THEY CALL ME THE DEVIL
Hayate wakes up to the midday noon sun shining on her eyes through the bedroom windows. She yawns and pushes the dakimakura aside. Smacking her lips and scratching her belly she climbs out of her queen-size canopy bed and looks herself in the mirror. Her hair is a big mess and the face is all dry and the eyes are dead, but all this is OK because it's the weekend.
For months Hayate has been busy dealing with the aftermath of the war. Pulling troops and equipment out of the warzone took more time and administrative efforts than rushing them to the fight.
Going over the combat reports and deciding who should be rewarded for what took immense resources and numerous interviews with unit leaders and such. Writing letters to the families of the killed soldiers was grueling and tear-inducing, but thankfully it was mostly handled by the staff.
The Bureau still hasn't released her of the JTF command position, which resulted in her being dragged into a free for all battle of who pays for what. And then half a dozen NGOs have suddenly decided it's now a good time to accuse the now-dissolved Martial Law command of violation of civil rights, and Hayate and her lawyers had to go through numerous hearings and court sessions to defend her actions in Vaizen. In the end, she got away clean, but Hayate was fed up by this point.
And then there were the clone invaders to be taken care of, which was a whole another can of worms for everyone involved.
And now, finally, after many exhausting months of crashing on her office sofa, Hayate was able to come home and enjoy the luxury of oversleeping into noon.
.
Hayate walks down the stairs in her silk Hello Kitty pajamas, yawning and stretching. She grabs a mug of coffee from the unnecessarily large kitchen and goes to the equally unnecessarily large living room filled with luxurious furniture and gadgets. Having the family entirely composed of professional soldiers means a lot of combined monthly income, so much that they don't know what to do with the money. So, the Yagamis bought a large villa and spent a good amount on various things and still have more than enough in their bank accounts that keep growing.
The Wolkenritters are already up, enjoying their well-deserved peace and rest. Signum, all mature and serious, sits on the long sofa and reads the newspaper holo-display spread on her lap. Vita sits cross-legged on the carpeted floor, watching a cartoon show on broadcast with a large tub of ice-cream in her hands. Typical peacetime weekend for the Yagami household, except... 'What are they doing?'
Reinforce and Agito are on the coffee table, furiously writing into their datapads, occasionally stopping to engage in a heated discussion. They have been having such sessions for some weeks, much to Hayate's curiosity.
"I've been meaning to ask you guys for some time. What are two doing?"
"Finally, you ask." Agito looks up from her work. "We are co-authing a paper."
"We are submitting to the Officer's Quarterly Journal." Reinforce adds more context to the information.
Signum puts away her newspaper, interested.
"What's the topic?"
Agito's face lights up.
"Remember the paper Hayate wrote when she proposed Rapid Response?"
"Yeah..." Hayate remembers. "What about it?"
"We are revisiting the logistics and the administrative aspects of that." Reinforce explains, making hand motions as if dissecting something in the air. A clear indication of what they are doing to Hayate's paper. "The initial 'rapid response' phase to be specific. We are comparing them against the real case."
Signum sits up, very interested.
"Now, I'm interested. Can I have a look?"
"Hold up, hold up. Wait a second." Hayate puts her hands up. "You guys are using the deployment in Vaizen as a case study to pick MY paper apart?"
"Yeah!" Agito beams a bright smile, excited. "I think this can get me a course slot at the Academy. Then you all can call me Professor."
Hayate wants to protest but stops seeing the tiny hopeful face. She eyes the wall decorated with the certificates and diplomas the Yagami household has accrued. Being high ranking officers in the military comes with higher education. Hayate herself, for example, has enough academic background equivalent to a brain surgeon. Welp, Shamal has an actual certificate that allows her to perform brain surgeries... that should be somewhere on the wall among Signum's and Reinforce's and Agito's and Vita's and the rest of Shamal's and Hayate her own and... Hayate shrugs. OK, it's just a paper for the Journal, and Agito has been envious of Reinforce lecturing part-time at the Academy, so...
Hayate's thought is interrupted by Shamal and Zafira returning from a walk.
"Vita, you have a mail." Shamal checks the envelope to be sure before handing it over. "From the Disciplinary Committee. What have you done?"
