-Midchilda, Riot Force 6 Base-
Things had not been going well for Nanoha lately.
First came the invasion of Midchilda. Jail Scaglietti had been brazen enough to speak openly about his plans and the growing army of drones under his command. The aftermath was still a mess, the damage substantial, and the repairs ongoing. But this, this went far beyond anything he had attempted before.
Her face showed only solemn focus, but beneath it, her chest simmered with a quiet storm of anxiousness and restrained anger. Her only goal now was to find Shirou — alive.
The attack had occurred in the 15th District in the dead of night, and the footage that should have captured the kidnapping had been, as she clenched her fists, erased.
"Erased?" Nanoha echoed, her voice showing hints of anger with restrained frustration. A few around her looked up, startled by her tone. "How is that even possible? Who has the authority, or the capability, to do something like that?"
She didn't expect a satisfying answer. Her question hung in the air for a while without anyone able to say anything, going completely unanswered. It earned her only shifting eyes and awkward silence from the officers around her.
"Nanoha-chan."
The voice came gently, paired with a hand resting lightly on her shoulder. She turned slightly, eyes meeting Fate's calm but tired expression. Lutecia stood quietly beside her, holding her, holding the blonde's hand, head lowered. She looked paler than usual, the vibrant spark that once danced in her eyes noticeably dulled, as if something inside had been dimmed since the moment of Shirou's disappearance.
It reminded both women of the time they first encountered the young girl. This time she looked with the clear dark circles around her eyes, having not slept since his disappearance.
"Any news on your end?" Nanoha asked.
Fate slowly shook her head. "I tried everything," she said quietly. "But it's as if they vanished without leaving a trace. We've deployed multiple patrols and double-checked every angle from the satellite footage... still, nothing. It's almost as if..." she began, but her voice trailed off.
"...someone's deliberately deleting everything," Hayate finished grimly, her voice reaching both of them.
Even speaking the possibility aloud left a bitter taste in their mouths. If it were true, it meant there was a traitor among them. But accusations without proof, especially within the Bureau, could spark chaos. And the worst part was, she had no idea who it could be. So many of the senior officials had, at one point or another, worked alongside or investigated Jail.
Any of them could be compromised.
"We can't give up," Nanoha said at last, her tone resolute. "There has to be something, some clue we've missed."
Still, her heart refused to settle. It pounded in her chest with a pressure she couldn't quite explain. Of course, Shirou was strong, skillful even when it came to battle. Whatever Jail's intentions were, she doubted he'd be captured without a fight — the dried-up blood left on the scene was proof enough. She knew he was alive, but was unable to provide a reason as to where this certainty came from.
"I'm worried about him too, Nanoha-chan," Fate said softly. "Don't blame yourself for this. I was with him before the incident and should have kept a closer eye on him."
"No, you're not at fault, you couldn't have known." Then she glanced at Lutecia, who had remained mostly silent since they'd arrived.
"I hope you don't mind me bringing her," Fate added. "After everything that's happened... I just didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone in that apartment. It's too risky."
"No, it's a good idea," Nanoha said without hesitation.
Whoever Jail had sent had managed to breach their city's security, snatch someone off the very streets, and disappear without a single camera recording it. That wasn't just power, it was planning. Precision.
"We promise we'll bring him back," Nanoha said, kneeling slightly so she could meet Lutecia's eyes. "That's my promise to you."
The girl said nothing, but her eyes flickered up to meet Nanoha's for a moment, just a moment, and something in them shifted, which made the girl nod silently.
Nanoha stood again, glancing at Fate as an idea began to form in her mind. No solid leads yet, but perhaps... just perhaps, there was still a thread left to follow.
She looked down at Lutecia again, more certain than before.
"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? Back when you still were with Jail... did you ever know where his base of operations might have been located?" Nanoha asked, her voice sounding as gentle as possible so as not to suddenly make the young girl misunderstand something. "Even if it's something small or irrelevant could help us find him much faster."
Lutecia hesitated, her brows furrowing in thought. A few seconds passed before she gave a small, definitive shake of her head.
"Not really," she admitted. "We were always transported inside the base directly by one of the Numbers. We never really got to see the outside since there were no windows, so underground, maybe, but I can't be sure. Even then, at times, it felt like we were jumping to different locations each time. It was like the whole facility constantly moved."
"So it's a mobile base," Fate said quietly beside her, her arms folded as she exchanged a glance with Nanoha. "Would explain how he keeps evading us."
That single conclusion alone made Nanoha's stomach twist unpleasantly. A mobile base meant unpredictability. It meant tracking the doctor would be like chasing smoke in a storm. She frowned deeply, already feeling the pressure building behind her temples.
"Those drones that attacked Midchilda didn't just materialize from nothing," Hayate added suddenly. Her voice reached all three of them, her eyes still fixed on the glowing monitor in front of her. The screen bathed her face in an artificial light that couldn't hide the exhaustion written across it. "I've been running scans through every trace signature we've collected. I managed to isolate a sector in the outer area where the initial readings were picked up. It's not precise, but it gives us something to start with. You should head there and see if anything stands out."
Hayate, like the rest of them, had been buried in this operation since the news of Shirou's disappearance had first reached them. None of them had slept. The entire command center was running on caffeine, worry, and sheer determination.
"I will," Nanoha replied, her voice leaving no room for doubt.
The moment the words left her mouth, she was already heading toward the door, but Fate's footsteps followed closely behind. Nanoha paused, glancing back with a questioning look.
