Disclaimer: I do not own MGLN or Sailor Moon
The White Devil of the Moon
By Bissek
Chapter 5
Escapes and Explanations
Beryl gazed into her crystal. Soon, her faithful servant Jadeite would launch his attack on the place where Nephrite had prophesied the downfall of the Moon Princess, and her nemesis would fall before she could even attempt to defy the Dark Kingdom. Victory was at hand, and she wanted to see the moment that guaranteed her triumph.
She chuckled with amusement when she saw the people who had gathered at the place Jadeite had attacked attempting to resist. Let them try. The pitiful creatures, even the one who appeared to be a strange Senshi she had never seen before, stood no chance against her forces. Soon they would all be dead, along with the princess they sought to protect, and their life energy would help to fuel the return of Metallia.
She snarled in rage when Sailor Venus joined in the fight. The Senshi had interfered with her plans far too many times, and Venus was the worst of them all. She had been plaguing the Dark Kingdom for the longest, ruined more plans than any of the others, and had been responsible for the loss of many of the few non-youma servants she had at her command other than the Shitennou. It had taken her agents almost a year to realize that æSailor VÆ was a decoy and not the Moon Princess herself. For that affront alone, Beryl wished the Senshi of Love a painful death.
Beryl seethed as the SenshiÆs arrival allowed the defenders to turn the tide of battle in their favor. Finally, Jadeite moved. Realizing that he must have identified which person in the crowd was the Moon Princess, Beryl held her breath in anticipation. This was the moment she had been waiting for. Then that accursed Senshi blocked her servantÆs attack. Beryl hissed in fury. She waited for Jadeite to eliminate that annoying girl and kill the Princess, but Venus managed to keep herself between him and the girl who had to be his target.
As the duel between the Senshi and the Dark General continued, the girl who had to be the Moon Princess was enveloped with light, to emerge dressed in a gown of a style unfamiliar to her and wielding a staff. The princess had awakened. Jadeite had to kill her now, before she started interfering yet again.
Unfortunately, the Senshi had succeeded in keeping all of JadeiteÆs attention focused on her instead of his intended target. The beam of pink light that the princess fired at him took him completely by surprise. When the light faded, BerylÆs faithful servant was no more.
Nephrite had promised her the proper moment in which to destroy the Moon Princess. Instead, the Moon Princess had killed one of her generals. BerylÆs screams of rage echoed through her palace.
Precia looked up from her work table when she heard the scream. Something had upset her æmistressÆ. Hopefully, the self-styled queen of the Dark Kingdom wouldnÆt choose to take it out on her. PreciaÆs hand reached for her collar reflexively. As her hand touched it, she realized that something had changed. The links connecting her to Jadeite had broken. Whatever it was that angered Beryl had brought harm to the man controlling the collar û harm serious enough to break his control over Precia. How fortunate.
Precia rose and turned to gather the supplies she had been hoarding. This was the opportunity she had been waiting for. All she had to do was get to Alicia, and she could make her escape. Once she was away from this place, she could figure out how to remove the collar and start working out a plan to secure enough life energy to revive her daughter.
Precia prayed that BerylÆs tantrum lasted a good long time. The longer Beryl spent thinking about JadeiteÆs apparent failure, the longer it would take before anyone thought to check up on her, and the more time she would have to rescue her beloved child and escape.
Fate looked down at the unconscious girl in her arms. Nanoha was still alive, but she had no idea what kind of damage Nanoha had inflicted upon herself by casting a Divine Buster while she was still recovering from her previous injuries.
Apart from Nanoha, the only member of the wedding party with serious injuries was NanohaÆs father. Kyouya and Miyuki had taken several minor injuries, and many others had ended up passing out, and were now recovered if somewhat woozy. Still, Fate knew that the casualties could have been much, much worse. Had this ôSailor Venusö not arrived when she did, there could easily have been deaths, starting with NanohaÆs aunt and Nanoha herself.
It was this fact that kept Fate from sticking the other girl in a Lightning Bind and interrogating her at scythe edge the moment the fight ended. This was the third mage in a barrier jacket of that style that she had encountered in two days, and the other two had turned out to be hostile. Even if this mage wasnÆt hostile, there was probably a connection between her and the other two, and Fate wanted to know what it was, and exactly what was going on.
The sound of sirens heralded the arrival of the police. NanohaÆs aunt greeted the officers who entered, presenting her own police credentials as she did so. Fate didnÆt produce her own. Trying to explain the validity of an ID stating that she was a military police officer of a government that the local authorities would have never heard of that was based on another planet would take all day.
The policemen were skeptical about the original explanation as to what was going on, but the consistent testimony of the witnesses, combined with the presence of Sailor Venus and the dismembered robots scattered across the floor eventually forced them to admit that there really had been a magical girl battle in the middle of a wedding. They then started calling for ambulances.
A disturbingly large number of ambulances arrived to pick up the people who had been injured. Most of them would probably be cycled through the hospital fairly quickly, but Nanoha wouldnÆt be one of those. The source of her current condition stemmed from a part of NanohaÆs body that the planetÆs physicians had yet to even acknowledge the existence of, let alone develop methods to examine and treat. She sent Aruf to follow NanohaÆs ambulance and to keep watch on her. There was no point in risking that the people who ordered this attack might be willing to send a second wave once they realized their first attempt failed.
More police arrived, followed by the media. While the police were forced to divide their attention between their investigation of the incident at the wedding and keeping the press at a distance while they were performing their initial investigation, Fate took the opportunity to approach Venus and take her someplace where she could be questioned discretely.
The wedding party had moved inside the house and was breaking into smaller groups. While the reception proper would not begin until after the groom returned from the hospital, everyone wanted to get away from the former battlefield and wrap their minds around what had happened.
One thing about the wedding party seemed strange to Venus. Some of the people present, while alarmed at the fact that they had ended up in a battlefield for no immediately apparent reason, seemed totally unsurprised about the presence of several magical girls. The girl she had ended up with, who appeared to be either a younger sister or cousin to the bride, was one of those.
ôIf Nanoha had been in Tokyo with your group, why wasnÆt she been able to visit any of her friends until after she got hurt?ö The girl asked.
While having Nanoha as part of the Senshi was the reason Venus had come to Unimari, it hadnÆt happened yet. Why did this girl think that it had already happened as a matter of course?
ôHuh?ö
ôYou donÆt need to hide it. Nanoha and I have been friends for years. I know about her job training magical girls for the government of FateÆs home planet. This is the first time IÆve ever met one of her students.ö
VenusÆ mind froze up. Alien governments. Professional magical girls. Professional trainers of magical girls. Her world had suddenly become a lot stranger than it had been that morning. Given how unusual her life had been since she first met Artemis, that was saying something. Though it did explain why Rei had had so much trouble trying to find the Moon Princess in her visions û the princess really had dropped off the face of the planet.
ôShe isnÆt one of NanohaÆs students, Suzuka,ö Fate interjected as she walked into the room.
ôAllow me to introduce myself, Ms Venus,ö Fate went on. ôI am Enforcer Fate Harlaown of the Time-Space Administration Bureau.ö She produced an ID card with a great deal of official-looking information printed on it in a rather ornate font. ôWhile I realize that IÆm outside of my normal jurisdiction, given that this is a non-administered planet, recent events have very much made this my business.
ôAll that Nanoha and I were looking for when we came here was a nice quiet vacation. Instead, we ended up with a battle in the middle of a wedding, resulting in Nanoha overworking herself into the hospital û again. She just got out of there less than a month ago! The person responsible for this û someone you apparently recognized on sight, and who recognized you in turn û deliberately singled out Nanoha as a target. I also canÆt help but recognize a decided resemblance between your barrier jacket and those worn by two girls who tried to set my familiar on fire yesterday.
