Chapter Text
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and it's sequels, I'm only borrowing them for awhile. This story will have yuri aka girl/girl romance, so if that is not your thing I'd suggest skipping it.
It began, as many things do, with something that was never meant to happen. An accident in magical research killed untold numbers of people, including the daughter of the head researcher, Alicia Testarossa. The death of her daughter coupled with crippling grief and sorrow drove Prescia Testarossa mad, leading her into dark magic and sketchy research.
Looking for any method to save her daughter Prescia found the legends of El Hazard, a place where ancient lost magic existed. A place of wonder from children's stories, Prescia came to believe that it existed and possibly could be reached. Studying the rips in reality that came about from powerful Lost Logia she decided those openings were a possible route to El Hazard.
Acquiring the technology of Project: Fate Prescia created a seemingly perfect copy of her daughter Alicia, whom she named Fate. With her daughter's memories Fate should have been a true copy of her daughter, but Prescia hated the girl unreasonably. Creating a familiar named Lilith she had the woman train Fate to be a aggressive, dangerous warrior-mage, knowing she's need such a thing for her purposes.
Transporting her daughter's corpse with her Prescia went to her new headquarters, a 'island' powered by a strong Lost Logia. She sent Fate to a backwater world called Earth to find the 'Jewel Seeds' she needed for her plan, also powerful Lost Logia. The girl was somewhat successful but was troubled by a rival, Nanoha Takimachi. For failing to capture all the Jewel Seeds Prescia whipped Fate, unknowingly helping drive the copy away. Fate allied with Nanoha and other enemies, ultimately destroying Prescia's home and leading to her and Alicia's corpse falling into a rift, never to be seen again.
Or where they?
Magical Atoner Lyrical Alicia
One
The young woman appeared on Midchilda via the standard teleport gates, around the year 2998. She looked human, as far as anyone could tell, if possibly a bit young to be traveling alone. At best she might be in her late teens, a slim blonde dressed in a simple black bodysuit, a cape fluttering around her. The security didn't react because, at that time, there was nothing for them to react to. She seemed like many visitors to the planet, a country girl come to see the sights of the 'big city.'
She checked into a hotel, paying with a mix of currency that was positively antique, then went to several museums and institutions. Police later retraced her steps to the memorial for the victims of the Testarossa incident, and discovered she had downloaded casualty information and other data. She visited libraries and downloaded much of the history of the past thousand years. She finally ended up at the Time Space Administration Bureau museum, where things got VERY odd.
Debriefing Session, Officer Hank Middens, Security Head for TSAB museum.
Interviewer: Can you tell us what happened on March the twenty fifth?
Officer Hank Middens: We didn't do anything wrong, did we? I thought we handled everything that went wrong totally by the book.
Interviewer: We're just trying to get a feel for what happened, Hank, Can I call you Hank?
Hank: Yeah, sure. Go ahead. [Subject sits up, drinks coffee.] We were monitoring a tour group going through the old TSAB buildings, when we first noticed something odd.
Interviewer: Odd?
Hank: You gotta remember, most of the stuff in the museum has some historical value, but it's not really valuable. The uniforms, equipment and even the weapons are all far out of date, now. The systems in the security were keyed to mostly conventional robbery, with a few special systems for certain items. It was the alarm on those special ones that went off.
Interviewer: Alarms on the Devices, correct?
Hank: Exactly. According to our sensors, several of the devices were responding to some kind of outside influence. In my office I switched to security screens in that section of the facility, where I saw a blond haired girl, probably in her teens, glowing as she stared at the case containing Raising Heart and Bardiche.
Interviewer: The devices that belonged to the legendary Nanoha Takamachi-Testarossa and Fate Testarossa-Takamachi?
Hank: That's them Now in theory, neither device should have worked for a thief anyway. They were intelligent, one assumes they'd say no.
Interviewer: But if they were stolen they'd at least be worth money to a crooked collector. So you sent the security bots in?
Hank: [Sighs] Which might have been my big mistake. I sent a full squad in, better to be safe than sorry, right? That's when things got crazier. Bardiche exploded out of it's case and flew to her, shifting into some kind of scythe. The security bots attacked and she toasted the squad, literally in minutes.
Interviewer: So you evacuated the building and sent in your two remaining squads?
Hank: And even went in myself with my Device, Ronin. I tried to contain her while the bots attacked, but she busted out of the force field and knocked me silly. And...
Interviewer: And?
Hank: I can't swear to this, she had clouted me upside the head pretty fierce. But as the woman was leaving it looked to me like Raising Heart burst out of it's case and flew over to her, as if it didn't want to get left behind.
Interviewer: Thank you, Hank. You did as well as could be expected against her.
Debriefing Session Ends
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Samuel Accord was a good cop. He didn't consider himself the brightest or most clever detective, but the thin, wry man was determined and cunning, and had worked through any number of cases successfully. That was why, when his chief told him he was getting assistance from the TSAB, he was less than thrilled.
"Why are we letting the TSAB muscle in?" Sam demanded of his captain flatly, his thinning brown hair falling into his eyes.
Veronica Aston-Martin was a intense, black haired officer who had risen from the patrol to being Captain of this station. She was smart and knew how the political system worked, though it was said that patronage had little to do with her current rank. The fact that she filled out her uniform nicely and had blue eyes that could stun a grown man at five feet were both bonuses, more or less.