"You don't seriously think I'm going to let you go out there alone, do you?" Fate said, raising an eyebrow.
Nanoha gave a tired, appreciative smile.
"I figured you'd say that. But you know I can handle this. Besides, someone has to stay here with Lutecia… I'm not convinced it's safe to leave her unattended. Jail's Numbers have already proven they can infiltrate Midchilda's very streets without being noticed."
Her eyes flicked toward purple purple-haired girl, her small frame almost blending into the shadows near the wall. There was a hollow stillness in her expression that hadn't lifted since the night everything went wrong.
"You also have Vivio to think about," she added softly.
"That's already been taken care of," Fate replied without missing a beat, her tone calm and ready as if she had predicted this entire exchange.
At the end of the corridor, the soft sound of footsteps echoed against the tiled floor. Both women turned toward the noise. A moment later, Erio and Caro appeared, walking hand-in-hand with a small, blonde girl who lit up the moment she saw them.
"Mama!" Vivio called out cheerfully as she ran up and hugged Fate's leg.
"I asked them to stay with her," Fate explained, ruffling the little one's hair. "They'll be here with Hayate if anything happens. Subaru and Teana are also nearby. They're on alert in case the doctor launches another drone assault on the city."
"Leaving only the two of them to manage that kind of threat..." Nanoha hesitated, her voice trailing off.
She didn't doubt Subaru or Teana's skill, far from it. Both were experienced, well-trained, and sharp in a fight. But facing down an unknown number of drones and potentially another strike on the capital was a tall order. Nanoha simply couldn't shake the unease gnawing at her.
"They're more than capable," Fate said firmly. "You've seen the data from their recent combat drills. They might not be SS-ranked mages like us yet, but their growth is undeniable. And don't forget, Chrono is still here, and Hayate isn't leaving her post either."
Nanoha gave a slow nod.
"You're right. I know… you're right."
Even so, a voice in the back of her mind whispered about worst-case scenarios. She was confident in her own power, and she trusted Fate's judgment completely, but if Shirou was still alive—and she believed he was—then there was every chance she'd find him surrounded, injured, or worse. If she went alone and things turned bad, she might not be able to protect both of them at once.
That was something she couldn't risk.
"Then let's go," she said finally, her voice stronger now, steadied by her resolve.
"Please bring Shirou back..." Lutecia's voice was small, but it carried. She stood near the edge of the room, her violet eyes fixed on the two women as they moved swiftly toward the exit. Fate turned back briefly and offered her a thumbs-up, her confident smile meant to reassure the girl that they would return with the redhead safe and sound.
"Raising Heart Set Up!!"
The moment they stepped beyond the outer gates of the city, the shift in atmosphere was immediate. Due to certain rules, only certain areas permitted mages to activate their barrier jackets. Deployment of devices within civilian-populated sectors was strictly prohibited unless emergency protocols were activated or direct authorization was granted from top-level command.
Fortunately, Hayate's orders had secured that clearance. Neither Nanoha nor Fate hesitated. As their devices activated with a familiar, crystalline hum, they launched into the sky, two bright streaks of light cutting through the clouds, soaring over the ocean with pinpoint precision toward the sector where the drone signatures had last been traced.
"Have we gotten anything from the other departments?" Nanoha asked once they reached cruising altitude, her voice sharp through the wind.
"We've tried tracking Ruben again," Fate answered. "But nothing's come up. It's almost certain that something is jamming or suppressing the signal. Either that, or the device has been moved into an isolated zone outside communicative range, or… someone destroyed it."
That last part made her heart freeze up for a second, a chill crawling up her spine.
"Then we can't waste time," Nanoha said. With a sudden burst of mana, she surged ahead, the trail of her flight spell lighting up the sky. Fate followed close behind, matching her pace.
The flight didn't take long; at the speeds they traveled, they were faster than the most advanced fighter jets found on Earth. Below them, the ocean became a blue blur, the landmass on the horizon drawing closer with each second. Only the brilliant blue sky above and the endless waters beneath remained stable as the world around them melted into motion lines.
Fate, who had been watching her friend closely this entire time, finally broke the silence. "Nanoha… do you… Perhaps have feelings for Shirou?"
"Uh?"
The question kind of came out of nowhere, nearly making Nanoha lose focus and plummet from the sky. Giving an incredulous look at her friend, "Where did that come from?"
Her anxiety momentarily forgotten and instead replaced with confusion, she waited to get an answer, only for Fate to shake her head. "... Never mind, I don't think now is the best time for me to bring this up."
Without adding anything, she burst forth and left Nanoha behind, the latter of which stared back at her friend's retreating figure with several questions filling her mind until one stood out the most. "Fate, are you… "
She immediately shook her head, realizing where her train of thought was heading, and it was not the appropriate time for such things.
It did not take long for the two to reach their destination, eyes remained forward, scanning the horizon where a large expanse of mostly unclaimed land lay.
Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, the anxiety within her heart continued to grow. "I hope he's okay."
"I'm worried too," Fate went on, "but Shirou isn't someone who'd go down easily. He would've thought of something to stay safe until help arrived."
"I know," Nanoha replied after a pause.
She almost said more, almost argued that any moment wasted could be the moment they lost him, but she stopped herself. Fate was right. Shirou had proven himself more times than she could count in such a short amount of time. Despite his sometimes too-humble demeanor, he was resourceful and reliable during a crisis.
