the battle. The teenager found himself short of breath with each exchanged blow. Blood and sweat flying through the air in slow arcs, seemingly ignorant to the flow of time. He had never seen Signum fight in such a manner before, so consumed by a visceral desire to engage in personal warfare for the sake of warfare alone. Her power flowed without mercy, like a raging current of lava.

There had been stories about Signum's love for battle, but he never knew it extended so far. He had not been present for the legendary bout between her and Captain Takamachi. He had considered the tales to be slightly exaggerated, but no longer.

It was amazing, so absolutely awesome to see the clash of power before him. Erio would have stayed to the end of the match, but after half an hour had passed without either side looking like they would give in, his device intervened. Strada informed the redhead that he would be late returning home after his errands if he remained.

While he did not want to leave such a sight, the teenager knew that if he were late in getting home, his mother would not be a happy person. While Fate was an extremely kind woman and would likely forgive him if he were a little late, he didn't want to run the risk of disappointing her. Especially when he had promised to help with preparations for dinner by picking up the needed groceries after he was done training.

With heavy footsteps, Erio tore his gaze away from the battle and began walking. For the entire trek home and during the errands he'd promised Fate that he would do, the redhead bore a wide-eyed and awestruck expression. It drew more than a few confused and curious looks from those he passed by.

It was hours later when Fate arrived home to the combined Harlaown-Takamachi household. She was looking forward to dinner as nearly everyone would be home for a change. Dinners with the entire family, or at least most of them, were not as commonplace as she would have liked. If it wasn't her own work, it was someone else's. Be it Nanoha's duty as a trainer, Arf's duties and the Infinity Library, or Erio and Caro's work off-world with the wildlife preservation. It didn't help that Vivio was growing into a teenager with her own responsibilities and had also been spending a lot of time with her own friends as well.

Unfortunately, Arf wouldn't be home for dinner as she'd had a sudden influx of workload that would be keeping her at the library till late.

There was no one to greet her at the door, but the three sets of shoes at the entrance told the blonde that her three children were home at the very least. Caro and Vivio's carefully places shoes sat next to Erio's hastily tossed off ones. She hoped that at the very least that he'd remembered to get the groceries like he had promised.

After shedding her own shoes and uniform jacket, Fate called out to her three children to let them know she was home. A loud crash answered her before the thumping of rapid footsteps indicated the rather loud approach of at least one individual, likely her son as Caro was far more reserved and Vivio was more likely to approach with leaps and bounds if not outright flying.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the redheaded male came into view, a wide grin on his face. "Hey, mom. Welcome home."

"Hello, Erio. Did you get the groceries, like you promised?" asked Fate as she gave the teenager a hug. "And where are Caro and Vivio?"

Erio returned the familial embrace. "I remembered. Everything is in the fridge. Caro's taking a nap and Vivio's holed up in her room trying to finish her homework." He seemed to be bursting at the seams with excitement. "But listen to this: I saw the most awesome thing today."

Fate raised an eyebrow at her adopted son's exuberance as she entered the kitchen. "I'm listening..." She leaned against the counter and looked at the young man.

"When I finished my training for the day, I saw Lieutenant Signum at one of the other fields. She was fighting some blonde guy and really going all out against him." His excitement was almost palpable as he told the tale of the vicious life and death battle that Signum was involved in. The shaking ground, the broken field, the fire and blood everywhere. Erio was so entranced in his descriptions that he was subconsciously waving around his hands as though it would help explain what he had bore witness to.

The Enforcer listened intently to Erio's words. She knew that he had a tendency to exaggerate, particularly when it came to stories about training and fights, but this was a bit much. Still, his mention of 'some blonde guy' clicked something in her mind. "Erio, that man you saw fighting with Signum, did he seem familiar to you at all?" she asked during a break in the teenager's tale.

He blinked for a moment, returning his head to reality. "Umm..." It took a little while, but Erio eventually recalled who it had been. Signum was of more importance to him in the first place, so it wouldn't have been too out of the ordinary to place the male's identity on the back burner. "I think it was Professor Scrya. That guy you and Nanoha told me about. He runs the Infinity Library, right?"

"Yuuno was the one?" questioned Fate with some skepticism. She knew that at his absolute best, her blonde friend could really push Signum to claim her inevitable victory. Yuuno's mastery over defensive spells and binds would certainly be classified as legendary by some and he was no slouch in the area of teleportation either. Still, Erio's exaggerations didn't quite fit the librarian's style of combat. In fact, it seemed more of the polar opposite.

"Yeah, Yuuno Scrya," confirmed Erio with a gleam in his eyes.

Fate was certain that Erio had mistaken Signum's opponent for someone else or was at least letting his imagination run wild. She would still file it away to ask Signum about during their scheduled match on Wednesday. Asking Yuuno was another possibility, but calling him up out of the blue to ask if he had gotten into a supposed slugging match with Signum just to sate her curiosity seemed a little rude.

She'd humor Erio for now. At least until she could verify the story in one direction or another. "You can tell us more during dinner, now give me a hand." she said with a smile.

Erio's exuberance faded a little at Fate's command, but he wouldn't dare refuse. Soon the two were hard at work on dinner. Since Fate was the one in charge, they were cooking a Mid-style of meal. Nanoha's food was often drawn from the cookbook her mother had gifted to her, meaning a plethora of Japanese meals that Vivio seemed to enjoy greatly.

While Fate was stirring the steaming contents of the large pot and Erio was pulling the biscuits out of the oven, the front door opened. "I'm home!" called out Nanoha Takamachi, looking rather happy at finally being home.

"Welcome home, Nanoha," replied Fate from the kitchen, which was echoed by Erio. "Dinner should be done soon, so why don't you have a seat."

"I think I'll do just that." The brunette sat herself down at the table and let out a long sigh. "What a day. Those kids needed a ton of work..." There was a soft thud as Nanoha planted her head on the dinner table. "I think the TSAB is getting desperate."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure you and Vita put them through their paces," commented Fate before sending Erio off to wake up Caro and collect Vivio for dinner.