"It was the TSAB's own museum that was robbed," Veronica said, "it's understandable they want in on it." She sat back calmly, "Supposedly they're sending in experts on those devices, too. Could come in handy while investigating, hmm?"
"Maybe," Sam grumbled. He knew they were going to end up yanking the case out of his hands, he just knew it. Knowing he wouldn't get any satisfaction from the boss he headed back to his office.
Sam felt a twinge of alarm as he saw people in his office, hurrying down the hallway to reach the small room. Going inside he looked the four over, noting that there were three women and a man, all in TSAB uniforms. The tallest was a woman with pink hair, wearing the uniform of a TSAB colonel. A man with blue hair was the next tallest, then a blonde haired woman and what looked like a teenaged redhead. All three wore captain's uniforms, in intelligence, medical and tactical divisions.
'That's a awfully large amount of rank for a simple robbery,' Sam thought grimly, opening the door and walking in.
"Detective Accord," the pink haired woman smiled slightly, "pardon our waiting in your office, but we were anxious to get started."
"No problem," Sam said in a distinctly unfriendly tone.
If the pink haired woman minded, she didn't show it. "I am Signum," she waved to the others, "and these are my associates Zafira, Shamal and Vita."
"Nice to meet you," Sam said politely, then blinked as the names registered from his research into the stolen devices. "The Cloud Knights?" he blinked.
"It's so nice to be recognized," Zafira looked faintly amused.
"Yes, we are," Shamal smiled, the busty blonde having taken a seat in front of the desk. Sam was trying very hard not to notice her uniform skirt riding up, but it was a effort.
Sam sat down behind his desk, waving the others to their seats. "I can see why the TSAB sent you," he conceded, "you've actually fought both those Devices, right?"
"Yup," the teenaged redhead agreed with a faintly sad smile. Vita swiftly shook it off as she added, "And we really want to know who took them."
Zafira sat down too as he asked, "Do you have any leads?"
"Not as many as I'd like," Sam admitted. "The battle scrambled the recorders in the museum, so we have no visual identifications. We have a description we're passing around to local hotels and and the Customs department, hoping for a hit."
"What about the legitimate trade in Lost Logia?" Signum wondered.
Sam nodded, "We've got officers checking out auctions and other venues, just in case."
"What's the description?" Shamal asked curiously. "Has anyone made a composite image yet?"
"We're working up a composite from security and visitors to the museum," Sam said. He had practically memorized the description and could rattle it off with ease. "Human female, age between ten and fifteen years old. Blonde hair tied up in two ponytails on either side of her head. Cute face, wears black swimsuit and a cape."
"What?" a choked voice asked.
Sam looked across the desk at four people who looked like they had seen a ghost. He leaned forward as he intently asked, "What?"
Signum cleared her throat, her expression troubled as she said, "You researched the users of Raising Heart and Bardiche, yes?"
"Read the files," Sam conceded, "is there something..."
"Can I borrow your terminal a moment?" Zafira asked politely, turning the computer mounted on Sam's desk towards him. He typed a few minutes, "Nodding as he murmured, "The files you got lacked images. Of course." He hummed a moment as he work,ed, then turned the screen to Sam, "Look at this."
Sam studied the image, realizing that it largely matched the description he had. She was maybe younger than described, and there were metallic gold highlights added to the black costume, but witnesses might have missed those.
Reading the attached name Sam yelped, "Fate Testarossa-Takamachi?!"
"She was just Fate Testarossa at the time," Shamal said mildly, "but yes."
Sam sat back, his thoughts racing. "Do you seriously think it's her?" he had to ask, looking at the group of four.
"No,." Signum said flatly, "I know that Fate is dead, I was there when..." The woman seemed lost in a memory, then shook it off, "Clearly someone knew about Bardiche's users, and tricked the device somehow."
"A clone, maybe?" Vita guessed. "I wouldn't think Bardiche would respond to someone just disguised as Fate."
"Devices link to the mind, too," Sam noted thoughtfully. "Even after a thousand years or so, you'd think Bardiche would recognize it's master," he mused.
The group bounced ideas around for nearly half an hour, and as they talked the more impressed Sam got. These people weren't just marking time on a assignment, they were passionate about the situation. Understandable, too, when you considered that it was items belonging to their friends that had been taken. They were just roughing out a more complete map of where their mystery girl had gone, when one of the junior detectives knocked respectfully on the door.
"Come in," Sam called. He smiled at the tanned, pretty young woman with brown haired, "Detective Olivia Fiat. I had her calling customs stations earlier."
"We've got a hit," Olivia said as she waved the printout, then added apologetically, "but I don't think you're going to like it."
Sam took the printout, scanning it then cursing softly. "She not only took a gateway off planet," he handed the sheet to Signum, "she jumped across dimensions, too."
"Which drops this right in the TSAB's lap," Vita noted as she looked the paper over. "World Line 2207? Why does that sound familiar?"
Zafira smiled wryly as he mused, "We tended to gate there fairly often, remember? It's where our mistress Hayate chose to retire."
"Crystal Tokyo," Shamal murmured, "oh dear, oh dear oh dear."
