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Cards And Devices

Chapter 16 - Beginnings

By Sniperk

"Have you decided what you'll do from now on?" The General asked the raven haired girl, after she entered the car. They were in the tele-port, after materializing on the planet. Vita and Signum were called to their respective units, so Hayate offered herself to pick the girl up. That, at least, was the story they told her. The fact was that Tomoyo was going to be under surveillance the entire time by powerful mages, but the General thought that it would be better if the ones to do this were people she could relate to in some way.

"No," Tomoyo sighed, "I just want a fresh start," She didn't want anything else at the moment, just some time to take her mind off Sakura, and this place seemed perfect for it.

"Really?" Hayate looked at her out of the corner of her eye, still paying more attention to the road ahead of her, "You know, if you don't want to talk about it, I understand, but do you think you can answer me something?"

"Sure," The girl turned to the driver of the vehicle. "What is it?"

"I talked with Sakura-chan... about your confession..."

Tomoyo felt a little prickle in her stomach at the mention of the card mistress name, "Hm..." She nodded.

"Did she reject you?" Straight to the point was better than beating around the bush, in the General's opinion.

"No," The younger girl leaned back. "I rejected her."

"Huh?" Hayate was puzzled, "How? I thought that you were the one who confessed,"

"It's... complicated…" She said leaning her head to the side of the window.

The commander was about to pry further the subject, but bit her lip and changed her question. "Say, Tomoyo-chan. Do you have anything else do to right now?"

"I don't know. Yuuno-san asked me to answer some questions for him when I got back. Aside from that I have nothing else,"

Hayate looked at the girl again, "Say... What do you think of having some tea with me at my house? I'm sure that by now you must be sick and tired of bases and battleships," She smiled.

Tomoyo nodded and Hayate changed directions. Then she waved her hand and a screen appeared on her side, "Rein."

"Hi, Hayate-chan. Good morning, Tomoyo-san," The little girl bowed.

"Good morning, Rein-chan,"

"Can you take care of the paperwork for me for the rest of the morning? I'm taking Tomoyo-chan to the house," The General asked.

"No problem," The little girl made a peace sign.

"Thanks, Rein," At this she cut the call.

After they drove through the streets for a few more minutes, Hayate parked in the driveway of her house.

"Welcome," The General said, as they entered.

"Pardon the intrusion,"

"My sons are at school and my husband is at the Saint Church, so no need to worry, okay?"

The raven haired was surprised, "So you're married?" The woman didn't seem old enough to be married with more than one child, and she was a General. Tomoyo didn't know much about military stuff, but she knew that a General was pretty high up in the ladder.

"Yes," Hayate offered a seat in her couch, while moving to the kitchen, "I know, I'll show you the pictures of them. Just give a minute to prepare the tea,"

"Okay," Tomoyo smiled, while sitting. She felt the presence of her Card on her back while shifting, "How are you guys? ... I see... Don't worry, I still love Sakura-chan the same way..." She smiled, "I'm certain that she does too. She just needs to sort out her feelings. That's all,"

"Am I interrupting something?" Hayate asked thoughtfully at the girl talking alone.

"No. No. Sorry. I was talking to the faeries,"

"Faeries?"

"Tosa and Sato," Tomoyo reached her hand and seemingly out of thin air the Card appeared in her hand, "Them,"

"Oh, I see," Hayate put the tray in the centre table, "But I thought only Sakura-chan could talk with the cards,"

"Yes, with the others. This one is... special," She trailed off at that, sadness heavy in her tone.

The General picked up on it and changed subjects immediately, "Ah, I know, I said I would show the photos, right?" The younger girl nodded, "Let's see..." She clicked a few translucent panels that appeared in front of her, and then moved the window to her guest, "Here. This one is Verossa, my husband. These three here are my triplets. This one is Kage, the middle one is Justice, and the other is Hikaru."

"Amazing. How can you tell who is who?" Tomoyo asked. To her the three children on the image were identical.

"Mother's instinct," Hayate grinned, while changing the picture, "These you've already met. Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan and their daughter, Vivio,"

"Their daughter?" The girl looked puzzled.

Understanding what the girl meant, Hayate informed. "Yes. They're married."

"But..."

