Nanoha FanFiction Discussion

[deathcurse]

Originally Posted by RadiantBeam

I r in ur Shadowverse, writing ur AUz.

...

Wait, what?

Spoiler for Left Unsaid:

“So, how has Vivio been lately?”

There was no malicious intent in Megane’s question; it was an honest inquiry, as she and Fate had happened to cross each other’s paths while at work. Having not seen each other in a long while, the two women had settled down for a break to talk; considering Lutecia and Vivio hadn’t interacted much lately, it was probably the only time they would have for a long, long while.

Fate thought about it for a moment, taking a light sip from her water bottle. “She’s been good,” she said at last. “Busy with school since break is coming up.” She hesitated for a moment before she added, “Things with Ein have been going very well.” Megane couldn’t help but notice how she didn’t elaborate on what ‘well’ meant.

All things considered, she didn’t really blame her.

“Anyway.” Shaking her head, the red-eyed woman glanced at Megane and smiled. “What about Lutecia? We haven’t seen her around much.” She laughed softly. “This might sound odd, but I think Nanoha actually misses her a little.”

The thought of Nanoha actually missing her daughter’s presence, even if only a little bit, made the purple-haired woman chuckle. Brushing loose strands of hair out of her eyes, she smiled slightly. “She’s pretty much the same,” she murmured with a soft laugh. “I swear, she’s attached to Caro and Erio at the hip these days. Either she’s with them or she’s working. I rarely see any in between for her anymore.”

Like Fate, there were things Megane didn’t say. Neither of them called the other out on it. They both knew it was abnormal; how Vivio threw herself into her budding relationship with Ein, how Lutecia either worked or spent time with Erio and Caro, how they had been carefully avoiding each other lately.

Finally, Fate finished her water bottle and stood up. The rest of their time had passed in calm, almost contemplative silence. There had been nothing awkward about it. Lightly, she tossed it into a nearby bin. “Give Genya my regards, would you?” she asked. “And tell Lutecia to not be a stranger. It almost feels wrong for her to be away after visiting so much over the years.”

Megane’s smile widened slightly and she nodded. “Tell the same to Vivio,” she said lightly. “The apartment feels kind of empty since she stopped visiting.”

And in that fashion they parted.

They both knew in the long run, nothing had been resolved for either of their daughters.

Spoiler for Author's Notes:

.... Yeah, I honestly don't know. Remember that other little AU within my AU where Vivio ended up dating Ein instead of Lutecia based off those shorts? Yeah. It felt like being expanded on a bit more. Through Megane and Fate. I don't know why.

It Only Hurts
Curiosity Killed

Interesting story, it shows the reactions of the parents, now friends, of children who are now not dating anymore. I really liked how it showed that routine is something that is never notable when kept, but very jarring when broken.

I wonder how the Shadows-verse would have evolved from this ending? Would Lutecia, Caro and Erio have run into their own problems together, not in the romantic sense but as friends (as in, Lutecia relying on them for support but possibly not getting the kind that she needs?).

Anyways, nice story ^^.

[deathcurse]

Sorry for the double-postage! But I bring update!

What secrets are the Gallants hiding? What's Raven's side of the story? And who's really lying?

Crime Never Sleeps
Part 10: Trial Day 2

“The worst things we do are always by our own choice.”

Spoiler for Crime Never Sleeps, Part 10: Trial Day 2:

“What?” Nanoha cried, along with half of the other people in the stands. She turned sideways—oh, she had forgotten that Fate was stuck on a bench in the hall, waiting for her turn on the stand.

Raven Gallant had jerked, her large eyes dark green in her pale face. Her shoulders started to shake, in that way Nanoha recognized as a little girl trying not to cry.

“Objection!” Officer Favager shouted. “What evidence does the witness have for this?” Normally a comment like that would be stupid, even for a new and out-classed officer, but as the Gallant Trial was an anomaly in that due to confidentiality of the NSIS’s open missions, not all of the evidence had been shared ahead of time to the full court.

After being around Fate and Chrono for so long, Nanoha was aware that a trial like this one favoured the group with the most evidence. And considering that the prosecution was allied with the Intelligence Service, it just made these proceedings seem more and more like a show trial. Only Judge Grangaitz’s reputation for fairness, the genuinely impartial jury and Hayate’s public image kept logical people from openly accusing the whole court of stacking the deck to get a conviction.

However, Nanoha thought cynically, clenching her fists as she watched Auris’ pleased expression and Officer Jettal’s increasingly nervous one, it wasn’t like the TSAB hadn’t done their best, throwing two poor young officers into the courtroom to get decimated by Hayate and Auris in trial.

Judge Grangaitz slammed his gavel down on the sound block, cutting through the disorderly debate. “Order! Objection sustained. Prosecutor, provide evidence for the witness testimony.”

“Yes, Judge.” Hayate nodded at Rein, who transmitted a file to the main projector. “Director, are these the personal records of Edlin and Yvonne Gallant that the NSIS has recovered from the Vaizen police?”

“Yes. From these records, we can see that Edlin Gallant has a criminal record for second degree murder.” The text was bold and irrefutable on the evidence projector. Auris continued, “Yvonne Gallant was convicted of accessory to murder for the same crime. Both served out only a portion of their sentences before they were released on early parole.”

Why early parole? Nanoha couldn’t help wondering, making a mental note to ask Fate about it sometime.

Hayate waved a hand. “Why did you believe that Agent Touring would have been in danger from the Gallants if he had warned them about the assassination attempt? Their criminal records had ended with those served sentences.”

“They received no more convictions,” corrected Auris. “From their financial records, fully investigated by the Enforcers after their deaths, evidence of substantial unaccounted money has been found in their accounts. I had some knowledge of this illegal money—”

“Objection! There is no evidence that the money in the Gallants’ possession had been obtained through illegal methods.”

“Sustained.”

Auris rephrased her previous sentence. “I had knowledge of the unaccounted money, indicating that the Gallant family may continue to still be involved in illegal activities. With that in mind, I could not justify risking a TSAB officer’s life to warn targets who may react with hostility and endanger the altruistic messenger. This is in accordance with NSIS policy Section 8.4, approved by the TSAB High Council.”

“Thank you, Director. No further questions, your Honour.”

So, the prosecutors had opened up a whole unexpected can of worms then taped it shut again with red tape. Nanoha had to commend them for their ingenuity—by holding onto that revelation at the end, they didn’t give the defence council a change to cross-examine Auris over those points without unintentionally degenerating into a debate over TSAB policies—a controversial topic even in the best of times. It wasn’t likely that inexperienced officers like Thomas Jettal and Carina Favager would risk accidentally offending TSAB High Council members by attacking the idea that Auris had acted on a bad policy. Even in justice, politics kept rearing its ugly head.

Sometimes, Nanoha really hated working for the TSAB. She did understand that oftentimes morally ambiguous policies had to be passed—but the reminder always put a bad taste in Nanoha’s mouth. Shadows were always so slimy—they played outside the rules, but hid behind their vague policies whenever it suited them.

And there was an obvious benefit for the NSIS being the black-ops section of the TSAB—who could possibly catch them lying, when they were the ones who provided the evidence to catch the liars?

**O**

Trial Day 2 - Defendant Testimony #1

“Defence would like to call the defendant to the stand.”

Raven Gallant rose, her face thin and drawn—probably from hearing the nasty truth about her parents, Auris guessed. Hayate watched Raven with concerned eyes, looking like she wanted nothing more than to run up to the girl and give her a hug. The eleven-year old was dressed in a neat dress, formal enough to be suitable for a court proceeding but cute enough to exaggerate her youthful features. It was likely a tactic from the defence to try and stir sympathy for the child criminal, and to Auris’ displeasure it seemed to be working on the audience. If she heard one more teary, pitying intake of breath from the people in the stands, she was going to puke.

“Are you sure that you want to do the questioning for everyone today?” Auris muttered to Hayate as Jettal ran through the swearing in process with Raven. “It’s a lot of work for you.”

Hayate gave her a brief, practical smile. “I have to—you couldn’t question yourself, and if you question Raven the press will paint it as a cruel witch hunt from the NSIS against a poor little girl. And I know Fate-chan best.”

Auris wasn’t sure how much she liked that this part of the trial was hinging on Hayate alone; the Lt. General was being very odd of late. Half the time Auris wasn’t sure if Hayate was going to try and pull a miracle to work with Auris and yet also manage to secure a slap on the hand for Gallant, or if Hayate was going to throw Gallant to the wolves. “All right, I’ll let you handle it.”

“Prosecutor?” Judge Grangaitz asked at that moment.

“Yes, Judge.” Hayate moved out from behind the desk, clasping her hands behind her back as she paced along the front of the room. “Miss Gallant, could you please tell us the events of what happened after you first heard the Hellhounds entering your house?”

Raven licked her lips before taking a deep breath. “I heard the door get kicked down. Daddy pushed me into the closet by the stairs—he told me to be really quiet. Then he closed the door.” She stopped, her shoulders hunching with the effort not to cry.

Hayate actually paused for a few seconds to let Raven compose herself. Auris would have just pressed on, but it probably wouldn’t look good if they made a little girl cry in front of scandal-seeking news casters. “What happened after he closed the door? Could you see anything?”

“I was looking through the cracks,” Raven said mechanically, her entire expression haunted by the memories. “They—the Hellhounds—came into the living room.”

“How many of them could you see?”

“At least eight. But I couldn’t see the whole room from the closet.”

“So you can only confirm eight Hellhounds being present, correct?”

“…Yes.” Gallant looked anxiously at Jettal, but the man looked equally nervous. He wasn’t a complete idiot, Auris supposed, and could see where Hayate was going with her questioning.