"All right, why is this world a problem?" Sam wondered, feeling suddenly glad this case might not be his problem anymore.
"This world is a bit like Mid in that it has many people of power," Signum said dryly, "rather like our mages. But unlike Mid they don't track their mages and such."
"That doesn't sound good," Sam conceded after a moment.
"Finding her is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack," Shamal sighed, using one of mistress Hayate's favorite phrases by accident.
"We'd better get to it," Vita said briskly. She looked at Sam, "Can we get the data and files transferred to our office?"
"Will do," he agreed. He looked at Signum, "Uhm, could you tell me how it all works out? I hate leaving a case like this..."
"Will do," Signum agreed, knowing how that felt.
To be continued...
Two
Thankfully, it's was close to the usual time when the TSAB sent a delegation to that world line. Ever since their first contact in the twenty first century, they had kept in touch with certain powerful beings on that world. Part of it was being polite, making sure the two organizations wouldn't come into conflict, and part of it was pragmatic. They knew the beings they met were VERY powerful, and keeping an eye on them was just prudent.
The light cruiser Akira was assigned to that mission, and Signum used her and her team's seniority to bump the representatives who were going to the meeting. The trip itself only took several days, some of which they spent mingling with the crew and the rest Signum used to refresh herself on the world in question.
Time Space Administration Bureau Report: World-line #2207
The TSAB first came into contact with this world early in the twenty-first century, when a criminal attempted to steal the Lost Logia 'Infinite Doorway.' The artifact was able to open a gateway to the previously unknown world, where the criminal fled. Enforcer Admiral Chrono Harlaown, Colonel Nanoha Takamachi and Colonel Fate Harlaown-Takamachi all traveled to #2207 where they encountered the guardians of that time-line.
Unlike in Midchilda where magical abilities are fairly common, there are a relatively small number of people born with such abilities in 2207. However, those that do possess those abilities are much more powerful on the average than those in Midchilda. Sailor Moon, as a example, appears to possess a power level rivaling Admiral Hayate Yagami and several of her allies have similar levels of ability.
Due to a misunderstanding partially caused by the subject's deceptions Chrono, Nanoha and Fate came into conflict with the inhabitants of 2207, however they quickly resolved their issues. Cooperating they captured the criminal and retrieved the Lost Logia, returning them to TSAB custody. At the same time a agreement was struck to maintain contact between our world lines, one that is maintained to this day. Annually we send delegations to their capital Crystal Tokyo as well as maintaining information exchanges...
"What do you think?" Vita asked, the redheaded teen sitting down beside her on a couch. She had started out even younger when they had been freed from the 'Book of Darkness' but had aged slightly in the past thousand years. Not enough in her opinion, but it was something.
"There's too much we don't know," Signum admitted as she tossed the report on a table in the mess hall. They had taken over a corner to talk and eat, and few of the crew wanted to intrude. "Why choose THAT Earth? Why copy Fate this way?" she threw her hands in the air, "Hell, why rob the TSAB in the first place? You could MAKE a Device like that, surely?!"
"All true," Zafira agreed. "It's a puzzle."
"At least you like puzzles," Shamal pointed out dryly. She looked over at Signum, "We arrive tomorrow. Have you decided to tell Crystal Tokyo that Raising Heart and Bardiche were stolen?"
"We'll have to play it by ear," Signum said honestly. "We've been asked not to reveal that by our superiors, but Crystal Tokyo has a pretty damn good intelligence service. They might already know."
"True," Zafira admitted, "Minako Aino is a frighteningly perceptive individual at times."
"Think we can get away with a planetary scan?" Vita asked curiously. "We could see if we could pick up either device from orbit."
"I'll suggest it to the Akira's captain," Signum said, "but only if we can make it look like it's standard operating procedure. We don't want to tip our hand too much."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Signum smiled as the pink haired woman shook hands with Minako Aino, the diplomatic office crowded by the five women and one man standing there. "It's good to see you again," she added warmly, a slight smile teasing her lips. Her lightly armored costume was a mix of purples and pinks, including a barrier jacket and over skirt. She had decided to skip the TSAB uniform and wear her armor, hoping it might cut down on the formalities.
"You, too," Minako agreed, the blonde woman just a bit shorter than Signum. She wore a casual yet stylish dress in black, a traditional but respectful choice for this semi-informal meeting.
"So," Zafira asked, the muscular man in a black muscle shirt looking Motoko over, "you're the second in command of intelligence?"
Major Motoko Kusanagi smiled back coolly, pushing back her blue-black hair. "It's one of my duties," she conceded. The woman in her dress uniform looked at them thoughtfully, "And I understand that the four of you are a tactical squad?"
"Yeah," Vita nodded, the redheaded teen casually leaning up against the wall, "when the TSAB realized we weren't aging, it was felt we'd be better off assigned together." She hefted her mallet easily, it's red enamel going well with her red and black clothing.
From the look on her face Minako felt a twinge of sympathy for them, but she hid it well. "Well, I hope you'll enjoy your visit," she said mildly. She looked at them thoughtfully and asked, "Are there any issues the TSAB wanted us to address?"
Shamal smiled, the green eyed blonde looking quite lovely in her green dress. "Our biggest concern," she said like she and Signum had plotted, "is the possibility of Lost Logia either appearing in your world or leaking out from this one."