"They're both girls. I know. But they love each other. Here on Mid, there's not so much problem with same sex relationships, especially between women. You see, the population split here is about four to one, women to men, so relationships like this are pretty normal around here," She smiled.

"I see,"

Hayate changed the picture again, "These are Caro and Erio. You know them already, right?"

"Yes. They helped Sakura-chan that day,"

"Yes. Yes. Fate-chan is their adoptive mother,"

So like this they spent the rest of the morning, talking about the people and the way of life in MidChilda. Tomoyo got to know much of the lifestyle and how things worked on this planet. A few thoughts came to her mind as Hayate explained the things to her, like how the society here seemed almost fascist, but she brushed that aside, simply because the General and her circle of friends seemed mostly formed by people in the military.

"It seems like I've being talking too much..." Hayate finally said, after she felt her throat dry.

"Not at all. It's so interesting," Her raven haired guest answered. Even if the woman was already a full-fledged member of this society, the way she acted was much more like a teenager, and that relieved her.

"So, Tomoyo-chan, what are you interested? What things you like to do?"

"Well... A few things like singing, design clothes and filming. Mostly as a hobby, though. I still haven't decided what I'll do with my life,"

"What type of clothes do you design?" A glint could be seen in Hayate's eyes.

"Gowns and dresses mostly... but... No, never mind."

Hayate perked up, "Go on, go on,"

"No... It's embarrassing,"

"It can't be too embarrassing. And if it is, I promise not to tell anyone,"

Tomoyo fidgeted, "I like to design costumes,"

"Seriously?!" Hayate almost fell from the couch while shifting to get near the other girl, "You're not just saying this, right?"

Not looking at the woman on her side, Tomoyo nodded, "I know it's pretty childish, but I like it,"

"Oh-ho, I think I'll let you in a little secret not-so-secret of mine," Hayate smirked while changing the album in the screen, "These are my creations," The screen displayed the images of the Wolkenritter with their Knight's Garb.

"Really?" Tomoyo looked closer, "They're so cool,"

"Aren't they? But those are normal, compared to the others..." She grinned while changing the pictures again to show the images of dozens of other costumes she had designed with the several different people wearing them.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing much we can do for you, boya," The old woman said apologetically.

"Oh, don't worry, Meniel-obaa-san," The boy bowed, "You don't need to feel sorry about me," He turned to the exit of the tent again.

Now he was really in a pinch. None of the villagers seemed to know him. From what they told him, he had appeared a week earlier, saying that he was after his girlfriend and their friend, but since he didn't talked much about himself, the others couldn't answer his questions. At least he got the names of both of the girls. Sakura and Tomoyo. When the earthquake happened he was in the village waiting for the next cargo transporter to pass by so he could hitch a ride.

He started to walk aimlessly through the destroyed village with the woman named Subaru when she asked, "So, what do you want to do now, Syaoran-kun?"

He looked to the rice fields that were still intact, "I don't know. If I don't belong here, if I came from somewhere else... But first I need to discover who am I. Maybe those girls, my girlfriend, would know,"

"I can request a search in the database if you want. From what the doctors told us, your rank is estimated to be around A, so it's pretty easy to narrow the search, I think,"

"Rank?" The boy asked.

"Mage rank. It's standard procedure to measure the Linker Core's potential ranking when dealing with injured mages,"

"I'm a mage?"

"You think you're not?"

"I... don't really know. It sorta feels familiar though,"

A man was passing near them and Subaru called out to him, "Good morning, sir. Can you answer a few questions for us?"

"Of course," The man said, after seeing the boy. The whole village was thankful to him.

"Did Syaoran-kun here use any spells during his stay in the village?"

"Not that I recall, though since he spent most of the time taking care of Mediel-jou-chan, I think Meniel-obaa-san would know better,"

"Thanks," She turned again to the boy, "Let's go back there and ask her," She pulled him along. When they got back to the tent, she asked again the same question of the old woman.

"Ah... I don't remember ever seeing him use anything like magic. I never thought that he was a mage,"

"Oh, we don't know yet if he is or not," Subaru answered, "At least we don't know if he's registered as one," Subaru mused as they departed the woman's tent, "I'll take look into the register,"

"Can you do that?"

