Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or MGLN
The White Devil of the Moon
By Bissek
Chapter 7
Sailor Boot Camp
All eyes in the room turned to Yuuno as his audience went over his rather unusual statement in their heads.
ôYouÆre joking, right, Yuuno?ö Fate asked. She couldnÆt have that right. There was no way that the war that she and Nanoha had walked into had started over a cause as inherently absurd as who Nanoha had or had not dated in a previous life. NanohaÆs convalescence leave just couldnÆt have been wrecked by something that stupid. If it had, she would just have to track down the idiot who couldnÆt understand that no meant no and introduce him to a Thunder Smasher.
ôIÆm afraid not.ö Yuuno replied. ôApparently, Princess Serenity û NanohaÆs alleged identity in that incarnation û was engaged to marry a Prince Endymion, who was the heir of a nation here on Unadministered Planet #97. Despite the political value of a marriage between two heirs, something that could potentially result in the merging of their countries, the two moon cats indicated that this was a love match.
ôUnfortunately, a former lover of EndymionÆs, a mage named Beryl, opposed the match. She summoned the entity known as Metallia and sent it and a considerable number of lesser constructs to kill her rival and anyone even peripherally associated with her on the night of SerenityÆs birthday celebration û the evening in which the engagement was to be publicly announced.
ôFrom there, we get to the events of the more limited brief that we received earlier. Virtually the entire government and military high command was at the celebration, and were killed in the attack on the capital. Without any leadership, the defenses of the rest of the Moon Kingdom were disorganized and fell quickly, resulting in the entire society being wiped out literally overnight.ö
Everyone present winced. YuunoÆs initial research had indicated that the war that destroyed the Moon Kingdom was been brief, but they hadnÆt expected it to have lasted just one day. Anything that render multiple planets completely uninhabitable overnight was a serious threat. Hopefully they would be able to deal with it before it was revived sufficiently to be able to fight back.
ôSo youÆre saying that this war was started because Nanoha stole some other girlÆs boyfriend in a previous life, and the other girl decided to set a trans-dimensional record for being a poor loser?ö Hayate asked. If anyone had suggested such a thing to her before they had presented concrete proof that the war was actually happening, she would have automatically disregarded it as ridiculous. To the best of her knowledge, Nanoha had never so much as considered getting a boyfriend (or girlfriend, for that matter) in her entire life. The thought of her pinching someone elseÆs boyfriend was so out of character that Hayate just couldnÆt see it. Hayate doubted that her friend had the slightest notion of how to go boy-hunting even if she was inclined to do so. Looking at NanohaÆs totally perplexed expression, Hayate realized that Nanoha found the actions of her past life just as confusing as she did.
ôAnoàö Nanoha said, ôIs this Endymion person still around?ö
ôHe was the gentleman who showed up in the tuxedo.ö Yuuno replied.
Nanoha remembered the man in question. He was the man who she had briefly spoken to shortly after arriving in Tokyo û the one that a part of her was delighted to see for no apparent reason. Was the reason she had been so happy to see him that they had been lovers in another life? Was he the man she had danced with in that dream? The man who died in her arms after taking a blow meant for her?
More and more, it seemed like her life was being shaped by the actions of the person she was in a previous life û a person who from what little she could remember was totally different from the person she was in her current life. Things would be a lot simpler for her if Serenity had been able to take care of her own problems and left Nanoha in peace.
Luna was not happy with how her sole meeting with the princess had gone. Even though the princess had been found and had apparently started awakening to her powers years before, she obviously had not awakened to her memories.
The idea of calling in outside help to assist in the war against the Dark Kingdom was something Luna could understand, but the manner in which the princess had done so was wholly inappropriate. She should have called for aid as the leader of a nation speaking to the leaders of another nation. Instead, the princess had acted as a junior officer requesting reinforcements, an act which involved deferring command of the Senshi û and herself û to someone with no connection to the Moon Kingdom. It was one thing for a ruler to bring in allies, but surrendering her authority to those allies the moment they arrived was unacceptable! That action could very well lead to the TSAB absorbing the Moon Kingdom by the time the war ended.
Luna knew that she had seriously miscalculated in the matter of the princessÆs companion. The princess would have been well within her rights to sentence the Senshi involved in trying to kill her friend in front of her to banishment or worse. Instead, they had simply been required to fulfill their duties as Senshi until the Dark Kingdom had been defeated, something they didnÆt need a royal command to do. Of course, that was another problem. The punishment hadnÆt been handed down as a royal command. It had been handed down as an act of military justice û from the military of a foreign nation.
And that was the ultimate problem. The princess didnÆt think of herself as the heir to the Moon Kingdom. She thought of herself as a junior officer of a foreign power. There had been many examples in the history of the Moon Kingdom of members of the nobility serving in the military û even in the royal family. But never before had a noble of the Moon Kingdom enlisted in the military of another nation. There were precedents on how to balance the responsibilities of an officer with the responsibilities of a noble when one served the same nation in either case. Balancing those responsibilities when this was not the case was a totally different matter û especially given the fact that Luna had no idea as to whether the TSAB would be allies or enemies in the long run.
If the Moon Kingdom was to be revived, the princess needed to acknowledge her birthright. Luna needed guide the princess so that would happen. Unfortunately, given how badly her first decision regarding the princess had gone, it was quite likely that her guidance would be disregarded. The princess currently considered the ferret to be her primary advisor at the moment, not Luna. Luna would have to gain the princessÆs trust, something that the princess would be justified in not offering to the moon cat at the moment. She would have to plan her actions carefully.
The Senshi gathered at the park for their first lesson from their princess (Kamen was on patrol, and would undergo his first session later). Most of them were still trying to wrap their minds around the concept that the princess was more interested in training them than leading them. Still, the fact that their princess had apparently earned herself a reputation as the finest combat instructor that their unexpected allies had to offer was a pleasing thought. Not only did it present the Moon Kingdom itself in a positive light, it also meant that they had a good chance of becoming strong enough to deal with the Dark Kingdom once and for all soon.
As the barrier that hid the Senshi and their teachers from the outside world came up, the princess started handing out large sacks to her assistants. Reaching into the bag she had kept for herself, she pulled out four rubber balls, each a different color.
ôThe first problem I noticed when I observed the exercise you had gone through earlier is that you need work in keeping track of the battlefield.ö The princess began. ôThis exercise is going to make you work on that.ö
ôWith rubber balls?ö Mercury asked.
ôMy colleagues and I are going to start throwing these around. You are going to try to hit them before they hit the ground. Each of you is to only attack balls of a specific color û red for Mars, blue for Mercury, green for Jupiter, and orange for Venus. If you miss a ball, or hit the wrong ball, you get a penalty.ö
ôWhatÆs the penalty?ö Mars inquired.
ôAn attack spell. DonÆt worry, theyÆll be powered down enough that you wonÆt be injured. Feel free to try to dodge them û but if one of your teammates is hit by a penalty meant for you, it will mean extra penalties.ö
The training was brutal. The people throwing the balls did so slow enough that the Senshi would have time to cast a spell at them, but that was the only concession they were given. After the first few throws the balls started coming in from angles that barely passed through the peripheral vision of the ones who were supposed to shoot them, if not completely outside of their vision arc. Failing to realize that there were targets to shoot, the Senshi started missing. Then came the penalty shots.
The penalty shots might have been reduced in power to avoid injury, but they were still powerful enough to be extremely painful. They also had the nasty habit of turning around and coming back for another pass if the victim managed to dodge the first one. And it quickly became apparent that the number of extra penalties exacted for letting a teammate get hit by a penalty not meant for her was slowly increasing. Within five minutes they were looking around constantly, trying to locate the next target or attack. After ten minutes, they were too busy trying to dodge to even try to hit anything, which caused even more attacks to come. Fifteen minutes after the first ball was thrown, the exercise stopped, with all of the Senshi feeling very sorry for themselves.
ôOkay, take a break.ö The princess said. Her four students collapsed on the ground, panting for breath.
ôAreà all your training lessonsà this hard?ö Jupiter gasped.
