Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Fan Fiction ❯ Movements ❯ 07 - All for the King ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

I have finally found peace.

There is no military in this little town. What military that might come, they would not recognize me. I must not be found, not with my research and the horrors that came with it. But they will come, one day, to take me and my terrible knowledge back and put it to use again. I must destroy it, but such a discovery is too much to destroy. I shall lay down my warnings here in plain form, for those who might one day learn from my mistake and never commit such atrocities again.

I was the Crystal Alchemist, the head researcher in charge of creating the legendary Philosopher's Stone for the military. The Philosopher's Stone will allow us, alchemists to bypass the laws of equivalent exchange, to make miracles. I succeeded but at the cost of hundreds of lives, untold horrors and my very conscience. It is not the usual iron ore, mercury or sulphur. It uses souls, lives to fuel its miracles. Hundreds, thousands havedied senselessly in its creation. This creation of uncountable deaths is powerful, too powerful. With it, the military had become a monster of war and destruction.

I must run; I had ran, taking with me everything I know about the Philosopher's Stone anddestroying what I cannot take. The military's appetite for war is insatiable. If I stay, they will force me to create one more, to use it for its monstrosity.

Never again. Never again must it be created. Never again must it be used.

From the journals of the late Dr. Tim Marcoh, date unknown

The night sky took a tint of blood red from his magical barrier around the area. Save for the squeaking of marker meeting paper, there was no sound to be heard within the lifeless area contained within the barrier. There had been no sound since that noisy chaotic battle that had ended with that loud prolonged scream. That did not worry Gabriel much. That meant that Professor Dante had won and would be in the process of creating the Philosopher's Stone.

His orders were to stay outside the warehouse and watch for intruders. Do not come in. I will come out. Don't worry, numbers are good. Those were the words she had specifically said before the Professor entered the warehouse.

So Gabriel stayed out of sight, watching as the many troopers, hundreds perhaps, entered the previously deserted building in two waves. None of them had come out yet.

That was not his concern. As long as the Philosopher's Stone got created, Mother will be saved. Those troopers probably had entire inventories of those weapons; the one they were holding on to would not be missed.

So on the rooftop some distance away where he could keep an eye on things, he waited and waited, allowing his mind to wander aimlessly, gravitating towards his worries.

Mother knew. She had returned home without his knowledge. She had found out about that... Fate. She had found out about his nocturnal activities and obviously she had disapproved.

It was for her! To save her! Did she think he liked to physically hit little girls who are obviously better trained than him? Did she think he enjoyed risking death and capture all the time, fighting for those darn trinkets?

Gabriel drew another small magical circle at the corner of the Six of Spades. He had already completed inscribing the alchemic circles on five decks of cards. A couple of decks more and he would be done. It was better than mopping over Mother.

After all, Mother should still be back at home with Fate looking after her. He had locked the door behind him, sealing the door with a ward. They should not be able to escape and stop him. Those coughs he heard from behind the door... each one of them a stab of regret at his conscience, every single one of them, a step closer to her de... More cards. Need to take the mind off the negative. The cards would be cool when he is done. White Devil was not in sight; with luck, she would not come at all. The Philosopher's Stone would be created soon. Everything will be okay soon.

After all, at this point of time, when things are so close to completion.

What can possibly go wrong?

---------------------------------------------

“Something is wrong,” Chrono hammered at the control panels before him, causing Amy to jump in fright, “No one is picking up. Not even that damn Frank Archer.” Fate had not arrived yet when Yuuno and his group teleported into the headquarters with the grave news. The atmosphere of the headquarters had barely had time to celebrate Fate's safety when everything became grim again. “What if it is too late?” the officer paced around the room, mumbling to himself, debating, “What if... damn... if only I had insisted... Amy! Has Mother replied?” he shouted.

“No, Admiral Lindy cannot be detected!” the petite female officer answered, frantically keying the controls, “Something seems to be interfering with our communication link! I am doing the best I can to break through the interference.”

“Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn! Damn!”

Yuuno and Nanoha had never seen Chrono so agitated before. Chrono was always cool, always in control. He was not one given to cursing and swearing aloud to no one, working himself up so much. In a way, it, Yuuno supposed, was to be expected. It was one thing to say tell others to keep cool and clear-headed. It was quite another thing to do so yourself. The one in trouble was not just anyone anymore; it was his mother, his only other direct family member left in the world.