Nanoha would have nodded if her forehead wasn't on the table. "Vita seemed pretty into it today. A lot more than she usually is, actually." The Iron Hammer Knight had been raring to go from the start and gave no mercy to the newbies. Well, she usually was pretty merciless, but even more-so today.

Fate gave no reply other than to turn off the stove and carry the large pot of stew she and Erio had made over to the dining table. Nanoha stood from her seat and gathered the bowls and other utensils for the family to use. Erio soon returned with a sleepy Caro in tow and an energetic Vivio leading them. Fried hovered nearby Caro's shoulder and seemed far more awake than his Mistress.

Greetings were exchanged and Caro was teased lightheartedly about having bed-head at dinner. Bowls of steaming beef stew were passed around to everyone by Fate while Vivio took it upon herself to divvy up the biscuits and hand them out. Once everyone had settled in, talk of the day's events became prominent.

Since Vivio's school had classes on Saturdays, she had spent the early part of the day there. History and magical theory were her favorite classes. Unfortunately, the girl had neither that day and the short day had seemed to drag on far longer that it actually had. After being freed from clutches of class, VIvio had spent lunch and part of the early afternoon with her closest friends.

Everyone had gotten a laugh out of hearing about Einhart's reaction to being told by a boy that he liked her. According to Vivio, the silver haired upperclassman had turned bright red, grabbed VIvio, and then fled fast enough that the youngest Takamachi had resembled a banner flying behind Einhart.

Fate's day had been rather dull by comparison. There had, fortunately, been no major cases requiring her attention at the time and she had spent much of the day filing reports. Hayate was right, paperwork was the bane of all existence. She did make a not to remind everyone that she would be participating in a sparring match with Signum later in the week and not to worry if she was late or absent for dinner. The blonde knew that she'd probably have to reming everyone against, but it never hurt to give more of an advance warning.

Caro had been busy for much of the day off-world, much to Erio's surprise. Apparently, one of the dragon's at the preserve had injured itself and the team in charge had placed a last minute call to the summoner. While still learning the ropes, Caro was the one to call when you needed to calm an angry dragon. It had been an exhausting day for her and explained why she had been asleep.

On the plus side, they had managed to heal the dragon's wound and released it back into the preserve grounds. Fried gave a cry of happiness at the tale of their success.

Nanoha's day was so far, the most frustrating. She had met with Vita at the Southern Ruins and was looking forward to an exciting and rough day of training the new recruits. Certainly, the newbies had shown a lot of promise initially. But that had rapidly proved to be all that they had.

Their maneuverability was terrible and their spatial awareness was so bad that even a truck could have snuck up on them. So many bad habits had to be broken that it would almost have been better to send them back to basic training. Vita had taken particular joy in breaking a few of the recruits' hubris. The brunette would have gone into a full on rant had Fate not intervened with a hand on her shoulder.

"Nanoha, you're doing it again," the blonde admonished gently.

"Ehehehe... Sorry about that. I guess today got me a little wound up," she apologized to everyone present, who accepted it with ease. They too noted the decreasing quality of new recruits into the Bureau's forces, particularly Fate.

"On the note of training... Erio, didn't you have something you wanted to tell us about?" Fate directed the conversation towards what her son had claimed to have seen earlier in the day.

The redhead's eyes brightened. "Yeah! It was totally awesome," he began with great fervor. Erio began telling the tale as he had told Fate earlier. The ferocity, the power, the clash between perceived titans. Vivio seemed enthralled by the story, taking it mostly as that. Caro seemed somewhat horrified at the idea of two friends fighting in such a bloody and deadly way. She knew that some people liked to fight like that, but had never really connected it to anyone she knew.

Fate simply listened and filed away this new version of the story. She would compare what Erio was saying now to what he had said earlier. It might give her a better idea on what was closer to the truth when she asked Signum about the events.

Nanoha listened with rapt attention, soaking in every detail no matter how surreal it may have sounded. Signum was the one person she had never managed to defeat in any manner of combat. Certainly, she'd come close during their legendary battle of attrition that had come from what was supposed to be a simple sparring match, but it had ended in a tie after a mutual knockout.

Much like Fate had noticed, while the blonde man described by Erio certainly seemed like Yuuno in appearance, the combat style was all wrong. Nanoha chalked it up to the redhead exaggerating what he had seen or possibly someone of similar appearance that Signum had been challenged by.

When Erio's tale had reached its end, Vivio peppered the redhead with questions that he did his best to answer. Nanoha interjected with a few of her own as well. Some were serious, others were far less so. It was a poorly hidden secret that Erio had harbored a massive crush towards Signum when he was younger and that gave the brunette ammunition to tease the teenager about his watching of the General's fight. The blush on his face and Caro's pouting face were well worth it.

After a time, the table had been cleared and each member of the family went about their own business. Caro and Vivio were playing with Fried while Fate and Nanoha were watching some television. Erio had holed up in his room, files and digital books about barrier and shield theory array before him. "I won't lose to some librarian..."

-Scene Break-

Located within the confines of the massive TSAB Headquarters was the home of Yuuno Scrya. On a Sunday afternoon, the man in question would normally have been curling up in an armchair with a good book, preferably one about ancient civilizations. This day however, he could not seem to concentrate on the historical literature that lay open in his lap.

Rather, his mind was focused more on the events of yesterday. Even getting home had been a bit of an adventure. Since he had activated his transformation magic to speed with the recovery of his mana stores and would be in that form for a few hours to come, Signum had left the battered training field with a rather tired and embarrassed ferret stowed away in the inner pockets of her large coat.

It had taken both of them at least half an hour to gather their wits enough to make the journey to to Signum's car. Even then, they had to take the time to patch their wounds from their bout. It was a task made more difficult owing to Yuuno having to rely on what little mana he had been able to recover and what he had been able to draw from Signum. Not to mention that Signum was not the most capable individual with healing magics. Battlefield first aid and makeshift bandages, that she could do, but not the regenerative spells that Shamal was so skilled with.

