11Primary Magick's
Sorry for any mistakes here but I was tired when I edited this and I have no beta.
Chapter 03
"So…tired…" Nanoha groaned as she slowly made her way back towards her house from the battlefield that the school had been turned into. A number of windows were shattered and pavement cracked by brutal strikes but aside from that it had been an easy sealing. Yet she felt so tired! Leaning against the concrete fence to have a quick rest, eyes closer to shutter topaz-blue eyes before they flew open as she was nudged by Yuuno.
"Come on Nanoha" Yuuno ordered. He could see she was tired. Beyond tired. His sharp eyes had caught her stumbling a bit with trembling muscles before she managed to seal the monster who had taken the form of a wendigo. The Jewel Seed had bound itself to the janitor and in doing so had amplified the traits the janitor held most dear. Endurance, strength and cunning.
Flashback
Nanoha leapt backwards to dodge the scythe that would have ripped apart her stomach. Or rather…the five scythe-like claws which constituted the creatures claws. Standing at close to ten feet tall of grayish muscle and putrescent yellow eyes with breath that stank like rotting flesh, it was truly a horrifying sight. Especially as it was over double Nanoha's height.
"So fast" Nanoha whispered as she eyed the massive beast. And indeed it was. Not too fast but when coupled with its disturbing ability to melt into the shadows like a chameleon it gave off the impression of almost light-speed. Already Nanoha was nursing a long scratch to her forearm that refused to close or even clot thus far. Fortunately it wasn't deep but it still stung ferociously.
Hearing a roar from behind her and pivoting on one foot with a hand already flung out, the same square barrier snapped into being and the Wendigo slammed into it, clawing at it. And with surprisingly less damage to its body than one would think given the results of the last two beasts that attacked it. Indeed, the barrier was slowing its rate of spin with each thunderous strike against it.
"Nanoha! The barrier slows its spinning with each strike!" Yuuno hollered as he shot around to try and find some avenue of attack. But he had few offensive spells since he concentrated more on defense and those few offensive spells were related more to the slaying of animals for food than taking down a raging beast! Throwing up a few aquamarine binds around the creature and sighing with relief as it was halted, he nodded to Nanoha.
Leaping back once more and thanking all the stars in the 'verse for her not having to use the gauntlet – or rather not being fast enough to hit the Wendigo, she gripped Raising Heart firmly. "Jewel Seed Seal" she incanted firmly with no trace off ear unsteadying her voice or making her limbs shake.
Those claws ARE awfully sharp though Nanoha thought idly before shaking her head to clear the errant thoughts.
"Seal it!" she shouted and swept the staff in a diagonal slash after the wings had formed and the staff head had extended forward a few inches.
The Square Array exploded into being under her and glowed with a sanguine light whilst the runes glistened with a pure white light. Those same colors were in the streamers as they took off and wrapped around the bestial Wendigo as it finally broke free with a terrifying howl. As it lunged forward with the ribbons of magic ripping through its body, it brought tremendous claws down for one last strike.
And met the cold chrome of Nanoha's gauntlet raised in defense. Scrabbling at it uselessly, only a few scratch marks were left on the plain metallic gloves which seemed to shine even in the darkness which swamped the school.
With a last scream of rage the Wendigo vanished into wisps of smoke which left the janitor lying on the ground and blissfully unconscious. Tapping the Seed with Raising Heart and smiling as it was absorbed, she turned curiously to Yuuno. "Hey Yuuno…where are the Seed's stored exactly?" she inquired with a curious expression.
"I…have no idea" Yuuno stated blankly. "Nobody really KNOWS where the Intelligent Devices store artifacts. The leading theory is the artifacts are transformed into energy and compressed down into a tiny state like a singularity."
Nanoha blinked at that. "If you don't know, just say so" she commented before picking up Yuuno with her red and white outfit vanishing around her. Placing him on her shoulder, she blinked as Yuuno smacked his face into her neck. "What was that for?"
"Well…I can't facepalm. This is the closest I can do."
"A faceneck?" she asked with disbelief turning her tone incredulous. "The ferret changeling couldn't think of anything better?"
Yuuno groaned. "Don't call me a changeling!"