ôThe harder the training, the easier the real battles become. IÆm just trying to make sure youÆre prepared for anything.ö
While that was a good idea in theory, the Senshi were less than enthusiastic about going through it in practice. Especially since it was quite likely that the princess would have them go through that exercise again once she replaced the balls that they had managed to hit (Said balls having either melted or frozen solid and shattered).
One thing was certain. The princess would not be satisfied with her Senshi until they truly were the elite unit they were supposed to be.
After the Senshi had caught their breath, they were broken up to train under individuals with similar magical affinities to their own. Jupiter was sent to train under Fate. Mercury was training under Rein. Mars was assigned to Signum. Venus, whose affinity did not align with any of their teachers, was instructed by the princess. Strangely, the lessons did not involve learning any magic. They were instead centered around learning how to increase the utility of the magic they already had.
After the lesson, Mercury inquired about that.
ôHow are you girls at math?ö Yuuno responded.
ôWhat does that have to do with anything?ö Mercury wondered, puzzled at the non sequitur.
ôThereÆs a high correlation between the formulas used in the magic circles associated with Mid-Childan magic and advanced math equations. If you canÆt keep up with the computations, thereÆs a good chance that you wonÆt be able to control the spell. Fate was good enough that she was tutoring high school students in math when she was nine, with Nanoha not much behind her. ThatÆs part of the reason why theyÆre so talented.ö
Most of the Senshi, who had a hard enough time keeping up with their assigned course load without trying to get seven years ahead of the syllabus, winced. Mercury was intrigued. She had always taken pride in her scholarship, and the only thing that triggered a competitive response in her was the though of someone getting ahead of her in the class rankings. She had put a lot of effort into reaching her place at the top of the national school rankings, especially given the additional demands placed on her time by her Senshi duties. The thought of a magic school that required advanced math skills to use seemed to be a perfect combination of her duties and her academic drive.
ôI might be interested in learning some Mid-Childan magic.ö She said.
ôAre there any schools of magic that donÆt require you to be a genius to learn?ö Venus asked.
ôThere are eight hundred ninety one known schools of magic. Eight hundred ninety two, if you count the Neo Belkan school as its own style rather than just a mix of Ancient Belkan and Mid-Childan magic. However, most of them are fairly obscure. We only have practitioners of two schools here. Hayate and the Wolkenritter all use the Ancient Belkan style, while the rest of us use Mid-Childan magic. ItÆs entirely possible that the school of magic practiced by the Moon Kingdom is among the known styles. IÆve already sent a request back to the Infinite Library to see if we have any information on the magic youÆre already using.ö
The Senshi looked at each other. They hadnÆt expected their princessÆs (sometimes) animal companion to be a scholar. After all, the ones they had ended up with were primarily courtiers. Mercury looked speculatively at the young man.
Precia looked around her laboratory. She had finally finished furnishing her newly acquired home so that it was properly equipped for the work she would need to do in order to revive her daughter and to provide a home for Alicia once she finally awakened. It was time to start on acquiring the energy that she needed to heal Alicia.
From checking the local newspapers, it appeared that she had been trapped in the void between dimensions for seven years after her failed attempt to reach Al-Hazard. Not that it mattered. The only person from Mid-Childa she had had any non-trivial association with after Alicia was injured in the accident was Jail Scaglietti, and she hadnÆt spoken to him since it became clear that Project Fate had been a failure. The only person she had any interest in staying in touch with was Alicia, and as far as Precia was concerned, so long as Alicia woke up soon, the calendar date of that awakening was irrelevant.
The other thing she saw of note in the papers was the story about the mage battle in Unimari. From the article, she saw that the reason her captor lost control of her leash was because he had been killed by the very mages who had prevented her from reaching Al-Hazard seven years before. At long last, her failed creation had managed to be of use to her mother, even if the clone would never know of it.
These æSailor SenshiÆ would be a problem, however. They were obviously a long-term threat against the energy-gathering operations performed by her former captors, and could very well end up trying to do the same to PreciaÆs own, once she had decided where to launch said operations. She didnÆt have anything against these new mages û in fact, if they wanted to continue to inconvenience Beryl and her ilk, they were welcome to do so û but she could not permit anything to interfere with her quest to revive Alicia. If that meant that she had to eliminate a few meddling outsiders who insisted on hindering her efforts, so be it.
Precia examined the neighborhood she had moved into, looking for places where a significant number of people would likely gather, so as to provide a large return on a few operations, with a good lookout point to ensure that she could spot anyone trying to interfere with the energy-gathering operation in time to secure the gathered energy from any ærescueÆ.
As she stood at one prospective location, taking notes that would help her decide whether or not to use this place as a target later, she heard a voice address her.
ôSo there you are, Precia. IÆve been looking for you.ö
ZoiciteÆs mission to track down the escaped mage had been more difficult than he originally thought. Tracking down the collar had been easy enough. It took him less than half an hour to find the gutter that it had been discarded in. Since Zoicite had never made any attempt to learn divination magic and refused to ask Nephrite for help on general principle (and the fact that the last Dark General to base an operation off of his advice ended up dead), he had been forced to tracking the woman down through more primitive means.
Fortunately, he didnÆt have to do all the legwork himself. He had been able to locate some youma who had seen the escapee often enough to be able to recognize her, and delegated that task to them. It had taken some doing to get them to understand that they werenÆt supposed to be gathering life energy or do anything else that would draw attention to themselves while they were out (the typical youma not being all that intelligent), but he had eventually gotten his point across.
If Precia had been on her own, tracking her down might have been impossible. But she had escaped with her incapacitated daughter, which limited the distance she could run. There was no real way to easily transport a tube eight feet high and four feet in diameter, and given that the tube was transparent and had a naked girl suspended in it, it would be noticed by anyone who saw it. That meant that she couldnÆt have fled very far without drawing a great deal of attention to herself, reducing the search area significantly.
Given how large and densely populated Tokyo was, Zoicite thought it likely that tracking Precia down could take weeks, even with the reduced search area stemming from the fact that she couldnÆt have moved her daughter too far without leaving an obvious trail that he hadnÆt found. But he knew how impatient his queen could get. She wanted results and quickly, especially after NephriteÆs prolonged search for the Moon Princess ended up leading Jadeite into a trap that killed him.
Because of this, he was pleasantly surprised when he was informed that Precia had been spotted a little over a week after her escape. Making his way to the location his youma had specified, he found her writing something down on a notepad.
ôSo there you are, Precia. IÆve been looking for you.ö He announced as he approached, ôI believe you have something that my queen wants.ö
The look in PreciaÆs eyes as she looked up to him was that of a cornered animal. He knew enough about animals to realize that even a timid creature would attack a predator if there was no place to run. It looked like she wasnÆt planning to cooperate. No matter. He just needed to make certain that he didnÆt kill her until after she had either produced or revealed the location of the crystals.
While Precia didnÆt remember the name of the man approaching her, she recognized him. He was one of the colleagues of Jadeite. The Dark Kingdom had managed to find her. When he mentioned that she had something he wanted, she immediately knew what he wanted. He was after Alicia.
Precia didnÆt know what the Dark Kingdom wanted with her daughter, and she didnÆt care, either. She had broken enough laws to get her imprisoned for life several times over in her quest to revive Alicia, ensuring that she would never be welcome on her home planet ever again. She was not going to let anyone take her child away from her, not now, not when she had finally discovered the cure she had been searching for all of these years!
Precia activated her Device and raised her staff as it formed in her hand.
The burst of lightning that erupted from the womanÆs staff was far stronger than anything that Sailor Jupiter had launched at him. Had the attack taken him by surprise, Zoicite could have been seriously hurt. As it was, the spell crackled against his defenses with surprising force.
Spells launched back and forth between the two. Zoicite could tell that his target had yet to fully recover from whatever it was had happened to cause her to enter the Dark Kingdom in the first place, but he was hindered by the fact that he needed her alive, at least in the short term. Precia was not operating under any such constraint. In a brute force slugging match, the fight could very well end up taking a while, making it likely that the Senshi would realize that there was a battle going on and interfere.
