The bizarre and dazzling dimensional void seemed to be formed from the twisted light of every color. Looking out from within it, all one could see were layers of dizzying light stretching to the end of the void.
"Rumble~!"
The collapsing floating island fell at extreme speed into the depths of the dimensional void. All magical protection devices on the island had entered self-destruct mode. With the collapse of the magical array diagrams, the foundation stones composing the floating island were disintegrating, like a meteor falling into the atmosphere, gradually being erased by dimensional space until they vanished.
The floating island was covered everywhere with traces left after a fierce battle. Hundreds of magical construct puppets guarding the island had been blasted apart by mages from the Dimensional Administration Fleet. Some puppets whose energy cores had not been damaged still tried to struggle up and carry out their orders to eliminate the enemy, only to wander around and be swept into dimensional faults due to the island's collapse, disappearing without a trace.
On this island where everything was crumbling, a blond little girl stood at the edge, gazing into the distant dimensional void. Even under the illumination of dimensional light, her beautiful wine-red eyes showed not a trace of life. Lifelessly, she stared blankly at her own hands. The wish she had made upon the nine 'Jewel Seeds' had made her unprecedentedly powerful in that moment. Her wildly surging golden magic power had almost materialized into golden lightning, coiling around her.
But here, all of it seemed meaningless.
As if declaring her final words, the blond little girl murmured hoarsely, "Fate Testarossa. That is my name. Perhaps it never had any special meaning from the very beginning."
······
"Fate Testarossa. That is my friend's name. A very important friend."
On a Dimensional Administration Bureau battleship sailing through the void of space, Takamachi Nanoha stood before a giant glass window, gazing at the brilliant sea of stars in the distance while recalling the final scene of the battle just now.
The great mage Precia Testarossa had been on the verge of defeat under the siege of the Time-Space Administration Bureau members. Ruthlessly, she activated the floating island's self-destruct device, intending to make everyone accompany her daughter in death. The powerful magical array instantly sealed the floating island's teleportation functions and sent it crashing into the depths of the dimensional void. Once it fell into the dimensional void, without the help of precise dimensional positioning equipment, returning to a normal dimensional world would be impossible.
At that moment, Fate shouldered everything. Using unprecedentedly powerful magic, she broke through the magical array's seal and teleported everyone—including the great mage Precia Testarossa and all members of the Time-Space Administration Bureau—out of the floating island. Alone, she fell with the floating island into the dimensional abyss. As a criminal, the great mage Precia Testarossa was imprisoned, awaiting transfer back to the Time-Space Administration Bureau headquarters for trial.
But no matter what, Takamachi Nanoha could not forget Fate's eyes at that moment. They looked as if she had let go of everything, relieved and at peace.
"Isn't that... despair from giving up everything? Fate-chan, why would you make that choice?"
Takamachi Nanoha clenched her small fists. As her small body slid weakly down along the wall, tears fell uncontrollably. She recalled the peaceful time they had spent together—their meeting at the hot spring, how she had forcibly dragged Fate along to play in the streets, and how she had watched Fate reveal a cute, shy smile. Back then, Takamachi had already been certain that Fate was never a bad child. Later, after learning the truth from the Time-Space Administration Bureau, Nanoha felt a bond from the bottom of her heart with Fate, whose experiences were the complete opposite of her own.
"That power should be what Fate-chan obtained by making a wish to the 'Jewel Seeds.' I can't just ignore this. No! I absolutely can't abandon Fate-chan."
When Nanoha stood up, her eyes held an adult-like decisiveness and resolve.
"Raising Heart!"
"Yes, master."
"I need your power, and also the help of those nine Jewel Seeds."
Raising Heart fell silent for a moment. After sensing its master's determination, it slowly released the Jewel Seeds stored within it one by one and replied in mechanical English:
"All right."
······
"What exactly does Fate Testarossa exist for?"
Fate murmured to herself. When the final island collapsed, her body was also swallowed into the twisting dimensional void.
······
"Fate-chan is my important friend, so I absolutely can't give up like this!"
Takamachi Nanoha reached out her small hand and touched the floating 'Jewel Seeds.' Her ordinary girl's clothing transformed into a pure white magical combat robe.
"So please, Jewel Seeds. Answer my wish. Lend me that power that can bring forth miracles."