Thinking back, she recalled how odd his magic… or rather his magecraft was, the swords themselves were no less than Lost Logias capable of cutting through almost anything — even anti-magic fields with ease. Calling him an unofficial A-rank mage wasn't an exaggeration with those two married blades and his Barrier Jacket.
"I know he should be able to keep himself alive," she admitted, her voice lower now. "What I'm really worried about... is what Jail even wants from him."
She shook her head.
"If Jail really wanted him dead, he would've done so instead of capturing him. He would've sent a message, let the Bureau know. But he didn't. Which means... Shirou's alive. He's keeping him for something."
The forest below began to expand rapidly as they neared the edge of the landmass opposite Midchilda. This was a largely uninhabited region, covered in deep woods, jagged mountain ridges, and rocky terrain. Nanoha knew it well; she and Fate had come out here more than once in the past, sometimes for training, other times just to camp or enjoy some peace away from the city's constant buzz.
This place was marked as safe for TSAB personnel, but civilians were heavily discouraged from entering. It wasn't exactly hostile, but with wild animals, unstable terrain, and no clear mapping of certain areas, it was easy for the unprepared to vanish without a trace.
"This region's too large," Fate muttered. "Covering it entirely with just the two of us could take days."
"It's the best chance we've got!" Nanoha replied, refusing to slow down as she flew just behind her friend, scanning the terrain with sharp eyes.
"Even if the base is somewhere nearby, do you really think Jail wouldn't use advanced concealment spells to hide it? He's stayed hidden this long for a reason."
"Or," Nanoha said darkly, "someone is helping him hide. Someone on the inside."
That silenced both of them. The thought had lingered in the background ever since this began, and Hayate's prior words practically confirmed this. A rat from within the Bureau's own ranks was more than troubling; a single name came to mind, but she had no proof to act on it. While that man did have plenty of opposition against not just her but also Hayate and Riot Force 6, Regius easily became the first suspect.
If that were to be true, then it meant their every move could be observed, countered, erased. No wonder their search had yielded nothing. A few moments passed in silence, broken only by the wind rushing past them and the occasional whisper of tree canopies below.
Then, almost inaudibly, Nanoha spoke again.
"Am I really someone people can rely on?"
The words were faint, almost lost to the wind. Fate's eyes widened slightly.
"Nanoha-chan?" she called out, her voice cutting through the sky.
Her hands clenched tightly at her sides.
"When I first met Shirou, I promised to help him find a way home, to give him a safer life than just wandering alone after arriving from Earth. But ever since he joined the Riot Force 6, his life has been under threat over and over again. Every time I see him close to such dangers, I can't help but feel responsible for placing him in that position. Now he's been taken, and I don't even know where to start looking."
Her voice faltered, and her next words were swallowed by the silence until Fate gently placed her hands on her shoulders. Her eyes were filled with empathy.
"Shirou knew this wouldn't be easy. He understood the danger, and he didn't back away from it." The woman had a hard time even saying anything against that, for she knew it was the truth. The boy had proven to be quite the stubborn one, even if she tried to keep him away from such matters, he would find himself involved one way or another. "I'm more worried about Jail than him, honestly. Imagine how devastated he'd be with all his drones getting destroyed by flying swords. Or if one of his numbers ends up betraying him because Shirou somehow managed to change her mind thanks to his cooking."
That managed to make Nanoha's lips twitch upwards.
"Come now, Fate, I agree he is great at cooking, but that is a bit of an exaggeration." She said with a weak smile, only making the one in front start to chuckle.
"Oh? Don't you remember how he first met the little Lutecia by giving her a small snack? She fell for the bait and has now become practically his little sister~! Even Vivio sees him as that, I wouldn't be surprised if she starts calling me Mama and him Papa."
Ah… this time it was the eyebrows that ended up twitching.
There was… something about that phrase that felt oddly wrong, unable to pinpoint what exactly this emotion came from — she decided to push it away for now. Maybe it was the lack of sleep lately or the stress getting to her.
"Vivio is still a young child; they tend to say anything, and she'll learn in the future."
"What if she also calls you Mama, along with me and Shirou Papa? It would be quite scandalous if people were to hear that fufufufu~! Maybe I should teach her to call you big sister or aunty~"
"..."
Another twitch, was she doing so deliberately? Hard to tell, no… she definitely was. Fate was not so oblivious as to miss such a thing. "I'm not that old to be called aunty yet… there's nothing wrong if she wants to call me Mama as well…"
These words came out of her mouth without Nanoha thinking them through entirely. Only to realize her mistake a few seconds later, upon seeing Fate's stare from before zeroing in on her face. "Poor Yuuno."
"What does Yuuno have to do with anything here!?" She had absolutely no idea what the latter was insinuating in the least. Yuuno and she were close friends, but that was about it. She knew Fate was more than aware of that point but brought it up just to tease her.
Especially with that visible smirk on her face!
"There, feeling better now?"
Ah…
"You were getting too worried, almost making the same kind of mistake you constantly reminded all of the trainees to avoid in such a situation. You know what I'm talking about."
To not let one's emotions take control of them in any kind of scenario. To keep their cool at all costs and not let themselves be led by the nose. Those were some of the few lessons she, as an instructor, constantly tells others… yet here she was nearly doing that very same thing.
