Chapter 21 (End of Arc 3)
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CloakGear
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Author's notes: Earlier because I'll be away at Friday. Next chapter will be next week's Friday as usual.
Chapter 21: Downtime
[Next Day, After School | Tsukimura Mansion]
"...So Yuuno, Nanoha and Sphinx got a day off?"
Those were the first words Alisa spoke after the group of kids gathered at the guest room. Both Farin and the head maid were preparing some tea and snacks.
Makoto and the others were given a day off from Lindy, something about a problem happening, and rather than have the kids stay aboard, she sent them home, even if only for a day. The captain also gave specific orders not to use any magic during that time. She and the other TSAB personnel's stares at the blue-haired boy showed who specifically she meant.
He nodded. He wasn't really planning on using them anyway. Unless an emergency occurred, but that's excusable.
Alisa and Suzuka were particularly radiating happiness when both Makoto and Nanoha entered the bus to school together. Their smiles and excited tones—particularly when welcoming Nanoha—were evident.
The former's reaction towards the other two boys was more subdued, arms crossed and huffing about not calling them with eyes closed, though the single eye looking at them, a mix of worry and relief, told the whole story.
The other heiress, Suzuka, gave only a knowing smile at her friend's reaction.
After a discussion, something about Nanoha battling the officers from TSAB other than Chrono and learning from them, the group then promised to have a meeting together after school, at their usual hanging spot—the Tsukimura mansion.
Leading to the current situation, where Alisa voiced her disappointment when she realised the others would be here only for a day. She was puffing her cheeks, her bottom lip pushing forward as she looked to the side.
"Now, now, Alisa-chan…"
Suzuka tried to calm her friend down, having a strained smile…while a familiar white snow-man doll was beside her chair.
Indeed, it was the snowman doll that he retrieved, repaired by his amateur hands as much as possible. The dirt and dust had faded away, returning to its pristine white, but there were still traces of dirt in it.
When the scientists of TSAB scanned the object, they didn't find anything that was related to the corruption. No matter how they looked at it, it was just that, a dirty, cute doll of a snowman.
Of course, Makoto could actually tell even without them checking, just from the lack of a scream, but it did not hurt to be careful, especially considering Nanoha's case, where the corruption hid itself before he closed in.
After restoring it, he didn't actually know what to do with it. It was a cute little thing, with its wide, cartoony smile, and squeaking sounds when hugged, but other than that, he had no idea what he could do with it, other than as decoration.
So instead, he did the first thing that came to his mind, giving it to Suzuka. He remembered she had a penchant for cute things, so maybe she'll like it?
The girl seemed to be surprised by his gift. Before her face blossomed into a wide, beautiful smile. She hugged it fiercely, then hid her face behind the doll.
"Ehehe, thank you, Makoto-kun."
He didn't need to look at her face to know how happy she was at that moment. Her happy, musical tone said enough.
Alisa, who saw the doll and a certain company mark behind it, seemed to be in shock. "T-that's a Jack Frost Doll! A limited edition even! They're almost impossible to find since the company making it went down!" Her pointed finger was shaking as she declared so, her eyes wide in pure disbelief. "Even papa gave up when he failed to acquire one! How've you even found it!?"
…Was it really that rare?
Anyway, currently, Alisa was now pouting, and Suzuka and Nanoha tried to reassure their friend. Makoto, with a cat resting on his lap, was continuing his repair on the music box from before, while Yuuno, in ferret form, was eating a biscuit on the table, his front legs acting as hands as he held the food, savouring each bite, with Farin sneaking in some extra food for the ferret.
Apparently, he wanted to conserve energy considering his low resources, but Makoto suspected he just wanted to have a bigger lunch. Actually, does the ferret's stomach even change its size if he wasn't in human form?
"Apologies for getting your hopes up, Alisa-san." Yuuno bowed between bites.
The girl quickly shook her head. "N-no, it's not like I'm blaming you or anything! I know you're busy with the organisational stuff in another dimension."
She blinked, the absurdity of her own statement dawning on her. "Wow, I never thought I'd say something like that and mean it."
"Really," a sigh escaped Suzuka's mouth, her hand on her cheek. "When I heard the explanation from Makoto-kun, on how he was on a dimensional ship, it really feels like we're actually living in a fantasy story, right? Yet, it's still reality."
"That's due to the TSAB, Suzuka-san."
Ah, Yuuno was in his teaching pose again, one of his front legs crossed on his body, while the other was lifted into the air. A small, green-coloured glasses even formed on his face.
One could even hear a few small squeals on how cute he looks, but they didn't know who.
"Just from their name, the Time-Space Administrative Bureau, their primary purpose is a security force, to make no world come to harm, especially due to magic and Lost Logia."
"But then," Farin raised her hand. "How come we never heard of it? If it's really large, shouldn't we have heard some bits or pieces of it somewhere?"
"The main reason is because Earth is a Non-Administrative World," A front paw pushed the glasses closer to his face. "In an Administrative World, the TSAB usually acts as the main administrator and peacekeeping power, where its members protect the public and order. For a Non-Administrative world, they try to keep a low profile and to not disturb the locals as much as possible."
