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Queen of Tragedy
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Place of rocks and trees, and trees and rocks...and water.
Age: 33
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Okay, here's the beginning of something that hopefully won't implode on me 
ANGEL
Is second-best really good enough?
Spoiler for Angel: Prologue:
Angel
Prologue: Horses Midstream
“Fate.”
“Alicia. What are you doing here? And after so long too…I’m honoured.”
“You’re so much more sarcastic in our dreams. How come I’m the only one who gets the hard treatment?”
“No reason. Are you in trouble or something?”
“I can’t call on my twin sister just because I feel like it?”
“…Is everything okay? You feel odd—”
“I love you, Fate. Always have.”
“Alicia!”
“Fate!”
Fate woke, disorientated. She panicked until thick fur placed itself under her outstretched hand, Arf’s low whine in her ear. Relaxing under the concerned licks, Fate turned towards the voice.
“Hayate?” Puzzled, Fate asked, “What are you doing in my room?”
“We’re in the living room,” Hayate said. Metal creaking meant that Hayate was in her chair and shifting around. “Can you get up? We were watching a movie and you suddenly fell off the couch. I can’t reach you, the table’s in the way.”
Slowly sliding upward, Fate followed the length of Arf’s leg up, stopping when Arf barked a warning. Table in the way—Fate carefully edged herself out and sat back on the couch, wiping the sweat from her forehead. “I just had the weirdest dream…Alicia was there.”
A pause, then Hayate said tightly, “After five years of nothing, not even coming to see you in the hospital after the accident—what did she want now?”
Fate winced. The truth hurt, and stirred up all that messy stuff better left sealed away. And she couldn’t tell Hayate exactly why Alicia was never around, although it shouldn’t have been impossible for her twin to find a few hours here and there to visit, really. “Actually…she was kind of snarky, then she said that she loved me.”
Whatever Hayate was about to say in response to that got cast aside when a loud noise erupted in the room. Fate clung to Arf, feeling the vibrations of her snarl, and felt that warm tingle in her skin that she never thought she’d feel again.
Magic.
An outward shockwave knocked Fate against the couch, and she heard Hayate scream in a crash of metal and wheels. Zafira barked, growling, and Fate hoped that he was protecting his mistress. She grabbed the metal stick propped up against the chair arm—her muscles still remembered hours of drilling, even if—
The chaos stopped.
“Testarossa?” A cold voice demanded.
Fate searched her memory to place that familiar voice but unfamiliar tone. Ah. “Nanoha.” Why would her sister’s friend be here, and away from Alicia’s side?
“Your sister’s dead,” Nanoha said bluntly.
Part of Fate’s mind shut down, but the rest of her remained oddly calm. She knew what Nanoha wanted. “I can’t help you.”
“What? You have to—you’re the next Angel! Why won’t—”
Fate held up her stick, and Nanoha went quiet. Oh, Fate didn’t have to look to know the metal rod well; the entire length of white shaft to red tip.
Figures that Alicia would never have told her friends about her blind, crippled, useless sister.
A long, tense pause hung in the air.
“We’re fucked,” Nanoha said finally.
Comments welcomed, begged for! I'm also looking for a beta, since I've never written a multi-chapter fic before, so the help will be cherished! If you liked the prologue, please contact me. Otherwise, enjoy!
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