"It's been a cause for concern," Motoko conceded, leaning up against Minako's desk. "There are several types of device that we have that could cause the TSAB trouble, not to mention the disappearance of the legendary Raging Heart."
Signum stiffened, then made herself relax. Of course they knew, she had really expected nothing less of them.
Zafira made a face as the man sighed, "You heard about that?"
Raging Heart was a powerful intelligent device, a artifact created to assist a magic user in accessing and controlling magic. Resembling a small, red gem it had the ability to become a mage's staff, it's form changing as needed to activate various functions. Dating back to at least the twentieth century, Raging Heart was most famous for being used by Nanoha Takamachi, a incredibly powerful mage who made history with her accomplishments in the TSAB.
"Well, Raging Heart is one of the artifacts we tend to keep a eye on," Minako said to them quite unapologetically. "While it's not as powerful as local artifacts like the Imperium Crystal or Utena's power was, Raging Heart was a immensely dangerous item, and if it fell into the wrong hands it could be catastrophic."
"I have a question," Motoko asked mildly.
"Yes?" Signum looked at her curiously.
Gesturing with her hands spread wide Motoko asked, "How intelligent is Raging Heart? Would it refuse to work for someone who stole it?"
Signum looked thoughtful, "That's... a very good question." A question she and Shamal had knows was coming, too.
"Yes," Shamal nodded. "Personally, I can't imagine Raging Heart working for someone with bad intentions, but..." she shrugged.
"People with good intentions can still do bad things," Vita said with a grimace.
"Does anyone have any hints where it was taken?" Minako asked as the silence stretched out a bit uncomfortably.
"That's why we came a bit early this year," Signum admitted.
"Oh?" Motoko asked, already having a bad feeling.
Zafira nodded, "We think it's come here."
"Ugh," Minako made a face, dreading the kind of complications such a device could bring her usually well ordered department.
Signum gave her a sympathetic look, "If it helps any, we've been put on detached assignment here to assist in the search any way we can."
"I can also provide tracking data on Raging Heart," Shamal added.
"Thank you," Motoko said, her thoughts already racing to strategies on searching for Raging Heart. The problem was how far to search, if they couldn't narrow down which region the crystal was in, they could be searching the planet for years...
"And we tracked the item's arrival in this world," Zafira added, a slight smile teasing his lips. As the two women looked at him he added, "We should have expected it."
"Oh?" Minako asked.
Signum gave him a scolding look, "He has a odd sense of humor." Looking at Minako she added, "We're reasonably certain Raging Heart arrived in Asia, possibly even in the region formally known as Japan."
"Of course," Motoko smiled wryly, once again wondering why this region seemed the focus of so much trouble.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The shining towers of Crystal Tokyo stretched towards the blue sky, gleaming like giant reversed icicles. The streets teemed with life, men and women hurrying from place to place or lingering in the many parks and courtyards, watching performances or listening to readings by authors and poets. Nearby the library a lively debate was going on, readers debating the merits of their favorite authors.
The blonde haired girl in a black one piece bodysuit strode by them, her expression determined as she mounted the steps. Her long golden hair was tied back in twin ponytails, one on each side of her head, the cloth used black like her clothes and odd cape. Her gloves and boots had pieces of what looked like ornamental armor, accented by a gold triangle on the back of one hand.
"Welcome to the Crystal Tokyo Public Library," the hologram popped to life, shimmering as she floated beside the blonde woman, "how can we help you?"
The young woman jumped a bit but recovered quickly, looking the image of a black haired woman over. "I'm looking for genelogical information," she answered, "particularly relating to dynasties descended from the twentieth century."
The hologram nodded eagerly, "We have the majority of that information available on our network, as well as hard copies in the underground levels." She paused, "Is there a family you're interested in?"
The blonde women hesitated a moment, "The Yagami and Takamachi families, primarily."
"Would you like me to guide you through a search, miss...?" the hologram trailed off.
"Testarossa," the blonde answered after a moment, "Alicia Testarossa."
To be continued...
Three: Eternal Blaze
Subaru Yagami walked up to the cafe not far from her school, the brown haired girl dressed in a blazer and skirt combo, as all the other girls in her school did. She smiled tentatively as she asked, "Are you the one who left the note in my locker?"
Alicia wondered what the school girl thought of her, standing there dressed in a black one-piece semi-swimsuit, with matching boots and gloves. She had a dramatic cape that swirled around her and gold jewelry highlighting her costume. A leather belt hung around her waist with a large pouch, and a gold raised triangle shone on the back of a glove. Compared to the girl she looked quite outlandish, though on a Crystal Tokyo street it wasn't TOO odd.
'Part of why I'm growing to like this city,' Alicia admitted to herself. "Yes, I am," she smiled gently then gestured to the cafe as she offered, "Why don't we talk inside, it's my treat?"
"Sure," Subaru agreed after looking into the cafe.
The place was crowded with students, one reason Alicia suspected the girl was willing to meet up with her. Once they took a corner table Subaru ordered a double sundae and a bemused Alicia did too. She was rather startled by the size of the treats once they were delivered, but seeing Subaru digging in made her chuckle. A taste of the icy treat made her shiver in pleasure, not having tried it before herself.