Fortunately, he didnÆt have to fight fair. The youma that had spotted Precia was still in the area, and Zoicite saw no reason why it couldnÆt help to incapacitate her. It didnÆt take much work to press Precia constantly from a single direction, forcing her to keep his attention on him while the youma flanked her.
The simple plan worked perfectly. Precia was too focused on her desperate battle against Zoicite to realize that sheÆd been outmaneuvered. The attack took her completely by surprise, knocking Precia to her knees.
Zoicite walked towards the woman, kicking the staff she had dropped out of her reach. Now that Precia had been subdued, he could interrogate her about the crystals she had used to escape the Dark Kingdom. But before he could start asking questions, a strange ripple passed through the landscape, somehow changing the color of everything in the area that it passed through slightly.
Zoicite wasnÆt sure what had caused this, but it couldnÆt have been natural. Some third party had entered into the battle. This conclusion was supported by a challenge he had never heard before.
It was Sailor MarsÆ first patrol since she had started training under the princess. Normally she would be patrolling alone, but the princess had made it clear that after the incident with Fate, she could not trust her or JupiterÆs judgment. Because of this, they would be patrolling alongside some of the TSAB personnel the princess had called in for the foreseeable future. Mars didnÆt like it, but she had to grudgingly concede that if their circumstances had been reversed, she wouldnÆt be inclined to trust someone who had tried to jump a close friend either.
The Senshi were still adjusting to the TSABÆs entrance. After months of being told they were an elite unit by the Moon Cats, finding that their princess looked at them as untrained civilian volunteers was a bit unsettling. Still, the Senshi as a whole were trying to make the best of it. Venus and Jupiter had been looking over the male members of the task force, trying to see if any of them were dateable material (Boys who could understand the risks and sudden schedule conflicts caused by magical girl work being short supply). Mercury was definitely interested in the ferret cum archeology professor. And while none of them had enjoyed the training the princess had come up with, it was the first time theyÆd had instruction beyond ætry to remember a spell learned millennia ago, throw in general direction of opponent, hope it worksÆ.
MarsÆ musings were interrupted by a crack of thunder. That was odd. There wasnÆt supposed to be a thunderstorm that night. In fact, looking up, Mars saw that there werenÆt any clouds at all. If there was no storm to produce lightning, where did the thunder come from?
The same question had apparently occurred to the leader of the group of mages she was with. He had made a couple short communications, and then turned to the rest of the group.
ôIf there wasnÆt any natural lightning, then the thunder must have been caused by magic. Enforcer Harlaown and Sailor Jupiter just confirmed it wasnÆt them, and theyÆre the only people we have with an electrical affinity. It could have been the result of Dark Kingdom activity. LetÆs move out.ö He said.
The group dashed across the rooftops in the direction of the thunder. As they began their run, the thunder repeated, and then repeated again. The thunderclaps continued, always coming from the same direction. Whatever was causing it, it couldnÆt possibly be natural. Reaching the source of the noise, they found a wrecked street, with a youma and a familiar enemy confronting a woman, who had collapsed to the ground.
ôZoicite.ö Rei whispered.
ôYou know one of those people?ö The team leader asked.
ôThe man is Zoicite. HeÆs one of the Generals of the Dark Kingdom.ö
The leader opened up a communication window. ôThis is Corporal Netia. We have found a Dark Kingdom attack led by one of their senior leaders in progress. Requesting reinforcements.ö
ôAcknowledged, Corporal.ö ReinÆs voice responded. ôSome of the Wolkenritter are en route. Set up a barrier and try to keep the enemy in it until help arrives.ö
ôUnderstood.ö Netia turned to one of the other men. ôPrivate Benaris, set up the barrier.ö
Moments later, the area was displaced from conventional reality. But something was wrong. Every time that Mars had seen one of these barriers come up before, everyone not connected to the TSAB or the Senshi vanished, left behind outside the barrier. This time, others were brought along: Zoicite, the youma, and the victim. While Mars could understand why Zoicite and the youma were brought along û containing them in the barrier was the reason it was brought up in the first place û why had the woman entered the barrier as well?
ôIs she supposed to still be here?ö Mars asked.
ôNo, she isnÆt.ö Netia answered, ôWe have to get the civilian clear. Benaris, stay here and maintain the barrier. Everyone else, letÆs keep General Zoicite occupied until the Wolkenritter get here.
ôThis is the Time-Space Administration Bureau.ö He announced. ôDisarm yourselves and step away from the civilian. If you come quietly you will be permitted to testify in your own defense.ö
Zoicite had never heard of the Time-Space Administration Bureau before, but it was obvious that they were his enemies. This conclusion was reinforced when he noticed that Sailor Mars was with them. So the Senshi had found allies, had they? His queen would find that information interesting. Of course, unless some measure of success against this new enemy, Beryl might not take the information well, important or not.
The various attack spells that the newcomers sent at him were inconsequential. They didnÆt have nearly enough power to breach his defenses, even after the battering they had taken from the slugging match with Precia. The binding spells were a severe nuisance. He could break out of them easily enough, but in order to do so he had to divert his attention away from his efforts to swat the annoying insects attacking him. If they were a little closer in, he was certain he could crush them. As it was, they made a point of staying far enough away that they could dodge the worst of his attacks. Still, even if they refused to stay still and die, they were still taking far more punishment than he was at the moment. He could afford to expend the effort to whittle them down.
As he fought the newcomers, he noticed Sailor Mars destroy his youma. Then things got out of control.
The fear that Precia felt when she realized that the Dark Kingdom had tracked her down and was after Alicia magnified a hundredfold when she realized that the TSAB had found her. Even after seven years, they were still looking for her over the matter with the Jewel Seeds. She would have thought that theyÆd have given her up for dead, given the manner in which she had escaped from them the last time. She had never even heard of someone using the escape method she had inadvertently taken and surviving to speak of it before she did.
But somehow, they knew she had survived, and had continued looking for her this entire time. And now they had found her. If she allowed them to arrest her, they would track down where she had stored Alicia. Given that Alicia had been legally dead since the reactor accident twenty-five years earlier, they would take her little girl out of the stasis tube that was the only thing keeping her alive, and bury her. She couldnÆt let that happen. She couldnÆt let them kill her baby. Not now, not when she was finally on the cusp of the breakthrough she needed to save her!
The youma that had injured her had been drawn away by the fight. With all of her enemies distracted fighting each other, Precia crawled to where her staff had rolled. As she grasped it, she was approached by a mage in a barrier jacket different than that worn by the other TSAB mages, one of the style worn by the kind of mage the newspapers called ôSenshiö.
ôCome on,ö The Senshi said, ôLetÆs get you out of here.ö
Precia swung her staff at the girl. ôNO! I wonÆt let you take her from me!ö she screamed.
The Senshi managed to block the block the blow, catching the staff in one hand. As the Senshi moved to disarm her, Precia made a follow-up move. ôPhoton Bullet.ö
The point blank attack launched the Senshi straight through a wall. Precia turned her attention to the others inside the barrier. ôThunder Rage.ö
The burst of lightning knocked all of her enemies to their knees, even Zoicite, who had been focusing on freeing himself from another set of binding spells and hadnÆt expected another high-level attack. Upon seeing her adversaries humbled, a thought occurred to her. She needed life energy to save Alicia. Why not take it from those who were trying to stop her from saving her daughter?
ôYou thought to take my daughter from me? You shall be the very means by which I will cure her!ö She gloated as she cast the energy-draining spell. Power was rapidly siphoned from the fallen mages and gathered in her hand, far more than the mere sliver of energy she had stolen to test the possibility of using stolen life to save Alicia. Precia drew even more power out. She didnÆt know how much power would be needed in order to awaken her daughter, so she would take as much as she could. If the process happened to kill those who were trying to see Alicia dead, then so be it.