"...So does that mean only people from these 'administrative' worlds are the only ones who can join TSAB, Sens-Yuuno-kun?" Nanoha blushed a bit when she nearly called Yuuno sensei.
But she couldn't help it, alright!? Just from how he was acting right now, it'll be harder to not call him that! Even though he's in his ferret form!
"No, not really," To everyone's surprise, he shook his head. "Anyone can join the TSAB, even people from the Non-Administrative Worlds, as long as they have an aptitude in magic, from my understanding. I've even heard of someone from this world who actually joined the TSAB a few decades ago."
The girls couldn't hide their shock at that fact. To think that there were actually people on Earth, not just who knew about magic, but who'd actually joined an interdimensional security force.
"The world sure is big…" Alisa let out a forlorn sigh, looking at the sky outside with a tired expression. "Though, from your speaking of another world, dimension and stuff… That's like saying you guys are aliens, right? Like those in the cartoons?"
"Alisa-chan, I don't think-" "You're right actually." "they're…eh!?"
Those words made all the girls turn their heads quickly towards the ferret, eyes wide and mouths agape. Yuuno didn't seem to be bothered by their sudden attention, continuing his words unabated. "From your perspective, me, and the members of the TSAB in particular, are not people from your world. So it's not wrong to say that we are aliens, people from another planet."
"B-But," Alisa pointed a finger at him. "You're human! And a ferret! Not some tentacle or black or wiggly thing!"
Now it's Yuuno's turn to blink, sweatdropping in the process. "...Is that how people on Earth actually saw aliens?" He shook his head. "Unfortunately-"
"You're right, Alisa-san."
Silence. A sudden deep silence.
Then, as if everyone shared a single brain cell, they looked at the most unlikely person who actually said it. Makoto Yuuki, who was still repairing the music box, was the one that said that. He was actually listening all this time?
"They are aliens in the literal sense," the blue-haired boy continued his words, his hands rubbing the gear with cloth before attaching it to a music box. "What you're seeing right now is just their magic to disguise themselves. Human skins to live among the populace."
Suzuka actually stopped her drinking, turning to look at the boy she began to care for deeply with wide eyes. In her mind, she imagined the people from TSAB that she met before, Lindy not as a green-haired woman, or Amy, as a brown-haired older girl respectively, but as jelly-like beings or very thin creatures. Even Farin joined in her thoughts, her imagination going wild as her eyes went swirly.
Nanoha looked confused. From her training and practices with the TSAB members on the ship, she'd gotten the impression they were just humans, right?
…Hah! But maybe that's how good their disguises were? Maybe they actually were truly like those grey-men she saw in the movies with her family once!?
Alisa imagined the TSAB members as the characters from a certain cartoon, like that black extraterrestrial alien wearing a Roman skirt and hat, shooting at people and speaking in a nasally voice and technobabble. Actually, now that she thought about it, Yuuno actually spoke like that sometimes, right!?
Said ferret was looking at Makoto with an exasperated expression, his glasses now gone, as he shook his head. Just from the blue-haired boy's expression, he could not really tell if the boy was actually joking or not.
As the silence stretched to an uncomfortable degree…
"...Wait," Suzuka managed to gather her wits enough to speak, her voice a whisper of pure disbelief. "Really?"
""He's joking/It's a joke.""
As one, both boys looked at each other in surprise. Makoto even stopped his hands to look at his friend.
The two of them actually spoke at the same time, in a synchronised moment even. They were in tune more than they realised.
Unfortunately, Alisa didn't seem to like the joke, judging from the increasing red on her face and the intense shaking of her body.
"You! You big, blue-haired Sphinx!"
A single pillow from the chair was thrown, hitting Makoto directly in the face. The cat on his head jumped, landing on the table. The boy, for the most part, was non-plussed, merely giving the pillow to the cat, who accepted it gracefully and slept on it.
Everyone was surprised that Makoto, the Makoto, the one person they imagined being a serious, calm, level-headed person, would actually even lie. Even more so for the people of the Tsukimura household, they looked like cats staring into space.
"Makoto-kun…actually told a lie?" Suzuka muttered out, a few cats rubbing on her feet trying to catch her attention to no avail. "…Has the universe reconfigured itself while we weren't looking?"
"No, Suzuka-chan, they haven't," her personal maid, Farin answered, just as shocked as her master was. Her eyes then turned a bit serious, looking at the blue-haired boy. "...Makoto-sama, was that really a joke?"
""He's joking, obviously!""
Both Yuuno and Alisa couldn't help but call out, their hands delivering a quick backhanded swing to the air. Nanoha just gave a mirthless laugh.
"Honestly, you…" The blond-haired heiress couldn't help but stare at her senior, the blue-haired boy with an expression, a mix of anger and relief. "Even your lies sound like lullabies."
Makoto did not understand why everyone was surprised. He was merely following what the other adults at TSAB said and did when they were close with their friends, like Allex and Landy.
At least, from what he heard. Perhaps he was doing it wrong? Maybe he'll ask them when they go back to the ship.