ôWhile IÆm not going to accuse you of anything, I canÆt help but think that you know more than a little about the reason for this attack, and possibly the one that happened yesterday. So IÆm going to ask you û what is going on here?ö
Venus gulped. While she knew that this was necessary, and should have been done at least a week earlier, she also knew that given the circumstances, this was not going to be a pleasant experience.
Fate blanched when she heard what the Senshi had been going up against. In all her time as a mage, both under her mother and as a TSAB Enforcer, she had never once had a case that lasted more than three months. And she had never been without a support infrastructure (Even if the infrastructure that Precia provided couldnÆt always be considered to be supportive). Nanoha had only operated as a mage without a support infrastructure until she had first encountered the TSAB, a period of time lasting maybe a month. These Senshi had been operating independently, without any formal training whatsoever, for over a year and were still functioning? She was impressed.
The part of the tale about a magical nation that had been destroyed millennia ago was more problematic. Given that VenusÆ primary source on this was two talking cats with memories like wensleydale (whatever that meant), Fate couldnÆt really take the details of that part of the story for absolute fact. SheÆd have to contact Yuuno to see if there were any records in the Infinite Library about this Moon Kingdom, mages known as Senshi, or a Lost Logia referred to as the Ginzuisho. Although the concept of Nanoha being the SenshiÆs leader did cause Fate to wonder what her friend would look like with her barrier jacket restyled as a fuku. She found that she liked the image.
Of course, whether or not Nanoha really was this Moon Princess was irrelevant. One of the earliest lessons that she had learned when studying to be an enforcer was that peopleÆs actions are not determined by what is true, but rather by what people believe to be true, no matter how inaccurate that belief might be. And since this Dark Kingdom wanted the Moon Princess dead and believed that Nanoha was the Moon Princess, they were going to keep on trying to kill Nanoha until they succeeded or someone forced them to stop. And depending on what kind of transportation spell they were using to bring operatives in and out, they could potentially follow them if Fate took Nanoha to a different planet in an attempt to avoid the turmoil. As the Senshi freely admitted that they werenÆt capable of defeating the Dark Kingdom with the resources available to them, it would take outside help to ensure that this problem was dealt with. Outside help such as the TSAB.
ôI canÆt guarantee anything,ö Fate said, ôIf nothing else, Nanoha is in no condition to be fighting at the moment. But I will be sending a message up the chain of command to see if I can get some more mages here to help deal with this situation.ö She saw VenusÆ shoulders sag with relief at the thought of no longer having to face her war alone. ôYou do realize that this could have been handled much faster if your first representative had been willing to explain all this when I first asked.ö
ôTell me about it.ö Venus agreed. ôIÆm still trying to figure out the logic behind LunaÆs decision to have Mars and Jupiter attack you. Even if she had been right, it still would have been a bad plan.ö
FateÆs eyes narrowed. ôWhen you next see those two, tell them that they should try to come up with a reason as to why I shouldnÆt be bringing them in on assault charges. And that I wonÆt go easy on them if they try something like that a second time.ö
Venus nodded in agreement. ôIÆll tell them, but IÆm not sure if theyÆll listen. We might have been a team in our previous lives, but in this one weÆre just a group of girls who happen to be in the same line of work. If the stakes werenÆt so high, we probably would have gone our separate ways months ago.ö
That was a disturbing thing to consider. Whenever supposed allies turned against each other, even if it was for reasons that seemed sensible, trouble followed. Hopefully, the reckless ones would have the sense to toe the line if their æprincessÆ ordered them to behave.
ôIs there a way I can contact you?ö
ôWhat did you do with the communicator that you got from Luna?ö Fate unsealed the watch. Venus flipped it open and pointed at a specific button. ôPressing that button will call my communicator.ö Venus glanced at a wall clock. ôI need to get going if IÆm going to catch a train back to Tokyo. Contact me if you need additional information.ö
ôHow are you planning to get through the cordon? I donÆt think the police are willing to let people leave yet.ö
Venus produced a pen. ôI believe you also got one of these. Watch carefully.ö Venus commanded the pen to turn her into a police officer. A moment later, Sailor Venus had vanished and was replaced by a blonde policewoman. Fate had seen the transition, and despite knowing that this was some kind of deception, a part of her instinctively wanted to accept the faux officer as genuine. She would definitely have to have the pen she had sealed away thoroughly examined when she got back to Mid-Childa.
Fate watched as the young mage casually walked straight through the cordon, completely ignored by people who assumed that she was just another cop passing through. Then she turned her attention towards Bardiche. She had a report to send back home, and it was best if she got started on it immediately. Maybe doing so would help keep her mind off of worrying about NanohaÆs condition.
Nanoha found herself standing in the ballroom she had dreamt about shortly after arriving in Tokyo. Once again she danced with the dark-haired man, who looked familiar for some reason. She gazed into the manÆs eyes a second time, only to have the romantic moment ended by the sound of a barrier being forced down, followed by the chaotic noise of a battle breaking over people who were totally unprepared to fight one.
As the dream continued, Nanoha found herself running through corridors with her dance partner, apparently seeking some place that could serve as a sanctuary from the battle. But everywhere she ran, monsters û monsters that looked eerily similar to some of the creatures that had attacked KyouyaÆs wedding û blocked her path. Finally she found herself cornered.
As the monsters closed in, a rescuer arrived. A woman in a white and orange fuku attacked the monsters, cutting down the ones that approached Nanoha. She looked almost exactly like Sailor Venus, the girl who showed up to fight the monsters at KyouyaÆs wedding. This version managed to single-handedly hold off the attackers, wielding her crystalline broadsword with considerably more ease than the version in the waking world used her borrowed kodachi.
A man with grey eyes and silver hair walked into the room, drawing his sword as he did so. He tried to attack Nanoha, but was blocked the Venus double. The two fought back and forth across the room, their swords clashing as they each sought an advantage over the other. Eventually, the woman started to slow, weakened by the earlier battle against the monsters. Her guard slipped, and the man cut her down.
A red-headed woman with impractically long fingernails and a black gown entered the room and smiled evilly. Then she hurled a blast of energy at Nanoha. NanohaÆs companion leapt in front of her, taking the blow at the cost of his own life.
Nanoha screamed with grief as the man died in her arms. As her companionÆs killer mocked her, she reached out to grasp the hilt of the crystal sword that had been dropped by the Venus lookalike. She took the blade into her hands, raised it off the floorà
And turned the blade around to drive it into her own chest.
Nanoha bolted upright, panting in shock. That dream had been disturbingly real. The sounds, the smells, everything was far too detailed for it to be some idle fancy. She still could feel a slight ache in her chest at the point where the sword would have pierced her.
But even as the dream felt frighteningly realistic, it was also totally wrong. In the dream, when faced with danger, she had fled rather than confronting her opponent or even trying to protect herself or those around her. The last time that Nanoha had behaved like that was shortly before Yuuno gave her Raising Heart. But in the dream, running away was the only thing that occurred to her.
And then, when she had lost all her protectors, she killed herself. That was something that Nanoha couldnÆt ever see herself doing. If someone had killed Fate in front of her, NanohaÆs first reaction would be to take the person responsible down, not to commit suicide. And she was sure that Fate would do the same for her. The fact that Vita did do that for her when she was wounded was pretty much the only reason that Nanoha had survived to receive medical attention after that disastrous mission all those months ago. Nanoha was certain that if the events in that dream were real and she couldnÆt use magic for some reason, she would have picked up the sword and attacked. She might not have ever trained with the sword, but she knew enough of the theory from watching her siblings and friends practice to make herself at least briefly a threat.