"Thanks… Fate," she whispered, feeling slightly better at that moment, and a beautiful smile returned on her face. "But just so we are clear, there is nothing going on between me and Yuuno. So don't bring that up with Shir—" the following words came to a halt, both tensed up immediately, her senses catching a faint disturbance. Fate felt it too, her head snapping toward the distant mountain ranges east.
"Did you feel that?" the blonde asked.
Nanoha gave a firm nod.
"A mana signature, I think? It's faint, but something is going on there."
Neither of them needed to guess who it belonged to. There was only one person who came to mind, and neither questioned how he could be doing something of that scale in the first place. His magecraft still wasn't something they fully understood, given how much it differed compared to their system. They had spoken about it briefly when he first arrived, and from what she had seen during training sessions, there was much more to his power than he let on.
The ability to create swords seemingly without limit, as long as he had the energy, was not rare per se — but his were clearly different. Yet none of his previous constructs had produced this kind of output. Aside from the shield he used, which most mages in Midchilda had initially mistaken for a spell… which would have also applied to them had he not told them the details later. Still, there had been no signs of this kind of raw energy before.
"Please stay safe, Shirou. I'm almost there."
With that, Nanoha pushed herself harder, rocketing forward with Fate close behind. The two streaks of light in the sky blazed like comets, drawing ever closer to the source of the disturbance. It was not far, thankfully enough taking only an hour to reach the area, and when they finally reached visual range, what they saw left both of them frozen in place, staring in disbelief.
Not only was Shirou not there, but instead of finding him, they stumbled upon a floating ship before them.
"A… Lost Logia?" Nanoha whispered, her voice hollow with shock as she found its appearance to be familiar, but could not pinpoint the name. "It's enormous," her mouth slightly ajar as her eyes took in the sheer size of it.
The structure hovered in the sky like a sleeping titan, stretching out for what seemed like a dozen kilometers. It was large enough to blanket a small city, its surface partly shrouded in a thick carpet of trees that had, until now, kept it hidden from visual detection. But now that it had lifted from its initial resting place, the disguise began to fall away, revealing its true form — a ship gleaming with polished gold, catching the sun with a brilliance that was nearly blinding.
Fate stared at it, her breath hitching slightly. Something about this vessel tugged at the back of her memory. She narrowed her eyes, trying to summon the name, the image, the identity buried somewhere in her mind. Then it struck her — like a faint whisper from a history lesson nearly forgotten.
"The Saint's Cradle!" she said softly, more to herself than anyone else, though uncertainty still hung in her tone. It was the only name that matched what she saw before her, and even Nanoha drew in a sharp breath of disbelief.
"Wasn't that... wasn't that the place where monarchs once used to be born in?" Nanoha asked, her voice hushed. "Born inside the ship... ruling from within it... and eventually dying of old age, never once leaving its halls. It was supposed to be a Lost Logia. I thought it was lost forever… Some even suspected it had been destroyed. But wait, I thought that it was impossible to activate it without someone of the Saint King's bloodline controlling it?"
"It might be the reason why this thing hasn't flown off yet. From the looks of it, it stayed here for quite a while. How is it possible that the Bureau never managed to locate it if it was on this planet this entire time?"
"Regardless, now we know who found it first," Fate replied grimly, her eyes narrowing. "No wonder he kept slipping past our scans. With something like that in his possession, even if he cannot properly steer this entire thing by himself, the fact that he managed to partially activate it probably means he can use some of its functions to remain hidden. But whatever the case, it's clear we're a bit too late."
The two of them stared at the front of the colossal vessel. Part of its outer hull in the front had broken away, revealing a gaping wound in the metal. A strange spiral pattern radiated outward from the impact point, glowing faintly as the last traces of rainbow coloured light flickered in and out of view like fading embers — dense amounts of magical energy. Despite the visible damage, the ship remained afloat in the air somehow.
"Let's go!" Nanoha called, already surging forward. If this truly was the base you were searching for, not only would she be able to save him, but also capture Jail and put all of this to an end once and for all.
{Break}
(An hour earlier)
Shirou, for his part, hadn't expected the destruction to ripple this far. He had used that Noble Phantasm before, but never in its original form, weirdly enough. Caladbolg was just as powerful as any other high-ranked noble phantasms when it came down to pure destructive capabilities. The sword of the Irish hero and King of Ulster — a relic that could distort space as an arrow and split the earth — had always been at his disposal for a while. He'd trained with it, fired it like a projectile in practice or on the battlefield several times, but this time was truly the first time he had activated its original power, unleashing its might, not as a throwaway technique, but as a devastating force of nature.
Now, standing at the epicenter of what was once solid terrain and was now a gouged-out scar of rock and ash, he could only marvel at the scale of it.
"So you're still alive."
The voice pulled him from his reverie. He turned, blinking against the brightness of the dust-choked air, to see Zest approaching. The man's hair had returned to its normal shade, and his body bore the marks of battle — burns, bruises, and shallow cuts that streaked his arms and torso. But his posture remained strong, and his eyes sharp. Even though they had been at each other's throats not that long ago, Shirou just hoped his actions and words ended up convincing the man.
"What exactly are you?"
"That's a weird way to say thank you," Shirou replied with a weak smile, his voice still rough from exhaustion. The words had a touch of sarcasm, but no venom. "Don't be afraid of the white spots on my hair, I guarantee you that I'm still human. "
Perhaps trying
"... Hah."
Zest let out a low sigh, shaking his head, though the faint smile that tugged at his lips betrayed a sliver of incredulousness.