They were fortunate that the wounds received were superficial or minor for the most part. It had been a case of looking and feeling worse than it actually was. A dislocated arm had been his worst injury while Signum's broken arm had been the most serious wound overall. Yuuno had repaired that himself using mana from the dazed General before shifting to his ferret form and crawling onto her lap. He would never admit to just how comfortable Signum's lap was.

When Signum was good enough to drive, she had taken him home. The trip had been relatively silent. It was not an uncomfortable silence, but it was not a comfortable one either. The quiet was somewhere in between, as both adults' minds were more focused on the battle that had just occurred. Though, Yuuno did recall the radiant look on the General's face as they drive.

After being dropped off a his home, Yuuno had spent the rest of the day resting. It was not the first time that he was thankful for the benefits granted by his shapeshifting abilities. The increased mana regeneration was certainly useful when he was younger. Now that his core had fully matured, the regeneration was even more useful. If he'd exhausted himself to the same degree as he had ten years ago, it would have taken him a week or more to recover. Now it only took a good night's rest as a fuzzy little rodent and he was nearly back to full power.

Still, his thoughts were more directed at the individual with whom he had exchanged blows the day prior.

He had known Signum Yagami for years. Despite that, she was still somewhat of a mysterious individual to him. it was not due to lack of interaction, but more owing to the fact they lived in vastly different worlds. Yuuno was an intellectual, someone who thrived on knowledge and the pursuit of it. He could spend hours discussing the intricacies of Ancient Belkan masonry, Ancient Nasuvian texts, or even whether or not the legendary Al Hazard used a particular type of reagent.

Signum, on the other hand, was a warrior. She was most at home in combat, on the battlefield. That much was plain to see by anyone. The General carried herself like a soldier at all times and her loyalty to her Lady Hayate was reminiscent of the most legendary and noble knights. When Yuuno was younger, that he had found her attitude to be rather intimidating was an understatement.

Her prowess in combat was the stuff of legends. Certainly, the other members of their group of friends, family, and acquaintances were also legends in their own right. There was enough power and skill collected in such a small number of individuals that they could theoretically take on entire armies. Nicknames like 'The White Devil' were not handed out so freely.

Many knew of Signum's status as a 'battle junkie', but it wasn't until truly taking the fight to her that Yuuno began to understand what that meant. By definition, it was easy to know what that was. A 'battle junkie' was one who lived for the fight. They thrived in the scant millimeters that separated a blade from tearing out the jugular, the power that could reduce them to ashes with the slightest error, the feeling that arose when trading blows with someone in earnest. Their existence revolved around the feelings of dominating someone and being dominated in combat. It was a flow that brought both closer to the brink. That edge where the border between life and death became so close that one misstep would be the end of everything. The ultimate climax.

It was an addicting feeling. So raw and primal that it seduced even the most peaceful and level headed individuals into going further and further. Now, Yuuno had experienced that pull for the first time. He had been in life or death situations before and none of them had drawn out this feeling. Was it his venturing into Signum's domain that had brought this knowledge to light? The stepping out of his comfort zone? The fact that Signum had come closer to killing him than ever before?

Still, regardless of how he had discovered the feelings, he now knew them. Now that he knew them, he had gained a new insight into that particular facet of Signum's person. Yuuno knew that she loved battle, desired it, craved it. He knew that it was the fine line between life and death that came from the most intense bouts that she wanted to experience. Now he knew why.

Yuuno knew why, because he wanted to experience it again. It was a desire that disturbed him on some level. Yes, he had wanted to become a more effective mage and more useful to his friends in the event that they found themselves embroiled in battle again. But discovering the draw that labeled Signum as a 'combat junkie' was not something that he had expected. Could he remain in Signum's world and not become so addicted to the battlefield like her?

He wasn't sure if he could. Still, a small voice in the back of his mind wondered if that was truly a bad thing.

Turning his head to the side, Yuuno discovered that evening was approaching and he'd been ruminating on his revelations for a large portion of the day. Setting aside the mostly untouched tome, the librarian stood from his chair with a groan. The stiffness from sitting still for so long was not a pleasant feeling. "I should work out more..." he mused to no one.

"Well, I should at least set up a schedule for the week." Arf had done such a good job yesterday handling the sudden workload he'd dropped on her that he felt comfortable in giving her more frequent and important tasks. Maybe he should try to extend that to some of the other librarians? They seemed to have quite a bit of free time more often than not. Plus, it would give him more time to research and fine tune what he was learning from his duels with Signum.

"I hope Fate doesn't mind too much," Yuuno said as he went over to his desk and set to writing up work assignments, thinking about how Arf's Mistress would react to her familiar's increased workload.

-Scene Break-

Fate T. Harlaown had been looking forward to this day for a while now. Ever since Arf had suffered a sudden influx of work at the library, her familiar's stress level had increased dramatically. That unfortunately had led to a rather unfortunate proportional increase in headaches for the blonde woman. She had attempted to contact Yuuno about it, but he was unusually unavailable according to Arf and the other librarians who had suffered at the hands of Yuuno's newfound ability to delegate.

A high end spar was just what the doctor ordered. Venting those frustrations and any worries she may have accumulated always went better when crossing blades with someone, particularly Signum. Fighting Signum had always been a good test of Fate's capabilities, as the General was quite possibly the most skilled swordswoman in the TSAB's Air Force, if not the entire organization. She regretted not doing it more often.

Arriving at the designated sparring area, Fate scanned the field for her pink haired adversary. The field was one of many arenas set aside for the upper echelons in the power scale to use so that the common fields wouldn't be completely demolished in the event that a match got out of hand. Signum's match against Nanoha came to mind, as did the General's supposed bout against the man that Erio claimed had been Yuuno.

There was unfortunately no evidence to support or deny her son's words as Signum had not offered any details and the field's data recorder was damaged during her bout with the man. Still, it would have been nice to find out who he had been. And if had indeed been Yuuno, to ask what was going through his head at the time.

"You are early, Fate," spoke Signum from the blonde's side, breaking her out of the musings that had briefly distracted her.

"I did not want to make you wait, Signum," replied Fate with an earnest smile. "Besides, I have been looking forward to this for a while now."