Her energy gathering was interrupted by a gout of flame. The girl she had knocked through a wall had gotten back up again, and was ready to fight. Precia turned her attention to her new opponent, when her lungs suddenly ceased to function properly. Precia struggled to keep her defenses up as she bent over coughing, fighting to clear her lungs so that she could breathe again. Of all the times for her lung condition to act up, it had to be now!
She couldnÆt keep fighting. She had to get clear, and see if she had gathered enough energy to save Alicia. Levitating to the rooftop level, she saw what she had expected. The TSAB mages she had seen were hardly elites. The mage who created the barrier wasnÆt up to doing much more than keeping the barrier up which his teammates did all the work. Once she was at an angle where she could fire upon the mage maintaining the barrier, Precia knocked him out with a Photon Bullet. The barrier collapsed. Lowering herself down to the ground, Precia began to flee. Another burst of flame came after her, penetrating her weakened barriers and burning her.
ôYouÆre not getting away that easily.ö The Senshi declared. Precia responded with another Photon Bullet. This one smashed into the building behind the Senshi, causing the wall to collapse on top of her. With her last enemy incapacitated, Precia started staggering home, desperate to get away before any other TSAB mages showed up. She wasnÆt up for another fight this night.
The wounds she had taken were treatable û she had studied quite a few healing spells during her early research into curing Alicia. But the most important thing was that she had acquired a significant amount of energy. Perhaps this would be enough. Perhaps she would be able to see her beloved daughter smile at her again for the first time in far too long.
Zoicite had teleported away from the battle the moment the barrier dissipated. He had lost that fight, and knew it. The TSAB agents, while fairly weak in and of themselves, had distracted him to the point where Precia had been able to get a shot past his guard. And he had been right û it had been quite painful. If the Moon Princess was of comparable strength, then it wasnÆt surprising that she had been able to take out Jadeite while he was focused on defeating Sailor Venus.
But even with good reasons behind his defeat, Zoicite knew that he had gone into a battle where success could have granted the Dark Kingdom total victory in one stroke, and he had failed. The Queen would not be happy with him. Perhaps it would be for the best if he recovered from his injuries without returning home, and tried again later. A delayed report of success would anger Beryl far less than a prompt report of failure.
Nephrite stretched carefully, and was pleased to discover that he could now move freely without pain. The QueenÆs wrath over the loss of Jadeite had been truly terrible, and there had been points in it where Nephrite had been worried that he would not survive it. It wasnÆt even his fault. All he had promised was that there was a good chance that the Moon Princess could come to harm at that time and place. His prediction had been perfectly accurate: she had apparently needed hospitalization after the battle. But Beryl had expected more, and since Jadeite was beyond punishment, she had taken her anger out on him.
Still, the incident in which Jadeite died had provided some useful intelligence. He now knew the Moon PrincessÆs name, along with her home address, and family business. Perhaps it was time for him to revive his old persona of ôMasato Sanjoninö. He could use that alias to become acquainted with the princessÆs kin, and from there hopefully get in position to strike. That would be far simpler than the brute force attack that Jadeite had come up with.
Vita and Signum arrived at the scene of the battle to find their enemies gone, and their comrades prying themselves off the ground.
ôWhat happened here? WhereÆs the rest of your team? You seem to be down a man.ö Signum demanded of the corporal. Netia pointed out a heap of rubble. Vita dug through the rubble and pulled an unconscious Rei Hino from the debris.
ôLetÆs get them back to base.ö Signum continued. ôWe can debrief them there.ö Vita nodded.
Once they had returned to their headquarters, Shamal started patching up the wounded while Corporal Netia gave his report as to what had happened.
ôIt was either a trap, or the person we tried to rescue considered us to be as great a threat as Zoicite was. Once she had gotten away from her original attackers and gotten her hands on some sort of staff, she attacked all of us. Once we were down, she used what I believe to be the energy-draining attack we were warned of against us.ö He reported.
ôInterestingà Can you describe the woman who did this?ö Hayate asked.
ôNo, but I think Sailor Mars could. She was closer to the unknown mage than I was.ö
ôShamal?ö
ôGive me another ten minutes to finish patching her up, and then you can wake her for questioning.ö The doctor answered.
A little over ten minutes later, Rei was describing the woman who had hit most of the team with lightning and then dropped a wall on her. As she described the woman, her image was slowly reconstructed on the computer screen in front of her. Eventually the image on the screen matched up to the face of the unknown woman and Rei sat back. As the various people in the room examined the image, Hayate noticed Yuuno stiffen.
ôDo you recognize her, Yuuno?ö Hayate asked.
ôI think so, but weÆd better double-check. Let me get Fate. She would know if this is the person I think it is.ö
A few minutes later, Fate and Aruf, both mildly annoyed about being pulled out of bed, entered the room. They both took one look at the image on the screen and froze.
ôIt canÆt be.ö Fate gasped.
ôShe died seven years ago.ö Aruf concurred.
ôWhat? Who is it?ö Rei asked.
ôDoctor Precia Testarossa. My mother.ö
Alicia had had a very confusing day. She had been at home, alone. That had been a common occurrence. Her mother had been very busy at work, and had only gotten even busier over the past week. But that was alright. Mother had promised that today was her last day of work, and after that she could take a long vacation. Starting tonight, Mother wouldnÆt be leaving her again. They would go to an amusement park. Have a picnic. Enjoy themselves. Mother had promised.
Alicia had gone out on the balcony for some fresh air. Looking towards the place where Mother worked, she saw a pillar of light forming in the distance. The pillar then suddenly widened. There was pain, and then she blacked out. When she woke up, she was floating in a tube. She had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there.
Looking around, Alicia saw her mother watching her from outside the glass. Her mother had aged, her face more worn, her hair starting to grey, but Alicia would recognize her motherÆs smile anywhere. There was a clicking sound, and then the top of the tube opened up. Alicia floated to the surface of the liquid she had been suspended in, and was helped out of the tube by her mother. As Alicia wrapped a towel around herself, she looked at her mother.
ôMother? What happened?ö She asked.
ôYouÆve been ill a very long time, Alicia. IÆm glad to see you awake again.ö Her mother answered.
ôIÆve beenà ill?ö Alicia couldnÆt remember being sick. Was this something that happened because of that strange pillar of light?
ôYes, but itÆs alright. YouÆre better now. And IÆm finished with my work. I wonÆt have to leave you alone ever again.ö
Precia knelt down and embraced her daughter. At long last, the work that she had devoted a third of her life to was complete.
Omake: Why they got off lightly
ôIÆm surprised you people are letting those girls off so lightly.ö Artemis commented.
ôItÆs not surprising if you consider NanohaÆs past.ö Yuuno replied. ôDo you know how many of the people here introduced themselves to her with a seemingly unprovoked attack?ö
ôUhhhàö
ôLetÆs see, there was Fate, Aruf, Vita, Signum, Zafira, and Shamal. You might be able to count Hayate, though she actually met Nanoha shortly before the fight broke out, and was possessed by the Book of Darkness during the actual fighting.ö
ôYouÆre kidding.ö Luna gaped. That was virtually all of the people that the princess had introduced her Senshi to as allies.
ôNope. They all turned out to have sensible reasons behind the actions, and ultimately became friends after Nanoha finally got them to explain why they were fighting. Of course, half the time Nanoha had to blow them up before she could get them to provide that explanation.ö
The two Moon Cats looked at each other. Their princess was a very strange girl.
A/N: Yes, Fate was a math tutor to high school students at age 9. One student, anyway û Miyuki. I think Ami is the only one of the Inners capable of reaching the level of academic achievement necessary to attempt Mid-Childan magic.
A part of why Nanoha was able to one-shot Jadeite was because he simply wasnÆt expecting the Pink Beam of Doom.
Alicia lives! You know, this is the second time IÆve resurrected a major character and passed off their time dead as an illness. Hopefully AliciaÆs second pass through life wonÆt end up as tumultuous as ChloeÆs was.
My thanks to all my reviewers, who have made this the second most reviewed fic in the Nanoha crossover section (second to DrunkenGrognardÆs Odyssey) of fanfiction dot net.