All eyes turn to Vita, who's very confused. Signum gets up and walks over to Vita.
"Disciplinary-? I'm your superior. Why haven't I heard anything?"
Vita, confused, opens the letter.
"I haven't done anything..." She reads out aloud as she scans the summon.
"I'm being summoned for... what the hell? Inappropriate attire? Misleading the public an officer might actually be a school kid?" Vita raises her head up and looks around the living room with wild eyes. She fails to notice Hayate inching away for the door. Vita continues with the letter from the Disciplinary Committee.
"I provoke perverted sexual fantasies? Oh, wait, it says evidence is attached..."
Vita turns over the page.
On the next page of the summon is a large printed photo of Hayate proudly presenting a huge display of embarrassed Vita in schoolgirl uniform to the gathered media reporters.
.
In pajamas and barefooted, Hayate runs out of the house onto the peaceful afternoon sidewalk. Enraged Vita soon rolls out of the house in hot pursuit. A group of Strategic Arms escort people appears out of thin air and runs after the two.
#
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Teana rides through the sunny downtown on a vintage motorbike with an empty sidecar. She comes to a stop in front of a park where Subaru, in her casual clothing, is waiting with a mean-looking eyepatch on her lost eye.
"Yo. Let's go. Here's the map." Subaru hands over a map data and gets into the sidecar, putting on one of the two helmets inside.
"Who's this for?"
"I'm picking up that brat later. You can come along. Where are we going anyway?" Teana asks, entering the destination coordinate into her navigation.
"We are going eye shopping." Subaru grins. She stretches her arms to feel the wind as Teana speeds up the bike. This feels good.
"Doesn't the Armed Service take care of that for free?" Asks Teana, confused. "I'm sure it's included in your health package-"
"Yeah. Yeah. But I'm way down on the waiting list. Internal organs first. Limbs second." Subaru complains. It will be years before her turn comes. "So, I'm going to the private sector."
Subaru, of course, has the option to go to her dad, but she doesn't want to bother him with such a menial job as getting her a new eye. Besides, dad probably doesn't have what Subaru wants.
"Isn't that expensive though?" Asks Teana.
Subaru counts with her fingers as she lists all the extra money she's received.
"I got wartime service bonus. Overtime bonus. Victory bonus. Medal of Valor reward. Permanent injury compensation-"
"Perma-injury compensation?" Teana raises her voice. She almost loses control of her bike but quickly regains the balance. "But you are a cyborg!"
"Hey, no discrimination, OK?"
"Grrr." Teana grits her teeth. So that's where my tax money goes, she thinks to herself.
"What about you?" Subaru pokes Teana's cheek to annoy her friend. "You got your teeth sorted out?" She chuckles as Teana's expression instantly changes.
"No! Boss is so stubborn and still hasn't signed the paper." Teana laments, upset at the unjust treatment. "She thinks because it was an unapproved mission the Office shouldn't pay for it."
"And you lived all these months waiting for that money? With missing teeth?" Subaru shakes her head. 'Seriously...' She can't tell who's the worse penny-pincher of the two Enforcers.
They come to a stop at a very shady looking shop with no signs or posters.
"I don't know about this one, Subaru." Teana comments, looking for a suitable parking place. There is none.
"I'll go have a look at the eyes. You park somewhere."
Subaru enters the shop. Teana goes around looking for a place to park her bike.
.
"That would be two million-"
The shopkeeper is saying to Subaru when Teana enters the shop. His eyes go wide at the sight of the Executive Office uniform. The lady Enforcer slowly walks towards the counter, browsing the products displayed in the shop.
"Found anything good?" Teana asks across the shop floor.
"Yeah. found something cool." Subaru answers and turns to the shopkeeper. "So, what's the price again? Including installation?"
The shopkeeper clears his throat.
"Is the Enforcer... your friend?"
"Teana? Oh yes. She's my best friend."
"Teana Lanster the shinbreaker?"
"Shinbreaker?" Teana walks up to the counter. "That's new."
Subaru waves her hand before the man's face.
"Mister? The price?"
"Oh, sorry, miss." The shopkeeper shakes his head to focus and smiles. "That would be twenty thousand including installation."