End Flashback
Finally returning to the abode where Nanoha dwelled and currently Yuuno, both entered quietly with Nanoha making sure to keep her arm hidden in the event someone saw the scratch which had finally started to clot. Wearily making her way upstairs after a brief battle with the top stair as to whether her foot could indeed clear it, Nanoha collapsed on her bed like a sack of oranges.
Even before Yuuno had leapt off her she was asleep with Raising Heart warm against her clavicle.
Nanoha woke slowly with limbs aching and eyes feeling like sand had been shoved under her eyelids during her admittedly restful but not long enough sleep. Glancing up and blinking at the sight of a dark sky, she flipped open her cell-phone with a wince as the bright light struck her eyes. Making out the time was two in the morning the magical girl groaned.
Still wearing my clothes…no wonder I woke up Nanoha foggily thought with the feeling of twisted clothes registering dimly in her consciousness. Rising with a disturbing amount of grace given her sleepy state and wriggling out of her clothes and then into her pajamas, she flopped back onto her bed with a yawn.
And lay there.
For ten minutes. Without sleep overtaking her.
"What the heck…I fall asleep the second I hit the bed but now I can't sleep?!" she demanded of the cold night air and only got silence and Yuuno's snores in response.
Sitting up grumpily and looking for something – anything to tire her out, she recalled Yuuno's words from the previous day about manifesting the gauntlet without Raising Heart activating. Nothing else to do she thought somewhat bitterly with a pout and then a sigh to try and convey her frustration to any being listening. Sitting herself comfortably on her bed and with quilt wrapped around her so only her head and right arm stuck out, she began.
And met with immediate failure.
She couldn't even touch her magic!
Scowling and trying again and again, the same results occurred with every attempt. The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing again and again knowing the results she wisely thought, the quote popping into her head from a book of Suzuka's she once glanced through.
Closing her eyes and sitting there patiently, Nanoha recalled how it felt to use magic. The tingle that shot from her chest to every limb and the wave of soothing cold-fire in its wake. And truly cold-fire was the only way to describe it. A chill it was but it licked and roared through her veins and nerves which left every nerve so sensitive and every sense at their peak.
Following the tingle that shot through her and finding it originated in her chest, Nanoha called out to it whilst feeling immensely stupid. Calling out to ones magic was such a stupid idea.
Yuuno slowly woke from the feel of magic slowly crashing over him like gentle waves. Sitting up…he gaped. Nanoha sat there with hair freely drifting about as if she was underwater and a faint aura engulfed her. It wasn't an opaque aura, not by far. It took decades of study to do that! Her aura seemed to make her skin glow and a faint patch of luminescence around her with the colors rapidly switching between white and red.
Nanoha had found her linker core. Within her mind she stood before it and witnessed it crackle with power and glow a variety of colors with the prominent ones being red, white and blue. Extending a tendril of thought towards it which took the form of a hand and touching it, she smiled as magic flooded her.
Yuuno watched in awe as the blue chrome gauntlets slowly faded into being. And truly faded was the only way to describe it. The light which had gathered around Nanoha's hands had faded as the gauntlets emerged and for once he was able to get a better look at them.
They extended up to her elbows and they were of a simple design. Yet…the metal seemed to almost move with the motions her muscles made under it. It's like a silicone-based metal he thought with bemusement. He then pondered as to whether Nanoha had driven him insane and that was why he failed to feel any large amount of shock or awe.
Nanoha opened her eyes and lifted her arms to examine the metal which covered her forearms. On the back of the gauntlets hand there was an exact miniature version of the runic array that sprang into being with every sealing she performed although it seemed to fade in and out of being as if the circle was teasing her.
A moment later and she flopped back into a deep sleep with the gauntlets vanishing into shimmering particles of magic which was absorbed back into her skin.
I would have been amazed had she stayed awake a moment long Yuuno thought with a bit of amusement as he laid his head down once more and curled up. Physically manifesting objects without an Intelligent Device was strenuous on any mage no matter what the object was. Yawning and closing his eyes, Yuuno smiled to himself. I got lucky getting Nanoha as my partner.
Sun shone and birdsong flitted through trees as the sun sat high on its throne as it oversaw its domain.
And one mage in particular slept on with a pillow covering her head and auburn hair peeking out under the soft fluffy comfort object. She hadn't moved for over an hour except to shift her head into new and more comfortable positions to aid in her attempt to sleep the day away.