“Only eight,” Hayate said, “Out of twelve Hellhounds found at the murder scene.” Her emotionless tone made the statement even more notable. Lifting a hand at Rein, Hayate then pointed to the picture of Keen Touring flashed upon the screen. “Do you remember seeing this man at your house?”

Raven’s lower lip trembled. “…No.” Auris had to give her some credit for not coming up with lame excuses to try and twist a fake explanation for it. Besides, Auris knew that there was no way Raven could have recognized Touring—her agent had been famous for his ability to alter his appearance for undercover cases, even from moment to moment. The clean-shaven, smiling and crisp Keen Touring in the photo never looked anything like the personas he wore while undercover.

“At the warehouse, did you specifically try to look for your parents’ murderers?”

“No,” Raven whimpered. “I was just so angry. It hurt so much, hearing Mom and Daddy’s screams inside my head. I just wanted to make it all stop. I didn’t know that there were any other people inside but my parents’ murderers.”

Lies. Auris glared at Raven, feeling her anger shifting in cold rivers inside her chest. Maybe there would be some satisfaction in killing her after the verdict anyways—although a long prison sentence without chance of parole sounds good too. How dare she lie about her intent. Auris was vaguely aware of the irony in that statement, but the circumstances differed—the Shadows lied in the service of others. Raven Gallant was lying to save her own skin.

Hayate either appeared to believe Raven’s remorse, or she did an incredible job of hiding her distaste at the innocent act. “Do you remember seeing Agent Touring at the warehouse murder scene?”

Raven lowered her gaze. “I can’t remember. I didn’t see any of them—I just kept seeing my parents’ bodies. The Hellhounds had beat them then cut their throats and laughed while they—”

“Objection!” Auris called. “Defendant is straying from the question that was posed.”

“Sustained,” Grangaitz said, although he didn’t look stern as he looked over at Raven. “Please just answer the question, Miss Gallant.”

“I can’t remember if I saw Agent Touring at the warehouse or not.”

“And yet,” Hayate said softly, “you killed him anyways along with your parents’ killers.”

Raven turned icy green eyes on Hayate, her body stilling in a way that made Auris flinch in wariness.

“Yes.”

Hayate stared back at her, her own face similar poker mask, but the brunette wasn’t as good at governing the emotions in her eyes. “No more questions, your Honour.”

Officer Jettal took her place, although his anxiety showed in his constant adjusting of his uniform collar. “Miss Gallant, while hiding in the closest, could you have possibly missed seeing more Hellhound members due to your line of sight?”

“Yes. There was part of a wall in the way. I heard lots of voices, so there could have been people that I didn’t see over there too.”

“Miss Gallant, I know this will be difficult, but how did the Hellhounds kill your parents?”

Raven shuddered, her eyes glazed and her mind clearly somewhere dark. “They hit Mom and Daddy, all of them together. Then they cut their throats and joked with each other.”

Addressing the room, Jettal held up a combat knife inside a plastic evidence bag. “The murder weapons were found on the Hellhound gang members, still with the Gallants’ blood fresh on the blades. One of the murder weapons was found on the table where Agent Touring was sitting.”

Clever man—he couldn’t outright say that the knife could have been Touring’s without getting an objection, but he had set the seed of doubt and association in the minds of the jurors. Auris was more concerned about the media—if someone decided to mis-claim that Touring actually possessed one of the murder weapons, the rumour would be nearly impossible to squash afterwards. She needed people to think of Touring (and therefore of the NSIS) as victims in affairs like this—mis-judged by criminals and law enforcement alike.

“Miss Gallant, did you hear any of the Hellhounds protesting their actions?”

“No. They were all laughing and egging each other on.”

“As a capable and skilled NSIS agent,” Jettal said, giving a nod at Auris in a call-back to her earlier testimony, “Agent Touring would have known not to break his cover by acting differently than his comrades. From the reports he has sent back to the Director chronicling the events of that day—” Here Jettal brought up the short messages for everyone to see. “—his wording indicates that he was also present in the house while the Hellhounds were murdering Edlin and Yvonne Gallant.”

“Objection,” Hayate spoke up. “The defence is inferring that Agent Touring’s report that they were leaving the Gallant house means that Agent Touring was present during the killing.”

“The language that Agent Touring used in his report, the multiple uses of “we” and of “us” while referring to the actual assassination reasonably suggest that Agent Touring considered himself one of the Hellhounds present at the murder.”

Judge Grangaitz paused to consider Jettal’s rebuttal, then nodded. “Objection over-ruled. The observation will remain on record.”

Looking far more pleased, Jettal concluded his session while he was ahead. “No more questions, your Honour.”

Sympathy game, Auris thought in disgust. The defence may have won the pity of the court, but no matter. Hayate had sown the seeds of their final conclusion well, and hopefully Tagus would have come back with more evidence for Auris to use by the last trial day.

Besides, the Shadows will have their justice in the end. Auris guaranteed it.

Spoiler for Author's Note:

I'm aware that court-room procedure doesn't follow the way I described exactly, but I'm using poetic licence to get points across instead of going for realism .

I'm surprised at how easily these court scenes are coming to me now--I've been reading novels about lawyers, so maybe that's helped?

Next part will be about Fate's testimony, before concluding the second Trial Day...and heading onto more fun things! Expect certain iconic Shadows to start (re)appearing soon...

New Part 1-4A
New Part 4B
New Part 5: Trial Day 1A
New Part 5: Trial Day 1B
New Part 5: Trial Day 1C and New Part 6
New Part 7
Part 8 and Part 9: Trial Day 2

[vic-vic]

Originally Posted by deathcurse

Sorry for the double-postage! But I bring update!

What secrets are the Gallants hiding? What's Raven's side of the story? And who's really lying?

Crime Never Sleeps
Part 10: Trial Day 2

“The worst things we do are always by our own choice.”

Spoiler for Crime Never Sleeps, Part 10: Trial Day 2:

“What?” Nanoha cried, along with half of the other people in the stands. She turned sideways—oh, she had forgotten that Fate was stuck on a bench in the hall, waiting for her turn on the stand.

Raven Gallant had jerked, her large eyes dark green in her pale face. Her shoulders started to shake, in that way Nanoha recognized as a little girl trying not to cry.

“Objection!” Officer Favager shouted. “What evidence does the witness have for this?” Normally a comment like that would be stupid, even for a new and out-classed officer, but as the Gallant Trial was an anomaly in that due to confidentiality of the NSIS’s open missions, not all of the evidence had been shared ahead of time to the full court.

After being around Fate and Chrono for so long, Nanoha was aware that a trial like this one favoured the group with the most evidence. And considering that the prosecution was allied with the Intelligence Service, it just made these proceedings seem more and more like a show trial. Only Judge Grangaitz’s reputation for fairness, the genuinely impartial jury and Hayate’s public image kept logical people from openly accusing the whole court of stacking the deck to get a conviction.

However, Nanoha thought cynically, clenching her fists as she watched Auris’ pleased expression and Officer Jettal’s increasingly nervous one, it wasn’t like the TSAB hadn’t done their best, throwing two poor young officers into the courtroom to get decimated by Hayate and Auris in trial.

Judge Grangaitz slammed his gavel down on the sound block, cutting through the disorderly debate. “Order! Objection sustained. Prosecutor, provide evidence for the witness testimony.”

“Yes, Judge.” Hayate nodded at Rein, who transmitted a file to the main projector. “Director, are these the personal records of Edlin and Yvonne Gallant that the NSIS has recovered from the Vaizen police?”

“Yes. From these records, we can see that Edlin Gallant has a criminal record for second degree murder.” The text was bold and irrefutable on the evidence projector. Auris continued, “Yvonne Gallant was convicted of accessory to murder for the same crime. Both served out only a portion of their sentences before they were released on early parole.”

Why early parole? Nanoha couldn’t help wondering, making a mental note to ask Fate about it sometime.

Hayate waved a hand. “Why did you believe that Agent Touring would have been in danger from the Gallants if he had warned them about the assassination attempt? Their criminal records had ended with those served sentences.”

“They received no more convictions,” corrected Auris. “From their financial records, fully investigated by the Enforcers after their deaths, evidence of substantial unaccounted money has been found in their accounts. I had some knowledge of this illegal money—”

“Objection! There is no evidence that the money in the Gallants’ possession had been obtained through illegal methods.”

“Sustained.”

Auris rephrased her previous sentence. “I had knowledge of the unaccounted money, indicating that the Gallant family may continue to still be involved in illegal activities. With that in mind, I could not justify risking a TSAB officer’s life to warn targets who may react with hostility and endanger the altruistic messenger. This is in accordance with NSIS policy Section 8.4, approved by the TSAB High Council.”

“Thank you, Director. No further questions, your Honour.”

So, the prosecutors had opened up a whole unexpected can of worms then taped it shut again with red tape. Nanoha had to commend them for their ingenuity—by holding onto that revelation at the end, they didn’t give the defence council a change to cross-examine Auris over those points without unintentionally degenerating into a debate over TSAB policies—a controversial topic even in the best of times. It wasn’t likely that inexperienced officers like Thomas Jettal and Carina Favager would risk accidentally offending TSAB High Council members by attacking the idea that Auris had acted on a bad policy. Even in justice, politics kept rearing its ugly head.

Sometimes, Nanoha really hated working for the TSAB. She did understand that oftentimes morally ambiguous policies had to be passed—but the reminder always put a bad taste in Nanoha’s mouth. Shadows were always so slimy—they played outside the rules, but hid behind their vague policies whenever it suited them.

And there was an obvious benefit for the NSIS being the black-ops section of the TSAB—who could possibly catch them lying, when they were the ones who provided the evidence to catch the liars?

**O**

Trial Day 2 - Defendant Testimony #1

“Defence would like to call the defendant to the stand.”