Signum only nodded, giving Fate a feeling of approval from the action before walking to one end of the field. It could have just been her imagination, or did the pinkette seem just a bit too eager. She knew that Signum enjoyed her fights a great deal, almost to an overwhelming degree at times. Still, she could not recall a time where even a high power sparring match would put a... bounce? into Signum's step.

Fate decided to prod a bit before they got started. "You seem to be a good mood today." It was a simple poke at Signum's attitude and one that wouldn't be seen for any more than it was.

A single raised eyebrow returned Fate's query and then a brief silence. "Yes, I suppose I am. Things have been going well as of late," Signum finally spoke. She then withdrew the resting Laevatein from where it had been covered by the folds of her uniform.

Bardiche found itself in Fate's hand rather quickly after that. While Signum's response hadn't really answered anything, the Enforcer would not prod any further just yet. She would sate her investigative urges at a more appropriate time.

Two flashes of light briefly illuminated the field, one bright yellow and the other a fiery pink. Signum's Knight Armor was imposing as ever while Laevatein was held in one hand at the ready. Fate had foregone Bardiche's axe form and the device shifted directly into its massive zamber mode. The blonde's Barrier Jacket was already in Sonic Form as she knew that none of her jacket's defenses would be of any use against the General's powerful offense. Speed would be the game, as per usual.

Settling into her battle stance, Fate spoke. "Ready?"

"Always..." Signum flashed the barest hint of a smile as she stared down her opponent.

That response was the only warning Fate received before Signum sprung into action. A flash of steel was blocked by a gleaming golden blade mere inches from her throat. The blonde saw a fire in her opponent's eyes, something that rarely ever appeared during their sparring matches.

Already, Fate was being forced on the defensive, pulling everything she had into evading or blocking the flurry of blows raining down upon her. There was a brief opening when Signum went in for a low cut that would have struck the shapely blonde in the thigh. She took that opening to get away from the General in a burst of speed.

This was not going as usual. Even when Signum began to really get into her matches, she was rarely so vicious. Fate would have attempted to ask her foe what was going on, but was forced to hurl a barrage of Plasma Lancers at Signum to keep their distance.

Signum merely plowed through the projectiles, following closely behind a Sturmwinde that devoured all of the lightning spells in its path.

The General burst through the flames like an angry dragon, bringing Laevatein down upon Fate in a merciless arc. The blonde was able to block the strike, but unable to deal with the force behind it. She was blasted straight down into the flooring of the field, sending up a cloud of dust and debris with the impact.

Fate pulled herself upright and rolled to the side before Signum could land a falling stab that would have pinned the blonde to the ground through her stomach. "Signum, wha-," her words were cut off as the pinkette began attacking in earnest, switching between one and two handed blows that kept Fate trapped in her rhythm.

By now, the Enforcer was becoming a little terrified of the Wolkenritter set against her. It brought up memories of when they had first fought and she had been completely dominated. What was going on?

The fire in Signum's eyes was dimming slightly as the two women exchanged blows, though it was more Signum loosing a storm and Fate attempting to weather it, even burning a few cartridges to assist in escaping. No amount of speed seemed to be helping against such a pressing assault. What made it worse to the blonde was that it almost seemed like Signum was becoming bored with their match.

After another powerful blow that opened up the distance between the two, Fate was panting and while Signum was drawing in deep breaths as well, she seemed far more fresh by comparison. "What is going on, Signum?" Fate finally managed to ask.

Signum merely sighed as though disappointed. "Soft."

"What?" came the confused reply.

Neither moved for a moment until the Knight of the Sword did something that Fate would never have expected. Signum drove the razor tip of Laevatein's blade into the field's reinforced ground and began marching towards the blonde with a flat stare.

Not one to let an opportunity pass her by and finally registering that Signum's comment was anything but praise, Fate went on the offensive. For the first time during the match, she wasn't being forced down, wasn't fighting Signum's fight. Bardiche's blade cut vicious arcs through the air as it attempted to strike a clean blow against its master's opponent.

What disturbed Fate to a degree was not the strange attitude or the unusually violent actions taken by the General, but that said woman was still holding her own without the aid of Laevatein. It was obvious that handicapping herself like that should have made Fate's victory assured. That was not the case so far. Certainly, the blonde had landed her fair share of hits since her opponent had taken to using Strike Arts, but Signum still soldiered on.

Yet more time had passed and both women now sported more than a few marks of battle. Signum's Knight Armor bore nicks, scratches, and the occasional gash, evidence of Fate's efforts. Still, the General's eyes were bland, lacking any real fire and their gaze holding the occasional flicker of disappointment. Fate's eyes were narrowed in concentration, confusion, and a degree of anger. Her body bore markings left by Laevatein first and then scuffs and bruises from Signum's hands that threw and struck her most forcefully.

"What did you mean, when you said 'soft'?" queried Fate between ragged breaths, her legs feeing weak and mana supplies low. Bardiche's physical body was cracked in places, reflecting the damage it had taken in defending it's master.

Signum moved and replied at the same time. "Your edge is dull." The General's fist blew through Fate's weakened guard and landed squarely between the blonde's breasts, centered on the woman's sternum.

Fate coughed harshly as the air was forced from her lungs by the blow.

"You rely too much on your device to compensate for your shortcomings rather than overcoming them." Her words stung at Fate, worsened by the blunt delivery. A second strike followed the first, landing low and sinking into the Enforcer's abdominal muscles.

Spittle flew from Fate's mouth and part of her was glad that she'd not eaten much beforehand. She nearly doubled over, one hand reflexively moving to cover the area that Signum's fist had battered.

The pinkette's eyes took on a harsh glare, one that few would recognize. "You waste away on your laurels, Fate Testarossa Harlaown." With that, Signum's leg snapped upwards viciously. Her armored foot was nearly a blur as it reached for the sky. The kick connected harshly, forcing Fate's teeth together with a grinding force that filled her vision with stars and the ceiling of the training field. She felt a weightlessness that her addled brain realized was her own body being lifted off of the ground.