Teana leans over the counter, surprised, looking at the collection of eyes the man has brought out.
"Wow, that's a whole lot cheaper than I thought."
"Told you not everyone in private sectors is a rip-off." Subaru is smug.
"Miss Enforcer?" The shopkeeper addresses Teana. He takes out a flat box from a drawer and carefully lays it down on the counter. "I've noticed you are missing an incisor... would you allow me to show you our selection?" He opens the lid and there are rows of teeth on display.
Teana leans in closer to inspect the products, interested.
"Do you have molars, too?"
.
Teana stops her bike in front of the Executive Office's library located among training facilities and gyms. Red Ribbon, in simple t-shirts and jeans, approaches with a grumpy face. She has her hands full carrying a couple of thick books in her chest. The trainee Enforcer notices Subaru in the sidecar.
"Who's this- whoa!"
Startled, Red Ribbon takes a step back. Subaru grins and passes the spare helmet. She has a snake's eye for her left eye, greenish iris widening as the golden vertical pupil focuses on the clone girl.
"She's a friend of mine." Teana introduces Subaru. "We are just coming from getting her that badass new eye. Pretty cool, eh?"
"Hello, I'm Subaru. You must be the prodigy girl everyone is talking about." Subaru greets with a smile and the two ladies shake their hands.
"She still hasn't picked her name yet, so I just call her 'Hey you'." Says Teana getting the bike ready to go. "Hey, you, hop on behind me."
Subaru offers to take the books for her and so Red Ribbon grumpily gets on the bike, hugging Teana from behind. They drive off.
"Why Executive Office, though? How about you join the Ground Armament?" Subaru tries to get Red Ribbon to ditch the Office. "Look at me, it's way more cool. Come sign up for Punchkid."
"Don't you start, Subaru. She's got a future in the Office." Teana elbows Subaru's helmet.
"Aw~" Subaru laments. "I also want my own Erio!"
Teana elbows her friend's helmet again, this time harder.
.
Subaru notices the teen girl is obviously scared riding on the back. Red Ribbon is holding onto Teana, hugging quite tightly in the manner that could easily be mistaken as intimacy. Teana doesn't seem to mind the hands clutching her boobs.
"You two good friends?" Subaru asks.
"No! No friend." The girl snaps. She slaps the back of Teana's helmet. "Just because I'm holding onto you now don't think we are friends. I'm going to kill you. I'll really really kill you."
Teana glances at the girl behind her reflected on the side mirror.
"Yeah, you do that. Some day. But not today, please. I'm on duty this evening."
Reflected on the side mirror, Red Ribbon sees her nemesis and flatmate and sensei smiling. The recently installed diamond incisor sparkles brightly.
#
.
In Vaizen, not far from the town that previously was the home of the Staging Dockworkers, a newly built villa overlooks the plain from a small mound.
Fate is sitting on the sofa in the living room, sipping a freshly brewed cup of coffee. Across the coffee table sits Dr. Scaglietti, visibly uncomfortable with this particular guest. The Numbers girls are milling around in the kitchen, eavesdropping.
"So how is the new job?" Fate asks casually.
A brief moment of irritation passes over Scaglietti's face.
"Great. Nobody told me I'd be teaching kids, but hey, it's all great. Everything is fine." He means sarcastically.
Fate scoffs condescendingly.
"One could say... you reap what you sow?"
Scaglietti sighs in defeat.
"To be honest, I was expecting you to storm into my cell ready to kill me." He carefully watches the Enforcer across the table. "Why haven't you?"
"Oh no, I wouldn't do that. It was us who gave you inaccurate data to work with. Can't be mad at you for what happened."
Fate stands up and walks across the living room to a large window. She looks out to the field.
"In fact, I'm rather sorry to have ingrained the horrible image of kids burning to death into your conscience." Fate concludes.
Scaglietti throws his hands in defeat. Yes, for some reason Chief Enforcer still doesn't know what really happened in Al Hazard. Enforcer Lanster had asked him to burn down Alicia. He upped the evil and burnt the whole world. No way is he going to let people learn this little secret between him and Lanster. Especially not Chief Enforcer Harlaown. That though doesn't mean he has no guilty feelings. When Inspector Acous came to his cell and showed the footage Scaglietti almost threw up. He's been having nightmares ever since.