Well, that's for later. For now, it's the final steps for this music box, cleaning all the dust, putting some oil here…and done.
He let out a satisfied sigh, then immediately grimaced as he went to rub his forehead and realised his hands were still covered in machine oil. Suzuka immediately gave him a wet towel for him to wipe his hands on. He was thankful for her attention.
"You're finally finished, Makoto-kun?"
"Mm," He nodded. The others crowded near him, seeing the music box fully repaired.
It was rectangular in shape, and a plain-looking brown, lacking any designs on the boxed shell outside. It was also quite small, around half of Yuuno's ferret form, lengthwise.
Still, the fact that it was possessed by the Jewel Seed, corrupted though it may have been, means that it was important to someone, somewhere out there.
Opening the music box, the melody inside was played.
Only, it was broken.
The melody was noticeably cracked at a few notes, and the sound was sporadic in its tune.
Even so, the music heard was beautiful, incomplete as it was. Nanoha hummed it unconsciously, and the other girls and Yuuno closed their eyes, listening to the melody without lyrics. Even the cats, usually a chorus of meows and pounces, had fallen still, listening with eyes half-closed as the voiceless song wrapped around the group like a gentle, carrying breeze.
He did not know why, but Makoto could feel it, the meaning of the broken tune. A message of embracing the present, facing the uncertainties and challenges with a heart of courage and determination. A wind that blows away one's worries, and the innocence of a child. It also felt familiar for some reason…
The blue-haired boy decided to try to continue his fix, so that the song would be restored.
He wondered though, what's happening to the group at Arthra while they were gone?
+++
[At The Same Time | Dimensional Ship Arthra, Meeting Room]
"..."
Despite the majority of the soldiers now gathering at the meeting room by Admiral Lindy's orders, not a single sound was uttered by the members.
It was not because of the result of the meeting, that was still halfway through. It was due to the videos playing on the large holographic screen floating above the meeting table.
'Aaargh!'
'No…stay away. STAY AWAY!'
'Yes, I did it-no, wait, stop! Nononono-'
Screams of terror. Eyes filled with fear. Absolute denial.
They were videos of the TSAB soldiers, their comrades, that were corrupted due to the Jewel Seed XIV, either after transporting it, or trying to reseal it, for an understanding of the situation. It wasn't just videos showing their failure though. There were a few that showed that people successfully carried or sealed the Jewel Seed into the deep, secured section of the ship, though some of them broke down after a few hours.
In fact, some of their TSAB comrades were still at the infirmary, and the rest who recovered, who attended the meeting, had deathly pale faces as they observed the scenes that occurred after they fainted.
Only some people among the group, perhaps less than a quarter, were still fine even after the ordeal, though their faces were as bitter and ashen as the rest.
Then another two videos were played, playing side-by-side. Of Makoto draining the corruption. One from the tree back at the park. The other was the crying shadow-like being wearing a sad, blue mask. At the same time, an outline drawing of Makoto's body, showing the corruption level at an estimated level of 75% was shown on the right side of the latest video.
Black lines formed on his face, and his eyes showed a glimpse of yellow tint, but other than that, the boy was fine. Too fine. It's as if the ordeal had never existed for him. Of course, the corruption level shown on the outline confirmed otherwise.
"...that concludes the report on the known effects of the corruption."
Amy's words brought a hushed discussion among everyone in the team, not that Lindy could blame them. The videos were the undeniable truth on how abnormal and beyond their current understanding Makoto was.
How strong was his will to endure such torment? Did he even feel them? Or was the pain normal for him?
She did not want to know the answer, so instead, Lindy decided to ask the representative of the researchers.
"Officer Suzuki," Said person, a ponytailed bespectacled young man, stood up straight as his name was called. "How's the progress for the draining device?"
"Unfortunately," he shook his head sadly. "Not so good. With our current resources, we can barely manage to drain even a quarter of the corruption from the provided sample before it reaches its maximum capacity. Theoretically, we could try to create multiple ones, at least four by my estimation, to drain at the same time, so that it could be contained. However…"
"...However?"
Here, Suzuki showed a deflated expression, pinching the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. "We don't have enough resources to make enough of the draining devices. Perhaps, at most, we could only make two with what we have available."
Two. Far too little to even drain it completely. Even if they try to return to Mid-Childa to gather more resources, who knows how long it will take to even gather them? And that's not including the time needed in completing it.
"...I see, thank you." The officer and scientist gave a nod, before sitting down. The others continued their discussion, thinking of the situation.
Lindy herself was having a migraine, realising how lacking they were currently, but she powered through the noise in her mind. Since the next question was very important.
"So then, ladies and gentlemen," Her two hands were held together, as she gave a sweeping look to everyone in the room. "Should our civilian collaborator, Makoto Yuuki… continue helping us?"
An uneasy silence swallowed the room. No one was opening their mouths, and most of the regular rank-and-file glanced at each other nervously, afraid of breaking the silence.
Chrono decided to break it.
"Captain," the words spoken made everyone in the room pay attention to the young Enforcer. "I believe that it would be too dangerous for him to continue assisting us."
"...And the reason?"