"You fight like a crazy person," he said. "Who in their right mind ends up using a weapon capable of destroying a spaceship as big as this and once again nearly dying by either height or from the things hidden below?"
Shirou didn't answer immediately. He looked down at Caladbolg, which had not fully dispersed yet, 'While it is a powerful weapon, it takes a while to charge up with enough energy to cause enough damage. Best to keep using it as an arrow.' A small tremor passed through his fingers one last time before it fully disappeared.
"What kind of weapon was that?" Zest asked, his tone steady. There was caution there, but no hostility; he did not even ask where it went or how he got it.
"It's a Noble Phantasm that hopefully I won't have to use again anytime soon," Shirou replied silently as the last motes of light dispersed within the air around them. "It drained more of my reserves than I was prepared for. Without you holding the others off, I wouldn't have had time to activate it. And even if I had… I don't know if I could've handled the aftermath alone."
He let out a breath, slow and heavy.
"The destruction it caused speaks for itself."
The middle-aged man said nothing at first, merely studying the boy with an unreadable expression. Then, without a word, he stepped closer, took Shirou's arm, and slung it carefully over his own shoulder, offering quiet support as they made their way toward a more secure area.
"We shouldn't stay here longer than necessary, or else they'll find us again," he said in a low voice, his tone more cautious than urgent. Even after such a massive attack, both men knew perfectly well that it was unlikely many had perished in the blast. Shirou had not launched that technique with the intent to kill. His goal had been singular: to save the man beside him and escape the Saint's Cradle.
"Does this mean you've accepted my offer? That you'll be returning to see Lutecia as well? Even though she does not say it straight to my face, I can tell she misses you quite a bit. So does Agito." He said, voice strained as he winced with each step, pain rippling up from his battered legs, but he remained upright, trying to pass it off as something minor. His discomfort was noticed by Zest, who, just like his companion, did not truly have a way to rest.
"Your leg is injured," Zest noted.
"After all, we fell from a ridiculous height. There was no way to escape it unscathed. Plus, it's my fault," Shirou answered with a tired smile. He was grateful for the concern, even if he thought it was wasted on him. "I recover quickly. A few days and I should be good as new."
"Watch out." The man's voice came dry and flat, just a second before Shirou was yanked back with a jolt. A massive piece of metal crashed down exactly where he had been standing moments before, kicking up a blinding cloud of debris and smoke. Shards of steel flew outwards like shrapnel.
"We need to get out of here. Now."
Wasting no time with niceties, Zest hoisted Shirou like a sack of potatoes and bolted toward the treeline. He moved with surprising speed, leaping from rock to root, weaving between crashing debris with the agility of someone who had not been in a fight just hours ago.
As the forest rushed past in a blur of green and gray, Shirou glanced back toward the Saint's Cradle. It still hung in the air, impossibly suspended despite the gaping damage across its hull. His structural analysis only offered fragmented details, limited to interior sections he had scanned before — the mazelike corridors, dozens of unused rooms, the vast drone-storage chambers. But now he was seeing the entire thing in all its terrifying glory.
How could Midchilda have missed something this massive in the first place?
"It has a cloaking mechanism. Even if it is a Lost Logia from ancient times, modern technology still has blind spots. Not everything can be traced or detected."
A Lost Logia? The term alone boggled Shirou's mind. In his world, things like that were akin to mystic codes or Noble Phantasms, artifacts of immense power. But nothing he had ever seen compared to this. It was not a weapon or a tool. It was a floating city.
'They truly are beyond modern mages in certain ways. Even if this has nothing to do with jewelcraft or magecraft as I know it, I can practically see those few magi from Atlas drooling at the sight of this thing, desperate to study every inch.'
Surely, maintaining a structure of this scale would require an enormous reservoir of power. He could only guess what enabled it to remain aloft. Whatever the source was, it had clearly survived the attack. The ship still floated.
His thoughts faded as the view of the cradle became hazier, swallowed gradually by trees and distance while Zest continued bounding through the forest. Even after an hour of travel, the structure remained visible from their position. A construct like that could be spotted from dozens of miles away.
"We should stop here for now and recuperate," Shirou suggested, sniffing the air instinctively. The metallic scent of blood had grown stronger. Zest did not answer immediately, weighing the suggestion in silence for a few seconds. Then he gave a nod.
"All right. We can rest here for a bit. At the very least, we'll stay low and avoid drawing attention from others."
"Got it."
.
.
.
A few minutes later, the two of them sat in silence beneath the wide canopy of a tree. Neither spoke, nor did they bother trying to start a fire, wary of being discovered. Around them, the forest breathed softly, leaves rustling in the wind, birds chirping somewhere above, distant and unaware of the wreckage lying in the distance.
Shirou stared at the shattered remains of the Saint's Cradle. From where they were sitting, the entire structure was clearly visible, a broken colossus in the daylight. So far, there were no signs of drones or any of the Numbers sweeping the area. Whether that was good fortune or temporary luck, he couldn't say for certain. He couldn't even tell if his last attack had actually killed Jail Scaglietti or not.
Given how loyal the Numbers were to their creator, even if he had fired Caladbolg instead of using the original weapon as intended. 'They were willing to die for him, even if I doubt it would have been that easy to kill him. Tch, I can't afford another situation like last time and have myself cornered.'