But even as Nanoha tried to convince herself that she would never act that way, and that the dream was just some strange image cooked up by her imagination, another part of her whispered that the dream was far more real than she thoughtà
Nanoha took a deep breath. It was just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream where she had a date with a strangely familiar guy that she had fallen madly in love with for some reason. Just a dream where a perfect romantic evening turned into a disaster. Just a dream where her beloved had been murdered right in front of her and she killed herself in despairà Nanoha shook her head. She did not want to dwell on that any more than she absolutely had to. Nanoha looked around, searching for something else to focus her attention on.
She was lying in a hospital bed. A needle connected to an IV was stuck into her arm, and a sensor connected to her other arm was attached to a device taking her pulse. Across the room she could see Aruf dozing in a chair. ArufÆs head picked up when she heard increased activity in the room.
ôNanoha! YouÆre awake!ö She called out joyously. Aruf briefly stepped outside to pass along that fact to the doctors.
Nanoha spent the next two hours being prodded by physicians. Eventually, they couldnÆt find anything wrong with her beyond extreme exhaustion, which they proposed to fix by having Nanoha finish the glucose feed she was on, have a higher calorie diet, and no strenuous activities for the foreseeable future.
ôWeÆd been trying that, up until the moment a fight broke out at her brotherÆs wedding,ö Fate pointed out as she walked into the room.
ôDoes she have a history of collapses like this?ö A doctor asked.
ôSheÆs always been in the habit of pushing herself. It only reached the point that it noticeably impacted her health recently. IÆve already contacted her regular doctor about this û a Doctor Shamal Yagami.ö
Nanoha blinked. If Shamal knew about her collapse, then Hayate would be told of it soon, as would the rest of the Wolkenritter. The only real question was whether theyÆd be angrier with her for pushing herself into another collapse or the people responsible for the battle that made her overexertion necessary.
The doctor was pleased with that news. ôPlease have her contact the hospital if there is anything specific about Miss TakamachiÆs condition that we need to be concerned with.ö
After the doctor left, Fate turned to Aruf and asked her to set up a barrier to keep sound from leaving the room. Once that was taken care of, Fate turned her attention to Nanoha.
ôWHAT WERE YOU THINKING, NANOHA?!ö She demanded. ôYOU WERE WARNED NOT TO USE ANY HIGH LEVEL MAGIC! YOU COULD HAVE CRIPPLED YOUR LINKER CORE FOR LIFE! DO I HAVE TO TIE YOU TO THE BED TO MAKE YOU STOP ENDANGERING YOURSELF LIKE THIS?!ö
Fate slumped as the pent-up worry and anger was released by her tirade. Tears rolling down her face, she reached out for Nanoha. ôPlease, Nanoha,ö Fate sobbed. ôDonÆt make me worry like that. I almost lost you the last time you collapsed. Do you have any idea how much it scared me when I saw you like that?ö
Nanoha held her friend as she wept. After all the months of painful rehabilitation just to regain the ability to walk, she had spent far too much time dwelling on the implications of her injuries to herself. She had forgotten how much her friends had suffered because of her mistake.
When Fate had finally calmed down, Nanoha asked her if she had figured out what the battle at KyouyaÆs wedding had been about.
ôWell, I did get an explanation, but youÆre going to believe it.ö Fate said.
ôWhat is it?ö Nanoha insisted.
ôWe have ended up walking into the middle of a war. Both sides of the war seem to think that youÆre the reincarnation of a long dead princess of a magical kingdom that was destroyed thousands of years ago.ö
Nanoha had been well known in magical circles for quite some time, both as a mage and as a trainer of mages. She had assumed that a group of mages interested in her would be interested for one of those reasons. This certainly wasnÆt what she had been expecting. Nanoha giggled at the sheer absurdity of it. She was the daughter of a baker who used to be a bodyguard. Why would anyone think she was royalty? ôAnd who are the sides in this war?ö
ôThe girls in the miniskirted barrier jackets claim to be the reincarnations of your elite guard û some of whom apparently decided I was holding you prisoner when I wouldnÆt let them speak to you when they never explained why they wanted to. The man who attacked the wedding was apparently from the group that destroyed your alleged kingdom in the past, and wants to do it again.ö
ôBut IÆve never even heard of them before now.ö
ôAnd they donÆt care. IÆve asked Yuuno to look into the story of the first war against this Dark Kingdom, hopefully heÆll be able to find something out. Hayate is looking to see if she can get clearance to bring the Wolkenritter here to deal with the situation, which sheÆll probably get if Yuuno can find any records confirming what I was told. If she canÆt, Vita will probably take some leave time and show up anyway.ö
Nanoha sighed. It looked like her first vacation in years had come to a premature end.
Zoicite was avoiding his queen. He wasnÆt alone in this û Jadeite hadnÆt come back from his mission to kill the Moon Princess, and Beryl was taking her anger out on Nephrite for his providing the apparently faulty intelligence that led to JadeiteÆs failure. Nobody, not even the stupidest of the youma, wanted to provide the queen with an additional target on which to vent her rage. NephriteÆs occasional screams of pain reinforced this decision.
While he was searching for something to do that involved staying far away from his queen until she calmed down, he noticed a strange light coming from a room. Looking in, he saw the prisoner that Jadeite had been in charge of overseeing, standing on top of a very complicated diagram that was slowly rotating around her. Nine crystals were floating in the air above her as she concentrated on something.
Realizing that the prisoner had learned of JadeiteÆs demise and was making an escape attempt, he called upon his magic and hurled a ball of energy at the woman. The attack struck at the same time as her spell completed, failing to stop her escape. Precia had vanished, along with most of the items in the room, including the large capsule containing her daughter. On the ground, one of the crystals she had used to bring about her escape glittered, apparently knocked away from her by the blast.
Zoicite carefully picked up the crystal. There was power in the stone, a great deal of power. His queen might be interested in it. Then he heard Nephrite scream again, and he decided that it, and the matter of PreciaÆs escape, could wait until after Beryl was no longer looking for scapegoats to torment.
As Minako headed for school, it was clear that her belief that the SenshiÆs status as an urban legend was over was fully justified. The battle at the Takamachi/Tsukimura wedding was front page news. The newspapers had managed to purchase copies of the æwedding photosÆ from the wedding photographer, and as a result, an image of Sailor Venus crossing blades with Jadeite was sharing space with one of Fate and the groom facing the robots, and one of Nanoha blasting Jadeite. By the end of the day, all of Tokyo would know that magical girls really did exist, as well as the monsters they fought. Kami alone knew what their reaction to that revelation would be.
When she got to class, the revelation that the Senshi were real was the topic on the mind of everyone there. Naru and Usagi were both rather smug about being proven right about the SenshiÆs existence, especially since their opinions were based on having been rescued by them on one occasion (Multiple occasions, in NaruÆs case). They also were of mixed minds as to whether they should be happy that they now knew for certain that they hadnÆt hallucinated those rescues, or worried by the fact that they hadnÆt hallucinated the reason that the rescues had been necessary. Looking at those two, Minako was glad that the Moon Princess had turned out to be someone who took her responsibilities seriously, even if was to the point where she endangered her own health by doing so. She didnÆt want to think what would happen if the world had ended up depending on a chronic slacker such as her fellow blonde.