"It's due to his corruption level," the boy pointed out, his hands behind his back. "The value is far too high to ignore. He's likely a time bomb waiting to explode if he continues his draining activities."
A hushed silence enveloped the room, before quiet chatters and discussion rose. Chrono's words were logical. Just from the small amount of corruption, at least compared to Makoto's, some of the officers broke down completely. What would happen if the boy actually reached his limit? With the large volume of corruption inside of him?
A hand was raised, on the opposing side. It was Amy, her face determined.
"Officer Amy, do you have any words?"
"Yes, captain," she took a deep breath. "I believe he should at least continue helping us."
Another storm of whispers gathered, this time a bit louder due to Amy's words.
"Your reason?"
"...As much as I hate to say it," the girl looked like she had swallowed a bitter pill. "At the current stage, only collaborator Makoto's power is uniquely suited to handle the corrupted Jewel Seeds. We still don't have an alternative for it."
"Officer Amy," Chrono crossed his arms. "His power is different from the current magic system. An anomaly, an unknown." He shook his head. "It's too dangerous to rely on it."
"However true it may be," Amy rebuked, her stare fierce with resolve. "It's also a fact that his power is needed to solve this case."
The debate continued, with some soldiers joining in. From Lindy's point of view, they were divided into two groups: One wanting Makoto to be contained for his safety, one wanting him to join for the sake of everyone.
Neither choice was wrong. And the alternative they had found may not be enough at the current moment.
So instead, she'll compromise.
The debate was getting heated up, but Lindy's loud voice interrupted the rising concerto of emotions.
"In that case," Everyone snapped to attention at their captain's authoritative words. "For now, we should monitor him under strict conditions. Amy."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"How many times can Makoto drain before the corruption reaches maximum capacity?"
"...From what we observed, perhaps two…no, three times at most." Amy's words were uncertain, but Lindy trusted the girl's words. She did her research a lot, so her estimated accuracy was a reliable check.
"Suzuki."
"Ma'am!"
"Is it possible for the device made to drain the corruption from collaborator Makoto?"
"Huh?" The man looked at the datapad in his hand, shuffling through the data. "It…should be possible, but we haven't tested that far yet. And at most, with our current resources, we could perhaps drain… 10% total at most."
"...It's better than nothing," she muttered under her breath, before standing up and giving her commands. "For now, concentrate fully on making the devices to drain the corruption from the boy. And try to create as many of the Jewel Seed corruption detectors as you can possibly make."
"Yes, ma'am!" Suzuki spoke the words, with the other scientists and Amy joining in a wordless salute.
"Good, dismissed."
All the soldiers in the room left the meeting, their steps a disciplined, harmonious stride.
Only when the last member left, Lindy dropped her mask, her two held hands touching her forehead.
A single step forward, and a few steps backward. Lindy let out a despairing sigh, saddened that she couldn't fulfil her promise to the young Suzuka just yet.
Life was never easy, was it?
+++
[At the Same Time | Testarossa's Apartment]
"Fate, stop! You need to take a rest!"
But she couldn't. There were less than a quarter of the twenty-one Jewel Seed left that were still undetected.
The yellow-haired girl returned to the Garden of Time to report and deliver the Jewel Seeds, but her mother was in a bad mood. She did not know why, but Fate was immediately given 'love' (punishment) upon arriving.
Her mother then demanded her to gather the remaining Seeds, not even accepting the ones she had in her hand.
Fate did not understand. Did she do something wrong? Is that why her mother was angry at her?
…Yes, that should be the case. It was her fault. If she gathered all the Jewel Seeds, then her mother would smile again, and everything would return to how it used to be.
That was why, upon arriving, she tried to detect and find the Jewel Seeds in the city as much as possible, despite the pain from her mother's love.
But she couldn't detect whether they existed, so she tried harder. Maybe they were cloaked. Or maybe something.
…There were no results found. As far as she knows, there were no Jewel Seeds left in the city.
"Ugh," she fell down to her knees, the pain being too much for her. Arf, her loyal familiar, immediately scooped her up and carried her to their apartment, wrapping bandages and applying ointment to her wounds.
"Really, that woman…!" Arf, in her human form, growled, angry that her master had been hurt. "If she really wants the Jewel Seeds herself, then she should do it herself!"
The words were punctuated with her fist slamming on the floor.
"Arf, stop," Fate gently chastised her. "You know mother is too sick to do it herself. She said she has something more important to do."
"But hurting you who follow her request without complaints!?"
"...It's my fault. I made a mistake," A hollow, sombre tone. "That's why, if we gather all the Jewel Seeds, mother would be happy again."
"Fate…" Arf merely stared at her pained, lonely master, who nonetheless did what was requested of her. Her hands clenched tightly, gritting her teeth in anger on how her master's mother treated her.
Still… Fate was looking at the outside view, where vehicles and people come and go under the night sky. If there's no more Jewel Seed detected in this city, where could they be?
She spotted the large body of water at the coast, and her eyes widened in realisation.
If there was no longer any in the city, yet still close by, then there was only one possible place.
Her eyes fixed on the vast, dark expanse beyond the city lights.