"Piece of cake. Though I don't have access to classified information, I can search the open files," Subaru pressed a few of buttons on a keyboard that popped in front of her, "Personnel search. Name: Li Syaoran," Several people appeared in the monitor, but none of them were him, "Hmm... Why things aren't easier... I know, when we get back, I'll put up an official request for you. I'm sure we can find something in the database,"

"Thanks," They were walking to a transport nearby, when they took in more carefully the state village was, almost completely in shambles and ruins. The people were camped in tents that the TSAB provided. When Subaru was boarding the chopper, she stopped looking back.

"What's the matter, Syaoran-kun?"

"Subaru-san, would you mind if I stayed here?"

She looked at him a little surprised, "No, but can I ask you why?"

"These people... They seemed to have helped me a lot. I just want to return the favour, I guess. They could use more people to help them rebuild their village. I think I would be more useful here for now, at least,"

"I see. Well, if that's what you want, I won't stop you," She fished in her pocket and took out a little box, "Here. It's a communication device. If you need anything, just open the box and ask to talk to me," She smiled, "When I get back I'll put up the request. What were the names of the girls again?"

"I think... Sakura..." He repeated, "Sakura..." It sounded familiar.

"And the other..."

"To... Tomoyo. That's it. Tomoyo,"

"Noted. Okay, if anything comes up, I'll contact you through the comm device. Don't lose it, okay?" She waved, "Bye then,"

He waved back, then bowed as the chopper took off.

The General didn't know that she would find a goldmine when she took onto herself the job of escorting the Source Holder. She had so many ideas and designs in her mind for clothes, both normal and costumes, that the older woman was stupefied. She got around showing photos of her own classics, and the girl would always have something to say to make the costume better or prettier in some way. It was unnerving at first, but Hayate had long disregarded that type of childish behaviour when she met someone with some skill. Tomoyo wasn't just for talking. She actually knew what she was talking about. They continued talking for hours, all the way through lunch, and on to the afternoon. Then a call flashed in front of her.

"Good afternoon, Yuuno-kun," The General immediately wore her game face. If the librarian was calling her directly, then he must have found something regarding the information she had asked earlier.

"Hello, Hayate," He waved, then after looking at her side, "Hello, Tomoyo-san,"

The girl bowed to the man, "Good afternoon, Yuuno-sama,"

Yuuno wanted to wave off the extra politeness in the girl's speech, but decided that it wasn't the right time, "About the information you asked for earlier…"

Hayate looked at the girl in the room with her, "Tomoyo-chan, do you mind if I ask you to wait in the other room a little? This is confidential,"

"Oh, don't worry," The girl waved off, "Is in the kitchen okay? I need a glass of water," She smiled upon receiving a hummed response, then walked out of the room.

"So, what do you have for me?"

"Everything I have here if from folktales. There's nothing official registers about this type of beast. I looked into it, and all stories date back to before the dimensional dislocation," He said. The dimensional dislocation was a cataclysm that destroyed several worlds in the past. Little to no record existed from the period of time before it happened.

Hayate sighed, "And? At least tell me what you have,"

"There's several different legends. Some more strongly believed than others," He took off his glasses to clean the lenses, "On earth, do you remember what was said about Vampires?"

"Well, yes. There are several legends about them, but there are several things that differ from the real Vampires, like the sunlight and mirrors."

"It's the same thing. These legends talk about the Am-Hor. In some myths they were a tribe were they would continuously capture more people, seemingly without regard for age or gender, and transport them to their hive, where these people would be turned into another one of their number. In other myths, it's said that the hive didn't exist and the people would be eaten by a monster to feed her unborn in spring. This monster would be always hungry and always pregnant. But there's only one thing that it's the same in all those myths. The monster would be described as humanoid, with immense teeth and without eyes,"

"It didn't have any weaknesses?" Hayate asked.

"No. In none of the legend books says how to destroy them. Each individual can be destroyed like any normal human being, but according to them, they just keep on coming, in a relentless wave of destruction. None of the books I searched mentioned anything about them being able to destroy them completely,"

The General was munching on her thumb, "I see. Do you think it could possibly be anything else about it?"

"I don't know, but I'll continue with the research," He smiled then waved a goodbye, before the window closed.