As the day passed, the gossip shifted from the existence of Sailor Venus to the other two magical girls to appear in the battle, who were listed in the article by name. Some thought they were Senshi in training, while others wondered if they were part of another group of magical girls that the Senshi were trying to form an alliance with. Still others just wanted to speak with those two in the hopes of being introduced to the Senshi. The ones who thought that Fate and Nanoha were trainee Senshi started speculating on how one would get accepted into such a training program. Minako spent the day doing her best to not visibly laugh at the more inherently absurd theories her classmates came up with.
When Minako had returned home and started on her homework, her communicator beeped. Hoping that it was a message from Fate about what she and Nanoha were going to be doing about the Dark Kingdom, Minako activated it and found that the call was actually from just about everyone other than who she expected.
ôWell, now the whole world knows that weÆre real.ö Rei commented. ôDid you manage to accomplish anything else with that public stunt of yours?ö
ôWell, for starters, the princessÆs friend thinks of me as the person who saved the life of the princessÆs aunt, as opposed to you and Kino-san, who she sees as the people who tried to set her dog on fire. By the way, she really wants to talk to you two. Something about felony assault charges,ö Minako retorted. She really didnÆt want to have this argument right now. If Rei had wanted to talk about this, she could have called during lunch. With all of the other Senshi going to the same school, it would have been a lot easier to coordinate, without cutting into their highly limited supply of free time.
ôWhat right does she have to complain?ö Luna snapped. ôWhatever she did to the princess made her collapse after she defeated Jadeite. We have to do something about her before she hurts the princess any further!ö
ôWill you stop jumping to conclusions, Luna? Acting on your speculation nearly ruined everything,ö Artemis countered.
ôAccording to Fate, the reason that Nanoha collapsed is because our princess is a compulsive workaholic who overworked herself into the hospital and had yet to recover when she fought Jadeite. Apparently, she takes her job as a magical girl trainer so seriously that we nearly lost our princess to karoshi,ö Minako added.
There were a series of gasps over the line as the others digested that horrible possibility. Then Makoto asked ôMagical girl trainer?ö
ôThatÆs right. Apparently, her friends and family have known about that for years. One of them assumed that I was one of her students. When Luna approached Fate, she probably thought that we were seeking Nanoha out to get some lessons.ö
Ami asked the most important question. ôWill the princess be alright?ö
ôIÆm not sure. Fate will probably call in some doctor who knows how to treat whatever condition NanohaÆs suffering from. If weÆre lucky, she might also be calling in some other people to help deal with the Dark Kingdom. So from now on, if you see any strangers with magic around, donÆt attack them unless youÆre sure that theyÆre youmas. WeÆve made too many mistakes recently, we canÆt afford any others.ö
Minako closed the communicator and returned to her homework. She had a patrol tonight, so she needed to get it done now if she was going to be able to hand it in tomorrow. Hopefully Fate would be able to bring in reinforcements. They could use the help.
Still, with the first positive contact between the Senshi and the Moon Princess, even if it was via a proxy, things were starting to look up.
Beryl held the crystal that Zoicite had brought her before the slumbering form of Metallia. Her master absorbed the energy contained within the stone, causing the light that it emitted to fade to nothing. As the last of the light vanished from the jewel, it crumbled into dust
It was obvious to a casual glance that Metallia had gained enough power from draining the crystal to make a significant step towards recovery. With a few more of them, she could revive Metallia without the Ginzuisho. She strode out of MetalliaÆs lair and returned to where Zoicite was waiting for her.
ôYou said that the prisoner had more of these crystals?ö She asked.
ôYes, my Queen. Including the one that I presented to you, she had nine of them. The remaining eight crystals are presumably still in her possession.ö He replied.
Beryl smiled. ôFind her. Find her and bring those crystals to me.ö
Omake: If the story had taken place a few years laterà
ôYou wonÆt get away with this. We will free the princess from your clutches.ö Luna snarled.
FateÆs head rose at that comment. ôOh, so thatÆs what this is about.ö She commented. ôWhy didnÆt you just say that you were Belkan?ö
Luna wasnÆt certain why being Belkan (whatever that meant) would be a sensible explanation for wanting to see the princess in and of itself, but if it allowed her to contact the princess, Luna was willing to play along. She nodded carefully.
Fate looked back down at her. ôLook. Nanoha and I are fully aware of the fact that our daughter is your rightful queen. But Vivio is only five years old, and she finds being addressed as royalty to be embarrassing. Could you please just allow her to grow up in peace? Even if she was old enough to try to rebuild your empire, sheÆs nowhere near ready to decide whether or not she even wants to.ö
As Fate left, Kamen choked on the thought that the princess who haunted his dreams at night was a mother. Meanwhile, Luna tried to wrap her mind around the concept of a second fallen nation being involved in this. Would those people interesting in restoring the Belkan Empire be a threat to the Moon Princess? Or could they be recruited into an alliance to restore both nations? She would have to look into this matter further.
Omake: My original idea for the reveal
Nanoha bolted upright. The dream she had just had had been scarily realistic. She could practically feel the sword entering her chest. What was going on with these nightmares?
Standing on the other side of the room was Sailor Venus, the girl who had guarded her at the wedding, and who she had seen die defending her in her dream. What was she doing here?
ôItÆs good to see that youÆre alright, your highness.ö Venus said.
ôYourà Highness?ö Nanoha asked, puzzled.
The girl dropped to one knee in front of NanohaÆs bed.
ôNanoha Takamachi, Princess of the Moon. I am Sailor Venus, commander of the Sailor Senshi. We are yours to command.ö She stated formally.
There was a sound of something falling to the ground. Nanoha turned her head to see Alisa and Suzuka standing in the doorway.
ôAlright, Nanoha.ö Alisa said. ôYouÆve been hiding quite a few things from your friends over the years û the fact that your pet ferret was a shapeshifting wizard,ö
ôThe fact that Fate was from another planet and not from Italy like you originally claimed,ö Suzuka continued.
ôYour being recruited as a professional magical girl by the government of FateÆs homeworld,ö
ôWhen were you planning to let us know about this little detail?ö
The look on VenusÆ face as Nanoha tried to explain to her friends that this development was as much as a surprise to her as it was to them was priceless.
A/N: IÆm choosing to believe that Beryl had more second-tier field commanders than just Danburite. However, between the efforts of the Senshi and BerylÆs temper, they have all been permanently removed from the equation by the time the story started.
Yes, Usagi does exist in this universe. But sheÆs just an ordinary subaverage Japanese schoolgirl. The only connection she has to the Senshi (That she knows of, anyway), is that she had to be rescued by them once.
The Senshi are not trained professionals like Nanoha, Fate, and the Wolkenritter. In some ways that makes what they were able to accomplish more impressive. In modern terms, their actions are like a self-recruited, self-trained part time militia formed of people who had no combat experience beyond schoolyard scuffles before being recruited, no logistics, a shoestring budget, and the closest thing they have to medical support is someone who plans to apply to medical school at a point several years in the future. Said militia then ends up being the only line of defense against a considerably larger enemy force, with no way to detect an impending attack until it happens and no way to launch an counteroffensive, even if they knew where they were supposed to attack. And then they manage to successfully hold the line until real professionals learn of their situation û a year and a half later. There are undoubtedly a lot of things they could have done better. That doesnÆt in any way change the fact that they managed to accomplish that much is an astonishing achievement.
Karoshi û death from overwork. An unfortunate phenomenon that has happened often enough in Japan to be officially listed as a distinct cause of death in their health statistics.
This fic now has its own page on TvTropes! Sweet! Now if only someone would examine Black Hands of NERV for noteworthy trope examples.
41 reviews, a new record. Given how long the list of reviewers has gotten, IÆm sure youÆll all understand if I stop my habit of thanking all the reviewers by name.