He stands up and joins Fate by the window.
"Your passive-aggressive questioning of my conscience is noted but let me tell you this. Yes, I do feel bad. I'm having nightmares."
He looks out the window. The town is being rebuilt and fenced, creating jobs for Vaizen people. When the Dockworkers returned and saw their destroyed homes, they opted for the Bureau provided compensation; a new residential area slight north of the Staging Dock. The Dock itself is undergoing a complete rebuilding, which keeps the workers fairly busy. In the meantime, the old Dock worker's town is being rebuilt and converted for a new purpose.
"It doesn't help that you built the POW camp right in my backyard." Scaglietti points at the fenced town. "Having to see them every day... in the classroom... full of the same faces..." He shivers. "It's too much."
Fate turns to face him, this time a bit sympathetic.
"As I said. You reap what you sow."
.
Dr. Scaglietti and the Numbers girls are in a classroom in the small elementary school that has miraculously survived the war. One of the many classes Scaglietti is responsible for is sitting in their small chairs. This particular class is of kids, a group of little clone girls aged between eight to twelve. The once imprisoned evil doctor and his accomplices teach the clone girls how to read and write. They read books aloud. The Numbers sing songs with the little kids. Scaglietti tries to teach a bit of math, too, but that doesn't quite work out.
On the back wall of the classroom, the Numbers have pinned the crayon drawings by the kids. Most of the drawings depict a sword yielding female figure engulfed in fierce red flame, captioned with "Kool Lady", "Fire Nait" and such. Few drawings are of a gray-clad witch in the air, with long fangs and slit eyes and demonic expression.
.
The Numbers are wrapping up the class, and Scaglietti looks out the windows. A site manager working for rebuilding the town is taking a group of clone girls on a tour of a nearby construction site; a two-story house that is being rebuilt from the ground up. The doctor smiles at the sight of white helmets bobbing up and down.
Many of the girls in the eligible age group have expressed their interest in joining the Ground Armament Service, all hoping to serve one major general Signum at some point in the future. That is not very surprising given how they idolize the Wolkenritter general.
Unexpectedly though a surprising number of clone girls have decided they want to learn the carpentry. About the equal number have expressed their interest in farming. When asked why the girls simply shrugged and said they want to be useful for the sisters back home. This endearing story has gathered positive media attention and somewhat helps the Bureau's propaganda efforts in justifying resources spent on these prisoners of war.
.
As the class ends the girls pack up. Scaglietti, too, gets ready for the next class when one little girl comes over to talk to him. She presents a small paper on which she has written: "Than q Doktor."
"Oh~ how nice. I thank YOU." Scaglietti smiles and gladly accepts the note.
"Doctor, when will you go to our homeworld?" The little kid asks.
"I'm sorry?"
"I want my sisters there learn to read, too."
Jail Scaglietti looks hard at the small face in front of him. My, she really is an exact copy of Chief Enforcer... a kid version of her to be exact. And the same good kind heart, too. He swallows hard. The defeated invaders are not told of what happened in Al Hazard. A catastrophe Scaglietti himself is partly responsible for.
The little girl produces a small picture book.
"This is my favorite book. I want them read it too."
Dr. Scaglietti breaks down. He falls onto his knees, hugging the little girl tight, wailing.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
#
.
A few kilometers west of Scaglietti's classroom, Vaizen Wing's group leader Bug Boy is walking slowly on the slope of the crater that once was the battle-torn high hill. Dressed casually with hiking boots on, he is hunched over, combing the grass dirt with optics magic inch by inch, in search of something.
He decides to take a break and sits down. Nature has taken its course and the greenery has returned to the scene that saw hundreds of people die and its soil upturned by countless explosions. There is some water at the bottom of the crater. Just a large pond at this stage, but the scientists are eagerly anticipating the crater to turn into a full-scale lake in three or four generations later, with the accompanying ecosystem and such.
A woman and a kid boy call out to him from the edge of the crater. Bug Boy waves them back with a smile. From the distance he can make out the little boy pretending to fly, arms outstretched, running around his mom. Bug Boy smiles and returns to what he was doing.