Yuuno frowned and leapt over onto Nanoha's bed. Granted she may be tired from the previous nights sealing and forcefully summoning the gauntlets but he was personally a big believer in self-discipline. You dealt with the after-effects of whatever you caused. Padding up alongside Nanoha's back and looking at the tired girl with no sympathy, he jabbed his nose into her shoulder.
And surprisingly…nothing happened.
Nor did anything happen the next five times he did it. Lying down on the bed to ponder his next move, he shot almost a foot in the air when the door slammed open.
"Nanoha, wake up! Arisa and Suzuka are here!" Miyuki shouted. She knew from personal experience how hard her sister could be to wake up especially after late nights. She was no fool and knew that Nanoha was going out at night though for purposes currently unknown to her.
Groggily pulling the pillow off her head and staring at Miyuki with incomprehension, Nanoha buried her head under the pillow whilst muttering about annoying sisters.
"Arisa! Nanoha won't get up!" she called out before yelping as a pillow struck her in the face hard enough to make her stumble backwards.
"That's not fair, Miyuki" Nanoha snapped and slowly rose with the grace a predator exudes as they hunt their prey. Languidly walking over to the door and smiling sweetly at Miyuki…she closed it in her sisters face. "Time to get up then" Nanoha sighed grumpily and smiled as Yuuno started to paw at the door. "Sure the ferret body isn't changing you, Yuuno?" she teased and opened the door to let him scamper out.
Closing the door and leaning against it so her vision would stop spinning, Nanoha waited for her blood pressure to equalize. Cupping Raising Heart in one hand and looking at it curiously, she started at the synthetic female voice.
"Confirmation. Displaying Neutralized Jewel Seeds."
Five jewel seeds shimmered into being and rotated on the vertical axis before Nanoha. "Been a week already" Nanoha murmured. A week since I met Yuuno…a week since I first had my powers activated. Being a magical girl is EXHAUSTING! Nanoha complained and shut her eyes.
"NANOHA!"
Yelping and leaping away from the door as her sister pounded on it, she shot a glare that would have made even a Jewel Monster back away before slowly getting dressed in her typical outfit of orange sweater, a darker orange skirt, black stockings and a random shirt she plucked from her closet.
"I'm coming" she sighed out and with a last glance of longing toward her bed, exited her room and walked down the stairs.
So…break from Jewel Seed hunting today? Yuuno ventured as he eagerly snacked on a few biscuits he had been given.
You're going to get so fat you'll roll everywhere if you're not careful Nanoha stated and giggled as Yuuno froze with his mouth open. And thanks…I need a break. So tired she groaned and pouted as Yuuno started to laugh. Which was a very odd sound coming from a ferret. Similar to hearing a wet cloth dragged over gravel if a bit less rough.
Kyoya looked at both of them and raised an eyebrow at Miyuki. "I'm telling you that…"
Miyuki stuck her nose in the air. "How long must you keep being wrong, Kyoya? Nanoha isn't a magical girl!" Miyuki stated and was unaware of Nanoha fearfully looking over through downcast lashes.
Glaring at Miyuki whilst stabbing his chopsticks into his breakfast in an attempt to alleviate some of his anger, he pointed at Yuuno. "Then why is the ferret laughing, huh?!"
"Because it's ticklish" Miyuki stated. "Now hush Kyoya. Let Nanoha eat in peace" she stated and winked at Nanoha only to get a glare back. "What?"
"Let me eat in peace…would have rather slept in peace" Nanoha mumbled and flushed under the smug grin. "Where's Arisa and Suzuka?"
"Not here yet."
"You…lied?" Nanoha asked with the shock she felt easily displayed on her face.
"I didn't lie. I was just a bit…pre-emptive" Miyuki stated and ignored Kyoya as her brother rolled his eyes.
Nanoha was used to Miyuki using twisted logic like that so no groan or exclamation of rage escaped her pursed lips yet her glare said it all.
"Anyway…I'm off" Nanoha stated and stood from her clear dishes with not one morsel remaining. "Have to take the fat ferret with me. Arisa and Suzuka want to see him" she stated before giggling to herself at the outrage Yuuno was communicating to her. "I'll…I'll see you later" she managed to get out between snorts of laughter.