The ocean.
[End of Arc 3: Echoes of A Broken Song | To Be Continued]
Chapter 21: Downtime
[Next Day, After School | Tsukimura Mansion]
"...So Yuuno, Nanoha and Sphinx got a day off?"
Those were the first words Alisa spoke after the group of kids gathered at the guest room. Both Farin and the head maid were preparing some tea and snacks.
Makoto and the others were given a day off from Lindy, something about a problem happening, and rather than have the kids stay aboard, she sent them home, even if only for a day. The captain also gave specific orders not to use any magic during that time. She and the other TSAB personnel's stares at the blue-haired boy showed who specifically she meant.
He nodded. He wasn't really planning on using them anyway. Unless an emergency occurred, but that's excusable.
Alisa and Suzuka were particularly radiating happiness when both Makoto and Nanoha entered the bus to school together. Their smiles and excited tones—particularly when welcoming Nanoha—were evident.
The former's reaction towards the other two boys was more subdued, arms crossed and huffing about not calling them with eyes closed, though the single eye looking at them, a mix of worry and relief, told the whole story.
The other heiress, Suzuka, gave only a knowing smile at her friend's reaction.
After a discussion, something about Nanoha battling the officers from TSAB other than Chrono and learning from them, the group then promised to have a meeting together after school, at their usual hanging spot—the Tsukimura mansion.
Leading to the current situation, where Alisa voiced her disappointment when she realised the others would be here only for a day. She was puffing her cheeks, her bottom lip pushing forward as she looked to the side.
"Now, now, Alisa-chan…"
Suzuka tried to calm her friend down, having a strained smile…while a familiar white snow-man doll was beside her chair.
Indeed, it was the snowman doll that he retrieved, repaired by his amateur hands as much as possible. The dirt and dust had faded away, returning to its pristine white, but there were still traces of dirt in it.
When the scientists of TSAB scanned the object, they didn't find anything that was related to the corruption. No matter how they looked at it, it was just that, a dirty, cute doll of a snowman.
Of course, Makoto could actually tell even without them checking, just from the lack of a scream, but it did not hurt to be careful, especially considering Nanoha's case, where the corruption hid itself before he closed in.
After restoring it, he didn't actually know what to do with it. It was a cute little thing, with its wide, cartoony smile, and squeaking sounds when hugged, but other than that, he had no idea what he could do with it, other than as decoration.
So instead, he did the first thing that came to his mind, giving it to Suzuka. He remembered she had a penchant for cute things, so maybe she'll like it?
The girl seemed to be surprised by his gift. Before her face blossomed into a wide, beautiful smile. She hugged it fiercely, then hid her face behind the doll.
"Ehehe, thank you, Makoto-kun."
He didn't need to look at her face to know how happy she was at that moment. Her happy, musical tone said enough.
Alisa, who saw the doll and a certain company mark behind it, seemed to be in shock. "T-that's a Jack Frost Doll! A limited edition even! They're almost impossible to find since the company making it went down!" Her pointed finger was shaking as she declared so, her eyes wide in pure disbelief. "Even papa gave up when he failed to acquire one! How've you even found it!?"
…Was it really that rare?
Anyway, currently, Alisa was now pouting, and Suzuka and Nanoha tried to reassure their friend. Makoto, with a cat resting on his lap, was continuing his repair on the music box from before, while Yuuno, in ferret form, was eating a biscuit on the table, his front legs acting as hands as he held the food, savouring each bite, with Farin sneaking in some extra food for the ferret.
Apparently, he wanted to conserve energy considering his low resources, but Makoto suspected he just wanted to have a bigger lunch. Actually, does the ferret's stomach even change its size if he wasn't in human form?
"Apologies for getting your hopes up, Alisa-san." Yuuno bowed between bites.
The girl quickly shook her head. "N-no, it's not like I'm blaming you or anything! I know you're busy with the organisational stuff in another dimension."
She blinked, the absurdity of her own statement dawning on her. "Wow, I never thought I'd say something like that and mean it."
"Really," a sigh escaped Suzuka's mouth, her hand on her cheek. "When I heard the explanation from Makoto-kun, on how he was on a dimensional ship, it really feels like we're actually living in a fantasy story, right? Yet, it's still reality."
"That's due to the TSAB, Suzuka-san."
Ah, Yuuno was in his teaching pose again, one of his front legs crossed on his body, while the other was lifted into the air. A small, green-coloured glasses even formed on his face.
One could even hear a few small squeals on how cute he looks, but they didn't know who.
"Just from their name, the Time-Space Administrative Bureau, their primary purpose is a security force, to make no world come to harm, especially due to magic and Lost Logia."
"But then," Farin raised her hand. "How come we never heard of it? If it's really large, shouldn't we have heard some bits or pieces of it somewhere?"
"The main reason is because Earth is a Non-Administrative World," A front paw pushed the glasses closer to his face. "In an Administrative World, the TSAB usually acts as the main administrator and peacekeeping power, where its members protect the public and order. For a Non-Administrative world, they try to keep a low profile and to not disturb the locals as much as possible."