Even if each of the Numbers, by themselves, were not at a level that would put his life in danger, collectively they were a different story. Working in unison like that would eventually tire out anyone, and they even used tactics after studying his magecraft. 'At least I know which one is the most dangerous. I should immediately go for Quattro next time. She is clearly the brains behind the tactics used, and without her, they would have a harder time coming up with a plan, I guess. But what was her ability? I don't remember her using them.'
"He's most likely alive."
Zest's voice broke the silence, as if he'd heard Shirou's thoughts spoken aloud. He sat in the shade nearby, calmly tending to several wounds along his arms and side. Shirou caught sight of the glint beneath his skin — pieces of metal half-hidden beneath the torn flesh. It made him wonder just how human the man really was.
"Jail is a cunning man," Zest went on, wrapping a cloth tightly around a gash on his shoulder. "He plans for everything, even the possibility of dying at the hands of his enemies. I don't know the exact details, but I do know he has contingencies, methods to ensure his survival, even after death. So even if you did manage to kill him back there, which I doubt, I wouldn't bet on him being gone forever."
He expected as much; those words only served to make him sigh on the spot.
"Is there anything specific that gives you that idea? Unless this world has a way to reincarnate people or pull them back from the dead... or make copies of themselves."
"The last one," Zest replied without hesitation. "He's a genius in that field. Back when he worked with the Time Space Administration Bureau, he was heavily involved in cloning research. After he deserted them, he likely perfected it. The Numbers are proof of that. Every one of them is his creation. They're not just machines, they're artificial beings made with real flesh and blood. Human in all the ways that count but also with enough enhancements to see them as cyborgs…"
"I see." Shirou exhaled slowly. It was a troubling thought. Killing had never been his first choice, not even when facing a monster like Jail. But the possibility had crossed his mind more than once. He was no stranger to the idea of killing when there was no other way. If it came to that, he could have done it. Yet if the doctor had prepared for even that outcome, he'd have to approach the situation differently from now on.
"You still wasted your time trying to save me, Emiya Shirou."
The words cut through the silence, making the redhead momentarily speechless. Shirou blinked, caught off guard. He opened his mouth, ready to protest, but Zest spoke again before he could say a word in return.
"I don't have much longer to live."
"What?"
At that moment, Shirou wondered if he had heard the man correctly, scanning his body immediately for any life-threatening wounds he must have missed. Only for the former to shake his head after realising what he was doing.
"Like I said... even if I live through today, even if I find peace somehow, it won't be for long. My time in this world is limited. I can't say how long exactly, but it's less than you might think. A year or two at most. Maybe less."
"Did he do something to you? Jail, I mean. Maybe if we go back and let Hayate and the others look at you, they can find a way to fix it. A cure or something—"
"I am a clone," Zest said flatly.
Shirou's eyes widened. Once again, he found himself speechless, the words caught somewhere between surprise and confusion. He simply stared at the man before him, who stood there with the calm of someone who had long since accepted the weight of his own fate.
"I came to learn of this matter rather recently," Zest said at last, his voice level. "The original Zest was killed by the Numbers. I was created in his place, a replacement. But I turned out to be an imperfect copy. I still carry his memories, his thoughts, and pieces of what he once believed, but the body I was given is flawed. Every day, I can feel it weakening. It's slowly falling apart."
He paused for a brief moment, seeing if he had already accepted his fate a while ago.
"I suspect they were attempting something similar with you," he continued. "Only this time, using the data from my own failure in order to make a perfect clone, most likely. One that would carry your abilities and combat instincts... but none of your will. One that would serve Jail Scaglietti without question. He has grown increasingly curious about your powers, from the first moment he fought against us till now, I am sure that the display earlier will only serve to make him desire that power further. That weapon, was it a real one or another one of your creations?"
"It's not the real one, just a copy." The truth came out of his mouth without much delay, trying at no point to think up a lie or hide such information, for there was no reason to do so. "My magecraft is not something that allows me to store the actual weapons in a small pocket dimension exactly, everything you have seen so far was merely fake creations."
"Does it matter whether they were fake or not?" The brown haired man countered. "At the end of the day, those same weapons were able to cut through anti-magic fields, durable enough to contend against other devices, conjure up shields, and create a weapon capable of destruction to such a degree — that only makes things worse for you. For it means these weapons can be created as many times as you want, right? There is a possibility he would think of making an army of clones with your abilities."
"..."
He supposed the other party was right, but the latter part seemed unrealistic. He did not know how advanced the cloning technology was in this world, but the likelihood of also being able to copy his soul and his Tracing was a feat no less than True Magic or even a Miracle itself.
Something that he doubted the doctor could accomplish.
Still, a shudder passed down Shirou's spine. The more he learned about that man, the less he wanted to know. Every revelation about this man served to further make his distaste for him grow, and it repulsed him. His tactics, his arrogance, his utter disregard for life, every part of him echoed something familiar. It reminded him of a certain priest, one who spoke of salvation while stepping over corpses. But where the priest had been hollow, an empty smile behind dead eyes, Jail's madness was something alive and burning.
And Shirou would rather never face either of them again.
"If you knew the original Zest was killed by the Numbers," he asked slowly, "then why…"
"Why continue to help him in the first place?" he finished the question for him, his voice void of regret or hesitation. "That thought has crossed my mind more than once. Especially now that Lutecia is no longer here by my side. But the answer was always the same: Revenge."
Zest tightened the bandage on his arm, glancing at Shirou with quiet clarity.