“I'm leaving for that damn warehouse,” he announced angrily, materializing Durandal in his hands and stomping out of the room, only to be stopped by Nanoha who stood resolutely in his way.

“Step aside,” Chrono ordered, “You are supposed to be at the library with Yuuno.”

“I cannot do it.”

“Step aside,” he ordered again, “This is insubordination.”

“You need to stay here. To provide leadership,” she countered, “You told me that I am too emotional to fight and be in the front line. What about you now?”

Chrono stared at her dumbfounded for a while as a look of pained realization dawned to him. He returned to the commander's seat and slumped into it, picking up the yellowing book which Yuuno had left on his desk and flipping through it. Then he closed his eyes to gather his nerves once again.

“Yuuno,” he asked, “Tell me,” he looked pleadingly to the librarian, “Please tell me there is a chance that this book is an elaborated hoax between you and Nanoha.”

“Ooooo- ook,” the orangutan replied for Yuuno. He had insisted on coming along with them. It was too serious for just the two of them. The ape's meaning was clear to all. This is not a hoax. Trust me.

“So,” Chrono was too worried to be bothered that he was talking to an orangutan, “According to this journal by this damn Doctor Tim Marcoh, the Philosopher's Stone which our thief is after is made of souls, lives. If that is true, there is a high chance that all our troopers were lured into the warehouse specifically for this ritual. Even more so now that apparently, we have lost all contact with anyone involved in the mission, including Admiral Lindy Harlaown. This could mean that...” his voice trailed off in fear of the implications. Everyone gone, probably dead or whatever you call being changed into a stone of infinite possibilities.

“Telepathic communication link established with Admiral Lindy!” Amy's voice rang out as a blinking green spot appeared on their screen. Chrono only had just enough time to shout, “Mother!” before the green spot disappeared again along with the rest of the power, diving the room into darkness.

“There is a strong barrier around the area that blocks magical penetration. I can penetrate the barrier if I use all the power of your system,” Amy explained as she continued tapping into her keyboard and the power began to filter back into the system, “However, I can only hold the connection for a few seconds each time I do so before the system overheats and gets cut off automatically. It should be enough for us to determine that Admiral Lindy is alive for now. It seems that everyone else is gone...”

Chrono took a deep breath and stared at the screen silently. Then he started to give the orders as steady as he could control himself.

“Amy, please continue to keep tabs on the status of Admiral Lindy,” he turned to Nanoha, “You have broken through that barrier before; Please do so again. Please get some new cartridges from Arf now.” Nanoha nodded determinedly in reply before receiving and pocketing her new ammo from the familiar.

“Yuuno. Please support Nanoha,” he said to Yuuno's nod before facing the orangutan, “Errr... The mon...” he quickly stopped his tongue when he saw the ape's face twist in annoyance and took a quick glance to Yuuno. The chief librarian was mouthing the proper name frantically.

“The o-ra-n-u-ta-n... can follow as long as he does not interfere with the mission,” the officer saw the ape grinned in satisfaction and mentally sighed in relief before continuing, “As long as circumstances allow, we will be keeping constant contact with all of you. I am counting on everyone. Please rescue Admiral Lindy.”

There was a unison of “Yes, sir!” before Yuuno casted the teleportation spell for the closest available position to the barrier. Before the green glow of the circle engulfed them, they could just barely see Fate making her long awaited entrance into the headquarters, oblivious to the news that awaited her.

---------------------------------------------

“Mother!”

Admiral Lindy stirred from her sleep. She was sure that she just heard Chrono called for her through the telepathic communication link.

No, wait. Fate was missing. She was in the middle of a mission. They were fighting an extremely strong old woman and she was knocked out in between.

She opened her eyes, only to be temporarily blinded by the bright electrical lighting of the warehouse.

“Oh, you have awakened. I was expecting it to take much longer. I wasn't quite fully prepared yet,” A soft but firm voice that came with old age and experience.

The white spots of her vision were starting to clear, showing her the area before her. There was no one but the old, virile woman approaching her in a slow, deliberate manner. She smiled lightly, almost like a grandmother as she came closer. The stench of lilies became stronger, more choking.