"...So does that mean only people from these 'administrative' worlds are the only ones who can join TSAB, Sens-Yuuno-kun?" Nanoha blushed a bit when she nearly called Yuuno sensei.
But she couldn't help it, alright!? Just from how he was acting right now, it'll be harder to not call him that! Even though he's in his ferret form!
"No, not really," To everyone's surprise, he shook his head. "Anyone can join the TSAB, even people from the Non-Administrative Worlds, as long as they have an aptitude in magic, from my understanding. I've even heard of someone from this world who actually joined the TSAB a few decades ago."
The girls couldn't hide their shock at that fact. To think that there were actually people on Earth, not just who knew about magic, but who'd actually joined an interdimensional security force.
"The world sure is big…" Alisa let out a forlorn sigh, looking at the sky outside with a tired expression. "Though, from your speaking of another world, dimension and stuff… That's like saying you guys are aliens, right? Like those in the cartoons?"
"Alisa-chan, I don't think-" "You're right actually." "they're…eh!?"
Those words made all the girls turn their heads quickly towards the ferret, eyes wide and mouths agape. Yuuno didn't seem to be bothered by their sudden attention, continuing his words unabated. "From your perspective, me, and the members of the TSAB in particular, are not people from your world. So it's not wrong to say that we are aliens, people from another planet."
"B-But," Alisa pointed a finger at him. "You're human! And a ferret! Not some tentacle or black or wiggly thing!"
Now it's Yuuno's turn to blink, sweatdropping in the process. "...Is that how people on Earth actually saw aliens?" He shook his head. "Unfortunately-"
"You're right, Alisa-san."
Silence. A sudden deep silence.
Then, as if everyone shared a single brain cell, they looked at the most unlikely person who actually said it. Makoto Yuuki, who was still repairing the music box, was the one that said that. He was actually listening all this time?
"They are aliens in the literal sense," the blue-haired boy continued his words, his hands rubbing the gear with cloth before attaching it to a music box. "What you're seeing right now is just their magic to disguise themselves. Human skins to live among the populace."
Suzuka actually stopped her drinking, turning to look at the boy she began to care for deeply with wide eyes. In her mind, she imagined the people from TSAB that she met before, Lindy not as a green-haired woman, or Amy, as a brown-haired older girl respectively, but as jelly-like beings or very thin creatures. Even Farin joined in her thoughts, her imagination going wild as her eyes went swirly.
Nanoha looked confused. From her training and practices with the TSAB members on the ship, she'd gotten the impression they were just humans, right?
…Hah! But maybe that's how good their disguises were? Maybe they actually were truly like those grey-men she saw in the movies with her family once!?
Alisa imagined the TSAB members as the characters from a certain cartoon, like that black extraterrestrial alien wearing a Roman skirt and hat, shooting at people and speaking in a nasally voice and technobabble. Actually, now that she thought about it, Yuuno actually spoke like that sometimes, right!?
Said ferret was looking at Makoto with an exasperated expression, his glasses now gone, as he shook his head. Just from the blue-haired boy's expression, he could not really tell if the boy was actually joking or not.
As the silence stretched to an uncomfortable degree…
"...Wait," Suzuka managed to gather her wits enough to speak, her voice a whisper of pure disbelief. "Really?"
""He's joking/It's a joke.""
As one, both boys looked at each other in surprise. Makoto even stopped his hands to look at his friend.
The two of them actually spoke at the same time, in a synchronised moment even. They were in tune more than they realised.
Unfortunately, Alisa didn't seem to like the joke, judging from the increasing red on her face and the intense shaking of her body.
"You! You big, blue-haired Sphinx!"
A single pillow from the chair was thrown, hitting Makoto directly in the face. The cat on his head jumped, landing on the table. The boy, for the most part, was non-plussed, merely giving the pillow to the cat, who accepted it gracefully and slept on it.
Everyone was surprised that Makoto, the Makoto, the one person they imagined being a serious, calm, level-headed person, would actually even lie. Even more so for the people of the Tsukimura household, they looked like cats staring into space.
"Makoto-kun…actually told a lie?" Suzuka muttered out, a few cats rubbing on her feet trying to catch her attention to no avail. "…Has the universe reconfigured itself while we weren't looking?"
"No, Suzuka-chan, they haven't," her personal maid, Farin answered, just as shocked as her master was. Her eyes then turned a bit serious, looking at the blue-haired boy. "...Makoto-sama, was that really a joke?"
""He's joking, obviously!""
Both Yuuno and Alisa couldn't help but call out, their hands delivering a quick backhanded swing to the air. Nanoha just gave a mirthless laugh.
"Honestly, you…" The blond-haired heiress couldn't help but stare at her senior, the blue-haired boy with an expression, a mix of anger and relief. "Even your lies sound like lullabies."
Makoto did not understand why everyone was surprised. He was merely following what the other adults at TSAB said and did when they were close with their friends, like Allex and Landy.
At least, from what he heard. Perhaps he was doing it wrong? Maybe he'll ask them when they go back to the ship.
Well, that's for later. For now, it's the final steps for this music box, cleaning all the dust, putting some oil here…and done.