Raven Gallant rose, her face thin and drawn—probably from hearing the nasty truth about her parents, Auris guessed. Hayate watched Raven with concerned eyes, looking like she wanted nothing more than to run up to the girl and give her a hug. The eleven-year old was dressed in a neat dress, formal enough to be suitable for a court proceeding but cute enough to exaggerate her youthful features. It was likely a tactic from the defence to try and stir sympathy for the child criminal, and to Auris’ displeasure it seemed to be working on the audience. If she heard one more teary, pitying intake of breath from the people in the stands, she was going to puke.

“Are you sure that you want to do the questioning for everyone today?” Auris muttered to Hayate as Jettal ran through the swearing in process with Raven. “It’s a lot of work for you.”

Hayate gave her a brief, practical smile. “I have to—you couldn’t question yourself, and if you question Raven the press will paint it as a cruel witch hunt from the NSIS against a poor little girl. And I know Fate-chan best.”

Auris wasn’t sure how much she liked that this part of the trial was hinging on Hayate alone; the Lt. General was being very odd of late. Half the time Auris wasn’t sure if Hayate was going to try and pull a miracle to work with Auris and yet also manage to secure a slap on the hand for Gallant, or if Hayate was going to throw Gallant to the wolves. “All right, I’ll let you handle it.”

“Prosecutor?” Judge Grangaitz asked at that moment.

“Yes, Judge.” Hayate moved out from behind the desk, clasping her hands behind her back as she paced along the front of the room. “Miss Gallant, could you please tell us the events of what happened after you first heard the Hellhounds entering your house?”

Raven licked her lips before taking a deep breath. “I heard the door get kicked down. Daddy pushed me into the closet by the stairs—he told me to be really quiet. Then he closed the door.” She stopped, her shoulders hunching with the effort not to cry.

Hayate actually paused for a few seconds to let Raven compose herself. Auris would have just pressed on, but it probably wouldn’t look good if they made a little girl cry in front of scandal-seeking news casters. “What happened after he closed the door? Could you see anything?”

“I was looking through the cracks,” Raven said mechanically, her entire expression haunted by the memories. “They—the Hellhounds—came into the living room.”

“How many of them could you see?”

“At least eight. But I couldn’t see the whole room from the closet.”

“So you can only confirm eight Hellhounds being present, correct?”

“…Yes.” Gallant looked anxiously at Jettal, but the man looked equally nervous. He wasn’t a complete idiot, Auris supposed, and could see where Hayate was going with her questioning.

“Only eight,” Hayate said, “Out of twelve Hellhounds found at the murder scene.” Her emotionless tone made the statement even more notable. Lifting a hand at Rein, Hayate then pointed to the picture of Keen Touring flashed upon the screen. “Do you remember seeing this man at your house?”

Raven’s lower lip trembled. “…No.” Auris had to give her some credit for not coming up with lame excuses to try and twist a fake explanation for it. Besides, Auris knew that there was no way Raven could have recognized Touring—her agent had been famous for his ability to alter his appearance for undercover cases, even from moment to moment. The clean-shaven, smiling and crisp Keen Touring in the photo never looked anything like the personas he wore while undercover.

“At the warehouse, did you specifically try to look for your parents’ murderers?”

“No,” Raven whimpered. “I was just so angry. It hurt so much, hearing Mom and Daddy’s screams inside my head. I just wanted to make it all stop. I didn’t know that there were any other people inside but my parents’ murderers.”

Lies. Auris glared at Raven, feeling her anger shifting in cold rivers inside her chest. Maybe there would be some satisfaction in killing her after the verdict anyways—although a long prison sentence without chance of parole sounds good too. How dare she lie about her intent. Auris was vaguely aware of the irony in that statement, but the circumstances differed—the Shadows lied in the service of others. Raven Gallant was lying to save her own skin.

Hayate either appeared to believe Raven’s remorse, or she did an incredible job of hiding her distaste at the innocent act. “Do you remember seeing Agent Touring at the warehouse murder scene?”

Raven lowered her gaze. “I can’t remember. I didn’t see any of them—I just kept seeing my parents’ bodies. The Hellhounds had beat them then cut their throats and laughed while they—”

“Objection!” Auris called. “Defendant is straying from the question that was posed.”

“Sustained,” Grangaitz said, although he didn’t look stern as he looked over at Raven. “Please just answer the question, Miss Gallant.”

“I can’t remember if I saw Agent Touring at the warehouse or not.”

“And yet,” Hayate said softly, “you killed him anyways along with your parents’ killers.”

Raven turned icy green eyes on Hayate, her body stilling in a way that made Auris flinch in wariness.

“Yes.”

Hayate stared back at her, her own face similar poker mask, but the brunette wasn’t as good at governing the emotions in her eyes. “No more questions, your Honour.”

Officer Jettal took her place, although his anxiety showed in his constant adjusting of his uniform collar. “Miss Gallant, while hiding in the closest, could you have possibly missed seeing more Hellhound members due to your line of sight?”

“Yes. There was part of a wall in the way. I heard lots of voices, so there could have been people that I didn’t see over there too.”

“Miss Gallant, I know this will be difficult, but how did the Hellhounds kill your parents?”

Raven shuddered, her eyes glazed and her mind clearly somewhere dark. “They hit Mom and Daddy, all of them together. Then they cut their throats and joked with each other.”

Addressing the room, Jettal held up a combat knife inside a plastic evidence bag. “The murder weapons were found on the Hellhound gang members, still with the Gallants’ blood fresh on the blades. One of the murder weapons was found on the table where Agent Touring was sitting.”

Clever man—he couldn’t outright say that the knife could have been Touring’s without getting an objection, but he had set the seed of doubt and association in the minds of the jurors. Auris was more concerned about the media—if someone decided to mis-claim that Touring actually possessed one of the murder weapons, the rumour would be nearly impossible to squash afterwards. She needed people to think of Touring (and therefore of the NSIS) as victims in affairs like this—mis-judged by criminals and law enforcement alike.

“Miss Gallant, did you hear any of the Hellhounds protesting their actions?”

“No. They were all laughing and egging each other on.”

“As a capable and skilled NSIS agent,” Jettal said, giving a nod at Auris in a call-back to her earlier testimony, “Agent Touring would have known not to break his cover by acting differently than his comrades. From the reports he has sent back to the Director chronicling the events of that day—” Here Jettal brought up the short messages for everyone to see. “—his wording indicates that he was also present in the house while the Hellhounds were murdering Edlin and Yvonne Gallant.”

“Objection,” Hayate spoke up. “The defence is inferring that Agent Touring’s report that they were leaving the Gallant house means that Agent Touring was present during the killing.”

“The language that Agent Touring used in his report, the multiple uses of “we” and of “us” while referring to the actual assassination reasonably suggest that Agent Touring considered himself one of the Hellhounds present at the murder.”

Judge Grangaitz paused to consider Jettal’s rebuttal, then nodded. “Objection over-ruled. The observation will remain on record.”

Looking far more pleased, Jettal concluded his session while he was ahead. “No more questions, your Honour.”

Sympathy game, Auris thought in disgust. The defence may have won the pity of the court, but no matter. Hayate had sown the seeds of their final conclusion well, and hopefully Tagus would have come back with more evidence for Auris to use by the last trial day.

Besides, the Shadows will have their justice in the end. Auris guaranteed it.

Spoiler for Author's Note:

I'm aware that court-room procedure doesn't follow the way I described exactly, but I'm using poetic licence to get points across instead of going for realism .

I'm surprised at how easily these court scenes are coming to me now--I've been reading novels about lawyers, so maybe that's helped?

Next part will be about Fate's testimony, before concluding the second Trial Day...and heading onto more fun things! Expect certain iconic Shadows to start (re)appearing soon...

New Part 1-4A
New Part 4B
New Part 5: Trial Day 1A
New Part 5: Trial Day 1B
New Part 5: Trial Day 1C and New Part 6
New Part 7
Part 8 and Part 9: Trial Day 2

Poor Raven, she became a toll in the adults` games. And i agree with Nanoha here - TSAB repeating about serving justice, but they oftenky resort to morally ambiguous methods.

I have feeling that not Auris nor Hayate will not happy in the end of the story.

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by deathcurse

Sorry for the double-postage! But I bring update!

What secrets are the Gallants hiding? What's Raven's side of the story? And who's really lying?

Crime Never Sleeps
Part 10: Trial Day 2

“The worst things we do are always by our own choice.”

Spoiler for Crime Never Sleeps, Part 10: Trial Day 2:

“What?” Nanoha cried, along with half of the other people in the stands. She turned sideways—oh, she had forgotten that Fate was stuck on a bench in the hall, waiting for her turn on the stand.

Raven Gallant had jerked, her large eyes dark green in her pale face. Her shoulders started to shake, in that way Nanoha recognized as a little girl trying not to cry.

“Objection!” Officer Favager shouted. “What evidence does the witness have for this?” Normally a comment like that would be stupid, even for a new and out-classed officer, but as the Gallant Trial was an anomaly in that due to confidentiality of the NSIS’s open missions, not all of the evidence had been shared ahead of time to the full court.

After being around Fate and Chrono for so long, Nanoha was aware that a trial like this one favoured the group with the most evidence. And considering that the prosecution was allied with the Intelligence Service, it just made these proceedings seem more and more like a show trial. Only Judge Grangaitz’s reputation for fairness, the genuinely impartial jury and Hayate’s public image kept logical people from openly accusing the whole court of stacking the deck to get a conviction.

However, Nanoha thought cynically, clenching her fists as she watched Auris’ pleased expression and Officer Jettal’s increasingly nervous one, it wasn’t like the TSAB hadn’t done their best, throwing two poor young officers into the courtroom to get decimated by Hayate and Auris in trial.