The White Devil of the Moon
By Bissek
Chapter 7
Sailor Boot Camp
All eyes in the room turned to Yuuno as his audience went over his rather unusual statement in their heads.
ôYouÆre joking, right, Yuuno?ö Fate asked. She couldnÆt have that right. There was no way that the war that she and Nanoha had walked into had started over a cause as inherently absurd as who Nanoha had or had not dated in a previous life. NanohaÆs convalescence leave just couldnÆt have been wrecked by something that stupid. If it had, she would just have to track down the idiot who couldnÆt understand that no meant no and introduce him to a Thunder Smasher.
ôIÆm afraid not.ö Yuuno replied. ôApparently, Princess Serenity û NanohaÆs alleged identity in that incarnation û was engaged to marry a Prince Endymion, who was the heir of a nation here on Unadministered Planet #97. Despite the political value of a marriage between two heirs, something that could potentially result in the merging of their countries, the two moon cats indicated that this was a love match.
ôUnfortunately, a former lover of EndymionÆs, a mage named Beryl, opposed the match. She summoned the entity known as Metallia and sent it and a considerable number of lesser constructs to kill her rival and anyone even peripherally associated with her on the night of SerenityÆs birthday celebration û the evening in which the engagement was to be publicly announced.
ôFrom there, we get to the events of the more limited brief that we received earlier. Virtually the entire government and military high command was at the celebration, and were killed in the attack on the capital. Without any leadership, the defenses of the rest of the Moon Kingdom were disorganized and fell quickly, resulting in the entire society being wiped out literally overnight.ö
Everyone present winced. YuunoÆs initial research had indicated that the war that destroyed the Moon Kingdom was been brief, but they hadnÆt expected it to have lasted just one day. Anything that render multiple planets completely uninhabitable overnight was a serious threat. Hopefully they would be able to deal with it before it was revived sufficiently to be able to fight back.
ôSo youÆre saying that this war was started because Nanoha stole some other girlÆs boyfriend in a previous life, and the other girl decided to set a trans-dimensional record for being a poor loser?ö Hayate asked. If anyone had suggested such a thing to her before they had presented concrete proof that the war was actually happening, she would have automatically disregarded it as ridiculous. To the best of her knowledge, Nanoha had never so much as considered getting a boyfriend (or girlfriend, for that matter) in her entire life. The thought of her pinching someone elseÆs boyfriend was so out of character that Hayate just couldnÆt see it. Hayate doubted that her friend had the slightest notion of how to go boy-hunting even if she was inclined to do so. Looking at NanohaÆs totally perplexed expression, Hayate realized that Nanoha found the actions of her past life just as confusing as she did.
ôAnoàö Nanoha said, ôIs this Endymion person still around?ö
ôHe was the gentleman who showed up in the tuxedo.ö Yuuno replied.
Nanoha remembered the man in question. He was the man who she had briefly spoken to shortly after arriving in Tokyo û the one that a part of her was delighted to see for no apparent reason. Was the reason she had been so happy to see him that they had been lovers in another life? Was he the man she had danced with in that dream? The man who died in her arms after taking a blow meant for her?
More and more, it seemed like her life was being shaped by the actions of the person she was in a previous life û a person who from what little she could remember was totally different from the person she was in her current life. Things would be a lot simpler for her if Serenity had been able to take care of her own problems and left Nanoha in peace.
Luna was not happy with how her sole meeting with the princess had gone. Even though the princess had been found and had apparently started awakening to her powers years before, she obviously had not awakened to her memories.
The idea of calling in outside help to assist in the war against the Dark Kingdom was something Luna could understand, but the manner in which the princess had done so was wholly inappropriate. She should have called for aid as the leader of a nation speaking to the leaders of another nation. Instead, the princess had acted as a junior officer requesting reinforcements, an act which involved deferring command of the Senshi û and herself û to someone with no connection to the Moon Kingdom. It was one thing for a ruler to bring in allies, but surrendering her authority to those allies the moment they arrived was unacceptable! That action could very well lead to the TSAB absorbing the Moon Kingdom by the time the war ended.
Luna knew that she had seriously miscalculated in the matter of the princessÆs companion. The princess would have been well within her rights to sentence the Senshi involved in trying to kill her friend in front of her to banishment or worse. Instead, they had simply been required to fulfill their duties as Senshi until the Dark Kingdom had been defeated, something they didnÆt need a royal command to do. Of course, that was another problem. The punishment hadnÆt been handed down as a royal command. It had been handed down as an act of military justice û from the military of a foreign nation.
And that was the ultimate problem. The princess didnÆt think of herself as the heir to the Moon Kingdom. She thought of herself as a junior officer of a foreign power. There had been many examples in the history of the Moon Kingdom of members of the nobility serving in the military û even in the royal family. But never before had a noble of the Moon Kingdom enlisted in the military of another nation. There were precedents on how to balance the responsibilities of an officer with the responsibilities of a noble when one served the same nation in either case. Balancing those responsibilities when this was not the case was a totally different matter û especially given the fact that Luna had no idea as to whether the TSAB would be allies or enemies in the long run.
If the Moon Kingdom was to be revived, the princess needed to acknowledge her birthright. Luna needed guide the princess so that would happen. Unfortunately, given how badly her first decision regarding the princess had gone, it was quite likely that her guidance would be disregarded. The princess currently considered the ferret to be her primary advisor at the moment, not Luna. Luna would have to gain the princessÆs trust, something that the princess would be justified in not offering to the moon cat at the moment. She would have to plan her actions carefully.
The Senshi gathered at the park for their first lesson from their princess (Kamen was on patrol, and would undergo his first session later). Most of them were still trying to wrap their minds around the concept that the princess was more interested in training them than leading them. Still, the fact that their princess had apparently earned herself a reputation as the finest combat instructor that their unexpected allies had to offer was a pleasing thought. Not only did it present the Moon Kingdom itself in a positive light, it also meant that they had a good chance of becoming strong enough to deal with the Dark Kingdom once and for all soon.
As the barrier that hid the Senshi and their teachers from the outside world came up, the princess started handing out large sacks to her assistants. Reaching into the bag she had kept for herself, she pulled out four rubber balls, each a different color.
ôThe first problem I noticed when I observed the exercise you had gone through earlier is that you need work in keeping track of the battlefield.ö The princess began. ôThis exercise is going to make you work on that.ö
ôWith rubber balls?ö Mercury asked.
ôMy colleagues and I are going to start throwing these around. You are going to try to hit them before they hit the ground. Each of you is to only attack balls of a specific color û red for Mars, blue for Mercury, green for Jupiter, and orange for Venus. If you miss a ball, or hit the wrong ball, you get a penalty.ö
ôWhatÆs the penalty?ö Mars inquired.
ôAn attack spell. DonÆt worry, theyÆll be powered down enough that you wonÆt be injured. Feel free to try to dodge them û but if one of your teammates is hit by a penalty meant for you, it will mean extra penalties.ö
The training was brutal. The people throwing the balls did so slow enough that the Senshi would have time to cast a spell at them, but that was the only concession they were given. After the first few throws the balls started coming in from angles that barely passed through the peripheral vision of the ones who were supposed to shoot them, if not completely outside of their vision arc. Failing to realize that there were targets to shoot, the Senshi started missing. Then came the penalty shots.
The penalty shots might have been reduced in power to avoid injury, but they were still powerful enough to be extremely painful. They also had the nasty habit of turning around and coming back for another pass if the victim managed to dodge the first one. And it quickly became apparent that the number of extra penalties exacted for letting a teammate get hit by a penalty not meant for her was slowly increasing. Within five minutes they were looking around constantly, trying to locate the next target or attack. After ten minutes, they were too busy trying to dodge to even try to hit anything, which caused even more attacks to come. Fifteen minutes after the first ball was thrown, the exercise stopped, with all of the Senshi feeling very sorry for themselves.
ôOkay, take a break.ö The princess said. Her four students collapsed on the ground, panting for breath.
ôAreà all your training lessonsà this hard?ö Jupiter gasped.