He let out a satisfied sigh, then immediately grimaced as he went to rub his forehead and realised his hands were still covered in machine oil. Suzuka immediately gave him a wet towel for him to wipe his hands on. He was thankful for her attention.
"You're finally finished, Makoto-kun?"
"Mm," He nodded. The others crowded near him, seeing the music box fully repaired.
It was rectangular in shape, and a plain-looking brown, lacking any designs on the boxed shell outside. It was also quite small, around half of Yuuno's ferret form, lengthwise.
Still, the fact that it was possessed by the Jewel Seed, corrupted though it may have been, means that it was important to someone, somewhere out there.
Opening the music box, the melody inside was played.
Only, it was broken.
The melody was noticeably cracked at a few notes, and the sound was sporadic in its tune.
Even so, the music heard was beautiful, incomplete as it was. Nanoha hummed it unconsciously, and the other girls and Yuuno closed their eyes, listening to the melody without lyrics. Even the cats, usually a chorus of meows and pounces, had fallen still, listening with eyes half-closed as the voiceless song wrapped around the group like a gentle, carrying breeze.
He did not know why, but Makoto could feel it, the meaning of the broken tune. A message of embracing the present, facing the uncertainties and challenges with a heart of courage and determination. A wind that blows away one's worries, and the innocence of a child. It also felt familiar for some reason…
The blue-haired boy decided to try to continue his fix, so that the song would be restored.
He wondered though, what's happening to the group at Arthra while they were gone?
+++
[At The Same Time | Dimensional Ship Arthra, Meeting Room]
"..."
Despite the majority of the soldiers now gathering at the meeting room by Admiral Lindy's orders, not a single sound was uttered by the members.
It was not because of the result of the meeting, that was still halfway through. It was due to the videos playing on the large holographic screen floating above the meeting table.
'Aaargh!'
'No…stay away. STAY AWAY!'
'Yes, I did it-no, wait, stop! Nononono-'
Screams of terror. Eyes filled with fear. Absolute denial.
They were videos of the TSAB soldiers, their comrades, that were corrupted due to the Jewel Seed XIV, either after transporting it, or trying to reseal it, for an understanding of the situation. It wasn't just videos showing their failure though. There were a few that showed that people successfully carried or sealed the Jewel Seed into the deep, secured section of the ship, though some of them broke down after a few hours.
In fact, some of their TSAB comrades were still at the infirmary, and the rest who recovered, who attended the meeting, had deathly pale faces as they observed the scenes that occurred after they fainted.
Only some people among the group, perhaps less than a quarter, were still fine even after the ordeal, though their faces were as bitter and ashen as the rest.
Then another two videos were played, playing side-by-side. Of Makoto draining the corruption. One from the tree back at the park. The other was the crying shadow-like being wearing a sad, blue mask. At the same time, an outline drawing of Makoto's body, showing the corruption level at an estimated level of 75% was shown on the right side of the latest video.
Black lines formed on his face, and his eyes showed a glimpse of yellow tint, but other than that, the boy was fine. Too fine. It's as if the ordeal had never existed for him. Of course, the corruption level shown on the outline confirmed otherwise.
"...that concludes the report on the known effects of the corruption."
Amy's words brought a hushed discussion among everyone in the team, not that Lindy could blame them. The videos were the undeniable truth on how abnormal and beyond their current understanding Makoto was.
How strong was his will to endure such torment? Did he even feel them? Or was the pain normal for him?
She did not want to know the answer, so instead, Lindy decided to ask the representative of the researchers.
"Officer Suzuki," Said person, a ponytailed bespectacled young man, stood up straight as his name was called. "How's the progress for the draining device?"
"Unfortunately," he shook his head sadly. "Not so good. With our current resources, we can barely manage to drain even a quarter of the corruption from the provided sample before it reaches its maximum capacity. Theoretically, we could try to create multiple ones, at least four by my estimation, to drain at the same time, so that it could be contained. However…"
"...However?"
Here, Suzuki showed a deflated expression, pinching the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. "We don't have enough resources to make enough of the draining devices. Perhaps, at most, we could only make two with what we have available."
Two. Far too little to even drain it completely. Even if they try to return to Mid-Childa to gather more resources, who knows how long it will take to even gather them? And that's not including the time needed in completing it.
"...I see, thank you." The officer and scientist gave a nod, before sitting down. The others continued their discussion, thinking of the situation.
Lindy herself was having a migraine, realising how lacking they were currently, but she powered through the noise in her mind. Since the next question was very important.
"So then, ladies and gentlemen," Her two hands were held together, as she gave a sweeping look to everyone in the room. "Should our civilian collaborator, Makoto Yuuki… continue helping us?"
An uneasy silence swallowed the room. No one was opening their mouths, and most of the regular rank-and-file glanced at each other nervously, afraid of breaking the silence.
Chrono decided to break it.
"Captain," the words spoken made everyone in the room pay attention to the young Enforcer. "I believe that it would be too dangerous for him to continue assisting us."
"...And the reason?"
"It's due to his corruption level," the boy pointed out, his hands behind his back. "The value is far too high to ignore. He's likely a time bomb waiting to explode if he continues his draining activities."