Alicia looked up to see Subaru chuckling, and smiled back before she tried to regain her serious poise. "Thank you for agreeing to see me," she bowed slightly in her seat across the private booth as she introduced herself, "my name is Alicia Testarossa."
"Miss Testarossa," Subaru smiled as she noted, "I assume you know who I am, or you wouldn't have asked to see me."
"You are Subaru Yagami," Alicia said agreeably as she ate her ice cream, savoring the cool taste as she called upon the research she had done a few weeks ago, "the several times great-granddaughter of Hayate Yagami, who was the possessor of the Book of the Night Sky and a mage."
Subaru gaped at her, obviously surprised. "You're from Midchilda," she guessed, looking at Alicia much more warily.
"Yes," Alicia agreed, "and no." She hesitated a moment before she added, "It's rather complicated to go into."
Subaru ate more of her ice cream, even as she studied the other woman. "I thought it was illegal for Midchild mages to scout people in our dimension?" she asked.
"Probably," Alicia admitted that point as she confessed, "I haven't been able to keep up with current events."
"But that agreement was made several hundred years ago," Subaru protested .
"As I said, it's complicated," Alicia ate a bit more ice cream as she wondered how to explain to this girl what she wanted. "Did your ancestor leave stories in your family, or journals?" she asked, deciding to lead into it slowly.
"A few," Subaru conceded.
Alicia smiled wryly as she asked the girl, "And did she talk about her allies Fate T. Harlaown and Nanoha Takamachi?"
"Yes, we have recordings of that she liked talking about her friends Nanoha and Fate...," Subaru trailed off as she looked at Alicia, her eyes widening as the put together Alicia's name with what she had heard about Fate's past. "It can't be," she said weakly, "aren't you supposed to be dead?"
"I get that a lot," Alicia lied as she ate some chocolate syrup with vanilla ice cream. In reality there was no one else who knew the whole story of her return and revival, and realizing that fact made her feel... deeply lonely. Shaking off the sensation she looked back up at Subaru and asked, "What do you know about me?"
"Not a lot," Subaru was looking at her with wide eyes, "I understand Fate and Nanoha didn't talk about it much. Apparently your mother Presea went slowly crazy when you died, and dedicated herself to bringing you back. She cloned you to create Fate and learned the myth of El Hazard, a magical place that would grant any wish. She believed it could be accessed by ripping dimensions, but came into conflict with the Time Space Administration Bureau. The TSAB brought in Nanoha, there was a battle, and you and your mother fell into a dimensional rift."
Alicia smiled slightly as she listened to that sad story being summarized so very simply. "A bit weak in detail, but that about covers what I learned," she agreed. "It turns out," she said seriously, "mother was right: the rifts DID lead to El Hazard."
"No way," Subaru said weakly.
"The residents of that island recovered my mother and myself," Alicia explained to her, "healed my mother's body and mind as well as fixed me." She made a face, faded memories between life and death haunting her for a moment, "I was lucky, apparently. Death is not as absolute for those people, but my being preserved by my mother helped immensely. They were able to restore me to life as well as most of my memories."
"But if El Hazard is real, why hasn't anyone heard of it?" Subaru challenged. "I went to Mid a few times, El Hazard is a kid's story."
"Time doesn't pass there the same way it does here," Alicia made herself tell her patiently, "I was only there a decade or less, while out here, over a thousand years have passed by." She smiled grimly as she added, "Anyone who went questing for El Hazard found themselves returning to a world far in the future where they might very well be forgotten, and no one would believe a man was a researcher who was gone for decades."
"It... makes sense," Subaru conceded after a moment's thought. She finished off her own ice cream as she asked, "So why did you come back from El Hazard?"
Alicia shrugged slightly, trying to find a way to sum up all the soul searching she had done. "I wanted to help make up for my mother's crimes," she finally said quietly, knowing it wasn't enough but it was the best she could do, "since she is unable to do so herself."
"Why not?" Subaru asked innocently.
Alicia took a deep breath, feeling a burst of pain deep in her heart. Keeping her voice as steady as she could she told Subaru, "Because my mother committed suicide once she was certain I was old enough to take care of myself."
Subaru was stunned, sitting there with her mouth open and eyes wide. "Why...?!" she finally managed to ask, blinking.
Alicia looked away uncomfortably, "The people of El Hazard restored her mind and body, Subaru. For the first time she could look at her actions unblinded by insanity and what she saw sickened her. She understood how deeply she had abused Fate, how she had hurt and killed innocents in her experiments and she couldn't delude herself about it any more." Alicia shrugged uncomfortably, "She couldn't live with the guilt."
"I'm sorry," Subaru reached out and gently squeezed her hand.
"I've had time to deal with it," Alicia said with a sigh. Well, that wasn't entirely true. She had told herself she had dealt with it, but the pain of those memories still hurt her deeply. She shook her head, "Anyway, I went to Mid first to see what I could do about my mother's actions there. It had been so long that records were spotty, but as far as I could tell the injured were well taken care of."
"So what do you plan to do?" Subaru asked, leaving her hand on Alicia's.
"I can't directly make up for my mother's actions in trying to save me," Alicia shrugged, surprised at how nice it felt to hold her hand like this, "but what I can do is try to help people in general." She touched the gold triangle on her glove, "I regained a family heirloom in Mid, my Bardiche, and I... kind of borrowed another."