"I may have been created to replace him, but his hatred remained. Even if I stand beside the one who had a hand in killing me, I could never forgive the TSAB. They are no better than the doctor. Both sides use those beneath them as tools, discarding them when they're no longer useful. And both would have used Lutecia if it served their ambitions."
"That doesn't really answer my question," Shirou said, not pressing to change Zest's mind, but genuinely wanting to understand.
"Because part of me believed that staying near Jail gave me a better chance to handle him afterwards," Zest admitted. "And at the same time, it allowed me to strike at those I hated. Like hitting two birds with a single stone. Between monsters, I chose the one who gave me a sliver of control. Just a sliver. Jail may be evil, but against him, I had a chance to act. With the TSAB... I would have been killed long before I got close."
"Do you still believe that? Even now?"
Zest didn't answer immediately. He looked directly at Shirou, his gaze stern and unreadable, then sighed.
"I do not believe you are anything like those I sought vengeance against. I know you are not. And I do not believe your friends are either, not like the ones who hold power in Midchilda. But that power will reach out eventually. Sooner or later, those who stand at the top will find a way to move around all of you and get to Lutecia. They will not hesitate. It's only a matter of time."
His eyes narrowed slightly, a quiet intensity behind his words.
"Other than the one you trust most, Commander Hayate, tell me honestly. Do you truly believe the people around you will get you back home? That they won't try to use you for their own ends? Just like Jail is using me?"
Again, he had no answer to that. He genuinely trusted the girls, but whether or not they held the ability to send him back was another story entirely. At this point, he had mostly accepted his presence in this world, and the only one who could fix things was either the elusive Wizard Marshal, who honestly wouldn't even care about a third-rate Magus like him, and then his precious disciple.
She was stubborn enough to shatter a diamond with her head if the situation called for it, so the chances of her giving up bringing him back were less than zero.
"I just don't see myself working alongside Jail at any point. Even if the Time Space Administration Bureau has people like him wanting to use me, Hayate is also there, along with Nanoha and Fate. They won't turn a blind eye to such a thing, and as long as they are trying to help me go back… even if that leads to nowhere — I'm satisfied." He said, knowing that perhaps the answer was not what the man wanted to hear, but it was the truth. "Lutecia is also happy there, isn't that more than enough for you?"
"... I guess so."
Both of them went silent afterwards, having said their parts; what remained now was to recuperate their energy.
That was until Shirou's ears twitched, and a faint sound of leaves rustling and a faint crunch reached his ears. "—!"
Without wasting a moment, he traced several black keys before firing them in the same direction where the sound came from, his action immediately making Zest get back up on his feet but without his spear, opting to take a defensive stance.
"Hya!"
That… did not sound like a drone or a wild animal as he expected. Both exchanged stares, and Zest went deeper within to see what… who was the one they stumbled across. A few seconds later, the redhead heard sounds of struggling and another cry of pain.
"H-Hey, don't pull the hair, you brute! Have you got no decency!?" A feminine voice, one that he immediately recognised and was stunned to see come out of the foliage, being pulled by her hair. Covered in burns, cuts, and bruises all over her body, the blue uniform and tatters showing a large portion of her skin, along with the broken glasses barely hanging onto her face.
"Quattro?" He called her out with disbelief, with Zest searching her body for anything unusual. "How… what are you doing here?" Having nearly blurted out how she survived, he managed to change his question at the very last moment.
Even though the girl did not participate in the battle, she did not seem the kind who would be specialised in combat, given how easily he had taken her as a hostage before. Her being more of a tactician and leader commanding the other girls on the battlefield from what he saw, no way she would go after them all by herself unless…
"Shit, just my luck, stumbling upon you two." She muttered under her breath, glaring at him and Zest, who kept holding her by the hair.
"You really expect us to believe that you came here all by yourself by pure accident?" Shirou said, not trusting the woman in the least after what happened last time, fully prepared to deal with other Numbers or drones emerging out of the blue and ambushing them. This thought was also shared by Zest, who kept observing their surroundings for any unusual signs.
"I don't see anyone, but we should not take the risk and stay here any longer," Zest said, to which Shirou agreed with his words. "Keep an eye on her, I will survey the surroundings and make sure there are no ambushes put in place."
Without much grace, the man practically threw Quattro towards him with a simple toss. In his hands, the girl was practically weightless as she soared in the air for a bit before landing right in front of him with her face crashing against the dirt. "Ouch!" The girl exclaimed, holding onto her nose and looking back at the retreating figure in the distance with resentment. "Acting all nice and quiet back when we were still on the same side, but now turning into a brute the moment you betrayed us… Urgh, typical. I knew we should not have kept him around after he failed his last mission."
For someone who just got captured again, she sure did have a mouth and was not afraid to talk out loud.
"You have a talent for ending up as a hostage each time we meet." He said dryly while kneeling next to her. "Bad luck might be your real power after all. I can at least empathise with you on that end."
"Bite me."
"Get a shower first."
"Is that how you talk to a lady?"
"Then behave like one first." Not exactly in the mood to keep her entertained with any back-and-forth arguments, he wasted no time discarding her cape. A quick check immediately revealed the complex inner workings of this material that looked so simple from the outside, most likely a device. Recalling the moment before he got attacked on the ship, one of the numbers managed to figure out something was wrong because Quattro turned her hand invisible at a distance.
"Hey! Careful with that, it's a gift from the doctor after all."