A hushed silence enveloped the room, before quiet chatters and discussion rose. Chrono's words were logical. Just from the small amount of corruption, at least compared to Makoto's, some of the officers broke down completely. What would happen if the boy actually reached his limit? With the large volume of corruption inside of him?
A hand was raised, on the opposing side. It was Amy, her face determined.
"Officer Amy, do you have any words?"
"Yes, captain," she took a deep breath. "I believe he should at least continue helping us."
Another storm of whispers gathered, this time a bit louder due to Amy's words.
"Your reason?"
"...As much as I hate to say it," the girl looked like she had swallowed a bitter pill. "At the current stage, only collaborator Makoto's power is uniquely suited to handle the corrupted Jewel Seeds. We still don't have an alternative for it."
"Officer Amy," Chrono crossed his arms. "His power is different from the current magic system. An anomaly, an unknown." He shook his head. "It's too dangerous to rely on it."
"However true it may be," Amy rebuked, her stare fierce with resolve. "It's also a fact that his power is needed to solve this case."
The debate continued, with some soldiers joining in. From Lindy's point of view, they were divided into two groups: One wanting Makoto to be contained for his safety, one wanting him to join for the sake of everyone.
Neither choice was wrong. And the alternative they had found may not be enough at the current moment.
So instead, she'll compromise.
The debate was getting heated up, but Lindy's loud voice interrupted the rising concerto of emotions.
"In that case," Everyone snapped to attention at their captain's authoritative words. "For now, we should monitor him under strict conditions. Amy."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"How many times can Makoto drain before the corruption reaches maximum capacity?"
"...From what we observed, perhaps two…no, three times at most." Amy's words were uncertain, but Lindy trusted the girl's words. She did her research a lot, so her estimated accuracy was a reliable check.
"Suzuki."
"Ma'am!"
"Is it possible for the device made to drain the corruption from collaborator Makoto?"
"Huh?" The man looked at the datapad in his hand, shuffling through the data. "It…should be possible, but we haven't tested that far yet. And at most, with our current resources, we could perhaps drain… 10% total at most."
"...It's better than nothing," she muttered under her breath, before standing up and giving her commands. "For now, concentrate fully on making the devices to drain the corruption from the boy. And try to create as many of the Jewel Seed corruption detectors as you can possibly make."
"Yes, ma'am!" Suzuki spoke the words, with the other scientists and Amy joining in a wordless salute.
"Good, dismissed."
All the soldiers in the room left the meeting, their steps a disciplined, harmonious stride.
Only when the last member left, Lindy dropped her mask, her two held hands touching her forehead.
A single step forward, and a few steps backward. Lindy let out a despairing sigh, saddened that she couldn't fulfil her promise to the young Suzuka just yet.
Life was never easy, was it?
+++
[At the Same Time | Testarossa's Apartment]
"Fate, stop! You need to take a rest!"
But she couldn't. There were less than a quarter of the twenty-one Jewel Seed left that were still undetected.
The yellow-haired girl returned to the Garden of Time to report and deliver the Jewel Seeds, but her mother was in a bad mood. She did not know why, but Fate was immediately given 'love' (punishment) upon arriving.
Her mother then demanded her to gather the remaining Seeds, not even accepting the ones she had in her hand.
Fate did not understand. Did she do something wrong? Is that why her mother was angry at her?
…Yes, that should be the case. It was her fault. If she gathered all the Jewel Seeds, then her mother would smile again, and everything would return to how it used to be.
That was why, upon arriving, she tried to detect and find the Jewel Seeds in the city as much as possible, despite the pain from her mother's love.
But she couldn't detect whether they existed, so she tried harder. Maybe they were cloaked. Or maybe something.
…There were no results found. As far as she knows, there were no Jewel Seeds left in the city.
"Ugh," she fell down to her knees, the pain being too much for her. Arf, her loyal familiar, immediately scooped her up and carried her to their apartment, wrapping bandages and applying ointment to her wounds.
"Really, that woman…!" Arf, in her human form, growled, angry that her master had been hurt. "If she really wants the Jewel Seeds herself, then she should do it herself!"
The words were punctuated with her fist slamming on the floor.
"Arf, stop," Fate gently chastised her. "You know mother is too sick to do it herself. She said she has something more important to do."
"But hurting you who follow her request without complaints!?"
"...It's my fault. I made a mistake," A hollow, sombre tone. "That's why, if we gather all the Jewel Seeds, mother would be happy again."
"Fate…" Arf merely stared at her pained, lonely master, who nonetheless did what was requested of her. Her hands clenched tightly, gritting her teeth in anger on how her master's mother treated her.
Still… Fate was looking at the outside view, where vehicles and people come and go under the night sky. If there's no more Jewel Seed detected in this city, where could they be?
She spotted the large body of water at the coast, and her eyes widened in realisation.
If there was no longer any in the city, yet still close by, then there was only one possible place.
Her eyes fixed on the vast, dark expanse beyond the city lights.
The ocean.
[End of Arc 3: Echoes of A Broken Song | To Be Continued]