"Borrowed?" Subaru asked archly, hearing something in her tone of voice.
Alicia had to smile at her teasing tone. "All right," she admitted, "I stole it."Alicia reached into the pouch on her belt and took out a red, circular gem on a chain.
A voice suddenly came out of the gem as Raising Heart said, "With my full support."
"The gem talked?!" Subaru blinked, startled.
Alicia had nearly been as startled when Raising Heart followed her out of the museum, much less started talking to her. Apparently the Device had been seeking a new user for some time, but the Time Space Administration Bureau had put it in storage instead. It had requested that Alicia help it find a 'appropriate user' and Alicia agreed, rather bemusedly.
"The gem is a device called Raising Heart," Alicia explained to her, "it once belonged to Nanoha herself." Her voice hardened a bit, "It was put on display in a museum, even though it was signaling it wanted a master and to be used."
"Raising Heart," Subaru murmured, "it's beautiful."
"I'm giving it to you, free and clear," Alicia said quietly as she gently pressed the gem into Subaru's hands. Alicia shrugged as the girl looked at her, surprised, and explained, "I can sense you have immense magical potential, Subaru. Raising Heart will help you develop it."
Subaru held Raising Heart almost reverently, looking into the faintly glowing gem with a innocent wonder that Alicia almost envied. "How do I...?" she asked.
"Hold it, and listen to your heart," Alicia said gently, remembering how it had felt to awaken Bardiche, "the words will come to you."
Before anything more could be said, Bardiche itself spoke up from the gold device on Alicia's glove. "Master," he said briskly, "Crystal Tokyo security units are incoming, less than a minute. TSAB forces are accompanying them."
"Damn," Alicia said more mildly than she felt, wishing she could spend more time with this girl. She shrugged as she looked at Subaru and said, "It looks like I took too long." She stood up as she added, "I'm sorry I can't explain more."
"Wait!" Subaru yelped as Alicia started to walk away.
Alicia quickly reached the doors of the cafe then turned to address the crowd, trying to look and sound as confident as she could. "There's probably going to be a fight," she said as she headed outside, "I'd suggest ducking under a table or something."
Out on the sidewalk three figures in hardsuits descended from the blue sky, accompanied by two unarmored figures carrying weapons. The hardsuits were something Alicia had seen from a distance in her relatively short stay in the city, but they were impressive none the less. Using this world's more primitive technology they could do much the same as a Device, attacking, defending and providing other abilities too.
The red hardsuit used a loudspeaker system to call out, "Unknown mage, you are requested to surrender at once."
Beside the three hardsuits a short girl in a ruffled dress and cap, carrying a mallet looked at Alicia in disbelief. "It can't be," Vita said weakly.
"It certainly looks like her," Signum managed, appearing equally stunned as she called out, "Fate! Is that you?!"
"No," Alicia called back. She debated trying to lie, then decided that honesty might be best as she added, "I am Alicia Testarossa."
The woman in the red hardsuit stiffened at that announcement, then looked at Signum and asked, "I thought she was dead?"
"Lady Venus gave you a good briefing," Signum muttered. "Yes, that's what I thought," she said slightly louder.
The armored woman nodded briskly, "Then she's a fake running a con." She addressed her fellow hardsuit pilots and ordered, "Haruhi, break left, Hazuki, go right. I'll engage and see what we're dealing with."
"Wait!" Vita yeled but it was too late, the armored woman throwing her armor at high speed right towards the waiting Alicia.
Alicia moved in a burst of inhuman speed, dodging the attack even as she smoothly popped the golden triangle off her glove. "Bardiche!" she cried, triggering the device's swift transformation in a scythe-like weapon. "Load cartridge!" she ordered as the two other hardsuits opened fire.
Vita looked up at Signum as she asked, "Do you think we should help them?"
"Not yet," Signum said thoughtfully as they watched Alicia gracefully out manouver all three attacking hardsuits, "If she really is Alicia Tesstarosa she can probably handle them. If she isn't, they'll take her down anyway."
Within the now deserted cafe, crouching behind a table Subaru watched in shock as the hardsuits attacked, the encounter swiftly becoming a high speed blur. Even though she knew the suits were likely sent by the Queen, she found herself wanting to help Alicia! Her hand tightened around Raising Heart, then she blinked as words seemed to appear in her mind!
"Incanted, enchanted," Subaru cried as she raised the device up, "set up!" Ribbons of light washed over her body, clothes melting away as they created a battle costume from her imagination. A long skirt split up each side for easy movement, boots, stockings, a armored jacket all materialized on her as a staff assembled itself around the red gem.
"Power spike!" one pilot yelled out a warning as they broke away from Alicia, scanning for a new opponent.
Signum's eyes widened as she felt that power too, then she made a choking sound as the young woman came out of the shop carrying Raising Heart in it's staff mode. "This is not good," she muttered.
"Tell me about it," Vita agreed.
To be continued...
Four: Eternal Blaze II
Subaru Yagami hefted the staff, feeling knowledge flowing invisibly between her and Raising Heart. It was a little like a virtual reality game, the gem showing her in her mind how to call up the basic attacks and defenses the gem made her capable of.