In one corner of the Time-Space Administration Bureau battleship, dazzling purple light suddenly bloomed, becoming the brightest starlight in the boundless galaxy. The all-purpose substance, once created by an ancient civilization, displayed its true power at that moment. Complex ancient magical array diagrams beyond ordinary human understanding unfolded layer by layer around the Jewel Seeds, connecting to the magic source in Takamachi Nanoha's chest.
"This light..."
Imprisoned in the battleship's highest-level cell, Precia Testarossa stared in a daze, speechless. The overly intense purple light nearly pierced through matter itself. This was originally power that belonged to her, the key to opening the Forgotten Land. But at this moment, she seemed to understand something and softly murmured Fate's name.
"Fate..."
"Nanoha."
Chrono Harlaown and Yuno Scrya, who had been conversing, both stood up in shock.
Lindy Harlaown, admiral of the Time-Space Administration Bureau battleship, hurried back into the control room and sternly asked the control room members:
"What exactly happened? Why is there such a massive magic source reaction inside the battleship?"
······
"A place where I belong... doesn't exist at all."
The surging magic surrounding Fate gradually vanished as its owner's consciousness sank. Once the outer layer of magical protection disappeared completely, this blond little girl's body would also be torn apart by the power of the dimensional void.
······
"If there's nowhere for you to go, then I'll create one."
The moment Nanoha's resolute murmur fell, the purple light that had bloomed to its limit suddenly vanished from the battleship. When it appeared again, it was already in the dimensional void where the battle had taken place just now. Surging purple magic gathered into enormous wings of violet light unfolding behind Takamachi Nanoha. The falling starlight transformed in an instant into millions of miniature magical arrays. This magic was the ultimate spell originally stored within Raising Heart.
Super-wide-area support magic—Ancient Prophecy. In theory, it could find the essential answer to all things and phenomena, and could also be used to search for all information.
"A firing lock is cancelled. Blaster 2nd!"
Raising Heart's voice sounded.
"Double Enhancement, Blaster Mode—Ancient Prophecy!"
Takamachi Nanoha stared solemnly into the dimensional void, holding her magical spear as she transformed the miracle-inducing power into magic and scattered it into countless dimensional voids, searching for Fate's figure.
······
······
······
"Yes!"
"That was amazing!"
"That was so amazing!"
When the final episode of 'Magical Girl Nanoha' finished airing and the anime's ending theme began, Andō Shū practically leaped up from the floor and danced with excitement. While shouting to vent the excitement in his heart, he strode over to his bed and threw one heavy punch after another at his poor blanket. Even that was not enough to release his current excitement.
The final episode of 'Magical Girl Nanoha' elevated the entire work. Stirring and solemn music, visuals with a budget bursting at the seams, and the most, most, most exciting classic hot-blooded shōnen manga-style plot—all of these combined with the anime's almost divine presentation and the oppressive buildup from previous episodes, exploding to the extreme. When protagonist Takamachi Nanoha used miracle-inducing power to smash through dimensions and find Fate Testarossa, Andō Shū felt as if some mechanism inside his heart had been unlocked.
Feelings such as emotion, excitement, and blessing simply could not be described in words. When those feelings were reflected in his body, rapidly rising adrenaline made him shout and punch and kick his blanket to vent.
However, Andō Shū, who had completely lost himself, also seemed to have forgotten that 'Magical Girl Nanoha' was a late-night anime. He was shouting and yelling past one in the morning!
"Bang!"
The self-absorbed Andō Shū was startled by a loud noise behind him. As soon as he turned around, he saw his older sister kick open the wooden door to his room with a gloomy face and ask word by word:
"Mr. An! Dō! Do you have any idea what time it is? And don't you have school tomorrow?"
"Uh..."
······
A thousand people have a thousand Hamlets in their eyes. The same work can also give people completely different feelings.
The chubby boy Ryūi, who often discussed anime topics with Andō Shū, had also stayed up late to watch the final episode of 'Magical Girl Nanoha.' Completely different from the previous ED style, a bright and cheerful ending song played, and the visuals turned into a sequence of freeze-frame images of Takamachi Nanoha and Fate Testarossa after everything had ended.
Everything had returned to daily life. In the final scene, Takamachi Nanoha and Fate Testarossa leaned against each other, showing the same sweet, happy smile.
"Uh..."