Fate's tenderized form landed with an ungraceful thud as her mind tried to process everything that had just happened. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish on land, unable to produce words. Filling her vision was Signum, now clad in her uniform and staring down at her. "Know your place." The General leaned forward slightly. "If you come to hate your place, then change it or be left to ruin."

As Signum turned to leave, she left one last parting shot without looking back. "Yuuno has begun to do so, and he is already a far more desirable foe than you."

Confusion and pain reigned supreme as all Fate could do was listen to the fading footsteps of the General of Fire, one who had so utterly dominated her in combat. This was just supposed to be a friendly sparring match, albeit a higher level one, not a deathmatch. What had driven Signum to go so far? What did she mean by her words? Fate was still one of the three Aces and had maintained that title over the years since she'd obtained it. Much of the meeting made little sense.

Without anyone to help her stand, Fate was left to her own devices to pick herself off the ground. Feeling sore and befuddled, all she wanted to do was go to the infirmary and lick her wounds.

[Old_Iron]

And here's the rest of it.

Spoiler for Swords and Shields: Chapter 3: Part 2:

Signum Yagami was not in a pleasant mood. That much was obvious to anyone who happened across her path. Her bout with Fate T. Harlaown had not gone as expected. Rather, it had revealed rather unpleasant things to the General that she felt should have been obvious. Especially after knowing the woman for so long. In the end, Signum was irritated, disappointed, and more than a little frustrated.

It had admittedly been a while since Signum had crossed swords with the blonde, but that did not change the fact that the pinkette had utterly destroyed Fate in their match. She had stepped into the ring expecting for both of them to start off with testing one another and escalate from there. Brief exchanges and the occasional pressing of one side against the other before starting into the more vicious and deadly maneuvers. Instead, Signum had maintained the same level of offense for much of the fight until lowering it near the end, having had no need to properly exert herself against her foe.

Certainly, Fate had managed a few counters, but they were few and far between with very little damaging power to them. Signum had realized during the first half of their match that she had managed to keep the Black Lightning sealed. The blonde had been unable to shift into any of her various combat modes beyond the standard, nor able to make use of Bardiche's various forms. It had driven home a very unsettling fact about Fate. That fact being that she had never truly grown much as a warrior from the first time they had met.

Fate relied on technology, trickery, and other people to compensate for a lack of skill. While that was a perfectly fine strategy, one that Signum had no problem with and actually encouraged at times, it was ultimately useless in the long run unless you improved yourself. The best comparison she could give would have been between an archer and a gunman. A rifle was significantly more powerful and had many advantages over a bow, but in unskilled hands that rifle would eventually be outstripped by an archer who was of greater skill. While it could take a very long time, skill would win out in the end.

They had all been too focused on the results that the unskilled Fate put out with the highly advanced Bardiche to notice that the skill of those around her was beginning to outstrip her technology. Today had been the day that skill had finally won out as Signum recalled the feeling of her gloved fists and armored boots making violent contact with Fate's shapely body. To have overcome her with only Strike Arts... Just how far had Fate fallen behind?

"Why would you let yourself become complacent, Fate?" inquired the General to her empty office. She did not for one moment think that she had been too harsh in the second half of their match. The impromptu lesson would serve as a much needed wake-up call for the Enforcer. "That is most unlike you."

Oh, there would be Hell to pay once Fate got home to Nanoha. One did not get away with tenderizing anyone close to Nanoha Takamachi as though they were a slab of meat without paying some kind of reparation. Especially when it came to Fate. Even after all this time, no one was really certain what their true relationship was, but that mattered little to the General at this time. A part of Signum's mind secretly hoped that she would come as the White Devil for reparations in the form of combat, demanding satisfaction for the violence enacted upon the blonde.

Maybe that would make up for the frustrated feeling that sat most uncomfortably in her belly. Beyond her feelings of irritation and disappointment that her eye opening match with Fate had elicited, it had also brought about a great deal of frustration. Even after handicapping herself greatly by removing Laevatein from the equation, Signum still had been unable rekindle the flame that burned deep within as she pounded away at the Enforcer. A good sparring match, including those at lower levels, could at least elicit some of that flame. This battle just left her feeling cold, and she hated it.

Nanoha could give a good fight, her stubborn refusal to give up had led to one of the most violent sparring matches in TSAB history. Not, the most violent, but certainly one for the books. Vita even more-so. Her fellow Knight's drive to win was perhaps even greater than Nanoha's and the redhead's ability to properly channel rage made her all the more dangerous. Even Vice could give a proper challenge when he corralled you into his optimal range.

Up until today, Signum had considered Fate to be among those who could light that fire. Now that an unfortunate reality had been revealed, she doubted that the blonde would be able to do so anytime soon. It wasn't just power that pushed Signum to the brink, it was skill and drive.

Perhaps it was the recent situation she found herself in with Yuuno that brought about this realization. He had been a known quantity for so long, much like everyone else. Now, he was becoming an unknown. The image of Yuuno Scrya as anything other than a kind man with a near obsession for ancient knowledge and who held a mastery over defense magic was bizarre. Signum had most certainly seen him in the heat of battle, but he was still that same kind soul.

During their bout on Saturday, Signum had seen that kind soul strike out against her with the intent to cause harm, to destroy her, to dominate her. In all other battles that she had bore witness to, whether against him or as a spectator, Yuuno had always gone for the same strategy. That strategy being to bind his foe or make them break themselves against his fortress-like defenses. Now he had actively tried to break someone, break her. Deep down, she wanted him to try his damnedest to do so.

Even though she had handicapped herself against him, he still brought that line so very close with his drive and experimental skills. That he would only continue to try and improve himself brought a determined look to Signum's face. She would push him, so very hard. And he would push back with everything he had.

The General leaned back into her chair and stared upwards, one hand outstretched towards the ceiling as her thoughts began to calm. Why had Fate never tried to improve herself? Why was Yuuno trying to enter the world of warfare that she so thrived in. Some things did not make any sense to her, but they would be dealt with as they came along.

"Wait a moment..." Signum's mind began racing again as the question about Fate's status shifted tracks to other members of their group. If everyone had fallen into such a state that Fate's shortcomings were left untouched for so long, what of Mistress Hayate? Was it possible that even she could have let herself fall into complacency while under the watch of her Knights? That they who claimed to be her family could have let her waste away?