The man spots something and freezes in his steps. He gets on all his fours, crawling on the dirt inch by inch. Then he finally spots it again; a tiny creature. A Seven-legged Vaizen Spider.
"Hi there, little fella."
He takes a quick zoomed-in photo of the creature and attaches it to a message addressed to someone aliased White Devil.
"One... less... for you... to... feel... bad. Send."
He proceeds to follow the creature. But he abruptly stops again. He carefully backs out and turns his head sideways to have a better look at a little twig that he just passed. Bug Boy lowers his face to the ground, nose almost touching. On the little twig is a tiny sac full of baby Seven-legged Spiders crawling within.
At first, he laughs. Then he cries in joy. Then he laughs again. So happy. Relieved. Redeemed. He remains like this until his kid calls out to him. Bug Boy stands up, waves to his kid, and flies up the crater slope to his family, much to the boy's delight.
#
.
Nanoha receives the message from Bug Boy as she walks out of the Naval Intelligence building. She checks the message walking towards her car in the guest's parking lot. She smiles seeing the photo.
"So, THIS is a Seven-legged Vaizen Spider."
She is amused. How does this creature even walk with seven legs?
Before getting into her car, Nanoha looks up. With the help of optics magic, she can see Chrono looking out the window, staring down on her.
It's not that Chrono is the type of man who is happy to spend his weekend in his office. He more than yearns to spend more time with his family; the twins and Amy. But Naval Intelligence knows no such thing as weekends nor holidays. It has to remain vigilant. The agency has to redeem itself, especially after the recent war in Vaizen, what with their own ship leading a horde of invaders back to Bureau territory and such.
Taking the opportunity while Fate is away in Vaizen, Nanoha has come to discuss her plan, to which Chrono reluctantly agreed. He will let her through the gate.
The White Devil waves to Chrono and gets inside her car. She looks at the photo of the strange spider once more. 'You are a survivor, aren't you, little spider?'
.
An hour later, Nanoha is sitting in Hayate's office.
"You know Strategic Arms is still mad at you, right? They will really go ballistic this time." Hayate comments, worried.
"But I really gotta go."
Hayate studies her friend's face. It seems Nanoha is really set to go. Hayate sighs and signs the paper, authorizing Nanoha's leave. The Bureau still hasn't dissolved the Joint Task Force, which means all forces based in Vaizen and Midchilda are still under Hayate's command... on paper, at least. Nanoha has decided to play the game and has come to Hayate for the permission, instead of taking it to the Air Armament chain of command. A really shitty thing to do to her superior officers, but still better than being listed as gone AWOL.
"Does Fate-chan agree with this?"
"She doesn't know." Nanoha shakes her head. Hayate raises her eyebrows. 'Oh boy...' Not only Strategic Arms going to be mad, but Hayate is also going to have Air Armament and Fate-chan glaring at her.
"At least let them put the limiter back on you." Hayate suggests.
"Nah~ That won't work. I probably need my full strength." Nanoha brushes off Hayate's suggestion.
"Phew... You do realize there is a chance you will be considered as gone rogue?" Hayate leans back on her chair, scratching her head. "I don't know how I'm going to explain this to the top."
"Just tell them it's the way of Takamachi."
"Screw you."
#
.
Staying awake, pretending to be asleep, Nanoha has endured, for hours into the late night, Fate snoring. 'This should be enough.' She waves her hand over Fate's sleeping face. No reaction. 'Good.'
Nanoha sits up. The bedsheet slips and reveals her naked body in the dark. She carefully gets out of the bed, trying not to wake Fate up. On the first step she takes, she steps on a firm yet squish bar-like object which rolls under her feet. Nanoha falls hard on her back, her head almost hitting the bedside table. Panting from the surprise, she tries to calm her racing heart down and waits for the adrenaline to wear off. She fumbles on the floor to locate the object and finds it. It's a double-headed love toy, still a bit wet on both ends' surface from the recent use. It must have rolled off at some point after the two ladies had finished the deed.
Lying on her back Nanoha sighs in relief. That could have been an extremely embarrassing death. 'Veteran flight mage slips on a dildo and dies.' She can imagine the tabloids going crazy.
