"Do you think you could teach me to do that, too?" Naruko asked, looking at both Nanoha and Fate, who were looking somewhat conflicted.
"It's… okay, I guess," Nanoha said, after a few moments' hesitation. "If you know how to fly, I'm surprised you can't make even a basic bullet," she admitted.
"I've never tried," Naruko admitted, scratching the back of her neck and laughing a little.
"Maybe you can do it," Fate said, "…how do, exactly, you fly?"
"I don't know," Naruko admitted, shrugging. "I just thought I needed some way to move and then I flew… I wonder if that…" Naruko then nodded to herself and closed her eyes, concentrating. "Pierce Through, Bloody Dagger!" she muttered, opening her eyes and looking fully serious.
Both Nanoha and Fate yelped when a ring of glowing, blood red spikes appeared directly in front of Naruko. They numbered sixteen, and they were in such shape that they'd also serve as a shield in a pinch.
"Uwaaa… Is this how it's done?" Naruko asked, before she looked at a dummy that was actually just there as a decoration, near one of the dojo's walls. "Let's see if I can hit it…"
She did. A lot. Sixteen projectiles launched at the dummy, each flying ridiculously quickly and making extremely sharp turns, and tore it appart, each of them exploding as they struck, causing it, and the wall behind it, to be reduced to unrecognizability. Naruko laughed and showed her excitement at her first bit of combat magic ever performed.
"That was so fun!" she said. "I wanna do it again… But I don't want to have to replace everything…"
***
While Naruko was debating the merits of destroying everything in sight to satisfy her newfound bloodlust, or so it appeared anyway, Nanoha and Fate were both frozen in place.
Why, one may ask?
Well, they were still reeling from the sheer wrong that was seeing a novice cast not one, not two, not even four but sixteen bullets, of a highly complex spell, and made it look easy. If that wasn't enough, the daggers had flown very, very fast, and had made turns that Nanoha was sure were not actually possible to make. The daggers had seemed to just change direction with no regard for inertia or Newton's laws.
The fact that the spell had initially shot the daggers all over the place, causing them to arc towards their target instead of just flying in a straight line, was a little strange, but nothing out of the ordinary. After all, having the bullets close off the avenues of escape by coming in from every direction was basic, but it was usually not feasible with a spell bullet this quick…
"That was amazing, Naruko-chan," Nanoha said, smiling widely. "You must be very powerful!"
"I am?" Naruko asked, tilting her head. "I dunno. I've always been very weak…"
"Well, you're definitely not weak now," Fate said, still a bit in shock.
"Wait, I know! I don't want to destroy anything, but I can fight you guys, right?" Naruko asked, tilting her head.
"We can't fight right now. Our devices are… out of order," Nanoha said, frowning a little, remembering that it'd been this very girl's knights who had destroyed their devices in the first place. "But we can spar once we get our devices back!"
"You promise? I think doing magic might be really fun! It's almost like being a ninja! Though I can't walk on water…" Naruko muttered.
Yes, that was quite a shocker… bet some people back at home would flip their lids over that one, Nanoha mused, "I promise!"
"Awesome!" Naruko said. "Okay… I guess that's enough magic practice for now. I'll get back to it later. Let's go back in," Naruko said, gesturing towards the dojo's paper doors. It took a minute for them to return back to the manor proper, and once they did, they actually retreated to the Master Bedroom, also known as Naruko's room.
Mostly because it had the largest TV in the house, and a super comfortable bed, as they'd found. It was also more than large enough to accomodate all three of them.
"Why is your bed so big?" Nanoha wondered, somewhat confused.
"Well, I had a normal two people bed," she began, "but then when I got slightly bigger, we didn't all fit. And everyone kept using the excuse that we just wouldn't fit on a normal two people bed, so I went to the old man, that's the Hokage by the way, and he told me there were bigger beds and helped me get this one," she said, patting the silken covers of the bed. "So that they couldn't use it as an excuse."
"By they, you mean… the Wolkenritter, right?" Fate asked.