"Reverent Shooter!" Subaru called out the command as five balls of red energy formed around the top of Raising Heart. She pointed the staff at the three hardsuits that were chasing after Alicia and ordered, "Shoot!"
Ran Mizuno, pilot of the red hardsuit and leader of the officers cursed as the blonde parried a energy bolt with a round shield even as she swung her scythe blade to force Haruhi back. The flying blond was good, very good, and for some reason their two Time Space Administration Bureau allies were just standing around watching. A alarm made her jink aside as a red energy ball blasted Hazuki backwards, then four more swept in on them all.
"Wow," Alicia murmured, faintly surprised. She had sensed the girl's magical potential, but shew hadn't expected her to be able to use Raising Heart so quickly!
Ran blasted away on afterburners and dropped chaff from compartments in the armor, but the balls followed them all relentlessly. 'They're Midchilde magic,' she scowled, accelerating to put some room between them, turning and shooting at them with her gauntlet blasters. They detonated in a spectacular boom, almost as bright as the ones that hit Haruhi, staggering her.
From the sidelines Vita and Signum watched the battle, staying out of it for now. "She already made multiple bullets," Vita noted admiringly. When Nanoha Tackamachi had first acquired her Device Raising Heart she had only managed one at first, which might imply some interesting things about this new user.
The taller warrior Signum nodded, "It's very impressive. It also implies that Raising Heart is cooperating with her."
"Should we call off the fight?" Vita wondered, the smaller woman suspecting that the theft charge was probably bogus. She hefted her mallet easily, a slight smile appearing on her face as she considered going into battle..
"No," Signum said as she watched the three hardsuits fight Alicia and a suddenly flying Subaru, "I want to see how quick a study she is."
"You've got to be kidding me," Haruhi muttered as the pilot moved her blue hardsuit, dodging the girl with the staff. The girl had manifested glowing wings on her boots and soared into the sky, not to mention easily blocking her plasma blasts with a energy shield.
"Subaru," Alicia called from where she was handily holding off the other two suits with her Bardiche in a sword-like mode, "this isn't your fight!"
"Maybe I just don't like seeing people getting ganged up on," Subaru called back as her blue opponent swept in close, swinging a punch. "Ugh!" she yelped, her shield blocking the superhuman blow, but just barely.
"Jet Zanbar!" Alicia yelled as Bardiche's sword blade swept outward, lightning dancing around it as it nearly cut both suits in half, shorting one's electrical systems out.
Ran raced down to catch Hazuki, glad to see the suit registered she was unharmed, even if the suit itself was toast. Setting her down on the pavement she took off after Alicia, her lips pulled back in a angry snarl. Her suit may have looked like the others but it was a custom model built by Stingray herself, with some nasty surprises.
A mental order deployed the anti-photon gun mounted on her shoulder, the targeting scope appearing before her eye. It fired off reverse charged photons, effectively 'anti-light' and since Alicia's shields were effectively magic light... The beam swept across the shield and destroyed it, in the process generating a very powerful explosion that stunned Alicia and sent her flying.
"Alicia!" Subaru yelled, alarmed, He turned towards Ran and swept her staff around, words forming on her lips as the weapon powered up. "Reverent," she called out furiously as a massive charge of energy formed, "BUSTER!"
Ran brought her suit's energy shields up a half-second before that river of raw power hit, but it was like closing a door on a flash flood. They overloaded in a second and the beam hammered her backwards even as her boot thrusters tried to stop her. She plummeted to the earth as armor melted away, the bolt thrusting her into the ground on a steep angle.
"Wow," Alicia flew to Subaru's side as the girl slumped tiredly, helping support her as the final
armored trooper watched in shock.
Subaru smiled weakly, "You're all right?"
Alicia hugged her reassuringly as she promised, "I'm fine."
"Ma'am!" Haruhi soared down, helping pull Ran's smoking and sparking armor out of the hole. As Hazuki limped over in her crippled suit she asked, "What do we do now?"
"Get reinforcements," Ran growled, glaring at the TSAB agents who were still just standing there! She was even more annoyed by her scans of Subaru... unless she misunderstood the readings, the girl still hadn't gone all out yet!
"I think we'd better break this up," Vita looked up at Signum.
"No one's been hurt yet," Signum protested mildly, "and I'm curious to see how they'll do against more hardsuits."
"Maybe," Vita conceded that point, "but Subaru has already used variations of Nanoha's Divine Shooter and Divine Buster." She smiled grimly, "Do we really want to see her come up with something like Starlight Breaker?"
"Urk," Signum made a face as she imagined the destruction the girl could cause, "point."
"And," Vita pushed on, "Subaru hasn't even used Raising Heart's cartridge system yet. If she uses that, too..."
"The Queen's going to be a bit upset if we let them destroy the neighborhood," Signum agreed. "You go talk to the hardsuits, I'll take Alicia and Subaru."
"Right," Vita agreed as she jogged off to where the three armored women were standing as Signum gracefully took off into the sky.
Subaru pointed Raising Heart at Signum warily as she demanded, "What do you want?"
"To talk," Signum said, floating nearby while holding her hands away from where Lethanthien rested at her side.
"I thought as agents of the TSAB you were here to arrest me?" Alicia asked calmly, raising her eyebrow slightly.