“I'm just doing some cleaning up for now, the second part is still in the preparation,” the old woman explained warmly, “Oh, and by the way, I am Professor Dante of Merdiana Magical Academy. Take care to remember that. You will need to if you want to live in this body.”

The ground. There was nothing. All the ground symbols, all the tanks of glowing red liquid were gone. The pile of devices all swept forlornly aside in a discarded pile. All her men, even that slimy Frank Archer was gone. Fate was never here.

“Where are my men?” Lindy asked, still groggy from her unwelcomed respite from consciousness. She tried to move, only to realize that she could not do so. She had been tied tightly to the chair she was seated on. There was also a dull pain from her right hand. Looking down, she could see the yellow triangular chip in her hands. Subconsciously, she had been gripping Bardiche so tightly that the edges had cut into her palm. Now that she was back, she tightened the grip further.

“They have made the greatest sacrifice,” the self-proclaimed professor drew closer to caress Lindy's face, her other hand reaching into her robe and taking out a small stone the size of pebble, jagged like an uncut diamond. It glittered blood red under the light as Dante held it in the air.

“The Philosopher's Stone, the greatest alchemic artifact known in all dimensions, the ability to bypass the laws of alchemy and do miracles,” she said in satisfied awe, “Your soldiers have been instrumental in its creation. Their sacrifice will not be in vain. If only there had been more... such a small stone would only be good for one use. But that would be enough. For my use.”

“You killed them. You killed them all,” Lindy stated, struggling with the binds.

“Such intellect. Such beautiful, beautiful skin,” Dante waxed without denial, “They will serve me well.”

“Everything was a ploy. All those thefts, the kidnapping, they were only to lure us in here.”

“Kidnapping? I know not kidnapping,” the old woman continued to feel Lindy up greedily in the victim's inability to resist the roving hands, “But yes, that was the plan. Partly also to lure someone of a high position fit for me into the region. We would need to do something about your outfit. It certainly is not my style.” Lindy felt a light sense of relief from the woman's ignorance of Fate's disappearance. At least, Fate was still out there somewhere and not with this horrible woman. All she had to do was to escape now.

Dante clapped her hands lightly and placed them on Lindy's navy blue uniform. Instantly, dark red color spread like dye across the rest of her uniform, removing any traces of blue. The material at her sleeves shortened and puffed up while her working dress extended to her ankles, acquiring bulk and waves at the same time. Before she knew it, Lindy was in a regal Victorian gown, complete with lace gloves and corset.

“Beautiful!” the old woman admired her work, “Red suits you so beautifully!”

Startled by the sudden transformation of her attire, a creeping sense of dread spread and rooted as the old woman's obsessed over her appearance. “...Why did you leave me alive?” Lindy asked in growing suspicion and horror.

“Because you are so beautiful,” Dante cooed as a white, deathly lily appeared in her hand and she carefully pinned it into Lindy's aqua-colored locks like an artist adding the finishing touches to his creation, “I love your body so much, I want it.” She said it quite like the smacking of lips in anticipation of a sumptuous meal.

“It is not much fun being immortal when one is aging, when one's body is breaking down,” she added as she turned away reluctantly from admiring her handiwork. With a clap of her hands, she touched her own dark robe. Cloth changed color and extended to form a matching red gown that ended just above the floor.

“This will take quite a while to complete,” she stated, “So please be patient. Don't try to do anything to that beautiful body of yours.”

The old woman brought her hands together in a clap again and then sweeping towards the center of the empty hall, brought her cane slamming into the ground. Magical currents ran from the cane and spread swiftly like wild fire across the floor, transforming the ground where they touched. Lindy watched in stunned amazement as the ground split to form lines that continued to trace a figure of eight on the floor. Lines after lines formed the shapes, the incompressible words that lined the edges, the third circle that linked both larger circles together in a loop. A star with six hands and the curves that weaved in and out, linking all three circles completed the array of magical circles.

Dante then returned before Lindy, kneeling downing painfully to look directly into her eyes. “What beautiful eyes you have,” she mused perversely, “I will never get tired of looking at you.” She grasped Lindy's immobilized hand with a cragged hand of her own, feeling the skin greedily, “I really will miss looking at you once your body is mine. Looking into the mirror just isn't the same thing... Perhaps I should enjoy the beautiful sight before me longer...”

Lindy tried to look away from the chilling gaze only to have the old woman placing her hands on her face and forcefully turning it to face her again. For an aged woman, she had frighteningly large amount of strength in her grip.