The General sat bolt upright as she began imagining all manner of situation that could occur to Lady Hayate if she wasn't prepared. She herself had admitted that even someone like Caro lu Rushe could best her in hand to hand combat. Why had they not rectified this beforehand? No, this is unacceptable. Signum would not allow such a thing to stand. Now that Yuuno had shattered the status quo, and her helping him along, things would have to change for everyone.

Eyeing the date circled on the calendar in red ink for her match with the librarian, Signum considered the possible repercussions of what she was about to do and found them most worth it. "Yuuno, you had best be prepared for the consequences of your actions." The General of Fire then reached over to her office's vid-phone and dialed a number that would send even more waves through their group.

A familiar face answered the call with a smile. "Signum? What a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?"

Steeling herself, the Knight of the Sword replied, "Knight Carim, I have a favor to request of you..."

-Scene Break-

Nanoha Takamachi was not sure what to expect when she entered the infirmary. She knew that Fate and Signum were scheduled to have a high level sparring match today and that usually involved more than a few bruises if not a broken bone or two on both ends. This time, apparently only Fate had been admitted and Signum was nowhere to be seen. The medic that had contacted her had not given any details other than Fate's admission.

Pulling back the curtain, Nanoha was shocked to see Fate's condition. The blonde woman looked like she'd been beaten black, blue, and everything in between. "Fate, what happened?" she asked with a great deal of concern in her voice.

"Hey, Nanoha," greeted Fate softly, her jaw still feeling a little sore even after being subjected to the healing powers of the medic on duty. Truthfully, she looked worse than she felt and much of the minor bruising would be gone within the hour. "Signum, she was acting a little odd."

The brunette blinked in confusion before narrowing her eyes in displeasure. "Odd or not, she shouldn't have gone overboard like this. It was just a sparring match, she had no reason to go all out."

Fate's eyes lowered slightly. "She didn't, Nanoha."

"Eh?" The anger towards Signum was replaced so quickly with confusion, that one may have thought it was never there to begin with.

"She fought just as she usually does, up until near the end," confessed Fate, "Then she handicapped herself." Turning to face the brunette, the red-eyed beauty looked haunted. "Signum used Strike Arts, Nanoha. She took me apart with her bare hands..."

That threw Nanoha for a loop. While she knew that Signum was well versed in hand to hand combat, the General never used them beyond physical conditioning. Not when she had Laevatein at her side, and she was more dangerous with that blade by an exponential degree compared to her fists.

Fate's eyes become watery. "She said that I saw soft, dull, an 'undesirable foe'..." With her confidence shot, the Enforcer looked lost.

Nanoha moved to sit next to Fate and carefully held the woman, not wanting to cause pain but still wanting to comfort her. "It's okay, Fate, I'll talk to Signum about this. I'd say she might have just had a bad day, but she's not the type to let that affect her, not like that." Regardless of the reason, she wasn't going to to let anyone do this to Fate and get away with it. Not on her watch.

Sinking into Nanoha's warm embrace, Fate shook her head. "I don't think so. She seemed happy, eager. Like things had been going well for her..." The blonde's eyelids began to droop as comfort and medication eased her into a restful state.

That made things even more strange to Nanoha. She would have said something in response, but Fate seemed to have drifted off to sleep. Weariness of the body and mind combined with medicine were a particularly good combination for drawing a person from the word of the waking. Pulling the woman closer, Nanoha brushed a stray lock of hair from of Fate's face and took on a serious look. One way or another, I will be having words with you, Signum Yagami.

-Scene Break-

The rest of the week up until Saturday had been rather eventful for Signum. Carim had contacted her the following day stating that the favor asked could be done, although SIgnum would owe her one in return. The General did not mind in the slightest, not with the safety of Lady Hayate involved.

Between her duties involving the Air Force and family, she had precious little time to prepare for her third match with Yuuno. She had made that time count though. Combined with the fact that she planned to place less of a handicap on herself this time, Signum was looking forward to it. After the disappointing and still eye-opening battle with Fate, she hoped that the blonde librarian had prepared himself to give everything he had. The fire deep within her demanded it.

Fate's situation had created quite a stir amongst everyone, but Signum had yet to meet with Nanoha or Fate about it. The same reasons that had prevented her from preparing more properly for the match with Yuuno were the same ones that prevented her from speaking with the White Devil. Vita and Zafira felt that if Fate had allowed herself to get into such a situation, it was her own fault. But they did chastise Signum for going about it in the manner she had. Shamal had been rather unhappy with her actions, stating that she had gone overboard. The children of the Takamachi-Harlaown home had nearly gone on a rampage to avenge their mother, but settled for giving Signum the evil-eye for the time being. That even included sweet little Caro.

Lady Hayate had been extremely irate with the beat-down that Fate had received at Signum's hands and had said as much with quite a bit of anger, something that stung the General no matter how much she understood her actions and their repercussions. They had patched things up, as family ought to do, but the pinkette decided to tread softly around her Mistress for a few days, at least until Carim's favor came through. Others had given mixed reactions, depending on how much they heard of the situation.

Yuuno had not been in contact since before the bout in question, but Signum was certain that she'd hear from him about it when she arrived at their chosen arena.

The place of battle this time was not the training fields used by so many. Rather, this time they would be making use of a field identical in purpose as the one Signum had given Fate her wake-up call. It would suit their needs far better than the prior battlefield.

As she approached, her desired foe began to come into view. Yuuno was facing away from her direction, apparently looking over something on a holo-display as he leaned against the hood of his car. The anticipation began to grow as he heard her vehicle's approach and turned to face her.

She parked her car next to his, running a finger over Laevatein's sealed form before disembarking. Signum turned to face him. "Good afternoon, Yuuno. I hope you have not been waiting long," she greeted.

"Only a few minutes. How has your week been?" he asked as they began the short trek from the parking section to the combat field.

"Eventful would be a rather severe understatement. Things have been... changing, since our last match." That they would continue changing and hopefully for the better was left unsaid.