With a muted groan, Nanoha stands up. She takes careful steps because she now knows there should be more of adult-use devices rolling on the floor. Having safely reached the wardrobe, she slowly dresses up, relying on the little moonlight coming in through the window. Once dressed, she reaches for deep inside the wardrobe and takes out a large travel backpack, already packed and ready to go.
Now ready, Nanoha carefully returns to the bed, by Fate's side. She gently kisses goodbye on sleeping Fate's forehead and leaves the room. She does the same with sleeping Vivio in the next room.
Making sure her letter can be easily found on the kitchen table, Nanoha takes one last look around her home. It will be a long time before she comes back.
.
Chrono shuffles nervously in front of the gate to Al Hazard. He has told the guards off for the occasion and is all alone in the almost empty Staging Dock. His facility in Midchilda has informed him of the special guest going through, so she should arrive pretty soon... And yes, there she is. He sees a twin light approaching, illuminating a humanoid figure walking in front of the light.
Nanoha comes to a stop, with a self-driven cargo loader size of a bus tagging behind.
"You sure about this, Nanoha?"
"Yes." Nanoha nods. She shakes hands with Chrono. "Look after Fate-chan while I'm gone, will you?"
"Sure."
Chrono is impressed by how Nanoha doesn't show any hesitation at all diving into the transdimensional gate to Al Hazard. The cargo loader follows its master into the gate, setting off a journey to the other side of the multi-
"On second thought-" Nanoha walks out of the gate. She rummages through her stuff in the backpack and takes out the double-headed silicone bar.
"Here. Give it to Fate. I brought it with me because it's got her scent on it, but-" Nanoha puts it in Chrono's hand. "She's gonna notice it's gone missing and might get the wrong idea." Says Nanoha. After all, she's going to a place full of younger versions of Fate. Better not risk Fate misunderstanding her intention.
"Scent? You mean it's been recently used?" Chrono asks, looking at the object he's holding.
"Don't worry. You are holding my end, not your sister's." Nanoha winks and walks back into the gate. This time for real.
Chrono scratches his head. Yes, it's his Dock so he could try to argue it's his gate. He has the authority to let Nanoha through... maybe? But how does he deliver this thing to his sister?
#
.
It's early morning and the birds have started chirping. Fate rolls across the bed in her sleep, but she notices the other side of the bed is vacant. At first, she feels around with her hand where Nanoha's breasts should generally be found but coming to no contact she opens her eyes. Her partner is not in bed.
"Nanoha, are you up already?"
Upon hearing no reply, Fate gets up and checks the bathroom. It is empty. She quickly puts on the silk robe over her naked body and walks out to the hall and checks another bathroom, which again is empty.
Fate checks Vivio's room, carefully opening the door just so slightly. Nanoha isn't there either.
She checks everywhere; kitchen, garage, backyard, but Nanoha is nowhere to be found.
Only when she sits down at the kitchen table, puzzled and confused, she notices the letter placed on the table.
.
Nanoha wrote:
"Dear Fate-chan. I'm sorry to go like this, but knowing you, you would have thrown everything away to come with me.
We won the war. Everyone did their best in their parts. Everyone clicked together like a clockwork. (Except for the time when I was crazy, but let's forget about that part.)"
.
Nanoha had read a lot of reports on Al Hazard. The reports from the fact-finding task force. The reports from Naval Intelligence. She had watched the footage taken by Lighthouse again and again. She had even gone and talked to Red Ribbon.
For months Nanoha had spent countless nights awake, gently holding and stroking Fate's hand as Fate whimpered and cried in her nightmares.
.
"To what end, though? Nobody failed, but we have in our hands the biggest humanitarian disaster ever in the Bureau's history. How is this even possible? I don't understand.
Your sisters are dying. I know you've been having nightmares, crying in your sleep. This can't go on. I can't go on. We are ticking away their suffering into the forgotten realm. Nobody's doing anything!"
.
Fate starts to cry reading up to this point. She, too, has noticed Nanoha was having nightmares. Fate has spent many nights comforting Nanoha, begging in her sleep for the girls to forgive her. Wiping tears off, Fate continues to read.
.
"Dear Fate. I'm going to Al Hazard. I'm not sure what that will help but I will see what I can do. I need to go and make it right."
.