Judge Grangaitz slammed his gavel down on the sound block, cutting through the disorderly debate. “Order! Objection sustained. Prosecutor, provide evidence for the witness testimony.”

“Yes, Judge.” Hayate nodded at Rein, who transmitted a file to the main projector. “Director, are these the personal records of Edlin and Yvonne Gallant that the NSIS has recovered from the Vaizen police?”

“Yes. From these records, we can see that Edlin Gallant has a criminal record for second degree murder.” The text was bold and irrefutable on the evidence projector. Auris continued, “Yvonne Gallant was convicted of accessory to murder for the same crime. Both served out only a portion of their sentences before they were released on early parole.”

Why early parole? Nanoha couldn’t help wondering, making a mental note to ask Fate about it sometime.

Hayate waved a hand. “Why did you believe that Agent Touring would have been in danger from the Gallants if he had warned them about the assassination attempt? Their criminal records had ended with those served sentences.”

“They received no more convictions,” corrected Auris. “From their financial records, fully investigated by the Enforcers after their deaths, evidence of substantial unaccounted money has been found in their accounts. I had some knowledge of this illegal money—”

“Objection! There is no evidence that the money in the Gallants’ possession had been obtained through illegal methods.”

“Sustained.”

Auris rephrased her previous sentence. “I had knowledge of the unaccounted money, indicating that the Gallant family may continue to still be involved in illegal activities. With that in mind, I could not justify risking a TSAB officer’s life to warn targets who may react with hostility and endanger the altruistic messenger. This is in accordance with NSIS policy Section 8.4, approved by the TSAB High Council.”

“Thank you, Director. No further questions, your Honour.”

So, the prosecutors had opened up a whole unexpected can of worms then taped it shut again with red tape. Nanoha had to commend them for their ingenuity—by holding onto that revelation at the end, they didn’t give the defence council a change to cross-examine Auris over those points without unintentionally degenerating into a debate over TSAB policies—a controversial topic even in the best of times. It wasn’t likely that inexperienced officers like Thomas Jettal and Carina Favager would risk accidentally offending TSAB High Council members by attacking the idea that Auris had acted on a bad policy. Even in justice, politics kept rearing its ugly head.

Sometimes, Nanoha really hated working for the TSAB. She did understand that oftentimes morally ambiguous policies had to be passed—but the reminder always put a bad taste in Nanoha’s mouth. Shadows were always so slimy—they played outside the rules, but hid behind their vague policies whenever it suited them.

And there was an obvious benefit for the NSIS being the black-ops section of the TSAB—who could possibly catch them lying, when they were the ones who provided the evidence to catch the liars?

**O**

Trial Day 2 - Defendant Testimony #1

“Defence would like to call the defendant to the stand.”

Raven Gallant rose, her face thin and drawn—probably from hearing the nasty truth about her parents, Auris guessed. Hayate watched Raven with concerned eyes, looking like she wanted nothing more than to run up to the girl and give her a hug. The eleven-year old was dressed in a neat dress, formal enough to be suitable for a court proceeding but cute enough to exaggerate her youthful features. It was likely a tactic from the defence to try and stir sympathy for the child criminal, and to Auris’ displeasure it seemed to be working on the audience. If she heard one more teary, pitying intake of breath from the people in the stands, she was going to puke.

“Are you sure that you want to do the questioning for everyone today?” Auris muttered to Hayate as Jettal ran through the swearing in process with Raven. “It’s a lot of work for you.”

Hayate gave her a brief, practical smile. “I have to—you couldn’t question yourself, and if you question Raven the press will paint it as a cruel witch hunt from the NSIS against a poor little girl. And I know Fate-chan best.”

Auris wasn’t sure how much she liked that this part of the trial was hinging on Hayate alone; the Lt. General was being very odd of late. Half the time Auris wasn’t sure if Hayate was going to try and pull a miracle to work with Auris and yet also manage to secure a slap on the hand for Gallant, or if Hayate was going to throw Gallant to the wolves. “All right, I’ll let you handle it.”

“Prosecutor?” Judge Grangaitz asked at that moment.

“Yes, Judge.” Hayate moved out from behind the desk, clasping her hands behind her back as she paced along the front of the room. “Miss Gallant, could you please tell us the events of what happened after you first heard the Hellhounds entering your house?”

Raven licked her lips before taking a deep breath. “I heard the door get kicked down. Daddy pushed me into the closet by the stairs—he told me to be really quiet. Then he closed the door.” She stopped, her shoulders hunching with the effort not to cry.

Hayate actually paused for a few seconds to let Raven compose herself. Auris would have just pressed on, but it probably wouldn’t look good if they made a little girl cry in front of scandal-seeking news casters. “What happened after he closed the door? Could you see anything?”

“I was looking through the cracks,” Raven said mechanically, her entire expression haunted by the memories. “They—the Hellhounds—came into the living room.”

“How many of them could you see?”

“At least eight. But I couldn’t see the whole room from the closet.”

“So you can only confirm eight Hellhounds being present, correct?”

“…Yes.” Gallant looked anxiously at Jettal, but the man looked equally nervous. He wasn’t a complete idiot, Auris supposed, and could see where Hayate was going with her questioning.

“Only eight,” Hayate said, “Out of twelve Hellhounds found at the murder scene.” Her emotionless tone made the statement even more notable. Lifting a hand at Rein, Hayate then pointed to the picture of Keen Touring flashed upon the screen. “Do you remember seeing this man at your house?”

Raven’s lower lip trembled. “…No.” Auris had to give her some credit for not coming up with lame excuses to try and twist a fake explanation for it. Besides, Auris knew that there was no way Raven could have recognized Touring—her agent had been famous for his ability to alter his appearance for undercover cases, even from moment to moment. The clean-shaven, smiling and crisp Keen Touring in the photo never looked anything like the personas he wore while undercover.

“At the warehouse, did you specifically try to look for your parents’ murderers?”

“No,” Raven whimpered. “I was just so angry. It hurt so much, hearing Mom and Daddy’s screams inside my head. I just wanted to make it all stop. I didn’t know that there were any other people inside but my parents’ murderers.”

Lies. Auris glared at Raven, feeling her anger shifting in cold rivers inside her chest. Maybe there would be some satisfaction in killing her after the verdict anyways—although a long prison sentence without chance of parole sounds good too. How dare she lie about her intent. Auris was vaguely aware of the irony in that statement, but the circumstances differed—the Shadows lied in the service of others. Raven Gallant was lying to save her own skin.

Hayate either appeared to believe Raven’s remorse, or she did an incredible job of hiding her distaste at the innocent act. “Do you remember seeing Agent Touring at the warehouse murder scene?”

Raven lowered her gaze. “I can’t remember. I didn’t see any of them—I just kept seeing my parents’ bodies. The Hellhounds had beat them then cut their throats and laughed while they—”

“Objection!” Auris called. “Defendant is straying from the question that was posed.”

“Sustained,” Grangaitz said, although he didn’t look stern as he looked over at Raven. “Please just answer the question, Miss Gallant.”

“I can’t remember if I saw Agent Touring at the warehouse or not.”

“And yet,” Hayate said softly, “you killed him anyways along with your parents’ killers.”

Raven turned icy green eyes on Hayate, her body stilling in a way that made Auris flinch in wariness.

“Yes.”

Hayate stared back at her, her own face similar poker mask, but the brunette wasn’t as good at governing the emotions in her eyes. “No more questions, your Honour.”

Officer Jettal took her place, although his anxiety showed in his constant adjusting of his uniform collar. “Miss Gallant, while hiding in the closest, could you have possibly missed seeing more Hellhound members due to your line of sight?”

“Yes. There was part of a wall in the way. I heard lots of voices, so there could have been people that I didn’t see over there too.”

“Miss Gallant, I know this will be difficult, but how did the Hellhounds kill your parents?”

Raven shuddered, her eyes glazed and her mind clearly somewhere dark. “They hit Mom and Daddy, all of them together. Then they cut their throats and joked with each other.”

Addressing the room, Jettal held up a combat knife inside a plastic evidence bag. “The murder weapons were found on the Hellhound gang members, still with the Gallants’ blood fresh on the blades. One of the murder weapons was found on the table where Agent Touring was sitting.”

Clever man—he couldn’t outright say that the knife could have been Touring’s without getting an objection, but he had set the seed of doubt and association in the minds of the jurors. Auris was more concerned about the media—if someone decided to mis-claim that Touring actually possessed one of the murder weapons, the rumour would be nearly impossible to squash afterwards. She needed people to think of Touring (and therefore of the NSIS) as victims in affairs like this—mis-judged by criminals and law enforcement alike.

“Miss Gallant, did you hear any of the Hellhounds protesting their actions?”

“No. They were all laughing and egging each other on.”

“As a capable and skilled NSIS agent,” Jettal said, giving a nod at Auris in a call-back to her earlier testimony, “Agent Touring would have known not to break his cover by acting differently than his comrades. From the reports he has sent back to the Director chronicling the events of that day—” Here Jettal brought up the short messages for everyone to see. “—his wording indicates that he was also present in the house while the Hellhounds were murdering Edlin and Yvonne Gallant.”

“Objection,” Hayate spoke up. “The defence is inferring that Agent Touring’s report that they were leaving the Gallant house means that Agent Touring was present during the killing.”

“The language that Agent Touring used in his report, the multiple uses of “we” and of “us” while referring to the actual assassination reasonably suggest that Agent Touring considered himself one of the Hellhounds present at the murder.”

Judge Grangaitz paused to consider Jettal’s rebuttal, then nodded. “Objection over-ruled. The observation will remain on record.”

Looking far more pleased, Jettal concluded his session while he was ahead. “No more questions, your Honour.”