ôThe harder the training, the easier the real battles become. IÆm just trying to make sure youÆre prepared for anything.ö
While that was a good idea in theory, the Senshi were less than enthusiastic about going through it in practice. Especially since it was quite likely that the princess would have them go through that exercise again once she replaced the balls that they had managed to hit (Said balls having either melted or frozen solid and shattered).
One thing was certain. The princess would not be satisfied with her Senshi until they truly were the elite unit they were supposed to be.
After the Senshi had caught their breath, they were broken up to train under individuals with similar magical affinities to their own. Jupiter was sent to train under Fate. Mercury was training under Rein. Mars was assigned to Signum. Venus, whose affinity did not align with any of their teachers, was instructed by the princess. Strangely, the lessons did not involve learning any magic. They were instead centered around learning how to increase the utility of the magic they already had.
After the lesson, Mercury inquired about that.
ôHow are you girls at math?ö Yuuno responded.
ôWhat does that have to do with anything?ö Mercury wondered, puzzled at the non sequitur.
ôThereÆs a high correlation between the formulas used in the magic circles associated with Mid-Childan magic and advanced math equations. If you canÆt keep up with the computations, thereÆs a good chance that you wonÆt be able to control the spell. Fate was good enough that she was tutoring high school students in math when she was nine, with Nanoha not much behind her. ThatÆs part of the reason why theyÆre so talented.ö
Most of the Senshi, who had a hard enough time keeping up with their assigned course load without trying to get seven years ahead of the syllabus, winced. Mercury was intrigued. She had always taken pride in her scholarship, and the only thing that triggered a competitive response in her was the though of someone getting ahead of her in the class rankings. She had put a lot of effort into reaching her place at the top of the national school rankings, especially given the additional demands placed on her time by her Senshi duties. The thought of a magic school that required advanced math skills to use seemed to be a perfect combination of her duties and her academic drive.
ôI might be interested in learning some Mid-Childan magic.ö She said.
ôAre there any schools of magic that donÆt require you to be a genius to learn?ö Venus asked.
ôThere are eight hundred ninety one known schools of magic. Eight hundred ninety two, if you count the Neo Belkan school as its own style rather than just a mix of Ancient Belkan and Mid-Childan magic. However, most of them are fairly obscure. We only have practitioners of two schools here. Hayate and the Wolkenritter all use the Ancient Belkan style, while the rest of us use Mid-Childan magic. ItÆs entirely possible that the school of magic practiced by the Moon Kingdom is among the known styles. IÆve already sent a request back to the Infinite Library to see if we have any information on the magic youÆre already using.ö
The Senshi looked at each other. They hadnÆt expected their princessÆs (sometimes) animal companion to be a scholar. After all, the ones they had ended up with were primarily courtiers. Mercury looked speculatively at the young man.
Precia looked around her laboratory. She had finally finished furnishing her newly acquired home so that it was properly equipped for the work she would need to do in order to revive her daughter and to provide a home for Alicia once she finally awakened. It was time to start on acquiring the energy that she needed to heal Alicia.
From checking the local newspapers, it appeared that she had been trapped in the void between dimensions for seven years after her failed attempt to reach Al-Hazard. Not that it mattered. The only person from Mid-Childa she had had any non-trivial association with after Alicia was injured in the accident was Jail Scaglietti, and she hadnÆt spoken to him since it became clear that Project Fate had been a failure. The only person she had any interest in staying in touch with was Alicia, and as far as Precia was concerned, so long as Alicia woke up soon, the calendar date of that awakening was irrelevant.
The other thing she saw of note in the papers was the story about the mage battle in Unimari. From the article, she saw that the reason her captor lost control of her leash was because he had been killed by the very mages who had prevented her from reaching Al-Hazard seven years before. At long last, her failed creation had managed to be of use to her mother, even if the clone would never know of it.
These æSailor SenshiÆ would be a problem, however. They were obviously a long-term threat against the energy-gathering operations performed by her former captors, and could very well end up trying to do the same to PreciaÆs own, once she had decided where to launch said operations. She didnÆt have anything against these new mages û in fact, if they wanted to continue to inconvenience Beryl and her ilk, they were welcome to do so û but she could not permit anything to interfere with her quest to revive Alicia. If that meant that she had to eliminate a few meddling outsiders who insisted on hindering her efforts, so be it.
Precia examined the neighborhood she had moved into, looking for places where a significant number of people would likely gather, so as to provide a large return on a few operations, with a good lookout point to ensure that she could spot anyone trying to interfere with the energy-gathering operation in time to secure the gathered energy from any ærescueÆ.
As she stood at one prospective location, taking notes that would help her decide whether or not to use this place as a target later, she heard a voice address her.
ôSo there you are, Precia. IÆve been looking for you.ö
ZoiciteÆs mission to track down the escaped mage had been more difficult than he originally thought. Tracking down the collar had been easy enough. It took him less than half an hour to find the gutter that it had been discarded in. Since Zoicite had never made any attempt to learn divination magic and refused to ask Nephrite for help on general principle (and the fact that the last Dark General to base an operation off of his advice ended up dead), he had been forced to tracking the woman down through more primitive means.
Fortunately, he didnÆt have to do all the legwork himself. He had been able to locate some youma who had seen the escapee often enough to be able to recognize her, and delegated that task to them. It had taken some doing to get them to understand that they werenÆt supposed to be gathering life energy or do anything else that would draw attention to themselves while they were out (the typical youma not being all that intelligent), but he had eventually gotten his point across.
If Precia had been on her own, tracking her down might have been impossible. But she had escaped with her incapacitated daughter, which limited the distance she could run. There was no real way to easily transport a tube eight feet high and four feet in diameter, and given that the tube was transparent and had a naked girl suspended in it, it would be noticed by anyone who saw it. That meant that she couldnÆt have fled very far without drawing a great deal of attention to herself, reducing the search area significantly.
Given how large and densely populated Tokyo was, Zoicite thought it likely that tracking Precia down could take weeks, even with the reduced search area stemming from the fact that she couldnÆt have moved her daughter too far without leaving an obvious trail that he hadnÆt found. But he knew how impatient his queen could get. She wanted results and quickly, especially after NephriteÆs prolonged search for the Moon Princess ended up leading Jadeite into a trap that killed him.
Because of this, he was pleasantly surprised when he was informed that Precia had been spotted a little over a week after her escape. Making his way to the location his youma had specified, he found her writing something down on a notepad.
ôSo there you are, Precia. IÆve been looking for you.ö He announced as he approached, ôI believe you have something that my queen wants.ö
The look in PreciaÆs eyes as she looked up to him was that of a cornered animal. He knew enough about animals to realize that even a timid creature would attack a predator if there was no place to run. It looked like she wasnÆt planning to cooperate. No matter. He just needed to make certain that he didnÆt kill her until after she had either produced or revealed the location of the crystals.
While Precia didnÆt remember the name of the man approaching her, she recognized him. He was one of the colleagues of Jadeite. The Dark Kingdom had managed to find her. When he mentioned that she had something he wanted, she immediately knew what he wanted. He was after Alicia.
Precia didnÆt know what the Dark Kingdom wanted with her daughter, and she didnÆt care, either. She had broken enough laws to get her imprisoned for life several times over in her quest to revive Alicia, ensuring that she would never be welcome on her home planet ever again. She was not going to let anyone take her child away from her, not now, not when she had finally discovered the cure she had been searching for all of these years!
Precia activated her Device and raised her staff as it formed in her hand.
The burst of lightning that erupted from the womanÆs staff was far stronger than anything that Sailor Jupiter had launched at him. Had the attack taken him by surprise, Zoicite could have been seriously hurt. As it was, the spell crackled against his defenses with surprising force.
Spells launched back and forth between the two. Zoicite could tell that his target had yet to fully recover from whatever it was had happened to cause her to enter the Dark Kingdom in the first place, but he was hindered by the fact that he needed her alive, at least in the short term. Precia was not operating under any such constraint. In a brute force slugging match, the fight could very well end up taking a while, making it likely that the Senshi would realize that there was a battle going on and interfere.