“That is not good, don't even bother to resist. Think of it is an honor that your beautiful, lovely, lovely body will be playing host to me. Now, use those large, brilliant, beautiful eyes of yours to look into mine.” She pried open the officer's eyes with her vice-liked fingers, taking great care not to scratch Lindy's face.

Lindy could feel her strength, her resistance sapping away as she was forced to stare into Dante's eyes. It was like looking into a bottomless well of darkness. There was nothing, just emptiness in her soul. Eventually, though she struggled helplessly against it, Lindy's body lost all strength and she fell into a deep trance.

---------------------------------------------

The shimmering wall of translucent red before them stretched across the city, devouring whole buildings, streets, roads. Nanoha had seen it before. Above them, the walls met, forming the dome that would act as a barrier against any unwanted intruders or magical penetration. That is, unless sufficiently large amount of magical powers were used against it.

Yuuno had teleported them onto a building just outside of the barrier's perimeters. After doing so, he and the orangutan were immediately captivated by the barrier.

“Amazing, this is nothing I have ever seen. It seemed not only to block off magic, but in fact time and existence as well,” the boy reached out to touch the static energy wall. His hands past through it easily and he retracted it. “Life such as non-magical humans,” he pointed to the busy street below which people were entering and exiting the barrier like it was nobody's business, “would be able to enter the barrier and continue with their lives, but they would not see what was really in it. The magic within the barrier had created almost a mirror image dimension where the magicians can operate at their will without getting discovered.”

“Ook,” was the orangutan's response of agreement.

“Ah?” was Nanoha's response.

“Never mind,” Yuuno answered, withdrawing himself from the barrier and concentrating on his own magic. The green glowing circle of light appeared below him and seemed to expand, beyond the size of the original barrier and over everything in the perimeter. Looking through the walls of his barrier, the night sky became faintly green.

“I have teleported all the detected lifeforms within the vicinity out of the way. It should be safe to destroy that barrier now,” Yuuno gave Nanoha the signal to fire, “My temporal force field should be able to hold against any excessive damage.”

The magical girl leveled her intelligent device towards the wall of red energy.

“Are you ready, Raising Heart?”

'Yes, my Master. Load cartridge.'

The loading mechanism of the staff pulled back quickly, loading the magical cartridges into the device, pumping the instant boost of magical power into it and ejecting the spent cartridges onto the ground. Four long, slim wings materialized on the staff as the ball of magical energy gathered strength at the tip. Multiple magical circles appeared layer after layer in the direction of aim towards the target.

'Attack is ready, my Master. Please give the command.'

Nanoha adjusted her aim on the barrier, trying to avoid hitting any buildings that might be inside. Sensing the impending throwback of the blast, Yuuno and the orangutan instinctively moved another step back. Satisfied with her aim, Nanoha took a deep breath, tightened her grip and shouted.

“Starlight Breaker Plus!”

Activated, the intelligent device delivered its full load of magical energy upon the barrier wall in a single pink blast. The wall held on. Then in a familiar sight, the strain of the immense, continuous magical impact started to force the collapse of the barrier. The wall broke apart like glass, disappearing into nothingness, revealing the area to them.

Someone was already speeding towards them on his wooden staff, reeling in his effort to avoid the blast. He stopped upon seeing the source of the destruction of his barrier and gave an audible groan of frustration.

“Not again?!” Gabriel groaned at the sight of Nanoha before him, “I was afraid that this would happen.”

And rightfully so, Yuuno added mentally as he readied himself for battle, calling upon his binding magic. At the distance, he could see the young wizard firing off multiple arrows of dark matter towards them. With a swift move, he pulled Nanoha behind him and casted a shield around them. The dark matter splattered harmlessly on the glowing green magical circle before him. The wizard was closing in with his wand ready for another spell.

“Just like old times?” Nanoha said as she raised and aimed her staff again towards their incoming thief. The magical circles started to form before it as magical energy gathered in growing power.

Yuuno smiled faintly. It really was not the time to be reminiscing but then again, “Yeah, Nanoha. Just like old times.”

“Ook,” came a reminder.

“You too,” Yuuno added, “Watch your back.”

Once Yuuno lowered his shields, Nanoha fired the starting shot of their battle.

---------------------------------------------