Sympathy game, Auris thought in disgust. The defence may have won the pity of the court, but no matter. Hayate had sown the seeds of their final conclusion well, and hopefully Tagus would have come back with more evidence for Auris to use by the last trial day.

Besides, the Shadows will have their justice in the end. Auris guaranteed it.

Spoiler for Author's Note:

I'm aware that court-room procedure doesn't follow the way I described exactly, but I'm using poetic licence to get points across instead of going for realism .

I'm surprised at how easily these court scenes are coming to me now--I've been reading novels about lawyers, so maybe that's helped?

Next part will be about Fate's testimony, before concluding the second Trial Day...and heading onto more fun things! Expect certain iconic Shadows to start (re)appearing soon...

New Part 1-4A
New Part 4B
New Part 5: Trial Day 1A
New Part 5: Trial Day 1B
New Part 5: Trial Day 1C and New Part 6
New Part 7
Part 8 and Part 9: Trial Day 2

Well, certainly no easy answers here, are there?

Raven continues to be an interesting little challenge. I still honestly don't feel very much sympathy for her, if only because in my mind "killing a possibly innocent Shadow in cold blood because he killed Mommy and Daddy" isn't much of an excuse, especially since she holds no remorse over it. Granted, I guess she wouldn't feel remorseful because she wanted to avenge her parents, but I have to admit I'm more on Auris's side right now. I want justice for the fallen. It's sad that Raven saw what she did and lost her parents the way she did, but it doesn't justify what she did, even if the agent himself was questionable.

[Yasanagi]

New Material Days chapter uploaded here with only one new interlude scene featuring Shamal and Zafira.

[NorthernFallout]

10 minutes. No beta. Complaints go to the OCC department. Damn it, OCC.

Spoiler for Face Hug:

Vivio was sleeping in her bed, panting heavily. Her face was red and she sweating profusely. Beckoning down on her was Nanoha, unable to sleep because she couldn’t stop worry.

“Poor Vivio... Coming down with a cold.”

Vivio started to cry, probably due to a fever-induced nightmare. Nanoha picked her up and hugged her against her chest.

“It’s OK, Vivio. Don’t worry, I’m here for you,” Nanoha whispered and patted her on the back. She began to wake up, her crying subduing. “That’s a good girl. We wouldn’t want to wake up Fate-mama, right?”

Vivio didn’t really respond and just bobbed her head back and forth. She wrapped her arms around Nanoha’s neck and stared into her eyes.

“Vivio...?”

Suddenly Vivio’s eyes opened wide and she opened her mouth wide. And wider. Eventually her mouth unhooked like a snake’s and she covered Nanoha’s face who frantically tried to get her off.

Something then shot out from Vivio’s throat into Nanoha’s mouth. Her throat bulged as if she was drinking something long and slimy. Sweat drenched her clothes and she was out of air. Then she lost consciousness.

***

“You really had me worried!” Fate said as she served the pancakes at breakfast. “I found you passed out on the floor! What happened last night?”

Nanoha shook her head and bit into her toast. “I don’t know... Maybe I catched the same cold as Vivio. That was a horrible nightmare last night...”

“You should go see Shamal later today.”

“Yes, I will.”

Silence fell as Fate observed Nanoha eating with great passion. “You are really hungry aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I don’t know why. I had a late dinner yesterday, but still...” She burped suddenly and put a hand over her mouth apologetically. The both laughed.

“It’s a nice day today,” Fate said and looked out the window. “Let’s take Vivio out for a walk after work.”

Nanoha nodded and coughed. She sipped some coffee to clear her throat, but the irritating whatever it was wouldn’t let go. Her coughing became more violent.

“Nanoha, are you OK?”

She held up a hand to indicate that she was, when she clearly wasn’t. She managed to get a hand over her mouth as a bit of vomit passed through her fingers.

“Nanoha!”

She flopped down with her back on the table, coughing and drooling. Her body went into a spasm. Her facial expression was that of extreme pain and agony. Fate rushed for water and tried to phone Shamal at the same time.

Nanoha began to scream, louder and louder. When it reached a peak, just as Fate was trying to give her water, her stomach sprang open. Blood splashed right into Fate’s face who just stared with wide eyes and her mouth agape. Stomach content flooded out of Nanoha and Fate heard a squeal from inside it.

Nanoha went quiet. Fate was almost paralyzed, blood and vomit covering her face. She stared at Nanoha’s stomach where something with blonde, blood-drenched hair emerged. It didn’t have any eyes and its mouth was filled with silver-looking teeth. It squealed again before racing off the table, ripping straight through the remains of Nanoha’s stomach and disappeared somewhere into the house. Fate fell onto her knees, sobbing.

[Keroko]

The members of OCC regret nothing.

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by AtomicoX

10 minutes. No beta. Complaints go to the OCC department. Damn it, OCC.

Spoiler for Face Hug:

Vivio was sleeping in her bed, panting heavily. Her face was red and she sweating profusely. Beckoning down on her was Nanoha, unable to sleep because she couldn’t stop worry.

“Poor Vivio... Coming down with a cold.”

Vivio started to cry, probably due to a fever-induced nightmare. Nanoha picked her up and hugged her against her chest.

“It’s OK, Vivio. Don’t worry, I’m here for you,” Nanoha whispered and patted her on the back. She began to wake up, her crying subduing. “That’s a good girl. We wouldn’t want to wake up Fate-mama, right?”

Vivio didn’t really respond and just bobbed her head back and forth. She wrapped her arms around Nanoha’s neck and stared into her eyes.

“Vivio...?”

Suddenly Vivio’s eyes opened wide and she opened her mouth wide. And wider. Eventually her mouth unhooked like a snake’s and she covered Nanoha’s face who frantically tried to get her off.

Something then shot out from Vivio’s throat into Nanoha’s mouth. Her throat bulged as if she was drinking something long and slimy. Sweat drenched her clothes and she was out of air. Then she lost consciousness.

***

“You really had me worried!” Fate said as she served the pancakes at breakfast. “I found you passed out on the floor! What happened last night?”

Nanoha shook her head and bit into her toast. “I don’t know... Maybe I catched the same cold as Vivio. That was a horrible nightmare last night...”

“You should go see Shamal later today.”

“Yes, I will.”

Silence fell as Fate observed Nanoha eating with great passion. “You are really hungry aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I don’t know why. I had a late dinner yesterday, but still...” She burped suddenly and put a hand over her mouth apologetically. The both laughed.

“It’s a nice day today,” Fate said and looked out the window. “Let’s take Vivio out for a walk after work.”

Nanoha nodded and coughed. She sipped some coffee to clear her throat, but the irritating whatever it was wouldn’t let go. Her coughing became more violent.

“Nanoha, are you OK?”

She held up a hand to indicate that she was, when she clearly wasn’t. She managed to get a hand over her mouth as a bit of vomit passed through her fingers.

“Nanoha!”

She flopped down with her back on the table, coughing and drooling. Her body went into a spasm. Her facial expression was that of extreme pain and agony. Fate rushed for water and tried to phone Shamal at the same time.

Nanoha began to scream, louder and louder. When it reached a peak, just as Fate was trying to give her water, her stomach sprang open. Blood splashed right into Fate’s face who just stared with wide eyes and her mouth agape. Stomach content flooded out of Nanoha and Fate heard a squeal from inside it.

Nanoha went quiet. Fate was almost paralyzed, blood and vomit covering her face. She stared at Nanoha’s stomach where something with blonde, blood-drenched hair emerged. It didn’t have any eyes and its mouth was filled with silver-looking teeth. It squealed again before racing off the table, ripping straight through the remains of Nanoha’s stomach and disappeared somewhere into the house. Fate fell onto her knees, sobbing.

Yikes, Alien!

Originally Posted by Yasanagi

New Material Days chapter uploaded here with only one new interlude scene featuring Shamal and Zafira.

I've been meaning to ask this, but at the end of this chapter, did L actually consummate? Nothing against it or such, just curious

[Nanya01]

Originally Posted by Tiresias

I've been meaning to ask this, but at the end of this chapter, did L actually consummate? Nothing against it or such, just curious

Yes. Yes she did.

It's because of her and Yami doing that... It caused a shitstorm over here and I nearly quit writing on the story (I did for awhile) because of it.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Tiresias

Yikes, Alien!

And it all started because someone mentioned a blogger comparing Vivio to a parasite latching onto Nanoha like a facehugger.

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by AtomicoX

10 minutes. No beta. Complaints go to the OCC department. Damn it, OCC.

Spoiler for Face Hug:

Vivio was sleeping in her bed, panting heavily. Her face was red and she sweating profusely. Beckoning down on her was Nanoha, unable to sleep because she couldn’t stop worry.

“Poor Vivio... Coming down with a cold.”

Vivio started to cry, probably due to a fever-induced nightmare. Nanoha picked her up and hugged her against her chest.

“It’s OK, Vivio. Don’t worry, I’m here for you,” Nanoha whispered and patted her on the back. She began to wake up, her crying subduing. “That’s a good girl. We wouldn’t want to wake up Fate-mama, right?”

Vivio didn’t really respond and just bobbed her head back and forth. She wrapped her arms around Nanoha’s neck and stared into her eyes.

“Vivio...?”

Suddenly Vivio’s eyes opened wide and she opened her mouth wide. And wider. Eventually her mouth unhooked like a snake’s and she covered Nanoha’s face who frantically tried to get her off.

Something then shot out from Vivio’s throat into Nanoha’s mouth. Her throat bulged as if she was drinking something long and slimy. Sweat drenched her clothes and she was out of air. Then she lost consciousness.

***

“You really had me worried!” Fate said as she served the pancakes at breakfast. “I found you passed out on the floor! What happened last night?”