Yuuno raised an eyebrow. "Changing?"

Signum nodded. "You made me look at things from another perspective and I found many things to be... unacceptable."

"You're talking about what happened with Fate, aren't you." It was a statement rather than a question, one that brought a hardened look to the pinkette's features for the briefest of moments.

"That and more." She paused as Yuuno unlocked the door leading to field with his ID. The double doors slid open with a faint hiss. "Do you disapprove of what I did to Fate, Yuuno?"

The blonde took a moment to formulate his response. Eventually he let out a breath. "Honestly? I thought you were way out of line going that far and I was wondering just what in blazes could have possessed you to do that. But that was only based on what I heard from Nanoha when she called me. Vita told me the whole story later." Their footsteps echoed in the empty arena.

"And now?" Signum asked without ever changing her expression.

"Now? I still think you went overboard and it probably could have been handled some other way. But if Fate was really in that kind of situation, she needed to see it," he explained before coming to a stop at the center of the field. "At least it happened here and not on the field where her life could have been in danger."

"Thank you for your honesty." Signum took her place opposite Yuuno. A slight grin graced her lips as she took the sealed Laevatein in hand. "Now that we are here, I believe the time for talk is over, Yuuno Scrya." Faint purple light shone about the General's body for a short moment as she spoke. As it faded, the light revealed Signum now clad in her Knight Armor and with Laevatein at the ready. "Do not disappoint me." Her eyes flashed dangerously.

A brief burst of green hued light signaled the activation of Yuuno's Barrier Jacket. He settled into a ready stance. "I don't intend to." Multitudes of small shields sprung to life along the man's arm, overlapping from fist to shoulder as though they were plates of armor.

There was no signal to start the battle, but both acted at the same moment. The collision between their offenses made a sound comparable to two cars being crushed together. Yuuno broke from the locked engagement and lashed out with his right fist. The shield encased appendage zeroed in on Signum's midsection and she redirected the blow away from her with Laevatein's pommel.

The action came with such force that Yuuno nearly spun out of control. Instead he moved with the motion and hurled his body forward, using the shields on his left arm to prevent himself from being disemboweled by Signum's deadly blade. He collided with the General with enough momentum to knock her back a distance, but not nearly enough to topple her and it left him slightly off balance.

Signum capitalized on this brief moment and lunged. The scene began to resemble the beginning of her match against Fate. Yuuno was kept on the defensive, unable to launch a proper counterattack from the barrage that the General was assailing him with. Still, Signum did not find him wanting as Fate had been. He did not falter, rather he looked for any opening that would give him a way out. A way to return each strike against him.

No opening would be given, Signum would not allow it. She wanted to see what he would do, how he would cope with the situation. His solution came quickly and without preamble. As Laevatein rebounded off one of the numerous shields running down the man's arm, the other arm gasped the long cape and hurled the cloth into Signum's vision.

While it did not give nearly enough of an opening to go on the offensive, it did allow Yuuno to break away. As the momentum carried him backwards, Signum responded to his escape with a large gout of flame that chased after him, biting at his heels with searing teeth. She was somewhat impressed with his means of breaking away, but it wasn't enough.

She pursued him with great fervor and he did everything he could to keep the battle driven woman at bay. As they exchanged blows, each strike became more violent, more driven to conquer. They left the ground and took to the air, expanding the field of battle.

As they ascended, trading fist for sword and foot for flame, Yuuno was finally able to capitalize on a brief opening. Whether Signum left it there as a test or he had genuinely broken through mattered little. He would take it. One hand snaked through her guard and grasped the fabric of the pinkette's Knight Armor just below the metal gorget. Using his shields as a foothold and as propulsion, the blonde hurled Signum towards the ground with terrific force, tearing open her armor in the process.

Signum landed with a mighty crash, sending a plume of dust into the air. She rolled to the side as Yuuno's fist impacted where she had been only moments before. A vicious grin graced the General's features as a dribble of blood ran down her cheek. She kicked away from Yuuno while reaching for the tassets of her armor. From it, she withdrew a set of knives and hurled them at the man. One missed completely while a second bounced off of the shield that he had placed in from of him.

The third buried itself into the ground, pinning Yuuno's long cape to the ground without his realizing it. He lunged after Signum and was nearly strangled as the fabric around his neck pulled taut, forcing him off of his feet and back to the ground. Signum did not let the opportunity pass her by and the librarian's face was soon met with a merciless kick from the woman's metal encased foot. Yuuno felt his nose break upon contact.

He rolled from the impact as his cape was torn free, blood poured down his face from the broken nose Signum had given him. The blonde viciously tore the cape from his body and cast it aside. A single distraction had not been worth nearly being strangled.

From there their exchanges began in earnest once more. Further driving each closer and closer to the edge. The violence the two adults were inflicting upon one another was becoming more and more brutal. At one point, Signum had managed to wrap Laevatein's Schlagenform around Yuuno's leg and swung him about like a morning star. He collided with the far wall with such force that he nearly crumbled beneath the damage inflicted upon him. The General's face heated when he picked himself up and charged.

Yuuno knew that he was taking a beating and that defeat had a far greater probability of occurring than victory. His Barrier Jacket looked like it had been assaulted by a lawnmower and the numerous wounds adorning his body ranged from minor bruises to a broken nose and at least two broken ribs. Still, he wanted to go on. He wanted to fight her. To become better. To go closer to that seductive line she so often sought...

As Yuuno charged again from his battered position, Signum felt her heart swell. He wouldn't give in. He wouldn't let being outstripped by her deter him from his drive. While her foe had not managed to reach the same levels of offense that he had in their previous match, Yuuno was still giving everything he had to her. As she parried a punch aimed for her face, Signum saw the look in his eyes. He wanted to conquer her.

They continued to push each other, one more than the other, but still with everything they had. By the end of the battle's second hour, both were running out of power. Yuuno's attempts at grappling Signum had borne occasional fruit. He had even managed to mount her and deliver a flurry of blows before being bucked off. Signum had repaid the maneuver later, blow for blow in the same fashion, before being yanked off by an array of chains summoned by the man.