Hayate fell back on her couch. Another case without much information on it. At least in her last one, the perpetrator herself told all the information that she needed to continue, but now there was no one who could possibly... "Seems difficult." The soft spoken voice threw Hayate out of her reverie, before she turned to the owner of the voice and saw the raven haired girl. "I'm sorry for listening in your conversation, but I kind of overheard the beginning of it from the kitchen and got interested," Tomoyo smiled. If there was something that she was already used to it was these unknown things happening around her. It started with Sakura and the Clow Cards, and, from what it seemed, her fortune would continue to draw her near these types of events.

The General sighed heavily, "Sorry, Tomoyo-chan. Can you promise not to tell anybody about this?" She was nodded at, "I need to pass on this information. Do you mind if I make another call?"

"Not at all," The girl smiled, as Hayate dialled again.

The boy walked around the desolate village during the rest of the day, talking to some, helping others, but mostly trying his best to fish up something that would spark his memories back to what they should be. It was an interesting feeling if nothing else. He couldn't remember anything, so he didn't really have anything to anguish over. His body told him that he was a man of action, not the thinking type.

After the sunset had already past, and the last rays of natural light were almost gone, he walked to the end of the village and sat by the remains of the house of the old woman that had taken care of him. That was the only place he could feel some kind of connection to his past. It was, actually, the only past he knew about himself. He sat on the ground and leaned down against one of the destroyed fence posts, overlooking the rice fields. The horizon seemed distant and the orange turning black light of the night, along with the evening warm breeze, was somewhat soothing. In the distance he could still make out the different landscapes.

His thoughts went back to the names he heard earlier. "Sakura..." He tasted again the name in his lips. It really felt familiar to him, like a spoonful of sugar in an especially bitter cup of tea. "Tomoyo..." It too felt familiar to him. Not like the previous one, but it still held something dear to him. From what the village folks had said, one of them was his girlfriend and the other her friend, but he had forgotten who was who. He thought hard on the names again, but nothing clicked.

He sat up and sighed. He didn't felt any more self-conscious about the unknown girls, but he wished to at least remember their faces. He walked back to the tents, where they were serving the food the women had prepared. At first he wanted to decline the offer, but his body was complaining the lack of nourishment, so he settled with a bowl of noodles that was offered. After eating his part, he thanked the women and went to another large tent were several other men were preparing for the night. He was offered a blanket and a small futon, that he placed in a corner and immediately after touch his head on the fabric he was welcomed to a dreamless slumber.

"Anything else?" The General asked to the people on the several monitors.

"General Yagami," A white haired man started. "The location of this unknown is the same as the epicentre of the last earthquake in that region. I have three teams deployed in that area for quick response in case there are more aftershock quakes," The image of the man changed to display several people, "If you want, I can put one or two of these teams in your care for this mission."

The General skimmed swiftly through the images, and smiled, pleased, upon recognizing a few of the faces, "Can you put the N2R under me, for the time being then?"

"No problem," He tapped a few keys, "Already sent you the paperwork, and their call signs," He smiled, "Just don't be too harsh on them, okay?"

"Thanks. I'll take good care of these kids, anything else?" She looked again at the other people. When no one made motion to say anything else, she nodded then closed the windows.

She looked up the digital documents regarding the temporary transfer of the unit to her care, then digitally signed and sent them back. After the procedure was over she dialled the newest addition to her crew, and a few moments later a familiar eyepatched girl picked up, "Hello, Cinque."

"Ah, General Yagami. Good to see you," The eldest of the quartet answered.

"Good to see you too. I need you guys to do me a favour in your position. I already spoke with your superior, and he agreed to let me use the N2R in this mission. I know that it was impolite of me to do this before asking if you four are willing to accept, but right now I'm pressed for time,"

"There's no need to such formalities, Sir," The girl bowed, getting a scowl from the older woman, leaving her puzzled. Even so she continued, "The N2R will act with the best of its abilities to serve you,"

"Thanks, Cinque. I'll send you your orders in the morning, okay? Right now, I just want you guys to have a good night sleep," She grimaced, "You'll probably need it,"

A/N: Sorry about the rather slow pace in these last few chapters. I'll try to put a little more action sometime soon. Thanks to Daughter of Ether for Beta'ing this. Review it, please. *-*