The White Devil of the Moon
By Bissek
Chapter 5
Escapes and Explanations
Beryl gazed into her crystal. Soon, her faithful servant Jadeite would launch his attack on the place where Nephrite had prophesied the downfall of the Moon Princess, and her nemesis would fall before she could even attempt to defy the Dark Kingdom. Victory was at hand, and she wanted to see the moment that guaranteed her triumph.
She chuckled with amusement when she saw the people who had gathered at the place Jadeite had attacked attempting to resist. Let them try. The pitiful creatures, even the one who appeared to be a strange Senshi she had never seen before, stood no chance against her forces. Soon they would all be dead, along with the princess they sought to protect, and their life energy would help to fuel the return of Metallia.
She snarled in rage when Sailor Venus joined in the fight. The Senshi had interfered with her plans far too many times, and Venus was the worst of them all. She had been plaguing the Dark Kingdom for the longest, ruined more plans than any of the others, and had been responsible for the loss of many of the few non-youma servants she had at her command other than the Shitennou. It had taken her agents almost a year to realize that æSailor VÆ was a decoy and not the Moon Princess herself. For that affront alone, Beryl wished the Senshi of Love a painful death.
Beryl seethed as the SenshiÆs arrival allowed the defenders to turn the tide of battle in their favor. Finally, Jadeite moved. Realizing that he must have identified which person in the crowd was the Moon Princess, Beryl held her breath in anticipation. This was the moment she had been waiting for. Then that accursed Senshi blocked her servantÆs attack. Beryl hissed in fury. She waited for Jadeite to eliminate that annoying girl and kill the Princess, but Venus managed to keep herself between him and the girl who had to be his target.
As the duel between the Senshi and the Dark General continued, the girl who had to be the Moon Princess was enveloped with light, to emerge dressed in a gown of a style unfamiliar to her and wielding a staff. The princess had awakened. Jadeite had to kill her now, before she started interfering yet again.
Unfortunately, the Senshi had succeeded in keeping all of JadeiteÆs attention focused on her instead of his intended target. The beam of pink light that the princess fired at him took him completely by surprise. When the light faded, BerylÆs faithful servant was no more.
Nephrite had promised her the proper moment in which to destroy the Moon Princess. Instead, the Moon Princess had killed one of her generals. BerylÆs screams of rage echoed through her palace.
Precia looked up from her work table when she heard the scream. Something had upset her æmistressÆ. Hopefully, the self-styled queen of the Dark Kingdom wouldnÆt choose to take it out on her. PreciaÆs hand reached for her collar reflexively. As her hand touched it, she realized that something had changed. The links connecting her to Jadeite had broken. Whatever it was that angered Beryl had brought harm to the man controlling the collar û harm serious enough to break his control over Precia. How fortunate.
Precia rose and turned to gather the supplies she had been hoarding. This was the opportunity she had been waiting for. All she had to do was get to Alicia, and she could make her escape. Once she was away from this place, she could figure out how to remove the collar and start working out a plan to secure enough life energy to revive her daughter.
Precia prayed that BerylÆs tantrum lasted a good long time. The longer Beryl spent thinking about JadeiteÆs apparent failure, the longer it would take before anyone thought to check up on her, and the more time she would have to rescue her beloved child and escape.
Fate looked down at the unconscious girl in her arms. Nanoha was still alive, but she had no idea what kind of damage Nanoha had inflicted upon herself by casting a Divine Buster while she was still recovering from her previous injuries.
Apart from Nanoha, the only member of the wedding party with serious injuries was NanohaÆs father. Kyouya and Miyuki had taken several minor injuries, and many others had ended up passing out, and were now recovered if somewhat woozy. Still, Fate knew that the casualties could have been much, much worse. Had this ôSailor Venusö not arrived when she did, there could easily have been deaths, starting with NanohaÆs aunt and Nanoha herself.
It was this fact that kept Fate from sticking the other girl in a Lightning Bind and interrogating her at scythe edge the moment the fight ended. This was the third mage in a barrier jacket of that style that she had encountered in two days, and the other two had turned out to be hostile. Even if this mage wasnÆt hostile, there was probably a connection between her and the other two, and Fate wanted to know what it was, and exactly what was going on.
The sound of sirens heralded the arrival of the police. NanohaÆs aunt greeted the officers who entered, presenting her own police credentials as she did so. Fate didnÆt produce her own. Trying to explain the validity of an ID stating that she was a military police officer of a government that the local authorities would have never heard of that was based on another planet would take all day.
The policemen were skeptical about the original explanation as to what was going on, but the consistent testimony of the witnesses, combined with the presence of Sailor Venus and the dismembered robots scattered across the floor eventually forced them to admit that there really had been a magical girl battle in the middle of a wedding. They then started calling for ambulances.
A disturbingly large number of ambulances arrived to pick up the people who had been injured. Most of them would probably be cycled through the hospital fairly quickly, but Nanoha wouldnÆt be one of those. The source of her current condition stemmed from a part of NanohaÆs body that the planetÆs physicians had yet to even acknowledge the existence of, let alone develop methods to examine and treat. She sent Aruf to follow NanohaÆs ambulance and to keep watch on her. There was no point in risking that the people who ordered this attack might be willing to send a second wave once they realized their first attempt failed.
More police arrived, followed by the media. While the police were forced to divide their attention between their investigation of the incident at the wedding and keeping the press at a distance while they were performing their initial investigation, Fate took the opportunity to approach Venus and take her someplace where she could be questioned discretely.
The wedding party had moved inside the house and was breaking into smaller groups. While the reception proper would not begin until after the groom returned from the hospital, everyone wanted to get away from the former battlefield and wrap their minds around what had happened.
One thing about the wedding party seemed strange to Venus. Some of the people present, while alarmed at the fact that they had ended up in a battlefield for no immediately apparent reason, seemed totally unsurprised about the presence of several magical girls. The girl she had ended up with, who appeared to be either a younger sister or cousin to the bride, was one of those.
ôIf Nanoha had been in Tokyo with your group, why wasnÆt she been able to visit any of her friends until after she got hurt?ö The girl asked.
While having Nanoha as part of the Senshi was the reason Venus had come to Unimari, it hadnÆt happened yet. Why did this girl think that it had already happened as a matter of course?
ôHuh?ö
ôYou donÆt need to hide it. Nanoha and I have been friends for years. I know about her job training magical girls for the government of FateÆs home planet. This is the first time IÆve ever met one of her students.ö
VenusÆ mind froze up. Alien governments. Professional magical girls. Professional trainers of magical girls. Her world had suddenly become a lot stranger than it had been that morning. Given how unusual her life had been since she first met Artemis, that was saying something. Though it did explain why Rei had had so much trouble trying to find the Moon Princess in her visions û the princess really had dropped off the face of the planet.
ôShe isnÆt one of NanohaÆs students, Suzuka,ö Fate interjected as she walked into the room.
ôAllow me to introduce myself, Ms Venus,ö Fate went on. ôI am Enforcer Fate Harlaown of the Time-Space Administration Bureau.ö She produced an ID card with a great deal of official-looking information printed on it in a rather ornate font. ôWhile I realize that IÆm outside of my normal jurisdiction, given that this is a non-administered planet, recent events have very much made this my business.
ôAll that Nanoha and I were looking for when we came here was a nice quiet vacation. Instead, we ended up with a battle in the middle of a wedding, resulting in Nanoha overworking herself into the hospital û again. She just got out of there less than a month ago! The person responsible for this û someone you apparently recognized on sight, and who recognized you in turn û deliberately singled out Nanoha as a target. I also canÆt help but recognize a decided resemblance between your barrier jacket and those worn by two girls who tried to set my familiar on fire yesterday.