"Later Nanoha!" Kyoya called out.
Nanoha waved happily to Arisa and Suzuka as they approached from opposing directions. Arisa had gone to fetch Suzuka who was, if possible, a deeper sleeper than Nanoha and gauging from the way the purple-haired girl was rubbing her eyes whilst directing dirty looks to Arisa it was obvious the girl had stayed up late playing video games.
Again.
Shaking her head before joining up with the two to descend to the oval, a vindictive smile formed on her face as Yuuno was torn from her neck and squealed over by Arisa and Suzuka, the latter forgetting her tiredness with the mystery ferret now revealed. During the walk over here Yuuno had not kept still and had kept tickling her neck with his fur.
So this was her vengeance and though cruel to him it was by far amusing to her.
Taking a seat and nodding to her father with a relieved expression returned, Nanoha had to struggle to stay awake in the warm sun and with the excited chatter of Suzuka and Arisa beside her.
Nanoha…I'm sorry…help me! Yuuno screamed out as a pink bow was tied around his neck.
I'm sorry Yuuno…I can't hear what you're saying…still too tired she responded. Except the smugness of her tone was a definite give-away.
Oh come on Nanoha! I'm sorry! Yuuno shouted before sighing in relief as Nanoha plucked him from Arisa and Suzuka's grasp. Now can you remove the ribbon?
Not a chance. You look cute. In fact…I'm going to take a photo when we get home! Nanoha responded excitedly before shushing Yuuno as the match started. Cheering as her fathers team gained possession of the ball, she failed to follow the game. It wasn't so much the game she was cheering about but rather the fact it made her father happy. He seemed far more fulfilled than when he had been a bodyguard.
Whilst he didn't earn as much, the increased safety, more time with his family and just the general content was enough to easily make up for the wage deficit.
Watching the game with half-lidded eyes as one hand idly stroked the ferret, Nanoha inhaled the smell of the grass and freshly churned earth which had been torn up by the spikes on the players shoes. As tired as she was the faint acrid stench of magic was ignored by her brain in preference to the soothing smell and feel of the outdoors.
Startled awake by Arisa lightly touching her shoulder and glancing around as the world once more crashed back into her senses that had been awakened from their dormant state, Nanoha noticed the players filing off the field.
"Come on Nanoha, geez. You're spacing out worse than usual!" Arisa teased and tugged Nanoha to her feet. "We're all going to Midori for a victory celebration!"
Nanoha blinked. We won? She inquired of Yuuno.
His response was one word and extremely dry. Apparently.
It was easy to beg off the party that was consuming the café and head upstairs with the truth as to why she was going up. She was after all still tired and whilst she felt her magic returning rapidly as evidenced by the way she no longer stumbled, her body still cried out for sleep. Heading upstairs and closing her door, she smiled as Yuuno jumped down before stripping down to her singlet and underwear.
Yuuno blushed a deep red as his partner stripped before him with no care. Turning away to grant her privacy and trying desperately to get that blush off his face so he wasn't teased about it, he frowned. Unlike Nanoha he had sensed…something at the field. It had persisted into the café bit he hadn't been able to either pinpoint it or identify what it had been exactly.
Padding over to his basket and curling into it, he only turned and warily at that when he heard Nanoha strike the bed with a soft thump. Sighing in relief at the fact she was now clothed in her pajamas, he curled himself into a circle with his head resting upon his tail. He too was still tired but unlike Nanoha most of his magic had returned.
Closing his eyes, he drifted off.
"Warning! Jewel Seed Activation Detected!" Raising Heart blared to her master and partner and made sure that the volume was similar to the other human that had woken her master earlier. And judging from the way both her master and partner leapt a foot into the air, it had worked.
Casting about with her eyes, Nanoha immediately clutched Raising Heart for comfort as her house rumbled as if an earthquake had occurred so very close. Racing to her window and blanching at the sight of a tree rising from the centre of city, she glanced at Yuuno. "We have to move fast" she murmured and smiled as Yuuno nodded. Looking at Raising Heart and quickly barricading her room so nobody saw her transform, Nanoha allowed the nascent energies of the device to erupt forth.