Fortunately, he didnÆt have to fight fair. The youma that had spotted Precia was still in the area, and Zoicite saw no reason why it couldnÆt help to incapacitate her. It didnÆt take much work to press Precia constantly from a single direction, forcing her to keep his attention on him while the youma flanked her.
The simple plan worked perfectly. Precia was too focused on her desperate battle against Zoicite to realize that sheÆd been outmaneuvered. The attack took her completely by surprise, knocking Precia to her knees.
Zoicite walked towards the woman, kicking the staff she had dropped out of her reach. Now that Precia had been subdued, he could interrogate her about the crystals she had used to escape the Dark Kingdom. But before he could start asking questions, a strange ripple passed through the landscape, somehow changing the color of everything in the area that it passed through slightly.
Zoicite wasnÆt sure what had caused this, but it couldnÆt have been natural. Some third party had entered into the battle. This conclusion was supported by a challenge he had never heard before.
It was Sailor MarsÆ first patrol since she had started training under the princess. Normally she would be patrolling alone, but the princess had made it clear that after the incident with Fate, she could not trust her or JupiterÆs judgment. Because of this, they would be patrolling alongside some of the TSAB personnel the princess had called in for the foreseeable future. Mars didnÆt like it, but she had to grudgingly concede that if their circumstances had been reversed, she wouldnÆt be inclined to trust someone who had tried to jump a close friend either.
The Senshi were still adjusting to the TSABÆs entrance. After months of being told they were an elite unit by the Moon Cats, finding that their princess looked at them as untrained civilian volunteers was a bit unsettling. Still, the Senshi as a whole were trying to make the best of it. Venus and Jupiter had been looking over the male members of the task force, trying to see if any of them were dateable material (Boys who could understand the risks and sudden schedule conflicts caused by magical girl work being short supply). Mercury was definitely interested in the ferret cum archeology professor. And while none of them had enjoyed the training the princess had come up with, it was the first time theyÆd had instruction beyond ætry to remember a spell learned millennia ago, throw in general direction of opponent, hope it worksÆ.
MarsÆ musings were interrupted by a crack of thunder. That was odd. There wasnÆt supposed to be a thunderstorm that night. In fact, looking up, Mars saw that there werenÆt any clouds at all. If there was no storm to produce lightning, where did the thunder come from?
The same question had apparently occurred to the leader of the group of mages she was with. He had made a couple short communications, and then turned to the rest of the group.
ôIf there wasnÆt any natural lightning, then the thunder must have been caused by magic. Enforcer Harlaown and Sailor Jupiter just confirmed it wasnÆt them, and theyÆre the only people we have with an electrical affinity. It could have been the result of Dark Kingdom activity. LetÆs move out.ö He said.
The group dashed across the rooftops in the direction of the thunder. As they began their run, the thunder repeated, and then repeated again. The thunderclaps continued, always coming from the same direction. Whatever was causing it, it couldnÆt possibly be natural. Reaching the source of the noise, they found a wrecked street, with a youma and a familiar enemy confronting a woman, who had collapsed to the ground.
ôZoicite.ö Rei whispered.
ôYou know one of those people?ö The team leader asked.
ôThe man is Zoicite. HeÆs one of the Generals of the Dark Kingdom.ö
The leader opened up a communication window. ôThis is Corporal Netia. We have found a Dark Kingdom attack led by one of their senior leaders in progress. Requesting reinforcements.ö
ôAcknowledged, Corporal.ö ReinÆs voice responded. ôSome of the Wolkenritter are en route. Set up a barrier and try to keep the enemy in it until help arrives.ö
ôUnderstood.ö Netia turned to one of the other men. ôPrivate Benaris, set up the barrier.ö
Moments later, the area was displaced from conventional reality. But something was wrong. Every time that Mars had seen one of these barriers come up before, everyone not connected to the TSAB or the Senshi vanished, left behind outside the barrier. This time, others were brought along: Zoicite, the youma, and the victim. While Mars could understand why Zoicite and the youma were brought along û containing them in the barrier was the reason it was brought up in the first place û why had the woman entered the barrier as well?
ôIs she supposed to still be here?ö Mars asked.
ôNo, she isnÆt.ö Netia answered, ôWe have to get the civilian clear. Benaris, stay here and maintain the barrier. Everyone else, letÆs keep General Zoicite occupied until the Wolkenritter get here.
ôThis is the Time-Space Administration Bureau.ö He announced. ôDisarm yourselves and step away from the civilian. If you come quietly you will be permitted to testify in your own defense.ö
Zoicite had never heard of the Time-Space Administration Bureau before, but it was obvious that they were his enemies. This conclusion was reinforced when he noticed that Sailor Mars was with them. So the Senshi had found allies, had they? His queen would find that information interesting. Of course, unless some measure of success against this new enemy, Beryl might not take the information well, important or not.
The various attack spells that the newcomers sent at him were inconsequential. They didnÆt have nearly enough power to breach his defenses, even after the battering they had taken from the slugging match with Precia. The binding spells were a severe nuisance. He could break out of them easily enough, but in order to do so he had to divert his attention away from his efforts to swat the annoying insects attacking him. If they were a little closer in, he was certain he could crush them. As it was, they made a point of staying far enough away that they could dodge the worst of his attacks. Still, even if they refused to stay still and die, they were still taking far more punishment than he was at the moment. He could afford to expend the effort to whittle them down.
As he fought the newcomers, he noticed Sailor Mars destroy his youma. Then things got out of control.
The fear that Precia felt when she realized that the Dark Kingdom had tracked her down and was after Alicia magnified a hundredfold when she realized that the TSAB had found her. Even after seven years, they were still looking for her over the matter with the Jewel Seeds. She would have thought that theyÆd have given her up for dead, given the manner in which she had escaped from them the last time. She had never even heard of someone using the escape method she had inadvertently taken and surviving to speak of it before she did.
But somehow, they knew she had survived, and had continued looking for her this entire time. And now they had found her. If she allowed them to arrest her, they would track down where she had stored Alicia. Given that Alicia had been legally dead since the reactor accident twenty-five years earlier, they would take her little girl out of the stasis tube that was the only thing keeping her alive, and bury her. She couldnÆt let that happen. She couldnÆt let them kill her baby. Not now, not when she was finally on the cusp of the breakthrough she needed to save her!
The youma that had injured her had been drawn away by the fight. With all of her enemies distracted fighting each other, Precia crawled to where her staff had rolled. As she grasped it, she was approached by a mage in a barrier jacket different than that worn by the other TSAB mages, one of the style worn by the kind of mage the newspapers called ôSenshiö.
ôCome on,ö The Senshi said, ôLetÆs get you out of here.ö
Precia swung her staff at the girl. ôNO! I wonÆt let you take her from me!ö she screamed.
The Senshi managed to block the block the blow, catching the staff in one hand. As the Senshi moved to disarm her, Precia made a follow-up move. ôPhoton Bullet.ö
The point blank attack launched the Senshi straight through a wall. Precia turned her attention to the others inside the barrier. ôThunder Rage.ö
The burst of lightning knocked all of her enemies to their knees, even Zoicite, who had been focusing on freeing himself from another set of binding spells and hadnÆt expected another high-level attack. Upon seeing her adversaries humbled, a thought occurred to her. She needed life energy to save Alicia. Why not take it from those who were trying to stop her from saving her daughter?
ôYou thought to take my daughter from me? You shall be the very means by which I will cure her!ö She gloated as she cast the energy-draining spell. Power was rapidly siphoned from the fallen mages and gathered in her hand, far more than the mere sliver of energy she had stolen to test the possibility of using stolen life to save Alicia. Precia drew even more power out. She didnÆt know how much power would be needed in order to awaken her daughter, so she would take as much as she could. If the process happened to kill those who were trying to see Alicia dead, then so be it.