ôWhile IÆm not going to accuse you of anything, I canÆt help but think that you know more than a little about the reason for this attack, and possibly the one that happened yesterday. So IÆm going to ask you û what is going on here?ö
Venus gulped. While she knew that this was necessary, and should have been done at least a week earlier, she also knew that given the circumstances, this was not going to be a pleasant experience.
Fate blanched when she heard what the Senshi had been going up against. In all her time as a mage, both under her mother and as a TSAB Enforcer, she had never once had a case that lasted more than three months. And she had never been without a support infrastructure (Even if the infrastructure that Precia provided couldnÆt always be considered to be supportive). Nanoha had only operated as a mage without a support infrastructure until she had first encountered the TSAB, a period of time lasting maybe a month. These Senshi had been operating independently, without any formal training whatsoever, for over a year and were still functioning? She was impressed.
The part of the tale about a magical nation that had been destroyed millennia ago was more problematic. Given that VenusÆ primary source on this was two talking cats with memories like wensleydale (whatever that meant), Fate couldnÆt really take the details of that part of the story for absolute fact. SheÆd have to contact Yuuno to see if there were any records in the Infinite Library about this Moon Kingdom, mages known as Senshi, or a Lost Logia referred to as the Ginzuisho. Although the concept of Nanoha being the SenshiÆs leader did cause Fate to wonder what her friend would look like with her barrier jacket restyled as a fuku. She found that she liked the image.
Of course, whether or not Nanoha really was this Moon Princess was irrelevant. One of the earliest lessons that she had learned when studying to be an enforcer was that peopleÆs actions are not determined by what is true, but rather by what people believe to be true, no matter how inaccurate that belief might be. And since this Dark Kingdom wanted the Moon Princess dead and believed that Nanoha was the Moon Princess, they were going to keep on trying to kill Nanoha until they succeeded or someone forced them to stop. And depending on what kind of transportation spell they were using to bring operatives in and out, they could potentially follow them if Fate took Nanoha to a different planet in an attempt to avoid the turmoil. As the Senshi freely admitted that they werenÆt capable of defeating the Dark Kingdom with the resources available to them, it would take outside help to ensure that this problem was dealt with. Outside help such as the TSAB.
ôI canÆt guarantee anything,ö Fate said, ôIf nothing else, Nanoha is in no condition to be fighting at the moment. But I will be sending a message up the chain of command to see if I can get some more mages here to help deal with this situation.ö She saw VenusÆ shoulders sag with relief at the thought of no longer having to face her war alone. ôYou do realize that this could have been handled much faster if your first representative had been willing to explain all this when I first asked.ö
ôTell me about it.ö Venus agreed. ôIÆm still trying to figure out the logic behind LunaÆs decision to have Mars and Jupiter attack you. Even if she had been right, it still would have been a bad plan.ö
FateÆs eyes narrowed. ôWhen you next see those two, tell them that they should try to come up with a reason as to why I shouldnÆt be bringing them in on assault charges. And that I wonÆt go easy on them if they try something like that a second time.ö
Venus nodded in agreement. ôIÆll tell them, but IÆm not sure if theyÆll listen. We might have been a team in our previous lives, but in this one weÆre just a group of girls who happen to be in the same line of work. If the stakes werenÆt so high, we probably would have gone our separate ways months ago.ö
That was a disturbing thing to consider. Whenever supposed allies turned against each other, even if it was for reasons that seemed sensible, trouble followed. Hopefully, the reckless ones would have the sense to toe the line if their æprincessÆ ordered them to behave.
ôIs there a way I can contact you?ö
ôWhat did you do with the communicator that you got from Luna?ö Fate unsealed the watch. Venus flipped it open and pointed at a specific button. ôPressing that button will call my communicator.ö Venus glanced at a wall clock. ôI need to get going if IÆm going to catch a train back to Tokyo. Contact me if you need additional information.ö
ôHow are you planning to get through the cordon? I donÆt think the police are willing to let people leave yet.ö
Venus produced a pen. ôI believe you also got one of these. Watch carefully.ö Venus commanded the pen to turn her into a police officer. A moment later, Sailor Venus had vanished and was replaced by a blonde policewoman. Fate had seen the transition, and despite knowing that this was some kind of deception, a part of her instinctively wanted to accept the faux officer as genuine. She would definitely have to have the pen she had sealed away thoroughly examined when she got back to Mid-Childa.
Fate watched as the young mage casually walked straight through the cordon, completely ignored by people who assumed that she was just another cop passing through. Then she turned her attention towards Bardiche. She had a report to send back home, and it was best if she got started on it immediately. Maybe doing so would help keep her mind off of worrying about NanohaÆs condition.
Nanoha found herself standing in the ballroom she had dreamt about shortly after arriving in Tokyo. Once again she danced with the dark-haired man, who looked familiar for some reason. She gazed into the manÆs eyes a second time, only to have the romantic moment ended by the sound of a barrier being forced down, followed by the chaotic noise of a battle breaking over people who were totally unprepared to fight one.
As the dream continued, Nanoha found herself running through corridors with her dance partner, apparently seeking some place that could serve as a sanctuary from the battle. But everywhere she ran, monsters û monsters that looked eerily similar to some of the creatures that had attacked KyouyaÆs wedding û blocked her path. Finally she found herself cornered.
As the monsters closed in, a rescuer arrived. A woman in a white and orange fuku attacked the monsters, cutting down the ones that approached Nanoha. She looked almost exactly like Sailor Venus, the girl who showed up to fight the monsters at KyouyaÆs wedding. This version managed to single-handedly hold off the attackers, wielding her crystalline broadsword with considerably more ease than the version in the waking world used her borrowed kodachi.
A man with grey eyes and silver hair walked into the room, drawing his sword as he did so. He tried to attack Nanoha, but was blocked the Venus double. The two fought back and forth across the room, their swords clashing as they each sought an advantage over the other. Eventually, the woman started to slow, weakened by the earlier battle against the monsters. Her guard slipped, and the man cut her down.
A red-headed woman with impractically long fingernails and a black gown entered the room and smiled evilly. Then she hurled a blast of energy at Nanoha. NanohaÆs companion leapt in front of her, taking the blow at the cost of his own life.
Nanoha screamed with grief as the man died in her arms. As her companionÆs killer mocked her, she reached out to grasp the hilt of the crystal sword that had been dropped by the Venus lookalike. She took the blade into her hands, raised it off the floorà
And turned the blade around to drive it into her own chest.
Nanoha bolted upright, panting in shock. That dream had been disturbingly real. The sounds, the smells, everything was far too detailed for it to be some idle fancy. She still could feel a slight ache in her chest at the point where the sword would have pierced her.
But even as the dream felt frighteningly realistic, it was also totally wrong. In the dream, when faced with danger, she had fled rather than confronting her opponent or even trying to protect herself or those around her. The last time that Nanoha had behaved like that was shortly before Yuuno gave her Raising Heart. But in the dream, running away was the only thing that occurred to her.
And then, when she had lost all her protectors, she killed herself. That was something that Nanoha couldnÆt ever see herself doing. If someone had killed Fate in front of her, NanohaÆs first reaction would be to take the person responsible down, not to commit suicide. And she was sure that Fate would do the same for her. The fact that Vita did do that for her when she was wounded was pretty much the only reason that Nanoha had survived to receive medical attention after that disastrous mission all those months ago. Nanoha was certain that if the events in that dream were real and she couldnÆt use magic for some reason, she would have picked up the sword and attacked. She might not have ever trained with the sword, but she knew enough of the theory from watching her siblings and friends practice to make herself at least briefly a threat.