Fate bursts out in reluctant laughter. Yes, of course, it's Nanoha. She has to go, otherwise, she wouldn't be Nanoha.
.
"You'd probably want to come along, but please don't, Fate-chan. I hear it's really bad in Al Hazard and I don't want you to see the girls suffering."
.
Fate keeps crying but nods in appreciation. Nanoha is just too kind.
.
"One more thing. I took out all my savings AND from our joint account to buy disaster rations and supplies and stuff. Just so you know... don't get upset."
.
Fate sighs. OK, now that is a bit going too far...
#
.
A couple of hours later Vivio walks into the kitchen to find Fate-mama red-eyed, sipping coffee.
"I don't see Nanoha-mama."
Fate looks up from her coffee and smiles.
"She's gone to make some new friends."
Vivio digests the information. OK...
"Erm... making friends her way or the normal way?"
"Who knows?" Fate shrugs.
"Oh boy..." Vivio starts to feel sorry for the poor souls, whoever they might be. "When will she be back?"
"Well... there's a lot of them." Fate smiles. "Come on. Let's get ready for the day."
.
The two ladies brush teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast, and do all those things women do in the morning. Vivio then realizes she doesn't have any classes this morning, so goes back to bed, complaining unlike Fate-mama Nanoha-mama knows her timetable by heart and would have told Vivio.
Dressed in her Executive Office uniform, hair combed and makeup on, Fate opens the front door to find a man sitting on the doorstep. It's the captain of Strategic Arms security team.
"Good morning, madam."
"You let her go, didn't you?!" Fate pinches the man's arm hard and twists. After a series of painful yelp from the man, she releases him.
"Well, madam... let's just say she convinced me." Says the man protecting the Takamachi family, rubbing the sore spot where Fate pinched.
They start to slowly walk towards Chief Enforcer's chauffeured limousine.
"Will you be alright with this, captain?" Fate asks, worried about the man.
"Actually, I've been demoted to lieutenant first class."
Fate is shocked.
"What?! Why?"
The lieutenant pouts.
"Well... One, I let you dive into that gate. Two, I let you go undercover in Vaizen-"
"But you weren't even in Vaizen at the time!" Fate can't believe it.
"It doesn't matter, madam. It's the principle of things that counts."
They reach Fate's limousine.
"But... but with Doomsday now gone-"
"Yeah~" The demoted man nods. "I've been thinking about the private sectors lately." He's better off quitting than suffer further humiliation.
"But... but you will have to deal with entitled brats and rich hags-" Fate stops mid-sentence, realizing Takamachi household IS comprised of an entitled brat and two rich hags.
"Well, that's the downside." He shrugs. "But I hear they pay good."
Fate is terrified. Her family has ruined this man's career. The man just smiles with no hard feelings, but Fate has to do something about it. She comes up with an idea.
"Captain, I have a proposal."
The man demoted to lieutenant raises his eyebrows. Fate continues.
"You know the Office has a team of security detail on Ixpellia? The team leader is retiring in six months. I was actually looking for a-"
The man snaps a salute with a big smile.
"Thank you, madam. I am grateful. When shall I start?"
#
.
The gate pulsates and Nanoha emerges with the cargo loader. She surveys the land. There is no one near the gate except decomposed corpses scattered around the area.
As expected, Al Hazard is still on fire, the sky burning and occasionally raining flames down. But not all is dead. Using optics magic Nanoha sees humanoid figures entering and emerging from what appear to be rabbit holes. 'They must be the survivors' Nanoha concludes. They are wandering about with their barriers deployed, albeit looking seriously malnourished and weakened.
The girl, Fate's favorite sister, has told Nanoha of mushrooms growing beneath the soil. Not as popular as the weed roots, but edible and high in moisture contents. The clone girl speculated if anyone is still alive, they would be relying on those mushrooms. Nanoha can confirm the girl's theory; the inhabitants of Al Hazard wander around, digging out and collecting small things. But the heat is too intense for Nanoha's comfort. She wonders how long she can stay out in the open. Red Ribbon also has warned about the occasional mana storm, which thankfully is not present for the moment.
"I gotta do something about this fire first."