Ryūi stared blankly at his own hands as tears flowed uncontrollably. It was not the feeling of crying from sadness, but a very wonderful emotion that moved him after feeling completely satisfied and excited. It was also somewhat different from crying from joy. Without a doubt, a work capable of making people cry was definitely a good work.
This emotion was not hard to understand. Even Kamiyā Yuu had experienced something similar. In his previous world, the second season of 'Clannad,' the heroine's monologue in 'ef: A Tale of Memories,' the Requiem from 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion,' the ending of the galgame 'eden,' the Eustia route in 'Aiyoku no Eustia,' and so on had all brought him this kind of emotion.
After wiping away his tears, Ryūi lay on his bed, looked up at the ceiling, and sighed deeply.
"It's over. What a good anime."
The satisfaction brought by finishing 'Magical Girl Nanoha' left him wanting to pay attention to nothing else for the moment. Fate's voice, smile, and appearance replayed in his mind. He had fallen in love with this animated character.
······
"Morning."
Walking through the school gate, Andō Shū greeted his classmates while yawning. After finishing 'Magical Girl Nanoha' last night, he had not slept all night. Only now did the fatigue brought on by his excitement strike him.
"What's wrong? You look this tired at the start of the new term?" a male classmate who knew him said with a grin.
"Morning."
"Isn't that obvious? Who likes the start of school?"
At that moment, Andō Shū suddenly saw Ryūi's figure ahead as he walked indoors. He smiled at the classmate beside him.
"Sorry, I'm going ahead."
Aside from the beginning of summer vacation, the two had basically not met during the holiday. After all, each had their own summer vacation plans, and apart from discussing anime, their relationship was not especially close.
"Ryūi! Ryūi!"
After Andō Shū caught up, he called out loudly several times before Ryūi responded. The chubby boy named Ryūi slowly turned his head. He also had a tired expression with dark circles under his eyes.
There was a moment of silence.
Andō Shū spoke first.
"Looks like you watched that anime yesterday, too?"
Ryūi nodded.
"Same as everyone."
"How was it?"
"What do you mean, how was it?"
"Your feelings~ your feelings. Didn't you really like Fate-chan?"
"Don't you really like Nanoha too? As for feelings, I can't really put them into words right away, but it was a good work."
"Yeah."
The two began conversing back and forth. Under their subtle tacit understanding, they seemed able to sense each other's thoughts about the anime.
"Ryūi."
"Hm?"
"I take back my previous judgment. Fate-chan is also a very cute character."
"I know. Nanoha, too."
After the conversation ended, the two smiled at each other again.
After arriving in the classroom, Ryūi looked at Kamiyā Sora, who was sitting by the window gazing at the distant scenery, and jerked his chin toward her while speaking to Andō Shū.
"Now I finally understand why the Princess asked us that day whether 'Magical Girl Nanoha' was interesting."
"Eh... why?" Andō Shū was baffled.
"Andō, you didn't watch it?"
"What?"
"'Words of Celebrities,'" Ryūi said mysteriously.
"That program on Tokyo TV?"
"The Princess appeared on that program."
"What!"
"Episode 176 was an interview with a famous figure in the animation industry. They interviewed a very famous animation director overseas, who is also the animation director of 'Magical Girl Nanoha.'"
Andō Shū rolled his eyes.
"Stop keeping me in suspense. Hurry up and say it."
He was not interested in production teams or anything like that. Although he liked 'Magical Girl Nanoha' very much, he would not pay much attention to its creators, so he basically knew nothing about that sort of news. 'Magical Girl Nanoha' was connected to Kamiyā Sora? That aloof princess who seemed uninterested in everything?
"That director's work, 'RWBY,' is said to be releasing in Japan next month. It's also a magical girl work and is extremely popular in Europe and America. And that director's name is—Kamiyā Yuu."
"Kamiyā?"
Andō Shū froze, then reacted.
"Father and daughter? So the Princess really does come from a great family."
"Siblings!"
Ryūi cast him a disdainful glance, then spoke with quite some excitement.
"This is the first time I've ever felt this close to a celebrity! I really want Director Kamiyā's autograph!"
Kamiyā Sora looked out the window, and the expression on her small face softened considerably.
These were all little interludes brought about by 'Magical Girl Nanoha.' It seemed to have changed something, and yet it also seemed to have changed nothing.