But even as Nanoha tried to convince herself that she would never act that way, and that the dream was just some strange image cooked up by her imagination, another part of her whispered that the dream was far more real than she thoughtà
Nanoha took a deep breath. It was just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream where she had a date with a strangely familiar guy that she had fallen madly in love with for some reason. Just a dream where a perfect romantic evening turned into a disaster. Just a dream where her beloved had been murdered right in front of her and she killed herself in despairà Nanoha shook her head. She did not want to dwell on that any more than she absolutely had to. Nanoha looked around, searching for something else to focus her attention on.
She was lying in a hospital bed. A needle connected to an IV was stuck into her arm, and a sensor connected to her other arm was attached to a device taking her pulse. Across the room she could see Aruf dozing in a chair. ArufÆs head picked up when she heard increased activity in the room.
ôNanoha! YouÆre awake!ö She called out joyously. Aruf briefly stepped outside to pass along that fact to the doctors.
Nanoha spent the next two hours being prodded by physicians. Eventually, they couldnÆt find anything wrong with her beyond extreme exhaustion, which they proposed to fix by having Nanoha finish the glucose feed she was on, have a higher calorie diet, and no strenuous activities for the foreseeable future.
ôWeÆd been trying that, up until the moment a fight broke out at her brotherÆs wedding,ö Fate pointed out as she walked into the room.
ôDoes she have a history of collapses like this?ö A doctor asked.
ôSheÆs always been in the habit of pushing herself. It only reached the point that it noticeably impacted her health recently. IÆve already contacted her regular doctor about this û a Doctor Shamal Yagami.ö
Nanoha blinked. If Shamal knew about her collapse, then Hayate would be told of it soon, as would the rest of the Wolkenritter. The only real question was whether theyÆd be angrier with her for pushing herself into another collapse or the people responsible for the battle that made her overexertion necessary.
The doctor was pleased with that news. ôPlease have her contact the hospital if there is anything specific about Miss TakamachiÆs condition that we need to be concerned with.ö
After the doctor left, Fate turned to Aruf and asked her to set up a barrier to keep sound from leaving the room. Once that was taken care of, Fate turned her attention to Nanoha.
ôWHAT WERE YOU THINKING, NANOHA?!ö She demanded. ôYOU WERE WARNED NOT TO USE ANY HIGH LEVEL MAGIC! YOU COULD HAVE CRIPPLED YOUR LINKER CORE FOR LIFE! DO I HAVE TO TIE YOU TO THE BED TO MAKE YOU STOP ENDANGERING YOURSELF LIKE THIS?!ö
Fate slumped as the pent-up worry and anger was released by her tirade. Tears rolling down her face, she reached out for Nanoha. ôPlease, Nanoha,ö Fate sobbed. ôDonÆt make me worry like that. I almost lost you the last time you collapsed. Do you have any idea how much it scared me when I saw you like that?ö
Nanoha held her friend as she wept. After all the months of painful rehabilitation just to regain the ability to walk, she had spent far too much time dwelling on the implications of her injuries to herself. She had forgotten how much her friends had suffered because of her mistake.
When Fate had finally calmed down, Nanoha asked her if she had figured out what the battle at KyouyaÆs wedding had been about.
ôWell, I did get an explanation, but youÆre going to believe it.ö Fate said.
ôWhat is it?ö Nanoha insisted.
ôWe have ended up walking into the middle of a war. Both sides of the war seem to think that youÆre the reincarnation of a long dead princess of a magical kingdom that was destroyed thousands of years ago.ö
Nanoha had been well known in magical circles for quite some time, both as a mage and as a trainer of mages. She had assumed that a group of mages interested in her would be interested for one of those reasons. This certainly wasnÆt what she had been expecting. Nanoha giggled at the sheer absurdity of it. She was the daughter of a baker who used to be a bodyguard. Why would anyone think she was royalty? ôAnd who are the sides in this war?ö
ôThe girls in the miniskirted barrier jackets claim to be the reincarnations of your elite guard û some of whom apparently decided I was holding you prisoner when I wouldnÆt let them speak to you when they never explained why they wanted to. The man who attacked the wedding was apparently from the group that destroyed your alleged kingdom in the past, and wants to do it again.ö
ôBut IÆve never even heard of them before now.ö
ôAnd they donÆt care. IÆve asked Yuuno to look into the story of the first war against this Dark Kingdom, hopefully heÆll be able to find something out. Hayate is looking to see if she can get clearance to bring the Wolkenritter here to deal with the situation, which sheÆll probably get if Yuuno can find any records confirming what I was told. If she canÆt, Vita will probably take some leave time and show up anyway.ö
Nanoha sighed. It looked like her first vacation in years had come to a premature end.
Zoicite was avoiding his queen. He wasnÆt alone in this û Jadeite hadnÆt come back from his mission to kill the Moon Princess, and Beryl was taking her anger out on Nephrite for his providing the apparently faulty intelligence that led to JadeiteÆs failure. Nobody, not even the stupidest of the youma, wanted to provide the queen with an additional target on which to vent her rage. NephriteÆs occasional screams of pain reinforced this decision.
While he was searching for something to do that involved staying far away from his queen until she calmed down, he noticed a strange light coming from a room. Looking in, he saw the prisoner that Jadeite had been in charge of overseeing, standing on top of a very complicated diagram that was slowly rotating around her. Nine crystals were floating in the air above her as she concentrated on something.
Realizing that the prisoner had learned of JadeiteÆs demise and was making an escape attempt, he called upon his magic and hurled a ball of energy at the woman. The attack struck at the same time as her spell completed, failing to stop her escape. Precia had vanished, along with most of the items in the room, including the large capsule containing her daughter. On the ground, one of the crystals she had used to bring about her escape glittered, apparently knocked away from her by the blast.
Zoicite carefully picked up the crystal. There was power in the stone, a great deal of power. His queen might be interested in it. Then he heard Nephrite scream again, and he decided that it, and the matter of PreciaÆs escape, could wait until after Beryl was no longer looking for scapegoats to torment.
As Minako headed for school, it was clear that her belief that the SenshiÆs status as an urban legend was over was fully justified. The battle at the Takamachi/Tsukimura wedding was front page news. The newspapers had managed to purchase copies of the æwedding photosÆ from the wedding photographer, and as a result, an image of Sailor Venus crossing blades with Jadeite was sharing space with one of Fate and the groom facing the robots, and one of Nanoha blasting Jadeite. By the end of the day, all of Tokyo would know that magical girls really did exist, as well as the monsters they fought. Kami alone knew what their reaction to that revelation would be.
When she got to class, the revelation that the Senshi were real was the topic on the mind of everyone there. Naru and Usagi were both rather smug about being proven right about the SenshiÆs existence, especially since their opinions were based on having been rescued by them on one occasion (Multiple occasions, in NaruÆs case). They also were of mixed minds as to whether they should be happy that they now knew for certain that they hadnÆt hallucinated those rescues, or worried by the fact that they hadnÆt hallucinated the reason that the rescues had been necessary. Looking at those two, Minako was glad that the Moon Princess had turned out to be someone who took her responsibilities seriously, even if was to the point where she endangered her own health by doing so. She didnÆt want to think what would happen if the world had ended up depending on a chronic slacker such as her fellow blonde.