"Yep! My Knights!" Naruko said, nodding eagerly. "Anyway, in this bed, we can all fit comfortably so they can't complain!"
Both Fate and Nanoha laughed a little at the image of the two knights they'd met being uncomfortable because their master made them share a bed at night. Seeing both Signum and Vita blush would've been quite funny. Naruko took that as a cue to begin telling a few stories of her life, mostly centering around the many ways she amused herself by, one way or another, teasing the people she cared about. She also expressed some of her grievances, such as the knights's insistence on propriety and their unwillingness to refer to her by her name.
In return, Nanoha and Fate traded stories with her about their own childhoods. Fate's was, of course, heavily edited as an account of her… less than happy childhood. They didn't need to depress their host, after all, and it was painful for Fate to remember in any case. Finally, though, they ran out of stories to tell, and instead just traded opinions about random, everyday things.
It was… surprising, how easy it was to talk with Naruko, Nanoha mused. It wasn't all that dissimilar from her relationship with Suzuka and Alisa, come to think of it. At least, after she'd told them she was a mage. Odd though it was, Nanoha already considered her a friend. For the few hours that they spent at her home, Nanoha and Fate had actually completely forgotten about their assignment, instead simply choosing to spend time at a friend's place.
It seemed, though, that their host was reaching the end of her endurance, though, as she yawned, interrupting herself as she was explaining why one should never put ninja on a boat and call them ninja pirates. "I'm sorry," Naruko said, knowing that yawning on a guest's face was terribly rude, "but I'm just… so tired all of a sudden."
"We understand. You did just get out of the hospital," Fate mentioned. "It's best if you don't… overexert yourself," she explained.
"So that weird room I left this morning was the hospital, then..?" Naruko asked, tilting her head. "Wonder why I was there," she said, shrugging. "I…" but before she could begin to speak, another yawn prevented her from doing so. She rubbed at her eyes, but it was clear that she was getting too sleepy to continue the conversation. "Uwa… I'm such a terrible host," she muttered, swaying a little."
"No, it's okay, you should rest a lot," Nanoha said, remembering that Naruko seemed to completely ignore the fact that she'd spent time in the hospital recently. Probably she didn't want to think about it. "Here, let me help you…"
Nanoha lifted Naruko off the bed, and gestured for Fate to open the covers, depositing Naruko in. "You'll have to dismiss your barrier jacket, though," Nanoha said, frowning. "I don't imagine it's comfortable to sleep in…"
"I… dunno," Naruko said. After a moment, her barrier jacket began to shine and it vanished, revealing Naruko in her birthday suit.
"Wow. She really does look just like you, Fate-chan… though she's a little older, it seems…" Nanoha muttered, looking at Naruko as they pulled the covers over her.
Fate blushed, knowing exactly what it was that had Nanoha saying that. "Nanoha!" she chastised, blushing thoroughly.
The brunette chuckled. "Are you comfortable? Do you want anything?"
"I want Vita," Naruko mumbled, sleepily. "I want my knights… I dun… sleep without'em… Turn off the TV… so loud…"
Fate did as asked, before turning back to her fellow blonde, finding her asleep.
"It seems she was more tired than she let on… we'll have to let ourselves out," Nanoha said, seeing Fate nod in response.
As stealthily and silently as they could, they removed themselves from the large bed and then left the room, taking care to turn off the lights. They had made it to the main hall when Nanoha froze, causing Fate to freeze as well.
The reason why?
Nanoha had recently found the tip of Laevateinn. It was poking her in the back of the neck.
Well… this situation just went to shit.
Fate couldn't move a muscle. For a moment, she was utterly terrified. She feared that if she made the slightest move…
But Signum put the blade down, and Fate could finally begin breathing again, as Nanoha relaxed.
"Mistress would not wish for me to kill you," she said, bluntly.
"But we will not hesitate to do so."
Only then did Fate notice the presence behind her, as a male voice startled her.