Nanoha shook her head and bit into her toast. “I don’t know... Maybe I catched the same cold as Vivio. That was a horrible nightmare last night...”

“You should go see Shamal later today.”

“Yes, I will.”

Silence fell as Fate observed Nanoha eating with great passion. “You are really hungry aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I don’t know why. I had a late dinner yesterday, but still...” She burped suddenly and put a hand over her mouth apologetically. The both laughed.

“It’s a nice day today,” Fate said and looked out the window. “Let’s take Vivio out for a walk after work.”

Nanoha nodded and coughed. She sipped some coffee to clear her throat, but the irritating whatever it was wouldn’t let go. Her coughing became more violent.

“Nanoha, are you OK?”

She held up a hand to indicate that she was, when she clearly wasn’t. She managed to get a hand over her mouth as a bit of vomit passed through her fingers.

“Nanoha!”

She flopped down with her back on the table, coughing and drooling. Her body went into a spasm. Her facial expression was that of extreme pain and agony. Fate rushed for water and tried to phone Shamal at the same time.

Nanoha began to scream, louder and louder. When it reached a peak, just as Fate was trying to give her water, her stomach sprang open. Blood splashed right into Fate’s face who just stared with wide eyes and her mouth agape. Stomach content flooded out of Nanoha and Fate heard a squeal from inside it.

Nanoha went quiet. Fate was almost paralyzed, blood and vomit covering her face. She stared at Nanoha’s stomach where something with blonde, blood-drenched hair emerged. It didn’t have any eyes and its mouth was filled with silver-looking teeth. It squealed again before racing off the table, ripping straight through the remains of Nanoha’s stomach and disappeared somewhere into the house. Fate fell onto her knees, sobbing.

Well, I didn't really need to sleep tonight, anyway....

[Moczo]

Originally Posted by AtomicoX

10 minutes. No beta. Complaints go to the OCC department. Damn it, OCC.

Spoiler for Face Hug:

Vivio was sleeping in her bed, panting heavily. Her face was red and she sweating profusely. Beckoning down on her was Nanoha, unable to sleep because she couldn’t stop worry.

“Poor Vivio... Coming down with a cold.”

Vivio started to cry, probably due to a fever-induced nightmare. Nanoha picked her up and hugged her against her chest.

“It’s OK, Vivio. Don’t worry, I’m here for you,” Nanoha whispered and patted her on the back. She began to wake up, her crying subduing. “That’s a good girl. We wouldn’t want to wake up Fate-mama, right?”

Vivio didn’t really respond and just bobbed her head back and forth. She wrapped her arms around Nanoha’s neck and stared into her eyes.

“Vivio...?”

Suddenly Vivio’s eyes opened wide and she opened her mouth wide. And wider. Eventually her mouth unhooked like a snake’s and she covered Nanoha’s face who frantically tried to get her off.

Something then shot out from Vivio’s throat into Nanoha’s mouth. Her throat bulged as if she was drinking something long and slimy. Sweat drenched her clothes and she was out of air. Then she lost consciousness.

***

“You really had me worried!” Fate said as she served the pancakes at breakfast. “I found you passed out on the floor! What happened last night?”

Nanoha shook her head and bit into her toast. “I don’t know... Maybe I catched the same cold as Vivio. That was a horrible nightmare last night...”

“You should go see Shamal later today.”

“Yes, I will.”

Silence fell as Fate observed Nanoha eating with great passion. “You are really hungry aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I don’t know why. I had a late dinner yesterday, but still...” She burped suddenly and put a hand over her mouth apologetically. The both laughed.

“It’s a nice day today,” Fate said and looked out the window. “Let’s take Vivio out for a walk after work.”

Nanoha nodded and coughed. She sipped some coffee to clear her throat, but the irritating whatever it was wouldn’t let go. Her coughing became more violent.

“Nanoha, are you OK?”

She held up a hand to indicate that she was, when she clearly wasn’t. She managed to get a hand over her mouth as a bit of vomit passed through her fingers.

“Nanoha!”

She flopped down with her back on the table, coughing and drooling. Her body went into a spasm. Her facial expression was that of extreme pain and agony. Fate rushed for water and tried to phone Shamal at the same time.

Nanoha began to scream, louder and louder. When it reached a peak, just as Fate was trying to give her water, her stomach sprang open. Blood splashed right into Fate’s face who just stared with wide eyes and her mouth agape. Stomach content flooded out of Nanoha and Fate heard a squeal from inside it.

Nanoha went quiet. Fate was almost paralyzed, blood and vomit covering her face. She stared at Nanoha’s stomach where something with blonde, blood-drenched hair emerged. It didn’t have any eyes and its mouth was filled with silver-looking teeth. It squealed again before racing off the table, ripping straight through the remains of Nanoha’s stomach and disappeared somewhere into the house. Fate fell onto her knees, sobbing.

GAH!

Originally Posted by Nanya01

Yes. Yes she did.

It's because of her and Yami doing that... It caused a shitstorm over here and I nearly quit writing on the story (I did for awhile) because of it.

As I recall, the problem wasn't that they 'consumated' but that Yuuno didn't seem to care. So it was fixed by having Yami screw with his brain. Which made it... er... worse but in a better way? I don't know, it's kind of a complex situation...

[00-Raiser]

Originally Posted by Nanya01

Yes. Yes she did.

It's because of her and Yami doing that... It caused a shitstorm over here and I nearly quit writing on the story (I did for awhile) because of it.

You're overexaggering it again. That was nowhere near being shitstorm levels. There was problems with the way you went about it, and we were merely giving you feedback on it. Even though you didn't listen to us and included it anyways, you did at least modify it so it wasn't an issue anymore.

I honestly don't know why you were so hell bent on including sex in the story, especially when at first it had absolutely no relevance, resulted in blatant OOCness, and overall just cheapened the story. Sex isn't one of those things you can just toss in for the lulz in this sort of story.

But now that Yasanagi has saved his story by changing the way he handled it like he did, it isn't an issue anymore. There's no reason to hold a grudge, Nanya.

Oh, and L didn't 'consumate', she outright raped him.

[shiroi mahotsukai]

Originally Posted by 00-Raiser

You're overexaggering it again. That was nowhere near being shitstorm levels. There was problems with the way you went about it, and we were merely giving you feedback on it. Even though you didn't listen to us and included it anyways, you did at least modify it so it wasn't an issue anymore.

I honestly don't know why you were so hell bent on including sex in the story, especially when at first it had absolutely no relevance, resulted in blatant OOCness, and overall just cheapened the story. Sex isn't one of those things you can just toss in for the lulz in this sort of story.

But now that Yasanagi has saved his story by changing the way he handled it like he did, it isn't an issue anymore. There's no reason to hold a grudge, Nanya.

Oh, and L didn't 'consumate', she outright raped him.

I completly forgot she did that (how I don't know). Another step towards the Moral Event Horizon, It's going to take a lot of work to humanize those three, they're showing themselves to be selfish monsters at the moment. I'm probably overexagerating but y'know.

[Justin_Brett]

Originally Posted by AtomicoX

10 minutes. No beta. Complaints go to the OCC department. Damn it, OCC.

Spoiler for Face Hug:

Vivio was sleeping in her bed, panting heavily. Her face was red and she sweating profusely. Beckoning down on her was Nanoha, unable to sleep because she couldn’t stop worry.

“Poor Vivio... Coming down with a cold.”

Vivio started to cry, probably due to a fever-induced nightmare. Nanoha picked her up and hugged her against her chest.

“It’s OK, Vivio. Don’t worry, I’m here for you,” Nanoha whispered and patted her on the back. She began to wake up, her crying subduing. “That’s a good girl. We wouldn’t want to wake up Fate-mama, right?”

Vivio didn’t really respond and just bobbed her head back and forth. She wrapped her arms around Nanoha’s neck and stared into her eyes.

“Vivio...?”

Suddenly Vivio’s eyes opened wide and she opened her mouth wide. And wider. Eventually her mouth unhooked like a snake’s and she covered Nanoha’s face who frantically tried to get her off.

Something then shot out from Vivio’s throat into Nanoha’s mouth. Her throat bulged as if she was drinking something long and slimy. Sweat drenched her clothes and she was out of air. Then she lost consciousness.

***

“You really had me worried!” Fate said as she served the pancakes at breakfast. “I found you passed out on the floor! What happened last night?”

Nanoha shook her head and bit into her toast. “I don’t know... Maybe I catched the same cold as Vivio. That was a horrible nightmare last night...”

“You should go see Shamal later today.”

“Yes, I will.”

Silence fell as Fate observed Nanoha eating with great passion. “You are really hungry aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I don’t know why. I had a late dinner yesterday, but still...” She burped suddenly and put a hand over her mouth apologetically. The both laughed.

“It’s a nice day today,” Fate said and looked out the window. “Let’s take Vivio out for a walk after work.”

Nanoha nodded and coughed. She sipped some coffee to clear her throat, but the irritating whatever it was wouldn’t let go. Her coughing became more violent.

“Nanoha, are you OK?”

She held up a hand to indicate that she was, when she clearly wasn’t. She managed to get a hand over her mouth as a bit of vomit passed through her fingers.

“Nanoha!”

She flopped down with her back on the table, coughing and drooling. Her body went into a spasm. Her facial expression was that of extreme pain and agony. Fate rushed for water and tried to phone Shamal at the same time.

Nanoha began to scream, louder and louder. When it reached a peak, just as Fate was trying to give her water, her stomach sprang open. Blood splashed right into Fate’s face who just stared with wide eyes and her mouth agape. Stomach content flooded out of Nanoha and Fate heard a squeal from inside it.