"Roger. External magic added as a source." Raging Heart complies. Nanoha cannot manipulate external magic sources as effectively as Precia did; Nanoha can pull off maybe just a negligible fraction of Dr. Testarossa's capability at best. Nevertheless, at this point with the limiter gone, only a small boost to her already impossible output should suffice for the purpose.
"Exert your will, madam." Raging Heart encourages its master.
Nanoha's arrival has been noticed by the girls. The survivors start to gather and form a ring around the strange visitor. Nanoha takes a deep breath. She morphs Raising Heart into the staff mode and raises it high above her head.
"Enough!"
An impossibly large beam of magic discharge shoots up into the sky. At first, nothing happens. When Nanoha is about to be disappointed, a deafening sound of something tearing apart echoes in the sky. Within a blink of an eye, the fire in the sky is extinguished. Apart from dense black smoke still lingering, the sky has turned back to its former violet swirl.
The clone girls are, of course, shocked. They cower at the display of such immense power. Nanoha studies the disheveled girls and grimaces.
"Urgh... these masks again."
She surveys the land again. There, in the distance, she locates the Ziggurat.
"That must be the Ziggurat."
She gets up in the air and heads towards the large structure, with the cargo loader slightly lagging behind. The girls watch her go. They summon magical ears and start talking into them.
.
By now most of the girls are on the surface, wondering what happened to the burning sky. But the words spread fast, and they search the sky for the flying figure. The sight of a complete stranger flying their sky has alerted the rest of the clone girls left alive.
Mother has not returned for months. The girls in Vaizen are not talking. Nobody knows what's happened, and Alicia is gone. They have been abandoned, lost, just barely managing to keep going on for the sake of going on. And suddenly a stranger appears out of nowhere and puts the fire out? How? Why?
They start to gather at the Ziggurat where the visitor is heading.
.
Nanoha spots a platform with a throne-like seat. She lets the cargo loader gently drop to the foot of the Ziggurat. She herself lands on the former resting place for Alicia.
Nanoha surveys the exposed platform. Walls have crumbled but she could make out a passage to another larger roofless room. Over the rubble, she can see the throne she has seen from the sky. She walks towards the passage but stumbles over something. She looks down at her feet and finds the incinerated remains of some toys and stuffed dolls. She stands there for a while looking at them, overwhelmed by the tragic implication.
Trying not to look at the heap of decomposed corpses on the platform, she moves to the throne room. Exhausted from the long travel, Nanoha throws herself down onto the throne, half asleep already.
But the girls have reached her.
"Who are you?" A senior Alicia clone asks on behalf of her gathered sisters.
"Please. Let me rest a bit." Nanoha waves her off, but the girl is insistent.
"Who are you? Why are you here?"
Nanoha sighs. She points outside.
"Did you see the big thing that came with me? There are foods and stuff inside. Help yourself and leave me alone for a bit. Please."
But the girls aren't moving. They glare at her.
"Get off."
Nanoha looks at the masked girl with a puzzled expression. Get off?
"That's mother's throne. Get off!"
Nanoha jumps up and moves to the side, feeling ashamed.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"
"Who are you?" The senior clone asks once again.
Nanoha has to think about it for a moment. The answer has to be something simple. Something these girls would understand.
"Your sisters in Vaizen call me the flying devil."
The girls ready their weapons; beam blades and scythes. Screaming, one brave girl dives on the stranger who dared to sit in mother's throne.
The clone sisters are shocked to see the girl careening back across the floor, unconscious. They turn their heads back to face the flying devil with her staff slightly tilted forward.
"I came to help." Nanoha watches the girls getting ready to fight. "But...I guess we should talk first."
The clone girls raise their weapons, ready to attack. Some of them summon magical years and start yelling into them; alerting all sisters of this dangerous intruder.
Nanoha slightly lowers her stance, planting her back foot firmly, readying herself for the imminent combat. She smiles to herself, reminiscing.
"Look, Fate-chan. Just like how we met."
The girls launch themselves at the white-clad devil, screaming.
The throne room is suddenly filled with a flash of bright pink and crimson.
Outside, thousands and thousands and thousands of masked clone girls, who have braved and survived the inferno, rush and climb the Ziggurat, pouring onto the exposed throne room on the top, screaming at the top of their lungs.
.
.
-THE END-