"If you are who you say you are," Signum said, "and I'm fairly sure you are, it makes that situation somewhat complicated."
Ran had her visor flipped up, the blue haired young woman glaring down at Vita. "Are you telling me," she said to her flatly, "that this entire fight was unnecessary?"
"Hey, you jumped her first," Vita quickly protested. "Besides, if you hadn't fought them," she said reasonably, "we couldn't have confirmed those devices were the real deal."
"And that's important because?" Haruhi demanded, the boyish brown haired woman looking at her questioningly.
Patiently Vita explained to them, "Intelligent Devices like Bardiche and Raising Heart are at least partially sentient." When they gave her blank looks she elaborated, "They choose their users and would refuse to work for someone that they considered to be unworthy."
"Huh," Ran muttered, looking over at the two young ladies who were descending to join them beside Signum. "Guess I have to," she muttered to herself as they landed.
Alicia tensed as Ran walked towards her, her armor battered and missing much of it's outer layers from Subaru's attack. "Yes?" she asked warily, her hand tightening on Bardiche. She could probably manage a scythe attack if she had to...
"Ran Mizuno, hardsuit commander," she introduced herself. She took a deep breath and surprisingly offered her hand as she said, "I want to apologize for attacking you." She frowned over at Signum as she reluctantly added, "I should have waited to see what the situation was."
Alicia took her hand, shaking it firmly as she gave the battered woman a once over and asked, "I hope you weren't hurt?"
"Nothing hurt but my pride," Ran admitted wryly.
"Uhm," Subaru smiled tentatively at Ran and the other hardsuit pilots as the younger girl asked, "am I in trouble?"
Ran grimaced, "To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure." She looked over at Alicia, then at Signum and Vita, "Could someone please explain the situation?"
"It's a long story," Alicia sighed.
Subaru looked at the miraculously undamaged sundae shop nearby and suggested, "Want to have something to eat while we talk?"
Vita's stomach growled loudly, making everyone look at her questioningly,. She smiled sheepishly and said, "I vote yes."
Not long after Ran emerged from the bathroom in her armor under suit, the white cloth uniform clinging to her body as the two relatively undamaged suits followed, one carrying her battered armor in it's cube shaped storage mode.
"Grab a table nearby and get some sundaes," Ran instructed her two wing mates, "I'll see if someone can explain what's really going on."
"Will do," Hazuki nodded firmly.
Signum waited for Ran to sit down at the larger table, five fresh sundaes already delivered. "First of all, I apologize for not acting sooner," Signum admitted. "I was reasonably certain that Alicia was who she claimed, and seeing her abilities proved it."
"So, am I in trouble on Midchilda?" Alicia asked as she watched Subaru demolishing yet another sundae along with Vita.
"Probably not seriously," Vita said as she happily shoveled the chocolate covered ice-cream away, "you see, you're basically Fate's sister." She waved her spoon for emphasis, "Any property she had, you could inherit as long as a will doesn't bar it."
"And Fate had no children?" Alicia asked a bit sadly.
"Several, actually," Signum told her, "she was guardian to several children, and adopted Vivio with Nanoha. But she didn't have any biological children."
"Ah," Alicia brightened a bit at that. She felt a little sad knowing she didn't have great grand-nieces and nephews around, but at least Fate had a family.
Ran frowned a bit as she had a smaller amount of ice-cream, "She may have a claim on Bardiche, but she stole Raising Heart."
"I'm not giving her back," Subaru said firmly as she grasped the red gem that was currently hanging around her neck.
"I have no intention of trying to take it away," Ran said quickly, thinking of the butt kicking they had already received.
Signum had some of her own ice-cream, "Raising Heart is a intelligent device, Ran. I feel quite certain she did not go anywhere she did not wish to."
"We're gonna have to deal with the offended museum officials," Vita had to admit, "but I think we can handle it." More cheerfully she added, "We have enough friends high up in the TSAB to quash the robbery charge."
"I'm willing to face charges for stealing Raising Heart," Alicia offered mildly, "I knew it was robbery when I took her."
"Or freed her from captivity," Subaru offered loyally.
"If you really feel guilty," Signum politely offered a suggestion, "limit yourself to this world while we go back home to Mid and check things out. Worse comes to worse we might have to haul you back for a slap on the wrist."
Ran nodded, "And in return for wrecking my suit, stick around and help out, as well as train Subaru here. All right?"
Alicia looked at the three women, considering the request for a moment then she smiled and nodded, "All right."
To be continued...
Notes: I substituted 'reverent' for divine in Subaru's attacks to make them different from Nanoha's. My basic assumption is that 'Shooter' and 'Buster' are basic attacks already loaded into Raising Heart, so Subaru could learn those pretty easily. Nanoha claimed 'Starlight Breaker' was her own variation, so it may take Subaru a while to make a similar attack.
Inheritance laws as relating to clones is total guesswork on my part, but I would assume since Midchilda has the technology to clone & copy memories, they would have provisions in the laws.
The rights of Intelligent Devices is also something not covered in Nanoha. My take is that they do have rights and freedom of choice, but they need a advocate to stand up for them. For whatever reason Raising Heart did not have such an advocate, and she ended up in a museum.