Nanoha went quiet. Fate was almost paralyzed, blood and vomit covering her face. She stared at Nanoha’s stomach where something with blonde, blood-drenched hair emerged. It didn’t have any eyes and its mouth was filled with silver-looking teeth. It squealed again before racing off the table, ripping straight through the remains of Nanoha’s stomach and disappeared somewhere into the house. Fate fell onto her knees, sobbing.

...why would...

...why

[deathcurse]

@vic-vic: No, I don't believe that either Auris or Hayate will be entirely happy with the ending! And it seems like fandom has made the TSAB quite an ambiguous and slightly corrupt organization....

@RadiantBeam: It's interesting, how normally I believe that most people would be sympathetic to Raven, since she's this poor girl who lost her family...it must mean that I'm doing things both wrong and right, to make the readers demonize Auris and Hayate , but yet also condemn Raven...

And now for other news: Something nice for people who were waiting on the cliffhanger last chapter ...

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Spoiler for A Familiar Life... Chapter 5:

Chapter 5: Fate’s interlude

It was silent here.

She could feel the warm, delicate weight of her closest companion in her lap, the shallow breathing lifting the fur up to tickle her fingers before dropping out of reach again—she didn’t dare rest her hand on Arf’s flank, too worried that she could harm her dear friend somehow.

“Arf,” Fate said, stroking the orange wolf’s head with one hand. “I finally realized—I really am Mother’s daughter.”

She couldn’t say any of this to anyone else. And normally she wouldn’t even dare confide it to Arf, but she knew that Arf’s mind was hazy with the lack of mana. Arf probably couldn’t hear her at all, with her body shut down to such an extent. Her familiar knew how to conserve mana to great extents.

Her…her first familiar.

Her second one still hadn’t quite gotten the hang of things yet.

“I understand now. I had tried to understand her before, just so that I can make peace with that part of my life…but now I truly understand.”

Fate ran her finger along the curve of Arf’s ear, lingering at the tufted tip.

“A person would really do anything…anything, to save the person that she loves.”

She felt herself smiling despite the anguish in her chest. So this was how Mother had felt—broken, but laughing. Mad.

“But that’s where it’s funny, Arf.”

Fate wanted to cry.

She wanted to laugh.

“I succeeded, where Mother had failed.”

In her desperation, Fate had found the key to resurrecting the dead.

It kind of surprised her that no one had thought of it before. That no one had done it before.

She really had out-done her mother in this regard.

“And I didn’t even need Al-Hazard to do it.”

And just like Mother, Fate had run into the same problem. The same bitter problem that twisted and ate at her insides, until Fate wanted to vomit, wanted to hit something, hurt something, just to rid herself a little of the turmoil.

“But it’s not right at all. It’s not the same.”

Fate forgave Mother for hating her. She had already forgiven her mother before, but not like this. Now, Fate knew. She understood.

“She’s not Nanoha. Not the Nanoha I loved. She’s not the same as she was before.”

Never—even when Fate had fought her, even when Mother had so hatefully called her a doll, a replacement…even then, Nanoha had never given her that look. A look of horror, of accusation…a furious look of betrayal and disillusionment. Nanoha had been horrified at what Fate had done to her. And with good reason—Fate had brought Nanoha back not quite the same as before.

Fate didn’t blame Nanoha for hating her.

She hated herself.

And in her more shameful moments, Fate hated Nanoha as well. Only for Nanoha, would Fate so willingly and unthinkingly damn herself just to save her—but at what cost? For all of them to live this lie, this lie that was the only thing that could possibly keep Nanoha safe from the enemies her dear, earnest friend was too good to recognize…Fate had thrown this penance upon them all.

Fate couldn’t hate Nanoha.

She loved Nanoha.

But Fate hated her, she hated that her new familiar had all of Nanoha’s thoughts and memories but yet she wasn’t like the Nanoha she remembered. Nanoha, forced to live with what Fate had done to her. Nanoha, who would now never be Fate’s friend again after Fate had put this doubt into their friendship, a doubt that she would never be free of.

Fate had done this to her.

“Arf…I can never do things right.”

She laid her cheek against Arf’s small head, feeling her tears soaking into the soft fur.

“I can never make the people I love happy. I keep trying, but I should have learned not to bother by now. Every time I try, Arf, I keep hurting the people I love.”

The image of Nanoha’s anguished face wouldn’t go away whenever Fate closed her eyes.

“I keep…losing the people who I love.”

Another tear rolled down her cheek.

“Arf…I’m scared. What if…I’m not different from Mother after all?”

The weak, trembling breaths beneath her cheek as Arf breathed fitfully, the wolf’s lidded eyes never stirring, was her only answer.

Spoiler for Author's Note:

...but not that nice . Sorry, no revelations about why Fate lied yet (although she does hint at it here )--is that cruel of me?

Let's hope I finish Chapter 6 before I vanish in November...

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by deathcurse

@vic-vic: No, I don't believe that either Auris or Hayate will be entirely happy with the ending! And it seems like fandom has made the TSAB quite an ambiguous and slightly corrupt organization....

@RadiantBeam: It's interesting, how normally I believe that most people would be sympathetic to Raven, since she's this poor girl who lost her family...it must mean that I'm doing things both wrong and right, to make the readers demonize Auris and Hayate , but yet also condemn Raven...

And now for other news: Something nice for people who were waiting on the cliffhanger last chapter ...

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Spoiler for A Familiar Life... Chapter 5:

Chapter 5: Fate’s interlude

It was silent here.

She could feel the warm, delicate weight of her closest companion in her lap, the shallow breathing lifting the fur up to tickle her fingers before dropping out of reach again—she didn’t dare rest her hand on Arf’s flank, too worried that she could harm her dear friend somehow.

“Arf,” Fate said, stroking the orange wolf’s head with one hand. “I finally realized—I really am Mother’s daughter.”

She couldn’t say any of this to anyone else. And normally she wouldn’t even dare confide it to Arf, but she knew that Arf’s mind was hazy with the lack of mana. Arf probably couldn’t hear her at all, with her body shut down to such an extent. Her familiar knew how to conserve mana to great extents.

Her…her first familiar.

Her second one still hadn’t quite gotten the hang of things yet.

“I understand now. I had tried to understand her before, just so that I can make peace with that part of my life…but now I truly understand.”

Fate ran her finger along the curve of Arf’s ear, lingering at the tufted tip.

“A person would really do anything…anything, to save the person that she loves.”

She felt herself smiling despite the anguish in her chest. So this was how Mother had felt—broken, but laughing. Mad.

“But that’s where it’s funny, Arf.”

Fate wanted to cry.

She wanted to laugh.

“I succeeded, where Mother had failed.”

In her desperation, Fate had found the key to resurrecting the dead.

It kind of surprised her that no one had thought of it before. That no one had done it before.

She really had out-done her mother in this regard.

“And I didn’t even need Al-Hazard to do it.”

And just like Mother, Fate had run into the same problem. The same bitter problem that twisted and ate at her insides, until Fate wanted to vomit, wanted to hit something, hurt something, just to rid herself a little of the turmoil.

“But it’s not right at all. It’s not the same.”

Fate forgave Mother for hating her. She had already forgiven her mother before, but not like this. Now, Fate knew. She understood.

“She’s not Nanoha. Not the Nanoha I loved. She’s not the same as she was before.”

Never—even when Fate had fought her, even when Mother had so hatefully called her a doll, a replacement…even then, Nanoha had never given her that look. A look of horror, of accusation…a furious look of betrayal and disillusionment. Nanoha had been horrified at what Fate had done to her. And with good reason—Fate had brought Nanoha back not quite the same as before.

Fate didn’t blame Nanoha for hating her.

She hated herself.

And in her more shameful moments, Fate hated Nanoha as well. Only for Nanoha, would Fate so willingly and unthinkingly damn herself just to save her—but at what cost? For all of them to live this lie, this lie that was the only thing that could possibly keep Nanoha safe from the enemies her dear, earnest friend was too good to recognize…Fate had thrown this penance upon them all.

Fate couldn’t hate Nanoha.

She loved Nanoha.

But Fate hated her, she hated that her new familiar had all of Nanoha’s thoughts and memories but yet she wasn’t like the Nanoha she remembered. Nanoha, forced to live with what Fate had done to her. Nanoha, who would now never be Fate’s friend again after Fate had put this doubt into their friendship, a doubt that she would never be free of.

Fate had done this to her.

“Arf…I can never do things right.”

She laid her cheek against Arf’s small head, feeling her tears soaking into the soft fur.

“I can never make the people I love happy. I keep trying, but I should have learned not to bother by now. Every time I try, Arf, I keep hurting the people I love.”

The image of Nanoha’s anguished face wouldn’t go away whenever Fate closed her eyes.

“I keep…losing the people who I love.”

Another tear rolled down her cheek.

“Arf…I’m scared. What if…I’m not different from Mother after all?”

The weak, trembling breaths beneath her cheek as Arf breathed fitfully, the wolf’s lidded eyes never stirring, was her only answer.

Spoiler for Author's Note:

...but not that nice . Sorry, no revelations about why Fate lied yet (although she does hint at it here )--is that cruel of me?

Let's hope I finish Chapter 6 before I vanish in November...

Just saying, if Arf dies because of this, I kick Fate's ass.

I do remember you mentioning at one point that you wanted to work in a Precia/Fate similarity, and you did quite an excellent job here. Really, it almost made me cry and give the poor kid a hug, because she's so torn up about it inside.

I do want to argue, though, that Fate's reasoning is slightly flawed; most likely because her emotions are out of whack over the situation, but the Nanoha she brought back, at her core, is no different from the Nanoha that died. I just think it's kind of unfair of her to make that comparison when you consider the kind of situation Nanoha is in; it's not like she's notably different from the Nanoha that died (unlike Fate, who as we know was blatantly different from Alicia), it's just that her whole world has been turned upside down by what Fate did. So, I do seem some flaw in Fate's logic there, but then again, I doubt Fate is really thinking logically right now.