Yuuno kept his eyes averted as the cube of magic garbed Nanoha and armed her with the raiment of battle she so favored.
Clutching Raising Heart as it hovered above her and smiling as the cube parted predictably, Nanoha opened the window. "Raising Heart…I need to fly" she murmured.
"Flier Fin: Activated."
Her eyes were drawn to the two pure white wings that had erupted from her ankles and a grateful smile was directed at Raising Heart. Walking to the back of her bedroom and picking up Yuuno, she grinned. "Hold on, Yuuno" she whispered and smiled as the ferret clutched at her barrier jacket tight. Clenching gauntlets tight…she ran at the open window and dove out.
The wings hung limp for a second before activating and allowing her to shoot down to the entertainment district which was mercifully far from the ignition point of the Seed. Dropping to the ground and running into a building, she wondered why she hadn't tried to fly up to the roof.
There's a height restriction on regular Flier Fin Yuuno commented with fur practically standing on end due to the shock and speed of the sudden flight.
"Ah" Nanoha commented before quieting to preserve breath for the race to the top of the building. Too…many stairs she groaned mentally to Yuuno.
I'm enjoying it. The bouncing is nice and soothing Yuuno replied.
I hear Suzuka and Arisa want you as a doll she threatened and smiled happily as the ferret quieted down. Approaching the door to the roof and reaching for the handle, she turned it…
…and found it locked.
"Damnit!" she cried out.
Press Raising Heart to the door. Should unlock it Yuuno ventured. He had done something similar to get some food early on after he had landed here whilst leaving some change he scrounged from the streets to pay for what he took.
Pressing Raising Heart to the door and grinning delightedly as the possibilities came to mind of just how she could use it, Nanoha walked out onto the roof. And gaped in shock.
The tree was massive…easily six or so stories tall.
"Wow."
Both Yuuno and Nanoha had spoken in tandem.
"You won't be able to get close, Nanoha" Yuuno murmured as he eyed the tree. "We don't even know where the seed IS" the ferret pointed out.
"Well then…guess I'll need to find it" Nanoha murmured. Extending her grip, she tapped Raising Heart against the floor in four points in an approximation of a square. From each point a mass of lines exploded forth like ink and as she touched the fourth point the runic array flared into being. "It could be anywhere…so I'll search everywhere" Nanoha stated.
Seeing no other alternative, Yuuno bit back protests and warnings.
Raising Heart: Wide Area Magic Search Nanoha commanded with her mind conveying the need that words never could.
"Understood, master."
Instead of the usual strings of magic, a directional shockwave of magic blasted out from Nanoha and spread until it was like a wall of rippling magic that resembled a heat haze. It did not harm buildings and only made the leaves on trees flutter but as it struck the tree, information started to trickle back to Nanoha much like sonar.
Veneficus Sight
Nanoha's vision blurred for a moment and when it cleared a grid overlaid her vision with hotspots appearing.
The brightest spot will be the Jewel Seed, Master. Search completing in five seconds Raising Heart voiced directly into Nanoha's mind. Whilst its auditory capabilities were limited it could with a bit of effort speak into the mind of its master.
Nanoha gazed around in awe. She could see all the humans cowering in the city. Yuuno had told her that all humans possessed a spark of magic to give them life but nothing more. Nothing approaching a fully active Linker Core to grant them access to the energies that ruled the cosmos!
"Okay Yuuno…I've located the Jewel Seed. Now what?" she asked somewhat timidly. The scale of this disaster was beyond her - like an ant trying to comprehend chess. But like an ant she would do her best to move the piece.
"Well…you need to strike from range" Yuuno commented.
Range…range…range Nanoha repeated to herself.
"Shooting Mode: Set Up" came Raising Hearts voice.
First the base extended downwards an extra foot or so, so the staff measured some five or six foot in length. Then the head seemed to revert to pure magic and said magic reshaped itself into the shape of a U but with one side longer than the other. The two ejection ports which adorned Raising Heart fused with the shorter side so heat could be released if it overheated.
Moving so the underarm of her right arm was flush against the outside of Raising Heart – the part facing away from her, Nanoha was unprepared for what was to come as her left hand clasped Raising Heart about a foot from the head.
"Brace Lock."