Her energy gathering was interrupted by a gout of flame. The girl she had knocked through a wall had gotten back up again, and was ready to fight. Precia turned her attention to her new opponent, when her lungs suddenly ceased to function properly. Precia struggled to keep her defenses up as she bent over coughing, fighting to clear her lungs so that she could breathe again. Of all the times for her lung condition to act up, it had to be now!
She couldnÆt keep fighting. She had to get clear, and see if she had gathered enough energy to save Alicia. Levitating to the rooftop level, she saw what she had expected. The TSAB mages she had seen were hardly elites. The mage who created the barrier wasnÆt up to doing much more than keeping the barrier up which his teammates did all the work. Once she was at an angle where she could fire upon the mage maintaining the barrier, Precia knocked him out with a Photon Bullet. The barrier collapsed. Lowering herself down to the ground, Precia began to flee. Another burst of flame came after her, penetrating her weakened barriers and burning her.
ôYouÆre not getting away that easily.ö The Senshi declared. Precia responded with another Photon Bullet. This one smashed into the building behind the Senshi, causing the wall to collapse on top of her. With her last enemy incapacitated, Precia started staggering home, desperate to get away before any other TSAB mages showed up. She wasnÆt up for another fight this night.
The wounds she had taken were treatable û she had studied quite a few healing spells during her early research into curing Alicia. But the most important thing was that she had acquired a significant amount of energy. Perhaps this would be enough. Perhaps she would be able to see her beloved daughter smile at her again for the first time in far too long.
Zoicite had teleported away from the battle the moment the barrier dissipated. He had lost that fight, and knew it. The TSAB agents, while fairly weak in and of themselves, had distracted him to the point where Precia had been able to get a shot past his guard. And he had been right û it had been quite painful. If the Moon Princess was of comparable strength, then it wasnÆt surprising that she had been able to take out Jadeite while he was focused on defeating Sailor Venus.
But even with good reasons behind his defeat, Zoicite knew that he had gone into a battle where success could have granted the Dark Kingdom total victory in one stroke, and he had failed. The Queen would not be happy with him. Perhaps it would be for the best if he recovered from his injuries without returning home, and tried again later. A delayed report of success would anger Beryl far less than a prompt report of failure.
Nephrite stretched carefully, and was pleased to discover that he could now move freely without pain. The QueenÆs wrath over the loss of Jadeite had been truly terrible, and there had been points in it where Nephrite had been worried that he would not survive it. It wasnÆt even his fault. All he had promised was that there was a good chance that the Moon Princess could come to harm at that time and place. His prediction had been perfectly accurate: she had apparently needed hospitalization after the battle. But Beryl had expected more, and since Jadeite was beyond punishment, she had taken her anger out on him.
Still, the incident in which Jadeite died had provided some useful intelligence. He now knew the Moon PrincessÆs name, along with her home address, and family business. Perhaps it was time for him to revive his old persona of ôMasato Sanjoninö. He could use that alias to become acquainted with the princessÆs kin, and from there hopefully get in position to strike. That would be far simpler than the brute force attack that Jadeite had come up with.
Vita and Signum arrived at the scene of the battle to find their enemies gone, and their comrades prying themselves off the ground.
ôWhat happened here? WhereÆs the rest of your team? You seem to be down a man.ö Signum demanded of the corporal. Netia pointed out a heap of rubble. Vita dug through the rubble and pulled an unconscious Rei Hino from the debris.
ôLetÆs get them back to base.ö Signum continued. ôWe can debrief them there.ö Vita nodded.
Once they had returned to their headquarters, Shamal started patching up the wounded while Corporal Netia gave his report as to what had happened.
ôIt was either a trap, or the person we tried to rescue considered us to be as great a threat as Zoicite was. Once she had gotten away from her original attackers and gotten her hands on some sort of staff, she attacked all of us. Once we were down, she used what I believe to be the energy-draining attack we were warned of against us.ö He reported.
ôInterestingà Can you describe the woman who did this?ö Hayate asked.
ôNo, but I think Sailor Mars could. She was closer to the unknown mage than I was.ö
ôShamal?ö
ôGive me another ten minutes to finish patching her up, and then you can wake her for questioning.ö The doctor answered.
A little over ten minutes later, Rei was describing the woman who had hit most of the team with lightning and then dropped a wall on her. As she described the woman, her image was slowly reconstructed on the computer screen in front of her. Eventually the image on the screen matched up to the face of the unknown woman and Rei sat back. As the various people in the room examined the image, Hayate noticed Yuuno stiffen.
ôDo you recognize her, Yuuno?ö Hayate asked.
ôI think so, but weÆd better double-check. Let me get Fate. She would know if this is the person I think it is.ö
A few minutes later, Fate and Aruf, both mildly annoyed about being pulled out of bed, entered the room. They both took one look at the image on the screen and froze.
ôIt canÆt be.ö Fate gasped.
ôShe died seven years ago.ö Aruf concurred.
ôWhat? Who is it?ö Rei asked.
ôDoctor Precia Testarossa. My mother.ö
Alicia had had a very confusing day. She had been at home, alone. That had been a common occurrence. Her mother had been very busy at work, and had only gotten even busier over the past week. But that was alright. Mother had promised that today was her last day of work, and after that she could take a long vacation. Starting tonight, Mother wouldnÆt be leaving her again. They would go to an amusement park. Have a picnic. Enjoy themselves. Mother had promised.
Alicia had gone out on the balcony for some fresh air. Looking towards the place where Mother worked, she saw a pillar of light forming in the distance. The pillar then suddenly widened. There was pain, and then she blacked out. When she woke up, she was floating in a tube. She had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there.
Looking around, Alicia saw her mother watching her from outside the glass. Her mother had aged, her face more worn, her hair starting to grey, but Alicia would recognize her motherÆs smile anywhere. There was a clicking sound, and then the top of the tube opened up. Alicia floated to the surface of the liquid she had been suspended in, and was helped out of the tube by her mother. As Alicia wrapped a towel around herself, she looked at her mother.
ôMother? What happened?ö She asked.
ôYouÆve been ill a very long time, Alicia. IÆm glad to see you awake again.ö Her mother answered.
ôIÆve beenà ill?ö Alicia couldnÆt remember being sick. Was this something that happened because of that strange pillar of light?
ôYes, but itÆs alright. YouÆre better now. And IÆm finished with my work. I wonÆt have to leave you alone ever again.ö
Precia knelt down and embraced her daughter. At long last, the work that she had devoted a third of her life to was complete.
Omake: Why they got off lightly
ôIÆm surprised you people are letting those girls off so lightly.ö Artemis commented.
ôItÆs not surprising if you consider NanohaÆs past.ö Yuuno replied. ôDo you know how many of the people here introduced themselves to her with a seemingly unprovoked attack?ö
ôUhhhàö
ôLetÆs see, there was Fate, Aruf, Vita, Signum, Zafira, and Shamal. You might be able to count Hayate, though she actually met Nanoha shortly before the fight broke out, and was possessed by the Book of Darkness during the actual fighting.ö
ôYouÆre kidding.ö Luna gaped. That was virtually all of the people that the princess had introduced her Senshi to as allies.
ôNope. They all turned out to have sensible reasons behind the actions, and ultimately became friends after Nanoha finally got them to explain why they were fighting. Of course, half the time Nanoha had to blow them up before she could get them to provide that explanation.ö
The two Moon Cats looked at each other. Their princess was a very strange girl.
A/N: Yes, Fate was a math tutor to high school students at age 9. One student, anyway û Miyuki. I think Ami is the only one of the Inners capable of reaching the level of academic achievement necessary to attempt Mid-Childan magic.
A part of why Nanoha was able to one-shot Jadeite was because he simply wasnÆt expecting the Pink Beam of Doom.
Alicia lives! You know, this is the second time IÆve resurrected a major character and passed off their time dead as an illness. Hopefully AliciaÆs second pass through life wonÆt end up as tumultuous as ChloeÆs was.
My thanks to all my reviewers, who have made this the second most reviewed fic in the Nanoha crossover section (second to DrunkenGrognardÆs Odyssey) of fanfiction dot net.