In the end, the bout ended with Yuuno on his back with Laevatein at his throat and Signum's knee upon his chest. Both were battered and bruised, skin slick with blood, and their clothing and armor had taken enough damage to render them indecent from some angles. They remained in that position for some time as the blonde tried to see any way out that would not cost him his head.

Finally, Yuuno gave. "I yield, Signum." The surrender had come between ragged and heavy breaths that matched Signum's own.

She held him there for a few moments longer. "I accept," she spoke before rolling off of him. A satisfied smile graced her glowing, if not bloody, features. The pinkette lay next to him, basking in the after battle glow. Their heavy breathing being the only sound on the now silent battlefield.

It was some time before either spoke, but it was Yuuno who broke the silence. "Should I call for some assistance?"

"Wait a few moments more..." Signum requested as she stared upwards, "I would like to savor this a bit longer."

"Sure," Yuuno acquiesced softly, silently doing the same as she. All the while, neither noticing that they had an observer.

From just beyond the boundary of the combat field stood a certain brunette wearing a cross and confused expression, a very recognizable red jewel hovering by her shoulder. She stood there for a time, watching the two lay next to one another and stare upwards at the sky. Various emotions warred deep within Nanoha, not quite certain how to place what she had just witnessed. In the end, she turned at left. There was much she now had to think about.

[Craxuan]

Mm... Okay review time.

I do think Fate was a little OOC for looking down on Yuuno, because throughout Nanoha and As he was the one and absolute defender that could even block Reinforce's full magic with ease. In my opinion she would find it hard to believe that Yuuno managed to hold his ground against Signum, but simply decided to put the matter at the back of her mind. She was a calm and calculated person by nature, and counting in her job as an Enforcer being skeptical does not seem to be in nature.

Erio and Caro seemed to have the mind of a three years old for some reason. They have went through the Scaglietti incident, so I would expect his explanation on Signum/Yuuno's battle to be more comprehensible that Fate and Nanoha cannot fail to pick up some battle traits unique only to Yuuno's. He was just experimenting on his spells, and while he might like to test them out as much as possible he would still inevitably rely more on his old skills to fight.

Plus Caro is the bubbly kind, not Erio. The way he acted felt even far immature as compared to the him when first introduced in StrikerS.

Fate got caught off guard was totally okay though. Signum's mindset change was extremely interesting to read. Truthfully speaking I do not believe Signum would ever allow her own desires to affect her beliefs (Which she seem to totally forget here to the very fundamentals), but this still is an 'if' scenario after all.

I do need to criticize on how Signum thought that Hayate 'did not improve' like Fate though; totally out of place. Anyone else would be fine, but the Yagami family alone cannot fail to see Hayate's tremendous efforts was for anything but to improve herself and the world. Signum must also know that Hayate was utterly unsuited for combat (Hayate herself admitted that she might even lose to Caro) despite her SS magic output. If you meant something about tactics/politics/intellectual practice it would still seem out of place as, like I've said before, anyone can slack off but just not her. Even if Signum's mind was not right at the moment.

Yeah, I'm a Hayate fan and biased and feel rage against this injustice, in fact... CHANGE THAT PART! CHANGE IT! *throws rocks*

[Old_Iron]

Originally Posted by Craxuan

Mm... Okay review time.

I do think Fate was a little OOC for looking down on Yuuno, because throughout Nanoha and As he was the one and absolute defender that could even block Reinforce's full magic with ease. In my opinion she would find it hard to believe that Yuuno managed to hold his ground against Signum, but simply decided to put the matter at the back of her mind. She was a calm and calculated person by nature, and counting in her job as an Enforcer being skeptical does not seem to be in nature.

Erio and Caro seemed to have the mind of a three years old for some reason. They have went through the Scaglietti incident, so I would expect his explanation on Signum/Yuuno's battle to be more comprehensible that Fate and Nanoha cannot fail to pick up some battle traits unique only to Yuuno's. He was just experimenting on his spells, and while he might like to test them out as much as possible he would still inevitably rely more on his old skills to fight.

Plus Caro is the bubbly kind, not Erio. The way he acted felt even far immature as compared to the him when first introduced in StrikerS.

Fate got caught off guard was totally okay though. Signum's mindset change was extremely interesting to read. Truthfully speaking I do not believe Signum would ever allow her own desires to affect her beliefs (Which she seem to totally forget here to the very fundamentals), but this still is an 'if' scenario after all.

I do need to criticize on how Signum thought that Hayate 'did not improve' like Fate though; totally out of place. Anyone else would be fine, but the Yagami family alone cannot fail to see Hayate's tremendous efforts was for anything but to improve herself and the world. Signum must also know that Hayate was utterly unsuited for combat (Hayate herself admitted that she might even lose to Caro) despite her SS magic output. If you meant something about tactics/politics/intellectual practice it would still seem out of place as, like I've said before, anyone can slack off but just not her. Even if Signum's mind was not right at the moment.

Yeah, I'm a Hayate fan and biased and feel rage against this injustice, in fact... CHANGE THAT PART! CHANGE IT! *throws rocks*

*is hit by numerous rocks* Ow, ow, OW! You hit me in the eye.

Thanks for the review. I apparently screwed up quite a bit this time around. To be honest, I probably have the least grasp on Caro and Erio's characters, so that section will have to be rewritten completely. Much more research will be needed. I needed someone to witness the fight that wasn't part of the core group, and chose him for the job.

Rewriting that section will also let me tweak Fate some so she is more IC.

As for the mindset change, I am trying to play up her desire to fight. Do you think I should tone it down or maybe even rewrite it? Because what you're saying seems like I'm starting to derail her character completely.

I must edit or completely rewrite that portion about Hayate 'not improving'. It actually has its place, but I apparently wrote it so poorly that it came out making no sense. The idea was to create a plot thread that would find a way for Hayate to become more combat capable so that in the event something did manage to engage her in battle, she wouldn't be completely overwhelmed.

Many thanks for pointing these things out. Now would you please stop throwing rocks at me?

*POW!*

...ow. *falls over*