Nanoha's blue gauntlets seemed to almost melt forwards and surround the area where her hands grasped Raising Heart. Thus allowing her bare fingers to wrap around the cool shaft of Raising Heart and Brace Lock ensured that the weapon could not be torn from her grip.
Moving her right leg back and left leg forward, Nanoha watched in shock as four wings unfurled from the slots revealed by Raising Heart's head shooting forward. These wings were far larger than the ones used when she sealed for each was about five feet long. Two red wings and two white unfurled around her and they wove together at the sides whilst the top and bottom remained apart so she could both see and stand.
"Firing Lock: Disengaged" came Raising Heart's voice. With that the ejection ports extended so heat could be vented easily during the following attack.
The runic array swirled into being under her and as her magic surged outwards it was thusly attracted to the four focal points in the corners. Shooting back in and lighting up the Childan Containment Circle and then continuing inwards to be multiplied in strength by the Velkan Amplification Triangle, the ethereal force seemed to swirl upwards in complex patterns before vanishing into Raising Heart.
"Firing Divine Buster – AM Mode In Five Seconds."
AM Mode? Yuuno asked of himself.
Red and white energy swirled together at the peak of Raising Heart in an almost reverse whirlpool with the mixed vertex aimed directly at the crystal which contained the Jewel Seed and two children.
Four circles with triangles in them spun around the edge of the array and passed over the corners easily and with each pass over more magic flared inwards. Deep gashes appeared in the roof as concrete was ripped up in chunks and throws past the spiraling attack to strike the barrier surrounding the roof.
"Three…Two…One…Firing!"
With the thunderous scream inherent to all spells which rip the air asunder two differing colored arcs of magic rocketed outward yet all the while moving in the rough direction of the seed before curving inwards at the halfway point.
Parabolic arcs on the horizontal axis.
Nanoha gaped as she glanced down to her sneakers rammed an inch down and backwards into the concrete roof before glancing up and fixing her gaze on the crystal. There's no way I'm missing this!
It was with a curious lack of noise that both blasts struck simultaneously. Red and white struck the exact same point.
The lack of noise didn't last for long.
A horrific crack boomed outward and was quickly followed by a deep red shockwave which tore free of the crystal and pulsed in every direction. Every window caught within the blast didn't just shatter. They were vaporized! Yet curiously besides that nothing else happened.
Nanoha watched calmly as the shockwave descended upon her and Yuuno like the fist of an angry god.
"Nanoha…" Yuuno warned.
"Stay still, Yuuno" Nanoha whispered and scratched his head to comfort him. The shockwave swept over them and besides ruffling the wings of the staff it did no harm to them. Glancing side to side, Nanoha gaped. Two deep trenches had been gouged into the roof with a large streak of gravel extending from below the head of Raising Heart to the edge of the roof.
"Amazing…such intense magical power it tore into the roof whilst just charging" Yuuno breathed in shock.
With a crunch and the pop of air rushing back areas once occupied by massive tree roots, the leviathan tree vanished and the two children contained within slowly floated to earth with the Jewel Seed still hovering in mid air.
"Jewel Seed: Seal" Nanoha commanded and instead of the flurry of red and white ribbons only two shot out to wrap around the blue jewel. One red and one white. Tugging the reluctant Seed back to where she stood and sucking it into the staff, Nanoha sighed with relief.
"Brace Lock: Disengaged. Goodbye" came the voice. The gauntlets flowed once more to encase Nanoha's forearm before the outfit vanished into tiny particles which floated against her flesh before being absorbed in much like how the Jewel Seed was absorbed into Raising Heart – albeit without the odd rippling.
Nanoha sighed and stepped backwards to rest against the rail to steady her trembling legs.
This is my first mistake as a mage. I didn't pay enough attention. If I had…I could have stopped this before it happened came the depressing thought.
"Nanoha…it's not your fault. You were tired because you were doing your best to help me" Yuuno commented as he leapt up onto Nanoha's shoulder to nestle in the crook of her neck. "I'm the one to blame for foisting this upon you. So please don't blame yourself."
Yuuno's words made sense to Nanoha. An odd kind of sense but sense none-the-less. "I guess, Yuuno. But I have to pay better attention in the future. I don't want this to happen again" Nanoha stated and closed her eyes.
I will not let this happen again. This I vow.