"If the TSAB learns of her location… if the TSAB learns of her existence…" a third spoke, drawing Fate's attention to her left.
"We will crush you," Vita finished.
"I will not prevent you from leaving, as you are unarmed… but if I were to learn that you harmed our mistress in any way…" Signum warned.
"There will be nothing that will stop us. We will claim revenge," the male said.
"Do not prove my faith in your honor misplaced," Signum said, turning around and leaving, going upstairs. Fate imagined that she was going to check on Naruko.
Vita's hand clenched on Graf Eisen's shaft, and she glared at Fate and Nanoha.
"Now… leave in peace. We won't attack you, as you are unarmed," the sole male explained.
"Well… you don't bring a spear to peace talks, right?" Nanoha asked.
The man seemed amused, if the way he hummed was to be believed. "An old Belkan joke," he muttered.
"Maybe… maybe we can actually sit down and talk?" Nanoha asked, and Fate could practically hear the hope in her voice. "I don't want to fight you. I don't want Naruko-chan to be my enemy…"
"You work for the TSAB," Vita said, bluntly. "You are a risk to our Mistress."
"We don't want to arrest Naruko or kill her or anything, I swear!" Nanoha tried. "We just want to talk! We just want to stop a tragedy! Every time the book is filled, the result has been the same! You have to listen to me!"
"If you want to talk… We can talk. Not now," the blonde Knight said, her eyes closed.
"Shamal, what are you—" Vita protested.
"They have us at a disadvantage, Vita," the man countered.
"Zafira, you too?!" Vita protested once more. "Don't you know..! We can't let them—"
"They already know where Naruko is, Vita," Shamal said, shaking her head. "They know what she looks like. They know too much… the only other option is to kill them."
Vita's hands clenched on Graf Eisen. "It wouldn't be the first time," she said…
"You know Mistress forbid us from killing non-ninja and children," Zafira said, simply. "And… even more, if you killed those two, Mistress would never forgive you. They are her friends," he added. "Even if she has known them for such a short time…"
"Naruko-chan is very nice," Nanoha agreed. "I promise you, we don't want to make trouble, we just want to avoid it," she said. "I don't know how I can convince you…"
"If you want to talk, coming unarmed is a good start," Signum said, appearing at the top of the stairs that led to the manor's second floor. "You have us at a disadvantage, but do not make the mistake of threatening a cornered animal. We will fight, and we will fight viciously to protect her."
Fate nodded. "I understand," she said. And she did. She'd fight just as hard, if it were Nanoha who was on the line. She understood, on a certain level, the position of the knights. Something precious to them was at stake, and they were fighting to protect it. "I swear that we do not intend to harm her in any way. And I am willing to do whatever it may take to convince you so," she said. "Even… I shall become your hostage. That way, you can be certain."
"A hostage, hm… That is not our usual mode of operation," Signum said, evenly.
"And how can we be sure you're actually worth anything as a slave..? You're certainly strong, but the Bureau has plenty of strong people," Vita said, narrowing her eyes dubiously. "It wouldn't surprise me if they attack us anyway, even with your life as a collateral…"
"I am Admiral Lindy Harlaown's adopted daughter. The process has not yet been finalized and the change to my name is pending, but this is true," Fate explained, shaking her head.
"I see…" Signum said, nodding. "That is acceptable, then."
"Then I will stay, too," Nanoha said, "Fate-chan is my friend, and I won't allow her to go through this alone."
"Nanoha, you don't need to—" Fate countered.
"No, Fate-chan… I need to," Nanoha said, shaking her head. "I'm your friend, I'm here with you to support you," she said, and held out her hand.
Fate took it and smiled.
"We have guest bedrooms," Signum said. "I trust you must contact your superiors and explain the situation. Zafira, Vita, accompany them. Shamal, you should rest. I will guard our mistress."
Shamal looked at Signum. "If anything… out of the ordinary occurs, call me immediately. Neither myself nor Tsunade have any idea what will happen from now, but… the more monitored she is, the better," Shamal said.