As the day passed, the gossip shifted from the existence of Sailor Venus to the other two magical girls to appear in the battle, who were listed in the article by name. Some thought they were Senshi in training, while others wondered if they were part of another group of magical girls that the Senshi were trying to form an alliance with. Still others just wanted to speak with those two in the hopes of being introduced to the Senshi. The ones who thought that Fate and Nanoha were trainee Senshi started speculating on how one would get accepted into such a training program. Minako spent the day doing her best to not visibly laugh at the more inherently absurd theories her classmates came up with.
When Minako had returned home and started on her homework, her communicator beeped. Hoping that it was a message from Fate about what she and Nanoha were going to be doing about the Dark Kingdom, Minako activated it and found that the call was actually from just about everyone other than who she expected.
ôWell, now the whole world knows that weÆre real.ö Rei commented. ôDid you manage to accomplish anything else with that public stunt of yours?ö
ôWell, for starters, the princessÆs friend thinks of me as the person who saved the life of the princessÆs aunt, as opposed to you and Kino-san, who she sees as the people who tried to set her dog on fire. By the way, she really wants to talk to you two. Something about felony assault charges,ö Minako retorted. She really didnÆt want to have this argument right now. If Rei had wanted to talk about this, she could have called during lunch. With all of the other Senshi going to the same school, it would have been a lot easier to coordinate, without cutting into their highly limited supply of free time.
ôWhat right does she have to complain?ö Luna snapped. ôWhatever she did to the princess made her collapse after she defeated Jadeite. We have to do something about her before she hurts the princess any further!ö
ôWill you stop jumping to conclusions, Luna? Acting on your speculation nearly ruined everything,ö Artemis countered.
ôAccording to Fate, the reason that Nanoha collapsed is because our princess is a compulsive workaholic who overworked herself into the hospital and had yet to recover when she fought Jadeite. Apparently, she takes her job as a magical girl trainer so seriously that we nearly lost our princess to karoshi,ö Minako added.
There were a series of gasps over the line as the others digested that horrible possibility. Then Makoto asked ôMagical girl trainer?ö
ôThatÆs right. Apparently, her friends and family have known about that for years. One of them assumed that I was one of her students. When Luna approached Fate, she probably thought that we were seeking Nanoha out to get some lessons.ö
Ami asked the most important question. ôWill the princess be alright?ö
ôIÆm not sure. Fate will probably call in some doctor who knows how to treat whatever condition NanohaÆs suffering from. If weÆre lucky, she might also be calling in some other people to help deal with the Dark Kingdom. So from now on, if you see any strangers with magic around, donÆt attack them unless youÆre sure that theyÆre youmas. WeÆve made too many mistakes recently, we canÆt afford any others.ö
Minako closed the communicator and returned to her homework. She had a patrol tonight, so she needed to get it done now if she was going to be able to hand it in tomorrow. Hopefully Fate would be able to bring in reinforcements. They could use the help.
Still, with the first positive contact between the Senshi and the Moon Princess, even if it was via a proxy, things were starting to look up.
Beryl held the crystal that Zoicite had brought her before the slumbering form of Metallia. Her master absorbed the energy contained within the stone, causing the light that it emitted to fade to nothing. As the last of the light vanished from the jewel, it crumbled into dust
It was obvious to a casual glance that Metallia had gained enough power from draining the crystal to make a significant step towards recovery. With a few more of them, she could revive Metallia without the Ginzuisho. She strode out of MetalliaÆs lair and returned to where Zoicite was waiting for her.
ôYou said that the prisoner had more of these crystals?ö She asked.
ôYes, my Queen. Including the one that I presented to you, she had nine of them. The remaining eight crystals are presumably still in her possession.ö He replied.
Beryl smiled. ôFind her. Find her and bring those crystals to me.ö
Omake: If the story had taken place a few years laterà
ôYou wonÆt get away with this. We will free the princess from your clutches.ö Luna snarled.
FateÆs head rose at that comment. ôOh, so thatÆs what this is about.ö She commented. ôWhy didnÆt you just say that you were Belkan?ö
Luna wasnÆt certain why being Belkan (whatever that meant) would be a sensible explanation for wanting to see the princess in and of itself, but if it allowed her to contact the princess, Luna was willing to play along. She nodded carefully.
Fate looked back down at her. ôLook. Nanoha and I are fully aware of the fact that our daughter is your rightful queen. But Vivio is only five years old, and she finds being addressed as royalty to be embarrassing. Could you please just allow her to grow up in peace? Even if she was old enough to try to rebuild your empire, sheÆs nowhere near ready to decide whether or not she even wants to.ö
As Fate left, Kamen choked on the thought that the princess who haunted his dreams at night was a mother. Meanwhile, Luna tried to wrap her mind around the concept of a second fallen nation being involved in this. Would those people interesting in restoring the Belkan Empire be a threat to the Moon Princess? Or could they be recruited into an alliance to restore both nations? She would have to look into this matter further.
Omake: My original idea for the reveal
Nanoha bolted upright. The dream she had just had had been scarily realistic. She could practically feel the sword entering her chest. What was going on with these nightmares?
Standing on the other side of the room was Sailor Venus, the girl who had guarded her at the wedding, and who she had seen die defending her in her dream. What was she doing here?
ôItÆs good to see that youÆre alright, your highness.ö Venus said.
ôYourà Highness?ö Nanoha asked, puzzled.
The girl dropped to one knee in front of NanohaÆs bed.
ôNanoha Takamachi, Princess of the Moon. I am Sailor Venus, commander of the Sailor Senshi. We are yours to command.ö She stated formally.
There was a sound of something falling to the ground. Nanoha turned her head to see Alisa and Suzuka standing in the doorway.
ôAlright, Nanoha.ö Alisa said. ôYouÆve been hiding quite a few things from your friends over the years û the fact that your pet ferret was a shapeshifting wizard,ö
ôThe fact that Fate was from another planet and not from Italy like you originally claimed,ö Suzuka continued.
ôYour being recruited as a professional magical girl by the government of FateÆs homeworld,ö
ôWhen were you planning to let us know about this little detail?ö
The look on VenusÆ face as Nanoha tried to explain to her friends that this development was as much as a surprise to her as it was to them was priceless.
A/N: IÆm choosing to believe that Beryl had more second-tier field commanders than just Danburite. However, between the efforts of the Senshi and BerylÆs temper, they have all been permanently removed from the equation by the time the story started.
Yes, Usagi does exist in this universe. But sheÆs just an ordinary subaverage Japanese schoolgirl. The only connection she has to the Senshi (That she knows of, anyway), is that she had to be rescued by them once.
The Senshi are not trained professionals like Nanoha, Fate, and the Wolkenritter. In some ways that makes what they were able to accomplish more impressive. In modern terms, their actions are like a self-recruited, self-trained part time militia formed of people who had no combat experience beyond schoolyard scuffles before being recruited, no logistics, a shoestring budget, and the closest thing they have to medical support is someone who plans to apply to medical school at a point several years in the future. Said militia then ends up being the only line of defense against a considerably larger enemy force, with no way to detect an impending attack until it happens and no way to launch an counteroffensive, even if they knew where they were supposed to attack. And then they manage to successfully hold the line until real professionals learn of their situation û a year and a half later. There are undoubtedly a lot of things they could have done better. That doesnÆt in any way change the fact that they managed to accomplish that much is an astonishing achievement.
Karoshi û death from overwork. An unfortunate phenomenon that has happened often enough in Japan to be officially listed as a distinct cause of death in their health statistics.
This fic now has its own page on TvTropes! Sweet! Now if only someone would examine Black Hands of NERV for noteworthy trope examples.
41 reviews, a new record. Given how long the list of reviewers has gotten, IÆm sure youÆll all understand if I stop my habit of thanking all the reviewers by name.