Just to make sure she had not used her ability to hide something on her body, he pressed his hand against her head before using structural analysis. Making sure she did not have anything hidden on her or any trackers. Yet as he continued to focus, his attention was immediately drawn to a particular area of her body.
Quattro's womb, more specifically.
The presence of another life within.
His face went into pure shock, slowly turning his gaze towards Quattro, who was in the middle of cursing Zest and talking about how she accidentally ended up wandering in this area before an explosion. Yet he paid no attention to that, instead silently whispering.
"You're pregnant?"
"... ance to escape and ru—!?" The girl stopped talking as soon as he said that, her head whipping around to look him right in the eyes while he tried to understand what was going on here. The embryo itself was at best slightly smaller than a fist, with even some sort of electrical device present within. But rather than disbelief, he saw a brief moment of surprise within the girl's eyes before she let out a small smirk.
"I underestimated that spell of yours, so not only can it scan inanimate objects and plan out your surroundings like a radar… It can also analyze a body like mine." She said casually while the boy, on the other hand, started to recall any moments where he had fought the girl. Guilt rose within him upon realizing that back on the ship, he had nearly killed her along with the others.
"Why… why are you fighting if you're pregnant?" He asked, trying to make sense of the situation. Feeling completely unsure of what to do with her. "You didn't say anything to me back then as well!"
"What, so you would have been more gentle with me when taken as a hostage?" She commented while tilting her head a bit. "I didn't mind, you were rough, but I think I liked it."
Was she intentionally trying to mess with him? Definitely, her very presence here was suspicious, and the likelihood of it being by pure chance alone was pretty low. Still, he unconsciously found himself helping her back up without using much force, but still making sure she would not escape. Thousands of thoughts rumbled in his mind, now wishing to go back to Midchilda as soon as possible and have someone more capable handle this matter.
"Oh my, look how gentle you have become with me. Were you finding out that I bear a life within me, all that it required to no longer be seen as an enemy? Honestly, I should have said something back then; things wouldn't have escalated this quickly, and the Saint's Cradle would have at least not been destroyed. Since you found out, does that mean you will set me free? We wouldn't want anything bad to happen to the life inside my womb after all." She spoke with a sly tone, his eyes twitching and frustration growing upon realising that the girl was intentionally trying to get a reaction out of him.
He kept his silence, deciding that trying to argue with her would only lead to a losing battle. Thankfully, it seemed that she realised his approach and decided to no longer bother him anymore, humming with a slight smile on her face. Neither said a word to each other for a few minutes until Zest returned.
"Coast is clear, it doesn't seem like she was being followed by any drones or other Numbers. We should use this opportunity to continue moving, since she is already here, you can give her to the TSAB, and they can interrogate her for more information." He said while approaching the girl, intending to grab her — only for Shirou to get in front and sweep his arms around Quattro before lifting her up in one swift motion.
"Ah!"
The Number let out a startled yelp of surprise, before chuckling with a knowing look crossing her face, which he decided to ignore. Zest, on the other hand, merely raised an eyebrow but did not dwell on the matter for long: "Let's go."
While all three made their way deeper within the forest, Quattro did not fail to use the opportunity to further try to get on his nerves. Her fingers poking his face as she whispered near his ear, "Are you sure you would want to hand me over? Who knows what they will do with my body? I am, after all, the creation of the doctors; surely there must be plenty of scientists over there dying to dissect every part of me. They might be in for a surprise upon finding it inside."
"... Shut up."
His face twitched as she blew onto his ears playfully, unable to stop part of his face from growing red at the teasing.
"We got company."
Zest warned, both of them stopping in their tracks. But instead of facing another swarm of drones or the numbers coming after them once again, what caught his attention were the two streaks of light in the air heading straight towards them. Moving at such a high speed that he barely had time to even recognise who it was until the person was already right in front of him.
"Shirou!"
He smiled at the person who shouted his name from the sky, wanting to wave at her but realising his hands were a bit occupied at the moment. "Sorry to have made you worried about me, Nanoha."
The figure accompanied by none other than Fate, both heading towards him, making a straight beeline as if she was about to crash into him, only to stop mid-air with her eyes wide open and staring back at Quattro in his embrace. The latter looked a bit tense at the sight of the two, but still kept a calm face without her previous smirk anywhere to be seen.
Nanoha did not even seem to have noticed Zest, same went for Fate, who looked back and forth between him and the Number.
"Ah… this is… um, this is Quattro… one of the Numbers. We just happened to find her…?" Even he realised that his explanation sounded severely lacking at that moment, but that was truly what happened, and he did not know what else to say, his mind still having not fully recovered from the previous revelation.
Instead, he heard Fate whispering something to Nanoha's ears.
"He really baited and captured another one, didn't he…"
Her question got a slow nod from the brunette. Quattro seemed to have heard it, and he immediately recognized the look that flashed across her eyes; this cunning woman was planning something.
Unfortunately, what he did not expect was for her to lean in closer and whisper in his ear. "Well, aren't you popular?" Not missing the opportunity to plant a small kiss on his face, which surprised everyone, including Zest.
"..."
"..."
An awkward silence fell upon them, the boy found himself glaring at Quattro, who just shrugged without a care in the world for her actions. All the while feeling two burning gazes upon him, yet as he looked at the two women above.
All he found was a slight frown on Nanoha and Fate, who had a smile that looked oddly off.
What was going on here?
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