[00-Raiser]

Originally Posted by deathcurse

@vic-vic: No, I don't believe that either Auris or Hayate will be entirely happy with the ending! And it seems like fandom has made the TSAB quite an ambiguous and slightly corrupt organization....

@RadiantBeam: It's interesting, how normally I believe that most people would be sympathetic to Raven, since she's this poor girl who lost her family...it must mean that I'm doing things both wrong and right, to make the readers demonize Auris and Hayate , but yet also condemn Raven...

And now for other news: Something nice for people who were waiting on the cliffhanger last chapter ...

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Spoiler for A Familiar Life... Chapter 5:

Chapter 5: Fate’s interlude

It was silent here.

She could feel the warm, delicate weight of her closest companion in her lap, the shallow breathing lifting the fur up to tickle her fingers before dropping out of reach again—she didn’t dare rest her hand on Arf’s flank, too worried that she could harm her dear friend somehow.

“Arf,” Fate said, stroking the orange wolf’s head with one hand. “I finally realized—I really am Mother’s daughter.”

She couldn’t say any of this to anyone else. And normally she wouldn’t even dare confide it to Arf, but she knew that Arf’s mind was hazy with the lack of mana. Arf probably couldn’t hear her at all, with her body shut down to such an extent. Her familiar knew how to conserve mana to great extents.

Her…her first familiar.

Her second one still hadn’t quite gotten the hang of things yet.

“I understand now. I had tried to understand her before, just so that I can make peace with that part of my life…but now I truly understand.”

Fate ran her finger along the curve of Arf’s ear, lingering at the tufted tip.

“A person would really do anything…anything, to save the person that she loves.”

She felt herself smiling despite the anguish in her chest. So this was how Mother had felt—broken, but laughing. Mad.

“But that’s where it’s funny, Arf.”

Fate wanted to cry.

She wanted to laugh.

“I succeeded, where Mother had failed.”

In her desperation, Fate had found the key to resurrecting the dead.

It kind of surprised her that no one had thought of it before. That no one had done it before.

She really had out-done her mother in this regard.

“And I didn’t even need Al-Hazard to do it.”

And just like Mother, Fate had run into the same problem. The same bitter problem that twisted and ate at her insides, until Fate wanted to vomit, wanted to hit something, hurt something, just to rid herself a little of the turmoil.

“But it’s not right at all. It’s not the same.”

Fate forgave Mother for hating her. She had already forgiven her mother before, but not like this. Now, Fate knew. She understood.

“She’s not Nanoha. Not the Nanoha I loved. She’s not the same as she was before.”

Never—even when Fate had fought her, even when Mother had so hatefully called her a doll, a replacement…even then, Nanoha had never given her that look. A look of horror, of accusation…a furious look of betrayal and disillusionment. Nanoha had been horrified at what Fate had done to her. And with good reason—Fate had brought Nanoha back not quite the same as before.

Fate didn’t blame Nanoha for hating her.

She hated herself.

And in her more shameful moments, Fate hated Nanoha as well. Only for Nanoha, would Fate so willingly and unthinkingly damn herself just to save her—but at what cost? For all of them to live this lie, this lie that was the only thing that could possibly keep Nanoha safe from the enemies her dear, earnest friend was too good to recognize…Fate had thrown this penance upon them all.

Fate couldn’t hate Nanoha.

She loved Nanoha.

But Fate hated her, she hated that her new familiar had all of Nanoha’s thoughts and memories but yet she wasn’t like the Nanoha she remembered. Nanoha, forced to live with what Fate had done to her. Nanoha, who would now never be Fate’s friend again after Fate had put this doubt into their friendship, a doubt that she would never be free of.

Fate had done this to her.

“Arf…I can never do things right.”

She laid her cheek against Arf’s small head, feeling her tears soaking into the soft fur.

“I can never make the people I love happy. I keep trying, but I should have learned not to bother by now. Every time I try, Arf, I keep hurting the people I love.”

The image of Nanoha’s anguished face wouldn’t go away whenever Fate closed her eyes.

“I keep…losing the people who I love.”

Another tear rolled down her cheek.

“Arf…I’m scared. What if…I’m not different from Mother after all?”

The weak, trembling breaths beneath her cheek as Arf breathed fitfully, the wolf’s lidded eyes never stirring, was her only answer.

Spoiler for Author's Note:

...but not that nice . Sorry, no revelations about why Fate lied yet (although she does hint at it here )--is that cruel of me?

Let's hope I finish Chapter 6 before I vanish in November...

Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Of course Fate won't be exactly like Precia until she starts whipping Nanoha.

[Moczo]

Originally Posted by deathcurse

@vic-vic: No, I don't believe that either Auris or Hayate will be entirely happy with the ending! And it seems like fandom has made the TSAB quite an ambiguous and slightly corrupt organization....

@RadiantBeam: It's interesting, how normally I believe that most people would be sympathetic to Raven, since she's this poor girl who lost her family...it must mean that I'm doing things both wrong and right, to make the readers demonize Auris and Hayate , but yet also condemn Raven...

And now for other news: Something nice for people who were waiting on the cliffhanger last chapter ...

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Spoiler for A Familiar Life... Chapter 5:

Chapter 5: Fate’s interlude

It was silent here.

She could feel the warm, delicate weight of her closest companion in her lap, the shallow breathing lifting the fur up to tickle her fingers before dropping out of reach again—she didn’t dare rest her hand on Arf’s flank, too worried that she could harm her dear friend somehow.

“Arf,” Fate said, stroking the orange wolf’s head with one hand. “I finally realized—I really am Mother’s daughter.”

She couldn’t say any of this to anyone else. And normally she wouldn’t even dare confide it to Arf, but she knew that Arf’s mind was hazy with the lack of mana. Arf probably couldn’t hear her at all, with her body shut down to such an extent. Her familiar knew how to conserve mana to great extents.

Her…her first familiar.

Her second one still hadn’t quite gotten the hang of things yet.

“I understand now. I had tried to understand her before, just so that I can make peace with that part of my life…but now I truly understand.”

Fate ran her finger along the curve of Arf’s ear, lingering at the tufted tip.

“A person would really do anything…anything, to save the person that she loves.”

She felt herself smiling despite the anguish in her chest. So this was how Mother had felt—broken, but laughing. Mad.

“But that’s where it’s funny, Arf.”

Fate wanted to cry.

She wanted to laugh.

“I succeeded, where Mother had failed.”

In her desperation, Fate had found the key to resurrecting the dead.

It kind of surprised her that no one had thought of it before. That no one had done it before.

She really had out-done her mother in this regard.

“And I didn’t even need Al-Hazard to do it.”

And just like Mother, Fate had run into the same problem. The same bitter problem that twisted and ate at her insides, until Fate wanted to vomit, wanted to hit something, hurt something, just to rid herself a little of the turmoil.

“But it’s not right at all. It’s not the same.”

Fate forgave Mother for hating her. She had already forgiven her mother before, but not like this. Now, Fate knew. She understood.

“She’s not Nanoha. Not the Nanoha I loved. She’s not the same as she was before.”

Never—even when Fate had fought her, even when Mother had so hatefully called her a doll, a replacement…even then, Nanoha had never given her that look. A look of horror, of accusation…a furious look of betrayal and disillusionment. Nanoha had been horrified at what Fate had done to her. And with good reason—Fate had brought Nanoha back not quite the same as before.

Fate didn’t blame Nanoha for hating her.

She hated herself.

And in her more shameful moments, Fate hated Nanoha as well. Only for Nanoha, would Fate so willingly and unthinkingly damn herself just to save her—but at what cost? For all of them to live this lie, this lie that was the only thing that could possibly keep Nanoha safe from the enemies her dear, earnest friend was too good to recognize…Fate had thrown this penance upon them all.

Fate couldn’t hate Nanoha.

She loved Nanoha.

But Fate hated her, she hated that her new familiar had all of Nanoha’s thoughts and memories but yet she wasn’t like the Nanoha she remembered. Nanoha, forced to live with what Fate had done to her. Nanoha, who would now never be Fate’s friend again after Fate had put this doubt into their friendship, a doubt that she would never be free of.

Fate had done this to her.

“Arf…I can never do things right.”

She laid her cheek against Arf’s small head, feeling her tears soaking into the soft fur.

“I can never make the people I love happy. I keep trying, but I should have learned not to bother by now. Every time I try, Arf, I keep hurting the people I love.”

The image of Nanoha’s anguished face wouldn’t go away whenever Fate closed her eyes.

“I keep…losing the people who I love.”

Another tear rolled down her cheek.

“Arf…I’m scared. What if…I’m not different from Mother after all?”

The weak, trembling breaths beneath her cheek as Arf breathed fitfully, the wolf’s lidded eyes never stirring, was her only answer.

Spoiler for Author's Note:

...but not that nice . Sorry, no revelations about why Fate lied yet (although she does hint at it here )--is that cruel of me?

Let's hope I finish Chapter 6 before I vanish in November...

Aw, poor Fate... well, don't worry sweetie. Until you start trying to use your current Nanoha to get back a 'correct' Nanoha and torturing her for failure, you're not your mother. Plus, she sorta did get back the right Nanoha, just one who's angry and confused, but I doubt Fate has the presence of mind to recognize that at the moment.

[shiroi mahotsukai]

Curse all of you, now I have a disturbing mental image. Good chapter though, if Fate becomes the same as Precia does that mean she will meet the same end? That would be really sad (although admittedly less so if she starts torturing people).

PS: Sicne it was Fate, it was a yellow electro-whip.